I'm BACK!

Okay, I'm finally back from vacation. SOOO much to blog about! I think it'll take a couple of weeks just to write about the past couple of weeks, lol! So please bear with me :-)

Move Here Already!

I met a person in the airport that required a mover NYC to Houston. Quite a journey! She moved to Houston only 4 months ago, but is finding her niche here quickly despite missing family and friends. Obviously she moved for job reasons. Texas is where it’s at people! Come on and move down here! I miss all my friends and family too :-(

Technological Companion

19 inches of spectacular flat screen glory describe my lcd monitor. When I bought my computer, I couldn’t resist treating myself to the nicest (albeit cheapest for its type) monitor. I use my computer for everything from work to my social life, so I easily spend way too much time looking at my computer. I obviously wanted it to be pretty since I was choosing not only a computer and monitor, but a technological companion in my everyday life.

I Heart Fried Mac&Cheese

More photos I've been meaning to post:

After Mike and Lisa's Temple Sealing, Joshua and I treated ourselves to a date at T.G.I. Fridays where we reminisced about our temple sealing and our dating that led up to that event.

One of our friend Mac & Cheese was heart shaped!

...and here I am sipping water (we're too poor for sodas), but look at those wedding rings! Married dates are fun :-)

Quilt from Jenny

Newlywed life is crazy hectic. Hence why I'm posting this sooo late! Here are the photos from when Joshua and I opened the lovely quilt that our dear friend Jenny made for us.

Admiring
Thanks for cutting off my face dear ;-)

Joshua and I are MAJOR Halloween fans so we got a special kick out of this patch of fabric.
The embroidered bee got a lot of attention.
Joshua with the quilt. Isn't it gorgeous?!!! We love it!!!

Thank you Jenny :-)

My Husband's Root Canal

I can't believe I didn't blog about my husband's root canal! 2 days after he cancelled his health & dental insurance (simply couldn't afford it, we're moving onto a different health care plan... which is still in the works, but that's a whole other story) his tooth falls apart! He kept losing chip, after chip of his tooth! This was serious and had to be taken care of right away. Granted, it happend on the weekend, of course, but we called a couple of dentists once the new week began.

After making a few phone calls, I came to Joshua with the information and told him which dentist sounded the best. He then made the appointment. We went a couple of days before we left to see his family at the anniversary party. (Yeah, everything was going wrong before that trip, the stove blowing up, Joshua's tooth falling apart, the job situation, etc.)

I didn't find out until we were married... but Joshua hadn't been the the dentist in 14 years!!!! It's amazing the things you discover once you're married :-/ Anyway, he had a dentist phobia and it took something drastic for him to be willing to face it. Fortunately, I picked an excellent dentist who put Joshua at ease... despite the dreaded news that he did indeed need a root canal and crown. Though you wouldn't believe it; the receptionist is from Hampton Roads! We found ourselves a new friend! No wonder I had a good feeling about that office :-)

The root canal was scheduled for the day after we got back from the trip to see his family. During our personal conversations, Joshua admitted that even with his dentist phobia (you should've seen how white he turned when the dentist said "root canal" I've never seen him look so scared!) he was actually more concerned about seeing his family than the dental work. That just gives you an idea of the stress levels we were facing dealing with these people.

His root canal went smoothly and with 4 shots of novacaine he didn't feel a thing. Hence the picture below where he couldn't smile on one side. I'd kiss him and he'd only feel half a kiss.

Joshua made it through like a champ! He faced and even conquered his dentist phobia!!! Though now's the really scary part, the total bill was $1,630. Now that's something to be afraid of!!! We'll be making payments for the next 3 years on that one.

What Marriage Really Looks Like...

HAHAHA! We look terrible! Joshua took this on the trip to visit his family back in June (I've been meaning to post this for awhile). We were sitting in the photo studio forever. So we were playing around, flirting, and annoying the heck out of everyone. It was fun getting the disgusted looks out of his family...hee, hee.
There we go... now that's what marriage really looks like :-D

I'm Still Finding Evidence...

...from the "Snow Fight" Joshua and I had after Christmas. Sooo much fun... a nightmare to clean! Never again.... but the memory lives on :-)

GPS Wanted

I had the opportunity recently to experience the ease and convenience of a GPS system. I so want one! It would be especially useful here in Texas where the interstate randomly splits off without warning. The GPS I got to try gave warnings of the road splitting off by telling you to stay on the same road.
Of course, if I were to get one it’d have to be the best buy.

The Big Trip

Well, we're about to leave for our 11 day trip to Virginia. That may seem excessive, but you know how vacations are, they're over in a flash! We needed that much time to catch up with friends, relive some of our old dates, go on dates in Virginia that we always meant to do but never did and now we live in Texas, and of course, attend all the wedding events for my little brother's wedding! Plus 2 of those days are travel days... and I also want a chance to organize some of my stuff back at my parent's house. I left for Texas in such a frenzied rush (3 weeks from picking the date to being married and moving was crazy). So we're off to have fun and I hope to see most you!

P.S. I've got some blog posts scheduled to post while I'm gone, so there will still be new things to read here and there, then LOTS when I get back :-)

Frustrating Facial Skin

My skin is driving me crazy! I am breaking out constantly and everything that used to work is failing me. I need to find better acne treatments, though it’s so hard to choose. Most importantly I don’t want to waste my money on things that don’t work or cause harsh side effects. I wish my skin would just clear up. It’s hormonal. The very hormonal imbalances that cause my endometriosis cause my skin to erupt so there’s little I can do. Depending on the medications I’ve been on for my health problems my skin has reacted accordingly. But I’m trying to stay “all natural” and have fewer chemicals in my body but that has led to the biggest outbreak of acne I’ve experienced in a long time. Who knew trying to be healthy would make my skin worse? I’ve researched it a bit and pretty much all I can do is topical treatments… so now I must figure out what works.

Books and the "Non-Reader"

I’m surrounded by book lovers. I’m not much of a reader, I think it’s because I’m dyslexic so I’m a slow reader despite my high IQ. I used to get in trouble for reading slowly when I was in school. They always have ridiculously high standards for the smart kids. Anyway, I’ve been to a lot of book stores lately. I’ve seen everything from A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life's Purpose to Twilight on the shelves. Some interest on my part? Perhaps. But too little time.

Joshua's First Bridal Shower

A week ago (Saturday July 12th) was Vanessa's Bridal Shower. She is marrying my cousin Kyle on August 2nd. The party was all the way in Sugarland, which is the other side of Houston. There's no way I can handle driving that crazy mess, so my dear husband switched his schedule so he could take me. He planned to keep busy while I hung out with the girls, but upon arrival my cousin Alaire and Aunt Lynnette insisted he stay. Then it became apparent that Kyle was staying, hence why they wanted him there. So what started out a Bridal Shower turned into more of a Wedding Shower. But we still played the "Bridal Shower" type games of:

• "Guess the Spices"
• "Memorize the Items on the Tray... then ask everyone what the bride was wearing" (which I won, but I cheated because we played that game at my bridal shower so I knew to look at what she was wearing instead of the tray)
• "The Price is Right"

It was good fun, but definitely different having my husband with me to participate in the events. Okay, it was more fun having him with me :-) I love him! Still can't get enough of him!

Though I'm very excited for Kyle and Vanessa's wedding! It's one week after my little brother's wedding (James and Caitlin). Funny thing is, Kyle and James, who are cousins, are the same age, and getting married exactly one week apart! We get back in time so we've got one wedding right after another. FUN!!!

The Hightlight of the June VA Trip

No, the highlight was not the anniversary party... it was PLAYING WITH MY CATS!!! How I've missed my furry best friends!!!! I keep telling Joshua that he is an 18 cat man, because I left behind my 18 cats to move all the way to Texas to be married to him. He was an expensive trade! There's no one else in the entire world I would've been willing to make that kind of sacrifice to be with. He was worth it. But after 6 months of being away from my feline babies it was sooo good to see them, and pet them, and love them again!!!

My Mom aquired some new additions to the cat family while I was gone. Two wild female cats showed up a couple of months before I got married. I'm the expert cat tamer, so my Mom didn't have as much luck as me, so she ended up with kittens before getting the mommas to the vet. But they sure are the cutest kittens! I managed to only catch one, but it was the most adorable little black furball with a small orange splotch on its face and hind leg.
Joshua looking lovingly at me while we play with "His Boy" Demetrious. If Joshua were to father a cat, it would be Demetrious since he's just like him; which is scary because that means someday we'll have kids as bad as that cat! Yikes!
Playing with the babies! (And notice our wedding rings, we're so married!)
Joshua has always been "The Blonde Master." All of my blonde cats follow him around, obey his commands (trust me, once Joshua is around Demetrious won't listen to anything I say), and ultimately adore him. This photo shows that even after 6 months of being away, he's still got it!

We didn't get a photo of it, but my mama's boy Ezra DID remember me!

When I moved he would go back to my old room and look around for me. He'd give my Mom looks like, "Where are you hiding her?!" When I got back, at first he was hesitant. He's a very shy cat. In fact, he used to ONLY like me and no one else. He kind of put up with my Mom too. After dating me for 9 months Joshua was the only man to ever win over my cat Ezra (my Mom and I always joked that whoever would win over Ezra would be the one to marry, it worked). Once I moved, Ezra took a stronger liking to my Mom and adjusted to life without me.

When I got there, he wasn't sure who I was. So I went back to my old room and sat on the floor as he snooped around. I called to him sweetly, "Ezra... Ezra Man." He perked up and looked at me like, "Wait... I know who you are." He came over, sniffed me, and figured it out, his mama was home!!! So I petted him all over and he got so into it he rolled over onto his back and wanted his belly rubbed. I used to always rub his belly and say "Budda, Budda, Budda." And then I blew him and air kiss and he remembered the trick where he nuzzled his head against my chin to "kiss" me back. Ahhh... I LOVE that cat!!! I wish I could have him here, but country cats don't adapt to apartment living well. I can't wait to see him again! I will soon :-)

Pearl Fashion Show

The beauty of pearls is undeniable. A strand of genuine freshwater pearls adds an elegant touch to any outfit, and I do mean ANY outfit. I put together a fashion show to illustrate this point. You will notice that I have pink / lavender pearls (provided by PearlParadise.com). I chose them since they are a twist on the traditional yet still classic. Plus pink looks amazing with my skin tone and complexion, it exudes a nice rosy glow from the sheen of the pearls.
Enjoy the fashion show!

Yes, these are both the same movie, just in different formats for your viewing convenience.

Cow Appreciation Day!

Cow Appreciation Day at Chick Fila was a blast!!! Joshua had to work most of the day, but once he was done he came home, we dressed up like cows, and we went to the restaurant to celebrate the event, look like crazy folk, and get free food!

(You know it's a good job when he's there all day and then gets his wife and goes back, lol!)

For those of you that didn't know, Chick Fila put on a promotion that if you dress like a cow you can get a free meal. We couldn't resist.

I decided that cheapest way to dress like cows would be to dress in black and tape on white spots made from printer paper.

I dressed like a heifer with my hair in little cow ears. For the first time ever I asked my husband, "Do I look like a cow?" He responded, "Yes!" And I replied, "Aw, thank you." He's probably the first man to ever get such a pleasant response from that answer.

And yes, my husband took full advantage of calling me a heifer while he could get away with it. But only while I was dressed like a cow.

I had the brilliant idea to put my husband's hair in horns, HAHA!

The Bull!

I used gold jewelry wire and lots of hair gel. It was a huge hit!

We also had little black tails made from random black strips of fabric... but sadly we did not get any pictures of those :-(

Here we are at Chick Fila enjoying our free food! We got grilled chicken wraps, fries, and Sprite. That's like $19 that we didn't spend :-)

As we were finishing up our dinner, an older couple walked in dressed like cows, also in black clothes with white paper spots. They yelled over to us, "We must be from the same herd!"

So we all took pictures together.

"Mooo!"

The fun didn't end, Joshua and I went grocery shopping dressed like this and mooed at the cashiers. We got some strange looks from fellow shoppers but the teenage cashiers thought we were a hoot! Or perhaps, a MOO!

Societal Pressure

Speaking of being physique conscious, it’s amazing how many other products exist from Fenphedra to work out videos to aid in the process of bulking up in an attractive way. I see advertisements on the web like crazy. Apparently, this is a common male concern to not be “too skinny.” Whereas I’m having to learn to accept my expanding curves rather than longing to be “skinny.” Lol! How funny is our society that it works that way?

Bulk Quest

I’ll admit that my brothers and my husband have similar builds, tall and slender. These are the type of guys that have to eat up and work out to build bulk. Though eating isn’t usually enough, bodybuilding supplements aid in the process. When I moved in with my husband, I found a huge jar of protein powder and protein bars in the pantry. But I think he gave up on those… they’re still sitting there. My brothers went through that phase too, granted about 10 years younger.

Play "Memories" with me :-)

Here is a fun tag. Here are the rules:
1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.
It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.
This will be fun!

Memory Card Memory Lane

It really is amazing to see the progression of memory cards. My first Fuji digital camera had a large (it was considered small back then, probably about 2 inches by an inch and a half in size) floppy disk type memory card. My next camera also being Fuji, who at that time used only XD, had a tiny little memory card similar to a hard disk; which ironically enough those used to still be called “floppy disks.” Go figure. But XD was short lived as SD took over (thank goodness, because it’s more affordable than the rare XD). But my camera is still holding strong (here’s hoping) so what I’ve got works for me.

My next challenge... I mean "Opportunity"...

My next challenge... I mean "opportunity"... is to substitute in Nursery for 2 Sundays. Nursery consists of the 18 months to 3 year old kids. The good news is that my little buddy Jonah is now in nursery so I get to play with him at church! :-) He's the only one that gives me even slightly baby fever. But then I play with him, get it out of my system, then give him back to his mommy, haha!

Car Loans

Financing a car is a process that needs to be done carefully. Often it is necessary to obtain a car loan in order to provide the funds to acquire the needed vehicle. Up2Drive.com is a company that specializes in car loans. The website is easy to navigate and the interest rates are fabulous being less than 8%. (That’s cheaper than my husband’s car loan interest rate! Hind sight is 20/20.) They also offer refinancing loans that lower my payment. Right now that isn’t the best option for my husband and me, but at least now I know of a low interest car loan provider for next time.

Subbing in Primary

I got the opportunity to substitute as a Primary Teacher at church for 2 Sundays. I had the 5 to 6 year old class. The funny thing, it was FUN! Yeah, the kids can be a hand full but I definitely liked it better than being Food Storage Specialist.

Fresh Clean Home

Having my own home is a delight for me, as well as a chore. Yes, it’s a small apartment, but I love it. I try to keep maintain an uplifting environment. Have you ever seen “Sell This House” on A&E? I used to watch it every week (back when I lived with my parents and they paid for cable, lol). While the point of the show was to stage a house to increase its likelihood of selling, the tips that make a living space more inviting are applicable at all times. The host Tanya Memme gives great tips at TriScents. Among the tips, the most addressed issue was odor. Isn’t that the truth that how a room smells makes all the difference? First of all, it’s important to keep your home clean! Here in Texas it sure is challenging since mold and mildew grow much faster than in Virginia, but I’ve learned to keep it at bay with a bleach and water mixture.

Even after you’ve cleaned the best you can, sometimes it’s necessary or even desirable, to use the aid of an air freshener. I’m trying Renuzit TriScents Starter Kit in Morning Meadow. It has three scents, Waterfall Mist, After The Rain, and Pure Breeze. Now I’m really picky about air freshener scents, but these are pleasant clean smells like found in lightly fragranced specialty shop soaps. The Renuzit TriScents changes from one scent to another every 45 minutes. It’s very easy to set up and use. You can even adjust the scent settings. I prefer a light amount of scent, just enough to make my living room more inviting without being overwhelming. Granted, my living room also spans to our “dining corner” and kitchen. When freshening up an area that covers so many purposes it is essential to have an appealing scent for living (computer, working, movies, reading, etc.), cooking, and eating. This one does nicely.

If you would like to try the Renuzit TriScents Starter Kit I suggest you follow the link and print out a coupon. Saving money is always a good idea!

Missing Out :-(

I was hoping to go to Cow Appreciation Day with a friend but can't get ahold of her. I called my husband and left him a message so he'd know that I might not make it. He called me back as he was out running an errand for the restaurant. So far I missed him dressed in the cow mascot costume! I also missed out on the petting zoo. They had a cow, an adult goat, a baby goat, and a black and white rabbit. He said they've been slammed with people and most have dressed up like cows, even the kids.

But he said that since he gets off before they close, if he makes it home in time we might be able to get dressed up and go together :-)

Optical Accessory

There is a woman in my church that wears the coolest glasses. Who knew glasses could be a stylish accessory? With ZenniOptical.com you can find not only stylish frames, but unbelievably low prices! Prescription glasses start as low as $8. How do they deliver such affordable prices? By selling directly to the customer, cutting out the middle person. They also have minimal advertising (which saves a fortune), but through word of mouth are gaining popularity quickly. Even shows have noticed their stellar product. See: Zenni on Fox.

Welcome Home

So we just got home from Walmart at midnight (Joshua had to work late and then he needed insoles for his new shoes since he's working ALL day tomorrow for Cow Appreciation Day at Chick Fila) and Joshua goes to open the door to our apartment when we both notice a HUGE cockroach on the door frame. That's when it JUMPED on Joshua's arm!!!! It attacked him! We both screamed as he shook it off of him. Then we hurried inside, by then laughing, since we were sure we woke up all the nieghbors! But still... darn, icky cockroach!

Ugly but Free Furniture

We have an upholstered chair in a pretty awful floral pattern, but the chair was free so who cares. It’s not too bad, but clashes with the red and burgundy theme of our décor. Thank goodness for slipcovers! It’s wonderful how you can take an ugly piece of furniture and transform it into a stunning or subtle element of your overall décor. Ironically enough, our slipcover was my husband’s idea! He put together a make shift slipcover from a red sheet. Clever, huh?

Our Carpet has Never been Happier

He finally did it! He threw out those nasty, worn out, carpet ruining work shoes!!! He has brand new shoes complete with non-skid soles made of "scrubbers" ordered through work (see: his feet, nice shiny new shoes!).

Married for 2/3 of a Year as of Today!

Today we mark 2/3 of a year of marriage! Yep, that's 8 months since we covenanted with each other and with God and began our marriage. We didn't do much to celebrate, mostly because we're worn out from all the married fun we did last week ;-) So a nice quiet evening reflecting on our happy marriage was exactly what we wanted.

Lovin' on Miss Luna

Here we are, after church, loving on our kitty Miss Luna :-)

Doesn't she look happy?

You can tell that ugly golden green chair is my favorite. It's so comfy! Yes, Joshua got it free before I moved in and I've taken it over.

This is right before she bit him. She's a cat. They bite randomly. But we're cat people, we love her anyway :-)

Happy Independence Day!

Us after the parade. Joshua was so excited to get candy and LOVED his first community parade!
A guy running for some court position walked the whole parade and handed everyone flags with cards attached. Impressive! Joshua then put the flags in my hair. Yes, I walked around like that!

Joshua and I were thrilled to spend our Independence Day celebrating our independence from our parents :-P

Anyway, we are so fortunate to live in Kingwood! The parade went by our apartment complex so we took a short walk and enjoyed the floats, motorcycles, cars, and walking participants. It was Joshua's first ever community parade! Who knew?! He's only seen Disney World parades (which I haven't seen in person, but I think animatronics and paid actors are too contrived, the human element of the community parade is much more fulfilling) and one school parade that merely had people walking and a few cars. Big woop. I grew up in Gloucester where there are 3 parades a year; The Daffodil Festival, Homecoming, and the Christmas Parade! I've even ridden a horse in a parade when I was a little girl (so fun!). The parade here in Kingwood was great and Joshua loved it. Especially when he discovered they throw out candy! Now that's something they don't do in Disney World!

After the parade we went home and napped. He had the day off of work so catching up on sleep was priority. A relaxing thunderstorm went through as we slept. Okay... there was one bolt of lightening that was so bright we could see it in our bedroom with the blinds on our windows closed, the curtains drawn, and our eyes closed! It made quite the startling roar of thunder as well! But it's Texas, the storm quickly moved on. It did cause the festival to be postponed, but that's fine, we decided not to go so we wouldn't be tempted to spend money.

That evening we walked to Town Center to watch the fireworks. It was a display as good as Yorktown, Williamsburg, or Busch Gardens (minus the cheesy music, sorry, I wasn't impressed with Busch Gardens... once again, too contrived, not enough human element). And best of all, we didn't spend a cent all day, not even on gas! Now that's independence!

Simplicity

Where was it that I noticed a plasma tv mount, complete with tv of course, on display? That’s right, it was Blockbuster right down the street when we were killing time waiting for our half-priced pizza. You know, I never thought much of fancy tvs but after seeing that one in person, wow, there really is a difference! But my hubby and I are making do with my media center computer and his portable dvd player. That’s okay. Newlywed life is supposed to be simple. It creates an environment focused on the relationship rather than things. But if I were offered a plasma tv, I wouldn’t say no ;-)

Senior Generosity

Even in our young church where 1/3 are children, we do have a row of the sweetest old ladies complete with their medical id bracelets. Truth is, there’s only two of these ladies, but they’re great. Willeta has a killer peanut brittle recipe, which I scarfed down a bunch of her yummy treats at the New Year’s party. One time Joshua and I had the opportunity to assist her with pouching hot cocoa for her food storage, but that spry little lady took over and did it herself! Lol! Recently she heard of our financial difficulties (okay, I mentioned it in my talk at church) and she gave us a belated wedding gift, a $50 check! That’s a lot of money! How amazingly generous of her. I brought her a thank you card (the pretty photo ones from the wedding) and a heart shaped cookie cutter from the reception. She wasn’t expecting that and it made her feel so special! She made me feel special. We’re getting to be good buddies :-)

My Little Buddy's Toys

I went swimming yesterday with Dorie and her boys Jonah and Micah. It was fun as usual! As we were driving along to the pool, Micah had to tell me all about his toys. He recently got the opportunity to pick out a new toy gifted to him from a family friend. It was one of those real life hero actions figures, like firemen, astronauts, construction workers, etc. He was asked which one he would like and he responded, “Spiderman!” Haha! His favorite is always Spiderman. He chose one of the figures though I’m not sure which one. However he had both of his Spiderman figures with him which we took swimming.

Finding Flights

It is getting more and more difficult to find cheap flights. Anytime I need to book airline tickets I check all over the place online for the best deal. Fortunately, for our upcoming trip for my little brother’s wedding, we booked our tickets well in advance! Total cost $548 round trip for the two of us. The downside, we’re flying through Hobby, which is nearly an hour away. It’s not the length of time to get there, it’s the stressful drive that takes you threw industrial Houston via insane interstate highways… literally, HIGH ways, these roads meet the sky they are so far off the ground! Hobby airport is rather nice and I love Airtran… but IAH is just so much more convenient, though Airtran doesn’t fly through there :-(

The In-Law Visit to VA

Just to clarify, Joshua's mother is the one in the floral dress with blue shirt and his father is the bald guy standing behind her. Then you've got their 6 kids (3 boys, 3 girls) their spouses (meaning Dawn, Michelle, and myself... the out-laws) and children (Glenda's kids, Joe's kids, and James' kids), plus Uncle Tommy behind Joshua. And yes, Joshua's mother was 39 years old when she had him. You know you're wondering that, especially when his nieces are the same age as him!

Okay, I've been meaning to blog about this but I've been doing my "hide from the world" thing while I process my emotions and recover from the stress. All the tensions from my fears were finally let go when we got home. The good news is that my heartburn is gone! For weeks before the trip no matter what I ate I got the worst heartburn. I pretty much never get heartburn so this was really weird. Joshua suggested it was from stress. As soon as we got back home to Kingwood I could finally eat without being in pain!!! The bad news is that all that tension caused some after math health issues with my stomach. Not fun :-(

Well, seeing Joshua's family started off with a jab. We arrived at the Stake Center on Saturday June 21st around 3pm to help set up for the party. His niece Jenny came out from the church excited to see Joshua and gave him a huge hug, as his arm was still firmly around me. She was clearly avoiding me, despite the fact I was 5 centimeters away from her, so Joshua said, "And you know my wife Sarah. Yeah, I'm a married man now!" She just gave me a snide look and sneered, "It would've been nice to be invited." I responded, "Invited to what?" She replied, "The wedding reception! I never got an invitation." I was very confused because EVERYONE was invited to our wedding reception. I told her, "Wait... you didn't get an invitation? Joshua was in charge of getting addresses for his family. Everyone was invited." She just walked off and proceeded to ignore me. Yeah, so nice of her to blame ME for her not getting an invitation, yet she holds no contention towards Joshua even though it was his fault.

We went inside and I got to meet Joshua's sister-in-law Dawn, who is married to his brother Joe. Her and I are the most hated in the family (the out-laws) so we've teamed up and are the best of friends. We've been e-mailing back and forth for months getting to know each other and determining the truth. Joshua's family told us that her and Joe hated us. Dawn and Joe were told a bunch of lies about us as well. So we got to the bottom of all of this via e-mail. Dawn was the one that reached out to me and Joshua and I were truly touched by her message. Ever since then our out-law kinship was formed.

Dawn needed to run out and buy white lights, so the 3 of us went to Michael's together. This gave us a chance to talk. I told her about what Jenny did and even she agreed, "That's silly. It wasn't a formal invitation, it was just an announcement that was sent out as a formality because it wasn't like you guys expected us to fly out for it last minute like that."

Soon enough the time approached for the parents arrival. The party remained a surprise and Joshua's parents BOTH cried when they saw that everyone was there. His mother was especially shocked to see Joshua. So there were the hellos and hugs before they discovered there was a full on party inside. They never had a wedding reception (they ran off and eloped... you would've thought they would have been more understanding about Joshua and I running off and getting married without them, but hypocrisy prevailed) so the 50th Anniversary Party was complete with an anniversary cake, a slideshow, tons of decorations, favors, food, etc. It all went well. Fortunately the topics of conversation stayed light rather than controversial.

Miracle alert: Joshua's other niece (they're twins both 25 years old) Chrissy talked with me and actually admitted that she now understands why Joshua and I did things the way we did. She said, "I don't agree with how you did it, but I understand WHY you did it. I've been living with my mom and grandma for the last year and I'm having to drink a beer and a shot everyday just to deal with them. I'm going crazy!" I NEVER thought she'd understand... but now that she's getting a taste of the overbearing, life controlling, guilt tripping ways of her grandmother she's now realizing the strain Joshua was under and the desperate attempts it would take to get out from it.

On another note, Joshua's best friend Robert and his girlfriend came to the party which served as a good buffer between Joshua and his family. Then after the party we ditched the family and went to TGIFridays just the 4 of us. It was great hanging out like that and Robert's girlfriend Deb fits in great! Needless to say, we got home to Gloucester really late.

The next day was photos and then hanging out with the family. Since there were SO MANY people around it was easy to keep conversation topics at surface level. Then we left that night and got on a plane the next day so we were in and out in the right amount of time. Dawn and Joe (plus their two kids) stayed another day and apparently that led to some drama. I still need to call Dawn to find out what happened (and to be her shoulder, her and I validate each other's sanity when dealing with these insane people). But both Joshua and I agree that we left at the right time.

So overall, the visit with the in-laws went fairly well. They're still controlling, manipulative, lying, backstabbers, but we didn't stay long enough for them to take their "nice masks" off. Oddly enough, even my father-in-law was nice to me... and yet he boycotted our wedding reception!

Funny enough, the other day Joshua got an e-mail from his dad saying, "The economy is bad so if you need to move back home you can. No one will think you're a failure." Which was then followed up by, "Your mother pointed out to me that the last e-mail made it sound like that invitation was only extended to you. It includes both you and Sarah." I can just here Marjorie yelling at her husband, "Great! You made it sound like only he is invited to move back! He'll never come back if you don't include Sarah. You did that e-mail all wrong and now our plan will never work!" Lol! Okay, I don't know if she ever said that, but I'm willing to bet she did ;-P

We laughed it off. I don't know what those two have been drinking but it doesn't make sense to spend all that money to move to VA for Joshua to have even worse job prospects than he has here, when he and I just have to tough out 2 more months before substitute teaching is back in session. And then just another year of subbing with biology classes as night (He's going back to school to get more science credits so he can switch his teaching field to biology since there's an insane amount of competition for history teachers but a severe lack of science teachers, and he loves science more anyway, he just didn't major in it because someone gave him the stupid advice of "Don't major in biology. There's no money in it." HA! The reason there are so few science teachers is because there are tons of other jobs that pay twice as much as teaching in that field. Whereas with history there's a couple of research positions, museum and tourist jobs, and then the rest IS teaching. There's really NO money in history.) and then the following fall he should begin as a teacher making $40,000 a year to start. And after that first year he will become fully certified. And then from there Texas will pay for his further education. He plans to get a masters in school administration so he can become a principal. Which that job averages 80K! Granted he's years from that, but it's really not that far from now when you think about it. Anyway, that's my long rant about his silly parents trying to get him to ditch his well-thought-out-plan here just to move home and mow their lawn for them.

Do you have any weird inside jokes?

Are you in a relationship, single, dating, complicated, married, or engaged?
Married :-)

Do you have a flip or slide phone?
Slide, love it. LG Cherry Chocolate

Have you ever played hard to get?
Not really. I made myself very approachable for Joshua, but I left "making the move" from friendship to romance completely to him. It took him about a year, but he did finally take me out on a date :-)

Who is the last person you hugged?
My husband

Do you love anyone?
My husband more than anything, and of course my friends, family, and cats!

Have you ever had your heart broken?
Yeah, but it was a lesson learned which is why I cherish Joshua so much!

Who do you hate?
I don't hate anyone, but severely dislike is another story.

How do you feel about the last person that called you?
Actually I'm very concerned about my brother right now. He's facing some tough stuff and he doesn't want to talk about it.
However, we're all very happy about his new baby boy Ty!!!

Do you have any weird inside jokes?
Yes, but most of them are with my husband.

Who are your favorite people to talk to when you’re down?
My husband, my Mom, or Christina. There's also Jenny, Dawn, Tricia, and Dorie that are good at boosting my mood or understanding my blues.

Name your favorite thing about your boyfriend/girlfriend?
You mean my husband? So many favorite things about him, but if I have to pick one it'd be the fact that him and I are on the same mental plane. We can be such nerds together yet we totally get it and are even crazier about each other because of it.

Could you go the rest of your life without smoking a cigarette?
Absolutely, I've gone all of my life so far.

Is there anybody you're really disappointed in right now?
Disappointment requires unmet expectations. I know better than to have unrealistic expectations of people. Once they let me down the first time I adjust my expectations accordingly in order to avoid future disappointments. So I may be sad at their behavior but not disappointed.

In 2 days will you be in a relationship?
YES! I'm married. Him and I have our whole lives and all eternity together. Yay!