I Rock His Last Name!

Today's writing prompt from The One-Minute Writer: Describe a "first day" in your life (first day of marriage, of school, at a new job, etc.)

Hmmm let's see. I think I will talk about my first day of marriage. I'm sure that will be a lot more interesting than any of the other firsts. I think that ya'll will be able to write about this as well.

Chris and I spent our wedding night at the B&B that we got married at. I remember waking up at like 8 o'clock that next morning to the blinding sun coming in through the windows. I just wanted to stay cuddled up for a few more hours with my NEW husband, but that sun was driving me crazy. Chris and I both woke up, packed up our wedding clothes, champagne glasses, and box of cards (that we had read that night before), and left the castle (the B&B was actually made to look like a castle). We couldn't stop smiling and giggling with each other! It was the sweetest thing. We felt so close to each other, having shared something soooo special with each other the night before.

I remember it feeling and sounding so strange to now be a wife. I was sooo excited though. We stopped by Chris's parents' house on the way to our new home, and had brunch with his family. We then went back to our house and did laundry and started packing for our honeymoon (we were leaving that night). Somehow, I don't know how, we ended up walking outside and locking the door behind us. WE LOCKED OURSELVES OUT OF OUR HOUSE! I was thinking, "Seriously?! Our first day in the house, and we already locked ourselves out!!" It was quite funny actually. Thank God that Tony and Nikki were going to house-sit for us while we were gone, and showed up about 15 minutes after we got locked out. We were pretty lucky; however, Nikki didn't make it very easy for us to forget it--she got proof! **See below picture.

Overall, my first day as Mrs. Shaw was a very eventful day. Since then, I have fallen more and more in love with Chris, and have become more and more proud to rock his last name! :]

V for Victory!

This weekend was a pretty amazing one. Well, actually, Sunday was pretty amazing!!! My mother ran a 26.2 mile marathon!! She has been training for this marathon since May (I think), and it all finally paid off yesterday! My mom had been saying that she had wanted to run a marathon before she turned 50, and she is 46 and completed it! She ran it in seven hours, and she looked great when she ran through the finish line--she wasn't even sweating!! Also, Mariah made friends with the announcer/host of the marathon, and he let me, Matt, Mariah, and Rebecca (Matt's girlfriend) run the last 20 ft. or so with mom through the finish line! It was sooo incredible to see mom prepare for and accomplish her goal, and do it with a smile on her face. While we were waiting for her to finish, Rex told me that right before she ran, Mom said to him, "No matter what, I need to finish this marathon. I need to show my kids that if you start something, you should finish it. You shouldn't quit." This meant so much to me because I am such a quitter in life. I teared up when Rex told me that.

I am so proud of my mom. Below are a couple of the pictures at the finish line. I will post more when I get them!

Whatever...

I am very tired today. I am trying my best to write something everyday, but right now, I just don't have the desire to share all the little details of my day. Here is a very very general recap: I went to training, had a cinnamon role, talked with the girls about all of our crazy obsessions with reality tv, spent some time with my sister-in-law and niece, came home to my hubby, ate some pizza, and watched Paris Hilton's My New BFF (more trash tv that I can't get enough of).


That was my day in a nutshell--not sure if I honored the veterans with ANY of my daily activities. Oh well, at least they got the day off. Not all of us are that lucky. I'm not complaining though...they earned it.

A Place to Refresh Your Spirit.

I am a follower of a blog called "One Minute Writer", and this blog gives other bloggers a prompt to write about every day. Today's prompt was, "Where is your favorite place in your home?" Instead of writing a blog about my day, today I am going to write about my favorite place in my home.

This is really hard to narrow down to one place. I enjoy several spots in my house. When Chris and I decorated our house, we chose colors, furniture, and fabrics that would create a warm and cozy atmosphere for us, along with others, to be able to relax and find peace. I guess I would have to say my ABSOLUTE favorite place in my house is to be curled up on our sofa in the living room. Our living room is a goldenrod color, and is complimented with browns, burgundy, and greens. All of the fabrics in this room are smooth, soft, and comforting.

Chris and I have shared several special memories with people we really care about in this room. From our first Christmas morning with each other, to endless nights of dominoes and rock band with Tony and Nikki, to United Perfect fellowships, and movie nights with our friends and family. We have really embraced the idea of our house being a place to "refresh people's spirits" through the use of this room alone.

I look forward to many many more memories made in this very room that I am blogging in now!

If You Like Oatmeal, You'll Like This Mush!

I had a great day at the branch today! I did do some tedious work like web-based training, and watched some cheesy videos on Wells policies and customer care, but other than that today was marvelous! I really like all the people I am going to work with! The teller ambassador who is helping train me is soooooo funny, and lots of fun to be around. There is another girl who has such a sweet heart and a smile on her face. Another who is really petite and really pretty, but SUPER nice, and another guy who is just so helpful! I am just so glad that I like the people I am going to work with! I think it is going to make things really fun!

Also today, the store manager, the CSSR, and the teller ambassador took me out for lunch at Salt Grass!! It was sooooo good! We had a very pleasant time, with great conversation and lots of laughs, not to mention delicious food too! After lunch, we went back to the branch where I proceeded to take some more online tests.

After work, Chris surprised me by meeting me at the branch and then treating me to dinner at Red Lobster! I just got the royal treatment today! [I can get used to that! lol] Chris had endless shrimp (as always! ;]), and I had a salad, a bowl of clam chowder, and some of Chris's great shrimp! He said that he wanted to take me out to celebrate my new job! I swear, I know that no one is perfect, but Chris is the closest person to perfect that I have ever met! I tell him all the time how appreciative I am of him, but I still don't think I say it enough. I just wanna kiss him all over whenever I am with him. Which brings me to another point--I think that this new job really makes me value my time with Bub soooo much more! When I was at home all day, I was busy, but I would wait all day for him to come home, and I didn't feel like I was making a difference in many people's lives, much less my community, but now I really look forward to coming home to my handsome hubby, and I feel like I am helping others and leaving an impression [hopefully a good one] on their lives. I know it's only been a week, but I already feel much happier and like my life is more fulfilling. This does not discredit my friends and family members that are stay-at-home wives and moms though. I think that what ya'll do is VERY honorable, but, for now, I think having a job is the BEST move for my life and for my happiness!


One more thing, I had a great conversation with Mom and Rex [separately] earlier, and I am soooo thankful that they are in my life. My mom and I have a great relationship, and besides Chris, she is truly my best friend. I can talk to her about anything, and I am so thankful for that relationship. Also, I am thankful for Rex. I have come to consider him my dad, and can even say "I love you" to him without it feeling awkward. God totally knew that he needed to be in my life. It's great.

Diversity

Diversity. I have never realized how important it was until today. At teller orientation (yes, I am a sexy teller, Meg!) we talked about how much the Wells Fargo company believes in diversity. We had three representatives from three of the team member groups come and talk to us: one from a group called "Check Point", the African American group, another called "Amigos", the Latin American group, and one called "Pride" for the Gay/Lesbian/Transgender/Bisexuals. All of these groups represent all kinds of diversity that Wells Fargo supports, but these groups are not limited to people who represent these things. I could be apart of any of these groups.

Also, since I have been training with Wells Fargo, I have come in contact with several homosexual employees. At first I thought it was a little strange because it is rare that I ever cross paths with any homosexuals, for whatever reason.

I am so torn. Every one of these individuals is extremely friendly, and normal. I don't even think about their sexual orientations, unless it comes up in conversation. The thing is, this way of life is a sin according to God's Word. I guess I have learned that everyone is a sinner and that it is truly possible to love someone but hate their sin. I don't feel like I am being tolerant and compromising my beliefs, but I also believe that I am NOT judging them (in the true sense of the word) for their sins. I think it is important to love them just like I would love a friend who lies, or cheats on their boyfriend/girlfriend, or someone who has an anger problem. The truth is that we ALL need help. We are all sinners, and NONE of us deserve what God blesses us with. What we do need to realize, however, is that once we realize our sins, it is OUR job to work on those things and change our lives around with God's help. Only through this can we receive redemption and forgiveness.

Anyway, I think I am where I am for a reason, and if God asks me to take a step and speak into any of these people's lives, I am ready. I think he has prepared me to do this in love, and to be a good friend to others--one with compassion and kindness, and truth.


This blog was really more for me to sort out my thoughts, but thank you for reading it.


One last thing, I do not believe in "the Gay Gene". If you don't know what that is, ask Nikki!

Bill Miller and Drugs.

Today was pretty normal. Nothing very exciting happened, except that I ate at Bill Miller for lunch!!! That's a good day in itself, wouldn't you think? The girls I am training with all piled into my car and we had wonderful Bills together. I think Bills puts crack in their chicken strips and heroin in their lettuce because I am ADDICTED to their salads! Yummo! They might possibly slip a little somethin' in their delicious tea too because I wanna put that stuff in a syringe and shoot up all day!

Okay that's enough drug references for one blog! HA HA HA! Other than that, I drove home in traffic, came home, checked my mail, and now am blogging and watching "Sex With Mom and Dad". I love this show. I think open communication between parents and their teens is sooooo important! I wish every family had a pocket-sized Dr. Drew in their home.

Now I am gonna make my way over to Nikki's home so we can work out!

Thanks for reading!
Aloha.

I'm sooo over it.

I had training again today, and shadowed a lead teller at the branch I am going to be working at for the last half of the day. I had a lot of fun, and the people I am going to be working with are REALLY cool, and super funny! All day I was debating whether or not I should go vote after work. I decided that it was my own fault that I waited till the last minute, and that standing in a long line with a bunch of strangers was NOTHING compared to what women in our past went through for me to even have the opportunity to vote.

So after guilting myself all the way to the Bulverde Methodist Church to vote, I walked in and realized that there was no line. There were about ten people in the room and half of them were the proctors(or whatever they are called). I was able to go up to the booth immediately where this woman explained to me what I needed to do and what my voting options were. When she was telling me all of this, I was thinking, "Okay, lady, I totally know what to do, and you're just taking up my time. Can you leave me alone already?" As soon as she walked away, I clicked on the language option, thinking that I chose English!! In all actuality, I chose SPANISH! I didn't think it was a big deal until I realized that there was no "back" button I could click on to start over! Stupid me, I had to complete my voting in Spanish....Good thing I could make out what "republico" and "democrata" meant! He He He! I guess I should have appreciated the fact that she was trying to help me! Oops!

Anyway, I'm not gonna say much about the elections or voting except that I think people go waaaaaay overboard when talking about politics. Half the people I talk to, or am friends with on myspace are like, "If you vote for Obama, you're going to hell" or "You are soo stupid if you voted for McCain." Give me a break, people! I say vote for who you feel will be the best candidate, will benefit this country, and who's morals closely align with your morals. Stop criticizing others and being hateful because not everyone is voting for whoever the heck you are voting for.

With that said, have a great evening and don't tear your hair out if your candidate doesn't win.

A Collection of Importance

Wow! Today I started my first day of training at Wells Fargo! It was a success! I had so much fun and met some pleasant gals! And what's more--I get paid during training! Yay! I also had Chik-Fil-A for lunch, which I haven't had in a very long time, and I can assure you, it was yummy as usual!

I wanted to let everyone know that "yes" those are my sexy stems at the top of this page! My sister in law[Shelly] took a series of pictures of me for the anniversary present I gave Chris! They turned out great! I'll see if I can get her to email me the files so I can show ya'll! I have the hard copies, but no scanner. And if you are wondering, Chris absolutely loved the pictures!

One last thing, I wanted to explain the headline on my blog--Painted Red. One of my favorite musicians name is JJ Heller. She is a Christian folk artist, and writes and performs some of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Her music touches my soul in a way no other music has. I feel like the things she writes about are the exact things I want to say to my Lord and the other people surrounding me. I think what strikes me most about her music is the simplicity in which she executes it: a simple acoustic guitar, a simple lead vocal with her husbands' background vocal, and simple words that say exactly what they mean without any kind of "fluff".

Anyway, name of her latest album is also the name of the last song on the album: Painted Red. The lyrics really captivated my mind, my senses, and my heart. It is a short song with so much depth. I have included the lyrics below. Enjoy!

If I could not hold a pen,
I would write of you on my heart instead.
You have bought me with your blood,
and I am painted red by your love.
If I could not say a word,
my life would speak of love I don't deserve.
Hope means holding on to you,
grace means you're holding me too.

Weekend-End

The weekend is coming to an end and I am sooooooo glad! This has been a really dramatic weekend. Chris said that it would probably make for a very successful lifetime movie. Megan, I'll let you in on all the details later on. Halloween was pretty fun! We did go to the Harvest Fest and volunteered, and I saw a lot of people from my past--I was happy to see some of them, and others....not so much! After the festival, Chris and I spent the night with Tara, James, and Baby Elijah, and we had a great time with them. Saturday evening Chris barbequed, and Tony, Nikki, and the kids came over to watch the UT v. Texas Tech game. After the game, we played Clue until 2:30 am!

Chris and I expected to have a very restful weekend, and we got the exact opposite. But despite all of the drama, I am so thankful for the special people God has placed in my path that I care for and that care for me. This is a rather short blog, but I am suuuuuuper tired and am gonna join my hubby in a nap!