Really?... I mean it. Really?

This article begs the question: How dumb are you?

Adieu, sucky job!

On Friday I bid farewell to the Mission Inn Hotel and Spa. After much thought and prayer, and after talking it over with the husband, I am very happy to say that I am leaving the Mission Inn. "Why?" You ask? For one, it does not pay well at all. Let's just say that I made more the year I graduated high school than I do now, in the year after I graduated college. But the hotel industry is apparently notorious for paying sucky wages--thanks for giving me a heads up, guys! Secondly, I was starting to get really sucky shifts. I started having to close two nights a week, which meant not getting off until 10:00 PM, and on every other night, I would not get off until 7:00 or 8:00 PM. I was only getting to see Chris for a few hours a night, hours in which both of us were extremely tired--too tired to actually make our time together quality. We kept missing each other, kept missing out on spending quality time together, kept missing each other at our best... And we figured that if I am going to be doing mundane office work (i.e. answering phones, filing, entering data) I may as well have normal hours and be make some money at it. So, I'm making a change. I put my two weeks last Monday, and this coming Friday (two days away!) is my last day. Am I sad? No. Am I worried that I won't find another job? I am glad you asked, Reader. I was actually just hired as a secretary for the City of Corona. Hello, higher pay and normal hours! How I have missed you...

Fulfillment

In my opinon, if you are not watching Gossip Girl, then you are missing the fulfillment your soul has always yearned for. Okay, maybe it contains the complete opposite things that Jesus fulfills or promotes (sex, drugs, scandal, oodles of money, snotty teens), but it is a glorious guilty pleasure. For one, it stars a Blake Lively, whom you may remember as the athletic blonde chick from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and she actually turns out to have pretty sweet acting chops. If that doesn't convince you, then maybe the fact that it is helmed by the creator of The OC will.

Seriously, it is a great show--it might even one day come to fill the void that Gilmore Girls left behind when it ended. 8PM on theCW (don't let that scare you). Please watch. Your heart will thank you. Ryan Seacrest says so.

Where will you be on October 23rd?

I will be on iTunes before my 9:30am shift, buying this piece of freaking amazing music! And then I will take it to work with me and be completely unashamed of making my co-workers listen to it over and over all day long.

Seriously?...SERIOUSLY?!?!?!

Linda Hartzell is an institution. She is Vanguard. I cannot imagine that place without her. It is just unreal.

Vanguard, you have finally crossed over from being semi-ridiculous to FREAKING OUT OF YOUR MIND!

Joyful, Joyful

He's home!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

He's gone. He's really gone...

Okay, so he'll be back in four days, but still!

I have gotten pretty darn used to sharing a bed with someone--not just because they create extra body warmth, but because it's my loving husband whom I love more than anything who is creating that warmth! It's the longest we've been apart since we've been married, and it make me a little sad. But, it's only four days, right? What's four days?

What am I planning to do with my time alone? Have complete control over the remote, make lamp chops, have some old friends over, hang out with the sister at The Old Spaghetti Factory, see a movie...Stuff I really enjoy but haven't had time for in a while. I am excited for these things, but will miss my husband a lot. So, alas, it is bittersweet...

Monday, please come swiftly!

The big 2-3

Hey, shorty, it's my birthday. I'm going to party like it's my birthday. Yay.



23 is really an anti-climactic age. It doesn't mean anything special. It's just another year. But who would I be to pass up getting presents and eating lots of cake? An idiot, that's right. So, I am very excited about it being my birthday. I've already had 3 sort of celebrations.


Check out what my sweet in-laws got Chris and I (jointly) for our birthdays:



Yeah, dawg! That's right. I'm so freakin' stoked! Lamb chops anyone?

"When I hear my favorite song / I know that we belong..."

Can't...stop..........Help.

Oh yeah!

Freaking awesome. That's all I can say. Freaking awesome.

Read about it: http://tv.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=274728&gt1=7703

CBU

This last week has been an important one for California Baptist University. It is what is affectionately referred to as "Orientation Week." The husband was busy all week going to a bunch of fun activities and retreats and meet-and-greets, whilst I, recent Graduate Assistant reject, looked on in sadness and in envy.

Don't get me wrong, I am so happy that Chris gets to start a new school year and really get to participate in all the activities that go along with it b/c he was so busy learning to do his new job last year that he didn't get a change to enjoy it all. This is not about that. This has nothing to do with feeling any sort of resentment or envy of him.

This has to do with the pain in my chest, the very real and earnest yearning that has resulted from not being able to participate in this week myself. I started the summer with a fairly vague e-mail which informed me that CBU would not be pursuing my candidacy for the position of a Graduate Assistant (sort of like an Assistant Resident Director) any further. As it slowly dwindled away into nonexistence, I ended the summer knowing my purpose, as far as I had understood it to be, was unfulfilled.

This is excrutiating. I live everyday with the knowledge that I am meant to do something more with my life than take people's hotel reservations. But with that knowledge comes the particular detail that I am not supposed to do it right now. This is, perhaps, the most frustrating thing about my situation. I want to be working with college students, I want to pour into young lives, I want to disciple and be discipled, yet I cannot. It is, apparently, not time.

So, here I remain. Feeling my existence but not living it. The pain in my heart repeats each time I step on campus, each time I look at it, each time I hear about it. I am trying to take comfort in the fact that, though I know this is what I really want to do, there is some step I must take first, some event, something else planned for me before that I happens. I have no control. And, since I believe God is a good god, it should reflect in the attitude I take for where He has placed me in this season. O Lord, give me the patience I need, grace me with piece of mind, grant me what I desire most.

Wave it off

Seriously?

"Eureka!"

I now possess these. It turns out that my eyesight rather sucks, so putting on these babies after my prescription was added was like turning on the lights in a dark room--suddenly, everything became clear!...Plus, I look good in them. I mean, really good.

Mission Inn Hotel & Spa

"Welcome to the Mission Inn Hotel and Spa Room Reservations. This is Mandy. May I have your name please?"

ALL...DAY...LONG.

10 Hours

10 hour work days blow. I hope we hire someone new soon so that I can finally go back to sleep.

Holy crap!

Holy crap, I love this CD! I know it came out weeks ago, but I just got it two days ago and I can't stop listening to it. I even bring it to work and make my office listen to it while we answer phones all day...Simply amazing!

Funny

It's been a while since I have blogged, so I think I shall use my first blog post to explain the title. Not many people get my sense of humor. There are few people in this world who actually think I am funny. I am dry, I am full of wit, I am an intellectual joke-maker. However, most of the time, I make jokes to crickets and coughs and to what might as well be empty rooms...But I am quite proud of this. I happen to like my sense of humor. I happen to think I am hilarious! If you don't get it, well, you're missing out on some freaking funny stuff, my friend! In my opinion, you're dumb! You're prideful! You just don't get it!...Either that or my comedy skills have greatly depleted since the glory days of Comedy Sportz.