A New Season

Our second big milestone was the beginning of last week! My first day at OSU. It feels good to be a Beaver that's for sure. I love all of my classes. I'm taking Microbiology, Sociology, Math, Human Sexuality, and Lifetime Health and Fitness. I can't make any complaints about my schedule thus far. Monday was going great! It was sunny and beautiful and I had the day off. I was able to long board for the first time in so long...and sadly it was my last time for a while. I was scootin along after class on Monday and came to a four way intersection where I didn't have a stop sign and realized that the car who did was not going to stop. Me being the speed demon I am had to jump off of my board so that I didn't run into the side of this car. I made it out safely...my board however did not. The guy ran over my board...stopped long enough for me to gather it and say "Sorry" while driving away. Considering the fact that I am in fact perfectly fine and my classes are going well...I had a pretty good day. Now to find a new board. The week has been crazy trying to adjust to not only being back in school but also prioritizing my time with work. The Holcombs are packing up their little home and headin up North tomorrow afternoon. I'm so sad that I don't get to live with them anymore. I really was able to get so close with them and got to see Bria whenever I wanted which was a huge bonus ;) But now they're starting their brand new season in Portland and I get to live with the Tegners!!! That will be so fun! Jenny and I can study together all the time, huge bonus! I am so blessed to have been able to spend so much time with Lance's family while he's been away. It makes time go just a little bit faster and makes him seem not so far away for all of us. We're just shy of 3 months down...thank goodness! I am misssing him like crazy, but school is helping to keep me busy.
Tailgater number two was today! It was a good day to be a Beaver, the weather was beautiful and we had a great win over ASU. Woo!

Goals, Milestones, and Recipes.

Goal (n)- the state of affairs that a plan is intended to achieve.
My goals for the next month. (Sept.22nd-Oct.22nd)
-NO procrastination. Judging by how busy I am wanting to keep myself I don't think I will even think about procrastinating. But still....NONE of it.
-All A's and a B in Microbio. I'm saying a B so if/when I get an A I will be pleasantly surprised.
-Invent a teleportation device to go pick up Lance in so he can come home earlier. All things considered I think it's worth a try. This may be an extended goal...

Milestones:
A milestone is a scheduled event signifying the completion of a major deliverable or a set of related deliverable.
1. Aug. 30th. My birthday. COMPLETE.
2. Sept. 27th. School starts.
3. Oct. 31st. Halloween
4. Nov.25th. Thanksgiving.
5. Dec. 25th. Christmas.
6. Jan. 18th. Jenny's Birthday
7. Feb. 28th. HE LEAVES TO HEAD HOME FOR THE STATES!


So to pass a little bit of time before school starts I've been looking up recipes and making a recipe book. This book will be filled with delicious/budget friendly/ as healthy as it can be considering we're college student recipes. My goal is to have it done and stored away by February in our new apartment...that I will have hopefully found... :)
Last Saturday the 18th I went to my very first OSU football tailgater and football game. It rained...a lot. But we won and the experience was great, I can't wait for more :)

2 Months Down!

Well we now have two months over seas under our belts. Only five more to go. Which may sound like a lot, but seven sounds like even more. School is just around the corner and I couldn't be more excited. All I want is to stay busy...very busy. I've done my best with that at work but only having one thing to preoccupy your time isn't always successful. Lets see here, what have I been up to.. Well we found out the other day that Lance will be leaving to head back to the states Feb. 28th. Though I would prefer Sept. 28th at least we now have an end in sight. I'm so lucky to have him in my life. Going round two of college without him isn't as fun, but he's so supportive that my busy 17 credit term will be so much easier. I went to my friend's wedding last night, which was crazy. I swear it was just a week ago that she was running down the halls of West Albany in a blue and gold onesie with a spirit cape on.. and now she's married. But she was a BEAUTIFUL bride! Her and her husband were gloooowing they looked amazing and I couldn't be happier for her. Reality check set in after that though that I have been out of high school for almost two years? whhhaaat. That's weird too. I need to start running more because my high school metabolism will fail here sooner than later. I've made a vow to myself to try to make a much more conscious effort to work out regularly now rather than just when I can't fit into a pair of jeans because I washed them at the wrong temp. Another reason why Lance needs to come home, he keeps me on my toes. Ahhh but February will be here before we know it. The weather is already starting to chill and the leafs will fall soon. Then we can look forward to freezing rain and Christmas! After that he's practically home. 2 more weeks until our second milestone is down. That leaves, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Jenny and Kyle's birthday, and then FEBRUARY 28TH! Time to get myself preoccupied. Maybe I'll go for a run...maybe.

but the hammer couldn't take ibuprofen..cause he's a hammer!

Today was my first day back to work after my long weekend, always good to keep the mind busy even if it is at 5:00 in the morning. But in this case it was much earlier than 5AM...it was 12:40 if we want to be exact. Yes, just when i thought my weird sleeping habits couldn't get any weirder...I was proven wrong. I woke up at midnight jumped in the shower to start getting ready for my day a whoppin 5 hours before i needed to. Maybe my weekend wasn't long enough? Sleep deprived and busy at work I was eager to hear from Lance because he's so good at making my day a million times better. And what do you know he most certainly did. It's always so good to hear from him, to joke with him, to hear that he's just doing alright and to talk about all of our big plans for when he gets home. Planning makes the days go by a little bit faster because I find myself thinking about the plans and getting more and more details about them and more and more excited (which i didn't know was possible) about him coming home. Tomorrow Court is going with me to get my very first BEAVER football ticket! Can't wait for school to start. If only it was spring term hmmmm.

5 days off?!

Surprisingly I kept myself more busy on my days off than I did during my 8 day work week. There wasn't one day where I had much down time...until I slept.
Thursday: Lindsey and Bria left for Arizona, the house is just so different without them. After that Cassidy, Abby and myself loaded up the good ol' subaru and headed north to Salem for a fun day at the Gilbert House. We only had to turn around one time due to some direction issues, my bad. But we had a wonderful time we made dinosaur pictures and attempted to make bubbles around ourselves. We played on the wooden structures and went down the slides, it was like I was 8 all over again. It's always fun to let your inner child come out and the girls had fun as well. After the Gilbert House we went to lunch and finished our day at the Carousel. That night I went to Jenny and Kyle's for dinner and visiting. It's always good to have dinner with them because Jenny and I get to talk and talk and talk...we're so good at that :)
Friday: I went to Corvallis to get a costume with Court for my birthday party, which I might add was much funnier than one would expect. I followed this up with lunch with Jordan and then dinner with my dad, ending the evening with My Fair Lady at Hanna and Becca's with Court.
Saturday: Family trip to the state fair. Lots of fattening fair food that you only eat at the fair and then immediately regret it. Then after that regretful fair food we road ride after ride that unfortunately threw that regretful food around our stomachs even more. It was so fun to spend the day with my family. There was so many laughs and the weather was beautiful. Oh and word to the wise...when they tell you to pay $1 to see the AMAZING however hugely long alligator that is ALIVE! don't fall for it. It is definitely not alive.
Sunday:BIRTHDAY EVE! and the Freaks and Geeks party! So much fun. All of my greatest friends and I dressed in our craziest outfits and shared many many laughs while bringing in my last year as a teenager. To sum up the evening would be...dancing, laughing, and a couple more things ending in "ing"
Monday: The day of Birth. Probably one of the funniest mornings I've had in quite sometime. Except for the morning Lance and I had in New Orleans. After Becca, Hanna and myself gathered ourselves we went out for a lovely breakfast at the Broken Yolk. Though the weather wasn't ideal the company was indeed. Shortly after I received a phone call saying I had a flower delivery...They kinda blew the surprise but it was wonderful all in its own. Lance had sent me my favorite flowers for my birthday and it made my day 10000 times better than I could have ever asked for. After that Jenny treated me to a pedi and mani along with some great conversations as always. I ended the evening with dinner at my parents and that brought my birthday to the perfect end. They made me my favorite dinner and made me just so happy. I was greeted at my door with a beautiful card from Steve and Anna and the girls. The next day Alicia and I had a great dinner and an even better girl talk :)

I've always been able to count my blessings and realize how lucky I am to have these amazing people in my life. But after these five days off I realized just how wonderful the people around me are and I can't wait until Lance comes home so my little circle of friends and family is just perfect.
We're into September now and times going to fly...I can feel it.

What works and what does not.

What works: Feel good music, music you can dance to...and I mean really dance to.
What doesn't: Not feel good music. Anything with the word(s) heart break, sad, cry, pain, baby-what-will-i-do-with-out-you...those are a no go.

What works: Surrounding yourself with people who bring you up. I have the best family ever. I'm so lucky to have the love and support from my parents and sisters as well as Lance's family. It's nice to all be in it together, you guys are wonderful.
What doesn't: Taking to heart small things out of your control. If you stress about the little things, the big things hit a lot harder.

What works: I've realized EVERYTHING in my life I truly have to be thankful for. Quick warning...Im about to get cheesy...that's just how I am :)
I'm thankful to have a boyfriend who can make me smile and who i can grow closer to even though he's half way across the world. I can't tell you how proud I am of you, there isn't many strong enough to go through that and still make their loved ones feel like their your number one. I'm thankful to have the wonderful support group of loved ones that I have. And I'm thanking my faith, for keeping Lance safe. The more you focus on everything you are blessed with suddenly the hardships don't seem unbearable anymore.

What works: PAINTING! and letting my creative side show. It's not only relaxing but it saves you a ton on home decor :)

In order to keep myself busy busy buys during my FIVE days off!!! I'm taking Cassidy and Abby to the Gilbert House in Salem to enjoy a nice girls day outing :) and for the next four days I will be sleeping...yep all four days.

Good Music, Good Friends, Good day.

Sunday I had a lovely 9 hour shift at work. While I complain during the process I know in the end it's exactly what I want in order to keep myself busy. I really do enjoy my job. I have the best co-workers. To bring my Sunday night to an end, Hanna, Becca, Emily and myself embarked on a lovely journey to Fred Meyer, dressed in our finest attire and finished up with some dancing in Becca's living room. Oh a girls night :)
I was introduced to Florence the Machine, a new band I had never heard of and it is the best feel good music I have found yet. So good that it spiced up an eight and a half hour shift with Sara, Emily, Ross and I. Though it made have driven Ross insane that we listened to the same song...over and over again. It turned all of our days right around.

August is coming to an end and though I hate to see it go..I'M ECSTATIC that September is just around the corner, one more month down :)