Disney Posts Coming Soon!

I've promised you recaps and I've promised you photos and unfortunately this post really isn't going to fulfil either of those promises, but maybe it will wet your appetite a bit. :) I am working on the recaps now, the written part of the trip isn't so hard, it's sorting through the HUNDREDS of photos that makes it a bit more of a challenge. Add to that the fact that I generally host all my photos on flickr, which is blocked by my work, and it extremely limits the amount of time I can devote to sorting through the photos! Never fear though, they are coming! In the meantime, these were quick snaps that I happen to have available from an email from one of our days at Epcot. The whole week we were there, Epcot had a garden festival going on with more than 500 topiaries and bushes carved into Disney figures and characters. Behold some of the incredibleness:

Entrance to the world showcase at Epcot, apparently I squint even when I wear sunglases...

The ostriches from Fantasia! Made up completely of some kind of plant, bush or flower!

Canadian Exhibit in the world showcase at Epcot

I know it's not much but hang tight I'll be sure to post plenty more!

Did you miss me?

And I'm back!!! *Phew* Did you miss me? :) I was beginning to think I'd never get the chance to get back on this here blog! Hubs and I had a wonderfully marriage-strengthening, magical and romantic time on our vacation. We came back completely and utterly exhausted from the trip and had a bit of trouble getting back home (daylight savings, house drama and late night hockey games did not help!) so that's why it's Wednesday and I'm just getting on here now! I've begun to work on the recap posts, so while I work on those, how about a Wedded Wednesday post?!?

Wedded Wednesday is a collaboration
of married bloggers sharing their inspirations,
anecdotes, struggles and thoughts regarding
the amazing union of two separate people, as one.
Check out the other Wedded Wednesday bloggers at Marital-Bless

In light of our recent trip away together, I thought I'd ponder the importance of quality time and why it seems to be such a hard thing for us to fit in. After fitting in an ample amount of it in the recent days, it's a lot more apparent to me why, when we don't take the time, we tend to get sort of "off" in our relationship.

Neither Hubs nor I have a "love language" in quality time. We both extremely enjoy our quality time but if forced to choose, Hubs would pick words of affirmation and I would pick gifts. I think because it's not number 1 importance to us, we tend to let it fall by the wayside too easily and don't give it the priority it should have. We have always been bad about setting aside *quality* time. Sure we spend plenty of time together doing stuff, but it's far too rare that we focus on each other rather than the task at hand.

Whenever we take a trip like our recent Disney one, or our New England one last year, reality sort of slaps us in the face and says "wake up, you need this!" One of our New Year resolutions was a commitment to a weekly date, we've been doing better but it's been tough to fit it in and/or find inexpensive/free dates. Having an entire week without internet, mostly without cell phones and tv, dedicated solely to wandering around with just each other was heaven and had us reconnecting and feeling like back when we first started dating yeeeeeears ago!

Definitely a reminder that I needed! All too often I fail to see past the to-do list and tasks at hand to savor the moment so this is my reminder to myself! I encourage all of you to try and set aside quality time with your spouse/significant other, it truly is amazing what a difference it makes, even when it's just a few minutes each day!

We're off! Maybe...

Vacation has officially started!!! Well, actually Hub's vacation started a bit earlier than we anticipated as he wasn't quite up to going into work today! It has been an interesting last day and a half to say the least.... Wednesday night two of my siblings came down with a vicious vicious stomach flu.... Hubs and I washed our hands religiously, used hand sanitizer, etc. but it was no good or too late *sigh*. Last night we both had upset stomachs, within an hour Hubs had full on body shakes, poor guy. He spent the entire night alternative between puking and shaking so hard the whole bed moved. Needless to say neither one of us got very much sleep. My upset stomach didn't progress any further, I don't know whether this was lucky or not though because now I still have this potential bug hanging over my head, I have no idea when or *if* I will get it and I would really rather not come down with a stomach bug while in the airport or flying tomorrow....ugh!

We pushed through most of the packing last night before Hubs got super sick and I managed to finish the last of it tonight. I am really hoping and praying that I don't get any worse or if I do get it, I can at least get down to Orlando first. Hopefully we didn't forget anything important either because I'm sure trying to purchase anything around the resort will be a small fortune ($17 for batteries, $23 for a rain poncho, $23432324 for an umbrella).

Tonight, Hubs and I were supposed to go out for our final night with my brother before he departs for three years. Unfortunately, neither one of us was in any condition to go and we both had to bow out. It was pretty depressing for both of us, I hope I do not look back and kick myself for not trying to push myself harder and try to go.

Ok, this post is turning out way too depressing! What's done is done and it can't be changed so I'll focus on the bright side, tomorrow we're off! I can't believe it's here!!! We've talked about going for so long, we started the process and then got too busy to plan any further. Thanks to all your helpful advice and a touring book we picked up, we are feeling a little bit more informed and all the other unknowns will merely be an adventure. One that we will either laugh about there or laugh about it many years down the road.... :)

If I've been bad about commenting, please be assured that I have been reading, just short on time. And if you've emailed me, I promise I am not ignoring you and will email you back as soon as I get back! If I can't blog while I'm down there, I will be back next weekend and hopefully have plenty of pictures to share! Have a wonderful weekend/week my friends!

Putting in the Effort

Wedded Wednesday is a collaboration
of married bloggers sharing their inspirations,
anecdotes, struggles and thoughts regarding
the amazing union of two separate people, as one.
Check out the other Wedded Wednesday bloggers at Marital-Bless

Today's Wedded Wednesday post might be a little controversial to some but it is something that the longer I'm married the stronger I feel about it-so I'm going to write about it anyway!

When hubs and I first dated, I cared a lot about what he thought. I care more than ever today but it is a different sort of caring (haha-now I know he's not going anywhere! jk, I love you babe! :)). Back when we were friends and then eventually dating...I didn't know where the relationship was going. I had hopes but all I knew was that this gorgeously sexy, integrity-filled man was showing interest in me and I really wanted that interest to keep going. So...what did I do? Well pretty much tried to make sure I always crossed my t's and dotted my i's. While still staying true to my "style", you better believe he saw me dressed in my nicest clothes, make-up (what little I wore), heels etc... He disliked lateness-I learned to be punctual (at least when it involved him). His favorite team was the Red Sox-I followed the team, learned all the players and their stats. He grew up playing ice hockey every day-I learned the rules for that....I'm sure you can see where this is going. I cared a lot about what he thought, not in a desperate sort of way but in a besotted teenage crush sort of way. :) He was the first guy I ever fell in love with, thankfully the only guy I ever fell in love with!

When we dated and were engaged, I continued this trend, though he probably saw me in scrubs and minus a shower a few more times than before. And then wooooaaaaahhh, we were married and it's like "Hi, actually you married a different person" lol....quite a bit of an exaggeration there but I've definitely noticed a trend that I'm not happy about-the longer we are married, the less time I tend to take putting a little effort into myself. :( Especially when we are just laying around the house or hanging out at home! Poor hubs! He never complains but he sees an awful lot more of sweats and jeans and t-shirts than he used to! He claims that I'm just as cute in those clothes but I see the way his eyes light up when I take the time and effort to put on something nice.

Sometimes I wonder if I only recognize when he appreciates what I'm wearing because I feel better about myself when I put the effort in and thus, am more ok with accepting and acknowledging that appreciation or if really...it's just because I look much better showered and dressed cute! I'm tempted to say the latter!

I know this is something that I feel strongly about wanting to tackle before we have kids because any bad habits I've picked up now...will only get worse when children start getting added to the mix and my body starts changing along with significantly less time. This is something that actually made my new year's resolutions this year and so far it's been going pretty well. I don't get decked out every day but it has changed a number of my habits-even affected how I shop! I've discovered all sorts of new designers and shops and I've been very excited to start pulling boxes out of storage with all my clothes, I am extremely looking forward to having a closet and my vanity back again, it will make this whole process so much easier!

Weekend Recap

First of all, thank you all for you wonderful advice for our upcoming Disney trip! It definitely helped set my mind at ease and hubs and I were able to sit down over the weekend and map out the food places we liked.

Next up is packing, but I have a feeling this will be very last minute. :)

Over the weekend I had the honor of throwing a bridal shower for a very good friend of mine. I did a vintage kitchen theme and once I get my hands on the photos I'll be sure to post them here. The guest list was pretty big and some of the planning was a bit last minute but I think it came together really well! The food and cake were absolutely delicious, I used my 25+ milk glass collection for decorations and the guests all seemed to really enjoy themselves.

Sunday afternoon I threw a going away party for my brother. I don't think I've mentioned this yet on my blog but my brother leaves early next week for basic training, followed by officer training and then more training after that for the specialty program he is pursuing. Emotionally it's been rather hard to deal with for my family, we are a close knit bunch and I know my parents are finding it tough to have their first born son heading out to war. More than likely there will only be a couple days within the next three years where we will get to see him so... :( trying not to think about it! We had a fantastic turnout for the party (he has more friends than anyone I know) and it was a relief to have it be over. Being in charge of two parties in one weekend was exhausting!

This week promises to be a busy one with a hockey game tonight, small group tomorrow, evening plans on Friday and Saturday morning plans before the flight. Couple that with long work hours this week and I'm still not exactly sure what I'm going to pack!

In other news, we completed our first monthly spending fast! *phew* so glad that's over! I have had online shopping carts absolutely maxing out the whole month of Feb... :) Oh and I'll have a Wedded Wednesday post for you tomorrow (know I've been slacking on those the last couple of weeks)! Be sure to check it out tomorrow, it's a bit different than my normal ones!