Whee! Shopping trip!

So, I finally got to go on my Old Navy Shopping trip! There was a little bit of a complication, Sarah called me on Thursday and told me she had forgotten she had to work Saturday. Now, I was upset. I've been looking forward to this trip for a long time. I love new clothes. I believe I've covered this obsession previously. so, well, now what do I do? I don't want anyone left out, so I tried to reschedule. she said she wasn't working Friday, but she'd be out of town next weekend. Well, Friday is Friday Night Magic night, but I already knew that Phoenix Fire, our store, was doing a draft for the first event. I was not terribly interested in the draft, I didn't need the new cards and it costs a little more. Marissa felt the same. However, Amanda had family visiting Friday night. Of course. She talked about rescheduling with her family, but Aarom wouldn't let her, saying it would be rude. It probably would be, but it bothers me when he bosses her like that. So, now what? I can't push this trip bak two weeks. So I figure, I'll just give Sarah her coupon and she can just go herself when she has a chance. I don't like this solution, I feel bad leaving Sarah out. When I call her to tell her, she also sounds slightly disappointed. so.... Better Solution! Sarah and I go shopping by ourselves Friday night! Yes! I like it! I have two gift cards and a Groupon I've been saving for this trip, so I'll just spend those on Friday and use my coupon on Saturday with Amanda and Marissa. Yay!

So, Sarah and I meet at Old Navy Friday night. since Caleb and Zach are playing Magic at ABU Games, (They didn't want to play in the draft either) I have to take Shannon with us. Not the end of the world, I suppose. I'm surprised by how much fun Sarah and I had. We browsed, and picked out random things to try on. I found the shoes I'd been eyeing online for a while online in the color I wanted and my size. Since I wasn't using my coupon yet, I had them hold them for me. Sarah got some really cute multi colored shorts, which were labeled several size smaller than her normal size, so she was happy when they fit, and a t shirt and some flip flops. I got two tank tops and the khaki colored shorts you see above. Crazy comfy, by the way. I think I'm in love, and I may end up buying the other colors. I felt bad, checking out, cuz I was using a Groupon for the shorts, which had to be one transaction, and a regular giftcard, which was another transaction, which I paid the difference with my debit card, and then a $10 reward card from my old navy credit card and a 15% off coupon, both of which I had to use my card to get, but since I don't carry my card anymore, they had to look it up. I took forever. but I only spent $10 for all that. I can live with that.

Afterwards, we went over to the smoothie place across the parking lot and had smoothies. It used to be a Jamba Juice, I forget what it is now, but it's still smoothies. Naturally, Shannon didn't like the one I got for her, so I got to finish hers as well as mine. But it was a lot of fun. I don't hang out with Sarah as much as I should.

Saturday was a little stressful to begin with. Caleb didn't want me to leave Shannon with him, cuz he wanted to work on our car, and Aaron was helping a neighbor dig a trench, so he wasn't keeping Eloise. Taking both kids sounded like a nightmare. Luckily, we were going in the early afternoon, since there was a Legend of the Five Rings (another card game we play) tournament that night. And, Zach didn't work until five. so, Zach got to babysit. I only got Shannon to agree to stay home by telling her Zach would take her and Eloise to the park. Still, glad we didn't have to take them.

At the store, Marissa was a little hesitant at first, cuz she doesn't shop like Amanda and I did. So we had to encourage her a bit. She was comfortable enough to go into the dressing room with me and Amanda like we usually do, sharing one big one so we don't have to prance around the dressing room in whatever. We changed and gave opinions and helped eachother pick what looked best. Marissa nearly go herself in trouble worrying about her belly hanging out over too tight shorts, when she was in a room with two women that have had babies. Yeah. that girl's so skinny she's got nothing to worry about. The clothes that Marissa picked out were so cute that Amanda and I seriously jumped up and down and squealed when we saw them on her. The whie apris are hers. She was hesitant about the white- white is SO stressful to wear- but they looked so good it had to be done. Amanda and I just got denim shorts and brightly colored tank tops. It was awesome. I got a whole outfit, and nothing Caleb could yell at me for, cuz I didn't spend any money to do it! I love clothes!

Father's Day

so, we're less broke than we were for Mother's day, when we were both unemployed. I got Caleb a Boise State shot glass, since he collects them. Which people find ironic, since we don't drink. Someday I'm going to get him a nice display case for his collection. Shannon made him a card that I helped her with that she wrote "I love you, Daddy" and then put stickers all over it. Then we went out to Caldwell to have dinner with his parents, and went in with Caleb's brother, Aaron, and sister, Katie, to buy thier dad, Paul, a barbeque for Father's Day. it was fairly uneventful, other than the usual stress that Katie's kids cause.

Holly hell. they make me insane. The oldest is Shiann, a foster kid, who's 14 and has cerebral palsy, and all the extra stress with that. Then there's Madison who's 8, and Kayla, another foster kid, who's 10-ish. they're snotty and bossy and will tattle at the drop of a hat. Then there's Devon and Hope, 6 and 7, who ignore everything Katie says and do whatever the hell they want. And then Fintin, who's 3, and is the biggest whiny drama queen, EVER. and she lets him get away with it. Finally, there's Claire, who is 8 months old and just has the natural stress of a baby. She's also a foster kid. So, no, I don't like being surrounded by her kids. they make me crazy. It might not be so bad if she actually disciplined them and had any control AT ALL over them. sheesh. I was ready to leave by the time we finally did. I don't know how she stands the chaos.

Shopping!

You know, I've changed a lot since high school. I was completely indifferent to my appearance back then. I brushed my hair once and called it good for the day. I wore clothes way too big, and never bothered with makeup. well, that's not entirely true, but it was only coverup for my zits, that were bad because I never bothered to wash my face. And I didn't know how to do the makeup properly. My skin was so oily I had to wipe the makeup off by lunch because it looked so bad. Looking back, I think I was lucky to be able to not care about appearances. I'm vaguely horrified now thinking about how bad I looked, but at the time, I really think it made my life a lot easier. And high school is a hard time anyways for teenagers. So I think not caring allowed me to really just have fun with my friends.

Now, of course, I'm the complete opposite. I won't go out with out makeup, and I know what I'm doing now, foundation, powder, concealer, eyeshadow, liner, blush, lipstick, the whole thing. I do a good job. It was senior year that I realized I'm not a large size in tshirts, I'm actually a small. usually. Depending on the company making the clothes. I wear tight, stylish jeans. Having at long last found companies who make jeans for tall skinny girls, I finally enjoy wearing jeans. I wear curvy tank tops and tight tshirts and jewelry and fancy shoes. And I love it. And now that my vanity is in full swing, sometimes I miss that disregard from high school. I miss throwing on a tshirt two sizes too big and just going with it. Every time I put on a tank top that seems to outline the little bit of a belly I have from having a kid I desperately wish I could go back to not caring. but instead I buy tank tops and body shapers that will slim my waist under my cute little top.

Is it worth it? I've got a pretty serious dose of vanity now. it's a little insane. But, I'm way cuter now than I was in high school. I'm just way more self concious than I was then as well. And it's stressful, to care so much about something that shouldn't matter. This all sounds stupid, doesn't it? I sound airheaded and vain and moronic. But that's kinda my points. That's what vanity is, airheaded and moronic. But I'm so obsessed with it, I lie awake at night and plan my outfit for the next day. How do I find a balance? I can't go back to where I was before, because as dumb as it sounds, it never bothered me before because I didn't think I was pretty. I never thought about it. As soon as I realized a little bit of effort could make me pretty, I didn't want to give it up. Every woman wants to be pretty, right? I'm not that strange. So I need to find a way to balance myself between complete disregard, and obsessive vanity.

yeah. good luck with that.

Finally! Old Navy loves me!

so, I finally got in to an Old navy hosted party through crowdtap.com. Incidentally, if you’re not familiar with crowdtap.com, you should check it out. Great way to earn free money for little effort and to get a shot at free stuff! Nothing wrong with that, right? anyways, I’m supposed to be blogging like crazy about this, so this is your intro to it. you’ll get more info when I do.
Went to Spokane for Memorial Day weekend. Caleb had a cousin getting married. as a result, I missed my favorite cousin, Kaitlin’s wedding reception. I’m not terribly happy about that. But Caleb got to see family and we went to Riverfront Park and rode the carousel and the gondola. Shannon loved it. although, her favorite part was probably the pool at the hotel.

um...

It’s nice to have friends. I remember in high school, before m y senior year, I remember hearing seniors at graduation talk to their friends like they weren’t ever going to see them again. I remember thinking, what are they so worried about? we’re friends, we’ll always be friends. I didn’t have any concept about what time and distance can do to a friendship. And when I got pregnant and married, and my friends went to different colleges, well. you know. It didn’t help that my pregnancy actually drove my best friend away. Megan, the perfect straight laced sheltered Mormon girl, couldn’t deal with it. My husband experienced a similar loss of contact with his friends.
And that’s where we come to Phoenix Fire Games. Some time ago, my little brother Zach introduced us to Magic: The Gathering, and we realized that we could go to game stores and play with other people. We started at ABU Games, made some friends, but became dissatisfied as the owner of that store is a douche bag. He plays in his own tournaments with his perfect deck he’s built using his store-owner privileges and then behaves like an ass to everyone. And then we noticed this sign that went up in a shopping center near our house. Phoenix Fire Games. We went in out of curiosity. It was small, and bare compared to ABU Games. We didn’t think much of it. But then Zach got word that they were going to do a draft tournament. We’d always wanted to do one, but ABU only ever did constructed. Zach, and my other brother, Corey, went and played. They loved it. so we went and played. we also loved it. The owners are fun and friendly, and gradually nerds started to collect there, people we had things in common with. And we made friends again. we have people over and we play games. It’s nice. So, I may have lost my high school friends, but now I have grown up friends…. I suppose you could call them that. considering the biggest thing we have in common is Magic: The Gathering….

Let's start with this.

My name is Jessica. I’m 25, a Scorpio, and I live in Idaho. My husband is Caleb, who asked me to our senior Prom as a “friend-date” since the girl he really wanted to ask had already been asked. By the end of the night we realized we really like being around each other, and if you want to be really lame and cheesy, you could say the rest is history. I won’t though. We were married in 2005, although there was a slight complication…. something to do with a highly Mormon family and a baby due in March of 2006 when the wedding was in December of 2005. yeah. wheee! scandal! but it happened. That little scandal’s name is Shannon, and she’s five years old now. She starts kindergarten this fall.
So. I love reading. Obsessively. I have dreams of having a room in my house I can call my library and having the walls coated with books. And I have my Kindle for sheer portability of said library. I used to think I could write, I don’t anymore. I still play around with it, but it mostly just embarrasses me. I am also the rarest of creatures: The Gamer Girl. I love video games. Unfortunately, I have no skill with shooters, which would elevate me to a whole new level of epic-ness, but I’m a major RPG girl. Primarily Final Fantasy. I’ve played all of them, except 11, cuz I don’t do MMOs. In my current job, in which I am customer service for a website that is still in beta- (I’ve been there for three months, and I’ve answered one call and three emails. I love my job.) I take my PSP to work and play video games all day. I finally beat Patapon recently and I’m replaying FFVII: Crisis Core on the Hard difficulty.
To add another layer to the nerdiness that is me, I’m also a major Magic: The Gathering the card game player. And I’m good at it. I don’t win as much as Caleb does, but I can hold my own. I also picked up The Legend of the Five Rings the card game, which I’m also enjoying.
At the moment, my wants in life are simple. Caleb finally graduated with his Associate’s degree in December and just last week got a position as a Correctional Officer at the prison, which is what we’ve been waiting for. So all I want now is a new baby. that desire pretty much defines me at the moment. It occurs to me, this blog could make a spiffy pregnancy/baby journal for that baby to read when it gets older. Anyways, I have been promised that after waiting five years since my last one, that once Caleb is through training, we can finally start trying to have a baby. I cannot express how happy I am about that.
Today, life is a waiting game. Shannon tried to make microwave macaroni and cheese for breakfast this morning, before I woke up. I was alerted to this fact when she came in to my room and woke me up, saying “Mommy, my macaroni is smoking. My macaroni’s not supposed to smoke.” and then I realized that smell was the smell of something burning. In the microwave I found a pile of charred macaroni noodles and a melted plastic bowl. As I sit here typing, I can smell the smoke in my hair. Sigh.
okay. I think we’ll call that good for today.

well....

never really blogged b efore… fully expect to get ignored. but I’m okay with that. just need a place for me. we’ll see what I do with it.