paper slinky

Today I got a fun new office supply. It's a sticky note pad (post-it type) that has the sticky stuff alternating on each side. So you can play with it like a slinky when it's placed on your desk. It's quite entertaining!
I have just finished up the month of September at the office and get to go home early! We had a very profitable month, which is always uplifting. So this weekend I get to do some painting too! I am going to paint the new side door frame so it's ready to be put in place. And I'm going to try and paint the ceiling in the kitchen if i get adventerous enough. I've been trying to do that for quite some time now...
Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Good news

Good news: Adam called this morning to report that Amy did not have to have any ovaries removed at all. Apparently they didn't look as bad as the doctor had orginally thought. Adam was on his way to the hospital with Dylan and hadn't gotten to see Amy yet, but it sounded like everything went super well.
It's very cold and dreary here today -- it has been for the past couple of days. I went shopping for a new sweater last night to help me combat the dreariness. It helped.
Congrats on getting your place painted, Angie. That does sound like a lot of work, but I'm sure it is beautiful.
Gotta scoot... Have a great day, all!

Mistake

Just so you know... we have the trim not the trip to do in Aaron's place... sorry for the error and confusion.

Frustrating Phone Service

I'm currently on hold with Nextel... The worst cell phone service available, so please do us all a favor and not join Nextel.
Anyway... Since I'm just sitting here in front of the computer, waiting to talk to the 3rd person from Nextel's customer service department, I thought I will give you all an update.
Aaron and I painted the his whole place this past weekend. We were blessed with a lot of help - including Joe - and miraculously got the whole place painted in one weekend. We still have the trip to do... Which is going to be a huge task, but at least there are nice colors on the walls now. I can't wait for you guys to see it. The colors turned out really nice.
With all of that going on last week was somewhat crazy. I barely had a spare minute to catch my breath. This week has been more low key, but I am way too exhausted to do anything productive...
oh wait... Its ringing...
This girl is nice... She is going to fix everything up for me. Ok... Nextel isn't so bad. Although I wouldn't recommend it cause it cuts out way more than it should.
So yea... Tonight is veg in front of the TV night - although I have been doing that all week and really should be doing things that are productive - oh well... I have no plans for Saturday.
OK... I know, I have no interesting stories, but that my life in a nut shell.
I love you girls... See you soon. (3 months from Saturday is the big day - ahhh!!)

wierd dreams

ok, so i woke up this morning thinking i should admit myself to a psychiatric ward... I had two vivid dreams in my sleep. Please don't stop being my friend because of the strangeness of these dreams! In the first dream, I gave birth to a beautiful little girl. This is not so strange as i seem to have baby fever lately and can't get babies our of my mind. Many times in the immediate past I have had dreams of getting pregnant - mostly with twins, because Chris really wants twins. OK, now in the second dream I am on a big boat. It must be the size of a cruise ship or something. Anyway, there is this psycho killer on the boat who just looses it and kills everyone. He killed me too, but since it was my dream, I still got to watch the rest of it. In the end, someone he thought he killed ends up shooting him so he dies. I figured I shouldn't tell my husband this dream since he might admit me. Friends, please do not turn me in! I swear this is the only time i have ever had this sort of a dream!
Small Group Chili Night tonight!
Small accomplishment - I have made dinner every night for the last 2 weeks. It's quite an accomplishment since I have made dinner a total of 2 times in the time I have known Chris. He's been impressed, but I'm out of recipes. So now it's his turn again :)
Hope you all have a good night!

Quickie

So I don't really have any exciting news to report. I just wanted to say a quick hello.
Adam left this morning to go to Colorado for 4 days...I still hate having to say good-bye to him. His sister, Amy, is having surgery tomorrow to have one ovary removed for sure, and possibly two depending on how bad it looks. She's been doing better as far as pain goes, but the ovary is so badly covered with cysts that it has to come out.
So I have the apartment to myself all weekend. I've got some plans to go out with friends and such, but it will still be a little lonely, though I have plenty of housework to catch up on!
Yesterday was my last day for putting the medicine in my eyes. So I only have to do the lubricating drops now, which is nice. Those medicine drops hurt and made my eyes all cloudy. My left eye is still red...the size of the red area has gone down, but it's a brighter red now, if that makes sense. But I can see!! So I guess I can handle looking like a freak for a few more days.
I will continue to pray for your grandma, Juls -- wish I could give you a hug. (Sorry we keep missing each other's calls! I'm totally free the next couple days, so feel free to give me a ring when you get a chance.) And I can't believe how big Seth is getting! Thanks for the pictures! He does look like a very happy baby. Can't wait to see him again. I love that picture from a little while back where he's just cracking up all by himself. At least he can keep himself amused.
We got a new couch yesterday. Well, it's new to us anyway -- it's actually Neal's old couch since he just got a new one. We didn't really have a couch yet, just this little uncomfortable loveseat, so it's nice to have somewhere to stretch out in the living room. I'm selling the little loveseat on craigslist -- it's funny the crazy people that respond to those kind of ads. No, I won't deliver my loveseat to you in the middle of the ghetto after dusk. Duh.
Anyway, gotta get back to work. Hope you are feeling better, Steph! Love you girls! Blog, blog, blog!

No hablo Espanol

Hey there! I'm sorry to hear that you're sick, Steph. That sucks. And I can't believe that you had to give ID to buy Robitussin. That's ridiculous. I've never had to do that and Tulsa's a pretty major meth zone. Anyways, hope you feel better soon. Seth is doing very well. I haven't bought my back belt yet. Haven't had time. I'll let you all know how it works when I finally get one. Seth is getting up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth now. He's getting pretty close to crawling I think. He's almost sitting up on his own. He also started cereal this month. I'm going to start introducing vegetables and other things gradually pretty soon. He's turning into a big boy! He's a pretty happy baby. He LOVES to just laugh and blow razberries all the time. He's never quiet. I've honestly never seen a baby laugh as much or as hard in my life, and I'm not just saying that because he's my baby. =) My grandmother's still really weak. I think that's just the way she's going to be now. She has decided to forego any chemo or treatment. So, barring a miracle, it's just a waiting game now. The doctor has not said how much time we're looking at... So, it's a rough time for my mom and family right now. It's hard to see someone you love so much who was once so vibrant be so weak. She doesn't really talk anymore and she's kind of lost her spark. I think she's probably having a difficult time emotionally and is probably a bit depressed as well. I hate dealing with this. But anyways, that's enough of my sad story for now. I still very much appreciate all of your prayers. I'd better go because Jacob is waking up from his nap. Love you all!

Me too!

Hi girls! I was hoping that since I couldn't check the blog all weekend I would see at least a half dozen posts, but Kimmie's probably right - we're all pretty busy lately.
I was at home in Minnesota all weekend. Like Jen, I had a few birthdays to celebrate (my brother who is 31, if you can believe it, and my Grandpa who is 75). I also had a baby shower on Sunday for my cousin's finace. She is due in November and they are getting married next August, I guess. Anyway, I also took away a nice gift from MN - the flu...or something just like it. So, I spent all day yesterday in bed (or on the couch), mostly sleeping. I should be there now, but I felt bad taking more than one day off of work. And can I just vent about a terrible thing that happened yesterday? Ok, thanks. Well, it was like 7am and I had just called in to work and I needed to get some medicine and soup so I went to the grocery store. I had two kinds of meds, soup, OJ, and Kleenex in my hands and was proceeding to check out when the lady asked for my ID. Yeah, an ID for Robitussin. Can you believe it? I realized that I didnt' have it with me - I had left it in my jeans pocket from flying home the night before. The supervisor nazi lady still wouldn't let me buy it. It was quite obvious that I was sick and wasn't on my way home to make up batch of meth. At that point, I was so tired and sick that I just started crying and walked out of the store. I went home (still crying) got my ID, and went to a different store. I got all the same things and this store did NOT ask for my ID. So by the time I got home it was over an hour later, and I just went straight back to bed. Didn't get back up until 3:00.
SO...other than that, things here are pretty uneventful. I am on call this weekend at Pottery Barn, so I will more than likely work at least one shift there. That will be nice for a little extra cash.
Juls - How is Seth? And your back? Is that thingy helping when you have to carry him all the time? And how is your Grandmother doing?
Jamie - I am about to look at those picures...how is everything else?
Liz - Any more incidents with the crock pot that I should know about? :)
I hope you all have a great, great day! Lots of love!

estoy aqui!

hello friends!
yes, it has been a busy last few days for Chris and I. Saturday we celebrated my grandparent's 80th birthdays. They have the same birthday, isn't that adorable! Sunday we celebrated Chris' great uncle's 80th birthday. Yesterday was Chris' birthday (29!!!) and next week is mine. I'm sick of birthdays!! anywho, i'm turning the big 26 this year and THAT's just WIERD!!! There's no possible way of saying I'm in the young 20's any longer. I'm well into the mid-20's and next year, dare I say... late 20's?!? Nnnoooo!
More spider stories... there is a spider that continually builds it's web in the entry way to the kitchen every night. So each morning when I can't see a thing, I go to get coffee, and wham! Spider Web! You'd think I'd learn... nope! i need to find that darn spider and kill it.
We have a new front door and it's so beautiful, I love it! If you've been to my house i'm sure you remember the old one... partly painted brown and part orange where it's scratched off. Now it's new, pretty, and all one color.
It's officially that time of year when you can run your car heater in the morning, air-conditioner at noon, and heater at night here in Illinois. That's wierd.
Nothing else going on in my world... just house projects!

Donde estan mis amigas?

Hey, girls. Looks like everyone's been equally as busy the past couple of days. That's good -- now everyone will have a multitude of things to blog about :)
My weekend was pretty full. Amy and Dylan were in town visiting, so we had fun showing them around and just watching Dylan. He's a very funny boy. His favorite new phrase is, "big tractor truck". Every loud car or vehicle he hears is officially a big tractor truck to him. He also gets very excited about fish. There's a set of locks here that have an underwater viewing window and you watch salmon going upstream to spawn. We took Dylan there and the kid practically had a fit he was so excited to see the fish. He kept grabbing anyone that was nearby (strangers included) and yelling "Fish! Fish!" at them. It was hilarious, if not a little embarrassing.
After carrying Dylan around all weekend, I can definitely sympathize with you a little bit, Julie. I could barely move this morning, and that was only after a couple days. You'll have to let us know how the belt thing works out. If my children have the same genes as Adam's family (and I guess there's no way of getting around that) then I'll definitely be needing one some day.
Another big event for me -- I had LASIK eye surgery on Friday. I was terrified to do it, but I'm so glad I did. My vision is now 20/15, and I had a customized laser fix any night vision problems, blurriness and haloes, so I basically can see better than perfect. The only side effect is this red "bruise" on the white of my left eye, which makes me look a little evil. But it's supposed to go away in a couple days, so everyone keep your fingers crossed. I also can't wear eye makeup for a week, which is actually a lot less of a nuisance than I thought it would be. It saves me time in the mornings.
Anyway, if any of you have thought about getting LASIK, do it. It is a little scary, but the procedure itself takes less than 10 minutes total. The key is not to let yourself imagine how horrible it's going to be -- because it's really not that bad. And it's so worth it. Especially for me, since I couldn't really wear contacts any more. Now I don't have to worry about walking into doors in the middle of the night. It's a much safer world out there for me.

hey there

Hey girls! The boys are napping, so I'm going to write a quick blog while I have the chance. I was missing you guys 'cause nobody had posted in a little while. Angie, I'm still working with people on their invitations here, so I don't have them done yet to send you. But the one I'm doing right now is just a formal script on a white cardstock with a pale pink vellum overlay with the bride and groom's initials on it in a watermark style. The vellum is just tied to the cardstock with a white satin ribbon. The bride is going pretty simple. But if you're really dying for some ideas, you can give me a call and I'd be happy to describe some concepts to you of what I'm kind of working on. =) Either way, I know you'll come up with something fantastic. I'm with you... we do need to use Silverline Communications someday. It was too good. Speaking of spiders you guys... Tulsa has had an infestation of brown recluse spiders this summer. Gross!!! They're everywhere! I cannot even tell you how many times I've had Seth on the floor and caught a spider going towards him. I hate Oklahoma. Not to mention that while you guys are getting a taste of Fall weather, I'm blasting my air conditioning right now to try to ward off the 97 degree heat outside. Thanks for praying for my back pain Ang. My mom and grandma said they had the same problems because their kids were butterballs too. My grandma suggested that I get one of those heavy lifting belts that men wear. She said she used one when my uncle was Seth's age and that really helped with the back pain. She said to just wear it over my clothes when I'm at home and I should feel a lot better. I think I'm going to do it because Seth has quite some time before he's going to be walking. Anyways, love you girls! Bye!

Window to the world

I just wanted to share my joy with you all that I finally have an Internet connection in my new office. Yay! It took them a while to get me one -- guess they had to make sure I wasn't a hacker or something -- but today I came in and was able to connect to the world.
Now I can obsessively check the blog again. I was going through serious withdrawal.
I've got to find something to break up the monotony. The job I'm doing right now is a little mundane -- I'm basically just making inventories of what content we have already on the web site. Once that's done, I get to start writing and editing, which is what I'm looking forward to.
My office is a little sad though. I guess no one's used it in a while, because it was completely empty. White walls, white desk, black blinds...everything is blah! I bought a tiny, little violet to help brighten it up in here, and it's doing the best it can...but it has an awful lot of blah-ness to combat.
We just found out that Adam's sister Amy and nephew Dylan are coming out to visit us this weekend! It was a kind of last-minute thing. Adam found a weekend special from Denver to Seattle, so we called the fam to get someone to take advantage of the deal. It's the first time Adam's family has ever visited us anywhere we've lived without there being another reason (like graduation, etc.). They're just not too big on travel. So hopefully we can show them a good time and they'll want to come back.
Jen, you and I must be on the spiders of the world hit list, or something. I almost ran smack into one in our stairwell last night. I had to take the elevator back, just to avoid the bugger. And we only live on the second floor, so that tells you how much I detest those little creepy crawly things. It must have to do with my killing that one that jumped on my leg the other day. Now his whole family is after me.
All right, I'd better get back to looking busy. Love you girls, and thinking happy thoughts your way.

Secrets

Hello all,
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We got much accomplished - birthday party for a nephew, took my wedding rings to be soddered together, checked out mother's rings for a christmas present, got some good shopping deals including my new swimwear for the honeymoon in November :), installed the new front doors without too many complications, cleaned house, and spent time with friends. I'm exhausted!
Grandma Ruth is in the hospital in Iowa City with a bad infection and a galbladder (sp?) that needs to be taken out. Please say a little prayer for her. Sad to say, her body is slowing down... I hate to say things like this but, it looks as though she doesn't have too much time left. I just pray that she not be in too much pain with all of the 'stuff' going on with her body.
Yes, Angie we are going to the Riviera Maya - Secrets Excellence resort in November. We had a difficult time deciding between the two resorts there. Two months from today we will be flying back home with gorgeous tan lines and all traces of the bags and dark circles under our eyes vanished :) I'm really looking forward to the swim-up bar!!
Looking forward to this friday. Mother's joining me for the afternoon and I'm thinking of suckering her in to help me paint the kitchen ceiling... ok, that part I'm not looking forward to. But at least i don't have to work in the office.
Small Group update: we now have 15 total groupies. It's fun playing hostess each week :) We are feeling so blessed to have so many wonderful people in our group.
So this blog doesn't have much in it, but i just really wanted to say HI :)

For Steph's Benefit

So I just got off the phone with Steph and she informed me that none of us have blogged all weekend long... So I decided I needed to give her some entertainment for Monday morning.
I'm so glad you all got the stds I sent (sorry for the gross abbreviation, but its just so much easier to write that). I hope you all have saved the date :). I am steeped in wedding planning and having a good time doing it. Considering how long it took us to get the stds out, we need to start asap with the invites... Aaron has already put together some ideas. Speaking of invites... juls I would love to see the ideas you put together, if you get a chance, send them my way. I'm also glad to here you are keeping your talents up to par for when we start our business :) - maybe someday we will live in the same area again and can start that business we talked about so long ago. I was actually reminded of it tonight cause I was transferring files to my new computer and I came across the logos we had put together for Silverline Communications. It really is a great name - one of us has to definitely use it someday.
So Aaron and I are taking full advantage of his upcoming days off (Friday and Saturday of next weekend) by painting the townhouse. It is one of our projects for the fall and since Selah's wedding got postponed to a later date, we decided since he already has the days off that we would use them to paint. Joe is coming up to help as well. We just decided this last week, so we have to do a lot of prep work this week to get the place ready for paint. It looks like a have a long week ahead of me, but it should be fun. We haven't even picked out our color schemes yet... So much to do!!
um... Aaron and I also finalized our honeymoon plans this past week. We decided on Riviera Maya, Mexico. We are going to Secrets Capri for seven days and are so excited about it. Jen, I know you have plans to go to a secrets in Nov - which one are you going to? There are two in the Riviera Maya and 1 in the Dominican... It would be funny if we are going to the same one. You'll have to tell me all about it when you get back.
So yea... That's a quick update on me. I need to get to bed and I have to write a couple emails yet. It's so great to hear all of your stories. Juls, I'll be praying for a quick recovery with you back. I'm sure its not easy to take care of Seth with a back pain. Kim - I'm kinda jealous of your cold weather, it turned hot again here and I'm hating it. I was also glad to hear about all you job opportunities.
It's good to hear from all of you... Steph I hope this brightens you Monday morning!

I'm still alive

Hey girls! Sorry I haven't posted in a couple weeks. I've been reading all of your posts, but I've been busy traveling and all that the past couple weeks. My visit with grandma was good. She was so tired and weak, she could only handle visits about an hour at a time. But I think she enjoyed it and she's slowly regaining her energy. At this point, it's hard to know whether she's so weak from the surgery or from the cancer. Maybe both... Anyways, that's kind of a rough subject for me right now. Kim, I'm so happy to hear about all your different job opportunities. That's awesome. You're such a good contributor! =) Angie, I also got your STD! (that does sound gross) It's really cute and I can't wait for your wedding! Liz and Jamie, I just have to tell you both how sorry I am that I still have not sent your wedding gifts. I have had them on my kitchen table to send to you since the beginning of August. The problem is getting to the post office. It's not that easy with Seth and Jacob. I wanted to go today because I only have Seth today, but I threw my back out. I can't carry Seth around so I can't really go to the post office because I'd have to get him in and out of the car. But I have your gifts and I will send as soon as I possibly can. I am SOOO Sorry. Seth now weighs like 22 pounds and my body was not made to hoist that kind of weight around all day long. I now suffer from chronic back pain. Steph, it was SO great getting to see you a couple weekends ago. I miss having you close by. Jen, it sounds like you're enjoying married life and everything's going well. I'll be praying for your job situation (you too Kim!). I know what it's like being a difficult job situation. I'm pretty much back to the normal grind of childcare and housewife stuff. I've gotten a couple offers to design wedding invitations and other publications. So that's been kind of fun. It's nice having something interesting to think about every now and then. I have to admit though that it will be nice being in Ohio for the month of December while Josh is on rotation in Ohio. It's good having extra hands to help with Seth and I won't have to watch Jacob that month. However, Josh's mom has decided to get remarried (probably in December), so that could pose some extra holiday stress. She wanted to get married on January 1, 2006. But I told her she was welcome to do that, but I would not be there because my friend Angie had already saved that date! =) So, I think she's gonna do it a little earlier. Anyways, I need to go because Seth is squealing on the floor. I have ignored him for a full 5 minutes and he's furious with me. Love you all!

Snippets

So it's turned very cold here...I don't just mean crisp evenings. I actually saw my breath today -- in the afternoon. So it was up to the storage unit for me to dig out all my sweaters. I'm having to dress up a lot for my new job at the City -- they're all very formal there. So, I'm thinking a shopping spree might be in the cards for me...I need some new business professional clothes. Those ORU skirts just don't cut it any more.
I intereviewed today with an environmental company in Seattle. I almost completely blew it -- I got so lost! Their office is on this little island under the bridge to West Seattle -- I didn't even know there was an island there, that's how badly turned around I was. I had to call them for directions, and then I had to stop at a gas station for more directions. I finally made it -- 30 minutes late. Complete disaster. They were pretty cool about it though. Apparently everyone gets lost on their way to this office, so it was no big deal. Big relief, but still...I hate being late.
The company does clean ups and such for different companies' environmental disasters. If I got it, I would be their technical writer/editor. It sounds really interesting, and so me...so say a little prayer that they'll fall in love with me! (Despite my punctuality issues.) I won't hear back from them until mid-October though...argh.
Steph, I'm so sorry about your gruesome experience on the train. That sounds absolutely awful. You have me worried now -- watch out for those when you're crossing the tracks (not that you don't, but still...you can't be too careful).
Angie, I got your STD! (Ok, that sounds a little weird...) Anyway, it's so cute! I have it hanging on the fridge :) I'm so excited about your wedding -- it's going to be such a good time. And all those festive things to do in the area got me all excited for the holidays.

Quote of the day:
"After 12 years of therapy, my psychiatrist said something that brought tears to my eyes. He said, 'No hablo ingles." -- Ronnie Shakes

Horrible day...sounds fun to read, huh?

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I have posted, but I haven't really had too much to say. I have enjoyed reading about your lives, though. Kimmie, I am so glad that you had a good time with tu mama in Seattle. Whale watching? Holy cow,er, whale... Those things are ginormous. Julie, I hope your time with your grandmother was precious. You're in my prayers. I need to call you sometime so I can catch up with you. Ang, I'm so glad you got your STD's done! I am keeping a watchful eye on my tiny little mailbox. AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! ;) Liz, it was so good to talk to you the other day! When we want to catch up, apparently we don't care how long it takes, huh? :) Jamie girl, I hope things are becoming routine in the White household. I am so glad that you got to spend some time with Nick's family. I completely agree with you that our college experience would have been so different if we had been a football school. Seriously. Jen, of course I am with you and enjoying the weather once again after that horrible heat wave that went through. Wore a sweater to work today because it was chilly waiting for the train. :)

So, I want to tell you all about my horrible day, but I don't at the same time. Its a little gross, so I don't think I will, but I'll just give you the basics. Yesterday, there was another pedestrian that was hit by an express train, about an hour before my train picked me up. (I really don't know what it takes for people to learn to be more careful...) We were late, but they were letting trains through. I thought it would be pretty well cleaned up by the time we got through there, but it wasn't. I'll leave it at that. Seriously, the most traumatic scene I have ever experienced. That's the gross part of my day. The images will be in my head for a long time. Then, I went to give blood (blood drive through the Red Cross at my building) and had lots of problems, so after fighting the urge to pass out, and having my arm feeling like a pin cushion, I carefully walked back to my office to finish out the day. Its really a long story, but not so fun to tell. I went home (on the train, yes) and slept pretty much from the moment I walked in the door until this morning. Ok, ok, so i woke up for like 2 hours in there, but that was it. I was DONE.
Today is a new day! Thank GOD! Lovely how that works. So now everything is good, minus the HUGE bruise on my arm and seriously disturbing images in my head, and I am ready to have a good rest of the day! One thing that makes it better is that I am drinking apple juice. It makes me feel like a kid again when I drink apple juice. Like snack time at daycare. :)
Better get back to my grown up job...
oh wait, I forgot to say that I am officially back to work at Pottery Barn again. Just a few days a week. I LOVE it there. LOVE it. Its very illogical, really, but oh well.
Ok, bye.

Brisk

Journal:
I have been frustrated and uneasy about my job lately. To the point where I was considering looking for another. So I asked God to give me contentment and peace where I am currently at, knowing that financially, this is where we need to be right now. This morning I received refreshment and contentment! The Lord provided time for myself this morning and I even had time to make a complete breakfast of bacon, eggs, and the staple – coffee! And as I stepped outside, I was greeted with the most glorious temperature and fragrance. It’s brisk! …nevermind the spider that greeted me in between the screen and wooden doors as my forehead almost met him head on… the air is refreshed after a cooling rain last night, the kind of rain that makes your car look like you just washed it. (I love that!) Anyway, then I had some nice worship time in the ‘zoom-zoom’ as I drove to work also.
Welcome Autumn! Welcome! Come and stay a while! It’s time to break out the autumn and winter pants… and dare I say… long sleeves!!!!!

Chaotic schedule

Hello, friends...
I thought I should write to let everyone know that I have not fallen off the face of the earth -- I've just been overwhelmed with activities and other commitments the past couple weeks. I have been checking in on the blog every once in a while to catch up on everyone's goings on. Steph, I'm glad you had such a great time in Tulsa. We definitely do need to catch up via phone some time soon. Julie, I hope your time with Grandma Shirley was special -- we've been praying for her and your family. And how did your floor pillows turn out, Jen? I've been wondering about them...I do so love pillows. I'll be looking forward to getting your save the date, Angie. That's so industrious of you -- I would have had a nervous breakdown if I'd added those to my to-do list when I was planning our wedding. I'm sure Steph can understand...my invites weren't exactly a walk in the park.
Anyway, so the condensed version of my past couple weeks is basically that I went from having a very uneventful life to one so full of events, I have to once again schedule time to sleep.
My mom was here last week, which was so great. We had a blast showing her the city and...(drumroll, please)...whale watching! Yay! I actually got to see whales and dolphins and sea lions and all kinds of wildlife out in the real wild. It was incredible. We saw practically every pod of killer whales in the area, and quite a few of them breached for us. Unfortunately, our pictures didn't turn out quite so well as the camera man (aka, Adam) was so enthralled with watching the whales surface that he forgot to take the picture until after they'd already gone back under water. So we have quite a few lovely pictures of the ocean and the sky.
On the job front, I was offered another data entry/editing type job for a company in Denver. I'm helping them with their hiring process, basically just sorting through resumes and scheduling interviews. On top of that, I also accepted a full time contract position with the City of Everett, a smaller city about 30 miles north of Seattle. I'll be helping them redesign, edit, and write new web pages for their website -- about 35,000 pages in all. It's a great chance for me to get some real experience, and I get my own corner office with a view for one month. :) The downside to that job is that I have to commute about an hour each way, which seriously cuts down on my time at home to work on Trails and Cygen (the Denver company) and, oh yeah, to relax. So...you can see how my chaotic schedule is threatening to overtake me.
Oh, and did I mention I just got over a really bad cold and the flu? Yeah, that was not such a good time.
Whew. Anyway, the Cygen stuff should slow down in a couple weeks, and I can put Trails on the back burner for a while as I concentrate on my new editing job. I also have a couple interviews for real, full-time, permanent jobs in the upcoming couple of weeks.
It seems that God is certainly answering my prayers for a job! I mean, seriously, did he have to listen that well? (Just kidding...I think.)
Hope all of you have a great week!

They're done!

So i finally had a weekend at home with no plans... that's a first in like 3-4 months - i can't remember the last time i had a weekend with no plans.
With no plans, i had plenty of opportunity to get the stds done (save-the-dates) and most of them went out in the mail today. So you all should be getting on in the next couple of days. I'm so glad that is off my mind. I still have a few addresses to get, but the majority of them are out.
In addition, Aaron and I were able to check out a couple of bands for our wedding... we had so much fun relaxing and listening to bands play on Saturday night. The one was at a Breast Cancer benefit and we were able to make fun of all the older people trying to dance. That was very entertaining. The other was my cousins band and they turned out to be very fun to listen to.
So yea... A nice relaxing, uneventful weekend - just what i needed.
That's all for now!

weekend activities

Hey gals! We had a crazy-busy weekend visiting friends and family all in the QC area. It’s good to be back at the office for a semi-normal week (I hope!) Saturday we visited some friends of mine in Morrison, IL and spent all afternoon playing at their house. They are raising a fawn in their yard. They also have a pond the size of our kitchen (pretty big) and a pump that brings a stream down about 10 feet into the pond. They also have a gazebo they had made by an Amish family. It’s amazing. We just love their place, it’s a little country retreat!
Our small group is growing already! Yesterday we added 2 more to the group – one is a new student at Palmer College of Chiropractic (Mike). The other is a young gal in her mid twenties who just accepted Christ yesterday!! Her name is Christy and we are so excited to hear all about her story!
Had a terribly busy morning at the office but now have found myself with nothing to do at the moment. Will be checking the BLOG often this afternoon so please write!
Love you all!

quickie

hey girls....thought i'd post a quick update before i'm off to clean and make dinner. i was able to look at all your blogs, and it sounds like everyone is doing so well. steph, i'm glad you had a good weekend in tulsa. ang, keep plugging away at the planning. jamie, you seem to get about as much time during the school day to check blogs as i do (which is none right now anyway). life here is good, but super busy still. my new job is keeping me quite busy. i swear, every year in a new job is like the first year teaching all over again. but it's going well. i have a great group of kids, which is so cool. i'm finding it's really great to be back in middle school. outside of that, things are good. oh, i broke my toe the other day. it's such a bummer, because i'm so busy and it really slows me down a lot. oh well. ok well, i have tons to get done tonight. thursdays are my cleaning an laundry time. have a great weekend!

Just an Update

Hello all...
Just wanted to say hello to everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday weekend! Kimmie- I hope you're having a ball showing your mom around Seattle. I'll have to call you later this week to get the details.
As you all know, I went to Tulsa this weekend and I had an absolute blast! The only two complaints I have are these: a) It was too HOT! Thus, one of the many reasons I moved away...and b) I didn't have enough time there. I only got to spend a short afternoon with Julie. Juls! I am so sorry I couldn't connect with you again. I am just going to have to make another trip down there sometime soon. Hmmm. Yeah, like that will happen.
Um, otherwise I spent a lot of time with Erika's kids and let me tell you - they are quite the handful. They're amazing though.
Time to get back into some sort of a routine. I think I finally caught up on sleep, so I think I can resume normal life again. I fell asleep as soon as I got home from work last night, woke up at lik 8pm and then went back to sleep by 11pm. Now, that's the life. My apartment is a disaster, but I'm not so sleepy anymore! Oh well, I have the weekend to do some deep cleaning and laundry. Although, its supposed to be in the 90s again here by Sunday. Where'd my fall go???
I know this post consisted of nothing in particular, but its all I have right now.
OH, yeah...Joachim's fiance, girlfriend whatever, Aimee is in the Reserves for the Navy, and she just found out that she is going on active duty (stateside for most of the time, but over seas for a part of it as well) on September 18th. She's not happy about it at all, because apparently her and Jo have been making some progress in their issues, and now she'll be gone for at least a year, maybe two. So as much as I think its not a good thing that they are back together, I still feel bad for her and I would love it if you girls could keep her (and Joachim) lifted up in prayer when you think about it. Its going to be a difficult time for both of them.
Ok
thats it...have a good day...bye...

A shocking experience

Hey girls! It is tough to get a moment to write you all between my kids and traveling with my new hubby! ;) We went to Georgia this weekend to see his family but most importantly to see a University of Georgia football game. Let me tell you, WOW! It was amazing to see 92,000 fans in red screaming for the same team. They won quite easily and I don't know what I would have done if they had lost. Nick is very passionate about his team, but very calm compared to what I saw this weekend. Girls, if we had gone to a large university with a football team just imagine the trouble we could have gotten into! It would have been a blast! ;) Now, don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade our ORU experience, but to sit in a stadium with 92,000 fans who LOVE their team and travel any distance to see them. Now, that's devotion. Anyhoo...I thought about you girls a lot this weekend. To be back on a college campus made me miss our times together. I love being able to read about what is going on in your lives. I hope to get better at this. I have to go, my timer for my kids is beeping which means I have to go and teach! Love you all lots!! Enjoy your day! It's THURSDAY!!!

motorcycle incident

Hey girls!
We had a really nice weekend – got a lot done around the house and got lots of rest. Our first small group went really well. We had 9 of us there all together. This week I’ll be working on some really cute seat cushions for the floor, sort of like really large pillows, but with memory foam! We don’t have seating for many more than 9 people…
So last night we decided we would go to the “Week of Prayer” at the church office. This week marks our one year anniversary of the church beginning so they’re opening up the building all week for people to come and pray about specific goals for the next ministry year. I had the grand idea that we could take the motorcycle over since gas is so expensive. So off we went across the river... The bike died on us as we were in the middle of the bridge! We started slowing down. Then it kicked in again. We figured all was ok. Until… we passed the first exit in Iowa and it died again. This time it didn’t restart. So we have just crossed the busiest bridge in the QCA, passed the first exit, and found ourselves pushing the motorcycle up hill. About ¼ mile up the road is an entrance to the interstate that we figure we can enter from the wrong way as it’s not too terribly busy. So that’s what we did. By this time, I had called Jaren and she was on her way to rescue us. Chris decided he’d try the bike again, so on a downward slope, he was able to get the bike started again. Then we rode the wrong way on a one-way about ½ mile to get to a gas station. The Lord was watching out for us! In the end, Chris rode the bike back home and we followed him in Jaren’s car. I was very thankful I had changed from dress pants into jeans for this little adventure.
Oh, and apparently the water main near our house broke on Friday. We were on a boil order all weekend. We didn’t know this until Tuesday morning when the radio announcer said the boil order had been lifted. If I die from a strange illness, this is why.
Love you all!

Back to Work!

Holiday weekends are great, except when you have to go back to work. It is always so hard for me to get back into the grind after a long weekend - whether it be a holiday or vacactioning wk end.
The weekend was fabulous weather wise (i love September!) and full of fun-filled activities. i had such high hopes of getting alot done this weekend. But my hopes were shattered when my new printer didn't arrive on friday and i was unable to print the stds (save the dates). Plus, Joe was up this weekend and since Aaron works most of the weekend, i'm selected as the entertainer. We had a good time though. In addition to that, we had our annual Dienner (my mom's side of the family) Labor-day camp out and picnic. I don't camp out, but since it's at my Aunt's house which borders our lot (our back yards meet), I was right in the middle of the celebration all weekend and was very much destracted from the work i should have been doing for the wedding. This week is going to be very busy, to say the least - the story of my life lately! I plan to print the stds and mail them by the end of the week. We also start pre-marital counseling this wednesday - I'm looking forward to it.
The weather from the weekend (sunny, dry, and 75-80) has continued and is expected to continue through the week, which makes me oh so happy! September is by far my favorite month - and not just cause i have a birthday coming up. I love the crisp air and cool nights... the fairs and excitement of a new school year (not that that effects me anymore)... the colorful leaves and blue skies. What a great month!!
So how was everyone's labor day weekend? Anything exciting happen?

bangs

Hey girls! I'm afraid I don't really have anything to say. But I wish you were all here, because I had to get a haircut today and I didn't really know what I wanted to have done. I knew that I wanted something really easy to do because I have like 5 minutes max to do my hair in the morning. I really just wanted to cut it off short like Kimmy's. But my face looks pudgy in short hair. So anyways, I had it layered so that it looks kind of tousled and long, plus I had her cut bangs. Yikes! I haven't really had bangs since the early 90s. But they're really popular again, so I thought I'd try them. I just don't know if I like them yet. I wish I could just run up to the dorm and have my girls give me their opinions (not TOO honestly though) =). Well, that's about it. I'm sorry, Kim, but I don't think I will be able to come home again in October. With Hurricane Katrina, gas prices (and consequently airline tickets) have become a bit more than I can handle very often. But I wish I could... And I would consider leaving Seth with my mom for you to take home when you get there... but I'm afraid that my darling child has now decided he doesn't care for bottles. So he has switched from never nursing to only nursing. I swear he's almost has difficult as me. So, I'm afraid that he would starve to death without me there. Although he has plenty of reserves on his thighs. Well, I'm gonna go play with my new bangs. Love you girls!

Nothing new, really

Yay, September is here!
Thanks for all the great info, Steph. I have also been looking into the contributions possibilities -- World Concern is also collecting money for survival kits for the hurricane victims and you can donate online. I don't think they do any funds matching though -- that's a great option to make your dollar go farther. I'll have to see if there are any Lowe's close by.
I don't really have too much to say...I'm only writing so those of you who check this obsessively have something new to read. :p
My commute to work this morning took me almost an hour! It was ridiculous! Especially since I only have to go like 9 miles. Yeah, big cities would be perfect if no one else had cars. But the long times on the road give me plenty of time to sing horribly at the top of my lungs -- always a good time.
Does anyone else have any exciting Labor Day plans? (We already know Steph and Julie are going to get together...yeah, I'm a little jealous about that :p) My mom will be in town and we're doing the whale-watching tour on Monday. Did I mention I'm a little excited about it?
Ok, time for lunch. Love you, chicas!

Hurricane relief

Oh my gosh, can I just say that, Kimmie, I completely identify with you! I so wish there was something more we could do. Just a few ideas for you guys if you were thinking about contributing anything and haven't yet: The American Red Cross website is taking donations, obviously, but also blood is going to be something that is needed as well, if not now, then in the near future. My boss sent an email around encouraging us to give blood for that reason. Also, check into some of the companies you or your spouses may work for - a lot of businesses (mine included -which is very small, so its not just big corporations) are matching what you donate. I think you can go to Lowe's and do something like that there also. I know that WGN Chicago is also matching 50% of what is donated as well...so I guess the point is that there are ways that we can give a little more than we thought. I just can't imagine going through that and losing absolutely every material possession that I had ever owned. I mean, no pictures, memories, anything. These people won't even be able to go back to "special spots" around the area either just because the geography of the land will be different as well. Its just unfathomable. Overwhelming.
Another weird story - I went to get gas last night because I knew that the prices were rising fast. I went to the station that had the lowest price in the area (2.89) and of course everyone else did as well. So when I got there, the Reg. Unleaded stuff was all gone, so I thought well, I'll just try the better stuff (it was still only 2.99) so yeah...the WHOLE gas station ran out of gas. Now that is something that you really don't see everyday. I found another station that had gas for 2.96, but other than that the prices were skyrocketing to 3.25 and higher. It is crazy. What a weekend to go on a road trip...
I'll be blogging a little more later...love you girls!