Blah

I'm sooooooooooooo tired right now :P I had a pretty intense migraine experience last night which resulted in some unpleasant early morning experiences and me not falling asleep until 4:45 am (I started trying at 9:30). Luckily I got in a good 45 minutes before I had to get up for work :P Anyways, I am sure I am going to be a bundle of sunshine for the New Year's festivities tonight but I will try my best to enjoy it.... I might just have to enjoy it closer to 9 pm than 11:59 pm it it is going to be a positive experience. Anyway, that's about all I have for today.... enthralling, isn't it?

YUCK

Soooooooo, I was walking from my car to my office this morning and I needed to spit pretty badly so I stepped over to the grass alongside the walkway. I put my head down quickly to do the deed and just as the rather flemmy spit wad got about 3 feet below me, my lovely scarf whipped around and caught it. EWWWW. I am so grossed out now I can't even tell you. And that's all I have :P

Hooked

So, Christmas was hectic, but a lot of fun :) I didn't exactly feel well rested when I came back to work yesterday and strangely enough the day of work yesterday gave me more rest than I had gotten the entire break :P This was likely my last "fantasy" Christmas for a long time. By that I mean, everyone was here for Christmas and I didn't have to have Christmas morning without my parents or brother or Amy or the kids or any of Nate's family (save Ray). It's going to be really hard for me next year depending how the chips fall... I could easily see a Christmas with just me, Nate and the baby. Since junior won't be old enough to appreciate Christmas yet, I think that scenario would depress me mightily. Well, we all have to grow up eventually.. but couldn't I have a few more years? :P

Anyhoo, part of what Amy and Ben got me this year was a book called Baby Bargains. I had never seen it before but as Amy described it and as I looked through it I came to find that it was basically a Consumer Reports book an all things baby. Things such as bedding and cribs and strollers are given rankings based on other mom's experiences and professional research. It tells you the best place to buy, the pros and cons of each brand, what to include on a registry and in every category, from furniture to clothing to diapers, it tells you ways to save money as well as common money wasting items that you don't need (like a separate cradle, or a baby quilt). It is pretty much AWESOME!! I spent a couple of hours going through it last night and am still totally overwhelmed by the amount of information in there. I can't wait til I have more time to go through it...... hmmmmm, perhaps I will need a package of Post-it flags for that little adventure :)

Growth Chart

It's Wednesday and that means...... time for growth chart! As of today I am 10 weeks along and here is the skinny~

What is happening with your baby?
This is the beginning of the fetal period when your baby's organs continue to grow and mature. The majority of his/her vital organs, kidneys, liver, brain, and lungs are functioning, but will continue to mature throughout the remainder of your pregnancy.
Your baby's head makes up half the length of the body, and there is a bulge in the forehead allowing for brain development. Fingernails, toenails, and hair will begin to become visible this week. The fingers are no longer webbed. The baby is actively swallowing amniotic fluid and kicking his/her legs.

How big is your baby?
Your baby is approximately 2 inches long, about the size of a lime, and weighs about a quarter of an ounce.


So, I am sitting at work today and so far I am the only one in my whole group who is here. It kinda stinks cause I have a deadline on Friday so I am going to be pushing it pretty hard to meet it during the next three days which are not typically or naturally the most productive days of the year. Oh well.... three more days til another Friday :P

Nutcrackin' Good Time

Sooooo, last night I went to the Nutcracker with 11 other girls and it was so much fun! I really miss the girls I used to hang out with in Lighthouse and I cherish the opportunity to spend time with them even if the only conversation time we got was during intermission :P Well, that was not so the case with Jana and I as we got 30 minutes of talk time in the car waiting for the line in the garage to move (next time we park strategically :)

Anyhoo, this afternoon I get to clean every square inch of the condo in anticipation of Nate's family's arrival tomorrow. We are pretty darn lucky this year as Nate's parents and sister are coming to stay with us, my parents are back in Katy and my grandma and my brother's family are staying with them for the next week. Basically we can drive 30 minutes and have both sides of the family together for the holidays. It's so nice to be spared the annoyance of split Christmases.... well, this year at least :)

Here today, gone tomorrow

A guy at work brought in homemade fudge in 5 different flavors yesterday, one of them being Andes mint (YUM!!). I saved myself a piece for today and the janitor took it :( I should have known better though..... they took an unopened bag of Cheetos from Kristin's desk not too long ago. I can't say I wasn't warned :P Oddly enough, they did leave my saltines... hmmmm :P

Growth Chart

Here is where I was last Wednesday~

What is happening with your baby?
Everything that is present in an adult human is now present in the small embryo. The ears are continuing to form externally and internally. The bones are beginning to form, and the muscles can contract. Fingers and toes are webbed but are growing longer.
The facial features continue to mature. The tip of the nose is present and the eyelids are now more developed. The embryonic tail is also disappearing, and your baby's body is beginning to straighten out.
While your baby's gender has already been determined, the external genitals are still forming and cannot be clearly seen. The embryo is at the end of the embryonic period and begins the fetal period.

How big is your baby?
The embryo is about 1 inch long and is approximately the size of a bean.

And here is where I am today~

What is happening with your baby?
While your baby is still extremely small, he/she is now ready for rapid weight gain. The baby is beginning to look more like a little person since the embryonic tail is completely gone by week 9. The eyelids are fully formed, have fused shut, and will open again during week 28.
All the baby's joints such as the knees, elbows, shoulders, ankles, and wrists are working and allowing the baby to move about freely within the amniotic sac. Your baby's heart began beating around day 24, but now his/her heart has divided into four chambers, and the valves are beginning to develop. Your baby can also make a fist, and he/she may begin sucking his/her thumb.

How big is your baby?
Your baby is about the size of a grape, measuring about 1 ½ inches from its head to its rump, and weighs a fraction of an ounce.



So basically one week has taken me from a bean to a grape...... I wonder what kind of grape :)

The world appears to have stopped spinning

I spent the last two days so lightheaded that I could hardly function. It felt like that one time I went crazy and had two amaretto sours in one night :P..... I hated the feeling of having alcohol affect me at all hence why I don't like to drink. Anyhoo, I hate to jinx myself, but it appears to have lessened in intensity today which is good seeing as how it made it almost impossible for me to be at work yesterday as all my thought processes were lost in the swirling sea that was my brain. I'm pretty sure this was my body adjusting to not being on the boat anymore. It's interesting actually~

~When I was on the boat I had no morning sickness, no motion sickness, and generally felt great.

~When I got off the boat at various ports I experienced morning sickness and lightheadedness.

~ When we got off for good, I spent two days (maybe more, we'll see) swimming inside my own head.

Anyhoo, I hope yesterday was it in terms of dizziness since I have cookies to bake, a house to clean, and all of the necessary preparations for Nate's fam coming on Saturday to make. Yikes, could get interesting :P

Pregnancy- The pull to act maternal

Sometimes the blog inspiration fairy leaves you totally empty and you stare at the blogger screen for ten minutes and nothing comes to mind. As a result of this, you get this post.....

I realized something on the cruise that we just took..... as soon as you are pregnant, you feel like you should have maternal feelings towards all children. It's almost like if you get annoyed by a child then you aren't going to be a good mother. After all, shouldn't just being pregnant be enough to make every child you run into a pure joy to be around? There is this feeling like if I am not amused with every child I come across now then I am not "mom material".

An example perhaps....... One of our stops on the cruise required us to take tender boats from the ship to the shore. These get backed up in the morning and so they had us all wait in the theater as our number groups were called to go ashore. I wasn't feeling too well that morning (for those of you who are wondering, I had no motion sickness problems on the boat at all, but I did eat something in Mexico that made me sick the last few days... not too sick though :) and we end up sitting in the row in front of a family with two small boys. The boys spend most of their waiting time leaning up close to my ear and yelling while one of them saw fit to elbow me pretty hard in the back of the head. I know that a good pregnant lady would have the patience of an angel in this circumstance and would turn around and smile at the little dears and ask them their names and ages. But me as the sick pregnant lady just wanted to get on the boat and away from them. I didn't yell at them or shoot them a dirty look.... I just ignored them and waited it out (as I also did with the annoyingly loud 50-something New York woman on my left... see, it's not just kids :P ).

Anyhoo, I was hit by an overwhelming feeling that because I wasn't excited about being hit in the back of my head and yelled at in my ear that I wasn't going to make a good mother. Then I realized something.... those weren't MY kids. Additionally, those weren't kids I cared the least about and they were being truly annoying. I put up with alot more from my niece without getting annoyed because I love her. Also, I usually do find kids I don't know cute as well if I am feeling ok :) Anyways, the point being... it is different when you love the child. Even when they are being truly annoying and everyone at the store or wherever is tired of them, they are yours and you love them. Anyways... just something I wanted to get out :)

Goin' Cruisin'

Nate and I leave tomorrow for our cruise and I am SO PUMPED!!! It really didn't come quickly enough. Although, I'm sure after it's over I'll say that it didn't last long enough :P Anyhoo, this pre-planned vacation brings up a very interesting dilemma...... sea sickness + morning sickness could be VERY interesting :) Because of this, I am bringing something with me on the cruise that I affectionately refer to as my "arsenal". I'm not really one to get sea sick, but I figure it might exacerbate the morning sickness and it's probably wise to at least be prepared. Contained within my arsenal....

~ Saltine crackers... alot of them since they calm my stomach
~ "Preggy pops"- known to combat morning sickness
~ Ginger candy.... hate the taste, but they are worth it if they work
~ A whole bum load of mints- which have proven to calm my stomach instantly
~ Sea sickness acupressure bands- they have also proven to calm my stomach within 5 minutes of putting them on
~ Last, but not least, prescription sea sickness patches from my OB

If you want to have an interesting mental picture, imagine me using all of them at one time :)

Our office building management is serving us a Holiday Breakfast today...... it doesn't appear to matter how old I get, free food will always be the highlight of my day :P

On the other hand, there is something else that could prove to be a good highlight for the day as well. To preface this, there are two groupings of EITs in the public works section of my new office and we sit on opposite sides of the building. If I stand on my tippy toes, I can just barely see over to their side. Well they have this thing where they decorate for every holiday (yes, even things like 4th of July and St. Patricks Day). They don't do THAT good of a job but they are so proud of it because they are the only ones who do it. Well, all that changes today. The two EITs I sit with have wanted to compete with the others, but always felt like the couldn't with just the two of them.

Today..... we build a gingerbread house :) Only this time, we have a light-up candy cane lined hallway leading up to it, we'll have candy on the walls and a slew of cheap stuff we found at Arne's.... this should be good :)

Growth Chart

I thought you guys might be interested in this... it is part of an email that I get every week telling me what is going on in my body and the baby's... I find it fascinating. It definitely makes me wonder how people can justify abortion by saying that the embryo is not a baby until born. In the first couple of weeks, here is what happened....

~ The baby's heart is completely formed and begins to beat a steady rhythm in week 5 (aka, 1 wk after your missed period)
~ The skeleton, lungs, jaw, nose, hands, feet and brain have begun to form

As for the week ending today...

What is happening with your baby?
At this point every essential organ has begun to form in the embryo's tiny body. The hair follicles are forming, and the eyelids and tongue have begun formation. The elbows and toes are more visible as the trunk begins to straighten out.

How big is your baby?
Your baby is approximately ¾ of an inch long by the end of this week and weighs less than an aspirin.

The Time Has Come

I wasn't going to do this today (as you can tell from the lame offering below) but I decided it's time to have a bit of honesty with my blog readers. Well, that and I can't blog what I want to without telling you this and I'm tired of having to search for things to write about when I have such great material waiting in the wings :P So here it goes.... I'm pregnant :) As of tomorrow I will be exactly 7 weeks along. Nate and I are thrilled!! If you are wondering, this was planned and not an oops :) I am due on July 26, 2008 and I will find out at the end of February whether it will be a boy or a girl.

While we are very excited, we are also aware that we are only where we are because of God's blessing and that he may or may not have it in his plan for us to have this child. Soooooo, we would ask for your prayers to mirror ours that if it is God's will that he will allow me to carry the baby to term and deliver a healthy child. By mid January, I will be out of the most dangerous phase for miscarriages and we are just trusting God with the life and health of our child during that time and hopefully 6 months after that.. and years and years after that :)

Countdown til Nate and I go on vacation is now at 4 days but I'm not sure it'll come quickly enough :)

BCS = Big Crack-Smoking fun

Ok, I realize that most of my readership is female (such as it is after my long respite between jobs) but I have to address something about college football that is driving me nuts. Ok, so we all know that the BCS is jacked up right? I mean, it just very rarely turns out that there are two obvious teams at the top that should play in the national championship game. There are either 3-5 teams that "deserve" it, or in the case of this year there aren't any obvious choices.

As for me, I'm thrilled that LSU is in the championship game and I see how the BCS reached the conclusion that they should be included... here is my real beef with the BCS this year..... KANSAS??? REALLY?? Only two teams from any given conference can play in BCS bowls which meant that although Missouri, OU and Kansas are all in the top 10, only two of them could participate in BCS bowls. Well, it should be Missouri and OU then... right?? WRONG!!! The BCS has chosen Kansas over Missouri! Ok, let's review the facts here.....

~ Missouri is ranked #6 currently and Kansas is ranked #8. 1 point to Missouri

~ True, Kansas only lost once during the season but it was a butt whooping administered by Missouri. I say, 1 point to Missouri although many say 1 point to Kansas for only losing once.

~ Missouri beat out Kansas for a spot in the Big 12 championship. 1 point to Missouri

~ True, Missouri lost twice, but both times was to OU (the number 4 team in the country!!! Two points here.... Missouri only lost twice because they played in the Big 12 championship and the only reason that Kansas didn't lose twice was because they didn't get the opportunity to play OU in the regular season and they didn't make it to their own conference championship. I say, 1 point to Missouri.

~ Kansas had a much weaker schedule. They played A&M, Baylor and OK State while Missouri had to go against OU, A&M and Tech. In fact, the only ranked team Kansas beat was K State who was ranked # 24 at that time and has never made it back in the polls since. Point to Missouri.

All this to say that the BCS got it majorly wrong and I can't believe they are holding a loss against OU in the Big 12 championship against Missouri.....it's ridiculous :P

Package acceptance service

In addition to my roles as wife and engineer, I have decided to add the position of person you can send your packages to so that your spouse doesn't see what you got them. For some reason, this week I was contacted multiple times to play this role. I absolutely don't mind doing it at all.... I know how hard it can be to surprise a spouse. If you are single then I want you to step into a married role for a second so you can fully understand the challenges....

~ You live with this person so----> You cannot have things mailed to the house that come in any packaging that might give away the contents.... that's if they don't just see a package on the front door and open in anyway. You also have to forbid your spouse to look in certain closets or enter certain rooms where said goods are being stashed.

~ You more than likely have only one credit card so-----> You must forbid the person to look at the charges until they are no longer on the active statement which may cause you to track your budget that month in creative ways. You may be saying, just use a check! Well, now the banks scan every check you use so that you can remember where you spent money and there will be a copy of the check in the checkbook which you probably share.

Anyhoo, it gets a little hairy. Because of that I am currently open for business as girl who accepts your spouses packages. My current clients include my dad and my next door neighbor.... and I've only been open for a week!

Bubbles

There is a lady I share a cube wall with and someone seriously needs to wash her mouth out with soap. If she cusses one more time today then I may not be able to help myself. Doesn't Zest get you "zestfully clean?".

Sleepy

I'm tired... that's all I've got today. It's gonna be a rough day (at least tomorrow is Friday.... why couldn't that be today?)

Ah, I know.... perhaps a little sales pitch? In case it has been awhile for any of you, I suggest you take a trip to Crate and Barrel. Why? Because it is AWESOME and PRETTY and believe it or not AFFORDABLE. I also suggest you register there when the time comes because of the aforementioned reasons as well as one other one...... I went to the Crate and Barrel outlet in October with my mom and do you know what I saw?? At least half the stuff from my registry exactly one year before at incredible (sometimes 50-75%) discounts. I was glad I hadn't paid for the stuff myself so that I could have no regrets and use the opportunity to get some dish towels I never got off the registry along with a few other things. Anyhoo... that's my sales pitch and it has taken all my energy to write that so I think I'm done now :P

Mmmmmmmmm

All of my Christmas decorations are up and I gotta say, it's coming back to me why I like this time of year so much. The smell of the tree greets me every time I open the door and my light-up stars and icicle lights smile down on people as they walk/ride/drive past our windows. I have happy little berry garlands draped almost anywhere I could (which adds up to 3 places in such a compact condo) The stockings are hung on my makeshift mantle (ie. our side table) and I am ready to go!! It's too bad Christmas is still 4 weeks away :P But hey, I've got numerous parties, a week long cruise and other such things to make the time go by more quickly :) Merry Christmas is four weeks away ya'll ;)

Is it cheating to post pictures of my niece and nephew? Is it better if I just post one of my nephew? The pic below was just too darn cute to pass up plus Evan (who is 6 weeks old) looks 6 months old..... He is a BIG boy!!

How Sweet It Is

Two years in a row, TWO YEARS IN A ROW...... when was the last time the Aggie football team could say that they had beaten Texas two years in a row? Well, I would tell you the answer to that, but it is surprisingly difficult to find that stat on the Internet. Anyways, it's been awhile.... let's just put it that way. Friday's victory was a beautiful sight to behold. A game where A&M dominated the entirety of the match-up and nobody can argue that they got lucky or didn't deserve to win. It felt good.... It felt REALLY good. It was also sorely needed to cheer my dad up after LSU dropped their chance at another championship this year. Anyhoo, I suppose all I really want to say is GIG EM AGGIES!!!

Example

Further proof that the Thanksgiving gods are smiling (see post below if confused)

YAY!

Ok peeps... it appears that Thanksgiving gods have smiled upon me today and Blogger is working at my office!! I have NO IDEA how that works, but I'm not going to question the motives of the Thanksgiving gods! Their other specialties, in case you were wondering, are making traffic freakishly light in the morning, removing 50% of the cars in office parking lots, and causing mere mortals to gain 10 pounds in one weekend. They are quite amazing truly :P

Wow, my posts have been SO LAME recently. I apologize for the lameness and choose to blame it on the fact that I am simply not as creative at 9pm as I am at 7 am... maybe I AM a morning person after all. Hmmmmm. Anyhoo, to try to make up for the lameness and perhaps as a sort of offering to appease the Thanksgiving gods and not have them regret their decision to grant me blog access, I offer a personal confession.... I am scared to drink out of Nalgene bottles. It's true, they scare the mess outta me. Every time I see one I think, "Wow, I want to be cool like that girl and carry around a Nalgene everywhere I go." Then I think about drinking from one and receive the instant mental picture of me spilling liquid all over myself. Now, I'm not someone prone to clumsiness or spills, but I do recognize one fundamental truth: Nalgene bottle have very large openings and my mouth is midget sized. This, my friends, is an equation for disaster.

So, closing thoughts........ Have a great Thanksgiving. And remember; Drink (from Nalgenes) Responsibly.

So You Think You Can Dance

Nate and I went to the So You Think You Can Dance tour a few days ago with Tim and Kim and it was AWESOME! Well, let me qualify that, what I could see was awesome. We got floor seats and at first I thought we were golden, but then the shortish girl sitting in front of me decided she could see better if she sat on her foot and added some extra padding. Welllllll, her doing that made her literally 7 inches taller and blocked my view of the entire center of the stage. I spent the whole first half of the show straining to see around her and hoping for the dancers to prefer the left side of the stage.

Luckily for me, there was nobody sitting behind me or Nate so I didn't have to feel guilty about sitting on both of our jackets in order to see the show :) Anyhoo, the show was AMAZING and the dancers were so cool to watch. I wish I could move that way :)

BRRRR

OH MY GOSH, I am SOOOOOOOO cold right now!! It's amazing how pitifully thin blooded I am. I am a Texan through and through in that when the temperature goes below 60, I am grabbing for my jacket and putting on my thick socks :)

At the same time, the cold weather really makes me feel like the holidays are coming. I love the smell of cold (as long as I don't have to feel it too :) Of course it'll be back to 80 degrees before you know it. Anyhoo, happy cold front day ya'll :)

Project Runway

As I type this I am watching the season premier of Project Runway. I discovered this Bravo show by way of one of their many Saturday marathons. I gotta say.... LOVE IT!!! It is a reality show, but I try not to hold that against it :) I think my tolerance for it comes from the fact that the contestants are so incredibly talented. Not only that, but Bravo does a good job spending more time covering the actual clothes designing and sewing part of the show than they do on the drama. I won't claim that it is completely un-dramatized, but at least you are watching truly talented people being allowed to show what they can do. Anyhoo, I don't have much else to say except if you have a chance, give Project Runway (and Top Chef which is the cooking equivalent) a shot :)

One cup, Two cup, Red cup, Blue cup

I'm glad I have a blog so that nobody can stone me when I say this......

Why are Starbucks red cups such a big deal? It is amazing to me how much joy rings out among the throng because Starbucks has different cups. Does the coffee still cost an arm in a leg when it comes in a red cup? Does it somehow taste better? Does the cup turn everything you put into it into gold? And why have so many people allowed the marketing department at the 'Bucks to decide when they should "officially kick off the holiday season" just by changing the color of the cup? I have a lot of friends who have said the previous statement declaring with exuberant joy that they are ready for the holidays now that they can clutch 5 dollars of coffee in a RED cup instead of a cream cup. There are quite a few things I "miss" not being a coffee drinker, but I'm pretty happy to leave everyone else to this insanity :P

A Star is Born

Ok, for those of you that are Aggies, I am willing to bet that you have probably heard of Rick Larson's Star of Bethlehem presentation. If you went to Grace, than I am almost positive that you know exactly what I am talking about. It is a truly mind blowing presentation that uses astronomy to give credence to the biblical account of Jesus' birth.

After years of prayer on Dr. Larson's part, retail chains have finally agreed to pick up and sell a DVD version of the presentation this holiday season. It is an amazing opportunity for the gospel to go into the world in a season when people seem to be more open than normal to the message. I encourage you to buy a copy of the dvd, it's on sale at Wal Mart, Target, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, etc. I bought one to show my non-christian relatives, I know that the presentation can be a very powerful witnessing tool. I ask you guys if you think about it to pray for the success of this dvd. Pray that it would win lives for Christ and that lives would be changed by seeing it. Oh, and watch it for yourself... you'll love it :)

http://thestarofbethlehemmovie.com/

Beware the Hungover Man

Sooooo, i've been in training the past two days at work (hence the lack of blog-spiration.. Jen :P) The training was to teach us a software called Geopak. On the first day of training, I did most of the work in the program for the pair I was in just because it was easier for me to use the mouse from where I was sitting. It wasn't too bad once I learned to tune out the incessant Houston rodeo/hunting/when I was in the army stories told by my partner. It was even better once I started ignoring his comments about things I would understand when I got older.

Anyhoo, today my partner shows up and the first thing he says to me is that he is SOOOOOO hungover. (from a Wednesday) While I am processing this, the instructor comes in and tells us that the person who did less yesterday should "drive" today. Hmmm, sooooooo... we're letting the hungover man drive? Fantastic. Basically the first two hours of my day went something like this...

me- "He's asking you to open the file."
him- "huh?"
me- "You need to open the file."
him- "What file?"
me- Pointing directly at the screen.."that one"
him- Blank stare

2 minutes and 3 random pauses later he gets the file open. Anyhoo, he was so slow I almost jumped out of my skin. When the instructor asked if we were ready for the next step, I had to stop myself from telling him that due to my partner's current state of sobriety, we would be consistently 5 minutes behind the other groups. I'm so glad I don't drink.... it was just sad watching him today.

Spicy

I made Jambalaya tonight.... YUM :)

The Christmas Hypocracy

A few things before I start~

1) This post is not even close to as controversial as the title would imply.
2) I probably don't have the right to be outraged at this, but there you go.
3) I am part of the problem.

Ok, here's the deal... some background info. I finished my Christmas shopping a few weeks ago and I couldn't wait to wrap them. I went to Target and they didn't have their paper out yet. I have to admit, I was frustrated. I went to the Container Store and bought paper a few days later and began wrapping. I was one roll short so I went back to Target 3 days after Halloween and they only had out half of their Christmas stuff... I was mad!! I ended up buying some Christmas dish towels and other items.

Ok, fast forward. I noticed something this weekend.. all of the shopping centers are totally decked out for Christmas. I mean, giant wreaths, ornaments and banners proclaiming "Happy Holidays!!" and it isn't just one place. I went to Meyerland, Uptown and the MarqE and every single one is decorated full on.. I mean, really?? C'mon people!! I realize this might sound a little hypocritical from the girl who wanted wrapping paper on November 1st, but allow me to point out the subtle difference. Sure, I have already wrapped all my gifts and I have bought decorations and towels and so on and so forth... BUT, I'm not putting them out right now. I'm just planning ahead so that I don't have to go shopping later with the maddening crowds... I very much dislike Christmas crowds. So, although I have no right to be angry, I have to say that it is certifiably INSANE to put up Christmas decorations on November 1st! Phew, and there it is :)

Fall Back

It's official.... I am anti daylight savings time. That's right folks. I would rather wake up in the dark and then have some (if even only a little) bit of remaining light after I get home from work than how it is now. It totally depresses me to wake up and experience only 10 minutes of daylight as I drive to work and then to come home experiencing 10 more minutes from the safety of my driver's seat only to have it be almost dark when I get home. If I ruled the world, there would be no more daylight savings. I mean, what are we saving the daylight for anyhow?

I'm too old for this

Nate and I went to a concert last night... I FINALLY saw Yellowcard live!!! It was so incredibly worth the wait and lived up to every expectation that I had. They were AWESOME and I sang every word of every song that they played at the top of my lungs right along with them. We traded our general admission tickets with some girls that had the assigned seating upstairs in the Verizon Wireless Theater... they wanted to be on the floor and we wanted to be able to sit :) They had front row tickets for the balcony and the view was fantastic.

I was getting pumped when the band that was on before YC came on stage. I knew we were in trouble immediately. Ummmmm, I'm sorry... can someone turn the volume down?? If we could put it just a notch below earsplitting, that'd be great... thanks :) I am now convinced that in order to be a music lover, you must be willing to sacrifice your sense of hearing to the concert gods. While I was excited about Yellowcard, I was not willing to lay down this most valuable sense for the likes of Shiny Toy Guns. So Nate and I made my momma proud and stuffed napkin bits in our ears until they took the edge off. We were still able to hear the band, we just avoided finding out what it is like to have your ears bleed. We took them out prior to YC and my boys didn't let me down... I never once wondered whether my eardrums were gonna explode :P

me vs. my desk... round 4

Soooo, I walked into work today and headed towards my desk. I pulled my yogurt out of my bag and prepared to eat my breakfast. I pulled my chair into my desk, began to cross my legs and.... WHAM!! I smacked my knee. You see, under my desk is one of those swing out keyboard platforms that is on a track.... a metal track.....a metal track that hangs about 1 inch lower than the top of my knee when I cross my legs. Today constituted the 20-30th time I banged my knee on that thing in only 4 short days of working at that desk. I was (understandably) afraid that the track would continue it's reign of terror if nothing was done to prevent it from doing so. So I did the only thing I could do. I called a handyman to come and rip that thing OUT! HA! Take THAT, weird track thingy! Anyway, I've decided to celebrate small victories, so there you go :)

BOO!

It's offcial... toddlers in animal costumes are pretty much as cute as it gets :)

I'm baaaaaaaccccckkkkkk!!

Hey peeps. I started my new job this Monday which means that I will be hopping back on the Blogger Bandwagon right.... NOW!! I tried to start this morning, but the blogger site was down so I was unable to bestow upon you any of my wisdom, funny stories, or just general silliness. I have a list of things to blog about but it will all come in good time. For now, I am tired and going to bed.... hopefully I can access my blog tomorrow morning for the second of many more regular entries :)

The life of leisure (sort of), for one more week only

That's right faithful readers, I will start my new job with TCB on October 29th. The office is located at Woodway and Chimney Rock (YAY!!) and I am super pumped about it. Between now and then all I have to do is go to Kansas for 3 days, San Marcos for 1 (fun times with my mom :), and organize the entire condo. Should be crazy :P

Insomnia, round 289357

I have off and on struggled with insomnia my almost my whole life. The good news for me is that my insomnia is cyclical and not constant like a lot of people. I have been cycled off of insomnia for about a year and I have to admit, I got spoiled :P I took for granted the ability to fall asleep when I wanted to. Well, now (insert creepy horror movie voice over) IT'S BAAAAAAACK... mwhahahaha! Ever since early last week I have been having issues sleeping. It has been taking me anywhere from 2 to 5 hours to fall asleep and then I haven't been able to sleep without waking up periodically. Anyhoo, it's a familiar (if entirely annoying) cycle and I am just praying for rest. The problem when I have my cycles is that I am never tired no matter how little or how poorly I sleep. Anyhoo, I'll try to write something more upbeat tomorrow but for now I'm just trying to get my posting back on track :)

Kick Me

I think I must have had a sticker on my car today that said "Cut me off". It happened on the service road, 5 times on the highway and several times on local streets. I began to get a little paranoid that my car was somehow drawing the offending cars to me; that my Altima was acting as a magnet bringing in other cars that desired to come within 1 inch of my front bumper. I have decided that before I venture out tomorrow, i will wrap my entire car in bubble wrap and hope for the best :)

Evan is here!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I proudly announce the arrival of Evan Jesse Elkins!! He was born October 8, 2007 weighing 7 pounds 7 ounces. He is 20 3/4 inches long and has blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair. As for me, I have been watching his sister and I'm so tired right now that I can hardly type :P

It's my last day

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Musketeers, amigos, cheers, 's company

The idea behind the title? Good things come in threes :) I had my third interview yesterday and was told to expect an offer today.... God has been so good to me! He hasn't given me a single second to doubt his provision for me and he has taken away any lag time that might cause self doubt or anxiety. He has blessed me beyond what I ever could have imagined going into this.

The company yesterday is located at Woodway near Chimney Rock (score!!) and they have some very interesting projects that are completely in line with what I want to do. I will have to wait and see what the offer looks like, but I am definitely leaning towards this one.... just the fact that I won't have to get on the highway to get to work about sends me into a fit :) Anyway, I am taking at least the first part of next week in San Antonio to think about it, but I promise I will update ya'll as soon as I know what is going on. Oh, and Jen, I promise I want to talk to you and I just haven't been able to call you back yet.. forgive me? If you want to call me during work hours, that will actually work too :)

Side note: I officially do not like going out to eat as part of an interview. I have way too much of the spaz in me to successfully eat a meal without having some, ummmmm, awkward looking bites. As much fun as that is in front of a potential boss, I think I'll pass :P

Bare

Sooooo, I took down all of the stuff on my cube walls yesterday when I had some time and when I came in today the bare walls almost knocked me off my feet. I have to say that they are pretty depressing with nothing on them. I suppose I can get through another three days without anything interesting to look at, but I do have a new appreciation for the ability of cartoons, photos, etc to make a cubicle a bearable place to be :)

Oh, and I'm entering a contest... I need a new template!

The Food Chain

Around my office, there is a little thing I like to call the food hierarchy as involves office wide lunches that are provided by the company. Recently the office leader has started cheaping out on said meals and we have slowly made our way down the hierarchy. They bottomed out last week when they made our monthly office lunch a pot luck (aka, free for them). So for your viewing pleasure I present.... the hierarchy.

Level 0 - Making employees bring their own food and disguising it as a fun pot-luck. This doesn't officially get a level as the company didn't pay for squat.

Level 1 - Nasty Pizza. Instead of springing for Papa Johns or Pizza Hut or even Little Caesar's, we go for a local place that has more grease on the pizza than cheese. I am actually one of the least disgusted by the tasteless (yes, even with all that grease) pizza.

Level 2 - Sandwich trays. These can be ok if from a place you've heard of (Jason's Deli and the like), but half the time they come from the local place that has an affinity for gobs of shredded lettuce and mayo..

Level 3 - Boxed Jason's Deli lunches, non-specific. Pick a box.. it's turkey or ham. Oh, and they cut out dessert at this level to save 50 cents.

Level 4 - Boxed Jason's Deli lunches, place your own order. This is where you cross the line into something I am excited about. Yes, I'd like A half a roast beef sandwich on wheat with a cup of red beans and rice and a white chocolate macadamia cookie. Mmmmm

Level 5 - Generic catering. This is when a company not associated with a restaurant comes in. I have to say that I am a big fan of the baked potatoes with the chopped beef.

Level 6 - Restaurant catering. Escalante's, the Lasagna House, it's all good at this level.

Alas, my company has not been above level 2 for at least 6 months. The sad part is that level 2 only made one appearance in all that time, it was typically level 1. Perhaps I should inquire as to other companies food pyramids before I decide where I should work. :)

In a Week

A week from now, my nephew Evan will be born..... I'M SO EXCITED!!!

A week from now, I will be unemployed..... and lovin it :)

A week from now I will be deciding between my two (hopefully three by then) offers

A week from now I will be just starting 7 days of being around my brother, sister-in-law and, of course, Elena :)

A week from now I will be able to blog with pics of my newborn nephew

A week from now I am hoping to have more material to write about than I do now :)

And your commute shall increase, 7 fold

What the message sign on 45 just north of 610 normally says when I drive past it on the way to work~

"Travel Time to Beltway 8, 8 min at 5:55"

What it said this morning~

"Travel Time to Beltway 8, 57 min at 5:55"

Fear not, I still made the trip in my normal 7.5 minutes, but I did have a little mini heart attack when I saw the sign :)

Interesting side note~ When asked during my interview yesterday why I was leaving, I was telling this guy about a new manager who had taken over and how it had just gotten really bad, and guess what? He says "I think I know who you are talking about." "Really?" I say. He says "Yeah, if I'm right then he used to work for me. Is his name _____?" to which I astoundedly (I think I made up that word) said "Yeah, that's him!". The guy interviewing me smiled and said "I definitely understand why you are leaving then." Wow, it always amazes me how people get such strong reputations in my industry.

Anyhoo, quick update~ I have an offer from the company I interviewed with Wednesday (an offer I am VERY VERY happy with :) and the interview yesterday went very well also. I have one more informal interview with a third firm next wednesday so I will keep you apprised of anything that happens with that!

A thought from Gary Larson

+1

Make that 3 interviews :) The third is a lunch meeting next week (day to be determined within the hour) Oh, and it's with the company I'm the most excited about!

Interview Today

It feels like the first day of school or something, I have so much nervous energy! If you think about it, throw a word up to the big guy for me around 4 today and tomorrow :)

Um, let's see.... a post..... what could I post about? How about our new sunday school class?! The people have spoken and the class has been named Veritas, Latin for "truth". I am sooooo excited about this class and the people in it. We had our first social event this past sunday and it was so incredibly fun and I can't wait to get to know everyone better!

Update

I turned in my letter of resignation 10 minutes ago. It feels good :) Thanks for praying everyone.

A Myriad

Update: I sent in some resumes online Sunday night and as of yesterday at noon had 2 interviews set up for this week. I visited our other office and it was really nice (aka, my decision just got harder :P). I went to small group and after telling them the story, the consensus was "And, WHY would you want to consider being at the same company?!!". And this morning I still don't know what to do. I will likely decide this afternoon, so look in for tomorrow's installment :) Thank you so much for all of the prayer! It means more to me than I can express. And now, because it has absolutely nothing to do with work, I've been tagged :)



1. What were you doing 10 years ago?September 1997 ... I was in high school, so in September I was playing volleyball and going to school... no time for anything else :)



2. What were you doing 5 years ago?September 2002 ... I was in my sophomore year in college, finally had learned how to study. Going to lots of football and volleyball games. Getting my first small group to lead as part of Doulos.



3. What were you doing 1 year ago?September 2006 ... I was engaged and planning the wedding. By September I had most of it done, but I do remember extensive ribbon hunting being done for the favors and programs.... Nate hates ribbon now :)



4. What did you do yesterday? Visited the 290 office, felt A LOT of anxiety over the decision, went to bible study, watched an episode of Alias :)



5. Snacks I enjoy ... YOGURT!!!! Fruit, Funyuns (although I have cut them out of my diet), Chex Mix, Mike and Ike Tangy Twisters, homemade "ice cream" sandwiches (thanks Laura!), carrots



6. Things I would do with $100 million dollars ... as Tabaitha said, tithe first :) Then buy a house in the Memorial area and furnish it with Crate and Barrel and Pottery Barn goods, set up college funds for any future children, save a good chunk and let it earn interest, open up my own invitation store, give more to missions, Spend more time with my family, Pay Leslie to quit her job and just hang out with me :)



7. Locations I would run to ... If you can get me to run anywhere then I'll be impressed :P (sorry Dad) Seriously though, Colorado or Canada in the summer....love it



8. Bad habits I have ... I worry too much and over-analyze.... I also forget about laundry and leave it in the washer for days on end :P



9. Things I like to do:- ride roller coasters, travel, spend time with family, shop at Ann Taylor Loft and Crate and Barrel, read, take pictures, scrapbook, watch old family movies, fondue, hang with my college roomies (anytime, anyplace girls :), eat good food, eat more good food, go for walks



10. Biggest joy of the moment: Christ's provision


I hereby tag Emkay, Steph, Beth, Jen, and Jen :)

All Ye Faithful

Anybody who is checking my blog on a Saturday and is familiar with it will be surprised by this weekend post. It is the result of an urgent prayer request that I have. If you are reading this anytime before Tuesday, please pray for my work decision coming up. I called my manager's manager yesterday after work and told him that I can't work with my manager anymore and that he should expect that there is a good possibility of me turning in my two weeks notice this monday. He totally understood as my manager has alienated almost every person in the office and they were worried about me leaving for him.

Anyhoo, my manager's manager called me back last night and they offered me a transfer to our other Houston office effective next week if I stay. Now I don't know what to do. Our other houston office is lacking in some things like personality and I am not sure that I won't end up getting pulled back into doing work with my current manager. I am praying about it, but I would love to know that some of my readers are also praying for this decision. I figure the more people are lifting it up, the better. At this point my decision is between taking the new office position or just quitting and looking for a position elsewhere. I do have several leads on jobs at different companies, so I'm up for anything :) I appreciate your prayers while I make one of the biggest professional decisions of my life so far. Pray that I will feel God's guidance and truly be able to discern which direction he would have me go. Thanks guys :)

Deprive and Thrive

This is my first step to becoming a more healthy eater.... deprive and thrive. I'm not talking anorexia here, I'm talking about the fact that for the first time in my life, I am stopping to think about my food choices before I throw them down. Yesterday, for instance, the vending machine at work was calling my name and I resisted. I also thought very seriously on about 10 different occasions about eating one of the fun size candy bars in my desk.... but I resisted. I finally understand why, when we were kids, my mom didn't really want us to buy her candy. I thought she didn't like it, when it reality she just didn't want to end up eating it all. The highlight of my work experience yesterday? My Dannon all Naturals peach yogurt. MMMMMMMM, I need to buy me some more of those. Oh, and carrots.. I've been craving them and they are harmless so they'd make good snacks.

Now this is just phase I. Phase II involves being more careful at dinner time..... I'm not sure I'm going to like phase II. I have a strange feeling that Phase II may require me to give up Chuy's (THE HORROR!!!) and I'm not sure I'm ready for that. For now though I have managed to reign my snacks in as well as my evening desserts and while I haven't seen a weight difference, I feel better and have more energy. Anyhoo, just thought I'd share.... I need to go buy more yogurt :)

I am so tired right now that my bones hurt. Unfortunately for my blog, the fatigue has made coherent thought somewhat of an impossibility right now. For the sake of upholding my very high quality standards for blogging (HA!) I am going to pass on blogging today. (It is also partially because it hurts my fingers to type, and my brain even more to think)

Career Fair

One of my favorite things to do in my job is to go recruit. The first year I was here, I got to go back to the A&M career fair and recruit for our company and I had so much fun! It was weird that year, because a lot of my friends were still in school and came by the table. Anyhoo, tomorrow and Wednesday I will be in the booming metropolis of College Station, Texas and hence, will be unable to post.

You know one of the weirdest things about me going again this year? I don't really like my job situation that much right now. Any of you who have talked to me recently know that my job is wearing on me to the extreme. Another funny thing? The people here know I'm tired of it, they know I don't like where things have gone and yet they are sending me to talk to future employees. I'm going to do my best to find them qualified employees, but I already feel like I will end up being untruthful in my role as company cheerleader. I do believe in the company, just not my office. It should be interesting :P

Confession

I don't like Beth Moore. (GASP!) Although I should more accurately say that I don't like the Beth Moore effect and hence I refuse to go to her studies. On Tuesday, Nate and I went to go walking at the church as we often do, but today was different..... it was the first day of Beth Moore's study on Esther. We walked over there at 5pm (1.5 hours before it started) and not only were there already hundreds of women there, at least 100 of them were standing/sitting in front of the two main entrances just waiting for them to open. Ummmm, ok.... no thanks. Here is the thing about Beth Moore, I'm sure she is a wonderful teacher... I'm not disputing that... but people have begun to worship her as they do God. To quote from 1 Corinthians,

"What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ.""

I think the modern day Southern Baptist version would read~

"What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow John Piper"; another, "I follow Beth Moore"; still another, "I follow Christ.""

I know there are plenty of strong christian women that listen to Beth without turning to a form of idol worship, but there is also a large contingency of women that treat their time with her as their church and her as their pastor or maybe even their prophetess. While I am glad these women are in church, they needed to be worshipping the Lord and not Beth! To Beth's credit, she has no desire for that type of worship and is simply using what God has gifted her with, but the effect drives me up the wall. I'm not saying she should go away (I don't think she should) I'm just saying that you aren't going to see me there.

Ugh

Somebody took my parking spot today. I mean out of thin air! They've never taken it before, I've never seen the car before on our level or any other and they got here sometime before 6 just to nab my space. It shouldn't bother me so much (seeing as how we aren't actually assigned spaces :) but one of the perks of getting here so early is being able to park in the same space every day. So anyway, I had to take red Jeep lady's spot and she took mondo big SUV's spot and now we'll all be off today. If the blue Ford SUV is still there tomorrow morning, I'm gonna bust some heads :P

The Service Mission

Ok, I'm gonna give you guys the low down on the New York trip although knowing myself it will likely be pretty short and sweet since a storyteller, I am not. So here we go :)

Our main ministry on the trip was to a small church plant over on Staten Island which is where we were for the most part. It's called Crossroads Church and it was started by the Pastor, Ray, who grew up Catholic on Staten Island. He converted during college and decided to head back to Staten Island and the heavily Catholic community there. Believe it or not, Staten Island is the least evangelized of all 5 of the New York Burroughs. Anyhoo, the first couple of days that we were there we had the pleasure of painting the outside of one of the schools. Some of us were disappointed not to be doing evangelism but guess what, God is bigger than our plans. We got more attention from the community for painting a school than we might have going door to door. We had some of the school kids that wanted to help us and we got to talk to them..... we had custodians, and maintenance guys, and parents coming up to us the whole time and asking us who we were and what our story was. It was awesome!

For the rest of the week we pretty much did whatever Pastor Ray needed from us whether it was handing out fliers for the church, Nate set up their wireless network, prayer walking, advertising and facilitating outreach events at the College of Staten Island, or handing out water to morning commuters with a note from the church while others evangelized on the boardwalk. We spent an hour or so in prayer with the church and for the church one morning, the main request being that they no longer had a facility at which to meet for Sunday services. That afternoon, the custodian of the school we were painting offered up the school year round to them (and it had beautiful auditorium and classroom facilities). The school was pretty far from the neighborhood where the church originated, but they are going to use that facility for a church plant in December of this year. 2 days after that, a school in their neighborhood offered them the same, year round, commitment and now they have a location! It was so amazing to see God answer prayer so quickly and perfectly.

Anyways, we had a great time with our group (they are so fun!) and it was an altogether great trip!

BUSY

Still no time to post about New York.... but I will soon, I promise!! Until that time, here is a little something to tide you over...

See more at http://abbyjoy.shutterfly.com/action/

I'm home!!

No time to post today, just wanted to let ya'll know that I am home and all posting will return to normal this week....I don't want to be at my job today... BLAH!

New York

Nate and I are going to NY with HFBC for the next week as part of a mission trip. I am really excited and just a little nervous. I am kinda out of it right now, but I just wanted to ask ya'll to pray for us and our team that God would present opportunities for us to witness and that we wouldn't hesitate to take them.

NY quote for the day....

"New York, New York; the city so nice, they named it twice.... Manhattan is the other name."
~ Michael Scott from the Office

Do I get to yell "CUT!!" ?

Nate and I graduated from the Newlywed class this last weekend which was sad but we were ready to move on. The class holds a graduation Sunday, I believe, because it is the most effective way to remind people to GET OUT! The lessons are on a 12 month rotating schedule, so some people stay another semester or year, but after two you've really heard it all before.

Anyhoo, Eric Reed is spearheading the campaign to start a new young marrieds class from our group of graduates and guess what? Nate and I are the directors! The opportunity presented itself a week ago and we feel truly blessed to have it. The director position is more or less perfect for where our strengths lie and we are really pumped about getting in on the ground floor on the new class.

We will be in NY this coming Sunday, but starting the week after that we will be having vision planning meetings with other couples. We already know that it is going to be non-topical (aka, actually going through a book of the bible) and that Eric and ourselves desire for something other than a lecture format. Nate and I have been thinking round table type setup if the room allows. My big desire for the class is that it be tight knit and have as many opportunities for fellowship as we can pull off. Anyway, just wanted to give ya'll a glimpse in :) Please be praying for us as we establish a vision for this new class and begin seeking God's will for it's direction. (Also be praying that we can think of a good, non-corny name for it ;-)

Singing in the Rain

Yesterday, Nate and I were walking at the church when we started to hear something.... thunder. Uh-oh. We looked out at the courtyard as we passed in on lap 8 and yep, it was pouring. This presented a slight problem in that when Nate and I go walking at the church, we walk there since we live across the parking lot. We monitored the progress of the rain for the next half hour and it continued to get stronger and stronger. And then we made a decision.... we didn't care!

We walked home in the pouring rain as calmly or coolly as though we were being showered with a dusting of light snow and not huge rain drops. It has been way too long since I have been out in the rain and not cared that I was getting wet. We didn't have any books or anything with us, we had on work out clothes which can get wet no prob, and I wasn't in heels as I have been when we've been coming back from church in the rain before. My tennis shoes may never dry out, but I really don't care.... it felt fabulous. :) It was the perfect situation for us to get caught in the rain and I gotta say, I loved it :)

Kimbo's Wedding

So here is the low down on Kim's weekend.... It was beautiful, it was fun, and the food was absolutely fabulous the entire time. I got to see all of my college roomies which was so much fun... they are basically crazy, so any time with them is a good time. Nate finally got his chance to get to know them more, which he loved. It was a great weekend for me, but maybe the worst weekend ever for someone else.... Anna.

Anna was a bridesmaid in the wedding who knew Kim from San Antonio where they roomed together. She set off from San Antonio to come to Houston Friday and she got on I-10.....going west. Ummmmm..... hmmmmm. After 3 HOURS going west, she called Kim to ask her where she was because she had no idea at which point Kim told her that in fact, Houston is east of San Antonio. Yikes, 3 more hours (and no a/c in the car) later and she is at the SA airport waiting to fly to Houston. Just for kicks, her flight gets delayed. She gets to the church at the end of the rehearsal and all seems to be well.

They give her suitcase to one of Kim's relatives who offers to put it in the back of Kim's car and we head off to dinner. Fabulous food (of course :). We then head back to the hotel to hang out and they notice something... Anna's bag is missing. Her dress is there, but no suitcase. They spent all night calling to get people to check the church parking lot to see if it never actually made it into the car, or trying to find out if someone at the church had it. Long story short, they never found it and we assume that someone stole it out of Kim's car and left everything else that was in there. Anyway, now Anna has no shoes. The wedding is at 12 and stores open at 10. All the girls get to the church and Anna dashes off to buy some shoes and actually succeeds pretty darn fast. Anyway, nothing else happened to her (that I know of), but it was still about Anna's worst weekend ever :P

And now, the pics....

Update....

No roachy holocaust yet......

I wanted to write about Kim's wedding this weekend (and there are a few things to say) but I am way too tired, so I am afraid you are going to have to wait... sorry!

Bait Me

As mentioned in previous posts, I have seen several roaches around my office in the last couple of weeks including sightings in the kitchen, elevator, and my own trash can. Anyhoo, our secretary called for someone to come spray for the little bits of nastiness so that I could fore go the pleasure of discovering them in every corner of the office. The guy comes out yesterday and Norma shows him to my area so that I may direct him to the sighting spots. He starts with my desk and begins to squeeze out this putty type stuff underneath my desk.

"What are you putting out?" I asked, "Bait" he answered. Ummmm, bait? So we're going to attract them to my desk? Am I allowed to object to this little plan? Unfortunately I chickened out and let him turn my desk into roach bait. One thing about me... I have a very vivid imagination. I have to admit that I was worried about coming back and finding a proliferation of roaches on my hands. My fantasies ranged from a live army chasing me down the hall, banners raised high, to a sort of roachy holocaust that I had already decided one of the guys I work with would be cleaning up. I arrived today braced for the worst and.... nothing. No bugs. Hmmmm, this is almost worse, now I have to wonder where they are all hiding.... :P

Look, but don't touch

Note to Self; When cooking with Cayenne Pepper, make sure to thoroughly check fingers (yes, even after washing them) for residual flakes before using said finger to rub your eye. (OUCH!)

Double Vision

When I showed up for work yesterday, I knew something was different. Well, I mean I could claim to have a sixth sense, but it wasn't difficult to notice that I now had two screens instead of one. That's right... I have reached the pinnacle for a young engineer, the Mecca of Nerd-dom... Dual monitors. I never really got why everyone was so excited about them before (oh young and stupid Abby) but now I get it. No more flipping back and forth between Excel and Cadd. No more wrestling with trying to reduce windows so you can see 2 or 3 at a time.... NO MORE!

This is a time to emphasize to you how important it is to be nice to your IT person. I like Sally (our IT girl) and basically because I have always been nice and respectful to her, I not only got my new computer before most of the office, I also got one set of only two dual monitors available from this return. Now I'm riding in style and there's no turning back.

Side Note~ My monitors are the same idea as those shown above except they are Dell, the stands are cooler, and they are in color (fancy... I know :)

I found myself whistling "If I only had a brain" from the Wizard of Oz subconsciously the other day. Do you think I am trying to tell myself something? :)

Playing Catch up

I had SO MUCH FUN this weekend! Nate and I have been out of town or at weddings for what seems like every weekend this year. It's fun, but get's old, ya know? This weekend was our only weekend in August that was sans wedding and our last weekend open until September 22nd, so we decided to take full advantage. We got to spend the whole weekend hanging out with fabulous friends and catching up on their lives.

Friday night was our triple date with Branden, Liz, Greg, and Jana. We ate at California Pizza Kitchen, went bowling, and finished the evening at the Chocolate Bar..... so fun :) Saturday morning, Leslie and I went to the mall for breakfast and some pre-crowd shopping while Nate went running with Aaron. Then Nate and I met up with Aaron and Jill for lunch at Lupe's (I just discovered the beef fajitas....mmmmm :). We then went home and did some cleaning before Dustin and Megan came over for some fondue and a movie (Drop Dead Gorgeous, because their sense of humor is just as weird as mine). Yesterday, I went to church with Laura, a roommate from college who just moved to Houston last week. In the process of walking her back to her car, I ran into several people who I hadn't seen in FOREVER.

It was such an amazing weekend and it stressed to me just how much God has blessed me and Nate with faithful, amazing friends who are just a joy to be around. If you are reading this thinking, "Hey, where was my invite?!", we may not have gotten to you this weekend, but are you free on September 22nd? ;-)

long time

Sometimes you forget what it was like being a kid or the way things were long ago. The things that had been new to you are old news. In a very realistic, totally unplanned, experience yesterday, I did something that I haven't done in a really long time..... the potty dance.

Let there be light!

So I got home yesterday and... no power. Ok, wasn't expecting that to still be out, but it's ok. We go and talk to the guard and get a time frame of "tonight" for when it is going to come back on. Hmmm, ok. This presents a problem. Nate and I are not addicted to very many shows, maybe two. But the top one? So you think you can dance. Guess what was on last night? That's right, part one fo the season finale. AHHHHH!!! I frantically called Jen only to hear that she was in bible study that night so I called Stephanie and pleaded with her to let us totally mooch off of her. Well, luckily for me, Steph is awesome and welcomed us immediately and even had popcorn waiting for us!

We had a meeting right before the show then we rushed over and watched it until 9. We went back home hoping against hope that the power was on (when we left at 5, there were 4 electric company trucks there and they had dug up a couple of parking spaces so we were less than optimistic) but sure enough, we had nothing. We got an incredibly sweet offer from some friends who lived nearby and had heard about the power for us to stay with them. If I hadn't just taken my shower when they called, then I would have jumped all over it :) Anyhoo, we had an estimated power time of midnight so we laid down with all of our light switches on so that we would wake up when the power came back on so we could turn on the a/c.

At 10:45 the power did come back on.... for 15 seconds. Bummer. Luckily they got it all up and running by 11:15ish so we are not too totally wasted today. It's interesting to me how dependant we have become on "modern" things like power. I suppose in the days without power they had more than one thing around the house to light it as opposed to our one flashlight (he served us well) This is a long post. And with that, I'm done :)

Me vs. the rain.... round 2

If you live in BW or anywhere near there then you know exactly what I am talking about. At precisely 4:20 this morning, the complex was brutally attacked by weather. Now God controls the weather, so if you think about it that way then we were brutally attacked by God and it's pretty amazing that I am here to write this :) Anyhoo, we experienced perhaps the most intense thunder I have ever heard and my best guess is that we got at least 4 large direct strikes (based on the lack of time btwn thunder and lightning).

So I was lying there silently cursing the rain for waking me up an hour early and it started..... the first car alarm set off by the hits. It went for a couple of minutes and then shut off. Then another hit... two car alarms. They get shut off in a few minutes. Give it another minute and, yeah, another hit and another alarm. I assume all of these people are up at this point, but this last person must have had trouble finding the keys. Why, you ask? Well, our power was taken out by strike number 2 or so, so I'm guess searching for the keys began with searching for the flashlight. They get the car shut off and then another hit sets it off again. This time the keys are in their hands since it only gets in two honks before it is silenced. The same car repeats this with the next two strikes and I am thankful for the neighbor who kept the keys in their hand ready to turn it off.

This brought me to a realization..... no power....no light....hmmmm, interesting getting ready for work scenario. Nate located our large flashlight and I used that to pick out clothes and do my hair (no straightener) and I gotta say, I think I prefer how I look in the flashlight light in the morning as opposed to our keeps-no-secrets bathroom light. Anyhoo, I was extremely relieved to not have to drive to work in the rain and here I am sitting under florescent lights, that not only keep no secrets, but often gossip about you and point fingers, "ready" for another day of work. That's all she wrote.

Yuck

I hate seeing roaches at work..... I spend the rest of the day (and the couple of days following) doing under-the-desk checks every 20 minutes an imagining something crawling on me every time I have a sensation on my legs (even if I just accidentally touched my foot with my other foot... that one was freaky :P)

Watermelon and Flowers

This weekend we got to witness the marriage of Tim Pieplow and Kim Washburn and it was an altogether beautiful thing :) They are one of those supremely great couples that it feels like an honor to see get married. Enough of the serious stuff though, and on to what made it especially fun....

~Having a "certain guy" agree to being set up with a "certain girl" (woo hoo!)

~Betting on the length of the ceremony with 8 different people and realizing after it's over that nobody was timing it.

~Creating different animal dances with Nate, Jana, Greg, and Philip.

~One word..... DUCKS

~Catching up with.... well.... everybody :)

~Watching your reflection (or Beth's) in the glass ceiling as you danced

~Having the bride's parents drop off a vase of gorgeous flowers and a massive watermelon from Kim and Tim the next day.

Oh, and the chicken was really good too :)

Confession-

I have tried numerous times to add a picture to my blog profile and even with the step by step instructions, I can't seem to make it work for me.... I promise I'm not usually technically inept, I save it for special occasions :P

Ha :)

There simply isn't enough highway related humor in the world. Enjoy :) ~

Asleep?

The thing is... I do pretty much everything there is to do in my sleep. I talk, walk, hold conversations, laugh, slap people and do various other things. Being single was like living in blissful ignorance of how much of this I actually do. Sure, I had the occasional thing that would happen while sharing a room on vacation or that a roommate would see in college, but I could always assume that it was something that only happened very rarely. Now Nate witnesses every one of my sleeping episodes and I gotta say, it can be very entertaining.

A few nights ago I sat up randomly and looked at Nate really seriously. Then I started talking incoherently and giggling. This was followed by me reaching for my glass of water and unceremoniously knocking it all over the bed stand with a resounding "Damn". At this point I woke up, because I remember Nate going to clean up the water while I helped put ice back in the cup. However, before Nate could finish cleaning, I had passed out again leaving him with the mess.

As far as my asleep experiences (that I know of) this one is only maybe a 5 on a 10 point scale, but hey, it's tough to post every weekday so sometimes I'm afraid you get what you get :P

Prepare to be chewed out

I don't get sunburned very often anymore because I care and I make the effort to prevent it. I maybe have one bad burn every two years or so. While this is still not great, it's semi ok except for the timing. I have the uncanny knack of getting burned right before I go to see my dermatologist which makes for a really fun check up. Example~

Doc- "You really should be more careful in the sun, you know you are high risk for skin cancer."
Me~ "I know, that's why I come here EVERY year. And I promise, this is the only burn I've had this year!"
Doc- "MMM-hmm. ok. You know, all you have to do is dab on a little sunscreen and this could be prevented."
Me~ "I DID use sunscreen!"
Doc~ "MMM-hmm."

So anyhoo, I'm going to the dermatologist today and I am burned... bad. The only time this year, don't ya know. I spent 10 days in the Caribbean on my honeymoon and came away unscathed, but 4 hours in my parent's pool and I have bought myself a 30 minute ticket to the dermatology shame fest. Oh joy, oh rapture.

Baptist Humor

Just a little quote from Pastor David Self to you....

He was talking about the Pope saying that he recognizes only the Catholic church as the true church.

"It's always been that way, it's just been awhile since anyone has said it so bluntly. At different times the Catholics won't recognize the Episcopalians, or the Episcopalians won't recognize the Catholics. Sometimes Baptists don't even recognize other Baptists.. in the wine section of the grocery store."

hehe :)

I totally stole this from Laurie

Ok, so as the title implies this video was discovered by way of another blog. I figure since our readership is different, that I could get away with recycling it though. Also I just thought it was really funny and I knew that my dad in particular needed to see it. So sit back, relax and enjoy the show :)

Total Cop Out

So, my mom and grandma are currently staying with Ben's family in San Antonio and I am sooooo jealous! Mom called me last night and let me talk to Elena on the phone and it made me miss her so badly. We get to see them in 3 weeks, but it just doesn't seem soon enough anymore. Apparently Laney can now recognize me in pictures and gets all excited and says "Aba!" whenever she sees my picture. Anyhoo, I thought I'd take the easy blog road and just post some new pics of Elena... You can't go wrong with her :)

Campaign Trail

I am starting a new campaign.... it's called "If your car is bigger than my condo, you cannot park here!" Today I pulled up to my regular spot (I get here early enough to have one) and who should be parked next to me but one of the new Tahoes. Remember when the Tahoe was big? I mean, just big and not ginormous? I walked away from my parked sedan thinking that if the Tahoe is hungry anytime today then I could be in trouble.... while the mental picture of that "car" devouring mine was somewhat amusing, it was also disturbing and seemed like a pretty good possibility.

This is what I propose.... I think they should repaint the lines in the upper levels of the parking garage so that people can park their tanks AND be able to actually open the door. Not only that, but I wouldn't have to come back to my car in the afternoon and hold my breath in order to get in if a truck, SUV, or God forbid, a Suburban has parked next to me. :P

Way fun weekend

Things that were fantastic about this weekend~

- hanging out with Ashley and Stephanie.. just like the old times :)
- The Chocolate Bar
- $5 skirts from the Loft
- Music and Lyrics (particularly watching it with the above mentioned girls :)
- Spending time with my parents
- Roy Oswalt Bulldozer Bobblehead
- Seeing the 'Stros pull off another one against the Padres in what I think is the shortest game I've ever been to (2 hours flat)
- Watching "Spellbound" with the rents
- Leslie coming home!!
- Sitting back in the Lighthouse section at church and seeing so many people that I love
- FINALLY getting our bedroom organized and clean (on to the guest bedroom!)

Blah

Ladies and Gentlemen, the forecast for the next 9 days. I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to Aug 2nd when the chance of rain dips crazy low to 30% :P I was watching the news though and I thought I'd give you all a silver lining (sorta) to look for in all the rain. We are getting drenched because the jet stream is hanging extremely low and it is trapping rain directly over us. Once the jet stream moves, the way all of the pressure systems will be will essentially paint a bulls eye on the Gulf of Mexico for hurricanes. They are saying now that the likelihood of an East coast hurricane is dramatically lower than usual and almost non-existent, while weather patterns have been perfected for a line of Gulf-loving hurricanes. Sooooo, as long as the rain stays, the hurricanes stay away. I am personally praying for a very rainy August and September to compliment our June and July although I have to say that this might be the worst summer ever for getting married in Texas... The wedding I went to last week in Dallas involved getting rained on and I can count on one hand the number of times it rained in Dallas in July the whole time I was growing up there.

Caffiene Tales

Every now and then I am really thankful that I don't drink coffee.... like when people realize that they donate $50-$200 a month to Starbucks or when they have one of those days when they drink 7 cups just to keep them conscious. This would be one of those times.

Two days ago, our office coffee machine broke and you would think there had been a death in the family the way people reacted. Well, a guy came out and fixed it yesterday afternoon to many cheers and sighs of relief. I sat down this morning and 3 minutes later it started beeping..... it's not so much fixed. I'm interested to see what kind of mood my coworkers are in when they show up and find out there is still no coffee. I believe I see a mass run to Starbucks in their future :)

Like Riding a Bike...

So it is with living alone :P You know how they say you never forget how to ride a bike? It's true, but only mostly. When you haven't ridden a bike in a long time, you tend to be shaky and uncertain and maybe just a little bit fearful.... and that finds us back at my life :)

Nate is in Russia for the next week and a half (he left Monday and gets back next Thursday) and I really don't like not having him around. I am ok, besides being a little lonely, chilling on my own when I get home from work but when I start my bedtime routine everything goes to you-know-where. It freaks me out to take a shower at night without him in the condo cause, let's face it, when are you the most vulnerable? Hmmm, let's see... no clothes, wet, and can't see anything coming at you from further than 4 ft away (2 ft for me... our shower section of our bathroom is really small :) that's right my friends...the shower. I mean, did Psycho teach us nothing? I've never actually seen the movie because then I would never be able to take another shower regardless of whether Nate is in town. No showers would, I fear, have an adverse reaction on my social life not to mention my self esteem and I also do not desire to start smelling like the guy in the cube across from mine.... (ewww)

Anyhoo, I am improving at getting over the fear that grips me at night (not only in the shower) already with God's help. I am praying for peace and rest and God has been graciously granting it to me. I figure I should have mastered the art of living alone again just in time for Nate's return....when I won't need it anymore :)

Go figure

I Finished Reading Harry Potter Last Night.....

WOW

This is my home

I went back to Dallas for a wedding this weekend (Congrats, Ben and Lynn!!) and as Jen and I drove in, I was struck by how much less it felt like my home than it used to. Jen is still VERY attached to Dallas and while she will go wherever God has her after graduating law school, her strong preference is Dallas. It's understandable with her family there and the fact that she, like myself, grew up there.

As she spoke about the all the things she missed, there were aspects that I agreed with her on, but for the most part I'm just happy to live in Houston. In some strange twist, my loyalties have transferred and I have found my new home in Houston. Dallas will always hold so many memories for me and so many people that I love and cherish still live there, but I now longer mourn it's absence in my life.

Sometimes I wish Houston was prettier, but for the most part I have learned to accept it and appreciate it for the things it does have. The friendships I have made at First are invaluable, I love having my parents close by and the restaurant choices are fantastic. Beyond that there are so many other stupid little reasons why I am glad to call this place home. I know it has always been in fashion for people, particularly young singles/young marrieds, that live here to bash it, complain about it, and constantly talk about moving away as though there could be no place worse you could possibly dwell. Well, I've left that train. God wanted me here, and now I know why and I love the city for it.