Wedding Crashing by Invitation Only

Summer is the season for weddings, so when I was in Tennessee I decided to just crash some random church and it ended up being one of my best friend's weddings! 

JJOHN and ANIB, now JHARR and A(NIB)SHO.

Okay, I was lacking in inspiration for this blog post since I just posted about my brother's wedding party and how much fun it was and then I was scared I would just sound like I was repeating myself, so I made that first part up. 

I took brother BNIB and Julie as my date, seeing as the groom is in my brother's fraternity and the bride was in mine. BNIB ended up being a terrible date as I hardly saw him the whole time I was there, but he did pay for my meal later so all was not lost. 

Okay, back to the wedding. Doesn't JJohn just look like a perfect barbie doll? Gorgeous! I was so happy to see her, but I had to hang back it being her wedding day and all- I didn't want to monopolize her time (well I did want to, but I didn't). I did manage to save her (momentarily) from the cutest flower girl ever, who was convinced JJohn was a real princess and wanted to be in her arms at all time. 

And I got to see all my O.B.I.C. girls (am I still allowed to say that?).

KBray (I had so much fun talking to you!), Jenna, Jana, Me, and Julie.

WHAT UP Jana?! I feel like I didn't get to see enough of you. And guess who I didn't get to see at all? Kelsey. (That's right, I'm calling you out Kels- some Assistant Executive Chair you are- remember when everyone was so mad I started calling you that at meetings? ha ha) Don't worry, I'm not mad, just sad. I was expecting my fill of Jana and Kelsey and didn't even get a morsel of what I expected. I guess that means you'll have to come see me now...

Christine, Savannah, and Me!

Ooooo and SavvyAnna was there! And my big diamond sister, Lisa, was there too, and her dad thought I was Christine's sister- which was a really funny conversation for a second because I didn't recognize him at first and couldn't remember exactly how I knew him. I kept running through my mind of everyone I had ever met through JJohn. 

I got to see a lot of old KA's too, one of which (Evan) was mistaken by sorority sister (Jenna) as my husband. That was an equally funny conversation. Oh, and don't let me forget Jessi Curtis, who is going to start a blog now- because I want her too, right??

Later, when the bride and groom broke for the exit, we decided to keep the party going at the Hooter's in downtown Nashville (which was INSANELY packed for some reason). I hailed a Doubletree hotel shuttle in the rain and told the driver we were staying there (i think at least someone in our group was staying there so it wasn't a complete lie) and could use a ride to Hooters. Clyde happily obliged and when we all packed in for the literally two block ride, he awarded us with little debbie oatmeal cakes when we answered his Tennessee trivia correctly. The line at Hooters was horrible, so to make the time go by faster, Christine and Lisa's boyfriend (not pictured) had a hula-hooping contest in the waiting area. Oh to be in college again.

Okay, I forgot to mention a ton of people, but it is 100 degrees in my apartment right now and my mind can hardly process anything right now. JJohn, I love you, and I can't wait till all of us are finally able to institute our "Blood Marys on Back Porches" days we talked about so many times.

Jeremiah was a bullfrog...

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Way down yonder on the Chattahoochee....

My annual summer vacation to the Volunteer State was pretty much bursting at the seams with seeing people. I just got back on Monday night and I am pleasantly-exhausted. But because there is so much to talk about, I am going to string along the rehashing of details (and pictures) in a few, and hopefully a week's-worth of blog posts. The first to take stage was the action-packed "got hitched" party my brother, CNIB, and my now sister-in-law (SIL!), Faith, threw for all (and I do mean ALL) of their family and friends in Chattanooga.

To shake things up a little bit, I thought I would put the description of the eventful night to the tune of but what else than Alan Jackson's infamous country song, "Chattahoochee"?

That's right peeps, I went way down yonder on the Chattahoochee,
where it got hotter than a hoochie coochie.
We laid rubber on the Virginia asphalt,
we got a little crazy but we never got caught.

Down by the river on a Friday night,
pyramid of solo cups in the jazz club light.
Talkin' ta family and dancin' 'with friends,
never had a moment, just wishin' it wouldn't end.

Yeah, way down yonder on the Chattahoochee,
never knew how much that party would mean to me.
But I saw an old friend and I saw my old man,
Tried to spend time with everyone I can.

Well...

We made a lot of noise, always had to shout,
and even took pictures with a cardboard cutout.
It's a bad beer when it's hot, a bad beer when it's cold,
but there was no line at its keg, so we drank Fat Tire like it was '49 and gold.

Down by the river on a Saturday night,

Can you even tell that my Princess Nana is standing next to
a cardboard cutout of the bride and groom?

pyramid of solo cups in the jazz club light. 

Talkin' ta family and dancin' 'with friends, 

never had a moment, just wishin' it wouldn't end.

Yeah, way down yonder on the Chattahoochee, 

never knew how much that party would mean to me. 

I swapped shoes with my sister and still got a blister,  

Wore the same dress as another, but it didn't even bother. 

'Cause I learned a lot about lovin' and a little about livin'. 

Blew the couple a kiss, said cheers to Faith and Chris. 

Chanted USA! USA! USA! but then I couldn't stay. 

Phew! That was tougher than I thought it was going to be... wonder if I can at least insert the background music onto this thing so you can at least TRY to sing along. I am pretty sure my syllables aren't matched up correctly and that I added or forgot a whole other verse, but I am very okay with that. 

Well, in case you didn't follow the lowdown I gave you in the beautiful lyrics I wrote above, here it is again for  all of you who aren't exactly the "read-between-the-lines" type of people (men everywhere). I went down to Chattanooga for CNIB and Faith's wedding (you gotta have Faith! - George Michael), where they apparently know every single person in that town. Seriously, I think they have a fully-blown addiction to friends. Sure, you say, a person can never have too many friends. But I beg to differ, one such time a person might have themselves thinking they have too many friends would be at... say... a wedding where they were footin' the bill. 

They had a HUGE crowd at their wedding, and it was so much fun. My aunt looked at me during the party at one time and said, "Where the hell did they get all these people? They can't know all of these people."  It was purely logical though- she was in a sorority, he was in a fraternity, they had the party in their college town- it was only natural... AND FUN!

Holritz Photography captured the feel perfectly. I was just looking at all the
 professional pictures of the party and they are spectacular. 

I hardly sat down the whole night. I got to dance for the first time in a long time thanks to my little sister J who doesn't mind doing the goofy kind of dancing I like to do (once you roll out the shopping cart, it is only a matter of time before the sprinkler is in full-force and roger rabbit makes an appearance). 

It was awesome getting to see all my family (even though I would be seeing them shortly at the 2010 Riverunion! *future post*), and I even got to see some of Chris' old high school friends. Speaking of old friends, I ran into Krystyn Cochran! I feel like the last time I saw her we were moon-bathing, emptying one of those Sam's Club-size Cheetoball Tubs onto her trampoline, and sticking people's underwear in the freezer while they slept. Oh, the good ole days. 

My dad, who lives in Costa Rica, even made an appearance (which I learned about the day before I went). PHOTO OPT! (I am hoping to eventually have some better pictures for this post, but I didn't take but one while I was there and now I am at the mercy of others for pictures.)

Hmmm... I believe that is all I can say on the matter. I mentioned the cardboard cutout, right? Awesome. 

I mentioned that the bartenders couldn't keep up with the amount of people at the party, right? Hilarious. 

I told you about the pool party before the actual party, right? I didn't?! Well, the wedding party was actually on my brother's birthday, so we all went to his house for a pre-party party, where he received a gift that lit up his entire face... a truly CNIBerish gift... I will also leave you with this gift...

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It was a dark and stormy night.

Husband and I were enjoying a nice evening of watching our latest Netflix obsession, Roswell (anything about Aliens and I am in), when the storm outside started brewing. Of course! I thought, there wasn't a cloud in the sky earlier and I had chosen that very day to get my car washed. Go figure. Then, right as I am about to publish the best blog post to end all other blog posts- the power goes out!

Now, this isn't the first time the power has gone off in my apartment. Sometimes it is because the hair blow dryer is going at full speed at the same time I am watching TV. But this time, the whole building's electricity came to a screeching halt. Right after the lights went out, I heard a roar of "Oh my goshes" coming from outside our window. People from our building were hanging out outside next to the pool area and saw the entire building's lights go out. I wish I had been out there, that must have been such a cool experience.

Husband quickly turned into panic-mode because the lights being out meant that not only would we not get to finish our Roswell episode, but now we were forced to find some other form of entertainment that didn't involve the computer, television, game systems, or technology in general.

Husband goes into a deep depression
after the power outage.

"Now what are we going to do?!" There was no light in the room, but I could still see him shaking his fist in the air with utter desperation.

And then I said what no Husband ever wants to hear...

"Well, I guess we could just talk."

A "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" rang silently from his head.

He knew I would be excited that all the lights went out. After all, I love candles, I love anything that breaks up the monotony, and I love peace and quiet. After lighting all the candles we had (Note to self: must buy more candles), I decided to take this opportunity to use try out my new camera in the candle-light.

I couldn't see a lot of the buttons, so a lot of it was blind trying. But I did manage to make a cool star out of the candle lights by moving it in a star pattern as I took the picture. So simple, but so much fun to try. I couldn't believe it actually worked:

Once Husband saw me having fun with technology, he snatched the camera from me to take some of his own.

The power outage lasted until the middle of the night (don't worry, I went and turned off every light so in case that did happen, I wouldn't wake up to a million lights on). But I think it must have been the entire block, because I slept so well without any light streaming through my windows.

Husband thought someone probably crashed into a light pole and hoped everyone was okay. I preferred to think it was a spy trying to steal something from someone's house or apartment, and to avoid making a scene- he/she needed to cause a huge distraction and turn off everyone's lights instead. Then, I went searching for my cell phone and couldn't find it anywhere. Maybe I was the one being spied on...

Probably not though, I eventually found my phone because the bling on it caught the flickering light of the candle and exposed its hiding place. That is, unless the spy is really good and stole it and then put it back in time for my second-search party. Dang, they are good.

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Say Cheese!

As you already know, I have been working hard to lose weight. It started out as a healthiness thing, then it turned into a goal thing, and now it has turned into a done thing! I woke up this morning and had officially reached my goal weight of 130!

To show Husband I wasn't lying later, I took a picture to document this momentous occasion. I know a woman is never supposed to tell her weight (or age), but I am 24 years old and weigh 130 pounds, and I'm pretty freakin' happy about it. Any poundage I lose after the fact will only be an added bonus. 

I still don't look super-skinny or anything, and if you haven't seen me in awhile you probably wouldn't think I really looked any different, but there was some definite bulge developing and I wanted to nip it in the butt before it got a chance to spiral out of control. 

Did I mention I LOVE eating? Seriously, wish I could be eating 24/7. I blame my mother for being such a good cook- I've never done drugs before, but I imagine her food has the same addictive qualities as crack. One taste of her mouth-watering sausage wantons and- well, there really is no such thing as eating just one of them, and I think that says it all. But if you don't believe me, just ask Husband's family. How do you think I won them over? I brought my mother's delectableness the first time I went to Christmas with his whole family, and two months later, he proposed. It turns out, you don't have to be a good cook to hook a man, you just need someone who will do the good cooking for you so you can pass it off as your own. Thanks Ma!

Okay, enough parental-blaming for the time being. Since losing weight, the best part has just been feeling so much better! I've tried and failed before (haven't we all when it comes to dieting?), but then again, I did have a sweet incentive waiting for me at the finish line....

AN AWESOME DSLR CAMERA!! 

Unfortunately, I had to take pictures of it with my old camera. It's like the best dentist in town having to get his teeth done by the second best dentist in town. He is the best dentist in town and he's the one that has to live with sub-par teeth! And a bad set of chompers on the man who makes his money off of making them look good, is not good for business. I know, craziness, right?

I knew my Olympus Evolt E-620 was going to be in the mail today, but was so sad when I got home and opened it up and I didn't have the right memory card for it. Shake ya fist! My stepfather, a camera enthusiast/expert, picked it out for me and I thought for sure that him knowing me so well and all that he would know I wouldn't read the fine details of the description and notice that I was going to be missing a very important part of the picture-taking process. Fear not people, one trip to Target later and I was ready to start shooting!

It is kind of loud when it takes a picture, but I LOVE LOVE it- especially the swivel live-image view screen:

I am also stoked that I finally got to purchase a LugLife bag. I saw a LugLife bag forever ago and kept trying to think of good excuses to purchase one. Then, when I was waiting for my new camera to be shipped to me, I did a lot of online shopping for a camera bag that wasn't so, well, camera-bagish. I couldn't find much, and especially nothing great for under $100. But after an exhausting night of googling, I remembered my long lost-love of the LugLife Puddle Jumper. I thought it would be a little too big, but was willing to make it work if the price was right. When I went to LugLife's website I was so happy to learn they had since developed a mini-puddle jumper!

Is that lucky or what?! As an organization lover, who is using it as a camera bag, I figure I should at least give you proof of why it is so awesome. Here are some pictures that may explain why it is so perfect (for anything really):

Look at all those pockets! It has a pocket everywhere, for anything you can imagine. Perfect for all those bulky or tiny camera accessories. But the selling point for me (not that I really needed one to seal the deal or anything), was the easy access pocket I could use to put my camera in (which is advertised as a nice place to keep a change of shoes, but I think the larger one is better for that. If you ride the metro and keep a comfy pair of shoes in your bag, I recommend the regular size puddle jumper!). 

The secret pocket also keeps it safe from all the other items in the main storage section of the bag. The whole bag is also really nicely padded- making it perfect as a camera bag! And it comes in a bunch of fun colors! I went with black though, because it goes with more outfits. 

Now, to retire the old camera and show you some shots from my new one. These are just on auto without flash, but I still think you can really tell the difference in the quality. I didn't have anything interesting to shoot, and am still waiting for the battery to fully-charge, but here are the quickies:

The first shot with the new camera! 

I never thought I had odd looking feet, but they are kind of freaking me out in that picture. 

Me trying to figure out how to use the live-image swivel view screen to take a picture of myself. 

After finally convincing Husband to take a picture with me. Don't be fooled, he only looks really happy because we were watching something really funny on TV. And finally... 

You know I can never resist taking a picture of the pup! 

Can't wait to play with it more. I'm already annoying enough with my regular camera, I can only imagine what is to come of me now. Say Cheese!

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Prepare To Be BeDazzled!

Long story short, I had a Blackberry Storm which treated me well for awhile but got progressively worse  and eventually developed into the most unbearable device I have ever owned, and yesterday it stopped working all together. My mother was kind enough to let me take her upgrade and so I made my way to the Verizon store- I wont go into detail about how mad I get every time I go there, but I did end up finding a phone that I liked. It also happens to be one of the most popular phones on the market right now and nobody in the near vacinity had one in stock. Such is life.

SO I opted to wait it out for a phone I really wanted rather than purchasing something I didn't really want right on the spot. This is actually a pretty big moment for me as I tend to get the "gotta have it right nows" and can be relentless and unforgiving when I get a goal in my head. Some call it impatience or needing instant gratification, smart people know I just get... enthusiastic about things.

While I am waiting for my Droid Incredible (and if you have heard negative things, DO NOT mention them to me. I am a firm believer of self-fulfilling prophecies and I don't want any negative thoughts swimming around in my head. In case I wasn't clear: If you don't have anything nice to say [about the Incredible], don't say anything at all! [pretty please!]), I have to use an old Verizon phone I still had in my desk. This is also remarkable as my old phones usually go in the (1) trash bin, (2) to my brother, BNIB, who breaks phones at an unimaginable rate- seriously, I went to his apartment one time and found seven RECENTLY USED cell phones laying around in plain site, don't let any store tell you they have a phone that is unbreakable, BNIB has proved over and over again that no phone is truly indestructible - or (3) don't work anymore, hence why I got a new phone.

So knowing that I could be stuck using this old school phone, with no email or facebook or anything!, for up to 3-4 weeks, I decided there was no reason I shouldn't shake things up and do what all cool people do and BEDAZZLE IT! That's right, I've pimped my phone, I've blinged it out, I've sparkle-fied it. But best of all- I've made it EXTRA cheesy by giving it a patriotic theme. I wonder if I say it is a Second Amendment theme if work would let me expense it...

U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

AMERICA, AMERICA... Bada-BLING!

THE PHONE OF THE FREE, BABY!

PATRIOTIC PUPPY!

Are those fireworks coming from my ear?! No that's just me talking on my BLINGING cell phone. And just because I love you guys so much, here is another one for you:

 That phone is FREEDOM-LICKING GOOD!

To come: random rants, a new camera?, the best bag for organization freaks, and more!

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Pandarized!

When someone is out of the office for a long time, or even just for lunch, bad things can happen. A fellow co-worker of mine extended her long Memorial Day weekend into a mini-vacay- so me and Nick (Finance) decided to mess with the small panda collection she has in her office while also leaving her with a new present for her wall. We had much grander plans, but were still pretty pleased with the results:

Pictured above is one of the pandas who got tied up and blindfolded while Nicole (Event Services) was out. The underage panda beside it decided to take advantage of the situation and got a little too tipsy with the shot glass. 

We aren't actually sure what the panda was trying to accomplish by climbing the bowling pin, so we can only assume one of the other pandas tied her up to it.  But best of all was the present we made for Nicole. While others at work may have their prize deers or turkeys hanging on their walls, Nicole now has her own prize panda:

Nicole wasn't as disturbed by it as we had hoped, she thought is was more cute than anything. But doing these type of things may be why I always get blamed when someone plays a trick on someone else in the office.

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Signs of Summer

First freckle of the summer! It's on my leg, and I think it's a keeper...

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Amber Alert

Reason I haven't been blogging #4:
This vicious-looking animal has been holding me captive. 

(WARNING: This is an extremely long blog post. Readers may experience fatigue, eye strain, and bladder problems from having to hold your pee for so long. Also, this has not been proofread, or reread for that matter, so read at your own risk.)

Amber Alert! I've been missing. And nobody has come to D.C. to make sure I am still alive, very disappointing, but I will still blog because you have at least made comments through facebook, text, email, phone calls, etc. I was holding out for someone to send me a hand written request for a new blog post, but alas I have too much to complain about to wait any longer.

First, my excuses for not blogging. As a warning to readers, you will probably find most of these reasons illegitimate, mostly because they are, but I will tell you them anyway.

1. I have been sick, cough cough. Really I think it has just been the migraines because of the seasons changing. Must do something about that season-changing thing, put that on my to-do list House Husband!

2. I have been busy. Bahahahahaha, aren't we all? Have you ever noticed that everyone always feels busier than everyone else? Why is that? Must figure out the answer, put that on my to-do list House Husband!

3. Let's see what has really been keeping me busy...

I have no idea what order these are supposed to be in, as it has been almost a month since I last blogged (I was trying to wait a full month, but I hate to keep my fan (no there is not supposed to be an "s" at the end of that word) waiting. After all, in that time Mother's Day did pass. Speaking of...

I sent my mother this gift she really wanted, but then it broke in the mail! I sent my Mother-In-Law, affectionately known as "MIL" by me, the same thing and hers got there fine. This is outrageous, I must get me mother something else to make up for it, put that on my to-do list House Husband!

Oh wait, cross that off House Husband, I already did it:

The yellow one is my new purse (Crate & Barrel!) and when I was telling Ma about it, she got the old green eye of envy and then brought up her broken Mother's Day gift for some reason.... haven't figured out why, her thought process is so random... If you didn't know this already, my mother and I have an unhealthy obsession with patent leather. In fact, I used to exploit this many times growing up.

ME: "Mom! Can I buy a new pair of shoes?"

MOTHER: "No. You don't need a new pair of shoes, you have plenty of shoes, we have to save money for you to get your wisdom teeth taken out, read my lips 'no new shoes,' get over it you are not getting new shoes no matter what."

ME: "But Mooooooo, they're so cute. Look, they're patten leather...."

MOTHER: "Oooo those are cute, do they have them in my size too?"

Still never had my wisdom teeth taken out. Count it.

Speaking of cuteness, my little sister got married and my brother came to D.C.! Wait, switch that. I would do it, but my pinkie is so lazy today it doesn't want to reach its little self up to the backspace. Where was I? Oh yes, my little sister was in D.C. this week for her 8th grade school trip!

I got to catch up with her at the mall, not the National Mall, an actual shopping mall. The mall where I met her was only a short five-minute car ride from my apartment, but I hadn't been there since my 8th grade trip 10 YEARS ago. I still never understood why they took us to a mall on our trip, but from the looks of it the schedule hasn't changed in decades, so why mess with a good thing now?

I need to brag on J for a second now. In the past year, she has been in so many school plays, gone through the confirmation process, is going to graduate this weekend, and coolest of all- won a scholarship! They didn't have an awards ceremony or scholarships when I was at our alma mater, but I was so happy because (a) she won it for being a good person- (big sister taught her everything she knows so pat on the back to moi), and (b) it's for $1,000!! It's for private high school tuition, and she needs it, because my other alma mater is super expensive now. But all that fancy edamacation goin' on der really paid off fur me, so I guess it's worth it!

Speaking of classes-- oh wait, my brother GOT MARRIED!! That's right people everywhere, another Niblock is officially off the market. (P.S. did I ever mention that my father got married and my mother told me after she saw the update on facebook? Oh there is not enough blog space in the world for that story, right?). The eldest Niblock child, CNIB (or Chris to normal people), officially tied the knot recently to his long-time girlfriend, his absolutely no question about it soul mate, the ridiculously smart, cute, and funny Faith.

Aren't they the cutest couple you've ever seen?

I don't want to come right out and say they completely followed in me and House Husband's footsteps, but I mean, the similarities are eerie.

• The new Mr. & Mrs. Niblock got married by the pool of Faith's house (that's right, she's a homeowner, C knows how to pick 'em!) with only a few people there; House Husband and I got married on a golf course with only a few people there. 
• CNIB & FNIB are going to the Dominican Republic now to have their official wedding; HHUS & ANIB wanted to go somewhere tropical too, but we were broke. 
• C & F are then hosting a party when they get back; H & A, yeah we did that too.

CNIB, I know you crave to be like me, but really, a girl is supposed to look up to her big brother- and you are already so much like me as it is, we have the same mother and father (P.S. did you hear that Dad got married? Yeah, it's true, facebook confirmed it).

I (but really my mother, I just made the invitations) threw Faith a Wedding-Shower-In-A-Box since everyone in our family lives all over the place. We all sent my mother a gift and then she took them to Faith (on her wedding day actually) to open at one time. It was like a Wedding Christmas!

My mother blocked out their last name on the invites for privacy,
but after this blog post- the jig is up!

 

Speaking of showers, we had another baby shower at work! It is in the water up here, but not to worry I only drink diet coke. Liz, one of the bigger wigs in our department is pregnant with her first child! Her husband, not a House Husband, wanted to do a Star Wars themed baby bedroom for their little girl, but that idea won an instant veto by Liz. If you're interested though, Pottery Barn actually has a pretty tasteful collection out. I know, Star Wars and tasteful decor don't really go together, but it's Pottery Barn and they can make anything beautiful. (I had a few clever suggestions for people, items, or places that we should put Pottery Barn in charge of making over, but after little consideration, I decided it wouldn't be very tasteful, or Pottery Barn-esque, for me to make them).

Anywho... for Liz's card, I did print out a piece of paper with two babies dressed as Star Wars characters, and told her "Congratulations! The force is strong with this one." Which went along perfectly with the Yoda-inspired baby robe and butt cream I gave her, her words not mine.

Speaking of (I really need to thesaurus "speaking of" later, put that on my to-do list House Husband!) work, everyone and their co-worker went to Annual Meetings in North Carolina sometime last week or the week before and so headquarters was a ghost town! Okay, far from it, but our department was pretty peopleless, but not less of pretty people. But while Kara's feet where about to fall off from exhaustion in NC:

I was throwing a karaoke party in my office. It got pretty crazy:

Actually it was pretty low key. In fact, I vowed to take longer lunches while everyone was gone, but I kept forgetting to because I didn't have five people reminding me everyday when it was lunch time. So low and behold, hours would pass and the next thing I new I was looking at my clock and thinking "dang it! I forgot about lunch." and I would run out to the local book store or Starbucks, chill and read my book for awhile, and then my super-fast phone clock would tell me to get back before someone did rounds to make sure we all came back from lunch (nobody ever did anyway, but there is always that fear they would do it on the one day you decided to come back late) and I would rush back to work only to realize that not only had I NOT been late getting back, but that I was actually early! Everyday, 45 minute lunches. What is wrong with me? I think it is a form of Stockholm's Syndrome or something. 

COMMERCIAL BREAK! Please take a moment to look at the picture below of the show House Husband and I fell in love with over netflix and then had our hearts broken when it ended after only three short seasons. Or go to the bathroom, get something to munch on, and feed your dog, because this is the longest freaking blog post ever. 

Speaking of reading (before the commercial break), I read three books this month. That's right people, read it and weap-- three! Okay, so it still isn't very much, but I am getting better about reading more. I read this hilarious book by Joshua Ferris called "Then We Came To The End". I don't know where I read about it, but after clicking a link on website and then another and another (the wikipedia phenomenon, as I like to refer to it) I was eventually reading the first eight pages of his book on Amazon and thought I was going to collapse if I didn't get to keep reading it soon. So I bought it the next day, and was laughing so hard. It is office humor, so if you work in an office environment, especially a more corporate one, I think you could really enjoy it. KELSEY, READ IT, I THINK YOU WILL LIKE IT. TELL JANA I SAID HI. 

I read my first-ever Stephen King book and it wasn't even one of his novels, it was a book he wrote about writing. I kept reading in other books about writing that everyone who likes to write should read this book, so finally I did. I didn't see why it was so dire for writer's to read it, but I did really enjoy reading it. You can really tell, or at least it comes off that way on paper, that Stephen King really wants everyone to do well- you can feel his passion for others pursuing their dreams, but he is also very firm on his tips to going from "someone who likes to write" into becoming "a writer". 

Speaking of writing, I signed up for a creative writing class. My first assignment seemed well-received enough (there are no grades, just for fun), but I am mostly taking it to make myself keep writing. Kind of like this blog. I did submit a story to Writer's Digest's Writing Prompt "Your Story" Contest and didn't make it into the top five, which is disappointing, but really just confusing because the top entries they did pick were a little... well, not as good as mine- my Mother and House Husband's words, not mine (okay, yes mine too, but I am more biased so me saying it wouldn't really hold that much weight for arguments sake. But neither does my Mother and House Husband's because, well, they are super biased too). Either way, I take pride in being pretty objective about my work, or if anything even more critical than others are, so I was a little baffled. I would post it, but this blog is already too long- plus, I think it was better than the others, but still not that great. 

Speaking of losing, I went with some of my co-workers and ex co-workers to see the Braves play the Nationals in D.C. recently. Mostly because Kara is in love with Chipper Jones, why I have no idea, but I was hoping we could recreate that episode from Sex and the City where Carrie catches a foul ball and then starts dating the baseball player. Kara didn't get her date with destiny, but she did get hit on non-stop by a George Clooney look-a-like who sat in front of us at the game. He was apparently a pilot at the pentagon, which is no professional baseball player, but he was a ball of entertainment for all of us watching as he attempted to talk Kara out of leaving Chipper for him. 

We saw them again as we were walking out of the stadium and crashed their picture. 

Speaking of the Braves, House Husband is a huge Braves fan. Speaking of House Husband, House Husband is now a free man! who is now trapped in the house all day. Exams are over, and the usual law-school studying student Husband of mine is now a full-fledge desperate House Husband until his summer internship starts later this summer. A call to me at work after only a week of playing stay at home puppy daddy: 

HH: "Hey, whatchya doin?"

ME: "Workin'."

HH: "Oh, well I just called to say that I miss you..."

ME: "You are bored."

HH: "No I'm not, I just really miss you..."

ME: "You must be really bored."

And then he asked the question you never ask, "well, is there anything you want me to do?" Within 20 minutes he had an email with a list of about 100 things he could do in our tiny apartment. I am super particular, so I knew most things he would do would bother me anyway, but he has been doing better than I expected. Don't get me wrong, he gets the laundry done and folded, but it doesn't always get put away- a small detail I am willing to overlook as he has taken on a new Trophy Husband persona and has been working out during the day, leisure reading what normal people like me consider heavy "intellectual" reading, and taking Matlock on longer walks than usual.  

Speaking of looking good, Husband and I made a contract to lose weight and get healthier by May 31st and if we reached our goals, he would get two new suits (which he probably would have got anyway, considering he needs them) and I would get to buy myself a nice DSLR camera (which will go nicely with those photography classes I took in high school, right Ma?). I still have 2.5 pounds to lose before May 31st- check out my hoping to healthiness frog at the very bottom of the blog to track my progress), but House Husband's was more of a "visual" thing as he would be putting on more muscle. And he looks good in his new suits!

This is the only good picture I could get of him since we just got the pants back from the tailor today and he didn't know I had the camera in my hand. I feel like it was only yesterday he was karate chopping in our oversized sweatpants:

Speaking of sweatpants, it's bedtime folks. Tune in on May 31st to see if I meet my weigh in goal. If you don't see a blog post, it probably means I didn't reach my goal, or that I forgot. I've got to remember to blog more, put that on my to-do list House Husband!

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