We've got big news

I noticed that all my friends on facebook was posting pictures of their kids easter egg hunting today... Well I don't have a kid so I give you...Bella.

All she's missing is her Easter Dress.... :o)

Hope Everyone had a great Easter...

I always get excited after Easter because it seems like Spring weather really is near...

We spend the afternoon at my grandma's eating dinner.  After we got back home I had a few custom orders to do.  I didn't have to get them done today but I figured I might as well so I could get them sent off in the morning.  Also if you follow me on twitter or read my facebook then you already know our big news... Friday Justin got a call from the mine that he had applied at and he got the job.  He has to be there at 1pm on Tuesday to fill out paperwork and do his drug test.  Were not exactly sure when he'll start but he's pretty sure it will be in the next week... So he's been really excited.. He's already been saying "oh I can buy this and this..." but it's always "I" not "us." haha I think he forgot that he promised me if he got on at the mine he'd buy me a camera... I've already got my eye on this baby... hehe

It's just crazy...I just posted saying how stressed out I was because I only had 2 weeks of unemployment left and how JC still hadn't heard from the mine and then boom..the next day we hear something.. :o)  I'm so glad it's working out.  Now I just need to come up with a part time job to do this summer to have some extra money... I'm hoping to make enough money from my etsy shop to cover it but we'll see how it goes.

and god said "let there be stress."

So, in two weeks I'll be completely out of unemployment.  I will have ZERO income.  I was hoping by now JC would be working at the mine so we really weren't worried.  He had his interview I think late February or early March, I really can't remember.  Anyways they told him he was first on the list to be hired and that they would be hiring him the first of April.  Well it's April 8 and he still hasn't heard anything from them.  He calls them about every week and they keep saying "your first on the list..." but then he never hears back from them.  If he doesn't get that job then I don't get to go to school.  If he doesn't get that job then I have to get a full time job to be able to afford my bills.  This weekend I'm going to sit down and add up all our bills combined...then add up his income from his unemployment and figure out what we'll need to get by.  I'm pretty much at the point to where I'm gonna have to take anything...no matter what the income is.  I keep telling JC how worried I am and he just says  "don't worry, it will work out, it always does."  But this time it just don't seem like it will...

So my plan for today is I've got two orders to do and get sent out.  So i'm going to do that as soon as I finish this post.  Then I'm going to search online to see if I can find any jobs that I can apply for online.  Blah. . .

back to work for one week

So I feel like i'm sorta behind on posting.  This week has been kinda hectic.  Tuesday night my cousin Derrik had his basketball sectionals.  Unfortunately, we lost.  It was a really good game and they had an excellent season, I just wish they could have won sectionals again.  They won sectionals last year...and this year is his senior year...so it's his last time playing basketball.  I'm still very proud of him.  He did really good this season.  This just means that baseball season is around the corner.  Which is very exciting.

I also had my first custom vinyl order.  I am a member of a Kurt Halsey Fan Page on livejournal and I saw a post from a girl wanting to know if anyone did vinyl.  I sent her a message and she is actually from indianapolis (which is just 2 hours away) and needs some vinyl window art for a local band.  So I'm waiting for my white vinyl to come in (i only had black and brown) and as soon as it comes in which hopefully is tomorrow or monday at the latest I'll get her decals made.  I'm hoping that in the future if the band plays gigs and wants to sell some of the car window decals maybe they'll order them from me.  I still haven't added any vinyl to my shop.  I was going to add it in the shop on March 1 but that's the day I took my cousin's senior pictures and then the last few days I've been busy doing things.  Then today I worked at my old work (the one that I got laid off from).  Someone is taking a week off so they asked me to come work for a week to fill in.  I really didn't want to do it but I figured it wouldn't kill me to work 1 week...plus I'll make more than my unemployment and that will push my unemployment back one week....  So today I worked there..it was boring and went by REALLY slow..but it was okay.  It's just weird being back there.  It's been 8 months and alot has changed.  Nothing has changed there.  The place is the same and the people are the same..but I'm different.  I just see things differently and really don't care to be there.  I don't know...I've just changed the way I feel about things in the past 8 months I guess.  Like I sorta reevaluated the way I think, feel, and act about things.   I know whats important to me and the kind of people I want to surround myself with.  And that place just isn't where I want to be and those people are just not the people I want to be around. BUT...it's only for one week..so i'm sure I can handle it for one week.  It's basically free money..the worst part about the job is having to wake up at 7 am...other than that the job is cake. :o)



**picture above is Dylan and Derrik with their bobble heads I made with my cricut.**

I got a job and then they took it away

Well...I have so much to blog about....well back in this post I talked about how I wanted an iphone.  After searching online I found out that switching to AT&T from Verizon the actual "switch" was going to alot of money because of two phone bills, activation fees, and paying $75 to get out of our Verizon contract... but the actual monthly bill was going to be about the same maybe even less depending on what texting package we got.  So last week when I got a really good phone call, I decided instead of waiting a while lets go switch to AT&T now. Plus, JC had washed his 2nd phone in the washer and so it was either do that or go to Verizon and renew our 2 year contract...
Anyways...back about 3 weeks ago I had a phone interview and I was told that I was one of 25 applicants that was narrowed down out of 400.  I was super happy that I had even made it that far...but I didn't have much hope that out of 25 more I'd be number 1.  I then went to an actual interview last Wednesday.  The lady spent about an hour with me and she seemed to really like me.  She basically said "you've got the job," just not in those words.  So again I was super excited that I may actually have gotten this job.  So Monday morning I woke up and had a message on our answering machine.  It was the lady from Human Resources in Indianapolis telling me to call her back because she wanted to offer me the job.  Me?? You picked me out of 400 applicants???
So I immediately called her back....(she didn't answer..so I called again later..) and she said "Hey, the job is yours if you still want it."  Of course I took it.  I was soooooo happy.  She gave me all the details how I was going to have to go to Indy for training and what I needed to buy as far as work clothes and shoes etc.  I was soooo excited.  I was going to be making over $2.00 more an hour there than I was at my previous job.. and best of all it was part time.  So I could still make sure I can see all my cousins basketball and baseball games in the next 5 months...I could still work on Adiqshun Designs and still create things.  I could still be home...etc.  It was the PERFECT job for me.  So after I got off the phone JC and I needed to go into town because he needed to go to the unemployment office and find out why he wasn't getting paid yet... So he talked me into going up there with him and we decided since I finally got a job, that we'd go ahead and switch to AT&T and I could get my iPhone.

The next morning I get online to see if the lady from human resources had emailed me yet.  She said she would email me the address of the place I was soposed to be going to in Indy for training.  About the time I realized she hadn't emailed me, my iPhone rang.  It was her.  I was excited...I was thinking...I don't know.. anything but what she told me.

She said that yesterday after she had called me and gave me the good news that the president of the company told her to FREEZE hiring on all employees.  That they would not hire anymore employees at this time and to freeze it for 35-45 days.  She said she didn't have the heart to call me and let me down...so she waited until then...  I was devastated...  I couldn't believe that someone could do that to me.  JC and I were both so excited.  We knew with me working there, atleast one of us had a job, that we'd be okay. 

The lady said that after 45 days if the president takes the freeze off and they do hire for that position I'd be the first person she calls.  Which is great because I really do want that job but what am I going to do between now and then??  I still have unemployment but heck now a days you never know when were gonna run out of that.

So, I was employed for about 18 hours and then unemployed again.  Thank goodness I didn't go out and buy new shoes and new scrubs.  Unfortunately, I did buy my iphone.  Which I was going to get it eventually anyways...so its not that big of deal...our first months bill is gonna suck...but..we'll figure it out.  We always do.  I'm just tired of being on this Roller coaster of jobs or whatever... I go to interviews and then no call backs.  I go to interviews and get a call back....and get the job...and then lose the job...all in less than 24 hours... Is the economy ever gonna get any better?
JC found out at the unemployment office that he won't get any unemployment for atleast 8 weeks.  Thats 2 months without him making a single $1. Thank goodness we have some money in a savings account and thank goodness its tax time...  Otherwise I have no idea what we'd do.

Artwork by Kurt Halsey

New felt coasters in the shop.

I added some new things to the shop today.  I've got alot of projects sitting around on my desk so I will be adding even more soon.  With JC losing his job we only have health insurance until Friday.  So this week my schedule is full of doctor and dentist appointments.  I went to the dentist today and found out I have 4 cavities.. UCK.  I HATE the dentist...I don't even like going to get my teeth cleaned but I do it... I really don't want to go back on Thursday to get my cavativies filled...mainly because I hate the dentist but also because my copay for Thursday is $168.00.  oh my...I definately don't have the $168.00 right now to pay for that...so I'm going to have to figure something out...once we get our tax check it's not a problem but if I'm going to get my cavaties filled I have to do it this week before our health insurance terminates...So I have two dentist appointments and two doctor appointments...My week will be very costly and boring. :o)  On to the new stuff...

These are my Blue Whale Felt Coasters.  I love my little whale and I have big plans for him in the future...right now he's starting out small on coasters..but hopefully soon you'll see much more of him.

I LOVE how these turned out.  I wasn't sure at first exactly how they were going to look but I'm really happy with the end results.  I have some more shapes cut out and ready to make into some coasters.  I'm hoping to have them up in the shop by next week.

On February 1st I was planning on having vinyl wall art and my custom clear stamps up in the shop.  Due to JC losing his job and us having to cram a year's worth of doctor and dentist visits into one week it looks like that will be on hold until middle of February or beginning of March. 

Also, I forgot to mention...JC had an interview in the county south of us for a police officer position.  He had the overview Saturday morning and the agility test Saturday afternoon.  He has to return at the end of February to take the written test and then at the beginning of March he'll find out if he got the job.  We won't have to move because we live in a surrounding county which is good....so keep your fingers crossed.  He also applied at a coal mine just about 15 miles away today.  It's really not his ideal job but he would make enough money that I wouldn't have to get a full time job so I'd still be able to stay at home and work on my business....keep your fingers crossed.

Click here to visit the shop.

My 100th Blog Post

I always knew I would make it to 100 posts but I don't think I knew I'd make it this soon. My first blog post was on March 17, 2008, so it hasn't even been a year yet. (yes if you look in my archives it says I posted in 2006, but I actually took blog posts from my myspace blog and posted them here when I deleted my myspace blog) If I would have been employed the entire 2008 I'm sure I definately would not have made it to 100 posts this soon. But with having no job for the last 5 months of the year it left me with plenty of time to keep track of my random thoughts and such. Obviously I'm not going to sit here and update you on the last 100 posts of this blog (you can check the archives for that) but I am going to look forward to the next 100.
As much as I hate the thought I know I'm going to eventually have to get a "real job." I would love to continue to stay at home and create and design but at this time its just not realistic for us. JC was fired from his job yesterday as was 80 other employees from Aisin. That's their way of getting out of paying Insurance, Severance pay etc. So as of right now the most important thing is one of us to get a job as fast as possible with Insurance. We don't use it much except for petty things but knowing our luck as soon as we didn't have it, we'd need it. I'm not really gonna get into the whole JC/work thing in this post because this post is for looking ahead towards a "bright" future. (we'll save that for another post of ranting..hehe)
Anyways, I've went to 3 job interviews but have came away with no jobs. Two of the three I was really excited about and was very hopeful that the job could possibly be mine. Apparently it wasn't. If JC still had his job my plan was continue looking for a job but I wouldn't have to pick just anything.. I could actually do something I enjoy with good pay. With him not having a job now I've got to pretty much take anything I can get. That means that it could have bad pay, bad hours, etc. which also means less time to work on my dream...
Hopefully that doesn't happen, hopefully something perfect comes along for me and JC... something that we both love and something that we can still spend plenty of time together.
I know having money is important because you have to be able to have a roof over your head and food on the table...but more importantly my husband is the most important thing in my life.
I don't know...this post is sorta pointless. Weeks ago I was looking ahead planning this big giveaway and huge ordeal with my"100th Post" but now with all circumstances I just can't see doing it. So hopefully you all hang in there with me...times are tough but I have faith we'll figure this thing out together. Also, to those of you going thru the same thing...please feel free to give us some advice...we'll take anything we can get.

Happy to Sad. . .

So back on January 5 I ordered some Kurt Halsey postcards.  Every day since then I've been checking my mailbox....but no postcards.  I finally gave up hope yesterday and figured that they were just lost in the mail or something and I would never get them.  Usually when you order stuff from Kurt you get it in like less than a week.  So today JC and I (he's work is closed on fridays now) got up and ran to the bank and the post office.  When we got back JC went to the mailbox to get the mail out and there it was... My postcards from Kurt Halsey.  But wait...is that Kurt's writing on the front of the envelope??? OH MYLANTA it is!!!!!! My name written by the one and only Kurt Halsey... I think I was more excited about that than the actual post cards at this point.  I couldn't believe it.  His writing is so amazing...and to have my name (and address) written in it...wow.  

Okay...so while I was in the middle of typing this entry...JC's phone rang..I answered it was his workplace.  He works for a place called Aisin Brake.  They make brakes for Toyota and Honda.  He was laid off for three weeks during the holidays and then when he got back after the holidays they have only been working four days a week.  Yesterday they were told next week they would work Monday and then on Tuesday would have a mandatory meeting for two hours about the "Future of the Company." 

So as I was sitting here typing the phone rang and it was some guy from Aisin.  JC was outside chopping wood with his chainsaw and I yelled at him and told him phone call.  I wish I never would have answered it.  It was Aisin telling him he was fired.  See...they had just told all of their employees that they care for them and that they (the employees) are the most important thing.  But..instead of laying people off and letting them keep their insurance, give them a severance pay, and possibly pay them unemployment..they decided to fire some of their employees.  No insurance, no severance pay, and maybe no unemployment.  Apparently they do care.  HA!  So as of January 30 we have no insurance.  If my employer would have just kept me like they should have I could have just put JC on my insurance and I'd still be making decent money to where we can get by.  Now we have go thru and possibly cancel our cell phones, tv, etc.  Great...I may or may not have interenet tomorrow.... It's been a yucky week and a half... First my kitty dies and now this...wtf??

Victoria's Secret bathing suite, Dooney & Bourke, & Anne Klein for sale on Ebay

So with the holidays past I can dedicate all my extra time to my shop.  Unfortunately money is still low because of me not having a job... so i've decided to sell some things on ebay.   Please check them out.  The two Dooney & Bourke items I did carry but they are both like new.  The jewelry and bathing suit i have never worn.  The jewelry hasn't even been taken out of the box and the swimming suit I ordered online at victoriassecret.com.  I literally opened the package, tried it on, was bummed it didn't fit and took it off.  It's been in my closet in a draw at my smoke free home ever since. So take a look at the photos and if your interested check out the listings. Just click the link below each picture to view the listing on ebay.
Thanks so much!

Dooney & Bourke Doodle Wristlet in Black

Dooney & Bourke Star Metro Card Case

Anne Klein Jewelry for Prom or Wedding

Victoria's Secret Star Print Bathing Suit

Thanks for looking!!!  I have so much stuff in store for you for February....I can't wait!!

cold weather makes me creative

Yesterday it got up to 9 degrees where I live and let me tell you with the wind and clouds it fell ike -9 degrees. It was so freakin' cold it took your breath away. I don't ever remember it being that cold. That's why I don't live in Michigan, NY, Canada..etc. I HATE cold weather. Don't get me wrong I love to buy hats, scarfs, & gloves and dress up for winter..but I hate the cold weather. UGG. One day I will hopefully life where the tempature doesn't drop below like 40 or 50 and thats only at night time. :o)

So since today's high so far is 17 other than running by the bank and wal-mart JC and I have decided to stay in where its warm. I've been busy crafting and creating and JC has been playing poker online and just hanging out. It's been a really nice day..inside. I added some new things to my shop. I plan on really getting alot done and added by next weekend. Plus there are a few things I asked for for christmas that I really hope I get because if so I'll be in full work mode. I can't wait. I keep making things and then I like them for myself..haha so i have to make two. hehe I can't help it. I love my own work..what can I say.

I'm not sure if I ever posted here yet but Justin is officially laid off until January 22. He's getting parcial unemployment but the way that it work she won't actually get paid until right before he goes back to work..so technically he won't get paid for like 2 weeks straight.. My unemployment is up December 31. Then if I haven't found a job by then (which I probably won't because it seems noone is hiring around the holidays) I'll have to file for an extension. If I get approved for the extension that I'll get unemployment until March..If I get denied then I'm broke and will have to figure something out. I'll either have to find a part time job or something...just as long as it brings in a paycheck..then it doesn't really matter I guess.

Also, if you haven't already PLEASE either download or go out and purchase Taylor Swift's new CD Fearless and go out and buy Britney Spear's new CD Circus. I'm telling you This is Britney's BEST CD EVER. Every single song just makes you want to get up and dance...and if they don't...you have a problem. The songs are just so catchy and I just can't stop listening to it. Taylor's cd is of course amazing just like her first. It's sorta the same vibe as the first one...break ups, boys, love..etc. but they each tell a story and its so good especially knowing she wrote all of them. She is an amazing songwriter.

All I want for christmas. . .

I saw this icon on Livejournal and thought it was super cute and SO TRUE!! haha  I have a HUGE post I've been working on..its a recap of 2008 and it looks forward to 2009.  I'm still working on it but hope to have it finished and posted before christmas. 

Indiana will run out of unemployment by March 2009

so I've been laid off since 8.7.08 and started receiving unemployment on 9.7.08. I've been looking for a job since about the time I've got laid off but there isn't much out there. I was hoping that by the time my unemployment runs out which should be in about a year...that hopefully by then I'd have a job. But I always knew I had a good 9-12 months to find a job. Well when I got home from christmas shopping today JC told me they said on the news that by March Indiana would be out of unemployment. This AWESOME news came two days after JC's job told him and the rest of their employees that after the new year they were taking "voluntary layoffs" and then if they didn't have enough people volunter then they would have to start laying off. So...if he gets laid off he won't even get unemployment because Indiana won't have any left. GREAT!
Let's just hope after the new year I get a phone call from the place I interviewed at they tell me I got the job! I have came to the conclusion that if I don't hear from there or any other place by the middle of January its time to apply EVERYWHERE.. Even if its not in my pay range...A little money is better than no money.
Please cross your fingers that A. JC doesn't get laid off B. I get a job & C. Indiana has enough unemployment left to get me thru. :o)

tomorrow is the big day. . .

well tomorrow is the big day.  I'm going to my first job interview since like 2003. haha  I'm really nervous.  I didn't think I was going to be but I could hardly sleep last nite, so I can't imagine what tonight will be like.  I don't really know why I'm nervous.  I know I'm a good worker and I'm a good talker so I know the actually interview will go well I'm just nervous about getting the job.  I want the job REALLY BAD even though I don't really know much about it... I just really want a job... I'm tired of feeling worthless. haha  Okay...well I don't really feel worthless, but I'm ready to make money. :o)

Today my friend Tabby & I went to Terre Haute to try and get some of her christmas done.  She had told me that she just wasn't really in the Christmas mood this year so I thought I might be able to help her do some of her shopping to kinda get her in the mood... She ended up buying a few things for herself BUT she did get a few things for some of her family members.  I had to buy some "interview" pants because I've worked at a doctors office for the past 4 years and we wore scrub pants and t'shirts to work EVERYDAY. It was awesome...it was like going to work in your pajamas...i miss that. :o(  Anyways, then for lunch we met Robyn on her lunch break and ate at Garfield's.  I'm really not that big a fan of Garfield's...I think it's kinda like the lower class of TGI Friday's, Ruby Tuesdays, & Applesbee's.  I think they are pretty much all the same but some are definately better than others.  The only thing I do like about Garfield's is their AWESOME sweet tea & that I get to draw on the tables.  That's my favorite part! :o)  I also dropped my wedding ring/band off at Kay Jewelers so that they could solder (isn't that a weird way to spell it?) them together and get them all nice and clean...they were starting to look pretty grungy from wearing them together...they were like rubbing spots on eachother.  So we didn't get alot of shopping done but we got to hang out and pick up a few things.  I bought a scarf, hat, & gloves from Aeropostale that was 50% off.  I have some already but they aren't "nice."  I wanted to have something that looked kinda "classy" or atleast "dressed up" to wear to my interview tomorrow.  and hopefully wear to my new job everyday. :o) 

Oh...and I just ordered some fabric from spoonflower.  I found this image of trees a long time ago, I don't even remember where.  Anyways I always thought it would make AWESOME fabric.  So I uploaded it to spoonflower and kinda edited it a little bit to repeat on fabric and I ordered just an 8x8 piece for $6.00.  Once I get it I'm gonna make sure it looks good and if so I'm definately purchasing it to start making some purses, wallets, etc.  I'm so excited and can't wait to get it.

I'm B - R - O - K - and the E is on it's way. . .

that's right people. i'm broke... well almost. but hopefully not for long because.... i have an interview*. it's friday at 3 pm. i don't want to ramble on about it because 1. i don't want to jinx myself and 2. i don't really know much about it anyways. i know its a sales represenative position for a local company. i'm not quite sure what all the position consists of but if it is has anything to do with selling things...I can do it. hell...I could sell an eskimo flip-flops... ;o) Wish Me Luck!!

*yes...i know i talk about how i want to have my own business from my home..and yes that is still my dream. but lets face it people..it takes money to make money...and right now i'm B-R-O-K...and the E is on it's way....

Raking leaves is fun, being jobless is not

So our yard is covered with leaves and has been for about a week. Everytime we go out and rake them up and burn them...more fall the next day. So yesterday (like the 4th day in a row) my husband says "hey..let's go outside and rake leaves" I thought NOT AGAIN!! So as I'm raking leaves and he's starting a fire in our fire pit to keep us warm (and to burn the leaves) I decided that I had to do something to make raking leaves fun or atleast something that will keep my attention for a few minutes. So I decided to draw in the leaves. It was actually a lot of fun and if it wasn't so cold out I was going to try drawing stars, peace signs, etc.
I went to Wal-Mart today and bought a few craft supplies. There are SO MANY things I need/want but just don't have the money for them right now. Not to mention that christmas is right around the corner so I should be saving every cent I have to be able to afford gifts this year. I usually spend $100 on each of my two cousins, $50 each on my mom, aunt, & grandma, and then about $100-$150 on Justin. So if you add that up I usually spend $450-$500. This year I need to cut that in half. So I'm thinking about telling Justin that we should set a limit at $75 no more for eachother. Drop my cousin's from $100 each to $75 each. Drop my aunt, grandma, & mom to $40. That would be a total of $345...saving $155. The thing is I never really have a "budget" during christmas. I know what I usually spend and just do that or somewhere around that. So I really need to make a budget and stick with it this year. I'm hoping to make atleast two gifts for my aunt so that will help out alot. The thing is I really want to have my Etsy Shop open on December 1 so that I can start selling my crafts. But to be able to make money you have to spend money...so what happens when you don't have the money to spend?
I'm really starting to get annoyed with not having a job. I mean I know I've got unemployment until August of 2009 but it's just not enough money to get by anymore. After the holidays it may be different but right now it's killing me. I've been looking for a job and have sent out my resume but no responses... It's kinda driving me crazy. I've had a full-time job since I was 18 and as much as I LOVE being home, I LOVE spending money even more.

i'm lazy. . .

so i really do enjoy blogging...but i actually like looking thru other peoples blogs more. haha i don' t have a job and so what else do i have to do. i should just sit at home all day long and blog... right? no..instead i sit for house staring at the screen going thru hundreds of blogs... and when i find a blog that i really enjoy..i read the WHOLE thing...all the way to the first post. i recently came across My Life {as a Sugar Lander}. I absolutely LOVE this blog...she is very creative and gives me lots of good ideas for things i'd love to do here at my own home. She also makes me CRAVE a GOCCO!!! I've wanted one for months but with me having no job...it's kind of hard to throw out a couple hundred bucks to purchase one. I will have one..one day. But they stopped making them so they'll probably just get more expensive as time goes on. Anyways, check out her blog..i read it all the way back to the first post and it makes me want to be a Sugar Lander...
I also came across The Blissful Bride. After getting married I"m still obsessed with EVERYTHING weddings.. I don't know why.. It's not like i'm ever getting married again... I plan on being with this one forever. hehe :o) One of my bridesmaids is getting married next saturday...so i was thinking maybe I'm just still into everything wedding because I just got married and now she's getting married...yeah that's it. So i was thinking that after next saturday no more obessesive wedding stuff...but now... my best friend, tabby, and I decided we might be interested in starting a business together. I've wanted to start my own business since the age of 5. I'm just not one to have a boss. haha and i'm so creative and the usual 9-5 job makes me want to bite my fingernails down to the quick. haha i can't stand being inside a boring office all day long.. it drives me crazy. i'm not an "office" type of person... and if i was to have an office for my business...it's gotta have windows and colors and attitude... so anyways...i totally rambled on forever about weddings...anyways.. now that tabby and i are thinking about starting a wedding/event planning company or something..haha i find myself still surfing on any wedding blog I can find.. so when i came across The Blissful Bride I read it all the way thru and got some really good ideas on some things that I would love to incorporate if we do start a wedding planning company.
I then came across Arsty Farsty Shopaholic. When I saw the title i thought oh my gosh..that's me. haha So i started reading this blog...and once again read it from end to beginning. hehe I absolutely love her purse patterns. I just purchased one of her purse patterns and I plan on making a purse for myself of course..but also for a few people for christmas gifts. I'm trying to make everything handmade this christmas season. I know that's not a realistic goal so this year my goal is 50% of my gifts are going to be handmade...and hopefully next year 100%. I can't wait to get started on the purse. I received my pattern in the mail last week and it looks fairly easy to understand. And i know NOTHING about sewing.. so if I can understand it...if you have any bit of sewing ability or knowledge that it'd be a piece of cake for you. So I can't wait until I get some extra money to go buy some fabric because i'll be busy sewing....
So like i said tabby and i are wanting to start a business. I don't know if its a realistic goal or not but we'll see what happens. The thing is I have no doubt in my mind that i could start my own business. the thing is..it takes money to make money...and when you have no money to start with...what do you do? So slowly but surely i'm trying to purchase things here and there that I would need to make cookies, cupcakes, cakes...or invitations...etc. But I sat down and thought of everything I needed to be serious and with the purchase of products for my computer and products for cutting paper and baking and taking pictures.... ha..your looking at i need to spend around $3500 hmm....any ideas?

married life is awesome. i love jc more and more eachday.. we get along so well. i mean we got along well before we were married (obviously since we were together for 7 years) but i had heard alot of people say "oh marriage is different" which.. it is but in a good way. it's more forever. i mean we always said we'd be together forever BUT...there wasn't anything proving it. now there is. were married and were in love..and were gonna be together forever. :o)
Here are some cookies I made for my cousin's football game 2nite. They turned out really well. I need a better way of applying the icing to the cookie. I just used a butter knife but that leaves lines....i need to get a tip for my pastry bag where i can just apply it on there with that. It'd look much better. More professional. They turned out well though for my first time making little jerseys. haha I also made some footballs that you can see in the corner of the first pic. They turned out okay but the icing was a little thicker than usual and my hand was sooo sore from squeezing the icing out because on top of these i also made about two dozen pumpkin cookies... So by the time i got around to lining the football's and adding the NC to them...my hand was permanately in the squeeze position but didn't have any power left.. haha so i switched to my left hand but it's not as talented as my right hand. haha so they didn't turn out as well. Oh well..my aunt and my cousin likes them so that's all that matters. The number 34 is my cousin.. my aunt wanted me to make alot of those for all the family...and then the 45 and for his friend Dylan and the 78 is for his friend Caleb. I think for sectionals i'm going to make a cookie bouquet with green jerseys and white jerseys and footballs. I made the pumpkin ones to take to my moms get together she's having tomorrow. I think they turned out okay but I definately think with a large flat tip applying the icing it will look much better than flopping it on there with a butter knife.

well hmm...next week's unemployment pay is pretty much going all to bills....then the next pay i should have a little bit of extra cash which i'm hoping to buy paint and i'm going to paint my craft room. i took some pictures of it how it looks now but i uploaded them to my desktop computer and i'm on my laptop right now..so i'll post them on my next post. I can't wait to re'do that room. When my dad purchased and remodeled this house ...we gutted the whole damn thing EXCEPT for the two rooms that had been built on to the original house sometime in the 50's. So...dad put new floors in the two rooms but we used the original walls and ceilings. At the time it was saving us money on drywall and labor for someone to mudd the drywall.. so instead of painting we but beadboard halfway up with a chair rail and then wallpapered the top half of the room. It looked okay at the time and still looks okay. But it's very "countryish" and yes the rest of my house as a "country" feel... the craft room is too country.. bears and birdhouses...oh no. So... My plan is to paint over the wallpaper with a green color and then do a lighter green on top with a drybrush. I found the colors on Benjamin Moore Paints webpage and the closest store that carries this brand is 45 minutes away... So I'm gonna measure the room and find out EXACTLY how much paint i'll need..because I don't want to have to make another trip because I ran outta paint. I think it will turn out great.. The beadboard which is on the bottom half of the wall will just be white.. Then the top half will look like the walls in the picture... I'm so ready to do it now.. After the walls are painted I'm getting rid of my big hunky computer desk I have now and am going to build me a workspace/computer desk that will have room for my desktop, room for my laptop and room for my sewing machine...with lots of workspace. i'm so excited.. i have sooooo many ideas of things i want to do but i feel like i don't have a space to do it.. once i get this room organized and fresh just the way i want it... i feel like things will all fall together.

it's been a while. . .

so first i wanted to start this post off my of course mentioning the people who lost their lives on 9-11 just a few years ago. i will remember that day until the day that i die. i can tell you every single detail down to the minute of everything happening... it was such a scary day that i remember thinking...this is the end of the world. i had always thought that when the year 2000 rang in that our world would just "end." and i remember sitting there when the ball dropped on jan 1 2000 at 12:00am and waiting for the world to end...and it didn't...so i kinda thought..okay i'm just crazy... well on that day 9-11-2001 and i thought to myself...oh my gosh...it is the end of the world..it just took a while to get here... i was so scared...

it was my senior year in high school and we had only been in class for a few weeks... i was always late to my first hour class because jc would stay the nite with me cause my dad was always out of town working...and i would stay up late and then not want to get up in the morning...so as usual....i'm running late to school and on the radio i heard them say that an airplane had hit the world trade center... as i pulled into school and was walking into the office to get my late pass i was thinking "oh my gosh...i wonder how a plane ran into the world trade center?? how did they not see it?" i was so naive thinking who would do that on purpose?? it had to be an accident... so as i walk into class and my teacher makes a comment about me being late he went on to put some stupid history movie into the vcr...so me trying to save & the rest of my class from watching some boring documentary... i said "hey mr. strain...did you know that an airplane hit the world trade center?" he said oh yeah??? i said yeah let's turn on the news and try and see if its on... by that time the 2nd plane had already hit and i was confused because i didn't understand why the radio said 1 plane, but there was two?? so as were watching it they were playing replays of it hitting the 2nd tower.. and i couldn't believe what i was seeing... i was still in denial and thinking it must be an accident... as we were all sitting there in disbelief they flashed on the screen the pentagon on fire... i just remember looking around and people were in tears and had the look of shock on their faces.. we couldn't believe that we were "under attack" it was like watching a movie.. in our lifetime we had never experienced anything like that. you had heard stories of pearl harbor and such... but never in our lifetimes had we ever felt that our country that we were born and raised in...the country that we were safe from danger in... was no longer safe. the rest of the day our school was silent and i don't think anyone really knew what to do or feel...or expect. i'll never forgot that day for the rest of my life... i'll make sure that noone will ever forget...that will be a story that i will tell my kids and so on.... the teacher of that class will never forgot that day either. he tells his class each year... "yeah there was this girl who was always late to my class...and she came in late and told me "hey..did you know a plane hit the world trade center?"

so it's been a week or so since i last posted...i've been busy working on some projects..of course i haven't finished any of them because i have a short attention span. haha i start a project and get totally excited about doing it..and a day or two into it i find another project that i'm totally excited to do so i drop what i'm doing and start a new one...and so on and so on. haha i always end up going back to each project...but ya never know when i'll do it. hehe my goal this year is to make 50% of my christmas gifts handmade. i wanted to make my goal 100% but i don't want to fail my goal and get discouraged and quit.. so i decided to make my goal 50% and when i complete that goal i'll feel accomplished and proud and hopefully the next year 100% of my gifts will be homemade.

i finally got paid on monday.. i went 33 days without getting a paycheck..it really hurt. i had money saved up but i ended up having to take my saved money and pay my bills...so now i'm paying my september bills and trying to save my money again..

i did get all 423 wedding pictures back. i absolutely love them. i can't wait to show them all to you. if you have me on your myspace or facebook you can see them all there if not i'll have them all uploaded onto my webpage soon hopefully. speaking of my webpage it's coming along quite nicely. i finally learned how to do PHP...thank god.. some of you may be saying..oh my gosh she just learned how to do that?? well yes..i did. i tought myself everything i know.. and i had never had to use PHP before because i had never had so much content that i needed it. if i changed my layout or colors or whatever..i usually had like maybe 4 pages to change...now i've already got about 40...and that's just getting started... once i get it where i want...where everything is there i just have to keep adding new content..i'll have somewhere around 200 pages...maybe more. so there was no way i was going to be able to go to each page and change stuff... PHP is awesome...it's my new love and obsession. knowing now that i only have to edit one page...and it will change everything for me....it definately motivates me to update my page more... i've been creating new things here and there...but with the nice weather out i can't stand sitting inside on a laptop all day. i already have my halloween/fall decorations out... i love fall...especially october..i can't wait for october. it's usually when jc and i take our annual week off together. which he is still taking it off and of course i have no job so i'll be off. hehe but i definately plan on doing some major updates this weekend because i hear it's soposed to rain quite a bit.

speaking of nice weather and me having cabin fever..i have decided to start playing softball again. i haven't played since i was 18...so it's been about 7 years or so.. hehe but i'm tired of sitting back and watching jc go to tournaments taking girls that just aren't that good. he always has really good guys... but in a co-ed tournament your girls are really important. i've been wanting to play for about the last year or two but i was never sure about playing with him because we are both so competetive and hard on eachother. so if one of us would screw up or we'd lose or something..we'd both be really hard on eachother. but now that were married i almost feel that we'd enjoy doing it together...even if we do screw up or lose or whatever...yeah we may bitch at eachother for a few minutes..but it won't last long..haha it never does.. and i have faith that i'll really help out their team.. maybe not for the first couple of games haha...i'll be gettin' the ole rust off for a while.. but i've been going up to the diamond and doing some batting practice so hopefully the rust will fall off and the body parts that i haven't used for many years will stop hurting...hehe and i'll help him out and he'll be proud of me.

marriage is awesome. i thought that i'd basically be the same except for my last name changing...which i mean it basically is...but it sorta feels different now. i love it. i love hearing him say "my wife" and i love saying "my husband" i say it whenever i have the chance.. I LOVE MY HUSBAND!! hehe

beautiful pictures. . .

so i've been waiting for 4 1/2 weeks for this moment.... I GET TO SEE MY WEDDING PICTURES!! yay.. i LOVE THEM!! they are so amazing....i've been using that word...amazing to describe our engagements pictures, sam (our photographer) and now our wedding pictures.. but i can't think of any other word to use BUT AMAZING.. hehe because that's exactly what they are. i haven't got to see them all yet... she's sending out my disc thursday so hopefully I'll have it by this weekend. I have so many things to do when I get it. I really want to print out pictures for EVERYONE...i know that is not gonna happen because i'm broke.. BUT i'm definately getting pics for my family and for us. i have a special wall i've been saving in our living room just for these pictures.. i can not wait to start going thru them all and figuring out which ones i want to print out in what size and what frames and how to hang it on the wall... oh my gosh..i'm so exicted. hehe (hey..my life has been boring the past 2 weeks..i don't work and all i do is sit at home all day....anything in my life right now is exciting) hehe actually i've always been obsessed with organization and such. hehe so really no matter what is going on in my life this stuff is exciting. hehe
i still have no received my first check for unemployment. well..not check..but whatever. i guess you get a debit card and they just automatically deposit the money on it each week.. eitherway i ain't received CRAP!! Good thing i have all my bills caught up until September..but my car insurance is due sept 7, so if i don't get my first unemployment deposit by then i'm gonna have to take money out of the savings to pay for it.. which will suck considering i already owe the savings almost $300. grr... if i don't hear anything by this friday i'm calling the unemployment office and finding out whats going on.
okay..well it's 12:42 and my husband will be home from work in about an hour. i used to hate that he went into work at 5 am...and got off at 1:30 because he'd call me at work at like 1:45 and be like "hey..whatcha doin? i'm on my way home" and i'd be like "you suck..i just got back from lunch 15 minutes ago and still have 4 hours to go" hehe but now that i don't work i love the fact that he gets home by 2. it's awesome..
i have decided that unless the "perfect job" comes up in the next few months, i'm gonna try and not look for a "real" job until after the new year. I absolutely would take a job before then if it was A. perfect for me or B. maybe not so perfect but the pay is too much to pass up. But unless those two happen i'm planning on staying home until after the new year. That will give me the next 4 months to enjoy life and do things that i've always wanted to do but never had the time because of work... shh...i haven't discussed this with my husband. hehe
i've been working on my craft room and started on some craft projects. right now i'm working on something for my aunt... should be done with it tonite..or tomorrow at the latest...can't wait to show it off.
Check out the slideshow that Sam made for us http://theroxystudio.com/melissaandjustinwedding/ .

25

so it just so happens that this is my 25th post on my blog, which also happens to be the age i turned on 8-8-08. it seems like just yesterday i remember my 14th birthday or 16th birthday....it's so crazy that i'm 25. as you get older you can't really remember your birthday...like i remember my 16th and 18th...not so much anything after that. so friday after i got my new drivers license and i was driving on my way to the unemployment office i thought...hmm..i really don't want to look back and remember this birthday as the birthday i lost my job. haha i wanted to look back and remember this is the birthday when i was married to my husband and was happy and at peace with everything.. and that was exactly what it was.. was i pissed off and bitter about losing my job? well yeah of course i was...but was that job my life? absolutely not. it was 9 hours a day m-f. that's it. i didn't enjoy it. it wasn't me. so yeah i was upset more than anything that she had threatened to lay me off 3 days before our wedding..so when she actually did it the day before my birthday...i was fine with it. but i didn't want that memory to be my memory when i thought back on my 25th birthday. so...as i was driving away from the unemployment office i thought hmmm....i want to do something that i will always remember that i did this on my 25th birthday... so i got a tattoo....well...2 tattoos to be exact. hehe and i absolutely love them. I know that everytime i look at them i'll remember what they mean to me. Everytime I think about my 25th birthday i'll remember i went and did something for myself. something i enjoyed. something that will be with me forever.

even though i am 25 now i'm still a kid at heart... i cant' imagine not being who i am now..or who i was when i was 16. i guess in some situations i can tell i am much more mature than i once was...but i still can't imagine not being the fun, outgoing, immature person that i am. and i can't imagine my friends acting any different either. i think we'll always be the same.

so if i hadn't already posted...i lost my job. i was told a few days before the wedding that they were closing their 2nd clinic in carlisle and that the person who worked there had been with the company for 13 years...i had only been here for 3 1/2 years so when that clinic closes she'd be coming up here and we'd be overstaffed...so i would no longer be needed. i was so upset that she told me just a few days before the wedding because instead of that day being my last day she said well i'm not sure when it will happen... which meant i could have a job for another week or month so why worry me about it days before my wedding. so when i got back from our honeymoon i worked all week...except for friday i was off because it was my birthday and one of the doctors was off half day so i wasn't needed anyways... but thursday around 4:30 i found out that as of 5:00pm that day my job there was finished.

so i'll be collecting unemployment until i find a new job. i went and signed up for it friday and i'm not sure when i'll get my first check or how much it will be. it did say i would have a waiting week the first week where i won't get anything.. so i'm not really expecting anything for like 2 weeks...yesterday i got all the laundry caught up and today i got the entire house cleaned..so tomorrow is day 1 of working on my webpage. i'm getting up early and working on it all day. i'm hoping to get it going so that it's opened by september and can start making money on it. i'm also turing our computer room into my craft room.. i'm finally gonna get my sewing machine set up and all my craft stuff organized and start making stuff on the side.. hopefully i can sell some things on etsy and make some extra money here and there.. anything will help. i'd love to be able stay at home and just make money working online and such...especially if jc and i ever decide to have kids..but who knows... we are both still kids ourselves. hehe we both have big dreams of what we want in life.. the best thing about any of it though...is that we're doing it together...job or no job....doesn't matter i'm so extremely happy at this point in my life...it doesn't really matter. (that's jc making sure that there was no food left over at the wedding reception.. he's so cheap..he didnt' want any to go to waste.)

24

so on wednesday the 23rd of july i was told by my boss that i was getting laid off and would no longer have a job... of course being 3 days before my wedding i was upset/pissed off and wanted to kill her. of course now after i've had sometime to think about it (yes i'm still pissed she told me 3 days before my wedding, especially considering that she wasn't actually going to lay me off until september but chose to tell me on that paticular day) anyways...i have came to realize it is a blessing in disguise. i mean i could care less about working there... yes there are a few people there that i work with that i consider my friends...and would hate that i don't work with them anymore....but if were really friends will stay in touch... anyways....i haven't been happy there for a while... and i always knew that after justin and i were married and i had his insurance it wouldn't matter anymore...and i knew i wanted to look for a job then... so this is just pushing me to actually do it. and of course my dream is to have my own online company.. ya know work from home online...crafting and making things...and i'm gonna do it.. i mean i've bought my webpage....and everyday i'm taking steps to make it happen. and it will. and now i know by getting laid off that is going to give me the opportunity to stay at home.. still making money from unemployment but being able to be home fulltime and get stuff done... so i know it's all gonna work out...and the best part is i have an awesome husband who supports me.

so i really didn't go into detail before about my "bridesmaid drama" but just in a short story... all 4 of my bridesmaids i consider my "best friends." each one of them are my friends for a different reason. and each one of them are just as important as the other. but one friend seems to think shes more important than the rest.. or something...

see...back when justin and i were engaged in dec of 2005 the first person i called was my best friend tabby and i told her of course your my maid of honor...shes my best friend and has been for a long time.. she's always there for me when i need her and i do the same for her. i feel like out of my best friends she is the one that no matter what is on my side...no matter good or bad she has my back...and i'm not so sure about other people. anyways...so i told her back then and i had every intention of making sure that 2 years later when we finally got hitched she'd be the one right next to me. and i didn't want it any other way. so that's the way it happened.. well apparently one of my other friends (who was second in line in the bridesmaid line up) was pissed or whatever...and thru a little tantram the nite of the rehearsal when she found out and was sorta crappy towards tabby and made comments to her like "well you know you have to straighten he train on her dress...i'm not doing it....you have to your the "maid of honor". okay..i'm sorry but who cares.....i mean my bridesmaid who was standing the farthest away from me helped me. she got the birdseed outta my hair, she straightened my dress, she helped with everything... i had known her since kindergarten yet she wasn't my maid of honor...but she still treated me that day like she was....because like i said...they are all important to me.. so anyways...everyone at work says its because she's jealous of me because i'm married and happy and maybe shes not.. and ya know...maybe shes not happy...but its none of our faults..it's the negative attitude that she has day in and day out...shes the same bridesmaid that on my nite my bachlorette party got mad because we were gonna go where I wanted to go...on MY NITE...hello? i don't know....it just hurts me to know that she has to be so negative....i don't understand it....

also i guess she was going around telling everyone that jc was dancing all over her and flirting with her...and crap at the reception...hello.... he was dancing with me and all my bridesmaids.. it wasn't just her. i don't understand why she has to act like shes the center of attention and why she has to act like everything revolves around her? why can't she just think about others... and the funny thing is justin went up to tabby and said hey...your like a sister to me...your such a good friend to melissa...thanks for being in the wedding.. and he sincerely meant that...but did you hear her going around and bragging about it and trying to almost push it into peoples face?? no... and i guess what really ticks me off the most...is that she does it to make herself feel better..and try and make others feel bad... like she tried to make the other bridesmaids feel as if they're not as important..or as if he doesn't like them as much...and the funny thing is....he doesn't like her. out of all my friends she is the least liked by him and because of the drama she caused at the bachlorette party he didn't even want her in the wedding... but did i go and rub that in her face to make her feel bad?? no.. i keep it quiet.. because i'm not a negative person... grr...i just hate seeing people be down because of the way she treats them because i know how that feels because she used to do that to me.....but not anymore..i'm over it. i'm married and in love and don't give a fuck. haha and i wish others didn't either...

life is good....i'm so obsessed with blogging...it seems to really help with venting...i love it...i think i could make a career out of it...hehe oh the picture above is bella swimming in her pool...she loves it..and jc holding her so i can get a good picture.....