Life as a Newlywed

BLOG HAS MOVED:

2005-04-12T13:56:00.000-06:00

Please go to www.thepregnantlife.blogspot.com

Random ramblings

2005-01-11T11:24:00.000-06:00

Take the quiz: "What does your birth month reveal about you?"

December
Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egoistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

And the award goes to.....

2005-01-10T15:58:00.000-06:00

Me! Thank you, thank you! I love you all! Heh.

I was officially informed this afternoon that the paper I submitted last semester for a class on Social & Cultural Change has been accepted for the A-MSA Conference this February in Tuscaloosa. A-MSA is actually the Alabama-Mississippi Sociological Association, and I guess every year they have an educational and "student friendly" conference where they give students a chance to submit papers to be presented at the conference. Actually, I'll just be giving about a 13 minute speech on the paper itself, which is all related to maternal filicide (Andrea Yates and Melissa Drexler) were two of my examples. The paper studied the differences between teenage mothers who murder their children, and older mothers who kill their somewhat older children.

I put alot of effort into this paper, and it's a really big deal that it's been accepted (to me anyway) so now I'm all excited. Besides, how often is it that two of my favorite topics (sociology and criminology) can be linked and I actually learn something?

This is awesome! I love school!

The insanity that is the justice system

2005-01-07T16:43:00.000-06:00

There is some testimony from Andrea Yates' trial (that led to her murder conviction) that is under question that was made by a psychiatrist named Park Dietz, giving reference to an episode of 'Law & Order' that doesn't exist.

I'm sorry....what?

For those of you who weren't aware, criminal justice and anything to do with children and the justice system is where I want to base my career. So I'm sitting here, scratching my head because I wrote a paper last semester that may very well be submitted to a sociology conference in February for presentation, and it was on the study of maternal filicide (basic definition: the murdering of a child committed by the child's mother). The thesis of my paper was the difference between teenage mothers who kill their own and adult mothers who kill their somewhat older children.

I think every single piece of information I had concerned either Andrea Yates or Susan Smith, when it concerned adult mothers. Most of the time, their defense team sought an insanity plea as the reason they committed the crime. In the case of Andrea Yates, there was a case law review from Harvard that I read that had some bit of information on the fact that Andrea Yates was on anti-psychotic medication after the birth of her 2nd or 3rd child, and doctors had warned her husband against them having more children because it would only compound her problems.

What am I getting at? First of all, she did it. She admitted to doing it. They have that on the 911 tapes, I know. Secondly, I don't feel that she's the only one responsible. If doctors are encouraging her and her husband not to have more children, was anybody listening? Did anybody worry about leaving 5 children home alone with Andrea Yates, who was taking anti-psychotic medication and had already attempted suicide at least once on record?

This news that they're thinking of overturning her conviction because of false testimony given by this psychiatrist is unfathomable to me. I understand that the information is saying that if Dietz testimony was false, Yates should be "not guilty" by reason of insanity, but she admitted to it.....criminally insane or not, doesn't that make her guilty? She admitted it herself.

I don't know, maybe I'm out of my mind. I'm just outraged because five beautiful, innocent children are dead, and I feel like the warning signs were there and this tragedy could've been prevented.

Christmas 2004 Memories

2004-12-29T15:11:00.000-06:00

Quick Wrap-Up
We got ornaments. I mean TONS. One was from my mother-in-law, for Christmas in our first home. My mom got us a first christmas ornament of Cherubs and also one with two bears as a bride and groom. She also brought us funky little ornaments for the dogs and things. Next year, we won't need new ornaments. Unless it says "Baby's First Christmas." (I'm thinking too far ahead).

Day by Day Recap
THURSDAY 12.23.04 Pictures Here

As my previous blog mentioned, Christina and I spent all day baking different things. The peanut butter chocolate Ritz was a big hit on Christmas Day, and the cookies were gobbled up really fast. That night, Bryan and I went to his grandmother's Christmas party which was loads of fun. Christmas 2003 I managed to open 3 gifts and have each one of them taken away during a mad game of dirty Santa. This year, the "big" gift was one of those vibrating squishy massage pillows. THREE OF THEM - And wouldn't you know, I opened all 3 and had them taken away from me. The laughter in that house was hysterical. I opened 8-10 gifts this year and had all of them swiped. Bryan even tried to help me out, but we lost track of whether or not the item was "dead" (after being "stolen" three times an item is "dead") and so someone got my massaging neck pillow. Bryan ended up with a shaving set and I got 2 Joe Boxer travel mugs. Pretty nice, broke them in Christmas Eve.

FRIDAY 12.24.04

I worked until about 7:30pm and then headed to my mother-in-law's, because every year that Bryan and I have been together it has become a tradition to share Christmas Eve with his mom and sister and open gifts. I had a theme, apparently, because all my gifts were kitchen related and ALL Fat Chef items. Bed,Bath,and Beyond sells the line I love. Then the final big present came and Bryan and I joked that it was another vaccum cleaner (this would've been the third year we'd received one) and....I GOT MY ISLAND FOR MY KITCHEN!!!! The minute we bought this house, I said I wanted an island to sit in the middle of the kitchen floor because it's SO huge. AND I GOT IT!! Okay, I'm still excited. Sue me! And sadly Bryan and I forgot to change out the battery in the digital camera, so there were no pictures this year.
Then we got home around 11pm and my mom and sisters came to spend the night with us. We didn't stay up too late that night, I think we watched "Two Brothers" halfway through before I went to bed. That is an adorable movie, by the way.

SATURDAY 12.25.04 Pictures Here

We got up early enough for me to start coffee and make breakfast (Baked Omelette, Waffles, Biscuits and homemade preserves). We ate breakfast and then started opening presents, not after Christina had said "This is the longest time we've EVER waited to open presents!" But my mom and I didn't feel like we had any reason to rush, so we didn't. I got more Fat Chef kitchen things (I now wonder if my Mother and Mother-in-law cohorted together on that plan) and I also got little toys and goodies in my stocking. My mother also have Bryan and I seperate gifts of Cordial Cherries, which is a sentimental gift in my family because that was a tradition started by my great-grandmother years before she passed away. Then we got all dressed up to go out and visit the rest of our family.

SUNDAY 12.26.04
My mom and sisters had slept over again, so I made another Baked Omelette, this time with just hashbrowns. After breakfast we gathered everybody up to go to my cousin Celena's house, and we spent the rest of the day out there having hamburgers and hotdogs off the grill for dinner.

We got snow....

2004-12-23T18:09:00.000-06:00

Flurries. I'm not complaining, as much drama as I hear about icing driveways and scraping windshields...keep the real thing, those of you who are *lucky* enough to have it! Heh.

But we saw snow flurries today, me and my little sister, so we had some fun trying to shop at Wal-mart.

I think I filled my quota for Holiday Baking all in one afternoon. My sister and I made homemade Cranberry Chutney (it smelled so much like potpurri with the spices, we were almost too afraid to taste it), Peanut Butter Fudge with Chocolate Drizzle, Monster Cookies that consist of peanut butter, oatmeal, chocolate chips, and M&Ms (basically a flour-less cookie) and to finish it all off, we made Ritz peanut butter sandwich cookies dipped in chocolate.

And I was on good behavior, I only had 2 cookies and one chocolate dipped Ritz sandwich today.
Besides, most of it is going to Bryan's grandparents' Christmas party tonight, and some with me to my bosses tomorrow morning at work. Then we're spending Christmas Eve with Bryan's mom and sister, and then my family is coming over to spend the night.

So for breakfast Christmas Day, we plan on having a Baked Omelet, Hashbrowns and Coffee, and enjoying it in front of the fireplace while we watch A Christmas Carol.

Could I be anymore of a Christmas Geek? (I just pulled a Chandler!)

So This is Christmas.....

2004-12-21T17:18:00.000-06:00

Okay, I think it's safe to assume just by the weather conditions alone that Christmas is just around the corner. And while the tune of Jim Carrey singing You're a Mean One, Mr.Grinch I have changed the template on my blog and have done nothing but surf the internet for the last two and a half hours. I've been productive! (not.)

If you're someone who loves movies but hates paying late fees when you rent, there is a website you should definitely check out --> Netflix

Several people have recommended it to me, and Bryan and I signed up on Sunday and we've already received our first three movies (all Christmas movies, so I'm glad they got here when they did).

Nothing new going on around here. I'm still enjoying my official "off days" from work and school, and I can't say I've done anything worth talking about in the free time I've had. My mom is coming up this weekend for Christmas, so I should have good holiday pictures to post next week sometime.

PS - I love Jim Carrey's version of "The Grinch"!!

Calling all angels....

2004-12-18T17:23:00.000-06:00

Then it's one foot, then the other, as you step out on the road
Step out on the road..how much weight , how much?
Then it's how long and how far and how many times....
Oh before it's too late

Have you ever had one of those days where you feel like your entire world is crashing down around you....you want to just curl up in a ball and cry yourself into oblivion.....I've had days like that. And you're asking yourself "How much more of this can I deal with?"
Looking to God.
How much more can you possibly put on my shoulders right now. Are you testing me?

Calling all angels, calling all angels
Walk me through this one...don't leave me alone
Calling all angels, calling all angels
We're trying and we're hoping
But we're not sure how

Sometimes I think people can be cruel for no reason other than they think they're helping. How are you helping by taking everything you don't like about me and tearing into me, piece by piece? Does it make you feel good about yourself? I think you get some satisfaction out of the fact that you hurt me. Hope you enjoy my pain.

Calling all angels, calling all angels
We're trying, we're hoping
We're hurting, we're loving
We're crying, we're calling
Cause we're not sure how this goes

Death Penalty for Peterson

2004-12-13T17:07:00.000-06:00

The jury announced the verdict this afternoon about 4 o'clock my time - Scott Peterson will receive the death penalty for the murder of Laci and Connor. I'm confused though because on the radio, the DJ said that sentencing would begin in February....does that mean Scott will begin serving his sentence in February or what? I'm only assuming because I thought sentencing came after the trial, and then he served his time.

I'm going with the guilty verdict because of his behavior after Laci's disappearance, and because of the stint with dying his hair, getting a large sum of cash, and heading for Mexico. And the fact that the evidence just started stacking up against him.

Just.Want.Sleep.

2004-12-09T09:31:00.000-06:00

. Sadly, yesterday was probably the worst birthday I've had.

I was supposed to be at work between 2:30-3:00 am yesterday morning. The night before, I had gone to bed with a terrible stomach ache and woke feeling even worse. I made it to work around 4:00am (I work in pricing, so we're required to be there early) and found myself greeted by the pricing manager/my co-worker, and a police car. Apparently, at 2:40 a.m. the store had been robbed at gunpoint.

Thankfully, no one was hurt but I was terrified because this is the first time that's ever happened at our store, and apparently one of the overnight stockers involved is seriously shaken up about it. I was told by the overnight cashier - she and the stocker were told to get face down on the floor at gunpoint - that she was terrified that he was going to bolt and run.

There is a small blurb in the Montgomery Newspaper about the robbery. Just go here.

The day just progressed from there, with my last stressful day of classes and then finding out that MrC would not be getting off work very early - so I ate birthday cake by myself last night.

And then some stupid woman called me an idiot when I was driving out of Food World because she and her daughter didn't bother to stop when I was driving toward them. So I drove around them instead.

What guts me the most about the entire robbery thing is that I was supposed to be there. So my mental state today isn't a good one. And now it's raining.

New Developments

2004-12-02T09:55:00.000-06:00

We've been having problems adjusting. Our new city is totally different from the old one, and a major part of that is because of the fact that we lived on THE busiest street in the old city and now this new one is.....slow. I won't say slow exactly. The problem is, we're accustomed to slamming doors and stomping neighbors, barking dogs at all hours, and laughing children playing in the walkway of our apartment. I was accustomed to knowing where my husband was in the apartment by certain creaks the floor made as he walked. We kept our windows open in the summer and listened to the wonderful sounds of blairing stereos or revving engines. Now when you stand outside after about 9 o'clock, the only thing you might here is crickets churping. And even they keep it down to a dull roar.

We love our new house. We're not complaining at all. I was shocked by the fact that on Sunday as we're moving in, the neighbors to our right came over JUST to introduce themselves. We socialized with our apartment neighbors, sure, but just coming out to tell us who you are? And we paid $20 the other night for two large speciality pizzas and some breadsticks and a LOCALLY owned pizza place. I love getting to pay 2% less on my sales tax, that's absolutely great. And the dogs don't know what to do with themselves when they're allowed out in the yard - alone - to play. But we need noise. We've lived with it for almost four years now. Maybe one night I'll go down the street with my windows down, radio blaring. Do you think the neighbors will think badly of me if I do?

We're in!

2004-11-23T09:20:00.000-06:00

We're actually homeowners! Well, technically we're making payments to the mortgage company who bought the house for us....but even so! The paperwork is done!

Now all we have to do is wait until this weekend to move in. There is a link in another post for pictures of the house, and I will definitely post more once we're all settled in. And I have internet access again.

Ba Humbug!

2004-11-19T17:02:00.000-06:00

I am trying. I really am. I am honest-to-goodness making every attempt (and failing) to get into the spirit of Christmas.

Yes, I realize it's still a little early...most people don't even have their trees up yet. Only 1/2 the businesses I come in contact with are playing Christmas music ("it's joyful and triumphant!"). My husband thinks that my favorite Christmas movie of all time might do the trick (read: Jim Carrey in The Grinch). Sadly, it's packed into a box under a mountain of other boxes in our livingroom.

I have a feeling the Christmas spirit I'm searching for might be misplaced until it can be unpacked after the Big Move next Sunday. Maybe I can watch the movie, put up the tree, and decorate our new house all in one day.

In other news not related to Christmas:
1. We found out we were unable to lock in the interest rate on our house.
2. The house is being sold to us at $2000 less than what the seller originally asked for (appraisal based).

And on a final note, my pet peeve for the day: When you call people who claimed to be at home the time that you called, yet they failed somehow to answer the phone.

Scott Peterson found guilty.

2004-11-12T15:26:00.000-06:00

Today the jury in the Scott Peterson trial gave the verdict - guilty. 1st degree for Laci, 2nd degree for Connor. A classmate and I were talking about not understanding the difference in degree, so I took my nerdy little self and looked it up online. Apparently the difference is the option of premeditation, which I'm not sure I totally understand when it comes to baby Connor. The reason I say that is because if the jury is saying that Scott planned Laci's murder, he certainly didn't "accidentally" kill baby Connor. Unless they are only basing it on the fact that if Scott had disposed of Laci's body in the water, that baby Connor might have lived. I think they mentioned something before the trial even started about how her death must have somehow extracted the fetus from her body. I'm not sure I understand the science of that, but I felt like he was guilty just by his actions from the beginning so the verdict is a small victory for me. Although I'm certain that this was no victory for Laci's family.

So today is the day....

2004-11-09T07:48:00.000-06:00

Well, not exactly. Today is the day for the inspection of our first official home. I am so excited I had to get myself out of bed when Bryan left for work at 6:48 this morning. So now I'm mindlessly surfing the internet, looking at different websites, just biding my time until 1:45 when I can go. to. the. house. Of course, it's only the inspection. But maybe this time I'll actually remember to look for the mailbox.

We move in on November 28th, even though we close on November 22nd. The seller has been nice enough to give us everything we asked for, and we understand his situation so we're giving him an extra "window" of time to get all of his things out of the house before we move in. The only reason for the closing November 22nd was to lock in the interest rate anyway.

For pictures of the house, you can go here.

2004-11-02T21:40:00.000-06:00

My first official entry in my brand new blog. Short and sweet.