4.30.2009
4.19.2009
Weekend
So the advent calendar for Christmas is finally complete! I will to post a picture later in the week, but today my day is occupied with this paper for Grad school. Why did I ever agree to go back now? I am so exhausted of writing and discussing and reading....every week....read, write, discuss, repeat... :(
Two more weeks of this class and then on to the next one...9 classes to go!
Oh Happy Sunday!
Two more weeks of this class and then on to the next one...9 classes to go!
Oh Happy Sunday!
4.13.2009
Monday again?
So this weekend was wonderful. Friday, we both had the day off, so we went to Firkin and Kegler in Orlando with some of Greene's coworkers. First though we had to go to the mall to get my wedding rings cleaned, inspected and my engagement ring fixed. Seems I had a small chip in the stone and it was the yearly checkup. I also got to go to my favorite store (I will leave it unnamed, but if you know me, you know what store). We spent well over 5 hours at F & K and had a blast bowling, playing pool and eating some really awesome Apple Dumplings & Ice cream. Afterwards, we drove back to the coast and watched our Netflix movie (Midnight Meat Train). Worst movie ever unless you like super freaky, horror movies with odd plot lines. Saturday was spent at softball practice, errands and working on my school work. We had rented Seven Pounds (Will Smith) earlier in the week, so Saturday we finally watched it. Amazing movie! It definitely has an interesting plot, but overall amazing movie. The plot was well done and the acting was good. On Sunday (Easter), we decided to go back to Orlando to do some shopping and celebrate Greene's birthday. We were able to go to the Outlets and IKEA, but the malls were all closed for the holiday (even though we never saw a notice about it when we were at the other mall on Friday). I found a cute dress shirt and ultra cute heels at the Outlets and at IKEA we finally found the perfect canopy bed frame and a new chandelier light for over the kitchen table. We also went to lunch at BJ's. If you ever get the chance to eat at one of these restuarants do it. In celebration for Greene's birthday, the waitress bought a birthday Pizzookie! So bad for you, but so yummy! The food was great...perfect portion and fresh salads, sandwiches. Everything looked great and our food all tasted excellent....even my leftover sandwich the next day!
Today has been long, but very productive. Work was slow but it allowed me to get my work done for class and prepare for future week's work and my term project. Then I had a review session for some students and now on my way to the field to watch the softball game. Hope everyone has a good evening!
Today has been long, but very productive. Work was slow but it allowed me to get my work done for class and prepare for future week's work and my term project. Then I had a review session for some students and now on my way to the field to watch the softball game. Hope everyone has a good evening!
4.09.2009
What have I done?
I still can't believe I have not blogged in over 2.5 months. I have completely neglected this thing, but then again I have barely had time to breathe. So here's a recap.
In February, I decided to go back for my Master's finally. Because of the time constraints of working and not being able to find an adequate program at a local college, I am trying an online program through Kaplan. I am pursuing a Master's in Higher Education with emphasis on teaching and instruction. Each "class" runs for 10 weeks, so it's like taking 2 classes a semester at a normal college. So far, things have been going well. It is a lot of writing and reading (big surprise!) but I am learning a lot and am enjoying the connections with the other students and faculty. I am still teaching at Indian River. I now have 5 classes a week that I teach and then this summer it will be 3 classes (meeting 2x a week...so really 6 classes). It is hectic, hence why I have dropped off the face of the Earth. Greene has kept himself busy with work, joined a softball league and bowling throughout the week when I am teaching night classes.
In March, we went on our vacation for our anniversary to Key West. We stayed at a quaint hotel called Banana Bay not too far from downtown. We did some scuba diving (I kept extremely sea sick, first time for everything I guess). The weather was awesome, so we got to explore Duval St. and ate at some nice restaurants. Our next vacation is to Pcola for his sister's graduation and Mother's Day. I definitely need a break and thankfully this trip falls when I am between semesters and classes.
Other than the big events, things have been pretty quiet. The doctor's visits have lessened (thankfully!), but still having a lot of issues. Now I am back on some BC that hopefully will return my cycle (but what I don't understand is they suspect my previous BC was the reason I am no longer cyclic, arg!). Still nothing on the food allergies front, excpet I have been super selective where I eat and what I eat and what not. No body wants to mess with this until the PCOS is under control, so for now it's a russian roulette on foods. When time allows, we have been working on the house...planted a garden in the front 3 weeks ago. The master bathroom is the next project on the list. We found some cute shower tiles and trim, and now we need to decide if we are going to look for new floor tiles or stick with the same tiles we have in the other bathroom...decisions I am not willing to make since my brain is fried.
I'm going to try to keep this thing going by putting aside a few minutes each day for it. We'll see how it goes.
In February, I decided to go back for my Master's finally. Because of the time constraints of working and not being able to find an adequate program at a local college, I am trying an online program through Kaplan. I am pursuing a Master's in Higher Education with emphasis on teaching and instruction. Each "class" runs for 10 weeks, so it's like taking 2 classes a semester at a normal college. So far, things have been going well. It is a lot of writing and reading (big surprise!) but I am learning a lot and am enjoying the connections with the other students and faculty. I am still teaching at Indian River. I now have 5 classes a week that I teach and then this summer it will be 3 classes (meeting 2x a week...so really 6 classes). It is hectic, hence why I have dropped off the face of the Earth. Greene has kept himself busy with work, joined a softball league and bowling throughout the week when I am teaching night classes.
In March, we went on our vacation for our anniversary to Key West. We stayed at a quaint hotel called Banana Bay not too far from downtown. We did some scuba diving (I kept extremely sea sick, first time for everything I guess). The weather was awesome, so we got to explore Duval St. and ate at some nice restaurants. Our next vacation is to Pcola for his sister's graduation and Mother's Day. I definitely need a break and thankfully this trip falls when I am between semesters and classes.
Other than the big events, things have been pretty quiet. The doctor's visits have lessened (thankfully!), but still having a lot of issues. Now I am back on some BC that hopefully will return my cycle (but what I don't understand is they suspect my previous BC was the reason I am no longer cyclic, arg!). Still nothing on the food allergies front, excpet I have been super selective where I eat and what I eat and what not. No body wants to mess with this until the PCOS is under control, so for now it's a russian roulette on foods. When time allows, we have been working on the house...planted a garden in the front 3 weeks ago. The master bathroom is the next project on the list. We found some cute shower tiles and trim, and now we need to decide if we are going to look for new floor tiles or stick with the same tiles we have in the other bathroom...decisions I am not willing to make since my brain is fried.
I'm going to try to keep this thing going by putting aside a few minutes each day for it. We'll see how it goes.
1.26.2009
Update on 101 in 1001 Post
I have been successful with some of my tasks and felt it was time to revisit this list and check off the ones I have completed and maybe redefine some of my others. So far it seems like I am making some progress. Hopefully I can keep up the trend. Unfortunately, now that I am teaching late on Wednesdays & Thursdays, it's going to be hard to do some of the week long challenges.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
101 in 1001 Starting Date: Monday,December 1st, 2008
Ending Date: Monday, August 29th, 2011
:::Those in bold and violet are completed:::
Marriage
1. Cook dinner every weeknight for Michael.
2. Be more romantic with Michael.
3. Work on communicating my feelings more with Michael.
4. Plan 1 night a week for an entire month as a date night.
5. Kiss Michael every morning and every night for an entire month.
6. Compliment Michael every day for an entire month.
7. Do 101 special things for Michael. 45/101
8. Fight more fairly in a disagreement.
Religion
9. Find a local church Michael and I can start going to.
10. Post 20 Bible verses that touch my heart.
11. Resolve my "lost faith" and forgive him for my childhood loss.
12. Write about 100 things I am grateful for.
13. Read The 5 People you Meet in Heaven.
Motherhood
14. Continue to follow doctor's regime in terms of the medicine for TTC.
15. Start a family.
16. Remove the clutter and refocus our lives around our family.
17. Don't raise my voice for an entire month.
18. Begin a holiday tradition.
19. Make a nursery in the house.
20. Create a scrapbook for each child/ pregnancy.
Homemaking
21. Add curb appeal to the house.
22. Establish a weekly cleaning routine.
23. Follow that cleaning routine for an entire month.
24. Paint the house with Michael.
25. Clean out and organize the freezer and fridge.
26. Organize my office.
27. Take the donation clothes to Goodwill.
28. Fill the remaining photo frames around the house.
29. Reorganize the kitchen to accommodate everything.
30. Fill my recipe box with the recipe cards (rewrite all the scraps onto cards)
Cooking
31. Cook dinner along with Michael at night.
32. Make breakfast for Michael.
33. Make banana bread from scratch.
34. Make Italian Antipasto Salad for Michael.
35. Cook Christmas Eve. and Christmas Day meals with Michael.
36. Make salsa from scratch.
37. Learn a new Italian dish.
38. Learn a new Chicken dish.
39. Learn to make a soup from scratch.
40. Learn a new Asian dish.
41. Learn a new breakfast dish.
42. Learn a new dessert.
Financial
43. Eat dinner out only twice a week for a month.
44. Eat lunch out only once a week for a month.
45. Save $20 at the grocery store (via coupons or value buys).
46. Establish a budget for our household.
47. Stick to my entire budget for two straight months.
48. Cut our grocery bill to $50 for a two week shopping period.
49. Pay extra on our school loans.
50. Build up our savings to $10,000.
51. Payoff all my store cards to have no balance for an entire 2 month cycle.
Health
52. Take the dogs for a walk everyday for an entire week.
53. Exercise four days out of a week for 1 week.
54. Workout (run or swim) twice a week for a month.
55. Give up soda for an entire month.
56. Eat a green salad five times in a week as a meal.
57. Eat 3 servings of fruit every day for an entire week.
58. Drink only fruit juice or water for one week.
59. Make target weight of 120lbs.
60. Don't eat after 9pm for an entire month.
Kindness
61. Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.
62. Bring in a "treat" for my co-workers one week.
63. Do a favor for someone else.
64. Host the chapter at my house for dinner 1 night.
65. Host a "family night" at my house for 1 night.
66. Cook someone else dinner.
67. Offer Megan a vacation down to us and follow through.
68. Make a birthday cake for someone at work.
69. Offer a ride to one of the younger girls at work.
Pets
70. Make each of the boys a toy.
71. Find Reese a new coat.
72. Find Snow a new coat.
73. Find Lucky a new coat.
74. Pamper each of the dogs.
Randomness
75. Read Tuesdays with Morrie.
76. Post a picture everyday for an entire month.
77. Complete 2 old yearly albums on POGO.
78. Try a new berry.
79. Get a new hairstyle.
80. Read 50 books on my All-time list.
81. Catch up on the scrapbooking.
82. Make a wedding book for each of the moms.
83. Visit Michael grandparents.
84. Recycle (even if the city does not want to bring their bins)
85. Visit Michael's aunt and uncle in Michigan.
86. Take better care of the Civic.
87. Try something new at a local eatery.
88. Do not splurge shop for an entire month.
89. Make a scrapbook for someone else.
90. Take Meghan for a girl's weekend.
91. Take a honeymoon with Michael.
92. Plan a bonding weekend with my female cousins.
93. Learn to surf.
94. Scuba dive in the Keys.
95. Go on a vacation with Michael.
96. Slim down my stomach and get my belly button re-pierced.
97. Start my education classes.
98. Bowl a 200.
99. Beat PCOS.
100. Blog about the items I cross off.
101. Write a new 101 in 1001 list.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
101 in 1001 Starting Date: Monday,December 1st, 2008
Ending Date: Monday, August 29th, 2011
:::Those in bold and violet are completed:::
Marriage
1. Cook dinner every weeknight for Michael.
2. Be more romantic with Michael.
3. Work on communicating my feelings more with Michael.
4. Plan 1 night a week for an entire month as a date night.
5. Kiss Michael every morning and every night for an entire month.
6. Compliment Michael every day for an entire month.
7. Do 101 special things for Michael. 45/101
8. Fight more fairly in a disagreement.
Religion
9. Find a local church Michael and I can start going to.
10. Post 20 Bible verses that touch my heart.
11. Resolve my "lost faith" and forgive him for my childhood loss.
12. Write about 100 things I am grateful for.
13. Read The 5 People you Meet in Heaven.
Motherhood
14. Continue to follow doctor's regime in terms of the medicine for TTC.
15. Start a family.
16. Remove the clutter and refocus our lives around our family.
17. Don't raise my voice for an entire month.
18. Begin a holiday tradition.
19. Make a nursery in the house.
20. Create a scrapbook for each child/ pregnancy.
Homemaking
21. Add curb appeal to the house.
22. Establish a weekly cleaning routine.
23. Follow that cleaning routine for an entire month.
24. Paint the house with Michael.
25. Clean out and organize the freezer and fridge.
26. Organize my office.
27. Take the donation clothes to Goodwill.
28. Fill the remaining photo frames around the house.
29. Reorganize the kitchen to accommodate everything.
30. Fill my recipe box with the recipe cards (rewrite all the scraps onto cards)
Cooking
31. Cook dinner along with Michael at night.
32. Make breakfast for Michael.
33. Make banana bread from scratch.
34. Make Italian Antipasto Salad for Michael.
35. Cook Christmas Eve. and Christmas Day meals with Michael.
36. Make salsa from scratch.
37. Learn a new Italian dish.
38. Learn a new Chicken dish.
39. Learn to make a soup from scratch.
40. Learn a new Asian dish.
41. Learn a new breakfast dish.
42. Learn a new dessert.
Financial
43. Eat dinner out only twice a week for a month.
44. Eat lunch out only once a week for a month.
45. Save $20 at the grocery store (via coupons or value buys).
46. Establish a budget for our household.
47. Stick to my entire budget for two straight months.
48. Cut our grocery bill to $50 for a two week shopping period.
49. Pay extra on our school loans.
50. Build up our savings to $10,000.
51. Payoff all my store cards to have no balance for an entire 2 month cycle.
Health
52. Take the dogs for a walk everyday for an entire week.
53. Exercise four days out of a week for 1 week.
54. Workout (run or swim) twice a week for a month.
55. Give up soda for an entire month.
56. Eat a green salad five times in a week as a meal.
57. Eat 3 servings of fruit every day for an entire week.
58. Drink only fruit juice or water for one week.
59. Make target weight of 120lbs.
60. Don't eat after 9pm for an entire month.
Kindness
61. Volunteer for Habitat for Humanity.
62. Bring in a "treat" for my co-workers one week.
63. Do a favor for someone else.
64. Host the chapter at my house for dinner 1 night.
65. Host a "family night" at my house for 1 night.
66. Cook someone else dinner.
67. Offer Megan a vacation down to us and follow through.
68. Make a birthday cake for someone at work.
69. Offer a ride to one of the younger girls at work.
Pets
70. Make each of the boys a toy.
71. Find Reese a new coat.
72. Find Snow a new coat.
73. Find Lucky a new coat.
74. Pamper each of the dogs.
Randomness
75. Read Tuesdays with Morrie.
76. Post a picture everyday for an entire month.
77. Complete 2 old yearly albums on POGO.
78. Try a new berry.
79. Get a new hairstyle.
80. Read 50 books on my All-time list.
81. Catch up on the scrapbooking.
82. Make a wedding book for each of the moms.
83. Visit Michael grandparents.
84. Recycle (even if the city does not want to bring their bins)
85. Visit Michael's aunt and uncle in Michigan.
86. Take better care of the Civic.
87. Try something new at a local eatery.
88. Do not splurge shop for an entire month.
89. Make a scrapbook for someone else.
90. Take Meghan for a girl's weekend.
91. Take a honeymoon with Michael.
92. Plan a bonding weekend with my female cousins.
93. Learn to surf.
94. Scuba dive in the Keys.
95. Go on a vacation with Michael.
96. Slim down my stomach and get my belly button re-pierced.
97. Start my education classes.
98. Bowl a 200.
99. Beat PCOS.
100. Blog about the items I cross off.
101. Write a new 101 in 1001 list.
Rambles...
It was definitely a long weekend and not necessarily in a bad way. Friday (post work) started rocky with a co-worker (and not a friend) called me screaming at me because I didn't remember to send her an email with the temperature data for one of the freezers in the lab downstairs. First off, I offered to d/l the data for my other coworker while she finished something off and she told me to email it to her when I had a chance. Second, this was at 4:15pm when I leave at 4:30. Third, I got sidetracked and helped my friend finish what she was doing so she could get out of work on time. Fourth, never once did this other coworker ask for the data. Fifth, if she was THAT worried, why doesn't she just go d/l the data herself? Ugh! And then she pretty much bitches me out because it's 5 o'clock on a Friday she "supposedly" needed the data ASAP because she was worried about her antibodies being ruined had the freezer had a major thaw down and wanted to make sure she had working antibodies for her experiment and if they were damaged she could reorder new ones from the CDC in time for her experiment. (OK we are in FL and the CDC's we work with are either in Atlanta, GA-same time zone as us or CO-2-3 hours behind us) ::Turns out she really didn't need the data until Monday morning to order new ones possibly from the CDC in CO and she told my friend she wanted the temp data early Monday morning:: OK hello? I get to work around 8:30-9am most mornings, therefore it's like before 6am in CO, so why the drama scene? I hate stupid people. Meanwhile she called me on my personal cell phone and was a complete bitch and I was 10 minutes from my house and there was no way I would turn around and drive the hour back to the lab, just to open the door so she could have that file. After that, my blood was boiling and I was a bit snappy to Greene, although he completely understood. We eventually got going on our Friday night errands of stops at the dive shop (so he can get his BC and my regulator fixed before our anniversary trip) and then a few other surf shops to find Greene a "shortie" wet suit for year-round diving and surfing. Three shops later he found one that fit and it was off to dinner at Olive Garden (OK, totally not supposed to be eating out a lot but lately been craving OG pasta). I had their mezzaluna and sausage entree (very good!) and Greene got his favorite fettuccine alfredo. We had leftovers for work this week so that was a bonus. Saturday, we installed the new concrete walkway and of course Greene over counted so we have 6 bags of concrete to return to the store. It looks good and he even leveled it so there are no lips or steps involved. After working on that almost all day, we kind of just lounged around that night. I wrote my grad essay and we caught up on TV. Sunday was uneventful. We got some errands done and the weekly grocery shopping adventure. Greene found a pizza stone he wanted and some other odds and ends at Bed, Bath and Beyond. He says he will be making homemade pizza this week, so I am looking forward to the night I come home to fresh made pizza after a long day of work and teaching. I bowled pretty well this week, 133, 152, 119 and so my average (121) may go up a bit more. We are doing pretty well as a team (6th as of last night) and we are starting to win more points (3/4 last night...when we usually only get 1 or 2) so hopefully we will climb to the top. It's all fun, so really place does not matter. I'm going home tonight to hopefully a relaxing night with some quick errands and then home to watch TV and work on the Advent calendar, I hope.
Have a great day!
Have a great day!
1.19.2009
What were you thinking?
Ok so this blog is a bit out of my ordinary tone and demeanor, but I have a BAD habit of bottling up my emotions and thoughts on things, so I felt it would be best if I just purged here and now before my mouth gets me in trouble. It may seem a bitchy and I'm not sure if I'm overreacting so if someone reads this please give me your opinion.
To start, on my dad's side of the family I am the 3rd oldest of 6 cousins. My two eldest cousins are like 10+ years older than me and pretty much out of the picture. My grandfather has always been a huge part of my life and even lived with us since I was young, so we've always had a tight bond something I guess my other 3 younger cousins have been a bit jealous of. Anyways, all growing up my youngest 3 cousins (H, E, J) parent's (my aunt and uncle which we will call Aunt L and Uncle M) have always made comments to my parents that I wasn't being raised properly and that with all the freedom they give me I am going to turn out to be a "problem child" while their 3 darlings will be well adjusted and turn out successes in their future. When I was young it didn't really bother me to hear that, but as I got older I began to resent those remarks and also hate the feeling of being judged and compared. I went to public school my entire schooling while H, E, J were home-schooled until they moved to OK where they were tested and placed into regular school. H (who is 2 days younger than me) was a year behind they discovered from the testing, E was 3/4 of a year behind and J was only 1/2 year behind. I was never behind, always ahead..I graduated HS 5th in my class (2 people tied for 3rd) and with college credits to transfer to my college. :::4 years pass::: I graduate college, Greene and I decide to move in together to cut bills and things are going well. Aunt L gets wind of my living arrangement and "discusses" it with my mom (my dad had already passed away this time), telling my mom I am living a life of sin..yada, yada, yada. First off, I was extremely offended. It is known of L's business nor is it very nice and Christian (her whole belief I would be a problem child is because my parents didn't force the Bible life on me...I chose to go to church, socialize in outreach and teen youth groups, get confirmed and never once was forced to do it) of her and yet she said it. May of 2007 comes up and I get word through my mom that H is engaged (Greene and I had announced our engagement and wedding date in Oct./Nov. of 2006) and has decided she will get married Dec. 29th, 2007. Kudos to her for planning a wedding in 6 months since I knew I'd need a little over a year to get my wedding planned. Then L follows it up with the guilt trip "Well you have to come the wedding. We need to meet your boyfriend." So after much protesting from myself and Greene, my mom convinces us to come to the wedding so we can see some other family and spend the New Year's together. So out the window went our plans to spend New Year's at home with our friends.
So now I should recap this lovely wedding experience...experience is the best word to describe it. Two days after Christmas, my other aunt and uncle and cousin drive up to Pcola to pick us up and we continue on the trip to OK. It was a good car ride...lots of socializing, I caught up on some reading and we had a great bonding. We left 60's for high 20's. We got into the lovely Bethany, OK Holiday Inn Express. We're all a bit exhausted and maybe cranky after the 28 hour straight-through drive. So that night there were to be a dinner for family and close friends following the rehearsal. So we took our time getting ready (we weren't in the wedding, so we saw no reason to go to the rehearsal). When we show up, L immediately gets in on us about being late and that they have been waiting to eat (we showed up at 6-6:15pm). Dinner goes well...we finally get an itinerary of when things are which would have been super helpful prior to the rehearsal and dinner. The next morning is the wedding. It is bitter cold and the church auditorium where the wedding was held was super frigid. We showed up early since L and H told us to be there early for pictures. We sat around forever because things were unorganized and then find out never mind we are not needed for pictures. We will take some pictures afterwards. So we find our seats and the wedding follows. We do our obligated family pictures (ok we took 2 pictures total....entire family, then just the cousins). So now at this point you think oh reception, how fun? Yea actually because H and her new husband had to pay for the entire wedding they didn't have money for a reception. So instead, we had cake and cookies and punch and coffee/tea. They had no first dance, they did a mini-bouquet toss and garter toss...nothing traditional. Then about two hours after the wedding they left for their "wedding night" (ok it was only about 2pm). So then we are all standing around (my aunt and uncle and cousin we drove up with, my dad's other brother and his wife, my mom, Greene and I and GmaE) and decide, well since the rest of the family is going to be busy cleaning up the wedding and they told us they didn't need help..we'll go find real food and off we went. When we got back from the hotel hours later ( we found a local rib/ bbq place and had an excellent dinner ) we were quickly met with disgust by M, L, E and J because they had to order pizzas and wish they had been invited to eat. Alright so I must go off on a side note a second. Every other time we have gone to dinner with them, they had expected the rest of us to pick up their meal for them...let me remind you that is 4-5 mouth extra and they just assume when the bill comes that someone else will pick up their tab. As a family unit we are very caring/giving towards one another, but the term "going Dutch" holds true in my family (we are Dutch decent by the way) and we typically pay our own ways except if someone says hey I got you covered. So back to my story, no one wanted to invite them along because we didn't want to be stuck with their bill. Then if that wasn't enough L, E, and J were all sick (with some type of cold or flu or something contagious) and the entire night (and night before) they were coughing all around us ( I was sick by day 3 of the trip).
Sunday, (day 3) my cousin H and her new husband decided to have a present party. At this point you must be thinking, what's that? Well I guess to cut down on having to write thank you cards or anything of that nature, they invited everyone to the hotel to watch them open all their presents and cards. I don't know about you, but I felt this to be extremely tacky. So there we sat for an hour watching them open presents. After that they quickly got themselves organized and they (L, M, H, E, J) left to go back home. Much breath of relief for the rest of us who stayed a few more days (through New Years) at the Holiday Inn Express. Overall it was great time spent with some of my family and Greene was able to spend time with and meet some more people in my family. We also took note of everything NOT to do for our wedding 2 months later.
As if that wasn't enough drama, my cousin E and her boyfriend had gotten engaged like right before that wedding, and decided they would plan their wedding for May. Throughout the entire wedding weekend in OK he kept saying he was thinking of pushing the wedding date out until the following January to allow time for things to settle and what not and E kept saying they were getting married in May. After all the "fun" we had had with this wedding, Greene and I had decided we would not be attending. Then in January, my mom got an email from L that E and N had decided to get married and had a small ceremony with immediate family and a few friends. So Greene and I said well guess we won't send a gift seeing that they eloped. I should mention that the reason we think they decided to elope was because L and M have a rule that you cannot live with a guy unless you are married to him and E and L fight 24/7 so E probably decided to just go get married. The email also stated that they would have a full wedding and such the following January (2009). So off E and her new husband went to find an apartment to live in on 2 minimum wage jobs. They had to settle for what they could afford in actuality. Greene and I decided to not send a housewarming gift expecting to have to send a gift for their wedding come January 2009.
Next came our wedding in March and there was drama surrounding it, but whatever. I seated them upstairs overlooking the dance floor all together and yet they stirred up some drama, but our wedding went well. L made a few comments throughout the planning process and how hard it must be on my mom to have to pay for the wedding and my mom always quickly responded with the note that she is not paying for the wedding...Greene and I have covered all the costs or planned it ourselves. After all we are super creative and designed our own STD, invitations, programs, weekend newsletter, itinerary, centerpieces, table decor (in place of numbers we used beach theme items...starfish, sandcastle, etc.), candies, mints, cake was designed by us. We stretched our dollars without too much notice and splurged on things we knew people would enjoy like an open bar with top shelf liquors. Oh and there were comments from that side of family about the open bar, but it was our wedding and we did what we wanted.
So then May 2008 comes around and my mom gets an email announcing E is pregnant. And here is were the real drama starts. It wasn't like it was a mistake that they got pregnant...they believe in the whole no BC/ condoms/ etc. rules and that God will give them how many children he wants them to have. She immediately had to quit her job because she was having trouble in the beginning with the pregnancy, so they are surviving on his minimum wage income, living in a real unsafe apartment and she is pretty much on bed rest. Thankfully she was classified as a high-risk so she was put on WIC government assistance. Now don't get me wrong, WIC is there to help get first time pregnancy women and those in need help to get situated, but I think they should have planned better for this. How are they going to afford to put food on the table and care for a baby especially since neither has a college degree and she just has her GED (oh yea, and they have their certification in bible studies from their church school)? E has already stated she doesn't think she will go back to work after the baby is born and now her husband is thinking of joining the military. That is the last thing they need unless he can stay nearby to be home to help with the new baby and stuff. They already supposedly fight over taking care of their home (laundry, dishes, pets, etc.); Greene and I disagree about cleaning and we both hate it, but at the end of the day we suck it up and get it done. Now the baby is due in less than a month and looks like to be able to afford anything they are going to move back in with either L & M or his parents. Ok so correct me if I am wrong but wasn't the whole idea to get married and move out of their parents homes to be together?
And just recently they had a baby shower for her. J kept asking what I was getting for her and I said I wasn't sure what we were doing since I didn't know about the baby shower (never even got an invite, so actually feel no obligation to send a gift)...especially since my mom received an invite 1 week prior to the shower (not that any of us would have driven or flown in for the shower, but it is the thought that counts). And still getting slack from J a bit like how come you didn't send a gift, E is having the baby in a month? So am I really wrong for not sending a gift since I haven't been sent an invite to the shower or even a formal announcement that she is pregnant? We truly are not that close, nor do I really have an intention on being close to her since I disagree with their charity case mentality that they brought upon themselves. Oh and still not a thank you note or anything from H and her husband for their wedding presents.
Now that I have written that all down, I feel cleansed. I am not sure what to think anymore on this entire situation, other than I wish to avoid them at all cost. We will see what happens when Greene and I decide to have kids (which will probably be not for another year since we are starting grad school). If anyone has any comments please leave them below. I wish to hear a neutral opinion on the situation and would love to get to know others on this site.
Hope everyone has a good week. Week 2 of classes starts tomorrow.
To start, on my dad's side of the family I am the 3rd oldest of 6 cousins. My two eldest cousins are like 10+ years older than me and pretty much out of the picture. My grandfather has always been a huge part of my life and even lived with us since I was young, so we've always had a tight bond something I guess my other 3 younger cousins have been a bit jealous of. Anyways, all growing up my youngest 3 cousins (H, E, J) parent's (my aunt and uncle which we will call Aunt L and Uncle M) have always made comments to my parents that I wasn't being raised properly and that with all the freedom they give me I am going to turn out to be a "problem child" while their 3 darlings will be well adjusted and turn out successes in their future. When I was young it didn't really bother me to hear that, but as I got older I began to resent those remarks and also hate the feeling of being judged and compared. I went to public school my entire schooling while H, E, J were home-schooled until they moved to OK where they were tested and placed into regular school. H (who is 2 days younger than me) was a year behind they discovered from the testing, E was 3/4 of a year behind and J was only 1/2 year behind. I was never behind, always ahead..I graduated HS 5th in my class (2 people tied for 3rd) and with college credits to transfer to my college. :::4 years pass::: I graduate college, Greene and I decide to move in together to cut bills and things are going well. Aunt L gets wind of my living arrangement and "discusses" it with my mom (my dad had already passed away this time), telling my mom I am living a life of sin..yada, yada, yada. First off, I was extremely offended. It is known of L's business nor is it very nice and Christian (her whole belief I would be a problem child is because my parents didn't force the Bible life on me...I chose to go to church, socialize in outreach and teen youth groups, get confirmed and never once was forced to do it) of her and yet she said it. May of 2007 comes up and I get word through my mom that H is engaged (Greene and I had announced our engagement and wedding date in Oct./Nov. of 2006) and has decided she will get married Dec. 29th, 2007. Kudos to her for planning a wedding in 6 months since I knew I'd need a little over a year to get my wedding planned. Then L follows it up with the guilt trip "Well you have to come the wedding. We need to meet your boyfriend." So after much protesting from myself and Greene, my mom convinces us to come to the wedding so we can see some other family and spend the New Year's together. So out the window went our plans to spend New Year's at home with our friends.
So now I should recap this lovely wedding experience...experience is the best word to describe it. Two days after Christmas, my other aunt and uncle and cousin drive up to Pcola to pick us up and we continue on the trip to OK. It was a good car ride...lots of socializing, I caught up on some reading and we had a great bonding. We left 60's for high 20's. We got into the lovely Bethany, OK Holiday Inn Express. We're all a bit exhausted and maybe cranky after the 28 hour straight-through drive. So that night there were to be a dinner for family and close friends following the rehearsal. So we took our time getting ready (we weren't in the wedding, so we saw no reason to go to the rehearsal). When we show up, L immediately gets in on us about being late and that they have been waiting to eat (we showed up at 6-6:15pm). Dinner goes well...we finally get an itinerary of when things are which would have been super helpful prior to the rehearsal and dinner. The next morning is the wedding. It is bitter cold and the church auditorium where the wedding was held was super frigid. We showed up early since L and H told us to be there early for pictures. We sat around forever because things were unorganized and then find out never mind we are not needed for pictures. We will take some pictures afterwards. So we find our seats and the wedding follows. We do our obligated family pictures (ok we took 2 pictures total....entire family, then just the cousins). So now at this point you think oh reception, how fun? Yea actually because H and her new husband had to pay for the entire wedding they didn't have money for a reception. So instead, we had cake and cookies and punch and coffee/tea. They had no first dance, they did a mini-bouquet toss and garter toss...nothing traditional. Then about two hours after the wedding they left for their "wedding night" (ok it was only about 2pm). So then we are all standing around (my aunt and uncle and cousin we drove up with, my dad's other brother and his wife, my mom, Greene and I and GmaE) and decide, well since the rest of the family is going to be busy cleaning up the wedding and they told us they didn't need help..we'll go find real food and off we went. When we got back from the hotel hours later ( we found a local rib/ bbq place and had an excellent dinner ) we were quickly met with disgust by M, L, E and J because they had to order pizzas and wish they had been invited to eat. Alright so I must go off on a side note a second. Every other time we have gone to dinner with them, they had expected the rest of us to pick up their meal for them...let me remind you that is 4-5 mouth extra and they just assume when the bill comes that someone else will pick up their tab. As a family unit we are very caring/giving towards one another, but the term "going Dutch" holds true in my family (we are Dutch decent by the way) and we typically pay our own ways except if someone says hey I got you covered. So back to my story, no one wanted to invite them along because we didn't want to be stuck with their bill. Then if that wasn't enough L, E, and J were all sick (with some type of cold or flu or something contagious) and the entire night (and night before) they were coughing all around us ( I was sick by day 3 of the trip).
Sunday, (day 3) my cousin H and her new husband decided to have a present party. At this point you must be thinking, what's that? Well I guess to cut down on having to write thank you cards or anything of that nature, they invited everyone to the hotel to watch them open all their presents and cards. I don't know about you, but I felt this to be extremely tacky. So there we sat for an hour watching them open presents. After that they quickly got themselves organized and they (L, M, H, E, J) left to go back home. Much breath of relief for the rest of us who stayed a few more days (through New Years) at the Holiday Inn Express. Overall it was great time spent with some of my family and Greene was able to spend time with and meet some more people in my family. We also took note of everything NOT to do for our wedding 2 months later.
As if that wasn't enough drama, my cousin E and her boyfriend had gotten engaged like right before that wedding, and decided they would plan their wedding for May. Throughout the entire wedding weekend in OK he kept saying he was thinking of pushing the wedding date out until the following January to allow time for things to settle and what not and E kept saying they were getting married in May. After all the "fun" we had had with this wedding, Greene and I had decided we would not be attending. Then in January, my mom got an email from L that E and N had decided to get married and had a small ceremony with immediate family and a few friends. So Greene and I said well guess we won't send a gift seeing that they eloped. I should mention that the reason we think they decided to elope was because L and M have a rule that you cannot live with a guy unless you are married to him and E and L fight 24/7 so E probably decided to just go get married. The email also stated that they would have a full wedding and such the following January (2009). So off E and her new husband went to find an apartment to live in on 2 minimum wage jobs. They had to settle for what they could afford in actuality. Greene and I decided to not send a housewarming gift expecting to have to send a gift for their wedding come January 2009.
Next came our wedding in March and there was drama surrounding it, but whatever. I seated them upstairs overlooking the dance floor all together and yet they stirred up some drama, but our wedding went well. L made a few comments throughout the planning process and how hard it must be on my mom to have to pay for the wedding and my mom always quickly responded with the note that she is not paying for the wedding...Greene and I have covered all the costs or planned it ourselves. After all we are super creative and designed our own STD, invitations, programs, weekend newsletter, itinerary, centerpieces, table decor (in place of numbers we used beach theme items...starfish, sandcastle, etc.), candies, mints, cake was designed by us. We stretched our dollars without too much notice and splurged on things we knew people would enjoy like an open bar with top shelf liquors. Oh and there were comments from that side of family about the open bar, but it was our wedding and we did what we wanted.
So then May 2008 comes around and my mom gets an email announcing E is pregnant. And here is were the real drama starts. It wasn't like it was a mistake that they got pregnant...they believe in the whole no BC/ condoms/ etc. rules and that God will give them how many children he wants them to have. She immediately had to quit her job because she was having trouble in the beginning with the pregnancy, so they are surviving on his minimum wage income, living in a real unsafe apartment and she is pretty much on bed rest. Thankfully she was classified as a high-risk so she was put on WIC government assistance. Now don't get me wrong, WIC is there to help get first time pregnancy women and those in need help to get situated, but I think they should have planned better for this. How are they going to afford to put food on the table and care for a baby especially since neither has a college degree and she just has her GED (oh yea, and they have their certification in bible studies from their church school)? E has already stated she doesn't think she will go back to work after the baby is born and now her husband is thinking of joining the military. That is the last thing they need unless he can stay nearby to be home to help with the new baby and stuff. They already supposedly fight over taking care of their home (laundry, dishes, pets, etc.); Greene and I disagree about cleaning and we both hate it, but at the end of the day we suck it up and get it done. Now the baby is due in less than a month and looks like to be able to afford anything they are going to move back in with either L & M or his parents. Ok so correct me if I am wrong but wasn't the whole idea to get married and move out of their parents homes to be together?
And just recently they had a baby shower for her. J kept asking what I was getting for her and I said I wasn't sure what we were doing since I didn't know about the baby shower (never even got an invite, so actually feel no obligation to send a gift)...especially since my mom received an invite 1 week prior to the shower (not that any of us would have driven or flown in for the shower, but it is the thought that counts). And still getting slack from J a bit like how come you didn't send a gift, E is having the baby in a month? So am I really wrong for not sending a gift since I haven't been sent an invite to the shower or even a formal announcement that she is pregnant? We truly are not that close, nor do I really have an intention on being close to her since I disagree with their charity case mentality that they brought upon themselves. Oh and still not a thank you note or anything from H and her husband for their wedding presents.
Now that I have written that all down, I feel cleansed. I am not sure what to think anymore on this entire situation, other than I wish to avoid them at all cost. We will see what happens when Greene and I decide to have kids (which will probably be not for another year since we are starting grad school). If anyone has any comments please leave them below. I wish to hear a neutral opinion on the situation and would love to get to know others on this site.
Hope everyone has a good week. Week 2 of classes starts tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
