Last night was interesting. Geoff woke me up at 4 AM and then ripped the pillow out from underneath my head. Um, okay. That must be some weird dream. He felt ready bad about it this morning when I gave him a hard time about it. ;-)
Also, he said that when I woke up to shower this morning, he woke up a few minutes after me and looked over and didn't see me and thought "Oh crap, I lost Kelly! Where did she go?" Then he heard the shower. Hehe.
And my mom had a dream that Julie and Gary (Geoff's parents) were moving all of our stuff for us... but she didn't know why. And it was just a bunch of teeny tiny little things.
Strange happenings...
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Crazy feedback lady
I have become crazy feedback lady. As I run into roadblocks with the name change process, I am trying to provide feedback to the companies/agencies that I have difficulties with. I'm not angry or trying to be mean to people (especially the customer service representatives), I just honestly want to make the process easier for others! It's already time consuming enough as it is without getting wrong information or having to do extra things to get it done. So I wrote a letter to Comcast Corporate Headquarters (in process, to be published on blog at later date) to inform them that I thought their process was too complicated. And I just submitted this form as feedback to the Oregon DMV:
Form Confirmation
Thank you for submitting the following information:
Reason: Web Site ContentProblem_Page: Info_Found:
Specify_if_Other
Comments
I am going through the process of changing my name due to marriage. One of the things I need to do per DMV guideline is change the title on my car. At the name change website: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/DMV/dv/chgname.shtml it says to use the "Request for Correction of Title Records" to change one's name on your title. However, in person at the Tanasbourne Express DMV office as well as on the phone at the DMV Portland metro phone number, I was advised to use the "Application for Title and Registration" to change my name. Sounds like the website might need to be updated. :)
Unable_to_find
Return to the form.
Friendly enough? I hope so.
Form Confirmation
Thank you for submitting the following information:
Reason: Web Site ContentProblem_Page: Info_Found:
Specify_if_Other
Comments
I am going through the process of changing my name due to marriage. One of the things I need to do per DMV guideline is change the title on my car. At the name change website: http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/DMV/dv/chgname.shtml it says to use the "Request for Correction of Title Records" to change one's name on your title. However, in person at the Tanasbourne Express DMV office as well as on the phone at the DMV Portland metro phone number, I was advised to use the "Application for Title and Registration" to change my name. Sounds like the website might need to be updated. :)
Unable_to_find
Return to the form.
Friendly enough? I hope so.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Quick Comcast Rant
No one likes Comcast. Seriously, read online forums and you will see a lot of "Com-crap" and such, people think they are a monopoly, overpriced, bad customer service, etc.
Here are my two recent vents about Comcast:
1. Refusal to carry the Big 10 Network. I'm not anxious to switch to Direct TV and we don't have FIOS TV available in my area, so I am stuck having to go elsewhere to watch Northwestern football games this season.
2. Requiring an in person visit to their service center to change one's name. SERIOUSLY!? You won't even let me mail you in a copy of my marriage certificate like the other 40+ agencies I've already talked to will? Seriously, I can understand you not wanting to let me do it online, or even on the phone... but at least let me do it by mail. Your nearest service center is 25 minutes away from where I live! What if the other 40 establishments all wanted me to visit them too? I think my credit card companies and banks would be slightly more particular about my name than a random utility, but they seem to have been fine with either a phone call or a letter with a marriage certificate. Ridiculous.
Here are my two recent vents about Comcast:
1. Refusal to carry the Big 10 Network. I'm not anxious to switch to Direct TV and we don't have FIOS TV available in my area, so I am stuck having to go elsewhere to watch Northwestern football games this season.
2. Requiring an in person visit to their service center to change one's name. SERIOUSLY!? You won't even let me mail you in a copy of my marriage certificate like the other 40+ agencies I've already talked to will? Seriously, I can understand you not wanting to let me do it online, or even on the phone... but at least let me do it by mail. Your nearest service center is 25 minutes away from where I live! What if the other 40 establishments all wanted me to visit them too? I think my credit card companies and banks would be slightly more particular about my name than a random utility, but they seem to have been fine with either a phone call or a letter with a marriage certificate. Ridiculous.
Fun on the phone...
Okay, so I'm on a conference call, and keep having to loudly blow my nose. Every time I start to blow, I remember I'm on the phone and look frantically at my phone (mid-blow) to make sure the mute button is still blinking. Luckily, I've been safe so far. :)
Also, I've been on this call for about 45 minutes. One of my suppliers has called THREE TIMES in that 45 minute period (I have caller ID). They also have not left a message (I have a voicemail light that lights up). Just leave me a message, I'll call you back! Or, better yet, just send me an email... then I'd get back to you right now, since I can obviously be on the computer right not but I can't be on the phone while I'm on the phone!
Wow two entries in a day... it is pretty fun to just share all of my crazy little thoughts with you people...
Also, I've been on this call for about 45 minutes. One of my suppliers has called THREE TIMES in that 45 minute period (I have caller ID). They also have not left a message (I have a voicemail light that lights up). Just leave me a message, I'll call you back! Or, better yet, just send me an email... then I'd get back to you right now, since I can obviously be on the computer right not but I can't be on the phone while I'm on the phone!
Wow two entries in a day... it is pretty fun to just share all of my crazy little thoughts with you people...
Thai Food
Geoff and I went to my favorite Thai place, Thai Princess, approximately a year ago (it was probably even longer than that, I don't know for sure). We both got medium spicy Pad Thai. He thought it was way too spicy and he hated it and refused to eat Thai again for the longest time. I have only had Thai on rare occasion for the past year, whenever I could convince a friend to go with me. For some reason, last week he agreed to meet me at Thai Princess for lunch. He had mild spicy Pad Thai... and LOVED IT. We've had Thai 3 times in the past week. He can't get enough of it. He says it's my fault for making him order medium spicy last time... apparently, since I ordered it, he had to order it too because it wouldn't be "manly" to order a less spicy food than your girlfriend. LAME!!! I can't believe I missed out on a year's worth of Thai food because of this. I told him I might cut him off for the next year to see how he likes it... although, at this rate, I'm going "catch up" from the entire year in a month. I'm sick of Thai already! Although that Thai cookbook my mom got me will come in handy now... :)
The process of changing your name is so interesting. Nerd that I am, I have made a fancy tracker in Excel. I put in the place I need to change it, method of change (sending a letter, phone call, visiting an office in person, etc.), and date of change. When the date is in, it adds it to my "percent completed". As of this morning I am at 43% completed. Yes, I am a total complete dork and I realize this. Secretly, I think I am cooler than anyone else who changes his/her name... I have a colorful, fancy tracker. It even has weird random stuff, like changing my name on Noodlegrams (the emails I get from Noodles & Company). There are 59 items on it currently... I know I will continue to think of more! Yaaaaaaaaay for dorks! :)
The process of changing your name is so interesting. Nerd that I am, I have made a fancy tracker in Excel. I put in the place I need to change it, method of change (sending a letter, phone call, visiting an office in person, etc.), and date of change. When the date is in, it adds it to my "percent completed". As of this morning I am at 43% completed. Yes, I am a total complete dork and I realize this. Secretly, I think I am cooler than anyone else who changes his/her name... I have a colorful, fancy tracker. It even has weird random stuff, like changing my name on Noodlegrams (the emails I get from Noodles & Company). There are 59 items on it currently... I know I will continue to think of more! Yaaaaaaaaay for dorks! :)
Monday, September 03, 2007
sick
I'm sick. I've been sick since Friday. I even came home from work early on Friday because I was sick. I'm not a fan! It's boring to be sick, especially on a weekend that you have tons of fun stuff planned. This weekend I missed an NU alumni event (watching the game on Big Ten Network at a bar), Joelapalooza (a family event with Geoff's family), and Carrie & Mark's wedding reception. I did go to Carrie and Mark's wedding because I refused not to go, but it was painful because I was so sick! At this point my entire nose is just totally raw - ew. I have gone through almost an entire box of tissues just over the weekend. Tylenol Cold is my new best friend. I am at work now... I figured it'd be good for me to be up and around a little and I won't be getting anyone else sick since no one else is here. I will only stay another hour or two. But I have gotten a lot done, which is nice. I hate being sick! (does anyone LIKE being sick?)
In fun news, I use Google Analytics to track who is reading my blog (yes, I'm stalking you stalking me!). Oh speaking of fun Google tools, if you don't use Google Reader, start. You're just ridiculous if you don't! If you have questions, let me know, but it will make your life 236892362 times easier and you will be able to read 23589678% more blogs! Anyway. So the number one way people find my blog via google? By googling: kelly geoff blog. Here's a few other fun ones (quotes shown exactly as they were googled):
"i met james van der beek"
"big bacon omelette"
"oringial pancake house" franchise
"ryan zordan
"tampons at work"
costco hood to coast
p-town blog
porn star vin's
scottsdale old navy hours (I actually checked this one - my blog shows up on the very bottom of the 10th page of Google)
I also got three visitors from Marisa Mitchell mentioning me in her blog. 19% of readers visit my blog just once... 15% of readers visit over 200 times. The majority of people (26%) visit between 100 and 200 times. 86% of people visit for between 0 and 10 seconds - HA! I love that one. I really know how to captivate my audience, huh? ;-) In the past month I had visitors from 9 countries - 270 from the US, 2 from Australia, 2 from Canada, and a handful from various other places. Citywise - 83 Chicago visitors, 38 Phoenix visitors, 33 Denver visitors, 25 Troudale (that's in Oregon) visitors, 14 Hillsboro (also Oregon) visitors, 11 Atlanta Visitors, 7 Scottsdale (that's Arizona) visitors, 6 Portland visitors, and 5 Richardson (Dallas, TX where my parents live) visitors. 81% of my visitors are returning.
I don't know what all of that means (for instance, why would 81% of my visitors return but only read for 10 seconds... makes no sense... well, maybe they're not using Google Reader so they're checking to see if I've updated and I probably haven't). And I probably just bored you all to death (except maybe the keywords part, that's the best part!). Oh well, I had fun!
In fun news, I use Google Analytics to track who is reading my blog (yes, I'm stalking you stalking me!). Oh speaking of fun Google tools, if you don't use Google Reader, start. You're just ridiculous if you don't! If you have questions, let me know, but it will make your life 236892362 times easier and you will be able to read 23589678% more blogs! Anyway. So the number one way people find my blog via google? By googling: kelly geoff blog. Here's a few other fun ones (quotes shown exactly as they were googled):
"i met james van der beek"
"big bacon omelette"
"oringial pancake house" franchise
"ryan zordan
"tampons at work"
costco hood to coast
p-town blog
porn star vin's
scottsdale old navy hours (I actually checked this one - my blog shows up on the very bottom of the 10th page of Google)
I also got three visitors from Marisa Mitchell mentioning me in her blog. 19% of readers visit my blog just once... 15% of readers visit over 200 times. The majority of people (26%) visit between 100 and 200 times. 86% of people visit for between 0 and 10 seconds - HA! I love that one. I really know how to captivate my audience, huh? ;-) In the past month I had visitors from 9 countries - 270 from the US, 2 from Australia, 2 from Canada, and a handful from various other places. Citywise - 83 Chicago visitors, 38 Phoenix visitors, 33 Denver visitors, 25 Troudale (that's in Oregon) visitors, 14 Hillsboro (also Oregon) visitors, 11 Atlanta Visitors, 7 Scottsdale (that's Arizona) visitors, 6 Portland visitors, and 5 Richardson (Dallas, TX where my parents live) visitors. 81% of my visitors are returning.
I don't know what all of that means (for instance, why would 81% of my visitors return but only read for 10 seconds... makes no sense... well, maybe they're not using Google Reader so they're checking to see if I've updated and I probably haven't). And I probably just bored you all to death (except maybe the keywords part, that's the best part!). Oh well, I had fun!
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Lots of stuff!
Ooops... I just made the mistake of looking at the kitchen organization section on the Bed, Bath, and Beyond website and now that's all I can think about! Lots of ways to create more space in my kitchen (which is pretty tight with 5 people using it). The reason I was looking at that section is because tonight we bought a hanging basket for fruit and stuff. I can't find it on the BBB website for some reason, but we got the exact one that they have at that Amazon link - although the link looks like there is cardboard or something in the baskets, which there is not. They're square at the bottom and round at the top and they are great! With the organic bin we get (yes we switched companies recently) we often have garlic, tomatoes, avocados, etc. and other things that don't need refrigeration. Plus we have a roommate that eats a lot of fruit. So this stuff just ends up as *CLUTTER* on the counter. The basket creates great vertical storage! I love the way it looks! :) I should have taken a before and after picture... oh well. Plus for the past two years I have had clear plastic letter trays for people's mail. I had them on hand and just set them up as a short term solution when Addy and Christine lived here... now through tons of roommates they have stayed and they are UGLY! So we went to Target and got a mesh three tier organizer (quite similar to this one) and it is so much nicer! We also got a brown storage "box" thing - something like this but not really at all. Helpful, huh? It is a similar size/shape, but it is brown leather. It's also square and was only $14. I got that to put on the coffee table as a catch all (even though I hate catch-alls) for keys, sunglasses, etc. At least it will keep that stuff together instead of finding it weird places, and it will keep it off the counter and make it easier to cook and eat there! YAY! The kitchen looks better already, and there are still some lingering items. I love love love organizing!
We also went to Home Depot for a few things and saw a garage door monitor (Geoff sorta has his eye on a keypad entry thing for the garage door so we were in that section). THIS IS PERFECT FOR ME! I told him this is what I want for Christmas. :) Every night I worry and ask Geoff a thousand times "is the garage door closed?!" About 10% of the time I get dressed and go downstairs to check. This comes from my mother who is a compulsive garage door / front door / back door checker. I swore I would never be her, and I honestly am not even half as bad as her, but I do worry a little with so many roommates. If it was just us I don't think I'd worry so much. Anyway though... with this thing, you have a sensor on the garage and a monitor (think baby monitor) anywhere in your house that has a green light if the door is down and red if it's up. There was a picture on the front of the package of this lady who was reading a book in bed and I was like "GEOFFFFFF!!! This lady is ME!!! Look how nice and relaxed she is with her monitor!!!!" It was too funny. I definitely might need to get that thing. Definitely might. Yes.
Geoff likes Thai food!!! Seriously... we went out for Thai at a place I love about a year ago. He got the medium pad thai and hated it... too spicy. So he wouldn't go and wouldn't go and wouldn't go. Then today we went out for lunch and he agreed to go to Thai for whatever reason. He got the mild pad thai and LOVED it. He kept saying how good it was... aye. A whole year of not much Thai food because "he didn't like it". Oh well, at least we can have it now!
Well... Geoff just got back from a motorcycle ride, so I guess I should wrap it up and go to bed. I didn't so much get to post about Hood to Coast yet, but I'll try to do that by this weekend. Peace out homies! (yes that is a tribute to Molls and Stine)
We also went to Home Depot for a few things and saw a garage door monitor (Geoff sorta has his eye on a keypad entry thing for the garage door so we were in that section). THIS IS PERFECT FOR ME! I told him this is what I want for Christmas. :) Every night I worry and ask Geoff a thousand times "is the garage door closed?!" About 10% of the time I get dressed and go downstairs to check. This comes from my mother who is a compulsive garage door / front door / back door checker. I swore I would never be her, and I honestly am not even half as bad as her, but I do worry a little with so many roommates. If it was just us I don't think I'd worry so much. Anyway though... with this thing, you have a sensor on the garage and a monitor (think baby monitor) anywhere in your house that has a green light if the door is down and red if it's up. There was a picture on the front of the package of this lady who was reading a book in bed and I was like "GEOFFFFFF!!! This lady is ME!!! Look how nice and relaxed she is with her monitor!!!!" It was too funny. I definitely might need to get that thing. Definitely might. Yes.
Geoff likes Thai food!!! Seriously... we went out for Thai at a place I love about a year ago. He got the medium pad thai and hated it... too spicy. So he wouldn't go and wouldn't go and wouldn't go. Then today we went out for lunch and he agreed to go to Thai for whatever reason. He got the mild pad thai and LOVED it. He kept saying how good it was... aye. A whole year of not much Thai food because "he didn't like it". Oh well, at least we can have it now!
Well... Geoff just got back from a motorcycle ride, so I guess I should wrap it up and go to bed. I didn't so much get to post about Hood to Coast yet, but I'll try to do that by this weekend. Peace out homies! (yes that is a tribute to Molls and Stine)
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
YAY!
I realized (okay I googled and found out) that by going to "Settings" and "Permissions" in Blogger, you can "invite others" to contribute to your blog. So I invited my new gmail address and now here I am posting from it. I no longer have to sign out of gmail to blog which makes me much more likely to blog! I also invited Geoff to blog on my blog. I am quite sure he won't, but if he does, you should see it at the bottom. I think it will say the time/date and then "by Geoff". Mine most likely will start saying "by Kelly" soon... let me go check!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Newest pet peeve!
Does it annoy anyone else that facebook always says "Jim Bob has removed kayaking from their interests"? Why not say his/her interest, or even use the gender designation that individual has chosen to determine which to say. Their is just so blatently WRONG!
I was crazy yesterday with being annoyed with just about everything! That's what no sleep and being cooped up in a van for 36+ hours will do to a person. :) Things are looking up today.
Full H2C update to come soon...
I was crazy yesterday with being annoyed with just about everything! That's what no sleep and being cooped up in a van for 36+ hours will do to a person. :) Things are looking up today.
Full H2C update to come soon...
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Resolution
I forgot to update you on what happened on Sunday! (or was it Saturday?) In either case, I talked to the guys and they were like "yeah, we knew you didn't want clutter... sorry, I forgot to pick up my ipod last night, but we're totally cool with the no clutter thing, we want this room to look good too!" So they were on board... only silly Geoff didn't understand. ;-) And the room looks great!
I am still annoyed about Blogger. I need to email Google to see what I can do about getting my blog moved over to my new Google account, because as it is I have to sign out of gmail to update my blog and that's lame.
I switched Geoff's car insurance to mine (I have USAA which I will rave about another time, although I think I already have) and it went down by 75%! YAY!
Hood to Coast is Friday... I'm leaving in about 2 minutes for the first of 6 trips to the airport between now and next Monday! I have the Tahoe... hehehe. :) I have my shopping list ready for all of the stuff I need to get for our pasta dinner tomorrow and also to just have in the car with us. I'm totally not in good enough shape running-wise, but who cares. It will be a blast anyway! And I'm so looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones!
I am still annoyed about Blogger. I need to email Google to see what I can do about getting my blog moved over to my new Google account, because as it is I have to sign out of gmail to update my blog and that's lame.
I switched Geoff's car insurance to mine (I have USAA which I will rave about another time, although I think I already have) and it went down by 75%! YAY!
Hood to Coast is Friday... I'm leaving in about 2 minutes for the first of 6 trips to the airport between now and next Monday! I have the Tahoe... hehehe. :) I have my shopping list ready for all of the stuff I need to get for our pasta dinner tomorrow and also to just have in the car with us. I'm totally not in good enough shape running-wise, but who cares. It will be a blast anyway! And I'm so looking forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones!
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Better!
Lest you worry, I feel much better after a good night's sleep. Geoff read my blog last night and felt so bad that I thought he thought I treated him like a pet. He said that wasn't what he meant at all, that he meant I showed him a different way of viewing the world. He said before that he never would have thought of fluffing the pillows on a couch, or making sure the remotes were back in their space. He also said he was a messy slob (that part was funny!) before, and didn't even know it! He is glad that he tries to think about those types of things now, because now he feels like he can go to someone's house and be respectful and polite, whereas before he wasn't and didn't even realize it. I'm probably not explaining it very well, but it was a very nice conversation and he felt so bad! Poor thing.
It is cool living with all of the guys and Geoff. I bring my thoughts to Geoff first because he is obviously best in the position to understand the "man's perspective" and my perspective. Like "is it crazy to ask guys to wear only pink on Tuesdays so that everyone that lives here all looks uniform?" "ummm, yes honey!" (okay that one never happened, but wouldn't it be funny if it did!?!? ;-)) We have fun!
I have the dishwasher running and a load of clothes in the washer. Today is big cleaning day before we have 3 out of town guests stay with us for all of next weekend! Off to scrub the guest bathroom...
It is cool living with all of the guys and Geoff. I bring my thoughts to Geoff first because he is obviously best in the position to understand the "man's perspective" and my perspective. Like "is it crazy to ask guys to wear only pink on Tuesdays so that everyone that lives here all looks uniform?" "ummm, yes honey!" (okay that one never happened, but wouldn't it be funny if it did!?!? ;-)) We have fun!
I have the dishwasher running and a load of clothes in the washer. Today is big cleaning day before we have 3 out of town guests stay with us for all of next weekend! Off to scrub the guest bathroom...
Friday, August 17, 2007
ANNOYED
I am annoyed. It's a little late so I might be a tad crabby, plus I didn't get my run yet AGAIN. This week has been so dang busy and things just have not worked out how I've wanted them to. Here are things I'm annoyed about:
- RUDE people. I expect a basic level of etiquette from people. No, I don't care if you are Miss Manners or not, but know a few basics! (this might be partially left over from wedding planning)
- Blogger. I'm trying to switch names and it's not working very well with keeping me signed into my gmail on my new email address and blogger with my old email address. Google and their world domination...
- Geoff says I should complain about the guys. But I'm not really annoyed with them at all, just annoyed with myself that I miscommunicated to them yesterday! We moved a big TV from the "man room" to the living room, which was fine. We talked about how it was still the living room and they couldn't leave things laying around (dishes, etc). I thought it was clear that it is the room people see when they first walk into the house and would it would always be neat, clean, and presentable. The guys were down there playing video games earlier tonight, which was great. Then Geoff and I got home late tonight and I find a laptop, an ipod, and a video game contoller laying out, pillows strewn about, etc. I HATE CLUTTER. HATE IT. It probably should have been the first word in this bullet point. But anyway, so I tidy up and grumble about it. Apparently it was not clear to the male species that this was still the living room. It is a communial room for all, and when I want to go to the living room or have a guest over, I don't want to have to move a laptop from a chair or straighten up the pillows. It should be ready to go at all times unless people are in it. Geoff says this is impossible because guys don't get that. And I can't "train 3 guys the way I've trained him". Which also made me angry because it made me feel like he thinks he's my pet or something. He says the only solution is to just move the TV back to the other room. I don't want to TRAIN grown adults, but I don't want to just move the TV either. (they are all gone which is why I'm venting here, not discussing). I just want to discuss and see if they would rather move the TV or just work on keeping the room tidy. If you're done with your xbox contoller, put it back in the TV console. When you get up off the couch, put the pillow back against the edge. It takes 2 seconds but would save my sanity. Or if the clutter stays in the back room that used to be the man room, then I can ignore it. We'll figure something out.
Vent over.
Goodnight. :)
- RUDE people. I expect a basic level of etiquette from people. No, I don't care if you are Miss Manners or not, but know a few basics! (this might be partially left over from wedding planning)
- Blogger. I'm trying to switch names and it's not working very well with keeping me signed into my gmail on my new email address and blogger with my old email address. Google and their world domination...
- Geoff says I should complain about the guys. But I'm not really annoyed with them at all, just annoyed with myself that I miscommunicated to them yesterday! We moved a big TV from the "man room" to the living room, which was fine. We talked about how it was still the living room and they couldn't leave things laying around (dishes, etc). I thought it was clear that it is the room people see when they first walk into the house and would it would always be neat, clean, and presentable. The guys were down there playing video games earlier tonight, which was great. Then Geoff and I got home late tonight and I find a laptop, an ipod, and a video game contoller laying out, pillows strewn about, etc. I HATE CLUTTER. HATE IT. It probably should have been the first word in this bullet point. But anyway, so I tidy up and grumble about it. Apparently it was not clear to the male species that this was still the living room. It is a communial room for all, and when I want to go to the living room or have a guest over, I don't want to have to move a laptop from a chair or straighten up the pillows. It should be ready to go at all times unless people are in it. Geoff says this is impossible because guys don't get that. And I can't "train 3 guys the way I've trained him". Which also made me angry because it made me feel like he thinks he's my pet or something. He says the only solution is to just move the TV back to the other room. I don't want to TRAIN grown adults, but I don't want to just move the TV either. (they are all gone which is why I'm venting here, not discussing). I just want to discuss and see if they would rather move the TV or just work on keeping the room tidy. If you're done with your xbox contoller, put it back in the TV console. When you get up off the couch, put the pillow back against the edge. It takes 2 seconds but would save my sanity. Or if the clutter stays in the back room that used to be the man room, then I can ignore it. We'll figure something out.
Vent over.
Goodnight. :)
Quote of the Day
I am at work updating a lot of my marital status information through our online systems. I updated my life insurance information, then texted Geoff to tell him he was now on my life insurance. He wrote back "Yay! Don't die."
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Wedding
Okay... I know you've all been waiting 4 days to find out the answer... did I run?! YES!!! I did. I got up at 8 AM and was out on the street by 8:10. I made a mistake though... the first half of my run I was on the east side of the street which was great because it provided shade... the second half I ran on the west side of the street. BIG MISTAKE... it was ridiculously hard/hot/sunny. Won't do that again in Dallas.
After the run I took a shower and then ate some of my sister's Trix. Hung out for a while and went to the church to get ready around 11. Taylor, Rebecca, Christine and I were there and just hung out eating cheese and crackers for a while. My hair and makeup was the only real thing we did... at 1 Annette (our photographer) and her crew (an assistant and another amazing photographer named Jason) came, and Geoff and Trevor came shortly afterwards. At that point we did lots of pictures in the Bride's Room, just stuff with us getting ready, giving gifts to the wedding party, stuff like that. TONS of people came to see me in the Bride's Room. Actually I think every woman who was at the wedding, plus my dad! It was awesome. At around 2:30 (I think, this timeline is all so rough) I put my dress on and put the finishing touches like shoes and veil on. I was cool as a cucumber the whole time - until I stepped out of the Bride's Room. Then I cried! Idiot. :) Oh well. I was like "get yourself together!" I pulled it together pretty quickly and by the time Christine and Rebecca started walking down the aisle I was good. Then it was my turn... I walked to Hayden's Serenade, which was the song I played in my very first flute competition. I practiced that piece for so long, it is by far the piece of music I've worked hardest in my life. I wanted something different and it was PERFECT! Geoff even asked me later to get the CD or something for him so he could hear it again, because he loved it (the only time he'd heard it before that was in the rehearsal). Geoff told me that the whole rest of the room blurred when I entered the room... he didn't even see my dad walking me down the aisle, he only saw me. (actually I didn't know that until today). He looked GREAT!!! The guys couldn't find ties until the day before the wedding, but they finally bought silver ties and orange pocket squares which looked great. I loved it. So we had our wedding... I couldn't look at Geoff while he said his vows to me so I looked at his chest. I looked at him when I said my vows though. While I was saying my vows, I didn't know how to make my voice sound so I kept changing it from low to high... people thought I was crying but I was just trying to sound good! That was pretty funny. :) The other thing I loved about our wedding was that it was funny. Pastor Anna made funny comments every now and then and Geoff and I kept squeezing each other's hands during funny or special parts to us... it was just really cool! Maybe everyone does that but it was cool. And then she prayed and I took that opportunity to fix my veil, which was literally about to fall off! I literally took it off and put it back on during the prayer! Ooops. And I think my favorite part was communion. I loved having communion! I've never seen that during a wedding before and it was so special to be able to serve each other communion and then serve it to all of our wedding guests. And Russ came to our wedding! I haven't seen him since a month after we graduated so it was awesome for him to be there! After that we took tons of pictures... it took a long time but was so worth it. I can't WAIT to see the pictures. Then Geoff and I went to a playground to take pictures... we wanted engagement pictures in a playground but it was too rainy, so we did them in our dress and suit! It was hot but I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THOSE PICTURES!! It was sooooo much fun doing those, we were so relaxed and just having fun and I know they'll turn out great. LOL - Geoff is sitting next to me watching Mythbusters, and I don't know what reminded him of this (a commercial maybe?) but he just said "our photographer had an iphone. (Jason). He said he was eating a lot of ham sandwiches because of it but it was worth it." That's cool. Geoff loved Jason... he said if he lived in Dallas he'd definitely be friends with him. Then we went to our hotel... The Richardson Hotel... changed clothes, (got an upgraded room!) and then to our reception. We had my dad's car so we actually went in the garage door (it was at my parent's house) and kinda caught people off guard. My poor parents, especially my mom, worked SO hard that night. They'd hired a maid which was really great, but I wish I'd thought of that aspect before. Well, we were originally going to just have grandparents/parents/siblings at our wedding and a big dinner out which sort of involved to inviting more folks and having a BBQ at my parent's house. Which unfortunately meant that my parents were busy doing stuff and weren't able to have as much fun. If I had to change one thing about the wedding, it'd be that. But... I think everyone else had an absolute blast! I know I did! The "kids" (cousins and siblings) convinced me to even get in the pool at the end of the night! It was great. I loved talking to family friends and family and Russ and his girlfriend (she was wonderful and it was great catching up with Russ). We had probably 50 people there and I don't know what we would have done if it had been bigger! I felt like we neglected everyone! We had DQ ice cream cakes for our cake, which was a hit! (I think... at least it was with me!). Trevor and Christine both gave amazing toasts and we had fun cutting our cake. Annette took some awesome pictures... she did some cool things with our rings like putting them in our M&M favors and other neat artistic things. It was just such a fun night. VERY VERY relaxed and tons of fun. It was absolutely perfect. Geoff and I ended up going home around 11:30... we were the last people to leave! :)
Sunday we had a brunch for the grandparents/parents/siblings. It was soooo nice... my mom used all of her "fancy" china and crystal and stuff and it was nice to have a smaller group to talk to. After that people started leaving for the airport and Geoff and I spent the day hanging out with my parents and sister. We really didn't do much. :) We had dinner (leftovers of course!) at my parents and then went to our hotel.
Monday morning we had room service! It was the first time either of us has had room service and it was delish. A great post-wedding treat. After that we went to my parents to get packed up (it was so hard being between home/church/2 hotels). Then off to the airport. We got home around 10 last night. Trevor and Kristy picked us up from the airport.
Today was movie day... we stayed in bed most of the day watching the "Bourne" movies except to go to the theatre to watch the third. I've never seen them so that was fun! Our room/house is a disaster - we have Geoff about half moved into our "new" room (the master suite / my old room) and in addition to that we have our suitcases and some wedding gifts taking up our entire floor space. Plus downstairs there are boxes from wedding gifts everywhere. We have tons of work to do to get the house ready for 3 visitors and a team dinner for H2C next week! But it will get done. :) Very fun! Back to work tomorrow!
After the run I took a shower and then ate some of my sister's Trix. Hung out for a while and went to the church to get ready around 11. Taylor, Rebecca, Christine and I were there and just hung out eating cheese and crackers for a while. My hair and makeup was the only real thing we did... at 1 Annette (our photographer) and her crew (an assistant and another amazing photographer named Jason) came, and Geoff and Trevor came shortly afterwards. At that point we did lots of pictures in the Bride's Room, just stuff with us getting ready, giving gifts to the wedding party, stuff like that. TONS of people came to see me in the Bride's Room. Actually I think every woman who was at the wedding, plus my dad! It was awesome. At around 2:30 (I think, this timeline is all so rough) I put my dress on and put the finishing touches like shoes and veil on. I was cool as a cucumber the whole time - until I stepped out of the Bride's Room. Then I cried! Idiot. :) Oh well. I was like "get yourself together!" I pulled it together pretty quickly and by the time Christine and Rebecca started walking down the aisle I was good. Then it was my turn... I walked to Hayden's Serenade, which was the song I played in my very first flute competition. I practiced that piece for so long, it is by far the piece of music I've worked hardest in my life. I wanted something different and it was PERFECT! Geoff even asked me later to get the CD or something for him so he could hear it again, because he loved it (the only time he'd heard it before that was in the rehearsal). Geoff told me that the whole rest of the room blurred when I entered the room... he didn't even see my dad walking me down the aisle, he only saw me. (actually I didn't know that until today). He looked GREAT!!! The guys couldn't find ties until the day before the wedding, but they finally bought silver ties and orange pocket squares which looked great. I loved it. So we had our wedding... I couldn't look at Geoff while he said his vows to me so I looked at his chest. I looked at him when I said my vows though. While I was saying my vows, I didn't know how to make my voice sound so I kept changing it from low to high... people thought I was crying but I was just trying to sound good! That was pretty funny. :) The other thing I loved about our wedding was that it was funny. Pastor Anna made funny comments every now and then and Geoff and I kept squeezing each other's hands during funny or special parts to us... it was just really cool! Maybe everyone does that but it was cool. And then she prayed and I took that opportunity to fix my veil, which was literally about to fall off! I literally took it off and put it back on during the prayer! Ooops. And I think my favorite part was communion. I loved having communion! I've never seen that during a wedding before and it was so special to be able to serve each other communion and then serve it to all of our wedding guests. And Russ came to our wedding! I haven't seen him since a month after we graduated so it was awesome for him to be there! After that we took tons of pictures... it took a long time but was so worth it. I can't WAIT to see the pictures. Then Geoff and I went to a playground to take pictures... we wanted engagement pictures in a playground but it was too rainy, so we did them in our dress and suit! It was hot but I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THOSE PICTURES!! It was sooooo much fun doing those, we were so relaxed and just having fun and I know they'll turn out great. LOL - Geoff is sitting next to me watching Mythbusters, and I don't know what reminded him of this (a commercial maybe?) but he just said "our photographer had an iphone. (Jason). He said he was eating a lot of ham sandwiches because of it but it was worth it." That's cool. Geoff loved Jason... he said if he lived in Dallas he'd definitely be friends with him. Then we went to our hotel... The Richardson Hotel... changed clothes, (got an upgraded room!) and then to our reception. We had my dad's car so we actually went in the garage door (it was at my parent's house) and kinda caught people off guard. My poor parents, especially my mom, worked SO hard that night. They'd hired a maid which was really great, but I wish I'd thought of that aspect before. Well, we were originally going to just have grandparents/parents/siblings at our wedding and a big dinner out which sort of involved to inviting more folks and having a BBQ at my parent's house. Which unfortunately meant that my parents were busy doing stuff and weren't able to have as much fun. If I had to change one thing about the wedding, it'd be that. But... I think everyone else had an absolute blast! I know I did! The "kids" (cousins and siblings) convinced me to even get in the pool at the end of the night! It was great. I loved talking to family friends and family and Russ and his girlfriend (she was wonderful and it was great catching up with Russ). We had probably 50 people there and I don't know what we would have done if it had been bigger! I felt like we neglected everyone! We had DQ ice cream cakes for our cake, which was a hit! (I think... at least it was with me!). Trevor and Christine both gave amazing toasts and we had fun cutting our cake. Annette took some awesome pictures... she did some cool things with our rings like putting them in our M&M favors and other neat artistic things. It was just such a fun night. VERY VERY relaxed and tons of fun. It was absolutely perfect. Geoff and I ended up going home around 11:30... we were the last people to leave! :)
Sunday we had a brunch for the grandparents/parents/siblings. It was soooo nice... my mom used all of her "fancy" china and crystal and stuff and it was nice to have a smaller group to talk to. After that people started leaving for the airport and Geoff and I spent the day hanging out with my parents and sister. We really didn't do much. :) We had dinner (leftovers of course!) at my parents and then went to our hotel.
Monday morning we had room service! It was the first time either of us has had room service and it was delish. A great post-wedding treat. After that we went to my parents to get packed up (it was so hard being between home/church/2 hotels). Then off to the airport. We got home around 10 last night. Trevor and Kristy picked us up from the airport.
Today was movie day... we stayed in bed most of the day watching the "Bourne" movies except to go to the theatre to watch the third. I've never seen them so that was fun! Our room/house is a disaster - we have Geoff about half moved into our "new" room (the master suite / my old room) and in addition to that we have our suitcases and some wedding gifts taking up our entire floor space. Plus downstairs there are boxes from wedding gifts everywhere. We have tons of work to do to get the house ready for 3 visitors and a team dinner for H2C next week! But it will get done. :) Very fun! Back to work tomorrow!
Friday, August 10, 2007
My last post as an unmarried woman
okay, I know some of you are probably throwing up in your mouth right now with that title! But I just feel like I should blog so I have SOME record of these days. Today was perfect. This morning I woke up and started helping my mom clean the house. Geoff and his family (Taylor, Julie, Trevor, and Kristy) came over around 11:30 AM and the guys mowed the lawn, the girls cleaned the pool, and Mom, Julie, and I cleaned inside. Gary dropped Rebecca off at around 2 and brought lunch, and took Julie shopping. They stayed until about 4, and then went back to their hotel. I went to David's Bridal to get my dress... and got a call from Geoff that the Malibu, my sister's car that he was borrowing, broke down (the battery died). I told him to call my mom. LOTS of spiritual warfare going on today with all sorts of stuff... which I figure is good, because of the Devil doesn't want us to get married, that must mean that it's good and God does! So I got my dress and picked up one extra corsage, and then back home. Geoff hadn't even called Mom, he just got Gary to pick up a new battery and a couple of tools and fix it (what can I say, he's a car guy!!). Poor thing. I showered and got dressed and ready for the rehearsal, and Geoff brought the Malibu back over. That left us down a car which was kind of an issue. We went to the rehearsal at 7 and it was great. The organist had to leave to go to the church play at about 7:15, so we had to get started right away. Because of that it was VERY fast. But I think it will still go smoothly. i hope. ;-) So then off to the rehearsal dinner - it was a blast! I love Geoff's stepdad (Gary). He is just awesome and was especially so tonight. We had just a great time talking with family and eating great food. Then I came home and wrapped gifts for the wedding party and now I'm going to bed.
The alarm is set for 8 AM tomorrow to get out of bed and go for a run! Even if I just do a quick 20 minute jog, that's better than nothing. H2C in 15 days... ;-)
The alarm is set for 8 AM tomorrow to get out of bed and go for a run! Even if I just do a quick 20 minute jog, that's better than nothing. H2C in 15 days... ;-)
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Pre-wedding
Well, the house is all quiet and I'm just spending some time catching up on work and personal email. :) My family is mostly asleep (my mom's in the office also on the computer, I'm in the living room) and Geoff and his family are at the hotel.
It has been a fun week! The only bad thing is I haven't been to the gym since Monday. This is a HUGE problem - Hood to Coast is 15, yes, 15 days away! That is going to be one painful weekend. I'm hoping for a good long run tomorrow. The good news about that is that both my back and my knee are feeling stronger, so I guess I can just view that as some good rest and recovery time before H2C. Even if I don't run tomorrow, I WILL run on Saturday... that will be my wedding day me-time! It will clear my head and make me feel fresh and fabulous! I love how I feel after a good long run.
Monday and Tuesday were just finishing up things in Oregon... working, packing, stuff like that. Tuesday night Cindy (my fabulous coworker) picked me and Geoff up and we left for the airport! With Wilma the Wedding Dress, of course (pictures to be posted of Wilma's journey at a later date ;-)). Anyway, we got to the airport WELL in advance, checked in, and enjoyed our time at the airport. We had a nice empty flight to SFO which went by quickly. SFO was AWFUL - we had to leave security to get to our next flight, to find that terminal we had to walk through the parking garage, there was mold growing on the ceiling, etc. GROSS. Sorry to my Bay Area friends. ;-) We arrived in Dallas about 6:30 Wednesday morning. My dad picked us up and we came home and went to the justice of the peace for our marriage license (they opened at 8). Well, they don't do marriage licenses until 9! So we came back home (it's only about 5 mintues away) and hung out for a bit. Then we went right at 9 and got the marriage license. Then home for a quick nap before we went to David's Bridal and Men's Warehouse (right next door to each other, how convenient!) to drop off our stuff to be steamed. We came out the doors at the exact same time - yay for good timing! Then we picked up some Boston Market for lunch and came home for a while. Geoff took a looong nap while my sister, mom, and I just talked (we might have done some other stuff but I don't remember!). At 3 we had to go to the church to figure out how we wanted the altar and stuff set up. We ran into both our pastor and organist which was fun! We got that all done and then picked up my sister and went to the mall to get our nails done. Geoff looked for ties while we were doing that (that's right people, we still don't have ties for the groom and best man. And I don't even care! I love our wedding). Then we picked up Taylor and Mike, Geoff's cousin and uncle who are here (Mike came in early for business). We went to dinner at Pei Wei (owned by PF Changs, but fast-style like Chipotle or Panera). Then home for LOTS of swimming in the pool. I judged hand stand contests and races for 2 or 3 hours. Then finally, sleep. :)
This morning we woke up about 9:30 AM to the flowers being delivered! YAY! They are GORGEOUS. They are from costco.com and seriously they are absolutely fabulous! Picture below (okay, I decided to just go ahead and download the pictures tonight, so Wilma pictures below too). Then we needed to get started on errands, so we woke up Geoff, picked up Taylor, and off to Ikea we went. We need tons of candles for the church, so we picked up most of those. Then Costco for food for the reception. I love Costco. Seriously I do not understand my obsession with Costco! Then we came home. We got Geoff working on programs, my sister and Taylor working on favors and running to WalMart, and my mom and I went to Central Market and Tom Thumb (a grocery store). When we got home, we started chopping onions and peppers for kabobs for the wedding. My mom is awesome and had already bought meat and chopped it up and frozen it several weeks ago, so that just had to defrost! Then we skewered, Geoff kept working on programs (the whole thing took him 7 hours!) and Taylor and Christine went out to the pool to clean the deck, swim, and clean the pool. Quite fun! Around 7:30 we were all starving from working all day and not really eating, so I went to Raising Cane's and picked up chicken (I can't remember if I already linked all of this stuff when Geoff and I were here in June... and I haven't linked much lately!). I got a 25 piece tailgate box and 4 orders of fries which ended up being perfect for the 6 of us (my dad was home from work by then). Then we all ran around cleaning up the house (just the clutter so it's ready to really be cleaned tomorrow) and then Geoff and Taylor went home. BUSY day. I can't believe I haven't really been online all day or been to the gym. But we got a LOT done, and my very stressed out mom feels MUCH better. She was most worried about the programs and the kabobs and those were both done by 9 PM, so that's great. Plus I think now she sees what a lot of people can do, and tomorrow we get 5 additional people to add to the mix! (Geoff's family is all here now, YAY!). I'm glad that we were able to get enough done so that Mom can relax a little more. Tomorrow is mostly just cleaning, getting tables set up, etc. The rehearsal is at 7 and the rehearsal dinner is at 8:15. Should be a great time!
Praise: my sister arrived from Spain on Sunday but without her LARGE suitcase with gifts and wedding things in it. It just arrived!
Okay, picture fun time!
Wilma all packed up and ready to go!
Me and Wilma, about to load her into the car!
Me in the Alaska Airlines line with Wilma
Geoff guarding Wilma while eating his Panda Express
Me with Wilma in the parking lot at SFO... and that's the end of her journey pictures, but she really did make it the whole way just fine! She's at David's Bridal being cleaned now!
The flowers, in the GIANT box they arrived in from Costco! They are beautiful, SO fresh, and I just love them!
This is a random. But we were at Costco and saw a car with Illinois plates. Then we saw Harper College and Palatine Township stickers on there! Those are from Palatine, the town in Illinois I'm from! It was so cool... I had to take a picture. My Palatine friends will appreciate this!
Christine and Taylor decided the hot tub was too dirty, so they emptied all the water and threw it in the pool (the pool cleaning system is better than the hot tub). It was a HILARIOUS site to watch, they had an assembly line going so they could get it done quickly enough before it filled back up. Too funny.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
10 more days!
YIKES we're getting married in 10 days. :) Actually, I'm surprisingly not freaked out or stressed out about it at all! It will be grand. http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/KellyRobinson&GeoffreyMohr is our wedding website for those of you who haven't seen it. Email me if you want the password. We leave for Dallas in 6 days and we get in Wednesday morning. By this time next week we should have our marriage license and we'll have dropped our suit and dress off at Men's Warehouse and David's Bridal for steaming! :)
Okay this is funny - my friend Emily said this morning "oh Kristin from high school facebook messaged me this morning and asked me to join the service". I was like "WHAT?!" Emily is not military like AT ALL... just very random! I was so confused... then Emily explained that she meant she asked her to join FACEBOOK - not the Marines. That was slightly more normal - although still a little odd since we weren't particularly friends with Kristin. I just thought it was hilarious - "Hmmm... I just love the Army so much! Who should I ask to join me? OH!!! Emily!" Yeah, that would never happen.
So Geoff has a VERY HIGH pain tolerance. When he was a kid, he used to get HORRIBLE ear infections (side note: why do I use caps so much? ugh!). But his pain tolerance was so high that he wouldn't say anything to his mom until they were really bad, and then she'd take him to the doctor. The doctor once said "you need to bring him at the very first sign of pain, this has gotten really bad and it's not healthy". She was like "this was the first sign!" Similarly, Geoff's teacher at school used to ask him all of these questions about his home life, trying to determine if he was getting enough to eat at home because he would always eat so much at lunch! He was like "oh yeah, I had three hamburgers, a salad, and fries (or whatever) for dinner last night!" He was just a hungry kid. His poor mom though - always being accidentally accused of neglect!
Anyway, the reason for telling you about the pain tolerance is because last week Geoff was like "my tooth REALLY hurts". This only went on for a couple of days and he went to the dentist right away. Turns out his wisdom tooth came in and there wasn't room in his mouth for it, so food and stuff got in his gum because it had grown in weird, and it was VERY infected. They put him on penicillin for the infection and vicodin for the pain. Then he was to get it out yesterday. The reason he had to wait until yesterday was so the infection could actually go down a little before they did it. He has lost like 10 pounds in the past week because he can't eat much because of the pain. I think if I was in this much pain I would not be moving. He is a trooper. But yesterday he got it removed and he is in SO much less pain. Most people are down for a couple of days after they get wisdom teeth removed, but it's like he was just let out of prison! He worked on his motorcycle last night and took down a dining room table and chairs and moved them to a friend's condo (we got a new dining room set this weekend). Today he's picking up our new hutch, doing lawn work, and hanging up some shelves. Hilarious...
Okay this is funny - my friend Emily said this morning "oh Kristin from high school facebook messaged me this morning and asked me to join the service". I was like "WHAT?!" Emily is not military like AT ALL... just very random! I was so confused... then Emily explained that she meant she asked her to join FACEBOOK - not the Marines. That was slightly more normal - although still a little odd since we weren't particularly friends with Kristin. I just thought it was hilarious - "Hmmm... I just love the Army so much! Who should I ask to join me? OH!!! Emily!" Yeah, that would never happen.
So Geoff has a VERY HIGH pain tolerance. When he was a kid, he used to get HORRIBLE ear infections (side note: why do I use caps so much? ugh!). But his pain tolerance was so high that he wouldn't say anything to his mom until they were really bad, and then she'd take him to the doctor. The doctor once said "you need to bring him at the very first sign of pain, this has gotten really bad and it's not healthy". She was like "this was the first sign!" Similarly, Geoff's teacher at school used to ask him all of these questions about his home life, trying to determine if he was getting enough to eat at home because he would always eat so much at lunch! He was like "oh yeah, I had three hamburgers, a salad, and fries (or whatever) for dinner last night!" He was just a hungry kid. His poor mom though - always being accidentally accused of neglect!
Anyway, the reason for telling you about the pain tolerance is because last week Geoff was like "my tooth REALLY hurts". This only went on for a couple of days and he went to the dentist right away. Turns out his wisdom tooth came in and there wasn't room in his mouth for it, so food and stuff got in his gum because it had grown in weird, and it was VERY infected. They put him on penicillin for the infection and vicodin for the pain. Then he was to get it out yesterday. The reason he had to wait until yesterday was so the infection could actually go down a little before they did it. He has lost like 10 pounds in the past week because he can't eat much because of the pain. I think if I was in this much pain I would not be moving. He is a trooper. But yesterday he got it removed and he is in SO much less pain. Most people are down for a couple of days after they get wisdom teeth removed, but it's like he was just let out of prison! He worked on his motorcycle last night and took down a dining room table and chairs and moved them to a friend's condo (we got a new dining room set this weekend). Today he's picking up our new hutch, doing lawn work, and hanging up some shelves. Hilarious...
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Bad retail and good retail
Something you don't think about very often: one retail job is not like the other. Yes, they definitely all have bad hours, long shifts, annoying customers, etc. But some stores are places people WANT to be, and some stores are places people do NOT want to be. For example: Hallmark. If you're going to Hallmark, probably 90% of the time it's because you are celebrating a birthday, holiday, wedding, etc. There's that 10% that you're getting a sympathy card or just have to get an obligatory gift, but usually you're pretty happy to be at Hallmark. Then there are auto parts stores. There, probably 90% of people are disgruntled because their battery died and they need a new one, or they have to replace their spark plugs, etc. There are the 10% of people that just need some air freshener or some new car wash soap, but in general people are probably not thrilled about having to fix their car, even if it's just regular maintenance. Somewhere like Target is probably more blended: maybe 25% of people are going to get some new fun clothes or a new CD, 50% of people just need some new laundry detergent and are pretty neutral, and 25% of people are there because they're sick and need some cold medicine or whatever. Just an interesting thought.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Dust overnight?
Yesterday Geoff and I were dining out and it was late in the evening. A waitress was putting glasses out on a table near us and I said "oh, looks like they're getting ready for tomorrow". Geoff said "If they're getting ready for tomorrow, she should put those glasses upside down so dust doesn't get in them!" I laughed. Dust overnight?!? I think it's ridiculous (not that dust couldn't get in them overnight, but I wouldn't worry about it one way or the other for one night). What do you think?
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
A good and a bad
Haven't felt much like blogging lately, not sure why. I definitely owe you an update on our weekend at Oma and Opa's, and my shower/bachelorette party this weekend. Both were a blast!
Just today I discovered that gmail trashed 2 / 3 comments on the Raw Celery Disease post! Odd. They were fun to read... too bad I didn't get to read them when they were actually written. And why 1 of them wasn't trashed, I dunno. ESPECIALLY since Blogger and Google are friends!
I just cleaned off my desk with desk cleaner. It was nasty. I need to do a big desk cleaning – like major overhaul. Go through all of my papers I’ve been accumulating for 3 years, file them or toss them, clean off everything, put up new pictures, etc! I have all of these pictures from graduation, senior week, etc. I need to move on. Freak.
On a positive note: I have finally gotten to a point where I love running again and it doesn’t kill me to run for 10 minutes at a time. YAY!
(I can run for more than 10 minutes. It just seemed like I was at the point of 10 minutes = death for much longer than I should have been).
Just today I discovered that gmail trashed 2 / 3 comments on the Raw Celery Disease post! Odd. They were fun to read... too bad I didn't get to read them when they were actually written. And why 1 of them wasn't trashed, I dunno. ESPECIALLY since Blogger and Google are friends!
I just cleaned off my desk with desk cleaner. It was nasty. I need to do a big desk cleaning – like major overhaul. Go through all of my papers I’ve been accumulating for 3 years, file them or toss them, clean off everything, put up new pictures, etc! I have all of these pictures from graduation, senior week, etc. I need to move on. Freak.
On a positive note: I have finally gotten to a point where I love running again and it doesn’t kill me to run for 10 minutes at a time. YAY!
(I can run for more than 10 minutes. It just seemed like I was at the point of 10 minutes = death for much longer than I should have been).
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Raw celery disease
Have I blogged about this before? I get what I call "raw celery disease" when I eat raw celery. It feels like what I think heartburn feels like... an odd pain in my esophagus. I wouldn't call it a burning, but it just HURTS. Pressing on it or rubbing it can sometimes help. Here is what I find on the internet in my self-diagnosis process:
- eat raw celery to help stop heartburn (umm... not so much!)
- from wiki, raw celery can sometimes cause numbness in the mouth and tongue (no, this is the esophagus / chest area)
- raw celery can cause an allergy, but the allergen doesn't go away when cooked (not me either, cooked celery seems okay)
- raw celery can be helpful in alcoholism (just interesting)
There is NOTHING on raw celery pain in the esophagus. What the heck?!
- eat raw celery to help stop heartburn (umm... not so much!)
- from wiki, raw celery can sometimes cause numbness in the mouth and tongue (no, this is the esophagus / chest area)
- raw celery can cause an allergy, but the allergen doesn't go away when cooked (not me either, cooked celery seems okay)
- raw celery can be helpful in alcoholism (just interesting)
There is NOTHING on raw celery pain in the esophagus. What the heck?!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
And it's July.
Hello dear friends. Last Thursday was fun... we went out to dinner with our friends Kendra and Beau, then over to their house where the guys played poker with some of Beau's friends and Kendra and I talked. We are already planning our "couple's weekend" for this winter! Kendra and Beau have done it the last two years. They rent a beach house and invite 3 or 4 couples to come and hang out. We went last year and it was a blast! This weekend Geoff and I had "date night in" on Friday - he cooked lasagna and we watched Breach. Not a bad movie, and our first $1 movie from the Redbox! Saturday I woke up and went to the gym, then I went downtown and had brunch with Kristie, then shopping and sitting out at the park. Such a fun day! After that Geoff and I looked at some condos and townhouses. As fun as it would be to buy something that would be more space-appropriate for us and also newer with a more modern kitchen and pre-wired and stuff... it would just be dumb. Honestly. We have fabulous roommates that are fun to live with and provide an additional source of income, plus I just refinanced in December because we both committed to living here for the next 4 years at least. Obviously refinancing doesn't absolutely commit us, and I can think of a couple of reasons we would consider moving, but just to live in a new place is not one of them! It was very fun to look at though. This was our favorite one... we looked at a few other developments as well, one in a VERY nice area of town, but the quality of building didn't seem to be as good, which was a big dealbreaker. They didn't even have linen closets upstairs... and I am VERY particular about storage space! Plus in the Marin (the one linked above) instead of the bedroom 1 / study downstairs, you could have more garage space, which Geoff would LOVE! He'd have a shop area which would be great for him, and I'd love it too because it'd be great for storage. Anyway, that was a lot of fun, and then we went to Russell St. BBQ. Saturday night I had a very vivid dream that the Devil was attacking me, that I won't go into here for fear of freaking people out. Sunday morning I went to church, then I did some laundry and cleaning at home. Sunday evening Geoff and I went for a run together which was a blast and then we went to a very nice dinner with his parents! They took us out to a really great restaurant, and we got to talk about all sorts of stuff. They are having an engagement party for us on July 21 and they asked all about what food, music, flowers, etc. that we want. We are so thankful they are having this party for us and we are grateful for whatever they want to do. We also talked about wedding plans and they offered to very generously help us financially and otherwise with much of the wedding! We were so surprised and blessed by their offers. It was a great evening.
This is not to discount all that my parents are doing as well for the wedding. They have so graciously agreed to host the reception at their house (well, our Dallas reception... we are still going to have an Oregon party at a later time!!), and my mom has spent much of her summer making invitations, announcements, etc. for our wedding. They have provided so much for us and we are very thankful. We are incredibly blessed to both have such wonderful parents that we have grown up having a good relationship with and that we continue to have a good relationship with - and not just me with my parents and him with his... it goes both ways!
Oh, I forgot I wasn't going to talk much about my wedding on my blog. I suck. Monday I went to the gym until 7. Our teacher, Emily, was back from maternity leave and we had a GREAT workout! She looked incredible for just having had a baby 3 months ago! After that I went home and could tell something was wrong with Geoff... turns out he has to work a double shift on July 4th, which means he works until 8:30. He was so upset! Plus his friends were going to see Transformers and had an extra ticket, but he didn't think he'd be able to go because we were supposed to go to Portland Running Company to get him new shoes. I told him to go on ahead, and he did and was very thankful! He had a great time at the movie and I had fun making a lamb recipe that I saw on Rachael Ray. It turned out pretty well! Today I have my Remicade and then we'll just eat leftovers for dinner.
This is not to discount all that my parents are doing as well for the wedding. They have so graciously agreed to host the reception at their house (well, our Dallas reception... we are still going to have an Oregon party at a later time!!), and my mom has spent much of her summer making invitations, announcements, etc. for our wedding. They have provided so much for us and we are very thankful. We are incredibly blessed to both have such wonderful parents that we have grown up having a good relationship with and that we continue to have a good relationship with - and not just me with my parents and him with his... it goes both ways!
Oh, I forgot I wasn't going to talk much about my wedding on my blog. I suck. Monday I went to the gym until 7. Our teacher, Emily, was back from maternity leave and we had a GREAT workout! She looked incredible for just having had a baby 3 months ago! After that I went home and could tell something was wrong with Geoff... turns out he has to work a double shift on July 4th, which means he works until 8:30. He was so upset! Plus his friends were going to see Transformers and had an extra ticket, but he didn't think he'd be able to go because we were supposed to go to Portland Running Company to get him new shoes. I told him to go on ahead, and he did and was very thankful! He had a great time at the movie and I had fun making a lamb recipe that I saw on Rachael Ray. It turned out pretty well! Today I have my Remicade and then we'll just eat leftovers for dinner.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Wednesday
I don't know why it always seems to be Wednesday by the time I get around to posting again! The weekend was FABULOUS. We went to The Way on Friday and it was really great! We also picked out a wedding ring for Geoff, it should be in in a couple of weeks. Saturday I was REALLY productive - I went to the gym, unpacked, did a bunch of laundry, cleaned the house, ran some errands, baked 3 cakes, fixed some things around the house, etc. It was great! Then Geoff and I did a TON of lawn work that night... it looked like an overgrown jungle before and now it's on its way to looking halfway decent! Sunday I went to church and then went to Geoff's parent's to show Taylor, Rebecca, and Kristy how to decorate cakes (the aforementioned 3 cakes!). It was a great day! Then Geoff and I went to Costco and Bed, Bath, & Beyond and then had dinner. We made tilapia and broccoli. Monday I went to the gym forEVER, and yesterday I rested my knees. Today I'm going to the gym then having dinner with my friend Katie and going to Solid Rock's Wednesday night service, then tomorrow Geoff and I are having dinner with our friends Kendra and Beau.
A quick wedding update: I made a wedding website and we got more engagement pictures. We're working on picking out Scripture for our wedding... I am so anti 1 Corinthians 13! That sounds terrible... and actually I'm not, I love the passage and it's absolutely beautiful... but I just don't want to read it in our wedding. There are so many other beautiful passages that are overlooked. I need to follow-up with the church wedding coordinator and the pastor here that's doing our premarital counseling (we sent out our assessments almost 3 weeks ago and haven't received them back!) . I also blocked some rooms at a hotel but haven't heard back from the other hotel where I want to block rooms. So still lots to do, but it's great. All pretty much simple stuff, which is good! I also emailed my friends Heather and Grant to tell them that I stole their wedding date... and they wrote back an INCREDIBLY gracious response and are excited that we are going to have the same anniversary! What a huge blessing.
My new lunch obsession is this Chinese Style Chicken Salad from Costco. Just add lettuce!
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Following up on yesterday...
So I really was QUITE rushed yesterday at the end of my blog, I realized I didn't even tell you my favorite pictures! I am going to try to put them in order for you, although towards the end the order kind of blends together.
Definitely my favorite is 1947! I just love the look in this picture. I already have it printed out and stuck on my board at work because I could not stop looking at it yesterday.
My second favorite is 1926... yes, I'm out of focus, but I think that's part of what makes the effect so cool!
2083 is another good one... my coworker Cindy says it looks like Geoff is about to jump off and run away, but I think he just looks relaxed and happy.
1817 is fun... it was taken in the House of Blues and I LOVE the profile look and the contrast.
1949 and 1927 are similar to favorites above, so I like them too, but neither of them turned out quite as well as the one before.
Taylor and Rebecca love 1935, and I agree it's a good one!
I also like 1901 and 1885, they were right when we got to Deep Ellum and came out well.
Pics I don't really like:
2033 and 2068 - I think we look mad, we were probably going for a more serious look but it just did NOT work.
1754 was one we took in the morning when it was raining and yucky and just generally no good!
My absolute least favorite is 2089 because I HATE KISSING PICTURES.
I went to bed at 6:30 PM yesterday and did not awake until 6:00 AM today... that was good, I needed it! I could still stand some more sleep, too! After work I'm going to hit the gym and then go home and do laundry, unpack the organics bin, unpack my suitcase, clean up a bit, etc.
The next few weeks and weekends are packed! (woah, I just went and made the list, pretty much the entire SUMMER is packed)
This weekend: Thursday is dinner with Geoff's grandparents, Friday we're going to The Way with Geoff's brother Trevor's girlfriend Kristy, Saturday I am going to try to hang out with my friend Kristie, and Sunday I'm making a cake with Taylor and Rebecca.
Next weekend: I don't *think* anything is planned but I know things have been mentioned for the last weekend of June so I have to remember what they are! And it's also the last weekend Taylor is in town.
Weekend of July 7: Geoff and I are going to his Oma and Opa's in Seattle for a visit.
Weekend of July 14: My friend Katie is throwing me a bachelorette party! We're going to go dancing downtown.
Weekend of July 21: Geoff's parents are throwing us an enagement / wedding send off party at their house
Weekend of July 28: Last weekend Rebecca is in town.
Weekend of August 4: Nothing yet......
Weekend of August 11: Our wedding, and unfortunately my friend Heather and Grant's wedding too. I am so sad I won't be able to attend their wedding but I try to remember that we'll share an anniversary with them which is awesome and that it'll just be okay.
Weekend of August 18: Nothing yet......
Weekend of August 25: Hood to Coast!
Weekend of September 1: My friend Carrie's wedding
The best thing I have learned from planning a wedding (I still wish Geoff had let me get married at the justice of the peace, but he was very against it and my mom is thankful) is how much everyone wants to have an opinion! And I am thinking to comments I may have made to people about their weddings like "oh that's so soon" or "wow you are waiting a long time" (I don't think I would have made any other comments other than about when they are having their wedding, and I don't know if I have even done that, but bad bad Kelly if I did!) and from now on I will be NOTHING BUT POSITIVE about people's wedding plans. Obviously a lot of people have made comments about how quickly we are getting married or about us choosing to have it in Texas. It's so discouraging! But I feel incredibly blessed, because for every comment I get about the date or place, I get an encouraging comment about how great it is that we are trying to keep the wedding simple and instead focus on preparing for a MARRAIGE instead of a wedding. And a lot of folks who have been married for 10+ years have said "yeah, if I had to go back and do it again, I'd keep it short and sweet and simple". Those encouraging comments have really been standing out to me... I am thinking of making a little journal or list of who said them so that I can remember them for a lifetime. Maybe a page in my wedding scrapbook that I'm hoping to make!
Okay, so I guess that was a little rambling rant, but I feel better having shared!
I was going to write a little more about our meeting with Pastor Anna and the rest of the day we had on Monday including driving all over the place and then our flights and stuff... but I've already yammered at you for a long time so I think I'll just let it be.
Definitely my favorite is 1947! I just love the look in this picture. I already have it printed out and stuck on my board at work because I could not stop looking at it yesterday.
My second favorite is 1926... yes, I'm out of focus, but I think that's part of what makes the effect so cool!
2083 is another good one... my coworker Cindy says it looks like Geoff is about to jump off and run away, but I think he just looks relaxed and happy.
1817 is fun... it was taken in the House of Blues and I LOVE the profile look and the contrast.
1949 and 1927 are similar to favorites above, so I like them too, but neither of them turned out quite as well as the one before.
Taylor and Rebecca love 1935, and I agree it's a good one!
I also like 1901 and 1885, they were right when we got to Deep Ellum and came out well.
Pics I don't really like:
2033 and 2068 - I think we look mad, we were probably going for a more serious look but it just did NOT work.
1754 was one we took in the morning when it was raining and yucky and just generally no good!
My absolute least favorite is 2089 because I HATE KISSING PICTURES.
I went to bed at 6:30 PM yesterday and did not awake until 6:00 AM today... that was good, I needed it! I could still stand some more sleep, too! After work I'm going to hit the gym and then go home and do laundry, unpack the organics bin, unpack my suitcase, clean up a bit, etc.
The next few weeks and weekends are packed! (woah, I just went and made the list, pretty much the entire SUMMER is packed)
This weekend: Thursday is dinner with Geoff's grandparents, Friday we're going to The Way with Geoff's brother Trevor's girlfriend Kristy, Saturday I am going to try to hang out with my friend Kristie, and Sunday I'm making a cake with Taylor and Rebecca.
Next weekend: I don't *think* anything is planned but I know things have been mentioned for the last weekend of June so I have to remember what they are! And it's also the last weekend Taylor is in town.
Weekend of July 7: Geoff and I are going to his Oma and Opa's in Seattle for a visit.
Weekend of July 14: My friend Katie is throwing me a bachelorette party! We're going to go dancing downtown.
Weekend of July 21: Geoff's parents are throwing us an enagement / wedding send off party at their house
Weekend of July 28: Last weekend Rebecca is in town.
Weekend of August 4: Nothing yet......
Weekend of August 11: Our wedding, and unfortunately my friend Heather and Grant's wedding too. I am so sad I won't be able to attend their wedding but I try to remember that we'll share an anniversary with them which is awesome and that it'll just be okay.
Weekend of August 18: Nothing yet......
Weekend of August 25: Hood to Coast!
Weekend of September 1: My friend Carrie's wedding
The best thing I have learned from planning a wedding (I still wish Geoff had let me get married at the justice of the peace, but he was very against it and my mom is thankful) is how much everyone wants to have an opinion! And I am thinking to comments I may have made to people about their weddings like "oh that's so soon" or "wow you are waiting a long time" (I don't think I would have made any other comments other than about when they are having their wedding, and I don't know if I have even done that, but bad bad Kelly if I did!) and from now on I will be NOTHING BUT POSITIVE about people's wedding plans. Obviously a lot of people have made comments about how quickly we are getting married or about us choosing to have it in Texas. It's so discouraging! But I feel incredibly blessed, because for every comment I get about the date or place, I get an encouraging comment about how great it is that we are trying to keep the wedding simple and instead focus on preparing for a MARRAIGE instead of a wedding. And a lot of folks who have been married for 10+ years have said "yeah, if I had to go back and do it again, I'd keep it short and sweet and simple". Those encouraging comments have really been standing out to me... I am thinking of making a little journal or list of who said them so that I can remember them for a lifetime. Maybe a page in my wedding scrapbook that I'm hoping to make!
Okay, so I guess that was a little rambling rant, but I feel better having shared!
I was going to write a little more about our meeting with Pastor Anna and the rest of the day we had on Monday including driving all over the place and then our flights and stuff... but I've already yammered at you for a long time so I think I'll just let it be.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
The weekend in Dallas!
Wow it's been a CRAZY last 4 or 5 days. Let's start out back before we left Portland...
Friday
I left work around 11:30 and went to go find a black dress for the memorial activities for Aunt Julie. I found it really quickly, so went home to finish packing and get stuff ready to go. Around 2 I stopped by Geoff's parent's to see Taylor and Rebecca who just got into town. Then I went back home, got there about 3, and waited for Geoff to came home. I miscommunicated with him about him leaving work at 3 and coming home and leaving right away... he was under the impression that leaving at 3 was great and we were in no real rush. So he came home, changed clothes, did a few things, and we didn't leave the house until about 3:30 for a 5:30 flight (I was planning on leaving RIGHT at 3:15, but like I said I communicated poorly). Plus we had to check a bag and park the car. And that didn't take into account the fact that there was an accident on I-84. We got to the airport about 5:15, parked in short term parking, left the bag we were going to take, and ran through security and got to the gate about 5:32. I figured it would be too late, and it was. Luckily they were able to get us on an 8 PM flight connecting through Vegas and landing in Dallas at around 4 AM. I have SEVERELY underplayed the drama that occured during all of this, I was FREAKING OUT, crying, upsetting Geoff, etc. It was really not a pleasant afternoon. So once we were on the new flight, Geoff went back out and got his bag (which had his suit for the memorial) and then moved the car. Then we took the 8 AM flight and got in to Dallas at 4 AM.
Saturday
I will start here with Saturday, though the line between Friday and Saturday is somewhat sketchy. Since we were going to have to leave for Houston at 5 or 6 anyway, the whole family picked us up from the airport and took us straight to Houston. It's a good thing we left that early, because otherwise we would have been late to the burial. There was MASSIVE thunderstorms pounding on us and we had to drive about 45 MPH most of the way. We grabbed some food at Sonic (we were planning a nice breakfast out but that didn't happen!) and then went to the burial. It was a nice service, and it was nice to see my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. My Uncle Arlen (the husband of my Aunt Julie) said to Geoff "I'm so sorry you had to meet us under these circumstances, but you have now seen us at our worst and soon you will see us at our best". It was a really sweet thing to say! We went back to my Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jeff's house for some lunch and to spend time with our cousins, and then to the memorial service. The last song we sang at the memorial was Joy To the World and I saw my grandfather (who had to come in late and was sitting alone but near us) start to cry, so I walked over to him and just put my arm around him. It was a sweet moment. After the memorial, we saw many family and family friends we hadn't seen in years - for example my grandmother's best friend that she's known since junior high, my parent's first realtor, my great aunt, a second cousin, etc. Although it was a sad occasion, it was remarkable to see all of these people again. After that, we headed home to Dallas. We ate a late dinner and went to bed!
Sunday
I woke up at 6:30 because Geoff and I had engagement pictures at 7:30. It was raining and not good! We took pictures for about 45 minutes, then went over the contract at Starbucks. Our photographer is someone we found on Craigslist, and she's just awesome! Then we went home and had a great breakfast casserole my sister made, and then went to church with my family. After that my aunt and uncle came over to visit for a while, and then we rested for the afternoon. Then we went BACK out around 6:00 to take more engagement pictures... that time we didn't get home until about 9:30! But honestly, that's when we took the good pictures. Annette (the photographer) says that happens a lot, because people start to relax. There was no rain and the lighting was better so we were able to get some good shots. We came home and had a late dinner again, and I stayed up late talking to my mom... but oh well...
Monday
I woke up at 7 to get some work done... we met with Pastor Anna, who will be marrying us, at 9. She was SO GREAT!!! She spent a lot of time talking with us about who we are, how we met, etc., all of that good stuff! Pastor Jim (who is doing our pre-marital counseling here in Oregon) had asked us why we think this was right for a lifetime... and neither of us had very good answers. It was all of the "good on paper" sort of stuff - we're funny, smart, challenge each other, etc. all of that. I didn't like that, and had thought about it for a few days. I told Anna that it's all of that stuff... but you could say that about a lot of people. It's the things that you CAN'T describe, the way we relate to each other and communicate, things like that, that make me want to marry Geoff. Geoff also said that the reasons we could list weren't adequate and said that really it just comes down to "I love her". It was cool. We also talked about the wedding ceremony, and I think we are going to do communion during it! I had thought about that but never seen it done before, but Pastor Anna said that she LOVES doing it. Communion is really special to me and Geoff, in fact we picked our church because it has weekly communion, and so that was SUCH a cool idea. We'd also be able to serve our guests the communion which I love the idea of. And we'd take the Lutheran church's communion service (our pre-marital counseling is at a Lutheran church) and use it and say "this service is a gift from Pastor Jim and the St. Matthew Lutheran church". It was all just SO cool! We still have a lot of details to plan, but I'm very excited. After that we spent lots of time driving around, doing errands, etc., then had dinner with my parents and off we went. We got home around 3 AM, I'm exhausted. That's why the end of this entry is rushed, because I'm going home. I might fill in more details about meeting with Anna and other things tomorrow... for now I will leave you with some engagement pictures! Some I love, some I hate, but there will be more to come later. And the ones I hate are NOT because of our photographer, but because we just look silly!
Friday
I left work around 11:30 and went to go find a black dress for the memorial activities for Aunt Julie. I found it really quickly, so went home to finish packing and get stuff ready to go. Around 2 I stopped by Geoff's parent's to see Taylor and Rebecca who just got into town. Then I went back home, got there about 3, and waited for Geoff to came home. I miscommunicated with him about him leaving work at 3 and coming home and leaving right away... he was under the impression that leaving at 3 was great and we were in no real rush. So he came home, changed clothes, did a few things, and we didn't leave the house until about 3:30 for a 5:30 flight (I was planning on leaving RIGHT at 3:15, but like I said I communicated poorly). Plus we had to check a bag and park the car. And that didn't take into account the fact that there was an accident on I-84. We got to the airport about 5:15, parked in short term parking, left the bag we were going to take, and ran through security and got to the gate about 5:32. I figured it would be too late, and it was. Luckily they were able to get us on an 8 PM flight connecting through Vegas and landing in Dallas at around 4 AM. I have SEVERELY underplayed the drama that occured during all of this, I was FREAKING OUT, crying, upsetting Geoff, etc. It was really not a pleasant afternoon. So once we were on the new flight, Geoff went back out and got his bag (which had his suit for the memorial) and then moved the car. Then we took the 8 AM flight and got in to Dallas at 4 AM.
Saturday
I will start here with Saturday, though the line between Friday and Saturday is somewhat sketchy. Since we were going to have to leave for Houston at 5 or 6 anyway, the whole family picked us up from the airport and took us straight to Houston. It's a good thing we left that early, because otherwise we would have been late to the burial. There was MASSIVE thunderstorms pounding on us and we had to drive about 45 MPH most of the way. We grabbed some food at Sonic (we were planning a nice breakfast out but that didn't happen!) and then went to the burial. It was a nice service, and it was nice to see my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. My Uncle Arlen (the husband of my Aunt Julie) said to Geoff "I'm so sorry you had to meet us under these circumstances, but you have now seen us at our worst and soon you will see us at our best". It was a really sweet thing to say! We went back to my Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jeff's house for some lunch and to spend time with our cousins, and then to the memorial service. The last song we sang at the memorial was Joy To the World and I saw my grandfather (who had to come in late and was sitting alone but near us) start to cry, so I walked over to him and just put my arm around him. It was a sweet moment. After the memorial, we saw many family and family friends we hadn't seen in years - for example my grandmother's best friend that she's known since junior high, my parent's first realtor, my great aunt, a second cousin, etc. Although it was a sad occasion, it was remarkable to see all of these people again. After that, we headed home to Dallas. We ate a late dinner and went to bed!
Sunday
I woke up at 6:30 because Geoff and I had engagement pictures at 7:30. It was raining and not good! We took pictures for about 45 minutes, then went over the contract at Starbucks. Our photographer is someone we found on Craigslist, and she's just awesome! Then we went home and had a great breakfast casserole my sister made, and then went to church with my family. After that my aunt and uncle came over to visit for a while, and then we rested for the afternoon. Then we went BACK out around 6:00 to take more engagement pictures... that time we didn't get home until about 9:30! But honestly, that's when we took the good pictures. Annette (the photographer) says that happens a lot, because people start to relax. There was no rain and the lighting was better so we were able to get some good shots. We came home and had a late dinner again, and I stayed up late talking to my mom... but oh well...
Monday
I woke up at 7 to get some work done... we met with Pastor Anna, who will be marrying us, at 9. She was SO GREAT!!! She spent a lot of time talking with us about who we are, how we met, etc., all of that good stuff! Pastor Jim (who is doing our pre-marital counseling here in Oregon) had asked us why we think this was right for a lifetime... and neither of us had very good answers. It was all of the "good on paper" sort of stuff - we're funny, smart, challenge each other, etc. all of that. I didn't like that, and had thought about it for a few days. I told Anna that it's all of that stuff... but you could say that about a lot of people. It's the things that you CAN'T describe, the way we relate to each other and communicate, things like that, that make me want to marry Geoff. Geoff also said that the reasons we could list weren't adequate and said that really it just comes down to "I love her". It was cool. We also talked about the wedding ceremony, and I think we are going to do communion during it! I had thought about that but never seen it done before, but Pastor Anna said that she LOVES doing it. Communion is really special to me and Geoff, in fact we picked our church because it has weekly communion, and so that was SUCH a cool idea. We'd also be able to serve our guests the communion which I love the idea of. And we'd take the Lutheran church's communion service (our pre-marital counseling is at a Lutheran church) and use it and say "this service is a gift from Pastor Jim and the St. Matthew Lutheran church". It was all just SO cool! We still have a lot of details to plan, but I'm very excited. After that we spent lots of time driving around, doing errands, etc., then had dinner with my parents and off we went. We got home around 3 AM, I'm exhausted. That's why the end of this entry is rushed, because I'm going home. I might fill in more details about meeting with Anna and other things tomorrow... for now I will leave you with some engagement pictures! Some I love, some I hate, but there will be more to come later. And the ones I hate are NOT because of our photographer, but because we just look silly!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
I apparently grieve by writing.
So it must be pretty unfortunate to be my blog reader. I think I'd like an online journal that is private, that only I can see. I journal in a real paper journal, but not as much as I bet I would if I had a journal on the computer. Oh well.
So my mom called and visitation for my aunt will be tomorrow from 5 - 7. My family is not going to go to that because Geoff and I aren't getting in until 1 AM, and they want to wait for us. I told my mom they could go and we could figure it out, but she said no. Then the burial will be the next morning at 10:30 or 11 on Saturday, and then a memorial service at their church at 2. So my mom asked that Geoff and I go to that, she said that she knew my aunt would want me to be there and my mom would appreciate the support. I haven't been able to get in touch with Geoff yet, but we talked about it last night and I know that he will go with me. I feel bad for him because the first time he'll meet my dad and sister will be on the car on the way to Houston and then he will meet my extended family (on my mom's side) for the first time at my aunt's burial. But he is an amazing man and he will do just fine. God defintiely works in amazing ways and as sad as it is, it's good that Geoff and I happened to be going home this weekend and that my sister is there too so that my whole family will be able to be there. God is good. :) We will come back to Dallas Saturday night so we'll be home for engagement pictures Sunday morning and then go to church to meet our pastor. It will be a brief trip to Houston but it will work out just fine!
A funny: Yesterday I mentioned to Geoff that I couldn't go running this morning because I had given blood yesterday, and he said "is that why you give blood, so you don't have to work out?" I said "No, I give blood for the cookie!" ;-) Seriously though, when they have blood drives at work, they make the BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES EVER!!! Hehe.
So my mom called and visitation for my aunt will be tomorrow from 5 - 7. My family is not going to go to that because Geoff and I aren't getting in until 1 AM, and they want to wait for us. I told my mom they could go and we could figure it out, but she said no. Then the burial will be the next morning at 10:30 or 11 on Saturday, and then a memorial service at their church at 2. So my mom asked that Geoff and I go to that, she said that she knew my aunt would want me to be there and my mom would appreciate the support. I haven't been able to get in touch with Geoff yet, but we talked about it last night and I know that he will go with me. I feel bad for him because the first time he'll meet my dad and sister will be on the car on the way to Houston and then he will meet my extended family (on my mom's side) for the first time at my aunt's burial. But he is an amazing man and he will do just fine. God defintiely works in amazing ways and as sad as it is, it's good that Geoff and I happened to be going home this weekend and that my sister is there too so that my whole family will be able to be there. God is good. :) We will come back to Dallas Saturday night so we'll be home for engagement pictures Sunday morning and then go to church to meet our pastor. It will be a brief trip to Houston but it will work out just fine!
A funny: Yesterday I mentioned to Geoff that I couldn't go running this morning because I had given blood yesterday, and he said "is that why you give blood, so you don't have to work out?" I said "No, I give blood for the cookie!" ;-) Seriously though, when they have blood drives at work, they make the BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES EVER!!! Hehe.
The wrap up to my day
Dang, sorry for when I have bummer postings. I still enjoy that life has good days and bad, it is part of the cycle of life, and there are always happy times and sad times and that's okay! My cousin Alex was already with my Aunt Julie, and her husband was there as well. My cousin Andrew who lives in California got in around 10 PM last night. They had been giving Julie medicine to help her stay alive until Andrew got there, and they stopped or slowed it when he did. My other aunt and uncle stayed in the hospital until about 3 AM, and Julie died about 4:30 last night - her husband and both sons were there with her. My mom said to my grandfather "I know she went right to heaven to be with Mebe and Febe and Jesus" (Mebe and Febe were my great-grandparents, named by my grandfather when he married my grandmother, so he'd have something to call his in-laws... short for Mother Ebert and Father Ebert). So that is sad, but I saw Julie at Christmas and talked to her on the phone a couple of weeks ago, and my parents were just there Memorial Day weekend. Her husband needs some time and so we don't yet know what the funeral arrangements will be. Since Geoff and I will be in Dallas, we might drive down to Houston for the day to go if it's on Saturday, but it might not be until next week. We'll just have to wait and see!
I'm having lunch with Addy today and I'm VERY excited about that! Then after work I'll go to the gym for my Body Works class and then meet Geoff and head to his parents house for dinner with his cousin and grandmother. YAY! After that we still need to pack and then we'll leave right after work (hopefully leaving work early!) to head to the airport. Very exciting, it should be a great weekend, regardless of what happens.
I'm having lunch with Addy today and I'm VERY excited about that! Then after work I'll go to the gym for my Body Works class and then meet Geoff and head to his parents house for dinner with his cousin and grandmother. YAY! After that we still need to pack and then we'll leave right after work (hopefully leaving work early!) to head to the airport. Very exciting, it should be a great weekend, regardless of what happens.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
A day
Today was a day! I gave blood at work which was great. Then we were supposed to have our first pre-marital counseling session... before that I was out getting the mail and got some news from one of our neighbors that a neighbor is in the hospital. This is especially hard because we are close to this family and we have so much going on this week and will be out of town with the weekend so we aren't able to do as much for the family as we would like to (helping with meals, babysitting, etc.). I said we would be praying for them and they said that was what they needed most. We then had pre-marital counseling which was great, we took a 200 question assessment that we will get results back for in a few weeks. Then I got some news from my Aunt Lisa that my Aunt Julie, who has breast, brain, and liver cancer probably wouldn't make it through the night. In all of the confusion my Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jeff weren't able to find my parent's phone numbers. So they called me and asked me to call my mom right away. Geoff and I are going to Dallas for the weekend and we will still go, and if necessary/possible we will drive to Houston for the funeral on Saturday (we have no idea if it will be then, if she will end up dying tonight, etc.). Then we went by Geoff's parent's house to see his cousin and grandma who just got in to town today. We had a really nice visit with them and talked a lot about Hood to Coast and our wedding, but at the very end Geoff's grandma told us she would not be coming to the wedding. She doesn't like to travel much and it's very hard on her, and she doesn't like to be around a lot of new people, and the combination was just going to be too much. That made us both really sad, because we had really intentionally tried to schedule our wedding so that parents, siblings, and grandparents could be there. When we got into the car I couldn't help myself, I just started crying. I was crying about Grandma, but then all of the other news of the day just started weighing more heavily upon me. It was such a crazy day... there were some really great highs: giving blood, great talk with Geoff's family, pre-marital counseling... and some really hard lows. I'm sorry to be such a downer, but blogging is quite theraputic to me and I wanted to get something down. So that's my news... more to come as things unfold.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Getting the tortures over with...
WOAH, before I post anything, let me just say that I just looked at my blog from the "front end" and that picture doesn't look anything like me. That is the first time I've EVER looked at a picture of myself and thought it didn't look like me. WEIRD!!!
Anyway, it was a GREAT weekend. Geoff's brother Trevor came in to surprise his girlfriend, Kristy, for her graduation weekend. It was so great to see Trevor! We went over to Geoff's parent's house Thurdsay night for a dinner cooked by Trevor... tossed salad with homemade honey mustard dressing, and honey mustard glazed kabobs. DELISH! Then Geoff and I had to get home to finish Kristy's graduation cake! Friday was Kristy's grad party, Geoff was in charge of the ribs (he did a FABULOUS job) and I was in charge of the cake. People joke that we should start KG Catering! Kristy has 5 brothers and sisters (well, brother and sisters... 5 girls and 1 boy!) so it is always fun being around her family! They are sooo cute! Saturday I got up and talked to my sister a little, then went to the gym, then to Qdoba for some food and Jessica McClintock to look for wedding dresses. Then I stopped by Target to get a new shirt for me and one for Geoff, and then I headed home and napped a little. Saturday night Geoff and I went to Russell St. BBQ for dinner.... soooo tasty as always! Sunday morning I woke up and went to church, then the mall for a bit, then David's Bridal for a dress (I bought one, and Geoff's mom left work to come see me and give me a second opinion, I was SO greatful), then I met Katie at Starbucks, and then I met Geoff at Oceans 13 (better than Oceans 12, not quite as good as Oceans 11). It was a great weekend... I felt like I got a lot done but also felt refreshed!
This weekend and today I got a lot of "tortures" over with... one being dress shopping, and the other isn't a torture to any normal person at all. I was talking to Katie yesterday and telling her how awkward I am and how I still haven't told some of my very dearest friends that I'm engaged! I think it was because I didn't want to feel like I was "bragging" and I didn't a conversation with these people (some of whom I don't get to talk to very often) to be all about me... I wanted to know what was going on in their lives too. I don't know how to explain it! So I have told everyone but ONE person now... and I WILL tell her today. I'm so awkward!!
Anyway, it was a GREAT weekend. Geoff's brother Trevor came in to surprise his girlfriend, Kristy, for her graduation weekend. It was so great to see Trevor! We went over to Geoff's parent's house Thurdsay night for a dinner cooked by Trevor... tossed salad with homemade honey mustard dressing, and honey mustard glazed kabobs. DELISH! Then Geoff and I had to get home to finish Kristy's graduation cake! Friday was Kristy's grad party, Geoff was in charge of the ribs (he did a FABULOUS job) and I was in charge of the cake. People joke that we should start KG Catering! Kristy has 5 brothers and sisters (well, brother and sisters... 5 girls and 1 boy!) so it is always fun being around her family! They are sooo cute! Saturday I got up and talked to my sister a little, then went to the gym, then to Qdoba for some food and Jessica McClintock to look for wedding dresses. Then I stopped by Target to get a new shirt for me and one for Geoff, and then I headed home and napped a little. Saturday night Geoff and I went to Russell St. BBQ for dinner.... soooo tasty as always! Sunday morning I woke up and went to church, then the mall for a bit, then David's Bridal for a dress (I bought one, and Geoff's mom left work to come see me and give me a second opinion, I was SO greatful), then I met Katie at Starbucks, and then I met Geoff at Oceans 13 (better than Oceans 12, not quite as good as Oceans 11). It was a great weekend... I felt like I got a lot done but also felt refreshed!
This weekend and today I got a lot of "tortures" over with... one being dress shopping, and the other isn't a torture to any normal person at all. I was talking to Katie yesterday and telling her how awkward I am and how I still haven't told some of my very dearest friends that I'm engaged! I think it was because I didn't want to feel like I was "bragging" and I didn't a conversation with these people (some of whom I don't get to talk to very often) to be all about me... I wanted to know what was going on in their lives too. I don't know how to explain it! So I have told everyone but ONE person now... and I WILL tell her today. I'm so awkward!!
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
The Bin and the Bin and the Box
Okay, so I think the regular readers already know about the organics bin that we get every week... we switched this week to the veggie bin, so that will be exciting. We'll get tomatoes almost every week and no more fruits, which we don't eat much anyway! It comes tonight!
The only reason I told you about that bin was to differentiate between it and the Family Chat Bin. No link for this one, but I don't think I've told y'all about it before. It is just my family (mom, dad, sister, and me... Geoff and Abel are in it now too), and we email each other quite a few times every day, depending on work schedules and things like that. It's a GREAT way to keep in touch, and very very funny. LOVE the bin. So my mom loves to rent movies, especially in the summer when she's not teaching. She always complains about the price of Blockbuster and is always looking for a deal (we used to have a Dollar Video place at us in Chicago, and in Iowa they had Mr. Movies which had cheap weeknight rentals). So she found this "little box" that you could put a dollar into and you could get a movie out, at WalMart. She kept telling us about it and how she couldn't wait to try it, and it's been quite a hot topic in the bin for the past few weeks (don't know why she talked about it instead of just renting one). Christine and I were like "what the heck is this sketchy box Mom keeps talking about!" Then Mom asked for suggestions and Christine was mentioning new movies, and I was like "no, this box is only for ghetto old movies, like Pretty Woman or Top Gun". My mom was all "how do you know, you've never even seen the box!!" So anyway, Mom checked it out yesterday and said that YES, there were new movies in the box. So she tried it out, and forwarded us the copy of the emailed receipt, and said it was great. This morning when she returned it, she ran into the man who was servicing it, and he said they have them mostly at WalMarts and at Albertsons. Somewhere along the line she also mentioned that it was red. She was very happy with the whole experience.
Geoff was at the grocery store picking up some buns to make hamburgers tonight, and he called about an hour ago saying "GUESS WHAT?" I said what, and he said "I just saw the dollar box!!!" I said "No way, at Albertsons, because my mom said it was there!" And he said, YUP!, at Albertsons. And I said "was it red?" He said "it was red"! VERY EXCITING! It's right across the street, how handy!!
So then I got to thinking about the box and wanted to find out what it was... well a little googling quickly determinated that it was RedBox... which of course after I saw the website I remembered it was the same place Marisa blogged about months ago! So now we've come full circle on this crazy box... I can't wait to try it now!
The only reason I told you about that bin was to differentiate between it and the Family Chat Bin. No link for this one, but I don't think I've told y'all about it before. It is just my family (mom, dad, sister, and me... Geoff and Abel are in it now too), and we email each other quite a few times every day, depending on work schedules and things like that. It's a GREAT way to keep in touch, and very very funny. LOVE the bin. So my mom loves to rent movies, especially in the summer when she's not teaching. She always complains about the price of Blockbuster and is always looking for a deal (we used to have a Dollar Video place at us in Chicago, and in Iowa they had Mr. Movies which had cheap weeknight rentals). So she found this "little box" that you could put a dollar into and you could get a movie out, at WalMart. She kept telling us about it and how she couldn't wait to try it, and it's been quite a hot topic in the bin for the past few weeks (don't know why she talked about it instead of just renting one). Christine and I were like "what the heck is this sketchy box Mom keeps talking about!" Then Mom asked for suggestions and Christine was mentioning new movies, and I was like "no, this box is only for ghetto old movies, like Pretty Woman or Top Gun". My mom was all "how do you know, you've never even seen the box!!" So anyway, Mom checked it out yesterday and said that YES, there were new movies in the box. So she tried it out, and forwarded us the copy of the emailed receipt, and said it was great. This morning when she returned it, she ran into the man who was servicing it, and he said they have them mostly at WalMarts and at Albertsons. Somewhere along the line she also mentioned that it was red. She was very happy with the whole experience.
Geoff was at the grocery store picking up some buns to make hamburgers tonight, and he called about an hour ago saying "GUESS WHAT?" I said what, and he said "I just saw the dollar box!!!" I said "No way, at Albertsons, because my mom said it was there!" And he said, YUP!, at Albertsons. And I said "was it red?" He said "it was red"! VERY EXCITING! It's right across the street, how handy!!
So then I got to thinking about the box and wanted to find out what it was... well a little googling quickly determinated that it was RedBox... which of course after I saw the website I remembered it was the same place Marisa blogged about months ago! So now we've come full circle on this crazy box... I can't wait to try it now!
Monday, June 04, 2007
Monday...
Ahhh it was a tough weekend! :) Geoff and I were just dealing with some family stuff that was really emotionally draining! We had to make some tough decisions, and though the decisions are finally done, the hard part may just be beginning!
Highlights of the weekend:
- making a Little Mermaid cake for a co-worker's daughter that was a HUGE hit. It is my favorite cake that I've ever made!
- getting 3 loads of laundry done (it was really stacking up)
- doing a MAJOR MAJOR cleaning of my room
- going to see Knocked Up (this was good because it was the only time all weekend that Geoff and I spent together just relaxing)
- an amazing evening out with Katie... dinner at Henry's downtown and then dessert at PF Changs! It was nice to be out, I haven't been downtown in a long time
- a fabulous workout Saturday afternoon
Poor Geoff had to work 25 hours between Saturday and Sunday. He finally gets a day off on Wednesday! We are looking forward to going to Dallas next weekend, here is the list my sister has prepared for what we will do while we are there (might be a little confusing especially if you don't know her or us, but funny nonetheless):
1. Geoff meets Stiney
2. Float
3. Make cool drinks like Jaimacian 10 speeds and Miami Vices
4. Go to Central Market
5. Shop at the Galeria. Help Kelly find better clothes and Stiney cool stuff.
6. Uncle Julios
7. Eat lobster
8. Make zucchini bread
9. Buy gifts for Spanish folk.
10. Meet Anna
11. Some people take engagement pics..
12. go rollerblading.
13. Celebrate Dad's day
Highlights of the weekend:
- making a Little Mermaid cake for a co-worker's daughter that was a HUGE hit. It is my favorite cake that I've ever made!
- getting 3 loads of laundry done (it was really stacking up)
- doing a MAJOR MAJOR cleaning of my room
- going to see Knocked Up (this was good because it was the only time all weekend that Geoff and I spent together just relaxing)
- an amazing evening out with Katie... dinner at Henry's downtown and then dessert at PF Changs! It was nice to be out, I haven't been downtown in a long time
- a fabulous workout Saturday afternoon
Poor Geoff had to work 25 hours between Saturday and Sunday. He finally gets a day off on Wednesday! We are looking forward to going to Dallas next weekend, here is the list my sister has prepared for what we will do while we are there (might be a little confusing especially if you don't know her or us, but funny nonetheless):
1. Geoff meets Stiney
2. Float
3. Make cool drinks like Jaimacian 10 speeds and Miami Vices
4. Go to Central Market
5. Shop at the Galeria. Help Kelly find better clothes and Stiney cool stuff.
6. Uncle Julios
7. Eat lobster
8. Make zucchini bread
9. Buy gifts for Spanish folk.
10. Meet Anna
11. Some people take engagement pics..
12. go rollerblading.
13. Celebrate Dad's day
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
The "Big News" Blog
Alright, alright! People keep asking about the whole engagement thing, so I figured as always I better answer to the masses. I have been avoiding it because I don't want to bore people, but I better at least give an update. After this I hope to keep the "wedding planning" updates to a dull roar. This Sunday we went wine tasting with his mom as per tradition... it was great! Then we got some steaks and grilled with his mom and Gary. :) Monday we both worked and then went to a BBQ at his aunt and uncle's house.
The proposal:
No grand story here folks, but it was a perfect little story for me. I had to go to Arizona for business on Tuesday, May 22. Geoff drove me to the airport (just the local airport in Hillsboro for a charter/shuttle flight) and as I was getting out of the car he said "you almost forgot something!", then pulled out his ring box and said "Will you marry me?" There was some other stuff in there, but I promise nothing romantic or anything. :) I said yes and that was that... then I flew away.
The current plans:
I *just* found out today that we officially have a date, it's this August 11 in Dallas, TX. We chose Dallas because it's closer to my family (especially grandparents who are a good 10 - 15 years older than his) and somewhat centrally located. The timing is based on the fact that my sister is looking for jobs in Spain and that is one of the few times that she will definitely be in the country. Also, his brother and sister will be in school this fall and we don't want to wait a whole year. Those are some of the main reasons, although there are certainly others. We are getting married at Spring Valley United Methodist Church, which is my parent's church. Pastor Anna will be marrying us. We're going to Dallas June 15 - June 18 so Geoff can meet my dad and sister, so we can meet Pastor Anna, and for a few other wedding details. After the wedding we will most likely have a BBQ type party at my parent's house. I don't know much but I know there will be NO DANCING. :) I have been talking to a photographer I found on Craigslist named Annette (see the *Ann* theme? odd huh?) and I REALLY like her. I am thinking of booking her! For colors, we are thinking either just red, or a combo of red/orange/yellow/pink. Here Comes the Bride will not be played, it was vetoed by my sister and Geoff. Instead we will have Canon in D. (I'm trying to think of questions people keep asking me).
The Registries:
I am only writing about this because I find it funny and amusing for blogging and think my readers will appreciate it. We weren't going to register, but his family HIGHLY suggested it and that we do it soon, plus I think my mom would have thought we were crazy if we didn't. She said people will get you things regardless, so you might as well give them choices of things you like. Okay. Anyway, here are some of the funny things about registering: the MOST funny is that Geoff registered for a lint roller! I was like "why?" and he said "to clean my suit before the wedding". Hmmm okay, whatever you freak. :) And he said if I remove it he will then add THREE more. So yikes... better keep that on there. That's my favorite part of the registry now. Then... they asked us to pick out a "fine china" pattern and an "everyday" pattern. Only for the everyday pattern she picked up Noritake Colorwave mug, SLAMMED it against the desk and said "it's practically indistrucable, you must go with this". So we did (and actually we do both like it). But once we picked the fine china and everyday patterns... they added like 40 different items on there!! Bowls and plates and platters and serving stuff and salt and pepper! Yikes. Oh well. It was just a very amusing process, and I'm sure those that are already married can relate, but I thought I'd share for those who aren't because it was TOO FREAKING FUNNY!!
Future Plans:
We're not going on a honeymoon right after the wedding, but we will probably go on a cruise sometime this fall or early summer. We'll also have a party / reception type thing in Oregon where we'll invite all of our friends and family. We're hoping that will be at one of our favorite vineyards! NO idea on the date yet... it will have to either be this August / September or not until next spring because of the weather. We are NOT kicking out our roommates, we love them and want to "keep" them (many people have been asking that question). I think those are all of the answers to the "big questions".
The proposal:
No grand story here folks, but it was a perfect little story for me. I had to go to Arizona for business on Tuesday, May 22. Geoff drove me to the airport (just the local airport in Hillsboro for a charter/shuttle flight) and as I was getting out of the car he said "you almost forgot something!", then pulled out his ring box and said "Will you marry me?" There was some other stuff in there, but I promise nothing romantic or anything. :) I said yes and that was that... then I flew away.
The current plans:
I *just* found out today that we officially have a date, it's this August 11 in Dallas, TX. We chose Dallas because it's closer to my family (especially grandparents who are a good 10 - 15 years older than his) and somewhat centrally located. The timing is based on the fact that my sister is looking for jobs in Spain and that is one of the few times that she will definitely be in the country. Also, his brother and sister will be in school this fall and we don't want to wait a whole year. Those are some of the main reasons, although there are certainly others. We are getting married at Spring Valley United Methodist Church, which is my parent's church. Pastor Anna will be marrying us. We're going to Dallas June 15 - June 18 so Geoff can meet my dad and sister, so we can meet Pastor Anna, and for a few other wedding details. After the wedding we will most likely have a BBQ type party at my parent's house. I don't know much but I know there will be NO DANCING. :) I have been talking to a photographer I found on Craigslist named Annette (see the *Ann* theme? odd huh?) and I REALLY like her. I am thinking of booking her! For colors, we are thinking either just red, or a combo of red/orange/yellow/pink. Here Comes the Bride will not be played, it was vetoed by my sister and Geoff. Instead we will have Canon in D. (I'm trying to think of questions people keep asking me).
The Registries:
I am only writing about this because I find it funny and amusing for blogging and think my readers will appreciate it. We weren't going to register, but his family HIGHLY suggested it and that we do it soon, plus I think my mom would have thought we were crazy if we didn't. She said people will get you things regardless, so you might as well give them choices of things you like. Okay. Anyway, here are some of the funny things about registering: the MOST funny is that Geoff registered for a lint roller! I was like "why?" and he said "to clean my suit before the wedding". Hmmm okay, whatever you freak. :) And he said if I remove it he will then add THREE more. So yikes... better keep that on there. That's my favorite part of the registry now. Then... they asked us to pick out a "fine china" pattern and an "everyday" pattern. Only for the everyday pattern she picked up Noritake Colorwave mug, SLAMMED it against the desk and said "it's practically indistrucable, you must go with this". So we did (and actually we do both like it). But once we picked the fine china and everyday patterns... they added like 40 different items on there!! Bowls and plates and platters and serving stuff and salt and pepper! Yikes. Oh well. It was just a very amusing process, and I'm sure those that are already married can relate, but I thought I'd share for those who aren't because it was TOO FREAKING FUNNY!!
Future Plans:
We're not going on a honeymoon right after the wedding, but we will probably go on a cruise sometime this fall or early summer. We'll also have a party / reception type thing in Oregon where we'll invite all of our friends and family. We're hoping that will be at one of our favorite vineyards! NO idea on the date yet... it will have to either be this August / September or not until next spring because of the weather. We are NOT kicking out our roommates, we love them and want to "keep" them (many people have been asking that question). I think those are all of the answers to the "big questions".
Monday, May 21, 2007
Super productive night!
Today was a GOOD day. Oh first of all - it was a GOOD weekend... Geoff and I were able to go shopping for him and me... we got him a bunch of stuff for his motorcycle, including new tools, gear (helmet/jacket), parts he needs, and a little tent thing for the side of the house. He had been saving for a motorcycle so since he didn't actually have to pay for the motorcycle itself, he had plenty to spend on fun stuff. He even got one of those Craftsman tool chests... I had a FIELD DAY organizing that. I should take pictures of that too! Sooo much fun! And for me... well, more cake stuff! Actually, mostly it was just a storage cabinet and large pink basket (can't find a link) that I organized all of the cake stuff in. I should have taken before and after pics... but I forgot. It looks much better, and we finally have a dining room again! Yaaaaay! :) Oh, I almost forgot... Saturday morning, I made my first cake I got paid for! It was a success. Anyway, it was a great weekend of storage and organization.
Today was a great day at work... I had a great intro meeting with the new finance manager, I got a really nice voicemail, and one other thing that made me happy that I can't remember at the moment. Then at home Geoff and I talked to my sister online for a bit and he went off to an inventory way down in Woodburn. I talked to my sister more until 7 (she is working a super boring job right now), then went to the grocery store, made guacamole for dinner, finished 40 fondant roses and made 30 fondant leaves (oh yeah - I forgot to mention I started/made about 50 fondant roses yesterday... it took 5 or 6 hours! Finishing them and the leaves only took about 2 hours tonight), took a shower, and packed... and it's still before 10 PM!! See, quite productive. The packing is for Arizona - I feel like I spend half my time there these days, kinda like my senior year of college when I went to LA all the time! I love travelling. Especially to the same place over and over (wow that sounds lame) because you get to know the place and kinda feel like a resident. Okay that's a stretch, but I do enjoy getting to know cities and having them be familiar. Arizona is pretty familiar to me by now. I so love it too, so I'm excited I get to go again! I'll be there until Thursday, when I have my final cake class of my final cake course! Tear... but that's okay. It'll be good. :)
Today was a great day at work... I had a great intro meeting with the new finance manager, I got a really nice voicemail, and one other thing that made me happy that I can't remember at the moment. Then at home Geoff and I talked to my sister online for a bit and he went off to an inventory way down in Woodburn. I talked to my sister more until 7 (she is working a super boring job right now), then went to the grocery store, made guacamole for dinner, finished 40 fondant roses and made 30 fondant leaves (oh yeah - I forgot to mention I started/made about 50 fondant roses yesterday... it took 5 or 6 hours! Finishing them and the leaves only took about 2 hours tonight), took a shower, and packed... and it's still before 10 PM!! See, quite productive. The packing is for Arizona - I feel like I spend half my time there these days, kinda like my senior year of college when I went to LA all the time! I love travelling. Especially to the same place over and over (wow that sounds lame) because you get to know the place and kinda feel like a resident. Okay that's a stretch, but I do enjoy getting to know cities and having them be familiar. Arizona is pretty familiar to me by now. I so love it too, so I'm excited I get to go again! I'll be there until Thursday, when I have my final cake class of my final cake course! Tear... but that's okay. It'll be good. :)
Friday, May 18, 2007
The Readers Are Revolting
I hear that my readers are outraged and demand blogging. I have actually heard this from two different sources.
First off, ARIZONA for the Hart and Becky wedding. It was two weeks ago and I STILL have not blogged about it yet - I've been insanely busy, more on that later. Anyway, I also have not had time to look for my camera charger so I haven't been able to download the pictures yet either. Boo! But Geoff and I got in on Friday afternoon and ended up with a Mustang as a rental... Geoff was WAY excited, he loves Mustangs! We checked in at our hotel and cleaned up a bit, then met Emily, Kathleen, Stacey, and Tim at Grilled Expedition for happy hour. I was so nervous... I felt like it was a first date rather than meeting old friends! I think I was nervous to introduce them to Geoff. But it was great! Emily and I talked about how Patrick secretly had these planning skills all along and he could have been the one to plan stuff in high school! Dang... he did put together a great night. After that we went to Gordon Biersch for dinner... it was good but a little cold and windy since we sat outside! Then we went to The Library to hang out. That was REALLY fun because the wedding party came and joined us there after the rehersal dinner, so we saw Hart and Becky, Anthony, and Nikki. It was such a college bar!! Very fun. At one point "Whoop there it is" came on and Hart, Emily, Patrick, and I all jumped up off of the couch we were sitting on and started dancing! It was so random... it brought back memories from Spirit Squad in 7th grade. We had a special dance to that song. Hilarious! Just a wonderful night.
Saturday was fun! We met The Cohens (Randy and Laura... friends of mine from grade school that I got together in high school and later got married) for breakfast at The Waffle House. Funny! Laura and Geoff both know me so well so it was funny to listen to them talking about me. Hehe. :) Then Geoff and I drove around, Geoff got his hair cut, we played mini golf, etc. Then we went to the wedding and the reception and had another great night! It was a beautiful wedding... I ADORE the pink and orange color combo and fun was had by all. Geoff and I are these cake snobs so we stared at the cake beforehand and commented on how much better we could do - yeah right. Seriously the cake tasted AWESOME though!! Sooo yummy. I think it was French Buttercream which I REALLY need to learn how to make! :)
Sunday morning we had an early flight out and then I was soooo sick. I didn't even go to my cake class, boo! I stayed in bed all day. Monday I had my second day of work at Hallmark, Tuesday I had Remicade, Wednesday I had Hallmark, Thursday I had gym class and cake class, and by Friday I was just fried. On Saturday morning I quit Hallmark... I know, that's terrible, but I was finding that I wasn't loving it and my friend Kendra pointed out "if you don't NEED a second job and you don't LOVE your second job, what's the point of having a second job?" Good point, so I quit.
Sunday morning I made a beautiful daisy cake (which I didn't take pictures of, I'm sorry!) to take to Geoff's parents for Mothers Day! It was A HIT and I got my first "gig" decorating a cake for a graduation (Geoff's brother Trevor's girlfriend Kristy's high school graduation). YAY! I'm soooo excited. It was a fabulous night.
This week has been insane at work and stuff at home has been busy too. Wednesday we drove down to Sheridan (about an hour and a half south) so Geoff could pick up his dad's old motorcycle. For those that don't know, his dad passed away in February of 2000 from cancer. His Uncle Jeff had been holding onto the bike (he has a HUGE barn) and asked Geoff if he wanted it. Geoff jumped at the chance so we went down right away to pick it up! He worked on it all day yesterday... I'm so excited for him. It's really special that he can have something of his dad's. :)
Tonight we're going to a BBQ at Kendra and Beau's and I have another "gig" for tomorrow morning - decorating a birthday cake for my coworker Cindy's daughter Emily! Very exciting.
So lots of excitement going on... just too busy to write about it. Maybe more next week! Oh and some pics if I manage to find my camera this weekend! I'm headed home now... it is time to be done!
I'll leave you with one more thing... Wednesday I was soooo busy at work and needed to get out for a little bit, so Geoff was nice enough to take me to lunch. We went to BW3s and they have this little on screen trivia thing that you can play with the whole country at other BW3s, Old Chicago, Applebees, and other restaurants. So we decided to play, and there are 7 questions worth 1000 points each. You get 1000 points if you answer correctly immediately, then it keeps going down as you take more time. I got about 6500 points and beat Geoff and he was mad – then we saw that on that round, I beat EVERYONE IN THE COUNTRY!!! I was soooo proud. Plus the local BW3s has a top winners board for the month, so I bumped down someone with about 5500 points that had been there since May 1!! HAHA. Then we played again… and I got about 5500 points and came in 12 in the country and then I got number TWO on the BW3 top local winners board. So I have the number 1 and number 2 spot. YAAAAAAAY for me. I’m sooo excited it was so fun!
First off, ARIZONA for the Hart and Becky wedding. It was two weeks ago and I STILL have not blogged about it yet - I've been insanely busy, more on that later. Anyway, I also have not had time to look for my camera charger so I haven't been able to download the pictures yet either. Boo! But Geoff and I got in on Friday afternoon and ended up with a Mustang as a rental... Geoff was WAY excited, he loves Mustangs! We checked in at our hotel and cleaned up a bit, then met Emily, Kathleen, Stacey, and Tim at Grilled Expedition for happy hour. I was so nervous... I felt like it was a first date rather than meeting old friends! I think I was nervous to introduce them to Geoff. But it was great! Emily and I talked about how Patrick secretly had these planning skills all along and he could have been the one to plan stuff in high school! Dang... he did put together a great night. After that we went to Gordon Biersch for dinner... it was good but a little cold and windy since we sat outside! Then we went to The Library to hang out. That was REALLY fun because the wedding party came and joined us there after the rehersal dinner, so we saw Hart and Becky, Anthony, and Nikki. It was such a college bar!! Very fun. At one point "Whoop there it is" came on and Hart, Emily, Patrick, and I all jumped up off of the couch we were sitting on and started dancing! It was so random... it brought back memories from Spirit Squad in 7th grade. We had a special dance to that song. Hilarious! Just a wonderful night.
Saturday was fun! We met The Cohens (Randy and Laura... friends of mine from grade school that I got together in high school and later got married) for breakfast at The Waffle House. Funny! Laura and Geoff both know me so well so it was funny to listen to them talking about me. Hehe. :) Then Geoff and I drove around, Geoff got his hair cut, we played mini golf, etc. Then we went to the wedding and the reception and had another great night! It was a beautiful wedding... I ADORE the pink and orange color combo and fun was had by all. Geoff and I are these cake snobs so we stared at the cake beforehand and commented on how much better we could do - yeah right. Seriously the cake tasted AWESOME though!! Sooo yummy. I think it was French Buttercream which I REALLY need to learn how to make! :)
Sunday morning we had an early flight out and then I was soooo sick. I didn't even go to my cake class, boo! I stayed in bed all day. Monday I had my second day of work at Hallmark, Tuesday I had Remicade, Wednesday I had Hallmark, Thursday I had gym class and cake class, and by Friday I was just fried. On Saturday morning I quit Hallmark... I know, that's terrible, but I was finding that I wasn't loving it and my friend Kendra pointed out "if you don't NEED a second job and you don't LOVE your second job, what's the point of having a second job?" Good point, so I quit.
Sunday morning I made a beautiful daisy cake (which I didn't take pictures of, I'm sorry!) to take to Geoff's parents for Mothers Day! It was A HIT and I got my first "gig" decorating a cake for a graduation (Geoff's brother Trevor's girlfriend Kristy's high school graduation). YAY! I'm soooo excited. It was a fabulous night.
This week has been insane at work and stuff at home has been busy too. Wednesday we drove down to Sheridan (about an hour and a half south) so Geoff could pick up his dad's old motorcycle. For those that don't know, his dad passed away in February of 2000 from cancer. His Uncle Jeff had been holding onto the bike (he has a HUGE barn) and asked Geoff if he wanted it. Geoff jumped at the chance so we went down right away to pick it up! He worked on it all day yesterday... I'm so excited for him. It's really special that he can have something of his dad's. :)
Tonight we're going to a BBQ at Kendra and Beau's and I have another "gig" for tomorrow morning - decorating a birthday cake for my coworker Cindy's daughter Emily! Very exciting.
So lots of excitement going on... just too busy to write about it. Maybe more next week! Oh and some pics if I manage to find my camera this weekend! I'm headed home now... it is time to be done!
I'll leave you with one more thing... Wednesday I was soooo busy at work and needed to get out for a little bit, so Geoff was nice enough to take me to lunch. We went to BW3s and they have this little on screen trivia thing that you can play with the whole country at other BW3s, Old Chicago, Applebees, and other restaurants. So we decided to play, and there are 7 questions worth 1000 points each. You get 1000 points if you answer correctly immediately, then it keeps going down as you take more time. I got about 6500 points and beat Geoff and he was mad – then we saw that on that round, I beat EVERYONE IN THE COUNTRY!!! I was soooo proud. Plus the local BW3s has a top winners board for the month, so I bumped down someone with about 5500 points that had been there since May 1!! HAHA. Then we played again… and I got about 5500 points and came in 12 in the country and then I got number TWO on the BW3 top local winners board. So I have the number 1 and number 2 spot. YAAAAAAAY for me. I’m sooo excited it was so fun!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Fly by post
I can't believe I haven't posted about Arizona yet! I had one of the most fun nights I've had in a looooooong time. I just had a blast with my old friends, and Geoff loved them too. I will post about that later today or tomorrow.
For now though... my family does something we call the "family chat bin" (don't remember where that came from)... basically it's an email to all of the people in the family, we probably get about 10 emails a day from it. Just my immediate family. Anyway, the bin has been kicking into high gear lately so I've been focused on that instead of my blog. This is what I wrote the bin this morning:
Good morning binners! Yesterday Hallmark was slightly better… I helped the sweetest old man who couldn’t see very well, so I read him the cards for mother’s day. It was pretty fun. He got two different mother’s day cards, one I couldn’t tell who it was for and one for his wife. Then he needed an anniversary card, but his wife was in the store so he was like “shhhhhhh”. So we went to the anniversary section and found him a card, he also had a hearing aid so I had to speak right into that so I could speak softly but so that he could hear. Pretty funny. He was very thankful. And then I checked out a lot of people and did some work on the card section. It is good but it’s not AMAZING. After that I went home and started going through the organics bin! We got some good stuff, including avocados so I can make some GUAC! Yum-o. Last night for dinner we split a ribeye steak and also had salad (all organic), peppers and onions grilled (onions were organic), and asparagus (organic) with cheese sauce. Mom, Geoff was a little bit skeptical of the cheese sauce but he LOVED IT. He couldn’t get enough! I told him I’d never had it much because it seems like Dad always gobbled it up every year and no one else got at it. Geoff said he’d have to be fighting Dad to get some! It was funny. He made it of course because I have no patience for things like melting cheese or chocolate or anything that could burn. Tonight while I’m at cake class he’s going to cut up some mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, and onions, oh and maybe a sirloin, for us to fondue up tonight. We still have stuff left over to make the dill sauce plus all the veggies so we are gonna do that! And we got another leek and Geoff was like “pleeeeeease more leek rings!” I didn’t know he liked them that much. Well, when we were finishing up with dinner, the doorbell rang and I opened it, and it was someone in a motorcycle helmet that said “gimmie all your money”. I thought at first it was my roommate Brad and his girlfriend Carmen, but it was Kendra and Beau!!! They were out on their motorcycles for the first time this year so they had to ride a bit to keep the batteries going, so they came to visit us! They stayed an hour or so and we had a really nice time! I love them. And they invited us to a BBQ at their house next week. We talked about me working at Hallmark and they said “ya know, if you’re going to have a second job, you better LOVE it. If you don’t need it and you don’t love it, what the heck is the point? It’s one thing to leave your ‘real’ job and say yippie I get to go to my fun job now, but if you’re not doing that, then quit!” So I think that pretty much summed everything up for me. I’m going to try Saturday (a weekend day) and then make my decision from there! But yeah, so it was a super fun night last night. Hope everyone is having fun in IC!
For now though... my family does something we call the "family chat bin" (don't remember where that came from)... basically it's an email to all of the people in the family, we probably get about 10 emails a day from it. Just my immediate family. Anyway, the bin has been kicking into high gear lately so I've been focused on that instead of my blog. This is what I wrote the bin this morning:
Good morning binners! Yesterday Hallmark was slightly better… I helped the sweetest old man who couldn’t see very well, so I read him the cards for mother’s day. It was pretty fun. He got two different mother’s day cards, one I couldn’t tell who it was for and one for his wife. Then he needed an anniversary card, but his wife was in the store so he was like “shhhhhhh”. So we went to the anniversary section and found him a card, he also had a hearing aid so I had to speak right into that so I could speak softly but so that he could hear. Pretty funny. He was very thankful. And then I checked out a lot of people and did some work on the card section. It is good but it’s not AMAZING. After that I went home and started going through the organics bin! We got some good stuff, including avocados so I can make some GUAC! Yum-o. Last night for dinner we split a ribeye steak and also had salad (all organic), peppers and onions grilled (onions were organic), and asparagus (organic) with cheese sauce. Mom, Geoff was a little bit skeptical of the cheese sauce but he LOVED IT. He couldn’t get enough! I told him I’d never had it much because it seems like Dad always gobbled it up every year and no one else got at it. Geoff said he’d have to be fighting Dad to get some! It was funny. He made it of course because I have no patience for things like melting cheese or chocolate or anything that could burn. Tonight while I’m at cake class he’s going to cut up some mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, and onions, oh and maybe a sirloin, for us to fondue up tonight. We still have stuff left over to make the dill sauce plus all the veggies so we are gonna do that! And we got another leek and Geoff was like “pleeeeeease more leek rings!” I didn’t know he liked them that much. Well, when we were finishing up with dinner, the doorbell rang and I opened it, and it was someone in a motorcycle helmet that said “gimmie all your money”. I thought at first it was my roommate Brad and his girlfriend Carmen, but it was Kendra and Beau!!! They were out on their motorcycles for the first time this year so they had to ride a bit to keep the batteries going, so they came to visit us! They stayed an hour or so and we had a really nice time! I love them. And they invited us to a BBQ at their house next week. We talked about me working at Hallmark and they said “ya know, if you’re going to have a second job, you better LOVE it. If you don’t need it and you don’t love it, what the heck is the point? It’s one thing to leave your ‘real’ job and say yippie I get to go to my fun job now, but if you’re not doing that, then quit!” So I think that pretty much summed everything up for me. I’m going to try Saturday (a weekend day) and then make my decision from there! But yeah, so it was a super fun night last night. Hope everyone is having fun in IC!
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Tuesday
This weekend was pretty good... Friday Geoff and I opted not to go to the Way and instead work on a secret project which shall be announced in the future when and if the time is right.
Saturday I went to Aqua Fit at the gym with Cindy - what a debacle! The class was hilarious and the instructor was quite interesting. She was a 42 year old mother of 5 who at one point jumped into the pool with her clothes on. Crazy. Anyway, after that I met Katie at Starbucks and then went to Old Navy. Then Geoff and I went to Russell St. BBQ for dinner... it was the best food I've ever had there! After that we met Cindy and her husband and another couple at a place called Amigos II for cocktails. Fun!
Sunday I went to church at Solid Rock again. I was in one of those moods where I did NOT want to go to church... and I was like "well, I'll go and see what happens". I remained in my bad mood throughout the entire time until the very last song... and then it was great. I was glad I went. After that I went to Muchas Gracias and had a breakfast burrito... sooooo good. Then I said hello to Geoff at work. After that I took a nap, packed up for my cake class, and off I went! It lasted about 3 hours but it was soooo fun, I love the new flowers I learned! Then I made a salad, watched a tiny bit of Blood Diamond, and went to bed.
Yesterday I walked the golf course with Geoff, Eric, and Trevor after work, then Geoff and I went to Lloyd Center so he could eat dinner at Steak Escape. Then we went to Cheesecake Factory where Geoff got some cheesecake for dessert and we stopped by his mom's house to say hello. I was SO TIRED because I slept really poorly Sunday night, so I wasn't much fun.
Today I am making chicken salad wraps (I am using wraps instead of bread because we actually have tortillas around the house and I want to use stuff up! - basically I am just using this recipe for the actual chicken salad part) and leek rings for dinner. Even though I love WATCHING the Food Network, I never actually cook anything from it, so this will be a first. As an added bonus, this will use up some celery, onion, leeks, spinach, and lettuce from my veggie bin. To be 100% honest - that was the main reason I remembered these recipes, I was TRYING to come up with something I could do with my veggies. They are definitely accomplishing the goal of making me try new recipes and eat more veggies. YEAH!! :)
I also need to get my hair cut, stop by Target and the grocery store for a few things, color my hair, and make fondant flowers for my class on Sunday. Tomorrow I start work at Hallmark (which will last until 8:30) and Thursday I have a class at the gym and cake class (which lasts until 8) so this is my last full evening to get things done before I leave for Phoenix Friday morning. Lots lots lots to do! It will get done though. And I'm super excited about making my dinner! And work at Hallmark! And cake class. And Arizona!!! YEAH!!! It's gonna be a good rest of the week!!
Saturday I went to Aqua Fit at the gym with Cindy - what a debacle! The class was hilarious and the instructor was quite interesting. She was a 42 year old mother of 5 who at one point jumped into the pool with her clothes on. Crazy. Anyway, after that I met Katie at Starbucks and then went to Old Navy. Then Geoff and I went to Russell St. BBQ for dinner... it was the best food I've ever had there! After that we met Cindy and her husband and another couple at a place called Amigos II for cocktails. Fun!
Sunday I went to church at Solid Rock again. I was in one of those moods where I did NOT want to go to church... and I was like "well, I'll go and see what happens". I remained in my bad mood throughout the entire time until the very last song... and then it was great. I was glad I went. After that I went to Muchas Gracias and had a breakfast burrito... sooooo good. Then I said hello to Geoff at work. After that I took a nap, packed up for my cake class, and off I went! It lasted about 3 hours but it was soooo fun, I love the new flowers I learned! Then I made a salad, watched a tiny bit of Blood Diamond, and went to bed.
Yesterday I walked the golf course with Geoff, Eric, and Trevor after work, then Geoff and I went to Lloyd Center so he could eat dinner at Steak Escape. Then we went to Cheesecake Factory where Geoff got some cheesecake for dessert and we stopped by his mom's house to say hello. I was SO TIRED because I slept really poorly Sunday night, so I wasn't much fun.
Today I am making chicken salad wraps (I am using wraps instead of bread because we actually have tortillas around the house and I want to use stuff up! - basically I am just using this recipe for the actual chicken salad part) and leek rings for dinner. Even though I love WATCHING the Food Network, I never actually cook anything from it, so this will be a first. As an added bonus, this will use up some celery, onion, leeks, spinach, and lettuce from my veggie bin. To be 100% honest - that was the main reason I remembered these recipes, I was TRYING to come up with something I could do with my veggies. They are definitely accomplishing the goal of making me try new recipes and eat more veggies. YEAH!! :)
I also need to get my hair cut, stop by Target and the grocery store for a few things, color my hair, and make fondant flowers for my class on Sunday. Tomorrow I start work at Hallmark (which will last until 8:30) and Thursday I have a class at the gym and cake class (which lasts until 8) so this is my last full evening to get things done before I leave for Phoenix Friday morning. Lots lots lots to do! It will get done though. And I'm super excited about making my dinner! And work at Hallmark! And cake class. And Arizona!!! YEAH!!! It's gonna be a good rest of the week!!
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