Life and Cars...Part 4

Okay, okay, just kidding. There is not really a part four.

Though this does have something to do with vehicles. And it made me laugh that it happened today.

So for work I had to go to this development that has gotten SO huge, it is now been declared a township. This township is for the affluent of southeastern NC. (Read: old money and snobbery only allowed here)

The township has a guard station set up, so those who do not belong, can NOT enter. They are serious folks. No pass, no entry.

Thankfully, I have a subcontractors pass, and the nice security girl always smiles and waves as I come through!

There are signs, that say 'Welcome Home'...nice touch.

In this little township they have a fire station. It is cute.

However, what is NOT cute, is the thirty mile per hour speed limit the entire way through. It is a LLOONNNGG little windy road and it is hard to go thirty. Now don't get me wrong, I don't go crazy and all speed racer on this little township, in my hip, sporty, low profile piece of crapola.


So today, as I was driving a whole WHOOPING 38 miles per hour, I see this white truck pull in behind me. A white chevy that has these weird little green/blue lights going off behind me. And I think to myself, "Is this truck PULLING me?"

So yes, today, I got pulled by the Paul Blart of the township. It was a rent-a-cop. Now to be perfectly honest, I didn't know such a thing could happen. Armed with his white truck with Regent Security on the door, and a sweater that had been embroidered to say Security, he came strolling up and said, "So, do you know why I pulled you?"

Seriously it was ALL I could do to keep from laughing. So I said, "No sir, I sure don't.".."Well you passed me going about 38 miles an hour in a THIRTY mile per hour zone." Silence. "Can I have your license please?" I wanted to DIE. It was just too much humor for one girl to handle.

So he saunters back to his truck and gets back in. And I can't help thinking, what is he pulling my record back there? Five minutes go by and he comes back out. He comes up to the window, hands me his metal clipboard, and asks me to sign saying that I was speeding in the oh so holy township. But I couldn't help but notice, that my security cop was young, bald as a cue ball with bright blue eyes, and had L-O-V-E tattooed on the bottom part of his fingers...so of course I couldn't help but look up at him and ask, "Where's the Love?" To which he tore out my copy of my "ticket" handed it to me and walked back to his "patrol" truck.

So later this week, when I am back in said township, I will march myself down to the courthouse police station POA (property's owner association) and pay their stupid fine. (It better not be huge)

Life and Cars...Part 3

So to answer your question... I don't know what happened to the other lady. We had to ride in the ambulance together, but she didn't say what was wrong. She complained that her chest hurt (but not in a heart attack kind of way) and I think it was from the airbag. But I know that she was not seriously injured. Though I am sure she was sore and bruised as well.

After the accident, I decided that instead of going to get another vehicle, I would drive Sidnei's vehicle. He doesn't have a car payment on it (another incredibly ridiculous and long story) and so I would just have to pay for insurance. Let me just say this as a precursor: I am VERY grateful to not have a car payment.

Now onto why I HATE loathe dislike driving this vehicle.




1. It has two doors. I need four.

2. Two doors= limited space...do you realize that I carry samples with me? They are huge. Probably four foot tall. They don't fit as well as I'd like. I also carry tile, grout, thinset, and anything else that will fit.

3. You are probably wondering, what about the trunk? Well if you have a husband that likes to play with cars, then you'd also have the BIGGEST subwoofer EVER. It allows two inches on all sides of the trunk. Literally.

4. Also if your husband liked to aftermarket his vehicle to death, then you'd have ridiculous blue lights in your dash that a) blind you and b) send you into a seizure from watching them strobe as they were dying out.

5. It is manual. Did I mention I live in a tourist area? Tourists=stupid traffic.

6. My husband put rims on. They look pretty. They scratch easy...especially against a curb.

7. Of course with rims come low profile wheels. Low profile wheels blow easy. That is what started the Life and Cars posts.

8. Low wheels=Low car. Low car means that I literally fall into my car. Falling into my car means I have to get out. To get out, I grab the door and the side of the vehicle and proceed to PULL myself out. In a pencil skirt with a tiny slit on the front, that makes this task difficult. Not to mention all the guys on the jobsite watching the girl that pulled up to the jobsite in a sooped up vehicle.

9. A two door car = Looonggg doors. Long doors mean they are heavy. Heavy means that my shins have permanent dents and bruises from the door falling back on them.

10. Special Exhaust. Driving for 5 hours at a time, once I get out of the car, the droning doesn't seem to go away. It also makes it difficult to talk to people because the car is SO. LOUD.

11. The final thing (though I could go on forever) is sometimes it just doesn't want to start. I believe it has a mind of it's on. Usually when it is mad at me and wants me to be embarrassed, I get in the car, turn the key, and CLICK. Turn key again, CLICK. Turn key again, CLICK. Turn key again, VROOMMMM. Take it the mechanic...It is on it's BEST behavior.


Let me just say I am very in tune with this vehicle because I am putting between 900-1200 miles a week on it. FUN!

What kind of car do you drive? Do you love it? If not go get a Honda. And Honda, if you are out there and would like me to endorse you, I'd be more than happy to drive one of your vehicles. Just in case you were wondering!

Life and Cars... Part 1
Life and Cars...Part 2

Life and Cars....Part 2

When I moved home, drove a vehicle my Dad had (2002 Ford Taurus) for a couple of months until it was needed by another sibling. So I went out one evening and came home with this BEAUTY, Brand spankin NEW!


Oh, how I love thee...


This is the BEST vehicle I have EVER owned. It had everything I wanted (except a moon roof) all the bells and whistles. The best thing was the space. I could flip the seats up against the wall, take them out, whatever I need basically. It worked really well for work because I carry samples often, flooring materials, and lots of other things. It got great gas mileage and it was really very comfortable. Me and my Honda Element existed in perfect harmony for 11 blissful months.

Mishaps after buying brand new vehicle:

1)I slide into a SIX foot ditch. I was in traffic, didn't realize how fast the person in front of me stopped. So I went onto the shoulder, but just a little bit. Unfortunately it was a small shoulder and the ground was REALLY wet from rain. So I just kind of sank into the ditch. Thankfully I landed on my side softly. Unfortunately the line of cars in front of me or behind me didn't seem to notice I as in a ditch. So every just kept going. The car landed on the passenger side, so my door was facing up to the sky. I could not open that HUGE door by myself, so I had to wait until my Dad got there to open the door. Thankfully he wasn't far away!

2)Sidnei ran up under my mailbox with my precious baby. Don't ask how he did it. I am not exactly sure what malfunction occured, but I can tell you that I was just OVERJOYED that my hood had a HUGE dent in it.

3)Somehow, my front bumper had a huge crack in it. I don't know where or when it happened. I am thinking someone backed into me in a parking lot or a job site, who knows. But I was NOT happy when I found that out.

4)So this is not funny now, when I look back. Sidnei and I had traveled to RVA to see my mom. Somewhere along the way I must have run over a nail. As we pack up to go, I don't know if I noticed or if Sidnei noticed, but it was brought to my attention. Well, I was really worried about driving 300 miles with a nail in my tire. Sidnei insisted it would be fine and not to worry about it since it wasn't leaking. Well, I am a worry wart by nature and it would NOT be good if we broke down in the middle of nowhere NC on a Sunday night no less. So I kept talking about it and saying "No, we really need to get that out of there." (meaning let's go get it fixed) And of course, Sidnei just kept saying, "Stephanie, It's not problem. It's fine." Back and forth. So next thing I know I hear a PSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
At first I said, "What the..?" and then it was followed by expletives as I realized what he had done. In my Grandmother's driveway, he had PULLED OUT the NAIL. I wanted to KILL HIM. I mean KILL. So of course we got into a HUGE fight. Keep in mind it is also SUNDAY late afternoon. So I made him put on the spare while I went inside and ranted to my grandmother and cooled off. Needless to say, nothing was open so we had to stay another day until we could find a tire company with my special order tire (of course it couldn't just be a normal one everyone carried).

I am one lucky girl with vehicles right? But life goes on.

5)It was March 27th, 2008. It had been almost two weeks since I had come home from my honeymoon alone. I got into my vehicle around 7:45 heading off to work. I was about 3 miles away, when I lady pulled out directly in front of me. I was going about 45-50 miles an hour. I rolled my vehicle three times.

These are pictures from the newspaper:

The offending car



The undercarriage of my vehicle


The front view


If you look closely, you can tell that I really only clipped her with my driver's side. You can tell I was going fast because my little "clip" obliterated her front end. I swerved to try and avoid her, but it just happened to fast. So I clipped and flipped. But the integrity of my vehicle really held up. Honda has amazing saftey features in that vehicle.

Literally, the first lady that got to my car said "Oh my God, she's concious!" I was so very, very, very lucky. Let me tell you, that is one safe vehicle. It is so odd how things S-L-O-W down when you are in an accident. I remember thinking, "Oh my gosh I am going to die" and "Oh my gosh, I am never going to stop rolling." When I did stop, the first thing I did was wiggle fingers and toes, made sure everything worked. Then the lady came up and I started screaming to get me out of there. I panicked. Thank goodness it was morning traffic and all the nurses were on the way to work. It took three guys to open those HUGE doors and one guy to pull me out. The nurses immeadiately put me on the ground and held my head until the ambulance got there.

The only thing that was hurt was my mouth and nose from the impact of the airbag and my hand where I had a very bad air bag burn...that hurt worse than anything! That sucker burned for a whole week! Also I had a very bad abrasion on my neck from the seat belt (Thank God for the seat belt). Other than that, bumps and bruises. And of course soreness. Seriously though, I have no doubt that God was watching over me. I was securely protected by him and I thank Him always for keeping me safe (through it all, haha).

The other blessings that came out of it (and it is my belief that this is why it happened): Is that I no longer have a HUGE car payment to make. After I came home I had a lot of bills with Sidnei's business, final wedding bills to pay off, the honeymoon to pay off, on and on, and we had been cut down to my paycheck only. So money was tight. Not only that, but I was four thousand dollars short on the retainer for Sidnei's immigration attorney. How much did I have leftover after they finished paying the lien on my vehicle? Four thousand twelve dollars and some change. How amazing is that??

Stay Tuned for the Part 3 (and the last installment)of Life and Cars...

Life and Cars...Part 1

Life and Cars... Part 1

Let's just say, as far as vehicles go, I have not been the luckiest girl in the world. Take for instance, 6 months after I got my license I totaled my first vehicle. The 93 Chevy Lumina. It was not COMPLETELY my fault, but I take the majority of the blame. We were VERY lucky. VERY.

The next vehicle was the love of my Dad's life. An 89 Toyota Pickup. It was burgundy with pleather seats. The clutch needed replacing and the gears nearly had to be slammed into gear, but it had over 200,000 miles on it. Now, I did not wreck this vehicle. However...it was put to death headfirst into a tree. At about 4:30 in the morning. Not by me. It makes me cringe to even think about the circumstances. I was such an idiot! (there was no alcohol involved by the way, just plain stupidity) Needless to say, I had to take the fall (the alternative was MUCH worse) and to this day, they still don't know the truth. And to this day, I will NEVER EVER live down the fact that I killed my Dad's heart the day the truck was totaled. (Nevermind the fact that he had totaled it TWICE before me and had it rebuilt each time!)

The next vehicle (are you surprised I even got another one?? yeah me too) was $400 and an 86 Chevy Lumina poo-brown station wagon. We bought it from a good friend of mine at school. It was lovingly named the shaggin wagon, but I can assure you it was not because of any extra curricular activities going on in that vehicle. It was ugly as sin, needed a quart of oil every couple of days, the ceiling was falling out, left a lovely dust on our clothes, and we drove it on a wing and a prayer. Thankfully, I did not kill this car. (Though the little sister mauled it with a rock..ask her.) But we were definetely glad to sell it off to another poor soul...

After that, I left for college and was without car. That is until my sister came out to school with me the following year. My parents gave us a 2000 Hyundai Elantra! I loved that thing!! I did not wreck this one either! Though little sister happened to get to this one too...and tried to play it off like it happened in a parking lot! AH HEM. She worked with a friend of mine, who happened to over hear her and she was caught red handed! But lucky for her, it was on it's last leg anyway. The transmission kicked the bucket (along with the radiator and thermostat) and that was all she wrote for that little beauty.

After the Hyundai went kaput, I bought my very first vehicle! A 2002 Honda Civic. I LOVED that car. It was beautiful and amazing. She was mine, all mine! Here she is in all her glory...the only picture I have of her! This was in Moab, UT at Jeep Safari (so that's why she is so dirty)!


I drove it until I moved back east. I traded it in before I came back because I worried about driving it cross country by myself. (This was right after the freak winter storm in New Mexico where the guy died trying to go get help for his family...it freaked me out because it was February, and you just never know!)

Stay Tuned for Part 2! It just keeps going and going...

Life and Cars...Part 2
Life and Cars...Part 3

What a Wonderful Morning...

What a wonderful day, zip a dee do daaaaaaaa zip a de aaaaaay. (Is that how it goes? I never know when it's just sounds and not "real" words)

This is what I keep telling myself anyway.

As I sit in my car.


On the side of the road.



Very close to the pothole I hit that blew a hole in my tire.

Yay!



Please let the tow truck come fast.

And please let it just be the tire that needs replacing.

You gotta love life.

And the people that don't lock their internet so that I have something to do while I wait!

And:

I hate my car.

In fact later, I will post as to why I hate this car. In depth. Because I just feel like it.



**Update: It is ONLY the tire! I should be on my way soon!

Preparations

Having come to terms with my current situation, I am now preparing for my eventual departure.

Preparation #1- Download Skype. I have never used skype before. But it may just be the best thing EVER. Skype is a program that allows you to call others and if you have the necessary equipment, you are able to video chat as well. This will allow me to be able to talk to anyone in the states that also has skype for free! And for a fee (that is a lot less expensive than a regular call)I can call those that do not have skype as well! Yay!

Downside: My dinosaur computer neither has a mic nor a camera. So I can message all day long, and I can listen, but I can not talk back!

Preparation #2- Buy new computer with necessary equipment. Dell is having a president's day sale. And the newer model of my computer is about a 1/3 of the cost of when I originally bought it. So I am selling my laptop and another desktop that I have. Thankfully this will pay for almost the entire computer. It has more storage, more memory, a web cam, and I am sure a mic, but I should probably double check.

Downside: I would have to wait until March something or other to get it!

Preparation #3- In order to sell my desktop, I have to go to my storage facility and pull it out. So I went to storage. I thought while I was there, it would also be a good thing to go through Sidnei's clothes so that I can prepare a box to ship there. And find out if it is possible to get a bag together for him so that he can arrive in Brazil with something to wear.

Downside: There is a 5x10 full of our things. OUR things. The things that symbolize what it was supposed to be like. Presents that I couldn't bear to open by myself. Bedding purchased by my Mom that I was SO excited to use. Pictures that have never been hung. Furniture. Dishes. My wedding dress. His clothes still smelled like him. It was painful. I'm not ashamed to admit that when a box of clothes fell on me, I sat down on the floor and cried.

Upside: I stood back up, looked at these things, and said, Stephanie, these are just things. In the end, they don't matter. Am I still sad? Yes. I feel like we have lost a year of our lives. But I am grateful for what we have learned. It was quite the steep learning curve. I know, I know...I went all Hallmark special on you, but it really is what I thought.

Downside: After being in the storage center for two hours. Struggling to fit everything back in and lock it up. Figure out how to load everything in my amazingly small car, I have a sudden realization. I had found the monitor, the keyboard, and all the accessories to the computer. But not the actual tower. I wanted to seriously injure something.

Preparation #4- Language. I do not know Portuguese. I know southern. My relaxed words, slow drawl, and long I's, do not help pronunciation of Portuguese. In fact, I find that I quite often that in my head I say it correctly. What comes out of my mouth is an entirely different story. So in order to not look like a complete buffoon, I thought I would try to learn some of the basics. Thanks to a WONDERFUL sister, she ran into a friend who is learning French. She uses a site call Live Mocha which is similar Rosetta Stone online. It allows you to network with others that are using the same language, find native speakers that can review your work and assist you, and other things as well. And the best part is it is ALL FREE! I am going to take my first lesson tonight (if all goes as planned, since I have to go back to the storage center. ugh.) and I will let you know how I like it!

Downside: Thankfully, I can't find one for this!

Preparation #5- I need a bathing suit that fits me.

Downside: I have to try on bathing suits.

Preparation #6- Sidnei no longer has a wedding band and I would like to go and re-buy him the same one as he had BEFORE it sank to the bottom of the ocean.

Downside: I need his finger to size it. And the money to pay for it.

Preparation #7- I need to save money.

Downside: See 2, 5, and 6.

Preparation #8- I need to figure out the best way to obtain my visa without it taking too long. I would like to see my husband rather soon. I am thinking of going with a tourist visa first and working from there. I will email the consulate first though (since no one EVER answers the phone there) and see if they have suggestions.

Downside: Have you ever tried obtaining a visa? The whole process is really a pain.

Preparation #9- Find out information on shipping our things down to Brasil. Container? Or Boxes? I don't know. Must Research.

Downside: Either one of those will probably be expensive, please refer to number 7. And will more than likely take a long, long time.

Preparation #10- Get husband out of jail. (This should probably have been number 1, so...just so you know, these are not in number of priority.) I am SICK of waiting for this to happen. The waiting may very well kill me.

Downside: I may not get very much sleep or see the light of day for a while. Wait, is that a downside?

So as you can see, there is much to do. Even though I know nothing as of yet. But it is better it feels good to be working towards SOMETHING rather than just be limboing around saying maybe this and maybe that. I can actually make lists and focus. And if by some SLIM chance we stay here...well then we will be better organized, styling and technologically up to date.

A little Valentine's LOVE

Well let me just say the actual day of Valentine's was a total BUST. But that is alright BECAUSE look what I got!!...



I participated in a Valentine's Day Swap from Andrea at My Chihuahua Bites and my swap partner was April from Deltakids! Thank goodness for April because I would have had such a sad little Valentine's Day! Look at all my goodies!!

1. Blues Traveling: The Holy Sites of Delta Blues Can I just say I love this because there is SO much I didn't know about all these places! Sidnei and I have some traveling to do!!

2. The book House Call by Darden North, MD I have my FIRST ever signed copy for a book! I am so excited to start this! I will let you all know how it is!

3. My very own heart shaped cookie cutter! Thank you! I had gotten one for everyone BUT me!!

4. Royal Fudge Sauce straight from Indianola, Mississippi! My little heart goes pitter patter, as the ice cream awaits *sigh*

5. Mississippi Delta Fudge Pie also from Indianola, Mississippi! This is amazing! It comes in this cute little box and only takes a couple of ingredients to make! I am trying to save this for a special occasion, but it is SO hard to wait!!

6. Delta Magazine This little gem has all kinds of articles on different happenings and people in Mississippi...but *ahem* they left April out...so we are going to have to send a letter to the editor!!

7. And last but my ABSOLUTE favorite is my new ZUM body lotion and mist! I LOVE IT! The scent is rosemary mint, it is strong, but seriously, my dry hands love, love, love it! And my dry scratchy elbows want to send you a personal thank you April!

April I can not thank you enough for a WONDERFUL package! I love that it was Mississippi themed and you put such a personal touch in it!

And to Andrea , you are the best for doing this! It was so fun!

If you haven't been to visit either of these ladies you need to GO!
Andrea
April



***EDITED TO ADD:

hahahahahahahhaha I must say I got a pink bag of hershey kisses...sadly, they didn't make it long enough to take the picture! They were very much enjoyed, just in case you were wondering April! hahahaha ahhhh that made me laugh!

Embracing

So now that I have successfully "hit the wall" (you can find the explanation here ! Thanks Kerri !), my head has stopped spinning, and I am ready to get back up again. Not that the news was so terribly shocking, just disappointing.

SO, that being said. I am MUCH better now. Like I said, once I talked to Mr S, I would be fine. And I was. He has a way of putting things into perspective for me and most of the time, he's right.

Thank you all for your kind words. It's nice to have a place to be able to vent all these things and "hit the wall" if I need to.

The bottom line is, I am happy. Despite it all, truly I am happy. We have been blessed with the things we need to survive this time, we have strengthened our relationship, and we are a true testament to the phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder". I am excited for my life to make this shift and change. If we live in Brasil (which is looking more like a certainty than a possibility) then I know things will be fine and I am looking forward to our adventure. I am lucky to be with someone who is so unselfish and loving and I know he will help me and support me in all things. And truth be told, I am just so excited to be TOGETHER that I can hardly stand the anticipation!

So it is with a cheerful attitude and loving arms that I embrace what is to come!


Just thought you all should know I'm not crying in the corner in other words hehe


In other news: It's FRIDAY! WOO! (even if it is the 13th)

And this made me laugh! Have a great day everyone!

In the Dark

Today I feel overwhelmed. I feel like the entire situation has consumed me, swallowed me whole, and I just don't know what to do anymore.

Here is the low down:

Mr S finally called me! Yay! I was SO glad to hear his voice! I always feel so much better after talking to him. And I am sure I will feel better after talking to him later on as well.

More lowdown:

I finally talked to the attorney (not the @$$hat I wasn't fond of, but our immigration attorney, who for the most part is great). She told me that she has been trying to get Mr S a court date for bond. The problem is they want to deport him without Mr S going to court. So our attorney is trying to fight that. To make matters worse, she wants to tread carefully because they can put a ten year bar on Mr S that will not allow him to apply for papers much less enter the country until that ten year bar is up. Now there are two types of 10 year bars. One of which will allow me to appeal it and have it waived (possibly--there are no definites in the immigration world), and another that there is no appeal whatsoever on. SO...I just don't know. I don't know what to think. I'm scared to move to Brasil (even though I know I can do it, it's just scary), I'm scared that because we owe the lawyer SO much money that it won't be possible for me to stay in Brasil with Mr S and that would devastate me. I'm just plain scared because I just don't know. I don't know what's going to happen and I am worried that I won't be able to fix it. Did you all know that I am a fixer? And when there is nothing I can do...well quite frankly it freaks me out. It paralyzes me. And that is where I feel I am. I feel like I am paralyzed by the fear of it all. I keep telling myself that it is going to be okay because whatever happens we will work through it...it just doesn't ever feel like it's going to be okay. And I am just SO tired. I just really need a little bit of a reprieve from all the heartache and all the worry. I just want to know that it's going to be okay...and there is no way to know that.

So for now I wait(haha what a surprise!). The lawyer should have more news before the end of the week.

A Must Have

I don't know if any of you like The Fray. I think their music is amazing. The summer of 2006 I must have listened to their album a thousand different times. I got to see them in concert for my birthday in 2007 in Utah and my love continues to blossom! Their new album is amazing. So if you have iTunes, go and get it. Or whatever venue you use for music. It's really that good.

Here is the video of my favorite song live. It explains why he wrote it. Is he serious? I don't know. It's cute none the less. And I love it!

Happiness
Happiness was just outside my window
I thought it’d crash blowing eighty miles an hour
But happiness is a little more like knocking
On your door, you just let it in

Happiness feels a lot like sorrow
Let it be, you can't make it come or go
But you are gone, not for good but for now
And gone for now feels a lot like gone for good

Happiness is a firecracker sitting on my headboard
Happiness was never mine to hold
Careful child, light the fuse and get away
Cause happiness throws a shower of sparks

Happiness damn near destroys you
Breaks your faith to pieces on the floor
So you tell yourself that’s enough for now
But happiness has a violent roar

Happiness it's like the old man told me
Look for it and you'll never find it all
But let it go, live your life and leave it
Then one day you'll wake up and she'll be home

Tagged!

Cindy tagged me!
I have to tell you 10 things about me, preferably that you didn't already know. It is similar to a tag that is going around Facebook, which you have to list 25 things. Come to think of it, I didn't do that one... Hmmm...oh well. Here are my 10.

1. I love Cheese...seriously. Cheese cubes, cheese balls, shredded cheese, string cheese, cheese dip, cheese and crackers, cheesy crackers, cheetos...and do you think all that cheese is helping me lose weight? I'd say that with a resounding NO! And don't worry about my heart...I try and keep the cheese love to a minimum.

2.
I want this. Buying DVD's is an addiction. I love to buy them! I love to have them all! And half of them aren't even unwrapped. I also don't like people to touch the DVD's without permission and I like to be the one to unwrap them if they are still in plastic. Most people don't know how to unwrap them without denting the case. I hate it when the case is dented. Crazy much?

3. I LOVE flip flops. I am hoping that if I get to move to Brasil that it will be acceptable to wear them 24/7. Though I know I'll have to sneak some other cute foot wear in as well.

4. I have had Lap Band Surgery in August of 2006. Since then I have lost 90 pounds. Gained 20 back, and lost the 20 again! I am really grateful I had the opportunity to have this surgery. It has helped dramatically with my weight loss. The other thing I love about this surgery is that you have responsibility in it. Meaning that if I don't eat right (including cheese) and you don't exercise, you really won't lose the weight. And you can put it right back on (ex. the 20 pounds). It has been a wonderful thing for me...if anyone has any questions about it, feel free to ask!

July 21, 2006-- 260lbs


January 30, 2009-- 168lbs


5. I am trying really hard to learn to save money. I am not that good at saving it or to not buy what I want when I want it, but it is definitely a lesson I have had to learn recently with Mr S being gone. I was going to buy a digital SLR recently. I was all about it. But then I had to ground myself in reality and say NO.

6. I really miss Utah. I didn't think I would. I thought I loved it better in the South. On the East Coast. And I do love it here...but I miss Utah. If I could I would move back in a minute. I miss the weather (and by that I mean the spring and summer) and more than anything I miss my friends. When I was out there for school, I made the best friends I have ever had and I miss them so much more than I ever tell them. So just so you know my Utah friends...you are the best friend a girl could have and I have missed you more than you could possibly know.

7. I want to go back to school to become a nurse. I have decided that it really is what I want to do and I believe that I really would be very good at it. Now I just have to get back to school...

8. Okay, number seven is only partially true. I also want to be an event coordinator, professional photographer, and I want to own a horse ranch. Seriously. But I think the nursing thing is more tangible than the others.

9. A lot of people have told me that Mr S and I should write a book. Mr S thinks this is a really good idea and he really wants too (I think his side of the story will be more interesting than mine)! So I definitely think he should write it and I will promote it. On Oprah or The View (but I would hate for a fight to break out) or the Today Show (I love Katie Couric). Genius! No?!

10.
When I drive to Virginia, I sing almost the entire way there. And when I say sing, I mean at the top of my lungs. No lie. I don't know how Gracie sleeps through it, but she does. So when i do arrive to Virginia (5 hours later) I am usually hoarse. No lie there either. Also to my list of professions I would like to add country singer. Although I do not sing all that well, I have disillusioned myself into thinking I sound an awful lot like Miranda Lambert or at the very least I compliment the way she sings. So it is my belief that we should start a tour together. Or at least I could open for her. Miranda are you there? Have your people call my people.



So Bia tagged me so you can see my purse! Which I think is super cute! I got it for Christmas from my sister Chels and switched it out from other one for my birthday so I'd have a fun new bag!

Fun huh?


The stuff on the inside...

Oh you can't really see it?

Well lucky for you, since I just switched purses and it's still relatively clean!


And just so you know, those are not my sunglasses, those are 3D glasses! I took Ash to see Coraline last night!

But we have a notebook--which keeps me straight and has my list of things to do everyday that usually doesn't get done!

The polka dot is my day planner, which I never use, but carry it around just in case. Because I know I should use it. Ugh.

The zebra case is a carry over from the last purse, it doesn't belong, I just forgot to take it out.

The black and yellow case holds all the preferred customer cards, gift cards, coupons and the millions of other cards that these stores make you carry!

The little black pouch holds all the lip gloss, girl products, nail clippers, medicine, etc etc.

And the rest is self explanatory!

And people this is as clean as it gets! Seriously. In a week, it will be a train wreck in there!!

So I know that everyone in the blogosphere has done both of these things, but if you have not, and you feel so inclined, Meme away!!

Tonight...

Or rather, this morning (2AM)...

I can't sleep.

I haven't spoken with Mr. S since Monday.

I miss him. I miss the little beat my heart skips when his ring comes on. I miss his voice. I miss complaining telling him about my day. I miss him telling me that it's only work and to stop stressing out.

I miss him telling me he misses me. I miss him speaking in Portuguese so fast I don't really catch anything everything, but knowing it is something sweet.

I just miss him.

I get so funky when I can't talk to him.

Jail is stupid.

What the heck happened to the sixth amendment people? This is freaking ridiculous. Drug dealers spend less time in jail than my husband.

If you will do me a little favor? Send some prayers up for us that we'll hear something this week. We need some good news. Thanks in advance! I know we are so close. I am trying really hard to be patient. Especially since I have no other choice.

SO, deep breath. Positive thoughts. LOTS of positive thoughts. And dreams of my husband. My warm, snuggly husband. **sigh**


Five for Fighting
I just love you


It's not about the Bones and Booth thing. But this song is good.

Let's take a moment shall we??

It's Lizzie's Birthday!!!!!!!!

Hot Tub Lizzie is one of my favorite reads! I love to read about her and her girls! They are SO cute! And I always LOVE updates on Mr. B!

Also, if you go to visit her you can see what a WONDERFUL friend she is!! She has been keeping us updated on everything with Kat and her husband and I am so glad!!

Please go and wish this girl a VERY Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Lizzie!!!!! I hope it is SO great! You deserve it!!

A little help if you please!

OK-- so I got an external hard drive to put all my pictures on. But let me ask you this... can I put my Itunes on it and just run itunes from there? I have no idea! Thank you to anyone who can answer this for me!!