Trying to Buy My Piece of This Earth

After a long time preparing, TK and I are finally ready to buy a house. A few weeks ago, we went to look at three houses and we found one that we liked. I know what you are thinking, "Only three?" We know that people usually look at dozens of houses before they finally choose one that they like, but that wasn't the case with us. We are the kind of people that go to a car dealership and leave with a car, well TK is at least. The first house we looked at was "the one" so we wasted no time before putting in an offer and showing it to our family.

This house is only a few blocks away from where we are now and everything in it is brand new. It is a flipped property that the seller took great time and devotion to renovate. It has a great kitchen, which I really like and a huge yard, which TK really loves. Currently, we are knee-deep in the home-buying process, but nothing is set in stone yet and we are trying not to get our hopes up, but it is hard not to.

This is a pretty big deal for us and I am pretty nervous about it because I want it to happen and I don't have the best luck. The last big thing we bought was our car and that was last year and less than a tenth of the price. Anything can still happen to make the deal fall through and I am just hoping that nothing does.

One small bonus of buying a house is that I get to finally use the gifts that all my family and friends bought us for my bridal shower and our engagement. All I keep thinking about is my Kitchenaid Artisan Stand Mixer that is still in its box and how I would like to be able to conquer any of Ina Garten's recipes because they all require a stand mixer. However, I will have to replace all of the spices in my spice rack because they have all since expired.

So now I watch HGTV and actually scan Lowe's circulars with my fingers crossed and butterflies in my stomach. And, I am not sure if I should be praying to God or St. Joseph, the supposed patron saint of house-hunting...but, I may do both.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Social Nerdiness in San Fran

After 5 years of service to my employer, I finally was able to go to a fully-funded out-of-state conference. From Tuesday to Friday I was in San Francisco for the CASE Social Media & Community Conference and had a great time. Well, despite my flight from NY to Chicago that was so turbulent that the flight attendants couldn't serve hot beverages for fear of burning the passengers.

I wasn't able to really see any sites, but I was able to take a visit to the Yerba Buena Gardens, where they have an Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and the SF MOMA store to buy a couple postcards and a paintbrush/pencil that I thought was genius. Unfortunately, the museum is closed on Wednesdays so I couldn't see any art. Also, SCVNGR had a trek set up for the conference that included some of these sites. I finished in tenth place for the trek challenges and received 10% off a SCVNGR license for my institution, which may come in useful if I can convince someone to actually use it.

The conference was really informative and fun. I met a lot of people from all over the country, Australia, France and Canada. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming, which was very refreshing. I know too well how people in my industry can be very snobby, but that wasn't the case here (Get it, CASE? Anyway.). A lot of the people that I met I am now connected to on Twitter, which helps us keep in touch and exchange useful information, which I fully intend to do.

Every day included an interesting session on a different aspect of social media, as it related to higher education. I have a notepad full of notes from every session because I didn't want to forget anything that I learned, and I managed to steal about nine Westin pens.

On the second day of the conference, we were all broken up into 10 groups of about 10-12 people. Some attendees bailed on this activity, but I am glad that I did not. We each got a topic that we had to create a social media campaign around. My group (#6), whose theme was a spaceship launch, ended up having the best campaign and won the People's Choice Award that all of the attendees and judges voted on. I was really proud because we had some really great ideas, we worked well together and a video that was included in the campaign was of me pretending to be Dr. Melissa Kuehnle, professor of mechanical engineering (I know it's a stretch). So, I got to take home a Starbucks gift card for our big win. You can see our fake university and social media campaign by visiting any of these sites: Facebook, Twitter and web. I was on my laptop, Facebook, Twitter and iPhone the entire conference, as was everyone else. I was surrounded by my people: the social nerds.

After three days in San Francisco learning, interacting and creating, I was exhausted but I was so glad that my flight home on Virgin America was very pleasant, and I was able to watch Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. No better way to finish off my nerdy week!

Thank you to everyone that planned, taught and attended the conference. It was a great experience that I hope to repeat next year. 

"Quien es ese nina? Who's that girl?"

My mother called me a media star, Alyson asked if I was out signing autographs and TK asked if he should be worried that I might leave him; all because I was in Newsday for one day (Page A32 to be exact) and in a Long Island Advance article back in March. People are funny.

Don't get me wrong, I thought being in the paper was pretty cool, especially when it was about organizing a visit by Governor Cuomo and my use of social media. In high school I was in the paper for hitting a two run double to win the game, but back then there were so many people with Gonzalez as a last name that no one was really sure if it was me or not. Now, everyone knows that Melissa Kuehnle is me because my married name is so unique. It is SO different that no one knows how to pronounce it or can remember how to spell it. It used to be a piece of cake and not it is more like a piece of sfogliatelle (an Italian pastry that looks like a lobster tail).

In March I was in the Long Island Advance because I planned a visit by NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo in 4 days. It was a pretty big deal and not because I thought so. Then last week, my face was in Newsday with my Twitter handle (@Melissa_Kue) as "One to Follow" on Long Island. The web listing can be found on http://www.newsday.com/followli. The funny thing about the Twitter piece is that my personal Twitter account (@Mel_K) has more followers, but I appreciate the mention and effort to get more people to pay attention to the nonsense I post.

Even though my mom yelled at me for not smiling in one of the photos, all in all, I am proud to have my face in the paper, because after all:
"You get your picture in the papes, you're famous. You're famous, you get anything you want. And that's what's so great about New York!" - Newsies, 1992

Go Team Thickness!

When TK told me that he would take me on a fully-funded weekend road trip if I got to my goal weight, I thought, "Awesome!" Then I looked in the mirror and thought, "Uh oh." The road trip won't be the only journey in my future.

I believe I need to lose somewhere around 25 pounds...give or take a pound. Notice I said, "I believe." The reason for this is because I know how I look fat and skinny and in between, and I know what people say to me to be nice, which I appreciate. I've heard the, "You don't need to lose weight; you're curvy." And also, "Maybe a few pounds would be good." Even though these people were being nice and all, for me, a few pounds would not be good enough. I just think that this is not the best version of me, so I need to make a change...a BIG one.

Now, I will not be holding up a pair of pants to show you the difference in sizes or take before and after photos like they ask you to do when you begin P90X. I would rather explain the process in words instead of pictures, which is the complete opposite of what everyone wants. However, I am sure that people will be able to see the difference in fatness from my dozens of Facebook photos.

I am going into this diet and fitness plan with a positive view of the present and the future. I am happy with the person I am on the inside, but I am not satisfied with the package I am putting out there...and the outside is easier to change.

None of this process will be extreme, so please do not think there will be an eating disorder or plastic surgery or diet pills. I am with it enough to know that these things will not work for me, especially since I got heart palpitations from Hydroxycut eight years ago and have also not been pregnant yet (and we all know how much your body changes after a baby takes up shop in there).

So far I am down two pounds in a week and went to the gym twice, which was all I could fit in last week. I am hoping to hit the gym three times a week or more, depending on my schedule, and maybe take some classes because I love yoga, zumba and pilates. I haven't tried spinning yet and would really like to eventually, without dying. I have a 5K coming at the end of the month that I am half-running (this is what I call running with walking intervals included) for penguins, so I would also like to not die from that either. As for dieting, I have been eating a lot of raw fruits and vegetables, whole grain, chicken and fish. I have tried my hardest to stop eating baked goods, candy, fried food and burgers, all of my favorites. I also gave up soda for Lent, and it has been rough, but I am sticking with it Jesus!

Now that I am dieting, I do have some limits to my healthy food eating. For instance, I will not eat oatmeal or cottage cheese because they look like someone already ate them and spit them out. I will eat a salad with a some substance, not just leaves. I will eat protein bars with chocolate and peanut butter in them. And, sometimes, one bite is enough, no matter how delicious the lasagna is (Mmmmm).

Oh, and did I mention I just started this whole thing a week ago? BIG plans. BIG. HUGE.

Go Team Thickness!