McPherson Wedding Update

I realize I haven't mentioned much about our wedding as of late. That is mostly because plans for the wedding have not progressed past deciding the date and location. I mean, there are ideas, yes, but nothing officially established, aside from finalizing my five bridesmaids (I will introduce them to you shortly) and Kyle finally getting things going with his groomsmen (thank you dear!). I think today I will share my 8-10 months to do list, as well as some ideas I've accumulated and stored on Pinterest. It is really a wonderful tool.

And here's my long list:

catalog card generator

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Out to Eat: Austrian

My little brother is starting at Georgetown this fall, so before he left we went to eat at Herwig's Austrian Bistro in downtown State College. I've been there twice with Kyle and his family; he is a big fan of the place. My family enjoyed our food, and John enjoyed impressing everyone with his fluent German.

  the rules

 My lunch/senior portion bratwurstplatte. I thought I should try something different.

 John got the gröstl, the only thing I've had from Herwig's before (and a favorite of Kyle's)

 Mom got the wienerschnitzel. I didn't capture a photo of Dad's variety bratwurstplatte; it looked like mine but with more food. 

 kaiserschmarrn for dessert

yum. all gone. 

John made Austrian food for us on my birthday, if you recall. Check out my previous post for the details.

Today I have work 9:30-4:30, then I have to get a money order for a child clearance thing, then go get fingerprinted for an FBI check. This is what happens when your work involves taking care of children. 

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Hello Monday

No Monday Movie post today! I am sorry. I could write a little blurb about Crazy Stupid Love, but I haven't really thought about the movie at all since I saw it a couple weeks ago, so I never really figured out what I thought about it anyway. I guess that is kind of a review...

Today was my first day at my new job (after working the morning shift at my other job)! It was a good day. I think I will quite like it.  I'm already thinking of things I can do with the kids and things I want to learn myself. I am certain it will be a wonderful experience in figuring out what I want to do with my life. I'm happy about it.

I wanted to wake up at 4 am so I could workout before the day (work started at 7), but I couldn't get to sleep until maybe 1 am, so that did not happen. I still woke up but hung out in bed with the kittens until 4:30 or so. But I'm going to do that now before I get a minute to stop and realize how tired I am, and I have things to do the rest of the evening, so this post will have to suffice for the time being. Oh, being busy again!

designlovefest

I hope your week is starting out wonderful!

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Weekend in Pittsburgh

On Friday evening I discovered that I unexpectedly was not scheduled to work Saturday or Sunday. I quickly thought that I should take advantage, since it is unlikely I will have two days off in a row again any time soon. So, I took a little trip to visit a couple of my friends and bridesmaids in Pittsburgh! They start classes tomorrow and recently moved into their new apartment, so I got to pretend (very briefly) that I too was going back to school and not an old grown up lady. The trip was very nice, I got a couple belated birthday gifts, ate at a restaurant in Oakland I'd somehow never been to before, hung out on the fire escape, chatted with some of the drunk neighbors (they decided to salute me when I told them I was married and husband is in the Army), helped steal a desk off the street in the middle of the night, soaked up some sun in the backyard, had some drinks, played some games, decorated some cupcakes, laughed a lot, and avoided having to parallel park. Good times all around!

 Christy made this. Isn't it awesome?! 

 Oakland has a lot of charm. and trash. 

 dinner

 margarita time in my moose glass

Kings

Side note, the kittens are six months old today! Happy half year Birthday cuddle bugs.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Saturday cats 11

featuring KitCat

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Ready to Work

this little birdie is ready for work too

I figured I should let you all know a little bit about my job, well two jobs, now that my job search of months is finally over (hooray for that!). But first, in reference to the title, does anyone else remember the original Warcraft? I haven't played any since I tried Warcraft II once or twice, and that came out in 1995, though my brothers have continued to play World of Warcraft. Anyway, what I remember most from those games were the voices and sounds of the game, particularly the little orcs saying "ready to work!" and "zug zug." If you don't know what I'm talking about, or do and want to relive the glory, you can hear all the little sounds and snippets in this youtube video. To be fair, I didn't listen to all 6 minutes and 20 seconds, so you probably shouldn't either. Righto, the point of this post is not to go on about Warcraft.

I started working at the Arc of Centre County (which I was a little familiar with from Key Club in high school) about a month ago. I work as a residential program worker in a house with four women with various mental and physical disabilities. I cook, clean, get them up, put them to bed, help them work on their various goals, physical therapy, help deescalate their outbursts, take them on outings and drive them about, help with hygiene, and so on. I haven't done medication training yet, but I'll be giving them meds once I am certified. So far I have enjoyed it. There is always something to do (except maybe from 9 to 10:30 at night once they've gone to bed for the most part, but it depends on the day), and the challenges are always interesting. The ladies are generally quite pleasant, and my coworkers have been nice and helpful as well.

I recently got another job, which is pretty much full time (Monday-Friday 7-8 hours a day), with PA Treatment & Healing (PATH). They have a program for adolescents with mental and/or behavioral problems, so I will be working with them. During the summer it operated during the day, but now that school is starting up, the program runs after school. I will be picking them up from school and bringing them to PATH, helping out through their program, preparing dinner for them, and taking them home afterwards. Since I have a bachelors degree (knew it'd come in handy eventually!), I will get to do extra things with the program, perhaps lead some life skills sessions and organize some educational things that are of some interest to me and benefit to them. I just got back from safe crisis management and restraint training (plus free lunch. minus two and a half hours on the road), which was at least more interesting and effective than watching a series of training videos from the 80s. So, I'm pretty excited! I will be able to keep my job with the Arc as well, since it is part time and I will still be available week day mornings and on weekends. Two jobs plus GRE studying, grad school applying, and wedding planning, I will be a busy lady! Don't worry, I will keep blogging, too.

The job search has taken longer than I would have liked. If you know me you know that I really only need a week off before getting back into things, so the last few months have been a little stressful, especially now that I'm a real person with vet bills, car insurance, gas to make the car go, groceries, rent, etc. I also grew frustrated because I noticed that potential employers are kind of...not very well functioning in the summer months. They go on vacations after an interview and can't get back to you for at earliest a month. If they do you the courtesy of responding at all in a timely manner. I hate hate hate when professional people to do not call or email you back within an acceptable period of time (which has also been annoying with wedding things already). I also did not want to settle if at all possible with doing something unrelated to my degree and future career/education goals, so I held out a bit longer for things to come along. I did have a few other opportunities earlier on, but I didn't want to be juggling more than two jobs, or take a job that was 45 minutes away where I was warned I might get punched. I think both these jobs will be good experience and help me figure out even more what I want to do in the future.

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Three Months

Three months into deployment! The months and weeks themselves go by very quickly, which I suppose is why it's a little disappointing to find that only three months have gone by so far. I've had a little bit of contact with Kyle since his internet went away; including a phone call and a 45 minute chat session online. I'll take whatever I can get! It is definitely getting harder now that is has been a few months. Even with our years of a long distance relationship, the three months he was in Missouri for basic and AIT a year ago was the longest we were ever apart, so we're heading into new territory here. I'm about to get really busy with starting another job, so hopefully that will distract me a bit from missing him so much as I have been doing lately.

cute embroidery I saw here

In other news, I am starting to panic again about wedding planning. Because I don't know what I'm doing and how to do anything and what to do and I feel like I need a wedding planner and who is going to help me with this and worrying about if the date will work and how am I going to do this if I'm in Texas and will everything look pretty? Anyway, off to Turbotville (I've never heard of it either).

- From the desk of Mrs. M

This Morning

I got to chat with Kyle for a little bit this morning! He sent a gchat to my phone that said "wake up I miss you." Then later I had a waffle brunch at home. I sprinkled mine with some chopped walnuts and butterscotch chips. A tasty combo, I'd say.

I'll update everyone with some details about my jobs soon. I'm heading to Turbotville tomorrow for training and HR business. 

- From the desk of Mrs. M

Wednesday Wedding: Hearts

I'm not normally a hearts-all-over kinda gal, but maybe the married lady in me makes me see something sweet and romantic when it comes to hearts. Not even the married lady, the in love lady I think is more to blame. She is also to blame for my use of pet names, my otherwise inexplicable interest in motorcycles, and the ache I feel every day without husband. The key when it comes to hearts, in my opinion, is moderation and a little bit of subtlety.

simple potted hearts from here

strands of hearts

heart pie pops from bakerella

heart ring from here, could be a cute bridesmaid gift

baked with love

dress

heart favors

shoe clips

cake topper

heart felt, favors or pins for guests

under my umbrella

thumbprint hearts, for invites, programs or save the dates

wedding tent here

confetti to throw as the newlyweds walk down the aisle or make their exit

pins

snacks

And lastly, I don't know what this has to do with a wedding, but I thought it was nifty. From here.

- From the desk of Mrs. M