Eeny Meeny Miney Mo

First I'd like to say (quite cryptically if you don't mind) that sometimes I'm an idiot. Usually it's about the same thing...I'm glad I've moved on from that.

Ok. Moving right along....

This weekend has been an interesting one. I'd like to give you every little detail..but it will bore you. TO DEATH. So just take my word for it when I say the devil is trying to do a number on me...but no no no I won't let that happen!

So during this weekend, I came up with a list of reasons not to live in Chicago. And I feel compelled to share this list with you!

I'll go from least important to most important.

The Cubs are awful. [All the cool people like the White Sox.]

The weather is crazy!

If you like normal pizza (from Dominoes) you're OUT. OF. YOUR. MIND.

People here like the Bears. Ew.

Snow.

There's always construction. Always.

The roads are crap..that's why there's always construction.

Everyone wants everything done yesterday. [this one really bugs me]

The people here aren't as friendly as they are in the South.

My uncle lives here.

Please don't get me wrong. I love love LOVE it here. I know, it sounds like I don't. I do. I just don't like the idea of staying here permanently. 

I think there are more reasons but I didn't write them down so I don't remember. Yes, I'm one of thooooose.

I went to church today. TWICE! I found out that the morning church preacher was in the Navy. I hope to talk to him eventually. The 2nd church was great. It was recommended by a good friend. I'm glad I know him. The people there were fabulous. I might be getting together with a couple of the women to do a Bible Study. We'll see how it works out! :) 

My Navy test is Friday. Please be praying for it. I'm nervous about it. But really excited too. 

I Have Grown Too Strong To Ever Fall Back In Your Arms

It's been a while, right? I know. Trust me. :)


1. I went to Six Flags Great America on Sunday. It was awesome!!! My cousin and I did the DareDevil Dive! It was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fun!!! :) Seriously. FUN. You should check out my pics on facebook! I also got to ride the American Eagle. If you've seen the tv show Step By Step, you've seen this roller coaster. If not, watch this:

Looks SO fun, right!? Oh it was! I thought it was just going to be like a slow ride because it's a wooden roller coaster...no way jose! That joker FLEW! It was GREAT! :)

2. I saw a Navy there. 

3. My test is in one week and one day. (August 5) I'm sort of nervous about it. I know I can do it. I'm just afraid I won't. I'm really excited though too. I'm just ready to get the ball rolling for this part of my life! 

4. My grandparents are coming on Friday and bringing my sister along. I'm glad they're bringing her. If they weren't, I don't know the next time I would see her. By the time I get back home, she'll be back at school!

5. I follow a young woman's blog who is FABULOUS! She and her husband are hilarious! He's in the Navy and she's along for the ride. She's hosting a giveaway (click on that link to see the cool stuff!) on her blog and I'm really excited! She's giving away lots of cool stuff! :) Go check it out!

6. My uncle is a child. 

7. I think I'm addicted to starburst candies. How unfortunate.

8. The bracelet that my Marine friend gave me is breaking. :( It looks like this: 

Mine is the whiter arm.

I've tried everything I know to fix it. Well..actually just superglue. It seemed to maybe have done more harm than good. It's got a hole in it. Does anyone know a way to fix it? Please share it if you do! I know I could probably get another one but this one was handed to me..by him. It wouldn't be the same.

9. I'm convinced I'm leaving the shop this week with one less finger...the other day I nicked my pinky with a wrench, that same day I broke my first nail. And those of you who know my hands, you know that I don't have long nails so it was quite a feat. Then today I busted up my knuckle and I don't even know how! [sidenote: it is STORMING outside! Geez lapeez! I think we have a tornado warning for the next hour. The wind and rain are outrageous!] So I went to get this tiny kid's bike, handed it to the woman, went to get the attractive man with lots of muscle's bike, I look down and my knuckle is bleeding. What on Earth!?!? Sheesh.

10. Ya know, I don't appreciate when people say "well when you're in the Navy you won't be able to do ____" It make me so irritated. I want to yell at them "Do I LOOK like I'm in the Navy to you!? Well, I'm not..so until I am, I'll do whatever I feel like doing!" or "Are YOU in the Navy!? No. Didn't think so..so how the heck do YOU know I won't be able to do _____?! You don't. So shut up." I especially don't like it when people try to tell me I'll have eat all sorts of nasty and that I should just go ahead and suck it up. Why the heck would I do that now if I don't have to? There are certain things that I know I will have to do once in the Navy. And when the time comes, I'll do them. Until then, go eat dirt jerks!

11.Lately I've wanted to spell taco.."talko"..I know, it's weird. :)

12. Today I heard a song that I've heard a gajillion times before. But today I really listened. It spoke to me, no not spiritually. Situationally. Yes, I'd applied it before but today it was different. It was like I was hearing it for the very first time. I could tell it was written about someone. Not just to make money. Someone's heart was broken and they let the raw emotions inside of them bleed out onto a page. It's beautiful. 

This song is perfect for me. I hope I never have to play it for the person it applies to though.

To check out the song I'm talking about, click here

That's all lovely readers! I hope you enjoyed! :)

Refinnej Eldnab, Where Are You These Days?

Today was my 2nd day off in a row!

Craziness, I know! It's been ridiculously hot here so no one has had bicycles that need repair. Please don't ask me why. I have no idea. The best answer I can give is that they're whimps. But I can't say I'd be riding my bike either in this junk! All I know is that hardly any repairs have come in.

So I had yesterday off. I watched a movie: The American President. It was good. And studied. 

Today I watched 2 movies. Both bad: Die Hard (the original) and Black Hawk Down.

I usually enjoy war movies but I just didn't like this one. And Die Hard was just dragging on and on and on!

And I tried so hard to study. I'm just so tired of it! I feel like my brain is going to explode soon if I don't get all of this information out of it! There's soooo much to know!

I've got 2 weeks and 2 days until my test. Ah!

Today was rough. It definitely could have been a lot worse, but little things kept happening that just made me want to scream "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!"
Like: I set my phone down next to my taco. I picked it up and it had sour cream, taco sauce and cheese on it. BAH!
Then. I was leaning over my cup of water and I spilled it. ALL. OVER. MY. NOTECARDS. And a little got on my computer but just on the top. Ugh. So irritating.

BUT! It was all made better when a lady, from the AWESOME church I visited this past Sunday, brought me cupcakes!!!!!!!!! YES! Cupcakes! I thought they were just regular yellow cake with chocolate icing. Oh no no no. I was fooled. They had chocolate IN THE MIDDLE and dark chocolate icing!! Oh they were gooood! She also gave me a thank you card! I had already decided to return there for the rest of the summer. But, had I had any doubts before, they would have gone out the window after that! Hahah. That was such a kind gesture. She (or someone..) took the time to make those just for me (and probably other visitors too..). That's why I liked this church. The people reached out and welcomed me. At the other church, I don't think anyone even knew I was a visitor. Which is sort of sad when you think about it. It wasn't a HUGE church, I've been to bigger. I don't know, I just feel like the people at the door should know a stranger when they see one. As soon as I sat down at this new church, a young lady came up and introduced herself! She was so sweet! And like 4 more came up after her!

It felt like home. And that's what I was looking for.

Tomorrow I will be driving to work alone. My uncle is taking the day off.
The trip should be interesting. There are about 14 different ways I can get there. I'm pretty sure I know the way he told me to go. I hope so anyway!
My uncle requested me to make some more strawberry shortcake this week! YAY! I LOOOOOOOOVE it. It's my favorite!! :)

Friday I'll be going with the neighbor girl to get her ears pierced! I'm really excited. She's such a sweetheart! Friday marks one month until her 9th birthday! :)
I've got lots of fun things in mind as presents for her!
I'll tell you all about them soon enough!

Goodnight!

Piiiiiictures! :)

I got permission from the photographer to post these. Her name is Gloria and you can check her out here. The pictures have  funny quality because I had to take them to the store and scan them on to a cd. But the originals are perfect.

Sorry, they're willynilly no order. :)

The Bride and her brother. I walked down
the aisle with him. 

Dancing. :)

The photographer told me to do that, I promise.

The Bride and her mother.
That's me crackin it up in the background!

The Girls! :)

The Bride and I. :) This was our fun pose.
I told her I wanted to take advantage
of my pockets!

There's a Green Bay Packer in this photo.
Can you figure out which one he is!?
The answer is soon to come!

Aaaawe. 

:)

This was the Best Man's idea..the guys were down for it
but the girls had no idea what to do!

The Girls, again. :)

This was our serious pose.

This picture is so stinkin cute! They're gorgeous!
The girl on the right, holding the groom, is his sister.

:)

The Bride's Grandmother and Grandfather

I didn't meet him but she's precious! I love her!

The Bride's mother and step-father. 

Aaaaawe! :)

THAT'S THE PACKER AND HIS BROTHER!!!!!!!

Their dance was so cute!!

SO Cute.

Instead of throwing her bouquet, she gave it to her mother.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDD

Last but certainly NOT least! :) 

This is for my daddy.

A picture with the Green Bay Packer. 

Please don't tell him. 

It's a surprise.

I can't decide which is better.

In one I have funny eyes and the other I feel like I look awkward. 

Votes, please. :)

Rumor Has It!

I will be posting 2 blogs tonight. One full of fun things that need to be said.
The other....WEDDING PICTURES!!!! (no, I'm not the bride....but that doesn't make it any less exciting!!!)

So this blog is the Not As Exciting blog..but you should still read it.

So, I follow the blog of a woman who is familiar with an organization called Got Your Back Network. I'm not sure if she does volunteer work for them or if she donates to them. I'm not sure. But it's really cool. They help families who have lost loved ones in the war. You should go to their store and look at the bracelets they sell. I really want one. I might have to buy one! Or maybe someone will buy one for me lol.

Today this guy came into the shop who is a cop in a neighboring suburb. This suburb is predominately black (I think). When he picked up his bike he said something about the heat and Dave said "yea, but at least when they run away it'll be slow because of the heat!" and this guy said "Nah man, they're quick out there! They're like gazelles or something!" hahahaha We laughed about that for a few hours.

So. In this blog I told you about a man who looked like an older version of one of my friends. Well. I came to the conclusion yesterday that they just had similar facial features, because yesterday I saw exactly what my friend will look like in 15 years. No joke. I couldn't stop staring at this man. It was so weird. So. Weird.

My uncle collects beer cans. Why? I don't know. He started when he was like 11. He thinks they're worth millions. My aunt and I think he's full of crap.

Yesterday a woman came into the store and needed something put on her bike. So my uncle assisted her. While he was assisting, she was waiting...in my chair. So I swept the floor (that's what I do when there's nothing else for me to do. If I just stand around waiting for someone to arrive I get yelled at. So I just look like I'm really busy).  I went over to where she was seated and got my dust pan. She said "So, it's Friday night! You got a hot date tonight!?!" I said "hahahahaha...no...I'm going home to sleep! By the time we get home it'll be like 730 or  8." She asked where home was and I told her. I was flattered that she'd think I had a hot date...

In my house, you grab a cup and it's yours until you put it in the sink to be washed. Not here, no sirree! Sometimes I don't even get to use the same cup all day long! It's crazy! It just gets snatched up and stuck in the dish washer! Then by the end of ,however long it takes for us to fill up the dish washer, I'm drinking out of strange holiday cups...Holiday cups don't matter..it's just weird that I can't keep the same cup as long as I want! Especially if I'm just drinking water. Sheesh.

So I've got all but like 4 of my Navy notecards finished...there are around 200. Yes. Two. Hundred. Soooo many. Half of those are pictures though. I would try to explain it to you but it wouldn't make a difference. Just know that I don't have to memorize that many...the pictures are matching.

This has been the week for military appreciation! An escalation of it anyway, I appreciate the military every single day, but this week has been phenomenal. I've had 2 Armies, a Marine and an Air Force all come in this week! Crazy. That doesn't sound like a lot, but trust me, it is!

I was thinking the other day, the closest I'll ever get to being in the mob is pretending that I'm John Dillinger while using the pressure washer. EXCEPT for the weekend that Megan comes up. I'll tell you all about that closer to time though! :) You'll LOVE IT! And if you don't, well poo on you!

Have any of you ever heard of The Dragon? Apparently it's the windiest (as in curvy) road in the U.S...or something. It's in Gatlinburg, or near it. I'd never heard of it. It's really popular among motorcyclists. It's got 318 curves in 11 miles. Crazy, right!!? There's even a restaurant or hotel something at the end of it that has a "Tree of Shame." When someone dies on this road, the owners ask the family if they can have parts of the motorcycle the person was using. They then hang it in the tree! It's crazy.

The weather reports here are outrageous. I'm not even kidding or exaggerating when I say they last 15 minutes. I'm completely serious. I go away having learned nothing about the weather happening in my area...the man talks about all of the U.S. and it takes soooooo long. Weather reports at home or only like 2 minutes maybe. Maybe we have a shorter attention span down there...who knows!

Nasal irrigation. That's a strange term hahahahahah.

One might think that country music is only popular in the South. Oh contrare! I walked into one of the biggest grocery store chains up here and they sure were playing country music. It was the oddest thing...but it was real! lol

Stay tuned for the pictures!

There's Only One Thing To Do Three Words Four Yooooooou.

Today was a goooooooood day. Much better than any day last week. Well, maybe except for Monday because I was alone all day and it was pretty good.

I meant to tell you this, maybe on Saturday. I don't remember which day. I do remember that I was very angry at my uncle because he took the bumpiest road in the whole state and that stupid motorcycle made my esophagus hurt. UGH I was irate.
Buuuuut I was entertained at one point. hahahah.
So my uncle believes the only kind of music that's worth listening to is rock-n-roll. I believe I've stated this fact before. Anyway. So this attractive male pulls up in a pickup truck next to us at a stop light. Out of his radio is playing Eminem. HAHAHAH. My uncle was SOOOOOOOO annoyed. I thought it was hilarious. THEN when the light changed and the kid got ahead of us, I saw that he had  US Navy license plate holder. That made that moment ten times better! haha.
While I'm on this subject, I'd like to clear something up. I don't know the technical terms for women who like men in uniform. Yes. I do appreciate viewing these men. And I wouldn't mind marrying one. However, what ever man falls in love with me and can't seem to live the rest of his life without me is the man I will marry...whether he wears ACUs or tutus! Ok, maybe not tutus...but you get my drift. I just wanted to clarify. Moving on...

I painted my nails last night. The color is called "Blue Me Away" by Sally Hansen. First I must interrupt your regularly scheduled program for this announcement. I can find ANYONE on Facebook. I'm serious. hahaha. I just found a friend of a friend that that friend had been looking for for a whiiiiiile haha. It took me like 30 seconds. Seriously. Ok...so I painted my nails. It took me like 3 tries to get my middle, ring and pinky fingers of my right hand to look halfway decent. Today at work I washed windows. I had to put this stuff called "Goof Off" on parts of it because papers had been taped up and the glue was left. Well unbeknownst to me, that junk takes off every kind of goop it come in contact with...and what do ya know...my fingernails happened to be right there in the middle of the action all painted and pretty. Those 3 stinkin fingers that I spent (probably literally) 30 minutes on were ruined. Ruined. I was so sad. I still am sad. Not sad enough to fix them yet though...maybe in the morning.

Today, I built TWO bikes. I was only supposed to build one. This is what went down...my uncle told me to go get a pink "Puddin 16"" bike out of the basement. Well, little did I know that there's also a bike named the "Lil Puddin" and it's 12" So I bring up the Lil Puddin. I start putting it together and see that it's only a 12"...I think "Well, maybe I misheard him" That was the only "puddin" I saw down there. So this had to be the one. I am almost finished putting it together and he comes over to get something. He says "I said a Puddin..that's a Lil Puddin, you did the wrong bike" I look at him, dejected and say "I'm sorry" and he said "It's fine" and walked away. HE JUST WALKED AWAY! I thought for sure he was going to yell at me to listen more carefully next time or look around a little more. Nothing. I got nothing. Mind blown. So when I went down to look for the bike I'd originally been instructed to assemble, I found it. But not in the right place. The first bike had been inventoried. Which means it had been assigned a number and a receipt. There was a row in the middle of the floor that I didn't even look at because they hadn't been inventoried and I wasn't supposed to build them if they hadn't been. So I told him that it didn't have a number or anything and he said that was fine, he'd take care of it. So I built the bike and put the serial number in the little basket.
Phew. Crisis avoided. (yes, I know the word is averted but I didn't do anything to avert it..)

Today is 7/11..which means you can get a free 7 oz slurpie at 7/11 because it's their birthday.

It's also the 213th birthday of the President's Own United States Marine Band. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOYS! (and girls) I wish I had known before 9 pm...I would have celebrated properly. But, I know for next year! :)

That's all for tonight, folks!
AH! wait, I got permission from the photographer to post the wedding pictures from the wedding I was in! So as soon as I can figure out if I can make a cd at walmart from pictures that aren't on a card, I will have them up!! :)  I'm REALLY excited. Hopefully, by Wednesday (that's my day off and I can run errands) I'll have the one of Mr. Masthay and I and I can post that as well.
Ok. That's all for real this time.

I Could Flirt With All The Guys...Smile At Them And Bat My Eyes

So I'm noticing this is becoming a "Whiny Schminy Blog"
I'm not down for that.
Not every single time I blog any way. Maybe once every 5 blogs. 
I might start blogging once a week. Just save up all the good stuff that happens and write it all at once. Unless one day is abnormally exciting lol. :) Then I'll lay it on ya a little at a time.
Just know that he (my boss, about whom I'm whining) is a jerk and that's probably not going to change. If it does, I'll let you know.
I've decided that whenever I feel the strong urge to slash his tires or key up his Harleys real good, I'm going to think about happy things...like my best best friend coming to visit me in August, or my future husband, or how much my dad is the opposite of my uncle and how thankful I am for that, how much my mom loves me, how blessed I am to have the friends that I do, how I'LL BE IN THE NAVY THIS TIME NEXT YEAR! Ya know, stuff like that. 
The reason for this change of thinking...I was talking to a friend's mother this morning. I don't think she knows what's been going on. If she does well hot dog..but this is what she said to me (and we weren't even talking about life up here..):

and you will learn a lot about yourself and how much you can handle! hang in there and keep being your cheerful self!!

My cheerful self. That's right. I'm a cheerful person. But I bet you couldn't tell by the tone of my last few blogs. And trust me, that tone has translated into my face. I don't like being unhappy or agitated. I don't like it one bit. So I'm going to stop. And she probably doesn't know it, but those words encouraged me a lot. So today was day one of...well I'm not sure what to call it hahah. But it was the first day. :)

So Dave and I were talking the other day (we do that a lot, our not-so-benchy work benches are right next to each other) about black people. I love black people. He found that out pretty quick lol. We were talking about how my uncle and Bryan are afraid of black people. hahahah. I told him "they're just peeeeeeeeople with more melanin! There's no reason to be afraid of them!" and he said "yea! I agree" then he affirmed what I've been thinking but wasn't sure was accurate or not. He said "Man, when have you EVER heard of a black serial killer. EVER!?! I'm afraid of white people. At least when black people kill someone they have a reason and it's not just for some creepy reason!" The man speaks truth! I'd been thinking that for a while but didn't want to say it if it was inaccurate. Dave knows a lot so I believe him. hahaha.

There's a nudist colony up here. HAHAHAH. My friends sometimes suggest that I join one. I just don't like wearing clothes. It's such a burden.

Like I said, Dave knows a lot. He's a body builder...but he doesn' t look like Arnold...I've never seen him topless. (hahah that sounds funny when you say it about a guy..but it's the same thing!) He probably looks more like Ryan. Anyway, as a result of the building of his body, he knows nutrition. I was talking about giving up sweets except on Sundays. And he looks at me with a hint of amusement in his eyes and says "and why would you do that?" and I say "because sugar is bad for you" and he says "yes, some kinds of sugar..but really, people who want to lose weight should, in theory, eat nothing but sugar. Your body burns sugar as energy, that's the only thing it knows how to do with it..it doesn't store it or anything. BUT you should  stay away from flour, and corn syrup..." and some other things. As long as it's pure sugar and not that high fructose corn syrup stuff, you're good to go. Good to know, Dave, good to know.

I wonder what it's like to live in a world where you're always the victim. Where you always count on everyone to think of you first, to put you first. Where you think of no one but yourself. A world where everything that goes wrong is someone else's fault, never your own. Where you're constantly putting everyone around you down. A world where everyone who asks a semi-difficult question is either a drunk or a stoner. Where the only thing considered "music" is rock-n-roll. i just wonder....

My husband will be self sufficient. If you're my friend on facebook, you may have seen my status about this...

Things he will be able to do while I'm gone, whether it be on vacation, deployed or gone for good:

his own laundry

shop for groceries

cook above mentioned groceries

clean up after himself

do the dishes (this would tie in with cleaning up)

take care of the dog (yes, we WILL have a dog)

take care of the children (if we have them)

pay bills

I think that's about it. Simple things. Yes, I realize it's nice to be needed, but I need his world not to crumble when I'm gone for a few days and I happen to not go grocery shopping the day before I leave. He needs to be able to fend for himself. 

If you can't tell, I really like Dave hahah. (no, not like LIKE him...) He and Bryan were talking about when I'm leaving for good and whatnot. I told them that my aunt said I could stay as long as I wanted, I'd just have to get another job. And Dave said "DUDE (maybe he didn't say dude, but that sets up the tone for the rest of the sentence)! You know what would really kiiiiiiill him!? If you stayed until you left for the Navy! It would drive him absolutely crazy! So if you want to get back at him for being such an *expletive* just stay as long as you want! And I can get you a job at Starbucks and you can start like tomorrow!" (his brother is store manager or something..) then Bryan chimes in and says "I could get you pretty much any job you wanted in Elmhurst" and he starts listing off jobs. I love these guys. They're looking out for me and making me laugh while doing it. I considered it for a few minutes, staying that is...but I don't think it's the best option. I can't pinpoint the reasons but I just don't think it is.

AH! I built a bike! I can't believe I didn't tell you about this! It happened yesterday (the 7th). Well, I didn't blog yesterday so that's probably why I didn't tell you! Probably also because it was a huge ordeal to learn how that I'm not going to go into. I'm going to think about my future husband and just post the picture. :)

Raleigh Jazzi. A girl's bike. 

I'm so proud of that bike. I asked Bryan what I needed to do with it and he told me to move it to the other side of the room and I said "OH! Wait, I have to take a picture of it" and Bryan said "a picture...?" and Dave said "Yea man, she's proud of it!" 

Bryan makes fun of me because I have 800+ friends on facebook. The day after we became friends, he came into work and was like "So I think you know the whole state of Tennessee..." I was like "huh?" and he said "You have 830 friends on facebook!" and Dave said "What, are you number 831?" and Bryan said "Yea..(turns to me) do you even know all of those people!?" I explained that between college, church and high school, yes I had met every single one of them at one time or another. He was taken aback. Hahhaha. :) 

That is all...until the next time when I have a lot to say. :)