Youth Group & Julie's Wedding

We had our youth group rummage sale on Saturday and we raised $1650!! Very exciting! There is a group of ladies who worked for weeks to put this together and did an excellent job. Kory and I helped several of the teens paint the youth room upstairs while the rummage sale was going on downstairs. It looks great! I'm very impressed with the teen's work. I'll try to get some pictures up here soon to show off the paint job.

Here are a few more pictures from Julie's wedding:

She got her cake toppers custom-made of her, her husband, their dog and their mini-horse. They were SOO cute! That is his Fireman's number on his helmet and the dress was made to look like hers...such a great buy!

I also thought this was quite entertaining! This is what she did to my hair before she started fixing it for the wedding. That is some serious volume!

Picture Update!

After church in the park

Visiting the Redwoods

Julie's Bridal Party

I revived this plant...literally brought it back from death...very excited about it!

My boy can be sweet sometimes...hand picked roses...not sure where he stole them from though, he won't tell me that much.

Biggest Loser Disappoints

Did not like Biggest Loser last night. Had they previously announced that it would only be the top 3 and I just missed it? I've watched every episode and do not remember them saying that before. I'm very confused because all along it's been about the Final Four...just like every other year. I know they try to change it up and make it different, but this season they've just got a bit overboard with the changes.

Also, I feel like stupid Jillian ruined it for Daris. He probably had a chance until she was so mean, as usual. I hope he is the one voted into the final 3...I like him a lot! I don't really dislike Koli, but he's definitely my least favorite of the top 4. Ashley and Mike--hmm...I was hoping for Ashley and Daris, but I guess I can accept them together. I didn't even recognize Mike when the show started and they were all standing in the dark watching the videos.

Seeing all the people from previous seasons who have put a lot of the weight back on was really sad. Even when the contestants went home and really struggled, I was thinking about just how hard it really is for them. It's incredibly overwhelming to think they have to struggle with this for the rest of their lives.

I'm excited to see all of the contestants and where they are now...especially those who left the show early on and we haven't seen for a while. Even though I really love watching BL, I'm kind of happy that all the TV shows I watch are going to end for the season because I've started watching way too much TV lately. Hopefully I can start enjoying this warm weather more.

Oh, I am SO excited at the prospect of going to the trestle and swimming after work in the evenings when it gets really warm. We're going camping Memorial Day weekend and then again in July when we attend Creation Fest, which is a huge Christian music festival held in Washington. Summer fun is finally starting to begin!

100th Post!!

**I wrote this blog yesterday and forgot to post it. I'll try to add pictures of my trips soon!**

Wow, I can't believe I have posted 100 blogs. I will celebrate #100 by telling you about the fantastic week I had hanging out with friends.

I got to hang out with Lynsey on Thursday night when we stayed at her apt before flying to NM early the next morning. It was so great to catch up with her! Laying on a bed, staying up late chatting about girl things is just good for the soul! I was sad to miss hanging out with Anna Kate, but I did see her for a minute and she is SO tall! I really think that girl will be the same height as me when she is 5 years old :)

Brad came to spend his vacation with Kory and I last week and it was SO much fun! We went to see Iron Man 2, visited the Redwoods, celebrated my new job, and went to Portland.

I went to Artesia over the weekend to be in Julie's wedding...although my travel plans were interrupted and at one point, I wasn't sure I was going to make it!

There were thunderstorms in Dallas on Friday and DFW airport was completely closed. We re-routed to Waco, which was also closed, but we were running low on fuel so we had to land immediately in Killeen at the Ft. Hood military base. We spent most of the afternoon in this tiny airport and I ate my lunch out of a vending machine. Thank goodness I had my iPhone to entertain me all day. Many more things went wrong that day, but I did make it to Artesia about 10:30 or so that night. I missed the rehearsal and dinner and lingerie shower, which was REALLY disappointing, but at least I made if for the wedding, which was the most important part. Wedding day was very fun! Julie is the most ridiculous bride I know, but I love her just the same :)

I got home about 7:30 Monday night and a couple hours later, had more friends coming to visit me! Hannah C. and Britni J. stopped by on their Western States road trip and spent the night at my apt last night. It was great to see them and catch up on life! I'm pretty sure it's been 2 years since I've seen Britni--which is crazy! I have got 5 hours of sleep or less 3 of the past 5 nights so I'm completely exhausted. It was wonderful spending so much time with friends/family, but I'm excited about going to my apt tonight and laying on the couch to watch Biggest Loser and living this small town, slow-paced life I'm used to.

Speaking of Biggest Loser, I am beyond excited for next week's Finale! I don't really know what they'll do on tonight's show since the final four is already decided, but I'll love watching it anyway. I missed last week's American Idol, so I'll definitely try to catch it this week. I just really love Casey James so much...I think he'll be a star even if he doesn't win because he'll have so many females in love with him...including Cara D.

FRIENDS :)

May is the month for friends!! Brad will be here next week, I get to see lots of friends and family at Julie's wedding in a week and a half, two college friends are hopefully staying a night with me the next week as they drive through Oregon and there is a possibility of seeing another friend at the end of May. Like most other things in life, I never fully appreciated friends my age until I had ZERO that I see on a daily basis.

Oh Biggest Loser--how I LOVE you! This week was so emotional with the make-overs. The guys looked so great! The girls didn't really look much different, but it's still incredible to see their tiny little waists after 16 weeks. I really really want Daris and Ashley to make the top 4 and then to start dating! I think they'd be so cute together. On the other hand, I am NOT ok with Sam and Stephanie. I never liked her--I think she whined too much. I love Sam and they don't make a cute couple at all.

I didn't watch American Idol last night because I was watching BL and Parenthood. However, I did have a fantastic dream about Casey James...we were definitely in love :) I listen to Kidd Kraddick on the way to work, however, and this morning they were all saying they think Casey is getting kicked off tonight. My dream was obviously an omen that he will be heart-broken today and need my love to comfort him. I prefer to watch the singing and results show the same night and fast forward through everything but the contestant performances, judges comments (unless they're annoying) and the actual results. The quality of contestants on AI this year is definitely down from previous years. If Casey gets kicked off, I will lose a lot of interest in the show...as will many other females I presume.

Last weekend was a very productive time for me! I got my apartment REALLY clean...like dusting and sweeping and beating the rugs and the stuff I don't do very often at all. It feels so nice to come home to a very clean apt. I also cleaned out a lot of junk and have quite a bit of stuff to donate to the youth group rummage sale later this month.

I can't believe I will be in Artesia in 10 days. I haven't seen anyone from there since Christmas. It's weird that I'm at a place in my life where I might see my parents a couple times a year! On that note, I can't really explain why but I have really started to feel more like a young adult lately and less like a college student. I actually like the feeling...it helps a lot at work to feel like I'm not some kid hanging out with the grown-ups.

This Friday, I have an interview for a permanent position at work. It would be the exact same thing I'm doing now, but without an ending date for the position. The only other person in our office who is a Limited Duration also is my closest friend here, so that really stinks that we have to compete against each other for the job. As long as one of us gets it, I'll be happy. I'm hoping to retire by 2011 anyway, so it's ok if my job ends :)