a bold move

so i'm making some moves in my life. perhaps on a temporary basis, but still bold moves.

a) i've moved in (temporarily) with two of my best friends, Tracy and Brian. they have offered for me to live with them while i am in transition.
b) that transition would be starting a (temporary) job at Berry. i'm filling in for the secretary in the Residence Life department while she is on medical leave. it's my first day and you see what i'm doing. yep, there's not too much action. but a paying job with a guarantee of hours.
c) i know this is crazy, but i'm moving to wordpress blogging. bold, very bold. but i just like the look a little better. i feel limited on blogger. (sorry, Blogger)

you can find me here, so change your subscriptions/links. all 4 of my readers. :-)

peace.

almost 23 years!!!

so i went almost 23 years without piercing my ears and this week, that changed. i've been wanting to wear pearl earrings at my wedding. i don't know why, but they are just so classy and i love them. for christmas, my parents gave me a pearl necklace and earrings. i've been putting off the piercing for a very very long time and with much prodding from my journey group girls, i finally took the plunge!
i was nervous, but did it. i'm definitely pleased with how it turned out, amanda even took pictures! i still think it is weird that we like to put holes in our bodies, but whatever. :-)

so there is an update on my life! haha, really meaningful, huh?

The Way I See It #76

so i love the quotes on Starbucks cups. and since i'm lucky enough to work there, i can read 'em all. although, i rarely have time to! some are great and inspiring, some get me thinking, some are dumb, and some are way beyond my comprehension, but here is one that i've recently loved:

"The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating--in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life." (Anne Morriss, Starbucks customer)

For some reason, i love this quote. maybe it's because commitment, one of the biggest commitments you can make in life, is the banner over my life right now. and it truly is liberating. i cannot wait to marry Matt, for the freedom that that entails. i can live with him, love and serve him freely, have my own home and enjoy being a wife!

so enough for being sappy. i just like that quote! :-)

Daddy Yankee??

in the breakfast and internet room at my hotel this morning, they have been playing daddy yankee and other latin artists. it has greatly reminded me of living with my dear puerto rican friend, cristina. she likes to listen to latin music pretty much all the time, but especially in the shower. (bhahaha)

yesterday=great day.
why?

• anthropologie--probably the most beautiful store ever. it has awesome clothes, but the best part is awesome decor. they have the coolest style. if i were rich and if matt would be ok with it, i would decorate my entire house like that.
  
• pearl river market--this is an asian store, with everything asian. clothes, teapots, chopsticks, lanterns, food, streamers, and chinese new years decorations. (that's on monday, by the way)
• soho--i love this area of NYC. it's edgy, yet sophisticated. you've got bloomingdales next to japanese mart and deli. it's totally cool. and not as flashy as the rest of manhatten.
  
• marie belle chocolate--ok, my day was truly brightened by this chocolate. the sales girls gave us a free sample. we had gone in to just look at the beautiful things. they have these intricate designs on the top that have been heat transfered on. totally edible. i didn't expect it to taste as good as it did, because i just thought it was just pretty, so it couldn't possibly be awesome tasting at the same time. i was so wrong. i've never tasted chocolate so good.
  
• m&m world--yes, more chocolate. but it was really fun! and i got a box of the newer "high end" m&m's. triple chocolate, and i'm savoring every single one of them. especially since it $5 for a box!
• setting up the booth--in three and a half hours!! you could never do that in atlanta. but here, all we had to worry about was the actual product. so nice. we begin the show tomorrow, so there will not be as much fun going on during the day, so i'm thankful for these few days before the show. :-)
  

we did so much more yesterday, but i've got to go get ready for today. i get to see Caitlin today!!

Big Apple Thoughts....

so for the next few days, i will be in NYC working at the NYMart. I've done this a couple of times already, but never in the winter! eek! i don't feel like writing like i usually do, so here are bullet point thoughts:

• this being my third time to NYC, i finally made it to Central Park today. a beautiful day to do so too, it was covered in snow!
• i was afraid of the NY winter, but it wasn't so bad. i even walked around this afternoon without leggings underneath my jeans. i did tonight though!
• monday or tuesday is a high of 24 degrees. yeah, that's right, 24, as the high. now that is cold.
• since many of the buildings and hotels are old here, there are very very few outlets to plug in the millions of electronics we just "have" to have now.
  
• isn't crazy that we used to not have cell phones, ipods, laptops, etc?!
  
• i love the diversity of NYC. you hear so many languages and accents. and it's not shunned at like it is in the South.
• i'm excited to see Caitlin on Saturday!! i even get to see another fun person, Amy!
• i brought the first book of The Mark of the Lion series with me. i'm going to try to get into this time. and finish it. i'm further now than i have been the other times i've tried to read it!
• last thing, i'm very sad to be missing out at Oak Leaf Church again this week. The End of the World series is totally cool and i hate to not be there. also, i hate missing out on KidVenture. i definitely need to update about my new position with KidVenture.....i'll leave you hanging on that one :-)
  

i think that's all for now. :-)

it's the little things in life...

you know, it's funny. Matt and I were having this conversation about how I have this high tendency to get down emotionally. i know that is not funny, but the timing of things is what is funny. Trace wrote this post about just the little things in life that make her happy, sad, or whatever. Having that kind of perspective in life was exactly what Matt was trying to get through to me, trying to appreciate the little things in life.
I go through phases where I just can't see past my own "failures." I get so obsessed with perfection, setting a ridiculous standard for myself. This high standard ends up meaning that I feel like I fail at everything! It's almost like I'm always setting myself up for disappointment in myself. I often feel like I am the only person in the world that struggles like this, but then i realize it is all around me. Like I said, it's an obsession, and often with obsessions comes this "lone ranger" kind of mentality.
Therefore, I am now resolving to the blog world that I want to see the little things in my life that I appreciate, to not have a tunnel-vision on my own fallacies, and take myself and everything/everyone else as they are. Also, I am again going to "dance it out," as some of you know.
So, thank you, Tracy, for your post that seemed pointless to you, but mattered to me.

That's all. :-) for now.

i can't believe it's been a month!!

so i just looked at the last time i blogged and it has nearly been a month. wow, sorry. although, i feel like the only people who read this are people i see/talk to every day with a few exceptions like my cousin, etc. (ps. Jennifer, we're praying for little Addison! the Lord is taking care of her!)

Christmas was great this year. We've never done the whole Christmas Eve/Christmas Day with more than just my immediate family before. So with my grandparents here this year, we had quite a few people in the house. 14, actually. yeah, it was crazy. as crazy as it got, i did love it. i slept on an air mattress in my parent's room, but didn't mind a bit since alot of my family was here. also, it was fun to have the little girls here on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought them. :-) Another plus to Christmas was that I got to spend time with Matt and his family as well. I really enjoyed the time I had with them, it wasn't long enough.

New Years was also great this year. It was my second New Years with Matt and I'm so glad we could spend it together again. One of my freshmen roommates, Amber, got married on New Years Eve. Matt and I really enjoyed that wedding. It was beautiful and a joy to see Amber so happy. We jetted out of the reception early enough to be able to enjoy the countdown to 2009 at Tracy and Brian's house with a bunch of other cool peeps. I had a blast with all that were there. Ryan and Rachel (some newly engaged friends of ours!) spent the night at Matt's house. It was wonderful to spend some time with them since we'd never really done that before.

Wedding planning is going well. Once I got done with the craziness of the Holidays, I started back in full swing with the planning. I've now chosen the bridesmaids' dresses and am very pleased with them. I've also gotten lots of ideas that I'm working on with my girls and Mom. Also, I've reserved a block of rooms at a hotel in Rome for wedding guests. Other than meet with my reception place owner to plan all of those details, I really only have to confirm a florist for the ceremony, finish our wedding registries, choose a tux style, and enjoy some bridal showers!

Alright, so i mean it this time when i say it won't be so long when i update next. I think i just need to keep some ideas flowing and then post them when i feel like it.....yeah, maybe i'll do that.

however, that is all for now. I've got bunches to do. :-)