faith4jesus247
Thanksgiving this year was quite a treat! Chris and I originally planned to spend Thanksgiving at his parent's house this year. However, since we had to be there for their surprise 45th anniversary party last weekend, we didn't/couldn't make the drive back again for Thanksgiving. So when we were given an invitation to join our family friends Jim and Judy Liby at a ski resort in Virginia, we jumped on board! The Liby's own a timeshare at the resort, and had 2 units available for the entire week. Instead of taking a unit of their own and having us share with Judy's sister and her husband, they gave US our own unit!

We arrived on Wednesday night to find that they had gone in before we got there and left us a surprise!!

Not only that, but we got roses and chocolate candy on our pillows, as well. It was the honeymoon package we were too poor to afford on our cruise! :)

The following 4 days were filled with complete nothingness. Which was uh-mazing! Sleep until whenever, eat whenever, curl up on the sofa and watch movies whenever! The weather was beautiful, the scenery was beautiful, and it was all so peaceful and relaxing. We did get out every now and then to enjoy the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge Mountains...

And the night before Black Friday, Chris and I decided to join Judy in her shopping goals for the night. It was my first time out, and I quite enjoyed myself! Probably because I didn't have the stress of trying to find and get a particular item on time! I was completely shocked at the large amount of people at Kohl's. The picture below does it no justice! There was an "official" line on the left that went back as far as I could see. Then there was a huge crowd to the right, and a big crowd where in the parking lot where we were. I was shocked that they were counting the number of people going into their store for fire code safety!

Last day in Virginia, I found my dream house! If anyone wants to loan me the money for the deposit, hit me up!


faith4jesus247
Oh how I love new adventures!

Our congregation sent a team of 4 to Zimbabwe 2 years ago to assist with a local school, hospital, and congregation. Next year, they are going again....but decided to expand the team. Chris and I have discussed wanting to do mission work together....we just never thought the opportunity would come so soon! Luckily, we didn't have much competition. They were looking for 8 additional team members, and only 8 people applied! So two weeks ago, we had our first training session together. I'm ecstactic to be a part of this group!

We'll be going to Zimbabwe either in July or the September/October time frame for approximately 10 days. I'll more than likely be working in the school, and Chris will be doing some handyman work. We have the task of raising $6,000 as a couple to fulfill the work over there....and I know we can do it with the help and prayers of friends and family!

This post isn't meant as a form of fund-raising, but if you have the desire to support our trip financially...leave a note, and I'll get you the information necessary. :)
faith4jesus247
Okay...life is passing me by, all because I haven't had time to blog about the rest of my honeymoon. Let me sum up the rest of the week for you. We ate a lot....laid on the beach...bought some souvenirs...attended comedy shows at night....got sunburned....did what honeymooners do best....and caught our flight back to NC. There. Now you know it all. :)

What I have WANTED to post about is how wonderful my new husband is! I asked him to bring me breakfast in bed one Saturday morning, and he went all out! I expected pancakes and milk....but I never expected this!

1 fried egg, 2 bananas drizzled in honey (1 rolled in chocolate shavings, the other in almonds), 4 pieces of french toast with strawberry jam and powdered sugar, and a plateful of bacon. Unreal!!

It was uh-mazing. And no...I couldn't eat it all!
faith4jesus247
Day 1 wasn't the best start to our honeymoon. We bought tickets for a 6am flight to Miami on Monday morning - from Raleigh. Keep in mind we got married in Tennessee. So after our wedding dinner, we headed back to the cabin to change clothes and pack up the car. Before we got on the road, I had to stop at Wal-mart and get a swimsuit for the honeymoon. Then we had to drop off the wedding dress with my parents. So we got on the road about 11pm. And it's a 6 hour drive. Perfect! We'll get there at 5am - noooooooo problem-o!

Except. Except we have to park way out yonder to save money. And catch a shuttle bus who can't take the emergency brake off, yet continues to drive with it on. Which causes the bus starts smoking. And when we get dropped off and check in, our baggage is 8lbs. over. Which means we have to put 8lbs. in our carry-on luggage. And when we finally get it taken care of, it's 1 minute too late. We're 1 minute past the check-in time. Which means the guy behind the ticket counter won't let us finish the process. Or says he can't rather. And There's another flight, but it'll cost us. Another $100.

This is where the money for my hair comes to good use. A female manager is standing at the next computer. She looks at my hair and asks if we are on our honeymoon. When we tell her yes....we're trying to be....she says she'll take care of us. She gets us on all new flights, waives the fees, and calls someone to make sure we get to sit together. Thank you!

We get through security, grab a bite to eat for breakfast, and are off! As we are getting off our first leg of the flight in Atlanta, one of the stewards tells me my hair is beautiful and asks if we're headed to a wedding. When we tell him we just got married, he says "You should have said something! Hold on a second!". So we move out of everyone else's way, and I joke with him. "Do we get a free glass of champagne for having just gotten married?". The steward comes back with a full bottle of champagne for us to take with us. No way! Thank you, hair!

The second leg of the flight goes smoothly, and I sleep the whole way. Arriving in Miami, we looked for the cheapest way to get to port. We had heard the taxis were pretty expensive, and the Cruiseline shuttles were even MORE expensive. We couldn't find any information about Miami's free mass transit, so we gave up and headed outside to a taxi. On our way out the door, we got stopped by a man, asking if we were needing a ride to the port. I was hesitant to answer him, afraid we were about to get talked into something we were not at all interested in. But Chris answered him, and he told us that he could take us there for $10/each. There's no way. That's too cheap. What's the catch? No catch! We joined a couple other families on a small shuttle bus, and headed to port. The driver was a great tour guide, making us laugh the whole way there.

As we went to board the ship, we got stopped after our bag was x-rayed. They pull out the bottle of champagne. "You can't take this on the ship with you." Welp - there's goes one of our wedding gifts! They did let us check the bottle in, and told us we could pick it up on disembarkation day. No big deal - thought it was kind of funny that the one free thing we got ended up being taken away from us. Oh well!

We were pretty much starving when we got on the ship, and our room wasn't ready, so we headed for the only open lunch buffet. That was a mistake. Since there was really no one else to go, that's where EVERYONE was that had boarded the ship. It was insanely crowded and I couldn't imagine how a cruise could be at all relaxing when you have to push and shove to get your meals. Exhaustion and frustration set in, and 5 minutes after getting our lunch and sitting down, I was ready to get out and see if our room was ready. Thankfully, it was!

We changed clothes and settled down on our balcony. So nice! We were reading over our cruise booklet and food information when our next-door neighbors, Matt and Liz, leaned over their balcony railing and introduced themselves to us. They also had just gotten married over the weekend and were on their honeymoon. We talked for a while and decided to invite them to dinner with us. The four of us chose one of the sit-down restaurants to eat at (no pushing or shoving!), and ordered up! I'm pretty sure that night, Chris ordered 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and 1 dessert. Although, in his favor, the portions WERE a lot smaller than we're accustomed to! But it was all really good!

(I've written 3 different sentences now on how the night ended with an early bedtime due to exhaustion from the day. But knowing I'll receive sarcastic remarks no matter what I write, I'm choosing not to include any closing to the day at all)
faith4jesus247
The week leading up to the wedding was busy, hectic, a bit stressful, and definitely lacked sleep. Attempting to make my own wedding program fans and cake/cupcake towers turned out to be a loooong process. Although worth it in the end! Josh, Wendy, and Charity really helped me pull it all together two nights before.

The morning of the wedding was nice and peaceful. I slept in, got served breakfast by my aunt, and worked more on my vows. I had vows already written, but they didn't feel right, and I kept playing around with the wording up until 30 minutes before the ceremony. My brother stopped by the florist and picked up the flowers for me...which were BEAUTIFUL....and my sister was on the way to meet me at the salon for my 1:00pm hair appointment. My awesome family and friends took care of ALL the decorating, music and video set-up, picture-taking, and last minute runs to an antique shop! Any time I would ask how things were going, I would get a bright smile and hear "Everything's going great!". (Which I found out later was a lie - but I appreciated the optimism and reduced stress-level of having to worry about it all) :D

Then I head to my hair appointment. Having had a wedding hair and make-up trial 6 weeks earlier, I was really excited to get this done. I had full confidence in my stylist to make me look like the bride I wanted to be!

I walk in, big smile on my face, and see another stylist who says "Hey Amber. Have a seat. I'll be right with you". Huh? Smiling stops. I freeze. Who are YOU? "Is Liz not here today?", I ask...hopeful she's running late or in the bathroom with constipation. "No, she had another wedding party to take care of. But I'll be taking good care of you today. Liz said you were bringing pictures?".

"No, I didn't bring pictures! She told me not to...we just did a hair trial a few weeks ago!". Panic quickly takes over.
Trying to calm me down, she says, "Okay. No worries. You can just tell me what you want. It'll be fine." Last famous words.

Imagining the picture to my right, I tell her "I want big loops in the back. I don't want curls pinned to my head in a big group. I want a lot of volume on top, since I'll be wearing flowers in my hair, and the veil at the back of my neck. In the front, I want the pieces of hair twisted from one side to another, not just swooped across."

She assures me that she knows exactly what I'm talking about, and that she has 15 years experience, and I have nothing to worry about. I'm really nervous sitting in the chair, because she begins in the back, and I can't tell what she's doing. It doesn't feel right, though. She teases pieces of hair at the crown of my head to create volume, which then makes me feel like she has no clue what I want. Charity can see my obvious disappointment and tries to encourage me with talk about the excitement of the wedding. But my responses are short and negative. I'm convinced the stylist believes I had no desire to marry Chris, as my overwhelming stress and frustration of hating my hair led me to tears. I sat in the chair crying, as I saw my wedding hair develop. It's nothing like I wanted. It's not me. I looked at the clock. There's nothing I can do. Having her start all over again will make me late for the wedding, or leave me with no completed updo at all. So I sat there and cried. Charity didn't know what to do. And the stylist thought I was crying out of nervousness for the wedding.

As she worked around to the sides and began on the front, the tears came faster. I look like an old lady! What is she DOING? I have her change the sides and adjust the front, so that if nothing else, the front looks decent. She has me look at the back, but my vision is so blurry with tears, I really can't see the details. (See finished product to the left) Doesn't matter anyway. I have to be back at the cabin with my photographer in 45 minutes, and we still have my make-up to do.

I had asked my original stylist if she could take a minute to pull my sister's hair back and pin it with flowers. She said that would be no problem! So I explain to this new stylist that we just want a real quick pull and pin job. She expresses her gratefulness to my sister in bringing her straightener, as there was not one in the salon. She she straightens Charity's hair and twists two pieces of hair back with flowers. Is it what I imagined? Not quite. Does it work? Yes. Are we running out of time? Definitely!

Moving on to my make-up, I ask if she has the false eyelashes I got last time. Short story - no. But I DID get a pep talk on how beautiful my own eyelashes were, and how I didn't need any fake ones. Lame, a lie, and pure ridiculousness! My wedding make-up turns out pretty. Pretty as in everyday kind of pretty. Not as in "It's your wedding day and are going to have 400 pictures taken of you and you look gorgeous!". It was subtle. Not dramatic at all. Except for the bright pink lipstick she chose for my lips. Eww. I'll save the additional tears for the car. Let's just pay and get out of here!

"Cash or check?", I hear her ask. Neither? Credit?! I paid with credit last time. "Sorry, I can't accept credit today". But my cash and checkbook are at the cabin at the top of the mountain! Ugh!! My aunt Sherry begins digging through her purse.
"How much is it?" I ask...knowing Liz had told me $65 before.
"That'll be $126."
Last straw. I freak out. "What for???!! Liz told me it was $90 for hair/make-up, and I paid a $25 deposit!"

"Well hair and make-up is $96, and I was not told you paid a deposit. Then your sister's updo is $30."

I lost it. Turned my back from her to keep from hitting her, and begin crying again. She jumps up and tells me not to ruin my make-up, and that it's only a $6 difference. Umm no. It's more like a $61 difference. You're charging MY sister $30 for using her OWN straightener, and pinning her hair back like a 12 year old? I don't THINK so! My aunt Sherry runs across the street to an ATM, comes back with the cash, and tells us to get in the car. At this point, I'm supposed to be at the cabin, putting my dress on, getting bridal pictures done. And we have a 20-minute drive up the mountain. Awesome.

I arrive at the cabin with enough time to get Charity in her dress, and me in mine. No bridal portraits, and 10 minutes late to the ceremony.

While my complete disappointment in my wedding day look kept me in tears for 3 hours before the ceremony, walking down the aisle to Chris made all my nervousness and frustrations go away. We had an absolute perfect weathered day with a gorgeous view, and our closest family members there to celebrate with us. It was going to be okay.

The ceremony was wonderful, we got an hour's worth of pictures after the ceremony, and headed to the restaurant for dinner. Although they didn't have our space ready when we got there, we did get bumped up to the private banquet room, which made up for it. The service was great, food was awesome, and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Now let's hope the professional wedding pictures look good!

faith4jesus247
Today is the day where I put all work aside and catch-up on my neglected journal of life. Since my life IS so fun and interesting....

When I think back to the weeks before the wedding, I couldn't have imagined a more unexpected line of events. I had worked so hard to prepare a simple, yet cute and fun family wedding. My awesome fiance had other plans.

Exactly 2 weeks before the wedding...after evening services on Sunday, I asked Chris to sit down with me and talk about the processional and order of events for the wedding, so that we would be on the same page. The first surprise of the week came immediately.

Me: So I was thinking that you and Josh should walk in together at the beginning of the song.

Chris: What about Ben?

Me: What about him?

Chris: Well he'll be standing up there with me, too!

Me: Uh, no he won't. What are you talking about?

Chris: He's my best man!!

Me: He's your WHAT??? (Keep in mind....there was, to my knowledge....no bridal party at all!)

Chris: He's the best man...he's got to stand next to me!

Me: Chris! I don't have a maid of honor...when did you decide to have a best man??

The conversation went downhill from there. I'm pretty sure we didn't get past discussing the entrance to the wedding that night, as my mind was then FRANTIC on getting a maid of honor with 2 weeks to spare.

NEXT DAY:

(Talking to sister on phone)

Me: Soooo...guess what??!! I got my first wedding surprise!

Chair: Oh yeah? What's that?

Me: Umm....well...chris has a best man. That I didn't know about. That has already ordered a tux. That I have to now include in the program. And find a song for. And find a maid of honor to complement. How 'bout it? :D (conversation slightly exaggerated by the decreased level of stress and heightened sense of humor over time)

Chair: Umm...sure!

Me: Not to throw this at you last minute, or make you feel like I wouldn't have wanted you in the first place....but now we have 2 weeks to find and get you a formal red dress. Pick whatever you want....don't care about the style, length, whatever! Just a deep red to complement our fall colors.

Chair: Is that the color of his vest?

Me: Yes. He told me he got a red vest and tie.

Chair: Alright...no problem! I'll see what I can do!

NEXT DAY:

Me: Hey hon...good news! Charity is going to be the matron of honor. I told her to get any red dress she could find...so we should be good.

Chris: Red? Why red?

Me: (tensing up) Umm....beCAUSE....THAT'S the color you told me your VEST was? Isn't it?????

Chris: I only said that because you told me you didn't want to know what my tux looked like.

Me: ARE YOU KIDDING ME????!! What color IS your vest?

Chris: Burnt orange.

Me: Burnt orange?? Burnt orange!!?? How is she going to find a formal burnt orange dress in two weeks??

Chris: I don't know! But you told me you didn't want me to tell you what I got!

Me: That was BEFORE I knew we were having a wedding party at all!

NEXT DAY:

Me: Oh Chhhhhhhaaaairityyyyyy! Guess what? ANOTHER surprise!!! :D

FEW DAYS LATER:

I head to the tux shop on Saturday to pay off the remaining balance on the tux. When I arrive there, I see this BEAUTIFUL, rich burnt orange that looks amazing. *happy sigh* Okay, he didn't do so bad. I get up to the counter, and wait for his order to be pulled up.

Me: When I came in, I saw a gorgeous burnt-orange vest on a mannequin. Is that what he got?

Salesperson: Let me check for you. (Pause) Umm...the vest by the door is actually called "cinnamon". Your fiance got "hot orange".

Me: He did WHAT????

Salesperson: (noticing my slight surprise) Did you want to change it, ma'am?

Me: (heavily contemplating the idea) *not a happy sigh* No....I told him he could pick whatever he wanted. If he wants "hot orange", we'll go with HOT orange...

SAME DAY:

Me: Hey Charity! How do you feel about hot orange....?

**Note: Charity was awesome about the whole thing, and although "hot orange" would not have been my choice, it did end up working out okay. But I do write this before seeing the professional wedding pictures. Comments are subject to change.
faith4jesus247
My obsession of the scale has turned into an obsession with the soft measuring tape as of late. That 2 inch gap in the zipper of my wedding dress when I put it on last Saturday is haunting me. I have been measuring myself at least once every day. More like 2 or 3 times. Just to check and see if my fat decided to go with gravity and move to the lower part of my body, where the zipper isn't an issue.

This morning, immediately after waking up and stepping on the scale, I walk into the second bedroom, where I keep my daily weight log and body measurements. I grab the blue tape off the dresser and wrap it around my upper body. I look in the mirror to make sure it's straight across my back, and not twisted at any point. Then I take the end and and pull it as tight as it will go (let's face it - when the dress DOES zip, it's gonna be tight!). No point in leaving any slack.

When I feel I've adjusted it just right, I look down to see today's outcome. What? No way! I lost 13 inches! That firming cream is uh-mazing! I looked in the mirror at myself, with my mouth hung open. Seriously? I look back down at the measuring tape to verify the numbers. Yep...it's definitely 13 numbers below the last one I wrote down.

Oh. Wait. I started at the wrong end of the tape. *Sigh*
faith4jesus247
Life has gotten busy. School has started back, which means tutoring has begun again. My summer lifestyle of only working 8 hours a day has come and gone!

My week in Holland was so nice! Unfortunately, my camera broke in my luggage, so I didn't have the opportunity to document the week like I normally would. Most of my days were spent assisting an old English student with translating his business material into English, and my nights were spent catching up with old friends. The day I got back, I found our engagement picture proofs in my email inbox. Soooo exciting! Here are 2 of my favorites among many:


My wonderful church family threw me a wedding shower a week ago, and I couldn't have been more blessed! I was really dreading the awkwardness of having to sit there and open gift after gift while 20+ pairs of eyes watched me. I tried to go through it as fast as possible, to the point of completely forgetting to open the card before ripping apart the wrapping paper. Then I would show everyone the gift, and realize I didn't know who it was from. Oops. :)

I had a heart-to-heart with my new boss last Friday, where I sweetly* shared my thoughts about him and my slight discouragement with how little he seems to care about who I am as a person, and more about how I can make him look better. It appeared to have gone well upon the closing of the conversation, but I'm not holding my breath on any immediate changes.

20 more days to go! We got a call that Chris's wedding ring is ready for pick-up. Finally found more flowers at Hobby Lobby that I like enough to use for decorations. It's not exactly like the first bunch I got, but it works. My concern for these details are quickly dwindling. An amazing woman from church came over on Saturday to create a bustle for my dress, blessing me with not having to pay an unreal amount of money to an alterations department to do it. I hadn't tried the dress on in a while, and didn't know how far I was from fitting into it - but I feel good! I've lost 25lbs. total, and am now only 2 inches of back fat away from fitting in the dress. I can do it!

*debatable
faith4jesus247
Obesity is sad. It's unhealthy, too common, and I hate looking at the number on my scale and seeing it tremble between "overweight" and "obese". It's always been a struggle, and I truly believe everyone should try their best to live a healthy lifestyle.

With that said...my week in the Netherlands was different this time than it's ever been before. As the plane landed, and I began to hustle through the crowd, trying to keep the fast pace of the ridiculously fit Dutch around me...I see something.

It can't be. No...I simply can not be seeing this. In the shops, on the escalators, in the bathrooms....it is everywhere! My mouth hung open as I continued walking. I stopped making the conscious effort to maintain a fast pace. I was dumbfounded by what I saw. Am I in the right place? Did I sleep through the announcement and land in LA instead of Amsterdam?

Curves. Everywhere! And not American curves....Dutch curves. As I look out into the sea of people around me, I'm no longer seeing all tall, lean figures, making my round shape more distinguished. There are hips and butts...and double-chins!! I can't believe my eyes!

Thanks for the best welcome present ever, Holland. :)
faith4jesus247
I'm a cheap person. Okay...not usually. But when it comes to flights, I get the cheapest flight hands-down. No thought to it. I've never paid attention to what airline my cheapo ticket is booked through, and never had an issue with any flight I've been on. But I don't think I can handle an international US Airways flight again (despite the fact that I have another opportunity to fly US Airways again in less than a week). The second I stepped on the plane, I noticed the screens in the aisle. No personal screen. I don't think I've ever been on an overseas flight where I didn't get to choose my movie entertainment. What do they expect me to do for the 8 hours and 5 minutes they've predicted it will take to be on dry land?? Savor the 12 peanuts they give me in tiny bag filled mostly with air? I'd rather pop the bag and scare the people around me.

In the past, stepping on the aircraft has resulted in a flight attendant asking me what my seat number is and directing me down the appropriate aisle. But she doesn't. She just smiles and cheerfully welcomes me aboard US Airways. I guess I'll have to play eenine-meenie-minie-moe this time. Oh. One aisle. Can't go wrong here! 6 seats across instead of 11? Tight! I find my way to my seat and politely ask the 2 people already sitting in my row to get up, cram into the already full aisle as I trample their belongings on the floor. I apologize for my large hips as my body rubs against them in an unavoidable manner. My bad.

I scrunch down in my seat, attempting to get my stuff out of the way as my seat buddies resettle themselves. I initiate chit-chat to get their mind off our unexpected intimate moment. It seems to work. However, it doesn't take long for me to get bored of their answers. I pull out the flight guide from the seat in front of me. Which is when I feel knees settling in my back. No worries, I was planning on staying awake all night anyway! I check the magazine for movie listings and music channels. Approved. I begin looking around my seat and in the pocket where the magazine was for headphones. Were there headphones in the seat when you sat down? No? Maybe they hand them out after we get going in the air. I can be patient.

*20 minute interval*

"Ladies and gentleman (Dames en heren), we have headphones available for those who would like to purchase a set. The cost is $5 or 4 euro. Please feel free to keep these for future flights with US Airways."

What? Did I hear that right? We get to keep the headphones we purchase? This is just too good to be true! *Standing ovation* US Airways has done it again, folks!

No, I didn't have $5. Or 4 euro. Silence. At least I have a pillow and blanket. Or sheet, rather. Or a piece of paper with fluff. I wonder if we could have kept that, as well. I forgot to grab it in the midst of my excitement to get off. The refrigerated "petite roll" and "white cream pasta" wasn't as fulfilling as I had hoped.

And I didn't get any peanuts, either.
faith4jesus247
Chris and I scheduled our engagement photos for this past weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee (where are photographers live). It was the last time we would be in town to make wedding plans in person, so I made sure the day was fully booked!

From Day 1, I've been surprised at the ease in which we have been able to make appointments/reservations. All we keep hearing about is how crazy busy Pigeon Forge is during the month of October. I had planned on having to work harder at finding a venue, stylist, florist, for our day, but we've truly been blessed! Everything has gone so smoothly, and has thankfully been within our budget. Everything except the restaurant.

We initially wanted to reserve a post-wedding dinner for our family at a nice restaurant in Gatlinburg. Then we attempted to drive there. With the insane traffic and construction zones, it would take 1-2 hours to make a typical 15 minute drive. So that was out. I began calling restaurants in Pigeon Forge, but they either did not offer a private room, or were booked. So our main goal of the day was to secure an eating location (otherwise, asking our guests to drive up to 7 hours for our wedding would result in a 30 minute sitting in hard, white chairs in the unpredictable weather) I'd like to think we're more considerate than that. :)

We asked for advice before heading there for the day, and were told to visit a Southern restaurant (whose name will be withheld for reputation's sake!). Arriving at the restaurant resulted in the front desk hostess showing us 2 possible rooms to hold our dinner reception at. We were even allowed to bring our own tablecloths and cake with us! The back room can sit 60 people, and we are planning for 40...so that would be perfect! We were seated for lunch, so that we could try the food before making a final decision. At that point, we asked to speak to the manager to discuss details.

Which is where this wonderful day went downhill.

When the manager arrives - as wonderful and polite as he is - he bursts our wedding bubble by informing us that October is their busiest month of the year, and allowing us to book a room for 40 people, when they could sit 60...was going to be a loss of profit for them. He would be happy to let us reserve the room! As long as we understand that 20 additional strangers would be joining us for our celebration. Umm...no thanks. But then he tells us that they have another restaurant, just down the road, with smaller rooms. If we visit there, we might be able to reserve a room that is more suitable for the number of people we are having. Yay...a ray of hope!

Arriving at the second location, we are greeted with another wonderful hostess who shows us several rooms...one of which holds 43 people. Perfect!! We'll take it!

The manager then comes up and introduces himself, and pretends to listen while we explain our wishes. Stop. His facial expression is not encouraging me to continue on. He informs us that he wants to work with us and accomodate in anyway possible. Stop. But. I hate that word. But we can't guarantee that everyone in your party will be sitting together.

Huh? I'm sorry? You did hear me say that we're having a wedding reception, right?? That in order for it to be a successful wedding reception, we have to interact with our guests?! However...now that you mention it, I'd much rather parade around the restaurant in my wedding gown, surfing the crowd for the 42 people we invited, avoiding servers balancing trays of brown gravy and creamed corn on top of their hands. What fun our photographers will have, as well!!

Sarcasm intended.

We left. I called the number on the front of the restaurant business card to the group sales office to complain and see if anything could be done to accomodate us. After the gentleman answers the phone, I explain the poor response we received from the 2 managers at the restaurant. Which is when I find out that the person on the other end of the line is the manager at the first restaurant we talked to. Oopsy-daisy!

Flowers are ordered. Chairs are reserved. Different restaurant booked. And engagement pictures successfully completed. 47 days and counting...
faith4jesus247
Okay....I'll be the first to admit I was wrong. I try not to let this happen too often, so I'll document it for you to have something to refer back to.

He's not near as bad as I predicted him to be. I have made it 4 whole days without throwing a sarcastic comment his way. I mean...the man knows how to use a phone! AND had me show him how to use the copier. AND walked himself across campus to get his parking permit. That's 3 things my last boss didn't know how to do! Uh-mazing!

However, I can't resist throwing in there - the desire to laugh out loud and curl up crying at the same time - when discussing money with the man. After finding out he owns 3 apartments (excuse me...condos) in 3 different states (and 1 in Spain, I believe??!!) and "x" number of cars - it completely threw me for a loop when we had the following conversation today.

Me: Hey - just wanted to let you know that I'm still having issues getting access to the budget. So you might want to consider ordering your book for class off of Amazon, so it gets here on time.

Him: Sure - how much is it?

Me: Less than $10 - shipping included.

Him: Oh, okay. Good. Will I be able to get reimbursed for that?

Me: Umm...you should be able to. Normally I would order it myself through the budget, but given the time crunch, it might be best to go ahead and order it yourself. Unless you want to take a chance and wait for the budget approval to go through.

Him: No, no...I'll go ahead and order it. But you're sure I'll be able to get reimbursed, right?

Me: Riiiiight.

Now I know he's got 3 (4?) mortgage and 3 (guessing!) car payments to make a month. But it's just my gut feeling that that $10 spent on his textbook isn't going to leave him hungry at the end of this month.

Regardless, I will make sure the reimbursement check is available for pick up, and not mailed to him. That way he can run to the bank and cash it ASAP.

PS. I just saw my debut in his welcoming ceremony video here at FSU. In case you don't want to watch the whole thing - I come in at 00:51. No judgement - there's not as much food on the plate as it looks!
faith4jesus247
It's.....registration day! Yay! The best part! Where you get to ask other people to spend money on you, rather than having to spend the money yourself! Exciting! We'll be keeping it pretty safe and hitting Target and Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Typical, I know. Pretty sure Pier One and Macy's won't get looked at as much, and I sure don't want to get my hopes up on any items there! Although we're still joking (being serious?) about registering at Lowe's. If anyone is up for buying us a toilet or a portable dishwasher....just let me know!

My new(est) boss stopped by yesterday to sign his travel authorization form for an $8,000 trip to Sydney. $599/night for the hotel. Wow. I'm working on trying to convince him of the major benefits in taking me along. Like carrying his luggage for him (as long as it's not too hea
vy), making restaurant reservations on his behalf (that include me), and planning out sight-seeing adventures for his free time (I'm sure he'd love to hold a koala!!). Yes...I think I can do it. There's got to be SOME perks to working for a ridiculously overpaid 35-year old, right?

He asked me if I watched South Park yesterday. When I told him "no", he proceeded to repeat several lines of his favorite episode in high-pitched voices. Which inevitably resulted in me giving him a look of amusement/confusion/pure ridicule, while informing him of my surprise in his choice of spare time activities. He informed me that South Park was created by an economist. Righ
t. Thanks. Now that makes perfect sense. *rolls eyes* Good news is he's not coming until August 9th (I thought he would be here for good on Monday). So I have this weekend to focus on wedding registry, next week to focus on VBS, and less than 2 weeks trying to figure him out before I take off to get engagement pictures done and a week (plus some) long trip to Holland. August should be fun. :)
faith4jesus247
Per Kara's request, here are some before/after pictures of the dining room

And the kitchen:

I forgot to take the final picture of the living room - so that will have to come later!
faith4jesus247
I'm one of those people who has always been too afraid to call into a radio station for any reason. Prizes and giveaways included. But last week, one of the radio stations I listen to announced that they were giving away a $500 cash card to the 105th caller. No questions, no games, no trivia to get through...you just have to call. So I began calling! No luck the first day. Just busy signals and an annoying beeping sound telling me that all circuits are busy and my call cannot be completed at this time.

Then I recruited Chris in on the calling spree. Me from work, and him on the cell. They are doing this 3x a day....for at least the next week. Chris calls on Friday and gets the 100th caller. So close!! This morning I call and am the 10th caller, but am never able to get through again. And just now....attempting to win for the 3rd time today....I was the 101th caller. Ugh! My heart started pounding and I had already spent the money when I heard her say "You're caller one hundred and..."

Let down. I will win. I will accept a gradual step up in the call line everyday (102, 103, etc.), so that by Friday, I'll be on the radio for the first time accepting a $500 cash card. :)
faith4jesus247
I played hookie this week. I couldn't help it. I woke up Monday morning, and was truly stressed, tired, and overwhelmed with stuff that needed to be done. So I called in sick. Or emailed in sick. Same thing. :)

I had gotten my water bill the day before. My budgeted $20 water bill was an outrageous $258. Problem with the pipes? I think so! I called the water company and then my landlord and found out that the main pipe under the house had busted and water has been running constantly for several weeks now. Awesome. Landlord fixed the pipe, and the water company reduced my bill. But not down to unrealistic hope of $20. Blah.

The majority of the day, though, was spent finishing the house! I just wanted the house done, floors cleaned, and open for company. Which Chris and I were able to accomplish, finally! My once over-crammed box of a house suddenly feels empty, now that boxes are unpacked, items are put away, and unnecessary clutter is thrown out. But at least it's clean!

Tuesday I went to work, and my lingering treadmill wound began to burn and itch extremely bad underneath the bandage. When I took the bandage off, my knee was slightly swollen and covered in bright red bumps. Slightly worried, I told one of my bosses about it. That boss looked at it, and suggested I go to a clinic during my lunch break, fearing it might be a staff infection. So I went to my other boss, explained the situation, and was told that if I decided to go to the doctor, not to worry about coming back.

Well....I didn't think it was an infection. So I worked through lunch until 3, then went home and went to bed. :) Money well-saved! I've been putting rash cream on it for the past few days, and it's clearing up nicely. Comically, it's a prescription cream, so there were no questions asked the following day about my doctor visit! If only they had checked out the label...
faith4jesus247
I had to wait a few days to write this post, as I didn't want to the treadmill to have the last word!

It seems my mind is a lot more progressed in my physical ability than my muscles are. I've been dieting for a month now (up to 15lbs. lost now), but got stuck at a plateau. So I decided it was time to bring in the exercise. I got revved up, came home during my lunch hour at work, taped my 30-minute fat-burning workout plan to the treadmill, and started her up!! I began with a 5 minute warm up, before the instructions told me to increase to a level 8-9 speed for "1 minute of intensity". I was set on what speed I needed to go to be "intense". I was ready for it! So I punched up the arrow button to increase my pace. Whew! I was flying! Figuratively at first...then literally.

I walked for about 45 of the 60 seconds before I realized this was wayyyy too fast for my legs to keep up with. I started to panic, knowing that I was quickly losing the ability to keep up with the belt. And when I let go of the side of the treadmill to decrease my speed, I lost my footing all together and got swept off my feet into a pile on the floor, at the end of the treadmill. Unfortunately, I lost the safety key during the move, so I had a magnet in the safety key spot to be able to start up the belt. Which means, when I was flown to the floor at the end of the belt, the belt continued to run and create a nice line of burn down the back of my neck and back.

Chris happened to be painting in the kitchen and ran in to shut the treadmill off. I was bleeding and hurting pretty bad, and found that I had skinned both my knees, my elbow....and nicely bruised another part of my leg. Well....a 6 minute workout on the first day isn't so bad, is it? :)

Luckily...I hurt myself a lot. So I got back on for another try the next day. Success! No treadmill is gonna keep me from reaching my wedding goal weight. :) I've just learned to increase the incline, rather than the speed. Maybe in a few weeks, I'll be able to get up to the speed I was prepared to start out with!
faith4jesus247
It's quite different living in a house by myself, rather than an apartment or mother-in-law suite. I'm a bit more jumpy at night. Sleep hasn't come the easiest....and for the first time (ever?)....I'm waking myself up in the middle of the night, convinced I heard something outside. Mind you....I NEVER wake up in the middle of the night....not even to pee! So suddenly waking up at 3:30am for nothing other than my obvious paranoia hasn't been too great for my energy levels lately. This morning it was 6:00am. Thought I heard something....got out of bed to look out windows and check around the house. But there was nothing. I wonder how long this is going to last.

On the humorous side...the longer I live in this house, the more I'm convinced it's an old funhouse. Chris and I have been working on the kitchen the past week or so, and have found that the kitchen floor slightly slopes down to the center of the floor. So the refrigerator can't be placed straight against the wall, and the cabinet doors on the kitchen hutch won't stay closed, due to the forward tilt of the structure. All appliances will have to be rigged for proper usage. Fun, fun!

And to make living in my house even MORE fun....we have to schedule our potty breaks at least an hour apart, as the water pressure is currently not great enough to handle two flushes in a row. Yay! Who wants to come visit???
faith4jesus247
I'm ready to get this show on the road. Let's get married. Hurry it up. I could do this thing tomorrow (given I drop 40lbs overnight :) ).

I'm not, however, prepared to lose my level of popularity. What? Oh really? You didn't know I was that popular??! Well then....allow me to fill you in!

Smith is...currently...the top most popular last name in the US. Davis - 7th most popular. There are 2,182 others who are blessed with the name Amber Smith. Only 984 with the name Amber Davis. Consequently, on October 10, I will immediately become less than half as popular as I have been for the past 27 years. Sad, isn't it?

I was thinking, however, that I could INCREASE Chris's popularity by "allowing" him to change HIS name. There are only 6,387 Christopher Davis' in the US, and 14,153 Christopher Smiths!! It would immediately make him more than twice as popular!!

I'm such a considerate little fiance.
faith4jesus247
It's time for an update! I can't believe my last post was June 9th....time is flying!

Wedding plans are coming along well! I scheduled my hair and make-up appointment yesterday, which is nice to be able to check off the "to-do" list! And it will be half the price I had budgeted for hair & make-up...so I'm really happy about that! We got our plane tickets bought to get to our cruise ship (also less than budgeted!), and I've planned a trip to see my brother and sister-in-law next week, where I'll get to sample 3 possible wedding cake flavors. Yum!

Now the house renovations are a completely different story! I didn't get approved for a Lowe's card...which I'm convinced now is a good thing. I'm one of those that wants it all done at one time, not dragged out over a year-long period. So all house renovations are coming out of pocket. Which means the bathroom and the kitchen are on hold. However...somehow...between now and next Thursday...the living room, dining room, and second bedroom will be completely finished. I have a LOT of packing to do! We've been spending SO much time working in the new house, that I haven't even begun move things out of my apartment. And Chris just left this morning for (more than likely) a week and a half with the church youth group. Yay me! Anyone want to come help??So far, the master bedroom is the only completed project. I know most of you have probably seen these on Facebook, but I thought I'd put them on here for my own journaling purposes.
BEFOREAFTER
faith4jesus247

I've been shopping online for the house a lot lately, since I have very little to do at work...and I came across this rug. I love it. Want it for my living room. Just need to raise $250. Donations welcome.
faith4jesus247
When I was growing up, I had this permanent image of how my life was going to be. No "if", "and", or "buts" about it. I knew what I wanted, what I was capable of, and couldn't foresee anything getting in the way. I was going to go to college, keep at LEAST a 3.0 GPA, meet a wonderful Christian man, date throughout college, graduate with a degree in Elementary Education, marry that wonderful Christian man that same month of graduation on the very campus that I had spent the past 4 years of my life. He would be a minister of some sort - preferably a youth minister - and we would buy a house and have an open door policy where anyone and everyone felt comfortable coming and going as they pleased. We would wait 2-3 years before beginning a family, in which time I would become this life-changing teacher and amazing cook, blessing all those who I come in contact with, and supplying every house guest with a hot, chewy, fudge brownie.

Okay. A bit exaggerated. But not far off. And a few things went wrong along the way.

I got my first...(and only)....D. In freshman history. 3 times. I despise history class. I despise, even more so...that I was capable of getting A's in senior level classes, yet could barely pass a freshman level class. And I kept taking it over and over again, believing I could do better. But I stopped after proving myself wrong 3 times. Killer to the GPA!

Then I went overseas. Which was not in my "plan" for life. I wouldn't even sign up for the Spring Break Mexico trips. I was too scared. Scared of the language barrier, scared of offending people, and scared of...all things...getting lost in a foreign country. Random, I know. But with the persistent persuasion of a best friend, I gave it a shot. And fell in love. Fell in love more deeply with the unknown that I thought possible. I no longer desired a planned, predictable future.

And I dated. A lot. I wanted to be flattered over and over again after feeling worthless from a broken engagement. I sought out guys who gave me attention, not guys I thought I could marry. Made it difficult to meet my "married by 2005" quota! Not to mention - they were FAR from being ministers of any kind.

I didn't graduate with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. I didn't even graduate with a degree in Elementary Education. I definitely didn't get married that year, didn't start a family 2-3 years later, and my cooking skills are far from spectacular.

Life is good. Thank goodness for God's plans.
faith4jesus247

faith4jesus247
As I sit here eating chicken and brown rice, with a side of guacamole (yes, some of you may find that odd....especially at 8:00am), I'm constantly thinking about phone calls, research, and payments that need to be made for the wedding. We are only 2 weeks in, officially, and 128 days away from the big day. And we've accomplished a LOT so far! I'm so excited about what we've done, the help friends and family are giving us, and the changes the next 4 months will bring!

I feel I've done a pretty good job with the wedding budget (though Chris may argue a bit! :) ). Very reasonable, no post-wedding debt to take care of, and all major items accounted for. So far -
  • Wedding Photographer booked
  • Engagement pictures booked
  • Wedding Venue reserved
  • Wedding ring (mine) paid for
  • Invitations in the process (gift from a wonderful friend!)
  • Bouquet picked out
  • Chairs and runner priced
  • Chauffeur priced
  • Honeymoon cruise reserved
  • Located salon for hair and make-up
  • Wedding cake made by my sister-in-law
  • Plane tickets found (soon to be bought)
  • Wedding dress/veil/undergarments in closet
Speaking of the wedding dress - several of you know I bought this particular wedding dress a year and a half ago when Chris and I jumped the gun and considered getting married in '08. It's been in my closet since then, and I had ordered it 2 sizes smaller than I was at the time I tried it on. So I've never actually put the dress on, and it has been so long since I have even taken it out of the closet. Mom had me scared, convincing me that the size I believed the dress to be was a size bigger than she remembered it to be, so I pulled it out last night to check. Whew! I was right. I only have to lose 35lbs. to fit in it instead of 50lbs. What a relief! *sarcasm intended*

So this is why I'm eating chicken and brown rice for breakfast (along with a vegetable/cucumber/apple juice I made this morning - gross!). I was told that reversing the order of your meals allows your body to burn off the majority of calories taken in (usually taken in through your dinner meal) during the day, as opposed to sleeping on them at night. I'll let you know. I also dusted my treadmill off last night for the first time. I can do this!!
faith4jesus247

Now that things seem to be falling in place, I guess I can let the cat fully out of the bag! I've given bits and pieces...but here's the big picture of events. Chris and I have been planning on getting married for a while, but really wanted to wait until he secured a job, and we were able to get a ring, and set a date. And over the past few weeks...all of those things have happened! So here's what the next 5 months hold for us.
  • May 25, 2010 - Got the ring!
  • May 29 - Checking out possible wedding venu
    e and restaurant in Gatlinburg, TN

  • June 4-6 - Chris drives to Tennessee for furniture for my/our new house
  • June 11&12 - Painting days at new house!
  • July 1st - Official move-in day in new house
  • July 6th - First day of Chris's new job (though hopefully in training prior to that)
  • August 2 - Full payment for honeymoon cruise to Bahamas is due!
  • Mid-August - My new boss arrives.
  • Late-August - Tutoring starts again (evenings gone!)
  • August-September? - Engagement Pictures
  • September - Must have lost enough weigh to fit into wedding dress hanging in my closet! :)
  • October 10 (10-10-10)- Wedding day!
  • October 11 - Leave for cruise
Not to mention the small details of buying furniture to fill house and getting stuff in order for wedding. :) I'm sure it'll all work out.

So now you know!
faith4jesus247
I'm gonna hurt somebody. And I don't think that's the best thing to do right now....so I'll try blogging about it instead.

Chris and I have been trying to get some information from a company for 2 weeks now. When I first called 2 weeks ago, I talked to "R" (I won't out her online!) for about 30 minutes, explaining to her what I needed. She took down my information, quoted me a price, and told me that manager "G" would need to confirm that price by calling me the next day. So I waited. And waited. No phone call from the manager.

Then Chris tried calling 2 days ago, as we had an additional question to ask. He gets put on hold for 45 minutes (putting me over my monthly cell phone minutes), only to have someone get back on the line and tell him that only manager "G" can answer that question...and "she's not in today". Shocking. So I tried calling yesterday to ask for "R" or manager "G"....and neither of them are there.

Try, try again! I call about an hour ago....and get ahold of "R"! Yay...progress! I would rather talk to "R", since she was so nice the first time, and was able to answer all my questions. I sweetly remind her of our call two weeks ago, throwing out random details of our conversation two weeks prior. To which I get the response:

R: Are you sure it was me? You didn't talk to someone else? Maybe "J"?

Me: Ummm...noooo. I'm completely sure it was you. I wrote your name down after our conversation.

R: Okay. Tell me what we discussed again?

Me: Well...you told me that you wrote down my information, quoted me a price of $____, then let me know that manager "G" needed to confirm it. But I never heard back from her.

R: Yeah...we just moved offices around a bit here, and it seems I've lost a few files. I don't have your information anywhere. Can we start again?

Me: Suuuuureee....no problem. *proceeds to go over exactly what I told her the first time*

R: Okay...that's going to be $____.

Me: What? That's 3x the price you gave me two weeks ago!

R: Yeah...I don't know why I would have given you that price before. Let me put you on hold and go check real quick.

*Is on hold for 20 minutes*

C: May I help you?

Me: Umm....yeah. "R" put me on hold about 20 minutes ago to get a price for me.

C: Okay, I'll transfer you to her.

Me: *dumbfounded*

R: Thanks for calling, how may I help you?

Me: It's Amber again. You put me on hold, and then never came back.

R: I don't know what happened! I went and got a price quote, and when I came back, the light wasn't blinking, so I thought you had hung up!

Me: Then how did "C" know I was on the line.....?

Ridiculous! If I wasn't soooooo interested in their product, I would have given up a LONG time ago. She assures me that THIS time, she has all my information. I'm supposed to talk to Chris and call back on Tuesday to let her know what we want to do. I really hope the price doesn't jump again in the next 5 days!
faith4jesus247
I just love change. It's fun. This week has been crazy busy, as I was told last week that I would be moving offices at work. We have a new bigwig coming to town, and I have been assigned to work with him come Fall. The best part about it all is that I got moved down to the 2nd floor...which is where there is little to no hallway traffic. :) Out of sight, out of mind!! I love my new office space, and it's a ton more private and quiet....no offices around me...and I'm playing my radio, as we speak! Which I couldn't do in my old office, for fear of disturbing others. Yay!

I also got the keys to my new HOUSE....which is ALSO why I've been so extremely excited lately!! I currently live in a 1 bed/1 bath mother-in-law suite....which has been a wonderful blessing in starting to live on my own, but came furnished, so hasn't ever felt quite like "home". But randomly, one day, my dad called and asked if I would be interested in renting a house. Suuureeee...why not?? I went and saw it that same night and totally love it. It's small and cozy - a 2 bed/1 bath 1951 house that I have the privilege of doing whatever I want with. Finally! A place I can make my own! I move in July 1st, but got the keys last week. So I've already gone to pick out paint colors for the house, and have been looking at furniture pieces online a lot lately. I'm just so dadgum excited!

The wonderful (and not-so wonderful) part about the house is that it's on an acre of land. Which is GREAT...if I had a lawn mower. Not so great when I don't have one, and they are pretty expensive to buy (the riding ones, of course! :) ). But this picture is of the backyard - a perfect spot for a new hammock!