Shasta, Number 2!

We began our journey to Shasta on Saturday morning. Let's just say the weather in Corvallis and Albany was easy to leave behind....60 and drizzling...not my idea of summer. We left early from Lance's dad's house with Brian, Lindsey, and Bria. We stopped a couple times along the way for potty breaks, lunch, and the...juice expo..But when we finally got into Shasta the weather was warm, the rain was gone and we were finally enjoying some Vitamin D.
We went out on the boat the first night because we were all so anxious. Lance tried slalom skiing which is skiing with only one ski. He is a natural water sport athlete. He got up on the first try and kicked some butt.

The next day to the day we left were roughly the same. Which none of us were complaining about. We all woke up, usually pretty early because when the sun's up, we're up, can't miss a minute of that precious sun that we so desperately need here in Oregon. I'm tired of getting jipped on sun, but we'll save that for another blog.
It was so much fun getting to spend time with the Holcomb's. Since they live in Hilsboro we rarely get to see them anymore. But lots of funny inside jokes were created this time around, and Lance was here to share them :) I was lucky enough to get to hold Bria while we ventured to where we would dock every day with the other boats. I played it real cool, like, "Oh here Linds, I can take her off your hands for you! It's no problem at all, you go sit by Brian and relax." When really in my head I was thinking, "please let me hold, sleepy, cuddley, Bria." Success.
Another success that I had was wake surfing. I had tried it out last summer behind Alicia and Randy's boat and the summer before but was still somewhat skeptical on my skills. One of the families had a boat specifically for wake surfing and it was sooo much fun! I was able to get up a lot easier and actually got to the point where I was "surfing" not just holding on to a rope and riding a wake. Lance, however, is goofy footed and this boat was set up for the opposite. But he rode goofy footed and even let go of the rope. I know, I know, I'm a lucky girl to have such a stud for a fiance :)I only got burnt 1 1/2 times, thank goodness for burn to brown :)
I can't wait for next year...if we end up having a summer?

Welcome Home!

Yesterday was, well let's just say, hectic. We managed to move everything in our possession, including Court's, while deep cleaning the entire apartment, in a matter of 9 hours. We owe Mrs. Debbie Lewis a lot of credit for the cleaning, and my mom a lot of credit for my sanity and truck assistance, without her we would have not gotten that last load out of the parking lot. We had to be out of the apartment by four, and we were out of the apartment alright, we now just had our belongings scattered throughout the parking lot, on various curbs and around the surrounding vehicles.

It was amazing seeing how fast we worked, I'm 99% sure I put in my cardio for an entire week, due to the fact that Lance and I have never managed to live in an apartment on the ground level. But all of this aside we now have all of our possessions scattered in our new apartment! A small, but adorable, perfect for just the two of us, apartment. It is two blocks away from campus allowing the driving to be a minimum and thank goodness considering the price of gas these days.

I don't have picture yet but they will be coming soon.

Study, Work, Pack, Repeat.

In 10 short days we will be vacationing...here :)The always beautiful Shasta Lake.

Lance's family goes every summer and he hasn't been able to go the past four years because of: leg injuries, boot camp, deployment, etc. SO! this is his first year back and we are both so excited. I went for my very first time last year with his family while he was away, and I am so excited that he will be here this year.


So far my finals have not killed me. So that's a big bonus. I can't say the same for Lance...haha. The poor guy met up with Court and I after a long 8 hour shift to study.
I've done surprisingly well on two of my finals. That was a pleasant surprise. I received my highest score, ever, on a college paper for my final portfolio. I was ecstatic. Judging by the fact that Lance, Courtney, and I have been in the library for the past week straight, averaging about 6+ hours per trip, I would expect that we will have done nothing but well on all of ours. Lance and I are both done today and then it's time to relax....before we never have long summer breaks again...weird.

Last night we took a break from studying and started packing up this little hut of an apartment. Though cozy, and farther out than we would have liked, it was a place we called home and it's sad to leave it behind. Especially since Courtney's moving back home and then off with Austin. I'm so happy for her, she's waited so long for Austin and it's a tough job, but she's done it so well and without ever second guessing it. It takes a strong couple to do what they've done (I know because we did it...haha just kidding). Anyways, the point to this story is that Lance and I just got approved for our very first apartment together, just the two of us :)And I really really hope that we stay here until we graduate..ha. Moving day is Friday, I couldn't be more excited. I think I could use some sleep before then though, I keep looking for the jelly in the cupboard and putting the cereal in the fridge after I remember we don't have any milk.

Stuck between a book and a hard place.

Oh, dead week. My first term at college I thought that it was such an odd name for a week, then I experience the infamous dead week and suddenly I had a great understanding as to why they call it DEAD WEEK. And now that I am going into my 6th DEAD WEEK I find that dead week should be better described as, "I'm going to take everything away from you, including, but not limited to, sleep, food (substantial amounts anyways), your sanity, oh and sleep, Week." I feel that's reasonable enough. It never fails, during this week I have reoccurring stress dreams that I'm late for my last lecture, or for a final, or that I haven't turned something in on time. Then I wake up and realize I have about twenty minutes before my alarm would in fact be yelling at me to get up and do all of these things. But what are you going to do? Just laugh at how crazy my brain reacts to stress. It's quite humorous after all.
Last night Lance and I sat down for some quality time, however, it was not with one another, it was in fact with a stack of books, potential final drafts of papers, and statistic lessons a mile long. I am so lucky to have him to help me through this. He makes me laugh when I can't see straight because I have been staring at a computer screen for 9 hours. For example, last night I fell asleep on my book, face first, nose in binding, and he whistles, which wakes me up slightly but I ignore it because...well I'm tired!, then he whistles again, and finally he whistles really loud, I sit up and he looks at me and says.."got ya!...now lets go to bed"
At the end of the day this is what I get to come home to

pure happiness and my best friend. Mushy, mushy, blah, blah, blah, I know. But he's what motivates me to keep going through all of this school, knowing that our hard work will eventually pay off just as it should :)
There is an end in sight to our long nights of monotonous studying tactics. Our future summer plans look bright, I'm just hoping that after finals I don't sleep through these wonderful plans.
Our two biggest trips this summer are Shasta in June!! and then Arizona in August :) Oh it will be fantastic to get to soak up allll of that sun. I should probably stop procrastinating now, considering how I just ranted about DEAD WEEK.