Ballet

On Thursday afternoon Jordyn had ballet about an hour after she hopped off the school bus. It was a rainy day, but Jessica got us to the studio with time to spare. Michael stayed at the house to watch Breaking Bad on his iPad while Jonathan did homework. Before ballet started, Jordyn got changed into her pink tights and leotard then ran back and forth in the lobby to show me her leaps. She looked at an old Nutcracker magazine and pointed out some dancers she knew. Jordyn was in the Nutcracker for the first time before Christmas last year. She played a super cute mouse and a beautiful young gypsy.

This day she pushed me over to her teacher before class started to be sure it was okay for me to sit in and take pictures of her. Jordyn sat on the opposite side of the room for most of the time, but I only had the standard lens, so I was unable to get pictures of only her. Having the extended zoom lens in a room full of little girls might have looked suspicious, especially for the other moms dropping their kids off a few minutes late.

Jordyn did really well and was quiet and paid attention as much as a five-and-a-half year old can for a whole hour. She did her stretches as far as her legs would stretch and was first in line for more leaps and (insert ballet terms here) back and forth across the room. She got a few blue stars on her chest for being such a good listener. Only during the free dance part did Jordyn run over to give me a hug and a kiss before spinning off again by the barre.

We had leftover pasta shells and tomato bread for dinner, then after some very dramatic goodbye tears from Jordyn, Michael drove us home. I liked that it didn't seem like a 3 hour drive on the way back, but it was still enough time for me to finished off the box of Thin Mints!

I love my Godsister

Jessica was quite the vision as she walked down the driveway to give us hugs when we pulled into her neighborhood on Wednesday. Dark skinny jeans, scarf, and intense black velvet high heels that she made look effortless. I hope one day I can be a hot mom too! ;) It's always really nice to see her and I spent a lot of time with her while we were growing up. I've always loved her personality- so happy and bubbly, and she laughs all the time. She seems to pep me up when I'm in a blah mood and brings more energy into the whole room.

March 6th, 2014 at top & October 18th, 2012 above. Somehow we looked older before.

Jessica is always able to find something fun for us to do. Yesterday she showed me her Cricut, a sort of printer for cutting shapes to make cards or banners. I picked the beach/ vacation themed set and made a tourist camera, island, a happy sun, a turtle and a smiling crab. She also had glitter that I painted over some of the papers. I really like how the gold sand turned out! Michael stayed upstairs when he could, watching Breaking Bad on his iPad. He came down at one point to see what I was doing, looked at my five handcrafted cards and said, "You're adorable."

For lunch I had leftover Quinoa crusted chicken that Jessica and her family had for dinner on Tuesday night. It was interesting, but Michael wouldn't try it. I would attempt to make it in the near future. We all shared a box of Tagalongs that day, but I need to make my own with vanilla wafers and a scoop of peanut butter dipped in chocolate. Why did I have to give up chocolate for Lent? Please note that "give up" should be in quotes since I had ordered a box of Girl Scout Thin Mints from Jordyn and I couldn't let those just sit around for the next 40 days. They were delish!

Happy Lent!

How come I never crave chicken as much as I do on specific days during Lent? It sounded so good and Michael brought home a free half Hawaiian/ half Meat Lovers pizza from Salvatore's since a customer never came to pick up their order. I couldn't share any of it since it has meat, so I stared at the pantry for a few minutes before mixing up cheddar broccoli rice and lentil beans. I got excited last week when Lauren, a super fun girl from Massage Envy who is going on a mission trip to Africa in May, said she was Catholic too!! And since we work the closing shifts a lot at work, we try to come up with ideas for what to eat those days. Most of the time I don't take a break and just suck on mints during my shift. Tonight I told her about Jim Gaffigan's hilarious religion act. "God Pocket!"

Michael was able to get two days off from work with me, so two days ago, on Ash Wednesday, he drove us to Atlanta to spend a night with Jessica. I can't believe I hadn't seen her in about a year and a half. I suppose that's one good thing about time going by so quickly these past few years. We got to her house at 2 o'clock as she left to pick up James from school. Jordyn's bus arrived across the street shortly after that. Jonathan got home from work before dinner and Michael was able to talk with him while Jordyn showed me her princess Lego set. Then we played Chutes and Ladders and a Mickey memory game that Jessica made out of paint color samples.

For dinner Jessica made really yummy jumbo pasta shells stuffed with ricotta cheese, spinach baked in marinara sauce. I'm pretty sure I made the same thing last year for Ash Wednesday or one of the first Fridays of Lent! But she also had this amazing sun dried tomato bread. Then we hurried off to church. There was a lot more traffic than usual and we got there about halfway through the service and still had to stand in the lobby. We filed through the line to get ashes on our foreheads then found a vacant spot since a bunch of people left after they got ashes. James rubbed his finger all over Jessica's head which is why hers is almost rubbed off. And Jordyn's was leftover from mine.
Happy Lent!

Baby Ruth

   Since we left California, and lived next to Ruth, a really old lady with stray kittens in her driveway, I don't think I have posted any cat pictures. Our friend Lacey, the girl our age who would take the sick kittens to the animal hospital and take care of them until they were healthy again and ready to be adopted, recently posted a picture of one of the kittens I helped save.

   Scooter Pie is what I named him, but I think she changed it. No big deal, as long has he gets lots of lovies, which I know he has been. And the great news is, she says they are going to keep him. Second great news, Lacey announced a few weeks ago that she is pregnant! I told Michael she was due in August, which she also mentioned on Facebook. He looked shocked and asked, "August of this year?" Maybe he should start skimming through those baby books I bought a couple years ago..

   Although I posted some pictures of Scooter Pie when I snatched him up one morning after work at the end of August, here are some more. Sasha had a crazy sniff fest after I wrapped Scoots and I up in her blue blanket. Ooooh, snuggle, snuggle!! =)

   Side note ~ I was looking for volunteer opportunities yesterday and decided that helping out at an animal shelter would be the best for me. I have looked into the Boys and Girls Club or Big Brothers, Big Sisters, but worry that I get on a "volunteer high" and after the extreme need to be helpful wears off, that I wouldn't be what the kids really need. But I can scoop poops all day! Actually, the Alabama Animal Adoption only asks that you volunteer for five hours one Saturday per month.

** To help donate 10 pieces of kibble to cats and dogs per day, please frequent these links. 
FreeKibble.com and FreeKibbleKat.com! =)

Old Age Stipple

   While I was at work (my second day), Michael invited his mom over so he could try an old age make up on her. He tested a part on the knuckles of his hand the other day, which turned out pretty good. Last night he asked if I wanted to watch a movie with him, and by "movie" he meant make-up DVDs. But it looks like it gave him great tips!!

   The first picture on the left is from when he did her beauty make up a few weeks ago, and the rest are from the old age today. He even detailed Mrs. Patty's neck and added age spots. I think this is honestly one of the best special make up effects he has done. I would say my other favorite was when he did the burns on actor Mark Whitten in April 2011 for the Star Wars fan film, A Light in the Darkness. 

** Somehow I always forget that Blogger softens the pictures on people's faces. I even Googled why, but couldn't find an answer or anyone else asking the same question. Maybe everyone else loves it because it makes them look better (and fake) but it doesn't do any good when you're purposely adding blemishes. The info Michael found didn't end up working either.

   Today at work, the Clinic Administrator said she was proud when I took the initiative and asked the assistant manager if I could make the confirmation calls to make sure the clients were still coming to their appointments tomorrow. I felt like it was something pretty straight forward that I would be good at without needing any detailed training, and I was!

New Hire, Part 7

   Exactly one week ago while laying in the bed after reading another chapter of Prairie Tale by Melissa Gilbert, I was thinking about jobs and wondering how long it would be before I got one. About that time, I got a phone call! My phone was on silent, so I did miss it, but two hours later checked my email and it was from the Clinic Administrator at Massage Envy. She said I could call her on her cell, which I did and we set up an interview for the next day. It went well and she sounded very interested in my photography hobby - I didn't even mention scrapbooking, gasp! Over the weekend I had to learn a script for signing new clients up for a 12-month membership and on Monday I pitched the sale to her and another employee. They both said I did a great job and I was hired at that point! On Tuesday and Wednesday this week I watched a total of six hours of training videos online at home and today was my first day.

   This is my seventh job (my fourth full time job) and its always nerving coming in, not knowing anyone or how the programs work while everyone is zipping on through like pros. But I keep thinking that in a month from now, I'll be a pro too. My goal at work this month is to sell 5 memberships! Anyone want to come in and sign up with me? ;) Luckily, today was so good. I did a lot of paperwork and got to do practice training for the front desk scheduling program. But best of all, the best news I have heard in my life: We get two free massages or facials every month!!!! I'm never quitting this job. I guess my new 5 Year Goal is to own a Massage Envy.

   When I left for work, they asked if I wanted to get a massage or facial right then. I was surprised there wasn't even a "you have to work here for three months first" rule. Incredible. Sensational. A dream come true. (I actually took a nap after work today, since I only got 4 hours of sleep the night before, and in the nap I had a massage dream. But it is real life!!) I walked back to my car and when I opened the door, there was a small bouquet in the front seat with a note from Michael. I almost started crying. I was just overwhelmed with great things. He did a great job recreating the picture from the very first time he bought flowers for me in July 2009, the week after we began dating. Aww.

   Just two minutes after I got home from work, a package arrived from my mom with Valentines goodies. Another wonderful surprise. After we took these pictures, we had lunch at McAlister's deli because we recieved a $5 coupon (free money!) in the mail. We were the only customers there at some point, but Michael says its always been like that. I got their Club sandwich and it was really good. I really liked the sauce on it, but it didn't taste like mayo or mustard. On Monday after I was offered the position, we also went to lunch at Jason's Deli. I kinda of like going out to lunch better because its cheaper and I love the chicken that Michael cooks at home. Even if we do have to open all the outside doors because the smoke is outrageous my eyes water! Haha.

Portraits ~ My Sharona ♪ ♫

   I was looking through the portraits that I took of my lovely friend, Sharanya, back in December 2011. Around that time I started getting more interested in photography with our nice Canon T2i and starting a blog and having business cards printed. I followed Michael's advice for me as a beginner to "pick your very favorite picture and then post only that one", instead of just posting all of the ones that I thought were good. So now I shall show you the other very beautiful pictures that I took of Sharanya back then. She did her own make up and I styled her hair (with naturalistic accessories) as well as picked out the jewelry of mine that she is wearing. You can also barely see the "Wild Photography" stamp that I used to put on each of my photos.

 ** These are the saved copies that I had from when I first edited them a couple years ago. I wish I still had all of the originals, but yesterday I actually had to search through Facebook to find these. I'm not sure why they were not in the appropriate folder.
   But I need to do another updated photoshoot with her later this year. Perhaps at Georgia's Little Grand Canyon, where we have talked about meeting up one weekend or for a two day trip when the weather warms up. It's pictures like the last one (above) that make me realize that her smiles and laughter are too enlightening to ask her make serious model faces, although she did a great job overall.