What a Week!!!

WOW! So it has been a very interesting week to say the least!

So the last time I posted, I was soooo excited to pick Ty up from the airport. I had been waiting for that moment for months! Anyways not very long after I posted did I become violently ill! I first thought it was food poisoning and then later learned I had a bad FLU! REALLY?!?! I mean could that have happened at a better time!!!!

I started getting sick EARLY around 3AM Sunday morning and Ty came home Sunday night. I was really hoping a miracle would happen and I would feel better by that night, well fast forward to Wednesday when I was able to spend time with Ty!!! Yes Wednesday, Can you believe it?!? Ty tore his ACL back in August so he had Surgery this past Monday (I will get to that in a second) So I did not want to be around him because he could not be sick going into surgery. It was a horrible three days... WASH YOUR HANDS everyone!!!! (oh yeah if you are wondering..I had a flu shot a month ago!)

Anyways so we laid low pretty much the rest of the week oh yah and I still have this thing called a JOB that I have to keep up with!! So Saturday morning we traveled to Dade City, Florida for one of my great friends Joey's wedding. About 7 couples rented villas near her venue and we had an amazing time!!!! It was so fun to get together with all of our friends in one spot. Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend!

Here is the group of 10 great girlfriends! We wish we could get together more often but when we do it is so special!

How about this guy!??! It was SO NICE, let me repeat this SO NICE to have him with me! I just loved it and we had an amazing time.

Well now we are onto Monday! Tyler had ACL/Meniscus surgery on Monday and we were at the hospital at 5:50AM on Monday. He was in surgery for about 2 hours and had a few screws put into his leg, a cadaver tendon and completely repaired his meniscus. All I have to say is NEVER tear your ACL! It has been a tough recovery for Ty, the pain is extreme and he is just miserable! His break that he was so looking forward to and deserved is now gone.... Poor guy! I am hoping he will feel much better by Christmas and can at least sit with us and open a few presents.

This should be Tyler's Christmas Card.. Merry Christmas From Tyler! The second picture is one from the hospital... Tyler's Dad wanted to send a picture to his mom and Tyler the jokester decided it would be funny to pretend like he was out to scare his mother... Not nice!!!!

This week I am pretty much playing nurse and trying to stay on top of work as much as possible! I read someones post on Facebook, when they said remember when you were done with school and you could just go home all of December and do nothing!! I do remember those times and really wish we could all shut down for the month of December!

I wish everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

EHHHHHHHH!!!

HOURS HOURS HOURS!!!!!

Tyler will be home Sunday night at 11PM and I can not stop thinking about it!!!! While these next few days are so exciting waiting for Ty, I can't wait for these hello and goodbyes to be done eventually. How about we just live in the same city?!?! That would be fun!

EHHHHHHHHHHH!! Can't wait to see Ty :)

One of my Favorites

These little bags are one of my favorite gifts I will be giving this year! They are $12, and such a great little gift to give for any occasion!

http://www.msandmrs.com

These little bags have all of the essentials you need to have in your purse on a daily basis! There are 16 items in these little bags! Can you believe it! These are all items I have found myself searching for and I would love to have them in one place. aka my purse! Also how cute are the little bags!

You know I also liked the little minimergency guy ones too! How great for a guy to keep in his car or desk.... It has 13 must haves! Love these too!

AHHHHH.....

I thought I posted this on Wednesday and it never posted!!!! Here is how I felt last week, how things have changed!

That is what I feel like yelling right now! My mom, sister and I are all SICK as dogs! I have been sick since Sunday and am just so tired of the coughing, sneezing, etc. Take my word for it and WASH YOUR HANDS a LOT!!!!! You will thank me later, promise!

P.S. The Countdown till tylcember :) Yes we are at 9 days and counting! SINGLE DIGITS! Seriously? He will be home next Sunday and I am trying to make my week so busy so it flys by!

EEEEEE!!!

Precious Life..

I have been thinking quite a bit lately about how precious and amazing life is. I went to visit my Grandmother (Mama Carol) this past weekend who has become very sick. My Mama Carol was a very strict, strong, independent women who did everything for everyone around her. She never asked for any one's help and was a very strong women.

This weekend I walked into a room where my strong grandmother sat in a wheelchair being fed by a nurse in my Aunt's house. She did not recognize me or anyone other than her precious precious Husband. (My Grandfather.) It was probably the toughest weekend I have had to deal with in my life. My grandfather is watching the love of his life slowly weaken and its heart breaking. My Aunt looked at me while I was tearing up while my Grandpa tucked my grandma into her bed and said you are learning a lot about true love.

Life is so precious and fragile and it is so tough to hear stories about lovely people who are battling illness and old age.

The only thing I can do is appreciate every single second of my life. Let my loved ones know how important they are to me and help others who are in need.

It just so happened that I received a call from the Children's Hospital while I was visiting my grandmother asking if I could come in and hang out with young girls who have been diagnosed with Cancer on Wednesday. I of course said Yes, and hung up the phone. I felt at that moment it was a task from god :) It is something I can do to try and brighten these girls days. My Sister and I will spend Wednesday together playing with our friends at Arnold Palmer Children's Hospital :)

So this Thanksgiving Week, I want to give thanks to all of my beautiful family and friends and wish everyone health and happiness.

Hug your loved ones tight this week! Hugs to you all and I leave you with some photos of my loves :)

I'm going to be a Shake N Bake Mom!

I saw this video and just loved it!!! So cute!

Happy Monday!!

http://perezhilton.com/2010-11-15-taylor-momsen-in-a-commercial-at-three-years-old

Random Acts Of Kindness

I just love hearing stories of people being kind and selfless in today's world. I stumbled across this ladies birthday story! please click on this link and read what she did for her 38th birthday! (38 random acts of kindness!) Love it!

I want to do this! Whose in?!?!

http://mixmingleglow.com/blog/?paged=3

How I Celebrated My Birthday (aka 38 Random Acts of Robyn)

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago my birthday wish was to complete one Random Act of Kindness for every year of my life thus far, as well as asking friends, readers, Facebook fans and fellow Twitter-ers to each perform one Random Act of Kindness and to let me know about it throughout the day.

Love...

And love is what changes trying times into bearable times, and hard moments into a good learning moments. Love is where I know I am safe and happy, and I want that for everyone-no matter what they look or act like.

I read a blog that I constantly find quotes and posts from that makes me rethink my life! You might have seen Stephanie Nielson on Oprah in the past. She surrived a plane crash and over 80% of her body was burned. Her life obviously changed forever, but instead of letting that stop her she is still a fabulous mom to four kids and an amazing wife. I read her blog and shake my head just thinking about how strong of a women she is.

P.S. I LOVE that quote! It makes me smile really big and keeps me smiling during a long distance relationship that I really wish was a close distance relationship :)

http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

No News Yet...

Sorry for the delayed blog posts! Life has been just totally crazy! The news that I posted about is really nothing that exciting or important and is on hold right now anyways! haha.. Didn't want people to think the news is anything CRAZY!!

Since I don't have too much time right now I will leave you with this cute little engagement video! I totally downloaded the song from the video right away and think this is just too cute!! The company is Belvedere Films.

http://belvedere-films.com/2010/10/felica-marie-sean-save-the-date/

Happy Halloween and Have a great weekend!!!

No Time..

You would think being on an ISLAND I would have plenty of spare time to blog! Well lets just say it's day 8 of my 10 days here and I am just posting!

Let me just say, I do NOT want to come home! The pace and life here is so different! The first couple of days I was so jittery and I finally told Ty that I had to go for a walk to let off steam. What steam you ask? I guess my U.S. steam! Here everything is Island Time, which is really whatever time you want it to be. Back in the U.S. I am used to answering to everyone within 24 hours or I have horrible customer service. Everything is very competitive and very fast pace. I know I will miss it, but it is so nice to come here and just LIVE! It does take a few days to get used to the pace, but once you get hooked on the pace it's so hard to go back to the U.S. pace.

We have been pretty busy down here. I have been doing emails as well everyday, so I am trying not to be too far removed from work. Come Tuesday morning I think I will be in shock!

Here are a couple of photos, I have taken A TON here but here is a sneak peak of Grenada.

I come home on Monday night and land in Tampa... Why Tampa you ask? Well my sister and I are going to the Carrie Underwood CONCERT! AHHH! This is thanks to my AMAZING Brother In-Law!!! He knows that his wife and sis in-law really only want to go to ONE concert really really bad and he made it happen for us! We can not wait, pictures to come for sure!

I will be driving back to Orlando EARLY Tuesday morning so I can get back to work and back on campus. It will be a tough week, but this has been well worth the stress of this upcoming week..

Big News to come..... I will post my big news in a few days ;)

X-Ray Vision

If you could see my tummy this is what you would find...

I keep having day dreams about the airport doors opening up and I see my little Ty sitting and waiting for me.... It makes me want to throw up but in the best way EVER! I am not sure how I am going to wait another day......

Happy Columbus Day!

Happy Monday Everyone!

So today we have Columbus Day off for the first time ever! So excited about it because I have A LOT of errands to run to get ready for my upcoming trip to......GRENADA!!

I can not wait to go back and see Ty. He has been stuck in the library constantly and studying non stop so I can't wait for him to have a little break!

One really exciting thing that I did recently was, I bought a Slingbox!

For those who do not know what it is, Its this box that we hooked up to Tyler's parents Cable box in Orlando. Ty can log onto his computer in Grenada and watch anything on the cable box!!! Isn't that incredible! He was so excited and he said it works great, so I can't wait to test it out in Grenada. That was the one thing I kinda missed when I was down there, Cable! Haha!

I am hoping to see more of Grenada this time! We didn't go into town and we didn't go into the rain forest yet either.

I went to Tampa on Saturday to see my sister and go to the opening of the Tampa Bay Lightning Game. It was so fun to watch the Lightning win and the NOLES win too!! Here is my sister and I :) Love her so much!

It's Hard to see from this picture, but during an intermission they had these little tiny guys come out and play a quick game. It was SOOO precious!! When they came out on the ice, the very first little tiny guy fell straight on his little face :( Someone had to come pick him up, it was so sad!

Well its now off to do a few emails :) and then run errands for my upcoming trip! Have a great Monday everyone!

Hi Pongo....

Happy Tuesday :)

I am sitting here after eating like a baby for the last two days! I can only eat soft food, for some reason my jaw is messed up and now I can't chew!! Isn't that fabulous :)

Anyways A couple of fun things I wanted to share with Pink Lovey.

I bought new make up :) I have been using Bare Minerals for about a year now and I really liked it, but if you know me I have A LOT of Freckles... I wasn't super satisfied with the coverage my freckles were getting so when I went to visit two of my best friends. (peeps, my Pink lovey roommates) they suggested Bobbi Brown.

So i went and got ALL new make up and drum roll please...... A CREDIT CARD!! So its a miracle I now have TWO credit cards. I really can't believe it, I feel like I just want to keep applying for new ones because I really can't believe it. The feeling that I get when I am accepted is UNREAL!!! I am just kidding about applying to a bunch but I wish i could :)

So I really like my new Bobbi Brown make up, it is a bit heavier than I am used to but It has A LOT more coverage and I feel like an adult :)

I will keep you posted on it! Here is the cute bag for all of it, and I LOVE IT!!

Second Fun New thing... My good friend Beth uses Tanning wipes sometimes by Kate Sommerville!

They can be found at Sephora. I didn't believe she was using them because she looked so natural, so we went and bought some! I decided one night I was going to use them really quickly to see how they worked, and they worked REALLY well......until I raised my arms.

I sent these pictures to Beth and she said i had to post on PL, so I hope you enjoy these.. It got better the second time I used them..i asked my mom for help and I took my time. I REALLY recommend them. I am pretty fair skinned so I am not sure how they would work on people with tan skin, but I liked them!!!

So the reason this post is called pongo because my sweet sweet boyfriend thinks I should be called Pongo since I am splotchy :)

So don't mind my signature at the bottom of this post that says Kara, until my "splotches" are gone you may call me Pongo....

P.S. I am trying to figure out what color I should make the font, I don't like it Black.. So bare with me :)

Face Lift :)

Welcome!!!!

As you can probably already tell, Pink Lovey had a little Face Lift. Isn't she a gem :)

I came across this lovely little company called Penny Lane Designs and fell in love! I worked with the designer over there who is AMAZING and so helpful to get Pink Lovey looking gorgeous!! Take a peek its a really cute website and they create really beautiful sites!!

http://www.pennylanedesigns.net/

My next really important piece of information..... My BROTHER IS A KING!!!

King of his College that is!! Tanner was crowned the Homecoming King of Quincy University!! Can you believe it!??!!

So since I have YET to get my hands on a picture of my Brother with a CROWN on I decided I would google a King with a Crown and see if a King came up. Here were my options..

Slim pickings if you ask me, we can let Tanner decide who he would like to be....

Anyways I have not yet edited the pages but will get to those very soon :)

Have a great week everyone, my next blog will be about my weekend in Atlanta!!!

New York State of Mind..

Hello All,

I am back home and constantly waking up in the night trying to figure out where I am! Tough life, I know. I have been so so lucky to be able to travel this much, but I have made a note for the future to not book 4 weekends of back to back travel. Not good for my mind or body, but sure is fun :)

So Last weekend it was New York to see my friend Ashton and my Father! My friend Michelle and I left on Friday afternoon and came home on Sunday so it was a quick weekend but SO worth it!! We had a blast. Michelle's flight was a bit later than mine so she didn't come in till later, but Ashton, her boyfriend and I met my dad for dinner and a boat tour around Manhattan.

I have never seen Manhattan or Jersey from the water so it was pretty amazing! It was a tad bit chilly but gorgeous!!! They pulled up really close to the Statue of Liberty and it was so beautiful lite up at night. The problem it was too dark for great pictures but I do have some of course :)

My Dad and I :)

There she is :)

this was our first night out after our little boat tour.

This is us on Saturday in one of our many cab rides! Shop Shop Shoppin... (we have been saying that ever since this trip when Michelle sang that while we were in the car....we learned Michelle had a lot of little songs and sayings and we can't wait until she has kids to see how the react to all of her songs and dances!!)

Saturday night we decided to go see the Adams Family on Broadway! We choose this one for a couple of reasons, first Michelle and her family love the Adam's Family so she really wanted to see it and then Secondly because we knew someone in the show!!! Wesley Taylor went to high school with us and we have seen all of his pictures and status updates on Facebook about it. We hadn't seen him since high school but he was so kind to allow us to come back stage with him. It was amazing!!

This was on Sunday, Gorgeous day on a rooftop!!

It was so interesting to be In NYC, thinking about how I will be there possibly in a couple of years. Tyler has to do his clinical rotations in NYC for 2 years starting in May of 2012. I can't imagine myself walking around the city as a resident but it was fun to think about it and a tad scary!

So glad we were able to visit and see Ashton! It was a quick trip and I was sooo tired on Monday let me tell you! I was home for 5 days and then left Friday afternoon for Atlanta!! I will update you all on that weekend soon :)

Half of my Heart...

Is here....

So here is my post about my fabulous trip to Grenada!

So since last January Tyler has "prepped" me for Grenada. I had a very different view of this little Island than what it really was. Some of Tyler's stories had been about him having horribly delayed flights, loosing his luggage, slow service, and bad food. So I really didn't expect too much from the little island of Grenada.

First things first I had the absolute EASIEST flight EVER. Not a single delay, not a problem with my luggage. Everything was on time and waiting for me :) There were NO lines at customs, they asked me about two questions then I was all set. I had the absolute biggest smile on my face walking out of the little airport. All day I had really bad butterflies/nerves and I was just so excited to get there. I mentioned in one of my earlier posts about walking out and seeing him so I won't bore you again :) But it was so fun seeing him after not seeing him for over 3 weeks. This time will be longer, and it will be sad but we will hopefully both be very busy. My traveling schedule is just CRAZY! Right now I have 3 weekends in a row of travel. (NYC, Atlanta, and Anna Marie Island) Lots of pictures for sure!

Speaking of pictures ..... Here are some from my trip!

Here is Tyler's Apartment... Upstairs are the studios and downstairs are restaurants, a wine shop, and Internet Cafe....

We bought a Grill!! I was so excited until we opened the box and it was in a MILLION pieces... Guess who had to put it together....Tyler! Here is the end product :) We made bratwursts on the grill and they were delicious!

Tyler made me the BEST Grilled Cheese I have ever had :) I really feel like he has missed his calling as a Grilled Cheese Chef..but I guess Doctor will do :)

So after my amazing grilled cheese and our chocolate Ice Cream sundaes with bananas, I felt very lazy, so I decided to do some jumping jacks and my lovely boyfriend thought it would be fun to catch me mid jack...Here is my face to the paparazzi, I just ate so much food and I am trying to exercise. :) But thought it was quite funny! Oh the things that keep us interested in grenada!

I bought coffee mugs for Ty's place to drink my morning cup of coffee in :)

Ty and I actually were only on the beach one day, but when we did go it was gorgeous. It was so quiet and peaceful...

This was our dinner on our last night at a resort called La Luna. It was AMAZING!! It was like we were on our own private Island.

The Sunset was gorgeous!!!

This was the pool over looking the ocean :)

I had an amazing time and can't wait to go back in October for a longer trip!

Good Bye Grenada....Until next time!!

Here is our view on the last night at La Luna. I keep watching this video hoping I can blink and be back on my lounge chair with Ty....

A Few Things...

So I stumbled on this blog and I am dieing!! I want to host a party tomorrow so I can order these cookies!! Please take a look at this site. I just emailed to find out if they ship, I will keep you posted!

http://girlygatherings.blogspot.com/

Just a sneak peak of their cookies:

(p.s. Don't judge if I host a party, and this is your gift :) )

Ok Now for a Tear Jerker!!! My Sister Brittany introduced me to this blog of a friend who adopted a precious little boy from Ethiopia... She has a blog and just made a little video.. I JUST CRIED watching it... So precious! She has been blogging about her journey and posting videos and its just amazing and get this, she is pregnant and due in November!!! Take a look, promise you will love it!

http://fulmerstory.blogspot.com/

REALLY??

So I am back from Grenada and my Tuesday went a little like this...

Professor- "Hi Kara, It's great to see you!"

Kara- Its great to see you too!

Professor- Come on into our meeting and see the department...

Kara- Thanks (in my head...I want to be in Grenada!! I want to go back to bed! Its really kinda like a monday even though its tuesday...I have a bad case of the Mondays/Tuesdays, wow there is a lot of people in here...)

Time passes infront of 25 people....

Professor- Kara...ummm Kara, Im not sure how to tell you this.... You have a really large sticker across your chest.

Kara- thanks...wait what?!?!

Yah I went for many hours without noticing :) Thankfully I was wearing a colorful shirt, and it was an XS sticker (only because it was stretchy and Ann Taylor). But that is how my week started. My room is a MESS, I have laundry piled out the door and work is really quite ridiculous!

I will post about Grenada very soon... I the mean time please listen to this new song by Sara Bareilles.... Love this song :) From now on when a customer is mean to me at work..I am going to secretly wear a hidden ear phone in my ear so when someone is rude I will just blast this song and just smile and nod and this should keep me from screaming in the middle of someones office :) Its almost the weekend!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR7-AUmiNcA

A Little Piece of Paradise...

I'M HERE!!

Hello from Grenada!!

I got in last night at 8PM and it was soooooo easy!! I have heard all of Tyler's stories about the small loud prop planes, loosing his bags, flight delays! I didn't have ONE late flight, I was on a HUGE jet that offered food, and both of my bags were sitting there when I walked up. Oh yah and Ty usually spends 30 min to 2 hours in custom lines, and ummmm I walked right up to the lady and walked right out! It was the easiest thing ever.

So I walked out to find my man waiting on a bench for me, he stands up and starts limping as quickly as he could over to me. It was so precious!! God it felt so good to just hug him. I woke up yesterday morning and I was soooo anxious all day!!! &&!(*&@*!@^*@ (that is what my stomach was feeling like) So it literally immediately went away when he walked/limped up to me. We threw my massive bags in the taxi that he had waiting for us and we went to his humble abode. I walked in the door and there on the counter are all of my favorite things. Diet Coke, Special K, BLOODY MARY mixes, wheat thins, easy mac!! I just about died! I could have died and gone to heaven and I would have been totally satisfied with that moment. He is so cute, and all of the diet cokes were cold for me. He definitely knows the way to my heart :)

It was dark and raining here last night so I really haven't seen much of Grenada, and Ty is in class now. I woke up this morning started on my 75 emails that I had received since 5 last night :) and now am updating Pink Lovey!! We are going grocery shopping later today and I just can't freakin wait! I will have to take a picture of my latest find that I was so super proud to buy him.

I purchased a little baby crock pot at target for...get this.......$14...JUST KIDDING $7!! Can you believe that?!?!? So I packed that sucker in my bag and brought it to him. Its perfect for one or two people and I think it will really come in handy the next two years.

I will definitely have pictures soon, but as of now I have just seen his apartment. I have to say it is the ABSOLUTE weirdest feeling being here. I don't know where I feel like I am, but I can tell you I don't feel like I am on an Island! You know I think Grenada was never really "real" to me because I didn't know what it was like. I think this will calm my nerves a bit now when I am home and know where he is. I am so excited to be here and see his life! I am waiting for him to be home from class and am so excited to just hug him in person and say hello :)

Waste Food!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE food way too much. If I could I would probably be 758 pounds :)

I have gained at least 6 pounds this summer :( Thanks to my lack of walking for work and the abundance of fast food from ty being home this summer. (If you don't know my boyfriend Ty, he should own, work at, buy stock, live at a McDonalds Or any fast food restaurant for that matter. Let me remind you, he has a FLAT as a board stomach and is in perfect shape. Yes even his cholesterol! I so wish I had his body...... but I DO NOT and I guess thats a good thing because then I would have male parts and we would not be dating Tyler. .... anyways!

EXHIBIT A

Kara's Bowl of Ice Cream

EXHIBIT B-

Kara's Bowl at the end....

So the point of this is I have been really trying to watch what I eat. I have already lost 2 pounds in 2 weeks. But I have about 5 more to go. So what I have decided is I am going to waste food. I know I am horrible, but I have to teach myself how to eat properly!!

So if you put a plate of food in front of me I will totally finish it! ALL of it, why? I am not sure why. I guess that is just what I have gotten used to.

Lets take a look at exhibit C below. A picture from this weekend... and oh wow whats in Kara's hands? WOW thats a huge piece of bread that I ate EVERY LAST PEICE OF!!

So I have decided now lets say I eat a bag of 100 calorie peanut butter crackers (which I do a lot) i will leave at least 1 maybe even 2 in the bag. Tonight I have my usual Greek yogurt and raspberries for dessert, and left a little bit a yogurt in the cup. I know Im crazy, but I think this might work!!! PS. I love the Dannon Vanilla Greek yogurt! For breakfast I will add granola and raspberries and I love it!!!

If I can train my self to just have Portion control I can eat the things I love but just not a TON!!

Back in college I did a few small things to my diet and they REALLY worked. I truly believe if you do small things it will really add up! Just to let you know, back in college I stopped using mayonnaise and only drank diet soda. HUGE difference. Since I was a HUGE dr. pepper lover and I am and was a sandwich whore :) So i really do think small changes work for me.

I will keep you all posted on my new horrible wasting habits. Let me say, I DO NOT LIKE WASTING food, and I will not do this for long but I need to adjust how I eat and I think this will help my health :)

PS I LEAVE ON WEDNESDAY!! YAH YAH YAH!!