Mommy Dearest

My mom came out to visit last weekend. I know that I am an established 29 year old that is married, works, pays taxes, and has car insurance but whenever my mom is around suddenly I am a dependent. I think my mom likes to have excuses to still take care of me. While she was here, she payed for my gas, groceries, dinner, movie ticket, and I got to pick out a present when we went to Target (for my good behavior)!!! Kind of embarrassing that I let her do all of that but I absolutely love being taken care of. (sorry, I just ended that sentence with a preposition) I really get the best of both worlds by having her here. We are best friends and talk and laugh for hours and at the same time I get the benefits of her motherly instincts. It was also nice that she got to spend some more quality time with Ryan. We did a lot in the limited time.... D.C. Temple, National Monuments, Harry Potter movie, local sites, shopping, working out, and laying by the pool. She is so much fun! Hurray for still being mommy's little girl!

Williamsburg with Laawna and Jason

It was so great to be around our California friends. Jason and Laawna kept us entertained! Laawna's laugh is contagious and Jason's acting abilities are out of this world!

We Seperate/New Apartment in Raleigh

I got a job and moved down to Raleigh this past week. Cheyney and I are separating for about seven weeks . Cheyn has to stay in F'burg, VA (3.5 hours away) and finish her contract. We'll only be able to see each other on weekends. Is that sad or what?
This is the inside of our new apartment. It's so nice. High ceilings. A deck and two bedrooms. No gunshots or SWAT helicopters at two a.m. And cheaper than LA too!

This is our front yard. It feels like it's in a forest. I saw a rabbit in the yard after I took this picture.
This is the lake that our apartment complex is next to. There is a 2.25 mile walking/running trail around it. It's chock full of turtles and ducks and such. Everything is perfect about our new place except for Cheyn not being there all the time yet. Also notice the two bedrooms. We're working on getting a guest bed (and a bed for that matter) ASAP.

Freakin' Metal

Yes! This is my brother, Brady. Don't worry, he really isn't this redneck. Just a fun 5 minute phase between haircuts. This is an ode to my brother because he just got back from Russia. This boy is OUT OF CONTROL. In the last 12 months, he has lived and adventured in Santiago, Chile, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, St. Petersburg, Russia and Athens........... well, Georgia.

I just found out that he had a girlfriend while he was in St. Petersburg. Naturally, I dont find this out from him. He is way too secretive. I found it out from mom. She saw him walking hand in hand with a cute redhead (another UGA student). My mother felt very awkward seeing her little boy (23 years old) expressing himself this way. Everything becomes brighter and more significant when one can experience interdigitating in a foreign country. Common sense becomes cloudy because all that is wanted is an enchanted courtship. I had a romance in Russia as well. Eventhough he wasn't Russian but American and not Mormon, I thought he was the cat's meow. We got lost touring the Tzar's village and kissed during fireworks. I thought it would last because he promised to stop drinking and talk to the missionaries. When I got home, I realized he was fat.

Sorry, back to Brady. As you can tell, Brady is full of adventure. I like to think that he is following in my footsteps but he is really in a different league. He used to blow fire. You know, like put gasoline in his mouth and spit it on a torch. He almost died doing it, of course. The flame followed back to his mouth and his body went up in flames. After the fire was out, he decided that it was time to go to bed and stated, "I am a little burnt out." He spent the next day trying to hide his 2nd degree burns from my mom by wearing a hat and only looking at people with his head turned showing his good side. Well, I am not very smart because for Christmas I gave him the belt he is sporting in the picture. It not only has a big gawdy redneck buckle, but also doubles as a lighter.

Brady truly is my kindred spirit. We both have the "Webb Round Face". This is like our gang or caste system because Branagan and McKay have "oval" faces. Anything Brady and I excel at, we attribute to our round face superiority. I just wanted everyone to know that my brother is freakin' METAL!!!

California Hates Us

Have you had a day when all is smooth sailing and then something comes out of the blue and knocks you down? Nope this is not a repeat post. Today was my (Ryan) turn. Bad luck from the State of California comes in twos. Apparently, the DMV will not rest until the Lindgrens suffer adequately. Hubbel called and let me know that a letter had come to Hollywood. The bad news was that my registration was revoked on July 1st.

Somehow the DMV didn't have it in their systems that I have car insurance, which I really do. They contacted me about this in May, I think because I had just switched insurance and their database didn't report my current insurance (which it's suppose to do automatically). They threatened to suspend my registration. I faxed information to show that I had insurance, and relaxed, figuring everything was taken care of.

Of course it wasn't. I spent a few hours frantically calling and re-faxing today so that I can be as close to legal as I can. Everything seems to be working out and things should be cleared up by the end of this week. I am definitely going to follow up on this though. And then I just hope they will leave us alone.

On a brighter note, the Mrs.'s license was reinstated yesterday. We are trying to keep at least one of us legal to drive at all times.

WANTED by the law

Have you had a day when all is smooth sailing and then something comes out of the blue and knocks you down? You are left saying, "Five minutes ago, my life was so good and I didn't even know it!" Well, that experience has recently happened to me (Cheyney) and it has left me owing a ton of money and trying to stay out of jail. YES..... little innocent Cheyney has broken the law.

Los Angeles was, in a way, a harsh city to live in (aside from my drug dealing, gun shooting neighbors). Everywhere you turn, you get another ticket. It doesn't matter if you parked on the wrong side of the street for 5 minutes or forgot to feed your meter for 2 seconds, you will get a ticket. After living in L.A. for a while, one begins to factor tickets into their budget. Well, my last ticket there was for running a stop light. Not a "real" stop light; the ones that flash for you to get on the freeway. It was NOT rush hour and I was the ONLY one getting on. Of course, I got pulled over. Plus, the DMV had not sent me my sticker (all ready paid) for registration.... so $160 later, I thought I had paid my dues.

But no. Two months later a letter found me in Georgia that said they would not accept my check until I gave proof that I was registered. (Two months because my mom's house was my forwarding address and it sat in a pile while we made our way over to Bville). So, I gave proof and sent back the 160 bones. Little did I know that the fee had increased to $556 because it was paid past the due date. So yesterday, my sister called me after checking the mail (it has been on hold at the post office for the last month because my parents are in Russia) and told me there was one from the L.A. court. Of course, she didn't think this was urgent and therefore didn't read it to me for almost a week after receiving it. The letter stated that since I didn't appear in court on my scheduled (unknown) date that my license has been suspended and I have a $300 bail until my fees are paid. If they are not paid by June 16th then my bail money will not be reimbursed!!!!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen. I have unknowingly been driving on a suspended license for 2 weeks and could just as easily be experiencing jail time just like someone whose name rhymes with Laris Filton. My debt has gone to collections which will effect my credit and now I am not allowed to contest with a written declaration because I missed my window of going to court. $856 flushed down the toilet. Fortunately, I have an understanding husband who is now dropping me off at work and even picking me up at 7:30 in the morning. Ahhh, yesterday life was so blissful and carefree!

New York in 48 Hours

We took a bus up To New York on Friday and came back Sunday. We were only there for about 48 hours but made the most of it.

Some Highlights:

• Met up for dinner with my friends Emily, Boyd, Monica and Adam (who we stayed with in Queens); Lovely people and good friends.
  
• Visited Columbia
• Wandered around Times Square
  
• Ate dessert as much as possible, exercise regiment starts today.
  
• Went to Spamalot on Broadway. A lot of fun, especially with Cheyn being such a Monty Python fan.
  
• Went to the Temple. The inside is my favorite.
  
• Ate at what has to be the best Thai restaurant in the USA: Lemon Grass Grill on 95th and Broadway
• Caught fireflies in Central Park. The park is just magical.
  
• Went to Church in Queens.
  
• Toured the MET. Spent a lot of our time with the Impressionists.

As always we keep more pictures here if you want to see them. It was such a wonderful weekend. Cheyn had visited the city before and I went to school there, but this is our first trip together. I loved being in New York with Cheyney. A truly wonderful weekend.