stuff

we will survive.

2012-01-30T12:51:00.000-08:00

So we managed a less stressful “get shit done” weekend this time around. Basically for every big project/task/chore we rewarded ourselves with something nice or fun.

I managed to fit in 3 walks, crafting, movie watching, bath taking and reading. On the “get shit done” side we finally cleaned our whole downstairs (its seriously been a disaster for like a month), started really going through all the storage in the “one day baby room” room, and got some furniture type stuff out of the house.

(taken after work, before our Bradley class, on a busy Wednesday - looking a little haggard!)

Anyway, long story short- this weekend went well. It didn’t hurt that I played hooky from work on Friday :)

Our to-do list is still impossibly long and includes a lot of stressful shit like possibly buying a 2nd car and picking out a daycare….But I am also calming down a lot. I’m getting closer to the stage where I know as long as we have the co-sleeper by the bed we will survive. I’ve got my boobs for baby food and enough little clothes to start with. That’s all we need…in theory, lol.

I can also tell you that nesting makes me mental. I’m pretty sure Chris has had enough of my verbal spooling when I get an idea or start to research something. It’s like one second I’m just chilling and the next I’m a 7 year old with a Jolt cola listing off every option on the planet for some product. Bla bla bla bla bla. I annoy myself sometimes!

(baby room craft- A is for Athena!)

I’m annoying myself with this blog entry. LoL. MUST LIST ALL THE THINGS!!

I’ll stop while I’m ahead (even though I really want to talk about our classes, books, what we cooked for dinner last night, and everything else that is tumbling around in my head)

Love, Ten

Things are getting real.

2012-01-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

So our getting the baby room ready went from the fun "holy crap I have so many cool ideas, lets starts creating stuff!" to "riiiight I guess we need to get the room ready first, clean out the closets, die a small death of why is this taking so long?...."

Its thrown a bit of stress into our world due to all the "where did all this stuff come from" and "where the hell are we going to put all this stuff". Nothing we cant handle of course, but way more than what can be handled in a weekend.

Throw that on top of keeping up with all the birthing class exercises, all the crap we are supposed to have done or planned or figured out....

Yeah I had a medium sized pregnant lady cry fest recently. The next day I felt so much better. I even had a phychotic laughing episode in the kitchen that night. Pregnant or craaaazy?? Who can tell?

hehe

Anyway. In other news - the 3rd trimester does not feel so bad. So far anyway. Getting bigger, faster, for sure, but nothing new to really complain about. I think I am actually starting to figure things out enough where I might be sleeping a little better and feeling a little less sore everyday.

So that is that. Feeling good but also fighting off a bit of household stress. Things are getting real. We have spreadsheets to figure shit out. Thats never fun!

Hope you are all well. Send me a virtual hug this week.

Love, Teneisha

Pictures!

2012-01-08T06:15:00.000-08:00

So we have decided on not only our colors but also our nursery theme! We are going for a Natural History Museum / Natural Science sort of thing. Very excited.

Think hand drawn diagrams of animals, shadow boxes containing a feather with callouts for the names of the parts, notes on interesting facts (all handwritten), that sort of thing. All in our colors and done in a cool/cute/non-scary way. Chris has started on a bunch of frames and a whale illustration.

I'll post some of our inspiration so you can get a better idea:

And here is the belly!

reckless eating

2012-01-06T10:27:00.000-08:00

Man I suck at blogging lately!!

Let's see, let's see....

3rd trimester starts today, 27 weeks, if you go off of one school of thought. The other say it starts in two weeks. The baby is the size of a eggplant now.

The baby is getting big for sure! I look more and more pregnant everyday.

Food: I've been into spaghetti type dishes, chocolate, everything breakfast & 2nd breakfast, lol, cake like items, string cheese....

Aches and Pains: I'm living the good life now that I got rid of my cold. I was doing a jig around the living room for a good hour last night after work. Mega energy/mood boost! The baby has been moving around a lot more too lately (once i started to feel better i guess she did too!). Still having the occasional leg cramp which sucks soooo much but thankfully I know how to get of them much faster now. A little heartburn here and there but nothing to write home about. Pretty good!

Oh the Joy: A lot of the early 2nd trimester pains are gone and I can be lazy more comfortably these days. Really being able to tell the baby's position is cool. Oh and I can feel when she gets the hiccups now which is a silly feeling. I think this month will bring our first real surge in baby room decor / baby planning / baby everything, so that is fun. Eating is filled with joy...especially when its something sweet! So bad...Ill miss my reckless eating. :)

Im sorry I dont have a picture for you. Ill try to add one tonight!

Love, ten

Highlights from 2011

2011-12-29T08:18:00.001-08:00

I dont know about you guys, but for this girl, 2011 FLEW by.

I can still remember my hangover from last New Years like it was yesterday, lol.

2011 Highlights:

Left my Esty business to start work at my current job!
Went to 4 out of state weddings
Celebrated our 2-year wedding anniversary in Rivera Maya, Mexico
Started, cursed and eventually finished a 2000 piece puzzle
Got a new tattoo
Failed at growing squash plants in the south....again.
Won at growing tomatoes
Tried for 5 months and got pregnant!! (at one of the out of state weddings actually :)
Somehow got through the worst 3.5 months of throwing up first trimester HELL
Had my mom visit twice
Had my dad visit once
Passed the CAPM exam
Saw Paul Simon live

In 2012:

We will have a baby!
We will have our 3-year wedding anniversary!
We will most likley buy a 2nd car
I will go back to work as a new mom to a 12 week old...
Who the hell knows beyond that!!

boring update!

2011-12-26T15:13:00.000-08:00

Im updating from my new tablet right now. Pretty cool!

We are picking Chris' mom in a few minutes from the airport and she is staying with us for the week. should be fun!

Tomorrow is my last day of xmas vacation though but then I have a three day weekend off for New Years. I've been trying to get as many naps in as possible :)

Any way this is a terribly borning post - sorry! I'll write a better one from work.

love, ten

The breakdown

2011-12-15T12:23:00.000-08:00

Baby

Getting closer to the 3rd trimester.
I have been more and more....impatient with humans, we will say.
My back is really starting to kill me. Time for ye old prenatal massages and chiropractor visits for sure.
We have started interviewing home birth midwives - really like the first one so far!
We will be starting the Bradley Method birthing classes in January.
We will start on the nursery once the holidays are over!

Christmas

I CAN'T wait for Chris to open his gifts this year. I feel like I did good.
5 days off for xmas, 3 day weekend for New Years. Can't wait to rest by ass off. :)
The last of the holiday parties is this Sat.- my company - which I helped to plan.

I hopefully wont be working the whole time!!

I'm done with most of my shopping but the Chris & Teneisha joint gifts for ATL family...not so much.

Life

Life is good. Not much new to report to be honest...
I will admit....we have watched Twilight - We are waiting for the 3rd movie.

I'm on team Jacob. There I said it.

I'm getting my hair blown out and styled for the xmas party- Ive never done that before - exciting!
I have been eating much better for the past week. I was on this awful junk food thing. Back on track.
Dozer, for some reason, loves to sleep next my belly at night. Sort of sweet of him. :)

That's it peeps!
Love, ten

Do or Die List List Update.

2011-12-05T06:13:00.001-08:00

Paul Simon was awwwwesome!

What a great performance and a great set list!

Here is a video if you are interested! http://www.flickr.com/photos/iheartgraphics/6448818839

Life List - Consider yourself updated...

See real cave paintings. Go to Canada. Visit each continent at least once (Asia, Africa, , S. America, Antarctica, ~~Europe x 2 - Ireland, Germany~~, Australia) ~~Visit another country.~~Visit Greece. ~~Zip line (anywhere).~~Have a sleeper car on a train in India. See a real Rain Forest. Make friends with or feed an Otter, ~~Ferret~~, ~~Sugar Glider~~ and baby Sloth. Go to a European or Russian Rave. Take a boating/camping trip down a river. ~~Go tubing down a river with friends.~~ Have children. Own a house. Build a window seat. ~~Own a business.~~ ~~Grow a really big garden.~~(Ok i have a garden, its not "really big" but you know) Have a backyard full of flowers. ~~Have an up close and personal meeting with monkeys.~~Go on an African Safari. ~~Do a long bike “tour".~~Drive across country in an RV with my husband and children. See Portland, OR. ~~Shave my head.~~See the Northern Lights. ~~Graduate from College.See Paul Simon in concert.~~ ~~See the Pixies in concert.~~Read all 100 books on the Snobs Book List by NPR. ~~Get a dog.~~Learn an instrument. Learn at least a second language, fluently. ~~Take a belly dancing class.~~Go on a cruise. Learn to sail. Own a boat. Sail to another country. Invest in a valuable piece of art. ~~Stay in a hostel.~~Learn small metal smithing. ~~Learn to knit.~~Snorkel in New Zealand. See as much of Asia as possible. Sing karaoke in Japan. Live in another country (if even only for a summer). ~~Take a train across the entire USA.~~Write and illustrate children’s book. Play poker at a table in Las Vegas and win. ~~Read the Genesis.~~Learn to hand felt. Eat Tapas in Spain. ~~Drink local beer in a real Irish pub in Ireland.~~Have a box full of collected greeting cards in categories like my nana does. ~~Eat sauerkraut in Germany.~~Have a huge 50th anniversary party. Retire. Fly first class.
N. America x 3 - Aruba, Mexico, USA

My only hint

2011-11-29T07:24:00.001-08:00

Wooo! So you all now know that I passed my CAPM exam. Thank the holy holy land of holy stuff...seriously. Now I just have to push it at work until I get a promotion :)
Pregnant land:

We can now start thinking about the baby nursery, which we are. We are thinking of going with a palette like this and white furniture.

I tried chicken last night. It was a grilled chicken taco and it was soooo good. The actually eating chicken thing freaked me out after all was said and done. But the flavor insured that I will be craving it again.

I bought a maternity pillow by Boppy which may have saved my sleeping life. Emilee…You may want to look into these things... Don’t get the boppy though I heard they are only good for short ladies.

We are doing something on Friday which I am REALLY REALLY excited for….But I can’t talk about it because it’s a surprise for someone who reads my blog. Baaaaaa I can’t waaaaait! My only hint, which is completely unhelpful, is that I am going to make a t-shirt for the event.

What else….December is going to be a pretty busy month. We have two big holiday parties to attend (the kind where I need to go buy TWO dresses), Christmas of course, Chris is flying to Arizona next week to see his grandparents, and of course it’s the end of year activities and 1st Qtr prep at work.

I can’t believe its almost December… Crazy. Here comes 2012!

Love, Ten

Preggo Updato

2011-11-21T12:05:00.000-08:00

Currently 20.5 weeks which somehow in pregnancy land equals 5.5 months and not 5 months (fuzzy math).

Current cravings: I have moved away from sweets all the time but have not really moved towards anything...I just have not been a big cravings person I guess! I have tried a few bites of meat here and there to see what the baby thinks and to get some extra iron which I am low on. Ham was good. Sausage really just tastes and feels just like fake veggie sausage so i don't see the point in it. Chicken freaked me out (but that as a few months back). Beef was disappointing (there again I didn't have fancy beef by any means). Oh and I also have been dabbling in cheese - fancy Cheddar so far. Its been nice to have a more varied diet but nothing weird or exciting!

Being pregnant is annoying because: Holy shit, all natural makeup. When you really really go all natural....there are not a lot for good brands out there. Not a lot of good makeup...All natural mascara is the worst- pretty sure it just like tar or something. can't wait to buy some brand name CVS style makeup when I stop breast feeding! Oh also...trying to sleep comfortably through the night....DREAM ON!

Being pregnant is most awesome when: I get to eat whatever the heck I want because being pregnant somehow cured my food allergy and made it ok for me to cheat at everything! Woot wooot!!

Not looking forward to: Daycare / baby sitting / Nanny options...Holy fucking expensive batman. Seriously...I'm pretty sure that having a baby just depleted our chances of ever owning a house.

Looking forward to: Our appt tomorrow when we get to find out the sex and see that little person in there again!

And that's making a baby in a nutshell!

Seriously do other peoples cats meow this much?

2011-11-16T07:33:00.000-08:00

So so so. What the heck is going on with me? And where is everyone?...Anyone out there? Even my mom is Blog MIA....

Life is trucking along. Still studying for that exam which I take on the 28th. If I fail I think I'll jump off a bridge. My cats are still annoying as all hell - seriously do other peoples cats meow this much? Still working lots, going to baby appointments, enjoying the fall colors.

Ive been a little stressed about baby stuff lately. The cost of everything. Thinking about the legality of maternity leave (how many weeks, Family Leave Act vs Temp disability insurance, etc. etc. etc...). The cost of everything. The logistics of day care vs every other option in the world. Midwife interviews. The cost of everything.

BUT - I also know that there is no neeed to stress. It will all work out. The best options will present themselves. For now all I can do is keep a running list, take my little notes and keep talking to people who live in Atlanta and have been there done that.

Ive been feeling very creative lately...Though I'm feeling a little stifled by a project for someone else that I am supposed to be working on. (and really should have finished months ago) I really just want to start my own projects!! I wish there was an opt out clause for everything.

No huge plans for the holidays- we will be staying in ATL and spending both thanksgiving and xmas with our families here. A Back to the Future Trilogy is planned and hopefully a game night.

Anyhoo- Hope you are all well...Please come back!
Love Ten

Parties...

2011-11-14T08:19:00.001-08:00

Meghan's basement. 1993?

2011-11-11T13:00:00.006-08:00

Rich, Chris, Eian, Seth.

What was this band called?

The Random Page

2011-11-10T13:00:00.006-08:00

The picture of skat in the upper left corner is from her 13th ? birthday party - we rode in the back of her parents truck and went for Chinese food :)

that is the only picture i remember anything about :)

the grungiest girls of all - approx 1993?

2011-11-09T13:00:00.003-08:00

I love this picture.

The Verity Page

2011-11-08T13:32:00.001-08:00

Baby Update

2011-11-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

As you can see from the pictures, it really depends on how I am standing and the time of day as to how big my baby belly looks. If i lean to one side a bit my whole uterus just pops right out! Strange stuff!

How far Along? I am 17 weeks and 6 days today! Which computes to about 4.5 months...5.5 to go!

Babies Size: About the size of an onion or sweet potato! Do I look like I have an onion in there? Kind of! haha.

Best moment this week: Hmmmm well unfortunately Chris was not there, but at one of my normal checkups yesterday when we were listening to the baby's heartbeat there were these crazy loud noises like splosh splashing around. The doc said that was the baby flip flopping around or punch/kicking in there! Pretty cool!

Symptoms: 2nd trimester symptoms so far have been constipation (TMI sorry), the stretching internal skin thing that Emilee described which i would like to elaborate on a bit. The normal stretching thing, like turning over in bed feeling like you just ripped some of you muscle inside your body thing is standard though getting better. But some days as I am sitting here I can literally feel my uterus stretching inside of me. It almost feels like when you have a full body stretch but really localized and internal. An almost cramp - a backwards cramp? Totally crazy. Besides that, I still have a heightened gag reflex, but no barfing. That's about it!

Food Cravings: You know.... I have no had anything too wild... I'm big on sweets which is weird for me. Olives. But mostly I am still struggling to clean my plate on any sort of "meal". I can eat a million snacks but when it comes to eating a lot of one thing I'm just the same as I aways was. One thing that is amazing is that basically because my immune system is turned off I can have dairy without getting a migraine! I basically test the theory on a daily basis with things like Reese's cups and even mini creme brules at work functions. I have not popped a piece of cheese in my mouth or anything but I might!

Looking Forward To: Same as Emilee - the anatomy appt!! Ours is on the 22nd and we can not friggen wait!!! Once we know if its a boy or a girl we can really start DOING everything like finalising our baby registry, buying crap for the room, painting the walls!

These pictures were taken a week ago and since then the baby has gone from a an avocado to a big fatty yellow onion. By the time we go for the anatomy appt it will be the size of friggen Cantaloupe!! whaaaat!? So we really should start taking pictures every day now or at least every week....

Anyway hope you enjoyed my little baby update!

Love, Ten

The Mitchy Page

2011-11-01T06:14:00.000-07:00

I wish I knew what the missing picture on this page was!

Thank the holy holy

2011-10-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

Sooooo I'm feeling better!!!

Thank the holy holy. jeesh!

I told my boss today that we are expecting which went very well. I'm so glad to get it off my chest. woohoo!

All is good in babyland!

Still studying my butt off for this exam. I'm moving forward a lot slower than I would like. I don't get to move onto the next section until I get at least a 80% on the section exam. Sooooo Ive only gotten past one section and I'm working on my 2nd now. I know a few of them will be much easier because they are small sections or the exams are smaller, etc. But still. Hurry up brain!!

Not much else going on. Life is sort of work/study/eat/sleep these days.

I have an epically awesome idea for a Halloween costume and we have a costume contest at work that day so i think I'm going to go for it. I'm not usually one for showing up places a lone and dressed like an idiot but I think I'm going to give it a go this year!

Anyhoo- Love you guys!

wicked supah fucking busy kid

2011-10-11T05:51:00.001-07:00

Ok so I know we were having fun with all the old pictures and love notes but I need to put it on hold this week.

Because I am wicked supah fucking busy kid.

This week I start my project management training which I don't even think I have talked about on here. I convinced my boss that there was a hole in the company where a Project Manager would fit and help./ He agreed and agreed to pay for me to go take classes! I'm starting small with just the associate certification and then if I like it and I'm good at it they will send me for the whole she-bang. Which is of course awesome and means there is a promotion in my future.

The bad news is that I am also wicked supah fucking busy kid at my normal everyday job dutiues which means I'm basically working double time this week. Fun stuff.

SO....With that said I will most likely not be blogging for the rest of this week. Hopefully meghan and emilee will keep everyone busy with photos from Vegas!!

Love.

It was 2002, I was 21

2011-10-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

These are from a little contact sheet I found that came with the original picture which I no longer have.

On the left I was happy to be waking up and heading to the hospital to finally get my cast off! I honest to god thought I was going to drive home and everything was going to be normal. I quickly realized that not only could I not in anyway MOVE my arm after getting my cast off but that i was also deathly afraid of having it out in the open and would soon face about 1.5 years of physical therapy.

In January of 2002, on my way to work, I got into an accident involving a wide load mac truck, a house that it was carrying, and my brand new Ford Focus which was ripped up like a tin can. They also had to use the jaws of life to get me out of my car safely. According to the accident reports I was in an out of consciences but I do not remember any of it.

I suffered a contusion on the front and back of my brain, I broke every bone in my left arm (except my wrist i believe), including shattering my elbow. I was in the hospital for 5 days, had a 6 hour surgery and countless cat scans and what have yous. Two years later I had another surgery to take some of the hardware out of my elbow.

I had a long court battle which latest years and ended after 5 days in a NH supreme court with a 16 person jury.

I was so glad when the whole thing was over.

The whole ordeal changed my body and my life for better and for worse.

I honestly would not be living the life I love now if I had not gone through all of it- so for that I am thankful.

Love you guys... I'm glad I didnt get decapatated!

It was 1998, Vee was 19?

2011-10-04T12:13:00.000-07:00

Verity is very very serious!

I think this was taken when Wyatt and I were driving through MD on our way to moving to North Carolina. We had our cat with us, Hobbes, and a car load of crap we most likely did not really need.

I don't remember much about our night there except that Verity was living with her sister and there was a baby in the house.

Verity do you remember this?

And in other life changing news:

2011-10-03T06:12:00.000-07:00

A really big announcement!!

We are having a baby!!!

We are currently 13 weeks, the baby is the size of a plum, and our due date is April 6th!

We will find out about the sex when its time for sure. Most people are guessing its a boy, so we will see!

I have been very very sick...Morning sickness should be called 3 months of barfing living hell. But Ill save that for another post!

I'm slowly...S...L...O...W...L...Y.... starting to feel better. Its sort of a "one step forward, two steps back" kind of thing. Which is fine, as long as I keep stepping forward.

So anyway - we are happy, everyone is healthy, I'm starting to have an appetite and gain weight!

So that's that in 6 months we will have a baby in the house!

Love, Teneisha

It was 1994. I was 13.

2011-10-02T07:00:00.000-07:00

The Sarah I am referring to is Sarah Edes. I remember this like it was yesterday. It was close to the end of 8th grade, close to the end of middle school as a whole. I think I had met Tommy Judd once, through Mandy, and that had started the beginning and end of an era.

It was 1995, We were 14

2011-10-01T07:00:00.001-07:00

This was during a time when we all thought Ian Nelson and Zay (what was his last name?) were the pinnacle of hotness. Not only where they shaggy haired and pretty but they were larger than life (in size and epicness) compared to our freshman boyfriends.

Michelle LaMountain used to walk behind Ian and touch his backpack without him knowing. I had a reading class with Zay and would always sit next to him and then write about how cute he was in my journal in mortal fear that he could see what I was writing.

The real peak for me was at a keg party at Emilee's house where I passed out in a bed and was later joined by Ian Nelson. Nothing happened, except for the fact that I barfed that night (most likely for the sheer excitement of being so close to a demigod) but it caused outrage in school among the Senior girls who of course wanted to kill me. Thankfully, I looked like a tortured people for fun during breakfast so I was left alone.

It was early 1995. We were 14 &15?

2011-09-30T06:15:00.000-07:00

In case people do not remember, "Shmec" would be Emilee. I dont think we started hanging out a ton untill close to the end of the year or that summer.

This was early 2nd semester of freshman year. I believe I was living at Sarah Skats house. I had spent the first half of the year pining over Tommy Judd and how he was doing me wrong and then swiftly and quite scandalously took up shop with Bob Taylor instead. ha!

In this Journal from 1995 there are a TON of letters and notes from other people. Basically everyone that I talked to wrote a letter in this journal. So if you want to see some from yourself- you better start commenting! :)

It was 1994. I was 13 years old.

2011-09-29T05:24:00.000-07:00

Ummm what in the holy hell is "Hangin Uncle"?? Please tell me someone knows?

Haha and I love that I thought Keene would not have slushies. So funny.

Oh and why does it look like I spelled my name "teneysha"?

By the way- this move never happened.

It was 1989. We were 8 years old.

2011-09-28T05:41:00.000-07:00

Left, Teneisha / Right, Sarah Wilson

Scratched onto the back of this Polaroid it says "Teneisha + Sarah for a class movie".

We were filming at my Nana's house and all I remember was that Sarah and I were supposed to be a rock 'n' roll couple and we had a kid or were trying to adopt a kid.

The kid was either played by a cabbage patch doll or my little brother.

It was 1990 - We were 10 years old.

2011-09-27T07:31:00.001-07:00

This cracked me up when I read it out loud to Chris. Can you believe I actually "kept this forever"!?

So funny.

Love you Megs!

That is all my news for the day.

2011-09-21T05:45:00.000-07:00

So this weekend Ms. Cassie Wooding is getting married. I am flying to Rochester NY on Sat. morning and can’t wait to see the whole family. I think I even convinced Bob to show up!

Cassie asked me to do a reading at the wedding which I am oddly very excited about. It is a poem.

Also on the schedule, the day I fly back, my Mom and John will be driving through on their way to Florida (for some reason I almost just typed Las Vegas!) I think they are only staying one night but they are bringing some old boxes from their barn which i am hoping and praying contain lots of old pictures and scrap books and stuff.
Won't that make some exciting posts!!

Work has been crazy busy for the last two weeks and after today at noon I think I get to start catching my breath a bit. Thank god.
That is all my news for the day.
Everyone come back to blogland now please!
Love ten

Odd post

2011-09-13T11:27:00.002-07:00

You know it was just about 10 years ago that I got into my bad car accident in NH.

I remember there were a few pictures floating around after the accident of my car and of me in the hospital bed. I remember when I saw them. It killed me. It was just crushing to see my car crumbled like a soda can…my face bruised and bloodied, knocked out after a 9 hour surgery. I never saw my face at the time- you don’t think to look in a mirror when you are on a morphine drip for 6 days…But when I saw it, it was like really knowing that I had gone through it. Really seeing what other people saw.

I think I ended up burning the pictures or something. You know in an “I need to move on with my life” sort of move.

Now I kind of wish I still had them. Does anyone have any? I guess the only person that would is Skat or my Mom…

This is a weird post, sorry!

I’m actually in a fantastic mood today!

appreciate

2011-09-07T07:56:00.000-07:00

So you know the inspirational bulletin boards I was doing at my work?

Much appreciated by some....But I guess not all.

I'm not going to go into details because honestly I'm just trying to let it go.

Lets just say, somehow people were offended. And thought to complain to HR.

Anyway, In my process of letting go, I wanted to post some of my favorites over the last few months here for others to appreciate :)

Things crazy people do:

2011-08-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

a.k.a. Things I do, that may be crazy.

On my little "stay at my desk" breaks (between projects and so on) I look at local Humane Society websites. I don't necessarily want anymore pets...I just like to look and see who has been adopted and so on.
I put spicy stuff on my fruit.
I spend $180 a month at my chiropractors office to little effect.
I speak to the bad bugs i find in my garden. I speak mean things to them.

for the win!

2011-08-04T07:39:00.000-07:00

Ok so...I did not take even one picture while the girls were here. Not even one. I know, I know...But Em took like a million years of video so go pester her about it!! :)

It was fun - different than we all expected, but fun. We went river tubing (we were called Team Wicked Awesome) which was indeed awesome (and now I can cross it off the life list!) and I totally plan on doing it again. Katie came with us which was fantastic - I was so happy to have her there! Had a fire out on the porch and played Catch Phrase which is never disappointing. Penny fell in love with Emilee which i totally knew would happen!

In other news: I overheard Em and Vee talking about how it takes 20 days to form a habit - so 20 days of waking up early or 20 days of working out or 20 days of smoking butts - you get the idea. So anyway it got me thinking and Chris and I have started a "20-days to Awesome" plan that starts today!

The plan is as follows:

20 minutes of cleaning the house per day
20 minutes of exercise per day (just a walk or yoga or whatev)
20 minutes of meditating per day

I know it does not sound like much but these are 3 things that we wish were daily habits so we are starting small and sticking to it! They are also all things that we have tried by themselves, gung-ho, for a week at a time here and there....then it all dissolves and we miss it.

So 20 minutes, 20 days, for the win!

Hope you are all having a good week!
Love, Ten

Sorry for the lack of updates!

2011-07-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

I have things to say, I'm just busy!!

Sorry for the lack of updates!

I'm good, just busy. Just got a new tattoo which is peeling like a mofo right now. Ill post a pick when its all finished heeling.

Very excited for Vee and Emilee to come this Friday!! Ive been trying to get the house clean after work every day which has only been kind of successful, lol.

Anyhoo- Life has been a little stressful as of late but good.

Love you guys!

Teneisha

Pictures of Party’s Past

2011-07-21T11:24:00.000-07:00

Just a few pictures that are either new or I never posted!

Braves Game - Hollaaaaa

Ron Jeremy playing Sax at Drew and Meredith's wedding...(not really Ron Jeremy)

Mustache Tattoos!!! (not really tattoos)

Drew is a little drunk...

Raccoon Caverns, TN (no raccoons seen)

Bridal Party

We had way to good of a time waiting for the wedding to start.

yes.

Lots of dancing was had at ye ol Whittiker/Kinney Wedding.

Pitch-a-Fit

2011-07-19T05:24:00.003-07:00

Southern words and sayings I will and will not adopt:

Will:
Pitch a Fit
Lordy
Yes Ma'am, No Ma'am
A minute (which actually means its will take a little while)

Will Not:
Bless your Heart (never!)
Y'all
Fixin'

Hi & Bye

2011-07-12T14:10:00.004-07:00

I'm so busy at work!!! I have not had time to think about updating and we will be out of town this weekend so I just wanted to say hi and bye.

Hi and Bye!

Quick list:

Thursday went to the Vet yesterday for a bladder issue. test results came back ok. We have him on special food and he should be fine in no time.

Shamelessly addicted to Teen Mom right now. Though I'm only on the first season.

Need a new book- any suggestions?

Chiropractor and physical therapy are fine. Little by little....patience.

It looks like my two trips to New England for weddings are going to be just short weekends. I just don't have enough time or money to spare to be honest.

Fixing up the guest room for Verity and hopefully MLE's visit. Anyone else?

This weekend starts our 3 out of state weddings in 2 months extravaganza.

Vanishing of the Bees was a great documentary

SO excited to see the new and last Harry Potter. We have been preparing by watching all 8 or is it 9 of the other movies in sequence.

That is all- have a good week everyone!

What a weekend!

2011-07-05T05:00:00.006-07:00

This weekend was such a perfect long holiday weekend which is such a nice change from all the obligatory activities that have filled our weekends lately. Everything we did this weekend were things that we were happy to do!

On Saturday, I got a massage. Then, in preparation for tailgating a Braves game; I whipped up a batch of Gazpacho, a white bean pate, and toasted up french bread to spread it on. Our friends Chris and Caitlin supplied the beer and we were off!

I have never tailgated at a sporting event or any other event for that matter. It was so fun and exciting!!! It was at least 105 degrees out there in the black parking lot so the cold bear and cold gazpacho was perfect. The game was also perfect- we won!! Oh AND we made it up on the jumbotron!!

On Sunday, as part of Chris' training for a mountain climbing excursion with his dad in a month, we walked almost 5 miles. I walked my slight hangover right off!

Then Chris made a fantastic quinoa dish for a potluck party over at Holly and Dustin's. The party had all the classic July 4th stuff - Hot dogs, kids, fireworks and beer. A few of the kids really kept the party patriotic which was great - they reminded us how to say the pledge of allegiance and sing the star spangled banner.

On Monday, I had a super creative day - busting out more than one project while sitting around. It was just what the doctor ordered!

And now here we are - How was your weekend!?

Happy Monday!

2011-06-27T05:16:00.004-07:00

Verity is coming to see me on my B-day weekend!! Wooot woooot woooooooot!!! I cannot wait!! We were trying to plan for me to come up there for a weekend but it wasn’t working out correctly and I suggested that I would help pay for her ticket if she were willing to come my way instead….after some deliberation she decided to go for it! Chris will be out of town so I get Mrs. Verity all to myself!

I seriously can’t wait.

In other news – Chris and I were supposed to go camping this weekend but the news called for rain so we stayed home instead and had pretty much the laziest weekend in history. On Friday, we lost power at 7pm just after dinner and drinks and promptly fell asleep on the couch till 9pm. Power popped back on so we finished our movie and then went back to sleep, lol. I’m pretty sure we got about 11 hours of sleep.

We proceeded to spend 75% of our weekend on the couch. Which was sort of lovely of course.

Eventually we got a wild hair and decided to go buy a blow up pool for the yard. Approximately 1-hour after this photo was taken we got hit by a CRAZY ass storm. Hail, branches, a fast moving flood that threatened to wipe out my garden and thunder/lightening that had our friend Chris L. jumping away from the windows. Thankfully we did not lose power again until after our dinner guests had left!

Right now I am at work, finishing a cup of tea and waiting for the Casey Anthony trial to start up this morning- It sounds like it’s going to be a crazy week for the case. If anyone is interested in listing to the live feed I suggest this site: http://www.wftv.com/caseytriallive1/index.html

Have a great week everyone and have a great Monday!

A very girly post:

2011-06-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

Ok so a few things that I just have to share!

Victoria Secrets Incredible Bra- is nothing short of incredible - it’s true! I mean this bra is so comfy, I told everyone in the dressing room after trying it on. Please go try one of these on – you won’t be sorry!

Un-freakin-believable. Love love love this face stuff!! “evanhealy” – Rose Cleansing Milk, Rose Vetiver Day Moisturizer, Rose Geranium Facial Tonic Hydrosol, and Rosehip Treatment Facial Serum. It’s completely organic- farm to face – wonderful. And surprisingly it has done a better job at making my skin more even than anything I’ve ever tried!

That is all!

Token Political Post for the Year

2011-06-17T05:00:00.002-07:00

I heard something on the radio this morning that got my political engines revving. So here goes…
There were two women, at a Republican convention, talking about why they don’t like Obama. One of the woman said that she is 78 years old and is still working as a nurse because she can’t afford to retire. The other said that she had to come out of retirement to go back to work because her social security was not enough.

1. These woman, obviously, did not save enough for retirement, if they saved at all. Most likely they were relying on social security and other social programs to carry them through retirement.
2. Thinking that the government should take care of you is called socialism.
3. The economy faltered under Bush, not Obama. In fact, Obama did not take office until most of the recovery effort was already in place. The economic downturn, nor the use of tax payers’ money for the bailout, nor your lack of retirement funds, are Obama's fault.
4. Why do you hate democrats and even socialists if you think the government should pay for your SOCIAL PROGRAMS.

I mean, this really gets my goat. Chaps me up even.

With that said I have also been thinking a lot about how my hatred for George W. has come back to bite me in the ass by having to hear about peoples hatred for Obama. I cringe when I see signs that say things like: Obama = Antichrist and yet, I’m pretty sure that I called Georgy Boy Satan at least a hundred times.

I am as left wing as these people are right wing.

That has been an eye opener for me. Big time. In fact its kept my mouth shut on politics a lot lately. Which is slightly unfortunate because my friend Katie here at work is forced to watch CNN all day and has loads of great debates for me.

Anyway - Those are my two conflicting comments for the day. One one hand politics make me want to make a sign and scream from the rooftops...on the other I can't believe that I ever sounded as loony as these right wing activists and frankly I'm embarrassed.

That is all.

Wedding Shower

2011-06-13T05:56:00.002-07:00

A few pictures from the "family" wedding shower for my brother in law Drew and his future wife Meredith. My in-laws had the party at their house and it was lovely. The food was good, boccie ball was fun (even though Chris and I got our asses kicked) and it was awesome to have all the family under one roof. I love when both of my nieces are in the same room- cousins!! The weather was perfect and the beer was cold :)

The Happy Couple!

The happy couple has their 3rd (yes third, they go big or go home in the south) wedding shower this weekend which we are helping to host. This one is more of a young people only fiesta party type of thing. So it should be the most fun yet I imagine!

Adventures in Organic Gardening

2011-06-13T05:32:00.004-07:00

So I thought I would write out a few of the organic tricks I have been using in the garden this year for my own sake (I can look it up next year) and who knows maybe someone else will find it useful too!

So, first of all I always try to go the preventative route instead of insecticide route. A few things that seem to be working this year are loads of smelly things planted in the garden like onions, mint, chives, basil, rosemary, marigolds around the tomatoes, and so on. I have definitely seen a drop in bad bugs from last year…

I have noticed a few tomatoes being eaten so I bought some NEEM concentrate (An oil from a tree which is used in tons of natural products these days from chap stick to face wash to gardening!) to mix with water and spray the fruits directly.

As far as feeding my plants I have done a few things. First, I added two kinds of fertilizer to my garden bed before adding plants. I used a mushroom fertilizer and a regular old poop fertilizer, both organic. Since then I have fed my bed twice, once with Epsom Salt (about a tablespoon per plant) and once with Garden Tone (a prepackaged organic plant food). I highly recommend the Epsom salt. It’s cheap and the plants really seemed to like it.

I also have kept up the practice of releasing lady bugs to eat up the aphids – though it’s hard to know if they are keeping up their life cycle since it’s been so damn hot.

So that’s what I have learned so far in organic gardening!

If anyone has any other tips to add feel free!

hot as a mo-fo

2011-06-08T05:16:00.004-07:00

Ok let’s see what I can bust out here…

My mom’s visit was good – I think she enjoyed herself so that’s good. Did lots of girls stuff like shopping and drinking champagne and getting facials. (Sorry mom I dont have the real camera pictures yet - cell phone will have to do for now!)

We managed to also fit in a BBQ at our place with my sister/brother in law Holly & Dustin and my niece Josephine. It was hot as a mo-fo but it turned out to be a nice little get together.

Also managed to sneak in a brunch with Katie and Brandon on the way to the airport to drop my mom back off. They are always fun and the vegan iced Chai made my day.

This Thursday I start the physical therapy portion of my Chiropractor stuff. Woohoo! The end is near.

The rest of the month will be filled with Weddings Showers and hopefully camping on the last weekend.

The end.

eating a lot of beans

2011-06-01T07:36:00.003-07:00

Busy Busy Busy this week.

I don't know if Ive mentioned this but my mom is flying in tomorrow for a long weekend. We are going to the spa for facials and going shopping and such. Should be fun! Hopefully it cools down a bit around here though...jeesh!

Not much else going on - working, re watching LOST, BBQing a lot, not engrossed in a book for the first time in a while, eating a lot of beans, and eggs for that matter - in case anyone was worried about my protein levels.

Hope you all are well!!

Mexico!!! iy yay yiiii

2011-05-24T08:14:00.004-07:00

Mexico Vacation in pictures!

A view from one of the hallways

One of many Bloody Mary's

Breakfast on our deck

Our in room whirlpool and shower.

We took many whirlpools - one even with cups full of rose petals!

Our bedroom area. The ceiling above the bed had these awesome glowing lights.

The main building/lobby bar

Chillin!

Taking a rest of the round bed by the ocean

Cool old building nearby

Chris and his "Miami Vice"

Our view at dusk

Back on the red ocean bed!

Mmmmm Mexico Bloody Marys are the BEST

Drinking champagne and playing mini golf.

Other things that don’t have pictures – we got 50-minute couples massage at the spa. Had plenty to eat for every meal and even had dessert a few times which is something most restaurants cannot do for us. While snorkeling we saw the biggest sting ray friggin EVAR. Huge.

All in all it was fun, relaxing and romantic. We were there for the perfect amount of time. I was worried that it would feel too short but it didn’t at all. In fact, one more day and I think we would have been bored!

Hope you all had a great weekend as well!
Ten

Bulletin Boards of Joy

2011-05-18T13:33:00.002-07:00

So a woman who I used to work with left the company and handed me the task of posting once monthly inspirational stories on the cork board that she had been doing for years. I happily said yes but when I looked through her old folder of just page after page of small typed words... I thought….this could be WAY cooler.

So, long story short, I’ve starting going wild with the bulletin boards which we have two of, one in each kitchen. Sort of “kind over matter” blog style with loads of random stuff to make people smile and think.

One of the biggest hits has been these “take one” sheets of positive thoughts and compliments for coworkers.

I love that people are enjoying it!!

Hallo Hallo!

2011-05-13T11:57:00.000-07:00

Soooo I went for the first real adjustment chiropractor visit yesterday. Which made an immediate and awesome difference. It was pretty friggen wild to be honest. I mean it was just seconds and I could feel my whole left side change! I felt like I was gliding when I was walking afterward.

Unfortunately I can already feel it reverting back to the position it’s been in for the last 6 months…a twisted and uneven pelvic bone (I don’t remember the official terms they used) which is putting serious pressure on nerves and who knows what else on my left side. I’m pretty sore right now to be honest.

Supposedly chiropractic work of this kind often takes multiple visits for your body to stick in the correct position. Up to twelve weeks of 1 to 2 visits a week. Though my doc and I are guessing that it won’t take the full 12 weeks since I’m a young active person. I have another appointment already on Monday.

* Expensive, yes.
* Worth it? So far, so good.
* End in sight to enduring the same pain every day for 6 months – priceless.

In other news:
We have my friend Katie’s dog from today until Tuesday. He is an energetic, one year old, fuzzball. A new experience for us as far as dogs go!

We have a busy weekend planned, mostly cleaning and getting ready for our trip on Thursday!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Austin, Wedding, Weekend.

2011-05-09T07:59:00.005-07:00

Chandeliers in the trees = Awesome.

A fantastic indie singer/songwriter. Seriously good.

Chris and Grandma Bet

Chris and Grampi

Me as a walrus

My brother in law and sister in law Dustin and Holly , and Chris and I

My wedding guest outfit (we never took a picture of chris' new awesome suit!! dur!)

Oh and a silly video: http://www.flickr.com/photos/iheartgraphics/5703225539/

pictures and poop

2011-05-02T07:55:00.005-07:00

Yesterday was our 1-year anniversary of arriving in Atlanta. It feels like we have been here for so much longer than that! Funny. In other anniversary news – I am 5 days away from my 3 months at my current job (which feels more like 6 months) and 21 days from our 2-year wedding anniversary!

This weekend we fly to Austin for my cousin-in-laws wedding. We will only be there for about 28 hours – which still costs us $800….already…oy…vay… But it should be fun. Cousin weddings are always fun for some reason!

What else, what else…

Watched Black Swan – It was good! I can see why it was up for so many awards for sure. Creeeeepy though.

We are almost…so friggen close…to being done with that puzzle.

Yes we are still working on that puzzle…
I know, I know.
Never again 2000 pieces, never again.

My garden is kicking ass and taking names. I already have blossoms on one of my tomato plants! Although I had to dig up my cucumber section and put an organic pest beating on the dirt. Bugs love cucumbers and squashes…But anyway I can’t tell you how good it feels to get out there, early in the morning, and drink my coffee while I play in the dirt. Friggen AWESOME.

That is all - LOVE

Baby Snakes

2011-04-25T06:50:00.004-07:00

This weekend we:

Went over to Holly and Dustin’s on Friday night. Had some quality time with Josephine, colored eggs, ate delicious Holly-home-cooked-food, drank half a bottle of sparkling Syrah (it was good!), and had a great time.

Went camping at Unicoi State park on Saturday which was lovely - great hike, good campy meals, marshmallows, fire. Saw a baby snake, a TON of tadpoles, an opossum, lots of other dogs, ducks, geese, a giant woodpecker…. Ate fantastic boiled peanuts to and from the park, grits, sweet tea. Gotta love the food on Southern road trips- YUM!!

(An actual hearty meal while camping thanks to our awesome new camping stove set up)

Chris just chillin :)

Came home to a dirty house which we slowly tried to clean up over Sunday, watched “Temple Grandin” which is a true story and was awesome, and checked on my garden which is filling out nicely.

It’s a new week!

2011-04-22T04:58:00.002-07:00

Happy Earth Day Y'all!!

(don't worry, I dont really say y'all...yet)

Thanks Sadie!

2011-04-20T06:05:00.000-07:00

tattoos

2011-04-18T17:52:00.005-07:00

I've been thinking about tattoos a lot lately with money in my account for the purpose to burn...These are some of the pictures that have been inspiring me.

Though I think I have decided to wait because I just have not found the right tattoo artist to work with...

Patience!

Can I put your picture on my blog?

2011-04-15T10:27:00.003-07:00

This is my friend Katie from work. I sort of feel like a weirdo stalker for forcing her to take a picture so I could put it on my blog...But she's used to stalkers, so that's ok :)

I spend all my breaks harassing her at the front desk...

Case in point ... this is us at the front desk!

She manages to blow my mind all the time by coming out with new crazy skills and facts (oh me, yeah I play the Accordion, no big deal I'm bi-lingual in French & English, my real name isn't Katie...in fact its not even Kathryn!... etc.)

I like people who can blow my mind over a cup of tea.

Blog world, Meet Katie.

Katie, Blog World.

The Joy

2011-04-12T05:44:00.008-07:00

Life is good!

This weekend was the first real week and weekend sans online shops/customers/responsibilities.

IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME.

(my nieces, not from this weekend)

It literally felt like 4 full days of free time. I was amazed every hour that we were doing yet another thing that we just plain ol' felt like doing. I gardened my ass off, took a nap, shopped, was lazy, was active, was social, got home from grocery shopping by 9:30am, cleaned our room, laughed, played, walked, went out....

(Atlanta Opera, Cobb Energy Center)

I really can't believe how good it feels to have my life back to where I want it. Even my Monday felt like something to celebrate!

(my plants on my desk)

I think I am officially going to cross off "own a successful business" off my life list. I filed all of my quarterly taxes over two years always reporting profits - I think that qualifies as successful and I don't ever plan to do it again. So it's crossed off!

(I wasn't even planning on doing a veggie garden this year...Paula (my mother in law) mentioned it Saturday morning, got my gears going, and by Sunday my new raised garden was ready!)

Sometimes the joy you find is in funny places. The joy I found was not in running a business and working for myself but closing my business and remembering what normal day to day life feels like!

Word Cloud

2011-04-11T06:01:00.006-07:00

This is a word cloud from all the most used words recently on my blog. Pretty cool :)

For You!

2011-04-07T04:46:00.005-07:00

A few movie reviews:
"Earthlings" - Unless you are a meat eater without any conscience of where meat comes from, a animal owner without any regard to the spay and neuter process, or someone who gets something good out of being shocked, please dear god DO NOT watch this movie. Chris and I did not get through 10 minutes of it before bursting into tears and turning it off. We literally had to have a little moment of silence afterwards. The movie, in short, is a narrated collection of shocking clips about how animals on this earth are treated badly.
"Eat Pray Love" - I heard that if you did not really like the book you may like the movie more. I do not agree or disagree with that statement. I read the book and thought it was so-so. Watched the movie and I felt the same. I also felt the same about both in another sense - They could have cut out a lot of the story and it would not have suffered. Though, the movie gets at least one extra point for making me cry...multiple times!
A few good documentary series (on netflix) - We have been watching "Life" which is narrated by Oprah and is pretty damn awesome. We have also been watching "Transgeneration" which is sort of a reality show that follows a handful of transgendered people at different colleges. Also pretty awesome.

Those are my reviews for the day! Love, Ten

Links for you

2011-04-04T07:48:00.004-07:00

This week is spring break in ATL which means that a ton of people are out of the office and home with their kids. Long story short I have some time to kill.

Links for you = WIN! Bald Eagle Cam = 2 hatched babies, 1 unhatched egg, 1 mom eagle. Everyone left in my office have been waiting all morning for the mom to move so that you can see the babies. http://thedailywh.at/2011/04/01/bald-eagle-birdcam-of-the-day/

Failbook - This link will help you waste hours opon hours of your day. http://failbook.failblog.org/

If you like that one you should also check this one out - http://failblog.org/ Thats all I have today. Love

Alright, Alright- I'll update!

2011-03-30T08:39:00.005-07:00

The day to day:

Chris and I are working on a 2000 piece puzzle of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. Its surprisingly a lot harder than a 1000 piece puzzle. A lot harder. We are doing a stop motion of the process which is going to be AWESOME in the end. I also look forward to having our dining room table back!

Tonight I am getting my legs, bikini and armpits waxed. I'm nervous about the legs...so much hair to rip out. oucha. After I shed some tears I am meeting up with Chris, my friend Katie from work, and Katie's cousin for some Thai food. YUM.

This weekend we are having our friends Chris & Caitlin over for dinner and most likely putting them to work on the puzzle.

I am soooo close to being done with all my etsy stuff...so close. All of the remaining custom orders are in their final stages. I can feel the weight lifting off of me.

Last night I finally sent out all the paperwork to have my name changed on my passport. Since I waited I had to pay almost $200 to expedite the process for our Mexico trip. Lesson learned. I'm looking forward to having one of the cool new passports but Ill be sad to loose all my stamps!

I found out that Penny is only 2...not 3 like Ive been telling everyone. Her birthday is October 8th in case you were wondering. :)

That's all I got.

Peace!

love Pearl Jam

2011-03-18T05:05:00.002-07:00

Want: Friends who love Pearl Jam and want to play Rock band Wii with us.

Need: To spend as much time as possible outside in what is to be a phenomenal weekend weather forecast. (Etsy custom orders permitting)

Like: To go for a hike

Excited for: Our first weekend (this weekend) in a very long time without any concrete plans.

Have fun in FL girls! Wish I was with you!

Night.

2011-03-15T18:30:00.003-07:00

A sentence crossed my mind and I thought - I should put that down...So here goes:

"I love you because when we kiss our smiles always get in the way. "

True story.
In other news:
We booked our 2-year wedding anniversary trip! On May 20th we will be headed back to our honeymoon spot - Riviera Maya, Mexico. Can't friggen wait for that!!

Recently watched movie:
The Social Network - It was good!

Recent food addiction:
Creamed honey on fatty bakery style toast

Recent happy purchase:
Toms deodorant. Finally a hippy deodorant that WORKS - all the time. Im using the rose one now. Love it.

Ok bye bye.
Love.
Night.

An Ode to my Husband

2011-03-07T16:10:00.002-08:00

He really is just such a great guy....

Ive been having a few stressful days as of late and he has gone above and beyond the call of duty to try and make me smile. Flowers, a wonderful lunch brought to me, an amazing dinner at a very fancy restaurant, a clean house, a clean dog, and so so much patience.

He really is a saint.

In other news:

The symphony was AWESOME! I cant wait for the Opera!
Penny and I went to a dog birthday party at my new friend Katie's which was awesome. Hi Katie!
This week has started of with bang...for better or worse. Here's to a week that is easier than the Monday that started it!

It’s Monday.

2011-02-28T12:45:00.003-08:00

You know what…I don’t have sheeeyut to say!

But I love you guys so I will say something.

It’s Monday.
I’m drinking an iced soy toffee nut latte from starbucks.
I’m thinking about home.

Fun stuff everywhere!

2011-02-22T13:18:00.004-08:00

Things I am looking forward to:

Date night at the Atlanta Symphony in about 2 weeks!
Camping Season!
Date night at the Opera, Mozart's "Così fan tutte" in 1.5 months!
A trip to Austin, TX for a wedding in 2 months!
Our 2 Year wedding anniversary in 3 months!
A trip to Chattanooga, TN for my brother-in-laws wedding in 4 months!
A trip to New England for a cousins wedding and vacation in 6 months!
A trip to upstate NY for a wedding in 7 months!
Our five year “when we met” anniversary in 7 months!

first week - check!

2011-02-13T16:35:00.004-08:00

Hello hello hello.

So my first week back to work went great! I think I impressed the right people and set the right tone.

I came home for lunch everyday to let penny out and play with her and all that. I'm not 100% sure if I will continue doing it because I do have to rush a lot to get back within an hour. I might have her go to a doggy day care twice a week or something too - we will see! She seems fine with whatever, being the laid back dog that she is. She is happy when we are home and I'm pretty sure she just sleeps when we are not!

My outfits all worked great. I got a ton of compliments on my accessories all week so I must be doing something right!

As far as the stress of working my etsy business and working 40 hours a week at the new job....It is stressful... but because I am not renewing or doing any marketing my orders have dropped significantly which helps. I do need to start thinking about working on my remaining custom orders in my free time. Just typing that makes me realize how much I want my "free time" back. Slowly shutting down my biz is definitely looking like a possibility.

So anyhoo- I am ready to kick this weeks ass!

How are all of you!?

Fashion and the Beast

2011-02-05T09:54:00.003-08:00

I have had to buy a TON of clothes for this new job. After moving from SD we basically gave away anything we didn't wear on a weekly basis which left me with few dressier clothes. So anyway I have been trying to really look awesome this time ariund instead of goingfor the dress pants paired with anything comfertable and sneakers. Not a great look, but it was my look for many working years, lol.

I just spent a few hours trying to pair together outfits from everything I have bought and I can't believe that I actually still need a few key pieces!

(One of my inspirations pictures...Except I will be covering up a lot more tattoos)

Not that I mind shopping....bring it on!

Love Ten

honesty at work.

2011-02-02T08:27:00.002-08:00

You know what? I don't like doing custom orders. I don't even like designing wedding stuff.

This takes up WAY to much of my time and is not a life long dream of mine or anything.

No new custom orders.
Finishing up what I have now which will last me until April.
I might be done with all this as a whole.
Running a small online business is HUGE pain in my ass.

I wont make any rash decisions just yet. We will see how i settle into the new job.

But right now? Thinking about leaving all the business shit behind sounds like a dream vacation.

Back to work.

LOTS of changes!

2011-01-28T05:46:00.004-08:00

So I got that job that I was asking for JuJu on. I start on the 7th. Very excited for a million reasons but also very aware of the challenges I will face going back to work at the very start of the custom bridal season.

For now I am just trying to get a shit ton done and go with the flow. If it ends up feeling like way too much a few weeks fro now then i will put my shop on vacation. I secretly wish i could just walk away from the whole etsy thing and call it a day. But...Ill keep trucking for a while :)

I think there will continue to be a lot of big changes over the next year. Now that we are back to a full two income household we can start looking at houses and talking about babies and going on vacation! We could use a vacation!

The other day i did early spring cleaning on our closet and drawers and realized that I actually still have a ton of work clothes left over from my last job. I do need to go out shopping to fill in the gaps though. Yay shopping!

Anyhoo- That's whats going on with me lately!

Love
Ten

Kicking Ass & Taking Names

2011-01-20T13:47:00.003-08:00

Getting SO much done this week!

In celebration I give you a Cute to Cutest list:

The End.

JuJu

2011-01-18T06:39:00.004-08:00

Ok people - I need your "get the job" juju this week.

The interview last week went great
The last person they are interviewing is today I believe
I fear my thank you letter may have been a little wacko
My 2nd interview with HR is tomorrow
I REALLY want this job.

Thanks in advance for the happy thoughts!

Teneisha

Good Morning!

2011-01-13T05:05:00.002-08:00

Today I woke up feeling much better - Head cold is retreating, migraine is gone, I slept like a baby. Even my tailbone feels a little better today!

I have one part of my interview today and I am ready, even a little excited, for that as well.

Anyhoo - Have a great day!

Ten

2011-01-12T16:03:00.003-08:00

I'm already sick of just knowing that last post was in the world. I'd delete it but then I'd be hiding something.

You know - my life is wonderful, amazing really. I have such a lucky daily life that any words saying otherwise are just whines.

I'm going to eat a salad, take a bath and cuddle up on the couch.

Goodnight world!

smell the fucking sunshine

2011-01-12T12:10:00.004-08:00

You know what...I am just going to say it. Trying to be honest right?

2011 has been off to an awful start for me. On the very first day of 2011 I woke up, ate an egg, and proceeded to throw up for 6 hours. Since then, every one of the animals has been sick and two of them have starting using penny's cage as a restroom. One monumental family issue, a tailbone that is still oh so slowly healing, a head cold complete with migraines and 3 luke warm baths later....I just had to say something.

Yes I am grateful for all I have. Yes I am very much in love and surrounded by those who love me. But this girl, right here, is ready for a change in well being.

Universe - I know I am attracting negativity right now because I am not living in the now. I know I need to wake up and smell the fucking sunshine. But I am having a hard time getting back to that lovely place I was. Can I get a little push?

Show me the way of the "happy un-medicated"!

mmm ginger tea.

2011-01-11T12:31:00.002-08:00

well as most of you have heard an ice-storm hit a not so prepared Atlanta....In cities like Atlanta, that don't get a huge amount of winter weather, we don't have things like sand or salt trucks...never mind plow trucks.

Long story short we got some wet weather on Sunday and now here we are on Tuesday and the roads really just seem to keep getting worse. Just when things start to melt, it gets cold enough to freeze back up again! It funny how the inability to deal with something is much more important than how much of that something falls from the sky!

Anyhoo - my interview was pushed to this Thursday and Chris has been home from work for 2 days so far.

I have a cold.
I am loving mulled cider.
Loving baths.
Wanting a vacation.

Yup.

Teneisha

In other news:

2011-01-07T05:24:00.002-08:00

I have a job interview on Monday.

Something I applied to a few months ago when things were slow. When i got the call, this week, it was a little jarring because I have so much going on I couldn't believe i may be adding a full time office job to the mix!

But now, in all honesty, I am kind of excited. I think I could really use this mentally. And holy hell wont it be nice to have a two income household again. I can buy stuff....start thinking about a house...so on and so forth. Go on a vacation. man oh man.

Of course I have NO CLUE how many other people are applying or anything so we will see.

Anyhoo- Today is Friday. I baked a shit ton of cupcakes yesterday from scratch. I'm drinking coffee out of my favorite cup and i finally found one of our ipods to use in my office.

Peace in yo buttcrease
Teneisha

kill with kindness

2011-01-06T10:06:00.003-08:00

You spend your whole life coming to terms with the family you have been born into. You spend money and time in therapy. You cry and yell. You hate and forgive. You learn to accept and love and take deep breaths. You learn to tuck away the frustrations.

And then you get married.

And suddenly...you have a new family.

And I guess...the process starts all over?

No offense to the new family.
If you are new family, reading this, and wondering why I would post this, please see here: http://teneisha.blogspot.com/2010/09/honesty.html

Today I could not be more frustrated, annoyed, upset, at my breaking point, in need of a camping trip, in need of a punching bag, and in need of some sort of family dealing enlightenment.

And to think, I woke up this morning with the best of intentions. I woke up with a meditative mind. With joy. Actually set out with the intent to do good and "kill with kindness".

That did not work.

Plan B.

...

Happy Thoughts...Happy Thoughts.....

2011-01-05T11:43:00.001-08:00

Things I am Currently In Love With:

2010-12-30T15:08:00.007-08:00

Best Gift of the Season:

Flying Apron's Gluten Free & Vegan Baking Book
This cook book makes my mouth water just thinking about it. Its made by an actual bakery in Seattle and some of the recipes make my heart skip a beat. Like Earl Grey Tea Cake and Chai Butter-cream Frosting. Dear god...pure heaven.

Totally sucked into:
By Nightfall, A Novel by: Michael Cunningham
I love all his books as a rule but this one has me laughing like crazy. Last night after reading a particularly funny part, I tried to explain my laughter to Chris through tears, snorts, and general pain from what was laughter then turned into hysterics. And really... I don't think its supposed to be a funny book...I just feel like the thoughts in the main characters head could be my own. I totally "get" him. Its also about the modern art world which gets my gears going because I'm like "hey i know who that is!"

A glass a day..
Lucky Star 2008 Pinot Nior
We received a humungo bottle of this as a hostess gift when we had a party in November. I'll be honest and say that I did not think it was going to be good...mostly because it comes in a 1.5 liter bottle which i guess reminded me of box wine. I opened it over the weekend and was pleasantly surprised. Chris is off red wine right now so I have been slowly sipping it away over the week. I love it!

not so epic

2010-12-28T05:37:00.003-08:00

I never know what to blog about anymore. Which is funny because I used to literally think in blogs. Everything I experienced i would be automatically thinking about how to blog it later. I used to take a camera with me everywhere just for the purpose of having pictures to go along with the epic post i was already writing in my head...

I used to wonder if that was a silly way to experience things. I wondered what it was like to just do things and then move on.

Now...i never bring a camera. I never think in blogs. To be honest I liked much better when i did.

Maybe I am depressed. I know i have been in an awful mood latley. Maybe PMS has a way of kicking your ass when you don't have anti depressants surging through your system. I miss life with anti depressants. ... meh i do and i don't...I dunno.

Today prolly was not a good day to blog.

At least I am being honest i guess.

Though i could have picked a better topic. Like Christmas in Atlanta, or our Rocket flying club, craft night with friends, or how we still have snow on the ground, new books....

Well...I'm off to cheer myself up!

Coccygodynia

2010-12-14T08:18:00.002-08:00

Official Diagnosis: Coccygodynia (pain in the region of the coccyx). Whether or not my coccyx (tailbone) is fractured or broken does not matter because the treatment is all the same and healing takes 6-8 weeks no mater what the problem.

The only none standard part of my diagnosis is that the doctor felt significant muscle spasms on my right side which is most likely pushing and pulling things and causing that gross popping feeling.

So, I got a prescription for muscle relaxers and instructions to use a doughnut pillow, take anti inflammatory, ice the area, and take care of it for 4-6 weeks. I guess I already have 1.5 of those weeks behind me.

If the muscle relaxers are not working to significantly reduce the pain, let them know.

Back at home, just took my first muscle relaxer and i am sitting on my doughnut.

So that's that I guess!

Ow

2010-12-12T18:28:00.002-08:00

So i am sure that everyone is sick of hearing about my ass....

But (no pun intended, haha) my tailbone (or some other bone/thing down there) which i thought was fine has gotten worse with every day. Now it has started popping in or out of place when i sit for too long. Which feels about as good as it sounds. Hurts when i wake up. Hurts all day.

Time for a doctors appointment i guess.

Yay health insurance!

I didn't even have to use my A-K

2010-12-09T14:41:00.002-08:00

Today I:

Brought homemade fudge to a friend in her art studio
Had fantastic conversation with said friend
Cut my sister in laws hair (and brought her some fudge too)
Brainstormed and got excited over "photo prop" ideas with said sister in law
Met up with a local client to hand off her hair piece which she loved
Secretly ate a small order of french from from McDonald's
Came home to prepare a big winter veggie bake for dinner!
It was a good day :)

The good and the bad

2010-12-03T12:16:00.003-08:00

So the bad news is that I am very very sore. So sore that I cant seem to lift my upper legs more than a few inches. And of course with a sore butt came a sore back which triggered a sore neck and then a headache.

The good news is that my tailbone is still a little sensitive but definitely not cracked or anything. Which is good!

So, I'm stretching, icing, hot bathing and taking it slow.

Also...did it blow anyone else mind to find out that its Friday? I had no clue, lol.

Happy Weekend!
Teneisha

That's one way to start your morning.

2010-12-02T05:34:00.003-08:00

This morning, while holding penny in her dog bed in one hand and my coffee in the other, I fell down the last 4 stairs in our house. My favorite coffee cup smashed, Penny remained unscathed and my butt took a beating. Now I am standing up while I type this because sitting is the last thing I want to do.

I need a donut pillow! And a hot tub.

In other news I got a call yesterday from a placement agency about my resume which they found on Monster. The job is a little below my skill level and pay level, which they knew, but its only a 3 month temp position and its really close to my house so I might go for it. Would be nice to have extra money!

God I hope i didn't fracture my tail bone or anything. Quick everyone think happy thoughts about my butt!

Love ya,
Teneisha

2010-11-23T09:32:00.000-08:00

what if.

2010-11-16T11:54:00.000-08:00

Today i keep thinking about quitting all online stuff. Like, what would it feel like to quit facebook, blogs, twitter, even etsy, all of it. Make myself un-search-able. Then perhaps, after a while, i could figure out which pieces i actually enjoyed,which ones i missed and come back to them.

I have had friends who have done it and they survived.

Maybe i would bake more. Or clean more. Maybe i would get better at crocheting. Maybe I would be happy to have my creativity all to myself again. Maybe not.

Oh, internet, how i hate you...and love you.

2010-11-16T11:00:00.001-08:00

Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes...

2010-11-12T06:16:00.001-08:00

Penny is in my dreams basically every night. In fact, she is usually a big part of my dream. Sometimes its the we need to re-name Penny so that they wont know that we didn't hand her over to the bad guys! Or, Penny where are you, i can hear you barking but i can't see you on these crowded city streets!? Or sometimes i am just carrying her around during my entire dream, kinda like in real life....

I love this dog!

Into the White

2010-11-05T06:16:00.000-07:00

Tonight is the opening night of my Art show! Yipes!

It is hovering around 30 degrees here...but next week should be in the 70's...wtf?

I have decided that its time to go back to out of the house work. It feels right. And I cant wait to have extra money for things like clothes and maybe a tattoo!

By the way did everyone see the first Miserykids tattoo!?

Oh and fellow bloggers - how are you liking this new set up? I find the layout stuff extremely annoying but that may be because I am on a MAC.

Have a great weekend!!
<3 Ten

Polka Dotted Coffee Cup

2010-11-01T07:19:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

I have been very busy trying to get through a creative to-do list which you can see parts of here: http://10eisha.blogspot.com/ that include an art show this coming weekend (!), a consignment deal with a real live bridal shop (!) and a bunch of other crap.

I am broke but happy, energized, hopeful and feeling creative. :)

I also wanted to remind everyone to find out where and when to vote tomorrow for the mid term elections. They are VERY important this year especially if you are a registered democrat.

So my mom and Adams visit was great. We did just about ever Atlanta tourist thing you can do and a few just plain awesome things like the Dali exhibit at the High museum which was sooooo awesome. We had a week of good food, fun playing lots of games, watched a lot of movies and so on. Penny got an extra amount of love all week which she was very happy about.

Lots of good things happening! Hope you are all well!

Love Ten

Hello?

2010-10-25T14:41:00.003-07:00

Is anybody out there?

via kindovermatter

Our House

2010-10-20T10:47:00.007-07:00

I apologize in advance for the messy bedroom & master bath parts :) I have not finished putting everything away yet :)

Anti-Depressants Update

2010-10-14T06:26:00.004-07:00

So my system has been fully clear for a few weeks now and i have to say i am feeling great! At first it was a little hard, as i could literally feel the change everywhere. It was hard to stay on track, to stay motivated, to stay energized. But now that the withdrawal period is over i really feel good. I actually feel like i have more energy and more motivation than i did with the pills which is the biggest surprise for me.

Its very hard to explain the changes...Its sort of like before i was on coast, i was happy, but my brain was coasting. Now I am driving, shifting gears. It feels good!

Of course i have lots to be happy about - we got health insurance, i have my pets around me all the time, my sales are picking back up, the weather has been fantastic, my mom and brother will be here in 6 days (!), we have a new giant couch, Ive been making exciting dinners every night (how could we have forgotten about baked potatoes...yum!)...life is good :)

I hope all is well with everyone - please come back to blog world...

Love Ten

Lists

2010-10-06T12:19:00.005-07:00

Favorite Pair of Jeans List (a.k.a. The what i am addicted to list):
Mexican Fruit Seasoning
Office, season 6
Coco, Mademoiselle, Perfume
My Pets

Hopes:
That all of these quotes I have been giving for giant custom jobs come through.
That Chris and I will finally pick out a couch by this weekend

Very happy to have:
Health insurance
Peanut Butter Newman-O's

Thoughts:
It seems that Facebook has won the war over blogs in my world. Which is too bad because i like blogs much more than FB.
Self doubt is a bitch.
The fall is very nice here in Atlanta.

Just thought it was funny.

2010-10-04T10:08:00.001-07:00

1. Wicked

New England slang that adds emphasis. Synonymous with really, very and hella. To describe how great something is: "This car is wicked cool!" To show aggravation: "This fucking guy is a wicked asshole!" To show frustration: "That guy is wicked slow!" To show amazement: "Wow, that game is wicked awesome!" To describe a person: "She's a wicked bitch!" To describe the weather: "Man, it's wicked hot out here!" To emphasize feelings: "That story made me wicked sad!" To exaggerate your point: "That took a wicked long time!"

"That wicked cool car is wicked fast is owned by that wicked old guy, who drives it wicked slow when it's wicked hot out, which makes me wicked sad cause I'm wicked broke and I got to walk a wicked long way."

Urban Dictionary

Dreams.

2010-10-01T08:47:00.003-07:00

Last night I had a dream that I found a dead space alien in my bed.

As with most of my kinda-freaky dreams, my bedroom was in the old log house in Antrim. There was a sheet over her but i could see the outline of her skull. I put my hand on her head, still covered by a sheet, and her brain started to glow blue. She slowly came back to life, her flesh plumping up and her features filling out.

She told me her name was Dannie and I drew her a bath, picked out clothes, and got food ready for her because she was still very frail.

My dreams grow in strangeness.

2010-09-30T13:16:00.001-07:00

I would like to punch people today.

Or go trail running.

Either way.

My Spare Time

2010-09-21T09:21:00.003-07:00

"Penny's First Day of School" - a watercolor & pen drawing by: Teneisha