Puppy Rant.

I never would have imagined that it would be this difficult to give a puppy a good home.

When I lived in Charlotte, I fell in love with a dog that was being "fostered" so it wouldn't be in a shelter. The description said it wasn't a good dog to have with other animals or small children and that it would probably do best with one owner. It also said that it didn't need a lot of outdoor time and would make a great indoor pet. I emailed back and forth with the foster "mom" a few times until they asked for a vet reference. As soon as I said I had never had a dog before, I never heard another word. Not a "sorry" or anything.

Brad and I put in an application for one of 6 collie/spaniel puppies this morning. We worked on the application for two days. We researched the breeds, decided they were a great match for our lifestyle and this morning I emailed the application. Suddenly I get a response back saying "thanks, but you're not a good match for our rescue".

HOW are we not a good match??? I stay home ALL DAY LONG. Brad works 15 MINUTES away from the house. We have family willing to take the dog in if we have to be gone long term. We're extremely active and explained that the dog would go everywhere with us. We have no other animals in the house. How can you just respond with "you're not a good match" with absolutely no reason what so ever? 

I really want to email this woman back and ask what a good match would be. What, do we need to have 15 dogs first? So because we've never HAD a dog we're not allowed to rescue one in need? I don't WANT to spend hundreds of dollars and get a dog from a breeder! I want to rescue a dog that wouldn't otherwise have a chance! Growing up, our first cat was from a breeder and the others all were strays. I loved them all, but the love I got from the strays - it was as if they knew we had rescued them and they were eternally grateful. 

I'm so upset right now. I understand that they want what's best for these dogs...but I'm so annoyed with how they won't even give us a chance. I cannot even imagine how frustrating the process to adopt a child must be if I'm in tears over a dog that I haven't even seen in person.

Just some ramblings.

I've really meant to update more - time gets away from me, I guess! We finally got wireless internet on Friday so that will help. I don't have to fight Brad for computer time anymore :)

So I finally got over the swine flu (yes, apparently it was the real H1N1. I'm kind of glad I didn't know that when I was actually sick though). Then I came down with a nasty little cold. Maybe I'm allergic to marriage?

I played in church last Sunday for the first time and it went really well. This week I played again but was a little more nervous - I snuck down to Charlotte on Tuesday (I was homesick :P) and didn't come back until Friday so I hadn't got much practice time. I really love this church though. I grew up in a small town, in a small church. I'd say most Sundays we had between 80-100 people there. Then when I moved to Charlotte I started going to a larger church with 4 services. The church I'm playing for now has about 30-40 people there on a good day. I never thought I would be so happy at such a small church. I understand the benefits from a larger church - more people to befriend, more opportunities. But in all of my time visiting and attending churches, I have never felt more welcomed than I do at this little tiny country church. As soon as I walk in there, I feel like I'm part of their family. After the service, they line up to thank me for playing and to tell me what a wonderful job I did (even if I totally screw up haha). The pastor is nearly 80 years old and can be a little hard to follow sometimes but his points really hit home. Today he talked about a meeting he once had with a church committee. The committee kept talking about how they needed to "grow the church". He pondered it for a few minutes and then asked them if they were talking about numbers - because he felt like the church was growing spiritually every week. That spoke to me. It's not about the numbers. Yes, part of Christianity is to draw more people to your faith - but God doesn't care how many people go to your church. He doesn't even care how much offering is collected each week or what songs you sing. He cares that the church grows together spiritually. Whether that be 10 people or 10,000, it's still the basic point of the church. I admit, when I was originally told about this church, and how small it was...I had "snobby" thoughts towards it. Only thirty people????  But now I understand it's not about the numbers. It's about the common faith and wanting to worship together as a church family - and I truly feel like I am part of a family at this church. And to me, that's so much more important than saying "I attend X mega-church".

Even when it rains, it sunshines.

I don't think it's any secret that I wasn't overly thrilled about leaving Charlotte and moving to Maryland. I trust in Brad, though, and understand that he wants to provide for his wife. I respect that and I understand that in the long run, this move will probably be a good thing for both of us. It didn't make it any easier to leave though - the last night before we left, we were hanging out with some friends and when my friend Beth had to leave, I just lost it. I started sobbing and couldn't hold it back anymore. I didn't want to leave. Brad comforted me the best he could and promised we'd come back to North Carolina as soon as we could. And then we left.

Since then, so many blessings have happened.

Saturday morning we went to Wal Mart to do our initial "big" shopping spree to get food for the house. We were coming up one aisle and about to turn down another when an elderly woman appeared at the end of the aisle, visibly upset. She couldn't find the noodles and was getting frustrated. So Brad starts talking to her and goes with her to help her find the noodles she wanted. Another woman beside us in the aisle looked at me and says, "what a nice young man". Any frustrations I had had with him while shopping disappeared when I remembered again how selfless and kindhearted my husband is. He has this tough exterior but when someone needs help, he's the first one to step in and do anything he can.

Saturday afternoon I was over at his aunt's house, showing off our wedding pictures. I mentioned how I was looking for churches to try out and they gave me some churches to try. His aunt told me I was welcome to visit her church anytime but she wasn't going that particular Sunday.

Sunday morning I tried a Methodist church in town. It was fairly comfortable since it reminded me of my hometown church. It seems trivial, but a church gets huge points when they sing the same Doxology and say the same Lord's Prayer that I grew up singing and saying. The sermon wasn't particularly impressive to me (I'm also really spoiled - my parents' pastor in Denver is phenomenal. I truly think all pastors should be kindergarden teachers before going to seminary haha) but I thought I would try it again considering the pastor was on a trip with the youth that Sunday. And I reported these things to his aunt, Jill.

Yesterday I got a call from Jill. Her mother had come to visit and had mentioned that their pianist couldn't handle college, a job and accompanying the services and had to leave the church. She asked Jill if she knew anyone who played the piano. Jill has a very old piano that I've played on before (simple stuff that I knew from heart, like the Entertainer) and said she'd call me. Within an hour, she had picked me up, I had played before a lady from the church and suddenly I'm playing in church this Sunday. It might not turn into an every week commitment, but it might. The extra income will be a huge blessing. I won't start my part time job until January - which I'm happy about, so I have the holidays to be flexible - but that's still over a month with only Brad's income to live on. It will be a tight holiday season for us but at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

All in all, I'm really enjoying playing the role of a "housewife". I love keeping the house up and cooking dinner for Brad when he gets home from work. I'm still adjusting to not really having any friends yet, but hopefully soon. I'm REALLY looking forward to the first big snow so I can finally try out my new skiis with our season passes!!!

Serious Stuff here.

I'm going to try not to go into politics here, but this weekend I realized what it feels like to have to weigh financial worries against your personal health.

My last day at Family Dollar was supposed to be last Friday, the 6th. It got pushed back until this Wednesday, the 11th. Friday afternoon I started to feel a little sick. By the time I got home, I was a full-blown not happy camper. Coughing, congestion, fever as high as 102.4. I was terrified, especially since I very rarely have any sort of fever - having consistent fever over 100 was scary for someone whose temperature hardly ever gets over 98 degrees (my current temperature as I am typing this is 97.3 if that tells you anything).

Why didn't I go to a doctor?

Because - what if someone in HR didn't get the memo that my last day had changed? What if my insurance had already been cut off? What if we got stuck paying the entire medical bill on our own? What if the insurance balked because they would get the bill after my coverage had been terminated?

So we didn't go to a doctor. We managed it the best we could - Nyquil for the coughing and to make sure I got sleep; Motrin for the fever and cold cloths for the heat radiating from my head.

Call me a drama queen, but I was scared. We didn't know what was wrong - just that my chest was not feeling right and I had a fever like I had never had before. It didn't help my mental state that Brad's uncle had died of a rare form of pneumonia a few years ago that started out with "cold-like" symptoms.

I'm not saying that I think every Jack and Jill who are too sorry to work should be given great government insurance on a silver platter - but for the first time in my life, I was in their shoes. The helpless feeling...the knowing that you need medical care but too scared about the cost to go...it's basically putting a price on your health. How much am I willing to pay to be healthy again? Can we afford to get me healthy?

I went to work this morning, confirmed that I was still covered under insurance and jetted to Urgent Care with a sense of relief that I had never had before. At that point, I didn't care if it was pneumonia and I wound up in the hospital - at least I would know and I would have the medical care I needed.

It was the flu - I don't think anyone takes the flu too lightly these days. On the way home I was almost giddy because at least I knew.

I can honestly say that I am so thankful that I have medical insurance - and how my heart hurts for the people who legitimately can't afford health insurance. I know the fear they must have on a daily basis and I agree, that's not a feeling anyone should have to endure. Unfortunately, it's the people who want to take advantage of the system that will ultimately deprive them of that relief.

Minor suckage today.

Went to the social security office today to try and get my social security card changed. Actually I went last week and attempted this but apparently the marriage license they send you in the mail is completely worthless. I was so excited, too – there were maybe 2 people in line and I stood there for probably 5 minutes, max. Unfortunately because the marriage license I had wasn’t *certified*, they shot me down and told me I’d have to come back later.


Today I went, same time, different day and it was about 25 people deep. No big deal, I’m a patient person, I can wait. A lady in front of me in line makes a comment about how she brought absolutely everything with her so she would have anything they possibly asked for. What is she there for, you ask? Oh, she threw away her social security card (this is important). I made a comment about how, yeah, I was here last week but brought the wrong marriage license. She gives me this dirty look and goes, “Well, how many marriage licenses do you have???” and turns around. I realized she thought I had more than one license to more than one guy, possibly at different times. No, I just didn’t have the *certified* one last week.

So anyways, about 25 minutes later, her two buddies she had befriended had gone through the line and left so I assume she decided I was an acceptable chit-chat partner because she started making small talk. I quietly made a comment about how I thought it was interesting they only had 3 windows (only 2 were open) considering how busy they always are. She goes into this lecture of how she’s an economics and civics teacher and how she understands all sides of it and that if they opened more windows they’d have to hire more people and raise taxes and it just wouldn’t help a thing. I just kind of smile and nod, not knowing how to respond to that. Eventually I say how nice it would be if we could just do some of the more simple tasks online or through the mail (I know my mom had her name changed through the mail). She goes into this tirade about how she just would absolutely NOT send ANY of her information through the mail, ABSOLUTELY not. I wanted to ask her if she realized that her new social security card would be coming *gasp* through the mail.


Her number is called, she goes to a window. The next number is almost immediately called and it’s three Asian people who had been behind me in line, filling out 3 different applications. I assumed that they would take awhile, as it appeared they were filing for social security cards for citizenship – especially since teacher lady was there simply to get a new social security card since she so smartly threw away.


Shows what I know. The group of three people got finished, my number was called and I was done in about 2 minutes – and teacher lady was still at the window, even with all her perfectly organized information in a second grader’s folder.

Some people.

Honeymoon Recap!

Warning, this is an incredibly long update. Seriously, I go through day-by-day. It's more of a record for me, but you're more than welcome to read about it all. Don't worry I don't go into *too* much detail ;-) but it is pretty lengthy.

Now that you have been sufficiently warned...

I love my husband.

I had my first nightmare as a married woman last night. I woke up half crying because I dreamed that Brad had gone out of town and some guy was trying to kill me - my friend Amanda was with me and the killer found me at home. He was waiting for me, hiding under the blankets in my room. It was vivid - I mean, I was looking down the barrell of that gun and I remember being on the laptop when the guy wasn't looking and seeing that he had transferred $1246.00 from my account to his (really? You're going to kill me for that?). I woke up right before he shot me and I guess I was mumbling in my sleep because Brad was awake when I woke up - I told him I had a nightmare. He reached over and grabbed my hand, *I THOUGHT he was going to curl up with me* - and he brings it over to the other side of him and goes, "feel this? This is called NOT HAVING ANY COVERS BECAUSE YOU STOLE THEM ALL!"

*sighs*

My hero.

In case you're wondering, I threw the rest of the comforter at him. I was sweating from the nightmare anyway.

The Wedding, Part 2

Part 2 – October 10, 2009!

The Wedding, Part 1

**Warning**
Super in-detail post…I just don’t want to forget the details years from now :)
Part 1

Nervous Wreck

One week from today, I'm going to be getting ready for my Bridesmaid's Luncheon. One week from tomorrow I'm getting married. My stomach has been doing roller coasters and cartwheels for a week now.

Yesterday I took advantage of my wonderful mother's thoughtfulness. In the midst of all my showers, my future in-law family threw me a "personal" shower. My mom decided I was probably going to get all the underwear I would ever need (true!) so she got me a gift card to have a massage. Can I please tell you now that Urbana Cityspa and Tea Bar has changed my life?

Seriously. I've done the Massage Envy stuff and it was fine, but this was a whole new experience for me. This is a serious massage place. I chose the 60 Minute Sampler which consisted of the following:

Hawaiian Hot Stones

Our river rocks have been blessed in Hawaiian tradition, and we believe they hold special healing energy. Small warm stones are placed strategically on your body and larger oiled stones glide over you to massage away every care. A blissful experience.

Note from me: A blissful experience doesn't even begin to describe this one.

Asian Elixir (I actually had to swap it out for Aromatherapy which was fabulous but this one sounded pretty awesome too so I wanted to put it out there)

Ashiatsu barefoot therapy is delightfully different. The therapist holds on to ceiling bars while applying his or her weight to acupressure points. Designed to improve circulation and relieve tension and described by some as the ultimate massage.

The Olympian

A remedy for aching, overworked muscles, our sports massage integrates Swedish, deep tissue and neuromuscular therapy. Slow strokes and deep compression combine to release chronic patterns of tension, ease pain, enhance performance and increase endurance.

Swedish Blend

Enjoy soothing strokes that melt away tired muscles. Reduce stress, improve circulation and tone muscle. This is our signature massage.

Basically, I'm hooked. I walked in (I went to the location on the corner of Carmel & 51 but my mom got the gift card at Birkdale) and this is what welcomes me:

I checked in and the girl offered me a complimentary cup of tea or water. I chose a white tea from a few tea choices and it was delicious. I hung out in the waiting room for awhile and then she came to get me. The room was almost completely dark and was just an amazing experience. I highly, HIGHLY recommend them for all your stress-less needs. I've decided that whenever I make my way to Charlotte from now on, I WILL be booking a massage there. Maryland had better have good massage places. And good sushi places. Those have become two things I am not willing to skimp on.

Speaking of sushi, Trader Joe's, you disappoint me. How can you let Harris Teeter have better sushi than you? Not that Harris Teeter's sushi is award-winning by any stretch, but at least it's edible. I have officially met a sushi that I did not like.

And the world starts spinning

I'm just saying.

I'm getting married.

I'm buying a new car.

I'm getting married.

I'm going back to school.

I'm getting married.

I'm moving to a new state where I know no one except my future husband and his family.

I'm allowed to start freaking out now, right?

I can't believe how much time has flown since last November when he proposed. Now it's next week. NEXT week! For the rest of my life! My heart started racing on Sunday afternoon and hasn't quit since. I didn't think I would be one to get nervous but clearly that's not the case.

I've given my official notice at work and sent out an email to all my vendors today letting them know what was going on. It was really weird to push "send" on that email, telling them that November 6 would be my last day. I'm going to miss it here but I'm not going to miss the politics of corporate America. I wasn't cut out to be a secretary, let's just be honest with ourselves.

The LSAT was Saturday. I thought it was easy which clearly means I did miserable on it. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. I figured I would be the oldest one in there but there were quite a few older people taking it. Side rant - I have nothing against "non-traditional" students. I do however, have a problem with "non-traditional" students who think that because they are older that they know everything. Lady, when the instructions say don't wear a hat or bring a book to read, don't do it. When the administrator is finished reading the instructions and getting ready to hand out the tests, it's NOT a good time to raise your hand and demand to use the restroom. C'mon. We're in there for 5 hours as it is, let's get this show on the road! Anyways. I wasn't the least bit nervous and I'm hoping that helped my cause. The LSAT isn't going to make or break my life. If I don't do well on it, I have graduate school as the backup. I find out my score on the 19th, the same day we get back from the honeymoon. Welcome home!

'Ol Holly Honda will be moving on soon.

She's seen me through a lot of days, but it's time to move on. As my first "negotiator" experience, I've had a blast. I've wound up looking at two SUV's that were originally out of my price range but since I got two dealerships pitted against each other, it's working dramatically in my favor. I'm looking at a Highlander or a 4Runner right now. One dealership has dropped $10,000 off the MRSP of both, making them more affordable than I ever thought possible. I'm going up to test drive the 4Runner this weekend and let them evaluate my trade in. If everything goes well, we might just have a deal!

The wedding. I know everything will be wonderful. I know the details don't really matter. I don't know what I'm so nervous about. I think it's because - it's forever. When we were doing some of our pre-marital counseling, one of the questions was, "What are grounds for divorce?" I was completely shocked (albeit in a good way) that Brad's response was something along the lines of I don't believe in divorce, I believe when you take your vows for better or for worse it means you're going to stick together and work through the hard times. Mind you, I was rather impressed by that...but at the same time...yikes. No way out!

Anyway.

The magic cleaner that will save you $92 and you'll never have to buy another bottle again!

This world makes me worry about having kids one day. Was life really like this when my parents were my age?

Apparently the "No Solicitation" sign at the front of my subdivision is optional these days. A month or two ago I was home sick and was interrupted from my nap by a doorbell ringing. Thinking it was someone from work coming to check on me (not completely a delusion, I only work a mile from my house and a girl I work with lives in the same neighborhood) - I answered the door. A guy stood there and talked my ear off about public speaking/magazines for 45 minutes.

Last night someone knocked on my door. Mind you, I was *not* going to answer it. I turned the light on outside and the girl started waving. It's partly my own fault, but I thought she was a girl I knew so I opened it. Aw, crap. She was selling this cleaning product. She was just like any other door to door salesman until she started to realize that I wasn't interested. Now, up until this point I was only vaguely annoyed (because I couldn't get her to shut up long enough to let me tell her that I wasn't going to buy anything). THEN she starts trying to guilt me into buying it - "Well, even if you're not interested in the cleaning product, I know you'll be interested in supporting single black mothers like myself who are just trying to support their family - I know you'll do that, won't you?"

Okay now you just ticked me off. When you pull crap like that, alarm bells go off in my head and I want you off my stoop now. I finally managed to get her to leave but you could tell she was pissed off.

I feel like when things like this happens, I can't win. If I buy something, the chances are that I will get ripped off or scammed. If I don't buy anything, I run the chance of that person or someone they know retaliating, especially when they walk away muttering under their breath on what kind of person I am. Just because I prefer to not buy cleaning products from a perfect stranger does not qualify me as a racist, I'm just saying. If you'd been white/purple/red I wouldn't have bought it either.

So last night I slept horrible, wondering if every sound I heard was someone breaking in. Paranoid? Possibly. But how else am I supposed to feel?

Update: I came in to work this morning and asked the girl I work with who lives in my subdivision if she had anyone come by last night. She did, and she (along with a few other neighbors) had called the police. The girl had become abrasive and was cursing at everyone. The police didn't do anything because they said she wasn't doing anything wrong. Apparently "No Solicitation" doesn't actually mean anything after all.

Breathing exercises commence.

I just walked down the stairs at work from the kitchen with a clear mug of green tea in my hand. At the bottom of the stairs was one of our high-up executives, talking to another employee. Usually when I walk down the stairs, I look down because I’m concentrating on not falling. I looked up to see him looking at me very strangely. I get to the bottom of the stairs and he’s still staring at me. Finally he looks up and goes, “Ah, it’s tea. I thought you had beer there for a minute.”

Anyways. I gave my boss my unofficial notice today. It was such a weird feeling. The last time I did that I was so overjoyed – I hadn’t been happy working there for a long time and felt like finally I had a ray of light at the end of a tunnel. This time, though – it’s different. I don’t hate my job. It’s not that I can’t stand being around my boss. I just know that I’m meant for something better than this. I don’t want to be an assistant/secretary for my whole life. I don’t mind starting at the bottom somewhere if I can move up – I just don’t see that opportunity here anymore. It’s even more frustrating to hear the executives give internal speeches about all the opportunities here – and if you really want to move up and make something of yourself, you have that chance here. I don’t feel like I do. It’s incredibly frustrating to be told that you can’t apply for a position simply because someone in my current position can’t move that far up. No matter the fact that I have all the qualifications on paper – if I were an external candidate, I would be considered. To me, that’s the most stifling insult ever. I'm just saying.

So onward I go. About a month to go before the wedding and I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It’s the little things that are starting to get to me. Some things aren’t even wedding related. Stupid things make me burst into tears. Little things make me have knot after knot in my stomach.
I’m trying so hard not to wish this time away. At the same time, though, I just want it here. I want the wedding to be here, to be on the honeymoon, and be miles away from all my stresses. I even want the time to get here that I go back to school – but at the same time, I’m terrified to move to this new town in this new state where I have no friends. I already miss my friends so much and I haven’t even left them.

Everything will work out one way or another, I know that. I just hope we are making all the right decisions throughout all of this.

My, the difference 15 minutes can make...

Days like this just confirm even more what I already knew - Brad and I are just supposed to be together. It was planned even before we met. He completes me in ways no one else can even try.

I had a really frustrating day. It happens, that's life. I had my first wedding nightmare last night (it wasn't too serious so hopefully that's a good sign for the future). I was so angry and annoyed at so many little things building up on me (on top of Mother Nature taking her revenge on me for altering cycle-tmi, I know. But seriously, I was not exactly going to welcome Aunt Flo to my wedding OR honeymoon. I'm just saying.) I was in such a bad mood tonight when I called to say our goodnights. I didn't want to talk about it but somehow most of it came out. And suddenly it just didn't seem so bad anymore. It'll all work out. Just little things. He knew what to say and how to say it. Just like that, my spirits are lifted.

Before I called, I was stressed, angry and figuring I'd have to go downstairs and make some sleepytime tea to get any sleep tonight. But now, as I type this, I'm just so happy.

There's really no point to this post except...I'm just beyond happy about marrying him next month. I can't even pretend to have cold feet. He's everything I could ask for and even what I didn't know I wanted or needed. He just gets me and I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives sharing everything - the ups, the downs and the in-betweens.

Honeymoon. Finalized.

Finally.

I shouldn't have doubted him. He always comes through. He was just cutting it a little close for my taste is all.

The wedding is on Saturday, the 10th. We'll spend the night there somewhere close by then Sunday we'll head back towards Charlotte and spend the night at my house. Monday morning at 6am, we will fly from Charlotte to Miami. From there we'll fly to San Juan, Puerto Rico. From there...drum roll please....

St. Lucia!!!!

I can't even tell you how excited I am! It's going to be the longest plane trip of my life but at least I have Brad to travel with. He asked for the longest layover possible in San Juan because he has a friend there and he's hoping we can meet up with him and see a few of the local spots.

I told him this is going to be the most amazing vacation of our lives. I just can't wait to eat, drink and be merry in our private plunge pool :) I'm just saying!

Becoming Domesticated

I'm transitioning.

This weekend was a lot of family and a lot of generic, pre-made dishes to keep everyone satisfied. I decided to be grown up and try something I was pretty sure I would hate.

I loved it, I'm just saying.

I hate almost every ingredient in this salad, but for some reason when you put it all together, it's love. And now, to share (it makes a lot, so the amount in parenthesis is what I did for half):

(1) 2 bags of romaine lettuce
(1/2) 1 bag broccoli slaw
(1) 2 pkgs beef ramen noodles
(1/4c) 1/2c red onion chopped
Almond slices (Mom didn't use these though since she can't have nuts - and I wind up not putting nuts in my stuff just so I won't forget)
Mix above in bowl then pour over dressing.

Dressing:
(3T) 1/3c vinegar
(3T) 1/3c sugar
(1/4c) 1/2c olive oil
(1pkt) 2pkt beef seasoning (from the beef ramen package)

I hate broccoli slaw, I hate ramen noodles, I hate onions. Yet I'm in love with this salad. Go figure!

Off to research crock pot recipes!

Another one bites the dust...

Nothing can ever be simple, right?

Lovely weekend with family and my hometown church. My mom’s old circle group threw me a bridal shower on Sunday, which was absolutely beautiful. It was great being able to see people from church and spend time with my aunts and cousin who I don’t get to see very often. Everyone was asking how the wedding plans going and my mom and I kept responding with, “well, we just keep waiting for the other shoe to drop!”

Apparently sometime last week, it dropped without anyone realizing it.

About 20 minutes after we returned home from the shower, my mom got a call on her cell phone from a number she didn’t recognize. It turned out to be one of their neighbors at their house in Charlotte. He had gone to my parents’ house to return a bowl and saw that water was gushing out the front porch and the windows.

This was bad. My parents’ front door sits on top of a full, walk-out basement. So essentially, there was water gushing out of the second floor of their house. No one had been there since early the week before.

My dad drove straight to Charlotte that night (we still had family staying at our house in Pennington). I went there yesterday on my way home. I walked in the front door and my mouth just dropped. I have seen water damage before (unfortunately, this is not the first time my poor parents have had go endure this – this same thing happened to our house in Pennington), but I have never seen anything quite like this. I walked into the foyer to see a gaping hole in the ceiling. The brand new hardwood floors were warped so much you could set up a rollercoaster for your Barbie dolls. The smell hits you like a brick wall. Turning the corner to look down the stairwell at the basement is when the astonishment really hits. The basement was completely destroyed. Ceiling tiles gone. Standing water on the pool table. The light above the pool table hanging by a wire. Mold spores growing everywhere you look. It was horrible. I called my mom and told her to stay in Pennington at least until the weekend. It’s not livable to be there right now.





We can be thankful no one was home and that more things weren’t destroyed. Most of the wedding things were upstairs, out of harm’s way. They still took my dress to the other house just to make sure the smell doesn’t get to it. But still. They said it could be 6 weeks before things get better. Between this and the wedding, my parents are going to need a vacation!

I'm just saying.

Pleasure doin' business with ya, boss.

My boss bought me lunch at Olive Garden today? Why, you ask? Because I obviously have lawyer tendencies and made him sign a contract with a little “wager” we made last December:

CATEGORY 360

Wager

(My name) vs. (His name)

Terms:

This wager states that (His name) does not believe that (My name) will remain as the Category 360 Supreme Merchandising Assistant (aka Hits Submit and That's It) until August 5, 2009.

In which case that Ms. (My name) does, in fact, remain as the Category 360 Supreme Merchandising Assistant until August 5, 2009, (His Name) will then owe a lunch at Olive Garden.

In which case that Ms. (My name) does not remain as the Category 360 Supreme Merchandising Assistant until August 5, 2009, possibly as a result of gittin' hitched, then she will owe a lunch at Olive Garden.

On this day, December 5, 2008, we the undersigned, agree to these terms.

And then I had him sign it, I made a copy and done.

I'm like that.

And I truly enjoyed my 5 cheese baked ziti.

And I now desperately need a nap.

I'm just saying.

Shoot for the moon...even if you miss you'll land among the stars...

Now the decisions start flowing. Not the wedding decisions, most of those are pretty much done at this point (off-topic: I do, however, want to brag on the bridesmaid shoes – on sale for $14.99 at Payless so we get BOGO. Even if they never wear them again, they’re less than $15. So proud of that!). Now I have to start trying to figure out what type of school I want to go to. Obviously the score I get on the LSAT will have a lot of say. I’m not expecting to blow the test out of the water or anything. This is not a girl who does well on standardized tests. There are 10 law schools in approximately a 1-hour vicinity of Brad’s house. I say approximately because let’s just be honest – a 45 minute drive to DC on a Sunday morning isn’t exactly going to translate to equal driving time on a Monday. The metro-rail is an option though and would give me extra studying time.

Graduate school gets me really excited. I’ve scouted about 9 schools that have at least one degree that really interests me. My biggest problem now is trying to narrow down what exactly I want my master’s in. Do I stick with Communications? Do I go with the tried-and-true MBA? Do I delve into something that sounds insanely exciting (High Technology Crime Investigation!?!) and hope to find a lucrative career with the government?

The more I think about it logically the more I’m leaning towards Graduate school. One, it’s a bazillion times cheaper. One year of a typical law school would pay for my entire Graduate degree at a major university. Example: George Washington University Master’s Degree in High Technology Crime Investigation – the entire degree is around $31,000. One year of law school at George Washington University? $42,500. Yeah. When you put it like that it seems to make the decision easy.

It’s not an easy decision, obviously. I have to seriously sit down and figure out where I want to be in my life. Do I want to be the butt of “stupid lawyer” jokes for the rest of my life? (haha) Do I want to shoot for the stars and get a degree in something I never imagined possible? Do I stick safe with an MBA which will give me a leg up in “most” jobs? Do I continue with my Bachelor’s in Communication and go for the Master’s in that?

I need an advisor. I'm just saying.

Numero Uno

I’ve finally done it. I’ve broken down and got a blog *other* than LiveJournal. Don’t worry, my LJ friends, I will continue posting over there. I can’t exactly re-create my high school blog entries :)

So let’s get started:

The countdown is on – less than 2 months before I’m getting hitched to my best friend! After that comes an incredible honeymoon…somewhere…I hope…nothing is concrete yet, which worries me. I left the honeymoon entirely up to him with two exceptions 1) No tent 2) No sleeping bags. I'm just saying. I thought those were perfectly appropriate and extremely necessary stipulations. But at this point I don’t care if I’m sitting in my townhouse in Charlotte. As long as I’m not going to work for a week, I think I’ll be pretty happy!

To update everyone (most of whom I would assume is in the dark on these new events): I’m going to wind up in Maryland again. I know, if you’re keeping count it started as me going to Maryland, then him moving to Charlotte, and now I’m back to Maryland. Hopefully other decisions won’t be this difficult in the future. Don’t believe anything we say until it happens.

Basically, I went to Brad awhile back and expressed my frustrations with where I am now. Don’t get me wrong, I work for a phenomenal company and I love my co-workers. But it’s virtually impossible to move up right now since they’re getting 800+ applications for each position. I’ve been out of school for 3 years now and can’t get anywhere higher than an assistant/glorified secretarial position. It just stinks because I did everything “right” in college – good grades, extracurriculars, internship, lots of job experience. So I told him that if he would support me in going back to school (financially and emotionally) that I would move to Maryland so he could keep his job. That’s when everything fell into perfect place. Turns out his job has been begging him to stay – and just got word that the state is going to let his facility build a ropes course/climbing wall and want him to oversee the project and after it’s completed. If you know Brad at all, you know this is essentially his dream job. Then we found a rent-free place to live: his grandmother had a stroke in January (thankfully she is almost fully recovered) and moved into an “apartment” with Brad’s aunt & uncle and cousins. They have told us we can stay in her house while we’re trying to get everything settled, all we have to pay for is utilities. This is HUGE, especially if it takes awhile to sell my house down here – we’ll still only be making one house payment and a very affordable one at that. So that’s a huge blessing. His uncle also found me a part-time job making better money than I currently make and very flexible hours that let me work essentially whenever I need.

So, back to the school thing. I’m taking the LSAT next month (two weeks before the wedding, yes I am insane). Even if I don’t do well on that, I’m going to go to graduate school. With him being so close to DC, Baltimore, and the Pennsylvania state border, I have a total of probably 25+ schools to choose from. Whereas in Charlotte I have one law school and 1 graduate program other than an MBA. I don’t want to leave everyone and everything in Charlotte but I think this is the best thing for us at this particular time. I’m really hopeful that we’ll come back to the Charlotte area after I get my degree (in whatever!) but we’ll have to see how the job market is then.

In other news, Amber and I have decided to train and run a half-marathon in November (right before I leave for Maryland). I’ve never done an *official* half marathon so I’m excited to start training again. I’m not setting out to break any records or anything mind you – I had signed up for a half marathon last year but thanks to my lovely wisdom teeth infection, I had to back out at the very last minute. I was ticked. But this is for real!

Okay I think I’ve probably rambled long enough. Have a lovely afternoon :)