Update

Its been a while. I've been swamped a million other life things lately. Here's a quick glimpse into whats been going on...

1.) Officially J and I are getting married on April 30, 2011. Yay!!
2.) Work has slowed down dramatically and I am currently trying to find the motivation and inspiration to keep knocking the doors down to get some good sales. Most days I want to quit my job and plan our wedding, unfortunately this is unrealistic.
3.) J started his new job and its been a challenge adjsuting to his weird schedule- he leaves the house at 5:50 and doesn't get home til around 6 or after. I'm also learning/remembering what its like to have it him around all the time and I love it!
4.) I need to start on my wedding diet but again am lacking the motivation.
5.) Church has been such a blessing the past few weeks and we went to the new campus location on Sunday just to check it out and it is fabulous but I still love the some what 'small' feel of our Uptown Campus.
6.) I purchased sexy navy blue shoes to walk down the isle in and I can't wait to get them in the mail, hopefully this week!
7.) Scouting stores to find clothes to wear in our engagement pictures is not easy and I still haven't found anything, suggestions are welcome!
8.) J's mom has been really sick recently and today she went in for $1500 test to figure out why she can't breath
9.) J's cousin got married and their wedding was absolutely beautiful and I am so happy for them

Oh John Mayer...

Seriously, he's my work boyfriend these days.

WORK: Anyways I'm so thankful that this week is over and I can have some fun this weekend. Work has been stressful this week and next week won't be any easier as I am heading up a deboule truck in two different papers. (PS a double truck is two pages all the way across in the newspaper) Plus I'm stressing about making goal- I cutting it a lot closer than I would like so it makes me nervous.

FIANCE: He's coming home from Durham this today and he's home til Monday morning, yay!

FAMILY: J and Brian are installing my parents new heater tomorrow so while the boys are busy my mom and mother in law want to go wedding dress shopping! Hopefully my sister and Jessica can come as well. Tonight we're going to J's cousin's Family engagement party and I'm kind of excited about it. We haven't seen everyone in quite sometime!

ROOMATE: She cooked some scrumptious chicken alfredo this week and I love her for sharing it with me. I think we're carving pumpkins next week with Rachel and I'm super pumped for this!

Hump Day

Its Wednesday so a Happy Hump Day to you! Today's been a weird one but I've sold some and I need a break for a few minutes so I stole this from my roomate :)

1. Your ex is on the side of the road, on fire. What do you do?
Call 911 and give the location and leave.

2. Your best friend tells you she is pregnant. What is your reaction?
Jokingly ask her if she wants a drink... :)

3. When is the last time you wanted to punch someone in the face?
This lady on the phone the other day from a company that we work with

4. What is the last thing you spent money on?
A DIY Bridal book

5. Do you think you gained or lost weight this past month?
Haven't been on a scale in a while- praying for a loss though

6. Crunchy or Puffy Cheetos?
Puffs

7. The first person on your friends list just called you a bitch. What do you have to say ?
Its a normal occurance

8. Congratulations! You just had a son. What's his name?
Cade

9. Congratulations! You just had a daughter. What's her name?
Lillia Jewel

10. What are you craving right now?
My Bed, ha.

11. What was the last thing you cried about?
When I got engaged on Sunday night!

12. When you buy something and your change is 2 cents, do you keep it or tell the cashier to keep it?
I usually put it in the "Take a penny, Leave a penny..."

13. What color is your tissue box?DO
Don't have one

14. Do you have a ceiling fan in your bedroom, and if so, is there dust on that fan?
Nope

15. What was the last voicemail you received about?
A client calling to schedule an appointment

16. Have you ever blocked someone on Facebook?
Nope just deleted them

17. Scariest thing you've experienced in the last year?
I honestly can't think of a time- well except when J and I wanted Paranormal Activity

18. Do you wear a name tag at work?
Nope

19. What kind of car do you want?
An Audi SUV, black.

20. What do you order when you go to Taco Bell?Q
Either Nacho's or a quesedilla

21. Have you ever had a garage sale?
My mom has and I helped

22. What color is your iPod?
Silver

23. What is the last alcoholic beverage you had?
Bud Light

24. Are you happy right now?
Of course!

25. Who came over to your house last?
J before he went to work

26. Do you drink beer?
Am I American? Am I from the South? Of course I do.

27. Have your brothers or sisters ever told you that you were adopted?
Haha, nope but thats because I sort of am by my Dad.

28. What is your favorite key on your key chain?
My car key

29. What was the last movie you watched at home?
The Wedding Date with Debra Messing

30. What is in your pocket?
I don't have any pockets on today

31. Who introduced you to your bf/gf/husband/wife?
My roomate :)

32. Where do you hurt?
I'm starting to get a headache actually

33. Has someone ever made you a build a bear?
Heck no, I hate stuffed animals

34. What's something fun you did today?
Something invovling a garage :)

35. What is your favorite aisle at Wal-Mart?
Clearance, I'm such a bargain shopper.

36. When is your birthday?
January16

37. Is there anything hanging from your rear view mirror?
A turtle thing my mom and sister gave me

38. How many states in the US have you been to?
14

39. What kind of milk do you drink?
1%

40. What are you going to do after this?
Back to work, this is my break!

41. Who was the last person you went shopping with?
J, we went to TJ Maxx on Sunday before our movie date

42. What is something you need to go shopping for?
Winter/Fall work clothes... wedding stuff... Christmas presents

43. Do you have the same first name as one of your relatives?
nope

44. What kind of car do your parents drive?
A Honda Van and a Tahoe

45. Are you rich?
Nope but I am blessed

46. What color is your couch?
Tan

48. What famous person do you look like?
I don't think I look like anyone famous

49. Does someone like you right now?
Yes! My fiance!

50. Say you were given a pregnancy test right now. Would you pass or fail?
Pass :) Not preggers

51. Favorite pop-tart flavor?
Brown Sugar and Cinnamon

52. Do you know anyone in jail/prison?
Nope

53. What are your plans for the weekend?
Reynolds Family Party and to see Jack Ass 3 in 3D with J

54. Do you like the color green?
Sure!

55. When was the last time you wore clothing belonging to someone of the opposite gender?
I steal J's T-shirts and some of his ball shorts a lot.

56. Last restaurant you went to?
Taco Bell, does that even count?

57. How many hours did you sleep for last night?
8

58. Do you swear at your parents?
Nope

59. Do you think someone is thinking about you right now?
Yes, He's texting me!

60. Have you ever changed your clothes while in a vehicle?
More than I would like to admit.

61. What is your ringtone?
Rascal Flatts and Corey Smith

62. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Sleeping and Dreaming :)

10-10-10 at 10pm

I'm going to be Mrs. Jeremy Reynolds within the next year :) He proposed last night!!

Story time: All weekend every since he got home J has wanted to do a date night with just us. I've been thrilled about since he has been traveling so much we haven't seen each other and had 'us' time. So after going to my parents house yesterday aftenoon to check on their broken heater, eat lunch and hang out for the afternoon we decided to go over to Luke's in Rock Hill and have some dinner before we went to the movies. We had decided to go and see The Social Network, which by the way was a fantastic movie although long, the acting was incredible and the story line of the movie fit very well. Its hard to believe Facebook has only been around since 2003, how in the world did I live without it? Ha, I'm lame I know. Anyways, after the movie J asked if I wanted to go and get a Frosty and I said no since we had some Italian Ice at home we can save some money by jsut eating that. So we drove over to my house and I was super excited to get home since we'd been gone all day plus I hadn't seen my roomate since Friday and wanted to see her. As we were walking up to my 3rd floor apartment we were joking about how odd we will look when we get old- I'll be short and blind and J will be deaf and bald, he even said I'd probably be his cane. When we got to my door I reached for my keys which I thought was odd since I knew J had his key in his hand or so I thought and then I realized the door was already unlocked which confused me even more. We opened the door and there were candles everywhere and rose petals and flowers. My first reaction was, "Is Stephanie home?" J said "There's a surprise for you on the table go and see what it is." I followed the candles and flowers to our living room table where there is a bouquet of roses and a silver bell and J is behind me telling me to read it. Well, its dark obviously and I lift a candle up to read the bell...

(sidenote: for those of you who don't know me very well I collect bells. Yes, I realize this is semi old ladyish. Don't judge me, I started my collection when I was around 7 with my Grandma at a Yard Sale and since then people have always bought them for me as gifts. In fact its the first present J every bought me was a bell for Christmas in 08 before we were even dating :))

The bell said, "Marry me?" And as I turned around J was on one knee and crying and simply said, "Will you grow old with me?" Pretty much the next 3 minutes are a blur as I started crying and couldn't stand up and kept saying yes, and kisses and stepping on a candle and yelling and trying to get my other ring off of my finger so he could put the engagement ring on. Then he started to explain things: He's been planning this for weeks- its been really hard since he's been out of town, his parents set everything up and had his key to my apartment so thats why he didn't lock the door which I realize now he didn't all weekend, He asked my Dad yesterday in the 5 minutes he was alone with him, my Dad spilled the beans to my Mom not 5 minutes after Jeremy asked, He told no one until yesterday except his parents and siblings, He called my roomate yesterday and told her and swore her to secrecy not to tell anyone. He did such a good job of keeping it a secret, he knows I'm sneaky and always find out. I'm so lucky to have him :)

Feels like today...

My favorite things about this week so far:

1.) My 4th quarter meeting went swimmingly and I am very encouraged
2.) It was freezing outside this morning and I am so thankful for Fall :)
3.) Sleep over tonight at Rachel's
4.) J called me on his luch break- this doesn't happen often
5.) J has scheduled 3 interviews for Monday, I am so proud of him!
6.) Chatted with my mother and for once it was a great conversation
7.) I'm going to the Melting Pot tonight for the first time ever for a Breast Cancer Fundraiser
8.) Finally, Pandora let me listen to her again on my work computer i.e. John Mayer has been serenading me all day
9.) Spent time with my sister last night and I showed her the engagement ring I am in love with
10.) Roomate burned me the new One Repulic CD and I'm playing it on repeat in my car since I finally remembered to bring it to the Honda
11.) J is coming home this weekend!
12.) We might go to Scarowinds this weekend
13.) God answers prayers on a daily basis

Stuck like glue

Today is Monday, October 4. Holy cow its already October? Where has the past year gone? Monday's are not my favorite day of the week but today has actually been pretty good so far. I may be getting ahead of myself as its only 9:47, oh well. John Mayer is playing on my Pandora and thats making it even more wonderful.

I spent the weekend with J at the beach since he couldn't come home this weekend. He had to work on Saturday which sucked so I spent a lot of the day cleaning up his room and watching Jersey Shore and the Clemson game. Don't judge me. I got J a new North Face Jacket for his 25th birthday which is this Thursday and I gave it to him this weekend since I won't be seeing him til late Friday night. The rest of the weekend we were lazy and stayed in our PJ's and just spent time together, it was nice! We had serious discussions on where we would move if we end up having to because of his job and we've narrowed it down to anywhere in NC or SC, TX, FL and VA. We have family in all those states and we dont' want to go just anywhere. My mission this week is to find him more job opportunities so he can come home to me :) We've started to tithe as well and give back to the Lord what he's blessed us with and I can already see how God has been blessing us becuase of it.

Work has been incredible lately. I have so much stuff going on and the Lord is really blessing me with commissions to say the least. I have a lot in the works right now and the 4th quarter is already off to a tremendous start! Hopefully I can keep the momentum going until January 1.

Roomate and I have been having a lot of fun together and I really hope it continues. She's back to herself and I couldn't be more thankful!

Prayers that this week will go by quickly are much appreciated!

Flying

Its been a busy past week and I seriously can't believe its already Friday but thank the Lord for miracles! J comes home tonight after a seriously long week at the beach job site, I can't wait to see him!

Work has been pretty nutty this week and has stressed me out way more than normal. My boss says I need to learn to let stuff roll off my back... I'm learning, slowly. We calculated it and I think I have made my 3rd quarter which is truly a blessing because I am in serious need of the commission it will bring!

I found this in my York office last week and it came on a day when it was much needed, seems like God didn't let me find til just the right time! I love little surprises like this from J. He's very, very sneaky sir.

I bought a cute little purple Nine West bag from Ross to carry all my crap in instead of asking J to hold everything. Plus with the new huge phone it helps as well. I was so proud of my purchase, it was even on sale!

The roomate and I went to meet Nicholas Sparks but were turned away since we have already purchased our books previously from Walmart. The people at the Barnes and Noble at the Arboretum were jerks.

Short

So, it seems I've started to only blog once a week. I'm going to try to change that, key word is try. How have you been? Its Wednesday again and I can't believe we are already on 'hump' day. Few things to sum up the past week:

1.) Praise the Lord for Labor Day and the long weekend, much needed and appreciated. We went to the Cabin this weekend and shot guns and rode four wheelers. I felt like a true red neck but we discovered I'm very much the sharp shooter with a .22 and a scope, ha.

2.) My Slim Fast diet, not going so smoothly. I get hungry a lot. And I cheat on Slim Fast, a lot. Ugh, I'm praying for dedication and perservation.

3.) I got a new roomate yesterday, my roomate Stephanie got a dog. He's a teacup chihauhau and she has decided to name him Mr. Big.

4.) Work has been a little discouraging. Mary told me that our publisher thinks I'm being spread too thin because percentages are down. After looking at everything its only because some of our big hitters have pulled out and I'm not even handeling those. Oh well, there's a reason they've given me this position and I'm trying my hardest. Mary and I figured out that I need to make 18% more in September in order to make the 3rd quarter, prayers are much appreciated!

5.) Finally, J's company has rented their workers a beach house to stay in for the specific job sit they're on and each of the guys has their own room.I'm taking a half day on Friday and a half day on Monday and heading to the beach on Friday at noon and coming back on Monday morning and coming straight to work! I'm so excited to see him and get a little bit of time away from home, otherwise I wouldn't see Jeremy for over 2 weeks, which would stink really badly.

Ridiculous...

Happy Wednesday to everyone! The past week has literally flown by and I can't believe its already the middle of the work week, but praise the Lord for that.

Work: I didn't end up meeting my August goal, which stunk. But Mary and I think I can make up for it in September, its looking that this month is going to ROCK! I'm very excited and its got me really pumped up to work as hard as I can to do it to make my entire quarter goal. Its been a process getting used to working in Lake Wylie AND York/Clover but I'm slow but surely adjusting and its been incredible so far. The Best of the Lake is coming up and I'm hoping to get $4000 out of it for the paper!

Home: I had a make up consultation last night with Angie Hawkins, a Mary-Kay consultant. She does wedding make up for the bride and brides mades the day of the wedding at a pretty dicounted rate as compared to others that I've talked to. She's a great sales(wo)man as well and I realized that there is a lot I can learn from her as well as show Mom with her jewlery business. Rachel and J's Mom came over and it was a lot fun just to hang out, I haven't been doing that enough recently with people. I've become quite the homebody in the past few weeks. Amber invited me over for dinner tonight and I am so excited to see her as its been a few weeks!

Love: J is working near Wilmington, NC this week on an army base and he has been in the heat a lot, he's been exhausted all week especially since he's been going into work every day at 6am. Hurricane Earl is approaching where they are pretty quickly but we're praying that the storm goes away completely so he can get in some good overtime this week. I'm also not sure when he's coming either, which really flat out sucks especially since Labor Day weekend is this weekend and I get Monday off. Earlier this week, he had me go and look at some rings that Stacey suggested we go and look at and I think I've found THE RING! I've also decided I'm tired of looking at rings and that from here on out he gets to decide, ring shopping is very overwhelming for me. I gave him two options and I've left it in his hands, I know that he'll make the right decision!

Doldrums

Its Tuesday mid afternoon and I am experiencing the worst doldrums of the work week ever.

This coming Sunday ends our August for revenue and our weekly sales meeting this morning was not the most encouraging, but lets face it what sales meeting is encouraging? I've had at least 4 ads cancel for this week and even one that cancelled this morning. No one is calling me back for Stand By's for this coming weekend. A Stand By is when we have extra space in the newspaper that needs to be sold quickly so we price it just right and add color for free. For the first time since February I do not think I'm going to make at least 90% of my goal and this frustrates me to no end. I knew when I took on the new position that it was going to take some time to get things to run smoothly and to get new clients to trust me. What I did not account for are my regular customers cancelling on me. So, I'm ill motivated to even try for this weekend because of all the rejection I've been receiving over the past two weeks, ha.

J left this morning for the job site at the beach instead of leaving last night, which was a wonderful surprise! This is also contributing to my doldrums. Last night, I made Spicy Chicken Salsa Pasta for dinner and we watched Cop Out which completely exceeded my expectations. I'm trying to convince J that playing card games that do not involve having to drink after you draw a card are fun too. All we really have been doing lately is watching movies and eating so I want to find something that will break up the ordinary for us. I miss him already, since I know he won't be home tonight to cook for or to cuddle up on the couch with or laugh with about my day. I know God has a plan and He won't give you anything you can't handle!

Big Blue Tractor

This past weekend has been one of the best weekend's for me in a very long time! Jeremy has been home since Thursday night and we've gotten to spend a lot of much needed time together. I haven't realized how much I've been missing him until he comes home for longer than two days and with him leaving today, this has been the hardest time yet. We're praying and searching hard for him a job here at home or atleast somewhere where he is stationary and we can make a home for us. We're so thankful for his current job but being away from each other really stinks :(

Friday night we went out with everyone for Brian Eves Birthday on Friday night and has a really great time! While we started out at Black Finn we were quickly informed that girls could drink for free at Suite so we headed over there to drink for free til 11 and had a great time, I even got a hot pink coozie out of the deal. Happy Birthday Brian!

Also its apparent that the bouncer taking the below picture- sucks.

Finally got the camera cord from Jeremy so I could upload some pictures from the past few weeks. I've decided we haven't taken many pictures in the past six months and this needs to change, he is not so thrilled about this.

Saturday we ended up at Carowinds with my little brother Carson and his friend Justin. I was outnumbered for the whole day and discovered that little boys like to hit each other a lot. We got some pizza and hung out with Mom afterwards and watched Furry Vengence, ha.

Sunday was church day and we went to the early service where Pastor Steven talked about what it really means to invite someone to church. Very powerful message and a really cool theme for the next few weeks. We cleaned up at Jeremy's house and Jeremy did a lot of cleaning in his room while I lounged around :) We played out on his Dad's new tractor in the way back part of the property. Apparently its a man thing to knock trees down? I don't know but I rode along for over an hour and had a blast just hanging out and basically doing nothing, ha. Jeremy even said, "I hope when we're old you'll still do things like this with me." I pray that we will!

Its getting closer

Holy cow, can football season get here already?! Its become my favorite time of the year :)

Saturday, September 4 at 3:30 Clemson vs. North Texas

I went to Grams for dinner last night. She made pot roast, cole slaw and squash casserole (yuck) obviously I loved everything but the casserole, ha. My unlce and his newest model of a girlfriend was there. I think they're engaged, she had a diamond ring on her left hand on her ring finger-- Grams and Mom laughed when I asked and they both said he was dumb. Ladies and Gentlemen, if he gets married this will fourth marriage. I just don't understand, I only want to do it once with the best man I know.

Grams talked to me a lot about stages of life last night and how I need to savor every moment of the next stage when Jeremy and I get engaged. She says the time flies and then its on to babies, etc. and we need to cherish the time we have as just us. I'm so very excited about becoming Jeremy's wife one day :) I'm also cherishing the time now where we aren't engaged and we're just dating, I didn't realize before but this is so much fun! Just being with each other is all we really want. His job has really made me realize that the only thing I want is to be close to him all the time and whether we get married tomorrow or two years from now I'm just thankful that I'm with him.

7 hour drive...

This past weekend I journey, literally, to Trenton, GA to see Sheila D. Moore become Sheila M. Price. I was the guest book attendant, ha. We played Flip Cup, even the bride and groom played a few rounds and as always, I was CHAMPION :)

Work has been wierd this week, I haven't been really motivated which sucks when you're a sales rep. I scheduled my FIRST ever Direct Mail piece for Carolina Dance, its a cute little Post Card for their Registration and Open House this week and next. My goals have gone up since my semi promotion and I'm a little nevous to see how this month comes out honestly. I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed but I don't think its anything I can't handle, I just have to get a grip on Lake Wylie and I'll be fine. I really need to work out of only one office, the double office thing is kind of confusing. I'm going to try to clean up the office at Lake Wylie today and maybe move some stuff over there during this week.

My sweet boyfriend is gone to NY for the week for work. He'll be back at some point on Sat. I'm missing him a lot, the traveling thing has really started to sink in with me in the past week and it's no fun. We're so thankful to the Lord for the job but we're praying he'll reveal his plan for Jeremy's work life in His time!

Cool kids

Jeremy and I have made our first BIG purchase as a couple, we got a phone plan together! It's a pretty big deal to each of us and a huge start to our commiting to one another for the long haul :) We now have Sprint becaused they offered us such a great deal with phone plans and since currently I am the only one of the two us using our plan, I couldn't be happier. Jeremy will be activating his phone on Friday afternoon when he gets back in town. We purchased the new HTC Evo and the thing is freakin incredible, I don't know how I lived without such a phone before and I've only had it for two days.

I am currently one of the cool kids with my phone, ha. It's funny though, this is my first purchase of an 'in' phone. I've really only ever had ones that were cheap since A.) Mom and Dad bought my first one and B.) since I have bought every phone since then. But Jeremy and I wanted to sort of 'splurge' on these and believe me and was a super big splurge if I do say so. The cool thing is we can video chat with these phones so I can see him when he's gone, HUGE factor in why we bought them.

My sister comes home from Africa today! Going to meet her at the Airport tonight!!!

Sheila's wedding is Saturday and I'm going on a date with my best friend Red :)

Aaannnndd... I'm back!

My world has changed slightly in the past few weeks and I haven't had much time for my blog. But worries aside, I'm back and hopefully won't stay gone for as long again!

I have been promoted to Advertising Manager (except I'm not managing anyone, lukcy me) of not only the Enquirer Herald but the Lake Wylie Pilot as well. These are the two weekly paper's of Western York County. I'm getting into the big time, ha. It is such a blessing as well because I was fortunate enough to receive a pay increase along with my increase of responsibilities. Praise the Lord for that! While this is all very exciting, its keeping me super busy as well. I spend my days traveling between my offices-- yes I not only have 1 office but I now have 2, look at me fancy pants. I'm learning to juggle more responsibilities, my time management skills and monthly numbers even more than ever before. I am so excited for this challenge and that I get the oppotunity to build up the Lake Wylie area like I have in York. The best way to put this is to let my ghetto side come out and say, "Mad props to my girl before me," Kristin, who did more than a phenmonal job in Lake Wylie for the past 4 years! I'm excited to step into the shoes she's left... heck, I might even make my own set while here. Prayer's are appreciated more than you know!

White Lake 2010: super amazing family vacation as always. Wayyyyy to short this year but I'm thankful for the time away from work and to spend time with my family whom I rarely get to see due to schedueling conflicts. Here are a few pictures to highlight the trip, more to come.

Some of these fine ladies are coming over this evening for some cookin' a la Chef April. I've been enjoying so much the time I've had with them over the past few weeks and I'm hoping that our Monday tradition can continue! They're keeping me sane while Jeremy is out of town each week, God really does answer prayer like you wouldn't believe.

PS Alice comes home from Africa on Thursday night... we are soooo stinkin excited to see her! We're all going to meet her at the airport, woot.

Its another...

Case of the Monday for me!

I'll write more later on this week. Also, White Lake is this week! The 'rents are already down there with Carson and the rest of my extended family. We're leaving on Wednesday as soon as my Mr. Reynolds gets home from work, Praise the Lord he got off of work!

John Mayer & a power outage?!

Amber Polk got free tickets to the incredible John Mayer on Friday, needless to say I was in bliss for most of Friday. It can't get much better than listening to John Mayer with one of your girlfriends and drinking some beer-- that makes me sound like a redneck who has good taste in music, ha.

Jeremy's grandmother let me and Jessica go through all of her clothes and shoes and everything, which by the way everything is brand new, and pick out some stuff we liked to take home. Luckily, Grandma Jo and I have the exact same sized shoe and I got some an amazing pair of brown cowboy boots and a neat pair of red ones too. The teal shoes are Ked's of sorts and I think they'll look good under some jeans.

Sunday night the power went out about 1.5 mile radius around our apartment. I'm a freak if you didn't know and I CANNOT sleep without a fan on, it just doesn't happen. So I ventured out to my parent's last night in order to be able to sleep. Steph says she woke up at 2:30 and the power was back on. Although my camera phone sucks, I'm holding a candle below thats one of those emergency candles, Red gave it to me when we lived in our old apartment.

In other freakin GREAT news: Jeremy's working in town this week!! And, he gets to come to White Lake!

Happy Hump Day

Good morning Blog world, how the heck are you? Its been a busy couple of days since Jeremy left and I'm so thankful to the Lord for that because I'm the type of person that needs to stay busy in order to get my mind off of things. BUT I am so sleepy today.

Monday night I had a reunion with Ms. Amber Polk... I haven't seen her in over two months as she has been MIA and Rachel came over too. I cooked Lemon Peppered Spiced Talapia with Uncle Ben's Long Grain Wild Rice and Rachel brought over a Green Bean Steamer, it was incredible! Great girl time with some wine!

Yesterday, Rachel and I went to Chili's in Ayrsley's for some good dinner and a conversation and afterwards we watched the FINAL episode of The Hills. Was anyone else as disappointed as I was? I've watched that show for years and I love watching all of the drama unfold on national television but the last episode left more than a lot to be desired. You could have watched the preview and not even wated your time watching the entire episode, that bad. I'm sure MTV has a reason for it though, they always have something up their sleeve to keep my generation entertained.

While I have been busy trying to keep myself from being sad that Jeremy is gone this first week, he has been frustrated with me being so busy he can't talk to me. So tonight instead of going to Eclipse with Rachel for $5, I'm going to stay home for some R&R and talk with my sweetheart on the phone! He is having some trouble adjusting to life on the road and I should have sensed it but I just didn't for some reason. I'm very used to being alone but its a lot different when you're in a hotel room as soon as you get off of work to when you go back to work the next morning. I'm trying to think of things we can do to make sure that we stay as connected as always with each other. Suggestions anyone?

Sidenote: There may or may not be some great things happening at work, I'll keep you posted when I know more but please say a prayer-- it could be amazing!

"...In all my life I never thought I would be so lucky as to fall in love with my best [friend]..."

-Monica Gellar, FRIENDS

Jeremy started his new job this week and as dorky as it sounds we've become a lot like Chandler and Monica from FRIENDS. Especially now since Jeremy is working out of town and I will only being seeing him on the weekends, its like when Chandler worked in Tulsa and only saw Monica on the weekends. Dorky? Yes, but I still identify with it. My best friend is gone during the week now and for a bit its going to be hard to get used to.

God is good, all the time

After tons of prayer and search over the past year, this incredibly handsome man of mine got a fantastic job! We found out on Friday and we have been all smiles ever since and I am so proud of him I could burst. He's working as a Foreman's Apprentice for Enterprise Electrical & Mechanical. He'll be working under our good friend Brian Eves and is thrilled about it. He will be traveling a good deal for a while but hopefully be home every weekend. Its going to be tough for a time but I know that together we are strong enough that we're going to support each other through it all :) Praise the Lord for his blessing and for being faithful to us as we are to Him!

The week's been crazy busy and I'm just relaxing this weekend with my love! I'll catch you all up next week.

God never fails!

Why can't we always have 3 day weekends?

How was everyone's extended weekend? Mine was glorious to say the least! I am in love with 3 day weekends and I wish that we always had Monday's off, it would be so much better than ending the weekend on a Sunday. As Jeremy says, "I'm of the belief that the work week should consist of four days and weekends should be 3 days."

Friday night I had a lovely date with myself, Sex & The City Season 3 and 4 and a glass of wine that my lovely roomate bought me (White Zin, $2 Buck Chuck from the Trader Joes in Charlotte) The wine was really good for a $2 bottle too. It was a fantastic way to end my very long work week. Jeremy finished up working at the Fireworks stand around 9:30 and he dropped in for some much needed conversation and quality time before I had to pick up Erica and Micayla from church camp at 11:30.


Saturday was a lazy day honestly, the girls and I slept in til 10 and then I made pancakes. I took them and my brother to Gilda's for some fun in the pool and on Lake Wylie. Headed to Jeremy's parent's after that to see the new tractor that Mr. Jeff just purchased which didn't last long since we ended up having to run and pick up a truck load full of fireworks for the Fireworks Warehouse with Todd. Which Jeremy got paid really well to do! Saturday night we went to Longhorn with our married friends Dana and Patrick and then to downtown Rock Hill for their Red, White & Boom July 4th celebration. We had a wonderful time catching up with them and walking around the town!


Sunday was Jeremy's Grandmother's birthday and she asked that the entire family come to church with her and sing for the congregation. I felt so honored to be asked to join the family... after all, I'll be a Reynolds one day :) We had pizza, beer and watched The Crazies on Sunday night with Nathan and Todd-- Let's just say its a very 'demented' movie as Stephanie said.


Monday I had high hopes of spending the entire day doing absolutely nothing with Jeremy, we've been so busy going here, there and everywhere that I was super excited to just BE with him on Monday. But he ended up doing car work with Scott, which is such a blessing. For those of you who don't know, Jeremy has a 1981 Camaro that he has had since he was 14. Last year the transmission went out and we haven't had the money to fix it but praise the Lord, Scott said that Jeremy could have the transmission out of his old Nova if we wanted it all Jeremy had to do was come and help him take it out. So yesterday was spent doing that while I did laundry at my house and tried to decide how I want to rearrange my room. We ended up at Jeremy's in the late afternoon and he said lets work on the Camaro... although I wasn't thrilled with this idea I went with it since its a rarity that he gets to work on his car and its something he really enjoys.




Definition of true/meaningful/lasting love: I, April Wynn, got under the Camaro along with all of the spider webs, bugs, frogs, dirt dobbers and mice in the shed to help my adorable boyfriend remove the drive shaft. If that doesn't scream out 'I love you and I'm in this for good' I do not know what does. I hate bugs, I hate dirt, I hate frogs, I hate anything that fly's, I'm not so handy with anything mechanical but I love Jeremy Reynolds so I got under the car to help him.

Diamonds & Chicken Wings?

A girlfriend of mine went to look at engagement rings yesterday and asked me and Stephanie to tag along. Her boyfriend had asked that she take some friends and go get sized and see which ones she really liked. Word on the street is that he is going to buy it in August and she is so excited! Since Jeremy has said that we will be engaged by the end of this year, the girls encouraged me to look around and get sized as well since its July and this year is half way over. So I looked around and got sized and honestly it was all a little overwhelming. So many different styles, so many sparkly things and such high prices! Holy Cow! I did look at a set that I liked, so we'll see :) After browsing, we ended up going out for dinner at Wing King, "Seriously, we are southern girls. Who else goes to look at diamonds and then out to eat Chicken wings!?"

As any girl would be of course I want a beautiful ring but honestly, I DO NOT want him to spend a fortune. I'll be more than happy with something small and maybe later on down the road, if I'm lucky, he'll suprise with an upgrade. First of all the money could be spent on better, more practical things such as the start of a down payment on a house or for him to get a new car. I'm a very practical and money conscious person, its how my Daddy raised me and spending more than our wedding is going to cost would be ridiculous.

Oh, PS my boss called yesterday and told me what my commissions were for the entire 2nd Quarter and let's just say my savings account is going to have a gigantic addition next Wed. night, praise the Lord!

You got to be kidding me?!

How was everyone's weekend? Mine was different to say the least.

Friday night was fun with the kids: the pool was a hot mess to say the least when we go there at 6, so we didn't end up staying long out there. We went to eat at MOES where I discovered the goodness of their Cheese Quesedilla, not to mention the price is great when you only get a water to go with it. We went to see The Last Song-- I was not a huge fan as it was one of the saddest movie's I've seen in a while. I think I need to read the actual book to get a better feel for the story. PS Did anyone know that the $1.50 theater went up to $2.00 on the weekends? Apparently their taking on the lead of Manchester Cinema's who has upped the ticket sales for weekends to $10.00.

Saturday morning I cooked everyone breakfast at my place- they wanted pancakes! Saturday was by far the best concert I've been to! Kellie Pickler and Rascal Flatts were amazing. RF sang all of their popular hits to commemorate their 10 years of being together. I had a wonderful time with the girls and I am so thankful that my dad let me use his Tahoe. The only thing that I couldn't stand was the heat-- I sweat like you wouldn't believe. I shouldn't have even put make up on to begin with and lets not even talk about my hair by the end of the night I looked like a train wreck.

Sunday I wasn't able to make it to church because I had to pick up Erica and Micayla early in the morning. We hung out at the house and I showered and became a human again after sweating like a man on Saturday whilst at the concert. We went over Koizumi in Newport for lunch, this amazing little Japanese grill. They have fabulous Low Carb meal options for a great price. On the way home I got into it with my mother and let's just say that I'm still reeling from it today. I talked with my grandmother about it for a very long time yesterday and I just do now know what I am going to do with out Grams when does leave us to be with Jesus. She knows how mom can be and all she kept on saying was just, "Pray, pray, pray April. Its all you can do." So I'm taking her advice and praying up a storm for the situation with my mother. Yesterday I was to the point of telling her I was never speaking to her again. Its an on-going thing where she cuts me down and be little's me and screams and yells and tells me its all my fault in the first place every time we get into an argument. So please if you can pray with me on this one, I'm struggling like you wouldn't believe.

I FINALLY got to see Jeremy last night-- it was only for two hours and for the majority of it we popped in a movie and both fell asleep within minutes haha, we're so old sometimes. I was exhausted because during the earlier event of the day I worked myself into an allergy attack and the medicine I took was the kind that makes you sleepy. Jeremy's been working non stop since Thursday so he was exhausted as well. I will say it was nice to just nap together!

"...love is unstoppable." -Rascal Flatts

Aren't you glad its Friday? I know I am as this has been a very long week. Work has been pretty busy and I haven't had much time to slack off. But next week I am going to kick my Summerfest Special sections tail! I have to get $8,000 into it which makes me nervous so please say a prayer :)

I'm house sitting and semi babysitting this weekend/next week for my parent's neighbors. I got $100 which is a wonderful blessing! Tonight I'm taking them to stay at my apartment for a sleep over with swimming and then we're hitting up the $1.50 theater to see The Last Song. My little brother is going to tag along too, I don't get to spend much time with him since he is on a traveling soccer team.

Both of the girls are going to stay with a friend tomorrow so that I can go to the Rascal Flatts concert with girlfriends! I am so freakin excited about it, Dad's even letting me take the Tahoe. If you know the Commander you know that he doesn't like to let anyone drive his car but for some reason he said ok; it was a pleasant surprise to say the least.

I'm missing my other half... he's working all weekend which is great, we need the money for sure. BUT it still stinks, I'm hoping to catch a glimpse of him this evening either before or after the movie tonight. Clemson is playing UCS tonight in the College World Series so therefore its guys night :) Oh and PS GO CLEMSON!!

I bought some fun sunglasses yesterday and two new shirts for this weekend, I was in need of some sort of black sunglasses as my regulars are brown Steve Madden's.

I got these at FOREVER 21 for $5.80

Say We instead of I

I cleaned out and organized my closet last night and I must say I'm super proud of it and myself-- if you know me at all you know I'm not the most organized but I'm slowly but surely becoming so much better :) You should see my desk at work, it looks awesome ha!

Work is busy and one of my biggest ads for the month which means I may not be making my 100% goal which is really going to stink...but on the bright side July is looking pretty good! We had an adoption shower yesterday for my boss since she and her husband are adopting a 4 year old boy named EJ. I bought him the Thomas the Train movie and I wrapped it in newspaper. I was pleased with it!!

I'm ready for the weekend...The girls and I are going to the Rascal Flats Concert on Saturday!! Livenation.com had tickets for only $10 for 1 day, pretty sweet deal. And I'm house sitting for my parent's neighbors from Thurs-Mon and Shorty is getting paid :)

Ballin'

Won 5 first place awards at the SCPA Palmy Awards (aka South Carolina Press Association Awards) last week and I think 4 third place awards. The Enquirer Herald and The Herald kicked some tail and needless to say I was super proud of us :) Its the first time I have felt very proffessional and like a real grown up since getting my 'big girl' job. Driving to Columbia and back on Thursday was tiring but well worth it!

The weekend was pretty good. Jeremy and Jake cooked dinner for Stacey and I: Shrimp and Grits and rolls and Orange Aide- this frozen dessert beverage that was fantastic!

Orange Aide:

6 oz. Frozen Orange Juice

10 ice cubs

1 cup cold milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup cold water

BLEND :)

Saturday Jeremy worked on the Expedition and changed the brakes in the Honda and we figured out the reason why my hub caps came off a few weeks ago. PS the Honda is still looking ghetto. Sunday we spent the day at the pool with his Mom and sister and we all got some good sun. I vegged out to Sex and the City last night while cleaning my abosultely filthy room, while Jeremy went and watched the College World Series with Boone and Nick. As of today, Clemson defeated the number one seated team.

In other news, I bought this humidor for Jeremy today on Amazon.com. He's been talking about how he wants one and after doing some research and finding a great deal I got. He's going to be so surprised when it comes in the mail-- I'm so excited to see his reaction :)

Seasons change...

I'm coming to realize that some people in your life are only supposed to be there for a season and that really stinks. I don't have many close friends-- not that I ever had a huge group of people I share everything with to begin with but still, the numbers are dwindling at a very rapid pace.

The girls I thought would be in my life forever and slowly but surely fading away and doing their own thing. While I applaud them in their ventures, it absolutely sucks when I feel like I try and make an effort to see them and work with their schedules and they never seem to have ANY time what so ever. I was even told to not "get an attitude."

I'm hoping that this is a seasonal thing from the Lord-- maybe its a lesson for me to completely trust in Him and have as a friend. I'm so thankful for Jeremy as he is my love and my best friend.

I'm in a weird place in my life right now it seems. While I have either married friends or single friends, none of my friends are in a dating situation life I am and its hard for them to relate to me I guess. I have no inbetween friends!! I'm struggling with it, plain and simple.

In other news: my fasting of the radio is going good and its tough too. I'm enjoying spending time with the Lord!

"God, the one and only I'll wait as long as he says. Everything I hope for comes from him, so why not? He's solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, I'm set for life." Psalm 62: 5-6
This has been my this verse for the week!

Spicy Chicken Sandwich was a bust & other updates

Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve written. Sometimes my life has a way of getting in the way of me time. I consider my blog my me time, a place for me to vent/share happiness etc to the world. I have learned quite a few things recently:

1.) I CANNOT believe its June already and the middle of June at that. Why is time going by so fast?
2.) Jeremy and I went on vacation to Myrtle Beach two weeks ago and it was glorious. We were able to relax and get a tan and have no worries! We got a super sweet deal on Hotwire.com--- by the way I highly recommend using them, we had a 3 day 4 night stay at a 4 star hotel with a full kitchen in it for only $43 a night. Praise the Lord for small blessing such as that, the kitchen really helped us save money!
a. Side note J We’ve been dating 1 ½ year now!!
3.) Chick Fil A’s new spicy chicken sandwich did not meet my expectations and I will continue to love the Original.
4.) My sister left for Zambia, Africa for a missions trip on Sunday for two months. As strange as it seems, when she’s in town and I can actually see her/spend time with her we don’t but now that she’s gone (granted it’s only been 1 day) I can think of million things for us to do this summer together. Weird, I know.
5.) My Best Friend Red came in to town the week before last- she’s the only person in this world that we can go days/weeks/months without seeing each other and when we are reunited it’s like no time has elapsed. After a few drinks I expressed how much I missed her and needed her in my everyday life.
6.) Work is going incredibly fast and it’s amazing how well I am actually doing (Not to brag on myself or anything J) I have made at least 90% of my goal every month since February. The bonuses have been pretty sweet and my savings account is racking up—hello wedding fund for whenever my wedding may be. I’m over $2000 from making my June goal at 100%... so keep me in your prayers for that.
7.) Stephanie and I are renewing our lease with our apartment. They offered us a deal we couldn’t refuse so instead of searching for a 3rd roommate and a new place we’re staying put for another year.
8.) Apparently a few weeks back Jeremy and I put my hubcaps on wrong and I am now down to two of them. The poor Honda is super ghetto at the moment.
9.) Jeremy is still job searching. It’s tough sometimes—I get so frustrated but I’m praying about it a lot and trusting that God is taking care of us and He has the plan not me. Since last Friday I have given up listening to the radio in my car for a week in order to pray for his job situation and for some all around quiet time with the Lord for me. It’s sort of fasting because I love blasting the radio and singing at the top of my lungs, I’m in my car a lot with work. But like my Grandmother said “If we show the Lord we’re faithful to Him, He will always work things out for us.” Please keep his job situation in your prayers please!!
10.) I’m hosting a Tastefully Simple Party on Thursday. I’m hoping lots of people show up and order stuff!
11.) Jeremy was given a Four Wheeler this past weekend and I am super excited to learn how to drive it since it’s a manual!!

That’s pretty much it for now. I work, I sleep, I eat, spend time with Jeremy, see a few friends and go to church. I never thought that grown up life would be so monotonous or tiring. I’m still sad my computer broke. Cody asked me to design him some stuff today and I told him it was broke. I miss my MAC.

Until next time…

713 more months...

Juno MacGuff: I just need to know that it's possible that two people can stay happy together forever.
Mac MacGuff: Well, it's not easy, that's for sure. Now, I may not have the best track record in the world, but I have been with your stepmother for 10 years now and I'm proud to say that we're very happy.
Mac MacGuff: Look, in my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you, the right person is still going to think the sun shines out your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth sticking with.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recently, two of my parents closest married friends who have both lived two houses away for the past 10 year are dealing with martial problems. The problems included basically everything to do with infidelity and its completely got me blown away. The cops even made an apperance at both showings of the Truth when it came out. One couple I've always known that has had problems but the other has always seemed very happy besides the occasional fight. When mom called me this morning, I had to have her reassure me that she and my dad are more than fine and that nothing like that would happen with them and she completely reassured me that they were more than fine.

I just know that I want to be with one person for the rest of my life and take care of them and them take care of me. And I'm very confident that I've found him. I never want him to ever doubt me-- I want him to know that I am completely devoted to him and the 'us' that there is.

I want to be like the couple below when I'm 85, they're so stinkin' cute.

As we go on, we remember...

...All the times we had together

So today, I walked the halls of my high school in search of my old yearbook teacher Mrs. Infante to pick up the senior pictures that will be put in my newspaper. Its amazing how much it has stayed the same and how much it has really changed in the past 5 years. So many memories flooded back to me as I walked through the doors in to the office and then from there through the Cougar den and just thinking of how things were not so long ago. Friends, relationships, yearbook, broadcasting, clothes, jobs, teachers... I kind of missed the simplicity of high school while there. We go through high school thinking we are so old and can take on the world, when in reality we are still just babies basically until we go through atleast 1 year of college. I've grown so much since high school.


Look at my visitor's pass :)

Its such a hard concept for me to grasp that I graduated 5 whole years ago from high school and an entire year ago I was about to graduate from college. Its amazing to see where God has taken me in the past year, from Greenville being a secretary to back home here in Rock Hill as an account executive. I'm so thankful that I am one of the lucky few who was able to get a job as soon as I graduated, God has truly blessed me in the past year and a half. I'm not always thankful and I hate that my human nature gets in the way of realizing what all God has done for me.

Greetings...

Hello I'm April. I work, live & play in Upper State South Carolina. Please excuse any spelling errors because although I am a college graduate it seems that spelling just didn't come naturally neither did math it seems.

Today is Tuesday and its one of my easy days at work. I am an account executive for a daily and weekly newspaper. I love it most days and I hate it all the rest. Sales is a very stressful proffession and I'm still trying to figure out if this is what I want to do for the rest of my life since I've only been out of school for 1 entire year as of next week.

I have lots of deadlines coming up with work, Western Watch is coming out in June but my deadline for all ad sales is next week. They've set my $$ goal for $12,000. We'll see how that one turns out. Graduation Tab comes out in May for all the current seniors at the two local high schools, my $$ goal is $4,000.

I've recently decided that all old men are mean- this comes from dealing with them at work as it seems thats all my territory has to offer is old men who think they always need things their way.

I have missed having my newspaper column like I did in college at The Skyliner, so I've decided to start back in blog form. Until next time...