UPDATE.....

THIS IS AWESOME!!!! Literally 30 seconds after I posted my last blog explaining what is happening, Thomas called me. We have excellent news. God is in control.

#1- Thomas has always known his job was temporary... but they notified him today that he will be working at LEAST until January of next year... and probably more! AMEN!

#2- He got a $100/month pay increase... This will help cover the expenses of what we have done to remedy our situation in our home. AMEN!!!!!

#3- He got a tremendous bonus check for the year... a check so helpful that it will most probably cover the lump sum that we will need to pay to get out of our mortgage with minimal ramification. AMENNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the best news we have had in a long time concerning our home situation! We are so happy and so moved that God chose this moment that we were feeling so low to bless us. Please continue to pray for us so that we can go through our short sale smoothly, for our marriage now that we will no longer be living alone, and for wisdom throughout this entire situation.

Can I just reiterate...

God is in control!!!!

Slacking on my blogging... Let's catch up!

Song: Movin' Out

Artist: Billy Joel

Hey blogsters! It's been forever. I seriously haven't blogged in like 2 years (what a shame). Crazy things have been happening in the past year... but I'll get back to that later. For now, I'd just like to touch on the present. Life has been changing for the Soucy family... changes we didn't exactly expect.

To start of, let me just clear the air and announce that I am NOT pregnant. I got a few of those texts... and started laughing. If I ever do get pregnant, be sure that I'll call you first before I tweet. Now! To get to the meat and potatoes... My husband and I are moving out of our house... not because we want to, but because of circumstances out of our control. Before you read, let me ask you to not feel bad for us, because worse things are happening in the world. All we need is prayer for patience and for mercy from the investor who owns our mortgage. Let's start from the beginning... last year: March of 2010.

Around March last year, our adjacent neighbors were super cool. It was an awesome Chinese family who were quiet, nice, and very clean. We really liked them because we never had to worry about a noise problem or a cleanliness problem. Much to our despair, they suddenly moved out after living there for about 6 months without notice. We finally found out they moved out because they thought Thomas was beating me up and it was freaking them out (It turned out to be the neighbor behind them that had an abusive relationship). After they moved out, a new set of tenants set up camp. These new tenants seemed nice. At least we thought...

The new tenants are an older set of people (around 50s-60s) who are living off disability and government checks (and food stamps). They are not the cleanest people, in fact, they do not shower often (still not sure why, our association covers our water bill). They are nice, though. We have taken one of the tenants to church with us a couple of time to try and reach out, but he says that they are all pretty much set in their ways. They all smoke... a lot (since they don't work and stay at home all day). All they do all day is sit around at home, smoke, and watch TV... which is cool... if it wasn't going to start the problem we have now. It's basically a frat house for old people with nowhere else to go. Cool. Now that I've explained their situation, let me explain ours.

Touching on the smoking thing... they literally use whatever money the have for things to smoke (cigarettes, black and mild, illegal smokables ... etc). Unfortunately, there seems to be some kind of leak in the ventilation systems, so all of their smoke (second hand) comes into our home. This means all of our clothes smell like we've been hanging at the Hard Rock Hotel. Febreeze has worked wonders for us, but you can't febreeze books (and now when I sell them on Amazon, I can't list it from a smoke free home). You wouldn't think that second had could make that much of a difference, but over time, it does! On top of that, the second hand has been affecting our health. I haven't had asthma since I was 7, but now keep an allergy inhaler in the house because the smoke is a trigger. I haven't had to use it since I take antihistamines, which is a blessing, but we are still concerned for our overall health (and you all know the damages that can be done with 2nd hand). Our neighbors try to smoke outside, but somehow, the smoke still manages to make its way into our home. Fine. We dealt with it... but wait! There's more :)

Our neighbors do not like to be clean. They will sweep, but when it comes to bugs, they do not care. They keep their sliding glass door wide open all day and night. You can imagine what kind of things come in. Roaches. All varieties... german, american, mini, big, baby, adult... RIDICULOUS! So, those roaches, like the cigarette smoke, make their way into our home via connected plumbing and through our ventilation leak. How did we narrow it down to plumbing and ventilation? We literally re-caulked all the floors in our entire home like 3 times.. changed out our carpeting to wood flooring, and foamed around literally all plumbing. Thomas even caulked all the outlets in the house. Turns out roaches CAN swim, and can also hold their breath for about 40 minutes (good to know). So, now we have roaches (as of May, 2010). Gross. We try to be very clean (and those of you who have been to our house can agree... we are clean) and keep things like this out. Roaches carry nasty diseases.... diseases we don't want. The problem got out of hand, so we called an exterminator. After a few visits, the roach appearances dwindled, but still happened. Lets flash forward to December.

In December, 2010, we bought our first Christmas tree. We found something that looked like a tick on the wall, and it was full of blood. I thought to myself, "Oh, this must be a tick that came with the tree by accident... that's okay". WRONG. Turns out, my neighbors now have BEDBUGS. Like the roaches and the smoke, the bedbugs learned how to make their way into our house. Well, guess what happened. Our neighbors finally decided to fog their house (without telling us). After they did this (on Dec. 23), they left their front door open so that all the roaches and bedbugs in their house could run outside. They decided to come into our house through tiny cracks in our weather stripping in the front door. Needless to say, Christmas eve and Christmas day were sleepless nights. We ended up using painters tape around the front door so that nothing could come in. They still made their way in through the ventilation leak. So, here's the runaround... We have 2nd hand smoke, roaches, and bed bugs. Gross. We have not had guests at our house for many months, fearing what friends could take home with them. Since then, we have had to wake up and go to bed 30 minutes earlier than usual so that we can inspect clothing and the bed for bedbugs (they like to travel). In the craziness of this all, we've lost two sets of bedsheets. The first were set on fire (by accident while checking the mattress... funny story) and the second were infested with bedbugs after not checking for 2 nights.

Now we are pretty much up to speed to present day. To date, we have spent money on the floor, recaulking, extermination for roaches, and extermination for bedbugs (850 bucks per treatment man... crazy). Our neighbors agreed to exterminate for bedbugs the same day as us so that it wouldn't be a recurring problem (and they were threatened by the association to be evicted if they didn't). Well, they didn't and we did. That means we just wasted 850 bucks. The neighbor said they wanted new estimates for prices, but they could have told us that when we gave them notice 2 weeks earlier. Our exterminator went in the neighbors house and came out doing what looked like the mexican hat dance. He said their floor was moving. Literally, moving. They still haven't exterminated. The association found out that they can't evict our neighbors because the owner of the unit has not been completely foreclosed on yet. Simply stated, the owner is being foreclosed on and is collecting money from the tenants and just pocketing it without paying her mortgage. Why would she evict them? Especially now that her unit is destroyed. We called the department of health. Turns out you cannot use the Department of Health unless you file a legal claim against the neighbors first. Crap.

So here we are. My husband has decided to short sale our house because of the health hazards that we are under. Therefore, we are now moving in to my parent's house. The pros: no more bedbugs, roaches, smoke, or neighbors. The cons: if the investor who owns our mortgage is not merciful (with our short sale price and possible lump sum to get out) with our situation, Thomas's credit will be hurt...badly. That means it will be hard for him to get a job and hard for us to buy a new home when we're ready. Other cons: we are being driven out of our home by tenants... lol. When does that happen?! This is all craziness. Everything is a work in progress, and we are living one day at a time now. We will be moving some of our clothes to my parents house this weekend to start the process.

Here's where you come in. Please pray for us. A lot. Like a lot a lot. We need prayer. Patience, wisdom, and understanding. That's all we ask. Don't feel sorry for us. Things like this happen to people all the time (or so I hear). Pray that we can get out with minimal damage and that some day (hopefully sooner than later) we can find a permanent home. We've more or less have had positive attitudes throughout this situation, which is a divine blessing. That's pretty much it. Thanks for reading. Hope to be blogging more from now on so that I don't have to bombard you with a wicked long blog!

Happy Birthday Blog!

Song: Fidelity

Artist: Regina Spektor

So, in light of it being my blogs belated birthday, I decided to return to the blogging world and give writing another shot. I've been putting off writing for months now. Similar to a friend of mine, I didn't have time to write. Then things started happening that I wanted to write about, but hadn't written so long that I wanted to catch up.... so I just never did. And here I am! So, to bring you up to par... like any diet that has ever been done, I succeeded in the short term, but failed epically in the long run. Of course we all diet and re-diet and cheat and what not, so that's of no concern. However, when it comes to my mental diet, I enjoyed an Epic Win. I have grown a lot over the past few months. My marriage, friendships, and kinship has changed drastically with my adoption of a "we may never see each other again" attitude. Even in the stupid things and the people I see all the time, I kinda enjoyed them more believing that it may be the last (even though it's probably not). On another note, I did not get in to FIU Nursing school. Long story... upon complaining, I found out that they're not even sure why I didn't get in. I was super depressed for a bit, but I didn't realize that there was a different window of opportunity being opened. To shorten it, I was invited to a better program (Physician Assistant) and am currently pursuing my career! That is pretty much all that is new. Until I start my program, I'm working in 2 clinics and dissecting cadavers for my anatomy teacher (that is a whole other story in itself). I am totally enjoying my time off and getting ready for what God had planned for me all along. That's pretty much all I've got to say for now. Until next blog, here is a list of things I never wrote about but will mention briefly:

-Got a job at Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza

-Threw a killer surprise party for my husband

-Went through a painstaking process of getting into nursing school (only to hear that I was never rejected in the first place...wtf? communication fail.)

-Applied for PA school... I pretty much have my seat saved. YAY!

-Enjoyed a fantastic 22nd bday eating EVERYTHING... literally ate all my favorite foods. yum!

-Quit my job @ Anthony's (May-December, not a bad run!)

-Went to Hawaii (amazing)

-Saw a lot of really cool people get engaged.

That is pretty much all... I think...

Half Way There...

Song: Livin on a Prayer

Artist: Bon Jovi

So, I've been on my detox diet for 15 days now. To say the least, it has been.... interesting. It has been pretty hard to follow the rules since no one else in my family is on the same diet. So far, here is what I have encountered:

Day 1: Amanda and my Mom agree to follow the diet. Awesome!

Day 2: Tom agrees to follow my diet. Awesome! Dinner time comes. We eat healthy food. He says, "I want cereal and milk for dessert". Cool! Problem: both the cereal and milk were expired. Tom's solution: eating a dove ice cream bar. FAIL. Those are my favorite! I kinda died inside.

Day 3: Dinner at Houstons for Rey's final family get together. Hot fudge brownie sundae for dessert. =( I passed. So did Thomas, for my sake. I am so grateful.

Day 4: Lauren's Shower. Tiramisu? A big no-no. I'm not a fan, but anything looks good when you're hungry.

Day 5: Mom and Dad invite Tom and I out to lunch at FIVE GUYS BURGERS AND FRIES. We went. They ate. Mom's diet: FAIL. I ended up eating a small quiznos sub. Torture. I'm not even sure how anyone could resist the smell of those fresh cut fries and real burgers. Night time comes... Rey's going away party. Ate a grilled cheeseburger, no bun. That wasn't so bad.

Day 6: Mom and Dad invite Tom and I to Chilis. I look at my restaurant app on my ipod, see that everything has sat. fats and are super fattening.... decide not to eat. I had mozzarella and baked corn chips for dinner that evening. BLAH

Day 7: Caffeine headaches stop. THANK GOD! Life without soda/coffee is totally possible. Later, Amanda calls and finally breaks down and tells me she cheated on her diet. I wont tell you what she ate, but to say the least, I was SUPER JEALOUS. lol. Love her still though, and she is as determined as I. She's doing really well!

Days 8-15: More or less effortless. I think the first week killed all the cravings. I still wish I could eat a french fry here or there, but hey.... I'm better off without it.

Although the beginning was hard, I'm starting to see results already! I've lost 6 pounds, and my belly is near-flat. Bikini-ready body is almost here, and I couldn't be more happy. I broke my no-soda rule yesterday by drinking a can of caffeine-free ginger ale since I ate some bad shrimp, but besides that, I think I'm getting the hang of this!  Anyway... That's about it for now. Finals are next week and I need to prepare. Lets hope things go smoothly. 

Happy birthday today to Becca, Genevie, Joanna, and Sammie!

Project Detox Has Arrived!

So, it's finally here! Project Detox.... a personalized, self-created program made to help encourage healthy habits in my spiritual, emotional, and physical life. I've really wanted to clean up my act lately but have been having trouble with my lack of accountability. As a result, I've come up with project detox, cleaning up all aspects of my life at the same time in a public manner. What helps is that it takes around 21 days to condition the body and mind in a manner that you can make something "habitual" (whatever it may be). So, for the next 30 days, here are the aspects of my life I'd like to improve:

First off... the very basic PHYSICAL aspect. I want to change my diet. Currently, I consume some form of fast food at least once a week, eat something fried with almost every meal, and drink something loaded with sugar about once every other day. To say the least, at this rate, I'm going to ruin my body in a matter of no time. The plan? Going to an extreme. While some people think, extremes don't work, they drive you insane, etc., I think that I'm just going to this extreme to develop new good habits (and doesn't mean that I will eat like this for the rest of my life). For the next thirty days, I'm going to try and follow these 10 commandments to benefit my body:

1. eliminate refined sugars (candy, ice cream, etc) and eat more natural ones (fruits/veggies)

2. stay away from fried foods (they make you bloat and also crave more fatty foods)

3. not drink soda or juice from concentrate (only fresh squeezed, no sugar added)

4. drink a ton of water

5. cook the majority of my meals at home (where I can control what is used for "flavor") 

6. not eat heavy carbs after lunch, and try to replace them with complex carbs

7. stay away from caffeine (which is super addicting)

8. supplement my losses with multivitamins 

9. stay away from super fatty foods or condiments 

10. NO FAST FOOD.

Now, I am a reasonable person. I know that a normal person could not live without breaking these rules every once in a while.... and I'm okay with that (as long as it's after these 30 days). I'm just trying to train myself to eat better, and make the things listed in the commandments more of a rarity than a commonality. The benefits will be tremendous, I'm sure. Fried foods, refined sugars, and anything listed above, generally participates in the development of "the pouch" (you all know what I'm talking about) and excess fat that no one wants. I will also be exercising daily (hopefully) for at LEAST 15 minutes. My focus will be cardio since I want to lose fat and tone muscle. My goal? I want a flat belly and firm thighs. I think that's reasonable!

Next, my spiritual life. Well, first off, I need structure. I am going to make sure I do my quiet time with God. I tend to get off track when I don't do it every day. I think that making the challenge public, however, will help me make it a real habit. I'm also going to try and do my marriage devotional with Tom every day since our relationship with God is just as important. This is not where it ends though. I think the reason I am so annoyed with some people is because they carry some of the same traits as I do. I become especially annoyed with them when they carry the same spiritual deficiency. When someone is mean, I for some reason feel the urge to be mean to that person (irony). So, for the next month, expect some blog updates with how I'm going to rid myself of these deficiencies: attitude (positive would be nice), laziness, jealousy, greed, honesty (or lack thereof), and friendliness (it counts when you represent something bigger than you).  The only way to fix these things is to confront them head on... even if it means apologizing to some people I rarely speak to. Pray for me. It's not going to be easy.

Finally, I just want to come out of this as an all around better me. I want to train myself to do these things and make them habitual. Like my brother always told me, "If you're not growing, you're dying". I want to grow, and I want to be everything I was intended to be. So, this is just a challenge, baby steps, in order to reach a  what seems to be out of reach goal. I think I can do it.... but I still need all the support I can get. Day one was a great success, but I've just begun. We'll see what happens from now to April 30th.

PROJECT DETOX COMING SOON....

Song: Everybody's changing

Artist: Keane

Project Detox is a thirty day challenge I invented to encourage a physical, emotional, and spiritual cleansing in order to enjoy true freedom from life's toxicities. Day one is April 1, 2009 (no, not an april fools joke). Expect to see more soon! =)

Finally! Some Free Time!!!!

Song: Take Me Out

Artist: Franz Ferdinand

So, It's been 1.17 months since I've blogged. It was definitely a crazy January, to say the least. Where do I start!?! How about New Years. Seems like a good way to start this blog today. Of course all of these instances will be random, and most things that happened this month will be left out due to lack of blogging/time.

New Years Eve: What a hilarious way to end a great 2008. Good food, good friends, fun times... everything went flawlessly that evening until a little after the strike of 12. A friend of ours decided to play with the fireworks and light a whole package of bottle rockets (still in the plastic wrapper, setting the wrapper that holds the fuses together on fire). I wasn't outside at that exact moment. In fact, I was inside the house making fun of how boys love to play with fire (or just people in general for that matter... I like fire too.). Amanda and I walk towards the kitchen and suddenly see in the darkness of the back yard bright lights, people ducking and dropping to the floor, and fireworks exploding around eye level. Suddenly I heard screaming, and Tati rushed into the house, bleeding in the general area of her mouth. It looked like one popped in her face. Wonderful. I quickly took her to the kitchen and commenced the "cleaning of the wound" technique. FUNNNN! She was scared, poor thing. Thank God it just cut her lip, and nothing more serious than that. As soon as I finished there, I went to the back yard to see what happened. Apparently a couple of rockets fired at my hubby as well. His was a little more humorous though. A couple hit his chest and arm, and he thought he might be on fire, so he jumped in the pool (with what I now dub the "statue of liberty" pose, since one arm was straight in the air out of the pool trying to salvage his iPhone... it worked). He walked out of that situation, thankfully, with just some singed hair, a 1st degree burn on his arm, a ruined shirt (my favorite, actually), and wet clothes. No Big. I know this is old news... but I will enjoy reminiscing when i read this blog X weeks/years from now. 

After all of this went down, things generally went back to the way they were before. I started school, Tom went back to work, so on and so forth. Ana, Lauren's mom, had a great idea to give me an internship like job at the Good News Care Center down in homestead. What a blessing! I work now every Friday, and am loving every moment of it. I get to draw blood, give shots, and take vitals! WOO! I also get to see and experience some interesting sicknesses/patients. Love that job! This, among other things, has been the source of my time consumption! School has been crazy. Today I took a really tough exam for my microbiology class. What a life ruiner! I have had my face in a book for so long, I almost forgot how to enjoy my spare time! Luckily, I've had a friend to cheer me up when I was tired of school and wanting to just drop dead. 

Some more random but awesome things that have happened this month:

We found out that my Nanu (grandma) does NOT need chemotherapy, and that hormone therapy will suffice! THANK GOD!

My dad had surgery on this lump he had behind his ear, and he is looking better by the minute. A day after his surgery he was already up and running (which I did not recommend, but its how me feels better I guess). Woo!!!

The Spiegels inherited 5 glorious puppies from their dogs Honey and Louis! They are adorable, and are all healthy and adorable. 

Becca, my maid-of-honor, started public high school mid-semester and is loving every minute! So very happy for her! She looks so much happier now too!

My mom and I have been able to spend a little more time together since Tom and my dad have been attending a Bible study every Monday night. I do love spending time with my mom. So glad we have an "appointment" every week. 

My brother has been battling the crappiest weather ever in Kentucky. I feel terrible for him. I wish I could send him a palm tree and a loaf of cuban bread. Fortunately, the school snow days are over and classes are back in session! 

Lots of random awesomeness! Now I just want to be TAKEN OUT! away from the house, the computer screen, books, notes, everything. I can't wait to get out. 1 more day till the weekend! =D