Putting forth effort always

I found this article today, and thought it was great advice for anyone in a relationship.

Tips to Reviving Your Relationship

Do you and your sweetheart carve out quality alone-time together every week? Do you both take responsibility for it, or does the task fall to one or the other of you? Do you allow “real” interruptions to get in the way and spoil your planned time together?

Here are a few simple suggestions to prioritize your partner:

1. Meet once a week to look at your schedules and set aside time for each other.
2. At least once a week, plan a date night. Once a month, plan a date day (that’s right, a whole day from morning to evening). Once each quarter, plan a weekend get-away. Once each year, plan a week away together.
3. Mark your planned time in your calendar, just like a dentist appointment or an appointment with a client. Write it in ink! Mark yourself out for a block of time.
4. Take turns planning your dates each week.
5. Do the grocery shopping and buy a bouquet of flowers for your partner.
6. Write a love note and leave it for your partner to find.
7. Take a break from watching TV and doing laundry or other chores. Go to bed early and share massages, talk, or cuddle.
8. Turn off the TV, turn on the stereo and have a talk.
9. Kiss your mate Good Morning and Good Night every day. Just say, “I love you.”

Think back to when you first started dating. What did you do? What things did you both enjoy that you no longer make time to do? Why did you fall in love?

Let your creative juices flow. Let your imagination go wild. Anything goes.

Celebrate yourself and each other. Embrace the moment, and the gift of your love.

My Everything

I blog when I have a lot on my mind. OR, maybe not a lot on my mind so much as one thing driving me nuts. So good news, I’ve had nothing to report on in the last few weeks! =)

Well, nothing I can tell the world about without getting in trouble, anyways….

On a happy note, I’m getting married in 12 days and I cannot wait!!  Captain Awesome amazes me every single day. There’s not a person in the world that can be a better friend, lover, partner, and just all-around amazing person. He makes me so happy! We truly do have that FOREVER kind of love.

Starting June Off Right

Oh dear!  It’s been quite some time since I’ve blogged!  I’m sorry for being such a slacker.  Life hasn’t really been all that busy… just low-key.  Nothing really to complain about, talk about, brag about, think about.

Work has been busy: I’m authoring a sales certification class, getting approval to implement a learning management system, updating the DT Spoon site, and working on a internal communications program.  It’s hard to keep it all straight sometimes. I’m really struggling with focus and proper time management.  Maybe I need to teach myself a class..

Home life has been good:  I finally moved all of my stuff into Jason’s house last week. I now have a daunting pile in the garage that I’m slowly but surly working on. Most of it is junk I wanna sell, but stuff isn’t selling on Half.com or eBay.  Charlie gets bigger everyday, still. He’s just over 5 months old and has the attitude of a teenager. Most of the time he’s cute; some days he’s downright ornrey. Captain Awesome is pretty much awesome all the time… except when he insists on sleeping on the couch. I need to let it go, but it totally bothers the crap outta me.

We have 75 days to go until the wedding! =)  Just the other day it was 100… so pretty soon it’ll be 50.. then 25… then we’ll be flying out… landing… get the license… takin’ the elevator up to the top of the tower… and saying “I do”!  AAAAAHHHHH!!!! =)  Scary, but super perfect at the same time.

OK — that’s all I got for now. Gotta get some work done.

A Beautiful Saturday

Today is Melanie’s wedding. It’s been a hott minute since I’ve seen her or any of the Fab 5, so I am super pumped to see everyone today!! =)  I’m excited for Melanie. I think we’ve both found really awesome guys that make OUR and THEIR lives better… instead of guys who need us to make themselves “better”.

I’m coloring my hair right now. I think the color is called Toasted Caramel? Toasted Almond?  I dunno… Close to my natural color but with blonde highlights.

The weather is so beautiful, I can hardly stand being inside. The only reason I’m inside right now is to do my hair before the wedding. Charlie and I laid out for about an hour this morning. It was so so so nice. He was super cute, too. He’d play with his bone for a little bit, and then flop down next to me and lay in the sun with me until he got too hot.

Time to go rinse. I’ll have a full report & pix from the wedding tomorrow. Also, tomorrow is the Walk!  Love you, Baby Jayden!! I’ll have the latest news and pix from the walk, too!!

LOVE!

To-Do List Eaten By Housepet; Owner Relieved

I always survive life much less damaged when I have a To-Do List. Lately it’s been like being in a hurricane, probably because I didn’t have a written-in-stone To-Do list to work from.  But I feel like the winds are going to calm down soon.  As soon as I chisel that To-Do list.

We made a big change to the wedding this past weekend. After working really hard to find the $$ to pull the thing off, I found out that I’d be losing a pretty good chunk of my salary due to cuts.  That basically eliminated all possible funding I’d have for a big local wedding, and it was actually a big relief to not have the money to do it. The wedding was turning into quite the big affair, and honestly … I just want to be with Jason. I don’t care to have a big show with tons of people. From the beginning we said we wanted something small & intimate. Something that shows off our personalities. We’re not show-stopping, flashy people… so how are we going to get married, you ask?  LOL  In Flashy, Fabulous Las Vegas!

We’d thought about Vegas a couple different times since getting engaged (and before that, too) and it just makes sense. We don’t want to spend a bunch of money. We don’t want to have something huge. We just want our most important family & friends there with us. And our trip to Vegas was already planned and paid for. It was just a matter of tackin’ on a quick wedding! =)

So back to the To-Do List. I have a lot @ work that needs to get checked off. Tomorrow I’m going to wrap up the design phase of at least 2 eCourses I’m working on. This weeks is very busy with various meetings and appointments. Hopefully next week I’ll have plenty of time to dedicate to my To-Do List.

In the meantime… I’ll attack the list whenever I have a few minutes free. So, back to work for me!!

Playing Catch-Up

So I’ve been totally slacking on the blog lately. It kinda seems like if I’m in a good mood and things are going well, I have nothing to say. Apparently I blog when I have things to complain about.

The only things going on in life right now is wedding planning, work, and keeping up with Charlie. I spend the grand majority of my time with Jason, of course. We’re going to start working on organizing and painting his house so that I can start moving stuff in.

Last weekend we visited Jason’s cousin Jordan in Cinci, and stayed at her boyfriend’s house. We went to Funny Bone Comedy Club in Newport Harbor to see comedian Jeff Dye. He was hilarious, and I got a picture taken with him after the show.

Kristin & Jeff Dye

In medical news… I had a upper endoscopy done last Friday to see what’s going on in my tummy. Nothing major to report. There’s the possibility of ulcers, but nothing really obvious showed up.

Things have been amazing with my Captain Awesome. We always have so much fun together, whether we’re just hanging out at home, out shopping, or out on the town. I smile constantly because of him. He’s my everything.

Kristin & Jason in Cincinnati

Well today I laughed pretty hard and I must share it with you. If you haven’t yet seen these videos, you are certainly missing out.

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YAY!

OK… I’ve been trying not to do this, but I just have to brag.

I’m getting married to Captain Awesome!!!

I’m so so so excited and so so so super happy!! I’ve tried to be really grown up and mature about it, but I just can’t hold it in anymore. I want the world to know how extremely happy I am!  The pieces are finally fitting together, and life is so bright and fun!!!

You’re My Sunday

Sometimes the words just pour out of my head and onto the screen. Other times, the thoughts and feelings are running so strong that there’s no hope for getting them to make sense in my own head; let alone for the world to read. Usually when I’m really struggling to bring words and meaning to the things I’m thinking and feeling, I listen to music. I find a lot of songs that express what my brain cannot unlock.

This goes out to my Captain Awesome.  You’re My Sunday.

Don’t you love waking up
and don’t have to rush ’cause you ain’t got much to do
Lay in bed with the TV on all day long
if you wanted to
You spend so much time
worried bout whats coming up next
Can’t even find a little room a little space
Even catch a breath

When life is like a hurricane
Flying off the rails like a fast train
Everything around me is so insane
You come and take it all away
You’re my Sunday

You show up right on time
Just when I need to take it slow
It’s a mystery how easily you found the key
That always brings me home
You have a way of taking
The noise and drowning it out
I don’t know what I would do
If I woke up and you were not around

When life is like a hurricane
Flying off the rails like a fast train
Everything around me is so insane
You come and take it all away
You’re my Sunday

You’re My Sunday by Jessica Simpson

Because of Jason

For a long time, marriage just didn’t seem all that important to me. I’ve always loved the idea of marriage and thought that sharing that bond with someone is truly amazing. I just didn’t think I’d get to feel that amazing connection with someone… until I fell head over heels for Jason!!

I love how comfortable I am with him. I love the simplicity of our time together. I love cooking dinner for him. I love cuddling on the couch while he watches basketball. I love our chats about work and the people we work with. I love Love LOVE looking into his eyes and knowing that I’m his forever.

Because of Jason… FOREVER isn’t scary. The impossible is totally possible. The dream is now reality. And I’m blissfully happy.

Purpose, Direction… Faith, Love.

“I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving… we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it… but we must sail and not drift nor lie at anchor.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Life sure is moving in a different direction these days, and I am so happy with how things are going. Two years ago I would never have thought I’d be HAPPY, let alone engaged to the greatest guy on the planet and looking forward to a truly spectacular life. It’s taken a lot of hard work… a lot of tears… a lot of laughter. But most of all, a lot of faith.

My friends tell me they are surprised by how quickly I’ve changed my life, and how much I’ve changed it for the better. They look to me as a role model for finding happiness, or getting back on track. This boggles me. It humbles me. But most of all, it scares me. It’s been a very hard road. Yes, it’s been short and probably looks easy from the outside… But I just want to somehow make them understand, I would not have wished my struggles upon my worst enemy.  Yes, it was the best decision for ME, but it certainly wasn’t easy.

My best friend Katie calls me a Type A.  I’m so crazy detail-oriented and on top of things. I certainly wouldn’t have survived the past couple of years if I hadn’t had a very clear, well-defined end goal in mind. I wouldn’t have been able to get through much of the unfortunate things my family has faced this past year if I had not been focused.

But most of all, I wouldn’t have gotten to where I am today if I didn’t have my Captain Awesome to calm and center me. To give me purpose and direction, faith and love. He’s my everything, and I’m so proud and humbled to be asked to stand by his side for the rest of our lives.