I'm an artist...we'll leave it at that

Whenever I tell people my major/profession, I always get interesting responses. It is actually half the fun of being an artist. You get to her people say "Oh, how fun," or "How do you make money with that?" Today at church, I got one of the more interesting responses I've ever received.

We have started attending a nice Church of Christ in Lewisville. The people there are extremely friendly, and everyone wants to introduce themselves and talk with us for a long time. Today, a woman in her sixties came to introduce herself. She asked BJ what he did, and he had such a nice, simple answer: "I'm going to be teaching Bible at Legacy Christian Academy." Then she asked me what I was doing. I've begun to dread this question because it is at the moment rather complicated, but I dove into my answer: "I am an artist. I'm trying to book private art and piano lessons, and I am also working on launching a handmade wedding invitation business." She gave me a weird tilt-of-the-head look and then said, "Well you don't meet people like you every day." I wasn't sure how to respond, so I fell back on my normal response - giggle softly and look at BJ for social rescue. It worked as always, and we left for a nice lunch with the preacher and some members.

The lady's response to my answer made me laugh, but it has been on my mind all day. What am I doing with my life? I haven't really got a clue. I'm chasing a bunch of neat sounding ideas, and if they don't work, I dread the defeat of applying for jobs that have nothing to do with art, and if they do work, I don't know if I have the talent, perseverance, or any thing else to actually succeed at them. Some days, it feels like it might be easier to just go back to being an office manager somewhere, have a simple answer for people at church, and do art for a few glorious hours on the weekends. But I've blabbed long enough. This is the twenties, right? We are scared and not sure what we're doing for a decade. Hey Bro- is this existential despair, or what exactly?

Little Tony and the Big Pillows of Doom

Today, Tony decided he, like many cat's in the world, wanted to sit in a window sill and disdainfully look out at the stray cats and other poppers of this world. He chose the window sill above our guest bedroom bed to be his throne. In order to mount this throne, he hopped onto the really cute pillows I recently decorated the bed with, and then made a leap up towards the sill. Unfortunately, slickly painted wood has little grip, so after a good bit of struggle, he plopped down into the pillows, which are so soft and fluffy, they just rolled him onto my computer hard drive which (not so softly or fluffily) rolled him onto the floor.

Most cats might get discouraged at such humiliation (especially since me and BJ were pointing and laughing) but not my resilient little Tonster. Nope, he hopped back to the pillows, leaped towards the sill that, strangely enough, still had no grip, and ricocheted right back to the pillows. He lands on his back cradled between to large pillows(one at his head, the other at his behind) and was left completely immobile. At this point, I believe the humiliation (and our sounds of uproarious laughter) did finally get to him. He seemed to just resign himself to reclining between to ridiculously soft and fluffy pillows, staring disgruntled into the purple, patterned fabric of his prison. I eventually got my breath back and took mercy on him. I picked him up and placed him in his window where he gallantly resumed his reign as the master and lord of all things. I did not see him get down from the window, but I examined the area, and I am happy to say nothing is broken.

TONY'S HOME!!!

When we moved to Frisco, we didn't bring Tony with us because we were planning on immediately heading up north to see BJ's family, and I didn't want to leave him by himself in an unfamiliar place. So we left Tony with his favorite babysitters, Josh and Allie. Unfortunately, car trouble led to a cancellation of our trip and a delay in being able to go to Abilene to retrieve out favorite feline. Thankfully, though, we were able to get down this weekend.

During all the move, I managed to lose our cat carrier. Tony hasn't gone on a ride that lasted longer than five minutes since he was a baby when I brought him to Abilene from Menard. BJ was a little nervous about Tony roaming free in our car for the four hour trip to Frisco, but with money too tight to go buy a cat carrier, we decided to chance it. Of course, I'm not sure what we were worried about it. Tony, being a cat who has been raised with dog's ten times his size, is really not scared of anything, including a car. I had him in my lap ready to comfort him when he freaked out, but instead, he jumped in the backseat and started cleaning Sienna. Eventually, he settled down between Gus and Sienna and took a nap. As much as Tony would hate hearing me say this, it seems he is really just one of the dogs. Of course, he's the fearless, intelligent, cunning dog, unlike the other two.

Randomness

My brother has tagged me to do a blog post which follows these guidelines:

* We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
* Players start with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
* People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
* There are additional rules that I am choosing to not follow, simply because I don't know enough people to tag.

So, after a few days of careful contemplation, here are my eight random facts/habits:

1. When I was a young child, around four or five, I had nightmares about Saddam Hussein killing me.
2. I like to wrap plain Lays potato chips or plain Ruffles potato chips in lettuce and eat them after I've had a sandwich for lunch. I like the salty taste of the chip mixed with the taste of lettuce.
3. One of the first evenings after BJ and I started dating, I asked him what his favorite word was during one of our late night conversations. To me, the sounds of words are a fascinating topic that I could talk for hours about. Unfortunately, this is not true for everyone. I believe BJ may have encountered his first doubts about dating me on this evening. By the way, my favorite words are taffeta and Chantilly.
4. When I can't relax and fall asleep, I go through the alphabet trying to think of names I wouldn't mind naming my children for each letter: Adam, Bridget, Carson, etc. D is an exceptionally difficult letter for me.
5. Last night, I watched a DVD of Murder, She Wrote episodes and stitched a tea-pot Christmas ornament. I'm pretty sure this alone makes me a freak.
6. Growing up, I spent a lot of time at my Grandma Pierce's house. We would have monster drawing competitions on paper towels everyday. I would try to make my monsters really spiky because Grandma said it made her back itch.
7. When I get sad, I like to watch the Princess Diaries or read books that were written for young girls. I think this is because I have an aversion to growing up.
8. I've often had dreams about kissing random people. Once, I dreamed I had cheated on BJ with Bob Marley. I felt so guilty, I was sure BJ was going to dump me. Also, kissed Dr. Fleer, a professor from Rochester College who comes to lectureship at ACU and who taught BJ in undergrad. I felt so guilty about this dream, it took me several weeks to admit it to BJ.

WE HAVE INTERNET...FINALLY!!!!!

After feeling fairly isolated from the rest of the world, we now have internet! To celebrate, I am giving all my friends and family out there a virtual tour of our new home. I regret that we don't have a good picture of the master bedroom yet, but it doesn't look very different from what it looked like in Abilene. Only now it has two huge closets, a connecting bathroom, and tons of space. Come on in!

Obviously, this is the front of the house. Boring, I know. But I just couldn't start a tour without showing this part.





This is our formal dining room. I really love this room. Growing up, we always had the piano in our dining room so that dad, Bro, and I could entertain our guest immediately following the meal. I've always wanted to continue this tradition. Unfortunately, we do not have chairs yet for our table, but I'm working on that.

I was not able to fit the whole kitchen into this picture, but I did get half. The other half is just the stove top, fridge, and some more cabinets. This will probably come as a shock to most of the people who know me at all, but I actually have enough cabinets that I have one empty shelf! It's a miracle.


This is the first half of our living room. It consist of a futon for reading that is placed directly under a sky-light. I've already spent many hours reading by the natural light. It is one of my favorite places in the house. Also, we have a really nice little bar here. I'm also working on tracking down some bar stools.

This is the second half of our living room. Our furniture actually fits in this place. And, thanks Mom, for the lamps. They look great!





We have a fireplace!!! I've always wanted one of this, but this is my first time to have one. Dad's painting is the perfect piece for the mantle.







This is the guest bathroom. If you come to visit me, you will take care of your business here.











This is the guest bedroom. The quilt was a gift from my grandmother when I graduated from high school. It won the blue ribbon at a county fair. I love this quilt.










Here, of course, is my art studio. This picture was taken before I started pursuing three separate art projects. It is now a disaster as all art studios should be. hehe.






This is our two car garage and our basket ball goal. So, Bro, are you ready to clobber me and BJ at a game of b-ball?










Finally, this is a picture of our new ice maker. It is really awesome having an unlimited supply of ice.

Six Months Old

Gus is officially a half of a year old. We have made it a tradition to take a picture of me and Gus in this or similar poses the twentieth of each month. So here is his cuteness today. Enjoy. I know I will.

Below is one of our other attempts at this pose (which is getting progressively more difficult as he gets increasingly more massive). In this one, Gus demonstrates his uncanny ability at being a mess. It's charming.

One year

Here's what I thought one year anniversaries looked like: chocolate, flowers, sweet cards, and a private corner in an expensive restaurant. Here's what my one year anniversary looked like: BJ woke me up by jumping on me and yelling "happy anniversary!!!" way to loudly, we thawed out the top layer of our wedding cake and barely got down one bite at breakfast, we went to Hastings after church to reserve our copy of Harry Potter (the gift we agreed to get ourselves for lasting longer than most celebrity marriages), and than during the evening (the evening I thought I would spend at a nice restaurant), we went to a party with about twenty-five senior citizens and ate sandwiches (tonight was our going away party at Nugent). So, needless to say, it wasn't what I expected. But why should it be? Nothing else this year has been what I expected.

On top of the unpredictable nature of this past year, today was representative of our first year of marriage in several other ways. We laughed a lot today, and we got in a minor argument that I really wanted to stay mad at him over, but forgot about it within the hour. We settled for a cheap present because money is tight (again). We fought nerves over our upcoming life change while being sincerely happy that we are together for our life changes. We held hands in church, and wrestled with each other on our way home. But best of all, we spent it with our family at Nugent, the family we weren't expecting a year ago, we stumbled upon because we need a hundred bucks to pay some bills, and we are now trying to figure out how to leave.

I'm sitting here wondering why God chose to plop such an amazing gift in our laps, a church that loves us, and then send us away only eight months later. Tonight after dinner, several of the church members told BJ what a wonderful preacher he is, and how he should find I congregation in our new home area that needs him and not waste his gift. They were sincere, and I have seen many of them shed tears over losing a preacher that they had come to love so much. I turned to my brother and said, "A year ago, I married a preacher, and I didn't even know it."

A year ago from today, I cried as my father and I prepared to walk down the aisle because I knew I was having to leave in a certain sense the family who had raised me and nurtured me into the woman who was to become BJ's wife. Tonight I am crying because I'm having to leave another family, only this time, I'm not sure what comes next or what they have raised and nurtured me for. All I know is that BJ and I are a little better for having met them, and we will never, never forget them.

#2 on life goals list

A couple of months ago, I did a post on my ten life goals. Number 2 on the list was to start a small business. Well, what better time to attempt to accomplish a challenging life goal than when you move 200 miles a start fresh in a new place? I have been working the past few days on launching a small business in which I will teach small art classes, private art lessons, and private piano lessons. I now have a website for Ms Kalyn's Art School, and I have contacted two home schooler organizations in an attempt to get some students.

After working four weeks (I know, a monstrously long time) at a job that does not in any way involve art, I'm starting to remember why I switched majors three years ago: I don't thrive without art. I make it okay, yes. But there's no thriving going on until I come home at five and launch into designing wedding invitations for a friend or practicing the piano for my sister-in-law's wedding. I've decided to go ahead and take the chance on making a living out the things I love to do. BJ and I (and Sienna and Gus and Tony) may starve for a few months, but, hey, isn't that what artists do best?

Things I can already tell I'm going to miss about Abilene

Well, it has finally set in that we are going to be leaving Abilene by the end of the month. I really didn't believe it a week ago when we first got the news about the job, but after a trip to Frisco and some time to unwind, I realize it is in fact true. BJ and I are both excited about starting this new chapter in our life, but here are some of the things I know I'm going to miss (in no particular order).

-Little Panda. The best Chinese food on earth.

-Late night trips to Walmart with Bro. And especially the part where we wake up the next morning only to realize we forgot to take the groceries out of the car. How many gallons of milk have we ruined that way?

-Nugent. Yeah, we most definitely cried the entire church service this Sunday. I actually wasn't sure if BJ would make it through his sermon.

-$500 a month for rent. Not happening in Frisco.

-Jack and Jill's apple fritters. Krispie Kremes has nothing on this local chain.

-Fat Tuesday. I don't know what I'll do without my weekly dose of crazy girl talk, home-cooked food, and chocolate.

-Josh and Allie. They've been BJ's friends forever, but strangely enough, I feel like I've known them for just as long. You just can't beat old friends.

-Monks. Iced tuxedo mocha and talking with Allie and Em...need I say more.

-Driving by the place where I got married everyday.

-ACU. Parts of the college drive me nuts, but overall, it was a great four years.

-Being close to family. We're only two hours from my parents, and both of our siblings are within five blocks.

-But most of all, I'll miss living in a town that is on the top of every alphabetically organized list. This is surprisingly convenient.

"BJ, I would like to formally extend an offer of employment for the 2007-2008 school year"

After a year of job applications and rejection letters, the unreachable was reached today. BJ got a job at Legacy Christian Academy in Frisco, TX. I think that at the moment, we are both stunned. To be perfectly honest, I'm crying while I write this blog post. I'm so happy for my husband. He has worked so hard the past year at a job he didn't really want to do with people who weren't always nice, and he has done it all for his family. Now, he's going to get to see what it is like to have a career. And he'll get to teach kids about the subject he is most passionate about.

If I have learned one thing since leaving Menard for ACU, it is that there is really no point in trying to predict life. I never expected to marry someone six years older than me (and a Yankee!) at such a young age. I never expected to graduate with a degree in art (and absolutely love it). I never expected to live with two dogs and a cat. And I NEVER expected to move to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. But God is funny, so oh well.

When I started this blog, I wrote this statement in the "about me" section: "I see BJ and myself as a team traveling on some bazaar journey trying to figure out what God is up to and how we fit into it." At the time, I thought it was a fairly cheesy statement, but one that really captured how I viewed our life. Now, I feel like we've come to a very significant turn in the road, and I'm really excited to see where it takes us.

I got peed on this morning.

This morning, the alarm rang at 6:40, I got a plastic cup, walked out to the yard with Gus, and filled my cup up with Gus's urine. A great way to start the day. Some say it's even better than Wheaties. Unfortunately, in my groggy stupor, my hand wavered, and I got a tad bit on me.

On my way to work, I dropped off the urine sample. I am extremely, extremely happy to announce that the sample came back normal. Gus doesn't have diabetes insipidus. Yay for high gravity indexes (whatever that means).

Besides being told my dog is a healthy (stupid) puppy, my favorite part of the morning was when all the nurses at the vet asked, "Oh! Was it hard to get? Did you have to chase him around all morning?" Apparently, this is what normal dogs do when you try to get a urine sample. But not Gus. Anytime Gus pees, it's about the same: He stands normally and looks strait ahead. When I was retrieving the sample this morning, the only variation to his routine was that he looked up at me with a look that said, "This is strange." Basically, taking a urine sample from Gus is about as difficult as getting a water sample from your sink faucet.

So to sum it all up, it's been an additional $50 later, and the diagnosis remains the same: Gus is an idiot.

Taking a short moment at work to write a cheesy post

I just received a call from BJ. He was walking to the office where he will have yet another job interview, and he was feeling sick with nerves. This time, the interview is a little different from the bagillion other ones we've had in the past year. With every interview, we have prayed and pleaded that he would get the job so we could stay in Abilene and be comfortable. This time, the job isn't in Abilene, and I don't have a clue what I want to happen or what would be best for us. I want BJ to have a job he likes, but neither one of us want to leave Nugent. So while BJ is walking to todays interview, I'm taking a moment to say a prayer I probably should have been saying all along this past year when he was walking to interviews: Your will be done. It just took me a year to figure this one out.

A house divided

Gus and Sienna are not only completely different in appearance,, buy they have entirely opposite personalities as well. And, ironically, their owners are also polar opposites at times, as I was reminded tonight by an incident in our bathroom.

Being at work all day has made me exceptionally clingy with Gus here lately, so when I'm home, Gus and I can usually be found doing the same thing: he'll be laying on his back while I'm rubbing his belly. Embarrassingly, I tend to baby talk to Gus during this process. I know that's stupid, but his cuteness makes it impossible for me to keep the mumbo-jumbo from flowing out of my mouth.

So tonight, Gus and I were sitting on the bathroom rug doing our routine while BJ was brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed. After spitting out his toothpaste, BJ looks down at me and Gus and says, "It is quite possible you are going to drive me crazy when we have kids." He then looks at Sienna and says, "Don't worry Sienna, you don't have to be stupid to be loved," and he started petting her.

At this point, I'm getting slightly irritated because he called my dog dumb (a fitting label, but it stings none the less), so I say, "You're just jealous you don't have this kind of a relationship with you dog."

Sienna, a picture of pure-bred, Labrador elegance, is now lovingly looking up at BJ with her front two paws meekly crossed. BJ says, "We're too elegant for that."

I wanted to retaliate, but I was currently sitting on a bathroom rug rubbing the belly of a giant oaf. And, of course, Gus chose this opportune moment to start rapidly kicking his hind leg (he's ticklish). So me and my mutt remained silently on the bathroom rug while our more elegant counter parts went to more refined places like...I don't know...the living room.

Prayer Requests

I just found out a moment ago that one of our church members at Nugent has been diagnosed with cancer. His name is Richard and his wife is Ada. The cancer appears to be in a film surrounding his brain. I know that his family, both biological and congregational, would appreciate prayers.

Also, on a less urgent note, I found out a few hours after I did my last post that Gus is not out of danger after all. The vet is afraid that he might have an extremely rare disease called diabetes insipidus. I realize he is just a dog, but I really love that mutt. We won't know for about a week and a half if he has this disease.

Diagnosis: Stupidity

Gus has always LOVED water, but this past week his adoration of H2O got a little worrisome when he drank so much two mornings in a row that he threw up. Thursday, BJ booked Gus an appointment to check things out since over-consumption of water can be a sign of diabetes. Unfortunately, BJ had to stay home this morning to wait on our furniture to be delivered, so it was just me and Gus on what turned out to be a very interesting trip to the vet.

When I got there, I of course had to explain to the vet what was wrong: "My dog drinks too much water, so my husband thought I should bring him to the vet, but I think he's just stupid." The vet just kind of laughed and said we would do a blood test and a urine sample. The blood test went smoothly, and it was then time for the urine sample. They sent me out with a Tupperware container to walk Gus around until he peed. We walked around, and Gus eventually went number 2, but as far as pee went, he was as dry as the Sahara. I finally brought him in and said I thought I needed some water for him to drink. The vet brought a bowl of water, laid it by Gus, and left.

Twenty minutes later, the vet returns. Embarrassed, I look up at him and say, "I just brought a dog to you for drinking to much water, but he's refusing to drink any water this morning." That's right, Gus just wanted to lay down and rest. He didn't want water.

The vet showed me the results on Gus's blood test, and he is as healthy as he can be. I'm supposed to drop by some pee later. According to the vet, dogs are much like humans in that they can have strange obsessions with random things. So $150 later, I have now learned that I have a dog who has a strange obsession with water. That's it. That's the problem. My dog is an idiot.

My favorite part of the whole horrific morning was when we walked back to the waiting room. There were a lot of dogs in today sitting in the waiting area. One of the dogs, who according to the nurse had been fine with all of the other dogs, freaked out when he saw Gus because he didn't know what the big black fury thing was. This sent all the dogs into a barking fury, including mine. The nurse started laughing and yelling to the other freaked-out dog, "I promise, Gus is a dog." Apparently, me dog looks more like a monster off of Sesame Street than a dog. Thus ended the my most embarrassing trip to the vet's office.

Entering the mind of a fluffy puppy

What Gus thinks during his nightly brushing session:

"You can brush me all you want, but you will never take my dignity or my tree bark."

What Gus thinks during his monthly picture-posed-with-mom-holding-me-like-a-stuffed-animal:

"I hate being this cute."

He may be a preacher, but he can still be a jerk

BJ and I say a prayer together every night before we go to sleep. Here is a short, preacherly moment from last night.

BJ: Do you want me to do the prayer tonight?
Kalyn: Sure.
(after about 3 seconds of pious silence before the prayer begins)
Make it a good 'un.
(me laughing at my own cleverness)
BJ: Dear God, please give my wife a better personality.

New Job!

Well, for the first time ever, BJ and I are financially somewhat stable. That's right, I got a job. I am the new office manager at Veteran's Garage Door. Allie is training me for the first two weeks, and we're having a pretty good time so far.

With two people working, there is a whole lot of down time, but we find ourselves busy pretty, also. Here are some of my favorite moments from my first two days:

-Early Wednesday afternoon, Allie and I decided it was time for me to do my first phone answering. The phone rang, we both looked at me, and Allie said to go ahead. I picked up the phone, and...nothing. It was one of those fluke calls where there is no one on the phone.

-I spent a little time yesterday calling applicants to tell them the officer manager position had been filled. I know, it's a little bit evil.

-This afternoon was REALLY slow, so we are both have our own ways to pass the time. One way is simply by drinking a ridiculous amount because its something to do. Of course, this leads to a lot of bathroom time. As some sort of test (mainly trying to make the time pass), Allie decided she would not go to the bathroom until 4:oo. At 3:50, her nose randomly started bleeding, and she was forced to run to the bathroom. When you're really bored, these things are actually entertaining.

-I think my favorite memory, though, happened before my first day of work on Wednesday. I squatted down on the floor to ask Gus if he would still love me after I left him home all day. His answer was simple. He rubbed his nose against mine. That was some ooey-gooey preciousness.

I'm sure this new job will generate many blog posts. The guys I work with are hilarious, and, let's face, garage doors are a fascinating subject.

Shopping like a grown up

When my brother graduated from ACU three years ago, my parents got him a lab top since he was planning on going to grad school and he like computer-type stuff. Me, not so much. I'm NOT going to grad school, and I do NOT like computers. But they did want to get me an equal size gift, so I got money to go buy a couch for my home.

I've been researching online for a couple of weeks, so when Memorial Day rolled around, I was ready to go out shopping. I had figured out online that if I was careful, I could probably get a five piece living room set for the money I had. Mom came up to help out, and we pretty much figured out the whole furniture thing in the first two hours and spent the following six hours shopping for what really matters: clothes. After Mom left, I took BJ to Ashley Furniture to show him his choices, he fell in love with one set (basing his decision on which is was more comfortable), and we bought it.

This was really exciting. We are coming up on our one year anniversary, and we are still having a bunch of firsts. This was our first big purchase. We were actually pretty giddy on the way home from the store. It feels like we may actually be grown ups, but I'm still not sure.

Thoughts on dreams, death, and Gus's messed-up hair

Saturday morning I woke up and started piddling around the house cleaning as always. Suddenly, while making the bed, I was struck by an image of a dream I had had earlier that morning. The more I thought about it, the more the dream came back to me. It went something like this...

I was at Grandma Farr's farm with Gus sitting on the swing in her back yard. Grandma came out and saw Gus for the first time (she only saw him in pictures before she died). She said, "He looks dirty", and I said, "He needs brushed." She went inside and looked around the house for old brushes. She brought me out a few old broken brushes and we brushed Gus together.

If Grandma had ever met Gus, this is exactly what would have happened. She was always working, always cleaning. And she was a bit of a pack rat, so she would have had plenty of brushes hidden away for Gus.

After the dream, I was a little thrown off for a couple of days. It was the first time I had dreamed about her since her passing, and she was very real and present in the dream. I remember when Grandma Pierce died, and I would dream about her, I loved hearing the sound of her voice and laughter so much. I felt that same way Saturday. When someone special is lost, I believe that dreams about those loved ones are one of the most amazing gifts God gives us. For a short moment, I got to hear her and see her and be reminded of her unique quirks. It was a very good dream, although I wouldn't have minded it lasting a little bit longer.