Good Day!

What's good about today? It's the last day of quite possibly the worst month of my life. Two moves, a death, a minimized vacation, and a car that was broken into... That's not on my list of good months.

Because I am an eternal optimist, I would like to cover the good things that come from a bad month.

First of all, I got off early today. We were done pretty early, so I took a bow and ran out. In fact, I ran to Ben's house. On the way, I picked up a six pack of Shock Top, one of my favorite beers. Since, I've enjoyed a handsome man, a beer, some spaghetti, and The Office.

Second of all, Ben has made made next month "Fun May", where we pack as many fun things into the month as possible. Because it's my thing, I am making CDs for the event(s). It's something I am looking forward to, although I don't plan on the stoppage of fun come June 1st.

And lastly, I switched my facebook language to Pirate. Quite awesome if you ask me.

Something You Should All See

Today, I have movies on the brain. By no stretch of the imagination are they great movies; for those who follow me on facebook, I posted a Gigli reference today. May as well cover that business first.

Look, we knew Gigli was going to be terrible. It's Ben Affleck and J-Lo together. In a film. If you haven't seen it, I won't even tell you what it's about. Partially because I cannot remember. Also, because the parts I can remember are very highly inappropriate. Why see this? Because we could get in for free. And Rachel Melton and I love ridiculousness, so why not? Also, Barnes went (how we got in for free). We couldn't bring ourselves to tell the child selling us the tickets that we were going to see this particular film, so we told him we were seeing American Pie. It was as bad as one would expect. Problem is, after seeing it, I wanted to show someone else how terrible it was. So I did. Which means I've seen it more than once. I am not proud of this fact. Although hearing J-Lo's vagina speech in the movie reminded me a lot of that time Christy and I (and someone else, but I can't remember who) saw Originial Sin in theathers with a bunch of old people. If you saw that film, you understand why that was a problem.

Another movie, one which I highly recommend to everyone, is Black Sheep. Nope, not talking about the Chris Farley movie. This movie is an australian film which weresheep. It's quite possibly the funniest film I've ever seen. It was revisited in my mind today because Dustin received it from Netflix on Friday and watched it this weekend. I promise you all that if you ask him, he would totally back me up on how funny it is. I heard of this movie one night through Carolyn, who saw a preview for it and had to call me at work. (Speaking of Carolyn, you should all ask me in person how we got to be great friends.) If you want to see a preview, it's here: http://www.blacksheep-themovie.com/.

If you've seen any terribly bad movies that end up being hilarious, please send them my way. I love that stuff.

My New Addiction

Without going into detail, I will say I've been addicted to many things in my life, most of which have subsided by now. But today I think I have a new addiction, one that isn't as bad as those before it.

My friend Rachel listens to online sermons on a regular basis, and I have recently had an interest in listening to them as well. When she was home over Easter weekend, not only did she give me some EASTER JAMS!, but also told me of a link with really great online sermons. The link is: http://www.journeyon.net/sermon-list/. This is a church my friends Christy and Tom attend.

Today is my first day listening to these online sermons. Right now it's about ten til 11pm, and I've been listening almost continuously since about 5:30pm. That's a pretty good run. Not that I've been sitting here all night doing nothing listening. I've been unpacking and setting up things... and listening. Hey, I'm pretty good at multitasking.

Anyway, if listening to sermons is your thing, I would really suggest checking out the link. If not, disregard it and go check out www.graphjam.com. That's almost equally as cool.

I always pick the best days.....

...to move.

Last time, it was pouring down rain, and my furniture was a little wet. This time, it's crazy warm outside for April and poor Ben worked his rear end off to help me get everything moved today. I am seriously a lucky girl, because I did very little actual moving and more unpacking than anything else.

Things are slowly coming together, but I still have a long way to go. This time, while unpacking, I am going to be pulling things out to take to Goodwill. I have already been through the bedroom and I've got three boxes ready to go. I have a lot of kitchen things as well, so I assume I will have at least one more box from that room. This new place doesn't have a lot of extra storage, so I feel pretty good getting rid of some of my things as well as giving back by way of donation.

All in all, I am happy to have all of my belongings in one place now. (THANK YOU BEN!) It's a nice small apartment with all hardwood floors. It's a place I can see myself staying in for at least a year (hey, not just because I signed a year lease), and maybe a little longer depending on how things end up playing out. The only problem I can spot is that I can't find a strong enough free wifi signal. : )

As a final thought, I am thankful for all of you who support me (whether it be here or long-distance). This month has been a rough one, and I am looking forward to getting things back to normal.

I Feel Much Better

Today was a good day. Actually, I've been feeling much better ever since last night, but today's happenings were equally as good as yesterday's.

With the car window in a non-commissioned state, I don't want to drive it until I have it repaired (which happens tomorrow morning). Good news? Ben gets to drive me around for two days. Yesterday when he picked me up, he got to come in and meet everyone I work with (or, rather, my shift of people, the good ones). That was fun and good for everyone. Then dinner and a movie. It was a peaceful night.

This morning, I packed as much as I could before George got to my place in Soulard to help move. Then Ben showed up, and I basically didn't have to do too much, which was nice. I've been joking all day that I'm about 78% moved, which probably is a great guess. The rest will be completely finished on Saturday, which gives me the rest of the weekend to set things up.

The new place, off Chippewa and Gravois, is a lot smaller than the place in Soulard, but I really prefer it that way. It gives me a chance to get rid of a lot of things I hang onto and don't need. AKA- make a really large Goodwill donation.

Also, Roxanne, if you're reading this, tell Maury I'll be over to steal a microwave. : )

Stupid Hoodlums

I should recap the last few months of my life, to give everyone the big picture.

January was a great month. My Steelers won the Superbowl, I got to meet the greatest man ever (and he fell hook, line, and sinker), hockey was still on TV.

February was okay. My car was totaled by a hit and run driver outside of Ben's apartment on February 7th. On Valentine's Day, I got a new car. A really cool new car.

March was relatively uneventful, but I prefer it that way.

April... well April kinda sucks. The first part of April I moved into a new place in Soulard, only to find out two days later that the building I am staying in is being sold. I was told I had to be out by the 27th, which is next Monday. I found out that I had a place about a week and a half ago, about a minute or so from Ben's, which is nice. Everyone came home for Easter last weekend, and that was fun. The Friday before Easter, when I left work, I officially started vacation, as Ben and I had a planned trip to Chicago. We were to leave Wednesday afternoon and come home Sunday. Monday morning, my grandma passed away, which pushed my vacation off until Friday and made what I thought was to be a pretty relaxed week into a really crazy week. I came back to work yesterday (Tuesday), and this week is pretty busy within itself. I've been trying to pack everything I own because I move AGAIN tomorrow (into my new place). To make things even better, this morning when I awoke, I found that some hoodlums has busted my driver's side window in my car and stole my CDs.

With that said:
Things I am thankful for:
First, and obviously most importantly, Benjamin. If not for him, I would NOT be sane right now. Or, at least, I wouldn't be holding onto whatever sanity I still have left.
Second, caffeine. I haven't had a great night's sleep in a while now. I'm tired.
Third, a really good Blues game last night. I love you, my Saint Louis Blues. Thanks for a great season!
Fourth, my snuggly cats. They sense when things are wrong, and they've been extra lovey lately.
Fifth, my evening shift friends at work. The random things we talk about keep a smile on my face.
Sixth, Duets. No explanation needed.
Seventh, music.

That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure there are more things, but my brain is fried.

Too Much

This week has been so overwhelming. A death, wake, funeral, trip to chicago (and back) all within about 7 days. I am tired, sad, exhausted. At the same time, I have been humbled and am so happy. Huge life events bring out a lot in us. Whether those things be good or bad, it doesn't matter. They just bring themselves out.

The trip to Chicago would have been better if it would have happened another week. I think I packed too much into the week. Problem is, if I would have canceled, I would not have been able to see my significant other until today. With everything going on, I think I just needed to be where he ways. Hence, a 36-hour stay in Chicago. Plus, I got to visit with Roxanne a little, which made me feel a ton better as well.

In the end, I am very glad I went. The comforts of home are nice, but there are other comforts that are more important when everything is said and done.

Gratitude

Everytime a major event happens in life, I grow more thankful for everything I have. This extends through so much: God, friends, family, being able to make choices...

Today is a great chance to focus on what I am so thankful to have.

I am thankful for the ability to make choices. That said, I have been feeling this pull to go back into teaching (as a major). I have discussed this with the most important person, and I've got support and backup. My goal in life has always been to help people in my career choice. I know I'll make a great teacher. I'm excited to get back into the field again.

I am thankful for my family and friends. The turnout at the wake tonight was unreal. Everything was beautiful and I am so humbled by those who extend themselves.

I am thankful for Ben, who is an outstanding man and supporting me from Chicago via calls and texts. Don't want to find out where I'd be without him.

And of course, I am thankful to God for giving me all of the above, and everything I have in this world. I am so lucky.

All I ask today is that you all say a prayer for my family tomorrow. It will not be an easy day, but we will make it through.

Vacation

This week I have been on vacation. Ben and I planned a trip to Chicago a few months back, and this is the week we were going. With the death of my grandma, things have changed a little. Ben is leaving on the train today at 3, and I will stay in town for the wake and funeral, then leave on Friday at 3. I have a feeling that timing is going to be good for me; I will be ready to skip town, and have an almost five-hour-long train ride to clear my head. Saturday we are seeing a band called Fundamental Elements. Even though it's a shortened trip, I am looking forward to it.

This morning I have been thinking about how nice it is to have a vacation. I don't think I have taken an entire week off in at least three years... Or, it doesn't feel as if I have. Even under the circumstances, it has been an okay week.

Yesterday was a great day. I didn't set an alarm and got about six loads of laundry done. (Hey, not all of that is mine...) I traded $500 for the keys to my new apartment. When I went to do so, I got to see the work they are putting into the place. Everything is looking really nice. The walls are almost done being painted and the woodwork is also close to being finished. The tile in the bathroom looks really great. I can't really move my things in until next week, but to be honest, even if I could I don't think I would have the time until then anyway.

Ben and I also got to do something yesterday that doesn't happen often at all. We enjoyed a sit-down dinner AND a movie in the same night. Dinner at Blueberry Hill, which is where we met up for the first time outside of Llywelyn's. (On a side note, I would recomment BH's cheddar cheese balls.) As for the movie... where do I begin?

You all understand that I have an extreme liking of really REALLY bad movies. The ones that are so bad they are just too funny. Well Ben, although not as strong as my liking, also doesn't mind said movies. This is great, because I get to talk him into the terrible ones every so often. Last night's debacle? Duets starring Huey Lewis (and not the News). I would recommend the movie because A.) it has Huey, and B.) he sings Joe Cocker's "Feelin' Alright". I would post what Ben's review would be, but I will leave that up to him. (Because I am 100% sure I know what he's going to say.)

My plan for today is equally as great. I am lucky enough to get to spend the morning hours with Ben and then drop him at the train station. After that... I think some of my day will be used to begin packing for Chicago, as with the wake tomorrow and funeral Friday I doubt I will have time after today to do so. Also- I am going to play video games. I mean, I play on sitting on a couch and maybe playing Zelda's Twilight Princess until my eyes hurt. Or heck, maybe even play some online games. But that's all I could come up with to fill my day. After all, I still AM on vacation.

National High Five Day

I doubt I will have time to post this one in the next few days, and I really want everyone to know beforehand.

Thursday is National High Five Day. You should High Five everyone you know! There's a Cards/Cubs game on, so you could watcht that and let loose. Or, if the weather improves (and I believe it is supposed to), you can high five about that. Just find every reasonable excuse to slap hands.

Where do I start?

This morning, about 6am, I woke up to see that I had a new voicemail. You know that bottomless pit that grows in your stomach when you just know something isn't right? Mine was swelling rapidly.

It was my dad telling me that my grandma on my mom's side had passed in the early morning. At first, it didn't hit me. In fact, it took about 8 hours to hit me. And then it hit me hard.

Today, all I ask is that you say a prayer for my family.

Fabulous Weekend

What a weekend it has been already! Everyone came home last night and I was lucky enough to be done with work pretty early. Headed over to the grocery store to get some goodies, and then home where everyone (well... almost everyone... we were missing a couple people) got to come and hang. Then a trip to Llywelyn's to see/meet Ben, which was fun. (Although Tiny Cows were not playing that night, much to the disappointment of Rachel Melton.) Today I was lucky enough to get to attend my dear friend Christy's bridal shower at Helen Fitzgeralds in Sunset Hills. Everything about it was fantastic: fun games, great people, good food...

As for right now, I'm sitting in my living room getting ready to put the finishing touches on Summer Jams, which are looking amazing as is... but will be outstanding with said improvements.

Tomorrow I am blessed enough to be invited to an all-day Muehleisen family Easter. Church in the morning, BLUES game in the afternoon, dinner in the evening. This pretty much means a blog tomorrow is out, but at least you know what I'll be up to.

So, celebrate Christ tomorrow (and everyday as far as I'm concerned) and LET'S GO BLUES!!!!!

Happy Good Friday!!, part II

For those of you who know about my apartment situation:

I just found out I got the apartment I looked at last Saturday. : )

'Tis a GREAT Friday indeed!

Happy Good Friday!!

Today is a super important day.

First of all, I encourage you to celebrate Christ today.
Second of all, if you're my friend and you're in town today/don't have anything to do, I encourage you to come to my house tonight!!!! YAY!!!!!

That's it. Got a super busy, awesomely fun weekend ahead. Enjoy this Great Day!

Easter, part II

How did I forget the Cadbury Eggs?? I eat them oddly. I eat just enough off the top to get my pinky inside and then I dig the goodness out. And that sound completely filthy.

What do you think about the worst candy ever? I'm going with Peeps. Just disgusting.

Easter

I really love Easter, for a TON of different reasons. One of them (not being the most important) is the fact that there is a lot of great candy in grocery stores. I don't eat candy on a regular basis. However, around this time of year, I just want a huge basket full of the stuff.

Today, I thought it would be fun to talk about our favorite candy. Some of mine are: chocolate covered strawberries (I consider them a candy, what do you think?), Milky Ways, Twix, any kind of plain smooth chocolate (especially that Dove stuff.... wow), 3 Musketeers, Mike & Ike's, Sour Straws, Reese's Pieces, Sixlets... I think I like candy a lot more than what I thought before...

That is all for right now. Well, besides to say that I am really looking forward to getting out of work on Friday. Freinds will be home and I will be off for a week and have a trip to Chicago planned. So excited!

Just another day...

I slept until 10am today. I don't like doing that. However, I decided after a Blues WIN last night (make that STOMPING of Pheonix) I would just turn off my phone before I went to bed. I never do so. End result? No alarm, and I wake up at 10am on the dot. It is what it is.


Today really is just another day. I have not heard from Wash U yet, which is slightly irritating, but I understand that I am just not supposed to know yet. Everything comes at the time at which it is meant to come. Wouldn't you agree?

Twice in one day

I don't think I've ever blogged twice in the same day, but today deserves two blogs.


It's a great day! I got up and played around on my free wifi (also what I'm doing now), and went to the bank and got a money order and stamps to mail off to the real estate company for my credit check. Should know if I get the apartment in the next two to three days. I ripped myself a CD of the ridiculous tunes I bought off iTunes last night and took it into the car/to work as well. Included in that mess was a song by the band Dangerous Toys, called "Sport'n a Woody". Yes, you did read that correctly. It is the dirtiest song I have ever heard (yes, dirtier than "Hot Cherie"), so I decided to google the entire song lyrics. It's so bad it's worth a share, so here goes: http://www.lyrics.com/index.php/artists/lyric/dangerous-toys-p-12684-lyrics-sportn-a-woody-t-1944254.

Have fun with those lyrics. (I know you're laughing, Rox.)

I also had about three really good TWSS's at work. (For those unaware, TWSS translates to That's What She Said, a great game to play.) On a normal day, I would say I top out at two. Today was especially funny.

Another funny thing that happened: On a day in which my friend Matt McCormick is working, I will almost always demand a three-minute shoulder rub. A little background: Matt is the charge nurse in the O.R. And I am always tense after the day shift leaves because they are always cranky. So after they leave, I head down to the main O.R. desk where everyone sits at the end of the day. We trade shoulder rubs, then back to work. It breaks up the day and that's nice. Today was no different. I went down to visit, but this time was much funnier than normal.

While getting my shoulder rub, Matt found what I would call a kink in my shoulder. Then this conversation happened: (And FYI, Marti is an awesome nurse who works at the desk daily.)
Matt: That's tight.
Marti: What?
Me: Matt found a kink in my shoulder.
Marti: Well, we always knew you were kinky.
Matt: I didn't even know that.
Marti: How would you know?!
Matt: UUUHHHHH....
Me: What the hell just happened?!
And then we all laughed.

To top things off, I got Qudoba for free for dinner tonight. Life is pretty good. : )

This is a good one

It's short and sweet, but I can't stop thinking about how true it is.

Some things in my life way be in complete disarray right now. However, I trust in God that there is a reason for it. In fact, I now understand that He has shown me that while a lot can be wrong, but having someone by your side that you know is not going to go anywhere; someone who is always going to support you, no matter what; someone who cares for you just as much as you care for them; that is the important piece of the puzzle. Finally understanding that is awesome for me. : )

Back to being happy

The last week has really been a test for me, in a number of areas. I am trying to be a better person in a number of areas (being more patient is one of them), and it was a stretch this week. For those of you I've been in touch with, I will apologize for not being myself lately. However, I think this weekend really helped in a lot of ways.

Friday morning was rough. Looked at a place around 8am, and right after I looked at it, the person who looked at it the day before put in their application. I had another appointment at 12pm, but they called before the appointment and said someone had just rented it. I was bumming.

The guy who took me to look at the first apartment called me back that afternoon and said they had just recently bought and are rehabbing another building just a few blocks away from the first one I saw. So Saturday I went to look at that apartment, and I like it more than the first. It should be done in a week or two, and as long as I pass the credit check, I should be A-OK. I have my fingers crossed, for a few reasons. I am really REALLY sick of looking at apartments, and this one is pretty close to Benjamin. That will be nice.

After looking at the apartment, I decided it was a nice day to sit outside. So I grabbed some laundry, beer, and cigs, and headed to Ben's place. Sat on the deck for a while, played around online, listened to some tunes, got my laundry done... All in all, felt a lot better.

Today was awesome. Church with the manfriend and Mom in the morning, pizza for lunch and a nap and hockey in the afternoon... and now I'm hanging out. I am 100% sure that Sundays are my favorite days of the week.

Haven't heard from Wash U yet, and if I haven't heard from them by Tuesday, I am going to call the director and see what's up. I've prayed a lot about this, and if it's supposed to happen, it will. If not, something else will come about. I have faith in that.

Huey Lewis and the News

Again, I am trying to stay optimistic here... So I am writing about things that make me smile. Two things happen when I write these blogs: I smile, and some of you get to a: relive a story, or b: hear a new one. If you're in the latter half of that second part of the equation, feel free to ask questions as to what I am talking about if I do not clarify a story well enough.

With that said...

While driving to work today (and, oddly enough, earlier this week as well) I heard "I Want a New Drug" by Huey Lewis and the News on the radio. (I read a poll somewhere a while back that ranked this at number 2 on the "worst songs ever" list.) Yeah, Huey Lewis (with or without the News) is funny. But they become funnier if you're Rachel, Roxanne, or myself.

A few years back after Roxanne's dad passed, the three of us were in the Provence basement going through some of Myron's old records. Roxanne comes across this beauty of a record, Sports, that included the solid hit "I Want a New Drug". I will forever remember the look on Roxanne's face when she pulled that out of the stack. It said many things. The strongest sentence her face would have said is, "WHY THE HELL DOES MY FATHER OWN THIS?!?". And if you know Rox, you SO KNOW that's true.

Needless to say, I laugh at HL&TN all the time. But especially during this special song.

Glen Fest

These past few days have been pretty crappy, but I'm trying to keep my optimism. (This is at the urging of my father.) So I should probably post about things that make me happy. Here goes.

Right before I got the call that I would have to move (again), I was leafing through my photos and working on a fun project. I came across a lot of fun photos, but some in particular brought back some memories I had totally forgotten about.

Specifically, the time we went to Glen Fest.

For those unaware, Glen Fest is Glen Carbon IL's homecoming. It has improved in the past few years and now happens ON Main Street on a Saturday and Sunday. But back in the day when we attended (that one time), it was held on church grounds. And it was special, to say the least.

I found the picture of Rach, Barnes, and myself on the bus that shuttled us across Main Street. Also for those unaware, Main Street in GC is about as wide as my thumb. AKA- you don't need a bus to cross the street.

I found another picture of the sidewalk some genius permanently marked. With the words "smoke a bowl". In the cement before it dried. Don't think that's funny? Read above where I stated this was on church grounds.

Also on the same night, for some reason, we went to TeePee (Hey, Rox, did I spell that right?) and danced in front of the sign. In this photo, we look as if we were rapping. Or something. Rach was wearing the oh-so-infamous Mountain Dew hat.

I did find other fun things, which I will save for another blogging day. =)