30 Days and Counting!

I haven’t blogged in so long and I feel the need to today. Mostly because a lot is happening and I’d like to combat the stress with a little humor that I will now share with you.

We’ve been getting a few RSVPs in (thank you!!), and we’ve gotten two really funny responses. Yesterday, Ben opened one and told me I’d really love it. It was from Jeff Barnes, one of our ushers and a friend of mine for over half our lives. I wasn’t really surprised. However, when he turned over the evelope in which it was sent, it just said “BARNES!!!” in the upper left corner. Thanks, Jeff, I really REALLY needed that laugh.

The other funny RSVP came from a dear man I worked with during my short time of employment at Kindred Hospital. On the “Number in Party” line, he wrote “25. Oops, I mean 2.” It’s very much his comedic style and it made me giggle.

All in all, we’re now 30 days away from our wedding and really excited. Things are stressful, but last night we made the decision to make everything here on out as simple as possible. In the end, we’re married. It doesn’t matter if it happens in a courthouse, a church, or on a beach. And that’s going to keep our focus.

Hope everyone out there in interweb land is doing well.

Have extra time? Check out our wedding website!

thewedding.teampilotlove.com

Happy Birthday to an Old Friend

I’m welcoming myself back to the blogging world on an important date: 26 years ago today, one of my oldest friends was born. Hapy birthday Jeff Barnes! (And by oldest, I, of course, mean longest-term.)

This morning I reminded Jeff (via text) of birthdays past. I decided a blog would fill you all in.

Jeff and I have been friends for 14ish years. We went to junior high and high school together, and while he says some of the oddest things I have ever heard, he also says the most funny.

In high school, we would purchase birthday presents for each other, because our birthdays are pretty close. The two most memorable gifts I bestowed upon him were a VHS copy of Dude, Where’s My Car? and a beaver that made… well… beaver noises. That joke never died, don’t worry.

Mr. Barnes is much more thoughtful. And funny.

In years past, he has purchased a toy dinosaur for me. This was because he was on the cover of the school’s newspaper the year before, with a dinosaur biting his neck. Oddly enough, that dinosaur was a t-rex. Go figure. Another year, he bought me a very nice blow-up baby pool. In mid-December. His reason? It was on clearance. Senior year I probably gave him a real present and a note that was *some-what* sentimental, as it was our last year in school together. I got a letter from him too, a few days after mine was delivered, and the last paragraph on his was copied from mine. And he didn’t deny it.

Speaking of notes, I wish I still had possession of the ones he wrote to me in junior high. While I cannot remember specifics, I do recall certain subjects: Canadians, Germans being on Jeopardy, Pringle flavors, and Jack of Jack-in-the-Box fame.

Happy birthday friend!

Reppin' cups, from this year's hicnic.

New Stuff

I have so much going on right now that it’s hard to keep myself in line, let alone a blog.

However, I am thinking I have a good idea as to how I want to keep moving along with this blog. I have to get myself on a more regular schedule, but I should be up blogging again soon…

My Favorite Day of the Week

Sundays are always fun. Ben and I get to spend time with our church family, which is always nice. We hadn’t been to church since we got engaged, so it was nice to finally see everyone. It made me feel like things are finally getting back to a normal swing, making things seem real.

Another awesome thing about Sundays? FOOTBALL! More specifically, Steeler football! Way to go, Steelers, on beating the previously undefeated Vikings and my second most-hated QB, Brett Favre. Right now, I am watching Jay Culter make ridiculous faces when the Bears mess up plays, and snuggling with my Squishie. Things I should be doing instead include the dishes, cleaning my apartment, and getting way more organized. I figure I’ll do that after a visit to Llywelyn’s for some food and probably a beer or two.

That’s about all I have for today. Perhaps I can blog again tomorrow…

Best Day of My Life So Far

I’m a little late posting this, but everyone obviously knows that Ben and I are engaged!

Due to public demand, I will replay how the evening happened last night. (Of course, I may leave something out, but I was too excited!!)

A week ago, we decided to reinact our first date (which was dinner at Blueberry Hill and a movie at Ben’s place). We had an awesome dinner, and then headed back to Ben’s house for a flick. Ben sat me down on his lap and pulled out a little black book and said he wanted to read something to me. As he opened the book, I knew what was happening, and my heart was singing. The book chronicled our relationship from the beginning until now, in chapters. The last chapter in the book is the best one, with these words (as he says them on bended knee):

¹⁹ I will betroth you to me forever;
       I will betroth you in ^[d] righteousness and justice,
       in ^[e] love and compassion.    ²⁰ I will betroth you in faithfulness,
       and you will acknowledge the LORD. 

I don’t think he actually got out the question before I was yelling ”YES!” with a grin that lasted a mile. So, about five minutes later, he acknowledged that he hadn’t asked, and I encouraged him to do so.

Ben: “Janelle, will you be my wife?”

Me: “Absolutely I will!”

(Hey, did anyone get my Office reference? I remembered to say it, Christy!)

We have tentatively set a wedding date for April 10th. After vacation, we will schedule a meeting with our pastor and really make the date official.

Thank you, Ben, for being everything I’ve ever wanted, much more than I deserve, caring, compassionate, loving, understanding, thoughtful, romantic, fun, smart, handsome, and most importantly, for leading this relationship. I absolutely adore you and cannot wait to be your wife. I love you.

GO TEAM PILOT LOVE, GO!

This does the ring no justice!

FAIL!

Posting on a regular basis is obviously not working out very well.  I’ll have to amp this up a little.

Eveything has been pretty peachy lately. Work has been really hectic (both corporate AND state came back at the same time this past week), but I haven’t been letting it get to me. (At least not too much.)

This upcoming week looks to be a great one. Tomorrow I believe our new temporary director is going to show up. The management can’t get much worse, so I am excited to see how things work out. Then a run to the grocery store and some cleaning up at my place. Tuesday night Ben and I are reliving our first date for our nine month anniversary, and I am super excited! It should be a whole lot of fun. Wednesday I’ve got a full work day, then small group, then getting ready for our trip to Chicago! Our train leaves Thursday morning at 4:30am. It’s going to be a weekend filled with perfect weather and great friends. We come back Sunday at midnight, and I took off Monday to have some more relaxed time. It’s something I really need and I am totally looking forward to.

I would also love if everyone could whisper a tiny prayer for Ben tomorrow. He has an interview at a PR firm at 1pm, and it’s something we’ve been praying about for a while now. We just want to follow whatever God gives us, so a prayer reflecting that would be greatly appreciated.

I’m still thinking of ways that I can get into blogging on a daily basis, and I have one idea, but I want to hear from you guys. What kind(s) of themes could I incorporate to really get into this? Any thoughts?

Hello October!

It seems like every year around this time things get a little crazy. I like crazy, so I guess I’m pretty okay with that.

This month is going to prove to be awesome! Ben and I have a trip to Chicago planned for the middle of the month, and on the 30th I plan on having a Halloween party. We’ve already put up some decorations and have been planning some prizes. It’s really going to be a lot of fun!

The tables are coming along pretty nicely so far. Ben and I have gotten 2 out of the 3 glued on and now just have to buy some laquer to finish those off. I hope we can finish them before the trip.

I started a small group with seven other women this week. It’s going to be an adventure for sure, and I know that it will be good for me on a number of different levels. I am really excited about where God has placed me, and praise Him for all of the work He has done in me recently. It’s been really exciting to see some of my own growth.

The weather is really shaping up nicely. I prefer winter, and yesterday may have been more on the winter side than a lot of other fall days.

My team plays Sunday Night Football tonight. Do not fret: I’m already donning my black and gold. (Well, yellow, but it’s close enough.)

HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!

Romantic Picnic

Wow, it’s been a while since I blogged. I’m finding it hard to find the extra time to do so here lately. I wish that wasn’t the case, but I guess the extra money from working overtime at work will help pay off some extra bills. THAT is good.

I’ve been really at peace lately, for whatever reason God has chosen. I won’t question it. It’s really nice and puts me at ease when I need it most. And, let’s face it, with an idiot for a boss, I need it often.

Today was a good day, in the words of Ice Cube. (And thanks, Ben, for the awesome link: http://www.wastodayagoodday.com/.)

Today Fred and I had a lovely picnic lunch outside of the hospital in the parking lot. It was romantic and sweet.

See? Aren't we cute?

Okay, really, I thought it would be a great idea for Ben and I to have lunch together because he’s working a lot this weekend and our time together is going to be cut pretty short. Lunch was fun, relaxing, and semi-yummy.

I have ran into some interesting people lately. Today at Shop N Save, a young shirtless lad was perusing the isles singing a song I’m (mostly) sure he made up. I saw him twice, and both times he did not sing to me. I counted my blessings. Driving has also been interesting.

This woman really liked cats. Stuffed cats. Blocking most of the view of the rear for her.

This driver likes the only good thing from NJ. (Or so I've been told.) Also, they cannot spell. Their registration is more current than mine, however.

Most mornings, I get to wake up to this, which is swell:

She's pretty squishie.

And the best part of my week has been getting to hang out with Benjamin. We’ve had dinner with the ‘rents, had a night filled with cards, board games, and coffee, and finished one of my tables. It turned out awesome!

See? Isn't that sweet?

There’s a whole mess of cool pictures and album covers: Rage, Foos, VR, Pearl Jam (front and center), Queens of the Stone Age, Jimmy, Boston, Floyd, Collective Soul, Live, Sublime, Nirvana… you get the picture. (Actually, you can see it.) I’ve got two more end tables and a lot of leftover pieces of art. I’m sure Ben and I will figure something out.

I think that I’ve covered all bases of what’s been up recently. So, what’s up with you fine people? I want to know!

Merry Monday

Most Mondays, I am not too cheerful. I really don’t want my weekend to end or to go back to work. This morning was different.

God and I had a chat over breakfast. Well, I should say that I prayed, and then I shut up and let Him do the talking. I came to an understanding that was really helpful to me (and someone special) and really have felt at peace since. It’s a good feeling and really cool how God chooses ways to tell you what you should hear, when you need to hear it.

In other news, my boss put in his 30 day notice today. It’s interesting since I started just a short while ago, and I’m really interested to see where things go from here. I hope the changes are for the better.

I’ll keep you all posted; I have a feeling things are really going to get interesting soon!

It’s Been Awhile

And while I love that song, that’s not what I’m referring to.

It’s been some time since I’ve sat down to blog. This afternoon is a good time to blog- Ben’s at work, and I’ve already had a full morning. (I also watched the Cards win, making their magic number 4… See? I’m trying to get into baseball…) I’ll try to recap what’s been going on, but I’ll probably leave something out. Working backwards may help here…

I snacked on some soup and oyster crackers this afternoon. Man, these things are awesome! I know they’re just crackers… maybe their shape gives them extra goodness? I also texted Roxanne, saying that I should’ve poured some out for her while at the Italian Fest for lunch today. (Clarification: should have poured out some kind of beverage in honor of her because she’s too far away to come and enjoy some toasted ravs.) Anyway, Ben and I headed to SO IL this afternoon to have a late lunch at the Italian Fest. The Fest is an event on Main Street in Collinsville. They have a couple of stages with live music and a ton of booths with great Italian food. Ben also enjoyed some funnel cake. (I can’t stand the stuff!)

This morning I got coffee with my good friend Alisha. We always have a good time and I look forward to seeing her when we get the chance.

Last night Ben and I went to the Blues game with Stephanie and Jeremiah. We convinced them to go on a whim… Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as we did!

Let's go Blues!

Thursday was the premier of The Office, which is my favorite show on television. We headed over to Alisha and Jim’s house, and Stephanie and Jeremiah joined us too. The episode was really funny. And within the first ten minutes, my cousin Christy in Florida sent me an email that talked about poop ball. We are pretty close, despite a Missouri to Florida geographical distance.

That’s about all I can remember on a Saturday night that I am exhausted. I think I should blog more often…