Movin' on up and the bridesmaid dress nightmare!

It's official! I have a new job! Yeah! I had been interviewing for new jobs at other companies, but last week my boss came to me and said they'd like to give me a promotion! What? Yea! I love this company and the ppl I work with (well, most of them), I just hated that actual job that I did here. So starting in the near future I will be an Account Executive for Mid-South Digital. aka - I'm gonna be selling copy machines. Glamorous? I think not.... but I'm excited non-the - less.

In other news - I got my bridesmaid dress for my friends wedding yesterday. It's beautiful, but HUGE. When I ordered the dress and they suggested I order a size that is 5 sizes bigger than I normally wear, I told them that was a horrible idea. But did they listen? Nope! I've got a good 2-3 inches of extra fabric at the waist, and the bust? Well, let's just say I'd have to be 44FFFFF to fill that up! I can take the dress on and off w/out even unzipping it! The thing that makes me most mad about this is that I had to pay an extra $30.00 to get in a "plus size." I'm aware that I'm not a tiny girl, but I have never in my life been a plus size. And if they had ordered it 2 sizes smaller - like I strongly suggested - I would have not had to pay this and it would actually fit! So now not only have I paid $30.00 for "plus size", I now am going to have to pay about $40.00 to have it cut back down to a smaller size. Are you keeping track here? That's $70.00 I could have saved if they had just ordered what I asked them to. UGH! I hate, hate, hate the wedding industry! I have a call out for the owner of the store to plead my case and ask they they cover the cost of the alterations. That's fair, right? deeeeeepp breaths, nice and slow

In case you missed it

Just in case you missed this video that went around a few years ago, I decided to post it again. This is the reason I feel in love with this little boy. Seriously, he is so cute and I want him for my own!

I want this kid.....

and here is his latest little hit

Mixed Emotions

The weekend has come and gone once again, and here I am sitting at work contemplating the meaning of life. Okay, not really, but I do have a lot on my mind. But I'll get to all that in a minute. First I'll tell ya a little about my weekend.


A few friends and I threw a baby shower for one of our "soon-to-parents" friends on Saturday afternoon. Baby showers are a department that I'm not quite an expert in just yet. Wedding showers and Bachelorette Parties? I'm a pro, but baby showers are a whole other thing. So with this being my first baby shower to help give, I was a little lost in what to do. My friend, Amanda, and I decided that we should try our hand at making a diaper cake. I've posted the picture to the left for you to see.... and if I must say, it turned out pretty stinking good! It's a little of center, but hey - I'm still pretty impressed with us. *High-Five Amanda*. So besides the fact that the cake we ordered for the party didn't get made because someone lost the order at the bakery - the party went off without a hitch. We had a good turn out, and I got to spend some quality time with friends I rarely get to see. The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful. Ben was down in Talladega at the Nascar races, so I had a girly weekend all to myself. I was hoping to get to spend some time out by the pool, but mother nature had other plans and it rained all day. Oh well, that's just how it goes I guess.

I think for the time being I'm gonna keep the other thoughts in my head to myself, but hopefully tomorrow I will be able to share with you what's going on. :)

Finally Friday!

Ohhhhh another week has come and gone - and very slowly at that! Does anyone else feel like this was one of the slowest weeks of their life? Man-oh-man! Maybe it's because I'm waiting on the phone to ring with some, hopefully, good news, but so far I've heard nothing. Ugh, pretty annoying!

Thankfully the weekend will be here in 2 hours - 2 hours people! Now that's something to get excited about. I have a pretty busy weekend planned, which is good cause the DBF (Dear boyfriend. I'm busting out some blog lingo) is out of town for 4 days. My weekend is gonna be pretty girly though. Tonight is sushi w/ a dear friend then we're gonna give her house a scrub down, make a diaper cake, and possibly cook up a few items for a baby shower we are throwing at her house tomorrow. Tomorrow will be spent doing laundry and grocery shopping in the morning, then I'm off to the baby shower for the afternoon/evening. I'm really hoping to get in some pool time w/ some of my girls on Sunday, but the weather is looking like it's not gonna cooperate. I'm gonna say a little prayer that the Lord holds the cool, rainy weather off until Monday though. But in the case that we are blessed (ha!) with rain on Sunday - I think I'm gonna take it easy and spend the afternoon curled up on the couch watching all the girly movies that Ben can't tolerate when he's in town. Woot - happiness!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I'll see ya back here next week!

T.V. Land

Whoo hoo! Tonight, my life is complete again! I really only have 2 t.v. shows - ok maybe 3 - that I really keep up with and "have" to watch. The first is Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Now, if I miss this one it's not the end of the world. But if I'm at home, I'm watching it. I call it my weekly cry. It's a feel good show, and I love watching it. Second and third on the list are Grey's Anatomy and LOST. That is not in any particular order, because they are both equally important. Grey's has been off the air for quite sometime now so while I'm very excited it's back - I've almost forgotten where it left off. I'm sure I will be much more gung-ho after watching tonight's episode. But LOST is a whole other story. For those of you that watch LOST, you can understand my slight addiction. Others probably think the show is weird/dumb/makes no sense (I've heard 'em all) and wonder why in the world I watch it. And that is an answer I can not give you. But I'm hooked - and PSYCHED that's finally coming back on tonight.

I started watching it with my friends Taylor and Amanda when the very 1st episode came on 4 years ago. We all started watching it together and it became an event for us to all do together. Throughout the years the group has changed a lot. Amanda still drifts in and out from time to time, bringing her husband with her. Another friend, Sarah, joined us for awhile, Andrew was there for the few short months he lived in Memphis.... the group is forever changing, but two people remain the same. Me and Taylor. Opening night and season finale's are usually huge parties. We do have rules though: 1. no talking until commercial breaks. 2. if you've never seen the show - don't ask us to explain, it will take too long. And we always do dinner. 9 out of 10 times we cook something - and that's always fun, planning the menu and such. Tonight we're having cedar planked grilled salmon, grilled veggies, and brown rice. Yum!

Are you addicted to LOST as well? What are your predictions of what's going on with the show?

decisions, decisions

I love how it always happens....when right when you think you know what you want - a new option is presented and it throws you for a loop. The thing that you were 100% positive about, you're now 50% positive. UGH! I hate making decisions like this! It's times these that I wish I were 10 years old again. My parents listened to my opinion about something, then made the decision for me. WHY OH WHY can't it be like that again? I know, I know. I'm an adult now and I have to make these decisions on my own. But that freaking stinks so bad! (that was a mature statement, huh?).

I know I'm being so vague and I am very sorry - but at this time vagueness is good. I only have a few days to make this decision so I'll be able to divulge more info by, hopefully, Monday.

On another note - we're back out for another house hunt tonight. Since the other house didn't work out Ben is having to find something else. I'm ready for this process to be over! Say a little prayer that tonight is the night that he finds his house! That would make me and a very happy girl!!

April showers

It's raining.... again. For the past 3 or 4 weeks it seems to have rained just about everyday. Todays rain has brought quite the storm! 2:30p and it's so dark it looks like it's 8:00p already! Someone just came in and said the power is out down most of the street. Power outages? Hmmm.... that could mean a short day at work! But let me not get my hopes up. I am definitely ready for the May flowers that all these April showers are supposed to bring!

The beach trip has come and gone. We had beautiful weather the whole weekend. Sunny, warm, and crystal blue water. The water was way too cold to get in, but it was beautiful to look at. We stayed on HWY 30-A right outside of Sea Side, Fl. It was great staying there because we were in the middle of some beautiful beaches and got to see a little of it all. Our first day on the beach we went to Rosemary Beach. Here are a few pictures from that day. (Well, on second thought... the photo uploader seems to be on the blink right now so I will have to add the pictures later. ) Saturday we spent the day at Sea Side, enjoying the beaches and great little shops. It is a quaint little area and a fun place to visit. On Sunday we were fortunate enough for one of the girls friends to invite us out on his boat for the day. We went out to Crab Island and spent most of the day hanging out there or just cruising around. It was a lot of fun!

The thing I enjoyed most was just getting to catch up with old friends. One of the girls was my college roommate and we are good about keeping in touch. I don't get to see her on a regular basis so I loved getting 5 days with her! The other two girl that went with us were also friends from college, but I haven't seen or talked to them in 5 years - we had a lot to catch up on! And one of my favorite reunions was one that happened on Monday while on the way home. Linz, my old roommate, and I rode together down to the beach. When we lived together in college there were 2 other girls that lived with us, and we had completely lost touch with one of them after she transfered 5 years ago. Linz ran into her a few months back, so we were able to get in touch with her again. Anyway - on our way home yesterday afternoon we got to stop and have lunch with her. It was soo great catching up! She is married and has a precious little girl now. I as amazed and saddened at what all I had missed out on. I hate I missed out on those events that happened in her life, but hopefully from this point forward we will be able to continue our friendship and stay in touch better.

I'll post pictures as soon as I can!

Beach Bound, Baby!

I'm heading to the beach today, kiddos.... and let me just say that am E X C I T E D! I've gotta work half a day today, then I'm hitting the road! I'll be back in Memphis last Monday night. So until then.... have a great rest of the week and a great weekend!

POST-IT'S, Post - It's, post-it's

Are you one of those people that rely heavily on post-it's? I am! At any given moment throughout the day my desk is covered w/ Pink, Green, Yellow, or Purple Post-it's. Sometimes, when my handy-dandy Pop-Up Post-It holder has run out, I have to resort to the freebies given to me by some dealer that has stopped by the office. While these work just as well, I don't seem to appreciate them quite as much. Sure they have nice little message about Value, Mission, and Vision on them.... but they aren't the vibrant florescent color that catches your eye and makes you say "Oh yes, I must remember to call Susan at 2:00p today."

I even love the little mini post-it's. I guess they are called "Post- it Flags" - you know what I'm talking about. The little tabs you can stick to papers to flag something. Yep, love 'em!

Anyway, the point of all this was to tell you about the really fun site I found while browsing around this morning. It's called KnockKnock. It's full of fun and unusual things, but what caught my eye are the quite humorous post-it pads they have. How great would it be if could fill out one of these and pass it along to your mom, friend, boss, or significant other? I'm sure Ben's life would be so much better if I just filled one of these out for him on a regular basis:



But what would make my life better is if he would fill one of these out for me when he gets home from work.... ya never know what mood that boy is gonna be in :)

Go check it out for yourself - there is some great stuff on that site!

Check it out!

I'm so proud of myself. I've been bored with the way my page was looking for quite sometime, and I had looked around online for a pre-made template that I could use, but they were all super cheesy and I just couldn't bring myself to actually use one. So with a little help from my computer savvy friend, I was able to figure out how to manipulate the HTML code of an existing template and create exactly what I wanted. I love the way it looks now - what do you think?

Moving on - I'm slightly overwhelmed with what all I have to get done in two short days. As I mentioned yesterday I'm leaving to go the beach on Thursday so in the meantime I've got to go dig through my stuff in storage and find some summer clothes, beach towels, beach bags.... etc. I've also got to get a pedicure (my feet are really suffering from the winter blues!), go grocery shopping for snacks to take with me, do laundry, pack, go by my aunts and get something she has for me, clean out my car (it's a mess), and so on and so on. I talked to one of the girls I'm going down there with today and it got me even more excited! It's been quite awhile since I've gone on a trip and not had a specific reason to be there (i.e. football game, holiday, wedding,) so this will be some much need R&R.

Ben counter offered on the house yesterday and they came back and flat out said "No." The house has only been on the market a week, so I kinda figured they wouldn't be ready to negotiate just yet. I just believe that wasn't the house the Lord wants him to have. But I know He will lead Ben in the right direction. Until then, it looks like it's back to checking realtor.com on a regular basis again!

Catching up

First things first: Do you like the new look of the page? Yeah, I know much hasn't changed but I did get bored at work the other day and change the banner at the top of the page. The only problem with it is that I don't have photoshop at work so I couldn't actually create a decent banner. So until I get around to fixing it at home, you will just see the HTML code on the title bar at the top of the page. Oh well, it will do for now.

So the weekend has come and gone once again. *sigh* Why do they always seem to fly by so quickly? Two days at work seems like an eternity while two days away from work are here and gone before you know it. At lease I had a fun and productive weekend. Friday night a group of us went to the opening game for the Redbirds. We had a good time despite the fact that it was freezing! Baseball isn't supposed to be cold - neither is April! This weather is driving me nuts. Anyway, after the game we went to EP's to hear a friend of a friend's girlfriend sing. ( did you get that?) She is in an 80's cover band and they weren't half bad. Saturday was spent getting a leak in my windshield fixed, taking a shopping trip to Easy Way for some fresh fruits and veggies, then meeting up with Ben to go make an offer on a house! Yep, that's right.... he's finally decided on a house. A few weeks ago he decided which model he wanted, he was just waiting on a corner lot to become available. As soon as one popped up, he made an offer. They have of course counter offered w/ a much higher price then he put in, but we're keeping our fingers crossed that they will be able to meet Ben in the middle.

The rest of the weekend was pretty uneventful, but relaxing. Church, naps, a little cooking and cleaning, then it was back to the grind at work today. At least this week will be a short week for me. I'm leaving on Thursday to go to Destin, FL for a few days with some girlfriends from college. I'm super excited! So I think I can handle only 3.5 days here at the office. Speaking of which, I better get back to work.

Happy Monday Ya'll!

I smell summer!

Can you feel it? Summer is almost here! Yay! Summer is pretty much my favorite season of all. I love spring and fall too (not such a fan of winter), but summer just gets me. It is full of some of the best memories of my life: Camping trips, spending endless hours and days at "the big pool", soaking up the sun at the beach, staying out playing with friends from sun up to sun down.... Willie's sno-cones (man I miss those!), playing in the creek behind our house, riding 4-wheelers down to rag-cliff, I could go on and on.

Summer is different now that I'm in this adult world. I still have to get up everyday and go to work, but I just feel different. There is an excitement about summer that just never seems to go away. The warm air leaves me longing for a bathing suit, a cold pool, and a good book on the weekends. It makes me anxious to be sitting on a patio with friends drinking margarita's late into the night, or just simply grilling out. Oh, and baseball season - how could I forget that summer means Redbirds games! I can't wait to take a blanket out to the bluff, put on my big sunglasses and just watch a game and relax. I can't help but smile just thinking about it! As soon as summer starts rolling in, the trips and extravaganzas begin to be planned...and boy oh boy is my summer calendar being to get packed. But I'm ok with that - I'm excited.

Three cheers for summer!

"I love Jesus but I drink a little"

This is hilarious! Check it out

Birthday and basketball

As most of you are probably aware, my Memphis Tigers didn't pull out a win last night against Kansas in the National Championship game. I was disappointed in the lost, but besides a few mistakes here and there, I think the Tigers played one heck of a game! They were winning by 3 points with 10 seconds left in the game when Kansas came and tied it up. That, of course, sent it into overtime and the Tigers just couldn't hold it together after that. Not only would a National Title been incredible for Memphis to have, but it would have been great for this city. Well, there's always next year boys! (I say that like they read this.... ha)

Besides a disappointing loss from the Tigers, yesterday was a great day. It was my birthday! Thanks so much for all of you that called, sent cards, emails or wrote on my facebook wall. That really meant a lot and made the day very special. My wonderful boyfriend took me out to dinner last night, then for dessert - yes I splurged and had a piece of delicious ooey-gooey-caramel pie. (Thanks to Caroline I have been dreaming about it for months.) We ended the night at a friends watching the game, then back to Ben's to open gifts. I don't feel any older, but I never do on birthdays. I am excited that my insurance goes down now! whoo hoo!

Now it's back to the grind.... have a great Tuesday!

Disappointment

Have you ever been so excited about something, only to have the outcome not go the way you had hoped or planed? Of course you have, we are all human. I am living that right now. My friend Becky and I decided a few months ago that we wanted to do the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco this October. This is a huge marathon, and it fills up so fast every year. Last year it filled up (20,ooo women!) within 3 hours of them opening registration. We knew we'd be taking a chance by trying to get in this year but we went for it anyway. Since the registration closed so quickly last year they decided to do a random drawing to select the participants this year. What makes this marathon so special? Well, this is what Runner's World had to say about it:

This marathon has special touches galore--most geared toward the 95 percent of runners who are women, including a "coat check" to drop your warmups at 2.5 miles; a "pedi-care" station for blister treatment or a change of socks; a Ghirardelli chocolate stop; and a Tiffany's necklace given to you at the finish by a fireman dressed in a tux.

ROUTE: The course takes you past so many scenic areas that many runners carry cameras. From Union Square, you run through the Financial District and Fisherman's Wharf; along the bay with unobstructed views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge; up into the eucalyptus and cypress forests of Presidio National Park; five miles apiece in Golden Gate Park, along Ocean Beach, and around Lake Merced; and finish on the ocean. The city's steep, cable-car hills are avoided, but three hefty climbs at miles six, eight, and 11 mean you should run to have a good time, not to run one.

ENTERTAINMENT: There are 39 stations with live music, DJs, and cheering squads, plus two more bands at the finish.

SPECTATORS: Some wait at the finish, which is near miles 11 and 16. Others take free shuttle buses to two of the four cheer stations, where comedians keep them in good cheer.

REFUEL: Fourteen fluid stations and seven food stations with Luna Bars, Luna Sport Moons Energy Chews, bananas, granola, or chocolate. Postrace spread features Bear Naked granola with yogurt and bananas, and to wash it down, Jamba Juice smoothies.

SCHWAG: Technical T-shirt, loaded goody bag, plus the Tiffany's version of a finishers' medal. The Nike Expotique also offers massages, manicures, and yoga classes.

STAR POWER: Nike athletes give expo talks; 2007 speakers included Joan Benoit Samuelson (who also led a pace team) and Brandi Chastain.

TAKE NOTE: Men are outnumbered by women, 20-to-1, but they are welcome to participate, which gives them a rare shot of a great placing in the men's division.

So if the Tiffany's Necklace as your finishers medal isn't enough to get you excited, they have plenty of other great elements and sights to get one excited.

Anyway, back to the point of this blog......
They opened registration on March 4th and it was open until March 18th. They had 30,000+ enter and there were only enough spots for 20,000. Our odds seemed pretty good, so we were excited. The drawing took place on April 1st. Becky and I waited and waited on our "CONGRATULATIONS!" email, but it never came. Later on in the afternoon Becky sent me a link on the nike website where you could check your status. I entered my name and waited with held breath..."not selected." *sigh* Becky got the same response.

Our only other option is to go through Team in Training (which is actually how Becky and I met). Anyone can do Nike if they go through TNT but the only thing is that you have to raise $4000.00. The money does go to a great cause, but I've been there and done that w/ the money raising thing and it was very difficult! The other option is for me to coach for Team in Training again. I did this last fall and I really enjoyed it, but of course there is a catch.... As a coach you typically have to go to one of the events you coach for, and the event I would have to go to is the Marine Marathon in Washington D.C. So what? you ask... well the Marine Marathon is the VERY NEXT weekend after Nike. And I physically don't know that I can do that. So as of right now we don't know what we're going to do.....

I'll keep ya posted!

Shoe - la la

What always fits, no matter how much weight you lose or gain? Shoes! One of the many reasons I love them so very much. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am in the process of trying to find the skinny girl hiding under all this "non-skinny material." And in the meantime I am trying not to buy clothes. Now this has been very difficult! I'm out in the stores, seeing all the very cute spring clothes and I'm WANTING THEM! but I'm not letting myself buy them because hopefully before too much longer I will need a smaller size. *crosses fingers* So in the mean time I'm taking this opportunity to buy shoes. Since I haven't convinced Ben to be my sugar daddy yet, my budget doesn't allow for a whole lot of shoes and clothing buying in one trip... therefore I usually have to pick one or other, but for the time being I don't have to pick. I can just buy shoes..... lots and lots of lovely shoes! Now I just need a pedicure so I can start wearing all these beauties!