Have you ever

Tried to find a dress to wear to a wedding in another country with customs you have no idea about?! All that I know is that I can't wear black. Have you tried to find a "fancy" dress lately that's not black? OMG. I have searched the world wide web over, ordered two different dresses that will be returned, bought one dress for 50% off at Dress Barn but am not really crazy about it because, alas, it looks kinda black although it is brown. I finally found one that's purple & blue, but I'm afraid it's going to be too revealing up top. Guess I'm just going to have to cancel my trip and find something else to do.

And, have you ever tried shopping for someone who really doesn't NEED anything, WANT anything or DESERVE anything? Just kidding about the last one. Of course he deserves stuff! But really! I can't think of a thing to buy the BF. I got him a couple of shirts & a sweater but that's boring. I need something fun & cool. You know, like me! :-) Wonder what he's gonna buy me???

Things That I Will Do Differently...

Growing up I am sure that all of us thought, and probably said out loud, "I will never make my children do this!" or "My children will never do that!" I mostly say the latter while in Wal Mart and listening the kid in the next aisle pitching a fit because mom won't buy them the latest, hottest toy. And what I love is when mom says, "If you don't stop right now we are going to leave this store." Um, hello, do you really think that kid WANTS to be spending an hour at Wal Mart? That's exactly what they want. To LEAVE! So do us all a favor. Go ahead and go! Now, I am obviously not talking about any of your children... I love them all and would be happy to have them pitch a fit with me at Wal Mart :-)

Having said that (and apparently gotten it off my chest) I have a list of things that I will do differently with my children...

1. I will not allow my children to drop out of piano lessons. I stopped my freshman year of high school and regret it everyday. How I wish I could sing and play at the same time...
2. I will ensure that my children get proper dental care and attention as needed. I will also make sure that they know important it is to brush their teeth!
3. I will encourage my children to participate in extracurricular activites, i.e. sports, dance, choir, girl scouts/boy scouts, etc.
4. I will encourage my children to run for student government offices in their school.
5. I will not make my children sing in the talent show if they have no singing abilities. What is more painful than that???
6. I will document their every move with pictures, videos, programs, etc.
7. I will expose my children to culture. They WILL love Broadway shows.
8. I will make sure that they listen to music from previous generations.
9. I will make sure that they know the old hymns of the church.

Obviously there are/will be many other things, but these are just a few things I'm thinking about right now. Now, I'm not promising I'm going to be a great mom... We had a baby in the office yesterday who slobbered all over my sleeve and I nearly gagged... Everyone says that it's different when it's your own child, but I'm not so sure about that...

I'm Back!

But I make no promises that I'll be back tomorrow :-) I keep thinking that I'll be better about blogging, but I never really get around to it for some reason.

Let's see... First things first... the job. It's going really well. I'm having to go through new worker training and it's about to drive me CRAZY, but other than that it's pretty good. I have no idea why I went to school for 4 years to take a job and have someone re-teach you everything you learned. Seriously, the first six weeks of this stupid training was about human development, child development, communication... blah, blah, blah. Such a waste of my time. But, whatever. I'm getting paid for it, so who cares.

hmm... Jeff & I just celebrated our first anniversary! It's been a whole year. In a way it seems like such a short time, but in other ways I feel like I've known him forever. He still makes me smile, so here's to another year!

Oh, so I went to the dentist yesterday. I just LOVE going to the dentist (HA!). He took one look in my mouth and asked, "Have you ever been seen by an orthodontist?" Now people, I never thought my teeth were that bad. Granted, I hate the color of my teeth and am really self concious about them, but I guess they are way worse than I thought. I have no idea how I would ever be able to pay for braces, but looks like I'm going to have to start saving my pennies. My childhood dentist always told me that I needed to either marry Troy Aikman or a dentist, and seeing as how Troy seems to be taken, guess I should start hanging out at the local dental school...

Starting over again again...

Since last I wrote so much has happened! Let's see... I did meet Jeff's parents and brother and two cousins, a cousin's husband and a cousin's daughter. Yeah, more than I thought. Oh, and did I mention that I was sooo sick that I thought I was going to die? I was on my second round of antibiotics and for those of you who know me, know that I get this throat thing where I cannot swallow 'cause my tonsils swell up so much. Yeah. I lost 12 lbs. during my illness 'cause I had absolutley no desire to swallow. My mommy had to come up to take care of me! Needless to say, I did get better. But I digress... I met his parents and his mom said, "Well, I just think she's darling. I like her." And they were so great as well.

On to the starting over again again part. So, I am moving! I have taken a job with the Arkansas Department of Human Services and I will be serving as a supervisor in the Dept. of Children and Family Services. I'm really excited, but nervous all at the same time. I will be moving to Fayetteville which is about an hour away, which means that I'll be about an hour away from Jeff, but we're totally okay with that. We don't see each other a whole lot during the week so seeing each other on the weekends is no big deal. We kinda like each other so everything is going to be great. In fact, there are times when I think he's more excited about it than me!

In the meantime, I have to start packing my two bed room, two bathroom, two living area, two CLOSET apartment for my new, one small bedroom, one small living room, one bathroom, ONE CLOSET apartment. Yeah, you read correctly. One closet. I am going to have to get rid of about 2/3 of all my belongings. But I'm excited about it 'cause I've been wanting to downsize, so I guess my wish is going to come true! So, I'll keep you posted on the progress!

Ghost Tours & Vacations

My parents & brother were in town last week and Brandon decided he wanted to go on a ghost tour at The Crescent Hotel, which is one of the most haunted hotels in the country. Ahem... Needless to say, I didn't see no ghosts but I got to hang out with my friend Gina & her husband Mike and my sweet boyfriend. Oh, and Brandon ;-) One thing I did learn is that I guess they aren't called ghosts anymore. Our tour guide referred to them as "out of bodies", so as to not make them mad at me, that is what I shall refer to them as from now on. And it appears you really do not want to make an out of body mad at you or they'll make your life very complicated by doing things such as throwing your laptop across the room or opening your hotel room door while you're taking a shower.

I was beginning to wonder if an out of body had taken over my body. That night when we got home I started running fever and thought I was going to wake up the next morning with the flu, but I was fine the next day, even went to see "Super Bad" with Jeff which is, no doubt, probably the worse movie I've seen in a really long time. As soon as Jeff & I left the theater he looked at me and said, "I owe you big time, huh?" Yep, he does. But anyway, it turns out that I have a nice sinus infection. I came home from work today after 1 hour and 40 minutes and slept most of the day and kinda feel okay now!

So, do you have any big plans for the long weekend coming up? Jeff & I are going to stay with Brandon in Dallas. I'm gonna show him around my neck of the woods. It should be fun... You know, he met daddy last weekend and passed his test. Now it's time for my test! His parents & brother are coming down this weekend... I'm a bit nervous to be honest, but hopefully everything will be great. I'm sure it will. Yeah, it will... :-)

I HAVE come a long way!

I just can't get over the fact that I was actually in the water! This is my cheesy, "I just swam in the water" shot that Gina took. Kinda like a first day of school thing... ;-)

My dear friend Anita posted a comment on my last post saying that I've come a long way and you know what? She's right :-) When I look back on my life before I moved here to Arkansas I can't help but shake my head and wonder what in the world I was waiting for to have a fun life. As I told Anita, I mourn the loss of that time, but look forward to my future of swimming and hiking and eating tomatoes. Oh, yeah. Did I tell you that? I will actually eat a tomato now. Well, I say I will... If it's on something I won't take it off, but I'm not going to ask for them... But still...

Can anyone tell me exactly what this Fantasy Football thing is that has taken over my boyfriend's life? I'm trying really hard to be supportive, but when he tells me that he'd rather do that than, oh MEET MY PARENTS there's a bit of a problem. He didn't really say that, btw... well, not in so many words... but we got it all worked out... well, I got it worked out... not quite so sure about him, but needless to say he'll be meeting my parents and not drafting... I'm such a mean girlfriend.

Speaking of, yes, my sweet boyfriend is meeting the parents this week. Well, he's actually already met my mom and passed her test with flying colors, so the next obstacle is daddy. Oh, and Brandon, who I think is going to be even harder to convince! He's quite protective of me! But I'm sure he'll have no problem. He's great. And I love him and that's pretty much all that matters. What makes me happy makes daddy happy :-)

And last Sunday pastor, after 8 months of silence announced to the church that I had a boyfriend. It went down like this... I was sitting in the congregation instead of the stage like normal and pastor couldn't find me and began to ask where I was. Well, everyone was pointing and he found me and said, "Oh, she's sitting with her sweet boyfriend. Let's talk about you guys... now how long have you been dating?" I was mortified, wondering the whole time, "I wonder who will be the first person to ask when I'm getting married?" and I'll be if someone didn't come up to me as soon as church was out to let me know that she's a wedding planner and when the big day comes she would love to help out in anyway that she could. She asked jokingly, "Can I go ahead and penci you in?"

"Um, no".

Conquering Fears

Those of you who know me well know that I have had a life long fear of water. I nearly drown when I was a kid and since then I've been so afraid of water that I would freak out inside when going over a bridge or feel like I was suffocating if I watched a movie where someone was under water. Like, have you seen "What Lies Beneath"? There's a scene where Harrison Ford gives Michelle Pfifer a pill that parlyzes her and puts her in the tub and turns the water on. I can't watch that scene. I couldn't breathe. I was so afraid for her I had to fast forward that scene.

But I can tell you my friends that I have taken the first step to conquering the biggest fear of my life. My dear friends Mike & Gina took me out on their boat today and "made" me get in the water. Granted, it took me a few minutes to let go of the ladder off the dock, and, granted, I certainly didn't take the life jacket off, but I did at least let go of the ladder and allowed myself to float away from the dock. And then I also got out of the boat in the middle of the lake. Yep. I actually did it. I'm still in shock.

Two years ago I would have probably not even gotten on a boat, much less gotten out of the boat in the middle of the lake. Oh, did I mention that I also wore a bathing suit. Don't ask Mike about it because he'll tell me that I looked like a grandma (which, granted, I kinda did... it was cute when it was dry... it had this little skirt thingie that when wet kinda went down nearly to my knees... guess I'll be getting a new one before my next trip to the lake...) God KNOWS I wouldn't have put a bathing suit on two years ago!

I guess the moral of my story is that I regret so bad letting fear cripple my life for so long. And it's so much more than the fear of water. I have let the fear of rejection keep me from falling in love. I have let the fear of failure keep me from doing so much. Even stupid little things like, oh, I don't know.... hiking... what if I wore the wrong shoes? What if I fall down? Well, I've been hiking and I wore the right shoes and I didn't fall. I was just fine! I've let myself fall in love and I haven't been rejected (and hopefully I won't!)

Is God happy with his children when they let fear control them? Think of all the things I could have accomplished if I had decided years ago to let go and know that it's okay to mess up. It's okay to fall down. What's important is that you get back up again. I have done more things that are not me the past couple of years. My mom sometimes says, "What have you done with my daughter?" I've put her away and replaced her with a confident woman who can't wait to conquer her next big thing!!! Wonder what I should do next????

I am a terrible blogger

Yes, I know. And I've had a lot to say lately, just no time to do it! Like, for example, I'm in love!!! :-) Oh, and my boyfriend is as well :-) I just thought I had been in love before. Nope. But I am now. And, well, I'm sad it took so long!

And it's still really hard for me to believe that someone wants to actually be with me. Like, for example, today is Thursday. Well, BF and I were talking earlier and I told him that I'm really glad tomorrow is Friday and he said that he's glad, too. Well, jokingly I said, "Yeah, you're just glad it's Friday so you can see me!" and he said, "Well, yeah!" He loves me. What can I say?

I was blessed to get to go to the National Worship Leader's Conference in Austin a couple of weeks ago. It was so great. It was such a relief to not have to worry about set lists, giving cues, making sure everyone is on the same page, making sure everyone has what they need in their monitor... Being a worship leader is NOT an easy job! But it was great to just be able to be in services and have the freedom to worship myself. I got to see a lot of great worship artists and rekindled my love for Phillips, Craig and Dean. I came away feeling so refreshed. Unfortunatley it was back to the same congregation on Sunday, but... :-) Maybe next year they can all go with me!

I'm Much Calmer Today...

Hope everyone had a safe & happy 4th! At the last minute BF had to work, so I spent the day doing what every red blooded American woman would... Shopping! Actually, I just spent about an hour out and about. I did find a really cute skirt at Ann Taylor for $9.99. Can't beat that!

I also made it to Barnes and Noble and picked up the latest copy of Texas Monthly. THE Texas Monthly I alluded to in my most recent post. I will say that for the most part the writer did a fine job. He did everything he could to imply her guilt, which I appreciate. However, not sure who, but someone told him a big ole whopping lie about daddy and that doesn't make me very happy. I don't know if he inferred this quote from something that woman said, or since daddy wouldn't talk to him he just made something up, but it burns me up nonetheless. He said something along the lines that while daddy wasn't on call he would run this woman down and tell her that all her life problems would be solved if she would accept Christ. First of all, any of you who know my daddy know that he would NEVER do that to anyone. Second of all, my dad never talked to this woman. I don't even think he knew her. So, there you have it. I think the magazine did a nice job, but really wish they would not have given this woman another 15 minutes of fame. But I guess it's a good story. Much like a Lifetime Movie.

Be sure to pray for me next week. The BF is going out of town and I'm dog sitting. I can barely take care of myself in the mornings and now I'm going to have to get up even earlier and take him outside... well, at least it's not, oh 14 degrees outside like it was the last time I puppy sat while my dear friend Gina was in FLORIDA!!!!

Later!
jen

Angel of Death My Foot!

So, I don't know how many of you actually know this, but my grandfather, my daddy's dad was murdered by a nurse. She calls it a mercy killing. And I guess Texas Monthly sees it that way as well. They have a story about her this month and the title is "Angel of Death". Well, lemme tell you. She was no Angel of anything. She was a murderer. Plain and simple. My grandpa had fallen on the ice and was in the hospital for his hip to the best of my recollection. My dad left the hospital, at which he worked, btw, one evening and grandpa was talking and very lucid. The next day he was dead. This nurse had decided I guess that he was in so much pain that she would just put him out of his misery. And she did the same for quite a few others as well. How nice of her, huh? She was such an angel to not want these people to be in such pain and misery. Man, I'm so glad that she saw it fit that my grandfather's pain was so great that his family could just go on better without him. Why would we want to have to take care of him and love him? Why would we want him to be around to see his grand children get married and his great grand children be born. No. He was in so much pain that there's no way he would have ever enjoyed it. And yet she lives to tell her side of the story. Wonder if she ever talks about the fear in the patients eyes when they suddenly wake up realizing that they can't breathe and that their life is being taken from them. Wonder if she ever thinks about the families, the hundreds of people who have to live every day with the memory of what she did to their loved one? Wonder how she can sleep at night knowing that she single handedly rocked one small town to it's knees with national news coverage? I wonder if she gave them one last chance to say goodbye. Would she have still decided their lives were not as valuable as her own?
Sorry for the heaviness of this post, but wow. Angel of Death.
***I stand corrected. The title of this article is Angel of Death, not Angel of Mercy as I had first posted. The editor of Texas Monthly Magazine let me know that. My apologies to anyone who I may have confused or misqoted or misrepresented.***

What do men have against Dirty Dancing?

So, Friday night the BF & I watched the AFI top 100 movies of all time. Quite an interesting list. I bet I haven't seen like 80% of them. I have some catching up to do. He'd seen probably as many as I hadn't. As we started the show I jokingly said something about Dirty Dancing being on the list. He responded, "If it's on here we'll watch it." Well, needless to say it wasn't so he made it through that one. But that brings me to my bigger question. Just what do men have against Dirty Dancing? I think it's that they are jealous of Johnny getting all the girls like they wish they could do. I just can't believe that it wasn't on the list somewhere...

I have since taken it upon myself to make my own top 100 list. Well, maybe not 100, but how about 10. The Top 10 Chick Flicks of all time. It will be a scientific study, my friends with research, polls and all that other stuff that would make it scientific. Some of the movies that are currently being considered are: Dirty Dancing, Sweet Home Alabama, Gone With The Wind, 13 Going On 30, Sound of Music, Babes In Toyland (the old one, not that one with Keanu Reeves... PULEEZE!), State Fair, anything with George Clooney or Brad Pitt, and the Legally Blonde series. Basically, any movie that your husband or boyfriend rolls his eyes at anytime you mention watching is in the running. Do not take this lightly. It could change the face of modern pop culture as we know it. Just think. Reese Witherspoon could be hosting "The JLR Top 10 Chick Flicks of All Time" on WE any day now... How proud my parents will be.

What is your favorite? Ask your friends. More importantly, ask your significant other what their least favorite movie of all time is. It'll probably end up being #1 on this list!!!

My $1.99 Purse

Inquiring minds want to know just what I fit into a purse that cost $1.99. Well, upon first look I thought it would surely hold all of my necessities, but, alas, it did not hold them very well. It was packed full and, well, let's just say I'm not carrying the $1.99 purse anymore. Maybe I'll send it to one of Wendy's girls. But it was a good thought at the time.

Do you ever wish more than anything that you were anyone or anywhere other than who you are and where you're at right now? Man am I having one of those weeks. I think I need a vacation. Don't know where I'll go, but it's safe to say it'll be far, far away. And I think maybe I'll just go alone. No parents, no boyfriend. Just me & God. Now wouldn't that be a treat. All my mommy friends are so jealous about right now ;-) Like I would ever go anywhere by myself! I won't even go out to eat alone much less take a vacation in an unknown place by myself. But it sounds good nonetheless! I'm going to Austin next month for a conference, but as I've made everyone here at the office aware, it will not be a vacation. I will be working, regardless of what they think! And then my parents are going on vacation sometime and I'll be kitty sitting Madison. While I'm excited about that, I'd much rather be going on vacation!!!

This and That

Well, it's been a few days since I last posted so I thought I'd give you a quick rundown of what's been going on in my life because I know my one reader really cares ;-)

Friday- My awesome BF took me to see my awesome BF George Clooney in Ocean's Thirteen. Although, I must admit that I do prefer my real BF much more than my fake one... Anywhoo... I loved the movie. And, I cannot believe that I'm going to say this, but I almost think that Brad Pitt was hotter than George in this one. Now, I know what you all are thinking. Girl, have you lost your mind! But, wow. There was not much of a difference, but I think I'm going to have to go with Brad in this one. Don't tell George...

Saturday- BF & I started to go to Silver Dollar City but the line was like 2 hours long to even get to the park so we turned around and went to the mall. I bought a purse for $1.99. Can't beat that. So now when I buy the one I really want from Target for $19.99 I'm not going to feel quite so guilty. We then went back to his place and watched The Last King of Scotland. It was so good. I love Forrest Whitaker. He is such a good actor. Oh, and we had chocolate. My favorite. BF knows if he ever wants to make me happy, just feed me chocolate. He's so good to me.

Sunday- Our church had our spring picnic. It was pretty fun. Nothing exciting happened. It was just a picnic. I did find out that I'm going to a wedding on Saturday. It will be mine & the BF's first wedding. Should be interesting...

Until next time!
jen

Bored much?

Check this out...
http://www.teachingtruth.org/bibleDrill/A/drill.cgi
It's quite addictive to see if you remember your elementary sunday school days!

My Daddy

I remember one time some friends and I were driving through Fort Worth and we passed this restaurant that I remember going to when I was a kid. It had this big ole cow out in front of it. I said, "Oh, I remember that place! I need to call daddy!" They all laughed at me because I called my father daddy. After a few minutes of ribbing I finally said, "Well, ya'll are just jealous 'cause you don't have a daddy." They all got quite and agreed.

See, in my educated opinion there is a great difference in a father and a daddy. It's hard to put into words, but it has everything to do with the way they interact with you. I remember this one time when I was in the first grade... I was terrified of the thought of buying my lunch in the lunchroom. Well, this particular morning I left my lunch box at home and my daddy turned the car around and drove all the way from Bowie back to Sunset (about 11 miles or so) to get my lunch box. I was late for school that day, but at least I didn't have to buy my lunch! I'm sure daddy doesn't even remember that, but it comes to mind every time I think about how much he means to me.

And when I think about all the sacrifices daddy has made over the years to give me and my brat brother (i heart him, btw...) a better life than what he had it makes me sad in a way to think back about the brat I've been in the past. My daddy would work his fingers to the bone to give me and Brandon anything we wanted. And you know what? I never had designer clothes, but I think I turned out just fine. And I never knew how much it took to make a house run. Wow. And to think that he did it while pastoring a small church. Man. As far as I'm concerned my daddy is the strongest, most wonderful man in the world. And I think anyone who knows him would whole heartedly agree with me.

jen

Knocked Up

No, not me! Are you kidding me? The movie. The BF and I went to see it last night. I read all these reviews talking about how hilarious it is and was so excited to just laugh my hiney off. But I guess my sense of humor is not what it should be. Don't get me wrong. There were some very funny parts to the movie, just not as funny as I thought it was going to be. BTW- don't take the kids to see this one! Not only does it have some ugly language, but they also show a baby's head crowning! Twice!Certainly made me not want to have a baby anytime soon!

So, I went and had my passport photo taken earlier. I fixed my hair, made sure my makeup was just right and you know what? I still came out looking like a big ole dork. I don't know if I can live with that pic for the next 10 years. The BF said that his looks like a mug shot, so I guess I should be happy that mine at least looks like me. I asked Gina the other day if they would still let me in and out of Thailand if my hair was a completely different color than it was in the picture. I'm pretty sure it will be, so we'll see.

For those of you who are waiting with baited breath to find out about how my weight loss is going (HA) lemme just tell you. It ain't. I've hit a plateau. The BF assures me that if I'll just clean out my cabinets and start eating more healthy it'll work. So, I'm giving in. I'm even going to take him grocery shopping with me. This will be the true test of our relationship I'm sure. If we can make it through WM without killing each other then we're on to something. Furthermore, I told him that Wendy is just going to love him because she is forever riding me for my food choices. Okay Wendy. You win. I'm coming to the dark... err... I mean, the healthy side!!!

jen

Twice in one week!

wow. If anyone is actually reading this they may fall off their chair! Two posts in one week. Amazing, huh?

So, those of you who know me and love me have heard all about my toe problem. See, when I was with my parents in San Antonio over Thanksgiving last year something happened and I swear I have no idea what. Just all of a sudden I couldn't wear shoes because my toe hurt so bad. The Sunday I got back I thought I was going to cry all during worship service because it hurt so bad. Maybe had I cried everyone would have thought I was all holy and everything. But I digress. So, here's a picture of it from Christmas time...




Anyway, back to my toe. So I went to the doctor and she told me that either she could stick a needle down the middle of my toe nail or I could stick a needle up under my toenail myself and relieve some of the pressure because it was bruised really bad. Well, never one for actually loving pain, I decided that I would perform the procedure on my own so I could stop when the pain became unbearable. I figured my friend Gina would volunteer to help me, but it grossed her out when I even talked about it so she wimped out. But did it stop me from talking about it every night? Nope!

So, here I am, six months later and it is still all jacked up. There is this ridge across the middle of the nail and it's all icky looking underneath it still. It doesn't hurt anymore, but I can't do my cute french manicure look on my toes this summer. Here is it now. Where the red nail polish line is where the ridge is. Anyone know exactly what is wrong it with now???? Gina thinks I should get a second opinion.

But I guess that's okay. At least I still have a toenail. Everyone had me all freaked out that it was going to fall off and I was going to be stuck wearing toe filled shoes all summer. Blah! But I press on. I keep it nicely painted and wear my flip flops with confidence. Until someone steps on my toe. Or steps on the back of my flip flop and makes me hit my toe on the back of my other shoe. Jeff. :-)

jen

Just another day...

So, yesterday was Memorial Day. Before I go on, let me say that I agree with the great philosopher Kidd Kraddick who thinks that Memorial Day is overlooked by everyone these days. It's just another day for sales and grilling. I can say, however, that I did think of everyone who has given their lives so I can shop to my hearts content and eat hamburgers anytime I want. Having said that...

Jeff and I spent the day doing nothing and let me tell you how much I enjoyed that. We watched the two Bourne movies with Matt Damon and ate Taco Bell and chocolate. So it was a great day for me! I dog sat on Sunday while he was in Wichita for a family reunion. Duke and I got along really well :-) Luigi, Gina's dog was a bit jealous today at lunch because I think he could tell that I had cheated on him.

So, on Saturday we went to see the new Pirates of the Carribean movie. I would like to give you a review, but really I'm not quite sure what happened. I watched the whole thing and paid attention but I have no idea what to even say about it except for I never like Johnny Depp until I see him in a movie. He's just so weird in real life (or as real as we can see on E! and Entertainment Tonight) but he is sucha good actor. Oh, and Orlando Bloom is hawt. Gina says she could put him in her back pocket. I don't really care. He's hawt.

Gina and I were talking today about Victoria Secret and I decided that when I do finally get married that I don't want a lingere shower, but rather I want a shoe shower! I'm not going to wear any of the lingere you buy me anyway, and you could buy me a great pair of shoes for the same price! All anyone will need to know is that I wear a size 9 and like heels, flats, wedges, slides, just about anything in the shoe family. Except for those ugly Crocks. Ugh. Whoever was the first person to wear those somewhere other than their garden (that they were created for, thank you very much) should be forced to write a letter of apology to everyone who now wears them telling them that they regret forcing them into making a horrible fashion choice. So, other than Crocks, let the shoe shopping begin!!!

Even longer time....

Wow. I'm not good at this blogging thing. In the beginning I was going to be just like my hero Ree the Pioneer Woman and be so clever and make you want to come back for more tomorrow. But, as luck would have it, my life just is not that exciting. Some might even call it boring. I just call it my life!



As you can see, I decided to go back to my natural hair color. I guess that's something exciting in my life. Hmm... Oh, and I do still have a boyfriend. Yep. We've made it to the six month mark. That's a record for me. And have I told you that we're going to Thailand? It kinda freaks me out to think about going around the world, but it should be fun. Number one on my list of things to do: apply for my passport. I've heard it's taking a while to get them now a days, so I better get on it.

Something else I'm a bit worried about it how in the world am I going to pack two weeks worth of clothes in one suitcase? Anyone who knows me knows that I could take a whole suitcase just for my shoes. Jeff says I'll only need my tennis shoes and maybe one or two more pair. I think he's crazy. And furthermore, he thinks we're going to wash clothes while we're there. That's just confirms my first thought. This boy is absolutley crazy in the head. Mind you, my sweet bf's idea of dressing up is tucking in his shirt, so I guess I can't blame him for having grand ideas of traveling light. He's already informed me that my cell phone won't work over there (duh- like I'm going to pay those roaming charges!) and that I cannot take my laptop. What am I going to do for two weeks without the internet? Do you know what I am going to miss in two weeks?

Another of my concerns is the 23 hours I will be on a plane. Now, I like flying. I don't have fears of it, but I have never left my seat while in mid air. And my friends say I have a bladder of steel but I highly doubt I'll be able to make it from Chicago to Bangkok without peeing. My greatest fear is I'll be in the bathroom and the pilot will turn on the fasten seatbelt sign and I'll not know it and just as I'm coming out of the bathroom we'll hit some big air pocket and I'll go flying through the cabin and Jeff will pretend like he doesn't know me. I guess I need to pray about that one...

Later!
jen

Long Time, I Know

It has been quite a long time since I posted. I'm sure you are all chomping at the bit (see, I am from Texas!) to know what's been going on in the wonderful world of Jennifer. :-)
I am still on my diet. Well, the diet portion is more of a lifestyle change than anything. I'm not necessarily dieting. I'm trying to change the way I eat and what I eat. My boyfriend is forever saying, "Are you really finished?" when I eat half of my meal. But that's what I do. I eat until I'm full and then I stop. Why couldn't I have learned that trick, oh, say, 20 years ago? He's going to start making me order the children's plates when we go out. But in reality, that's all I need. Really, that's all anyone needs if you ask me.
But I have gotten on this exercising kick. I know! My mom and Kaleena were in town this weekend and my mom kept saying, "Where is my daughter!" I'm doing all kinds of crazy things, like eating tomatoes and German food. And exercising. Outside! I told Jeff the other day, "You know, I'm really sad that it took me 31 years to realize that I don't mind being outside at all."
But back to this exercise thing. I walk as often as I can. I've got voice lessons every night right after work so it's sometimes hard to fit it in, but I do my best. And yesterday Jeff and I went on a hike through the woods. Again, can you even believe that? I keep telling him that people back home would never believe that I was outside, much less hiking through the woods. I shoulda taken a picture and posted it for all of you to see. Let me tell you just how beautiful I am all hot and sweaty! I only nearly fell off the bluff once. Jeff grabbed me, so I guess he likes me enough to want to keep me around for a while! :-)
'Till next time!

My Best Worst Date Ever

There are times in our lives when we all just have to sit back and say, "I cannot believe that just happend to me." Or, in my case, as my friend Gina would say, "Well, there's another one for your book." It has gotten to where I tell a dating horror story and those who know me well will agree that it could only happen to me. That's why my worlds greatest worst dating story is no big deal for me.

Many singles in my situation (living in a small town, have a busy schedule- this was when I was on the show 6 nights a week) often rely on the internet to meet people. Now, after having done this I would not recommend it at all! But, nontheless... I met this guy online. He was pretty cute in his pictures. Met all my physical requirements, in fact, he was even 6'4" like I wanted. We exchanged emails for a while and finally one day he told me that he had to admit something to me. "Oh, great," I thought. "This is where he tells me that he's been in jail or has 14 kids or is really a woman." He wouldn't come right out and tell me, he only gave me clues. It was very European, he said. Hmm... Having never been to Europe but seeing it in the movies I wondered if he drank beer like it was water or something. Then he tells me that there was a Seinfeld episode about it. Now, I have never watched an entire episode of Seinfeld. I know, I know. How can a pop culture freak like myself never watch Seinfeld? But I digress... Even my Seinfeldaholic friend Gina couldn't figure out what he could possibly be talking about.

Well, come to find out, he tells me that he is a nudist. Now, not the kind that one that wants to live in a nudist colony or anything, but when he's at home alone he likes to be in the buff. At the time, I was like, you know, no big deal. Just keep your britches on around me and we'll be fine. So we agree to meet and he comes to my house (my roommate was upstairs so chill out... I wasn't alone with him!). During the course of our conversation he asks, "Do you mind if I get comfortable?" Sure, I thought. Kick off your shoes. But I turn my head and he is reaching for his belt. "What are you doing?" I ask, panic stricken. "I'm getting comfortable," he replies, undoing his belt. "No you're not!" I yelled. "Not on my couch you're not!" He says, "But you said I could get comfortable..."

Needless to say, the gentleman left and I never heard from him again. But I think I can honestly say I have one of the best worst date stories ever, don't you agree?

Happy Birthday, Brandon!

I lost one more pound last week. Even after I ate Mexican food and ice cream on Sunday. I had been craving it all week and finally broke down and had it. But, I didn't go overboard, so I guess it all worked out in the end. That evening I went to Jeff's and watched The Oscars. You would have thought that I had asked him to watch Dirty Dancing. But, the fact is, he sat there and didn't say too many negative things. It could be because I had watched Goodfellas with him :-)

Today is my baby brother's birthday! Brandon is 28. I can't believe it. More than I can't believe that I'm fixing to be 31, I can't believe that he's 28. I remember how little he was when daddy slammed his elbow in the truck door and broke it (not on purpose, of course) and, as much as I'd like to deny it, I do remember chasing him with a golf club. I remember he and Mike Shriver being so mean to me & Bobbie. And the first time he ever sang at a talent show at school. I had told him not to just stand in the middle of the stage, so he paced the entire song. And when it was over everyone jumped up and cheered for him like he was a rock star. I was the loudest and proudest. I remember people coming up to me asking if he was my brother. Yep, sure is! Who would have ever thought that I'd actually end up loving him! I think he's going to turn out just fine.

Stuff

I just have stuff to say today. Nothing of real importance, but I figure if you're reading this blog you care enough about me to want to know what's going on in my little world, so here we go! :-)

Let's see... First of all, I have 18 more pounds to go before I reach my 20 lb. weight loss goal. My pants are already loose on me. I have lost more than the afore mentioned 2 lbs. from last week, but I don't know how much. People have been asking me how much I've lost and I don't know. I just know that I feel much better about the way that I look and my clothes fit much better. Actually, I don't really care how much I weigh, I want to wear a size 10. I think that would make me happy.

Tonight Jeff and I are going to see that new Hugh Grant/Drew Barrymore movie. It was, of course, my choice. He wants to someday go see that 300 movie they have been advertising. He said if I would go see that with him then he would owe me a chick flick. Well, I told him if I went to see that movie he would owe me DreamGirls! He refuses to go see that with me. Wonder why? But he is taking me to see MercyMe on March 9th. I'm quite excited about that.

Last night I had my Mary Kay open house. I got a new recruit! Hopefully I'll be able to make some money with this little business. I don't have a whole lot of time to devote to it, but if I can get a nice client base then it'll be easy.

I guess that's all the ramblings I have for today. I'll check in with you later!

Has spring sprung?

Man, it's days like today that I really wish I had my little Pontiac Solstice convertible that I know someday I will have before I have children. When did I get old enough to talk about the weather? It is so nice outside. I'd like for it to stay like this all year round. But, a couple of the teachers at school informed me today that sometimes we get big snows in March here. That's just crazy. I need to move back to Texas!

What is up with these guys on American Idol? I don't want to vote for any of them! And where did they get these stupid songs? Nights In White Satin? I hope the girls are better than this or I'm going to have to find something else to do with my Tuesday nights!

The Weekend

Well, the weekend is over. Quite uneventful to say the least. Friday night we had a ladies fellowship at the church and while I wasn't exactly in the mood for mingling, I went anyway. I'm always glad that I went after the fact.

Jeff was in Vegas this weekend. He called me on Friday from the top of the Eiffle tower. He was watching the water show at the Bellagio. I asked him if he stood where George Clooney had stood in Oceans 11 and he, not too enthusiastically I might add, said, "No." He did bring me back a really cool mug from the Paris Hotel there in Vegas. Because he knows I want to go to Paris and I figure that may be the closest I'll ever get!

We had a lunch after church yesterday for all the new people in the church. Well, as music minister I had to go and as a new person Jeff had to go. It's always ackward to introduce him. I never know what to say. I feel too old to say, "This is my boyfriend..." sometimes, so I usually just say, "This is Jeff." I'm sure everyone knows. I moved from sitting on the front row to the fifth row with him, so...

I lost 2 lbs last week. Not as much as I'd hoped, but at least I didn't gain anything. Now if I would just get off my lazy behind and start working out I'd lose ever more quicker. Jeff and I are in a little competition to see who can lose the most. Actually, he has to lose 2 lbs to my 1 lb since it is so much easier for guys to lose weight (that's my rule, not his. His rule is that if he's buying me dinner I can't order chicken strips. I think that's the stupidest rule I've ever heard.) He tried to sabotage me last night by feeding me pizza and choclate ice cream. Didn't work, though. I summonsed all the self control I could and ate very little ice cream. Yay for me.

I'm restarting my Mary Kay career, btw. If you need anything, let me know!

Can it get any colder?

I went to Wal Mart after work tonight and I thought my face was going to freeze off. And then there was the fact that, of course, I was parked a mile away from the buggy holder thing. Needless to say, I'm just about tired of this weather. I think it's supposed to be in the 60's or something next week. I can't wait for the day that I can stop buying panty hose for a couple of seasons!

I've been having trouble staying asleep all night. Thing is, I am sooo tired when I go to bed and then I wake up at like 1 or 2 in the morning and can't get back to sleep for a couple of hours. I've resorted to actually counting sheep and then I get bored and start thinking about stupid stuff that I have no reason to worry about. I keep thinking that one night I'll just be so tired that I won't wake up, but hasn't happened yet. Maybe tonight!

Grey's Anatomy is coming on. Meredith fell into the water last week. Oh, well. Never liked her anyway :-) Of course she's going to survive. The show is named after her. Dr. McDreamy just pulled her out of the water and she totally looked like one of those bodies that floated to the surface from Titanic. Maybe I'm just jealous she has Dr. McDreamy and I don't... :-)

Happy Valentines Day!

As my first official Valentine's Day, I'm going to go ahead and say it's not as bad as I thought :-) I remember how upsetting it always was when my classmates or coworkers would get stuff from their boyfriends or husbands and I'd just be sitting there, staring at my computer, trying to pretend that it didn't bother me. Yeah, but we all know it did. I'm just going to say that having a valentine beats the alternative anyday! Even though I only got to see my valentine for 10 minutes or so today. But, that's okay. Wednesday's are my long days at work. I'm there from 8 AM until around 9 PM with church and worship practices. I'm always so tired at the end of the day.

So, are you smarter than a 5th grader? Fox is having a new show where if you are you could win like $1 million. One of the questions on the commercial was "What is a prime number?" and the adult lady contestant said, "Oh, it's something that they add onto my bank account" or something stupid like that. Come on. Everyone knows that a prime number is a number only divisible by 1 and itself. Right??? :-)

I wonder how I would do on American Idol? Part of me would really like to know Paula, Simon and Randy would say about me, but then again, do I really want to know? I think I'll just stick to what my friends and family say about me. I like what they have to say! All I have to say is I hope these people are better than what they are showing on these clips. If not, well, I would say that I won't watch, but that's not true. I'll have to think of something and get back with you on that tomorrow.

Didn't do too well on my diet today. Gina and I had a date at Local Flavor and, well, they don't exactly have diet food. But it sure was good! Oh, and I only had 1 piece of chocolate. With all the parties and everything no one brought me so much as a cookie! So much for thinking all the kids love Miss Jennifer!

The Day Before

So, here it is, the day before Valentine's day. I have never had a valentine before. I know, I know. It's hard to believe, but it's true. I always thought it was so totally overrated and was of the mindset that it was just a commercial holiday made up by Hallmark and Hersey. But guess what? I was wrong! My boyfriend Jeff sent me flowers. Roses to be exact. I got them today. Everyone who came in the office were like, "Who's are those?" Then they saw me smiling and the knew they were mine. Lucky me.

I'm on a diet. I am going to lose 20 lbs. by summer. Gotta hurry! It's so hard to be on a diet while dating, though. But, I am determined to do it. I'm back on Weight Watchers. I'll keep you posted. Monday's are my weigh in day. I won't tell you how much I weigh, but I'll let you know what I lose.

So, American Idol. Seriously. How did these people make it to Hollywood? You all know that I would never admit that I'm a great singer, but man. I'll even admit that I'm better than some of these people. And don't get me started on that Nashville Star show. If those people are the best undiscovered country singers then country music is in some kinda trouble. If I could write a song I'd even audition. But, alas, I cannot write, so I will not audition.

It is arctic cold outside (those are Jeff's words, not mine, but I agree wholeheartedly). I am so ready for spring. I'm ready to wear my open toe shoes and cute skirts. But, of course, that means I'm going to have to start shaving my legs again. I think I'm up for it, though :-)