Princess Jazz

I'm sitting in my old room in my old apartment and it's weird. It still feels like home and yet it really really isn't. The apartment is all rearranged and different now, but there are little things that I left behind all over the place. I like being here and I don't really want to leave. I know that when I get home though I'll be glad to be there. I just hate transitions.

Kris, Justin & I went shopping today. I ordered some yarn and prepaid for it. Unfortunately they didn't have it in stock so I'll have to wait a bit to get it.

Kris bought a skirt. She now owns 2 skirts. What a good girl she's becoming. : )

I bought Todd's birthday present. I looked at guitars and realized that if I bought him one now it wouldn't be all that great and he would just need to replace it as soon as we have money, so it's better to wait and buy a good one as soon as I can afford it. I can't tell you what I bought him instead though because he may read this (although that's highly unlikely, he never reads my blog).

I'm going to go now and be sociable and maybe help with dinner.

I'm not real sure of the spelling, but it is shum vob! (=very hot! in Albanian.) I personally like the heat. Todd doesn't. I think we may have conflicts over air conditioning once we live together. I'm not used to air conditioning (I wore a sweater all day yesterday at work because I was so cold) but I think I may have to learn to tolerate it for Todd's sake. If that is our biggest issue living together then we'll be doing pretty well eh? ; ) I'm sure we will both have to make adjustments but I'm confident that it will be worth it.

I don't have much else to post. I'll be coming to Waterloo on Tuesday & Wednesday so maybe I'll get to see people (email me if you want to hang out), Kris will be coming with me so that should be fun. Todd's birthday is on Sunday. I want to buy him a guitar but he's trying to convince me that we can't afford that right now. He's probably right but we're still going to go look and shop around a bit. Being tight financially is no fun.

I've posted links to most of the blogs I read. Check them out. Most of them are real-life friends. If any of you readers work in restaurants, you will probably like WaiterRant. That guy is an amazing writer and he's got interesting stuff to say.

Check everyone out at the right ----->

Because I've been yelled at by people in various parts of my life, here is a post. Sorry for the delay. : )

I was quite pleased yesterday to be able to wear my non-stretch jeans again. There was a time shortly before I left Waterloo that I went out to eat at least once every day for about 2 weeks straight. When I moved home I tried to wear my favourite jeans and absolutely could not. I was very pleased to be able to wear them comfortably enough to last all day and evening. Sweet deal! Now hopefully my wedding dress fits as well.

Yesterday I went with my friend Kris to drop her dog off at the groomers. This is when I realized that Kris has become one of those women. Y'know like when you're trying to describe someone and the most accurate description is "she has cats." That's Kris with her dog Arwyn. Well, not exactly. Kris is not yet socially awkward or inept. She's actually pretty cool. But it was cute how she was all "oh Arwyn, you're such a cute dog! It's retarded how cute you are!"
While waiting for the dog to be done at the spa we went shopping and I bought a ridiculously cheap sweater. We ran through the mall until we were out of breath (which is not very far at all!) and generally had a great time.

Last night I went out with Kris and her cousins Becci and Candace, and Candi's boyfriend who happens to be an old friend of mine. Troy and I were pretty tight back in elementary school (grade 4 & 5) and hung out even into high school but I haven't really seen him since we graduated. It was awesome to chill again. We talked a lot about old times and I stayed out later than I should have. I totally forgot that I had a breakfast date this morning.

I went out this morning with Kris and Morgan. Then I worked and made a mad $100 in 3 hours in tips! This was the busiest Friday lunch I think I've ever worked. After work I went out with my mom and did wedding errands and now I'm waiting for my man to come over.

I'm planning a trip to Waterloo next week so if you're there and want to hang out - send me an email. I'm loving my social life lately. : )

My friend Jen tagged me in a game of "Book Tag." (In this version of Tag should I yell "boook!" instead if "finger"?)
I'll do my best to answer her questions below.

1. Total number of books I've owned.
Way too many to count. I used to read like mad when I was younger and I used to buy books like mad as well. Not so much anymore. For the past couple years all my book-buying consisted of textbooks. Boo to that.

2. The last book I bought.
I cannot tell because it is a gift for someone.

3. The Last Book I read.
The Story We Find Ourselves In by Brian McLaren. I am currently reading the third and final book in the New Kind of Christian series, The Last Word and The Word After That. Very good books!

4. 5 books that mean something to me.
I'm going to cheat and include some book-sets instead of singular books.
1. The Chronicles of Narnia - I met Jesus in a very real way through these books. (Sounds cheesy but it's true!)
2. The Lord of the Rings trilogy - also a spiritual experience (especially in Return of the King)
3. The New Kind of Christian trilogy - this series is expanding my mind and challenging me in a way that nothing ever has before. God is definitely using these books to change many people.
4. Bridge to Terebithia - this was my favourite book for many years and is still up there. I love this story and the characters in it. This is the first book I fell in love with.
5. The Secret World of Og - I read this book probably 4 or 5 times. I used to re-read it every year. It's a kids' novel and it's great fun to read. I'll read it to my kids for sure.
6. I'm adding a sixth book here and it's one that I think will mean something to me. Quick As A Cricket, by Audrey Woods. I plan on reading this to my future children as a bedtome story. I hope they love it like I do.

5. Tag 5 people and request they fill this out on their journals.
I don't know if I have five people to tag, but I'll try and do what I can to fill this requirement. : )

Todd and I had an awesome time yesterday evening playing with the Albanian kids. We jumped on the trampoline until we were all sweaty and gross. At one point we decided to play tag and we made the 4-year old "It." He grasped the concept of catching us, but he mistakenly thought that he could just shoot us with imaginary guns and declare us "dead." I explained "no, you can't just shoot us. You have to touch us - with your finger." He quickly held up one finger and screamed "FINGER!!!!!" while charging at us. So funny! : ) When Todd was IT and tried to chase the little guy, he just froze in mock terror and shrieked at the top of his lungs. Little kids are so fun! I love those kids and I'm glad they love us back. The little one asks his dad almost everyday "Boppi (Albanian word for Daddy), do you like Todd? I like Todd."

I like Todd too. I guess we have that in common. ; )

I forgot to mention one of the best things about the apartment - there are no knobs on the kitchen cupboards! This sounds dumb but is actually a big deal to me. My insulin pump cord always gets caught on knobs and yanks on me and it hurts! I've acidentally ripped it out a couple times on knobs. Therefore, I was quite glad to see that our place is knob-free.

When God works things out he does a really awesome job. I can't believe he pays so much attention to detail in our tiny little lives, but I'm glad He does!

I just came back from Ottawa and have great news! Todd and I found an apartment.
We drove up there on Tuesday night and stayed at our friend Becky's place. That was sweet, because we were able to hang out with Becky and Rob, her fiancé. They're getting married the week before us. (We actually planned our wedding date around theirs.) They are really great people and Becky's family was awesome. They have a very comfortable home.

Wednesday we spent looking at potential places to live. The first place was in a great location but felt like it was stuck in the 1970s. It was tiny and smelled nasty and was just generally depressing.

The second place was better as far as the apartment was concerned but the neighbourhood was sketchy and it wasn't on any good bus routes.

When we went to the third rental agency we were impressed by the quality and professionality of the office. They showed us 4 apartments in 4 different buildings. We found a great place. It's bigger than any of the others we saw and fairly cheap. We didn't have to go over out budget at all. There are hardwood floors and a balcony. We have lots of closet space and a dining room (that was a rarity in apartments of the size we can afford!) We're on the 2nd floor so it's not too high, and there's a big tree right outside our balcony which will give us nice shade.

We had been praying that God would help us find a great place and He did! We're both completely satisfied with what we chose. It makes the idea of moving there a lot more inviting. I'm happy now.