It's official...I'm a sell out.

So, these particular shoes...

Have been popular for years.

And I have never understood why.

Sure, they may be comfortable.

However, I have a little too much self-confidence to sacrifice style for comfort to that degree.

I have always spoken out against ever buying anything from the Croc brand for myself, because I don't like them.

That being said, I have had foot pain every single shift since I started working at Family Video two years ago.  Sometimes, after an especially long shift, the pain radiates up into my legs and back.

When I work several days in a row, there are mornings when I wake up, and I literally can hardly walk, because I'm sore and stiff.

I've always just thought it was part of having a job where you were on your feet.

But lately, I've been pretty fed up with it, and decided to do something about the pain.

We were walking by the crocs in Dick's sporting goods today, and I saw some crocs that didn't look like the normal crocs.

They looked like this.

And I thought "Hey, those aren't bad at all!" 

And then I put them on.

And oh. my. gosh.

They are so unbelievably, fantastically, wonderfully, amazingly comfortable.

So I bought them.

And I am so excited to get to wear them to work, because they are going to make my feet so much happier.

So do I feel like a bit of a sell out? 

After years of talking about how worthless Crocs are?

Yes. 

Yes I do.

But I don't care too much, because my feet are so happy.

And on a completely, random, seperate topic,

My mom had an excess of raspberries this year, so she made jam and canned it.

She's awesome.

And she gave me one of her jars of jam.

And I have had a bagel with cream cheese and raspberry jam practically every day since.

delicious.

It's been a great week so far.

Ready for more.

♥

A lot of randomness.

Worked my last 18 hour day for a while on Friday.

It was my last day of student teaching.

I cried.

I have learned so much, and am so thankful for the time I got to be there. 

I had about a million goodbye cards, and I will love them forever.

Then I worked all day Saturday, and then Jamie and I went out and joined the masses of the last minute shoppers, because I decided I wanted a new dress for Easter. 

I had something really weird happen to me, when shopping though.

For the first time in a very long time, I felt super uncomfortable and unhappy with my body.

It took me a very long time to come to terms with the fact that I will never be a size 2, and to learn to love my body the way it is.  

But for some reason, while trying on dresses, I had this attack of self-consciousness.
I actually cried in the dressing room, and told Jamie "I feel humongous! I hate it!"

It actually kind of freaked Jamie out a bit, because as he said "In the 4 years we have been together you have never voiced any kind of concern like that to me at all." 

I was able to pull myself together after a few minutes and a husband pep talk, and have a good night.

I'm still a bit shaken from it though, and don't really understand why it happened.

But anyway, this is the one I ended up with:

I'm really happy with it, it's super cute.

It'll also work great for the 3 weddings I have to go to this summer. 

More than anything, I was just excited to get to spend the evening with Jamie.

We still don't see much of each other, and we can't wait until the school year's over, so we have more time together. 

We also had our grandfather clock delivered!

Jamie's Nan left us that clock specifically in her will, and I know he is so thrilled for it to be at our house finally.  It looks amazing.

The picture totally doesn't do it justice, but I hope you can at least tell how grand it is. 

I love it.

I was a bit worried that the chime would annoy me at first, but it's actually very quiet, which works perfectly for us.

And then yesterday for Easter, we were going to drive to Rockville and spend it with Jamie's family, but after church Jamie just wasn't feeling well.

He still isn't, and the doctor told him today that he is not allowed to go back to work until wednesday.

I think it's a combination of exhaustion and a cold he is coming down with. 

He just feels totally run down, and exhausted all the time.

Hopefully these two days off will help. 

(And I'm pretty thrilled about having him home with me tonight and tomorrow night.)

So, instead, we spend the evening of Easter taking naps, watching movies, and studying at Arby's. 

It was actually really great.

I'm excited about a lot of things.

School being almost over, Summer, more time with Jamie, my garden, and vacations, including a visit to see Misty very soon! 

Yay!

But now i have to go do homework, to make sure that I pass this class and can enjoy my summer. 

Uggh.

♥

Oh happy day!

Guess who got a new iphone 4G for valentine's day, 

AND

Got off work an hour early?

THIS GIRL!

 I also found the cutest new blog to follow:

Good Day Sunshine

On it, she had a link to Brigada Creativa,

where she found this super cute calendar!

You fill in a portion of the heart for the day based on the time you have spent/type of interaction with your significant other!

I think it is so cute!

Well, I'm off to put my music, contacts, etc. onto my new phone!

♥

The sick monster speaks..

Blogging while watching Ellen. 

It's a good morning. 

But, it's been kind of a crazy week.

This past friday, we took our kids to the vet.

What. A. Nightmare.

Seriously, how could these cute, sweet, adorable little faces...

Become such monsters!

It was so awful, the vet actually suggested that we "pre-medicate" next time.

As in drug them.

Yeah, that bad.

Minnie (yes, my 5 lb. baby) had to be muzzled, and they had to hold Emma down with a towel over her head. Awful.

But, at least they have their shots, and we don't have to do it again, for a year.

Thank goodness.

On a different note, my husband is an awesome handyman.

We have been wanting to put another counter in our kitchen, so I had more counter space. 

Because I have little to none. When I baked, I would use the stools of our breakfast table to mix on.

So, a few nights ago, Jamie put in our new counter! 

It's awesome, because we can use it like a bar as well, so we still have kitchen seating.

Yes, it's missing a stool in these pictures, I was using it as a table in the living room.

Also, he picked out our new washer and dryer, (because i work ALL the time) and he did a fabulous job. And, they came yesterday!

They are amazing and wonderful! 

They are high-efficiency, so good for the environment, and are practically twice as big as our old ones.

They have digital selection screens,

My dryer has a light in it, 

And it has lots of fun features, like spinning the washer once every hour to keep your clothes from mildewing if you can't get them out right away. 

Wonderful. Absolutely awesome.

On an crummy note, I have been sick.

Really really sick, again. I got a cold on Saturday night, and then yesterday, it was hideously awful.

My nose was running, I couldn't breathe, and it had moved into my eyes, so they were constantly running, and my nose was rudolph red, and painful.

And I still had to go in for a 9 hour shift. 

But, I was working so slow, and my boss, lord love him, came to help, and while he had good intentions, he added about 1 & 1/2 hours worth of things to do. 

It became an 11 hour shift. 

I was absolutely miserable. And then I got in trouble this morning by my other boss(ish), we're technically equals, but she has 4 years seniority, for having help come in.

Well great. Thanks for that.

Anyway, I didn't take a picture of myself, because it was hideous, but this is the sign I made for Jamie as I was falling asleep, hopped up on Nyquil.

We often make signs for each other, as we miss each other due to work, school, or sleep.

And yes, ladies and gentlemen. 

This is how I looked yesterday. At work, and at home.

It was so horrible.

But, today is a new day, and I slept for 12 hours, so I am feeling quite a bit better.

Thank goodness.

One last thing, I got my bridesmaid dress for Amanda's wedding!

It was a lot of fun.

She did what I did, picked color, length, and fabric, and then we picked the style. Here is the dress I picked!

I was the only one who picked a non-strapless dress. This is the sample, so it was a size to big, and was clipped in the back. 

Here is the dress in the right color, on the size 2 (barf) DB model.

I'm excited.

School starts next week.

Trying to enjoy my time as much as possible before that. 

Here we go.

♥

Everyday Adventure, and Random Thursday Thoughts...

Our Washer broke last week.  

Seeing that it is 20 years old, and we bought it at a garage sale,

I'm not shocked.

But, I had already not done laundry for 2 weeks, because of the craziness of work and final projects.

So, our lovely little washer, decided to break the day I was going to do laundry.

Thanks for that.

Well, while we've been trying to figure out what to do about it.

I ran out of clothes. 

and Jamie ran out of clothes.

And we were out of clean towels. 

and using our last pair of clean sheets. 

So yesterday morning, I got fed up, and decided that we should go to the laundromat, and then buy a new washer this week. So, we took an everyday adventure to the laundromat!

You may think I'm kidding about the volume of laundry, but I have proof.  This is every dirty article of clothing in the house, and we took it all to the laundromat with us. 

It was ridiculous. 

When we got there, I had to run and pick up laundry detergent, because of course we forgot it. 

And then we put all the laundry in.

We took up ALL of these industrial washers, including the giant one on the end, PLUS one more, and an equal amount of dryers.

Again, ridiculous.

By the time we were done, Jamie had only 30 minutes to leave for work, which he was super grouchy about.  We ended up having an argument about his attitude, which he called and apologized about. 

Crazy morning.

________________________

I know in the blogging world, randomness is usually saved for "Totally Random Tuesday" (as can be seen here and here.) But, I'm an individual, and decided to do it today. Plus, I don't want to wait until Tuesday to share my thoughts. 

_________________________

Got my parent's Christmas Card today, and they used on of my wedding pictures on it! I thought it was really cute.

I love that Dex is on their card, when they teased me about my furry kids. haha

_________________________

Minnie has it made this winter.  Last year, Jamie had to shovel her a big flat spot for her to potty in, every time it snowed, so she doesn't drown in the snow.

This year, he took our screen off before the first big snow (not like we will be using it this winter) and made Minnie a "potty hut."

All we have to do is keep the "entrance" clear, and she's good to go.

She said "Thanks, Dad!" by licking him in the face 80 times.

Oh wait.

That's normal. 

Well, either way, I know she appreciates it. 

_________________________

I hate mandatory overtime. 

(That's such a stupid concept to me anyway. How can you REQUIRE someone to work overtime?)

Thanks SDI, for stealing my husband again, just when I was excited school was out so I could see him more.

But no.

He now has to work 3PM to 3AM until the end of the year.

Awesome. Back to falling asleep alone.

Grrrr.

So, because I haven't seen him at all this week, I took Asia Wok (the best Chinese food in town) out to him last night, and we ate dinner together! 

It was awesome.

I tried on his hard hat, and safety glasses. I think I'm going to start wearing them daily. Not. 

_________________________

Monday (yes, the day after that big snow) I was still required to drive to the east side of indy, to go to a meeting at my school for student teaching, because IPS only closes if it's a weather emergency. 

What should have taken me 30 minutes took me an hour and ten. 

When I got there, the meeting lasted 20 minutes, so we went upstairs to meet our mentor teachers, and mine was gone, on her first sick day in four years. Awesome. 

So, I drove home (it only took me 50 minutes that time).  What a lame morning. 

But, I did get to see the school, and get oriented with it. 

I will be in a fifth/sixth combined math classroom.

Oh man.

Talk about a challenge. 

Sixth graders and math.

But, I'm kind of excited about it, at the same time. It's going to be something new and fun.

Just wish I could meet my teacher, so I could stop worrying about that.

_________________________

My Ball State roommate Sarah got engaged this weekend!!

She and Jared have been together 6 years, (so it's about time!) 

She called me the other night to tell me about it, she is on cloud nine!

I am so excited and happy for her, he's a great guy. 

She told me her mom has already made a list of venues, lol.

And, I am going bridesmaid dress shopping with the lovely Amanda, for Amanda and Joe's wedding next year!

We are all going over Christmas break.

So Excited!!!

They are seriously the cutest couple ever, and I am so excited to be a part of their day!

_________________________

Well, I'm out of here.

Have to go clean my house. 

Yay....

♥

Eventful Weekend

Well Hello there.

Much has happened since my last post. 

I guess I will go chronologically, since that seems like the most logical way to do it. 

So, here we go.

I had mentioned in my last post that we were going to Wal-mart at midnight for my $9 tupperware, and that was the only Black Friday shopping that we were going to do.

Well, I was half right. 

We got to Wal-mart at midnight, and there was literally no place to park. Jamie dropped me off, and I ran though the store, under the caution tape, through the clothes department, and grabbed the tupperware.

Then, I went back the same way (yes, back under the caution tape) and got in line.

I was way excited.

This is me in line at midnight. You can see a glimpse of the madness behind me.

Well, while I was waiting in line, Jamie noticed a Blu-ray player. For only $70. But...not until 5 AM.

I said "Yeah Right." 

He said "No, we can wake back up and come."

I said "Sure babe, I'll come with you."

Now, let me clarify that I only said "sure" because Jamie is the worst person that I have ever met about getting up for things. Sometimes I literally have to drag him out of bed for important things, like work and school. So, in saying yes, I did so with the knowledge that when his alarm went off at 4:30 AM, he would just shut it off and go back to sleep. 

Problem solved.

So I'm sure you can imagine my shock and horror when the lights flipped on at 4:30 AM, and he hopped out of bed, and said "Come on!"

So, unable to go back on my word, I got up, and we drove to Wal-mart and bought a Blu-ray player.

It sucked.

Then we went home, back to bed, and both got up for work at 9 AM. 

Gross.

That Friday evening, though, after a gruesomely long day of work, my mom took me to Keystone mall, and to Teavana, and bought me a new really cute tea tin, 2 oz. of Ayurvedic Chai White Tea (thanks, Misty,) and 2 teacups for my birthday! She's so sweet.

Afterwards, we went to Beni Hana, and we had a glorious, amazing, delicious dinner.

It was nice to spend time with her.

And then Saturday morning, Jamie was sick.

Again.

He stayed in bed all day, nauseous, and had to miss Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family, which is his favorite. 

So, he was bummed about that, and so was I.

But, my mom made me an amazing coconut birthday cake, because it's my favorite!

It was so delicious!

And then on Sunday morning, I let Jamie sleep, because he hadn't been feeling well.

And then when he got up, and was feeling better, we decided to be productive and go Christmas Shopping!

So, we started at Mass Ave, then went to Keystone Mall, then to Michigan Rd, and then back to 3 places in Brownsburg!

We shopped ALL day.

It was exhausting.

But, at the end of the day, it was really exciting, because we got all but 3 presents!

That's amazing for two huge procrastinators.  I was proud of us.

But then we got home, and realized that since we haven't done our christmas decorating yet, there was no where to put the presents. 

Oops.

So, here is where they are for now. 

Poor Jamie has had to significantly reduce his homework space.

We should be fixing this sometime this week, though.

And, we got Minnie a cute new Christmas Sweater, and Emma a Kitty Condo. 

They are both so cute!

But, then the day turned bad.
Really bad.
I started having really bad heartburn. I don't ever have heartburn, but I just assumed that's what it had to be.  I had an intense, burning pain from my stomach, behind my sternum, to about my collarbones. I just decided to try and sleep it off, and hope it was better in the morning.
Then, at 3:30 AM Monday morning, I woke up in serious pain. It hurt so bad behind my sternum that it was hard for me to breathe, especially deep breaths or yawns, and my shoulders hurt, and BOTH my arms were tingly and numb all the way down to my fingers.
I was concerned, but I've never been one to just rush to the hospital for every little thing.
So, I called a 24-hour immediate care hotline, and described my symptoms to a nurse.
And she told me to go to the ER.

So, Jamie drove me to to ER, and we got there about 4 AM Monday.
I was concerned about my heart, but they did an EKG, and ruled that it definitely wasn't that.
Which was a relief.
They also did a Chest X-ray, took blood twice (and missed once,) and did an ultrasound of my internal organs.

It was a rough 5 hours.
Finally, around 9:30 AM, the nurse comes in and tells me that it was a severe acid reflux episode, and that they are prescribing me Prilosec.
But, they still couldn't tell me why my arms went numb.
Which is weird.
But, I guess I should just be thankful that nothing major was wrong, and they've given me a clean bill of health, other than acid reflux.
It just sucks that we had to spend 5 hours in the ER to do that.

I will say that I am so very overwhelmed by my husbands love for me.
He spent 5 hours laying across 2 wooden chairs in a 4 foot wide space to be with me.
Even though it totally de-railed his Monday.
I am so appreciative of that.

So, finally after all of that, this week has gotten back to normal.
and by normal, I mean crazy busy.
I have two major homework assignments due within a week of each other.
And by major, I mean can decide by themselves whether I pass or fail this semester.
So, I am going to focus in on that for a while.
Just saying.
I will be glad when school is over, and I don't have to be a lonely, homework driven, hermit.
Seriously.
♥

"You're just to good to be true..."

I had an awesome birthday at Howl at the Moon last night!

Guess who got called on stage and serenaded for her birthday?

Yup. This girl.  

It was awesome. I requested "Can't take my eyes off of you" by Frankie Valli, and wrote on the request that it was my birthday.

He said "This is too good of a song to not sing to someone. Julie, come on up!"

It was seriously cool.

Today was Thanksgiving, and it was actually really good.

We went to Jamie's aunt and uncle's in Rockville, and then back to my grandparent's in Jamestown.

Despite the crazy running around (and the fact that I was not feeling so great for the first half of the day), it all went really well. 

It was the first holiday that I have really enjoyed in a while.

And now Jamie and I are hanging out and watching Avatar for the first time. 

At midnight, I am going to Walmart, because they have a 40-piece set of rubbermaid tupperware for $9.

Woah.

I have to have it.

But, that's the only real Black Friday shopping that I am doing.

Oh yeah, except that after work tomorrow, my mom is taking me to Teavana for my birthday.

Excited!

Oh, and I forgot to mention yesterday what Jamie gave me for my present.

I have been sponsoring a little girl named Rosa through Compassion International since I was 16.  

She is a (now) 10 year old girl, who lives with her grandmother in poverty in Equador. Her parents were never married, and her grandmother is only employed seasonally.

I can honestly say that it is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.

Compassion is a Christian program,  that not only gives good food, medical care, and education to over 1 million children in 26 countries, but it also gives them Christian teaching, Bible education, and teaches them to love God.  One of the coolest things about compassion is that you get to send and receive letters from your child, and they tell you about their lives, and ask about yours.  You can send pictures, stickers, coloring pages, and anything that will fit into a flat envelope. 

Rosa often sends me letters telling me that she is really trying in school. I love that, because I know that even though she may not be the best student, because of me, she is trying, and has opportunities to succeed.

Well, for my birthday, Jamie agreed that we could take on a second child.  I have been wanting it for a while, but the finances just weren't there. But, now that I am working more, we are able to do it. So, yesterday, I chose a little boy named Emmanuel.

He is 3, and lives in an AIDS affected area of Kenya.  He lives with his mother and one sibling, and his father is deceased.  I am not sure if it is because of AIDS or war, but I am so excited to give him a chance to learn about God, and provide solid meals, medical care, and an education to him.  I felt that his name was so very fitting, because it is God that has given me the ability to help him.

I am so happy to be his sponsor, and I am so excited to get his packet of information, and be able to send him a letter and pictures.

I have to say, it's been a really great couple of days.

I will leave you with a link to Compassion, in case you want to check it out.

♥

Happy Birthday to me!!

I enjoy this video. It makes me smile. 

I've had a good couple of days.

Yesterday was the last day for us to be in the classroom at ABE.

These are some of the cards that the students gave me at the end.

They are so awesome!

They really make me smile, 

and remind me why I am killing myself to get this degree.

I'm just taking it easy today.

Jamie and I spent the morning together, laying in bed until 10:30,

and then he took me shopping!

It was really fun!

I got a new gorgeous winter coat, 

and some boots, which I desperately needed,

because all I have are my flats, and my feet have been freezing.

He's at work now, so I am just hanging out, taking it easy, which believe me, is a gift for me.

Tonight, my friend Emily and I are going to Olive Garden (YUM) and then she won a party at Howl, so we are going there tonight, and then Jamie is meeting us out!

I'm excited.

And tomorrow is Thanksgiving, which will be nice as well.  

And my mom is making me a coconut cream pie for my birthday on Thanksgiving!!

Best present ever, because Jamie doesn't like coconut,

and I love it, 

so I never get it.

Well, i am going back to my relaxing, 

so I will leave you with my method of waking Jamie up this morning.

It's called the "Minnie Mouse Wake-up call."

And, Emma helped.

Pretty awesome, and effective. =)

♥

Much needed date day with my awesome husband!

Slept until 10 AM.

Then cuddled for an hour.

Haven't done that in since our honeymoon.

Amazing.

Jamie showed me the surprise he got for us!

I'm super excited about using it.

Then we went to the winery and spent our huge honking gift card.

It was awesome, we have a great wine collection now.

Some amazing stuff, we got to try them in a tasting.

Stopped by metropolis.

Got Jamie a new sweater (which I love)

and me some new bras (that I won't be modeling.)

Stopped by Panera for lunch, and had an amazing meal.

Black bean soup and a caesar salad.

Yum.

Then we took a walk around the neighborhood,

and enjoyed the beautiful colors of the trees.

We also collected some fall foliage 

(which left a nasty dirt residue in my pocket)

And made an awesome fall table centerpiece.

Then off to dinner at Outback Steakhouse (Jamie's pick)

and had a free dessert coupon.

This is the result of that wonderful thing:

Woah.

And here we are now.

I love him so much.

This day has been exactly what we needed. 

We have just been smiling, laughing, hugging, kissing, holding hands, and having an absolute blast

all day.

I love married life.

And I love him.

I refuse to think about going back to the craziness tomorrow.

I'm just going to enjoy being his wife.

♥