Inheritance

I wasn't kidding when I said that I've gotten so much from my Dad.  I couldn't be more proud.  However, with the good comes the not-so-good.  What am I referring to?  Sleep Apnea.

Yes, folks, you read it correctly.  I am being tested for Sleep Apnea.  I have sleep studies, nap studies and CPAP (the breathing machine) studies scheduled over the next few weeks to determine the extent and treatment for my sleeping issues.  

My dad was recently tested.  My reaction when he told me about the studies?  You don't have Sleep Apnea, it's for the elderly and obese.  Which my dad is neither.  I guess I'm eating my words now that he was diagnosed with it and wears a breathing machine to bed each night.  The positive side: he sleeps 7 hours each night and wakes up feeling refreshed, never needs naps and is a generally happier person.

I guess I noticed some irregular sleeping patterns last summer when I was unemployed (the bank I was working for went under).  I have always been a night owl -  would rather sleep from 12am to 8am than 10pm to 6am - but I realized that I could go to sleep at 12am and not wake up until 4pm that evening.  I may or may not have jumped out of bed upon hearing the garage door opening with Hubs coming home for the day a few times during that period in my life.  

The problem is that the above scenario has been repeated  a few several times on the given Tuesdays that I have off.  (Due to my schedule, I sometimes have the whole day off.)  On days that I am at work I take frequent 'cat naps' (20 minutes in the downstairs lobby) - sometimes up to 2x a day: mid-morning and post-lunch.  I've even fallen asleep (full-on head bobbing, startle myself awake) in the middle of a work meeting.  I basically walk through life in a haze.  

So once my dear ole dad was diagnosed and the treatment completely changed his life, I figured I had to at least start the process.  I'm now on my way to full nighttime sexiness: 

Image

POOR HUBS!!!

The doctor sent me home with a 10+ page questionnaire, reminder card for my upcoming 4 appointments and this little gem:

I have a list of {good} books that I'm dying to get through.  This one doesn't make the cut.  Dad, wanna give me the Cliff Notes version?  Pretty please?  

 

xoxo

Miss E

Payson & Poker; Making Memories With My Dad

Edited To Add: 

Why did I name the post "Payson & Poker..."? We played Blackjack.  Forgive me, dear readers.  

Let's try this again:

Payson & Blackjack; Making Memories With My Dad

There's just something about a small town that I love.  Maybe it's the way everyone knows your name or that you can get from one edge of town to the other in under 10 minutes.  Or maybe it's the slow pace.  Whatever it is, Payson gives me that awesome small town experience.


This past weekend was no exception.  With some of my mom's family in town from Chicago (my aunt, my cousin and his wife and their 18-month old son) it was a great excuse to drive up to the mountains to cool off and get outta town.  My aunt who lives in Phoenix also joined along with my uncle,  3 more cousins and my cousin's boyfriend.  Add in my Grammy, brother, his girlfriend, Hubs, my parents and me.  Oh and my two pups and my brother's and his girlfriend's cat.  There were 17 of us in total.  It was hectic and crowded, and couldn't have been more fun.  


On Saturday after dinner, some of us decide to make a run to the casino just outside of town.  When we walked in, my Gram and aunts went for the slot machines.  My dad, brother, uncle and I were going to play Blackjack.  This was my first time playing (in a casino) and my dad fronted me $50 and offered to teach/help me along.  How could I turn down that offer?


With me on one side of my dad and my brother on the other, we played.  We had fun, we won, I learned when to hit and when to stay, when to double down and when to split your cards.  At one point, we realized that it was officially Father's Day (we played until 2am Sunday!).  I couldn't imagine a better way to ring in Father's Day.  With my dad teaching and guiding us, having fun, staying up late with my brother and me.  Such a great memory!


That's the best thing about my dad: he's always been my hero.  For as long as I can remember, I've been proud of him, looked up to him, loved him with all my heart.  He's the smartest, most patient, sensitive, and loving man.  He taught me what a good father and husband should be.  There's no way I would be the person I am today without him (literally, I'm a lot of my mom and ton of my dad, personality traits, physical ailments and all).  


When they finally closed the table down on us, we cashed in our chips.  My dad even let my brother and me keep what we had won (over the $50 initial investment that we repaid).  I walked away with $25 in my wallet and a memory that I will cherish forever.

At my wedding, October 2005. 

 I did not get my dad's tall genes as you can probably tell.  He stands 6'5" tall while I top out at 5'3".  

Got my mom's petite genes there.

*I love you, Dad*

xoxo
Miss E

The Story of Us

Scene:
It's 2003 and Miss E is halfway through her Junior year at Arizona State University (Go Devils!)

I had taken my oh-so-dreamy Spanish professor up on an offer to study abroad in a small town called Alicante on the east coast of Spain.  Spanish was one of my majors so this was not only a great opportunity to go abroad {which I always wanted to do, but wasn't sure if I had the guts to actually go through with it}, but also fulfilled my remaining credits needed for my Spanish degree.  Perfect, right?  


So I pack up three boxes of sh*t my clothes, books and camera and head off the day after Christmas 2002 for Europe. I was scared, excited, worried and exhilarated all at the same time.  

Would I miss my family and friends? 

Immensely, but I'd be fine and so would they.  

Would I like my host family?  

Yes, in her late-70's, Encarnita was more like a grandma to me.  So sweet and patient and made the best food!  

Would I feel "home" in this new city?

Absolutely, from the 10th century castle that overlooked the city to the grafiti on the walls, Alicante became a comfortable place.  I came to know and love the little old people walking their little old dogs every morning on my way to the bus, the constant inhalation of cigarette smoke, the amazing coffee in the sidewalk cafes, the old movie theatres with their worn velvet chairs, the mercado that opened every Saturday with an array of meats, cheeses, fruits and vegetables, even the angry Spaniards protesting America and the Iraqi war through the streets.  This all became a part of me and shaped me in ways I never could have imagined.

My program consisted of 35 of the best people imaginable who became my travel partners and best amigos. We explored, we sang, we drank, we went to movies, we ate, we drank, we talked passionately, we drank, we danced (until sunrise!) and then did it all over again.  Oh, and fit a few classes too.


I met Hubs the very first day in Alicante.  As luck would have it he ended up living with a host family just down the street from mine. We walked to the bus together everyday.  Which turned into dinners at night and movies and then traveling.  We were very different people, but drawn to each other nonetheless. He was so mature! So determined! So unlike all the frat boys I had known! And so our love began.  

I was sure, being the ever-practical and emotionally supressed calm girl that I am, that this was just a fling. Just a Spanish affair, if you will. Blame it on the Sangria! I was sure praying I was wrong that I'd never hear from him again. After a semester of paradise, we parted ways at the Madrid airport, I got on my plane and broke down in tears.

Luckily for me, the story doesn't end there. I got a call from Hubs 5 mintues after he landed in Phoenix the next night and he asked me to a party. I declined (which he loves to still bring up!) but the next night he asked me out, I accepted and the rest is history.

A night on the town in Barcelona.
{Omg, I can't believe I'm showing this pic to the world.}

Alicante, Spain
The town where we studied.

The beach in Tenerife, part of The Canary Islands.
We celebrated Valentine's Day here 
(which became our "1st date" anniversary).

Hubs is on the left. 

The next three are some of our very best friends to this day.

In fact, the one in black (in the very middle) 

was the Best Man in our wedding.

Best Man, Me, Hubs, and J
waiting for the bus that (almost) never came.

So that is the Story of Us.  Or at least, a cursory version of how we met.  I'm thinking I'll continue to document our story through our engagement, wedding and through to today.  And I'll throw some more stories of our time in Spain in there if you all are interested.  


Let me know, no?


xoxo
Miss E

Cleaning Out My Closet Twitter

Hey friends,

I know a lot of you are on Twitter.  Do you follow me?  Do I follow you?  Think I need to clean out some of the randoms (ahem, yes, that includes you @nudegreg) and want to make sure I'm following all you good ones back.  So leave me a comment or @reply me, deal? 

PS - I'm MissEinAZ.  You can access my page via the gadget at the left too!

xoxo
Miss E

Oh, iPhone, how do I love thee?

So there are many, many reasons why I love my iPhone.  And I am well aware that I am not the only one who sings the praises of this particular Apple device.  So as I'm sitting at the computer waiting for the new update to become available (which let's get real, I'm a night owl so the only thing this is keeping me from is the DVR'd CMT Music Awards in the other room) I will list you my top reasons.  Are you ready?  Set. Go.

Obviously it's a one-stop shop.  Mail, text, phone and music all in one.  But these apps?  Make my life infinitely easer.

Want to stay up-to-date with all of your interweb friends, real friends, celebrity "friends," local DJ's, or maybe your favorite business' sales/specials, etc?  Twitter is your modus operandus.  And there's a handy dandy application to make it available at your fingertips.

Want to stalk your ex-bffs, ex-bf/ex-gf, coworkers or friend's parents?  Facebook it is!  And, natch, there's an app that will take you right there in 3 seconds flat.

Now here's where it gets really good....


 

You're driving in your car to work and hear a commercial on the radio for a TV show/special awards show (CMT Awards possibly? just sayin'...) that you didn't set your DVR for.  No problem!  Just click on the DirecTV app on your iPhone and set your progarm to record.

Don't want to spend $300 for a Kindle but want to be able to download books and read them from your iPhone?  No worries, no cost (to download, that is. Of course there is a cost to purchase the goods..)

Want (another) way to shop while working, while cooking, hell - while at the mall?  Or maybe you want to check on your items listed for sale.  Either way, ebay is at your fingertips.

This has been a favorite of mine for awhile, but now that my Dad even uses Pandora, I'm assuming the whole world knows about this treat.

 

Don't know what song is playing on the radio?  Use Shazam to prove that computers are infinitely smarter than humans and will one day take over the world OMG Terminator to analyze the music and determine the artist, song, album and even connect you to download it right away from iTunes.

 

And a personal favorite in my family who has never ever in the history of the world been on time for anything ever. How do we utilize this, you may ask?  Say I get to the restaurant for dinner 10 minutes late and I'm annoyed that my family isn't there already.  I call them to ask their location and demand that upon hanging up they open Amigo Mapper to PROVE that they are where they say they are.  Yep, this app keeps us honest, dear friends. 

So what do you think friends?  Are there other apps out there that I simply must be using?  Please share!  I'm always looking for ways to make my life easier thankyouverymuchSteveJobs.


Now I'm off to click Check for Update one last time!  C'mon, it's June 17th somewhere...


xoxo

Miss E


PS - Bravo, Blogger, for your easier-to-use interface.  Here's hoping this mitigates the eyeball-gouging situations in which I frequently find myself.

Chocolate FAIL, or Why You Shouldn't Go To The Grocery Store When Hungry

{Credit} So I stopped at the grocery store on my way home from work. Always a bad idea. I'm hungry and tired and just want to get home. But I had to get some last minute fixins for our dinner tonight. I grab what I need, turn innocently back up any random aisle towards the checkout lanes. Well this any random aisle just happened to house cereal. Which I love. {Sidenote: if I could, I would eat cereal for breakfast and dinner. Yes, everyday. Maybe Frosted Flakes in the morning with a serving of Lucky Charms for dinner.} So, of course, I pick up a few choice boxes. C'mon, they were on sale!

I continue to the end of the aisle and am faced with candy. All sorts of it. I'm not a candy girl, but a co-worker of mine has this Dove Dark Chocolate (see above pic) that is all sorts of heaven. I see it's on sale {and I'm hungry, remember?} so naturally, I pick up a bag. For my co-workers, of course!

I get to the checkout lane and unload my arms full of assorted dinner necessities along with 3 boxes of cereal and this bag of Dove chocolates. Yes, debit. No, no carryout service. Thankyouverymuch. You too, goodnight. And pretty soon I'm in the safety of my car. Where I decide I have to have one of those chocolates. Just one little piece. So I drive and enjoy. So sue me!

Hubs is home when I get there and follows me into the kitchen. I tell him what I purchased and start to put the items away. He asks if I already broke into the chocolate stash. NO, who would do that? Like I don't have any self control! They are totally for my co-workers, honey. At which point I realize he's staring at my backside with a bemused look on his face.

Then why do you have melted chocolate on your butt?

FAIL

But, I tell you what, that piece of chocolate was worth it. And it was dark chocolate, which, like wine, has many health benefits. Mmmm, wine and chocolate. Maybe I'll just skip dinner tonight altogether!

xoxo Miss E

Our Family

When Hubs and I met in Spain in 2003 (yes, I know I need to tell you Our Story...more to come on that), we lived in a small town outside of Valencia called Alicante. It seemed to us that everyone had small dogs that they would walk morning, siesta and night. After 5 months abroad, we came home and decided we needed a small dog (or two) of our own. Hubs wanted a Miniature Pinscher. A friend of his had one and he liked the look of them. He liked that they were small yet still had a certain 'badass' look. Hence, within 3 months of returning stateside, Bentley was brought home, complete with black leather, silver-studded collar.

Meet Bentley

Bentley would like you to think that he is 11 pounds of terror. In reality, he is an extremely smart, loving dog. But don't tell him I told you! *wink* One dog just didn't complete our new family. I had always wanted a tiny dog that would follow me around and fit in my purse (which, for the record, I have never done. Just not my thing.) Enter our little Chihuahua, Lulu.

Meet Lulu

She is the dumbest sweetest thing on Earth. Her eyes look at you with pure love and adoration. She can be found most days either attached to my ankles or warming my pillow on the bed (much to the chagrin of Hubs).

Bentley and Lulu reap the benefits of an as-of-yet childless couple. They complete the first phase of our family.

So in keeping with this theme of introducing you to Our Family, I think it's time I began telling you Our Story. So now you know where Hubs and I first met. Stay tuned for more...

xoxo Miss E

What I'm Listening To...

{Amazon}

I'm currently obsessed with Joshua Radin. Have you heard of him? If you've seen The Last Kiss, Catch and Release, Grey's Anatomy or Scrubs (just to name a few) then you probably have heard his music. He has such a soulful, soft, folky vibe that I'm totally digging. He's been looping on my iPhone all day today. Check him out if you haven't already!

How are you all, my lovelies? I hope everyone is well! xoxo Miss E

Award!

The sweet and inspirational Miss Bliss at Chocolate Shoes and Coffee just tagged me with this fun award. Miss Bliss has an amazing story that you can read here if you missed her guest post at The Reality of Happily Ever After. Seriously, check it out!

I am supposed to share 7 reasons I am awe-summm:

• I can rock music trivia like no other. I love music and once I know a song title/lyrics/artist, I rarely forget them.
• I am a sensitive person who takes on the hopes, dreams, fears and heartaches of my family and friends. Good or bad, I'm your girl.
• I love accessories. {Just like my Grammy!} Purses, shoes, jewelry, scarves - I love them all. There's nothing better than to put together the perfect outfit down to the very last detail.
• I love my professional life (although I sometimes get burned out). I get so much pleasure out of doing something that I'm good at each and every day. And that ultimately wins out over the lazy side of me who'd rather stay in bed (literally) all day long.
• I have every color of Sharpie or Sharpie-like product ever made. Seriously. I make the best color-coded lists.
• I can recreate pretty much any meal I've eaten in a restaurant without a recipe. And that's coming from a girl who could barely make Kraft Mac & Cheese 4 years ago. I just had to believe in myself.
• I'm quite sure I'm getting better - in all areas of my life - with age. Like wine. That's right, I have Happy Hour on my mind.

and tag 7 bloggers: Sweet Bea Jessica jlc Ashley Paige Amy Domestic Diva Beth Dunn Thanks so much, Miss Bliss, for the award! xoxo Miss E

The Aftermath

Thank you all for your kind wishes and suggestions on how to survive my road trip. It actually turned out to be infinitely better and yet infinitely worse than I could have anticipated.

The good:

I did not fall asleep! I made good small talk!

The bad:

We rode in convertibles!

Now let me explain just WHY this was so bad. First off, I wanted to make a good impression on the mentor/wife. I woke up early to shower and get myself decent. Yes, I washed my hair and dried it. I put on makeup. I selected a comfy but classy outfit of knee-length shorts and a cute black v-neck tee.

What should I have done, you ask? Skipped the shower, for starters. I ended up wearing a hat about 90 seconds into the drive because my perfectly styled hair was whipping in the wind, quickly turning into a huge, single dreadlock. {Very Bridget Jones à la weekend holiday with Daniel Cleaver.} As if this isn't bad enough, my friends, at the exact halfway point in the drive - when we were in middle of godforsaken NOWHERE - I started to notice the uncomfortable feeling of my exposed above-the-knee flesh being scorched by the sun. So needless to say there was no worry of me falling asleep while I was shifting my weight every 30 seconds to try to decrease the burning.

To add insult to injury, we stop in a restaurant on our way back to their house . I'm sweating through every inch of clothing I have on and am red as a lobster on my poor legs. I could barely move, much less eat. The rest of the day was spent lying in bed with Hubs bringing me bags of ice to lay across my thighs.

Now please excuse the horrible picture, but I had to show you the aftermath:

I've been putting everything from aloe vera to vitamin E to vinegar on it to help with the heat, pain, redness and swelling. I just hope I don't peel too badly!

xoxo

Miss E