LOU!

Hello! Sorry for the L(ack) O(f) U(pdates)! I've been extremely busy...and on vacation.

First, I'd like to wish everyone a belated Happy 4th of July. I hope you all had a safe and fun holiday. I spent mine in L.A. (Lower Alabama) with Monkey Man and his family. Needless to say, it was more like a vistitation than a vacation. I didn't get to do a lot of the things I wanted to do...like go to the beach. I did get to do some shopping...and I gained atleast 5 unwanted pounds. Sadly, not due to any home cooking...but due to the eating out we always do when we are down there.

Yesterday I started my "cleansing process". A process where I try to rid my body of all nasty things that I intake while I am visiting the in-laws.

For breakfast I had a Slim Fast shake. Lunch...I had a salami sandwich, a left over beef taco from the night before, and a handful of salt and vinegar potato chips. Then to top it all off, for dinner I had Chick-Fil-A...and shared a chocolate shake with Monkey afterwards.

The "process" is going quite well so far...

On a lighter note, we've also been working on purchasing this thing...



You like it? It's my house. We closed on Monday.

We hung up one blind last night. One.

That process is going well also!

More pictures of the house to come sometime this weekend! I cannot wait for you all to see!


Until next time! :)

Do you ever wonder...

...what might have been?

Seriously. Think about it.

Think about saying that is to every action there is a reaction. That is so true...and it makes a lot of sense.

I often find myself wondering a lot. Wondering about how if I didn't do one thing, then another thing probably would have never happened.

For example...say that I never left home to go to school out of state. I wonder what I would be doing right now. I wonder how my parents would treat me if I stayed at home and went to school. I wonder if it would have any effect on my relationship with them.

Then I look at it this way...if I had never gone to school out of state, I would have never met my husband, Kenneth. And I probably wouldn't be the person who I am today.

Which is something that I could never replace...so, it's a good thing that I went out of state to go to school.

Then I think about what if I majored in something else in college. I probably would not have wasted all of my parents money, going to school for something that I'm not even doing right now. Which is okay...they understand, and I always have my career in hair as something to fall back on.

I think about what my body would be like if I were still a dancer...

Ugh, I don't know if my body could handle that anymore...

I think about how I would feel if I hadn't eaten those 7 dounut holes that I've had today. (4 with my breakfast and coffee this morning and 3 during my lunch break).

And the chocolate milkshake I had last night at McDonald's.

And the...oh, nevermind.


No matter what we do, we are always going to wonder. We're always going to think.

And you know what I think?

I think I think too much.

Old Pictures

I was going through some pictures on my computer and I couldn't help but notice how much I've changed as a photographer. Now, I don't call myself a hardcore photographer. I like to take pictures. Nothing wrong with that, right? So, I wanted to share some of my older pictures with you all...



First of all, it's important that you all know that Halloween is, next to Christmas, my favorite holiday. I do not know why...actually, I do. There has always been something about Halloween that has fascinated me my whole entire life. I love everything about it. And I mean everything. My mom gave me this pumpkin when I went away for school. It was the very first photo I ever took with my camera.



This was taken at the Monkey Barrel, a bar/pizza joint here in Gainesville. My brother-in-law and his band played there one night a couple of years ago. I have a thing for beer signs, for some reasons.



Especially ones that glow.





I love how you can see my reflection in the bottles. Don't care for the beer, but the bottles were pretty.



This is the shed at my in-laws.



Our nephew, Kristopher. He wants nothing more than to be like his uncle Kenneth. And that terrifies his mother.



Such a ham.



This is my favorite tree in the state of Alabama. I love this tree.



When we go to visit his parents in L.A. (Lower Alabama), something always changes with Kenneth. He gets in his "zone". It's like the little boy comes out of him every time we go there. It's cute...and quite entertaining.







Kenneth's dad, Ken. He's a great man. He works hard, loves his kids, his wife, his dog and most importantly, me. Hahaha. No, seriously. I am very fond of Kenneth's dad. He's a Vietnam veteran, and has a purple heart stuffed in his underwear drawer. How he got it? No one knows. Not even Kenneth's mom.

I'll get it out of him one day.


Goodnight!

Didn't Forget About You!

New Post coming this afternoon!

wednesday at the office

I work for a construction company. I'm a receptionist, even though sometimes I would love to go out on the job site...just to prove that a woman could do a dudes job any day. Especially when it's that job. Easy. Piece of cake. Piece of pie.

Wednesdays are quite slow. Actually, everyday has been quite slow lately since we're in the process of closing out a lot of projects. When I first started in December, things were crazy and I didn't think that it was going to work out. But, I stuck it out. And here I am...kickin' butt and taking names. Doing heavy filing, getting bids done and out the door, mailing checks...answering the phones...and...taking pictures.

Have I mentioned that we're slow?



If it weren't for this delicacy, I probably would not be able to get through my day. This, and diet coke, of course. Diet coke runs through my veins. Get used to it.



And Pandora was in a bad mood today. It would not play anything I wanted to hear. Or was it me who was in the bad mood? Yes. Wait. No?

That is usually how my day begins. I get to work, start up my computer, and start up the tunes. If I don't have those, it'll be *head to desk* as soon as I sit down. But, sometimes...FREAKIN' A. Pandora just gets on my nerves. Then the ADD comes out...and I start doing other things to make myself stay awake cough, cough ...I mean, look busy.



Like doodling. My office manager, Jenn, knows how much I love .9mm lead mechanical pencils. And they came in this morning along with the rest of our order from Office Depot. Love them. Love her! Speaking of the devil...


Say hello, Jenn!


She's shy...give her time.

This is what I do on a daily basis...sit and stare at a telephone...



That never rings...Discover new things to use. Like this for example...



I had no idea what that thing was for up until today...when I decided to put it on my index finger. Hey, it works. What's it called?



Take messages for my boss...knowing good and well that he'll never return the calls. Which foreshadows the fact that I will be getting more phone calls as to why he won't return the phone calls. Ugh, men.



Trying to think of things to go on this sad wall behind me. I am a holiday decor fanatic, and want to decorate it for every single holiday. But, I haven't approached HR about that yet. Don't know how it's going to go over. I'll keep you posted.


ARGHHHHH! POOPOO ON YOU, PANDORA!

Did I mention my view? It's pretty...


This is where Jenn and I watch the people who work out in the gym next door run up and down the industrial park in the morning time. While we eat our pastries and sip our diet drinks.

The only good thing about Wednesdays at the office?



The cleaning people come.

Goodnight!

meet berniece

I mentioned to you all in my last post that my dog, Berniece, would be around here a lot. Well, it would be rude for me to introduce myself without introducing my mutt-licious beauty, wouldn't it?

Ladies and gents...meet Berniece(aka Pooter, Pooter pants, Bernie, Bernie Mac)...

She says hello.

Now, this face is precious and typically, one would think that with a precious face comes a ferocious attitude. Bernie? No.



How could a face like this be ferocious? It could never be. Berniece is almost 6 months old, and has been such a blessing. Luckily, my marm got her brother, Bandit, who is just as frisky and adorable as she is. They play well together. And you can tell that they've never forgotten each other.



She heard me say Bandit.

She's the only dog I have ever seen who enjoys sleeping underneath things (like our bed, dining room table, living room table and office desk), and taking baths. And she loves to watch me get ready in the mornings. She loves to get a round brush blow-out after bathtime...with a Dingo handy, of course.


She heard me say bathtime .



...is it really bathtime, mommy?

Ugh, like I said...this face cannot be denied.

Goodnight!

to the unknown we go!

good morning.

since this is really my first post, i guess i should start off telling you all a little bit about myself. which, i'll try to make this...short and sweet. but, i may end up rambling on about myself like i always do...ha, like i'm so special. just kidding...okay.

my name is rachel. i've been happily married for almost 2 years. i live in north georgia, and i work. ha, we'll leave it at that. i work. and i have a pretty cool dog, her name is berniece. she'll be around a lot in these posts.

i grew up here in georgia, living in marietta for a few years before my marm and dad set up shop in cumming. i'm squeezed in the middle of two beautiful sisters, whitney...who is 25, married, and a working-woman. then there is chelsea, 19, college student...my partner in crime.

i live in gainesville now, which is about 30 minutes away from where i grew up in cumming. i've lived here for about 2 years now, and cannot wait to get out. this place...just isn't for me.

when i first started thinking about doing a blog, i was doing hair at the time. so, my main focus of the blog was going to be about doing hair, my everyday life at the salon, and the crazy ladies i worked with. well, it got old-very quickly, and my days at the salon were over. i still do it (hair) every now and then, but it's a hard business to get started in...and, as you will find out eventually, i don't have that kind of patience.

so, when the thought of blogging popped back into my head, i decided to ditch the idea of me focusing on just one thing to blog about, and blog about...well, everything.

marm, i know you may be reading this, and i want you to know that its okay for you to tell me that you are. i hope this can be something we can giggle about when dad isn't around (kind of like your silly dance moves), and something we can discuss over morning coffee up in the mountains. and heck, maybe i'll start taking some pictures...and you can critique me. ha, nevermind...

folks, that's all i've got for now. as i leave you, i'd like to say...welcome.

i look forward to getting to know you all.