July 28, 2006

love-hate

well, here i am. it's past 4:00 and i'm still sitting in my office. i was going to try to even leave a few minutes early...why am i still here you ask? RAIN! it's been so hot lately and we've needed rain so badly, but why oh why did it have to come the moment i was about to step outside?! i'm all fancied up to go to beth's rehearsal and rehearsal dinner or i wouldn't really care that much. but a downpour with semi-done hair and semi-high heels just don't mix. *sigh* it looks like it will pass soon.

in other news, tonight we get to hang out with the clelands, the newleyweds!!! i can't wait to see if they're as cheesy, more cheesy, or less cheesy than they always were around each other before they were married...

okay. i'm officially out of things to talk about and i'm bored. i'll go check out sierra trading post and see what bargains they have for me...

July 26, 2006

braids and blunders

i don't really have that much to say except that lots of little hilarious things have been happening. "hilarious" meaning so weird or frustrating that they turn into hilarity. first, an update. bruce was not a brown recluse! the extermiator took him, jar and all, and confirmed that he was indeed a regular spider, not a flesh-mutilating beast from the deapths of hell...sorry. so that's GOOD news! they sprayed all the apartments inside and out, and we've still been killing spiders and been seeing webs, but it's not as bad. so that's GOOD!!!!! someone who also had a spider problem in their past said that you should just knock the webs down, and it will probably freak you out b/c webs that you thought were dead will be back the next day, but to just keep knocking them down and the spiders will eventually give up and move on...i don't know how valid that is, but i'm definitely willing to give it a go!!! we need to get ourselves a "web broom" so we don't have to use our good one.

in other news, i have lost a skill. i used to be able to french braid my hair really well, and now that it's getting longer - finally! - i tried it the other day. i was a complete and utter failure. i tried, and it looked like poo. then i tried again, and it looked like worse poo. then i rested my arms and tried again, and it looked like poo again, so i just gave up and wore my hair down and poofy. oh well. i suppose some things aren't meant to be. but i want to be able to do it!! maybe i'll get chris to learn.

in more other news, bethington and markamillion are getting married on saturday!!! (we call them that - they're really just beth and mark) see? aren't they great?! (except that mark's hair is not really, really short...beth keeps cutting it!) STUPID BLOGGER!!!! sorry...no picture allowed....their day!!! it's finally here!!! i really like to layout documents, and my mom does calligraphy as a side-job and so she has all these "ins" with paper companies - she knows how to get really good quality paper for really cheap. so i told beth that i could help her with her programs - the layout and the printing. so we finalized the program on the computer and printed the final, camera ready copy. she picked out the kind of paper she wanted, i picked it up, and took it to kinkos to have it printed up. no problem! this morning i went to pick them up and they looked like POO!!! i mean, really. all the script type looked like it had been erased halfway and you just couldn't read it. i thought, i hoped, i dreamed that it was maybe just a few of them, but no. it was the entire thing. all 250 copies. i told the very nice girl that they looked like poo (in a much nicer way) and that i would have to take one and show it to my friend and get back to them. well, guess who i called? mom!!! she rescues me quite often. i work full time and mom doesn't, so she went down to kinkos - they kind of know her personally b/c she's there so much...long story short, apparently some sort of marks had gotten on the original and whoever did the printing lightened, and lightened, and lightened the copies to get rid of the marks as opposed to, oh, i don't know, whiting them out or erasing them???? stupid person, whoever it was. so they were going to do the reprinting for no charge, which was great, but what about the paper?! we had no more paper and a ream costs like $30!!! well, mom asked to see what they had and she picked one that she said "i defy you to tell the difference!!" and as it turns out, it was EXACTLY THE SAME. brand and color. *whew* God is so good to provide little details like that. so the really good news is that they didn't charge for the ream of paper either. and now beth has 262 programs as opposed to 250. *whew* and needless to say, i'm not breathing a word of this to beth. maybe when she gets back from the honeymoon, but maybe not.

so mom brought the finished 262 programs to me here at work. she stayed a bit longer than she probably should have, but we haven't seen each other in forever! we stood and talked for a while out at her car, and then she went on her way to try to complete another one of her crazy projects that she's always working on - usually with calligraphy stuff. new story: i went out for lunch and to get my name changed with our bank. the place where i went for lunch ("deli man & cake lady" - BEST FOOD EVER!!!) is kind of random - not really that out of the way, but i decided i needed a salad plate, so i went. and whose car is in the parking lot but my mother's. random!!! i went in to use the potty and it was locked, and who came out of it but my mother! haha! it was hilarious. we chatted a bit more and went on our ways.

so mom's not invited to beth's wedding - small chapel, they don't know each other, it's understandable. but mom really wants to peek in b/c she loves the church she's getting married in and she just likes weddings. so she's going to sneak in and possibly crash the wedding. hah! but she's in a dilemma b/c she's going to another wedding that day, but she can't find the invitation and she can't remember what time the other one - the one she was actually invited to - starts. so if any of you out there who read this know of someone getting married on july 29 up on signal mountain, could ya let me know what time you're getting hitched? that'd be great. thanks. ;)

in still more news, chris was going to go play up at bryan college sometime this week with his good friend josh bales who's leading worship at a summer retreat for rising freshmen in college, and he emailed me around 3:30 yesterday and said "josh just called. i'm playing tonight!" so i left a few minutes early...you know...no one noticed...i hope...and we booked it up to dayton, tn, and had so much fun! except for the fact that josh kept getting frustrated with the faltering technology and chris had lowered confidence b/c he hasn't played in so long, but i'm telling you, no one in the "audience" noticed, and almost everyone LOVED chris' music! he has played before and sold one, maybe two cds. last night? he sold FIFTEEN!!!oh wow. it was such an encouragement and SO very cool. music for missions is a great organization, and we're really wanting this cd to still be good for them!!!

anyway, josh took us to eat in dayton to this amazing place that served us the best sandwich i've ever tasted!!! wonderful me can't remember the name of it, but maybe it's good since i'm about to talk bad about it. we were sitting in the corner and i noticed a little spider web in the corner - to be expected in an old building with exposed brick as their walls. as the dinner progressed deeper into josh and chris talking about music, i daydreamed and my eyes wandered more and more over the walls around me. i noticed more and more spider webs that i began to think weren't so old and dead afterall. and one of the webs was one of those giant ones that runs all along the wall, so you don't notice it at first - it was about 1 foot or 2 in diameter. and then, i saw LEGS! big legs. then i saw ANOTHER SET!!! two giant spiders were living in their wall. right there in the restaurant!!!! EWWW!!! the girl that was working there knew josh really well and kept saying she didn't want to see it, but she kept inching closer and closer b/c it was fascinating, and we all finally just shuddered and moved on with our lives. spiders. they're dadgumeverywhere!!!!

in even still more news, neutrogena "skin smoothing, bump minimizing" lotion is THE BEST THING to ever happen to me...well, besides Jesus...and besides chris. but still. i've always had those little bumps on the backs of my arms - HATE THEM (and apparently it's called karatosis pilaris) and it's supposed to get rid of them. well, IT WORKS. for the first time in 27 years, i have smooth skin on my arms. it's absolutely amazing. a true miracle!!! well, maybe it's not all that dramatic since i've never really looked for anything to make it better or gone to the doctor about it...but STILL!!! it's freaking awesome. try it!!!!

oh and you might notice a new little banner to your left there. i found the "singer/songwriter directory" and signed chris up to be in it today - nothing special, but still something - see?. when i did, they gave me the option of putting a link or banner on my website, so i did. click on it and visit it if you have time!

okay my fingers are tired and i have work to do. happy last week in july!!!!

July 21, 2006

sapling in "lint" condition

oh. my. word. there's no way this is true...is there???????

July 19, 2006

surprise, surprise, surprise!

if you don't have paul simon's new album, order it or go buy it immediately. best buy and walmart both have it for $13. i'm telling you, it's amazing.














in other news, yesterday when chris and i got home, i got his to-go tea mug out of the car and put it in my giant purse. (i call it my mary poppins purse b/c i can fit EVERYTHING in there. i haven't tried a lamp or a plant, but i bet they would fit...) i promptly forgot it was in there and it apparently got layed down somewhere between arriving home and hanging it up for the night. this morning before leaving i noticed it was in there laying on its side and didn't think anything of it b/c i thought it was empty to begin with. i just put it in the kitchen to clean later.
after dropping christopher off this morning, i reached in my purse to get my keys out and lo and behold, look what i found. earl gray tea!!!! i found that it had soaked my calendar and check book first and was thankful that it hadn't gone everywhere else as well. ah, but it had. it was actually poooled in the bottom!!! it soaked through the side of the purse too. i've been meaning to clean this thing for a while now since it's going on 3 years of usage...guess now i'll really have to!!! and for those of you who are jealous at the wonderfulness of the purse, i got it in italy for 20 euro. it was a wise investment.

speaking of gross things in the purse, it reminds me of the time that chris and i sneaked (snuck?) chick-fil-a into the movies once. i got some polynesian sauce (kind of like sweet and sour sauce) with chris warning me that it wasn't a good idea. i assured him with great confidence that it would be fine and i knew what i was doing. i was a polynesian sauce expert. we sat down, the movie started, and out came the chicken nuggets. half way through the movie, i reached down to get my hoodie sweatshirt and i felt a little sauce on it. eew. i wiped it off with a napkin and thought nothing else of it. when the movie was over, i looked down and gasped. sauce was EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!! literally. it was as if i had poured an entire container of it into my purse and all over everything. kind of like my purse was a salad and the sauce was the dressing. oh. it was nastier than nasty. and all chris could do was chuckle. *sigh* always listen to your man. and strangely enough, i haven't eaten my nuggets with sauce since...hm.

July 17, 2006

blessings abound

much like a horse, chris and i were spooked by the spider incident. the good news is that we have the most wonderful landlord in the world and she is doing everything in her power to quickly make the problem much better. the better news is that the exterminator doesn't think that bruce was a brown recluse, but he's sending him to get that verfified. the best news is that we're NOT moving!! yet, at least. we'll probably move from this apartment someday. just no time soon. halleluia! the Lord is so good to us. but we are moving things around and cleaning and putting spider-ish things that aren't used every day (ie, sheets, blankets, etc) in giant plastic bags. ever seen those giant ziploc bags? they're enormous!!! you can see that by the lovely picture provided. they're fun to use b/c they just zip right up!

anyway, this is not a commercial for ziploc...

in other news, homemade trail mix is the greatest stuff EVER! and it's even better if it's stored in a recycled jar. much like the one seen here. as you can see, this trail mix has cashew, almond, macadamia, brazil, wal-, and pea-nuts along with raisins and white chocolate chips. the only way to make it better would be to add craisins. oh boy! i sent carrie some with white and regular chocolate chips, and i must say that was also a delicious addition. it's definitely one of our greatest and latest inventions. mmm. good food. the Lord really is so good to us! taste buds! how glorious!!!

in more other news, i'm tired of sitting at my desk all day and getting sore legs and watching my hips and tummy grow. (NO i am NOT pregnant. i'm just getting fat. well, fat-er than i was 2 months ago...) i'm going to have to figure out some sort of exercise plan. should i go running during lunch? i would get DISGUSTINGLY sweaty in the heat. should i go running in between when i get off (4) and when chris gets off (445)? hmm...possibly. should i wake up earlier and go running in the morning? NO. we've been trying to go running when we get home in the late afternoons, but we usually wind up having to run (no pun intended) errands or meet people or do something. we must figure something out though since we've been married a month and a half and we've only exercised ONCE. *sigh* busy life. it sure is a good one though. again, the Lord is good to us!!!

July 14, 2006

nightmares!

dude. the previous post is SO the reason i had the worst nightmare ever last night. chris and i have been staying with his parents until the exterminator got to our apartment. i had this dream that there were millions - literally - of spiders crawling all over the comforter of the bed we were sleeping in. i sat bolt right up in bed in the pitch black room and started shouting "they're all over me! they're everywhere!!!" chris was like "what?! what?!!!??!" i made him turn the light on b/c i thought it was real. i was sweating, trembling, and my heart was racing like crazy. holy cow!!! and thinking about it this morning, i really don't think i've ever had a dream that a) woke me up, and b) i thought was still going on after i was awake. it was awful. i hate spiders.

in other news, at 7am this morning, it was already so hot and sticky that it felt like the middle of the day. gross! i'm ready for fall...

July 13, 2006

desserts, traps and videos

ah, the perks of working at a school. we got an email from the food service girls yesterday asking if we would be available to taste some new desserts they ordered. available? heck yes i'm available!! we were eating desserts for an hour. oh my gosh. i feel like i can't breathe. some were disgusting - it was fun to say so, especially since no one present actually made them so we could freely say "GROSS!"

so we set out traps for our brown recluse and various other pests. this is what a full trap is supposed to look like. oh boy! i can't wait to get home to check them!!! it's kinda blurry b/c the original picture from the website is really tiny...i don't know how to make it smaller....and i was on the phone all morning with people about apartments for rent. yep.





i just watched the first draft of our free wedding video. OH MAN! the perks of being friends with the tech guy at work. we really didn't want anything frilly or fancy, and what he's put together is absolutely perfect. i'm so excited!!!!! it was WEIRD to watch us getting married...i mean, i remember getting married and stuff, but i don't really remember it, you know? i'm glad it didn't turn out blank...the audio recording did...ah well. such is life.

July 12, 2006

BRUCE

this is bruce the brown recluse who was on the loose to suck our juice, but it was no use because we used a noose to introduce the abuse of lack of air so our friends can verify he's a reculse, and i don't feel remorse (almost rhymes...) b/c of the terror that he did induce. is this obtuse?

here's a haiku about our night last night:

bruce the brown recluse-
he survived the bomb, and now
we sleep at in-laws'.

and just so you know, that picture isn't actually bruce. bruce is in a jar on my desk. i'm going to show him to a friend or the exterminator. whichever one i see first.

July 10, 2006

ikea and coolers

daniel and kirby are married!!!! OH what a great wedding and beautiful couple!!! as soon as pictures are off of the camera and onto the computer, i shall post some pictures. my favorite part was the kiss (and all the ones to follow for pictures!) since she's 5'5" and he's 6'7". fabulous!!! they're in alcopulco, or however you spell that...

after the wedding, we spent the weekend in atlanta buying things!!! we went to ikea, and i left super impressed. i wasn't too crazy about the style of all the things they sell, but was more impressed with the layout and how it flows than anywhere else i've ever been. we were there for 3 hours...and if you know me at all, you'll know that i do NOT like to shop and being in one place for 3 hours was a humongous stretch...but i made it out still smiling!!! the Lord is good to give His Grace! anyway, the prices were AMAZINGLY affordable. if we ever buy a house and need new kitchen stuff - meaning cabinets, counter tops - or bathroom stuff, or anything, really, that's totally where we're going. we got a huge bookcase for $79 (even though it was supposed to be $59...yeah, we're working on getting a refund...or something) but it's awesome!!! and even though when we put it together, we put 2 of the 3 shelves in backwards so the side of the shelf shows raw naked wood as opposed to the lovely black-brown color, we still like it. *sigh* ah well. we'll figure something out to do with it. it was actually quite hilarious since we had so much fun putting it together and kept talking about how pleased we were with our selection and we finally got it upright all excited and our smiles just fell from our faces....then we started laughing hysterically. BUMMER!!!! :)

in other news, when we got home sunday afternoon (we missed church b/c of stupid construction on the freeway!!! oh how we wish we had stayed and taken colin and april to church instead...) the stuff in our freezer was all melted. "chris! the power has been out!" said lyndsay. we threw some stuff away and went and bought new stuff (milk and eggs and the like) thinking it would catch up after a few hours. his parents came over and helped us hang stuff on the walls (FINALLY!!!!) and it was SO much fun. they gave us this black and decker thing that detects studs in the walls - also electrical wires and metal - that also helps you hang things straight with a laser level. AWESOME! so we got stuff hung up and now the place looks WAY more like a place to live. it's going to be great when we get some more things to store stuff in so we can get everything off the floor.

his dad brought pizza when he went to get more hanging paraphenalia (and ice) (oh, and a flea bomb...but that's another blog entry....) and when we checked the freezer, everything was more melted. hmm....maybe it's dying! oh that would be bad. so we put everything important in the ice-filled cooler and hoped for the best.

this morning, the water in the ice cube trays was literally warm. not, like, heated-up-warm. but it was definitely room temperature...*sigh* chris called the landlord. we shall see what happens....

July 07, 2006

Mentos and Diet Coke

WATCH!
http://eepybird.com/dcm1.html#featured-video

this is the day!

happy friday!!! today is the day that daniel and kirby say sacred vows under God to be joined together as one. HOORAY!!! this is daniel, his sister anna (she was in the play "annie" as a maid - she doesn't normally dress like that, or wear that much makeup!!) and kirby!!!

rehearsal was...well, it was rehearsal. i've never been to one that i wasn't involved in. but i think chris had a good time. and the dinner was absolutely wonderful!! good food, good company, good times. chris and i got to bed at like 12 last night so we're both already POOPED! and tonight after the reception, we're driving to atlanta to go shopping for STORAGE!! our apartment has 2 closets in our bedroom that are about 2 or 3 feet wide and THAT'S IT. well, except for a few kitchen cabinets and a medicine cabinet in the bathroom. we have no place to put sheets, towels, pots and pans, and yes, even tampons. no place for tampons???? what a tragedy. but i digress. so we're going to be double pooped when we get to atlanta tonight since the wedding doesn't start until 6:30. *whew* but we're going shopping at ikea and crate and barrel, and wherever else his brother wants to take us!!! so that's good. and we're going to see the new pirates of the caribbean movie!! HURRAH!!!

in other news, i thought i would share this picture. nice, beautiful, lovely shot of a lake...but keep looking. do you see the baby? whoa...AH! there it is!!! AAAAH!!!

July 06, 2006

super- and mail-men

okay this story is too hilarious not to share. so we had the lovely pool party on monday night. we stopped by walmart to get another giant ball, and the only thing they had were tiny little ones - regular kick-ball size. "PHOOEY!" we said. chris said that one of his new co-workers, whom he invited and was coming, asked if he could pick anything up. chris said he would call adam and have him stop by the bilo and get a giant ball. oh how funny! they've known each other for 4 weeks in a work setting only. "hey buddy, wanna stop by and pick up some liquor?" that would have been a normal request for people our age. but NO! people like us say "hey buddy, wanna stop by and pick up a giant ball? big enough you can't wrap your arms around it? that'd be great!" but he did it. it was a blue ball with a big SUPERMAN emblem on it. oh. adam is SO in.

anyway, that's not the hilarious story. our plan was to make homemade ice cream, and i printed off 5 pages worth of recipes for us to choose from. i also had a "things to BUY and things to GET from the apartment" list on a sticky note sticky'd to the recipes. i left my office with an arm full of letters and packets to mail. i was running late and in a hurry, but i went to the mail room, stamped them, stacked them back up, and put them in the big blue mail box outside our office. i picked chris up and we headed to the store. halfway there it hit me...i didn't remember putting the recipes in the car with me...then again, where was that list i made? i started randomly saying out loud, "oh you've got to be kidding me...no...no!!" while rummaging around the car (still buckled, of course) with chris saying, "what?! what???!?!" and me saying, "no! no!!!! i can't believe it!!!" *sigh* i mailed them. i put the recipes and my list IN the mailbox. maybe the mailman needed to make his family some ice cream that night...it was QUITE hilarious.

okay that's all. if any of you are in town this summer and are in the mood for a game of KABLASH, come on over!!! :)

July 05, 2006

jeni, paul & marry

well, i wasn't going to post today, but i signed in to add my dear friend jeni hardin wright to my "blog stuff" links. she attended samford our freshman year and was so fortunate to be placed on the 6th floor of our dorm alongside me and some other dear friends! jeni and i also had the same orientation weekend and we wound up waiting to plan our schedule together for a good 2 hours, maybe more. so we just sat there, talking and becoming fast friends. it's amazing that a person can only be in your immediate life for a few short months but you stay friends for years and years. she got married a few months ago to db wright, and they are doing crazy things like traveling to afganistan and taking seminary classes! by "crazy" i mean "amazing" and "i'm jealous"!!!!! i miss jeni. when will i see her again???? i was TOTALLY going to her wedding - had a hotel room booked and everything - and i'll be darned if i didn't have a reaction to some medication the day before, and my mom forbade me from driving across the country. *sigh* i was BUMMED beyond belief. speaking of, hey jeni - how about some pictures of your wedding on that blog of yours???? :)

in other news, raise your hand if you like paul simon. go ahead. don't be shy. i know you like at least something he's done. christopher introduced me to his cds when we started dating and he's been one of my favorites ever since. his last album came out in 2000 - "You're The One" - and it's absolutely addictive!!! chris and i were at church this past sunday and one of our friends, josh bales, who's a mighty fine musician himself, said "ooh, have you gotten paul simon's new album yet?" chris and i both just about jumped through the ceiling!! we got it that afternoon and have pretty much been listening to it ever since. i'm telling you people, it's AWESOME. you can listen to sound clips - some are complete tracks - on his website. if you don't buy the album, at least listen to the clips to get the songs sufficiently stuck in your head. DO IT!

in more other news, two of our good friends are getting married on friday. it's cool too b/c at one point a few years ago when i took easter egg baseball (see my previous post) down to the berry folks to play, daniel - chris' then-roommate - and kirby were the two people that joined chris and me. (dadblastit. i was going to post a great picture of them, but STUPID BLOGGER won't let me!!! WHY does it do that????) anyway, i joked with daniel that he should date kirby, and NOW look where they are!!! JOY! i'm super excited. the wedding is on berry's campus - BEAUTIFUL - and in frost chapel - where i once said i would like to get married. so i'm super pumped. but with the wedding being on friday, that means the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner are TOMORROW. christopher is IN the wedding and is going to have to miss the rehearsal (or at least part of it) b/c he can't get off work early b/c he's so new. he IS, however, getting off early friday. HURRAH!!!

July 03, 2006

pool kick ball

welcome to my first post in july!! hurrah!

this past weekend we had a mini pool party at chris' parents' house. the high was 95 and the forcast was sunny and we had friends who wanted to hang out. so we said POOL PARTY!!! it was chris, lyndsay, nathan and josh. we were playing with the floating basketball goal and the giant ball (the kind that come from the giant ceiling-tall bins at walmart) it eventually turned into "see who can kick or punch it the farthest when jumping off the diving board". a person would "pitch" the ball from the shallow end and the person jumping would kick it before entering the water. it was great! then josh randomly said "ha! i made it all the way to 3rd base!" and we all paused, looked at each other and said "GOOD IDEA!!!!" and so it was, the birth of the awesomest game EVER!! (save easter egg baseball, of course) it was josh and lyndsay against chris and nathan. DUDE!!! the rules are: the ball has to stay inside the fence. if it goes outside the fence, it's a foul ball. if you don't kick it past the ladder, it's a foul. 3 fouls and you're out. the defense has to be inside the pool at all times before the ball is kicked. when "running" the bases, you must swim above water - freestyle is usually best. when the ball lands in the rose bush and pops, the game is over. OH! how SAD it was!!! the score was 4 - 0, then it was 4 - 6. then it was 6 - 6. then it was 6 - 10. then the ball died!!!! oh christopher. what a strategic way to end the game!!! so we must buy a new one today for the real pool party. hurrah!!! (and this time we'll close the gate...) we would like to come up with a better name for it besides "pool kick ball". you know, how other games have their own names, rathered than names borrowed from other games. i can't think of anything. post a comment if you have an idea, and i will send the winner a prize!!! seriously...

so anyway, after the pool party, nathan had to go, so chris, josh and i were trying to think of something to do. lake winnie (it's full name is lake winnepesaukah) came up, and we all were like "OH YEAH!!!" so we went!! it's this down-home, country amusement park that everyone grew up going to. going back to it as an adult - and especially after just getting back from disney world - it's just hilarious. whenever anyone now-a-days says "we're going...or we went to lake winnie" the person listening says, semi-shocked, "really???" we usually go to ride the cannon ball, but there was only 1 car running, and the line was always stupid long, so we opted to skip it this time. booo!!! eat your heart out visionland! lake winnie is way better than you!!! bwaha!

in other news, our apartment is truly infested with spiders. we're killing them almost constantly...well, okay. maybe not. but we kill at least 3 or 4 a day. i have some bites on me and seem to be bug bites from being outside (let's hope...) but christopher has these bites on his legs and arms that are getting pretty gross. the doctor says that since they didn't get gross right away, that they're not brown recluse, but he's still getting some medication for them. BLEH! hello landlord!! hello?

in more other news, happy 4th of july everyone!!! take some time to praise our good Lord that we live in a free country!!!