How do you turn this...

INTO THIS...

So if you have been to our home ever, you most likely saw all of our clean dishes laying out to dry on the right side of our sink or if the dishes weren't there then you at least saw the towels laying there. This is something that has driven me NUTS since we moved into this place. THERE IS NO DISHWASHER! I know there are only the two of us but I really, really miss having a dishwasher. I also NEED the extra counter space. Having this side of the sink literally doubles the amount of counter space I have. Anyways, when we moved into the place, Josh agree to do the dishes (except during test weeks) and I was in charge of putting them away. Let's just say that I wasn't the best at putting them away. But I have decided that it's time to change. For the last week, I have HAND DRIED the dishes with a towel (I know, who has to do this anymore besides us?) and put them away right after they have been washed. The towels don't even stay on the counter any more. I know it's sooo simple yet it's sooo hard sometimes. It's so tempting to let them "air dry" and stay out for quite a while or until we use them again. But it's been so nice to come home and have our kitchen look clean finally or at least decluttered! And it's been nice to have the extra space! It's amazing how simple things make such a BIG difference! Now, shall we take bets on how long this will last? Maybe not such a bad idea :) But I'm really enjoying it so hopefully it will last a very long time....

Time Out For Women Weekend

This past weekend, I was able to go to Pittsburgh with a few friends for Time Out For Women! I had SUCH a great time. Pittsburgh is only about 2.5 hours away and is such a neat city. We were busy the whole time we were there but I definitely want to go back and explore! We left Friday afternoon and YES, I did get to leave work early! (That might have been the best part of the trip...j/k.) Once we got there, we checked into our hotel then off to a wonderful dinner at Olive Garden! Yummmm....It was ssoooo tasty! Anyways, then we went to the conference. It was really good. John Bytheway is an amazing speaker. And the others were awesome too. After a little sleep Friday night, we got up early and went to the conference pretty much all day on Saturday. For lunch, we went to this cool little pub/cafe in downtown Pittsburgh (which I just realized has an "h" on the end). It was so much fun and I had a blast with the other girls. I did better on this trip of taking pictures, but still didn't do great.

Here is a picture that I stole from my friend, Rachel's, blog:

After the conference on Saturday we headed off to IKEA!!!! I LOVE that store. It was so much fun to go again. I have now been to three different ones and I have a blast every time. I joked to Josh that I now want to visit every IKEA in the US now....but maybe I wasn't teasing so much. It would be fun :) Anyways, another great collage of pictures from Rachel:

OK, so the rest of these pics are mine :) Like I said before, Pittsburgh is such a cool city. It's right on a river that goes through the city; so there are TONS of bridges everywhere! And they are all painted yellow! They look so cool. Everything about the city was so interesting and unique. I loved it all. Here are a few of my pics:

PNC Park, where the Pirates play...just ignore the big tree in the pic:)

This is the Bridge Transformer that some artist guy created for Pittsburgh's 250th Birthday back in 2008. It was soo cool and totally looks like all the bridges in the city. So cool:

Pic of one of the bridges:

And here's a pic of the downtown area:

It really was a fun trip and I can't wait to get back and explore the city some more. A great short trip filled with great conversations, food, entertainers and friends! Thanks Rachel, Roni and Crystal for such a great time!

Happy Birthday to ME!

April is probably my most FAVORITE month! I actually like it for more reasons than just my birthday, like the thunderstorms (best in Oklahoma though), the warmer weather and the beautiful scenery that appears after a LOOONG winter in Cleveland.


But the best part of April is definitely my birthday. This year as my birthday was approaching, all I could think about was how birthdays just aren't the same any more. I was a little saddened by these thoughts. I told my mom and she totally agreed with me. But this year turned out to be one THE best birthdays. I got the BEST birthday card from my mom. She actually drew it herself and it made me laugh soo hard. (Love you Mom!) Josh also made it really special for me. I got my first present (an awesome OSU sweatshirt) five days before my birthday! On Thursday, some friends all met up a Steak-N-Shake for dessert to celebrate with me. On Friday, the girls at worked surprised me with cake and ice cream. Then on my birthday, we went to a place called "Steak on a Stone" for lunch. (Now the camera had no batteries all that weekend, so no pics)

It was an AWESOME restaurant. They bring your meat out raw and they bring out a stone that is heated to 750 degrees! Then you slice your own steak or duck or lamb or whatever meat you chose and cook it yourself on the stone! It was soooo good and so much fun! We had a great time!

After lunch, we had to hurry off to a soccer game that Josh is helping to coach with a friend of his. It's an 8-year old girl team. I felt soo bad for the girls cause this was their first game and it was sooo cold and rainy the whole time! But they did win!

We then went to go see "Date Night," which neither of us thought was all that great. Then we went home and put this together...

Ooooooh yeah!!! That's right, I got a grill for my birthday! And yes, it's for me and not Josh! I've been wanting one ever since we moved last August! We got a great deal on this one and I put all of my birthday money towards it! I think I'm in love :) We have been able to grill on it twice now and can't wait to be able to do it more often!

To finish the night, Josh gave me a poem that he had written titled "No Girl Like You." It is a super sweet poem! I loved it! And I loved my birthday! It was such a great day and I owe it all to the most wonderful hubby ever! And also all my family that called and friends that helped me celebrate! Love you all!

Metro Challenge

Why hello, Everyone! I know it's been quite some time. I have a lot of catching up to do. Back on the 2nd of April, Josh and some friends went down to Metro Burger to compete in the Metro Burger Challenge of eating THREE pounds of meat, fries and a drink all in 20 minutes! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go...Someone has to work in this household :) Thanks to my friend, Mattie, for all the great pictures she took and shared with me. It's almost like being there! So, do you think Josh finished? Guess now.....

Just looking at this makes me sick! I can't even imagine eating all of this in 20 minutes, you?

The Before picture (All smiles now):

Josh looking not quite sure about it:

Yep! That's right; he did finish within the 20 minute time limit. Only him and one other friend made it (Shane, the one to the right of Josh). They all got shirts for participating. For finishing, Josh got a $10 gift card and the opportunity to come back and do it again! Yep, in a few months everyone that finished has the chance to come back and compete to win more cash! I'm not so sure that he will do it though. He wasn't feeling all that great the rest of the day and didn't eat for a LOOONG time afterwards!