It's a hive not a hickey.

I've had hives for almost 3 weeks now and I've been given the lovely name "human chalkboard" because I can do this.

Yep that's right I can write on my skin and the words will show up made out of hives. Thus the "human chalkboard" reference. I have to admit that it's kind of cool but all in all it's really obnoxious to get covered in hives because my underwear rubbed 

my hip the wrong way. Right now I have a hive on my neck and I have to cover it up with a scarf because it looks like a giant hickey. 

Josh says I'm a freak and I pretty much agree with him.

Last week I went to a republican debate watching party on the night of the debate and afterwards Sarah Palin showed up. It was really great to see her so up close and personal. Rachel and I were down on the floor by the podium and we were so cl

ose to her when she gave her speech. It was so exciting and so much fun because of all the high energy in the place. Here's a few pictures from the night.

pollyticks

I'm in a women and gender studies course and my teacher specifically said at the beginning of the semester that she would not be promoting any sort of political platform herself as the instructor. In my head I thought it couldn't happen because there's always some way to sneak your agenda in. The class itself has been quite interesting and don't get me wrong, I respect my professor, but I was quite offended by an email she showed to the class today. In those few minutes of sharing an email it completely displayed her political platform.

Here was the email:

If you vote for him

You get:


If you vote for

You get

After hearing remarks from my classmates I was shocked to find that a few of them actually thought the image of her was real. I had to stand up for the woman and say, "clearly this image is doctored in photoshop." I find it quite ironic that they would promote such distasteful trash in a women's studies class. And they try and tell me that colleges don't try and promote a political agenda. Yeah right.

I've never seen so much sexism displayed by people publicly in so long. I find it two-faced that some liberals will smear this woman and make her out to be a trashy person and on their side they will glorify Hilary Clinton. I'll gladly have educated discussions about politics but the only thing I've seen so far from the media and the majority of the democrats I know is just complete trashing of Sarah Palin. It's absolutely disrespectful and distasteful and when people want to grow up and stop being sexist and two-faced I'll gladly hear what they have to say.

Now I'm not claiming that ALL democrats are this way, just like democrats shouldn't claim that ALL republicans are crazy right wing christian conservative nut jobs. I'm a christian and the majority of my policies and morals line up with the conservative party, but I do have some areas where I cross the line. I've been completely dismissed by certain people recently as soon as they hear I'm a conservative Christian. Some democrats harp on us that we Christians are judgmental in abortion situations like rape and incest when we're not supposed to be judgmental as christians, but they do the exact same thing when they dismiss us and our opinions because we are Christians.

Politics bug me. And in the end it doesn't seem to matter what I think. I can't convince a liberal to be conservative and a liberal can't convince me to be completely liberal. I'll gladly listen to both sides and take each with a grain of salt. I will openly admit that I am voting for John McCain and Sarah Palin and I will say that I'm deeply disappointed in my teacher for promoting such trash in class today even if she didn't feel like that's what she did.

Twins?

Yeah pretty sure Shawn is Lisa's long lost little sister. That's me bringing families together.

Just doing my civic duty.

I'm not much for being a tattle tale but when it comes to my safety and the safety of others I will gladly make a phone call to 911 to report reckless driving. And that, my friends, is exactly what I did today. On my way home from watching Jeffrey I'm driving down Telegraphy when behind me I notice a car on my rear end that's way too close for comfort. I look down at my speedometer to see that I'm going about 50 mph which is about 10 miles above the speed limit, so there's no reason for Mr. Impatient behind me to be riding my tail. I look at the fellow to see that he looks awfully like one of those "Too cool for school" types so I figure the best thing to do is to just let him chill out. There's no reason for me to go any faster and he's trapped because the car in the lane next to me is going about the same speed as me. Too bad buddy. Then at one point he gets into the turn lane and pulls up next to me as if to turn onto a side street but instead he uses the turn lane as a third lane of traffic to cut around me and pull in front of me. At this point I'm livid and so I lay on my horn. Then he proceeds to stick his middle finger out the window at me and bounce up and down in his car like a hoodlum. (Wow could I sound anymore like my mother?!?) What more could the kid do to make me angry? Well he decides to slam on his brakes at every stoplight as if he wanted to create some kind of accident situation where I would rear end him. Lucky for me I was smart enough to see this little trick he was playing. For a few more miles down Telegraph he continues to weave in and out of traffic in front of me preventing me from passing him up and getting out of the danger zone. So I pick up my phone, write down his license plate number and call 911. I figure I might as well call the guy in just in case there's a cop around to catch him acting like an idiot. Who knows if the guy will get caught but I can feel better knowing I did my duty and reported the jerk kid. I find myself being more assertive in those situations because I realize that the less idiots that get by with doing dumb stuff like that, the safer the roads might be. I'm no Dwight Schrute with my pepper spray in hand, but I do what I can to protect society.

The Wee Hours

Josh had to wake up early this morning to go to Mexico. 

No not that Mexico.

This Mexico.

The poor guy was up at about 5:45 and normally I'm asleep through his departure. This morning I woke up when he left and couldn't get myself back to sleep. It was one of those, "oh if I really wanted to I could sleep for another 3 hours" kind of deals and trust me I tried, but it just wasn't working for me. So now it's 6:30 in the morning and I'm wide awake. 

I think the last time I was up this early was the day I got married. I remember waking up at 5 a.m. and not being able to fall back asleep. I was actually kind of upset because I didn't need to get up until about 9 that day. Rachel and Becky had spent the night and I was jealous as I watched them sleep. I think I even went up to the car wash at about 7 a.m. because I was just going crazy. 

I used to have this internal alarm clock that existed around the time I lived in Guatemala and when I came home. That really messed me up. Living in Nisnic after a certain time of night there's no going out of the house so generally we would just retire to bed. I remember nights of going to bed at 7:30 because there was nothing more entertaining than to sleep. I'd read for awhile and then just crash and then be up again at 5 a.m. on the dot every day because I had to use the bathroom. Like clockwork every single time. When I returned to the states that whole going to bed at 7:30 thing had to change. I mean that's when the party is just getting started up here, how lame would I be for going to bed? It definitely took some adjusting to get back into United States time.

Oh oh oh. Speaking of reading, I'm reading a book that I read while I was in Guatemala because I'm in some book club and it happens to be the book we picked this month. It's called the Time Traveler's Wife and it's by Audrey Niffenegger. By far one of the best books I've read ever in my life. I was actually talking to one of my coworkers the other day about the book because I had overheard that she read it and when I mentioned the book she literally got goosebumps just thinking about it. Yeah, that's how awesome it is. It's one of those books where you feel intertwined in the story automatically and it's almost as if you are the one telling the story.

 The book is apparently being made into a movie starring Rachel McAdams and I'm interested to see how they adapt the book. I don't want it to be one of those disappointing situations where the screenwriters try to appeal to a certain audience and they completely diverge from the original story just for good ratings. I think books that are made into movies should be made for those of us who have actually read the books and they should be adapted appropriately so we can relive the experience of the book on the big screen.

I only go on about this because Josh and I recently saw Prince Caspian and we were severely disappointed at the adaptation of the book. It's disheartening when one of your childhood fantasies that's been such a major part of your reading history just stinks it up on the big screen. I mean parts of it were definitely appealing to the eye but all in all it was just a disappointment to feel like they had to change so much of the book in order to appeal to the masses.

Gee. I sure can ramble a lot this early in the morning.

Insert Witty Title Here.

So Lisa blogged about our wedding today and I was very excited to see what she had to say about the whole shindig. I love reading Lisa's blogs any day. She has a way with words for serious. Anyway, I decided to play Lisa and blog my favorite pictures that she took. I chose just as many as she did because in reality I'd pick all of them, so I wanted to keep it fair. :) So here's my selection:

Our fantabulous wedding party jumping for joy!

Becky under my dress helping my mom fix my bustle.

Walking down the aisle with my daddy.

I just love the whole look of this picture. I think Josh is crazy handsome and it's so 1940sish.

This one just shows the beautiful detailing of my dress.

She's baaaaaaaaaack!

Say hello to the new Mrs. Klipsch.

Okay okay, so I've been married for four weeks now so I'm not really brand new. I just haven't taken the time to update this blog that nobody reads. :) 

So married life is good. It still seems somewhat surreal. I had a moment last night where I felt like I should have been calling my parents to let them know where I was going to be for the evening and that I would be home late and then it hit me that I'm a married woman now and I don't have to call home anymore. It kind of freaked me out just a wee bit. 

I love spending every moment I can with Josh. It's so fun to be at home and hear him walk in the door and just get to hug him every day when he comes home from work. I'm not sure he realizes how much I like it, but I do. I think we are adjusting well to learning about how one another lives and the kind of space we need. Because as much as we are newlyweds we still both need space. So we do a good job living around each other and enjoying our time together even if we aren't in the same room. 

I need to post some pictures from the wedding and the honeymoon. I have pictures from the wedding and I'm so excited to get my pictures from Lisa. So as soon as those are ready I will post those. But here's a few non-pro ones for anyone that reads this. Which is no one.

Change.

So my room is mostly packed up and ready to go for my move out on Saturday. It's strange to see it so barren. I've been trying every day to pack a lot and I never get the motivation to do so. It was a daunting task but it's been done. Today I realized (finally) that Saturday I really am moving out and this NEEDED to be done. So I called on one of my friends to assist me. Here's a picture of my friend:

Once I put Peter Gabriel's Growing Up DVD in my player I was on the move. Now everything is done and I'm watching the tail end of the concert. He always helps me get things accomplished. There's something about his music that gets movin. So thanks Peter.

Tomorrow: Work and Bachelorette Party.

Thursday: Favor Boxes and the Studebaker/Jones rehearsal.

Friday: Final walkthrough with the reception hall and the Studebaker/Jones wedding.

Saturday: Moving into the new apartment!!

Sunday: Church and settling in to the new place.

Monday: Waxing and other things for the wedding.

Tuesday: Dentist appointment and other things for the wedding.

Wednesday: A much needed day at the spa.

Thursday: Take dress to get steamed, rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

Friday: Get Hitched!!!

Whom Have I But You?

O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise;

You perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down;

You are familiar with my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.

You hem me in- behind and before;

You have laid your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is to wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

Who am I kidding when I think I can just stray away from the presence of God and be okay? How many times do I have to relearn this lesson to be able to understand, without God I am nothing. I can't get by on my own. When I find I'm at my weakest and I need someone to pour my heart out to I realize that God already knows. He knows what every tear I'm about to shed is over. But he'll listen to me over and over and over again. He'll hold me and love me and understand me. I try and satisfy this feeling of being loved by those around me and no one can really fulfill that desire like he can.  I'm such a fool to think that I can do this on my own. I cannot run from him. I cannot hide from him. He knows me more than I'll ever know myself. My identity is in him. Not in pleasing those around me. Not in proving myself to those around me. I am strong in him and him alone. How could I be so mindless? I'm only human is just an excuse. I'm done with excuses and I'm here with reckless abandon.

I love me some IKEA!

Here's a samplin of the purchases I made this weekend. :D

Yeah and a billion more things. My apartment is going to be rockin. I'll post pictures of the final product when we're all moved in. 12 days til we move in!

My friends are back!

Meow. (Josh knows I have a crush on him)

Yeah, she's kind of annoying on the show but in all seriousness, if I could have a hot bod, it would be like Kate's.

Meow, again. In a rugged mountain man, peculiar sort of way.

Does this guy know what he is doing with the clan?

And hello Creepo.