Day 10 of 30 Days of Me

Day 10

Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad

One band that I love and listen to regardless of my mood is Secondhand Serenade. I can be happy or sad and listen to Fall for You..and Awake.. Vulnerable.. Your Call... I love every single one of their songs... I just LOVE their style of music.. but Fall for You is my all time favorite. It makes me think of my best friend because that song was our summer of 2008.

Some Happy Songs.........

ANY 80s music..

Journey.. Heart.. Whitesnake.. Cutting Crew.. Firehouse.. Warrant.. Foghat...(Yes.. I am so my dad's kid)

This isn't 80s.. but this is a new song that I am absolutely in love with...

Some Sad Songs...

Rise Against.. Hero of War.. If you haven't heard this song... it's a must listen to. Kayla introduced me to it when Kevin was gone.. probably the worst time.. and I use to get so depressed listening to it.. yet I listened to it constantly.. it was my ring tone.. hahaha

Theory of a Deadman.. Not Meant to Be .. and All or Nothing

OAR... Shattered

Meatloaf (Yes I Like Meatloaf)... I would do anything for love

Fuel.. Bad Day and Hemorrhage

Blink 182.. Adams Song...

(Just some random songs.. they don't have any special meaning behind them.)

I don't really have bored songs..

Some Mad songs..

Tickle Me Pink... Typical. - this song use to be a song to get me all hyper.. now it just gets my blood pumpin
g

and Spill Cavnas.. All Over You..

Some Hyper songs...

Lady Gaga.. yeah I'll admit it, I like Lady Gaga. Don't Judge me. hahaha

Green Day.. Basketcase

Any music that you could possibly dance...

This was HARD thinking of actual names of songs and how they make me feel... I love soooo much music but when I have to narrow it down to a few songs.. it's basically impossible.

Day 9 of 30 Days of Me

Day 09-

Something you’re proud of in the past few days

That I made to Thursday? lol

This week has been a KILLER. Rosalie is teething.. AGAIN.. so you guessed it - we haven't slept in 3 nights.

With that being said, I'm proud that my house is CLEAN, and by clean i mean dirt free.. because Rosalie is a terror and the only time my house is free of toys scattered all over the floor, dvds cleared off the shelf, furniture moved around, is from the hours of 8pm to 7 am. I have spent the past 2 days deep cleaning my house.. which is a weekly event. I take 2 days every week and move everything and clean under, behind, and on top. The floors are hand scrubbed and my kitchen is cleaned with a tooth brush. No, I'm not joking. After it is all said and done, I always feel proud that of how clean my house is.

On top of a clean house.. laundry is done, IRONED, and put away. If you know me, you know that I iron EVERYTHING except sleepwear. I know, an OCD of mine.

Festa Della Zucca, Venzone, Italy

I know I haven't really been doing any other posts other than the 30 Days of Me... but we've seriously just be running so much.. and getting ready for Rosalie's birthday.. and now the next 2 days I'm going to spend ripping this house apart and clean every nook and cranny.

On Saturday, Kevin, Rosalie, and I went with our friends Meghan, Derek, and their lil girl Audrey to the Pumpkin Festival in Venzone, otherwise known as Festa Della Zucca. We went last year and didn't plan on going this year, so it was so spur of the moment we decided "yeah we'll go." We left our house around 3 and by the time we got up there and got parked it was around 4.

The first thing we did was went to a crypt where they have 5 mummies. We didn't see it last year.. honestly we didn't even know the building was a crypt. We went to the church that is right beside it and spent a very long time in there, but didn't know that right outside it's doors was 5 awesome mummies.

Meghan and I came out of the crypt and the boys were no where to be found. They went searching for pumpkin beer. We found them and they had this terrible pumpkin donut that was soaked in grappa. It was nasty.

We walked around the festival for probably 2 more hours.. looking at massively carved pumpkins and all of the displays.. trying different pumpkin foods.. and in attempts to order pizza, Kevin ordered us these sandwiches that were made from roasted pig. TERRIBLE. It was just like a chunk of fatty meat. After 1 bite, I threw it away and had a ham and cheese when we got home.

Meghan and I stopped and got the girls these renaissance headbands. They are TOO cute. They are weaved together with flowers and have flowers in the back in a big bunch and strings hang down from the bunch of flowers.

A lil history about the festival. Some years ago, the town was leveled by an earthquake. It was to be rebuilt to the original medieval design. When the city belltower was complete and the artist went to claim his pay, the town couldn't afford to pay him. They could only pay him 1/3 of what they had promised. Out of spite, the man removed the ball in the bell from the tower and replaced it with a spray painted pumpkin and fled the city. It wasn't until the ball started changing colors that people started realizing something was wrong. It was when chunks of it started falling down that they realized they had been fooled. Now every year on the 4th weekend in October, the whole town has a festival in dedication to an important agricultural item in the area, the pumpkin.

(The first view of entering Venzone since you have to park outside the city for the festival. The whole city is shut down)

(One of the super cool mummies)

(Carved pumpkins.. this was the last pic I got before my camera died so I didn't get a lot of good pics of the pumpkins *le sigh*)

(Random guys)

(My lil peanut being a ham)

(Rosalie and her bff)

(A carving inside the church)

Day 8 of 30 Days of Me

Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why

Since this month only has a few more days in it.. it's not really feasible to set goals.. so these goals will be good til the end of November. lol :)

First off, to lose 4 lbs. A lb a week is a healthy goal to set. It may not seem like a lot, but look at my progress i've made so far.. a lb a week really adds. up. If I lose 4 lbs, that will bring me to almost 67 lbs.. and really close to my 70 lb weightloss goal. I really want to hit 70 lbs by the end of December. I'm proud of myself for reaching my new years resolution of 50 lbs and having enough time to set a new resolution. Ultimately, by the end of next year, I want to be down ONE HUNDRED lbs. After seeing my success this year, it's totally feasible. It's only another 30 lbs. I would have to lose 2 1/2 lbs a month. Kevin's deployment is either going to help my weightloss, or make it harder. With him being gone I'll have no reason to bake sweets or have junk in the house... but I'm hopin I don't get the blues and just want to eat all the time... plus if i go home.. ughhhhhh you can count on a gain if i go home for a month.

Another goal is to stay more in touch with my best friend. Kayla and I have been friends for I'd say 6 years now... we can go months without talking and when we do talk, it's like we just talked yesterday. With her working and the time difference, it's so hard for us to keep in contact... but recently we started e-mailing each other a few times a day (okay who am i kidding.. the one day it was like 14 times)... and it's so awesome knowing every little thing going on throughout each other's daily lives; it's just like the old days. I don't want this to change.

Day 7 of 30 Days of Me

Day 07-

A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you

This little girl has forever changed my life. Before Rosalie, I was a wild, self centered person. It was like a led duel lives. I went to work and was a mature adult... and then out of work I was a little party animal that ran constantly. I was never at home. I spent all my money on Abercrombie and American Eagle. I worried constantly about my appearance and what everyone thought about me. I won't lie, I was superficial. Now, my life revolves around her. I don't go anywhere unless necessary, other than the occasional trips we take. I think "Have we ran too much lately that Rosalie should just stay in? Is it too cold that she doesn't need going out in this?" She has made me more mature and responsible and a good person. My family is the center of my life now... and it's no longer about Mandee. It's all about Rosalie! Having a child in Italy, I didn't have a choice but to be a full stay at home mom, which I do REALLY love. When most people my age back home have a kid, it doesn't really change their lives because they can still do things they want because their parents take responsibility for their child. Rosalie has only been left with TWO people... When I was in the states she stayed with my gram so I could get my hair done... my mom so Kevin and I could go on a date (our ONLY date in a year)... and my mom again so Dad and I could pick Kevin up from the airport. I would say Kevin and I are great parents to Rosalie and she has forever changed our lives.. for the better.

Day 6 of 30 Days of Me

Day 06

Favorite super hero and why

I don't really have a favorite super hero because I never really got into that kind of thing. Kevin and I did go through a phase were we watched Smallville ALL the time.. we have like the first 8 seasons on dvd. I think I only liked it because Tom Welling is so darn good looking! HA! So I'll say Superman is my favorite. lol

Day 5 of 30 Days of Me

Day 05

A picture of somewhere you’ve been to

This one was kind of hard because I have been to so many beautiful and amazing places and while I do love Italy, I'm still a sucker for the ocean. Florence has been one of my most favorite places in Italy, but of all the places we've been to, Rovinj, Croatia was probably my most favorite place in Europe. Well, it's not really considered Europe because it's not part of the European market.. so I should say my favorite place we've been to while stationed in Europe. Croatia is such a beautiful country and honestly I never knew it even existed until we moved over here. (I'm ashamed to say my geography is TERRIBLE. Guess that's why I'm in the medical field!) The water's are so unbelievably beautiful and blue that you can barely tell where the ocean ends and the horizon begins. It's def a must see if you are in Europe!

(doesn't it just look like a painting!?)

Day 4 of 30 days of Me

Day 04-
A habit that you wish you didn’t have

I have tons of bad habits.. but they are me and it'll probably never change.

My worst.. my OCD. I'm an obsessive neat freak. I clean entirely too much and everything has to be perfect. I iron EVERYTHING. I am constantly organizing things over and over again. I get really uneasy in cluttered places. I honestly don't know how Kevin puts up with it. I'm not as bad since Rosalie was born because I've come to terms with I have a kid, she's going to make messes, and that I cannot control.

My impulse shopping. My shopping is terrible and it's never for me. It's always for Rosalie. That girl has more clothes, bows, and shoes than she'll ever wear. She has more toys than she'll ever play with. I'm pretty sure we could open up a Toys R Us at our house. I just want her to have the best. My parents were the exact same way with me.. growing up I always had the best.. designer clothes.. top notch purses..nice vehicles.. a lot of people always say "i want my child to have the life I never had".. well I want Rosalie to have the life that I DID have.

Worrying. I worry entirely too much. I worry about everything.. things I have no control over.. things in the past.. and things way far in the future. I don't sleep. I lay in bed at night and anything and everything just runs through my head.. as I once told my friend Meghan, "I lay in bed at night and balance my checkbook in my head" LOL

lastly.. living in the past. I have a really hard time forgiving and forgetting. Not only that, I live on old memories and sometimes I think that stops me from making new. I have a hard time making new friends because I compare everyone to my amazing friends back home. I constantly think about the old days and the way life use to be. Granted, I do miss my wreckless teen days.. but I love my new life and how much I've changed over the past few years. I am now a wife.. a mother.. and a woman with a career (That is currently on hold).. not a wild, beer drinking, going out every night, teenager.

Day 3 of 30 Days of Me

Day 03

A picture of you and your friends

Let's start with everyone near and dear

My lovely ladies.. Kate, Abbey, Kayla, Joc, and Abby.. and of course the love of my life Kevin... the guys we love in our life.. both of Kevin's brothers, my brother Matt, my "step brother" John, Burch, and Jacob Tanner.

My best friend Kate. She's my blood relative.. but she's so much more than that. She's pretty much my other half. She use to live literally down the road from me.. we spent every waking moment together.. even if we couldn't see each other during the day, she'd show up at my house just to crawl in bed and watch a movie :) Moving across the world from her was the hardest thing. (Oh and the funny thing about this pic, she showed up at my house and we were completely dressed identical, UNPLANNED. Even had the same coats on that night. That's how much a like we are. lmao.

NEXT. Kayla and Abb. Two of the funnest people you'd ever meet. We've had so many memories together. This is from my 21st birthday.. most people go out bar hopping.. we packed up and went to the Outerbanks for mine and were real chill.. just drinking on the beach. Best vacation.. ever. (and they love my dad so much it's scary... IE the pic of Kayla and I with my dad at John's Graduation Toga party that my parents hosted)

Chad. How we came to be is kind of funny. Chad is a few years older than me and we attended the same elementary school.. population 200 lol. We never really knew each other. Then in COLLEGE we ended up in the same human biology class. He comes up to me and is like "hey. you're teddy and matt's sister aren't you?" I was like "Uh huh." THEN turns out we were in the same major so we had all the same x-ray classes. We became QUITE the pair. We were always in trouble. We graduated.. and ended up working at the same hospital together. He's such an amazing friend!

Then we have my brothers and yes I do consider them friends. They are just.. awesome.

Then of course, my nonbiological brother John. He's been around for oh say the past like 6-7 years. He started out as working for my dad, but pretty much became family

and of course..the love of my life.. Kevin Paul.. it's been almost 6 years since we first started dating.. ahh how the time flies!

Doing this was kind of depressing. 1, it makes me really miss everyone close to me stateside.. and 2, these pics are all from like 2008 and it makes me sad to realize how skinny i was then :( I know I've worked hard.. but to get to the person i was back then, I have a long way to go.

Week 19 Weigh In

I haven't been sticking to my diet as much I would like to.. *Scratch that* as much as I NEED to. I am so close to my pre pregnancy weight. I can at least fit into old clothes.. not comfortably, but I can. lol. This weigh in I lost, not big numbers, but I still lost. 1.6 lbs. I'll take it.

Now let's look at the numbers shall we!

Week One: -2.9lbs

Week Two: -1.3lbs

Week Three: +.9 (Boo. lol)

Week Four: --

Week Five: --

Week Six: -1.3lbs

Week Seven: 0lbs

Week Eight: -3.3lbs

Week Nine: -2.0lbs

Week Ten: VACATION

Week Eleven: VACATION

Week Twelve: -4lbs

Week Thirteen: -0.4lbs

Week Fourteen: -1.3lbs

Week Fifteen: SICK

Week Sixteen: -3.5 lbs

Week Seventeen: -.2lbs

Week Eighteen: OFF WEEK

Weekn Nineteen: -1.6

Total Weight Loss to Date: -62.8 lbs

Total Weight Loss in 19 Weeks: -20.3 lbs!

First Goal of -50 Pounds: REACHED

Pounds Until New Goal (-70lbs): 7.2 lbs

Day 2 of 30 Days of Me

Day 02-

The meaning behind your Blog name

There really is no meaning behind my blog name.. it's just our family name and where we live. After our tour here is up it will change... but it's fine for now :)

and as for the header.. I'm learning. I've figured out how to to do collages so usually they are of Rosalie. My intentions are to change them with the seasons and holidays!

Day 1 of 30 Days of Me

Day 01

A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself

(Just the other day.. this is me.. 60lbs skinnier than I was this time last year.)

1. I served the longest 2 year sentence of my life... at Mount Aloysius College. There was a point where I wanted to drop out of the x-ray program because I couldn't take the facility where i was doing my summer clinicals. If it hadn't of been for my clinical instructor, I would have. I'm so glad I had her to get me through that terrible time because I could not imagine doing anything other than taking x-rays. I can honestly say that I love what I do.

2. Kevin and I were only married a few short months when I became pregnant with Rosalie. I was in no way ready to become a parent and had a hard time coping with it. It wasn't until I saw her in human form for the first time when I was about 12 weeks pregnant that I became excited. She's the best thing to ever happen to me. I love her more than life it's self.

3. My music taste is unbelievably weird. I LOVE 80s music.. and at the same time, I love alternative rock/emo.. IE I LOVE Journey and Whitesnake... and I LOVE Secondhand Serenade.. Dashboard Confessional... Brand New.. Rocket to the Moon.. Senses Fail.. Something Corporate.

4. I have amazing friends back home. We can go months without talking, and when we do talk, it's like we just talked yesterday.

5. My first big purchase all on my own after I graduated from college and got a job was my jeep.. an 08 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited X. I absolutely love it.. i bought the 4 door thinking it would be a great family vehicle, but I was wrong. When we get back to the states we'll be buying another vehicle that is more family oriented. (but keeping the jeep of course)

6. I love being a stay at home, but I really miss working. I wish I could have both.

7.When I became pregnant with Rosalie I gained about 65 lbs. It was the most depressing time for me.. especially when I had people making comments left and right about my weight. I have worked hard the past 11 months to take off the weight.. I'm only a few pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight! Being able to wear my old jeans was the most rewarding moment.

9. I was pumped with pitocin for 2 days to try to start my labor but rosalie was not budging. She ended up coming via c-section. Other than my wisdom teeth, that was my only surgery ever. It was weird being on the other side of the operating room and being the patient on the table.. i'm use to being beside the table, not on it.

10. I am the world's worst driver. I wish I would have inherited my dad's mad driving skills, instead all i inherited from him is his road rage. I have wrecked more cars than most people have probably owned in their lifetime. I have even hit a PARKED car pulling out of a parking spot. Terrible, I know. That one happened in Italy, so at least I can say that I fit into the Italian Driver Stereotype.

11. I LOVE the sound of a turbo engine (mmm love that whistle when it takes off) and the smell of diesel fuel.

12. i have 5 tattoos and started getting ink when I turned 18. I have dolphins on my shoulder.. pink checkered flags and my maiden name on my lower back.. a butterfly on my heel.. the chinese symbol for family on my neck (my husband and brother in laws all have the same tattoo.. theirs are just in a different place).. and the yellow support our troops ribbon on the top of my foot with red and blue stars.

13. I use to have a passion for writing and art. I don't know when that ever left me.. I think when I graduated high school.

14. I have always strived to be the best. I graduated high school as a National Honor Society student with high honors and I graduated from college Cum Laude.

15. I have been in 6 countries.. Canada, Italy, USA, Germany, Croatia, and Slovenia and have lived in 2.. Italy and USA.

30 Days of Me

Stealing from Doris.. lol..

A lot of people have been doing this.. every day blogging about a new thing about themselves. I hardly ever blog about me, unless it's just me venting. Everything's usually about Rosalie or Europe.. so I thought this might be fun to take a lil MANDEE TIME.

30 days of me
Day 01- A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself
Day 02- The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 03- A picture of you and your friends
Day 04- A habit that you wish you didn’t have
Day 05- A picture of somewhere you’ve been to
Day 06- Favorite super hero and why
Day 07- A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you
Day 08- Short term goals for this month and why
Day 09- Something you’re proud of in the past few days
Day 10- Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad
Day 11- Another picture of you and your friends
Day 12- How you found out about Blogger and why you made one
Day 13- A letter to someone who has hurt you recently
Day 14- A picture of you and your family
Day 15- Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 16- Another picture of yourself
Day 17- Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why
Day 18- Plans/dreams/goals you have
Day 19- Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 20- Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future or about your spouse.
Day 21- A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 22- What makes you different from everyone else
Day 23- Something you crave for a lot
Day 24- A letter to your parents
Day 25- What I would find in your bag
Day 26- What you think about your friends
Day 27- Why are you doing this 30 day challenge
Day 28- A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 29- In this past month, what have you learned
Day 30- Your favorite song.

Talking Talking

I wanted to add a quick update.. then I have to get back to cleaning.

Right before Rosalie turned 11 months, we THOUGHT she was saying PapPap and Ba Ba. Well, we thought right. It is ALL the time anymore. I have a video of her saying PapPap, but I don't have time to upload it and edit it right now. We had to video her because everytime we put her on the spot to say it for my dad, she won't say it. Had to prove to him that we weren't lying :) He's been waiting about 7 months for her to say PapPap!

Everything is PapPap this or Ba Ba that now. We are working on Hi and Bye now. She says Hey, but not Hi. She yells Hey Dad all the time lol.

Okay, that's it. I gotta get back to my housework.

Here's to a New Day.

Did you ever have one of those days you want to just drop over and cry? I totally had that day yesterday. Rosalie woke up half an hour earlier than usual, which wasn't really much of a deal to me because I haven't been sleeping lately. She was a crab though. We have a morning routine and if Rosalie doesn't take her morning nap, she's bear the rest of the day. She gets real whiney and bratty. If that morning nap doesn't happen, it throws off her eating schedule... it just messes up her entire day. Well she refused to nap... for TWO hours i worked trying to get her to nap. Finally I gave in. Around 1 she finally fell asleep (and hadn't eaten lunch). She usually lays down by 9-9:30. I went upstairs and started tearing my upstairs apart when my neighbors dog proceeded to wake Rosalie up. She only slept for about 15 minutes. Surprise Surprise. It's an ongoing battle with our neighbors dogs. They neglect this dogs ALL day long and they bark hysterically ALL day long. It's really starting to get old. So you can imagine at that point I lost it. I went off the wall flipping. I fought for another hour to get Rosalie back to sleep and it was a losing battle. Then everything went wrong yesterday. Everything I touched I dropped, spilled, or hurt myself. At 6:30 at night I was still tryin to get my housework done, something that's usually done before noon. Needless to say, I was ready for bed and ready to start a new day.

On Wednesday Rosalie had an appointment with the pediatrician to get a rash checked out on her belly. I knew it was eczema. She's had problems with it since she was a newborn and her doctor gave her aqua phor, which has helped in the past, but this time it wasn't even touching it. He gave her a mild steroid cream that we are to try for a week. If it doesn't go away after that, he wants me to bring her back in and he's going to either give her a stronger steroid cream, or possibly need to do some tests. We've been using it for a day and a half now and it seems to be clearing it.

I also took the time to get Rosalie's scrapbook up to date. I take so many pictures that there is no possible way I would have the time or money to scrapbook them all. SOOO for Christmas I asked my mom for this adorable pre-made scrapbook from Hallmark. I've been doing 1 or 2 pages of Rosalie every month and holidays of her first year. I also printed pictures for Rosalie's baby book that I was behind on. Don't get me wrong, her baby book is ALWAYS up to date with information, but sometimes I slack on pictures just because I like to print them from home instead of ordering them from shutterfly and I don't always have ink and paper here. So now that's up to date.

I also sat and filled out the invitations for Rosalie's birthday party, which was when I discovered that I didn't order enough! YIKES. So i hurried up and ordered another pack and hopefully they are here this week so I can get them out the following. Celebrate Express is USUALLY really good with getting stuff out pretty quick.

We've been spending some time at the park lately. Rosalie LOVESSS the park.. well duh, what kid doesn't lol.. but she loves to swing. Kevin had Monday off so we went and she had such a good time.. then her and I went before her doctors appointment, but we were only there about 20 minutes because Rosalie started to get tired.

I've been doing good with my diet this week, but I'm not jumping on the scale.. not til next week! It's weird not weighing myself first thing Friday morning. I was slacking on my water but I've been doing good again. I'm drinking on an average of 72 oz a day.

Today I plan on printing pictures from when we went to Pisa and Florence so I can get that book done. Mom and I got these beautiful albums that are made in Florence that way I can keep those pictures separate from all of my other trips. I also have to get my dad's birthday present ordered that way it gets to him on time. The photobooks sometimes take a few weeks to be made.. and Rosalie are going to get Kevin's dad's birthday gift today too. My mom asked me to pick her up some vino and grappa so we'll probably do that this afternoon too.. check the mail.. and then we're picking Kevin up from work so we can get groceries. Busy busy day!

WELLLL I think I've rambled on enough today. Here's some pics :)

CIAO

(it looks like she was crying.. but she's actually laughing hysterically)