Right now, A.P. is cleaning the kitchen and hacking. I mean hardcore, really loud, annoying (and disgusting) throat clearing/hacking. It's been going on for over twenty minutes. It started in the living room, and now he's in the kitchen, and I can STILL hear it loud and clear.
Living with boys is sometimes so gross...
...Here's something that's not:
How awesome are these clockbooks? I have a ton of vintage books decorating our living room, and A.P. had to finally lay his foot down and say no more book decorating. Would one more really be so bad, though? Especially when they look like this?
10.14.2010
10.13.2010
Getting Organized
It's amazing how when you get some areas of your life organized, others follow. Even though I'm at a new company this year, this is technically my second year doing the job, and it is like night and day. Last year, on top of all my personal drama, I ran around work like a chicken with my head cut off. It was insane. Plus the long commute, and the stress and anxiety towards the end, when I got laid off made for a less than pleasant work environment. I hated staying late, because that meant getting home at an ungodly hour, and so my desk was always a gigantic mess, with paperwork everywhere, and stuff just strewn about. My life was also unorganized. Between the stress of work and the stress of life, it was all I could do to pass out in front of the TV when I got home. Laundry piled up, there was crap everywhere for the wedding. It was like a tornado hit. I didn't even like having people over to visit, it was such a mess.
This year is a complete 180! It started with my summer project of hardcore cleaning and redecorating this place. Our place is still not 100% perfect, but it's so much better than it was. There is actual living space, well, when A.P.'s clothes are not strewn about...but even that is manageable. The mess from before was borderline Hoarders-like behavior. I mean that's an exaggeration, but it was bad. And, it gets better! My workspace is immaculate! Every first day of my work week, I stay late and file/organize. It's awesome. I'm also insane when I come home from work every day. I switch into my home clothes (or play clothes, as I call them), and immediately put away my work clothes, and work stuff. So far, these routines are awesome.
The point is it seems like one area of my life being organized had led to my whole life slowly, but surely getting more and more organized. I am finally starting to feel grown up. It's crazy, but it's happening. I'm beginning to understand people who are on top of shit, and have every little part of their lives organized. It's happening to me! Scary!
My goal to getting my life completely organized is to get all of my work (personal and business) done in 5 days so that I can have two true days of relaxation. As of now, I am almost meeting that goal, but it is hard! In addition to the little routines, like putting things away right away (which may be easy for some, but it's hard for me...and really hard for A.P.), I also decided to put in 1.5 hours of work every day after I get home from work (and even if I get home from work hours later than normal). That really sucks a lot, but it sucks a lot less than working on Sundays, which ruins my whole day and puts me in a terrible mood. It's also work I see paying off in the future. I'd hate to have to work so hard when we have kids one day, but it's nice to know that I won't be working six days a week, and that I'm really working towards having a personal life again.
So that being said...Any organizational tips??
This year is a complete 180! It started with my summer project of hardcore cleaning and redecorating this place. Our place is still not 100% perfect, but it's so much better than it was. There is actual living space, well, when A.P.'s clothes are not strewn about...but even that is manageable. The mess from before was borderline Hoarders-like behavior. I mean that's an exaggeration, but it was bad. And, it gets better! My workspace is immaculate! Every first day of my work week, I stay late and file/organize. It's awesome. I'm also insane when I come home from work every day. I switch into my home clothes (or play clothes, as I call them), and immediately put away my work clothes, and work stuff. So far, these routines are awesome.
The point is it seems like one area of my life being organized had led to my whole life slowly, but surely getting more and more organized. I am finally starting to feel grown up. It's crazy, but it's happening. I'm beginning to understand people who are on top of shit, and have every little part of their lives organized. It's happening to me! Scary!
My goal to getting my life completely organized is to get all of my work (personal and business) done in 5 days so that I can have two true days of relaxation. As of now, I am almost meeting that goal, but it is hard! In addition to the little routines, like putting things away right away (which may be easy for some, but it's hard for me...and really hard for A.P.), I also decided to put in 1.5 hours of work every day after I get home from work (and even if I get home from work hours later than normal). That really sucks a lot, but it sucks a lot less than working on Sundays, which ruins my whole day and puts me in a terrible mood. It's also work I see paying off in the future. I'd hate to have to work so hard when we have kids one day, but it's nice to know that I won't be working six days a week, and that I'm really working towards having a personal life again.
So that being said...Any organizational tips??
10.12.2010
Scissor Variations Linked to My Wedding! Yay!
I am so pleased to announce that one of my favorite blogs, the beautiful Scissor Variations, linked to our wedding recap. Scissor Variations is written by Janice of the gorgeous supply store Papier Valise. After I started recapping our wedding, I sent in an email about my place cards, which I made based on one of her tutorials. She linked to this blog and my wedding recap in her most recent evermore, thank you posts. I'm so flattered she had such kind things to say about our wedding. Sigh...I heart Scissor Variations.
10.06.2010
So beautiful!
How beautiful are these amazing, custom cake toppers? Concarta is L.A. artist Gwen who makes these beautiful sculpted paper cake toppers. Check them out! And if you're interested in learning more about her, check out her etsy seller interview here (she was a featured seller in July of this year), and of course her etsy store can be found here.
10.04.2010
Happy News from Blogland!
Good things are happening to some of the bloggers whose blogs I read...
Felix at Avoision is one of five finalists for The Museum of Science and Industry's Month at the Museum. Check out his profile here. The voting has ended and the winners will be announced this Wednesday! Let's keep our fingers crossed for him!
And after a tough summer and some ups and downs (with more of the latter), Drea of The Maiden Metallurgist fame is expecting her first child with her husband, Josh!
Congrats to both! I can't wait to see how both plots develop!
Felix at Avoision is one of five finalists for The Museum of Science and Industry's Month at the Museum. Check out his profile here. The voting has ended and the winners will be announced this Wednesday! Let's keep our fingers crossed for him!
And after a tough summer and some ups and downs (with more of the latter), Drea of The Maiden Metallurgist fame is expecting her first child with her husband, Josh!
Congrats to both! I can't wait to see how both plots develop!
10.02.2010
Name Changing
I was reading one of my favorite blogs, A Cup of Jo, and an interesting topic started brewing in the comments of this post: Did you/Are you going to change your last name when you get married? I did not. This is nothing new, really. I've gotten into separate fights with both of my parents over my unwillingness to change my last name when I got married (and that was before I even met A.P.). And maybe part of me always thought that when it actually came down to it, I would change my name. But I didn't. And I have some good reasons and some not so good reasons for doing this.
Start with the good:
I feel like I am my own person, and I have a very strong identity that, over the past 30 years, has been growing with my last name. I am not this new person with this new last name, and I wouldn't even know where to begin in constructing an identity around A.P.'s last name. I don't know if that makes sense, but my mind was blown over the possibility of becoming this new person.
I also have this weird thing about being my father's daughter. I would never tell my father this (especially having argued with him in the past over this issue), but part of the reason I kept my name was because of him. I am the youngest of five, and by a long shot. Meaning my father is no spring chicken. While most of my friends have parents in their 50s/early 60s, my mother is 72 and my father will be 81 in less than a month. I have only one other friend with this type of situation and it's because her father was married before. Anyway, ever since I can remember I was worried that my father would die before I got married. As you saw in the pictures, that turned out not to be an issue. But the new issue is whether or not he will meet our children one day. And since there is always a strong chance he won't, despite his good health, I felt obligated to keep my father's last name, rather than take on my new husband's. Plus, my father was actually this very famous athlete, and I feel like if I give up my last name, I give up that history, too. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel like there is a pride in keeping my father's name.
Now for the not so good reasons:
I am insanely lazy. The thought of filling out paperwork, changing loans, credit cards, bills, getting a new driver's license, etc. made my head spin. It seemed like a huge pain in the ass for something I wasn't even sure I wanted.
I feel like if the situation were reversed we wouldn't even be having this conversation. I can't imagine men would change their names as easily as women do. Which I told A.P....many times.
Despite a lifetime of growing up hating my last name, which can be made fun of so easily (I can't remember if I've ever said this before, but my name isn't really Marty J Christopher...it's a pseudonym/joke name I blog under...in other words, Christopher is NOT the name that I kept, and NOT the name that can be made fun of so easily), I hate the blandness of A.P.'s last name. It's so...all American, and that is the last thing I've felt my whole life.
Plus I accidentally Googled what my name would have been if I'd changed it. How do you accidentally Google something you ask? Well, I was actually going to Google myself and since A.P. and I share the same last name initial, Google suggested I search for this girl who has my exact name (and spelling!) if I had changed my name and taken A.P.'s name. And what turned up you ask? Just this crazy friend of Miley Cyrus who parties all the time and is like a young Lindsay Lohan. In other words, so not me.
I don't know if I made the right decision or not. It has occurred to me that when we have children one day, I will not have the same last name as them. But I hope that's more of an inspiration than a bad thing. I hope that my children learn that I am a strong person, who is independent, and that I made sure I was fully formed and knew who I was and what I wanted in life before I got married.
My other hope? That I don't ever regret my decision, try to change my name and find out I can't...like this blogger. Yikes! Talk about a bureaucratic nightmare.
So...did you/are you going to change your last name? After reading the comments out there, I feel like I'm in the minority, but I'd love to hear what people have to say.
Start with the good:
I feel like I am my own person, and I have a very strong identity that, over the past 30 years, has been growing with my last name. I am not this new person with this new last name, and I wouldn't even know where to begin in constructing an identity around A.P.'s last name. I don't know if that makes sense, but my mind was blown over the possibility of becoming this new person.
I also have this weird thing about being my father's daughter. I would never tell my father this (especially having argued with him in the past over this issue), but part of the reason I kept my name was because of him. I am the youngest of five, and by a long shot. Meaning my father is no spring chicken. While most of my friends have parents in their 50s/early 60s, my mother is 72 and my father will be 81 in less than a month. I have only one other friend with this type of situation and it's because her father was married before. Anyway, ever since I can remember I was worried that my father would die before I got married. As you saw in the pictures, that turned out not to be an issue. But the new issue is whether or not he will meet our children one day. And since there is always a strong chance he won't, despite his good health, I felt obligated to keep my father's last name, rather than take on my new husband's. Plus, my father was actually this very famous athlete, and I feel like if I give up my last name, I give up that history, too. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel like there is a pride in keeping my father's name.
Now for the not so good reasons:
I am insanely lazy. The thought of filling out paperwork, changing loans, credit cards, bills, getting a new driver's license, etc. made my head spin. It seemed like a huge pain in the ass for something I wasn't even sure I wanted.
I feel like if the situation were reversed we wouldn't even be having this conversation. I can't imagine men would change their names as easily as women do. Which I told A.P....many times.
Despite a lifetime of growing up hating my last name, which can be made fun of so easily (I can't remember if I've ever said this before, but my name isn't really Marty J Christopher...it's a pseudonym/joke name I blog under...in other words, Christopher is NOT the name that I kept, and NOT the name that can be made fun of so easily), I hate the blandness of A.P.'s last name. It's so...all American, and that is the last thing I've felt my whole life.
Plus I accidentally Googled what my name would have been if I'd changed it. How do you accidentally Google something you ask? Well, I was actually going to Google myself and since A.P. and I share the same last name initial, Google suggested I search for this girl who has my exact name (and spelling!) if I had changed my name and taken A.P.'s name. And what turned up you ask? Just this crazy friend of Miley Cyrus who parties all the time and is like a young Lindsay Lohan. In other words, so not me.
I don't know if I made the right decision or not. It has occurred to me that when we have children one day, I will not have the same last name as them. But I hope that's more of an inspiration than a bad thing. I hope that my children learn that I am a strong person, who is independent, and that I made sure I was fully formed and knew who I was and what I wanted in life before I got married.
My other hope? That I don't ever regret my decision, try to change my name and find out I can't...like this blogger. Yikes! Talk about a bureaucratic nightmare.
So...did you/are you going to change your last name? After reading the comments out there, I feel like I'm in the minority, but I'd love to hear what people have to say.
9.30.2010
New Life, New Job, New Blog
Hi guys! Are you so digging the new look? I decided a while ago that after I finished the wedding recaps, I would update the blog. I was so sick of the dark colors, and I don't know if you ever noticed but there were these weird pictures of giraffes in the middle of the flowers. When first I installed the design template, I didn't notice them, and then when I did, they became all I noticed.
In addition to the new design, you'll notice some other new/different things around the blog. First up, I got rid of the twitter updates. They were making the page load drag, and frankly, I just don't twitter. Instead, I've included a "Popular Posts" section on the right.
There's also an "About Me" section now, and an entire page with links to the wedding recaps entitled (obviously) "Our Wedding." Both of these can be found underneath the title.
Finally, look at that title again. Since I am officially married now, I'm technically NOT "Not The Marrying Kind," so the"Not" is crossed out. I guess I finally proved my mother wrong, eh?
So yes, that's the blog, but what about me? Well, the apartment is 90% redecorated. I just have a couple of small projects left to do, so that's awesome. And (more importantly) I got a job. One day after my benefits and pay ended at my old job, I got a new one. Somebody up there cares, huh? It's very happy news. And the best part? It's at the place where I've been doing all these temp gigs for the past two years, which is awesome, because it's where I wanted to work from the beginning! I love the people I work with, and while what I'm doing is not 100% what I'd like to be doing, I think that will resolve itself in a year or so. I'm still in that yucky beginning phase of a job, though, where I'm stressed and things are hectic and crazy and unorganized, especially since I kind of got thrown into my position at the last minute. Nevertheless, the best part has to be that my commute has gone from 1-1.5 hours to 20-30 minutes, which means more time to live life! I used to have to take 2 buses and a train all the way to the south side, and now I'm two short bus rides away, and I almost never wait for either bus. It's so freaking awesome! I get home way earlier, I'm more energized, and most importantly, I'm happy. So, just like my wise grandmother used to say, in the end, it all worked out for the best.
But now that my life feels more organized, or like it's getting more organized, I have to say I'm so mad at myself for letting it get so out of control and chaotic and bad. There were a lot of factors that were out of my control (layoffs, family deaths, family medical drama, etc.), but there were things that I let slide because it felt easier to at the time, even though, in the end, it only made me more unhappy. One of those things was this blog. I love to write, and there was a time when this blog had decent, steadily increasing blog readership. Now I have a few people who have hung in there with me, which I appreciate soooo much, but I'd like to get it back to where it used to be. I was so disappointed with myself when I saw that last year I posted 80 times (and started the blog in April), and this year I've posted something like 12 times. That is just sad. The past 12 months have been some of the hardest of my life, but what made it harder was the fact that I let myself go so much. That has to change. So I'm making a vow to try to blog more beginning in the next month. It will still take me a while to get into a routine since I'm still finishing up the apartment, and getting used to my new job, but it's a goal, and that's what's important. I feel like by the end of this year, I will have a routine more down pat.
Lastly, this blog is probably going to switch gears a bit. I always envisioned that after I got married this blog would become more of a lifestyle blog, with nods to weddings. And that's pretty much what's going to happen. I've kind of OD'd on weddings. I couldn't even get it together to submit my wedding to more than two places. It's so...boring now. I wasn't bored by it three, even two months ago, but these days, I'm bored. So now the focus will be on the stuff of life: marriage, everyday life, clothes, homes, children, etc. with inspirational weddings thrown in every once in a while for good measure.
Speaking of...we hit our 6 month mark this week, and things are so much better. The house being clean and me getting a job have A LOT to do with that. Who knew it took so little to get a marriage going again?
Here's to the future, guys, and a beautiful new blog!
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