Friday, July 28, 2006

my first mani

So I got my very first manicure today. It was really nice, I think that it is something I may have to treat myself to more often.

So anyway, is it possible to be ecstatic out of your mind and yet sad at heart at the same time? I found out that another of my friends is pregnant and I just...well I guess with all the wedding stuff going on and the lack of sleep it overwhelmed me. I just wish that I could find that same happiness that so many of my friends have been blessed to find. I get frustrated sometimes that I am doing something wrong or that something is wrong with me but...I don't know. I keep telling myself that I am God's child and He has promised to give me everything that is good and glorifying to Him. I also know that the desires of my heart, if I am following Him, are the desires which He has placed in me. I guess I am just an extremely impatient person. I want it now and am struggling with the continuing waiting game.

My other dilemma is that I think I make myself too much of a friend to guys that they just never move to the next step because I am just not a threat and can be a friend. It's frustrating!! That may or may not be true but it seems to me that it is true. The actual harder thing is when my friends guys tell me that I am great and they don't know why someone hasn't snatched me up yet. I know they mean it as a compliment but it actually hurts. Oh well such is life.

I dream of a day when I can find the happiness that so many others have found, when I can serve and love someone, that I can start a family and new life with. I look forward to the next great adventure in life where I can grow with someone and together in our relationship with God. Someday I know it will happen, I know that God promises that and I will continue to cling to that promise and pray in faith for it to happen. (how does one pray in faith? I am really not sure but I will do my best)

Thursday, July 27, 2006

IOWA Con't again...

Wednesday was my day! I went to Beth's future-mother-in-law's house to help with wedding decorations. Then I ran to Walmart and Target to run some errands for Beth. I also got some pics printed from the previous days. Then it was home to try and get a nap. I couldn't really sleep though but just spent some time alone and caught up on relaxing and homework. Beth and company got home around 8pm. It was a pretty uneventful yet completely exhausting day for all of us.

Beth spent the day with her Mum, hunting flowers for, aisle runners, thank you gifts that she couldn't find and just generally exhausting herself. She was supposed to be relaxing and then taking a nap in the afternoon.

Today, now that I am finally caught up with what's going on, started early and turned out a heck of a lot busier than it originally was supposed to be. I took Beth and her Mum for mani's and pedi's at 9am and on the way we got word from her sister. Here Jenny's car had broken down and she was stuck in Des Moines. So off I went to Des Moines to pick her up. Got back at 10:30am. We stopped at the nail place to see how they were doing and they weren't done yet. Then as we are sitting there waiting we realize that we need to get Jenny to the apartment for her haircut. So I rush her back and then run back to pick up Beth and her Mum and also run to the scrapbook store for some more supplies.

After we finally got out of there we ran to Ashley's to pick up flower girl baskets and then headed back to the house. I fixed lunch for Beth, Jenny and I and then Beth was off with Luke and her parents to get the wedding certificate. Jenny and I headed out at 1:45pm for me to get a hair cut and run more errands. We all got back to the apartment between 4:30 and 5 pm. We just kinda worked on some things and then I fixed dinner. Luke came over, we all ate and then they left to conquer the hotel because the other two bridesmaids weren't going to make it tonight due to weather. When they got back it was back to the grindstone again, printing programs and cutting them up. And that has caught you up to what we are doing right now. More later, good night all!!!
Pics

3 more days and counting (the bridal shower)


Jenny (Beth's sis and Mum)



The groom's creative Mother

The happy couple!!! Luke Strahan and Elizabeth Powers (Strahan)

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

My Friend Shrig and her Aunt Dori

Please pray with me as my friend I spoke about in an earlier post lost her Aunt Dori, who is like a Mother to her on Tuesday the 25th of July. My heart is utterly breaking for her and wishing that there was something that I could say and do. Please please pray as this is a very hard time for her and her brother. This is the fourth family member they have lost in under a year. Thank you and I LOVE YOU SHRIG!!!!

Iowa con't...

So it is now Wednesday, two and a half days and counting till the wedding. I have been eating salads and chicken all week. I can't wait for the reception when I can have something sweet.

So, Sunday, I went to Beth and Luke's church. Two people as I entered with her asked me if I was her mother!!!! DO I REALLY LOOK THAT OLD!?!?!?! How depressing. It was a great church though. They meet in the gymnasium of a local Christian school. The sermon was great, did I mention that Luke's dad is the Pastor and that Luke leads the worship? So anyway, the sermon was about how we have our own personal lie detector the Holy Spirit, according to 1 John. It was great though I had a bit of a hard time focusing cause I was exhausted. After church they had a potluck dinner for a couple in the church who where leaving. It was very good. Then Beth and I headed back to the apartment to prepare for our day of just us. Oh yeah, I had scheduled massages and hand massages for the two of us at a spa, only to find out Sunday morning while checking for directions that I had gotten the cities wrong. I had thought the place said it was in Des Moines when it was actually in Iowa City. That is a 2 hour drive and neither of us were up for that. So we headed to the mall to see about going to a nail place and getting mani's and pedi's.

We got sort of lost on the way to the mall but not so bad that we could recover and turn around. When we finally got to the mall, we went to payless to exchange my shoes for my dress and then we hit up Vicky's and Dillard's. Then we grabbed a bite to eat and realized that the mall was closing around us. To say none the least this was very frustrating. I had really wanted to do this for her and had failed miserably. So instead we went to Barnes and Nobles and did a little shopping and reading and enjoyed reminiscing about the past and the fun things we had done. It was great!!! Barnes and Noble is our place. We hung out there till almost nine and then hit Walmart with some errands and headed home. I think we finally got to bed around 11 or 12 pm.

Monday was spent doing errands. I went grocery shopping while Beth tried to go into work, however she realized she just couldn't pay attention to what she needed to be doing. So she ended up taking the whole week off. Beth's parents stopped by that evening and her Mum went to get her hair cut. It looks really nice and she is excited about the wedding. She made Beth and Luke this very beautiful quilt. Yes you heard me right, her Mother made the quilt. It is very pretty and she did an excellent job. I think we got to bed around the same time that night as well.

Tuesday was another errand day. Beth stopped by work to show Valarie the ropes and then we were on our way to more errands. That afternoon we went out to Beth's Grandparents to see her Mum's wedding clothes and her sister Jenny came in. She drove all the way from Grand Rapids, MI to Ankeny, IA without any air conditioning. All I got to say is got some respect for that girl. Beth and I left there around 4pm to run back to the apartment with a quick stop at the tanner's, to get ready for her "other" bridal shower that evening.

The bridal shower was fabulous. Her friends Linda and Valarie put it on and did such a marvelous job. They decorated with live wildflowers cut from her yard and made the kitchen into and English tea garden. It was absolutely lovely. I'll add pictures and more later. I really need to take a nap now.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Iowa

IOWA IS VERY FLAT!!!!

So I made it to Iowa with very little incident. I left my apartment at 5:15 am Sat. morning and got to the airport by 5:45am. I have never seen DCA so busy in my entire life. I think I have flown out of there at least 3 times and this was the first time I actually had to stand in line for a good half an hour. People were flippin out left and right about not catching their flights and all I could do was laugh because they were the ones who showed up with a half an hour to spare. What idiots!!!

So anyway, I made it onto the plane to find that I was sitting right next to a young mother with an 11month old little girl. My first thought was great, I'm exhausted and this child will probably scream the whole time. Then that changed because the little girl could I guess sense my instinctive love of children and wanted to play. So for the first 2 hour portion of my trip I helped take some of the stress off the mom by playing with her little girl. She never cried once. It was great.

Then when I got to Memphis for the switch I ended up, as usual, on this little "hop, skip and jumper." Now mind you the whole reason for this trip is to fly to Iowa and be with my best friend as she prepares for her finals days till the wedding, I am one of the bridesmaids, and I have my dress with me. The previous plane this had not been a problem. As I am getting on the puddle-jumper they tell me that I have to put the dress below with all the other baggage. I told them, unless you can swear to me on pain of death that nothing will happen to this dress it stays with me!!! Well there actually isn't much pain of death that I can enforce and they overrode me. However as I was finally boarding the flight attendant felt sorry for me and offered to hang it with his stuff as he feared that they couldn't keep their promise. I was very grateful and raced back to grab it before it ended up below with everything else. CRISIS AVERTED!

I made it to Des Moines with no other incidents picked up my car and headed to Ankeny. The associate for Budget was very helpful and gave me directions that helped me avoid all the construction in Des Moines but didn't take me too far off the beaten path that I would get myself completely lost trying to get to Beth's house. I reached my final destination around 11:15 am. Beth and her Grandma were cleaning the apartment and having fun. I joined in and then finally met the man who has made my Beth the most happiest woman on the face of this planet.

He truly is the man that completes her. I am so happy I constantly feel like I am in a state of weepiness. So anyway, we spent the rest of Saturday, running a few errands and then headed to her Grandma's to do laundry. It was a very nice relaxing time and watching Beth interact with her Grandmother is always a treat.

Okay that's it for tonight, I am exhausted and I have to start early tomorrow with more running around. I am the luckiest person in the world!!!!!

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Time to say good-bye

It is actually now currently my last day as I did not get this posted yesterday like I wanted. We are all going to lunch today at CPK and then I will be heading out. How sad and yet happy I am. Tomorrow morning I leave bright and early for Iowa to spend the week helping my Best Friend Beth with any last minute wedding plans. I am so excited. I haven't seen in her in forever.

I have one day left at my old job and I am very thrilled. Tonight is our company's All-Hands meeting and my last chance to say good-bye to some of the friends I have made over the two years I was employed here. I absolutely look forward to the new opportunities coming my way and the very clear career change and career choice I have made. The hardest part though is always saying good-bye.

I know that this won't be the last time I see many of these folks because they are my friends and we always have happy hours, birthdays, weekend treks to the park and so on. It will be different though going to a new place where I don't know anyone at all and will not really get the chance to know too many people.

It's funny how distinct changes in your lifestyle and life path make you stop and think. What have I really done and learned over these past two years? How have these two years shaped who I am today? What will I take with me that will always be remember as being what Touchstone imprinted into my core? Is this where I expected to be?

Thursday, July 13, 2006

aaarrrggghhhh

Okay so on a note that isn't so "happy", I am very frustrated, annoyed, angry and tired. I am ready to quit school, because I just no longer have the energy it takes to go home from work each night and know that my work is not yet done. I am frustrated that I don't have a life. I am frustrated with other things going on in my life and some people in my life who just won't step up!! Why??!?!?!?!? I am frustrated and annoyed with mixed signals and my ignorance. I am angry that I can't seem to get control of my life and make it go the direction I want it to. I know, I know, I don't control my life, GOD does. But I wish He would let me try to control a little bit of it.

And right now I am angry at Him for what he is doing to one of my best friends. She has been through so much s*@t this past year and yet He still keeps piling it on. She has lost 4 relatives in one years time and unfortunately is preparing to lose yet another. She has had to deal with a lot crap regarding an accident and an anal, ornery, money grubbing old man. She studies her rear off for school but yet can't seem to get where she wants to be. I love her and really hate seeing Him create more and more reasons in her life for her to not believe in Him. I wish He would just give her a break. BACK OFF FOR A WHILE PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!! LEAVE HER ALONE!!!!!

*aside* of course this could also be a ploy by Satan cause he knows i am getting my life back on track and really working to solidify my personal relationship with God. he could be doing this because he knows how much I care about my friends and hate to see them suffering and knows if he pushes hard enough maybe I will cave. well all I have to say is GET THEE BEHIND ME SATAN!!!! You are the @$$hole of all @$$holes and one day you will burn forever!!!!!!!!!!! Leave me and my friends alone cause what your doing won't work!!!! I will continue to trust that God is doing the right thing and will see Himself glorified through all this. However if this is the case I apologize deeply to my best friend that she is the one bearing the brunt of Satans ploy to get me. I really really really am sorry. I TRULY LOVE YOU AND YOU KNOW I WOULD NEVER WISH THIS UPON ANYONE ESPECIALLY YOU!!!!

*DISCLAIMER* not everything sucks. I have a great new job, a great new apartment, a great new roommate, a great church with great friends and a great weekend job at a cafe. *END DISCLAIMER*

Celtic FC

So last night was a pretty awesome night! A friend had asked my roommate and I if we wanted to attend a DC United match. For those of you who don't know DC United is the DC professional soccer team. Anyway, I jumped at the chance to see a professional soccer match live as I had just spend weeks watching the World Cup and was totally not ready for soccer to be "over".

So half way through the day yesterday I figured I should find out who DC was playing and to my utter amazement and absolute pleasure I found that we were playing Celtic FC the premiere Scottish football club team. I WAS THRILLED! to say none the least. I love Soccer and I love SCOTLAND!! What better way to end the day than to attend a Soccer match where we play a Scottish team.

So I went home put on my green and white for the Celtic FC and grabbed my Scottish St. Andrew's cross flag and my umbrella of the same. I headed to the match and met up with my friends. It was good times had by all. Celtic FC let me down and lost 4-0, but just being at a live soccer match and knowing the team was from Scotland made everything okay. I had a great time hanging out with my friends.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

a little freaked out...

So I did something today that I have never done before. I turned in a two week notice/letter of resignation. Even though I know that I have another better position waiting for me it is still really freaky thing to do. I realized that I can no longer, well I don't know, I just feel kinda in limbo.

I am extremely excited about my new position yet daunted by the fact that I will be working at the Pentagon. It is a very scary thing if you think about it too much, which is what I am doing. The exciting thing though is that I am filling a brand new role that the client asked for and thus I will get to define the role for any future fillers. I will have to turn down or boot out higher ups in favor of even higher uppers than them. (Yeah so if my employers could read this they would be scared. I am supposed to write e-mails with good grammar and this obviously isn't :-). Oh well this is my personal thought page, it is not a complete reflection on my organized life outside of my disorganized thoughts!)

On another note, I am finally into my new place in NE DC. I have a great roommate, a nice place and painted walls!!!! I am so excited about that because now I know I won't have to suffer through my winter depression. One wall is a salmony red, the other is a muted burnt orange and the last is a goldeny yellow. They match my comforter! I have two very large windows on the red wall and a walk in closet. There are a lot of boxes still around as we work to unpack and set up house. It is fun though, we finished the kitchen unpacking last night so all we have left to do in there is paint. We are painting it a teal blue with bright green stripes. Then the bathroom will be orange with a red glaze, kind of like a red gerbera. Our living room is going to have one wall that is squares of blue, green and sheet copper and the rest of the walls will be khaki.

I am pretty sure that my roommate Hyla and I will get along great, though the football season may be a little intense. See she is a die-hard Steelers fan and I am a DIE-HARD Patriots fan. That could make for some interesting games, I guess the good thing is that we aren't playing each other in the regular season this year. Any way more later. I am looking forward to this new living experience as I know it will be 100 x's better than any of my past ones.

Friday, July 07, 2006

I GOT IT!!!!

I GOT THE JOB, I GOT THE JOB!!!! I start July 31st as the Conference Room Scheduler/Administrative Assistant for the Under Secretary of Defense Office of Policy at the PENTAGON!!! I am so thrilled and excited beyond anything I could possibly imagine

This will be a great opportunity to grow and be stretched in ways that are just not possible where I am now. Plus the pay is WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY better!!!

THANK YOU JESUS!!!!!!!!!