Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Lilypie First Birthday tickers

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

"I Don't..."

I don't like root beer, licorice, mustard, Canadian bacon, or jellybeans... seriously, root beer and licorice make me nauseous... which automatically strikes out fennel and anise too...

I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

I don't wear flats... I love high heels.

I don't ever have to mow the lawn. I wouldn't know how if I ever had to.

I don't make the Dachshund sleep on the floor like I should. She just begs so pitifully.

I don't tune my own guitar... not that I can't, I just have a husband that always does it for me.

I don't understand the whole Miley Cyrus/ Hannah Montana phenomenon... I don't understand a lot of things.

I don't like to make the bed... when I wash the sheets, I bribe my husband to do it... unfortunately, he has caught on to my scheming...

I don't feel very comfortable in new social settings... I get quite self-conscious.

I don't remember the last time I shopped at a mall... whenever it was, it can be measured in years.

I don't know how Sugarbear and I will ever agree on a 'boy's name'. We've had the same girl's name picked out since before we were married... so about 9 years... but we still argue over a boy's name... should make for fun times.


Jenna's Journey

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Part II...

Part two…
Well, like I said, I was not aware that a simple conversation would lead to a disastrous first date and a new guitar. So, things go on pretty slow for a few weeks. I am busy planning my future by way of a far off college, getting ready for graduation, etc. True to form, my sister makes fast friends in our youth group, and is instantly in the ‘in’ crowd. Also true to form, I, needless to say, did not. I have never been outgoing…. Will never be outgoing… and have always been pretty much overshadowed by my siblings in the personality department. Not that I mind… that’s just the way we operate. My siblings are the loud, vivacious, energetic ones. If you want to be the center of attention, seek them out a party. If you want to engage in a dry-witted, cerebral, slightly self-deprecating discussion of various issues, then come sit by me. Anyways, the point was that I tend to be on the fringe of the group versus the center. But, the chubby guy with the glasses kept seeking me out... to talk to, to sit with, etc. It became clear to pretty much everyone but me that this nerdy guy had a crush on the new girl… that would be me. Pretty soon, what began as a first conversation about the merits of time travel turned into a friendship. This nerdy guy in glasses always seemed to make me laugh. Life for me was pretty stressful at that time in other areas, and I was in a constant state of rush, checking my watch every two minutes, always having to be somewhere. This drove the nerdy guy nuts… so, he came up with this idea that anytime I was at church, that I was not allowed to have my watch on. So immediately upon my entering the building, he would grab my arm, take off my watch, and put it in his pocket. He swears now that it was for my well-being… I swear now that he just wanted an excuse to touch me. Not to mention, that if I wanted my watch back, I had to always come find him at the end of the service… So, this continues for a few weeks.
Here comes a weekend in May. I am still pretty clueless about the crush Sugarbear is nursing for me, so I was totally caught off guard when he called and asked me to the movies… the nerdy guy asked me to go see Prince of Egypt with him… yes, the Dreamworks animated movie about Moses. I, at first, said yes, being kind of blindsided by the invitation. Sugarbear called the morning of the engagement to see what time I wanted to go… and I did a horrible, no good, very bad thing. Being the snotty girl I was at the time, I made the last minute decision that I didn’t want to go out with the chubby computer nerd… because I didn’t want anyone to think we were dating… so……….. I can’t believe I’m confessing this… I fibbed to get out of the date. I told him some stupid story about having to clean my house… and if you know me well, you know that I am a horrible liar… I can’t tell a story to save my life. So, it was obvious to Sugarbear that I was fibbing… and nothing he could say could make me change my mind… poor Sugarbear. His disappointment was palpable… later I realized the courage it took for someone who was even more on the fringe and introverted than I, to take that step to ask me out… and I felt even more guilty… but that’s ok, I guess, I think I’ve made up for it since! So, anyways, poor Sugarbear. His tone as we hung up the phone was one of poor disappointment… I should have felt horrible! It was much, much later that Sugarbear told me what he ended up doing that day… He was so depressed that I had stood him up, that he took all of the money he had saved, and blew it on a new guitar… that he promptly named after another girl… he still has that guitar… and it is still named after that other girl! And he still tells this story when he gets the opportunity to tell someone about his guitars…

Sugarbear counts this as our first date… I do not… so stay tuned the story of what I consider our first date! Part III!

Monday, July 13, 2009

How It All Started...

Spending the weekend involved in various wedding activities for my sister made me kind of nostalgic… not for weddings, goodness no. Honestly, if I had the choice again, I’d elope… run off somewhere fun and spontaneous. No, I’m nostalgic about 10 years of a relationship, including almost 7 years of marriage. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I am talking about Sugarbear. Some of you know him, most of you love him, a few of you are jealous of his mad ice cream making skills… So, I’d thought I’d start at the beginning.

The year was 1999… I was just three months shy of high school graduation. I was not what you’d call social, sticking mainly to a small group of people who prided themselves on being nonconformist. If it was main stream, we were not into it… anyways…. I was also not what you would call popular. Quite the opposite, in fact. The whole high school experience for me was definitely not one to remember. So, here I was, trying desperately to get somewhere new by way of college, plan my way outta Dodge, and by Dodge, I mean Amarillo. Little did I know at the time what else God had in store for me… little did I know how long it would take me to recognize God’s hand in my circumstances… and one Sunday, my family up and decided to attend a new church.

So, here we go… One thing you must know about me is that I am pretty uncomfortable in social situations that include large groups of people that I don’t know… I definitely missed the gene present in my mother and little sister that includes the ability to find friends anywhere and always say the right thing at the right time, and engage in decent social graces in general. So, here I am feeling very uncomfortable in my charcoal grey wool cargo pants and mauve wool v-neck sweater. My little sister, being the social butterfly that she is, recognizes a boy from the high school we attended… he was a perfectly nice boy, but not someone I knew, other than knowing that I had seen him around campus. She instantly makes friends, and drags me along to sit in the ‘youth’ section… so, now I’m feeling conspicuous and uncomfortable, sitting next to a strange boy in a strange church… little did I know that I was being watched.

There is a pretty much ubiquitous greeting time in most Baptist churches, usually after the call to worship. This is a nightmare for me, still is. I don’t like hugging. I don’t like shaking hands… germs! Plus there’s the whole ‘will anyone want to shake my hand’ rejection thing. So, I am trying to avoid touching anyone when an eager looking, nerdy kind of chubby guy in glasses comes up and shakes my hand. I hardly remember him…

**The following is Sugarbear’s relation of our first meeting, almost verbatim**
Sugarbear was sitting in the sound booth, being in charge of the powerpoint that day. He was sitting there, minding his own business, playing with the light switches, when BOOM… He looks down and sees the most beautiful girl he has ever seen in his entire life sitting next to his best friend... he became insanely jealous, and at that moment, he knew that he would rush down during the greeting just to shake her hand.
***********************************************

The next couple of weeks are filled with getting to know the church, beginning to attend the student activities, culminating in moving our membership. Me, being the determined one I am, let everyone know that this was only temporary, as I had my heart set on attending the big, expensive private school that my two best friends would be attending… before I know it, it is Easter, and the youth gather at the home of our youth pastor for a fun-filled evening of watching Deep Impact…(yes, the asteroid movie)…little did I know that what began as a simple conversation about physics would end up in a very reluctant, disastrous first date and a new guitar. More to come in part II...

And, for a parting shot, who is this Sugarbear of which I speak? Here he is… don't ask me what was up with the beard in this pic... I just don't know...



More to come!

Not Me Monday!



Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

A little background... my middle younger sister got married this weekend. She was married outside, and the Justice of the Peace who performed the ceremony asked me to hold his Bible during the ceremony so he could hold the notebook with his script in it... I happily obliged...

While the JP recited 1 Corinthians 13 during the ceremony, I did not cry like a baby, causing my nose to run. I of course did not forget to bring a tissue, and definitely did not attempt in vain to delicately wipe the various liquids off of my face with my fingers... I most certainly did not then pray fervently that I could finish the ceremony without smearing said fluids on the Bible I was supposed to be holding for the very nice JP... who I'm sure would not appreciate a snotty tear-stained Bible...

Happy Monday everyone!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

This...



is what I did in my Wilton class this week... on to the second course!