On the road again....

travel, travel and more travel.....

Life is going to be pretty busy the next few weeks and into August.

Next week I am in Louisville, KY for the entire week for the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America Mid-Year Conference. We are driving there since it is about 5-6 hours from us. It should be fun, I have never been to Louisville, but have heard it is a pretty neat place. Jared will be leaving to go back to Kansas the end of next week (at least, he is planning on it) to see some friends and family and go to the Kraft's wedding reception in Girard. I wish I could go with him, but I am heading the Wichita the next weekend (Aug. 7-10) for my high school reunion.

I have been looking forward and planning to go to the reunion for some time now. I am pretty excited to see everyone and even go back to El Dorado again (I really don't have a reason to go back there when I am back in Kansas). They have a lot of fun things planned: Friday is like a meet and greet at the Mexican restaurant downtown, Saturday they are giving tours of the new high school and Saturday night is dinner, drinks and dancing at the country club. Should be a lot of fun AND I get to see my best pal Sherry and her baby belly (YAY for Jackson Daugherty)!!!

I get back from Wichita and I am in South Bend for one day and then I turn around and fly out to Dallas for the Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Conference. This conference will be a great time since we are actually taking coalition members with us this time. Plus, I love Dallas! :)

I get back from Dallas on August 15 just in time for Jared and I's 2 year wedding anniversary on the 16th. We have been together so long (8years) it is hard to believe we have only been married 2 years. But my how these 2 years have seen a lot of changes for us. Not sure what our plans are for that day, I will probably be exhausted, haha. We originally wanted to go up to Traverse City for a weekend, but not sure if the budget will allow for that anymore. Oh well, I am sure we will do something even if it is just dinner.

That is about it for travel at this time! That is alot and makes me tired thinking about it, but it will be a lot of fun.

Thoughts in my head right now

WARNING: I'm in a strange mood today and more or less just rambling through this blog. So if things don't make sense to you, I am sorry. But it sure make sense to me right now.

Have you ever felt like you need to cry? Have a nice, long and hard cry; but you aren't sure why? Almost like your body just needs a release of emotion from all the stress, excitement, anxiety, fear and other emotions you may be feeling. I have felt like that alot lately, but the tears have yet to flow. I have a feeling when they do, it will be a glorious thing.

I am sooooooo sick of being poor and not being able to have nice things. It is really starting to get to me. I am 28 years old and I live in an apartment with my husband and a roommate... no kids. Yes, I am throwing a pity party for myself. But damn it... it really bothers me sometimes, especially when I see my friends and other people my age that "appear" to have the life I want... house, family, successful career, etc.

For the first time in a long time I feel like I have no idea where my life is headed. Are we happy here? Sometimes. Am I happy in my career? Uh, sometimes. Life is so damn unpredictable and sometimes I like that, but not right now. I want to KNOW what is next for me. What is my next challenge? What is my next big accomplishment, if any? I want to be ready.... no more of this unpredictable stuff. I feel like I have lost control of my destiny and it is a lonely sad feeling.

Have you ever questioned EVERY decision you have ever made and thought, what if? I play the "what if" game all the time, and I know it doesn't do any good. What if I got a different degree in college? What if I didn't move to Indiana? What if I was more athletic in school, would I be overweight today? What if I tried out for American Idol, haha? What if? What if? There are lots of things I think about... life, career, friends, family, loved ones. I know I have to live the life I have been given and that I can't change the past, but I do think about it. Don't get me wrong, my life is not horrible at all! I just think about this stuff cause that is the way I am. But I know I need to just need to focus on the future and making it the best it can be!

I'm sure these feelings will pass... I am a moody girl anyway, so ask me in 2 hours and I will probably be fine, haha. Just needed to put some things out there and make sure I am not the only one who feels extremely inadequate and strangely sad at times.

All over the place

I know I know... I am a blogger slacker! Go ahead, throw your stones and spread your gossip. It is ok. I deserve it :)

Summer is here and fun times are upon us. Fireworks season is OVER so I actually get to spend some time with that one guy I live with, ya know, the one that I call husband. It is nice to have him back and be able to do more things together.

Here is a recap of our last few weeks.

July 4th

We had a cook out and fireworks show at the warehouse in Elkhart for all the workers and their families this year. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to be able to do this for them after all the long hours they worked this year.

At the 4th of July Cook out

My Birthday

I had a pretty good birthday this year; pretty laid back. We went to dinner at the Olive Garden (thanks mom and dad for the gift card) and then we were too stuffed to do anything else, so we just went home and vegged the rest of the evening. The next day, Saturday, we had a full day of fun! We woke up early and went to breakfast and then headed to the Pottawatomi Zoo in South Bend. For the size of South Bend, they have a pretty nice zoo. Jared and I went last year and decided to check out a few of the new exhibits. Then we went and saw Public Enemies at the theather, took a quick nap and then went over to a friend's house to watch the UFC fight. Jared loves that UFC crap... it is just ok for me. Not in love with it, but exciting at times.

Us at the zoo

Hopefully next weekend will be just as exciting!

Other than that, we are looking into renting out our house in Girard. It has been for sale for a year and a half now and it just makes us sick the money we pay every month towards that house. Plus, we are really ready for a place of our own and more room. Our apartment is sooooo cramped. It doesn't matter how much I clean or organize it still looks cramped. If we can rent out our house that will free up some money to be able to live on our own again. Fingers crossed!

That's about all folks, pretty lame! :)

Happenings in The Bend

Hope you are prepared for a full dose of randomness cause it is comin' folks!

CAR

First of all, I am happy to report that Lola, our 2006 Camry, is back up to her SHOWGIRL spirits. I took her into the dealership last week and they had a new part in her the next day. Now she unlocks and locks with perfection (which is a good thing living in this city). Bad news is we ended up dropping $240 on the '99 Camry for an oil change, new serpentine belt and the transmission flushed. :(

JADA

Well, my poor Jada Marie Birk will most likely end up having all her teeth pulled. She had two pulled in January when she went in for a cleaning. Now, 6 months later, her gums are all red again. They said some cats are just more prone to it... I think she is one of them. She is only 4, so I am so saddened to hear this news. But, she is a spunky, sweet and fun loving little cat so I think she will pull through well :) I just feel bad for her. (Sorry folks, but until I have a kid, you will have to hear stories about my baby Jada. My wanna-be-a-mom mentality goes into overdrive with her, haha).

JARED

is doing well, just working hard as usual this time of year. His hip seems to be ok, although I know we will spend some time looking for and talking to doctors and physical therapist after the season is over. We plan to have a 4th of July party at the warehouse with all the workers so we are excited about that and actually getting to shoot off some fireworks. Should be fun! After season I hope to get my husband back so we can go to some Silverhawks and Cubs games, hit the casino, do some karaoke and some traveling. We always make so many plans for after the season is over, so I am excited to get my husband back. :)

ME

I have just been working and sitting at home. Pretty lame actually. I haven't even been working my jewelry business. I still love it, just not real motivated right now I guess. It will come back soon I hope.

There are a lot of changes happening at my job right now that have me a little worried and preoccupied. My job is not is danger, but our organization is going through A LOT of changes. I just hope everything turns out ok.

I also joined an election campaign for sheriff. I am really excited about working on a political campaign, I have never done anything like this before. I don't even really know the guy, but several of my friends are supporting him and are serving on his committee and so I jumped on the bandwagon. We are currently planning a golf outing and I helped created a Facebook page for him. :) It should be fun!

Yes, our house is still for sale and I am TIRED of talking about it. There is a lady at work that asks me EVERYDAY (not an exaggeration) if we have sold it yet. NO LADY! STOP ASKING ME! Jared and I are about at our wits end with this house. We love it, why can't someone else fall in love with it and offer us a decent price for it. It is frustrating. If we don't have it sold by the end of the summer we are probably going to rent it out. We are so scared to do this, but at this point we have no choice. We are losing a considerable amount of money each month on this house and even if we could break even and make just enough for our mortgage would help us out. It is just scary and we would have to find someone we really trust to manage it for us. UGH! My blood pressure is rising just thinking about it!

That's about is for updates. :) I could go on and on... you all know I am a talker, but I will spare you just this one time. :)

Have a great week everyone!

Like mother, like daughter

Clumsiness is my middle name folks. I fall, trip and run into things all the time. You can read about some of my mishaps here.

Apparently my poor little Jada kitty has inherited (nature vs. nurture argument) her mother's gracefulness.

This morning she was sitting in the doorway of the bedroom watching me put on my jewelry and I asked her if she was hungry and ready for her food. She turns around really fast and slams the entire right side of her head into the door! I was laughing so hard I had to re-do my mascara, then I got a little worried about her... it was a pretty loud bang. She has done stuff like that before. One time she tried to jump up onto the bathroom vanity and she missed and slammed into the cabinet, haha. It is funny to watch, but I feel her pain. I just hope people don't laugh at me as much as I giggle at Jada.

Poor baby... let's hope she doesn't inherit anymore of her momma's bad traits. If she starts biting her nails I may get a little worried. :)

Poor poor Lola

my precious 2006 Camry already needs repairs

That's right folks. The slate grey, four door beauty that we just purchased CERTIFIED in February has to go to the doctor.

She's got some issue with not wanting to lock and unlock the doors correctly. At first, I thought it was that I didn't know how to operate the keyless entry (yes, this was my first car to have keyless entry....lame I know). After reading the 2 pages in the manual on the automatic locks I quickly figured out it isn't just my inexperience with car technology.

Here's the deal. When you push the unlock button 2 times on the keyless entry it is supposed to unlock all the doors, right? Well... sometimes it would unlock them all and other times it wouldn't. The strange thing is, it would always work first thing in the morning, but then not the rest of the day. But, it is more than just the keyless entry. Even when I would click the button to unlock all the doors on the driver's side, they wouldn't unlock. I had to reach into the back and manually flip the lock over like I had a flippin' 1985 model Camry. Super annoying!

Bad News: I will have to turn my car over to them to get it fixed.

Good News: We extended our warranty when we purchased it... so no out of pocket expense for us! :)

For now, say a little prayer for my precious Lola. Hopefully she will be back up to her "showgirl" spirits soon. :)