Heck yes I did!

So...what's new?

2007-11-23T16:54:00.000-08:00

Well, I moved to California last weekend...or, the beginning of this week. It's kind of a big deal. But most of you probably already know.
I packed up most of my apartment last Thursday and Friday. The plan was that Zachary would fly in around 11:30, we'd eat some food and then take off driving for Phoenix. His flight got delayed. By 2 stinkin' hours. And my packing was not entirely complete. Anyway, he got in at 1:30am and we ended up leaving San Antonio at about 3:45. We switched off driving so it wasn't too bad. Finally arrived in Phoenix Saturday evening, completely exhausted.
Sunday was fun, as I got to see lots of family that I hadn't seen in 5-7 years. Granddad bought TONS of Chinese food for lunch and we hung out most of the afternoon. Sunday evening we went to a chorale concert to hear Grandmom, Granddad and Uncle Randy sing. Uncle R only made it through about half (slacker!) but it was still wonderful. Zachary and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Monday, we got up early and left Phoenix at about 4:45. It seemed like the drive was way longer even though it was almost the same (actually a little shorter) than Saturday's drive. I guess just because I wanted so badly to be here!! Anyway, we did *finally* arrive!! I got to see my man after 2 and 1/2 long months without him!
I'm tired of writing, so I'm gonna post this now without finishing. If I wait to finish, it will probably never get posted.
So...ta daa!

quick catch up

2007-11-01T11:13:00.000-07:00

Okay, when I posted before, I was very excited about the David Crowder concert. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I have only one (blurry) picture of him, which my friend was nice enough to send me.
Also, here is a picture of me with the chicks I went with to the concert. Krystle, Chandra and...I forget that other girl's name. Don't really know her, but she's a friend of Krystle's.

The next exciting event (or at least the next one I'm going to blog about) was taking a week off work to go see my family in NV. It was a blast, only would've been better if my husband could have come. I saw Grandmom and Granddad for the first time since 2002! And of course, Emily was the cutest thing ever!

The Monday I returned to work (the 29th) I turned in my resignation. It was horribly sad and hard, but my boss was really sweet and understanding. My last day is the 14th, and Zachary will be flying in on the 16th so we can start the drive "home" eeeaaarly on the 17th.

Is anyone still checking for updates?

2007-11-01T11:07:00.000-07:00

I have no idea why it has taken me so long to add a new post to this blog. It certainly isn't because nothing has happened in my life. A lot has actually.
I might get into detail later, but for now I am on lunch and must return to work, so I will simply leave you with a picture of the most adorable girl in the entire world:

*Also pictured, her great-grandmom and her mom.

Happy Thursday!

2007-10-04T16:01:00.001-07:00

I think Thursday is generally a happy day. There are 2 good reasons for this:
1) Tomorrow is Friday
2) The Office is on NBC

I had a fabulous day today. For a while, I was enjoying my new position where I am a lot less busy, but then I started getting bored and craving the constant business. Well, today my teams finished up the last day of learning how to build IRA's and ESA's. I was coaching them and answering questions *almost* all day and I LOVED it! Tomorrow they'll start setting up real accounts which is very exciting. Also, it means I'll be even more busy! :)

Since Jay doesn't update his blog, I should also tell everyone that he got a job!!!! Well, I guess to be perfectly honest, he doesn't actually HAVE it yet. He has to pass the drug test first. I know they say not to count your chickens before they hatch, but I'm gonna go ahead with this one. He should be starting at WalMart Distribution Center later this month. He'll be on the same shift as Zachary and he'll be working in...um...order filling? I think that's it. Not entirely sure though.

3 days till the David Crowder concert! :)

David Crowder

2007-10-01T18:09:00.001-07:00

I'm very excited to say that I'm going to see David Crowder in concert on Sunday! There's a new couple named Chandra and Fletcher that started coming to our lifegroup. They got tickets and invited some of us. It should be fun. Too bad it's Sunday night...that'll make Monday kind of hard, but oh well.
In keeping with my bravery of trying new scary foods, I ate jambalaya last night. I was quite frightened as I've never had it and wasn't even entirely sure what it was. Anyway, it turned out to be surprisingly tasty. Also, it was made with extra chicken in place of the shrimp...since I don't like shrimp.
I don't really have much else to say right now. I'll try not to be so lame about updating!

2007-09-13T17:57:00.000-07:00

Well, it's time I updated. I really don't have much to blog about, though.
I've made it through a week and a half of living alone. I miss Jay, but thankfully it's been more tolerable than it seemed. I've been trying to keep myself pretty busy so I don't notice quite as much. I think that's been working. I've been doing much more than we would if he was here!
Oh, here's a good story.
Saturday I ended up with not much to do, so I decided to head over to the pool and lay out for a little while. Even though the point of laying out is to get sun, I still use sunscreen to keep from burning. So I went down to the pool, sprayed on the Coppertone and then carefully applied sunscreen to my face. I was laying down with my arm over my eyes since it was really bright outside. About 30 minutes later, my mom called. I made the sad mistake of laying there with my face uncovered while I talked to her for quite a while. Now, I thought it wouldn't matter since I put sunscreen on my face. The problem was that I failed to apply it to my eyelids.
Yeah, that right. My eyelids got sunburned. It was not nice.
Anyway, I need to go out to the balcony and check my laundry, so that's all for now.

I'm ba-ack!

2007-09-08T14:47:00.000-07:00

You may not have known I was gone, but my internet decided to quit at some point on Thursday and would not come back for anything! I was very unhappy. I tried Jay's suggestions, but had no luck, so I called my internet provider (who shall remain unnamed to protect the not-so-innocent employee named later in this post) to see if they could help. They couldn't, so they set me up for a service call today. It was one of those super-fun "anywhere from 4 to 8" kind of things. But much to my surprise and delight (yes, I said delight) Chris called at 3:50 to make sure I was home and to tell me he was on his way. He arrived at 4:04 and set to checking my connections. He determined it was something outside and disappeared for about 10 minutes. When he got back he explained that when the company sets you up for internet, they use a device that prevents you from getting anything you didn't pay for, such as TV or Phone service that they offer. Sometimes this device can malfunction, causing you to lose even the service for which you *did* pay. So Chris just removed the device. He informed me that if I want to, I should be able to pick up basically all channels that they offer. Wow....too bad I don't have a TV, cuz I just got HOOKED UP! :) Oh well.
Anyway, I won't keep you in suspense any longer. Doug did show up on Tuesday and brought with him this incredibly comfortable chair! And I have to admit, hauling it up 3 flights of stairs was not as bad as I anticipated! It's nice to have a little bit of furniture!

My sweet pad...

2007-09-03T16:45:00.001-07:00

The living room:

The kitchen:

The bedroom:

My goal in posting these was not to make anyone jealous, but now that it's done, that may be inevitable. So please, feel free to come visit. You can sleep...um...on the air mattress. And I'll sleep on the floor. I'm actually not scared to say that.
My friend Doug called a while ago and said that he's gonna bring by some furniture for me to borrow. I don't know what he's bringing, but I'm hoping for a table of some sort. Any sort, really. Anyway, he's coming tomorrow night, so that'll be cool.

Home, Sweet Unfurnished Apartment

2007-09-02T07:17:00.001-07:00

I am now moved in to my apartment and I took Jay to the airport this morning. I guess the full realization of what the next few months entail didn't really hit me until last night. I had a small emotional breakdown this morning when he was getting ready to go, but I feel okay now. I am trying to avoid the feelings that I can't do this and just be as optimistic as possible.
When I get this place cleaned up a little, I'll post a few pictures. Even if no one else cares, I'm sure Eisel's curious! Right Eis? :) It is "furnished" with 2 camping chairs, an air mattress and some boxes. Pretty sweet.

moving to Bowens Crossing

2007-08-22T18:38:00.001-07:00

Well, tomorrow our house is getting packed up for California. I'm moving to an apartment and in about 2 weeks Jay is moving "home".
I still have a lot to do tonight and it's already 8:30, so I gotta keep this short.
I won't have internet for a while, but don't give up on me, I'll be back as soon as possible!!

The Shade of Poison Trees

2007-08-18T16:09:00.000-07:00

Dashboard Confessional is putting out a new album October 2nd!!!!
I'm even more stoked about this one than the last one because, according to their email newsletter:

"The album marks a notable return to the signature acoustic sound that Dashboard first developed on early albums like 2000’s The Swiss Army Romance and 2001’s The Places You Have Come To Fear The Most."

Could this get any better? I submit that it cannot!

Sadly, many of you probably don't care. I expect that Kayla shares my enthusiasm and Chuck certainly would, if he was still a part of the wonderful world of Blogger. But alas, he is not.

So given the lack of shared excitement over this news, I will also post something of more interest.

We got a check today from the people who are set to lease our house. I guess this means we're actually moving. We've decided that I will stay here temporarily while J moves home and finds a (hopefully good) job. It doesn't make much sense for us to be unemployed at the same time. Also, if I stay a while, I can take a vacation to Vegas (I mean, Pahrump) in October. That will be the bong, because I will get to see my sisters, my brothers, my parents, hopefully my husband, and The Beautiful One known as Em.
But I'm off topic.
So while I'm here I will be living alone in a luxurious mansion. If mansion means 1 bedroom apartment and luxurious means basically empty aside from a computer, some camping chairs and an air mattress. Sounds rough, I know, but actually, the worst part will be living without Jay!!!
Anyway, if nothing throws off our plan, the movers will be packing out our house on Thursday and Friday. Oh, and I get to go to jury duty on Thursday. I've actually always thought it would be interesting to serve on a jury, but who knows if that will actually happen. Everyone I know that has gotten a summons for jury duty has ended up getting dismissed. I guess I'll see!
I think this post is long enough, so I'll wrap it up for now.

twenty-five

2007-08-12T17:34:00.000-07:00

Today was Jay's birthday! We celebrated by going to Panda China (aka Panda Express) for lunch and seeing Hot Rod at the movie theater. It was fun!! We really wanted to see SuperBad, but it wasn't showing at our theater...maybe next time.
Anyway, I know you probably didn't realize how high class we are, but sooner or later you're going to have to accept the fact that we are the kind of people who go to "dinner" at fast food Chinese restaurants for special occasions.

Summer (the season, not Wheatley)

2007-08-06T17:14:00.000-07:00

I think the rainy season might have finally ended. I looked at the 10-day forecast this morning and it showed sunshine all the way through.
There's something about warm, sunny weather that just puts a smile on my face!

A Promotion

2007-08-03T14:05:00.000-07:00

Monday morning my manager (a woman I've met exactly 1 time) summoned me into her office. My Team Manager was out on vacation for the second half of July, so I didn't think too much of the meeting. When I got there, she said that my TM had previously mentioned that I was interested in a particular position with the company; she wanted to know if that was still true. I agreed that it was true. (In fact, I just applied for an opening in June, but did not get chosen.) She explained that a position had opened up and that my name had been mentioned several times, so she just wanted to find out if I was still interested. Yes, of course.
At this point, I thought she was going to encourage me to apply for it. I thought it was a nice gesture, but with our current house/moving situation, I had not yet decided if I would do so.
Then she started providing the few details that she knew. The TMs I would be working for, the date I would move, the date the new team starts. I'm pretty sure I just sat there looking clueless, but excited when it hit me that by saying "yes", I had apparently just accepted a promotion!
Anyway, the title is Technical Resource. Basically, every month or so, a new team or two of associates (anywhere from 8-20 people) starts with the company. The Tech Resource assists their Team Manager(s). I'll do things like assist in training, answer lots of questions, coach them on concepts/procedures, QAP their work, etc. Most of you probably don't care about the actual details, so I'll leave it at that. :) The most exciting thing is that my day-to-day job will be COMPLETELY different than it is now. And don't get me wrong, it's not that I dislike my current position, I just think this is going to be SO much better. Also, I'm ready for a change!
So the team doesn't actually start until Sept 10th, but I will be moving August 24th...to get ready for them, I guess. This afternoon I met one of the TMs that I'll be working for; she seems very nice. She said that 2 associates were brought on as early-hires and she's decided to let them start an early training with the Flex department next week. Since she is still managing her current team, she may have me work with them as early as next week. She's supposed to let me know on Monday, as that isn't confirmed yet.
Since my TM was out until yesterday, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone at work. They wanted her to be aware before the word got out. Anyway, she announced it to my current team today, so now it feels more real. I've been wanting this position for a while, so I am VERY excited!! I can't wait to start!

Plan B

2007-07-29T10:12:00.001-07:00

Since many of my loyal readers could not view the slideshow in the post below, here is another way to check out our Mexico pictures:
Cozumel!!

We're home!

2007-07-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

We're back from Cozumel. I really wasn't ready to leave, but in a way it's still nice to be "home". I wish all vacations were all-inclusive. We've been to quite a few places, but both agreed that this was probably our best vacation ever.
As you can see from the pictures, we spent a lot of time just laying out and playing around in the pool. The beach was beautiful and the hotel was awesome. We rented a scooter on Tuesday so we could cruise downtown to look around and buy some souvenirs. It was a blast. I love how the Mexicans use the word "lady"...as in "Hey lady, you wan sometheen special?" in every little store. Totally cracks me up!
Thursday was our 5 year anniversary. Unfortunately, Jay started feeling sick that morning and still has not recovered. We think (actually, hope) that it's the flu, and not some scary Mexican sickness. He spent most of the day in bed asleep, but I rented out some snorkeling equipment and snorkeled out from the beach by the hotel. There were SO many fish, they actually kind of freaked me out! It was fun, though.
The only other thing that wasn't great is that I haven't gotten to run in 5 WHOLE DAYS! I actually took my running shoes thinking they'd have a treadmill in the fitness room, but no such luck. I considered running down the street but the drivers there are CRAZY and there weren't any sidewalks where we were at. Anyway, I'm sure my legs probably enjoyed the break. I'll head out for a nice run in the morning.
Oh, by the way, if you scroll over the pictures, captions will show up. Let me know if the slide show doesn't work for you!

2007-07-23T00:25:00.000-07:00

To make a long story very short: At some point between 6:00 and 7:00 last night, the couple mentioned below went from wanting to move in on August 11th to no longer wanting the house at all. We are back to not knowing when we might possibly move.
In happier news, we are headed to Mexico in a few hours! We'll be back Friday!

2007-07-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems there's a possibility that we might actually move to California this year!!
I should know a lot more in about 3 or 4 hours, so I'll have to update again tomorrow or something.
Basically, we're looking into doing a lease-to-own type of agreement through this company that our neighbor used. The real estate broker that is working with us brought 4 families by yesterday and one of them ready to sign a one-year lease with intent to buy!
We don't have all the details yet, but we'll be meeting with the guy tonight and hopefully get most of our questions/concerns answered.
If you happen to read this on Friday, please say a little prayer for us!

UPDATE: Apparently this dude got off schedule and has canceled our appointment. Now we don't get to meet with him until Sunday afternoon. This means that I will spend the next 2 days clueless. I am not very happy about that.

Pubs in America

2007-07-15T15:36:00.000-07:00

Today we went to a pub for lunch. In case anyone is wondering, NO, it was not my choice. I didn't like eating at pubs in Britian, let alone in America. But I must admit that the Caesar salad there, while not wonderful, was certainly better than any salad at a real British pub.
We met this couple at church a few months back and had yet to spend any time with them outside of church, so when they invited us to lunch today, I couldn't say no! :) And I'm glad I didn't, it was a good time despite the choice of dining establishment.
I also ended up buying the Nike+ armband. I haven't tried it yet, as I do not believe in running in 90* scorching sun. I'll use it tomorrow morning and let y'all know how it works...I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats with anticipation!!
Also, for anyone keeping track of the weird foods I've been bravely trying lately, I have a new one for you: vichyssoise. It can best be described as "blahhheeghghg" (with a gagging sound at the end.) I went to a dinner party with some friends last night. The party was fun, but seriously...cold potato soup???

AppleCare totally pays off!

2007-07-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

You know how my iPod suffered some rain damage a while back? Well, earlier this week, I finally pulled out my paperwork and called the AppleCare hotline. To make a long story short, Jay took my iPod into the Apple store on Wednesday, they determined it could not be fixed, and they replaced it! I'm super stoked. It's really nice being able to look at the screen and see the time and my stats while I'm running!
Now I need to find a new armband. I'm thinking about going with the Nike+ one. I don't love the look of it, but I think it'll be safer for my new nano. :)

16 days

2007-07-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

Good news! I received confirmation that my passport application is being processed.
You probably didn't know that I was waiting for confirmation. Well, I was a little late sending in my application since I planned this Mexico trip just a few months out. Since there is currently such a LOOONG turnaround time on passports, they passed a new law where you can go to Mexico and Canada and somewhere else as long as you have proof that you've applied for your passport. Anyway, I was a little worried before. But now that it's here, we've got nothing but excitement!!!
Also, since I haven't posted any pictures of us in a long time, here is one:

Flash Flood Watch

2007-07-03T18:08:00.001-07:00

This picture doesn't do it justice, but my street kind of resembles a creek. It seems like England weather all over again...but with more rain.
By the way, don't our trees look pathetic?

June just happened.

2007-07-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

So apparently I went the entire month of June without posting. This can only mean one of two things:
1) My life is so busy (with...y'know...Summer and whatnot) that I do not have time to get on the internet and update this blog to tell of all my grand adventures.
or
2) Nothing post-worthy happened for an entire month.

Who thinks it's #2?

That's sad.

Okay, actually a few things have happened. I have been very brave regarding new food. I ate grilled salmon (and actually rather enjoyed it) at Doug and Denise's house. Doug used a special marinade that was slightly sweet. I also ate sushi for the first time ever. I tried Yellowtail and spicy tuna rolls. It was actually a little scary, but I persevered...and succeeded!! It was actually kinda tasty! (Are you proud, Marla?) I think I might even try something else. Maybe a California roll next time, I always hear people talk about those.
My real exciting news is that Jay and I are going to Cozumel for our 5 year anniversary! We are seriously stoked; neither of us have been to Mexico before. We're staying at one of those all-inclusive resorts (actually, the same one my parents stayed at when they went to Mexico!) so hopefully it will be awesome! We're leaving the 23rd and coming home the 27th, so we'll be chillin' at the beach for the big 5 year mark!
In case that was too much excitement, I'll share the old boring news. Still nothing on the house. The contract with our Realtor ends next week and, needless to say, we will not be renewing it. I think we're going to wait a *little* while and then re-list it using a new Realtor. We're still just praying and waiting to see what happens.

my poor nano.

2007-05-26T16:33:00.001-07:00

My iPod screen died on me. Apparently it doesn't like running in the rain. Unfortunately, that is the vast majority of our weather lately. Yesterday I totally soaked 2 pairs of running shoes. Yuck. Anyway, if I hold the iPod at *just* the right angle, I can make out most of the words on the screen. It still plays music just fine and I'm quite relieved about that!!
I'm thinking that I'll try to do a marathon either later this year or early next year. I haven't made any definite plans yet, but my legs seems to be pretty much healed and I think it would be awesome!! I wish I knew if we were going to move or not, that would make it easier to plan.
We had an open house last week. No one came. Bummer.
J has been working like a mad man. He's scheduled for 49 hours next week! His boss totally loves him and has been scheduling him more hours than another assistant manager who has already been there for 3 years! It's good for him work-wise, but I feel like we hardly ever get to see each other. It's kind of sad, but on the other hand, it makes us both more appreciative of the time we have together. :)

dude...

2007-05-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

I had a good Mother's Day weekend with my mom and my mom's mom. I drove up to Dallas on Friday afternoon and back to SA on Sunday. Made for a lot of driving, but it was worth it! We hung out all day Saturday and even got to do some shopping!
My cousin Jennifer bought be an awesome candle. It's a Tyler Candle and the scent is Sugar Baby. I started burning it last night and it smells incredible! I also got to see Maddie and Andy (Jennifer's kids). We had fun building a puzzle and playing for a little while. For some reason, Andy apparently found it hilarious when I referred to him as "dude". He proceeded to call me dude in every sentence for about the next 5 minutes. It was really cute.
After looking at Mom's Emily pictures this weekend, I've decided to print this one and take it to work with me. No matter what I'm thinking or feeling, I just can't help but smile when I see this picture. She is absolutely THE most adorable baby girl EVER! I hate to think that she is growing up not knowing her Auntie Bean. Marla, please tell her right now that Auntie Bean loves her more than she can possibly imagine!