cbell611

Hi all, Well I got the job and just waiting for them to test assistive technology. I am still working over at the department of Family and protective Services while I'm waiting. I love working there and wll be sad when I have to leae because the crew there has been awesome. I'm excited about moving on eventually. well that's it for now. Not much is happening.

Hi All,
As many of you know I had a job interview last week and the interview part went fine. The person interviewing me was not the one calling me back however. Her supervisor called to talk about the technology I used and told me that because I use audio that I was disqualified for the position. He did say that if I used magnification for the position I would have had it. Needless to say I was heated. So today I'm up bright and early to head to yet another job interview. Hopefully this one goes well. If I get this position I'll be working for time warner as a customer retention specialist where if people call to cancel their service then I would offer them other things to convince them to keep it. I'm keeping fingers and toes crossed for this one. See you soon.
Crystal

Hi all,
Well I found out te\\\the hard way that multivitamins and I do not get along on an emty stomach. I took one without even thinking and it came right back up. No it wasn't pleasant. I forgot to mention in my last entry that I'm going to start training for a 5 k soon. I'm hoping to do a color run with Amy. We recently started hanging out again few weeks ago. She thought i was mad at her and I told her that training happened so I got really busy. A color run is where you wear a white tea shirt and at every check point someone pours colored corn starch on your shirt so at the end it looks like a huge tie died rainbow. I think I know a few people who would die to see that. So I found another author to read. Her name is Lisa Gardener. She writes murder mysteries and we all know how i love those. A friend of mine recommended her but I need to finish the book I'm working on which is the fifth book in Outlander called Drumbs of Autumn. If you haven't done it yet you should check out www.goodreads.com. It's a neat site where you can find books your friends are reading and recommend books to them as well as read reviews. It's a great way to get new book ideas. Well I think that's all for now. Let me know what you think of goodreads and ayes you can follow me on it.
Crystal

Ok I know it's been forever but I knew it would be this time. I'll start witht he day the family got here. We left here around 9:30 on the 7th and met the gang at the airport. Of course Donna who is my absolute best friend was the first one to me and as per usual she tackled me. You'd think she hadn't seen me in 6 months. Then I saw Brit, mom and Jess. We got the rental car and headed to freebirds which is mine and Chris's favorite place to eat. The gang really loved it. After that we headed back to the hotel and checked in. After getting them all settled Brit wanted to head downtown to see what they could see. We walked out there for a while and found plenty of stores that I'd never been into. My favorite had to be the music memorabelia store. They had a really neat bracelet with all guitar picks on it. Then mom asked if I had a blender. I said I did and we went to our apartment and grabbed it. We headed back to the hotel and made strawberry daqueries and hung out in the pool and the otub talkingand laughing at various things. There was a creepy guy in the hot tub with us but he was a good source of information and told us about a few places that we should visit. Mom took us home about 9 that night after we ate pizza and hung out. Then she called about 8 friday morning to let us know she was on the way to pick us up. Chris and I got packed quickly and headed to the car. We grabbed a bunch of movies because the car they rented had a dvd player built in to it. We watched brides maids on the way to Brenham where we toured the icecream factory. After that we drove the last hour and a half to my inlaws and it started to rain as we got there. We sat out in the yard and talked and got everything set up for the party she was having. About 6 or so friends started to arrive and we sat and talked aobut everything. It was a great night. The margaritas were flowing and it was a great time. Saturday morning we went shopping and I got a new pair of shorts and some new pajamas. After that we came back and had lunch. We packed up our cars and headed out for bbq which was wonderful. We then went to the vfw for a night of country line dancing. I finally know how to texas 2 step. it was a ot of fun. We got in really late taht night. We got up about 10 taht morning and I grabbed the cds witht he phtographers pics from our wedding and coppe it over to my computer. We repacked everything and headed back to austin. We stopped at the river to go tubing which was a blast except for the fact that I got extrememly burned and mom got flipped after going over some rapids and almost lost her camera. Afer tubing we piled into the ar and headed home. Mom dropped Chris and I offf and we got showered and cleaned up for dinner. Mom made alfredo and garlic bread and Amy and Franklin came over. Everyone clicked really well. After that we cleaned my room and made it more organized. My baby sister thought she could scream at me so a mini fight broke out, butall was resolved eventually. Then Monday was mine and Chri's 1 year anniversary so we headed to the water park. We spent a good for hours there getting on various tube rides. My famorite of those was the conga mission. It was very interactive with sounds and fog and mist. It was really long and a lot of fun. I had a near fainting spell and pretty much figured it was the heat. Donna didn't want to go ont he ride we were in line for so we went down and I sat ina pool with her and we had some time to talk and just hang out like out times. After that we all went on one lazy river ride and floated for a while. Mom was starting to feel sick so we headed back home, and I fell asleep in the car so I got dropped off. Early tueday morning mom called and said they were on the way oer. I was a little upset because I had yet to shower and get myself together but oh well things are the way they are. They told Chris he'd be staying home because they wanted a girls day with me. We headed out to a place called Hamalton's pool which is just outside of austin. The trail was all rock and built out of a hill so there were a lot of steps leading down. It was tricky menoover, but I made it. The pool is naturally fed b a spring and it built into a cave. It was great. I got to ride in a tractor back up because mom and I weren't real sure how going back up would be. After that we went to the Harley shop so Donna could get some stuff for her boy friend and we went back to freebirds for lunch. Then they dropped me off and headed for the airport. Wenesday was a recovery day were I slept most of the time. Thrusday I was up and adam bright and early to take a tour of the rehab center. For 8 to about 9:30 I got a tour and a basic layout of the building. At 10 I sat througha nd introductory braille class witha really neat instructor. At 11 I went to industrial arts class where I was shown how to take off a door knowb. It was really cool, and something I hadn't done before. Then came lunch. It felt like being in a cafeteria. YOu got a tray and moved through the line. They also had a salad bar which was great for me. After lunch I headed for daily living skills where I talked to an instructor about my strengths and weaknesses with thigs like cleaning and cooking. Then we had mobility, and needless to say I was not looking forward tot his at all. I have horrible mobility skills. I did find out that I can make a half decent mental map of layouts though so taht might help a bit more. Then my last class was technology. As many of you know I'm a self professed nird so I was in heaven. We decided I definetly don't need basic keyboarding s o I'll start with windows 7 classes. Then I spoke with the admissions cordinator and she told me what paperwork I needed to submit. I was toked. I'm finally going to get the training I need. If all goes right I'll be in there starting July 30th. I took paratransit home and told Chris about my day. friday morning I called the doctor to schedule my tb test for monday. While I'm there I need themt o fax a copy fo my physical to my councellor so we can get this ball roling. I'm really excited about Wednesday though. I finally am well enought to get fitted with my new eye. I am not sure if I'll have the permanent one or not yet but time will tell. Well more after all that stuff happens
Crystal

So much has happened as of late. I got excellent news on the lions club front. They will be helping with not only but the cost of the permanent shell as well. Surgery is just over a week away and I think I'm finally starting to get excited. I'm not really nervous like a was a while ago. My best friend who is the best human being ever is sending me a build a bear wiht a get well message from her and the boys. I'm super excited. The gang finally verified their trips in June. I'm so ready to see them. I've already be told in no uncertain terms that I'm going to be tackled by donna. I'm going to head out in a bit with amy, her boyfriend Franklin, and Chris to catch a u.t. baseball game. Amy, now theres another story. I really feel like we're getting close. We had a long deep, girly conversation the other day and it meant a lot to me We talked about everything from x's and boy friends to life and dealing with things. I'm really happy she's going to be with me for surgery. I'm also excited because my mother in law will be there too. Amy is going to drive me home and get me comfortable in bed while Chris and my mother in law grab food. I'm onna get ready and get dressed and stuff so we can get out of here at a half decent time.

As most of you know I'm working on walking up to a five k. Today I met the 2 mile mark. I felt really good. Amy kept holding me to my goal of 2 miles and today I made it. I could have gone another 2 laps but I didn't wana push myself to hard with it. So next time is 2 and a half. Let's see how it goes. Well that's about it for now. I'll update you as things progress.

Hi gang. Friday was a lot of fun. I was able to get my room cleaned and I learned to use the shark steam mop. It's a pretty neato invention. Amy was supposed to come over but she got stuck at work. I had a bottle of whine and the guys all drank beer. Then yesterday I met up with amy around noon. She took me over to the track at st. Edwards and we walked a mile. Then we ran to target to get me some work out clothes and pick up a few misc items. After target we hit the gym and she showed me how to work the treadmill and she told me to do the treadmill for 25 minutes 5 days a week. Yeah that's gonna kick my butt. We went to get my haircut after the gym we went to get my haircut and I donated a ten inch ponytail to lock of love. That was really nifty. We came back here and amy show me a few balance exericise and she had to get out of here because she had dinner plans with her boy friend. needless to say things have been pretty busy around here. I'm doing great and can't wait to see what this week has in store for me.
Crystal

Ok ok I know It's been forever and a year. I went to Delaware around thanksgiving to spend some time with my parents. When the annulment thing may have happened Chris's mom bought me a ticket to philly so I could leave, but since everything worked out I was able to use it for more fun occasions. I spent the majority of the time there with Jesse my cousin and my best friend donna. My 28th birthday was a blast. My aunt donna that I haven't seen in years came over and her, mom, and the rest of us got drunk off wine. She got me this angry bird and mom insisted on hitting me with it the entire time. Holy crap that was the most funny 15 minutes ever. My birthday and christmas present from the parentals and siblings was my iPhone. I'm loving it. I was scared to death to try to figure out a touch screen but I'm managing quite well. I'm currently into a new book series call the outlander series. It's about a woman named Clare who starts in 1945 in scotlland but time travels back in 1845 and meets a soldier and things begin to happen. I love this series. The narrator is either english or scottish so she does a great job reading the books. I finally was able to get medical insurance as of Thursday. I'm really excited because I'm finally gonna get all the necessary work ups that I haven't had in 10 years. Well I'll write more after I get back from my doctors appointment today.
Bye

As I said in a preveious entry I'd probably be talking to you guys again as Mrs. Bell. Yep I was right. Friday the tenth was our rehearsal. Early that morning my baby sister was in a lot of pain. She was taken to the emergency roo More on that later. So rehearsal was great. We met with all the family. Everyone had a blast talking and laughing. We even had a fire at the end of the night. The best part of that night for me was when his mom came up to me and was like "ok daughter I'm leavin you." I gave her a huge hug and told her I wasn't officially daughter until tomorrow" Her response "baby you've been official for the passed 3 years." I was feeling pretty awesome at that point. I went to bed pretty early Friday night because I knew I had a long day ahead the next day. sure enough six Am came and I was wide awake. Sam and I went to get our hair doene. While this was getting done sam got the call they wouldn't be releasing brit and I lost it. All I wanted more then ever was my baby girl in my wedding. So needless to say I was a bit devistated but never the less the show had to go on. I asked my cousin Taylor to fill in for brit. The wedding was awesome. We had to delay the start of it 30 minutes because of rain. i wasn't gonna let that ruin my day. At 4:30 everything went off without a hitch. The one thing I wasnt expecting was for my step father to get really emotional. I thought he was gonna lose it walking down the peer towards chris. He kissed me goodbye and handing me to chris who walked me into the gazibo to meet the minister. The ceremony was beautiful. We said our vowls and exchanged rings. then we did a sand pouring ceremony in place of a unity candle. This ceremony has two individual containers full of sand and one big container that the sand gets poured into. The two smaller containers represented chris and I as individuals. The big container represented our becoming one. Our mothers took the smaller containers and poured half of them into the bigger container. Then they handed them to chris and I and we finished pouring them as a symbolization of us becoming husband and wife. Then we were pronounced Mr. and Mrs. Christopher bell and we kissed. Then we walked to the end of the peer and were greeted by everyone. That was a long wait. Then we were driven around on the golf cart by our best man and maid of honor and the crowd blew bubbles at us instead of throwing rice. That was a nice touch. Then we went inside and were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Bell for the first time in public. It was great. The dinner was awesome. The roasted pork was a major hit. Then we had our first dance as husband and wife to Me and you by Kenny Chesney. Aftr that I danced with my dad and I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. Then chris and his mom danced. After that we went outside to do group pictures. My feet were killing me at this point so after that was done I was barefoot. Then came the cake cutting. Chris was all nice me well not so much. That was a blast. Then we did the guarder and bouquet tosses. Ours had a twist to them though. After chris took the guarder off my leg I had to put it on him. That was fun. then I decided to be silly and take it offf with my teeth. Everyone thought that was funny. Then the toasts were next. My sister was my made of honor and she couldn't keep herself together. It was a very sweet toast. Then the best man gave his. It was funny. Then we had our anniversary dance. We were the last couple out since we were the most recently married. That was great. Then chris and his mom were called on the floor. Rumor had it that there were keys to the apartment around and sure enough everyone had a key including my grandmother who had the last one. It was funny. Then we had our last dance which was I cross my heart by george straight.

Good grief it's may second already? Where did the time go? I'm heading home tomorrow to get things going for the wedding. I've still gotta make the list of stuff I have to do. I'm really looking forward to everything though. chris's mom and some of her friends threw me an awesome bridle shower on friday. It was a luow themed shower. We got tons of gifts. I made out like a bandit again. I'm leaving for the airport tomorrow and I can't wit. Chris will be back here in Austin but he'll be up right before the wedding. I'm oober excited.