The Trials of a Cell Phone, Part 1

Today I had my phone lock up up on me for the third time this week. It's never done this in the entire 9 months that I've had it until now. I can only be patient for so long and reset the phone until the moon shines.
So, I had to call AT&T and ask "what the heck?" and get it solved once and for all. Part of me hoped that they'd say I just needed a new one and that they no longer sold my type and that I would just have to get a different one. Sadly, that just wasn't the way it would go.

I got acquainted with my techie, Sharon, and we shared laughs about coworkers who steal our pens, and solved this phone issue once and for all. I, personally, have never heard of something called a master reset. However, that is the "solution" to the problem according to my lovely cell phone company.

Of course, this help didn't come without the bombarding of questions such as:

1. have you dropped your phone recently?
2. taken a dip in the lake with it? (really, lady? it's freezing here.)
3. dropped the phone into the toilet?
4. any other kind of possible damage?

I still laugh about the lake question. And it's really not that much freezing here, but it is cold for the South. I regress.

Sharon and I hopefully fixed the phone. She's going to check up on me tomorrow. Now that I think about it though, I should have asked her to connect me to the advertising department so that I could speak my mind about all these gosh darn map ads. Enough with Luke Wilson telling me about the map!  I, of all people, definitely know about the map!

Helping Neighbors

I finally have a couple random minutes to share a quick post with y'all before I have my Teaching Kindergarten class.

If you haven't helped with the Haiti disaster relief but feel a tug to do so, I encourage you to give some form of help. In church on Sunday, they showed a 7 minute video filmed by Churches Helping Churches and it was... emotional. They took up a special offering and raised over $11,000 in that short amount of time. Can you believe it? I was awestruck.

I guess for me, it's hard to see people hold such a hard heart against Haiti. Yes, I am aware that even though they are 90 miles away from the US, their government doesn't like us at all. But that doesn't mean that we should treat them the same way. It was eye opening when one of my managers said that they deserved what they got. What must it say about your character if you can say something that hurtful? I don't think anybody asks for a disaster like this, especially a natural disaster.

Anyway, if you haven't helped Haiti, please help them. And even if you do not have the monetary sources, at least think of them and don't take things for granted.

Ruby

Sunday, I sat down with Dad to order a new computer for myself. As much I heart a Macbook, I had to face the fact that I needed a new computer on the fly (sorry, restaurant terminology) and didn't have the the cash for what I desperately wanted. Thank goodness for dads that get massive discounts on Dells, right?

I was, however, dismayed it wouldn't arrive until next week. That is, until I was driving home from school this morning and dad called to tell me look on the porch when I got home. I guess Mr. UPS had to call and get permission to leave it since nobody was home.

SO! I now have my pretty red laptop (it's gorgeous) with a webcam (how exciting!) and haven't put it down since. I love it!

Without further adieu, meet Ruby.

yummers

My number one confession: during awards season, I stalk E! Online. I salivate over the dresses. You know you do it too, ladies (and men... maybe?).

But of course, I really swooned over this photo. I know I'm definitely NOT the only one.

Gerard Butler is one handsome fellow, don't you think?

Simply Love

I told y'all this would happen. The day I start classes, I get overwhelmed.

Right now, I'm searching for a new (used) car. My car is on the fritz really bad. I'm searching high and low- Chattanooga, Birmingham, you name it, I'm looking. Although, I'm sort of picky (Honda Accord or Civic.) My parents have a Honda and Toyota and I love them. So anyway, that's where my time's going when I'm not doing homework.

BUT.

Katie is holding a Valentine swap for all of us crazy bloggers. Click the picture above (or her name) and go sign up!

The Witty, Funny God

Two blogs in one night. I know, this NEVER happens. Except rarely. Let the juices flow, right?

I've been thinking a lot lately. Maybe it's my weekly counseling sessions that get me thinking. I'm not sure. I've been thinking about how mischievious God is lately. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's downright annoying. Annoying would be how he gave me this chronic disease that will not go away. But back to tonight's topic: being single.

Oh, sure, I could list the great things about being single. But lately, there's been the part of me that wants a boyfriend. That's right- Ms. Proud to be Single isn't so proud these days. Actually, I take that back. I am proud to be single because it means I haven't settled. But then there's the side of me that wants someone around. Cue God.

So God's thrown me curveballs. Managers that hit on me. Ungodly men that are handsome as ever. Kind of like the whole "Let's see what Lauren does when man candy comes her way." Yeah. Very funny, God. Very funny. Because the truth is that while I am, regrettably, shallow I also know that looks aren't everything. It's all about his character, personality, beliefs. Not just what he dresses like, how he does his hair, and the way his eyes make you melt. No, it's not. And boy, I wish it was like that. So when I see these girls that have it easy and have handsome, strong men, I do get jealous because I haven't had that someone around yet. But then I think back on the men that I've dated and have ditched and think, "no, I had it. I was just a shallow girl who was afraid." Ouch on the honesty. This change in me came a couple weeks ago.

Remember the post about independence? Well the night that I wrote that I had this very... awakening... dream. Ironic, no? It was my Ex. The Ex. He came to me at a restaurant and said "let go." And I woke thinking... wow. And to be honest, it wasn't just me that was thinking that. I prefer to not dream about the masochistic, Mr. Macho idiot of a man (sorry.) So I really started thinking deeply about what it really meant. Do you know what I would have given to have Joseph around to interpret the dream? Only, I really didn't need him to tell me, I already knew what to do. And so I did it. I (finally) let go and realized that I no longer had that stomach flipping reaction everytime I closed my eyes and thought about him. I could only do it because I knew that it wasn't him talking to me- it was Him.

What's even more amazing is my reaction to a picture of him and his new young girlfriend (who's in high school.) All I did was laugh. That was really all I could do. Was it hard? Yes. Was it easy? Definitely. It was hard to see that he's moved on but at the same time, it was so easy because his character was loud and clear in the picture.

But I know that this didn't happen because I decided to have this movement. This was all God, showing His power and his funny sense of humor. It's made me question myself and regret throwing a guy to the curb just because he was my height and not the tall dark handsome man I've imagined; I didn't go for his hysterical personality or his quirks. This new revelation is not a New Year thing, that's for sure. It's definitely a chapter in my life that I really cannot appreciate enough.

So God, You're funny and downright witty. I can only hope that I have the patience I desperately need to sit and wait for the one who's worth it.

The Good Kind of Chills

I'm sure everyone's seen or heard about this, but Brit Hume sorta gave me the chills with this. Not the bad chills, the good ones. I really only get my news from Fox (I mean, Bill Hemmer is pretty easy on the eyes; plus they're not all brain washy with their news) but this was a wow-ser. What kind of guts does it take to go that far? I mean, in a good way kind of far. I agree w/ Hume wholeheartedly. There's nothing worse than seeing a legend go down the drain as far as his family is concerned. It definitely makes you think about whether or not the fame is worth it all.

Every Girl's Cure for Depression

Alright- tonight was the semi-annual event of "Lauren's in a depression so it's time to raid Sephora." Indeed. (Tonight's depression is thanks to the purchase of books that will aid in this brained beauty's education on all things regarding elementary education.)

Personally, I'll be honest with y'all- Sephora is SOOOOOO much better than Ulta. I went into Ulta yesterday to look at a Smashbox tinted moisturizer an acquaintance raved about. I looked at Ulta and saw the price was the exact same as Sephora. So I thought to myself: I can either buy this here or I can get it online AND get freebies and an EXTRA freebie since I'm a beauty insider. You gotta work it when you can, peeps. And so, I did.

And I love it.

By the way, if Sephora gets the urge to make me a spokesperson, I would not complain a bit.

Until then, I will hopefully blog again sometime this week. Seeing as school starts Wednesday (ugh) and I have to get crackin' at 6 in the morn... oh forget it, of course I'll blog this week ;)

One of my Favorite Things

Last night, I made an excursion to go see a friend. The trip itself will be revealed with Not Me Monday, so you'll have to wait a couple days. But on this trip, I had to go through Tuscaloosa (hometown of the #1 college football team in the country- I can't bring myself to say what team though.) Anyway. So I stopped at my favorite place in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD... Starbucks. While in line, I saw the Valentine stuff they had out (really, Christmas just ended, people) and my heart leaped for joy at the sight of this mug. I decided I had to have it.


Therefore, I would say one my favorite thing(s) in the world are... Starbucks mugs. They're always so cute and happy, I can't resist. I became hooked on them a few years ago (not sure exactly when, per say.) It all started with my pink flower mug that was my favorite. Then there is the Halloween mug that has a funny face on it. There's the traditional mug that has the classic Starbucks logo on it. And don't even get me started on the thermoses. My new favorite is the double walled stainless steel that I got- while is was as expensive as a motherlover, it keeps my coffee hot for at least 2 hours.

Notice my favorite mug in the background that is now a pen holder because it cracked and can't hold cafe anymore.

So of course, when I saw this mug last night, I had to have it. It's not an option of whether I need it, people. I have to have it. I should just tell my friends to get me the girliest mugs they can find at Starbucks when they ask what they should get me.

By the way, I really think I should tally up how many times I said Starbucks.