Monday, September 30, 2013

Friend Making Monday

Yikes. It’s been a while. I promise I’m still here!
I was sick last week-not horrible-on my-death-bed-type-of-sick, but enough where I took a few days off from work and was annoyingly uncomfortable. 
I’m making this a quick post, but before I get into Friends Making Monday, I wanted to acknowledge Rebecca at My Little Devils With Wings who is starting her own 101 in 1001 list after reading about mine. Good luck and have fun! I hope you have as much satisfaction out of crossing things off your list as I do!!! 

Moving on to Monday’s usual routine…..
 friend makin mondays
If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

This or That? 


1.  Meat and potatoes or pasta?  This is torture. I love a good steak and mashed potatoes are one of my comfort foods but....how could I give up pasta. 
2.  Do you prefer Apple or Android?  Easy. Android. I am anti-apple products. I am still having a hard time getting used to the Mac I have at work.
3.  Do you kiss and tell, or do you keep it private? My friends and I have have conversations as honest as those from Sex and the City. 
4. If you had to choose one, would you choose Facebook or Twitter? Facebook. I've never once looked at twitter nor do I have a twitter account.
5.  Christmas or Valentine’s Day?  I am a sucker for Valentine’s day.
6.  If you joined a band, would you prefer to do vocals or play an instrument?  As much as I love singing, I am sure the entire world would prefer if I chose an instrument. I have the world's worst voice.
7.  Hot weather or cold weather?  I’d much rather be too cold than too hot.
8.  Calorie counting or tracking points?  Hmmm. I think tracking points is much more realistic in terms of living a balanced lifestyle but I do tend to look at how many calories things are.
9.  Yoga or kickboxing?  Kickboxing. I found yoga to be way too boring but at the same time, I've never tried kickboxing. Sounds like fun though.
10.  East Coast or West Coast?  I’m a New Englander.

Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions!  Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments!  Happy Monday, friends!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Lazy Today and Ten Things Tuesday


Super quick Ten Things Tuesday:


Last week, I set out to....
1. Begin my evaluation binder.
       Well, sort of. I got going on the electronic version but since I am anal retentive trying to impress my evaluator hoping to make a great impression, I want to create a corresponding hard copy and organize it in binder that would make Martha Stewart jealous.

2. Post three more items on eBay and relist the items not sold
       Done. I put up a few books and some other items and now get such a fun adrenalin rush watching the items being bid and watched on.  Free money!!

3. Post office to ship the item I sold
       Accomplished

4. Post applesauce recipe
       Done. I would like to make some more applesauce this week too!

5. Make double batch of apple bread
       Well, only made one batch which yielded two loaves but good enough

6. Write post with apple bread recipe
       Done and done. You should try the recipe-it’s delicious!
 
7. Vacuum carpets (master bedroom, office, teenagers room, stairs/landing) 
       So, this got done but that's because Ryan was the one to vacuum all the carpets (and sweep and steam the hardwood floors). I'm a lucky gal.
8. Go to rite-aid or other store to get wedding card and birthday card
      
9. Tjmaxx to get gift for friends b-day party and wrap it up all pretty
       One of my friends has an adorable tea pot collection so it was pretty easy coming up with a gift for her.

10. Bring up the puzzle from downstairs and work on it again. 
       Nope. Still sitting in the basement from before my birthday party. I’ll get working on this again once the weather gets cold. Ever since we got the new couch and moved the coffee table out of the way, there is no convenient place to put the puzzle except for the kitchen table and I hate doing that. I can't even put it in the bedroom because it doesn’t fit through the door. I literally have to walk through the sliding glass doors, outside, around through the garage, and then bring it into the basement.
 
 
For next week:
1.   Clean out the basket of crap in our bedroom
2.   Post five more items on ebay
3.   Post about last weekend (lakehouse dinner, girls day/night, wedding)
4. Start draft post about the lakehouse
5. Make a batch of soup
6. Post about soup
7. Reorganize/plan a new budget
8. Pay my library fine (ooops) and get a new book from the library
9. Michael's or A.C. Moore, get needles and yarn
10. Start knitting blanket for teenager
 

I'm off to cook dinner. Any by cook dinner, I mean throw a frozen pizza in the oven.

Lazy today and not ashamed of it.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Feeling Happy

There is something so refreshing about September. I am a  life long school-goer (as either a student for a teacher) so I always find September as reason for a fresh start and clean slate. It's something to do with getting fresh school supplies!

This September has been the best fresh start since the last few years have been hectic and stressful.


In early 2011, we had a fire in our rental home and that whole time was so confusing and overwhelming, not knowing where we were going to live and the mess that comes along with losing nearly everything.

Ryan and I were fighting a lot.

Last December, I left a job that I was comfortable at for one in a different type of setting. I went from an elementary school in an urban district to a preschool in a suburban district and immediately didn't like the new position. I just never felt like I fit in.

Last March, we bought a house and had all the stressful shenanigans that go along with paperwork, house hunting, and dealing with the mortgage stuff. Oh yeah, there was also the packing and unpacking, moving, house repairs, and the cost of all of it. Yep. It added a touch of stress to our daily lives.
home sweet home

And  for the past fours years, since living with us, the teenager (who I prefer to keep his life private from here) was sapping a lot of our energy  because of school stuff, behavior stuff, his other half of his family stuff, etc.


But now....


Well, now, I feel like my life is all coming together. Everything is working out so perfectly. I am happy.

We are making this house our home.  The house is in a great location and is perfect for my life. Doing all the house projects and decorating has been fun and now that we can take our time with them, it's much more enjoyable.  I am looking forward to sitting on our new couch, sipping our coffees, and being in front of the crackling fireplace come winter time. I probably need to start searching for a hearth now! Any suggestions?

Love this mesh hearth! 

Since starting middle school, the teenager is doing much better in school and becoming more responsible and mature. Which means, the yelling is reduced-thanks to the orange rhino challenge! Things have really calmed down and the whole dynamic in our household is so much better.

I am no longer at the job I didn't like. I was stressed all summer about finding a new job but it all worked out. I am back in an elementary school in a different urban district. The commute is amazing-fifteen minutes door to door (shortest commute I have ever had!)

But the best thing is that I loooooooooooooooove my new job. I feel so good at it there and coming from my last job, it is such a difference. I may have taken a pay cut, but my happiness is much more important. It makes a huge difference waking up in the morning and not dreading going to work. 

On top of all of that, I am exercising regularly and in a way that i love. I am a dancer at heart and that has always been my favorite way to spend my time. Since the pole room has been completed, I get to dance or play on the pole whenever I want and that feels physically and mentally rewarding. 


With all the good things, our relationship has been positively impacted, and of course that feels good.

I am really happy right now.

Question for you:
What are you happy about right now?

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Apple Bread

I don't remember where I got the original recipe so I apologize for not being able to give proper credit.

Even though I don't care for eating apples by themselves (it's the sticky chin thing!),  I love apple-baked foods, such as this sweet, fall-tasting apple bread (and applesauce.)


don't judge based on my crappy photographing skills



I made these loaves yesterday and barely 24 hours later, one of them is nearly gone.



Ingredients:

  • 3-4 cups chopped apple
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 cups of sugar (I used 1 and 1/2 cups this time)
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used the applesauce that I made the other day, so I reduced the sugar )
  • 1 TBSP vanilla
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon (again, I cut the amount to 1/4 tsp because the applesauce I used was doused in cinnamon)
  • Cinnamon-sugar mixture (optional, but you're crazy if you opt not to)




This was 4 large apples which yielded four large cups of chopped apple

Directions:


  • Grease/flour 2 loaf pans and preheat the over to 325.
Disposable pans=easier clean up and great for freezing or giving away
  • Slightly beat the eggs, sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla.
  • Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon all at once.
  • Mix until just blended-don't over beat. 

  • Fold in diced apples.

  • Divide batter between 2 loaf pans.
  • Sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar.
  • Put in oven.
  • Comment how delicious your house smells.
  • Bake one hour and ten minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.



If freezing, wait until the next day to wrap up tightly in tin foil and plastic bag, labeled of course!

Tips:
This bread tastes significantly better the next day.
If you want to prep the apples in advance, squirt a drop of lemon or lime juice on them and put them in a container in the fridge. The lemon juice will keep the apples from browning.
-This holds very well in the freezer
-It is super easy to double the recipe and make four loaves.


Question for you:
Is there a food that you don't like but not because of the taste-for any other reason?

The Leibster Award

I haven't been blogging all that long and I am far from one of those "professional bloggers" (although, I think it is so cool that people can blog about their favorite interests and make it into a career and lifestyle that can financially support themselves).
 
Anyways, I still don't have a set "purpose" in this blog-its more of a place for me to vent, write, have a place to hold myself accountable, and potentially something for me to look back at and reminisce. I haven't really told many people about this (in fact, there are only two people who I have directly told about the blog and the name of it-and Ryan isn't included), so you can imagine my surprise when I found out I have been nominated for a blogging award!

Maria, over at The Brooklyn Fig, has nominated me for a Liebster Award. I'm not even sure what that really means, but it definitely made me giddy when I found out! Thanks Maria!!!

Maria was one of the first people to comment on my blog and after reading hers, I'm pretty sure we would be friends in "real life". I love her blog and look forward to reading about her decorating adventures and her yummy recipes! 

As a nominee, I am supposed to tell you 11 random facts about myself (dude, I had a hard enough time coming up with 100 things about myself, and now I have to come up with 11 more random things?!?!).

So here are my 11 facts:

1. I sleep on the left side of the bed for a few reasons but mainly because it is closer to the bathroom.
2. My pinky toenail on my left foot is deformed from wearing toe shoes
3. I am starting to gain a tolerance for spicy food. Very little tolerance though
4.  In college, I was in a performance that used the entire music from Pink Floyd's, The Wall. It was an entirely student run performance and I loved it
5. My next pole moves that I am working on are these two:
 
 
6. My great-grandmother, who I called Bubbie, came from Russia and spoke Yiddish. I love learning fun Yiddish phrases from my grandmother.
7. Since I graduated from college in 2005, and not counting my parents house, I have lived in 7 different rentals or other various places before we bought our house in March 2013.
8. Because of that, I am an incredible packer-(except for this last move where I just gave up). Usually, I tape on an index card on top the box with the room it should go in and what is inside. It makes it so much easier to unpack)
9. When I was a young child-like 4 years old kind of young-I used to cry at the thought of wearing jeans because I thought they hurt my legs.
10. I also didn't like to wear red and would tell my parents, "red is for crayons"
11. I was a bit feisty growing up and once told my friends parents, "I don't listen to my mother, why should I listen to you" when she asked me to do something. Yeah, not so nice of me.

I also need to answer these 11 questions from Maria:

1. How did you meet your significant other?

      One of these days, I am going to do a long post/series on "how we met" as part of my 101 in 1001 goals, but the short version is we met the first time on Christmas Eve in 2007, although we were not officially introduced. At the time, I was living in Florida for grad school and home for break. We were all at the same Chinese food restaurant with our mutual friends. I noticed him, and I'm pretty sure I didn't get a wonderful impression. 
      The next time we met and were officially introduced was St. Patrick's day, again with the same mutual friends. We were all talking as a group and I got a little feisty and into a debate/argument with his cousin/roommate that night, which prompted Ryan to become interested in me.
       Fast forward a few months later, Ryan had asked our mutual friend Leah, who at that time and still currently is dating his friend Jeff, to work out something so we could all hang out one night because he was interested in me. Next time I came home from school, we were conveniently at the same bar. I knew he was interested in me but I wasn't interested in any sort of dating or relationship with anyone. That night, he asked me for my number that night so he "could call me to ask me on a date" (his exact words) which won me over. I gave him my number, he called the next day, and we set something up for a Wednesday, April 30, 2008. I still wasn't interested but fell partial to the fact that he called it a "date". 
     Leah drove me to our date (my car was still in Florida) and on the way, I asked her to stay local so she could text me with the "something bad happened" line and then come rescue me. An hour or so into our date, I texted her to abort the mission. I knew that night that this was something serious. He offered to drive me home and as we sat in the car in the parking lot, the time changed from 11:59 to 12:00. We had our first kiss at midnight and so began our anniversary date of May 1st. 



One of our first pictures together, Summer of 2008 in Cape Cod
  
That turned out to not be such a short version. Sorry!

2. Do you feel to be a successful blogger you have to fit into a “mold”?

Hmmm, I think there are no official rules to being a successful blogger or even what defines a successful blogger. Just write when you want, what you want to, and how you want to. If someone wants to read it, great. If not, no big deal. 

3. Do you vary your meals or eat the same things everyday?

My breakfast and lunch are typically the same. Breakfast is oatmeal, cran-grape and coffee. Lunch is typically a salad of spinach, cranberry cheese, peanuts, turkey, and avocado. 

4. What is your biggest fear?

Someone breaking in in the middle of the night. 

5. Which season is your favorite and why?

Fall-changing colors of the leaves, crunchy leaves, the colors of everything, the cool weather, boots, scarves, and sweaters. 

6. What fictional character from a book really had an emotional influence on you?

I recently read The Storyteller and the character Minka was a holocaust survivor. It struck me really hard. Beautiful book. 

7. What is a way that you’ve “paid it forward”?
Honestly, I am, in essence, a teacher and I sincerely hope that working with my students pays if forward for the next generation. (How cheesy did that sound!)
8. Do you have a go-to outfit that you live in?
 
Leggings, boots, oversized shirt/sweater. Comfortable is the best way to go.
 
9. If you could go back in time and live in a certain time period, which would it be and why?

I love the look of 1920's flapper girls and I love the 1950's poodle skirts and leather jackets. Either one might be fun.
 
10. What is your favorite blog post you’ve written?

Hmm, I think the one about my dance room because it really highlighted one of my childhood (and recent adult) dreams coming true. Just for a peace of mind-the dance room was a childhood dream; the addition of the pole is a relatively recent addition.
 
11. Are you an introvert, extrovert, or somewhere in between?

Definitely somewhere in between. In new situations and with new people, I am a bit more reserved  but I am absolutely a loud mouth and have no fear of making a fool out of myself when I am with my friends. 



And now, 11 bloggers/blogs that I am nominating for the award:

Our Freaking Budget
Crystal's Musings
Living Like The Kings
Reluctant Entertainer
Mixing It Up
Runs For Cookies
All The Weigh
Sweet Tooth Sweet Life
A Swell Place To Dwell
The Orange Rhino
The Culinary Couple


And for those who I have nominated, here are your 11 questions:

1. How did you decide on the title or name for your blog?
2. What is your earliest childhood memory?
3. What is one of your guilty pleasures?
4. Were you named after anyone?
5. If there were a fire/disaster in your home and you had the opportunity to grab one item, what would it be and why?
6. How did you meet your best friend?
7. Do you still talk to any of your childhood friends?
8. How did your parents meet? Get engaged?
9. What would be your dream job if money were not a deciding factor?
10. What is your biggest pet peeve?
11. Did you have a favorite teacher, why?


To the nominated bloggers, here are the rules to follow:
1. Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
2. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Answer 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
4. Nominate 11 bloggers. They should be bloggers that you believe deserve some recognition and a little blogging love.
5. Post 11 questions for the bloggers that you nominated to answer.
6. Let all of the bloggers know that they’ve been nominated. You cannot nominate the blogger that nominated you.

Thank you again Maria!!! I can't wait to read the answers from the nominated bloggers.


Question for you?
What was the last thing you were nominated for?



Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Homemade Applesauce

Over the weekend, Ryan and I went apple picking at a local farm and with the abundance of apples, I promised to make homemade applesauce. 

I remember my great-grandmother, Bubbie, making homemade applesauce and I swear it was way more complicated than I could even fathom. 

I promise you this is not the case. This recipe falls into the category of pathetically-easy-and-really-only-sounds-super-fancy (just like homemade ravioli)

 
Here's what you need:
 
  • apples (duh. I used 15 apples-a mix of Gala, Cortland, and Macintosh)
  • cinnamon
  • nutmeg 
  • maple sugar (optional and totally not necessary)
  • brown sugar
  • lemon juice (lime juice works too)
  • crockpot

 
 
 
 
 
 
To make the applesauce:
 
1. Peel and chop the apples.
 
 
 
 
2. Put in crockpot.
 
 
 
 
3. Add other ingredients. I used a squirt or two of lemon juice, a big scoop of brown sugar, two dashes on cinnamon, one dash of nutmeg, and probably a tablespoon of the maple sugar. Give it a good mix to incorportate the apples with the remaining ingredients.
 
 
 
4. Set crockpot for high, 2.5-3 hours.
 
 
 
5. Once the apples are soft and have reduced in size, mash up with a potato masher.
6. Eat
 
The applesauce tastes amazing when it's warm out of the crockpot. I couldn't tell you how long it will last in the fridge because it only makes it a few days around here before we eat it all.
 
 
 
Enjoy!
 
 
Question for you:
1. What's your favorite way to cook or bake with apples?
 

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

An Unproductive Ten Things Tuesday

I was not very productive in terms of my list of last week’s Ten Things Tuesday. The weekend happened to be filled lots of unplanned activities that took precedence and I find that way more important. It was really fun to hang out with Ryan and be a couple together instead of being parents so anything that I had thought I was going to do over the weekend, didn't get accomplished. 

1. At least two times, wake up early and go for a walk/run.
Every night as I set my alarm, I was so gung-ho and motivated to get up early but then I would wake up a hundred times in the middle of the night and when the alarm finally did go off, I just wanted to stay in bed. So I did. This one is going to be tough for me, especially as the weather is getting cooler in the mornings. 

2. Start posting items on eBay (I have a giant box of stuff that I want to get rid of). Post at least 7 of my items.
 I got up a few items and since then, one has sold. I made a whopping $2.00 on a cookbook plus $4.00 for shipping.

3. Set up my one year/three year calendar (it's a work thing that's not worth explaining here) 
            Done. 
4. Pick up dry cleaning (I am the worst at remembering to go).
Last minute, but I got it done. 

5.  Find a dress for a wedding
Most of the bruises have gone down significantly and I am making it a point not to practice any mores that will aggravate the bruising until the wedding is over next Sunday.  I'm going to stick with a dress that I already have. 

6. Register for next year's pole competition. 
I have officially decided to enter in the competition, but I haven't done it yet. I am going to a pole class tonight, so once I speak with the instructor and get her advice,  I will fill out the entry form

7. Clean my car (ha!). 
I have slowly been making an effort to take things out of the car each time I get out, but I usually have my hands full that I can't manage one extra thing. My car is still a mess though. 

8. Renew books/audio-books at library.
The library is going to hate me!

9. Meal plan for two-three weeks. 
Nope. Didn't do that.

10.  Grocery shop for those two-three weeks. 
See above.  Ryan ended up coming with me to go grocery shopping so our cart was filled with more of a hodge-podge of items instead of ingredients that I know I will use for something specifically. 


For next week, here is what I am hoping to get accomplished:
1. Begin my evaluation binder.
2. Post three more items on eBay and relist the items not sold
3. Post office to ship the item I sold
4. Post applesauce recipe
5. Make double batch of apple bread
6. Write post with apple bread recipe
7. Vacuum carpets (master bedroom, office, teenagers room, stairs/landing) 
8. Go to rite-aid or other store to get wedding card and birthday card
9. Tjmaxx to get gift for friends b-day party and wrap it up all pretty
10. Bring up the puzzle from downstairs and work on it again. 

Well that's all I have for today.

What are some of your to-do items that you've got going on?

Monday, September 16, 2013

Puppy-sitting. Pole Competition. Apple Picking. Friend Making Monday

How's that for a title. 

I had such a fun weekend! 

Our friends, Leah and Jeff, recently got a new puppy and when she asked me if we could watch their pup, Cole, for a few days, I was beyond ecstatic.

I mean, look at this face!!





Mulder and Cole met once before and tolerated each others presence, but this time, they played non-stop. 
Impossible to get both of them to sit at the same time! This was the best picture of both of them

The first night, we had to put them in separate rooms so we could all get some sleep. The next night, they finally tuckered themselves out and both fell asleep with me, curled up on the bed. (Don't get me started on the dog-in-the-bed debate. I know some people find it gross, but I love it even if there is practically no room on the bed)
Two dogs in the bed leaves very little room for humans

On Friday night, there was a fair that came to our town so we went to check it out. The teenager ran into some kids he knew from school so he ditched us to hang out with them and we had a nice time walking around.

Saturday morning, Ryan brought the teenager to the scout house for an overnight trip and then went to work for a couple of hours while I slept in (although, it wasn’t really sleeping in considering the dogs were romping all over the place as soon as they got up). Once he came home, we watched Phantom Gourmet and saw a place called Hops and Scotch in Brookline. Because we were heading in to the city later that evening, we decided to check out the restaurant first.

The food was delicious turned out to be pretty good and the beers on tap were of a decent selection. I stuck to an old favorite-Angry Orchid Apple Cider and Shipyard Pumpkin. We split a few appetizers but the noteworthy one was the pecan stuffed dates wrapped in bacon and drizzled with a maple glaze. Definitely looking forward to recreating that!

Afterwards, we headed over to Boston Park Plaza hotel for the real reason we were in the city for the night: The Supershag pole competition. We stayed for most of the evening and both of us had a great time. Some of the dancers were absolutely incredible and their strength moves and tricks were insanely powerful. At the end of the night, I made the official decision that I am going to enter in a competition next year and Ryan has eagerly started to pick out potential music selections for me.

P-Comp

Sunday was a lovely day as well. We went to a local farm, called The Big Apple Farm for some apple picking. (#92 on my list accomplished). 
Me: "make a silly face"
Ryan: "ugh, really"



Me: "make a serious face"
Ryan: "you look ridiculous" 

The apples were so delicious that I didn't even mind the sticky chin. We had some fun taking ridiculous pictures in the car before we got on the tractor to the apple trees.
Waiting in line to get on the tractor


Tractor ride


Fresh apples

Peekaboo





Mmmm fresh juicy apple






((Be sure to check back in later in the week for how to make homemade applesauce-the only way I know cook: quick and easy, but pretend its fancy :) ))


On our way home, Ryan asked me if I had been in the artisan furniture store yet and when I mentioned I hadn't  he pulled in so we could have a look around. I was in awe. The furniture is amazing! We both fell in love with an over-sized farm table layered with copper inserts. Although that piece and every other furniture piece was out of our price range, we did leave with a really cool stone piece that was much more within our price range. It was part of a bookend set but the owner told us that someone stole the other half. We eagerly jumped on the low price and it is now sitting comfortably on table in our living room. Love it. (Yay, and #78)
Love this desk




We loved this cast iron piece and thought it might be really cool to turn into a light fixture. 



Not the best picture in the world, but this is what we ended up with!



Moving on to Monday
friend makin mondays
If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

 Relationships and Dating


1.  List five characteristics that you think are important in a significant other.  Support, humor, forgiveness, compromise, compassion. My answer would probably have been different a few years ago, but now after living with Ryan, maintaining a house hold together, and raising a teenager together, I think the above qualities are necessary.
2.  If you had to choose between staying single for the next two years (as in, no dating at all,) or receiving $10,000, which would you choose?  I’m staying with Ryan.
3.  What is your relationship status?  Are you satisfied with it?  With my boyfriend for five and half years. I am satisfied to an extent but I would be lying if I didn’t mention how I am ready for marriage.
4.  Would you date someone who has children?  Well, seeing that I am raising Ryan’s teenage son, the short answer is yes. I would, however, seriously caution anyone who is considering dating someone with children. It is much more challenging than I had ever anticipated. It ain't for the weak-hearted my friends.
5.  Would you date someone who’s shorter than you?  I am not even five feet tall myself (4’11’’ and a half to be exact-and that half is very important to me!) so most guys are taller than me.
6.  Would you date someone who has different political views?  As long the differences of opinions didn't interfere with other aspects of our lives.
7.  If you were going on vacation together, would you choose the beach or the mountains? Tough one. As much as I love snowboarding, I love sitting on a beach with nothing to do except read a book. Ryan isn't as much of a beach person as I am so if we were vacationing together, I would pick mountains. If I am vacationing with friends, I am choosing beach.  My friends and I would rent a house in the cape during the summer and spend our days on the beach. Loved it!

Beach with friends
Cape Cod
August 2008
8.  How do you show someone that you’re interested in them?  The conversations flow and by little nuances of body language, like turning in closer to them, longer eye contact...
9.  Do you prefer to date people who are older than you or younger?  I wouldn't be opposed to dating someone younger, as long as they had their shit together. I couldn't imagine dating someone who wasn't in the same place in life as me though.
10.  Share some details of your dream date.  Again, I am getting itchy for the ring on my finger so without being too shy at this point, my dream date with Ryan has him down on one knee professing his undying love for me and proposing. He is well aware of this! Like I said, I am not shy about letting him know, especially since a bunch of our friends have recently gotten engaged.
Now it’s your turn to answer this week’s questions!  Don’t forget to come back and link up in the comments!  Say hello to someone new too!  Happy Monday, friends!
Question for you:

What were you up to this weekend?
What is your furniture style?