The Recession

Remind me not to read Forbes magazine----it is just too depressing.

I had an appointment yesterday with my dermatologist. I am an aging sun worshipper and often have to have skin lesions checked. I ended up having 2 places biopsied yesterday and the PA is pretty sure that one of the lesions is Basal Cell Carcinoma. I am praying she is wrong.

While waiting in the lobby, I picked up Forbes magazine and came across an article, which focused on real people who had been affected by the economic recession. One story really caught my attention. A 34 year old man had lost his seven-figure salary when he lost his job one year ago. The man, his wife, and two children had left their home in New England to move to the Bahamas. They rented their home & also owned several other rental properties in the U.S. Their income from real estate more than likely tripled my annual salary. I found it difficult to have a great deal of sympathy for this couple. Perhaps this makes me a terrible person, but I am a little jealous of the life they are living now!

My Favorite Things

Today has been a difficult day at work. Therefore, instead of boring you with the endless details of my day, I have decided to show you some of the meaningless things I just can't live without.

Hypnose mascara by Lancome

I love this mascara! I never leave home without it!

Studio Fix foundation by Mac

I have very oily skin and this powder foundation is perfect. It covers well, but doesn't feel heavy.

Pureology Shampoo & Conditioner

My hair stylist introduced me to this line of hair products 1 year ago because my hair was starting to look damaged. These products perform miracles!

Reinventing the Heel by Origins

If you have dry, cracked heels, then you will love this product.

Aquaphor Healing Ointment

This product can be found at any drug store & I use it everyday for almost everything. It is great for any type of dry skin, but I use this every night as a lip moisturizer.

Ann Taylor is my favorite store. They have beautiful clothes for young, professional women. The clothes are so well-made and last forever!

The Core Fusion workout DVDs are wonderful. I have a large library of exercise videos and none are more effective than Core Fusion.

If you have time to post a comment, then please let me know about some of the products you just can't live without.

Grateful for Monday

On most Mondays, my blog posts usually consist of several paragraphs depicting how much I despise the day. However, I have decided to try someting new in effort to curb my Monday pessimism. I will instead utilize my Monday blog posts as an outlet to discuss areas of life, which bring me great joy.

Today, I am grateful for Robby (please don't gag). After a very long day at work, I came home to a beautiful, sunny evening to find my husband outside waiting for me. He had already picked up dinner (Thank Goodness!)---I really hate to cook after coming home from work.  Then, we went for a 3 mile walk to get some much needed exercise.

Yesterday, Robby enjoyed spending the day with my little cousin Hunter. He loves children so much and I always feel overwhelmingly guilty because I cannot give him children of his own. This man has sacrificed so much to be my husband. How could I not be grateful to God for bringing someone into my life who is capable of loving me, despite my inability to give him one of life's greatest gifts?

Sweet Sixteen

My first cousin turned 16 today! Happy Birthday Andi Alex! We had a small birthday party for her at my aunt's house today. She looked so beautiful--I can't believe she is sixteen.

Andi Alex

Little Emily was the life of the party. This is my cousin Jessica's little girl. She ran around all day singing & dancing.

Emily Grace (she is too cute!)

Robby spent most of the day playing with Hunter in his tree house. Hunter is my cousin Jessica's son. He is five years old and full of energy.

Robby & Hunter

Hunter's Tree House

Best of Friends

Today has been a wonderful day.

Bachelorette Party

Today has been an eventful day despite all the rain.

The first saturday of May is always an exciting day in Kentucky. It's Derby Day. Of course my pick, Devil May Care lost the big race, but the Derby was still enjoyable to watch. I would love to someday see the Derby in person. I just want to wear the hat!

Later this evening, we had a bachelorette party for one of my friends & co-workers. Shannon is one of the sweetest people I know and she so deserves to be happy.

                                    

This is Shannon opening my gift. I really loved the gift bag!

We had such a good time tonight. I am sure Shannon will have everything she needs to make her wedding night memorable!

Anguilla

As summer approaches, I am sure everyone is starting to plan vacations. I, personally, cannot wait for my next vacation-- I am counting down the days. Over the next few weeks, I plan to blog about some of our favorite trips. One of our best vacations was our honeymoon in 2006. We stayed at Cap Juluca in Anguilla.

The resort was amazing, compromised of multiple small villas spread along one of the most beautiful stretches of beach I have ever witnessed. Our room opened to a large terrace that overlooked the gorgeous Caribbean. I have never stepped onto a beach where the sand actually felt like sugar, except in Anguilla.

This vacation, our honeymoon, definitely showed me just how much my husband truly loves me. The resort offered floats to use in the ocean so I asked Robby to keep an eye on me while I floated and he stayed back on the beach. He watched out for me----When I woke up, I had floated to St. Martin while he was asleep on the beach. He thought my little adventure was just hilarious and I thought he was....well...I just won't say what I thought about him!

While on a snorkeling trip, our tour guides stopped by some cliffs to demonstrate their cliff-diving skills. Some of the other tourists also jumped from the cliffs. I told Robby he would always have regrets if he didn't jump, so he swam to the cliff and started his climb to the top. I steadied my camera, preparing for the big jump when the nut just started running and dove head first into the ocean. I almost died. I was really dreading calling his parents to tell them of his death, but thankfully he lived and I did get the picture!

Robby climbing the cliff

Robby completing the dive--you can see his shadow on the cliff

Wedding vs. Marriage

One of my husband's best friends is planning a wedding for May. He had stopped by today to borrow some of the items we had used at our wedding and you could just see the nervous tension in his face. I had forgotten all the stress (and expense) of planning a "perfect" wedding. It's amazing how many details go into a wedding and even more amazing how much each of those details cost! I know it is easy to go overboard with spending, but there are so few days in one's life so worthy of an extragavant celebration. I tried to encourage him to not allow the cost to ruin a joyous occasion. I am not so sure he was convinced! I truly think the expense is justified in most circumstances if you remain focused on the MARRIAGE and remember the wedding is just a way to involve family & friends in celebrating the MARRIAGE.