My niece!!

Well, we turned right around and didn't go camping this weekend since my niece was born. We got to Longview just in time to get to hold her after she was washed!!







We actually have some much bigger and better pictures that Chr needs to upload to his Flickr soon. So we will do that and I will link to them.

She is super beautiful - she has slender fingers that everyone says means she will be able to play the piano. She does this funny thing where she opens only one eye and looks around like Popeye. But, I don't want to steal my brother's thunder - he can tell you about it on his blog! But I do need to say this: my sister-in-law delivered without an epidural, naturally. I have to brag on that and also be in fear because the bar has now been set!!! I am so proud of her and of my brother!!

RIGHT NOW!!

My niece is being born right now!!! (see the Edinger blog) We are changing our camping plans and heading to East Texas right after work!

Sometimes I fear the pants

So, I actually bought some pants online just now. At first that might seem insane - I thought so myself. But I have been trying to buy some pants that I can wear to work for months now and I just can't do it. I hate going into the stores and trying to find pants that fit. All I do is get mad at how no one makes pants for people my size that don't show my entire backside when I sit down or create what I like to refer to as a "halo" around my waist with the waistband. I realize that I can sew and that I could buy pants that don't fit and alter them, but have you ever tried to alter something with a waistband? And who has 7 hours to do it??? Not me!

It ruins my whole day whenever I try shopping for pants. I have now given up and I am going to see if I can avoid the whole nasty experience by just buying them online. If they don't fit, I will send them back.

We both have tomorrow off work because Meredith and Kelly are coming in tonight to stay with us on their way back from their honeymoon. That should be fun!

Then back to work for 2 more days, then this weekend we are headed down to Inks Lake to go camping with friends from San Antonio. I hope it's relaxing!
Maybe when we get back my pants will have arrived.

It made me sick, I thought it was a good film

Yesterday after brunch with friends, we went to see the documentary Subdivided playing at the Angelika as part of the USAA Film Festival. We had missed seeing this documentary on PBS twice and then our pastor mentioned it in a sermon right after we missed it so we were determined not to miss it this time!

I need to mention that because we came from a brunch we were a little late and ended up in the 4th row of the theatre. Before playing "Subdivided", they played a somewhat more amateur documentary about gated communities "United Gates of America" and it was not that great - the director focused a little too much on people's personal problems and not about the actual subject matter. There was also some language and racism that, while I understand he was trying to point out ... something (I don't know what)... went on too long. The part that mattered the most, though, was the choppiness of the filming. Think "The Blair Witch Project". (which I also ended up seeing it from the 4th row, and after which I literally lost my lunch in the parking lot)

Interestingly enough, the same thing happened with this film! Well, we hadn't gotten to the point of actually re-visiting our brunch yet but we were both close. We finally got up and sat in what were marked as Reserved seats toward the back, just so that we could make it to seeing "Subdivided", which is the one we came to see in the first place.

"Subdivided" was a good film, although I'd like to see it again when I'm not trying to hold down my food. I would recommend it to anyone thinking of living in a suburb or who might have the bad taste to make fun of areas like Lakewood or Little Forest Hills because they aren't Frisco.

New photos on Flickr!

Hey everyone, Christian posted some new photos on Flickr!

Tonight we are going to a Volunteer Appreciation Event at the church where we will eat Pokey O's. For anyone who does not live in Dallas or doesn't live in Central Dallas, Pokey O's is an ice cream sandwich shop. It is so delicious that we swear we will never go back every we eat there, and then we do, ASAP. Our last adventure at Pokey O's was with Garrett, and the photos are on the Flickr page.


We are heading out to ride our bikes now, maybe we can pre-burn some calories in preparation for the sugary assault!

"Not Your Miss America's Finalist Questions"

Here are some questions from InterstellarLass, I think this is called a meme but let me know if I am wrong about that...

1) What is the funniest thing that happened at your wedding and/or receptions?
It's not really funny, but it turns out that half the invitations to the Dallas reception were never delivered by the US Postal Service. Some were returned to me months later with the entirely correct addresses and postage intact, no explanation, and others simply never arrived at their destination. We have felt bad about it ever since, because our wedding announcements to the people we invited to the receptions specifically mentioned the reception date but the invitation to the reception itself were supposed to follow. However, when those people never got a reception invite, we were afraid they might have felt shunned. It's really more annoying than funny...

2) If you only had one vacation to take during your entire life, where is the one place you would go?
First of all, Christian would come with me. I just want to clarify that. :-) I would definitely go somewhere with a beach and then I would refuse to come home, ever.

3) Do you have a family heirloom (besides your ring-stone) that is special to you? What is the history of the item?
I don't think I've got any heirlooms, or if I do, they must not have come to me yet. Which is probably a good idea since I break things a lot. I have hidden a few things from myself in a cedar chest at my house for this reason. Most of my family is descended from Mennonites, who believed that material possessions were vanity. My great-grandmother did not even have a wedding ring when she got married, just a watch (or so I'm told). The ring-stone is probably the closest I get - the stone in my engagement ring is the stone from my mother's engagement ring in 1974 which she and my father gave to Christian and I so that we could be engaged and married. I would pretty much die if anything happened to it. Sometimes I actually pray to God to protect me from losing it. I hope that isn't materialistic, but seriously, if I do something retarded like lose it, I am going to have a really big problem forgiving myself.

4) Do you collect anything? What is it and how did you start collecting them?
In the past I have collected Mary Engelbreit items, although right now our apartment is so small and decorated so modern that I haven't yet found a place to display it so it is boxed up in the closet. When I was sad about my first boyfriend breaking up with me, my mom got me a Mary Engelbreit book "Don't Look Back" about there always being another day, and wrote scriptures in it. I think she got me a few more over the years, and other people got me little ME-themed stuff. I like how she puts quotes in cartoons and I think the colors are very cheery!

5) If you could have any job and not have to worry about how much money you made, what would you do?
I think that I would like to be a personal assistant or clean houses. This sounds menial but I really like to clean and organize things. I do have a problem with setting boundaries, though, and I have heard that those jobs can be difficult to set boundaries in. I would also not mind working at a coffee shop again like I did in college. But just part time. It hurts to stand that long!

Here are the directions…

1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. I get to pick the questions. (my comment: I will most likely be stealing the questions from somewhere else because I am not that original)
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Happy Interview-ee-ing!!

It's a re-branding

So, I have decided to scrap all the posts I've made in the past 6 months when I was attempting to create a work-focused professional blog and turn this into a personal blog about myself and our family, here are the "kids":
I've been blogging on Xanga for over 3 years but feel that it's getting a little to "young" for me. I like the way people participate in things like tagging and meme's and things on real blogs like Blogger. I don't know very many people so I'm not confident that will happen for me, but I think it would be fun.

For more blogging fun, check out my brother's family blog - very soon they will have pictures of my niece!!

The most exciting thing that is happening right now is that I have committed to another year of the Celebrate Recovery at Watermark Community - this time as the co-leader of a group. Last time I went through the 12 steps in 2004-2005, I was a group member and it was amazing. I am so excited to be walking through the 12 steps with these women who I have not yet met! I know that all our issues will be different but that there is just one God in charge of them all, and if we are committed to doing the work, He will bless us!! Of course, Celebrate Recovery is a completely confidential ministry, so I won't post about anyone in my group or what goes on there. I would only share what I experience personally, if at all.

I think I give up

I really wanted to do a professional-level blog about my work and my search for work, and email marketing in general, but I find I care less and less about it. I really just want to go home at the end of the day and pretty much live for weekends. I love the company I work for, but we are doing everything wrong and there is pretty much no way for me to help them out - too many politics and I just don't care enough to fight the uphill battle. There would be no energy left at the end of the day for my marriage and my friends. So I'll just be going to work, doing my job, and going home. Best Practices are great, but where I am, they are just not practical.