Update on life

Boy howdy, but life is busy these days.

It's about to get a lot busier too.

At a glance:

• working on completing my application for nursing school and all the insanity that that entails
• the Country Music Show that Darren performed in was last night (he's quite a hottie, in case you didn't know)
• church stuff, of course
• wedding stuff (i.e. spray painting a never ending supply of centerpieces)
• took the HESI this last week and made about an 86 on it (97 on the English Comprehension section.....it's a shame I don't like that kind of junk more).
• I won't mention what I made on the Science portion

I really like what my girl crush on rockstar diaries does with her "my life according to my iphone" posts, so I think I'm going to start doing something similar....if only to make it so that I am not the only one who ever sees the pictures I take on my phone.

These are sooo not in order.

Not wanting to feel out of place last night at the show, I treated myself to a very on sale pair of pleather boots from Target. I can't tell you how cool I feel when I wear them with my skinnies! Just don't let me walk in front of any mirrors else I see how much they dwarf my already short legs.

 He has this dream of being a grandpa. Hence the uniform.

That is a tiny model of the starship Enterprise.

 He's a dessert hoarder.

Let.me.tell.you.what.

A patient at work gave me a recipe a few weeks ago, and due to her appearance (she has enjoyed some good soul food in her life....you can just tell), I knew it would be good.  And it reeeeally really was. Pinterest me here for the directions.

Now, if this doesn't just strike straight to the center of my sappy heart...

Long live Mr. Strait and his oh-so-delicious ways.

I. love. this. song. and this movie. soooo much.

Almost as much as I love Darren...cough cough

;-)

Items of Business

...or, as I like to refer to them: IOBs.

1. I hate hate hate hate hate loath hate loath hate hate HATE the University that I Kind of Attend. Hate.

2. If you need a good laugh and/or to feel better about yourself, please read this story from Holli's blog. I. was. cracking. up. Out loud. I'm so glad nobody was in the office with me.

3. Darren's show is this weekend! I'm pretty excited. However, he's a little under the weather, so let's all pray that his little crud goes away ASAP.

4. Darilyn, my lovely sister-in-law/designing maestro, has just about completed the tedious process of getting the invites ready to go. She sent me the design tonight, and I am muy excited! They are darling, and so perfectly me. She has a gift. Little stinker.

5. According to the doctor, I'm way more stressed than I realize. Those weren't his exact words, but last week I had the MOTHER of ALL cold sores. And by that I mean I had three whoppers clear across my top lip and a little into my cheek.  The pain and disfigurement were so intense that I decided to go to the doctor. I've been raised with the understanding that doctors are there to save lives and not administer band-aids, so it was definitely humbling to admit to him that I was there just cold sores, especially when I've had so many in the past and none of them required a doctor's attention.  But it was totally worth it. He gave me a beast of a horse pill regimen to follow and my lip is almost 100% normal again! There are still a couple of dry scabs, but that's just a little matter of tissue repair. It will happen.

He blamed stress.

I blame life for giving me that stress.

By the way, that meant 10 days of no smoochies with Mr. Hottie. That's right, I'm pretty proud of us too. It was kind of awful. Sigh.

6. To go along with the idea of humbling myself to go and see a doctor, I developed a nasty and ITCHY rash about a week ago, and though I attempted to get in to see him on Friday, he was not in for the day so I had to go in early this morning. The good news is that it isn't contagious! Yay! It also isn't shingles. Yay! It also isn't a fungus. Yay! It also isn't an STD. Yay! (I know I'm not in any danger of contracting such a disease, but after all the lip herpes jokes Darren and I have been making, I couldn't help but Google, "Can HSV-1 turn into HSV-2?". The answer is no.)

Doctor believes I had strep last weekend, and since it went untreated (all I knew was that I had a horrrrrible sore throat...which probably should have been a dead giveaway) the antibodies created reacted with my skin in a nasty way.  So now I have antibiotics and steroids to knock out every last danged bit of infection my body thinks it needs to harbor. 

7. I'm getting married in a month! Ahh! So much to do. So much to look forward to.

Like, for instance, having inconsiderate apartment neighbors. 

I've missed having those.

Not.

The awesome news is that Darren spoke with his manager about the parking space next to his that hasn't been used in months, and Manager basically said "No sweat" and the next day our apartment number was painted over that space. Heck. yes. So now we both get to park 2 feet from the back door. Ntz ntz ntz. (that's a wicked awesome music beat....I'm dancing my happiness.)

9. Our quest for inexpensive/free furniture has proved fruitful. We are so blessed in that department! Through various families having to find different living arrangements at church, there have been a fair number of furniture items basically up for grabs. Tonight's spoils mean that Russell will have a couch and a love seat. Darren and I are going to be proud new owners of a microwave (YAY!), a toaster oven, and a queen-sized bed for the second bedroom. Thankfully, we already have couches and a nice dining table from a family that moved away about 6 months ago.

10. One of our massage clients is an awesome old lady who laughs like Archimedes the Owl from The Sword in the Stone. Her and Coworker Courtney do nothing but crack each other up in that room....I tried to record how loud they laugh through the wall today, but of course they had a quiet spell when I pulled out my camera. I want to be a funny old lady like her. 

Do the gym boogie!

There's a new Darren in town. He goes to the gym every night.

On this particular night, his girl came along. She figures that if she and her [soon-to-be] husband are ever going to be that couple, they better start hitting the gym together.

(That couple: the hot one who works out every day. His figure is mean and lean and her tooshie is firm and adorable.)

So the new Darren and his girl may or may not be me and my Darren....the only absolute I can admit is that we definitely don't look like that couple. Yet.

I made it a whopping 5 minutes on the treadmill. Go me! Perhaps taking a running hiatus for the last 3 months wasn't such a great idea.

I did take the first few hundred steps toward a firm tooshie though. That. stair. machine. is. hard. And I'm pretty sure I had it on the Wuss Setting.

I debated which stairs to get on. One was right in front of Darren's treadmill (sweaty behind shots, anyone?) and the other was a little further away, where he could have a pretty clear view of my burning red and wheezy face. I chose the one where he could watch me labor to breath, but I'm still not sure that was a better choice.

I felt like this little guy:

I'm pretty certain I looked like him too.

The good news? ZUMBA IS IN MY NEAR FUTURE!

You might want to pull up a front row seat for that fiasco. It won't take long to prove that I haven't an ounce of innate rhythm, however, I bet if we're all honest with ourselves we will realize that it isn't the good dancers we love to watch. It's the train wrecks that bring us the most pleasure.

Just see for yourself:

(And that, my friends, is why we shouldn't gamble.)

(Also, he's a better dancer than I. Zumba should be....something.)

My handsome Valentine

I've never been so excited for Valentine's Day before! I guess that's one of those perks of being with someone you care an extra lot about on what was already one of my favorite days of the year.

Seriously love hearts, red, pink, flowers, and all such gooey nonsense, no matter my relationship status.

Darren likes to tease me, as I mentioned earlier.....I knew I had something coming....something I would like, I just couldn't imagine what.

We exchanged gifts in the Outback parking lot before going inside (turned out to be a foolish mistake....1 hour and 20 minutes wait. That would have been an opportune time to kill time.) Anyways. I gave him my gift with the understanding that he would give me mine inside the restaurant, but as I was about to get out of the truck he changed his mind and instructed me to close my eyes. So I did. Quite nervously. I heard him moving the back of his seat around, then I heard some scraping and jostling.  Believe me, my imagination was at a total loss of what it could be.

Then he told me to open my eyes.

I was not prepared to meet the most darling second hand clarinet I have ever seen! I have been talking about wanting one for several months, but haven't found one I'm willing to spend money on.  He bought it (haggled for it, rather), had it fixed up and recorked, and even got me some cork grease. After goofing around with it a bit, I attempted a song and didn't sound half bad.

The best part is that my curse of not being able to react properly to gifts I receive is virtually cured whenever the right person surprises me in just the right way.

I feel so loved.

Now, before we get lost in his amazing ability to make me happy, let's get a little selfish and focus on my successful crafting attempts that were totally on his behalf:

I canvased a couple of our favorite engagement shots! I played around (see: tried really hard to do it right) for a day thinking it would be a breeze, which it wasn't (it should have been, but I'm Craft Stupid).

The point is, I really love how they turned out, and I will be making more.

And because I took pictures as I worked, there will be a tutorial posted soon enough.

That's right. A tutorial. Because people who craft successfully are automatically qualified to teach.

(Honestly, I just want to brag about every little detail....but if you get a notion and decide to copy me, that's just as well.)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

It's been a long day

Happy Very Early in the Morning Monday!

1. I took a Benadryl induced nap earlier today, so now that the hangover has worn off I'm more awake than I'd like to be at this late hour. But have no fear. Nothing quite puts me to sleep like laying in bed and typing. I'll be out in no time.

2. Good news: my lips are the right size again
Bad news: they are still covered in bloody fever blister scabs
Good news: the scabs are healing
Bad news: they hurt like heck
Good news: I'll get over it

3. Darren is back from drill! Yay! It seems it's getting easier for him to be gone for those days, but at the same time it kind of feels like he's gone for weeks and weeks (which I know in the grand scheme of military absence isn't that significant, but I'm a newbie, so I appreciate the slack. I'm sure it won't last forever). This summer he'll do a 4 week training out of state. I am okay with this, but the Emily in the back of my mind is having a mild panic attack. She's not sure I can handle it, but I know I can. I might cry myself to sleep every night, but that's totally handling it, so it's all good.

4. Stake conference was this weekend. I have an ugly history of not paying attention, mostly because I end up in the metal chairs in the back.  However, my brother in on the high council and my sister-in-law was directing the choir which left three little boys in need of a sitter, so my mom reserved us space on the very front row. Right in the center.

It is a lot easier to pay attention when you can see the speaker's nose hairs.

I might have to start a new tradition of getting to conference 2 hours before it starts instead of ten minutes.  That way I get a cushy seat AND I'm bullied by my proximity to stake/mission/temple leadership to stay alert.

5. I am so excited to marry Darren. He is everything I've ever wanted in a husband, and I know he cares about me. Win win. One thing I love about him: he likes to surprise, but he can't keep a secret.  This usually means that I know there is something to be known, but everyone around me actually gets to know. I am the same way....Valentine's is coming, and everyone we know seems to know what we're doing for each other, but neither of us knows what to expect.  It was the same story for Christmas.

The honeymoon reservations are another example. I'm dying to know where we're going, but he wants it to be a surprise. So instead I got to leave the room while he showed my sister the website.

I love his guts.

Things to be excited about:

1. I totally crafted successfully last night! This particular post from blogging buddy Erin is all too familiar. My plans never turn out.  Even at the little summer crafting classes put on by the schools I never saw a lot of success.  I'm not sure how you take a task so simple it can be taught to thirty 2nd graders in a 45 minutes time frame and botch the nonsense out of it.

But I happen to excel at just that.

Anyways, I can't tell you what it is or post bragging photos just yet, because it is kind of a Valentine's surprise for my darling baby buggabuggaboo, but after that believe me, you WILL see, and you will all be impressed! (I hope...)

2. They. are. making. a. movie. version. of. Les. Miserables.

Starring HUGH JACKMAN as Valjean.

Be. still. my. heart.

And let's not forget, RUSSELL CROWE will be playing Javert.

Um, let's just say I've waited a very long time for this, and thus far, I am incredibly pleased. Those happen to be two of my very favorite pieces of eye candy actors, and Les Mis ranks...probably at the tippy top, as far as favorite musicals and stories go.

Go check out IMDB for further information concerning the cast, which may or may not include a few of my other faves, such as Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway (never thought I'd call her a favorite, but I realized when I saw her name on the list that she is....she will do a fantastic Fantine). Sacha Baron Cohen, who I've never seen in a movie (mostly because he likes to make only the raunchy kind), but I have heard nothing but good about his talent, and in my mind he seems aptly matched to his role as Thenardier.

I've been listening to it for days.

Julie told me the other day that she gets to go see it in Houston in May. I am insanely jealous.

The movie is apparently set to come out in December, which is FOREVER away.

I don't go to the movies all that often, but I can assure you, The Hobbit (also December...) and Les Miserables both have my heart. I'll skip meals to pay for those tickets if I have to.

(And, just to clarify, not the book The Hobbit.  I suppose it's time to give it another shot, but as a 9th grader I thought it was nothing but torture to have to read it.  However, the movie looks amaaaaazing).

Por que?

Is there ever a convenient time to be sick? Heck no.

Every time it happens I declare to myself repeatedly, "I DO NOT have time for this!".  But it changes nothing.

I suppose my biggest beef at this moment is that I actually went to bed last night with a little over 8 hours until my alarm was supposed to blow (amazing, right??).  The thrill of that alone made me want to fall asleep.

Guess who has been tossing and turning for the last 3 and a half hours because she has a knife in her ear and throat, and every little swallow shot her mind straight to a painful consciousness of the situation?

Ugggghhhhhhhhhhh....so now I am sipping a gross concoction of hot honey, lemon juice and water, hoping to at least take the edge off of the throat pain.

If I have to miss tonight's pre-conference dinner with the girls I am going to be tiiiicked.

Phone blog!

1. I just discovered that there is a Blogger app for fancy phones, so I'm giving it a whirl right now. I apologize for any possible error you may find.

2. Rhamey went to a new home today. I have mixed feelings about it, but I'm hoping/praying for the best. I put an ad up on our local classifieds website and got a call this afternoon from a sweet sounding girl. She and her associates came by to meet her and took her away. I know they'll take care of her, I just can't help but miss her like crazy. She needs to be babied. I hope they will do that for her. And for me. I'll probably have a good cry before I go to sleep tonight.

3. I'm totally prepared for Valentine's Day =) ...I can't tell you how much this pleases me.

While I'm busy procrastinating

1. No more misplaced apostrophes! I cringe everytime I read something like, "I was going to pick up the basketball's and tripped". That is a random example, but seriously... all I can think is, "THE BASKETBALL'S WHAT?? WHAT DID THE BASKETBALL LOSE?!"

2. I need to prepare the Relief Society lesson for tomorrow, but I'm procrastinating. As usual.

3. I am learning this John Schmidt piece on the piano.  There was once a time when I could play the first two pages flawlessly (no longer the case), but then the music disappeared for a very long time. I broke down and purchased it a few weeks ago. I am re-in love.

4. Anybody interested in attending the Country Music Show that Darren is performing in, hit us up for tickets! $4 each. Not a bad deal....and you could even sit with me. I'd like that a lot.

Just don't judge me if I start tapping my heal to the beat, because I just can't help it sometimes.

5. Emily and Erin, gracias for the tax tips.  The mom and I are going to investigate!

6. Russell (Darren's roommate) is in need of furniture (preferably free) for his future new home. Please keep your ears open!  He already has a bed and a dining table coming to him.  And I've already been looking (and will continue to look) at the local craigslist-esque websites.

7. I did not have to go to work this morning (am sad to lose the money, but I'll get over it).  It's because the rain was coming down in TORRENTS. My back yard was flooded, the ditches were all centimeters away from spilling into the streets, I learned once again why a lot of houses around here are built on cinder block piers. It. was. insane.

Anyways, I am a big rain wimp as it is, so I spent the whole morning trying to work up the nerve to call the boss and back out for the day, but I didn't want her judging me, and I needed the money.  When I finally did work up the courage, I called her cell phone and nobody answered. So I decided then that I was being ridiculous and needed to get my make-up on.  Just then, my favorite enabler (AKA Mr. Hottie) called to inform me that road conditions were less than favorable and that he would prefer I stayed in. Decision = made. So I called boss lady's house phone, and she was quite gracious in granting my request.

So I still don't have any make-up on.

8. Despite the weather, I hope you all have a fantastic Saturday! =)

The to-do list is slowly becoming to-done

Today feels so productive!

Not only was I ready to walk out the door on time, but I wasn't even really aware of that fact until I was in the car.  That sounds goofy, but to not be anal about checking the time over and over again and make it out in a more timely manner than the other 99.9999999% of my mornings is kind of a huge deal.

I found out that I can still apply for the Fall 2012 nursing program (no thanks to that rotten university for adding another pre-req...but it's cool, I can still apply and take it in the summer).

I registered for the HESI! For those who don't know, that is the entrance exam for nursing school. Don't ask me what it stands for.  I'll make up an answer if you really want, but I don't know what the real one is.

It is pronouned "hessy". Kind of like "hussy", but not.

I bought Mr. Hottie's wedding band!!! I'm almost more excited about that than I am about my own ring. I really hope it fits, and I canNOT wait to see him wearing it!

Totally not my achievement, but our honeymoon reservations are made! Go, Mr. Hottie.

Yesterday's productive achievements:

I finally remembered to go pick up my friend's study guide book for the HESI. Yay! Now I get to spend tons of time practice testing my smarts.

I filed my taxes! GO ME! Except we did it wrong (Darren, feel free to not gloat...we weren't wrong where you thought I was wrong. So there.) =)

The error is mildly advantageous...it should mean getting money back.  Because from where I stand, I got a WHOLE dollar back.  I opted to apply it to next year's taxes.  I'm really hoping the fix will make that a bigger number. Much bigger.

Changing the subject:

My coworker has introduced me to some adorable websites that happen to have some modest swimsuits on them. Shopruche.com and Unique-vintage.com. Also, my little sister bought this from Forever21! (I'm totally buying it from her...).  There are so many more delicious options available to me this year than last year, and some of the prices aren't too shabby either.

I think I want these really bad to wear for my wedding. My main color is pink, and I need a little color pop in my wedding ensemble. Opinions?