just natalie

Real Housewives Drama!

2010-02-19T10:50:00.000-08:00

Do any of yall watch Real Housewives??? I LOVE Real Housewives of Anywhere..but Orange County is probably my favorite...with New Jersey as a close second! :)

Anyways, Did yall watch last night?

I love all the drama...I just get sucked right in!

So all the girls went to lunch and everyone attacked Vicki. Now, I'm not Vicki's biggest fan, but the girl is a hard worker, and if I were in her shoes, I definitely would have felt like the victim.

Alexis is my least favorite. She seems so fake and hypocritical. And I hate how she always talks about how hard being a mom is when she doesn't have a job outside the house and has nannys! My mom raised three girls and worked a fulltime job my entire childhood. Now that is hard.

What did yall think of last night's episode??

Happy Friday!! :)

2010-02-19T10:39:00.000-08:00

Hi girls! Hope you have all had a good week! It's Friday!

The sun is out today...It's 47 degrees & gorgeous out! This is the warmest it's been in weeks and the first sunny day in soooo long! I'm loving it!

This weekend we are just going to take it easy! Tonight I have to work for a little while, then we'll probably just have dinner here at home and rent a movie.

Tomorrow night, Dustin's sister has her last basketball game of the season. He loves to watch her play, so we will do that tomorrow night.

Sunday mornings, I always have to work, then I like to come home and take a nice long nap. After my nap, we usually go grab a light lunch somewhere, but we are really trying to cut back on eating out so we might skip that this week.

Then Sunday night, we go to dinner at my parent's house. Every Sunday, we all go over there and eat dinner and catch up with one another. It's one of the things I look forward to every week!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Oops

2010-02-17T20:29:00.000-08:00

I have a confession. My "diet" has not gone so well. I just can't get back on track. I've been having a few of these a week:

Chick-Fil-A Ice Dream cones. Gosh...These tast like heaven. And at only 160 calories, they aren't a horrible snack...but Lord knows I could find something better.

Ch-ch-changes....

2010-02-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

Over the past few days, I've really done some soul searching and made some tough decisions about my future. I graduated high school a semester early and went to a local community college. I didn't really know what I wanted to study, so I took general education classes. I really just wasn't prepared for college or all the work that it would entail. Then, on January 31, 2005 one of my best friends, Megan, died in a car accident. We had sort of grown apart through high school, but anytime I saw her it was never awkward and we could pick right back up where we left off. So one Saturday night, my mom and dad called me, and told me they had seen Megan at Mass and she told them to have me call her. I blew it off...Being 18 and thinking I knew everything, I felt like if she wanted to hang out with me, she could call me. So stupid. Anyways, that night after she left the church, she went to babysit and then was headed to a friend's house. She hit a patch of ice and wrapped her VW Bug around a tree. She was on life support for a few days before she finally went to heaven. This was so hard on me because I had already graduate high school and felt so distant from all of my high school friends, but they are who I needed the most. Anyways, I really had a hard time dealing with it. I drank, stayed out all night, missed weeks of classes. That was the beginning of my excuses for not doing good in my classes, and eventually not going to them period. So from 2005-2007, I enrolled every semester, went to the first few weeks of classes, and eventually quit going.

Then in 2007, I met Dustin. He put a new energy in me. I wanted to succeed, not just for me, but for us and for our future. He was so unbelievably supportive of me. I decided I wanted to go to Nursing School and started working on my pre-reqs. I did okay, but I just felt like I was in over my head. So I sat down, and tried to think of another plan. I decided to persue an Associate's Degree in Office Systems Technology with a Healthcare Administration concentration. That way, I could get a job in a doctor's office or a hospital and eventually go on to Nursing School. So I started taking the classes I had left to finish up, which when I figured it out on paper, would only be two semesters. Then, I talked to my advisor...I only had about two semesters of classes left, but the way they are offered (either in Spring or Fall only) and the pre-reqs I needed for other necessary classes would end up taking me another year and a half. This was so frustrating because all this time that I've been in school, I've been nannying for 12-15 hours a week and Dustin has been paying both of our bills. We are just in over our heads and can't get ahead with only one person working.

My little sister, Rachel, enrolled in a CNA class right after Christmas of this year. She has loved it and done really well in it. And the best part is it is such a short program, then she can start working. What I've decided to do, is to take the CNA class from March 29-April 22, nanny (full time) during the summer, and then get a CNA job in the fall. Then, in January, I am going to sign up for the Licensed Practical Nursing program. The LPN program only lasts for one year and then after that, if you want to go from LPN to a Registered Nurse, you can take a year of classes here at a community college and you're done.

I am so excited to finally have a good plan. With both of us working full time, our relationship will be so much less stressed. We can finally work towards getting ahead, instead of just getting by. I am so blessed to have Dustin. He supports me in anything I want to do, as long as it's what makes me happy. I know this is what is best for me right now and for our relationship in the long run. I can't wait to get started!

Love is in the Air

2010-02-12T08:24:00.001-08:00

Valentine's Day is this weekend! :) I don't really get that into Valentine's Day..I'd rather celebrate all year long :)

I'm not sure what we'll be up to for Valentine's Day, probably just dinner & a movie or something like that.

Here's a picture of my Valentine's this year:

Dustin and our fur baby, Sadie :)

Happy Valentine's Day, ladies!

Just One of Those Days

2010-02-11T13:11:00.000-08:00

Have yall ever had a day where you just couldn't get going?? Well that was definitely me today. I don't have class on Tues/Thurs, so I usually work on my online classes and try and get stuff done around the house.

Well today, I just couldn't wake up. I slept until about 10:00..Then laid in bed and watched the end of the Today Show (with my beloved Kim K as a guest co-host) and then Ellen. So when I finally got up I MADE myself do Day One of my Barry's Bootcamp DVDs (I'll post about that later)...So I took a shower and got dressed and headed to get my oil changed. On the way, I stopped and got a car wash and visited with my mammaw and pappaw, and then finally made it to Wal-Mart. So I go in and they tell me it'll be about an hour. I went and picked up a few magazines and camped out in their little waiting room. So finally an hour and a half later, I asked about how much longer it would be...and no one had even touched my car yet :( Since I had to pick Dustin up at work at 3:30, I just didn't have enough time to wait anymore, so I left without getting it done.

Oh well. Enough of me whining. So...I got home this afternoon and guess what was at my door!? My package from Susan! (http://www.susan-mythoughts.blogspot.com/) Definitely a nice surprise on a blah day! :) She even included a extra little something for me...A cute polka dot purse with "N" monogrammed on it! So sweet. Thanks again Susan :) If you haven't already, go check out her blog!

I NEED THE SUN!!!

2010-02-10T17:05:00.001-08:00

I know alot of yall are getting blasted with snow...We had some flurries today, but no accumulation, and DANG was it cold! I'm talkin freezing! With the wind blowing it felt even colder :( I swear, I feel like I haven't seen the sun in ages! Here's what I'm dealing with this week:

I know it could be a lot colder, but I am so over clouds and rain/snow all the time :(

So, to get my dose of (artificial) sunlight, I've been hitting up the tanning bed. Bleh.

Give me spring time!!

Teen Mom

2010-02-09T06:13:00.000-08:00

Do any of yall watch this show? I'm obsessed! It's kind of embarrassing how much I like it, but I just can't stop watching. I can't imagine getting pregnant and having a baby at such a young age, but all of these girls do and it shows how they handle baby, work, school, significant other, etc.. Last week was the reunion show with Dr. Drew, and this week they are having a special with unseen footage. I can't wait.

Here's a rundown on what I think of the girls.

First..My very favorite is Catelynn:

This is a picture of her and her now fiancee Tyler. He proposed on the season finale. They are just soooo in love and have the most sense of anyone on the show. They made the incredibly selfless decision to give their baby up for adoption. I absolutely love these two.

Next, is Maci. She's from Tennessee like me, and I really like her too.

Here's Maci with Baby Bentley and her baby daddy Ryan. Ryan is sooo mean to Maci and all she wants is for him to spend time with her and Bentley, but he'd rather do anything else. I think he is really uncomfortable in front of the cameras, but still no excuse for how he talks to Maci.

Now, these are my least favorite girls. Amber & Farrah.

Let's talk about Amber (on the left) first. She is

incredibly lazy and treats Gary like a DOG! I'm sure Gary is far from perfect, but you can tell he really loves her and would do anything for her.

Then there's Farrah. She totally cut her baby daddy out of her life and there's never any mention of him on the show. The thing about Farrah is that she is so wrapped up in dating and finding someone to be with that her mother would watch Sophia ALL the time so she could go out with guys/friends. Towards the end of the show, she started to act like she regretted that and wanted to spend more time with Sophia, so hopefully that's changed. The other thing I can't stand about Farrah is sooo disrespectful to her parents. If I EVER talked to my mom like Farrah talks to hers, I'd get smacked right in the mouth. Especially considering Farrah lives at home and she helps with Sophia so much! Apparently, after filming wrapped, Farrah and her mom got in some sort of "domestic dispute" and her mom ended up in jail! Hopefully they'll talk more about that tonight.

Anyways..I'm sure alot of editing is done to make things appear one way and make for better TV, but I can't quit watching it!

The Past Few Days...

2010-02-09T04:46:00.000-08:00

First, a big THANK YOU! to Susan over at http://www.susan-mythoughts.blogspot.com/ Remember her giveaway I posted about? Well...I won!! How exciting! It was my first time ever even entering to win a blog giveaway, and I did! What a great way to start the week!

We had a great weekend! Sunday we had dinner at my parent's house for the Super Bowl and to celebrate Dustin's birthday. Everything was sooo good! After we ate, mom and dad were ready to relax and get ready for another work week, so we headed to a friend's house to meet up with my sister and her hubby to watch the rest of the game.

I should explain my different outfits....I am a true bandwagon fan. Colts vs. Saints was who I wanted to end up in the Super Bowl. Not because of any players or anything about football at all really. I LOVE Kim Kardashian (who dates Reggie Bush who plays for the Saints) and Kendra Wilkinson (who is married to Hank Baskett who plays for the Colts). So obviously this was a great match up for me :) Everyone here in good ole Tennessee was rooting for the Colts because Peyton went to UT. So, I chose the Saints to win because I'm partial to anything Kardashian, I just love them. So the first picture is my real outfit, sportin the black and gold. I found the Peyton jersey in my sister's room at my parent's house and put it on for a few quick pics after the Colts scored.

Yesterday was so busy for me! I had class in the morning, and then I went to meet up with sissy. We took the plunge and joined Weight Watchers. I am so excited we finally did it, because knowing that you are gonna have to step on the scale in front of people is so motivating for me to eat right. After WW, I went all over town getting Dustin's birthday presents together. We were supposed to pick up his truck yesterday afternoon, so I got him a license plate cover, air fresheners, a car charger and just different little stuff he could use in the car. So, I went to pick him up and head out to meet the guy with the truck, and turns out the guy we are buying the truck from had a family emergency, so we didn't get it yet. I know Dustin was disappointed, but we ended up having a good night anyway. We went and did a little shopping and then had a delicious dinner at Kanpai, one of our very favorite restaurants. Then we came home and watched the For the Love of Ray J 2 Reunion..I just love trashy reality TV..It got juicy :)

I'm off work all this week, because the kids I watch are moving so until they get settled in their new house (which is GORGEOUS!) I have some extra time to get caught up on school work and get the house in order. Maybe I should get started on the mountains of laundry I have to do! Blah!

Thank God It's Friday!

2010-02-05T04:41:00.000-08:00

I am sooooo glad the weekend is finally here! The last few days of this week just drug by! This is a big weekend for us. Here's what we'll be up to:

Friday night--Dustin's sister has a high school basketball game we are going to go to. He is a HUGE basketball fan so he loves to watch her play. After the game, we are going to go out to dinner somewhere.
Saturday morning--Going to pick up Dustin's truck! I am sooo excited about this, we have had to share a car for the past few months, so this is a long time coming! After we get the truck we have to go get tags/insurance and all of that fun stuff!
Saturday night--I have to work at the church nursery and then I'm going out to dinner with sissy! Dustin is going to the UT basketball game and to watch the UFC fight with one of his best friends.
Sunday morning--I work until about noon, then I'll come home and take my "Sunday nap".

Sunday night--We are going to my parent's house to watch the Super Bowl and to celebrate Dustin's birthday. His birthday is on Monday, so we are celebrating early with my family :)

This weekend will be a busy one, but I am definitely looking forward to it! What are all of you up to this weekend?

Happy Birthday to Susan!

2010-02-03T18:38:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to Susan!

In honor of Susan's 42nd birthday she's doing an amazing giveaway! Go on over to her blog here: http://susan-mythoughts.blogspot.com/ and enter for a chance to win some fun, girly things!

Wishful Wednesday: Spotlight

2010-02-03T09:19:00.000-08:00

I've decided to join in the fun and participate in Kelsey @ The Seattle Smith's "Wishful Wednesday".'I wish' .... I could have stolen P!NK's spotlight at the Grammy's!

This was such a no brainer for me! I was in awe

the whole time she performed! Her performance

was absolutely breathtaking, not to mention,

her body is flawless!

In case you didn't see it, she sang her song "Glitter in the Air" and did a trapeze-like performance. She sounded great, never once did she sound out of breath or anything! It was like Cirque du Soleil meets a P!NK concert. It was truly amazing and a breath of fresh air.

Power of Prayer

2010-02-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

Today my grandmother had surgery to remove a lump in her breast. This is especially scary for me because I lost my other grandmother to breast cancer when I was just a little girl. Her surgery was scheduled for 4:00, but she didn't go back until about 6:30. She is out of surgery and in recovery now. Everything went well, so hopefully the recovery process will be quick.

She has had a tough year healthwise but she is a fighter and I have to trust that God will pull her through this as well.

All prayers for her are greatly appreciated.

Here I Am!

2010-02-01T10:26:00.001-08:00

Hi everyone! I've decided to give blogging a try! My sweet sissy has a super cute blog over at http://www.sweetsassysoutherland.blogspot.com/ . She's my blogspiration :)

I decided to start keeping a blog to help me lose some weight. I lost bout 40 pounds and felt great..but over the course of a year I've gained about 25-30 of it back! Yuck! I'm not even sure the exact number because I moved my scale out of the bathroom. So now that the holidays are over and summer is just around the corner, I have no excuses. What really helped me when I lost weight the first time was the accountability I had at a weight loss study I participated in. I ate 1,200 calories a day, tried to move a little more and the weight fell off. No big secret there. I just need someone to keep me on track and weigh me every week. So Emily and I have decided to join Weight Watchers this Wednesday. She had great results on the program this summer before her wedding, but she fell off the wagon with me over the holidays. Too much good food everywhere we turned! I'm really nervous, but excited at the same time. I think it'll be great for us, and it'll be a set time I get to see my sissy every week, which is tough because of her work schedule and my school schedule.

I have so many reasons I want to lose this weight (for good this time). First of all, and the most exciting reason, I'm ENGAGED! Dustin popped the question on January 5. Even though we haven't made any plans, I'm so excited..But dreading even trying on a wedding dress at my weight right now. Secondly, of course is my health. At only 5 foot 3 inches, any extra weight is alot on my frame. I don't want to be supermodel skinny or anything. Just comfortable in my own skin.

So, until Wednesday, I'm doing what everyone knows they need to do to lose weight. Counting calories and eating healthier in general. I'm also going to try and drink a lot more water than I do. I'm totally addicted to Diet Dr. Pepper. Could be worse, but I hardly ever drink water and I know I need to.

Exercise is going to be what's really hard for me. I HATE it. Some people say that once they get in the routine of working out, they get addicted to it and can't go without it. I wouldn't know, I've never stuck with it long enough to find out! I'm going to try and find something I enjoy. I have several exercise DVDs collecting dust under the TV. Dustin and I have thought about joining the gym my sis and her hubby go to, but money is tight while I'm still in school so we'll see about that.

I have tons of homework and studying to get caught up on this week. The snow we got this weekend made me super lazy and I did nothing but lounge around this house eating junk! Today is Day One of my diet and so far, so good. Wish me luck!