Girl Behind the Blog

Wow.  I can't believe I did this!  First VLOG for Forever Newly Wedded.

I linked up with Erin from Living In Yellow, and Ashley from 5ohwifey 
Go check them out and all the other awesome VLOGs!

I just need to say... VLOGing takes GUTS!

This was so nerve racking!!

And I smile and bob my head around TOO much!!

But it's fine!! =)  

ENJOY!!

=)

* Wedding Wednesday *

WOW!  Can' believe it's already Wednesday.

It just doesn't even feel like Wednesday to me because I've been out of work Monday and Tuesday because of Hurricane Sandy.

Anywho... Today for Wedding Wednesday, I am going to be talking about our wedding night –

 (The G rated version, of course)

This is the night that everyone on earth assumes is probably the hottest, most sexiest night that the newlyweds will ever have in their whole marriage. 

You know, the chastity belt comes off, and then there’s fireworks and stuff.

And sure, our wedding night was spectacular.  But…not at first.

My grandmother bought S and I a one-night stay at a beautiful Inn.  

She got us the “romance” package and we were able to have breakfast and bed, champagne, and all that good stuff!

When S and I got to the hotel, we had someone help us get our bags out of the car, and take them to our room.  A valet took the car.  We got our key, and headed up to the room.

We head a spectacular view of the city’s Main Street below us.  

We were all dressed up still. 

I was wearing my “going away” dress and still had my curly extensions in and my tiara.  

S had a button down shirt on with dress pants.  That NEVER happens!

We were ready for the “after party” and wanted to go out for a few drinks. 

It was around 9pm at this time.  Our wedding was a day wedding (12pm-5pm).

As I was sitting on the edge of the King sized bed, looking out onto Main Street, 

I was all of a sudden struck with the reality of the day’s events. 

I was married.  This was it.  I was an adult. 

I was no longer a child.  I was no longer my parent’s daughter. 

I was someone’s wife. 

Okay.  Yes, I know.  

I am definitely still a daughter. 

My parents still love me.  I will always be their daughter. 

But, at that moment… I just felt really alienated from them.  I was a married adult.  

I couldn’t just ask them for money and things anymore.  

I couldn’t rely or count on them anymore.  

It was just my husband and I.

Looking back I think it was so silly.  

But, that’s a woman’s emotions for you.  

Of course my parents will still always be there for me.  

I don’t know what I was thinking.

My point is, I spent about an hour or two crying.  

Both happy “I’m MARRIED!” tears, as well as sad “I’m growing up” tears. 

As annoyed as I thought S was, he hugged me and wiped my tears and told me everything would be okay, which I knew. 

His words, like always, made everything better and things got better after that.

The morning after, we left early and were on our way to Ocean City, Maryland where we honeymooned for a week.  

On our way down, I called my Mom. 

I told her that I loved her and already missed her, and everyone at home. 

Then I opened up and told her about the night before.  

I told her that I got over-emotional and cried about nothing.  

I told her that the reality of the day had finally gotten to me, and that it had finally hit me that I was married. 

You know what she told me? 

She did the same exact thing on her wedding night.

Like mother, like daughter. 

Some things are not always fireworks and rainbows and sprinkles and glitter.

But there is always family, and friends, and in my case, a loving husband… which, is almost better than fireworks, rainbows, sprinkles, and glitter.

S and I by the ocean.

Dinner on the beach!

Just married! Imprint in the sand!  =)

S with our 32oz Orange Crush!

=)

Real Talk Tuesday

Today, I am linking up with Nikki over at From a Miss to a Mrs for "Real Talk Tuesday".

If you too would like to link up, please go to her awesome blog for the link up rules!

Nikki wrote a very serious, very honest topic that I give her many props for talking about.  So, it's worth a gander over at her blog.  =)

Now to start my Real Talk Tuesday post.  It is a topic that I think about a lot.  It's a topic that bothers me a lot.  The topic is, happiness.

*          *          *

On my old blog (my weight loss blog) I would get a lot of emails/comments from people wondering how I stayed so positive and happy.  I would tell them things like, I keep myself surrounded by positive and happy people and that I try not to let the numbers on the scale bother me- but instead be proud of how I feel when I look in the mirror.

I've also been criticized on Facebook by having "too many" happy status's.  I've been de-friended for being "too bubbly" and "too happy" and not ever posting status's of frustration.

So to all those ridiculous people I want to say this:

First of all... I do get frustrated!! There are times when I have problems and I'm NOT happy!!  But, I don't think anyone on Facebook wants to hear my problems.  Everyone's got problems, and my problems are not your problems.

Second, I’d like to think of myself as a happy person.  I smile a lot… borderline too much.

I like to laugh and I laugh a lot…often about nothing, but rather because it feels good to laugh.

Happiness sometimes doesn’t happen overnight.  You need to work at it (I do!!)  

And, you need to not blame anything or anyone when your life...well... sucks.

Being happy has nothing to do with how many Facebook friends you have, how many people “like” your status, how much money you have, or even how far up you are on the corporate ladder.

You're not going to find happiness in a new pair of UGGs or a "retail therapy" shopping spree.

Sure, it will definitely make you happy... momentarily.

Happiness is a state of mind.   True happiness can be found within your soul, your relationships, your family.

It’s important to keep priorities straight. 

It’s your life.

If you want to change your health, job, friends, weight, happiness...then it’s up to you.

Seriously. 

Whew.  There.  I said it.  It's just something that I've wanted to scream to the world lately.

=)

Still here after Sandy

Sandy has blown by, and I am still here.

Praise God, S and I did not lost power at any point during the storm, and have opened up our home to anyone who doesn't have power and may need something. 

After last year with Irene (and being in the dark for nearly a week), I would be taking hot showers at other's houses, and we figured that we would return the favor.

The power outage map for CT


With the outage map looking like it does, I am feeling unbelievably blessed to still have power, hot water, food, you name it.  Power is something that we take for granted everyday!

Feeling very blessed and thankful right now.

My heart goes out to anyone who has had damage to their home or any belongings.  It was a scary (and loud!) storm, that I am glad is over.

Only rainbows after rain, right?


It's only up from here.


=)

What a Weekend!

After a tough week, I had one of the best and most relaxing weekends I’ve had in a while.  I am so thankful for that.  I needed it.

Saturday was a cleaning day.  S worked all day, and I played the housewife role.  I cleaned and did laundry, and made sure that I had some dinner ready for S when he got home.  As soon as he got home, I had to leave to go babysit.  I think he was happy because he was able to get some time to himself!

I babysat for the 3 sweetest girls, and spent the second half of my night reading my new book on my Nook in the family’s beautiful home.  What could be better?

Sunday brought a long morning drive to northern Massachusetts to spend the day at their annual BBQ Festival at Wachusett Mountain.  It was a foggy, rainy, miserable 1½-hour drive up there.  The whole entire time, I just wanted S to turn around.

I’m glad he didn’t!

It was cold and cloudy, but it was so beautiful.  As soon as we got there, we bypassed all of the craft and food vendors and headed straight for the “Sky Ride”.  This was basically just a ride up the mountain on their ski lift.  I was so super scared.  I don’t do heights, roller coasters, tall buildings, elevators…. Yea….Okay…. I’m a scaredy cat! I admit it!

Anyway, with S… all of those anxious feelings evaporate (another reason why I married him!!).  He held on to me the entire time, and all of the butterflies I had when I first met him came right back and stayed in my stomach for the rest of the day.  It was the greatest feeling in the world.

Next came, a pulled pork sandwich, cole slaw, corn bread, fudge, some new scarves and I’ll let the pictures tell the rest!

S and I before leaving for the BBQ Fest

On the Ski Lift!

It was absolutely freezing!

I was super duper proud of myself.

Feet&Foliage

our view!

This is not altered in any way.  This was the scariest part.
This was at the summit where we started riding into a cloud.
 It got super cold, and foggy.

I had a pulled pork sandwich with corn bread.
S had a brisket sandwich with cole slaw.
AMAZING.

I could live off this stuff.  As for the hubs, not so much.
More for me!

Painted my nails a sand color, in the spirit of Hurricane Sandy.

We enjoyed some fudge after dinner that we purchased at the Festival.
Chocolate Marshmallow and Reeses Peanut Butter Cup! 

An all around instragrAMAZING weekend!! Hope you all enjoyed it as well. 

Usually I am a little more somber on a Monday morning… but this Monday morning is quite different.  I’m getting paid to sit home and watch Hurricane Sandy blow by.  No work for me today.  I’m happy… but I’m also happy having electricity… that I hope, doesn’t go out for too long.

Speaking of… if electricity does go out, I obviously won’t be able to post, but promise to be right back to business as soon as power is restored!

To all my readers hunkering down for this hurricane… stay safe!

=)

Attention All Future Brides!!

I need to admit something that may make me look totally un-internet-savvy. 

I am recently new to Stumble Upon.

Like, so new that I didn’t even know that this website existed until a couple of weeks ago.  I’m kind of embarrassed because apparently I’ve been living in a deep dark hole according to some of my friends!

Anyway, so I have an account with Stumble Upon, and while I was “stumbling” the other day, I found this really awesome website.  I hate that I found it only because I wish that I had found it about 6 months ago when I was making my wedding invitations.

The website I am talking about is called, WedPics.com 

Have any of you heard of it?? 

I hope it’s not something that everyone has known about except me, because I’ll be even more embarrassed.

Anyway, here’s the low down on WedPics.

WedPics is a site that helps newlyweds track down their wedding photos that were taken at their wedding by their wedding guests. 

Believe me, for anyone who was just married, they know how hard this is!  What an incredibly difficult task it has been (and will continue to be) to get pictures that my own guests took at my wedding.  I am thankful to all my guests who posted their pictures from our wedding on Facebook.  But, for people who didn’t do that, or don’t have Facebooks, or live far away, or whatever… there is WedPics!!

You create an account (sign up is free), and put up an album prior to your wedding day.  The album is password protected.  Then, WedPics will send you some small cards to put inside your wedding invitations that explain where people can upload their photos from the wedding.  Oh… and by the way, they send them for FREE! 

On your wedding day, people who are snapping photos with an Android or iPhone can immediately upload their photo(s) into a WedPics app!  People who are using digital cameras, can simply upload their photos to the WedPics website—right into the album that was created for the wedding day.

This is an example of a wedding album up on WedPics! People can comment/love your photos!

And NO... I am not their spokes person, nor am I trying to sell anything because the site is absolutely 100% free.  I am simply trying to get the word out there on how fabulous this is!!

Unfortunately for me, my day has already passed, and I am sure that I will be trying to track down photos for at least another year!  

This website would have been an absolute God send!!  So, I posted this in hopes of helping out a bride-to-be who may read this.  Believe me, if you are as into photos as I am… this website is a MUST HAVE!!

*   *   *

With that said… I’m off to Massachusetts for a BBQ Festival at Wachusett Mountain.  Going to try to enjoy every last bit of Fall in New England before Hurricane Sandy ruins it all!!

See you Monday!

=)

One True North

Warning: This post is a little mushy/gushy.

This past week was a rough one for me.  Rough at work.  Rough outside of work.  Just an all around hard week that I am glad is over.

I’m sure everyone has these weeks that just seem to never end.  Those weeks where you keep praying that “tomorrow” will be better, just to wake up and find that it’s only harder! 

I always try to think as positively as I can.  It was one of my New Years Resolutions.  So, I try to look at one of these weeks and know that it made me a stronger person.

But enough with that “think positive” stuff!!

Sometimes, I just need to be mad and frustrated and confused.

Gosh.  Can you tell it’s that time of the month?  Sheesh.

Sometimes it’s okay to be lost and confused and up sh*ts creek without a paddle as they say…

I always feel awful for S around that TOTM (time of the month!) My emotions and hormones are raging and when everything goes wrong, he tries so hard to make things better for me and sometimes I don’t appreciate him.

Sometimes I need him to be real with me (which he is when he needs to be!).  Sometimes I just need him to snap me out of it and tell me I’m being a b*tch!

But most of all, S is really good at getting me back to “real life”.  At least that is what he calls it.  That TOTM is when I think too much, cry over nothing, and get angry over every. little. thing.   It’s amazing how S puts up with it all.

So at the end of a crazy, messed up, emotionally draining week… I can be thankful for one thing.

My husband.

My compass.

My one true north.

I love you.  Thank you for continuing to guide me back down to “real life”. 

=)

Every Rose Has its Thorn

For me, one of the most important parts of the day is dinnertime.  Not only because I love cooking, and I love to eat… but also because it is a guaranteed time to have quality conversation with my husband.

Sure, we live together, and we see each other everyday as we go about our own daily routines, but dinnertime on the weekdays where we don’t see each other is a time for us to relax, and talk about our day.

In the beginning of our relationship… I’d ask him how his day was… and I usually got a simple one or two word answer.  He’ll do the same, and sometimes I’d elaborate a little more.  Sometimes we’d eat in front of the TV. 

Okay… most of the time.

Since being married, we have both agreed on dinnertime rules.  NO eating in front of the TV, unless it’s takeout or we have a movie to watch.  ALWAYS eat dinner at the table with candles.  And, ALWAYS do the rose and thorn of the day.

For those of you who have never heard of that, the rose and thorn are the best and worst parts of your day.  The rose being the best part, and the thorn being the worst part.

The rose and thorn of the day is something that means so much to me now.  It’s an awesome conversation starter, and I learn more about S’s day than if he just gave me a one or two word answer.  It’s so super important to me, and it’s something that I look forward to each and every night. 

Sometimes, the rose could be the hug I got from S when he came home because the rest of my day was THAT crappy.  Sometimes the rose and thorn of the day is not that exciting and no real quality conversation comes from it.  But, most of the time… it makes for awesome conversation.  It keeps us communicating with each other.  It forces us to tell each other things that we might not have said otherwise.  It helps him understand why I may be in a crappy mood, and vice versa.  And I like that. 

It’s something that I would also love to do when we start expanding our family someday.  It’s a really cool nightly tradition.

Give it a try!

=)

Dear 17-Year-Old Me

I too, like a lot of other bloggers that I follow, am hopping on the trend train here ((again!!)) with this post.  I’ve seen a lot of bloggers doing this post, and so I thought I would too!!  Sounds fun!

*        *       *

Dear Teenage ME-

You are such a dreamer. You have some pretty large dreams.  People are laughing at you, and it’s frustrating.  But, you’ll go for your dreams anyway.  Things don’t end up happening how you wanted them to.  But it’s okay.  You gave it your all.  You did it, and you didn’t give up.  Keep dancing.

Stop being so nervous about college. You are going whether you like it or not.  You will end up living on campus for your entire college career except that last year.  You will make some amazing friends.  Two of them will be in your wedding…and your groom is not going to be that kid your dating now.

About that.  The two of you are completely wrong for each other.  You will find that out late in the game.  But, whatever.  The high school sweetheart thing is not going to work for you.  You are a totally different person now.  But don’t fret…you find new love really shortly after the breakup.  Don’t stress that it’s too soon, because this is real.  He’s the one.

Follow your heart.  Stop stressing about making everyone else happy.  Focus on you.  Follow what your heart is telling you… and life will just slowly fall into place.  Trust me.

Ditch those “fair weather” friends.  I know, I know… you’ve been friends with them since grade school.  You are better off without them.  If they don’t accept the woman you’ve become, they don’t need to be your friend.

Keep your family and true friends close.  There will be a few things that happen where you will need your family and your close friends for support.  Be a good friend, be a good daughter.  Don’t burn your bridges.

=)

We Persevere

Perseverance by definition means to continue in a course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success.

Perseverance was the definition of my Wednesday night.  Both S and I had horrible days at work, and came home promising each other to make it a better night.  I was thankful that it was Wednesday because S has darts, which would for sure make his day better, and I was going to enjoy a movie and a glass of wine. 

Then LIFE happened.

I was almost finished making dinner when S came home.  He gets pretty dirty at work, and he took a while washing his hands.  When he noticed the water in the sink wasn’t draining, he asked me if the sink had done that before.  It hadn’t… not to my knowledge.

But tonight, it would.  Just to make the day even more interesting than it had already been.

We sat down to eat dinner, and I just figured the sink would drain eventually. 

No.

Our apartment, as much as I love it… does not have a dishwasher.  (This is on the top of my wish list for when we get a home!)  So, I needed to wash dishes from dinner and all the pots and pans that I had used to make dinner. 

S started plunging the sink.  It was horrible, and gross… and the water was STILL not going down.  By this time, he was going to be very late to darts, and he was not happy.

The next thing that he did involved a wire snake going down the drain to try to unclog, which failed.  And then there were tools, banging, swearing, and FINALLY some slow, slow draining. 

*insert glimmer of hope here*

Then, there was complete drainage, liquid plumber, and hot water… not to mention a lot of praying that this would be the end to our awful Wednesday!

The cool thing about this whole night is that I kept thinking about how thankful I was to have married such a patient, and HANDY, man.  Yes, he may swear and throw things… but he kept his cool for the most part, and wouldn’t give up until he fixed the problem.   Not to mention he also missed his darts game.  =(

It is so important to me that we “smile through the bullshit” and just be thankful for what we do have during times of struggle.  In last night’s case, we had each other, a horribly clogged kitchen sink, and a bunch of dirty dishes from dinner piled up on the counter.

It sucked, but we persevered.  And I want to always be able to do that throughout life.  I want to always make an effort to not let bumps in the road become major roadblocks. 

I feel like both S and I make every effort to make our relationship fun, fresh and healthy.  We try not to let the little things (like a clogged sink) get the best of us.  I’ll be honest.  Sometimes, little things do get the best of us!!  We’re human!!

But, I was proud of us last night.  I was proud of him.  Being new to the whole “marriage” thing…I’m no expert, but I am sure that a lot of marriages fail because of those bumps in the road that turn into roadblocks.  I never, ever want that to happen.  Ever.

So for future reference… a clogged drain can be fixed with a couple beers, lots of laughs, turning an awful experience into a great adventure… and of course… LOTS of perseverance.  

=)

* Wedding Wednesday * & Why My Kitchen Smelled Like Heaven

A few days ago, I was reading blogs like I normally do and stumbled upon a blog post from a friend of mine.  She posted a recipe for Ravioli Lasagna and she claimed that this recipe would make for an instant happy husband!!  I was immediately intrigued!  I made the recipe last night.  First of all, it smelled amazing.  Second, it did make S very happy!  And unfortunately... there's like none left.  So, try out this recipe!! Thanks, Nicole!!  =)

Also-- Another shout out to my cousin-in-law April!! She reads my blog and has sent me some awesome recipes that I cannot wait to try.  Thank you! =)

*     *     *

Okay-  And now it is time for *WEDDING WEDNESDAY*

For this weeks post... I jumped on the trend train.  I've been noticing a trend with lots of blogs that I read.  A lot of people have posted this "Newlywed Game" questionnaire to their blog.  I thought I'd go ahead and do the same.  I saw this list of questions on someone’s blog and I thought it would be fun to ask S.

((I did this questionnaire just like the game show.  I typed up these questions and left the room while S answered them.  Then, I came back to see if we had the same answers.  He got more right than I predicted!))

1. She’s sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?

S: On those days that you come home after a long day and you say that you want to kill some brain cells, you always put on “Keeping up with the Kardashian’s” or anything on E!

Karla:  Wow!  He really does pay attention!!

2. You’re out to eat, what kind of dressing does she get on her salad?

S:  Either Ranch or Italian… or if it’s a Buffalo Chicken salad (her favorite) she’ll ask for blue cheese.

Karla:  Right!!

3. What’s one food she doesn’t like?

S: I can name 5 off the top of my head.  Onions, peppers, tomatoes, peas, and maple syrup (if that counts as a food).

Karla:  Yeah.  That’s right for the most part.  To my defense …I do like peppers and tomatoes if they are cooked a certain way!

4. You go out to eat and have a drink, what does she order?

S: Okay.  Most of the time she orders something that includes buffalo chicken, and always orders lemonade because she doesn’t drink soda.  If we’re drinking alcohol she orders a Tom Collins or Malibu Baybreeze.

Karla:  Wow.  I can’t believe he is doing so well with these questions!!

5. What shirt size does she have?

S:  Sometimes medium, sometimes large. Depends on the store. 

Karla: Correct!

6. What shoe size does she have?

S: It’s either an 8 or 8 ½ and she has a wider foot, so sometimes she needs a wide width shoe.

Karla:  Yep! Damn my wide feet!

7. What’s her favorite type of sandwich?

S: She and I both love going to a local deli, and she always orders the corned beef sandwich with Thousand Island dressing and no sauerkraut.

Karla:  Okay… Yes.  That’s definitely one of my favorites.

8. What would she eat everyday if she could?

S: Corned Beef.  Everyday would be St. Patrick’s Day in Karla’s perfect world.  And everything would be drenched in vinegar.

Karla:  THAT WOULD BE AMAZING!

9. What is her favorite cereal?

S: She doesn’t have one because she doesn’t like milk.  She likes waffles.

Karla:  I can tolerate milk.  But yeah, I’m not really a cereal eater.

10. What would she never wear?

S: Umm... my clothes.

Karla:  Okay.  Also under that category would be horizontal stripes and plaid prints.

11. What is her favorite sports team?

S: The Mets. Too bad Jose Reyes isn’t on the team anymore.

Karla: Correct!  And yeah, the Mets were pretty awful again this year, and they are not worth watching all together now that Jose Reyes moved to the Florida Marlins.

14. What is something she does that you wish she wouldn’t do?

S:  Oh god.  Um… how she would rather write in her blog than do things around the house.

Karla:  Ohhhh that was harsh!

15. What is her heritage?

S:  Irish, mainly.

Karla: Right-o!

16. You bake her a cake, what kind of cake?

S: Chocolate.  As much chocolate as possible.

Karla:  Hahaha, he knows what I love!

17. Did she play sports in high school?

S: Dance, Horseback riding, Color Guard, Tennis

Karla: Yes on all counts!

18. What could she spend hours doing?

S: Read a book, go on Facebook, write in her blog.

Karla: I don’t know if I could spend HOURS on Facebook.  But reading a good book and writing in the blog—Yes.  I could also spend hours reading other people’s blogs!

19. What is the unique talent that she has?

S:  She’s very creative and artistic.  She draws really well.  And she’s a great dancer.

Karla: Aw thanks!  I can also do the Rock eyebrow and Gangnam Style dance pretty well!!

20. What is her best quality?

S: She cares about everything and everyone.  Even people that she doesn’t know. 

Karla:  Thanks!  And, thank goodness there isn’t a question about what my worst quality is!

* And no *Wedding Wednesday* post would be complete without a wedding photo*

=)