Monday, November 30, 2009

What was I thinking?

Just found out that over eating may be connected to a gene linked with alcoholism.

Thanks, Dad.

Anyways, Yesterday was the last day for student teaching for this semester,
and Today was my LAST day of classes for the semester. YA!
A small rock has been removed from my shoulders.
Now, all I have to do is....finish my curriculum document by Thursday,
finish my portfolio by Friday,
and finish my sculpture by Monday.

And then I'll be able to breathe...barely.

With only 11 days until the wedding, 10 til the rehearsal dinner, I feel like I am running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

At this point, I'd like to think that everything has been done. But it hasn't.
We still have to:
go apply for a marriage license,
pay for the cake & photography,
pick up the tuxes,
decorate,
confirm the catering,
and prayyyyyyy for a beautiful day.

so. much. stress.

Make up Monday

During my freshman year of college, I discovered this brand of make up called e.l.f.
Some of you may have heard of it before, but if not, keep reading.
I fell in love with it.
Not only is it cheap, but it's also really good quality.
When I first started ordering from them, they were online only. They had limited supplies, and didn't have a vast array of items to choose from.
Now, they have grown.
There stuff is being sold in Target stores, and they have increased their online store tremendously.

The reason that I am sharing this with you all is because if you're anything like me, you love make up, but hate the price, and enough is never enough, I always want more.
Well, e.l.f. is having a 'cyber monday' sale, and you can get 70% off of all their mineral make up. This is a great deal. I encourage you all to run on over and stock up.
At checkout, enter the code EHCMM to receive 70% off your mineral make up order.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

As Promised...

The time has come for me to announce the winner of the Large Rolled Canvas Print.
First, I want to thank all of you who participated, whether it be by entering, spreading the word, or both.

And the winner is...

That would be you, Miss Yvonne!

Send me an email jaksart at rocketmail dot com
with Winner in the subject line
and I will let you know what happens next.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Identity Crisis.

Just wanted to take a moment to thank those of you who have spread the word about my give away! It has really helped a lot. Keep in mind, there is still time [winner is posted Saturday], so tell all your friends!!

Those of you who have been following me know that I'm getting married in 18 days.

Here's the problem.

Do I want to be
Jamie Keith Altgilbers
or just
Jamie Altgilbers

I've been contemplating this for quite a while.
To drop my last name, or not.

I just feel like that's who I am...do I want to totally lose that?

So what are your thoughts?
Pro's, Con's?
Your story?

I need advice.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Fabulous Friday


I have great news!

I have been chosen to do a give away on my blog, thanks to the lovely people over at LargeFormatPosters.com

So, what's up for grabs?

Well, none other than a Large Format Posters Rolled Canvas!
Check them out to see their:

Canvas Prints

Poster Printing

UPrinting Reviews


To enter this contest, all you have to do is leave a comment with your name, a valid email address, and just a short statement describing what photo gifts you want to have printed for your family or loved ones.


For extra entries, you can:


  • new followers - simply leave a SEPARATE comment letting me know you are a new reader.

  • create a post or tweet linking back to this blog. be sure that you post the link to your blog or twitter account here in a separate comment.


This contest is limited to U.S. only due to shipping costs.


The winner will be announced Saturday, November 28th.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Ghost of You

Remember that guest post I was telling you all about?
Well here it is. My bff Matt [better known to you all as Mr.O] is here to share an experience.
Want to see this moment from my point of view? Head on over to A Rush of Blog to the Head.


Without further adieu.....


I rank it up there with those “never forget where you were” moments. It
sits up there with my first kiss, my first road trip, my first break-up.
It was the moment I got the call that forever changed my life.

I was at a job that was taking most of my day and when I get off I
looked at my phone and saw that I had a missed call from my friend
Brandon. I knew this was either going to be good news or bad news. A few
days earlier he had called me asking me if I knew where Shedrick was
because he had sort of left town and not really told anybody where he
was going or what he was doing, except we found out from a roommate of
mine (at the time) that he was on his way up to Auburn, going to be
involved in some stuff he should not have been involved in. Well, a day
or two had went by and nobody had heard from him. My roommate said he
was on the phone with him when he thought he heard some yelling, but he
wasn't sure. But after I called Brandon back, I was sure what this phone
call was about. He told me, as good as a friend could tell another
friend, that Shedrick was dead. I honestly asked him if he was joking as
we were all friends who would carry jokes on, but never this far. He
said “why would I joke about this” and at that moment, I felt like the
world crashed on my chest.

I had pulled into my apartment complex when I got the news. It was the
hardest thing to just walk into my house and sit in my room. Along the
way I had told the roommate that talked to him what ultimately happened.
His response was “damn” and proceeded to sit on his bed to let it sink
in. I went to my room and dealt with the phone. Who do I call? Who is
going to call me? I ended up calling jme and giving her the news, one of
the hardest things I ever had to do. My sister called me and checked up.
I called my girlfriend who answered in a very bubbly voice but it
quickly changed when she heard my own voice on the other end. She asked
if she should come over and I quickly responded yes and she was over at
my house in minutes. One of my greatest memories was her comforting me.
She didn't ask me any questions, didn't offer to get me anything, didn't
tell me it was going to be alright. She just sat there with me. And let
me break down.

I broke down for a number of reasons. Ultimately, it was because I had
just lost a really good friend. The kind of friend that is
irreplaceable. But one reason is because of what he has always
associated himself with. He actually got arrested our senior year for
some sort of possession, and I remember going to his house that day and
we just rode around in my car and he kind of confessed that he was only
doing that stuff to get money. I wanted to help. I tried to help. And
for the longest time I felt my efforts weren't enough. If I could be
completely honest, for the longest time I was mad at him. Mad that he
didn't see the warning signs of what he was doing. But most of all I was
just mad. Mad that he was taken away from me. I was no longer going to
have the friend that would open the door naked just to get a reaction,
or who “caused scenes” at school such as purposely tripping over chairs,
or the friend that stripped down to his boxers and ran in a gas station
car wash.

The last time I saw him was at his funeral. I remember walking into my
high school's gym and upon the slightest sight of seeing him in the
casket, it became way too real and I broke down. Luckily, it was packed
with friends that also knew him well so I didn't feel alone. In a weird
way, I still laughed that day. I had stayed over at his house plenty of
times and had seen him fall asleep and sometimes he looked like he was
smiling as he slept. And I don't know if my mind was playing tricks on
me, but I could swear I saw him smiling as he lied there that day. And
that's how I will always remember him. As the guy that won “class clown”
our senior year, and the guy that always made me laugh.

For a while afterward, he would pop up in my dreams.back, and it felt great. I don't have those dreams anymore, but I still
think about him a lot. He was supposed to make a rap CD and call it “The
Mixtape” and I was supposed to help produce and promote it. My roommate
now is a dj and the other day he had an event where he was spinning for
people at a bar and there were some people rapping over his stuff. All I
could think of how cool it would have been if Shedrick could have been
there, how he probably would have jumped on the stage, took the mic, and
everybody would have had a good time.

On November 17, 2005, I was supposed to go see a free Ludacris concert
on campus. Instead, I got terrible news and proceeded to spend the rest
of the night receiving and making phone calls and texts concerning a
friend we all lost. A friend that I still miss to this day. A friend
that will always be remembered and will never be forgotten.


At the end of the world
Or the last thing I see
You are never coming home
Never coming home
never coming home
Never coming home
And all the things that you never ever told me
And all the smiles that are ever gonna hold me
Never coming home
Never coming home

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Tis the season for giving

And who doesn't like cheap, yet meaningful gifts?

Well, if you are a bargain hunter like me, maybe you will appreciate this.

Ann's Bridal Bargains is giving away free photo books [1 per person]. That's right...you can make your own book using digital photos, and they will print it out and send it to you. The book itself is free, the only thing you have to pay for is shipping [$4.95]. Not bad at all.

http://annsbridalbargains.myphotoproducts.com/annsbridalbargains/

Just sign up to receive your code. I know I am going to take advantage of this, and so should you [if you have lots of pics and an extra $5]

Monday, November 16, 2009

over my head

As Finals approach, I am getting increasingly busy.
I didn't think it was possible to be any busier than I have been all semester, but here we are.
Sorry for the lack of blogging.

I have found a few moments to spend on myself, though.

I made this apron from this tutorial:



Yes, that is Aaron modeling. Only, he told me I'd better crop his face out--OR ELSE! hahah

And, I have officially [for real this time] stopped drinking soda/tea/unnaturally sugared drinks.
Well, atleast until after the wedding. Speaking of which...there are only 26 days left. Crazy how time flies.

I finally booked our hotel room for the Honeymoon. Four nights/Five Days in Gatlinburg! We are looking forward to learning how to ski, eating at the pancake pantry, and just getting away from 'real life' for a while.

Aaron got me tickets to see NEW MOON this thursday [technically friday] at midnight!! I'm so excited.

Sorry this post has been all over the place. I feel like I have so much to say, but not enough room to say it.

Be expecting a guest post soon! Have a great week.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

To press the button, or not to press the button, that is the question.

Sunday night, Aaron and I watched The Proposal. Although it was some-what predictable, I thought it was really cute, and of course I loved it.

Last night, we rented Year One. I had heard pretty good things about it, and from the previews it looked pretty funny, but..........we didn't make it past the first 30 minutes. We kept looking at each other trying to decide if we liked it. I might have laughed once, and it honestly didn't seem to be going in a good direction, so we just turned it off. Just...don't waste your money.

Tonight we went to see The Box. I am not going to lie. I am still a little bit confused. It was very weird, but if you like weird, you'll probably like this movie. It just seemed to progress very slow. I kept thinking to myself 'hurry up, get to the good part' and then it was over.

Movies I am looking forward to seeing within the next few months:
UP
The Ugly Truth
The Blind Side
Dear John [yes, the Nicholas Sparks book!]
Avatar

Hope you guys have a good Veterans day. Enjoy the break!

Monday, November 9, 2009

she needs more than a hug on a holiday

Is it just me, or has blogger died down quite a bit?
I used to have tons of new posts to read each day, and sometimes I would even get behind.
I used to get a lot of feedback, and I haven't seemed to be getting much at all recently.
I know it's a busy time of year, I just hope you all come back soon!

Anyways, I just wanted to give you all an update on my nanny.
She is out of the hospital and in rehab right now. She can stay for 20 days, but she said she hopes she only has to stay for 5. It is killing her not to be at home.
The surgery went really well. She is on heavy pain killers at the moment, but today she was able to walk down the whole hall of the 4th floor. She had to have a blood transfusion yesterday, and I asked her if she was scared [cause it freaked me out] and she was like, "No, Jamie. The worst that could happen is I could get AIDS." HA, as if that isn't something to worry about................
Now she is just doing physical therapy and breathing treatments.
Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. It means more than you'll ever know.

Hope you guys have a great week!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Please Pray

My Nanny is having knee replacement surgery tomorrow.

She has been complaining for a long time about her leg hurting, but her doctor kept telling her it was arthritis.

Finally, she got a second opinion, and it definitely wasn't arthritis. Basically, her knee cap is deteriorating. She was like, 'Jamie, You should see the drawing the doctor made me of my knee cap, it sure does look crazy.'

So, here we go. I've been praying pretty much every 5 minutes, and I have to remind myself not to cry when I'm in public.

I'm not so much worried about the actual surgery, I'm worried about the anesthesia. I've heard it really takes a toll on people with heart conditions, and well, it freaks me out.

If you believe in prayer, please say one for my Nanny tonight. I am trying my hardest to stay positive. I can't even begin to imagine what I might do if something goes wrong, so please keep your fingers crossed.



Wednesday, November 4, 2009