Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Watch your back, Kogi BBQ

Because we are coming for you. 

                    ...And we. are. RAVENOUS!



Today Greg and I are going to brave the weather (it's raining), and set out in search of the traveling Kogi Korean BBQ truck for lunch.  Kogi is one of the fabulous food fads sweeping LA right now.  Apparently the food is amazing (they have tofu too, for vegetarians).  The challenge is that the only way to eat at Kogi's is to find it.  The restaurant is on a truck that parks on a different Los Angeles street each day, and one has to snoop around online in order to get the latest location.  Needless to say, there are countless fans who follow Kogi on twitter for the details, and I'm sure passersby who happen to luck out with a chance encounter with this legendary truck jump to secure their places in line (which I hear can get really long).





When I asked Greg what he wanted to do for his birthday, he said he wanted to eat at Kogi. 
Oh, it is on! 

Monday, December 28, 2009

Board Meeting

Greg and I returned from our trip to Florida yesterday so now we're back in La-La-Land.  It was a wonderful trip, I always feel so spoiled when I get to see all my family under one roof.  But it also feels great to be back home in our own little nest.

I'll post more photos from Florida once I have a chance to upload all of them to the computer, but for now I'll give you a few shots from the day that we landed in Florida.  We were tired after flying all night, but that was no excuse for my grandfather to miss his "board meeting" (aka: Happy Hour).  Here are several of my family members celebrating our reunion:

My fambly.

Those are big beers!  But Greg was a real champ:
 
Not that he wasn't a perfect fit with my family before... but this sort of sealed the deal! (Ha, ha)

My wonderful boss gave us three account coordinators this week off in addition to last week.  (It is SO NICE-- Two glorious weeks...)  Greg and I are determined to enjoy ourselves, but also use the time off to tackle some of the items on our "To do" list.  Here's a taste of our list:

  • Beth officially changes her name (I know, it's been 3 months-- it's time for me to get on that)
  • Beth quits the gym (I now live just far enough away that I don't go anymore.  We're thinking of getting a Wii Fit since we got a Wii for Christmas from Jeanette and Brad.)
  • Greg finds insurance (the car kind and the health kind)
  • B & G find a new bank and open a joint account together (again... 3 months, it's time to get on that)
  • B & G find a new cell phone plan (we think we can save money by doing a family plan)
  • B & G get a second Wii controller so that they can play at the same time. (Done! First thing we did when we got back into town.)
  • B & G see The Princess and the Frog.
  • B & G hang pictures and possibly rearrange furniture again
  • B & G rock out on Rock Band
  • B & G do laundry after trip
  • B & G find the Gourmet Grilled Cheese truck for Greg's birthday
  • B & G go to Outback for dinner to spend the gift card that they got for Christmas
  • Beth finds a perfect photo album for her wedding pictures and arranges them all pretty-like
  • B & G go to BB&B
  • B & G finish thank you cards (SO CLOSE!  ALMOST DONE!)
  • B & G get haircuts
  • B & G eat at Oinksters and return plates to Crate & Barrel (we got an extra place setting)
Whew!  Busy week!
 
PS-- As I was writing this post, Greg got the mail and found out he's been selected for jury duty in February.  And a happy new year to YOU, California!  Poor Greggers...

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Flloorriiidddaa

I am with my family in Florida right now.  And I am SO HAPPY right now!

That is all.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Kooza Christmas

On Saturday Greg and I had Christmas together. We had the whole day to be together and we made the most of it. We slept in and then went to breakfast (er...lunch?) together at Frank's Diner before coming home and opening our gifts to each other.

That night, we had quite the treat! One of the journalists I work with gave me two tickets to the Cirque du Soleil show called "Kooza." I had never been to a Cirque show before, so I was really excited. There was a Big Top tent set up on the Santa Monica pier and as we walked up to the beach we had quite the view. Greg took a picture with his phone-- isn't that impressive? If you look close you can see the blue lights of the ferris wheel in the background:
The show was stunning. I think my favorite part was at the very beginning when all the characters made there appearance on stage and the set came alive and the music was really loud and energetic. The excitement in the air was really overwhelming and it gave me the thrill that a live performance should.

Tonight my husbuddy and I board a plane to Florida to see my family! I CAN'T WAIT to play 500 (our favorite family card game), go on walks to various spots downtown, head to a "board meeting" (aka: the bar) with my grandfather, eat my grandmother's cookies and drive around on a golf cart. Only about 11 more hours until I board that plane!!
SQUEEEAAALLLL!

Saturday, December 19, 2009

December Outreach

Last night I went on an outreach with Treasures. We went on one of the Valley routes (the Valley is the porn capitol of the world, and there are so many strip clubs that we can't make it to all in one night so there are 2 Valley routes...) and we visited 13 clubs, only one of which turned us away without accepting our gift bags for the girls.

Some highlights of the night for me:
  • Singing Christmas carols on the shuttle with the other volunteers
  • Getting into some clubs on this route last night that haven't let us inside in the past
  • Brainstorming ways to make the Treasures art show benefit in February interactive for the guests
  • Playing the White Elephant game with $10 gifts before the outreach began
In one of the clubs last night, we were led back to the dressing room to leave some extra gift bags for some of the dancers who were on stage or with clients. I met a girl back there who was on her break and got to really talk with her for a little bit. We started talking about dancing, and then she confessed that she used to be in musical theater. She's a classically trained opera singer (she was in the ensemble of Phantom of the Opera when she was 17) who told me that opera is a dead end, so she isn't pursuing it anymore, but that she misses singing. She hugged all three of us volunteers before she had to leave us to go onstage and she called: "Don't forget me."

As we were leaving the dressing room, a girl walked in from the floor and accepted a gift bag. "Oh, I know who you are," she said when she saw us. We told her and the other girls who were trickling in to have a Merry Christmas, and as we turned to walk away that girl softly called out: "Pray for me."

I turned back and said: "You got it. What's your name?"

She laughed nervously and looked at her friend and joked: "Ha, which name should I use?" Then she turned back to me and said: "I'm just the girl who asked for it."

I smiled at her and said: "No problem." And then we left.


These girls are not forgotten, and God knows each dancer's real name.
*************************************************************************************

One manager last night was asking us a lot about what we do at Treasures, and when we told him that we're a support group for women in the industry and our purpose is to remind them that they're loved, he said: "That's good, that's good-- These girls need someone to talk to. Even the people who talk to them now don't really listen to them."
*************************************************************************************

While the volunteers were praying earlier in the evening before the outreach, Harmony said she had a flash before her eyes of a woman's stiletto heel stepping on the word "Desire" and then saw the image flip over to reveal a woman's bare foot grounded on solid earth and above that saw the word "Destiny." She was talking about it on the shuttle, because she was wondering aloud if she should paint that image. (As I mentioned above, Treasures is having an art show on February 6th that will serve as a fundraiser.) During the route last night we pulled up to a club that used to be called "White Reign" that had been renamed "Desire" since the last time we'd visited. Before the three volunteers hopped out of the bus Harmony joked: "Let me know if there's a girl in there named Destiny!"

I and the 2 other volunteers were once again allowed into the dressing room in this particular club, and the girls we met with there were thrilled to see us. We got lots of hugs and thank you's as we passed out the bags. As we were saying our goodbyes, Emily asked if there was anyone named Destiny working tonight. The girl right next to Emily looked shocked and said: "No, but that's my daughter's name."
*************************************************************************************

I see miracles on every outreach I go on with the Treasures team. It's such a surreal feeling to go out on a Friday night KNOWING that I will witness something bigger than myself tonight, and to go about my daily life on the 3rd Friday of every month with that sort of expectation for my evening.

My heart breaks and is comforted over and over again on each route as God gives me a taste of the pain that he has for his daughters that are in bondage, but then he offers me comfort with glimpses of his pursuit for each girl's heart. He created them with a purpose and he loves them no matter what they've done or what has been done to them. It is a privilege to serve with our little group of volunteers as we extend our hands in relationship and offer the girls love in whatever way they will accept: a smile; a hug; kind words; a listening ear; a pink gift bag full of lip gloss, earrings and a book of matches; childcare; living situations; counseling; etc.

I often wrestle with the idea that our great big giant God can be with me closely. I know it sounds strange, but I think that the most intimate and personal moments that I've had with God-- the moments when I can feel his presence right there with me-- have been in the lobbies of strip clubs, waiting to see if the club manager will pull back the curtain and let us in.
*************************************************************************************

For more info on Treasures, including personal stories, feel free to poke around on our website: iamatreasure.com

Friday, December 18, 2009

Holiday luncheon

I have been really looking forward to our annual holiday lunch at work this year. From time to time, it'll be decided that there's an occasion to have lunch together and once we all sit around that big table it always feels like I've stepped into an Olive Garden commercial. We see each other every day, but for some reason, when all six of us sit down to eat together it becomes a loud, jolly feast full of laughter and multiple people talking at once. And we all turn Italian. (Heh)


Today, Carol made baked ziti with cesar salad and italian bread for lunch. It was extremely delicious. I purposely didn't eat breakfast today, and it's a good thing I didn't. They also served sparkling cider and champagne. Then we moved into the living room and opened presents (look at that spread!)

Kayla, Marie and I got Carl and Carol coffee mugs with their caricatures on them. I couldn't wait to see their reaction when they saw them.

Karen gave me a beautiful casserole dish with lemons painted on the bottom (which is very fitting because we both like lemon juice in our tea) and Carl and Carol gave all three of us girls makeup bags from Marc Jacobs that are PERFECT for travelling as well as a gift card to Macy's. Very thoughtful and generous. I feel so spoiled.


Once we opened presents (and digested a little bit), we gathered around the table once more for coffee and dessert. Karen got quite an array of tasty treats from a restaurant called Chez Nous and we all got to taste a bit of each.

I am SO FULL, but very satisfied!

I am blessed to work with people that I truly enjoy. We are all so different, but there is love there.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Ugly temper

I think that I am pretty good at going with the flow of things. I mean, in general.

However, this is NOT because I'm good at living spontaneously. By nature, I'm definitely a planner. It calms me to have expectations, and in my mind I usually have a plan A, plan B, plan C, etc...

I have gotten pretty quick at shifting between plans A-Z, so I'm sure I can give the impression that I'm able to fly by the seat of my pants throughout my blissfully carefree life, but new situations can make me nervous: First day at a new job, a lunch meeting with a new client, going to a party when I don't know anyone else there, auditioning at a theater that's new to me, first day meeting with a new cast/director on a project, or even sometimes just a phone call to someone I don't know (which I sometimes have to do for work or for church) can make me extremely uncomfortable. Not in a way that leaves me unable to function, but definitely can affect me.

One of the results of this nervous fear for me is a heightened temper. And I really hate that. I feel like especially lately, in learning how to make compromises now that I share my life and my schedule with my beloved husband, this temper of mine can race from 0-60 pretty quick.

I don't want to be that way! I want to be loving and patient, even when I don't have complete control and none of my many plans seem to be falling into place.

And the problem is, I have been making such an effort lately to have more control over my temper, but it doesn't seem to be working. Uncertainty sneaks in and makes me feel unsafe, and I react by trying to aggressively assert control. It's very unattractive.

I am open to advice (and prayer!)-- any of you friends that read this little blog from time to time, I'd really appreciate any words of wisdom on this matter.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Photos from the weekend

Here are some photos of the gorgeous church that Carlee and Jay were married in. Isn't this beautiful?

And here's the lovely couple: Carlee and Jay!
I had never been to a December wedding before, but I just LOVED this decoration at the reception. There was a fireplace behind the cake table and they hung white stockings that said "Carlee" and "Jay" on them with a giant "B" on the mantel for their last name.
Isn't that cute?
And here are all the siblings at the reception:

Carlee's father and brother played in the band at the reception-- that photo's a little blurry, but you get the idea. Also here's a picture of Jeanette dancing with her grandfather (she said he was telling her about his prom!) and Carlee getting her own shots on the dance floor as well!


*************************************************************************************
After the wedding, we went back to Karen's house for Christmas. She made some really tasty food and we just hung out and talked to one another. It was really nice.
We played a fun card game called Slap Scrabble that was really fun and really chaotic-- I wish I had gotten a picture of that. Then we played dominoes, which was a lot of fun too. Doug and Danae got Greg and me our own set of dominoes for Christmas, so we can play on our own as well. We had been looking for good two player games, so I'm glad we have our own set now.

*************************************************************************************

The next morning we met David and Julie for breakfast at a place in Tulsa called Shiloh's. Apparently it's famous for it's cinnamon buns, but I got the french toast and it was so good! We were such a large group that we had to sit in two booths, so this shot is from both sides:

Good times, good times... And next week we're headed to Florida to see my side of the family!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

It's here!

Our new couch! Isn't it beeeeaaaauuuutiful?!

Don't you just want to SIT on it?

Oklahoma

Whew! Second post of the day-- I told you it had been a busy week into a busy weekend!

Okay, so once I finished filming on Thursday, Greg and I hopped onto a red-eye flight to Tulsa (changing planes in Dallas at 5:30am-- fun, fun...) We were making to Oklahoma for several reasons:

  • Cousin Carlee got married to Jay on Saturday

  • Greg's siblings and their spouses were all in town so we were able to have a pre-Christmas with all of them (Jeanette & Brad live in Virginia now, but they made the trip for the wedding too. Also, Doug & Danae do live in OK, but they'll be with Danae's family in Montana for Christmas this year so we were glad to see them before they left town.)

  • Karen, my mother-in-law, lives in OK and she worked hard to put together the perfect pre-Christmas for all her kids while she had them all under one roof again.

  • David, my father-in-law, and his new wife Julie were able to drive from OKC to Tulsa to have breakfast with us on Sunday morning before we left town.

  • We also got to visit Doug & Danae's church on Sunday morning and we were really encouraged that a church like that exists and is touching so many lives-- they had a HUGE Toys for Tots outreach that weekend and there were 6,000 kids already signed up. Insane!

We were in town for such a brief period of time-- 3 days is so short when it's family that you're visiting-- and we packed those days FULL. But we got good quality time with everyone and I spent the weekend savoring the fact that I really LOVE the family that came with my marriage to Greg. (Now how many brides do you know who can say that they like their in-laws?)

I must say that I especially admire the relationships that Greg has with his siblings, and that relationship is extended to their spouses as well. My husband is a good man, and I know how rare good men are these days. I love to watch him interact with Doug and Jeanette. And I love to hear him talk about how proud he is of his younger siblings. I also know how happy he is that his siblings found Godly spouses as well. He specifically mentioned Brad, and that as a big brother he has so much relief to know that his little sister is being taken care of and loved so well.

I don't have pictures from this weekend yet, so I'm posting one from my wedding so that you can see who I'm talking about. From left to right: Brad, Jeanette, (me), Greg, Danae and Doug.

Greg and I were watching an episode of Friday Night Lights last night and at one point Coach Taylor's wife told him that he was a "molder of men." That is how I feel about my husband. And now that I think about it, I feel the same way about my new brothers-in-law.

My own brother and I have always been close. I love that kid so bad! When my parents brought him home from the hospital I thought they brought him home for me, and I've been wrapped around his finger ever since. It's nice to inherit an extended family of new sisters, new brothers, and new parents that I can love so effortlessly and enjoy even as much as my own dear family.

Greg and I talk about God's timing in our relationship a lot. It was no accident that we were friends for 10 years before we got married. His timing in our marriage has been a blessing beyond what Greg or I ever prayed for. I think that my in-laws are part of the abundance of that blessing for me.

Now I can't wait to take Greg home with me to visit with my family next week! (I can't believe we leave on Monday!)

*************************************************************************************

Update! Here's a picture of all of us at Carlee's wedding:
Now tell me we aren't an awesome bunch!

Catching up

Wow, it's been a busy week into a busy weekend so I have a lot to write about.

First of all, my three days of filming on the set of Sudden Death! were a blast. I made friends with so many of the cast and crew that those looong hours of shooting flew by. In fact, one day I was cut sort of early and I ended up sticking around for another hour or so just hanging out and watching them film some of the other scenes. I've never really been part of a project like this before, so I learned a lot.

Here are some photos from the laboratory set:
Here are Kahle and me taking direction from Adam (the director) during a rehearsal...




Wide shot of the lab. (As you can tell, in this particular shot we were setting up for one of the end scenes in which our ingenue was dying from the "Sudden Death Syndrome"-- don't you love her yellow heels?)






Fun beaker props...


I LOVE this shot of our three leads goofing off for the camera between takes. From left to right are Autumn Hurlbert (who is way fun to be around and has SUCH a set of pipes in her petite frame-- she was in the closing cast of Legally Blond on Broadway), Doug Jones (who is probably the most famous cast member on set, but you may not recognize him because most of his career has been spent under heavy make up... I remember him from Hocus Pocus where he played "Billy Butcherson" the zombie boyfriend, but he also played "Pan" and "Pale Man" in Pan's Labyrinth, and "Silver Surfer" in Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer... the list goes on and on) and finally Matt Lutz (a talented actor who actually got me involved with the Actor's Co-op in Hollywood before he married my friend Christy and moved to New York a year ago. SO NICE to see him again!)

I also love this shot of Adam (director) and Melanie (producer) who were married about 3 years ago-- now how can you not love being on a set with these two cuties?
I'm going to go ahead and publish this post before I write about my amazing weekend to Oklahoma or else this will be really long...

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Great day

Today was my second day of filming on the set of Sudden Death! and I'm absolutely exhausted-- in a good way! This exhaustion is earned and I enjoyed every bit. I'll write more in depth later, but I'm just checking in. I have a lot to do tonight since I'm back on set first thing in the morning and Greg and I hop on a plane to Oklahoma tomorrow night. I need to finish cleaning my apartment (I hate coming home to a mess) and then pack my suitcase in case they wrap me later on in the day and I have to go directly to the airport.

I'm so looking forward to Carlee's wedding and having Early Christmas with my husband's side of the family!

Monday, December 7, 2009

COUCH!


Greg just emailed me that after months of waiting, Crate & Barrel will be delivering our couch one week from tomorrow!


Weeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!


(The color we chose is a darker brown than this, but it's easier to see the couch's features in this tan color, so I'm posting this for now)

Rainy day

It's so rare to get rain in Southern California and today it is pouring! I LOVE it. Even when we do get rain here it's usually just a little sprinkle, but this morning the rain drops woke me up and they've been consistently falling all morning. Feels as special as snow days used to feel when I lived in Oklahoma.

It is a beautiful cozy day and I'm so thankful for the wintry weather. It always feels wrong to be planning for Christmas when it's 80 degrees outside.

Tomorrow is my first day of filming for Sudden Death. I'm looking forward to being on set again and I've really enjoyed meeting all the people involved with the project thus far. On Friday I went in to record my part of the song that my character sings. Keep in mind that any musicals I've participated in before have been on the stage in live theater productions, never filmed. I've never had to record in a booth before. I was pretty nervous, but it was fun and the composer and sound mixer were really patient with me. Very nice guys. It was cool to hear the playback, and I'm excited to hear the final mix. Plus I got to hear the duet that the two leads sing together and they sounded AMAZING.


To be honest, as jaded as this sounds, I'm really excited to be a part of a project that is actually being MADE (not to mention MADE WELL). Coming from the land of indie films, where everyone is an aspiring filmmaker, I've learned that each project one signs on for runs the risk of never being completed. Just because I invest the time to film the thing doesn't mean it won't die in the editing bay. I've filmed with crews for days/weeks and seen projects dropped multiple times due to: no more money, or filmmaker loses interest, or filmmaker loses confidence in project, or filmmaker moves on to another film without finishing the first, etc... That's life, I guess. But it is so refreshing to be a part of something that people are truly on board for. This film will be made, and they aren't cutting corners to make it. Very exciting!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Wow. Just wow.

My dear friend and former roommate/work-out-buddy Dianna posted this on her blog and I TOTALLY want to do this too! (Am I crazytown for wanting to participate?)

http://www.warriordash.com/



PS-- For those of you skeptics... did you notice that you get a warrior helmet? Wanted to point that out and make sure that you saw that...


PPS-- Dianna, if you are reading this: I'M IN! You adventuress extraordinaire, you.
Let me know when you want to tackle the Chandler bike path to start our training. (Tues, Wed & Thurs are best for me)

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Promised picture

Here is the photo I promised of the Christmas arrangement I was working on at the beginning of the week. I'm so pleased with the way that it turned out and I don't really think that the picture does it justice, but this will give you an idea.

It looks small here because there's nothing else on the table to compare it to, but it's actually about 4(-ish) feet tall. The vase is probably 11" alone, and I filled it with peacock feathers, gold glittered sprigs, a stem of red berries for a splash of color, and a few twiggy branches textured with droplets to hang the ornaments from.

Here's a close up of one of the ornaments I "made." They're clear with a bit of a pearly sheen to them, and I stuck feathers and gold glitter curls inside to give them depth. (If you look closely, you can also see the icy texture on the branches as well)

Greg and I just may end up using this arrangement as our Christmas tree this year. Since we're still getting settled all over the rest of the house, we don't really have a place to put a large tree. Plus we'll be out of town for Christmas (headed to Florida to spend the holiday with my family at Bob & Nadine's place!) so we won't be here in Cali to enjoy the tree on Christmas morning anyway.

This year, our first year as husband and wife, Greg and I have agreed to get one another 3 gifts each for Christmas. He already knows one of his gifts (dress shoes) because we bought them on Black Friday and I needed him to try the shoes on in the store. (And I know I'm getting a new wallet, which I desperately need.) I ordered Greg's second gift online a few weeks ago and it is hidden on the shelf at my office. It's nothing big, but I think he'll like it and he doesn't know what that one is. I have a few ideas for his third and final gift, but his big present is his sharp new shoes. (He looks so dapper in those shoes!)

Oh, I love this time of year!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Every Little Promise

This is the perfect post for this fine Thursday after Thanksgiving.

My amazingly talented husband played a concert at our friend Molly's house about two years ago. I remember it very clearly:

It was around this time of the year-- the weather was turning colder and the holiday season was in full swing. My heart was recovering, but still very bruised from a horrible break up that capped off a nearly 2 year relationship that didn't work out. I was going to the party to support my best friend, Greg (this was before dating him was even a glimmer of a thought in my mind).

My friend Rhonda came with me to the party and I think we both had a really nice time. We met new people, we drank wine and tasted all the appetizers that Molly had set out, we played with Molly's dog... It was fun. In that extremely fragile season of my life, I remember that my burdens felt a little lighter that night.

Below is a video from that party of one of the songs that Greg wrote and performed. I remember feeling so proud of him that night as he played song after song of his playlist. I can also remember listening to the lyrics of this song and thinking that whoever ended up with this kid was going to be one lucky lady...

I am loved and loved well.

Clean table and still feeling creative

I did it! Last night I cleaned off the table that's in our kitchen and it looks beautimus!

For anyone who read my blog yesterday, I was true to my word in that I channelled my energy into several projects around my house and got a lot done.

When I got home from work yesterday Greg had dinner waiting for me and it was delicious. I hung out with him until he left to go to rehearsal-- then I got down to business.

I should have taken a "before" picture. Except I think I would really be embarrassed to show you that table. It was covered in mail, stacks of instruction manuals for various electronics, and wedding registry junk among other clutter. It took a LONG time going through all that old mail and shredding stuff, but now that it's done I'm so satisfied.

Doug and Danae (my brother-in-law and his sweet wifey) gave us a beautiful vase for our wedding and I've started to make a holiday arrangement using peacock feathers and swirly gold twigs. I want to get a nice branch to add to the vase to finish off the arrangement and then hang the ornaments I made from the branch. I may go to Michael's tonight and see what I can find. Once it's done I'll take and "after" picture so that you can see our nice clean table and the pretty arrangement that just may end up serving as our Christmas tree this year!

Other things I did last night (I told you I was productive!)--
  • I washed dishes and cleaned the kitchen. I am a very happy girl when the kitchen is fresh.
  • I visited with my friend Melanie when she came to pick up her fish that Greg and I had been babysitting while she and her husband were out of town
  • I hung our framed wedding invitation up in our bathroom and then framed 2 of our baby pictures to hang underneath it (because the wall just needed something else)
  • Picked out the music I needed to learn for Sudden Death on Greg's keyboard and was taught a lesson about F sharps and treble clef signs!
  • Cleaned the bathroom mirror

Things I'm thinking of doing tonight--

  • Going to Michael's to get suppies to finish my "tree" arrangement
  • Make dinner for my poor husband who is at home with a migraine right now
  • Vacuum. (Which surprisingly didn't happen last night after all)

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Feeling Creative

I have a TON of energy today for some reason! I just feel like jumping or running around or tackling a big ol' project of some sort.

Lucky for me, our apartment is one big ol' project waiting to be worked on...

I officially have 1 hour and 6 minutes left of work for the day, and then I'm going to go home and channel some of this creativity at something around my house. I might find a place to hang the ornaments that I made. Or I might tackle the kitchen table, which hasn't been cleared off since we moved in. (Although Greg has organized things into stacks or piles, which is helpful.)

I just might throw in a load of laundry and finish unpacking the suitcase I took to Lake Arrowhead this weekend.

And I may finally hang up the wedding invitations that I found a frame for. Here, I'll post the invitations below-- keep scrolling down.

I really loved our wedding invitations. My friend Amy designed them for us after being inspired by an invitation that she found online. I love that the invitation shares Greg's and my story. (Plus Amy did a fantastic job and I like to brag about her talents!) Each page is the size of a post card, and when she sent the invitations out they were tied in a cute little bundle with our story being the first two pages followed by a page with the formal wording of a traditional invitation and an RSVP card with travelling info since our wedding was out of state. Didn't she do a great job?

**By the way-- I don't have my final invitations here at work to scan in-- but the below is the final draft of the story that she sent to me so you get the idea. (Just noticed that the word "convenient" is misspelled below and wanted to assure any readers of this blog that we caught any typos before they went to print!)



These are the two pages that we framed and I think it's about time this was on our wall.

Hmmmm... what else? I'll probably vacuum tonight for sure. I really love vacuuming. I think I get that from my grandfather. I like how vacuuming makes a room come together and look polished.

My dearest hubby is making dinner for me, and I just learned that it's Fiesta Taco Casserole.

Jealous?