Praises (and caffeine)

Sallie Mae disbursed my loan!!!! Finally, two months after they approved me for the loan. If you ever have to work with Sallie Mae, I'd suggest asking for a supervisor. Praise the Lord for providing! God is good.

I have a busy day tomorrow. I have to type my handwritten pages, proof my thesis, go by the bank, pick up new library books and read them, turn in old library books, do laundry, get the oil changed in the car, and pack for our trip Thursday. I'm probably forgetting something else I need to do.

I've been having a pretty good fall. I feel as though I know what's going on and we'll be moving on to the next phase of life soon. I'm over halfway done with grad school (yippee!!). My crazy health problems are pretty much gone, which makes me think they're stress/depression related.

I have a job I love, good friends, a wonderful family, and an amazing husband. I also serve a merciful God. Life may not be perfect, but it sure isn't bad. :-D

P.S. I went to a coffee shop to work on my writing. I always forget to ask for decaf . . .

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Late Thanksgiving, not Happy Turkey Day. Goodness, no wonder America is obese. Instead of thanking God for food and shelter and another year, we thank the turkey ‘cause we’re hungry. :::shivers:::

Anyway, I can’t believe it’s December, can you? Another year gone by! This has been a rough semester. Let’s just say that LETU spoiled me. :-D I am looking forward to next semester though. I think I’ve got a better handle on writing and grad school. I got a new winter coat for my January residency (er, and it just went on sale! Don’t you hate it when that happens?) It’s a really nice coat! I got the brown. And today, I just ordered some snow boots. Paul called his brother to get advice.

Karen and Dave are coming to visit on Thursday! Yay! I’m really excited. They’re bringing Dave’s parents and their cats. :-D

Yesterday at work, I kept a tally of all the Christmas songs they played. I can’t find the paper I wrote it on, but the count went something like this:

• Walking in a Winter Wonderland 6
• Santa Clause is Coming to Town 5
• Frosty the Snowman 4
• Let It Snow 4
• Jingle Bells 3
• Jingle Bell Rock 3

Yes, I am sick of Walking in a Winter Wonderland.

Awesome Summer!

I know; I’m a bad blogger. It’s all my love/hate relationship with technology. This summer has been pretty awesome. I went to graduation and Christy and Joel’s wedding in May. Seeing so many ELH-3 girls together again was awesome. We got some good pictures. In June, I went to Audrey and Jason’s wedding and got to hang out with Holly. And Karen came to visit, which was amazing! I’m so glad that she and Dave live closer now. I was going crazy without them!

In July, I went to grad school, which was also amazing. I had a blast and got so fired up about writing again. I went from grad school to Jonathan and Malori’s wedding. From their wedding, Paul and I went on a road trip to celebrate our first anniversary. I had so much fun! That was our first really long road trip. It was stressful in some ways—like that crazy mid-western storm! 120 miles long and at least 4 hours to get through—but a lot of fun. We ate original deep dish pizza at the original deep dish pizza restaurant! And guess what? The guy who invented it was from Texas! Yup, everything good comes from Texas. ;-) I can say that, too, ‘cause Paul’s mom was from Texas, so he came from here, too.

In August, I got to go to Kendall and Joshua’s wedding, which I didn’t think I was going to do. I road the train to meet up with Christy, Alisha, and Amanda and we road tripped up to the wedding. I had so much fun with the girls again. And guess what?? Christy and I got to be flower girls! Yay! And hanging out with Kendall was great since I hadn’t seen her in forever.

I finally found a part-time job. It’s been pretty good so far (I’ve been there about two weeks). They’ve been working with my schedule and mostly scheduling me for afternoons. Yay. Part-time is so much nicer than fulltime.

Grad school sucks right now. Not because of grad school but because of my infernal writer’s block. ARGH! Quick, someone give me an idea for a short story based on character! Any prayers for my writing would be greatly appreciated. I’d hate to waste this opportunity.

I know this is getting long, but I just want to thank everyone for their prayers for my brother-in-law. Jeff is doing pretty well. He got the back brace off this week. This whole situation has really been a miracle. God was really looking out for Jeff. Hit by a drunken driver while riding his bike and only two cracked vertebrae and no paralysis—I’d say that’s a miracle! Continued prayers for his recovery and for the medical bills are greatly appreciated. Neither Jeff nor the drunk driver has insurance. And if you wouldn’t mind praying for my mother-in-law, she has hepatitis or something crazy like that. The doctors hope it will clear up by December. We’re praying it clears up sooner.

Well, that’s another brief update from the life of Annie!

P.S. I read this book Uglies by Scott Westerfeld for grad school. It’s not wonderfully written, but it’s not horrible either and it was pretty interesting. The main character kind of drives me crazy, though. I just finished the sequel, Pretties, and I’m taking a brake before I start the third one.

Meet Jameson

Wow. I really need to update more often. So, in the last month and a half, I finished Christy's wedding present, went to the Longview area for two weeks for graduation and Christy's wedding, got accepted into another grad school, sent my workshop submission to grad school (a ton of people I've never met are going to be reading my story!!! Ah!!!!), finished my scarf, almost finished my placemat, started working on more wedding present stuff, applied to a ton of jobs, and had one interview. Did I leave much out? Oh yeah, I got a new compy for my birthday!!! I guess technically it's only partially new. It's got new guts. But it's amazingly large and fast and new to me. :-D His name is Jameson.

I had an interview with Dress Barn on Monday and I have two interviews tomorrow, one with Ann Taylor and one with Gymboree. I have no idea which place I'd rather work. But thankfully, I think that they're interested enough that at least one of them will hire me (prayers are appreciated though). At this point, I don't really care too much what kind of job I get. I just need something part time to keep me busy and bring in a little money. Once Paul and I get settled in somewhere, I think I'd like to find an internship or something.

Well, seeing as how it's way past my bedtime, I should go. I'll try to get better about updating. Really.

P.S. I dreamed about Batman and Robin last night. All of the villains were after them. I mean all. I don't think they were gonna make it, but I woke up before then . . .

The first month

Woah! It's been exactly one month since I last posted! Which means it's been exactly one month since I started work. That's right--during lunch that fateful Tuesday, Dillard's called and said, "Oh, you don't start next Tuesday, you start tonight. At five. Til nine-thirty. :-D" So I had to rush back to Hallsville to change into my suit and then eat a sandwhich in the car in the mall parking lot before I went inside. Ha ha. So, I guess I've been working at Dillard's for a month. It's been good so far. I just graduated from training on Saturday. We get monthly schedules, which is really nice. I get two days off a week (at random times--this week it was Tuesday and Friday; next week, it's Sunday and Wednesday) and I close two nights a week. But even when I close I still get home at about 9:40pm, so that's good. And the earliest that I ever have to be at work is usually 9:50am. The pay is really good for Longview and for this type of job, and I get some benefits, like health insurance (after I've been there three months).

Our apartment is about five minutes from my work and twenty minutes from Paul's school. Usually, Paul takes the bus to the school or work, but sometimes, like the past three days, I drive him. Our apartment is really nice. The only downside is that it doesn't have a pantry (^0_0^) (that's the shruggy shoulders smiley). But, it has a dishwasher that is AH-mazing. We don't have to rinse anything even if we don't run it for a day or two! And Zoot is lending us a washer and dryer. Paul and I each have a walk-in closet, and our dining room living area is pretty nice. And since it's a "non-updated" apartment, we get lower rent. Wohoo!!! God has really blessed and taken care of us.

We have really good friends here, too. Last night, we went over to Shawna's apartment and got to eat pizza and hang out with friends. I got to see Christy and Jodie, neither of whom had I seen since the wedding. Christy told me that Michael Card would be at chapel today, so I drove Paul to work and then hung out at Speer chapel (playing piano!!!!) until chapel. At chapel, I got to see Kendall and Jamin and his wife and baby. :-D Life is so good. Oh, but I think that there is a class in this room now, and I get to go meet my hubby for lunch. I like getting to be with Paul so much. I miss him when we're apart even during the day. Well, he's my best friend! she answered their rolling eyes with arms akimbo. :-D Catch ya'll later!

Annie D.

Getting Close

So, things are moving along toward the wedding day. Three and a half weeks! :::gasps:::: I have a lot to do. I'm enjoying doing most of it, like arranging the flowers and making my veil, but it's still stressful. Plus I have a lot of other stuff to do. I'm really proud of myself for all that I have gotten done though. Not the conceited kind of pride, but the "Hey, I'm actually doing something and doing it well for once!" kind of pride.

I just read Peter Pan today. And you know what? I miss starry nights with friends, racing through the clouds. I'm really glad to be grown(ing) up, but sometimes, I feel very sad that I can't ever be a kid again. Being a kid was fun! I just hope that I don't try to relive my childhood through my kids! That could be bad.

Anyway, I should get to bed. I have to take my dress to be cleaned tomorrow, and I'm going to go see Sarah's play!!! (unless they're sold out). You should see it, too, if you're in the area. Oh, and I'm gonna work on more flowers tomorrow. I've finished the bridesmaids boquets and my toss boquet, which I used for my bridal portraits.

Goodnight all! I'm off to visit my own neverland, and it isn't a bit scarey.

Anne M.

Going Quickly Insanve--as is evendeced by my spelling

I actually just finished Eldest. Paul gave it to me for my birthday. That was a good book. I think I liked it better than Eragon. Oh oh oh! But I predicted the end! Actually, I predicted the end when I was reading the middle of Eragon. :::::blows on fingers and rubs on shoulder:::: I'm good. Did anyone else predict the ending? Don't say what the ending is though because we don't want to spoil it for everyone else.

So, who's going crazy? Annie's going crazy!! (Ha ha, English nerd: I was just thinking of how the meaning of those two sentences would totally change if I just changed "who's" to "whose.") My wedding is 39 days away (according to one website; it's 38 if you go to a different website and 37 if you go by the Harry Potter countdown)! I have so much to do. At least I finally got almost all of the invitations out. Note the almost all. Those things have been a stinking pain. Now I need to make my veil, do the flowers, finish the attendant gifts, and holy cow! I still have to order the stupid cake. Oh my word. I'm going insane.

But, I can't do any of that this week because I have to work on job hunting. I have to figure out what kind of job I'm looking for, find places that are hiring, apply, try to set up interviews, and whatever else I may need to do to find a job. I don't really know because noone ever told me and this is the first time I've done a serious, bona fide, full time job hunt. And I need to fill out stuff for our apartment application. I think. I don't really know.

On the super amazing uphand, I get to see Paul the day after tomorrow!!!! ::::waves arms like Kermit the Frog:::: YAY!!!! I haven't seen him in ::::::mentally calculates:::::: :::::checks Outlook calender::::: 4 and a half weeks. I know, I know, most people have to go a lot longer without seeing each other, but this is the longest we've been apart since we even liked each other, so it's a big deal for us.

Anyway, I've gotta go drive Karen and Dave to the airport. Talk with ya later!

I have a wedding to plan, my wife to murder, and Gildor to frame for it. I'm swamped!

Get your rest. If you haven't got that, you haven't got anything.

Dear all,

Well, I didn't write on xanga much this year because I honestly was far too busy. It feels so good to be finally done with school. And I think that my creativity is coming back, slowly but surely. I've already written one song and come up with one new story idea. That's nothing compared the 20-something ideas I used to come up with in a year, but since I started college, the number has been zippo, so one is good.

Let's see, recap of this year: Classes were okay, worked 8-10 hours a week first semester (and around 2 second semester :-\ ), shared an apartment with three friends, apartment dinner once a week, Thursday night Alias (we watched all five seasons in three semesters), wedding planning, forbidden to wedding plan, practicing piano 4 hours a week for friends wedding, internship freakout, finished internship, Going to ENGLAND!!!!, not going to england . . ., Shawna visited, Shawna visited again!, Shawna visited again!!, 5 bridal showers in one semester, 7 weddings in a year, hysterics--school is evil!, happy times--I like school, graduating, walking across the stage, I HAVE MY DIPLOMA! Oh wait, that's just the case for the diploma, hurriedly snap pictures, run to turn in gown, THEN I get my diploma, clean, clean, clean the apartment, go to bed at 4am, spend Sunday asleep and eating, rehearsal dinner at Papacita's, wedding, played four songs for said wedding, drove six hours home with no one to talk to but Fer 'n' Gully my new pet ivy, get home, sleep, wake up, drive to Corpus, mother's day lunch, come back, crash, brother's graduation!, wedding planning, wedding planning, wedding planning, wedding planning . . . .

And that's this past year in my discombobulated thoughts with emphasis on more recent events. I hope that you enjoyed. Currently, I am trying to relax without forgetting to plan my wedding, apply to grad school, and try to find a job. :-\ Do I have to? I'm ready for the wedding to just happen and end so that I go hang out on the beach. Ha ha. I need a vacation . . . .

Crazy-busy, busy and crazy

Busy busy busy!!!

As I have been saying for the past few weeks, we weren't meant to be students and real people at the same time. I have homework for four classes, twenty hours of internship, work, cooking, cleaning, shopping, planning our wedding, finding a job, looking for an apartment, applying to grad school (blissfully postponed some--it was originally due day after tomorrow!!!) and if possible, some time hanging out with friends since this is my last semester. Nope. Not busy at all . . .

So that's why I haven't written much and probably won't write much. But we've been engaged for a month, I have my dress--and that's about all. Not going crazy.

Anyway, I've got to get back to work. Talk to ya'll later!

Drumroll please . . .

So, I think I've told everybody in person or on the phone who reads this, so now I can post about it:

Paul and I are engaged!!!!! I'm so excited! And happy; did I mention happy? Yay!!! :::::waves arms like a puppet:::: Yay!!!!! Story time?

The Set-up
Last Friday was our 1st anniversary of dating. Paul asked me to go to breakfast with him at Saga since that's what we did the first day we were boyfriend and girlfriend. (I told him that I'm very grateful that he didn't propose at Saga, ha ha.) We also went to Anglican Prayer chapel together and ate lunch at my apartment. Paul said that he wanted to take me somewhere special at 5pm. My friends asked if I thought he would propose, and I said, "no" because Paul had said we go another anniversary if it didn't work out that one. Ha ha.

Frivolous Sidetrack About My Wonderful Shopping Skills
After Shakespeare class, Karen and I went dress shopping so that I could have a nice dress for our dinner date that night (mine and Paul's, not mine and Karen's). I don't think I've ever tried on so many dresses in such rapid succession before. . . . We spent around an hour at Dillard's but didn't find anything that just shouted "me!" Except for one dress, but it didn't quite fit So with only about 20 minutes left, we sped over to JC Penny where I did speed dress-shopping. I finally found a dress that looked really nice, was only $10 above my price range, and was two sizes smaller than the last dress I bought. BIG It turned out, when I went to pay for it, that it was actually $7 under my price range. Go me!

The Plot Thickens
So, I didn't get back until 5:30, but it was okay because it was too cloudy to watch the sunset anyway. So Paul drove us out to Lake Cherokee where we had our first date. We sat on his jacket on a rock by the lake and just talked for an hour. It was so beautiful. We kind of reflected on our year together and how, even though it's been hard sometimes, it has been so good and we care so much for each other.

The Proposal
When we decided that we should go back to get ready for dinner, Paul said, "If you stand up first, I can get my jacket." So I stood up, thinking it only slightly odd because Paul usually gets up first so that he can help me up. I stretched and then turned around to see what was keeping Paul. He had stayed on his knees. He said, "I love you." At this point, I was a little suspicious. Paul had said, "I love you," from that position before, but this seemed somewhat purposeful. Then Paul said, "Will you marry me?" and I thought, "Is he proposing?" And then I saw that Paul had a ring--well, mostly I just saw a sparkle 'cause it was dark out. I was so happy and excited that I didn't say anything at first. Then a little voice in the back of my mind said, "Say something before he gets nervous." So naturally, I said, "Yes."

I am sooooooo happy. Paul is the most amazing man I have ever known. I love him so much. He's my best friend. We love spending time together. We can be silly, serious, romantic, fun, intellegent, and all sorts of things together. My family likes Paul and his family likes me. I couldn't be more happy. . . . Well, maybe once I'm Paul's wife . . .

Thanks to all of our friends for sharing our excitement and joy. I'm so happy.