big changes.
i haven't been here in a while to write, mostly because i haven't felt i had anything of substance to write about. sometimes i want to fill this place with fluffy entries simply to have something for people to read, but i don't think that is a good use of this site. i do have something to write about today though, so here i am.

today i gave notice to my boss that i will be leaving my job. there are a lot of reasons why i am quitting. the only reason i have been there this long is because of the money, and recently i've realized that just isn't enough anymore. i just don't get treated as well as i think i deserve to be. for example, management told me they were going to send me to a class to get more training in a certain program in order to provide me with more opportunities within the company, but then they decided it "wasn't worth the money" to train me. basically i am very unhappy at my job, so josh and i talked and decided that it would be worth it for the sake of my mental and emotional health to find a new place to work. i am hoping to work at a public library or some kind of public building like that. somewhere where i can feel i am doing something worthwhile! i'll still be at my current job for 2 and a half weeks, so hopefully i can find something else within that time. if not, josh and i are in an ideal situation living next to his parents so money is not a huge issue for us right now. josh is really supportive about my decision too. he's doing a wonderful job at being a husband!

i feel a lot happier having made this decision. i'm nervous about the future, as i always am when things are changing in my life, but i know God will take care of me and i feel confident that my decision was the right one.

"depth of mercy can there be mercy still reserved for me? can my God, your wrath forbear, me the chief of sinners, spare?" -caedmon's call

written by * kat * at 12:29 PM  

honeymoon synopsis.
finally, i have some time to write about our adventures in london. i'm actually going to copy most of the summary out of the pages of my journal because i wrote a few entries while we were there.

june 16, 2003

we are in london! it is early on monday morning - i am awake and showered but josh is still sleeping. our trip so far has been difficult but wonderful. we had problems with our plane tickets, our airport transfer never showed up (we took a taxi instead), and our hotel bill will have to be paid in two separate installments. we arrived on friday which was a strange day for us because we were so exhausted from our overnight flight. after we checked in our luggage we went for a walk around the neighborhood. it was sunny and hot - not at all the way i had imagined london would be. when our room was ready we slept for a good eight hours! on saturday we got up early, had breakfast at the hotel, and took the underground to the london zoo! it was a great trip. we walked for hours, and on the way home stopped at oxford street (a huge shopping district) so i could buy socks. then yesterday, after having a late dinner at the hotel and staying up late on saturday night we slept all day. we took a bath, ordered room service, watched tv and read. josh said it was his favorite day so far. today we plan to visit st. paul's cathedral and the tower of london!

june 18, 2003

it's 3:13 am, but josh and i are both awake. we've been reading and watching "the telly" after taking a four - five hour nap this evening. it's clear that our bodies are very confused as to the actual time! i'm hoping our jet lag goes away once we get home. to catch up since my previous entry: we did go to st paul's which was beautiful and astonishing with only two disappointments associated to it. 1) no bird woman! ...tuppence a bag... 2) it is in the middle of being renovated and having some of its major paintings cleaned. some of the best parts were covered by tarps. still, it was magnificent. we got a few pictures of the outside. after st. paul's we went to the tower of london which is sort of a palace/fortress that holds some armories and the crown jewels. the crown jewels were brilliant but josh raised some unnerving points about displaying all that wealth when "people are starving in the sudan..." hmmm. the tower is also home to seven ravens, and apparently it is said that if the ravens leave the tower the kingdom will fall. after the tower we went to explore notting hill and had dinner at a really nice and inexpensive restaurant "all bar one". (i had a terrific salad with gorgonzola cheese and pears. mmmm!) yesterday, tuesday, was a big day of doing nothing, much like sunday. we did actually get up early and had breakfast downstairs. it is complimentary, after all! today, wednesday, we had breakfast and went down cromwell street to the natural history museum. the museum itself is a gorgeous architectural structure inside and out, but contained very little that interested us. we left fairly quickly. cafe mochas were had at a local cafe, "the patisserie", and then we went back to the hotel for a few hours to relax and read. my favorite part of today was this afternoon when we walked in kensington gardens and hyde park! it was so exciting! unfortunately i was wearing flip-flops and by the time we reached harrod's department store (our final destination) i had a large blister on my left foot that was causing me to limp painfully. harrod's was fantastic though. it's so big! four floors of restaurants, food pantries, cosmetics, even rooms full of teddy bears! we shipped my parents a tea chest complete with harrod's signature china tea set, tea, and biscuits. we'll go back on friday to buy the rest of the family gifts.

tomorrow (today, i suppose - our alarm will ring in three hours) we plan on visiting the british museum and buckingham palace. also, les mis is in the evening - yay! i can't wait. our honeymoon has been tiring, slightly stressful, but wonderful. only two days and two nights to go!

** there endeth the journal entries. we did go to the british museum and buckingham palace, but not until the day after. we also saw big ben, the houses of parliament, and westminster abbey that day. les mis was incredible, our favorite part of london. after that, we went home!

"sometimes i dream he'll come to me, and we will live the years together..." -fantine from les mis

written by * kat * at 9:20 AM  

wedding pictures revealed!
our wedding pictures have been developed and are online for viewing! if you would like to see them, go to www.pictage.com and enter "reilly" in the event search. click on the "haggerty/reilly wedding". you will have to register with a name and email address if you want to look at the pictures. the event key is "kathleen". josh and i think they came out so well... enjoy!

"all day long i can hear people talking out loud, but when you hold me near you drown out the crowd..." -allison krause

written by * kat * at 6:47 AM