Highlights of the past 4 months

Wow, it's hard to believe that it was more than 4 months ago that I left Indonesia! About a year ago, when I decided to leave New York City for a little while, I never imagined that my time at home (call it being a kid again or semi-retirement) would go by so FAST! I mean, don't get me wrong, it feels like the days have just crawled by as I've been waiting for Taylor to come home (11 left!), but still I look back on my time here and can't believe it went by so quickly. Here are some highlights:

Late January - I got back from Indonesia and spent a weekend in Michigan visiting my cousin Miranda. We had a great time shopping, eating Sushi with Suton at Sansu (seriously), and just hanging out!
February 9 - Went up to Michigan to have lunch with my grandma for her birthday. My biggest regret from my time at home is that I didn't go see my grandmas more :(
February 12 - First appointment with the seamstress to have my wedding dress altered!! :) We told her the vision, decided my dress fit perfectly (hopefully the 10 lbs I've lost won't mess that up) and decided on the bustle.
February 14 - Valentine's dinner at church. My mo was my date, but it was a good time :)
February 15 - 20 - Mom was VERY sick and I think all I did was take care of her and flex my ridiculously strong immune system. Go me.
Late February - Mom and dad went to Florida for the weekend and I was very bored :(
March 5 - Second wedding dress fitting! This was the last time I saw my dress when she showed me all the awesome things she'd come up with to make it look JUST PERFECT!
March 5 - 8 - Went to Chicago to visit my friend Tracy and her husband. We hung out and had a great time and went to see the Broadway Musical Chicago.
March 13 - Deposition for my car accident lawsuit that I'm involved in. Got to hear the accusations against me straight from the horse's mouth (the chick who's suing me). Interesting, but also kind of aggravating.
March 13 - 15 - Spring Quiz Off at Miracle Camp. Got to go with my church to the church camp of my youth. I was a "Quizmaster" meaning that I read quizzes to Bible Quizzers all day. It was a great time.
March 30 - First veil appointment. Went up to East Lansing Michigan with my mom, sister and grandma to have my first veil appointment with Summer from Grace Boutique in Old Town. We decided on my wedding veil and grabbed some lunch. It was a good day.
April 9 - Mom's birthday. Went to the seamstress again to pick up her MOB dress. It looked perfect :)
April 10 - 11 - Tracy came to visit me and my mom highlighted her hair. Then, I went up to her inlaws for dinner and hung out with her for the evening.
April 11 - Potluck Easter dinner at my dad's cousin's house in Toledo. Got to hang out with some of my family that I don't get to see very often. I also won Texas Hold 'Em for the first time ever!
April 12 - 15 - Grandma Hooper came to visit and we got to do some shopping and planning for my Bridal Shower. Poor gma was sick though, and I actually caught her sickness and was in bed for the next few days!
April 18 - 20 - Went up North to my aunt Cathy and Uncle Randy's for the weekend. I got to go to my cousin Eric's birthday and to our cabin in East Jordan, MI. We even went out to Traverse City and drove out on the Peninsula in Grand Traverse Bay. I think I found some wine that we are going to serve at the wedding. It's from Peninsula Wine Cellars. They sell a delicious red and white wine called "Old School Red and "Old School White" respectively. They are so named because the tasting room is in an old schoolhouse. They also have a wine called detention, which I love :)
April 24 - 26 - I drove down to Nashville to cheer my friend Susie on in the Country Music Marathon! Had a blast with her and her dad in Music City.
May 10 - 12 - Business trip to NYC for my new job.
May 15 - 17 - Drove to Nashville AGAIN for my friend Brittany's bachelorette party. Good times were had by all :)
May 21 - 25 - Went to Chicago for Taylor's brother's fiance's bachelorette party. I also stayed for the whole weekend to babysit Tracy's dog Bailey. We had a great time and Taylor's sister stayed with me so it was fun to hang out with her.

And now I'm back in Ohio and can't believe that I move to New York City in 5 days! I am going to miss home a lot, but I'm also excited for Taylor to return. So many mixed emotions. I think I'll just focus on packing :)

10 Things I'd like to say, nice edition

So, apparently what I'm about to do is all the rage, but after reading about 10 of them, I am disheartened by how vindictive people can be. Most people say some pretty mean things when they write this. I haven't thought about it at all, but before I do, I wanted to put it out there that my plan is to put up 10 nice things I would like to say to people. I'm not telling who those people are though ;)

1. Our conversations brighten my day and I know we will always be friends (and thank God for that).
2. I forgive you
3. You will probably never know how much I appreciate you.
4. I cannot explain why we are friends after all these years, but I am so thankful for it and glad our relationship lasted through it all.
5. I am insanely jealous of how effortless you make being beautiful look.
6. I wish I was as independent as you.
   
7. I am proud of the person you are becoming, but because of our relationship I have to provide some guidance and it is this: don't ever stop trying to be a better person, especially to those you love.
8. I am so glad that I am just like you in so many ways.
9. I think about you more often than I probably should, and I breathe a prayer that you are happy, healthy, and content.
10. I know you don't understand English, but if you did, I'd tell you you bring so much sunshine into my life and I will miss you when you are gone!

Oh, and none of those are for my fiance...I think that having been apart for 10 months and conducting our relationship solely via phone, I've said everything I ever wanted to say to him (and more!).

So, should I do "mean edition" next ;)?

My first business trip :)

Hey there friends. Well, tomorrow I leave on my first ever business trip. I define a business trip as any trip in which your boss tells you to be somewhere and pays for it. In this case, my boss has asked me to come to New York (where I will be permanently starting June 1) for 2 days. So, tomorrow I'm off to start my new job (only to return Wednesday for 3 more weeks)! Wish me luck :) I'm not too nervous, but this position is something very different for me, so hopefully I can jump right in and not look like a total newbie!

In the words of Fountains of Wayne (lyrics from the song that inspired the title of my blog):

I try to focus, I'm staring at the screen, pretending like I know what all these little flashing lights mean.

Well, I'm off, until Wednesday!

Since I spent about 10 hours on this...

I made this map all by myself using PowerPoint. Enjoy! Click to enlarge.

Things they are a changin'

So many updates for you, blog readers (are there any of you even left out there?)! I've had an exciting week so let's get right to it!

First, this week I received and accepted a job offer!! I am officially hired to be a Sales Coordinator with a large Internet company. I find this very ironic since when I named this blog, I used "sales" simply because it is in the song by Fountains of Wayne that I like so much, not because I actually planned to be working in Sales!! I started working for said company on November 3 for a "three to five week" assignment and they just never let me go! And now I have a full time job working in a slightly different capacity starting June 1. The job is in New York City so for everyone who is wondering where Taylor and I will be settling down at least for the foreseeable future, there you have it. New York City! :)

Really, things could not have worked out better and I know God had a hand in it because I definitely couldn't have done it myself. The company that I will be working for really wanted me to move out there to start as soon as possible. But I was really struggling with the idea of leaving home earlier than I had planned and also unsure where I would be able to live during that time. Well, lo and behold, the company through which I am temping has a clause that I have to be a temp for at least 6 months before I can be converted to full time without my new employer having to pay a ridiculous "conversion fee." And because I took off 4 weeks to go visit Taylor, that 6-month period actually ends on Friday, May 29, making me available to start full-time June 1. Just when I was planning to move! Lovely :) And I get to start working in my new role immediately, increasing my hours but still being able to stay at home and take care of wedding plans.

So my current plan is to stay here in Ohio and do many many thing that I need to do between now and May 31. I have several trips planned, a friend's baby shower, and lots of wedding-related things to do. Then, I have a bridal shower (for me) on May 31. On June 1, my mom and I will pack up all my things and head out to NYC! I'll officially report to my office on June 2. Woo hoo! I will probably stay with friends for the first month and then Taylor and I will get an apartment starting July 1. He gets back June 7, and I cannot wait!

Only other update on my end is that Taylor and I registered today to run the New York City Half Marathon on August 16th. Watch out for running related updates!