A little life changing...

Since becoming an avid reader, there have been a few times when I've finished a book, put it down, and thought to myself, "That was one of the most amazing, wonderful experiences I've ever had. Period."

I love those moments. This was one of them:

Hands down, one of the best books I've ever read. I'm so full of emotions for this story I can hardly contain them. I wish I could read it for the first time all over again, and then again, and then again. The Book Thief will forever hold a special place in my heart. Thank you for such a wonderful Christmas present Katie.

I'd sure call it a happy new year...

Sweet moses it's been a long time since I posted anything on here! And I'm aware that I have not posted any of my Christmas pictures yet. Some of them are on another camera that is three states away. Those will be posted shortly. But Christmas 2009 was fabulous, and more on that to come.

So, happy new year everyone! I hope 2010 looks promising for you all. So far 2010 has been good in the Meine household. I've resolved to do a couple of things:

1) Lose at least 10 pounds and do a 20 minute workout every other day

2) Say my prayers every single night before bed

3) Get a job at the Lake Austin Spa Resort

4) Earn one more raise at Bradz

5) Read a chapter of the Book of Mormon a day during my lunch at work (I spend my lunches reading anyway, might as well)

(6) Read more novels than I did last year

...and that's it for now. So far I'm doing pretty well. But it is only the second week of January. :S

I firmly believe that I have actually moved up in the Esthetician world because I finally did my first (semi) celebrity facial and it was awesome! He absolutely loved it, and told me he wanted to come back. Who, you ask, was this (semi) celebrity? Say hello to Brad Womack: The Bachelor.

It's funny because since me and Ander don't have any channels of television, I literally had no idea who he was when I saw him on my books. But all the stylists were quick to fill me in on EXACTLY who he was and WHY he was so important. Apparently he was the bachelor that ended up not choosing either girl during the season finale and made ABC's Bachelor history. He came in to see me for a 30 minute $105 facial plus a $25 eye treatment and he was such a sweetheart. After the facial he told me he wanted a 60 minute facial the next time he came in and he wanted to make it a regular thing once a month. Only time will tell if he comes back to see me, but he did say the facial was "incredible" and "wonderful," and to top it all off he left me a 50$ tip! What a guy, what a guy. I was pretty pleased with the whole experience and I really hope he comes back. I was really nervous to give him the facial because he's probably had facials from awesome estheticians and I wasn't sure how I was going to measure up, but he seemed to enjoy the experience.

I guess 2010 hasn't started off too badly, what with me being the esthy to the stars now, and Ander and I are really looking forward to our move at the end of this month. Yes, that's right, we're moving. We found a better deal on a bigger apartment that's only about 10 minutes away from where we are right now and we move in on the 23rd of January. Packing sucks, moving sucks, but being in a newer, bigger place is totally worth it. We're both really looking forward to it.

Until next time friends, Susie: signing off

Good News

I was looking around on the interwebs the other day and came across this little gem: I finally got review on yelp.com for Bradz! Check it out!

One Fish, Two Fish

May-May has turned out to be quite the little fishing companion for Ander these days, but Ander finally found a game for May-May to play that she will play for hours: fish in the tub. She's always been fascinated by the fish Ander catches when they're out on the lake, but this time Ander decided to bring them home and let them swim around in our tub.

At first May-May was extremely confused about this business of fish being in our normally empty bathtub, but she began to gain a little more courage and eventually got into the tub with them!

Her only problem was the big guy. He started getting annoyed with her pawing at him in the water and he would swim in and out of her legs to startle her. She didn't like that, so she tried to move away from him but let's be honest, they both take up the entire tub. He's as long as she is!

We had a little more fun with May-May that night when Ander stuck one of his T-shirts on her. I thought this was hilarious, but just to make everyone aware, I will NEVER be one of those dog owners that dresses their dog up on a regular basis. Never.

Halloween Continued

As promised, here is a better picture of me and Ander on Halloween. We're with our friends Trevor and Michelle who were the ones who threw this magnificent party.

And darling Tracy and Joe in their Charlie Brown and the little redheaded girl costumes. I loved the Charlie Brown hair on Joe's forehead.

Short post, that is all.

Where Did All the Good People Go?

Apparently here in Austin! The other night we were truly blessed because of a good person's deeds. Ander had lost his wallet and he had no idea where it might have been. He had called everywhere he had gone that day with no luck. As we were sitting down to have dinner we said a prayer and Ander said, "Dear Heavenly Father, I really need help right now to find my wallet. I've tried everywhere but I just can't seem to find it. Etc, etc, etc, bless this food, yadda yadda, Amen." So we ate and enjoyed our meal, and just as we were finishing up Ander got a phone call from the restaurant he had been to that night, telling him that "a person had just turned a wallet in that they had found in the parking lot outside." What the!? We couldn't believe it! I went and picked the wallet up the next day since I was already downtown and the people at the bar that overheard my story couldn't believe that someone had actually turned it in, with all the cash, cards, and the driver's license still inside. It's really good to know that there are still some really good people out there that are able to make wonderful choices to help others out.

Out neighbor and friend, Mary, lost a credit card a little while ago and saw a mysterious charge on her account from it so she cancelled it. Just a couple of days ago, after these horrible neighbors of ours were evicted, Mary got a call from the Apartment Manager telling her that they found her credit card in the kitchen of this apartment of teens that had been evicted. I feel so blessed that the Lord put Ander's wallet into good hands. Apparently good people are not a dying breed!

Halloween: Need I Say More?

I declare this year's Halloween as a success. Ander and I were able to actually spend Halloween together for the first time since we were married and it was a blast! I decided to go as Max from Where the Wild Things Are, and Ander worked two costumes: The Hamburglar and a 70s man.

First thing in the morning Ander grabbed May-May and a buddy of his and went out fishing...Hamburglar style. He decided the Hamburglar suddenly discovered a taste for fish, and he thoroughly embarrassed his comrade all morning.

Next I awoke and dressed in my costume for work. Full onesie complete with ears and tail. My mother-in-law did a FANTASTIC job on my costume and I am eternally thankful to her for her hard work. I was a hit all day long and even made some kids smile.

The girls I work with all wore these cute little witch hats, telling me that dressing completely in costume and working with blow dryers all day was not comfortable, and I believe them.

Left to right that's Shandi, Lori, Me, Sonya, and Julie.

And one of my favorite people at Bradz, Amy, the front desk coordinator came all dressed professionally for work when Shandi decided to throw a dread lock wig on her and draw facial hair and tattoos on her face so she looked like Lil' Wayne. Genius. What a trooper, Amy wore that all day! (Way cool aluminum foil grill on there as well)

I had a really slow day, so I spent a lot of my time rubbing everyone down. Clients and co-workers alike. They are all stressing about their parties and costumes that night so I decided to help them out.

Now, onto our evening at our Halloween party. My apologies to everyone for my camera being so sucky since I only have said camera on my phone. I took copies of everyone else's Facebook pages to create my own collection and there are still a couple that I'm missing. Please bear with me, I'll get them up soon.

Our friends Danny and Jenni had some of the coolest costumes I've seen in a long time. Oh the childhood memories...

And Tracy and Joe were the darling Charlie Brown couple, Charlie Brown and the little red headed girl, but that picture will come soon enough. (don't judge) Trevor and Michelle were both dressed in fabulous kimonos and looked wonderful together. Once again, that picture is on its way.

After chatting and catching up with one another it was time to carve our pumpkins. Ander and I decided to use patterns so we were last to finish, but we were very proud of what we accomplished.

^ (Can you tell this one is from my phone's camera?) ^

And ta-dah! Our masterpieces. The pumpkin with the skull is mine and the pumpkin with Bowser is Ander's. We are extremely proud.

Once again, I think this year was a success. Our costumes were fabulous, the party was fabulous, the food was fabulous, work for me was fabulous... it was just a good day. Thanks to my Mama Denton for the costumes, the interwebs for our pumpkin patterns, and the Walshes for the party. What a great Halloween!

(I also have a better picture of Ander's costume coming shortly)