I got a job!!

I got a job and I start on August 1! Everything is finally coming together!! I love my city! I love my future husband! I love my life!! Finally finally....I'm not going to have to struggle just to support myself and still have to enlist the help of my parents to keep me afloat! Me and my best friend are going to be sitting pretty. :) :) Now we have to just find a sweet house and things will be even better. :)

So this weekend...we will be going to the Tales Of The Cocktail Bacardi pina colada competition. I must say...if there was ever was a competition I wanted to witness, it would be a pina colada competition. :) Also....the final tryouts for the Honeybees (the New Orleans Hornets dance team) are on Sunday at the House Of Blues and my sweet fiance has agreed to take me so that I can watch. I'm actually interested in seeing the tryouts because I cheered for 10 years. I think Patrick has an ulterior motive for agreeing to go to this with me, so I entered him in a contest to win VIP seats for the event and a photo with the entire dance team. Heeheehee!! Fingers crossed that he wins! LOL! I do love that man...he's so embarrassed that I did that. ;)

Ain't life grand......

I have decided that I never ever want to leave New Orleans. If you've never been outside of the French Quarter, you are so missing out on a wonderful city! I especially love living here with my best friend. Patrick turned to me this morning and said, "We get along so well. Don't we?" I responded, "We sure do." I never ever get bored with my Patrick. We even make each other laugh to tears at least once a day. Quitting my job and moving down here was the absolute best thing I have ever done. It's super rare that I truly step out of my comfort zone and take a blind leap of faith. I guess the reason why is because I've had some bad experiences in the past with doing that. I might be a little crazy but I do learn what works and what doesn't pretty quickly usually. I'll tell you what works....my life right now. I've never ever been happier and I should have put in my 2 weeks notice the day I got back to work after Christmas. Oh well....as the saying goes....hindsight blah blah blah.

:)

I had a mini breakdown this past weekend.....

So....I have been jobless for over 2 months now. It's tough for an independent girl, like myself, to be so dependent and confined to the house and be on no budget as opposed to a tiny one. I think I cried for an hour this past Saturday. Patrick laid down in the bed with me the entire time I was crying. After I finally stopped, he went and got me a snowball and bought us some steaks and some wine for dinner. I have no idea why this guy loves me so much. I do not deserve him.

So....on Monday....I got a call back from the USDA......aaaaaannddddd........drumroll please........I got the job!!!! I will be a Plant Protection and Quarantine Technician starting in July. :) All that crying....and I had a job 2 days later. Haha! Hopefully I can help with my future boss's research on the invasive cactus moth. :) :)

Gosh I love my Patrick!

On another note....Patrick and I will finally be doing engagement photos!!!! I am so excited!! I've got some net things planned. I mean...I only live in one of the most photogenic places in the country. ;)


Until next time............!!!!!!!!

It has been way too long since I've posted here. I guess I'm going to start out by saying that my life, since moving to New Orleans, has gotten 10 times better. I never ever realized that I could love someone as much as I love my Patrick. I love playing house with him, getting to hug him everyday, waking up with him, and even arguing with him. Everything is wonderful. I make him breakfast, coffee, and lunch everyday and we make dinner together when we get home. Everyday that I look at him, I fall more and more under his spell. (Please don't vomit. Haha!!)

So....Here's what's been going on in the past few weeks.....

We've gone to Mardi Gras and St. Paddy's day parades. We've gone on a boat on the Tickfaw River. We've had crawfish boils. We've gone to outdoor concerts and food contests and new restaurants and the park and the quarter and found new places we like and gone back to old places we've been going to for the past 2 years. We've sat in our backyard with our pups while sipping on wine and grilling dinner. We've walked around our neighborhood. We've gone to a Zephyrs game. We've hugged every single day! :)

Other than that.....I have not found a job yet, but I'm looking very hard. i hope something comes up soon. I've thought to have prospects, but nothing yet. Keep your fingers crossed!!!

Anywhoo.....I have to get our chicken marinated for dinner. Until next time........  

(And I promise I won't stay away so long this time.)

No longer a home state girl.....

It's been over 2 months since I have last blogged. I think it's time for a new one. :)

In the past 2 months, my life has completely changed!

The end. :)

Photos of us....

This is really mostly for the ones that aren't connected through facebook. I strongly encourage y'all to open an account. I post so much all the time. It really is the easiest way to keep up with me, daddy.

  

Just Your Average Wednesday.....

Things are moving right along with the wedding planning and I couldn't be more pleased! Things are moving so smoothly that momma keeps suggesting that we move the date to May. I haven't spoken with Patrick about this, but I'm pretty sure that this would just stress everyone out even more. I seriously can't wait to be married, but I think it would put Patrick and I (and everyone else involved, including momma) into serious panic mode. I kind of like this relaxed planning. :)

Speaking of Patrick....I've got to be able to keep that man well-fed. Therefore, I'm doing as much recipe hunting as possible. If I'm at a restaurant and I like something, I ask for the recipe. I even made my friend, Damien, be a guinea pig in the retesting of my salmon baking skills. FYI...it was undercooked but seasoned well....so I guess I've got some work to do. Haha!! The only rules I have to follow when it comes to our food is that it is healthy and the "white minus Ranch plus eggs rule". What is "white minus Ranch plus eggs rule" you ask? It just means that Patrick won't eat any white condiments except Ranch dressing. This mostly includes mayonnaise, sour cream, and cream cheese. Other things are negotiable. Also, Patrick won't eat an egg to save his life. I'm an egg fanatic. In fact, can make a perfect poached egg....that right there should show just how much I care about my eggs. :)

On another note....I truly believe I have found some amazing beauty products! They come from a store called Lush. It's a world-wide chain originating in the UK, and there is one store that I have fallen head over heals for on Decatur on the edge of the French Quarter. Their entire line is all natural with no animal products. In other words, you could eat your lotion (not that you'd actually want to, but you could). I love the bubble bars (this is a gift I receive in abundance from Patrick for Christmas), the Ocean Salt body scrub, and the Sympathy For The Skin hand and body lotion. My favorite scent would have to be the Karma. I'm starting to branch out and I really like the Lemon Slice too! :) If I can't find a real job, I'm so getting a part-time job at this place. Here is the website: Lush Cosmetics.

De-stressing a bit....because my Sam Adams Winter Ale is at home in the fridge.

You know what's scary? The day you realize that you are getting used to stress. Oh my goodness...I haven't slowed down since Patrick put that gorgeous ring on my finger. As the days go by, I miss Patrick more and more. It has always been a serious ache that I have always just done my best to ignore until the next weekend that we got to see each other. It's even worse now because all I think about is how ridiculous it is spend so much time away from a man that I have a hard time even getting off of the phone with nowadays. To make things worse, all I can think about is the fact that Patrick won't even be able to get a weekend off to come up here before I move my life down there to him. I still can't believe I'm actually doing it. I'm excited and sad all at the same time. Believe it or not, I'm actually so sad to be leaving the place where I grew up. I know all of the nooks and crannies of this town and New Orleans is a scary place for a country girl. No matter how much of my time I've spent down there in the past 2 years, I still get nervous driving through town. My thoughts usually go like this: "Can I make a left turn here? Should I go up and make a u-turn just in case? Should I stop at this light in the middle of the intersection of Napoleon? There needs to be a traffic light here."  I'm so glad Patrick is a city boy and he can totally get me adapted to this place even though it's not even that much bigger than Jackson. There's just so much more stuff everywhere. Speaking of stuff.....I have to downsize everything I own so that we can fit in our tiny shotgun house that is only 3 blocks away from the most happening section of Magazine Street. Even Juan's Flying Burrito is only a mile away! :) So there's the excitement....being near frozen mojitos and fish tacos. Just a block in the opposite direction from our humble home is Tchopatoulas and on that street there is the only Wal-Mart on our side of the river only a mile away. Being from Rankin county, it's pretty much all I know. Yeah...so I guess I'm also excited about finally getting my Patrick everyday for the rest of my life!!! I kinda wish I wouldn't have decided on a November wedding, but Mississippi heat and rain won't allow me to do it any other time. I really don't get these girls who plan their weddings in the spring in Mississippi. Don't they realize that its the rainy season? That means hair problems will more than likely occur. That's pretty much the last thing i want to worry about on the happiest day of my life.

Anyway....I guess all I'm really trying to say is that I miss you, Patrick, and I can't wait to see you this Friday for the last time for almost a month.

It's official....

Patrick and I are getting married. On Christmas night of 2010, I officially became the future Mrs. Michaels. Of course there is a diamond(s) involved...along with champagne. And it was perfect....he got down on one knee when I was in my pajamas after a long day of family gatherings and went for it. I had an idea that this was coming but I had no idea it would be CHRISTMAS!! What a wonderful surprise to be loved by someone so special and wonderful, my best friend on the planet, Patrick Michaels.

And so everyone knows.....this has been a 2-year long distance courtship sustained by emails, phone calls, g-chat, text messages, and bi-monthly visits where we tried to squeeze as much time as possible out of them. Love (and lots of it) has kept us afloat. It would've never worked if we weren't so in love.

So now....I have started planning for the wedding, put in a 2 months notice to my job, and will soon be making the big (or not so big) move from Jackson, MS, to New Orleans, LA. I'm so excited that I'm finally going to be in the same place with my man. Missing him is so tough.

In the beginning....

.....there is was this lonely post.

The End. ;)