You're On My Mind

As Verna so lovingly reminded me, I do indeed still have a blog. Verna, this one's for you. ....and for me because I have a lot on my mind.

Firstly, I am addicted to HGTV and our apartment is frustrating me so much! It's completely draining. Even just a fresh coat of some happy paint would make miles of difference, but our landlord is absolutely impossible to deal with. He NEVER gets back to me! Ever! About two months ago I stopped in and dropped of some paint chips for the kitchen (nice, bright apple green). He called back a week later and said the owner said it wasn't a good color to leave for the next person. I knew this would happen. The ditsy front desk girls that I had to leave the paint colors with didn't bother to mention that I said we would paint it back when we moved out. I told our landlord that, and he said he would call the owner right back and get back to me. False. As I said, it's been a good two months now and still no word. I've called him a few more times and we even stopped in and left him a nice long list of issues (shocker - he wasn't in the office). One of these such issues was the complete take-over of a legion of earwigs in every room of our place. I've been sleeping on the futon because I can't deal with them crawling all over our bed (we still haven't bought a frame for our mattress so we're on the floor). Lo and behold, I get a call the day after we drop off our list from the exterminator. Well done. However, now I know you've seen the rest of our list and are still deciding to ignore us. I hate you. Let me paint and be happy! And come fix the parts of our floor that are separating from the wall where I'm sure the earwigs are living. Also the lack of sealing on the windows where we know for a fact they are also coming in. Also, against all odds, we are wanting to sign another year contract. I know, not what you would expect with our horrible experiences here. It's just too cheap and in too great a location to pass up right now.
SO, we've decided if we somehow still don't see the landlord even after signing a new contract, (we wouldn't be surprised if he just left the contract at the office for us to sign while he's "away"), then I will go ahead and paint anyway. We'll buy our fun color paint and white paint and if he suddenly decides to get involved/care and wants us to paint it back, we will. And then we'll murder him and paint it back. ...ok fine, just paint it back and continue to loathe his existence.
Secondly, I have zero energy for anything anymore. Yes, Verna, I am indeed your daughter. I keep trying to clean but it never stays that way and it usually takes what little energy I have stored up. And those damn dishes. That's all I can say about them without turning into the Hulk and throwing this laptop through our HGTV-playing television. Our place is just so small that anything out of place or without a place makes it a complete mess. That quickly. It stresses me out. That quickly...
A few weeks ago I had a kidney infection and that threw a big fat wrench into my awesome workout routine I had going on. I was down for a couple of weeks and that was all the time I needed to eat everything we had. And then bought. I ate it all. I would lay on the futon in pain, watch TV, get bored, and hobble into the kitchen (another drawback to the tiny apartment - it's just a few limping steps from the futon to the kitchen) to grab something to "snack" on. All the work I had done to get into shape were toasted, covered in butter, and thrown down my gullet. So now that my kidney is back to its shiny new self, I also have a shiny new layer of fat. Come on, life! There aren't supposed to be consequences to our actions! *sigh* So now I'm back on the grind eating my 6 healthy snacks and meals a day to up that metabolism, working out in my magic green shoes that make me run faster and jump higher (even though I'm not running anymore...), and there isn't a cookie in the house for the first time in months. Honestly, we were on a crazy huge cookie kick lately. We ate the last batch? Make some more! Those delicious Oreo Pudding Cookies were a permanent fixture to our kitchen. And let me tell you, they were amazing. Dangerously tasty. Oreo pudding, dark chocolate chips, and bits of Cookies n' Cream candy bar all rolled into a cookie dough ball and baked to perfection. I better stop talking about them or I'll make another batch....must....stop.....
So despite all this stress and annoying-ness going on, the good news is that Bracken is here to save the day. Married life is great. We may have a tiny apartment, but it's OUR tiny apartment. We may have a stupid landlord, but we harass him TOGETHER. I'm so fortunate to have such a completely amazing husband. He's mine. He makes me smile and tells the earwigs to stay away from his wife. And if they don't, he executes them by tissue and toilet flush. My hero. And Dana and the Haymores are on tour and coming to a town near us this week! We're going to try to cram all of us into this tiny apartment either Saturday or Sunday night for games and sarcastic comments to people on TV (still need to inform Dana...). So things are good. No matter how much evil insects, landlords, and cookies try to thwart my plans for a happy life, family (both old and new) make everything better. Hooray for family! :)

PSS

So I just realized I forgot to post bridals! I posted them on facebook but forgot about the blog! (Even though all of you are also on facebook.) Anyway, here ya go:

There might be an easier way to format the pictures to fit on this post better, but I sure can't find it. SO happy with how these bridals turned out! Dana Sorensen Photography = genius. Thanks, Dain! :)

If You Need Assistance, Please Come to Room 214

Oh, hey, WE'RE MARRIED! Ta-daaaa! Everything went splendidly thanks to so many friends and family helping us out. Mother Nature tried to pull a fast one with some snow that morning during pictures, but it was weak sauce and everything was perfect. :) The ceremony was amazing, the luncheon was delicious (from what I hear; my stomach wasn't cooperating, as I hear is the case for most brides), the drive down was pretty smooth other than 2 huge accidents (one of which a car full of groomsmen almost were in), the reception was exactly how I was hoping it would look and feel, our talented photographer was busily snapping away, all of our family and friends were there, Dana was there pretty much the whole day via web cam, the groom was phenominal as always, and most importantly, we got married!!!

I haven't caught up with the photographer yet since this was our first week back from the honeymoon and we've been trying to wade through the sea of boxes, gifts, and junk in our apartment while still going to work and school, but Verna posted some pics on her blog and facebook, so I stole some for mine:

Fresh outta the temple and into the sea of cameras. From the look on Bracken's face you can tell how much he adores having his picture taken.

The Logan temple. Other than convenient location, I mainly picked it because it looks like a castle.

Mr. and Mrs. Rawlings

My strong, handsome, available brother. And Staci telling some joke in the background.

The Rawlings family freezing outside of the temple.

My favorite boys!

Grandma!

A great moment caught on film by Verna during Bracken's obligatory groom 'thank you' speech.

The n00b table

Verna creeping out Alyssa, the photographer

The best sister ever on webcam in London!

Moments before a sea of guests arrived at our reception.

Our family table! It has our pic and pics of our parents and grandparents at their weddings.

The candy table and our wedding cake! The birds made their way up to the top of the cake.

The cakes and fruit table and our cool stripey straws.

Bracken told me he was going to be nice. I told him I was not. We both followed through.

The gifts table with our cards birdcage.

Verna's bee-yootiful pom poms! And groomsmen we forced to do hard labor. Well done, boys.

A HUGE thank you to my friend Sheri, who pretty much made all of the reception decoration happen. She's incredible! So that's what we've got so far via Verna's camera. More awesome pictures to come! And once I finally figure out my Photoshop I'll post the San Fransisco (honeymoon) pics. AND when I get them from my dad I'll post the pics from our kick-butt open house in San Diego that we had a week later. 

Other than that, our big news this week is our shopping trip we did yesterday at Target and Bed Bath & Beyond. We finally got a chest of drawers, a shoe rack, some storage shelves, a TV stand, a vacuum, and Bracken's Chargers cup. So yesterday was full of Bracken putting things together with occasional help from me, and me organizing and taking a car-load of junk to the dumpster. We can FINALLY walk around in our apartment! Huzzah!! But tonight Brad and Staci are bringing over all of our presents from the Utah reception that they've been graciously stowing at their house for two weeks, so it'll fill back up quickly. But still, storage shelves!!! They're a life-saver! We were also going to pick up a book shelf from Target but they didn't have the color we wanted so I'll stop by this next week and grab it when they have it back in stock.

Also, I got my name changed on my social security card and driver's license Monday morning! And it only took me 2 hours! Beat that. I am officially Chelsey Rawlings. I just dropped the Turner. I figured my brain wouldn't wrap around having three names after just the two for the past 23 years. However, Staci still makes me initial the sign-in log at work as CTR. I'll probably get used to that and then initial everything CTR and then confuse a lot of people, but whatever.

OK, long post with lots of words and pictures, but congratulations to you if you made it to the end! I'll go now and try to find something to do here at work on a Saturday again, which will most likely end up with me doing sudoku and avoiding Crazy Jim in the student commons.

Frost With Cream Cheese Frosting and Sprinkle With Nuts If Desired.

Less than 2 weeks to go! Brian and I picked up Verna from the airport yesterday and then we met Bracken at the apartment for some serious Dance Central and Rapstar playing. It was....hilarious. I'd say the highlights were definitely Brian dancing to "Push It" by Salt n Peppa and Verna rapping "Get Low" by Lil' Jon and the Eastside Boyz. Priceless.

After I get off work Verna and I are headed up to Jason & Tonya's new place for my last bridal shower. This one's with both sides of my family, so it should be a good one. I'm crossing my fingers for some bathroom stuff, bedding, or the much-anticipated Baby Cakes Cupcake Maker! XD

Ain't she a beaut'!

Verna called to order the bundt cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes today, but they're apparently a bunch of stupid people who love their gross frosting too much, cuz they won't let us order cakes without frosting on them. Really, bundt cake people?? You're going to turn away our money because you refuse to send out unfrosted cakes? That's the whole reason we're doing bundt cakes in the first place. The general lack of 10 lbs of frosting. You still managed to sneak it in there, though. Well, keep your cakes and your precious frosting; we're making our own cakes now!

Also, on a slightly TMI note, I think I have conjunctivitis in my eye. With, as stated previously, less than two weeks to go 'til this wedding. And bridals on Friday. Ooooof course. Thank you, world. I guess my daily vitamins and sanitation of my work desk has been hurting instead of helping, unlike common knowledge suggests. I'll go dig a ditch and bury myself in it while hoping my plague goes away. But seriously, what are the odds!?! Never had this in my life, and it decides now is the perfect time to rear its ugly head. I hate you.

I'm bringing back the zombie wife prediction. This is how I'm going to look on the 25th:

Terry's Doritos Crumb He Spit Out While Talking to Me Is Still On My Desk.

So it's been a little while since my last post. What you've missed:

1. The Ongoing Evil that is my boss. After talking to his boss, we had a generally ok meeting today. Still talked around in cirlces, but at least I was doing so without strictly wanting to hurt him. Still a LONG way to go, though.
2. Verna's coming on Friday! I've been trying to organize and tidy up the Gilbert, but Mica's been sick so I've had to come in early this week. Things are slowly happening.
3. Bridals were a bust. I made the appointment with the Springville Museum of Art last week. When we showed up on Saturday at 4:00 and got my dress on, they decided to inform us they close at 5:00. We tried taking a few pictures, but it would never have worked so we had to reschedule for March 18th at NOON so we'll have plenty of time.
4. I've got my last bridal shower on Saturday. It's gonna be at Tonya's new house and she just got a new puppy! Perhaps she'll give it to us as a wedding present??...
5. It's my favorite sister's birthday today! She's 18! *sigh* so grown up. In case you didn't get my very personal facebook comment on your wall, Happy Birthday, sis!
6. Bracken traded in a bunch of games and DVDs last night and replaced them with a brand new PS3! We're both addicted to it after just one game. Little Big Planet is amazing and I love it. You get to have a little bean bag puppet guy that you can change into ridiculous costumes and you collect stickers and graffiti the scenery of the different levels. See:

Ummm...think that's all that I can remember for now. I think we'll just be playing Little Big Planet for the next two and a half weeks while we wait for this wedding thing to happen. I know this is a sad excuse for a post, but I needed to put up something. Even though Verna's pretty much the only person who reads this...hi, Verna. See you Friday.

Tootles

Slippers Don't Work Well in Snow.

It's the dreaded Saturday shift again. 5 hours full of absolutely nothing to do. 5 hours full of looking at this:

Thrilling, I know. At least I have a heater under my desk to warm my frozen feet after stepping into 3-4" of snow in my slippers this morning. Stupid snow. You better be gone in a month or so help me..

Last night my camera nightmare was partially solved. This time I pulled out my phone to take a picture of the gorgeous town in Italy. I guess that works, right? Kind of? ...I still need a camera.

Yesterday after Bracken and I devoured our J-Dogs with special sauce, I ran around to Seagull Book, Deseret Book, Wal-Mart, and both malls to try to find a nude-colored Shade shirt to use under my lace bolero thing for my dress. 2 hours later I just ended up grabbing the one I was about to throw away at my apartment that is still lighter than my skin, but it's the best I found. I thought this was Utah; shouldn't Shade shirts of any and all colors be bursting out of every corner and crevice? Not so.

Then I met Celeste at the Drapers and we finalized all the details of the bolero, the bustle, and the hem line. I'm pretty excited to see this whole dress when it's done (around Tuesday or Wednesday). Then I get to take pretty pictures in it next Saturday with Bracken! I'm loving the idea of using the Art Museum. I've found throughout this whole wedding process that I try to find a way to make everything I do be different than everyone else's ideas. I guess I just get irritated with all the similarities I see. I even thought of two more awesome engagement picture photo shoot ideas even though we already took ours and they look great. My brain just doesn't stop thinking. You'd think all this overload I've been causing it would make it shut down completely, but it seems to be doing the opposite. ADD? Perhaps. Actually, probably.

Money is stupid. I propose we all just trade high fives or compliments. Now that is a world we should all live in. See, look! More great ideas from this over-worked brain of mine. I don't care about the catastrophic repercussions that would inevitably ensue with the loss of monetary value. Just do it. Also, everyone should have a puppy. Or maybe I should just have a good dozen or so. Already potty-trained.

I think half of our front desk plant is dying again:

Ever since we cut costs and gave our plant lady the axe, this has been happening at least 3-4 times a week. We're not very good at keeping it alive and not completely pitiful-looking. That's why we should get rubber plants. Or those bamboo shoots that are impossible to kill. I saw them at IKEA for like, $4.

I need to go to IKEA. I've been noticing some pretty vital pieces of furniture that I do not have in my apartment. Bracken and I are slowly moving over his movies, books, and various other junk (so it's not all in one annoyingly stressful day), and a book shelf and some storage shelves would be golden. Also, when we eventually bring over his clothes we'll be needing a chest of drawers of some sort. IKEA is usually the best choice for my tiny apartment because it sells smaller pieces that you assemble yourself, so they can actually fit through the tiny door and down the stairs with the low ceiling and into the Gilbert. Now let's hope they've switched over to my high-five/compliment monetary system...

OK, I guess I'll place the Staples office supplies order now. At least I got about 1 1/2 hrs out of the way with my bloggy ramblings. Then I'll eat my greek yogurt and granola I brought, cuz I'm pretty excited about that. Adios!

Give Me Details

So I knocked Staci out today. OK not really, but kind of. We had a giant blow-up boxing ring and all of the employees had a tournament. I was thrown in at the last minute and got to box Staci. At first we were following the no-head-shots rule, but as I took a short break from working Stace's stomache and back, she popped me right in the temple. Good shot, Stace. So...I returned the favor and next thing I knew she was on the ground. Guess fighting for a half hour this morning and once again just minutes before our match tired her out a bit and gave me a clear advantage.

BUT, then they threw me in there with Kelsi for her first match. After about 5 minutes of the two of us punching relentlessly with no chance of either of us going down, I decided I'd like to be able to breathe so I just fell on my back. Forfeit, yes, but neither of us were anywhere near winning and fatigue from said Staci match and lack of oxygen to lungs/brain won out. Well played, Kelsi. Well played.

And well played, Staci. A day of boxing under her belt already and I still heard a distinct pop in my neck when her iron fist of fury made contact with my skull. Also, good job punching the snot out of your boss an hour later. ;)

See, we looked like this only a lot cooler cuz we didn't wear the lame protective head gear *drools on keyboard*

Also today I had to go to Insights class for work at 10 AM (i.e. my usual wake-up time). It's a class that the company makes all employees go to so they can see what 'color' they are and other probably made-up junk. Alright, maybe not all made up cuz it was pretty right about me. I actually liked it if it weren't for the feminist demon from the SLC campus ("I'm actually from Colorado, blah blah blah me me me") sitting behind me and asking to be stabbed in the eye with my pen. Maggie and I were keeping a tally of how many times she interrupted the class with some comment about how she's different and not one of us mormon hicks from the valley. Over 30 tallies. "I'm totally not judgemental. I mean, I married a mormon...and we're divorced now..." "I just don't understand the laws here. I mean, a church on every corner instead of a liquor store?" ....laws, eh? Yeah, we got to put up with that for three hours.

However, we got our test result packets back (you take the test a week or so before the class) and I am a blue. My color order actually goes blue, yellow, red, green. Apparently blues care more about detail and analyzing things. We get a folder with our results packet in it, and this packet's pretty thick. It goes over personal style ('Chelsey believes in doing everything the right way and her preoccupation with perfection makes her sensitive to errors or unfairness'), Interacting with Others ('Sometimes her introverted analytical preferences may prevent her from expressing outwardly what is really going on inside her head'), Decision Making ('She may occasionally be slow at coming to a decision, or try to have a decision reversed, as she has a need to analyze all the available alternatives'), Key Strengths & Weaknesses ('Pays great attention to detail. May go off in her own direction if challenged.'), Value to the Team, Communication, etc.

Then it goes into the color charts and Insights Wheel and all that fun stuff. The teacher made some big deal about me being a blue with a yellow 2nd color because those are opposite colors and supposedly only like 3% of the population is like that...whatever. Yes, I'm odd. More importantly, we got free lunch! And my egg salad sandwich was the best ever. And they gave us these squishy blocks to put on our desks:

Awww, squishy blocks. 

I got ma hurr did on Sunday! I love it. K made it just a bit darker and trimmed it so the ends don't make people puke. Hoo-ray! Also, on my 3 hour lunch today I went and checked out places to take bridals. After much driving and not getting lost (no, seriously) I walked into the Springville Museum of Art and loved it! It's perfect. I'm really excited to take them there next Saturday. :)

We finally got our invitations printed and they look perfect! I'll put up a picture later; it's almost time to leave work and it's been a looong day. I think that'll be it for today's post. Now off to Bracken's and watch whatever shows are on Thursday nights.