Of the million things I’ve been looking over (side note: I was distracted by a Jack in The Box commercial; why are they all geared towards dopers?! anyway..) the few things that I’ve set in stone are :

1. The Wedding Date

2. The Wedding Theme

3. Color Scheme

I’ve been looking around for centerpiece ideas and table linens to no avail. I came across this wedding blog:

tenthousandonly.blogspot.com and I really enjoy reading about this mystery brides efforts to create a wedding on a budget. A few of the ideas that she is using I’m trying to incorporate into my wedding as well. I really loved her invites as well, but unfortunatley I couldn’t figure out where she ordered them from :(.

I will update as I come across great ideas and things I adore!

Post from: Ms Caesi

Depo Provera is an injectable form of birth control. It is a hormonal method that is injected into a muscle (arm or butt) every 13 weeks. Using the hormone, progesterone, it stops ovulation and thickens the mucus membrane preventing little swimmers.

Depo Provera is a wonderful birth control method in a lot of ways. After 2-3 injections you ultimatley stop having your menstrual cycle and most women no longer suffer from pms. It is easy to maintain as you only need the shot 4 times per  year and is 99.9% effective.

All the positives were what got me interested in the first place. I started Depo Provera injections in March or April in 2006. For the first two months, I had a very steady period that seemed to never end. At one point I had bled for 2 months straight. I contacted my doctor who assured me that it was just a hormonal imbalance. I began to stay estroven (an over the counter medication for woman going through  menopause) in hopes that it would calm the bleeding. Eventually the bleeding did stop and I stopped menstruating at all.

In the first year on Depo, I gained somewhere between 5-8 lbs. This is one of the most significant side effects of the drug. In the second year I gained even more.
I can’t necessarily blame all of the weight gain on the drug because I went through a lot of stress, however I’m sure it definitely played a major role in it. Another major concern with this injection is bone density loss. I’ve heard horror stories regarding this issue, but luckily for me I’ve had no issues with it.

I was on Depo Provera for approximately 2 years. My last injection was due in November 2008. I want to take this opportunity to show woman all of the effects that are associated with Depo Provera withdrawal. After everything that I have gone and are currently going through, I wish I would have never started the shots.

AFTER DEPO:

1. Extremely sore, tender breasts: Mine were so incredibly sore I couldn’t even touch them myself and I had a hard time wearing a bra. If I even so much brushed against my breast, I would gasp in pain. For this I recommend picking up some lanolin cream that women use when breast feeding, for whatever reason it helped take the soreness out of my nipple area.
2. Menstrual Cycle: At this point in time I have not begun my cycle. Some women report that it takes 8-24 months to get back into a normal pattern.
3. Pregnancy: I have no intentions of getting pregnant any time soon, but be aware if you plan to get pregnant in the future, it took woman up to 1. 5 years to conceive after their last Depo shot.
4. Painful Stomach Cramps: These have been extremely severe in the past few days and I was in hope of starting my cycle. I’ve taken all kinds of o.t.c pain meds and nothing seems to ease the pain.
5. Mood Swings: Its almost like an intense case of P.M.S. I’m the crankiest I have ever been in my entire life. Quite frankly I’m a b*tch.
6. Depression: I’ve not encountered this symptom directly but most women have commented on how they have felt severely depressed when coming off of depo provera.

When it is all said and done I will never take a hormone based birth control ever again. The after affects are painful and discouraging.

Post from: Ms Caesi

90% Juice.
Serving Size: 8 oz. X 2
(I’ve calculated the figures below for a full bottle;
Who is really only going to drink half?!)

Calories- 440
Calories from fat- 40
Total Fat- 4 g
Saturated Fat- 2 g
Trans Fat- 0 g
Cholesterol- 60 mg
Sodium- 280 mg
Potassium- 660 mg
Total Carb- 68 g (Woah!)
Sugars- 56 g (Woah!)
Protein- 32 g

Positives:

1. The fruity flavor is nice and light.
2. The bottle is very attractive.
3. Easy to locate at most stores.
4. Good meal replacement and for super energy.

Negatives:
1. Whey Protein makes the mixture very gritty.
2. The scent is not very appetizing.
3. They go for around $4 a bottle.

Will I purchase this product again? Probably not.
Conclusion: Buy it off the sale rack. or Only if You Really Need To.

Post from: Ms Caesi

1. DoNotCall.gov -The government implemented this registry a few years back as I recall. It allows you to add your telephone number to a specific list of numbers that telemarketers are not allowed to call; should they do so they can be charged a ridiculous amount of fines. Remember to put both your home and cell phone numbers on the list. It definitely helps with the calls.

2. Hold On, Please- When you answer your phone and you realize that you are probably speaking with a telemarketer, say “Hold On, Please” and walk away from the phone without hanging up. Once you hear the beep-beep-beep tone, it is safe to hang up  your phone. This will make all telemarketing calls very time consuming and essentially ineffective and costly for the company.

3. Button Bopping- Have you ever gotten a phone call from a random number with no one on the other end? It is actually a computer auto-dialing out and is a tactic used by telemarketing companies. The computer notates what time of the day you answer your telephone on a regular basis and estimates the best time for a live sales representative to call you. To stop these calls (or you could even do this when a person calls you) pound on a number key until the computer/caller hangs up. This will confuse the computer and have it pull your number out of its system and/or hurt the ear of the annoying caller.

4. Junk Mail Attack- The stupid advertisements you get in the mail AKA “Junk Mail” are just as annoying as telemarketers. Whether they are offering a new style of designer checks or Direct TV, they can be ridiculous. When you get advertisements in your utility bill for example, go ahead and mail the ads back with your payment. If you recieve an advertisement that includes a pre-paid envelope go ahead and use this opportunity to cost the company an extra .47 in postage and mail back some of your other junk mail! Let them throw away your trash!

Post from: Ms Caesi

Its a very common thing. I have it, you probably have it and I’m sure someone close to you has it.
FYI: Driving is NOT Complicated!!

1. Use Your Blinker! Your hand is already right there.

- When people slam on their brakes and turn, it drives me insane. Make sure that if you aren’t turning that your blinker is off too. The extra two seconds could seriously save your life.

Example: Nicholas and I were at a stoplight attempting to turn left (we had our blinker on!). A dumb ******* was awaiting across the street with her blinker on to turn left. As we went to make the turn, she kept going straight! Luckily we were paying attention and avoid the wreck. The crazy woman had the audacity to flip us off!! Which leads me onto my second point…

2. Don’t get angry when you are in the wrong.

- I’m already ticked because you just did something stupid and now you want to get in my face?! I’m not having that. If I am in the wrong, I will politely apologize and give the courtesy wave.

Example: There is a a road in Myrtle Beach that has two lanes. The left side is specifically designated as a left turn only and the right lane is designated for those going straight and those turning right. One morning as I patiently waited to turn left in the left lane (it can be very busy in the morning) the light turned green and this guy next to me had the nerve to try to make an illegal left turn. I completed my turn into the proper lane on Hwy 17 and he was not very happy because he came close to my bumper and proceeded to tailgate me and flip me off. I don’t play those games and I definetly exchanged a few words with the “retired police officer”. When I told him that he just made an illegal turn and was in the wrong his excuse was “I didn’t know” to which I responded “Oh so the big white arrows on the road are just decoration and all of the cars in the left lane were just there for fun”. He wasn’t too happy and threatened to call the cops…I told him to bring it so I could tell them that they needed to revoke his license..he sped away

3. If you want to turn out in front of me, that’s fine but get up to my speed.

- If I ‘m going 50 mph down the road and you pull out doing 30 mph, you are a freakin idiot. Merging into traffic requires that you get up to speed. Waiting the additional five seconds to get behind me could save your life. Older people have a habit of doing this and it drives me crazy. Another addition onto this, don’t you dare cut in front of me only to turn two blocks up, I will follow you.

4. Stop Being Lazy, find a damn parking spot.

- If you block a parking row because you are going to wait for someone to back out, I will get out of my car and make your lazy ass walk. There is no reason for you to block an aisle for 15 minutes waiting for someone to put away their groceries and back out when there is a parking space available five spots away. You want to park really close? I’ll go ahead and break your legs for you so that you can park in the handicap section. If I catch you waiting for my parking space, I will not back out until you go away..I won’t let you have it. America is getting fat enough, get off your lazy ass and walk the extra 10 spaces, you won’t die.

My list is usually twice as long, but I can’t think of any other major issues. Please feel free to leave your pet driving peeves below.
RANT AWAY!

Post from: Ms Caesi

Lemon Chicken Pasta

What you will need:

1 lb penne noodles
2 sliced chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes
3 tbsp evoo
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup Parmesan
Salt/Pepper

What you need to do:

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot.
2. Grill Chicken over medium heat, seasoning with salt and pepper.
3. Saute garlic, red pepper, and evoo in pan until it the smell fills your kitchen.
4. Turn off heat and mix in cooked pasta.
5. Mix pasta/evoo mix with chicken in large bowl. Add lemon juice, mix.
Sprinkle with parmesan and serve!

Post from: Ms Caesi

Ms.Caesi’s Barbocoa Shredded Roast

What you will need:

1- 2 lb. Beef Roast
2- Packets of Taco Seasoning: I used Old El Paso Hot and Spicy, but you can just as easily substitute your favorite flavor for a different taste or for a less spicy version.
1- Tablespoon Canola Oil
1- Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
3- Cups of water
Crock Pot

Here’s what you do:

1. Mix 3 cups of water with the two packets of seasoning in the crock pot and mix.
2. Add the oil and vinegar, mix again.
3. Place the two pound roast in the mix and spoon some of the underlying water mixture on top of the meat.
4. Place crock pot setting on low and let cook for about 8 hours.
5. Once roast is cooked through, shred the meat and place it back into the seasoning mix in the crock pot for a remaining 30 minutes.
6. Add your favorite taco additions in a chipotle style, or simply eat the roast on its own. Its delicious!

Post from: Ms Caesi

We used to have free cable.
The Cable Provider/ISP never came out and disconnected the service from the previous owners when they moved and I wasn’t complaining. Internet on the other hand (we were using random wireless networks) eventually got to a point where we couldn’t stand not having our own connection.
I broke down and called Suddenlink.

Suddenlink is the only Cable/ISP Network in this area outside of Direct TV, Verizon Edge and so on; in other words its the only “local” cable company around here. I contacted a sales rep who was very sweet and she created a package with 8mbps Internet, DVR and Expanded Basic Cable w/ Digital Variety Tier for a little over $100/mth. We could even stop by the office and pick up the equipment and it would work out of the box.

We had a great selection of channels including some great movie channels and Nicholas and I kept saying “Wow, this is a great deal”. Then things started to take a turn for the worse.

Suddenlink Internet is the most unreliable Internet I have ever had. We ran speed tests for a few days after we set up our router and the speed ranged from 60kbps (less than dial-up!) to about 5mpbs. Being billed for 8mbps and only getting 5mbps started really getting on my nerves. I sent Suddenlink a message on their website and complained about the issue. They responded back saying that there were bandwidth issues in the area and they were going to try and fix the issue. Fair enough.

The next morning I awoke to find that several channels were missing from our digital selection and low and behold we had no internet connection at all. Nicholas and I both made numerous tweets on twitter about how horrible the service was and SuddenlinkHelp responded with an @reply. Note: This is a fabulous feature that Suddenlink is taking advantage of. It is definitely a great way to monitor and help customers.
SuddenlinkHelp on Twitter is run by the corporate office in St. Louis and offered me an email address to a certain Pete Abel (whom I found out is equivalent to the VP of public communications) and I sent him a nasty email about our service.

He responded fairly quickly and let me know that he would contact the General Manager of this area of Texas. Gilbert from the Bryan office called me yesterday. I ripped him a new one. I told him how my ‘husband’ was a web developer and needed a constant internet connection and how their service is ridiculous, if they knew there were issues and I wouldn’t get 8mbps–how could they sell this to me and on and on I went.

When it was all said and done I was told that the reason the channels dissapeared is because the DVR’s go out preloaded with everything and then the channels you aren’t paying for are stripped away. This may be easier for the techs, but I’m sure I’m not the only person who has called and yelled about channels missing. With the boxes coming preloaded there is no telling what channels you have and don’t have when the box is first set up. Gilbert informed me however, that I can get the three digital tiers for $15, so I added them and our movies are back. The Internet, well they know that it is slow and Gilbert apparently had them put a “rush” on fixing our neighborhood’s bandwidth issue. I’m holding my breath on that one.

All in all, I am giving Suddenlink the benefit of the doubt and I will continue to monitor the speed of our internet via speed tests and ping data, but I would definitely recommend that if there is another ISP in your area, choose them first before going with Suddenlink.

In the words of the famous Suddenlink commercials:

HARD IS: Keeping an Internet Connection.

EASY IS: Canceling My Service.

Post from: Ms Caesi

He’s Just Not That Into You: We ran into Mark and Deanna and enjoyed this one with them. It is a chick flick even the men will love. The story is cute and has a lot of cliches but in the end is very entertaining. I think that this will be on my top 10 list for a while.  There are some big name folks in it: Justin Long (<3), Drew Barrymore, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, and Scarlet Johanssen (Just to name a few). It was a great addition to our Valentine’s Day.

Friday the 13th: Yes, we went and saw this remake too. It was mildly entertaining and worth watching, but if I never see another remake of any Michael Myers or Jason slasher films, it will be TOO SOON.

All in all, it has been a great day. I got my beautiful flowers (Tiger Lilies w/ a dozen white roses) and got to spend time with the one that I love.

How was your V-Day?

OH..and HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY MEGABYTE!

Post from: Ms Caesi

Nicholas and I just moved to Texas in October 2008. We’ve been here for a few months and yet no matter what I do,
I just can’t make this place feel like home. I’m starting to invest time in checking out
local wineries, state parks, and attractions but still something is seriously missing from this area.

-The Townhouse: Oh, our old home how we miss you so. It was perfect for us and so much higher on the scale than what we are currently living in. This area is not nearly as nice as I had expected. In fact, its just absolutely disgusting in comparison to Myrtle Beach. We are only saving about $100 a month in rent and the house we are in is 20 years old and in a pretty bad neighborhood..and to be honest, its one of the nicer ones around. Maybe are scales are screwy, but the places around here that go for $800-$1200/mth should really only cost like $300-700, yeah its that ridiculous

-My Job: Granted, I probably wouldn’t have it if I was still in MB because of the economy, but I took a huge pay cut when we moved out here. It took me a month and a half to find a job (which is apparently a typical thing around here) and its only part time. I do enjoy it, but I don’t enjoy having to cut back on such a large scale. We still have plenty of money to get the things we need and have plenty of fun, but I thought by moving out here (lower cost of living, or so we thought) we would have lots of extra money to save.

-The Area: When we lived in MB, it seemed like there was never anything to do. Now that we are here, MB seems like the greatest town there is. I miss mini golf, I miss the beach, I miss riding the blvd, I miss Broadway! All there are around her are bars (Texas A&M town) and bars and did I mention bars? MB is clean and progressing and just so much nicer..that is really the only way to describe it.

-Family: I miss my parents terribly. This is the longest I have ever gone without seeing my Mom and I hate it. I talk to them all of the time, but it is just not the same. When Nicholas and I first got here, we were growing closer to his parents, which was nice but we are currently not speaking because of a ridiculous situation. Just another reason to head back East.

-Friends: I miss running into random people I haven’t seen in forever in Payless or Quiznos. I miss late night Denny’s stops when the whole graduating class of 2005 randomly shows up. I miss people. Don’t get me wrong,  people around her are very nice, but I haven’t quite found anyone that I really click with.  But as I mentioned earlier, I’m trying to get out more.

-Food: I miss REAL sweet tea, I miss Bojangles, I miss Zaxby’s and I miss the barbecue you pick up at Cooper’s in Andrews. The little things mean so much!

In my perfect world (which could happen), Nicholas and I will move back to SC sometime next year where he will get another job that he loves, I will find another job working in timeshare while I get my nursing degree @ Coastal or HGTC, My Mom would let us buy her house in CF (It would be sooo perfect for us) and we would be back  HOME.

Post from: Ms Caesi