ridiculous random ramblings...

I have not posted in a while so I have decided to come at you in another one of my random lists full of things that I feel the need to share at the moment... whether or not they may have anything to do with anything (hence the name random).  So here we go.

• In less than a week, I turn 25.  That's a quarter of a century old, people.  In the words of one of my kindergarteners, "WHOAAAA!"  Not cool.  Go ahead and guess about how I'm dealing with this issue.
• My roommate and I are both hitting this milestone together so we are grabbing some girls and heading to the river this weekend to celebrate.  I can not tell you how flippen excited I am about this.  I absolutely LOVE girls weekends... especially with some of my best friends and especially out of town.  Talk about making lemonade out of lemons!
• This week is SUMMER BLAST! camp for my church which is the kids' camp for all of the elementary aged kids.  Here's a quick synopsis of camp: OUTSIDE. Music. Games. Bible Story. HEAT. Lunch. Crafts. Swimming. Free Time. SUN. Popsicles. And then their parents pick them up... you guessed it... outside.  Absolutely love it and can not believe that this is my third year to do it.  For the past 2 years I have had boys and this year I have 1st grade girls.  It's their first year at camp and they're girls.  Talk about a major change of what I'm used to and talk about a breeze.  It's amazing.  Instead of tracking down kids half the time, these girls never leave our sight.  Plus half of these girls have been in my kindergarten class.  They're kind of like my crew.  I figure they're either going to absolutely love me or be sick of me by the end of this summer!
• TV, TV, TV.  Oh how things have changed, dear friends.  First we got a digital converter but then our world got super fancy when my roommate got a new flat screen tv for her birthday.  Just kind of have to disregard the fact that we're still keepin it real with the bunny ears coming out the back of the fancy tv.  Hey we still don't deserve cable and that's that.  No fancy flat screen can come in and confuse us... even though it almost did.  It seems to think it deserves cable and DVR and movie channels and all of these other fancy things.... but of course that's just the fancy TV talking.
• So on this new hot commodity of ours, we've been watching the first season of Melrose Place.  Oh yeah, that's right.  I'm talking the OLD SCHOOL Melrose Place.  Not all of this new stuff with Ashlee Simpson and blah, blah, blah.  I'm talking throwback 90's with the hair and the outfits and how it was considered super risque but yet the character that is homosexual is only actually alluded to that for like the first 10 episodes.  But then again, we have to remember that is pretty risque for that time.
• I have absolutely no idea what is going on in the World Cup, what it is, how long it lasts, and what it is all about.  All I know about it is when people randomly write things about it on their status updates for facebook.  And honestly, I couldn't care less.  I kind of wish it would end so people would quit talking about it.  Is that rude?
• I LOVE pedicures.  They are one of my biggest guilty pleasures.  Honestly I don't even know if I would call them a guilty pleasure because I don't feel super guilty getting one because I love them so much.  It's to the extent of once they start, it makes me a little sad because I know that I need to wait an appropriate amount of time before I am able to come back and get another one.  Maybe obsessed is a better word than love.
• So I'm pretty sure a high school counselor may or may not have 'flirted' with me this week.  I'm going to use that term loosely because I don't want to assume anything of course but it definitely threw me back to those awkward days of flirting where the boy is completely stupid (not that they ever get a whole lot brighter).  I'm talking like rubbing his gross sweat on me, asking me to put a ponytail in his hair, dunking me in the pool repeatedly, etc. which is just super uncomfortable considering.  I mean come on Mr... do you not realize how old I am!  Definitely weirded me out a bit and I think my campers as well (which was shown by them swimming away as he dunked me).  The most hilarious part about it all is that as he attempts to dunk me AGAIN today in the pool, I had to adamantly tell him no since I am trying to play with my girls.  So as he is trying to get his flirt on, I had to discipline him.  If that doesn't remind him I'm an adult, I don't know what does.
• I just learned how to appropriately model a bikini on America's Top Model.  Interesting.  It's all about pushing out the chest area, rear area, and something about 'barbie toes.'  Who would have ever guessed such a profound revelation.  Now I know what to do when someone pulls out a camera the next time I am lounging in my bikini.  (Insert laughter here... like I would seriously ever let that happen.)  And now I also remember why I don't watch this show frequently.

Ok well on that note, I think I will end this post before it gets even more ridiculous.  I think I should apologize for the ridiculousness that you just had to endure and thank you if you did actually endure it.  That is all I will torture you with for now. 

bragging on the BRO-in-law...

So my fantastic brother-in-law could not be more talented when it comes to graphic design and photography... which he just happens to have degrees in both by the way.  He focused mainly on graphic design when he first graduated from college but as of lately, he has finally decided to let the world see his amazingness in photography as well.  He's even getting his own side business started and has been able to do quite a few photo shoots of engagements, families, and kids.  He's also interested in weddings too so that's his next big thing!  Everyone's kind of had their turn lately and on Memorial Weekend, the mom requested that it be ours (and by ours I mean her, my sister, and myself).  We of course put on our white attire because for some reason that's our thing and headed to the nearest park and let Chris do his thang.  I thought I'd share one of the pics here and also share his website so you could see all of his fun stuff... enjoy!

He also did my 'Come Grab A Latte' design on the top of my blog.  He really is just the best!  Well on that note... I'm going to go ahead and stop right there because if he knew I was doing this, he would probably kill me.  (But his blog is on my roll call if you wanna check it out.)  Ok I'm really stopping now.  I need him not to hate me.  He's the only brother I've got.  And my only chance at getting free wedding pictures one day in the long distant future.

oh by the way....

So I've totally been a little preoccupied for a reason... and that lil ol' reason is called my counseling state licensing exam that I took yesterday.  And no I did not announce it to everyone and their mom that this was occurring because that piece was HARD... and I will admit that I was a little (and when I say a little.. I mean a LOT) concerned that there was a chance that I may not pass.  So basically what happened was the people that I did tell, I asked them to pray fervently for me and if they did not receive good news from me then that meant to NOT ASK.  And by God's grace and for my sanity and everyone's around me... I PASSED.

So the roommate and I decided to take the test together.  We went through our grad school program together.. studied for pretty much every test together and sat next to one another while we wrote pretty much every paper together.. and graduated together.  All of this does very well for me considering I don't like to do things alone.  (Either that or it feeds into my codependency issues but we won't focus on that here.)  We signed up for our test which would be occurring at H&R Block (RANDOM...) and of course prepared for the exam.... you guessed it... together. 

The day of the exam comes upon us.  We are beyond nervous.  We get up that morning and treat ourselves to Cracker Barrel to kind of keep the nerves at bay and wake ourselves up.  We both have some down-home cooking of biscuits and gravy and feel as ready for this exam as we'll probably ever be.  We show up at our super random testing site about 25 minutes early which just goes to show that we're nervous... because we're never early anywhere.  We go to open the door and... LOCKED.  Cool.  That doesn't mess with your nerves or anything.  Another lady shows up that is going to be taking some other random test and begins to chat NON-STOP for the next ten minutes.  Of course it's not annoying at all since we're obviously not in any type of tense, nervous state and she insists on talking about how she kept getting 91% on her mock exams so she is not nervous at all.  She was an absolute joy to get to know in those last few minutes before the biggest exam of my life.  H&R Block ladies finally decide to waltz their way back from lunch, unlock the door, and scurry us back into the testing room.  (I think the only person scurrying was non-stop talking lady.  Maybe she was on something.)

That is when the instructions began.  For this next part to make sense, you have to understand that us three testers were obviously sitting in cubicle type seats with walls between us.  Non-stop talking high lady immediately took the left spot because that was the most comfortable chair which made Katie immediately go to the right because I'm pretty sure she was about 2.5 seconds from slapping the lady... which left me the middle.  H&R lady begins her spiel about all of the instructions as fast as she can on how to take the test.  Now here is something that I have recently found out about myself.  I tend to zone out.  Or not listen.  Or not really pay attention.  Or not completely comprehend things the first go around.  It just really depends on the situation and how I'm feeling... but a few friends and I have discovered this about myself.  So you can probably guess what happened here.  Yup.  Don't exactly know why but only caught about half of what the lady said so didn't really completely understand how to take the test but heard her say something about the big A, B, C, D letters and the ENTER key.  So my guess was to use those and we couldn't use the mouse.  Bingo... that was what I was going to do.  Practice test began and we were to all do it at the same time.  I used my method of clicking the right answer with my left hand and clicking ENTER with my right hand.  No big deal.  Right?  Apparently not.

H&R lady: Raven, are you left-handed?
Me: (laughing a little, super confused and convinced it was b/c I used my left hand) No.....
H&R: Because we can move that mouse over to the left side for you.
Me: Oh I'm good, thank you.

The thoughts running through my brain is what is the point in moving the mouse over to the left if we aren't even allowed to use it!  And also I bet Katie is wondering what in the absolute world I am doing over here on this side of the wall.  Apparently the REAL deal was, you actually could use your mouse and that is how everyone else actually took their test.  When Katie and I discussed it, we figured out that when H&R lady saw me pecking away at the keys she probably assumed that I had to have been left handed since I preferred that method and offered to help me out.  Nope sorry lady... just a moron.  And when I asked Katie about the whole scenario, she said that as soon as the lady started talking and it confused her a little she automatically thought to herself that she knew I had to have been completely lost.  Ahh... the sweet faith my roommate has in me.  Can't get upset because the girl's right on target.  Especially when the lady asked me that question, Katie said it took all of her not to bust out laughing because she so wanted to know what the heck I was doing over on the other side of that wall. 

Even with my dysfunctional way of taking the exam, I somehow found a way to finish the horrid thing and PASS it so it is done and out of my life.  When I came out of the room, the lady brought me my paper and said "Well Ms. Raven, you have a reason to celebrate."  All I could say was, "Seriously?"  She asked, "Was it hard?" and I answered, "Well it sure wasn't easy."  The other random lady told me "Congratulations" as I just mumbled "I just can't believe it..." all the way to the door.

I'm sure they thought I was the brightest thing that ever walked through those doors of H&R Block. 

a not so quick game of catch-up...

It is super obvious that I have not posted in a while and this is because I have actually been out doing things with my life which has not been something that I have been doing as of late, so I will tell you about those fun things now in a fun post of CATCH-UP!

But first things first, today is one of my greatest friend's birthdays... my sweet Linds!  When I tell you that this girl was an absolute Godsend in my life, it is NO lie.  I met her the beginning of my junior year of college (which is slowly getting further and further away... weird) and it was right about the time that I was trying to get my life right with the Lord.  I had just joined Sigma Phi Lambda and this girl was right there ready to greet me and love on me... and thank goodness she was because pretty sure I probably looked like a deer stuck in headlights!  After many sorority meetings, retreats, prayer partner meet-ups, sleepovers, hang-outs, story time, capri suns in the face, and endless chats... this girl truly turned into a soul sister that I knew would be in my life forever.  Even after we both went our seperate ways after college and miles continue to keep us distant, it is so crazy how similar our lives continue to stay and we are always able to pick right up where we left off.  I have absolutely loved knowing you these past 5 years of my life and can't wait to see where our crazy lives are going next!  Here's to turning 25 in the fantastic month of June!!  I love you honey!

It's absolutely official.  As much as I have tried the whole denial thing and I won't get into a huge thing here because I'm pretty sure I probably will do that more later, the Jaspers are about to pack up and move south.  They had a 'farewell' dinner at one of their Fort Worth restaurant faves to commemorate the big event and we even celebrated with a cookie cake.  Katie and I took this opportunity to express how we felt about this whole ordeal and had the cookie cake lady write our catch phrase from one of our favorite shows One Tree Hill.  "PEOPLE ALWAYS LEAVE."  I don't think we could have expressed it better than that little green sign did for us.  I hate to see them go and I wish they didn't have to but I'll choose to act grown-up right now and not throw a fit on the blog.  Only in the privacy of my own home where I don't have the audience of the internet.

So kindergarten has wrapped up and they have graduated... tear.  We had a sweet little ceremony for them and they all stood up and said what they wanted to be when they grow up and also their favorite thing about this year.  Of course it's always super precious when they say their teachers or spending time with us.  I have absolutely loved being able to get to know each and every one of them and they have all blessed my heart in their own special way.  I definitely teared up on the last day and I am so super proud of them all moving up to first grade but will of course miss all of them.  I am excited about getting to still see some of them that will be doing the summer program though.  Thank goodness... I've never been good at good-byes!

(There are not pictures to post of the kindergarteners here... just imagine 11 adorable little people here!)

It just so happened that on the last night that Jen, Katie, and I were all in Fort Worth, we just so happened to have gotten Jen tickets for her birthday to the musical Wicked!  It was the absolute best girls' night out ever to end on.  We immediately all got adorable, headed over to Dallas, ate some delicious sushi at Kona Grill, and then headed to see the show!  It was all our first time to see the musical and it was absolutely A-MAZ-ING.  When I say it was the absolute best thing we could have done on Jen's last night in town, believe me.  Because I'm telling you the truth.  Loved it.  And who knew the girl had never been to a Broadway musical.  The night was PERFECTION.

Memorial Weekend 2010 occurred for me in Houston, TX at the McCrary's house which is my sister and brother-in-law's.  This is going to happen fast people so listen up (or else it would be it's whole other post).  This included watching Sex & The City 2 with the sissy... waking up at 5:45 am for a 5k walk for Astros Race for the Pennant... visiting family members... the bro-in-law taking photos of the mom, sissy, and I... discovering and falling in love with the show Modern Family... catching up on all of the Grey's Anatomy and watching the most intense finale of all time that I have avoided all convo of for forever... and absolutely living in the pool for an entire day and grilling out with their entire neighborhood.  I was exhausted after vaca at the McCrary's but I absolutely loved it.  They rock.

If you are even still reading this, go ahead and pat yourself on the back.  You deserve it.  And go ahead and leave a comment because let's be honest... I probably have no idea that you even read this.  And I would love to know that any single soul does!