Summertime Beach Bum

Lately at work because of our short weeks and the holiday season we have just been super busy at work! My mind is always going a million miles an hour and I always feel like I am trying to catch up. Part of the problem is that I am still training, so this is all new for me. Not to mention my life outside of work is just as busy! Trying to remain calm in a sea of stress...I just wanna ride the waves...

I hope santa was good to everyone! Santa was very good to me this year :) I must have been better then i remember! haha But anyways, my day was lovely, although mark and i were apart. My families tradition is to wake up slowly, and i make these sugary bread things. We make mimosas, and then we start to unwrap our stocking presents. We go in order of age, and go one present by one present. Then we work at the tree, in the same sort of fashion. We always wanted christmas to last, and we usually are not done with unwrapping until 2-3pm, so this way makes it last. Then we hung out, and went to drive to look at the lights, and we all played pictionary. It was a wonderful evening. Christmas Eve I actually hosted at our house, which was a night of good laughs and good food.  Here is a picture of mark and I by our tree. He's not really smiling but it's the only version that came out somewhat clear!  Our tree on Christmas morning!  The pretty tree and mom and dads :) 

As i had stated before i would post pictures from my happy hour. The drink i had the first time i went, was this wonderful mix of strawberry puree and coconut creme with malibu, however this time around it didnt turn out so well. But the bar tender added a few things and it was okay. Here is a pic of my drink...like i said it was not terrible, but not what the bartender had made for me last time... I got the same thing off the menu again as i had the first time. It was the steak bruchetta with the rosemary aioli sauce. Yum!

Tonight I am meeting a friend from work for happy hour at a restaurant also in Groton, CT called Olio. Prices are a bit expensive but if you come between 4-6 for happy hour they are not bad. Here is the menu... Last time I was here I tried the grilled sliced hangar steak bruschetta. The drink I had was so good! It had Malibu, vodka, strawberry purée and coconut creme. I'll be sure to post later about what we ended up having. 

As promised here are our meals from Pauls Pasta in Groton, CT:  We started off sharing the Caesar salad and the garlic mozzarella herb bread.  This is the mozzarella herb bread...well what was left anyways :)  This was marks meal- the breaded chicken Alfredo! It's a heavier sauce but still so good!  I had already stirred mine all up by the time I remembered to take a pic- the carbonara! Which is my favorite :)  We both got the large dish so we would have leftovers. Totally recommended! I cant wait to go back, and maybe next time i would try something new....who knows

Happy birthday to my love Mark! It was 30 years ago today that he was brought into this world. He has decided that for his birthday he wants to go to Paul's pasta which is this super cute restaurant in groton, ct which over looks the water. I actually went here with my family for my birthday as well. The menu is delicious and so reasonable priced. Below are pictures of the menu as well as the front door of the restaurant.  Front door to pauls pasta- the light makes it hard to see but still very cute!  From this page I have tried a few things- mozzarella herb bread, 3 brothers pizza, and the Caesar salad I actually have not tried anything off this page- but I love what is written under the kid section. BTW- check out those prices!  This page I have tried- breaded chicken Alfredo and my favorite the paparadelle carbonara. Delicious!!  Last year for marks birthday one of his gifts was a lighthouse ornament that had written "cape cod 2013" on it. I d

I had received a coupon in the mail for one month membership to snap fitness for 8.99! So today i went and signed up for a 12 month commitment, and i also got my first workout in. Today i ate really healthy and had a great workout, and weighed in and measured. I am not ashamed to post my weight or measurements, because then i can show you all the change! Weight- 241.0 Stomach in- 43 in Stomach out- 49 in Arm- 15 in Leg- 29 in Bust- 44 in Strap- 38 in

Tonight i was able to sit down and write out my winter bucket list. I am excited to try and accomplish more items on this list! I know i was saying that fall is one of my favorite seasons, but i also love winter, and the holidays, and the smells, music, movies, and all the decorations! I think i will post again how i did for the fall list, taking pictures along the way for all the things i accomplish. This time around i believe i will be putting 4 items on each update!  Like my little snowman i tried to draw?!

Drink Apple Cider  On 11/8/14 Mark and I shared a mug of apple cider. Mark had been drinking his cold, but mine i warmed up :) It was actually very good!  This was actually the last thing that i completed on my fall bucket list. This time around i completed 53.65% of my list, which unfortunately is not an improvement from my summer one at 56%. Maybe my winter list will get a better result!  Connect to my Fall Bucket List 

As you have read i closed on my house on Friday November 7th. On saturday i went to honda and put a deposit on a new car! Then this past friday November 14th i went to honda and picked up my new car! there was a total of 18 miles on it. Thats it! I am so excited to finally be driving my new car. I have posted a picture of it below. I love the color, the look and the ride :)

Make Candy Apples On 11/4/14 Mark helped me make candy apples. At the store in the baking isle i bought a bunch of things. I bought a bag of caramels meant for melting. Then i also bought sprinkles, peanut M&Ms, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips. First i melted the caramel and dipped the apples, stuck them in the fridge for a while. Then i did the same with chocolate and before those cooled i dipped them in the different candies. I found this idea on a blog on line. Here  is the link to the blog if you want to check out a step by step.  Read a Novel On 11/3/14 I finished another book. It happened to be the second book in a trilogy. It was a really good book which i talk more out here  in this blog post. I cant wait to get started on the third one! Close on My House On 11/7/14 Mark and I went to the attorneys office for 4pm. We all sat around the table with the attorney, my realtor, and my mortgage consultant. Once all the paperwork was signed we went out to a bar

Try a New Recipe On 10/31/14 (Halloween night) I tried a new recipe for Mom, Dad, Mark and I. It was a 7 layer taco did. It was really good. First i layered the sour cream, then the taco meat with the taco seasoning, onion, avocado, tomatoes, lettuce and shredded cheese. Next time i would put a little extra sour cream in the bottom.  Enjoy Hot Cocoa On 11/1/14 I had hot chocolate the way i like it. With mini marshmallows and a candy cane melted inside. Marks is the one without the candy cane, however he agreed that it was better with one.  Rake Leaves and Jump On 11/2/14 my parents were cleaning up the leaves around their house. Now i dont actually have any leaves at my house since there are no trees. I actually swept this pile together, but i counted it :) Connect to my Fall Bucket List

I finished another book the other day. The book was called: The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts. It was the second book in the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy. In this story you still have the three montegomery brothers, and the three best girl friends Avery, Hope and Claire. It continues the relationship between Beckette and Claire, as they prepare for marriage, and building their family, possibly with a pregnancy! You can read my post about the first book  here . This story really focuses on the relationship that continues between Avery and another brother named Owen. They had dated when they were in elementary school, and Owen was Avery's first boyfriend, and turns out by the end of the story, he is going to be the last. By the end of the book they decide to get engaged. I am really into the book and the series. I can not wait until i start the third book. However i am going to be very sad when the series is over. I am going to have to start another series by the same author, i just hope

As i had posted before, the backyard of the house i bought was pretty awful when i moved in. You can see the full extent of the back yard here . The person who owned the house before me loved to garden, and she just let it go. The gardens were all over grown. Below are the before pics. You will be able to see all the areas of overgrown gardens.  A view from the far corner.  This is the raised garden in the middle. You can barely even see the back yard with how much is back here. Below are the during pics of trying to make the back yard better. It took a lot of weeding and digging.   We took the bricks from the raised garden and turned it into the fireplace. After we had weeded just a little, we found this patio that was already there. Perfect for the fire pit.   The raised garden after taking out the bricks. We started to smooth out the dirt. I had found someone who wanted the dirt so about a month after this picture we got all the dirt out. A view from the gat

I have left home several times now, once for college, once for my apartment, and then the most recent was for my own home. I figured I would tell a little story for each time i left home.  College It was a warm August day. My whole family packed into two cars, along with all my college stuff. It was a whirl wind of a day, between the waiting in line, and then everyone helping pack all my stuff into bins and then dropping it off into my dorm room. Then meeting my new roommates and their families, and getting used to this new life im living. We realized we were missing a few things that i needed and because i didnt have a car on campus mom and dad drove me out to the store. When it came time to say goodbye mom started to cry and then i started to cry. It was tough to say goodbye, but it was the start of a new adventure.  Lowell Last september i had to rent my own apartment to finish up my degree. It was in Lowell, MA. This is also where i met mark and started a relationship wi

For anyone out there who understands the mortgage world: The mortgage that i am applying for is a USDA/CHFA, it is a combined loan. So that is all fine and dandy, but what that means is that not only does one company have to approve me, but TWO have to. So this past tuesday i found out that i had been approved by USDA, and then my files were being shipped out to CHFA. I found out yesterday (on a saturday), that CHFA had now approved my loan!!! Yay for me! Im getting one more step closer. The lady i have been working on with my mortgage said that now all that is left is for her to schedule my closing!!! She is hoping for my closing to be this week, which of course makes me so excited. I cannot wait for this whole thing to be done, and then all i have from then on is to pay my mortgage. Ill post an update once i close on my first house!

Visit a Corn Maze  On 10/23/14 Mark and I went to a corn maze before Michael's football game. It was shaped like a vikings hat, and it was actually really fun. I had been to one when i was little and i had always wanted to go back to one. I was finally glad that i found one that was affordable! Last year all the corn mazes i had found cost about $30 or more. This one was $7! Perfect and i can not wait to go again next year.  Visit a Fall Festival  On 10/25/14 the town of Essex, CT held their annual pumpkin festival. I had been many years prior when i was babysitting someone, and i loved it! This year i made sure to look up the date, and when Mark got out of work we drive 30 minutes. The festival was fun! They had all the pumpkins that were carved and lit up. They had a band playing music and food and hot chocolate. It was a nice little festival to walk around together with my boy.  Carve Pumpkins  As you know we had bought pumpkins a few weeks ago,

Go For a Walk On 10/17/14 Mark, my mom, dad and I all went for a nice afternoon walk. There is a loop near my home that has a few good hills, that mom and I like to walk. The fall foliage was beautiful!  Get Cozy By a Fire On 10/23/14 Mark and I had our first fire in the house. It was so nice to be having a fire since it was finally getting cold outside. I grew up having fires in the house, and it was nice to be able to carry that on.  Visit an Apple Farm  On 10/23/14 Mark and I went to an apple farm when we went to the corn maze (i will post about that later). On the way down to the maze we stopped and picked up an apple each to enjoy :) Connect to my Fall Bucket List

Visit a Pumpkin Patch On 10/21/14 Mark and I went to a pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins that we are going to carve. While we were there we also bought brussel sprouts and apple cidar. I haven't been to a pumpkin patch in years and it was really cool to go back to one. There were some really cool pumpkins there...oh and a big carrot which you can see in the pic of Mark.   Make Fall Cookies On 10/19/14 I made pumpkin cookies with a glaze. I was worried about how they would turn out, but they actually turned out really good! Super yummy and i want to make more now. Below is the link from where i found the recipe. I added a little more than 1 C of pumpkin to mine though. I also added a little extra of the powdered sugar for the glaze to make it a bit thicker. Def recommended.  https://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/32364/old-fashioned-soft-pumpkin-cookies/ Glow Bowling  On 10/16/14 Mark and I went up to Norwich bowling to their Thursday nights glow

I have been in training all week like the previous few weeks, and they had talked about allowing me to go out on my own today. At first they were only going to give me 2 patients, but then they needed more help and asked if i could handle 4 patients on my own. Of course i told them that it was no problem. Today went just fine too. So i was very excited to be on my own, and i look forward to being able to do more on my own so that i don't have to keep shadowing. Enjoying it all so far :)

Like what I had posted before, I found a good list that is titled: 20 Thing You Should Know About Dating An Independent Girl 1. We need alone time. A little each day and more than a little on other days. It doesn't mean we've lost interest in you.  2. We don't mind if you don't call or text us every second. We like it. We wont be contacting you either. That said, if you're late, don't keep us guessing as to when you'll show up as we'll make other plans.  3. We can clean up our own messes. We're not waiting around for you to fix our problems.  4. We are perfectly fine doing chores, running errands, and exercising by ourselves. If you want to join us, we're glad to have you along, but don't talk to us while we're in the zone.  5. We sign up and attend charity events, races, and cultural exhibits on our own. We don't need a date to feel comfortable at these things. Set us loose in a room with a bunch of

I have now officially completed another three items from my fall bucket list!  Bake Pumpkin Bread On 9/26/14 I completed making pumpkin bread. I had bought enough supplies to make two batches, however what i did not realize was that the one recipe, made three loafs! One i sent home with mom and the other two i kept. Mom is in the picture licking the beaters. The recipe turned out pretty good. Here is the link to the recipe i used: http://www.friendsfoodfamily.com/friends-food-family/2012/11/pumpkin-bread-with-cinnamon-brown-sugar-crumb-topping.html Go For A Hike  On 9/28/14 I completed going for a hike. Mom and i went to Oswegatchie Hills Trails. This was the first time we have been to these trails and mom and i really enjoyed them. We are actually going back tomorrow to hike the longer trail. Suggested for anyone in the area! Burn Candles  On 10/4/14 I completed burning a candle. I actually bought it today for $3.99 at the Christmas Tree Shop. Its a pump

I had mentioned a little while ago about starting a new book that I was really into. Well last Thursday I finished it! It is: The Next Always by Nora Roberts. This is book one of the Inn Boonsboro trilogy. It is a story of a small town with three brothers known as the Montgomery brothers who own a construction company started by their late father. Their big project during the book is completely re-building this old Inn. The other main characters are three best friends named: Claire, Avery and Hope. This book goes into the friendship of one brother named Beckett and Claire, the girl he's loved since elementary school. Its not just a simple love story when you add in brothers, a ghost, a stalker and 3 young boys. Something cool about the actual physical book is the beautiful cover and on the inside of the front and back cover is a little map of the town so you can see where things are that are mentioned in the book. Great story! I have already started on book two and I can't wait

I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a really cute list that I actually agreed with 100%. I am not sure who created the list so I am unable to give credit. But I figured Id post it. Enjoy!  1. Share the shower 2. Pop each other's pimples 3. Make fast food runs at 2am 4. Binge watch TV shows 5. Watch the same TV show while you're in different places 6. Occupy certain positions and sides of the bed 7. Use the bathroom together 8. Snuggle 9. Pick where and what to eat together 10.Make each other laugh 11. Change clothes in front of each other 12. Tolerate Aunt Flo 13. Choose good topics for date night 14. Make pillow talk

This will be a short post but I have completed my first week at my new job! I am so excited so far and have been enjoying getting to know everyone. Here is a pic of my new badge! I love the giant RN at the bottom!

I had mentioned before that as i get things done from my fall bucket list i will post the date i completed it along with some pictures of the events.  Make Autumn Wreaths  On 9/16/14 I completed making two autumn wreaths. I had bought the wood circles, leaves, ribbon and flowers all at the dollar tree. Then i just used a glue gun to put it all together. I have one on each door now and i love them!  Leaf Art On 9/18/14 I completed making a candle holder and coating it with fall leaves. I went to the dollar tree to get a glass candle holder and i had leaves and modge podge already at home. I modge podged the leaves on the outside of the glass. It looks so pretty now sitting on my stove. Plus the candle inside is cranberry, such a fall scent.  Go to a Football Game On 9/25/14 I went to my brothers freshman football away game at NFA. It was raining through most of the game, but it was still a great game. Unfortunately this was their first loss, but there will