InsightInsanityImagination

GIVE A WAYS!!!

2009-11-04T10:05:00.001-06:00

Hear ye, hear ye - you don't want to miss this give away!

http://joysofhome.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-am-so-excited-to-introduce-you-to.html

You know you want it....

2009-07-14T20:05:00.001-06:00

RUSH over to Shasta's blog, My Blonde Reality, and enter her awesome giveaway! She is giving away eye creme, facial lotion, and sunless tanner!

Twitter > Blogging - for now

2009-06-22T20:20:00.001-06:00

I don't have time to blog these days with school and work being all crazy, but I am twittering! Follow me @ www.twitter.com/lovebythecross

What does lovebythecross mean?

My first name means LOVE, and my last name means BY THE CROSS :) I"m pretty fond of it.

still at a loss for things to say

2008-11-07T18:52:00.001-06:00

I'm still alive, and reading your blogs. I don't comment much, but I'm reading. I think one day I will write again but for the time being I just can't seem to come up with much to say. One day, one day.

taking a break

2008-10-16T19:25:00.000-06:00

I'm taking a much needed break from blogging. I will be back..... sometime.

I quit my job today

2008-09-30T18:32:00.003-06:00

Ok, I actually quit my job yesterday, but same difference. Here's the story:

While I was in college a few years back, I had a job that I L.O.V.E.D. I was the assistant to the merchandise buyer at a local college merchandise establishment. I can't stress how great this job was - only problem? Well, it paid a college salary and that didn't support the "grown-up" bills I had after college (Read: rent, insurance, etc etc) so I took a job with another company in town. I needed more money - what was a girl to do? So I stuck with this job for a year and half. I switched positions in the company - from accounting to sales. I didn't like either one, but I was miserable in sales. I loved getting to have lunch with friends, and shop or run errands if/when I needed to, but I hated my actual job. I was stressed out all the time.

I had decided a few months back that I would give it until December and then start really looking for something else. Until then I just prayed that the Lord would either change my heart about it, or give me patience.

One day last week I went to the place where I worked in college to talk to them about buying something from me. While there the manager was telling me how she was in desperate need of a new manager to help her out. Her parents own the store, and also own 3 other stores throughout Tennessee and Arkansas, so while she is managing the store here in town, she is also responsible for the other 3 stores. She asked me (jokingly) if I wanted to come back to work with her and without a second thought I said "YES!"

After going home, doing some major praying, consulting with Ben and my parents I decided that this was the Lord's way of relieving me of my stress and job that I hated. I had to take a caliber test to see if I had the skills to be a manager, and it turns out I do! (It also said that I would probably hate sales. Duh!)

Yesterday after signing some paper work at the new job, I went and quit my current job. It was very difficult, but great at the same time.

Goodbye suits and heels - helloooooooo blue jeans!

Where does it go?!?

2008-09-29T10:33:00.005-06:00

Time that is. I honestly had no idea it had been a week since I last posted. I guess life just gets away from me at times. As a result of me being busy and not posting, I have quite a bit to catch you up on.

First I owe you some photos from Mr. Rights wedding.

Mrs. Right and her mom - I love this picture

Mr Right and his parents -

Mrs. Right's entrance - soo fun!!

First Kiss

First Dance

Happily Married!!!!

The wedding was great fun! I got to catch up with old friends that I never see, and I got to watch my bestfriend get married. Perfect :)

I also have pictures to share from:
Tennessee/Florida game (that was a joke of a game)
The Lovebug epidemic in south Alabama
Tennessee/Auburn game (WAR DAMN EAGLE!!!)
And probably more that I can't think of right now.

I think I'm quitting my job today so I have a lot on my mind. Maybe when today is over I will have more energy to write. And I have 260 unread items in my google reader - yippee!

Last thing - check out my friend Whitney's blog for a great giveaway today!

Feeling the love and passing it on!

2008-09-22T08:12:00.002-06:00

My friend Becky over at Weeksie50 was soo sweet and passed this blog award to me! Thanks girl!!

Here are the rules:

Characteristics for the Smile Award:
1. Must display a cheerful attitude.
2. Must love one another.
3. Must make mistakes.
4. Must learn from others.
5. Must be a positive contributor to blog world.
6. Must love life.
7. Must love kids.

These are the rules for The Smile Award:
1. The recipient must link back the the award’s creator
2. You must post these rules if you receive the award.
3. You must chose 5 people to receive the award after receiving it yourself
4. You must fit the characteristics of the recipient of the award, as posted by Mere
5. You must post the characteristics of a recipient.
6. You must create a post sharing your win with others.
7. You must thank your giver.

So now I am here to pass this along to 5 of my dear bloggy friends. I had a VERY hard time narrowing this down because I love to read so many blogs - but here is who I pass this to.....

1. Whitney at My Journey toward: The Glamorous Life of a Housewife.
Whitney is such an amazing girl! She loves the Lord and always says the sweetest most inspiring things.... not to mention she's stinking hilarious! I just know that if we lived close to each other that we would be Best Friends.

2. Jenna at these are the days
You will fall in love with this girl! She always has the most fun things to post about writes soo well! You even get to see adorable pictures of two cute little boys that she babysits - and the stories she tells about this? So funny! Check her out - you won't regret it!

3. Insane Mama

She is creative, fun, loves her family and tells the best stories. You never know what you're gonna get when you log onto her blog! You may find yourself rolling on the floor laughing as she tells how she set up a fart machine outside her window while her neighbor was having a party, or you may shed a tear or two as she tells stories from her past. Either way you walk away feeling like she gave you a piece of herself.

4. Mallory at The Lacey's
Mallory is a local Memphis gal like me. I love checking in and seeing what she's been up to. She and her husband are so cute..... so just posted a fun thing showing what their kids might look like!

5. Amy Beth at Ministry So Fabulous
Amy Beth is a 20-something girl whose heart and love for the Lord are soo apparent in everything she writes. She started a ministry for girls while she is in college (wow!) and she writes about that and the other joys and struggles in her life. She's pretty amazing I tell ya!

and to everyone else - I think you're great too!

Always the bridesmaid - never the bride!

2008-09-18T13:47:00.005-06:00

My blog friend Megan over at The Life and Times of Megan recently got married, and she is hosting a "post your wedding pictures" party. We all know that I've never been married, but she said all the single gals could post pictures of them as a bridesmaid! And goodness knows I've been one of those enough times (7).

I only have pictures on my computer from 3 of the weddings.... not sure why, but that's how it goes.

These three weddings are from 3 of my best girlfriends in the world... take a trip with me down memory lane.

Wedding #1: A-Train and DeWayne.

A-Train and I grew up in the same small town. Her grandmother lived right down the street from me and I would see her and her cousins out playing all the time. But our paths never really crossed until I went back to school. We met in the same Advanced Biology class that I met Mr. Right and DY in. Once we both got into college, we kind of lost touch. I'd run into her at wal-mart or around town during holiday breaks, but that was really about it. Until one day A-train called me out of the blue and said "Hey, I've got a job interview in Memphis next week. Do you mind if I come stay with you?" To make a long story short, she got the job, moved to Memphis and we moved in together. DeWayne, her boyfriend at the time also moved up here. After living with her for two years, they became two of my best friends. They tied the knot in our home town in June of 2006. Here a few pictures from their big day.

A-Train and her bridesmaids waiting for the wedding to start

Here we are again!

Mr & Mrs DeWayne

Wedding # 2: LiLi and Coach

LiLi and I met my freshman year of college. Our rooms were right next dorm rooms were right next door to each other. In a world of not knowing a single soul LiLi and I started a friendship that I know will last a lifetime. We've been through some very good times together, but also some very hard times. We live 3 hours apart from each other now, but I will always and forever call her my best friend. After college, LiLi was set up with Coach by her grandmother! They knew right away they were meant to be together and they said "I Do" in March of 2007 at her parent's house in Lousiana.

Me and Lili

All the girls in the tub!
(sorry it's a little dark)

her dad giving her away....

Wedding # 3: Schneeder & Doc

Schneeder and I met in 2000 on a mission trip to Costa Rica. She was from Ohio, I was from Alabama so when we got back home from our trip we didn't see much of each other. We both finished high school, then went off to college. An occasional card or Instant Message kept us in touch. But in the spring of 2005 I got a familiar phone call "hey! I have a job interview in Memphis! Can I come stay with you?" You know how this story goes - she got the job, and moved in with A-train and me. After A-train got hitched, Schneeder and I moved into a house by ourselves. (Sometimes I think God put me in Memphis because he know i'd be a gateway and a friend to many of my friends who would end up here.... these aren't the only two friends of mine that have come here since I've been here). Schneeder and Doc met in August of 2007, were engaged in November/December (can't remember) of 2007 and got married this past August. "Love at first sight" we beyond true for these two.

me with a few of the other bridesmaids

Cutest flower girl in the world!

saying "I do"

The whole wedding party

Being apart of such a special day of my dear sweet friends was and is always so much fun! And I can't wait until they stand by my side when my day arrives! I know it is coming eventually, and I will patiently wait until the time is right. Until then I will enjoy this time w/ my boy that the Lord has given me.

Ahoy, me hearties!

2008-09-18T13:47:00.004-06:00

Yo ho Yo ho! Yar matey! Today is none other than National Talk Like a Pirate day! So Lass' grab your Gentleman o' fortune and rustle up some doubloons. Don't be a scallywag or swarshbuckler!

Who doesn't love free stuff?

2008-09-18T13:47:00.001-06:00

Hey girls - Stacy is giving away a great book all about JUNK! :) Click below to check it out!

well I declare!

2008-09-17T14:44:00.003-06:00

a few weeks ago, our good friends JC and Merrie were over hanging out, and Ben and I were voicing our frustrations about being out of town every weekend. Ya see, since April we have been gone at least every other weekend, if not several weekends back to back. Our frustration with this is that we haven't been able to find a good church home. He and I were both brought up in different denominations (me: Baptist him: Catholic/Methodist) so finding a church we both like and feel comfortable in has, needless to say, been difficult. You throw being gone all the time in that mix and it's nearly impossible.

So - while telling JC and Merrie about this, they were explaining how they have been going through the same thing. Merrie just moved to Memphis a few months ago to be with JC, and they are getting married in November. Their wedding is out of state, so they are gone as much, if not more than we are.

They told us about this Bible Study they had started going to on Tuesday nights and invited Ben and I along. We both jumped at the opportunity. While we are gone on the weekends, we are always here during the week - especially on Tuesdays! So last night we all loaded up and headed to Bible Study. It meets each week at a different persons house.

Now, if you noticed before I said I grew up in a Baptist church. I also went to a Baptist college. I ate, slept, and breathed Baptist until I was about 20 and realized there was more to life than being Baptist! (not really - Im totally exaggerating) But the one thing it did take me a while to realize after leaving my sheltered South Alabama, Baptist life is that alcohol is not from satan! I know now that I will not die and go to hell for having a glass of wine or a margarita if I so choose. Hallajulah Thank ya Jesus! (again, I am exaggerating about this as well)

Please do not get me wrong on this. I love the Lord with all my heart, and I am not bashing Baptists (or any other denomation) - I'm just stating what my thoughts on alcohol were a bit deminted.

MOVING ON! I'm getting so sidetracked. Bible Study. So we walked into this home (HUGE, GORGEOUS HOME) and everyone was on the back patio socializing. The four us of went to say hello to everyone, and then I saw it: the alcohol. I must admit; I was slightly taken aback. Alcohol as BIBLE STUDY?! Even when the preacher started teaching, people were just drinking a beer, reading their Bible, asking questions. It was such a surreal moment for me. Even though I've come to a place where I no longer see drinking as a bad thing, seeing it in that environment was too weird. I guess I still saw it as something that was ok to do - just not in church (or a church like setting).

But hey, Jesus drank wine and taught. Why shouldn't we drink wine and learn? I think I'm going to enjoy this Bible Study!

Swap

2008-09-17T09:00:00.003-06:00

OK, so I keep seeing all the adorable things that people are getting/giving in these swaps, and reading about how they got to meet so many fabulous new friends. I've never done a swap, but I want to give it a try! Only problem is, I don't know how to go about finding/getting involved with one. Do any of you ladies know of one that is going on now?

Thanks!

Do you love me?

2008-09-16T12:53:00.000-06:00

Add me as a blog you follow! Click the button to the left and you'll be all set!

Clarification

2008-09-16T12:11:00.002-06:00

1st of all, Mr Right's wedding was great. I'm waiting till I have a moment to get my pictures uploaded before I tell you about it. But I will - promise

But I want to clarify that the title of my last post "HURRY! GO GET GAS" was not me telling you to go get gas. It was merely me making fun/pointing out what people in my life were saying to me. I received a rather..umm... straightforward comment (which has now been deleted) about how I should get a life, stop over reacting to little stuff, and just because the price of gas going up is a problem for me, that doesn't mean it is for anyone else, so who am I tell everyone to "hurry and get gas"

So now ya know.... I wasn't being bossy (don't get me wrong, I've been known to be bossy before).

Hurry! Go Get Gas!

2008-09-12T13:02:00.002-06:00

Is everyone in your life freaking out about gas right now? I had two co-workers, Boss and GrannyP (she's new, I'll have to tell ya all about her later) come up to me and tell me that I "better run get gas, it's going up to $5.00 tonight."

really? really? really? You're telling me that it's going to go up $1.50 in a matter of a few hours?

Oh alright, I'll go get gas. I mean, since I am leaving and driving 6 hours right after work.... I kinda need it anyway.

While I'm at the gas station, Ben calls "You need to fill up. Gas is going up like crazy. Oh, and everytime you see a gas station on the way home, you need to stop and fill up." Seriously babe? EVERY SINGLE GAS STATION? Thanks, but no thanks.

So I'm paying a lovely $3.89 a gallon to fill up my baby and my mom calls "have ya heard is gas is going up?"

SERIOUSLY?!?!?!!? I'M GETTING GAS PEOPLE!!!

My question is this: Why is gas going up so quickly, when the gas company/station has already paid for the gas that is in the pumps at the time? And wait.... has the storm even hit yet? Do we know if the pipelines have been damaged? Oh, and aren't we supposed to have something like 65,000 gallons of gas on reserve for situations like this??? Call me crazy, but someone is making mad money off this. And it really pisses me off.

Hope you're tanks are full of gas, and you have a wonderful weekend. To everyone in Texas and in Ike's path - be careful. I'm saying a prayer for you!

Girlfriend of the year award

2008-09-10T19:14:00.002-06:00

Yep, that's what Im hoping to win!

I don't have to inform you that football season is among us. And if you've been around my blog for long you are aware at what a HUGE University of Tennessee fan Ben (and his family) is. Well, our weekly trips to Knoxvegas (knoxville) are fast approaching. Every home UT game is quite an ordeal for Ben's family. His parents down for every.single. game from Virginia, and Ben and I will be driving over for every.single.game. His parents throw this huge tailgate for Ben, his sister, and all of their friends. I went to two games/tailgates last year but Ben and I were still a pretty new couple so I wasn't sure what to expect. Well this year I want help. I've asked his mom if I could make some food to bring for any of the games and she always says no. But I want to do something.

Does anyone have any cute/good/impressive/girlfriend of the year worthy tailgate good ideas? It needs to be something I can make a day or two ahead and doesn't need to be refrigerated (preferably) .

he's getting married!!

2008-09-09T12:08:00.007-06:00

My Junior year in high school, I left my parent's humble abode as a home school kid and walked into the doors of The High School. I was nervous (so so nervous!) but super excited. I grew up in a small town so I already knew a large majority of the people I would be going to school with, but there is nothing like walking into a real (that's what us cool homeschool kids called it) school for the first time in 10 years.

My first period class was advanced biology. I knew exactly where the classroom was because I was so afraid of getting lost the first day of school I had gone and walked from class to class at least twice the week before. Nothing like a little preparedness huh?

Where was I? Oh yes, advanced biology. Instead of desks in the room, there were tables. Two people to each table. I walked in, looked around, and sat at the first table that had an empty seat. It was the table at the back of the classroom, but I was ok with that. No need to be front and center on my first day! The seat next to me was empty at the moment, but would later be filled with the the guy that would soon become my high school crush -DY. DY's best friend Mr. Right was also in that class, and sat right next to us. We all talked and hung out in class. DY and I hung out outside of class a few times, but Mr. Right had a pretty serious gf at the time so he wasn't around much.

But over Thanksgiving break, my sister and I were in Wal-Mart (THE place to be and be seen in my town!) and ran into Mr. Right. His gf was out of town and he was looking for something to do. We went and hung out - and from there on we were imseperable. He quickly became my best friend. After he and serious gf broke up, we tried dating for a minute but realized very fast that we were better off as friends.

That was 9 years ago, and to this day he is still so near and dear to my heart. Last fall he got engaged to the love of his life, and they are set to say "I do" this Saturday. It's still weird to me that he's getting married because he was ALWAYS the type that swore he'd never get married (although he is quite the ladies man). It's not that he didn't believe in love, he just said he'd be happier not being married. But he quickly changed his tune when he met Mrs. Right. 3 months after meeting, they were engaged. They are the perfect couple and I couldn't be more happy for them!

They had made plans to get married on the beach down in Alabama, but since Hurrican Ike hasn't made up his mind on where he is going to go this weekend, they moved the wedding back up to our hometown just to be safe. I'm so excited for this weekend, I just can't stand it!

Here are a few pictures of Mr. Right and myself last summer.

It's going to be a small wedding, but I will try and remember to take plenty of pictures. And yes, DY and his new wife (they just got married in June) will be there too. Should be fun!!

I'm in love

2008-09-08T07:55:00.004-06:00

Yesterday afternoon I took a little trip to the Germantown Festival. It's a festival with crafty items, and fair food (yum!), and on Sunday's they have a Daschund race. It's seriously the funniest thing ever. We didn't watch much of it this year because it was so flippin hot! I try to go to the festival every year just to walk around and see what's going on. I don't usually take any money with me because most of the stuff is a little to ''crafty" for me.

But this year I wish I had a. taken some money and b. left Ben at home. (he hates shopping, and even though I knew I wouldn't buy anything, I had to walk through every booth.) I came across the coolest jewelry!

Aren't these necklaces so cute? She (Freshie) also makes beautiful earrings and braclets! I can't wait till I have some time tonight to really shop around on her webstite.

www.freshieandzero.com - check her out!

sweet as pie

2008-09-07T09:48:00.004-06:00

Yesterday morning Ben and I finally had time to go to the farmer's market down at the train station. We got some delicious fruits and veggies. A big ole basket of peaches were calling my name and demanding to be made into a peach pie.

Peel and cut up 3-4 cups of peaches

I used Pillsbury premade pie crust, sprinkle flour on bottom of pie crust and put into 9'' pie pan

Depending on sweetness, add 2-3 tbsp sugar (for really sweet peaches) or 1/2 cup sugar (for tart peaches). 3-4 Tbsp Flour. 1/8 tsp cinnamon. Pour over peaches and mix together. Then pour into pie pan

Dot with butter

Put second pie crust on top, pinch edges together, cut slits in top, and sprinkle with sugar

Bake 35-45 minutes at 350 degrees

and ta-daa! a peach pie!

serve hot with vanilla ice cream and you're sure to have a hit! I didn't get to take a picture of it once it was cut because there were 3 guys over hanging out with Ben and it was gone before I knew it!

Hanging my head in shame

2008-09-05T15:09:00.002-06:00

I'm so ashamed that I've been MIA for the past week, but I have no excuse. I've been busy, yes, but I still could have made time for you.

*sigh*

Well since I've left you out of so many things, here's the quick rundown of what you've missed:

Gustov - my family and friends fared well. Since ol Gustov decided to spare Alabama and Mississippi I only had a few friends left in his way. My thoughts and prayers still go out to all those who were effected by the storm - and of course for those that the new storms are about to hit! yikes!

Last weekend - Ben's parents came into town from Virginia. They flew in on Friday afternoon and were here until Tuesday morning. Here's what our weekend looked like:

Central BBQ
ZooBrew
2 hour shopping trip to Lowe's
1 hour shopping trip to Costco
Garage organization - aka shelfs and bike hangers, etc
Trolley ride downtown
Rendezvous BBQ
Beale Street
More garage organization
Homemade Pizza Making 101 (Ben has bragged on his dad's pizza for a year now, so I finally got to learn how to make it!)
More shopping and touring of Memphis
Football party to watch the Vols get beat by UCLA (it was a bad bad night in Memphis that night!)

So needless to say it was a busy weekend!

Tuesday - relaxed and finally got a pile of stuff on ebay

Wednesday - watched my girl Sarah Palin rock my socks off

Thursday - Did NOTHING! - it was great :)

So now you're all caught up! I promise from the depths of my soul that I'm going to do better.....

worried

2008-08-28T15:47:00.001-06:00

My parents, sisters, brother, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and SO many friends live right in the projected path of Gustav. Please keep the people on the Gulf Coast in your prayers.

Mama Africa

2008-08-25T13:15:00.014-06:00

I'm a sucker for a bargain. Always have been - always will be. I have even been known to travel great distances for a good bargain. So when I heard about "Mama Africa" - I knew I had to go.

Saturday morning Beckster and I headed down to a part of town I don't frequent very often (Read: never) because we had heard there were bargains to be had. What kind of bargain would entice me to take my own life into my hands? Oh - I don't know. Say designer knock of bags for $25- $30? Yes, that kind of bargain.

I had no idea what to expect. I was told "get off the interstate, travel down 3rd street for about 8 -10 miles. It's at the "old drive-in" (if that doesn't sound shady, then you don't know Memphis!). You can't miss it - you will see these huge African paintings all over the side of the road." niiiiccee.

So now, without further adue, I give you Mama Africa

At Mama Africa you can find some things that look like "smelling salts", African carvings, and Pants. (Fuchsia was also available, but somehow those didn't make it in the picture)

Need tires for your car? No problem - you can find those here too! Although I'm not convinced they aren't hot. I bet a set of my tires was sitting over there. But that's another story for another day

If you get hungry while shopping at Mama Africa - have no fear! Chicken wings are near!

If you bring the kiddies along, and they are tired from all the shopping they can play a fun little game -

And if the men in your life can't handle the bargains - they can head across the street for a little action themselves!

But alas - great purses were to be found. Between Beckster and myself, we got 2 Prada bags, 1 Coach bag, and 1 Chanel bag. All for $100.00!

Ben gave me a good talkin to later that day about how 2 girls do not need to be venturing to that part of town alone. Clearly he doesn't understand that I can hold my own!

It's Friday night and I feel alright

2008-08-22T15:48:00.002-06:00

G-round the grill master

Yes, this is what my friday night will consist of. Happy Friday Ya'll! Have a great weekend!

So Unique

2008-08-22T08:02:00.004-06:00

I stole this from JKW'S blog - but I thought it was fun and interesting.

This is how many people in the U.S. have my name! I'm pretty special huh?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
7
people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

But this is how many people in the U.S. have the name that I will have if Ben and I are ever to get married:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are
1
or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

That's right! I'd be THE ONLY ONE!

Um, Mindy? Where's the cheese?

2008-08-21T13:44:00.002-06:00

So I'm a few days late on this post, but this past weekend was mine and Ben's 1 year anniversary. No, we aren't married. Yes, we're only dating. Yes, I know it's lame. Whatever - I do what I want. :)

Anyway - the whole weekend was a a blast. Friday night we decided to hang out with our friend G-round. Well having G-round over turned into having C-squared and her boy Jersey, Beckster, Roommate and his woman(I haven't come up with a name for her just yet), Lil Kinko, LeDouche, and our friends JHJ (Yes, I know.... you need a better name.) over as well. We had a blast. It rained all night so we just hung out at Ben's, ate too much, played some games and watched an amazing Michael Phelps race.

For quite sometime I've been wanting a bicycle, so Ben told me on Saturday morning that he was getting me a bicycle for our anniversary. I was beyond excited! We hit the road and headed to some bike shops. The first one was closed, and the second one was not helpful. We were in there for a good 15 mins and not one single person acknowledged we were there. Hi? Yes, I know I'm fat and I don't look like I belong on a bike! But I want a bike dangit! HELP ME!!

The unhelpful bike shop happened to be right across the street from the place I worked when I was in college.I'm still good friends with my boss from that job and Ben has never met her. So I grabbed Ben and we ran inside real quick so they could meet. Little did I know when I dragged my UT Vols fan boyfriend, who was obviously wearing a bright orange UT t-shirt, into a University of Memphis bookstore, that Joey Dorsey - the #1 player for the UofM basketball team (aka huge local celebrity) would be in there signing autographs. What happened when I went trapsing in with my obnoxiously orange boyfriend? Oh, Joey Dorsey asked him to leave. Ha! No joke! He said "Um, excuse me. You need to go." we laughed... Joey said "no, I'm not kidding. leave." Yes, it was awkward. No, we didn't leave.

Ok I'm getting on with it. I'm getting sidetracked - sorry. We finally left the bookstore where Ben was hated and made one last stop at a different bike shop in hopes of finding a bike. Ben had given me the lecture of "we don't have to buy something today. blah blah blah" yea, yea, I know.... let's get on with it. We finally found a helpful soal and he explained everything I would never need to know about a bike - and more. I "test drove" a few around the parking lot before finally decided on my beauty.

Here she is in all her glory.

Don't you just love her? I do.

I'm going to skip a good bit because I know I'm losing you. Sunday was our actual anniversary. We went and did a little shopping, had a delicious brunch, then went and had a little bike ride. It was so much fun. Sunday night Ben surprised me and took me to The Melting Pot. Yum! I love love that place! Ben had never been to a fondue restaurant, but he loved it too! Only thing was, he was soo confused when they brought out the meat part of the meal. They got the broth stuff cooking, and when the guy left Ben looked and me and said "where's the cheese?" With a confused look on my face I said "the cheese is only the 1st partof the meal. we already ate that." He then went on to explain that he though "fondue" meant "cheese" and cheese was a part of every course. really honey? You wanted to cook your steak in cheese? And what about the chocolate? Cheese and chocolate? I don't think so. It took him awhile to realize they weren't bringing us more cheese, but in the end I think he finally figured it out.

Workplace Wonders: You're showing your age there, sister!

2008-08-20T08:11:00.003-06:00

Let me tell ya about a few of the folks I work with -

First we have Boss. Now, Boss isn't really the boss but she sure thinks she is! She is in her 40's and is on my sales team and has been here the longest of all the sales folks. She is very helpful when I need help or have questions, but everything goes to her head and she is ALWAYS RIGHT. Therefore she knows more than anyone else here, and should be the boss.

Next we have BikerBabe. BikerBabe is a 61 year old lady that is also on my sales team. She smokes like a chimney and always talks about going to Bike Night, and hanging out at the Bike Shop. She is something else I tell ya!

I sit between Boss and BikerBabe so I can hear pretty much everything they say and do - super exciting, I know. Anyway, I've been noticing lately the different ways all three of us go about doing things. For example - when one of us needs a phone number: I go to google it, Boss calls directory assistance, and BikerBabe looks it up in the phone book. If I need a file that BikerBabe has on her computer - she prints it out, goes to the copy machine and scans it in as a PDF then sends it to me. Of if she's in a hurry she just prints it out and lays it on my desk. Attaching it directly from her computer is not an option for BikerBabe (I've showed her numerous times but she never remembers that is an option).

Another example: Yesterday we all received updated and revised maintenance agreements that we are supposed to be using from here on out. Here is what we all did with them. Boss saved a copy, then printed out 25 so she could have them sitting in her file cabinet ready to be used (she will have to manually fill these out), BikerBabe asked me to help her print out 1 copy. She then took that one copy up to the copy machine and made 100 copies of it so that she could always have one available. What did I do? I just saved it to my computer. This way I can fill out all the information on the computer then print it out as needed.

I could go on and on - don't even get me started with how they manage PowerPoint and Excel. Oh, and checking their voicemail remotely - ha! What an ordeal!

I'm not saying that one of us is right and one is wrong - I'm simply pointing out the differences in which we all use technology. The thing that got me thinking most about this was the phone number thing - I'm sure by the time I'm 40, I will have children and they will be like "mom? you're using the INTERNET to look that up? Get with the times!" (I have no idea "what the times" will be - but I can only imagine!

Will they ever let me grow up?

2008-08-18T20:10:00.003-06:00

So I'm going to grad school this fall- whoop whoop! I'm pretty excited. I'm going to get my masters in Elementary Education. My bachelors degree is in Elem. Education but I never got my license so I can't teach. Thank you No Child Left Behind.

Well as it turns out, I can't afford to just pay my tuition. Hello? Car Payment? Rent? Itty Bitty Salary? I've been looking for grants but the school I'm going to isn't "participating" with any of the grants that are available to me. lovely. I could get an assistantship which would pay for my tuition, but it pays even less than my joke of a salary and I would be without health insurance. That's not exactly a gamble I'm willing to take. My solution? Student loans.

Wouldn't ya know that my parents are making it very clear that I shouldn't take out any loans. "You already have debt: you just financed a car, and you have student loans that you haven't paid off from your undergrad." Oh really? And why do I have those loans? Oh that's right - cause you refused to pay for my 5th year of school. Now don't get me wrong - I'm very very appreciative that my parents paid for my first 4 years of school, and I did not mind AT ALL taking out the loans to cover my last year. It was my fault I was there 5 years - I accept the responsibility. But don't come telling me that I just should just suck it up and continue on in a job (I refuse to call it a career b/c I hate it so much) that I despise just because you feel that it's a bad idea to accrue more debt.

My mom actually made this statement about it "If you were going to Med School or something like that where you'd actually made a decent income one day that would be one thing. But taking a loans to become a teacher just isn't wise." Why are you homeschooling A & K this year mom? Because the schools SUCK and the teachers are horrible!?!? Wouldn't you be appreciative if someone had decided that teaching children and molding our future was more important that making a huge salary?

My dad calls tonight and goes into it all over again. I've been keeping the conversations about it short and sweet because I have this weird condition, that whenever I talk to my dad about subjects that we don't see eye-to-eye on I end up crying - and it makes him mad. But tonight it just couldn't be avoided. He discussed how me taking out loans was not a good idea, I cried and tried to explain why I wanted to do this, he said he doesn't know a single teacher that actually enjoys their job, I cry and tell him I know teachers that love their jobs....... on and on and on.

Please don't get me wrong on this. I love my parents and I understand their concern with me getting into more debt. But the debt I do have is student loans, and a car. I don't have credit card debt or anything like that. I guess sometimes I just wish they would be supportive of a decision I make and let me grow up and make my own mistakes and decisions without telling me how wrong I am and what a mistake I'm making before I even make it.

I've prayed and prayed about this decision and I truly feel that this is what the Lord wants me to do. I guess all I can do now is pray that He changes my parents heart as well.

Ideas? Suggestions?

2008-08-18T12:11:00.003-06:00

My creativity is running low -

Ben's house is coming together nicely. We've got it looking like we want it..... all except one thing.

this big, blank wall space behind the couch. I hate it. Ben agrees that something needs to be there, but us agreeing on what it should be is another story. We went and looked around yesterday to see what we could find, and the only thing Ben even remotely liked was a picture of horses running through a field. My thoughts? NOPE! Not happening!

We have hung several iron pieces in other parts of the room so we need something else - something with color and interest. All of you are so creative I thought I'd see what ideas you had. Since it's Ben's house it needs to be something a male would be ok with.

HELP!!!!!

Self Diagnosis

2008-08-13T11:46:00.002-06:00

Ya know how some people are freckly, and some people just aren't? Well I'm one of the many that are blessed with "angel kisses" (as my mom used to call them). And as I've gotten older some are bigger than others - some resemble moles more than freckles.

too disgusting? Sorry - I have a point

For the past few years I've become very aware of my freckles and moles and I watch them constantly to make sure they aren't changing shape or color. Well that obviously leads to a paranoid state.

I've sent several of my friends over the past few years to the dermatologist because I was convinced they had skin cancer - so far none of them have. :) What can I say? I'm just looking out for my friends!

All of this rambling leads me to this point. Even though I've sent countless friends running to the doctor, I myself have never been to have any "suspicious" moles checked out. But I've had this one on my stomach that I've been watching for awhile, and after telling my dad about it - (he's a doctor) I've decided to go have to removed and looked at.

I'm not scared or anything - it's probably me just over reacting, but I will sleep better at night when I know for sure it's nothing.

I'm a runner wannabe

2008-08-12T10:41:00.004-06:00

Well I'm doing it again! A half marathon that is.

Back in 2006 I had this wild hair that I wanted to run a marathon. Those of you that actually know me understand the hilarity of that, in that I am not a runner. at all. But I signed up with this organization called Team In Training and began training. I spent every Saturday morning at Shelby Farms learning how to be a runner, and every morning of the week running on my own. I ran through the heat of June, July, August, and September, and I ran through the cold of October, November, and December. I was loving it - I had never been able to call myself a runner, but all of the sudden I could. I was a fat runner - but I was a runner dang it!

So in December of 2006 we signed up to run the St. Jude 1/2 marathon as a training run. My full marathon wasn't until January. Somewhere along the way in that 1/2 marathon I hurt my foot/ankle. I went to several doctors and no one could give me a straight answer of what was wrong. It basically came down to this: it hurts to run, so don't run. walk. I was pretty upset about this because I had spent so much time learning to run and building the endurance to do so.

When January came, my team and I loaded the plan and headed to Phoenix, AZ for our marathon. I walked most of it, and ran what I could. It was the coldest it had been in 26 years. I was prepared for 70 degree weather. It was 23 degrees at the start. I had 13 blisters when it was all said and done, and I was absolutely miserable. I cried as my blisters popped while I was running/walking. I cried just about the entire last 3 miles. I cried as I crossed the finish line. I'm not a baby, but I was in pain. I decided that day that 26.2 miles and I were not friends and we would probably never learn to get along. I had completed a full marathon though. I have the medal to prove it!

A few weeks later I had forgotten how horrible the whole experience was, and I began to miss it. I signed up to run the Country Music 1/2 Marathon in Nashville - but in the end I had to walk it as well. I loved it. It was during this time of training that I met Becky. We quickly became friends and walking partners.

After completing that 1/2 marathon, I went on to coach the walking team for Team in Training and I completed the St. Jude half again. I was amazed with myself. In a 12 month period I had completed 1 full and 3 halfs in a 12 month period. Not bad for a fat, lazy girl huh?

I haven't done much of anything for the past year, but last week Becky and I decided to lace up our shoes once again and get our butts in gear! We are signing up to do another 1/2 in December. We started training last night and I'm getting excited.

I would promise to keep you updated but we know how good I've been about that lately! I will promise you this: I'll do my best.

Wish my luck!

not dead yet

2008-08-10T16:11:00.002-06:00

I'm still here. I've been crazy nutso busy so I haven't had much time to write.

Ben and I will have been together for a year next weekend, so I've been using all my spare time to make a little something something for that.

I promise to try to do better.

2008-07-31T15:39:00.003-06:00

If only this whole car thing was as easy as I made it seem below. This week has been a week of excitement, fear, anger, tears (of joy and saddness)..... but this whole ordeal has just about come to an end.

I'm leaving in about an hour to head to Cleveland, OH for my dear friend Sarah's wedding. But when I get back I will fill you in on all the headache that has been my week. Until then.... have a great weekend!

Oh, and for those of you who were wondering..... yes, I will be making the drip in my new(to me) Acura MDX. Super excited!!!!

Oh happy day!

2008-07-29T14:28:00.001-06:00

I think I've got a car! I'm taking it to the dealer tomorrow to have them do a once over on it, then if they say it's clear of problems I will be signing on the dotted line. ohhh I'm giddy :)

Need suggestions...

2008-07-28T09:57:00.003-06:00

I'm in a wedding this weekend, and my Florida tan is fading fast! Have any of you used (or currently use) a sunless tanner that you like? Obviously I want something that isn't going to make me orange or leave me with streaks. I've done the spray tan at the tanning salons before, and I love how they look, but we are leaving right after work on Thursday to begin our drive to Cleveland, OH so I'd have to get sprayed on Wednesday (so that I wouldn't stink the whole way up there!) and I'm afraid by the time the wedding rolls around on Saturday you wouldn't be able to tell I had even gotten sprayed!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Oh, and I don't need color so badly that I'm willing to fork over $100, so bargain products are great!

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

2008-07-24T15:11:00.009-06:00

What a weekend! It flew by so quickly, but was loaded with so much fun, laughter, laughter, laughter and great memories!

Friday, after the air in my car started to go out, and I smashed my phone in the trunk (another story for another day), Ben and I got on the road about 6:30pm. Rather than driving the whole way that night, and trying to find our way up winding mountain roads in the dark, we decided to stop half way and spend the night at his grandparent's house. We got a semi early start on Saturday morning and headed towards the mountains.

We got to the cabin and the rest of the family was rarin' to go! My brothers had decided that we needed to go find a cold mountain stream to play in, so off we went. My dad wasn't sure where to go to find a stream in the mountains, or if they would just let us get out of the car and start playing so we went into Pigeon Forge to this stream someone had told him about. All of us kids were joking around that we probably weren't actually allowed to be there but my dad assured us that it was fine. Once we walked up to the river, there was a sign that said "WARNING: No Swimming, or Fishing in this river. It has been tested with high levels of fecal bacteria" - GROSS!!!!!! The little girls, A & K were FREAKING OUT! "Ewww gross! It smells like poo poo" (it didn't BTW). So we all climbed back in the cars and headed up the road to find a cleaner place to play. After playing in the cold, rocky creek for about an hour or two we headed back to the cabin. (I'll have pictures as soon as my mom sends them to me.) But about 200 yards up the road we started to smell something..... the sewer plant!! Trust me, I have never scrubbed my skin so hard as I did when we got back to the cabin. Ew. I'm still kinda grossed out by it.

Big brother and sis-in-law made dinner for everyone that night and then we retired to many hours of ROCKBAND.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early - at 6:00am to get ready to head out to Cade's Cove.

We rented bikes and biked the 11 miles around. It was beautiful, difficult, fun, humid, and so exhausting! Here is a picture of Ben and I along the way

and since they didn't offer baby seats, this is how big brother rode the whole way.

And here are all the boys (minus dad) resting after riding down "Biker's Hill"

After the bike ride we had a picnic, then sent mom back to the cabin with the baby so we could go tubing down a river - a clean river. That was just the relaxation we needed after using muscles I didn't know existed! Ben and I cooked dinner that night, then we all just laid around and hung out.

Monday morning we got to "sleep in" until 7:00am (My dad see's vacation a little differently than most ppl do.) then we headed up into the mountains to hike to Grotto Falls. It was absolutely beautiful!

And a picture of the whole family

The rest of the weekend was spent eating A LOT, spending some time in prayer as a family, and making new memories. It went by too quickly and I can't wait for our next vacation!

Family Vacay!

2008-07-18T09:30:00.004-06:00

Well Kiddo's, I'm off to the mountains for my family vacation! I'm so excited! All 5 of my siblings, parents, sis-in-law and nephew will be invading east TN for little time in the Smokey's. We haven't all been together since Christmas so I couldn't be more thrilled to see everyone! Ben is joining the family trip for the 1st time, so it will be fun to see what my brothers put him through. :)

I'm sure I will have great stories and photos to share when I get back!

Have a great weekend everyone

Do they ever grow up?

2008-07-14T19:32:00.003-06:00

Tink tink....... swing......ddrrrrr durp durp durp.....*crowd cheering*..........son of a____.......

agh yes. the sounds of being at Ben's. What are those sounds you ask? they are a mixture of Ben setting up his PS3 for the new NCAA football game that is coming out tomorrow.....

Oh you didn't know it's coming out tomorrow? Well, it's all I've heard about for 2 weeks. "um, just so you know, starting Tuesday I'm just gonna be playing NCAA '09 all night every night for a few weeks. " Thanks for the heads up, Ben!

(and the other sound)...and Ben's roommate - Roommate - playing the Tiger Woods game on his Wii upstairs.

Oh the joys of hanging out with 2 guys in their mid-20's. When I was younger I thought that video games were something that guys out grew in their teens. I could never have been more wrong!

I just got done spray painting the lovely shiny gold lamps that Ben inherited from his parents, and I'm inhaling the fumes as I brought them back inside a little too early. So if this post seems a little LOOPY, you know why!

Sew Sew Good

2008-07-10T19:51:00.004-06:00

So it's taken me awhile to get these on here, but I just finished my tote bag tonight and I also made a pair of PJ pants. Here are the pictures

Tote bag:

and tonights project.... Pajama capri's. I bought the "Large" pattern, but turns out I needed the Medium. So the legs of the pants are a little larger than should be, but oh well! Please excuse the lack of photography talent :)

(Close up view of the fabric)

Ooey Gooey Caramel Pie

2008-07-09T20:27:00.003-06:00

Here is my very difficult and tricky recipe for caramel pie:

Ingredients:
2 cans of condensed milk ( I use Fat Free. It tastes the same, just makes it a little lumpier)
1 graham cracker crust (I used reduced fat. It tastes the same, just very crumbly)

Directions:
Remove paper from around cans, and place them in a pot of boiling water. Place the cans on their sides - the bottom tends to get a little burnt if placed on their ends.

Boil for 3 hours - you will have to add water periodically to make sure cans remain covered with water at all times.

Poor into pie crust and refrigerate. Cover with coolwhip before serving.

There ya go! There is my tricky recipe! :) I hope you enjoy!

It's Memphis... what do you expect?

2008-07-09T14:22:00.003-06:00

I know I've promised a post about my beach trip, and I promise it is coming. But today's events far outweigh the beach - at least in my mind they do.

6:20am: I wake up and think " UUGGHHH Why can't it be Saturday?! I DO NOT WANT TO GO TO WORK!"

8:00am: Sitting at work, frustrated because I'm not sure where to go or what to do

9:00am: In co-workers office telling her about my frustration and having a mini-cry fest. (Yes, I was a major girl and shed a few tears at work. It was totally private and in the office of one of my really good friends. She gets it - it's ok)

9:20am: Leave the office to go do some cold calling and hopefully secure some new clients

9:40am: Pull into parking lot at a church and walk around trying to find the office

9:45am: Walk back to my car and find this.......

Oh yes, that's right.... in a 5 minute period someone busted out the window in my car and stole my laptop bag. Thankfully nothing was in the bag except a bunch of brochures and other papers, but UGH! Since I had already had the mini-cry fest earlier, seeing my window shattered was all it took for the waterfall of tears to come gushing down my face. Ben's cell was dead, so I called my friend Tiggle and got him to look up police numbers for me. I spent 2 hours at the church with the police and minister looking at surveillance videos and finger printing my car. The janitor at the church was so nice and vacuumed out my car and wiped everything down. I feel like I should bake him a cake or something, but he probably thinks I'm a freak since I was bubblering like a little girl so it might be safer to just send a Thank You note.

Oh, and when I called my manager to tell him what had happened and how I'd probably be spending the rest of my afternoon getting a new window, and chasing down police reports - he said "not a problem. take your time." But my friend at work called me and said he told her "do you think she is just making that up to get out of cold calling" THE NERVE! He obviously knows we are really good friends, so why would he say that to her unless he wanted her to tell me? People are just so rude.

But I'm so over this day. I'm at home now, catching up on reading all my blogs (my reader had 167 unread posts.) and making a caramel pie. I deserve it after today right?

I'm back...

2008-07-08T08:04:00.002-06:00

I'm back! The beach was A M A Z I N G! Hopefully I will have time this week to post some pictures and tell you all about it! I'm finally full time sales now so I've been kicked out of my office and into a cube in the "sales pit." I'm also not in the office but an hour or two each day so I'm very behind on reading blogs and posting! And my internet at home has been down, but they are promising it will be back tomorrow...... So bare with me for a few days then I will (hopefully) be back in full swing!

Gone to the Beach

2008-06-30T12:00:00.001-06:00

I'll be back next Monday!

Hope you all have a very Happy 4th of July!

2008-06-26T15:39:00.003-06:00

Sewing class tonight! We are going to make a tote bag.

I've actually picked out fabric that I will use this time. I bought 8 new needles. I hope I can make it all the way through the bag without breaking them all!

Wish me luck!

The Great Debate

2008-06-25T11:05:00.002-06:00

Oh what to do! What to do! I'm noticing a trend here lately where many of you lovely ladies are switching your blogs to private. I can see why you'd want to do that and the thought has crossed my mind, but at the same time I like not being private. I enjoy having new comers reading and commenting and I don't want to block anyone out. I'm thinking I made a mistake when I first started my blog. I told everyone about it. I posted a link in my facebook and told all my friends and family. It's not that I mind everyone reading what I do on a day to day basis (although I'm pretty boring and I can't figure out why you all keep coming back), but I feel as though I have to censor what I say since I know I have "real life" friends reading. Not to mention it's put a damper on what I can talk about with them. When I meet up with a friend I haven't seen in a little while and start to tell them about something, they say "oh yea! I read about this on your blog." So then I'm left sitting there with not much to say because, well.... she read it on the blog! Or like the other day I was talking to a friend that I didn't know reads this and she started talking about things that I never told her - it honestly took me a good 10 minutes to figure out how the heck she knew about that!

I'm just torn. I want to be able to be real and open on here and not feel like I have to watch what I say. I'm sure you can all identify with the fact that you think and feel things that you might not actually want to admit with some of the people you come in contact with. But with all that said, I like the fact that friends I don't talk to much can jump on and see what's been going on in my life, or even friends I do talk to alot ...... I'm just so torn!

The only solution I can come up with rather than going private is to maybe switch my URL name.... Oh I don't know, I don't know! What are your thoughts on private vs. public? Or just this whole situation in general?

"The Manning Room"

2008-06-24T13:12:00.004-06:00

I know you've all been sitting on the edge of your seats awaiting pictures of Ben's office. If you remember correctly I told you that Ben had picked out a paint color that I am not so excited about. Well....... here is it in all it's glory.

(Please excuse the poor picture quality once again. I snapped these while I was there yesterday with my camera phone)

This is what the actual color is. Gross

Yep - it's Tennessee Orange. That's the actual name of the paint!! While we were painting Ben looked at me and said "I've wanted this since I as 6 years old." I'm not sure if he was hoping that was going to warm me up to it, but it didn't! He now refers to this room as "The Manning Room" - as in Peyton Manning. *sigh*

Oh... let's swtich the subject

2008-06-23T15:27:00.003-06:00

For those of you who do not already know, my parents spaced out their children a little bit. I think I have said before that I am 1 of 6 children. I am the 3rd to be exact. I have an older brother, and an older sister, then a younger brother and 2 little sisters. The oldest 4 are between the ages of 29-22 right now, and my little sisters are 11 and 10... my mom had them when she was 43 and 44 years old. (Same dad, same marriage) The "little girls" as they are called in our family help keep my parents young!

Anyway, my mom has allowed them before to get email accounts but it all ended pretty quickly when they got in each others accounts and sent emails to each others friends. Things like "you're a poo poo head and your mom is the queen of poo poo kingdom." You would have thought the world had ended! So their accounts got deleted for some time. But now my mom has decided to let them have accounts again so that they can email their friends they met at camp this summer. Since I am such a HUGE fan of gmail I told my mom to get them a gmail account. I didn't take into account that that would also lead them to use gchat and talk to me ALL. DAY. LONG. I usually tell them I can't talk and just to email me, but a little while ago I was actually talking to one of them. "A" is 11, and "K" is 10. This is a conversation between K and myself. (she was using A's gchat.... which is not gonna go over good if A finds out.

me: i cant do it at work sweetie

A: oh ur at work?

me: yep

until 5:00

A: i didnt know u had to work in the summer?

me: haha

i have to work year round

A: sucks.................

me: hey! watch your language

A: my bad.................

lol

me: does mom let yall say "sucks" ?

A: i dont know i say it all the time and she doesn't seem to care

me: interesting

go ask her what it means

A: yeah

sure..ok

A: she's talking to someone ....i think i know what it means

me: what do you think it means?

A: u dont wanna know!

me: i know what i means, i wanna know if you know

A: does it have something to do with S-E-X ?

me: kinda

A: oh

lets switch the subject....

hahahahah.... i am cracking up! I'm also loving how she thinks I don't work in the summer.

Nuts!

2008-06-23T11:03:00.002-06:00

Today is NUTS! I'm going to try to post something this afternoon, but seeing as how this day is going.... who knows when i will have time.

I'll be back to comment and post soon! Have a great Monday!

1/2 way to the weekend!

2008-06-20T10:45:00.003-06:00

It's noon! That means only 5 more hours till the WEEKEND! I know you are all itching to know what my weekend is going to hold for me, so I'll go ahead and give you a preview.

Friday night: Babysitting. I go through spurts with this. Some months it feels like someone is asking me 2 or 3 times a week, then I go through a month with nothing. I guess it's good that way, if not I'd get completely burned out. I could def use the extra $$$ right now so I was more than happy to do it tonight. Even though I've had to set a 4 hour minimum. The people I babysit for all live out in the 'burbs.... I live close to downtown. That's a good 40 min drive, and about $10.00 in gas. So in order to make it worth my while to go out there, I can't be doing any of these 2-3 hour gigs. That's what local high school kids are for.

Saturday: Painting. We're not done yet! Ben wants to paint his office tomorrow. I'm not going to tell you what color it's going to be just yet. You will have to wait and see the color he has picked out. I will say this though: I am not a fan. (For those of you who know Ben I'm sure you've already guess what color it is.)

Sunday: Church, then.... well I don't know yet! I'm sure the afternoon will involve moving more stuff from Ben's apt to his house. I'm getting ready for this moving process to be over! But if I have some time I may run grab some $1.00 fabric and see what I can create.

I hope you all have a very safe and relaxing weekend! I'll check in with everyone on Monday!

Sew good!

2008-06-20T08:05:00.004-06:00

My first sewing class was a success! Our first task was making pillows, and while I've done this before as a child, it's been a LONG time. So after a brief lesson on how to load my bobbin, where the thread goes, how/why to use reverse, and all the different patterns that my machine can do we were ready to get started.

Most of the stuff is common sense, but I was grateful to be taught the "right" way to fold the fabric and mark it to be cut. Then it was off to the machine to sew away! Besides the fact that the thread kept coming out of my needle every 5 mins (I'm going to have to invest in glasses so I can see to thread that thing!), and I broke 4 (yes, four!!) needles, I think I did a pretty good job. I'm very perplexed as to why they needles kept breaking and it kind of makes me mad. I'm going to see if I can't locate a manual online today and find out what the deal is! (My machine is an older, refurbished machine so it did not come with a manual.)

Here is a photo of my masterpieces! Please keep in mind that I knew I would probably not use the pillows I made last night so I purchased the cheapest fabric I could find. Thank you $1 rack!

Two 14' pillows, and a little pin cushion

Next week we make tote bags! So are you impressed with my mad sewing skills so far? (oh, and any advice about breaking needles would be greatly appreciated)

pictures as promised

2008-06-18T20:00:00.006-06:00

Here are the pictures of Ben's house once we got it painted. Please keep in mind that these pictures turned out HORRIBLE! I'm not sure if a setting got changed on my camera, or what happened, but I don't think these pictures give a great impression of what the house looks like. Oh well.... here goes nothing. I'll take more pictures once everything is in and set up.

This is the Den/Dining Room before any painting has been done

Kitchen - notice the mess!

The sample painting. This is when I freaked out about the colors

A little closer view

The finished product. These pictures didn't turn out too good. Sorry... but you get a general idea.

What do you think?

Just Me. A - Z

2008-06-18T14:43:00.003-06:00

A. Attached or Single? Attached

B. Best Friend? Ben, but of course!

C. Cake or pie? Hmmm that's a tough one. I guess probably pie

D. Day of choice? Friday. It's the end of the work week, and you have the anticipation of the weekend ahead of you

E. Essential item? Clorox disinfecting wipes.

F. Favorite color? right now it's probably green. that changes every few years though.

G. Gummy bears or worms? I would probably go with the worms.

H. Home town? Jackson, Alabama

I. Favorite indulgence? Coke Icee's, or ooey-gooey caramel pie

J. January or July? July. I love that it's warm (hot) enough to hang out at the pool and soak up the sun!

K. Kids? Don't own any of my own. :)

L. Life isn't complete without? new shoes!

M. Marriage date? 00/00/00 - single gal here!

N. Number of brothers and sisters? 2 brothers, 3 sisters. Yep, I'm the 3rd of 6!

O. Oranges or Apples? hmmm. I like them both, but I'm gonna go with oranges

P. Phobias? escalators. Yes, weird. I know.

Q. Quotes? I'm drawing a blank at the moment

R. Reasons to smile? Truly there are too many to list.

S. Season of choice? Spring/Summer

T. Tag 5 people: Sippy Cups, Meagan, These are the days, Help I have a teenager!, Be Happy for the Moment

U. Unknown fact about me? When I laugh really hard, I don't make any noise.

V. Vegetable? Broccoli is probably my most favorite

W. Worst habit? Spending money!

X. Xray or Ultrasound? Um. Neither?

Y. Your favorite food? Oh gosh, to many to name! Bit if I have to pick one, I'm gonna have to go with Sushi!

Z. Zodiac sign? Aries

Doesn't take much...

2008-06-17T10:40:00.003-06:00

....to get me excited! I went yesterday and signed up for sewing lessons. It's a 4 week class that meets on Thursday nights from 6-8. I got a sewing machine for christmas and I've never even touched it! Mainly because I'm not really sure how it all works and I'm slightly afraid of it.... but hopefully this class will take the fear out of me. Oh I'm excited!

Curtains

Pillows

Hems

Here I come!

I'm beginning to notice a trend....

2008-06-16T12:04:00.002-06:00

Everyday when I log on to write, all I can think about is "man I've been busy." I hate that! I long for the day I can say "well, today has been a nice and relaxing day" but I fear those days are not in my near future.

So here is how my busy weekend went :) Friday after work I headed to Ben's house and started unpacking boxes. He met me there later and we took a few loads of stuff from his apt to his house, then headed over to my Aunt D's house for dinner. My mom and little sisters were in town for the night so we took a break from moving to hang out with them. I miss them. A few hours was not enough. But that's another story. So back to the house we went to slap up some sample paint on the walls. (I'm at work right now so I can't post the pictures, but I will as soon as I get a chance at home. ) And I was freaking out about the colors. I told you earlier that we picked "punk rock" for the den/dining room and "ship shape" for the kitchen/breakfast area. Punk rock is in the green family and ship shape is blue. When we got some of it on the walls it was SO BRIGHT! I was trying to explain to Ben that the blue either need to be darker or lighter. He said "what is this?" I told him it was "Bright" He looked me with this confused look on his face and said "so there is dark, light, and bright?" .............. thinking, thinking, thinking "Yes." He tried for awhile to convince me that it would look good, but I couldn't wrap my mind around it. I don't usually go for BRIGHT. I was afraid that the only way to go with bright colors was contemporary, and I am not a fan of super contemporary. Anyway, he told me that if we could just please paint everything the colors we started, that in a few months if I still thought it was horrible he would let me repaint it. (please note that he said he would let ME repaint it.) Then he threw in that I don't even live there.... I'm aware, but I'm still concerned.

Saturday rolls around, and we take several more loads to the house then we start to paint. Thank the LORD for roommate's gf's mom! She came and helped paint and it was a LIFE SAVER! Ben has never painted before, and I'm not exactly what you'd call, well..good. So roommate's girlfriend's mom gave great instruction and helped us get the paint up and looking good. The whole time we are painting I keep reminding Ben that I think the kitchen is "too bright - it's making the whole house bright! it looks like a daycare center!" Everyone ignores me and keeps painting. After what seemed like 20 hours of painting, we finished..... and I love it! Yes, it's still a little bright for me taste, but I think once we get all Ben's dark brown furniture in there it will look good.

There is still a few weeks worth of work to be done, but at least we are on our way! I'll post pics soon!

Plum tuckered out...

2008-06-13T08:08:00.003-06:00

What a long day yesterday! I arrived to work a little early because I knew it would be a crazy day. I have a quote out right now and the girl is making me work! She emails or calls every hour with a question or comment... All I can say is I better get that sale or I will not be a happy lady. Anyway! I got to work early so I could work on stuff for that, and do a few other things. Then I had to leave around 9:00 to meet Ben at the lawyer's office. He closed on his house yesterday, and I felt it was my duty as a good girlfriend to be there and support him. okay, okay - I just can't stand not knowing what's going on.... After he closed we went and had a celebratory breakfast at the Bagel Company then it was back to work for me. I busted down doors yesterday, sweating my butt off, and I'm not sure I got any real leads. I keep hearing my manager say "it takes 100 calls to make a sale." Yea yea, I'm not okay with those odds. I stopped by my Aunt's house on my lunch break and she gave me this.

Seriously? Do I look like I want a University of Tennessee bag? She did it as a joke because she knows I can give a flying rats patoot about UT while my dear ol' boyfriend thinks UT hung the moon and told the stars when to shine. I can just picture us going to a football game this fall and Ben saying "you need to use that bag Aunt D gave you." never gonna happen! I told her I'd use it as a trash bag in my car. *Thanks Aunt D, I appreciate the gesture*

After work I hightailed it home, changed, then went and started loading boxes from Ben's apt into the truck. Ben's roommate has this big truck that he is letting us use while he is out of town. It was a HUGE help last night! We got three good loads taken over to the new house, and the kitchen stuff unpacked and put away. We started at 5:30 and finally stopped around 11:00p. I was nasty from sweating all day, then all night, and exhausted from hauling boxes up and down stairs. But I'm so proud of Ben! I know he is so happy to have a house, but at the same time I don't think he can believe he owns his very own house! Congrats babe! I'm super proud and excited for you!!! I'm going to do my best to take some pictures this weekend while we work so I'll try to post those soon.

Well friends, it's Friday and I've got a ton of work to do so I better run. I hope you all have very wonderful weekends! Think about me while I'm covered up in paint and boxes! For those of you here in town, give me a call and stop by! We will be there all weekend!

Weight Loss worries out the window!

2008-06-11T08:35:00.002-06:00

Why haven't we thought of this before?

Diet Book Author Advocates New 'No Food Diet'

Feeling Mighty Loved :)

2008-06-11T07:50:00.003-06:00

I'm so excited! My very first tag! Thanks to my friend over at Life's A Peach who sent me this sweet award. It's the "You make my day award" Thanks E.B! It really means a lot to know that you (and hopefully others) actually enjoy what I write about! I love reading all of your stories and details about your life. Ha, I've said it before, but I never knew this blog world was so addictive. I love it! There are many of you out there that I read and keep up with each and everyday, but here are a few I check in with the most. Ladies - thanks for your sweet stories, great shopping tips, decorating ideas, and the many laughs you provide me on a daily basis! You Make my Day!

I'm tagging:

Life's a Peach (returning this to you!)
Bottles Barbies & Boys
It's a Wonderful Lie
Puttin' on the G.R.I.T.S
Well I Do Declare
Pretty In Pink
Bon Bon Boutique

Oh, and the rules are: You have to tag up to 10 people who make your day and leave them a comment on their blog letting them know about it! (E.B. you are obviously excused from this!)

Life's a Peach (E.B. in Tennessee) also tagged me in this little survey as well:

1.) What were you doing 10 years ago?
Wow, 10 years ago I was 15 years old and just learning to drive. My baby sisters were 1 and 2 at that point so I spent a lot of time playing with them, I had the biggest crush ever on this kid named Wesley. I had braces, horrible bangs, and was still very much in the "rough" stage of life. Man oh man was I ugly!

2.) What are 5 things on your To-Do List today?
1. Find some shorts or something cool to wear to the baseball game tonight
2. fry myself in the tanning bed
3. schedule a hair appointment
4. mail my dad's father's day card
5. go to the Redbirds game w/ Ben & HJJ tonight

3. Snacks you enjoy?
100 Calorie York peppermint sticks, Jolly Rancher fruit chews, fruit, Fat Free/Sugar Free pudding cups

4. Places you've lived?
North Alabama, South Alabama, Central Mississippi, and West Tennessee

5. What are 5 things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1. Pay cash for a house
2. Pay someone to come in and help decorate said house
3. Put aside money for college for my sisters and future children
4. Quit my job and spend my time volunteering (and shopping, obviously)
5. Sponsor many missionaries
6. Jump up and down with delight. (I know, it's supposed to only be 5. oh well!)

I tag the same ladies I tagged for the "You make my day award." (E.B. you are once again excused!)

Thanks again for my first award and my first tag! You truly did make my day!

A case of the Monday's

2008-06-09T09:24:00.002-06:00

Wow, is it Monday already? I honestly feel like I just left this place - and that was 3 days ago! Where did my weekend go?!? Here's to hoping this week flys by as quickly as this weekend did!

My weekend was eventful and uneventful all at the same time. Friday night Ben and I went and hung out with our friends HJJ at this little place called "Hi-tone." A friend of theirs that is in a band was playing there. Neither Ben nor I are huge fan of live music, but we went anyway because we adore HJJ. To our surprise we actually really enjoyed the band. It was mostly all instrumental. A trumpet/horn instrument of some sort, a base guitar, bongos, and an amazing drummer made up this very unique sound. They didn't sing much, but when they did it was all in some sort of African language. The drummer is from Ghana (and apparently very famous over there) so he helps give this band a very cool vibe. They are new here in Memphis, so I can't wait to hear more of them in the future.

Saturday we got to go visit our friends CKY - they are the couple we had the baby shower for a few months ago. They had their precious little boy - Elijah James - last Saturday. He was seriously adorable. I hate when you go see babies for the first time, and even though they are cute because they are so tiny and amazing.... some babies just aren't good looking babies. But Elijah truly is a very beautiful child. I told Ben on the way home "When I have a kid, I'm not going to be one of those disillusioned parents who says "my child is beautiful" even when it's not!" But I know that isn't true. If I ever get to have children, I know I will think they are the most beautiful creature God ever put on this earth. I've got awhile before all that starts happening though.

After visiting baby Elijah, I convinced Ben to go shopping with me. We made it through JCrew where he got some new jeans, then on to Banana where I got some very cute trouser jeans that were majorly on sale, then Ben had had enough. I'd give my right arm if that boy would spend the day shopping with me w/out complaining or going to sit in the car. Oh well, I guess that's what my girlfriends are for!

Sunday afternoon was spent in Home Depot picking out paint colors for Ben's house. He(I/We) decided on "Punk Rock" for the living/dining room, "Ship Shape" for the kitchen/breakfast area, and "Tender Rose" for the 1/2 bath downstairs. I don't really have a good way of describing what the colors actually look like, so after we paint this weekend I will post some pictures. I hope these colors look as good on the walls as they do in my head! I also spent a few hours lounging by the pool. I could have stayed out there longer, but the people sitting next to me would NOT SHUT UP - and they were talking about the dumbest things! AGH! It's probably best I went in though, because I did get just a little red.

And last night we started packing up Ben's apartment. We only got most of his bedroom done, and a little of the kitchen, and there are boxes everywhere! AGH! At least he doesn't have to live that way long! Tomorrow night is the final walk through of the house. I'm super excited because I haven't been back in it since we looked the very first time.

if only

2008-06-05T13:58:00.002-06:00

I'm not getting married anytime soon, but if I were I would wear this Eliza J dress to my rehearsal dinner. I just love it.

and it's only 8:00am

2008-06-05T08:05:00.002-06:00

How did I know today was gonna be a bad day? I just had that instinct. Maybe it started when I couldn't find anything I wanted to wear. Getting dressed is frustrating these days. One reason is because my clothes are too big so most things look pretty sloppy on me. I only have 3 or 4 things that fit right, but I'm just not ready to go spend money on clothes yet. I want to shed a few more lbs before I do that. The second reason getting dressed is frustrating these days is because I never know what I'm going to be doing. Am I going to be sitting in the office? If so, I just wear slacks and a top... usually with flipflops :) But if I"m gonna be making sales calls then I wear a suit or a dress (and no flipflops.) I'm so ready for this dual job thing to be over.

The second indication that my day may not go perfectly was that I couldn't find my little Tupperware container that I put salad it. It's the perfect size - and I couldn't find it. I had to make do with another one, but still...... annoying!

And the third (and hopefully final) thing happened when I walked into my office. Let me give a little background into this. We have a girl that works here, we will call her Supply Girl, and as the name denotes she handles all the supplies for our customers. They call in and order, she ships it out. There is actually more to it than that, but that's the easiest explanation. In the past when she has gone out of town I have been the one to fill in for her, but that was when I only had 1 job. Now I have 2 and my life is already stressful. Supply Girl tells me on Monday that she is leaving town Thursday and will not be back until the following Tuesday. She begins telling me things as if I'm filling in for her. I ask her if she is sure I'm the one doing it since I already have 2 jobs, and she says she will check into it. I never hear another word from her so I assume that I'm not doing it for her. Oh, but I was wrong! I walk into my office today and there is a little stack of stuff sitting on my desk w/ a note from one of the girls back in the service department. Notes about billing this customer for this item and shipping it here.... all work that Supply Girl normally handles. Well this ignites a little fire in me and I start to get annoyed. I politely ask Service Dept. girl why that was on my desk and she responds "I was told you were handling that while Supply Girl is out of town, that's what K said." (K being my former manager) So I go to K and said "so I'm doing Supply Girl's work while she's gone? I appreciate someone telling me, and ignoring the fact that I'm already doing 2 jobs!!" K says "well that's what H - my current manager - told me to do" So it's basically this big circle of no one owning up to the decision. Now let me say this - If they want me to do it, fine. I will. But why couldn't someone have mentioned this earlier in the week? I've had my calender planned, and this screws it up. UGH I'm super annoyed.

And on top of all that, I really need a haircut but I don't know when I'm gonna have time to get one. Shoot me now

Check, Check!

2008-06-04T10:33:00.003-06:00

Alright, I can now check it off my list. I saw Sex and the City last night. It was good - except for the nudity! One of my friends pointed out that since it's been playing on TBS for the past few years I'd probably just forgotten how much nudity the HBO version had. Well the thing is that I never saw it on HBO so I never knew it had nudity! Oh well - I'm just glad my mom wasn't sitting there with me. She would not have approved! (love you mom).

I can also check off being afraid of going out on an appointment alone! Yesterday I had 3 meetings scheduled. The first was to take a proposal or quote by to a customer. I had no issue doing this alone because it was basically just reading it to her. The other two were new customer appointments. Basically what I do here is go in and asses what the customer's needs are, and try to make her like me enough and convince her that our machine is what she needs until she agrees for a quote. Well I'm not 100% confidant with our products yet, and I really didn't have a clue what to ask so my manager was supposed to go with me to these meetings. The first one was at 1:30p and he text me at 1:00 and said "still in meeting. you're gonna have to do it alone." WHAT? FREAK OUT! But I put my big girl panties on and went into the meeting acting like I knew exactly what I was talking about. My second meeting was at 2:30p and since I didn't hear back from manager I just assumed he wasn't coming so I did that one alone to. Of course right as I'm pulling out of the parking lot after the 2nd meeting he calls and says "Where are you? Im in the lobby." Sorry dude, you're late. Anyway, I must have impressed them with my "knowledge" (or BS) because they both asked for quotes. yay! I am not longer afraid of going to these meetings alone now. I DEF had more to learn about what to say and ask, but my confidence is boosted 100% now.

Today I'm on the office making follow up phone calls from all the cold calling I did yesterday in between meetings. Bleh.

Hope you're all having a great Hump Day! :)

Kid's These Days

2008-06-02T14:58:00.002-06:00

Oh man oh man do I have a story to tell you! As I mentioned the other day, I was house sitting for my aunt all last week. Well when I came home from work on Thursday I noticed some things that were a bit odd. Things such as the deadbolt on the door being locked when I had only locked the doorknob, the guest bedroom light on, the computer on, the dog's gate about to fall over, and a FedEx package sitting on the table that had not been there that morning. I didn't get too worried about it all because my parents had stayed there with me the night before when they were passing through town. They left after I did that morning, so I just thought maybe they had left everything like that. But when I came home on Friday and noticed that the door was again locked wrong, the light that I made SURE was turned off was on again, and the computer was on again.... even thought I made 100% sure that it was off before I left for work.... oh, and there were rice krispy wrappers in the trash can. I do not eat rice krispy treats. I figured that it was probably some of the neighborhood kids that play with my cousins, and didn't get to worried about it. I just took the spare key and moved it to a new location. Ben came over there later that afternoon and I was telling him about it. We decided to check the history on the computers and that is when it got good! The history on both computers was full of CARTOON PORN! Did you even know such a thing existed? I DIDN'T! We clicked on one of the sights out of curiosity, and holy moly it's gross.

I wasn't sure how we were gonna figure out who the culprit was because there are quite a few little boys in the neighborhood that play with my cousin. But these kids aren't very bright I tell ya! One of my cousins that lives in Mississippi came up for the weekend with her friend, and she called me around 11:00am on Saturday and said "I think I know who it is." Apparently this kid came over to the house once he saw my car was gone and was trying to get back in the house. He also tried to get into my aunt's car, and then into their garage. Does he feel comfortable over there or what?! A little later in the day he came back and tried to get in the house again. At this point one of my other aunt's was there and she asked him what he needed. He fumbled for words and said "Mrs. H (my aunt) said I could come over and feed Daisy if no one was here." LIE! LIE! LIE!

The aunt I was house sitting for and her family came back in town yesterday so I was telling her about it. She was flabbergasted.... obviously. Ben and I went and printed all the history off the computers and gave it to her. Apparently the little boy (going into 6th grade) came over on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. He was a busy kid! My aunt took the papers over to his parents and told them about it all. They were shocked that he came into their house, but was not at all surprised about the content he was looking at. Apparently this has been an ongoing issue for them for some time now.

I loved Ben's comment when we figured all this out. "Dang, this kid didn't know he was messing with some Gen-Xers did he?"

Cartoon Porn? I'm still amazed that exists!

It's hot! (and a hodge podge of other stuff)

2008-05-30T13:58:00.005-06:00

Finally it's starting to feel like summer! Ha-la-lu-jah! The high is 91 today and I think that is just great. Now give me a few weeks and I'll be wishing for the 70's again, but right now I'm loving it. This kind of weather gives me a great excuse to wear a dress to work everyday and not have people commenting on why I'm "so dressed up." I can wear a suit and no one says a word, but throw on a dress and oh buddy - I'm dressed up. ( I guess that's what happens when you work with a bunch of men, huh?)

For those of you who are concerned, last night was the season finale to LOST. Oh, I'm sad. What am I going to do with my Thursday nights now?! I don't wanna say too much about the show in case any of you are LOST junkies, but haven't had a chance to watch it yet. But it was good! Answered a lot of questions, but in typical LOST style it left a lot too. I guess we'll just have to wait till next year to get the answers! (or the next the way this show goes)

I've been house/pet sitting for my aunt and her family this week. They are in Disney World celebrating the end of my uncle's chemotherapy and other cancer treatments! Whoo hoo! But since they are gone they have left me to tend to their super crazy/tons of personality little dachshund named Daisy, their irritable/mean/extremely huge cat - cowboy, and their gecko lizard. I don't think the lizard has a name. The cat is easy - feed it twice a day and stay away from it. The dog is pretty easy. She likes a lot of attention so she's kinda always around, and she sleeps in the bed with me too. I'm not really crazy about that but I can deal for a few days. And the Lizard would be a piece of cake if I didn't have to feed it WORMS! They are just these little mealworms, and they are stored in the fridge so they are cold and don't move.... but still. YUCK.

Oh, and the other day I took Daisy over to Ben's for a little while. She is usually really good with people. She might bark a little when she first meets someone, but then she is their best friend. But this time it was a little different. Daisy and Ben have met several times so that was no big deal, but she did not like Ben's roommate for some reason. She barked at him everytime he moved, and she stuck by my side w/ her tail between her legs most of the time.... or so I thought. It wasn't until roommate got up and went into this bedroom that I realized Daisy had not been sitting beside me the whole time. I heard him say "Um Mindy, can you please come clean Daisy's mess up out of my room" UH OH! Ben and I go running in there to find a big ole pile of POOP on his bed! Disgusting. We cleaned it up best we could then threw his comforter into the wash. I felt so bad. I wonder if she knew that was his room? haha. Daisy and I went back home shortly after that.

Well kiddos. This weekend should be goodtimes. Italian Fest tonight, then a Bachelorette party tomorrow night. Things might get CRAZY! Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

for your viewing pleasure

2008-05-29T08:18:00.006-06:00

I thought I'd post a few pics from my weekend. I didn't take very many, but I hope you enjoy!

These pictures were taken at Arlington National Cemetery. Ben and I went and spent a few hours over there on Saturday afternoon. You can see all the flags that were out in observance of Memorial Day.

The big arch thing in the background is the new AirForce Memorial

This is Ben's grandfather's grave marker. I've never known of anyone personally that was buried in this cemetery so that was neat seeing it.

This is his grandmother's grave. I never knew that the military person's spouse was buried with them. They share a grave marker and the spouses name and such is on the back.

____________________________________________________________________

Washington Nationals Baseball game

Our group before the game: a friend of Ben's sister, Ben's sister - MA, Ben, yours truly, and my BigBro

The stadium right as you walk into the park.

The view from my seat - we had great seats!!

And the view to my left. Getting to stare at baseball players the whole game wasn't such a bad thing.

____________________________________________________________________

And of course, a set of pictures wouldn't be complete with out the precious nephew. Seriously, isn't he the cutest thing EVER?!

Home Again, Home Again

2008-05-27T09:29:00.002-06:00

And I'm back! Back in Memphis - back at work - back to blogging....

My weekend was great! Despite having a horrible/miserable cold, everything was perfect. We flew into DC late Thursday night where Ben's parent's picked us up at the airport. It was neat driving back to their house because we got to drive past all of the monument's which were all lit up. I've been to DC several times, but for some reason I never tire of the beauty of the monument's and buildings. Every time I see them I can't help but think about the history that has taken place there and the thousands of people who have helped mold this country that have walked those very same streets. Ok- moving on...... the rest of our weekend was fun. There was eating, some errand running, eating again, a visit to Arlington Cemetery, eating, a Washington Nationals baseball game (where I caught a ball. go me!), eating, more eating, and some partying. In case you somehow missed it - we ate A LOT! And unfortunately for me, Ben's family is not real keen on lowfat/fatfree foods. We had donuts, eggs, sausage, steaks, potatos, bagels, eggs, bacon, burgers/hotdogs, etc.... I gained 6lbs this weekend. I kid you not! Don't get me wrong - the food was DELICIOUS and I took full advantage of all the yummy (bad for me) foods, but boy oh boy do I have to get serious this week!

My brother and his wife and son also live up in that area so I got to spend a good bit of time w them. My SIL (sis- in-law) and Nephew were out of town until Sunday so my BB (big brother) paled around with us. I don't really get to spend a lot of time with them since we live so far apart so of course I loved every minute of it. I did get some time in with my SIL and nephew on Sunday night and Monday. My nephew is 7 months old now! wow - he is getting so big! I could seriously eat him up!

I did learn something new this weekend though. Never fly if you have sinus congestion! HOLY CRAP! I'm used to a little pressure when flying, but on the way up my left ear was killing me. I thought it was going to explode! I kept halfway expecting blood to start dripping out of it at any moment. sorry, that's gross. But the pain went away after about 10 minuets. The descent down was a whole other story. This pain was about 100 times worse than it was going up. I feel so bad for Ben because I'm sitting there crying because it hurt so badly and there was nothing he could do. He kept reaching over to hold my hand or try to console me in someway, but all I could do was sit there w/ my fingers in my ears and cry. Yes, I'm a baby, I know. It lasted about 30 mins that time. Even 2 hours after we got off the flight it still felt as if I had a cotton ball stuck in my ear, and when I pushed on it I could hear the liquid in there. GROSS! I called dear old dad, who is a doctor and he said I had an ear infection. The pressure from the plane caused it. Ugh! So now I'm on antibiotics to try to heal that up. Oy! It's a never ending process!

But I've been off work for several days and I'm pretty far behind so I better get back to work. Ciao for now!

allergies

2008-05-22T09:45:00.001-06:00

ugh. i want to die

Perceptions

2008-05-22T07:28:00.002-06:00

There is this commercial on the radio that is put on by one of the local churches here in the area. The commercial is pretty much alway the same - it's the pastor of the church telling some story, or giving a token of advice. The story is always ended w/ a moral. They are usually pretty cheesy, but this morning it was actually pretty insightful and it got me thinking. Here's the story and the pastor's words of wisdom:

A young man and woman were engaged to be married. The night before the wedding the young man looked at his fiancee and said "honey, when we get married is it ok if I still date other women? And sleep with other women? Is it ok if I'm out at the bars every night getting drunk?" The woman looked at him shockingly while he said "I will still love you and that will just give you that many more reasons to forgive me."

Christians often take this approach with God. They say "Lord, now that I am yours, is it ok for me to sin all that I want - anytime I want? I will still love you and that will just give you that many more reasons for you to be able to forgive me." It is very common for us to think "what can I get away with and still go to heaven?" Just as you would never go into a marriage looking for loopholes and ways to dishonor your spouse, you should also never look at your relationship with the Lord in that way either.

What a good point! Way to go Rick Kershaw!

I've got the urge to shop!

2008-05-20T12:47:00.006-06:00

Why is it that everytime I go out of town I feel the urge to go shopping and get new clothes? It's not like the people that I'm going to visit have seen the clothes I have. Today on my lunch break I went out to see if I could find any good bargains. I've decided that I need to get some new shorts....not real sure why I think I need to do this seeing as how I haven't left the house in a pair of shorts (except to go to go running) in about 2 years. I hate the way I look in shorts, I hate how they ride up between in my legs when I walk (if you can't relate to that - I hate you), but for some reason I just spent an hour trying on shorts. I had no luck. They are either hootchie short, or grandma long. The one pair that did find that I liked they didn't have my size. They had the size below, and the size above, but of course not the one I needed. So I killed the urge to spend some money by buying Ben some new clothes. I'm very lucky in that Ben didn't really dress bad when we started dating. He didn't dress good - but he didn't dress bad either. He lacks a style I guess you could say. His closet is full of solid color polo shirts, button ups, and t-shirts. Not much imagination there. I'm hoping to be able to spice up his wardrobe a little.... we'll see if he likes what I got him!

My urge to shop started about a week ago - I spent too much on ebay last week by buying a wallet I've been wanting for ages, 2 new blue-ray movies, and a decorating book. Outside of ebay I've bought 3 pairs of shoes, several tops, some new cute PJ's, and a sundress. Sad thing is I don't really have the money to be shopping like this since I'm not sure what my financial situation is going to be like during my first few months in sales..... oh well!

I wish I was one of those people that just doesn't spend money. I used to live with a girl like that and I was like "how the heck do you do it?!"

2008-05-19T14:26:00.003-06:00

I'm so uncreative at the moment that I can't even come up with a good title! AGH! What is wrong with me! I think I just have so many things going through my head right now that I can't even think straight. Between finishing up my work from my old position and starting work for my new one - I can't seem to figure out how I'm gonna make it all fit. I'm only working 4 days this week since Ben and I are heading off to DC on Thursday night so that doesn't leave a lot of time to get it all done! Oh, did I mention I have to give up my big office to go be in the sales pit... aka a cubicle? I've got to start cleaning everything out from in here and taking it home with me. I will miss the large amount of space that my office provides, but more than that I will miss my door. I don't close it very often but it's comforting knowing that when I want some privacy, I can close it.

side-note: the lady in the office next time mine has downloaded "solider boy" as her ringtone for when her 13 year old son calls her. She doesn't understand the concept of turning down the ring volume, so about every 15-30 mins I get to her "YOUUUUU CRANK THAT SOLIDER BOY..." blaring from her phone. She has some other ringtone for her husband, and something different for her mom - argh

Sunday morning Becky and I got up at the crack of dawn and headed out to Millington. Okay, it was actually 6:00am but on a Sunday, that's the crack of dawn! She and I had volunteered to help out at the Memphis in May triathlon. Since I've done a few marathon/ half marathons before I know what that is all about, but I've never been to a triathlon before so that was new ground to me. I was impressed and intrigued all that the same time. This was an olympic distance event, so the participants swam .93 miles, biked 24.8 miles and ran 6.2 miles. Impressive huh? I couldn't do it.... not right now. I've always been interested in doing a triathlon, but I've gotta get serious about running again before I can commit to something like that. Not to mention the cost that goes into just being able to participate. Do you have any idea how much a decent bike can cost? Anywhere from $1000 and up! Then you've gotta get the right shoes, and tires, and swimming gear! Surely a wetsuit can't be too expensive huh? Anyway - I may never actually get around to doing one of these, but it's fun to think about.

As I've mentioned before, Ben and I are going up to DC this weekend to visit his family. They were very generous and gave us some money to help with the cost of our plane tickets. This was something they just offered to do without us ever asking, and obviously it is very much appreciated. I mentioned to Ben a few weeks ago that I wanted to get them a little gift as a thank you - not only to thank them for the money but also just to thank them for letting me visit and have me in their home for 4 days. If you know Ben at all, you can probably predict what his response was "we're not getting them anything. me being home is a gift enough." I very much disagree with this statement so yesterday afternoon I got him to go downtown with me to find them a gift. I have been thinking that I would make them a Memphis basket with various items from here. Memphis is known for their incredible BBQ, rock - n- roll, the blues,and of course - Elvis - so I thought this would be fun and easy. WRONG! Everything I picked up Ben said "oh they wouldn't like that..... they don't use cookbooks......oh here, let's get them this magnet that says 'i got porked in memphis'..... here, get my mom this snowman(from the 75% off christmas basket) she loves snowmen." So needless to say I was super frustrated by the end of shopping trip. We ended up with a bottle of BBKings BBQ sauce, a magnet that says "Memphis" and a bar of soup with a C on it - it's their last name initial. Yes, I'm aware that the soap makes no sense, but it's the ONLY thing Ben liked that I was semi-ok with. I spent my lunch break today trying to find other items to go in the basket. I ended up with a picture frame in which I will frame a picture of Ben and I (who wouldn't want that), a cookbook about Grilling, and some Rendezvous BBQ rub. It's still all pretty random, but I'll make it work the best I could. I just don't have time to go back downtown and go through the gift shops again. I love him a lot but sometimes I just wanna kick him! Do you think all of those things are completely ridiculous? If so, any suggestions? I've never been to his parents house so I'm really kind of clueless as to what to get!

Back in the office

2008-05-16T11:37:00.002-06:00

I'm back in the office today. I was supposed to go out in the field again today with the sales manager, but apparently he has too much going on to do that. So here I am finishing up my old work and trying to get everything ready for when the new person comes and takes over my current position. I'm getting excited! My first official day as an Account Executive is June 1st. Between now and then I will be spending 2-3 days in the office and 2-3 days out making calls. They ordered my business cards today so as soon as they are in, I'm set! I got a really good territory. It's loaded with businesses. For some reason, my manager, HH, feels the need to take care of me. I'm not sure why that is the case, but I'm ok with it and will not complain! I am a little nervous about the salary though - it is less than what I make right now and that worries me. Of course I do have the option to make more money since I will be making commission on any sale that I close, but it's still nerve wrecking nonetheless to know that if I don't sell anything - I'm gonna be broke! PRESSURE!

Ben had his home inspection yesterday. It was great! The only problem they found was that one of the posts on the balcony is lose and needs to be secured. The realtor had warned us that the inspector would find alot of problems although most of them would be no big deal, so I was prepared for a much larger list. Ben's going to ask the current owners to fix the post - and we're that much closer to the closing! Less than a month now!!!!

I'm feeling pretty boring... not much to talk about really. Speaking of boring, I was sound asleep on the couch at like 7:00 last night! I woke up long enough to watch Grey's at 8:00 then crawled in bed for good at 9:00. I'm such an old lady at times! I'll try to come up with something more interesting to write about next week.

Ta-ta!

MIA

2008-05-15T16:08:00.002-06:00

Sorry I've been absent the past few days, this sales job is kickin my butt! But in a great way - I'm loving it. I'm exhausted when I get home everyday and my feet are killing me, but I feel like I've actually accomplished something. I'm going to have to invest in some better shoes though - mine aren't cutting it!

Not only has this week been busy with work, but my nights have been busy as well. Monday night I babysat for some friends of mine, Tuesday went to see Made of Honor (ohhhhh how hot McDreamy is!), and last night I went out with Ben and some of his friends for a "FLOF meeting." FLOF is this stupid, made up group that he and all his friends at work made up. They call themselves "Future Leaders of FedEx" - it's so dumb.

This weekend is BBQ fest. It's apart of the Memphis and May festivities, and it's usually way better than Music Fest. Heck, it's gotta be! Anything is! ha. We are going with our friends H&JJ. Their parents have a tent down there, so they invited us to join. It should be a good time.

I know this is the most boring post ever - I'm just so out of it right now. I'm gonna just lay on the couch and chill out. Thank goodness it's Thursday! That means it's time for LOST and Grey's Anatomy! Woot!

Oh my achin' feet

2008-05-13T15:09:00.005-06:00

Yes, they hurt. I went out on my first day of cold calling w/ one of the other sales ladies today. We'll call her LC. She's a nice woman - smokes like a chimney in her car all day. But hey, it's her car - right? We made 70 cold calls from 9:00 - 2:00 w/ an hour lunch break in the middle there. I kept waiting on the dreaded B**** that we were supposed to run into, the one who was gonna cuss us out for walking into her building and throw us out, but it never happened. What a shame. Maybe tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, I will be out again with another sales rep making calls. RS and I will be hitting up north Mississippi - yes siree!

Ok, onto other matters in my life. The Bridesmaids dress dilemma has been solved for the moment. Ben and I went by the dress shop on Saturday, and rather than being angry about it, I found a sympathetic ear who was willing to hear my sob story. She asked me try it on so she could see "if it's too big." When I walked out of the dressing room her jaw about hit the floor. She said "ok. let me get the owner. One moment." Long story short, the owner came out and agreed that the dress was too big and agreed to foot the bill for the alterations. Thank you. That's all I wanted.

The house buying process is still moving forward. Ben has an inspector coming out on Thursday to look and see if there are any problems. Since the house is only 2 years old I don't see that happening, but ya never know I guess.

And yesterday at Target I got the cutest dress!

Well it's a lot cuter in person...not as retro. I'm thinking about wearing it on the plane when we go up to D.C. next week to visit Ben's parents and my brother. I want to get a little cardigan to go over it. And I'm prob gonna get these shoes to go with it. **the brown ones like this, not red**

OK, now that I'm looking at that picture more - that dress is kinda funky looking. I promise it's not that bad in real life! Yikes!

Tonight I'm going to see Made of Honor - I'm super excited. Patrick Dempsey is a sexy, sexy man. I'll let ya know how it is!

What a day!

2008-05-12T15:44:00.002-06:00

Well this post is gonna be short and sweet - I've been really busy here at work today so I haven't had much time to write much of anything. And the rest of this week may not be much better! I start tomorrow w/ the training rides. I'm really excited about it. They keep warning me that I'm gonna be tired but I'm LOOKING FORWARD TO IT! I'm rarely busy here. Bleh. Anyway - I'll do my best this week to update at night. Hang in there with me though, I'll be back!

The girl downstairs

2008-05-10T17:50:00.002-06:00

I rarely write on the weekends, so you all are in for a treat! Something just struck me when I was walking into Ben's apt and I obviously had to write about it - I mean, obviously, right?

Ok, so Ben lives in an apt complex and he lives on the second floor. There is this girl that lives below him who seems to be about...um... late 20's MAYBE early 30's. She is hardly ever home, maybe two or three times a month I see her car out in the parking lot (it's a really small parking lot), but the weird thing is that there is always some random older guys - I'm talking 40-55yrs old - there. They all seem to have keys, because unlock the door and go in. The first time I saw her w/ one of these guys I thought maybe it was her dad, or maybe she was dating an older guy. I don't have a problem w/ her being with an older guy, but why are there so many different guys coming and going? and sometimes (most of the time) when she's not even there.

It's just odd....

Help!

2008-05-09T11:53:00.002-06:00

I have just realized that my blog is not recognized as a "feed" so anyone that uses feed-readers can not access my blog. The frustrating part about this i that I can not figure out how to fix it. It says it is seeing my blog as a website rather than a feedsite. I'm not really all that great at deciphering HTML code to figure out where the problem is. If anyone knows anything about this, could you pass along some tips for me?

Thanks!!

They accepted!!

2008-05-09T07:46:00.003-06:00

the offer on the house! WHOO HOO! Ben put an offer on a house early Wednesday morning. We weren't sure when we'd hear back, but our realtor called Ben right after work yesterday and said they accepted the offer! I'm so excited, and happy for Ben! Closing is June 13th, which seems like an eternity from now but I know it really isn't. AGH! :) :)

He was really cute when he told me about it. We had been in a little tiff yesterday, so when he came to the house he came and sat by me and we talked and got everything straighted out. Then he got up and went into his bedroom - when he came back out he said "sit up".. confused, I sat up right as he opened a bottle of champagne and it spewed all over the place, and he yelled "WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!" the only thing my dumb self could say was "Whoa! Not on the couch!" (referring to the champagne). But we hugged and did little happy dances. I can't believe it's finally happened! I feel like we've been looking for 3 years - it's actually only been about 4 1/2 months. I'm just ready for them to hand over the keys to him we can get to decorating! I have a feeling Ben isn't gonna let me have too much say so in what goes on w/ paint colors and all but that doesn't stop me from suggesting (strongly) what colors I think he should paint everything.

I can't believe it's finally happening!!

love- it!

2008-05-08T10:20:00.002-06:00

Just thought I'd share my new found love with you. For those of you who are trying to be health conscience and eat better, here is a great new cook book! I got it earlier this week and have already tried several recipes from it - all of which were DELISH!

You can order the cookbook here

heavy heart

2008-05-08T09:46:00.002-06:00

I don't have a whole lot to say right now - I've got a lot on my heart and my mind but I'm not sure I'm ready to release it all to the world right now. I did go over to a girlfriends house last night and visit with her, that was kind alike a mini-therapy session, so thanks girl!

For those of you who know me well, you know a bit of what my driving record looks like - and it's not good. haha. So for the last 2 years my New Years resolution has been "No Tickets, No Wrecks!" I made it all the way thru 2007 w/out a ticket or a wreck (phenomenal, I know!) but this year hasn't proved to be going as well. I got a ticket a few weeks ago, but in all honesty I had no idea I was speeding. I had gotten off on this exit from the interstate, which in all honesty I thought it was still the interstate, so I was just bee-bopping along at 65MPH, when a police officer ran out in front of my car and waived me over. They love to do that here, stand on the side of the road and clock ppl, then run out in the middle of all the cars and flag them over. Anyway, the cop proceeded to tell me that I was going 65 in a 50! He must have seen the sincere confusion on my face when I said "but I thought the speed limit was 65? when did it change?" because he just wrote it for 5MPH over. Pretty nice, huh? They actually do that quite a bit here (I know from past experiences). When it's 5 over, you can either pay the $25.00 fine (which does go on your record) or you can go to court and get it dismissed and it doesn't go on your record. I opted for the second option and went down to 201 Poplar for my court date this morning..... only to find out that I read the ticket wrong (apparently the May 08, 16 meant my court date is the 16th of may 2008.) and my court date is NEXT Thursday. I begged the guy to go and and just let me get it over with today, but he wasn't budging. *sigh* I can't really go next week because I start my training for my new job and I don't know that I can get out of it. The guy at the police station told me I could send someone in my place, so I might be REALLY sweet talking Ben to go for me.....

Well I'll try to write more later today if I end up in a better mood.

blogging - bloggers - blogged

2008-05-07T14:02:00.003-06:00

Who ever knew that this world of blogging could easily become so addicting? I find myself sitting here at my computer everyday, scouring the blogs of people I do not know. Many of them I don't even know where they live.... It's like I've become addicted to the lives of these mystery people and I just have (not literally) to know what's going on in their world. It's not that their lives are that much more exciting than mine, but I find myself checking various blogs all day to see if they've updated. And it is inevitable that I will look over at their list of blogs they frequent, and I will find another one that interest me thus making my list of daily blogs even longer. It also amazes me as I read these other blogs at how much they have to talk about! So maybe their lives are more interesting than mine. The most exciting thing that has happened to me today is I got my oil changed. Whoopty doo, right?

But I was thinking today about the actual blogs that I read - some of them are mom-blogs; mom's writing about the various adventures they go through from day to day and telling cute stories about their kids. Others are wedding blogs, or blogs about cooking and photography. Now, I clearly don't have any children or and I'm not getting married anytime soon, but I still enjoy reading these. I can't relate at all but it doesn't matter - for some reason I keep coming back. Does that make me weird? I also like reading blogs about people that actually are in the same place in life as I am. It's reassuring to see other people my age (or older) struggling with the same things I struggle with, and it's refreshing and encouraging to see them come out on top - it gives me a sense of "yes, I to can do this!"

You're probably thinking "wow, Mindy. get a life!" But until I have a job where I'm not stuck in front of a computer all day, I will live vicariously through the lives of others :)

The hardest word in the english language... "NO!"

2008-05-06T09:36:00.003-06:00

Why is this such a hard word for me to say? Is it because I have this condition where I feel like I have to make people happy? Or I'm afraid I'm going to hurt someone's feelings? I'm envious of people that have the ability to put their happiness before others. I think sometimes I can't say no, because I don't really have a reason for not doing it other than " i just don't want to", and I feel like if I come up with a reason then that person is going to know I'm lying to them. Let's take babysitting for example. I have a few families that I babysit for. No matter how many times I tell them that weekends are difficult and I prefer not to babysit then, they still ask. So when they ask me to babysit on the one free Saturday night that I have all month, inside I'm screaming "NOO!!!" but all that comes out is "sure, I'm free that night." It's almost as if I think they will know that I'm lying and just sitting at home on the couch if I say "oh, I'm sorry. I'm not gonna be able to."

I am 100% without a doubt a people pleaser. I'm always worried about how I'm going to make someone feel, or if they are going to be mad if I do something or don't do something.... but why?! Why can't I just say "Nope. That won't work for me." or "This is what I'm doing. Take it or leave it." I agree to do something, then dread it for months, weeks, days or hours..... the whole time thinking "I should just call and say I can't do it." Ben got frustrated with me the other day and said "I'm sick of you committing to something, then complaining about 'having' to do it!" He's right (Yes, I said it) - no one is making me do these things that make me miserable, I'm agreeing to them! What is wrong with me?!

Guys and girls think differently on this matter. Guys can just say it like it is to each other and no one gets their feelings hurt! "no man - I really don't want to do that. " Girls... we have to tip-toe around each other because inevitably the other girl is gonna be mad or get her feelings hurt. So what do we do to avoid this? We agree to do it when we'd rather cut our finger off!

I hope one day very soon I will make "no" a part of my regular vocabulary.

Music Fest ..... not so festive

2008-05-05T10:41:00.003-06:00

I learned a very valuable lesson this weekend: Never go back to Music Festival again!

Let me give you a quick rundown of the weekend. As I mentioned on Friday, my friend Jessie came in town this weekend. I LOVE being with her. When she walks in the door, we pick right back up where we left off. It's always been this way with her, and I know it always will be. There are so few people that it's like that with so I cherish our friendship so much. Anyway - didn't mean to get off on that tangent. Jessie got in town about 1:30am Saturday morning. The weather was horrendous so it took her a good bit longer than it should have. Saturday we got up and went for a walk - I showed her around my neighborhood and we just spend the morning catching up and of course, laughing. Later that day everyone met at Ben's around 3:00 to head down to Music Fest. We rode the Trolley down, which was a lot of fun, then met up with some friends at Silky O'Sullivan's for a little while before FINALLY heading down to the river. After everyone got their tickets and we waited in line to get in - we finally got into the park around 6:00pm. We left the park at 8:00pm if that gives you any indication of how bad it was. We spent those 2 hours trying to decide what everyone wanted to do (a group of 13-15 is just waaaay to many for a crowd that size), standing in line for the bathroom, standing in line for food, and looking for people that had wandered off for various reasons and couldn't find our group again. There were more drunk/completely wasted high school kids than I have ever seen in my life, lots of people smoking pot, and mud, mud, mud! Gross! The straw that finally broke the camels back for me was when a group of (wasted) 16 year olds got on top of these guys shoulders, with their butts RIGHT IN MY FACE, and started bouncing up and down. Hitting us in the head with their rear-ends that were hanging out of their shorts and dresses. They were flashing their boobs, and this kid came shoving past us saying "Let me thru!! I wanna smack their ass!!". It was at that point that I was like "nope. can't take it" and fortunately most of our group felt the same way. I guess I've outgrown that kind of thing.

Here are a few pics, as promised

Ben, me, Jessie, and Sam on the trolley

Ben and I - I love this picture

Jessie, Becky, me, and Jenny at Silky's

Jenny, me, and Jessie
We bought these "awesome" (ha!) sweatshirts cause we were soo cold!

May Already?!

2008-05-02T10:45:00.006-06:00

Wow, where is this year going? I cannot believe it is already May! I guess it's true when they say that the older you get, the faster time flys. 1 more month and we're halfway to Christmas! But you know what's great about May this year? Tax Rebate/Stimulus! I got mine today - all $600.00. I know we're supposed to go out and spend the money - putting in back into the economy, but I paid off my credit-card with it. That just seemed like the more responsible thing to do. What are you planning on spending yours on? I hope it's something more fun than a credit card! But hey - no debt is a great thing (well it sounds nice. I have no idea what it actually feels like. Student loans anyone?).

Thank goodness it's FINALLY FRIDAY! Memphis in May is upon us and of course -it's gonna rain. I guess that's why Music Fest is also known as "mud fest". Blah. But the ~~good~~ great news is that my best girlfriend from home, Jessie, is coming to town! She won't be getting in until late tonight, but that leaves us with a few days to hangout and be crazy together. I'm so excited I can barely stand it! I haven't seen her since September, and that's just too long! There are a few good bands playing this year, but nothing that I'm ecstatic about! Here's the line up for this year.

I'll do my best to post some pictures when the weekend is over.

The bridesmaid dress saga is still continuing. I've called the shop where the dress is from to speak with the owner/manager about the problem. She wasn't there, but called me back later. Of course when she called me back I wasn't around. I've since called and left several messages but haven't received a phone call. I'm debating whether or not I should just go up there w/ the dress and try it on for them and say "look. this is what you ordered me. Now fix it."

Oh - one more thing. I FINALLY reached my mini-goal of 25lbs! The first 22 came off relatively easy, but man-oh-man have I had to work for the last 3! Now I've just gotta keep ,y butt in gear and try to get 25 more off!

Movin' on up and the bridesmaid dress nightmare!

2008-04-30T14:06:00.002-06:00

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

2008-04-29T15:21:00.002-06:00

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.....

2008-04-29T07:14:00.003-06:00

and here is his latest little hit

Mixed Emotions

2008-04-28T14:28:00.004-06:00

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!

2008-04-25T13:45:00.003-06:00

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

2008-04-24T13:25:00.003-06:00

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

2008-04-23T12:49:00.004-06:00

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

2008-04-22T13:22:00.003-06:00

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!

2008-04-17T07:35:00.003-06:00

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

2008-04-16T08:43:00.004-06:00

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!

2008-04-15T09:24:00.002-06:00

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

2008-04-14T08:39:00.003-06:00

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!

2008-04-10T12:52:00.003-06:00

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"

2008-04-09T13:48:00.002-06:00

This is hilarious! Check it out

Birthday and basketball

2008-04-08T09:36:00.003-06:00

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

2008-04-03T08:33:00.004-06:00

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

2008-04-01T14:39:00.003-06:00

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!

A little happy dance

2008-03-27T08:02:00.003-06:00

The weekend at the parents went great! Ben and I got into town around 10:30 last Thursday night, spent some time talking to my mom then headed off to bed. Friday was jam packed with activities. If you know my family, you know we do not sit down. There is no such thing as "lay around and watch tv together." Abby, Kelli (my little sisters) and I took Ben on a golf ride around the farm, then we hopped in the car and toured Jackson..... 15 mins later we were done. :) I'm just kidding. I got to show him the house I grew up in and the neighborhood that has so many awesome memories, then we went down to "the big pool" and played on the playground. The pool didn't have any water in it so we just looked at the rocks on the bottom. haha . We enjoyed lunch at Ed's (or The Drive-In) - gotta get that cherry coke in! - then went on a shopping extravaganza to Dirt Cheap! We watched the little girls play in their softball tournament and went and hung out with Ashley and Misty. Saturday we were up bright and early to do some fishing, then spent the rest of the afternoon watching more softball. Easter morning was a bit chaotic, but what day isn't at the Crosby house? Dad had us up for a walk at 9:00am, then we all rushed and got dressed for church. In typical Crosby fashion, we were late... and late is the one thing you do not want to be on Easter Sunday! We were looking for a place to sit and the usher said "Um, I think the 3rd row up front in the very middle is empty." so we all (6) marched up right in the middle of church and took our seats as everyone looked at us and smiled/laughed. After Easter lunch we took the little girls easter eggs that they had dyed and played "egg schmear." Rather than hiding the eggs and looking for them, we hit them with a baseball bat. We ended the day/trip with a rousing game of family softball. With only 3 gloves and 7 people, it wasn't quite the exciting/action packed game that you might think it was, but we had a great time non-the less. So overall I give the trip an A+!

As far as other areas of my life.... thinks are looking great! I have an awesome opportunity that could be happening for me in the next few weeks. I can't say much about it right now, but I will be keeping you posted. I am however, very excited about it!

Ciao!