Hello in there? *echo*
WOW! I can't believe it's been a whole year and I'm not just talking about since my wedding - since my last real post as well. I've posted a couple of stories, but other than that nothing.
I chalk it up to some business, laziness, and my usual practice of procrastination, procrastination, procrastination. After the wedding we were all so tired. I had wanted to do a recap of some kind, but just decided to wait to do it. I didn't visit LJ or twitter or keep up with my mail. After a couple of months I had about 400 e-mails I needed to reply to. I finally started visiting Twitter again and LJ again.
Once I finally came back, I wanted to get to doing the wedding recap, but I tend to get very word-y (see this post for example LOL) and I knew talking about the wedding would take forever so I just kept putting it off. At one point, to try and motivate myself I made the decision that I wouldn't post anything until I posted about the wedding. That...clearly didn't work. I had to break my rule and post my resolutions after the new year, but I just got too busy and didn't get around to it.
What's funny, to me anyway, about not posting for so long is I used to not post for a long time with no problem. When I first started on LJ I was really just a lurker. I didn't have a lot of friends or a lot going on in my life. But now that I do have a lot of friends and do have a lot of stuff going on in my life, I don't post in forever.
Though not posting on LJ isn't the only thing I'm behind on. I've never gotten the dress that I wore to the rehearsal dinner dry cleaned. I haven't cleaned my wedding dress. They had this wedding dress preservation kit thing at David's Bridal, which I wasn't sure if I wanted to do, but I need to do something. I haven't gotten the pictures my aunt took at the wedding rehearsal. I still haven't got our wedding album. We got all the pics from the wedding (over 800) on discs, but the album hasn't been put together. It's been horrible trying to communicate with the wedding photographer. It takes him forever to answer e-mails.
So, anyway, I've decided to do a wedding recap - for anyone who still cares - and post some pictures over the weekend. This will also be a kind of nice way to relive the wedding before our anniversary.
Things between Michael and I are going alright. When it comes to our feelings for each other we're still just as in love as ever. I've never been in a relationship before, so I have no real frame of reference, but it still surprises me how after six years together we're still so crazy about each other. He still texts me that he misses me on occasion. We're still ridiculously affectionate in public (which is never something I thought I would be.) We don't make out in public or anything. But he puts his arms around me and we hug. So, yeah, still in love. :)
It's just kind of everything else that's less than ideal. Our financial situation still isn't great. Michael still absolutely hates his job, but doesn't know what else he can do. I'm not working currently and it seems the only job I can get is in retail, which is better than nothing, but doesn't feel like it'll really help us save enough for a car and a house etc.
We got a lot of money back for our taxes, but ended up not able to keep it. I got a letter that they took all of it for my student loan. That was actually something Mike was a bit worried about before we got married that my debts would become his. In the letter it did indicate that since we filed jointly that Mike could fill out a form and get some, if not all, of the money back since it wasn't his debt, plus most of the money was from his income. But Mike surprised me by saying he was okay with it because he had wanted to use the money for my loan. The only downside was that Mike that the money would cover all of my debt and it only covered close to half of it. I still owe over 4k plus interest.
Mike really wanted to be done with the loan so we could start saving for a car, since our car feels like it's on its last legs. Plus, we want to move.
We've wanted to move for awhile. At first, it was because of Mike's maternal grandmother who I absolutely detest and he isn't fond of either. She was constantly picking fights with me. Luckily, she moved out a few months ago. But Mike is sure that she'll end up coming back again. Plus, Greg is starting to annoy him and his mother is starting to annoy me.
Mike's started school again and Greg doesn't seem to get that school is going to take precedence for him. He works 10-12 five days a week and the rest of that time he needs to study, but Greg keeps telling him to blow it off and tries to give him chores to do, just so Greg doesn't have to do anything when he gets home. Mike doesn't know how to tell him no because Greg will then start complaining about Mike not doing anything around the house and start arguing with Jean.
I don't fight with Jean at all, but our personalities are so different that it gets annoying for me. In a way my relationship with her is the same as with my mother. I have a feeling we'd get a long a lot better if we weren't living together.
One big kind of bone of contention between us is our politics are very, very different. I've never really been too into politics, but with all the shootings and horrific stuff going on in the world, I've been more into wanting to fight for more gun control which is something Jean and Greg are opposed to. They're one of those - I want to refrain from using the word "idiot" - "people" who actually think the solution is more guns. They sleep with a freaking gun under their pillow!
I honestly don't know when the gun under the pillow stuff started. I discovered it a couple of months ago when I was playing with the dogs in their room. I knew that they had a gun, but I thought it was locked away. I've played with the dogs in their room before and never saw it, but one day it was barely even hidden. That hasn't made me feel safe, but kind of freaked out.
Another horrific thing is that they're Trump supporters. When Trump first announced that he was going to run I mostly treated it as the joke it was - and should have remained. One day we were eating at a Chinese restaurant and Jean said she would vote for him. I almost choked. I tried to chalk it up to the novelty of the situation. Plus, I didn't ever think it would get that far.
I haven't really asked or talked to them about it. But tonight we were eating with the news on and there was this story about how horribly Trump is doing with women voters. Jean actually said that she has never really heard Trump say anything bad about women and said she was a woman and would vote for him because he would be "guaranteed" to turn the economy around. I had to close my eyes and take a deep breath when she said that, which I think she saw. It was a little awkward after that even though I didn't say anything other than that there was no way Trump would be the person to turn the country around - at least not in a good way.
So, suffice it to say, we both want to move out for various reasons but our financial situation needs to improve. We've talked for a long time about us potentially moving to Maryland. Mike has very conflicting feelings on it. A big hang-up for him is the weather. We were talking a couple weeks ago about something and he mentioned how much he hates the heat and humidity. I joked that moving to Florida was a bad idea. I've always known that he's liked the cold more. At least I thought he did. This weekend he was talking about how much he wants to visit Ocean City in Maryland. I brought up moving to Maryland. He said that he wasn't sure if he could stand the cold. he hates the cold. I told him how contradictory his attitudes toward cold and the heat were and asked him to pick which was worse. He couldn't pick. He said he wants somewhere in between. I laughed and called him Goldilocks.
Cold weather aside I think he'd probably be happier in Maryland. His brother-in-law said that Mike could probably get a job at his hotel. And his dad works at an auto place and also said Mike could probably get work. Mike said he misses working with his dad and would like to do that again. But it's still up in the air.
Another financial hiccup is a hospital bill we owe. One of the things I was thinking about posting about last year was that I went to the emergency room in May. I was having a few chest pains and I was feeling sharp pains in my right arm. Jean didn't think it was a big deal because it was in my right arm and not my left. She suggested I just take an advil. Usually I try to avoid making a big deal if I feel a little pain, but I was freaked enough about this to tell Mike. He was of the mindset 'better safe than sorry.' So we went. They ran a bunch of tests. They said they couldn't really figure out what was wrong, but that it didn't seem to be anything serious. They gave me a prescription for these anti-inflammatory meds and that was it.
I got a couple of bills, but they weren't too high and my insurance covered it. Then a couple of months later I got a bill for over 2K! While I am glad that nothing was wrong with me, I was so pissed that we went there for nothing and now owe two thousand dollars when all they did was a run a few tests! That's another reason I'm more into politics this year. The price of medicine in this country is ridiculous!
Like I sad Mike has started school again. He put it off last year to wait until after the wedding. Then we tried to register him in the Fall, but when we went to fill out his financial aid, we realized we didn't have our tax returns and when we called the woman's office where we did our taxes, she said she wouldn't be in her office until January. So we had to put it off again.
We registered in January, but just before school was about to start. He's never had trouble getting financial aid the other times he's applied. I was a little worried how us being married would affect how much he would get. After he filled out the FAFSA it indicated that he would get over 800 dollars. But since we filled it out pretty late, he wasn't going to get into until after classes started. We also ended up getting another form in the mail to fill out to confirm what we'd provided in the FAFSA, which we'd never gotten before.
When Mike went to sign up for classes he needed to pay $800. I suggested that he pay out of pocket and then he'd just get reimbursed when the financial aid came through. Unfortunately, we got a letter that he wasn't eligible for any funds after all. I didn't really understand. I didn't really make a lot last year, so the fact that we're married shouldn't have affected the amount he was going to get so drastically, but apparently it did. So that kind of sucked. At the time I thought it was going to be okay because we would get the money back with the taxes, but that didn't end up happening. So it's kind of even more pressure to pass so he doesn't end up wasting the money he had to spend.
It's been a little weirder this semester for him. The other classes he took were on-line. We always knew one of his first math class was going to be an on campus class. He decided to get it out of the way so he could get started on his maths. I always assumed that the reason they wanted the class taught in person was they felt it required hands on teaching, but that's really not the case. The class is basically an on-line class.
He's got basically this textbook that's mostly like a workbook with a few instructions and problems to solve. He works the problems while watching these videos for each section. It's a video he can find on YouTube that isn't even taught by the professor that's "teaching" the class. When he shows up to class everyone works at their own pace watching the videos and working with the book and also completing homework assignments and quizzes that are on-line. About the only thing the teacher does is go around and help people if they have questions.
I told Michael that this must be the easiest teaching job in the world. At first Michael argued that it was necessary to show up to class because the teacher is there to help people with their problems, but he hasn't really helped Michael that much. He says that whenever he asks him a question about something the teacher will work out the problem on a piece of paper and move on. He doesn't go through it with Michael to really make sure that he gets it and knows how to do it on his own.
I won't say that the teacher has been completely useless. There was one section where most of the people in class weren't getting it, so he taught the lesson in class. Plus, two of Michael's tests he wouldn't have even passed if the teacher hadn't helped and given Mike hints on what to fix. But, still, it feel completely pointless that he has to take time to drive all the way out to campus for something that is basically an on-line only thing.
Michael and I from the very beginning of our relationship have joked that we're the very opposite when it comes to the subjects we like. I like English and writing, but hate math and science. For Mike it's vice versa. In fact the other day he told me that he actually hates the feel of a pen/pencil in his hand and writing on paper is like fingers nail on a chalkboard for him (which explains his shitty note taking.) I told Mike that I probably wouldn't be much help to him other than for the first few easier sections. Weirdly enough, I've done a lot better than I thought with being able to help him. I'm not watching the videos he does, but if I look at his book and see the explanation for how to do the problem I'm able to get it better than he's been able to, which never was the case when I was in school. I'd do well when I was in class, but as soon as I was on my own my brain would collapse.
I think helping Michael has shown me I probably don't have what it takes to be a teacher. When I was in school and majored in English people always would ask me if I wanted to be a teacher and I would automatically say 'no.' It had never occurred to me. But after enough people said it, I put it in the back of my mind. I don't think I have the temperament for it. I love Michael dearly but when I'm trying to show him something and he's just not getting it I keep think "Why aren't you getting this?!" I don't yell that at him or anything, but I think it's clear in my demeanor that I'm frustrated he's not picking something up that I think should be not that hard to get.
Though Michael and the way he's been approaching the class can be a little frustrating. I think there are somethings that he's just having difficulty with, but like I mentioned before he's not taking notes like he should. There are times he'll ask me for help and I ask him "Didn't they show that to you in the video or in the book?" and he'll say no and then I find an example in the book. With the videos I think the lady in them just isn't explaining some things in a way he gets. But the stuff with the book and him not taking proper notes is annoying.
Well, that got out of hand. To wrap this up, I have a job interview tomorrow. It's only for part-time work for a couple days a week, but better than nothing.
Mike and I still haven't decided what we want to do on our anniversary. There's not a lot to do around her so whenever we want to do something special we just end up going out to dinner. I want to do something more than that, but have no idea what.
I've joked with Mike that the thing I'm mostly looking forward to on the day is eating some of our wedding cake again. It was delicious and I didn't get enough on our wedding day. Hope it's still just as good.
Stacey
I chalk it up to some business, laziness, and my usual practice of procrastination, procrastination, procrastination. After the wedding we were all so tired. I had wanted to do a recap of some kind, but just decided to wait to do it. I didn't visit LJ or twitter or keep up with my mail. After a couple of months I had about 400 e-mails I needed to reply to. I finally started visiting Twitter again and LJ again.
Once I finally came back, I wanted to get to doing the wedding recap, but I tend to get very word-y (see this post for example LOL) and I knew talking about the wedding would take forever so I just kept putting it off. At one point, to try and motivate myself I made the decision that I wouldn't post anything until I posted about the wedding. That...clearly didn't work. I had to break my rule and post my resolutions after the new year, but I just got too busy and didn't get around to it.
What's funny, to me anyway, about not posting for so long is I used to not post for a long time with no problem. When I first started on LJ I was really just a lurker. I didn't have a lot of friends or a lot going on in my life. But now that I do have a lot of friends and do have a lot of stuff going on in my life, I don't post in forever.
Though not posting on LJ isn't the only thing I'm behind on. I've never gotten the dress that I wore to the rehearsal dinner dry cleaned. I haven't cleaned my wedding dress. They had this wedding dress preservation kit thing at David's Bridal, which I wasn't sure if I wanted to do, but I need to do something. I haven't gotten the pictures my aunt took at the wedding rehearsal. I still haven't got our wedding album. We got all the pics from the wedding (over 800) on discs, but the album hasn't been put together. It's been horrible trying to communicate with the wedding photographer. It takes him forever to answer e-mails.
So, anyway, I've decided to do a wedding recap - for anyone who still cares - and post some pictures over the weekend. This will also be a kind of nice way to relive the wedding before our anniversary.
Things between Michael and I are going alright. When it comes to our feelings for each other we're still just as in love as ever. I've never been in a relationship before, so I have no real frame of reference, but it still surprises me how after six years together we're still so crazy about each other. He still texts me that he misses me on occasion. We're still ridiculously affectionate in public (which is never something I thought I would be.) We don't make out in public or anything. But he puts his arms around me and we hug. So, yeah, still in love. :)
It's just kind of everything else that's less than ideal. Our financial situation still isn't great. Michael still absolutely hates his job, but doesn't know what else he can do. I'm not working currently and it seems the only job I can get is in retail, which is better than nothing, but doesn't feel like it'll really help us save enough for a car and a house etc.
We got a lot of money back for our taxes, but ended up not able to keep it. I got a letter that they took all of it for my student loan. That was actually something Mike was a bit worried about before we got married that my debts would become his. In the letter it did indicate that since we filed jointly that Mike could fill out a form and get some, if not all, of the money back since it wasn't his debt, plus most of the money was from his income. But Mike surprised me by saying he was okay with it because he had wanted to use the money for my loan. The only downside was that Mike that the money would cover all of my debt and it only covered close to half of it. I still owe over 4k plus interest.
Mike really wanted to be done with the loan so we could start saving for a car, since our car feels like it's on its last legs. Plus, we want to move.
We've wanted to move for awhile. At first, it was because of Mike's maternal grandmother who I absolutely detest and he isn't fond of either. She was constantly picking fights with me. Luckily, she moved out a few months ago. But Mike is sure that she'll end up coming back again. Plus, Greg is starting to annoy him and his mother is starting to annoy me.
Mike's started school again and Greg doesn't seem to get that school is going to take precedence for him. He works 10-12 five days a week and the rest of that time he needs to study, but Greg keeps telling him to blow it off and tries to give him chores to do, just so Greg doesn't have to do anything when he gets home. Mike doesn't know how to tell him no because Greg will then start complaining about Mike not doing anything around the house and start arguing with Jean.
I don't fight with Jean at all, but our personalities are so different that it gets annoying for me. In a way my relationship with her is the same as with my mother. I have a feeling we'd get a long a lot better if we weren't living together.
One big kind of bone of contention between us is our politics are very, very different. I've never really been too into politics, but with all the shootings and horrific stuff going on in the world, I've been more into wanting to fight for more gun control which is something Jean and Greg are opposed to. They're one of those - I want to refrain from using the word "idiot" - "people" who actually think the solution is more guns. They sleep with a freaking gun under their pillow!
I honestly don't know when the gun under the pillow stuff started. I discovered it a couple of months ago when I was playing with the dogs in their room. I knew that they had a gun, but I thought it was locked away. I've played with the dogs in their room before and never saw it, but one day it was barely even hidden. That hasn't made me feel safe, but kind of freaked out.
Another horrific thing is that they're Trump supporters. When Trump first announced that he was going to run I mostly treated it as the joke it was - and should have remained. One day we were eating at a Chinese restaurant and Jean said she would vote for him. I almost choked. I tried to chalk it up to the novelty of the situation. Plus, I didn't ever think it would get that far.
I haven't really asked or talked to them about it. But tonight we were eating with the news on and there was this story about how horribly Trump is doing with women voters. Jean actually said that she has never really heard Trump say anything bad about women and said she was a woman and would vote for him because he would be "guaranteed" to turn the economy around. I had to close my eyes and take a deep breath when she said that, which I think she saw. It was a little awkward after that even though I didn't say anything other than that there was no way Trump would be the person to turn the country around - at least not in a good way.
So, suffice it to say, we both want to move out for various reasons but our financial situation needs to improve. We've talked for a long time about us potentially moving to Maryland. Mike has very conflicting feelings on it. A big hang-up for him is the weather. We were talking a couple weeks ago about something and he mentioned how much he hates the heat and humidity. I joked that moving to Florida was a bad idea. I've always known that he's liked the cold more. At least I thought he did. This weekend he was talking about how much he wants to visit Ocean City in Maryland. I brought up moving to Maryland. He said that he wasn't sure if he could stand the cold. he hates the cold. I told him how contradictory his attitudes toward cold and the heat were and asked him to pick which was worse. He couldn't pick. He said he wants somewhere in between. I laughed and called him Goldilocks.
Cold weather aside I think he'd probably be happier in Maryland. His brother-in-law said that Mike could probably get a job at his hotel. And his dad works at an auto place and also said Mike could probably get work. Mike said he misses working with his dad and would like to do that again. But it's still up in the air.
Another financial hiccup is a hospital bill we owe. One of the things I was thinking about posting about last year was that I went to the emergency room in May. I was having a few chest pains and I was feeling sharp pains in my right arm. Jean didn't think it was a big deal because it was in my right arm and not my left. She suggested I just take an advil. Usually I try to avoid making a big deal if I feel a little pain, but I was freaked enough about this to tell Mike. He was of the mindset 'better safe than sorry.' So we went. They ran a bunch of tests. They said they couldn't really figure out what was wrong, but that it didn't seem to be anything serious. They gave me a prescription for these anti-inflammatory meds and that was it.
I got a couple of bills, but they weren't too high and my insurance covered it. Then a couple of months later I got a bill for over 2K! While I am glad that nothing was wrong with me, I was so pissed that we went there for nothing and now owe two thousand dollars when all they did was a run a few tests! That's another reason I'm more into politics this year. The price of medicine in this country is ridiculous!
Like I sad Mike has started school again. He put it off last year to wait until after the wedding. Then we tried to register him in the Fall, but when we went to fill out his financial aid, we realized we didn't have our tax returns and when we called the woman's office where we did our taxes, she said she wouldn't be in her office until January. So we had to put it off again.
We registered in January, but just before school was about to start. He's never had trouble getting financial aid the other times he's applied. I was a little worried how us being married would affect how much he would get. After he filled out the FAFSA it indicated that he would get over 800 dollars. But since we filled it out pretty late, he wasn't going to get into until after classes started. We also ended up getting another form in the mail to fill out to confirm what we'd provided in the FAFSA, which we'd never gotten before.
When Mike went to sign up for classes he needed to pay $800. I suggested that he pay out of pocket and then he'd just get reimbursed when the financial aid came through. Unfortunately, we got a letter that he wasn't eligible for any funds after all. I didn't really understand. I didn't really make a lot last year, so the fact that we're married shouldn't have affected the amount he was going to get so drastically, but apparently it did. So that kind of sucked. At the time I thought it was going to be okay because we would get the money back with the taxes, but that didn't end up happening. So it's kind of even more pressure to pass so he doesn't end up wasting the money he had to spend.
It's been a little weirder this semester for him. The other classes he took were on-line. We always knew one of his first math class was going to be an on campus class. He decided to get it out of the way so he could get started on his maths. I always assumed that the reason they wanted the class taught in person was they felt it required hands on teaching, but that's really not the case. The class is basically an on-line class.
He's got basically this textbook that's mostly like a workbook with a few instructions and problems to solve. He works the problems while watching these videos for each section. It's a video he can find on YouTube that isn't even taught by the professor that's "teaching" the class. When he shows up to class everyone works at their own pace watching the videos and working with the book and also completing homework assignments and quizzes that are on-line. About the only thing the teacher does is go around and help people if they have questions.
I told Michael that this must be the easiest teaching job in the world. At first Michael argued that it was necessary to show up to class because the teacher is there to help people with their problems, but he hasn't really helped Michael that much. He says that whenever he asks him a question about something the teacher will work out the problem on a piece of paper and move on. He doesn't go through it with Michael to really make sure that he gets it and knows how to do it on his own.
I won't say that the teacher has been completely useless. There was one section where most of the people in class weren't getting it, so he taught the lesson in class. Plus, two of Michael's tests he wouldn't have even passed if the teacher hadn't helped and given Mike hints on what to fix. But, still, it feel completely pointless that he has to take time to drive all the way out to campus for something that is basically an on-line only thing.
Michael and I from the very beginning of our relationship have joked that we're the very opposite when it comes to the subjects we like. I like English and writing, but hate math and science. For Mike it's vice versa. In fact the other day he told me that he actually hates the feel of a pen/pencil in his hand and writing on paper is like fingers nail on a chalkboard for him (which explains his shitty note taking.) I told Mike that I probably wouldn't be much help to him other than for the first few easier sections. Weirdly enough, I've done a lot better than I thought with being able to help him. I'm not watching the videos he does, but if I look at his book and see the explanation for how to do the problem I'm able to get it better than he's been able to, which never was the case when I was in school. I'd do well when I was in class, but as soon as I was on my own my brain would collapse.
I think helping Michael has shown me I probably don't have what it takes to be a teacher. When I was in school and majored in English people always would ask me if I wanted to be a teacher and I would automatically say 'no.' It had never occurred to me. But after enough people said it, I put it in the back of my mind. I don't think I have the temperament for it. I love Michael dearly but when I'm trying to show him something and he's just not getting it I keep think "Why aren't you getting this?!" I don't yell that at him or anything, but I think it's clear in my demeanor that I'm frustrated he's not picking something up that I think should be not that hard to get.
Though Michael and the way he's been approaching the class can be a little frustrating. I think there are somethings that he's just having difficulty with, but like I mentioned before he's not taking notes like he should. There are times he'll ask me for help and I ask him "Didn't they show that to you in the video or in the book?" and he'll say no and then I find an example in the book. With the videos I think the lady in them just isn't explaining some things in a way he gets. But the stuff with the book and him not taking proper notes is annoying.
Well, that got out of hand. To wrap this up, I have a job interview tomorrow. It's only for part-time work for a couple days a week, but better than nothing.
Mike and I still haven't decided what we want to do on our anniversary. There's not a lot to do around her so whenever we want to do something special we just end up going out to dinner. I want to do something more than that, but have no idea what.
I've joked with Mike that the thing I'm mostly looking forward to on the day is eating some of our wedding cake again. It was delicious and I didn't get enough on our wedding day. Hope it's still just as good.
Stacey