Happy Mother's Day!!!

This will be a tribute to my wonderful mother, Joyce Ann Gabel!

My mother was the loudest person at ball games (with the exception of Cindy Tyree. Ashley, if you read this, I love your mom!!!) and I swore since she was so embarrassing to me that I would never be that way. Looking back on it, it wasn't so bad and I imagine that I will be worse with my children when we have children

My mother was extremely overprotective of me, the youngest child. She wanted to know where I was all the time, where I was going, who I was going with and if someone's parents would be there. She would go as far to call the other person's parents to ensure supervision whereever I was. I understand that now she was just trying to look out for me. Although I am only 23, times have changed, and I will probably be worse with my own children. You can't trust anyone anymore.

My mother is extremely supportative for my education dreams. She took me on every tour of Mizzou there was, attended summer welcome with me, came up to move me in the dorms back in 2005 and stayed through fall welcome. She still calls to check on me after every test to see how it went. She listens when I complain about classes and listens when I talk about my classes when now, most of it she doens't understand.

She listens to me complain about everything. She tells me when I'm wrong. She tells me when I'm overreacting. She tries to keep me grounded when I get a little bent out of shape. I take things way too seriously and she has been there through it all to calm me down.

She has become one of my best friends. I talk to her at least 2 times a day, sometimes even more. I can talk to her about anything and we usually do talk about everything. I cannot imagine not being able to talk to her.

She has always gotten excited about me coming home for visits. She tries to make sure that my visits are focused on me. She buys all the foods like I like and plans things for me.

She has been amazing during this whole house deal. She has been up working on the house more than anyone. She tries to keep the contractor in line. She has painted walls, scrubbed vanities, cleaned everything, picks up items needed. She paid for my beautiful kitchen remodel and I am so thankful she has been there. She keeps me updated through calls and photos. I can't imagine her not being there while I tried to be apart of the remodel 200 miles away.

She is as excited to plan my wedding as I am. We have talked more lately about it. She has already been making appointments to visit places and people when I get home for the summer. She has made several calls just getting information. In doing so, she appreaciates my OCD tendencies and has started a notebook with all her notes and phone numbers and papers collected. I am so excited to get home so we can get started on the wedding stuff. I'm sure next year while I am away at school, she will continue to do good with keeping me up to speed on what is going on in Howell County and ensure things get done that need to get done while I am away.

She has taken Christopher in like her own son and I love it!!! They get along so well. They joke with each other. They help each other out with anything that needs to be done. At work, mom fixes his lunch. They often have dinner together. Mom showed Chris how to use his new washng machine. For a gal, it is so nice when the family and the hubby-to-be gets along so well.

She has taken care of my little Dozer. She is his mother while his momma is away. She cares for him during the day. She takes him to work with her. She plays with him. She takes naps with him. He sleeps in her bed. Dozer loves my mom and I'm thankful he has my mother and father to stay with til I get home.

Lastly (on here, but not of all the reasons that I love my mom) she has been a fantastic nannie to all of her grandchildren. She loves them more than anything and spoils them all like crazy. I cannot wait until I have my own children so I can have the joy of watching her with my own. My children will love her and will spend lots of time with nannie since she is our neighbor.

I love you mom and hope that you have a wonderful Mother's Day. In two years, law school finals will not be taking over my life and I will be able to spend Mother's Day with you in person!! I can't wait to see you Friday!

Getting to Know You

I decided to take a small break from the Bankruptcy Code to write a little post. Sunday is usually when I participate in "Getting to Know You", but since tomorrow is Mother's Day, I figured I would write a litte about my mom tomorrow.

Thanks to MannLand5 for hosting these fun topics.

1. What has been your most memorable Mother's Day? (with your mom, as a mom, or with your wife) Since I am not a mother nor a wife, my best mother's days are with my own mother. I don't have any particular one that sticks out. But before I left for college, I always spent the day with my mother on mother's day. We would do whatever she wanted to do (which typically meant planting a flower garden). I got up and cooked breakfast and even made dinner that night for her. Sadly, the past few years, I haven't even got to see my mother on mother's day. It has been right smack in the middle of finals time. To my entire family, school is more important than coming home for a weekend, so I have to wait to celebrate with my mother this year til Friday when I can actually go home

2. Have you ever been pulled over for speeding and were you able to talk your way out of it? I have been pulled over three times and got tickets twice. I never tried talking my way out of it and I never tried the whole crying bit. However, my second ticket, I think that I got for arguing with the highway patrolman (probably not the best idea). Luckily for me, none of my tickets are on my driving record, which is just one of the many perks of working for an attorney :)

3. What's the oldest thing you have hanging in your closet? At my closet at my parent's house, there would be a china plate that is about 50 years old. Nothing clothes wise is over a couple of years old. I'm pretty good about getting rid of the old and things that I do not wear anymore. I have a couple pairs of tennis shoes that I've had since junior high but that's about it

4. Do you whiten your teeth? I use whitening toothpaste and mouthwash. I haven't had time to get professional whitening in a while. Maybe I should do that this summer (the to-do list is getting so big)

5. Underwear or Panties..What do you call your "unmentionables"? I typically use a merged version of the two and say undies

6. If you could go on vacation right now..today..where would you go? I would take anywhere right now. Just an hour away from the town with the law school would be fantastic for me. Finals are a real drag and I'm so ready for Thursday to be here and over with

7. Do you get offended when people cuss on their blogs? Nah, if you have ever met my father or my hubby-to-be, you would understand. Both of them cuss like there is no tomorrow, so I'm pretty used to hearing it all the time. There are certain words that offend me, but cussing in general, I'm immune to

8. If you had to give up one luxury item, it would be....? My mother's housekeeper cleaning my room. I can change the sheets on my bed, dust and vacuum. I do them for myself while in Columbia, but it is no nice to have that done for me at my mother's
 
Don't forget to play along!!!
 
 

5 Question Friday

Again, I apologize for being late. I got up real early this morning to take my employment law final. Then I stopped by my houe briefly for work. So, here we are, after a busy week, and it is finally Friday and it is take time again. Time for Five Question Friday by My Little Life.

1. What is your worst memory of your siblings? My older brother picking me so much. I was shot at with the bb gun. I was stuck under the waterbed. Anything my brother could do to me, he did


2. What was YOUR naughtiest childhood memory? (Must be something YOU did, no pawning it off on someone else!) I can't even remember anything naughty that I did as a child. I was the good kid out of us five. Everyone else got into trouble so I had more rules and was more closely watched. There wasn't much time to be naughty

3. Where do you like to go to relax? Howell County. I love that place. It is so peaceful to just sit outside and enjoy the country and our little piece of heaven

4. What was the last thing you won? $5.00 from a lottery ticket that Chris and I received for Christmas

5. If you could be on a game show, which would you choose? My family for years has talked about going on family feud. We have our team picke out and everything

Top 2 Tuesday

I am a little late on posting this today. I had my first final this morning (basic federal income tax). Then I came home and got back to work getting ready for my next final on Thursday.

So, this week on The Undomestic Momma's Top 2 Tuesday is splurges.

1. Mary Kay skin care products

It becomes a little pricey, but I think that it is definately worth it. I think that it is important to take care of my skin, especially now since I am young. Since I started using the products, I have noticed a great difference in my skin. I hope that trying to stop aging before it starts will work to my benefit.

2. Stuff for School

Becoming an attorney has been my dream since I was 6 (yes, literally). I do everything that I can to ensure that nothing stands in my way.
$1,300 for LSAT prep course
$4,000 for bar prep course
Best textbooks available
There's no use in going through this much school to not make it in the end :)


Head over to Taylor's blog and play along. Don't forget to link up!!

Birthday Weekend - Part 2 - The Good Part

So, my entire birthday wasn't all bad. I did have an emotional breakdown when I got home from work (luckily my manager was able to bring me home too). I had a good cry for about an hour. But I tried not to let it ruin my evening as well. So I choose to proceed on with the plans for the night.

My good friend Maggie had a birthday this weekend too. Two of our close friends took us out to dinner on Friday night. We went to this really yummy place called Jazz. It was wonderful cajun food, complete with live music and the best dessert ever. We had a blast. Maggie and I each got presents.

We got Maggie an Edible Arrangement. She had been talking earlier in the week at work that she always asked for one and never got one for her birthday. Hope that you enjoyed it Maggie!!!

For me, the girls got me

a gift certificate for my favorite nail salon. I used to get my nails done faithfully every two weeks. But I got to a point where I decided to save that money. I have missed Ming (the nail tech) and I am so excited to go see her. Plus it will be a very relaxing treat during finals time. Thanks girls!!!

Here is all of us at Jazz

It was a little fuzzy. Our waitress wasn't real sure how to operate the camera. So we took another outside.

These three did a fantastic job brightening my horrible day!!!

Saturday was Maggie's official 21st birthday. So we definately had to go out and celebrate for her too. We went to Chili's (the place we always go)

Maggie's first legally purchased drink and yes she is wearing a tiara :)

Since it was our joint birthday dinners. We also got free desserts. YUMMY

At this lunch was Katy (Maggie's roommate and a gal I used to work with at the F&B), Maggie and I.

So, despite the car troubles, the birthday weekend turned out to be pretty great. When I wasn't out eating with friends, I was at the house studying away. I have three finals this week. Tuesday - Tax; Thursday - Secured Transactions and Friday - Employment Law. Then two finals the following week, then home for my last summer as a legal assistant.

I apologize in advance if I slack some on my blogging in the next two weeks. Law school finals is a rough time of year. I will take some breaks from the books and hope to fit in some blogging too. But I promise, I'll be back in full force in two weeks!!! We have lots planned for the summer.

Hope your weekend was great!

Birthday Weekend - Part 1 - The Bad Part

As far as birthdays are concerned, this might have been one of my worst ever. Friday was my official birthday and I spent most of the day upset. Luckily the day did get better.

Starting on Wednesday and Thursday, my car had been making a noise. It wasa noise that I was familiar with. I talked to my dad and I made an appointment for my car for Friday morning. I arrive at the shop Friday morning at 7:00 am to drop off my car. I specfically tell the mechanic that I think it is a wheel bearing. I have had this done two times before and I know what this noise is. They immediately take my car out for a drive and bring it into the shop. My manager picked me up around 7:30 and no one had told me what was wrong with my car. Around 10:00, I still hadn't heard from them, so I call. They tell me that they have the noise narrowed down to two possibilities: my right front axle or my transmission. I had my dad call them. They assured him, they thought the problem was my axle and this was the cheaper fix anyway. Around noon, I get a call back from them telling me that the axle didn't fix the noise so the problem is in my transmission, which is something that they do not do.

My mother calls in pays for my services performed over the phone and orders a tow for my car to be taken from one shop to a transmission specialist. Mind you, this is the middle of the afternoon now, and I get off work at 5:00. I talked to my mother around 4:30 to determine what is going on and what it is that I needed to do (since I'm essentially stuck at work at this point). The transmission people found out what the problem is. You guessed it, the wheel bearing. Now this is a procedure that takes approximately 2 hours to fix and the transmission place doesn't have time on Friday afternoon to fix it. My car will not be ready until Monday at noon. Great. Now I am without a car for the weekend. My mom did allow me to get a rental on Sunday afternoon so that I can get to campus on monday for my tax review. So, for the time being, this is what I am driving.

Ok, well back to the mechanic. We have narrowed down what we believe is the problem and why they didn't listen to me when I said it was my wheel bearing. The first option is that they have a dumb mechanic who doesn't know anything about cars. I understand that I am a 23 year old girl who you think knows nothing, but I do know my car. We have been together for 5 years and I know when something isn't right and when I specifically tell you what is wrong, you should at least check it out. DUH!!! Common sense would tell you that.

For the second option, remember when I said this is a problem that has occurred for me two times before. My right one went out about a year and a half ago and was replaced by my favorite mechanic in Willow Springs. However, my left one went out and was replaced in October by the same mechanic my car was at Friday. The part from October was under a 1 year warranty. We assumed that they didn't want to warranty the part, so they lied about the entire deal, thinking that if we took the car to someone else and found out they lied that we wouldn't bring the car back for them to fix it.

And they are correct. We did not take it back to them to fix it so we have the warranty. However, dear Custom Complete Automotive, you have no idea who you are messing with when you pick on the Gabels. This charge for my axle on my mother's credit card . . . CANCELLED. You will also be getting a real lovely phone call from my dad tomorrow. You just don't mess with his baby daughter. We will also be expecting to get reimbursed for the part that you were supposed to have warrantied, my tow fees and my rental car fees.

If they do not want to play nice and give us what we want, things will get worse. You remember that I am a law student, now able to practice my own cases. You will not win. If I have to sue you, I will be asking for pain and suffering since you ruined my birthday!!!

Get to Know You Sunday

I cannot believe that it is always Sunday. Sunday means the end of the weekend. Although I still have all of Sunday left, it still is a bummer to realize that it is Sunday. With Sunday, it means it is time for "Getting to Know You". Head over to Mann Land 5 to play along. Don't forget to link up!

1. Are you superstitious? Not really. I have a couple of little quirks, but I wouldn't consider myself superstitious

2. If you were an animal..what kind would you be? Probably a good family dog. I would love to still have a family but with someone who lives out in the country so I could still enjoy the outdoors

3. You would never catch me wearing.........? A belly shirt. I am totally grossed out by people showing their bellies and would not ever wear anything like that

4. If someone posts a VLOG..do you watch it? If I have time, I will go ahead of watch it. But a lot of times that I have seen it, I am in the law library and cannot listen to them. Then I always forget to go back and do it

5. Have you ever waxed your girlie/manly parts..or any other part of your body? I've waxed my legs and m eyebrows.

6. Are you a spender or a saver? I am definately a saver. I am so fruggle with my money. There are times that I even need to be talked into buying something that is really needed. But I have put Chris and I each on budgets and we are trying to save our money

7. If you were starring in a movie..who would you want to play your leading man/woman? Matthew McConaughey for sure :)

8. Smoker..never smoked..social smoker..or smoked back in the day? I have never smoked and I doubt that I ever will. Both my parents and Christopher smokes and I hate it. I hate being around it and just will never do it