Friday, July 31, 2009

The more you praise & celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.

It’s about time Friday got here already! What a fun bday week this was…

The Birthday Girl
Even though I spent most of the day at work, Ben had beautiful flowers delivered to my office & gave me THE funniest singing bday card ever! That night we went out with some good friends to my favorite sushi restaurant, Bluefin. While we were waiting for our meal, the fire alarm went off & proceeded to go off for the next 20-30 minutes. The funny thing is that this exact same thing happened last year when we were there for my bday! All in all, it was a very nice 29th bday & I’m still excited to celebrate with my fam in a few weeks when we go to MO.

Scene 1
Couple laying in bed watching TV commercial.
Ben That movie actually looks kinda good.
Monica Oh yeah, is that the one with the hamsters?
Ben (sarcastically) Uh no, they’re guinea pigs - hence the “G” in G-Force - that have super powers to help save the universe.
Couple laughs together & proceed to have a tickle fight.

Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.
Yesterday, just as I pulled into our driveway coming home from work, the tornado sirens went off. Ben had 4 & 5 o’clock appts. & I later found out that he counseled right through the sirens & simply moved into an interior room without windows (now that’s dedication!). We are dog sitting for our neighbors, so it was just me & the pups. Our “safe place” is a tiny hallway closet, so that was fun getting the 3 of us crammed in there armed with a flashlight & my iPhone. I checked their collars to make sure they had identification in case they got sucked up - unlike Ben, I always assume there WILL be a tornado. Cali & Layla even stayed in the closet for awhile after it was safe & I got out, so I think it was like a fun game for them.

Movie Critiques
Gran Torino (A+) - EXCELLENT film that breaks all age/racial barriers
Bolt (B+) - very funny, I’m liking talking cartoon animals more & more
Revolutionary Road (A) - I liked it so much that I bought the book, but not for those that don’t enjoy very real, depressing films that make you question life
The Proposal (A-) - one of my top 5 chick flicks I’ve ever seen, I think Ben could even stomach this one
Con Air (D+) - in my defense, it was on TBS HD & there was nothing else on

There is talk among Benica about a possible Gatlinburg anniversary trip, so Smoky Mountains here we come! I have prolonged getting my morning coffee for long enough - happy Friday everyone!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Therapist Website Suggestions

I am looking at starting a website for my private counseling work in order to get myself out there, wherever out there is. So, here is my question: If you were looking for a therapist online, what would you want to see on the website that would make you want to see that particular therapist? What would turn you off? Your comments will be most beneficial to me.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Happy 29th, m!

Happy Birthday, Baby! I didn’t think I could be any more excited than I was when we were watching The Bachelorette finale, but I am because it is your birthday (well, it will be in 3 hours from now). What a crazy life it has been this last year! Crazy is perfect when it is with you, and I expect nothing less than crazy for years to come. One time my grandmother dropped a pill on the floor and my granddad got on his hands and knees to find it and my grandmother said, “Where are you going?” and he said, “I’m going crazy, want to come with me?” I want us to be like that when we’re tomorrow and when we’re 50 years from now.

The 28th of July is a beautiful day every year, no matter where we are. I think it is fitting your birthday is at the end of the month so you can have a full “birthday month” and sucker me into doing everything because it is your “birthday month.” I love how important it is to you to celebrate special occasions and take joy in them. What I can give you is my love, on this, your birthday day.

Friday, July 24, 2009

It takes backbone to lead the life you want.

Happy Fri-DAY y'all! This past week has been full of beautiful, unseasonably cool, fall-like weather days in Memphis & I can't get enough of it! Let the blogging begin...

Plato's Closet Snobs
This past week I did a clothes purge & decided to take some of my name brand stuff to Plato's Closet. Ben thought this was completely ridiculous, saying that all the clothes were too out of style. "All they can say is no" is my philosophy. Before I even made it to the counter, the guy started telling me that they do not accept anything with shoulder pads in regards to The Limited suit I was carrying & then proceeded to explain the rest of the "rules" to me with an ATTITUDE. I came back 2 1/2 hrs. later only to have the same guy tell me that they were going to have to do an "all pass" b/c they do not accept any clothes over 18 months old. Needless to say, I was a little humiliated & had to eat my own words. I will continue to shop there b/c they have some great deals, however I do not suggest trying to sell to them unless you'd like a good dose of humility.

Mr. Roach
One morning this week I walked into our guest bedroom where I get ready, only to find a ginormous roach the size of my hand (ok, maybe just my thumb) awaiting me. I proceeded to wake my sleeping husband to "rescue" me from this monstrosity to which he was NOT too happy. He proceeded to kill the roach & then got out of bed again upon my request for him to also clean up the remnants of the thing b/c a squished roach is still really gross. Throughout the years I have attempted to make deals like, "I will take out the trash for the rest of our lives if you will kill all bugs, spiders, mice without complaining," which hasn't worked. Again, something I should have noted in our wedding vows.

CS at its Finest
I was at McAlister's yesterday for FREE tea day & happened to see a lady with her 2 kids come in just for a free tea. She mentioned something to the employees behind the counter about hearing about it from a Facebook page, to which one of the twenty-something aged employees responded, "Gosh, do people not have lives?!" A small part of me wanted to yell out, "FAIL!" b/c I thought this was such a poor example of customer service since she basically called his lady (& myself who also heard about it via FB) a loser to her face.

Grocery Store Blues
Last night Ben & I made a trip to the grocery store to pick up dinner & a $1 movie. There are few things that Ben hates more than going to the grocery store to buy more than just a couple of things - 5 minutes is about his limit before he starts acting like a teething 2 yr. old (he will admit this freely). It's been a couple of months since we've had more than condiments in our fridge & I had reached my limit, so I sent Ben on a "mission" to make a salad from the salad bar as I proceeded to rent our movie & buy stuff for 4 meals all in about 5-7 minutes - whew! Basically, I tricked him by not talking about buying other groceries & I was able to accomplish this trickery with my mad shopping/power walking abilities. Why do guys hate grocery shopping so much?

I would like to end by saying that I love my hubby VERY much & am glad that we are still finding out little quirks about each other after almost 6 yrs. of marriage - my life will never be boring with him! Also, this next week we will be celebrating my bday - it's not the big one, but we're getting close.

Friday, July 17, 2009

You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs.

Welcome to your ACTUAL Friday Friday blog post. It’s been awhile & if I had the choice I would keep the 4-day work weeks going indefinitely!

Arrested Development Train
This has been called the Best Show You Never Watched, The Best Show NOT on TV & Perhaps the Best Show ...Ever by some. Ron Howard had the original idea to create a comedy in the style of hand-held cameras & reality television, but with an elaborate, highly-comical script resulting from repeated rewritings & rehearsals. When multiple friends of ours kept telling us to watch it, but mostly after we got tired of not getting all the inside jokes, we finally relented & are so glad we did! There were only 3 seasons before it was canceled, but no need to fear - they are coming out with an AD movie in ‘10.

Families of Origin
For those of you who don’t speak therapist, the term "Family of Origin" refers to the family that you grew up in - usually your parents and siblings. When you get married, you get to find out all kinds of big & little differences of what “normal” means to both of you. Ben & I discovered one of these BIG differences over ice cream. Ben grew up in a family with 4 siblings & when they had ice cream they each received 1 scoop. I, on the other hand, grew up in a family with only 2 siblings & we were dipped a cereal-sized bowl heaping of ice cream which Ben now refers to as “Baggett” portions.

Ingenious Advertising
Recently, we were on one of our OK road trips & I happened to be driving (which does not happen much b/c Ben is our designated long trip driver). I saw a Starbucks billboard sign that read, “You’re in the driver’s seat.” which made me think to myself, “Yeah, I AM in the driver’s seat!” as I exited & paid $4 for a fru fru drink. Somehow that sign empowered me to make the decision they were marketing me to make - ingenious! I also saw on my Starbucks receipt yesterday that if brought my receipt back in that day after 2P I could get a Grande cold drink for $2 which I seriously considered doing, but never would have without that coupon. Side note: the first professional job I applied for after college was for a marketing position at the Starbucks headquarters in Seattle.

Random Pet Peeves
*When people mix up Memorial Day & Labor Day in almost every conversation one of these holidays comes up in.
*They’re/their/there…enough said.
*Toilet seat = down when not being used @ my house people (a.k.a. Ben).

Peace out my loyal blog readers…only 52 more days until another paid work holiday!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Trashy Wasp Beer

Welcome to MY Friday everyone. I could really get used to these 4-day work weeks! Our first mission team training begins tonight & goes through Sat, hence the early post.


Ben "Weird Al" Thompson
We're driving in the car the other day & the song "I Will Be Here" came on the radio which was a song that was sung at our wedding. I used to love this song & thought it would be perfect during the candle lighting...that is until a few days before the wedding Ben & his Best Man Austin decided to change the chorus words to "I Will Drink Beer." This beautiful song about love was completely ruined for me & it was hard not to laugh during the ceremony. Thank you husband.

Creatures of Habit
Thanks to our friends Bobbie & Michael, we have begun referring to the night before trash day as "Trash Eve," so as to remember to put out our trash & recycling. This week our trash day changed from Wed to Tues & it has completely thrown off my internal week clock & I have no idea what day it is. I was recently told that you should switch up your daily routine in order to fend off Alzheimer’s - for instance, try brushing your teeth with your left hand if you normally brush with your right.

Bzzzz...
Recently, wasps have decided to reside on our front porch & to make their nest on one of our shutters. After much nagging on my part, we made the trip to Home Depot (which Ben calls Best Buy) & purchased wasp spray. When Ben came back in from spraying them I asked, "Do you think they're mad?"? to which he replied, "Would you be mad if someone came in & killed you & your entire family?"? Well played.

That’s all of your blog entertainment for today. We’ve had company coming out of our ears, so I must get back to making lists of all the things we have to get done. Happy birth month to everyone who shares a birthday with me in July!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Gnomes, Teen Spirit & Parachutes

I hope all you crazy peeps missed me last week while I was attempting to survive in 105º-110º heat index temperatures with no A/C! I must say that it is very nice coming back to a 4-day work week to help ease back into things.

Nick Lashley’s Comeback
Ben’s HS reunion was a lot of fun! When we first got there, Ben asked me if ‘cocktail attire’ meant that girls were only supposed to wear black dresses (as I was wearing a purple dress) & I explained that it didn’t & that those girls were wearing black to minimize the lbs. they’d put on since HS. Ben’s ‘Top Ten Reasons to Attend Your HS Reunion’ list was read out loud & got a lot of laughs. There was a DJ, but no one was dancing so Ben suggested to the DJ that he play a few slow, cheesy 90’s love songs. He came back to our group & said, “It’s about to get HOT in here, 98º hot that is!” We proceeded to be the only ones to get out & dance to the song he requested, but we had a lot more fun than those fuddy-duddies!

Campy Camp
There’s WAY too much that conspired last week to blog about it all, so I will attempt to summarize the highlights: Cabin Check w/ Bubby - Going Green Day was a lot of fun!, I dedicated the song “Great Balls of Fire” to Ben on 50’s Night;), I made a fabulous garden gnome out of clay at arts & crafts, Lil Whale & Lil Shark were a big hit on the giant slippy slide, singing camp songs while laying on the bball court & looking up at the stars was amazing & I’m pretty sure every person there grew a little closer to God!

Music Philosophy
About a month ago, Ben randomly changed the radio station in my car to Klove which is a Contemp Christian music station. I am a not a big fan of changing the radio station in my car, so I just left it there. I was listening to Pandora on my iPhone at work this week & opted to listen to the Contemp Christian station one morning. When I got back from lunch, I switched to my Dave Matthews Band station & the song “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana came on in the mix, which I love & is a staple song from my teenage yrs. I don’t know if it was singing camp songs all last week or my subconscious getting used to Klove or what, but I just couldn’t make it through the song. Ben & I have had a lot of conversations lately about how the music we listen to really can affect us (even though we have always scoffed at that notion - stupid Klove).

My Office Quote of the Week
“I ain’t never worked with a woman that didn’t have Wite-Out.”

Pillow Monster
One night this past week we made the mistake of watching some of Saving Private Ryan right before bed. Imagine waking up to your pillow being jerked out from underneath your head & then having to pry it out of the death grip from the person laying next to you. Apparently, Ben had a dream about jumping out of a plane & my pillow was his parachute. The best part, this exact scenario happened not once, but twice that night.

I don’t know about you, but I’m pumped about this 3-day weekend! Our Ireland team is getting together in Memphis & we couldn’t be more excited to see them! Grill lots of hamburgers, shoot off lots of fireworks & enjoy the 4th everyone!