just a general update

i feel like i have been way out of the blogging world loop lately. so here is a general update of what has been going on with me:

- i spent a week in mexico visiting my friend Karen & her hubby Heath. I went with Kristen and other than being sick to my stomach majority of the time, I had a blast. We traveled to another Mexican state and saw some ruins and some speciality crafts. but my favorite part of the whole trip was when kris, karen and I finally got to just chill by ourselves (there were several other people visiting too) and really talk and catch up! it was fabulous! oh and we saw "The Proposal" it was stinkin hilarious! 

- i almost missed my connecting flight on the way home bc of customs, i literally had to run to the plane in dallas... which meant my luggage didnt make the plane and wasnt delivered to me until 2am! 

-as soon as i got back, Justin's dad and little brother came to visit for a few days. so we of course decided to put them to work! the pate family (the twins, sheldon, kirk (dad) and i) stained our kitchen cabinets a dark walnut! we applied a gel stain and got new hardware.... guys it looks incredible! i promise to put pics up soon but we are still finishing one thing. 

-then right after they left i had a girls night at Mel's with Duke, Amanda, Eleanor and Heather! It was super fun and is just always like therapy to my soul to spend time with them. We had a giggly time trying to use my new "bumpits" in our hair and eating of course! Mel and I are officially "retired" now... at least thats what her father in-law said we should call it! 

-since then i have been at church nonstop getting ready for vbs! decorating, shopping for supplies and food, preparing lessons etc is quite exhausting. last night i went to bed at like 9:45pm! we have vbs wed-friday of this week. i am teaching the preschool area and they are so stinkin cute! 

- also this week i have had two job interviews! one with WKU and one with Southern Foods. I felt good about both, but time will tell. 

- and my thyroid levels are once again way off! i did some labwork and found out i am extremely hypothyroid again (low thyroid) which is really strange bc i have felt more energetic and better than i have in a year lately! so anyhow, they bumped my dose of medicine up and we will see how that goes. 

i think thats all i got... hopefully i be back on track to post regularly now. 

Two became One

Ok so i have been reading a new blog and she does a series called "Show us your life", which of course is right up my alley! So this week is:

"Show us your life- Wedding Party and Flowers/Ceremony

My girls: (left to right) Karen Neal, Misty Donoho, Jilli Donoho, Me, Rachel Comer, Kristen Van Pelt

Girls who should have also been bridesmaids! Amanda Brainard (sang), Melanie Crady (read scripture)

My wedding party consisted of:

Karen 'Cooper' Neal: We have been bestfriends since high school. She is now a missionary in mexico with her hubby, Heath.

Misty Donoho: She has known me since I entered the world, because she is my big sister! She was my Matron of Honor, and I love her to death! She is now a 3rd grade teacher and is married to my bro in-law Ashley.

Jilli Donoho: I have know her since she entered the world (Ha) because she is my oldest niece! She was my flower girl and is now 10 years old (oh my gosh!!!). 

Rachel 'Duke' Comer: We have been bestfriends since college, we lived in the same freshmen dorm and became super close our sophomore year. She is now a Kindergarten teacher and is married to another good college friend, Comer. 

Kristen Van Pelt: We have also been bestfriends since high school (along with Coop), but i hated her in middle school (i was silly- of course it was over a boy!). Kris was my roommate all four years of college- we made it without killing each other! Ha! She is now an archeologist living in Arizona.  

* Amanda Brainard: Amanda sang at my wedding (with her hubby Ben) but should have been a bridesmaid. We have been bestfriends since our senior year of college, where we bonded over Survivor! She is now a stay-at-home mom to cute little Eleanor and is married to Ben! 

* Melanie Crady: Melanie read scripture at the wedding but also should have been a bridesmaid. We also became besties our senior year at WKU. Mel is like me and currently looking for a job (or retired ha) and is married to Jeff!

** For some reason

 when I got married I wanted the wedding party to be really small... not sure why. So that is why I didnt include Mel and Amanda. Looking back it is the first thing I prob would have changed... but they were with us the whole time and we had a blast! 

Flowers/Ceremony:

Justin and I got married February 4, 2006 (2-4-6 as my husband likes to point out), I think at 4:30 in the afternoon?? cant completely remember the time. i always wanted to get married in the winter bc there are less weddings and it gives you something good to remember about my least favorite time of year! It was neat bc we left for our honeymoon in snow and returned in snow... but got to enjoy 85 degree weather in Cancun for a week!

Our Ceremony was very quick, but to the point. We basically wanted everyone there to know that this marriage wasnt about us, but it is about Christ and showing his love to the world. TJ (our campus minister and my boss) officiated and did a great job. We pretty much didnt have any flowers, bc it was February and everything was so expensive! So he stage just had candles all over it and then my bridesmaids and I carried homemade bouquets made with fake flowers (which didnt look the best but I didnt really care). 

Oh weddings! feel free to write your own post and leave the link in a comment here or head over to Kelly's Korner and link up there! 

estoy en mexico

well i have been in mexico since last saturday visiting my dear friend karen (and her hubby heath) with my other dear friend kristen. we leave for home tomorrow, and while i am supper excited to see mr.pate, i am a little sad to go. 

i just wanted to share a few photos and let everyone know i didnt fall of the face of the earth, i just ventured to a different part of it. 

confession...

confession: i love to watch movies and tv dramas. i love a great story line... wait i love any story line, great is not a requirement. but that is not the confession. the confession is that when the show is over, i am sad. actually disappointed! 

here's my routine: i rent a dvd. i watch the dvd. i then watch every extra thing they have put on the dvd (deleted scenes, bloopers, behind the scenes, etc). and then i sit here and almost lament that its over. why cant i have more??? 

i am sure this sounds like the weirdest and lamest thing ever, and you are probably wondering why i have the urge to tell the blog world all about this. well here is the thing, tonight i actually started wondering why i do this. 

here is an example: earlier this year one of my students let me borrow her one tree hill seasons on dvd. i was a big fan of the show in college and had not watched it since. it is an hour show (well w/o commercials it is probably 40 something minutes) and there are like 20 episodes at least each season. so it would take the average watcher at least a few weeks to put a dent in one season. how long did it take me? go on, guess...

like a weekend for each season... yep. now before you start judging me and thinking i must not do anything but sit and watch tv all day long, just wait and hear me out. the reason i do this is not bc i have alot of free time. in fact, i gave up sleep to watch those shows. why? 

b/c i am addicted to the story. any story. once i get inside a story i want to be there forever... i am the girl who is still thinking about what the couple from the movie's life would be like five years down the road days after i watch the movie. i am the girl that will talk about the character like they are my best friend that i grew up with. i am the girl... you get the picture. 

so this still bears the question- why? well tonight (after watching and loving Confessions of a Shopaholic and getting disappointed when alas it was over) i realized it is because i long to truely be in peoples lives. it is because i long for community. God made me that way. and thru movies and shows, you get to see into character's lives and inner thoughts. i just eat it up like a drug! 

but real life isnt like this. we put up masks and talk on the surface and are too busy to really see past the surface of each other. this, i think, is why the entertainment industry is so lucrative. because we all long for the "non-reality" it is selling us. 

so i am endeavoring to give more effort to be real face to face with people (as opposed to simply on my blog), and less effort to squeezing every drop of life from my redbox-rented-dvds. if you see me, hold me too it! 

thoughts on getting a job #4

DONT LOOK AT THE CALLER ID...

Well I havent posted anything about the job search in awhile, mainly bc there has been nothing new happening to report. I have applied for many many jobs. I had a phone interview on Tuesday for a position at WKU, so maybe something will come of that?! but back to the tip...

why no caller id? bc once you have applied for a million jobs, you are really just in a waiting game. 

waiting for them to call you for an interview.

waiting for them to cal you and tell you that you did not get the position. 

waiting for them to call you and tell you they still exist and didnt get blown up by a silent bomb that no one knew about and thats why it wasnt on the news.

you get the picture... waiting.

well lately i have noticed how my heart skips a beat each time the phone rings during business hours. then when i look at the phone number and i dont know it my heart leaps in my chest! it is about a job!! yay!!!... no actually, it is the eye doctor confirming your appointment for monday. hopes shattered...

so the best thing really is to ignore the caller ID. dont get your hopes up, just answer the phone and go from there. this will alleviate any unnecessary stress on your heart and keep you from any awkward disappointed voices when you do answer the phone and it in fact is not about a job. 

so what kind is your favorite?

I have discovered that the blog world is kinda like Baskin Robbins- there are many many flavors. There is a blog devoted to every subject you could think of... babies, parenting, marriage, being frugal, working out, (as previously pointed out here) hair styles, dating, books, movies, tv shows, pop culture, decorating, baking, cooking, photography, etc etc. Like everything else today, "you can have it your way" in the blog world too. 

a friend mentioned to me the other day that she was obsessed with pregnant blogs right now. This got me thinking... does everyone have a favorite kind? A month or two ago, I wrote a post stating what my two favorite kinds were... but I do believe they have changed since then (I have gotten deeper into the obsession prob). 

So I want you to share: What is your favorite kind of blog?? If you are having a hard time just putting one, you can give me your top three! 

Sabrina's Top Three Kinds of Blogs:

1. Everyday Life Blogs (where people just share daily happenings about anything)

2. House Decorating Blogs

3. Parenting/Baby Blogs (Jamie I am going to blame this one on you...)

Ok people, spill!