DOONEY & BRICK

Oh, and also...

2011-01-18T00:13:00.000-06:00

I love my job.

Why is it called getting on a soapbox?

2011-01-17T23:23:00.002-06:00

I didn't look it up, but I assume it's from the idea of a make-shift platform to air your views. Well, I typically try to steer away from soap-box issues, but this one is just really weighing on me lately.

God hates divorce. I think we all know that. The idea of remarriage is not as black and white. Some believe that there is no exception to the divorce question, never permitting a divorced person to remarry. Others believe that there is only one exception that would allow a divorced person to remarry. Still others believe that specific situations can allow a divorced person to remarry regardless of the reason for their divorce. My point is not to discuss which is right, but I wish people would consider why many Christians believe that second option.

When two people are bonded in marriage and make a vow to God, they promise to be joined together until death parts them. When that marriage dissolves because of adultery, one spouse has "joined together" with someone else, obviously breaking the original marriage bond. It seems common sense to me that you can't be bound to someone who is bound to someone else. Where does that leave someone who is divorced from someone who is NOT bound to someone else?

I recently had a conversation with a divorced man that did not seem to be sure whether it would be fitting for him to remarry. I also have a divorced acquaintance on facebook that isn't even officially divorced, yet is now constantly referring to his "girl" and his love for her. In both instances, to my knowledge, their ex-spouse is not remarried. I think it is the saddest thing to give up on a bond that has a chance to be healed. Maybe it wouldn't ever happen, but why would you choose to be the one to finalize the break of something so sacred?

We live in a society that has the utmost disrespect for the marriage bond. It is such a sad thing, but God's people shouldn't let ourselves fall into that way of thinking. Know that marriage is a beautiful, sacred bond and as the Bible says - "What God has joined together, let no man separate." I think believers should always make sure that they are not the ones to break it.

Silly boys

2011-01-12T21:06:00.001-06:00

The boys I nanny love me.

I think it's mainly because I'm good at Super Mario Bros.

My new year's resolution should have been...

2011-01-10T21:18:00.002-06:00

I made a few resolutions and goals for the year. I'm not too strict on myself with these things because I know every day is a new start, I don't need to change calendars to feel like I get a "do over." Well, one that didn't make the cut is to finish projects that I start.

I love to do crafty things and I am probably the most motivated craft starter that I know. Craft finisher? Different story. The truth is, it's a hereditary problem I inherited from my mom. Growing up, I thought it was normal to have material cut into pieces from a pattern with the pattern piece pinned to it long after you outgrew the size it was cut. haha Okay, so maybe I knew it was procrastination, but the truth is that I have a few patterns cut out myself, just waiting to be sewn... half-done scrapbook pages... half-done knitted projects... crocheted flowers with nothing to add them to... material waiting to be flowered headbands... the list goes on!

Among the projects I love to do is embroidering cards. It's great fun, but I have made the bad habit of waiting to send out notes until I have embroidered an appropriate card. Knowing myself and my procrastination habits means that I have a list of encouragement cards and thank you notes that have been waiting for me to make cards. What is it about me that won't use a pre-made card? I mean, really? One of the notes I'm waiting to send is a male friend that opened his home when a friend and I needed it. It's a guy, is he really going to care whether it's an embroidered card or not? LOL

It's like I'm an over-achiever and also a procrastinator. That is such an unfortunate combo!

Proper Healing

2011-01-08T00:02:00.003-06:00

"A healed wound doesn't still hurt." -Beth Moore

It is typical for people who have been divorced to seek out others who have had the same experience. For the past few years, when others talk to me about their experience I have noticed a common trend of them to adamantly insist that they have "healed" from the divorce. Sometimes these people have been divorced for a very short time, sometimes not. Most of the time, though, they will spew bitterness and resentment toward their ex-spouse in the same breath. It really makes me wonder what these people think being healed means.

I know there is not a specific time frame for the grief process. I also know that being healed doesn't mean you must be happy about the situation. I don't have the answer for what brings about healing. For me, I literally had an epiphany. I really woke up one day and saw my experience from a new perspective and never looked back. The counselor I saw at the time said that he wished all of his clients went through it that way, but that is rarely the case.

So, no, I don't know what the answer is. I only wish that people would allow themselves to go through the process. Don't be so quick to tell others you have healed.

If it still hurts, you're not there yet.

And that's okay.

A lot can happen in a month

2011-01-03T23:37:00.003-06:00

Well, I started babysitting the boys and it looks like it is going to turn into a permanent position. The boys just love me (and I love them, too!) and I think that really made the parents feel better. Saturday night when I arrived to babysit for the evening, they talked to me about keeping the boys for a couple hours every day - picking them up for school, after-school activities and fixing dinner. I am in LOVE with this idea! There is one night every week that I won't be able to do that because of school and another where I will only get to do part of it in order to get to a later class. Even so, I think it will be great and I am so excited to start! Then, I'll go full-time this summer and I'll have an adventurous summer, coming up with different things to do with the boys every day. I can't wait! The best part is that I get along with the boys so well. I asked them recently if they wanted me to come back and play with them (I was already scheduled to come a couple days later) and the youngest whispered, "I wish you would stay forever and ever." It completely melted my heart! I LOVE how kids are so willing to love someone and trust so easily. It's kinda sad that we lose that and put our guard up so much as adults!

My work at Williams-Sonoma has slowed down and my position will soon be over unless I tell them I want to stay there permanently. With the recent babysitting gig, I'm not sure if WS will be willing to work with my availability hours, but we'll see! Next semester is going to be very time consuming, so I'm not sure if I'll be available enough to make it worth their while.

I'm still trying to work my AdvoCare business, and I feel like it will be easier for me to talk to people since so many have New Year Resolutions about getting healthier! I am definitely a believer in AdvoCare, but I'm always nervous about telling people about it because I never want someone to think I'm only telling them to make money. I was MORE comfortable telling people about AdvoCare before I became a distributor, but then someone else would get the profit. Kind of a catch 22! I'm hoping that I make it a success because I know it CAN be if I make up my mind to do it!

The month of December was a little crazy. Things got really hectic at WS leading up to Christmas. I worked 50 hours one week! It was nice for the paycheck, but I just need several weeks like that in order to make it on a WS salary. Ben came to visit for a few days and that was fun, as always. We didn't do anything, really, but we just have a good time together. I made him a neck-warmer since he was on his way to PA for the holidays. He said it worked out quite well while snowboarding!

Speaking of me and crafts, Mom and I have been on a knitting/crocheting kick lately and hopefully we'll have some things to sell soon. I'm hoping that can bring in a little extra income. I cut material for jersey-knit scarf tonight, but I have to wait until Mom gets home to figure out her sewing machine. I miss mine! Need to dig out the pedal from my storage. I have everything else here (long story!) so one of these days I'll have my own machine again. :)

My parents left on Christmas Day to head to California to visit with Michael, Hannah and the kids. I know they're enjoying their time! It's been quiet here, but I was long overdue for the alone time, so I've really enjoyed being here. I'm quite an emotional person, but try not to let others see my emotion, so to an outsider, my alone time might look like depressed time (there's a bit of crying going on!) but it's just a release of pent-up emotions and doesn't last long. Unfortunately, though, that mood hit me on New Years Eve so I stayed home by myself. Ben was back in town with his sister and they were planning on me to hang with them, but I couldn't pull it together long enough to be social. I was so bummed afterwards, but oh well! I've been sick for the rest of the week, but I think I'm feeling better enough to start running again tomorrow. I took a 2-week hiatus, not on purpose, from running and am a little nervous about how big a set-back that will prove itself to be.

Whew! Okay, so much more to say but this post is entirely too long already. If I would just blog more often, they wouldn't be so stinkin' long!

Never Burn Bridges (Or, God Works it Out)

2010-12-02T01:41:00.004-06:00

Last spring, I met a woman and discussed being a nanny for her family during the summer months. We talked off and on for a while and two weeks before I was supposed to start working, she emailed me and said that although she wasn't planning on hiring someone else, she met someone who she thought would be a better fit for the job. I was so disappointed and started my email reply several times, but the irritation was always too evident so I would delete and start again. This happened over and over and finally I decided that not responding at all would be better. I don't like the idea of "burning bridges" and thought it was silly to be so upset since I didn't have an offer in writing or anything like that.

Well, fast forward to this morning. I got an email from the woman explaining that she realizes she made a mistake by not hiring me. The person that she hired instead didn't work out quite like she thought it would, so she wants to get an earlier start this time and asked if I would like to nanny for her this summer and babysit occasionally until then. How cool is that? I know it's months away, so it might not work out as I plan, but just knowing that I made the right choice by keeping my mouth shut feels great. It's true what the Bible says in Proverbs 10:19. "When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise." That's usually not the path I take, but I definitely recommend it.

Hairspray

2010-12-02T01:20:00.005-06:00

I love big hair! My friend, Tiffani, styled it for me this afternoon. She always makes it look so adorable!

Life is a marathon

2010-11-30T15:17:00.003-06:00

So I'm three weeks in with my marathon training. I had a lovely race picked out at the end of March. I got a flier in the mail promoting this particular race, so I counted out how many weeks away it was. I had 19 weeks to train, which was perfect since the plan I wanted to follow was 18 weeks. Sweet! So I printed out my schedule, even did a whole week of training when I found out from a friend that the race that was promoted is only a HALF marathon and not a full! I felt so stupid for all this planning, so I checked the flier again and sure enough! It said there would be a full AND half marathon! But my friend was right, the flier was incorrect. So, I continue to train but I am still searching for a marathon to run this spring, hopefully within a couple weeks of the one I had originally planned.

Running has been consuming most of my thoughts for the past three weeks and I think it is mostly a defense mechanism to avoid the frustration and panic of still being *mostly* unemployed. I am working part-time at Williams-Sonoma, but it does not offer a lot of hours. I'd love to have the income of a full-time job, but the classes I will be taking next semester will not allow me the time to do that. I will be doing what I refer to as our version of student teaching. Going on assignments to observe working interpreters and, based on my teacher's judgment of my skills, might be interpreting some while on those assignments. I'm hoping she thinks I'm ready for that, but most people at that level do not get that option. We will see!

I'm also trying to figure out a plan to continue on to get my bachelor's degree. I have decided (as of now) that I would like to major in Communications. Not only do I think that will help me with my interpreting, but it will also give me a broader range of knowledge so that I can get back into Human Resources if at any time I decide that I no longer want to interpret. After that, my goal is to then go to Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. to obtain my masters in Interpretation. All that said, I know that God has a special way of making His own plans for me so I know it might not happen as I have planned. :)

Well, I'm trying to get back into blogging (How many times have I said that??) so this is a catch-all catch-up on what is going on in my life! Pray for me! :)

Over the hump

2010-04-12T23:04:00.002-05:00

I seem to be in a running "slump" the past few weeks. Well, it's been the past couple months actually. After I ran the Cowtown, I took two weeks off to recuperate, because that's what the pros say to do. I don't think they meant that for people who ran it as slowly as I did. I pushed my endurance, sure, but I didn't physically over-extend myself. So, I don't think my body needed two weeks of recovery time. Ever since the two-week break I have had a really hard time pushing my body to go more than a couple miles. I'll catch myself stopping to walk so early in my run, and after that happens, forget it. I mentally hang up the phone and decide that I'm not having a good running day and that's that.

Lately, I've been trying to get my parents to go to the park with me because I want to help them get in shape as much as I can. The down side is that I feel bad for making them wait if Mom is finished with her walk and I still want to run for 30 more minutes, or if I lap her and I'll want to stop and take a little break and talk to her and catch my breath - and there goes my run. There I go again, hanging it up and saying to myself, "I stopped running. Game over. Today is gonna be a 'short run' day."

So, I have to figure out a way to self-motivate and get my tail in gear to get over this hump and back to my best running self!

The Waiting Game

2010-04-10T14:02:00.002-05:00

I feel like my life has been spent waiting on other people for a long time now. Waiting to hear back from a job, waiting on someone to provide some real support instead of the usual "be warmed and fed" kind, waiting on an unemployment check, waiting to find out what God has planned for me, waiting to find out if someone thinks my time has any value, waiting to finish school, waiting for my phone to ring, waiting, waiting, waiting...

I don't want to have a "Debbie Downer" blog, so I've been trying to keep it as positive as I can, but ya know what? I'm tired of waiting. I just want to put that out there. I am ready for something in my life to change and yet I feel 100% completely powerless to change it. I am at a loss. I have no idea what to do - I've applied for every job I thought I was capable to do, and plenty of jobs that I'm not. Either way, you can see the success rate of actually getting those jobs. I applied at a fast food restaurant the other day and when I gave the manager my application, he did one of those, "I'll look this over and give you a call" things with the tone of voice that told me he would not be calling me. What is the deal? So, now I'm just waiting on an answer. Don't know who it will be from or what the answer will be, but I'm ready for it.

I cain't say no!

2010-03-31T11:26:00.002-05:00

I'm singing along with Ado Annie (that's Oklahoma talk for those of you who are not musical fans!) - "I'm just a girl who cain't say no - I'm in a turrible fix!..." Well, although Ado Annie is singing about courting guys with ulterior motives, I'm referring to CAKE! I said I was going to call it quits until I could do the business properly, but when I'm asked to do a cake, I just can't say no!

My childhood best friend is getting married on May 1st. In Alabama. I am driving/flying (depending on my job status at the time) to Alabama to make her wedding cake. Can we say pressure? I was really hoping she would rather me sing or something instead. That is a lot less stressful!

The third Saturday in May, I'm going to a graduation/birthday party in Houston and - you guessed it! - making the cake. This one is my fault, though. I found a cake idea that fit too perfectly, I had to do it!

The fourth Saturday in May is my 10 year high school reunion. Hard to believe that I've been out of school for ten whole years, but here we are! I'm pretty sure I'll need to make a cake for that occasion, too.

And finally, the fifth Saturday in May is the wedding of a friend of a friend. They want a fairly easy cake; however, any time I am doing the cake for someone's wedding, I get very stressed out!

So, if I really want to put the cake business on hold, I need to learn how to say "No!"

I also have a 10K race coming up in a couple weeks. On one hand, I feel like I'll do fine, but lately my runs have not been very good. I don't know if I'm pushing myself too hard or what. I started going on social runs and I really like them! There is just something easier about running with a group. I'm hoping that on race day, I'm feeling like my normal running self and am able to push myself for a personal best time! I'll be running with three friends and the race is in Austin, so we will get to spend one night in Austin. I think it will be a fun time!

Two hours and thirty-nine minutes

2010-02-27T22:25:00.003-06:00

Wow! This morning I ran the Cowtown Half-marathon in Ft. Worth, TX. I have been training off and on for several months, but since December I have really slacked off with my training. I wasn't nearly where I was supposed to be at this point, seven miles being the longest I had run in one session. Until this morning. As it always is with a race, it is easier to keep a faster pace than normal because there are SO many people around you running at different speeds, and maybe I'm not normal, but when there are people around me, I always feel like I need to pass them! After a couple miles, I realized I needed to stop trying to pass people, so I slowed down a bit. Funny thing, when I knew I had a total of thirteen miles to go, those miles seemed to last forever! Around mile six, I was really wishing that I had signed up for the 10K instead! I allowed myself to walk if I felt like I needed it, so I would give myself 2-3 minute walking breaks. Then I crossed the 11 mile mark. Something in my body just said NO MORE! I walked for a few minutes, tried to run again and had to stop and walk again after about 30-45 seconds. So, needless to say, the last two miles took me a long time!

Since it was my first half-marathon, my only real goal was to finish, but my unofficial goal was to finish in 2:30. I finished in 2:39 and I know it would have been within my time goal if I had been able to run the last two miles! I'm really sore at this point and I haven't been able to stop eating since I got home! It doesn't seem like that big of a deal, but my resulting hunger has been insatiable all day! I hear it will be like that tomorrow, too. Now, I have to take two weeks off for "recovery" - walking only - and then training for a 10K in April. After that, hopefully another half-marathon this summer. Can't wait! :)

What a week!

2010-02-16T00:59:00.002-06:00

So in the midst of the cake business to be or not to be, I decided to call it quits until I make it a legit business. Well, that can't happen until after this week. I have three cakes due in one weekend. Yikes! I have gotten faster at the process, but three cakes is still pushing it!

On top of that, I also have my business plan due this weekend. I'm not prepared at all, but procrastination is my way of life, so I'm sure it will get done before it's due. :)

Also, I have to do an ASL presentation in class on Thursday and, of course, haven't started it. So, it's Tuesday already and I can tell you this week is going to get really hectic really fast.

OH YEAH, and the Cowtown marathon is next week and I am supposed to be running the half. That's 13.1 miles and I am SOOOO not ready! I almost decided to not run and wait until I was better prepared, but I figure if I do that it will never happen. So, I WILL be crossing the finish line next weekend, but I might possibly be the last one to do so!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

2010-02-11T20:37:00.003-06:00

Texas got a treat today! When I woke up this morning, there was probably less than an inch of snow on the ground and right now, 8:30 p.m, it is still snowing. It hasn't let up for most of the day, so we have about 8 inches right now. Papa and I made a cake and a baker out of the snow. I am not such a good snow artist, but Papa is pretty good at being artistic no matter the medium.

I'm glad we got to enjoy the snow for a little bit before it melts and/or turns into ice! Texas doesn't know how to have snow without it turning into an icy mess! I hope everyone got to enjoy the white beauty today, though!

To incorporate or not to incorporate, that is the question!

2010-02-10T14:07:00.002-06:00

One of the core requirements for my Interpreting degree is to take a Small Business Management class. I decided to take it in fast-track form (a whole semester worth of credit in 3 weekends? don't mind if I do!) so it has taken over my life for the past two weekends. I thought I was going to hate the class and find the information useless, since when I do interpret, I don't plan on opening my own agency; however, this class has actually been pretty interesting and I have learned a ton!

Our goal throughout the course is to develop a business plan for a legitimate business that we are interested in creating. Since I knew I didn't want to go the route of the interpreting agency, I decided to create a business plan for a cake business, since I have been "practicing" that for two years. I thought that I might actually want to do that to make ends meet until I can interpret full-time... but wow! Did you realize all the requirements for selling food to the public? Aside from the fact that you must have a kitchen, separate from your personal kitchen, that meets health codes and all that jazz, it is highly recommended that you also incorporate since you will be selling something that might possibly cause someone to become sick, they can sue, they'll try to take everything you have, etc. etc. Well, that is a LOT of initial cost. And I don't know about you, but I don't know of many people that will pay several hundred dollars to buy a cake from someone with as little experience as I have. After paying rent for the kitchen (because I definitely don't have other options as far as that goes) I doubt I could make ends meet.

The problem I'm having now, though, is that I think owning my own business sounds like a great idea, but I seem to be one of those "jack of all trades, master of none" people. I'm a crafty person, and I love to do lots of different things, but I don't feel like I'm great enough at any of them to make a profit off of them. I love the saying, "Find what you love. Then find someone to pay you to do it." I wish it was that easy. The saying doesn't give you advice for what to do while you're waiting to get your degree in what you love. :-P

Embroidered Cards - pics

2009-06-07T22:34:00.002-05:00

I haven't "cuted" this one up yet, but it only took a few minutes. These are so fun!

I did small flowers that look super cute, and then did a big one for the demonstration piece for ladies' night, but I think the smaller ones look a bit cuter.

I can't stop! These are so fun!

Embroidered Cards

2009-06-06T11:40:00.002-05:00

Last night, I tried something I have wanted to try for quite some time - embroidering cards. I love the hodge-podge scrapbooking style cards, but... well, I'm just not good at them! But I saw this idea on this website and have been wanting to try it for weeks! Last night I finally got out mom's embroidery thread and the only blank cards that she had and went to town. I knocked out a pretty cute one for my first! I have to become some sort of expert this week, though, because Mom and I were brainstorming about what to do for our monthly ladies' night on Friday and we both thought this would be a cute idea!

I'm excited to teach the ladies something they probably have never done, and we'll have cards to send by the end of the night! I'll try to post pictures soon! :)

just some news...

2009-06-04T13:51:00.002-05:00

I heard back from the job in Houston... apparently my tears were more destructive than I imagined! Okay, maybe that wasn't the reasoning, but I didn't get the job. I am very disappointed! I had really become excited about the idea of moving down there, so I am still applying for jobs in that area. I'm praying something comes up soon!

In better news, I heard back from my unemployment hearing and they reversed the decision to deny my benefits. Yay! I haven't gotten the money yet, but I'm hoping it comes soon. I can't tell you what it does to your spirit to have to depend on other people for sustenance after caring for yourself for so long. Even though I will still have to live with my parents, I will be able to pay some bills and buy food for myself occasionally. That is a relief!

I have been showing my house to prospective renters for a couple weeks now. One family came to view it yesterday twice, so I'm hoping I hear back from them today (or very soon). They wanted to think it over, which I completely understand. I am cautious about renting it to just anyone because I really don't want to end up with a trashed house when the lease is up. But at the same time, I really hate having to make judgments about people based on "gut feelings" but what else can you do?

Lots going on, obviously, but I'm hoping to add some interviews to the mix very soon!

Have a great weekend!

When it rains...

2009-05-26T18:28:00.004-05:00

This afternoon I went to my house to take pictures so that I can finally post my house for rent on Craigslist (apparently it's a great place for that!). On my way back to my parents' house, I heard a notification on my phone telling me that I had a text message. I couldn't find the phone in my seat or purse, so I figured it had fallen under the seat. The next time I pulled up to a red light, I reached over to the passenger seat and pulled it as close to the front of the car as it would go. The light turned green before I could look thoroughly, but I didn't think it was there. So I arrived at my parents' house and heard the "power up" music on my phone. Uh-oh... I know what that means. That means my phone is broken and the screen is busted. And it also means I know exactly where it is and exactly what happened. I looked behind the passenger seat and sure enough, it was wedged between the chair and the track, so when I scooted the seat up, I busted it.

I cried. (Big surprise)

I went inside, defeated, and explained what happened to my mom. She so generously offered to take me immediately to the Sprint store to get it replaced. This happened once last year and the replacement was only $50. Well, apparently times have changed because they charged double that to replace the phone. I told them I didn't care if they didn't have the green one in stock, I would take whatever color they had (only because I need to have access to my phone a.s.a.p.) so they gave me a white one.

I'm so thankful for it, but I really miss my pretty green phone. :-/

Somewhere I belong

2009-05-26T00:15:00.003-05:00

Many times in my life, I've felt like an outsider. I'm sure we all go through periods of time like that, and I find that often I feel like that at church events. Most of the people at church would hate to hear that I feel that way, but that is the place where everyone is expected to be part of one big group with no sub-groups and no cliques, but let's face it - when there are more than about 30 or so people, groups start forming... sometimes they're grouped by age or marital status. When there is a group with a couple hundred, several groups are formed and I find a little niche that I fit into. Even though I love the people around me, when I'm with that niche I feel free to just relax and be myself.

Tonight, Drew and Kyndall B. had a Memorial Day cookout at their house. They invited several people from church and everyone was having a great time. As those things usually go, immediately after dinner a few people left and people continuously left. About an hour after dinner, there were only about 10 people left hanging around. That was my favorite time of the night. I was in my niche. We talked about everything from dogs to weddings to houses to jobs to memories and even a few more serious things... it was a wonderful way to spend the evening and I can't wait to do it again!

There's no crying in baseball!

2009-05-23T20:02:00.004-05:00

As you (all four of my readers) already know, I have been looking for a job for a couple months now. Yesterday I had an interview with the only company who has been interested thus far. I did a lot of praying beforehand, but I purposefully didn't practice or recite answers to common questions because I wanted to just be real, raw and... well... me! It sounded like a good idea at the time, and looking back, I'm undecided on the verdict.

I got dressed and ready that morning for my 10:30 interview. It was the perfect interview time because I could relax as I got ready and not feel rushed and overwhelmed. So, I took it easy. I got to the building just a few minutes before my interview time and made my way upstairs. Did all the normal stuff, talked to the receptionist, signed in, etc. The recruiting coordinator came out to meet me since we had talked on the phone several times. She took me to a conference room and we chatted for several minutes... I met a few more of the HR team and everyone was just so excited to meet me! It really made me feel good. Three women on the HR team were the ones to interview me, including the HR Director. Everything was really going great... I was just being myself and honest and everything. One of the ladies asked me what I would do in a particular situation where someone might get mad at me and approach me about it in a really mean way. I said, "Well, I think it depends on the situation... do I need to find out what they're talking about? do I already know the problem?" She said, "Let's assume that you made a mistake and it was your fault. They are mad at you about it." So, I thought for a few seconds and said, "Well, first, I would probably cry." They all laughed for a minute, and then I continued, "I'm serious, I'm a crier. I wouldn't do it in front of that person, but I would go collect myself in the restroom. But to answer your question, I'm a talk-it-out person. I'm not one to get hot-headed, if that's what you were asking." She seemed pleased with that answer, but it led into a humorous conversation about who in the room are criers and who aren't.

Almost immediately after that question, the HR Director asked me why I left my job at the law firm. Without giving you the War and Peace length version of that story, let's just say that between going through a divorce and dealing with a stalker, I was a very distracted employee at the law firm, and that caused a rift between me and one of my bosses. She was not the type to want to know why I wasn't meeting her expectations, just that I wasn't meeting them, so we had a meeting where "we" decided that I would look for another job. So, that is why I left the law firm... but since I hadn't practiced any answers, I had about 3 seconds to think of how to answer that question. As I'm sure you know, there are certain things that you simply do not talk about at an interview, one being marital status. But I felt like I needed to be COMPLETELY open and honest with them, so I said, "To answer that question, I need to get a little personal." I had no sooner said the word personal, when my eyes started welling up with tears... and there was nothing. I. could. do. My voice was shaking all over the place and I gave the explanation a bit more thoroughly than I did in this post. One tear fell. I was mortified, and tried to help the moment by saying, "See? I told you I was a crier!"... they smiled and kept reassuring me that it was fine, but at that point, I was tearing up because I was so embarrassed that I was crying in an interview, not because of anything I said.

One of the girls (not a crier, by the way), got up to look for a tissue for me. I laughed and asked her please not to, because I think that would make the situation even more embarrassing. I did not want them to acknowledge that I had produced tears in an interview! Everyone was so great, though. The director asked me a for more questions about my job at the law firm and what I had learned from that experience, and then they changed the subject. Everything went smoothly before and after that... and honestly, even during the moment it was okay. I was mortified, but I said what I needed to say and they all said that they really appreciated me being honest with them about it.

The non-crier gave me a tour of the office after my interview and as I was leaving, I told her again that I was very embarrassed about my waterworks. She told me that me being honest really meant a lot because she knows that people lie in interviews all the time so they really appreciated me telling them what happened.

So, now we wait. The director told me that they would make a decision by the first few days of June. I hope my waterworks, or the story that prompted them, didn't ruin the interview!

My best work

2009-05-13T01:54:00.003-05:00

About this time last year (or was it two years ago? They all seem to run together these days!) I did a wedding cake for a dear friend. I had never made a cake for anyone before so I think it was sheer confidence that prompted me to offer to make her cake. I watched Ace of Cakes enough and I knew I could figure it out. She sent me pictures of a couple ideas she had for cakes and they all looked so easy, so I told her I could do it!

For anyone who hasn't tried to do a professional-looking cake, I recommend you try it. It really is NOT as hard as it looks!

I baked the cakes a couple days before the wedding and froze them. I heard that you can freeze them and then brush the crumbs off while it is still very cold and that is supposed to help the frosting to remain crumb-free. Well, that didn't work well for me. But that is why you see a brush in the picture below. You'll also notice that one of the cakes had a big piece that broke off, but that's nothing that frosting can't hold together! Frosting makes a great glue! :)

The bride didn't want to use fondant since no one really likes the taste, so I told her we could do buttercream. I searched the internet and found the "paper-towel method" for smoothing buttercream to look like fondant, so that's what I did. I definitely recommend this method! It seems like everyone prefers buttercream and you really can get it to look smooth. The cake below was a bit frozen, so the buttercream was too hard to smooth properly. But I knew it would be mostly covered up, so it worked.

This layer wasn't frozen, so the buttercream smoothed a little better.

One key ingredient that really helps is a mom that is willing to help you when it's past midnight and you're about to break down in tears from sheer exhaustion. Moms are good for stuff like that. :)

Here it is in the assembling stages. I started to worry that it wouldn't look nice at this point. But... as you'll see, frosting covers a multitude of sins.

Here are the layers after all the dots and embellishment was added. Looks like it might actually be presentable!

Here I am at 3 a.m. with the almost-finished product. Time for sleep! The flowers would be added the next day right before the ceremony.

It was really hot that day, and I was obviously inexperienced about what to do when it's really hot, so I spent the whole morning freaking out about the buttercream melting and sliding into a large heap of frosting on the cake table. Thankfully that didn't happen, but I did have to do some re-smoothing at the church!

Finished product! It was a success! Everyone loved it and I can't tell you how many people asked me for my cake recipe. Can you say Betty Crocker? ;)

Dear Mr. Bad Economy

2009-03-23T17:01:00.002-05:00

I thought I had been spared, but, no. I was laid off this morning along with several others at my job. The bad thing is that I know what goes on on the back end of these things, so I know that it didn't have to be me. That part stinks. The idea of losing my house and, well, just the general "I don't know what tomorrow holds" idea is a bit scary. But my God has brought me through much worse, so I have to keep that in mind.

There is a silver lining to today, though. My quartet was accepted to be a part of the Acappella Praise and Harmony album, recording in June in Tennessee! WHOOP WHOOP! I am one excited girl!

Talk about an emotional roller-coaster of a day! I have a headache. :-/

Difference of opinion

2009-03-20T09:24:00.005-05:00

It's so funny to me how you can see something so clearly in your head and someone else see it completely differently. For this past Christmas, I wanted to give a good friend of mine a photo of my hands doing the sign for "friend". My brother is a good photographer, but he doesn't do much to photos other than lightly touching them up, so after he took the picture, I asked my boyfriend-at-the-time to photoshop it to make it pretty. He is pretty great at touching up pictures. I have seen several that he has done. They're always subtle fixes, which I prefer.

Here is one of the original photos that Matthew took

Okay, not much to look at. Definitely not gift-worthy.

So I asked Ben to shop it, as I said, and this is what I received from him

Yeah. Totally not what I was thinking. I then told him more what I was looking for - I basically just said "can it not be so... um... colorful?"

This is his second attempt

It wasn't what I originally had in mind, but I thought it would work. That is the photo that my friend received.

Today, I decided to play around with an online photo editing tool. It didn't have all the effects that I would probably need to make this gift-worthy, but this is more what I had in mind

Isn't it just funny that we can see things so differently?

My voice (along with the rest of my body and mind) is tired!

2009-03-17T10:02:00.003-05:00

Several weeks ago, a member at church approached me about an opportunity to audition for a new Acappella Praise & Harmony album. He is intimately involved with this project and I couldn't help but be excited at the thought of getting to record under the direction of Keith Lancaster! That name probably doesn't mean much to a lot of people, but I grew up listening to Acappella and AVB. I remember the group way back when it was just Keith and Rodney Britt (pretty much the best bass that has ever walked the earth... I'm just sayin'). The first concert I ever attended was an Acappella concert. In my eyes, this man is a LEGEND!

My Papa and I ended up asking Matthew, my brother, and Audrey M. (another girl from church) to fill out our quartet. We recorded and I am pretty proud of our finished product! If I knew how to post audio here, I would do it. In the meantime, you can check out www.xanga.com/sbbh and click on the audio tab. It is the most recent entry.

We sent in our audition earlier this week and we should get a "yes" or "no" within a couple weeks. It was hard to schedule my recording time around all my midterms, though! I think I did okay on my tests, but what a stressful week. On top of the aforementioned obligations, I sang in a wedding on Saturday, which of course included a rehearsal on Friday evening. To say I had a busy week is quite an understatement!

My cousin, Andy, and I were asked to sing "When God Made You" and "Lucky" in the wedding. I've known both of those songs for a while now and learned my part weeks ago. You can imagine my chagrin when we started the rehearsal and Andy didn't know the songs very well yet.

Yikes!

We played it off for the rehearsal. After we practiced the ceremony, we watched a video that someone had made for the bride and groom. I have known the groom as long as I can remember and have gotten acquainted with the bride over the past couple years. They are such sweet people and seeing the love they had for each other and the love that all those in attendance had for them - well, it just gave me the warmest feeling. The video showed pictures of each of them growing up, and at one point the groom's very pregnant sister came on the screen and her voice came over the loudspeaker. She told them that she wanted to be there so badly, but that the doctors wouldn't let her come and that she loved them so much. I am not doing it justice, but there was not a dry eye in the church. It was so bittersweet. Her words were precious, but we all wished she could have been there.

Andy went home and practiced, so during the ceremony it went off without a hitch - except for the recessional where I got so caught up in watching the beautiful bride and groom that I missed my entrance! Thankfully no one was paying attention to the singers at that point. :)

The reception was beautiful, but cold. Cold is preferable to raining for an outdoor event, though, so we were all thankful!

Hopefully I'll have pictures to post soon. I borrowed Matthew's awesome camera during the reception and for the first time, took some great pictures. Pioneer Woman has introduced me to the world of photography from behind the lens. I had a great time playing with the aperture and manual focus! I thought I did a pretty good job for my first time! I'll let you be the judge of that when I finally get them on here, though.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-11T11:50:00.002-05:00

I will start my "expert" blog next week. Maybe.

Perhaps I should blog about procrastination. Or over-extending yourself.

Something to think about...

Regardless, it will be something about which I have a plethora of knowledge. Or, at least, I will pretend like I do.

But yes, next week. Maybe.