#8 blog for January. Resolution kept.

 So, I'm hungry.  I wish there was a legit over the counter appetite suppressant.  Alas, anything you can buy at a store or online is just pure and total crap, or death in a plastic container.  But hey, according to the scales at Planet Fitness, I am down 5.5 lbs since January 1.  Only 35 more to go! hahahahaha just kidding.  No way would I be able to do that.

Wedding:
The place in Morganton that I mentioned in my last post is booked for the wedding date we picked.  I think we may just have to be flexible with the date.  Hopefully I'm going to tour it next week and talk to the fellow that runs it.   If it turns out I must be here then we'll have to change the date.  We'll see.  I'm also considering changing my colors.  I originally picked turquoise and brown, which go together nicely, but I may switch to turquoise and black because people look better in black than brown.  Jared doesn't seem to care either way so I guess we'll see how it goes.


Fun:
Jared, his friend Justin, his brother Josh, and I went to a Duke basketball game on Wednesday night.  They beat Florida State and we had a fantastic time.  Jared has actually gotten me to the point where I somewhat enjoy watching Duke basketball (to a point).  But I will NEVER be a fan of NBA.

Here we are at the game:

Here's Coach K and Kyle Singler:

Here's some bball action:

Justin, Josh, and Jared after the game:

This is all possible due to Brad's awesomeness getting us 2 free tickets to the game.

WHEREEEEEEEEEEEEE?????

I went to a Bridal Show here in Hickory on Sunday and holy bejebus that was crazy.  There were a LOT of photographers, a few event planners, a few caterers, a few travel agents, and like 2 venues.  I guess by the time most brides go to these things, they have a place picked out already. NOT ME.  And neither of the places there could work for us.  We are getting married in January. Advantage: better rates.  Disadvantage: not too many places to have a ceremony indoors.  I am not getting married in a church due to the fact that I wouldn't feel right just getting married in any old church.  Jared works all day EVERY Sunday so it's not like we could pick a nice church and start going (we would plan on going after the wedding too...).   The venue is the one big thing that has had me worried for a while now.  And no, I don't want to push the date back any (I want to get married, darn it!).  While the Bridal Show was nice because everything was pretty and I got some good info, I don't think I'll be going to another one.

I asked a coworker if there were any nice places to get married in Morganton, which is twenty minutes from where I live, and he gave me a great idea which I will look into.  Carmen says now is the time to pick a place, so that's what my main focus is.


WHEE!!

In other news, the Jason Castro show in Charlotte was awesome!! I got his autograph, got my picture taken with him, AND HE TWEETED ABOUT ME.  Yep. That's right.

Stuff

Tonight I'm going to see Jason Castro live in Charlotte! Whee!!  Too bad I'm totally lacking in the energy.   I'm hoping he goes on first so that I can get home fairly early.  I could really use the sleep.

Tomorrow Katie and Daniel and I are going to Boone to see Appalachian play against Western Carolina in basketball.  Should be a good time, especially since we're going to eat the deliciousness at Boone Saloon.

Sunday Carmen and I are going to my first ever Bridal show in Hickory!!  I'm super super excited about this because I get to really get into being a bride!!  It'll also be good to try out some wedding cake samples.  And maybe win a prize? Probably not since I have el terrible luck with that sort of thing, but maybe Carmen's luckier than me.

Here's hoping I still end up getting some rest this weekend!

Stomach Flu

No, not me, just everyone else in the blogging world.  I keep reading about people getting the bug and their whole families.  I know there's horribleness going on in Haiti, but I am also concerned for my friends who have the bug.  I am trying to be super super super careful at the gym with washing my hands and making sure I don't touch my face.   Of course, I don't get sick very often anyways (my body is failing me in other ways- teeth, toes, etc.). 

In other news, both my work phone and personal phone were replaced last week.  The work phone was intentional.   The Blackberry 8330 that I was originally given was a certified POS.   I finally got around to going to Verizon and they sent me a replacement, which seems to be a million times better. 

On Friday, Jared and I had date night.  I remember having my personal phone right before I got in the shower, and then not having it by the time I was sitting in the restaurant.  I figured, hey, I left it at home.  We went on with our night and went to the movies (Avatar 3D).   When we finally got home around 11:15, I started looking for my phone.  And looking, and looking.  I called it, and called it, and called it.  Then I walked around listening for the beep that means I missed a call.  Then I tore my whole house apart looking for it.  Then I called the restaurant where we ate, and they said I'd be better off calling in the morning (they don't close til 2 am).  Then I drove back to the restaurant to look around the parking lot, which was difficult since the lot was still full.  I drove to the movie theater, looked around the lot, and then went in looking in the theater and all under the seats.  No Dice.  I gave up and went home.

The next morning I looked around the house some more, then called back to the restaurant again and finally, they said they have my phone! Rejoice!  Except, when I got there, the screen wasn't working.   Apparently, I didn't do a thorough enough job looking in the parking lot because it appeared to have been run over by a car. *sigh*.

So, I went to Verizon just in case..  And guess what?! Apparently, I bought an extended warranty on this phone! I NEVER do that (too cheap).  But good call on my part because they replaced it right then and there for free!  Of course, I didn't exactly say "someone ran over it".  I merely stated that "the screen stopped working".   The real downside is my microSD card broke, so I lost all of my pictures and videos.  But hey, live and learn. 

Bonus for the weekend: Got to see my Dad, who came down to see me on Saturday, and got to hang out with a bunch of my friends on Sunday to "watch" football- well, more like talk wedding stuff with Katie!!

FORMSPRING!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay I have jumped on the formspring bandwagon.  If you would like to ask me any old stupid question, anonymously or not., click here and do it!!

In other news, Jared and I have finally set a wedding date.  WHEE! January 22, 2011.  Of course, this is tentative and something could come up and change it, but I'm just happy to have something to tell people. 

Bridal Wedding Checklist Item#1: DONE.

Item#2: Where? 

HO boy.

It's that (unfortunate for anybody who reads my bog) time of year again... American Idol starts tonight!  That show has definitely gone down hill in the past few years, and yet, I have to watch.  Why?  Dunno.  Just do.  Of course, I don't like the first few weeks of the show when all they do is make fun of fat people.  That's just messed up in my opinion.  But then again, I am the one who watches it and makes their ratings go up. 

On January 22, I'm going to see Jason Castro in Charlotte at the Evening Muse.   He was on American Idol a couple of years ago, and I really loved his style.  It should be a fun time, especially since there is a Mellow Mushroom right around the corner!  I'm in serious need a Shroom fix.

In February I am seriously (seriously!!) going to look for a part time job again.  Gotta save up for a wedding somehow.  No, we still haven't set a date.  I'm thinking sometime between mid-January and April 30 (my birthday) in 2011.  In the meantime, I am on a diet. Whee!!  So far (since January 1st) I have lost one pound.  This is really not enough progress in 12 days.  The plan is to continue like I'm doing until June and then if I need to step it up a notch, I will. 

Cold and the haps

Tuesday night I needed to do some laundry.  Of course, I go to turn on my washing machine, and nothing happens.  For those of you who've never been to my house, my laundry room is outside, in a separate "room" on my patio.  There is a door, and a light, but it is cold out there regardless.

Right away I understood that my laundry pipes were frozen.  I called Carmen and borrowed a heat gun from her.  For the next hour I was outside blowing heat behind my washing machine, being careful not to melt anything.  Eventually, I could tell that the pipes were not frozen anymore, so I turned on my washing machine, which was running, and went inside.

[Cut to 1 hour later]

I went back outside and saw a HUGE puddle of water on my patio.  I opened the laundry door and there was water pouring out from udner my washing machine, and soap billowing out of the top, about a foot high.  Turns out the drainage pipe from the machine was still frozen.  Did I mention that all of this is happening OUTSIDE where it was around 20 degrees?  I used the heat gun again for a while, then left a hair dryer running out there for 2 solid hours.


Around 11 pm now, I go outside and turn the machine back on.  Water is still only coming out the bottom of the machine, and the tub is not draining.  *YAY*

Now, all I can do is wait for this weather to calm down a little and hope upon hope that when that shit unfreezes, the washing machine works properly again.   In the meantime, I am stuck washing clothes next door on Carmen's back patio.   I hope she doesn't mind.


Here is what I looked like yesterday while GPSn for the first time in months:

Lemons

I hope everyone had a fantastic New Year's celebration.  I know I did:

My friend Brad and his fiancee Laura came out from Durham and we went to the Tap Room, a delicious pub in downtown Hickory.   We got home shortly before midnight (just as Jared got home from work :).  And to ring in the New Year we watched Jennifer Lopez in her weird outfit.   Anywho Happy New Year ya'll.