I don't think you heard me...

I asked for HELP...capitalized "help", not just a regular "help", and I'm not going to lie to you, I feel let down. As I previously posted, on Monday I took my first ARE exam and I really have a bad feeling about it. Out of 105 questions, I feel CONFIDENT on only 40...um, that's not going to make me pass the test. Some questions were so ridiculous that I actually laughed out loud and basically picked the answer that looked the prettiest.

So I say again, I don't think my call for HELP was answered and if I fail, I'm blaming all my friends who read my previous post, not my lack of education or performance.

I hope you all feel good about yourselves...

I'm confused...is Vessela at my bedside when I die?

Your Famous Last Words Will Be:

"So, you're a cannibal."

What Will Your Famous Last Words Be?

Note: Vessela is one of my co-workers that proudly stated one day, "If I were a cannibal, I'd eat babies". Because they are more tender of course!

My travels

Now, I understand that it's a map of the different countries I have visited, but the states are listed separately. Don't look at me, I didn't create the software. It just makes it look more impressive and like I've actually been to places, even when all of the states combined still equal one country.

What's up with Nevada? I supposed I've steered clear of it for some reason...maybe the legal prostitution...

HELP

I need everyone to send me good thoughts. I have just scheduled my first of nine ARE (Architectural Registration Examination) sections. It's for August 20th at 9 a.m. and I think I might have a mental breakdown. I think it's mainly in part because by scheduling the first exam means that I'm on my way to becoming an actual, official Architect and that's just scary. I mean, it's my goal, but somehow now that it's here and I'm on the brink of tasting it, it's really daunting. I don't feel quite ready to have reached my goal. Well, at least I can be comforted by the fact that there are nine sections and I have two years to finish all nine parts.

HELP!

Bliss

I just hopped off the plane from Boston exhausted and starving, but I don't feel any of that because I just spent a glorious four days in Little Compton, RI (where the sun comes up at 5am! - which partly explains why I'm so tired) at our family cottage within a .25 mile walking distance to the beach. Every time I go there I am reminded that there are places on this Earth that are actually pure, quiet, and relaxing. There is a constant smell of lilies, cedar shakes, and salt water and it never changes.

The town has just over 3,000 residents and they just recently put up a cell phone tower...in the church steeple (not that it helps - no reception, but I loved it!). The scenery is idyllic and you can sit on the porch looking down the small paved road for hours, doing nothing at all, and loving it.

What made this trip more special for me than previous ones was that my mom, brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew were there. My mom lives in North Carolina and we see each other every few months, but my brother and his family live in Boise so I haven't seen him since my graduation over two years ago.

It's hard being so far apart so when we get to spend time together it's so great, but saying goodbye is very hard.

I spent most of my time playing wiffle ball, badminton, croquet, candyland, monopoly junior, sorry, flying kites, and going to the beach...all with my niece and nephew. We did spend one day in Boston with everyone which was great, but the time I spent with them at the cottage was unforgettable.

I have been around our friends children and have babysat many, but never have I been around children who look at me with their bright eyes and you can see the unconditional love, and that love is for me, just because I'm their Aunt. We don't see each other often and it's hard for them to know me, but for some reason that doesn't matter to them. They love me...and I love them, with all my heart. I never knew that such a powerful feeling existed, I can only imagine how you feel when you become a parent. I only got a small taste, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to love parenthood.

It is hard to be back in South Carolina knowing that they are again in Idaho and it might be two more years until I see them next, but I'm hoping that won't be the case. They are much too precious.

I thank my mom for bringing us all together, in a place where she has made so many memories, and I thank her for allowing me to make a very special memory of my own.

America the Fat

Today's rant has been brought to you by Cheeburger Cheeburger (explanation after said rant):

There are many reasons why I would rather live in a different country than the good 'ol US of A, and I find myself more and more rolling my eyes and saying "only in America". Our government is atrocious, our health care system is very sad indeed, we have poverty beyond belief (most of us though don't see the worst of it), gun toting maniacs run around shouting how the second amendment gives them "the right" to be *^%holes, I mean, to bear arms, materialism has taken over to where I want to vomit whenever I see another bitchy and spoiled teenager ruling their parents (I mean, seriously, children have zero respect for their parents these days and the parents share the blame with today's society), and it still amazes me that Americans still don't "get it" when it comes to obesity and what you eat directly impacts your life. I'm sorry, I know that it's almost the 4th of July, and I should be a proud individual, but I have to tell you, I'm not feeling the love. I'm not so proud to be an American. I know all countries have their fare share of problems, and that I'm lucky to have so many freedoms and live in a democratic society...but where has the society led us?

(If you are upset by my comments above I apologize, that's how I feel. you should hear me around Christmas...you would think that I want to strangle Santa himself - down with commercialism!).

The explanation:

Last weekend Morgan and I went to a restaurant for lunch called Cheeburger Cheeburger (which has very yummy burgers which are not good for you, but not bad in moderation). But, this establishment has a contest that if an adult finishes a 1 pound burger, their waitress will stop EVERYONE from eating and makes an announcement that this person has achieved a great accomplishment and we should all be very proud that they stuffed their faces...then everyone applauds and they get their picture taken with a over sized stuffed burger. I get so irritated when this happens because we should not be applauding people for stuffing as much food in their faces as possible. Food is for nourishment, not a game.

Well, the worst came last weekend when I discovered that they also have the same game for children. They have to finish a 1/2 pound burger and their picture is put up on the "wall of fame". We were sitting next to a table with a husband, wife, and three children. The oldest was a boy of about 11 years. The waitress kept coming over and giving him words of encouragement like "you can do it", and, "if you eat slower and take more time you'll be able to eat more". The boy is full! Let him be! Then I heard his dad say that he'll give him as much time as he needs in order to finish his burger. At the end, the boy said that he had to throw up and he left the table and walked outside to get air. When he came back in and said he couldn't finish the burger, everyone was disheartened. Then, his dad pulled out a five dollar bill, gave it to him and said, "this is for trying so hard".

So what have we learned here? We learned that not only was the waitress trying to help the boy along to eat more, but his dad was actually bribing him to "make him proud" by eating more. I was so disgusted.

Morgan tried to play devil's advocate and said that maybe the family didn't have a lot of money so the dad wanted him to finish all of his food. I quickly pointed out that if they were so hard for cash, I'm sure the dad wouldn't have dished out five bucks as a "good try" reward.

Only in America...

At last our castle is showcased!

So, seven months after we move in I finally have interior photos of our house. I haven't completed decorated it to my liking yet, but I thought I better get these photos out before we move. Enjoy!Living room, looking at the front doorLiving roomHallKitchenDining roomGuest bathOfficeMaster bedroom, looking into bathroomMaster bedroom, I installed the ceiling fan!Master bath

Treasure hunt

Last Tuesday evening, as I was taking the trash out, I had a miserable experience. As I removed my left hand from the trash can I noticed that my hand was wet (it had been raining) so I shook my hand and off came my wedding rings! They went flying right into the grass! You can imagine how I went through many stages of emotions. First I was stunned, then I was in disbelief, then I turned to panic, fear, you get the drift.

So, I went back in the house and found our flashlight and went back outside to hunt. This is where I remind you that it had been raining so the grass was wet, and everywhere I directed the flashlight each piece was illumintated and reflected the water, therefore it was impossible to see my rings. Luckily I had seen the general vicinity of where they landed so I directed my efforts to one spot and was lucky enough to find the ring with the diamonds. I was not so lucky with the other one.

After an hour of searching Tuesday night in the dark I turned my efforts back to the jungle the next morning, but I did no prevail. I searched again that night and Wednesday morning and decided that I was going to get a metal detector! I thought "that will do it, I'm golden!" only to do research to find out that it's next to impossible to detect platinum since it's not magnetic. Great. So I searched again Wednesday night and...nothing.

So, Thursday after work I took to turning into a crazy person. I took a snack (you know, because I can't work on an empty stomach) and a pair of scissors out to the spot in the grass and started cutting. I was 40 minutes in and I had cut a 4'diameter circle, and had blisters to prove it! I saw a patch of dirt and went to investigate. I dug into the grass and pealed back a piece of sod. Under the sod, standing vertically was my 5mm thin wedding band! I can't even imagine how it got in there. I blame it on the lawn knomes.

So after two days and a seemingly nervous breakdown (if you had been walking by a house and saw a girl eating a snack, cutting her lawn with scissors, wouldn't you be a little suspicious?) all is well again. So, I think I've learned my lesson. Sorry, hon, you'll have to take the trash out from now on!

5 years is longer than you think...

...Or so it seems at times. Morgan and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary on the 17th. We've been together for over 8 years so it didn't seem like such a big deal until I sat down and really started to think about it. I realized that, yeah, it is a big deal, it's a milestone.

To me, it seems as though every anniversary before 5 years still felt new. 5 years to me signifies that we've accomplished something and our marriage is an enduring relationship - like we must be doing something right (amazing since we were both so young!).

5 years ago we were 21 and 24, I had only completed two years of my undergraduate degree, and Morgan was still a graphic designer (or glorified type setter - ha! sorry baby). Now, I have a Masters of Architecture degree, a great firm I've been working with for a year and a half, and Morgan is now an Apple Certified Help Desk Specialist and the Production Manager of The Island Packet newspaper! We have both come so far in our professional lives and I don't think we would have been able to come this far without the support from each other in our personal lives.

So, how, you ask, are did we celebrate our grand milestone? well, we went out to dinner and exchanged cards...

Oh, yeah, and Morgan gave me a voucher for a cruise to the Bahamas! We're planning on continuing our celebration of our lives together in the Caribbean this fall!

Morgan and I ventured to Richmond Hill, GA this afternoon for the grand opening and ribbon cutting for a new neighborhood that my firm helped develop. I worked on the pool/clubhouse and outer buildings. It isn't finished yet, but it's about 70% completed. This is one of the first projects that I've worked on that is being built so it's pretty exciting to see. I can work on the drawings all day long, but it's when I get to see it built that I really feel proud of the work that I do.

Blah...

Everytime I sit down and try to write a blog post I feel that I have nothing important enough to say and my life is pretty dull. Last week Morgan and I were in Lowe's and he said something hilarious and I got really excited because I finally had some material to add to my blog. Unfortunately when we got home we both forgot what it was. Typical...

So, I'm just going to ramble...

This weekend was "baby bonanza" weekend for me. I had a baby shower to go to on Saturday and Sunday. I've had a friend or co-worker give birth January, February, March, April, one due in May, one due in June, two due in July, another in September and one more in October. Holy crap!

Last weekend Morgan's mom was here and I put together the long awaited t.v. stand and rearranged the living room. I also hung some shelves above the t.v. I really like the living room configuration now. I guess I'll have to take some pictures now and post them. Ah-ha! Another blog post idea! I have yet to post any pictures of the inside of our house.

I turned 26 a couple of weeks ago. Not a very momentous occasion, but I had many calls from well-wishers. Thanks for that.

I'm looking for an independant/single dental insurance plan...if anyone has any advice or companies they would like to recommend it would help. My company doesn't offer dental and I can't get on Morgan's until January. I really need to get my wisdom teeth out, but that's over a thousand dollars.

Morgan's eating ice cream right now...I think I'll join him. Thanks for joining me!

Christmas for Easter

This past weekend I drove up to Asheville, NC to visit my mom for a long weekend. It was a chance to relax and go antiquing. It was an added bonus that my grandfather (my mom's father) and his wife and daughter were down from Pennsylvania as well. We had a nice time visiting, dying Easter eggs and the best part...it snowed! I haven't seen snow for a while. I mean, I saw it in Colorado in September, but that was just when we were driving through the mountains. I didn't get to climb out of the car and experience it. So, this was a very nice treat. Christmas came early(or late for that matter) for me this year.

The World According to Mister Rogers: First installment in a series

I bought Morgan the book "The World According to Mister Rogers" for his birthday more as a joke because he loved Mister Rogers growing up and I could never stand the guy. Morgan would say "How can you hate Mister Rogers? He's Mister Rogers!". Now, I must say that I don't think I've ever said that I hated him, but he did irritate me. This book that I bought has quotes from Mister Rogers' show and his philosophies on life. So, in Morgan's honor, this is the first blog installment of a series I like to call "Mister Rogers' tokens of wisdom".

Page77:

"Forgiveness is a strange thing. It can sometimes be easier to forgive our enemies than our friends. It can be hardest of all to forgive people we love. Like all of life's important coping skills, the ability to forgive and the capacity to let go of resentments most likely take root very early in our lives."

Now, I hope we all learned something here today...

This one takes the cake...

Today when I came home from work I checked the mail like I do every day. However, today I had a special surprise. Just one letter, that's all that was in the mailbox. But, as you will soon discover, it was the most important letter I have ever, or will ever receieve, and I don't even have to open it to know. No, I don't have x-ray vision...it's pretty much written all over the outside.

On the front:

"God's Holy Spirit instructed us to loan you this to start turning things around for you. So, here it is. Use it and be blessed."

On the back:

"Dear God,

With our Bibles opened to St. Matthew 18:19, we humbly and sincerely pray on bended knees for You to anoint this letter with Your precious and holy power to meet the most pressing needs that someone is facing as they open this church letter of prayer.

Heavenly Father, we pray that this one who needs this divine help will write their needs on page two of this letter and will place this blessed, biblical, Acts 19:11,12, Handkerchief and this sealed Bible prophecy under their side of their bed as they sleep tonight.

Let Thy power from heaven descend upon this home tonight and tomorrow night, after this one has mailed their most pressing needs back to this 56-year-old church ministry. We pray that they will break open this sealed prophecy after sunset tomorrow. Amen"

And that was just on the outside of the letter, imagine what's in store for me inside!

Now ask me why I don't have "faith" in religion...stupid scam artists.

side note: I know all religions, most religions, don't practice in this manner, but can you see how they can get a bad name? It's a disgrace to everyone I know who has complete and total faith.

Huh

So, on my way home fron work today I stopped into a sub shop to get some dinner. I placed my order and proceded to wait in line while the woman made the sandwich. I was the only customer in there so she decided to strike up a conversation. This is how it unfolded:

Woman behind counter: I really like your skirt

Me: Thanks, yeah, it's really comfortable (side note: I bought it in a upscale boutique in Atlanta when I was there with a friend a couple years ago - very cute)

WBC: Yeah, when I buy that kind of stuff my husband says that I look like a hillbilly, but I say, as long as it's comfortable then I like it. Whatever, he makes money and his money is mine to spend, right? That's what he works for, for me to spend it!

Me: (blink, blink)

So, I now pose this question: Did the woman behind the counter in the sandwich shop who thinks that her husband is just there to give her money call me a hillbilly?

She said she liked the skirt, but that her husband calls her a hillbilly when she wears things like it. So, is she a hillbilly and she says that I'm like her?

I can't decide whether I was insulted or complimented by her.

Any takers?

Guide to Living with an Apple Certified Help Desk Specialist

Patience – for how most of their communication consists of words such as OPI, RAM, USB, FTP, IP address, and even a “Heisenberg compensator” for good measure

Patience – for how most of their dialogue between each other consists of Star Wars, Star Trek, and various science fiction movies and television shows

Patience – for when they decide that yielding a lightsaber at work and fighting amongst each other is a grand idea

Patience – for when they collect computers like women collect shoes

Patience – for all of the times they make you watch clips of Superman in HD just because it's cool

Patience – for their clothing choices

Patience – for their insistence on having all the newest tech toys

...and most importantly:

Pride – for when they have to leave you at night, against their will, to go into work and not return until 2 am to fix other people's mistakes, knowing that their efforts will go unnoticed and unappreciated by those who caused them...

I love my job...

It just so happened that a couple of days ago one of my co-workers got ahold of my blog address and decided to e-mail it to my whole office. So, just in case any of them (my bosses) decide to read my blog, I love my job...(insert nervous laugh here).

(This is where I thank my lucky stars I've never blogged anything bad about my job or anyone I work with).

So, fellow DWAans (I'll have to work on that one) enjoy my blog, and don't hold too much of it against me, oh, and you also might want to watch your back unless you want me telling all of your secrets to all of my faithful readers (a.k.a. my best friend from high school - yes Marvin, I do have friends - and my husband).

Quite the juxtaposition

As I'm sitting in front of my television at 9:58pm watching the end of "Tease" (a hairstyling reality show - I know!) I can't help but to laugh at how my life from day to night is like a bad manic depressive schizophrenic personality.

Trade by day: Architect - using my many brain cells to relate to clients, perform complex structural and design feats, dressing to impress, coordinating with engineers, and finding time to nourish relationships with my co-workers

Trade by night: Sloth and Glutton - wasting my many brain cells watching rediculous hairstyling reality shows while laying on the couch (to be fair it's not all the time and it's never any of the mainstream and popular reality shows (or maybe that's worse, at least I'm not a sheep!) - although it happens more often when Morgan isn't home). Tonight Morgan is at work saving the day, like most days.

So, what does this say about me. Do I care about who wins the "Silver Scissors"? No. But, I do enjoy not thinking for a while. By watching these senseless shows I am able to relax, de-stress, and not use my intellect (ha!) for a small bit...and boy does that feel good. So, Morgan can give me those "I can't believe you are watching this crap" look, and I feel confident in returning the "Don't judge me" look right back.

Lady Liberty

To all those nay-sayers, negative nancys and doubting "professional analysts" out there, all I can say is WE DID IT! I, of course, didn't have a doubt, but no one I talked to at or outside of work believed me. Mostly I heard, "Yeah, Boise State is a good team, but they're not going to win". Ha!

So, last night at 8:30 I anxiously sat down in front of the television with a knot the size of the state of Idaho in my stomach. I had to keep reminding myself to relax and breathe. We jumped out to a great start and I started feeling more confident. There were ups and downs throughout the game, interceptions returned for touchdowns, fumbles recovered...all were great highs...until it happened to us.

With a minute to go and the score tied (how did they manage to lose their lead ?! Ugh!!!) Jared through the interception to, what I felt, lose the game. I just kept having flashbacks of last year's bowl game in Boise against Boston College where we lost it with a Jared interception. I couldn't watch...well, almost.

The next couple of plays were performed better than anyone could have scripted. Morgan saw me go from cowering in the corner of the couch with a blanket over my head saying "Be ready with the remote to turn off the t.v. because I don't want to see Oklahoma celebrating" to jumping, screaming, and cheering at the top of my lungs and passing out on the couch from disbelief when they scored on the hook-and-ladder play. I think we have some new scratches on our wood floors from when I jumped up and scared the crap out of my cats and they went scurrying as fast as possible.

Taking it into overtime was amazing and I was on another high, then back down to a low as Oklahoma scored a touchdown right away. It wasn't looking very optimistic for our team until they ran the touchdown play on 4th and 2 when a wide receiver through the touchdown pass. Then the two-point conversion!!! How about that Lady Liberty?!

All I can say is that I needed to take another shower before I went to bed I was covered with anxiety lined perspiration and a complete feeling of disbelief, but I wouldn't have scripted in any differently. As someone at work said today, "That will be a movie some day", a story of a team battling against the odds, defeating the mighty Sooners, and, of course, getting the girl in the end (Running back Ian Johnson proposed to his girlfriend on the sidelines after the game - he's also the one who scored the winning two-point conversion). All I can say is...

GO ORANGE, GO BLUE, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT BSU!!!

It's Alive!

I've done a lot of things in my life, but up to today I had never tried my hand at being an electrician. 2 1/2 hours and a phone call to my dad later, my first ceiling fan (with light kit) was installed...and it works!

On a side note, I don't know if this is just a "dad" thing, or maybe it's just because my dad is an engineer and has done a lot around the house, but when I called him all I said was, "Dad, I'm installing a ceilng fan and it says to connect the wires, but I don't know how, what tool do you use?". He didn't even skip a beat, he went right into a five minute installation tutorial..."There's a white wire and a black wire...this connects to this...there should be plastic, cone-like caps to connect the wires..." it was as if he had everything memorized, he basically named everything that came with the ceiling fan kit. Maybe he's just "wired" that way. Regardless, he was a huge help and I wouldn't have been able to do it without him! Thanks, Dad!