Rantings of a disgruntled federal employee...

So, I found out this morning that I actually don't get reciprocity at my job. Reciprocity is where you get to retain residency in your original state when you work for a member of Congress. So that would have meant that I could remain a Washington state resident while living in DC. This is good because we don't have an income tax in Washington so I wouldn't have to pay any more taxes than I have paid all the rest of my life. And for the last month since I started working for the Senate, I was under the impression that I would be covered under reciprocity and not have to pay the DC income tax of 8%. But I found out this morning that I actually do not qualify for reciprocity because I do not work for a member of Congress from my own state. WHAT!!! This means that I will now have to pay double the taxes on my measly little salary. And on top of the double tax, we will now have to register our car in DC (which also costs more than WA state registration) and I DON'T GET TO VOTE!!! So to sum it all up:

I make less than I did as a waitress 2 months ago and live in a city where the cost of living is twice as high.

I will now be paying 33% of my salary from the government RIGHT BACK TO THE GOVERNMENT!!!

We will be paying twice as much to register our car in DC as we did in Washington.

Our rent here is 7 times what I used to pay for our lovely house on Astor Street and twice as much as a comparable apartment in the Seattle area.

I am now a disenfranchised American citizen who (ironically) will not be represented in the US Congress... although I am an employee of Congress!!!


I was debating whether to write this post in blue because I am depressed or in red because I am so angry... I chose red. And then I spent the rest of the afternoon looking for a new job... in Seattle!!!

The Weekend

So I ended up going to the women's conference this weekend and I'm really glad that I did. Even though I wasn't feeling well, I really enjoyed the conference. On Friday night, I came home after the conference and Brandon had bought some hot chocolate and whipped cream so we drank some and watched a movie. Then on Saturday I went to the conference in the morning and felt somewhat better. Afterwards, I went to lunch at the house of 6 young single girls who attend the church. It reminded me of my old house on Astor Street and I really missed my roommates and living with my best friends and being around girls all of the time. But even though I was homesick, I still had a good time and it turns out that they served soup!! Chicken noodle soup to be exact, and I considered it a sign from God that I had gone to the conference and then to lunch where they served the one sick-food I had been craving all week, *see the post below* That may sound silly to you (I'm pretty sure Brandon thought it was silly)... but I don't think it was a coincidence :-)

After lunch, Brandon came to meet me and we walked home and then spent the rest of the afternoon inside. I had some more hot chocolate and then fell asleep at 7 p.m. and didn't wake up until 7 a.m. on Sunday. It was exactly what I needed!! I'm still not fully recovered, but I feel much, much better than I did all of last week. I forgot how much of a difference a good night's sleep can make when you're sick.

On Sunday, we went to church in the morning and I brought some more hot chocolate in my pink travel mug (I'm in the middle of a hot chocolate craze right now). We went to Bed Bath & Beyond where we bought a huge pumpkin spice candle and to Costco for cleaning supplies. Then we came home and deep-cleaned the entire apartment... the stove, counters, bathroom, shower, carpets, floors, everything!! It is so nice to have such a clean house, now I just have to hang up all of my clothes which are piled up on the chair in the bedroom and the house will be perfect!! I might do that tonight... maybe. Well that was our weekend, we got to hang out with the kittens a little bit too. We're having to discipline them a little bit more, well mainly it's just Huck actually, but he still loves us just as much comes to cuddle with us and Emma at night. Maybe he understands that we're just trying to be good parents... or maybe he just quickly forgets about his punishments. Either way, hopefully he'll start behaving better and still love us and want to sit with us. And now begins another week, we're back in session so maybe I won't be quite as bored at work this week...

Oh and I'm working on getting pictures up here, but I can't do it from work and Brandon's computer only shows the file names, not the actual pictures. This makes it very difficult to upload pictures, and would take about 3 times as long. Whoever said Macs were better than PCs? I don't see what makes them so great. I can never seem to do what I'm trying to do on the Mac. But it's probably just me... Brandon's going to try to get the pictures to work and then I'll post some. If it doesn't work, I'll still post them, I will just spend a lot longer on the computer every night :-)

Bleh...

So I've been sick all week and today is the worst by far. I think I started feeling badly last Saturday and it's just gotten worse every day rather than better. I can't breathe through my nose at all, I cough and sneeze all day, my voice is extremely nasally (not great for me since my main responsibility at work is answering phones), I'm exhausted, and my throat is beginning to get sore. We've had such a busy week, not a single night that we haven't had something planned and all I've wanted to do is curl up on my couch with a bowl of soup and an old Cary Grant movie and my cuddly blanket.... and I really want my Mom.

When you're little, at least being sick has the perks of staying home from school, being cared for by your Mom, eating soup and popsicles, and watching movies on the couch. But when you're all grown up and your Mom is 3,000 miles away and you can't call in sick because you've only worked at your new job for a few weeks, being sick really sucks!!!

A few weeks ago I signed up for a women's conference at my new church. I was really excited for it because I was hoping to finally meet some girls here and because Noel Piper will be speaking, but now that I'm sick I'm not looking forward to it quite as much. Going home tonight to my blanket, old movie, and soup sounds a heck of a lot better. Oh well, I'll make it through tonight and tomorrow and then spend tomorrow night on the couch with my soup. That thought makes me feel better already... now where am I going to get some soup if my mother isn't here??

Wow, what a long time between posts!! I'm still trying to start the habit of blogging, it's a difficult one to start up. But the good news is that my new job requires me to sit at a desk in front of my computer for 8 hours a day... and my duties don't take up nearly that much time, so that means plenty of time for blogging from now on!!! Here's an update on my life for the past several months:

1. I got married!!! I'm sure everybody who's reading this was at the wedding, but I'll still post some pictures of that.

2. Honeymoon in Cabo San Lucas!!! Brandon and I went to Cabo for the honeymoon. We stayed in a gorgeous small resort called Casa Del Mar and we highly recommend it... everybody should go there!!! We hope to go back someday!! They have wonderful service there, beautifully decorated rooms, beachfront property, a perfect pool area, delicious restaurants, and even fresh tropical flowers placed on your pillows and towels every night. We spent a week there and then flew straight back to DC.

3. We moved into our new apartment... and we're still not completely settled in. This whole process took a lot longer than I ever thought it would. We must have gone to Ikea, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Target a hundred times and we spent all of the giftcards we got for the wedding. But our little apartment looks great and only needs a few finishing touches and then our house will look more homey.

4. I got a job!! I work as a Staff Assistant on Capitol Hill (Brandon says I shouldn't be too specific on here, but you all know where I work). The job just kind of fell into my lap since I definitely wasn't looking for a job on Capitol Hill. I met a guy from church who had lunch with a guy from a committee who mentioned that there was a position in this one office... long story short.... I applied, interviewed, and got the job!! I guess that old saying "It's not what you know, it's who you know" is true after all :-) Turns out though that not all of Capitol Hill is fast-paced, some of us just sit behind a desk all day answering phones and surfing the net, but hey, it's a paycheck right?? And the government pays back a portion of my student loans and gives me free metro cards and gives me good health insurance and matches my retirement contributions... I like the perks of a real, grown up job!!

5. We adopted kittens!! A week and a half ago Brandon and I adopted two white and black kittens, a brother and a sister. The boy is named Huck and is mostly white with a couple black spots and a black tail. His sister Emma is part white and part black and quite a bit smaller than Huck. They're so playful and funny and they have the best personalities. Huck is somewhat more adventurous than his sister. He's very mischievious and nosy and likes to explore everywhere. He's always climbing into the dishwasher or refrigerator or chasing Emma around. And Emma is alot more timid than Huck. She just follows him everywhere and copies everything he does. But sometimes... she gets fed up with Huck bullying her and then she tackles him!! And then when they wear themselves out running around and playing, they come cuddle with us. I'll post some pictures of them too.

6. I cut my hair off!! I've had very long hair for the past 5 years, ever since I got an AWFUL haircut my senior year of high school and swore that I'd never even trim my hair ever again (obviously I didn't keep that promise). But until now, that's all I've ever done, just trim an inch or less to get rid of the split ends. And then, all of a sudden, last weekend I got fed up with my hair and decided I wanted a change. Less than 24 hours later, I had hacked 10 inches off of it. I told the stylist I was going for a "Nicole Richie long-bob" kind of cut, but then I added that I was really scared of cutting my hair and asked for a little longer than my shoulder blades and that's exactly what I got!! I'm not quite comfortable with such short hair yet, but at least I don't hate it...


Well I think those are the major events lately. I can't put pictures on at work, but I'll post pictures soon to liven up this blog. Oh and please call me or write to me or leave me messages because I'm very homesick and I miss my friends and family!!

Happenings

Ok, so I'm pretty much the worst blogger ever, I know. But in my defense I have been somewhat busy lately. I've been traveling for the past month and I'm heading back over to Seattle next week and to DC in two weeks. So here's some of the highlights from the past month:

~California was wonderful!! I miss it so much, I love everything about California and I hope that I get to move back someday. Here's a few pictures from my lovely week there:

Ahhhh, there's nothing like a good pedicure to kick off the summer, especially when you get to go with your sisters :-)

Here's a picture of the best dog EVER!!


... and here's a picture of my dream home *sigh* Cinderella's so lucky, she gets her Prince Charming and a pink castle in Storybookland...

Disneyland was by far the high point of my trip hope. It is so magical and if it didn't take so long to upload pictures onto this thing I'd post a TON more. So since you all can't experience Disneyland for yourselves (and even if you do get to go, I highly doubt you experience it the way I do), just imagine the most magical, perfect, blissful place on earth where everything goes right, where there's always a happy ending, where you never have to grow up and where dreams really do come true and then you can begin to see how I feel at Disneyland. Most people don't understand this feeling, perhaps because they've never felt it. If that's the case, then I suggest that you fly to Orange County as soon as possible, head straight to Disneyland, and make a beeline for Fantasyland. Float through Storybookland, sing along with the Small World characters, take your picture with Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, throw a coin into the wishing well by Sleeping Beauty's castle (you can hear Snow White's voice echoing up through the well), watch the Electrical Parade (it breaks my heart that it's not on Main Street anymore, but I'll settle for watching it in California Adventure, just as long as I get to see it), and then just stand for a minute in front of the beautiful pink castle and close your eyes and imagine a perfect, fantasy world. Then open your eyes and let it sink in that you're experiencing the closest thing to that perfect, fantasy world this side of heaven. If that doesn't make you happier than you've ever been before, well, then maybe you don't have a heart... or a soul. I get goosebumps sometimes just remembering all of the wonderful memories I have with my family at Disneyland. It's been my favorite place in the whole world for as long as I can remember and I hope it never loses its magic to me. This is why I could never work there, even though I've always, always wanted to. When I was a little girl, I was sure I'd grow up to be the Cinderella at the beginning of the Electrical Parade and wave my sparkly wand at all of the little girls who would want to grow up to be me. But in order to safeguard my naivete (I think I spelled that right, minus an accent mark) surrounding the happiest place on earth, I can't ever pursue this dream. I wouldn't want to ruin anything for myself and lose my greatest source of joy and happiness. That would be a tragedy and I refuse to risk losing that. So I'll settle for some other boring job where I'll never get a sparkly wand... so that I can still feel butterflies in my stomach everytime she waves that wand at me!!!



~Brandon Came Home!!!

We make an effort to see each other each month or two. He came home for Shauna's wedding and then again a month later for Memorial Day weekend so he was waiting for me in Seattle when I flew back from California. I finally got to meet his grandparents on the O'Malley side (who I've never met before throughout the entire 8 years that we've known each other). Scott was home too and my sister Rachel is in Seattle all summer long and Renee just moved home to start her new job downtown as an environmental engineer. I love it when all the people that I love and cherish are all in one place. It makes life so much easier and more enjoyable. Let's make a deal everybody; how about none of you ever move away from either Seattle or southern California? Those are two very different options so everybody can choose the one that fits them best and be happy and settled there. That way I can go to both of my homes and see everybody I want to all at once. And hopefully (pray for this) someday soon Brandon and I can move back to one of the two places and be happy and settled ourselves. Anyways, the weekend Brandon was there, we had an invitation making party and finished all 250 invitations (which had to be disassembled and completely re-done 2 weeks later on my next trip home after I discovered that a quotation mark was missing from the beginning of the verse at the top).






~ And... I moved across town at the beginning of June. I wouldn't exactly call that a highlight of the past few weeks since it was 97 degrees and I had to come home from vacation to move 8 girls' and 4 years' worth of junk out of our very large and very dirty house on Astor Street. It took me 5 days straight to get everything out and somewhat clean and it SUCKED!! I must have sweated out 5 pounds and made a hundred thousand trips up the stairs carrying loads of junk and trash. But I finally got it all done and thrown into my new house... and when I say "thrown" I mean literally "thrown" into the new house. See below.






It stayed like this for exactly two weeks because I lacked the motivation to deal with the mess. I just pushed the clothes aside every night to sleep and then threw them back on the next morning while looking for an outfit. But last night I finally did it and look at how great my new room looks now!! It looks like a completely different room in just a few hours, it's not perfect yet but it's as good as it's going to get considering I don't have any furniture or shelves to store my things on. It's kind of wierd to look in my room and see literally every single thing I own (besides my car of course) in that small space which is actually rather empty.



Well, I guess that's a summary of the major events from the past month, other than that everything's pretty much the same here in Spokanistan. Working alot and trying to enjoy the summer so far. I'll post again in the next couple of days on wedding planning and all of its' joys and stresses and progress made. I can't even think about that now.

Start of Summer

Summer is finally here!!! Whoop Whoop!!! It's about time too, I've been suffering through the cold Spokane winter for nearly 6 months. Yesterday it reached 85 degrees though and the forecast is sunny and warm for the rest of the week (hopefully for the rest of the summer). No more coats, no more layers, no more closed-toe shoes, no more heating bills, no more pasty white skin. Bring on the tanning lotion, AC, sunglasses, shorts, and flip-flops!! I LOVE SUMMER!!! I love everything about summer, I wish it would never end, I love the heat, the sunshine, the clothes, the tan, and everything else that summer brings with it. All of my best memories are from summertime (except for my engagement I suppose).

And... next week I'm flying home to California where it's even hotter!! YESSSS!!!! Disneyland, the beach, the pool, I can't wait!!! I've been looking forward to going home again ever since I left in January. A week from right now I'll be home with my family in sunny southern California, more commonly referred to as the most wonderful place in the world.

And finally, I also finished our Save-the-Date postcards and figured out how to use Microsoft Word to make labels after several hours and many wasted sheets of labels. Then I spent an hour peeling off 220 labels and sticking them to the backs of the postcards... very tedious. But now they're finally done and ready to be sent off tomorrow, so look for yours in the mail!!

Changes

Shauna's getting married in 4 days!!!! This may sound cliche, but life is going by SO FAST!!! My best friend, lovely, innocent, sweet Shauna is getting married on Saturday. How did this happen?? It seems like just yesterday we were three silly girls (and Big Dog) crammed into a twin bed laughing hysterically and talking for hours. Marriage has many wonderful benefits obviously but there are also a few disadvantages as well which should not be overlooked. A few of these are a little silly I suppose, and a few are very serious concerns of mine.

1. No more sleepovers. You can't just drive down the street to your best friends' house and stay the night whenever you feel like it. You have to go home to your husband. So that means no more cuddling in bed and talking for hours with your friends... this activity is reserved for your husband who probably doesn't even want to talk for hours... or cuddle for that matter. Oh sure, he'll want to cuddle and talk at first, but a few years into it, he's just going to want his sleep. And then you'll really be missing those sleepovers.

2. You often have to move away after you get married. Shauna's moving to Bellingham which is 3 hours away, and she can't come down and stay for the weekend (see above). I'm moving 3,000 miles away to what might as well be a different continent. The people on the East Coast are so different from West Coast people. They are all so sophisticated and well educated and they're always dressed up and they have perfect grammer and they speak in indoor voices all of the time (even when they're excited and happy). I wonder if I'll ever fit in there... and it's so expensive to travel back and forth that I'll be lucky to see my friends and family even twice a year. *Sigh*

3. You have to learn to cook. What man wants a wife who can't cook? No man, and that's my point. As a wife, you absolutely must learn to cook. Not only must you learn how to cook in the first place, you must also learn how to cook well. This is an expectation placed upon you as a wife and it's more than a little intimidating. This task is impossibly difficult unless you're born with the cooking/baking gene. I am not. My mother is a wonderful cook, but maybe it's one of those traits that skips a generation or something. I have been known to burn many, many things. I've also served undercooked (well, raw) meats at times. And I've set the stove on fire more than a few times. I have improved during the past 4 years since I moved out on my own, but I am far from being a "good cook." I can make spaghetti, rice, salad, and plain, boring chicken. Recently, I've learned to make banana bread and have successfully baked a loaf all by myself 3 whole times. However, once I set the oven on fire and once I had to throw out the majority of the "loaf" because the inside was still the consistency of batter. Still, though, I'm rather proud of my homemade banana bread. It's one step closer to domesticity and one small battle won in the lifelong struggle to become what's considered to be a "good cook."

4. You have to live with a boy!! How wierd is that going to be?!?! I've always wondered what boys do when they're alone, what they eat, whether or not they're clean people, etc. But once you get married, you find out!! You have no more secrets, no mystery. He will see you with no makeup, first thing in the morning when you look your worst. He will fart in front of you which is absolutely disgusting. He will know when you're on your period. He will hear you singing in the shower. He will leave his dirty underwear on the floor. He will want to kiss you before you've brushed your teeth in the morning. He will feel your legs when they're not shaved. He will make a mess in the kitchen. He will know exactly how long it actually takes you to get ready in the morning. You'll be annoyed when you find out that it really does only take him 15 minutes to get ready in the morning. He won't want to listen to your music all of the time. You'll discover all of each other's bad habits. And that's it, the allure is gone, the romance wears off and it becomes real life.

5. Absolutely everything changes. As a person who does not like change (at all), this is a catastrophe. Not only do I have to transition from an independent, single girl who can do as she pleases into a married woman whose decision making power is instantly cut in half, but I have to endure a bazillion other changes as well. I'm moving across the country to a strange city, leaving my family and friends, I have to get a real job, I have to go to a new church, I have to make new friends, the list goes on and on. Everything will change, nothing will be the same and this is terrifying for me.

Ok now that I've got that out of my system, let me say this. For all of the disadvantages and awkwardness that marriage brings with it, I am 100% positive that the joys will overshadow all of this. No more sleepovers?? But you can look forward to annual girls' weekends in Vegas and LA. Maybe the East Coast isn't all that bad, I'm sure there are some good things about it. I can't think of any off the top of my head, but I'm sure it's not the end of the world like I make it out to be in my imagination. I'm sure I will make friends and maybe I'll even find some nice, normal Californians/Washingtonians over there who feel just as out of place as I do. Learning to cook, while hard, is a good thing. Less expensive to feed yourself, healthier options, a skill that you can boast of, your kids will like you better, your husband will want to come home to you after work, you can contribute something to potlucks and family holidays. See, these are all good things. Living with your husband will be a big change, but a wonderful change too. Boys, although not as clean or familiar as girl roommates, are cool people too (especially my fiance!!). They can fix things around the house, they can unclog the drains, they can jumpstart your car, they can carry you to bed when you fall asleep on the couch, they can figure out what's wrong with the computer or VCR, they can shovel the walkway when it snows, they can warm up your car in the morning, and the best part... you get to cuddle with them every night!!! So what if the mystery is gone, so what if they know all of your secrets and see you at your worst?? Isn't that real life and real love?? Won't it be much better, won't it be freeing, won't it be more romantic to know somebody and be known intimately?? And as for change, although I'm very reluctant to accept it and although I fight it and although I wish things would never change, I realize that change is good. When God says that he has a purpose for me and when he says that he works all things for my good and when he promises to sanctify me, I believe Him. All of life's changes and challenges are His perfect and sovereign way of fulfilling those promises. So why worry about it and why long for the past? The past is wonderful, memories are great, and old friends are one of His greatest blessings, but the future is even more promising, new memories will be made, and old friendships will deepen and new ones will begin. So I really need to stop complaining and worrying about the future and about marriage and begin look forward to it as a chance to grow and a means of being sanctified. Praise the Lord for his work in our lives!!

Ring Before Spring

Apparently, love really is in the air this spring. I always laughed at that whole "ring before spring" idea, but maybe there's something to it after all. It seems as if everybody I know is getting engaged or married, well that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but many of my close friends are engaged... and so am I!! Shauna will become Mrs. Jonathan Jacobs in a little over 2 weeks. Renee and I are going to be her maids of honor, our dresses are beautiful, and the best part.... Jeremy Leffel is the photographer!!! So even though I can't afford him for my own wedding, at least I will be photographed by Jeremy once in my life.

(Shauna's Ring)

Furthermore, my roommate and closest friend at Whitworth got engaged too! Edgar Leo Townsend III (or Ed-fart as we affectionately call him) asked Katey to marry him on April 2. Too bad NOBODY believed them when they called to share the good news since the day before they had pulled an April fool's prank by announcing their fake engagement. We didn't believe the news of the "real" engagement until we actually saw the ring on her finger. But it's true, so Congratulations Katey and Eddie!!!

(Katey's Ring)

And, best of all (as far as I'm concerned) is my own upcoming marriage to Brandon this summer. God is so good and so faithful to have blessed us with each other and gotten us through so many years of immaturity and painful growth and separation. I can hardly wait until August 17, sometimes I wish we could just elope. But then I'd never get the chance to wear my gorgeous 100% silk wedding gown.... and that would be a real tragedy!!

The following is an actual conversation that took place between myself and a middle-aged male customer this evening:

Him: "What wines do you recommend?"

Me: "Well... I'm not much of a wine drinker yet, I'm just beginning to appreciate it. I mainly prefer whites and blushes."

Him: "I like all wines, what's your favorite?"

Me: "Well my favorite wine on the menu is the Riesling, because it's the sweetest."

Him: "Is it as sweet as you, honey?" (wink)

(Awkward silence)

Me: "Ummm, why yes sir it is. I'll be right back with a glass of that for you."

(Leave abruptly)


Conversations like this one occur on a regular basis, almost daily. Since I work at a restaurant with paper tablecloths (we supply the crayons too) I get plenty of phone numbers and cute/funny/awkward messages such as "Do you think I'm cute? Check yes or no." Tonight, I also received a rather interesting comment card. Now, normally in the blank space following the question "Is there anything else you'd like to see on the menu?" people write "Put crab in the artichoke dip," or "More vegan-friendly meals," etc. Tonight, however, some kid at a table full of 18-19 year old boys wrote "My waitress, wink wink." What's with the winking tonight????

Because of conversations and incidents like these, I've realized that only about half of my job is actually taking orders and delivering food and drinks to customers... the other half is flirting. I am a professional flirt. I never considered myself to be very good at it in high school, but after a few years of waitressing I've totally learned how to flirt like a pro. I can turn it on and off at a moment's notice. (Obviously, when I'm dealing with a wierdo or pervert I turn it off immediately and avoid the table as much as possible, even to the point of neglect). But seriously, I spend hours each day laughing at jokes I don't think are funny, putting up with winks from men of all ages, flashing sweet smiles even when I don't feel like it, and allowing them to call me sweetheart or honey. (The only times I don't mind being called this is when it's a cute old man 70+ years old. Coming from a random 40 year old man it's just plain creepy.)

I cannot wait to get a real job!! I suppose that there will always be plenty of sucking up to do with any boss I have, but hopefully the line will be drawn between sucking up and flirting shamelessly. Any respectable job doesn't require you to pretend that you don't mind being hit on by a man you've never met who's out to eat with his young children and despite the fact that you're wearing an engagement ring. In the real world, outside of waitressing, that's completely inappropriate. Only 4 more months until I'm finished with waitressing/flirting forever. On the other hand, I've just started cocktailing this week. I thought that working in the dining room of the most family-friendly restaurant in all of Spokane was bad enough, but now I'll be working in the bar, serving alcohol to adult males. Pray for me!!

Well, I'm not entirely sure why... but I've decided that this might be fun. I love reading my friends blogs (and stalking all of the now-married people who I never really "knew" in the first place but have been acquainted with at some point in the past), so I decided to write my own. I realize that only Renee, Shauna and maybe my sisters will actually care enough to read about what's going on in my life, but oh well, it will be fun anyways.

This is also the perfect time to start a blog because I have not had any human companionship for a week now since it's spring break and all of my roommates are in Mexico, Hawaii, California, or some other wonderful/warm place with their boyfriends and families. I've been all alone with Jack Astor all week and it's begun to get a little old talking to my dog... too bad he can't talk back. But he gives me sympathetic looks and I can tell he understands me; he misses the girls as much as I do. Lauralee is here too, but we went 5 days living under the same roof without seeing each other even once. We have completetely opposite schedules: she leaves at the break of dawn and is fast asleep when I get home from work around midnight. Anyways, now I won't have to spend all my time hanging out with my dog and since I can't possibly talk to all of my favorite people every day, now you can stay caught up on my life (and wedding plans!!) even when our schedules don't allow for phone dates :-)

Moving along... today is my first day off in about 2 weeks and it's GLORIOUS!!!I worked double shifts 4 days in a row this past week and I really needed some time, during daylight, to myself. I haven't had any food (besides coffee and my leftovers from Tomato Street) in the house for nearly a month, so it's about time I went grocery shopping. I also need to find a wedding photographer who takes good pictures but doesn't charge exorbitant rates for a few hours... this is much more difficult than I imagined it would be. It's sunny and almost warm today, so I've promised Jack that we'll walk to the park.

And, let's just be honest, more than likely I'll end up at the mall. Earlier this week, in between shifts, I went with the intention of paying off my Victoria's Secret card but ended up spending my tips from that day on a cute yellow sundress (in my defense, the dress was 50% off). So... the VS bill still needs to be paid. And I still haven't found a necklace to wear for Shauna's wedding in 3 weeks. Oh, and I need new running shoes as I've decided to run the Bloomsday mini-marathon in a month. This is how I motivate myself to get in shape. I've signed myself up for a 7.5 mile race in a little over a month. Now this may not seem like much, but it's twice as far as I've run nearly two years. In order to not humiliate or injure myself, I will have to start running now and gradually increasing the mileage over the next few weeks. I tried to convince myself to start working out for various other reasons: summer/bikini season is coming, I'm going to California in May, a certain person will be seeing me naked after August 17, etc. But these are all so intangible and I'm so lazy... long story short, I now have to find ways to scare/force myself to get in shape. So until May 6, I've got a way to do that. After May 6, I'll have to come up with something else, but until then I'm golden. Thanks for reading my first post!!!