What a difference a YEAR makes...

To say I'm a blogging slacker is an understatement. It's not that I've had nothing to write about (believe me, I have), it's just that life has been so hectic lately that it's hard to find time to sit down and summarize it all. So here's my lowly attempt to cover the last years worth of events.

1. Savannah Birthday trip

Last September, I decided that years of not doing anything for my birthday were over and that it was finally time to do something memorable (Jeremy didn't agree, but we'll get to that in a minute). So, some friends and I planned a trip to the GORGEOUS city of Savannah, GA. My friends Bryan and Ben flew into Raleigh from Washington, DC and Colorado. The three of us made the 5 hour journey to Savannah to meet Zac and Shannon who were coming in from Alabama.

This could be a stand alone post and probably should have been. We went to a piano bar, had cigars on the river, did our best Forrest Gump impression, visited Tybee Island, fed alligators and talked to parrots. It was an absolute blast and one of the best birthday celebrations I've ever had thanks to a group of great friends.

1st night on the river

On River Street in front of the bridge.

Eating at the crab shack after visiting Tybee Island.

2. I'm dropping the "O"

That sounds kind of cold. It wasn't meant to be. After the whole birthday trip (and a long time before, really), I knew there was something wrong in my marriage. I'm not going to delve in too deeply here, but we decided right after I came back that we should probably go our separate ways. At first it was very mutual, then it wasn't, and now (9-10 months later) I think we're on good terms. Jeremy is a fantastic person. He's funny, incredibly intelligent, and a very hard worker. There are some negatives that I won't list because it's not necessary. He's perfect for someone, just not me.

3. Gaining a Zo

Moving on to more positive things, back in October I got a new puppy. I had no intention of getting a dog. While visiting my friends Ward and Lisa, I met Ward's cousins, Dennis and Nicole, who breed dogs. Now before you flip out, I DID NOT BUY a dog. Repeat: I DID NOT BUY a dog. We were simply sitting around discussing animals and I was telling them about Tobey, my maltipoo that passed away and literally broke my heart. No, really...it hasn't worked right since. That's when Dennis said that he had a little schoodle (schnauzer/poodle mix) that had lost one of her legs and he would be willing to give her away but only to a good home. Of course I had to go see her. That was it...game over.

These are old pictures, but she's my baby girl and has completely captured my <3.

4. Moving on to better things

There are lots of good things on the horizon. Without going into a lot of detail (I don't want to jinx any of it), I have an interview Friday for a job that I think I might actually be able to enjoy and there's a chance that I'll be selling my house. Well, not exactly. I'll be leasing it to someone who has the intention of buying it. That's what I'm hoping anyway.

One very positive addition to my life has been the new guy in it. His name is Clint and I'll tell you about him later. Just know that he makes me incredibly happy. So anyway, cross your fingers and say a little prayer for me that everything will work out for the best. I'm not going to necessarily pray for what I want, I'm going to pray that whatever will improve my life happens.

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Cell phone providers are modern day vampires...

Seriously, why do they have to be the only carrier of the iPhone right now? I hate them. I didn't really hate them before, but I do now.

Why you ask? Well, I'll tell you. As I went to pay my bill online, a surprisingly large number popped up in the payment section. Since I pay a ridiculous amount of money to them every month anyway ($150 for 2 phones/550 min.), I was caught off guard when I saw that I owed $345...wha Wha WHAT?!

Here's my problem. Ok, we went over our minutes. I get that. But charging us 45¢/min is absolutely ludicrous, especially considering that when we switched plans (not carriers, just PLANS), we lost 9000+ rollover minutes. Yeah, that's minutes that I paid for and never used, just gone down the drain. So, that's why I'm pretty upset when they charge an insane fee for going over a small fraction of that. AT&T, I'm not amused.

There are a couple of things that have made me happy lately. First, I sold my camera: YAY! Can't wait to buy a new one, but right now I really needed a new work wardrobe. So I took some of that money and put it towards clothes. The greatest thing about this is that it was Jeremy's idea for me to go shopping for myself. How great is that? Absolutely LOVE that man. My friend, Kari, and I went out shopping on Wednesday. She was shopping for cute dress to wear to a wedding, so I tagged along. Thank goodness we didn't make it to the mall because I spent about $300 at Kohl's, Target, and the Dress Barn. Came out with some really great pieces though. Got 2 pairs of shoes, 5 pairs of pants, 8 shirts, necklace, and earrings. Not bad, I think. Simply cannot wait to do it again!

Jeremy's planning on selling some of his extra music equipment to give us some extra money to put towards some small renovations on the house and just to have a little cushion in the bank. If everything sells, it'll give us around $6,000 (part of which goes to a new camera?). So keep your fingers crossed for us!

Yet another thing that made me happy is a call I got from my new employer. They wanted to know what day I wanted to start. Turns out they want me to start on a Monday instead of the previous Thursday. This will give me a 5 day weekend in between switching jobs. LOVE IT!

We've also got some friends who might be coming into town. They're in Virginia right now and we're trying to make plans to meet up somewhere. More than likely they'll just spend the weekend with us. It'll be great because they're so flippin' funny! Our plans were foiled by the snow last time they were around, so hopefully everything will go smoothly this time. So excited!

Ugh...it has happened again. I get on here to write about one thing and I just start rambling on and on about an entirely different subject. Oh well. Maybe next time I can stay on topic ;)

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Wordless Wednesday

Let's face it...I can't be wordless



Painting that I did of Jeremy a couple of years ago. And while I was taking this photo, this is what I had to deal with:



GIANT KITTY!!!!

For more Wordless Wednesday posts, click HERE!

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Oh the creativity...

The creativity bug is biting once again. This past weekend, the opening of a small farmer's market was held in Goldsboro. Out of sheer curiosity (and because my MIL told me they would be selling crafts there), I went to check it out. Not huge by any means. There were probably only about eight vendors, but the items they were selling were soooooo good! In addition to my SIL selling some plants from their greenhouse (and making about $120), there were people selling handwoven baskets, pottery, photography, dyed silk scarves, handmade jewelry, and lots of sewn bags. I was in a momentary state of euphoria. Not even sure what to use these for, but I just couldn't leave without buying them:



Now I just need to open up my brand new sewing machine (that I bought a year ago and never opened), and watch some youtube videos so I can figure out how to make some of the cute things I saw. I realize that my "goals" list is getting annoyingly long, but I'm hoping to finish up some paintings, crocheted items, and maybe some sewn crafts that I can sell here before the summer is over. Almost finished with my little blue stuffed animal:



Doesn't take nearly as long when I use a larger needle. Not a bad evening/weekend project that might actually recover some of the hundreds of dollars that I've spent on supplies.

In other news, (insert flashy headline and dramatic music here) Jeremy might be getting a new job. :) <----Happy face!!! It's a position with a company that installs granite counter tops. Not exactly what you might choose for a music major, but as long as it pays the bills and keeps Jeremy from stressing out about money, I'm all for it! We also might be getting new furniture. I use the term "new" loosely. For anyone who knows me well enough, you know that I ADORE old furniture. There's nothing like a piece that has history behind it and you can tell a story about. That being said, my grandparents are purchasing new furniture and getting rid of some that they've had forever. I'm not talking about the stuff that they purchased a several years ago, I'm talking about the covered rocking chair that is so iconic from my childhood. It's the one that was always reserved as my grandmother's place that sat next to my grandfather's recliner. It is seriously mind blowing to think that she might even consider giving it away. Especially since she had it reupholstered around the time I left for college and it really hasn't been used since. We're talking pristine condition here. Soooo if she does, I plan on taking it if for no other reason than to preserve that little part of my childhood from getting tossed out with the trash.

By the way, while visiting them yesterday, I snapped what might be one of the only photos in history of their living room without the deer heads and bobcat that has graced the walls for the past 40+ years. This phenomenon only happens when it's time to paint the room white and ONLY white (since my gma will never consider using color in the house. This probably explains my obsession with crazy colors in mine). It also happens to include the rocking chair I was referring to. Excuse the blurriness and enjoy :)

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Oh the joy of a clean house...

That rare, elusive creature was just within my grasp this past weekend, so I reached out, grabbed it, and held on for dear life. I know that in the next few days it will slip through my fingers though. It's such a simple pleasure to be able to open up the windows, breath in the aroma of clean laundry, and just be able to relax. (Bear in mind that I'm completely ignoring the part of my house that has been closed off since the beginning of winter. I'll get to it another time.) There's also nothing like starting the day with someone making you eggs, bacon, and grits <----can we say "yummmmm?"

I'm quite certain that my Sunday afternoon was much more enjoyable than Jeremy's. He spent several hours underneath our cars changing the oil and trying to fix some of the issues with mine. So, to reward his valiant efforts to make me happy, I made dinner along with a chocolate fudge cake (ignore the fact that I ate two pieces before he even saw it.) I'm becoming so domestic...lol, yeah right!

I almost forgot to mention Saturday. Not sure how much I actually helped, but I ATTEMPTED to help paint Kari and Jackie's new home. I think I actually made more work for them to do, but hey, it's the thought that counts. I even left them some abstract art in the form of a paint spill on the floor. You're welcome :)

As far as today goes, yuck. I'm all for rain as long as I can stay in bed and drift into sleep listening to it as it falls on my tin roof. Having to drive and walk around in it? No thank you. Now, before I starve to death, it's time to go have lunch (which just happens to include a certain chocolate fudge cake!)

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WAAAaayyyy behind

Ok, lots going on lately. I've kind of fallen behind in my blogging (like someone else I know). So look for the upcoming blogs about: Family game night, Topher at the festival, the new job, henna party, and anything else I can think of. Unfortunately, can't write about any of those in detail right now because I have to finish cleaning my house and preparing for the first of those things in the list. Now I just need Jeremy to get home from the grocery store so I can start cooking. Later All! Happy Mother's Day :)

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Feelin' Good

Not only is that a great song by Michael Bublé,  but it aptly describes my mood today. As stated earlier, I had a job interview this morning and things went pretty well. I think so, anyway. I don't want to jinx it, but hopefully things will work out with this position. If all of the stars aline, Jeremy and I might be moving to Greenville in the future. Woohoo! We've been discussing moving out of La Grange for a while and I think we would love living in Greenville (can you say "shopping!").  But I'm getting ahead of myself. All I can do now is pray and hope for the best :) 

On a completely different and random note, thought I would share two of my new loves: Flight of the Conchords and podcasts. That's right, world! I'm finally catching up. Now, bear in mind that I've had access to both of these for quite some time now. The credit for both of these should really go to my iPhone (oh, how I love thee). So, I just have some recommendations for some great entertainment and learning possibilities. Just go to YouTube and type in Flight of the Conchords. Any of the videos are hilarious. As for podcasts, my favs have to be "Stuff You Didn't Know" and "Stuff You Missed in History Class." The second one is a little hard to get used to for me because I hate their voices, but the information is fantastic. So, do yourself a favor and look these up. You can thank me later ;)

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Musings from Jeremy's Birthday Weekend

Just wanted to share the happenings of this past weekend. Jeremy's 29th birthday was yesterday and bless his heart, he had to work...again...lol. Not too long though. He did take off Thursday to celebrate however, which was wonderful. In between my shifts at work, I took him out to eat at El Norteno (LOVE LOVE LOVE El Nor!) and we did a little shopping. It was soooo nice to be out and about during the day with him. It was even better to see him get some time to himself. We both bought some video games (to feed our inner 12 year olds) and he bought some new jeans (which I picked out, they look great on him). His big birthday present to himself that he's been saving up for is a new Bowflex: 

You have no idea how excited this boy is over this thing

You too can own this lovely piece of machinery for the low low price of $1398.00. We have a budget set up where we each get a certain amount of money to spend on whatever we want each week and this is what he put his stash towards. And even though I've got my free membership to a gym, I'll probably end up using this thing more. 

Saturday, I finished up my marathon week at work and then did a little shopping for the hubby's b-day. I should note, men are impossible to shop for. I'm making a new rule that Jeremy has to compile a list of everything he could possibly want in every price bracket just so I have a reference point. I knew he wanted to get some new cookware though. We really want to get away from using Teflon so we're switching everything to either stainless steel or cast iron. This stuff is so expensive though. Soooooo, I went to one of my fav stores, TJ Maxx and did a little shopping:

This was my first purchase for him. It's a Wolfgang Puck brand chicken fryer. I think it was $24.99, but it normally retails for around $35.00 I think, so not too shabby ;)

I'm a little more proud of this one. Ignore the Partridges watermark on the front...lol. It's a Kuhn Rikon Switzerland casserole with lid. It's only a 1.5 quart pot, but the cheapest price I found online when looking for a pic was $85.00! But I got it for $14.99! Woohoo! Thanks TJ Maxx!

Also, for the past several months, we've been purchasing Propel fitness water packets. They are SO good! And the great thing about them is that they make you drink more water. Well, we've just been reusing water bottles that we had already. That was fine until someone had to go and tell me that these bottles eventually start breaking down and releasing plastic residue in your water. I'm no scientist, but it *seems* like drinking plastic residue wouldn't be good for you. Therefore, I also bought this: 

It's a stainless steel water bottle. They're reuseable, eco-friendly, and won't slowly kill you with plastic. Not bad, I think. I highly recommend buying one of this if you use a lot of water bottles. They come in a bunch of different colors. I got the blue one for Jeremy and the red for myself. Absolutely love it already! Can't use it with hot liquids, so it's not for you coffee drinkers out there. But I got this one for $4.99 and they're selling for $9.99 online right now, so they are well worth it!!

On a final note, Thursday I fell in love with a lady from Scotland. I'm sure everyone has heard of Susan Boyle by now, but I just wanted to mention her again. Last time I checked, the video on YouTube had hit 30 million hits and I account for at least 150 of those. And I cry EVERY time! She is a fantastic singer and I love the fact that she got up there and absolutely shocked EVERYONE! I'm actually watching it again right now and I still get chills. It's just amazing. Go, watch, now!

Susan's Britain's Got Talent Performance

I just love Simon's expression at 4:02 on the clip. It's fantastic.

Can't wait til she puts out a CD.

Especially after hearing this song from 10 years ago she did.

Cry Me A River

LOVE HER!!! She's just so adorable.

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