Monthly Archives: May 2005

May 16 2005

beds, baths, and beyond

My coupon expired today so I made a trip after work to Bed Bath and Beyond to pick up another set of my silverware. I previously only had 4 of each kind which was okay, but when you’re using them to cook, eat, and feed cats, you go through them quickly! I was also slightly nervous that for some freak reason they would run out and then I’d be left with mismatched silverware, which is a horrible thing for a designer. I’m not a cheap homemaker. But my home does look awesome. :-D

I was wandering around the store, awed at how huge it was – much bigger than the one I shopped in Orlando. I started recognizing stuff – oh we had registered for that, and we registered for that. It made me really sad. I still get wedding stuff in the mail from BB&B – you can even find my registry there if you look up my name, although I deleted everything from it.

I have been doing really well lately about weddings and not getting sad or depressed about mine. However, today I wasn’t so lucky. Paul and I have talked a lot about marriage recently – discussing what exactly we are waiting for and whether the issues that made Paul cancel it before are still issues. In some ways it is comforting that really the biggest obstacle is the fact that we have jobs in two different parts of the country, and with my lease I’m definitely committed here until May 2006. The other big thing is parents. We need to decide how far we are willing to go against our parents wishes, and how important it is to have their blessing.

Walking through BB&B today I was thinking about being married, and how nice that will be. How nice to see Paul every day! To have him by my side as we choose a church, as we go grocery shopping, as we get into a routine. In some ways, I am so ready to be married right now. Of course I know everyone who is married is probably laughing and saying “You have no idea!”. That’s true; I don’t. But I am so ready to find out.

I am trying to realize that obviously I’m not ready, because God has other plans for me right now. I don’t want to focus on the fact that I’m not married, but on the opportunities I have with being single right now.

Bah, easier said than done. My heart constantly aches for you, Paul. Four days!

May 14 2005

my list, continued

So here is the real world: where bills come due and have to be paid, and money must be kept track of or there is danger of overdrawing, and things need to be dealt with because parents won’t do it anymore.

Thus enters my lists. Once I have a deadline (May 19th – when I go up to Indiana) it increases the chance of things getting done. Today I spent a little over 2 hours at the DMV getting an updated address on my driver’s license. Yay, I’m legal! After 3 years I can now say I officially live at the address on my license. It’s kinda weird to not have two or three valid (or semi-valid) addresses floating around like I have had ever since I was 8.

I got a new picture taken and my license no longer says “under 21″. I got to sign my name again which is good because it was misspelled on my last license. I even stopped by the library and picked up a library card. The rest of the day will be cleaning and unpacking and getting ready for my guests this week.

New revised list:
1) Consolidate loans.
2) Work on those emails in my inbox.
3) Get license plates.
4) Find a cat sitter/cat boarding.
5) Finish unpacking.
6) Update budget with new figures.

May 12 2005

my new car

Okay, okay, Brent. :-) I actually found the car a while ago; someone in my dad’s office was selling it. I was considering it seriously but there were a few negative things about it. 1) The price was high, 2) it was bigger than I wanted, and 3) it had a lot of miles. However, last night the owner called my parents saying that he was lowering the price considerably making it a very good deal. I decided to go ahead and take it because I hadn’t found anything else, I know the owner has taken care of it, and mostly I can afford it without having to take out a loan.

Ah, what kind of car it is. :-) It’s a blue/green 1997 Dodge Intrepid in great condition. It has power everything and cruise control and AC – yay! No CD player :-( but maybe I can do something about that when I save up some more money. :-) The awesome part is it has hubcaps!!! Unlike the car I have now which looks like I rolled it from the junkyard a few days ago. I’m excited to have a car with hubcaps. I’m excited to have a car under 10 years old!! I think I’m going to have the newest car of anyone in my family; newer than Paul’s even. :-D

So yeah. Now I’m in the process of getting plates to mail down to Florida so my parents can bring the car when they come up for graduation. I am excited to have a car with hubcaps and a cigarette lighter (mine broke literally the day after I bought a car charger for my cell phone) and – get this – power locks that work from the driver’s seat!! Oh this is too good to be true. ;-) Hahah I’m being sarcastic. I’m mostly happy to get rid of the car I have now and get something all to my own. It will last me a few years at least. Then maybe I will be richer and can afford the $300/month payment for a brand new Honda Civic.

Oh yes, and it is an automatic. Sorry to all the boys out there… I have been stuck in Atlanta traffic too many times to consider a manual. (Joanna, Paul, and Matt: thanks for teaching me to drive stick. Now that I know how to drive stick, I know I don’t want it :-)) As I told my mom, “Having automatic transmission is up there with the car actually running.”

Pictures!

May 12 2005

gorgeous day!!

The sun is shining, the weather is warm, and the birds are singing! Days like today make me want to sing too!

Things are coming together about graduation. I was able to get both Thursday and Friday off work, and so I’ll be driving up with my parents on Thursday. I’m staying the night in Indy with Beth Z., and then she’s taking me up to Taylor in time for the graduation rehersal at 1:30. After that I have some down time until dinner during which time I will wait impatiently for Paul to arrive!! Then after dinner I am going to this senior slide show thing which is rumored to be at 8, but I don’t know for sure since somehow I was not included on the Taylor senior email list. Then in the evening Paul and I are hanging out with Tree and Daniel, until I go to Joanna’s apartment in Muncie to stay the night. Saturday is graduation!! My family and I, and Paul, leave right after graduation to come back to Atlanta. My parents will continue on to Orlando on Sunday while Paul and I are going to spend the day together catching up… He leaves really early Monday morning and then life resumes to normal. :-(

But I’m soooo excited about seeing everyone!!
Now about my list:
1) Consolidate loans. < WORKING ON IT >
2) Find a car. < DONE! >
3) Do the exit counseling for the Perkins loan. < DONE! >
4) Get an updated driver’s license. < HEHE NOPE NOT YET >
5) Pay gas bill. < WORKING ON IT >
6) Fill out renter’s insurance information. < HALFWAY DONE >
7) Start responding to the 60-something emails in my inbox. < DOWN TO 45 NOW>

Things I need to add to the list:
8) Get license plates and car insurance.
9) Find a cat sitter.
10) Pay phone bill.
11) Finish unpacking.

Days till I get to see Paul: 8!!!

May 10 2005

back online!

…for now at least. :-) Apparently it wasn’t Bell South at all, but my phone jack! So I guess whatever they “fixed” last time I put in a maintenance request for this phone jack was just a temporary thing. At least I do have one working phone jack in my apartment, and thanks to the 50 ft. telephone cord I have, I’m good for now. :-)

First I’d like to say that gas in Georgia is $1.85.

So last Saturday I took a jog up to Chattanooga, Tennessee and Lookout Mountain, Georgia which is the home of Covenant College, a small Christian college nestled at the top of Lookout Mountain. I drove up to attend the graduation of my dear friend, Beth Kirschner Booth and her husband Stuart. Although it was a long day, I really enjoyed my time with Beth and her family. Beth and I became best friends when I was living in Atlanta on furlough (7th grade) and our friendship has remained strong since then! Stuart is going to Med School in Houston so he and Beth moved there this week. :-( This Saturday was my last time seeing Beth for a long time… Although I’m sure she’ll be back for my wedding, whenever that will be!

This weekend another dear friend, Bethany Folkins, was in town visiting her parents and so I spent Mother’s Day lunch with them, which was quite pleasant. It was good to see Bethany again and it’s nice to know we have this tie in Atlanta. :-)

As graduation draws near, I am getting more and more excited. I’m really glad I’m able to go. When I was in high school, I counted down my graduation day from 365. I think everyone thought I was nuts. I didn’t count down graduation this time but it’s really only a ceremony for me, since I’ve already left Taylor. To a certain extent coming back for graduation is like a homecoming and a goodbye all rolled together in one. The best part is that my best friend and most favorite person in the world is going to be there!! :-D I am so excited that I get to see Paul in only 10 days!!!

Work is still going fine but it’s getting somewhat stressful. The owners have a policy to “never turn away a customer” even if it means doing a job and getting an entire approval in a matter of hours. The downside is that anything we turn into the printer last minute counts against our bonus – but we can’t control the fact that we have more jobs than we can possibly do. I am frustrated by that policy and tomorrow I have to spend “first thing” in the morning getting two jobs done that were due today, but neither were my fault for not being done. I hope it gets better and isn’t like this usually. The good thing is that I do feel that if I was completely overwhelmed I could approach them and tell them. Not yet though.

Okay, bedtime. I will write more later.
Things to do before May 20th:
1) Consolidate loans.
2) Find a car.
3) Do the exit counseling for the Perkins loan.
4) Get an updated driver’s license.
5) Pay gas bill.
6) Fill out renter’s insurance information.
7) Start responding to the 60-something emails in my inbox.

Days till I see Paul:10!!! :-D