Thank You

This is a very informal "Thank You".

Thank you to everyone who sent David and I gifts, cards, love this Christmas.
It was our first Christmas away from our families, specifically our mothers. It was a little rough emotionally, but the love from our families was felt.
All of our gifts are beautiful and more than we could have asked for. Thank you so much.

I'm so excited to wear all my beautiful new blouses, and tops. I feel elegant wearing all of them! I'm really excited to be breaking away from the tshirt and jeans routine and looking a little more grown up.

I can't speak for David and his gifts but he seemed and seems extremely happy with everything he received.

The cards we received are some of my favorite things we got this Christmas season. I have them all taped up on our cabinets for all to see! I love Christmas cards so much!

Thank you again to everyone for all the amazing gifts and cards. We are so blessed to have such an amazing family.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Snowy Christmas Eve!

And the dogs are loving every moment of it! They have been rolling around, sprinting through, and knocking each other down all morning in the snow. Bellatrix loves to get her nose down in the snow and root around. Grif gets cold pretty quickly so we have to take lots of warm up breaks.

Since last night we've gotten about 8 inches and are expecting more in the next few days. This is the first white Christmas I have memory of and I am more excited than any human should be.
Tonight we are hopefully (if they can get here in the snow) having friends over for a fondue dinner. I'm excited for it! We are making cheese fondue for the appetizer, pasta for main course, and dark chocolate fondue for dessert!

David talked me into opening the stockings this morning (we're adults now, we can do what we want!). He's been begging for me to let him open gifts since I brought them back from the west side. We both made off pretty well on the stockings. David is now eyeing the presents under the tree. I can only hope that I can hold him off until tomorrow morning!

Merry Christmas everyone! May your day be merry and bright!

Fall 2012 Grades!

It turned out to be a good semester!
I got A's in both my English classes and B's in all my History classes!
Considering that the English classes were my easy classes and the History classes were fairly challenging I am really proud of my grades this semester.

Done

As of 2 minutes ago my semester officially ended.
Exams are taken, papers turned in, books sold back.
Done.
Another semester has come and gone.
My 9th semester as an undergrad has come to a close and I am extremely grateful.

On Saturday Grif and I head to the West side to enjoy a few days with family.

And then back home for a perfect little Christmas with David.

A huge weight has been lifted and all that is left is to enjoy the holidays and a little down time before the new semester begins and I return to work.

But for right now, I'm just going to enjoy the fact that
I'm done.

Finals Week Mayhem: A Poem

Oh finals week...
How can I tell you how much you stress me out.

My belly rumbles with hunger,
The dog whines for a walk,
My eyes watering from hours at a computer screen,
The house falls into a chaos of dishes and clothes in need of cleaning,

No matter how many times I look at the material- I never feel confident,
No matter how long I write I never hit the page count maximum,

The count comes down to assignments due,
Tears fall as time runs out,
The term "fuck it" escapes my lips regularly,

Nourishment comes in the form of caffeinated drinks and microwaved meals,
Stress relief comes from swearing, crying, and taking the dog on walks to escape the confines of the apartment,
Guilt is overwhelming when breaks are taken

And then its all over,
The final assignment turned in,
The last test taken,
Relief is a long lost friend ready to embrace you...

I am the 10%

Today, I got my evaluation back on my WSU Writing Portfolio...

And it came back that I PASSED WITH DISTINCTION!!!!

This means that I am rated as the top 10% of writers at Washington State University! I'm very proud of my evaluation and have a whole new level of self esteem involved in my writing.

I had to share it with all of you! 

The Holidays Are Upon Us!

Thanksgiving is just a few days away and after that comes Christmas! I love the holidays!

This year David and I are trying to buy exclusively local. A lot of Pullman/Moscow shops are are struggling and maybe we can help. I encourage everyone to shop locally, even if its just for stocking stuffers!

I'm so happy that Mom and Lars are coming for Thanksgiving this year! It will be lovely to have them out for a few days. Hopefully, the weather will clear up a little and the snow will stay away. Instead of a full turkey we have opted for a couple of turkey breasts, and we'll go overboard on the fixing dishes.

Tonight, I put up lights tonight outside. They aren't very exciting, just white lights up the stairs. I'm super excited that the stairs are no longer a death trap!

Now to make a delicious dinner of grilled cheese and tomato soup!

Great Picture From Halloween

This great picture of our whole group was taken by the bartender and I had to share. Love it!

Election Response

Whether or not your candidate was the winner or loser I think we need to have a review of adult behavior...

The internet is an open forum and anything put on it is there to be criticized, questioned, agreed with, or disagreed with. It also has an element of anonymity that can give posters a false sense of security.
So lets remember what it means to act like an adult.

Throwing a temper tantrum over an election is not adult behavior.
Using racially derogatory terms to describe anyone, including those in positions of power is never acceptable.
If you didn't vote, which is your prerogative as an American, means you hold responsibility for not taking the initiative to support your candidate.
 
The number of racist, derogatory, and just immature posts that jumped up on my Facebook feed at the announcement of President Obama's reelection was staggering. I was so angry I had to log off to collect myself. Freedom of speech is one thing, but making yourself look like an ass is another.

There's another thing that is bothering me...
It's PRESIDENT Obama. Not- Obama.

As the President of the United States he deserves the respect of the office of President. He was democratically voted in, and thus should be respected. This goes for any and all presidents during their term in office.

Okay, I'll get off my soap box now. I'm ready for elections to be done as much as the rest of us.
I can't wait to see the results of the Washington State initiative votes this weekend!
Hope everyone had a decent Election 2012!

Halloween 2012

Usually I make a huge deal out of Halloween. This year not so much.

I went as The Blue Fairy (insert generic fairy tale here) and David went as a Referee.
Nothing exciting or creative.

Usually I take a ton of pictures, but somehow this year I'm missing a couple of photos that I thought I took, and ended up not getting a photo of David and I.. what a weird year for pictures.

Well, anyways, here's a collage of the photos from Halloween at the Zzu. We had a Jersey Shore Wannabe, The Doctors, Miss Mardi Gras, a Redneck, a Panda, the Blue Fairy, and a referee. Oh! And Flo and Mayhem (they were my favorite!).

Click to enlarge!

Brace Yourselves, the Holidays are Coming

Yup, walk into Walmart and you will be assaulted by Christmas. Last time I checked we hadn't even celebrated Halloween yet.
But, oh well. Corporate America is moving and we gotta keep up!

This year David and I will be having a quite holiday season together in Pullman.
We would love for family to come visit over the WSU Thanksgiving and Winter breaks if possible, but we understand how questionable the roads get after mid November.

David's mother, aunt, and sister came to visit last weekend (We adore having them! It's always so much fun!) and brought some early Christmas gifts with them. A brand new Kitchen Aid (in red!) and an awesome Shark vacuum now grace our apartment. They are amazing and I can't wait to use them.

Other than the approaching holidays, things are going well. David is still working full time, Grif is still a dog, and I'm going to school and still working. David returns to WSU in January, and I will graduate in May (if the school doesn't decide to screw me again...)

Our honeymoon was booked on Monday, we are very excited! A week on Maui is going to be incredible!

A friend from Australia came and visited for 2 weeks- we had an amazing time and drank a lot of wine. I miss her so much already, it was nice having a friend around. Sometimes I miss having a female roommate. The estrogen was refreshing.

The snow is trying really hard to come in but the temperatures stay just above freezing. Hopefully, it can abstain from snowing for a few more weeks. I'm still adjusting to the 40 degree temps.

Official Graduation Date Change

I am upset to announce that my graduation date has changed once again...

I will graduate with my bachelor's degree in History from Washington State University on

May 4th 2012

Due to miss-communication between my advisor and I, it ends up that I am 14 credits short of the 120 to achieve graduation status. This is partially due to the transfer between Universities, and partially the result of dropping a couple classes over the last 4 years. 

So there you go, my graduation date has been moved by 6 months. It doesn't affect the wedding, just my pride.

Success!

This weekend's 4th Annual Mutt Strutt went really really well!
Grif and I raised $85 for the new dog park, and teamed up with two friends and their dogs to participate in the day's competitions.
Our friend Channing, and her dog Dotti, won the costume contest with an amazing Wonder Woman contest. Dotti will be the calendar girl for October in the Humane Society's calendar.
Grif won first place in the bobbing for hot dogs competition, in the 'small dog' category. He also learned how to blow bubbles in the water... don't ask me who or why but now he does it in his water bowl at home too.
We took second place in Doggy Baseball with a 20 second time. For those who don't know, Doggy Baseball is a race were you and the dog run the bases and do different commands at the bases. First and third base are  'sit', second base is 'down'. We were beat out by a beagle who was quite impressive in his ability to both sprint and respond quickly to commands.
Pictures for the Strutt can be found here. They were done by an amazing local photographer.
Overall, the Mutt Strutt was a success and we can't wait to do it again next year!

Senioritis is a B*tch

I never really thought it would affect me, but here I am procrastinating to a whole new level,
senioritis has hit.

There are 10 weeks until I have my bachelor's degree and this semester should be fairly easy. All I need to do is pass all my classes- not a hard task, especially since they all seem to be pretty laid back as of now.
But after 18 years of school I'm ready to be done with it all for a little while.
I still want to go back for my Masters in Teaching, but right now I think its going to be a really good thing for me to be out of school for the at least a year and a half that I have to be.

There's a 4 page paper due tomorrow, and right now at 10:30 pm I'm debating starting it.
4 pages, psshh that isn't hard.
Yet, I don't even want to do it.

This is post is me avoiding starting.

You can yell at me to get to work, or whatever, but part of me just doesn't really care.

The paper will get done, and a decent grade will be achieved.

I guess this is just a realization of the senioritis at its worst thus far this semester.
Hopefully it doesn't get worse. 

He's a fashion icon

Grif modeling collar and harness by Four Paws

Took this photo because Grif was looking awesome and turned out reminding me of those ridiculous high fashion photos you see. Thought I would share. Grif is 35 pounds still, hasn't gained in months, but he has thinned out and gotten taller. Love my pup.

2012 Mutt Strutt

Every year I try to do one fundraiser event- this year Grif and I are participating in the local Mutt Strutt.

https://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/kirstennelson/fourthannualpacificnorthwestpetexpoandmuttstrutt

Our personal goal is $100, the total goal is $8,000.
Money goes to getting the new local dog park opened up and available to the community.

Anything helps, and every little bit helps. 

Good bye Mac

After about 6 months of waiting for the phone call, it came in today.

At 14 years old, my childhood friend passed away after 2 strokes and crippling arthritis destroyed his body, but not his spirits.

-Taken the last time I saw him, 4 weeks ago-

He got me through everything (boys, bullies, deaths, etc) since the age of 8 and has always greeted me with a smile and a tail wag when I went home after graduating. Mac was always good for a smile and a "ooyoo yoo yoo!" 

I can't even begin to express how much I already miss him.

My dad was kind enough to take an inking of his paw for me shortly after he passed. I'm extremely grateful to have it. I hope I can get it framed soon.


I'm sure people think it is stupid that I'm worked up about "a dog", but he wasn't just a dog- he was quite literaly my best friend for a portion of my life. 

The new, and final undergraduate Semester

I'm going to confess... I've tried to write this post almost three times.

The new semester began this week, and I am happy to report that this is my last semester as an undergrad!
Thus far my classes seem like they will be enjoyable. Three history classes and two english classes. I am especially excited for my Digital Story Telling class- we get to make multi media projects that tell a story. It seems like its going to be my most fun class.

I'm continuing to work at Pizza Hut part time, both delivering and cooking. I am hoping to start looking for a different job in December or January.

Wedding planning has stalled out a little due to the time between then and now. If you're interested in wedding news you can always check out my other blog (here).

Grif hasn't gained any weight but has gotten taller and longer. We think he may be part whippet. Not entirely sure though. He can now sit, lay down, shake, and dance. Come is at 80%, but we continue to work with him.

David is working full time at a local electrical engineering lab, and thus far seems to enjoy the work.

Other than that there is not much else going on.

Being Screwed over by the State

Many of you know I was in a car accident with a University employee on July 12th.
I was not at fault (he hit me) and the police report reflects this.
Repairs to my car will be done Monday hopefully, but here comes the real kicker-
I am required to pay for it all out of pocket.
Over $2k in damages, paid out of pocket.

Let me tell you about my financial situation-
I live fairly comfortably for a college student, but I do live pretty much paycheck to paycheck.
Work 20-40 hours a week, minimum wage, tips (but nothing substantial).
I have enough to buy groceries, pay rent, feed my animals, and even have a little fun while putting about $50 into saving each month.
My savings account is sitting at a little under $200 right now.

So as the "victim" in this situation I am required to pay for all damages caused by the at fault driver.

And then the state will reimburse me in 3-6 months.

What the hell?

I'm going to stop right here and say this is more of a rant than anything else. I will take out a loan to cover the cost of my car and then charge the state for the interest. If I have to go to court over this I will figure out how to do that.

But seriously- how is it in anyway okay to force the "victim" of the accident to be burdened with so much financial stress? I just don't understand in any way.

The stupidity I am being met with, and the blatant disrespect by WSU's insurance department is disheartening.

I've contacted the student legal services, but I am unsure if they will be able to help me in anyway due to possible conflicts of interest.

Right now I'm just frustrated. And angry.

Car accident, puppy, and Minneapolis

As many of you know I was in a car accident last Thursday with a WSU employee.
Although I suffered some soft tissue injuries in my neck, I am otherwise okay.
My car suffered a worse fate than I did- its no longer running and sitting in a repair shop waiting to be fixed.
$11 worth of damage...
Thankfully the University is picking up the tab since their employee was at fault.

The puppy is getting bigger, he's now 35lbs at 7 months old.
We don't think he will be much bigger since he hasn't grown in the last month other than getting a bit longer.
Grif has been such a great addition to our little family.

Planning for my Minneapolis trip has been a little touch and go but it will be fine and fun!
I fly in Aug 2 and out Aug 8.
I'll be spending most of my time in the city but will probably rent a car to head up to Mora for the day to see Grandpa Bob!

Mega Update!

Between classes (now over) and work, and moving, things have gotten so crazy around here!
Here's the big news!

• We moved! Email me or David to get our new address. It is an off campus apartment which gives us a lot more freedom. 2 bedrooms, our own balcony, third floor, and within walking distance to campus. Our rent went down too which is excellent. 
• The wedding is all set in stone- dates and locations are taken care of. I updated our wedding blog and site today, so feel free to pop over there and check it out!
• There's a new addition to our family! Grif the dog- the ultimate mutt. He's a rescue with a lot of work ahead of him, but he's sweet and only 7 months old. He kind of feel into our laps, but we are very happy to be his new parents. 

Okay, so it wasn't a huge update, but it was an good sized one, right? Now that we have internet in our new apartment I will definitely update more often!

You Know You're a History Major When...

• Everything the History Channel broadcasts makes you cringe (Ancient Aliens... really people?)
• Sitting in the library for 8 hours pouring over books on various historical topics seems like a well spent day
• Few things are as exciting as getting to go to the Archives
• You understand that dates aren't as important as people think
• 5 page paper is easy
• 10 page paper can be done in a night
• Finding someone interested in anything other than War History is exciting
• Your friends laugh at you when you're out at the bar and still talking about some historical topic
• People cringe when "common knowledge" is brought up around you, because you're probably going to prove that its wrong
• You feel sad when you realize you will never actually get to be Indiana Jones

Are you there Summer? Its me, Kirsten.

Okay, for most of the world summer has not arrived yet and will not arrive until the end of June or possibly even July.
But for me it was supposed to arrive at the beginning of May when Spring Semester ended!
I'd love to be able to move my studying and research outdoors but instead the library on campus is holding me hostage.
An average day for me in the last three weeks has consisted of researching, lecture, seminar, and work- on a good day I might get some social time in if I'm lucky.
Thankfully, my one escape from my undergraduate thesis is planning my wedding- which has actually gotten off the ground!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing, hardworking, dedicated loving moms out there!

Without you the world would cease to turn.

I want to make sure my mom is especially aware of how important she is to me.

The woman that I am proud to be today is almost totally because of my mother.

She held me to impossible standards,

Forced me to write in cursive,

Refused to pity me when I had procrastinated, 

Expected 110% all the time,

Put the fear of authority in me at an early age.

And for all these crazy things that I used to hate-

Thank you Mom.

Today, I am a strong independent woman who can take care of myself.

I can talk to authority figures,

Shut down a drunk guy at a bar,

Pay my own bills,

And write in the most beautiful legible cursive when needed.

Mom, 

I only hope that I can live up to your expectations,

And I try every single day. 

I hope you are proud of me, because everyday I use the life lessons you taught me.
Thank you 

For being a hard ass,

For pushing me,

For inspiring me,

For giving me the tools to succeed. 

I love you so much, Mom.

Thank you.

Finals!

At this point I am  halfway through finals and feeling fried!
Just finished my second paper, and will be heading to my second exam in the next few hours.

But there's no break here!
Not only have I upped my hours to work (roughly 35 hours) but next week I start my summer classes too!
This summer I will be taking History Seminar -capstone class- and Nazi Germany history. I'm excited for both classes! Its going to be amazing! My summer classes are only 6 weeks long so it won't be too bad.

At the end of May I will get to visit Seattle twice! YAY! Once for a friend's wedding (can't believe my friends are getting married!) and once for the Ballet and to cheer mom on in the Survivor Mud Run. I'm very excited for both events!

After classes end I will be working nearly full time at Pizza Hut for summer with a trip to Minnesota in August to see family. I can't wait!

 That's my update- I don't have much to say as I am so busy with finals. I will try to post again ASAP!

Minneapolis Trip

The dates I will be in Minnesota this summer, (hopefully) are Aug 3 - Aug 8
While I'm there's I'm going to attempt to make the rounds and see as many family members as possible with a day in Mora with Grandpa Bob, and at least one day in the city. The rest are up for grabs.

Really quick- why is it going to cost me essentially the same amount of money to rent a car for the 5 days I'm there as it is to fly there and back? Gah!

I'm excited for my trip! It's going to be hot, and muggy, but it will be worth it!

Would 5 year old you be proud of who you are now?

This question was posed and made me think really hard about a lot of things.

Who was I at 5 years old?
I want to say I was curious, probably wanted to be a nurse or a vet, thought horses were the greatest thing ever. And I had my first pet that was really mine, Good o'l Henry the hamster. I was a planner and a dreamer.

What would 5 year old me think of who I am today?

She'd probably be disappointed. I'm not a nurse nor a vet, not even going to school to become one. She'd be horrified that I have no long term plan anymore.

5 year old me would be ecstatic that I have some of the coolest pets ever (sugar gliders) and that I live on my own. She'd probably be pretty excited that I have a wedding dress and that I'm getting married soon.

She'd probably think I was a pretty cool adult, but what 5 year old wouldn't?

What would 5 year old you think of who you are today?

Coming to a close

Spring break is coming to a close, and I'm finally feeling better! Yay!

Today was a pretty productive day- got the glider cage cleaned (deep cleaned!), rotated their toys, put in clean soft stuff, and washed the other soft stuff, fixed the door to the cage, worked on a little bit of homework, updated our wedding blog, and got some errands done. Not too shabby!

David is making dinner currently (biscuits, pork, and salad!) and I'm taking a break to update this particular blog!

Classes start again tomorrow, I have a drive shift at work. Hopefully, I'll make some good tips and be able to put away a little spending money for my trip to Seattle at the end of the month.

We're attempting (currently unsuccessfully) to apply for a new apartment that is off campus. Once their website starts working again we'll have better luck with our application, until then we're homeless starting in July. Eek!

Other than all that, there's not too much to report on.

The weather here hasn't decided if it wants to be winter or spring and keeps changing its mind. I'm a little irritated- I want to pull out my dresses.

Horrible, terrible, no good, very bad spring break...

Ok spring break has barely begun so its not fair to say its the worst... but its not great.
Today marks day 4 of having an upper respiratory infection that has forced me to miss work 3 times.
I'm really not happy about missing work. I have been counting on spring break to put away money for comicon at the end of this month.  Unfortunately, my illness is preventing that.
Ok, I'm done ranting about how disappointed I am about this illness. I hope everyone else is having a wonderful spring break.

Caught up in Life

Sometimes life just moves so quickly that you can't keep up! But of course that's okay, its part of life!

Here's a reader's digest of what's going on right now-

• Wedding budgeting (not really planning yet) is going well- I'm trying to keep my budget under control!
• Classes are enjoyable- just got through mid terms and seem to be doing relatively well in classes.
• Work is well, work. I'm driving a few times a week now which is good for $$ and cooking for the rest. I'm averaging about 20 hours a week which is doable with my 16 credits of classes.
• Spring break is upon us, and its my last one as an under grad. Honestly, its a little depressing that I've gone 4 years without doing anything fun for Spring break, but that's how life goes!
• The suggies are flourishing beautifully. They'd really like some new and exciting toys, but momma is on a budget so I'm trying to be creative with entertaining them.
• David is finishing his junior year as a Chemical engineer and doing amazingly. He's so smart, and I can't wait to see him expand into the industry.
• We're moving again in June; still searching for an apartment that is cheaper than the one we're currently in. Wish us luck!

It's already 10p and I've gotta be on campus by 7:45a so I'm  off to bed!

Happy Valentine's

I feel like I should put up some blog about the history of Valentine's and it's impacts on society, but after 2 hard exams, an unwanted encounter in the library, and feeling like crap... I'm just going to wish you all a happy and lovely Valentine's day. 

Major Change

I've "changed" my major again.
From History-edu to History-gen, changing my graduation date to December 2012.
While some will say "A general history degree? You can't do much with that!"
I disagree!
Upon getting my bachelor's degree in general history I will be entering the Masters Education program!

Also, because of the change in getting my degree a year earlier, David and I will be getting married June 2013.

Mobile Phone Capable

You can now pull up my blogs (any of them on blogger) on a phone that is capable of browsing the internet.
The mobile site is set up to be easy to use.
Enjoy!

Let Down

Sometimes in life we get let down.
And sometimes we have to pick ourselves up from it.
Its not always easy, but its always worth it.
I'm trying to learn this and be better about dealing with disappointment.
Sometimes I'm better than others.

Technology is Grand

Guess what I found! A blogger app for my Droid! This is way more exciting than it should be haha! I type this as I wait for my next class to start! Hopefully I will post more now.
I freaking love technology.
I end this blog with a picture of a squirrel stuck in a peanut jar. This little guy was on campus yesterday. Police responded and took him to the campus vet hospital. Let this be a reminder not to litter! Poor fat squirrel just wanted a nut!

New Phone!

I'm excited to announce that I've joined the leagues of smartphone users!
I am the proud owner of a Motorola Droid X2
Quite spiffy and quite high tech!
I was just too excited not to share!
Now I have to go get ready for work...

Crushing

Do you ever get the sensation that the world is trying to kill you?
Ya, its a little melodramatic, but that's how it feels right now.
Between work, school, and volunteering I feel so overwhelmed and there's no way to take a step back to fix it.
I try not to unload or vent on my blog, I know it makes people uncomfortable but right now I'm looking for advice- good adult advice.
Right now I feel like life is crushing me, I'm not happy with so many things, the only constant that I find joy in is my relationship with David.
I have very little interest in any of my classes.
Volunteering is fun, but time consuming.
Work is well work- I love the people but the actual job can be stressful physically.
My friends are busy getting ready to graduate, but not me.
Sometimes I feel so ready to move forward and "start" my life, other times I don't want school to end.
More than anything, I'm confused and I have no idea how to make myself feel better.

Teacher, Teacher

I wrote this poem as a final project for T&L 301 and wanted to share it. Enjoy!

Teacher, Teacher

Teacher, teacher,
Why can’t I learn?
Is there something wrong?
The letters are backwards,
My brain doesn’t understand,
How can b and d be so hard to comprehend?

Teacher, teacher,
Why can’t I learn?
Is there something wrong?
Momma doesn’t speak the same language as you
When I’m at home at night,
My brain doesn’t understand,
How can your language be so hard to comprehend?

Teacher, teacher,
Why can’t I learn?
Is there something wrong?
I’m so hungry all the time,
I can’t focus on what you say,
My brain doesn’t understand,
My stomach growls all the time.
How can my hunger make it hard for me to comprehend?

Teacher, teacher,
Why can’t I learn?
Is there something wrong?
I can never focus,
Everything seems so hard,
My brain doesn’t understand,
Sitting still is just so hard,
How can AHDH make learning so hard for me to comprehend?

Teacher, teacher,
Why can’t I learn?
Is there something wrong?
The boys say I’m less,
The boys say I’m dumb,
My brain doesn’t understand,
Why is my sex a problem?
How can sexism be something for me to comprehend?

Student, student,
You can learn,
There’s nothing wrong,
You’re perfect in your individuality,
We’ll find a way for you learn,
And soon you’ll comprehend.
I wont let you down.

A New Year!

Wow, this New Year came upon us quickly didn't it?!

I can't believe the semester is about to start already... eek!

The last year ended with 40 hour work weeks and the new year started with New Year's Eve with my family.
This last week was spent in the Seattle area exploring the mountains on snow shoes,  seeing the animals of the world at the Woodland Park Zoo, and just enjoying time with my family.

I couldn't have asked for a better week in Seattle!

My 22nd birthday also came around during my week in Seattle, so did David's! We celebrated with our families, good food, and great cake! Since the time I started playing volleyball my lucky number has been 22- this year is going to be awesome!

We all know we're supposed to make resolutions this time of the year, but this year I'm not going to. I never follow through unfortunately, so it seems like an unnecessarily stressful tradition. Usually I make empty promises to myself about weight loss, or something similar. This year I'm just gonna go with it!

Now for the BIG news!
On January 7, 2012 my mother and I found and bought my wedding dress!!!!!! I'M SO HAPPY.
And much like I always do I have started a special blog just for wedding stuff so that I don't overload this blog with  my planning! I'll post a link to it when I get it up and running.
Tentative date for the wedding is June 2014 in O'ahu, HI.