lunch break ramblings

(for some reason, this is posting as 10:42am...don't be fooled...it's actually after 12pm)

I was tagged and I thought it was about time for an update anyhow.
So here are my one-word answers....

1. Where is your cell phone? pocket
2. Your significant other? studying
3. Your hair? ponytail
4. Your mother? intense
5. Your father? sweet
6. Your favorite thing? finishing
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your favorite drink? diet
9. Your dream/goal? perfection
10. The room you're in? office
11. Your fear? psychotic-ness
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? babies
13. Where were you last night? play!
14. What you're not? rested
15. Muffins/donuts? muffin
16. One of your wish list items? watch
17. Where you grew up? Spring
18. The last thing you did? paperwork
19. What are you wearing? sperrys
20. Your TV? 24
21. Your pet? Judgie
22. Your computer? work
23. Your life? full
24. Your mood? sleepy
25. Missing someone? always
26. Favorite pastime? husband
27. Something you're not wearing? perfume
28. Favorite Store? anthro
29. Your summer? moving
30. Your favorite color? depends
31. When is the last time you laughed? today
32. Last time you cried? sunday
33. Who will re-post this? ames
34. Four places I go over and over? work, church, beartrail, home
Four people who e-mail me? mom, coworkers, pottery barn, and play director
36. Four of my favorite foods? chocolate, granola, salad, pineapples
37. Four places I would like to be right now? home, boston, florida, and australia.
38. Four people I tag? amy, katie, dez, ashley

ok now, about life...well the most major thing right now is the Christmas play at church I am in. First two shows were last night and they went great! I love being in a play where the final direction before the show is to "just be in the Spirit". And I love that after it's over we go directly to pray together while Pastor Jimmy is sharing the gospel. And I love that while we pray, people are getting saved and their lives are being transformed! I also have made some cool new friends. One being Fred Nelson, who plays my husband in the play. This was odd and kind of intimidating at first for a couple of reasons. 1. He is an associate pastor at the church. The only contact I had with him before this play was him on stage preaching a sermon and him leading the engagement retreat w/ his wife Becca. 2. He co-wrote the play so he wrote my character, which is intimidating when you are trying to personify this person that he wrote and imagined. But it turned out fine and I'm not intimidated by him anymore. Another friend is Janine, she is a young teacher and we are very similar. She is the one I get the giggles w/ about things to do with glow-tape and burping backstage and peeing while your mike is on. Her grandmother was in the hospital during our tech and dress rehearsals and actually passed away yesterday morning so I have prayed w/ her through that which has built friendship. If any of you are in Waco, come to a Thursday performance of "The Carolers", 6:30 or 8:30pm at Antioch.

In other news, remember how I was preparing for the Dallas Whiterock Half Marathon? Well I am good and ready but little did I know that this Marathon was a big deal. A few weeks ago I went to register only to discover it was sold out!!! Yes, these things DO sell out! So I put my name on the waiting list and have continued training but I haven't heard ANYTHING. So I am a very sad little runner right now. Guess I'll just wait till Bearathon 09...anyone want to train w/ me???

Well, I want to do some other stuff during my lunch break so I'm gonna call this post quits for today...love you all!

update!

so it's been a while since my last post but today i find myself w/ an unprecedented amount of extra time b/c TWO of my clients rejected me today...one refused to go to his Dr's appt that we have rescheduled 3 times due to him forgetting it once and refusing to go a previous time. Grr. So I get to call the Dr and fix it for him. The other is "sick". "how are you sick?", I ask. He answers "i'm sick, don't you know what sick is?" Ok, that's just where you end the conversation. So, at the end of the month when I need to meet my 3.5 hour quota with all my clients, they are bailing on me. goody.

in other news, I'm gonna go for the ever-popular bullet points to describe life right now:

--speaking of work, I have been working WAY too much. like no lunch and till 6 which is fine if I were getting paid for it. but our overtime has to be "approved" whatever that is, so I'm not getting paid. this along w/ a whole other list of woes, is making me really really not like work. Well. I like what I do, it's just unmanageable and I don't feel like I'm being compensated. So it's bad management.

--I am running my SECOND half-marathon. The Dallas Whiterock 1/2 on Dec 14th!! All you in the Metroplex, please come cheer me on. If you want to come, let me know and I'll have my mom coordinate mile marker assignments! This is different for me b/c I am training completely on my own. Tommy was going to do it, but he caught a bought of IT Band tendonitis so no long distance running for him for a while. and my dezzy, is as we know in Boston, freezing her tushie off so it's me completely solo. Let me tell you it aint too fun doing a tempo run at 6am in the dark. A tempo run is as follows: warm up about a mile, run a certain number of miles at a pace significantly faster than your race pace, and then cool down about a mile. I did my first one yesterday, it sucked, and my time sucked, but I could definitely feel myself pushing harder. Tempo runs help you increase your speed. I'm pushing for a sub-10 minute mile on race day.

--We went to Arkansas this weekend for the first time since being married. It was really fun and beautiful. We ate, shot an armadillo, fed horses, moved cows and saw the new baby cows. Mom-inlaw found some lamps at this antique shop that are AMAZING and so maybe santa will put those under the tree for us this year! Allison (t's little sis) dog-sat Judgie for us over the weekend and we got back and she and her friends had cleaned our apartment! it was such a blessing to come home to!

--also, The Office? Ok, I'm glad Jim and Pam got engaged, but I am getting extremely miffed at their strange interactions over the past few weeks. These producers BETTER not split them up or I will be outraged! Also, Tommy and I figured out why Michael and Holly get along. They are both dorks! What's different is that Michael is also an idiot.

--This weekend is homecoming and I hope to see alot of you there! PLEEEEASE call and let's hang out this weekend if you are going to be in Waco!

ok, better get back to work. love you all!

i am posting pics

So I finally hooked up the new camera tommy's parents gave us and downloaded some of the honeymoon and some other random pics. So here are a few!

umm, hello paradise...this was our view from breakfast on our first day in Puerto Vallarta.

our hotel...our suite was on the fourth floor right on the corner (there are only four of them) a night out at one of the best meals of my life..the setting was so romantic and the food was fantastic! and then Judge....b/c I know you are all dying to see him grown up :)

hopefully some pics of the nest will come soon!

wedding pics!

Hello all! I know it's been a while since a post. Sorry this one won't be that long or interesting. But the wedding pics are online!! I am really pleased w/ them. If you would like to see them make sure you have a few minutes (there is 600 pics!) and make sure your internet connection is very good. The website can be a little finicky. anyways do this:

www.onlocationportraiture.com
-->weddings and portraits
-->proofs
-->password: byrd
ENJOY!

On the Waco front, we've been enjoying unusually beautiful weather...around 56 in the morning and 88 during the day. fabulous. especially for a morning runner! On the job front, I think I'm getting into the swing of things. last friday we had a staff appreciation day complete w/ volleyball tourney, ping pong tourney, awards ceremony and a special skit/dance (which I was a part of!). Let me tell you...these people are INTENSE about the annual volleyball tournament. the 2nd place team was like calling the other team cheaters and talking about getting back at them next year and stuff. Crazy! I'm getting attached to some of my clients...I just am really for their recovery. On the life front, Tommy and I are 1.5 months old...and its still fun! We are still leading lifegroup which has turned out to be one of the most refreshing things in our week. the group is pretty young this year, young, excited, committed. We are still learning each other but it has been a real joy for us to be a part of.

That's all for now I guess. I love you all...

men are from mars...

so after a fabulous 3 weeks of marriage, and 2 weeks of actual living together, I have learned a few things about the way boys live...I don't have any brothers so this is the first time in my entire life I have ever lived with a male that wasn't my father.

1. they eat all the food. when we went grocery shopping the first time we got a pound of peppercorn turkey for him and 1/2 pound of honey smoked turkey for me. one day i come home for lunch and i reach for my honey turkey...it's gone! then one morning i reached for the box of cereal...gone! and he eats. all the time. we now have to buy 2 loaves of bread, 2 cartons of milk (organic milk, so it's not cheap!), 1 1/2 pounds of deli meat (it is an enormous amount of meat!), and about a million apples. yikes!

2. for some reason, he thinks that the shower curtain bar is a towel rack. now, if we didn't have a towel rack, i could understand. but we have a rack...and an over the door thing with a billion hooks...most of which are empty...but over the shower curtain it goes...making big wet spots on the curtain.

3. also, after a workout, did you know that boys have to hang up their dirty clothes to prevent them from molding...i always just throw mine in the hamper...but theirs are so sweaty that they could MOLD. sick.

4. the WIRES. ok, i can't stand seeing wires...my mom is like that so i think she has rubbed off on me. in the living room at any given time the following are visible: computer cord, ipod charger, ipod cable, playstation controller on the floor, rockband equipment with connecting wires, ipod speaker...we are working on the concealment of such things.

5. dirty clothes. it piles up SO QUICKLY. first of all, his clothes are just bigger...so they take up more space. second of all, he can't rewear his clothes minus shorts and pants. third of all, he changes at LEAST twice a day b/c of the exercising...so i feel like i constantly have laundry to do.

ok ok ok, so i'm being dramatic. living with tommy has really been wonderful. and we have some living differences, but i think if we are conflicting over where he hangs his towel, we're doing pretty good. he really is so caring and really really tries to make me feel comfortable and in turn, I want him to feel comfortable too. and maybe sometimes things might look a little funny, but he LOVES me well. so i hope this was funny, but know that he makes me happy. wet spots on the curtain and all. :)

OSMA.

0h
So
Many
Acronyms.

Well, here I am 12 days married and 3 days on the job. This is what has happened in the last couple of weeks:

Wed, Aug. 13--Celina got offered a job at Heart of Texas Region Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center(MHMR)...woohoo!
Fri, Aug. 15--Celina had a bridal luncheon, went to MHMR to sign paperwork, went to have her urine tested, and then had a rehearsal dinner.
Sat, Aug. 16--MARRIAGE...and my dad's mom went to the hospital
Sun, Aug. 17--left for PUERTO VALLARTA...it was fabuloso!
Wed, Aug. 20--Grandma Felipa Trevino died when Tommy and I were in Puerto Vallarta
Fri, Aug. 22--returned to Dallas
Sat, Aug. 23--flew to Brownsville
Sun/Mon--funeral services
Mon, Aug 25--got back into waco at midnight.
Tues, Aug. 26--I started work at 8 am!

So it's been a whirlwind, but marriage is so fun and I think I am really going to like this job. That brings me to the title of this post...

So I am a caseworker for a load of about 23 level-3 mentally ill clients...level-3 means a variety of things but simply put i have to see each client 3.5 hours a month. as their caseworker I work on psychosocial skills like socialization, accompany them to doctor's visits, work on short and long term life skills goals moving towards stabilization. basically i hang out with crazy people all day long. perfect job for me! haha. but they use SO MANY ACRONYMS HERE. i think i ask what something stands for like 15 times a day. PIRS, SMART, TRAG, CABS, SP1-SP4, HX, SUBHX, POC, MAC. are just a few. it's kind of nuts.

well...it's five...i'm out!

chickity china the chinese chicken...

you know that old song by the Barenaked Ladies, "One Week"? I never understood the meaning of that song...just a bunch of nonsense all strung together...well, now that I am officially "one week" away from the wedding, I might have a deeper appreciation for the drama behind that song...this whirlwind of thoughts, feelings, tasks, etc...I imagine if you tape-recorded my mind it might sound similar to that song. HA!


Actually, I am feeling relatively calm. I know it is the result of my loved ones sowing in prayer...because it is probably ABNORMAL how chill I am right now. I came home this weekend to kind of spend a few "last" days with my family. Tommy went home to Arkansas as well. I highly recommend this for you guys in the future:

1) it makes your family feel SO valued and special in a time when they are preparing to give you over to your husband
2) it seems to mark the transition very significantly...I don't think the wedding is going to get here and I'm going to be taken off guard...it really provides a time to get away and process everything and prepare yourself for the change.
3) i would recommend taking specific time not wedding-related...ie, my family and I are going to see Jersey Boys tomorrow. Going to musicals together is something we have enjoyed doing for years. It will be just the four of us.
4) i think it is kind of good to be away from your fiance...for me, I've really had a chance to think about him and pray for him...something about being away has sweetened this for me. it kind of builds the romance too...i mean i'm ready to see the man i'm going to marry! it is good to miss him right before i marry him...does that make any sense?

in closing...some pics of the wedding site that we'll be at in 6 days!!



*the gazebo we'll be married under*

*the house itself...refreshments will be served on the porch during bridal party pics

things are heating up...

so i have this weird obsession with being first on your lists...i think i'm like 8th or so on Amy's list right now and that will just not stand.

we are officially on the wedding countdown...in 45 minutes it will be August...which means that 16 days from now...i will be wed.

its starting to hit me how different things will be in 16 days. i mean my life will change and never be how it was. this isn't just seasonal...meaning this time of my life won't come around again...it's just big CHANGE. it's will revolutionize, uproot, and rearrange my world. i'm pumped for it, but man, this is an undertaking. it is really easy to prioritize very insignificant things at this point. the other day i had to kick myself as i spent 2.5 hours looking for honeymoon attire. I mean, really? it's not like i'm going to be naked (and everyone laugh at the innuendo i'm NOT making)...meaning i have clothes to wear. but with realizing the intensity of this life transition, i think i will be more inclined to the more significant things. like understanding the complexity of the marriage covenant. being aware of how now, my sin and flesh affect another, since we are one. learning to encourage more than criticize. learning that as much as this man knows me, he can never really know me like the Father. learning that Tommy only knows as much as I tell him. digging into the Word and discovering that God's divine romance models perfectly how we are to treat one another. learning to extol and respect my man like the Shulamite maiden respects and honors Solomon in Song of Songs. relinquishing my rights again and again.

it's been such a revelation of grace though. on two points specifically:
1. We know each other well...past yucky stuff, present struggles, future dreams. Though he has seen my flesh for what it is...gross and raw and sinful...he loves me...and he is enabled to love me because of the Father's love. if he can love in spite of and through that stuff, HOW MUCH MORE does my ABBA love me?
2. I don't think I will ever feel "ready" to be a wife...I look back to the summer, or even past 7 months and say "man I wish I had prayed more on this...or read more on this...or studied more of this...or listened to God more on this..." And yes, maybe my performance could have been better in some places, but I will never be ready and perfect and perfectly well-read and well-prayed. But oh His grace, will help me through the places of weakness and imperfection. so I don't have to fear.

in other news, it is HOT. and i have an outside wedding. I have held out hope all summer, because it has been relatively mild. last week, it got HOT. nasty, mucky, texas HOT. I am now scared.

God...85 degrees...and a breeze. and maybe rainfall say 4 days previous?

goodnight!

new layout

what do you think? like the design update?

that's all really from this front...23 days till wedding...

feelings:

readiness, anticipation, zeal, peace, nervousness, excitement, givenness, oneness, thankfulness, closeness with the father, solemnity, self-awareness, busyness...

i'm sure there are more...that's all for now.

love!

a smattering in seven minutes

i only have 7 minutes to make this post but as i am doing blog update catch-up i notice my name falling lower and lower on your list of recently updated friends and i'm just not ok with that.

so this weekend, shower in dallas, and my bridal portraits!

the shower was fun, it was themed "the times of our lives" and the guests were instructed to bring gifts that corresponded with a certain time on their invitation. this worked out all right until my lovely lovely mother made one of her friends who had a middle of the night time get me a pretty little nightie...

now most you know that i'm not modest...around YOU. but put me in a room around a whole gaggle of adults most of which are more friends of my parents or family, and INCLUDING the mother of my ex-boyfriend (who we are family friends with, so it isn't really that weird that she was there) and the mother of my FIANCE...well.........MODESTY! I was slighly embarrassed and flustered by that and wanted to quickly move on to the next gift but my lovely sister made me lift the thing up and shake it around. GAG.

Bridals were fun though, we were out in a park in Rockwall, very rustic looking. at one point i had 2 grasshoppers going for a ride in my skirts. and i had to stand perfectly posed and still as my feet were being attacked by ants. but it was worth it for the shots we got i think.

last note, as i only have 2 minutes....i think i'm going to call my wedding the wedding of contradictions. that's the best way i think i'm starting to think of it. modern, yet vintage inspired. simple, yet structured. organic, yet constructed. traditional, yet unique. young, yet mature. think on that....

later!

you can take the dog out of the city...

what a weekend.

to finish the title of this blog, you can take the dog out of the city, but apparently, cannot take the city out of the dog.

an impromptu trip to Arkansas happened this weekend, after a call from the jeweler that said he needed to see my ring ONE more time to finish my wedding band. it was either take the trip or send my ring over UPS which neither tommy nor I were very keen on. (we are getting my band custom-made because my ring is quite difficult to match) so off we go to the ranch (tommy's house) with a car full of Judge (the puppy), Dez (who I was so grateful to spend time with), and Leslie (my current roommate). let me just say, 3 girls and a dog for 5+ hours in a car is alot for a man to handle. in retrospect, i feel bad for the guy. i mean, he had to keep us from listening to camp rock soundtrack at least 5 times.

anyways, so we THOUGHT judge would love the ranch...rolling in grass and mud, running through the field, chasing bunnies, scaring cows...

not a chance. oh for the first couple of hours, he had a grand old time, he rolled all in the straw, splashed in the creek, ate some algae...but then the family went inside. Judge spent the whole rest of the trip jumping the porch gate (getting spanked and shooed back out afterwards), jumping the porch gate again, smashing the flowerbeds trying to jump the porch gate. then it started raining, actually storming. so they have a fenced in area where they kennel the dogs and it has a little dog house in it. we put him there during the storm figuring he would be smart enough to go inside the dog house. apparently, his idea is to get on TOP of the dog house. eventually, he escaped somehow. we were all in the dining room playing dominos and we see some big ears peeking at us through the kitchen window. he ended up spending the night on the porch, where he destroyed some flowers and left a nice pile of poopy. he wanted NOTHING to do with the other dogs or the ranch. we were one hour from leaving when he decided he would try to steal the yellow lab's food...let me just say he LOST that fight, and he now has a nice gash under his eye that will probably need a stitch or two.

to make up for his traumatic weekend, we took him to the vet today to get neutered.

oh judgie...

planning...

Hello again!

So our wedding invitations are coming VERY close to completion. This has been quite an involved process. Let me run down a list of steps, somewhat vaguely so as not to ruin the surprise of opening up your bulky envelope from Moi.

1. cut x 2 different aspects
2. tape
3. label
4. stamp
5. punch x 2
6. measure and cut
7. tie
8. stuff x 3
9. print
10. stamp
11. stuff-final

and multiply it all by 300

thank you to the following: Jenn (sister), Mom, Dad (and his pocketbook), Greg (bro-in-law), Leslie, Dez, A-whit, Elizabeth, and Judge (our puppy who affectionately found a few parts to chew on)

Here is a preview of coming attractions.

In other news...dress fitting tomorrow!! my first one! i will NOT be posting pictures of it. ha.

now i'm just a wacoan...

Wacoan. Correctly pronounced wuh-co-uhn. with slight Texas drawl. I'm one now. Yesterday Ashley W. and I were talking about how now since we graduated we are just people who live in Waco. I am a local Wacoan. I live in Waco. My existence here is now by choice because I am not forced by my school's location. I'm not ashamed, but it's a little weird.

I have been back in Waco, post-graduation and post-moving for a week. The biggest excitement so far was on Thursday during my run. 3 minutes into it, I must have been really into the song on my IPod or something because all of a sudden, I was running and then I was sinking. I ran into a sidewalk of WET CEMENT. not even joking. I'm talking like ankle deep. So I kinda stood there, mainly because what else do you do when you are ankle-deep in wet cement, but then the nice worker-men helped me get out and washed off my feet and shoes. Don't you worry, the shoes are fine, I know you were worried, because that was my chief concern at the time as well. Then we laughed it on and I squished away in my wet shoes. I continued the run because it was either walk home in wet shoes or at least get a decent run in wet shoes. It was pretty miserable and I think I took half of the orange dust from the bear trail with me. So I ended up throwing my beloved Aasics in the washer afterwards. So watch where you step. Ha!

I've been thinking about the word relentless. Without relenting. A circumstance that does not relent, take it easy, let go, stop, or ease up. The other day something happened that made me feel it..."man, this thing is just relentless...it never ends!" It is so easy to feel it...to feel overwhelmed by the things that just don't stop. The circumstances that hit you again and again and again...without relenting. This made me think about the character of God...relenting in mercy...but unrelenting in love. [Jonah 4:2] "He prayed to the Lord, 'O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who RELENTS from sending calamity." [Psalm 106:45] "for their sake He remembered his covenant and out of his great love He RELENTED." For out of great love for us, He keeps us from true destruction and calamity. He never ceases in love, never ends in mercy. This made me think that as overwhelmed and burdened as I am by things that seem relentless in my life, the TRUE unrelenting thing is how He carries us. His love, mercy, grace, comfort, kindess--are relentless. And that heavy feeling of "man, these bad circumstances to me are relentless!" should birth in us an equal response towards feeling the heaviness of the kindness in which He loves us as His children, relentlessly. Would it be that our response to it be "man, the way He loves and cares for me, it's relentless!" Hope that encourages and speaks to someone...

love,

your faithful Wacoan :)

this blog is going to be really classy. this is for you, amy.