I officially working 14 hour days which means that I have no life right now.

The madness has officially begun...I am now in the process of building a new computer system.

I am completely overwhelmed and I have no idea what is going on. We are in a large room with tons of computers and just building...all day. This is now my life.

Day 1:

Today was the first day of our install for the new property management system at work.

Oh man it is going to be a LONG couple of weeks. Today was tough because we only talked about things and did not see anything. You can tell me something till I am blue in the face but I am a visual learner and need to be hands on to have a better understanding.

We only worked a half day which is nice but I know that this is the first and last time for that and that tomorrow is going to be pretty intense. Lets hope I make it through this install.

Yay another day off!! It has been so nice to almost have a 4 day weekend!

Michael and I spent the day together once again and went to the Santa Barbara Zoo. We both had not been to the zoo in awhile so it was nice to see all the animals that were out. We got very lucky as it was feeding time so all the animals were out and about. The lions were really active too which was so cool! While we were at the Zoo it started to rain so we left and went to Java Jones for some much needed hot cocoa to warm up. What a perfect way to end my weekend (since I have to go to work tomorrow).

I don't know what I was thinking today but I decided to get up at 5am and go to Best Buy for Black Friday. You know....I always thought of sales for Black Friday but everything in Best Buy was still so expensive!! I would love to know how much money that make today. Anyhow I bought my dad an awesome gift and I am so excited to give it to him on Christmas! By the time I got out of the store after standing in line for over an hour it was time to go home and get ready for work. I worked 9am to 1pm and then Michael met me at work so we could go out and enjoy the rest of the day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I had such a great day with my family and I love them all very much.

I am thankful for the following:

My family

My loving boyfriend

My great friends

My house

My car

My job

My health

There are so many things to be thankful for. I think for next year that I would like to write down one thing each day that I am thankful for. I would love to look back on that each year. Lets see if I can make it happen.

I was lucky enough to get today off from work!! There are very few days that we get off other than Saturday and Sunday. My schedule this week is a little weird - today and tomorrow off, work a half day on Fri, have Sat off and then work Sun. Crazy huh?

Anyhow I wanted to make the most of my day off so I did not sleep in too much. I got ready and hit the pavement running trying to get all of my errands ran. I was able to catch up on a lot stuff that needed to get done which was a huge relief. After running errands I came home and cleaned the common areas of the house since no one else has really been doing it. Before I knew it the day was over. There never seems to be enough time in a day anymore.

After work I came home and decided to do a little organizing. Sometimes I let things go and I get really stressed out when I don't have them back in order. I needed to take a me day.

After a few hours I am feeling so much better. It is amazing how something so simple can make me feel so much better.

I woke up early this morning because Michael gets up at 5:30am to get ready for work. I was a little hung over and laid in bed watching TV for quite awhile before I finally got ready for work. I have to admit that it was kind of nice to leave my hotel room and walk down the hallway to the office. After work I wanted to go home and relax and do nothing after such a busy weekend. Michael came over and had dinner and then we crashed in my room and watch TV till bed. It was SO nice to relax.

I had to get up early this morning because Michael and I were going to go wine tasting on the Grapeline. We had to be at the Pepper Tree at 9:30am to be picked up and then we headed to the Valley. We had such a great guide and had a small but fun group. We stopped at 4 wineries and some how we ended up purchasing wine from each place! After a full day of wine tasting I was feeling pretty good but sadly fell asleep on the bus ride home. Oops!! Michael and I stayed at the Pepper Tree because we knew that we would be drinking all day and would not be able to drive home. We were both so tired that we could hardly eat dinner and decided that it would be best to just go to bed early.

This morning Amy and I got up early so we could go look at some houses that she had made appointments with. The first place that we saw was charming...it had a lot of character to it and the landlords were so kind! The place was not ideal but it was something that was workable. We ended up talking to the landlords for over an hour and after that it was time for lunch at jeanine's. While we were at lunch Amy got a call from another place and we decided to go see it. Thank goodness we did because the place was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! It was so beautiful and move in ready and everything was upgraded. I wish I could move in there! I am crossing my fingers that they get this place!

I was SOOOOOO tired this morning and it was all I could do to get myself to work this morning. I struggled through most of the day as I was exhausted from the trip... 5pm could not come fast enough. After work I met up with Amy and Kaitlin (Michael's sister) for happy hour at Elephant Bar. We had such a great time hanging out together and the food was so good! I could not believe it but we ended up stayed there for 4 1/2 hours! I can't wait to plan another happy hour :)

I did not sleep too well and I think that is because I am not use to sleeping in hotels by myself. The hotel was great and my room was really nice but I just wish that I was able to share it with someone. I had to get up early because I had to be at the Best Western Call Center at 8am to set up my trade show booth. We worked from 8am to 4:30pm which was exhausting! I talked A LOT which does not seem like a lot of work but it is. I had a great time at the call call center and it was so nice to meet some of the people who I email all the time.

Jessica was so sweet and picked me up at the BW office and we went out to dinner. After dinner she dropped me off at the airport and back to Santa Barbara I went. I was in Phoenix for 30 hours!!

Today was a very long day.... I worked from 9am to 3pm and did not get much done because I was nervous about flying alone. At 3pm I left work and headed to the Santa Barbara Airport so I could fly to Phoenix!! The flight was on time which was great but I had the most annoying people on my flight oh and the screaming baby was awesome too. I was so happy when we landed so I could get off that plane. When I got done to baggage claim I was greeted by Jessica!!! I was so happy that she came to pick me up at the airport and that we could have some time to hang out. We don't get to see each other too often so it was nice to catch up over dinner. She was so sweet and drove me to my hotel - I am so lucky to have such a great friend!

Work was very busy today and I had to get a lot done since I am going out of town tomorrow afternoon. I think I got everything done so tomorrow should be a breeze! After work I ran a couple of errands to get ready for tomorrow and then headed home to pack. Michael met me at my house and we had some dinner and wine and the next thing I knew it was 9pm and I still had not packed a thing! Thankfully I can pack pretty quick and got everything ready for tomorrow. Now it is time for bed....Michael is staying over so we have to get a good night sleep before he has to be up at 5:30am.

Another busy Monday - what else would you expect?! After work I met Michael and we went to dinner at Outback for a date night. It was so nice to sit down with him and have a romantic night and good conversation. We have dinner all the time together but there is always people around so tonight was really special. At the end of dinner we had to part ways to go home which made me sad...but thankfully he is coming over tomorrow night for some Jenn and Michael time.

None of us ended up drinking last night so we were all able to wake up early this morning. With that in mind we decided to have mimosas and went through a whole bottle of champagne by 11am...oops! After breakfast I had to run to the office and take care of some business and when I came back home Amy and I decided to go house hunting.

We saw a couple of places and there were a few that were okay but not fantastic and then there were some that were out of the question. It amazes me that there are so many places in SB that are run down, tiny and kind of ghetto. It makes me value my house and how nice that it is. I don't think that any of the places that we saw were winners so I guess we will be back at it next weekend.

The girls and I got up early today and went to breakfast at d'angelo's which has some of the best food in SB. Their chocolate croissants are so amazing and I think that everyone should try one! After breakfast we all went to look at a cottage that Amy found on CL (she and Anthony are moving soon) and the place was so small! I can't believe that people try and sell little studios for a ridiculous amount of money.

We were a little discouraged after seeing that place so we all agreed that we needed a shopping adventure so we hit downtown for a bit. I got a very cute new sweater from Nordstroms that I can wear out and about and to work.

We all had plans in the afternoon and split for a bit.....I ended up going over to Michael's house to hang out. Again there were tons of people over there and everyone was drinking. I had a glass of wine but nothing more since I had to drive back home later in the evening. Overall I have to say that it was a great Saturday.

IT IS FRIDAY!!!!!!!! YAY!!

I am so happy that the week is over and it is time to enjoy the weekend! When I got home from work Amy and I finished the bottle of wine that we had opened last night. I forgot to mention that it was a REALLY big bottle of wine so we were a little tipsy :)

Carla came to visit for the weekend and she arrived around 8pm. Not long after she got her we decided to go to dinner at palazzio which is one of my favorite SB restaurants. We ate, drank, laughed and had a great night. It was so fun to go out with the girls!!

Amy and I were originally going to go down to LA today and see Carla and go look at wedding dresses. However there was a change of plans and we had to cancel the trip which meant that I ended up going into work. It is good that I decided to go in because there is a lot of work to be done right now. The work schedule is about to get a little crazy so I am trying to push through all of my projects right now. I consider myself a good worker and I try and put in 100% everyday but this week I have been putting in 110% everyday and I am quite proud of myself. Now that I am working extra hard it makes me extra tired. Sometimes I feel like my life revolves around work.

When I got home I had a couple of glasses of wine with Amy and after that we went out to sushi with some friends. We had a great time at dinner and it was nice to get out of the house and go on a little adventure.

Today was a very simple day.

I went to work.

I came home and made dinner.

I hung out around the house and watched some TV in the evening.

Time for bed to repeat it all tomorrow.

Sometimes I feel like my days are like a broken record.

I had to get up early this morning so I could pack. I decided to spend the night at Michael's house tonight and I usually go there right after work so I need to have all my stuff with me for the next day. I just need a second closet up there so I can leave a bunch of work clothes....

The day seems to go by slower when you have plans after 5pm and thankfully the work day finally came to an end and I made the trek up the mountain to see my baby. His house has become quite the place to be...whenever I go over there they ALWAYS have people over there. I don't get it either because it is way up in the mountains and kind of hard to find. Anyhow we hung out and drank with everyone for while which was fun but now it is time for bed. Michael goes to sleep early since he has to be at work at 6:30am. Guess this means that I go to bed early now too...

Monday's are always busy at work and today was no exception. I know it is the beginning of the week and people are all ready to take on the day but I can only take on so many people! By the end of the day I was pretty tired and I was looking forward to coming home. When I got home I made some dinner and caught up with Amy. We had both been gone for while and it was nice to finally be home at the same time. We ended up talking for hours and before we knew it we had to get ready for bed. I don't know where time goes any more...the days just go by faster and faster.

I was hoping that I was going to be able to sleep in a little more today...but no...I was awake around 7:45am. Given that the time change happened overnight it seemed like 8:45am. I decided to be productive today as I was not yesterday. I got up and got ready so I could go out and run some errands. I had a whole list of things that I needed and I got almost everything marked off my list, which I was very proud of. When I got home I made some lunch and got a couple of loads of laundry done. It felt so good to get all this stuff done! My roommate Richard was awesome and helped me hang some artwork in the living room so now it looks like a real living room! Plus I wanted to have everything up before Amy came home from her trip so I could surprise her. Later on in the afternoon Michael came over and we stopped at Woody's for a beer and some food. I am glad that I got to see him even it was just for an hour or so. I came home and relaxed for a bit but not too much relaxing because I have to pick up Amy from the airport at 11pm tonight. I have to say that I got a lot of errands, cleaning and laundry done today therefore I am happy.

I wish I could sleep in on the weekends but I can't....I usually wake up around 8 am or earlier. I guess that is what happens when you have a 9-5 job during the week. I called Michael is the morning and invited him to breakfast. He called me back and he couldn't find his keys so I ended up driving up the mountain to pick him up...by the time I got there he found them! Go figure.

We ended up going to brunch at Marmalade Cafe which was delicious! They were so busy too which was great for them. After lunch Michael and I needed to go to the tow yard to help get Anthony's car out. To make a long story short his car ended up getting towed last night because of the marathon and he is out of town. Getting his car out became such a project as the tow company was not nice at all and we were having problems coordinating times to meet. In the end it all worked out and we were able to get his car out! Woohoo! After that Michael and I decided that we both deserved a beer and went to Woodys. It was a perfect way to end the day.

From the second that I walked into the office I was bombarded with work. Since we went on a little field trip yesterday I missed half a days work. I put in 110% percent yesterday and worked as hard as I could to get everything done on my list. I even worked overtime till 6:15pm on a Friday night to get a project done. After a busy day I think a big glass of wine and some relaxation is much deserved! Now to enjoy the weekend!

We had a crazy busy day at work today. We started our morning with a tour of Lotusland which is a garden in Montecito. There was a small group of us and we went on a docent lead tour which lasted two hours!! The gardens were stunning and I can't believe that they have all that land on the property...it just goes on forever! I have to say that I just loved the Japanese Tea Garden and the tour of the house. Since we went on the tour we ended up missing half the work day (which was nice) however the work piled up very quickly and I was swapped for the rest of the day. I was lucky enough to have Michael come over to spend the night. I had missed him a lot this week and I really enjoyed spending the night with him. Too bad he has to get up at 5am tomorrow which will wake me up.

Today was a crazy busy day at work as the phone kept ringing and the emails would not stop coming in. I feel like I could have worked all night and I still would not even put a dent in my workload. I wanted to go to the gym this week but I have been so exhausted after work that all I have wanted to do was stay home. So this week I have been having a bad habit of crashing on the couch and not doing anything. You know I do have to say that last week was busy so I do owe myself some downtime. My night consisted of some wine, cheese and crackers and E! news...perfect.

After work I had to go grocery shopping. I had not bought food in weeks and I was starting to eat my last resort food so I made the trip to Trader Joes. This time I tried to shop more on a budget and buy things that I absolutely knew that I was going to eat. The great thing was that when I went to pay...my bill was cheaper than usual! Guess that being on a budget really works....

Once I got home I unpacked all my food and made myself a nice meal. It is so nice to be able to cook again!

It was all I could do to get myself out of bed and ready for work this morning; I was still feeling terrible all day. The day went by so slow and all I wanted to do was go home.

After work I made a little dinner, and crawled in bed. I tried to take it easy tonight and I am hoping that tomorrow will be a much better day.