A week in pictures

It's been a little over a week since I last posted and I'm going to share the photos that I took over the week.

We had our photo shoot last Saturday!  Chris got tired and I passed the time by taking photos in between sessions.

I found a lovely lady in Taiwan to send me one of the Asia exclusive Pandora beads.  This beauty is on it's way to me as we speak (type) !!!!

I submitted this photo for last week's photo class, which focused on color contrast and balance.  I was chosen as one of the class standouts for it!!! (see badge to the right)

There was kitty love as always!

We went for a night bike ride later in the week and had to bundle up :)

Yesterday Stacey and I visited the Pandora store while Chris got tattooed.  I got a few goodies and the Pandora store showed me some love with a $20 gift certificate just for commenting on their facebook!

Today we had PBB rehearsal and I took my photo for my class.  This week's lesson was about background and depth.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures!  I've been continuing my running.  I just don't have any pics of that haha.  It's hard to take a picture when you feel like you're about to pass out haha.  It's getting better though.  I ran this morning for a little over a mile comfortably.  On Tuesday I'm going to up my distance to 2 miles.  I'll keep you updated on how that goes.  

Running and winning!

Hey folks!  It's been a busy week since I've been here.  In my last post I talked about some of the things that I wanted to get done in the coming year and boy did I kick it off right!

That next day I mailed out 2 postcards and did my first run/walk of the year!  I had been putting the running off because of the cold weather but I decided to suck it up and just do it.  It was around 32 degrees that morning but I didn't die.  I've been running/walking ever other day so far.  On Wednesday I ran the whole mile without stopping for a walk break!  I was so proud of myself.  Well I went out this morning in 25 degree weather and had to walk twice for a short stretch.  The cold really slowed me down.  I still made good time though.  I'm trying to get to where I can run a mile comfortably and then I'm going to up my distance.  I've been using the Nike+ GPS app on my phone and I really love it!

This past Monday was a great day!!!!  We won the National Championship!!!!  It was great game and we watched it with some awesome friends.  I don't know if I've mentioned this yet but Chris is building me a Alabama Pandora bracelet now.  Every time Bama wins a game I get a charm for my bracelet.  This was the other thing that I was referring to in my last "I Want Wednesday..."  We went to the Pandora store in the Summit on Tuesday and he let me pick out 4 charms!  He said that I needed more than 1 for the National Championship win and I won't be adding anymore beads until the fall.

I've also started taking an online photography class and the best part is it's FREE!  I follow this wonderful lady on Instagram and she's a high school photography teacher.  You can sign up for it through her blog.  <------Click there to join the fun!  We've already had one lesson but you can jump in at any time.  This is the picture I submitted for my first assignment.

I used Chris' fancy Nikon D3000 and I think it came out pretty good.  

Burlesque is back in full swing!  We have a Review show at Green bar on Jan. 28th and we are doing a Valentine's show Feb. 11th at Green bar also.  Check out www.Pinkboxburlesque.com for more info :) We have our individual and cast photo shoot tomorrow.  Should be lots of fun as long as it's not too cold.  

I think I've covered most of my busy week.  Hope everyone has a great weekend and see you soon ; )

I Want Wednesday...

I haven't done an I want Wednesday in a few weeks.  So I thought it was about time.  This one is going to be a little different.  I guess you would call it my New Year's Resolutions, sort of.
 

I want to become a runner this year.  I don't have to be able to run a marathon or anything.  I just want to be able to run a mile or two without feeling like I'm going to pass out.

I want to read more books this year.  I have a lot of free time at work and I'm really going to try to spend more of it glued to a book instead of a computer screen.

I want to send more snail mail this year.  I love postcards and letters!  Getting something in the mail (that you want) is a rare occasion.  I want to change that for my friends.  If you are reading this and want to do the same hit me with your address :)

I want to be a better Burlesque dancer.  I love burlesque and I want to only improve my skills.  I don't want people to feel like they see the same thing from me every show they see.


Well I'm sure I could think of lots of others to add to this list but I think that's enough for now.  I hope all of you had a great New Year's!  What do you want to do differently with this year?

Holiday fun

We've been busy with Christmas and visiting with friends and family.  My family came over to our house on Christmas eve and opened presents.  We ate lots of food too haha.  Everyone enjoyed their presents and Chris and I got some good stuff too!

We got my niece, Angel, a Pandora bracelet and she was totally surprised!  She's always liked mine but never thought she would get one.

I'm excited about helping her build it.  She's got a birthday coming up in April and she's already picking out beads that she wants.

We got my mom diamond earrings and she was amazed!  We had already taken her shopping for clothes and she thought that was all she was getting.  I think she almost cried.

I got the silver and gold star Pandora bead that I wanted to complete my bracelet and I got a beautiful Amethyst and diamond ring.

We went to Robby and Stacey's for Christmas day.  We ate tons of food and hung out with them and the kids.  They got me a coffee cup and a $50 gift card!  I'll be posting what I used it for in a few days.  I didn't want to load this post down with too many pictures.  They got Chris a knife that he's been wanting.  He loves it!

We enjoyed the holidays and have been working all this week.  People have been coming in and giving us their Christmas money!  I hope all of you had a great time too!  

New hair and a purple-nosed kitty

It's been a slow day at work for the most part.  We had some bad thunderstorms around lunch time, which set off the tornado sirens.  This town goes into panic mode when those go off.  It's understandable though, that F5 that rolled through in April was a bitch!  So I guess everyone has hunkered down and is getting ready for Christmas.

So I got my hair cut and dyed yesterday.  I went for the usual cut and dark purple (that looks black) and purple highlights.  I'm hoping the dark purple will lighten some but if it doesn't Loran (my wonderful hair lady) will just go a shade lighter next time.  It's hard to get a good pic of purple hair.  It seems blue in some photos.  I've got some for ya though.  I know how you people love pictures.

Well what do you think?  Sorry for the lack of makeup... maybe tomorrow hehe.  So now for the purple -nosed kitty.  That would be Malakai.  He sleeps on my head at night and likes to rub his face in my hair and neck.  Did I mention he's spoiled rotten?  Well this morning Chris brings to my attention his new dye job.  I guess he got a little too excited with the new hair.

Check out that awesome nose fade hahaha.  Sorry for the eye booger.  I would have got it for him if I had seen it before I took the picture.  He seemed to not be bothered by it so I guess it will wear off.

We are taking Zach to ATL tomorrow to meet up with his mom.  That way he can spend Christmas and all that fun stuff with them.  We'll probably stop by Skinworx on our way back and see Jen and James.  

The family is coming on Saturday and I'm excited about everyone getting their presents!  

Well that's all I got for now ... over and out :)

Tongue Split Update Day 7,8 & 9

Hey guys and gals!  Well things have been going really well since the stitches are out.  I'm not going to divide this into days like normal because there hasn't been a whole lot of change.

The thrush is all gone from what I can tell.  There might be a light patch here or there but it's under control now.  I've been really enjoying eating solid food again.  I didn't realize that I had missed it so much haha.  I've been moving my tongue around and trying to regain the strength in the muscles.  I read some where that when you split them that it makes both sides weaker because they were dependent on each other.

The only problem I've noticed is today I saw a bubble like thing on the inside of the left side.  I'm sure that it will clear up on it's own but I don't like it.  The bubble is a little sore also.  My guess is there was a spot that got raw and the bubble formed to heal it.  My speech has improved lots now that the stitches are out but I'm not completely back to my regular voice.  I'm just trying to really pronounce things that I'm having trouble with.

I'm so ready for an alcoholic beverage!  I will probably be making myself a drink tonight or having a glass of wine.  I'm going to stay away from the beer for a little while longer because of the yeast in it.  The last drink I had was the day before I got it done and I usually drink 3 or 4 days out of the week  I know, wino! haha

Here's a picture update from today (If you look close you can see my little bubble):

One last thing...I see that I've been getting lots of blog views but hardly any blog comments :(  This makes for a sad Brenda.  Rachel you know I love you because you always show me comment love :)  So leave me some comments.  Don't be afraid of the forked tongue, embrace it hehe.

Tongue Split Update - Day 4,5, & 6

Howdy!  We've been a little busy but I'm here to tell you more about my awesome tongue hehe.

Day 4 - I stayed home and cleaned most of the day.  I was feeling better physically and there was lots around our house that needed to be done.  I started developing some thrush (it happens when the ph balance in your mouth is thrown off and creates a white film on your tongue) in my mouth on day 3 and more on this day.  I messaged B. about it and he said no sugary drinks or food and eat yogurt.  I haven't been having any sugary drinks but I had eaten some sweet food.  I didn't really see any difference between day 3 and day 4 swelling and speech wise.  So a little frustrating in that aspect.

Day 5 - I went back to work on this day but didn't really work any.  I can't answer the phone sounding as funny as I do.  Stacey has been helping us out by answering the phone and filling in for me while I've been out.  You rock Stacey!  I'm waiting until Tuesday before I start back piercing anyone.  Russell and Lane came to get tattooed so we hung out with them.  It was great seeing them!  On Day 4 and this day I took 400 mg of Aleve to help with the swelling and I could see a difference on this day.  I felt like my tongue was looking shorter.  So that meant some of the swelling was coming out of it.  I felt like I also had some speech improvement due to this.  We had dinner with Lane and Russell and then left for North Carolina.  We were going to pick up Chris' son, Zach.  We drove until about 2 am or so and got a room.

Day 6 - That's today :)  We got up early and finished out trip to NC.  We picked up Zach and headed back to Bama around 2 pm.  I've had even more of a decrease in swelling today and much better speech.  I'm still fighting with the thrush.  It seemed more noticeable today.  I picked up some probiotic cultured milk when we got back in town.  It's kind of like a yogurt smoothie.  I did some research online and it was a suggestion to get rid of the thrush.  When we got to the house I put a good bit of Anbesol on my stitches and I had Chris take the rest of them out!  Boy do I feel soooo much better!!!  My tongue felt like a convict being released from prison haha.  He took out 8 tonight so that was a total of 12 stitches in my tongue.  I can almost speak normally.  I believe that I will be able to eat some solid foods tomorrow also.  Having the stitches out makes me so happy.  I'm hoping this will help with the pain I've feeling in the tips.  Several nights I have been woke up by a stinging pain in the tips of my tongue.  I think it was from the pressure caused by the stitches.

Well here is a pic that I took a few minutes after the stitches came out.  You can see the thrush in this pic some.  Also you can see that there is still some swelling.

Once I get this thrush kicked and the rest of the swelling gone I'll be golden!  Thanks for following along so far :)