Wedding Weirdness - Part 1

Did you know that there is something known as a "Cake Cutting Fee"?? That's right, they charge you per slice that they dole out at your reception. I figured this was something random at this one location, but when I brought it up with my brother and sister-in-law they were like "yup, they charge you for every slice they cut of your cake." I mentioned it to another married friend and she had also paid such a fee. This is one of those weird things you just don't know about until you get married.... every non-married person I have told has given me a "WHAT?!"

I would like to say proudly that I am getting married at a place where there is no cake cutting fee.... they actually advertise that. So take that, weird wedding fee maker-upper... ha!

So anyway, Nate and I officially have a place for the wedding.... it is in North Houston near I-45 and FM 1960. That means that we can say the date with authority now... December 30, 2006. Get excited kids, it's gonna be a wild ride :)

Weird Wedding Word - Sepia Tone. Now, this is technically a photography term and it's pretty common, but the first time I saw it written out it just looked weird... so there you go :)

Will You Marry Me.....

Last Friday I took a half day and I rushed home to get ready to go to San Antonio with Nate to visit Ben and Amy. The things is, when I got home Nate was already inside my apartment..... with a ring :) Long story short, Nate and I are engaged!!

I was getting some grief for not posting something about this earlier, so here it is :) We are looking to get married on December 30 (Nate's 28th birthday) somewhere in the general Houston area.

Now, some thoughts from this weekend~

-God is so amazing! His timing is perfect and his knowledge of what we need is beyond our comprehension. I never dreamed that he would bring such a godly, caring, and perfect (for me :) guy into my life.

-Friends are such a blessing! The excitement I got as I made phone calls was so encouraging! Then when we got back, there was a large LH group waiting in Nate's apartment to surprise us and celebrate this time in our lives. That meant so much to me to have them there. God has truly blessed me by bringing so many amazing people into my life over the past year. I believe that young singles have the capacity to have such an amazing impact for the kingdom, and the caliber of people in LH convice me of this constantly.

-Glory, it's what it's all about. Glory, God's... NOT mine.


Well, I'm sure planning a wedding will provide some amazing material for future blogs..... get excited :)

For Liz.. and the other Liz :)

I found this tied in with our conversation yesterday, and Liz H..... you started it back up :P

Ladies and Gentlemen.. Life after Summit

So I just witnessed my first Summit wedding yesterday when Karrie and Dan got married. So it isn't a myth...people DO make it out of Lighthouse :) This is always an encouraging thing to see. Anyways, I have included some pictures.... shamelessly ripped off from Leslie's facebook profile (cause I'm at work and can't access my own pics :).

If you know Dan and Karrie, be praying for them as God shows them how to be a married couple. Pray for them to grow closer to Him and closer to each other with every passing day and pray that their love and devotion to God would increase thier love and devotion to each other. Finally, pray that in all things they seek after God's will for thier life together. Congrats guys!

I, Abby, being of sound mind.....

So, I'm at work reading a design manual section on metal beam guard fences (my life IS that exciting, I know you can't believe it :) and the first paragraph is as follows~

"The objectives of this appendix are to make available data and guidelines for the use of roadside traffic barriers (typically metal beam guard fence) in a consolidated and understandable form. These guidelines should be supplemented by sound engineering judgment."

I don't know how sound my engineering judgement is, but I'll give it a shot :P

Adventures in Canada... Eh?

I went to Calgary over the Fourth of July Weekend to visit with Erin and to see some of my family up there. It was so great! The weather was absolutely beautiful and it is always encouraging to be around Erin. You can see God moving in her life and her desire to know him better and serve him completely infiltrates every aspect of her life. I feel so lucky to know her and be able to spend time with her this weekend.

My first day there was Canada Day, July 1st. It was so much fun to be there on their nation's birthday. We got to see parades (or at least get trapped in a town that was setting up for a parade because they had blocked off the street we came in on :), everybody and I mean EVERYBODY was wearing something with Canada written on it and we got free Canadian flags everywhere we went. We went to Lake Louise, Lake Moraine and stopped in Canmore and Banff. The flowers below were outside the Banff Springs Hotel.

My second day there we drove to Jasper (about a 5 hour drive each way, through the mountains :) It was absolutely gorgeous. We saw three rainbows while I was in Canada, below is one at a waterfall. (The other two were in the sky over the mountains... and I live in Texas why?)

We went by the Columbian Ice Fields and Erin and I took the opportunity to get this little photo op~

Erin and I had a great time and came away with quite a few interesting quotes. You might not get all of them, but Erin knows they're funny ;-)


1 -"Do you think the mountains look just like they did when God created them"
2 -"No, erosion."
3 - "Just like us."
2 - "We erode? Is that what happened to my boobs?"
- Names have been changed to numbers to protect the identity of the parties involved :)

"I wish every day was Canada Day. " - If you have witnessed Canada Day, there is no explanation needed. If not, I don't think you will ever understand :)

"Why is that checkmark on that car?" - Erin's car was just shipped from Houston and arrived the day before I got there. Whoever shipped it managed to lose the title and put a white check mark on the car that, as far as we can tell, cannot be removed.

"Crazy Texas drivers!" - Erin's shipped car still has Texas plates... this was our response to any time we did something stupid while driving

"Shagganappi" - the name of a car dealership in Calgary.. Shagganappi Chevrolet

"If we were in a Tahoe I bet our butts wouldn't hurt right now." - I guess we'll never know....

"Mmmm, it smells like......Canada" - Well, it did :)

"I'm seriously thinking about getting the Prince of Darkness, but I'm not too fond of the name. I mean, I'm just not sure I want an evil cup of coffee..."

I make a great second impression.. most people don't know that about me

First impressions.... I think too much emphasis is placed on first impressions. I am a bit of a spaz, so I hope that the first feelings that people get about me are not the ones that they hold forever. I can think of quite a few of my friends that wouldn't be my friends had they taken their first impression of me and ran with it.. Examples: Preston and everybody else in the room that day :) , Renee.. and a countless number of other people who saw the weird or soapbox me before they got to the creamy nougat center that is me.

I realized though that I often meet someone and make a decision about them within the first couple of minutes. This happened recently with someone in LH (who shall remain nameless :). They drove me nuts and I couldn't stand to be around them. This lasted for something like 9 or 10 months. Just recently I have had the opportunity to get to know them.... I REALLY like them! They are so much fun and have a genuine heart for the Lord. I thought I had learned my lesson about "judging a book by it's cover", but God has taught me so much about what it means to love someone through this person. Now I am excited when they are coming to things and disappointed when they are not. And it isn't me practicing loving the unlovable.... it's me giving a person a chance so that I can truly understand who they are and who God is making them and then I understand how they are lovable.

All this to say, get to know someone you don't think you could get along with... you never know what God will do :)


Weird Abby revelation o' the day- I love the smell of the black and white copier at my office. I don't know why, but it makes me happy :)

Great Love Songs (by genre)- parts.... i dunno

I'm going to dispense with the full on lyrics attack and just list a few more (although if you haven't read the Plankeye lyrics, I highly recommend them :)

Country-

Pat Green "Wave on Wave and "Crazy"- I choose Pat because of his freakin awesome voice and the fact that I find him curiously attractive (isn't that right, Jana? ;-) The chorus from "Crazy" goes like this~

If I am truly crazy,

don't you know I like my life that way

and if I'm really going on out of my mind

won't you hop on board and make your getaway

Alternative/Rock/a little Ska-ey

Haha, so I don't know what genre Yellowcard is, but here is where I praise them for the song "Only One". If you mean it, sing it loud

I just want to tell you so you know

Here I go, scream my lungs out and try to get to you

You are my only one

I let go, there's just no one that gets me like you do

You are my only, my only one

~

And that's the end of that. Sorry :) , I was in the car listening to Wave on Wave and an idea was born. Plus, the other topic option was littering so I figured I'd spare you. I will say this... Don't Mess with Texas... and don't throw a beer can out of a truck at a speed limit sign on my street, seriously the guy was right infront of me and I'm thinking, "Wow, he managed to break at least three laws at once." Ok, soapbox over :)

Great Love Songs (by genre)- part 2

Broadway-

I am going to make an unusual choice here and go with "On my Own" from Les Mis. This is not your typical "great love song" as Eponine's love is unrequited, but it is there none the less and it makes this song one of the most powerful and incredibly depressing love songs ever. With that said.. enjoy :)

On my Own
from Les Miserables

On my own
Pretending he's beside me
All alone, I walk with him till morning
Without himI feel his arms around me
And when I lose my way I close my eyes
And he has found me

In the rain the pavement shines like silver
All the lights are misty in the river
In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight
And all I see is him and me for ever and forever
And I know it's only in my mind
That I'm talking to myself and not to him
And although I know that he is blind
Still I say, there's a way for us

I love him
But when the night is over
He is gone, the river's just a river
Without him the world around me changes
The trees are bare and everywhere
The streets are full of strangers

I love him
But every day I'm learning
All my life I've only been pretending
Without me his world will go on turning
A world that's full of happiness
That I have never known!

I love him
I love him
I love him
But only on my own


Ok, i'm going to go find a happy love song for the next one... otherwise I will depress all my readers :P

Great love songs (by genre)- Part one

Christian Rock-

For me this is hands down "Beautiful" by Plankeye. I prefer love songs by rock bands. I think love is something to be excited about, to get loud about, not just hum quietly about... anyhoo, as far as my particular choice, I think every girl wants a guy to think about her this way. Check it out :)

"Beautiful"
by : Plankeye

You shared her with me yesterday.
So close yet so far away.
It's the little things she does
That magnify your grace.
And your grace,
Resonates in my soul
Every time I see her face

At your feet I lay her down,
Humbly before you I bow.
She's the blessing,
You've given to me,
Father of light.

The lines have fallen in pleasant places,
Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.
Protect her and mold her with your hands.
You've been good to me my sweet.
And your grace resonates in my soul
Every time I see her face.
You have been a shelter Lord,
She has been my dream.

At your feet I lay her down,
Humbly before you I bow.
She's a blessing,
You've given to me,
Father of light.

Beautiful, Beautiful,
I feel your grace abound on me.
In the light, In the light.
At your feet I lay her down,
Humbly before you I bow.
She's a blessing,
You've given to me,
Father of light.

You know you get up too early when....

So, I woke up this morning and I was tired but I forced myself out of bed, did my hair, got dressed, went through my whole wake up routine... I went to go unplug my phone to take it with me when I noticed the alarm was still on. Interesting, because that is how I wake up and I could have sworn it was how I woke up today. So I look at the time on my phone and see that it says 12:55. Uhhhhhhh, what? I check my watch which is already on my perfumed arm and I look at my nightstand and yeah, it is definitely 12:55.

So, I got back into my pajamas and went back to sleep. When I got up at 5:40 I decided once a day is definitely my limit on how many times I fix my hair, so here I sit at work... my hair slightly off.. wondering how I looked at the clock a couple of times before getting up without noticing that it was 12:40 and not 5:40. Now to address the title of this out-of-body post.... You know you get up too early when you accidentally wake up 5 hours early and the only thing that tells you you're up early is the clock (If you look closely, that is :) Yes folks, 5:40 am is just as dark as 12:40 am.... disturbing, isn't it?

She Thinks my Tractor's sexy.. and other random thoughts.

So I drove to Dallas this weekend to hang out with some old friends (Some from preschool, some from college :) I had a GREAT time! It is very weird to go somewhere and feel almost more at home than you do where you live. When you combine the city I grew up in with people I grew up with and then throw in a few people who were my closest friends in college then it is hard not to be comfortable. (Having said that, I love Houston and have no intention of going back to Dallas... although it is very shiny :)



As I drove into town, I realized something.... do you know that song "She thinks my tractor's sexy"? I have always liked this song and thought it was funny and frankly weird if you stopped to think about it. Then as I drove into Dallas I had a thought, Central Expressway is one sexy highway. No seriously, the segment from downtown to the High 5 is seriously attractive.... to me :) I guess I have a little more understanding for the girl who has a tractor thing as I have a highway/ interchange/ bridge thing.. in fact if you throw in my fascination with concrete, mine is probably more weird.

Anyways.... thoughts from today~

1) It takes some seriously scary rain for Houstonians to voluntarily drive 20 mph up I-45.... even at 20, you could still see almost nothing... pretty fun way to start the morning.

2) I think I realized why professional women would want to wear panty hose...... It is perfectly acceptable now to not wear panty hose even in the office, but as I walked in today in a skirt I realized that panty hose would have been a nice little barrier between my legs and the over-active air conditioning system in my building. Why are offices ALWAYS so cold?!!

Oklahoma sucks.... apparently :)

When he found out that I was going to Oklahoma City over the weekend, my supervisor's response was "You know what keeps Texas from sliding into the ocean? Oklahoma sucks". Well, Oklahoma may suck, but the weekend was great. I went with Nate to go to his cousin's wedding and I got to meet almost his entire family. We had such a good time and he has a really great family :) The first picture is of Nate's cousin Nicholas.. sooo cute!

We stayed in Norman and drove into OK City for the wedding so we got to go to the OU campus while we were there. It is so pretty! The second picture is of a building on campus.

We had a great time but we also came up with a few reasons why Oklahoma sucks.

1) If you follow the signs to the OU campus, you never actually see the OU campus.

2) They have these evil biting gnats that I still have marks from all over my feet & neck.

3) They park trains on the tracks for 30-45 minutes blocking 3 intersections in the process.

When it comes down to it though, I wouldn't trade this weekend for the world :)

A Tale of Two Roaches.

Ok, so we are in the car on the way back from Metro Live and Bonnie tells me a story about a roach that was in her shower this morning. Apparently it came out of nowhere and caused her to whimper and try a few disposal tactics before finally sucking it up and grabbing the Raid. My favorite part of the conversation...

Me- "Ew, there is nothing worse than a roach in the shower!"

Bon- "I know! I mean... you're naked, you're vulnerable to their every whim!!"

"And this is my other child.... so and so"

My mom went to help her mom move out of her house and into a retirement community this last week. It was interesting to say the least. My aunt was also there and every time they would be introduced my grandmother would say~

"This is my daughter Cathy, and this is my daughter from Paris"

I suppose where Cathy is from (New York) and my mom's name (Susan) are secondary concerns :)

Sandcastles.. not just for children anymore.

This was the 9th year that my company competed in the AIA Sancastle competition. This is a huge event put on in Galveston every June by the American Institute of Architects with most of the competitors being engineering firms, architechture firms and professional societies. There were 90 "castles" in all and there was some pretty amazing stuff out there. My company was right next to Bonnie's company, so that was a lot of fun. HNTB's theme was "June of the Penguins" and I had a really good time going back and forth between working my booty off and slacking off completely. The top picture shows our surfboard penguin still in very rough form with Rob using it's head as a coaster :) The bottom picture shows our completed site about 5 hours after we started.

What is your desk weirdness?

I just recently moved desks to make room for a new guy that starts tomorrow. (They wanted him sitting close to his supervisor… blah blah blah :) Anyways, I learned something in this process…. Every one of us has something that we tend to store up at our desk. I moved into Sameer's old desk and inherited his collection of white-out (7 different kinds in all), pencil lead (10 different kinds including four different colors), and a mass load of clear push pins (my guess is between 75 and 100, but I failed to count… sorry :) After clearing out his collections, which I found really weird, I realized I was moving in my own collections. To be specific, I have a collection of Post-Its (7 different types) and I also tend to hoard binder clips… I love the things and I have no idea why, as it is I have three boxes of them in my desk right now :) So the question is… what type of office supply are you currently building your own collection of?

Oh yes, and I also inherited something else from Sameer…. It's a glass mug with a picture of a sailboat and the name "Wayne" on it. If you ever happen to meet Wayne, let him know that I have his mug :)

Moments from my cousin's wedding

My cousin Chelsea got married yesterday and she had me and the rest of her cousins as the bridesmaids. It was.... interesting :) I've never seen a more relaxed bride... she walked into the church half an hour before the start time for the wedding with a bag of McDonalds and not a worry in the world. There are far too many moments to record them here, but I will bring you my favorite :)

We were taking the official pictures after the wedding. The photographer was the bride's step mother's sister and she was kind of pushy and I don't think we were ready for her type of "artistic vision".

Photographer- "Ok, I want all the bridesmaids to line up directly behind Chelsea and all the groomsmen to line up directly behind Fred. Now I want all of you to pop your heads out to the side."

At this point we are all thinking she has to be kidding, but oh no... she's serious.

Photographer- "Ok, you (pointing at me) switch with the girl behind you"
Me-"But Julia's taller than me"
Photographer- "Just do it."

So I switch and Jules pops her head out and I can't see anything and I start laughing so hard that i'm crying along with my other cousins.

Photographer- "Ummm, you who just moved switch with Erin."
Me- (laughing) "Alright, whatever"

We line back up and pop our heads out and all of the sudden loud anough for Nate to hear at the back of the church....

Erin- "I'm sorry, this looks completely retarded."

The photographer didn't appreciate it :)

It's a blog-checking kind of Friday...

Sooooo, this is one of those days where the weekend cannot come fast enough. I was busting it all yesterday to get out a report that was due (I love being super busy every now and then :) and I finished so today I'm on to some considerably less urgent work and i'm having a hard time with the concentration factor. I've made a basic equation to describe why I am how I am today:

Less urgent work + my boss being on vacation + it's Friday + i've got a 3 day weekend coming up = me checking everyone's blogs (and my Facebook wall) every couple of minutes to see if anything has changed :)

Stop and smell the roses, er.....daisies :)

I have a beautiful vase full of Gerbera daisies on my desk right now and I smile each time I look at them.... or when I type about them :) They were delivered yesterday and I have to agree with Meg Ryan's character in You've Got Mail, "Don't you think daisies are just the friendliest flower?" Anyways, this is me giving Nate his much deserved props that I can't really give him in real life because I am soooooo not the gushing type. So props..... mad props :)