Oh oh the Wells Fargo Wagon is a comin' down the street!

It's been a busy day! I got a vehicle inspection this morning at the Honda dealership (along with a complimentary Dr. Pepper and car wash), which was step number 1 in a 3-step process to become a registered and licensed driver in the state of Texas! Courtney took the day off work, so we hung out at the dealership and looked at new cars while her oil got changed and mine got inspected. Then we went to Firehouse Subs for lunch, which I've deemed as my favorite. If you've never eaten there, you are seriously missing out.

Then I got me my own bank, but unfortunately Wachovia is not quite there with the free checking and savings account. While I was setting everything at Wells Fargo, I was chatting with Teresa (the girl helping me), and she said she was in East Texas in this little town nobody's ever heard of called Longview. Little did she know that I had just been there two weeks ago for Samantha and Tommy's wedding! And then she said she moved around a bunch and got to Richmond, but said she didn't know Karen (lol, that would have been crazy!). What a random coincidence though!

And tonight I got a new cell phone and bookshelves and a hamper! So, after I go to TxDOT tomorrow morning, I'm heading back here to put my handy skills to the test!

Dora fell asleep for a while on my bed and woke up looking a little confused. "Why am in a Queen bed instead of a King, and where's Ruby?!"

Almost a Texan

Good news, folks: the final results came in, and it turns out that my graduation was legitimate! I know you were all worried since I didn't cover that topic for almost the entire summer. I think the verdict was that even though I had way too many credits, they would let it slide in my case and give me a diploma. Whew! It was a close call, but it's all ok now.

Summertime... I love summer, and that's one thing I'm really going to miss about being in school. At the end of last summer, I had big plans for this summer: traveling on my own, taking pictures of exotic locations, finding an apartment, buying a car, moving to Dallas, and ending with starting my job. But what do you know? Plans change! I did absolutely nothing on that list (other than buy a car, but that was in December), and it was an incredible summer that I would trade for anything in the world (except maybe dinner right now because I am huuungry).

Traveling on my own
While my initial attraction to this was that it seemed contemplative and new and daring, I realized pretty quickly that that's only good if that's what you want. And what I wanted was to have fun with people I love and soak up every minute of my friends and family that I possibly could before I start "the real world". Solution: drive an insane amount of miles between Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas with the company of Trey for every car trip and Mom and Dad for the trip from Texas to Memphis and back.

Prin to Cedars: 197 miles
Cedars to Gtown: 292 miles
Gtown to Grand Prairie: 493 miles
Grand Prairie to Longview: 147 miles
Longview to Grand Prairie: 150 miles (Google Maps explain this one...)
Grand Prairie to Gtown: 492 miles
Gtown to Grand Prairie: 493 miles
Total Distance: 2,264 miles

Yeah. I think I got traveling covered just fine, and I'm glad I didn't do it alone.

Taking pictures of exotic locations
So much better than that! Instead of going somewhere by myself to take pictures of something that didn't mean much to me, I went back to camp! My job was pretty much to walk around to all the different activities and programs and take pictures of kids laughing and having fun. I wasn't expecting to want a cabin again, but even though I missed playing with the kiddos, it was probably one of the best jobs I've ever had: who else can say they got to meet tons of people, take pictures of happy kids, get certified to drive a Genie, play with sparklers, and lots lots more.

Finding an apartment
If you're looking for a great deal on rent, let me tell you that the Moser Mansion comes fully equipped with live entertainment, cuddly pugs, carpool buddies, and workout motivation (or compulsion, haha, just kidding Court). Purchasing insurance coverage for traumatic stress following Ham Storms is still pending approval from owners but will hopefully be in place soon.

Buying a car
Check! I love my Atomic Blue Honda Civic. She has air conditioning and a sun roof. What more could a girl want?

Moving to Dallas
I'm here now, sitting in my blue room, mostly unpacked, and I couldn't resist the temptation to start a bet a little early.

Starting my job
1 week, 13 hours, and 28 minutes.

Thanks to never knowing how plans can change! Otherwise, I would have missed out on being at camp for one last hurrah, catching Hot Throwed Rolls at Lambert's, being a bridesmaid in Tommy and Samantha's wedding (ahh! sooo wonderful-- this was my favorite weekend of the summer), going to a rodeo in Fort Worth, making the best caramel fudge in the world of chocolate with Trey, playing Dutton/Bogott golf in the middle of a burning hot day, hanging with the Huwers, eating lots of barbeque, learning to make homemade bread and eating it hot out of the oven with honey butter, going to a Redbirds game with Amy, Ruth, Phillip, Mom, Dad, and Trey, baking an angel food cake with Debbie's frosting recipe, and finding out that I am NOT allergic to pugs.

"Being an Adult" training began this afternoon when I tried to get car insurance. Phil called to see if I could be added on to their plan, and as I was giving the woman my information, she seemed surprised that I didn't know my driver's license number, and then she asked me for my VIN. What the heck is a VIN?! Obviously, it's a secret acronym that only experienced adults know. Or it's the Vehicle Identification Number that's on your insurance card. Oh, and I will not be getting insurance with Court and Phil because their rate more than doubled because we would have had to have all 3 of us insured on all 3 cars! When she told me the previous
rate and the new rate, I said, "Excuse me, could you repeat that last number? I don't think I heard you." Oh, but I had heard her.

I'll post pictures soon. I'm going to try to do some kind of slide show or something.

What a small world!

As I can't really manage to stand still while I brush my teeth, I was wandering around my room on the third floor of Settler's House (at Cedars Camps), and even though there is a bathroom right next to the room, there is also a random sink at one end of the room and a toilet in a tiny room next to it. Anyway, since I finally have roommates, one of them had put a few things on the sink, and as I'm walking and brushing, I look down only to see a Germantown Charity Horse Show cup. She's here helping with the horses, so I figured maybe she'd been there once or so, but tonight I asked her, and she said she's been there every year since she was thirteen, and she's fallen in love with Germantown and vows to live there before she dies (well, Collierville now), but how random! She even loves the Commissary!

Hey, why not?

So, I called Jack Jenkins today and found out that he has a litter of puppies (currently one week old), and he would absolutely love to sell me one in about 6 weeks, which is, uh, pretty much perfect timing for coming home from Tommy and Samantha's wedding. I've been going back and forth between really wanting a precious little pug puppy and wanting to make sure I'll be home enough to give it the attention it needs. Courtney and Phil are being great and offering to help out and are so excited for me, which is awesome, and... I just ate a Dove chocolate. Why is that relevant? Well, the message inside was "Hey, why not?".

Memphis and Other Adventures in May

Drive
10 People
Fried Pickles
Shooting at the Gun Range
Barbeque Festival
5:00 AM Wakeup
Triathlon
Golf/Nap and Shop Time
Dinner!
Wrapping 50+ cookie cutters
Drive
3 hour nap

That's the sushi roll of Memphis in May weekend! After the Intermediate Photography field trip to the Sheldon Art Gallery, Trey and I met the Dutton's at Ted Drewes for some famous St. Louis ice cream, and it was sooo good! Apparently when Trey was a kid, he threw his shoe out the window there so he could go back and get more, and it worked. Smart kid! I'd go for another brownie concrete even if it meant losing my favorite pair of shoes (ok, maybe that's a little extreme).

We hit the road early on Saturday after really yummy sticky buns and got to Memphis in time for lunch with the fam at Cafe Etc. Then Mom and Dad took Ben, Phil, and Trey to the gun range, while Courtney and I went to swim the tri course, and Steph took the kids home for a nap. On the way out to the course, Courtney and I were blasting, "Shorty got low, low, low, low, low, low, low" in my car when she stopped and goes, "Hey, did you know that our parents just traded all three of their daughters in for 3 sons?" We were slightly hurt... Anyway, when we got back (after winning $1 off Ben for swimming across the pool), we headed to BBQ Festival to eat more!! The ribs were pretty much the most amazing thing I have ever eaten-- the meat just fell off the bone! Trey and I went to the Missouri Mule tent to find his friends from Barney's, but they weren't there, so we met up with my family again and took pictures down by the river before we headed home.



The next morning was the 5AMer...Whoof! Phil, Courtney, Trey, and I got up first to get set up for the triathlon, and then Mom, Dad, and Amy (I was sooo excited to see her!) came a little later to watch! After doing all the set-up stuff, I was the first in our gang to head out, and I finished my mile in 24:56-- not exactly Lib Arts time, but I beat Courtney by a whole 17 seconds!! Ohhh yeah! Nevermind the fact that she had two more legs ahead of her... Then Phil was off to biking, and Trey was waiting for his first ever 10K. While we were waiting for Phil to get in, Amy, Trey, and I were discussing the quickest way to tag off for the next part, which involved throwing Phil's bike over the railing where Trey would catch it and rack it, and then Trey would start the run down, and by the time he made it back past the Relay area, Phil would be there to do a running chip strap! While we were so busy discussing this, I looked up and almost said, "Hey, look! Someone else has a Deloitte shirt just like Phil!" but then I realized it actually was Phil, so there was a big rush to get him in and Trey out, lots of cheering, and then it was time for the last leg! Trey took it out fast (mind you, with no real training other than Frisbee in the afternoons when it wasn't gross and rainy, which were few and far between). Apparently, the first mile felt great! He thought it was about 7 minutes, but then the 5 miles ahead started to slow him down. I think I would have lost the will to live at the "Hey, now turn around and do it all again!" marker, but Trey kept going and ran faster to the finish than Amy or I could keep up with him after not having run a 10k, and one of our fellow triathletes gave him a gold medal for finishing the run! He finished in less than an hour, so that was awesome! Go Team Strength and Honor! Team Awesome, made up of Courtney, Emmeline, and Courtney Lynn, was really strong, but at the tag off between Emmeline and Courtney Lynn, the evil alter ego won over, and she didn't even do the run. Next year, I would suggest not asking Courtney Lynn to be on the team. You'll do better without her.

Even though Trey could barely walk, the guys went and played 9 holes of golf after lunch, while the girls crashed at home for a while and then went shopping. Sunday night was pretty chill, and Trey and I started wrapping 100 cookie cutters for Tommy and Samantha-- it was his idea to wrap them individually...Haha, but it all turned out great in the end! I was totally exhausted by the time we got back on Monday, so I slept from 3:50 PM to 6:50 PM and then went to bed again at 11 something and slept til 8 the next morning. Oh, how I love sleep!

Wednesday night we finally got to play Pixar Monopoly, and it was soo much fun! There were 7 of us, and we played from a little after 10 until 2 in the morning! I got to be Lightning McQueen, and Trey got the Great Barrier Reef, and I think everybody had a really good time! We had punch from Tommy and Samantha's shower and music, and Matt ended up winning even though he barely had any properties to start out.

This weekend was "Night at the Museum" on the Chapel Green on Friday, Saturday I cleaned like crazy, baked Choc Chip Banana Bread, and we played Pixar Monopoly again at the pub. Inspired by Pixar (and who wouldn't be?), Trey and I watched Cars after that! Sunday was absolutely insane but so much fun again! Here we go: get up, go to church, lunch with Dan and Adrian (learn that Dan got 2 tatoos...kind of--they are dots), Senior Women's Tea, leave early to get to Samantha and Tommy's shower-- I think they liked the cookie cutters, and they unwrapped them all,-- dinner at Barney's with the Duttons, ice cream at Fritz's with the Duttons, hail storm, looking at baby pictures of Trey (who I was expecting to be much bigger from all his talk, but he was just a really cute little kid), then back to Prin to start the week again!

My capstone is finally COMPLETELY DONE and TURNED IN!! However, if my career as an actuary fails, I do have backups:

1) Flower Arranger
2) Ribbon Bouquet Arranger
3) Banana Bread Baker
4) Photographer? (is that in there somewhere?)





Here are some pictures I took in the studio-- I think they're kind of fun!

New Discoveries surface to avoid being old and boring!!

1. I want to learn how to bake bread. Not bread machine bread, but the real deal! Does anyone have any good recipes?
2. Get a baby pug! I don't know why, but this has become a new obsession of mine. My idea is that, since I will be working for WATSON Wyatt, I should name it Sherlock. But I kind of want a girl pug. I don't know, but they are just so cute and precious!
3. A more immediate goal: play Pixar Monopoly!! Trey and I went on our 2 year anniversary dinner date on May 13th, and he got me the game (and a beautiful necklace), and I am very excited to play it-- pieces are Mr. Incredible, Nemo, Sulley, Remy, Buzz Lightyear, and Lightning McQueen. It's been a busy week, though, so that will be next week...
4. Participate in a relay triathlon where my leg of the race is in 69 degree water. Ha! Silly me-- I get to do that on Sunday! Go Team Britt-Phil-Trey!

Ok, time for capstone now.

I love Life

The crunchy outside, the sugary crystals on the inside-- I just don't know what could be better when dinner is Prin meatloaf. No offense, Mom, I like yours despite years of saying that I didn't.

The last quarter of my life is now officially over halfway done, but I'll have to wait to see about this whole graduating thing. So far, my capstone is giving me a lot more trouble than I was thinking it would, but we don't have to talk about that. I'm a little bitter right now.

However, the big news in my life for the week: playing in a golf tournament! Yes, you read it right, a GOLF tournament. Watch out Tiger, Bogott's clawing her way to the top. The Principia Parents' Association hosted a golf scramble last weekend, and the Duttons were down a member, so they got 2 for the price of 1! Trey and I joined the team, and even though it was freezing cold, super windy, and both of our first times out a course, golfing may just become my weekend getaway from actuarial valuations! Don't worry, Courtney, I'll still go rollerblading with you too...and bike riding...and swimming...and marathon training.

But to think that all of this weekend excitement occurred because of a trip to the DMV, now that is the crazy part. Trey's license expired, so we went down to the DOR, but they said he needed his birth certificate, so we went to his house to that, then back to another DMV for a 2 minute test, then to a SHOE STORE (yes, I did actually, successfully get Richard Allen Dutton III, man who has strong moral opposition to the art of wearing shoes, into a shoe store where he actually found my very cute pair of red shoes for graduation and semi-approved my purchase of a mostly comfortable pair of silver shoes for my bridesmaid dress), then to Party City for shower decorations, and then he helped me fix my sunroof! After that, we went to Casa Gallardo (oh so amazingly tasty Mexican restaurant) for dinner, back to Prin for Recycled Percussion (Dad, you would have LOVED it), pub time with Tommy and Samantha, back to the Dutton's, and finally we're back at the golf tournament. So, if anyone's not looking forward to a trip to the DMV, I say that you just never know what could happen.

Sorry for the severe lack of updates lately folks, but this Personal Journaling class has been draining on my creative juices. After writing about collections and soundtracks and moments and ordinary things and all that jazz, it's my blog that suffers. It's a shame, and I'm not proud to admit it, but it's true.

And how could I forget...

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!
You're not old or boring, and you don't even have a blog!
I love you!