If Only

Have you ever wanted to be somewhere so much that it makes your heart ache just thinking about it? I am dealing with that right now. I want to be in Las Vegas on November third. I want to see Sara Lauren, my first roommate, get married to a wonderful man. I want to celebrate her big day with her...

but I can't. I can't because we don't have $350 for me to fly out there. I can't because we don't have money for a hotel. I can't because people don't let a 23 year old rent a car. 

I will have to celebrate from afar. I will have to miss my roomie's big day. I will have to content myself with pictures of her smiling face.

Free Photo Book

I got a free 8x8 photo book from Shutterfly. Here it is.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create a gorgeous, high quality wedding photo album at Shutterfly.com.

On The Excitement of New Things

New Thing #1: Casey has two new jobs to replace his two old jobs! He is working at a hotel in the area and up at the school instead of working at Subway and Pizza Hut. Saying that I am thrilled to have him home most nights is  an impossibly large understatement. He works longer hours, but somehow, having him home at night is better for me than him being home all day and leaving right before the Bean gets fussy. We were also worried that money would be even tighter than usual with the Hut being closed until it moves to the new location. Thank heaven for answered prayers.

New Thing #2: I am selling Avon. I have always been kind of wary of direct sales type things. I am not a salesperson. I always feel like I am bothering people or being obnoxious, but this is actually really good for me. It gives me things to look forward to and something other than Facebook or Netflix to keep me occupied. I have had a pretty awesome outpouring of support even when people don't have the extra money to buy things. Basically, I have super amazing friends and family, but that is nothing new.

New Thing #3: The Bean learning so much all the time! He just doesn't stop. It is so cool to watch him figure things out, imitate us, and just generally be awesome. He says Mama, Dada, Hi, Yeah, Ball, and probably some other words that I just can't distinguish. He runs, throws balls, stacks blocks, and tries to eat with a spoon. He eats pretty much anything as long as he is in the mood for it. He loves green beans, chicken, and macaroni. He sticks his leg out when I am getting his pants or socks on. Basically, I think my son is awesome. Here is some proof!

Spelling "box", not really, but we can pretend

Sleeping, like a boss

Everything is a phone

Spaghetti night is the best!

Invisible roller coaster

Drunk, bowler hat Bean

This is seriously the best face ever

Like I said, everything is a phone

Last new thing: FALL!!! I love love LOVE fall! Pumpkins, apples, sweaters, scarves, boots, and not roasting to death! Fall is without question my favorite season. I am so happy about fall. Ok, the end.

Starry, Starry Night

Vincent van Gogh is my favortie artist. I love his works. About 18 months ago I bought The Letters of Vincent van Gogh. It has been slow going, since I have not had as much time or energy to devote to reading as I would like. That being said, I have tried to renew interest in reading by going back to this wonderful collection.

I was reading a letter that van Gogh wrote in July of 1880 and a paragraph really struck me as profound.

But I cannot help but thinking that the best way of knowing God is to love many things. Love this friend, this person, this thing, whatever you like, and you will be on the right road to understanding Him better, that is what I keep telling myself. But you must love with a sublime, genuine, profound sympathy, with devotion, with intelligence, and you must try all the time to understand Him more, better and yet more. That will lead to God, that will lead to an unshakable faith.

As soon as I finished reading that paragraph, I thought, "wow, he really understood the pure love of Christ." And even if he didn't, he sure knew how to write about it. Just some deep thoughts for your day.

Moderates For Reasonable Candidates

I am a political moderate. I wasn't always, but I am now. In an increasingly partisan system, it is hard for me to find a candidate I can get behind. This coming election is no exception. With a plethora of candidates and viewpoints, I have only really decided on a couple of them. for the first time in my life, I will be voting for a Democrat! I know, right? How strange for me. No, not Obama. Tim Kaine!

I am really excited about his platform. He is more moderate than any of the candidates running for senate in VA. I came to the decision in part because of my good friend Sara S. She is working on his campaign, which is awesome. She asked Casey and me to come walk in our local Labor day parade in support of Tim Kaine. It was really fun! The group was pretty big and enthusiastic. I'm glad I had the opportunity to participate in such a great event.

We did feel a little out of place since we are not Obama people, but I think it is important to vote for candidates that you believe in no matter what their party may be. Being a moderate can be hard, but if more candidates were moderate and willing to compromise like Tim Kaine, I would be a happier voter.

Twenty Things

Prompt Three: Twenty Things About Me

These are all pretty random

1. If I had to choose one food to eat for the rest of my life it would be Sushi. I LOVE sushi! I could eat for every meal and be perfectly happy. Raw, cooked, it doesn't matter. It is all good.

2. I have always wished I had red hair. I think my hair is boring. Brown is just so average. Brunettes never get the same attention as blondes or redheads. I hated that as a kid and teenager.

3. I still sleep with a teddy bear. It is the same teddy bear I have slept with since I was little. His name is snowball. He is a polar bear. I cuddle my husband and I cuddle Snowball. That is just how I roll.

4. I used to hate being tall, but now I love it! I love being able to reach things that are on the top shelf, I love my fabulous long legs, and I love how skinny it makes me look.

5. I don't hate many foods, but I HATE olives. They make me want to barf. I hate the smell, I hate the taste, I even hate kissing Casey after he has eaten them. I am not picky about much of anything, but olives should die.

6. I love decorating with blues and greens. They just make me so happy. I would decorate my entire house in blues and greens if I could.

7. My angry music is Simple Plan. I can belt it with no worries about being on key. I love some good angry white boys singing about being repressed.

8. I suck at drawing. I have tried over and over to get better, but I am just not good at it. An art major with no drawing skills? Yup, that was me. 

9. Dealing with money makes my stomach hurt. I do it because I have to, but I would be much happier if I wasn't so stressed about money all the time.

10. I love flip-flops. I would wear them all year round if my feet didn't get cold so easily.

11. On the other hand, I hate summer. I hate the heat, humidity, and bugs. I would love to have it be fall and winter all year round. Sweaters make me so happy.

12. I am a really good cook. I hardly ever use a recipe unless I am cooking something new. The only problem with that is I can never really replicate a meal.

13. I miss reading. I can't really do it when the Bean is awake and I am so tired when he is asleep that I have no taste for it. Maybe I just need to find something worth reading.

14. I'm a pretty big geek. I was raised on Star Trek, Star Wars, Monty Python, Hitchhiker's Guide, and others. I have added to that repertoire over the years, of course, but my parents started the love of all things geekdom.

15. I feel like I can't be myself in new social situations if I want to make friends. I am not very confident with my personality sometimes.

16. I love sharpies! I have them in pretty much every color. They just make me happy.

17. Running makes it very hard for me to breathe, so I am not a sports person. I love watching sports, but I don't like playing them at all.

18. I almost got kicked out of a high school lacrosse game for being an "overly aggressive fan." I apologized and thankfully my school's team didn't get in trouble for my overzealous behavior. I guess it isn't really appropriate to yell "kill him" and "hit him in the crotch" repeatedly.

19. Christmas is my all-time favorite holiday. I love decorating, baking, wrapping presents, giving presents, the food, and pretty much everything else.

20. When I met Daniel Radcliffe I actually had to try really hard not to burst into tears. I kept it together really well and had my crazy fangirl moment after he was gone. I figure he gets enough nutcases harassing him already and I should at least try and be a normal person. It was definitely in the top 5 awesomest moments of my life.

More Prompts

• When and where were you born?

January 24, 1989. 2ish pm. West Berlin, Germany. I was my mom's early birthday present.

• Where did you grow up?

All over. Germany, Utah, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia. Army dad, that is all I really need to say. 

• What was it like?

I don't really remember Germany. Utah was great, before I knew better. Maryland was... interesting. Virginia was good for a while, but there were some really hard things that happened at church there. Georgia is probably my favorite, aside from the crappy school system and humidity. Riding a golfcart to the store? Heck yes!

• Who were your parents?

Well, Mike and Barbara Stacey are still my parents.

• What were your parents like?

My dad is very introverted. He was tough, but not bad tough. He just let us know what was what and stuck to it.

My mom is a lot like me. She is outspoken, a little crazy, and very intense.

They are both major geeks and raised my brother and me as such.

• How was your relationship with your parents

I am a daddy's girl, but I have always been really close to both of my parents. We've had disagreements, but we never really fought about anything. I still find it nigh unto impossible to lie to either one of them. Not that I ever really have a reason, but still.

• Did you get into trouble? What was the worst thing you did?

 Not often. I was the "good child." My big bro was not a bad kid, just belligerent. I learned to not talk back and in return, I earned trust. The worst thing I did? Ran away... when I was like, 5. I would load up a bunch of stuff and walk around the block. That is about it. I never broke curfew or anything like that. Although I did run from a security guard on my golfcart once. We were driving it on the golf course... they don't really like that.

• Do you have any siblings? What were they like growing up?

I have just the one brother. He was was stubborn and hated me tagging along all the time, but I wanted to hang out with my big bro. 

• What did you look like?

A flyaway haired mess. I went through an awkward phase that lasted much longer than any awkward phase should. I prefer to not think about it. 

• How would you describe yourself as a child? Were you happy?

I guess so. I would sit in my room and read or sit on the couch and read or go outside and read. I did other things too, but I was a huge reader. I would check out 6 or 7 books at a time from the library and read all of them before we went back.

• What is your best memory of childhood? Worst?

Best memory? I have no idea. There are lots of good things, but I don't think I can pick any of them out as best. If we are talking teenage years then that would be easy, but I'll save that story for another day.  Worst? When my grandpa called to tell us my Aunt Kay had died. That was really hard. 

• Did you have a nickname? How’d you get it? 

Ewe. It is a female sheep. That is what my name means and when my parents brought me home from the hospital I was wearing a fluffy, sheep-like, outfit. 

• Who were your best friends? What were they like?

In Utah: the Maxwells and Sorina Busch. the Maxwells were homeschooled like me and we played together all the time. Sorina was the youngest of a lot of siblings and we loved to play on my trampoline. One time, the four of us quoted the entire Lion King from start to finish, including songs. We were weird kids.

• How would you describe a perfect day when you were young?

Reading, eating Hawaiian smoked chicken, and playing in the snow.

• What did you think your life would be like when you were older?

I thought I would be married, have a bunch of kids, and be the perfect homemaker. Also, I own a horse and am the Queen of Boogeyland.

• Do you have any favorite stories from your childhood?

I once ran into our sliding glass door. And when I say ran I mean full on running. My brother told me there were monsters in the backyard so when I took the garbage out one night I ran down the stairs of our second story deck, and ran back up them to the door. SMACK! That was not so fun. Now I think it is hilarious!