Better than expected.

You Are 24% Nerdy

You're a little nerdy, but no one would ever call you a nerd. You sometimes get into nerdy things, but only after they've become a part of mainstream culture.

How Nerdy Are You?

A friendly holiday insult

I had two Christmas gatherings before December 24th, how's that for planning ahead? On Sunday, Adam and I went to his mom's house. It was fun with all the usual holiday players. He's got an aunt and uncle that tend to be a bit outspoken. Somehow we got onto the topic of "bad hires". The aunt recited a list of people that have applied to her work, my favorite: people with tongue rings. She and I had been conversing for several hours and I was an active participant in this particular conversation, until she brought up tongue piercings. Her point: you can't understand people with him, and they just don't get that they cannot get a job where they have to speak into a phone. At this point I hit a dilemma, stick out my tongue and inform her that the person she is currently speaking with sports one of these "tongue rings" or just laugh it off to her inability to accept people "different" then herself. I opted for the latter, but managed to make eye contact with Adam and his brother so we could share on the inside joke.

A missed interpretation

Me attempting to order at the LeAnn Chin counter:

"I'll have an imperial plate, please" [Imperial being 1/2 entree, 1/2 appetizer, and rice] - Me

"What kind of rice" -shift manager

"Fried, please" -H
"What entree" -SM
"Sesame Chicken"- H

She proceeds to fill the plate not leaving room for the appetizer portion of the meal I've ordered. Despite the fact that I have ordered the 1/2 entree intentionally, I'm still a little excited to get more food. (It's the American way after all).

"Would you like egg rolls, cream cheese wontons, or pot stickers?"
"Egg rolls"
"One or two?"
"One"
She puts two in the container.
"Anything else?"
"Um, no"[I refrain from correction thinking two might constitute one order, and I'm still somewhat happy to get more food]

I was still confused as to what was happening as approached the checkout. Somehow the total is $10 and change. Hmmm, $5.79 is what I ordered, but somehow get $10 worth of half-assed Chinese food that I only get because its by my bus stop. I pay and look at my receipt as I leave.

Full entree (not the 1/2)
Full Appetizer (not the 1/2)
Extra charge for fried rice (the only expense I was anticipating)

I have managed to eat every last piece of food, why? Because I paid for it!

Headache of monsterous proportions

It's no lie that I'm busy right now. Everyone things I'm crazy to work full time, plan a wedding and go to grad school. Yes, I am a little crazy, its not ideal, also not my choice. I've been planning on grad school for 2 years, so I wasn't going to move that back a year, especially when its only a two year program to begin with. I also wasn't going to push wedding back any farther since we've been together for 5 years, no one (mostly me) wants to wait another 2 years for a wedding. Thus leaving me with a year of my life I would prefer to skip over. As we get ready to send out our "Save the Date" cards, we argued over with picture to go with. Adam's argument of "it's too personal" becomes invalid when I mention the fact that these people will be attending our wedding. How much more personal can we get here? First kiss, first dance, unity candle... all of it INTIMATE! A wedding is an intimate occasion. Even ours despite the 200+ people that have found their way on the guest list. Right now 198 people are family and the other 30 are our friends. These are people that have known us a long time and they can see Adam kiss me on the cheek.

Today has been a day from hell. Scrambling last minute to get information for a client presentation for tomorrow. I stayed late, didn't get home until 7:30, eat and relax for 10 minutes then look at some wedding stuff. I'm also the one that needs to study for a final on Thursday. Adam is playing video games right now and I am fuming over everything that I need to get done. He is in a different place. He found a photographer and requested information to be sent to me. Thank you, because I don't have anything else going on. Appreciate it. I just sent it back to him and asked him to look at it. Based on the gun fire I hear from the x-box, I can tell he's really immersed. I know this is a conversation I need to be having with him, but I think I needed to get it out and organized before I started going off at him. I just won the save the date argument, so I think I should wait a few minutes before I ask him to help out. No, I'm not nagging, and yes I won an argument.

I know after this week, I will be done with classes for a month and will be able to relax a little. But at the same time, I will just have to immerse myself with wedding details. My mom can't seem to offer up any sort of suggestion other than, "can't you find something cheaper?". If I found something cheaper, don't you think I would have bought it?! Her only question is: did you find...? If I found anything you would hear about it because I would probably be asking for some sort of monetary donation for the cause.

I have six more months of this shit.

Anywhere but here

My head is spinning from all of the things I have to do. Christmas is in two weeks, when you are constantly planning months in advance, you forget where you are in the current month. I am working on 2008 and have even begun dating things 2008 instead of 7. Needless to say, I'm not looking at a December calendar anymore. I'm happy my family has opted to do a gathering only and no gift exchange. Really takes the extra pressure off time and wallet. I spent majority of my time yesterday thinking about the wedding, also another '08 activity. It's hard to think about Hawaii all day and then have to deal with another cold MN day. Adam seems to think we have a lot of time for everything, but of course we don't. Hopefully once I am done with classes on Thursday my life will calm done for a bit. I just hope I don't get too used to having free time again! Ultimately, I feel like my life/schedule is spiraling out of control and I just need to make a big list to get everything done!

Conclusion

Life is stressful. There is always something to stress over. Big or small, there is ALWAYS something. There isn't a problem until you can't overcome the issue.

A few deep breathes, some dancing around the house and lunch have put me on my way to overcoming anything that I have to accomplish. Hmm, it's sort of a good feeling.

Stress

It's that time of the semester when I start to go crazy with stress. It happens every semester, there is always one week (if not more) of hell where everything culminates at the same time. I have 2 papers due on Thursday and a midterm on Tuesday. I'm not very worried about the midterm, but I do need to give it some attention. I've thought about both of the papers, at this point it is mostly just sitting down to write them. The only problem, I can't seem to focus. Despite the fact that I have averaged about 10 hours of sleep every night for the past week, I feel exhausted. Part of me wants to go running and the other half wants to take a nap. Instead, I'm downing coffee to ward of sleep. I want to eat, but at the same time I think that is just a procrastination tactic to keep me away from the table with all of my notes. I'm in one of the positions where I am trying to wrap my head around everything that I have to do, so instead of actually doing it, I think about it. I'm frustrated with myself for always doing this. It's worse that I know exactly what I'm doing, yet keep doing it every time I have a paper due.

Here's hoping this second cup of coffee will give me everything I need to get started/finish.

When to let go?

Is there ever a point in time when friendships have run their course? Should one eventually just call it a day and say "nice knowing you?" I have a lot of friendships that only exist based on memories. Does the time one has known someone overrule the fact that we have out grown any commonalities that once kept us together? At this point our talks resemble... "remember this...?" and "what have you been up to?". Part of me enjoys catching up and hearing what long lost friends have been up to, but at the same time, I find I am generally the one putting in any effort. Does on email a year sustain a friendship? Can memories alone make a friendship worth working for?

When it rains it pours...

...Stress that is. At least wedding stuff seems under control, well mostly. Caterer seems really cool, flowers are cheaper than expected. Still trying to nail down a photographer. For some reason this is much harder than I anticipated it to be. I think we're getting close. Now, I just need to nail down the guest list...

Work and school are really taking a toll on me. I am really looking forward to the Holiday break. I know a big reason for my stress is my time management, but adding wedding and house stuff to my "to do" list is too much. Yesterday we made a day of looking at tile and paper. Tile for the entry way and paper for invitations. Can we be more random?

It doesn't help that we are in the busy season for work. At least I know this time next year, I will just have to worry about school and work!!! I think that piece of knowledge is keeping me sane.

If I can...

If I can, work, go to school, plan a wedding and keep my sanity- I can do anything.

Sweet home [not] Chicago

Adam and I went to Chicago last week for a couple of days. I love that city. Every time I go there I want to move there. I'm sure I would be love living there, but I'm also pretty sure that I have put the city on a pedestal and I should just continue with visiting frequently. The main [and only] reason for the trip was to see Lawrence Arms at the Metro. They played with Sundowner, The Falcon and American Steele. It was such a good show. Considering Sundowner, Falcon and Lawrence Arms are my favorite bands right now, it was hard for the show not to be good. Even better is they are playing two shows in Minneapolis in November. The bad thing is I have front row tickets to see Lion King the same night as the 21+ show. I'm going to have to do some fancy footwork to make it to the show on time. Normally I wouldn't care that much about seeing the opening band, but it's Sundowner so I want to make sure I get there! I'm still kind of wondering if I can leave Lion King early- no one will notice that... right?! The show isn't for another month so I have some time to work out my escape route.

In one week I am going to walk 13.1 miles. I signed up for the Nike Women's online 1/2 marathon back in July when I thought my knee would be better. Since I am not back up to running yet, I am just going to walk. I'm anticipating this endeavor to take about 4 hours. The best thing about it is I have all day to get the 13.1 miles, so I'm planning on a nice walk around the lakes in Uptown. Hopefully the weather is nice, otherwise will have to gear up for a boring walk at the gym.

Wedding plans are holding steady without much progression. Planning this wedding is sort of my nail in the coffin this year. I knew school and work would be a lot, but wedding, it's causing me to be stressed out pretty much all the time. Hopefully I can get a lot of wedding stuff done around Christmas break when I am out of school for a month. I do have my dress, so that's pretty exciting. The dress makes it all seem real.

I should keep this short since I am supposed to be reading for class, ahh procrastination is my middle name.

Just Another Manic Monday

I used to love that song "Manic Monday." It's such a classic. I do wish it were still Sunday because I have 2 midterms to write this evening. I did a classic college procrastination trick this weekend- clean. It started when I lived at my parent's house and I had a paper to write. I wouldn't be able to focus because my room was messy- so I would clean. Naturally, having a clean environment helps to concentrate, but it also caused me to not get any homework done. My cleaning frenzy started on Saturday and continued on Sunday. I'm pretty sure my side of the bedroom has never been so clean. The one downfall now is that I can't get the entire house clean because Adam has stuff everywhere, but it's much better than it was.

The downfall of my procrastination is that I'm now still thinking about my midterm papers, and my work stuff. This makes for my head to go crazy and me doing a little bit of everything but not getting much done and compulsive list making. Whenever I am stressed, I resort to list making. For some reason seeing everything that I need to do in one place makes me feel better, and makes me feel like I've accomplished something. So sad.

I'm starting to wonder why I thought Grad School was a good idea. I know it will help me in the future, but 2 years is sort of a long time. It's shorter than most programs which made it easier to justify, but still- it's TWO YEARS! It is going fast, I'm already half way through the first semester, so that feels pretty good. For some reason I am starting to feel tied to Minneapolis because of it though. Not that we would actually move anywhere, but the program makes me feel that I have NO choice and therefore I want it. I felt fine after we bought our house, but for some reason this grad program makes me feel that I am chained to the Minneapolis and even if I wanted to leave, I can't. Not for 2 years at least...

I'm pretty sure my desire to move is stemming from the fact that several people I know have moved over the past few months and I can't help but think about where would I move if given the opportunity. San Francisco or Chicago. London would be amazing for a couple years, but that's nearly impossible and I'm pretty sure that would freak Adam out a little too much.

Since this is just another procrastination tactic, I should probably get back to crossing somethings off my list. Yes, of course I have a list.

Start to Finish

I am notorious for starting things, but not finishing them. Or better yet, starting a project and starting another project in the the middle of the first one. Case in point, I started to write an email, that would take me about 2 minutes to start and complete. However, I have decided now is a perfect time to write a blog post. Perhaps since my postings have been fairly scarce, I thought I should ride out my yearning to post. I'm starting to realize projects take me so long. Instead of just finishing things, I feel the need to do everything all at once. That of course is probably the worst way to go about something.

Right now, all I can think about is going to Hawaii in June. Yesterday was a great day to start planning my honeymoon. Of course, now all I can think about is relaxing on a beach for 10 days. I'm taking any and all advice on Hawaii vacation experiences, so send them my way if you have any.

Back to work I go.

Focus, focus...

I really should be reading right now for at least one of my two classes, but I couldn't be more distracted. I went wedding dress shopping yesterday and am pretty sure I've picked out my dress. I'm heading back next week to get some more opinions and make sure its the one. Needless to say, I can't stop thinking about it and just want to try it on again! Going dress shopping rejuvenated me with the daunting task of wedding planning. We still have lots to do, but I'm at least excited to think about it again. I just can't seem to focus on the reading that I need to do, I just keep thinking about weddings. Rings, dresses, flowers... of course I want to think about wedding stuff when I need to be writing a paper. Adam on the other hand wants to pick out tile for the entry way. I can't work, go to school, plan the majority of our wedding, and think about our house... somethings gotta give.

I'm starting to get a little scared.

I start Graduate School in one month from today. Looking back, it feels like one of those decisions that "seemed really good at the time." Right now as I try to gear up for this change, I'm starting to get really nervous. Do I remember what it was like to sit in a lecture hall for 2 hours at a time? Staying up all night to get a paper done. Plan a wedding? Oh, wait, that's the new part. I actually feel really comfortable with the wedding stuff right now. We have a church and reception hall booked, I'm looking for a photographer. Then I can have some fun and think about the dress and other decorative elements. But school is starting to worry me. I've already taken some of the classes they recommend and it seems that very few courses are night classes. I NEED night classes as I work full time. When I was an undergrad I could waltz in and out of work as needed, but not now. At least I work close to the U and don't have to drive 3 freeways (and a collapsed bridge) to get there anymore. I'm just starting to get stressed out that the "2 year night program" won't work out like that anymore. To top it all off, work is been extremely busy and I don't know how I'm going to get it all done. Honestly, I have been waiting for this stress to kick in and was hoping that I wouldn't start freaking out. Clearly that's not happening.

I just keep repeating "2 years, 2 years". It seems feasible and 2 years can fly by quickly (is that a good thing?). But then I think about it, 2 years! Writing papers, going to lectures, highlighters, reading, falling asleep while reading. But then its advertising and communications, stuff that I do everyday! It should potentially be interesting and something that I enjoy learning about. I'm just mostly nervous that I won't find any classes that I like and that I'm going to have to work late everyday to make up for the fact that I have some silly class in the middle of the day that I didn't even want to take in the first place. I worry too much and I know it.

Now, I'm off to prove that people do chores on Saturday and have fun on Sunday. I hope I'm right!

Where to begin?

It has been a month since I last posted, I've been so busy, I haven't had time to get my thoughts straight. Adam proposed when we were in Chicago last month! I had a hunch it was coming, but was still shocked when it actually happened. We're in the beginning stages of planning a May wedding for 2008. Thus far, it is not an easy feat. Two weeks ago, I got accepted to Grad school at the University of Minnesota. I'll be starting classes in the fall. I'm looking forward to it, but am also trying to convince myself that I will have enough time to work and plan a wedding.

This is the weekend of Grandma's Marathon, I'm glad that I'm not running after all because I managed to hurt my other knee. I'm not even 25 and I've injured both my knees in 2 months. I think I just need to take a couple of weeks off of soccer, kickball and running and I should be okay. I biked a little bit today and my knees didn't hurt so I'll have to resort to that. I don't know how I manage to injure myself so often, I swear I'm accident prone.

It's back.

Bolstering comedy block
"The Eye Network will also introduce a new comedy, "The Big Bang Theory," to its Monday night sitcom block, benching Julia Louis-Dreyfus' "The Old Adventures of New Christine" until mid-season. Other returning comedies are "How I Met Your Mother," "Two and a Half Men" and this year's mid-season hit "Rules of Engagement." This season's low-rated critical fave "The Class" failed to make the cut."

I read this yesterday but didn't have time to answer my own question regarding How I Met Your Mother. Janna reminded me that we have nothing to worry about. Whew, that was a close one.

This ain't a scene...

I'm going to see Fall Out Boy on Wednesday, I'm pretty sure I'll be the oldest person in attendance, but it's free, so I'm not actually going to complain about it. Well, I will make one small complaint, it's at the Target Center- lame. The sound there is always awful, but again the lack of cost will make up for it. I ended up getting a free ticket to Arctic Monkeys last Monday at First Ave, it was an awesome show! I was really happy I ended up going. I haven't been to a show there in a long time so it was nice to make it out. I can't wait for Sundowner in Chicago though, it's going to be awesome.

I'm not sure why, but I have been exhausted all day. We went to a Tractor Supply Company store this morning for a work field trip. I've worked on the account for 1.5 years but haven't actually been to a store until today. It was great to finally see what I'm advertising. We talked to a couple of customers and they love TSC. It's so cool to hear such great feedback from people. Even though I was gone all morning it was the longest day of work I have had in quite a while. Usually my days fly by, but today I just stared at the clock. It was rather depressing. This is the first day in over a year that I watched the clock hit 5:30 and packed up my stuff to leave. Normally I stay for at least anther hour, but I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

I officially applied to Grad School at the University of Minnesota this weekend. Now I just have to wait and see if I get in. I worked part time while going to school full time, so I'm not overly worried about working full time and going to school part time. Only time will tell on that front.

I went running today for the first time since I hurt my knee, it went okay, but I've lost so much endurance. Basically, I need to start over, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Of course now it's allergy season and starting to get humid out. Both great reasons for me to go to the gym more.

Did HIMYM get canceled? I never heard if it was or not, I work in media I should know these things, but of course I don't. The season finale certainly set the show up for cancellation if it was. Last year it was such a good cliff hanger with Lily and Marshall's impending break up. Now there isn't anything left to know by, who is the mother? After all, the show is only titled, How I Met Your Mother?! I would recommend that Barney get a spin off show, but we all saw what happened to "Joey".

Sundowner

Why do things happen the way they do? In my last post I was utterly distracted and wanted to see if any good shows were coming up, by the time I finished writing, I got swamped with a project and had to get it done. On Friday someone told me to check out a myspace page, since I was already there I thought I would see if Lawrence Arms were playing anytime soon. They aren't, but Sundowner is! In Chicago... so, Adam and I booked a trip to Chi-town for next week. I love impromptu trips, but I hate how fast rates creep up, even over a couple days. If only I would have checked myspace last week... and I thought I was doing such a good job finishing what I had started.

I watched HIMYM tonight (thank you DVR). It was really cute, Lily and Marshall got married. I thought Marshall's hair freak out was a little reminiscent of the youtube video where the bride freaks out and chops her hair off.
Likely scenario. I heard it was a hoax, or an ad for something, but I never heard for what. Clearly that was a good ploy, since I don't recall what it was. Adam just told me he thought it was soft silk that did it. Google was unable to confirm or deny this statement.

I have given up my quest to run 13.1 miles along the bank of Lake Superior, aka Grandma's 1/2 marathon in Duluth. I twisted my knee 2 weeks ago and the healing process is taking longer that I would like. The last thing I want to do is injury my knee more by pushing myself beyond my limits before its fully healed. I'm not giving up running, I still plan to run the 10 mile race as part of the Twin Cities Marathon festivities. And this whole running thing is really begin to grow on me. The only hard part is finding the time to run when I play on two soccer teams and two, count 'em 2, kick ball teams. Why? Because one is never enough...

Wandering Aimlessly

Ever have a day where your mind is everywhere but where it needs to be? I'm in the middle of one of those days. I just can't seem to focus because my mind is jumping from one subject to another. Even now, as I write, I want to jump ship and see if Lawrence Arms or Sundowner will be touring soon, or what's happening with the Digg revolt. Everything is more important than what I am doing, but it really isn't at all. I love my job, but I was just checking the digg job post- why- I don't live in San Fran, nor am I a computer engineer, but it seems like fun to dream that I am.

It's okay to have a mental day every now and then, but not when I need to get a bunch of stuff done. Argh.

Tell me what you really think

Have you ever had a conversation where people slip up and tell you what they were really thinking about what you did/going to do? It's never horrible stuff, but usually rather funny. People seem to be so supportive when they are really doubting you. I know I do it, so I'm not one to say anything, I just find the whole phenomenon fascinating.

March Madness

There are some days that all I want to do is write and continuously think of clever topics but never have the time to get them down before they are lost. Then there are other days (like today) I have the time to write, yet cannot think of anything worth while to type.

Lately I just feel burnt out. I was sick last week- thank you spring- so I feel like I'm still trying to recover, or it could be the effects of Saturday's party that are still taking a toll. I never think that I am drinking that much at the time, and then suddenly it hits me, like a brick. The end of the night is a little hazy, but not before I was able to get in a plug for my favorite whiskey.

Friday night I volunteered at the City Pages Wine Tasting at International Market Square. It was loads of fun, and the best way to do the event. I walked around for the first half trying different wines and then poured them the second half. My table was perfect for me, we had 4 bottles of various white wines and only 2 reds (I prefer white much more than red). I discovered a really good pinot grigio. So good I went out and bought two bottles, one of which lead me straight into a drunken Saturday.

I feel like I am stuck between 2 worlds, one where I should grow up and one where I just want to continue to be young. Not that I am "old" by any means, but sometimes I feel like I need to watch how much I drink, or perhaps keep tabs on my tolerance because I can't seem to figure out where it is. Either I go out and have one beer, or I have 7, it seems to be all or nothing these days. I know there has to be a happy medium somewhere, I just need to find it. It was about a year ago that I was on a quest to find the "perfect level of drunk". I never found it and I'm still looking. I might have to give up the hunt for the next month, March has been vicious and I am pretty sure my liver needs a rest. I started off the month celebrating the fact that I took the GRE (with a bottle of the aforementioned whiskey), followed that with a party bus excursion around Minneapolis, St. Patrick's day at CL is virtually a holiday and spent the second half of work watching my co-workers humiliate themselves as I had a few Stellas, spent one weekend (the nicest weekend we have had all year) holed up sick in my house when I was supposed to be celebrating a pair of 21st birthdays (Janna's twin sisters), then poured and drank wine. What a month. I will start my training for the 1/2 marathon this month.

Oh, the marathon. Maybe I have been living in a hole, but I had no idea Grandma's Marathon was as big as it is.[please note the first non-alcohol link in this post] The entire city of Duluth gets over taken with runners and there is no where to stay within 30 miles surrounding the city. I've got my fingers crossed that I get a room at the UMD dorms. I feel like I'm 17 again waiting for my dorm assignment. If I can't find housing, I may just forgo my $60 entrance fee and make my distance running debut at the Twin Cities 10 mile in October. Yeah, it's a cop out, but Grandma's is turning into an expensive weekend excursion that I wasn't planning on.

I got my test scores back from the GRE and now need to apply to grad school. No pressure. It will be something good to distract me as my liver recovers from the month of March.

I didn't intend this to be a post about drinking, we'll just call it word vomit.

Team in Training

My friend Katie is raising money for Leukemia with Team in Training. She's going to run the Rock and Roll 1/2 Marathon in San Diego this summer.

If you can, please give her some money to help her reach her goal!
Katie's website

Thinking, thinking, thinking...

I have an insane amount of thoughts going on in my head and I want to get them all out, but I'm pretty sure I will not be able to. I'm going to forget something or get lost in a tangent, but here goes.

I'm taking the GRE in 2 weeks- have I begun to study? No. What am I doing tonight- attempting to study. Aka- watching the "Count of Monte Cristo" and blogging. Every time I see this movie it reminds me of the first time I saw it in London at Erin's host family's house. I didn't have my full attention on the movie because I was making a 'count down to my return' advent calendar for Adam, so every time I see it, it's like the first time all over again. Ahh...

I am applying to grad school for the fall, so that's not stressful at all. A few applications, some recommendations and a couple of writing samples... it practically takes care of itself.

I sent away for an application to run the Grandma's half marathon in Duluth, MN- it's a lottery application, so it will be awhile before I know if I got in, but I've begun training for it. I have until June to train- hopefully enough time to allow myself to add 10 miles to the longest distance I have ever run.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been hearing/reading random facts about co-habitation. Marie Claire had an article this month on whether or not it was a good idea. They had a series of "success" and "failure" stories. That's what every co-habitating girl wants to read... The stories didn't scare me really, but it's interesting to see why other people called it quits or why they had problems. And of course its interesting why people moved in together in the first place and how long they lived together pre-marriage. Adam and I moved in together because we both had been living at our parent's houses and knew it would be silly to each get our own apartments because one of us would be wasting rent, so we took the plunge. I usually don't spend time thinking about why we moved in together in the first place, it seems like such a moot point- I would prefer to think about the future than the past.

Ahh, the future. What will become of that- time will only tell. I don't like pretending that I don't care about marriage or that I'm completely content on my current living situation (hence my last post). But I also don't want to be the person who tells everyone that "it's going to happen on ___ day". Let's just call it a rock and a hard place. And yes, the appropriate party is aware of my feelings on the situation, but it's nice to vent about it to an unbiased 3rd party. Thank you.

Last co-habitating fact I keep hearing again and again: Women gain weight and men get healthier when they move in together. Or some say that girls "let themselves go" when they "catch a man." However you want to say it, the girl picks up on guy's bad behavior and may gain a few pounds. I have realized that I can not eat like Adam and he now eats vegetables.

Adam and I went to a 'Winter Formal' the other week, check out the pictures...
Adam and me (yes, the hosts set up a photo studio)

Me and my sister, Heidi

Adam, the ladies man

Not my choice.

Have you ever wanted something so badly that it makes you depressed? Of course I have no control in the matter, all I can do is sit and wait...it's driving me crazy.

The worst part is I don't even know why I want it.

Running on Empty

When I started college, I managed to bypass the "freshman 15." When I came back from London, my weight was on a steady incline due to my lack of activity and fast food consumption. Then came the committed relationship extra pounds. I don't know why, but for some reason I just felt it was too hard to do anything about it. Last year I joined a gym and started to be active again and I am wearing my pants I bought in 2002. It's all very exciting. But I'm pretty sure the reason that I've been successful is because I've been running. I still have a long way to go to get my endurance up to where I want it to be, but I'm making progress. I work better when I have goals... My goal is to run the Grandma's 1/2 marathon. I don't have the time to commit to training for a full marathon, but I'm pretty sure I can handle a half. I'm going to run a 5K and 10K in the upcoming months to prepare and get in the race mode. It will be a lot of preparation, but it's something that I really want to accomplish.

On another note, I am also applying to grad school. I'm taking the GRE in a month, so I need to make sure I focus some energy on that and get all the paperwork in order to apply. The University of Minnesota has a Strategic Communication program that I'm interested in. I want to get my Master's and I know that if I wait awhile I probably will not go back and I know I need to do it before I have kids because I know that it will be even harder to go back. Ideally, I can get all of my paperwork in early and not have to think about it anymore. I can spend the next month studying and then spend two weeks getting my applications together while I wait for my scores to come back. It all sounds feasible in my head, now I just have to make it happen in real life.

Oral B

So, I haven't been to the dentist in 2 years. Not because I hate the dentist, I really don't mind it, but I didn't have insurance and then my car was broken. Well, I went today and had an awful time. The hygentist was the most annoying woman ever and I have been in a bad mood ever since. She was giving me shit about not going for two years- I'm sorry, but dental work is expensive and I'm not paying out of pocket for it. She was condesending and treated me like a little kid. Nothing pisses me off more. No, I'm not a dentist, but I do know how to brush and floss my teeth and I do NOT need someone talking down to me. Of course, to top off the entire visit, I found out I do have a small cavity and need to get a filling. At least my first cavity is a small one.