Finals pt.2

Every quarter  there are a few weeks that make you want to run around banging your head on anything hard enough to make you knock yourself out. I thought that this week was not going to be one of them. I thought that for once I was going to have a finals week that was calm, cool, and collected. Oh boy. I was wrong there. Due to a small oversight, that if caught a month ago could have been miniscule and easily fixable and avoided, I am now overwhelmed and stressed out. The worst part is I simultaneously let someone I really care about down AND I have to live with the fact that it's my fault. I'm sure that in the grand scheme of things, its really not that big of a deal, but right now it is, and right now I'm not feeling so hot about it.

***

In other news, A got a call this morning from his new job and they told him that he has the opportunity to start in January instead of June. A powwow with myself and our friend T later, and I think he is going to choose to start in January. He was looking forward to a little break before throwing himself into the grind of being a fully-fledged adult but I think that he's going to be ok without it.

***

On a happy note, A and I had a spontaneous date night last night. We went down to downtown for the Festival of Lights and it was beautiful. He got us caramel corn and we just walked around. The lights are incredible and there are horse drawn carriages, an ice skating rink, performances, and it was just perfect. We had a great time together. And then he took me out to In-N-Out, which I've been craving for weeks. It was a perfect way to get out from the crazy stress of work and school and just spend some quality time together. And it was cheap too so that works perfectly into our budget :]

Finals

Take the life out of me. I am so tired. My hardest final was yesterday and I still feel so incredibly drained. Throw in a couple shifts at the studio today and I am feeling so relieved that I still get tomorrow to sleep all day.
I need a nap. Definitely going to go and take one before I get back to the studio.
Starbucks will probably be in order on my way to work. I'm seriously an addict or something.

Speaking of Dreams

I know that this may sound insane, but lately I have been coveting a secret dream. I haven't really told anyone about it because I know that it is going to sound crazy to everyone else.
My Dream
I grew up around horses. Helping my grandparents take care of their horses, taking lessons, having my own horse. My first passion and love has always been horses. I had to stop taking riding lessons the summer after my freshman year in highschool because we couldn't afford the time or money for both lessons and dancing. I knew that I could always go back to riding, while my body would not be able to dance forever. I spent two weeks of my summer with my grandparents working every day with their horses and I totally got the bug again. Ever since, there has been this dull ache that constantly reminds me that I miss my horses. I know that sounds corny but I am being so serious that I can't even put it into words.

Me and my baby Noel a few years ago.

The Problem
Well, for starters, I'm a college student that's about to graduate in a quarter. I pay for nearly everything myself and as soon as I graduate I will most likely take on the rest of my financial burdens. I'm pretty good with my money but money is tight, duh. Riding is expensive. The cheapest barn I have found is 40$ a lesson and that's pretty good. If I only take one lesson a week that comes out to 160$ a month. Now, if I was really desperate, I could probably only take a lesson once every other week, which would only be 80$ a month. That is totally doable for me.
Unfortunately, gas is also expensive and the closest barn is about 20-30 minutes away.
The other problem is that I am being more and more short on time. Dance is taking up more and more of my time and I work every day except for Sunday. As soon as I am out of school by nights will be freed up considerably but I want to start sooner than that.

This summer on Hank

The Solution
Well, honestly I don't know. I want to. Badly. If I had thought about it more thoroughly, I would have asked for this for Christmas. Unfortunately, I am a little late on that. That's okay with me though, this is really something that I would like to do myself, for myself. This is something that I feel I need to do so I  need to pay for this myself. I guess that I will pray on it, and at least wait until the holidays are over so I can see where my finances are at then. As soon as I graduate I will be making a lot more money so in about 3 1/2 months I will definitely be able to do it. I just don't know if I want to wait that long.

Giving Thanks

I'm giving thanks today because I have been presented by yet another wonderful opportunity. It's funny how as soon as you give up a dream God can open the door for you. I don't know what I did to deserve such happiness right now but I am definitely thankful.
Today my incredible boss, who already this week asked me to take on Customer Relations at the studio, has asked me to be a part of a performance team that she is starting, a dance company. I'm really excited about it because that's such an amazing opportunity.

I had basically given up on the whole idea of dancing except for taking random classes at school, partially because of my body, and partially because I just didn't have the opportunity. My boss has given me so much more than I would ever even have thought to ask for. Not to sound repetitive, but I'm just so thankful. God is good!

***

In other news, we have our performance tonight for the benefit in downtown. I'll try to post some pictures of our scandalous selves soon :}

All Grown Up

I am happy to announce - for anyone who cares - that  A got the job!

I am so proud of my boy and so excited to see where this opportunity takes him. He is the first of our friends to get a "real job" post college so we are incredibly overjoyed. He will be making pretty big bucks and getting all of the benefits that he should and it just all seems like so much from the point of view of us nearly broke college students. Unfortunately, it does not start until June BUT at least he has it locked in and now we can plan accordingly.

So so happy. I am literally bursting. He has worked so hard and done all of the right things. So as for now he will be working 45ish hours a week in addition to working on his teaching credential. I am sure he can do it and I am so thankful for all of these opportunities for him.

***

In other news, I am fully immersed in the last two weeks of this quarter. I am reading, writing, and working myself to exhaustion but I am hopeful that the results will be worth it. I am sick again but I am trying to power through it and not succumb to it. 

I also received an email from one of my bosses today that told me I would be taking on more responsibility at work concerning customer relations. I am kind of scared but definitely excited to be trusted with this new responsibility and I can't wait to jump right in and get my hands dirty!

What an exciting time in our lives right now!

***

Eventually I get around to posting some pictures from Thanksgiving but for right now all I can offer is a sneak peak...

Prayers

A got a call back from the prospective job that he has been pursuing and they want to meet with him at one of their stores half an hour away tomorrow. I am hoping it is a good sign that they want to actually meet with him because if they were going to tell him he didn't get the job they could have just done that over the phone... So fingers crossed and prayers please.
I really hope that he gets this job, and so does he.

In other news, I am trying to write a paper. So I will check back in later.

I found this picture recently of my friend D's birthday party last year. Thought I'd share :]

Thanksgiving Break

I just painted my nails, so I am sure this is going to be a really slow post...
Last week I had two midterms, one at the beginning of the week and one at the end. Needless to say, it was a rough week. I know that it was completely my decision to take on two jobs on top of being at school full time, but sometimes I think that A really is right. I do take on too much sometimes.
Right now is a very exciting but stressful time. I applied for graduation last week so in March I will officially be done with my Undergraduate degree. I am immensely excited to start this new journey in my life. Everything seems to be going right for me right now and I am so happy. A has been interviewing for a job and for Graduate School and both have been going very well. He made it into the teaching program he applied for and he had his final interview for the job that he is pursuing. We will find out in a week or week and a half if he got it. Fingers crossed. Everything just seems to be falling into place.
I am really thankful for this week off. For some reason my professors decided to cancel classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (instead of just Thursday and Friday) for Thanksgiving and I have this weekend off from my job at the Studio. So Monday after rehearsal I packed everything up and hit the road back to my hometown to my parents. The highlight so far was seeing one of my best friends from high school last night.

 Us our Junior Year of high school. This was actually the day I got my driver's license. Weird!

A few years ago on her birthday.

This past summer... I think...

C and I met in high school but were not friends right away. Funnily enough we really met on myspace. I know right? It sounds so ridiculous, but it's actually true. We became friends on myspace and we haven't been able to get rid of each other ever since. I love her because no matter how long we go without seeing each other or talking to one another (we are both absurdly busy and live over an hour apart) the next time we see each other is like nothing ever happened. No awkwardness, no weirdness. Just us. I appreciate that so much in her because I lost a lot of my high school friends as a result of scheduling and unfortunate geography. It was a shock to me when I first started college that people would drift so easily and I quickly learned that it took a certain kind of relationship to survive separation. C was one of the few that made it through with me and that is something that I so appreciate.

It seems almost ridiculous that we are adults now. Thinking about graduating, getting real jobs, moving out permanently, getting married, having families. All of these things have been happening around us and it is finally our turn to partake in them. I love that we are in the same places in our lives and that we understand each other so well. I am truly thankful for her and it was really good to see her, especially since I hadn't seen her in about three months. I am exciting to see where our lives take us in the next couple of years. 

Tomorrow I am leaving before sun-up (yep, that's how my family rolls on road trips) for family vacation. We are going to visit my mom's family and I'm so stoked. I love Thanksgiving time, especially the ability to see my family. The holidays just have such a magical quality to them. I'm definitely a fan of this time of year. The only thing missing will be, of course, A. It makes me sad that I still haven't been able to share my holidays with him, despite how long we have been together. Our goal is that next year we will be together for the holidays. I can't wait. It's going to be a very exciting year.

Okay, well happy Thanksgiving everyone. Don't forget to be Thankful for what you have, despite the temptations of Black Friday :]

Congratulations!

I just want to give a shout out to The Brockhaus Family who are across the world this weekend picking up their two newest additions Maria and Elijah. Theirs is such an inspiring and amazing story of love and adoption.
Please pray for them on this very exciting weekend for safe travels and courage for Maria as she leaves all of her friends and everything that she has ever known to come home to her new family.
I feel like I have journeyed on this adventure with them and I am so excited that they have finally reached this point.
Once again, their blog is here.

Our Version of a Date Night

Last week, A and I had a date night in. We went and picked up some cheap pizza and crazy bread, A picked the movie (Alien - What can I say, he's been trying to get me to watch it for 3 years now) and transformed his room into a wonderful fort. He knows that I can't stand scary movies so he built me a fort to make me feel better.  It was pretty dang cute, what can I say... He's a keeper.

Look how cute he is!!!

So that's what we call a date night. A lazy, cheap night in with each other. Sounds perfect when you're exhausted from work and school. Its always nice to cuddle up with really fattening food and a movie and just spend some time together.

For my Parents

This post will mainly contain pictures for my parents that I've been promising from this summer.
This summer was a summer with my man. We had a great time together and had some great adventures with each other.
The summer started off with a trip to Las Vegas, NV with his family.

Hanging out in the Hotel room

Posing with a shoe with his mom. I appreciate that she is almost as white as I am... Almost :]

Us in front of the Strip. 

Don't let my sweater fool you, it was crazy hot there! But I burn and crisp faster than bacon so I have to wear sunscreen AND a sweater. It was a lot of fun though. 

Next on the agenda was to visit my Grandparents out of state. I had a great time introducing A to the world of horses for the first time. 

Me lunging Hank, one of my grandparents' horses, to exercise him.

There are few things in life that make me as happy as when I am with my horses, and throwing A into that mix just about made my summer. I can't wait to take him back in the years to come.

So there you go Mom and Dad :] Sorry that it took so long to get these pictures, but they were on A's phone and I was lazy.

Happy Halloween!

I think that Halloween just gets better and better as I get older. For one thing, no parents are present to limit your candy intake (I mean, come on, that's a pretty big plus!) and for another the little kids all dressed up are just so dang cute!
To start off the Halloween festivities I had to work a party this weekend at my studio. I absolutely love my job. All of the staff brought snacks to share so this is what I made:

Caramel Apple Bites

Ingredients: 

Organic Apples from Trader Joes

Low Fat (Shhhh!!) Caramel Sauce

Halloween Sprinkles

Can you tell?! They are bones! How cute right?!

Step 1:

Step 2:

Step 3:

Then just add toothpicks! They were a huge hit!

Step 4: Party!!

Dancing with one of my bosses!

Learning Thriller :]

And to continue on with the Halloween Festivities, last night my housemates and I dressed up and handed out candy while watching corny 90s Disney Halloween movies like the HalloweenTown series, pigging out, and studying for midterms (Seriously, who decides to make their midterm the day after Halloween? One of the biggest party nights in college?).

Aren't we adorable?

The highlight was definitely seeing all of the little kids in costumes though. Seriously I love that we have a house so that we get Trick or Treaters :]

Halloween is rapidly becoming one of my favorite holidays.

Good Morning Sunshine! Oh wait...

It is officially fall. How do I know? Well the air is crisper (Yes, I can definitely tell), its quite cold in the morning and at night, AND it is still dark when I leave in the morning for work.
For the past month or so, the sun would still be behind the mountains but it was still at least mostly light out.

Like this :]

But this morning it was still DARK!! As in "I had to turn on my headlights" dark. I don't necessarily mind that it is dark, it just makes it way harder to get up and get ready when I have to get up in the dark. Bummer. But I'm totally excited for fall! It's my favorite, and I love that from now on it is officially Holiday Season. Love it!!

Also, I miss Disneyland. 

Sing! Sing! Sing!

We started learning this dance tonight in class and I just had to share it...

Fosse

Recovery

This weekend's focus was recovery.
Saturday was pretty awful, and I woke up feeling terrible. My terrific boss allowed me to have the morning off so I was able to sleep in until noon (If that isn't an indication of sickness then I don't know what is...), at which point I dragged myself to my friend D's apartment for Shabbat lunch. A small glass of Kosher wine along with some challah (my absolute favorite) and broccoli kugel (I sincerely hope that I'm spelling that right) and I was feeling a little better.

Before I go any further, I would like to clarify that I am not Jewish. My beliefs follow "Christian" lines. However, with that being said, I try to partake in Shabbat with D as often as she is in town for it. In fact, she is the only Jew in attendance at our Shabbat dinners more often than not. But I have been exceedingly fortunate in the friends that I have found at school. I believe (and I am not alone in this) that is of the highest importance to support my friends in all that they do. I love that D keeps her religious holidays and I am more than happy to celebrate with her as often as I can. I believe that there are few things more important than fellowship with friends and I have heartily enjoyed learning about her beliefs and partaking in them with her. We absolutely do not try to convert each other, or undermine each other's religion, we just accept it and support it.  She is one of the best people I know and I am so glad to have met her. Plus, the food is fabulous :]

At any rate, the rest of the day was dedicated to resting and sleeping and being cared for by A. Gotta love him <3 I showed up for my second shift of work only to be given a great big hug by my boss before sending me home. I love that she truly cares about her staff and that somehow she always knows just what to say and do to make me feel better. I am truly blessed.
So as a result of ridiculous amounts of sleep, I was feeling much better this morning. As I mentioned in my last post, my friends and I were planning on hiking to the "C" today and I was feeling up to it, knowing from past experience that exercise usually makes me feel better when I'm sick (I know, I'm weird). So we grabbed our waters, put on our shoes, and struck out on a beautiful day with perfect weather for some hiking.

 

 

 

 
Me and A being super silly

 
Me and my boys <3

I only legitimately fell down once coming down, which is something to celebrate for me. Haha, I only have a few scratches, so I say that the trip was quite successful. Once we were done we all came back, had lunch together, and then I tried to take a nap :]
And now I am taking a break from doing some homework, reading The Odyssey and drinking a glass of wine. I'm feeling better than I have in two weeks and I am really stoked about that. Tonight everyone is coming over to our house to watch The Walking Dead (it's been a tradition since the show started to all get together and watch it) and I plan on going to bed right after.
I finally feel ready to take back control of my life, and I'm pumped for this week (even though I have another midterm). I still feel tired, but not exhausted. It's more like the tired you get from a fun day, which I can definitely deal with.

I finally feel recovered.

Although I am still quite behind in my homework, so I guess I should get on that :]

Juggling and Struggling

I have officially been a commuter student for three weeks now. What have I learned?
1st: I have to leave my house before 7am and sometimes not return until 9:30pm.
2nd: My backpack is super heavy when I have to cart so much crap around everywhere.
3rd: I rarely get to see my man because our work schedules are so completely different.
4th: Eating out a lot is expensive but constantly preparing food to carry around with me all day (not to mention bringing enough with me to last the whole day) is such a pain.
5th: I have to admit that juggling 2 jobs plus school is a little harder than I was counting on.
6th(And most importantly): Afternoon naps are absolutely necessary.
I have also learned that sometimes I need people to lean on. I am eternally grateful for my friends, family, and my boss. Without the support of those that I love I'm sure I would be in way worse shape than I am in right now.
This week started off great. I had an awesome weekend complete with a fancy date night with A, courtesy of a present from my brother.

Aren't we cute?!

But between work and recovering from a really stubborn sickness, and studying for two tests (okay so one was only a quiz, but still) and all of my other excuses: the stress and exhaustion completely got to me. An impromptu therapy session with my boss later (with some great support from my new dance studio family and a good cry) and I am well on my way to recovery.

I even managed to walk home from school today instead of driving. Endorphins can do wondrous things, plus my wallet thanks me for not using gas :]

I am so glad that it's the weekend and I can finally recover, catch up on homework, and enjoy my peace. My friends and I are even going on a hike on Sunday to the "C". Super stoked!

In other news, my room is a mess and I'm hungry.

Let me just say...

I hate having multiple tests in one day.

The Miracle of Skype

This morning I got to talk to my best friend who is having the time of her life studying abroad in the Eternal City. It was amazing to talk to her about her adventures there and to reminisce a little bit about when we were there in Europe together after we graduated from high school.

 Us at the Colosseum in Rome and also in Florence - June 2009

As much as I miss her, I am so excited that she has found such happiness there and I can't wait to come visit her eventually... Once I have the funds :] I am so proud of her for branching out and trying something new. Thank God for technology that allows us to keep in touch with the people we love that are far away. I can't wait to see where this adventure takes her and I am truly blessed to have her in my life. 

Beginnings

Let me start off by saying that this blog is for me. It's not going to be anything fancy or even super interesting.
I love to journal but find myself unable to make time to commit to keeping one. I am hoping that this is an easy alternative for me to simultaneously keep track of my life and share it with others since I am exposed to computers all day anyways. This is such an exciting time in my life and if any part of my life should be documented, it's now. Hopefully this will be an outlet for my thoughts, a compilation of memories and pictures, and a way for me to better learn how to use this technology.
<3
My name is Elaina. I am in my final year at a University of California, studying Ancient History, which absolutely fascinates me. I go to school full time and work two jobs. I am in love with an incredible guy and I can't wait to see how our lives grow together. I am a "Christian" and am a work in progress. I try to show my faith in my actions and lifestyle but am guilty of mistakes just like everyone else.
I am sincerely looking forward to this process and I hope that I gain what I want from it.
Au revoir mes amis, pour maintenant.