Sunday Funday

I had the pleasant experience of house sitting for the first time last night, and completely ruined it by watching three episodes of Criminal Minds before I went to sleep. Not okay. Let's just say I honestly thought there was a killer in the house, and I didn't sleep.
But overall, today was quite pleasant. Church was good today, and I wore my new heels from Target!

My camera sucks, but whatcha gunna do? 

I'm really enjoying being home. As the semester was winding down I actually was nervous to come home because I thought I would hate it, but I actually love it. I had a lot of plans for traveling that fell through, and I'm happy to say that I am finally okay with the fact that I didn't get to go to New York or Switzerland. The timing wasn't right, and I love, love, love being home.

After church, we hit the beach. It was my first swim of the summer, and it was freezing.

This jungle gym thingy has been at this beach for maybe 30 years. My mom and aunt both remember playing on it as kids as do I. It's the only thing at the beach that has not been replaced over the years, and I really hope it never is. It's crazy to me that it has been there for multiple generations. 

A Day For a Dress

When I woke up to sunshine this morning, I knew I wanted to wear a dress, so here it is:

This bag and this pair of shoes are my two favorite things I own! 

I was up bright an early to go have coffee with a friend that I haven't seen in forever! It was wonderful.
Then, I went to the Macaroni Grill with my mom for lunch and had this:

Shrimp portofino. This dish had the most amazing butter sauce that I have ever tasted in my whole life. It was great.
Afterwards, my mom and I went to a different CVS to see if I could get a physical for my job starting on Tuesday. Surprise, surprise, NO CVS's do employment physicals, even though that's where my work told me to go. So we got back in the car, and panic started to set in. I need to start work Tuesday. I wanted to start this week, but I didn't know about all the paperwork and crap I needed to do beforehand. Another week of nothing would result in loss of money and extreme boredom. My mom had called our actual doctor last week, only to be told that she was booked for three weeks. So we're sitting there in the car and she calls again, just to make sure. As the phone's ringing I was just praying. Please God let someone cancel or something. Turns out they had an opening for Monday morning, mere hours before I have to turn in my paperwork to start training on Tuesday. I'm starting work next week! It's a freaking miracle! I honestly never thought this day would come where I have a guaranteed job that I will most likely love.
A good friend once told me that one way to know where you're supposed to be is to examine the problems you have along the way. When applying for school I experienced months of uncertainty and it was a period of trusting God, and that is how I feel about this job too.

So after all that excitement, I saw Bridesmaids with another friend tonight. It was a great movie, besides some unnecessary sex scenes that really did not need to be there. But in the end, the funny parts weighed out the annoying. The writing was really good, and Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig were great together, as expected.

She Was Just a Wish

I was really bored today, so I decided to record myself singing Gypsy by Fleetwood Mac. It's the demo version which I actually happen to like a lot better than the album version.
Enjoy :)

Secretary For a Day

With most of the staff at my church going off to District Counsel today in Springfield, I have been recruited to work in the office all day. Answering phones is not something that I have much experience with, so it has been interesting so far. I will most likely be watching things on Netflix and reading all day while also practicing my awesome secretarial skills.
In other news, (I realize I say that a lot, but there does not seem to be another transition that is adequate) I was fingerprinted for my job yesterday. It was an interesting experience, considering that they do fingerprinting all electronic now. All I need to do is to get a physical and TB test and I will be on my merry little way to wrangling children all day. I am very excited for this job, and I know it is where God has willed me to be, considering that it was the only one to pop after applying for near 100 jobs. It's only three miles from my house and full time, so I'm pumped.

This song is stuck in my head. Enjoy!

Home Sweet Home

I've been home for about a week and a half now, and all I can say is that I never loved old Illinois more in my whole life. I am so happy to be home and not to be on a constant schedule (for long). I love my bed, my room, my cats, and being home with my family. While my room is still in a messy transition stage, all my old furniture has been successfully moved up to my sister's room, and I have acquired a few new pieces from various family members. I'm not really sure if I will ever have enough time or money to create the room that I first was imagining, but right now I'm okay with what it is.
In other news, I got a job at a daycare (Praise God!) and I am in the process of filling out the large amounts of paperwork that go along with working with kids. I will probably start next week because of all the things I have to do beforehand, which means one more week of freedom. It also means that I might possibly be able to go back to Minnesota for my friend K'rin's birthday party next weekend. I might also be able to fly, because even though my New York trip fell through, my plane ticket remains. I am thankful for this because my other option would be to take the bus, which is never fun.
Church this morning was awesome, and so was my outfit! I was quite excited about this one because I just got the boots last night from Ragstock for $5!

I was actually happy that it was a bit chilly today because it allowed me to wear these leggings and boots. They wouldn't work so well in the hot weather that we had last week. 

Out with the Old in With the Wonderful

After moving back to Chicago from Minneapolis, my room is a disaster. I honestly have more junk that I could have ever imagined, and this truly became apparent to me when comparing my pile outside my dorm room door to other girls' piles. But after several trips down to the car and then a seven hour drive, I am home and loving it. I had an interview for a job at a daycare today, and I have a trial day there on Monday. I also have an interview for a babysitting job tomorrow. God has been nothing but faithful in my job hunting process, considering that I also have two more interviews that I still need to schedule.

But anyways, back to the room situation. I have decided that I will be giving all of my current furniture to my sister and to start from scratch. So far what I have to work with is a bookcase, mattress, and a hanging canopy. My goal is to create an open and simple space that is great for reading and relaxing. Currently, it is far too cluttered.

For my bed, I would like something like this:

However, I am going to try to convince my dad to build it for me instead of spending almost $200 on it.
Then on top of the bed will be a canopy similar to this:

We have a couple dressers around the house that I could probably snatch up and use, but they would need makeovers. I was unsure what I'd do to make them work, but I found a DIY that would work great.

I'm a huge fan of light yellow, and this would be great color to go with the dark red and pale turquoise that I'm planning for the walls. I'd also like to find some antique handles somewhere to replace the old ones. 

As for shelving, I have an idea of some wall shelves that I want to put up along with a few of these:

Barnes and Noble Floating Bookshelf

As for lighting, I need to find a ceiling lamp that I actually like that will give off some decent light. Some ideas:

These are all simple and from Ikea.