Blessings in disguise

For those of you who haven't heard...work and I broke up. A sad reality...or not? It is really quite hysterical since I've been droning on about how much I hated my job. Unfortunately, now, we're just two unemployed bums looking for the big break. Luckily, they "were not required to give me a reason for termination", so I could apply for unemployment. Still. You're taking away my livelihood. Some explanation would have been appreciated. Turns out that I'm not the first (and assuredly not the last) to get terminated for standing up to management (ie. making it known that I was unhappy about the way things were being run). I think the saddest part about the whole ordeal is how close I was with my supervisor. She knew that David and I were pretty much sharing my income. She knew how much pressure I was under both at work and as the sole provider. Point and case why you should keep your superiors at a distance. I get too friendly. I'm your average chatty Kathy. I crave those friendships. This is my first to have gone sour, though. Sometimes a power trip is just what someone needs to ruin everything. But what goes around comes around, darling. No hard feelings.

These types of situations generally have good outcomes for me. God is so good! And He blesses my life in the strangest ways. We're hardcore looking for cash. But most importantly, we're looking for a new start. Somewhere new. Unless something pops up unexpectedly, I'd like to be done with Tallahassee. So we're searching. Searching for jobs elsewhere. Determining our budget for cute houses and apartments much sooner than I ever thought we would. And like everything, He will show us the way. In the meantime, we have SO much time to spend together, complete with sleeping in (for like the first time ever) and having the entire day to just get things done. So far, we've managed to visit my favorite museum in town, spend time with friends, exercise, set up a (one time) job for easy money (any one else need a home cleaning service?), make plans, and stay up all night talking without feeling rushed or obligated to hit the sack before 3am. And now, as 2am rounds the bend, I feel sort of liberated. The taste of freedom is so sweet. Let's hear it for not waking up and hating my life. Woo!

Yea, we actually go out in public like this.

And the best part about it? My darling David has been so wonderfully supportive. Sometimes he knows just what to say. I'm lucky.

On a crappy note, the straightener I bought (before the break up, mind you) arrived on Friday WITH EUROPEAN PLUGS. I mean...really? Really. You're an American. Selling products in America. And you don't bother to put on the item description that the product will be pretty much useless unless I want to spend more money to buy a converter? Jesus. The nerve!

I feel like I'll be blogging less regularly since I'll be spending more time at home. I should be able to get more homework, cleaning, and reading done. Speaking of homework, I have a 7 page paper due tomorrow night (tonight?). I should probably start that. I could say that I'm torn up about my job situation and couldn't bare to think about academics, but I'd be lying. No matter what, I still would have left it until the last minute. World's best procrastinator, people.

Thanks for the continued support through this crappy ordeal, dolls!

xoxo

Not a song link-up

Hello, no-longer-link-up-Thursday. What a beautiful sunshiney day.

Seriously though.

I'm sitting at my desk contemplating why I still work here. And how much longer. Let's analyze:

• Yay! I have a job.
• Yay! Ability to pay bills.
• Yay! No credit cards = no credit card debt.
• Yay! Fun trips with the beau.
• Yay! Leo doesn't starve.
• Yay! I don't starve.
• Yay! New things to feed my shopping addiction.

Why is money an essential part of my life??? I should have married rich. That's what my momma always told me to do. Sadness. Instead, I'm fending for myself and David on a meager $12/hour paycheck. Pretty good compared to other recent graduates, but I desperately need want something new before I jump out the window of the fourth floor of this stupid building. I wouldn't even die. I might just break a leg or two...if I'm lucky. If I could even break the window. I think we have that thick, bullet proof glass. It's a pipe dream, really.

That awkward moment when:

Everyone understands that you hate your job.

You hear that your "friend" is not really your friend, but secretly bitter that you undermine their authority by sticking up for yourself.
You understand all the horrible things people said about working for the state.

You feel guilty because you should appreciate the things you have.

You fail at being grateful, so you go back to hating it.

That's enough for now. Enjoy this song.

xoxo

South Florida Wedding Adventures

WOW!

It's so good to be home. 

Seriously. 

I don't think I've ever been this happy to just....do nothing.
And by do nothing I mean I'm back at work.
Man that sounds bitter.

Did I mention that I hate my job?
I suppose I'm lucky to have one.

 

First of all, the week leading up to the wedding was insane. Talk about exhaustion and deliriousness.

I think I spent 60% of my trip shopping. Which would normally be great, but no one likes to pressure-shop. I vaguely remember screaming at David to hurry the f* up...in my head...quite frequently. Sigh. Men don't understand urgency. We managed to get in some great quality togetherness, despite all the weddingness. 

I love these hats. I have about 8,234,238,765 pictures like this one. Just different hats. One day, I will collage them all for you.

Beachy! Sorry about forgetting to put sunblock on your other shoulder, baby.

My cutie and I waiting at the drive-in! This is when having a convertible works wonders.

Cabin in the Woods....eh. At least it was on a huge screen.

We love us some water parks! I got slashed on one of them, though. I'm likely to have contracted the HIV.

 We ate a LOT of food, but only ran one time over the course of 10 days. 

Neither of which was a good idea. Dammit. Yolo, right?

Yay, for FINALLY finishing the C25K. Now it's just maintenance. INSANITY starts May 1st! I'm sure I gained some weight back on the trip. I'll do a fitness update with details soon.

My absolute South Florida favorite! Havana's Cuban cuisine :D

California Pizza Kitchen: lettuce wraps, dynamite shrimp, and delicious pizza creations.

Dada's: amazinnnnnng rehearsal dinner. Baked brie is so wonderful.

While I'm not a fan of Mediterranean food, this arrangement made it look quite enticing. Not that I tried any of it...

This pizza (and three others) was delivered to us like this. Was it in your briefcase, delivery-man-sir? I got white-girl cray cray (more like Jersey girl crazy) and got us four FREE new pizzas.

Preparation for the wedding was ridiculous, if I do say so myself. So much to do in so little time!! We were working ourselves to death, but the wedding, itself, was beautiful. Everyone's hard work was definitely worth it. 

Midnight cake ball prep for the bridal shower.

The bridal shower Bunco was a hit! It was definitely one of my favorite nights of the week. Well, except for a bachelor party (ahem) mishap. The consensus is that men are generally stupid and inconsiderate.

Flower selection was a tedious (cold!) job. But we wound up having beautiful arrangements thanks to Donna (the groom's mother) and yours truly.

Check out these nails! We looked so hot after waxing (my first Brazilian!!), manis, and pedis. Being a woman is hard (expensive) work.

David, Me, Connor (Laur's brother), Lauren, and Tyler at the rehearsal dinner.

It was a great week for pictures. We got a new Panasonic Lumix for an awesome shelf deal!! Much more convenient than carrying around my huge Canon. 

11 years of awesomeness. And I finally found a coverlett for my dress that I loved!

We're seriously adorable. I love this man. Never in my life have I been so grateful.  

Wedding day prep! Lauren got all the girls customized hangers, bags, and robes. I can't wait to see the bridesmaids' photo shoot. Only slightly provocative and risque.

Damnnnnn, I looked good. Kristen (makeup) and Amanda (hair) were stellar. I actually ended up wearing a pair of the photographer's throw away contacts because Lauren decided she wanted me sans-glasses. I guess it worked out. I looked hot. :P

Forgive the boob grab picture. We were getting her into her dress. She looked great!

I love this picture. While it looks like Sky is getting ready to hit me, we were actually showcasing our dance moves for the bridal party.

What an awesome bridal party: Nick, Me, Connor, Lauren, Ty, Sky, Lopez, Amanda, Kyle

A balancing act: this is what happens when the bride is super short. Thank God for parking garages and car stops.

Yay! Post "I do" pictures.

Decorating this gymnasium (which also doubled as my high school IB testing site) only took about 5 hours. I wish I had gotten a picture after all the flowers and centerpieces were out, but it still looks awesome in this pic! Great work, decorating team!

Sweaty dance faces. What a trooper.

My other David.

A hilarious rendition of the garter find. The flower girl thought it was a cute game and wanted in.

He totally showed me up on the dance floor, which doesn't surprise me. I tried though, I really did.

"Now all that's left is yours!" I can't begin to tell you how many times I've heard that lately. Jesus, people. I'm trying to get my life on track here! Stop pushing me! It did, however, redefine the reasons I'm in love with him. Weddings and stress always do that. I'm a lucky girl. Without him, I would have been an anxious, crazy mess.

The last exciting adventure happened just when we thought we were in the clear. The exhaust manifold in my car completely cracked, leaving my car sounding much like a run-down, old, crappy motorcycle. If it's not one thing, it's another with this stupid car. The repair barely burned a hole in my wallet, but the mustang sounds better than ever. All that's left now is unpacking, organizing, and getting back on schedule by eating properly and exercising regularly. Oh yeah, and catching up on the 70-some-odd blogs that I read. Hello!

xoxo

Missed you guys!

The incredibly long post that describes my terrible pre-Easter Saturday.

School starts today.
South Florida in 4 days.
DB and David and Miami in 9 days.
Wedding in 11 days.
Busch Gardens in 12 days.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter/Passover weekend. Mine was absolutely ridiculous. Let me recap for you:

Saturday, David and I brought my car in for an oil change. Yay for knowing the manager and getting $20 off of my service (for a grand total of $18.60).

In the midst of making sure I have everything I need for the wedding, we headed to Ross to shop for a dress for the rehearsal dinner. After dragging David around for a little under an hour, I finally found four that I thought would be winners. Less than five minutes after I tried them all on, I realized that I had left my phone in the fitting room and went back to retrieve it...only to find it empty. Panic set in after trying to remain optimistic about the loss, but after making several calls to my phone, the "finder" (that sounds so much better than thief) turned it off. Lost forever.

As a side note: Friday night, David and I found a phone on a bench at the lake where we run. Despite his protests to just leave the phone where it was, I called the numbers on the recent call list to locate the owner, and was able to return it. You'd think I'd have stirred up some good karma, right?

Anyway.

I left my information with customer service, and we headed back to the house so that I could activate an old phone that I had before my Android. Weirdly enough, this old phone was apparently "tied to another account" that was not mine. It would take at least 24 hours to investigate. Needless to say, David and I made a trip to the store to get a new phone that I didn't have the money for.

After that was taken care of, we headed to the mall to take pictures with the Easter bunny as a favor to my mother (a long standing tradition that she cannot survive without). I would post it if I had thought to scan it in before work. My hair looked absurd (and had--very obviously, if I might add--caught in the bunny's costumed hand...sigh) and we have our thumbs up like idiots. But much appreciation to my wonderfully supportive boyfriend. He stood in line for a whole hour while nap-deficient, rowdy kids swarmed around us like flies. We rewarded our patience with Auntie Anne's pretzels. Also a tradition.

And just because:

Right before we left the mall, a man called to say that he had found "a phone" in his girlfriend's purse, and saw that David had texted to "do the right thing" with his phone number. I'd like to believe that he was, in fact, doing the right thing, but my Droid became absolutely useless after I turned off the service and flagged it for theft. Then we got the call that it was "found". I'm hoping it was just a coincidence. The pickup was arranged, and I was ecstatic. It was a few moments later that I realized that my new phone was useless...and a complete waste of money.

Dammit.

What we were looking forward to was our Easter dinner plans with Mallory and James. My mother had reserved us a Honeybaked Ham that we were headed to get after our mall adventure. When I called to confirm with her, however, she told me that was supposed to have picked it up before 3pm. Cue aggravation. After arguing with her, Mallory suggested that we go to the store to see if anything could be done.

We went.

They provided.

Yay, ham.

Before heading back, we stopped at Sam's for remaining Easter dinner ingredients. Bravely, I decided to call my bank to see how much money was left from my pathetic paycheck. Did I even have enough to make the drive to South Florida? When I heard the balance, I almost had a heart attack. My new, non-smart phone phone was incapable of bringing up my bank account, so I used Mallory's. That number was no lie. I had miraculously acquired a substantial amount of money. What?? A little more investigation revealed that after two months of waiting for my tax return claim (there was some information that needed to be disputed), it had finally posted to my account. It was all I could do to hold back the tears in the middle of the checkout line. God is SO good!!

Sunday was much less frustrating. Church, nap, cooking, dinner, walking, David's house, Pirates of the Caribbean, home, Airplane, sleep. I meant to take a picture of our superb cooking, but I was too busy being a lard. I ate everything in sight. Yay, diet. We even decided to forego Day 2 of Week 8 in remembrance of the Resurrection Day (ie. we're fat and lazy and needed nap time). Also, most of my nails broke throughout the day. So now they're short and useless. Perfect timing, nails.

Oh, and David and I have registered for our first 5k on May 19th. If you're local, support the cause here.

***

There is still so much to be done before I leave for South Florida this Friday. I'm requesting prayers for David's sanity this week. I suppose for mine, as well. I can NOT wait for this month to be over. Happy Monday, dolls!

"It is better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you are not."

I'd like to begin by saying that things are crazy right now. I'm not even sure "crazy" quite covers it. While I don't really care what people think about me and the decisions I make, there are a few things I'd like to clear up:

• My relationship with Justin is over. Yesterday, today, and forever. The only reason you need is that things got way out of control, and I'm capable, as an adult, to make that decision.
• I'm not currently in a new relationship, as some people would have it believed. What you don't witness with your eyes, don't witness with your mouth.
• I love my church family, but I'm experiencing some internal conflicts about Meridian Woods. If I don't show up to things, it's not because I'm upset or lost in anguish or falling from God, I just need some time to reorganize my thoughts and find out what He wants for me. Thank you, in advance, for being patient with me and understanding if I need space.
• Don't classify me unless you're going to put it into one of these categories: independent, strong, faithful, reckless, loyal, or brutally honest.

The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work which exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. We all (most of us) get caught up in the excitement and "newness" that gossip and theatrics bring to us rather than considering who it will hurt, or how it will make us look as an individual. Rarely do we think twice before we open our mouths to spread rumors, or my favorite: things we believe to be true. But by that time, we're already sucked into something we had no business getting involved in. If you're desperate for half-truths or fickle, immature cliches, write a book. I might even read it. Just stay the hell out of my life.

I think that's as much rant as I can muster. Happy Monday.