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Miscellaneous Monday

It's time.

  • I am so pleased to see how many fabulous comments I received on my 100th post! I tried to respond to every one within the comment box and now my head hurts:) Just kidding. That was a few hours ago, so I'm totally recovered.
  • Tonight we made Shrimp Diablo from the Dinner by Design stash. OMG it's the bomb. I don't normally take pictures of food because it kind of grosses me out, but I had to snap this one:

  • The only problem is Nate "was" allergic to seafood in his younger years. And now he can take it in small amounts. So he picked this dish out and sure enough, now he is complaining of a stomach ache and itchy throat. Damn him! I love shrimp and I thought we could work this into our rotation! But I guess if it makes him sick we should steer clear, right? I just hope he doesn't vomit because that boy does it with some FORCE [sorry if that's TMI but it's awful.]
  • Also, we did our taxes tonight. We stopped by Best Buy to purchase Turbo Tax and of course, they were out. So we just did the online version and let me tell you, I was SUPER stressed. I annoyed myself with how anxious I was about the whole thing. Maybe it had something to do with my blogging friend Erin's post that totally freaked me out. Anyway, it was a bit complicated this year because I've had THREE full time employers in two states this year, plus we got married. Not a big deal, I know, since we don't own a bunch of property or anything. But I was stressed. Here is all the freaking paperwork displayed on our coffee table:

And here is the most amazing gift ever:Ummm, we somehow got $3214.00 back from Uncle Sam. Now before you give me grief for letting the government use our tax dollars for free all year, let me just say that we did not plan for such a return. I claimed different numbers [either a "1" or "2"] for each W-4 since I progressed from being single to married but can't even recall which I'm claiming right now. It was blind luck and I understand that this was always our money....blah blah blah. But it's still freaking awesome.

I think it had to do with paying for 5k worth of tuition for Nate last year. I completely forgot we could claim tuition! And that bumped us up big time. Plus he only worked for five months last year then became a student, so I think we got a break from having one breadwinner? I don't know.

So now what? This amount is more than enough for my wedding DVD and album that I've been drooling over for eight months. But now that we have the money, of course I don't want to spend it. We've also talked a lot about going on an anniversary trip over Memorial Day weekend but we don't know where to go, or how much to spend. Then there's that second laptop Nate has been coveting....who knows, we'll see. I'm sure we'll just save it for the "down payment on a house fund" and stay boring old fuddy duddies forever:)

  • Here is what Henry did the whole time we stared at the computer screen, praying not to owe money:


  • A great Nate quote: "Since it's Fat Tuesday, can we make ourselves fat?" Actually, dear it is Monday but sure! So he made us glorious chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies. I'm salivating just smelling them!
Oh and if you think they look weird in the oven it's because we used our bomb cookie dough scooper that we registered for and we love it. Totally not necessary but cool.

  • I have Jury Duty on Wednesday and Thursday. I'm kind of glad to be off work but also a little nervous. What if they assign me to a hard-core murder case and it's all on my shoulders to decide a persons fate!? Or maybe it will just be eye-gouging boring. They say they have free WiFi so I'm very tempted to bring my laptop along and just surf all day long. Now THAT I could do!
  • Our crazy landlord now claims he is 99% sure the apartment will be rented to this chick. He said, "It's gone up from 95% to 99% and I'll call you tomorrow." Too bad he's making these arbitrary numbers up from the top of his puny little head. Annoying! I need to know if we should light a fire under our butts or not----doesn't he know how important PLANNING is to some people in this world? Uh.
  • I haven't had time to read ANY blogs on my Google Reader tonight and it's stressing me out! I know there are 45 new posts and I'm just itching to read them all. But we've been busy tonight and now I'm past my computer curfew. Is it weird that those types of things stress me out? Why am I becoming such a stress ball lately?

10 comments:

  1. I hate doing taxes too. It likely has something to do with the fact that I always owe. Oh well.

    That dinner does look good! As do your cookies!

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  2. I just went and checked your blog, and to my surprise, there were 4 new entries that I had not seen yet. It was like Christmas all over.
    First, I do taxes for a living, and usually if you have more than one employer in a year, your withholdings get screwed up and you end up oweing. So, yeah for you, that you got lucky. If you ever need help in that arena, you know who to call. Me, silly!
    Second, I loved the visual of you trying to do the dance from the show. I don't like to use the "R" word either, but it is sometimes so funny, as was the case with Nate's comment.
    Third, love the color of paint choices.
    Fourth, love the fabrics. I will have to check out that site. I tend to go for the damasks and simple/Pottery Barnesque ones.
    Fifth, it is so fantastic that you adore your Mom in law.

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  3. My FI hates shrimp, so I only eat it at restaurants. Hope Nate feels better so you can eat it more often! Urgh.. taxes... yuck! But that's awesome about your return. Buy your wedding DVD & album!!!! And Henry is just too much!!

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  4. Alergic to shrimp?!?! OMG, I'd have to divorce him...

    And regarding the taxes - yay for a big refund! The same thing happened to us, and it was totally unexpected. And even frugal ol' me is chomping at the bit for that money to come in so we can buy our new LCD TV. ;) And obviously, I say buy the wedding album!

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  5. Luuuuuuucky! Aw man, what I wouldn't give for half that return. ;) Good for you guys!

    And may I just say that I love that you used the word "bomb" twice in this post. My husband thinks I'm the only person still on the planet who says "the bomb" or "you go, girl" (LOL) - but you share in at least one of those, so I can't be that dorky, right? :)

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  6. That dinner looks amazing!!! It reminds me of the Shrimp Alfredo that I LOVE at Red Lobster... Mmmm.

    Woo-hoo for tax returns!! I'm still waiting on one of my W-2's and I'm itching to get it all done.

    I'd totally bring my laptop to jury duty!! I have it with me anytime I know I'll be waiting around for something just in case they have wi-fi. You'll be kicking yourself if you don't.

    Good luck on the apartment and calm your nerves by eating some yummy cookies... or taking a nice hot bath (that always works for me!)

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  7. I'm really craving cookies now - you should share your recipe! And jury duty was so boring, but I have to admit that I was glad to have a change from routine.

    Congrats on the refund! I guess I should get started on our taxes, huh?

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  8. First of all congrats on the nice refund! Mine was just enough to pay off the ol' wedding credit cards. You must spend some of this money. Especially on you wedding album. Secondly you have to take your computer to jury duty. What if you get stuck there for days and we your loyal blog readers have to go days without a new post? And in conclusion I'm totally jealous that your hubby bakes you cookies and I hope you rent your apartment soon!

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  9. Julia,

    That shrimp dish looks amazing. I am glad you were able to get over your grossed out feeling to take the pic. :)

    I am hoping for the big refund too (of course). Sounds like you are putting it to good use.

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  10. Okay you guys convinced me. I WILL bring my laptop tomorrow if nothing else, but to blog surf:)

    Nate's shrimp allergy is kind of sketchy. It only happens every now and then and it's a little dramatic, if you ask me:)

    erin~I use "bomb" way too much but it's the best word ever!

    And yes, I am slowly convincing myself to buy the damn album already. Not the $1600 one that I covet but a nice album just the same.

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