One More Down!

My Birthday: Check
School Starting: Done
Halloween: Finished
Thanksgiving: Dooowwwnnn!

Thanksgiving was great and made me realize again just how many things I have to be thankful for. I am thankful to have a brave, strong, loving boyfriend who is so much closer to coming home and for my family who are my unconditionally loving support system. This holiday season is definitely a lot different than last year. It's not the same without Lance that's for sure. I was trying to figure out how I could send him a turkey in a care package...but the amount of salt I would have to add to that thing so that it wouldn't parish by the time it got to him...would make it absolutely repulsive to even smell. So I compromised on cookies, cough drops, and cinnamon toast crunch :) My Uncle Tony, Aunt Stacy, and their two kids Addyson and Tyler came down from Washington to spend the weekend with us at my mom's house where we spent Thanksgiving. My mom and dad made a DELICIOUS turkey dinner and my mom sent me home with plenty of left overs. My uncle Tony is in the Army so it was really cool to talk to him about his deployment and talk to my Aunt Stacy about how she dealt with it. The conclusion we came to was basically keep your head up and everything will be just fine. He's so close to being home I just wish it was so much closer. The Friday after Thanksgiving I went to visit Steve, Anna, and the girls and we made Gingerbread sleighs and Christmas cookies. I am counting down the days until this term is over so that I can go visit everyone more often. 2 weeks and counting until its over. My goal is to do very well on my finals so that I never have to take Sociology again. Fingers and toes crossed. Court and I just decorated for Christmas! Though it was a little premature it made studying for finals much more enjoyable. December 1st is just around the corner and when finals are over then comes Christmas. We're getting through. Here I come finals week.

Snow in November?

Up on top of our little Witham Hill there are a few white flakes draping themselves along our cars and stairways. I worry slightly for when it gets icy...Court and I may have to car pool because I don't know if I want her to drive down our hill in her Carolla...Regardless we will make it to school and work..even if we have to walk 15 miles up hill both ways in the snow :)(it's not really that far away..) Anyways. This week is Thanksgiving week! Only 3 days of school...four days of work...and 3 more weeks of studying! I already registered for my classes for Winter term and I took everyone's advice as well as my knowledge of how...challenging this term was and I am only taking 13 credits. I don't want to over load myself again, especially since Lance will be home!!!! He is so close to being home that I keep thinking if I close my eyes juuuust long enough..it will magically be that time. So far I have yet to wake up in February...still a work in progress. We discovered that each individual room in our apartment has a heater so if we just turn on our heater in the living room it does NOT heat the rest of the house. In order to not pay $9823479238 for our heat bill we have resorted to the following: beanies, several pairs of sweat pants, sweatshirts, multiple blankets, several pairs of socks, and a cocoon of pillows. So far so good :)

I didn't know what stress was until...

I didn't know what stress was until...my boyfriend went to Afghanistan, I started working full time, I decided to take 16 credit hours..and continue to work almost full time, I decided to take Microbiology, I decided to take Sociology!?, I ran into car troubles mid move in day, and then attempt to study for mid terms. Why do I take this much on and still think that I need to do more? The answer to that is BEYOND me. You would think I would learn, I complain enough to know it's not fun yet do I listen to myself as well as evvvveryone else? nope :)However, thankfully this term only has 4-ish weeks left meaning that I wont have to take Microbiology or Sociology ever again, assuming I do fantastic on my finals :).Also, I'm getting my car fixed today. So really there is an end in sight to this madness. Especially since Thanksgiving is in sight!!! Wooohooo. That much closer to one more month down. I would just like to personally thank the month of November for going by much faster than October. If the rest of you months out there want to follow this trend..please don't hesitate to do so. Greatly appreciated. Aside going for a world record of sleep deprivation nothing is outstandingly new...except for our new apartment :)
So cozy, and so nice only living 4 minutes from school and work.

Home :)

Moving Day.

Although stressful and tedious I could not be more happier that moving day is finally here! We signed all of our paperwork and got our new keys to our new home/apartment :) We started loading everything up and getting the show on the road. The apartment is cute, it's upstairs so the big stuff is going to be a pain. We have a sauna, a hot tub, A RACQUETBALL COURT?! It will be very nice to have a place to call home and to not have to drive so much! I swear every time I leave a minute later than normal from Albany to get to school I get stuck behind every semi-truck, tractor, farming combine known to man. Luckily for me I tend to over estimate how much time I will need to get to places, but it still would stress me out. HOWEVER! now I can ride my bike to school and to work! there isn't typically semi-trucks takin' up the bike lane woop woop! Two more weeks until Thanksgiving is here and then there is another milestone down. I am so excited to put Lance's clothes back in our closet...it will be more like he's on a stubborn business trip rather than being so far away. And it will take plenty of time to get settled in which will keep me very preoccupied.
February is just around the corner. But can get here a lot sooner and I wouldn't mind :)

Milestone # 3- CHECK

Milestone One: My birthday- complete
Milestone Two: School starts- done
Milestone Three: Halloween- finished

Three down and only four more to go
Milestone Four: Thanksgiving
Milestone Five: Christmas
Milestone Six: Jenny and Kyle's birthday's
Milestone Seven: FEBRUARY 28TH HE'S HEADIN HOME!!!

As the days tick by I'm finding many many ways to keep myself preoccupied. I'm overloaded with school and work...in a good way.
Still staying very busy with my classes especially around mid term time. I have two more mid terms to go and then it's the final stretch of the term before Winter Break.
We move into our new apartment in the next week-ish which will be a great way to keep myself busy..as if I didn't have enough going on right now. But I love it. I'm working, slowly but surely, on better stress management. I cannot change things that are out of my control. ALSO I cannot take on things that haven't even happened yet. My biggest lesson thus far is to breatheeeee.

lost in translation?

With the start of school and then juggling work I've had zero time to do much but stare at my microbiology book and make delicious coffee drinks. So far my classes aren't too bad...i actually really enjoy my microbiology class...even if I didn't do so hot on the mid term. Courtney brought up a good point that in 80 years i wont remember this mid term...but for now...I'm worrying about it. As far as milestones go school has started and Halloween is JUST around the corner. That will only leave Thanksgiving, Christmas, Jenny and Kyle's birthday and thennnn he leaves for home! Hollllly moley that day couldn't get here soon enough..and i know i don't just speak for myself when I'm saying that either. I've switched my monthly projects around a little bit...my October goal was to find a new toaster. Our old toaster wouldn't toast unless you held down the lever...the whooole time. But the toaster is going to have to wait until next month because this month we found an apartment!! Yes moving in November 10th into our new apartment. I've spent a lot of time in Corvallis lately anyways because I work Tuesday at 6:30 and then have class until 6:30 and then I'm back to class Wednesday at 8 am and then work until 8 that night and then Thursday i work at 6:30 and have class until 6:30. So those days are long but they make the week go by faster. I've been living with Jenny and Kyle even though I'm probably the most sporadic roommate they've ever seen ha. I am so appreciative of them and excited that i get to spend some extra time with them. well i guess i'll get back to studying now.
But i might take a nap...we'll see :)

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!