I've added another item!

I had to add another item. Maybe I could of gotten rid of one of them, but I just thought this was more fair to myself. I've decided no more Starbucks for a MONTH. I have to try and be good to myself and to my body. Hello have you seen it lately. Miss piggy in the house! Okay really, December is upon on so I thought why not try something new. New exercise routine and new commitment's.

Sunday Brunch-Completed

Yesterday morning Tim and I meet several friends down in Baltimore for Brunch. This would be the first time we had ever been to Little Havana. Although we have passed this place thousands of times on our drive down to Baltimore. Both Tim and I got the Spanish Style Eggs, although Tim got an extra plate of potatoes. Each other us had numerous glasses of Mimosas and Bloody Mary's. I believe the best thing we ate that day was these donuts dipped in Chocolate. You can't say NO to hot donuts dipped in Chocolate. So good!

We left early (around 3:00 p.m.) and arrived home to catch the tail end of the Ravens Game. We destroyed Philly yesterday! Our Ravens are now 7-4. Still in the playoff hunt!

Go Ravens!

I finally did it!

I finally beat Tim at poker. Okay I have won before, but that was prior to making this list. This past weekend we went to Rohobeth Beach for the weekend to hang out with friends. We played several board games, Wii games and even poker. We started early, around four-ish and probably finished at Eight. By the end I was just so tired of playing that I went all in three times in a row and let Brad win. YUP! I let him win! LOL! Brad only won $20 bucks, but I guess with the economy so crappy beating your friends at Poker and taking their money is better then nothing.

It was an Atlantic City weekend!

Shannon and I left early from Harford County to head to Atlantic City for Jessica's Bachelorette party. We arrived in Atlantic City after several attempts to find the NJ Expressway. Um yeah don't follow map quest, those directions suck. After several hours in the car, both of us were dire need of a bathroom. We arrived at the Showboat Hotel and Casino just after 1:30. We grabbed some pizza on the boardwalk and then headed down to the casino to gamble. Most of the weekend we spent drinking, sharing stories and even saw some naked men. I can't really upload any pictures to this post, because there is a saying... what happens in Atlantic City stays in Atlantic City. Ha.

I made a few changes...

I decided to change the look of my blog again. I have a feeling that not that many people are actually reading my blog. At first I thought it would be cool to have a blog with some goals that I'm trying to accomplish. And so far this blog has keep me on my toes and I've accomplished them.

I have decided to change a few goals to more realistic ones, instead of the far fetched ones I previous had on there. For example #53 (Lean to water Ski) was never going to happen. I've deathly afraid of water, hitting my body against water and at high speeds. Back in June Tim and I went boating with some friends and well Tim actually tried to water ski (he did a great job). I was to chicken to even attempt it. I did however trying tubing and loved it. I'm the kind of girl who likes to take things slow. My fear of the water has always been with me. It mainly started when I was a child and just gotten harder for me as an adult. My family was poor so swimming lessons was just not in the cards. My Dad on the other hand thought it was a great idea to just throw your child in the water and they will figure it out. Nope never figured it out. Yes I know how to float, but floating and swimming are two different things. I have gone white water rafting twice, and both times knock on wood have never falling out. People probably think I am crazy, but I would rather not have anyone touch me while I'm in the water. I just feel more comfortable that way.

My new goal for #53 is Visit Rachel and Mike in Tampa, FL. Which did happen two weeks ago. Rachel and I have known each other for 14 years, but not until 2 or 3 years ago became close again. I wish she and Mike lived closer, but right now that's not in the cards for them. Tim and I decided to make it a long weekend and head to FL. Tim had never been to Florida so it was a new experience for him. We landed early in Tampa around 9:00 a.m. and Rachel and Treith picked us up at the airport. Rachel showed us around town. We stopped at MacDill Air force base to check out where Mike works at, their new apartment (which just moved into this weekend) and the beach. The baby wasn't to happy about the big tractor that was plowing the sand, but we did dip our feet into the warm water. Next we proceed to head to this little park in Tampa for Treith to play in the water. The weather in Tampa was extremely warm. So it was nice again to get our feet wet. Rachel drove us around Tampa and surrounding areas. Friday night Mike had to work, so the four of us went to dinner at Apple bees in Tampa.

Saturday we got up and went to Tampa Art Museum which was pretty cool at least for the kids. They had a free day of arts and crafts. Treith and Tim made bookmarks, while I just looked on. We then headed upstairs to check out the art, but was really disappointed that upstairs only contained 10 pieces. After we left the ART Museum we headed toward the mall. We did get lost, but it was fun counting all the strip clubs along the way. Seriously we counted 9. Um yeah so if you ever need to visit Tampa, check it out! LOL! At the mall we decided to cool off and just walk around, we did come to find out that the ART Museum will be opening in a new location next fall in downtown Tampa. So the current location is just temporary. Nice to know that their was more art elsewhere.

After leaving the mall we headed home to pick up Mike and go out to dinner at Cheddars (kind of like Chili's). Food was pretty good, drinks were flowing as well. After dinner we headed to the grocery store and each of us picked up a 6 pack. We went back to the apartment and played Mad Gab. This game was hilarious, def a good game to play when your drunk. Ha ha! Rachel and I kicked butt!

Sunday was not such a great day. I was so hung over and Tim was coming down with a cold that we never got to the beach. I'm sorry Rachel for ruining the plans. I am sure you have already forgiven me!

Our flight didn't leave until 5:35 from Tampa and we arrived home in Baltimore around 7:45 p.m. All in All we had a great weekend with friends. Like most weekends it just goes by to fast.

Other changes that I've made to my blog is... Exercising the dogs. We are going to try to walk them three nights a week at least a mile. With the sun not rising until well after 7 in the morning it's just harder for me to motivate myself to get out of bed. Once the time changes I will be more motivated to get my butt in gear. I promise myself and the dogs I would walk them more.

I think that's it for now. Check back soon for more updates. I promise that in the next few weeks I will have completed a few more items.

Lord help me!!!

I have this small problem! Okay probably large problem now. I love books and I have this list in my blog that keeps growing and growing. I found the library to be a great tool to borrowing books, but my problems keep continuing. Instead of reading all the books that I have at home I keep add books to the list. I can't do that! Although at least 2 of the 4 books that I decided to place holds on today, will be a few months out before I actually received them. But seriously I am really trying not to buy another book before I finish reading these!

Okay my little vent is over!

A new update

If anyone has been to my house you will notice that mine and Tim's book shelve is a tad bit overflowing. Partially my fault and more his fault (ha ha poor Tim). Anyway, on Tuesday night I sat down in front of the bookshelf and decided to put together a list of all the books that have been sitting on bookshelf that need to be read. I've decided that I need to read all of these books before I am allowed to borrow or buy any more books. Tim was amazed that I counted 15 books that I have yet to read. He looked at me with this disgusted look on his face and said NO MORE BOOKS! NO MORE! (which I came to think! NO MORE BOOKS until you finish reading these). Oh and I should comment that I think I even have more books then what I found on the shelf. My friend Megan came over on Sunday to pick up 4 books to read this weekend. Megan came back yesterday and dropped those 4 books off and picked up 6 more. Personally I am just glad that my books are getting read. Although I want to say that the 6 books she picked up I have read all but one of them. And the books you brought back last night I had read all but one. I may need to update my list (as you can see below in the list, once all my books are accounted for!).

Another update, last night our dog Jersey came in. Yes you heard me, DOG Jersey's! Josie now has a Ravens jersey and well Roscoe will be sporting a Redskin Jersey! Roscoe also got himself a Redskin Collar! I did get some nice pictures last night, but you know me I forgot to upload them to the computer, plus the dogs weren't cooperating like I really wanted them to, so they aren't the best pictures. But once the first game starts, they will be sporting their Jersey's for the world to see! I promise I will update my blog with those pictures. Because I know you really want to see them in their adorable Football Jersey!

That's all for now!

#96 Check!

After many conversations from my boss to take a business class. I finally took that Class. It was paid for by my employer (definitely worth it!). The only draw backs were that I needed to pass the class (which I did!), and that it was two days a week. Okay so those aren't really that bad, but after seven weeks I finally took my final on Tuesday night and passed only missing one question. Now I can relax a little bit easier, hoping that next year around this time, my review, and a raise will be in the forecast. One can only pray right. Until next time!!

Weekend Fun

This weekend my aunt Linda and her dog Lilly came up on Sunday to hang out with Josie and Roscoe. Tim and I bought Lilly a harness for walking and grabbing her if she got away (which she didn't!). All three dogs enjoyed themselves in the little Gunpowder falls Creek near our house. This was Lilly's first time swimming and she jumped right on it like she born to swimming. Which I guess she is with the Lab in her! Here are a few pictures of our Sunday afternoon.

Decisions, Decisions...

What should I do! So after much consideration I've decided that I rather not go back to school at this moment in my life. I think it has to do with my baby clock ticking ever so faster these days. I mean it has been four years since I stepped foot inside a classroom. I know I probably could accomplish my goal of obtaining a master degree, but I really don't want to push off having a child any longer.

Boating, tubing and sunburning oh my...

Friday Night Tim and I were invited via text message to join our neighbors out on their new boat. Saturday morning I rose early from bed, took a shower and finally setting in on the sofa to read the last few chapters of a book that I had renewed once from the library. Around 8:30 a.m. we receive a call from BJ & Laura to meet them at 9:30 in the front yard. We hurried and packed a bag, applied sunblock and headed to Wawa's to pick up subs and ice for the trip. We arrived at the marina at 10:30 and began our journey out in the water. It was nice, not a ton of boats in the water. We headed over to an area that was less crowded so we could go tubing. We tubed for several hours and then had lunch. Tubed for another few hours, before calling it at day. We were heading back into the marina and noticed how red everyone was. Yup, Tim and I were burnt and so was BJ, but Laura succeed to get a nice fab tan. (She stinks!) I was cursing myself for not bringing the camera so I could take some pictures of Tim and I tubing. Maybe next time. (I am glad to report that I relaxing a tad bit in the water. It does help that I was wearing a life vest while in the water. Which I believe is the law. Not positive, but I believe it is.

Our North Carolina weekender

Tim and I left Severn, MD on Thursday, June 5Th around 8:30 a.m. after dropping Josie and Roscoe off at my parents house. We are really grateful to have parents who will watch our dogs whenever need be. We had decided before heading to NC that we would take our time and make a few stops. Most of the time we are in such a rush to get to our final destination that we never stop and enjoy the area. So we decided take the "BROWN SIGN TOUR". If you have ever been in a car for more then 2 hours you have probably seen the brown historical signs.

Our first stop of the morning wasn't to a historical site, but to a Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. It was a bad idea to stop for coffee, we ended up having stopped about 6 times during our trip for me to use the bathroom.

Our second stop was in Petersburg, VA at one of the several National Battlefield sites. It was a small walk-around site into the woods, at the end of the "15 minute" walk we found a memorial for the falling soldiers of this battle.

Our third stop of the trip was to the National Battlefield in Petersburg. We decided to walk around the battlefield and took some awesome pictures of some of the cannon's that were used during this battle. Here are some pictures of our stop at the National Battlefield.

After visit to the National battlefield we headed to Salisbury, NC to visit the Epling family. Melinda and Carlin moved to Salisbury, NC from Maryland just over two years ago and we had never gone down to visit. It was a short visit with the family, but it was a good one. Here is a picture of their baby girls. (Carly standing up and Madeline being held.)

Our final stop in NC was to Shelly and Chris' new place in Durham, NC. We spent two nights with Chris and Shelly. We had hoped to visit the Duke Gardens on Saturday, but with the weather not cooperating we decided to check out the National History Museum in Raleigh. This place also had A/C. Here is a shot of Chris inside a tree! At the National History Museum we saw some dinosaur's Chris' favorite exhibit. My favorite was the gems and rocks. (Who would of guessed!).

The rest of the weekend was spent at Shelly and Chris' eating and playing board games. It was a very low key weekend, but something that Tim and I enjoy very much. We were so happy that both DeAdder and Epling family allowed us to come down and visit.

One party down several more to go!

Every year Tim and I have several summer time parties and we invite friends over. Well this year I started our summer time parties off on the early side. I invited over 15 of my closest girlfriends and we ate and drink like it was a Saturday night. Yup, I decided to have a Tastefully Simple party on a Thursday night. Yes, I think afterwards I may been a bad idea to pick a Thursday night, but we still had a good time. For about two hours we stuffed our faces with yummy breads, dips, veggies until it was time to go. My friends were very generous and purchased tons of dips, breads, beverages from Tastefully Simple. We are all still patiently wait our orders in the mail. I may have another party soon to invite everyone back over so we can taste some of the freebies. If you want to purchase some yummy food, check out April's Tastefully Simple website. Once you look, you'll be hooked. www.tastefullysimple.com/web/ahughes1


The next big party we plan on hosting is just two weeks away. We have invited over 40 people and have about 15 confirmations. This time the guys are invited as well.

# 15 Changing

I've included another change to my list. #15 I would like to include girl type party. That can be anything from Toy party, Airborne Party, Spa Party, Tastefully Simple party. Is there anyone that objects?? NO ONE! Good, it's changed!

Soccer Game-Check!

On Thursday May 8, 2008 Tim and I arrived at RFK Stadium in Washington DC to watch DC United play Chicago Fire. Although this was only our second game in about four years it was still a good time. Both of us were praying for good weather. Early in the week, they were calling for thunderstorms beginning on Thursday night. We found our way to the game via Metro Train. It's always a fun commute to DC when you ride Metro. Although it was a weeknight, we were going against traffic and didn't have a bad ride in. Once we arrived at the stadium we were happy to find that our seats were underneath the overhang. Which meant we didn't really need the poncho's. It was exciting to watch the crowd of fans cheer their team on. Although DC loss, Tim really enjoyed his surprise tickets to the game.

45. Go without eating take out food for one whole week.

Yup, we were able to accomplish this last week. It was hard, but I am so glad that both Tim and I have decided to try and eat healthier. And eating healthier means eating out less.

It's finally finished!

After much Patience's and wondering when our brick patio/ backyard was ever going to get done, it happened. This weekend we borrowed Tim's parents mini-van and got to work. Tim finally had a Friday off to finish up with the trenching and brick laying project. I know he was tired after it was all said and done with, but it does look so much better. Oh and the river rocks that we picked do look pretty amazing I should add. Tim and I hand picked them up myself. LOL! You have to understand that with only having a mini-van and two small cars, it can be difficult trying load anything heavy. I was seriously handpicking rocks on Saturday morning. I am sure it was a sight to see. I promise to post a picture of our finish project later this week. Oh we still need sod thanks to Ms. Josie and her toxic urine! We have no green grass left, it's more less brown or just dirt. That's our next big project!

#19 Wine Tasting at Wine World

On Saturday evening Tim and I decided to make a stop at Wine World. I was running low on beverages. So as soon as we walked in we noticed the booth with a few bottles of wine. We decided why not. We tried Coyote Run a winery in California. We really liked their "Cha Cha" a mix blend! We were really happy that we finally had done a wine tasting.

Who wants to go with us next time??

Open an Orange ING account.

After many months of researching which banks can offer the best rate, Tim and I decided to open an ING account. Our thought were why let our money sit inside our savings account and draw about $1.00 a month when we can draw at least a few more bucks somewhere else. So we have officially started to move our money over to save more. I mean with the today's prices for gas, food and just basic needs, we knew something had to be done. Plus we have decided to put more way for the future.

#76 Have dinner with Meghan and Tristian

Yesterday afternoon Meghan, Tristian and about 12 other people had dinner last night. We had our first Bel Air Nestie GTG at Chili's. Tristian was the coolest kid there. Okay, he was also the only male there. He had a great time flirting and teasing us ladies. Although I wasn't feeling completely up to par, I still had a great time. This summer we have already decided to stop by and let the dogs play at Meghan's place (in her section of the stream).

A few updates...

25. Go horseback riding While on vacation in Jamaica Tim and I decided to take a few excursions. One of them was to go horseback riding through a historic mansion and take the horses into the ocean. Okay, so both of her horses didn't really like the water part. They seem to be really scared... The tour guide stated that "Horses sense fear!" Basically thinking that both Tim and I were scared to be on the horse. No we weren't scared at all. My horse was named Fox and Tim's was named Dynamite. Ha ha! If you see the pictures you will noticed that they weren't the healthiest animals, but you gotta remember that Jamaica isn't a rich country either. As you can see from the photos that we were about to get them to go into the water. We rode for about 2 hours, which was definitely long enough for me. Oh and I don't do so well with galloping. Ha ha! My butt hurt the next day and well Tim butt is still hurting.

48. No Internet for an entire week! DONE! YUP! I went without the Internet for one entire week. Okay, yes I was on vacation and no Internet access at the hotel. Yes we could of bought Internet access for $14.95 for one DAY! But who wants to be on the Internet working while on vacation. Plus we didn't bring the laptop with us. Your probably thinking to yourself... your crazy, you went with out for an entire week, did you have withdraws. Ha ha! Thinking back now, I was completely happy without having to think about working or being online. I am mean yes the Internet does help pass the time at work. So it was nice to get a break from it all.

88. Watch sunset with Tim on beach. One evening we decided to head down to the beach to take some sunset pictures. Okay, so not all the pictures turn out great, but they do look better then sunset pictures at home. Plus take a look at some of the pictures we took.

92. Take an exotic excursion. Not sure if you can call this exotic excursion but we did go and see crocodiles on the black River. We also went to the Y.S. Falls to check out their waterfalls. Although I am not as adventurous as Tim, he did decided to jump off a 35 foot cliff into the ocean at Rick's Cafe. A very touristy attraction in Negril. If you check out the above link you can see some of those pictures as well.

That's all I have for now... hopefully soon I can take a few more things off my list.

The new suit

I promised a picture of the new suit. I really did purchase a new bathing suit. I even purchased four new suits. All three that I received from Victoria Secret were either too small, or just looked really bad on me. I returned one and then another and finally on saturday another. I am waiting for my top to arrive on Wednesday (crossing fingers). But after freaking out about possibly not having a new suit for our trip. Tim and I went out shopping (really for him!) and I found a new suit at Old Navy. I really do like it. It's really cute and it hides some unwanted fat too.

#9 Buy bathing suit for upcoming vacation!

Yup, I did it. I ended up going online to Victoria secret and purchasing a new bathing suit for our Jamaican Vacation. I probably spent a tad to much. Don't tell Tim! He doesn't know how much I spent. All he knows is that the suit will be delivered on or around February 4th. Once I get the bathing suit in hand I will take a few pictures to prove that! I believe the count down has begun! 19 days until we take off!

Highly unlikely will

I lost 20 lbs by February 2008. Considering it's now January 2, 2008 and that means I have less then 30 days to get my butt into gear. I will admit that I haven't been working as hard toward this goal. Although as always my New Years Resolution is to lose some weight. So as of Saturday December29, 2007 I have began to work out again. I think I may try and start a execrise blog or something along those lines. I think this may help me with my weight loss goals. Both Tim and I have decided that we would like to loss 5% of our current weight. So for Tim it would be about 11 lbs and for me 8lbs. I could do a goal of 8 lbs.

On 12/29/07- Took pups for 4 mile walk
12/30/07 - Worked out on elliptical for 30 minutes and did 30 minutes worth of sit ups.
12/31/07- Worked out for 30 minutes on elliptical
1/1/08- NO WORK OUT!

I will keep you posted!