WHA?????

That’s all I can think of when I heard one of my karaoke buddies was shot and killed last night! His name was Ben Goeser, one of the nicest people you could ever meet!  He was always optimistic and just happy to hang out, have a beer, and sing with friends!  I was there when he asked his wife to marry him, and what an event that was!  He was SO excited, as was everyone else.  Here’s a picture of me and the happy couple, not too long after they’d gotten hitched, from my birthday last year:

Ben was a hugger, like a big teddy bear, and always happy to see everyone!  I just can’t believe that an (apparently) unstable man could just walk into a bar and shoot someone.  He apparently was obsessed with Nikki (his wife, the woman in the picture), and even posted this on his myspace blog a day before the murder:

FOREVER UNFORGIVEN! I know who you are,,,! RUN…

When I catch up with you I’m going to write the FN book on cruel…
You haven’t seen my bad side yet MFR but your going to….
Its going to be EXTREAMLY painful!!! where are you going to work that I won’t find you,,,lunch, dinner, supper,, sleep,, every FN waking moment..
I will be on the hunt..Predator and Prey.. Now You Pissed Me Off!!!
You’re FOREVER UNFORGIVEN !

What Kind of life do you have now!

I just hope this man gets the help he so desperately needs!  I just wish it hadn’t taken someone dying to realize he had problems.  Nikki’s a tough woman, but she needs all the prayers and support she can get!  So please say a prayer for her and Ben has (I want to say 4) children, and grand babies too!  Just a very tragic event that shouldn’t have happened!

Here’s a clip from the last time I saw him, with the dance they created!

RIP Ben!!!!  You will be missed a great deal!

Addition To The Calendar

That’s right!  December 5th has been declared No Gays For A Day Day, which means that all gays and lesbians are to stay home, no shopping, no working, no school, nothing, in an attempt to prove to the government that they are a prevalent group in society, and should be able to have the same rights to marriage.  There were even more than 100 people out in downtown Nashville, Saturday, along with several other cities, protesting Proposition 8.  Here’s the article

I, personally, have no prejudice toward gays and lesbians, some of my friends are, and I have no problem with that.  I do, however, believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.  It’s the way God intended.  But, on the other hand, I do believe it’s not my business what other people do, and I do think people are entitled to whatever makes them happy, so long as it doesn’t harm anyone, and I really don’t feel this would harm anyone.  I guess I’m somewhat middle of the road on the topic  What do you think?  Do you believe the No Gays For A Day Day will have any real impact?

Prayer Requests

Instead of the oh woe is me, I need a job post, I figured I was past due on prayer request for other people, forgetting that A LOT of people have it worse than me.  Here are my requests for now:

Amanda’s little girl, Maddie, has been having some SEVERE allergic reactions to something, but they’re not exactly sure what it is, and can’t get in to the doctor to find out for sure until next Friday. In the meantime, poor Maddie can’t go outside for extended periods of time.  Pray for Mom too, she’ll need the help keeping a 6 year-old entertained!  Also, pray for her small group, it’s just not quite going as she’d hoped.

My mom, she is on the job hunt as well, only up in Michigan, which has had an even worse market than Nashville.

Of course, there’s my jobless self, which needs SOMETHING to happen!  I would seriously take ANYTHING right now, I just can’t be on my feet all day long (due to hairline fractures I’ve had, in my feet, and they never really go away).

I know there’s a ton of other requests, but I really can’t think of anymore at the moment, so feel free to let me know, and I’ll add to the list!  Have a great weekend all!

And So The Search Continues…

We are now 5 months into the job search, and I’ve been in panic mode for the last 3 of them!  Now, I’m in the freak out stage, where my dad is telling me he can’t keep supporting me, and I still haven’t had any nibbles!  My bank account overdrew, he was supposed to put money in, yet it never made its way in.  Last week, I was dealing with the whole moving fiasco, and as soon as I was back online, I must have sent out 20 resumes and cover letters, and not one phone call!  I’m just so irritated and ready to throw in the towel, with nowhere to turn.  The ony thing is I don’t have anywhere to go.  Michigan isn’t an option, they’ve got higher unemployment rates than Tennesee, and as for living with my mother, NO THANKS!  With the whole country having issues, I feel stuck.  And what kills me is my little brother, 20, who is going to school and working full time, is making more money than I’ve ever made!  He had to drop out of college because of his “depression” and has screwed up way more than me, yet things are going well for him!  I just don’t get it, why am I still going around this mountain??????  I haven’t had an interview in over a week, and I’m assumming I didn’t get that one since I never heard back.  The one the week before that, they said they’d certainly let me know EITHER WAY, and NOTHING!!!!!!  If anyone hears of anybody hiring, where it wouldn’t require me to be on my feet all day, let me know, I have a Bachelor’s Degree and can do anything administrative, and have fantastic customer service skills!

Ignorance???

Is it ignorant o think that English should be the only language spoken when it comes to dealing with the government???? I have lived in other countries, and although English is the universal language, we had to learn their language, or find someone to translate for us, and that’s because we were on THEIR TURF! I understand the country is a melting pot, the land of opportunity and freedom, but I really don’t feel asking people to learn English is too much to ask for! They might as well, EVERYTHING is in English, from our street signs to the groceries we buy. I just saw on the news, that when they received some of the mailings back petitioning for it to be on the ballod, people had scribbled such hateful messages, one showed “Ignorant Racist” and they had to blur out some of it. I just feel if you’re coming to my country, you should speak my language, they would expect the same from a foreigner in their country!

I was talking to my friend, Victor, who doesn’t agree with the idea, here’s some of our conversation on Instant Messanger:
(it got a little heated, more so than I would’ve thought, but he is of Mexican descent, and is in law school, so I’m sure he’s argued with fence posts just for the heck of it!;) )

hey, random topic, would you be opposed to making your city english-only??? where they don’t offer spanish speaking people for assistance in gov’t offices???
“Victor”: yes.
christinaeba1983: really, why?
“Victor”: there are a lot of mexicans in holland
“Victor”: and english isnt the national language
“Victor”: and i think its ignorant to assume it is
christinaeba1983: so???? they are on our turf, and yes english is our official language of the USA
“Victor”: or to assume that everyone should speak it
“Victor”: who is they?
christinaeba1983: they’re in our country!
“Victor”: and no its not
christinaeba1983: foreigners
“Victor”: the us doesnt have an official language
christinaeba1983: When I went to Egypt and Thailand, do you think they offered english assistance? no, we needed to learn their language
“Victor”: and they? this land is suppose to be the land of the masses. it is built on the back of immigrants and foreigners. to betray that history seems ridiculous
christinaeba1983: it’s not, but to become a US citizen, you have to know english, and if you don’t, then you most likely don’t belong there
“Victor”: says who?
christinaeba1983: common sense!
“Victor”: thats ridiculous christina
christinaeba1983: Well, I posted a blog about it, go over and comment! lol
“Victor”: i dont need to…i can tell you here that what you said/say is very ignorant of a history of people.
christinaeba1983: I don’t think so at all
christinaeba1983: English is the universal language, people leaving their homelands should learn it
“Victor”: lol you sound so republican and stupid
christinaeba1983: no, but if you’re driving, the street signs are in english, groceries and everything are in english, I shouldn’t have to select whether i want to hear things in english or spanish, should be english automatically
christinaeba1983: if i go to YOUR homeland, then I need to speak YOUR language, and same goes for coming to my homeland
“Victor”: but those are practically the same thing
“Victor”: why?
“Victor”: you ar ridiculous. there is no language of america.
“Victor”: just bc its the primary here in MI doesnt mean thats everywhere
“Victor”: what bothers you about spanish so much
“Victor”: its a beautiful language.
“Victor”: and driving signs are specifically made in shapes to deal with that kind of thing. and spanish speaking people arent ignorant of english completely. to think they couldnt comprehend stop speaks a lot about your ignorance as well.
christinaeba1983: I just think if you’re living here, you should communicate in the common language, and make an effort to learn it
“Victor”: and i think if more americans had a better grasp of the english language then i might care if “foreigners” as you called them, spoke english
christinaeba1983: well if they’re not from here, they are a foreigner…DUH!
christinaeba1983: they’re from a foreign place, meaning not familiar to the US!
“Victor”: and to call them foreigners implies that they dont belong here…my grandma has been an american for over 50 years and doesnt speak english…for you to imply you are any more american than her is ridiculous
“Victor”: not all americans speak english
christinaeba1983: well, they should!
christinaeba1983: all public schools teach in english, am i wrong?
“Victor”: yes
“Victor”: you are
“Victor”: go down to the southwest
christinaeba1983: find me one, you won’t
“Victor”: i think if a group of people wants to preserve their culture by using their language and not being assimilated into america.

What do you think? Would you vote for it? Do you feel it would hurt the city to go English-Only??

Why I Love Karaoke

We have FUN!!!!! Even I don’t get judged for my HORRIBLE singing, and what’s more fun than watching a bunch of drunks make even bigger fools of themselves??

Case in point:

This is my friend, Katie, singing, and I was trying to figure out why it is we can’t hear her sing, and it’s because the god-awful singing in the background is me!!!! Oh, and I did giggle periodically through it! The men in the background, they are, what they call themselves, the Whoresmen! They came up with their own moves to Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats”!!!!

Later, I’ll post the other video of Katie singing Suds in the Bucket! She said her husband had never heard her sing, so now he has!

I decided not to sing that night, only because it didn’t start out the greatest, we had one of these lovely contraptions attached to my vehicle, along with a ticket saying it’ll cost me $50!!! We literally had left the car for less than 10 minutes, and it was already taken hostage!!

My poor scarlett (I named my car, call me silly, but she was too pretty not to be named, and, no she’s not red, I wanted a red version of her, but the white works too, she needed a proper southern name though, and it doesn’t get more southern than scarlett LOL)!!!! The jerk who put it on was still there, and he said he’d knock my ticket down to $20, I advised him we went in to get some cash and came back out, he said three people had come and went in and came back out to pay in the time since we walked in (Bologna!), so I paid him (I hope he needed that $20 more than my unemployed butt did!), and went back in.

Words of Advice: If parking @ Cafe Coco, downtown Nashville, you will pay, whether be the normal amount, or more!!!!

And let me tell you, that parking attendant was VERY busy that night, so I wasn’t the only one!

Guest Blogger/Blog Hijacker – Sarah (she had a rough day)

Today I had an interview at a staffing agency here in Nashille, TN. Some background on me….I moved here from southern Illinois in 2005. Today during the interview the woman while she was looking over my paperwork I spent 2 hours doing she asked “So what brings you back to Nashville?”. “Back?” I asked.

Now this woman reminds you of a witchy old librarian or an old English teacher. “Do you know what BACK means?” I told her I didn’t move BACK to Nashville (the paperwork she was reading had the dates I worked in IL). She pushed her glasses to the tip of her nose and she eyed me over the rims “Honey, what town do you think you are in?”. I was so insulted. I showed her my history on the paperwork. She then apologized. Man, I was so happy to get out of there. What a dumbass.

She-e-e-e-e-eila!!!

This is Dr. Sheila…

We were suite-mates (we shared a bathroom between rooms in the dorms) in college, for 2 years, both had our issues with roommates, and made each other laugh, even when we were afraid we were going to fail a class, or were uncertain about how our decisions would pan out post college, and ended up BFF’s in the process!! She’s now in Chicago, a pharmacist, and I’m trying to get her to move to Nashville, she did like it here, and she’s sick of paying $1300 for rent (can’t say that I blame her)!! I hadn’t seen her since we graduated May of 2006, so it was exciting to meet up!!!!

On Thursday, we went to see this girl perform, and she was amazing, as always! Katie tagged along too, and she’s always an added bonus! Friday, we had a mini barbecue here in the 865 Bellevue complex, and Katie and Sarah joined us, and had a grand ol’ time! We then made an attempt at a dessert…

I was watching the Food Network one day, and they had a company who made chocolate covered frozen bananas, so why couldn’t we???? Well, probably because we don’t have the equipment, but we tried!!!!! They weren’t all that bad, and Sheila loved the sprinkle addition!!!! Next time, we think we’ll fondue it! The next day, we cooked, we made fried eggplant (a personal favorite), marinated chicken (you don’t know what your missing until you’ve had this chicken, promise!), and broccoli…and it was nothing less than fantastic, in my book, and Sheila loved it. She said she didn’t expect to learn to cook, and she said it was so easy. I told her it’s Chef Schmidt style, and I only do easy ha ha!!! I even sent a picture of the food to my mother as proof I do cook, she called laughing!!!!

That day, we went wandering around downtown, I pointed out where Nicole and Keith Urban have a condo, and told her she needs to move there, and I’ll move in with her…she did like the downtown, but she said it’d be at least a year until she changes jobs. I got my fingers crossed!!!! Sunday, she went to church with me, she said she’s not a singer, so she didn’t sing, but she said she enjoyed it, so that was cool!!! We then had our little luncheon afterwards, which Emily and Jason did a fantastic job cooking!!!! Sheila decided to stick around until Monday, which was great! We went to have Chinese over at China Spring, which was pretty good, and went to TCBY, and James, a friend of mine, joined us!!!! We woke up today, she said she wanted some grits, we went to waffle house Friday, and she had loved them then, she offered to pay, so how could I refuse that??  Yes, I can be bought, and it usually doesn’t take much!!!!!  She left earlier today, and it was just a good time for her to come, I’ve just been in a rut, with no job, and what not, and she needed a change of scenery, so it was a great visit!!!!  Thanks Sheila for coming ALL the way from Chicago to visit little ol’ me!!!!

Restaurant Review

I always like trying out new restaurants and finding the hole in the walls, and what not, so I thought I’d try the new restaurant, Lemongrass Thai and Sushi, and seeing as I’ve lived in Thailand, I think I know authentic food.

Lemongrass Thai and Sushi – Hwy 70 & OHB, behind McDonald’s

Atmosphere – looked very posh compared to the buffet style Chinese restaurant it used to be, the tables were lined up nicely, looked very clean. I only went in for a to-go order, but it appeared they had a station where you can have them cook your food the way you like it. Adequate lighting was nice too, and they had a 92 on their last inspection

Service – Like I said, I was there for a to-go, but it appeared as if the staff was very attentive, they weren’t too busy when I went (at 9pm) but there were maybe half of the tables occupied.

Food – Now, I’ve lived in Thailand, so maybe I’m a little biased, but the food wasn’t too bad, I had the Chicken Phad Thai, and I guess I thought it could’ve used a little more spice and flavoring. I did talk briefly with the head guy there, at least he looked like the manager or owner, and asked him if it was authentic, and he said if it was really authentic, not many people would like it. My take on it is if you’re going to a Thai restaurant, you KNOW it’s gonna be spicy!!! I’m not even one who really likes the spicy foods, but if my nose isn’t running, it wasn’t spicy enough. I did also have spring rolls, and they were alright. They give you what they told me was plum sauce, but I don’t think I’ve ever had plum sauce, but it tasted like sweet and sour, just didn’t have the consistency of it. Overall, the food was pretty good, I think I’d go back, just need to tell them to put a little more spice on the phad thai. The prices weren’t too bad, my phad thai, which was a decent enough portion, was 11.95, and my spring rolls were 2.95. They do appear to have quite the selection of sushi, I’m not a fan of sushi, that I know of, but the sushi lover may be interested in giving this place a try. I would give the restaurant a 3.75 out of 5.

I did, at one point, attempt to start up a dining out group, where we’d meet up monthly, and try different restaurants around, and meet new people in the process, unfortunately, it failed, but if there is anyone interested in doing something like that, let me know, I would love to meet new people and try new things!

Happy 2nd Anniversary to ME!!!!!!

Now, for those of you that don’t know, I moved to Nashville 10 days after I graduated college, needing to get out of Michigan, to avoid the family drama surrounding my parents’ divorce, and figured I’d have much better luck finding a job outside of Michigan, being the highest in unemployment. Basically, my motives were to prove to myself I could make it on my own, and felt living near family would not allow me to be as independent as I needed. Why Nashville?? Well, I became obsessed with the Gaylord Opryland resort, wanting to work there, I even was fortunate enough to be able to follow the GM around for a day as a part of a college assignment before I graduated. I thought I made a good impression, he told me to send him a copy of my resume, I did so, and even sent a copy of the paper I wrote on the whole experience, but I got nothing! I applied and kept getting shut down, and since have given up seeing as now I live in Bellevue (whole other side of town). Other reasons I moved to Nashville (I digress, sorry) were that I thought it’d be a cheaper place to live, and with no state income tax, I’d be in good shape, however, I never realized that because it’s a little less to live, employers may pay you less too!!! I also liked the distance, not too far should i want to go home for a visit, but not close enough, I’d end up at home every month.

It’s been exactly 2 years since I moved to Nashville, and some days it makes me wonder if it’s only really been 2 years!!! I feel like I’ve been through so much since I moved here, between my numerous jobs and traffic violations, however, It should be more than 2 years!!!! Growing up, you think by the age of 25, you’re gonna have it all together, and I couldn’t be farther from that, at this point! I never thought I’d be livin’ on my dreams and spaghettio’s in my little apartment just trying to get by!!! The only difference is it’s Ramen and Mac and Cheese!!!! Had someone told me I would have had this much trouble with jobs, when I was back in college, I would have probably laughed, thinking my college education would be extremely desirable, and I would be the ideal candidate!!!!!! Somehow, though, everything has worked out, I’ve had to swallow my pride, a couple of times, and ask Mom and Dad for money, just to make rent, and if nothing else, I’ve learned now that God has a plan, I’m just not liking this part of the journey, and unfortunately, patience isn’t my greatest virtue at this time. I think, though, lately, I’ve been able to accept the fact that the Lord does pretty much make the decisions for my life, and that I’m not completely in control, and that when the time is right, I will find that perfect job, husband, etc…I have found a great church I belong to, and who would’ve thunk me a church goer in college??? NOBODY, I promise you!!

In the 2 years, I’ve made, and, sadly, lost quite a few, as well, due to a myspace blog I posted about having accidentally letting my roommate’s cat out, and may I just state that we cannot confirm the death of the cat, at this point, I did wait for him to come home, and he didn’t. Can’t say that I miss him, but I wouldn’t intentionally throw a cat out of the apartment, unless I was provoked, say, if it bit me, but these cats are quick, I wouldn’t even be able to catch them!!! I’m a dog person, but can co-exist with cats, or so I thought! Either way, I lost friends, or people I thought were my friends, maybe they were looking for anything to get out of it, I don’t know, again, everything happens for a reason, so they just weren’t meant to be in my life for that long, and now, I’m okay with that, and don’t need people like that in my life!!!!! It was interesting, though, the people that did come to my defense in the situation, Gotta love the ones who make the most random things, that have no effect on their lives, whatsoever, all about them!!! Water under the bridge now! i now know who my true friends are, thankfully!

The only thing I wish I hadn’t gone through was the whole escalator mishap, but again, now I know how much medical treatment costs, and will have to be almost dying should I need to go to the ER!!! Needless to say, I need to be careful where I step!

i can’t say that I ever regretted moving here, I have met some interesting people, had some really good times, it’s just been a rough ride, but it could’ve happened anywhere, really!