Saturday, September 3, 2011

God's sense of humor

Well, isn't this ironic.

2 posts ago, I wrote a looooong post about how I may never be a grown-up and how I've had lots and lots of jobs (or so it seems).

God's funny.

And I think that God sometimes sits up in heaven and (while watching me type that suuuper long post) says, "Hahaha.. This should be fun! She has NO idea!"

In a humorous way, of course.

Because I truly had no idea. Still don't perhaps. But that is neither here nor there.

What is here is a new job. Or to be more exact, an old job but better.

On Wednesday, I was offered the position of Assistant Manager at the bookstore where I used to work.

It's a full-time position.

Which is a blessing, because with Stephen in school and doing church stuff and working part-time at the bookstore, he is way busy.

And I haven't been. And that has been hard for me.

But I'm also feeling a little sad.

Because it's a real grown-up job.

While working at the church had some serious drawbacks, I liked the freedom and flexibility I had there. If Stephen got home early, I could ask to leave early and meet him at home.

Or if my parents were flying into DFW with a long layover, I could ask for the day off to drive up and see them.

Or if I wanted to take 14 days off after Christmas so that Stephen and I could go to Washington, I could.

Now I'll be in a job where time off is accrued and I have to fill out requests for time off and going to Washington after Christmas for 14 days is impossible (but we might be able to do 5 or 6 days.. we'll see)

Stephen sometimes tells me that I over-think.

It's true, I do.

And sometimes I agonize more after I've made a decision than while I was trying to make it.

But I do think that this is a good move for me. I already know some of what I'll need to do, I know a few of the people I'll be working with, and I know the manager above me (who is an excellent boss).

I'm excited and scared and I feel blessed and nervous and I think that God is upstairs chuckling and saying, "Just stick with me, kid, and we'll do this together."

And that makes me feel better.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Cowden's Rentals

Dear Anna,

This post is mostly for you. I think it is a fabulous idea for us to trade movies or tv shows! Such fun! Plus, who doesn't love getting mail.

Love, Heather

(P.S. If any of my other friends want to "rent" from us, please feel free to make a request!)

TV Shows:
Arrested Development (All seasons (1-3))

Best of Will Ferrell (vol. 1; SNL series)

Flight of the Conchords (season 1)

Friends (seasons 2, 3, 4, 5, 7)

Gilmore Girls (seasons 4, 5, 6, 7)

How I Met Your Mother (seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

The Office (seasons 2, 3, 4, 5)


Movies:
27 Dresses
Alex & Emma
The Bachelor
Batman Begins
Batman Forever
Batman & Robin
Benny & Joon
Bewitched
Bridget Jones Diary
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason
The Dark Knight
Down with Love
Elf
Enchanted
Ever After
Fantasia 2000
First Wives Club
Footloose
Galaxy Quest
Get Over It
Grease 2
Hairspray
Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban
Hope Floats
Hot Rod
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Seuss cartoon)
The Incredible Hulk (with E. Norton)
Iron Man
Iron Man 2
Joe vs. the Volcano
Leatherheads
Love Actually
Night at the Roxbury
Oceans 11, 12, & 13
One Fine Day
The Pink Panther
Prince of Egypt
P.S. I Love You
The Producers
Robin Hood - Men in Tights
Robin Hood (Disney cartoon)
The Sandlot
School of Rock
Sleepless in Seattle
Someone Like You
Step Up
Transformers
Walk the Line
The Wedding Date
When Harry Met Sally
Where the Heart Is
While You Were Sleeping
Wimbeldon
X-Men, X-2, X-Men 3 - The Last Stand
X-Men Origins - Wolverine
You've Got Mail

WOOOOO!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Here I go again...

I may never actually be a grown-up.

It's true.

For although I went to college, graduated with a Bachelor's in English, got married (and moved to Texas - ewww), I apparently still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up.

I've had approximately 1,000 jobs since I graduated.

OK not 1,000, but it feels like it.

And all the things I think I want to do seem just outside my reach.

For instance, with my English degree I thought I'd pursue a position in editing. Masters of Editing program, internship, then entry-level copy editing...

Um, God apparently had other plans, cause I married Stephen and we moved to Texas.

So there went the Masters, and the (unpaid) internships (cause although he may not look it, Stephen is a gold-digger).

And while I still get to use my editor-ing skills on small stuff at my current job and editing Stephen's school papers, I'm not that crazy about editing anymore. I think maybe I'd like it, if I could get my editing dream job, but that dream has kind of fizzled.

I've toyed with the idea of trying culinary school again. There are schools around with programs I could enter, but it would have to be part time, and once I was finished, even if I got a good job at a good restaurant, I'd probably work most evenings for dinner and this would be a tiring thing with Stephen in school and nights being my best time to see him.

And then there are kids. Someday (I emphasize, SOMEDAY), we'd like to have a couple kids. And, while I know that most people have jobs when they are preggo and then after the kids, suddenly, I feel like I could be a stay-at-home momma...

How weird is that?

I promise, this is not an option I would have considered in my younger days. But, lately, I can see it.

So I don't know. I feel sort of lost. Like a high-school senior who has no idea what they want to do after graduation. Like a kid on Career Day who just doesn't know what they want to be when they grow up.

But here are the things I do know: Jesus loves me, even in my indecision. And he knows what I'm going to do even if I don't. Stephen loves me and is incredibly patient with my job switching and my unknowingness. My family and friends love me, even if they didn't know all this before reading my post.

So at least I have a few constants in my sea of inconsistency.

And the constants are my favorite part.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

An apology of sorts

Let me just tell you:

It is kind of hard to be funny when life is boring.

Not that my life with Stephen isn't happy (cause you know he will read this :)

It is VERY HAPPY!

I love him, I love being with him.

But my job isn't very exciting.

And I still don't have very many friends who I could just call up to hang out.

So my witty side is becoming wilted.

At the beginning of May, I made a summer reading list for myself!

I've already read all the books (except 1 - Anna Karenina. So boring. And weird. And all about adultery. All things that are offensive to me)

I wanted to blog about the awesome weekend I spent with my friends (Anna, Emily and Kristin - You know who you are!!), but it already feels like so long ago and all the stories are of the "you-just-had-to-be-there" variety.

The best part about last week was when Stephen and I definitely (maybe?) decided that we aren't going to move, so we hung up a bunch of posters and got a few new ones.

I did a 1000 piece puzzle (with some assistance ((ok a lot of assistance)) from Stephen) and I glued it together and we're going to hang that up too... Someday.

But-- On Friday the 10th of June, my sista SARAH arrives!!! This will be the greatest thing (no offense to all the other things/people in my life, but I haven't seen my sister since January)!!

And then in July, Stephen and I are planning a trip to the KCMO area to see his family and some of our friends (Anna, Emily and Kristin I hope!)..

So maybe after these events, I'll have some funny to share.

My sista and friends will help water the witheredness of my wit and I'll come back with a blog post so epic your socks won't just fall off -- they'll melt!

Muahhahahahahahahaha!

I love socks.

I have spoken!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

What a 'Day-cation'!!

Let me just tell you, I have the greatest husband in the entire world.

THE ENTIRE WORLD!

You may disagree if you wish, but once I share with you these details, you'll nod your head and inwardly (or outwardly...) think, "Yes, Stephen Andrew Cowden is a superior man".

I'll begin with the beginning:

Picture it: Wednesday evening, after the church programs, Stephen and I are sitting at home.

It's been a long week, because we are both looking forward to having 3 whole days off from everything.

Stephen is imagining hours and hours of time with me and a chance to catch up on homework.

I'm picturing hours and hours of time with Stephen and a chance to catch up on housework.

And then, he turns to me and says, "How do you feel about spending Friday in Fort Worth?"

I ponder and reply that it sounds like fun. I ask, "What would we do?"

And he's off!

He checks out websites and looks at stuff and types furiously on his laptop.

I watched some tv and made dinner.

Then we went to bed, with me thinking that he'd come up with a plan the next day.

So Thursday morning, while we're eating breakfast, Stephen says, "I think I've got a plan for Fort Worth."

He spells out a beautiful plan: head up that night, stay in a downtown hotel, have a nice dinner out, and check out the town all day Friday!

I sort of wanted to cry.

I felt (and still feel) blessed beyond belief that my wonderful husband would want to whisk me away on a 'day-cation' (as we are calling it) just because. It wasn't an anniversary, or a special occasion, or anything. It was simply an act of love.

And it rocked.

We headed out at 530ish on Thursday, and got to Fort Worth about 7ish. We checked into our hotel-- a pretty nice place downtown that had an overly trendy vibe, but was still really nice. The woman at the front desk gave us a free upgrade to a room with a huge king-sized bed and all sorts of other neat stuff. Naturally, I had forgotten my camera.

So we unloaded our stuff, freshened up a bit, and headed out. To get to Sundance Square, this nice downtown area with lots of restaurants and such, we took a trolley called Molly the Trolley. It was pretty hot, even at 730pm, so it was better than walking. We got out in the heart of downtown and set off to find a place to eat. We'd gotten some suggestions from a man on the trolley, and we were looking for a Thai restaurant that sounded good. But after about 45 minutes of walking around, we were too hungry to keep looking. So we walked by this dark looking place called the Mercury Chop House and just decided to go there.

As soon as I walked in the door, I regretted it. For starters, we were a little under dressed... The place was so dark and all the people there looked super rich. The waiter seated us and handed Stephen a giant menu that was all wines. It was literally 6 pages of wine! At that point, I knew we were in a little bit over our heads.

So I was already pretty uncomfortable, and then the waiter put some water on the table in glass goblets. He asked if any wine suited us, and Stephen said we'd just have water. The waiter gave us a snooty look.

Then he handed us the real menu.

I almost passed out. Literally.

I think the cheapest thing on there was $29.99 and that was some kind of chicken with no sides. There may have been a side salad for like $20.00 but still. It was at that point that I knew I could not eat anything in that restaurant.

So I gave Stephen this look that said, "Um... Do you see these prices?" And he nodded. I said aloud, "Is it really $36.95 for a steak without sides??" He nodded once again in the affirmative.

I turned to him and said, "How weird would it be if we left?"

We placed the menus on the corner of the table and I scampered out of that place!

Apparently, I was not meant for the high life...

So after we cooled down, we decided to eat at this little burger joint. The whole meal was under $25.
It was so much more our scene.

After dinner, we tried to find this jazz club that was suggested to us, cause it sounded swell, but we got pretty turned in our dinner search and decided to head back to the hotel. We ended the night cuddled on the big bed watching Conan and the Food Network. It was glorious.

Friday morning, we slept in. Beautiful in and of itself.

We’d found this little café we wanted to try for breakfast only a few blocks away downtown. So we checked out of the hotel and headed for the café. It took us forever to find a place to park and once we made it inside, we were informed that they had no more breakfast.

Thankfully, we are resourceful people and we consulted our Garmin to find us the closest Starbucks.

It was only .3 miles away! Since we’d already paid for an hour on our meter, we decided to walk. This turned into the second fiasco of our trip! We couldn’t find it. Not even my Starbucks bloodhound-nose could sniff it out. We must have walked a mile by the time we found it. But good ole Starbucks still had coffee and muffins!

After lots of coffee, we headed to Fort Worth’s Cultural District. It was neato!

Our first stop was the Science and Natural History museum. We got to be goofy and act like kids. On the top floor, they had an exhibit about humans and genes and stuff. We took our pictures and had them modified to see what we would look like as a person of a different race. We learned about babies and biases. It was pretty cool.

After we’d poked around for a while, we went to a movie at the IMAX theatre called “Wild Ocean”. It was great. I felt like I was under ‘da sea with all the fishes, sharks, and whales.

After the SNH museum (I made that abbrev. up, but it works), we went to the Kimbell Art museum.

Let me preface this by saying that I love a good art museum. I mean, if I can see some real masterpieces, I get goose bumps.

I saw Michelangelo’s first painting ever. An original Donatello. An original Rafael. That’s 3 of the 4 Ninja Turtles! I saw several originals by Cézanne and Monet. And, the coolest thing ever, I saw an original Van Gogh. It was amazing. Van Gogh is my all time favorite artist. I have a poster of Starry Night above our bed. To see one of his paintings up close was thrilling.

Which probably makes me sound super dorky, but I don’t care.

It really was a great museum. We spent several hours there, just wandering around. It was so a highlight of the trip.

After the Kimbell, we decided to head home. We ate a delicious dinner at Outback here in Waco, so we got to come home to a clean apartment. After a full weekend, we tumbled into bed and got to sleep in till almost 11 yesterday.

So after all that, is there anyone who would disagree with me?

I think not.

I have the greatest husband in the world, who shows his love to me in fun and romantic and creative and thoughtful and outrageous ways.

I am one blessed, blessed wife.


Monday, April 18, 2011

Big Oops

So, I just dropped my cell phone into my cup of water.
(It is now drying out on the counter)

Many a phone has been doused or dropped in the Lewis household, but I somehow managed to keep mine going. Probably because I use mine less than my family members...
(Lammeeeee = me)

And I was so proud of the fact that I had never damaged a phone before.
(They say pride cometh before a fall)


Then I took a sip of that cup of water.
(momentarily forgetting my mishap)

It tasted like phone.
(This day was going so well too)

Thursday, April 7, 2011

New Beginning

I'm going to use the term 'new' pretty loosely for a minute...

For some, being married for over a year may seem like old news--

To me, it's still miraculous!

I've been married to the love of my life/bestest friend for almost 16 months.

This is crazyness.

Also, we have been living in Texas for the same amount of time.

Some mornings I wake up and I still can't believe I live in Texas....
No, it has not grown on me.

These big parts of my life still feel new to me.


Something else is new too:

I have a new job!
(Shame on you if you thought I was pregnant! Shame shame shame! I wouldn't announce that on here till all of you already knew!)

I am the new church secretary of First Baptist Church in Mart, Texas.
For those of you not new to my blog, yes! It is the same church where Stephen
is the music minister!

I'm going to be totally and completely honest-- I don't really enjoy telling people I have a new job.

Don't get me wrong; it's totally a God-thing. And I am so thankful for the better pay, steady schedule, and that I like the work I'm doing now better than what I did at the bookstore.

But, I feel a little weird.

I mean, how many 23-year-old church secretaries do you know?

Just the one? That's what I thought.

Church secretary positions are usually filled by older women. I'm not ageist, it's just truth.

And for that reason, I feel a little ashamed to tell people that I am a church secretary.

I've gotten the incredulous looks, the wide-eyed wonderment looks, the furrowed-brow-is-she-joking looks and a few others.

I've heard the surprised tones, the disapproving tones, the shocked tones, etc.

But, the people at church have been so supportive. They make a consistent effort to notice what I do and affirm me and make me feel like I'm making a positive impact in our church.

So I am deciding right now not to be ashamed of my new job.

I am the secretary of FBC Mart! And I think, so far, that I am pretty good at it.

I like that it is challenging and I like that I still have more to learn.

I like the routine and I like having the freedom to decide how I want the work to be done.

I like my new job.

I have spoken!

Monday, January 24, 2011

I'm back!!! (For now)

I am a slacker.

You have been deprived of my awesome blog.

The truth: My creativity was swallowed by a giant sea monster.
--Not Nessie, she's gentle.

No, this monster is ugly. And mean. And a little bit sadistic.

His name, you ask?

Adult-ness!

Or maybe it's getting old-ness.

But lately, I feel a little purpose-less.

(that is a lot 0f-ess!)

Stephen has started his graduate program, which he seems to be enjoying so far.

It's a lot of reading, and he's gone a lot.

So I find myself at home, watching tv or playing on facebook to fill the hours.

What I need is other ways to fill my time, cause Fb is only fun for so long and I think I've watched everything we own on DVD at least 3 times.

So, here is my list of ways to fill my time:
(Please feel free to add to my list)

1. Get a library card- I used to read all the time. But lack of time and/or motivation has caused me to think I don't like reading anymore. This is false! I just need new material. Waco has 3 public libraries! And, now that Stephen has his Baylor ID, we can check stuff out from the Baylor libraries too!

2. Get a membership to The Center- One of the bigger churches here in town has a small fitness center. The memberships are pretty cheap for area ministers and their wives. They have a pool and a cardio floor. And some other stuff I'd probably never use, but I'd use those 2! So that could be good.

3. Make photo albums- I have a ton of pictures. Literally, I have a box full of pictures that weighs a ton. And then there are all the pictures on my computer that I can print out. Stephen and I have been talking about starting photo albums but, due to lack of time and funds, haven't yet. So now that I have some time and (thanks to Rush week at the bookstore) cash, this may be one of my projects!

4. Become culinarily creative again- It was once my dream to attend culinary school. And while I still enjoy cooking and baking, I just don't have much desire to be fancy in the kitchen. Till now-- with extra time and an extreme desire to do something, I can get new recipes and try new things! Plus I'm totally bored with all my usual dinner recipes.

5. Bucket list- I realize that there are some items on my bucket list that will be difficult for me to accomplish by myself, here in Waco (like riding on a cargo ship with Kristin Edwards- nearly impossible alone and in Waco), but I think there are a few things I can cross off the list. And maybe I'll add a few things to my Murtaugh list in the process (*see my Murtaugh list post from several months ago if you don't get this reference)

6. ??????

I am open to further suggestions. Or visits. Cause a visit from one of ya'll would definitely make me happier than anything on this list.

So, now, I'm going to get ready for bed. Cause I'm old and go to bed at 11pm.

Lame!