OMG

Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant. PREGNANT. I can't even believe it! Holy cow!

***

Also? In case anyone was wondering or anyone cares, I still have the ability to test well when it comes to the arena of academia. I aced the final and the paper in Human Development. And I seriously, seriously aced them, as in got perfect scores on both. Which I didn't think was possible and I know is exceedingly obnoxious and really, who CARES about grades, right?

....


I DO. Gah! I am trying SO HARD not to, but the second I got the e-mail from my professor, I ran to find Alex to share my good news. And then I called my mom. Which I thought was funny. I am 27 years old and my initial reaction is still to tell mommy so she can be proud of her little girl. But really, my mom is so cute and supportive, you can't not tell her. And I knew that if anyone in this world would be unabashedly proud and not at all alarmed at my inability to NOT geek out, it'd be her.

Sorry to share this. I even made the conscious decision not to blog about this when I found out, because, seriously, WHO CARES? But it's my blog and I care, dangit! I'm just so relieved that my hard work paid off! And that I'm learning something in a field that I'm really excited about and interested in. Plus, I am SHOCKED that I did so well. I had so much going on this semester (wedding...funeral...), that I had prepared myself to get less than stellar grades. I'm just so happy with myself and the results.

Should I delete this? I might delete this. Maybe I will. I'll sleep on it first, though.

***

In other news, I am thisclose to finishing Christmas shopping for my side of the family. Yes, just my side. Alex's side of the family has decided to wait until after we all get back in town. Which is fine by me because I am SUCH a slacker gift buyer.

However, I am pleased to report that I managed an amazing present score today when I purchased my father's "showstopper" gift. Giving gifts is a big deal in my family, and I am sure part of it has to do with my state of only child-ness. (Proper English!) Also, I just think my parents are into gift giving. Well, at least my mom is. My dad is into letting her buy whatever. Does that count?

My father usually will give me a short list of items he might enjoy as a gift. And every year, I try to purchase those items and maybe one or two more to surprise him with. This system has been exceedingly helpful these past few years and I have come to expect, nay, rely on these lists.

Well this year, my father has decided to be difficult. He doesn't "need" anything. There isn't anything he can really think of that he "wants." There's nothing that is catching his eye or tickling his fancy or even slightly appealing. NOTHING. The one thing he has mentioned is replacement razors for this electric shaver. Seriously. Replacement razors?

Tonight, I had a total breakdown in Wal-Mart. I couldn't think of anything at all to please him. Nothing. I called my mom and we had a pow wow in the bathroom furniture aisle. Still nothing. NOTHING. I was so frustrated and upset. I know that it's the thought that counts, but I totally view gifts as an expression of my love and a gift card to Wal-Mart simply does not convey that sentiment.

I finally gave up and headed to Kohl's. I get my love of clothes from my father and he always likes the ties and shirts I pick out. I picked out a snazzy tie, a cotton non-iron shirt (Important! Because my mom refuses to iron!), and as a bonus, a chenille throw. All nice things, but nothing really amazing. No home run. No show stopper.

And then I saw it. In the men's coats, there on display right by the aisle, a black leather jacket. It was gorgeous. And perfect. And yes, I know, PETA will hate me, but my dad loves leather. Seriously. Loves it. Always wants to go in leather stores and look at the leather items and lovingly caress them. I called my mom and told her my idea and her reaction confirmed it. She said, "He would love it, but he would NEVER buy one himself." That is the classic sign of the perfect gift. And to add to this great find, I also had a coupon for 15% off all purchases. And then when I checked out, I got to scratch off the super special coupon and got 20% off instead. It was a sign, people! A sign!

So now I have a beautiful leather jacket to give my dad that he is totally not expecting. I am so excited and so relieved. I can't wait to give it to him and see the look on his face. And hopefully, PETA won't be able to find us.

Living Vicariously

Many, many, many congratulation go out to my dear friend Philly who got engaged tonight! Yee haw! You can see a picture of the happy couple and the gorgeous ring here. I'm obnoxiously excited for these two and it has taken everything within me to not call and tell people myself. Ha! However, I did get to tell Alex and my mom. (She says, "Congratulations!" by the way.) Granted, I didn't really "tell" Alex so much as "screamed/squealed" loudly in the car. Many thanks to him for not wrecking us as we left Bed, Bath, and Beyond.
Anyways, congratulations are in order to my dear friend. I couldn't be more happier for you both!

Updating

Forgive me, internet, I have ignored you. Things have happened! Let me share!

1. The mailman thought I was pregnant. I almost cried. Apparently the men of the world hate me.

2. I finally put up our Christmas Tree!
And lo, it is small and funny looking. But it was cheap and pre-lit! Alex and I are scrooges and hate spending tons of money on a Christmas tree. So we are hoping to find a good deal the day after Christmas this year. Also, please note that we do not own a real tree topper. This is because we are not actually adults.

3. I got my hair done! But I have yet to take a picture of it that I like. Howevever, I can give you a preview:
Why yes, yes it does look red. And no, that was not the point. I picked out a color called "warm caramel." As in, "I'M A BRUNETTE NOW!" But it turned out much more reddish than I intended. I suppose it's the Irish in me feeling feisty. Which...thanks a lot HAIR. I mean, it's a great color, but not what I was going for. At least Alex and I don't look related, which was my fear of dyeing it red.
Also, those are bangs you see. I think the bangs are freaking me out way more than the actual hair color. I walked into our friend's holiday party last night completely unnoticed. And two of my co-workers didn't recognize me yesterday. So yes, it is very different. But I also failed to take a picture of myself last night in my holiday-themed turtleneck. But no fear, we have yet another party to go tonight! And I will take pictures, I promise!


4. I woke up this morning to find lots of snow on the ground.
Very, very pretty. I enjoy walking outside in the snow. It's so quiet and awe-inspiring. I do not, however, enjoy driving in the snow. Fortunately, my amazing husband has volunteered to go purchase the ingredients necessary for our amazingly awesome cookies for the competition in tonight's party.

5. I made green bean casserole last night. Again, no pictures, but it was quite tasty if I do say so myself. And I made it in one our new Corningware dishes. So, you see, we are inching our way into legitimate adulthood.

Urgh

Today was kind of rough for me. I'm just not feeling well and it's kind of bringing me down. I'm at the weird beginning stage of getting sick and desperately trying to avoid it. But what can you do? You've got to get up and go to work and suffer through. I wasn't bringing my "A" game all day and I freely admit this. After work, I needed to run a few errands and the last one was at Target. I was desperate for some snowflake stationary to go in my snowflake Christmas cards this year and all Staples had to offer was 250 sheets of it. And while I am blessed with many friends, I don't have 250 of them that I want to send letters to. So I found myself in the Target parking lot finishing the last bit of my turkey sandwich. At that point, I felt like I was going to pass out in my car and so I decided I needed to eat something before I made my way into the store. Once I finished my delicious sandwich, I opened the door and then turn to unplug my phone from the charger. I looked up before I grabbed my purse and realized the guy next to me has come up to get in his car. I apologize and close the door. We had the following exchange:

"Thank you."

"No problem!"

Harmless, right? I grab my purse and get the trash to throw away and step out of my car. The guy has not left yet and instead, chooses to roll down his window.

"What do you mean, 'No problem?" Like, what does that mean? I said, 'Thank you' and you responded with 'No problem??"

At this point, I giggle and make a move to leave, because he can't be serious right? But he continues.

"No. I wonder what you meant by that. When someone says 'Thank you,' you say, "You're welcome,' or 'Have a nice day,' or nothing at all. But you said, 'No problem.' Why would you say that? What do you mean by that? What does that mean??"

I stare at him and say, "I don't know." At this point, I'm not thinking clearly and can only think, "Is this guy serious? Really? Who cares?" But no. He hasn't dropped it yet.

"No really, what do you think that means?"

I giggle uncomfortably and start looking around for back up. And also the best way to run away from this creep. He figures out that I'm not there for a fight, and (hopefully) that I don't give a rat's ass what he thinks and he concludes with, "Have a nice day." He rolls up his window and drives away.

Sadly, there is no one around to pick my jaw up from off the ground. I proceed towards the store and feel disbelief that someone would really take umbrage with such a stupid phrase. And then I pause and say out loud, "Blog post for tonight!"

Always the silver lining, eh?

I'm a Winner!

You may or may not know that NaBloPoMo offers prizes to those who participate. Many of these prizes are fantastic handmade goodies, the likes of which you can find at Etsy. As Alex can attest, I went through all of the links to the prizes and proclaimed multiple times in variable whiny pitches that I wanted to win a prize. I want a prize! Right now! Before my juice and nap!

So yes, I was totally stalking the site Sunday night when prizes were announced. And guess what? I WON A PRIZE. I know that comes as a shock to you, considering the title of this post, but it's true. I WON SOMETHING. As many of you know, I am neither lucky nor athletically gifted, so I usually don't win things. Unless you count that one time I won the Social Studies Fair in the 10th grade.

So yes, my prize is a lovely small quilt from Julie. I'm so excited I could throw up. And when it gets here, I will, of course, post multiple pictures of my awesome, hand made prize.

In other news, I took my final final today, so I am done with classes until January. That is a full month of non-school bliss, people. Celebrate with me!

Also, I have discovered that I have a weird new love for "Everything Little Thing She Does Is Magic" by The Police. Do not ask me how this song escaped my attention these 27 years of life, but it is true. But now, I have found it and I love it. Much to my disappointment, I discovered that Alex and I do not own a copy of this song. We have over 20,000 songs in our library and there is nary a Police compilation in there. :sigh: We do have a few singles and while "King of Pain" is freaking fantastic, it's no catchy magical feeling song sung by Sting. You know what I'm saying?

I should decorate my our Christmas tree. I haven't done that yet, which makes me a bad American, I think. But I have excuses so hopefully the Christmas Police do not take me away. Hopefully. At least not before my quilt arrives!

Things I have Learned in Married Life

Alex's favorite sandwich is turkey, pickle, and mayo on wheat.

Sarcastic jokes delivered in the wrong tone lead to fights about college football. (Stupid, stupid fights.)

Just because one of us has a key to the back door, doesn't mean the other one does. And just because that back-door-keyless person has a key to the front door, does not mean that person can open that freakish, old, impossible front door.

Guessing if the envelope contains either a Christmas or a sympathy card is a fun game!

My dog is not annoying. Yours definitely is.

Two computers + two dogs + two blankets + one space heater = good times in an extremely small room.

Deciding to cuddle instead of studying might not help ones grades, but does indeed help one feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. And outside. Because it's cold. Have I mentioned that it's cold? Because it's cold.

Louisiana for Christmas is an excellent idea.

Oh dear

Alex really loves college football. His favorite team, by far, is Ohio State. This is completely understandable considering he grew up in the same city as the university. Also? They're pretty darn good.

While I cannot match Alex in his fervor, I, too, am a college football fan. Particularly of the SEC. Which is understandable considering I grew up in the same southern area my entire life. LSU, in particular, has a special place in my heart, what with the almost attending there and the fact that half my class did and it was the closest big university to my hometown.

Up until this point, there was OSU and there was LSU and never the twain shall meet. Right? Right?? WRONG.

Tonight, it became official.






















Yikes. Stay tuned to see if the Cora/Alex union can survive January 7th.

Day 30 - Over and Out

Oh, NaBloPoMo, what can I say to you? You forced me to post during an extremely difficult time in my life. And for that, I kind of hate you. And yet, I also kind of love you for it. It was nice to have you to look forward to everyday. Even on the days where I had nothing at all to really post about, I was forced to come over and say something to the faithful internets who read this site. And now that I've done it, I feel proud of my accomplishment. So today, I am thankful for you, NaBloPoMo. You are like a habit I can't quit and I will now be entering blogger rehab because of you. But if loving you is wrong, then I don't want to be right.

Day 29 - That it's over? Almost?

NaBloPoMo is killing me. I don't know. What am I thankful for? That the paper is over? That we are making it through this time? I feel like a broken record right now.

Alex and I have this fleece/down comforter that I love. It is keeping me warm right now and it makes me feel so happy. A laptop, a comforter, and reruns of America's Next Top Model. That's a pretty good night, I think.

Y'all, Sweeney Todd looks WEIRD.

Day 28 - Almost There

I'm almost there for NaBloPoMo and I'm almost there with this semester. Coming up, I've got two finals, three one page papers, one self-study paper, and one essay left. Three classes, three days. Interesting, isn't it? But I can't talk about work, which is what I spent the majority of my day doing. And then I went to class and it was super, mega, major depressing because we talked about death and dying. At least I felt like an expert.

The one thing I can talk about from work is that I'm officially in charge of decorating the office for Christmas. That should be a good times. Hmmm...that's not so much interesting either.

Anyways, I can do make it through the next week and then I will be free for a month. I can do this! And how will I do it? With the help of sweet, sweet sleep. Which I am about to partake in. Now. Good night.

Day 27 - DOUBLE SPACED PAPERS

Now, I know I'm a little out of practice, but for some reason, I thought that my paper that is due tomorrow needed to be single spaced. And it is supposed to be 7 - 10 pages long. That is a long paper. Why did I think that? Did I have to write single spaced papers at OBU all the time? Maybe I did.

Anyway, I just realized that APA style is double spaced. DOUBLE SPACED. I just went from having around 2 1/2 pages done to having 5 1/2 pages done! And I haven't even added in my references yet!!! I feel like Christmas came early this year.

P.S. I know this is shallow. The visitation and funeral were really wonderful and moving and supportive. But I have GOT to get this paper done and sadly, it is more important at the moment. Thanks again to everyone for their support during this difficult time. Hopefully I can resume normal updates Thursday...or Wednesday night if class doesn't kill me.

Day 26 - Eeesh

Hi! Have you met me? Because I am addicted to school. I love it and can't get enough of it and I always, always, always make it my #1 priority over everything else. But tonight is the visitation for my father-in-law (That still feels really weird to type. I have in-laws. Odd.) And what else is tonight? It's my last class before my final next week! Ack! Ack! What do I do? Where do I go? I cannot express to you how much it bugs me to miss this class. I am an over achiever in every sense of the word when it comes to academia, particularly when it comes to class attendance. I never skipped a class in undergrad until my senior year. And then? It was only once so I could read and be prepared for a different class later in the day. THAT is how big of a nerd I am. (The class I skipped? Human Development. Ironic that I am now taking it for real in graduate school five years later, eh?) So it is paining me. Seriously, PAINING me to miss it.

The point? Is there one? Did I really come to my blog to complain about missing class when there is a family member to be mourned? No, I'm not. But as I lay awake this morning stressing out about school and life and getting everything little thing done, I became convinced that the best thing to do is skip class and go to the visitation. Which, in my defense, was never a doubt in my mind. But this morning, I experienced a true moment of clarity while I was wrapped up in a blanket with Murphy on one side of me, Parsnip on my chest, and Alex snoring on the other side. Because at the end of my life, I know I will look back on this and be glad I went. And that I can't even properly describe how important it is to be a supportive wife, daughter-in-law, and sister-in-law. I'm a part of a much bigger family than the one I grew up in. And I like it. And I'm glad I get to be there with them and trudge through the difficulties of life together. That is far more important than whether or not I ace that final.

So if you need me tonight, you know where I'll be.

Day 25 - Photo Mania

Retroactive pictures to make up for the previous posts where I kept saying that I'd post pictures if only I had my camera cord. Well, well, well, today I have my camera cord and today, I will post picutres.

Remember when I talked about my super cute dogs? This is Murphy charming the socks off of anyone within a five mile radious. This is his classic Murph-dog pose.

Next, we have Parsnip in her red hoody sweatshirt ready for the Ohio State/Michigan game.

This picture is my personal favorite. She was exhausted and done with our stupid human ways before people even arrived at the house.


As many of you know, I would NOT SHUT UP about Republican Pie for about a week leading up to Thanksgiving. So without further ado, here are pictures of its greatness and wonderfulness in full splendor.


MMMMMMMMM! Many thanks to my aunt for hooking me up with this recipe. And many thanks to Alex who cooked it. What? You thought I had really learned how to cook? Why do that when I married a man who loves cooking and is WAY better at it than me?

And finally, our family portrait. This might just be our Christmas Card picture this year. (Spoiler!)

Aren't we adorable? Yes, I know we are. But you can chime in if you want.

So today, I am thankful for my camera for preserving the Good Things of Thanksgiving 2007. It was our first of many and I'm thrilled that I couldn't have a better family to begin new traditions with.

Day 24 - Creature Comforts

Today, I am thankful for warm showers and beds and peace and quiet. A restful today to end a difficult week and a chance to recover before another difficult week begins.

Day 23

Alex's father passed away last night at the age of 58. All of this occurred after I posted yesterday's peppy post. Obviously, it put a damper on the day.

My father-in-law battled lymphoma for the past 11 months, and now it's over. It's weird and surreal and I'm not sure how much it has affected us all yet. But right now, they are arrangements to make and suits to dry clean. I am finding it a bit difficult to feel grateful today. I'm sure you understand.

Hug your parents today if you can.

Day 22 - Thanksgiving

Two posts today!

My first Thanksgiving with my new family has gone pretty well. Alex and I began the day by heading out to the grocery store to pick up a few last minute Thanksgiving Day treats. We also got to pick up an edible arrangement that a friend of the family sent. We then went back to the house and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, which I do pretty much every year. Something about the spectacle fascinates me. Also? I ate doughnuts and fruit during the parade. What a life.

Afterwards, I talked to my parents and my grandmother and then we all ate together. The meal was delicious and our Republican Pie was AMAZING. Unfortunately, I don't have my camera cord with me, but I do have a few pictures of the half eaten success. I'll have to post those later. But everyone loved it and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that I got to bring something unique from my family to share with my new one.

After dinner, we had our official nap time. My future sister-in-law and I have been checking out the Black Friday Ads, watching TV, and of course, eating pie.

I still miss my mommy, but I can't complain. Today has been going pretty well. And we've got Catch Phrase to play tonight and Grey's Anatomy to watch. Happy Thanksgiving, y'all. I hope yours was as great as mine.

Day 22 - Happy Anniversary!

Today marks two months of married bliss for Alex and me. Woo!

Day 21 - Doggy Dogs

One of the things that caused a bit of nervousness when I first met Alex, was how our dogs would mesh. Parsnip is an 8 pound Momma's girl who is a total priss. Murphy is a 40 pound Pound puppy who means business. Alex was confident they would be best buddies when they met. I was not. So one day, with slight trepidation, I took Parsnip over to Alex's house and let the games begin. We decided to bring Parsnip inside first and get her comfortable with her surroundings. Then we brought Murphy in and to his credit, he was really gentle and kind with her. However, Parsnip did not care. All she saw was a huge beast with big teeth and she immediately jumped into my arms and did not budge the ENTIRE time Murphy was within her vicinity. It took Parsnip weeks to get used to Murphy. I brought her over often, so she could get the hang of things, and eventually I started leaving her at Alex's house all the time. We basically forced their odd couple parenting, but it has worked out. They are now best buddies, and while this can be annoying when they are wrestling and all you want to do is SLEEP. But it's fantastic to have two happy dogs who love both their owners.

I'd post pictures, but I'm at the in-laws without picture access. Which I feel is doing the dogs an injustice, because they are both seriously cute. But what's a girl to do? Post this instead?
This is from last year. And yes, I am spooning with the dogs. And no Parsnip's eyes aren't actually glowing an evil green. She's just not a photogenic little booger.

Back to the in-laws, my brother-in-law brought his Jack Russell and Golden Retriever up here, so we have four dogs running like mad in this house. I am thankful they are full of life, yes. I would also be thankful if they would all CALM THE HECK DOWN.

Day 20 - Friends

They are amazing and I love them all. Today, I received three concerned e-mails based on the state of this blog and a cryptic e-mail promising something happy in the real mail. And that is so fantastic. Y'all lift me up and help keep me going. Thank you.

Day 19 - Well, dangit

The thing I'd really like to write about, I can't, because it's related to things I don't want to blog about. And it's not like I DON'T want to blog about it, I just feel like it's something I can't blog about. Which is annoying. Seriously. But today was a good day! Alex and I celebrated by going out to LaRosa's, so I could force him to try their Montgomery Inn Pizza. Which is weird that I like it because it combines barbecue sauce and pizza, two things I don't overly enjoy. But when you combine them, it's like magic. Magic I can eat. Which is the best.

In other exciting news that I CAN talk about, I finally, at long last, made my hair appointment! So Wednesday at 5:30 Eastern/4:30 Central, I'll be cutting and coloring my hair. And no, I'm not doing it myself. I am paying a professional to the snipping and dying and handling of the tin foil. I'm extremely excited because I have been needing something fun and (slightly) shallow to look forward to in this (pretty much) drab time in life.

Another exciting thing? The book club my friends and I will be starting this week. Which is excellent. I wish my new book would arrive in time before Thursday, so I could have something to entertain myself with while Alex sleeps in a turkey-induced coma. Instead, I'll just have to make due with eating half a pan of Republican pie.

So good things are happening. Which is awesome, but some very bad things are happening too. And there's nothing we can do about the bad, but hold on and pray. Which we are doing, but the good things sure do help get us through.

P.S. I'm not pregnant. I just re-read this and thought it could be easily construed as a bun in the oven being the good news. Which it is not. At all. I had a glass of wine at LaRosa's too, just so you know.

Day 18 - Cable

What would I do without America's Next Top Model? My life would be more intelligent and my time better spent. But I like it anyway. Because...seriously. I love that show. And what else would I do on the weekend when there is nothing to do, but sit. And wait.

Day 17 - Wii

Today, I am thankful for the Wii and Catch Phrase and Family Fued DVD 2nd Edition. Good times with friends on a cold afternoon and evening. What more can you ask for?

Day 16 - ...

Today was incredibly boring. Boring to the point where I called Alex on the way home and sang him songs and asked him random questions and said, "I love you," at least 12 times. Bless his heart.

I'm really not sure what today's thankfulness is. I'm hoping it'll come to me while I blog and then I can go back and change this title. But then again, I could just be thankful for ellipses. They ARE pretty cool.

NaBloPoMo has definitely taught me that I'm not cut out to be a writer. Seriously. How do people write every single freaking day!? It's ridiculous.

Alex just got home and we are going to visit his parents this evening. He just asked me where my OSU jersey is. Because I was going to look for it when I got home. Guess what I didn't do? Tomorrow is the big OSU/Michigan game. Yay? I have no idea. I'm so confused. I think it's the dish soap.

I just slammed my face into Alex's stomach, only to hit his phone which was in some super secret pocket on the inside of his jacket. Ow.

God love ya, Internet. Tomorrow will be better. Seriously.

Day 15 - I'm Not Dead

This morning, I hastily washed out my travel mug. I usually do this every morning, because I am both lazy and forgetful. I used our snazzy new all in one soap scrubber thingy. I rinsed it out and wiped it down with a paper towel. Then, as per usual I re-filled it with water to make the coffee. As I was pouring the water into the coffeemaker, I thought the water looked a little misty. I assumed it was my eyes messing with me since it was so early in the morning and I went along my merry way.

I finished my coffee at work and went to rinse out the cup. I poured it out while filling it with water and what do I see? DISH SOAP BUBBLES COMING OUT OF MY CUP. Lots and lots of dish soap. Apparently, that misty water wasn't just a figment of my imagination. I hadn't washed out all of the dish soap. So instead, I drank it. All of it. There was dish soap in my belly.

I immediately walked into the office and asked everyone if dish soap kills. They said it did not. I tried to drink my new cup of coffee, but all I could taste was dish soap. I am glad I did not die.

Day 14 - Cell Phones

Alex and I are married now. Revelation, I know. And as such, that means we are now obligated to spend holidays as a unit. Sadly, our families live a good 900 miles away from each other. Which means that we can't split the day in two and spend time with both of our parents. Which means, that yes, my first Thanksgiving not in Tennessee with the family is upon us. And I knew this was going to happen to eventually, but DANG, it is WAY harder than I thought it would be. Seriously. You'd think months of mental preparation would have me better....prepared.

Which leads me to the point of the ramblings. I called my mommy and almost cried and it was good. And there was night and there was morning and I will make it. Alex is going to attempt my aunt's famous Republican pie and I will be a good wife and daughter-in-law and Thanksgiving will be had.

Day 13 - Mayonnaise/Miracle Whip (Or possibly parenthesis) (Or tangents)

I just realized that everything I chose to eat for "dinner," (I use this term loosely since I have yet to reach "full" status) involved Miracle Whip. Which is a perfectly acceptable substitute to mayonnaise as far as I'm concerned. I realize this is sacrilege in parts of the south, but I'm going there. I'm an honorary Midwesterner as it is.

Tonight, I had a pre-run (Which just didn't go well and I had to give up less than half way through. I am convinced that I have bad form. And I am unsure how to correct it. But I've got to be doing something wrong because I simply refuse to believe that I am just this big of a whuss.) snack of two lettuce wraps each with one piece of turkey bacon, 2% cheese, and Miracle Whip. And then post-run (Which again...not really a run...more of a walk punctuated with deep intakes of breath filled with PAIN.), I had a can of tuna mixed with Miracle Whip. And it was fabulous. (I almost just wrote "fabu." How's THAT for a call back to my past??)

I'm not sure if that's gross or not, but I really enjoyed them and it got me to thinking about how much I prefer mayo over mustard. Which is sad because mustard is infinitely better for you, but mayo just tastes so darn good. I occasionally treat myself at Subway and get light mayo instead of spicy mustard. Yes, I really am blogging about this. Is this boring? Am I boring? I'm so sorry.

Also now? I'm baking muffins in the world's most awesome toaster oven. Which doesn't include Mayonnaise at all, but I had to brag that I'm baking something, even though it's a pre-made muffin mix, so all I had to do was add milk. But I poured it! Into little muffin cups! That counts as me being a domestic housewife, right? Right??

Day 12 - Sleep/Naps

Sorry about yesterday's post. I have no excuse for it other than sheer laziness combined with financial worrying. (Needless worrying, might I add. Alex and I aren't mere moments away from the poor house, don't you worry. I just want to be a better financial planner and I am woefully inexperienced in this.)

So yes, today? Today, I cannot wait to go to sleep. I actually just spaced out and wrote that previous sentence incorrectly.

For whatever reason, I hate going to sleep on Sunday nights. I'm not sure why because my job does not suck in any way, shape, or form, so there is no reason for me to be all, 'I don't wanna!' But I do it anyway and by the time 2 am rolls around and I'm cranky and exhausted, I think, 'Okay, maybe I'll go to sleep.' So when the alarm clock goes off at 6 am, I am really unhappy and not well rested. What a great way to start the week! What makes this even more incredibly stupid, is that I also have class on Monday, immediately following work. And today I had a Pampered Chef party to attend immediately after class. Why, oh why, do I torture myself like this?

So I can't wait to go to bed tonight and sleep a peaceful sleep and dream a lovely dream, preferably including chocolate and a million dollars.

Day 11 - Exercise

I went for a run/walk today at the gym. It was great and I am so glad that I have a gym that has locations near here. I am once again looking to run the Jingle Bell Run this year and I am woefully out of shape. So today was a step in the right direction. Let's hop I can stick with it.

I realize this is kind of lame, but it's all I got. Oy, I am tired.

Day 10 - iPod(s)

Here's an embarrassing revelation: Alex and I own a total of four iPods between the two of us. I brought two into our relationship - a now-ancient 4th generation 40GB and a 1st generation 4GB nano. Then, for our wedding gifts, Alex and I gave each other iPods. Which is ridiculous, I know, but we didn't plan it that way, I promise. I got him an 80GB classic and he gave me an 8GB touch. So we now have a total 132GB of digital music storage. Excessive? Completely. But do I love it? Completely.

I can't really put my finger on why I am so in love with the iPod, but my obsession runs deep. I take, at minimum, two of them with me at all times. The nano is good for working out (not that I've done that recently....) and the new touch plays videos and has wi-fi capabilities. So if I'm ever in Panera Bread, I am hard pressed to be torn from my little black machine of goodness. I had to get the oil changed in the Sentra recently, and I busted out the touch and watched an episode of "The Office." Which was great because I was laughing in McDonald's, kind of like an idiot. I looked up at one point and this old man was watching me. I gave him an embarrassed smile and he smiled back, also embarrassed. Because he probably thought I was crazy.

Day 9 - TP

Toilet paper.

I would be really sad without it. I've traveled internationally only a few times in my life, but every time I have, I have come back with a renewed appreciation for toilet paper and America's septic tank systems. They are amazing.

I can't talk about this subject too much, because that'll just get gross. But toilet paper is just so great. I believe that if you think about it you'll agree. Who hasn't experienced the frustration of reaching for a wonderful square of pillowy softness to realize that they are out? That is just the worst feeling. I hate it when that happens so much, that I started buying toilet paper in bulk and scattering the rolls within easy reach throughout the house. I also got married to ensure that there would be someone to hear my cry for more toilet paper. That's right. I just said I got married so that someone could fetch me toilet paper when needed. It's true. That's what love is. Bringing you toilet paper when you are otherwise disposed. Why yes, I am a romantic, thank you very much.

Day 8 - Not sure how to word it....

Well, I think I'm thankful for the fact that the nurse was wrong. Sort of. Truthfully, I'm incredibly pissed off that a professional health care provider would grossly misdiagnose a patient and then not even bother to come back by when he miraculously woke up from the coma that she said that he would DIE IN.

Ahem.

So I'm thankful that the terminal coma of death was a false alarm. This is true. I just wish it hadn't have happened at all because to go through that kind of emotional trauma and then realize that it's not happening, but that it still will eventually, is just awful in so many ways.

Look, I've been positive for an entire week on here. Did you think I could really go an entire month without complaining some?

In genuine, untainted, non-angry news, my mom had surgery today and everything went well. She's now resting at home with her arm propped above her heart. For the next three days. Should be a good time, eh?

Day 7 - Fast Cars

Today, I am thankful for cars that can bring you places you need to be quickly. Especially when important and sad things are happening. More details to come as things happen. Also? Cancer sucks.

Day 6 - Warmth

Today, I am thankful for blankets, sweatshirts, gloves, scarves, hats, and socks. It's finally gotten cold and this old house is insanely drafty. I'm glad I can bundle up and stay warm and toasty. I just need to find some hot chocolate and I'll be ready for winter.

Day 5 - Kicking Cancer's Butt

When I was 12, I met a girl with curly hair who was quiet and shy but talked a WHOLE lot when you got to know her. We forged a lifelong friendship one night at a Mandeville High School football game and I count her among my nearest and dearest friends. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and I know I can tell her any problem that I could ever possibly have and she will listen (or read..which is most likely the case) and respond with concern and love. Her entire family is the bee's knees and I love them all dearly.

This past August, her little sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. This came as a huge shock since she is only 25 and there is no history in the family. Her sister immediately began chemotherapy and has valiantly fought the disease. Since the disease was fairly advanced, they have been hitting her with lots of fun drugs as precautionary measures. A part of those cautionary measures was to have a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.

Today, she had the surgery. And today, they examined the tissues and could not find any tumors. I couldn't be more thankful that such a beautiful person is winning this difficult battle and that such a beautiful family has great news to celebrate today.

Day 4 - New School

Well, it's Sunday evening, so that must mean I'm doing everything BUT homework. I have a tendency to get REALLY motivated about housework whenever I have homework to do. I'm sure Alex wishes I had a permanent homework assignment so the house would be cleaner at all times. So yes, Sundays seem to be designated cleaning day mainly because of my Monday class.

So while I would prefer Mondays not to be a long day where I have to run around like a crazy lady, I really love being back in school. I'm actually surprised at how much I like learning some of the most mundane things (read: fifty thousand theories that sound REALLY similar all the time). I was really nervous that I wouldn't be able to get into the swing of things again and it has been quite an adjustment. I'm not as motivated as I was in my undergraduate days (see: Blogging and watching The Amazing Race instead of doing homework assignment), but I think I have been able to pull it off pretty well so far.

For example, I have a different attitude than before and am focusing more on learning useful things, as opposed to my undergraduate career, in which I stressed and cried and at my way into a really great GPA that would go on to impress....no one. I have my diploma from OBU on display in our house and while Alex very sweetly tells me that I'm a smarty-pants, there really is no other benefit to my killing myself to graduate with a 4.0. So this time? I'm doing it differently. And I love it.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some amazing racers to watch and some final questions on counseling theory to write.

Day 3 - Diet Coke

I can't live without it. It makes my head feel better and perks me up. And I'm pretty sure that it will eventually find a cure for cancer. Just give it time.

Day 2 - Fruity

Today's delicious bit of thankfulness?

Fruit. I love it. And I feel like this sounds weird and shallow, but I seriously am in love with apples. I mentioned my idea to Alex last night and he kind of snickered because...fruit? That's something I'm thankful for? But it is! And I thought it'd be okay when I came up with this concept, because I didn't think I'd sound like such a cheeseball, but that's how it's turning out. Oh well, I can't help it. I'm hopelessly devoted to nature's sweet treats!

Anywayz, I'm thankful that I make enough money and live in a place where I can just waltz into a grocery store and pick up apples, grapes, strawberries, oranges, peaches, and pears. I can't seem to get enough of them, which is good because they are both yummy AND healthy. I also get really excited when I think about how I have an apple waiting for me as a snack every morning. And every time we go to my favorite brunch place, I get the fruit crepes. See? I wasn't kidding! I'm seriously in love with fruit. And I'm sad I already ate my daily apple, because I'd like another one right now. Can anybody out there deliver?

Day 1

In case you haven't noticed, I mainly blog when I feel like bitching. And while it's nice to have this outlet, it's portraying my life in a negative light. And frankly, my life rules. I'm the happiest I've ever been and I feel as though I'm doing the people in my life a disservice to only talk about things that are pissing me off. Plus, it has GOT to be a bummer for y'all to read.

So I'm lightening things up around here. Starting today. I am dedicating the month of the November to thankfulness. I came up with this plan while I was bored at work this morning. While making the new calendar on the white board (a.k.a. spacing out), I thought, "Self, why don't you write a happy post every day this month? OOOH! Let's draw a turkey on the calendar because it's Thanksgiving! Hey! I should write a thankful post everyday!" I even thought, "It's like that thing Leah did once with the posting everyday."

Turns out, that thing she did last year is starting today! Serendipity, ya'll! So I joined up here and posted the badge in the sidebar and there you go. I'm NaBloPoMo-ing it up all month long here at the Sand Palace.

So, back to my plan. I want to write a positive post everyday listing at least one thing for which I am thankful.

So....Day One of Thankfulness NaPoBloMo 2007, here we go!

Alex. My husband. Sound too obvious? Not so fast! Allow me to brag on my husband for a second. I have been out of coffee all week and can't remember for the life of me to buy some while I'm out and about. Last night, right before I fell asleep, I was all, "Ugh. I forgot coffee AGAIN. What the H, yo?" And then this morning, Alex wakes me up and asks if he can make me breakfast and coffee.

Which...that is weird. Alex hates morning. He hates them more than I do, and I hate them A LOT. If we could both somehow work it out to where we didn't have to rise until around 10 am, that'd be great for both of us. Sadly, my job requires me to be there at 8 am, so I am always the first one out of bed. I usually grab a pop tart and throw food at the dogs, all the while cursing about how I hate that I'm always running late. So the fact that Alex was awake and lucid before I had even gotten out of bed was a big deal.

I groggily replied, "Well...no coffee. I'm out." To which he responds, "Yes, yes you do have coffee." He got up early and went to the grocery store and purchased me coffee. Y'all. Amazing. And when I came downstairs? There was scrambled eggs, toast and a cup of coffee waiting for me. Not a bad way to start a morning.

See? My life rules.

P.S. Thanks for the hair color votes! I'm planning on getting it done in the next week or two and I will post pictures of the results then!

My Head. Still Aches.

Hi! I've come here to complain.

So the headaches have not gone away, despite my multiple doctor trips that have involved testing and prescription runs. My family doctor thought maybe it was my sinuses. This made sense to me because I do have a very persnickety set of them. I've struggled with my allergies all my life and living in the Land of Allergens has not helped. He prescribed some kind of steriod pack to reduce swelling or something (I was paying a lot of attention!) and sent me off to get a CT scan of said sinuses. He was pretty convinced I had a "sinus disease" which sounds way worse than a "sinus infection." Way to freak me out, dude.

So the test came and went without a hitch and he called me Monday to basically tell me that my sinuses are not really diseased or inflamed or infected or anything. My right sinus is angrier than my left...but that's it. Nothing else to explain the intolerable pressure in my head that I experience EVERY SINGLE DAY.

So my next stop on the tour o' doctors was the eye doctor today. I have been blessed with incredibly good vision and have always been extremely thankful that I don't have to worry about glasses or contacts. But I thought that maybe my eyes were weakening in my old age and the strain was hurting my head. (Side note: I kind of want to be an eye doctor now. I could totally blow air in people's eyes and then say "Better? Or worse?" over and over again. I hadn't been to the eye doctor since I was 6 or 7 and it was the same!) And to my (ridiculous, yes) disappointment, I have 20/15 vision. 20/15! My eyes are perfect! I don't need glasses at all! I have good, strong eye muscles (the only strong muscles I have, might I add) and no evidence of diseases or anything. Le sigh.

So we're back to the drawing board. I still have headaches. (I have one right now!) And it's not my sinuses or my eyes. My doctor doesn't think it's migraines, but maybe he's wrong. I really, really, really don't want to go back and get an MRI, but I also really, really, really don't want to get fired and divorced because the pressure in my head is making me really, really angry.

Anybody know anyone who can do brain exams on the cheap? I'll be a fantastic guinea pig!

Criss Angel makes me want to throw up in my mouth.

Rain, Rain....

Y'all, it has GOT to stop raining. The dogs are off their regular schedule and Alex and I can no longer handle cleaning up their messes. Murphy took care of "business" not once, but twice last night. I caught him in the act (ew!) in the kitchen last night after class. And then Alex and I headed down to the basement to zone out in front of the TV (OMG! Did you watch The Hills!? Brody and Lauren are SO going to date!), when the lovely smell of poop wafted up to our nostrils. Alex investigated, and low and behold, Murph dog had taken a dump RIGHT IN FRONT OF A FAN. So the smell was everywhere. Lovely.

And then today? Parsnip and Murphy took care of business on the living room floor. And when I got home from work? Murphy couldn't hold it until then because there was another "present" waiting for me in the living room. DOGS.

....

I was going to post a picture of the dogs here, but we can't find them. Oh, Alex.

In other news that doesn't involve expelling of waste, I made a doctor's appointment for Thursday and an eye doctor's appointment for Monday. I figure that between the two of them, someone could fix my head. I'm looking forward to it. Although the thought of going through a day in which I don't get a mind-splitting headache and lash out at others just seems so blah, you know? What else will I have to look forward to? Being nice and cordial? Being effective at work again? Smiling at my husband? What kind of life will that be!?

Coming out

Well, much like my beloved Dumbledore, I have been outed. No, not as a homosexual, but as a blogger.

I thought (naively, I know) that taking my writings elsewhere, under a different URL and with a different name would keep me safe and protected. Not so. It came to my attention today that many people read this blog who I thought had no clue it existed. So....hi y'all! Welcome...officially.

I'm not sure why I'm so surprised. I'm a lurker at best and a stalker at worse. I know everyone's MySpace, Facebook, and blog. I can point you to references and pictures that reveal parts of their lives that normal people would miss, but not me! No sir, I read about others' lives and then discuss them with those that I love and talk to normally. I just always assumed that I was safe. I knew it was a possibility, but without proof, I was fine living in fantasy land.

But now, I have proof in black and white. People who I didn't invite to read this blog, read it. Weird. I'm not really upset. I post my thoughts on the internet, so they are open game. Which is why I've worked really hard to keep this little piece of real estate as passive-aggressive-and-name-calling-free as possible. Sometimes, I don't succeed, but I've made a conscious effort to be as jerk-free as possible when I write. Which is WAY less fun and probably why I haven't posted in 97 days.

So, yeah, how 'bout that? I've posted thoughts on the internet and people have read them. Crazy how that works.

I'm totally getting a new template now.

P.S. The presentation didn't go so well. I think I bombed. Even my professor looked bored.

P.P.S I think I might have migraines. Either that or it's a tumor, so I'm sincerely hoping it's the former.

Procrastination

I'd pretty much rather be doing anything other than working on this wretched powerpoint presentation for my class tomorrow night. This list includes, but is not limited to:

Washing every dirty and newly un-boxed dish in this house.

Eating Cheesecake Factory leftovers.

Cleaning the baseboards.

Sweeping.

Looking at people's wedding pictures online. (People that I barely know.)

Going to Best Buy. And Wal-Mart. And Meijer.

Eating more Cheesecake Factory leftovers.

Sending e-mails about said presentation.

Blogging about said presentation.

Watching "I Love New York 2."

...

I really need to finish this blasted presentation. But the material is just so darn boring. I can't seem to rally myself to do it.

Also? My ex-boyfriend's MOM just sent me a friend request on myspace. That is just so weird to me. My initial thought is, "Go away, please." Is that mean? I hope not.

I have a headache. I need to turn the computer off and do something else. But I can't. Because of my STUPID presentation. Gah!

Best. Class. Ever.

Y'all! I just got out of Human Development and guess what we talked about?? Britney Spears! Seriously! She of the poor judgment and bad weave! We completely and totally analyzed her and EVERYTHING. I think I can die a fulfilled woman now. EEEEEE!

Mrs. Alex

I'm married! The wedding went really well, despite the few hiccups during the reception. I cried pretty much the entire wedding, but that's ok. :) I can barely type right now thanks to my fake nails. And sadly, Alex and I did not bring the camera cord with us, so I can't upload any pictures yet. Although, I did check it out and my camera definitely disappeared before the wedding...so...there aren't any pictures of Alex and I together on there. I'll just have to rely on the kindness of others (and a professional photographer) to see them. ;)

And I'm off...I'm honeymooning, kids! What am I doing blogging??

I'm just so sorry

I am a HORRIBLE blogger. I'm blaming all of this on the wedding moving up fiasco. And although this saddens me because I am missing out on great stories, I also take comfort in the fact that I've been so busy in my life living it, that I haven't had a chance to write, re-write, and then write again a blog post that I'll eventually delete. With that said, I sure do miss reflection sometimes. But I'm a busy Bride-To-Be with parents in town (they arrived tonight, first trip to Ohio EVER) and classes to go to (I got applause at my class tonight and my prof told me I don't have to remember anything from tonight's lecture). Today was my last day of work and class, so I will not be bound to any normal person activities for the next few days. Instead, I will be thinking this: 'I'M GETTING MARRIED SATURDAY. I'M GETTING MARRIED SATURDAY,' followed by a little jig. It's a pretty good feeling, though the stress of looking fat in my dress and that people will think my wedding blows keeps creeping into my head. But it's ok, right? Because, at the end of the day, Alex and I will be married and I can officially begin spending the money he makes with abandon. Or something like that.

All of that is to say that I truly am so, so sorry for neglecting you internet. I make no promises (certainly not this weekend) but I hope to be back soon.

Hugs and kisses! Cause I'm getting MARRIED!

Moving Along...

We have secured our marriage license. This is key in the process of getting married. So, that's one more thing down.

And we've gone over the program multiple times. And by "we," I mean "me." Alex, I believe, is tiring of the wedding preparation process and is ready to be done with it already. Not that I blame him. This constant state of stress and annoyance is getting to be a bit much. I'm not very focused on my studies (Did I mention I went back to school? Cause I went back to school. Graduate school. First semester. And I'm getting married. Hahahahahahahahaha! Timing couldn't be better!) and I have this creeping feeling that I'm falling behind and will reach the end of the semester and it'll be just like that dream where you go to class and it's your final and you're not prepared at all. Or naked. I mean, I'm pretty sure I won't show up to class naked, but it's that embarrassed, exposed feeling that's just so icky. Kind of like how Britney Spears must feel right now. (Oy! That poor girl.)

I've had the (unfortunate) experience of running into multiple people from my past these past few days. All of whom are people that I'd prefer to never see again and yet they keep popping up. These are people I haven't seen in years. Years! And then BAM! They're EVERYWHERE. Most of them I don't actually hold contempt for, it's just that when I see them, I immediately think nasty thoughts about myself and feel all icky and introspective-y in the worst way. And I'd much prefer to remain shallow and happy, thank you very much. So I'm just going to have ban half of the northern part of this city. Awesome. My friend Erin calls it "blacklisting." This is something I will steal from her. Now.

Did you know I'm getting married in less than 12 days? Because I am.
HO.
LY.
CRAP.

Yikes

So it's been over a month since I posted. My bad. A lot of crap has happened when has led to my silence. Mainly getting really devastating news about one of my soon-to-be family members. Which led to Alex and I deciding that the best course of action was to push the wedding up to September 22nd. Which is, oh, about three weeks away. I generally try not to think about it or I just feel like puking. That's a lot of work in a little amount of time, you know? And if you'll notice, the last post was on July 31st. And we decided to push the wedding up after that date. Yep. Life sucks sometimes, but it has been a blessing to see everything fall into place for the wedding. I also started grad school two weeks ago and so I am squeezing that into my frenzy of hair and florist and church and dress appointments. It's been fun and stressful and a complete roller coaster of emotions. But if I know that in the end everything will be okay. Alex and I will be married and I will be firmly on my way to becoming a full-fledged, gainfully employed person who enriches young lives for a living.

Now if only I can convince myself to FEEL that everything will be okay, we'd be good to go!

Allergies are for losers

I think the allergies are sucking the intelligence out of my brain. I feel so...cloudy and confused. Must...sleep....now....

Almost Here

It's 2:51 am. Approximately half of Alex's house is clean. Lana will be in Indianapolis at 11:20 am. I need some sleep. And possibly a massage.

I doubt there will be any posting this weekend...like how I wrote that as if that's different from normal? Anyways, Lana and I will be wreaking havoc on the midwest and we won't have time to do silly things like post on the internet.

Unless we have pictures of said havoc, in which case, we'll make time. We always do.

Sipping on some hatorade

I hate cleaning. I hate chapped lips. I hate allergies. I hate dog fur. ALL OVER THE PLACE. I hate hormones. I hate the lingering smell of Clorox on my hands. I hate being cranky.

I love my blog for letting me vent. God bless ya, internet.

Done!

I finished it around 6:15 this morning. It was fantastic in pretty much every way. And yes, I am very sad it's all over. I wish we had more HP goodness to look forward to.

Spoiled Potter

I love spoilers. I'm a spoiler-whore, if you will. I always want to know what is happenning on any tv show or movie before I see it. I scour the internet for information on shows and movies I will never watch. I am so bad, I will even tivo episodes of my favorites shows, read about it online, and then watch it. Just because I can't stand not knowing what is going to happen.

I am the same way with books. I always read the last few pages of the book first. I'll start any novel in good faith, but somehwere around page 30, I find my eyes wandering to the final pages and greedily reading the end. I've done this since I was a child. I always knew the end of every single Nancy Drew mystery before I was even halfway through the book. It's a compulsion. A disease.

But I am trying to curb my usual habits, so that I can savor every single drop of ink during the final Harry Potter book. I am so very sad that this series is ending and I really want to enjoy every twist and turn of the plot as I read it...and not with a sense of dread or expectation because I know how it will all turn out. The reason why I am choosing to do so, is because I read the last four Harry Potter books unspoiled and have found it to be so much more satisfying. J.K. Rowling is an amazing author and I enjoy going on the journey she has crafted.

But my problem is that the internet is trying to screw with me! Which brings me to the point of this post: BACK OFF INTERNET! Stop throwing spoilers/faux-spoilers my way! Stop posting early reviews, NEW YORK TIMES. Geezy petes people. Y'all are killing me here. Do you know how difficult it is for me to NOT click on those links? Do you know how easily a google search could find all sorts of Potter-y goodness? Agh. Hopefully I will make it until tomorrow night. At that point, I am afraid that someone near me will flip open the book, read the last few pages, and then announce the results to the world. Maybe I should bring ear plugs with me? Perhaps. I am glad I'll have Alex with me to wrench the book away from the second I start to flip to the last page myself. Whew. Thank god I've got a fiance who puts up with my obsessive-compulsiveness. Now, if only the internet would put up with it too!

Progress

I am over half way through. Take THAT craft gods! Bows cannot keep me down!

That's not to say that I don't have PLENTY more to go:

I'm also pleased to report that after hours (and I do mean HOURS) of work last night (an exciting Saturday, eh?), Alex finally got the reply cards to print properly. He has never been so attractive to me as he when he victoriously held up that white sheet of paper and yelled, "FINALLY!" We printed them all immediately, lest something would happen and we'd lose all his hard work.


Did I mention that we also had to get out a completely different printer for them to work? Because we did. I kind of hate Kodak and their new fancy pants printer right now. What good is it if it can't print on whatever size paper I want? We purchased this printer almost immediately after it came out with visions of easily printed invitations dancing in our heads. Plus, the ink is so inexpensive, we figured we'd be saving money in the long run.

I'm beginning to question this, because, not only would it not print the reply cards, but it has also decided to eat the reply envelopes. Witness exhibit A.

It has eaten a total of four reply card envelopes now. I hope Kodak knows we can now only send out 121 invitations and it's all their fault.

My Craft

Confession time: I am not crafty. I may be crafty in the sense that I am reasonably intelligent and posses the ability to outwit someone else. But I am not crafty in the sense of being able to produce crafts. Specifically girly crafts. Specifically wedding invitations.

Here's the deal with the invites: I got them on sale at Hobby Lobby. If Lana is reading this, she just yelled an obscenity and then threw something at her computer screen. Yes, I went to the Hob Lob and gave them some of my hard earned money. I apologize, my friend.

Anyway, I bought these do-it-yourself invitations because they were fairly cute, and more importantly, they were half off. And as much as I mock my mother and Alex for being cheapskates, I am one as well. And when I saw the opportunity to save a huge hunk of money in the wedding budget, I dove at it.

But the problem is that I changed my mind about the invitations. I bought them the day after Alex and I got engaged. (Yes, the day after. My mom had me at the store at 9 am, the morning after. She is committed, folks.) And that was two months ago. As those two months wore on, I saw other invitations that were cuter and more "me" and I began to resent my already purchased invitations.

So I decided to modify them to my liking. Which is where the problem comes in. I have NO IDEA what I'm doing. I went back to the store-that-shall-not-be-named and purchased some totally gorgeous brown ribbon and decided to use those to tie on the invitations. The problem is that I didn't know how tie a ribbon. I mean, I know how to tie my shoes, so I figured that was all there was to it. WRONG. My bows were all wonky and lopsided and decidedly very un-wedding-invitation looking. So I had to look up ONLINE how to tie a bow. That's how non-crafty I am. I had to ask the internet to help me. Tie a bow. That's just embarassing.

So now I have 125 invitations to make. That's 125 cuts of ribbon. And 125 bows to tie. And 125 times for me to curse myself, Hobby Lobby, and the western tradition of marriage. I always told myself (and others) that I would just purchase plain, simple, non-bow-related invitations when I got married. I should have stuck to my guns.

And don't even get me started on how the stupid printer will not print the reply cards correctly. I can feel blood boiling just thinking about it.

Not sure yet

The engagement photos were an initial success as of last night. I say this because Alex and I had a lot of fun. I'm not sure if they were a complete success because I haven't seen them yet. I must admit I'm a bit anxious about them, but I suppose I will just have to wait (im)patiently and hope for the best until the verdict comes in.

In other news, Alex and I are planning on doing some boating tomorrow and potentially this weekend. He mentioned briefly today that we may bring Parsnip along. As a result, I high tailed it to the closest snooty pet shop at the closest snooty mall and bought her this:

She's not excited. But I am! She was so miserable, and I didn't even make her pose for a bazillion pictures. I took three quick ones and then felt guilty and took the vest off and gave her a treat. She's now sleeping at my feet, because that event was so traumatic. Hopefully I will get less crappy pictures of her looking adorable in her faux Louis Vuitton vest soon.

(Notice the sundry tennis shoes and mail in the background. We are a neat couple, destined to have the cleanest house on the block.)

So yeah, Happy 4th of July everyone. I'm beginning this middle-of-the-week holiday by watching robots in disguise tonight. We'll see how that goes. Alex is not excited in the least. His (older) brother is excited beyond belief. This should be good.

Faux Engagement Photos

If you woke up this morning thinking, "Gosh, I'd really like to see 20 pictures of Alex and Cora," then today is your lucky day!

Tomorrow, we are taking our official, professional engagement pictures, so I decided we should scout out some good places to take pictures at the local arboretum. But before we left, I also decided that I needed to take practice pictures in Alex's backyard in order figure out what outfit I wanted to wear. As you can tell, it went really, really well:


Yes, the dogs were driving me crazy.

We asked (and by "asked," I mean, "told") Alex's little brother to come to the arboretum with us and take pictures, so we could get an idea of where exactly we wanted our pictures taken.

This was all my idea, by the way. I am the picture nazi in this relationship. Alex loathes getting his picture taken and avoids it at all cost. However, he has learned that he has to at least pretend to humor me, because I am obsessed with taking random pictures.

Here are a few outtakes:


The look of true love! I'm not even sure why I was looking so angry, but there you go.


Happiness personified!! Alex was goofing off and his brother captured my exasperated look at just the right moment.

If you'd like to see more pictures, some in which we look silly, and others in which we look (somewhat) normal, click here. And you can marvel at how well we are dressed for this occasion as well.

Many thanks to Alex's little brother (my future brother-in-law!) for wandering around and taking photos of us when he could have been doing something fun instead. :)

Edited to add: Alex told me I should be funneling you kids to the wedding website. Consider yourself funneled.

Kelly Clarkson!

How's that for a throwback to "The 40-year-old Virgin?"

Anyways, I just bought her new CD, because, as I told Alex, we have to support "our Kelly." Which is funny considering we have a friend named Kelly and I wasn't referring to her, even though she is, indeed, our Kelly, but not a Kelly who records music. At least, as far as I know.

Anyway, Alex and I love Kelly Clarkson and we both fight over who loves her more and this one of the things that made me first realize that I could like this silly red headed boy. Because who can resist a boy who says Lauren Graham is the hottest thing since Kelly Clarkson? Who says that? Seriously? So since Kelly Clarkson played a part in me finding my future husband, I figure the least I can do is purchase her new CD which has been shrouded in controversy since day one. Perez Hilton has been talking about how this album is going to suck for months now and everywhere I turn, people say they hate her new single.

But I gotta say, I kinda like it. Sure, it's a little "Debbie Downer," but who hasn't gone through that before? Two years ago, I was right there with Kelly and probably would have put this entire album on repeat and sang it melodramatically while driving around in the old Sentra, because, you know what? Sometimes life sucks and the only thing that makes you feel better is singing along with other miserable people.

Was there a point to this post? Not really. And for that I apologize.

We'll return to your regularly scheduled wedding blogs soon. Those are way better than my uninformed album reviews.

Not so mighty, y'all

Alex and I went to the drive in Saturday night and it was fantastic. We treated ourselves to a cozy date for two while watching, "Evan Almighty," "Knocked Up," and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer."

"Evan Almighty" was fantastically disappointing. I was rooting for this one since I loved "Bruce Almighty" and I adore Steve Carrell and Lauren Graham. But Wanda Sykes stole the show and the entire movie, which should give you a pretty good idea of how BAD it was. The guy who plays Andy Bernard on "The Office" had a cameo or two and that was also a highlight. But...the movie itself was lame-o. Alex and I both hated it and it pained us to diss on something our beloved Michael Scott was in, but what can you do? It sucked. The plot was so stupid and get this: the ark is just a giant acronym. Seriously.

I was going to say other things, but now I'm depressed from thinking about how much I wanted "Evan Almighty" to succeed and it totally bombed at the box office this weekend. Poor Steve Carrell. I love him. Does he have a potentially controversial album coming out soon that I can buy based on principle alone? Because I'm so not above that.

I'll be missing you

Alex comes home tonight from a whopping 3 day long business trip, but I am SO GLAD to see him. You'd think he would have been gone for 3 weeks, the way I've been acting. But seriously...I need someone to talk to. These dogs are not kids, no matter how much I spoil them. They have yet to respond in any kind of verbage and it makes me sad. Momma needs to talk!

It doesn't help that Alex's house is creepy with a capital, 'CREEP.' I keep hearing weird sounds and visions of serial killers and monsters dance through my head. I slept on the couch with two (2!) lights on. It didn't help that Murphy woke me up at 4 am whining and barking and trying to physically leap out of the living room window. And he would NOT calm down. I finally put a pillow over my face and went back to sleep.

To make things even better, I woke up this morning to find a large quantity of poop in the corner. I suspect that was his act of defiance because I wouldn't let him go outside at 4 am. Boo!

In completely unrelated new: Justin Timberlake is still hot, y'all. I just watched his new "Lovestoned" video. And dang, that is a good looking man.

Freaking out or something like it

So I'm freaking out. Preparations for Union '07 are going smoothly enough, and yet, I am FREAKING OUT.

Apparently, I want to keep all of my stuff and stay in my ridiculously small one bedroom apartment and hug all of my care bears on my twin bed for the rest of my life. You wouldn't think that this would be true, but judging from the fifty times I cried and turned to Alex and said, "Are you SURE you want to marry ME!?!?!?!?!?!?," today, I think it's a distinct possibility.

And it's not like I'm not excited. I'm thrilled, THRILLED I tell ya, to be getting married. I had visions of becoming the crazy old lady with lots of cats for quite some time now, so I'm pleased that instead, I will be a part of the crazy old couple with too many dogs.

I've heard of girls having trouble combining their life with a man before, but I never thought that it'd affect me, because I am the girl who packed up and moved to Arkansas and then to Ohio all by my lonesome. And went to China by myself...because it'd be fun? So I've always viewed myself as kinda sorta adventurous. Which is why I am so surprised that I am not jumping up and down and throwing my earthly possessions at my future's husband's face and yelling, "Move it baby!"

Today, as I sat and folded clothes from circa 2000, I lost it and cried sad, sad tears into the black garbage bag that held my past fashion faux pas. Because that shirt! I wore it in college! Back when I was skinny and shy! Now I'm fat and sort-of-not-shy and what if I forget about a time when when I was skinny and shy and my biggest headache of the day was which homework assignment to do first? I can't do it! I can't find a fold in the time/space continuum and go back and recreate those heady, early days of school when the world was my oyster and I was going to make a difference, dammit! And this ugly shirt from Old Navy represents ALL of that and if I give it away in the black garbage bag of doom, then I will lose that part of me FOREVER and Goodwill will eat and not take care of it and hold its hand and caress it and make it feel special like I have made it special.

I never said I was logical. I probably should have mentioned that earlier.

Anyway, I suppose I just feel like I'm losing a part of myself. That the old Cora is going away and a new one is muscling her way in; a new Cora with a different last name and a different address and a ring on her finger. And while there is nothing wrong with those things, it just feels like....not me. I have found myself unable to easily balance our wants and desires when it comes to Alex's house. Because my pink bathroom accessories and approximately 20,000 care bears don't fit into Alex's manly bachelor pad of a house. I am afraid I will either become a shrew and demand that the house look like Cora's house only or acquiesce and the house will still look like Alex's only. But I feel so bad bringing my things into his home and have asked him numerous times if he liked it and was it okay and don't those bookshelves look better with actual books on them, right, right, right????

And this is not to say that Alex has not been the most phenomenal guy ever about the whole thing. He is in no way, shape, or form trying to change me or mold me or anything. Frankly, he doesn't care what enters this house, just as long as I come with it. (He gave me this speech while in the drive thru at Wendy's waiting for a Vanilla Frosty Float. No, that is NOT South Beach Diet approved.) So I could probably bring in a rainbow banner and hang it up on the bedroom wall and he'd make a face and look at me and when I said, "I have to have it or we can't live together," he'd go "Okay," and kiss me and there the banner would hang. Because he really is that awesome, people. It takes a special man to put up with my neurosis and he does it well.

So why am I freaking out? I've got an awesome fiance who puts up with all of my crap with a reassuring smile and hug, a dog who loves his dog, and a house waiting for me to put my decorative touch on it? Because in all of this, I have to find myself anew and make the old Cora work with the new Cora, who in turns works with Alex to make a happy home. And that my friends, is terrifying. It's difficult to let go and even more difficult when you're taking someone else into account. Good thing I've got 4 more months to figure this out in my head.

Until then, I'll be breathing into this brown paper bag if you need me.

The Site

Alex has been working hard on a wedding website and I put it on my facebook page, but failed to post it here on the old internet blog. So, please, go here and take a look around. And please, please, please sign the guestbook. Alex is obsessed with people signing the guestbook and it's breaking his little heart that no one has signed as of yet. So, please, take pity on our little redheaded computer programmer and leave some love on the website he put together at the behest of his fiancee.

Aiiieee!

DUDE! My wedding dress came in today!!!!

Facebook

Why hasn't anyone told me that Facebook contains WAY better hunting grounds than MySpace? Granted, it's a bit more personal because you have to be friends in order to really get the goods on people, but it's still good spying nonetheless. Of course, I did wait until after I was engaged to bother getting into this kind of stuff, because, YEAH, I am that shallow. I want to show off my shiny new status with people I haven't talked to in 800 years. Does that make me a bad person?

I can't hear you if you answered "yes."

Red, Red, Red

Today, we went to the Strawberry Festival and I got sunburned. I also got chocolate covered strawberries, so it evens out.

I'm pleased to announce that Alex and I officially purchased home decorations together this weekend. It's like we're getting married or something. I will have to take pictures of them to post, but we scored a great painting of downtown Dayton on the river and then two super cute (to me, anyways) homemade, crafty, wooden, personalized, thingies that most grandmas have in their home. But they were too cute and I wanted them for my own house. Again, pictures would make this post a lot better, but I've been cleaning Alex's house in preparation for Union '07 and then relaxed by stalking people on MySpace.

And who has time to take pictures and post them, when you're trying to figure out where people are living, if they are still dating and/or married, and if they still look the same? Seriously, people, why are you hiding? I want to know what is going on with you. Post on your blogs! Make your MySpace profiles public! Or, even better, GET on MySpace! Come on! Cora wants to stalk!

**Edited to add: I kept reading "public" as "pubic." Those are two very, very different things. Which, while we're on the topic, I need to get my eyes checked out. I think I need glasses. Which completely sucks because my good insurance from my old job is out and I'm (not so) patiently waiting for the new job's insurance to kick in. I sincerely hope I don't go blind by then.

Up to the date-ness

So I bought a wedding dress this weekend. And by "I," I mean "my mom." But that's cool because it's getting delivered to my house in a box of white goodness. I really, really, really want to post a picture of it here, but alas, Alex reads this little site of mine and I'm pretty sure that asking him to avoid my blog until October 20th is asking an awful lot. However, if you want to see a picture of the dress, just let me know and I'll TOTALLY e-mail you one...or twenty.

In other wedding-related news, we also registered! It was a grueling 4 hours at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, but we managed to make it through without killing ourselves. And being the gluttons for punishment that we are, we left there and headed to Target to register for even MORE stuff. I think it's because I've been looking forward to registering for, oh, half my life, and so I was willing to put in a long day to fulfill my childhood fantasy of wandering around a store with a laser gun. It was actually a lot of fun, if not weirdly guilt inducing. I felt a little weird about picking out items and then expecting others to gift me with them. However, those thoughts quickly exited my mind every single time I got to scan something. I'm like a little kid. Seriously.

In non-wedding-related news, I started my new job yesterday and am loving it so far. It's a very small company and I am the only girl. Which is awesome, because the office looks like a bachelor pad. It has now fallen upon me to bring a "woman's touch" to the office. Which is hilarious considering that I am NOT that girl. My idea of girliness is not peeing on the toilet seat. And that's about it. So it'll be interesting when they realize that the only difference of having me in the office is that they now have to lift the seat up if they use the facilities after me.

And that's it. I have a ranting post about wedding cake almost ready to go. I started it last week in the midst of my hatred of a certain local bakery, but never got to finish it in the midst of the horribleness of finishing my old job (worst 2 weeks ever!), meeting with every florist in the city (too many flowers!), and packing to head down to wedding-land with momzilla (weddings are the devil!). It's been busy, but good. Although I must admit I now need a 3 day weekend to recover from this last one. Irony is my friend.

I *heart* The Office

Anybody watch the season finale of The Office tonight? Because it was AMAZING. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.

Also? Today marked the 1 year anniversary of me and Alex's relationship. But did I get on here to blog about that? Nope. I came here to talk about how I'm in love with Jim and Pam. What does that say about my relationship with Alex? Well, it means that we're perfect for each other because his immediate reaction to that episode was, "I NEED TO BLOG ABOUT THIS!"

And just now? We just rewound the final scene, oh, about 3 times and grinned at each other every time. I also clapped and yelled, "IT'S SO GOOD!!!!" every time we watched it. Yes, yes, I am a goober. But it was JUST.SO.GOOD.

Today, I...

...realized that I've lost 9 pounds on the South Beach Diet.

...resisted the temptation of Panera Bread bagels.

...reminded my mother that yes, I DO want to buy my wedding dress over Memorial Day weekend in Memphis, JUST LIKE WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT FOR THE LAST THREE WEEKS.

...realized I needed to buy toilet paper at the most inopportune time possible.

...quit my job.

...kissed the most handsome redhead alive.

My Face Hates Me

This weekend was the wedding of our good friends, Bryan and Erin. They are a fantastic couple, and Alex and I spend a lot of time with them. Alex plays lots of nerdy computer games with Bryan while Erin and I roll our eyes and talk about celebrities. They were the couple Alex conspired with when on his original proposal plan, before my job kinda went and ruined it. So I've been looking forward to this wedding for months. Alex was a groomsman and I was to read a lovely passage from Colossians. Friday night, we all gathered at the gorgeous church to rehearse. I didn't get a ton of shots of the church, but check out how beautiful it is:



After the rehearsal, we headed to nearby Italian restaurant for dinner. And while this is not a fantastic picture of me (in fact, I'm not even the focus. I'm not sure WHO the focus was supposed to be, but the bride-to-be took the picture, so it was her weekend and her prerogative), but I wanted to point out that I looked normal. Tired. But normal. Except for that stupid red circle around my face. Those arrows totally screwed with my peripheral vision, you know what I'm saying?



So let's fast forward to Saturday morning. I wake up. I stumble into the bathroom because I feel ill. I look in the mirror and notice I look odd. And then I puke.
And my face is no longer white. It is red. RED. RED. RED. Scary, terrifying, I think I have the plague RED. I lay back down because, frankly, I honestly hoped it would just GO AWAY with sleep.

But then I threw up again and decided maybe I should do something. I called Alex (who was already be-tuxed and doing groomsmen-type things at the church) and he convinced me to go Urgent Care and get a magical shot that would make the rash disappear. The bride herself had gotten a rash earlier this year and had gone to Urgent Care and the magical shot made it all go away. If it worked for her, it would work for me. Right?

I shouldn't have driven and I'm not sure how I ever got there, but I eventually found myself at Urgent Care. Why didn't I ask someone to come drive me? I have no idea. I didn't want to inconvenience anyone in their wedding preparations, I suppose. Which is STUPID, by the way. I should have called someone and it is a miracle I wasn't in an accident because I could barely hold myself up high enough to see out the windshield. Once I made it to Urgent Care, I was hunched over and crying and told the nice nurse lady that I was about to throw up.

I did not lie.

No sooner had she gotten me away from the prying eyes of those in the waiting room, but I puked into the closest receptacle I could find. Fortunately, it was a trash can. Everything after that is a blur, but I ended up getting two shots, puking again, getting another shot for the puking, and then being sent home with merely an hour to get ready and get to the church.

I sped home in my non-nauseated state, got dressed, called Alex's brother and told him to find someone to read for me, and took off for the church. I, of course, got lost because downtown Dayton is just like every other downtown and you can never turn right when you want to. I finally saw the church (with the wedding party lined up), parked the car, literally ran PAST THE BRIDE and into the church, and sat down just as the mothers began walking down the aisle to light the candles. Whew!

The wedding was beautiful and in my haste to get to the church and not throw up at the same time, I forgot the camera. However, the camera came to the reception! Where I looked like this:


AAAAAUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!! Who is that scary, monster lady!? What is wrong with her? Leper! Leper!

When I got to the reception, the bridal party was taking pictures in the lobby. Alex was there and told me that when the bride saw me, she did a double take and had to compose herself before speaking to me. AWESOME. Because that, my friends, is what I want a girl to remember on her wedding day. Me scaring her. But she recovered nicely and told me she loved me and sent me on my merry leprosy-laden way.

Fortunately, the multiple shots at Urgent Care did work and I felt great by the time dinner began. (Also, that picture of me at the reception? Was taken in order to show how much I had improved since the wedding. Sadly, I don't have any pre-wedding scariness to share, but it was actually worse, if you can believe that.) And all night, people would randomly come up to me and talk to me about how my face was clearing up. There's nothing like having your face be a conversation starter at someone else's wedding.

I suppose it all turned out okay. I got a sneak peak at Alex in a tux (fantastically handsome, of course) and I got to celebrate my friends' marriage without groaning in a corner miserably.



I also wore a sombrero and danced like a goof with my future husband. I feel as though that is how every post and every night should end for the rest of our lives. You?