life in general

Ok...so here is an update since I haven't been great about updating my blog lately. My parents are moving again to Waterloo, IA, my dad lost his job again about two months ago and just got one in Waterloo, I think that hopefully they will be able to be there for awhile. Both of them will be there starting Dec. 15. Simon and I are adjusting to married life, I think we are getting close to figuring out how to budget and getting money under control.
I am really looking hard to find a new job and a "real" job after graduating in May. The semester is almost finished and that means only one more to go for me:) My Christmas break plans are posting up wedding pictures for megan, sending christmas cards and finishing my Teach for America application. Ok I will write another fun post soon.

a survey

WooHoo!!!!

Simon and I were officially on cloud nine last night. He got a job offer from Ayars & Kahler for video production and took it!!! plus he might get a Macbook as a signing bonus:) PLUS I got a $1 raise!!!...not quite as exciting but still good for me none the less! things are looking good!

Maybe this was made for me...

For some reason I am really excited about today...I have had a hard time being excited about a lot of things since the wedding, for some reason I thought it couldn't get any better than that. It rained realy hard last night,but today seems like a new day fresh and new after the rain. I can't wait to see waht it brings...

The need to write

Simon's grandpa, Don gave us many wise words this weekend but the ones that stuck the most with me are you have to have a need to write or you just won't do it. Somewhere along the way with everything else in life I have lost my need to write. I'm trying to rediscover and find that.

Being married

Last night Simon made fun of me that I love to read other people's blogs but I never update my own...so here is an update.
We are married! and I have discovered that once you get married the question that people always ask you moves from "How is the wedding planning going?" to "How is married life?" Simon answered it the other day, I don't know like breathing...which cracked me up. But, seriously being married is great. The only hard part is Simon snores extremely loudly and I am not used to sleeping with another person in a bed. But we are figuring that out and I still love to sleep in till way after I should of gotten up.
Other than that, I am working at the foundation and really looking forward to some excitement with school and Okoboji. yeah, I know, I am a big dork looking forward to school...but the fact is I love school and I think if I could make a career out of it I would. I mean I am excited to graduate in the spring but I think I am mainly excited because I will get my diplomas not to be done.

Little known things about myself(or possibly widely known)

*I hate working in an office, I would much rather be on a playground with kids or in a large swimming pool or really doing anything with kids.

*When I first started journalism I got really nervous every time I would call some one. I am not sure I have ever gotten over the fear that someone is going to bite my head off for calling them for no apparent reason.

*I could probably lie in bed and sleep the whole day long...some people have problems falling a sleep..I can't get enough of it.

*I'm scared of being alone..I turn the TV on for background noise when I am by myself so I don't get freaked out.

*I have lived in about seven different states, most people don't know this unless I tell them because the midewestern in me shines above anything else and my Dad has never been in the army.

*I absolutely love to travel. I would love to live in a small european town someday.

*Even though I am pretty girly, I will do most outdoorsy things and I enjoy most of them like hiking, canoeing and floating in tubes down the river:)

*The lake is my favorite. If I can't live in a European town I would like to live by a lake.

*I read the paper everyday...was slaughtered for not doing it my freshman year of college and now I read like five online so I can always know what is going on and look at how other people write.

*I don't know if I will ever be a journalist but if I am I would rather write for a magazine than a newspaper.

Marrying your high school sweetheart

As I get closer and closer to spending the rest of my life with Simon, I have been thinking about how unique and a little crazy it is to marry my high school sweetheart. First of all he knows everything about me and while I try to follow up and know everything about him also I feel like I still have a long way to go. He might say the same thing in reverse but I am not sure its true. I think maybe I will always feel this way about getting to know Simon. But I think at the same time its more of a challenge than a setback. Getting to know someone especially someone you love dearly I think is like going to an Art museum like El Prado there is so much art that there is no way you can see it all in one trip(although I tried very hard)you have to keep going back and discovering something new each time, its probably the most exciting and challenging adventure I will ever be on. Simon and I have had all our firsts together...we went on our first date(I had a broken foot and he was very smooth and said it would be good if I held his hand so I wouldn't hurt myself, in reality I was more like leaning on top of him the entire night) our first kiss, which happened in the basement of my house and ended in hysterical laughter. Simon and I have tried to do things like share a school parking pass(bad idea when you have two cars), we have fallen off a jetski and the key stayed in the jetski instead of coming off with me(hilarious story), and we have almost killed each other working at Okoboji and then getting through it and realizing how we can work together better. We have seen each other at our best and worst, we have cheered each other on and given each other advice, and through it all we have always love each other. I am so incredibly excited to get married to Simon and I know things may get harder and we will have to work through more things. But I know without a doubt I am marrying my best friend I have ever had and that I am more in love with him than I was when I first fell in love with him seven years ago.

A wedding weekend

Micah and Amee are married. And I have to say its a little weird for me to think about Micah being married, I mean we did so many goofy things in high school like playing the turn left game, sneaking up on the make out cars at tranquility and various other things...Christian even reminded Simon and I of how him and Micah threw me into the pool on my 16th birthday...good times. All I can say is I hope things don't change too much. I love it when Micah, Noah and Simon make fun of me, and I am just afraid things like that aren't going to happen anymore because Micah is married now...interestingly enough for some reason I am not worried about Simon and I being married because I know we will always act like goofballs. ok so that is enough of my spiel..I will write more later.

My name defined:)

Elissa --
[noun]:

A hermit living in the big city

Going to the chapel...

And I am not getting married this weekend. Ok so that didn't work quite as great and clever sounding as I thought it would, please change the whole thing to your own preferred tune. In an effort to kill some time at work and reflect on the upcoming weekend I have made the following top ten list

Top Ten ways to be successful at guestbook tasks

10. Arrive on time/be early...this should be fairly easy to accomplish since I will probably already be at the church before the time I actually need to be there.

9. Don't make any short jokes to Melinda or leave that up to the boys.

8. Smile continously (maybe I should consider vaseline...jk)

7. Make sure people write real names and not fake names...a couple fake names are ok if they are dispersed throughout the book.

6. Practice answers to standard questions: How are the wedding plans coming? (real answer planning what's that?!?!) what I say..they are great
When do you graduate? Next may (does this matter to anyone except for me, my parents and simon?)
Are you excited? of course (after seven years excitement is an understatement for being ready to get married...its more like a supercharged ball of excitement)

5.Take big breaths and have time of silent meditation before going into CCC(Simon calls CCC his kryptonite...maybe we should do silent meditation together)

4. Remember to bring wedding gift.

3. remember to have good laughs with melinda and think about the reception when I can dance with Simon

2. take more deep breaths

1. wear a fabulous dress:)

Moving

This weekend was a blur of continually moving into Simon and I's new apartment and piling it all into our living room. Now comes the fun part of finding places to put all our stuff.:) Getting married is very interesting how it blends two live into one life and my stuff and his stuff into our stuff. Its going yo be a very busy few weeks until we get to the wedding, a lot of stuff to do and not a lot of time. But I know it will all get done and I am getting more and more excited.

Planning=Overrated

I have decided that this whole planning your wedding in advance stuff is just some kind of mystery that people try to tell you happens. Everyone tells me we will meet with you two weeks before the wedding and finalize everything then...it will be fine. All I have to say is the day that is two weeks before the wedding is going to be very busy.

Bloody Heck!

So I am getting into the swing of summer...being lazy, going to weddings, watching movies, going to KC randomly. And I have decided between all this incredibly stimulating activity that I wish I was closer to my parents and I am ok with being poor. I know those things don't really go together and probably don't even have the least connection. My thoughts are kind of strung around me and vaguely holding together because of all the change going on. It is so weird for me to think that I will be living with Simon in about a month instead of with one of my girlfriends, its weird how everyone is graduating and getting married including me and starting new phases of their lives. But life keeps moving and changing and I guess we just have to jump on and go with it.

My aunties

There are sometimes in life when you realize that you have some of the best family members in the world and then you wonder why you didn't realize this sooner. I went home this weekend to help my parents pack for the big move to KC. My aunts came too and I found out a few things about them: they are hilarious, they are some of the strongest women I know, and that they love me.
On Saturday they asked me where I was going on my honeymoon. I told them Lake of the Ozarks and they were like oh following in the tradition of honeymoon camping and started tell me hilarious stories of their honeymoons. Like how my aunt Kris felt like she was going to throw up the entire time because she was pregnant and they had hidden it from everyone or how my aunt melinda and uncle scott flooded a bathroom and lied to the park ranger about it. I tried to explain to them that I ddin't think my honeymoon experience was going to be quite like that because we are going to be in a condo. But then Kris said you know what you need to do on your honeymoon elissa is go fishing, some of the best moments of our life were when we were fishing. They told some more stories about bologna sandwiches, catching more fish than their husbands and how much they missed it. It was decided that Simon and I needed to take up the hobby of fishing because it would also be the best time of our life.
Saturday night, I am working away at addressing invitations, perfecting my cursive when my Aunts come storming in with two fishing poles, a huge tackle box and more bait than I have ever seen in my life. "Surprise"...now you have everything you need to go fishing on your honeymoon they tell me. I am standing there in shock because I have never really had family who desire to pass a memory on to me, it was amazing.
On Sunday when I was driving home I started crying because I realize these women who I haven't really known my entire life love me and more than that desire to give pieces of their life to me.

silly blog quizzes

Ok, so I don't know why I just posted that last blog quiz except that it cracked me up and made me smile. Everyone falls in love with me? ANd apparently I have the ability to make everyone elses dreams come true but I don't have any of my own..What?!?!!? I think I need feedback on this..have you ever been in love with me please respond...:) Ok, so I am really bored at work, what's new? I need to be writing one of the seven papers I have due this week so I am going to go to and get some tacos or maybe a crunchwrap and get on that.

Your Seduction Style: Fantasy Lover

You know that ideal love that each of us dreams of from childhood? That's you! Not because you posess all of the ideal characteristics, but because you are a savvy shape shifter. You have the uncanny ability to detect someone's particular fantasy... and make it you. You inspire each person to be an idealist and passionate, and you make each moment memorable Even a simple coffee date with you can be the most romantic moment of someone's life By giving your date exactly what he or she desires, you quickly become the ideal lover. Your abilities to make dreams come true is so strong, that you are often the love of many people's lives. Your ex's (and even people you have simply met or been friends with) long to be yours. No doubt you are the one others have dreamed of... your biggest challenge is finding *your* dream lover.

What Kind of Seducer Are You?

You Have a Phlegmatic Temperament

Mild mannered and laid back, you take life at a slow pace. You are very consistent - both in emotions and actions. You tend to absorb set backs easily. You are cool and collected. It is difficult to offend you. You can remain composed and unemotional. You are a great friend and lover. You don't demand much of others. While you are quiet, you have a subtle wit that your friends know well. At your worst, you are lazy and unwilling to work at anything. You often get stuck in a rut, without aspirations or dreams. You can get too dependent on others, setting yourself up for abandonment.

What Temperment Are You?

Weeks of Craziness

My weeks of craziness have begun. I know pretty soon (this weekend) I am going to become holed up and be endlessly writing in Spanish until April 24th. Slowly though I will be beginning to turn things in and someone else will decide how well I have done.
I honestly can't wait for it all to be done. And I have spent the past ten minutes at work daydreaming about what book I will read when the second week of May starts. I have decided it will either be one of the shopaholic books if I totally want to veg out, or The Time Traveller's Wife or Angels and Demons( I started that but never got to finish it.) I will also be able to wedding plan like crazy and work on my thesis...I can't wait for summer!!! I want to be able to think and write about things that I like again. But I will have to hold off for four weeks, in which I will be reminded everyday that I should never take all literature classes again.

Rainy Showers, Bridal Showers

The rain is coming down hard and it is very dark out which makes me not want to do anything all day. But, I still got up and gave my presentation to my renaissance literature class today and I will probably still go running this afternoon...if it is not pouring rain.
Timaree, Simon's Mom threw me a bridal shower this weekend, which was amazing. I felt so incredibly loved by all those church ladies. I got pans and bath stuff, and napkins and christmas plates...I could probably keep up the ands for awhile. I also found out another surprise at shower, my parents are moving to Kansas City because my Dad got a job there. A lot of crazy things happening in the life of my family but its really good news for my parents because my Dad has been out of a job for so long. My mom was the happiest I have ever seen her that saturday and Andrew called me last night to tell me they sold the house which is really great also. I hope everything keeps working out for them and this has definetly given my family a renewed sense of hope. So many things have happened in the last few weeks that has shown me that God is there and really cares about us...I could probably go on for days!!! I will post again soon...

Wedding Registries and Nice Weather

I have spent the last two hours of work researching wedding registries..which may seem a little ridiculous. But there is not a lot to do here and hey I want to get some good stuff when Simon and I get married. I am not sure if good stuff includes a spoon rest but it definetly includes a Kitchenaid mixer that I have no idea how to use. It is absolutely gorgeous out which makes me very excited because spring is just around the corner. I can't wait because then comes summer and our wedding...which means a huge party where I will look extremely hot and starting a family with Simon. I am so excited to live in a tiny apartment, finish school, find a job and spend our lives together. It's kind of crazy because a new phase of life is starting....it might be hard at times, but overall I think it will be good.

When you trust God he gives you tampons

Ok, so my past week has been crappy...probably more than crappy, shitty would probably best describe it. Between finanacial problems, my Mom being her crazy self and school I was pretty much ready to give up last week. But on Saturday I decided to live in reality and face all the shit going on (because it's not going anywhere) and deal with it. This is a hard revelation for me even though it might seem quite simple for a lot of people, mainly because I like to hide from hard things in my life, I like to forget about them and then never touch them again. Now, I have to remember each day that they are there and slowly deal with them.
This has taken a lot of trust and dependence for me(and we are only 4 days into the whole deal) But I wanted to share something cool that happened today that might seem fairly insignificant and maybe a little weird. So money is really tight...I'm having problems figuring out how to pay my school bill, which leads to problems about buying groceries...etc. But Friends, have been great, countless people have bought meals for me, Meg, my roommate bought me some groceries and two of my favorite junk foods..twizlers and doubled stuf oreos:) and everyone has spent countless hours just hanging out to be there for me. I can honestly say my friends are probably the greatest in the world!
So lately I have been eating lunch at Alpha Chi, which is good because it saves me money in other areas but I debated not eating there today because I didn't really like the lunch they were having but as I was about to leave, two of the girls in my house were getting pink packages out of a box. Well I went over to investigate and they were tampon samples...ok so this may seem weird but it was exciting for me, because they were my favorite brand AND they were free AND I needed them AND I was just thinking about this morning how I needed some.
Needless to say it may have not been a God thing but it was a definite God thing for me. Maybe tomorrow God will provide deoderant?

Wondering how to keep up hope

I am having kind of a down day, it's really kind of hard because I feel like I just pulled myself out of a whole bunch of schmuck only to feel down again. I think most of it stems from work and school, I am frusterated with my boss Gary because he wants me to find funding connections and I don't really understand why he didn't tell me this two weeks ago. Most of that probably doesn't make much sense to everyone else but I think the essential concept is he didn't tell me everything he wanted changed after the first edit.
I also have this Spanish novel to read which is really becoming a pain but I don't I have to get it done because I a m giving a presentation about it on Friday...then there is Dance Marathon which is a whole other ball game that I am really ready to be done with. ok...thats enough of my ranting, I wish Jennifer would get here to the foundation so I could go read my book.

Hearts, Flowers and a lot of snow

Well, the girls at La Discoteca (aka the Duplex) made off pretty well after V-Day. Three Bouquets of flowers, a bowl of milk duds and malt balls,and a pot of gold from Derek...we all knew we were well loved.
It's snowing like cats and dogs today and is really the first real snow we have gotten since Thanksgiving. For Nebraska being known for its cold winters, we have been spoiled with 60 degree days. Lately have just been trying to make it month to month with money, which is scary seeing as the situation never seems to be getting better. We read a poem by Sir Walter Raleigh in Renaissance Lit., where he discussed how the learned become poor if thats the case then I will probably be out on the street begging by the time I am 30. I have been trying to tell myself that not having much money helps you realize the sweeter things in life, so far I am not convincing myself.
Exciting things of the week: Simon has an interview today to teach at SCC, I got a 98% on a Spanish test(this has never happened before), and Meg's sister is valedictorian at her high school! This is a lot of things to be thankful for even though times may be a little rough.

Family Room=Crazy Day

I am currently try to figure out how to get ordering done for dance marathon and it has turned into quite a project, but I think I almost have it all figured out. I have decided that I am going to really need some time to sit and breath after February is all over. In other news, it is confirmed that Simon's little cousin, Zahra is going to be our flower girl. She told her Mom it is her dream come true which made me smile. I think every little girl needs a dream come true so I am glad I helped with that one, I think that about covers things for now.

New Semster Craziness

My last spring semester..that is very weird to say. Wel I think I have had to use drop/add forms more this semester than ever before but I finally have my spring schedule perfect and I can work all afternoons at the good old NU foundation. I had the wonderful idea of getting up at 5:30 yesterday to swim at the Rec...note to self this is a bad idea because it is cold and dark out. So I have decided I will probably just look the same at my wedding instead of incredibly fit, because I officially hate working out.I am excited about being done with this semester so then I can get married:) yay!