Labor Day Weekend

And I went M.I.A. Again! Sorry about that. Really need to organize myself :/ Not much has happened since my last post. Honestly most of my time has been spent me at work during the weekday and coming back to sleep in the evening. Then Jorge is here on the weekends and we pretty much spend it taming the yard. It is so much work for 2 people! But we are grateful for what we have and enjoy fixing up the house together.

This weekend we decided to take a break for house work and decided yo enjoy ourselves flr the long weekend. On Saturday we went to the Cincinnati Zoo. Which Btw, remember I said that we were going to celebrate my bday somewhere that I love? Well it was the zoo. 2 months later we finally went hahahaha. It was fun and we had a good time. Sunday we went to the renaissance festival. That was also super fun. Love being in that type of environment. Allows you to geek out! ;) Then, today was spent doing a bit of more yard work and takin the pups to the park.

Lol this is Zally knocked out from how much running she did. 

My two little nuggets. Einstein was also asleep in the arm rest. They had fun running around.

I took many pictures of the zoo and fair. Will post those tomorrow... hopefully. Or when I have time -_-. For now I am trying to organize my temporary craft room.

I have yet to unpack my stuff. I am goin to be getting a shed that is going to be converted into my craft room cottage. But have to save up for it first. Didnt want to unpack until I got it but that is going to take a while. So for now I took over one of the bedrooms in the house. 

Wish me luck unpacking!

XOXO,

Lina

Dungeons and Dragons!

About a week ago my friend Susie asked me a very exciting question. "Do you want to play DnD?". What was my responds to this question? HECK YES!

 I had always heard about the game and always see the books and kits at Barnes and Nobles but had never had the chance to play. This was mostly do to the fact that no one I knew ever wanted to play :(. Well it turns out my friends husband is a huge geek just like the fiancee and I and he decided he wanted to host a game. We gathered up a nice group of six and got together to play. The plan was to play from 6:30-9:30. Yeah about that...we ended up playing until midnight!!!! We only stopped because I was getting a headache because I was exhausted from crossfit but the game was sooo amazing!!!

I think the experience was incredible due to how much work my friend's husband put into the game. See typically you lay out a piece of paper, which is your map, and you simply imagine everything and act out. Well, he actually made mini scaled versions of the objects and made a 3D map! I will show you in a bit.

We each picked characters, I was a high elf nicknamed Nim because my name was super long lol. Our adventure began in a tavern where we were joined by dwarves and by a noble man who was out for the night with his son and daughter. The night quickly took a sharp turn when the nobeman and his daughter were slain in front of us. We decided to set out and avenge this young boy's family and find the creatures responsible for this. 

Here we all are in the tavern before setting off:

How cool is this, right?!?! We later set off to find the cave where the dark elf creatures lived...

Upon entering the cave we found two creatures playing cards as the guarded the entrance. One of my companions entered the room dressed as one of them to distract them and make them look in one direction. My character Nim and my other companion entered from behind and began fighting our opponents. You can see two companions stayed outside of the cave keeping watch. 

Once we took them down we raided the rooms and set up a blockade at the cave entrance to warn us of intruders from the outside as we made our way deeper in the cave.

We were lucky one of our elves had summoned a spider that acted as a spy for us. The creatures worshiped spiders so respected it very much and let it wander the halls. It found another set of stairs that lead to a lower level...off we went...

We came into a room that was divided by an endless pit. Our team had to work together and throw a rope across to make it through. I was the last to jump and almost fell. I was able to stay holding on though and made it aafely to the other side.

The hallway had three options for us to pick where to continue exploring. Our spider let us know that there were evil elves sleeping in the corridor to the right of us. In we went and found 5 creatures sound alseep in their beds. 

This is where the fun began...see across the hall from us where more creatures that were wide awake chatting away. We needed to get rid of these elves without making any noise. We each took our positions and tried to kill our opponents. This did not go as smoothly as planned. 2 were killed immediately but 3 were left, 2 of which were injured 1 unharmed. That was my fault for missing! They eventuallu let out a scream and alerted their companions across the hall. Meanwhile, the cast a spell that left half the room in total darkness. We were surrounded at the front door an still had 3 opponents inside with us. We managed to kill 2 out of the 3 inside the room with our weapons. Our dragonborn sent a ball of flame out the front door and was able to scorch 2 out of the 4 that were waiting at the door. I then followed up with a thunderwave which killed off 4 out of the give opponents. The last one ran and we chased him down the corridor. My companions were able to take him down!

That was close! But with my thunderwave I sent a rumble through the entire cave that could be heard 300 ft away! Oops! We continued further in...we hit a trap and set off a sculpture that was spewing acid but the team managed to clog it up and we used the dead corpses to make our way over the acid. We eventually made it to a very heavy duty door. We knew nothing good could be waiting behind it. There was a lonely creature sitting at a table that guarded a door behind it. But somethig was off about him. See when our spider went in he swiped it away killing it. This was idd because they worshipped spiders! 

We tried drawing him out by having our companion desguided as one of them draw him out. He would not budge. As she ran away and another companion cast a spell to make the floor rumble, the creature stood and turned towards the door. One of my companions used one if his poisonous arrows and aimed it at his back. He got it!!!! BUT down came its exterior and revealed the creatures true form. That is what you see below.

We have no idea what he is and what is behind him! But we are all gearing up for the next encounter to find out!!!

As you can see, we had a blast! It was so funny fighting together and make strategic attacks! I recommend this game to anyone! I will share with you all how this adventure ends! 

Will we avenge Martin, the little boy? Can't wait to find out! 

XOXO,

Lina

Sleep Sounds Better!

Today the fiance and I were supposed to celebrate my birthday in the place I did not disclose in my last post. Key word...supposed to! I was so exhausted from Saturday that I woke up at around 9am to eat, came back to bed to finish watching The Hobbit, and went back to sleep until 4pm! I definitely needed the rest because crossfit wore me out and we then played DnD until midnight (Seperate post for that later on).

Today I just watched him and learned how to change my car's oil and we then did a bit of yard work. Nothing exciting but at least we did something productive, right? Maybe the DnD post will make up for today's lack of adventure. ;)

XOXO,

Lina

Funke Fired Arts

On Thursday I got to go to one of my favorite locations in Cincinnati, Funke Fired Arts. This is my fourth time going, second thanks to my company. The women's network decided to do a speed mentoring/ social event there and I simply could not pass up that opportunity.

So what is exactly is this place? It is a pottery place! They have many things but I mainly go to paint the premade ceramics they have. As you can see from these pictures they have quite the selection. 

They constantly change the ceramics so you will always find something new. Once you pick out the pottery you want the next step is to paint it. This is always the most challenging yet fun part for me. See the paint does not go on in its final shade. Everything goes on and dries extremely lights and it is only after it is baked that the true colors show. The challenge is being able to picture the end result while you paint but I enjoy it!

While you paint they can show you how to do some very neat tricks and techniques with the paint. It ranges from marble effects, using lace and feathers for texture and patterns, to blowing bubbles with the paint!

Once you have finished painting you leave your ceramic behind so that is can be baked and later glazed. 

It takes about 1 week to get the final piece back but it is totally worth the wait. It is great when you get the end piece and see what all your colors transformed into. These two are ones I had done previously.

This fighter jet:

And cookie jar:

The fighter jet and cookie jar were both completed on my birthday last year which I celebrated here with a group of friends. It is a great place for events. This time around I knew 8 wanted to make something to match our home decor. Our house is all going to be LoTR and Hobbit inspired so I decided to follow that theme. I decided to start off by drawing out Baggend. This is what I have so far:

I am very happy with it but no where near being done with it. I need to add flowers and more details. Plus, I want to add a phrase or perhaps our family name; I haven't decided yet. I left my piece there and hope to be back soon to complete it.

Aside from the pottery painting, this place also offers sculpting/ pottery classes as well. I hope to some day be able to take classes when I am done with my classes from work. If you are interested in what they have to offer here is their link:

http://funkefiredarts.com/

I highly recommend paying them a visit. The ceramics are fairly priced, in case you are wondering. The price you pay includes your ceramic as well as the paint and all the tools needed to make your work of art.

I can't wait to go back! Let's see if I can convince the fiance to join me next time I go! ;)

UPDATE: I never went back for my piece due to lack of time :( so we will never see the final product. I do home to go visit again though bc I love that place!

XOXO,

Lina

Birthday Dinner

I had such a great time last night with my friends! My wonderful friend Sherry set up a dinner at an Indian Restaurant...because I am obsessed with their food...and 12 of us got together. It was everyone's first time in this restaurant. The food was great and the company even better! It is always interesting when you fill up a table with a bunch of geeks! :) here are the pictures from the dinner:

Team Average! We started this journey of Ace together! Great friends! Oh and there are 2 cakes because Jeff had gone away on a cruise and we didn't celebrate his bday.

Here with Bryne!!! Another great friend!

The rest of the gang. Can you spot something odd in this picture besides that it is panoramic so it looks weird? ;)

Did you guess it?

Yes, that is me twice in the picture lol. I am on the left and then on the right giving my thumbs up! Hehehehe

Make a wish!!!!

The cakes were delicious by the way. Mine was cheesecake with raspberry filling and Jeff's was a chocolate pie. AMAZING!

Thanks Sherry for putting everything together! And thanks everyone who made my day special! My final celebration will be on Sunday with Jorge. Going to go to my favorite place to always go on my bday...stay tuned to find out where that is! ;)

XOXO, 

Lina

26 Times Around The Sun!

And just like that I am on level 26! :D Wow is time flying by! Getting here has been an incredible journey of many ups and downs but what is important is that I never gave up! Im very proud of my accomplishments up until this point in my life but I think I can do a whole lot better. Time to kick things up a notch!

It is my mission from this day forward to make this adventure we call life worth it! I look forward to writing many new chapters and sharing it with you all. I had a blast with friends today and my birthday dinner! Very thankful for each and every one of them! :)

Good bye 25 and hello 26! Happy Birthday to me!

XOXO,

Lina

Our First Home

We finally got it!!!!! We are officially home owners!

It was a long stressful process but we are glad we made it through! Now let the packing begin!!!! I will post pictures of the inside when it is ready.

Oh and the front looks like a jungle but it is because it has over 1,000 bulbs of flowers planted there. Lilies are starting to sprout so we caught it on a not so pretty day.

XOXO,

Lina

Crossfit & Barnes and Nobles!

My fiancé decided today was the perfect day for me to take up crossfit again! -___-...He woke me up at 6am...on my day off! I was not a happy camper! I attempted to get out of going but I told myself I really needed to go back. I had started crossfit last year and went at it for like 5-6 months. I then had to quit because work and my program were taking up too much time. Plus I am so disorganized with my time that I couldn't juggle it all. So today was the big day, dusted off my shoes and I went back.

My luck would have it that since it is Memorial Day the WOD for today was Murph. It is in honor of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy.

The WOD is 1 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 air squats, and finish off with 1 more mile. O.o yeah it doesn't seem so bad when you read it and for a split second I was telling my self to do the full Murph. Glad I didn't do that. I took the scaled route so only did 800m, 50 pull ups, 100 push ups, 150 air squats, 800m.

I don't know how I did it but I finished it in 48 mins and 26 seconds. I was in so much pain for the push ups! I hate them. Every time I kept hitting the floor my stomach decided it was going to throw up. I had to leave them last which sucked even more. My fiancée was cheering me on but you could see it in my face and hear it in my groans that it was hurting soooo bad.

But I finished! That was what mattered. Here I am looking exhausted!

Oh and the reason I don't have a shirt on in the picture is because it rained on us while we ran. But that was my favorite part.

I came home and took a well deserved hot shower! Felt amazing. We then went to eat at Bob Evans. We stuffed ourselves soooo much that we looked like two balls ready to roll on our bellies. I really love their Broasted Chicken and blue berry bread.

After eating we then did the most dangerous thing ever....we went to Barnes and Nobles! I had to pick up a book that I ordered for my mom. We ended up leaving with 5 books! 2 for me and 2 for Jorge. We always do that even when we say NO MORE BOOKS. We have so many waiting for us to read them but we can't help buying stuff we find interesting.

Like 2 weeks ago when we went I ended up buying these two books:

Dragon Princess and Dragon Thief. I finished Dragon Princess already and I absolutely loved it! The story is kind of cooky but I loved it. The author is from Ohio so that was exciting. I am currently on Dragon Thief which is just as good. I should be finishing that one up soon.

The ones I bought today were these:

Okay, so I have been eyeing Terry Pratchett's books for a while now but there are sooo many I didn't know where to begin. Since I was so intimidated I just never bought them. So today I saw A Blink of The Screen and said, "You know what, just buy it! You have to start somewhere." So I did. I then went back for The Science of Discworld because that was the first book that had caught my attention. I want to know what this whole Discworld thing is about. Everyone says he is great so I hope I enjoy them.

We told ourselves this time though is truly the last time we buy more books. We have to many we need to catch up with. I hope I can get through most this summer since I am on break from the program.

Anyway, the fiancé is packing up right now because he leaves for his first day on the project tomorrow in Boston. He is kind of nervous because he doesn't know what to expect. I know he will do great like always. I'm going to go help him out with his packing so we can get to bed early and hopefully my body decides to function tomorrow hahaha.

Good Night!

XOXO,

Lina

Can we move now?

I attempted to start packing today for the move but it was making me anxious. It is not fun to pack up knowing you can't move yet. I cannot wait until closing!!!!

Anyway, I started up with my craft area which is a mess.

I picked up most of it but again, I can't do anything with it.

I gave up after a bit and just did other things around the house. That I will show tomorrow, what I did. ;)

We mostly hung out at home. Here is proof, my boys sharing a pillow :)

Einstein just walked into the room, hopped on the bed, laid on the pillow! Lol  He is so special. He loves sleeping with his head on a pillow like a human. We definitely want to make him a custom little bed.

Zally had us laughing today also. She loooves food. So when I was eating she got up on the bench and sat like this, watching me...

Kind of a creeper, right?! Lol she is funny when it comes to food.

On a random note, we found these beautiful roses in the yard:

Aren't they beautiful? I had never seen white ones in the wild like that before. Very stunning.

Nothing else was very interesting for today. We just finished watching the Cavaliers play the Hawks. Cavaliers won the 3rd game in a row. So the fiancee is very happy! Here is Jollee's excitement:

Hahaha...just kidding. She was like, "can you go to sleep now?!?". What a pampered pooch! 

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a bit more eventful. Good night everyone!

XOXO,

Lina

Taste of Cincinnati!

Yay!!!!! Finally a three day weekend! You have no idea how long I have been waiting for this! These past few months have been so busy for me, I really needed the break. I finally completed the first course out of three for my program. I survived the toughest part! :D Next biggest thing to cross of the list? Buying the house! We are a little over a week from closing and the day couldn't come any sooner! Can't wait!

We are going to start packing this weekend but for today we decided to be spontaneous and have some fun. I went with the fiancee and a group of friends to Taste of Cincinnati. We got to eat from different restaurants that were selling samples of their food, and everyone else enjoyed beer! *yuck!!!* 

Here we are on our way to the place. It was 5 blocks that were closed off and just had food and drinks everywhere.

See all the people? It was pretty packed. Below is the group I was with.

Ford had like a sector to themselves and While my friends played games I checked out the cars. I will need a new car in the future and I don't know if to get an SUV or a pick up truck.

The explorer was great! I really loved it.

But the F150 was nice also. My only concern is I am too small for it. What do you think?

We shall see.

Here is my favorite picture from the day. With my honey!

We had a pretty good time! But it was soooo hot out! Eventually it gave me a headache so we went home.

It was a good experience. Cant wait to do more spontaneous things like this! ;)

XOXO,

Lina

Oh and here are my babies when I walked them this morning!

They are getting better at going out for walks. No more barking for half the walk. Need to walk them more.

Nerdy Saturday

Just wanted to share a quick recap of the weekend. Went to see the new Avengers movie with my friends! :D It was great! Not a single dull moment.

We ate Indian food after at my favorite Indian restaurant. It was great because we got into the topic of FIRST Robotics. I never got to do that in my high school because we never had enough students interested. Pretty sad because it seemed like an amazing experience. Was cool hearing my friends talk about their experiences.

We later headed home to play games. We started of with Space Cadets. Talk about an intense game. Everyone was exhausted after just one game hehehehe. It is fun though. We then played Catch Phrase and Cards Against Humanity. Catch phrase made me realize how clueless I am to many things and also make my brain go blank for the entire game. Lol We had a great time. Love spending time with my friends.

Oh and prior to getting the day started my friend John came over so I can help sew some pillows for his apartment. He wanted to add a masculine touch to them.

These are the before pictures. That is front and back. He loves the dark grey on the bottom so we wanted to switch out the white part. This is what it turned out like:

Looks wayyy better right? He did a great job picking the fabric and color. We are excited about them.

Lastly, my fiancee sent me some Funkos but will show those in a different post. It was a good weekend overall. No complaints except I wish the weekend were longer! XP

XOXO,

Lina

Life Improvement

My fiancee bought me a book a few weeks ago about drawing meaning to your life. I finally got some time to start reading it and I am glad he got it for me. During my time reading it I realized one important thing, time is ticking! I have so many plans and ideas that I want to bring to life but I am just letting time slip away and am not getting things done.

I decided I need to take control of my time. I am the queen of procrastination! -_- That seriously needs to stop! I have been hearing a lot lately about planners and seeing in youtube how pretty girls make them.

I looked into buying a nice planner but all the nice ones are over $50. No way I am spending that on something my try going ay planning. Instead I decided I will try out a binder planner and see how I like it.

Today after work I went to Walmart and bought some things!

Here is my starter kit haul!

I bought a mini binder for $3.

Hand is there for size. I believe it is 5"x8". Small and cute!

Next I bought the planner pages. Since we are already almost in May the planner starts in July 2015.

I will print out May and June in the mean time. It brings a monthly and weekly calendar. Seems to have enough room to write on it. Will gove an update wgen I actually use it. This was the priciest part, $10.

I then also bought filler paper, dividers, and plastic covers. Each were $3.

The dividers are pretty neat. They are plastic and you can write on them and then erase it. Love reusable things!

And btw, all these are made for the mini binder size!

I then got stuff to decorate and sticky notes.

I intend to use the mini clothes pins as paper/binder clips.

Lastly, sone stickers. There weren't many options at Walmart :/ but I thought these were cute.

I still haven't figured out how I will properly use the planner but I am working on it. This will be my life planner and hopefully it will change my life for the better! :)

XOXO,

Lina