2012
Well as this year begins and I have the day off, I decided to write a few things about the upcoming 2012. I have seen so many posts of people excited about what 2012 brings... I myself am scared half to death. 2012 brings with it answers to so many questions that started in 2011. Last year when I left Special Olympics I decided to pursue two routes. Teaching and Physical Therapy. Both required more schooling. I could not apply to PTA school until Spring of 2012 and even that did not guarantee that I would be accepted. I could immediately apply for a teacher cert program but that did not guarantee that there would be a teaching position available when I finished. The biggest question that continues to haunt me it seems is "What will I be doing with my life"?
Will I become a teacher?
- January 11th marks the day that I will begin student teaching at Lemm Elementary in Klein ISD. I will be rocking it hard as a PE teacher. I love kids, I love sports, I love the thought of getting off at 3:30 and spending the rest of the evening with my husband! However, once my semester is over will there be an Elementary PE position available for me to take? Because honestly, as much as I love to coach, I refuse to be a traveling coach. I have already spent the last 2 1/2 years not getting to spend time with my hubby and I don't like it!
Will I become a pta (physical therapist assistant)?
- I have been working as a therapy assistant for the past 6 months. I have absolutely loved working with people and their ailments. I have learned so much and then remembered even more from my time at A&M. "Pre- Physical Therapy" was actually my degree plan there and I am just now using it. When I started college I wanted to be a PT - I feel like this path is bringing me full circle all these years later. Becoming a PTA however means 2 more years in school.
Will we buy a house?
- Matt and I are so tired of living in our, what has become, tiny little apartment. We have definitely outgrown the one bedroom living and poor Daisy, I know, is tired of not getting to run around in her own yard. Seriously just this morning she didn't get to go potty because the dang garbage truck was out and it scared her so she ran back inside. But buying a house means commitment and I am most certainly afraid of that!
Will Matt get that promotion?
- We have been so blessed by Matt's move to Target. He has been promoted several times just within this first year of being back in the red. His store managers have been very adamant about him practicing for interview questions and moving up quickly. There is even a regional manager that visits the store periodically and mentions high hopes for Matt. If/when he gets the promotion, will that be enough to support a new home and me going back to school?
Will I get a new car?
- I think that has been on the top of the question list for a long time! hahahahahaha. And the only answer is....we'll see. The Honda has been pretty good to me for the last 10 years and 250+ thousand miles. The bumps in the road have always been fixable so until the day that they aren't, I think we'll hold on for the ride.
Wow, so many big questions that I know 2012 will have the answers to. My only goal is to be patient and wait for God to bring them to me. Which can honestly sometimes be very difficult to do. "Be still and know that I am God". I am reminded of this verse right now because I am so often not just still. This semester is going to be very straining - I will be student teaching, working part time at HealthSource, leading a fitness class for the first time in my life, observing PT hours for my school applications, and taking online classes both for PTA school and for my Teacher cert. What have I just gotten myself into??? Writing all that down seriously just freaked me out a little. "Be still and know that I am God". I never really have resolutions... but I feel as though this one is a must. I must make time to spend sitting still with God.
Bring on 2012!!!!
Photo Book
Just added our New York City photo book. I was in a rush to finish it tonight as today was my last day for 50% off. Those only come around ever so often and I was pretty anxious to get my book so if you see any misspellings or pages that you could do better.... don't tell me! :) Hope y'all like it!
NYC!!!!
So many stories to tell, and so little time to do it - or should I say motivation? lol. I find it harder and harder to take the time to blog about our adventures these days. Mostly because I'm too busy being a bum.
Anywho, Matt and I went to New York over Labor Day and had a blast. We got to see so many of the iconic New York sites and experience the New York scenes. We took lots of pictures which are below. I'm also really excited about finding letters of New York to spell our last name. I can't wait to create some collages and possibly even a canvas print or two of some of our pictures. So, since I'm not really in the writing mood, here is a quick overview of our trip.
Thursday - got outta dodge! Matt and I met a really sweet older couple waiting for the plane to board. Their son graduated from A&M so we bonded! :) We got into town and into our very first taxi. They actually had a taxi line at the airport so you just walked outside, stood in line, and then hop in. Once in, we were off to see Jena and Brandan!! We also got to enjoy the awesomeness of delivery - we had pizza waiting for us when we got to their apartment and had milkshakes probably close to midnight! Quality!
Friday - took a little rousing to get us all out of bed and dressed for the day. We started our mid-morning by heading to a local bakery. mmmm were their blueberry muffins delicious! Then we all took a walk to The Met. Brandan had to go to work so the rest of us spent a few hours at the museum. There were so many neat things to see... and of course, me not always finding an appreciation for museums did not bring my good camera. So, just got some ipod snapshots. One of the neat things about The Met is that they had an Egyptian exhibit. They actually had a part of a real pyramid - way cool! And we had fun watching the guard tell people "Don't touch" in an extremely booming voice. Another thing that I enjoyed was seeing the different facial expressions on the sarcophagi. One had a huge grin and another had some pretty crappy artwork done. Hmm... I wonder if it was money related or personality related. After the museum, Matt and I went off to a late, romantic lunch. YUM! I tried mussels for the first time. Oh my. I was quite worried about it, but after one I couldn't stop. They were in the best cream sauce with bacon. After lunch we went back to the apartment for yet another milkshake. For dinner, we all went down to the corner BBQ joint with desert from a cupcake shop. Another big YUM. I really think majority of our trip was defined by food.
Saturday - Up and at em for another busy day! A quick bite to eat from respective coffee shops and then we were off to the Natural History Museum. On our way to the museum, we walked around part of Central Park. Apparently this thing is HUGE and all manmade. It was so beautiful outside... green, no humidity, cool weather. Boy, a girl could get used to that. The museum was really neat. We got to see the dinosaur exhibit, the African mammal exhibit, and a solar system exhibit? Can't really remember what the name of the last one was, just remember learning about the size of the planets and galaxies in respect to the sun. Overall, lots of neat things to see. After the museum, we snagged a subway down to the heart of the city.. at least what I would consider the heat... Times Square. There were so many people! It was seriously like the whole town of Buna was in this one area. We again took lots of pictures. (Thanks Jena!) After roaming around Times Square for a bit we headed toward Rockefeller Center. Here we visited the Lego store, saw the array of flags, had some yummy steak sandwiches, and then went to the Top of The Rock. This would have been absolutely beautiful at sunrise/sunset, however extremely crowded. We were about 30 minutes away from sunset and could barely find a spot to take pictures. After the Rock we headed to FAO Schwartz and got to see an actual "Big Piano" show. That was pretty cool. I'll see if I can put a video or two on here along with the pictures. Next we headed back to Times Square for the "night" scene, via Grand Central Station, and then back home for yet another milkshake. Yup.. that was a pretty dangerous trick they showed us.
Sunday - Matt and I were on our own this morning. I was a little nervous at first. We had to get down to the subway all on our own and then back off the subway at the correct destination. After picking up breakfast and missing our first subway due to uncertainty, we headed toward the Statue of Liberty. We got in line, listened to a funny Jamaican singer (he made up a song about different tourists), went through airport security, in another line, and then on the ferry to stand in another line to get to the top. This ferry was horrible! I was so incredibly unstable and got pretty sick heading to Liberty Island. Once we got off we tootled around the island and got lots of pictures of Lady Liberty. We also got to go up into the pedestal which was pretty much its own little museum. After Liberty Island we passed by Ellis Island and then back to New York City. After we got off, we went by Wall Street, the "Bull", and Ground Zero. Not much to see at Ground Zero except construction signs and fences. Next was gourmet sandwiches for lunch, a little bit of shopping, and then back home to pack up. The plane ride home was fun just because I got to see some old friends from Special Olympics. I tell you, growing up in Buna I have this disorder in which I'm always looking for someone I know. Who would have actually thought that I would have found somebody for real! hahaha.
A big big thank you to Brandan and Jena for housing us and showing us around for the whole weekend. We have most certainly come to enjoy our Labor Day weekends with y'all and can't wait for the next one! As for everyone else, I'm sorry that I have kept you all going for so long. Here I thought I wasn't in the mood to write and have written an entire essay. Hope you enjoy the pictures!
Learning Curve
As always, it has been some time since I've last posted. Things are going great. I have started my new job and love getting to work hands on with patients. I am essentially running the rehab floor for our chiropractic clients. We see all kinds of people: traditional low back pain, car accidents, workers comp, elderly, youth, and everyone in between. I am known as quite a little slave driver amongst the patients - they get excited when I let them skip some exercises. But most of them really give it their best in trying to get better. Matt is still doing really well at Target. He just got a new boss and turns out it is someone we know from Camp Ozark. Talk about a small world! Upper management seems to have high hopes for him in the near future so we'll see how that turns out.
In other news, can I just say how much I love having weekends off. I found myself extremely busy through most of June, but then July slowed down quite a bit. I have gotten to see so many friends and even spend a lot of time doing NOTHING! I watched the entire series (4 seasons) of Ugly Betty in just a few weeks. I sometimes had to fight Matt for the Wii remote to see who got to pick the evening's tv show. This past weekend, I've found myself blowing through the seasons of Flashpoint. Pretty good stuff this Netflix. lol. I have also finally found time in my downtime to work on some pictures. Ever since becoming a photographer for Camp Ozark, I have caught myself essentially finding a picture everywhere. Now whether I actually have my camera or think to take the picture is another story. But, I would most certainly like to find more time to do that. I have also been trying to learn how to edit pictures better. Matt the wonderful got me a photoshop version for Christmas and I have yet to really learn how to use it. I also got an array of Mac products so I'm learning how to play around on iPhoto as well. I took pictures for a friend back in February and I felt so bad that I made myself learn iPhoto last night. So, I am debuting the photographs tonight. Please please please let me know what you think and for my photog friends out there who are experts at editing, let me know what I can do to make things better or what programs you have found success with. I am definitely not planning on starting a business, at least not any time soon, but I do want to be able to take and produce outstanding pictures for friends.
You can view these photos below in the Featured Albums section.
Milestones
We talked about death this morning at church. I know, I know, that's a pretty grim first sentence. However, the bigger part of the sermon for me, was grief. We have so many things in our lives to be grieved about: loss of a family member or friend, not enough money to pay the bills, not enough time to spend with your family, tough boss to deal with, etc. We were reminded of the stages of grief, and I have to say, lately, I find myself in the anger/depression stage. I know that everyone gets depressed over some things in their life at some point. However, the anger stage has seldom ever reared its head at me. I have become angry towards people, angry towards the hours that I work, and angry at myself for being so lazy when I have time off. I tell you, it is not a pretty picture. And poor Matt has to take most of the brunt of it. (Sorry Matt!) With that said, Bro. Greg talked about milestones this morning. We need to have FAITH in our milestones, the loss of family, loss of jobs, loss of income, loss of time. God is putting us through these milestones for a reason. His ultimate goal is HIS glory, not changes in my circumstances. What glory am I bringing to God by being angry all the time? I believe it is for that reason that He has changed my circumstances.
These next two weeks will be my last with Special Olympics Texas as a staff member. God has provided me with an amazing opportunity to work as a Therapy Assistant at HealthSource, a clinic that provides chiropractic and physical therapy services. I will be digging deep into all that suppressed Aggie knowledge that is my undergrad degree in order to carry out the treatment plans for each of our patients. :) I also plan to take this experience and further my education by gaining my license as a Certified Physical Therapy Assistant. It has most certainly not been an easy decision to leave Special Olympics, but I take great joy in knowing that I am simply changing roles. I will continue to work as a volunteer, both with my Marbridge athletes in Austin and at competitions here in Houston when I have the time.
I am so excited to see where this change brings me. I will have more time to see my husband, more time to finally make my way through all the recipes given to me at my wedding shower, more time to take pictures and revel in the images that I can capture, more time to dig into the Lord's word and learn His truths for my life, more time to spend with friends and family. I will have. more. time. Heck, I may even start blogging more! hahahaha. All in all, we are stepping out, in faith, on a new path. These past few weeks have really taught me so much about life's journey. That is all that our earthly lives are.... a journey. We make decisions and take jobs and move to different cities as part of that journey. We learn and we grow and we become better people as part of that journey. I am willing and ready to see where this new path leads us on our journey. Thank you all for being such a big part of our lives and finding us no matter what path we may be on. This is my next milestone!
Italy
I've finally completed the photo book of Italy!! It is extrememly long so pack your patience as you go through it. "Italy" can be found in the section Photo Books on the left side of this page.
And I know that it is sometimes very hard to see the words. So, you can find each city's stories by visiting our former blog, The Italian Honeymooners, found below at Favorite Sites.
The Bahston Triathalon
Lobstah, Chowdah, Beeyah
**Disclaimer: Before I get too far into this post, please know that I am apparently not in the most creative writing mood.. so this update may be a bit scattered and boring. I apologize in advance! **
Matt and I had the absolute joy of visiting some friends of ours in Boston last week for Labor Day. It was our last big vacation before my busy work season starts back up. So we hopped a plane for Massachusettes on Wednesday afternoon and arrived around 5:30. Our first mission: food! Our wonderful hosts for the weekend, Jena and Brandan Still, took us down to a local Italian resturaunt. This place only fronts as a resturaunts but is really a pasta warehouse. The owner makes and sells pasta, but he loves to cook so much that he decided to put up a few tables in the front of the warehouse to create a wonderful dining experience. The food was absolutely amazing!! Once we finished, we headed back to the Still residence and checked on Earl... yes, Hurricane Earl. Before we left Houston, it seemed to be fine. Once we arrived in Boston, it looked like it was coming straight for us - most definitely though toward Cape Cod, which is where Jena works.
Thursday morning we wake up, expecting, almost hoping that there would be an evacuation called for Cape Cod. There was not. So Matt and I decided to head down to the Cape with Jena. She was absolutely wonderful in that she allowed us the full use of her vehicle while she was working for the day. We were on strict orders to be no more than 30 minutes from Jena, just in case an evacuation order was issued. So Matt and I drove around for a bit, trying to find our bearings. We finally found them in a little town called Hyannis. We started by doing some oh so familiar Bed Bath and Beyond shopping, along with a few other shops that were within walking distance. Afterward, we found nearby Starbucks - it was time for second breakfast and we just knew a coffee and muffin would do the trick! So we hung out in the Barnes and Noble that housed the Starbucks for a while. I actually found and purchased a book! Who would have thought, that I would be the one to get a book. I'm so proud of myself... now I just have to motivate myself enough to read it. haha!! After B&N we found our way to Ocean Avenue. All that we knew was that we wanted to have lunch on the bay, so we googled some places and found that Ocean Ave was the place to be. On our way, we found Main Street and 2 hour free parking (our other options were anywhere from $2 an hour to $17 for the day - we opted for 2 hours for free). So we got out and walked the streets. They had some of the cutest shops and tons of souveniers. That is where the Title and first line from this blog came from. It is truly the epitome of Boston on a t-shirt. We loved it, but only took it as a memory. There were so many things that I wanted to bring back for people, but we decided to be strong and get nothing! lol. Main Street also housed the JFK Library and Town Sqaure. After Main Street we made our way down to Ocean Ave for lunch on the water at Spanky's Clams. I thoroughly enjoyed my bowl of lobster mac-n-cheese and Matt devoured his fresh clam chowder. Both our meals were absolutely delicious and the view was simply amazing. Next we went down to the park (more free parking) and were able to get out and sit on the beach. The breeze was so nice... thank you Hurricane Earl. It was incredible to sit on the ocean and not be covered in salty nastiness.... this was a real breeze!! Finally we hopped in the car and headed back for Jena. Overall there was no evacuation called for the Cape. Once we got back into Boston, we picked up Brandan and headed for dinner at the local Cajun/Mexican place. Chips and hot sauce, jambalaya and fajitas! yum, yum!!
Friday we got to sleep in, wahoo!! Once Matt and I got up, we just spent the day reminiscing with Jena... well I guess I spent the day reminiscing while Matt sat and listened to us trade stories about growing up in Buna and where everyone is now. We actually busted out the yearbook so that we could catch up on everyone. It was really a lot of fun to learn the different sides to our stories. For example we were both in the same 2nd grade class, but our memories from that year are so different. Lunch that day was Panera Bread, once again, yum. Once Brandan got home that evening we spent more time just hanging out, playing board games, and eating some more good food. We actually had a heck of a time ordering our food! I called in to a local pub and ordered our food in my good o' Buna, TX accent! The guy was almost laughing without letting me know he was laughing at me. He even corrected me when I ordered the boiled (pronounced bowled) seafood platter... do you mean the broiled (prounced with the actual oil sound) seafood platter.. I just said yes.
Saturday we all got up together and headed into the great city of Bahston. I got to experience my first ride of Public Transit. Wow - I do not think that I could ride a subway into work everyday. I just couldn't find a good place to be without getting sick. If I was staring out the side window, the scenery was moving to fast so that didn't work. And dont even get me started on standing! That was not fun. Anywho, we made it to Cambridge first. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a sandwich shop and then toured Harvard. It was such a beautiful campus. It was really neat to see the differences between such a small campus compared to life at A&M. I loved hearing about their graduation ceremonies. Next we hopped back on the T and walked the streets of Boston. Here we got to see parts of the Freedom Trail. There were people dressed up in colonial costumes all over the place. We didn't really get any good pictures of them though. :( I do have to say that I was very impressed with the bums in this city. They actually work hard for their money, by holding open doors, selling hand picked flowers, and even selling a newspaper called Spare Change. Huge difference from those in Texas that I have become so familiar with.. and definitely not like Goose Creek for those Buna folk. After the Freedom Trail, we to the T once again out to Wonderland. This was another beach. Once again... beautiful and no salty nastiness. Oh and I forgot to mention that Hurricane Earl decided to break hard right and did not hit us. Catastrophe averted. For dinner, we boarded "The Ship" and Matt and I enjoyed some D-licious lobstah, er lobster.
Sunday was our last day in the Greater Boston area and boy was it just as exciting as the rest. We enjoyed a yummy $30 breakfast. And when I say $30, that was the total price for all 4 of us... and it wasn't McDonalds. It was that good, wholesome, greasy, homemade breakfast. Once completely stuffed, we made our way to Salem, yup, home of the witches! I can't even tell you how many times I probably said "witches" in an absolutely crazy voice and thought it was funny every time I did it. I had some definite witch fever. Once again we found some of that awesome 2 hour free parking, and began to walk the streets. Lots of shops and a really neat main street that was made of stones. Kinda hard to walk on, and certainly no driving, but neat none the less. Our first stop was the Witch Museum. We made it just in time for the show. I'm telling you it was like watching The Crucible but in manicans! They had scenes set up around this room and then each would light up when the narrator was talking about it. I believe it was John Proctor that reminded me so much of my mom. It was said that when his slave girl started the whole possesion mambo jambo, he took her over his knee and spanked her. And that is exactly what Karen Mullins would have done should any body from our town started babbling on about being possesed and accusing people of being a witch. Well, he died for his brave actions. lol. So sorry, John Proctor. After the show, we toured the gift shop and then got a nice history lesson on witches. We learned that witches are people too and they are not as bad as the stories have made them out to be. Way to go witches *said in the horribly annoying voice I created for that word for the day*. After the exhilarating witch museum we strolled the streets, visited a few shops, and then headed back to the car. This sadly was marking the end of our vacation.
We got back to the house and packed a few last things, reminisced just a bit more, and made our final journey to the airport. The flight actually got back 30 minutes early which was really nice. One sad piece of information that we did find out was that Continental will no longer be serving food for free on their flights in the "near future". Who knows what near future really means, but it made me sad. First no free checked baggage, now no more free delicious chicken burrito enchilada things. What is this world coming to?? So Jena and Brandan, make sure y'all check that next time you fly. Hate for y'all to be disappointed when no food is served. But we made it home, safe and sound, and completely exhausted. Good thing Monday was Labor Day and I was able to do absolutely nothing and enjoy a relaxing last day of my vacation. Hope you all enjoy the pictures in the Featured Album section. And I truly hope that this blog made some sense. And pardon the spellings, I can't remember if this thing has spell check or not! hahaha. Thank you to Jena and Brandan for a wonderful time. Y'all were the best hosts!! Can't wait for our next venture to New York!!
Adventureland
What an exciting adventure I had this past weekend. It was the annual Buna Girls Trip with Jo Lynn, Amy, Carla, and Ginny. We started our adventure by meeting up Saturday night at the hotel here in Houston. We all got dolled up and headed out the door to The Melting Pot. I absolutely love this place and eating dinner is a show! We all gathered around the table and our two fondue pots and gorged ourselves quite contently. We enjoyed various cheeses, salads, meats, cooking styles, and even chocolates! I have to say, passion fruit white chocolate is a pretty yummy way to go.
After dinner, we took a trip to CVS. After a conversation about dying hair, I mentioned that I have wanted to dye part of my hair blue for quite some time. But of course, like many other things, I have never really been quite brave enough for it. However, that changed on Saturday night. I believe it was Carla and Amy who spotted the box of Splat! Blue hair color. It was time to make the decision - do I really want blue hair? I held the box in my hands for a walk around the store and finally plopped it on the counter for purchase. The point of no return. :)
We got back to the hotel, opened the box, and started reading through the instructions. Nobody foresaw that it would take 1 1/2 hours for this process. But we hunkered down and thanks to our resident hair guru, Ginny, we began. Ginny parted my hair and got it to a size in which everyone agreed would be a good amount to be blue. THen she put on the bleach and we sat, and sat, and sat, and sat.... 50 minutes worth of sitting. Once that was up, I got in the shower and rinsed. Boy was it weird seeing blonde hair in the shower. Then to get out and see myself in the mirror - blonde hair down, brown hair in a bun, traces of lipstick and eye liner - it was NOT a pretty sight. Everyone also agreed that I do not look good as a blonde! :)
Then it was on with the blue. Apply generously is what the box said. So Ginny did. Then some more sitting, this time only 30 minutes though. So I decided to lean against the tv dresser for some back relief. I made extra sure that my hair was not touching the cabinet. I thought it was going great until someone made the comment about getting blue on the dresser. I confidently leaned forward to show everyone that I had not leaned my head back and then to all of our surprise there was a long blue streak down the cabinet where blue was on the towel! Oh my!! Jo and I scrubbed the cabinet but to no avail. Carla quickly began googling remedies for getting hair color off of furniture and we decided we would get a magic eraser at CVS the next morning. Jo and I ended up with blue all over, her hands, my face and neck. We discovered that shout wipes take it off of skin pretty well. lol.
So it was time to wash the blue out. We were all thinking that it would take maybe about 10-20 minutes to wash all the excess color out... oh were we all so wrong. After a discussion about minimizing the blue splatter, I laid in the bath tub and put my hair under the faucet. Suddenly blue was rushing through the tub and all over my body. I picked up my hand to readjust and discovered a dark dark blue hand that did not rinse so well. What had I done?? I switched hands and the same thing for the other, then I saw nice dark blue finger prints on the bottom of the tub! Oh my goodness. I could only think of one thing to do... stand up before I turn into a smurf! I turned the shower on with the curtain pulled back so as to not get blue on the brilliantly white curtain. Now blue was splattering out of the shower onto the floor and towels - quick, is it better to have the shower curtain or the floors, towels, toilet, walls blue? I decided curtain. I pulled it and then spent the next hour trying to get blue out of my hair and off of my body. Everytime I would wash my hair with shampoo, my hands would come back stained dark blue. When I thought my hair was running clear I would begin scrubbing my hands. By the time they got better (just stained pale blue), my hair would be dripping blue water on my shoulders. It was a never ending process! All in all, shower time was over an hour.
Instructions next stated that I would need to completely dry my hair. Since I did not want to get blue on the towels, I tried to squeeze as much excess water out of my hair in the stained blue tub and then had to go straight to blow drying. Boy did that take forever! But the good news is that while I was in the shower, the girls discovered that hair spray takes hair dye off of furniture! Success! By the time I was completely finished around 2:30, Jo was really the only one awake enough. We spent about 30 more minutes talking and trying to arrange a stain free bed for me. Luckily our extra blankets were dark blue. I was able to use one as a bed and pillow cover and the other as an actual blanket. No blue residue!
The next morning we all go up way too early. Jo and I went to CVS to pick up a few cleaning supplies while the other girls got ready and had breakfast. We got back, tried our best to clean the tub and the curtain and then got ready ourselves. Our next stop was First Baptist Houston. We had an amazing morning of worship through music and through the sermon. We talked about wisdom in relationships and how to be honorable to the people that we come in contact with. And I totally had to take back this little piece of humor - they say girls marry the men that are most like their dad; thats why so many moms cry at the weddings! lol.
After church we all went back to Ginny's apartment for a quick change. It was soooo hot on Sunday! We were all drenched in sweat, and our transportation, the honda, just wasn't pumping out enough air for that many people. Once we changed, it was all out fun. We headed over for lunch and games at Dave and Busters. Yummy food and tons of fun. We played trivia games, ski ball, bball, and lots of spin the wheel/track the light type games. Jo even got a jackpot, 500 tickets. Next we took a trip over to Ikea. Coolest. Place. Ever. I think that is one of those places that if you start buying something you just may never stop.
After Ikea we headed over to Uptown Park to enjoy some cupcakes at Crave Cupcake. Hopefully I'll get this all right... Ginny - Orange Cranberry, Amy - Chocolate Peanut Butter, Carla - Chocolate with Vanilla, Jo - Vanilla with Chocolate, and me - Strawberry. Yum, Yum, Yum! And because there was absolutely no seating and lots of people there we walked down to Starbucks to get a drink and find a table. Well who would have thought that there would not have been a table over there either. Carla quickly scoped out a table in the shade outside. So for the next coupld of hours we just all sat around outside enjoying our cupcakes, drinks, and great conversation.
All in all, Girls Trip 2010, was wonderful. I cannot wait for 2011 to come around. And I've got the joy of planning this one, so its sure to have lots of adventure. :) Thanks ladies for a great weekend! And you can all check out my blue hair in the Featured Albums section. Until next time - and hopefully I will get back into more regularly updated blogs.
Revelations
Tonight I had a revelation. A flood of emotions for some reason has just overcome me in such a manner that I could not sleep. Here it is 1:30 in the morning, and I am writing thoughts... which I guess is the whole reason for a blog - an outlet to tell the whole world the things that keep you up at night. :)
For most of my teenage and adult life, I have been a pretty sick puppy. I remember in high school having allergy testing done, which proved to be, well pointless. No major allergies for me. Since then its been just a part of life for me to not feel well. I also remember in college being able to go to the doctor anytime I needed to get out of a test because to unfamiliar people, I could pass as a "sicky". (Shhhh... this has been a well kept secret since my freshman year).
Matt and I went to a dinner party tonight and from the moment we got into the car I have not felt well.
How about a little side note history about my husband and I. When we began dating
and spending much more time with each other I have always "felt bad". For months I
swear he thought I was lying because it never really proved to be anything. I would
just always go to sleep and feel better in the morning. I really think I jumped for joy
the first time I actually threw up after saying that I felt bad. lol. So he has had to
deal with me saying that phrase for several years now.
So back to the story. We came home and I took some pepto and layed down on the couch. We chilled out for a while and finally decided to watch a movie. When that ended we both got up and I immediately started feeling bad again. Once we got into bed I felt very nauseated.. then something happened.... my revelation. My throat really started to burn and I had a thought.
- "Matt, do you think I might have acid reflux? Does your stomach hurt when you have that stuff?"
Matt answered with a simple, yeah maybe, and the brain started the overwhelming flood of questions and thoughts. So much so that I just had to google it on my phone. I finally got to some interesting facts:
- 3/4ths of symptoms occur at night
- dyspepsia which can be caused by GERD has symptoms including chronic nausea, over fullness, and pain in the upper abdomen
- symptom of acid reflux is regurgitation often referred to with the phrase "I just threw up in my mouth"
- bad breath is also a symptom of acid reflux
- foods that could make symptoms worse include: fatty, spicy foods, tomatoes, chocolate, caffeine, and citrus foods (almost all of which were consumed tonight with starbucks iced vanilla chai latte, apples, 7 layer dip, lasagna, and salad with vinegerette dressing)
- hiccups that dont let up (could this really be what that crazy hiccup of mine is???)
All of these symptoms are things that I regularly experience. I am on the upside of 2-3 times a week feeling sick at night with chronic nausea and regurgitation. I also feel like I constantly have bad breath and after eating am typically full to the point of needing to throw up. I always have a really loud, very big hiccup, several times a day. Always wondered what that is about! So what is the next step? Now that it is 2 am and I am not feeling any better even with my second dose of pepto, I am planning to venture on to some treatment options. Should I visit the doctor to get this checked out or just head over to walmart and get some pepcid ac or something like that? I almost am feeling extremely excited about this self diagnosis because if I am right, that means that I can find a way to not feel so bad anymore. I can be a normal person!!
Now I'm not really sure how much of this recent discovery goes back to my high school days of always feeling like poo or even through college. But I feel as though this really does explain a lot of what I have been feeling over the past few years which has progressively gotten worse. I think really the only thing that made me think of it tonight was because my throat is burning so much - not typically a symptom of mine.
Welp, I guess it is time to digress and move on to finding treatments. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions for this stuff, please let me know. I'm all ears!
We made it!!
"Yeah! You made it! To me, the first year is the hardest. Remember - always act like you love each other - even when you don't 'feel' it".
Matt and I celebrated our first anniversary yesterday. It is still so hard to believe that it has already been a year since our big day! It was actually very exciting last night to open our time capsule and begin ready everyone's predictions for our first year of marriage. The quote above was probably the one that I most connected to. It is tough stuff being married. When you get mad or just don't feel like being around that person anymore, you can't just break up and move on to the next relationship. Just doesn't work that way. Instead, you have to push through the fight or the just plain don't feel like it and find a way to love each other even more. You are in it for the long run.
We are still finding those little things that annoy us, still discovering how to make up after a fight, still struggling with the age old whose right, but still falling in love. Last week at church we heard a sermon about deceptions of love. The pastor kept saying it is so much better to love someone than to be in love with someone. According to research, the "in love" feeling caused by a chemical reaction in the brain stops producing after about a year. Boy is that true. Every once in a while you will find that feeling, but it is not an every single moment of every single day type of feeling anymore. We are finding out why it is better to love than be in love. Yes, being in love feels amazing but loving someone no matter what is a constant reminder of how Christ loves us. It is an everlasting love, one that will not fade away. There are no hidden agendas or secrets, it is pure. No matter what other thoughts or actions may take place, Matt and I will always come back to each other. "Have at least 3 fights that will make you question your choice in life partner, and then quickly be reminded of how much you love him/her" (another time capsule thought).
One of the other quotes that made me laugh is this... "In one year you could be rich, poor, still in school, still have your silver civic, be pregnant, be burned out, locked out of the house and breaking a bathroom window to get back in, or you could be just like you were today when you woke up... except married. Always keep track of your keys! Life lesson there!" Matt and I talk about this all the time... we do not feel any different now than we did when we were dating. It is almost weird.. and something that I'm trying to process through. Growing up you always picture being married and being something so different you can't even imagine. But its not. Its just life. And I'm glad that Matt and I had life before we got married. Its so nice to know that nothing has changed us, even that crazy thing called marriage!
We did also receive 5 predictions of babies... um, WRONG! hahaha. We've got to get this whole husband and wife thing worked out before we can take on the challenge of family. A couple predicted both of us with jobs... well you barely got that one! For those of you who do not know, Matt was just hired last week as a sales representative at IBC bank. I am still working hard with Special Olympics. I absolutely love my job. It is very hard... and I think that is one of the challenges of being married and growing up. We almost spend more time apart then we do together. I am so thankful that Matt is passionate about what I do and that he spends his spare time with me loading our trucks at the warehouse, setting up events, helping run the events, and even spending our anniversary unloading all the equipment back at the warehouse. I have myself a pretty special man.
Our anniversary wasn't anything too special. We slept in which was AWESOME! (Probably the best part of the day). Then off to the warehouse to unload. We got home around 2:30 and then promptly went back to sleep for a long nap. Once we got up, we got ready and headed over to the Melting Pot in The Woodlands. Such a romantic place. Somehow we got off much cheaper than I was expecting. Then back home for some cake and predictions. Jena - maybe you should use the money you would spend on shipping to go to a bakery and have a cupcake! hahahaha! The cake was okay, but it certainly was not fresh. Who came up with that tradition anyway???
Enjoy some of our pictures in Featured Albums of our big night out!
New pictures
March was such an amazing month. Matt and I had the wonderful opportunity to take part in our friends Nicole and Bobby's, wedding. They are such an amazing couple and have a great relationship. It has definitely been an experience watching their relationship grow. Next door in the Featured Albums section are lots and lots of pictures from their wedding. Matt and I both had our hands on the camera. Just as a warning.. there are lots of pictures. And these are the final cuts! haha!
I hope to get more updates on here soon. Lots and lots happening in Houston :)
December already??
I cannot believe how fast time has truly flown by over the past few months. Sorry I haven't updated since October! There has been so much that has happened, yet it feels like nothing. Work has been insane as usual. We have been here, there, and everywhere. But it still keeps putting a smile on my face.
I will try to put up a few albums as well as this post. A few weeks ago, we had a party for my grandparents' (Toler side) 50th Wedding Anniversary. Simply amazing! It was a beautiful reception with lots of friends and families.
Matt and I have also had a great time together with the start of winter. We have definitely been putting our fireplace to good use! Almost every night over the past week or so we have pulled out the couch, started a fire, and enjoyed a warm night's sleep! We also went Christmas shopping! I have never had so much fun shopping before. We found so many great things to transform our home. We got our first stockings, with matching couch pillow and table runner. We also got a Merry Christmas sign and wreath to hang above the fireplace. Hopefully I will get some pictures taken of our decorations and post them up soon as well. And I'm pretty excited to have some decorations that were given to us by my grandma Toler. It will be so nice to have those previous generations evident in our home for the next one. Now all we have to do is find a topper for our tree. We just can't decide on what to get... angel, star, bow? Tough choices!
And of course, it wouldn't be Christmas without a little bit of snow. Well I guess I have to take that back... for us here in Texas it almost wouldn't be Christmas with the snow! haha. But Matt and I got to briefly enjoy a "Winter Storm", as the weather channel was calling it, on Friday. I say only briefly because we were working the Houston Area Special Olympics Bowling Tournament and only got to go outside for a moment. However we did take the opportunity to have a friend take some pictures of us huddled in the falling snow. As soon as I get that shot back from her, I'll be sure to post. Man, I've got a lot of things that I need to remember to post on here. You'll all have to remind me!
Well, I guess I am off to do some house cleaning. With as busy as we have been lately, the apartment has a resemblance to my college dorm room! And that includes having absolutely no clothes to wear. (Wow those were the good o' days). Plus we will both be out of town for the next few weeks. I will be heading to Austin for an all-staff conference for work. Then Matt will be out with his family camping in Bastrop for a week before I can join. Then its off to Mexico with my fam!!! December is going to be a busy month! :)
Oh and a quick shout out to my Dad for getting 1st prize lemons a few weeks ago at the Southeast Texas Fair. (Can't remember exactly what it is called but I'm super proud of him and those yummy lemons).
Finally Time
After a long month, I finally have time to sit and update on our lives! This has absolutely been a whirlwind of a month. If it is any ?? into my life at work, I did not even see my 30 day goals until after I had already hit my 30 days of employment with Special Olympics. Pretty crazy to say the least. And now that I actually have the time, I just do not even know where to start. So forgive me if this seems a bit disjointed. So I think the easiest thing to do is go through my calendar and only touch base on the weekends! I'm hoping to post a picture with this blog that shows everything!
9/12 - Lennar
This is a class for our athletes that teaches them life skills and how to get a job and be a good employee. We had a great breakfast and then learned about post office skills. Then I got to actually conduct an interview with a couple of athletes. It was so nice to be on the other side of the table. haha.
9/16 - 9/17 - Off to Austin for New Employee Orientation
I got to spend two very long days at the Chapter Office learning about what exactly our organization is all about. I also got to meet our President and CEO, which was pretty cool. We also met the other staff that are housed in the Chapter Office.
9/18 - 9/20 - College Station to babysit the Toler kids
Matt and I spent the weekend watching Nick, Rachel, and Jack. Scott and Angie went off on an African safari! All their stories have made Matt and I want to go there all the more now. haha!
9/26 - Regional Bocce Tournament
This was my first event as an SOTX employee. I was the staff in charge of this event so a lot fell on me. We started the day bright and early at 6 AM! (UGH) First we had to unload the truck with all the equipment, then we worked on setting up the Bocce courts (12 ft by 60 ft, pretty large indeed). Once we got set up it was time to get the coaches meeting underway in which I got to lead knowing pretty much nothing before going into it. Yikes! Then we had our opening cermonies and the start of the games. We had a successful day all in all. We ended early, had very few problems, got cleaned up and reloaded and then unloaded again back at the warehouse.
10/1 - 40th Anniversary Celebration
Dinner event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of SOTX!!! (Very late night)
10/3 - Area Aquatics Meet
Not the lead on this event, thank goodness. I offered the support role and ran and got lunches, ice, more timers, etc. I stayed in the background and started cleaning up whenever the event started ending while Renee (my boss) dealt with some much bigger issues. This was a tough day, but it thankfully ended on a good note.
10/5 - Regional Golf Tournament
Once again, I was back in charge. This was such a fun day. There was very little set up to do and thankfully we were able to do most of it on Sunday afternoon. The golf course was wonderful! We had a great support staff who truly took care of everything. We were a little nervous at first because it rained nonstop the day before and the morning of the event. But even though the course was a bit wet, our athletes did a great job. I even got to be on the news! haha. I'm a movie star. Even though I didn't get a chance to see what I said, I'm sure I was a total rock star. :) Matt and I both even made a great contact at the course. Hopefully I'll get my clubs up to Houston soon and we can go for a round ourselves.
10/10 - Area Softball Tournament
Back to being the support system! Softball was such a wonderful event because of the great volunteers we had in charge. They ran everything so smoothly. Total success. We even got to meet Cat Osterman (Olympic Softball Gold and Silver Medalist on Team USA). She was doing a clinic on the fields next to ours and graciously came over to help us out with opening cermonies.
*Even though I did not mention most of my weeks, just know that they were full of meetings and travel. Each Friday we load equipment. At least once a week we have an evening meeting. And then of course I get that every day at the office stuff too.
And that leads us to today. Renee and I met out at the warehouse (45 minute drive from my house and work) to drop off the truck full of softball equipment, then drove out to a school in the area to do a presentation, then back to the warehouse to unload, then to Martha's Kitchen to drop off left over food, then off to another company to drop off tables and chairs. Finally because traffic going back to the office was so terrible, Renee sent me home to a nice evening with my husband. Who all the while has been manning the fort here at the apartment.
Yes, Matt has been enjoying the sweet life of house-man. He is doing the cooking and cleaning and decorating! haha. And anyone who knows Matt, knows that our house is completely decked out for fall/Halloween. He has even been so wonderful as to come to all of the events with me. Its almost the only time we get to spend a whole day together. Sad. We have also found a wonderful church in the area. First Baptist, Houston. I'm so excited because Grett Matte is the pastor. He led the amazing Bible Study at A&M called Breakaway. Its a church that really just hits home for both Matt and I.
Well thats about all the updating I've got. I am absolutely loving my job and Matt is having a blast being a bum, holding down the fort, and taking care of Daisy. Now that we are in Houston we want to hang out with everyone that is here. So definitely give us a call. We should be getting a few free weekends in November/December. We need socialization before we go crazy!!!
Attachments:
In the fire
Today I was "thrown in the fire" to say the least. Special Olympics was involved in a career fair at one of the schools where we saw almost 1000 students! Going into the day I just figured it was any normal career fair in which I would stand around and pass out flyers and then go home. It was so much more.
I was actually joined by one of our athletes, Katherine, and her mom, Kim. Aside from having the typical table in a room full of others, we particpated in break out sessions. Students were preassigned to come to our session and listen to our spill for 25 minutes. I had no clue what I was going to talk about. it was not just about Special Olympics but it was also about choosing a career in the non profit world and service organizations.
I had such an amazing time. I talked about the desire and passion that one must have in order to do non profit work. Then of course made our plug about needing to volunteer with something before you choose to commit and SOTX love volunteers. ha! Katherine then spoke about what she does as a SO athlete and what she enjoys about the volunteers and SO. Then we had some question and answer time for prizes! Its amazing how interactive people will be whenever a prize is involved. I then wanted to talk about the school path for this type of career. I started by saying that I graduated from A&M in Kinesiology and "does anybody know what kinesiology is?" Um, no, nobody that was there today (and we directly spoke to almost 100 students) knew what kinesiology was. haha! But I also went on to talk about other majors and courses that would be good as well as other non profits orgs. Kim then talked about what being a volunteer has meant to her and how she got started. We made a lot of contacts with these students. Several that wanted to get all their friend involved. Which is amazing!
I think the best part of my day had to be the last session that I was in. There was one guy in the front row who was not paying attention at all. Never made eye contact, head was down or looking around the whole time, and slumped down in his chair. After the session he came up to me and asked how he could get involved and that he had a relative with disabilities and wanted to know how he could become an athlete. How amazing! Someone who I had blown off and not caring, really needed someone to reach out to him about Special Olympics and what we have to offer.
After the students left, the organization that put on the event provided lunch and a presentation for the participants. I had the opportunity to talk to a few people and start my "contact list". Now granted, none of them helping my career in any way, but its always great to have connections in other areas. I even got to talk about Buna and "the cult". hahaha! It was a good lunch. After lunch I was put in contact with one of the speakers. She is a teach by day and dentist by night. She works with a school district that has not been known as the best by any means. Her students have a passion to work with SO but have never been given the opportunity or the contact to get started. She said that they have been given so much in life that they want to use this as a way to give back. We talked about getting so many programs started in their school. This school is going to be such a huge outreach opportunity.
Overall I had such a good day. I met several great people with a heart for helping youth today. The main agenda of the program is to introduce students to career options and then put them in that career to "try it out" and see if it is something that they will enjoy. All about the vision.
Anywho, I have rambled on enough. I'm ready for a nice weekend!!
Welcome home
Well, we did it! We have officially been moved in to our new place for a whole week. I've actually just posted some pictures of our apartment: the before, during, and after phases of the big move. We absolutely love it here. We are living in the Tomball area which is northwest Houston. Not so much traffic but still so much to do here. We actually spent Friday afternoon/evening driving around our area and checking out some of the scenes. We found the most amazing place called Vintage Park. They had live music in the middle of the square. Its meant to be a shopping center but there is still a lot of vacant buildings. Its got an Italian theme, which you all of course, know that we are all about Italy these days! :)
My new job is going great. I started work with Special Olympics Texas here in the Houston area on Monday. Very big shoes to fill I have discovered. I already have lots on my plate. This week I am actually in the office without my boss! Yikes! She is on vacation in Hawaii so I get to learn by that whole trial by fire type situation.. you know, just make up an answer and hope it works out. haha! But I think that working here will really give me a sense of what type of career I can do for the rest of my life. This position is only an entry level one so I dont think anybody expects me to be serving in it forever. But this will give me a great way to meet new contacts and learn from the best. My supervisor has been involved with Special Olympics for 17 years now. I think she may know a think or two. I have already gotten off to a great start and have even had some of my ideas acknowledged and expounded upon. Which is great. I'm also getting a chance to lead tournaments for a few upcoming sports. I really feel like this was the right choice for me, and I am very excited to see how God will be using me.
Matt and Daisy are also settling in here. It took Daisy a few days to get used to all the other dogs and smells around here. In fact there for a little while she wouldn't go to the bathroom. But she's gravy now. We will take her out and let her off the leash where she runs around and plays and does her thing and then when she's ready to come back inside she'll come get us to walk her back to the apartment. Its of course, absolutely adorable. And thank goodness that Matt didn't have a job as well, or we would have never gotten all of our things moved in a set up. He has worked so diligently this week to make sure the house is set up and in working order. He will actually be on the job hunt starting heavy tomorrow. We have several emergency clinics and hospitals very close to us. So be praying for him in this endeavor.
Well I've just finally looked up and realized that I have written a whole lot. Be sure to check out all the pictures of the move. Oh and I suppose you would all like our new address..
The Nyerts!
10110 Charterwood
Apartment F 202
Houston, TX 77070
Flashback Friday
Once again, we have another Flashback. Hope you enjoy!
http://thenyerts.blogspot.com/2009/08/flashback-friday.html
Updates :)
I had one of the most amazing farewell lunches today. "Farewell?", you may ask. Well I'll get to that a little bit later.
Each semester, the supervisors at EdMS (my library job) take out all of the graduating seniors. Today we went to this really cute Italian restaurant called Luigi's. It was so much like being in a little Italian courtyard (and I know, I've been to Italy. haha). Here is a link to check it out for yourself!
http://www.luigispatioristorante.com/Restaurant.aspx
Anywho, I sampled the Fettuccine alla Carbonara. This was one of my favorite dishes in Italy and only got to have in once. Today wasn't quite as good, but it still hit the spot. We also had some bread with an olive/garlic pesto (YUM!) and then topped it all off with cheesecake and chocolate cake. :)
During the meal, Linda will ask what we think needs to change and what we like best about EdMS. Today's discussions were really good, I feel. The last lunch that I had several of us felt that there really did not need to be any changes. And the same pretty much held true today although we had lots of suggestions on how to improve the quality of work of employees. I really hope that what we said has a chance to be carefully thought over and implemented. The library is actually starting to weed out student workers and placing full time staff at the service desks to improve customer service, because apparently across the board, students just dont care and do not provide the type of genuine service that people are looking for. Sad, but ultimately true.
So I'm sure many of you are wondering why I was at this graduation lunch. Haven't I already graduated from college and aren't I already a full time staff at the library. Well yes, and yes. However, it is now time that I move on (again). I recently had the very tough decision of choosing between two job opportunities. One was with a school district in which I would start out as an Inclusion (Special Ed) Aide and then move into a teaching position once I got certified. The other was a Program Associate in the Houston area for Special Olympics Texas. Both positions were great opportunities and to be quite honest, very hard for me to choose between. I spent two weeks in agony trying to decide which was best for me and my family (haha, I'm married now so I have to make those joints decisions - crazy!) and also which was best for me now versus in the future. AGONY!!!
Well I made the hard choice on Monday and then came and broke the news to my boss yesterday, so I can now make it public. I am now officially employed by Special Olympics Texas. I start the new position on August 31st. In the meantime I will finish out my 2 weeks at the library. It is truly a very sad end to such an amazing job. It may not have been the best pay, but I have been here since I started school at A&M. I have learned so much here and have so many great memories. I will also be looking for a place to live in Houston. Not sure if Matt and I will make the move in the next 3 weeks, but we will certainly be looking. The drive is only about an hour (probably 1 1/2 - 2 in Houston traffic) so driving back and forth for a few weeks is not completely out of the question. Although it will probably lead to being miserable after too long.
Nonetheless, I am very excited about starting this new position. I will be doing a lot of outreach in the Houston/Beaumont area as well as implementing new programs/sports in schools, and keeping up with all of the area competitions. It will be a very time consuming, but ultimately a rewarding job.
So if anybody knows of a great place to live around Houston (preferably outskirts - I'm still a country girl at heart), let me know. I think right now, we are interested in getting a short term (3 - 6 month lease) so that we have time to make a more permanent decision later. My office is at 290 and 610. And I guess that is all for now. Next on the agenda is getting Matt a job. ;)
Job
FYI - I got a job interview!!!! YAY!!! I will be heading over to Houston on Thursday to interview with Special Olympics. I am absolutely ecstatic! Be praying!
Flashback Friday
http://thenyerts.blogspot.com/2009/07/flashback-friday.html
Thought this may be the easy way to keep up with both sites. Enjoy!
Photo Book
I am so very excited because I just finished the rough draft of our photo book. For those of you who don't remember, this is the album I've been working on of our wedding pictures. I think this will be it. Look it over and send me any kind of critiques you may have, ie mispelled words, better color schemes, etc.
I cannot wait to get this thing ordered so I can show it off! And of course, you can order a copy straight from this website as well. Or let me know if you are interested and I can order one as well for you in any size, shape, color, or length.
The book is located at the bottom of this page under "Photo Book". :)
Stinky, stinky, stinky...
Hefty, Hefty, Hefty.
It seems as though every time I hear/see that commercial I have to say it. I can't just watch it like a normal person would. And of course each that that I chime in "hefty, hefty, hefty" in a big booming man voice, Matt just chuckles. All he can say in response to why are you laughing at me is "Oh, you".
Anywho, my blog today has nothing to do with hefty bags. It does have something to do with stinky though. I've been sitting at work since noon today. It has been a pretty slow day, partly because it is Sunday and partly because it is a holiday weekend. Everybody has better things to do. But I've been smelling something bad all day. I keep thinking to myself, am I the stinky kid at work? I have been known to be a bit stinky before. I know you are all thinking, no way has Hillary ever been stinky. She's the cleanest person I know! Ha! Well you would all be wrong. (And I know you know that). But I took a shower Friday night and I did absolutely nothing yesterday, so my logic pretty much is, I should not be stinky. So I have been trying to discretely smell myself and I have not been able to pin point the smell...
Until now. I found the culprit. It is the cross between my nasty chacos and my stinky feet. I honestly just do not understand why my feet smell so bad all the time. Does anybody out there have any kind of suggestions for fixing smelly feet problems? I sure would appreciate the advice. And I know that Matt would as well.
Simple annoyances
So recent events have cause me to wander, why are mean people mean? Are they born that way? Is it the way they were raised? Or is it just because people have annoyed the crap out of them for too long?
The reason why this has been on my mind, is because I am worried that I am becoming one of "those people". I consider myself to be really nice, almost too nice sometimes. I pretty much always give in, never have a harsh word to say (to someone's face), and try my best to be constantly encouraging. However, I have been faced with the most annoying person. She has become known as "L" around the office. Yes, I work with her. Every. Single. Day.
*Get ready for my rant. I will do this in bullet points because I have much to say*
-She talks WAY too much
-She talks above people. For instance if someone else is talking she will interrupt and if they do not stop she will continue to talk over them and try to dominate them into submission
-She is lazy. When people come up to the desk she will continue to look away until another worker speaks up and helps the patron
-She is rude. One two separate occasions she has called me stupid and lazy in a "round about way". Stupid came whenever I said I don't like to read and she responded with well you would know more vocabulary if you would read more. Lazy came when I was raving about my new bread maker and she said that bread makers are for lazy people.
-She "knows everything". She continually talks about how she knows more than the average person. Every time someone checks out James Bond she does not stop talking about her intake about Bond and how she likes this guy but not this guy bc this is what Bond is but this one isn't. Geeze!
Every day I spend most of my day just completely annoyed. Amanda S. even sent me a text one day after she saw mine and another employee's interaction with her. She said are you always that mean to her? And she still doesn't get it? This honestly made me feel horrible in a way. I mean on one hand, she is sooooo annoying!! But on the other, it is my Christian duty to love all others in a Christlike manner. Have I become one of those people? Am I turning into a meanie? I have found myself getting annoyed by so many others too. Its almost like she weakens me. Haha. I left work the other day after spending the whole day with her and some girl was humming in the bathroom. Very loudly. And it got on my nerves!!! I wanted to tell her to shut up. Is that bad? Is it normal for me to be so annoyed? Did I just bottle it up for so many years that now it is exploding?
So this is my life right now. Being annoyed every day by the girl that I work with. And on top of her, there is another woman "F" at work that is pretty high up there in the annoyances department. Oh well. Please pray for me that God will calm my annoyed attitudes and make them more accepting and tolerant toward others. Summer is only half over so there is still another 6 weeks that I will be with these people. I truly think only God can help me make it through.
Photo Book
I'm in the process of designing a photo book of the wedding pictures and am having an absolute blast! I was just so excited, I had to write it down. I cannot wait to show everyone. I'm sure it will take a few weeks for me to get it perfect, but when I do, it will be on display below in the "Photo Book" section. Can't wait!!
Welcome, welcome!
We are so excited that you have found our website. We are starting it off right by finally posting some of our AMAZING wedding and honeymoon pictures. If you would like to have any of our pictures for yourself, you can download them or print them directly from this website to a Target store near you!
ENJOY!!!!!
