Negative Nelly

There are certain people that I don't like to share information with because they are too negative. Anything I say, they start cosigning with "that's horrible" or "poor you." They think they're being sympathetic, but it really aggravates me. I don't speak like that over my own life, and I don't need you to do it either. Sometimes I just want to shout "I'm not complaining, I'm just telling you what happened!" I have three people like this: my dad, a friend, and a coworker. I try to refrain from telling any of them anything that they might perceive as bad news, because I know they will get on my last nerve. Ok, my car got towed on Tuesday. This is the conversation I had with Coworker:

 

Coworker: So what happened with your car?

Me: Thankfully, it was just towed, so I got it back quickly

Coworker: Ohh, that sucks. How much was it?

Me: $152

Coworker: Oh my God! I bet you were mad you had to pay that, I'd be pissed.

Me: Well I was glad it was only $152, and that it wasn't stolen and trashed.

Coworker: Yeah, but you had to waste $152. Ughhh, tow truck people are crooks (let's ignore the fact that I parked my car there, we'll just blame them) , they have no morals. I'd be pissed.

Me: Well, I'm just grateful we didn't have to buy another car.

Coworker: Oh yeahhh, your husbands car was stolen last year. Ughh, what bad luck, that sucks.

Me: Umm, it's cool though. Now when I get pregnant I have a bigger car to drive and we'll switch, so it all worked out.

Coworker: Well that's a good way of looking at it.

 

I wanted to scream the whole time we were talking. I am not going to fall into the trap of not recognizing and acknowledging the positive in every situation. I'm gonna start quoting bible verses at people that try to bring their ungrateful talk my way. Then they'll avoid talking to me because I'll be that "crazy Chri.stian girl" but that's probably better than me being tortured. Our conversation would have been so much better.

 

Coworker: So what happened to your car?

Me: Girlll, the enemy had it out for me, but no weapon formed against me shall prosper. My car was towed, but thank God I got it back.

Coworker: How much was it?

Me: $152, but thank God He supplies all my needs

Coworker: Oh my God! I bet you were mad you had to pay that, I'd be pissed.

Me: Well, all things work together for good, so I know my blessing is on the way. The devil meant it for evil, but God used it for good.

Coworker: Yeah, but you had to waste $152. Ughhh, tow truck people are crooks, they have no morals. I'd be pissed.

Me: Yeah, but pressed down, shaken together, overflowing will men give unto me! Girl I am  blessseeeeddddd and highly favored of the Lord.

 

I bet after one conversation like that, she'll leave me alone.

 

And don't get me started on this #fml saying. I could write a book on how much I hate that expression.

Time for lunch

Yesterday I walked outside to go to work and my car was gone! I was walking around looking all crazy because I had a stack of presentations in my car for a 2 o'clock meeting. I figured it was towed versus being stolen (who steals an '02 Saturn) and thankfully, I was right. $152 later, I had my car back. I didnt' even think I was parked where they said I was, but maybe I just wasn't paying attention.

 

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Since we had some free time we decided to get my car fixed because last October, the mechanic said I needed to stop driving because my belt was in horrible shape. When the guy fixed it yesterday, he said "it's a good thing you got that fixed. It was in really crummy shape." Duhhhh, I was supposed to get it fixed 7 months ago! Oh well, $70, I'm no longer driving a death trap.

 

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I put teeny twists in my hair last night, and I plan to keep them in for a while. I'll take them out in 2 1/2 - 3 weeks. I'm in a wedding on June 18, and I still need to decide on a style. I'll take my hair out after her Wednesday night bachelorette party and then get it styled on Friday morning. I think I'm going to do a twisted updo. My mom wanted me to get it straightened, but it's an outdoor wedding. If it's hot, my hair is gonna frizz up and I'm going to be the busted bridesmaid. No thanks.

 

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MrC has lost 10 pounds on his work weight loss challenge. The person who loses the most weight gets $1000. The person who loses the most body fat gets $1000. On June 4th, we're walking away with the prize. $2000 and no more Sallie Mae student loan! Booooo-yyyyooooowwwww. He's been doing Atkins to drop the weight. I plan on fattening him back up right after the challenge. Celebratory cake and Ice cream and biscuits and pasta for dinner :)

 

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I need new work pants. I currently have 2 good pair. The rest are pants I bought on clearance at old navy 3 years ago. I saw this divine belt I wanted too- but it was $230 on sale for $85. Drop the price another $60 and it'll be mine.

 

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They're building some townhomes that we can afford close by where we live now. They're in an industrial area though, and I don't like the street they're building them on. After we went and saw the lot I had nightmares about that place. I dreamt of rodents and roaches overtaking our beautiful townhome because of the abandoned buildings nearby. I said that was my warning not to move there and to keep looking. MrC said that was my overactive imagination. Still praying on it...

 

 

 

Puttin on the Ritz

Yesterday I attended a bridal shower tea at the Ritz Carlton. I was the photographer, so I hope the pictures came out well. The attire was hats and gloves. Clearly, I thought I was hot stuff! The zebra bags in the backseat were the gift bags. More pictures to come!

This was supposed to post on Tuesday!

I wanted to show you guys how gangster I was this weekend! I got tatted up at my company picnic. I didn't get a wimpy little butterfly, I got a whole tattoo sleeve done. How's that for gangsta!?

 

We also sat down while this man drew these two people that were supposed to be us. Nice try dude, but other than the hair, we look nothing like that. We went around and looked at all the pictures he drew- they all looked the same! I guess he sticks to what he's good at, lol.

He loves me, oh how He loves me!

During my Senior year of college, I went through a really sad period. It didn't last long, probably only a week or two, but I was looking around at all my friends that were having babies, getting engaged, and doing awesome things and I just felt left out. Not that I was ready to have children or be married, but the sense of "why isn't anything happening for me" really had me down. I just sat in my room and did nothing because I couldn't muster up the energy to keep moving. My roommate was bringing me my mail for the day and I had a copy of "The Knot" magazine and she wanted to sit down and look at it with me. I broke down and started crying and talking out how I felt left out and like God had forgotten about me and even though I try to do the right thing, it seems as if He doesn't care (I should mention that MrCount's brother and father had both passed away in the last 1.5 years- and I was still dealing with that). My friend came and hugged me and said "He hasn't forgotten you, He's preparing you. It's not your time yet. When your time comes, He wants you to be ready to fully enjoy all He has planned for you." I have not forgotten that day because what she said meant so much to me.

 

Last week I found out one of my good friends was pregnant. I think she is the first of my close friends to be actually be happy, married, and pregnant. I was so ecstatic. They haven't told anybody but their parents and us. Anybody watching our conversation could have easily figured out that she was telling me she was pregnant because I had the biggest smile on my face for twenty minutes. My friend got married three months before us, they bought a house, and they just got a new car. I'm so happy for them that I just run up to her and hug her every time I see her. It's their time, and I'm so happy for them and this unexpected blessing.

 

This past weekend MrCount and I went house hunting. We normally have a lot of fun, but on Saturday, I got really sad. There was a feeling of "we can't afford anything" and "we'll never be able to do this" and I felt really defeated. I started feeling like that God was in the middle of passing out blessings and once again, he decided to skip over us. I kept trying to figure out what we were doing wrong, why we weren't good enough, and if I should even keep trying if God doesn't seem to care. Sunday I have a class to attend before service because I'm in training to work the ministry room. I am not a big fan of the lady that was teaching this particular session, so I wasn't really looking forward to it. She said something during the class that I so needed to hear. "I'm a loud person by nature. When I pray, I get even louder- it's just who I am. Be who you are. If you have a soft voice, God can still hear you, don't worry about it. We're not training you to be robots, we're training you to fully be who God created you to be. Who you are is more than enough." I just sat and thought about what she said for the rest of the class. During praise and worship yesterday they sang "Oh how He loves." I was in the nursery checking on one of my classes and I heard it playing. I was supposed to be walking to the other side of the church to check on my next class, but as I was passing the sanctuary, God said "I'm talking to you, go in there for a minute and listen." I went and stood on the back row since I knew I had to leave right back out. As I stood there singing the song, I felt so loved, and so free that I just couldn't contain myself. Hands up, ugly crying, singing my heart out- and it was wonderful. Somehow, in the sea of 2,000 people, MrC spotted me and I felt him pressing some tissue in my hand at one point, lol. The song is so simple, but when I looked around, I could tell how many people really needed it that morning- especially me.

 

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realise just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us so,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves us,
Oh! how He loves.


We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we're all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don't have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way…

 

Even the gangster dude we have been bringing to church had tears streaming down his face. A simple reminder that no matter what you feel like, look like, or did last night- God still loves you is so profound and necessary.

 

 I use my morning drive as prayer time and as I was singing this song to myself this morning, God reminded me that He has me. He knows what I need, he knows what I want, and that if I don't give up, He will bring it all to pass in due time. He has me where He wants me right now, and as long as I keep listening and obeying, I'll get to where He's taking me.

 

I know I'm doing to the right thing. I know I'm being obedient, and I won't let myself start feeling like I don't measure up anymore.

This weekend in house hunting

The price on this was just lowered to $425,000. Still not in our budget, but it's a pretty home.

Daring Cooks: A lesson in epic fail

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Foodhave chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

My second daring cooks challenge did not come out like it was supposed to. Unfortunately, it was all my fault. I thought I was better than I am. I thought I had developed magical dough handling skills over night. Alas, it was not so. The recipe had plenty of things I'd never done before: roasting chile's (I used jalapenos. Why? Cuz they were both green and I didn't see anaheim chile's when I was shopping) and working with tomatillo's. But that wasn't enough for me, I decided I needed to make my own corn tortillas. And that's where it all went wrong. My tortilla's came out horribly! They were hard, too thick, and it took me almost 20 minutes to do each one. I ended up only making six tortilla's and then I fried them and made green chile and grilled chicken tostadas.

We ended up using the rest of the chicken and sauce in other recipes throughout the week. I can't wait for next months challenge because I need to redeem myself. Look at that pitiful picture, I'm ashamed.

Overdue Pictures from Florida

If you're thinking that hat doesn't match his outfit, you'd be correct. If you're thinking he is smoking hot, you'd still be correct. If you're thinking anything negative about me, stick a pickle in your nose and choke.

Woot woot! Family picture (plus my sisters boyfriend) after her graduation party. The lady was determined to get the background in the pic, and that's why we're off center looking crazy.

Doesn't my hair look awesome!?

The girls are my sister's friends, and the guys are my cousins.

I loved my hair, and my beach shirt, and the fact that my legs are no longer completely covered in cottage cheese. I really want to know what I was doing because my dad has 4 pictures of me staring down at the sand.

Cute hair. Strong husband playing with children. Me on my phone as usual. All the makings of a great picture!

What's your vice?

vice

¹    /vaɪs/ Show Spelled[vahys] Show IPA

–noun

5.

a fault, defect, or shortcoming

 

Picture this: Chicago, Monday night. I was sitting in a crowded bar for the first time in my life. I was sitting at a table watching my coworkers dance and sing drunkenly while I sipped on my bottle of water. A handsome coworker came and sat at my table and kept glancing at me, but I was avoiding eye contact. He finally spoke up, when he realized I was never going to look his way:

 

Guy: You're not drinking tonight?

 Me: Nope, I don't drink

Guy: *shocked* Like, never?

Me: Nope, not ever

Guy: *pulls over another coworker* Carrie, she doesn't drink

Carrie: Never?

Me: Nope

Guy: Well how long have you been working here?

 Me: 2 years

Guy: And they haven't gotten you drinking yet?

Me: *making a stank face* No

Carrie: Do you smoke?

Me: No

Carrie: Curse?

Me: No

Carrie: Have wild sex with lots of men?

Me: Nope, I've only ever been with my husband

Carrie: *giving me a strange face* I'm trying to figure you out. I'm trying to figure out what your vice is.

 

She came back to me throughout the hour I was there still trying to figure me out. When I was leaving, she shook my hand and said, "it was a pleasure meeting you. But I still don't get you." It made me laugh so hard, because none of what I said was strange. Seriously, who doesn't know plenty of people that don't drink or smoke? She acted like she asked if I breathed and blinked. It did make me wonder what my vice was.

 

 The next morning it became clear. My vice is sleep. I was the first person to leave the bar. I was the only person that didn't have a drink. All 40 of them were up and downstairs for 7 a.m. breakfast. I didn't get out of bed until 9:30- and that was only because I knew they would notice if I wasn't at the 10 o'clock session. I once stayed in bed for 48 hours. I only got up to use the bathroom then I went right back into the bed. My cousin brought all my meals to me, I just couldn't get up. That's a sad claim to fame. I oversleep every single day. It doesn't matter if I go to bed on time or not. I love sleep too much to get out of bed. I'm going to sleep my life away if I don't get it under control. I could sleep for 10 hours every night no problem. I remember one Saturday it was 5 p.m and my mom was making me wake up. She didn't even know I was home that day, let alone that I had been asleep for over 16 hours. I'm thinking over some of my sleep tales and I'm actually ashamed.

 

So now, I ask you, what's your vice? What's your bad habit that you just can't shake?

 

**I tried to change my blog for almost 3 hours last Friday night and it kept erring (erroring?) out. So I gave up and went to bed. I'll try again this weekend**

This weekend I will...

Clear out my google reader. It is out of control, I'm so behind.

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Do a protein treatment on my hair and trim off some knots.

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Pack for my business trip on Monday/Tuesday.

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Make sure my clothes/hair/jewelry look fabulous for my trip. I am feeling quite diva-ish.

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Update my Home Vision/Fashion notebook.

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Cook my meal for this month's Daring Cooks challenge

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Go to the Library to get an Atkins cookbook for MrC before I decide that he should become anorexic in order to win the weight loss challenge at work.

 

This weekend I might...

 

Give my blog a fresh new look.

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Do something crafty with some earrings and equipment stolen from my parents house.

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What y'all doing?

 

A week in hair

Last Friday morning before we flew out, I twisted my hair. The plan was to wear the twists Friday, and a twist out on Saturday-Monday. I woke up 10 minutes before it was time to leave for my sister's graduation on Saturday, so I kept the twists in. Sunday it was rainy, and Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I was lazy. This morning I finally got around to taking my twists down. I'll probably redo my hair on Saturday because I have a work training in Chicago and I need to look kempt and cute, because the last time the Pres and V.P of our department saw me, I looked a wild ragamuffin mess!

I washed and conditioned with Organix (coconut milk line.) For my leave in I used Giovanni and then parted my hair in 4 sections and applied Oyin Whipped Pudding and Burnt sugar to each one. Pulled my hair into 4 pony puffs á la Serenity23 and let it dry for a few hours before twisting (while I slept). Every other night I put whipped pudding on my twists and every morning I spray my juices and berries before I shower. If my scalp wasn't so janky in the heat, I could probably go 2 weeks without having to redo my hair because it stays soft and moisturized. After 3 days, I retwist the bottom row and any other pieces that look a little frizzy, but it's never that many (I think I had to retwist 10 this time.)

You doing anything new with your hair? Trying out any new products?

Back in the swing of things...

I am feeling some kind of way today. I think this will be one of those days that I listen to the same song over and over on repeat.

 

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This past weekend, while we were in Florida, I think my Aunt finally started to like me. Y'all remember the aunt I call HaterAunt cuz she hasn't liked me since I dated that white boy when I was 16? The one who forgets to call me on my birthday but remembers to call my dad (we have the same birthday) and remembers to call my sister (her birthday is the day after mine). I think she finally gets me now. She used to tell my mom that I thought I was better than everybody- which I certainly don't. We rode from the Jacksonville airport to Tallahassee with her. TheCount and I were talking in the backseat:

 

TheCount: Blah, blah, blah. Man, he is funny!

Me: If I would have said the same thing, you would have said I was being mean. In fact, I have done that and you said I was rude.

TheCount: That's because nobody ever knows you're joking. You say stuff with a straight face.

Me: So you could tell from his text he was joking? He was serious. I'm always joking. I'm a comedian!

TheCount: How are we supposed to know that?

Me: That's background information about the artist! You should know that already. That's my appeal, I'm a sarcastic, stone faced comedian. I can deliver the lines without cracking a smile. I am always joking.

 

I think hearing that conversation made my aunt look at me a little differently, because she actually started laughing when I said stuff.

Me: It was soooo cold in our room last night, I kept waking up.

Ma: Why didn't you get up and turn the air off?

Me: I can't function in the middle of the night. If I would have tried to get up I probably would have tripped, crashed into the wall, and died.

Aunt: *eyes wide* HAHAHAHAHAHAHA- Died? Died? You took it so far! How does turning off the air, lead to your death- you are funny!

 

 

Jeez, it only took 24 years to get her to like me.

 

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Pomegranate lemonade wallflowers from Bath and Body Works = heaven

 

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Not taking out the trash that contained onions, fish containers, scallop containers, spoiled spinach, spoiled green peppers, old chicken, and pork chop containers = angry wife

 

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Today's lunch: Blackened Halibut and Salad. Tonight's dinner: Broiled buffalo wings. Cinco de Mayo will be celebrated tomorrow.

Mini Vacation

We're travelling back from Florida today. My sister graduated from FAMU this weekend so we went down to celebrate. I have pictures, but they were all taken by my 9 year old cousin, so we'll see if there is anything worth posting, lol.

Tomorrow is TheCount and my 7 year anniversary. As long as he doesn't see this picture of things I do to hime while he sleeps, then we'll make it to our anniversary! I should be back to regular blogging this week because my chaotic month at work is over! *crosses fingers, prays, and pleads with God*