ooooooooooooh my.

today jay and i went out at lunch and looked at some apartments downtown. i don't really want to give out my work (primary) email to these people, not knowing if i will be interested, and/or hounded...so i give my "safe" email. you know, that email you have soley for the purpose of receiving junk mail or "special offer" sign ups to, my yahoo address.

Leasing person: "Could I have your email address, please?"

Me: "Sure, it's katy_link@yahoo.com," I replied.

i watched, in private hysterics i might add, as rachelle, the leasing consultant, wrote out the address i had just given: katyunderscorelink@yahoo.com.

really?? REALLY??

i mean, come on, how many times a day is she probably given email addresses, and how many times has she done this? has no one told her, or has everyone been like me...laughing so hard inside you are scared to open your mouth, for fear you'd say, "you idiot, underscore, underscore, the damn symbol!!"

i'm sad to tell you, my friends, this was an exercise that once again proved to me that the average american is just not very bright...bless rachelle's heart.

giggle.

random couples

is it me, or are there some random couples popping up in the media? i mean, call it being grossed out, call it jealousy, but katie holmes is sleeping with OUR childhood crush. i mean, tommy, aren't you just a little grossed out that she probably had the same "top gun" poster on her wall that we all had?

brad pitt and angelina jolie. poor jennifer.

oh, and in breaking news, jay's fraternity brother that came to visit about a year ago and was heartbroken about some model has now broken michelle tanner's, oh, i mean ashley olsen's heart. in this case i go by the same theory. how can someone who watched full house as a child actually date one of those alien babies? too funny. jay has some random college friends!

a fan's dream

last night was a fun night for me. it's funny how meeting some people, even as an adult, can make you giddy like a little kid. jay and i went to an event last night, a "sooner roadshow" of sorts. the speakers were: sherri coale (ou women's b-ball coach), kelvin sampson (ou men's b-ball coach), and the greatness that is bob stoops. and yes, we were thrilled to be there, got to shake each of their hands, get autographs, pictures, the whole deal. hearing them speak was so much fun and got me so excited for the fall!!! i love college football.

to top it all off, we stopped off at the loon after to grab a bite to eat and have a drink, walked in and the first person i see is none other than dirk!!! mavs and OU in the same night...it's a sports fans dream!!

prayer

i was reminded yesterday morning once again that prayer really works. through a beautiful, symbolic act of a friend, i saw my own prayers being answered right there in front of me. i know it sounds so cliche and obvious, but it is so true that God answers prayer.

"then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and i will listen to you. you will seek me and you will find me when you seek me with all your heart." jeremiah 29: 12-13

dallas

oh dallas. a city i love, a city i hate. that old erasure song, "i love to hate you," well, let's just say it displays my feelings for dallas. in the last four days, dallas has rejected a proposal that would have turned the city around simply because it was attached to someone they don't like. ahhh...what visionaries we are.

since moving to texas from the great city of tulsa oh so many moons ago, i have watched (in horror, i might add) the infamous dallas city council in their many debacles on the evening news. i've watched the news anchors try not to laugh as they cover these crazies and their antics. i've watched the city continue to crumble beneath itself, the city of $30,000 millionaires (by the way, have you seen sheer dallas...genius) seems to be proud of that...hmm. something is wrong. and now the crazies have won. yes, miller may have been one of them for a time herself, but i think she actually said it best at a debate i went to a month or so ago when she stated, "don't you want dallas to have the ability to attract someone better than ME to be the mayor?!?!?" enough said. oh well.

mollie, the whataburger parting gifts were a hit...jay and i actually got caught fighting over the last one! heehee, thanks mols and kevin, for a wonderful time. it was beautiful. here's to the burpos!!!

julie and rob at mollie's wedding, i'm sure these recently engaged lovebirds heads were spinning...only 5 months to october!!! congrats to a wonderful couple! 

mols and kevin...off to paradise!! 

the wedding

wow. what a beautiful weekend and a wonderful wedding. mollie and kevin did it right. austin hasn't ever seen prettier weather, austin 71 is a perfect venue, and they...wow, were the perfect couple. i am so happy for them and so jealous that they are now on the beach, enjoying a wonderful honeymoon.

it was so fun to be with so many of my closest friends as well. i had a great time seeing everyone. it always makes me nostalgic to be with my college friends, they are a simply fantastic group of girls. in honor of wedding traditions, i'll raise my glass not only to mollie and kevin, but also to jill, meg, julie, v, paige, murff, linds, and brittany. what a fun weekend with you all...here's to many more! thank you, donovans, burpos, and the new burpos, for a wonderful wedding and a beautiful couple.

good times

one of my favorite people in this entire world is within less than a month of being married. do you hear me...MARRIED!!! i'm so fired up for her...so in awe of her and her fiance, they are amazing and i have had the honor of watching them grow together as a couple. it is such an amazing journey, and i am so proud of them both. they are the real deal, and i am completely convinced that they've got it all figured out. maybe it's being on the single side that these friends have a way of making it all just seem "perfect"...but somehow i really do think they really just have that kind of love that lasts and that is so endearing to us all. i'm so happy to be included and involved in the celebration of this beautiful marriage.

it's so fun to watch and grow with our friends. mollie, kevin, here's to you. it hit me in the last few days that this is all real, and i want you to know, i am so proud of you both!!!

reunite

i came across the email address of an old friend this weekend and immediately sat down and sent her a message. she wrote a long email back, and we have exchanged a few emails today. in junior high and high school we were great friends, and as people do, we just let each other's company slip away. but it was great to reunite with her and catch up...why do we ever let such great people drift out of our lives? it's so strange how it happens. i encourage you to do the same thing i did, and quit putting off getting in touch with old friends, no matter how long its been. they'll be happy to hear from you, and it's such a pleasure catching up.

rest

anyone who knows me knows that i am a go, go, go personality. i'm always on the move, always making plans, etc, etc. i've been out of town most weekends, or jam packed with commitments most of the weekends i've been in dallas, since early last fall. this weekend i had only one commitment. a nice little wine tasting hosted by some friends of mine early saturday evening, and that was it. i have just chilled...and most importantly, i've enjoyed it.

i slept in and played hookie from church, instead enjoying a quiet bible study on my own balcony, joined only by mckenzie dog and the usual uptown noise, the trolley and some birds chirping. i then went to lunch with jay at angry dog, a great sunday treat. now i plan on hitting some golf balls, heading to the park with mckenzie and jay to take some pictures, and again, relaxing. so nice.

i share all this not to bore you, but to remind those of you out there that we can make time to enjoy life. it's simply a choice many of us choose not to make. whether it's like me, to slow down, not plan, and just relax, or to get out of town, go out, forget about it all for a while.

to sum it all up, i'll quote one of my favorite philosophers, ferris bueller..."life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

update on the dallas police

i'm trying hard...i believe in chief kunkle, i'm a native of tarrant county...but kunkle, please work fast.

i finally tracked down the person "assigned" to my report of identity theft. keep in mind, this report was filed on the 23rd of January. with no word from anyone since filing, i searched on my own. i finally found her today...got voicemail and left a message at 10am this morning. i was telling my assigned officer on the voicemail that i found this person-thief's name, address, and email...can anyone guess the response?

NONE. what's new? either this crime isn't as rampant as people think, or this officer and her entire division need some help. either way, someone has my personal information and no one wants to help me find them. if i didn't do my job, i'd get fired. where is my officer now? what do you think?

identity theft

who are these people at the dallas police department? i hope that kunkle can do something to turn this around. because right now, they suck in my eyes.

a month ago, i got a call explaining to me that someone was trying to get credit from dell...with my information. we closed the opened account, i contacted the credit agencies and the police...which was an ordeal. it took over ten phone calls to 9-1-1 of all things, just to get to the point of leaving a message. three days after i left a message, someone called to take my report and told me an investigator would be contacting me shortly. never happened.

this weekend i have received some information with the thief's name, address, and email as the "ship to" and me as the "bill to." i have been trying to contact the police to have someone take her in for investigation, with no success. no one seems to be able to help. i have now contacted the district attorney's office. hopefully they can help. in the meantime, this woman is out there, using my info and stealing my identity.

i write this not only to warn you, but to inform you. identity theft is the fastest growing crime in america, yet i can't get anyone to simply jump in a squad car and go question this woman. i have her information in front of me right now!! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. if any of you out there have any suggestions on something else i can do, please email me. katy_link@yahoo.com.

entertainment, napoleon style

loved this movie

asher and caroline, two of my seven nieces and nephews...doesn't asher kind of look like david letterman?? 

is anyone else worried? 

the many moods of the tuna 

new york, this is one heck of a view

back from manhattan

i got back from new york yesterday, and may i just say, the more i go to that fascinating place, the more deeply in love i fall. it's like one of those great movies or books that the more times you watch/read it, the greater it seems.

the trip was great, and oh yeah, the conference was good too. i stayed across from ground zero at the millenium hilton. may i say, i give this one high marks. nice place, incredible view...52" plasmas in EVERY room. mckenzie got to take in all the sites, as well as adorn her very own mini-"I heart NY" t-shirt. i bought it at the build-a-bear-store, which i must say, took me back to childhood. jay and i visited with all his friends from college, most of whom are still in new york. i visited with shonnie, who we all know is one of my top five people of all time...i'm sure she'd say #1, but then again, she's hard to beat. ;) jay, a friend of mine, erica, and i went to balthazaar in soho. this was my second visit to this fine establishment, it is sensational. saw matt dillon there, drooled a little, had a steak, drooled some more...you see where this is going. but it was a good time.

i also had the pleasure of making a little impromtu speech at the top of the financial districts' tallest building (or so i was told...post 9-11, at least). it was just a little, short "success story" type deal, but i must say, it feels neat-o being young, in the middle of the business world's heartbeat, looking around at hundreds of collegues and high level JPMC execs, not to mention an AMAZING view (it was all windows) and thinking, just five years ago i was in a classroom in waco, texas at baylor university...sleeping. strange how it all works out. but i smiled to myself as i walked back to my seat, with the empire state building to my back, thinking, this really is pretty cool. and definitely worth a few years in waco, a few big o's, and a few naps in castellaw.