Friday, May 29, 2009

Unbelievable

I may, or may not be, (but definitely am,) hiding behind boxes, reading my blog, while hubby slaves away in the other room.

I can't believe we will be moved out in less than 24 hours! I am in complete and utter shock.

You would be too, if you saw what our home looked like right now.

There are just piles of stuff EVERYWHERE!

I finally gave up trying to sort through all of those little knick knacks and just shoved them all in a box and wrot eon our custom's list 30 different titles for junk.

I love a thesaurus.

And now, people are coming to pick up their items that they are buying off of us.

Like chairs.
And a tv.
And a vaccuum cleaner (that doesn't work! my bad.)
And our lamps.

Too bad our house doesn't have lights built in. Going to be a long night, painting in the dark and all.

I'll try to post pictures of our new "living space." aka, Ian's childhood bedroom, and the one drawer in the bathroom that I am going to pirate away from his little brother Andrew.

Did I not mention that we will be living on the same side of the house as Andrew?

Oh. Joy.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Mischief

I promise, I don't constantly antagonize the kids I babysit.

This kiddo is clearly into too much mischief... and is an early chocoholic.

Also, please pardon my english... and "rotten boy," is really a term of affection, I promise! I call him that to this day, haha.

And if you don't have a sense of humor, I don't think you could survive this child.

(Scroll to the bottom of the page and Pause the music)


I can't wait to be back in my hometown around all the kids I know, love, and have missed so much this past year!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Smoke

Tonight, I am feeling burdened.

Heart wrenching, tear inducing, drop to your knees kind of burdened.

Tonight was the season opener for Jon and Kate +8, Season 5, a favorite around the Galloway household. They were semi transparent about what is going on between each other, what is going on with each individual, and where they think their marriage is heading. They were vague enough where I couldn't state here "oh, they are headed for divorce," so I won't, because that would be libel (slander in the verbal, libel in the written, fyi.)

But, all the same, I came away from the show just feeling broken for this family. Mainly for the adults, because it is so clear that there is a wrestling match between them, their marriage, and the devil. It made me think of an incident that happened a few weeks ago....

I was cooking bacon for our dinner (what?! so we are pork people, chill out! we had waffles too.) and I was standing over the stove, diligently watching those little guys fry and shrivel up, all the while dodging flying bits of grease. I would look up occasionally as I talked to Ian, who was in the office, but I didn't notice anything out of place.

Ian walked out of the office and asked me if he needed to open the sliding glass door, and I looked up at him, bewildered. Why would I need the sliding glass door open, I asked. Because it's so smoky in here, he told me!

I brushed him off as just being silly, and asked him to watch the bacon while I used the rest room. When I stepped out and could see the kitchen, a thick fog of smoke hung over our kitchen and part of our living room.

Somehow, I couldn't see the smoke while I was in it. Surrounded.

I needed some perspective in order to see the impending disaster (our smoke detector is usually very touchy.)

Just like my little cooking incident, I see Jon and Kate as amongst the smoke. They are in the kitchen, dealing with what they think are the issues. I fell on me knees tonight and prayed that God would let them step outside of that smokey room.

That God would give them perspective.
Wisdom.
Guidance.
Patience.
Humility.
And Love.

And right there, on our little bathroom rug, I committed myself to praying every night for the next week for this Oh So influential family.

So, Prayer warriors, as you read this, before you click to open your next tab, or before you browse on to your next blog, I am asking you to spend five minutes in prayer for the Gosselin's.

And remember, do it out of selfless love, instead of selfish judgement (that's what I struggle with.)

Need some ideas? Here are some specific things to pray for regarding this situation:
  • Pray that God will intervene in the hearts of that family
  • Pray that God will hold the tongues of those wishing to speak harsh words
  • Pray that God will remove temptations
  • Pray that God will draw them closer to them
  • Pray that God will remind them that marriage is a forever commitment, and that since no infidelity or abuse has occurred, they need to remain steadfast in it.
  • Pray that God will bring into their life encouragers. Wise people who will discourage unwise and rash decisions.
  • Pray that God will give them strength to weather out this terrible storm.
  • Pray that God will give them a mutual direction in life, instead of two separate paths.
  • Pray that God will point out each other's love language, and that they will begin to lavish it on each other.

I am so burdened by this, and I hope that you will take a few minutes of your day to pray for this family that has influenced and blessed so many lives.

I know that there is alot more specifics that we can pray for, so if you would like to add your personal prayer request on this, please add it in the comments section.

Please keep it positive! (I will monitor and remove anything that is inappropriate.)

Thank you to all for listening to me ramble on this.

Blogging Book Goal- Book #16

I finished this book about a week ago, and forgot to post about it! I bought this hardcover book for a dollar fifty, at the book sale a while ago, and I chose it because I remembered my friend Katie had read it. Turns out, she had only read the first few pages.

I should really double check my sources from now on.



"The Widow of the South" by Robert Hicks is a book based on a true story. That means the author took a true story, and elaborated it into a longer, more interesting story. So, it really loses most of the essence of its truthfullness in the elaboration.


The true story is about Carrie McGavock, a southerner living on a plantation on the outskirts of Franklin, Tennessee. Near the end of the civil war, Carrie's home, the site of her personal loss of three of her children, is turned into a war hospital when the frontlines come to their hometown. Carrie helps tend to the men, but after the battle, the men are buried in a wealthy towns man's field. Several years after the war, the man decides to plow up his field, despite the shallow graves of over 1,400 men that are in his field. Carrie decides to move all of the men to her property, where she documents nad keeps up every one of their graves until her death.


The story is elaborated and elongated, by throwing in a romance plot. Supposedly one of the soldiers who is taken to the war hospital intrigues Carrie (um, a married woman,) and they test the boundaries of moral propriety.


I don't think I would recommend this book. It moved slowly, was very dark, and tiptoed on the line of impropriety. I think there is enough darkness and evil in our world already, and reading about it will not really benefit anyone.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Conference Recap

Alright, alright. It's been a week since we have been back, so I guess I will catch up on what happened at our interview conference. I won't bore you too much with words, but there will be alot of pictures!

We spent our days at the headquarters of The Company in Richmond, VA. There we had meetings with the region/affinity group where we are headed, had lectures on packing/crating, security (which is going to take awhile for me to grasp,) Salary and Benefits (woooohooo! Finally, we will have 100% medical coverage- no premium, no copay= amazing!) and we had several final interviews (I think there were three altogether!)

In between all of that, we could either be found in the amazing research library, where we were reading up on our assigned countries/affinity groups, or in the dining hall, where the amazing caterer served us up even more amazing food. Seriously.

The library was neat, because when we arrived the first day, we checked in with the librarian, who handed us a dossier of printed up journal articles on our area, then led us back to a cubical with table and chairs, and a stack of books/dvds to do our research with! We are in the highest security bracket, which doesn't mean it's the most dangerous, just means it's the most sensitive, and we don't want to be kicked out of country, so that is why we were sequestered away. The library had computer stations and tv/dvd player stations with headphones, so you could watch some of the movies during your in between time!

Our interviews went great, except for a little financial blip. Turns out giving is way down this year, so they are going to have to cut back on hiring of new applicants, which is really sad. Our job title and description is being tweaked so that is a "high priority job," so that we will actually get through the process. (so, this is my little plug to GIVE, give, GIVE! we met SO many wonderful people who are willing to go with The Company, but are unable to because of the financial part.)

At night, we spent our time out at the International Learning Center, ie The Company's compound. haha. Seriously, this place was out in the middle of nowhere and is almost entirely self sufficient! The dorms were simple, but nice. And the grounds were gorgeous! There is a gym, library (you know me and books!) computer lab, full scale cafeteria, 3 playgrounds, classrooms and auditoriums, a lake with a gazebo, soccer fields, frisbee golf course, preschool/nursery facility, a fully operational K-12 school, and walking paths all amongst the Quads, which are the houses that we will be living in when we are there!









Friday, May 22, 2009

Drear

It's still raining in Florida. I think it's been five days now withoutour sunshine. Just thought you would like to know.

Because of the previously stated drear, I have been having hard times staying awake. Okay, well, maybe I don't know for sure if it is from our rainy weather or not, because I guess I have been tired now for almost 3 weeks! It might just be from all the stress of traveling/packing/moving. I had mono a couple of years ago, and it's not quite like that fatigue, but it is to the point that I am sleeping 10 hours straight! I am weird about my sleep, 6-8 hours is what I need, but it's very possible that I am sleeping longer simply because I have nothing else to do!

Memorial Day really snuck up on me this year! I'm not sure what we are going to do yet, because we only yesterday found out Ian had off work! We were plannng on heading out to Crescent Beach, but weather forcasts predict rain for the next 10 days! I bought us some hot dogs and baked beans, so we'll probably end up having Sam over and watching a movie or playing a game. Not that that's different from what we do every night! haha.

Did I mention I don't have my car for two weeks? Yeah, I decided to leave it in Orlando, so that when Ian and I finally leave Gainesville to move back home, we could drive off in the sunset together...... I'm sentimental like that, lol.

On a more positive note, I have gotten one whole box packed! Yahoo! It's really quite a feat of engineering skills. Plus, I don't think I mentioned what I have to do while I pack. I have to type every single item that goes into that box, into a document entitled "packing list." Seriously. You can't just write "DVD's"

Here is a sample of our "box one:"
Box One
Friends- Season 1
Friends- Season 2
Friends- Season 3
Friends- Season 4
Friends- Season 5
Friends- Season 6
Friends- Season 7
Friends- Season 8
Friends- Season 9
Friends- Season 10
Gilmore Girls- Season 1
Gilmore Girls- Season 2
Gilmore Girls- Season 3
Gilmore Girls- Season 4
Gilmore Girls- Season 5
Gilmore Girls- Season 6
Lois and Clark- The new Adventures of Superman- Season 1
Lois and Clark- The New Adventures of Superman- Season 2
The Office- Season 1
The Office- Season 2
The Office- Season 3
Band of Brothers- miniseries, collector’s edition
Disney’s Aladdin- Special Edition
Anastasia- Family Fun Edition
Disney’s 101 Dalmations- 2 disc platinum edition
Disney’s Beauty and the Beast- Special Edition

And that's just the first third of box one! (also, I know you will want to rag on me for my superman series, but don't even try. I am proud-kind of, of that childhood favorite!)

I've finished the DVD's and Ian and I have pulled out our books that we want to read for the next 7 months, and today, my job is to get seven boxes of books packed and listed!

Also, that extensive list gets revised 2 more times, once it is completed. The first time, we have to go through and assign a "garage sale," value to each and every item, for customs purposes. The second time, we have to go through and assign a "replacement" value to each and every item, for insurance purposes. Garage sale pricing will be easy, but we will have to research the cost of almost every item we own for the replacement value.

That's all for now. I am still stalling on that conference post. It will come soon, I promise!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Power Rangers!

I am finally feeling some motivation! Or, maybe, Ian and I are at Sam's house and the boys are watching basketball, and I seriously loathe basketball. Ian does too, but he is good at faking. Me, not so much.

So, with a flip of my hair and a look of disgust, I have sequestered myself in Sam's room with his Mac.

(as a side note, I seriously loathe Macs as well, but whatev.)

I thought I would share a little memory with you. It brings chuckles/tears to me everytime I recall it.

It was 1994, and I was in second grade. Let me preface the story by telling you Power Rangers were all the rage, but I wasn't allowed to watch it for some reason, (why mom, why?!)

We were out on our wooded playground, doing our second grade thing during recess. The kids decided to play "Power Rangers," and I, wanting to play too, joined in.

We were all standing in a circle, and one by one, kids were placing dibs on the character they would portray.

"I'll be the white power ranger!"
"I'll be the black power ranger!"
"I'll be the pink power ranger!"

Then, fate stepped in as I opened my big, fat, uninformed mouth....

"I'll be the purple power ranger!"

Crickets could be heard.
Every face in the crowd turned and looked at me.
Then, some smarty pants spoke up with his most serious tone....

"Brittney, there IS no purple ranger."

Mortified, I dashed into the woods and hid behind a tree for the rest of recess.

I never tried to play power rangers again.

Seriously folks! It's funny, don't feel bad for me, though, when recalling it, I will sometimes feel the rush of emotions lil ol' me felt way back then.


Stalling

I feel like alot about my life is all centered around stalling lately.

I am stalling to pack up and paint our home, so that we can enjoy it while we have it.
I was stalling to post a blog post because I just didn't feel like it.
I was stalling to wash dishes because that did NOT sound appealing to me.

And,

A storm front has stalled over top of good ol' Florida for the last three days! Our temperatures plummeted into the 50's and I have not seen one drop of sunshine. The rain is constantly dripping and there was a high wind here for awhile.

Sheesh. There is a reason I live in the "Sunshine State," and not Seattle! It really makes you feel sluggish and just down!

All this to say, I will be posting about the rest of our trip, which was our time at our interview conference, and my time visiting with my sister and my friend Courtney! Hopefully by tomorrow, I will have alot more motivation. Thanks for bearing with me!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Paradise


Last weekend, Ian's parents treated us to a night at Paradise.

Actually, it would be considered my second paradise.

My first would be Hawk's Cay Resort, down in the Florida Keys. Seriously, who wouldn't want to go HERE? (I'm thinking that if I brag about it enough, SURELY someone will give me a free stay, right?)

So, second paradise. As I was saying, Ian's parents were staying the weekend at the Portofino Bay Resort at Universal Studios, as their getaway weekend. So, for our one year anniversary (next month,) they treated us to a night at the hotel, and dinner and a movie!
The whole hotel is themed in the Italian genre, though I really don't know much about decorating. I will say it was beautiful, with people waiting on you round the clock, which is my kind of hotel stay!

Now, the theme parks are all about 30-45 minutes away for us, so you would think that this wouldn't be very relaxing.....but it was!

We arrived to our room after a little incident. You see, as we parked our car and grabbed our luggage, Ian's bag of hygeine stuff wasn't inside his suitcase. And mind you, he packs like a man, so his "bag," was really just a plastic grocery bag filled with all hygeine items. So, I, being the wife I am, told him I was going to put the ever so embarressing grocery bag inside of his backpack (because who doesn't bring a hiker's pack to a 5 star hotel?)

Well, while stuffing that grocery bag into his bright yellow back pack, I felt a tug on my thumb, and quickly yanked my hand out. Seconds later, my poor little thumb was gushing blood. Just as my father in law met us to escort us to our room, I was having to cup my bleeding hand to not stain the '5' star carpet. Sheesh.

My sweet Father in Law thought a bandaid would help, so of course he asked the concierge. I didn't have the heart to tell him that that little ol bandaid would not "stop the bleeding." So we rushed up to our room, and while I was cleaning my thumb up, Ian was digging through the back pack to discover the culprit. It was his razor. Darn it. Seriously! Who just throws a razor (as in- full of razor blades,) into a plastic bag? Anyways, it sliced right through the bag and my thumb, and after about 15 minutes I was all bandaged up and headed down to their cabana by the pool.

Yes, I said cabana.
And, we had a cabana boy.

Haha, actually it was more of a cabana "middle aged man," but it's all the same. I had me a pina colada smoothie (non-alc, don't fret,) and fell into a dozing stupor for the next hour or so.

We got up and had dinner at an italian place on the piazza, with a guy singing opera on the balcony above us.



Seriously.

It was some sort of performance.

All I cared about was my pizza however, and couldn't give a rip about what the large man with the mic was singing about. Bring on the next round!





Then we took the water taxi (isn't that cute!) to Universal City Walk, and went and saw the new Star Trek, which I really liked!

The next morning, we woke to find texts from his dad saying to order breakfast in. Faster than...um...any normal person in the morning, I recited to Ian what I wanted from room service, because, who doesn't read over the room service menu when they first check in?

The attendant came in to deliver our breakfast, as I feigned sleep, and set up a cute table and chairs by our window, for us to eat at.

Next we headed to the theme parks. I love me some good theme parks. And I am especially fond of the Florida ones, but I might be a little partial. Ian's parents also found a great deal at Costco on Universal tickets- for the price of a one day, one park ticket, they got us a 2 park, 3 month pass!

We spent the day riding rides and chatting it up with his folks.

Until......dum dum DUM...... we went to head back to CityWalk for another movie. We watched Wolverine, which was pretty good, and then I noticed my pass was missing! If you know me, or have read this blog for long, then you probably know that losing things is my biggest pet peeve. I hate feeling so irresponsible. I usually lose my head a little when I lose things, and it might be the only time you truly see me enter into panic mode. So Ian and I retraced our steps and then took the water taxi back to the hotel. By this time it was about 8 on Sunday night, and so all the offices were closed, so we couldn't find out about getting a replacement.

(for those of you who are worried like I was, don't fret. We called the next morning, and after cross checking our information, they told us it could be printed up at guest services the next time we came!)

So, naturally, we headed over to PF Chang's (one of my all time favorite places to eat!) for some Mother's Day dinner. Ian's older brother, Sid, and his fiance, Carly, and Ian's younger brother, Andrew, met us for dinner, and we ordered family style. After dinner, Ian, his parents, Andrew, and myself all headed back to home. It was a whirlwind of a 24 hours, but it really was wonderful!

Monday, May 18, 2009

May Wedding

I'm Back! I have missed reading everyone's blogs and can't wait to get back in the swing of writing. It's become very therapeutic and cathartic for me, and I love that friends and family can keep up easily this way!

Keep your eyes open for a bunch of posts coming in the next day or so, as I try to get caught up on everything that is going on.

First up, let's start with my friend, Courtney's, wedding!

I woke up, packed up, and drove to Orlando, Friday, May 8th, and kicked off the weekend with a series of beauty treatments! Eyebrows waxed, toes painted, and a hair appointment with a family friend. Since I have crazy curly hair, it needed to be tamed for the wedding, in case it decided to wake up on the crazy side that morning. She blow dried it, straightened it, and then curled it. I don't like my hair straight, so getting it back to "me" was most important!

I went back to my in-laws house and my husbands cousins were there, hanging out for the weekend! That was pretty exciting, because I hadn't seen them since their wedding, in January.

I then went over to my friend Katie's house, to hang out, and to also get her mom's sewing expertise. You see, my bridesmaid dress was...um....messed up. Let me back up a little bit......

Two months ago I tried on my bridesmaid dress, only the zipper wouldn't go all the way up!

No big deal, I thought, I just need to lose a few pounds.

So Ian and I went on South Beach diet for the next 5-6 weeks, in order to slim down.

Two days before the wedding, I tried on the dress again. Please imagine my shock when IT DID NOT ZIP!

Please picture:


Ian trying to zip it, with a hysterically sobbing Brittney in the dress, and him nearly yanking the zipper clear off!

I got on the phone with my best friend, Katie, and she let me know that the other girls' dresses were having the same problem. It was a zipper problem!

Don't get me wrong, I'm really glad we did South Beach (and we still are, kinda,) because it taught me what kind of foods I don't really need to eat, and helped curb some serious craving problems, but.... COME ON!

Right, so I went to Katie's house to hang out and have her mom look at the dress, and I ended up borrowing a dress for the rehearsal.

Then, I headed out to the Bucks, to have coffee with my IRL(in real life,) and Blogging buddy, Olyvia! We took Elementary Literature together in the summer of 2007, and have tried to stay in touch ever since.

After a quick caramel frap, I jetted back to Oviedo to get cleaned up, then Ian and I went to rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. They had their dinner at Carabbas and it was really special! The groom's parents put flowers on every table, along with framed pictures of the bride and groom, and there was a special table with the guest book, more pictures, and an album.

Dinner was yummy and I had a great time hanging out with everyone! Our bridesmaid gift was a set of cultured pearl necklace/earrings!

I also got a new favorite picture taken of Ian and I!




That night, the girls crashed at Jessica's house and got up really early because we had to be at the bride's house at 7:30 in the morning!




The wedding was gorgeous, the bride was beautiful, and everything went smoothly. Even our dresses zipped up (with three pairs of hands, that is!) and the reception was wonderful as well. By the time dancing started, I was plum exhausted (I knew I would be, sleeping with the girls and all!) and just sat back and took it in. I also started to stress thinking about all that was coming up, and it was good for me just to sit back!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Can-Do! Have What? Who?

THE CANS:
Can you dance? Not really. I definitely wouldn't win any competition. Or enter any!
Can you tie a cherry stem with your mouth? No, seems like a worthless talent.
Can you whistle? I'm learning how! I can whistle, just am learning to make it sound melodic
Can you write with both hands? Yes, my weird private school taught me how to be ambidextrous
Can you Cross your eyes? No, sadly.
Can you Walk with your toes curled? can some people not? I just walked around the house to give it a go.

THE DO'S:
Do you believe there is life on other planets? nope
Do you believe in miracles? Yes, yes, yes!
Do you believe in magic? No, illusions, yes.
Love at first sight? I don't think so. That's not love.
Do you believe in Santa? um. no.
Do you like roller coasters? Yes!
Do you think you could handle the stuff they eat on those reality shows? No. Way.

THE HAVES:
Have you ever been on a plane? Yeah, getting close to 'dozens'
Have you ever been asked out by someone? Yes
Have you ever been to the ocean? Yes. But never the Pacific :(
Have you ever painted your nails? Yeah, I'm not very good at it!

THE WHATS:
What is the temperature outside? Warm, mid 70's.
What was the last restaurant you ate at? TooJay's
What was the last thing you bought? Luna Bars and shampoo
What was the last thing on TV you watched? Annie, the movie!

THE WHOS:
Who was the last person you IM'd? Um, what century are we in?
Who was the last person you took a picture of? My husband and his BFF
Who was the last person you said I love you to you? My husband

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Checking In

Hi there! Sorry the blog has been semi impersonal lately.

The wedding this weekend was wonderful, and, as expected, the bride was GORGEOUS!
Pictures will be coming of this soon.

Our time out at the Universal Resort was wonderfully relaxing as well. Ian's parents took us to see Star Trek (I know, I know, bet you didn't place me as a trekkie, huh?) and the next night to see the movie Wolverine. Only afterwards did we find out they had already seen both movies! Sheesh.

We spent our day park hopping with our wonderfully inexpensive passes (Costco people!) and then I lost mine :(

Ian called up the next morning to the park, and they said they could print a new one, no problem! :)

We arrived in Richmond, Monday afternoon, after some very bumpy flights. Ian survived without the patch, with is a miracle for him! The conference center, where we are staying is phenomenal, and I am looking forward to our two month stay this fall.

Today was the most important day (to me anyways,) because we got specific information on our salaries, benefits, and packing directions! It's all becoming so real to me!

The library here is Amazing as well! Come on, did you think I wouldn't mention the books?!? It's a library meant to inform us on our new job location, and when we arrived, they handed us a dossier full of photo copies of articles, and whisked us off to our own personal study space, complete with a stack of books all about our country. They also included DVD's on the religion and people, and in our space, we have a TV/DVD player with headphones to learn more.

It's really amazing.

The food here is incredible as well, and I am looking forward to tomorrow morning's Caramel French Toast the most.

I hope everyone is doing well, and I can't wait to get caught up on what is happening in your life!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

ABCs

A - Age: 22
B - Birthday: February 16th
C - Chore you hate: Vacuuming (ours is a pain to move around!)
D - Drink You Last Had: Diet Caffeine Free Coke with a splash of grenadine
E - Easiest Person to Talk to: my friend, Courtney W.
F - Favorite color: Right now, Coral
G - Gold or Silver: Silver, definitely silver.
H - Height: 5'2"
I - Instruments you play(ed): Piano (lessons for 10 years,) and I own a guitar (can't really play)
J - Job title: Unemployed teacher, wife
K - Kind of humor: Sarcastic, witty
L - Longest Car ride: Hmm, Florida to Texas? probably.
M - Mom's name: Marsha
N - Nicknames: Batata (Arabic for potato. Seriously. I thought it was a funny word!)
O - One Wish: To one day have children
P - Pet Peeve: Gum Chompers/Smackers
Q - Quote from a movie: ummm, I don't know
R - Right or left handed: right
S - Siblings: Older sister, Heather
T - Time you wake up: Usually around 8 (did I mention I am unemployed?)
U- Underwear: Must be soft, soft, soft!
V - Vegetable you dislike: Lima Beans
W - Ways you run late: Checking my blogs when I should be preparing!
X - X-rays you've had: Leg, ankle, left arm (twice I think) and I think my ribs (not sure on this one though.) plus dental x-rays.
Y - Yummy food you make: Hummus, any baked goods
Z - Zoo favorite: Monkeys

Monday, May 11, 2009

Carlos

Did I ever tell you about Ian's undergraduate graduation at Liberty University?
They had a VERY interesting speaker....

Look closely now....

Bam!

It's Chuck Norris.



Whose real name is Carlos, which made me laugh.

He was an amazing speaker, and got the crowd pretty riled up while they chanted "Roundhouse Kick... Roundhouse Kick!"

I'm pretty sure there were screams of "I love you Walker, Texas Ranger!" echoing across the football fields.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Going to the Chapel...








Today, is the wedding day of one of my dearest friends!

Never mind the fact that Courtney Dickson is marrying Sean Dixon, (I know, it astounded me too!)

Courtney is a wonderful friend, very caring, and an awesome listener! Out of all of us girls, Courtney and I have the most similar dispositions and personalities, which makes it super easy to relate to her.

Courtney and I became friends way back in sixth grade, on a m trip to Atlanta, GA. I made her tea....in a coffee maker...that still had coffee grounds....Bleck!

Either way, we became fast friends, and through the ensuing 12 years we have remained close!

I wish her and Sean the best of happiness as they begin their life together.

I love you, Courtney!

Friday, May 8, 2009

The Weekend

Dear Reader,

I thought I would give you a little heads up, I have a busy weekend coming up!

Starting this morning, with an early 2 hour commute to Orlando.

A 10:30 Hair appointment.
Then my nails.
Then my eyebrows.
(beauty has a price my dear friends,)

Lunch at the in-laws I suppose, unless I could get someone to meet me for lunch.

Coffee with Olyvia at 4.

Rush back to get ready for rehearsal and dinner.

6:30 Rehearsal for my friend's wedding

7:30 Dinner

Saturday morning, bright and early, I have to be at Courtney's (the bride's) house at 7 am!

9:00 am leave for church

11:00 am Wedding time

Reception to follow.....

That evening, head out to the Portofino Bay hotel, at Universal, where my in-laws are spending the weekend. They got Ian and I a room for the night, and bought us 3 month passes!

Sunday Morning
....I have no clue.
But I suppose it will include some theme parking with the in-laws, some food, and eventually a man movie.

Sunday night, back at the in-laws house!

Monday

am....price storage units

1 pm, flight to Richmond, VA!

We will be in Richmond for a week long conference/interview for our new Company.

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I hope to post some over the weekend/week, but I am not sure how available internet and a computer will be! I have set up some posts already, and I can't wait to read comments! Have a wonderful week ya'll!

Perked Up

I had a sweet time with an old friend last night. I think I have blogged about her before. My friend Kelly and I go back to the beginning of high school. She was my swimming buddy, during those awkward, hard to fit in, years.

We met up at a local town center for some coffee (umm, java chip frappaccino for this chocoholic, thank you very much.)

We reflected back on how much we LOVE swimming, and both wished we could get back into it.

We also reflected on how much we HATED morning practices. Who wants to get up at 4:45 before high school to swim? Not I!

I love meeting for coffee with friends. It's not as invasive as eating with friends (when you mouth is full and you are just plain hungry,) and I feel like it's more relaxed!

I'm supposed to have coffee with my college friend, Olyvia (Cascading Thoughts,) today!

Yay for more time reconnecting with friends!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Orange Fluff

I just wanted to say "Thank you," to my grandma, who sent me a lovely package last week.

It was quite a surprise, and inside of it, was a recipe I had asked for, and a package of pearl tapioca!

Which was good, because I had already begun my hunt for the elusive pearl tapioca to no avail. I couldn't find it anywhere! Grandma told me it was hard to find, and that she had people up north find it for her! I should have listened.


The recipe was for a yummy dessert called Amish Salad, which is an orange jello dessert with pinapples, mandarin oranges, tapioca and cream- a perfect summer treat!


I feel like this is a family recipe now, because my great aunt made it for her family, then had her sister (my grandma,) make it for her husband's funeral reception, and now grandma passed it on to me!

I have to tell you, I thought the name was pretty funny. Its official name is Amish Salad, but all of my great aunt's family refer to it as "orange fluff," because, well, that's what it looks like! Apparently though, there is a totally different recipe for 'orange fluff' and she gets flustered when people call it by the wrong name.

The recipe for "Amish Salad," is below.

2- 8oz cans mandarin oranges
1- 20oz can pineapple tidbits
1/2 cup small pearl tapioca (do not use minute tapioca)
1 cup sugar
1 large package orange jello (6oz size)
1 pint whipping cream whipped

Drain juice from mandarin oranges and pineapple and add water to drained juices to make 7 cups liquid.

Bring juice and water to a boil.

Add 1/2 cup small pearl tapioca and cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes

Add 1 cup sugar and 1 package orange jello, stirring until dissolved.

Chill until syrupy.

Add fruit and stir occasionally as it thickens.

Fold in 1 pint of whipped whipping cream before it completely sets up.

This recipe will fill a 9x13 size cake pan.

ENJOY!

What a great treat on a hot, sticky, summer afternoon!

I plan on making my first batch when we get back from our trip in a week! (let me know if you are able to find the tapioca!)

Thanks again, Grandma!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

This Just In!

We have officially set our moving date!

Well, the first of five moving dates!!

We move from Gainesville, FL to a suburb of Orlando, FL, called Oviedo, on May 30th!!!

AND, we got the use of a free moving truck (thank you in-laws who are real estate agents and their office owns a truck!)

PS: I really had a much more interesting post for today, but the internet on my computer isn't connecting so I couldn't post the pictures from my computer. Sad.

Okay, technically, I could just move the file via a flash drive, but come one, that's just too much work, I thought you might enjoy this more!

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Take Two!

Announcing the Graduation of

Ian Galloway

from the
University of Florida
at 9:30 in the morning
on the 2nd of May, 2009,
with a Masters of Arts in International Business


Sunday we headed back to UF's campus to take pictures because I forgot to take pictures on Saturday, I thought it would be a great idea!

Sam, Ian's best friend (the super tall one,) and Sam's roommate, Andy, came along as well, to get some pictures taken. I think they turned out pretty well, considering it was a typical blazing Florida day and there were no clouds to filter the very bright white light.

We took pictures in iconic places around campus (the stadium, the bull gator,) and in some more scenic spots, such as under a beautiful Florida live oak, and in their business college's garden.































Monday, May 4, 2009

Smitten


The day before he graduated, Ian brought home some roses, a card, and a Dove bar. All because he was graduating, haha. He told me he couldn't have made it without me.....awwww.


I'm aboslutely smitten with him.


You see, the romantic things don't come easy to him. He didn't grow up in a house where romantic actions were modeled and it is just not something that pops into his mind. So, when he does sweet things like this for me, it's doubley special to me because I know it meant he really had to think about it!


Pomp and Circumstance

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009, my husband, Ian, graduated from the University of Florida with his Masters in International Business!

I am so proud of him, for all of his hard work and diligence. He completed his Masters in 10 months, starting one week after we got married! It's been quite a whirlwind of group meetings, projects, classes, and long nights of homework.

He is really ready for a break, because, honestly, he hasn't had more than three weeks off since he started college! He is taking the summer off, and then, this fall, we will both be starting seminary classes from Southern online, in order to meet our requirements for our new job.

The day of graduation went pretty smoothly. Ian's dad arrived in town at 8:30, and we drove over to the school, parked, and entered the O'Connell center where his graduation would take place. My father-in-law and I found good seats, and chatted the morning away. The processional started at 9:30, taking almost 45 minutes for all of the graduates to be seated, and the ceremony lasted until 12:30! It lasted so long because thsi ceremony was for all Master's and PhD students, so it was a more formal event, with the Doctoral students getting "hooded," individually.

After the ceremony, we met Ian at the car, where he got out of his regalia, then we walked across the street to some restaurants for lunch. Then, at about 1:30, we headed back tothe O'Connell center to watch the business college's graduation, which started at 2:30 and ran to 4:30. We had several friends graduating in this ceremony, including Ian's BFF Sam, Sam's roommate Andy, old friends from home, and several of the students we teach in Sunday school..


After the second ceremony, we loaded up and went to one of our favorite restaurants around here, Peach Valley Cafe! Sam's family (mom, dad, and brother,) met and ate with us, and although I ordered a Cajun Chicken Pasta, it did not taste good. Like flour and milk as the alfredo sauce. I was pretty disappointed so I pigged out on the Fresh Apple Fritters instead.
We finshed dinner up around six and we were exhausted! We drove back to our apartment, said our goodbyes, then plopped down on the couch, where I watched 4 hours of 24, and Ian played a computer game. Then we crashed for the night. It wasn't until the next morning when I realized I hadn't really taken any pictures of Ian's graduation gown! I remedied that the next day (post to come.)