W.I.L.W - Music Edition

Music has been something that I've absolutely needed the last couple of weeks. For my sanity. I am one of those people that can never not have the radio on in the car. It's to quiet, and what else is a car made for other than jamming out and singing at the top of your lungs? Ok, well I guess getting around is important too.

With the VMA's this last weekend, which does anyone else find it kind of strange the VMA's are still on MTV when MTV doesn't even play music videos anymore, other than at 5AM! Not hatin' on MTV you know Jersey Shore is my jam. I'm just saying. There seems to be a lot of driving lately, and music has been a way for me to relax or let loose and get me out of the stressful moods I have been finding myself in.

Anyways here is some music I'm lovin' this week. 

I'm loving...Rumor Has it by Adele. Of course like many others since Rolling in the Deep has become popular I've become an Adele fan. I had heard some of her music before, but it never really stuck until then. However, I'd like to think I've expanded my love for her past the top 40 charts. I absolutely love her voice!

I'm loving...Otis by Jay-Z & Kanye West. Complete opposite end from Adele I know, but right now I can't get enough of this song. I like songs that can kind of get me pumped up and that I can dance too. I try not to limit myself to just one genre of music. I've been a Jay-Z & Kanye fan for a long time and my fandom is not going anywhere it seems.

I'm loving...Listomania by Phoenix. I really enjoy Phoenix, there is something about his voice that really draws me in. I like the beat of this song too, it's upbeat, fun, yet it's not to the point where you are fist pumping lol. It's easy going, it makes you feel good, it's that simple.

I'm loving...Where Them Girls At by Flo Rida, Nicki, and David G. Let me tell ya Flo Rida we are right here, and ready to shake our groove thangs. Thanks for the music that makes it possible!

I'm loving...Down By the Water by the Decemberist. I had heard some of their old music, not realizing it was them! I feel like that happens a lot. I've started to listen to them again, and I like it. Good voice, good melodies. I dig it.

I'm loving...Roll Away Your Stone by Mumford and Sons. I like they have started to come out more and be recognized. This is definitely a concert I would pay good money for!

I'm loving...Out of My Head by Lupe Fiasco. I just found out for a friend that Lupe is in town in September, and sadly, I'm going to have to miss it. I've been listening to Lupe a lot it seems, mainly his older stuff, but I really have been loving this song. 

Most of my songs this week are up beat. Are you sensing that I need a little bit of release and music can do that for me? Thankfully. I feel bad for those people who can't just melt into music the way I can. With how busy things are I have needed up lifting music to keep me running, keep my spirits high, and to keep me having fun. That being said, I think it's time to throw on the earbuds and turn on the Pandora. 

Happy Wednesday!

Tail Wagging Tuesday

Anything to share pictures of one of my all time favorite things. Gunner :) However, again, I'm slightly cheating. It doesn't look like there is a new topic this week, and because this is the first time I'm doing this post, I'm going to follow last week's topic. It's actually a pretty easy one for me since the Gun Man is such a goofball! Share your most funniest pictures of your pet! Told you this was going to be an easy one! 

I think this one is pretty self explaintory. He was pretty interested in what was happening and bam..nose to camera :) 

Gunner is constantly going under our bed. Sometimes it's because he's scared of a storm, and really I think he just likes to lay under there sometimes. One day I haven't heard or seen him for awhile and I head into my room to find this. Hmmm...I wonder where Gunner is? 

Since Gunny is a coon hound he loves to sniff. That may even be an understatement. He also loves the snow, and the snow only amplifies his love for sniffing. At least I thinks so because he will just shove his head right down in it to get to the ground to explore. He's constantly coming back up looking like this :)

I constantly say that Gunner gets embarrassed of me. I think this just solidifes that fact. I don't think you can get much more of an avoidance face lol. 

That's my boy, but not nearly all of his funniest pictures! If you have a little fur baby like I do, share the love and link up :)

One step closer

This weekend marked a pretty big weekend in the wedding countdown. It was my Columbus shower & bacholerette party, hosted by my amazing bridesmaids! They did an amazing job and I had an absolute blast. 

My lovely bridesmaids!

During the shower we got to play my favorite shower game, and really the only one I was willing to play. Sorry don't do the whole t.p. wedding dresses biz. Nothing against it, just not me. Anyways, this game consists of questions & bubble gum. I'm talking double bubble, so if you have any jaw issues, I suggest you not play. The girls asked Kevin a series of questions and I had to answer them like he would. He was asked things like: what is your favorite movie, what the was our first date, what was his first pet as a kid, etc. Well if I got the answer wrong I had to put a piece of gum in my mouth. Let me tell you I didn't do as well as I thought I would, but in my defense a lot of those questions were hard and could have had a lot of options for the answers. I ended up with a pretty huge wad of gum in my mouth, and it was pretty funny by the end.

Kinda gross, but you can see it was a pretty big piece of gum to have to chew!

I also ended up getting some amazing gifts from friends! I love and appreciate everything we have gotten so far! I could never thank anyone enough.

Got our Dyson! Woooo hooooo!

The bag that Lindz, Michelle, and Holly got us! How cute is that!

Now on to the Bacholerette Party! We made it easier on ourselves and any of those people who would have to come from out of town and made it the same night as the shower. I was lucky to be surrounded by some pretty amazing girls for such a special night for me. First, we had a Pure Romance party. For those of who do not know what Pure Romance is, it's a sex toy company and if you have never been to a sex toy party I highly suggest you do. Not necessarily so you can buy anything, but so you can get a good laugh in! Some of the things are absolutely insane and you wonder if anyone in their right mind would get these things, other things are actually quite normal and who knows you may need to stock up! Check out their website. 

Next we moved on to presents, and boy did I get some good ones!

Of course there was some lingerie/teddies whatever you'd like to call them. 

There was this guy, that I couldn't even figure out how to get it all right, just know that was very little to it and a lot of feathers! This could be interesting. 

There were more items, but I don't feel the need to share everything :) These are pretty personal after all!

The night moved on and it was out to dinner at Bar Louie! It was such a perfect night out weather wise, and I got to spend time with my friends! Couldn't ask for anything much better :) 

Mom & seester

My mom was at the entire thing! A lot of people, including her I think, was surprised that I invited my mom for the bacholerette party. My response, "Why not!". My mom is a ton of fun and she's my mom, I want her there for these big moments in my life. Granted she wasn't out the entire night with us, but having her there meant a lot to me and I had a great time with her when she was out!

Rachy & Ash!

Shy & Jenn (with a new hair cut!..check out her blog -Two Peas Teeny Pod)

I got to see some of my high school girl friends! It's pretty rare for me to get to see them. Mainly because I rarely go back to the home place. It's always great to see them, I had, and really still have, a solid group of girl friends from back home. I had so much fun with them and it seems like they all had a great time too, at least I hope so!

My twink Erica :) 

I have gotten to be good friends with some of the girls from Kevin's home town as well. Erica is one of them! Her and I are so similar and actually we look very similar as well. Just ask her hubs Brady who, one time, thought I was Erica...lol..he was a bit surprised when I whipped around and was not her! Anyways, I don't get to see this group of ladies as much as I want to, and sadly a couple of them were missing :( I had a great time with Erica though and I loved getting to spend more time with her! It seems like our schedules are always clashing, so I really appreciate her taking the time to be at my special day!

Team Bride!

Of course, I had the bridesmaids and the Columbus girls there as well. I couldn't have asked for a better group of girls to surround me that evening and will be standing next to me on the big day! Thank you girls for an amazing, unforgettable evening! 

 I even got to have some of the new family out. Kev's stepmom & sister got to come out to dinner. It means alot of me that I have gotten so close to Kevin's family and they wanted to be there for a special time for me as well. They are all a ton of fun, and completely supportive of Kevin and I. Despite all the name confusion (remember the 3 Megan's!) I consider myself to be a very lucky girl to get to call them my family!

After dinner we hit up a few bars in the Arena District. We danced (on the bar of course), we sang, no drama what-so-ever, and even had some extra entertainment when Miss Stephanie from iamStephanie, Blogging, and a good gal pal ever so nicely let a girl know that her dress was up and her "coochie" was out for the whole world to see (it's true, she did).

Idk why I'm kissing at this thing, the drink was something grape and tasted like Dimetapp. I suppose I thought it was a good idea at the time.

Ok I know I'm not on the bar, but I couldn't resist getting in this little cubby hole we found for awhile!

I had a great time and really couldn't have asked for things to go any better. Now I'm one step closer to becoming a Mrs. I can't believe how quickly the date is approaching. With weekends like the one I just had it makes me even more excited, thank you to everyone who made it such a memorable time for me!

Happy Friday

This weekend is my Columbus Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party! I'm SO excited, and honestly a little bit nervous. As much as I like beer I'm not someone who is often getting drunk, and by often I mean rarely, very rarely. I'm not even sure I could tell you the last time that I was drunk. However, I am definitely more excited than nervous. I get to see a lot of my girlfriends, I get to celebrate I guess my unmarried life, even though I've been committed to Kevin for almost 5 years, on Monday actually, and it's one step closer to marrying him :) I can't believe we are almost to the month mark! It also reminds me what amazing friends and family I have! I will be surrounded by a great, fun, awesome group of girls & I couldn't be happier, or really more lucky!

Happy Friday, and have a good weekend!

Keep Calm and Carry On...uh...yeah

So I know that I have said it before that planning a wedding is stressful. It is, and right now I've been hit by the wave of stress & slight panic. I think that is the best thing about wedding planning, everything seems to go in waves. At least for me it did. Moments of silence, very little planning, and minor details got worked out within seconds, and then there are moments that you are sure you are going to have  a heart attack, you know there is no possible way it's all going to get accomplished, and one more person asked you about color or fabric you are going to scream. 

Well I'm not quite to that extreme, but I'm stressin'. I suppose that is normal, and up until this point I've been pretty easy going. However, I definitely know that I need to de-stress. How do I de-stress...lots of ways depending on my moods. 

First, and foremost there is shopping. This wasn't always the case and I would have to say that is because growing up the closest descent mall to us was 45 minutes away. Now, I have 3 within about 20 minutes of me in each direction. Living in a bigger city has opened my shopping world. Not always in a good way. Let me be clear though, I'm usually good about saving money and not going too overboard. Anyways, helllllloooo retail therapy. I was just talking to my girl Danielle, over at It's a Newlywed Life, she's a friend in real life and now a blogger bud too, about this and how guys don't understand how shopping really is therapy. I know that I feel good when I buy things, not things I don't need just to buy them, things that make me look good, in turn feel good. When you get  into the mall or wherever you go for your shopping crave you just tend to lose yourself. You aren't worried about RSVP's or cleaning the kitchen. No, you are worried about "Oh, I love that shirt, does it come in my size. Oh no, my size is not here, where is a store person they have to have it in the back. I must have this shirt!" You know it's true, and honestly I think it's ok as long as you don't go crazy! Why is it wrong to buy a pair of shoes that make our hearts sing a little bit when you put them on...honey you couldn't be so right. And let's be honest, it is probably cheaper than therapy with a doctor. Just saying...

Exercising. So as much as I really do not like to exercise it is a good de-stressor for me. It makes me feel better and really I should do it more often than what I do. A lot of the time I find it helpful to run or walk with Gunner as exercise. Wears the little bugger out and I get to get the heart pounding a bit. Thinking about it, I think I might have to go for a run tomorrow morning. I'm someone who doesn't always psychically feel her stress right away. It could be a day or two after the kind of stomach knotting feeling dissipates and then wham my shoulders feel like they are so tight they are up to my ear lobes, or I've clenched my jaw so hard in my sleep it feel likes my lower mandible is made of rock the next morning. Exercise relieves that soreness and stiffness for me. However, so does my next point. 

This looks like a good work out period, but it's easy for a stress work out because you don't really even need to think about what you are going to do :) At least to me it is!

A good pampering. Whether it be a massage, facial, mani, pedi, or getting your hair did it always feels good and better to have someone else do all the work just to make you look/feel better. I am huge fan of pampering. I would say I would prefer this over shopping, but don't do it nearly as much as I go run around and shop for a bit. Kind of weird I guess. I do get my nail and toenails done often, and I for one believe I deserve it :) Plus you get to double up on the de-stessors and also have aromatherapy incorporated. It's a double whammy to the stress block.

Ok this is a bad one and I  know that, but I do it slightly. I think everyone does a little bit, unless you are one of those really strong willed people that I envy at times. Stress eating. I know there are different levels, and I will agree that sometimes people go entirely to far. However, I see nothing wrong with indulging in some fast food, ice cream, or something for a meal or snack to boost the spirit a bit. I know this can be a dangerous game to play for some people, but I have my sh*t on lock down, don't you worry. There are certain foods you can eat to help with your stress as well. Maybe if you feel the need to do this like I do you should stick to these categorizes: best foods for stress relief. 

or two....

Simply taking some deep breathes, and potentially a nap. Sometimes it feels so good just to get a couple deep breathes in. You can feel that tightness in your chest pulling as you inhale, but after about the second good breathe in and out you feel just a little bit lighter. Think happy thoughts, whether it be "everything is ok", counting to start regulating your breathing, or just kind of not thinking anything. Taking your mind off the situation or redirecting the energy from negative to positive is always a good way to relax and gain perspective. 

Finding a hobby that you can use to de-stress with. Gardening, puzzles, reading, and the list goes on and on. Anything to redirect your thoughts from the stress is going to help you relax. Even then I don't necessarily think it's bad to think about the things stressing you out as long as you can promise yourself not to action any of those items until you've had a chance to unwind. Being able to just think about the situation without having to worry about acting on it that second, or even within the next hour, or day makes you realize that things aren't going to be as difficult as you think, you can get a plan of action better set up in your mind, and in turn you could end up being much more efficient. 

Here is a whole list of hobbies from if you are at a loss of what to do. It's actually the largest list of hobbies in the world!

I would have to say that this is my favorite de-stressor and this happens far more often than anything else. Hanging out with Kevin and my friends. I like to spend time with the people that I care about, and at the same time you can get a chance to discuss anything that might be giving you some stress. Friends can help out or offer there opinion/insights on a situation. Of course the future hubs always can calm me down. It's nice just to be able lounge with some good company. 

True dat!

Hopefully the ways that I battle stress help you out. I know that effective immediately stress & I are no longer friends. 

Bye-bye stress.

Pinteresting Wednesday

This morning has been a bit rough. One of those mornings when one thing throws you off, and the rest of the morning is a bit shot. However, my day is not ruined as it's Pinteresting Wednesday!

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Maybe God was trying to tell us all something yesterday with that little earthquake that happened. I didn't feel it, though I know a lot of people that did.

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I want. I want. I want :) I can't wait until fall is here. I'm especially excited for boot weather! It's my favorite time of the year!

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I think this is fun! More so I think it's appropriate. Not all my friends are beer drinkers, but most are...including myself. So why wouldn't I want a picture like this with my ladies?

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I haven't read this yet, but I heard it's a good one! It's sitting in my Nook queue right now.  Hopefully I'll get back to my reading ways once the busyness subsides.

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I am going to do this! Well...at least try. I purchased two jars to show Kevin as options for a Wish Jar. We choose one, and of course when I go to return the other, I had no receipt & they wouldn't take it. LAME. So I might as well use it right! Let's see how this goes.

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O.M.G!

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Another photo idea! I love this, and we just so happen to be having a photobooth! I love them at weddings, I think they are so much fun!

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Love this guy!

Have a Happy Wednesday :D

Pelotonia

Pelotonia was this last weekend. Due to my busy schedule I was unable to participate or attend. However, that doesn't mean I don't want and need to give credit to all of those who were out there to help. The company I am with is a co-sponsor so for the last several months we have had many fundraisers. Due to this I also know a lot of co-workers that rode. There are even a few friends outside of work that rode this year! 

The little green arrows are everywhere :D

To date there has been: $8,850,163.00 raised! There is still 59 days to go too!There were 4986 riders, and countless others that contributed their money, their time, and their compassion to this cause.

I congratulate all those that were involved!! You have done a wonderful thing and should be proud of yourself!

Riders

The start line

Ugh, the uphill

Volunteers

scooping out ice for the riders

The Encouragement