"Happy birthday baby!"...thanks Will!

For my birthday, May 20th, I got the best birthday surprise I have ever received! A surprise weekend trip to New York City to see Wicked! WAHOO! Ben is not usually that good at surprises...for example he usually gets so excited he tells me the entire 'surprise' shortly after he plans it. But not this time!

I had really been wanting tickets to see Wicked because they were coming to Dallas, so he told me the Sunday before my birthday that he had gotten me tickets...I had no idea they were going to be at the Gershwin Theater on Broadway!!

We meet in NYC on Thursday night (my birthday) and went to dinner at the Spotted Pig. One of Ben's colleagues had told him that there was a high probability of maybe seeing famous people here since it was a local hot spot...and my head was on a swivel! Since I was the one looking out at the restaurant, I promised Ben I would not miss anyone of notoriety that passed by. After several false sightings of random television personalities...there was a mini commotion in the restaurant and I looked up from my plate in time to see a large, white man standing by the stairwell next to our table. "What was it?," I asked to the girls sitting next to us who were hurriedly texting away...."Beyonce, Jay-Z, Will and Jada Smith!" one girl replies!

OH MY GOODNESS! I have just missed seeing some of the most famous people in existence...but I would not let this opportunity pass! We had dessert and coffee and lingered, hoping they would come back out that way. Our waiter let us know that they would be leaving the side exit. Soooooooo, since Ben loves Jay-Z and I love seeing famous people...we waited about 30 minutes with the bodyguards outside! Sure enough, ten feet away walk out, this famous quad! From what I could surmise, the 'Z"s had taken the Smiths out to dinner and the Smiths were thankful, blah, blah, blah! And, before I could stop my self I begin my convo with Will Smith:

Me: "Will Smith!"

Will Smith: "hey, baby'

Me: "It's my Birthday!"

Will Smith: "Happy Birthday, baby!"

Me: "Thanks!"

Ben: "Take it Easy Man!"

Will Smith: "Alright"

So, basically, my birthday party with the Zs the Smiths and Ben was great!

On Friday we frolicked all over the North half of the island...to the Shake Shack, the Met, Vezzo's pizza (not a fan) and all through Central Park!

On Saturday we were a little sick from our indulgence of food the day before, so we layed low and rested up for WICKED!! It was an amazing show and we both loved it!

Sunday was the most New Yorky day! We wandered through the Village and all around Soho and by the Statue of Liberty! It was so fun to feel kind of like New Yorkers, we dressed in dark clothes and were even asked for directions a couple of times!

Although we looked ridiculous sitting at our side by side gates at the airport seeming nervous and scared....we were only sad to see this weekend go and each other head our respective ways....DTW and DFW! How I wish they would have gotten one of our letters switched! It felt kind of like Up in the Air, only with married people not skanky businessy ones!

What a wonderful birthday! Thank you so much Ben! I love you!

OMG new APT!

Well, with the excitement of packing boxes, clearing out closets and planning and recording my cooking videos for the Paula Deen and Philadelphia Cream Cheese competition, we have been quite busy in the Big D lately!

I have been entering into the weekly competitions to try to win a trip to Savannah and a possible cohost spot on a web tv show! Below is the latest, and I think the funniest one of all! We have also recently moved to a new apartment! It is much bigger and less casheesh$! I am having fun this week getting everything set up and we are so thankful for all the help that our family, friends and homegroup gave us in moving boxes and getting into our new place. Just got the AT&T Cable and Internet hooked up today! I would recommend it. The man who came here to set it up made me feel better about my current semi-joblessness (although the full time nanny summer gig does start in 2 weeks). He graduated from LA Tech with a Marketing degree and has been installing cable for over a year! We kind of lamented our situations together for a bit...so much in common with the cable man these days! And HAPPY 35th ANNIVERSARY To my wonderful parents! I am so thankful for this example of enduring and lasting love.

http://bit.ly/bPmMB4

Private School...

Lately in Dallas, I have been noticing the over abundance of children that attend private schools. I do not hate on my PA friends nor do I disagree with private school when the public school option is not so great; HOWEVER, I cannot imagine living in the Highland Park School District and sending your kids to private school. Will, the little boy I nannied for (for a week) has been accepted to a private preschool for 3 year olds on a contingency basis. He had to start his $7,000 a semester tuition a semester early so he will be prepared to join the other 3 year olds at such a high level in August! PUH-LEASE! Anywho, it was fun while it lasted.

Now, thankfully, I have picked up some regular babysitting jobs in the HP community while I am studying for the LSAT and hoping to get an internship at a non-profit, Girls Inc. Ben is still rocking it out in Detroit and we are trying to plan a vacation for June with our friends Ben and Hillary (hopefully to Northern California!). Ben says he needs a definite date so he can be looking forward to something other than Detroit...understandably so.

Also, it is the Mr.'s birthday on Tuesday and he doesn't have to leave for Detroit until then...which is good! Still thinking through how it is economical to fly someone to Detroit for only 2 days of work there....not sure!

More to come about this wonderful Easter Weekend with the in-laws! Looking forward to Easter Sunday!

Exciting News...Children!

Hahaha.....hopefully no one got any hopes or dread up about anything relating to the potential future Barr offspring. There are none in the immediate plans, and my recent time spent at the play place at the Galleria mall is expanding what that immediate time frame looks like!

As of yesterday, I am the new nanny of a really fun 2 1/2 year old boy names Will! His mom only needed someone until the end of May, and I figured I didn't have much else going on so why not! It has been a lot of fun so far. It's definitely an adjustment being around a 2 year old all day, but he is getting better at listening to me and we really get along well.

Several funny things about little Will:

1. He learned baby sign language when he was an infant and reverts sometimes when he is tired or just being lazy. We had chick-fil-a for lunch and Will signed he wanted Milk. I wanted to find a video to show what the sign looks likes, but none did justice to what he signed to the nice man at the register. It basically looks like he was trying to milk a cows utters. I cracked up and apologized, definitely mentioning I was the 'new nanny.' I'm not taking responsibility for this.

2. He is not potty trained. Oh joy! And is a big 2 1/2 year old, so I think people look at me like I should have potty trained my kid by now. He's not mine...I'm the 'new nanny.'

3. He loves to watch Handy Manny. But I've kept him so busy at the Galleria "aren't these scarfs so cute?" and playing on playgrounds yesterday and the play place today so we haven't had to endure much of this Hispanic handy man!

Overall, Will is a really fun kid! Those were only the silly kind of crazy things, but he is really fun to hang out with. 2 days a week he goes to speech for an hour and 2 other days he has preschool from 9-12. And he naps everyday from 2-5. So, basically...I think this is going to be a great experience! I'm learning alot and get to be out and about all the time! I am really really grateful to God for this opportunity.

This past weekend we were privileged to be visited by my bff Melissa and her boyfriend Scott...I will dedicate a post to that later! And to attend the birthday party one of our favorite 1 year olds ...Miss Harper Pardue! Her mom made amazing decorations for the party and those homemade cookies were delicious....couldn't believe they weren't from a scrumptious bakery!

Weekend Update...Yeah!

This weekend, we went to church. Ben and I are alternating writing sentences to give you an update on this past weekend, I think it should be pretty easy to follow whose is whose. Ashley is mean to me. Anywho, this weekend was the membership class at the Village Church, and we really enjoyed learning about everything the Village does and believes and are excited to become a part of it! I think our favorite part of the class was getting to listen to Steve Hardin, the Dallas campus pastor, talk because he is the most energetic guy we've ever heard in church, and he never really gets to the point of his message because he's so fired up! He does make some really great points eventually and you definitely cannot sit through one of his messages without getting excited too; I am beginning to think this free flow couples writing on the blog may be a one time only shindig!

I really suck at "free flow" writing, but that won't stop me from getting my 2 cents in. Oh perfection...we've been watching the Oscars tonight and really enjoyed the format this year. I feel like this year's show was much better than the BORING shows of years past, and I actually didn't lose interest after only an hour or so of watching. This is most likely because it was DVRed and Ben was constantly berating me to "forward faster" and "stop, stop, stop"; I think we watched the entire show in less than an hour and a half.

This is a unique way of blogging. All this to say, a very busy, very fun weekend was had: membership class; Clue with my little cousins while babysitting; Dinner and S'mores with Dallas friends (love the outdoor firepit Hencys); church; outlet mall shopping; Oscars; ended by the first joint blog attempt. Don't forget about the man we saw peeing behind a dumpster at the Regions Bank near Love Field while riding in the car with a 7 and 12 year old! Bahahaa....talk about awkward; literally a 65 year old Mexican man (well dressed and complete with cowboy hat) urinating in one of those brick shells that are built to disguise dumpsters while we were trying to turn around in the alley behind the bank!!!! Topped off by Ash answering the question of her sweet 7-year old cousin by replying that the 2 men canoodling outside of Hunkie's Bar & Grill on Cedar Springs were just "funny friends."

This has been exhausting. Goodnight and God bless...I'm posting to end this madness!

IDOL...Too much like the original? or not?

What? Can someone please explain to me the judges on American Idol? First of all, I love Ellen and watch her show as often as I can; however, this season, these judges are ridiculous! If I was on the show, I wouldn't know whether I should sing Amazing Grace or some obscure version of a 1980s ballad. They are giving the most ridiculous tips and criticism.

"you didn't change it up enough" & "It was nothing like the original" (conundrum for our contestants? I think yes)

"I want to see you be 17. I want to see you play and be current and be fresh and be modern" followed by the precious Katie Stevens singing a song including the lyrics "Summer came like cinnamon so sweet, little girls double-dutch on the concrete." What is more childish than that. And they told her it wasn't young enough. Who cares how old you are? Just sing....and when did you have to start playing 10 instruments and be able to arrange all this music. I thought it was a singing competition. Not anymore, Idol, not anymore.

If I were on Idol, I guess I would need to sing something kind of funny, kind of young, creative and that has to do with liking to decorate my apartment for the holidays....but it couldn't sound too much like anyone else, but you'd definitely have to know who the original was! ARGH! It's ridiculous.

Let them sing! Puh lease

A lack of jobs leads to Law School?!

Well, the job search has been unfruitful thus far. And this has led me to reanalyze my options and pray alot. I am currently applying for nanny positions and starting to buy my books to study for the LSAT! Another thing I don't enjoy purchasing...Boring books! But I know these will be the sort of books that will benefit my life eventually, so I will buy and I will read. It's nice to sort of have a direction.

Please pray for one of our best friends, Heather Phillips, as she heads to the Peace Corps on Tuesday! We couldn't be more excited about the opportunities she is going to have and the change she is going to help bring to the Dominican Republic.

We had a wonderful weekend in Fayettenam celebrating a friend's bridal shower and sending Heather off to the DR. A hot vacay destination that we will sure be visiting within the next 27 months! It was a fantastic couple of days and made me remember how much I love my Fayetteville friends. Many of which aren't in Fayetteville anymore, but it's the place that brings us together.

Oh, and also, since I posted last we saw Ben Rector live in concert for his new Album "Into the Morning" buy it now! It really is wonderful.

And Ben is going to Hotlanta tomorrow to get his CIRA certification. I don't understand it, so google it if you are curious! Change of scenery from DETROIT so that's the plus in my book.

Hope to update more, so my updates are not just life catch ups and can contain interesting thoughts and ramblings...I have many and that is my intention for this blog!

INTERVIEW TOMORROW!

Well, all of my resume sending and cover letter drafting has finally paid off! I applied for the Alumnae Coordinator and Event Planning position with the Girl Scout's of Northeast Texas office last week, and I still hadn't heard a thing as of today. So I decided to email the HR director directly rather than the traditional jobs@blahblahblah.org thing. And it worked!

I emailed at 10:30 and got a call from a very nice lady at 3:30 asking me to come in for an interview tomorrow! I sent a sort of non-traditional cover letter will ALL CAPS sections and bullets and such. Ben said he thought it was pretty aggressive, and I thought...perfect! I really want this position and feel like it is what God has prepared me for. I am a lifetime member of Girl Scouts and all my college experience was in Alumni and Events. More to come about this, but I am very excited for the time being!

Also, prayers for my Grandma who is in the hospital again. She has been building up fluids on her pacemaker, and they just realized that is what is making her feel so bad. So, it's exciting that hopefully this will get her to feeling better soon.

And I'm very ready for the Bachelor watch party tonight!! WAHOO!

Seven Months Married...Blogging Commenced!

Since the wedding, I have been intending to start a blog. ANNNNNNNND obviously have not! So here it begins.

Abridged update: Ben works for Alix Partners, a consulting firm, and travels to Detroit Monday-Thursday every week. While the traveling isn't our favorite part of his job, we are thankful for what he is learning and the provision it gives. After the wedding I took time to travel over the summer visiting friends and family while Ben was traveling to Motor City!

Now I am in the full fledged job search mode, and although I tried to convince myself that lots of down time was great....it's just not me. So I have gotten involved with the Pi Phi Young Alum Club in Dallas that meets once a month and the Arkansas Alumni Group!

After visiting several Dallas churches, we have been led to The Village Church. We are attending The Village Church and have been immensely blessed by the experience. We are going through the membership class in March and are so excited about our new homegroup led by one of my friends and sorority sister's older sister. It is a total God connection, and we are so thankful for it.

I still refer to periods of the year as semesters. Therefore, last semester I spent kind of looking for jobs, kind of going to Hot Springs when Ben was gone, kind of getting involved in things down here and so on. But THIS SEMESTER, I have pledged to be a full fledged Dallas resident. And have been hot on the job trail. I had a couple interviews in the Fall, but those offices were lacking in the 'follow up after someone takes the time to interview with you' area. I have recently applied for a position as and Alumnae Relations and Event Coordinator for the North Texas Girl Scout Headquarters and numerous other things, but that is the one I am most excited about now! We shall see! Oh what a joy it will be to have a job and something to put all of my energies into.

So, here we are....seven months into the married life....seeing each other so little has been a mixed blessing. We HATE not being together, but LOVE how much we have grown in Christ and as a couple together. We are having to be so much more intentional about talking and spending time together. He's teaching us to value our time with each other.

Update complete....Funny Story: Tonight I went with two other Arkansas grads: Kelsey Hency and Emily Burkhead to the Hog Basketball watch party hosted by the Razorback Club. Literally, the three of us and three middle-aged men. Long table...the three of them on one side when we arrived: thus, we each sat across from one of them. It looked like the oddest blind date show ever made.