Four Things

Four Jobs I've had:

1. Video Dynamics. It was my first real job. Basically I worked with 5 guys renting out videos all day. I also got in my first and last tanning bed there. I fried.
2. Mazzio's Pizza. I was the best damned pizza girl ever! I had a lot of fun working at Mazzio's. It was a dirty job--huh Mark!
3. Gadzooks- Yes I worked at the mall. Ehh! Christmas in the mall is enough to make me stick my hand in a blender.
4. Wal-mart. Enough said.

Four Movies I can Watch Over and Over:

1. Wizard of Oz. I loved this movie growing up. I still love it! I'm reading the book Wicked right now about the Wicked Witch of the West and how she became so Wicked!
2. Rat Race- This is a fantastic movie, and i'm not sure why I like it so much, it just makes me laugh!
3. Boondock Saints- LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! One of my favorite movies of all time, it NEVER gets old. Plus I'm Irish, what can I say?
4. What Dreams May Come- This is a great movie, I love thinking about what it will be like up there, I hope thats how it turns out.

Four TV Shows I Love:

1. Sex and the City. My absolute all time favorite! I have every season, and Colby and I watch them religiously...Oops sorry Colb!
2. Lost. Colby and I just went out on a limb and bought the first season without knowing anything about it and its awesome!
3. A&E City Confidential.
   
4. Survivor- I would love to be on that show!

Four Dishes I Love:

1. My Mom's Lasagna- SO good. Mim you're awesome!
2. My Mom's enchiladas--Again genius Mims!
3. Mary Beth's Chicken and Baked Potatoes!- Not a Dish exactly, but sooooo gooood.
4. Colby's Spaghetti! Mmmm.
   

Four Sites I Visit Daily:

1. Google Mail
   
2. Dooce.com
3. Sweetkindoflife.com
4. Facebook.com
5. smalltowngirl44.blogspot.com

Ok so there's more than four...

Four Places I Would Love to Go:

1. New York in the fall.
2. Ireland.
3. Japan.
4. Tuscany

Four Places I Would Rather be Right Now:

1. I'm absolutely content right where I am, but if I have to choose....
2. Eating dinner in a fantastic new restaurant in NYC
3. A Broadway Show....Any show...Anywhere.
4. Traveling Europe.
   

This Post is for Jill.

The other night at work I was having to work on the cash register....Go figure. It was very busy, it was very hot. I noticed that my very first customer was a lady in her late 60's wearing: Starting from the top this lady had rollers in her hair! IN PUBLIC! Her makeup was so incredibly dark...Think Mimi from Drew Carey. She had on a tube top, cut off jean shorts--basically the shorts were just TOO short (they were right up around her wahoo), and to top off her outfit she matched gray tube socks. *Tube top/Tube socks.....ONLY IN THE 70's!* The socks were pulled all the way up and matched rather nicely with a pair of pink canvas shoes. Where's Steven Cojocaru when you need him?

The customer directly after her was an Amish woman in her 50's with HICKIES on her neck! My first thought was Wal-Mart caters to everyone. My second thought: What else would they do with no T.V, Phone, Computer?

"Oh, I'm getting DIZZY!"

This weekend Colby and I decided to be more outdoor-sy... We found out that we had a Saturday together and I told him that we could go to roaring river and go for a hike. So on a day where the news was telling everyone to stay indoors if you can, because it's going to be freaking hot, we journeyed to Roaring river to hike. When we got there we pretty much started right away. It was noon and already 90. We each grabbed a bottle of water and started our hike STRAIGHT UP- to the fire tower trail 3 1/2 miles long. Everything just gets blurry after this. The trail was literally straight up for the first half mile. then it evened out a bit, but not much. After the first big climb I had already drank half my bottle of water. So we're going along and after a while the woods really start to take its toll on me. First the bugs...THE MASSIVE BUGS! They kept dive bombing us and I'd scream and flail my arms, I knocked off my sunglasses many many times. Then the other creatures---Snakes. Colby and I saw a snake and he PICKED IT UP! I thought I was about to lose it. "Colby-Colby-Colby don't touch it! COLBY I SAID DON't TOUCH IT! Alright FINE if you get bit I'm running, and I'm not looking back!" The snake was about as big around as my little finger, and about 2 feet long. Then shortly after that we decided to walk back towards the beginning, we hadn't seen the fire tower yet, and we knew the beginning of the trail was way the hell out there. I was beginning to get claustrophobic. So we're heading back and at every rustling of the leaves my heart jumps into my throat and I have to stop and listen. It was hard to listen though because all I could really hear was my heart beating so fast. To make a long story short, we got lost. Our 3 1/2 mile hike ended up being a 7 mile hike with no water.

Colby had to put up with me: "I think I hear a bear...COLBY I think I hear a bear...." "It's a squirrel Char-Marie." "Oh." "Ewwww I just walked into a spider web."
"Ohh I feel like I'm going to hurl."
"I'm seeing spots."
" It's So HOT!"
" DAMN BUGS!"
"I don't care where we go I NEED OUT OF THE WOODS RIGHT NOW!"
"I can't breathe!"

We ended up on the highway and had to walk it for a ways. I think next time we'll just rent deliverance and call it a day.

Cheap Date Night: Part 2

So Colby and I had a delightful cheap date night. First we went to Imo's Pizza, I love the pizza there because they're cut into square pizzas..Bite Size. We sat there enjoying the atmosphere. Espn was on TV and Colb had his beer. After we were finished we decided that we would go watch a movie, and went to see Pirates of the Caribbean, because Colby hadn't seen it yet.

I have to tell you some of the random events that unfolded throughout the night. First off the ticket stub person, she was acting all cool and ripped our tickets with ONE hand! Oh yeah she just snapped the ticket stubs right in half. Colby said that if he had her job, he'd look for a way to jazz it up as well, I agreed. Then I had to use the restroom and upon exiting the restroom I ran into a real life PIRATE! She was looking in the mirror fixing her buckles and hankies and what-not. I ran....I mean ran out of the bathroom *because all night colby and I acted like complete dipshits* and I told Colby,

Me:"I just met a pirate!"
Colb: "What, are you sure?"
Me: "Yes I'm sure she was saying YARRrr into the mirror and, I don't know she may have really killed someone!"
Colby: "Well lets wait, because I didn't see a pirate go into the bathroom."
Me: "Just wait, you'll see. I don't joke about these situations."

Sure enough here comes the pirate out of the bathroom....

Colby: "Oh my gosh you're right, it is a pirate!"
Me: "Hurry lets go, she might stab us!"

So we mosey into the theater and it's pretty packed so we finally find a seat towards the top in the middle, and guess who we sat by! The freaking pirate...And not just her like 12 more pirates. She brought her whole pirate family with her to see the movie. I was very very scared for Colby's safety, sitting next to a pirate and all, So I told him not to let go of my hand because I was afraid he might get asked to join the pirate clan.....And I can't date a pirate- always pillaging and stuff.

So there you have it ladies and gentlemen.... For a night I felt like a celebrity because I got to sit next to pirates, and although I was scared and unsure whether I'd make it out alive, here I am able to tell the whole world that I'm cool by association.

Cheap Date Night

Colby and I have come up with a solution to monotony. We call it Cheap Date Night. Every Thursday we go out on a very inexpensive date. Tonight I think it's my turn to decide. Last time we had cheap date night we went to Fazoli's and had dinner, then we went to the movies and watched....?? something *I can't remember. Anyways, I think tonight I'd rather make it not so cheap date night and take Colby to eat SUSHI!


I love sushi. If I could eat something 24-7 it would be a jurassic park roll, or spicy tuna, or hmm the possibilities are endless.

Blah.

Colby and I sat down last night to figure out how much my books will cost me for my next semester in school. *cue the crickets in the background*




$500.00

Yes ladies and gentlemen.....$500

I wanna puke.........

Oy!

Tonight at work I "effed" up my wrist! I felt a pop and the rest is history. All in all a very successful night.

Colby and I have been working out the details of moving in together...Again. Hopefully by mid August we'll get everything settled into a three bedroom 1.5 bathroom...full basement apartment. Corey, Colby, and I. Jacob will be living in the dorms, but he'll be in Springfield so he'll pretty much live there too! I'm super stoked. Oh yeah and did I mention there are washer/dryer hookups...And *drumroll please... A DISHWASHER! WOOOhooooo.

I'm going to be doing dishes like there's no tomorrow! I love dishwashers...And I really love washers/dryers!

To some this may not be a big deal, but to someone who lugs laundry all around God's green earth it's MAJOR!

Nobody in particular.

Here's a question...

Why is it that when you have so much, you always want more? Why is it that nothing is ever good enough? How is it that when you have so many people backing you, you'll always end up biting the hand that feeds you?

In my opinion.. I believe that family is your greatest support group. That no matter what you do or say family will always be the ones who are behind you 100%. So why is it that they're the one's who suffer? Think about this.... Very hard, you're losing this.

A Message to a Good Friend of Mine:

Betty Crocker,

Hi it's me, you're good friend Char-Marie. Listen, I just thought I'd write to tell you that you're fabulous! I mean what would I do without you? However, tonight I was making cookies for my boyfriend, and I have a complaint.... I noticed that the cookie packets were supposed to have 24 cookies, but the package only had 17 little cookie balls. I will admit that there was a short period of time where I blacked out, but only for about 2 minutes. If you could, please send me another package of your fantastic oatmeal chocolate chip cookie dough....My boyfriend would greatly appreciate it... And if you want throw in some peanut butter cookies because, although I love your oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter is my all time favorite!

Thanks!

Love Always,

Char-Marie

My Boyfriends Back...

Yesssssssss! My wicked cool boyfriend, Colby, has returned from Hawaii. I'm sure he was ready to come home and see me....Why wouldn't he be? I haven't seen him yet, but I'm waiting with great anticipation! I'm so stoked. I really thought 2 weeks would be a lot easier than it was. I missed him like crazy! I hate being apart and I hope we don't have to do that again for a long while.

Hurry home Colb!

A List

I have compiled a list of all the things that I miss... in no particular order.

1. I really miss waking up on Saturdays for cartoon marathons.
2. I miss not having to figure out how much gas will get me from point A to point B..It's so expensive!
3. I miss performing in front of large crowds of people. I know this labels me as a nerd, but I loved colorguard when I was in high school.
   
4. I miss having big family get togethers.
5. I MISS MY BOYFRIEND SO MUCH! THIS IS DEFINITELY TOP OF THE LIST!
6. I miss not having new episodes of sex and the city.
7. I miss those shoes I cannot find.
8. I miss Lindsay and Katie. Call me girls!
9. I miss talking on the phone for hours with Colby.
10. Last, but not least I miss my cinnamon dolce latte from starbucks! BRING THEM BACK! Lindsay pull some strings!
    

Happy Birthday from the Comfort of my Own Vehicle.

Once again I was forced to watch the fireworks from my car on my way home from work. I just got to thinking tonight how sad it is that for the past 3 or 4 years I haven't set off any fireworks and I have to work late on every fourth of July.

I can remember a handfuls of 4th's that I loved. One summer we were in Arkansas at my Granny Maggie's and we had this 5 foot sparkler, my cousin Joan set her bra on fire with it. I'll always remember that year...A year just being happy. The entire family was together and there was lots of food, singing, and fireworks.

I can also remember going to my grandpa's for the 4th. He had a really big pond and we would always have a barbecue and set off fireworks by the pond. When it got really dark there were bats that would swoop down at us as we were lighting them. Good times.

I always used to love picking out the fireworks.. There were chickens that screamed while they layed an egg, Chinese lanterns that i'd always end up hanging in my room, snakes that left black marks for weeks, parachute jumpers that I always ended up running after and tripping over some other fireworks in the process, Every year I managed to sit on a lit punk. The process of picking these things out was definately part of the fun.

Now it seems that I'm always admiring fireworks and other peoples get togethers from the comfort of my own vehicle. I realize as you get older people have responsibilities and things never stay the same, but sometimes I wish I could go back to those moments.

Katie

Yesterday, I spoke with my friend Katie who now lives in San Francisco. She graduated in December and is now an intern...She wants to come home. I miss ya Katie. Anyways it was really nice talking to her. We were discussing how everyone around us is either pregnant or married....Neither of us are drinking the water.

Chili for breakfast

Today we celebrate America's Birthday....DAAaaa HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

As we speak I'm eating chili for breakfast. I've never been one for the breakfast foods. I can hear my dad asking my mom where I am....My mom replies probably cleaning her room or something.... hahaha....if they only knew.

I'm waiting right now for my friend Kody to pick up my car because it needs the brake pads changed. I sound like nails running down a chalkboard when I try start to slow down....eww

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!!!

Dad,

Happy birthday to the coolest guy in the whole wide world. I love you and miss you and can't wait until you're home! I hope you're having a fantastic birthday while you're in Alaska! We all love you! Can't wait until we get to come get you on Sunday!

MWAAAAAAAAAAAHH!

-Char-Marie

A Note to my Two Favorite Men....In the Whole Freaking Wide World

Dad.....Colby.....


I MISS YOU BOTH SEVERELY... PLEASE COME HOME!

Colby, I know you've still got a while until you come home, you and your family have a blast, tell everyone I'm thinking of them, and this may sound selfish, but I can't wait until you're all home. Because I miss you guys already and I can't wait for pictures and stories!!

Its very hard when my two favorite men are gone. Someone has to come home! I'm going crazy on this end.

Dad, You'll be coming home this Sunday!!!! YAY! Hurry home and have a very safe trip!

I love you both So much! Have a blast while you're away, but think of me often ;)

I heart my car.

Tomorrow my sister and I decided we'd have a garage sale....I guess I should call it a Yard Sale, since we really don't have a garage. I've decided to sale anything that isn't nailed down. I'm just in that cleaning mood....and so is Stori, she's nesting. Hopefully we really do good with the sale tomorrow because I've been eyeing these shoes that I have to have.

We cleaned out my storage shed the other day and holy crap the things I forgot I had. I had tons of stuff...stuff that I really don't need. I like to save everything and then about three times a year at best, I go into cleaning mode. The next order of business is cleaning out my car because I am always running back and forth to places and I end up looking like I camp out in my back seat. Really I have everything you'd ever need to survive.

Let me compile a list:

1. I have shelter: For one the car (obviously), but I also have an umbrella actually three, I have 2 jackets, a coat, and some sort of tarp thingy that came with my car...still not sure what that's used for, I also have blankets...
   
2. Food/Beverage: I have a gallon of water, plus a 24 pack of nestle water-with the squeeze top bottle!, I have some mints from the Japanese restaurant that Colby and I frequent, a bag of peanut butter kisses from valentines day....and I'm sure some french fries..and those never go bad, ohh and a tin o'cookies.
   
3. And what about Entertainment you ask....?!: My cds, Ipod, and the aforementioned tin of cookies that could substitute for a drum, or a maracas, I have books...lots of books, pamphlets, and papers that I have written long long time ago.

I could live at least three weeks in there. Maybe I shouldn't clean it out. Oh and I forgot about hygiene.... I have those wet wipes that they give you from restaurants I could splash some of the water on me and there you have it folks...

Let's Get Mauied in Maui....ehh

I'm sitting in my chair with my hair pulled up, my glasses on, in my scrub pants that are oohh so comfortable wearing a KISS shirt...and crying. I'm such a baby. Colby called my from Honolulu a few minutes ago. I miss him so so much! Its only been yesterday....but it's a depressing feeling knowing that usually at this time I'm snuggled up to him sleeping or watching a movie.

It's ok though Kitty is sleeping in my lap keeping me company and Hollie promised me a girls night next Wednesday--We're watching Sex and the City, while eating pizza, and drinking beer ... probably. We should think about changing it to cosmopolitans if we're watching sex and the city. Colby bought me the very last season and I watched it in one day! I LOVE THAT SHOW! Speaking of Sex and the City...Colby and I have a new addition to our family a red beta named Mr. Big. I'll post pics later. But I digress....

He was on his balcony on the 21st floor talking to me about how gorgeous the mountains look. I'm so excited for him and his family they very much deserve a nice little vacation, it couldn't happen to better people. I'm so excited for Colby to bring me back the pictures, they're going to Maui on Sunday. I saw a t.v special on Maui it was absolutely gorgeous, they threw out this little catch phrase like "Get Mauied in Maui!" I thought it was funny, but after the twelfth time they used it I changed the channel.

Family Portrait

Here's the family: Colby, Kitty, and I. Kitty is the sweetest little dog. This was taken right before we all went to bed. Look at how tan Colby is, I look like I just stepped out of a cave. Pasty white, but that's ok I'll look like a porcelain doll at 40....Hopefully.

Daa Dumm Da Dummm

This is a picture of the dress I had made for the wedding I was in on Saturday, the dress went all the way to the floor. I love to dress up, especially when I get to do my hair all pretty! I thought the sunglasses were the perfect match.

Luck. Bad....Luck

GEEZ... I feel sometimes that everything is 'just my luck'. I just took my car to get the oil changed and they said that my brake pads are worn down, and that I need to get them changed. Yeah, it'll be about $200 dollars. How long are those things supposed to last? With all of my other cars I never had to do anything really major, except change the starter, and this car is a 2001. The rest of the cars were old. Just my luck! I sold all of my Wal-mart stock so I could comfortably pay for it. Not to mention Missouri State decided that I'm not eligible for student loans this year.


I hate stressing out about money, but it seems that's all I do lately.

Baby This, baby that...

Oh man, this weekend was so very very busy. First off, I was in a friends wedding on Saturday and it was beautiful, very stressful though. Then I put together a baby shower for my sister. It turned out great, but there was definitely drama before the party started. What do you do?

This entire summer has been filled with tons of parties for lots of different people, and although I've enjoyed them all...I'm ready to relax. I can't wait until I get to have the parties: engagement, bachelorette's, bridal, baby shower. Going to all these things really makes you think. I couldn't help, but be a little giddy walking down the aisle at Teresa's wedding thinking about when I really get to walk down the aisle. It'll be about time.

I really feel like the summer is over for me. I'm done with all the things that were planned a long time ago. Now what? Colby's leaving this Wednesday for Hawaii....I'll be lost.

Sleepy Towns on Rainy Saturdays

I feel like it is so very hard to sit down at my computer in the summer time. So many things are going on right now and it's like if I sit down and start typing I'm going to miss something. However, I want to be able to look back on things and remember them.

This weekend Colby and I had a blast we went on a train ride through the Boston mountains. I had bought tickets for the two of us as our Valentine's gift, but you could only use them from April-October so we went this weekend. We had a great time since neither one of us had ever rode a train before. The conductor, however, could have talked the paint off the walls. I'm sure the reason he kept telling people to put down their windows was because he'd had a few jump. Anyways, we stopped for a layover in Vanburen, Arkansas- a three hour break so we could shop around this sleepy little town. It was raining so Colby and I decided to buy an umbrella. There weren't any places to buy such a thing, so we went into a thrift store and found three umbrellas. We decided on the rather large umbrella with Michelangelo's "The Hand of God" painting on it. Halfway out the door with our thrifty little purchase the handle fell off, and the rain stopped.


We also came across a FANTASTIC used bookstore. I bought five or six children's books: Stewart Little, Anne of Green Gables, James and the Giant Peach, Maniac Magee, The Indian in the Cupboard-book 1 and 2, and The Road to Avonlea.


I love finding fantastic things for fantastic prices!

Kitty

I feel like a horrible mother. I have a little Shih Tzu named Kitty. He's so sweet, and likes to prance around-hence the name Kitty. He's been having "issues" with his kidneys and we've been taking him to the vet just about every month. He's been passing a little blood and we were very worried about our baby. We kept thinking something else has to be wrong, because he'd get all of his medicine, but nothing was working. He was taken to the vet one more time because he started to pass a lot of blood and was trying to pee 20 times every time he went outside.

He ended up having bladder stones!! POOR BABY! He had one very big stone that was jagged. The nurse said he was a trooper. I can just imagine him gritting his teeth and cursing in his Spanish Accent that I know he would have. I'm a shitty mom.

Pretty Creepy..

My cousin, Joan, sent me a cool e-mail. You have a list of birthdates, and the tree that is supposed to correspond with the birthdate.

Here's my birthday: November 12th- The tree that is "my" tree is the chestnut tree. Here's what it says: Chestnut Tree (the Honesty) -- of unusual stature, impressive, well-developed sense of justice, fun to be around, a planner, born diplomat, can be irritated easily, sensitive of others feelings, hard worker, sometimes acts superior, feels not understood at times, fiercely family oriented, very loyal in love, physically fit.

Its so creepy! Here's Colby's

April 4th-His tree : Rowan Tree (the Sensitivity) -- full of charm, cheerful, gifted without egoism, likes to draw attention, loves life, motion, unrest, and even complications, is both dependent and independent, good taste, artistic, passionate, emotional, good company, does not forgive.

I LOVE IT! SO SO TRUE...except for the not forgiving part..

Trouble with the R's

Tonight I bit my tongue, REALLY hard. Now I cannot properly pronounce my R's. I was telling Colby about this thing that I found about trees, but ever time I went to say Trees it came out Twees. Its horrible! Make it stop.

Rockfest 2006.......aka Boob Fest

So this weekend the whole gang went to Rockfest in Kansas City. It was absolutely crazy! We all went up to Kansas City around 1ish and it was blazing hot. There were 15 bands total from noon to 11ish. 36,000 people attended! It was so amazingly packed. We started off by going to see Nonpoint, and then we went back to the blanket we had on the grass and rested for awhile. Then we decided to go see the band Hurt.

Let me give you the events that took place:

• We went towards the front of the group closer towards the stage in the dead center. Colby and most of the guys were really close to the front, Lindsey and I were told to stay farther back so we wouldn't get hurt.
  
• Sergio, and some other person were standing behind us sort of like body guards.
• A group of disgusting individuals came up on our right, and wanted to see boobs. We said no, they wanted us to "earn our beads". They started talking about forming a mosh pit.
• I started to feel claustrophobic because everyone started filling in around us, and Colby wanted us to come even closer forward so we wouldn't be in the middle of the mosh pit.
• We ended up two people away from the gate around the stage, just about as close as you can get. Then the band came on stage.
• ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE!
• People were being launched in the air and I'm pretty sure two of them came right down on top of me. My industrial piercing was grabbed and I felt like it had been jerked out of my ear, that sent me to the bottom of the crowd.
• Someone crowd surfing knocked me down and one of Colby's friends fell on top of me. Jacob didn't know it was Colby's friend and noticed someone on me and proceeded to grab him and launch him off of me. Poor Heath.

Needless to say I got hurt watching Hurt.

Then at the end of the night we got to see Staind. It was so great. It had been smoldering hot all day and by this time it started to pour rain, it hailed, there was thunder and lightning. A perfect ending to a crazy day. I'll leave the steak and shake story for another day....

Rundown

Oh man, I feel like I've been gone forever! Sorry for not posting, but I've been so busy. Here's the run down.

Stori had her reception and for the most part everyone got along really well. I was so stressed out for this because Colby's parents came down for this 'special event' and It was the first time "really" that our parents were in a room with each other for an extended period of time. Colby and I have been together for 5 years and our parents are mingling! How exciting. It makes it really hard for them to sit and chat when they live 200 miles away from each other, but at least they all make the effort.

The Grooms mom got a little tipsy, but that's alright I suppose, she also hit on one of the younger guys, but we'll blame that on all the vodka....Huh Debbie!

Stori's husband, Kyle is now in Fort Benning, GA he'll begin bootcamp this Friday...Say a little prayer. He's really homesick and Stori's really bummin'. :(

is it odd that i think dressing like this is fun?

I said I'd post pictures of my sister, Stori's Wedding when we got them uploaded. Here ya go. These are pictures of the actual ceremony. We had so much fun. She's 7 months pregnant in the picture. I did say that I looked like a hooker, see for yourself.

Elvis has left the building...

Today while I was covering a lunch break in jewelry, I noticed a man by the sunglasses display. He was standing there looking in the mirror and combing his hair over, and over, and over. I was watching him for about 20 minutes comb his hair and pat, comb and pat...Then he put on the biggest pair of white sunglasses you could imagine. After about 20 minutes of this he left to go shopping. After the lunch break I walked towards the back of the store to take my lunch break when I noticed this couple just busting up laughing. Apparently this "guy" had been talking to them for about 10 minutes about how he was Elvis. I started laughing and said, "Did he have big hair and bigger glasses?" They said yes.

Believe it or not this man really thought he was "The King"! No one in their right mind could even compare themselves to Elvis. That's just something you don't do. Especially this guy. Here's the worst picture I could find, he was 20x worse than this impersonator:

Life After Breakup

I was talking a best friend through a break up this week and she was absolutely broken, I didn't know what to say to her to help her. I was wondering why it was that nothing helped, because I've been in a similar situation before.

Why is it so hard to move on? I realize the given, you were in love, or you were with someone for a long time and its a routine now...What do you do with your life after breakup? It's so easy for someone to say to you that they would move on, or forget about that person. But I know for a fact that what we say and what we do are two totally different songs.

You can never really know until you're in it, and sometimes when you're in something that you said you'd leave, you won't leave because essentially you're not really seeing the relationship from the outside. People find it so easy to throw in their two cents, *I've heard it all before- "It's easy to see when you're on the outside looking in, but when you're inside you tend to see what you want."

Why is it that *most girls seem to just grieve and grieve until they're absolutely making themselves sick? I've done it, I'm sure some of you have. You can't eat, can't sleep, are walking around like you've lost everything you have. Why do we waste so much time crying? Men seem to be very good at hiding their feelings, when they're young that's what we instill. Big boys don't cry. -So they don't.

I realize this is a big rambling- I've had a long day at work, and I'm sleepy, but I had a lot of time to think about it. My dad always gives such great advice he would tell me, "Char-Marie, take it from a guy who's been there, done that." I never would, I guess I like to learn the hard way. We never want advice unless its what we want to hear, when I say we I mean...Me, and maybe a few of you reading this.

I'm not sure where this post is going, so I'm going to go to bed and think about this some more. I'll get back to this later.

It's a Nice Day for a White Wedding.

This weekend we traveled down to Eureka Springs, Arkansas to get my little sister, Stori, Hitched!

No seriously we really got her hitched. We went to this old time place and dressed up like people that worked in a saloon. I looked like a Class A hooker. I'll post pictures when I get them developed, in the mean time I'll just describe my outfit:

I had on all the essentials:

• White bloomers with lace trim...Check!
• Fishnet Stockings.....Check!
• Black High Heels........Check!
• Corset.........Check!
• A push up brassiere tied so tight around me I couldn't breathe....Check...!

It really was a blast, we had so much fun. I had my picture taken with Colby as well, I'll post that as soon as I can.

So?

Ok, I got creative and tried my hand at creating my own template. The only thing I hate is the size of the font. Its way too big. I cannot seem to find it in the html to change it, so until then it shall remain very large...bleh!

I would like comments on what needs to be changed, or what looks good.

Thanks!

*&%$#@%

I am absolutely drained. I know I say this a lot, but I'll say it again.... I REALLY DISLIKE MY JOB! The problem is right now I cannot quit because they have allowed me the time I need off for this summer: Weddings, Graduations, Baby Showers, Wedding Showers, Baby Deliveries, etc... As soon as I can I'll be searching for a better job. One that's less stressful. For those of you who don't know I work at Wal-mart. It's pretty much a sweatshop. I'm so aggravated, because I do my job I am constantly taken from one area to the next and it is so frustrating for someone who likes to get one thing done before she starts another. At the end of the night I end up having 30 'irons in the fire'.

I am physically drained. Emotionally drained. I told my manager, the one that is nice to me, that I was tired of working my ass off to be taken advantage of. He agreed with me because he sees that we're *Hollie and I* are being shit on.

I hate the fact that I get so pissed, I hate that I can't be respected for the good work that I do, I really hate the fact that I get aggravated enough to let it come home with me. It's not like me to be on edge because of a job. I'm going to take the initiative and look elsewhere even if it means a pay cut.

Plans

Last night Colby and I were talking about the Peace Corps again and decided we'll have to sign up within the next month. I'm stoked. I'm really excited about all the things that we have lined up for our lives. We've been discussing all the possibilities:

1. Join the Peace Corps and teach for two years in a foreign country.
2. Go to grad school. Prospectives right now are Washington University in St. Louis, or KU in Lawrence, KS.
3. Living under a park bench in Central Park.

All great choices if you ask me.

Bleh.

Ehh... I went to bed last night at 11:00 and I woke up this morning at 11:00. I'm coming down with something, its a chest cold or something. WHY?! I have so much to do that I cannot afford to be sick! My sister is getting married this weekend, and I CANNOT get sick! I feel sick in the morning and I feel sick in the evening. When I'm up and around during the daytime its not that bad. Blah.

I woke up this morning to Colby's call, good thing because I have to be at work at 1:00. I got up and got some leftover cold pizza out of the fridge, then sat on the couch and watched rat race. I love that movie it makes me laugh. Laughing hurts right now. eck.

They even had rubber stamps!!

So, grades come out tomorrow and I'm excited to see what I've got. I know it'll be good, not the 4.0 I had hoped for, but I know I'll make the Dean's List. What happened to me?

Colby and I traveled North towards KC to see his parents and brother. Jacob, Colb's brother, graduated this weekend! YAY JACOB! We were discussing the fact that next year we'll be the one's graduating....Again. I'm absolutely excited to start our lives. I feel right now that I'm just on a routine schedule that has me doing the same things day in and day out.

I'm so excited about having my own classroom! I'm collecting books for my library as we speak. If anyone has any children's books to donate---Send them my way! ;) Thanks. I walked into a educational supply store a few days ago and was amazed. I went straight to the back where all the stickers, books, HALL PASSES (I can't wait to have a hall pass!), markers, those border thingys that you put around your bulletin boards---THOUSANDS OF BORDERS! I asked Colby if when we get engaged if we could register there. He shot that idea down, but it was worth a try. I feel like I'm thinking more and more like a teacher every day. I see cute little artsy things and wonder how I could use that in the near future.


I'm stoked!

Truth or Fiction: Men Turn Into Werewolves On A Full Moon?

I need some input on this subject ladies, and gents... Do you think moods change when it's nearing a full moon? Think back, the thirteenth was a full moon. Did you, or your significant other have mood swings on the 11th - ?? This mood swing doesn't have to be relationship altering, but enough to notice something wasn't quite right.

The reason I'm asking is that I have a good friend who tends to have 'boyfriend issues' right before the full moon. It may sound silly, but it's sort of erie. Things tend to happen right before we're about to have a full moon. You can definitely notice it at wal-mart, customers tend to be on edge, and the slightest thing can throw them off. You always hear that a hospital is in full swing when its a full moon...

In this case my friend's boyfriend tends to go into this weird funk right before the full moon and it lasts a little afterwards. Now this may be numerous things, but we were just thinking about what it could be and a lady at work said a full moon is out. She finished by saying that her boyfriend or husband was in a funk as well. My friend then noticed that her father, and her brother were in bad moods. We started rolling this thought around and I thought I'd blog about it and see if I could get any comments on what people thought.

Do men, or anyone for that matter, turn into werewolves when there's a full moon?

My 100th Post.

My kid sister, Stori, came to see me today before my finals. She was shopping here in Springfield, and wanted to show me things she had picked up. A baby mattress for the crib, maternity clothing- because she's finally getting too big for my clothes..And she's 7 months pregnant. She broke down and bought something Winnie the Pooh: Socks.

I'm extremely excited to see baby Maggie Marie, or Mag Pie as I like to call her. My sister is getting married next weekend. As soon as she gets married her husband, Kyle, is being shipped to Ft. Benning, GA for boot camp with the Army Rangers. I have been dubbed person who is in the delivery room, and I'm stoked. Be prepared for tons of pictures of Little Miss Mag Pie.

I'll be the one doing late night runs this summer for Ice Cream and Pickles.
Would you look at that belly button....

Finally

FINALS ARE OVER!!! I couldn't run to my car fast enough. I was afraid I would run into someone who would drag me into one of the buildings and make me write papers on How the west was won, or something to that effect. I'm stoked, first order of business.... SELL BACK MY BOOKS (for a fraction of the cost.)


Update: (May 17, 2006) I've sold back my books it was definitely a fraction of the cost. It cost me 350.00 for my books this semester, and I got a measly 58.00 back. I guess its $58.00 I didn't have, can't complain too much.

PB&J

Mmm. It seems to me that I mainly blog about food....well....Thats because I enjoy it SO much! I just had my brain food: Peanut Butter and Jelly. I also had a nice cold glass of red diamond sweet tea. Does the body good. I'm getting ready to take the last two finals of the semester! I'm so stoked. SUMMER HERE I COME!

Summer Summer Time.

Well, I finished the final I was really worried about today. It was a breeze. I'm so excited for summer time, I can't even think of all the things I want to do. I'll buy some TV season to watch. Not sure what I'll buy though. Colby and I started watching Lost and I loved it, we're waiting for the second season to come out. I thought about buying either House, or Six Feet Under. Maybe I'll buy both.

I have so many things on the schedule for this summer. Colby's brother Jacob graduates next weekend! We'll be there for that. Then memorial day weekend my little sister is getting married! I feel SO old! The weekend after that she's having a reception. I have a friends wedding I'm in. I have to have Stori a baby shower, and I'm going to rockfest in June. This, I'm afraid, leaves little time for me to read the 50 books that I have lined up. So much to do. So little time.

Pancakes.

This morning I woke up and made pancakes for Colby and I. This brings back a very fond memory of mine.

When I was younger, my best friend Lindsay and I were always trying different things like

1. Inventing new shampoo using various household materials, then using my little sister as the test subject.
2. Messing around with her chemistry set, and almost killing the whole town with our "lead water."
3. When her little brother was on the way, we decided we would create him a state of the art carseat. For this we used: an old car seat, a handle bar from a bicycle for the safety restraint, and some old rope to keep it in place.....Do not try this at home.
4. We also tried out an old bottle warmer, convinced that it would work and sat in the car for hours waiting for the milk to warm up. It warmed up, just not like we planned. Its a wonder we didn't short out something and catch the van on fire. Her mom was not pleased with this one.
5. One night we wanted to stay up all night long so we decided to grind our own coffee... Without a coffee grinder, and no coffee beans. I think we ended up making something else that tasted awful!

But this is the story that the pancakes bring me back to. We woke up very early one morning with a fantastic idea. "Let's not wake up your parents, and lets make breakfast for everyone!" We decided on pancakes, I think we were in fourth grade...not sure. Anyways, we started making the pancakes, then all of a sudden one smoke alarm went off...Followed by another...And another.. *How many smoke detectors did you have Linz? We were running to each one and fanning with pot holders. One would go off and we'd run to the other, then that one would go off and the other would come back on. This went on for what seemed like forever. Her mom ran downstairs only to inform us that the pan was now on fire. How we caught the pan on fire, I'll never know.

This is not how I made pancakes this morning. Everything went smooth. Until Colby tried to see if I was doing a good job. He wanted to see if the pancake was ready, so he flipped it. He flipped it like you see in movies and it landed on the counter. Who's the cook now?

Books.

I'll have to admit that yesterday while sitting in Barnes and Noble sipping my cinnamon dolche latte, doing homework, I stereotyped someone. I know that you should really try not to do that, and I really try not to.... Here's the story

I was sitting in Barnes and Noble, like I said, and watching people...because that's what I do. I think you can learn a lot about people by what they're reading. *I was working on lesson plans reading Three Little Pigs. What does that say about me? I looked up and saw a man with motorcycle clothing and thought, he is probably reading about cars or motorcycles....I was right. Then I was looking at a young girl, she was drinking coffee, wearing all black and dark makeup...My thoughts were she's probably reading 1. A romance novel, or 2. A book about dracula. She was reading a romance novel. So I thought, hey, I could do this all day long!

I then see an Amish man walking towards me, I think to myself....I bet he's reading something about construction. WRONG! I look up and he has a huge stack of books and the top title was, "Big Book of Dirty Jokes." I'm not going to play that game anymore.

I felt like a horrible person, but I laughed a little inside thinking of all the men working outside, and this particular man throwing out all these dirty jokes. :)

Cheetos Make the World Go Round

I finally.....FINALLY finished all the things that are due today. I was up until about 3:00 a.m working on my project for my health class. I figured it would take a whopping hour, HA, 5 hours later I'm lying on the floor despising my health class. I am stressed to the MAX! Every teacher has piled something on at the last minute and I'm drowning in papers.

Last night Colby helped me SO much! Have I mentioned that he's wicked cool? He hates seeing me stressed out, and when I stress out I cry. I was so tired, and on top of everything else... If you looked at me wrong I started to cry. The gluestick broke, I shed a tear. How sad.

All I have now is study study study....I'm down to 3 more classes for finals and I'm OUT!

I'm currently finding comfort in cheetos....Yes, I know they're not on the "diet", but they're on My Diet. Just until finals are over, then I'm putting myself back in check. Until now, cheetos and french onion dip have my love.

I Knew We Needed Rain, But....For The LOVE!

Man....

I was startled awake last night around 1:30ish by a HUGE clap of thunder! I love thunderstorms, but this one was so loud! I thought the apartment building was coming down. By morning the rain had ceased, and I woke up to study a little before class, then I left for my final in my Special Education class. I think I did pretty well.

By the time I got out of the final it looked as if it were going to rain down from the heavens again, but I had my umbrella handy. I went and turned in my books, and got a whopping $20.00 for a book that cost me about $70.00. In came the monsoon! It was raining so hard you could barely see anything. I was driving along and had to go turn in some late books that cost me oh....$30.00 *The University is making a FORTUNE on late fees!!!! Definitely off of people like me who happen to forget everything...and books, movies, anything that needs to be back by a certain date are always at least a week if not more...late.

So I jumped out of my car with my trusty umbrella and headed towards the library. The wind was so hard it flipped my umbrella inside out and needless to say, I was absolutely soaked. As soon as I got back to my car, the rain had stopped again and now its sunny....Go figure.

Damn Missouri weather.

I NEED COLOR!

Fellow Bloggers/Readers,


My blog is in desperate need of a face lift. I'm not up on html...well just a little. I want something Fun, Flirty, Spicy, Girly. I'm so bored with the templates. If anyone is listening and would be so kind to walk me through changing it, or if you get bored you could just work something up. I would be so thankful.

Thank you

Char-Marie

Diet, What diet?

Ah yes, I thought I would make lunch today for Colby and I. I'm actually getting better with the time management thing, and I'm proud of it. It does help when the bag you're cooking from tells you exactly what time to take your frozen delights out of the oven.

Diet?.....Diet you say, well we fell off the wagon and are rolling down a very steep, very rocky hill right now. Here's the deal, as soon as I can breathe again from finals being taken care of, I'm going back to the gym. Scouts honor.

I took this picture while I was making lunch, Colby just looked at me and I had a feeling he was wondering what the hell I was doing, so I replied, "Honey, the public have a right to know that we're sticking to our diet." He says, "But we're not." I reply, "Exactly." How very sad this is, but it was so GOOD!

Without Further Adieu..

Today is the day that I kick my homework in the ass! I'm going to work my lil' butt off until I have most of it accomplished. I admit that last night I thought I needed a break so I went to the Fox and shot pool. I'm actually getting FREAKIN Awesome at it. I'm still procrastinating ... Should be doing homework, Colby just informed me. I'm very very ready for finals to be done!

Today's list to get done:

1. Finish the report on the interview with my dad.
2. Write up three lesson plans
3. Make a trifold presentation for my 'health for educators' class.
4. Finish the children's book- Island of the Blue Dolphins, and write a report on it.
5. Finish The Devil's Arithmetic and write a report on it.
6. Study for my final on Wednesday.

And much more, but if I continue to write them down I'll get overwhelmed and puke.

Talk About Baggage.

So today I was making out a list of all the things I need to get accomplished for this week to turn in, I didn't realize that I had SO much to do!! I'm pulling hair out over here! I just have to count to ten and breathe, because if I don't I'll probably explode, or maybe I'll implode...?

I was at work tonight and Hollie and I discovered some luggage that went on clearance. It was a four piece luggage set, and it was priced at 99.96 and it was now priced at 36.00. I couldn't pass it up, although I'm not going anywhere now, I will go places. I'm bound and determined. I told Colby he could take it with him to Hawaii this summer if only he promised to leave it out on the beach for a few days so when he got back I could sit next to it and smell Hawaii while sunning on his balcony. I'm sure we'll get some good use out of it.

I must be getting old if luggage excites me...

Spontaneity killed the cat.....

Happy Cinco De Mayo! Colb, Corey and I went to Cileto Lindo tonight and had Mexican food mmm...

Then we decided to get Corey's tattoo, the longer I sat there the longer I wanted to get an industrial piercing. I've always wanted one, but it was so expensive because its two piercings. Usually it cost 80 dollars to get it done, at Miller Cotton's it cost 40. SOLD! I got it done. As I was lying down so I could be skewered the last words he said before he stuck the huge needle through my ear was, "You're going to bleed like a stuck pig."


I did. I could feel the blood running down into my ear. Ahh the rush. ;)
I didn't even flinch...Is this normal?

Exhausted.

Today I give a presentation for my Dad's interview. Colby and I put together a movie, and although the audio doesn't match up with the picture during the end, it still works. I think it's a pretty good presentation. We've worked on it for three days and it's only 16 minutes long. I'm sleepy. I just got out of bed and always have to have my time where I sit and just chill before I decided to jump in the shower.


Corey's down from KC and is going to register today for classes down here. Colby, Jacob, and Corey are going to be living together so they've been trying to get that in order. Tonight we're going to my house to have grilled steak, and everything that comes with it. I'm already hungry.

Message For My Guardian Angel:

It has been a very stressful week/day and it's only Tuesday. I called home today to find out how everything was going and talked to my dad for about ten minutes. He was still in bed, but contemplating getting up. I told him he needed to get up because it was such a nice day and with this Missouri weather we're having who knows when it could start pouring. He told me that he would and that was the end of our conversation.

Later on I received a call from my mom, about our computer, and how dad couldn't find something on it. I told them where I thought it was, and then later called them back. My dad had a "little" nervous breakdown and I'm not really sure why.....Was it the computer, was it life....Only he knows. It's really hard to see him going through all of this. I feel sometimes like I'm having to be a parent to him, and it's so overwhelming. I'm so worried about him, will he ever get out of this hole that he's sitting in? I love my dad more than life itself, and I love my mom for sticking with him every step of the way. I have the best family in the whole wide world, I just wish we could go back to how we were. Dad always working or messing with something around the house, Mom always running back and forth between house stuff, yard work, fish pond, dogs... Stori and I coming in and out of the house. Everyone was happy. It seems like anymore all the phone calls made are consisting of, "How's dad? Is it a good day or a bad day?"

Lately they've been bad days. More bad...Less good. I know that we have angels watching over us, I definitely believe in guardian angels. I'm asking right now for mine to watch over my dad, because he needs it more than I do. I just want him better so bad. I want my old dad, the one who's always joking, always smiling, always eating ice cream.....I need him to come back, because it's sad without him.

Umm Hi....Hello......

So i'm sitting in a computer lab trying to get things done before class when this girl comes by and just about knocks me out of my chair! She just plowed her way through. EHHH! I wanted to throw my hands up and say, "Ummm Hello......Yeah Hi, I'm actually sitting at this computer, so could you please charge your way though that aisle." She about knocked the glasses off my face!


So yeah, i'm still procrastinating. I don't know how i'm going to get all the homework done, I work every day! Last night I had a minor melt down, but Colby was there to say we'd get it done. What a wicked cool boyfriend I have.

Summertime and the Livin' is Easy!

Wheeeew...............I'm SO STUFFED! I made enchiladas tonight! I'm becoming a regular Betty. I'm enjoying cooking, and I think Colby's enjoying eating my cooking? I'm about to explode in all of my procrastination glory!! I'm ready to be done with school. I'm so looking forward to this summer.

Things I want to accomplish this summer are...Thus far:

1. Lose 10lbs. I'm working on that currently, but I want to be able to look good and feel better.
2. Yoga Yoga Yoga. I need to go back to Yoga!
3. Reading! I have lists of books to read: The Cement Garden, The Virgin's Lover* I'm already half way through with this one, Finish A Million Little Pieces* Even if he was lying in most of it! The Chronicles of Narnia, The Davinci Code, Wicked.....There are plenty of others. I Also need to look at some books for my Children's Library. I'd like to start getting some chapter books built up. I have lots of picture books, now I need chapter books. I'd love to have Where the Red Fern Grows, Possibly Boxcar Children, Chronicles of Narnia...etc.
4. Maybe get some pigment to my skin...?
5. Buy a fantastic pair of shoes! Running shoes, and kitten heels, Sandals....You name it! Can I really count this as a goal for summer???..... Of course I can, It's my summer.

This is just a very few small things I'd like to do. I'm so excited summer is just about here!

Just A Reminder To Myself, So My Head Doesn't Explode!

I need to get a few things accomplished before finals arrive, which is very very close.

1. Write a five page paper on No Child Left Behind, and take a side. (for or against it)
2. Make a presentation on a trifold board for my Health for Educators class.
3. Finish all my quizzes for Reading.
4. Write a paper for my Combats Memoirs class on 'How I perceived my interview with my dad.'
5. Finish the presentation for my Dad's Interview
6. Write up my self evaluation for my Reading 421 class. Have the kindergarten teacher fill out her final evaluation for me.

I think that sums up all of the BIG things that I need to get done. I hope I'm not forgetting anything, I'm so stressed out! I NEED A MASSAGE .....And some oreos!

Everybody knows...Pimpin' Ain't Easy

I work at an At Risk school, and the other day while I was hanging out with the kindergarteners it started to rain. Really hard. So we had indoor recess. Every teacher's nightmare! They were crazy. So there are a few different centers and only four children can play at each center at a given time. I was hanging around the legos center when a little boy said, (they never get my name right.) "Ms. Casey LOOK!" He had made a man and a dog out of legos. I looked at them and said what an awesome job he was doing....he replied and I quote, "Ms. Casey, They're pimps. A pimp dog, and a pimp man. Yo YO!! They all pimps, i'm a pimp....you a pimp...." (Getting the picture?)

I couldn't help but laugh. What the hell is wrong with people? I'm not really sure whether or not he knew what a pimp was, but he had been exposed to everything that goes along with it, like:

1. The pimp walk..... You know the slouching
   
2. The pimp grab..... The grabbing of the "Hommies, Boys, Cash and Prizes"
3. The signs... He threw his hands up in front of him with two sidways peace signs.

He's in KINDERGARTEN! He was playing with another little boy at the lego table. This little boy was making a wall complete with windows. 'pimp boy' as we'll dub him, kept telling the other little boy to put eyes at the top of the wall so it could watch the pimps.

Did I miss something? Is there now a class called Pimps 101...? Yo YO!

A Musical Meme

This Meme was taken from linz, who stole it from Wendy. I loved it!

Put your music player on shuffle.
Press forward for each question.
Use the song title as the answer to the question even if it doesn’t make sense.

1. How am I feeling today? "Danger Zone" Kenny Loggins

2. Will I get far in life? "Start A War" Static X
3. How do my friends see me? "One Headlight" Wallflowers

4. Where will I get married? "Hero" Sevendust
5. What is my best friend? "Stay With Me" Rod Stewart
6. What is the story of my life? "I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night" Kiss

7. What was high school like? "Beer for my Horses" Toby Keith
8. How can I get ahead in life? "Hit the Ground Running" Johnny Lang
9. What is the best thing about me? "Your Body is a Wonderland" John Mayer
10. What is today going to be like? "Runaway Train" Soul Asylum
11. What is in store for this weekend? "She's Not There" The Ventures
12. What song describes my parents? "Pink" Aerosmith
13. To describe my grandparents? "No Woman No Cry" Bob Marley
14. How is my life going? "Winter Kiss" Embodyment
15. What song will they play at my funeral? "Oi to the World" No Doubt
16. How does the world see me? "Where the River Flows" Collective Soul
17. Will I have a happy life? "Making Memories of Us" Keith Urban
18. What do my friends really think of me? "Midwest Swing" Nelly
19. Do people secretly lust after me? "Praise" Sevendust
20. How can I make myself happy? "Let's Go Fly A Kite" Mary Poppins SOundtrack....ok I love disney stuff..
21. What should I do with my life? "Heirate Mich" *Marry Me -- Rammstein
22. Will I ever have children? "Sweet Emotion" Aerosmith
23. What is some good advice for me? "Friends in Low Places" Garth Brooks
24. How will I be remembered? "I Want You to Want Me"
25. What is my signature dancing song? "Get Stoned" Hinder
26. What is my current theme song? "Cranking the Sirens" Soilwork
27. What does everyone else think my current theme song is? "Break Ya Neck" Busta

"If you're happy and you know it......Grit your teeth."

Today my classes got canceled so Colby and I decided to go out and about in our big ol' town. First stop a billiards place. We had to go see if the shaft for his pool cue was in, turns out it was back ordered. Then I asked if we could go to the place where I got my nose pierced and look for another nose ring. So we go in, we're browsing, the lady tells me not to change if for a few more months- I said, "ok" through cringing teeth. Colby sees a pair of plugs for his ears that he would like to purchase. They're a 4 gauge and his hears are gauged at a 6. For any of you who are not familiar with the process of gauging your ears basically its this:

• You get your ears pierced at a very small gauge, but its a higher number like an 18 is a small hole a 0 is a HUGE hole.
  
• Colby decides to get the earlets that are gauged at a 4.
• The outside of the earlets are gauged at a 2.
  
• In order to get the earlets into his ears he has to ultimately go from a 6 to a 2 which is a HUGE difference.

End result: Colby's ears are bleeding, he keeps saying, "Whooooooooo," sort of like a whoosh sound. He almost passed out as the man tapered them into his ears. Completely lost color in his face. But they just look so damn good! I'm sure the pain was worth it....haha
He just ran over and asked me to, " AHHH IT BURNS Blow on it!"
He's now singing "If you're happy and you know it......Grit your teeth."

Little Miss Mag Pie

So I talked to my momma today, and my poor little sister has a bladder infection. She had to stay home from work, and is in a whole lot of pain. I guess that her back started hurting a couple of days ago, and she couldn't figure out why so they thought maybe it was the baby stretching and moving around. Come to find out it was her bladder because she was violently throwing up all morning. She's lost one pound and one inch around her stomach. They did an ultrasound to look at the baby, and little miss Maggie was sleeping with her hands under her chin. Aww....The life.

Yet Another Choice For Our Future.

Ah yes, Albania... This is another choice for Colby and I. #3 choice for the Peace Corps. And This picture could be Colby and I later on in the traditional garb. I find it very sexy. Here are a few fun facts about Albania:

1. Borders the Adriatic Sea and Ionian Sea, between Greece and Serbia and Montenegro.
2. It is a little bit smaller than Maryland.
3. 70% of the population is Muslim.
4. 3,581,655 population estimated for July 2006
5. There are currently 1.1 Million people who are using cell phones.

Loved.

Sometimes I find myself missing my Grandma, and my Uncle in the worst ways. Every now and then I'll catch myself remembering little phrases they used to say and it stops me in my tracks. They aren't significant things that changed my life, but little quirky things. When I'm at home I always open my closet before I go to bed and grab my uncles shirts and bury my head in them. It reminds me of him a kind of smoky smell. Sometimes it's the little things we don't want to let go of. I remember my Gran's smile and her laugh most of all. I was walking in wal-mart the other night and passed a night gown on a rack, and it reminded me so much of her--she always had these long cotton night gowns with flowers on them. I caught myself walking by that same night gown again tonight and running my hand across it.

Every time I see my dad it reminds me of my uncle. If I'm feeling this way, I can only imagine what he's going through. My grandmother's house used to be so gorgeous. Every year she would plant at least 400 tulips and they were so pretty, the biggest tulips you've ever seen. The tulips that she last planted are almost gone, and the ones that did bloom are very small. Sometimes you wonder if her home is grieving too.

I've just really had one of those emotional days. Sometimes I just break down, that's how life goes. The picture was taken 1 day before my Gran died, and 6 months before my Uncle Daddy passed away.

To Boob, or not to Boob.....

Yesterday while I was minding my own business at work, I stumbled upon a woman breast feeding her child in the middle of everything at Wal-mart. I know I took a double take, because it really caught me off guard I mean it was like: candy, candy, something shiny, box on the floor, small child, boob, sunglasses......BOOB!

I don't want to offend anyone, but here's my opinion on it. If you are going to breast feed your child, which I find nothing wrong with, and you have to do this in Wal-mart and refuse to sit in the fitting room *in private* put a blanket over your shoulder to shelter the exposed boob. I myself, could never do that in public, and if there were an emergency, I definitely wouldn't whip em' out right there in the open. I happen to consider breast feeding as a pretty intimate thing, and why would you want to be displaying it for everyone to see-IN WAL-MART of all places, but I digress.

The point is, I was shocked to see this in Wal-mart. When telling this to my friend, Fred, she said, " Well, I would happen to think that Wal-mart would be the place you would expect to see something like that." I guess I agree, just caught me off guard.

Miraculously Large Thighs

Colby and I have decided once and for all to begin our diet. Last night we went to the grocery store in search of 'healthy things' to eat. I find that if you go around the edges of the grocery store you're more likely to find the good things, if you walk in to the heart of the store, you're in trouble. I kept seeing little things and saying well, what about this if we get this and only eat it some of the time...then it won't be so bad, huh? Colby shot down all of my ideas. Then I walked by one of those bag o'cookies and saw the peanut butter ones, the word miracle something was printed on the bag, and I said, "Look, see it says miracle.....something...!" and Colby shot back with, "Yeah, it's a miracle she fit into those jeans! Or, Miraculously Large Thighs! It's a miracle she's still walking!" I got the point, and so we went about our 'healthy food adventure'. After all was said and done, we walked out of there with:

• Water
• Rice Cakes
• Dietary Supplements
• *I got Slimfast
• and I may have slipped in a snickers, cause when you're hungry...Why wait?

It's going to be a long summer. I'm going to starve to death!

See this is my problem- I love to eat, I would eat all the time if permitted, and even when I'm not hungry I want something, when I see others eating-I want something. I would be a very depressed girl if I had to drink my meals. Uhh! I eat very slow to savor every last bite, because I'm never sure when Colby will come in and say, "Alright Char-Marie, that's your 12th Oreo....I'm cuttin' ya off!"


Goodbye Oreos, I'll write.

FAMILY FUN DAY!

Here are a few pictures from today! It was our "family fun day!"

Kyle, Stori, and I. Look at her bellah!

Me right before I launched the ball all the way in the corner of the yard, not on target at all! Have I ever told you guys that I was supposed to play ball professionally? The Yankees call me all the time, finally I just told them "Listen guys! I told you that you couldn't afford me, STOP CALLING!" They continue to call...

Happy Easter!

Nothing says Easter like a chocolate covered peanut butter egg.. mmmm.... Kidding.

I've had such a good day today. First off, I had to work at 8 in the a.m until 5- that wasn't the good part. I came home afterwards and got to hang out with my family. Everyone was here, except Colbin-who's hanging out with his wicked cool family. We're so lucky to have awesome families. I spent all night blowing bubbles for Ewan, and the dog was very fascinated with them as well. We spent a good hour trying to throw a dog ball *large softball* into a garbage can from a distance, whoever got it in won 5 dollars! 5 dollars is like half a paycheck to me so I gave it my all, and failed horribly. You might as well have told me to aim the farthest you can from the garbage can cause that's where it landed EVERY TIME! I enjoyed taking pictures of my sister, and her every growing tummy/booty. I love the fact that her butt is expanding because all of our lives she's been ultra skinny and I've been the sister with the butt.

In the picture I almost dropped her twice. She's getting a little hefty.
Once again I'm procrastinating. I have tons of homework so I better get to it.

And So, A Rockstar Was Born...

Tonight, while I was at work, It got very busy and I was called up to the checkouts to cashier. The night was just dragging on, I hate checking because #1. It's not my job. #2. I'm not getting MY job done. #3. I have to deal with customers over and over and over.

So like I said it was a very boring night. Later on in the evening I had a customer come through with two teenage girls, about 13/14. While I was checking, I noticed the two girls looking at me and talking to each other. My initial thought was Oh great, my nose ring is hanging out and looks like a silver boog! When the girls noticed that I was watching them talk about me, one piped up and said, "I love your necklace!" relieved that it hadn't been a boog I said thank you. Then they just started spouting off things like, "I love your hair!" "OMG look at her glasses! Did you know that your glasses have zebra print on the inside?" I shook my head yes. One girl even jumped up and down because she was having a fit of joy that my glasses actually had this on the inside. She jumped and clapped her hands! Then one said, "Look at her shirt! I like your shirt." at this point I laugh and say thanks. The other said, "That is actually two shirts, that's hot!" Now I'm cracking up because you would think I'm some huge rockstar or something. I almost said, "Would you like an autograph? Oh, and on Friday I need someone to do my laundry, I'll actually let you touch these hot clothes."

So it would be nice to have little girls at wal-mart to follow me around and fall down over my every action. Tell me how nice my hair is, that my outfit is the absolute coolest, and that yes, my glasses are indeed the coolest glasses out there. What a lucky girl I am. Wonder if I could hire them?

I've Got Sunshine On a Cloudy Day.......

Woooohooo! Today my class was canceled and I don't have to go to work until 4:15 tonight. It is 84 and SO nice out today. It's really amazing how good the sun and warmth makes you feel. You really see it in everyone, except..... The lady who was helping me with my fabric today. I had to go this morning to get some fabric for a dress that I have to get made, because I'm going to be in a wedding in June. This lady was NOT nice! I've never had a dress made for me or dealt with fabric, or measuring myself, etc.. This lady didn't seem like she cared all that much about it. Besides, she had a mustache......*that wasn't nice-my bad. (true though)

So anyways, like I was saying: IT IS SOOOO NICE OUT!!! I went shopping this morning for some shorts for tomorrow, because Colb and I are going to Silver Dollar City! I feel like a little kid...And I love it!

Workin 9-5....What a way to make a livin'

I know I post a lot about my job, but I've really been having issues with them lately. They now tell me that after 3 years of working there that I can no longer wear jeans, that I have to dress up. I argue and ask what's the point, I'm always on the floor in the dirt. I do not want to pay lots of money to get khakis or nice pants just to ruin them. Being that I'm so tall, I can't walk into wal-mart and buy pants, I have to go to the mall so they're long enough, which means they cost more. Plus just to really piss me off they've told me that I can't have my nose ring, not even a clear one, I can't even cover it with a band-aid.

It wouldn't be such a big deal, except I don't like working there anyways! I would love to find a job somewhere else. I need to for my own sake, because I'm becoming a not nice person. That is driving me crazy. I know I shouldn't be sarcastic to the people, even if they're mean to me. That's not my style anyways, but I feel I've been pushed to my breaking point.

Time to start looking for another job.

Are you out there?

This is just a shout out to my friend, Mark. I haven't heard from you in a while and I had a horrible dream about you last night! CALL ME, or comment.

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears.....OH MY!

This afternoon Colby and I decided to go to the zoo. The last time I had gone to the zoo was about 4 years ago. I was so excited. It was such a beautiful day and I can't think of any better way to spend it then swatting at mosquitoes and trying to get the mountain lions to fight. It was great. The little monkeys were putting on shows, at one point in time there was this blonde colored monkey and he had a dandelion in his hand and he was just looking at it and pulling off petals he loves me, he loves me not....He loves me.... Then he stuck the whole thing in his mouth and kept looking at his empty hand with such sadness, he loves me not... They've really added on to the zoo since I had been there last. Lots of new animal enclosures. Colby knows I'm terribly afraid of birds, so he tried to get every bird he saw: (peacocks, geese, ducks) to chase me. I would have ran like a little girl.

Now Colby and I are headed to see Slither, I've heard some really good things.

Ice Cream, and Xbox....Who could ask for more?

Last night, like every Thursday night, I go home to see what's kickin at the home front. The FAM had been doing a little switching of the rooms, and painting of the walls. We always end up watching survivor on Thursdays, because...Well... That's just what we do. Then it's CSI, and Without a Trace. I started falling asleep on the couch after CSI. Everyone had gone to bed, and then I was wide awake. I try to keep myself occupied while I'm hanging out alone, so I listened to the rain and watched the lightning, then I looked at some pictures, and then I thought I'd just give in to sleep. After I washed my face and brushed my teeth, I noticed that my dad was still wide awake watching t.v.

I couldn't just let him lay there awake to think, so I did what anyone would do. I used his weakness to drag him out of bed- Ice cream! I said, "Are you going to lay there all night, or are we going down to sonic to get some ice cream?" It was 11:00 and he thought they would be closed, but I assured him they'd stay open for us. So he jumped out of bed, you didn't have to ask him twice. He asked mom if she wanted us to bring her something back, and she was sound asleep. Off we went to Sonic at 11pm to get some ice cream, me in my pajamas, and dad with his breathe right nose strip and slippers. I got a rootbeer float, and dad got a chocolate sundae, complete with a cherry on top. I asked him what he'd like to do now, because the night was still young, he said he had two xbox games he'd been dyin to play.

There you have it, one of the best Thursdays a father and daughter could ever have: Ice cream and video games! We drove race cars while eating ice cream until after midnight, then we slept in until 10am....

It's a nice day for a WHITE WEDDING!

Alright, after Colb and I had this conversation I felt the need to share my boyfriend's crazy imagination with you. *Ahem*

Colby told me of this dream he had and it's very vivid.

Its starts out that I propose to him, which I've seriously been considering, and he says, "yes" The wedding is the next day. We are in some place in India and there are little mud huts everywhere. We say I do, and then everyone breaks into song and dance. This is where I chimed in and said, "so our wedding is going to be a musical...Ok, I can handle that." While everyone is breaking it down in the cobblestone street, Colby notices two tigers stalking a fence line looking at us. He said he seemed to be the only one who was scared. Then all of a sudden some tiger pounced on some woman in the alley way behind us. He told me in, I assume in his best Stephen Seagull action hero voice, "Char-Marie, run-Save yourself!"

While I'm runnin for the hills he is off to a magical castle complete with witches to get a magical dagger to kill the tigers with. It just so happens, however, that another witch is wanting the same *blue icicle dagger* as well. Colby gets it first, but she ends up stabbing him in the gut, but only a little. He, out of nowhere, stabs her with the blue icicle dagger, then pulls out a sword he just so happened to be toting as well, then he stabs her with the knife in his gut. She's dead. He comes back to save the day with his magical dagger, just to find that his kick ass wife has already taken care of business, and I imagine she didn't even break a sweat.

Friday Fill-in:

1. Where oh where did I put my...... White shirt, with lace on the bottom. It's strange, but every time I go home to do laundry the dryer seems to eat some of my favorite things. *Ahem Stori...
2. I'd rather be.....no where, but here. I'm hangin out with the wicked cool boyfriend *Colbin* we just got done eating at Texas Roadhouse..We totally gorged ourselves-it was SO worth it!
3. My hair is.... fantastically curly. Colby goes crazy when I don't dry my hair because its very curly, he loves it. Soon Colby's momma, Mary Beth, will be doing a treatment on my hair to make it straight for months...No Chi straightener required. Enjoy it while it lasts Colb.
4. I'm such a slacker I really need to be..... Working on my homework, lesson plans, and reports. It's so easy to say, "Ehh, I'll do it tomorrow!" Tomorrow always ends up being the day before it's due, I work well under pressure.
5. Oh boy! This weekend should be...... Great, Colby's taking me on a date Saturday! We're going to have sushi and listen to live jazz. I'm STOKED!
   

Wondering.

Is it just me, or does it smell like fruit loops after it rains? It has been raining all morning and after my kindergarten class I walked out and it smelled just like fruit loops....I love the smell of fruit loops.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today is that wicked cool boyfriend of mine, Colby's BIRTHDAY! He's 22 and has finally caught up with me for a few months anyways. Colby I've been with you since you were 17 and have only missed one of your birthdays, I promise to never miss anymore. I love you so much and hope you're having a fantastic day! MWAH!

Love

-C

Self Portrait

Self Portrait
Originally uploaded by Char-Marie.

A view from the mirror in our hotel room in Kansas City, right before we hit the casino and walked away in shame. It was a great time, I'd do it again!

The little things...

Oh the little things we take for granted like washing our faces without screaming-because you hit your nose, or scratching our noses and not being worried, or blowing our noses without the thought that it could be disastrous, and just earlier right before I sneezed I had this vision of my nose ring flying out of my nose, and pegging some old woman in the face---how awful would that be?!

Thinking

There is just something about burger king chicken fries! I love love love them. They take me back to when I was younger and babysitting my sister during the summers, we'd make chicken strips that tasted just like them...well.....sort of.

Jeez Louise......

I just registered for my classes this morning and I have to take 7 classes next semester!!! I cannot even imagine 7 classes and they are all scheduled on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday! I would have liked to spread them out a little, but they're all block classes which mean they were already set up for my major to be on those specific days. 17 hours of school a week, 35 hours of work, and somehow the world does not stop spinning. I'm so close to student teaching it's crazy. Soon I'll have to start planning for the "real world", as my dad likes to call it. I'm so worried that work will drop my grades, because these are my last classes before student teaching and they're VERY important. *just breathe

Spontaneity

The boys and I decided to go to kaleidoscope and buy Colby some new earrings, and get Corey's earring fixed. Just like that I decided I'm gonna get something pierced! So, I did. I pierced my nose today! It was so much fun, it looks really cute and it hurt for a split second, and now it only hurts when I laugh. I have to hold my nose if I smile or laugh because it pulls and that stings a bit. Now I'll have to deal with going to work where piercings aren't allowed, I'll possibly have to wear a tiny band-aid on my nose. I also work in classrooms with little kids, I'll have to deal with that too. It was very liberating.....Everyone should try it!

Surprise!

For the past few months I've been planning a fantastic surprise for my wicked cool boyfriend, Colby. Last night it went according to plan. I threw Colby a surprise birthday party and it was so much fun. I told him that I was taking him to dinner the weekend before his birthday *April 4th- When we got to the restaurant-(Millie's- Turn of the Century Cafe) the waitress took us to the patio *which I reserved, and as we turned the corner everyone started singing Happy Birthday it was great. Everyone did such a good job keeping the secret for this long, and he was so surprised! Dinner was excellent, and to top it off I had invited his brother Jacob, cousin Corey, and might as well be brother-Nate. That put the icing on the cake. Thanks everyone for keeping it a secret and showing up for the surprise!

That's Life.

Today I'm totally drained. Life is really catching up with me. I'm running around trying to get everything done. I've spent time studying, taking tests, driving back and forth from MSU to an elementary school that i'm working with. Searching for a parking space... Searching for a parking space....Searching for a parking space. I worked with a school nurse for two hours this morning and now i'm supposed to be studying for a test in my combat memoirs class.

I'm ready to take a nap. I'm in a funk and I hate that. Not because of school or the day, just things. Little things that make their way under my skin and even though I hate myself for it, I can't do anything to make it stop and make that feeling go away. You know how you can be having a perfect day and then poof you see something, or you hear something and it completely drops you and even though you know it shouldn't ... it still does. That's today.

A Must Have.

I recently stumbled upon a fantastic thing, that I think needs to be in every woman's bag o'tricks. I absolutely love it. It's Smith's Rosebud Salve. On the back it reads: For chapped skin, blemishes, diaper rash, and detergent burn. Honestly if it can help aid diaper rash think of what it can do for your lips! It's fabulous! I use it for my hands and for my lips, and when i'm really feeling froggy I put some on my cheek bones to make them shimmer a bit. Try it, I know you'll love it!

Kansas City Venture

Kansas City was fun. We had a good time, we went gambling ate at very nice restaurants and just got to really hang out together. We walked the plaza and window shopped, basically we planned our vacation around places to eat. When we went gambling we spent fifteen dollars each and played penny slots for about three hours, it was so much fun. At one point in time we were each up a little bit of money- the alarms went off and Colby won fifteen dollars, I thought we were millionaires, I screamed and jumped up and down, even winning two dollars was exciting. I guess i'm easily pleased. While driving I saw this billboard and thought it was fantastic! The rest of my pictures are posted on flickr.

Friday Fill Ins :

Taken from Lindsay who stole it from Erin, who took it from Megan :). Thanks Ladies.

My next pet will be named.... Atticus. I would love to have a dog named Atticus or Sprockador-*the dog from fraggle rock.* I loved fraggle rock when I was a kid.
This weekend I plan to.. Well, this weekend has already passed and I spent the weekend in Butler with Colby's family. It was a blast as always. We had a good time, just hangin out watchin movies and eating until we could eat no longer.

Breakfast was... Breakfast was excellent! Mary Beth is an awesome cook, we had ham gravy crescent rolls, and eggs. Mmmmmmmmmm.

Last night at 8pm I was..... Sitting next to Colby's dad, Bryan, watching a movie and eating homemade pizza *again big shout out to Mary Beth.* Thanks Bryan for handing my drink back and forth back and forth.

I deal with stress by..... Crying. I end up having a melt down every so often and I sometimes just burst into tears. Thanks Colb for dealin with it as well as you do.

I forgot.... That I had so much homework, and a test on Tuesday!

Who wants cookies?!

Tonight I was going through the cabinets desperately looking for the two boxes of macaroni and cheese I know that I had bought--when I stumbled upon a bag o'cookies peanut butter cookies, you know the kind... you just add some lovin and poof you have cookies. Well...I decided I had to have these so I went to wal-mart to buy some eggs and came back to bake my delicious peanut butter cookies. I poured the cookies into bowl and ohh the smell was so lovely it was so lovely until I noticed the that the expiration date 2003! My first reaction was to cry, my second was to yell for Colby and ask him if we could still make them. He thought we had better go back to the store and get some more, so off we went. Now I know what you're thinking--Why didn't she just make them from scratch? --well I asked myself the same question..and then laughed for thinking it because I already have trouble with cookies from the roll, I burnt the piss out of my bicep....I'm sticking with the roll o'cookies.

We came home with a roll of peanut butter, and a roll of chocolate chip. Let me tell you there's nothing like peanut butter cookies at midnight. Mmmm I even made the criss cross with the fork and sprinkled love on them.

Woohoo.

Spring break has officially started. Colby and I went to help out my dad yesterday, we've been remodeling and are getting ready to sell a few things. We slept in today until 11! I cannot remember the last time I actually slept in--that late! It was great, then we got up and ordered a pizza, I took a shower and off to the salon I went. I got a french manicure, a massage, and my hair cut and styled. I desperately needed that relaxation. I came home and vacuumed and swiffered. I love to swiffer, it makes me think of the commercials--she looks like she's having so much fun.

Tomorrow we leave bright and early for Kansas City! I'm stoked. I just hope its not freezing! Ahhh one week off, it's already going by too quickly.

Messing with the camera.

Char-Marie
Originally uploaded by Char-Marie.

Tonight while I was sitting in front of my computer I started snapping photos. This happened to be one of the "better" photos taken. There is however a not so flattering picture of me on my flickr page. I was caught off guard and Colby tells me that it's a face he see's often. I'm a little offended..

Craving.

I would love to have a strawberry-banana smoothie right now. Borders has the best smoothies ever!

Little House on the Prairie.

Right now i'm waiting in a computer lab until my next class, which will be held in a one room school house. A one room school house?-you say. Yes, that's right. Today i'll Little house on the prairie it up. This 'one room school house' is complete with the very old wooden benches/desks, cups for your ink pens, big paintings of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, and a bell that you ring to let you know school's in session.

I have to walk up hill both ways to get there too!