WANTED: Decapitation!

Well, the whole no soda/caffeine thing didn't really work.

No, that's not true. It may have worked. But Friday night at around 930 my head started to hurt. I wasn't about to take an excedrin (which has caffeine) right before bed and then have trouble sleeping. So I had a little snack before bed and went to sleep.

Woke up at about 215am to use the restroom and my head was still pounding. Then my alarm went off at 530 and my day began.

And there was no relief in sight. You see, it was swallows weekend in San Juan Capistrano. It's the time of year that those birds come back to the area. And they have a parade. And people get drunk. And then they fight. And let's just say that alcohol is not a good additive to a population of over 75,000 in one city for one day.

So we were busy. I wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep. Oh how I wanted sleep! But by about 430pm, I had had some food, and two wonderful prescription pills in my system and was feeling almost human again.

I really wish that I didn't get migraines. They are horrible and debilitating. And I just plain don't like them! Then again, I can't think of anyone who does...

So that was my weekend...How was yours?

(Okay, I don't REALLY want to cut off my head, but sometimes it's the only way I think the pain would go away.)

Confession

I caved. I was bad. I didn't keep my word.

I had a Coke.

Please don't be mad at me. I have a good reason! This whole daylight savings thing has messed up my schedule! And I spent the night on Sunday at my in-law's with the dogs. I laid (not slept) on the couch. The dogs walked on me. Then the one dog started whining at around 4am. My alarm went off at 530. Work started at 7. And went til 7.

I had a coke with breakfast. Please say it's okay! Please don't tell me I'm going to hell for drinking a coke.......

I will do whatever I need to to repent of this. Do I need to call my bishop? Man, I hope not, since Earl and I sent in all the paperwork for our sealing. It would just devastate me to be denied that all because of one little coke!

Oh yeah, did I mention that? Earl and I met with our Stake President to finalize our paperwork and it has been sent off to Salt Lake for review!! I'll keep you guys posted on that!

Yay For Me!

So I didn't really think that I would go this far, but I have almost completely cut soda from my diet. It all started as me trying to not drink caffeinated soda like Coke, Dr. Pepper, and my favorite, Mt. Dew Code Red.

You see, I get headaches. Bad ones. And my body is very sensitive to caffeine. So when I drink a coke every day with lunch and then suddenly don't have one, my head starts to pound. And the only way to please the Headache God is to give an offering of caffeine, either through a soda or my favorite, Excedrin (which has caffeine in it as well).

So for the past 2 weeks I have been substituting water or juice or milk for the soda. I'm doing good so far. I've had just two sodas, and I didn't even drink the whole thing. I can't say that my headaches have gone away, I don't think they ever will. But if this helps, then it is a lifestyle/diet change for life!!

One More Thing...

Okay, I know I said I was done! I forgot to say that I finally got the matching band to my engagement ring! Earl and I couldn't afford the nice rings we wanted when we got married. But we have been blessed to be able to get them now. Earl's is a tungsten carbide with a black carbon fiber inlay. Yay for rings that will last forever!!

You can see Earl's here and mine here.

Love them!!!

I've Been Bad...

Alright, I know! It's  been almost a month since I last posted anything! I'm bad! Please keep the pitchforks and torches to a minimum!

It's hard to say whether anything has happened in the last month or not. Probably the biggest thing is that Earl and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary. Yay! We were very fortunate to get time off from work for that weekend (our anniversary was on a Saturday). We were even more fortunate to borrow one of Earl's coworker's cabin up in Big Bear.

So we packed for the weekend, prepared ourselves for a relaxing, snowy weekend away from everything! We drove up on Friday, Feb. 26 and got up there about 2 or so. The sun was shining and there was still a little bit of snow on the ground from the past few storms that blew through. We pulled in to the cutest little cabin ever. It was a one bedroom that was covered in antiques. The fridge was an old Philco with a handle on the outside with the icebox on the inside. The stove was gas, and you had to light it with matches. It was really just the most perfect place to get away to.

So that night the wind started blowing and it was noisy! The bed wasn't the most comfortable and both Earl and I had trouble sleeping. Finally at about 2am after hours of tossing and turning, I said to Earl that I was going to sleep on the couch. You see, not only was the bed uncomfortable, but I have problems with my hips occasionally. If there is no support in the mattress, my hips start to hurt and it makes my legs ache and then I'm just not a happy camper! So I slept on the sofa a little bit better. We got up to a fresh coat of snow over everything!  It was so pretty and quiet and picturesque. It was almost like waking up on Christmas morning to see that Santa did not pass over your house.

So we got up, took sponge baths from water heated on the stove in a pot (the water heater was not turned on and we found this out the hard way the night before by taking ice cold showers. And when I say ice cold, I mean it!) and went out to breakfast. We walked up and down the street in The Village and found a nice coat for Earl since he had forgotten to pack a jacket or sweatshirt.

Since lift tickets were too expensive for us, we decided to go tubing. There is a tubing park on the outside of Big Bear and while it was $50 for both of us to go, it was much cheaper than paying $65 a piece for tickets for snowboarding. It was my first time tubing and I had a blast!! It even started to snow again while we were there and that scared off some people. But then the runs got super slushy and we decided that we would have a snowball fight and build a snowman/dinosaur/dragon/thing. I'm really not sure what it was that we built, but we did it together and had fun! Of course once we were done constructing it, we decided to try our skills as linebackers and tackled it!

By this time our coats were soaked and we were cold. So we headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things and headed back to the cabin to get ready for our anniversary dinner. By this time Earl had found the water heater (outside in a shed) and we were able to take hot showers! Oh what a glorious experience!! It's amazing the things we take for granted. Hot showers are definitely a luxury!

I had done a little bit of research on places to eat for our dinner and decided on a place called Jaspar's. Once we went inside, we saw it was a little hole in the wall joint and that suited us just fine. And oh the food!! Absolutely wonderful! I highly recommend going, should you visit Big Bear. And once we finished with dinner we headed over to the Bowling Barn for some good times. Turns out that they do "rock'n'bowl" at 8pm so we really enjoyed it. Earl beat me by 2 pins theh first game and I beat him by 20-30 pins the second game. We headed back to the cabin after that for our cake. We picked up a little mini cake and a "1" candle at the store to celebrate our one year. I know, we're dorks! But we are starting a fun tradition that we will carry on for years to come!

So after our amazing weekend away, we came home and life went on like normal. We met with our Stake President this past Sunday to finalize the paperwork to send in to Salt Lake for approval on our sealing. When friends and family have asked me what was the best thing about being married for a year, I told them that I was excited to be sealed to Earl. He is the best thing to ever happen to me. I love him with all my heart and I'm overjoyed to be with him for eternity.

And so I'm going to stop with the mushy sentiments right there because if I continue I know that I will start to cry and then I will be forced to eat the entire pan of brownies that I baked earlier! Yes Mom, I baked! Don't worry, it was from a box so it doesn't really count!

The other "big news" that I have is that I quit Sport Chalet. I know, I know, you were all expecting me to say that I was pregnant. But that isn't happening for awhile. But that's a topic for another post. Back on subject! Okay, so I had worked for the company for almost 8 years and was almost like amputating an appendage when I quit. No, not really. It was actually very easy to do. It was the right thing to do and I know that now I have time to spend with my husband, my family, and me! I can take relaxing baths, watch a movie, or just veg. I also have time to fold the laundry and do the dishes. Earl has been very good about helping with those things, but now I have whole days off and can really focus on my homelife.

Holy shamoly this post got long! Wow, if you got all the way to here, I applaud you! And on that note, I'm signing off!