Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you have a fantastic holiday! It's my last one apart from Cent, woo hoo!

Tag, I'm It!

So, because B-Rod tagged the world, here I go.
Rules

• Link to the person who tagged me 
• Mention the rules
• Reveal six quirky yet boring, mundane, banal and pedestrian facts about yourself
• Tag six other bloggers by linking to them
• Go to each of their blogs and leave a message letting them know they’ve been tagged!

Catie like you’ve never seen before:

• The wrong year is printed on my birth certificate. Therefore, I have an amendment.
  
• I hate it when people pronounce the word NUCLEAR as "new-queue-ler" (ie the outgoing moron lame duck)
  
• I learned to read and write in French before English.
  
• I enjoy sarcasm and petty gossip. (Awful, I know)
  
• I have two dachshunds, Frieda and Walter the Farting Dog.
  
• Pinocchio freaks me out because it reminds me of Chucky (also freaks me out)
  

Now, I tag:
Mercy, Jessica,  Michele, Jen, Lydia, and Camille Elise.

Happy Birthday Mom + Goals Revisited

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you! :)

Thanks to two blogging buddies, I've decided to revisit my list to see my progress.

Here it goes:

1. blog everyday for a month (COMPLETE)
   
2. learn how to cook and ease kitchen anxiety
3. learn how to use Digital SLR to its full potential (getting there)
   
4. take better photos (work in progress)
   
5. post photos consistently on Flickr (work in progress)
   
6. go to the gym at least four days a week for a month (trying to keep up with this)
   
7. try a new class at 24Hour Fitness (have tried out 4!)
   
8. search for other job possibilities
9. meet my fiance’s friends
10. learn full potential of Photoshop (as of May 2008)
    
11. move out of parents’ house (July 2009... 9 months to go!)
    
12. organize my bedroom
13. clean out my closet and donate unwanted clothes to Goodwill (Completed, but need to do again)
    
14. purchase new or “previously owned” car (woo hoo completed January 2008!)
    
15. have my friends meet his friends
16. explore major cities – Atlanta, Chicago, Washington DC, Seattle, Denver (found out Denver = not so exciting)
    
17. spend time in New York City
18. practice taking more portrait photos (work in progress, check my flickr)
    
19. crochet a beanie for the fiance
20. learn how to surf, even for a split second
21. go to Vegas as an adult (March 2008, and got engaged!)
    
22. go wine tasting, I do live close enough to Napa & Sonoma!
23. take a cake decorating class
24. design logo for future business (currently being designed, working with graphic designer!)
    
25. take a ballroom dancing class
26. move out to Texas to be with boyfriend (to be with future husband! July 2009)
    
27. schedule annual physicals (going today...)
    
28. remember to have car oil changed (car reminds me now, how fancy!)
    
29. have extended family meet fiance
30. set aside money to donate to charity of choice
31. participate in Habitat for Humanity Project
32. look into the possibilities to PMP my job (Project Management Professional)
33. get engaged, and have legitimate reason to read wedding magazines like Brides, Martha Stewart Weddings, The Knot, etc. (COMPLETE: March 1, 2008!)
    
34. shadow a professional photographer (COMPLETE: October 18, 2008)
    
35. buy a house
36. design personal stationery
37. decorate said house and give it sense of style
38. finish painting room
39. take a cooking class
40. read at least one book a month (been pretty good, have read a good stack!)
    
41. go to the library more often (facilitates my new audio-book obsession)
    
42. go to Hawaii and reclaim summer color (going to honeymoon!)
    
43. document my 101 goals as completed (been bad at this)
    
44. plan fantastic wedding on my terms (IN PROGRESS)
    
45. complete my first quilt project – already bought the fabric!
46. go to the Philippines during Christmastime to visit family
47. cook semi-fancy romantic dinner for self and boyfriend. from scratch, without killing or making us sick
48. build photo portfolio (IN PROGRESS)
    
49. visit the New England during the fall (mostly complete, went to Boston in October)
    
50. buy a new computer and Adobe Design bundle (COMPLETE: October 2008)
    
51. as a complement to completion of #33 and #44, apply to be a Bee
52. go on a cross-country road trip
53. learn more on the fundamentals of photography (Always learning)
    
54. ride my bike around the park
55. go on daily walks when the weather is nice (woo hoo! thanks Nike + iPod kit!)
    
56. lose 20lbs... if they can do it on Biggest Loser, I can too! (work in progress, lost 10 since January, gained back 7 lbs, sad, but working on it!)
    
57. start cooking own meals to make good on goal #56
58. visit best friend in Italy while still stationed there (don't know if this will happen, sad)
    
59. return to Lyon for Fete des Lumieres
60. write a journal entry everyday for a month
61. keep a food journal consistently also in efforts to make good on #56 (did this in January-March, then totally slacked off)
    
62. make a pair of earrings (or more)
63. clean out wallet and purse... rogue receipts be gone! (Constant work in progress)
    
64. spend the holidays with fiance’s family (next year!)
    
65. send out Christmas cards with photos of us

22 out of the listed 65?! Not too freakin bad! To me, this is truly testament to having your goals written out. I didn't think I accomplished this much, but wow! I'm super happy with 22 complete.

Nike + iPod!

I decided that to make better on my goals to get my butt moving in the next 8 1/2 months before the wedding, I would invest in this cool little gadget. I bought the Nike shoes a while ago with the intentions of getting the little device. Well, months later I finally got around to it and it's awesome! So far, I've only completed two workouts, with a time goal, but I'm looking forward to knocking out goals down the road. Check out my little widget. When you plug the iPod into the computer, it uploads all the stored workout data to Nike.com. Easy peasey. I'm kicking it up a notch as we get closer to the wedding!

9 months to go...

...til the wedding!

So it frustrates me to think that almost a whole year has passed and I have slipped back into my slacker tendencies. I started the year out great, working out and eating right. Then sometime around May-June, it all started to slip. I had made some great progress, and then I guess I took it for granted because here I am, ten months since the start, back to where I was in January.

And I know there's no one to blame but myself and lack of self control. It's laziness, I'll admit it. I was on a freakin roll in January, eating salads and lean meats and GOOD for you food. Potatoes are evil. Deliciously evil. And also are my downfall. It's all about self-control and free will, and while I'm big on snarky remarks...I need to get big on not putting food in my face.

With nine months to go till the wedding, I need to pick up the slack. The dress I ordered will forgive me only so much and I have about 3 inchese leeway. With that said, I have to pick up my lardbutt and stop being lazy. Step one: going to the gym on Saturdays. Fridays and Sundays are my days off right now, but I'm thinking that I need to do something everyday, even if it's just walking in the neighborhood. And I need to eat better. Period. I had this free test thing (who knows how legit), but basically it could tell that I don't get enough veggies, which I'm totally guilty of. Potatoes are not vegetables. Damn.

On a separate note, as part of my 101 in 1001 list I've been making some great strides. I have, however, been a slacker about posting my accomplishments. I'll be working on that too. In the last month, I've completed #34 and #50. Woo hoo! As a part of my portfolio building process for my future freedom from the evil clutches of corporate America gig, I have a blog dedicated to JUST my photography stuff. If you know anyone looking to have some photos taken for the holidays, engagement, portraits, wedding, anything really, let me know!

Vote

Come on people. It's that time of year again. REGISTER to vote. Regardless of who you are or what you believe, if you want to make a difference, you'll need to get off your butt and vote. So register. I found this video from a photographer who posted it to her blog.

Thank you Tina Fey!

Quality Comedy. Sadly so close to real.

10 months to go!

So it's the 18th. That means ten more months til the big day. And yet, how is it that we are already half way through September? I though Labor Day was last week...

Mission Meet the Parents: Success!

We just got back from a whirlwind weekend in Dallas. It went off without a hitch! (Is that the expression? hah). We ate A LOT, always a good sign of a great time. I'll be needing to workout in super SERIOUS mode, however, but it made for good laughs and a great weekend.

Big Weekend!

It's the big meeting weekend! Our parents will be meeting each other for the first time. I have no doubt that it will go just fine, but I can't help but thinking of Meet the Fockers. Let's just hope the weather behaves itself!

I <3 Splash Mountain

I found this photo and I just had to blog it. This was from our trip to Disneyland, our one mini-vacation this year. I love this picture because it shows the whole family having fun. We were too cheap to buy the $12.95 (seriously, what 5x7 Kodak photo-printer print is worth that?) but I did manage to catch it on the TV screens. My mom's expression is too funny.



Good times!

It's done. Well, almost.

It's official, I've made appointments at two bridal salons for this Thursday. I'm excited and yet a little...what's the word? Weirded out? I don't know exactly how to pinpoint it, but I think going bridal gown shopping just makes it that much more real. I mean, the wedding dress is pretty much the icon of a wedding. You think, "Oh she's getting hitched." Without it, (plus rings, husband, and license) it's just a big party.

I've kind of been putting it off. Every time I talk to a friend who hears of the engagement news immediately jumps on the "Have you gone dress shopping yet?" train. Which is fine, it's a normal question, but my response has been "no". It's not because I don't want to, it's because I haven't had the time. And from what I hear, and if it's at all similar to trying on regular clothes, it takes some motivation, time, and effort. I'm making time now.

Well, Thursday is the day. We'll see what it brings.