Interior Designer

I don't know how many of you like to create warmth and beauty to an empty place, but I do. There's something about having a blank canvas and being able to let your imagination run wild that makes me love what I do. Alright, so I'm not there yet, but I will be one day. 

Stacey {my sister-in-law} has a family friend who has her own interior design business. It's not somewhere with an office and multiple employees, it's just her and a few people she needs. After deciding on what I want to do after high school, Stacey called her friend, Mary, to see if she needed some help. Fortunately, she did. Mary doesn't work for the "public". She designs for builders. She waits for homes to be built then makes the model look fantastic. She gets to pick the counter tops, the cabinets, the floors, the paint, and everything else. 

Most of my job consists of shopping. TJ Maxx and Marshalls are fantastic places to go if you're trying to decorate a house. Mary broke her foot in 5 places about a month ago. She hasn't been able to do too much shopping, so she gave me a list and a check said to have at it. I was excited and nervous at the same time. I did it, though. 

My boss isn't like most bosses; she's nice. She's ridiculously nice. She's so beyond encouraging. She doesn't make you feel stupid if you pick something completely off. Actually, she's not like a boss at all. She's more of a mentor. She'll flat out tell you the good things and bad things about interior design. And the good things weigh out the bad...if you were wondering. ;) She's awesome. 

My plan is to graduate and then take a 5 semester course at TCC. That will teach me how to draw 3D things and make patterns and stuff. Then, once I graduate, I'll start my own little business. Obviously it won't be a major incorporation, but maybe it will grow. I have faith!   

The Lady Who Could...Talk.

So, yesterday morning, I went in to have some sort of oral surgery done. Not the kind of thing I'm going to explain. ;) But, if you don't already know how amazing my boyfriend is {which you should...cause he's too amazing for you not to know}, he woke up ridiculously early to be at my house on time to take me to the doctor. If you know him in any way, you would know that he's not the kind of person who is on time...to anything. So, it was a big deal. My mom can't drive right now and they were going to give me pain med's and some kind of anesthesia, so it probably wouldn't have been smart for me to be on the road in that big red van. Ya know? Anyway, he's perfect. 

You aren't seeing things, his face is, in fact, flawless.  And I was on pain med's, so I don't even know how to hold a camera right. :) 

Last night, I was ready to do something, so we went to Marshall's to do some shopping. I still hadn't been able to get the bedding I was suppose to get for my job and that really needed to happen. I can't say Sebastian had a fantastic taste in anything design, but he was great company. I'm not sure if any of you have been shopping with someone else's money, but it's very fun. In fact, I prefer it. 

We were done with our {my} list and we were just waiting for my mom to finish. There was this green couch for sale that we claimed as ours. Not to buy; to borrow. It wasn't the most comfortable couch we had ever sat on, but it wasn't too bad. The back was a mile away though, so if you were sitting back all the way, your feet wouldn't even touch the ground. Anyway, we were sitting there, he was reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid {cute, right?} and I was playing Hanging with Friends, when this lady come up. She wasn't old; maybe late 40's - early 50's? She was in one of those motorized wheel chairs. She drives up right in front of us and stops. Then is gets incredibly awkward... 

{If you don't read this, I won't be upset. Not that I would know, but it's kind of a long conversation. It may be one of those things that you had to be there. ;) }

Her - "Ya'll look like you're right at home." 

We couldn't tell if she was offended or not, so we just laughed a little. 

Her - "No, really. You look like you're right at home - the way you're just sittin there."

Us - "Oh, I'm sorry! Did you want to look at it or anything? We're just waiting for my mom to finish up."

Her - "Oh, no. It's like a mind illusion. You think you're at home, but you're really at Marshall's!" 

Us - "Haha..." We weren't sure what she was trying to say, but then she kept going.

Her - "Does that couch bow out when you sit down? I'm 270 something and ya know... Is it comfortable?"

Us - "No, it doesn't bow out. It's kind of comfortable. It goes really far back though, so that makes it somewhat difficult so sit in. If you have pillow's behind you, it isn't too bad, though."

Her - "Oh, okay. Yeah, I wouldn't be able to get that one. Once you sit down, you wouldn't be able to get back up! I'm 270 something."

...Silence filled the air...

Her - "You  know, they have those couches at Walmart and K-Mart and I don't trust them! They have a max weight of 200 or 250 and I'm 270 something." 

Us - "Oh, yeah."

Her - "I was gettin' my chair fixed last week and they gave me this one with a max weight of 300. The guy fixin' it asked why they would give me this one. I mean, I don't plan on getting 300 pounds, but I'm 270... somewhere between 270 and 280 something. But, ya know, if I get up to 300, I will just call and tell them that I'm too obese for this chair and I need another one. That's what they call me anyway; obese."

Us - "...oh, yeah."

Her - "Are ya'll married?"

Us - "One day, but not yet."

Her - "Oh, how old are you? Let's see, you're... 17."

Us - "Yep!"

Her - "And you...you're almost 18."

Us - "Almost 20. Haha." 

Her - "Oh! That beard isn't doin anything for you. You still have a young face!"

Us - "Haha..."

Her - "I always said I wan't going to get married. Now, I've been married for 28 years. I met him in March, got engaged in April, got married in May."

Us - "Hey, if it's right, it's right!" 

Her - "Yeah, we didn't even date, really."

Us - "Oh, well that's kinda cool!"

Her - "Ya know, ya'll look like you're right at home. What's he readin? Is that a kid's book? That's cute!"

Us - "Haha, yeah. He found it over there somewhere."

Her - "Oh, well you look like you're right at home. That would make a great picture."

Us - "Haha..."

Her - "That would just be such a funny picture."

Us - "Haha..."

Her - "I see you're phone right there, do you want a picture?"

Us - "Awe, that's alright. It may be embarrassing to see what we look like. Haha."

Her - "Oh, cause I see your phone and I was going to take a picture."

Us -"Oh, yeah. We're okay. Thanks though!"

Her - "Yeah. You look like you're right at home. Well, I guess I'm going to go on."

Us - "Alright, bye!"

Her - "See ya'll later!"

Now, I don't know if you read that or not, but it was quite the conversation. I don't want you to get the impression that we were rude, but she did most of the talking. Sebastian just sat there and read his little kid book. And for the record, he thoroughly enjoyed. it. :) 

Anyway, this probably isn't the kind of thing that most people would blog about, but it seemed blog worthy to me. :) 

Only Flute!

In 6th grade, I picked up the flute and decided I wanted to be like my best friend. I played in Greenbrier Christian Academy's middle school band {which was not challenging at all} for two years.In 8th grade {when my mom started homeschooling me}, I knew the B Flat scale and I could finger out the C scale. That's why I didn't even attempt to audition for YMV's band. I didn't play my flute all year, but decided I wanted to audition in 9th grade. Yeah, I didn't make it. I didn't play that whole year either, but started taking lessons the summer before my 10th grade year. I was pretty much starting from scratch. Somehow, I made it into band that fall.

There were three of us, so I was third chair. If there were thirty of us, I would have been thirtieth chair. I was bad. I was playing with two kids who had played together for years and were better then most college people probably. I went into a band that was nothing like GCA. This music was hard. I'm not talking about a song in 6/8. I'm sayin' it had 32nd notes and syncopation. Synco what?! I was so clueless. Fortunately, I was able to fade into the background. While the other two competed against each other to have first chair, I was content even having a chair.

I think with band, once you're in, you're in. I guess if you really were bad enough, he would kick you out, but I guess I made it past that mark. Last year was good. I had third chair in the bag. Unfortunately, those other two people? Yeah, they graduated last year. Do you know what that means? FIRST CHAIR. Now, I don't know how many of you are musically minded, but often times, the different chairs are different difficulties. Meaning, first chair is hardest, then second chair, third chair, and so on. If you're still not catching my drift, it means that I went from somewhat easy to ridiculously hard. Now if you know me at all, you know that my confidence level, when it comes to the flute, is shot. Oh well; whatdoya do...

Quit! Yep, I almost did. But then I didn't. Which I'm pretty happy about. We had our winter concert on Tuesday night and I was scared out of my mind. I had too many solos for my liking. One of which was just me - JUST me. But it's okay. It was just the chromatic scale and it didn't go too badly. Anywho, the concert went well. With the help of Jesus Christ, I got through it with minimal major mess-ups. I'm telling you, every rest I had, I was praying. I did not want to completely embarrass myself. 

This year has been a major growing experience. I think I would have really regretted quitting. So, if you ever want to quit something because you think it's too hard; don't. In the end, you'll probably feel better about it. :)  

Our Friday Night

I'm a terrible blogger. Ever since my computer decided to start going ridiculously slow {I uploaded thousands of pictures}, I never have enough patience to wait for every little step. Oh well.

Friday night, we went to MacArthur Mall to go ice skating. It wasn't the normal, indoor skating rink, it was outside like in the movies. We happened to go on one of the coldest nights we've had; f r e e z i n g. 

 

I didn't really skate. I'm still dealing with stuff from the car accident and the last thing I wanted was to fall on ice and make everything worse. So, I watched. It was ice cold air blowing constantly, but it was still fun. The five of them lined one of the benches and strapped on their skates. Then, they stepped onto the slippery ice and skated around and around. 

After a couple of hours, we left and went to Ranch Grande. We go there so much that the people know who we are and some of them even know what we are going to order. Too much? Nah. All in all, it was a good night. :) 

Perfect for Me

I think I take for granted how truly blessed I am. God has given me someone who may not be perfect, but is perfect for me. Someone who will pray with me before he leaves at night and someone who will tell me that God is in control when things aren't going so smoothly. Someone who I know will be there for me through thick and thin. Someone who will give up what he wants to do just so that I can do something else. Someone who is not only respectful towards me, but also my family.

I always knew I'd find a boy, fall in love, get married, and have a few kids. I never thought that boy would be anywhere close to Sebastian. He's so much more than I could have ever dreamed of. I see and hear things about couples who have major problems and break up then get back together twelve times before they realize that they hate each other and that's when I really think about how blessed I am. We have our arguments and disagreements, but never so bad that we could end our relationship. I've said it before, but Sebastian is so much more than a boyfriend. I could never see my life without him.

I know we have such a strong relationship because we've built it on the foundation of Jesus Christ. I have complete faith in Him that He will carry us on until we die. God has blessed me beyond measure by giving me Sebastian Michael Brown and I am so so thankful.