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While most of my friends on Blogger are participating in Wordless Wednesday, I will have a Wordful Wednesday post ;) I have lots to talk about today! We finally have lower temperatures lately, (as in high 90's), and it's been nice! I feel like I finally have energy again :)My weekend did NOT go according to plan. Two years ago in October, Phil and I had to purchase a car. Phil was in an accident in September and we are very much a two car family since we both commute 30 minutes everyday. We did some research and I chose the Jeep Patriot. It has served us well and includes 4 round trips to St Paul, Minnesota.
On my drive home from my last trip to see my parents, I got about 45 minutes from home when a light on my dashboard popped up. I did not recognize it so I looked it up when I got home. Apparently it is the Transmission Fluid Temperature warning light. If this comes on, you must slow down to let the transmission fluid cool down. After it turned on, I noticed the RPM meter stayed around 3 1/2 & 4. I don't know a lot about cars, but I do know that when the RPM hits 6, that's the red zone of the meter. So anyways, I got home and the light didn't come back on again.
Fast forward to 2 weekends ago, where I drove the car 2 hours to the Oklahoma/Texas line. On the way there, the RPM was still kinda high, but the light never came on. Granted, it had been over 100 degrees for several days when this was going on. My dad didn't make any comments when we drove home on Sunday (he took over because we both are better drivers than riders =P).
So Friday I made a date to spend the night with bestie Annette, then hang out Saturday and see Abbey before leaving town. Well, I get to Kellyville on the turnpike, (30 minutes from downtown Tulsa), and the light comes on. Ok, well, I can't really slow down so I'll just hope I get all the way to Claremore. I slow down a little, but there's not much I can do. I jump on the Creek turnpike which takes me around the south part of Tulsa before it curves back up to Claremore. Here's the fun part... the CAR decided to slow itself down. As in, I had the pedal ON THE FLOOR of the car and it would NOT go any faster!!! It slowed me down to about 40 mph! Luckily I was in a construction zone so I didn't endanger myself as much as I could have. I tried to exit, but turns out it's only a toll booth. Great. So I turn off the car for a moment, then turn it back on to see if it got cool enough to continue. I mean, I'm in Tulsa... I'm SO close to Claremore! When it turns on, the check engine light turns on WITH the transmission fluid light. It will hardly accelerate and I and borderline hysterical at this point because I'm all by myself and I cannot control my own car! On Phil's advice, I drove the city streets to my in-laws and I was there most of the next 20ish hours. I did get to go to dinner with Annette, but I was asked to stay at the in-laws so we could take it to the dealership nearby to look at around 7:30 in the morning.
Essentially, the dealership couldn't find anything "wrong" so they didn't really fix anything. This after the car sat in their garage all weekend because they didn't even LOOK at my car until AN HOUR before they closed on Saturday. Awesome. So Phil and I met the in-laws in Stroud to get Virgil (the car) back. The restaurant and company was great, but I'm still a little mad they didn't do anything. I just don't want the car to break down again.
So that was MY weekend. Fun huh?
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Sunday was my last day as the youth director at Midwest City. Now that I have moved my membership to Central, I now have no ties to the church. I still love everyone there and they will always be my church family. However, knowing that we'd be moving no matter what in the near future, I need to slowly start prepping myself to leave. It's hard for me to let people, places, and things go. I feel I need this to make moving a little easier emotionally.
The service was actually run by the youth group. They did the readings, lead the prayers and did a skit for the sermon. I wrote the skit and thought it was pretty good ;) The kids did an amazing job and I couldn't have been more proud of them. I did receive a card before the service started and waited to open it until I got home. I read the card and it had a $50 bill inside! I thought that was very sweet and the note brought a tear to my eye. Then I felt the envelope and figured there were letters from the kids inside. Boy was I wrong... in total, there was $375 in checks and cash. I was overwhelmed!! I didn't even know what to say! I did this job on a volunteer basis and I feel like this job has blessed me more than I blessed the church. I was so grateful and just in awe of the generosity! We are using it for miscellaneous things that we've needed for awhile, including using it to buy my books for the semester. I am so touched by this church and they will always hold a place in my heart :)
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For my Wedding Wednesday post, I'm going to talk about the photographer.
Whenever I have friends getting married, I always tell them to think of the top two things they care about most. Since it is your personal wedding, it can be anything. It can be your dress and the DJ, or it could be the location and your cake. Whatever it is, those are the two things that you can splurge for without feeling guilty. Just stay in budget with everything else and let those things slide if they don't work out perfectly. This way you're not so focused on every. last. detail and you can focus on the fact that you're getting married to your best friend/love of your life. My personal two were 1)the photographer and 2)the cake.
The reason I chose the cake is because, originally, we were only serving cake. Plus, I worked in a bakery for a few months and I became very particular. That, however, is another post for later ;)
The main reason I chose the photographer as my priority is because I know that you cannot go back and take more pictures of a life-changing event. You get one chance to capture that moment. This is why I opted to not do bridal portraits before the wedding. All brides are beautiful, but I felt like I wouldn't look the same like I would on our wedding day. I also knew that my grandmother, as well as other family members, would not be able to make it to the wedding. I wanted them to feel like they were right there with us whenever they looked through the photos.
I did lots of research about the type of photography I wanted. A journalistic point of view was very appealing as well as artistic. I looked at several vendor websites and just wasn't entirely sure who I wanted. None of them really told a story in a creative way like I was envisioning. I can't even remember exactly how I found them, but I found a company called Colorband. I checked their website and looked them up on the BBB website, (a must for any vendor!). They seemed to check out well so I scheduled an appointment with Phil to meet them.
It didn't take long to realize they were awesome! Roy Groat, the owner of the company, and his assistant Jamie Chen were very easy to get along with. I felt at ease around them and I could tell that photography is their passion. I explained to them that I want my pictures to tell a story since my grandma can't make it and they completely understood. They showed us some of their work as well as a price list for their packages. Even though this was a splurge item for us, their prices were just perfect! I picked one that included an engagement session and $400 worth of credit for purchasing prints or a photo album for after the wedding. I also would own all the negatives which was important to me!
We quickly booked them and never looked back. Our engagement session was lots of fun and I couldn't even begin to tell you how pleased I was with our photos! The day of our wedding, I was having a slight out of body experience. I didn't feel like a bride all day because I was just so calm and collected! I received a link to our photos just a month after our wedding and I felt like I was reliving the entire wedding. I got to experience all the emotions I didn't on that day. As I flipped through the photos, I got excited as the ceremony got close, I teared up when my dad walked me down the aisle, and I got so giddy when we kissed and walked down the aisle as husband and wife. It was well beyond my expectations. I was told for the first year anniversary, I could request the negatives. Because I loved the photos so much, I asked them for it after I saw them online. Knowing it was full blown wedding season, I told them I didn't expect it very fast. I received the photos on a high-resolution CD 6 weeks after our wedding day.
Again, these people were just wonderful to work with and their talent & passion show in every photo. I'm not suggesting to any brides that photography should be one of their priorities, but I can safely say that I did not regret the decision to make it mine :) Here are a few of the pictures from engagement to the ceremony. Enjoy!
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I don't know about you, but I love hot drinks! Tea, coffee, caramel apple spice... It's one of my favorite parts about fall. I love to hold a cup, (preferably a HUGE coffee cup because I have a strange fascination for them), between my hands and just smell the drink while letting the steam warm my lungs. It's a beautiful thing :) However, I will NOT drink it until it's just the right temperature. The main reason being that I can burn my tongue really easily. It never fails. Phil says the "right temperature" is too cold, but it's just warm enough that I can drink it quickly.
With this in mind, here's a fun anecdote from this morning. I was running a little behind this morning and I barely finished my bowl of cereal. Phil always has a cup of coffee and a cup of juice waiting on the table for me. I usually make time for the coffee, but I don't always get around to the juice. For whatever reason today, I wanted both even though I was already 4 minutes behind schedule. I grabbed my purse and walked to the table. Phil watched on as I chugged the OJ, then picked up the coffee and just downed that sucker too. What can I say, it was the "right temperature." Phil apparently found it funny because he just couldn't stop laughing as I kissed him goodbye and ran out the door. I'm glad I could brighten his morning since I'm usually a little grumpy ;)
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Music Day 15
Day 15 - A song from your favorite album
Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io
"The Sun" by Maroon 5
Day 16 - A song from your favorite band
Day 17 - A song from a band you can't stand
Day 18 - A song that makes you laugh
Day 19- A song that you wish you could play
Day 20 - A song from your childhood
Day 21- A song with great lyrics
Day 22- A song you love with no lyrics
Day 23 - A song that you can play on an instrument
Day 24 - A song that you could never get tired of
Day 25 - Your favorite song at this time last year
This is the one album that I can have in my CD player for MONTHS and never get tired of. It was in my car stereo the entire summer after I graduated from high school. What can I say... I love me some Maroon 5 :D My favorite part of the song is one of my favorite musical moments to date. It's the part where they sing "Hate to love her love to hate her, like a broken record player..." I just LOVE the way they sing it - similar to a barber shop quartet. Yes, I'm a little nerdy, but give me a break ;)
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Tonight my brother is coming over for dinner! I making Hot & Sour soup. It's one of the first dishes I made as Mrs. Coghill in our small apartment in Norman. Sometimes I miss that apartment, though Phil disagrees. I just miss it because it was the first place we ever lived together. I'm sentimental :)
Hope y'all have a great Wednesday!!
Peace to you,
"The Sun" by Maroon 5
Gotta love car troubles! Sigh.
ReplyDeleteAnd did I read correctly? LOWER temperatures = mid-90's. Wowza...
Are you SURE you want to move to PA? Hehe. :)