1.29.2009

busy bees...or busy alsburees

it is a good thing i love to organize. more specifically it is a good thing for BRYAN, that i love to organize. i just organized and mapped out our schedules for the next few months on the handy dandy gmail calendar (i love that thing, it's freakin' amazing!).

after a really crazy semester last year and bryan forgetting almost everything he was committed to, i took it upon my self to take over his schedule this semester. i'm practically his wife right?

bryan's not very organized and doesn't have a very good memory. i love these things about him because i'm the exact opposite. he definitely helps me relax when i freak out about every single detail of life. however, there is a point when other people count on a certain degree of organization. he's committed to two main ministries, Salt worship team, and the Anthem Band (which is basically just an extension of Salt worship team) and then he has bible study. On top of that, him and i have certain commitments too, we greet at church once a month, we have our connection group, and this semester we have our engagement class.

last semester, his band mates sent him a schedule for the entire semester but he accidentally forgot about and was surprised almost every time he had some sort of practice. whoops.

thus the wife takes over.

i'm so awesome at organizing schedules! this morning, i hacked into bryan's email, got the schedule for this semester and put it all on my gmail calendar (of course in a different color then my events, with another color for things we have as a couple). i figured out when bryan would have to switch his saturday shifts for work and reminded him of some more upcoming things he had to do.

after completely noting everything he has going on until may, and having already noted my stuff, i was able to send my mom some good weekends for one of our wedding showers in which both bryan and i will be present.

but basically, we're insanely busy. you can look at our google calendar to see the evidence. we'll probably be this busy until....we die, probably.

the moral of the story is: at least i get to have fun organizing our busy lives! : )

1.19.2009

16 things...

I got tagged in a note by Carrie to do this, so why not?

16 random things about LisaGrace:

1: I will be engaged longer than Bryan and I even dated officially.
2: All but two of couples we know of (and I'm going to estimate about 20) that have gotten engaged after us, have gotten/are getting married before us. Good for them!
3: I've had a full-time career for three years and I'm only 20.5 years old.
4: I had a very lucrative and steady career as a babysitter starting at the age of eleven.
5: I have 31 first cousins, 4 first cousins by marriage, and 3 first cousins once removed.
6: I love vegetables but don't prefer fruit. (while Bryan is just the opposite)
7: I've always had a love for reading, and have been able to exercise this much in the last two years.
8: I have horrible vision.
9: Bryan and I already have our kids' names picked out agreed upon (That is if we have two boys and a girl).
10: One of my favorite hobbies is writing short stories and imagining children's book ideas.
11: I love American Literature and American History, I feel rather overly patriotic to my country when I say that not a ton of other lit and history interests me, but I just naturally feel a strong connection to the authors and events of America.
12: I love following rules.
13: I think it's hilarious that 'discipling' is totally not a word, but so many people use it.
14: I really wanted a gmail account last february, but I knew if I signed up for one, I didn't want to change my email for a really long time. So I got a gmail: lisagracealsbury@gmail.com. No, I was not engaged to Bryan yet.
15: I think some people think I'm overdramatic. I think people have stopped listening to me for this reason.
16: I am at work right now.

1.15.2009

don't mess with my family ANYMORE, winter!

it's on.
i've never hated winter more.
now, just to clear some things up, would NOT be writing this entry if it were just a typical 20 below winter day in Iowa. i've lived in Iowa my whole life, and i'm not about to complain about it's winter weather habits.
but this is NOT a normal 20 below winter day. i'm ticked off at the winter today, because it went too far, and messed with my family. well, he's not my family yet, but pretty soon, if the winter doesn't freeze him to death first, it's just gonna be me and bryan and we're going to be a family.
here's the wrap-up:
bryan went to band practice for the salt company last night and on his way home, he hit something and got a flat tire. (we think there may be some construction debri in the church parking lot because Jesse Antelman, the worship leader also got a flat) he pulled over on I-35 and attempted to change his tire. however, the tire was somehow stuck on there and he couldn't get it off. unfortunately, bryan had forgotten his cellphone. he proceeded to try to flag people down. apparently iowa folk forget to be nice when the actual temp is -13 degrees. no one stopped to help. he thought he saw a familiar location and began walking toward it, but became completely lost and in the middle of a snow covered field with snow up to his waist. he just kept walking until he found a building with the door unlocked. he went inside and asked for a phone to use.
he called me when i was sleeping and i didn't pick up the phone because i usually don't when i don't recognize the number. but he called again and i picked him up. he asked if i could pick him up and gave me the info. (he was near the coke plant, which is pretty close to barilla-i still have NO idea how he got there, but a put a map to kind-of show it)
i proceeded to cry and yell at him for forgetting his phone and such. it was scary. i got him to my apartment, loaded my burma blanket and various other comforters on top of him and let him sleep in my bed for the night. i also got him some hot chocolate, but he didn't drink much. i thouroughly checked his ears, nose, hands and feet for frostbite and found none, after rubbing his feet and hands, i went to sleep on the couch.
i woke up at six and when he told me he was still cold, i freaked out again. i wanted to take him to the hospital but he suggested i call first nurse so i did. she asked me a bunch of questions but said there wasn't much a risk for hypothermia at this point, and confirmed what i thought frostbite looked like. bryan should be fine, he might just get a wicked cold.
and Drew Hoppenworth helped him get his tire off which was amazing. we love drew, single women out there, drew is the most servant-hearted, extremely knowledgable gentlemen you'll ever know. he's always helping us (and everyone else, for that matter) with whatever he can. and he can help with a lot.

so that's the story, bryan got a new tire for not too expensive today and he called in sick for work and skipped class. he'll probably still play at salt tonight. his feet hurt still, but he said he's feeling a lot better.

thanks for prayers, they were totally effective. shout out to morgan who totally calmed me down last night by reaching out to my worried soul. i love that woman.

1.08.2009

if you got me one thing in the whole world...

...i'd want it to be this:

1.07.2009

one thirty seven

when did it get in the one thirties? in a little over a month, we'll have less than 100 days! ah! i've been waiting for double digit count down for sooooo long! let's see, we started at a whopping 412 days and we've checked off 276 of those. according to the calculator, we've complete 67% of waiting! that's awesome!

i'm just really excited to get married. every day i keep getting more and more anxious. it's going to be amazing.

and really convenient too. i mean, i know marriage will be a lot of work and definitely not always convenient. but right now, it's slightly less convenient to have two apartments, roommates (i love you Audrey!), two grocery lists, two checking accounts, two beds...etc. i can't wait to be ONE!

1.06.2009

plasmapheresis.

yeah, i didn't know how to say it either.

i gave my plasma away yesterday. and i got $20 bucks for it too.

that's right, i jumped on the bandwagon and i started giving plasma. i'm not sure how long i'll give, but i'm trying to bulk up the savings accounts before i get hitched.

while i'm sure that no one at the plasma center desired to show me that they loved me: as plasma pumped out of me, love pumped into me. i receive love best by words of encouragement and i was affirmed so much for my plasma giving skills that i was exploding with love when i finally walked out of there. it's rather silly, i know, but i'm like a puppy when it comes to kind words, my tongue falls out of my mouth and i wag my tail like crazy!

"wow. you didn't even flinch." -the dude who poked my finger

"she's been really brave, she hasn't acted like anything has been weird!" -the lady who sucked my blood out.

"your pressures look really good." -antwon, he works there but i know him from c-stone

"you're not running weird at all, and most of our first time donors run really weird." -again, the lady who sucked my blood out (she gave most of it back to me).

ah, it feels good to be awesome at something. : )

1.03.2009

gut rot

i think you know the feeling that i'm about to describe, and you probably ALL have it right now. the holidays are over and you've eaten everything in sight for the past two weeks.

if you're like bryan and i, not only have you eaten the traditional holiday foods (i.e. cookies, candy, christmas meals, extremely oversized breakfasts, etc)

[blog paused because i just remember i stashed some of my mom's bon bons in the freezer]

mmm...bons bons.

anyway, not only have you eaten the traditional holiday foods, but you've also taken the liberty of using your extra holiday cash to indulge your every whim and those whims are actually the breeze of a restaurant you've been wanting to go to for months, or perhaps, a greasy fast food place that you went to last week.

oh man, do we have, how do you say "gut rot."
when your stomach feels satisfied but also cries for pepto. when you've just kept eating because it all tastes so good. when you start getting a little winded walking up a flight of stairs.

we've spent so much time sitting around the house that we only thought it was natural to eat as much as we have. but it's hitting me now. actually it hit me this afternoon after a double cheeseburger from bbops and a large popcorn covered in butter at the movie theatre. and it's hitting me again as i'm eating bon bons on the couch writing this.

time to recommit to those "new years resolutions" that i (never) made and like...i don't know...exercise?

ugh. gut rot. love the moment, hate the consequences.

1.02.2009

this year.

we can finally say it, we are finally there. the homestretch, the finale, the last five minutes of the longest movie ever (Merlin).

WE ARE GETTING MARRIED THIS YEAR!!!

sure sure, we're not married yet, but after 9 months of being engaged, we're as good as there. we can finally say "this year". oh goodness, this is awesome.

so, i think we're going to start blogging. as a couple. or, at least, i'm going to start blogging for us as a couple for you to read as a person, or a couple i guess. whatever you want. yeah. ok.

sweet. this year. this year this year this year, i can't say it enough. get ready for the coolest wedding ever. and get even more ready for the coolest new family ever. the alsburys. yeah! get your canned food and hook up your house with some solar panels, it's y2k all over again. THIS year!

2008 was great but 2009 is gonna be FINE!