We're getting married!

Justin popped the question back in March. It was the bluest, sunniest day of 2012 and kites were flying high in Zilker Park. This is a delayed account, but none of the details have left us -- I was in a frantic rush getting ready for brunch with friends. My hair was still dripping, and I had just gotten dressed for the biggest surprise of my life. Just after noon, the True Boy Wonder, My Golden God, walks in our room and descends to one knee. Neither one of us good speak, despite his preparations. Instead, we just cried with happiness. My answer to his proposal was, "Absolutely."

Needless to say, the ring is gorgeous and the antithesis of the Crack Jacks token of my original desire.

Wurst Ride

What a weekend! Justin and I biked the whole duration of the Wurst Ride...60 miles to from Austin to New Braunfels. The feat was not in the milage--the nearly 30 mph wind was killer!

Needless to say, I'm beat. Today is a lazy Sunday.

Seasons change

The official first day of fall was Sept. 23, but it feels like summer just recently escaped. Now we are almost through with two seasons in Austin! My, how the year flies.

Here is where we stay to keep warm:



yOUR peace.

New Life in the ATX

No posts for a while, eh?

To fill in the gap, it was, indeed, a gap for the Sparkleses. I moved to Austin in March, and Justin came here just last week. The few months apart were not easy, but Mexico vacations, Hangoutfest beach trips, and burner weekends brought us together intermittently.

Now Justin and I live in a beautiful apartment in downtown Austin, where we live, work, and play.

Chicago

Goodbye, Poughkeepsie!

Fortune Cookie: Change come soon. Love it.

Mountain View didn't work out, but...

I got a call today about a job in Austin---Sales Rep for Enlink Geoenergy. Considering my fixation on environmentalism and longing for warmer weather, I'M PSYCHED. The only bummer is that Justin is still going through physical therapy and just recently took a new job himself. I don't even want to think about having a day without him, so it helps knowing that IBM has a huge hub in the southern city and that PTs abound.

Sparkle's recovery is moving quickly, thank goodness. In the meantime, I'm painting and biking to stay busy.

<3

Justin is having surgery on his knee today. His ACL was pretty much demolished while playing ultimate frisbee in April. I am sitting here in the waiting room with his mom, and I'm anxious to see him. It'll be over a month before he can walk again, but soon enough we'll both be up and running...possibly in California.

I did have an interview at Google's Mountain View office last week. I am very much eager for the job, which would be a customer support role. My fingers are crossed.

Late Nights

"That was a year ago? No way."

You know you're in the "real world" when your life is dependent upon acronyms, you have your week scheduled every Monday, and you spend more time at a computer than you do sleeping.

peace tip #32

PEACE TIP #32
Know when to share the good news.



"The century council recently awarded our team a $75,000 grant to do a full scale implementation of the campaign on the University of Alabama campus."

This is old news, but it is nice to know. In all honesty, one would think an academic with a focus in communications would have at least have shed light upon this fact for the worker bees.

I'm smiling, surely.

sun soaked bulges in the shade

I'm burning both ends working at the restaurant and training with Kaplan, and fresh fruit is a reprieve after that night shift ends. Justin and I bit into the ripest peach on Tuesday, which was later blended into a smoothie. Summer lovin', having a blast...

Wah.

I lost my job with Hudson Valley Magazine. I just couldn't sell five video packages per week---small businesses are barely staying afloat, and it isn't easy to push expenditures on advertising.

Justin consoles me, but I feel like a big disappointment. I zoomed through school to get into this working world, but there isn't any work to be had.

peace tip #32

PEACE TIP #32
Shame no one.


I'll go ahead and confess to the crime of almost eating an untouched onion ring off of a plate I cleared at Red Lobster on Friday. The snack was cut off by the presence of a kitchen manager, who nearly brought me to my knees in shame of eating after someone.

Let this be known--servers get hungry. They are on their toes when most people eat, and scraps become a bit more appealing when their own dinners seem unobtainable.

Call me gross, but desperation trumps etiquette.

In my other world, I walk in the daylight and meet the wonderful people of the wonderful places like New Paltz and Fishkill. On Friday, I met Justin at The Village Tearoom for a fanciful thirst quencher. These are the days I feel free; these are the days I love the most.

I've got a job with Hudson Valley Magazine! My cubicle has a window, so I'm really into bird watching at the moment. I never thought I'd end up in advertising sales, but after filling out a trillion career search input forms, I am overly happy to have a box surrounded by other boxes.

Justin's birfday is Friday, and it will be a grand time for the nearly 28-year-old Mr. Sparkles.

Ads!

In March, Allen Rosenshine advised me to add to my portfolio by recreating existing ads in my own style. Below is the result:

Ikea

BEFORE:


AFTER:


Converse

BEFORE:


AFTER:


Clearisil

BEFORE:


AFTER:




Walkway Over the Hudson

BEFORE:


AFTER:

peace tip #31

PEACE TIP #31
Make friends.


A man with white hair told me this. Perhaps there is something to be said about white hair and wisdom as I heard it in stories I read as a child. There are few two word statements I have ever head to be so profound.

Until my junior-senior year, college was a bust for my social well-being. I can gripe about it, or I can be thankful for the fruitful end which introduced me to wonderful people whose last names that sound like "torrents," "myth," "savory," "pot," and "love joy." Those who are miles away are severely missed.

*

Adult life brings dilemmas like politics. I abhor them. I hate having to agree with another's so-called "philosophies" in order to gain approval. Yet, I am also learning that professionalism is riddled with such acts. So it is, so it may not always be.

On Monday begins a new adventure for me!

*

Justin his almost sure he tore his ACL, and now we have pictures of his knee. Our hopes gear towards a steady recovery so the joint may heal and my love joy can enjoy the blossoming life that surrounds us without being hobble-y!

omelette & dinosaurs

This is bit of a non sequitur comment, but I think it would be really hilarious to sell petroleum as recycled dinosaur parts.

peace tip #30

PEACE TIP #30
Have good humor.



Being a Seafood Expert isn't easy. It certainly isn't rocket science, though, according to one guest I served last night who cursed when I interrupted his salad with a hot meal. Apparently, the gravitational pull of table 41 kept me from giving superb attention to our Mister Anger and his wife.

I start at Hudson Valley Magazine next week, and I'm psyched. Publications have been my life for a while, and it's good to be back. Hello, Interactive Advertising Sales position. Welcome cubicle!

It's almost Easter, and Justin's mom has sent us a nice package in the mail full of wholesome goodness (Reese's included!). Martina also sent Ritter Sport our way. Candy is sweet. Family and friends are sweeter.