Oh, for the love of...

Hi, everybody.  It's the other author of posts on this site.  I thought that I would take the time to share with you the goings on of the past week or so of my life.

Wedding Update:

As you may or may not know by now (if you don't know, welcome to our blog!), Heather accepted my proposal (that's right, I'm Jeff) and we've been planning our wedding for a few months now.  Heather has admittedly done most of the heavy lifting by picking the venue for ceremony and the reception, picking the colors, choosing the photographer and going back and forth with the DJ situation.

We have both chosen the people in our wedding party and have asked them to go steady with us...er, to be a part of our special day.  Almost all of the major roles are filled: wedding party, priest (yes, it is a full-on, Catholic ceremony), candle lighters, ring bearers, readers, singers, piano players.......................(my goodness there are a lot of people involved with a wedding).  Trust me when I say that we feel very blessed to have everyone involved.

Now comes my part and thus the crux of my very bewildering yet entertaining title.  I, for those of you who are wondering if my only job is to show up and look pretty on the day of the wedding (for those of you laughing and thinking to yourself that it is a hard enough job for me to do that, you're very funny), do have my tasks.  My tasks are all the stuff that is perishable.  Food.  Flowers.  Cake.  Treats for guests.  Slush fund.  The honeymoon...

Nobody told me that booking the honeymoon would be so hard.  First, there are questions that you need to ask yourself.  What type of honeymoon defines our love?  Where to go?  Where to stay?  What do we eat when we get there?  What do we do (no jokes, seriously)?  So I says to my self, I says, "Self, you know you should have a travel agent book all this stuff for you.  That their job.  That is what they are trained and live to do.  They are the experts.  They have the connections.  They can get you the deals.  They know where would be best to go during November-December that would beat the tourists (if there are any left).  Lets look some up.  Certainly, in today's economic climate, somebody will want my business."

So I set about calling a travel agency that my mom and step-dad use for personal travel.  I won't give out names, but they are in St. Louis and they are called the Travel Desk.  Oops!  I lied!

So I call these people starting last Wednesday.  I state my case and I ask for the contact that my mom gave me and was informed that she was not working that day.  No big deal.  I'll call back when she is in the office.  I'm told that she will be in Thursday.  I call the next day.  Same answer but am now told that there is another person who would be suited for the task of booking a honeymoon.  I'm told she will call me back on Friday.  Cool.  I'm still happy and I have about a zillion other things to do at work anyway.  Friday comes with no call.  No problem.  It's the weekend and there is stuff to do.

Monday, I call to see if the lady I was referred to is available.  She is not.  She is off on Mondays.  Well, apparently this lady must own the place because she was not in on Tuesday when I called (I'm no longer waiting for them to call me, you see).  Nor was she in on Wednesday when I was told that she would be (there was a bit of a snow storm, so maybe the office was closed).

So that brings us to today.  I called.  A lady answered.  I asked for the other lady.  She was not in today.  I was told that I was first to call tomorrow...  Now, for those of you who know me pretty well, I'm normally very level-headed.  True, I can get a bit steamed or passionate about things, but few things truly make me mad.  Well, I can tell you that phone tag is one of them.  After so long, I won't play anymore.  This game has gone on too long.

I want to go some place tropical for our honeymoon.  I want to start our lives together on a warm, sunny, inspiring note.  I want to make reservations as soon as is possible.  I want for somebody at this travel agency to realize that I am a customer who is beating down their door to throw business their way.  For the love of Pete, how hard is this point to get across?

Have any of you had any experiences like this with honeymoons, vacations or any other arrangements in general?

Well, now that my blood pressure is up and I need to go to bed, I will bid you all a fond farewell.  Hope your lives are going well and that you are staying warm.

Back in the Swing

Hey guys! Hope all is well with you and yours.

This semester is in full swing, and I'm drowning underneath the load of work they are giving me! This semester, I have Solution Focused Brief Therapy and Grief and Loss on my plate. Neither one seems like a lot of work by itself, but combined they form a migraine! :) Things at my practicum are going really well, and I feel like I am actually making a difference.

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to have "date night" with my friend Amanda. It was really nice to get out of the apartment, have dinner, and catch up with someone I haven't been able to in awhile. Saturday night included "Girls' Night In" at Carrie's house, and we spent the evening drinking girly drinks, doing karaoke on demand, laughing, and eating. I couldn't have asked for a better evening or a better group of friends.

You may be asking yourself where Jeff was during all this. Well... So am I. No, just kidding. He talked Adam into hanging out over the weekend, and I know they had a great time catching up as well.

Now, just because I know you are so incredibly interested, here are 25 trivia facts you may or may not know about me:

1. I was Little Miss Kansas. The trophy was taller than my Kindergarten self.

2. I got to meet the surviving munchkins from the Wizard of Oz as part of my Little Miss Kansas duties. We had a parade, brunch, and hours of photos.

3. I was once fluent in 3 languages... 4 if you count Pig Latin.

4. My Daddy was the first to predict that Jeff and I would be getting married. He told me right after the first time he met Jeff that we were right and that it would happen.

5. I got my 4 year degree in 3 years.

6. My friends and I used to drive through Dodge and bark out the windows of the car.

7. I have sued someone and won.

8. I was banned from our kitchen until after I graduated high school due to the large amount of fires I accidently started, many of which originated from the toaster.

9. I had 30 something hamsters growing up. When they got older and sick, I made the decision for them to go to the farm. I sure hope they are all still really happy out at the Happy Hamster farm...

10. People mostly remember me by my blonde, curly hair. I am apparently a spitting image of my paternal Grandmother (who went gray overnight on her 21st birthday). I have prepared myself to go gray at any given moment on any given day, so it has been quite difficult for me to deal with the black hairs that I have found more and more present in my hair...........

11. At least once a year, I still get carded at the movies.

12. Over Christmas break, I found a tape of some of my Grandpa's old reels, and watched home video of my Mom from when she was 10 to the age of 14. It was the best gift from this year, even though it wasn't technically a gift at all.

13. I have wanted to be a therapist since I was a freshman in high school. I even have a Sigmund Freud Action Figure... IT'S NOT A DOLL ALREADY!!!! IT'S AN ACTION FIGURE!!!!

14. My parents replaced our older Chocolate Lab with a Miniature Dachshund while I was in Russia, and were banking on the fact that I wouldn't notice the switch when I got back.

15. I have met an Olympic Gold Medalist.

16. I cannot keep a plant alive to safe my life.

17. I failed art. My Mom was even friends with the teacher, and she failed me. I did a ton of extra credit projects and she finally moved my grade to a low "D."

18. I was almost suspended from school for "surfing" on the roof of a suburban. Mr Peck saw me from across the street, and that was IT. Oddly enough, though, it wasn't Mr Peck who almost had me suspended... It was Grandma Wilmore...

19. I used to drive a car that had 1 red headlight and 1 green headlight. It was like Christmas all year long!!! It was also missing windshield wipers, so it's a good thing it WASN'T Christmas weather all year long...

20. I hate roller coasters. I screamed and cried at the State Fair in Hutch until they let me off the Kiddie Roller Coaster... I was a Freshman in High School, and there were 6 year olds pointing and laughing at me.

21. To this day, one of my favorite things to do is to sit inside a sleeping bag and slide down the stairs.

22. I have delivered meals and toys to the needy on holidays, sat in the ER with a woman holding her hand while the doctors worked on her mother, listened to countless stories of rape and abuse, and broken the news to children that they would never see their parents again... yet I still cry at most movies, tv shows, and commercials.

23. I once convinced a telemarketer that a tornado had hit my house so I couldn't buy windows from her. She offered to start a collection for me.

24. I ran for 60 minutes 3 times last week.

25. I wouldn't trade any of my experiences for anything.

Dawning of a New Day

I generally try to stay away from politics on this blog, but I just wanted to remind everyone of what happened this morning for those of you in the Central Standard Time Zone. Today was a big day, no matter what your political affiliation or belief system about what this nation needs or doesn't need. Today we got to see history in the making, a day that future generations will get to read about in history books. Today the very first African American president was sworn into office, and America's story has been forever changed. And that's the end of my two minutes for politics.

Now, I have been experiencing a freezing coldness in our usually toasty apartment. One of the great things about living here is the idea that we save on our electicity bill in the winter because the neighbors above and beside us run their apartments so high that it heats ours. Today I realized that having to wear a 2nd pair of socks to sit on the couch was a little outside of the norm. It's snowing outside. Imagine my surprise when the heat had been turned down to 60 degrees. SIXTY DEGREES!

Now, I am no genius when it comes to meat lockers and whatnot, but I am certain I am experiencing the same symptoms as someone who might accidently get locked in one. At least I am getting the chance to work on my survival skills. If I could give merit badges for the past few days, here is what they would be:

1. Largest amount of clothes layered without purpose of competition or other games.

2. Ability to sit still without fidgeting for long periods of time for fear of losing the heated spot on the couch/chair/floor.

3. Coldest. Feet. Ever.

4. Coldest. Fingers. Ever.

5. Oh, look, we're inside and I think I just saw my breath.

6. Hovering over the toilet for fear of the cold porcelin seat.

7. It's so cold my hands are cracking.

8. My fingernails are blue and I didn't even paint them.

9. Most resmeblance to this kid from "A Christmas Story".

and finally...

10. My teeth chattered so much I need to see a dentist to make sure I didn't chip anything.

While I am certain this problem will be soon solved (our neighbors' heat went out), until then I will remain bundled up. Stay warm. :)

Old Friends For the Wii-kend

What do you get when you mix 3 of my best friends and a Wii? A great Wii-kend! :)

Kym made the long drive in on Friday to spend the weekend with us. Kym, Haley, Jaye, and I battled the bridezillas at David's Bridal on Saturday. We were quickly shoved into a corner dressing room and left to fend for ourselves, and we elbowed back with the best of them. Kym and Haley were great sports, as I am sure they tried on 50 dresses between the two of them while Jaye and I were always handy to zip, button, take pictures, and murmur "Well, it's not THAT bad..."

Nearing the end of the day, we decided to give the dress shopping another try at Group USA. There the girls continued to try on dresses, and we all kept giggling. In the end, we narrowed down the selection to two dresses to choose from. It was difficult, though, with all the beautiful dresses to choose from...



... and a lot of not-so-beautiful dresses. In fact, as Haley put it, a lot of them looked like "Prom 1995 threw up!" :)

When we got home, we had a surprise waiting for us: my next door neighbor from Spearville was there! Ok, so maybe not a surprise because I had to give him directions to our apartment, but it was GREAT to see him! From there, we took Kym and Craig (Haley had to get home) to Sakura, a wonderful sushi restaurant. Because there are no sushi options from our hometown, this experience was a first for Kym.



After sushi, we spent the evening, night, and morning playing Guitar Hero on the Wii. In fact, we were up until 4 am playing it and catching up on old times. I can't even remember the last time I was up that late! Our age began to sell us out, though, as the yawns started from all of us around 830 (before we'd even left the sushi restaurant), but we pushed through.

It reminded me a lot of the old times:



Overall, it was a great time, and we were very glad to have the company. We are also very grateful that we were able to spend the time with old friends. Hope things are going well for you and yours. :)

Of holidays, traveling and compatibility...

Holy Jeebus! It has been a long while since I (Jeffrey) have blogged. By the way, is that how you spell "blogged"? It feels unnatural. Anywho... I am sitting here, next to my beloved as she reads What Would Tyler Durden Do?, watching Jumper (a quality movie) and hammering away at the keys of my laptop.

I'm writing to you all to impart knowledge that I have gained over the past 10 days or so. First, I will tackle the holidays. The week before Christmas, my little cousin Emmalynn from Georgia was visiting my Uncle John. We got to spend a few days and/or evenings together and we had a blast.

We had a great Christmas in Kansas City and in Spearville. Thursday (12/25... you know, when Christmas happened) we were at my mother's house. We had a wonderful lunch and stayed until the early evening. My Uncle John and his girlfriend Chris came over in the evening. We watched a video on their vacation in Hawaii. The video was AMAZING! I'm a nut for all things underwater and this video was most everything that makes up my dreams. Uncle John and Chris left after the movie as we had to wake up early in the morning to travel to Spearville (where Heather is from, duh).

We left Kansas City at the absolute crack of dawn. I kid. It was really like 8 o'clock. Heather was a very anxious to be home and we really would have left at the crack of dawn had it not been for the dishes (really... don't ask). We got to Spearville in time for dinner and ate at the wonderful Windmill restaurant. That place is truly magical. Really. If you have the means to travel down there or live in that vicinity, I highly recommend it.

We had Christmas on Saturday with Heather's family. We both received wonderful gifts and spent the time laughing. Sunday, I returned home on the most fantastic route I think that I have ever driven. I took KS-56 to US-150 to US-50 to Emporia. It was a very tractor trailer free road. A fun drive too. I am a nut for fun drives.

I went home without Heather (the downside of the drive). She decided to stay down in Spearville until Wednesday (New Year's Eve for those of you who are keeping track... you know who you are). On Wednesday, Heather had scheduled a babysitting gig for the evening with the Coates' (an acquaintance from Spearville). I was ill, so I couldn't do much of anything. I hate the winter. What I really need is for the weather to stop doing the pendulum thing during freaking DECEMBER ALREADY!!!!!!!!! (Deep breathing now. Heather keeps reminding me: Breath in, breath out...)

Since Heather was sprung from her gig early, I celebrated the new year with Heather and her Mom (who so graciously brought Heather back to Kansas City). I had to work the Friday after the New Year (January 2, people) and Heather and our Moms hung out. Don't ask me what they did. I have no idea.

Saturday, was our busiest day. It was the day that we were to receive the results of our compatability test from the Catholic Church. In a nutshell, we are compatible. To go further, we are so compatible our priest thinks that we cheated on our test. We did not cheat on the test. We did manage to score perfect on 4 parts of the test (that means we agreed or disagreed with each other and our answers matched the Church's desired answers). HOORAY! Even when we disagreed with the church's desired answers, we agreed with each other. Doesn't that just make you ill at some level?

After our meeting with the priest, we went to Ottawa to meet Heather's Mom for lunch. We also had lunch with Heather's friend Haley, Haley's daughter, Brodie, and Haley's future mother-in-law, Monica. Heather asked Haley to be her co-matron-of-honor and Brodie to be a candle lighter. Brodie was a bit concerned at her role thinking that she would light herself on fire. We all had a good laugh and reassured Brodie that she would be fine. Later in the evening, we met with our friends Adam and Amanda for a long over-due dinner.

Sunday was a thankfully dull day. Heather worked at the pit (a.k.a. Applebee's) and I stayed home to clean and be sick.

YAY! You have managed to make it through all of the post without falling asleep. I mean you could have been folding clothes, performing your job functions or playing Scrabble. Whatever!

Thank you for reading our blog. Hope your holidays went as well as ours.

Sincerely (and I do say that with sincerity),

Jeff and Heather