I want off this ride

Remember the job??? (Yeah that was all of 24 hours ago....)

It was taken back.

Apparently it had to be given to a tenured person in the system who didn't have anywhere else to go (wonders WHY no one else wanted her), so the principal doesn't get to hire me...

I asked God for an answer about this and he gave it to me, but I can't help being very dissappointed.... VERY.

I found out 10 minutes before class started so it didn't help that I managed to cry my way through our supervision class (Think: group counseling process).

I am back to square one... ugh.

Happy iPhone Day!

Today is the day I've been waiting for and apparently so has the rest of the nation. Why are people who have the 3Gs iphones dying for the 4.0?

Anyways, because AT&T so underestimated the demand (or at least that is what is on the door at the AT&T store), I will not be getting an iPhone today, and probably not even this week.

Did any of you actually even try to fight that crowd?

Who knows when... The AT&T stores won't start receiving them until Tuesday (at least in my area) and online it says it won't ship until July 14 and I'm out of town that week so I of course don't want it to ship to my house while I'm out of town.

For now I'm just waiting, which seems to be the theme of life. At least this time there is an iPhone at the end of the tunnel, I just don't know how long the tunnel is!

The Old Wooden Rollercoaster

You know how the old-wooden roller coasters are the ones that everyone LOVES to ride at the park? Some places even advertise them as their best attraction. So you wait in the sweltering heat with lines of sticky kids who kick you in the chin while they swing on the bar separating you and 2000 other hot miserable people waiting for a 30-second thrill ride in a tiny cart with just a lap-belt holding you in. When you finally get to the front and the ride starts going, everything is so exciting as you climb that first steep hill and hear the click, click, click. Then as the ride lets loose and the cart starts soaring downward your head smashes into the side of the cart and you strain your neck so bad to hold your head in one place that your muscles ache and you forget about the ride because you are more worried about your brain bouncing around inside your skull. At the end, I think the pain in my neck and pounding in my head was not nearly worth the shot of adrenaline that came with the ride.

Welcome to this past week. It's been highs and lows of emotion and stress. One minute things are fabulous and the next they come crashing down. Literally. So, I've avoided writing anything until things have leveled itself out a bit. I think today is a good day to let you in though because they are looking up again!

First off, I think I told you I had 3 more interviews last week, yes?



Well, guess what....




I was offered a job!!!!


I was offered a job one day last week, and there are some stipulations to it that I will go into detail about after the job is officially mine, but one huge obstacle was paperwork from the university and my degree date. Apparently I graduate 2 days after school starts and the university would not BUDGE on any sort of letter or notice to inform this school system that I will in fact be graduating in August. This was the most frustrating part because for several days I was under the impression that I may not, in fact, be able to work at all until things are 'official' and 'official' can take weeks even MONTHS! The attitudes and rudeness I received from people was disheartening!

Anyways, several days of tears and frustration went by, but then Monday afternoon came, and I found out that the school system is more willing to work around the paperwork than the university is. Woo! I am still frustrated with the university that I have given A LOT of money and time to, and they were not even interested in coming up with a solution for one of their graduates to be employed.

So, we're back up on top today, that this is job offer is a possibility! It looks like everything will go through and I've been given a 'worst case scenario' that doesn't even sound that bad.

Thank the Lord! I know he has been the one to place this job in my lap and when it is official I will tell you all the wonderful details about it. I am very very excited and also very nervous. I don't want to mess anything (or anyone for that matter) up! Yikes!

Along the roller coaster we also bumped into some obstacles in the baby arena and I've struggled with the unconditional love that I am supposed to show some people in my life. However, I'm working through most of that with the Lord and pray he'll show me who it is he wants me to be and that HIS perfect plan and timing will take over my life!!

Gulf Oil Spill

I know every single one of you have heard about the oil leaking into the gulf, yes?

Well I have a girls vacation planned for July 8 to head down to Mobile & Gulf Shores. With things still leaking and pouring into the ocean, I have no idea what sort of state the coast will be in three weeks, but we are not canceling our trip... it's more about the company than the setting.

However, a very funny/quirky friend of mine that is organizing our beach getaway has just informed us all that she signed our group up to volunteer while we are down there.

As I was reading this, I pictured myself cleaning up tar balls on the beach thinking I was going to shove her into the oil-drenched ocean for signing me up for this and ruining my vacation, but when I got to the part that we'd be working with the animal rehabilitation efforts my heart softened a little. (Okay, a lot... you all know my love for all things mammal.)

I have absolutely no idea what to expect or who we are volunteering with yet, but apparently she had to go through an interview process and everything to be able to work with this group, so it sounds pretty legit.

None the less it sounds like a unique item to add to our vacation agenda. I'll keep you posted.

Certification? check!

I have (almost) conquered one more hurdle in the education world. I have assembled my lengthy and confusing packet for my certification. No one really even told me to get started on it either which is a little scary, but I sort of bumped into the information and started reading only to realize it was a lot of information that I had to do before the state would issue my Class A Professional Educators Certificate.

Our counseling program is newly CACREP accredited so I will actually be the first one to graduate in school counseling under these new guidelines. Which means, not too many people know the right way too go about getting my certification!

After many calls and faxes, I think I have it nearly 100% complete! I need a few more signatures that I will get Thursday on my trip to class and then I can send it to the state!

The ONE dilemma is that for my background check my first name and last name are flip flopped. Stupid. I know. I am sure that I did this last year or so and just never realized it until now... I'm wondering what sort of issues this will cause. If I call I'm sure they will tell me to redo it ($56), but if I don't will they just pull it up and let it slide?

Decisions, decisions....

I'm melting! Melting....!

It is a cool & crisp 98 degrees today in sunny Alabama. I'd guess it is a heat index of 143. Maybe a little higher. I have a lot to do today, but I don't want to do any of it because it is sweltering outside!!

In fact, I don't even want to do anything inside either! I went grocery shopping today and had 1 coupon. Yep, saved a whopping $.40 today on some yogurt. I just do not have the energy to cut coupons or plan out my grocery trips lately. Not to mention I am just not seeing the savings because I have been such a picky eater also.

I've gained 6lbs back. Nearly back to where I started 8 months ago. Its amazing to look back at weight loss and see the ups and downs every single month only to be exactly where I was when I started... again.

I know 100% that I eat when stressed and my brain can only handle 1 trying thing at a time. Not coupons, not cleaning, not eating right, just job searching. However, I'm turning over the not-so-new leaf again! For the 14th or so time!!

I am going to tackle more than just job searching, and I figure while I am not interviewing - I don't have a single one lined up this week - I should be able to devote all my attention to being healthy, cleaning my house and getting back to my budget!

I did happen to tackle yet another thing off my list (only 2 months late). #16 - Landscape. I have trimmed 5 of 7 shrubs (4 years passed due) and dug up 1/2 my irises to transplant them into the new bed that Ben built. I have 2 more shrubs and one large clump of irises to go, but did I mention it is HOTTTT out there?!

Currently our attic fan is out.... causing the air conditioner to blow warm 78 degree air. I know the power company says to keep your thermostat at 78 to save money, but has anyone actually tried living in 78 degrees?! Its impossible to sleep like that unless you have 5 fans blowing on you while you are naked.

The attic is so hot that when Ben hands me a tool from the attic (he is up there working on it as we speak) I can't touch the metal without burning my fingers! I guess I should be monitoring Ben's well being instead of blogging right now.

Happy Monday!

Chattanooga

This weekend was incredible! Ben and I went to Chattanooga for our 3rd anniversary trip. He planned most of it since I am a cheapskate and can't handle how much things cost!

We didn't realize that this weekend was the first weekend of a 10-day festival and things would be VERY crowded. Fortunately though we did touristy things instead of the festival and avoided the crowds, for the most part.

Friday he planned for us to go on a river boat sunset dinner cruise and let me tell you, if you ever go to Chattanooga, this should be first on your list! It was so much fun!

The food was delicious and the company was very entertaining. I was a little worried when we sat down because it was at a 4-top table with another couple's name at the other two seats. THIS is not my ideal eating situation. I don't really like eating with strangers. I have to admit I did say a quick prayer before they got there that they wouldn't be crazy! Well, they were a fun, entertaining older couple and things went just fine. The group sitting next to us on the other side happened to be from Birmingham too.


Saturday we visited Lookout Mountain and Rock City. Both were so much fun! We started Lookout Mountain by riding the Incline Railway which is apparently the steepest railway in the nation. It was HOT, HUMID and way too close to the other people for me. The panic started to set in at one point where I thought if I don't get off this train in 3 seconds I was jumping and sliding back down the mountain. Thankfully, Ben switched places with me and we arrived at the top quickly.
I can't get over the houses that are perched atop this mountain. There was a whole neighborhood! This one below was right next to the railway up and it was just gorgeous! I can't even imagine how much they cost!

Everything was just beautiful! Apparently you can see 5 states or something like that from the top, but I never found any signs of where to look and which was which, so I just accepted that it was gorgeous and far!

After that we went to Rock City which is a garden of rocks and caverns at the top of the mountain. It was so much fun!

Thankfully because we were walking among rocks most of the time it wasn't real hot until we finished. I did have my moments though where I thought I would have to go the 'short-way out' to avoid walking through places called Fat Man Squeeze. Here is Ben heading down through it:

But a sweet little grandmother made me go down (Here Ben was trying to coax me down, but I made him see if he could fit first... he was supposed to come back and get me but people kept coming through), she walked with me until I made it through the other side telling me about the rocks and other funny things so I wouldn't freak out!

We also ate at a very good pizza place called Lupi's Pizza (SOOO good!) and the Moon Pie General Store! Ben LOVES moon pies and we had to have a moon pie sundae!

We made it home today and both had such a great time. It was definitely worth spending the money! Ben was a little more carefree about the money than I would have been, but hopefully soon we'll have that other income to replenish the savings account!

Tercer Aniversario

Three years ago today I was standing next to my soon-to-be wonderful husband about to become a wife! Granted, it wasn't instant that we took on the 'great husband and wife' roles, but I am so glad to be here today. Three years just doesn't sound like its been that long in terms of marriage, but when I look back at my school career for the past 3 years it feels L.O.N.G.... Comparable to 10 years! I guess that is a good thing that the marriage part has flown by easily.


Ben and I just got back from a fabulous dinner at Village Tavern. The manager even gave us a discount on a few things! They are always so nice there! It was delicious and calorie overload, exactly what you are supposed to do on anniversaries right?! I did order a 'sliver' of iceberg for my meal to make up for the homemade potato chip appetizer and chocolate torte cake dessert.

Well, I was looking through our wedding pictures again for this wedding album that Ben is getting me and had to post some on here. They are just such great pictures! We had a wonderful photographer, Focus Photo Art. It was such a fun day and beautiful weather (if you ask anyone about my wedding though you'll usually hear something like, "I remember when you got married... man it was HOT that day...").

I just love weddings though! So much fun!

Now I am really looking forward to our trip to Chattanooga! If you have any suggestions of particular things we should do there please let me know!!

Moving right along & 3-year anniversary!

I had an 'interview' yesterday. It was more of a meet and greet in which a wonderful person at a board of education told me a lot about her and her school system and told me that she's on my side. She also told me who to call for a position that just opened (that I was planning on going by today). I'm very grateful to have her name and recommendation!

Today I am going to go to 3 other schools and have 1 more interview!

It's also Ben and I's 3rd anniversary!!!

We're going to go out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Village Tavern, because I happen to have a gift card and a free dessert there!

Ben also so wonderfully fulfilled one of the things on my list from last year (that rolled over to this year). He got me a leather bound wedding album!!! He was too cute about it. Since apparently these sort of things take many weeks, he had to wrap up someone else's album that looks like the one he got. HAH! I opened it and was like, that's not us... but the funny thing is that they did get married on the same day as us and he didn't even plan it. (Apparently they weren't 3 years behind on getting their album). But I love it and am so excited to see the finished product!

My gift to him was a leather wallet (he's obsessed with Fossil wallets and although he didn't NEED another one, he likes to have one waiting in reserve should his ever fall apart) and inside I put a check for VACATION! He loved it! And we are going to Chattanooga, TN this weekend! So I'd have to say I will conquer two more things on the list - Let go of some money once in awhile and go to a touristy place near us that I haven't been!

I'm very excited! I looked at their CVB website and there are so many things to do there, yet its only 3 hours from our house! Perfect. We'll be home in time to have dinner with my dad for Father's Day.

Movie Review: Letters to Juliet

Yes, I saw 2 movies this weekend! Can you believe it?!

I saw Letters to Juliet with my mom yesterday and it was WONDERFUL!

It was a little hard for me to get used to Amanda Seyfried as an adult in this movie and not a high school Mormon from Big Love (even though she's only 2 years YOUNGER than me), but if you can adjust to seeing her in a romantic/comedy instead of Kate Hudson then you'll love it!

It is sweet, funny, endearing, romantic.

Everything needed to take your mind off of reality for an hour and 45 minutes.

I won't spoil it for you for those that haven't seen it, but I would very much recommend this one. I would see it again. Probably one for the DVR that I could stand to watch 100 times.

I think the thing that makes this movie that much sweeter is the actual history of two of the actors. The very famous Vanessa Redgrave and Franco Nero met on the set of Camelot in 1966 and had a child together in the late 60s. They didn't stay together and Vanessa eventually married someone else and had 2 other children. Then 30 years later they reunited and got married! How cute!

Well they are also the older couple in Letters to Juliet, so you really must go see this movie.

The perfect prescription

I have made it all the way through the weekend and I have to say this has probably been the best weekend of the year. After making some decisions about handling my life better, I am very relieved!

Yesterday B and I went to the pool (he left without me once, but after a few phone calls was back to pick me up, lucky duck). He collected rocks for our never-ending yard projects and I laid in a raft and restarted reading The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks that I have been trying to read for 11 months. I successfully made it the further than I had gotten all year yesterday!

We came home and intended on cooking on the grill and being lazy, but my neighbor stopped by and was driving to the movies to see Sex and the City 2 with some friends and invited me along. It was great to go see a movie although you can read my actual review of it here.

Today was church and Sunday School. I had a really great lesson planned for today and only one kid showed up so I had him join with the high school class and I took myself on over to Target while B was in his new Sunday School class (it's a men's group on the power of prayer I think). I met my mom for lunch and went to the movies again! Now I'm home thinking about going back to Target to buy a Food Saver. But I want your opinion first. Have any of you actually used one of these?

My need is for produce to last longer. In trying to lessen my stress, I think it would help if I could go to the store for lettuce, veggies and fruit less. Last week I didn't eat a salad ALL week because my lettuce went bad and I didn't want to make the trip all the way to the grocery store for just lettuce. The FoodSaver says it will help lettuce stay good for 2-3 weeks instead of 2-3 days. What do you think?

Anyways, this weekend has been great and I really feel ready for this week. Knowing that I have less on my plate this week along with still more job possibilities is good. Prayers for these jobs and interviews. I am very ready for God to reveal my place, but I'm still waiting.

In the meantime, this song has been playing a lot on my ipod lately and I thought I'd share:

Movie Review Sex and the City 2

No spoilers here because well.... nothing happened!

I love Sex and the City. LOVE IT! I even have movie 1 saved on my DVR in case of a sudden pity party.... it brings me up pretty quickly.

However, this one... very boring.

It was cute and the fashion was fun, but as for the story line, 3 hours of movie and I thought, well that was rather uneventful.

There were also several characters that we only saw for a scene or two that I would have loved to have seen more.

I would not see this movie again honestly and am glad that I didn't bring B to this one like I did the first one. I think he semi-enjoyed the first one, but this one, not a chance.

Bottom line: wait for netflix.

iPhone Countdown

I have 'heard' that the new iphone 4.0 is expected to be released on Monday!!!

My countdown to getting one is getting wonderfully close! 11 days!

June 16, 2010! I have been waiting for this for well over 2 years. Ben says that I don't need to get a new one, that I could get a refurbished old one, but I quickly explained that I have waited so patiently for this that I am getting the most fabulous one they offer.

How excited are you?!

Can you blog from an iphone?

Happy National Donut Day!!!

When I woke up this morning and found out it was National Donut Day I decided that it was time to visit Birmingham's one and only Dunkin' Donuts.

You do know my obsession with Dunkin' Donuts right?

It was amazing!

2000 extra calories later I am very glad National Donut Day is only once a year.

Go celebrate, hurry! Only a few more hours to get a free donut with the purchase of coffee!

A Horse of a Different Color

I had a bad day yesterday. I let the exhaustion of life catch up to me and had a minor meltdown at my internship.

I typically try to not become hysterical in public too often, but occasionally it catches me by surprise... like yesterday! I just really never knew how mentally exhausting job searching would be!

Let me explain. Yesterday I received a phone call at 11am from my mother-in-law who's counselor friend called her and asked why I was not interviewed at School X where counselor friend worked and was leaving. (You follow?) So MIL calls and asks me the same thing. I said... "well I don't know, I applied, interviewed with the board and emailed my resume to the principal, I don't know why they didn't interview me." I mean really... how would I know?!

I think the part that was the hardest was that I was told by the board that they would pass my name along and I would not need to pursue the principals any further, they would get my name to the principals. This obviously didn't work so well since I did not get the interview.

I really have no idea why they didn't. It could have been that they gave the principal 20 names, and she narrowed it down, or that they went out of town and didn't get the names over in time... who knows.

So I called her counselor friend and asked her what I should do. She said, come by NOW!!

I left my internship in a panic, went home (30 minutes) and put my suit on, drove back to School X and caught the principal before she was leaving for the day where counselor friend handed her my resume and the principal pulled me in for an interview right then!

This was probably my worst interview yet because of the hectic-ness of it, but it really didn't go too terribly. I just didn't feel I got to tell her the best parts about myself. Most importantly though I now feel that for that particular position I did all I could do and now it is in God's hands. If I don't get it, then its not in his plans and I'm very okay with that. I just want to make sure I am doing all my part in this process.

Last night I gave my VERY last graduate school presentation/project. Can you believe it?! From here on out I am just logging hours and interning, but have very little requirements!

I also realized yesterday that it is time to clear some things off my plate, which is VERY hard for me to do! We talk in class about self-care a lot and how important it is in helping professions like counseling and social-work, but it is easy to put that on the back burner and push myself to give more than necessary and be an over achiever. I don't like saying "No" to people. I don't like not being able to do everything for everyone all the time and I know this is something I struggle with. I have always struggled with it.

Since December I have been at either a job or internship 5 days a week. In January I started spending every Saturday at my parent's paint store handling the books. In March I quit working at my paying job and starting interning full time. In March Ben and I also started teaching Sunday school with the expectation that there would be 2 other couples to rotate with. In April, both couples dropped out. So I have no day off. There is not a single day that doesn't require work or planning and it has finally caught up to me to the point that I cannot handle it.

Yesterday was a turning point because I just am way too exhausted to keep going at 150% 7 days a week.

I talked to my supervisors at my internship today who saw my meltdown yesterday and talked me through it, but today my supervisor asked where I stand in hours. (Remember those 600 hours I've been logging for 5 months?) Well, I only need 40 more INdirect hours which means yes, I have officially gotten every bit of my 240 DIRECT hours! And today my amazing, wonderful supervisor told me that I can take days off, I can take vacation, I can stay at home if I need to and not come back, if it is what I need. She said I have gone above and beyond her expectations and that I shouldn't feel like I need to continue to intern 5 days a week. After I told her that I only needed 40 indirect hours she said, then I am going to make you take 2 or 3 days off. You need it!

I have to agree, I need it.

I feel so much better that I HAVE gotten this far and can cut back a little.

So here is my plan for at least this next week: I am not going to go to the paint store on Saturday. I am going to sleep in on Saturday! I will go to the paint store on Monday. Intern Tuesday with an interview on Tuesday afternoon. Take Wednesday off to go to another interview (YAY!) and intern Thursday and Friday.

How does that sound? MUCH more doable and less stressful??

My favorite part is that I can sleep in tomorrow and go to the pool with Ben!!!

I am so thankful for this!

Anniversary Help!

Guess what has completely SNUCK up on me!

Yes... Ben and I's 3 year anniversary! Where'd this year go?

I need help. I have nothing planned for his gift. Last year I planned months in advance and got him a discovery flight lesson where he actually flew a small air plane. I really doubt that I will ever top that gift, but I need some suggestions. This year (3) is supposed to be a leather gift. (Last year was cotton.)

So... leather.....?

Keep in mind that I am SUPER cheap (I don't mean the gift has to be cheap, but I have a hard time letting go). I have gone back and forth about getting a leather tote/suitcase and putting tickets to somewhere in it, but then I can't make up my mind about where to go or how much to spend. (I have a very tiny income, so any money I spend has to come out of a savings account that will not be replenished any time soon, so its rather painful for me.)

What do you think?

Hurry Up and Wait.

I'm back and going to try and redeem myself from my funk yesterday. Glee certainly helped and I thought it was rather funny that the episode was based on funk, both the feeling and the genre. (Yes it is super cheesy and yet still one of my favorites.)



Today I woke up to go to 2 schools in my county that posted open counseling positions yesterday afternoon. I checked them this morning and like magic, the postings had disappeared! So, instead of waste my time driving to both of them before I found out more information, I went to an inner-city school system 45 minutes away that has 2 postings to deliver my resume. Two more added to the list!

I just need to keep reminding myself to wait. It is funny that the past month of sermons has revolved around waiting in some form or fashion and I think God intentionally brought them to me so I could hurry up and wait already! I have been praying for months, maybe even years, that God will put me in the position HE wants me to be and not where I want to be even though today it almost started off praying to go to a particular place. That truly is not what I want. I want what he wants and I pray that he helps me stay in that mindset. His plans ALWAYS go better than mine!

Now... if I could just get better at the waiting!

Not feeling it.

I really have wanted to update you on all the great things of life, but am just not feeling it AT. ALL. today for some reason.

I had 3 interviews last week! Which were wonderful. One Monday, one Tuesday and one Wednesday and I think they all went really really well.

Then Thursday was graduation that finally ended with 428 seniors graduating at 8:30pm. I was glad that I was able to get a million hours that day, but the next morning I immediately drove to Florida (after a lot of heaves and hos about whether to go or not). I rode down there with my mother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew. This was nothing short of a LONG trip. We stayed at my grandmother's house on the Atlantic coast which is wonderfully relaxing... most of the time. Maybe because it was such a fast trip or because Ben wasn't there... I don't know... it just wasn't what I'd hoped and needed.


Saturday we went to my cousins wedding 2 hours away. It was beautiful. She was beautiful!

My sister-in-law was a grouch though, my niece screamed. It was just again, a LONG day.

We made it back to my grandmother's house by 1am, woke up the next morning for more family time. Tried to love my precious nephew as much as possible. (He doesn't have enough of it in his life), and I stressed about him all day. If there was anyone I could scoop up and take away from everything in the world it would be him. He is so sweet and deserving. I know this doesn't make any sense without the back story here, but just know his life stresses me out.


Monday I woke up 2 minutes after I was supposed to have left for the airport to fly back home, thankfully, I made it in time to nearly strip down for security purposes and catch my plane back to Birmingham. After being kicked for an hour and a half by a monogrammed mickey-mouse-ear-wearing 4-year-old, I decided next time I'm calling my doctor for anxiety medicine. I also sat in an emergency exit seat for the extra leg room, and by the middle of the flight I was convinced that my last dying moment would be to help people get off the plane.

My dad picked me up from the airport and we went to the family store to work for the rest of the day.... I finally made it home last night around 7.

After everything going 90mph, I'm just not feeling it.

I am very much in a funk today. It could be that I missed church Sunday and that I want a job and a baby and a real relaxing weekend, Ben is also out of town so I have no one to tell me I'm being an idiot and to snap out of it!

Tomorrow I am going to two more schools to apply for jobs. Wish me luck!

I'll be back tomorrow with my happy self.

Promise!