And the word of the day is.....

You guessed it, ibfhiptp! So, I've always found it strange and annoying that word verifications are never actually words. This one was extra bad and was therefore the inspiration for the entry you are now reading.

I first encountered the non-word word verification on Ticketmaster... Theirs are almost worse because they are closer to real words so you start to wonder if maybe your eyes are just really messed up. My favorite feature though is that they are often times so distorted or have so many criss-crosses on top of them that even if they are real words you may not be able to read them.

Well, just so ya know.. I added word verification because my comment wall was getting spammed (no idea how or why someone would set up that program). So I apologize if ever you are forced to type in ibfhiptp in order to voice your opinion on this site. Just know that I understand the struggle it is and appreciate the words so much more :)

** Side note~ Blogger spell check went crazy on "ibfhiptp"

Wedding Weirdness - Part 3

When I sat down to write this, I wanted to use this title--> "Registries.. the art of asking for things you don't want." But I decided to continue the wedding weirdness series instead. Now, registries aren't weird in the sense that I didn't know what they were or how they worked, but I have discovered the very weird underbelly of said registries.

Nate and I did our first registry at Crate and Barrel and it was SO MUCH FUN! We had a great time and picked out things we really liked and felt good about. Then yesterday we went to Bed Bath and Beyond to register. Within 3 minutes of entering the incredibly frantic and disorganized kitchen gadget section, I was stressed out. By 30 minutes in, we both wanted to shoot ourselves. I really REALLY dislike that store! So you may be asking yourself, "Self, why did she register there if she doesn't like it?" Well, they have a good return policy. We had heard from someone that Target (where I really wanted to register because I love love love it there) wouldn't let you return anything without a gift receipt. After leaving BB&B in a fog, we had to go by Target to buy toiletries anyway and decided to ask for ourselves. Well, turns out that anything you don't have a receipt for can be returned for store credit as long as it is on your registry. ARG!!! Independent research is always the way to go on these things.

Nate is awesome... here is why. He agrees about preferring Target so we are going to go register there soon. I sprang this on him as we walked out of BB&B after spending 1-2 hours registering there. And he doesn't mind this at all.. you rock babe :) We will leave a few things on the BB&B registry that we like better than what we find at Target.

Ok, here is where the surrealness set in for me. You are supposed to register for at least 1 item per invite you send out (actually a lot more since some items are 5 dollars and people like selection anyhow). Well, for us that means a MINIMUM of 225 items. So far we have approximately 150 items... not bad actually. But that is counting all of the multiples separately... I seriously doubt people will be buying us only one napkin ring :) If you take out all the multiples (for the less expensive items) we only have about 100 items... yikes! We haven't hit the ceiling yet (we need to add some more stuff to Target seeing as how all that is on there now is stuff I added last night on the internet...can't wait to go in :) but we have a lot of things we are already happy with. The question is... when do you start asking for things you don't want just to bulk up a registry? Also, why isn't there a way to mark what you really REALLY want on your registry? That way people would buy it first :)

I'll stop for now, but I will leave you with this.... Whenever our registries are done and a shower approaches, please follow these easy guidelines-
*Off the registry is fine, but please no BB&B gift cards.... I've been scarred and feel that being made to go back in there might have undesirable results :)
*Go to Crate and Barrel first... me likey.... a lot
*This has nothing to do with shopping, but Target is so better than BB&B.....we walked in and I smiled. Cute stuff, actually organization.. I'm home :)

Trans Texas Mess

This is an article about a project that I worked on for several months. I find it disturbing. I had no idea when I started that my chosen profession had so much opposition from the general public (This is the case on many projects, not just this one) and I certainly never thought I would face the types of open hostility from the public that I have seen since my arrival here. I won't tell you my thoughts on this article (I signed a legal document that prevents me from speaking about this project) but you should read it if you have the time. It brings up the question, What do we truly need? and How much are we willing to sacrafice to get it? or even maybe Whose needs are more important.. city or country people?


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/4135183.html

Your personal message manager and you: A guide to not losing it

Ok, so my company has something called a personal message manager that captures messages it thinks might be spam but it's not sure so it wants you to check for yourself. Not a bad idea really, but here are my issues with it...

1) I will be sending emails back and forth to someone and it will just randomly decide that in email three they are trying to help me refinance something or sell me low cost prescription drugs so it will block the email.
2) When it captures said email it does not notify you until the next morning so you are left to wonder what is taking that person so long to respond.
3) It sends you an email EVERY DAY until you go in and look at the email and see if you want it or not. This is not a huge deal except that it is annoying to come back after the weekend and have three emails that want you to check this one email that it wouldn't send through because it didn't want to clog up your inbox.... is the irony apparent?
4) It has never captured a spam email for me... EVER. It is always emails from people I know and have written to / received emails from in the past. It held a client's email this weekend... that can be bad.

In short, the personal message manager must die.. thank you :)

Ode to the anonymous poster

I was going to write you a poem, but frankly...it stank :) I read your comments, they make me laugh. I wonder, "Who is this person? Do I know them? Have they just happened upon my blog? Is this the same secretive person? Are there more than one?" So many questions, so few answers. Who are you, my little anonymous friend? Will I ever know? I suppose that when all is said and done that a comment without a name is still better than no comment at all :)

Where is the love?

I'm really feeling the lack of comments ya'll :( For this reason, I have posted pictures of my ridiculously cute niece to cheer me up :)

Work related delusions

Ok, maybe I'm crazy.... ok, I AM crazy, but maybe this is crazy.... I was working on a project along I-45 and I was using some background aerials to help me create a diagram of the highway between 59 and Beltway 8.

As I was faithfully plodding along, something caught my attention from the right side of the screen... there was a section of aerials that reminded me of a sock monkey face (picture attached for those less familiar with the sock monkey). I looked at it and I just kept thinking..."yup, sock monkey face". If I squinted just right and let me eyes go out of focus then it looked EXACTLY like said sock monkey.

After a moment of contemplation on this fact, I decided it was definitely time to go home..... Whenever sock monkeys start to appear to you in aerial photographs, it's time to go home and sleep.. or something :)

Wedding Weirdness - Part 2

Ok, so I have been looking at flowers over the past couple of weeks and frankly, I've been appalled. I cannot BELIEVE how much money these people charge for flowers!! How do they sleep at night?! Perhaps one of the most annoying things is that I went to the same place that my sister in law got her flowers 2 years ago and instead of $40 for a bridal bouquet, it's now $95-$150. She spent $23 on each bridesmaid bouquet which now range from $50-$75. The boutenniere and corsage prices have doubled and tripled respectively. The saddest part? Some of that price differencial can be attributed to price rising over time, but most of it is that they charge that much more at the Houston store than at the San Antonio one.

For those of you who didn't know, Houston is one of the most expensive cities in the US in which to have your wedding. Surprised? ME TOO!! Logically I don't get it. The only guess I have is that they see the huge market and as long as everybody overcharges, we have no option but to pay it. Well... I am taking an option. My mom, Nate's mom and I are making the bridesmaid bouquets, boutonnieres, and corsages ourselves. I will still get my bouquet made cause... well... I'm not that talented :) So :P to the floral industry... I refuse to pay $15 for a boutonniere or $25 for a corsage. I refuse to pay $50 each for 7 bridesmaid bouquets that I can make for $120 total.

Oh, another weirdness.... so Nate and I have had floral appointments, cake tastings, etc this week and tell me if you think this is awkward. We will be sitting there with the consultant and they will say, oh I want to show you something and they will get up and leave. Nate and I look at each other with the clear question, "Are we supposed to follow?". They didn't say, "I want to show you something, come look at this." or "I want to show you something, I'll be right back." Over the course of the weekend, we didn't follow the cake lady... awkward, maybe we should have..... We followed the Florist...awkward again, we end up standing uncomfortably behind her and we still don't think this is the right decision. Oh what to do... what to do?

Side note to- "The other side of me"

I will still post about said wedding... I will still talk about it (happily :).

The other side of me.....

Ok, so I have been avoiding posting so as not to go off about something in particular that I've been struggling with recently. My small group last night helped me realize that it's ok to let it out.... you can therefore blame them if any of the following bothers you :)

Ever since Nate and I got engaged, almost every single conversation I have had with somebody starts with either "Ok, tell me the WHOLE story!!" or "How are the wedding plans??". I am sooooo the wrong personality to deal with that! I am more than an engaged person... I'm still me. I still have struggles, I have other things going on in my life. I love that people are excited for me, i'm excited too... but I can't let this wedding be my whole life. It is a HUGE part of it right now, that is unavoidable and I am enjoying it in a lot of ways. Here is where the problems lie~

-I love that you care, but PLEASE ask me anything else before you ask me about the plans. I don't mind talking about them, but not all the time and not as the very first thing I am approached about every single time someone talks to me.... When it is all that is talked about, it begins to give you the feeling that the only thing that makes you worthwhile is the wedding.

-I know this may disappoint some people, but I cannot be the bouncing off the wall giddy bride. It wasn't my personality before I got engaged and it still isn't. Please know that I am excited... very excited :)... but I may not be able to show it in the way a bride "should". If you want to see a giddy bride, look here... She is adorable about it :)

I feel like I am failing to live up to some societal standard of behavior for engaged girls, it's frustrating :P If you have looked at the link above, I agree with Erin.... It is hard to be engaged. Your single friends begin to put distance (even if only slightly) and you don't belong with the marrieds yet. It inspires a sort of identity crisis.... Who am I? I'm not truly a single, nor am I a married... it's tough. God has been showing me through this that I can't put my identity in my marital status (or lack thereof :) I can only put my identity in Him. I am a child of God, an adopted daughter. Ok, breathing now :)

I'm sick

I am on my third day of sick leave..... this is getting old :(