Randomness

Marriage is crazy.  You have your ups and downs but this week, I feel like I fell in love with my husband all over again.  I honestly can’t remember what moment made me feel that way, but I do love him.  He’s such a great guy and so good to me.

God has been so good to us and even through yet another job loss, we still rise. We aren’t lacking a thing, because God has been so faithful.  We are truly conquerors. Actually we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus.

So I complained about many things last week – getting a new microwave, replacing things in the house, letting things go, being in a wedding, issues with friends, etc. Sounds like I had a lot of praying to do. But the most important thing is that I be about it.  I think it’s okay to complain, but you have to do something about the things that you complain about.

One thing that I had complained about for years is my job.  I want a new job, my boss know that I want a new job – who doesn’t know that I want a new job.  Anyway, I recently took a more active approach in my search for a new job.  I actually extended my search to another state.  I am excited about the opportunity.  We will see what happens.

I’m Complaining about it

• Shopping for a new microwave is just a part of growing up.  I didn’t deal with these things when I was younger. 
• We are having to replace a lot things lately and it’s stuff that we need – a new computer, water filter system and microwave.
• I admit we’ve probably been a lot shady on replacing the microwave. We should have gotten rid of that builder’s grade mess a loooooong time ago.
• My husband is holding me to this end of the year deadline of letting things go.  He feels that I have ADD when it comes to certain things in my life so the rule was that I had to focus on one thing.  Boy, is that hard to do. 
• There are a group of friends that I hang with from time to time and all of a sudden I don’t want to be around them that much anymore.  My husband seems to saddened by it because he enjoys their company, but for some reason i don’t anymore.   I’m going to have to dig a little deeper to figure out what it is, but right now I have no clue. They want to go on a trip later in the year but I don’t particularly want to go.  The hubs wants to go so we’ll be there. 
• I’m in a wedding that I don’t want to be in but I’m in it because it I said  yes and I following through on my commitment.  However, I am about to pay a total of $210 for a bride and groom that I don’t know that well.  I’ll take that back.  I’ve known the groom all of my life, but we don’t really talk that much and I am not close to either him or his fiance.  I’ve reached out and they are nice people, but I wouldn’t really consider them friends per say. 
• There’s a minister at my church that lives in the same house as his fiance.  The Word of God says to avoid the appearance of evil. Now no one has ever said anything about this and everyone walks around like its okay.  This bothers me.
• I’ve got to get a better grip on this control that my mom has over me.  For instance, she offered to buy me a new microwave, but it’s on her terms. Also, she’s paying for my anniversary party and every idea that I have gets refuted.  It’s one of those things that when she wants my opinion then she will ask for it.  Other than that, it’s her way. But I refuse to stress myself out over this.

Weight Be Gone

I’ve had a couple of headaches in the past few days but I am definitely making an effort to drink more water so I will be fine.  I’m also doing the Lisa Sansone “Walk Away the Pounds” dvd and it’s great.  I did the 1 mile dvd and worked up a little sweat and I realized how out of shape I am. 

I am speaking my weight loss into existence.  It’s a process, but I know that I can do it.  My overall goal is 60 lbs in a year or less, but I plan to lose 10-15 by Labor Day.

My Changes thus far: more water, less candy, less coca cola intake, smaller portions

Sounds like a lot, but I’m working it out – literally.

Church

For a few months my husband and I have been engaging in deep discussions about our church home.  Neither one of us feel that we are really learning a whole lot.  I always try to find something that I can take away, but it’s not exciting and we are so bored right now.  The funny thing is that we don’t believe that God has told us go anywhere other than where we are.  We still serve and do everything that we are supposed to do, but we are not fulfilled.  I guess we will just have to continue to wait and see what God says.

Update – Anniversary Celebration

So I realize that  so much has changed since the last time that I mentioned me and husband’s anniversary celebration.  We will be having a celebration dinner at my parent’s house catered by my mom and my aunt.  The colors are black and white with touches of something – probably red.  I don’t quite remember what’s on the menu. 

I am quite excited about the dinner.  I believe that my husband and I both gave up the fight so this is really my mom’s show.  She invited a few people that we probably wouldn’t have invited on our own, but hey that’s okay.  She’s paying for it so we aren’t stressed. 

I definitely would like to have a candy bar/buffet – those are so much fun. I tried to stick with a southern comfort type theme, but I don’t think that mom really liked that too much.  I even wanted the old fashioned coke bottles, but she didn’t feel that it was elegant.  Once again, I wont press.

We about two months away so we will see what happens.  As always, I expect nothing less than greatness.

Here are a few links that I would like to share: Invitations, Dessert Bar and  Carnation Centerpieces

Not Really My Concern

I was reading a blog today where a woman announced that she was pregnant. While I felt that I should congratulate her, and I did, I felt bad at the same time. Personally I don’t know what I would do with a child right now. And I get to have my husband all to myself – which is so wonderful to me. I don’t know why I feel bad because if she’s happy then why am I concerned.

That’s Nasty

Today I was so turned off with food because somebody gave me a pastry and it appeared to have bug legs in it. I can’t get the image out of head therefore making a little difficult to eat.

The Blog Understands

The blog understands even if others don’t – Is that really true? It’s just that the blog can’t talk back – that’s only if no one comments. 

Anyway, I feel like I am not so cool anymore. I have a group of friends that I have known well for about 8 years.  All of a sudden I feel rejected because I invited them to my anniversary party and over half of them didn’t bother to respond with a yes, no or maybe so.  Out of the 15 people that I invited, only two will be attending.  I don’t know why I feel so bad because people have lives and I am not a priority.  I guess I just wished that more of them would have made an effort to support me.  I just don’t know why I am taking this so personally because it’s not that deep.  Now I am walking around here sulking about something stupid. But I guess that I just needed to get it off of my chest to tell the blog – because it understands.  LOL

Courthouse Wedding

Here’s a link of a courthouse wedding in Oregon. I love how people are being creative with their elopements. This couple got married alone, then gathered with a small number of family and friends for a quick toast. Then they hosted small at-home reception a few days later. How nice!!!

Mother’s Day Dinner

So this Sunday my husband and I decided to host a mother’s day dinner at our home. I had a lot of trouble figuring out what to cook because I don’t have that many dishes outside of spaghetti that cook very well. Both my mom and mother-in-law love soul food or southern food. So here’s my menu for Mother’s Day:

Honey Baked Ham
Smoked Turkey
Mac N Cheese
Green Bean Cass
Skillet Corn
Dinner Rolls
Strawberry Short Cake

At first I was not looking forward to this dinner because I didn’t have a menu that I was comfortable with, but now I am definitely okay with it.

The Songs of Luther Vandross

So I was going through my email  today looking for a draft and I found this email that I wrote to darling husband long before we were married.  I think it’s cute – all of the underlined text are songs of Luther.

============================================

Songs of Luther……..Reflections of Me & You

 

It’s So Amazing how you spend so much time Searching and waiting for someone to Treat You Right.  At some point you get tired of all the Creepin’  and being caught Right In the Middle of Grown Things. 

 

You Don’t Want to Be a Fool so you Wait for Love  because after all the hurt and the pain you still believe in the Power of Love.  Little Miracles (Happen Every Day) and oh was it a Lovely Day   when I decided to Stop to Love.  I was such a Busy Body, but I had to Get It Right. 

 

 I met someone who Knocks Me Off My Feet.  He’s my Superstar  and when I am with him I Want the Night to Stay. He has Better Love than I have ever experienced and Heaven Knows that it’s Never Too Much.  Any Love that can Give Me the Reason to want to say Never Let Me Go deserves to be my Endless Love.

 

So I take this time to say: 

Hello Dear,

As I sit here thinking about us, I realize that The Impossible Dream has come true. You had me Going In Circles  from the start. There Is Nothing Better Than Love and For You to Love and actually tell me means that there is something special about what we have. I am here for you and When You Call on Me/Baby That’s When I Come Runnin’ ….It’s All About You. Now That I Have You, I Know that I’m Keepin My Faith in You. 

 

Only You Know How  to Make Me a Believer in love.  You See Me and love me for who I am and that means the worlds to me.   The Night I Fell in Love with you, I don’t know the date or the hour but I do know that The Closer I Get to You the more I fall in love with you. I never feel Like I’m  Invisible because you give me The Glow of Love.  Don’t You Know That I haven’t stopped smiling?  Promise Me that we’ll never say that we Once Were Lovers but Here and Now we will be together Forever, For Always, For Love.

 

 

Love Ya,

 Aint No Stoppin Us Now were on the move.

 

Couples Outing 1st QTR – 2009

This year, my couple friends (aka The Crew), decided that each couple would plan an outing throughout the year. My hubby and I ended up with 1st Quarter and we chose to go to the AJC Car Show. We have gone to this show at least twice and we had so much fun taking pictures and just dreaming about driving various cars. We thought that our friends would have a blast doing the same. I like to make a big deal out of things, so I plan to make my own invitations and magazine paper envelopes. I also found some vintage car stamps and I am so excited. The invites are collage photos that I purchased for 9 cents at www.snapfish.com (Thanks to www.2000dollarwedding.com because that is where I got the idea). I used pics from that took at the 2007 show and created a collage from that. All of the details will be placed on cardstock or something. I haven’t quite figured that part out yet.

budget save the dates

As I was browsing for ideas for budget save the date for the party, I came across a website that suggested Wordle.net. Wordle is site that creates these unique word clouds in an array of colors. They are so neat. The only problem is that I don’t know how to get a good copy of my creation. So here is what I did: I screen print a copy and paste it in MS Word, then I made rectangles and filled them with my chosen color and placed them all around the image. I removed the rectangle lines and then printed it. From there I took a picture of it and uploaded it to computer and there you have it. Now I can use the image for anything that I wish to create. I am not the best photographer so the lighting is way off, but I did my best. You all get the point. Go to Wordle and create your own word cloud. www.wordle.net

DIY Invitations

I have been struggling to find inexpensive invitations for the party and since I am on a budget, I have had to be pretty creative. First, I checked out VistaPrint and I created a lovely elegant invite and then I lost it. Just as I finished making my card, the computer shut down. I took that as a sign that maybe I should not use it. Over the weekend my hubby and I went to Office Depot and they had boxes of invitations kits on sale but there was only one box that we liked. We needed two boxes. Deteremined to get my invitations, I finally went to Michaels where I found invitations that I like.

VistaPrint: 50 Oversized Postcards – Free, Color Printing on Backside – $9.99, 50 Envelopes – $4.99, plus shipping costs and double the order because we need about 75 invites =Total Cost $30 + Shipping

Office Depot: 50 Invitations and Response cards with matching envelopes – $10.00 =Total Cost $20 (cost vary from store to store)

Michaels: 100 Invitations and matching envelopes – $14.99 = Total Cost $14.99

Day 1

Today is the first day of our church wide fast.  We will all be doing the Daniel for 40 Days (excluding weekends). That means that our fast will end on Friday, April 3 (11:59pm).  My hubby and I actually started preparing a couple of weeks ago.  We started eliminating meat from of our meals as well as using less meat.  For the fast we can’t eat any meat during the week, only fruits, veggies, beans and whole grains.

Over the weekend as I started writing my grocery list, I really took the time to think about some of the things that we could eat.  I took all of my cookbooks and looked for vegetarian/vegan style meals.  I came up with a few things, but I wanted to share two recipes that I used. The first is Succotash Supreme from the Patti Labelle Light cookbook and the other Beef & Veggie recipe came from my Campbell’s soup cookbook.

Succotash Supreme

Ingredients: 14 oz bag of lima beans, small onion (chopped), 16 oz corn, paprika, 2 Tablespoons of fresh parsley, 1 cup of chicken broth, then season to taste

spray skillet with cooking spray, sauté the onions in a skillet, add the lima beans and chicken broth, cover and cook for about 5-7 minutes, add the corn parsley and paprika, season to taste

Beef & Veggie

Ingredients: 1 bag of Morningstar Veggie crumbles (this is the beef substitute), 26 oz can of tomato soup, 16 oz of mixed veggies, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce

spray skillet with cooking spray, pour in the crumbles, heat for a couple of minutes, pour in tomato soup, mix in the veggies and Worcestershire sauce, cook until veggies are tender, season to taste ( I used salt, pepper, oregano, basil and red pepper flakes)

The first thing that I did before I left the house was drink a cup of lemon water.  I squeezed a whole lemon and added filtered water to equal about 8 oz total.  It is said that lemon water cleanses the body including the kidneys, liver, and colon.  It is also supposed to help you get energy from the food that you eat.

During this fast, I expect to get a closer relationship with God.  I also expect for him to show me some things about myself.  There are some things that my hubby and I are believing God for and I believe that those things will happen.

Expectations of a Newlywed

My hubby and I were on our way to do a little grocery shopping. He had been moping around all morning and wouldn’t tell me what was wrong. So after a while I let him know that I knew that something was bothering him. He decided to spill the beans. We sat in the parking lot of the store talking about how he was feeling. In a nutshell he felt that we were not acting like newlyweds and we had fallen into the “old married couple” category. He thought that we weren’t having fun and just not doing things like we used to. Sadly, he was right. We let the things in our lives interfere with our marriage at such an early stage.

I am so glad that he finally said what was on his mind, because that was truly a big deal.  To him, our marriage was lacking based on his expectations. I knew that there were little things that we could fix, but I didn’t feel that  it was anything major.

Ironically, after our conversation, things did start to change a bit. The spice was back and we started having fun again. What happened? We turned off the the tv and started listening to music like we did when we first fell in love. He greeted me with two dozen roses like he used to do when we first started dating. I make his favorite meals or desserts like I used to. We forget about the cares of our long days at work and get excited we see each other in the evening. We went back to the things that we used to do. Lastly, but not least, we started back praying together again before we go to sleep at night.

Things happen and you do get a little off the path, but it’s so important to get back up and start over again.

Our 6-Month Wedding Date

My DH & I made it to 6 months.  Yea!!!!  We have been through so much in our first few months of marriage.  The major thing was the job loss but God has blessed us so much – in ways that we could not even imagine.  Thankfully my hubby has been working for a couple of months now. 

So I believe that I had an over the top expectation for our date.  I wanted a candlelight dinner and wanted to exchange a small gift or something, but it didn’t work out like that.  Neither did I communicate any of that to my husband.  (LOL)  Nevertheless, we still had an awesome day.  My DH made us breakfast and we chilled out around the house.  Then we left to finish our Christmas shopping and grab a bite to eat. 

That night I felt like we hit every store in Buckhead.  We  did finish our Christmas shopping though.  We wanted Asian Cusuine so we went to Mo Mo Ya.  The dinner was good and very filling and we were thoroughly entertained by the hibachi chef.  

Later that night, we  were on the way home and  someway somehow we had a slight disagreement which made for an abnormal night of little conversation.  In the midst of that, we still managed to decorate our Christmas tree and we even listened to holiday music.  Maybe we were secretly hoping that would lighten the mood.  I don’t think it worked though.  

I ended up being upstairs and he was downstairs wrapping gifts. So that , unfortunately, is how our night ended… with very little convo between us. I don’t even know why we were upset.  I guess it was just one of those things.

Weddings on Marietta Square

Before my husband and I were married, we considered various places around Atlanta to have our private ceremony. One neat place that we checked out was the Gazebo in Marietta Square. You can rent this place for about $125/hr, but you have to check their site for specific days and times. I believe that everything is first come first serve after the payment is received, of course. For more information go to http://www.mariettaga.gov/departments/parks_rec/weddings.aspx

Lovely Wedding Reception @ Maggiano’s

I know that an Italian restaurant may not be the ideal place for a wedding reception, but I witnessed an event there with my own eyes.  It was a wedding reception for my cousin and it was really nice, small and intimate. My husband and I arrived at the restaurant and we were greeted by the staff who directed us to the banquet room.  Once in the room, a wedding hostess showed us to our table and we chatted and listened to the jazzy music flowing throughout the venue. 

 

Once everyone arrived, the event started with a prayerful blessing over the happy couple as well as the food.  We were served a delicious family style meal with salad, appetizer, main course and dessert.  My favs included the cheese ravioli, the lasagna, and cheesecake.  I also would like to add that the chicken was quite tasty.  There was a lot of food and I ate to my satisfaction. 

 

I have to admit that the room was a bit small, but it was a nice space for entertaining. The only other minor complaint would be the parking. Parking is horrible at Perimeter Mall; however, valet parking is available for all mall guests. You are allowed bring in your own music if you like.  There was a DJ at our event and people were able to dance and have a lot of fun.

 

As far as décor, there is no need for anything over the top because the restaurant is decorated nicely.  The centerpieces consisted of tall vases filled with marbles and floating candles.  Wedding favors and place cards were neatly positioned at each setting. Definitely use the space to your advantage and try not to overcrowd the table.  Keep in mind that there will need to be enough room on the table for the food if you have chosen the family style meal.

We Met on the Radio

Here is our story as told to the Bert Show on Q100 Atlanta…

Dear Bert Show ,

My name is A-Kay and I love love love the Bert Show. I have great story that I wanted to share with you all. Back in August 2005 you did a segment called “The Do Date List.”  On the morning that you showcased your first do-dater, I just so happened to be in my car listening.  As Bert would say, it was destiny that I was in the car at that time because I went to work late that day due to a volunteer project.  So I am riding along and as this first guy is being described I liked everything that I heard.  Then I hear that he had attended Morehouse College and I  was really excited.  At that point I was so eager to get to work so that I could see his picture on the Q100 website.  I got to work and looked at his photo and profile and I thought “not bad.”  I went home and sent him a cute little email describing myself with my picture attached and waited to see if he would respond. Well the next day he did respond and we used email as our main form of communication for a couple of weeks.  Then we exchanged numbers and after about a month we decided to go on our first date. 

Admittedly, sparks did not fly on that first date, but we continued to get to know each other and communicated via email and phone for about 3 months before we went on our second date.  On our second date, not only did sparks fly, but at that point I knew that he was the man for me. The Do Date List was my destiny fulfilled.  My sweetheart is very spontaneous and one day we were talking about our future and getting married. So on a whim, he got down on his knee and proposed to me.   We started making wedding plans it became very overwhelming and stressful for the both of us. As we were planning, we realized that his lease would be up soon and in order to save money for the wedding we tossed around the idea of moving in together.  Because of our beliefs in order to move in together we would need to get married.  So we have enrolled in a premarriage workshop and plan to have a private wedding in the last week of this month.   After we save a little money, we hope to do something to celebrate with our families and friends.

I just wanted to take the time to say thank you for presenting “The Do Date List” to Atlanta.  Because of that very segment, I am now getting ready to marry a wonderful man. 

We Eloped in Atlanta

I believe that up until my wedding day I felt a little bad about not having my family there.  So much negative commentary had been given to us that I didn’t want our special day to be ruined.  As I was getting ready for the wedding I was excited, yet nervous because this was going to be a life-changing event.  Even though I was going through the motions, I couldn’t believe that I was getting married.  It just felt like we were getting dressed up and by the way, we looked good. 

 

 

We arrived at Anthony’s Fine Dining and it was beautiful.  It is literally a refurbished home from the 1700s that is tucked away in the city.  Once you drive in it is very easy to forget that you are still in the city of Atlanta.  We got to the door and we were greeted outside by the host who asked me my name and immediately told us “congratulations!!!  There are people waiting for you upstairs.”  We went up the steps and into our private room and there were our photographer and officiant.  After we all greeted each other, the judge requested to speak to us privately.

 

During the conversation with the judge, she asked us a series of questions ranging from how long  we have known each other to what our families thought about our significant others.  I was very impressed that she took the time to get to know us before she married us. The conversation ended and it was time for the ceremony to begin.

 

Following our non-traditional ways, we thought it was funny that the judge decided to do our ring ceremony first.  She was so infatuated with the photographer’s camera that she started calling the shots.  It was funny, but anyway, she then followed with the vows.  We looked into each other’s eyes and repeated the vows and then we were married.  Did I feel married? No, but it was the most romantic thing ever.  After the ceremony, we went outside and took pictures and then came back in for a romantic dinner.  Followed by our delicious wedding cake which was actually a frosted cheesecake with chocolate crust.  OMG!!!  Our wedding cake was the best that I have ever tasted.

 

Our wedding day was beautiful.  It was nice and simple yet elegant.  I couldn’t have asked for anything more.  Everyone catered to us and we felt very special.  We didn’t miss not one moment because it was just us.  There was no one there to tell us how things should be done or to bug us about some intricate detail.  We didn’t care.  We were getting married and it was a lovely day.

 

Finding a Judge for your Civil Ceremony in Atlanta

My fiance and I didn’t decide to use a judge until well after we applied for our marriage license.  I thought this process was going to be relatively easy so I just called the Fulton County probate court office to ask for a list of judges and they said that they couldn’t give it out over the phone.  I clearly thought that this was absurd so I tried the North Fulton probate court office and received the same answer. Neither my or the fiance’s work schedule was flexible enough to take off work to go and visit the probate office.  I knew that there had to be a way to find it on-line and at last I found the sacred list. 

 

The list can be found online at http://www.fultoncountyga.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=889&Itemid=140