busy busy

So life has been crazy lately. When I moved into my dorm, it only took one day, but this move has taken a week and the apartment is still not fully set up!

Things have been pretty good for me lately, though. It was my dad's birthday on the 23rd, which was fun. He picked out all of his own presents and even bought some for himself for us to wrap up for him. (He must not like surprizes!) We got him a birthday apple pie...he was concerned that he'd drip wax all over and then catch the house on fire with the candles in this photo:

Christmas was good. My parents were originally going to buy me a bed for Christmas, so they weren't going to buy me very many presents, but then I got a free bed from Jesus, so they gave me money to spend on myself. This, however was spent on gas, groceries, prescriptions, and a haircut. Welcome to the adult world, I guess.

My apartment is starting to feel more like home now. At first it was really weird. I felt like I was moving someone else in, but then I was left alone to realize that this was my new home. Crazy. But I have been cooking some meals there and we've all been sleeping there now that Christmas is over. It's pretty exciting to be at this new stage in life, but also more uncertain and with a lot more responsibilites.

I still also have a lot to get done before I go back to school. We are having an apartment warming party on Sunday, there's a Youth2000 retreat next weekend, I have to get the rest of my school books, and still have to get all of the paperwork filled out to get my LPN license. But at least I have things to do. I'm ususally bored on breaks because I just sit around.

Well, I'd better be off now...those groceries aren't going to put themselves away! ;)

God bless!

even colder

I finally have started moving into my new apartment!

...but the temperature is between 60-68 degrees. We have it set on 90.

Yeah...need to get that fixed.

But now I'm tired...and need some sleep in a nice [semi]warm house.

Oh wait! I also got a free bed, thanks to Jesus and Amy! I didn't have a bed, and I asked Jesus to give me one! And He did!

Jesus, thank you for helping me grow up and get this apartment! And thank You for the bed!

bloody noodles

So this is kinda gross, but today I cut a chunk out of my finger when I was making linguini with vegetable ribbons. The meal was good, but it was kinda hard to get everything made with only one fully functional hand as the other was being wrapped in a towel in an effort to stop the profuse bleeding.

But dinner got made, at it was delicious. Come rain, shine, blood, or guts.

I feel so domestic!

Speaking of domestic, my friends Ruth Ann and Joe are getting married tomorrow! Please pray for their marriage. I know it will be holy and Christ centered, which will be challenging in today's world.

Also I move in two days! We were all approved for the apartment and will be moving in Sunday! It's really exciting.

And I'm thinking about joining a really tough exercise class to help me get in better shape. It's pretty expensive, though. I'm debating between just getting a membership at the YMCA and sigining up for this class.

Hmm...I'll have to think about it.

But for now I have to get going!

Have a wonderful day!

college grad

I now officially have graduated from college! Yes, you are, in fact, reading the blog of someone with a college degree. (Ok...it's just a diploma right now, but it will be a degree in a year!)

I graduated last night, which was fun. It was an informal ceremony (no caps/gowns), the formal one is in May. Here's a photo of me getting my diploma cover from Dr. Robert Denson, the president of DMACC and Senator Doug Shull.

We just got the diploma cover because it's finals week and they have to make sure we all passed our classes first! ;)

Anyways...that's all for now! Have a merry day tomorrow!

life goes on

Yes! I am [almost] done with school for the semester! I only have one more test tomorrow, but it isn't graded - just an indication of how we're going to do on the NCLEX-PN.

And I have managed to maintain my GPA, which I am the most excited about!

Now I just have to concentrate on Christmas [and the inevitable buying of presents] and moving.

Here's a typical "me pose" from the past few weeks.

I'm sitting at my favorite homework spot in my pink hat, my favorite greet slippers, and a blanket. [Remember my house is still sixty-four degrees.]

It is very very good to be [almost] done! I can finally breathe, even if it's only for a few weeks!

Jesus, thank You for the strength and grace to get through this semester! Please help me to do well next term and to do all for You! I love You!

my pyramid says i need to run more

If you are interested in the new food pyramid and a diet/exercise analysis, go to mypyramid.gov! It is really neat! You can register and login, and it will save all of your information on the website. There is a food and exercise diary as well as an analysis of each individually and together. It's really interesting! Try it out and see what the government says about your health regimen!

wipe that winshield!

A couple of exciting windshield stories from this weekend:

1. So for the past couple of weeks my widshield washer fluid has been frozen since it had the summer stuff in there (the kind without anitfreeze). This was really bad because driving around in the snow/melting snow was causing my windshield to be smeared with dirty water so I couldn't see. But I couldn't fix it because it was below freezing. Well, this weekend it got up to 35 degrees or so, barely above freezing. So my dad and I pumped out all of the old fluid, poured warm fluid in, pumped that out, poured more warm in, pumped that out, and poured new fluid in. We figured it would work, but alas! So my dad took the entire tubing thing apart, and it was clogged with dirt and such, so he cleaned it all out and it finally worked! Then he sprayed all of the washer fluid out through the newly-cleaned sprayers and filled it up one last time with antifreeze that can last until 20 below! (Hopefully it doesn't get that cold!) ;) My dad's the best!

...and now story number 2!...

2. I went Christmas shopping with my friend Maria today and we noticed that her windshield wipers were in shreds, so we went to Wal-Mart to get some new ones. We took the old wipers off so we could find the size she needed in the store. We determined that she needed one 22" and one 21". The only problem was that they did not have those two sizes in the same brand. So we went to Target and they had some, but they were about 4 times as expensive. But we got them and we decided to have a little adventure by putting them on ourselves without help or directions. ;) Have done this before, I decided to show here how to do it. I got the first one on after a bit of struggle, but it was worked. After that Maria tired to put the other one on, but couldn't get it. So I tried and got it on, but somehow managed to do it horribly wrong so we couldn't get it off again! Now, mind you, it was very dark and we just had a little flashlight to guide us, plus we didn't really know what we were doing. So we decided that one windshielf wiper would have to suffice and Maria went home to get her dad to fix it. God bless dads!

All in all, it was a wonderful windshield weekend!

generous bonus

So today I needed to make chocolate chip cookies for a potluck for my class tomorrow, but I only had $4. I wasn't sure if it would be enough, so I stopped by the bank to cash my paycheck. I was super excited because it was $114.97, which is the highest it's ever been. (Now this may seem piddly to you, but I only work 6-8 hours a week because I'm at school 4-9 hours a day.)

So, I get to the bank and the teller asked "How would you like it?"

"Twenties is fine."

Apparently that seemed like an odd request because the girl looked at me like I was crazy for a minute and then said, "Ok..." and started going through all of the check-cashing steps.

After a while she said "Oh wait! Is this supposed to be $114?"

"Yeah...why?"

She showed me the check, and in little box where you put the numbers, it said "$114. 97," but in the place where you spell the numbers out, it said "fourteen hundred and 97/100!"

I was so shocked! They had to get one of the bank managers to come over and talk to me (luckily he goes to my church and knows I'm not a crook). It just so happens that bankers are only supposed to look at the spelled out numbers, not the ones in the little box. (Now I know why the teller thought I was crazy for wanting $1400.97 in twenties!)

So I had to go back to work and thank my boss for the generous Christmas bonus, but say that I had to decline. ;) She felt really dumb and gave me $20 so I could go shopping for my cookie ingredients until she could make out another check for me.

Very very exciting!

indulge yourself!

So I know it's a bit late now, but Pope Benedict issued at plenary indulgence for everyone who went to Mass and recieved communion today, the feast of the Immaculate Conception!

Here is an article about it.

"The indulgence declared by Pope Benedict may be obtained by those who 'participate in a sacred function in honor of the Virgin, or at least least offer open testimony of Marian devotion before an image of Mary Immaculate exposed for public veneration, adding the recitation of the Our Father and of the Creed, and some invocation to the Virgin.'...The decree issued on November 29 by the Apostolic Penitentiary, announcing the indulgence, also lists the usual conditions: sacramental Confession, Eucharistic Communion, prayer for the intentions of the Pope, and the removal of attachment to sin. "

It's so exciting! I love the Church!

Jesus, thank you so much for loving us and being so forgiving, despite our wretched misery!