Recycling..NOT!

So it is Blog Action day today! This is actually a topic that is close to my heart, although you would not know from the amount of recycling that I am not doing! I did my senior thesis on the impact of Business on the environment and all the ways that businesses are helping to make things better. There is a lot being done out there, but there is still so much to be done!

I lobbied hard for recycling bins to be put in at work, so that employees have a place (where they already come each day) to drop off their recycling. My company recycles cardboard and paper. We have a drink can recycling bin too. We have also adopted a section of the main river in the city and have had major clean up days already 3 times this year. My company is really trying to do what they can to help!

I personally am not! My husband and I current live in the smallest, crappiest apartment ever. There is literally no place to keep multiple containers for recycling. I have been looking for a stacking or small set of recycling bins, but have not found anything workable yet. I have thought about just using old plastic grocery bags, but my minor OCD will not stand for that kind of clutter. For now we are just throwing everything into the one main trash can. I feel so bad about it that I can hardly stand myself!!

We are looking for a house to purchase and once we have more space, recycling will be much more doable. If I can live with the guilt until then - I am personally responsible for large amounts of landfill waste; something that my children and grandchildren will have to live with - I can't stand it!! I have to find a way to recycle!! There has to be some kind of bin system that can fit into the kitchen somewhere!

I wonder if those Rubbermaid set of drawers would work? They must make something for small apartments? Anyone have any ideas? My brain is too full of guilt to find a workable solution. I truly have about a 1 foot square section of open floor space in the kitchen. I have less than no cabinet space, what should I do??

Loot and House Hunting

Smug-Hub and I spent the day yesterday totally together! I was so nice to really spend time together, just enjoying each others company and doing fun stuff.

We got up late and had breakfast at the house. Then I had to make a deposit at the bank, so it was about noon before we got to Bed, Bath and Beyond. We had a ton of gift certificates and a 10% off coupon. We decided to get some of the stuff from our registry that we did not get at the wedding. We got so much stuff!! A memory foam pillow for Smug-Hub, the Sonic blade (an electronic knife that Smug-Hub was dying for), we got a really nice set of 400 count sheets for the bed, a salad spinner, the Britta filter for the water tap, several under the cabinet organizers, and of course some coffee for our coffee maker! We spent $3.74 out of pocket!! The trunk of the car was STUFFED!!

We ran into my Dad and Smug-StepMom at Sams, we had ICEE's and talked with them for a while and then did some shopping. I found this cool book of baked Christmas gift ideas, which is going to be so fun to spend several hours in the Kitchen making gifts for people at work and stuff!

After that we had to drop off Smug-Hub's bow to be re-strung (don't ask me what that means, cause I don't know - something hunting related). Then we decided to take a drive around this one neighborhood and see what houses there were costing. We spent the next 3 hours looking all over Roanoke for houses. We actually found a few in decent places that are just outside our price range. We are not really ready to buy right now and have about 6 months left on our lease, so I am hoping that the recent trends continue and the interest rates drop and house prices drop.

We actually found the neighborhood that we want to buy our second home in! It is really nice and has great views and the house are all about $350,000!!! We are looking for something in the $100,00-$130,000 range. But if the housing market stays bad, the houses that are in the $160,000 range will perhaps be willing to take more what we can afford and if the interest rates drop more we can afford a higher priced house!

I am sure that it will all work out the way it needs to!!

Flowers

These are the flowers that were waiting for me when I returned to work from lunch! I really have the most wonderful husband ever! Here I have been having a little pity party for myself, "oh woe is me, I am getting so old, life is passing me by" and I have this really amazing man in my life who loves me more than he loves air! How many people in this world ever find what Smug-Hub and I have? How many people are in unhappy relationships, or alone, or messed up so bad from their past that they are not capable of having true love? Smug-Hub and I are so lucky to have found each other and I am totally ashamed to have forgotten that for even one second!

Smug-Hub and I have waited so long to find each other - I honestly believe that we are meant to be, and so will our buying of a house, and having children and all the rest of it. I have to stop worrying about what I don't have yet and take time, here in the present, to stop and smell the roses.

It's My Birthday!

Ok, so I am 31 years old today... I have not had as much trouble with this birthday as I did last year on my 30th, but I am feeling a little worried about continuing to get older. I really want to have children, I always wanted to have a big family, and that is most likely not going to happen, but I still have time to have at least 1 or 2, but every day and week that passes the chance of having kids dwindles. I have been on the pill for about 9 years and it could take years to get pregnant after coming off the pill and I am worried that we are letting the chance to have children pass us by. I think that my husband feels that they is plenty of time to do everything that we want to do, and for him he does. I know that there are lots of women who get pregnant in their 40's, and that is great, but I don't want to be retiring at the same time my children are heading into college!!

I am also having a family dinner thing tonight. I know that my family loves me and wants to celebrate with me, but I don't feel like making a big deal about this, it is just a reminder that time is passing, and eggs are dying....

Smug-Hub is being so sweet, he took me to dinner last night and then took me to Circuit City and got me a "pre-birthday" gift, of a DVD player with up converting to 720p/1080P, so my current DVD's will play with better quality on are huge projection TV. I am excited to hook it up tonight!!

The bathroom sink has been leaking from the hot water faucet since Friday. I have been calling and leavng messages for the maint. guy and the landlord. I finally got a call back from the landload yesterday and the plumber wil be here this afternoon. I still have to leave work early to let him in, but I don't want to be at work any longer than I have to be, so that will be fine.

I am so excited to have fall TV back! I have picked up a few new shows and so far I like them all, but I am so happy to see so many old fave's back. All the CSI's, Boston Legal, House, etc. I also picked up Bones and Heroes both of which are returning shows, but shows that I have not watched before. I am so enjoying all of them!

I have really needed something to help me decompress, I jumped from starting school, starting a new job, wedding planning, more school, more wedding planning, the wedding itself, etc!! It may sound lazy to be parked in front of the TV every evening, but it is really great not to HAVE to DO anything for a while.

I only have a few weeks until the school thing starts up again and I am desperate to take all the leisure time that I can muster while I have the opportunity. I want to read for fun, watch TV, cook and bake and spend time with my family and other fun stuff.

I plan on chopping veggies for a nice big salad for dinner, but then I want to make something like apple crisp or something else decadent. I want to make food that is good and takes time and effort to prepare, but not too much time - you know that balance of fun without it turning into work!

Back To Life

Well, the house is clean, the bills are paid, all the laundry is done. I have a few minor things still do to on the name change front, but for the most part things are getting back to normal.

I have decided that while I have a few weeks before school starts back up, that I am going to try to get on a good, normal, workable, workout and eating plan. I started a new profile on SparkPeople and I am going to try to focus on getting my body ready to house a baby. Smug-Hub and I want to try for a baby sooner rather than later given my age and I want to do my part to make it happen. I want to get pregnant easily and quickly. I want my pregnancy and birth to go well with no or minimal complications. I want my child to have the best start in life as possible, without birth defects or health problems. I don't want to have one of those kids who is sick all the time, because their mother did not care enough to help them grow a strong immune system.

So, the plan is to start taking 400mcg of foliate, and a prenatal vitamin. I am going to lose about 15-20 more pounds to get my BMI into the optimum range for conception and pregnancy. I am going to stop eating out several times a week and start cooking at home so I can control the foods that I am putting into my baby making machine!! I am going to develop a workable workout plan that is doable for someone working and going to school. I am going to stick to this plan... our baby is going to be worth it!

Starry Eyed!

Well, I have been a married woman for just over a week now! I love being married - they is something different about being married than just dating or living together. I am having a hard time putting it into words. The day to day activities are still the same, the witty banter between us is the same, the love is the same, sex is the same, etc.. Something has changed though - a feeling or an attitude - something. I asked Smug-Hub about it and he said the same thing. I don't know if it is that we feel more like adults, or more responsible or what, but it is different!

The wedding was everything that I could have dreamed of!! Everything was perfect! I fully expected for things to go wrong, but I would not have changed anything! One of the bridesmaids felt a bit faint just before we headed down the aisle, but after removing her tight fitting bra was fine. I did realize just as the church doors were opening to allow Dad and I to walk down the aisle that I had forgotten to put in the contacts that I had gotten specially for the wedding, but as it turned out - Smug-Hub fell slightly apart upon seeing me for the first time, and if I had seen that I would have been crying through the whole thing - so it totally worked out for the best!

The pictures after the ceremony were fun, but slightly stressful, as we only had 45 minutes in the church to get everything that we needed. It was all running along smoothly until my mom requested a picture with everyone in her side of the family - no biggie as this was only 8 people including Smug-Hub and myself. But then... not to be left out, Smug-StepMom (read, evil stepmother) wanted to have a picture of that entire side of the family (including VERY distant aunts and uncles) people had to be found and arranged and about 6 different times the photographer was about to take the shot when another family member would wander by and Smug-StepMom would yell to include them too - this totalled about 15 people!! The photograher was less than thrilled about this - but what are you gonna do?? As it was, we still made it out of the church will about 17 seconds to spare!!

Here are couple of cool shots - sorry they are a bit blurry!

More to come later on the reception!!