a visit to the park

lazy sundays are my favorite. didn't do much besides meet my mom to take sophia and monster to the local park. although she's pretty much annoyed with anyone that sticks a camera in her face, i managed to get a couple photos. not the best, but she still looks as cute as ever. she kept laughing and running when holding monster's leash. you can tell she was very proud of herself for climbing up and going down the slide all by herself. she's getting so big!

a happy note

kevin has been working on trying to fix his xbox for about a week now. the problems it had were not covered by the warranty, so the manufacturer wouldn't fix it for free. for the cost to have it fixed, you might as well just buy a new one. poor guy. he's been living with 2 brand new xbox games for almost a year without a working console to play them on. for me, i love to take pictures, work on design stuff and do crafty-artsy things. he likes to play xbox. i decided today that he just needed to fork out the money to buy a new one. now, he's been playing it all day (in between watching the OSU game of course!).

friends say that buying your husband a video game system is a bad idea. i'll never get any attention, it'll distract him from chores, etc. i think he deserves it. he is so good to me. some days i'll come home, and he'll have cleaned the whole family room or unloaded and loaded the dishwasher. he cooks and he cleans! i am so lucky to be married to someone that adores me as much as kevin does. even if he's had a long day at work or had to sit in traffic for an hour, he's always happy when he walks through the door. he'll go to the store for me whenever i need him to. even late at night when i want ice cream or soda :) he lets me watch my shows and waits to talk to me during commercials--yes, i'm obsessed and i admit it. he'll eat whatever i make for him, even if it's not very good...which is pretty much most the time! he puts up with my tantrums and dramatic flair. he'll even run out the car for me when i need something and don't want to go out there myself. he always takes the trash out. i never even have to ask! it's all the little things that mean so much. i feel so blessed. he makes me so happy. i'm glad i could make him happy today, too. he loves love LOVES his new toy :)

violated

today, i realized that the maintenance person in my apartment complex came into our apartment to fix our dryer without notifying me first! i clearly, and very specifically, stated that the maintenance or managing person that would be entering my apartment needs to contact me to schedule a day/time of entry. it is so frustrating to think that some stranger came into my home without my knowledge. who knows what my poor little monster dog thought of the situation?!?! the whole reason i wanted notification was because monster isn't too keen on strangers entering her home. especially without permission. another reason is because i had a huge pile of laundry on top of my dryer. it was in a basket, but hey...it still had my skimpy undies in there. [i am a newlywed afterall :) ]...but how EMBARRASSING!!! i am humiliated to think that he saw them. i know he did for sure--he moved the entire laundry pile from on top of the dryer to on top of the washing machine. kevin says i should look at the bright side--atleast the dryer is fixed. yes, i am thankful, but i also think it was unprofessional and a violation of privacy. i plan to talk with my apartment manager about this tomorrow. isn't it illegal to enter without permission to do so? i'm so irritated!

an afternoon with a toddler

kevin and i spent last saturday babysitting my-slash-our niece sophia. basically the night consisted of kevin teaching sophia how to play soccer and me teaching her how to do the hokie-pokie. i overloaded her with festive renditions of "bringing home a baby bumble bee" and going over her letters, words (focusing on my name, of course!). she is absolutely obsessed with kevin. when he's around, she wants nothing to do with anyone else. kevin says it's because he never says no or makes her do anything she doesn't want to. he says it's because he's mysterious. :) for whatever reason, she loves him and he loves her just as much. it melts my heart to watch them interact. kevin is really good with kids. one day, it'll be the same with our little rugrat or two. here are a few photos from the adventure with our favorite 19 month old. sorry if they are blurry. 2 reasons: 1)not so great camera and 2)sometimes blurry is the only way to catch her little smiles and smirks.

note: the photo of her standing with her back to the camera is the one time she was put in time out. sometimes that little angel gets rather violent. auntie katie and the rest of the family are trying to nip that fun habit asap. in her timeouts, lindsi and jeff make sophia put her nose the wall. although it's not funny, it is pretty cute! also, in one of the other photos she's standing by the toilet. she was so proud to show me that she knows how to flush. oooh, the little things in life!

flowers from my love

so...on the day i found out about my promotion, a lady at my work got flowers from her husband for their anniversary. yellow roses. my favorite kind of rose! they were big, beautiful and i was jealous. i had a mini pity party for myself. i'm not going to lie. after all, to me, it seemed (at the time) that it had been soooo long since i'd gotten flowers.

then, there he was walking through the door that evening...after a long day at work, with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for me. that's right...kevin brought me flowers to celebrate my promotion! he's so sweet. i absolutely love them! and he loves it because it gives him bonus points :)

it's funny how such a little gesture can make me feel so appreciated and loved.

moving on up!

first it was mrs. garvey.
now it's renewals coordinator - administrative specialist 1.

in case you don't get it, i got the job.
nothing like promoting before my trial service is over.

i heart promotions and new job titles :)

now i just need to decide on which decorations to buy for my new desk and my new window view!!

waiting game

there are a few things i really don't understand about blogging. like why people post their weekly menus. do you really think what you eat each day of the week is fascinating to those of us who read your blog? no. it's just weird. that brings up another thing that baffles me. i have no idea why people are so interested in reading about our so-called newlywed game that is garveywedding.blogspot.com. needless to say, i am happy that i have readers. it would be pretty funny to keep writing for myself. god knows kevin doesn't check this blog. ever.

now that my spiel is over, lets think of what is interesting in my life lately...nothing, really. we continue to jump on the hampster wheel of life, working everyday and going through the motions. we just recently learned that for my birthday weekend, we are blessed with a trip to vegas from my new in-laws. i'm so excited, i could just burst. it is so much fun visiting kevin's family. i can't say i'm not looking forward to the sun and warmth either :) not only do we get to go in 2 weeks, but also for thanksgiving. talk about a lucky couple!

interviews are not fun. not at all. i recently applied for a promotional position with the OLCC. i made it through the first interview last friday. barely. i left the room feeling like i rambled the interview panels faces off. then, once i was done sweating bullets, i was shocked to realize that i was asked to do a second interview today. i had the weekend to prepare. so basically, i thought through answers to typical interview question day and night. i stopped to actually focus with pen and paper on sunday evening. this morning i had a million butterflies in my stomach just clawing to get out. once the interview started, i felt a lot more comfortable. it was only in front of 2 people, rather than the 4-person panel during the first go-round. thank god. it basically consisted of 5 common questions--how well do you deal with change? what is your ideal work environment? why do you want this position? do you have any other reason why we should hire you for this position? and one other question that i can't remember. i'm too focused on watching Cake Off on TLC. anyway, after the interview was over, i felt like i could breathe again. no matter how it all turns out, i am so happy its over. i did my best. it was a great experience. now it's just a waiting game.

still married. still in love. still happy.
still just living the dream :P

The Top Ten

Here's our list of the top ten things we are looking most forward right now:

1. It's officially OSU football season and our favorite local bar is a Beavers bar. Perfect.
2. Monster looking more like herself. Awful haircut last week. For a couple days, we loved her less. Don't ask :)
3. Getting the disc to print all of our wedding photos and frame them. Should be ready end of October-ish.
4. Hopefully going to California over my birthday weekend. Can anyone say ROAD TRIP!?! :)
5. Getting our wedding video back from the videographer. I'm sure I'll watch it at least 5 times in a row. Best day of my life.
6. Almost being done with the thank you's from the wedding. Those things take time! I'm trying to write thoughtful things in each one, instead of just the generic "thanks for the toaster."
7. Getting our dryer fixed. Or buying an iron. We need one or the other. We're looking mighty wrinkly lately.
8. Throwing Lindsi a baby shower with my cousin Michelle. Okay, this is really very exciting for Kevin. Except for the fact that I'll be out of the house, thus out of his hair, for an entire day. The man likes his space.
9. Getting a DVR. Almost fall television time. Bring on the grey's anatomy, house, desperate housewives and brothers & sisters. Ahhh, my guilty pleasures.
10. BLAZER BASKETBALL!!!! We can't wait to start going to some games. We have so much fun together. Kevin loves that I like going to the games with him...since he's such a sports nut and all.

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Half-way there

Yes, so only 17 days until my birthday. The BIG 2-5. I'll officially be one-quarter of a century old. That's so depressing. If you know me at all, then you know I am my father's daughter. We both hate the same foods. We also both hate change. I don't want to be 25. So I'm making the executive decision to celebrate my "I'm turning 24 again birthday" this year. And it's my birthday, so I can if I want to.

I think Kevin is scheming some kind of plan to celebrate. I'm interested to see what, if anything, he'll come up with.

Beware...I already know that in 17 days, I'll be in a horrible mood. Good thing I took the day off from work so I can throw myself a pity party :)

Other than that, life is good. We're both just working. Kevin's contracted position could be ending any day now. Please keep your fingers crossed for him, pray for him, break a wishbone, etc. that his position will be extended. We are just starting to save money and work towards our future. We want to save up for some kind of 1 year anniversary trip. Spain? Back to Maui? Australia? Mediterranean cruise? Who knows where the wind will take us. That's the beauty of the unknown.