Decoration Station

So basically I am moving into an apartment in less than a month.  Since I am the second born I am also the second in line to receive any "hand-me-downs."  I am now in the process of purchasing "necessities" for my apartment.  I wanted to show y'all what I've got so far.  

The first picture is an entertainment stand I bought from Wally World.  It is a line called canopy... pretty cute stuff for Wal Mart.  The second picture is a table I bought at rooms to go.  The leaves on the end pull out and then slide under so the table can either be a square or rectangle.  The next picture is a couch I bought from Rooms to Go as well.  Thank you Cindy Crawford for your beautiful design.  My couch will actually be brown but the same style.  Following the couch is the coffee table I found at Canton.  It kind of has that distressed cottage look.  I might be repainting the legs... it just depends on a few other factors.  The next pic is my most recent purchase.  My mom found them online and we thought they were adorable.  Each is a separate print that is framed.  There are six different colors in the set.  The last picture is another cool thing I found.  My sister-in-law and I went shopping the other day and we made a stop by Anthropologie (I really wish the anthro decorators/purchasers would just decorate my apt for free... I guess that is asking too much.)  So we were looking at seat cushions that i could put on my table when we ran across these beauties.  They had seat cushions in the same fabric but I figured I could change out place mats cheaper than cushions.  

So those are basically all of my purchases to date.  My last piece of furniture I am hunting down is an occasional chair... you know incase I have more than two people over at one time.  If you know a place to buy a cute but super cheap chair... let me know!!!

That's all for now!

"I thought it would never happen"

Thank you for my title Pride and Prejudice. I bet y'all thought I would never update my blog... well, me either. I have quite a bit to update y'all on. I feel like the events of my life are extremely boring so I'll give you the highlights of the past couple of months.

The first couple of events I'll present as a TV show. Today on Man Versus Wild Bear Grylls (aka Mer) takes a look at how to survive in the frigid winters of North Dallas. As some of you know North Dallas has been hit with two ice storms this winter season. The first was a struggle for me... the second I weathered better... (Pun!!! hahahah). The first ice storm was followed by a morning of extreme foggyness... I mean extreme. So on my way to work that foggy morning I was backing out of our driveway when smack… I hit something. I couldn’t even tell I was out of our driveway. I got out and alas I had hit the mailbox across the street causing damage to both my car and the mailbox. Both are now fixed. Thus in this example of Man V. Wild.... wild won. See following pictures.

So now I wil continue to Man V. Wild part two. So for the holiday season we had a ton of family over which was so much fun. I got to hang out with my brother and Melissa a lot which was cool. In the next picture I give you one of their children. She is… well… not the brightest crayon in the box. So we have this rabbit that lives in our back yard. All the “kiddos” enjoy chasing the rabbit every once in a while. So I can only hope that dear little Sugar-betes (real name Bella) was chasing the rabbit when she found herself trapped under our recently finished deck. On the day she trapped herself under our deck a front blew through. The

 temperature dropped drastically and little bella started barking and shaking (we could see her through cracks in the deck with flashlights). So basically my brother and dad were unable to unscrew the screws used to fasten down the boards so they had to cut a whole in our deck. Pretty exciting. Thus man won.

For Christmas we celebrated with family and also made homemade ravioli. We don’t do this very often because it is a huge process.

So besides all of this holiday excitement I have been working. It has been stressful for me to say the least. I am still in a huge learning curve… and occasionally the people I talk to are not very friendly. I love the company atmosphere and the people I work with. I can’t say that about the work yet.

On the weekends I have been apartment hunting and finally this last weekend I found an apartment. My new home will be ready for move in on March 13th. I am currently in the process of picking out some major pieces of furniture so I have a place to sit for example. My apartment is located at the shops at legacy, which is such a cool place. It is further north than I wanted to live but the cheaper rent and cool location definitely makes up for that.

That all I got for now. Come visit me in a month or so at my new home!

ps: I would like book and music suggestions. I am trying to get out of a slump of listening and reading the same things over and over again. I am open to anything!

Big Girl Job Week One

I believe most of you know that I started my first real job this week.  First of all, I am working non-profit... I know, I know... who would have figured that Meredith Rogers would work non-profit.  Crazy.  I am working for drum roll for the full name... Guidestone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.  The company overall offers a wide range of financial products including insurance, retirement and personal investment.  So if you are an employee of any branch of the SBC you could probably call me in a couple of months with a question about your account and I should be able to answer it.

So my daily schedule is as follows: Wake up between 5:15 and 5:30, get ready and leave house by 6:30. Work work work (train train train). Break and an hour lunch stuck in there somewhere and leave at 5:15.  Arrive home around 6:30 (moving out cannot come soon enough). In bed asleep by 9:30.  I feel (temporarily) like I am a 50 year old stuck in a 22 year olds birthday.  I need to move out so that I do stuff instead of coming home, eating then going to bed.

Cool perks about the company: Monday morning chapel 8-8:30.  Free frozen yogurt machine.  Employee base made up of probably almost 50% Baylor grads (sic em).  Cool fellow new employee.  Encouragement to pray throughout the day.

On a completely different note conventions are happening, debates are arriving and the election is in the very near future.  Now I know you all will roll your eyes (those of you with differing opinions)... I am your "typical" conservative.  White, upper/middle class, Baptist, private school going girl.  Now to add to the list I work at a SBC company and attend southern baptist churches.  I encourage everyone first of all to vote.  Not voting in my opinion is voting for the party whose ideals you don't support.  I attended a baptist church this weekend and the pastor brought up the topic of the recent announcement of the republican vp candidate.  He started talking about how Sarah Palin is a woman of character, purpose and ethical standard.  He spoke about how she recently knowingly had a child with down syndrome.  I think it is sad in our generation that people even question whether or not to have a child.  Now to people with no faith I can understand this.  To those who are people of faith: Christian, Catholic, Jew, Mormon... I don't see how abortion can even be a question that enters your mind.  The pastor reminded us that God's gift to humans is the gift of life.  Here on earth and after.  He then said... which I think is a convicting point that on the matter of choosing life or death you should always choose life.  Every human unborn or born has a purpose.  So if you are struggling with a choice of who to vote for and are uneducated on the effects of economic policies, social policies or international policies I encourage you to vote for life.  I will now step off my soap box but thank you for reading.

My fam has been veggin out this week.  continuing our process of moving.  Watching the hurricane step by step (my mom is kind of a weather nut).  That's all of an update I have right now.

You can bet your britches that I will be in bed at 9:30 this evening.  I miss you all a lot.

A quick shout out to a former employee of the working staff of PF Changs.

dum dum da dum dum (The Olympic Theme Song)

I have hesitated updating all of you on my life because of lack of what has happened.  For the past two weeks I have done nothing but watch the olympics and let contract workers into my family's new house.  My brother informed me yesterday that he was awarding me the olympic gold medal for most olympics watched on TV.  I was very proud.  I am at this very moment watching the gold medal women's water polo match on nbc.  I don't understand this sport at all and think it's a little ridiculous but none-the-less I am rooting for the U.S... well the just lost.  These rhythmic gymnasts are ridiculously flexible.  wowza.

Look at that gold medal winner!

I believe most of you know, but I have some rather good news.  I accepted my first real job this last week.  I start on Monday the 25th.... that this Monday yikes!  I will be working for Guidestone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention (Guidestone for short).  My job is pretty much working in a call center.  People will be able to call me ask me questions about their investments/retirement plans/etc. and I will eventually be able to answer them and edit peoples accounts.  I am supposed to be able to work to get many certifications which will be good for the future.  I will give y'all a better update once I start!

I miss all of you tons already!

Holy Catfish

Where would we be without the lovely expressions of our grandparents.  Because of major changes occurring in the Rogers family's life my grandma "mimi" (as some of you might know her) has come to use that turn of phrase more than once in a sitting.  We currently have about seven huge men moving my families 270+ boxes of furniture, possessions, etc. to a large truck outside.  I was thinking before this week how excited I was to be moving from the Waco area, but now it seems to be a little bitter sweet.  I am not too excited about our new home but am about its location.  By the way we are moving to Celina, TX, just north of Frisco and Prosper.  This means ultimately I will be living in the Dallas area again... close to friends, family and stuff to do.

I just got home from seeing dear Amy Duncan last night.  I had a blast visiting her family's new home in Georgetown.  We drove down to Austin yesterday and ate at Pita Pit on Congress (would highly recommend) and then headed to SoCo for a little shopping.  We hit up all of the cool antique store and quirky little shops.  Amy's favorite by far had to be the old time candy store.  They sold crickets there seasoned with different spices to make them oh so delicious.  No, I resisted and did not purchase this delicacy and no I did not even consider it hahah. We did have the most fabulous cupcakes ever at Hey Cupcake! (They put sprinkles to shame).  Amy had the Michael Jackson and I had the 24 Carrot.  Yummmy!

Alas, I still have no job.  I had an interview last week with a company called Crosstex Energy.  I got the feeling they are looking for an Accounting major and not a Finance major.  I have a phone interview tomorrow with Guidestone Financial so we'll se how that goes.  I am being patient.... sorta.  My mom keeps reminding me that it took so and so six months to find a job and it took so and so almost a year.  I am very ready to be in a constant groove of things rather than not knowing what the heck I'm going to do tomorrow.  Ideally I would love to travel with work when I start out.  By travel I mean internationally.  Perhaps go on a rotation and live somewhere for a few months.  Any suggestions?

That is all I have for an update right now.  Please pray that I find a job soon!  Love y'all and miss you terribly! 

In honor of sha-begin

In honor of sha-begin I will give you all a brief update of what has been happening in my busy life... ha.

I went on a cruise at the end of June. It was a Carnival cruise that went to Montego Bay Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel Mexico. Just my mom and I went... so we read a lot, drank a few umbrella drinks (they are so expensive), and read some more. The funnest part of the trip was when my mother and I took a Mexican cuisine cooking class in cozumel. I learned to make some cool stuff that I might attempt later for y'all. The trip was lots of fun, but I am glad to be home. Here are a few pictures:

Picture explanations: Our ship, me and Luis, my mother and I, the black pearl, and for amanda brooks.

The next week was the wedding extravaganza. The Patton/Hendrickson union went down without a hitch. It was so much fun and I'm excited to talk to the old married couple when the get back. Some more pics from the week:

Finally, I have been hanging out with the begin family (who I absolutely love and definitely should have a reality show), JOB SEARCHING (I still need a job), Reading the Mark of the Lion series by Francine River (you all should read... it's amazing), and nursing my dog who got in a bar fight... she really only had teeth pulled, but she has a nice shiner.

Cruisin'

My plans for this week include:

... I'm pretty excited.  A better update of my life is coming soon.