turns out it was more than just allergies...

So you know how I said I had been feeling miserable lately because of allergies?  Well it turns out that I actually have pneumonia.

During the day on Wednesday when I was student teaching I was coughing a lot (and not my normal cough from allergies) and I started getting these bad pains in my upper back.  Then when I got home I just felt exhausted and weak and was having these horrible chills (all of these symptoms had been happening off and on for about a week.)

Then when I woke up yesterday morning I just felt horrible...sharp pains in my back whenever I took a breath and a generally crappy overall feeling.  I went to take Hanna out and I was seeing stars and thought I was going to vomit or pass out.  K was on his way to work so I called and told him I thought he should come home because I was worried about being alone all day.  I had a fever and slept for awhile then I felt a tiny bit better...so I started looking around on the internet and noticed that I had almost all of the symptoms of pneumonia...so K took me to the doctor.

We just went to one of those walk-in places right near me and they were so efficient.  I was in and out in under an hour and they did chest x-rays, a strep test, and a flu test in that time.  Luckily, the doctor said my chest x-ray was ok and she didn't see a "big amount" of pneumonia, but based on everything else she wanted to treat it that way.

Yesterday was pretty rough, my mom and my sister (who is visiting from Boston for the weekend) came and took care of me when K was at class in the evening.  But, during the night I woke up and realized the sharp breathing pain was gone and today I feel much, much, much better.  Still not 100% but getting there.  In fact, we are getting ready to go out to dinner with my family and some friends (I am not going to eat much or drink anything but water...but the doctor said it was fine for me to be around people.)

So that was my most recent drama!  Hope you all have a nice weekend, I'll be doing a lot of resting!

what have I been up to?

Hello there!  I am alive...but barely (ok, slight exaggeration there) but my allergies are KILLING me.  I broke my nose cheerleading in high school and ever since have had a lot of coughing and sinus issues, which during allergy season get even worse.  I keep getting these horrible sinus headaches and my voice is all scratchy.

Even though I hate taking allergy medicine I decided to try to start taking claritin, so hopefully that helps!  Does anyone have any allergy advice?

In other news, I may have gotten a part-time job for the summer.  I don't know all the details yet, but hopefully it will work out!  It would be working for a family friend and it seems like it would be flexible and fun too...plus I could use the money!!!  So hopefully it will all work out, I'm waiting for her to call me back.

Over the weekend almost all the girls from my sorority who graduated in 2007 got together at my college for a little reunion. A lot of my close friends were there (who I see a lot) but it was really nice to be able to see the girls I hadn't see since graduation.  There was a lot of drinking, eating and laughing!

This was our lunch bill...probably the longest bill I have ever seen in a restaurant!!!

We were very excited to see that they still use these letters that we made our senior year....and of course had to have a photo shoot with them!

running

Lately I have been feeling really fat.  I feel like I have slacked off on following weight watchers and exercising.  In the fall K and I started doing Couch to 5k but then it got colder and with the holiday stuff we stopped.  Anyways, I decided to start again (with the help of a cool app. that I downloaded on my iPhone.)  I never thought I would be able to run but in the fall I actually began to really like it, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will go as well this time.  My goal is to run a 5k  before the end of the year.

Starting next week I am also going to challenge myself to see if I can only eat vegetarian for two weeks.  I don't want to be a vegetarian permanently but I would like to see if I could make myself eat more veggies.

So, that's what is going on with me...I know this wasn't a super exciting post!

well, that was an adventure

Today I subbed (for a teacher that basically left me no plans...kind of a tiring day) and when I got home all I wanted to do was relax and bake some soda bread.  And prep my corned beef and cabbage.  K and I are having St. Patrick's day early (tomorrow) since we both have class Thursday night.

After doing all this I go to take Hanna outside before I settle in for some TV watching.  Now, just so you know, I live in an apartment complex, which is basically just parking lots with buildings around them and some grass.  Imagine my surprise when we came across a small ewok-like dog just wandering alone.  She looked slightly familiar but wasn't wearing a collar.  So I lured her back to my apartment, fashioned a collar/leash out of one of Hanna's leashes and began knocking on doors.

Of course, no one answered, so I brought her back home.  Hanna was a little leery of her, but basically ok. This is when I started to panic...what they hell was I going to do about this dog?  I decided to knock on my neighbors door and asked them if they had ever seen her, they agreed with me that she looked familiar and together we made a guess at who we thought we had seen her with.

With their help I found the owner and returned the dog.  Turns out she had just had bladder surgery and her owner assumed she was asleep under a bed, but her daughter left the door open so she got out.  She was grateful I found her but had no idea she was missing!

Alls well that ends well I guess, but it kind of showed me that I should try and get to know my neighbors better!  I am very happy that my neighbors (who I have seen around for years, but never really talked to) were so nice about helping me...and that I didn't end up with another dog!

(I tried to take a picture of the dog but she didn't cooperate)

(Promise this won't become a dog-only blog...I just have had a lot of dog activity lately!)

happy birthday hanna!

Today is Hanna's 2nd birthday!  Sometimes, it seems like just yesterday we were picking her out at the breeder.  But other times it seems like we have had her forever!  Having her there to greet when I get home makes me so happy and I can't imagine life without her.

Her first ever picture!  K and I knew right away that she was the one for us!

My dad holding her when we visited her at the breeder a couple weeks before she came home.

Hanging out on the bed.

With her BFF Gryffin (my parent's dog)

little things that make me smile

...K and I both having nowhere to be on a Friday.  Catching up on the DVR?  Yes, please!

...planning Hanna's 2nd birthday "dinner party" (it's just my family coming over but I'm still calling it a dinner party!)

...sleeping in.

...girl scout cookies.

...getting a compliment from a teacher I really respect on my teaching skills.

...playing Angry Birds on my iPhone.

...long talks with a good friend.

...snuggles with this little puppy girl.

.

bridesmaids dresses aka a reason to get skinny

This weekend I went bridesmaids dress shopping for my friend J's wedding.  This is my first bridesmaid experience so it is all very exciting (and a little overwhelming too!)  J originally wanted us all to be in different dresses but funny enough, we all ended up liking the same two.  The maid of honor had already picked out her dress which was one of the two we all liked, so that is what we decided on! There are six bridesmaids and we are wearing different colors of the dress (two in indigo, two in eggplant and two in burgundy--- I am eggplant.)  It is a fab dress and I think it will be perfect for J's formal, evening, downtown D.C. wedding.

Front of the dress (It's by Lazaro, more details here)

And the back (that netting is a shawl or something, not part of the dress)

stuff kids say

I love all of the random stuff little kids say so student teaching in a first grade class is awesome.

Today (after I taught a lesson about Dr. Seuss) one boy, V, came up to me with the picture of Dr. Seuss that I brought to show them, super excited and said: "Ms. B, Ms. B, he looks just like my white church man!  They have the same glasses and face!"

I'm pretty sure he was talking about a priest or minister, but it was cracking me up that he was running around talking about his "white church man."

By the way...this is apparently what a white church man looks like.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

can a bra (or a phone) change your life?

Finding the perfect bra, especially for us larger chested girls, is often like finding a needle in a haystack.

For me it has always been a delicate balance of support, appearance, price and most important, comfort.  Over the past few years I have always bought all my bras at Kohl's because I like the selection and their prices.  I know a lot of people swear by Victoria's Secret, and I love their (her?) underwear, but the bras just never work for me.

Yesterday, my mom and I were in Kohl's so I decided to check out the "intimates" section and it was there that I came across this bra (the pictures of the girl with her hair down, not the one with the blue bra, look more realistic to how it looks on I think.)  Now I have never wanted to venture into buying "minimizers" because usually they look like something Xena warrior princess would wear into battle, but I thought this bra looked normal enough so I tried it on...

WOW...seriously this is the most comfortable and supportive bra I have EVER WORN!  Plus it actually looks like an attractive bra, not something a granny would wear.  I don't think it makes my boobs look smaller or anything, but it does make all of my shirts lay much better and there are no visible bra lines.

Another thing that I have noticed, is that I don't have to adjust it at all during the day.  Other bras usually would slip around, which was highly annoying.

Anyways...I got it in three colors.  Maybe it just works for me, but especially if you have bigger boobs...I recommending going somewhere and trying on this bra.



In other news...I GOT AN IPHONE YESTERDAY!  Bras and phones...it was a good day.

I am totally in love already!  Does anyone have any apps I should download?  I'm already a wee bit obsessed with taking pictures with Istagram, the effects/filters are amazing!

This isn't the best quality but you get the idea! I need to play around with it more.

random thoughts and the miami housewives

• I was supposed to sub on Tuesday but we got some snow and ended up having a snow day.  It was in the 60s on Friday so the snow was strange.  Although I didn't get paid I used the day to get my taxes done.  So nice to have that out of the way and I am actually getting a lot back too (sometimes it pays to be a poor student!)
• Speaking of taxes, I sort of am obsessed with Turbo Tax.  I don't know why I think it is so fun to use, but I do.  
• I have really be slacking on running lately, I need to find a 5k and sign up for it so I am motivated to train!
• Fingers crossed, but I may be getting an iPhone this weekend.  Mom and I are going shopping and I think we are also going to hit up the Verizon store (she wants one too.)
• The other night I cooked a Weight Watchers recipe that used spaghetti squash as a pasta substitute, and it was so good!  I had never had spaghetti squash before and now I want to find more recipes that use it!

• Did you all watch The Real Housewives of Miami?  As you may know, I am a HUGE Real Housewives fan and have seen every episode of every season of every franchise, and I must say that I think these ladies by far seem the most...quirky.  Between the psychic mom, the CA-RAZY story about Adrianna's ex husband, the 17 year old drinking in the club and telling his mom about it, and the one who "collects" people it should be an interesting season!

i want it

The iPhone 4

and I think all the signs are telling me to get it...

1) It is now at Verizon and according to Verizon I have been eligible for an upgrade since November.

2) My 2 year old Blackberry Storm is on deaths door.

3) It's pretty.

I should just go get it, right? 

brain dump

It has been almost nine months since I stopped blogging regularly...hard to believe.  In some ways my life has changed so much yet, other things are really the same. So if you care, here is a little rambling update on what has been going on with me.

• School.  I am in my third semester of grad school right now and will be finished with all of the "class" part of my program in July.  This semester I am interning(student teaching) one day each week in a first grade class and will be interning full time next fall.  In addition to my grad school classes I had to take three undergrad classes which I did last summer and fall at a local community college (interesting experience for sure...would have made some good blog posts...very glad to be done to say the least!)  My program is great and I am so happy I made the decision to go back to school.  Although it did take a couple months to sink in that I wasn't ever going back to my old job....it just kept feeling like I was on a long vacation.
• Work. I quit my job in finance to go to school and since I am trying to get everything done as quickly as possible I didn't work during the summer and the fall (with the undergrad and grad school classes I didn't have much time.)  Even now my class schedule and internship would make it hard to have a normal, nine-to-five job but I have started substitute teaching.  It's nice to have a little extra money and not rely completely on student loans.  It's also been great for networking and gaining experience.
• Love. Of course I am still with my boyfriend K, and we still live in our same apartment with our pup, Hanna.  Nothing major has changed then.  K is in his third year of law school and works four day per week at a law firm (so he has one more year of school after this.)  We are busy and sometimes it feels like we are waiting for our "real life" to start, but I am happy we are working towards careers we will both love and that we have each other for support.
• Food and Fitness. My relationship with Weight Watchers has been somewhat sporadic but now I am trying to follow it now...at least during the week.  Still love to cook and have even started baking some...which used to scare me!  K and I started doing Couch to 5k in the fall together but then we slacked off.  I really want to get into a regular running schedule and I am planning to sign up for a 5k soon so I have a definite goal to work towards (more on all that in a later post.)
• Random.  I....turned 25, got asked to be a bridesmaid for the first time, ran a race (it was only 1.5 miles), got a pair of Tory Burch Revas, went to a couple weddings, discovered I like to eat Maryland style crabs, spent many days at home in sweats all day, drank lots of wine, went to the beach, went to Massachusetts several times and did lots of other things I can't think of right now!

WHEW!  See what I mean about brain dump?  

Anyways...it has been a good nine months and I am sure I will think of more things worth sharing but now you know the basics.

And how about some random pictures?

Us at the beach this summer, eating crabs and drinking what we call

"alcoholic arnold palmers" (sweat tea vodka and chick-fil-a lemonade.)  Hanna is

so spoiled!

On Christmas Eve (my family went for a pre-church cocktail)

*I swear we don't drink constantly...that just seems to be when I take pics*

In Salem, MA

K's cousin's wedding in NJ

K's 25th Birthday...I baked that German Chocolate cake!

Of course...the princess...Hanna.

(this was the picture on our Christmas card)

caffeine induced blog frenzy

This morning I went a little crazy and completely revamped my blog...several times.  I toyed with changing the name, changing the background, and changing my email...many times.

I think I finally have it how I want it.  Decided to stick with curiosity but am now posting under my real name (courtney...so if you see that name commenting places it's me.)  Changing the email address was waaaay too big of a pain in the ass.

Basically I wanted to simplify and streamline.  I'm sure I will tweak some more but now I really need to go read for my class tonight...and make some lunch...blog decorating makes me hungry.

take 2

Hey there...remember the time I said I was going to start blogging again? Epic fail.

Over the last couple of months I have really struggled with the whole blogging thing. When I worked in corporate America it was such a big part of my everyday life and really was what made the workday bearable. So when I left and didn't put as much time into reading and commenting on other blogs, I felt like my own blog wasn't worth it. If I couldn't put in the time to keep up with comments it just seemed...rude....I don't know if that makes sense to anyone. I guess I just didn't want to do it if I couldn't blog and comment everyday like I used to.

Through all this I genuinely missed writing the blog and well as interacting with all the bloggy friends I had made, so I stalked in silence and began mental posts that I never finished.

Then it hit me...I was putting all this pressure on myself for no reason. Blogging has always been something I have done for myself so it shouldn't matter if I can't post everyday or (as much as I would like to) leave a thoughtful comment on every blog I read. I just want to have fun with this.

I also hope by taking away the daily pressure I will be able to be myself more on this blog. Not saying I was fake in the past but I do think sometimes I got caught up in trying to write in a certain style or on certain topics that I thought would appeal to my "readers."

So I realize that this is kind of rambling, but I felt like I should put it out there before I start up again. I am just going to do "me" here. For those of you who used to read I hope you stick around, I can't wait to "catch up" with you all. To any new people...welcome and enjoy!

P.S. I am sort of feeling a blog name change and makeover...does anyone have any ideas? How did you come up with your blog's name?