Tag Archives: abattylife

You Know What’s the Best?

Posted in Liz's Life by

A weekend in Vegas with some of your best girlfriends!

Girls in Vegas

Last weekend some of my college friends and I went to Sin City. While I’m sworn to secrecy not to share details about our trip, I can say we danced, laughed, tanned and spent way too much time getting ready while we reminisced about our college days at Ohio University.

This was my first time in Vegas not for work, and it definitely lived up to the hype. Beautiful people. Bright lights. Constant dinging of slot machines. Very little sleep. Hot sun. Invitations to have fun pulling every which way.

It was an absolute blast, that’s for sure. Of course the best part about going to Vegas? Coming home and falling into Luke’s arms utterly exhausted. :)

To sum it up, I loved and hated Vegas. I can’t wait to go back.

Bleh, Bleh, Bleh

Posted in Liz's Life by

I usually try to make sure  my blog posts are written in an uplifting, positive way,  but I’ve been having a weird couple of days this week. For really no reason at all, I’ve been feeling pretty bleh. Like I am just in a minor bad mood with no cause.

The annoying part is that I WANT to be a really good mood. The sun is shining, I’ve been working out a lot this week and we’re even going on vacation to Breckenridge this weekend. *SIGH*

It’s always frustrating when your emotions don’t obey your mind. Like “Uh, hey there feelings, why don’t ya liven up a bit there….you don’t have much to be down about!”

Days like this make me have a lot of respect for people who work in places like amusement parks or pre-schools who are always energetic, positive and social. How do they do it?!

I guess the best thing I can do it just ride it out and try to be introspective to figure out why I am feeling this way. And hopefully a few days out in the Colorado sunshine will perk my spirits up. :)

Do you ever have days where you just feel bleh for no reason?

My First “Test” Since College

Posted in Liz's Life by

Update: I passed! You’ve got a level 7 (beginner expert) skier on your hands, folks!

I’ve always enjoyed being a student. As dorky as it sounds, I enjoy the process of learning.

I should probably also admit that I was that annoying girl in college who always raised her hand to answer questions and participate in discussions. I know…many of you probably have rolled your eyes at people like me. :)

Since moving to Lake Tahoe, I’ve taken on a new subject – skiing! My classroom is no longer filled with stationary desks and a projector, but now it’s a 4,800 acre mountain.

When I started at Heavenly, I labeled myself an “upper intermediate” skier. I quickly realized – after skiing with my colleagues, who are all what they call “rippin skiers” – that my level was more like “beginner intermediate.” :(

Being a naturally uber-competitive person, I felt compelled to do whatever I could to learn how to ski better and improve my ability. I convinced my colleague who is also a part-time instructor to ski with me on the weekends so I could pick her brain. Some other work friends tagged along.

She had us do all sorts of crazy drills like skiing on one ski, skiing without poles, skiing with our arms out in front of us like we were ready for a bear hug. I’m sure we made some people laugh as we went by, but I think it really helped!

Today all my practicing will be put to the test when I participate in a “ski ability test” at 1pm. In order to continue to ski on the job – which I need to be able to do to get photos for the website and social media – I have to pass a level 7, which is a “beginner expert” level.

The word “expert” sort of makes me break out into a sweat. Wish me luck guys! I’ll let you know if I pass or not.

 

5 Things You Learn About Your Spouse During an Engagement

Posted in Married Life, Wedding Planning by

The engagement period, before you officially become husband and wife, is filled with fun things like trying on pretty dresses, tasting delicious food, celebrating with friends/family and planning what you hope is a perfect day.

It is also a time when you will learn more about your future-spouse than you likely ever have before. Sure being engaged is fun, but it’s also a time when you’ll face more decisions, stressors and financial worry than you probably have as a couple before.

I like to think of this time as a practice run for what your marriage could look like. Here are five things I think you can learn about your spouse throughout your engagement.

The list is written as what you can learn about your groom, but these easily could be switched to embody a bride as well.

1. You learn how you handles stress and anxiety as a couple. Even if you’re a seasoned event planner, creating your dream wedding undoubtedly brings a lot of stress, which can put your “fighting style” as a couple under a microscope. How you work through wedding stress together is pretty telling as to how you’ll handle issues in your marriage.

2. You learn how he manages his finances, and if his money-style matches with yours. Sure your parents may be footing most the bill, but almost any couple will face big financial decisions when planning their wedding. If you think dropping $200 per table on flowers is perfectly fine and your groom would rather spend $200 total, then you should probably sit down and discuss your financial expectation and goals for your life together.

3. You learn how he deals with your emotions. There was a time during my engagement when I felt overwhelmed and a little scared of the magnitude of the commitment marriage means. I didn’t have many friends going through the same thing, so I turned to Luke. He could have been defensive or misconstrued the feelings I was having as a dig at him, but instead he listened, empathized and let me know what I was feeling was totally normal.

How your guy handles the emotions you surely will be feeling leading up to your wedding is a great indicator as to how he’ll support you during you as your husband.

4. You learn how “involved” his family will be in your life. You’ve all heard the horror stories of the mother-in-law who completely takes over the wedding planning- steamrolling the bride. Hopefully none of you ever have to go through that (so glad I didn’t!) but if you do, I’d take this a definite sign as to how involved your husband’s family is going to be in your life and the influence they’ll have over the decisions you’ll make as a couple.

5. You learn if he has traditional or modern view on  male/female roles. I anticipate I could get some flack for this one, but I think that if your groom is resistant to helping you plan your wedding, it could be a sign that he has traditional views of what his role as a man is in your day-to-day life. This is the guy who could also think that laundry, cooking, cleaning and child-rearing are a “woman’s job” (which isn’t always a bad thing if you have the same views).

Of course there are exceptions, like if you and your mom don’t want his involvement, or if he’s crazy-busy with his career at that time, but if you try to involve him during the engagement and he shows no interest, you may want to have an open discussion with him about his expectations for your roles in your marriage.

Those are the big areas I felt like I learned more about Luke during our engagement. Luckily they were all positives that helped prepare us to be happy in our marriage.

What else do you think you learn about your significant other during the engagement period?