Almost Done

That has seriously been my mantra this entire quarter and now it really is true. Only 3 more weeks until I am officially a college graduate!!!

Can I get some applause here?

I am completely beyond excited. I have a whole list of things that I can't wait to be able to do and accomplish.
1. I have a whole bunch of books on my list to read.
2. I really want to get more into blogging. I follow a lot of blogs and have gotten a ton of great ideas that I would like to put into practice in my own life and then share that experience.
3. Cooking. I recently discovered Whole Foods. Oh my.
4. Organizing. Words can't express my excitement for this one.
5. Riding. Oh my. I can't wait for this. I have literally been dreaming about riding almost every night for the last month. I am so ready to be in the horse world again. My grandparents even brought me my chaps, boots, and helmet back from their house out of state so that I could have something to ride with next month. So so so so so excited.
6. I have started running. It is what I decided to do for Lent. Rather than give up something I decided to add something. Its still a sacrifice and takes will power and commitment so I have decided that it's acceptable. I usually become a pescatarian (sp?) for Lent but since I am trying to not eat a lot of meat anyways, I thought that would be a waste. I haven't been as good about running as I hoped to be but at least its a start.

My housemate G and I have been running together. This was from our 5am run this week.

7. Working. Call me crazy but I am so excited to take on the rest of my bills from my parents and just work, save, and be completely financially independent. Yahoo man. I love paying for myself, and creating budgets, the whole nine yards.
There are more things, but I'm in a rush right now so that's all for today.

Updates:
A finished up his training for his new job and was transfered from his local training location to a location near his home town. He is now about an hour away from me and it sucks. I miss him terribly and even though I have already visited him once, I know that I won't be able to do it all the time because it is a lot of gas and time to see him. It has been a little hard to cope since I'm used to having him around all the time but honestly the hardest part is (predictably) at night. I don't feel as safe (or as warm... he's seriously my heat blanket) when I'm falling asleep and therefore fall asleep later and don't get as much sleep, leading to me missing or turning off my alarms without waking up. Its been bad, and I want to adjust but then again I don't because then its like I'm used to not being with him :[

This is from 2 1/2 years ago in Tahoe. Can you believe how time flies?!

I got a 100% on my African history midterm :]

I got to perform with my dance company PPDC at a Guardian Scholars event. This is particularly near and dear to my heart because the Guardian Scholars is a group that helps emancipated foster kids go through college, and I want to work with foster kids. Plus it was just a really great day to bond with the group and get to know everyone a little better.

This is most of PPDC <3

I think that's mostly it except to say that there are a lot more posts coming in March and then onward. I am so excited for the next few months. Big changes are coming in my life and I can't wait to share!

RIP Jezabell

I woke up to my poor baby dead yesterday morning. I miss you already. I hope you are happy and safe and running on a magical wheel in hamster heaven.

It's all about who you know...

People always told me that when I got older it would be "all about who you know". At first this used to upset me because I was (and still am) an exceptionally hard worker. I just figured that if people could just see what I could offer then I would always have work and people would always hire me... And on and on with the naive thoughts. When I got to college I slowly started learning that, as usual, my assumptions were going to make an ass out of me if I didn't check them.
At this point, as I am gearing up to graduate in March, I realize that this could not be more true. Every single job that I have at this moment, I got because I knew someone who told me of the opportunity, or someone knows someone else who knows someone. It is mindboggling to think of what my life would be like if I had made different friends or if the people around me weren't so generous.
With that being said, it is also imperative to take advantage of the opportunities presented to you. To not be lazy. To have faith. Being independent is hard but worth it.

And for no particular reason except that I'm feeling nostalgic (and I'm also super thankful that I know them)... Some really really old pictures.

Best Friend Therapy

Most people know this about me, although I'm not sure that I've said it on here, but I was home schooled until high school. I loved everything about being home schooled, but that is for another post. What I am most thankful for about home schooling right now is for this girl:

I have known L since we were in first grade. We lost touch for about two years in middle school but reconnected in high school. Well she lives about an hour away from me, where she goes to school but we always try to get together at least a couple times a quarter. In the midst of my life recently I really just needed a day with my best friend. So I went. And it was just what I needed.

I am so thankful that I have people in my life that pick me up when I'm down.

This picture is highly motivational for me. I look like a cow. A cow in a very cute outfit.

Midterm reflections

Well it's that time again... Midterms. Everyone around me is combusting into sickness, including my family and housemates. I'm desperately clinging to my health and taking preventive measures like eating healthy,

relaxing,

and trying to get plenty of sleep. With that being said, I'm exhausted. I expect that I will continue to be exhausted until the end of the quarter.

I honestly feel a little sorry for A, because I get irritated at everything when I am this strung out. Somedays it just feels like he can't do anything right, which of course is absurd. He works long days and then has nothing to do while everyone around him still has to grapple with homework. For right now he brings me Slurpies to help me pull all-nighters when I need to. He's the best :]

We also try to have a date night every once in a while.

I think that it will be easier on us both once I graduate. My boss reminded me last night that life won't get easier once I am done with school... While I know that she is correct, I also know that I will enjoy being able to come home from work and have the evening to do what ever I want. Sleep, cook, clean. I will be tired, but at least I'll be able to sleep if I want to. I am doing everything in my power to catch up on my reading but I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle. I am glad that the quarter is almost half over. I'm not sure how much longer I can go before I hit a major mental/emotional breakdown.

Beginnings

I can't believe that it is already 2013. The past few weeks have been crazy and fun and exhausting. Why is it that vacations always seem to tire me out?
Spending time with my family was great. We lazed around, spent time in the snow, read a lot, and mot importantly, stuffed ourselves. I swear that I gained about 10 pounds over the break. That's just how my family rolls, we literally plan our vacations around food. Don't judge :]

Enjoying the Snow with my Daddy

Driving Down the Lake :]

Our house <3

Bowling. Don't make fun of my terrible score!

My dad is awesome!

My Granny hates the deer that come in her backyard

My Dad's side of the family

In short, Christmas was fun, and it was lovely to spend time with my family, but I was looking forward to getting home. I it weird that I felt like I needed a vacation after my vacation?

In no time, I was back at work and back in school. I am now in my second week of school and I am already going crazy. In fact, I have already dropped one of my classes. I am still going to sit in on it, but it was just so much work for a class that I don't need when all of my other classes, that I actually need to graduate, have almost more work than i can handle on their own. Add that to my two jobs, and the dance company that I just started dancing with and I am already exhausted and stressed to the max. So today I went to my advisor and she told me that it wouldn't screw me up to drop it so I happy came home, broke out my computer, and immediately dropped it. 

I have also already hurt myself, which sucks. For almost a week I couldn't straighten my left leg. Its been rough. Its finally almost better, but its definitely been getting in the way. 

Also, A started his new job this Monday! He's been working long hours but he is slowly settling in. I am excited to see where this takes him.

My grandparents are also in town. They will be here for about two months and so far its been fun to see them this much and despite the reason for their stay, I'm glad that I get to spend the time with them.

So... Sorry for the really long break. I'm finally back again. 

And for your parting gift, please accept this picture :]

Look how cute my housemates are!!

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.