One Job! Two job! Clog job! New job!

I've signed back on to well Mary Kay cosmetics again! In the past, I had a hard time getting good support and good training. Now everything is falling into place. It's funny because my thoughts upon signing back up for 20 bucks was that I could get the skin care and makeup that I love for wholesale! Woot! But upon further contemplation, I really wanted some extra income and a "second job" that is really flexible. And my director is really an awesome lady! She believes in me and gives me excellent guidance. As I've started to put everything together (ie. inventory, website, training, etc.) friends, family, and co-workers have really blown me away with their touching support and great advice! It really means a LOT to me because I was a little apprehensive about being the "crazy Mary Kay lady". But I have found that I am so surrounded by people who love me and want me to succeed that it's not that kind of situation at all. And I'm so touched! I'm just going to pour myself into it like any other job and make it stellar. I'm really curious to know who's gonna show up to my par-tay on June 15th....we'll see....

So, as I start to plan for my future I'm getting more excited, than nervous and freaking out. I'm starting to dream, and to get all psyched up! Woot! Another related adventure was shopping for more professional (and cute!) clothes to do parties and facials in! And, guess what?? Most of the pants and a nice jacket I bought were size 16!! I just couldn't believe it! Only a year ago I was a 20-22! It's been a bit of a challenge lately not being able to eat normally with my new braces and splints (mostly soft and liquid foods), but now I'm kinda thinkin' it's WORTH IT! It's changing some of my eating habits and attitudes about food. Which wasn't happening easily before. It's interesting too because a few months to a year ago I was talking about weight loss with a friend of mine and she talked about giving it up to God and not beating yourself up over it. So, I prayed about it a bit(I'll confess consistent praying is not a strength of mine) with some heartfelt tears and discussion, and I'd like to believe the braces are a bit of an unexpected tool. Perhaps...

As I mentioned before my day dreaming is leading me to think I could achieve my goal of owning an elliptical trainer! Which would really accelerate my goal to be a healthier weight! But I'm also excited about Mary Kay because the product is awesome and I get to meet new people! I LOVE new people! And having parties and helping women feel awesome is a great avenue for me to blossom as well. Maybe I'll have a Sexy Career Woman photo shoot?! It could be fun....

Brandon is back from his trip to Toronto for business. I was pretty pitiful last week as Brandon was gone for three whole days! I wasn't sleeping well, or eating well. But I missed him sooooo much! Things just aren't the same when he's not around. :) His flight even got delayed Thursday night, so he was stuck in Vancouver BC, and couldn't get home until Friday morning. I felt bad for him, and it only prolonged my torture! So, what did I do after days of holding out and starving!? What any woman in my position would do! I drove to Sonic and ordered myself some tots and a Cheddar N Pepper burger. I had to carefully eat it with a fork and knife, but it proved to be pretty tasty, but not a substitute for Brandon. :( So, my love arrived home on Friday morning to a rockin' breakfast of sausage, eggs, and oven-warmed Nazooks! And then after I smooched him into submission. :o Then he said he had a surprise for me! And I couldn't believe it could get any more wonderful having him home, but he got me a gift from his travels! I opened the tiny velvety box and there was a set of synthetic ruby and Swarovski crystal earrings! They are so gorgeous! The man knows how to woo a wife! :) He is so sweet, and I'm pretty sure he is the best hubby of all time. I instantly put them in my ears and proudly wore them all day.

Which reminds me the "How to be a more Godly Wife" class is going really well. I love it! It's really insightful, and helps me to look inward and reflect more on how I communicate and response to my interactions with my loving, sweet husband. I highly recommend it. The only downside is that it's FAR....away in Wilsonville. Because of the timing we have been carpooling the super secret back way to avoid traffic. However, it does give us copious amounts of time to have girl talk. Which I have REALLY treasured, and it has brought me closer to two good friends of mine. And it's really made me more comfortable with communicating with Brandon, including something really wonderful...Brandon and I have been praying at night as a couple. It has been an excellent way to settle in for the night, calm and focus my mind, and bring me closer to Brandon. Well, speaking of awesome husbands, I need to wrap this up and go have a date night! Yay!

And now it's time for another Blog: Brandon's 35th Birthday!

What a weekend! Phew! It was Brandon's 35th birthday and I wanted to make it AWESOME 'cause I loooooove him. So, I spend all day Friday cleaning for the party on Saturday, then that night I took him out to a very special dinner at Portland City Grill, high above Portland on the 30th floor of the Unico US Bancorp Tower. I chose this place because I really wanted to make him feel spoiled, as he has taken me out for so many lavish seafood and steak dinners. This place had a pretty good reputation on Yelp.com, so I took a chance and made a reservation on OpenTable.com. We had a little trouble figuring out the parking because I didn't know they had parking right below the building! I was misinformed. But once we parked and rode the elevator to the ear popping height of 30 floors for dinner, we were greeted with smiles in the dark ambiance of the PCG.

The view was stunning! The city lights were coming up as the sun went down and enormous storm clouds circled at the edge of the city hills making an almost surreal view. I wish I had taken a picture, but was focused on the man I love, and dinner since we were both hungry! We ordered soups to start; mine was the cream of asparagus (comfort food), and Brando had the seafood cioppino(sp?). For our delectable entrees, I decided on the Seared Ahi Tuna with a spicy rub that made me say "oh mama!", and the birthday boy decided on a little ol' helpin' of a 10oz. filet mignon!! And did he stop there? No! He went the distance with a crab/bernaise/asparagus topping! Oh yeah! We took turns sampling each others' dishes and then continued chatting and munch away while staring lovingly into each others eyes! So romantic and awesome! The only downside was that for about the first 20 mins of our excellent meal there was a table behind me laughing and yelling as loud as humanely possible. I was good enough to let Brandon know that in about 5mins I was going to strangle the whole table, but ultimately decided to ignore them. They are lucky they left....

Sadly, we found ourselves a bit too full for dessert. And opted to find something to go on the way home. Well, the ramp to 26 was closed (lame) so we had a little stress trying to maneuver through town to the super-secret back way home. Brandon spent time stewing over what he wanted for dessert and the choice was made to stop at Sonic and pick up a good ol' fudge sundae. But while driving I continued to spout ideas of other options...pie from Marie's? Coldstone? Fred Meyer poppy seed bundt cake? But no, he persisted, onward he drove toward Sonic...Soon, at a stop light I thought Albertson's chocolate chip cookies and milk. Just in that instant, Brando said, "I have an idea..." to which I immediately queried, "Albertson's chocolate chip cookies and milk?" Brandon got quiet, the light turned green, he said, "Get outta my head!" To which I replied, "No way! Really?" And we drove on to Albertson's to GET that choc chip cookies and milk.

It was a good night, my friends. But more fun was to be had for Mr. Brando. After the night of cookies and romance we got some good sleep and the next morning Brandon asked me to cut his hair, but I hemmed and hawed and told him I could trim it a bit but didn't really feel like cutting it. While secretly, days before I had hatched a plan. A plan for treating Brandon like a king! So I said, "I can't cut your hair." He asked, "Why?" I revealed my plan, "Because someone else is cutting your hair! I made you an appointment at Hair M for a skilled haircut and a luxurious 55min massage at exactly 1:45pm!" He was shocked and pleasantly surprised. How could I treat him to such a rich dinner and still treat him to such amazing pampering?! Well, I planned ahead! Oh yeah! My husband didn't know my cunning and desire to make him feel amazing on his 35th birthday. But like I said before, I LOOOOOOVE him.

We still had a little time to kill and needed party supplies and to drop off Mr. Stinks for his grooming appointment at PetsMart. So we hit our fave cafe, Insomnia for breakfast then went on to Costco. Soon we arrived home and it was time for me to get ready for the party (more cleaning, bleh) and for him to go off and get pampered. The party time came before I knew it with friends and family all around and Brandon looking quite handsome in his new haircut and feeling worked over with his excellent massage. Mission accomplished! Everyone had fun chatting and watching the antics of my friends' 3yr old. Brandon had picked out a "cookies and cream" cake which I topped with the "3" and "5" candles I had purchased the night before on the cookie run. Brandon got some new blu-ray movies, a Count tee(Sesame Street), and some iTunes points.

Last week on Tuesday I went to a class with a few of my friends on loving and honoring your husband and what that means, while growing in your relationship with God. It was really wonderful. I didn't really know what to expect, but the speaker, Judy was truly sincere and yearned to share some good knowledge wit us. I really felt comfortable, entertained, and went away with some new perspectives and warm fuzzies. And it gets better! There are three more Tuesdays where we will enjoy some insight from Miss Judy and socialize with some REALLY great ladies. So, I'm looking forward to trekking back out to Wilsonville tomorrow night.

Right now, Brandon's sister, Pam, is staying with us for a few days. So, they got to hang out yesterday and hit Uwajimaya and Fry's while I was at work. Brandon picked out some more cool blu-rays for his birthday and was really sweet and picked a couple I would enjoy too(ie. Princess Bride and Pirates of the C: The Black Pearl). I stayed up too late again last night and got up too early. Unfortunately I am still tired. I don't have to work til 1pm, so maybe I'll sneak in a walk with Hendrix and a nap? We'll see!