From H to Z

Spring brings new life

2009-04-13T08:46:00.000-07:00

So I am making a blog entry. It's been a long time. I got burnt out, and usually had nothing exciting to report. Well I do have something to report... and it is not that I am pregnant!

I have gotten a new job! I start one week from today. I am excited, but also scared. I have a hard time with change, so this new job makes me nervous. I think the whole process for this job started less than a month ago. It has moved very quickly!

I actually found the job on craigslist.com, if you can believe that! I sent in my resume and cover letter and was contacted shortly to answer some questions. I did that and then was contacted to come in for an interview the next week. I ended up going in for 2 interviews for the position in the same week! At that point they let me know they were going to write up a offer. The next week I had to provide references and answer a few more questions and then the offer came at the end of the week. So I confirmed with Zach I was going for the job, and then had to let my current boss know that I would be leaving in 2 weeks! I am now in week 2!

One of my references told me one of the advisers asked about my dependability and promptness. Ekk! If you know me, being late is one of my biggest weaknesses. She smartly answered that they never had to worry if I would show up and that at times they had to tell me to go home when I was sick. She skirted around that question. So that will be one of my biggest challenges! But I know I can do a good job at it...most of the time!! :) I just have to try hard. I will also be a lot busier. I am excited for this, but hope I don't get too stressed. I am hoping it is just enough activity.

I realized I didn't say what I am doing! I will be an assistant for 3 financial advisers, franchised under Ameriprise Financial. Two advisers are in one office, and the other is in another office just down the road. So I will be with two of the advisers 3 days a week and with the other advisor 2 days a week. I will for sure be doing administrative assistant stuff a lot at first. But they have a vision that in a few years or so that I can move up and they will hire someone under me. I could learn to be an advisor, or a office manager/handle working with their clients. My favorite idea would be the manager and working a lot with the clients...not involving financial advice! ;) So we will see how it all works out! I feel really good about the opportunity and want to give it a try!

I will be working about 20-25 minutes away from home. Well not sure with the morning traffic, but that is my best guess for now. Which brings up the next subject...buying a car! Yay! I am really excited for this!! We will not have my car by the time I start, but hopefully very soon after! I have my eye on a used Jetta or Maxima. I have been looking online quite a bit and tomorrow we are meeting with some friends and the husband knows a lot about used cars. So he is hopefully steer us in the right direction.
Well that is all for now. I will update next week to tell how the new job is going! This week I am going to get things ready to leave, enjoy lunch with some of my work friends, and enjoy my free time.

Happy Spring Everyone! :)

Oh yeah...

2008-11-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

I wanted to tell my election day story. It's a little late, but I kind of forgot about it until I saw someones post on election day stuff.

Anyway so here we go:

I went down with Zach's grandma (just as a reminder, we live with them). We got there just before 7am. There was already a line, but not bad.

I had brought a million documents with me to try and prove who I was. Let me explain. I don't have a California drivers license, only a Texas one, but it still has my maiden name on it because I have not been back to Texas since just after our honeymoon. I don't want to get a California one because I have to take a written drivers test. I brought my new social security card that had my correct name on it as well.

So I get in and tell the lady my name. She looks twice and can't find it. She tells me it's not on the list; and I have to go see some guy (who is really old to be helping out.) I would guess he was at least in his 70's. So he gives me a provisional ballot to fill out. While I am doing this another lady proceeds to ask me if I registered. I told her yes (although I did wait until the last day it could be post marked), but still, I did register.

So I get it all filled out and then the old man tells me, "Take it over the the colored man so he can help you." Yes... you read correctly. I almost couldn't believe he said that, but then again I am from the south and know that older generations were raised to speak the way. It is just a little out of the expected here.

So I took my info over to the man and he informed me of how to mark the ballot. So I did, double checked it, and brought it over to another guy to find out what to do next. He told me to put the ballot through this feeder. It then went into a box that had a sign on it that said something like, "Your ballot is safe here."

After this I ask the man (who gave me instruction about where to place the ballot) what the difference was between my provisional ballot and the regular ones. At that moment he said something like, "Oh, you had a provisional ballot? That wasn't supposed to go in there." I thought really, could go anymore wrong?

So then he asks if I can wait a minute, and I say yes. He pulls out a little booklet that says "What to do if..." on the front. So I continue to wait. Then he and the other guy talk about where the hot line phone number is that he can call to find out what to do. I continue to wait. So he calls and gets the answer. He tells me that it is ok and he is just supposed to write on my other documents that my ballot is with the normal ones.

So in the end it was all ok. Really I like to think that because my ballot was mixed in with the normal ones it was actually counted and helped to elect the next president of the United States. Otherwise it would have been unnecessary to count since California was way for Obama.

Next time I am going to be ready much more in advance that way my name will be on the list, and I won't have all these problems.

Thanks for reading :)

Autumn...Sad I didn't know how to spell that

2008-10-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

Nicolle posted pictures of autumn decorations, so I decided I would too. But these are my decorations at work, not home. Since it is not "our" house, it is hard to find motivation to decorate. But when Christmas gets closer, we will for sure. I have been searching online for a Christmas tree. I want one of those pre-lit ones.

Anyway, I am getting off topic, see photos below:

I wanted to get some type of decoration for Halloween, but didn't have a lot of luck finding something. Then I saw these dyed sunflowers at Costco and thought they were perfect. I found the garland at CVS. Who would have thought?

Close up of the pretty flowers. They even dyed some the leaves purple.

The cute little pumpkin sitting next to my name plate. I got this at CVS too.

I thought while I was taking pictures, I might as well show off the view from my desk. Not too bad, huh?

Here is the view once you get closer.

Has the time finally come?

2008-10-13T12:25:00.001-07:00

Zach has a job interview today. It would be really good for him. He would be working for a physiologist in the LA area. He would work as her assistant in the front area. Since this is the profession he wants to go into, it would be a great place for him to learn. This lady could even be his mentor and if everything works out, it could be a possible place for him to earn his hours for his license.

He has tried to find a job for a while now. He had interview for 2 different positions, but they told him they wanted someone with more experience in that area. There are others that he applied for too. But this could be it. This may be just the fit he needs and that needs him. So if you want say a little prayer for him today at 1:30pm.

I have to say, the extra money would be nice! :)

So here you go!

2008-09-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, I was tagged. So here you go!

1. What are your nicknames?
Hay, Hay-Hay, Hales, Hazel, Hazel-May, Sparkle (my grandpa used to call me that)

2. What was the first movie you bought in VHS or DVD?
I don't know. I know I loved Winnie-the-Poo when I was little. That was probably the first video bought for me.

3. What is your favorite scent?
apple pie, oranges

4. What one place have you visited that you can't forget and want to go back to?
Greece, I want to go with Zach especially to Santorini

5. Do you trust easily?
yes and no- it depends

6. Do you generally think before you act, or act before you think?
I almost always think and think and think.

7. Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days?
boredom, unsatisfying job

8. Do you have a good body image?
so-so, could be worse could be better

9. What is your favorite fruit?
strawberries

10. What websites do you visit daily?
I usually don't use the computer on the weekends, but on weekdays I visit: pepperdine, people, this blog, facebook

11. What have you been seriously addicted to lately?
cokes, I have really cut back for about a week now, but really want one right now

12. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
Still learning about her. Creative, smart, loving mom, funny, and speaks what is on her mind.

13. What's the last song that got stuck in your head?
Well I had church song stuck in my head the other day, but now that I am thinking about it I have that song "Give me One Moment in Time". It from the early 90's I think. I don't know if you watch America's Got Talent or not, but one of the ladies on the show sang it the other night.

14. What's your favorite item of clothing?
I have this one dress that came to mind. I found it at Dillard's mark down several times. It was supposed to be over $100, but was marked down to $35. Luckily my grandma was taking me on one of my twice a year shopping sprees and bought it for me.

Although I have these 2 dresses from Target (same dress, different colors) that I really like wearing to work. And the skirt and shirt I am wearing now (skirt from Target, and shirt from Banana Republic). Sorry that's several.

15. Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy?
I think rice crispy treats are yummy.

16. What would you do if you saw $100 lying on the ground?
Well, I have a huge conscience, so I wouldn't be able to just pick it up unless it was going to someone who really needed it. Sounds silly to some, but it would touchier me to carry it around and even more so to use it on something I want.

17. What items could you not go without during the day?
Food. Since I sit at my desk all day, I think about food a lot.

18. What should you be doing right now?
Ordering coffee for the break room. I will do it when I am finished with this.

Usernames and Passwords

2008-09-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

So I have been thinking about how this topic could be a blog for a while. Anyone else get sick of all the usernames and passwords they have to use? I do!! I can't remember them all, so I had to start recording them, especially for websites I only visit once a month or less. So here are all the things I have to have have username and passwords for, oh yeah and let's not forget frequent flyer miles numbers too:

Pepperdine e-mail/work computer (weekdays)
Facebook (weekdays)
This blog (weekdays)
Our credit card (couple times a week)
Wells Fargo bank accounts (couple times a week)
Office Depot work account (couple times a month)
Sallie Mae school loans (once a month)
American Airlines (couple times a year)
Kaiser (just when I am sick)

I am sure someone can beat me with all the usernames and passwords they have.

"My" Weekend

2008-09-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

So last weekend we went camping with a group from our church. It was fun, it was great to get to know some new people. Although it was dirty, and we slept on the ground (next time we will think to bring our air mattress.) I kind of think of last weekend as Zach's weekend...and this weekend as mine! :)

So here is my plan: Tomorrow we are shopping, sadly more for Zach than me. He really needs a new pair of jean and Docker's. All his jeans and Docker's are getting worn out. Although I like to dress him up and pick out clothes for him, so this will be fun. He is a good sport, so he won't complain too much.

Zach looks so cute in jeans from Express! Here are the jeans I want Zach to get, but not the girly little sneakers.

http://www.express.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=309&showBreadcrumb=false&relatedItem=true

Also we are making the big move from Docker's with pleats, to Docker's without pleats. Zach does not care about this, but I know these will look a thousand times better.

http://us.dockers.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2996446&cp=2271557.2891169&pg=1&parentPage=family

I also need a new bra. I have discovered there is only one kind I really like. It is the "Body by Victoria IPEX demi bra". Long name! Anyway, it costs a pretty penny, but oh so worth it. It actually does it's job and you can't see it under your clothing bumping or bulging. Here is the link if you want to buy one.

http://www2.victoriassecret.com/commerce/application/prodDisplay/?namespace=productDisplay&origin=onlineProductDisplay.jsp&event=display&prnbr=9E-220134&page=1&cgname=OSBRPIPXZZZ&rfnbr=5318

If only I looked as good as Heidi Klum does in this bra. At least I think this is her.

Also I am excited because Zach and I are going on an actual date! For my birthday my aunt and uncle mailed me a Chili's gift card. This is my favorite place to eat.

http://www.microteluncasville.com/location/index.cfm?fuseaction=cor_av&artID=3792

Also we got a gift card to the movies as one of our wedding presents. What a good idea! I am not sure what movie we are going to see, but I do want to see that new movie that is based on a Nicholas Sparks book if it is out yet. It has Richard Greere and Dianne Lange in it. I can't remember the name right now. Maybe we will see that.

Also we need to swing by Costco and look at cell phones. Mine is MIA. It really stinks because all my numbers are on there as well as a recording of an interview I had with my grandpa about WWII. Random I know...it was for a school project last year. Plus I don't need a new cell phone, mine works just fine. Well we might put it off longer in hopes of finding it. Wish me luck!

The last thing I want to do tomorrow is go buy a device (that is sort of like a flash drive) that you can put your memory stick into to transport your pictures from your camera to your computer. All of our pictures are trapped on our camera right now because we can't find the cord. So I am ready to put that problem to rest! :) Then I will have tons of pictures I can upload on facebook and post a few here too.

Well that's my plan. We will see how much of it happens. Have a good weekend everyone. :)

Wordless Wednesday

2008-09-17T10:15:00.000-07:00

I am ready for Christmas!

2008-09-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

Although it will cost us a lot of money, I am ready for Christmas. I miss home. I miss my family. I miss my friends. And there is just something that is so cozy about a home decorated for Christmas. It just makes me happy! I just set this picture as my desk top.

P.S.- This isn't really my house. ;)

Sometimes you just have to brag on yourself.

2008-09-03T14:31:00.000-07:00

Hopefully our wedding photos will arrive this weekend!

Leslie has already mailed some of them. I am really excited to see them. I have seen them when ordering them online, and a few that were uploaded, but it will be much better in person!

When I saw this photo I knew it was my favorite photo of myself. I feel beautiful, like every bride should on her wedding day! :)

My parents have the photo CD right now, and my favorite of Zach and me isn't uploaded, but I will post it eventually. But here is one of me and my hubby!

One more. Here is Zach and his youngest brother, mini Zach as I like to call him, at the rehearsal!

While I'm bragging, Leslie is a great photographer! Some of you know her, but others don't. Here is her website, check her out!

http://www.leportraits.com/

It's official!

2008-09-02T15:42:00.000-07:00

It's official! I am making another Dr.'s appointment! We don't have a flashlight at home, but we have tried to look into my mouth to see how it's doing. Plus it is swollen so I can't open it as wide.

So I came to work to day as my test day. I took Advil this morning b/c I wasn't feeling so good (I must note, Advil is a wonder "non" drug). But I have felt ok the rest of the day. I got back from lunch and decided to use the mega powerful flashlight that is randomly under my desk to check out my throat. I went into the bathroom, turned on my flashlight, flipped off the light and took at look at my mouth. Man! How did it miss this!?! My mouth is so clearly infected, which I was pretty sure of, but I thought it was improving...not so much. It looks worse! I checked again to make sure and I need help.

I told my boss I was for sure going to make a Dr.'s appointment for tomorrow. Of course my Dr. has no open appointments for tomorrow. So I waiting for them to call me back hopefully telling me another Dr. can take me. If not, back to urgent care tonight. Second trip to urgent care in a week and third trip to the Dr. in a week. Make that five days!

I knew something was up on Saturday, but the Dr. just gave me pain medicine and told me to keep taking my antibiotics. I am really ready for my shot now!

I will report again later. Ok the Dr. office called. I have to come in tonight or call at 7am to get an appointment with another Dr. What a mess! And Zach has class until 10pm tonight, so I have to bum a ride. Just to freshen your memory, we only have his truck and I can't drive it b/c it's a stick.

Boo!

At least I lost a pound or two...hopefully

2008-09-02T11:38:00.000-07:00

I was sick all weekend, still am sort of. Somehow a little place in my mouth got irritated and swelled up. I think it's infected. I got some medicine that I think is slowly helping, but if it doesn't pick up the pace, I am going back for something else. A shot sounds pretty appealing right now. So anyway, it hurt really bad! Therefore, eating was to a minimum. That's where the title comes in. I really hope I lose a pound or two from all this pain, money on the 2 Dr. visits and medicine, and not having a lot of fun on my last holiday off until Thanksgiving. My pants did feel a little looser when I put them on this morning for work. But now they feel tighter again...you know, where they dig into your stomach fat. Well that's all, sorry for the pessimistic mood.

Junk food

2008-08-21T14:04:00.000-07:00

You know when you body needs water, or iron, or calcium...well apparently mine needed junk today. I did not realize this at first, but by the afternoon, I realized that I had been in need of this junk.

It started with an ice cream sandwich for breakfast.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:IceCreamSandwich.jpg

Then a mini bag of potato chips and a Dr. Pepper for my morning snack.

http://www.minimus.biz/detail.aspx?ID=7272

http://www.dlink.com/business/casestudies.asp?cid=1&scid=12&csid=6

(Don't worry I did eat something normal for lunch... a lasagna Lean Cuisine and a cup of apple sauce)

Then I followed that up with some Sour Punch Straws and a Sprite.

http://www.kaboodle.com/reviews/sour-punch-straws-apple--24-2-oz.

http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/presscenter/img/imagebrands/downloads/sprite_sub_20ozc.jpg

Please don't judge... my body needed it!

P.S.-Fawn, I don't eat like this everyday.

Self-Pity

2008-08-18T10:34:00.000-07:00

So one of my pitfalls is self-pity. Right now I am unsatisfied, not with my marriage, but other things. I want an amazing job that I love and pays well... I know that is a lot to ask for, well at least at the point in my life. So I have been struggling with that. Also, Zach and I live with his grandparents right now. It is not bad, really it's not, but I just long for our own place, so it is hard to wait for that right now. Lastly, I don't have a car. Zach has his truck and it is a stick shift, so I can't drive it. I could learn how to drive it, but it would take a lot of time and energy, plus people are crazy drivers around here. I get nervous driving an automatic, let alone a stick shift. http://www.health-in-action.org/node/310

So these things added up last week! I had my moment of breakdown. To make things harder, my 16 year old sister got a 2006 Mustang. That's a pretty nice car for a 16 year old, and a 23 year old for the matter. I am a little jealous of that, but it's ok. I am happy for her. I was looking at pictures of the car on facebook along with her captions. She is funny, and it was clear how excited she was. She said she cried when she got it. It made me happy that she was thankful. I do love my sister and want her to be happy. She is an amazing girl and deserves good things in life. Hopefully this will make life as a teenage just a little bit easier. We all remember the challenges!
So here are some things I am thankful for in my life right now:
1. My husband (I love him and spending time with him!)
2. My family
3. Saving over $1000 a month on rent and food (yes, a 1 bedroom apartment around here goes for over $1000 a month!)
4. Having a job when so many are looking for one
5. Having a beautiful wedding this summer
6. Our young-married group that meets every week (God is helping us make new friends with people who are dealing with some of the same things as us)

I am blessed.

Why so late?

2008-08-15T11:58:00.000-07:00

So I blogged about the Olympics earlier this week. Now I just have one complaint! All the exciting stuff is shown way too late at night in the Pacific Time Zone. I have tried to stay up to watch the gymnastics, but I just can't stay awake! I also must admit that I fell asleep when the exciting 4x100 meter relay happened the other night. I had to watch it online. I just wish things would not wait until like 8 or 9pm to get started, then I could see more. I am just not a night owl anymore.

http://www.thegiftofmusic.com/acatalog/A_Feast_of_Music.html

Oh well. Zach fills me in when I wake up at one point or another. Although we have both fallen asleep in the living room every night this week watching the Olympics. For example, we woke up at 5:30am this morning and then went in got in bed. I know some of you are probably thinking, how much later than 5:30am do you sleep. I sleep in until 7am (or later if I keep hitting snooze). So I can't complain about that part.

P.S.- I am supposed to be at work by 8am. I almost always make it by at least 8:05am. :)

http://www.denvergov.org/ManualTrashCollection/tabid/427901/Default.aspx

It gives me chillbumps!!

2008-08-11T14:54:00.001-07:00

SO COOL! You have to watch the US Men's 4x 100 relay from Sunday night if you have not seen it yet. Acutally, even if you have seen it, watch it again! Go Team USA!

Exclusive Summer Olympics news & widgets at NBC Olympics.com!

One of the good things about working with the important people...

2008-08-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

So to summarize, I am the bottom dog on the top floor. I work as the receptionist for the 4th floor in the administrative building. The fourth floor is the top floor literally and because the most important people at the University have their offices up here. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of other important people who don't work on this floor, but the highest of the high are here- the General Counsel's Office, The Provost's Office, The Chancellor's Office, all 4 of the VP's offices, and the President's Office and the important people that entails.

http://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/R/Receptionist.asp

My job really is great and I am treated very well, but I thought this cartoon was funny. I have done some pretty random things at my job in the last 7 months.

So here comes that part I like- free food!

http://www.ehow.com/how_2245333_money-groceries-walgreens-free-food.html

Almost every Friday there is a meeting that includes the highest of the high who are in town and they get breakfast. The exciting part is there are always leftovers. So I get a fruit scourer and a half a bagel (if I am good).

There is also a meeting that meets 2 times a month that often has left over food as well. Yesterday I had a blueberry muffin. I was proud of myself, I withheld from eating the cinnamon rolls.

Earlier this week a student brought in about 10 bags of grapes from the company he works for. He brought them for the Chancellor and who ever else wanted them. I was one of those who wanted a bag. Now I am not talking about just the normal grapes you normally see, these are the biggest, most Delicious grapes I have ever seen and tasted. They are like grapes on steroids. I was telling someone that I have never seen grapes like these at the store, and they said they thought these kind of grapes would be sold at stores that sell organic things. Probably true.

This picture is not actually of the grapes I have, but they look like them.

http://www.all-creatures.org/recipes/i-grapes-globe.html

The last free food I will mention are some cherries that were a gift for the president. Since he was out of town, me and another girl took them home. Then I brought the rest back and left them in the break room for people to pick at. Again, these were not just your regular cherries, but they were from Harry and David's. You know they had to be good. I personally did not try them b/c I don't like cherries, only cherry pie! :)

I couldn't find a picture of the David and Harry cherry's, so these are just for visual effects.

http://www.producedepot.ca/academy/fruit-cherries.php

Anyway, that is one of the perks up here, and I rather enjoy it!

Oh yeah...

2008-08-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the pictures Rochelle! All our pictures are still trapped on our camera until we find the cord.

Texas in California?

2008-08-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago we went to Dallas Cowboys Training Camp in Oxnard, CA. This is about 45min.- 1 hour away. Our friend Rochelle joined us and she invited Michelle, who just moved here. I must note, all four of us are from Texas. There are actually at lot of Texans working at Pepperdine.

We got up bright and early to make the drive. We arrived in the morning and looked around at the set-up. It was like a mini carnival with two 18-wheelers that opened up into selling booths, places selling food, and another 18-wheeler that was a traveling memorabilia truck including the team's super-bowl trophies.

If you look under the letter "W", you will see Rochelle and I. The lower level held all the memorabilia.

There was even a huge inflatable arch that you entered through with the Dallas Cowboys logo on it. This is only one of the sides of the arch. I'm telling you, this arch was big!

We watched two practices, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Here are some pictures from the morning practice:

The big boys pushing the really heavy sled.

The big boys stretching.

Tony Romo throwing the ball.

There was a lot of waiting in between the two practices, which included heat and a sunburn, but overall it was a neat experience. Afterwards we found a Wal-Mart that sold Cowboys stuff. Zach got a Cowboys' workout shirt, and I got two cute shirts for work that had nothing to do with the Cowboys.

Then we spotted a Chick-fil-a to eat at and a Dairy Queen to get dessert at (both which are almost unheard of in CA). We were really excited to get those treats.

To end the night we stopped by this really nice outlet mall. I want to go back when I have more time to scope out the stores and find some good deals. I ended up getting a cute, blue shirt and Zach two pairs of boxer-briefs from the Banana Republic Outlet store. I hope he doesn't care I included that detail. :) TMI? http://www.bananarepublic.com/

I guess that serves as our Texas fix until Christmas rolls around. Bye Y'all!

http://journals.aol.com/onestrangecat/trying-not-to-be-bah-humbug/entries/2006/12/15/twas-the-night-before-christmas----texas-style/583

My List of Six

2008-08-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

The Rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Mention the rules.
Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.
Tag six other bloggers by linking to them.
Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment to let them know that they’ve been tagged.

(I will tag 3 others, not 6. )

The person that tagged me is my cousin Fawn: http://osinoklahoma.blogspot.com/

1. My jaws pop when I open my mouth all the way. They started doing it in 7th grade. Thankfully, it doesn't usually hurt.

2. 99% of the time after I wash my hair, I just put curl enhancing mousse in it and let it air dry.

3. I shave my legs like once a week. Zach doesn't really complain about it, so I keep at that rate.

4. I am afraid to wear contacts or touch my eyeballs.

5. I really wish there was a Sonic close by. I almost always get their foot long chili-cheese coney deal with tator-tots and a strawberry limeade. So does Zach.

6. I have wanted to name my daughter (or one of them) Carson since I was about 10 years old. Zach thinks this is a boys name. I say it is unisex. Zach's Grandpa had 2 boys. Zach's uncle had a boy. Zach's dad had 4 boys. See a common theme here! So the point is that Zach and I made an agreement that if our first child happens to be a girl (which seems our odds are a little lower than 50-50 here) we will name her Carson. So I am hoping to have a girl 1st! I still like the name, so I will use for a boy too.

That was my six random things!

I tag:
Rochelle: http://malibuadventures.blogspot.com/
Maggie: http://mag-maisy-weaver.blogspot.com/
Jennifer: http://zachandjenherbert.blogspot.com/

My 1st Earthquake

2008-07-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

So I was just chillin' at my desk on the 4th floor on Tuesday, when I felt something. There was a break long enough for me to think something like "What was that?" Then another wave came. It felt sort of like the building swaying from a really big wind gust. By that point I knew it was an earthquake. It was a really scary feeling!!

http://imgsrv.kcbs.com/image/kcbs/UserFiles/Image/earthquake(2).jpg

I quickly picked up my phone and called another office to see what someone else thought. Someone picked up and I said "There was an earthquake" (or something like that.) I then ran from the lobby through the doors where some of the offices are located. There were people in the hall and I saw my friend Jennifer there, also looking concerned, so I grabbed her arm and said, "I'm scared!" Her boss told us to go outside so we headed down the stairs outside.

There weren't many people out there and after about 5-10 minutes, if seemed as if it were not a big deal, so we headed back in.

I tried to call Zach to make sure he was ok, even though I knew he was, but could not get though because so many in the area were trying to call. I called my mom to let her know I was ok and she hadn't heard about the quake yet. I also e-mailed my dad to let him know too. So then after a few tries with no success at reaching Zach, I texted him, and he called me back within a couple of minutes. He was driving a friend to the doctor and did not even feel it!

Everything went back to normal at work, except "water cooler" talk. It was funny because when I thought back, I couldn't remember who I had called right after the movement ended. I thought I had called my friend Betsy's office, but then I ended seeing Jennifer in the hall, so I was confused. Later Betsy and Nicole (who work in the same office) came out into the lobby to go to lunch. One of us brought up me calling, and it turns out I did call them. They told me that they had gotten under their desk because they had big potted plants sitting above them that could have fallen, and Nicole answered the phone by reaching up from under the desk. We all laughed and it was funny to see Nicole impression of getting to the phone to answer it.

All in all, the earthquake was just an exciting event. It seems from watching CNN that no one was hurt and nothing was damaged too bad, so those are both really good things. Well will see if another one comes our way! Hope the next one doesn't cause too much damage.

Oh and watch this clip below of Judge Judy. Her show was filming and they caught the earthquake on tape. I didn't not feel it this severely, but it is still an interesting clip. Sorry, I don't know how to get the screen here on the blog, so you will have to go to the link below.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/07/29/vo.quake.judge.judy.cnn

Defy Gravity?

2008-07-29T09:47:00.000-07:00

OK, so yesterday I posted about the shirt I got at Wicked. It says "Defy Gravity". Well, the funny thing is I only thought about it in the sense of the song, you know "Defying Gravity" that the "wicked witch" sings.

http://www.wickedmerch.com/ZoomImage.aspx?productID=DEFYVNECK

A little later my friend at work (we will call her "H") came out to my desk, and she had read my blog. She asked "Aren't you a little young to defy gravity?" My first thought was aren't I a little old...you know, like to get all excited to buy a shirt after seeing the show. She asked if I knew what that meant, and I had no idea.

"H" proceeded to point out how "defy gravity" could be taken the other way, you know, not sagging. To make matter worse the phrase "Defy GRAVITY" is written directly across my bosoms (I don't usually use this word, but it seems less crude and other names.)

She was convinced that it was a play on words and actually referred to your bosoms, but I have hope it was referring to the song.

It makes you wonder :

What does "Defy Gravity" actually mean?

http://www.ladyquarters.com/catalog/0027-Playtex-Bra.jpg
http://www.library.uni.edu/instruction/images/questionmark.jpg

So while some people will hopefully get that it is from the song in Wicked, some will just think I am wearing a shirt about sagging, or perkiness. "H" said "Just wear it with confidence." That's my plan I suppose, to wear the overpriced shirt with confidence. I mean I have to wear it, it was $39!

Wicked

2008-07-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday Zach and I went to see Wicked (the musical) in Hollywood. It has been showing in LA for a long time now, but I had not seen it yet. I brought up the idea of going for my birthday, and luckily Zach got an e-mail about a special deal on tickets. So we sat in great seats for a discounted price!

http://cache.graphicslib.viator.com/graphicslib/3242/SITours/wicked-los-angeles-in-los-angeles-1.jpg

The show was great! The woman who played Elphaba (the Wicked Witch), had an amazing voice!! The person playing Glinda was the understudy, but she too had a beautiful voice. I had heard good things from people around here who had seen the show, and I agree, it was great! It was funny, entertaining, and had a good message as well. If you haven't seen it, try and find out if it will be in at city near you.

After the show we took a few pictures and looked at the booths selling clothing and memorabilia. I looked and looked trying to decide if I wanted to get a shirt or not. I ended up getting a cute shirt based one of the best songs in the show, "Deifying Gravity." Looking back, I am not sure why I got it (it was really over priced $39), but I guess I just revered to being a little girl who wanted a cool shirt from the show she had just seen. Zach was sweet enough to agree to me getting the shirt. It is a cute shirt, so I will just have to wear it enough to justify the money we spent on it. (It's says "Defy Gravity" if you can't tell). I got this picture from www.wickedthemusical.com where there is an online store you can order other shirts and goodies if you want.

Here is a performance of "Defying Gravity" I found on YouTube from the David Letterman Show. It isn't the same actress we saw, but you can at least hear the song and see how it is performed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KAvxgsSEOA

My Hot Hubby

2008-07-24T11:40:00.000-07:00

I just want to brag a little about my husband. He is so cute! I love his blond hair, hazel eyes, broad shoulders, and how he is never afraid to smile!

Zach is a talker. His grandma told me he always was. Very early on I felt comfortable around Zach and felt like I could tell him things I wouldn't say to just anyone. I think it's because once he starts talking to you, it is just easy to have a conversation with him.

Zach is also a very passionate person. If he gets involved in an activity, he is really into it. For example, he loves mission work and helps a Christian organization called Let's Start Talking. He has gone to Africa with them twice now. He also really wants us to go to China for a year to teach English and help start home churches. (This is still up for discussion.)

Zach is also a dreamer (hence the China idea)and an optimist. Which is good, because I am neither of those things. He realized that he wanted to be a marriage and family therapist a few years back, but he also has a love for any type of ministry. So I see Zach being one of those people who dabble in a little of this and that. He has big ideas for helping people with therapy and God's ministry. He always has hope... and that is what I need to be around sometimes because I like to expect the worse so I will be prepared in case it happens.

Zach is so strong and one of the most mature people I know. I say this because he has been the man of the house before. Parts of Zach life did not include a full-time dad who was there for him. This happened when he was young and for part of 8th and 9th grade. He taught himself to be strong, keep busy with school and activities, and continued to have faith in the Lord.

We started dating in the summertime and by the end of the summer he told me he loved me! Talk about a guy who is not afraid of commitment. On top of that he was not too prideful to wait for me to be in the same place. Even if it took a while. I'm so lucky.

Most importantly, he is a man of God. Zach loves the Lord, loves having relationships with people, he loves to serve and to sing and worship. He is brave enough to go up to a random person at church who he doesn't know and strike up a conversation with them, brave enough to lead singing (at the spur of the moment), and brave enough to tell about his life story in front of an entire college campus ministry group. He pushes himself in these areas. He challenges me to be a better Christian, but always loves no matter what.

I could go on and on, but I realize it is probably not as fun to read about someone else's husband as it is their own. Two last things:

1. (Not so important, but cool) Zach was on homecoming court in high school and won the title "Mr. North Crowley High School". (Lol. I always dreamed of dating a popular guy in h.s. To bad I did not know Zach then!)

2. Below is a picture of Zach and some of his buddies at our wedding. Six groomsmen were not enough, so Zach had honored groomsmen who acted as ushers, but were as important as the groomsmen. When a person has this many friends who find a way to get to our wedding (even if it costs $200 to fly here)that means they are a good friend. That's my hubby! I love you, Zachary, with all of my heart!

Zach is the one in the pink shirt! Isn't he cute!?!

Sucessful Saturday Shopping (Part 2)

2008-07-22T09:33:00.001-07:00

Now on to Target. I have to say, I got a little carried away. I haven't shopped for clothes since April, except for the bathing suits I ordered online (but that doesn't count). Now when I buy clothes, I have to think differently than before. I dress up five days a week now, so I want to buy something I can wear to work. But everything I bought I can wear to church and out too. Below is what I am wearing to work today. I also got the grayish/black version too. I am about 5'3 and it falls a couple of inches below my knees (in case you are considering buying it).

(Thanks Target.com for the photo)
The link for this photo:
http://www.target.com/gp/detail-tab-popup.html/ref=in_de_detail-item-display/602-6679486-5705447?ie=UTF8&parentStoreItem=0&asin=B00188IXX4&tabToSelect=additionalImages

I this cute skirt below. It's a little long on me, so I will have to find a way to solve that problem, but it shouldn't be too hard.

Thanks for the photo Target.com

Here is the link for the photo: http://www.target.com/gp/detail-tab-popup.html/ref=in_de_detail-item-display/602-6679486-5705447?ie=UTF8&parentStoreItem=0&asin=B0016KMY5M&tabToSelect=additionalImages

I got a really cute short-sleeved sweater too. I am stuck on black and white work clothes, so I am trying to branch out.

The link for this photo: http://www.target.com/gp/detail-tab-popup.html/ref=in_de_detail-item-display/602-6679486-5705447?ie=UTF8&parentStoreItem=0&asin=B00188IXX4&tabToSelect=additionalImages
(Thanks, Target.com for this photo)

I am getting impatient trying to find the other sweater, but it is cream-colored, short sleeved, crochet top, and a light brown almost zebra print on the lower half. Sounds strange, but it's really cute!

So it was a good day. Sometimes shopping is just frustrating, but I enjoyed this day. I am glad Zach went along for the ride. What a good hubby! :)

Sucessful Saturday Shopping! (Part 1)

2008-07-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

Zach is a good sport at trying new things and being open to an idea. This is great when when I am watching a girly show and he will watching the whole thing with me, or he will happily go shopping to get some things off our registry that we didn't get. Not as great when he really pushes me to try something new (I don't like change for those who don't know me well). For example he really wants to move to China for a year to teach English with a Christian organization. He is a big dreamer! Anyway, I am getting away from my subject here.

So Saturday evening we set out to spend some of our gift cards at Linens 'n Things. If you don't know they are closing some of their stores. After the LNT stop, we wanted to go to a specific Target because I had some gift cards there that I wanted to spend on clothes, and this Target is the biggest one I have probably ever seen. So we ended up at a LNT that was closing down, and we thought we would give it a try to see if they had any of our stuff left. Wow, the store looked so empty, but we did find some of our bedding. Better yet, it was 40% off!!! So we got our duvet cover, bed skirt, matching set of sheets, and euro shams!! That 40% off was such a help. We are still missing a few pieces, but we can get those at another store that is still open and has everything in stock.

(Thanks Linens 'n Things for the photo!)

Here is the link for the photo:
http://www.lnt.com/product/prodPopLNT.jsp?LargeImageURL=http%3A//LNT.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/p3081225dt.jpg&displayTab=enh&calledFrom=product&productId=2428531

Here is a picture of the complete set:

Problem solved!

2008-07-20T09:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my cousin Fawn, I now know how to change my template! I am learning. I will update tomorrow. I have an exciting event tonight. Zach and I are going to see Wicked (the musical) tonight for my birthday. I am really excited because everyone says it's great! Have a good Sunday!

Calling all bloggers

2008-07-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

So I got a new background from this website "thecutestblogontheblock.com" I followed the directions and it loaded. I like it, but part of my old templet didn't go away! So it just looks bad. Anyone know how to get the dark blue part to go away so my text is directly on the background? I tried, but now I have lost patience. So let me know if you do.

P.S. I wish I could take a nap right now, but I am at work.

All those famous people...

2008-07-16T14:12:00.001-07:00

I saw this idea on my friend Rochelle's facebook. She started an album of famous people she has seen out and about in the area. I'm not including photos (I have a strange fear of plagiarism, so I will let Google them yourself.) Blame it on my OCD tendencies.

So here we go, in order that I saw them:

1. Arnold Schwarzenegger & Maria Shriver (at Cafe Marmalade)

2. Dick VanDyke (just strolling along, whistling a tune in front of Wells Fargo)

3. Camila Alves (I am about 90% sure it was her) This is Matthew McConaughey's girlfriend and his baby's mama

Reasons I think it was her:

3a. I saw her at Ralph's (local grocery store ) talking to the manager about getting her car pulled up and the manager told her that they did that last week when Brooke Burns was there
3b. There was paparazzi outside waiting
3c. She was clearly pregnant, and although she had olive skin and dark hair, she didn't look like Jessica Alba
3d. I tried really hard to figure out who she was, but couldn't...until I saw a picture of Matthew McConaughey and his girlfriend and realized it was most likely this girl!

4. Travis Barker (member of the band Blink 182) (at Carbon Beach)

5. David Duchovny (the main guy from X-Files) (at CVS)

6. George Foreman (you know, the boxer/griller) (here at Pepperdine at a luncheon honoring him)

Well I will update if I see more people at random. That's the only time it really counts!

I want in on the fun!

2008-07-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

So my cousin and her friend had this list thing on their blogs and I wanted in on the fun so here it goes:

4 Jobs I've had in my life:

1. Sav-On Office Supplies Admin. Offices/part-time college job (accounts payable, receptionist, merchandising)
2. Radio Disney (part-time promotions)
3. Pepperdine University Disability Services Offices (student worker)
4. Pepperdine University Admin. Offices (receptionist)

4 Movies I could Watch Over and Over:

1. Pretty Woman
2. Sweet Home Alabama
3. Friends DVD's (Does that count?)
4. Probably our wedding DVD when we get it!

4 Places I have lived:

1. Burleson, TX (my favorite!)
2. Searcy, AR (yuck!)
3. Porto Rafti, Greece (just for a semester abroad)
4. Malibu, CA (shouldn't complain too much, although I do get tired of all the luxury cars surrounding our Ford Ranger)

4 T.V. Shows I love to Watch:

1. Gray's Anatomy (Love it!)
2. Friend's (sorry I am double dipping)
3. Tori and Dean Home Sweet Hollywood (I know it's silly, but the show makes me laugh!)
4. The Bachelor/ The Bachelorette

4 Places I have been on Vacation:

1. Boston, MA
2. Italy (Where we got engaged!)
3. Mexican Rivera
4. Cancun (Our honeymoon!)

4 Websites I Visit Daily (more like weekdays):

1. People (I check this one on the weekend sometimes)
2. Facebook
3. Pepperdine
4. Blogspot (I have started to check it more, but probably not quite every weekday)

4 of My Favorite Foods:

1. Cheesecake!!
2. French fries (McDonald's and Jack in the Box curly fries)
3. Strawberries
4. Mac and cheese

4 Places I'd rather be right now (than work, I should note):

1. Relaxing on the couch watching what ever I wanted
2. In Texas with my family and friends
3. In Zach and mine's own home (In Texas)
4. In my own new car (I don't have a car right now, just Zach's little red Ranger, which I can't drive b/c it's a stick shift)

What a difference a year has made!

2008-07-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

So last week I turned the big 23! Not an exciting age I must say. Although, I realized when talking with someone else, I have had a lot of change from my 22nd year to my 23rd.

1. I graduated college (I don't know if I could have survived another semester!)
2. I got engaged (I waited a long time! Ok, about 6 months longer than I thought at first, but I can't complain. I got engaged in Venice!)
3. I got my first full-time job! (Way better than school!)
4. I got married! (I am blessed with a wonderful husband!)

That is 4 really major events in my life! Not bad in a year. I think this will be a year of stability, but a year of preparation for where Zach and I will venture to next.

Let's see, Zach did the following between his 22nd and 23rd year:
1. He went to Africa for 7 weeks
2. He graduate college
3. He purposed and got engaged (In Venice!)
4. He started grad school

He had a pretty exciting 22nd year also. Although his 23rd year (which he began April 18th) is exciting too because we got married! :) I think he would agree!

Our moment!

2008-06-25T11:41:00.000-07:00

Here is our moment we shared during the wedding. We had just poured our unity sand together and now we had a couple of minutes to just talk while the song finished. We were blessed enough to have our friend Jessica record a song for us to use in the wedding. She has an amazing voice and the song sounded beautiful. We were sad she could not be at the wedding, but she was there through her gift of song! Thanks Jessica!

The Whole Group!

2008-06-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

Here we all are, the whole wedding party, Zach's grandpa who was our officiant, and Zach and I.

Me and my Dad!

2008-06-25T11:24:00.001-07:00

Here is a picture of my dad about to walk me down the aisle. I know he was sad that day :( But he did a great job by getting me down the aisle, giving me away, and giving a great speech at the reception! Thanks dad for all your hard work out on the site and running around with mom looking at wedding stuff. And thanks for all the money that was spent too! :)

And thanks Mom for all your help. I think you did more planning and work than I did. Thanks for sacrificing so much so we could have the wedding that I wanted. I could not have done it with out you.

Thanks Kels! You were great as the Maid of Honor and as the sister of the bride. I know it wasn't easy to listen to all this planning for 6 months! Now you get to have a great summer and get a car! Who-hoo!

The Ceremony Site!

2008-06-25T11:17:00.001-07:00

Here is the ceremony site! It was just perfect. The tree provided shade to the guests, and I loved the flowers that lined the aisle. It was even better than I imagined!

A crazy few weeks

2008-06-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well, we are married! I can't believe all that planning and now it is over. It is nice not to have anything big to plan for though. We are just living life. Zach is almost finished with one of his 2 week intensive courses, but he still has a paper due for the class towards the end of July. On Monday he will start another 2 week intensive course taught by his uncle. Now I have a feeling his uncle is a tough professor, so we will see how that class goes compared to this one. On top of that, Zach is starting to look for a job here on campus. There are several open positions he qualifies for, so hopefully one will work out.
Married life is different. I don't think I ever got to spend so much time with Zach before. Once the school year begins again, I think we will both be more busy. I am loving all the time though. I am still getting used to sleeping in the same bed. Zach stays up later than I do most nights. The other night I woke up to him pounding on his laptop that he was typing on while sitting in bed. I wasn't a big fan of that. Although I get bothered most in the morning. I find myself waking up more in the morning before I am ready to get up, and it seems that Zach is the culprit. Not really anything he is doing, he is just sleeping, but something about him being there is still effects me.
Well I guess that is enough for now. I will update about our fun event from last weekend soon. We went to a LA Galaxy Game. So that means I, I mean we saw David Beckham in person. He was on the field and I was in the stands, but who cares. Don't worry Zach was there so he knows I took several photos! I have to find the cord for our camera so I can download some pictures.

Yummy dinner!

2008-05-13T15:47:00.000-07:00

Here we are all dressed up for the Faculty/Staff Appreciation Dinner! It is really cool because every year Pepperdine puts on this big dinner and invites all the faculty/staff and they get to bring a guest if they want. This year it was in the beautiful old hotel in downtown L.A.

Zach was a great sport and went with me to this dinner on his 23rd birthday (April 18th). It was quite a birthday meal! The food was great, including dessert!! We ended up having a whole table full of people about our age that we knew for the most part.

The funny part was we rode on one of the Pepperdine "shuttles" all the way to L.A. It ended up being great because we didn't have to worry about the traffic at all! We just rode in style. J/K.

Here are the graduates!

2008-05-13T15:45:00.001-07:00

Here we are in our caps and gowns! What a backdrop, right?!!

Home Sweet Home

2008-05-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Well I am not referring to Texas if you can believe it or not. This weekend I moved my things into Zach's grandparent's condo here on campus. Just to cover all the bases, we are living there for the next year. It is actually a really cool setup for us. There are 3 levels (it is a tall and skinny condo) and we will live on the third level. Our room is great, we will each have our own closet ( I of course took the walk-in closet), a couch, and a really comfy queen size bed! Not to mention we have our own full bathroom just beside our room. Zach grandparents are great will be really easy to live with!
So to explain the home sweet home, I moved into that area this weekend. Zach is in Africa right now doing LST for about another week and a half and then he will spend the remainder of the time before the wedding in Texas helping my parents! I know my mom is glad. So I am living in our area, well until the wedding and then we will both head back here to California.
It was nice to move in knowing it is a somewhat permanent place and even more so that it is our place! It is not exactly the same as our first apartment or house, but it is our first home. It makes everything seem more real.
The wedding did seem like this distant event, but as it gets closer and I am beginning to see what our life will be like, it makes it all seem more concrete, which I am glad of. I hope that made sense. It is hard to explain, but I am excited for the wedding and married life! Although I still feel like a kid sometime, but I guess a lot of people still feel like that at times!

I asked my friend at work how to upload pictures and she showed me! So I will add a few will a small caption.

A busy time

2008-04-24T15:38:00.000-07:00

I don't remember the last time I wrote... I really have no idea who even reads this (except for Maggie and Katie). So if there are others, let me know. If not, well then here is a update, Maggie and Katie!

One word says it all -INVITATIONS! I am making our invites, and I am to the point where it does not seem worth it anymore. I am not sure how much money I have spent on them, or time for that matter.
To make matters worse, I misspelled the name of the people's house we are having the ceremony at... about 200 times! It is IkEler, not Ikler. I just thought I knew how to spell Danny and Kim's last name, but I was wrong.
I salvaged what I could of the misspelled invites (but cutting the top half off to use for something). All the writing is on the lower have and the top half is flowers, so I will try to find a way to use the flower part for something. I have some good ideas.
What a mess, but oh well! It makes a good blog entry.

It is also busy because Zach and I graduate on Saturday! Yea!! Well, we already finished our undergraduate work in December. I am working full time here on campus, and Zach just completed his first semester of his Masters of Ministry today! For this occasion we have lots of family coming to town. Mostly Zach's family, but my parents and Kelsey are coming also! It will be so fun to have them out here. It is always nice to show the people you love your life in a new place. We are going to hang out, eat good food, and have fun! The ceremony takes place on Saturday morning, but the rest of the time is pretty open. My family will stay from Friday night until Wednesday afternoon.
The other cool thing is that I am having my bridal portraits taken next week and my mom and Kelsey can go. I found the photographer in an add in the Malibu magazine and surprisingly we could afford him. He has even taken some pictures of actors/actresses.

That's all for now! I will update later!

The facts

2008-03-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

Here are a few updates:
We have begun to register. I think we are the slowest couple ever at this! Although we don't always want the same things, it has been a lot of fun!

I changed my mind at the last second about wedding invitations. I had a plan, but now I am doing something new. I guess I should mention that I am making our invitations.

The wedding is now less than 3 months away!

Other random things:
Easter is on Sunday. This week I brought jelly beans to put into the candy bowl at my desk. I don't always provide the candy, people donate candy to put in the bowl also. I think these are the most popular candy in a while. It looks like purple and yellow are the least favorite.

The weather is really great here today. It is supposed to be nice all weekend. So a nice Easter Sunday is in store. I should wear nice spring colors to church on Sunday.

Zach facts:
He has a paper due almost every week, so that has been stressful. On top of that he also has two part time jobs and he helps recruit for LST. So he is a busy guy!

If you didn't know, Zach is also going to Africa for two to three weeks before we get married. Let's hope he doesn't get Malaria again.

Well that is good for now. I will write later!

Cheesecake, workouts, and ribbon sashes

2008-03-05T15:26:00.000-08:00

I had a piece of cheesecake at lunch today. It was really good! I think I could eat a piece everyday. I am also very glad that Zach is having cheesecake for his "grooms cake". I will eat so much at our wedding. Cheesecake, the wedding cake (probably two slices), as well as some fruit too. That is not even a meal. What about dinner?! My point is by the end of the night I don't see how my dress will even fit!

So I think it has finally hit Zach and I that we don't have much time until the wedding; we have to start getting into shape. You know exercise and eating healthy. It is so hard to eat healthy. I just love unhealthy food so much!
I have also discovered a new way to work out my abs. I am actually doing it as I type. I just stick my legs out under my desk and hold them out. Then I can start to feel it in my stomach. I should do this more often considering I sit all day.

Zach is in Oregon this week visiting his parents and sisters. Last night they all went to get his sisters fitted for their Jr. bridesmaid dresses. So it was interesting trying to give advice over the phone from California. I had already picked out the dress from looking online, but then there was a sash that went with the dress. I had not realized this, so we had to decide what to do about it. So then I tried to explain to Zach how on the bridesmaid dresses there was a ribbon sash, and he needed to find that dress and see if they had a sash that color. Luckily now a days, everything is entered in computer systems, so one of the workers can type in my name and see what bridesmaid dresses I have chosen. So Zach had to ask the worker to do this, then she had to show Zach and his mom the dress with its ribbon sash, and then they had to see if there were any sashes in that same color for Macy and McKenzy's dresses. There were not any in the same color as the bridesmaids dresses, or the same color as the Jr. bridesmaid dresses for that matter. So now Zach's mom, Tammy, is going to a fabric store to get ribbon for the sashes for the Jr. bridesmaid dresses that will match the ribbon sashes on the bridesmaid dresses.
Now is all that a mess or what?!

I know some say it is not worth all the trouble, but when the wedding all comes together, I know I will love it and will be so glad it turned out so great! Thanks to Zach for caring enough about me to mess with the ribbon sash ordeal.
Well that's enough for today!

Foggy February Day

2008-02-28T15:19:00.000-08:00

Well the warm sunny weather has come to an end. It has been so warm the last two days, but today it is so foggy I can see the ocean. What a lame complaint right?! Anyway it is almost the weekend. Zach is leaving tomorrow to go to Oregon to spend time with his parents and sisters and I will be here working. I guess this is the first con of working- no spring break! Oh well, I would really not have a spring break than do homework all the time.

This weekend I am going to have the house all to myself. If I haven't explained, I am renting a room from a professor who lives on campus. She is going to be gone to a conference all weekend, and her little dog (Manny) is staying with a neighbor. So the house all to myself and Zach will be gone. I like alone time sometimes (unlike Zach who never really likes being alone), but not lots of it. Luckily I am hanging out with my friend Rochelle this weekend and she is also from Texas. One of the good things about Rochelle is that she likes to get out and do things. So this is good for me because it is so easy to just not take advantage of all the cool stuff around here. Some of her friends are coming into town and so she has a whole list of fun things to do with them. She has invited me to tag along. So I should have plenty to write about after this weekend and maybe I will see someone famous.

Oh yes, my trip home last weekend was good. The three cake tastings did not go quite as planned. We did not even make it to the first one in Dallas. The whole family went on the tastings I should add (mom, dad, me, and Kels). So the traffic was terrible in Dallas due to construction. We hardly moved for about 45 minutes. So we finally called and cancelled. Then we ran by the rental place where we are getting several things and I got to see what the options were. That was really cool and I could see little things that would make everything come together. Then we went to the second place who did not have very good cake or service. Then we went to the last person. And...we found the perfect girl to do our wedding cake! Her cakes tasted amazing at the tasting. I am really excited about the cake! I found this girl on Craig's List and she is a stay at home mom who does wedding cakes on the side. Anyway so that went well and I am excited to eat a lot of cake (or at least make sure some gets saved so I can eat it later).

Will update again later!

TEXAS!!!

2008-02-22T15:35:00.000-08:00

The title says it all! I am going home for the weekend. Better yet, I will not have any homework and my family and I are going to 3 cake tastings tomorrow! I am really excited! I wish Zach could come too, but it is hard to plan all this out (and pay for it).
I can't believe it is Friday again! The week went by so fast. Zach and I had a fun night on Tuesday. We went to Taco Bell which an event for us. We both really like the Crunchwrap Supreme! So give Taco Bell another chance if you think it is not that great, because these things are sooo good!
Then we went across the street to get gas, because gas is always cheaper through the canyon, and sure enough we saw our friends John and Tracy getting gas at the same station. We ended chatting with them for like 10 minutes, and then I made us all take a picture so I could put it on this blog. I will upload that soon.
Then we went to Men's Warehouse and we picked out what Zach and all the other guys in the wedding would wear. I am happy with our choice. ZACH WILL LOOK SO HANDSOME.
Then we made our way over to Target where Zach exchanged a DVD. I got him the third of a series of movie, but he didn't have the first or second, so he actually exchanged it for the third Borne movie in the series. I remember the name of it, but the movie is good! Then we headed back home and stopped to get two ice cream cones and two apple pies (for a $1) at McDonald's. It was a really fun night!
Last night Zach and I ate with two of my apartment mates from last semester as well as some other people that were invited. Michelle made tostadas and Claira made cookies! It was so good! We had a lot of fun and I was so excited I got to hang out with them. It is hard to meet up when we are all so busy. One of the other girls is going to make dinner next Thursday. Hopefully we can keep this up for a while.
Well time to write some e-mails. I will update later!

LIFE

2008-02-18T09:45:00.000-08:00

It is so interesting to look at all these blogs and see a piece of everyone's life. So here some random info about my life:

-We both finally graduated! Thank goodness. I don't think I could take another minute of school, at least for a while.
-I have a job here at Pepperdine that I started in January. I have met a lot of great, new people and already learned some things about about how a university operates in just a short time.
-It is so wierd, and great, not to have homework!
-Zach has just started his Masters in Ministry. Where this will lead him, we aren't 100% sure. Hopefully he will earn his Masters in MFT after this, but Zach is one of those who wants to do it all. So in about a year we will really have to answer the questions of where and what.
-I dislike the guest list. Not fun at all! Along with addressing envelopes. Although one of my friends/bridesmaids out here volunteered to address all of our invitations! What a friend!
-This is my friend Tracy, and her husband John is going to be Zach's Best Man. They are probably our best friends out here. Although they are moving to Abilene in the summer to be closer to family and so John can work on getting into a PT program. We will miss them :(
-Although, if Zach heads to ACU to join the MFT program there, then we will live in the same area again! But I am getting carried away.
-I guess that is about it. Life is good, and I am enjoying planning the wedding and being a part of the work world.
-Zach and I are truly blessed to have each other and all of our friends and family!

TGIF!

2008-02-15T16:41:00.000-08:00

I am sooo glad it is Friday! I am really tired. It is hard to belive that just sitting at a desk can do that to you.
Well it is going to be a busy weekend. We are going to eat at the Cheesecake Factory tonight (part of the Valentine's Day festivites)! If the wait is long we are going to Men's Warehouse to look at tuxes! Zach is going to get fited for one sometime this weekend. It is also Homcoming here at Pepperdine, so a lot is going on. The two of us plan to go to the men's volleyball game tomorrow. Now to those who are from Texas, there is a good chance you have never seen men play volleyball (for real that is). Last year was my first game where I saw boys play. It is really exciting though! There is also a basketball game too, but we will just have to see how we are doing on getting all our tasks finished.
I have my first homework assignment in a while. I have to get our save-the-date cards addressed by this weekend! I have not even fully updated the guest list with addresses, but I'll get it done by Sunday night. Zach actually does have homework. I can't quite remember what it is, but I know there is something.
Well it is almost 5pm out here on the West Coast. It's weird to think it is already 8pm on the East Coast and 7pm in Texas. Time to back up for the week! Will right soon!

Day One

2008-02-13T15:20:00.000-08:00

After seeing my cousins' blogs, I decided why not start one for the two of us (Haley and Zach that is). So I will try to keep things updated. You know, wedding plans, exciting events out here in California, and so on. I am excited about this blog and being able to let all my family and friends from home know what is going on!