I Just Couldn't Help Myself

When Bobby graduated in June I told him and myself I wouldn't be working anymore...well that last all of a few months, because as soon as we moved to Phoenix I ended up getting a VERY part time sitting job watching baby Jack two mornings a week, but that wasn't enough so I continued to search for a little over a month for the perfect second nanny job and I just found it!

I had talked to NUMEROUS people on care who had sent me messages and scoured the postings, but nothing stood out to me. I was being very selective and picky with who I would reach out to about their posting. I had one interview with a family with newborn twins, lost out to that job to a retired Pediatric nurse (really who can compete with that?) but I didn't let it get to me I knew the right one would come along and last week it did! :) I received a message from a nice lady looking for care for her almost 4 year old daughter. We chatted via email and she explained the job more to me and I got a good vibe talking with her so we decided to set up an interview/meeting for last Friday. It just so happened that I arrive at her gate right behind her (didn't know it at the time), her fob wasn't working so I punched in the code and drove to her house, when I noticed the car was following me I thought, "wouldn't that be funny if that we her" well sure enough it was! I pulled into her drive way and she pulled up past me and we were both laughing. When I got out of my car to greet her she greeted me with a hug!

The interview was SUPER casual and we chatted about ourselves and her daughter and about the job itself. Then her daughter wanted to show me her play room and bedroom as well as her outfit for her birthday which was the next day. Everything went GREAT and we both felt like it was a great fit so I was hired then and there. She was really nice, straight forward, and they seem like an amazing family to work for so I am really excited to start! I will officially start once I am back from Hawaii, but will be going over there Wednesday for a few hours and possibly one other time before I leave as a kind of "get to know each other" trial before I start my regular hours. I usually like to do this anyway, it always makes for a smooth transition for everyone.

I am really hopeful that this will turn into yet another great job working for great people. I am glad I stuck it out and was selective with who I reached out to, and am grateful that she actually reached out to me!

It was actually really funny because she had called me "Cassie" (which happens ALL of the time) so I corrected her and said my name was actually Casey and she was like wow, that is crazy...don't take this the wrong way, but our dog just past away (as she had told me earlier) and she said when they asked their daughter what she would want to name their new puppy if they got one their daughter replied with "Casey" which was odd because we don't know anyone named Casey so we don't know where she got the name from...kind of crazy how things work out! She then promised they wouldn't name their puppy Casey lol! Our husbands are both named Robert too...so meant to be ;)

So in short, I don't think I am cut out for the stay at home WIFE thing at least not full time. I will be happy to be out of the house more working and earning extra money which is always a good thing. Later on down the line when we have kids...I think that is when I will OFFICIALLY hang up my nanny hat...but until then....it is officially back on! ;)

xoxo

Online Gallery

We got our professional wedding photos (were able to view them online) on Sunday evening and I can't even tell you how much we LOVE them! They are seriously beautiful and everything we ever wanted and WAY more! Aimee and Trizza captured our day perfectly and we couldn't be more thankful for hiring White Daisy Photography!

We of course were waiting anxiously and it took a little longer than even Aimee anticipated, but there is no doubt they were worth the wait! She gave us over 2,000 fully edited photos which blew my mind! I wasn't even expecting half that many so when she told me that I was thrilled! We spent a full hour and a half looking through each one on the tv (biggest screen!) and it put a huge smile on our faces! We got some good laughs at some of them, like the photos of the guys getting ready, our dancing group photos, and of course the reception photos! They are so priceless!

We sent Aimee our 3 choices for prints (which was incredibly hard btw) so we should be receiving those, along with our usb with all of the photos on it, in the next couple of weeks. It takes about a week for her to receive our prints, then she will ship everything to us together so it will take a little bit longer to actually physically have our photos. I can't wait to share them ALL with everyone!

Here is our FAVORITE photo of the bunch! This was the easiest choice of the 3 ;)

and a couple others I took the time to screen shot on my computer lol

I will be sure to post WAY more when we receive the files! :) 

GO CHECK OUT WHITE DAISY PHOTOGRAPHY!!! (she is based out of Northern CA, but I can tell you she is worth every extra penny to have her travel to you too!) 

xoxo

Did I say Hair Problems?

Man, I thought I had hair issues before...those were not REAL problems...me wanting to "change" my hair caused REAL problems! Somehow there was some miscommunication between my hair guy and me because I said I wanted a darker golden blonde and I ended up with DARK auburn hair. Like CRAZY! I didn't even look like myself and I nearly had a meltdown...I called later after my appt, after I went home and freaked out, calmed down, and told them that it was WAY too dark...so they had me come in the next day to "lighten it up".

This time I did what I clearly should have done the day before, I showed him photos of what I was actually originally wanting...yeah we definitely were not on the same page. But, the damage was done and going from basically platinum blonde to what I was at now, there was only so much he could do to lighten it up. He put some color remover, horrible smelling crap on my hair, then about 3 other things I don't know what to try to get as much of the color out as he could...he said it took half of it out but to me it looked exactly the same. From there he added highlights and that was all there could be done. My hair was the most fried it had ever been, and it wasn't even what I had originally wanted, not even close...but it was as good as it was going to get and it was still a million times better than it was to start.
I was also told that this color SHOULD fade/wash out of my hair since my hair was so light in about a month so I am hoping for that. I am still planning on getting more highlights put in (as many as possible as long as my hair doesn't fall out and also at a different salon) to get as blonde as I can before I go to Hawaii in 18 days. I am going to condition the crap out of my hair until then and hope the dark color continues to fade. My hair is pretty resilient and healthy so I think it will regain it's strength and moisture quickly and I know it can handle the massive amounts of bleach it still needs to it is just a matter of how blonde the next stylist can get me in one visit ;)

While everyone at the salon was nice, I can tell that this guy really didn't like "bleach" blonde hair...he kept making comments about it, and then at the very end I was asking how long I have to wait to get more highlights and he was like "you won't want to, besides, your hair was way too blonde before anyway"...uhm excuse me??? That pretty much hammered the last nail into his coffin for me. Who is he to say that I was "too blonde". He even had made a remark about how now my hair looked less "cheap"...I was annoyed to say the least at the end of that second appointment and knew I wasn't going back there. He may have not meant anything by it, but I thought it was incredibly rude and I didn't appreciate it so I will be taking my love for my bleach blonde hair elsewhere!

It will probably take a little bit to get back to as blonde as I was, but I will embrace the change for these next couple of weeks and see how it goes from here on out. I am sure I will be good as gold soon enough and I will NEVER ever again do a single color process or go into an appointment and not show pictures of exactly what I want.

Lesson learned!

Once a blonde always a blonde <3

Hair Problems

I have had the same hair for Lord only knows, long and blonde. I definitely love it but it SO expensive to maintain and I hate it! It was fine when I was living in SoCal and I went to "my girl" and I got the amazing friends and family discount and only had to pay $80 for full highlights and cut, well that is no more. Not only do I not live in SoCal anymore, but she now lives in Ottawa, Canada! I am so picky with who does my hair and dread paying the $160-$200 bill at the end. UGH. I tend to not go as often as most people though, usually every 3 months or so because my natural color isn't ridiculously far off from my highlights so it blends well enough not to look too trashy lol I think that is what keeps my hair so healthy, because although bleach is used in for the highlights I don't go every 6 weeks like most blondes. I also rarely use any heat on my hair and always let it just air dry because it is naturally straight.

So to the point...I have been thinking lately about just going au natural and growing out my hair and not coloring it anymore....it is a scary thought. I don't even remember what my natural hair color looks like...a few shades darker I am sure, still blonde but not as blonde as I am now. I have been trying to decide if I want to just straight let my hair grow out and deal with the grow out and hope after a few more months I will just have that "blond ombre" look OR color my hair a color closer to my natural color and then let it grow out then the roots/grow out won't be so noticeable. I just can't decide! I have also been doing some research since "my girl's" friend asked me if I wanted to do the balayage highlights (which at the time had no idea what they were) and looking more into doing that too and letting it grow. I just don't know. I asked my sister in law who is a hair stylist and she suggested just letting it grow out. So maybe I will just let it grow out for awhile and see how it goes...

I can't fathom not being blonde anymore, but what I can't fathom more is dropping hundreds of dollars on my hair regularly. Wish me luck and hope I have the will power to grow these locks out!

xoxo

Aloha!

I officially booked my flight to HAWAII for 6 days to visit Laura and Kyle and I couldn't be more excited! I will leave the afternoon after Thanksgiving (Friday) and take the red eye out December 5th and land in Phoenix Friday morning. I was able to get non-stop flights (YAY) and was able to use my Amex reward points to fully pay for my plane ticket (double yay)! We had been saving the points up for who knows what so when the opportunity presented itself to use them for this trip after we decided I would just be going to Hawaii by myself we took it. Bobby wanted to go but figured he will be busy with work around the holidays and most everyone will probably be taking time off so he should probably stick around. There is still a small chance (in my crazy mind) that he will come last minute, but I doubt it. We will probably use his PTO around Christmas and try to back home. Bobby has been to Hawaii multiple times when he was younger so he thought it would be fun for me to just go and see Laura and spend some girl time with her (since I don't have any friends here haha). I am excited to spend time with her for sure and have her show me around her new home :) I can't wait!!!  We are definitely planning on multiple hikes, tons of beach time, and eating our way around Oahu, if I know Laura I am SURE she has some go to places to eat around there so I can't wait! I really wish Bobby was coming and I tend to have a little bit of guilt about going without him, but then I have to remember he wanted me to go and he has traveled plenty of times without me so it is my turn! ;) Even though Hawaii is still the US it just FEELS like it is out of the country lol So excited nonetheless and have a countdown going already of course...47 days to go!


xoxo

Yummy Balls

Protein balls that is! Geez get your mind out of the gutter ;) I found a 4 ingredient recipe for these yummy bites on pinterest and have seen multiple versions of them from recipes all over the internet and from friends. You can pretty much put whatever you want in them. I started with the base recipe off of Pinterest from He and She Eat Clean (see blogs that I follow) that calls for 1c dry plain oats, 1/4c all natural PB, 3 T honey, and 2 T of dark chocolate chips. I then added a scoop of chocolate protein powder and probably 1/4c of shredded coconut (I didn't measure). Because I added the protein powder it needed more honey to hold it together so I just kind of added more and mixed until I got the right consistency. After you combine all of the ingredients just roll them up into little balls and place in a glass dish, cover and put them in the fridge so they can set. You of course can just eat them right then and there, but they will hold together better once they firm up in the fridge for about an hour.

These are great to have on hand as a quick pre-workout snack, to take on a hike or just an on the go snack in general. It literally took me 10-15 minutes from start to finish, no time at all. You could add dried fruit, flax, nuts, etc anything you want make them your own and add whatever you like!

They taste like a treat, but they're clean and healthy! Healthy CAN and DOES taste good believe it or not! :) Enjoy!

Taco Sunday

I am all about simplicity and the crock pot. I make up huge batches of slow cooked chicken every week and we use it in all different things. I was in the mood for Mexican food (as Bobby always is) so I figured I would spice up my typically plain slow cooked chicken. I just used the salt free Mrs. Dash chipotle lime seasoning and some TJ's taco season with water and let it cook on high for about 4-5 hours. After about 4 hours I shredded up the chicken and placed it back into the crock pot to soak up the seasoning more. (I should have let it cook longer after shredding, but we were hungry!)

I did a TJ's run today, something I haven't done in awhile (don't know why) and found half corn half whole wheat tortillas. I also bought lite shredded Mexican blend cheese and bought some pre-washed and chopped romaine lettuce ( I bought a bunch of other things too but these things were for dinner tonight). We already had roasted diced green chiles and sour cream and that was all it required. Simple shredded chicken tacos and were super yummy! My friend gave me an enchilada recipe I want to try too! This was kind of a wing it meal and you can literally do it any day of the week. If you don't use a ton of cheese or sour cream (which we don't) it is overall a pretty clean and healthy dinner! You can also substitute the sour cream out for non fat plain Greek Yogurt, which is what I typically do but I just went with sour cream this time.

It was nice to cook a meal that my hubby enjoyed and was still healthy as well. I tend to struggle with the balance of meals being healthy and tasting like they aren't. It feels good to make a meal that is both and have Bobby love it, but it was tacos so really you can't go wrong!

Bobby's Tacos :)

I have a few other yummy things I plan on making this week too! Wish me luck! :)