Back into the swing of things...

Jetleg has been trying to get the best of me for a couple days now. I woke up at 5:00 yesterday, got up, and I was at the office by 6:00, feeling great. Yesterday afternoon around 2:00pm, I felt like I had hit a wall. Big time. So, I left my office and walked around for awhile, talking to some people. Started to feel better... was exhausted by the time I got home, but my cousin called and wanted to go to dinner. It's nearing a year since she lost her mom, so I decided that her needs were more important than mine. We hung out for awhile, and I was in bed shortly after 9 last night.

Fast forward to 5:30 this morning. Oomph. Exhausted. Felt terrible, didn't want to get up, all that jazz. Made myself get up anyway... got to the office by 6:30. Passed the morning in a haze, headed to SPE meeting, passed meeting in a haze, and this afternoon was alright, mainly because I wasted away most of the afternoon in the SPE meeting and getting back to my office. Really tempted to simply come home, put on my pjs, crawl on the couch and fall asleep listening to the rain. No can do.

Had gym appointment tonight... oomph. Need to work out more. Feel like a fatty, even though everyone's been asking me if I've lost more weight. I probably did in Cyprus. Edited a few more pictures for Andrea. I'm a fraction of the way through, but truthfully, I'm really pleased with how they are turning out. I'll upload them to the photoblog when I complete them, so you'll have to check out facebook for the meantime. I love my imac. I love my camera. I think I made some good investments for my business this year, though I already want to scrap the website and start over again. Maybe this weekend?

I need to sit down and write out pricing and stick to it. Kayla is wanting me to photograph her wedding (probably this summer) and wants a price estimate. It's hard for me to put a price on my work - you know? Any suggestions on how to do so? I know some of you are little entraprenuers who read my blog... :)

I'm having difficulty believing it's December 1.

Home again, home again.

I'm home from Cyprus - have been for about... 4.5 hours now. Had Mom stop and feed me at Mi Cocina on the way home. Too tired and overwhelmed to do much with Andrea's pictures tonight, but there's a handful of her getting ready on facebook.

The wedding was beautiful. The bride was gorgeous. Cyprus is an interesting place - albeit a peaceful one. The weather was perfect. I had an absolutely lovely time.

London was freezing when I arrived last night. Freezing and rainy. I let two girls from Andrea's wedding crash in my hotel room with me. It was nice to have the company and hear their stories. She has incredible friends.

There is so much beauty in the world. So much love. So many stories.

Oh yes, so many stories.

We have no idea.

Congrats to Andrea and Dilgesh.

More later. I have a date with my bed... since I do have to work early in the morning. Do go see the pictures - it would be a shame for you to miss seeing such a beautiful, radiant bride.

Leaving on the jet plane...

Dirty Dancing was GREAT!

I'm at Gatwick waiting on my flight... I'm really tired.. hopefully I can sleep on the plane. :)

I need to find something for Andrea's lingerie shower tonight. Somehow I forgot that in all my haste. :-/

My feet want to fall off. It will be good to sit, even if it's on a plane.

Happy Thanksgiving!

London-town!

I have arrived in London. I worked my magic on the Prince William wanna be at the fron desk, and he upgraded me to a junior suite. Too bad I'm only here one night. I HEART Grosvenor House. I promise you, I will bring my future husband here. I might even get married here. Favourite hotel ever.

Tomorrow, I make my way east to Cyprus and join the festivities for one Miss Andrea Warren and her wedding.

Can't wait!

Off to TKTS to try and get tickets for Dirty Dancing tonight!

Happy Thanksgiving, mes amies!

Happy hour(s)...

Hm. Well.

It’s been a crazy last couple of days.

On Thursday, I went to Encana happy hour. I wanted to get out and interact with some SPE members, and I made a few friends along the way. I caught up with a couple of Tech alums, and we had a good time. I walked over from my house, so that was nice, too. About the time we were finishing up, I got a text from Niki, asking if I wanted to go to a birthday party with her at BlackFinn. I agreed to one drink. (That never happens, does it?) Anyway, I ended up dancing the night away with a couple other people… and headed home around 1:30. Bad idea. Ugh. Oh well.

Friday morning, I had an appointment with Dr. Turner, and my blood pressure is doing so much better since the surgery. I’m so relieved. They did some blood work, so hopefully everything will check out okay. It’s the first follow up I’ve had since the surgery. I came into work afterward, and we had a bridal luncheon for Marlene. I worked all afternoon, and around 4:45, people came around to get a happy hour together. Since I’m never included in office things, I decided to participate. We just went next door. I had an enjoyable time, and I became addicted to a Neutrogena lip gloss – it’s a cooling gloss and it just feels cool! I literally stopped at the drugstore on the way home and bought some, lol.

Saturday, I got up, ran a couple errands, and then spent the afternoon doing a wine promotion thing. When I was in college, I did some promo modeling to earn extra spending money. I’ve been listed with the agency ever since, and occasionally, they’ll have something on a date I can work. I decided to go ahead and do it, since it was a Saturday, and who can’t use the extra money, especially near the holidays? So, I did that from 12:30 – 5:00pm. After that, I had to run home really quick to get ready for the concert that I was going to with Kayla and her boyfriend. She was also bringing a guy for me to meet, Tom. So, I got over to Marc’s at 8, and Kayla had also invited another girl, Libby, who brought her friend Mary… We all rode together, and I enjoyed getting to know the girls. Libby graduated from A&M last year, Mary was a little bit older than us, but she was really nice, too. So we get to Billy Bob’s, and the door guy wouldn’t let Tom in because his license was expired and he didn’t have his renewal with him.

Seriously?! I understand that rules are rules, but they were allowing CHILDREN in the bar… so they should have just marked him as a minor and moved on. So dumb. So Tom ended up taking a cab back to Marc’s to pick up his car… didn’t complain, wasn’t upset, was a lot nicer than I probably would have been… and the rest of stayed to enjoy the Wade Bowen concert. I love Texas country. :-D Kayla’s boyfriend is really good to her – and they’re really sweet to each other… I have this theory that when it’s right, it’s right, and the way people treat each other indicates that. I could be crazy… but you know, I see a lot of people treat each other with such disrespect, you just have to think if they truly loved those people, they wouldn’t act like that. I know I say hateful things sometime, but as a whole, I treat the people I love with respect.

Which brings me to another point… I know I harp on this, a lot… but really?!

LADIES… if a guy sends you text messages about wanting to “f” you… THAT’S NOT CUTE!!!!!!!!!!! It’s NOT endearing. It’s not okay! RESPECT YOURSELF!!!! Love yourself enough to say that’s not okay! I don’t know why girls let people demean them and determine their self-worth, but you have to know – if you don’t love yourself, no one else will either. If you don’t respect yourself, guys won’t respect you either. NOT OKAY!! Another friend of mine had a status update that said, “XXXXX feels like a torn and broken jigsaw puzzle that nobody wants…” This girl is going through a divorce – and that’s sad… but she’s trying so hard to find someone else, and when it never works out as more than just a hook-up, she gets upset. Again… LOVE YOURSELF! Respect your body! If you don’t love yourself and respect yourself – how can you expect anyone else to do the same?

I would rather be alone than be treated like an object by a man.

Now, I know I put up with some dumb stuff when I was younger… but seriously?! Ladies, you need to LOVE yourself enough to say no when things are NOT okay. There are guys out there who will treat you like you deserve to be treated! You don’t have to settle for anyone, especially those that treat you like crap.

/end rant.

But, really?

Love yourself.

Thursday, lursday...

This has been the longest week ever, whew! I have so much to do between now and Tuesday, it’s not even funny. I think I’m going to have to update in list format.

1. I got Craig and Kathleen’s Save the Dates designed and ordered. They will be here today. I put the prototype on my photography blogspot. I’m pleased with how they look, and I was able to put in 3 of the bride’s favourite photographs and everything she wanted on the save the date. She has been the easiest bride to work with ever!
2. Today, Delta offered a $265 round trip, all taxes included fare from DFW to Nassau, Bahamas via Atlanta. I’ve never been to the Bahamas. It’s offered into 2010. Thus, I’m going for Valentine’s Day weekend. My friend Tiffany might be joining me – I hope she will! We haven’t been able to catch up in a long time, so it would be really fun if she can. 2010 is looking like a year of beaches… Bahamas in February, Mexico in June.. (Is it considered a bit pessimistic of me to assume that I won’t want/need to be in town over Valentine’s Day weekend?)
3. Monday’s Lunch and Learn for SPE went really well. We’re done until January now, but I already have January’s speaker lined up. We’re also moving our charity ball into early 2010. Due to the proximity to Christmas, I was having difficulty finding a speaker. Hopefully this will open up our options and help to make this an even better event.

I think I might go to this Encana Happy Hour thing tonight… just to get out for awhile. Hopefully I’ll see some familiar faces… Just heard that another Tech alum got hired by Encana, so maybe he’ll be around. The world keeps getting smaller, folks.

Heartwarming...

To follow up on Chris’s email, Jeromy and I made our 2nd drop off at the Buckner Warehouse off of 30 yesterday afternoon. They walked us around the facility to show us the many outreaches they have locally through their food pantry which feeds 5 local zip codes as well as clothes them and provides other immediate needs if needed. They can feed up to 50 families a day so needless to say the food doesn’t stay on the shelves very long, especially within the holidays. There are also many opportunities to volunteer at the facility if you or your family are looking for somewhere to get plugged into. The Warehouse is home to their Shoe Ministry which collects thousands of shoe’s in various sizes for men, women and children and then they are shipped overseas to Kenya, Romania and other needed destinations. To date they have given away over 2 million pairs of shoes all over the world!

http://www.buckner.org/

I look forward to watching our local community change little by little as over time we’ll see a bigger impact.

Thanks for all you do, the bar’s been set pretty high……..


Tom XX

Hi Tom,

Thank you for the wonderful donation of food for our Crisis Relief department. Our Crisis Relief department serves five zip codes. I have also copied Jackie Belt, Director of Crisis Relief who I have updated regarding your donation. We look forward to partnering with KE Andrews as we continue to serve the least of these in our own backyard and around the world.

Please let me know if you need any additional information regarding our programs.

Blessings,
Matt



Please see the email below from LaReta Williams, executive director of the Kaufman Children’s Shelter. Nolan and I made deliveries to the following organizations in Kaufman County:

• Kaufman Children’s Shelter
  
• Kaufman Christian Help Center
  
• Kaufman Church of Christ Food Pantry
  
• Labor of Love House in Kemp
  

You should know that all of the organizations we delivered the food to were extremely appreciative of the donations that all of you provided. It was a heartwarming experience to say the least. The first place we went was the Christian Help Center. The lady there told us that they had just received their order from the North Texas Food Bank, and they received no canned food, and they had none left yesterday morning. She said they prayed for help yesterday morning, and a couple of minutes later, we called and said we were bringing food (that gave me goose bumps). Also, one of the care givers at the children’s shelter saw the box of fruit cups we brought and said one of their little girls was extremely disabled and had a hard time eating, and that she would love the fruit because it is soft and sweet. Both the Church of Christ and Labor of Love food pantries were very low on supplies.

It quickly became apparent to Nolan and I that there is a huge need in our various communities. It is a blessing to work with so many people who are willing to help those in need. Thank you all again for all that you have done!

Chris XXX


Hey Chris
Just wanted to tell you again how much we appreciate all the food items that you and Nolan delivered today. Please share with your staff our sincere thanks for their care and support for our work with the kids. It has been a very difficult year for us, and the food was a great blessing. Please keep our kids in your prayers, and we will do the same for you and your family, and all of the wonderful people at your office.
Hope you are all blessed during the holidays.

For the children,
LaReta