I Do

A few weeks back, Jake and I were on the search for a good passage to be read at our wedding. I looked in the Bible. I looked at love poetry. I considered On Marriage from The Prophet. I read Dr Suess and the lyrics to my favorite songs. Turns out I only listen to moody alternative music and none of it is appropriate for the occasion. My favorite Bible passages seemed overused. I had something really specific in mind and I had no idea what I wanted.

Then I stumbled upon this little gem by Pam Ayres.

Yes, I’ll marry you, my dear,
And here’s the reason why;
So I can push you out of bed
When the baby starts to cry
And I hear a knocking
And it’s creepy and it’s late
I hand you the torch you see
And you investigate
Yes I’ll marry you my dear
And you may not apprehend it
But when the tumble dryer goes
It’s you that has to mend it
You have to face the neighbour
Should our roggie cat attack him
And if a drunkard fondles me
It’s you that has to whack him
Yes I’ll marry you
You’re virile and you’re lean
Your house is like a pigsty
I’ll help you keep it clean
That sexy little dinner
Which you served by candle night
As I do the chappatis you can cook it every night
It’s you who has to work the drill
And put up curtain track
And when I’ve got a migraine its you who gets the flack
I do see great advantages
But none of them for you
And so before you see the light
I do I do I do I do

Thanks, Pam!

Atleast it's Giraffe Print

I just spent more than I make in a day on a straightener. I also got my entire head of hair curled by a smooth-talking guy named Angelo from Israel at the mall.

It happened like this:
 I was doing a little Christmas shopping and a little personal splurging at the mall tonight. I wasn't on much of a mission. I'd found some great deals and was heading into one of my favorite stores when this young man stopped me and asked how I did my hair every morning. Apparently I was in a chatty mood, so I played along. I stopped, I talked, I sat in his chair.

He straightened my hair.
He curled my hair.
He talked about Italy.
He talked about my wedding.
He talked about fashion.
And he talked about traveling.
He asked me my favorite color from his wide selection of 100% ceramic stylers with lifetime waranties, floating plates, wet-to-straight capabilites and infrared heat garaunteed not to damage hair.

I said giraffe print. I mean clearly, how can you not pick the giraffe?
You have to pick the giraffe.

The next thing I knew he was ringing up my purchase for half price (did I say yes yet? I don't remember saying I was going to buy anything) and telling me about this fantastic revitalizing olive oil shampoo that he was going to give me free, just because it was my special day. The world's best straightener for half price and free $30 shampoo? On my special day? How could I say no?

Please, friends, be kind. Let's all pretend my hair looks so much better with such a high quality straightener next time we meet.

Movin' on up. And out.

The apartment search didn't last much more than a few weeks before I knew I'd found my new home. A large two-bedroom (for the price of 1BR) with walk-in closets, a balcony, a big kitchen and breakfast bar, fantastic management, tons of storage, and did I mention the walk in closet? I could fit a queen size bed in that closet! Well, I could have, before I filled it with shoes.

With the first of the month being a Monday, and that particular Monday being a dinner party with some of my fav friends from my Bible study in Winona, I didn't move in until Tuesday. By moving in on Tuesday I mean I picked up a bed and brought in a suitcase. And an espresso machine.

It's amazing what little you need to live on when you're traveling or without a permanent residence. I spent eight weeks this fall living out of a suitcase. It made me wonder why I owned so much stuff back home. It probably made my whole family wonder why I made them pack it into a truck and trailer and haul it down last Saturday. But when you know you own that many pairs of fabulous shoes, you start to miss them.

I've been told my shoe ownership/obsession is a little out of control, so let's move on. Tuesday night I went grocery shopping for the basics. I still haven't gone all out on baking goods, cause that's a whole other subject we could get carried away on. Jake, exploring my new apartment that evening, was a little skeptical of the contents in my fridge. "Are you sure the rabbits haven't worn off on you?" My psuedo-vegetarian habits must not be contagious yet.

The rest of the week I spent running to Walmart, organizing, running back to the store, re-organizing, more shopping. The whole family came down Saturday with furniture and the rest of my earthly possessions. We set up and unpacked and hung pictures and went searching for more furniture. I now own a dining room table. It's beautiful, and it makes me feel like I'm actually an adult. An adult who owns a table. It's funny, the little things that make or break a label. For me I guess it's a dining room table.

Well anyway. My to-do list isn't getting any shorter. I promise these pictures are merely a teaser of what's to come. (My apologies, too, the rest of the pictures won't load. Might have something to do with stealing internet from a mystery neighbor somewhere in my building.)

Books of paper

I'm reading a real paper book again - the last few have all been on my amazing Kindle (you need one) and I haven't gotten through two pages yet and I want to highlight and link a passage for you all to read. So reading and typing is second best. Anyway. Expect more from Brennan Manning soon:

“The greatest need for our time is for the church to become what it has seldom been: the body of Christ with its face to the world, loving others regardless of religion or culture, pouring itself out in a life of service, offering hope to a frightened world, and presenting itself as a real alternative to the existing arrangement.”

Not What I Expected

Welcome back, friends. The last six weeks have not at all been what I expected.

For example,
I was not expecting to be handed a fulltime job less than a month into this temporary position.
     I really was not expecting that job to be case work. (Use my Social Work license? What?)

I was not expecting to be looking for apartments in Rochester. I had no idea apartments were so expensive around here.
     I really was not expecting to get denied and approved the same day for the apartment I wanted. I also wasn't expecting to get a two-bedroom for the price of a one-bedroom.

I wasn't expecting my job to make me want to cry the first three days. (It's not so overwhelming anymore). I wasn't expecting my clients to know the system better than any of my colleagues.

I wasn't expecting to ever be able to eat with chopsticks, but I suppose I should have been. I wasn't expecting a crocodile foot on the counter with breakfast.

I wasn't expecting to be in Minnesota for another year. Last winter was supposed to be the last of negative temperatures and shoveling and shivering and hating on snow and ice. But nonetheless, I'm looking forward to everything else I can't expect or plan for.

Stay tuned for Misadventures of Living on My Own.