Being peaceful and awesome

Friends!

I am ALMOST DONE changing my name!  This has been such a pain in the butt!  Many people, on the verge of divorce, say the whole "we're staying together for the kids" bit; I will say, "we're staying together because it is such a LOGISTICAL HASSLE."  Just kidding.  We're not getting divorced.  But that's what I would say if we were.

In any case, I am giving my first public speech today!  The Fellows asked me to talk about my school-changing experience, largely because Fellows this year aren't getting placed until the eleventh hour.  I myself was the rare exception last year in my own eleventh-hour placement and my subsequent mid-year move.  I have a lot to share with them!  My thesis is pretty much going to be, "Decide to be awesome."  One of my favorite stories about my experiences last school year was when I "interviewed" at my new/current school, and the principal's main concern, I later heard through the grapevine, was that I came off really flighty, ditzy maybe:
"Things are always extremely busy around here, we have so much going on."
"That's fine!"
"The days fly by - it's really faced-paced, are you sure you can handle that?"
"Yeah, sure!"
"Have you ever done IEPs?"
"No, but it'll be fine!"
etc.  If you don't know me, I can see where that looks SUPER shady and cause for worry.  The important part is that then I was INDEED awesome and they all like me now.

So remember my peace book?  I am more than halfway through it, thanks to my recent DMV wait.  The thesis of that is also pretty much, "decide to be peaceful."  Which is wonderful, but I cannot for the life of me wrap my mind around being simultaneously peaceful and ambitious in new life or career endeavors.  If peace is contentment, what pushes you?  Being pushed is inherently being un-peaceful in one's current state or situation.  What motivates change!  Furthermore, what judges the changes you may have made!  Don't they all seem "fine" if you are deciding to be peaceful?  I am a young grasshopper with much to learn.  I shall email the author, a man named Bear, with these concerns.

In other news, I have made this and this!  Both were astounding in deliciousness!  Deb is my new hero.  I wish I were Deb.

In OTHER other news, I have seen LEXI ES on a Lexus.  I have seen SING, twice.  I also saw COMBINE drive out of a parking lot and in A DIFFERENT PARKING LOT THREE DAYS LATER.  My life is so amazing.

PS:  I have subscribed to Martha's Craft of the Day to quench my crafting thirst for now.  Other plans are in the works.

Today has been a whirlwind of emotions

I remembered while making things for my wedding that I LOVE crafts.  Love.  I was really good at it too -- my alternative guest book, my card box, the signs and placecards, the last-minute fans.  Ribbons, paint pens, calligraphy.  I made like eight trips to Michaels and was never happier.   Last night I Netflixed Julie and Julia, which inspired me to do something crazy and hopefully get noticed for it.  I didn't exactly know what, though.

This morning, I decided I wanted to work for Martha Stewart.  Somehow.  Not necessarily Main Chief Head Honcho Art Director or anything, but somewhere in her empire of crafts and perfect worlds.  I went straight for her site's Career Opportunities, and again got sucked in by the familiar refrain of "We are always looking for awesome people!  Come work with us!  We give great benefits!  You know you want to!  We can't wait to see you!"  And I thought-replied, "I DO want to!  I AM awesome!  Okay!!" and looked at all their posts, some of which I could conceivably trick someone into thinking I could do long enough for me to actually figure it out.  I frantically imagined crafting and blogging it every day for a year, combining it with lesson plans to do double-duty in my current career, and all the wonders it would bring into my life.  In heating up the oven to half-bake this idea, I found "Hire Me Martha," a blog written by a far more qualified, more talented, more prolific crafter and baker than I could ever hope to be.  She'd sent in resumes, she had connections, turns out they even gave her a guest spot on the show!  And they didn't hire HER!  What hope do I have!?  I then remembered that "Come work with us!" translates to "We are shrewdly encouraging every last person on the planet to apply, so we can pick the top 0.0001% of candidates!" and yours truly is certainly not in the top 0.0001% of candidates.  Wistful sigh!  You guys, there are so many talented people out there.  LOTS of people love crafts!  LOTS of people are really good at them!  I am a measly psych major who's now a teacher who wants to get paid to craft.  How much more trite can you get than that!

A new line of posts, coming your way!

So people have this notion that Justin and I do exceptionally cool things.  Let me dispel that rumor: we do not.  But time and again friends have commented that I should alert them of surrounding awesomeness in activities, so I bring you, pretty much stolen from Ryan North, What Are the Haps, My Friends.  In WATHMF I shall try to bring you what we'll be doing, or thinking about doing, or wish we were doing, partly to tell you about the thing itself, partly to fill you in on how we discovered it, and partly to inspire you to be on the lookout for these things in the future.  I'll tell you right now, it will pretty much be a combo of Metromix and Groupon (referral links for everyone!), to scour for the best of the entertaining and the cheap, if not free.  Obviously I will still bring you your numbered lists, loves and rants, just thought I'd mention this barely-cohesive topic thread.

Justin and I try (we were doing really well until the whole wedding thing usurped the last like three weekends) to alternate weekend planning.  One weekend will be mine, and by Thursday I plan everything from Friday evening through Sunday, with two or three fun things, times and transportation, where we're eating, errands, etc; the next weekend, he does the same.  When it's my weekend, I get to decide everything; when it's his, I get to kick back.  It's working really well so far.  We try to do things a little off the beaten path - we enjoy a good monument or Smithsonian, but we LOVE a hidden garden or a terrific mini golf course.  Here's what I mean (numbered list time!):

1. Hillwood Garden and Estates - the 25-acre garden and mansion of the sole heiress to the Post cereal empire, complete with million-dollar Russian chalices and lavish costume ball costumes!  Off Connecticut close to Van Ness.  Literally hidden behind people's houses.
2. Renwick Gallery of American Art - enormous room of portraits of Indians AND unusually beautiful modern (but not too modern) art!  By the White House.
3. Corcoran Gallery - what's that, you say? $15 admission?  Not on Saturdays during the summer!  Complete with Free Summer Saturday events, like our coveted flipbook!  Also by the White House.
4. Rocky Gorge Mini Golf and Batting Cages - apparently the longest mini golf hole in the world!  Also one of those awesome, old fashioned, get-it-between-the-windmill-fan obstacle courses.  Laurel, MD.

Ta da!  Welcome to What Are the Haps, My Friends, my friends!

You no longer have to accept my mid-shocking-sentence glam shot as the only wedding photo

I'm 99% sure that anyone who would even consider looking at this blog has already seen that pictures are up.  But I'm going to say it again.  Pictures are up.  Woo!  Thus rounds out my social media applications, except for Twitter, because I feel like Twitter was cool for four months starting last March.  All I read on there anymore are Andrew WK's reminders to party.  And I do party, Andrew WK.  I do. 

Summer!  I have cats to pet, dogs to learn how to walk, desserts to make, and asanas to hold.  I also need to finish my book about peace, which, ironically, is stressing me out a little bit.  Also, toe update!: It is a mysterious injury and not imminent doom for my foot.  Hallelujah!

Also: trying to figure out a fun beach within maybe 4 hours' drive at which to minimoon.   Ocean City?  Rehoboth?  If you have an opinion, please share!

(Almost) One week!

Hello friends!  I write to you for the first time since being married!  And what a week it's been!

The wedding:  phenomenal.
The afterparty: out of this world.
The next day: Slept from 5 pm to 9 am.

Back to Leesburg to hang out with an aunt and uncle, then back here so Justin could go back to work, and I could take care of married chores like car maintenance and thank-you notes.  I'm also trying to write down everything I remember!  This task is proving to be long and arduous, ironically enough.  I've got 6,500 words so far that don't even come close to the wedding yet.  I haven't finished the rehearsal bbq, and for the wedding day itself, I'm only up to the part that's on the way to getting our nails done.  Sigh!  I'm checking my photographer's website pretty much hourly even though I know full well she said 7-10 days.  We're also figuring out recipes, etc for our house party this Saturday (come, my many readers!), and I am trying to convince myself not to quit teaching to become a wedding photographer.  (All they do is document love!  LOVE!)  I'm also browsing Etsy, trying to figure out if whatever I would have to offer would really make a difference in that pile of delicious goodness.  I'm also admiring my bling (permanent) and french manicure (temporary).  But I know what you've all been waiting for.  We had been waiting for it too.  It had been forever...

since we ran into AUNDRE!!!!!!!  We're taking one of our neighborhood walks, as usual; hoping we'd see him, as usual.  We mention how it's been so long, walking around OR at CVS.  And trust me, there were a lot of wedding-related CVS trips!  So imagine our joy when we see a black dude with dreads (still far away!  that's all we have to go on) walking up the street a ways, talking on the phone.  Hard to tell.  I chance a wave.  He waves back!  Then he recognizes!  Still on the phone - letting the person just chill out for a while - "Hey guys!  What's goin on!"  The happy reunion ensues!  We all come in for a big group hug as we proclaim our previous sadness!  "We've been looking everywhere for you!"  "I've been searching all across the nation for you guys!"  "We've been going to CVS every day!"  The last one was a slight exaggeration.  "So, what have you guys been up to!"  "We just got married on Thursday!"  We flash our rings in happy proof.  "What!  No way!  Aw congratulations!"  More hugs!  "I thought you guys were already married!  It's so great to see the love that you two have.  Whenever I was goin through some stuff in my relationship, I would see you guys, and think, I can have that."  I died of love and joy at the fact that we were an inspiration!  To Aundre!!  My life is complete.

To hold you over until the pro pix are up, here is a candid picture of me getting my hair done by my awesome hair and makeup artist, Carla.  I am so glamorous!

Antepenultimate day.

In 48 hours, I will be walking down the aisle.  Hoo boy!  I made Bride and Groom signs for our chairs today.  I think that was the last of my crafts.  Goodness, will I miss making my crafts.  If anyone out there wants care packages filled with crafts, let me know, and I would be more than happy to provide. 

You guys.  I'm on edge, and I'm calm.  I have all these heightened senses, and I'm at peace.  I'm nervous, and I'm ready.  So many things!  It will be so lovely, and it will also be wonderful to have these very dramatic activities over.  I keep feeling like I should be doing things to relax.  Justin is chain-smoking movies.  We just finished Zombieland, and now comes a martial arts feature, where I make my graceful exit.

I guess it's time to pack my overnight(s) bag anyway!  Wish me luck, folks.

My last couple of days being a single lady

...are filled with last-minute people and crafts!  Extra parties and impulsive fans for our 100-degree day.  Also, I wanted to tell you, precious audience, of something insane that happened.

I was cruising down the beltway, as I am wont to do, and I see the license plate "NANAMOBL."  From MD.  And this is awesome for a couple of reasons.  1.  It's the Nanamobile, and 2.  IT HAS EIGHT CHARACTERS.  And license plates with eight characters are just expanding my vanity plate joy that much more.  So I revel in this phenomenon for a few minutes, super excited, probably tell Justin about it, excitedly, he probably doesn't really care.  Fast forward a few days, and we're day tripping with friends to West Virigina, no biggie.  In the WV state resort lake parking lot, however, there is a NC license plate that says ... wait for it ... "NANAMOBL."  I PRETTY MUCH DIED.  I tried to explain to everyone what had just happened but they didn't really care!  Can you believe it!  I know YOU GUYS care, faithful blog readers!!! 

Stay tuned tomorrow for my antepenultimate day of singlehood.

One week!

In one week from this moment, I will be fully made up with dress and shoes (I think I mentioned they were from a Gap affiliate, surprise surprise - Piperlime - I found such fun ones!) and everything, about to see my groom for the first time in 24 hours or so.  Which will be a long time, given the circumstances.  Placecards, check; vow, in the works; Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie, partially eaten with great restraint.  I am worried about the tiniest, silliest things now that seem enormous to me: will my makeup look goofy and fake in person?  Will it be worth it for the pictures?  I love my curls but I will miss my laid-back, breezy hair!  Will Ceresville allow for last-minute ring-bearers if they want to do it?  If so, we don't have a pillow!  If not, where do the rings go, Justin's pocket?  I wish I could trust myself to memorize my vow!  Where will the kleenex go?  Just found out a 5-year-old is coming, mom says she'll sit on her lap, but won't mom's legs hurt?  I shall make her coloring books, another excuse for crafts!  Also, my toenail is cracked like horizontally, and I'm too sad/nervous to do anything about it.  I know, TMI.  

In other news, petting cats for 2 hours yesterday was really really nice, as was stuffing envelopes for their development department.  I am SO GOOD at stuffing envelopes!