A cool front came through my fine city this morning. . . I knew this was happening and was prepared for storms at some point. . . WELL, I woke up and heard on the news that the heaviest would be downtown by 7:00 a.m.  Eeek, I have been leaving at 6:45 or 6:50, and this was going to cut close.  I jumped in the shower and quickly threw myself together with plenty of time.  Walking downstairs at 6:35 a.m. . . . good deal, right?  UNTIL. . . BAM, it starts pouring!  In Texas, “pouring” kicks any rain from any other place’s butt.  There is just no comparison.  I ran outside, and thought. . . I’m heading East, the storm is heading East. . . but I’m sure I can beat it.  Ummm. . . it was a FAST moving storm and went right along with me.  Uh, yeah. . . pretty freaky heavy rain to drive in.

So. . . I get to work and think. . . this is going to take forever to go through this side of town.  It’s POURING. . . and I am parked far away because it was right before shift change.  I decide that I can’t waste time in my car, so I’m going to go for it.  Um, yeah. . . MY LEGS WERE SOAKED.  My jeans were so wet. . . soaked to my underwear!  My shoes were waterlogged, too.  The next bit o’ fun. . . it’s cold inside.  I sat on a coat, and covered up with a coat. . . and sat there most of the first two hours of the day, not moving because it was too uncomfortable to stand up.  It is *rare* that my motion detector lights go off in my office because I’m always up and about.  Yeah, they went off during those two hours, so clearly, I’m never that still!

At 9:15, traffic finally went down heading West, and I had to go home and change clothes because I was miserable.

The moral of the story is, when there are torrential downpours, consider waiting it out. . . especially when they are FAST.  (20 min. after I was in the office, it stopped raining.  :| )

This was probably all meant to be though. . . because the good part of the day started then. . . I heard Debbie Gibson’s “Only in My Dreams” on satellite radio when I was pulling into the work parking lot on my way back from changing clothes.  I had to break myself away from the car to go back into work. . . (video is disabled, but watch it on youtube.  You will thank me later when your heart is smiling a big, purple, glitter, 80s smile).  :)

I’d like to give a shout out to Deborah (formerly known as Debbie) for turning my frown upside-down.  :)

25.  I am supposed to be cleaning right now, but blogging is more fun.

24.  I finally finished my adventures with Bella, Edward, etc. and crew.  Final thoughts.  I used to like Bella. . . then I grew to hate her for being so dang wishy-washy. . . and although I LOVE Edward, he is a little too sappy/lovey-dovey for my taste. . . yet if I had an Edward, eh. . . I probably wouldn’t complain.  ;)

23.  I probably would actually be on team Jacob if I were Bella. . . I mean, Edward is my clear choice, but I’m ALWAYS FREEZING. . . I need a Jacob in my life.  I can’t imagine sleeping next to an ice cube.

22.  I have had a bottle of Pledge sitting on my floor for two weeks.  I do not put it away because I keep thinking that by it sitting there, it will somehow inspire me to dust.  Nope.  Not effective.  I even vacuumed AROUND it last week.  ;)

21.  I have a TON of people to pray for these days.  Holy cow.  The latest is Grandma C., who had surgery for pancreatitis Friday night/Saturday morning.  She will likely be in the hospital a few more days.  Poor lady.  :(  Also, queenlizzle’s Grandma Mary passed away this weekend. . . please pray for her family.

20.  I downloaded Dierks Bentley’s “Trying to Stop Your Leaving” last weekend.  Why the heck didn’t I do that SOONER?

19.  If I have not mentioned it before, Keith Urban is my favorite country artist to dance to. . . why?  So many fun upbeat songs. . . and a lot of polkas.  I’m much better at polkas as opposed to two-steps.

18.  Whenever I see a driver that is doing absolutely stupid things on the roadway, it is my automatic reaction to yell angrily, “STUPID DRUNKS!”. . . it doesn’t really matter what time of the day it is. . . or if these people appear to actually be drunk.  Five seconds after getting angry and yelling this, I usually crack up at myself for being completely absurd.  :)

17.  My cheesecake is in the oven now.  Jealous?  My house smells like heaven.

16.  I used to go to church in New Hampshire every week at 7:30 a.m.  In Texas, I go at 11:00 a.m.  I do not understand how I used to do this?  While I miss CBS Sunday Morning, I really, really, really enjoy sleeping in!  I DVR CBS Sunday Morning, but I rarely go back and watch it. . . which is sad.

15.  The Office episodes have just been “okay” since the wedding. . . but I do really enjoy a few amazing quotes here and there.

14.  I am a little nervous to write about this. . . but I haven’t really had any BB bites in over a month.  I thought I might have had two on my neck a few weeks ago. . . but they never turned red, itched, or anything.  I think it was just two random bumps.  Could my insane sheet washing and my mattress wraps be helping?  I don’t know.  I do NOT want to spend $750 to have my house sprayed so I’m just hoping this goes away.  I think I have the mildest, yet longest lasting case ever.

13.  Did anyone see “30 Rock” a few weeks ago when Jack got BBs?  It was SO FUNNY.  I felt his pain.  He stopped being invited to meetings and such because people were like. . . “Eww, can’t those live on your clothes?” and treated him like he had the plague.  No one ever treated me like that, BUT I felt so DIRTY!!!

12.  I still want Candice Olson to redesign my house. . . but I’ve decided I want her to do my kitchen someday.  The last two episodes have been kitchens, and they are in-freakin-credible.

11.   I have done a lot of cooking, cleaning, and laundry today.  My house is HOT.  It’s still warm outside. . . 80 degrees today. . . and with the mugginess, it felt warmer.  A cold front is coming through tomorrow.

10.  My manager set up speed dial on her cell phone last week so all she has to do is touch my first initial, and my number is dialed.  She also did this for her husband, her mom, and her oldest daughter. . . Well, yesterday she called and said, “Hi, how are you you?”  I said, “Fine.”. . . She said, “Okay, we are getting ready to pull up so come on outside and help us unload. . . blah, blah, blah.”  (She thought I was her daughter.) I said, “Time out!  This is Hannah!”  We started laughing so hard. . . She said, “I take it you don’t want to come over and help us unload things then?  We have pizza!”  Hahaha.

9.  I think it works out to read my books closer to the book club deadline because I don’t remember much about the book at this point. . . having finished it ~ a month ago!

8.  I ordered two movies off of amazon.com that I couldn’t get at Blockbuster.  One is “The Agony and the Ecstasy” about Pope Julius and Michaelangelo and the painting of the Sistine Chapel. . . and the other is “Much Ado About Nothing” with Emma Thomson, Denzel Washington, etc.  That movie was filmed at one of the wineries Liz and I visited in Tuscany.  Yep, trying to relive my Italy trip through these movies.  :)

7.  I wanna GO somewhere! . . . like a MAJOR trip.  I am cursing myself for signing up for the fare advisor on tripadvisor.com because now I get alerts whenever there are cheap flights. . . yet I cannot go!  :(

6.  25 thoughts is a lot, people.  Sorry.

5.  My car is dirty, but it’s raining. . . and will rain tomorrow.  I didn’t want to wash it today.  People are very critical of this. . . especially one of my security guards at the entrance to my place, who said last week, “You are way too pretty to have a dirty car.”  Thanks. . . I think.

4.  I know that the next three or four or eight weeks are going to suck royally, with the exception of Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I will cry if I think about it for very long.

3.  I am not decorating for Christmas this year.  I’m slightly sad about it, but really. . . I am not home enough to do it, to enjoy it, and I JUST FLIPPING GOT MY CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS PACKED AWAY HOW I WANT THE, FOR GOODNESS SAKES.  I might cave.  We’ll see.

2.  I found a picture of someone who resembles my version of Edward. . . on facebook. . . but I can’t post it because it’s a friend’s husband. . . and that’s just awkward!  :)

1.  Okay, seriously. . . I need to dust.  Happy Sunday!

Texas has some pretty amazing sunrises and sunsets. . . unfortunately, I’m usually in my car when I see them. . . and well, you all know how those pictures turn out!

Lately, the sky has looked uber-incredible. . . unfortunally, I either miss the sunsets because I work too late. . . or I can’t take pictures because it’s been taking me FOREVER to get home because of road construction (and the sky is dark by the time I get home).  The coolest shot would be from work. . . but I can’t line things up properly without obstructions.  I will keep trying.  From the front of my building, you can see the skyline against the orange/pink/purple sky. . . sooooooo beautiful.

Tonight, I was shopping a block from my house. . . and I thought the palm trees looked awesome against the unreal, colorful sky.  Unfortunately, the quality is not that great because I had to zoom big-time to get the stores and such out of the way. . .

Looks like a fake sky that you would see in cheesy postcards . . . but it’s real!

Okay, so I don’t have time to do a long entry. . . so I’m stealing from a friend.  :)

My favorite thing about facebook is looking at people’s pictures. . . and I have some INCREDIBLY talented friends.  I actually save all the favorite pictures I see on facebook in a folder. . . and sometime (with my friends’ permissions), I would like to share them with you all someday.

First, I will share some pictures my friend Kristy took while on a walk at sunrise this week. . . she got some BEAUTIFUL shots with amazing lighting, including some with deer!  If you like her pictures, show her some love on this website and “like” them. . . or comment on them!

CHECK THEM OUT!

While I love looking at pictures on facebook. . . but I also love connecting with old friends!  Kristy and I lived on the same dorm floor freshman and sophomore year. . . but sadly, I lost track of her.  When I went to this wedding and connected with other dorm friends. . . I found out that we all kept in touch with different people. . . and now we are ALL connected on facebook.  It’s a beautiful thing!  :)

I took this picture last night on my way home.  I can see why people imagine Heaven this way. . . so peaceful. . .

On All Saints Day, my priest talked a lot about Heaven.  He talked about an analogy one writer used describing Heaven or Hell as one giant banquet. . . depending on who you were sitting by, it could be your Heaven. . . or your Hell!  The concept was that you should make peace with everyone in this life because you may be sitting next to them for eternity in the banquet.

He said that we may not picture our deceased relatives as saints because we know all their flaws. . . we probably can’t picture them in Hell (although he said we might have told them to go there now and then!). . .

I am certain my relatives are at the fun table.  I’m picturing all of my awesome people around the table. . . It’s a nice thought.  I hope I can join them someday!

Oh, if you thought the dorky pictures were over. . . oh, HECK NO.

You may notice that I don’t have any pictures of the bride and groom. . . you may actually notice this at nearly EVERY wedding I go to.  I usually have to borrow pics of the bride and groom from someone from facebook for my blog because I like to stay out of the way.  I don’t like flashing my camera in churches.  I don’t wanna flash and somehow mess up THE PERFECT SHOT of the photographer.  I don’t know. . . I’m weird like that.

So just imagine them. . . they look great!

So instead of getting great pictures of the wedding group, we got dorky pics of illini_girl and sis.

This cake topper was the hit of the wedding (other than the bride and groom). . . I think everyone took a pic of this.  Super cute.  :)  (J is a baseball player.)

cutest cake topper ever

The hotel was the new “Chancellor”. . . I am an idiot and thought they tore the whole thing down and rebuilt it exactly the same. . . but it’s just refurbished in the convention area though. . . aaaaah, it took me back to the days of the good ol’ KDASC Conventions!  :)

Next are pictures are of Sar and I cleansing our palettes with sorbet.  I was amazed that Sarah loved it so much that she cleansed her palette TWICE.  :)  (Our table rocked and shared food and drinks.)

Stupid weird hair part!

So. . . the hotel convention center has all the conference rooms named after the Big Ten mascots. . . this was too good of an opportunity to miss for picture taking.  I only picked the teams I disliked the most (or had the most co-workers to send the pictures to). . . Clearly not entirely SOBER.  I look like hell. . .

Suck it, Buckeyes!

I look scary. . . like a wolverine!

Hello to all my friends at Purdue! Love ya!

Awww. . . this is more like it. Little Chief.

And this one. . . I approve of.

Sister approves, too. Blurry b/c I took the picture too fast!

When you drink a lot of Budweiser + champagne, this is where you spend a lot of time! Luckily, Sarah liked our table, too b/c I was MIA half the night!

My favorite picture! Posing by the sign when we were taking the picture. . . and she was so apologetic about ruining our shot! Um, lady. . . clearly not an important picture!!!

Shew. . . this one is good!

Yes, yes. . . DORKS!

My only regret is not getting to talk to the groom and bride more. . . but that is the breaks of taking your tired sister as your date.  :)

CONGRATS!!!  What a great feeling it is when your good friends find people they love to spend the rest of their lives with!

This has actually been a somewhat slow wedding year. . . I think I’ve only been invited to four. . . and have only been able to go to two.  I love a good wedding and always enjoy seeing old friends and meeting new people, but it is nice to slow down a bit. . . as I’ve done so much other travel this year.  I cannot go to eight weddings/year  every year without killing my finances and vacation!

I only have one next year in Colorado in January (yay Jamie!), but I know there will be more!  It’s difficult (if not impossible) to go a year without someone in my family getting married. . .

The trip home started with my parents picking me up and taking me to The Beef House.  I had ROCKIN’ scallops there.  Seriously, I was impressed.  I NEVER eat scallops anymore because I was so spoiled in New England.

This is sadly the only roll I ate there. . . but it was a dream come true. . .

We were all zonked on Friday so we headed home and went to bed. . . what a long week/day!

My mom, sis, and I went shopping on Saturday.  Fun times.  While I love shopping in any form, it’s always more fun to go with Mom and Sarah.  We manage to make it to the mall every time I go home.  :)  Luckily, I don’t get home very often or we’d all be broke.  ;)

Okay, so I told you all about how I didn’t know what to wear to the wedding. . . well, I started playing dress-up on Wednesday.  As it turns out, I had four lovely dresses that I realized I hadn’t even worn before.  The thing is. . . I looked so WHITE in all of them so I didn’t want to wear them out of the house.  I settled on two to take home and wanted to try them on Saturday morning so my sister and Mom could let me know if I looked hideous and should buy a new one.

Sarah did not like dress #1. . . so I tried on dress #2, which they liked better.  We picked out jewelry, and all was right with the world.

We arrived home from shopping and had approximately 20 minutes to get ready before the wedding.  I ran and threw on the dress, and got in my heels.  This made Sar realize how short the dress is.  Literally, walking downstairs to leave. . . she was saying, “Whoa!  You can’t wear that slutty dress to a wedding!!!”  Um, hello!  I tried it on for her before. . . but she said the heels made her realize how short it was.  Crap!  I am so not a slut so this is not a befitting look for me.  I seriously bought the dress to wear to CHURCH.  Good thing Sarah made me realize I looked like a hooker before I made that mistake in H-town at church.  EEK.

Mom has been complaining that she doesn’t have a picture of me on her desk, and wants one. . . but I don’t want a picture by myself. . . so I posed with Sarah.  Most of our pictures were hideous, but t his may be a winner:

Yes, I have a stupid double-chin, per usual.

Sarah was kind enough to come with me to the wedding. . . as I didn’t really know anyone there. . . and any of my friends who know Jason are not in town (or are flakey). . . and I couldn’t think of any single guys in town to ask (or that I would WANT to ask!).

We came to Mom and Dad’s between the wedding and reception. . . played a little Wii bowling and took some dumb pictures. . . Mom, you want pictures. . . you GOT ‘EM!  :)

I actually kinda like this one. . .

Whoa

This would be good if my hair wasn't parting weird Sat. night. . . Hmmm.

There are even MORE, but I will spare you. . .

Then we started being goofy and thought of some other poses that Mom might enjoy in her house (neither of us had ANYTHING to drink at this point, either). . .

Mom, there's a cat on your kitchen counter!!!

and someone is in your plant?

and someone is wearing a piece of your Fall centerpiece as a fashion accessory?

She's so outdoorsy. . . couldn't keep her out of the plants!

Normal picture. . . but I can't decide if I like it. . . anyways. . . show's my hairdo (although not looking the best).

Okay, I have a ton more dumb pictures from the reception, so I’m breaking this bad boy up into two posts. . .

Yep, they came while I was at work on Friday to do phase one so I got to see it for the first time tonight.  :)

A happy girl is typing this caption! It appears all they have to do it paint, which I could do, but I'm SO HAPPY I'm paying them to do it. I don't have time for this stuff!

In an apartment
Spills a box of spaghetti
Only wanted a pretzel.

Out on the town once
Saw a mostly naked girl
Prostitute, perhaps?

Village idiot
We will never forget you
Or your strange patrons.

Happy birthday queenlizzle!  :D  Love you lots!

That’s a pretty crappy title, illini_girl?  Why the heck would anyone want to read this entry?

Because I am mysterious and intriguing. . . and who wouldn’t want to know why I’m frustrated?

Um, I’m asking the questions here.  Just stick to the answers, okay?

Wow. . . cranky pants.

Shut it.  Do you still have a hole in your wall?

YES.  This is partially because of how much I’ve been out of town.  This week FINALLY worked.  .  . and the guy coming over had a family emergency and had to cancel.  Oh well.  The owner of the company came and got my keys so they can just come and go as they please so I won’t have to let them in and out.

How do you feel about traffic?

Ugh, I HATE it!!!  Let me just tell you that in the almost three years I’ve lived here this time around, it is RARE that I encounter traffic going to or leaving work.  This is rare in Houston, but I just live in a good place where this is not an issue. . . . HOWEVER. . . they are doing construction on another main freeway. . . and I think it’s going to be a YEAR or more. . . and all the traffic has come to MY interstate. . . boo!!!  Luckily, I don’t have to suffer too long, as I have a way to sneak out of *part* of the traffic. . . but I am not pleased that my 15-20 minute ride home is taking 35-40 minutes.  One of my friends started doing books on tape and said that makes him more zen in traffic.

Would you try a book on tape?

I am thinking about it.  Have any of you ever listened to those?  It just seems weird to me. . .

Okay, we are FINISHED with your Debbie Downer attitude.  Enough of this frustration crap.  Cari asked about book recommendations the other day. . . what do you recommend?

I liked both of my last two book club books. .  ”The God of Small Things” (difficult to read and stomach, but good). . . and “The Time Traveler’s Wife” (good, but flipping sad). . . I spent half the night talking about books at the Halloween party on Saturday.  One of the guys I was talking to loved, loved, loved both of Michael J. Fox’s books (and recommended to read them sequentially). . . I think I might try this after I’m finished with “Breaking Dawn”.  We have a holiday hiatus for book club so it’s the perfect opportunity to read other things.  The only other problem is that I have ~3 books on my bookshelf to read already.

Tell me something GOOD that has happened so far this week, please?

My high school German teacher (affectionately known as “Frau”) found me on facebook this week.  How fun!  I miss Frau!  She was such a good teacher and had such great rapport with us. . .

What the heck are you going to wear to your wedding in IL this weekend?

No.  Friggin’.  Clue.  It’s actually going to be WARM in IL this weekend, which is supa-exciting. . . Thank you, Lord.  I have several options to wear, but nothing is screaming at me.  I got a friends and family discount passed on from a friend for The Limited, so I’m going to shop there while I’m home as well.  (If anyone would like me to forward the coupon to you, let me know!  I think it’s 30% off.)

Okay, must read about Bella for a minute and go to bed.  :)