New Passport!

GREAT GREAT GREAT NEWS! I found out it's all a matter of who you're talking to at the passport office. The lady last week told me to bring in all sorts of things, year books, papers, anything to prove I have always gone by Marilu, not Mary. I was also supposed to bring in a marriage license, not certificate (my temple one is the only one we have and it's not official apparently). Well, after stressing my mom out to dig up docs and scan and email them to me, the lady didn't even seem to notice my name change and sent it right through!!! Can you BELIEVE it? Ugh.

I was so annoyed at the previous lady but also so grateful that it was easy this time since it seemed questionable that it would work. I actually asked her about my name and if she wanted to see everything I brought and she was like, "Oh, sure, Marilu is just a form of Mary so..." She just didn't think it was a big deal like the other one, nice. She took the things my mom sent just to give to the people who will actually print it, but only because I offered them. It is kind of fun to have a copy of my baptismal program and report card though, I'm keeping those.

Don't you love my stylin do and face? Guess you can't really see it with this size, maybe that's best.

Q: Don't you miss the old report cards where they added comments on it?

Q: Aren't you THRILLED that my name situation is mostly figured out and I get to go to Peru this week!! That was just more of a statement really, I'm just so excited:).

304 Miles Driven on Saturday--in Houston

That's right, we drove 304 miles on Saturday, and all in Houston (or pretty close anyway). Let me start by saying I was celebrating that gas dropped to below $3 here! I even saw one place for $2.89--I was ecstatic! We had a very eventful and wonderfully full day on Saturday, here goes:

• 12am: go to sleep
• 5:20am: wake up, download a couple more songs
• 5:55am: saint Tricia comes over to babysit
• 6:15am: drive to Huntsville (north of Houston)
• 8am: run half marathon
• 9am: still running, still painfully (we've been sick for a full month now with a throat/caugh at night thing, 100% humidity--really foggy, too many nerves yet no energy, looking pathetic I'm sure)
• 9:36am: Josh finishes, yay!
• 9:47am: I finish, yay! (My GPS watch said it was actually 13.2 miles, not 13.1--must have been all the weaving back and forth on roads--made me happy to shave off a few more seconds:) My other half I ran 3 years ago was 1h56min, so I was pleased to chop off some time, just wish it could have been even 8 minute miles. Next time.
• 10:30am: drive home
• 12:04pm: arrive home, feed girls, shower, get ready, run out door
• 12:45pm: drive to temple
• 1:35pm: arrive at temple, drop off kids with family of our friends, lucky guess at who they were since we didn't know them--so nice of them!
• 2pm: Patti and Drew sealed for time and all eternity:). Patti and Drew then sealed to Emrie for time and all eternity. Wonderful experience, very special.
• 3pm: Josh drove to church stake center with our bishop for Priesthood Session of Stake Conference
• 3:30pm: I drive to Patti and Drew's home with girls
• 4:30pm: delicious luncheon/dinner, soo yummy
• 5:55pm: drive to Stake Center
• 6:30pm: have picnic at park near church with Josh in between sessions. Watch donkeys put on a show.
• 7pm: Josh drives home with girls, I go to adult session very tired, but was still uplifted.
• 9:25pm: get ride home from who else than our friend Tricia and hubby (Thank you!)
• 10:45pm: finally slip into bed totally worn out.
• First day I didn't nurse Felicity at all :(

That's what I call a super Saturday! Sorry that's so corny, had to say it:).

Passport Problems

I went to the passport office today for my scheduled appointment (that took forever to set up in the first place thanks to their automated lady thinking Felicity's cries were my responses and so it kept hanging up on me after too many indiscernible answers on my part). Sure enough, no passport change.

I need to bring my marriage license, which I planned on, but forgot, but brought my SS card since that's where I remembered changing my first name. The lady said I need my marriage license--not certificate? We don't have a license and in UT when I tried to change my name on my license they said our certificate wasn't legal since it was from the temple and I told them I didn't have anything else, so they wouldn't change my name on my license! In Utah of all places. I had to wait until NYC where they didn't know anything about temple marriage certificates and I looked pretty honest in that place, so they gave it to me.

So, I need to contact OR and see if there is some kind of legal record I can print off via internet--doubt it. Hopefully the certificate will be enough.

I also have to have proof that I've been called Marilu all my life by bringing in a bunch of stuff that's older than five years old with that name. So my old SS card with Mary Lou won't work. She suggested my year books from high school. I checked, my year books don't have it. It's all just in journals, nothing official that I can think of, so I'm really going to have to think about this. SO annoying, I was holding back tears when I left because it was all just such a useless pain and Josh left work to watch the girls and everything, ug.

Q: What do you have from growing up that shows your full name--that you'd have on hand still?

Q: Do you have your marriage license on top of certificate or just the latter?