I was born in...

So, I went back to school this past fall, after exactly 6 years of being away from academics. Exciting, but also a LOT of work, stress, and confusion. To top it off, as a returning "post-bacc" I am now one of the older students. As in, I'm surrounded by twenty-somethings all of the time... I like them ok, but definitely found myself making friends with the the other older students, and anyone who seems quieter and doesn't want to tell me what they bought at Abercrombie this weekend. Seriously, that's a hot topic Monday mornings-pun intended ;0). Plus, it seems that this major (Speech Pathology) in particular attracts chatty girls- or maybe it's just Minnesota girls in general. Whatever.

So anyways, the age thing is just a side note, and sometimes an advantage; I've got some killer stories about my life already that the younger girls don't have- how many of them have been to Alaska and worked on tour boats? Aha! ;) Then recently I thought it was cute when the subject of birthdays and high school graduation dates came up, and the two really sweet girls I sit next to Anatomy (SO much to memorize!), discovered that I was not 25 or 26 like they thought, but a whole 10 YEARS OLDER than they were!!! Eeeek! ;) Weird, they graduated from high school in 2008!!! I was 4 years out of college by then! So aside from them being really cute and trying to be polite over my very advanced age, I was mildly flattered, but kind of used to it. Yes, my mom DOES look so much younger than that, thanks, I know. It kinda runs in my family- the women age very gracefully. (Fingers crossed here, that my Hispanic "roots" will not kick in and give me grotesque chin whiskers by the time I hit 40! *gag*)

I thought about this exchange later though, and how I responded, "Yes, but I honestly don't feel that old," (which is totally true), and now I'm sitting here thinking- well, why not? I really DON'T feel like I'm 31, and I look like I'm younger, so what's stopping me from saying I'm younger? Who would really know the difference or care besides my body cells? I do regret "wasting" so much time figuring out what to do with my life, it would have been nice if I had figured it out by the time I was 26... (Ha!, I can hear Adrea's lecture right now! ;) No, I don't feel like I really wasted my life, and I'm actually not "ashamed" to be 31, BUT wouldn't that be a great mental boost if you suddenly had those years back? Thoughts? huh... I will think on this for now, and... try not to judge me when I celebrate my 30th birthday 4 years from now! ;)

ForrrrevvvverrrrR!

Um, hello! I was just updating myself on other friends' blogs, and then I went and looked at my sad little blog, that I abandoned almost 2 years ago! Poor little guy! I tend to do that though, get really excited and gung-ho about something, and then gradually peter out.. I haven't written in my journal either in about 6 months, and let's not even Start on that GL Girls book that I started almost 3 years ago, that went around perfectly once, and then stopped at me! Ergh, I am the worst procrastinator! Like right now? I'm supposed to be doing homework. So I will go do that, and then Maybe come back here and update the last year or so of my life...or maybe just the recent holidays! ;) Love you all, chat later!

God is Good :)

Whew. so the past couple of days have been extra hard for me, with the adversary working all kinds of discouraging plots and ploys...ugh. So it's definitely been a trial, as I struggle to bend my stubborn will to His, and not be so demanding and instead just be grateful and work with what I have... So to help myself feel better, I went to the lovely park behind our house and lay in the grass and soaked up some sun. It did help a bit, and afterwards I brushed the little grass bits off my jacket and headed home.. only to discover when I got there that I had lost my CTR ring! :( (not the one you gave me Kristin, just one that I had bought myself in Flagstaff, but still, I was sad) But I figured I would never find it in that huge park!, and so I sadly went on with my evening..

And then today, I did the same thing, only this time I was feeling more humble and contrite, and being a good little mormon I took my scriptures along to read while I soaked up sun. I chose about the same spot as yesterday, and it was lovely. :) When I had read and soaked for awhile, I brushed off my jacket to go home, thinking 'that's how I must have lost my ring the day before', but I noticed also that the grass had been cut since then, and envisioned my ring being happily munched and crunched by the mower! :( But I took a quick glance around anyway, and guess what I spied?





Can you see it? Here's a close up:





My ring! :) Draw whatever spiritual conclusions you will, but that is a lot of grass and a little ring! :) So yes, I feel better, and very blessed :)

Fargo fun! :)

So, having just relocated myself and two 50 lb bags to Fargo for a couple of months, I've been applying for jobs/ exploring the downtown area where I live for the past few days, and today I stumbled across this awesome antique/ junk store! I should have taken pics of the store front, but honestly I didn't expect it to be so cool. It looked teeny-tiny from the street, but then when I went in, it went alll the way back to the end of the block! Awesome sauce :)

Mostly tea sets, records, etc, but then I discovered a ton of old clip and screw earrings which I thought were pretty rad:


And then! I wandered upon the mecca of tantalizing tarnished treasures- tacky salt 'n pepper shakers of all kinds! boxes and shelves of them! It was a hard decision, but I think, ultimately, I'll go for...







The dead bear family. Tacky, morbid, and kinda cute, all at the same time! Now all I need is a job to pay for them and roommate approval to let them into the house! ;) Good times in Fargo, I'm for sure going back to that store sometime soon, with some mad money! :)

Really?

So here's another one- not only is it annoyingly sappy, but they got the whole phrase wrong; what the heck is a bo-bo?!

oh, dear...

So, you'd think if you were going to have something carved in stone, you'd be sure and have it correct, right? Maybe these people just haven't read the books yet:

Prolific Procreators :)

Alright, there's something in the air right now. As of today, these friends are currently pregnant;

1. Adrea Ricke
2. Cammy Engler
3. Kim Shellenberger
4. Angela Messinger
5. Malitha Nguyn
6. Sara Ekins Castillo

alright, so 5 isn't a lot, I swear there's more...
and now there's 6!!! eeek! (but in a good way)