1/31/11 - Mr. Washer & Mrs. Dryer

Meet Mr. Washer and Mrs. Dryer. They are the newest additions to the family. We adopted them on the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) after standing outside in the cold for 2 hours determined to get a great deal on these babies...and we did! However, it was my not-so-bright idea to store them at Domingo's house in the boxes. After much persuading and apologies on my behalf for my stupid idea, we finally got them in my apartment!! Domingo and his dad were beyond amazing to bring these upstairs and squeeze them in their little spots. Many, many thanks to those wonderful guys for their hard work and determination!!

1/30/11 - Chicago Night Photoshoot

I had an incredibly unique opportunity to have a night photography class on Navy Pier tonight. There were 5 other students there with me plus the instructor. It was just perfect because our instructor gave us enough one-on-one time to critique our photos and help us set our cameras. The 3 photos above are my favorites, but it was hard to choose. We got lucky with the weather (no snow) and due to the incredibly low temps no one dared to even be around so we had great photo opportunities. It also opened my eyes to the magic my camera really has inside and to think outside the box in camera angles and shooting locations. I definitely recommend Chicago Photo Safaris to anyone in the area. I look forward to the next class I take (hopefully in warmer weather this time)!!

1/29/11 - Glow in One

Tonight Domingo and I recreated one of our first dates and went golfing in the dark!! We took a few friends of ours and made a lovely wager of losers have to buy dinner. Apparently my inner Tiger Woods didn't channel properly as I was definitely the reason why we are buying dinner. We had a good time and Domingo made some very good friends who later became our cheerleaders. It was also definitely fun to watch our balls glow in the dark too! Haha!

1/28/11 - Who's Hungry?

MMMMMMMmmmmm Chef Stephanie Crocker made chicken and potatoes for dinner tonight and boy-oh-boy did it turn out yummy!! Tonight was (still currently is) date night with Domingo and I begged if I could make dinner. If you know me, you know that I usually have some sort of minor (sometimes major) catastrophe in the kitchen (although I swear last time I made something at my parents house last week it was all totally my mom's oven's fault for not baking....not mine). So naturally Domingo was a bit hesitant to my cooking I think until tonight. He was a great little helper in the kitchen wanting to learn and help out as much as possible. After it was all done cooking, we both sprawled out on the couch and didn't move for a good five minutes. Job well done to the both of us!!

Kudos to my mama for the spices and recipe!

1/27/11 - Hunting for Houses

Which one is weirder:

A) Hiding in the bushes?

B) Making fishy faces with my man-o-clock?

So, it's official. Hunting for houses has made me go crazy. I decided to detox my stress with a little face mask, but first let me rewind......Today was our first meeting with our realtor to begin our house hunt. Yep, we are buying a house (YAY!)!! We sat down with our realtor, gave her our likes/dislikes, viewed some homes in our price range, and lastly broke it all down to see how much it is all going to cost. [Insert throw up noise here] I'm really excited about the whole process and getting to make such a huge decision with Domingo about our future, but just looking at the numbers and blah blah blah makes me gray a little more so than regular. And now this brings me to present time. Yes, the photos above make sense now don't they? I guess this is what happens when you mix crazy, being all alone, being related to my mother and Jersey Shore!!!

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY AMAZING, PREGNANT, AND TOTALLY AWESOME BIG SISTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1/26/11 - The Gift of Life

I signed up to donate blood today. It's been more than just a few years since I last did it and I think I had forgotten how special it really is in the end. Things like this are important to do because not only are you doing an awesome thing for someone else, but you mentally know it as well which gives you a little boost in your day. As usual (thanks to my slow heart beat), I took longer than most people at the blood drive, but I eventually filled up my little baggy. I even got an awesome sticker that said, "Be Nice To Me Today" which I plan on wearing every day for the rest of my life, haha!! I'm so proud of my iodine band-aid mark!

1/25/11 - Now You See It, Now You Don't

Before:

After:

I was stressed all day today just knowing my place was a mess. Yes, I have a problem. All I could think about was just coming home and cleaning it all up. I still have so much to do, but I'll catch up throughout the week. I must admit...my apartment definitely looks and feels so much better when things are in their place. Don't you think so??

1/24/11 - La Familia and One Half

So, my fun little weekend get-away has come to an end and this is our last photo of all of us together before Tabor graces us with his bouncy little presence! I've had a blast hanging out with my family and getting the chance to see my very excited, pregnant sister. It amazes me how comfortable and how attached I become every time I am around my family. I wish I were physically closer to them and I love them so very much!!! It was also nice to see Lubbock and see how things can change since the last time I was there. I definitely think that I am officially addicted to fun yogurt places now thanks to my dad. Maybe he can come visit again soon so we can find one together (hint, hint)!! :0) Love you, familia!!! Can't wait to see you all soon again!

1/23/11 - Big Balla'

Which basketball is bigger? Even though my sister looks like she's hiding a basketball under her shirt at all times, we put it to the ultimate test! Due to the lack of sports equipment at my parent's house, this collector's edition did just the trick. As you can see from our end result, Tabor is indeed larger than the "official size" Texas Tech basketball. He was even quite active today, and I did feel him squirm and have the hiccups. It is beyond weird. I can't wait until I can really play basketball with him though!!!!

1/22/11 - Baby On Board

I have made it to Lubbock for my sister's baby shower weekend!! Even though I missed the event (yay for delayed flights) I got to see my very pregnant sister. She looks super cute and as if she swallowed a beach ball. The next few months are definitely going to be very interesting to see her grow. Anyways, while we ditched my sister for a little bit, these crazy people above decided to play with all of Tabor's cool gifts. They all got into creating their own gremlin waay too much as you can see above. I think there must have been something in the drinks they were drinking prior!! Tabor is so lucky to be born into this mess. Trust me kid, you aren't alone, haha.

1/21/11 - All My Bags Are Packed (Again)

I'm barely squeezing this post through, but it's been quite a day! My car was too cold to start this morning (I keep saying he's just begging for a garage) and all I could think about was where I was jetting off to tomorrow!!! Hooray for sunny, dry Lubbock! Yep, headed home to see my sister and the little alien growing inside of her - weird. I'm excited to see my family and of course my puppy as well. It will be a quick trip as one could only wish we had an unlimited supply of vacation days that would allow us to spend more time with one another, but that will come later on down the road. Domingo is staying behind on this one, but I so wish he could come too. Hopefully one day soon I can show him my roots (and try very hard not to scare him with them haha).

1/20/11 - I'm a Lush

If you haven't stepped foot in this store, I strongly suggest finding your local Lush provider ASAP! This is the real reason I find my bank account deplete so frequently, but I cannot resist their luscious (no pun intended) products and their aromatic scents. Every product they have is geared towards a specific part of your body using natural products and boy-oh-boy is it a real treat! I could swim in their scents all day long. If I could have extra time in my life to work here and be paid in products, I totally would. I still remember the first time I stepped foot in this store in Italy and bought a bath bomb (fizzy ball that explodes in a bath). For some reason I never used it, but didn't stop me from returning!! What can I say? I'm a lush for Lush!!! OK....I'm off my Cloud Lush now. No go lush yourself!!!

Disclaimer: I was not paid in products by Lush to blog about their fabulous company, however, if anyone out there that would like to do so please do not hesitate to contact me at any moment as I would graciously accept your offer. Thank you in advance! :0)

1/19/11 - Worked Out

If you look closely, you'll see I burned 735 calories in one hour of pure torture tonight. I, of course, smarted off in retaliation of all the pain and exhaustion my body was going through and it got me in trouble. One day I might learn (maybe). As punishment I had to run extra with weights, hold the clipboard with a pen on my legs while sitting against the wall, and switch with someone for heavier weights. If only being in shape and physically fit didn't have to be so hard. As I am writing this, I'm watching "I Used To Be Fat" on MTV and it is like this girl is taking all of the words right out of my mouth. It's a hard journey, but you have to mentally be prepared for it first. Sometimes I'm not in that mind set at all, but as long as I force myself to go to the gym and get that torture out of the way (and attempt to have some fun in the meantime) I feel a thousand times better. There's still a lot left in my exercising journey (ie a marathon at some point in my life), but in the meantime I can totally complain about it, right??

1/18/11 - Shoe Therapy

I finally picked up my real camera, can you tell? Anyways, today I did a little retail therapy after work. Actually I was only supposed to go help out a friend in need of an emergency outfit, and she tortured me by taking me by the shoe department. I bet you can't guess what happens next? :-) Yeehaw!!!

1/17/11 - Back To Reality

I arrived to work with this lovely sign on my desk today. It's nice to work with such awesome coworkers who like to do fun things to your desk while you are away! Nancy even proudly wrote "back to reality" all over my calendar for this week. Darn her. I must commend her for all of her hard work while I was away. She did an AWESOME job. I had nothing on my desk. She didn't even have any questions for me. I told her that since she did such a good job, I should be entitled to take more vacations since she can handle it all!! Haha, let's just say she'll make sure that doesn't happen.

1/16/11 - Bear Down Chicago Bears

Da Bears have managed to win today's playoff game, leaving them to once again face the Packers next week in order to clench the NFC title (and be one step closer to the Super Bowl!!). I watched the game at Domingo's house today as the poor guy took it easy. He's been under the weather and I hope he gets better soon!

1/15/11 - Dinner Date

Dan and Mary came over tonight for our dinner date. We are trying to do these monthly that way we can all catch up and see each other and hang out for a bit. I secretly am also trying to learn all of Dan's cooking tips and tricks so that I can make a good, little wife someday.

Our menu tonight consisted of (all homemade may I add):

Appetizer: Cheese Pinwheels

Salad: Spring mix with almonds and apples in a balsamic dressing

Main Course: Lasagna (all with healthier options)

Dessert: Pink Champagne cupcakes

All of the food came out really, really good. I mean really good. It's also so fun to watch Dan run around the kitchen. He's so passionate about cooking. Anyways, it was so nice to catch up with them and Mary even asked me to be a bridesmaid in their wedding!! I am soo excited and really cannot wait for these 2 amazing people to be married! Thank you, Dan and Mary, again for everything!!

1/14/11 - Welcome Home

After being awake traveling home for what seems like 56 days, Domingo was the best person in the whole wide world and took me to Chick-fil-A for dinner. This place is seriously my favorite place to eat. Definitely a good treat after such a long day of traveling back to the U.S. I couldn't have asked for anything more!! Great food and great company!

1/13/11 - Walk This Way

We woke up early again this morning to begin another physical quest. Our goal was to make to a church in a town called Margaritas was approximately 6 miles away. The good thing with this would be the flat terrain we were walking on (no climbing). Well, the first 2 hours of walking go by and I begin to hope we are reaching our destination soon. We reach a town about 45 minutes later called Carmen and ask someone for some directions and we find out we had walked about 2 hours in the wrong direction. So, after turning around and taking 2 truck rides in our right direction we finally made it!! If my calculations are correct, we ended up walking just a little bit over 9 miles within 3 hours. Oh and yes, our legs and feet were all incredibly sore that same day. None of us could move.

Later on in the day, after we made it back to the house and relaxed a bit, we began to pack to head home. Domingo tagged our tired feet with stickers from his luggage as this was his contribution to packing. I couldn't believe the trip was coming to an end!! I had so much fun seeing another part of the world, learning new ways of life, and most of all meeting Domingo's family. They were all so welcoming and so kind to me. His grandparents were amazing and really made me miss mine. I really hope we get to go back soon!!!

1/12/11 - Time to Celebrate!

Today was filled with rich colors, a town uniting, music, dances, and you can't forget La Virgen. We walked with the rest of the town in a parade to Portezuelo's site of their old church. There we had Mass outside with live music and spiritual dances. It was incredible to see how everyone came together and it was so fun to walk in the parade. Afterwards, we went to Domingo's grandparent's house and had an amazing lunch his aunts prepared for us. It was delicious (especially those beans!!!!), but we fell into a food coma afterwards. I definitely ate way too much during my time in Mexico, but it was so hard not to - everything was so delicious!!!

1/11/11 - Soaring To New Heights

Today we woke up very early and I went off with Domingo's parents to climb this mountain a few miles away from town. We walked to the mountain, climbed it, and came back all within 2.5 hours. This quest really tested my physical ability. I thought I worked out a lot, but boy-oh-boy was I beat! Domingo's parents didn't even seem to be even sweating when I looked down at my watch and saw my heartbeat had already sky rocketed.

Once we made it to the top(ish) it made every loose rock and every lift worth it. In the distance you could see Portezuelo and there was this incredible shrine of the Virgin Mary. I felt not only proud of myself for this accomplishment, but blessed that I had been given this opportunity to come out to Mexico and experience this and so many other unforgettably incredible moments!!

1/10/11 - Turtle, Turtle

I fell in love with this little boy! There was a vendor at la plaza that sold these little inflatable turtles on leashes that rolled around on the ground. This little boy kept popping up randomly throughout the night taking his little turtle out for a walk. This was the best photo I could take, but I did creepily try to follow him and take a better one. Unfortunately, when I caught up with him, his dad had picked him up and was carrying him around (probably for the best, haha). There were other kids with these little turtles, but none were as cute as this little guy. Domingo and Stephanie can both say I became obsessed with these little turtles for the remainder of our time. Domingo even offered on numerous occasions to buy me one!

1/9/11 - Good Morning, Sunshine

We woke this morning to this band playing! For those who know, I'm not the most chipper person in the mornings and so you can only imagine my first response (especially since this wasn't too much after our daily 6:00am fireworks that scared me awake each morning). Once I finally rubbed my eyes open, I began to enjoy the band. We had a lot of good laughs though in the beginning!

1/8/11 - Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Go Portezuelo, Go!

When I was asked if I wanted to go watch baseball, I figured we were going to a little field to watch some kids throw the ball around. WRONG! These guys were playing a real game! I was told that even some professionals from the Mexico team were playing as well. It was so fun to watch. We even played in the lottery that was going on with the crowd and won twice!! Portezuelo ended up winning (by one run, I believe) and the whole experience was a home run in my book!

1/7/11 - Chano's Tacos

These amazing ladies can cook up an incredible dish!!!! We have actually been fortunate enough to have them here in Chicago at a family party before, but I had forgotten how delicious they really were. The most amazing part about this time around was I really paid attention as to how they prepared our food and these ladies are fearless! These ladies would actually place their hands inside the circular pan with bubbling oil and not even wince. It was unbelievable. Don't worry, we made sure to frequent their food a few more times throughout our time there. Mmmm I wish I could have some of their enchiladas right now...

1/6/11 - La Plaza Lights Up!

During our time in Portezuelo, Mexico, they are celebrating la Fiesta de la Senorita Guadalupe. Each night the spot to be is the town's center or la plaza. Our first night there, a band played in the gazebo and it illuminated with amazing music all night long. The evening was perfect!

1/5/11 - Red Eye Flight

We are all packed and ready to go. Even though we will be traveling all night long, once the sun wakes up we will be in Mexico! Good thing too...as we were getting ready to board the plane it started snowing in Chicago. Goodbye snowy weather, HELLO SUNSHINE!!

1/4/11 - Adios Amigos!

I'm leaving on a jet plane.....no really I am. And guess what?! I AM SO EXCITED!!! I might have accidentally packed my entire closet, but I couldn't really decide what exactly to take.

So, I'm heading south tomorrow to sunny, beautiful Mexico!!!! I am going with Domingo and his family to create some awesome memories in their hometown, Portezuelo. I will be sure to take TONS of photos, but sadly I will not be able to post my daily photos until I come back. Don't worry though, I will think of each and every one of you as I soak up some sun, spend some quality time with his family, and sip an alcoholic beverage in your name.

Hasta luego!

1/3/11 - "The Limited" Budget

For those of you who know me, you know that I: A)Never purchase items at full price or B)Do not spend more than like $5 on a pair of pants or shirt (yes, this is actually do-able).

Today, the Limited got me. I have 5 different coupons, used one, and came out spending $53 on two shirts! TWO SHIRTS!!!! Yipe. Anyways, after it all - I still find myself on their website wishing I would have got the other stuff I put back due to my miniscule budget. At what point do I become rich in my life?? I'm still waiting...and I still have more coupons to use! :0)

1/2/11 - Chicago Cheerleader

Today I was a good girlfriend by "cheering" for the Chicago Bears!! I just had my own definition of cheering! Photo is compliments of Domingo.

1/1/11 - Happy New Year!!!

Started the year off just right with the best homemade turkey/egg/cheese sandwich. Domingo even said it was his best looking one ever made (and it tasted as good as it looks-he's truly amazing). Shortly after the smoke detector started sounding, haha!

Here's to a wonderful year ahead. Fasten your seat belts, it's gonna get awesome!