Jessica

i loooove shopping. i have this need to buy stuff. it's like a sick addiction so i set a shopping limit for myself every week. i can only spend $100 a week on myself (clothes, dvd's, lattes, etc). if i don't stay in my limits, whatever i've gone over comes out of my limit for the next week.

Quote: Originally Posted by dragonfly Natasha, Have kids they are the best, I adore my children, life as you know it doesn't have to end! Just take this advice don't hang out with first time mom's (I'm sorry if I offended someone, just talking from my experiences, so don't take it personally). I will be even a little more honest, I don't really like other peoples kids (oh I hear you all gasping collectively) I have no patience for them (well honestly it is usually the parents I have no patience for) My children don't do the regular kid stuff, we don't do barney, not many toys(I find kids don't usually play with them anyway) we don't do amusment parks, kids music, or chucky cheese. My children are very well behaved and enjoy venus, such as art gallerys, hiking, long drives, dinner out, boating, the sky (a big deal in our house), all music (we go to many festivals in Toronto), and books. Take today for example we spent the day walking around Kennsington Market (The T.O equivilent of greenwhich village in NY), not once did Liam complain. We walked, browsed, listened to music, bought fruit (more exciting then toys!), sat on a patio and ate chinese food, and yes all of my children including Liam use chop sticks. I surround my self with women who have children, but are not defined by their children. Everton and I have a life outside of our kids, and the kids expect that from us. I also am a firm believer in kid time and grown up time. Such as New years is a grown up holiday (you won't find us ringing in the New Year with our kids), and I love a good kid free dinner party. Your children will definitely become the focal point of your life, but you may also enjoy the part of you who enjoyed life with out kids. You will most certainly have to be the good mom, and endure the christmas concerts and apple orchards of your childrens lives, make some small talk with the mom's, and politely decline the coffee invites. Always bring a good book to the park, and avoid eye contact, this is your key to survival!!! lol But who knows, your tiny bundle of joy could enter your life, and surprise surprise, all of a sudden you know nothing more facinating then the colour of their poop!!!LOL (Natasha it really is a risk worth taking!) Kelly~ I just read EVERYTHING and found this answer from Kelly. I LOVE IT because this is me exactly. I'm almost an anti-mom type. I hate, hate, hate when all people talk about is their pregnancy/children. Drives me insane. I'm so much more than a wife and mother and being with those that talk about their kids 24/7 is more than I can handle. A lot of people think it's odd that I don't talk about Aiden much. It's not that I don't talk about him at all, but it's just he's not the only thing I have to talk about. And I so want to avoid just doing stereotypical kids activities with Aiden. Don't even get me started on toys. I had to tell my MIL not to buy Aiden any more stuffed animals/toys. I felt sort of like a jerk for doing it, but I don't believe a child should have an abundance of toys. I have a 10 toy limit for Aiden. No more than 10 toys at a time. Everything else is donated to charity. I just don't see the need. Anyway, it made me so happy to read your answer because I agree with everything you said, and I know it's not the norm. Especially not for a first time mom. I think this is why I still get a lot of "Wait... YOU'RE A MOM!?!" reactions from people. I love kids in general and think they are awesome (I even work with special needs kids), but I'm not really a "kid" person (ie. I do my best to avoid them out in public!). Quote: Originally Posted by LadyP Im sorry I just decided to back track. Yes it was SIDS. Ayanna was her name it means Pure flower and she would cry when her father left the room or went to work. She would not sleep and was only happy when she nursed. I was dehydrated and he came home early from work and she nipped my breast and grinned (atleast what looked like a grin from a dehydrated tried stinky person). lawrence took her laid her down and that was the last time I saw my baby girl alive Thanks for sharing Catherine. Ayanna is such a pretty name.

Quote: Originally Posted by CarrieRN You didn't have any discomfort the first couple times after you were cleared for action? My sister said it hurt (and was pretty awkward). She said it made her more nervous to try again because of that. Nope! Apparently though I'm some sort of freak of nature because everyone else I've ever talked to said it was uncomfortable to painful the first time after. After I was cleared, we did it that night and it was fine. The first few seconds were "uncomfortable". Not really physically though, I was just nervous because I for some reason didn't trust that everything was healed with my cut down there and I had bizarre images of being split open, but once I got over that and convinced myself I was being silly, it was awesome!!!

it's so pretty!!!! love the yard! congrats.

I'm way late on this thread. But my sex drive usually wavers off after being with someone for awhile and that "new sex" feeling wears off. So DH and I definitely hit a lull where I was always like "Umm, yeah I have a headache or something, not tonight." I barely wanted sex for about two years. I gotta say though, having Aiden was probably the best thing ever for our sex life. I don't know if it's horomnes or if it was 9 months of not having my body that made me so excited when I got it back again after popping Aiden out, but whatever it was... WHOA! I'm all about sex again now! But it's not uncommon, especially when you've been with someone for awhile.

I just found this on a blog: Lauren Conrad will work for TMZ during The Hill’s fourth season Lauren Conrad will change jobs again for The Hills fourth season, which is currently filming. After leaving Teen Vogue, she spent time at a PR firm, but will now work for gossip blog TMZ. The actual nature of her new job is unclear. “Having faked her own life for years, Lauren is particularly used to the idea that reality is flexible. Plus, there’s no actual standard for truth here, so she fits in perfectly,” a source said. “At TMZ, we have as much experience with and knowledgeable about journalism as LC does with cinéma vérité, so we expect that she’ll soon become our Vice President for Filming Celebrities Doing Newsworthy Things Like Leaving Stores. Another source said, "As a bonus, she also understands that there’s no such thing as a line between public and private, and having used her friends to land magazine covers, knows that there’s no such thing as going too low. ”Because filming at TMZ’s headquarters would be too disruptive, MTV executives said they’d recreate TMZ’s newsroom in a converted San Fernando Valley hotel. In addition, the time and energy that it would take to have Lauren travel between the two locations means that she’ll skip work at the web site and instead report to work at the hotel set, reenacting scenes while working from something they’re calling a “script.” Other gossip sites and Livejournal users immediately copied and pasted the story of Lauren’s new job onto their own blogs, leading the print and broadcast news media to credit 17 different sites as the source of the information, because it’d take too much effort for blogs to link and the media to follow those links. Commenters on those sites raced to be the first person to post “FISRTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!! Ur all so losers” after the story and do their part to prove that journalism now belongs to the people. Executives at Bravo and Bunim-Murray Productions—who have successfully absorbed personality-driven pop culture web sites in order to establish new marketing plateforms for their brands, maximize pageview to word count ratios, and monetize the founders they eventually drove away—immediately set about looking to acquire TMZ to add to their portfolios, according to a story in Page Six, which a banned Defamer commenter reported on his blog has been searching for a way to cause its competition to shut down, like PageSix.com did. (ps. it was posted on the blog as an april fool's joke, but at first i believed it. then i looked at the calendar and figured it out).

Ok, I have to get this off my chest, does it bother anyone else when Whitney pronounces words with an "-ing" suffix. OH MY GAWD. Drives me crazy. going = go-ink traveling = travel-ink doing = do-ink Etc. etc. It drives me up a wall.

happy birthday! haha. april fool's day. what a fun day to have a birthday!

Brian has one of the few jobs that isn't affected by recessions (medical field), so honestly, so far we haven't been affected, and it's unlikely that we will be in a major way. Since I'm not working, I personally don't have my usual play money and therefore have had to cut a lot of things out of my life (lattes, extravagent shopping sprees, etc), but that's more due to me not working than the recession!

congratulations!

Congrats Heidi! You're going to be a beautiful bride. Can't wait to hear all about it.

i was wondering too. (if he knew he was canned). that's going to be a big surprise!

Quote: Originally Posted by Lizz I'm using Janice at ADC Photography in Marlton, NJ (Wedding Photographer, New Jersey Wedding Photographer, NJ Wedding Photographer, NJ portrait photographer). Mo (MoWife) used her and I loved her pics. My date is April 13. that's the link i was tryingto find and couldn't! thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by Lizz I work in University City, which is easily accessible from 76. Center City would be another easy option for you to get to. But, in all honesty, Philly isn't that hard to navigate (not like when I go to NYC and get very lost!), so anywhere you choose, we could find an easy route to get you there. Where do you want to work? You're going for your Masters in Marriage Therapy right (sorry if I'm totally wrong)? yes, i'm going for my MA in Marriage and Family Therapy. I'm not quite sure of where I want to intern, anything that fits in wth counseling couples or families... or at this point, anywhere where i can get therapy experience. i haven't been having much luck finding placement in NJ. it's rough! lol, i'm the total opposite. nyc is easy for me to get around and philly just leaves me feeling confused. then again, i lived in north jersey all through high school and went to middle school in nyc, so i was there all the time.

Quote: Originally Posted by katrina as a fellow jerseyian, i recommend against working in university city if you can help it. i did the commute for a while and it's just not an easy drive. over the bridge to 95 to 676 to the parkway. no good. i'd also recommend against fairmount, art museum area. but that's strictly based on commute. if you love the internship, the commute isn't a deal breaker, just a pita. let me know if you need more specifics. thanks for the advice! i'm trying to avoid a horrid commute, especially since i most likely won't be getting paid! Quote: Originally Posted by Alyssa Jessica, Do you want to stay in Center City or are you open to working in the Boroughs of Philly? As for Center City, the most convenient neighborhoods for someone coming over the Ben Franklin are: Old City Society Hill Queen Village Northern Liberties Coming over the Besty Ross takes you to I-95 so you are closer to the Aramingo area. Coming over the Walt Whitman takes you right into South Philly If you want to minimize your communte once you get into the city, stay on the East Side of any section or neighborhood as all of the bridges coming from NJ cross the Delaware. PM me if you have specific questions about any neighborhoods thanks for all the info. lol. i don't even know what the boroughs of philly are! just looking for the area with the easiest commute basically. i'll keep staying on the east side in mind. that's a good tip.

Yeah, I'll definitely let you know if I find anything. I'm in South Jersey, but I went to high school up North and have family there, so I commute often and am really flexible with finding a photog ANYWHERE in Jersey (or even PA/NY). Since my first anniver is in May and his bday is in June, I don't even know if I'll be able to get in done in time! But I'm open for doing it whenever. If any of us can track down someone decent who won't make my wallet cry, maybe we can get a group discount. Is there a particular style you guys are looking for? Honestly, I sort of want MAXIM magazine type of photos. Or maybe something retro pinup-ish, so those are the kind of photographers I'm looking for.

Quote: Originally Posted by BillysBride And therein lies the problem a lot of women have with their men-folk reading "skin rags". I know Maxim is far classier than many. But for some women...it gives them, a negative body image. You know what I'm saying. Many women see their guy looking at something like that and they feel as though THAT is what he wishes he had. Afterall, he's looking, right? Don't beat me up...I'm just saying how it is for a lot of ladies out there. We are already our own toughest critics. These are the same women that have issues with their men watching porn. "What, I don't give you what you need?" That is exactly what I wanted to say but didn't have time too. And it was said better than I could have said it myself!! Honestly, with Brian, I don't mind so much, but with boyfriends in the past I would have bawled my eyes out if I caught them reading a Maxim. But I dated some pretty crappy guys in the past who promoted self esteem issues in me. Even though those pictures have the hell airbrushed out of them, some guys still held me up to fulfilling that standard, and to this day I'm still working on my self-esteem because of a really negative relationship in which I was basically told on a daily basis I wasn't good enough because I didn't look like that. So, yeah, not that this has anything to do with me, just wanted to say that although, yeah, thereotically it's silly to get mad at stuff like that, you don't know what past issues some of those girls would have and since you want everyone to have fun in your wedding, I would just stick to non-threatening reading material!!! Plus honestly, I know guys secretly love those tabloids! I've caught so many of my guy friends reading my US Weekly!!!

Aww, that's cute Karen! Happy Birthday Jason!!!!!!!

I would say don't put your faith in any of those "if __ happens that means you're having a ___" deals. They were totally all wrong for me. Aiden had a super high heart rate and every other old wives tale pointed to a girl. He's very much a little boy!!! Even my dreams of a little girl mislead me. I know it's fun to speculate though. You'll find out soon enough! It's actually good you have to wait awhile, because if you find out early, that just gives you all the more months to find yourself broke because you're buying every single cute outfit you can find!

Hey girls. I have a contact who is trying to set me up with an internship in Philly. But she wants to know what part of Philly I'm looking to intern in. I honestly don't really know all the "sections" in Philly. When I go, I usually just go to the South Street area! I also go to the Franklin Insititute once in awhile. But I have no idea what that part of Philly is called! I was wondering, if you guys could help me in figuring out what sections of Philly would be the easiest for me to get to from NJ? If it helps, I have pretty easy access to the Tacomy Palmyra Bridge, Betsy Ross, Walt Whitman and Ben Franklin. Thanks!!

LOL. It's like a BD photog explosion here today! Where in NJ are you? I've been looking for one as well. I wanted to do them for my wedding, but was so broke... now although I'm broke again, I'm still trying to get it done. Maybe for our first anniversary, or for DH's bday. A lot of times they will give discounts if you get a group of girls to do theirs all on the same day and at the same location. There was someone on here that did their BD's with a photog in south jersey. let me see if i can find a linnk to the photogs website.

you should check this post out: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t17276 i've recently seen some samples of this photogs work and they are very pretty!

more than normal! hell, i still say "oh crap.... i'm married!!!"

you look so hot!!!! i love them!!! very sexy.

very cute!!!! and that totally does look like a little halo.