merely a flesh wound

today i got bit by a chinchilla.

it's true.

i went to my hubby's classroom to check out his new job-spot. hooray, daniel! anyway, they have about a billion animals in the classrooms - 3 turtles, a ferret, 4 chinchillas, fish, mice, dare-i-say-it-snakes, and in iguana. (there was only one snake, and daniel covered it up for me before i came in the room.)















anyway, the chinchillas were just so stinking cute. i put my finger near the cage, and that sweet little face BIT ME! i was shocked! i bled and everything. it hurt like heck.

turns out, these little guys are used to being fed raisins anytime hands get close to the cage. i bet raisins taste a lot better than may hand.

thanks a lot, chinchilla. i'm glad at least we understand each other now.

after two moths of dating...

Two Months
(To a girl I'm totally crazy about)

Two months of playing
Two months of fun
Two months of stories
Heather, our relationship has just begun

Two months of laughter
Two months of right
Two months of dancing
Heather, you are my delight

Two months of holding hands
Two months of new
Two months of jazz
Heather, I love you


=)


We've been without a printer for the last year. With the class that I'm doing right now, this has produced some frustrating/stressful moments. Well, when I got home last night, there was a note on the doggy gate at the top of the stairs. It was a plain sheet of printer paper, and right in the center, "I love you" was typed in my favorite font. Sometimes the little things feel pretty big =) So, in response, I wanted to post this poem Daniel wrote me in April of 2007, because... well... I don't know! I'm feeling so proud of him for how well and how thoroughly he loves me, that letting you see another way he has loved me seemed a more appropriate way to honor him today than me writing my own feelings. I don't know if that makes any sense at all. But it feels right. =)

i've missed you

it has been almost 2 months to the day since my last post. whoa. i just got caught up on a bunch of my friends' blogs and i'm super glad to be back =)

so, here's the scoop:

may 23, daniel and i moved out of our first apartment, with the immense help of my parents and our friend craig. no joke, we got the truck at 3 p.m. and returned it by 6 p.m. it was amazing! we moved everything into my parents' house/garage, and set up shop there to live for 3 weeks.

may 30, daniel and i celebrated our FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY! how exciting! what a wonderful, crazy, unexpected year it's been, and we are so thankful for how far God has brought us in such a short time. we got to hop in the car and return to our honeymoon spot for the weekend (the outerbanks). good food, relaxation, and fun! we mini-golfed at the funnest golf course ever designed and we saw a play on roanoke island called "the lost colony" that has been playing there every summer for decades.

































june 2, daniel teaches a science class (with only 36 hours to prepare) as a candidate for a job. the class goes so well that in the interview, the principal tells him that he has set the bar very high for the other candidates! WAY TO GO!!!!!!!! to be continued...

june 6, my big brother got married in indiana! i got to stand on his side as his "groomsmatron." it was so wonderful to see our extended family, and i'm so happy for jeff and lauren! daniel and i took a road trip out to indiana - 10 hours each way. we really really ate up that time together in the car. it was refreshing and sweet =)




























june 12, my last shift at starbucks!

june 14, daniel and i move into our new abode, with the help of my parents, daniel's dad, daniel's dad's best friend, daniel's best man and daniel's best man's friend. how's that for helping hands?!?! i tell you what: many hands DO make light work. pictures to come!

june 15, daniel gets a job as a middle school science teacher for the fall at st. martin's lutheran school!!!!!!!!! I AM SO PROUD OF DANIEL!!!!!!!!!!

june 20, rohanna dance productions 5th annual recital! they do SO many dances, that they actually have two three-hour recitals on the same day. my mom sat with me for the whole thing (noon to 8!), and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

i'm down to just one job now, bookkeeping for ken's creative kitchen. it's a great job - flexible, chellenging at times, but very doable. i'm hoping that i can become a teacher, too, but in high school english. so i'm working on that as well.

looks like i may have to start capitalizing things if i'm gonna teach english.

tricky jack

check this out!!!!!




pardon my high-pitched giggles right next to the camera's mic. i was so giddy because this was one of the first times i'd seen him do this. i just think it's ADORABLE! =D

monsters vs. aliens

"guys, this is a code brown, because i need to change my pants."

funny movie! we saw it on easter with my cousins =)

my bday at the national zoo

i had the best birthday yesterday.

daniel sent me out to get a pedicure in the morning, and then we left for an afternoon at the national zoo! it was soo much fun! and it was so cool because so many times, when we walked up, the animals started moving around and stuff. like the hippo came inside, the lions got up from their nap, the sea lions started playing... it was incredible.

the lions were beautiful.














thirsty...














the sea lions were hysterical... especially with daniel's commentary =)



this hippo was ENORMOUS!!!














this baby panda was very very hungry. and cute.




























i have, of course, dozens more pictures, but i'll spare you a blog post of that length. suffice it to say that we had a FANTASTIC time, and we want to go back again and see the flamingos and the cheetah conservation thing.















bye!

a few of my "favorite" things

disclaimer: this post is not meant as a rant or a whining session. i'm just poking fun at my job. =)

i love when you're making drinks at the bar, and you have about 8 cups waiting in line for you, and a crowd of customers gathered around watching, when all of a sudden, you hear, "i didn't get whipped cream on mine!" you look up to find a face as distraught as someone who was just told that their life is in danger and they must evacuate the building. you paste on a smile and politely as which drink is theirs. "white mocha, fat free, venti, no whip." you glance down at the venti, upside-down, extra caramel, with whip, carmel macchiato that you're finishing up. clearly not a match. scanning down the cup line-up you find that hers is still 6 cups away. "i'm sorry, ma'am; this is not your drink." "OH!" she replies, as though it has never occured to her that you might be making a drink for someone other than her. wow.

i love when people call whipped cream, "cool whip"

i love that everyone who orders a grande coffee waits around for their change: three pennies. really? three pennies? you couldn't spare that for the tip jar?

i love when people tell you about all the things that corporate should change. as if you, a barista, can do something about it, right then, in that moment. sorry, sir.

i love when people get REALLY upset when you make a mistake on the job. manners? they are out the window. it's almost as if i have purposely screwed up their order, as a personal affront toward them. do i come to your work and tell you you're doing a bad job? nope.

i love when people walk up to the counter, set their travel mug down and stare at you expectantly. didn't you know that mind-reading was an integral part of the job description?

i love when people in the drive-through make me hoist my upper body over the window sill, because they're too lazy to extend their arm out their window.

i love when people don't stop at the menu board and speaker to order. just pull right up to the window. "oh, i didn't see it. i didn't know you had one of those." really? well have you ever been to any drive-through ever in your life before? and have you ever ordered at the window? no. now the drinks are out of order and everyone behind you in line has to wait, because we haven't had time to start your drink ahead of time. thanks.

what i really DO love is my co-workers. ashley paired me up with a girl named kat for my training and said right off the bat, "you guys are going to be bff." =)

lastly, i love all the myriad pronunciations of "carmel macchiato" (mah-kee-ya-toh). my all-time fav, so far, is "muh-cheeto."

i lied. one more. i love the words "extra carmel." i think i have heard them about 157,982 times since i started at starbucks in february.