The Ultimate List Maker

Have you guys heard about WorkFlowy yet?!  It's awesome for people who love to make lists!  Rachel was the one who introduced me to it last week.  I always have multiple lists that I write down and then they never seem to all be together.  This website makes it so easy to organize multiple lists and keep your life in order.  You can use it for work, chores, home projects, gift ideas, shopping lists, goals, etc. I love it!!  If you are a nerd like me and enjoy spreadsheets, you will love it too.  You can cross things off and either make them go away or just keep them on the list and see they are crossed off.  I need the latter b/c I love seeing how many things I've accomplished on each list.  The website and concept is really quite simple, but it's such a great idea to keep everything in one place.

At first, I debated on how I wanted to organize mine.  Do I make a list for every day or the week or one big long list?  I decided that I will keep a weekly to do list at the top and work from that mostly.  Then my secondary lists are below that.  It's so fun b/c you can make lists within lists! For instance, I have my weekly list at the top and then a shopping list lower down.  Within my weekly list, I might have, "go to the grocery store" and then on my shopping list, I have the items I need.  It's nice b/c you can quickly add to it as you think of things and just go to your computer or phone rather than hoping you have the list with you or searching for a piece of paper.  I also have wish lists, goals, books to read, small projects and things for work.  Let me know if you try and whether or not you like using it to be more organized.

Bachelorette - Finale

So, obviously this is way out of date, but I still figured I would comment.  I think it's great that Emily ended up with Jef.  She handled everything with a lot of tact, especially letting Arie go.  They are going to make such a wonderful little family.  Best wishes to them and I look forward to hearing updates via twitter or our good buddy Chris Harrison.  Maybe we'll see a beautiful wedding next year sometime!

Bachelorette - Men Tell All

As I said last time, I think the Men Tell All episode just prolongs our time before the finale.  This one was pretty much the usual.  I LOVED how Emily put some of them in their place.  It was so awesome that she called Kalon out on his B.S.  He's such a pompous ass.  Ryan too.  I'm excited to watch the finale.  Is she gonna pick anyone?  Who?!

Fourth of July

I'm a little late on this.  It's a good excuse to blog about something other than The Bachelorette.  I can still feel the last remnants of Fourth of July celebrations!  I had the opportunity to go out on Lake Travis (with mostly strangers) and got to see fireworks.  Last year, fireworks were banned in Austin and most of Texas b/c of the wildfire danger and drought conditions.  The year before I missed out on fireworks too, so it was awesome to be able to enjoy them this year.  It was a decent show, but not what I'm used to in either Toledo for the 4th or Cincinnati for Labor Day, where they do it up big with a major production with themed music and everything.  I was only missing the patriotic music.  We went swimming throughout the day and I got to try tubing!  The name sounds deceiving though b/c I consider a tube to have a hole in the middle, but whatever.  Unfortunately, I got whiplash and can still feel it a little in my neck.  I feel like I was in a car accident.  It was a lot of fun though at the time.

Other notes:

• 30 Day Shred has literally shredded my legs the past couple of days and it hurts to move. :-/  Hoping the thunder will stay away and let me swim tonight instead.  
• We got some rain!  There hasn't been a drop since sometime in May.  I always love a good thunder storm.
• I'm no longer working three jobs.  Finished my last day at the sweatshop two weeks ago and no longer working as a ticket seller.  I'm now able to work in marketing at UT 40 hours a week.  Still no benefits, but it could be in the (hopefully) near future.  It will take some time to adjust, I'm not used to a normal routine.
• Last week was actually higher temperatures in Ohio than in Texas!  We were sitting right at 100 about  everyday.
• I learned how to create a Virtual Bridal Shower and am currently hosting one for my friend, Terri.  She's getting married August 4 and it's a great way to do something long distance.
• Zac Brown Band has a new album.  I heard a bit of it last night and seems like it's going to be another great album.  Not a surprise, coming from them!
• Our department moved into brand new offices and we're now located in the North End Zone (NEZ) of the Texas football stadium.  I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty fancy!
• I worked out 14 times in June.  My goal is to work out 16 times in July.  I've done five workouts so far, so hopefully it's attainable.  I can't let laziness win!

Bachelorette - 3 left

I actually got to watch it live last night!  I only missed the first few minutes with Sean.  What an emotional episode...geez.  Emily is such a sweetheart.  I cannot express to you how much I love that she has values and said no to staying over night with each of the guys.  I have to imagine that is the first for this show.

There was only a few minutes where I thought I might be wrong on the final two.  During the video messages they each recorded, I'm pretty sure that Arie was the only one who didn't mention Ricki.  I could have missed it, but I don't remember him saying anything about her.  That made me think Emily might send him home.  For me, it really clicked when she asked herself if she was throwing away the one thing she's prayed for all along, the perfect guy.  She has always described Sean as the perfect guy.  But did you notice how nervous he was on the beach?  And it seemed like she was just waiting for him to say what she needed to hear.  That has to be so hard!  I just can't get enough of Emily.

Next week is the Men Tell All, which I usually think is just an excuse to prolong the finale and make us wait. Of course I still watch it though.

Bachelorette - 4 left, Hometown Dates

Ah! The show is on tonight and I never mentioned last week's show.  I finally watched The Bachelorette late Tuesday night.  Didn't Emily look beautiful in each of the hometown dates?  How sweet is Jef?  Omg!  Jef and Arie seem like obvious choices for the top two.

I thought the alone time spend with Chris seemed pretty forced, so it wasn't to surprising that she sent him home.  And then I think he totally justified her decision by the way he acted as she walked out with him.  He was a little too angry!

Sean - She keeps stressing on the fact that he is perfect.  Maybe that could be a bad thing though?  Jef and Arie are so different, it's hard to see who is the front runner.  Have fun watching tonight.  I'll probably wait till tomorrow to watch.

Bachelorette - 6 left

Have you guys been watching  The Bachelorette this season?  Of course I am...I just get sucked into it!  Emily is just so gorgeous and put-together that it's hard to imagine she is a real person.  So sometimes I feel like she might be fake, but at the same time, she seems like a real girl from the South; genuine and cares about her daughter.  I just always love checking out the makeup and fashion on these shows.  I'm sure I've said it before.  It's just fascinating to me!  I love those brown boots she wears and that grey leather jacket!  I could name a lot of her outfits though.  Ha.  Her wardrobe is a dream world.

I'm behind, so I just watched this week's episode on Hulu.  Do you think that she already had her mind made up about Chris before he pulled her aside?  I do.  I think if she wasn't going to keep him, she wouldn't have had him go back to endure the torture of the verdict and let him go right there.  Obviously, the top three are Arie, Jef and Sean.  I was really loving the time Emily and Jef spent together.  Overall though, she seems to have a strong connection with those three and it will be fun to see how it all develops.  I can't believe it's already time for the hometown dates.  We can tell she is really having a hard time being in the position to inevitably hurt people.  I'm so hopeful for her!

Camping Disaster

Jason and I tried to camp this past weekend at Padre Island National Seashore.  I say try because it seemed we had one disaster happen after another.  The drive down to Corpus Christi was great...no problems and we found cheap gas and finally a salsa we love.  Once we got there, it was after dark, so we couldn't see the water or any of the surroundings.  We drove into the park and tried to figure out where to set up our campsite.  At Padre Island National Seashore, you can drive on the beach up to five miles with a two-wheel drive car and lot further with a four-wheel drive vehicle.  Big mistake.  We got stuck in the soft sand.  Tried to dig ourselves out (without a shovel) with no luck.  After quite a few tries, a ranger drove up, making his usual rounds.  Thank goodness!  He pulled us out and we went straight to the actual campground.  Not gonna bother with primitive camping at this point.  So we pull into a campsite and walk around.  The sites were a little bumpy, so I walked around to another one.  I had on water shoes that were now totally filled with sand after digging the car out of the beach and my feet were burning like crazy.  Then my arm pits started itching.  I just tried to ignore it as we were setting up the tent.  Just as we were putting the final touches on the sides of the tent, Jason realized he stepped in an ant hill and was getting bit!  Hence, why my feet burned.  We found more piles of ants and just got in the tent immediately to get away from them.  It was HOT in there and of course I started sweating immediately.  I felt miserable, but I thought, "I'm just going to lay down and try to relax."  WRONG!  As soon as I laid down, my top lip swelled.  If you haven't experienced this, it's a VERY odd feeling.  I'm like, "we gotta get out of here!"  Jason wasn't feeling too hot either.  So I just drove.  I drove all the way back to Corpus Christi and thought I'd go to Walmart or something and get some sort of medication.  I wasn't really thinking clearly and ended up checking into a Motel 6 and took a shower.  By then, I had hives all over my body, mostly in spots where I sweat the most: arm pits, scalp, inner thighs, etc.  Not fun!  After that, I was worn out and just fell asleep, hearing in the background that the Heat won the NBA finals (boo).

The next morning, my hives were pretty much gone and my upper lip was just a little bit swollen.  We went a couple places and then headed back to our campsite.  We checked out the area a little better this time and decided to move our tent onto the beach.  No ants on the beach!! Yay!  Now we were sittin' in butter.  Got everything good to go and had a pretty good day.  We boogie boarded (not sure that is the correct verb) and enjoyed the beach.  We cooked a yummy dinner and walked on the beach after 11 p.m.  I've never been on the beach that late and been able to sleep right there!  We didn't walk far though b/c all the crabs come out at night and they are kinda creepy in the dark.  What if they got our toes?!  I doubt they'd do anything and they were a lot of fun to watch.  Their little legs go SO fast!  Some are teeny tiny and some are huge!

Saturday was decent except for our picnic table being under water 95% of the day.  This weekend Padre Island had the highest tide it's had in years and our tent was just spared.  The day was relaxing and just hanging out by the water, walking on the beach and more boogie boarding.  We started making dinner and it got really windy.  So windy that our tent wouldn't stay down.  At this point, we gave up.  We had planned to stay another night, but the wind was just too much and what if the tide was even higher?  I guess it was remnants of a tropical storm brewing in the gulf.  We packed up and got the heck outta there!

Sunday, we stopped in San Antonio and ate a picnic lunch right outside the zoo and I even got to stop at the Vera Bradley store.  Too hot and not enough money for shopping!  Unfortunately, there's a lot of work when you return from camping.  We are doing a little bit each day to get everything cleaned up and I hope to get organized a little better with my storage.  All in all, it was great to get away and be by the water and hey, at least we tried.

I can now say that the swelling has gone down in my left foot (one with the most ant bites) and it might not hurt to wear a shoe tomorrow.  I just have to not scratch!

June 7th

Here are a few tidbits and updates from me:

• It's already getting really hot here.  Surprisingly, it hasn't hit 100 yet, but with the humidity it seems just as bad. 
• I'm currently trying to work on patience.  I feel like I'm super close to getting a full time job with benefits, but just not quite there yet.  I'm hopeful, just waiting on a couple things to happen.
• In the meantime, I'm working my three jobs - tickets, marketing, and sportswear; I'm getting by.
• Rodeo Austin was a lot of fun again this year.  The long hours paid off, even if I got a little sore throat and run down afterward.
• Bette Davis has turned into a really great cat.  She has warmed up more to people and enjoys being the only child.
• I've read some great books lately.  The Hunger Games, of course and I'm trying to catch up on the Kay Scarpetta series that I'm several years behind on.  The reading list will never dwindle...just have to wait for my holds to come in sometimes.
• My newest hobby/guilty pleasure is learning more about fashion and beauty products, techniques and reviews.  It's become an obsession.  It's fun trying out new eye shadow looks and nail polishes.  I still need more practice!
• My good friend Terri is getting married this summer.  I'm excited to be in the wedding and visit Indiana and Ohio this summer! <3
• My workout routine hasn't been quite as diligent as I would have hoped (never is), but I've managed to pretty much stay the same size.  Doing good in June so far, worked out four days!  Got to keep it up and really establish a routine for myself.
• I hope to plan a few activities to get me through the summer quickly.  At the end of this month we are going camping near the gulf coast.  I'm excited to visit the Padre National Seashore.  It's been so long since I've been able to go on a vacation, hopefully this weekend getaway can hold me over for the time being.  Yay!
• I started drinking coffee on a pretty much daily basis.  Probably not the best thing to start, but it's really nice to drink it in the mornings.  It helps since I'm totally NOT a morning person.  I do have to put some cream or something in it, but I try to stay away from sugar.  I'm really loving hazelnut!
• I learned Austin has the 8th worst traffic in the country.  Not surprising!  I would have even though top 5.  It's pretty bad around here for it being a somewhat small city!