Christmas 2009

This Christmas was totally awesome! Even though everyone was pretty strapped for cash, we were able to put a lot of thought into what we bought so that we could watch the budget but still get really great gifts! It was fabulous!

This year, I got:

*fabulous tie-up, fur-lined boots from Aeropostale
*Disney's UP DVD
*gorgeous brown button-up sweater
*a snowman tree topper
*a fuzzy scrapbook and animal themed scrapbooking supplies
*3 pairs of fuzzy socks
*The Grinch jammies
*Precious Moments musical snow globe with Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus
*Reindeer snow globe
*3 black shirts for work
*a black sweater for work
*a beautiful purple hoodie with a floral embroidery pattern
*makeup and nail polish
*Escada Moon Sparkle fragrance [very pretty scent!]
*The Dark Crystal DVD
*Warm Vanilla Sugar, Vanilla Noir, and Twilight Woods Bath & Body Works
*an M necklace with rhinestone stud earrings
*a cute [The Girls] picture frame
*a pink, brown, white and burgundy-ish scarf
*Walmart gift card
*Subway gift card
*Olive Garden/Red Lobster gift card
*chocolates/candy
*soft, fuzzy blue blanket

I think that's pretty much everything, so far. I still have gifts to give to some of my friends, and I would imagine that I have a few more gifts coming to me, but overall, I think that I must have been a very good girl this year because I got a ton of awesome stuff!

I hope that everyone had a safe and fantastic holiday week/weekend and that everyone that has to drive home to get back into the work routine has a safe trip!

Merry Christmas (even if it's a day late ;p)!!

Roommates

Mom and I moved 3 kittens into my room yesterday afternoon so that they could be litter box trained before heading to their new homes. By Friday, the first, Peaches, should be off to her home with my cousin and her kids. She's a really sweet cat and I know she's getting a good home. :)

In about 2 weeks, the second, Riley, will be going back to South Carolina with my friend, Amanda, and her husband. She's a really feisty little thing, but she's a good cat and I know that they will treat her well. Heck, she'll probably be the most spoiled. :)

The third kitten gets to hang around until mid-January. She'll get to go with Rosie to Brittany's new apartment in Cincinnati. Since Britt's not planning on having kids [ever], I know that the cats will have a good home and a good human mommy. :D

I have a feeling that I'll be pretty attached to the little buggers by the time they go, but at least I'll get to bring my Penny home from the farm once they've all vacated! I can't wait to have her here at last!!

Work

I've only worked on the sales floor twice since I started at Macy's, but I'm really enjoying it. I'm not actually working the registers or anything since I'm on the recovery team, so I'm able to move around and straighten things up. It keeps me busy and helps the time to pass quickly. The last time I worked, I was up in the plus sized womens' department and I really enjoyed being there. I feel like I have more of a connection with the items being sold there since that's where I would shop [if I had the money]. I hope that they put me there more often.

I have a decent amount of hours this week, so I'll have a nice check next Friday, which means that I'll be able to get some Christmas shopping done!! Even though funds are tight right now, I still plan on making this a good Christmas for my family and friends. The gifts won't be expensive or fancy, but I promise that I'm putting a lot of thought into them!

The prospect of Christmas shopping makes me so happy! Even though there isn't a lot of money for me to spend, I still enjoy getting out in the stores and looking around to see what they have to offer. It's a lot of fun for me!

I got the job!

I got a call on the Monday after my interview [11/16] and was informed that they wanted to hire me for their seasonal Macy's team. Granted, it's only a seasonal position, but it's a way for me to earn some money now and if/when I'm done at Macy's, I can hopefully find something else.

My first day of work was this past Sunday [11/22]. I went in last Wednesday to fill out some paperwork and such, but when I went in on Sunday, I was told what I would be doing and the routines that I needed to follow, etc.

I think that this will be a fun job, but I definitely need to have some comfortable shoes, which is why I went and picked up some that have memory foam in them. :)

Job Interview

I had an interview with Macy's [in the Lima mall] last Thursday [11/12]. I think that it went fairly well and am hoping that they will call me tomorrow or Tuesday and tell me that I come in and start orientation on Wednesday. ;p It won't happen like that, but I can dream, can't I?

In case Macy's isn't able to hire me, I went ahead and [as my mom advised] I applied to work at Walmart. I actually passed the little questionnaire, so that means that they should be considering me for employment and it would be great if I could get in before Thanksgiving. I just wish that I wouldn't have waited so long to apply for their seasonal help positions.

So, that's basically where my life is right now. Aside from that, I'll be making an extremely early morning trip to the Dayton airport on Tuesday so that I can deliver Jessica there before her 8:00 am flight. I'm really not looking forward to a 5:00 am wake-up, but hey, it might help me get used to waking up early again. :)

Tips for a Good Job Interview

Here is a link from tesh.com providing readers with a few good tips on how to prepare themselves for an interview. They may seem to be common knowledge to some, but I find it helpful to be reminded of these things so that I make sure not to overlook them in my interview preparations.

Tips for a Good Job Interview

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Springer Family Halloween Party 2009

Yesterday was Jake's parents' Halloween party. This is the 2nd year that they've had one and it was a ton of fun! Of course, some people were staying in their little comfort zones and only socializing with those that they are most comfortable around, but there were a few [like Jake and myself] who spent a lot of time circulating and trying to talk with everyone.

There was a TON of food and some Halloween music. The kids got to bust open a pinata, and there were a few card games played. Overall, I think that it was a really good party, and everyone seemed to be having a good time [for the most part].

The only part that I regret is that I forgot my camera at home. :( I would have loved to be able to post some pictures today, but I guess that I'll just have to wait and see if anyone gives me copies of the pictures that they took. :)

Still jobless

I haven't found a job yet, so I'm going out to Walmart tomorrow to apply for their seasonal help. I have a lead on a job that might be available sometime towards the end of November, but still, that's the end of next month, and I really can't wait that long to have an income again! Especially not with all of the holidays coming up that require money to be spend on supplies and presents.

So, with any luck, Walmart will like me enough to hire me on for their seasonal help and I'll have something that resembles an income. It's really very important that I have some money coming in soon because I also have a $150+ bridesmaid dress that I have to order before/by December.

Despite having had a chance to read a whole bunch of books that were on my "list," I feel like I haven't really been accomplishing anything lately. I think that it's sad that I feel the need to have a job in order to be motivated to do something with my days, but it seems that having a job gives me something to get up for each morning.

So, hopefully some good news will come my way after tomorrow and maybe I can have a job by the beginning of November?

Good news

My friend, Christa, is set to get married in April 2010, and she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids. So, even though I have no job right now, I still have to order a bridesmaid dress by December. Hooray! But, I really like the dress [with the exception of wanting to widen the straps so that I can wear a supportive bra (not a strapless one, either)], so I'm excited about it.



This is the dress that was picked out. It's going to be in a pretty orchid/light purple color. Like I said, I'm going to pay an extra $10 to widen the straps [which Christa said she was fine with] so that I can wear a nice, supportive bra. The dress has that lovely ruching around the waist, which does wonders for camouflaging the tummy area. FABULOUS!!

Plus, one of my very good friends is getting married, so of course I'm more than excited for her! I actually got to go with her when she was shopping for her wedding dress [even though I have friends that have gotten married already, I missed out on going dress shopping with them, mostly because they live away from me], and that was fun. There was one dress that I absolutely LOVED on her, and I'm pretty sure that that's the one she went with. If not that one, then the #2 dress, which was nice, but it wasn't AMAZING like the favorite dress.

So, I'm actually getting to be involved in this wedding, which is awesome! I can't wait until the bridal shower and the bachelorette party [if we have one for her]!

On a side note, I think that I've lost about 5-10 pounds! It's fantastic because I want to drop at least 20 before I order my dress because it could make a price difference. Up through size 16, the dress will cost one amount, and anything after size 16, they add an extra $20-50 on to the price. I wanna save money any way I can!

New look

I decided to give my blog a 'face lift' because 1) the background that I had before was a little hard on the eyes, 2) I was limited to the font colors that I could use, and 3) I'm super excited about Autumn being upon us!

As far as updates, I still don't have a job, but I have applied a few places. Not nearly as many as I should have, but it's a start, I guess. I have a plan to check the classifieds at least a couple of times a week to see what's available in the area. Maybe I'll have some luck with that soon.

Other than that, not much is going on. I plan on concentrating on cleaning up my room and getting my closet straightened up. I also have to finish staining the rest of our deck and repaint our shed. I am getting $100 0ut of the deal from our landlord, which is nice. The only problem is that I kinda need some dry weather in order to paint/stain, and I don't know when that's going to happen.

Besides all that, Mom wants some help straightening up the garage, which is going to be a feat in itself. So, even if I don't find a job in the next week or two, I have a feeling that I'm going to be super busy with all of this other stuff.

Not to mention that I've been reading "The House of Night" series lately and I'm really getting into it, so I've been staying up late reading those books. I'm almost 100 pages into book 3 and I stayed up until 2:30 am getting that far.

Of course, staying up late means that I sleep in late, which is bad because I have difficulty getting out of bed and motivated and such. So, I think that my reading habits are going to have to change soon. It's definitely not something that I want to continue doing, especially after I finally get a job.

Last day

Today is my last day at the OSU Academic Advsing office. :( I'm not really sad to leave this place, but I am going to miss the money, at least until I get another job. I haven't started looking yet, but that will be starting tomorrow. I have been getting e-mails about jobs that are opening/available in the area, so I guess I'll start there and see how that goes. Wish me luck!

I'm back!

Jessica and I returned from our weekend getaway to Cincinnati for our visit with Brittany. We departed from my house around 10:30 am on Saturday morning and arrived at Brittany's suburban apartment around noon-ish [maybe a little before]. We hung out in the apartment for a little while and then headed out to Taco Bell for some lunch. We left the T.B. after we finished our meals and went to the Cincinnati Art Museum for a day of culture.

After we finished walking all over the Museum [see Facebook for pictures!], we went to the IKEA store [where I found my "dream kitchen"] and walked all over looking at all of the cheap-ish Swedish-made furniture and decorations.

We left Sweden and went to the Champps bar to watch the OSU/USC game, which OSU lost because they stopped fighting shortly after 1/2 time! After our disappointment, we drove back to Brittany's house and watched some TV for a few hours before finally deciding that it was bedtime [sometime around 2:30 am, I think].

This morning, we went to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens. We thought we got to park for free [thus saving $6.50 in parking fees] and were feeling pretty good about that, until we were leaving the parking lot and found out that they collect their fees while you're on your way out.

We walked all over the zoo and looked at as many of the amazing animals as we could squeeze in [see Myspace for pictures]. After about 5 hours of walking, we decided it was time to return to the apartment. After we all relaxed for about an hour, Jessica and I collected our stuff and headed home. We got home around 8:15 pm.

Right now, I'm currently trying to upload my pictures to Facebook and Myspace and it's taking FOREVER! I didn't realize that I had taken that many! So, you can check the pics out, but I can't garuntee that they will all be posted until tomorrow, but I do have quite a few up. :)

Now, after a long and tiring, but AMAZING weekend, I will be heading to bed shortly.

Rut

Why does it feel like I've been doing the same thing every week this summer? My work schedule is pretty much always the same (it did change after Summer Quarter finals week), so I'm always getting up and going to work the same days every week. And work takes up so much time, so it feels like I can't have a social life because there isn't any time left over after work is done for the day.

I have to admit that during my vacation and Florida and over these few weeks after it, life has seemed a little less monotonous, but it feels like I'm sinking back into that rut. I want to go places, to do things, to live my life! Sitting around and watching TV or movies every day isn't an option for me. I need more.

Unfortuantely, that "more-ness" that I'm looking for also requires money. And if I don't find another job soon, once the 22nd rolls around, I'll be unemployed and poor. I have to get that job search ball rolling, and soon!

I'm almost afraid to start looking, however, because I feel like I have nothing to offer a potential employer. I feel like I haven't acquired any marketable skills in my lifetime. When I started putting my resume together, I got to the "skills" portion and just blanked. What do I put there? I have no idea. And I can't just make things up because people WILL find out, and that just won't end well at all.

What do I do? How do I stop being afraid to get out there and try to find a job? Any suggestions?

Columbus Zoo!

I went with Jake and his family to the Columbus Zoo for the Proctor & Gamble family picnic. It was so much fun and SO much better than the little festival that they put on last year at the Allen County fair grounds!

We walked almost everywhere and I got left behind a lot because I actually remembered my camera and wanted to take pictures of all of the animals...silly me. ;p I think that I got a lot of great pictures and I have decided that I'll probably need an entire scrapbook dedicated just to this zoo visit. So, I told Jake's mom that the only thing I want for Christmas is a scrapbook [because I know that she'll be asking me in about a month or so about what I want, so I figured I'd get that out of the way].

In the gift shop, Jake pointed out a squirrel stuffed animal, and since I'm practically obsessed with squirrels, I HAD to get it. I also got this really neat red sweater blanket that says 'Columbus Zoo' on it [I've been wanting one for a long time so I figured this was as good a time as any to get one :D].

I just had so much fun today and I'm seriously considering getting a season pass for next year so I can go and make sure that I see EVERYTHING! :)

Birthday window shopping!

Yesterday I went out to Lima with Jessica and Brittany to do some celebrating of Jessica's birthday. We stopped at Kewpee first and they ate some food [I was still stuffed from my late lunch] and then we scooted over to Hobby Lobby, where we browsed the aisles for about an hour. I had forgotten how much great stuff is in that store! There were so many cute things in there that I wanted to buy; unfortunately, you need money to buy stuff, and I have none right now. *sad face*

So, after we did some window shopping all over the store and heard the disembodied voice over the intercom telling us that they were going to kick us out of the store in like 5 minutes, we decided to boogie on over to the mall.

We started out looking through DEB and we all decided to try on some animal print dresses. I actually really liked the one that I tried on and considered buying, but the whole lack of money decided that for me. So, we looked around the store a little more, left without any dresses, and headed on down to Spencer's.

We looked at all of the awkward merchandise that Spencer's has to offer before heading out just a few minutes before 9, when the employees were about to close up the store. Since JCP was still open for another hour, we went there. I ended up buying this super-cute leather-ish jacket that I had been eyeing the last time I was at the mall. The sleeves are a little long, but I can deal because the jacket is so cute that it's totally worth it!

After we left the mall [a little before 9:30, I think] we stopped out at the Walmart in Clocktower Plaza. We looked at things all over the store, didn't buy anything, but had some really good laughs [along with getting really creeped out by all of the "Hannah Montana" merchandise].

Overall, I think it was a fun night and I'd like to do it again sometime soon! :D

Birthday Dinner

I took Jake out to Red Lobster on Saturday for a belated birthday dinner (since I was 1000 miles away on his birthday). He ordered the Harborside Lobster and Shrimp meal (see picture to left). I ordered a Center-Cut NY Strip Steak (since I don't like fish or shrimp) and mashed potatoes. It was really good! I did try his shrimp, and I even tried the lobster. The garlic shrimp was pretty tasty but I didn't really like the other shrimp or the lobster.

My favorite part of the meal has to be the dessert that we ordered. We were both pretty full, so we decided to split a dessert and we decided on the Warm Chocolate Chip Lava Cookie. It was AMAZING! It tasted like a chocolate chip cookie-brownie with hot fudge and ice cream on it. YUM! <3

New Book Series

I just started reading the first book (Marked) in the House of Night series by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast (mother & daughter). It's really good. Very different from any other vampire series that I've read before. I think it's different mostly because it's written from the prospective of a 16-year-old, but it also differs from the other vamp books because the authors put their own twist on the whole "vampire disease" thing.

Anyways. I don't want to give too much away. But, if you're in to the teen-ish novels and you don't mind reading about vamps, you might want to try this series out. I think it would totally be worth your time. :) Also, because it's written for teens/young adults, the books aren't very long, and they move at a fast pace, so it doesn't take long to read them.

I'm only on Chapter 10 of Book 1, but I'm pretty sure that I already love this series!

I'm back

Well, we arrived home at 11:29 on Saturday night. After having driven the 14 hours back on 4 1/2 hours of sleep, I was so tired that I felt drunk. It was a new experience. But, I still had enough energy left to give Mom & Dad their goodies (I bought them a bunch of coffee from one of their fav. coffee places and I also got Dad some Bono's Bar-B-Q, which is his fav.), and to have Jake come over to get his belated birthday gifts.

The drive back really wasn't that terrible and we didn't get as lost at the end, obviously, because we knew exactly where to find our home. On the way down, we had difficulties finding our grandparents' house, so it took almost another hour, between looking for them and after having taken a wrong exit earlier in the day. Not terrible, I guess, but still a really freakin' long trip!

So, I'm glad to be home now, even though I had to return to work this morning. *sigh* I could include a ton of details about my trip, but my lack of sleep over the weekend is catching up with me and I'm just too tired right now. So, more details later.

Oh My Goodness!

I leave for Florida tomorrow morning! I can't believe it! The trip is so close and there is still so much to do, but I'm super excited about it!! It's going to be awesome! :) I get to see a few of my friends, hit the beach, swim all afternoon long...it's going to be wonderful!

Hopefully my tan gets darker while I'm down there so I won't be completely white all summer. I plan on more than making up for my lack of swimming all summer while I'm down there, so I should definitely get some major time in the sun! Of course, I will be applying sunscreen so as not to get sun poisoning or blisters, but I might end up with a nice brown glow to bring back with me. :D

The Future

We're already in the second week of August and I have yet to finish my resume or to start looking for applications and job openings. I guess that's not entirely true since I did poke around on Monster.com and JobfinderUSA.com yesterday to search for openings in the area (of which there apparently are none). I still feel like I've wasted my summer and soon my time at my current job will be over, which means the money will run out, and I was hoping to have something lined up before that happened.

I really need to get this ball rolling. As my mom pointed out the other day, I only have about a month left of work and then I'll need to have another job, or else have no money to pay my bills and to live off of, which isn't really an option. So, I need to find something ASAP, which means getting off my lazy butt and doing stuff.

The only problem is that I only have a few short days before my Florida trip, so I know I won't be very productive in the preparation of my resume and the search for a job. So I'm making a goal to start all that the week after I get back. I'm almost done with my resume, so if I have our Career Services Coordinator check over it sometime on the 24th, then I can start putting that out on some of my 1/2 days that week.

Sure, it sounds like a great plan, but can I do it? We'll see.

I can't believe it!

Today is Monday and we leave for Florida on Saturday, which means I only have about 4 1/2 days to prepare and get everything in order for my trip. My biggest issue right now is the lack of funds to make sure my car is running well and to clean it out and such, but I'll make it work, somehow. I did receive some Wal-Mart gift cards for graduation and my birthday and such, so that'll help with some of the supplies that I'll need for the trip, so that's good, at least.

I just can't believe how close it is. This time next week, I'll be lounging around by the pool, or possibly on the beach. It just seems so unreal!!

My new fav. show

is "Dance Your Ass Off"! It's a weightloss reality show but I absolutely love watching it! I've only missed one episode so far, and I really regretted it because now I'll have to wait until they start playing reruns after the season's over to see it...DANG!

But, if you haven't seen this show yet and you like to watch reality shows, you might want to try it out. It's a lot of fun and I'm starting to become attached to a few of the contestants and I keep crossing my fingers that they don't get eliminated!

I really hope that this isn't one of those shows that gets cancelled after the first season!

Special K Challenge...

where supposedly you can lose up to 6 lbs in 2 weeks. So, I tried to give this a shot today but apparently I wasn't able to find the protein bars, which kinda screws the plan up because I can't go all day without protein. So, I've decided not to follow the plan exactly but I will be using the Special K cereal and snack bars and such in an effort to cut back on junky snacks and candy. :)

Tanning

Well, I started tanning this past Tuesday because of my trip to Florida next month. I'm tired of having pasty white legs and it bugs me every time i wear shorts or capris. I also figured that it'd be a good idea to get some tan going on before the trip, that way I'll have to worry less about burning and sun poisoning and stuff while I'm stretched out on the beach. :D

So far, I've only had 2 5-minute sessions, so there really isn't anything happening yet, but hopefully the sessions can be increased to maybe 8 minutes next week and then there might be some visible progress?!

It has really been difficult for me to find a new swim suit that I like and that actually fits me. So far, I've got nothing. There are several online that are really cute, but when I go to the store, they're all sold out or not kept in stock in the store or whatever. My last hope is JCPenney. I'm going there tomorrow after work and prayerfully I will find something that I like and that fits well. I really don't know what my other options will be if JCP fails me?

My Dream House

I did a "Pick Your 5" list for "Must haves in my dream home" on Facebook about a week ago and I decided to go ahead and list my 'must haves' here, too, because I've been thinking about them quite a bit over the last week.

1. Spiral staircase
2. Loft
3. Wood-burning fireplace
4. Finished basement
5. Big backyard with a deck

Now, I know it's not very realistic that I'll be able to find a house with all of these features and then be able to afford it, but these are 5 things that I would really love to have in my future home, even if I have to put them in myself. ;)

New Look

I decided that it was time to give my blog a new look. This isn't exactly what I had in mind for it, but it'll do for now. The main objective was to change it up and make it look different from before, and I think that that has been accomplished.

*************************************************************

So, things seem to be falling into place for my Florida trip next month. My grandparents are going to let us (my brother and me) stay with them so we don't have to pay for a hotel while we're down there. I already have plans for several days while I'm down there, only leaving about 2-3 days where there aren't any rigid plans, which is fine.

I'm hoping to talk to someone in this awesome smoked meat restaurant (called Bono's) down there about the best way to overnight some of their food to my dad (because he won't be expecting it and he absolutely loves their stuff!) so that he and mom can have some, too. Of course I will be eating there before I leave because it's the only smoked meat that I can actually say that I love! It's awesome!

Even though every day isn't spoken for, I know that there won't be any problem making plans for those days because there is so much to do down there! I can't wait!!

"You Belong With Me" - Taylor Swift

You're on the phone with your girlfriend
shes upset.
Shes going off about something that you said
'Cuz she doesn't, get your humor like I do...
I'm in the room
It's a typical Tuesday night
I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like
and she'll never know your story like i do

But she wears short skirts
I wear T-shirts
She's cheer captain
And I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming about the day when you wake up
And find what you're looking for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
been here all along so why can't you see, you
You belong with me
You belong with me

Walkin' the streets with you and your worn-out jeans
I can't help thinking this is how it ought to be
Laughing on a park bench, thinking to myself
Hey isn't this easy

And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town
I haven't seen it in a while since she brought you down
You say you're fine
I know you better then that
Hey whatcha doing with a girl like that

She wears high heels
I wear sneakers
Shes cheer captain and
I'm on the bleachers
Dreaming about the day when you wake up and find
That what you're looking for has been here the whole time

If you could see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along so why can't you see
You belong with me
Standing by and waiting at your back door
all this time how could you not know
Baby....
You belong with me
You belong with me

Oh
I remember you drivin' to my house in the middle of the night
I'm the one who makes you laugh
When you know you're about to cry
And i know your favorite songs
And you tell me about your dreams
Think I know where you belong
Think I know it's with me...

Can't you see that I'm the one who understands you
Been here all along
So why can't you see
You belong with me
Standing by and waiting at your back door
All this time
How could you not know
Baby you belong with me
You belong with me

You belong with me

Have you ever thought just maybe
you belong with me

You belong with me...

I'm not really a big fan of Taylor Swift songs, but I think this is really cute. It kinda reminds me of the situation that I had before Jake and I started dating. He wasn't dating anyone, but there was another girl that was definitely interested in him and I felt kinda invisible. It's not the same situation, but this song sorta reminds me of it. Either way, I like the song and decided to post the lyrics because I looked them up today. :)

Adultness

Jake and I are having dinner with a friend of his and his wife tonight and it feels a little strange to me because it doesn't feel like we're at that point in our lives, the point where we get together with other couples and have dinner together. It's a strange feeling.

After my mom mentioned that I make good desserts, it was decided that I would make something to bring over tonight. I figured that cookies are pretty safe, since I know that they turn out well about 99% of the time. Jake's friend suggested cheesecake, but since I've never made one of those myself, I decided not to attempt it for dinner this time.

I made some peanut butter cookies first, with about 2 dozen of them being just plain and the rest (probably at least another 3 dozen) having Peanut Butter M&Ms in it. They turned out amazingly! I took around 2 dozen or so over to Jake's house yesterday evening and I think about 1/2 the bag was gone in about 15-20 minutes. Granted, there were about 6-7 people there, but still, that's pretty fast!

Secondly, I mixed up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. The recipe that we have is for a double batch, and I doubled that, so I ended up with a quadruple batch of cookie dough and only 1 bag of chocolate chips (*crap*), so they weren't as chocolate-chip-y as they were supposed to be, but still pretty dang good.

Most of my afternoon was dedicated to cookies and it seemed like the chocolate chip cookies would never be finished! I managed not to burn anything and there were quite a bit of cookies left over after I'd taken out what I needed for dinner tonight, so I left about 6-7 dozen at home, took around 4-5 dozen to Jake's, and set aside 2 dozen to bring in to work today (which I forgot to do). It was a baking frenzy yesterday.

Not feeling like myself

Lately, I've been feeling weird, almost like my blood sugar is low and I'm going to pass out, but I don't think that's it. It could be an issue with too much sugar because I've been drinking a ton of pop and not eating very well (which could also be the issue). I should concentrate on drinking more water and eating better meals and snacks. I just worry because both of my mom's parents were diabetic, and the majority of my mom's siblings are also diabetic, so I know that's always a potential for me in my future. I need to change my habits now in order to prevent that in the future, but I love sweets and pop and junk food so much...it's so hard!

Since we have a fridge at work, I should try to bring in some veggies and fruits and such to leave in there, but there's already limited space because it's shared by all the staff in our office area (close to 15 people), so that may prove to be a problem. But it really would be best for me if I could do that and have some healthy snacks and lunch options on hand instead of heading for the vending machines.

Holiday weekend

Because of the 4th, we don't have to work on Friday (7/3), which means I get an entire day all to myself! :) Granted, I'm losing 8 hours of work, but it's a sacrifice that I'm more than willing to make right now. My job isn't hard, but it's nice to have an extra day off every once in a while, especially when you don't feel well.

I've been to work every day this week, despite having contracted 'the plague' again. I was groggy all day yesterday due to some cough medicine that I had taken the night before. Not wishing to repeat my mistake the night before another early morning, I backed my dosage down from 2 tbsps to 1 tbsp. It cut out the drowsy feeling that resulted from the medicine yesterday, but it didn't work as well last night. I just can't seem to win. Oh well.

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I spent almost an hour and 15 minutes on the phone with my best friend from Florida last night. She and I were discussing potential plans for when I vacation down there next month. There's so much that she wants us to do that I just don't know if we can squeeze it all in because I do have a few other friends that I'd like to see while I'm down there. My friend is talking about spending our days at the beach or lounging by the pool with mango margaritas and then spending our nights playing pool, going to clubs, listening to live bands, etc. Oh, and of course alchohol will be involved, at least a little bit since this is the first time that we've hung out since we became 'legal.' It sounds like it's going to be an awesome time! I'm so excited!

Jake was talking about going horseback riding with his cousin and his girlfriend. I think that could be a lot of fun, only I don't know where any riding stables are in this area. The only one I know about is in Bellefontaine. If anyone knows of one nearby, feel free to mention it. :) Jake's mom also talked about renting some canoes one day. This could really turn out to be an awesome summer!

Camping!

Jake and his sister both had the idea that it would be fun for the 4 of us (Jake, me, his sister, and her fiance) to go camping down by their family pond sometime. Upon discovering that MC Sports had a 2-3 person tent marked down to 50% off for a Father's Day sale, I decided to pick it up because it was only $25, which is amazing for a tent anywhere, let alone MC Sports!

Since Jake was so pumped about the camping idea already, when I showed it to him on Sunday he asked me "So, what are you doing tonight" (because he wanted to pitch the tent and camp out that day. I told him that I wasn't doing anything of the sort because I had an 8-hour workday the following day. So we made plans to shoot for this Friday (today), provided that the weather cooperated with our plans.

So far, the weather seems to be holding out and, according to weather.com, there's not supposed to be any rain today, so it seems to me like it's fair to say that the backyard camping will be happening today/tonight!

Hair

I got my hair cut last Thursday and it's super short! But I really like it. I still haven't figured out everything that I can do with it (except that pulling it back in a ponytail is now impossible!) but, so far, I'm having fun with it.

My head gets really hot now that my hair can't be pulled back out of my face (unless a ton of hair clips are involved), so that's sometimes less than comfortable, but it hasn't been terrible, yet. I especially like how my hair doesn't tangle as easily as it did when it was longer. I don't have to fight knots out of my hair each morning; it's wonderful!

Thankfully Jake likes the cut, too, but even if he didn't, it wouldn't change how I feel about it, and I still would have gotten it done. I wanted to donate my hair at least 1 more time and so that's what I did. The hair is still sitting on our dining room table, but I did get it in an envelope, so that's at least a step in the right direction. :)

Productivity

Looking back at the weekend, I feel like I actually got some things accomplished, despite feeling like I was being a worthless lump of flesh all weekend. After trimming back some plants and small trees that were creeping over to our side of the fence from our neighbors' yards, I took the clippers around front and attacked our insane-looking bush-plant-thing. While only having finished about half of the trimming that needed/needs done, it was still a good start.

I did manage to hang up some clothes in my closet and get a small pile of shirts and one pair of capris that are going into my "Goodwill" bag. When I bought 5 new pairs of capris, 2 tank tops, and 2 new shirts, I decided that it was time to go through my clothes and donate or pitch what I haven't worn in over a year. There are some dress clothes that I have decided to keep because I never know when I might need to dress up, but pretty much everything else is going.

I still have a long way to go before my room looks acceptable, but this is a start in the right direction. I only wish that my closet wasn't so narrow because hanging my clothes up means that I can't get through to the back of my closet very gracefully. Oh well.

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Father's Day is this upcoming Sunday (the 21st) and I have no clue what to get my dad. He's almost impossible to buy for because he doesn't spend as much time playing games as he once did because of all the meds that he's on. They make him sleep a lot and he doesn't get up for very long, when he's able to at all. So, I'll just hope that my mom can think of something that he needs/wants before Sunday.

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My trip to Florida might have to be postponed for a couple of weeks, and that makes me a sad panda, but there isn't much to be done about that. I'm still hoping that Jake will be able to drive down there with me (saving me the trouble of having to buy a plane ticket and rent a car/vehicle), but since he is unemployed right now (Grandview Video went out of business) that may prove difficult. Dang!

Work sucks

I have to return to work on Monday after being off since last Thursday. That's not going to be fun, especially since it's a Monday, which sucks anyways. But, I need the money, so I can't complain too much, I guess. I'm just glad that I can get my hours in in 2 1/2 days and get the heck outta there until the following Monday!

Updating

Well, I just realized that it's been quite a while since I updated my blog, so I decided that now would be a good time for doing that. Not really a whole lot has happened since my last blog (which is probably why I've gone this long in between them).

I did officially finish my last quarter (SP09) on June 3rd. I haven't gotten my diploma yet and I'm not planning on attending the Commencement ceremony in Columbus because my parents wouldn't be able to make it and it's just not worth it to me if my family won't be there. So, I get to wait about a month for Columbus to mail me my diploma and then I can frame it and be all proud of it and stuff.

As for what I'm going to do with myself now, I really don't know. I'm hoping that I can continue working at my job for the summer and then I can start applying for jobs towards August and see if I can find anything. But at least I will be able to work this summer and save up some money.

So anyways. I'm graduated now and I have no idea what the future holds for me. But I'm still planning on a trip to Florida and I'm extremely excited about that! I've still got a lot of planning and saving to do for it but I think it might actually be feasible this year.

I'm having a graduation party on the 27th, hopefully, and I think it'll be really fun. Just some family and friends getting together to party and have a good time. I just want to celebrate surviving the past 4 years of my life! So, if you don't have anything going on that day, feel free to stop by. I think we're starting around 7 pm and going until whenever. :)

And that's all I've got for now.

Shopping with Brittany

I dragged Britt to Kohl's after we had dinner with a couple of friends at Western Sizzlin' (for Britt's birthday). I needed to find a present for my cousin's daughter's 1st birthday party tomorrow, and my boss told me that they had some cute books and stuffed animals at Kohl's for the "Kohl's Cares for Kids" foundation/fundraiser, so I decided to check that out.



While we were in the store, I decided to check out the sales and try to find some new shirts at some *hopefully* decent prices. My boss had also given me a coupon for 15% off of everything (even sale items), so I was planning on getting some really good deals today.

Probably the best deal that I got was on a purple coat by Vera Wang that was originally $118 and it was marked down to $23.60. Plus I had that 15% off, so I basically got it for about $21. I thought that was pretty amazing! I wish I could find a pic of it on the website, but I failed at that.

So, I got a couple of shirts, the coat, and the book and plush, and that was all. I wish I would have had a little more time to look through the clearance and sale racks, but it was already 8:20 pm when we headed to the checkout.



What was really awesome was that I was able to buy the shirts and the coat in a "Large" instead of "X-Large," like I usually have to get! It was amazing and it totally made my day/night!!! I hope that I can go back the next time I get paid and find some great deals on capris and shorts for the summer!!

Still poor...

I bought some groceries and a new shirt and tank top to wear to the elementary school today and now I'm basically broke again. I have money for gas for next week, but not much more than that. I'm not sure how I'm going to manage saving money for my vacation and also buy new clothes for this summer along with all of the birthday, graduation, and Mother's/Father's Day gifts that are coming up so soon. I'll manage somehow, but it'll take some planning on my part.

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Does anyone else feel completely overwhelmed this quarter/semester? I just feel like no matter how much work I do over the weekend, Monday classes come to screw everything up again. I've just stopped trying to get caught up.

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So, I haven't been sticking to my 3 weekly visits to the Y lately. It's just been so hard to get myself to get ready and go there. But my mom and I started taking walks around the neighborhood either on Friday or Saturday, and we've taken a walk every day since then, so far, so I think that'll help. It's something in the way of exercise, at least.

My Graduation Present To Me

I plan on going down to Florida for 7-10 days this summer because I have been promising myself and my friends down there that I would go for the past, what, 5-6 summers? So, this summer, I am going through with my plans, even if I have to declare bankruptcy afterwards!

I have invited Jake to go along, and if he can go, we'll probably be driving down there in my car (because it gets pretty good gas milage). If he can't go, I will be paying for a plane ticket and renting a car (which will definitely NOT be cheap!).

There are so many things that a person has to do in order to prepare for a vacation. Since I haven't been on one in so long, I had forgotten about most of it. Not only will I need to save every extra cent that I have from my paychecks between now and then, but I will also have to spend what little money I have left over on a new summer wardrobe (which includes a new swimsuit).

I'm at the point where I'm sure that I'll have the money to get down there and back, but I don't know how I'll be able to eat and drink once I'm there. Luckily, I'll be graduating from college in June, so I'm sure I'll get some money from a few people, and that will help me, even if it's only an extra $50, that will be money that I can use to buy food. :)

Also, in preparation for my trip down there, I have started going to the Y and working out. Well, I've only managed it once so far, but I plan on going at least 3 times a week, and I might have someone that can go on walks with me when it's nice out, so that will help a lot, too. I plan on being a "beach bum" for the majority of the time that I'm there, so I would like to get in shape, or at least head in that direction, so that I can feel more comfortable in a swimsuit.

Speaking of the Y, the backs of my thighs are pretty sore today! I worked on this little rowing-type machine yesterday. It was really nice and made for an easy workout, but I only did 5 minutes on it because I had already been working out for about 20-25 minutes and I didn't want to overdo anything. But, I think it might be my new favorite workout machine and I'll definitely be spending more time on it the next time I go!

Realization

I was just reading through my list of things that I would like to accomplish before I'm 30 and I realized that I won't be able to do everything in the next 8-ish years, but I would still like to do most of it. Maybe I should change the title to "30 things I'd like to do before I get really old" or something like that? I don't know.

Another thing that I have been thinking about lately is "What is 'love'?" Jake and I have been together for over 3 years now and I know that I love him, but I don't know what that love means. I don't know if it's the love that can make a man and a woman stay together their whole lives or if it's more of a friendship love. Since I have had very limited experience with relationships in the past (since Jake is my first 'real' boyfriend), I really don't even have anything that isn't the romantic type of love to go from.

It's really hard to have a question that nobody is able to help you with. I mean, I can ask other people in my life how they knew they'd found the person that they would spend the rest of their lives with, but that really won't help me much since I know that I probably won't be having those feelings. Everyone's situation is different and I just wish that someone could give me a straight-up answer about what "romantic love" really means.

Normally I don't really share things like this with the general public, but mostly I'm doing this in order to get some opinions/advice. I'm just really confused right now, not only with my relationship, but with school and graduation and the lack of job prospects. So, if anyone has any comments on anything like this, please share. :)

Home early

I got home around 11:45 am today. It feels so weird to be home before 6:00 pm. I was hoping to get some things done today, but it's too nice outside and I just want to be a bum for a little while. The beginning of the week was overwhelming and stressful and now that I have some time to breathe, I'd like to do just that.

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I was just thinking a little while ago that it might be fun to visit a zoo! I haven't been to one since I was about 10 and, even though I'm an adult, I think it would be awesome. Who says you have to be 5 to enjoy the animals?!

Overwhelmed

It's only the beginning of week 2 and I'm already behind. At least, that's what it feels like. This is my last quarter before graduation and it's so hard to make myself care about anything. I want to do well in my classes, but part of me just really doesn't give a damn because I'm so close. But, another part of me realizes that I NEED to pass these classes in order to graduate. So, that's probably the only thing keeping me going.

I developed a cold yesterday and I've felt sick and achy most of the day today. I'm hoping that I can kick whatever this is before tomorrow (when I'll be in a 1st grade classroom all day), but I seriously doubt I could be that lucky.

Catching up

I had a friend from Florida add me to his Myspace a few weeks ago and we've been sending messages back and forth, but we haven't really had the opportunity to talk much. Today, I asked him for his screen name and got him added to my buddies list and we've been chatting for a few hours now. We're just catching up and talking about our lives. It's so nice to be able to share some memories with him, things that only he and I remember. It's nice to be able to talk with him about our shared childhood.

I had forgotten how close we were until today. I miss him so much and I'm so glad that we can now talk to each other again. It's going to take more than a few hours of one day to catch up on the past 6+ years, but at least we've got a start. This is awesome!

Fire alarm

Yesterday was the first day of Spring Quarter '09. I started out the quarter by being 30 minutes late to my first class. Off to a great start, huh? You see, I'd forgotten that on the first day, we would be meeting an hour earlier than the scheduled time in order to get things squared away. So, I didn't leave work until 1:00 because I forgot about the whole 'you need to get there early' thing.

The day, overall, was pretty long. Work from 8-1 (will be 8-1:30 from now on for Mondays and Wednesdays), class from 1-3:20, an ACEI meeting (the first one that I've been able to make it to) from about 3:45-4:00, another class from 4:00-5:50 (is normally scheduled to go til 6:30, but the instructor usually lets out early).

About half-way through the second class, the fire alarm went off and we had to leave the building. We were outside for about 5-10 minutes, and then the alarm stopped and everyone headed back inside. While we were trying to resume class, the alarm went off a couple more times, but it only lasted for a couple of seconds each time. I'm not sure what was going on with that, but I've been at the university for nearly 4 years now and I've never, ever had the fire alarm go off. Weird.

So, I think this is going to be a LONG quarter. Not only am I a senior, but this is also my last quarter before graduation, so I know it's going to be difficult for me to care enough about things to get my assignments done. The only thing that's really motivating me is the fact that I don't want to screw up my GPA my last quarter in college. So, I guess I'll keep up on my work just for that.

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Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be observing in a 1st grade classroom right now, but I got to the school this morning and discovered that the teacher was going to be out and she would have a substitute in her room. So, I was lucky enough to catch her while she was in the building this morning (she must have been picking up something that she needed) and I asked her if she would prefer that I come back on Thursday instead. So, we decided that I would return on Thursday, providing that she is able to be back in the classroom by then.

So, I had an unexpected day off today. It has the potential to be a productive one, but that will depend on whether I actually get off of the computer and get around to doing something.

Newport Aquarium

Today, Brittany, Jake and I went to the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky. It was a really neat experience and we only got a little lost trying to find it. We spent about 2 hours walking through the aquarium, and I was taking lots of pictures. That is, until my camera crapped out about half-way through the tour. :(

Jake was nice and bought me a little cup of nectar so that I could feed the Lorikeets. They're super cute, brightly colored birds that roam around freely in the Aviary in the Aquarium. I had one climb from the branch that he/she was on, to the cup of nectar, and then onto my finger. It was so awesome! I wanted to take him/her home with me so bad! I wish my camera hadn't died! But, Jake and Britt both got a picture of it on their phones, so if Jake sends me a copy, at least I'll have that. I bought a stuffed animal otter and a Newport Aquarium tee at the gift shop. :)

After we left the Aquarium, we stopped in at the Barnes & Noble that was right by the aquarium entrance/exit. I found a really cool art book that is all photos of babies and pregnant women and things like that. I'm going to send it to my pregnant friend in Florida as part of her Easter present.

Before we left the Newport area, we stopped in the Cold Stone Creamery to get some ice cream. I tried the 'Cheesecake Fantasy,' which was pretty good, but the frozen blueberries and strawberries hurt my teeth. It was worth it, though.

We headed out to the hotel around 4:00 pm and only got a little lost when we turned the wrong way coming out of the aquarium valet lot. We checked into the hotel (Holiday Inn Express) and chilled in the room for a bit. I was so excited because the room was amazing and had lots of cool features (a flat-screen TV, a microwave, a mini-fridge, a desk, 2 queen-size beds, and a really nice bathroom). I am so excited about spending a night away from home with friends and absolutely no family members around!

Britt and I went swimming in the hotel's indoor pool for a little bit, but then a bunch of people showed up there (and since the pool is kind-of small) and we decided to go back to the room. We were going to eat at Joe's Crab Shack (since Britt and I are Catholic and it's Friday, so we aren't supposed to have meat), but Jake and I thought it would be better to order pizza to be delivered to the room and to just stay in. So, we ordered the pizza and played a couple of games of "Clue" (the newer version).

Tomorrow, we're going to head out to the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal sometime in the afternoon, after having lunch at the Brio (a Tuscan bistro-type place). After the museum, we'll be heading home, but hopefully not before making a stop at Chipotle (which I've never actually been to)! :D

Hope to have some pictures of everything!

Suckage

So far, my Spring Break has consisted of dinner and a movie (last Friday), many trips to Max's for ice cream, and work. Oh yeah, and I read a book (The Tale of Despereaux). Sounds pretty lame, huh? This is what happens when someone tries to have big Spring Break plans but they fall through because friends can't get time off from work or they don't have enough money to take a vacation. :(

Oh well...I guess it just wasn't meant to be. But I was hoping that it would actually happen for once, and then *fail.* So, I'm sitting here at the computer, enjoying my Fruit Loops, and wishing that I was somewhere warm.

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In other news:
I bought some more yarn for working on blankets for people.
My best friend in Florida informed me several weeks ago that she is pregnant, so I figured I had better get started on her blanket soon.
So, she decided that she wanted some pale yellow yarn, and I found some really soft yarn at Joann's a couple of weekends ago.
It's really nice.
And then I also bought two big skeins of yarn that has various shades of blue and some white for making a lap throw for Brittany (since I don't think she'll ever have babies - unless they are of the furry variety)
Currently, I am working on crocheting a blanket for our church's 4th of July festival.
I'm getting anxious to move on to something new already.
Since I'll have a full day off on Thursday, unless someone wants to make plans (*cough, cough* Jess), I will probably start on a new blanket.

P.S. I don't know why I decided to write this second part in this format, but there it is.

Spring Break excursion

For Spring Break this year, since I wasn't able to head down to Myrtle Beach (like I had originally planned), I decided that a trip down to the Newport Aquarium and the Cincinnati Museum would be a fun 2-day trip. Unfortunately, Jake has to work until Thursday this week, so we won't be able to head down there until Friday/Saturday, but it should be lots of fun. We're planning on booking a hotel room in a hotel that has an indoor pool so that Brittany and I can go swimming. :)

I know that it probably sounds pretty lame to some/most of you, but I hope that it turns out to be a fun experience. I've never been to an aquarium, or a museum, so this will be a new experience for me, and I'm excited! I've also never stayed overnight in a hotel with anyone that wasn't family before, so that will be new and exciting, too. I can't wait!!

Goals: Accomplished or Not

A review of my Goals for Winter quarter:

* Exercise more often (because of potential wedding(s) this summer)
* Argue less (mostly with Jake, but in general)
* Drink less soda (hoping to average about 2 cans/1 bottle a day)
* Keep up with my reading for my classes
* Put my resume together/make an appointment with the Career Services Coordinator

Well, the first two goals didn't happen at all. I did really well with the third goal. In fact, since I gave up soda for Lent, I've done extremely well with that. On the fourth, I did okay, but not amazingly well. For the fifth, I did not succeed in getting my resume put together, but I did meet with the Career Services Coordinator and talked to her about some of my options.

Overall, I think I sucked at completing my goals for this past quarter. So, I guess I'll just have to try again next quarter. So, here is a list of my new goals.

Spring goals:

* Exercise more often
* Argue less (mostly with Jake, but in general)
* Continue drinking less soda
* Keep up with my reading
* Put my resume together
* Hang up the rest of my clothes
* Clean off my desk

Let's hope that I have more luck with these goals.

Puppies!

Yesterday, after finishing my finals, Jake came over and we decided to head to Max's for some ice cream. Apparently 1/2 the town had the same idea, but anyways. When I walked by my mom, she called me back to where she was sitting at the table with her laptop. She wanted to show me the picture of 'Max,' a Rottwieler puppy that she is considering buying for my dad for his birthday in May. Of course, she will be buying the puppy before May so that we can get it to our house and let it adjust to everything before he gets too old. But, I really like Rotts, and I believe that they are my dad's favorite breed, so I'm super excited that we might be getting one! They're pretty expensive, but we really need to get one soon so that my dad is able to enjoy spending time with him now because he may not have a 'later.' I really don't want to think about it that way, but it's true. So, my mom is looking at puppies now and hopefully we can find one that isn't too expensive and that won't cost us an arm and a leg to ship from where ever it is coming from!

Cuteness

I was poking around on Amazon.com and found several cute baby books that I would like to get for my friend down in Florida. One of them is a baby version of Dr. Seuss's "Oh the Places You Will Go." It sounds super cute. One, which I read at Walden's at the mall, is called "You Are My I Love You." It's really cute, too. There was also one that I saw that was titled something about it being boring inside the mommy's tummy. It looked pretty cute, but since I wasn't able to "look inside" and read some of the text, I'm hesitant to buy it.

Speaking of babies, I have a baby shower the first weekend of April. My mom's friend's daughter is pregnant. It seems like everyone is pregnant right now! Every time I turn around, someone's telling me that they're pregnant. It must be in the water or something?

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Waking up at 6:50 am is not cute, at all. Having to be at work by 8:00 am is even less cute. I don't feel like anyone should have to wake up before 8:00 unless they feel like it. Having to go somewhere that early in the morning really stinks!

It's really hard for me to focus right now. I really need to work on going to bed before 12:00 when I have to be up before 7:00! It didn't work out last night, but I'm hoping that I'll be tired enough tonight that I can get to bed by 11:00, at the latest.

Hidden costs

I ordered a dress off of Ebay because my brother's girlfriend needed some costumes for the play that she will be in in May, and when I took the amount that I was charged and subtracted the amount of the dress, I found that I was charged an extra dollar for shipping & handling. It's not really losing the dollar that bothers me, but it's the fact that I was actually charged a different price from what I agreed to. It really pisses me off because it feels like they're trying to take advantage of me or something. I hate that!

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In other news:

It looks really nice outside today. I can't wait to get out there and get some ice cream from Max's! I think that should make my day better. I really should be studying for finals, but it's too nice outside to worry about that stuff. ;p

The end is near!

Tonight I finished up with another class, and because I finished my Monday class up this week, that takes me down from 4 classes to 2. The 2 that are left should have relatively easy finals...I just have to make sure that I prepare myself for the one. The first one of the day isn't going to be hard at all; knowing that, I can concentrate on studying/preparing for the second 1 and I should be fine.

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I'm still trying to come up with something fun and exciting to do over Spring Break that isn't going to cost a fortune. I think I have some possibilities, but I have to see how Jake feels about them before I get my hopes up about them. I really don't want to waste yet another Spring Break!

Change of plans

Well, my friend changed her mind and she's not going to have the wedding until next Spring, after she has her baby. I was looking forward to seeing her beach wedding this summer because I thought it would be really nice, but hopefully they'll have nice weather down there next Spring and she can still have her outside wedding. :)

Maid of Honor

I'm going to be the Maid of Honor for my best friend this summer. She's having her ceremony on a beach in Florida and I'm super excited about being there! She wants me to wear a yellow dress, and I'm not crazy about yellow, but I told her I'd wear it for her.



This is the dress that we both fell in love with, and I have to say that I don't hate this color yellow, so it should be fine. I'm so excited about it and the wedding and I'm just so looking forward to the chance to see her again! I just hope that the dress doesn't cost more than $200 so that I have some money left over to buy a plane ticket with!

Lent '09

Wednesday was the start of Lent and I decided to give up two things this year: soda and candy. Last year I gave up soda and candy, but I didn't include chocolate in with the candy, so this year I decided to give everything up. Now Jake's afraid that I'll murder him when I'm on my period because I won't be able to have any chocolate or soda (which acts like chocolate for me sometimes). I told him to just not piss me off and we shouldn't have any problems. :)

I'm excited because Max's Dairy Bar opened back up today! As soon as Jake finishes hanging with his friends, he and I are supposed to go get some ice cream (something that will probably save his life when I'm bleeding because I didn't give that up this year ;p). I usually get a Reese's Cup Cyclone, but since I can't have candy, I'm not sure what I'll get today. Maybe I'll mix things up and try something new?

Dreams

Lately, one of my best friends from when I lived in Florida has been coming up in my dreams. He's not there very often, but I've noticed him in a few dreams over the last month. For some reason, my brain thinks about him when I sleep, so I decided to try and get ahold of him and see if we could catch up on things.

I haven't seen or talked to him in over 4 years now and I can't figure out why he keeps coming up in my dreams, but I figured that it might be my head telling me that I need to try and talk to him again. I'm not sure if this is a positive sign or not, but I'm going to try and get ahold of him again so that we can chat.

I just hope that all of these years that have passed in between seeing each other hasn't totally ruined our friendship...

Nothing much going on

Well, it's Sunday and I don't have a whole lot going on. I should have started working on my 3-4 page essay that's due on Tuesday, but I figure that I can work on that while I'm at work tomorrow, so I'm not really giving myself any incentive to even start it today. Go me!

I'm spending another glorious Sunday sitting at my lappy in my pjs. It's really nice not having to get up and start running around right away. Quite enjoyable.

New development: Yesterday, I discovered that my "h" key kinda sticks a little and doesn't always respond when I tap it. I never realized how much I use my "h" key until yesterday, and it's really a pain in the ass to not have it working properly.

A few updates

I really don't have much to say except that my best friend in Florida informed me yesterday that she's pregnant, so I'm going to be a pseudo-aunt sometime around October!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so freaking excited about that!!!!

Also, "Bride Wars" is coming to the Wapa Theatre, so I might actually get to see that this weekend, if I can scrounge up the $3 that it costs to see a movie. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but I'm pretty poor right now because I've got a bunch of other things to pay for. But, maybe I could talk Jake into watching it with me and then he could pay?...Nah, probably not. lol!

Starting to feel better...

Ze plague seems to be leaving, finally. The sneezing started back up yesterday, but it was very infrequent, only appearing just enough to be annoying. My nose is still a little stuffy, but not too bad anymore. I can only taste about half of what I eat, and it's not always the good half of the flavor that I taste. :( Overall, I think that ze plague has almost been overthrown, but not completely just yet.

P.S. I don't want to be here today!

I have ze plague

I started feeling a little achy on Sunday because I couldn't stop sneezing and, for some reason, sneezing makes me ache. But, I took some medicine and the sneezing stopped, for the most part. I spent the majority of Monday sneezing becaue I couldn't take any meds while I was at work/in class for fear that it would make me drowsy/loopy and unable to concentrate even more than normal.

Last night/this morning, I woke up around 4:15 and couldn't get back to sleep until almost 7:00. That was pretty sucky. The major cause of my early rising was that I couldn't breathe through my nose, so my mouth got all dried out and that's what woke me up. Deciding that it might be helpful to drink some hot tea in hopes of clearing some of the junk out of my nose and throat, I went downstairs and made some tea. Little did I know that I would be up for the next hour and a half going pee about every 20-30 minutes! I won't be making that mistake again any time soon, that's for sure!

Today is a little better than yesterday but the nose is still taking turns being runny or clogged up. That's always fun. Sneezing still happens occasionally, but less frequently with every passing hour. With any luck, this funk should be gone by tomorrow or Thursday. At least, I hope that it doesn't interfere with V-day. Not that I have anything exciting planned, but I'd really rather not be sick and miserable on another "holiday."

I'm a big kid now!

My uncle and cousin brought over my 'new' full-size mattress today! I had sent an e-mail out to some of my aunts and uncles in the area trying to see if anyone had or knew someone who had a mattress that they wanted to get rid of for a cheap price because my mattress was in -really- bad shape and I wanted a new one. It turned out that one of mom's brothers had a full-sized mattress that was just sitting in his shed and not being used, so they offered it to me.

I was going to buy a twin mattress, but I thought that it was time for me to move up to a bigger bed because I'm tired of not having room to spread out when I sleep. It may be a silly reason, but I figured if I could find a mattress and a frame for like $200 or less, then it was worth it. It turns out that my uncle might be able to find me a bed frame, too. So, it could turn out that I won't have to invest any money in a bigger bed. That would be fantastic! I love free stuff!!

I'm so excited about the new bed! I still need to get new sheets and, if my uncle can't get a bed frame for me, then one of those, too. Even though I'll have considerably less space left in my room, it's totally worth it! Having room to spread out when I'm sleeping is more important than having a path to walk on around my room. ;p

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In other news, I'm actually pseudo-ahead on my reading for this week. I really need to get as much done tomorrow as I can so that there is more time for me to concentrate on the 12 reviews that are due for my literature class a week from this Tuesday. It makes me really nervous that I only have about 6 books, so I'll need to make a trip to the library this weekend and get at least 6 more and get the reviews written before the 3rd. I'm definitely a little stressed about that.

Jake and I were supposed to have a double-date at Olive Garden with his sister and her fiance, but there was a 55-60 minute wait for a table, so we decided to try and find another restaurant. The best thing that we could find that didn't have a long wait was IHOP. The food was okay, but I got dressed up and ended up not going anywhere remotely fancy. So, my feet hurt from the pumps that I was wearing and it was all for nothing.

Maybe the next time we plan on going to Olive Garden, we'll actually think to call ahead and make reservations before we're in the car heading to the restaurant...

P.S. Jake and I saw "Inkheart" on Friday and I would just like to say that it was a pretty good movie! It actually only cost us $6 to get the both of us in and get a drink and some Sour Patch Kids because I had $20 in gift cards for Regal, so we basically got a free movie! I would have been okay with paying to see the movie, though. It was good! There were a couple of other movies that we were considering, but I'm definitely glad that we went with "Inkheart" instead of something else. The others I can wait to see until they come to Wapak or the Dollar Theater.

Week 3 down...

Today marked the end of my 3rd week of this quarter. Because we had Monday off for MLK Day, the week was pretty short and that was definitely awesome! I'm still really behind and I have a ton of reading to do for next week. I'm pretty sure that I won't get everything done, which means that I will need to make a priority list and get to the things on the top first and figure out which things can be pushed back for another day...

I really hate this time of the quarter because I always start feeling the pressure when I start to fall behind. And then scheduling windows come up and so a lot of the students coming through the office are crazies that are trying to squeeze an adviser visit in with everything else that's going on. It's just not a fun time at all.

I tried to get things done while I was at work today, but distractions kept happening and copies needed made, and I just had too much to do for work that I didn't have time for homework. So, that got pushed aside and it probably won't get touched again until tomorrow afternoon, at the earliest. Unless, by some miracle, I decide to do some reading before bed...yeah right!

Procrastinating, again

I procrastinated all weekend. On Sunday, when I was thinking about everything that I had to get done for Tuesday & Wednesday, I freaked out, and therefore got nothing accomplished that day. Finally, yesterday I sat down and read for a while. I only had about 50 pages total to read for today, but the first book that I read out of was so boring & seemed so drawn out.

So, I took a break & went upstairs with Darien (girl mom babysits for). We played a few games on her "Family Fun Night" game for the Wii. We played 1 game of "Connect 4" & 2 games of "Yatzee." I won the "Connect 4" game, she won the 1st "Yatzee" game & then I won the 2nd game. It was a ton of fun, but I decided that I needed to finish my reading. I actually got it all done before midnight, which was my goal.

I still had a paper to write today & a ton of stuff to read for that, but I got it all done. Now all I have to worry about is going to class & being bored for the next 2 hours. My second class tonight should be pretty fun and not so boring, hopefully. I actually like going to that class, even though it's like 2 1/2 hours long and it's an evening class. It's not too bad.

Can't focus...

I've been at work since 10 this morning and have gotten absolutely nothing done as far as my homework is concerned. Nothing seems important to me right now except getting out of work and going home. That's probably not a feeling that I should be having right now, and maybe it's being brought on by the long weekend that I have ahead (because I don't have any class/work on Fridays and we have Monday off for MLK day), but I just can't seem to care.

Classes were canceled!

All classes that started after 4 pm today were canceled, which means that I got to leave at 3:00 today because my class on Wednesdays doesn't start until 4:30! So, I have all of this free time and nothing (besides homework) to do with it.

When I got home today, Leo (our youngest cat) was looking out the window by the back door and acting like he wanted to go outside. So, I picked him up, took him out onto the deck and deposited him into the snow. When he tried to run off, I grabbed handfuls of snow and rubbed them on him to show him how cold it is outside and how lucky he is that he has a nice, warm home to stay in. I hope that changed his mind about trying to run out the door any time soon. ;p

My impressions of my Winter '09 classes

I really think that I will hate this quarter. Not because I'm taking a bunch of classes, but because they're all late afternoon (1) & evening (3) classes! I feel like I'm living on campus again this quarter, even with having Fridays off. I'm also frustrated because the bookstore didn't have 2 of the textbooks I needed for my classes, so I had to order them online and then wait for them to come in. We'll just see if their '2-day shipping' really only takes that long.

My classes really aren't that bad this quarter, & a few seem to be slightly related, which should help me, but the class periods are just so LONG & all I can think about during the class is driving home & chilling in front of my lappy. That doesn't make me feel hopeful about my grades for this quarter...

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This is totally unrelated (kinda) but I was noticing that a ton of people in my classes this quarter are now engaged and planning a wedding. We had to write an entry in a discussion forum for my one class that was an introduction of ourselves & out of the probably 8 people that have posted already, like 3-4 of them were talking about being engaged/planning their weddings.

I'm slightly depressed by this because I'm sorta feeling like that day will never come for me. I'm not really sure what's bringing these feelings on, but it feels like my life will never head in that direction & that upsets me. Somewhere in the back of my mind I'm sure that I know that it WILL happen, but right now it just doesn't feel that way.

I've been dreaming about getting married & starting a family since I was at least 12, maybe even before then, and it really saddens & depresses me to think that that part of my life will never exist. I don't know where these feelings are coming from. It's very possible that it is a result of the current weather conditions in our area...that's enough to be at least slightly depressed about!

Day 3 of Winter quarter 2009

I'm sitting here trying to do some reading for my Monday night class (since I have tons of reading to do for all of my other classes), and I just can't get into the material. It's like pulling teeth, seriously. It's not a matter of being literate, because I know I am. It's just really hard to enjoy the collection of words on each new page...

I suppose if maybe on another day in a better mood, I might grasp what I'm reading better, but today it's just not sinking in. Maybe I'm tired or something, or maybe it's just laziness? Whatever it is, I have to find a way to shake it off and get this stuff done! These books definately aren't going to read themselves and even if they did, I wouldn't be getting anything out of it.

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I'm looking forward to getting off work today (at 3:00) because I'm starting to get pretty hungry. Jake & I were planning on going out to grab some food the last time I spoke with him...hopefully those plans don't change.

I just have one more class tonight and then I will have experienced all 4 classes for this quarter. The great thing about my Tues/Thurs class is that we'll only meet once a week. Typically we'll meet on Tuesdays, but if class is canceled on Tuesday, we'll meet on Thursday of that week instead. That means that I'll generally be getting done at 3:00 on Thursdays and, since I have Fridays off, that's when my weekends will start! Yahoo!

Unexpected expenses

Well, my car has been making some terrible grinding sounds the past couple of weeks. I avoided getting it checked out thinking that it was just objecting to the cold and that there wasn't anything really wrong with it...plus, I didn't have the money to get it fixed.

This past week it has been sounding worse than ever, so I decided to ask my uncle to check out my break pads, because it sounded like they were going bad and that metal was scraping up against metal when I would break. He discovered that I needed new break pads and rotors for the front end, which is what I had expected (except for the rotors). And he also said it was worse on the right side, which I had also thought, so I felt pretty good about myself for being able to identify that. :)

So, I went out to the auto parts store and bought the new pads and rotors and I'll be dropping off my car at his house in a little while so he can work on it tomorrow while I'm in Columbus with my family. It was like $92 and some change for everything, but labor isn't going to cost anything, so I guess it's not too bad. I was expecting the replacement parts to cost way more than that, so it was a nice surprise.

Thankfully I came into a little bit of money from Mom and Dad for Christmas, and I have some from my grandparents, so it didn't break my bank account to buy the stuff, but I really wasn't planning on replacing anything on my car right now. I'm really trying to save up money, but every time I get a little extra that I think I can put aside, something like this happens...figures!