Whoa baby baby!

Well, I suppose it's about time I update the blog world on the haps in our world.

Although I kind of feel like Facebook has stolen the blog-world thunder. 

I never blog anymore because I post all relevant information on Facebook. And yet, there is so much more you can say on a blog. Plus, I know that at least Anna reads this (if she looks at it) and that makes it worth posting a little something every 6 months or so.

In case FB didn't make this point clear: I'm preggo. 21 weeks today, in fact. And we learned on Friday that we are having a baby girl. Yes, I'm about to learn just what my parents went through raising daughters... 

Back in December, when we discovered my pregnancy, I admit that I was hoping for a boy. 

Boys scare me less (in theory)-- mostly because I didn't have brothers, I know less about boys, and I know EXACTLY what it was like to grow up as a girl and with 2 sisters.

Girls are work. At least, the girls in my family were work. We've gotten better with age, or better able to hide the maintenance required...

But I do know more about girls! And my mom raised 3 and my Nanny raised one and helped raise the 3 of us, so they are fountains of useful information. 

Mostly, (whichever way it had gone) I'm excited for this baby and lots scared. Stephen and I had talked about kids and how we wanted them someday. And I am so glad that we waited several years before this girl came along. 

Now we talk and talk about our little girl and the ways she'll change our life and the stuff we'll need to get and how we wish we lived closer to our families. 

And we have to name her! Crazy. We have to decide the name she will live with for the rest of her life. There are the potential nicknames to consider, a middle name that fits with the first and last name, and all sorts of things. 

I've already eliminated any name that starts with C... Alliterative names are rarely cute.

And there are lots of names that neither Stephen or I like. It's finding ones that we both like that is a challenge...

We have to buy her a crib and make sure she has clothes, diapers, blankets...

She isn't born, she doesn't have a name, but she's already taken over our life. 

And I'm pretty sure Stephen and I couldn't be happier about it.

Our little girl will be loved.

I have spoken.

Musings

Dear blogoverse (but mostly Anna),

Hi! How's it going?

Things have been pretty slow around here.
Work, husband, reading, the usual...

I feel a little cheated at this time of year. Now that I've got a full time job, I don't really get a summer... It's enough to make me miss school, just a little.

The regularity of school is what I miss. Knowing my schedule would be the same every day - having class, hanging with friends, etc.

I also miss having a plethora of friends around. Waco is not my favorite place to start with: it's in Texas, it's hot, and far far away from my friends and family.

Stephen, however, does make up for some of that.

Speaking of Stephen, we got into a discussion tonight about personal bubbles. Not like a personal space bubble ("don't stand so close to me" and all that), but like a bubble of relationships.

My bubble is very small. I'm choosy about who I want in my bubble. For example, my family is, of course, in my bubble. Mom, Dad, Sarah, Rachael- very important to my bubble. My matey soul, Anna, is deeply entrenched in my bubble. You'd basically have to pop it to get her out of there.

So there are maybe 10 or 15 people who I would definitely say are in my bubble.

Stephen has a much bigger bubble. He is less choosy about who comes in his bubble. There are lots and lots of people who he would say are part of his bubble!

And then, I think he and I have a collective bubble. People who may not necessarily be in one or either of our personal bubbles, but who are nonetheless in a mutual bubble. This bubble is much larger than my personal bubble.

I feel like I've gotten off track. My point in all of this was: Over the course of the last 3 or 4 years, I have drastically changed. My bubble used to be much larger and I was much less choosy about who came inside. And I'm not sure if it's part of getting older, or being far away from people I know, or something else. But I do miss the days when I had a bigger bubble and had more friends  to fill it.

I love Stephen. And he fills a good chunk of my bubble. He makes everything about my life better. And I love my family and the friends that I have. But I still hope that someday I can live in a place where my bubble can grow.

How about you? What's your bubble like? Are you very aware of your bubble like me? Or do you, like Stephen, rarely notice or worry about your bubble?

Auf weidersehen!

Breaking the silence

Hello blog world!

Well, I have been out of the blogoverse (did I make that up or is it something nerdy I shouldn't say?) for a looooooooong time.

Between work and Stephen and the holiday seasonsss, I have found very little time for blogging.

And, to be even more honest, very little to blog about.

The most exciting thing to happen round here in the last few months (besides my 2 year wedding anniversary and our trip to WA for Christmas, which, while blog-worthy, happened so fast and went by like blurs!), is that my best Anna is illustrating a silly little children's book I wrote.

I've never been great at writing.

Don't get me wrong - I could knock out a solid B+ or A- research paper or reading response or other academic type writing.

And I've always been good at noticing other's good writing (which is why I love to read).

While in college, the most creative writing I did was for my poetry workshop and then the poetry writing class I took.

Poetry was not my forte, but I was actually proud of a few of my poems.

But not real writing. Not like, sit down and write a story writing.

But one day, bored and bored and bored, I wrote a little story for Stephen about 2 monkeys in the jungle who become friends.

Like any good husband, he loved it! And encouraged me to write more.

So then I had an idea for a story about a shark.

It stank.

And then, my best Anna drew a picture of a penguin.

(For those of you who don't know me well, I LOVE penguins!)

And the story just fell into my head.

So Anna is drawing the pictures to go with my story and pretty soon, there will be a real live (not really published but sill super cool for us) book, written by Heather Cowden and illustrated by Anna Robertson.

Years from now, when there are little Cowden's running 'round, I'll have a little illustrated storybook to read them that I wrote! And that Aunt Anna illustrated.

The same goes for Anna when she's got some babies!

It's cool and fun and I'm excited to see the finished product.

Penguin in Love, not coming soon to any bookstore, but coming soon to live with me!

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.

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!

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.

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!

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.

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)

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!

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!

Giving Thanks

Well, I'm going to be cliche for a moment.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year.

I love fall, cooler weather, sweaters, and all that.

I love spending time with people I love, like my super awesome husband.

Being in Texas has made me realize how blessed I have been and still am today.

While I am far from my family and most of my friends, God gave me Stephen.

And even though it's been a tough almost-year for the two of us, I would not trade our first year of marriage for anything.

I am thankful for computers and Internet-- thanks to Skype, I was able to see my family and talk to them yesterday. My mom, my Nanny, and my 2 sisters (Dad was sleeping off the turkey)

I am thankful for airplanes-- Stephen's parents were able to come visit and we got to share an early Thanksgiving with them.

I am thankful for cell phones-- Though I am many miles from my closest friends, I can text and talk to them regularly.

I am thankful for the people that we have met here in Texas-- it was very lonely our first few months in Waco, without a church family or friends. But now we have both! And Stephen and I both have good jobs, working with good people.

God has been so faithful and I am confident that He will continue to be faithful.

To all of my friends and family, I love you!

And I hope you all had happy Thanksgivings!

Comparable

This is probably one of the funniest things I've seen.

It is comparable to some of the funniest events in my life.

Maybe it's just that not too much funny stuff has happened to me, but I choose to believe that everyone would think this is just as funny as I do.

The people at the UBS Spirit Shop seem to think it's just as funny as I do.

And here is what happened:

A few days ago, close to closing time, one of the guys I work with, Steven (not my husband Stephen, a different Steven) found 3 blue post-it notes under the hat rack.

Normally this would not be that interesting.

However, the contents of these 3 blue post-it notes cracked us up. For like 20 minutes.

We spent a good amount of time speculating the origin of these 3 blue post-it notes.

And came up with some interesting theories.

So we saved the post-it notes and moved on.

And then-- last night--

WE FOUND A 4th BLUE POST-IT NOTE!!!

Yes, oh yes, Steven wandered back to clean up again and, under the very same hat rack where the first 3 blue post-it notes were discovered, we found the 4th post-it note.

The story continued.

I will now share with you the contents of these 4 blue post-it notes (with all original line breaks and misspellings):

Bro/hubby = docs
antique casa 4 smmer
HUGE garden
something strange in casA
room upstairs = old
plAyroom
wallpaper torn
She isnt well
hubby dont want her
to write

Mary takes care
of baby?
the paper REALLY
bugs her
she dont wanna be
sent to weir Mitchell
but she will be if
she dont get
better soon

she cries alot when
Shes alone
Now she LOVES
wallpaper
follow pattern w/
eyes = Good as
gymnastics
baby = well and comfy
she tries to tell

(and this is where the third post it left us on the edge of our seats!)

hubby she may look
well but shes sick
in the head & he said
Yah Right
shes gettin better
caught hubby/jeannie
looking at it
woman in wallppr
creeps at daytime

Right?? Isn't that awesome!!!

Ok, so now, I want to hear your theories.

And let's be creative people.

The most obvious answer is boring. And we came up with it already.

Your job is to dazzle me with your theories.

The most ingenious theory wins a secret prize!

And once you've shared your ideas, I'll tell you the ones we came up with!

Now get cracking!

Booooooooooooo

Texas is 100000000000 degrees.

This is not an exaggeration.

Waco is so hot, I literally want to never leave my apartment.

We are in desperate need of groceries.

But I do not want to go to Wal-Mart-- it is hot.

I have to work.

I do not want to go to work-- it is hot.

I've moved over to the other store since Stephen has been officially promoted.

It might actually be ok-- except that it is hot.

The AC on one side of the store is broken.

Which side, you ask??

The side with all the boxes of textbooks that have to be shelved.

Death!

Stephen has been sick. Fever of over 100 for the last 5ish days.

It makes him cold sometimes. Shivery cold.

And I am an inferno.

ALL THE TIME.

I feel so bad for my sickey husband.

I want to help him to feel better.

But I can hardly hug him because he's so warm!

I suppose that some things in the world are worse than heat.

But I can't think of any-- it is so hot.

I sometimes put a wet towel in the freezer and wait for it to freeze and then put it on my head.

Like right now.

Cause it is so hot.

Texas needs to have central air installed inside the state.

Or build a heat resistant bubble over the top.

I have spoken.

Long-Distance Friendships

I'm going to make a confession...

Currently, I am juggling several long-distance friendships.

Are you shocked? Well, at least it's not several something elses worse!

I am happy to report, that, for the most part, it's working.

I have a weekly phone date with Emily Iler. We stay pretty updated with each others lives. We usually talk for over an hour and almost run out of things to say! In fact, a few times we've made up stories to entertain one another. Although, recently life has been more exciting. I love Emily and I am very VERY glad that we have been able to stay close friends.

Just this week I made plans for a second weekly phone date with Rachel Greene. :)
This just fills my heart with joy, because Rachel Greene is AWESOME! Truly. We talk about life and reminisce about college days and quote TV shows and movies to one another-- it's great fun. Up until last week, our chatting has been sporadic, but now that we have scheduled a weekly phone date, I am super duper happy!

I have (nearly) daily facebook conversations going with Kristin Edwards and Anna Robertson .
Kristin and I trade job searching woes, tell fascinating stories, and basically write really long posts which (I think) are an indication of how much we miss each other! We also have plans to visit and/or build an awesome castle.

Today I managed to secure a phone date with the above-said Anna! Let me tell you, folks, I am stoked. Yes, we facebook back and forth frequently, but it's not the same as phone talking. And apparently I've missed out on some good things in her life, so I'm excited to talk with her.

I talk several time a week with Sarah Lewis, and we've made plans to watch a few movies together (via phone)! I am excited for this. I think our watching a movie while on the phone together is a brilliant plan. Yes, I love Sarah Lewis bunches and I am glad that our friendship is solid even across the miles. Also, I hear she's planning to visit me! Can we say woo-hoo?

These long-distance friendships are doing well. They are thriving, one could say.

However, not all of my LDF's are solid:

I am slightly failing with my Mississippi friend Andrea Brown. We text infrequently and facebook more infrequently. It's sad, cause I love her tons. I resolve to do better.

Also, I am majorly failing with one Janna Laugherty. Aside from a few texts and facebook posts, I haven't really talked to this amazing woman (who was my maid of honor) since my wedding. This makes me feel very depressed. I miss her tons and tons. And I fully admit to failing her.

So, my blog friends, I am blogging this down so that I am held accountable: I am going to continue to make these LDF's a priority. These people are so amazing and I feel pretty blessed to have such good friends. To those of you with whom I am doing well, thank you! It's a much to your credit as it is to mine that we are keeping in touch well. And to those of you with whom I am failing, I'm so sorry. I want to do better and get back in good contact with you.

I loves my LDF's, but still... I slightly blame them for my lack of desire to make friends in Waco.
They are so awesome-- why would I want other friends?

I wanna go backwards

Here's the thing:

Being an adult blows.

Bills, jobs, and responsibility.

The only good thing I got out of becoming an adult was Stephen.

So that is why I've decided I want to go back. Back to high school.

I'm sure some of you are staring at your computer screen with mouths agape.

I'm sure some of you are saying, "WHAT?!?!?" with a very incredulous tone.

The question on every one's mind is undoubtedly, "Who wants to go back to high school?"

I do.

And here's why:
Before I turned 18, my responsibilities were pretty limited. I helped around the house. I did my homework. Yep, that was about it. Now, not only am I responsible for a job, an apartment, and etc, but I'm also taking care of another fully grown human. We do share the responsibilities, but still. It's a lot.

I took for granted all the things my parents did for me. They fed me, clothed me, let me drive their cars, let me spend their money, talked to me, counseled me, loved me, and let me move to Missouri after I graduated. If I went back, I could thank them more and make sure they knew they were appreciated.

In high school, "money" was something I took from my mom and dad. I did not earn it or budget it or save it. I spent it. Now that I have pesky things like bills zipping into my mailbox every couple days, I think I'd rather go back to not caring about monies.


No one ever went anywhere. I mean, I think a few of my friends moved away in elementary school, but by the time I went to jr. high, I pretty much knew every one. I had the same group of friends from 9th grade until graduation. It was awesome. There was none of this moving to different states nonsense, like I have to deal with now. (BTW: I MISS MY FRIENDS)

Innocence. Bliss. This was high school.

Was it all candy mountain and rose petals?

No!

Most of the time, I hated high school. It was awkward and weird and... well, high school.


But it was a simpler time. And these days, with adulthood stretching endlessly before me, I long for the simpler days.

True story.

Hello children!

Well, look at me, blogging again.

I just can't stay away.

Also, I've had many a request for a new blog.

Apparently, ya'll can't stay away either!

(Yes, I said ya'll, I live in Texas and my parents are from Tennessee! Don't judge.)

So as some of you may know, last week I got to go to my little hometown of Federal Way, Washington!

It was a delightful trip, even though I had to leave my Husby behind.

We survived; thank you for your concern.

Like I said, the trip was super amazing. We did a whole lot of shopping, went walking round the block, took partial family photos (partial because Stephen wasn't there), went to Rachael's graduation, ate way too much food at Mongolian Grill, and basically just spent a whole lot of time together.

I love my family. They are amazing people and I wish that Stephen and I did not live so far away from them.

However, I feel completely blessed that I was able to spend 6 days with them (and I am VERY grateful that my parents paid for my plane ticket; without that, I would not have been able to go).

Still, it was not all fun and games. I had some pretty trying moments also. And because my downfalls are usually very amusing, I will choose to share one of these moments with you!

We took partial family photos in a little park near downtown Seattle. It was a beautiful day: 70 degrees, sunny, a few wispy clouds, a gentle breeze- basically the perfect Seattle summer day.

Stupidly, I wore heels.

This may not seem that stupid, but keep in mind that we were in a PARK!

And also, it's been several months since I've worn heels and I am not practiced in wearing heels.

So the photographer found this really cool looking, low-branched tree for us to pose under, and I was having a hard time balancing on my heels.

Then, as I headed to the tree to pose for my pictures, I was looking at the ground to try and step lightly, and my heel went all crooked.

In my haste, I over-compensated and ran head-first into a low-hanging tree branch.

I saw those little stars flying round my head, like in the cartoons.

A lump formed almost immediately.

I cried.

And laughed a little too.

And feel verrrrrrry sheepish.

So that is my story. It doesn't sound as funny told in blog form, but I'm sure ya'll chuckled a little anyway.

I miss my fam a ton already. Hopefully, in the not too distant future, we will live close enough so that we can see each other every few days instead of every 6 months or so.

The End.

(maybe I'll be back)

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

No, don't worry. I know it isn't Christmas time.

It's not Thanksgiving, or Easter, or even my birthday.

It was Memorial day yesterday, but that still isn't what I am talking about.

No, this magical event begins tonight.

"Tonight?" you ask, very confused as to what could be so exciting on a Tuesday night...

Well, it isn't Glee, as much as I like Glee. This is bigger than Glee. This is better than Glee.

This, my friends, is Wipeout.

WIPEOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right, John Henson and John Anderson return tonight to bring us endless entertainment as people fall on their faces (and other parts of their bodies) in pursuit of lots and lots of money.

It may baffle you as to why I enjoy this show. You may think, "How horrible! She likes to watch people fall down..."

And you wouldn't be wrong. Ok, you'd be sort of wrong.

I LOVE watching people fall down.

Please don't mistake what I am saying; it's not like I'm laughing when a little kid falls down on the playground.

These are grown people, who AUDITION to be a show where the goal is to MAKE you fall down so that Americans everywhere can laugh at you.

The hosts, John and John, purposely exaggerate a character trait (or even physical feature) that you possess and mock it the whole show. They are almost as funny to listen to as it is funny to watch the people fall.

Even if you can't understand my love of Wipeout, you should tune in at least once this season.

It's going to be hilarious.

I can still remember the first time I saw an episode of Wipeout. Anna and Kristin were with me I believe, but I don't think Janna was there. We were sitting in the living room, flipping through channels, and there it was. I don't think any of us knew what it was, but after about 10 minutes, I was hooked. From then on, I scheduled my homework around Wipeout.

Then last summer, when I lived with Nanny and Aunt Ethel, Stephen and I both looked forward to Wipeout night. It was a sad day when one or both of us had to work. Even Nanny and Aunt Ethel would watch with us! That was some hilarious times.

I am excited for this. Wipeout somehow means summer and good times ahead. While it isn't the same without Anna, Nanny, and Aunt Ethel, I am excited to have Stephen to share this magical time with.

After all, it's the most wonderful time of the year!

Wipeout season 3 is here!!!!!!!!! ABC, 8pm, 7pm central, Tuesday nights.

Watch it. Love it. I have spoken.

I am old.

Yes, older than dirt.

I know I have written several posts about being old and stuff, and it's because I am super duper old feeling.

For example, I slept about 9 hours last night. And I woke up thinking, "What did I just do? I slept way too long!"

As a teen, you can never sleep too long.

Stephen and I worked at the bookstore this afternoon, 12-5, which is the whole time the store is open on Saturdays. We spent some time rearranging shelves and every time I knelt down, I creaked. And getting back up I creek ed.

I don't remember being so creaky as a teen.

This evening we went on a date. Yes, a Date. Dinner, ice cream, and a movie!

Dinner was BBQ from Uncle Dan's restaurant. While it was good, I had no veggies. This troubled me.

When a teen, no veggies = happy.

We went to see Iron Man 2. It was loud. I came home with a roaring headache. Literally, a lion is inside my head, roaring.

And then, I am sitting here typing this blog, and the light from my screen is killing me.

It's also past 11pm and I am sleepy.

I'M SO OLD.

I'm too old for this stuff: kneeling on the floor, no veggies at dinner, loud movies in the theatre.
I'm just too old for this stuff.

I am not, however, too old for: dates with my husband, vanilla Frostys, or texting my friends.

And now, I will move my old bones to bed. Partly cause I want to sleep instead of hear my headache-lion and partly cause I am old and sleepy and have to get up early.

Musical life

I have this secret desire.

I want to be in a Broadway musical.

Don't laugh. It's true.

Now, I realize that for the last several years I have been slightly adamant about the fact that I no longer enjoy singing in public.

That is still very very true.

However, I can't help it.

Whenever I'm alone in the apartment, I crank up some tunes and I sing my little heart out.

Mostly in the shower, but still.

Or in the car, when I'm driving somewhere without Stephen (which isn't often) I like to belt it out.

The closest I've come to really singing in public in the last 2 years is at the karaoke bar with my sister Sarah.

But that doesn't really count. (It doesn't count as singing in public unless at least half, no, at least 3/4 of the audience is sober.

And yet, there is a very strong part of me that wants to perform again.

One of the happiest times of my life was during the 2 weeks of performances for Children of Eden, the musical I was in my senior year of high school.

Music wise, it was the best performance experience of my life.

Every night, I would go in and do my makeup and put on my costume for the first part of act 1. And the show night high would start.

And then I'd start to drag just before intermission.

But in the opening number of act 2, I'd get my second wind and I'd feel even higher than in act 1.

And then, at the end, when we all stood and took our bows, it just felt magical.

There is something magical about being on stage.

It was a high I'd not felt until those 2 weeks and I haven't felt it since.

Performing in a choir/ensemble isn't the same.

In the musical, I got to be someone else. I felt what that character felt through the music.

When I sing show tunes in the shower, or when I'm cleaning the kitchen, I get to pretend that I am in this other place and that I am someone else.

It's freeing.

So there you have it.

My dark secret, that isn't a secret anymore, because I posted it on my blog.

I'm pretty sure I won't be in a Broadway musical. Shoot, I doubt I'd even have the courage to audition for one.

And I suppose I could try to do community theatre or something.

But it's not the same.

The big production, the fancy lights and sets, the feel of the big audience, the band or orchestra playing...

I guess I'll just watch Glee instead!