Top 10 Things I'm Thankful for Even Though I'm Sick

10. Nyquil!!! SO glad that I've been able to sleep through the night for the past 3 nights!
9. Beautiful weather outside. I think relaxing in the fresh air has definitely helped me feel better.
8. That I worked my way up to being able to eat whatever I want.
7. My stockpile of magazines that has been building up because I've been too busy to read them the past few weeks.
6. Simultaneous back pain. While I am never "thankful" that my back is hurting, I'm glad that it decided to flare up when I'm already missing work because I'm sick so I can just rest.
5. That I did my weekly shopping trip to Publix on Wednesday, right before I started feeling bad. My goal for today was going to be to make it back out to Publix for a few more things but there's no way that's going to happen.
4. HGTV and The Real Housewives of NYC.
3. Bailey being (relatively) calm and completely house trained. Tom's been at work a lot so I've been Bailey's only option when she needs to go out. Luckily she only goes out 2x/day.
2. That I've had enough energy to shower every day. I have to gather my energy on the couch for a few hours first, but afterwards I feel much better.
1. Finally, I'm thankful that I don't feel like this all of the time!! Although I'm beginning to wonder when I'm going to start feeling better. Hopefully by tomorrow morning because I'm planning on going back to work!!

The search....

...for the little black dress is OVER!! Wooooooooooooooooo!! I found this perfect J. Crew dress that someone was selling on ebay last month. The only problem? She was selling it for about $30 more than I was willing to pay for it. Why not just order it brand new from J. Crew? Because they were selling it for about $90 more than I was willing to pay for it! So that dress came and went but fortunately I found another one about a week later and bid on it and won! A few other people were bidding on it too, so I knew if it didn't fit or if it wasn't what I was looking for that I would be able to turn around and sell it. It arrived after a hectic/stressful day at work so imagine my glee when I tried it on and it was perfect!!! Also, Tom and I bought our plane tickets for Sarah's wedding this week!! Can't wait to see these two get married!!!

Happy Spring and March MADness!

Happy First Day of Spring!! In true Alabama fashion, it's absolutely gorgeous here on the first day of Spring. Bailey and I enjoyed a nice walk in the sunshine and now I'm taking advantage of our balcony and my favorite recliner chair.

As for March MADness, I filled out a bracket and am playing with Tom's lab. Winner gets a 4 pack of high gravity beer from everyone else. I am 24 for 33 of the first round games. Not too shabby. I'm pretty MAD about Georgetown and Vandy blowing it but I picked a few other upsets that saved me a few points. I picked Kentucky to win it all, mainly because of someone I met recently who is from Kentucky. Completely not based on basketball at all :)

Baby Shower

Things I learned this weekend:
1) People who have babies give the best baby shower gifts (note to self - remember this for the future)
2) I'm actually not horrible at darts
3) I don't like games...wait, I already knew that (I really don't know what my problem is with games. I might need to get professional help for it someday)
4) The "other guy" in the Twilight series is actually a werewolf, not a normal person.

Saturday I went to my friend Ashley's baby shower at our friend Paige's house. Ashley and Tony got married last spring and are expecting their first baby, Noah, in May. Jack waited patiently for Bailey, but she never came :(
The shower was cute and Ashley is now well stocked with numerous baby supplies. There were multiple games played at the shower, of which I felt obligated to participate in a few. Kelly and Stacy played "Name the Song/Artist" fairly successfully. I passed on this one because I am TERRIBLE at "Name the music-related title/artist/genre/era/etc/etc/etc." Ashley threw back a few....but not in the sense that she is used to!! (another game....maybe this is why I don't like games? Because there is a chance that you may have to drink water out of a baby bottle??!!) After the shower we went over to our friend Tara's house to hang with the boys (who weren't invited to the shower). Shenanigans may or may not have ensued.

Chinchilla Death Wish aka Tom's Tuesday Night

Tom thought it would be "fun" to put Chimu on top of the cage and see what he would do. And yes, that's Bailey's HEAD inside of their cage!!

Currently

Excited about Destin trip!! Hosting my first coupon class!
Worried about where we'll move to when Tom is finished with grad school
Reading don't judge me......still reading On Becoming a Leader...I'm just not that much of a "reader"
Creating meals for the whole month of March
Loving weekends with nothing to do
Hating that we will miss The Drankas when they come to Bham
Wondering when I'm going to start feeling more energized
Craving a new couch
Hoping 1) work becomes less stressful/busy and 2) my back doesn't flare up after this year's beach trip
Watching on TV The Office reruns, My Name is Liz, Gossip Girl!
Listening to NOTHING BECAUSE LIVE 100.5 WENT OFF THE AIR :( :( :( :( :( :(
Looking forward to weekends, Destin, my birthday (yes, it's 4 months away and I already have it planned out. Hey, it's a BIG one!), and coffee on the balcony as it gets warmer!

I'm deficient....

Hmmmph. I'm deficient in iron and Vitamin D. So now I have to take prescription supplements. And did I mention I'm not even 30 yet??? I shouldn't have to take prescription supplements for at least another 30 years!!! I've always been anemic....well, since high school at least. I remember dragging on the basketball court and always being so tired. A teammate had suggested that I get my hematocrit tested, and sure enough, I was anemic and given some iron supplements to take. It was amazing what a difference it made! Within 2 weeks I could tell a huge difference, especially during basketball (and so could my coach and teammates).

Honestly, I've been really exhausted lately, but I just chalked it up to working really hard and being super busy. I guess I didn't really allow myself to realize how tired I actually was, I mean, all I do is go to work and hit up the gym a few times a week. It's not like I have a baby to take care of or like I'm training for a marathon!

As for the Vitamin D deficiency? Well, let's just say I'm sitting in the sun on my balcony writing this blog right now :) I know my diet isn't crammed full of fruits and vegetables and I probably don't drink as much milk as I should, but I still think I'm a fairly healthy person.

Here's hoping to feeling energized and rejuvinated in a few weeks when these supplements start to kick in!!

Updated Goals

Okay, I already accomplished TWO of my March Goals!! Awesome :) I have opened a Roth IRA (I know, there were probably some of you that were betting I'd never do it. Procrastination and I are good friends). AND I booked our Destin trip (unfortunately for the same weekend that Anne and Brian will be back from Wisconsin :( )

So after reading some friends' blogs and remembering/realizing some other things that should be goals this month, here are two more goals for March.

1) File Taxes
2) Menu Plan for the whole month of March, completely eating out of the freezer and pantry!

Number 2 was my neurotic goal that I wasn't sure if I was going to share or not. Thanks to Publix and my awesome couponing skills, we have quite the stockpile of food and general ingredients. Last weekend I sat down and planned our weeknight and weekend meals for the whole month. I honestly couldn't believe how easy it was!! I'm excited to get through a little bit of our stockpile, and so far I am LOVING the convenience and speed of already knowing what's for dinner when we get home after a long day of work and the gym! Also, I'm going to try to limit my grocery spending this month (except for the essentials...you know....milk, beer, etc) in hopes that this will help us achieve or surpass Goal Number 2!