Dr. Holmes

No, neither Derrick nor I have our Doctorate degree but one of us in the family thinks we might.... keep reading to figure out who :)

On Wednesday afternoon, I started feeling a little under the weather. My throat was hurting and I just felt like the commercial where the head is a balloon and is floating away from the body. Anyways, I felt bad. Well, apparently Derrick was a doctor in another life, because his favorite thing to do seems to be to get the brightest flashlight he can find and inspect whatever it is that is hurting me. This did not go over so well with me. First of all, I hate bright lights. They give me headaches, literally. Second of all, I don't like to be bothered when I don't feel good. It may sound bratty, but I can't help it. And third of all, all I can think about is how he has not a clue what he is looking for. So here I stand, mouth open wide, bright lights in my eyes, a concerned look on my husband's face, all for him to say, "ohh... I can't tell." WELL DUH! Needless to say, I was hoping my sore throat would go away quickly or I was scheming on slipping some Benadryl into either my food or his, so I could quickly fall asleep or have him sleep through the night, without bothering me :) Luckily, I didn't have to do either. Good thing we're still newlyweds and I like him being awake, otherwise that might now have been the case :) However, I hate to say this did happen a couple other times. But I don't know why he was so tired later on that night ;)

Then, I stayed home on Thursday, with plans to schedule a doctor's appt for the next day, cause I hate going when they might not find anything, and say come back. So my persistent husband came in, not to check on me, but to see if I had called the doctor yet. I kept putting it off and finally, I started to have daytime nightmares about the flashlights in my eyes, and quickly dialed. Luckily I did, cause they could only fit me in on that day. Otherwise, I would have had to wait till Monday, or later! Let's just say it's much better when a doctor shines lights all over your face and gives you prescription drugs when he's done. Much unlike the "doctor" in our house!

Today we went to the Pumpkin Patch with my sister and her bf. We got our pumpkin! yay! Although, I must admit, with such a huge selection, I find it very difficult to pick the "right" one. It's a lot like picking the right man. But we won't get into details :) But now the Auburn game is on so no telling when we will carve it. We had plans to today but grocery shopping had to be done first!

Speaking of football season, I find myself being much more productive while College Game Day and a different assortment of games on. There is a lot more time to clean and get organized, and more importantly, BLOG! Although, I am finding myself more and more interested in these Auburn games.

More updates coming, keep reading :)

Fairy Tale vs. Reality

So lately, I have really been contemplating "marriage". What it means, what I thought it would be like, and what it actually is.

I knew that I always wanted to be married young. I also knew I wanted to be a younger mom (not yet!), so in order for that to happen, I wanted a few quality years in with my husband before kids came into the picture, so in turn, I wanted to be married young. Now, I didn't always think my plan would be God's plan, but luckily, it was :) So with that being my case, marriage for me is a bit different. I find it very interesting how we just take on things and make decisions. I know it doesn't sound interesting, it's normal!, but to me, it's odd sometimes! I think a lot of that is because I never had to make those kinds of decisions, because I was still in school and was being financially supported by my parents. So I'm not sure if this is a marriage thing or real world thing. Anyways, it's still very fun! I even find myself sometimes with a smirk on my face after a "real" decision has been made. It's quite empowering if I do say so myself!

The other thing is what I expected marriage to be like. I think I really thought the world stopped revolving for a little while! After all the planning, and finally the day, and then the honeymoon, I guess I thought the rest of the world was in on it too! I mean, it's all I did! Well, me and my mom :) But after the honeymoon, reality set back in for Derrick as he returned to work, but not for me! Being unemployed, I was able to go and spend all the money we got and re-decorate! It was awesome! I think Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Belk know me by name. That could be good or bad! So once I was finally employed (praise Jesus!) I realized that the world was still revolving! However, I feel very lucky to have been able to get our place organized. For those of you who know me, I'm pretty OCD when it comes to cleanliness and organization. So it was really great. Even more so once I realized how little time I would have when I started working.

And the last part.... we haven't been married for years. I guess I expected marriage to be like my parents'. Or other people who have been married for x-amount of years. I guess it never occurred to me that once we got married, it would take some time for the normalcy to come! It sounds ridiculous, but it's so true! I assumed we would automatically know exactly what to do in every situation. Either my parents put on a really good show, or they really do know exactly what to do! Maybe it's both. I just find it interesting that my parents, your parents, whomever parents, all started off as newlyweds too. I knew this, but a different light has been shed on it, being a newlywed.

Needless to say, marriage has been a lot different than I expected. Not necessarily in a bad way. It's very refreshing. For me, it was the next, normal step. It never felt out of the ordinary really. I was ready for it. But that doesn't mean it's not different than what I thought! For a long time Derrick and I would talk about how it didn't feel very different! We were waiting for one of those euphoric moments when we look at the other and think, " WHAT?! We're married?!" That didn't happen..... I was waiting for it too! But now, I realize it's more than that. It's 2 people, still living life, still in a revolving world, enjoying each other along the way. And I like that :)

Weekend Celebrations

Goodness, it has been a while! Needless to say, we have been busy!

Derrick has been extremely busy with work and I've just been busy with work! He has been having to work a lot of nights lately, so usually we hang out for a while until he has to go back and then I get caught up on the things that are driving me insane! Like organizing and cleaning, mostly :) I can't imagine what it will be like when we have a bigger place!

This weekend we celebrated my birthday and Gold Rush! On Friday night, Derrick and I went out, a little shopping, a little Kani house, and that's about it! It was very enjoyable to just spend some quality time together. On Saturday, we walked around at Gold Rush, and Derrick's parents and sister visited. It was freezing this year! But we warmed up with some homemade beef stew. Yum! And today we met my family for lunch! I got lots of great gifts, thanks everyone!

It's been entirely too long since I last posted but I will work on it. I can't even begin to try and catch you up. I'll do better :)

Catching Up

Whew... what a whirlwind it has been these past couple weeks! I am glad, in one way, cause it means I am doing something besides sitting around and blogging, but sad in another, because I don't get to sit around and blog :) I'd much rather be busy! School is still going great. Finally into my schedule and am loving it. Work is going well for Derrick, so we have been good!

Last weekend, we went to my parents house to celebrate my brothers birthday! Played a little rockband, Derrick took a little nap, and then we came home! That was on Sunday. On Saturday, I took the MAT, which I could barely decipher, ugh, and Derrick had to work an event. So to relieve my frustration with the MAT, I went shopping :) I quickly forgot about it!

Last night, Derrick and I went out to dinner, which was nice! Today, we tried to sleep it, but our bodies don't realize it's Saturday, so we woke up about 8:30. Not happy! Derrick cooked us breakfast, which was also wonderful, and then we took a nap. ha! Which was better than sleeping in. Anyways, we got up, I started cleaning, since it's practically impossible now that I have a job, and Derrick joined a while after. We got everything cleaned very well, and then took our cars to wash and vacuum! I have never used one of the Do-It-Yourself ones, until today! It was quite interesting. I enjoyed it, but I felt like I had to go so fast! I wanted to have a water fight, but it wasn't worth $5! So now our apartment and our cars are clean! I love that! If only I could make Derrick love that :)

I think that's about it. Nothing very interesting going on here recently! Maybe soon :)

One Year Ago

One year ago today, Derrick and I got engaged. Let me preface this by saying that it was the start of something I could and still can't comprehend! But before we get to that, let's talk about how we met...

My freshman year of college, my roommate was very into outdoors stuff, etc, and she took a ropes course that rec sports offered. She knew I liked that kind of thing too and encouraged me to take it. Well, I signed up and if you can't attend one year, they keep you on the list for first invites for the next year. Well, it always worked that I couldn't go, until my junior year. I took the offer and was prepared for it! By this time, my roommate was already helping set it up, as a side job. So she was also working it. Well, this came to my advantage when I realized how terribly afraid I would be. She was an instructor, I guess you could say, and was helping everyone through each challenge. Heights were involved, which has never been a fear of mine, until I'm all alone, thousand of feet up, and I had to climb a tree to get there. I hated it! I enjoyed it overall, but was so scared. Well, Derrick was also an instructor. He was working the rope wall. I had no problem with this until I had to repel down. I climbed it, slipped some, but with Derrick's encouragement (even though I wanted to tell him to shut up at time), I made it. But, I refused to repel down. I said I would try, and I did, but as soon as they gave me one inch to prop my foot on and then hang in mid-air, I decided very quickly it was not for me. However, the only other way down was to jump, or climb down a teeny tiny, unsturdy pole. None of my options suited me. I think I prayed for God to just go ahead and come back. I was ready to go! Well, I had no choice but to repel. I was so worked up over this, and got a little teary. I did not trust myself to hang in mid-air. Well, I did it, and at the bottom was Derrick, waiting. He said something really sweet, but I was so upset about repelling, I can't remember now what it was. Well, after that, I was ready to be done! I knew the rest of the weekend would be challenging, but I completed all of the challenges, successfully, except one, but I didn't have the upper body strength for it, so I don't count it :) Well, I was finally onto the challenges that involved being 10 inches off the ground. Much more my cup of tea, apparently. Well, I was standing in the back of the crowd and Derrick was in the process of taking down one of the challenges. Well, I happened to look his way, and he motioned for me to come over. He wanted me to hold his ladder while he climbed up the tree to take the hooks down. Derrick won't admit it now, but it was the turning point in our relationship :)Maybe he won't admit it cause he doesn't know, but it was, ok?! I had already noticed him throughout the weekend and was telling my roommate to give me some info about him! She told me what she knew, but it wasn't enough! ANyways, Derrick became a big joke in my apartment for a little while. The roommate that was working the course loved to talk about how I thought he was cute and etc. yadda yadda yadda. Well, in the meantime I decided to ref intramurals. I had already been to a couple workshops, and Derrick had been there, since he is a ref, however I hadn't noticed. So at the next workshop, I noticed! Well, flag football was starting, and we both began to ref. Before it started, we had found eachother on facebook, and chatted a little there. We saw eachother almost everyday and he always made a point to come talk to me. I loved it! He finally asked me on a date, and after that date, we saw eachother everyday, except for holiday breaks. And one year later, got engaged. See, I told you holding his ladder was the turning point for us. Ha!

It was a Saturday morning, our one year of dating anniversary, and I was very excited. Some of my friends were getting engaged and I knew I wanted to marry Derrick and could not be much more patient, however, I also knew that this day would be bring me no new shiny ring, as he had told me he would never do it on a day I was expecting it. I would later learn, he's a liar :) jk. It was reverse-psychology. Anyways, with the help of my 3 roommates, he planted a note on my car. Somehow, I don't remember how, I retrieved it off my car. It read for me to get ready, and go to Amicalola Falls, a place we would go and watch the sunset. However, I somehow missed a small strip of paper that was also in the envelope, telling me what time to be there. Well, once I got there, I read the note again to make sure I was going to the right place, and out comes the strip of paper. Luckily, I was right on target, but about 15 minutes early. In my letter, I was also told not to contact anyone unless it was an emergency. Well, the problem with that is, once you tell me I CAN'T do something, I really want to. Immature, yes. Can I help it? No. So, of course, I texted him to make sure it was ok I was there early. He said it was ok, but not to do it again. ha! I didn't know it's cause he had just left! Anyways, I get my note from the receptionist and am sent to the next location. This goes on for a few locations, and finally, I arrive at the driving range, where we went on our first date. He was there, sitting on a bench. My (knowing) roommates had dressed me, so I was in a dress, and was a little concerned about being at the driving range. It was rather short and not an ok dress to hit golf balls in. It was to my advantage that Derrick had no intentions of golfing! So after pressuring him to go eat, cause I was hungry, he finally gave in. We stood up, and he handed me my last clue. It read "Turn Around". He was down on one knee and pulled out a ring. He gave a whole speech but I had tunnel vision for that sparkly ring! I don't remember a thing he said! Well, after some tears and such, he blindfolded me. Note to guys: DO NOT BLINDFOLD A NEWLY ENGAGED WOMAN! All I wanted to do was check out my new bling! But I complied, hesitantly. Well, he told me were going to dinner, but he had planned a surprise engagement party with family and friends! It was such a bittersweet day! Couldn't ask for a better enagagement, ring, or guy! I'm one blessed girl!

Am I a little sentimental today? apparently! But I have every reason to be!

MIA

So apparently having a real job does affect my ability to blog. But nevertheless, I will continue to update when I can keep my eyes open! I can't even remember what we did last weekend! I'm sure it was way fun and exciting though, and by way fun and exciting I mean we probably stayed home and enjoyed each other's company. I have still been pretty tired after school, but a friend and I have been going to a new workout class... ZUMBA. I love it! For anyone who does not know what that is, it's like a dance class, but the moves are workout moves. It's awesome.

We did finish painting the cornhole sets last weekend, I guess that's what we did :) They look awesome! I should post a pic but I don't feel like it!

I know something good happened that I was going to blog about it, but my mind is drawing a blank! Oh well!

We had our first small group on Monday night, and it went great. Can't wait to dig in with this group and really learn each other's hearts! It's going to be exciting!

My car has recently been acting funny, which is unusual, so I was getting nervous. Well, I was driving on Wednesday and it just died. In the middle.of.the.road. Luckily no one was directly behind me, but it took me 4 times to get it going again. So we took it to the shop on Wednesday night, where they told me that is a really hard problem to diagnose becuase they typically need it to fail for them. Well, come Thursday they can't get it die. They call me mid-afternoon and tell me and ask to keep it again. We agree and are hoping they can figure it out. So, in the meantime, I am driving Derrick's truck. Now, first of all, I was not happy about this. I was very fortunate I was able to, don't get me wrong, but I hate that truck. I'm just not used to driving it I guess I should say. But thank God I didn't have to walk, which actually isn't an option, but anyways, you get the idea. So on Thursday night, I drive to the gym cause it's raining and the truck is making the most awful sound you have ever heard. It was literally squealing at me. I assumed it was just making the noise inside the car, but that thought quickly vanished as I was driving around the Drill Field and people were turning to see what robot was coming towards them. Talk about putting a bag over your head! I always feel so sorry for those people, but sometimes find myself aggravated cause it's always very loud and annoying, and now, I am one of them. Great :) So, of course, after my workout, there's no getting around driving it back, since it is the only car we currently have. So, here I am, driving back, the looks more annoyed this time, and I finally make it there. Well, I let Derrick know there is a dying animal trapped somewhere in his truck, and make him go look at it. Well, he already figured it was his power-steering cause the hose has a leak. Well, I think that power-steering is a luxury and I'm just going to have to deal with the noise. In my head, I was already scheming my way out of having to drive it the next morning. Well, lucky for me, it is a luxury, but if you have it, it must be maintained. So, Derrick has a friend get said fluid and he fixes it! Yay! So on Friday, the shop calls me and they got my car to die, have the part in stock, and after playing phone tag for a couple hours, my car is fixed. $230 later, but fixed! Praise the Lord! Just so happy they were able to locate the problem. So, now I am driving my wonderful vehicle again, no squealing ones :)

I am also eating meat again. I know, I know. And I must say I am more tired because of it, but I am still doing it. But I do try to keep my mind open to other things.

Lately, I have really begun to see Derrick and my lives meshing together. It so neat to see us really becoming one. I can't really explain it, I guess, but it makes for interesting moments! Maybe it's cause I actually have a life now that I am employed. woo! Which is still going great. I really enjoy it. The 6th graders are definitely interesting, but I feel sorry for them because I HATED middle school. They keep me on my toes, that's for sure.

Quick story to tell: I was talking to one of my 4th graders Friday morning, and he wasn't being cooperative so I said, "tell me a story." He wouldn't comply, and I kept jokingly begging him, and it quickly became a game. Well, I guess he had had enough because after one time of begging he replied, "once upon a time, there was this teacher who wouldn't leave me alone. The end." Gotta love kids! It was pretty funny... I won't lie.

This weekend has been quite eventful so far. I decided I wanted highlights, but wanted to save money and could do them myself. I have done this numerous times in the past, with highlight and coloring, so no big deal. After the many years and only one bad outcome, the odds are against me. or with me. I don't know the right one to say. Anyways, let's just say the only thing that ended up odd was my hair. I was literally.a.blonde! It was bad. So after my sweet husband and helped me pull my hair through the cap, and when I say helped, he did, however, this was his first experience so it took FOREVER! I was getting very impatient but tried to stay quiet. So after the hours it took, I had to let him know there was no way around doing it all again with dark color. So at 1am, we head to Wal-Mart for my hair dye. And of course ended up with some other things, because who doesn't pick up what they need when they are there? regardless of the time. So with my bad dye job on head, I'm prancing around Wal-Mart at 1am. Well, we get home and get started on dye job #2. Thank goodness it came out ok! I had already planned to make a trip to the hair salon. So Derrick was welcomed into the married life officially at 3am this morning when it all ended and we were finally able to go to sleep!

Today we went to Fall Festival at my new school and looked around, came home, ate lunch. Now, Derrick has some friends over, whom have all currently gone to eat wings and watch some football, I took a little nap while they were here for about an hour or so, and I'm sure they will all be back soon for some more football! I don't mind, though. He needs someone to be as interested in the game as he is. We all know that wouldn't be me. Unless you call interested falling asleep, then I definitely enjoy it :)

That's all for now! I'll try to update more through the week! Oh, and I'm taking the MAT on Saturday, the 26th, pray for me! I'll post about grad school stuff later, but it may be in the works!

No Longer Unemployed

Well, I almost have my first week under my belt! It hasn't been bad. Everyone is so friendly and I am really enjoying myself. It is a lot like student teaching again, except I don't have the work to do when I get home, but I already know I will learn so much, so it's really a blessing! I'll just be extra prepared for, hopefully, next year, when I have my own room! However, it has worn me out! It's just the hours! I leave around 6:45, and by the time I get home, I stay awake as long as I can, eat, and hit the bed before 9:00. But I'm glad to be with the kids again! And no worries, I treated myself to a nice mani and pedi after my first day. Thank you Gold Nails and Spa.

Our Labor Day was wonderful. It was nice to have a long weekend before we would both be working! Derrick has been insisting on building a cornhole set. Well, I had no problems with it, didn't understand why he wanted one, but have at it. That was......until I realized we would be keeping them in our apartment! Ugh! It's not so bad, but he better be finding a good hiding spot for them. Anyways, the past week has been like having a newborn baby in our house. He is so particular and careful about these things. He built them at my parent's house and then came back and started sanding, in the apartment, so he quickly moved it outside, and then we painted the base coat. After our trip to Home Depot. Boy, was that a sight. There's so much learning to do when you get married. Somehow, I thought the paint magically appeared when you needed it. So anyways, now we are onto the details for the painting. Which, Derrick spent 5 LONG hours, creating a stencil for this project. I kid you not. I should have taken pictures of this whole ordeal. It would have been hilarious! He even asked me to paint after my first day of working. The picture of that face might have been terms for a motif, according to Lumpkin County Investigative Unit :) I don't even know if that exists, but it sounds good :) So now I am off to humor him and possibly start painting these masses of wood in my apartment. Oh.... the joys of marriage.

And now there is a large damp spot on our ceiling... this could get interesting.....