Moving day is tomorrow. Time to say goodbye to my beautiful, gigantic apartment in Fort Worth.
This weekend, I'm staying with some people from work. I have a car load of stuff I'm taking with me tonight. Non-stored stuff like clothes.
Tomorrow, I'm going back to my apartment, meeting several people over there to move my stuff into a storage unit. It's less than a mile from the office, so if I start to miss my stuff, I can go visit it during lunch any day. :)
Either tomorrow night or Sunday, I'll be cleaning the apartment and turning in my keys, leaving my apartment behind for the last time.
Then Monday, I'll move in with some other people from work and stay there for the remainder of my 2 months here at The Seed Company.
I might miss my apartment a little bit, but it feels good to move on.
Where am I going from here? I have a general idea, but no job yet. We'll see.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
another cake stand
This one I really REALLY like. Of course it's about 4 times as much money as the others I found. But I'll keep looking. Maybe one day on ebay...
The brand is Wilton. It's their Garden Cake Stand. If you click the pictures, it will take you to Wilton's site, with descriptions and everything. The second picture actually has some kind of recipe with it. I don't know if I'd want to use their recipe, but I think the cake looks pretty. But instead of roses and petals, picture assorted berries. You can buy extra single cake stands so that you can have more cake, but I don't think I want more cake.
The brand is Wilton. It's their Garden Cake Stand. If you click the pictures, it will take you to Wilton's site, with descriptions and everything. The second picture actually has some kind of recipe with it. I don't know if I'd want to use their recipe, but I think the cake looks pretty. But instead of roses and petals, picture assorted berries. You can buy extra single cake stands so that you can have more cake, but I don't think I want more cake.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
doulos pictures online
Due to the recent anniversary of me leaving Doulos, I realized that I never added Doulos pictures to my Picasa Web Album, as I didn't have the album yet when I first got back. So, I've decided to put a few pictures highlighting my adventures on my web album. I'm still in the process of uploading. So far, I've gotten through the Philippines, and I'll continue with Taiwan tonight. I may yet find other photos to be included with what's already up there. I know that there's another "General Doulos Pics" folder I have to go through. I thought I had my photos so organized, but...not so much.
Life on Doulos
GO Conference (August 28 - September 9, 2006)
Thailand; Preship and my first port (September 10 - October 24, 2006)
Cambodia (October 25 - November 6, 2006)
Singapore; on land for 2 weeks (November 9-30, 2006)
Malaysia; on land for another 2 weeks (Novmeber 30 - December 13, 2006)
Philippines (December 19, 2006 - March 6, 2007)
Taiwan (March 9 - May 8, 2007)
Japan (May 11 - June 19, 2007)
South Korea (June 21 - August 1, 2007)
Life on Doulos
GO Conference (August 28 - September 9, 2006)
Thailand; Preship and my first port (September 10 - October 24, 2006)
Cambodia (October 25 - November 6, 2006)
Singapore; on land for 2 weeks (November 9-30, 2006)
Malaysia; on land for another 2 weeks (Novmeber 30 - December 13, 2006)
Philippines (December 19, 2006 - March 6, 2007)
Taiwan (March 9 - May 8, 2007)
Japan (May 11 - June 19, 2007)
South Korea (June 21 - August 1, 2007)
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
invitation take 3
Just seeing how it would look as a half-letter sized card, rather than a letter sized card folded in half. I kind of like it like this.
Monday, August 18, 2008
webcam
We have a lot of friends who live on other continents. It's kind of unreasonable. Maybe unreasonable's not the word. [sidenote: why does Mozilla have "unreasonableness's" in their spelling dictionary but not "unreasonable's"? That's weird.] There are reasons we have friends on other continents, after all.
But, it would be unreasonable to think that they could all afford to fly over just for our wedding, whenever that may be. They may all be in this country at one time or another, but it's unlikely that their times for being here would all coincide with the wedding date that we eventually pick. Some of them may be able to come, but not all.
I was just thinking: wouldn't it be great if they could all at least see the ceremony live and maybe even talk to us during the reception? Ah, but they can!
I know that they don't all have the internet and Skype readily accessible, but in many cases it may be easier to come by than a flight to Texas. So I think that one of the things on my list of supplies to acquire for the ceremony and reception will be a webcam. Then, we can set it up to broadcast the ceremony over Skype, if any of our friends or family care to wake up at 3 a.m. to watch and talk to us afterwards.
It might be a great idea.
But, it would be unreasonable to think that they could all afford to fly over just for our wedding, whenever that may be. They may all be in this country at one time or another, but it's unlikely that their times for being here would all coincide with the wedding date that we eventually pick. Some of them may be able to come, but not all.
I was just thinking: wouldn't it be great if they could all at least see the ceremony live and maybe even talk to us during the reception? Ah, but they can!
I know that they don't all have the internet and Skype readily accessible, but in many cases it may be easier to come by than a flight to Texas. So I think that one of the things on my list of supplies to acquire for the ceremony and reception will be a webcam. Then, we can set it up to broadcast the ceremony over Skype, if any of our friends or family care to wake up at 3 a.m. to watch and talk to us afterwards.
It might be a great idea.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
cake stand
I looked on Amazon because they pretty much have everything in the world. I didn't find a cake stand even close to like my friend's cake stand that impressed me so much. But it may be possible to recreate the look. I found some nice looking cake stands. [Each picture links to its Amazon page.]
Modern, sleek, kind of streamlined. Could be decorated with a garland or anything I want.
This one swivels. It doesn't seem like a swivel would be very sturdy. It's alright though.
This one I think is also a swivel, but I kind of like it. Only kind of because I'm not sure about all those things hanging down off each stand.
Modern, sleek, kind of streamlined. Could be decorated with a garland or anything I want.
This one swivels. It doesn't seem like a swivel would be very sturdy. It's alright though.
This one I think is also a swivel, but I kind of like it. Only kind of because I'm not sure about all those things hanging down off each stand.
Monday, August 11, 2008
invitations
Since I am a designer and you can have things printed pretty cheaply at Kinko's, I've decided we should make our own invitations. I haven't found any pre-made invitations that I really loved, anyway, so it's a good solution. The only problem remaining is figuring out exactly what I want.
I've seen couples making a heart with their hands (the left hand of one and right hand of the other). I think it's really romantic and sweet. So I'm thinking of incorporating that into our invitations. Of course, I would use our actual hands, but until we take that picture, I'm using one I found online as a sample. I also like these curly lines that don't really have any meaning. I think they're pretty. But to go with the font I chose, I think I might have to use daintier curls.
I've seen couples making a heart with their hands (the left hand of one and right hand of the other). I think it's really romantic and sweet. So I'm thinking of incorporating that into our invitations. Of course, I would use our actual hands, but until we take that picture, I'm using one I found online as a sample. I also like these curly lines that don't really have any meaning. I think they're pretty. But to go with the font I chose, I think I might have to use daintier curls.
My first attempt. The red line is 1/4" from the edge of the page. (The black line isn't part of it, just separates the image from the rest of the blog.) This would open up as a normal fold-in-half card, and the invitation copy would be inside. If you click the image, you can see it full size.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
cake arrangement
A friend of mine got married recently. Actually, a lot of them are getting married. What's special about this one is that I absolutely love the arrangement of their cake. Check it out:
I've never really liked traditional wedding cake, though I do like traditional cake toppers. I love this arrangement. My favorite cake is strawberry cake with cream cheese icing. I've never made it from scratch because I love the strawberry boxed cake mix so much. So I'm not totally sure about what cake I'll have. Unless we just make some round cake mix cakes and put a carton of cream cheese icing on them. I also don't like the sugary decorations. But berries are both delicious and beautiful, and I think they go well with cream cheese icing. So I'm thinking of having my crystal couple surrounded by fresh berries.
bridesmaid dress
This is the dress I like for my bridesmaids - in burgundy, with black shoes. It's simple, satin, and affordable, 3 of my requirements. The color preview only works for the main image, so the other images are in the default color. These are from bridalonlinestore.com. They come with removable spaghetti straps, so my bridesmaids can wear it however it is most comfortable for them. This dress also comes in a full length, which is a similar silhouette to my dress, but I think I prefer this one.
cake topper
I had always wanted a traditional looking cake topper, one that the couple looked somewhat like myself and my groom. I searched the entire internet, looking for one that matched Rodgers and I. I found 2 that had mix 'n' match interracial couples. One, the black guy was close enough to Rod, but the white girl had very dark hair. The other one I found had a blondish white girl, and 2 black guys - with and without hair. They were dancing. I like some of the cute poses, but nothing too cheesy. I felt like the dancing was too cheesy and unnatural.
One that I really liked had the couple sitting as if on the edge of a dock with their feet in the water (he had his pants rolled up and her dress was pulled up a bit so as not to get wet). It came in black or white, but I would have had to buy both and break them apart and use the correct ones for us. They wouldn't mix 'n' match for me.
In the end I found this crystal one on ebay for $10, with a matching cake server.
It's about 6 inches tall, and hollow in the center, to decrease the weight. We'll have to have a good platform on the cake to support the weight, still.One that I really liked had the couple sitting as if on the edge of a dock with their feet in the water (he had his pants rolled up and her dress was pulled up a bit so as not to get wet). It came in black or white, but I would have had to buy both and break them apart and use the correct ones for us. They wouldn't mix 'n' match for me.
In the end I found this crystal one on ebay for $10, with a matching cake server.
They're embracing. She's holding a bouquet of roses.
The server has roses on the handle, which match the roses in the bouquet.
the beginning of our story
Rodgers is from Kenya.
Rachel is from Texas.
It took a chain of people to bring us together.
Rodgers grew up in the countryside. He went to a nearby school until an American missionary in his area paid his tuition to Mombasa Baptist High School. While he was there, one of his teachers was a 2 year missionary from Texas named David Jones. David's parents were the directors of a Christian Retreat Center in central Texas, called Camp Tejas. After David went back to Texas, he worked at that camp. Eventually, the camp got into a program in which they hired international students to come for the summer to work. By this time, Rodgers was no longer a student (he was 27 and working as librarian for Mombasa Baptist High School) but David invited him to come for the summer of 2003 anyway.
Rachel has lived in Texas most of her life. Her parents move a lot, so she has lived all over the state. In the summer of 2003, she was between her junior and senior years at UMHB in Texas. Her parents and younger sister, Claire, had just moved to a town near Camp Tejas. Claire was 16, and some people at their new church suggested she could get a summer job at camp. She was the youngest summer staff and Rodgers was the oldest, so they had an immediate bond of friendship.
One weekend I (Rachel - Rodgers does not remember this day at ALL, so I will tell this part) went to visit Claire at camp. I had never been there before, and they had no campers, so I went. Most of the summer staff was gone off somewhere, but Claire had stayed behind since I was coming to see her. Rodgers and another foreign guy had also stayed. (I have never remembered anything about that other guy.) The summer staff live in cabins, but the full time staff have houses and kitchens. One of the full time staff families had the four of us over for dinner, after which we watched a documentary about Mt. Kilimanjaro. I remember Rodgers being friendly, funny, and charming, but it was not love at first site. I thought we'd never see each other again.
May 2004, Rachel (we're back to the part of the story that we both remember) graduated and got an internship in her field at Camp Tejas. She arrived a week after the rest of the staff because of a celebratory vacation. Rodgers was already there, and he did remember that we had met. He says this is because Claire talked about Rachel constantly, to purposely keep Rachel on his mind.
Over the summer, we became good friends, but no romance blossomed. Rodgers went back to Kenya at the end of the summer, but returned to Texas a few months later to go to school. He started in the spring 2005 semester.
We saw each other a few times over that year, and every time was progressively more weird. Rachel was starting to like Rodgers, but wanted him to make the first move. Rodgers liked Rachel but didn't want to make a move until he was sure she liked him too. Conversations seemed to lead nowhere. Rodgers didn't seem to pick up Rachel's hints and Rachel refused to be more transparent about her affection for him.
The most awkward conversation happened in August 2005. It was 9 months later when Rodgers finally asked Rachel if he could call and talk to her every day. Since then, it's been a long-distance relationship of epic proportions.
5 months after the phone calls started Rachel left the country. It had already been planned for about a year, so it was not unexpected. The time out of the country was meant to be 2 years, but Rachel was able to arrange to have the second year in Texas. For a whole year, we were 14 time zones apart. Our love grew strong during that time. When Rachel had been back for 9 months, Rodgers left the country for 3, to spend some the summer at home. So in a 29 month relationship, 14 of them were spent on different continents from each other. And the other 15 were spent with both of us in Texas, but many, many miles apart.
In a few months, though, we intend to change that. Rachel will move closer to Rodgers' school and get a job there. And we plan to get married in the next 12 months.
Rachel is from Texas.
It took a chain of people to bring us together.
Rodgers grew up in the countryside. He went to a nearby school until an American missionary in his area paid his tuition to Mombasa Baptist High School. While he was there, one of his teachers was a 2 year missionary from Texas named David Jones. David's parents were the directors of a Christian Retreat Center in central Texas, called Camp Tejas. After David went back to Texas, he worked at that camp. Eventually, the camp got into a program in which they hired international students to come for the summer to work. By this time, Rodgers was no longer a student (he was 27 and working as librarian for Mombasa Baptist High School) but David invited him to come for the summer of 2003 anyway.
Rachel has lived in Texas most of her life. Her parents move a lot, so she has lived all over the state. In the summer of 2003, she was between her junior and senior years at UMHB in Texas. Her parents and younger sister, Claire, had just moved to a town near Camp Tejas. Claire was 16, and some people at their new church suggested she could get a summer job at camp. She was the youngest summer staff and Rodgers was the oldest, so they had an immediate bond of friendship.
One weekend I (Rachel - Rodgers does not remember this day at ALL, so I will tell this part) went to visit Claire at camp. I had never been there before, and they had no campers, so I went. Most of the summer staff was gone off somewhere, but Claire had stayed behind since I was coming to see her. Rodgers and another foreign guy had also stayed. (I have never remembered anything about that other guy.) The summer staff live in cabins, but the full time staff have houses and kitchens. One of the full time staff families had the four of us over for dinner, after which we watched a documentary about Mt. Kilimanjaro. I remember Rodgers being friendly, funny, and charming, but it was not love at first site. I thought we'd never see each other again.
May 2004, Rachel (we're back to the part of the story that we both remember) graduated and got an internship in her field at Camp Tejas. She arrived a week after the rest of the staff because of a celebratory vacation. Rodgers was already there, and he did remember that we had met. He says this is because Claire talked about Rachel constantly, to purposely keep Rachel on his mind.
Over the summer, we became good friends, but no romance blossomed. Rodgers went back to Kenya at the end of the summer, but returned to Texas a few months later to go to school. He started in the spring 2005 semester.
We saw each other a few times over that year, and every time was progressively more weird. Rachel was starting to like Rodgers, but wanted him to make the first move. Rodgers liked Rachel but didn't want to make a move until he was sure she liked him too. Conversations seemed to lead nowhere. Rodgers didn't seem to pick up Rachel's hints and Rachel refused to be more transparent about her affection for him.
The most awkward conversation happened in August 2005. It was 9 months later when Rodgers finally asked Rachel if he could call and talk to her every day. Since then, it's been a long-distance relationship of epic proportions.
5 months after the phone calls started Rachel left the country. It had already been planned for about a year, so it was not unexpected. The time out of the country was meant to be 2 years, but Rachel was able to arrange to have the second year in Texas. For a whole year, we were 14 time zones apart. Our love grew strong during that time. When Rachel had been back for 9 months, Rodgers left the country for 3, to spend some the summer at home. So in a 29 month relationship, 14 of them were spent on different continents from each other. And the other 15 were spent with both of us in Texas, but many, many miles apart.
In a few months, though, we intend to change that. Rachel will move closer to Rodgers' school and get a job there. And we plan to get married in the next 12 months.
Monday, August 4, 2008
did you get your tickets to the gun show?
...because we could all use a little The Office pick me up.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
all you need to know about me
My heart melts when I hear the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers.
It's such a goofy sounding song to me, but as soon as I hear the intro I start feeling warm fuzzies. Sometimes I hear the intros to other songs that sound kind of like "I'm Gonna Be" but aren't, and I still get the warm feelings inside. It's always been my dream, since the first time I heard it, to have a man sing it to me.
It's pure romance:
When I wake up yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you
When I go out yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you
If I get drunk yes I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you
And if I haver yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you
But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles
To fall down at your door
When I'm working yes I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's working hard for you
And when the money comes in for the work I'll do
I'll pass almost every penny on to you
When I come home yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you
And if I grow old well I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's growing old with you
But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles
To fall down at your door
When I'm lonely yes I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man whose lonely without you
When I'm dreaming yes I know I'm gonna dream
Dream about the time when I'm with you.
But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles
To fall down at your door
He wants to walk 1000 miles, even though he knows he will probably die because of it, just so he can say he was the one to walk 1000 miles to be with me?! What a crazy romantic fool. Just the kind of man I like.
I'm fairly certain that Rodgers does not know this song. But I bought it from iTunes. And soon, I will beg him to learn it and sing it to me. He comes back to Texas in 11 days, by the way. :D
It's such a goofy sounding song to me, but as soon as I hear the intro I start feeling warm fuzzies. Sometimes I hear the intros to other songs that sound kind of like "I'm Gonna Be" but aren't, and I still get the warm feelings inside. It's always been my dream, since the first time I heard it, to have a man sing it to me.
It's pure romance:
When I wake up yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next to you
When I go out yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you
If I get drunk yes I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who gets drunk next to you
And if I haver yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's havering to you
But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles
To fall down at your door
When I'm working yes I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's working hard for you
And when the money comes in for the work I'll do
I'll pass almost every penny on to you
When I come home yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you
And if I grow old well I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who's growing old with you
But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles
To fall down at your door
When I'm lonely yes I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man whose lonely without you
When I'm dreaming yes I know I'm gonna dream
Dream about the time when I'm with you.
But I would walk 500 miles
And I would walk 500 more
Just to be the man who walked 1000 miles
To fall down at your door
He wants to walk 1000 miles, even though he knows he will probably die because of it, just so he can say he was the one to walk 1000 miles to be with me?! What a crazy romantic fool. Just the kind of man I like.
I'm fairly certain that Rodgers does not know this song. But I bought it from iTunes. And soon, I will beg him to learn it and sing it to me. He comes back to Texas in 11 days, by the way. :D
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