Thursday, July 28, 2011

Before and After

My night started like this:


Three hours, a couple blisters and some swollen hands later, my night ended like this:


And I did ALMOST everything by myself! Paul helped me line the bottom and top up with the body and attach the doors. Those definitely required four hands. You can't see it, but there's a leave on the back that you can pull up when necessary. And it's on wheels so I can have stove-side counter space when necessary.

This was pretty much the only thing that I was smart enough to approach with before and after pictures. So eventually I'll have some semi-before pictures and lots of after pictures of Paul's parent's old house which will be transformed to our new house.

We close today. How grown up is that?!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Making Big Brother Proud

This is me and my big brother, Ric, on my wedding day.



We grew up in Hokie Country, just 30 minutes from Virginia Tech. I grew up not caring about sports. My brother, on the other hand, was obsessed with football from a young age. But, for whatever reason, he wasn't crazy about the Hokies. Nope, he was a die hard supporter another team who no one in our family and none of our family friends supported. For some inexplicable reason, his football devotion was with Florida State University's Seminoles.



http://www.usflags.com/images/products/Product-4261.jpg


He wore his FSU Starter jacket OUT and downloaded what had to have been the world's most annoying screensaver from their website (this thing came complete with sound, y'all!).


Today, for perhaps the first time in our lives, I made my big brother truly proud. I got into Florida State's School of Library and Information Studiess. Not only do they have a football team, which is more than my undergraduate college had, but it's his favorite football team since childhood. Today is a good day. Love you big brother!

Instagram

Instagram is one of my new favorite Apps for my iPhone. I just made this picture:



Do this:



Obsessed? Not quite yet. Enamored? You betcha!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Super Saturday

Most Saturdays I don't do too terribly much. I sleep in, I eat a mediocre breakfast, I watch tv, and wait for Paul to get home. Or I work overtime.

Today is different.

Today I woke up well-rested and, on a whim, threw together breakfast tacos. They tasted amazing and all it took was a handful of Yopp kitchen staples. All it took was taco-size tortillas, a few eggs (with or without yolk, mine was half and half), turkey, leftover roasted potatoes, salsa and cheese. It was super-easy and SUPER delicious!

Today I'm going to get a haircut thanks to a very lucky, well-timed groupon purchase.

Then I'm going to get a much-deserved and needed pedicure while I wait for my car to be inspected, since I saved so much on the haircut.

Tonight I'll have dinner with my wonderful husband who brought me, "I'm glad we met two years ago" flowers yesterday.

And then we'll go to celebrate his best friend's little sister's confirmation. From what I understand about Catholicism, which isn't much, mind you, she's about as Catholic as she could possibly be until she gets married, which is exciting!

Happy Saturday everyone!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Two Years Ago Today

Two years ago today I stayed home from work at the Department of Veterans Affairs so that I could get a filling.


Two years ago today I went to the gym. I spent some time on the elliptical machine, lifted some weights and did some crunches.

Two years ago today I went to Olive Garden and had Venetian Apricot Chicken for dinner.

Two years ago today I went to Starbucks and ordered a grande skim no whip mocha.

Two years ago today my name was Trista Wilkins.

Two years ago today my life changed forever.

Two years ago today I met this guy...




Today I went to work for a separate government agency.

Today I will go to the gym and spend some quality time with a treadmill.

Today I will cook baked salmon, roasted red skin potatoes and green beans for dinner.


Today I will try to remember to bake peanut butter brownies.


Today I will give water and kibble to this little lady...

Today my name is Trista Yopp.

Today I am a wife, an aunt, a daughter-in-law and a sister-in-law.

All because two years I met this guy...

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Things that make me happy today


This is my friend Ally. She's reading "I Like You" by Sandol Stoddard Warburg at my wedding. She is one of my dearest friends and recently got engaged (!!!!!!!) to her boyfriend of 4 years. I'm going with her to try on wedding dresses next week and I absolutely cannot wait to begin celebrating such an exciting time in her and Patrick's life with her and her mama who once cooked me some of the most delicious ribs, ever!



On the same day that I get to celebrate Ally I get to celebrate my niece, Gracie. She is turning 2 years old and I absolutely can't wait to see her eat cake, open presents and be the birthday girl. Let's all keep our fingers crossed that the shipping industry is on my side and her present arrives in time for the big shindig.




I'm reading Water for Elephants right now and it's so good! Why in the world did it take me so long to read? Thanks to a Target giftcard I picked up this one and Something Borrowed and Something Blue for next to nothing out of pocket!

I'm teaching myself how to coupon and it actually is a lot of fun! You won't see me on any TLC shows any time soon (a girl can dream though, right?) and I'm not creating stockpiles of things that I'll never use (why would someone without a cat buy cat treats, even if they are free?), but I've saved about $30 off my grocery bill the last three times I went to the grocery store. And that's money I can use on something else like a pretty pedicure or a haircut, both of which I plan on treating myself to this weekend.


Finally, because my break is almost over, Pinterest. It's an amazing website that sent me an invitation to joint about a week after I sent my request. You make boards and "pin" different pictures to them. I currently have "new house ideas," "holidays," "A girl can dream...." and "You look delicious" boards. The first two are self-explanatory. A girl can dream...is devoted to things that I want/want to do to the new house but just aren't feasible right now (in-ground trampoline, anyone?). You look delicious is devoted to recipes I want to try. I'm obsessed, I tell you. OBSESSED!

What makes you happy today?

Monday, May 16, 2011

How I feel today