Cheap Date Night

When you are "new house, momma has been without a job" broke, you have to get creative in order to have date night. I signed up to be a mystery shopper for a chain steakhouse. We went last night to do "our shop", filled out our paperwork online this morning and should get a check in about 2 weeks. We were very pleased with everything, and they got an excellent review. We ended the evening by going to buy a new blind for our master bedroom. We are one exciting couple, don't you think??

No more feelin' sorry for myself!!

I obviously was in a funk when I wrote my last post. I probably should have just written that post on a piece of paper and chucked it in the trash. Just writing it down made me feel better, so I should have stopped myself before I hit the publish post button. Sorry you had to read about me feeling sorry for myself. Today is a MUCH better day. God is Good!! I have been presented with an opportunity to work from home, and I think it is going to be PERFECT for me. This opportunity fits everything that I have been looking for. I should have been confident that He would provide for me, but I'm a typical impatient person who wants to control everything on my own. Next time I'll just "Be still and listen" and not bore you with my feelin' sorry for myself speech:) Thanks for your words of support, though.

Pity Party + PMS = VERY Bad Combination

Struggling!!

I have read other blogs that talked about being transparent, so here goes. I feel guilty even talking about struggling considering it was just Easter weekend (Thank you Jesus for what you did for me), plus we have so many friends who are struggling for their lives, but please pray for me. I'm certainly not trying to diminish anyone's troubles, but I am really struggling with what I'm supposed to be doing with my life. The only thing that I've ever known that I wanted to do was to be a flight attendant. That door has closed, so I have been in pain since we made our decision for me to not return to flying about what I should now be doing with my life. I have been applying for other Delta jobs, but that doesn't look good now that they are trying to get 30,000 people off payroll. I have been on monster, career builder, looking in the paper, etc. but when you don't know what you're looking for it is difficult. I am envious of people who always knew what their career path would be. I was talking to my sister-in-law the other night, and I became really sad because she is doing what she wants and she is GREAT at it. Same way with his other sister and his mother. They followed their paths, and they have all been successful doing something that they enjoy. I am a true believer that a person should be doing something that they love. Maybe that is where I am making a mistake. There are tons of people who have careers that they hate. What kind of life is that, though? At one time, women were teachers, nurses or homemakers. Now there are so many options. Teaching and nursing... not for me. I have NEVER wanted to do either. I can't stand bratty kids, sassy pre-teens or know-it-all teenagers (I will cross those paths when I have a child of my own thankyouverymuch), and nursing?? Are you kidding me?? I almost pass out at the sight of blood. I do love being a homemaker, but our budget tells me that I HAVE to find a job. SOON. My hubs tells me that I am educated, good with people and so talented in so many different areas. Really?? I have a love for all things creative, and I feel that I'm a good salesperson. That's about it. I have sales experience, but no sales experience in the fields with job openings that pay decent salaries. Where does that leave me? Oh yeah, I DON'T KNOW!! I've never been one to regret my decisions in my life because I have always had the attitude that my life experiences are what make me the person that I am. Right now, though, I'm going through everything in my head about different career paths that I would have taken if I could go back in time. If I had done some things differently, I wouldn't be where I am right now. Add to that the fact that we are trying to start a family, and I'm not sure how I am going to feel if I get pregnant. I'm no spring chicken, plus I have some health problems so I forsee a tough and sickly pregnancy. Then if we get pregnant and have a baby, do I want to work long hours with travel considering I have a husband who works very long hours at least 6 days a week?? No. Through this long process of hoping for a baby will I ever want to leave the house again if I have a baby? No. You'll probably have to pry that baby out of my arms with a crowbar. Basically, I want a job that I can work out of my house. I am a hard worker who is willing to work long hours, but 9 to 5 is not my gig. Anyone have any ideas? Every other career decision that I've made in my life only affected me. It's not just me anymore, though. I used to tell Mike that having a child was going to change my life so much more than his. I don't think he ever really got it, but I feel quite sure that many of you moms out there know what I mean. Since the man is usually the breadwinner, a woman's career has to change or take a backseat. Not a bad thing, but just a fact of life especially when you live so far away from any kind of family to be able to help you. I am at an absolute loss. I pray to God everyday to show me my way in life. I'm trying to be patient, but PLEASE show me a sign. Anyone ever felt this way?? I feel certain that I'm not alone. At least, I hope that I'm not the only confused and lost woman in the world.

P.S. I have an interview for a sales position today. It doesn't seem like something that I would enjoy, but I am at least trying to get myself out there again. I haven't been on an interview in several years, so I guess this is good practice. Wish me luck!!

Happy Easter

What a great Easter!! Mike and I went to early church, I taught Sunday school for 11:00 service and Mike went to work. He played GM today as they had reservations for 400 people for Easter brunch. I went to the club to watch the little cuties hunt eggs, and then I ate a late brunch with Mike. The weather was gorgeous, and we felt so blessed to spend some time with friends.

I'm surprised that this pic turned out decent. Mike wasn't thrilled about getting his photo taken with the bunny:)

Mike's head pro's wife Sara (the cute blondie, not the bunny:)
Cute family pic of my friend Margaret (who I teach Sunday school with), her husband Lou and their daughter Marissa (who helped us "teach" today)

Changes to the new nest

I doubt if you notice any difference here, but they had put the wrong house numbers on the house. They are now changed from the fancier brushed nickel to dark brown simple ones.

They finally put the hardware on the garage doors, but there is still a dent in one of the panels that has to be changed.
After 3 incorrect measuring mess-ups, we finally got our frameless glass shower doors. Now, I wouldn't exactly define them as frameless since there is a frame around the top of the doors, but apparently it had to be there and the company still defines these as frameless. Not the best lighting, sorry.
I lovie!! My teak fold-down shower seat in the up position.
Folded down
New star light in the kitchen

Here's a close up. I wish you could see all the cool flecks of color in it- browns, terra-cottas, golds and reds.
Our new rug for the family room.
Go cocks!!
Our beautiful new grill that we received as a house-warming present from Mike's parents. Thanks- we LOVE it!!

Move Over Jeff Gordon!!

Mike and I have not been racing fans in the past, but I think we will have to start goin' to the races. We were invited for a once in a lifetime experience to ride shotgun in an Iroc with a professional driver at Darlington International Raceway. We suited up in all the gear, and went around the track at somewhere around 140-150 mph. We rode inches away from the wall. It was AWESOME!!! I am claustrophobic, so I didn't love all the gear that I had to get into. The ride was great, though. We then got our next adrenaline rush by having a chance to go "drifting". A new sport, this involves going sideways at a high speed in a souped up Mustang through an obstacle course. Basically it's like spinning out and doing doughnuts at high speeds as you're going around curves. Now that was incredible!! That might have been even more fun than doing the laps. I have a new appreciation for race car drivers!!

Mike dressed in his gear before the laps.

Mike trying to sit in a Formula 1 car (the wine and cheese crowd's kind of racing:).
I think he decided that he was much too tall for that car.
Yeah, I don't think you have to worry about me walking out in front of those cars.
Getting ready to go!!
Here I am trying to crawl out the window.
A little wave to my fans:)
The driver told us a thumbs up meant for him to go faster. Mike gave his driver TWO thumbs up (adrenaline junkie), and his driver even passed another car. Mine didn't do that, thank God.
This was after we took our gear off.

Here I go for my drifting experience.
Here I am taking a corner- he spun out much further than what this pic shows.
Coming in from the ultimate ride
We also received a bunch of stuff. We got to keep our face masks, gloves and the backpacks that they gave us to keep our stuff in. We got pics taken in our gear with our helmets, hats that said "Riding Shotgun", disposable cameras, earplugs (although we didn't use them) and thermos cups. Too fun!!!

Before and After

We started with white cabinets, but they were a little stark with all of the warm colors in our house. We decided to make a little change, so we hired a faux finisher to glaze them. Here's the before...

Here's the after...
What do you think???

Lights Out. Uh-huh. Dance, dance, dance!!

Do you remember that 80's song? That's what I was thinking about last night when we were without power for 5 HOURS!! We had a tornado hit close to our house, so the power was out from 5:30-10:30. I can't believe this pic actually turned out since the house was completely black except for 2 candles. I grew up in tornado alley without a basement, and never had a problem. (Other than the time that my mother put us both in a bathroom with no windows. I could also be scarred from all of the tornado drills at school.) Now here I am as an adult, with a basement, not living in tornado alley, and we've had to use the basement to escape tornado warnings twice in less than two weeks. Yikes!! One of those times I was flying THROUGH the tornado warnings returning from my Texas trip. Not a pleasant flight or landing!! Here I thought I was just getting a basement to store all my junk:)

Friendship Friday

Friendship Friday is back!!! It was a good one since we were able to enjoy entertaining at our house once again. Our friend Terry visited from Hilton Head Island for 2 nights while he made arrangements to move back to Columbia. Hooray!! We will be happy to have Terry, Becky and Ellee back here!! Mike's head pro, Chad, came over since his wife Sara was out of town. Mike's assistant, Luke, his wife Clark and one of our groomsmen, Troy, also came to enjoy a night of dinner and fun. Mike grilled steaks on our new grill (a housewarming gift from his parents). I made sauteed shrimp, twice baked potatoes, sauteed squash and zucchini and homemade peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream (Chad's favorite). Yummy!!!

Big Pimpin'!!

I just finished getting my bloggie makeover. I LOVE my new Spring look!! Jennisa can pimp a blog like no other. Check her out at Once Upon A Blog- Where your story begins... (www.jennisajoy.blogspot.com). If you need a new look, she will not disappoint!!

Date Night Resumes

The last few weeks have been really hectic. Between our move, trying to get settled into our new home, workers being in our house all of the time putting on the finishing touches, a couple of visits from Mike's parents and my almost week long trip to visit my parents in Texas, we haven't had much time to enjoy date nights. We were happy to resume date night with tickets to The Blue Man Group and dinner at Mellow Mushroom (awesome gourmet pizza in case you've never heard of it). This is our second year in a row going to see The Blue Man Group, and I would highly recommend it if you have a chance to see them!!! So fun and unique!!

My silly husband does love a concert!!