did you know...

HALLOWEEN IS COMINGGGGG?!

this weekend is going to be full of nonstop costume making.

we've been slacking a little this year and now we have to make up for it.

our costumes are always a surprise but i can tell you for my costume i'm going to take a twin size blanket and turn it into something awesome.

intrigued? well of course you are!

Matt and i are the king and queen of halloween!

you can read all about our most ridiculously awesome homemade costumes here and here but i'll recap the greats real quick in photos.

2007- Michelangelo and a foot soldier

2009- Carol and Max from Where the Wild Things Are

2010 - Buzz and Woody

Matt's face in this picture cracks me up!

i'm really excited for this year's costume!! 

it's not as detailed as Buzz and Woody so hopefully we won't be up until 3:00 AM every night trying to make it but i think it's gonna turn out amazing!

too good not to share

you can thank me later

we're in love

so my weekend didn't go exactly as planned.

instead of getting to be with my hubsy 100 percent of the time he had to work all day on saturday.

sad face.

but i do have a really cute story to tell.

so Matt gets up at the crack of dawn on saturday to go to work. i think it was like 5 AM.

he gives me a kiss and heads out the door and i fall back asleep.

a little while later i'm woken up by Matt coming back in the room and hugging me sooo tight and saying "are you all right? i got to work and thought i forgot to close the garage door so i've been calling and calling and you didn't answer so i got scared something happened to you."

turns out my phone was on vibrate so i didn't hear it go off so he drove all the way back home to make sure i was ok.

is that not the sweetest thing you've ever heard??

i guess i think it's especially sweet because Matt is definitely not the worrying type.

he's always making fun of me for getting scared when he doesn't come home on time or doesn't answer his phone so the fact that he was worried about me and drove the 20 minutes back home when he was already at work just to check on me is quite possibly the cutest thing he's ever done.

he must really love me!

TGIF

this is one of those weeks i'm super glad is over.

i definitely need a break from work. i've been typing so much i'm starting to get cramps and spasms in my arms. no bueno.

i got a haircut. i hate it.

Matt worked so much i started to forget what he looks like. 

oh yeah...he looks like that. 

i've been extremely nauseous this week. i don't feel like eating at all. hummus especially makes me sick for some reason. oh hummus, how i love you and you torture me.

i'm just so ready for a weekend of me and Matt and food and sleep and House.

which we recently got into a decade after everyone else and i like it.

it makes me laugh.

hellooooooooo weekend!

puppy snuggles

sometimes Padme snuggles my shoulder while we watch tv together.

she loves me!

A to Z

so i've been seeing this all over in blogland this week and i want to play!

A: Age:  23

B: Bed size:  king

C: Chore that you hate:  cleaning the shower. it's so awkward.

D: Dogs:  i love my Padme!

E:  Essential start to your day: breakfast. i love me some breakfast food. ron swanson and i have that in common.

F: Favorite color:  lime ricky

G: Gold or silver:  silver

H: Height:  5'3'' i'm a shorty

I: Instruments you play:  piano

J: Job title:  transcriptionist of amazing ability

K: Kids:  just a puppy. she's my baby.

L: Live:  in arizona but someday somewhere awesome

M: Mother's name:  if i put her real name she'll kill me so...june

N: Nicknames:  nik, nini, kikki, honey bunches

O: Overnight hospital stays:  long time ago for not being able to breathe. good reason right?

P: Pet peeve:  when Matt eats at the computer and gets crumbs all over my keyboard. ugh!

Q: Quote from a movie:  "empire records open 'til midnight this is Mark...MIDNIGHT!"

R: Right or left handed:  righty

S: Siblings:  four of them

T: Time you wake up:  when i feel like it...not really

U: Underwear:  could be more comfortable

V: Vegetable you hate:  those little tiny baby corns

W: What makes you run late:  Matt

X: X-rays you've had:  chest, teeth, arm, collar bone

Y: Yummy food that you make:  pizza rolls

Z: Zoo animal:  penguins!

birthday pillows

lately we have been celebrating birthdays like crazy!

every weekend for the past couple months we've had a party to attend. it's insane!

i just wanted to show off the gifts i made for my niece and nephew.

Carissa turned 5 and is loving Hello Kitty right now so her gift was a Hello Kitty pillow.

and McKay turned 9 and is super into Captain America so here's his pillow.

both of them were a big hit!

Carissa told me she slept with her pillow and McKay was such a sweetheart and thanked me a million times for his.

i seriously have the cutest nieces and nephews ever!

and just for your viewing pleasure, Matt and i being nerdy.

jumping pics

so i was going through some old photos and i realized something.

Matt and i took this picture on a trip in colorado when we were first engaged.

and ever since this picture was taken in 2006 we've been taking jumping pictures in different places.

washington 2008

sedona 2011

and my favorite wedding photo 2006

now that i'm aware we've taken pictures in four different cities and three different states we are definitely going to do this everywhere we go and for every major event!

best surprise ever

so i went to the doctor this week.
i had every intention of going in and saying "hey lady, this pill you gave me isn't doing diddly squat. fix it!"
but instead she came in the room and before i could say anything she told me i've lost 10 pounds this past month.
say whaaaaaat??
who's happy about this?
THIS GIRL!

the scale we have at home is most definitely broken.
best surprise ever? YES!

sleepy carl

so i have some words to say about Sleepy Carl.

has anyone ever heard that joke by Mike Birbiglia?

Matt and i heard this a couple months ago and i would be willing to swear on anything worth swearing on that he is talking about Matt in this joke instead of himself.

Matt is SO not a morning person.

so ever since we heard this joke i've been calling morning Matt Sleepy Carl.

you see, Matt doesn't actually become Matt until after he takes a shower in the morning.

when i first try to wake him up by being nice and giving him snuggles he grumble grumble grumbles and rolls over in a huff.

then he takes a shower and he's nice and lovey and his usual self.

i don't think people really believe me when i tell them about this until they experience it first hand.

like when we went to San Diego with my family and Matt absolutely 100 percent refused to get out of bed and get ready even though the rest of us were up.

or when we helped with my nephew's birthday party early in the morning and my sister actually asked if something was wrong with him because he wasn't acting like himself.

that's when i tell everyone "sorry he's not Matt right now, he's Sleepy Carl."

so i guess i'd just like to say...thank you Mike Birbiglia for giving a name to my husband's grumpiness in the morning. it makes it seem funny instead of annoying.

that one time we...

bought a puffer fish!!

a dwarf puffer fish to be exact and that's the day i fell in love with a fish.

isn't he the coolest?? we named him Gideon to go along with our Scott Pilgrim themed fish names.

we got him because i read that dwarf puffers can take care of snail problems in your tank.

and seriously, within minutes of putting little Gideon in the tank he was chowing down on those snails like nobody's business!

Matt and i watched and cheered as he ate snail after snail and his belly got all big and chubby!

here's a video of him in action.

we've had a few people tell us that these puffers are meanies and will kill the other fish in our tank but since we have three red tailed sharks in there with him and they're pretty aggressive too everything seems to be a-okay.

the sharks don't even seem to notice him and he's too in love with his own reflection to notice them.

he's seriously the coolest ever!

happy

here's a super short friday health update since friday is almost over now and i have a puppy playdate to get to!

this week i feel....

i seriously think i'm falling into a great rhythm.

yay me!

it's the little things

so i saw from the aisle to aloha was doing the cutest link up ever and i just had to do it.

here's my list of the little things that make me happy!

**cloudy skies and temps below 100**

it might still be 97 degrees out right now but i'm still excited!

i love love LOVE when the weather is stormy and all those puffy clouds fill the sky!

**chocolate teddy grahams**

how could you not love these guys?

they're cute and they're delicious!

and i found out they're completely milk free! booyahhh!

**80s music**

nothing gets me in a better mood than some classic rock or 80s dance song!

my dad always tells me i was born way too late.

one of my favorites is you spin me round.

you can watch the real video here but it's super creeptastic so i choose to put the one by adam sandler from the wedding singer.

which also reminds me that i super d duper love the wedding singer.

mental note to watch that this weekend.

**fresh fruit snack**

does it get any better? i think not.

**watching old, nerdy tv series with the hubsy**

right now it's x files.

we are awesome!

busy busy bees

today is one of those days where i feel like i need a vacation from our vacation.

our long weekend was PACKED with stuff.

friday:

Matt didn't go into work he just finished some things from home and i had a half day so we were able to run errands and get a couple things done.

including finally getting my associates degree paperwork all filled out and submitted to MCC.

that's right, it's been 3 years since i've taken a class at MCC but i finally submitted all the paperwork and i now have an associates degree for realz.

i am awesome!

then we went out to joe's crab shack for dinner because Matt's sister gave us a gift card for our bdays and we haven't had a chance to use it yet.

and boy oh boy am i a fan of the shack now!

i can't believe i've never been there before!

actually i can because it's a little on the pricey side for us but it is SO good!

we went all out and got calamari and a steampot and a shrimp platter and just devoured everything.

NOM NOM NOM!

and the best part?

the bibs!

we had so much fun pretending to be experts with crab legs!

saturday:

my little nephew J.J. isn't so little anymore. he got baptized and i can't even believe it!

when did he get so old??

he got baptized in 29 Palms, CA so we made the long 4 1/2 hour drive just to be there on his special day.

he was so cute and SO excited!

here he is showing off his new CTR ring.

we're so proud of him!

we got to eat yummy food and play around with the other nephews for a bit before making the drive back that same day.

it was a long but awesome day!

sunday:

while Matt caught up on sleep i had to wake up and finish some work before church then it's a quick rush home to change before dinner at the in-law's.

sundays always seem so much shorter than i want them to be.

monday:

Josue and Elba invited us to Wet N Wild because Josue got free tickets from work and we are all about free theme park tickets.

we rode on every single slide and had a blast!

and i don't know how it's possible but i always ended up with the worst position on the tubes.

ya know the one that goes backwards or gets thrown up on the sides and drenched with water?

that was always the seat i was in!

and by the time we got home from Wet N Wild-ing we were too tired to do anything else but lay around and go to bed early.

so it was a crazy crazy busy weekend but full of amazingly fun things!

i wish i could say we'll relax this weekend to make up for it but every weekend in the foreseeable future seems to be just as packed.

we need to stop being so popular!

update

time to share how this week went with my new diet.

it started off reaaaaaaally crappy.

in that extra long post i said i had made it almost 2 full days sugar/carb free and felt exhausted and not any better than before.

in fact i felt worse, much much worse. i was like a walking zombie.

i was tired and grumpy and had a constant migraine and was starving and sad. so sad.

obviously that didn't work. i didn't like feeling that way and, let's face it, nobody wants to be near me when i'm that way.

so for a couple days i gave in and ate carbs and started feeling better and now... my plan is changing up a tiny bit.

i'm still trying to not eat sugars and carbs in the form of cookies and breads and candy and rice and crap like that but i need more natural sugars in my diet to balance out the work that the metformin does.

right now i'm doing this by adding more fruit into my diet. sometimes in the morning i'll make really yummy smoothies with coconut milk and berries with a little peanut butter thrown in there for protein. (and because i really love peanut butter.)

they are so delish! Matt even has me make him one in the morning too.

i've also started eating a snack in the afternoon that consists of a handful of mixed nuts and a couple dried apricots or some other fruit.

again, delicious and helps keep my blood sugar balanced throughout the day.

it's working well so far. i can go days without needing to just flat out eat carbs but i do if i start feeling extra sick so i can bring my blood sugar up fast.

i think i'm actually starting to get the hang of this metabolic syndrome diet thingy-ma-do.

and now, just for funzies, a little rant.

now that my diet basically consists of meat, veggies and fruit Matt and i find it incredibly hard to go out anywhere.

can't go fast food because they always have milk in everything and usually it's a carb overload.

can't go to a restaurant unless all i want to eat is salad with no cheese or creamy dressing.

and personally, i find it stupid to go out to a restaurant and pay $10 for a salad i could've made at home for free.

so we eat at home. always.

it's a huge bummer.

it makes me laugh at those people that are allergic to gluten and make a huge deal out of it.

i just look and them and think "really? you're really complaining to ME about that?"

every single grocery store now has a special area dedicated to gluten free foods.

pastas and baked goods. even bisquick has a specific gluten free kind now.

and most restaurants offer gluten free meals too.

i mean, i'm sure it sucks to live a gluten free life.

in fact, i know it sucks because i basically do.

but i also live a lactose free life and a sugar free life and besides a little complaining about it here on my blog i don't really make it a big deal.

i'm allowed to complain here because i'm basically just complaining to myself but in a setting where there's a bunch of family or friends around, i don't talk about it because this is just how i do things now and that's that.

so gluten free people, suck it up and realize how good you actually have it.

end of rant!

now i'm gonna go hurry through my work because hubsy got the day off work so we're gonna do something fun today!

things i need to do

1. go to a thrift store and buy something ridiculous. it's been way too long.

2. sew something.

3. buy an article of clothing. seeing as how i honestly cannot remember the last time i bought an article of clothing, i think it's time.

4. start on this year's halloween costume.

5. have an 80s movie marathon.

6. find something to get Matt for our anniversary. i'm thinking something along the lines of this.

or this.

but only if the sexy girl comes with it because you know i'm not dressing like that.

USA

i cannot tell you how much i love this picture.

it makes me laugh every single time i look at it!

ps. i really love this girl's tumblr. she's the cutest girl ever and i wish i was her.