Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Left Hand Ring

The rumors are true: I am going to get married.


I have experienced almost every emotion over the last week. I've been excited about this adventure that JJ and I are about to embark on together. I've been stressed that I ate too much pie over Thanksgiving and he'll change his mind about marrying me. I've been giddy, overwhelmed.... the list goes on and on. But I know that if there was one person to experience all of this with, I'm glad it's him.

I have been babysitting some plants for people in my office now that it is winter. I keep forgetting to water them and most of them are dead now. I hope this is not an indication of the kind of wife/mother I will be!

I promise not to turn this into a wedding blog. But this is a blog about my grown-up life and what could possibly be more grown-up than getting married? I certainly feel grown-up with a left hand ring on!

Love,
the Mrs.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Work Schmork


Appearing busy to avoid being laid off has become more exhausting than actually working.

So, so true. I sort of feel like a glorified secretary most of the time. I've spent the last week stuffing christmas cards into envelopes and addressing them. I am very ready for the holidays!

But until then, I have this little bundle of joy to cheer me up!

Watson and I went home to watch Mizzou play KSU this past weekend. It was glorious to see my team FINALLY win!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Love is patient, Love isn't glamorous

I've been so busy that updating my blog took a backseat to annual reports and company enewsletters. I've been learning so much about what it means to be a real, grown-up person- namely that it is much less glamorous than I thought it was going to be.

I had always envisioned myself to be living in an adorable tiny apartment in New York City working for some fashion company at this point in my life. Throw in a dreamy man and some great boots and you've got my dream life. While I do have the tiny apartment, an adorable boyfriend and some decent boots, I am learning to find the glitz and glamour elsewhere. I got a crock pot for my birthday (which I specifically asked for because I'm really cool) and I've been trying to cook fancy things that will be ready when I get home from work. I've also purchased a set of high thread count sheets so that by the time I got to bed at night I feel like I'm sleeping on something other than a hand-me-down mattress. They were worth the half of my paycheck that I spent on them. That's another great thing about being on my own- I can spend my money on whatever stupid things I want and I can only blame myself!

The best part of my job are the girls who live at our residential treatment center. Each one has a painful story and the internal scars to prove it. I've decided that while I am not in love with the day-to-day tasks of my job, I am in love with dedicating myself to making myself completely available to these girls. They are all looking for love in ALL the wrong places and, while I can't completely relate to that because I was scared of boys until I was like 20, I am a good listener and I keep a lot of chocolate in my office.

What is so heart breaking for me is that each one of these girls is going to age-out of "the system" when they turn 18 and will be out on their own. They will have no family and no money saved up to rely on. They never had mothers to teach them things like table manners or how to braid their hair or how to get stains out of clothes. I don't know how many times as a child I told my mother that I hated her, but now I couldn't be more grateful for the way I was raised.

I love this "message" version of the classic "love is patient, love is kind." I feel like this is something our girls at work would really be able to relate to:

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (The Message)
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.


Better late than never, right blog world?!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Why can't I search for "trophy wife" on monster.com

While I was eating dinner tonight I was playing around on my computer (have I mentioned I don't have cable and I live alone so I have no one to talk to except for the dog?) and wound up on Monster.com. I have a job so I am not sure how the course of clicks led me to this job-search database.

"What sort of skills do you feel you are good at?" the website prompted me. Hmmmm.
"Type some key search terms" it asked, to which I entered TROPHY WIFE.

Nothing. There are no postings in or around the Columbia area, in case any of you out there were wondering. I guess I'll have to stick with the children's non-profit I work at until something turns up.

Moving On Up

Well folks, I guess I'm MOVING ON UP in the grown-up world. I have a full-time job, apartment of my very own, adorable dog (who still pees on the floor of my new apartment), loving boyfriend and supportive family. What else could I ask for? I'll tell you what I'm asking for: how the heck am I supposed to know how to be a grown-up? They don't teach you these things in college!

I spend a large portion of my work day trying to make sense of all of the things I need to get done. Annual Reports, petty cash requests, domain name registrations-- what are these things? The last thing I want to do is look like I don't know what I'm talking about so I have mastered the art of looking productive while I panic inside!

In all reality, it's not as bad as I imagined it would be. Living alone is kind of quiet since I can't afford cable but I have gotten creative about how to spy on neighbors without them noticing which is just as entertaining as reality tv. I imaged staying in the same town I went to college in would make the transition a bit easier. In fact, this town is very different when you don't live on campus. Who knew?!

Peace, Love, Learning.
Elise