Brittany's Blinged Bellybutton!

"Veni, Vidi, Vici!" I did it! After years of contemplation, I decided to go for it and make a change. My bellybutton = pierced. That's right. Prudish Brittany Engebretsen got her bellybutton pierced. epic win. "Why?" you ask? Well, since you seem so interested, I will tell you. I know you are just dying to know... I could tell by the desperate tone in your voice. That gave it away. Anywho, if you have followed my posts at all, you will know that I love lists...

- I
- love
- lists.

- No,
- really,
- I
- do.

... and if you have not followed my posts, shame on you! You have been missing out on epic, life-fulfilling entertainment that simply cannot be found elsewhere. Therefore, before you finish this post, go catch up on the other ones because you have missed out on a whole lot of awesome. Now then, I am going to list the reasons I decided to get a bellybutton piercing:

- I have always thought one would look cute on me.
- I have extremely low self-esteem (Although, I can put on a pretty awesome facade... I can have confidence in that I suppose. Hehe!), so I thought that having a bellybutton piercing may make me feel a little better about myself and my body.
- The best reason = It is my "fast". When one fasts, he or she is reminded to pray often because he or she is often hungry. When he or she feels hunger, he or she prays. Thus, the longer the fast, the more reminding, and, consequently, the more prayer for the issue at hand. I have had something eating at me for the past few years. I didn't know that Satan could have such a stronghold on ME! ("Don't be prideful lest you fall.") However, as said, I have been struggling with an issue on my heart for the past few years, and it is time to beat it down. The only way I can "beat" this is by not trying to beat it on my own. In fact, I need to take myself out of the picture- die to myself and let the Lord take full control. Therefore, this piercing is a way for me to remember to pray often and fervently for the issue with which I am dealing. After all, I must change at least twice a day, so I will see my belly at least twice. This simply means that I will be praying specifically for the problem twice a day at the minimum. In short, the piercing is my prayer reminder.
- This goes along with the last one. The piercing is a way to commemorate the day (5/7/10) that I vowed to the Lord, myself, and another person involved that I would pray fervently and (with the Lord's guidance) change forever. It is a symbol to represent a beautiful choice.

Now that you know the reasons for this scandalous act, it is getting late: bedtime! "But, Brittany," you say, "you haven't told me about the whole piercing process, the pain, etc., etc. What gives?!" Well, my response is that you began your sentence with a conjunction... Tsk! Tsk! Have you learned nothing from past English classes? Besides that, I wouldn't want to tell you everything right away, would I? Then I would be afraid you would not come back! I have to leave you on the edge of your seat. I know... you are extremely disappointed because your life DOES revolve around my blog, but you will just have to be patient. I know you will be eagerly awaiting tomorrow's post so that you can have every gruesome detail. Talk... er... type to you tomorrow? ...eh, that works.

Coffee, Boxes, and Sweat

Well, the day started off right. We went to Starbucks in the library on campus (the other one was not open), and in order to use up my last $17 and something cents, we had a field day. I ordered a venti Skinny Cinnamon Dolce Latte, my mom ordered a venti black coffee and little vanilla scones, Travis ordered a grande Double Chocolate Chip Blended Cream, and we finished the money off by buying two of their chocolate bars. Finally, that 90 something dollars that I recently discovered on my card is gone! Obviously, it was a sunk cost (for all of those economics people out there), so I figured I might as well buy tons of Starbucks as a last hoorah until I get to New York where I won't be able to afford anything in the "luxury" department for a while. After that, we B-lined it to the FSU bookstore where we tried selling back a whole box-full of books!

Success! Yay for selling back textbooks! Travis and I received nearly $300 for all of the textbooks we sold back today. That is awesome as it will pay for a few months storage this summer. win. I was very pleased with the "spoils" of our trek. Again, due to my caffeine driven Superwoman mother, we accomplished more today! We went by Goodwill and got rid of a box of stuff that maybe we don't need but someone else might find useful. Was she pleased with our already successful day? Of course not! Duh! More must be done!

Therefore, we journeyed to the U-Haul store where we picked up special packing paper (for artwork) and a... er... quite large artwork box. In fact... this box was so very large that all of the seats in the back of the Audi had to be folded down to fit the box in through the trunk and into the back area of the car. This would have been just dandy... if I were not sitting in the back of the car with my mom and Trav up front. Therefore, the ride home was amusing: I was in the back, lying down on the folded-down chairs (trying not to be seen by a cop- I know... we are so bad) with the cardboard box peeking out by my side. Let me just say... the back of seats in a car... are not comfortable. fail.

We are now back, and once more, more has been accomplished. Travis paid our FINAL month's rent, and I have e-mailed the man who is going to write my letter to NY confirming that I am 100% eligible to be certified in FL. This will complete one more step to the "getting employed in New York" process. Things are progressing beautifully. :) We have even loaded up Travis's car and Mom's car with some things that need to come down to South Florida. With Mom around, no one can be idle. Thank goodness, too. She has been the absolute biggest help we could have. She brings motivation, organization, speed, and "he-womanness" to the process.

Update: My mom and I just finished going by Goodwill AGAIN to drop off more stuff! We also went by to drop off our food that needs refrigeration to the Grays for their consumption, since we won't be here.

Tonight will end nicely because we are going to get some delicious Publix subs, plop down on an air mattress in the living room, and watch movies... er... maybe a movie. We will probably be too pooped to watch more than one. Knowing my reputation with movie-watching, I will be out after the first 15 minutes.

Ugh... still so much to do! I have to renew the title for my car, which I have to renew here because we aren't moving to NY till September. I also have to forward my mail and e-mail. Another task is finishing up this stinkin' apartment. Fortunately, we will be coming back to load everything eventually, so we will deep clean the place then. One thing we DON'T need to do for once...yay!

Well, now that I have poured today's tasks out to you, I will end this post. Hopefully your day is/was less stressful than ours. If not, I pity you and advise you to eat some cake. You deserve it.

the end.

Words I Hate

1. Slough (No, not the animal-that is a sloth... I am referring to the act of "sloughing" something off of something. Nasty.)

2. Tender (Meat can be tender... but people shouldn't be... nor should they ever do anything "tenderly".)

3. Supple (just ew.)

4. Morsel (Surprisingly, I can still buy the "chocolate morsels" for baking, etc. ...Okay...the "etc." stands for "just chomping them down like a fatty".)

5. Moist (The award for the person who can say this in the absolute grossest manner is Kelsey Kuss. Congratulations! Trust me, this is a compliment to her. She KNOWS she can do it in just that way that makes you go"...ewwwww!" She thoroughly enjoys this, and you can see the victory in her eyes as she watches you cringe over her mastery of this word.)

What are some words that you just simply cannot stand? (EXCEPT FOR CURSE WORDS!!!!)

No Longer a Student

Congratulations to the rest of the FSU Class of 2010! I know that I am extremely proud to be a graduate of the Florida State University. It is so strange to no longer be a "student". For 16 years of my life, I have been a student. Anytime I have ever filled something out online, I have had to choose "student" as my occupation. Sadly, now my occupation would stand as... unemployed. Haha!

Speaking of employment... today I made some serious progress with becoming an educator in New York. I registered for a TEACH account, applied for certification online (and paid), ordered the fingerprinting kit (and paid), sent my college transcripts (and paid), and set it up for a letter to be sent to New York State Education Department stating that I have completed a legitimate program and my tests and that I am eligible for certification in Florida. Did you notice that three out of the five tasks involved paying? I find it ironic that they suck so much money from people before they even get hired. Especially teachers! I mean, goodness, it isn't like we get paid much after we apply and get hired anyway! I suppose this is the way things go when they are handled by the government.

Besides the strides I have made involving employment today, we (Travis, mom, and I) have made serious strides in packing today. Although my living room is filled to the brim with boxes, it is nice to know that we will be out of here soon. Trust me, though, I could not have done any of what has been accomplished without my mom being here. She is like the flipping Energizer bunny on steroids. I get tired and lazy oh so easily; however, she has this like caffeine inducing fire under her butt that propels her into "accomplish" mode. Despite my desire to be lazy, we did some legit. packing today. Thank you, Travis and Mom!

Well, I think I will update you on my Summer Lovin' List:

4. Watch Up Close and Personal with Mom - Accomplished. Let me just say, this was a great movie! I loved it! If you get a chance, watch it... unless you absolutely loathe movies with sad endings (sorry if I gave anything away there, but I needed to warn those with easily-breakable hearts).

19. Buy new "teacher" shoes - Accomplished. Yay new shoes! I did, indeed, get new teacher shoes. I also bought some cute white/beige sandals, but that is beside the point. I bought black flats and beige "boat shoes". They will both be great "close-toed" shoes for teaching. I am so glad that is over; I hate shoe-shopping. It is especially aggravating when it is for work, not play. Oh well, such is life.

Only 10% finished, but hey! That is still progress... can't get to 100% without hitting 10% on the way. Well, that's all folks!

Fin.

Important Current Events (well, important to OUR lives)

- Yesterday was Travis and my 5 year dating anniversary. He's put up with me for 5 whole years!

- Yesterday, Travis was hooded for his Master's. (Cult much?)

- I'm graduating with my Bachelor's of Science in Elementary Education today!

- Travis is graduating with a Master's in Science of Finance today!

- Today is the first day of May-- meaning we have one month to get packed up and out of Tallahassee.

Yes, there is a lot going on right now. I am excited about today, but to be honest, I am NOT looking forward to sitting through 2 hours worth of a graduation ceremony. However, I will say that I thought it was going to be longer, so I suppose I should count my blessings! It is going to be a long ceremony more than likely followed by a long session of picture-taking, followed by an awkward break, followed by a late dinner, and finally followed by SLEEP! I will post tomorrow... if I live through all of this... toodles!