Saturday, December 5, 2009

Slacker/Homecoming story

I know, I know, I know. No updates for over a month. Here comes the list of excuses. 1) I honestly haven't done anything crafty in a this past month, other than just playing with some fabric. 2) School is coming to an end for this semester, so of course in the professor's minds, it's precisely the time to give us about 14 homework assignments and projects each night.

In other news, the boy is home safe and sound from deployment number two. He came home at exactly 6 months from the day he left, a month early! It was not expected at all. Last time I blogged, I know I said I was anticipating him coming home early, but that changed just a day or so later, and he wasn't coming home early anymore. In fact he wasn't due home until today, give or take a few days. His mom called me on Monday (Nov. 9) and told me she had just gotten off the phone with the FRO (family readiness officer- basically the person who keeps the family updated on what's going on, what they're doing, and homecoming and the like). I was just like "okay" not expecting much, but then she asked me if I was sitting down. I was driving, so I mean, technically, I was. Then she told me that he was coming home THAT Friday. I just about lost it. Tears ran down my face and everything.

A few work days and a horrible rainy drive (including a ticket!), I found myself in North Carolina. He began to rent an apartment while he was gone (for when he came home) and when his parents and brother got in, they found the apartment in pretty good shape, except there was no electricity. We all stayed in a hotel that night, and then the next morning (when he was supposed to be back) we went to his apartment. I have to say, it was a little odd sitting in his bedroom, with everything there but him.

As I said before, he was supposed to be home Friday (Nov. 13). While I was driving down, he texted me (from his computer) saying that they were stuck in Spain because of the bad weather. It was only supposed to be until 2 or so the next day (Friday), so I figured it wasn't too bad, at least he'd still be home that same day. But then, in the morning we got a call from the FRO saying that now a part on the plane was broken and it could take a few days since they had to get it shipped from the US to Spain. A FEW DAYS?! The thought just about killed me. After that call, we were expecting Monday at the earliest for his homecoming. We went about the day, going to a few different places and trying to figure out if his dad and brother were going to stay or not.

The next morning (Saturday, the 14th), at about 7am, I was beginning to wake up (of course I was considering going back to sleep) when my phone rang. It was his mom calling from the other room letting me know about another call from the FRO. All I could think of was "what now?" But then, his mom told me that the FRO was calling to let us know the plane was landing in Virgina (about 3 hours away from where we were). I sat up right away, now completely awake. Next thing I knew, the boy was calling me and telling me that they had just landed, but they had to wait for the bus now. I got up and got ready, fully expecting them to be home in a few hours. As the day went by, and the bus still wasn't there (for whatever reason, they waited until their plane landed to call for a bus. Then the bus had to leave from North Carolina and then go to Virginia to get them), we went out to lunch with Matt's friends (another Marine and his wife) and then went to their house for a bit. Then it was time for a nap.

After the nap we all got ready once again (it was about 7pm). We were getting texts from the boy, updating us on where he was. His mom was taking a bit longer to get ready, and then all of a sudden she said he was really close so we all rushed out to the cars. We took two, including his since we would have to fit 5 people and all his gear. His brother and I were following his parents in his car, and his mom got lost on the way to base. Talk about getting nervous. I knew he was so close and so were we. When we found our way finally and got on base, we then had to get base passes. That took longer than expected. Then we had to find where everyone was meeting and waiting for the buses. We drove past it once, not seeing it, then finally pulled in with the buses basically right behind us.

His poor brother was trying to find a place to park and I shouted "THERE'S THE BUSES! LET ME OUT!" I left everything but my camera in the car and even opened the door while the car was still moving. I ran up to the buses and started taking pictures and trying to see if he was on the one I was next to. His mom spotted him first (she ran up to the bus, and looked up into the window, I only saw everyone from the neck down from where I was standing). Unlike last time, they weren't in their uniforms and there was no formation, so as soon as they got off the bus they were able to go right to their families. His mom hugged him first and then it was my turn. Talk about amazing! I truly believe that unless you go through a deployment and then a homecoming you can never imagine what it feels like. It's like a first kiss all over again. It's just...amazing. He's been home for almost a month (with the majority of it in North Carolina, but on US soil none the less). He'll be home-home in just about 2 weeks for two weeks of post-deployment leave (which means he'll be home for Christmas and New Years!) The timing is great as I will just be finishing up with school and finally only have work to worry about!

Well the dogs are calling my name, they want to go out and play in the first snow of the year!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Right now...

  • I'm eagerly anticipating the boy's homecoming (EARLY!!!!)
  • I'm so over school, can't wait until this semester is over.
  • I'm sick of this rain. Either sun or snow - Mother Nature, please choose one.
  • I desperately want to scrapbook, yet I really don't want to clean my desk.
  • I rekindled my love for shopping yesterday, but promised myself I wouldn't wear anything until I went to get the boy.
  • I am so happy it's November finally...lots of good things happening this month - getting my boyfriend back, my dog's birthdays, my birthday, thanksgiving, etc.
  • School and work are still taking over my life. I can't wait for thanksgiving break, and some bonus time when I go and get the boy.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Last week of freedom...

Not that I really want to call it my last week of freedom, but let's be realistic here..that's what it is. I'm gonna finish up all my fatty groceries this week (oodles and noodles, lots of other pasta foods, etc) and starting next week I'm gonna be healthy. I have fitness and food logs I need to print out. I'm going to use those to help me.

I'm going to track what I eat and see just how much I put into my body and how many calories I don't burn.

What sparked this you may ask? Well, I was cleaning my room a bit and found two Walmart gift cards. Each had $10 on it. Now if you know me, I never go to Walmart. It's not that I have anything against it, I'd just rather go to the target that's two minutes from it. This target is kept much cleaner, it's less crowded, and the I know the isles like the back of my hand. So instead of fighting the madness that is my local Walmart (trust me, parking is TERRIBLE as is just getting into and maneuvering through the store) I went online. I had been hearing about this video, 30 day shred with Jillian Michaels for a while now. It was almost like free money (I've had these giftcards since AT LEAST Christmas, maybe even Christmas of 2007) I figured why not. I bought that and another Jillian Michaels one, No More Trouble Zones. I paid less than $5 out of my pocket for those with shipping.

This then sparked a memory of the time I had picked up one of The Hungry Girl books, 200 under 200...or something like that at Barnes and Nobles. I didn't buy it (just for the simple fact that I knew I could find it online cheaper- and I was right). Basically, it's a collection of 200 recipes under 200 calories. I went on Amazon, and then Ebay, and found it a lot cheaper than Barnes and Noble. That's probably going to be my bible for a little bit. Something else that's going to be helpful, the Omron HBF-306C Fat Loss Monitor. On payday, I'm going to buy this baby:

Image from Amazon.com


It'll calculate my fat for me and show me how much fat I'm burning as opposed to me just seeing if the numbers on the scale are dropping. They say muscle weighs more than fat, so I think it'll help keep me motivated if I see the body fat percentage drop even if the numbers on the scale remains the same.

I'm going to take before pictures tonight, because I know I'll look essentially the same come Monday of next week, and I don't know if I'll have time next week.

The plan of attack - Use one of the 800 binders I have just laying around as my weight loss binder. Yes, I'm anal like that. I'm gonna make the cover all pretty probably (gotta throw in a little craftiness you know?) and keep my food diary, fitness diary, maybe a few notes in there, and some favorite low fat/low calorie recipes. That way I'll know where everything is.

Exercise plan - Hopefully, I'll do 30 day Shred every day (it's only 20 minutes) go to the gym Tuesdays and Thursdays and do the treadmill and some weights. And then do No More Trouble Zones Monday Wednesday and Fridays. Sort of confusing I know. I'll probably have to change it up a little so it works for me. But that's what I'm going to start with.

I know this is extremely long, but one more thing before I go. During my search for printable fitness logs and calorie logs, I came across this awesome site, http://sparkpeople.com . I signed up with a fake email address at first, just to get access to the logs, however once I saw all of the stuff they had, I went back right away and signed up with my real email and user name. It has this whole thing that sets you up with a goal (or you can choose to not set one). You can either do how much weight you want to lose by a certain date, or chose a date and see how much weight you should/could lose by then. I chose a date right around when the boys coming home so that I can work my butt off to reach that goal. I've only received one email from them so far, so they apparently aren't all about sending you 900 emails either. I haven't had the time to sit down and completely explore the site, but I have seen some of it. You get to virtually spin a wheel every day that you log in. Most days you'll only see points on the wheel, but some days there will be little prizes like a water bottle or a t-shirt. I have no idea what the accumulation of points does... I think it shows up as different trophies? I'm probably wrong though.

They also have message boards and groups to join. I'm in the dog lovers group, one of the 20 something groups, and a few others. I haven't posted to the message board or any of the groups yet. One thing that I didn't like, but was able to easily (really easily) rectify was that the default setting for the message boards is that the newest posting was on top. I looked around for just a minute and found the little link/setting thing to change that. There's lots of healthy recipes on there as well as other little helpful odds and ends. I'm very excited to start really using the site and seeing what else it has to offer. I guess I better enjoy eating whatever I want and how much I want while I can!

Next post I'll share my goals!

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Halfway!

Finally, there is some good news coming from this deployment. We have officially hit the halfway mark! With this comes a big sigh of relief. We can say now that we've finished more days than we have left. That just feels so good to say. There's also rumours (I know I shouldn't listen to them, but they're coming straight from the boy) that he may be coming home early. That would be amazing. I just can't wait for him to be home! With jumping to the other side of the halfway mark, comes the beginning of planning. Wow. How I have waited to be able to do that. I need to start getting things in order. Kicking even more butt at the gym, getting my room together, going to the dermatologist, going to another doctor...you know, getting a lot of the little things done before I get too busy and can't. Then within the month before he comes home (probably October) comes the big planning. Taking off of work, booking the hotel, going shopping for a homecoming outfit. I can't wait until September (when I can say I can start to do all of that "next month"). I'm so glad August only has 9 days left until it's over.

I agree when everyone says summer went by pretty fast. However, they're usually saying that as if it's a negative thing. I, on the other hand, am very thankful it has flown by. Most times I'm just amazed that it's Friday and the weekend is here and the week is already over. I still have some days though that feel like weeks in themselves, and weeks that feel like months.

I start school in a little over a week (on the 31st) and I'm hoping that makes things to by even faster. I am so happy to be able to say that he should be home before I'm finished this semester.

Speaking of school, I'm hoping this semester will be relatively easy. Although I say that now, so we'll see. I think my biggest challenge will be Biology. I have that Monday and Wednesday, from 5:45-7:10pm. However, on Wednesdays, I have it's lab counterpart from 7:20 until 10:15 at night. That's going to be a long day. On top of going to school full time (although some of my classes are partly online) I'm working full time, from 7:30am until 4:30pm. So Wednesdays are going to kill me. I'll essentially be running around from 6:30am until 10:45pm. I haven't even figured out how I'm going to eat dinner those days. Hopefully I'll have a lenient teacher and she'll allow us a little snack if we so desire.

Phew, this is already long.

In crafty news, I'm SO close to being done this extremely long unmounting process. I have two stampin up stamp sets left to do. One is pretty simple, the other...not so much. It's the kind that have two stamps mounted on each block, and it's all short little words. I have all my non stampin up stamps unmounted already. My desk is even cleaned off, so I was able to make two 3x3 cards. They're not my best work, I'm a little rusty, but they'll do for now.

I've suffered from this horrible bout of insomnia recently. I finally slept really well last night (and further into the day than I would have liked) but when I did wake up, it was with a cold. I'll definitely be needing to hook up my humidifier tonight. I'm off to try and nurse myself back to health before Monday. Have a good weekend!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Busy bee

I am so exhausted. I thought summer meant more free time, less work, etc? Not the case for me apparently. There's more drama at work than ever, which already leaves me exhausted when I come home. Then, I go to the gym and work with my overly energetic puppies. By the time my head hits the pillow, I haven't had any time to just relax so I'm still all wound up with a million thoughts racing around in my head. Thus, I can't fall asleep for at least an hour or two, which makes waking up in the morning pretty difficult and so the cycle continues. I need to get more sleep. I need to eat better. I need to change something.

But enough of that. In craft related news, I haven't done anything. I haven't finished unmounting and ezmounting my stamps. I've looked at craft related blogs, and I've been so inspired to create, yet find myself with no extra time in the day. So I've convinced myself that tonight, after dinner, I will go up and I will clear off my desk and at least make more of a dent in it, if not, get it done. I need some type of release!

Well I'm off to eat dinner!

Saturday, July 4, 2009

What I've been up to...

I know it seems like I've been slacking in posting..and to be honest, I have. However, I've probably looked at my blog at least everyday and for various reasons, I just didn't post.

Since the last time I posted, I've been finishing up my summer class (which I got an A in by the way), continuing to count down the days till the boy will be home, and beginning the task of unmounting, retrimming, and ez mount-ing my rubber stamps. Can I just say how much I love my hot knife?? I've been using the EZ Mount Stamp n' Store system. It looks like this:

I bought everything seperately (the stamp n' store panels, the ez mount, and I had a binder at home already) I've used less than two full ez mount sheets and have finished about half my stampin up rubber stamp collection. I have various other rubber stamps that I need to unmount as well. I finally gave into the unmounting craze based on the simple fact that I was running out of room. I will more than likely be able to store AT LEAST twice the amount of rubber stamps as I was before, and in one binder as opposed to a billion plastic cases stacked on top of eachother.

More than likely, I will be selling the stamping up clam shell cases that I have (I have all sizes), and the wood blocks since I can't figure out what to do with them (again I have all sizes). So if you or someone you know is interested, let me know!

Once I get them all unmounted and onto the stamp n store panels, my next step will be indexing them. This is probably going to be the biggest task. I'm trying to decide which is the best way to do it for me. Do I want to do it by stamp sets (with the sentiments spread out, or in some cases together with their set)? Do I want to do it by topic/theme (with all sentiments in one spot, or with what they go with)? I'm going to have to look on some of the message boards to figure this one out.

I don't know when I'll get this all done, as I'm going to at least one (possibly two) cook outs today, going grocery shopping as well as doing massive amounts of laundry and cleaning tomorrow. Although, it's going to seem like a whole different world now that I can actually enjoy summer break and just work instead of working and going to school.

I am doing something good though next week. Starting Monday, I'm joining the local gym. My friend is already a member, and I'm going to try a spin class (it burns 500-600 calories in an hour...I'm probably not going to be able to move the next day) on Monday and if I like it and the gym, then I'll join. It's not too expensive and it includes all the classes I want to take. Jen (my friend I was talking about) does kick boxing and she tried the spinning class the other day. I'm going to see what else the offer. I really wish they offered Zumba (it's essentially aerobic exercize/dancing to good music. Hopefully they'll offer it soon enough, as it seems to be the latest craze.

Well, I think this is long enough. I'm off to shower and get out of my pajamas!

Happy 4th of July everyone!



Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Frustration.

I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated with the fact that it's raining outside. I'm frustrated with people at work who are just ridiculous. I'm frustrated with the fact that I could really use a hug and some cuddle time, but my boyfriend is on a ship a million miles away. I'm frustrated with the fact that I really need to organize my room and craft space, but have no real motivation to do so. The TV keeps turning itself off, driving me crazy. I want to just lay here and relax, watch a movie, be completely lazy...instead I can't watch TV and there is only so much I can do on the computer. I am just in no mood to get up and begin a task that will take who knows how long to complete.

Anywayyyyyyyyy.... I ended up spending two hours at the vet last night. And I came out with a $487 bill. The worst part was that it was a routine visit. No emergency what-so-ever. Both of the dogs needed three shots and a general exam. However, being that it's spring (a fresh start, so to speak) and will soon be summer, I thought it prudent to get some blood work done on them so I would be 100% certain they had no issues and no heartworms. There goes another $50 a dog. With the results for both comepletely negative, it was time to get medicine to prevent them ever having lymes disease, fleas, heartworm, etc. There goes another $100 (thankfully this was enough for both)...and there goes almost $500. Not to mention that they had 12 emergencies that day and were wayyyyyyyy behind with appointments. We waited an hour before my dogs were seen. Usually we're in and out pretty quickly, so we were patient unlike others in the waiting room. Oh well. Next year, they'll just need the exam, meds, and 2 less expensive shots. My bill will be at least $200 cheaper. Thankfully.

In happier news, Jan is giving away some great blog candy. I would love to have that machine!

I'm off to surf some blogs, and hopefully gain some motivation to get up and organize!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Organized.

Organized. It's another one of my goals to complete before the boy comes home. I will get organized and I will keep it that way. It seems like I never have enough time to get everything put together and organized the way I want.

I want free time where I have nothing to do as well, but that doesn't happen anymore either. Hopefully it will when I'm done with school for this summer semester/session. Only a little under three weeks left and I'll be finished.

Today I've been taking care of my dogs (they're long haired- a Shih-tzu mix) and I've shaved one down. Now I'm doing some laundry before shaving the other down and then giving them both a bath. They've got a vet appointment tomorrow evening that they need to look good for. Not that they were a mess before, but a bath and fresh haircut always helps.

Just for my own purpose and need to plan, let's make a to do list just for today.
1) Finish shaving Puddles (fix up a few spots and trim around his head)
2) Shave Tucker completely
3) Give both dogs a bath
4) Finish laundry and putting away clothes
5) Write up oral presentation/powerpoint for class

And my things to do in general, sometime soon:
1) Put all die cut stuff in baskets
2) Go through all VHS tapes and get rid of most, if not all of them
3) Finish organizing bookshelf
4) Organize put away all craft/scrapbook stuff that's still sitting in bags (sad, I know)
5) Get the boys carepackage put together and mailed out no later than Wednesday.

As I type the little button that's usally under the U key just fell off (my U key itself has been off for a while..it was too much hassle to keep putting it back on just to have it fall off again 5 minutes later so I just left it off) so I think that's my sign that it's time to go.

But before I do, can I just say how happy I am to FINALLY be able to say that we are officially ONE MONTH DOWN with this deployment? Woo hoo!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Making money.

Oh the desire to make more money. Sure what I make at the daycare is enough to cover bills and what not. But I feel guilty spending money when I still owe my parents for car insurance and such. A girls gotta go out though right?

Thus, I started looking for extra babysitting jobs. I currently watch two sets of family's children. I put an ad on craigslist and had a bunch of responses. A few were spam, but there were two or so that were legit. One I did an interview sort of thing tonight. It's watching three boys occasionally so that their parents can go out. The boys are adorable! Three little blond haired blue eyed rough and tumble boys. They're 6, 4, and 3. She's checking my references tomorrow (which I know for a fact will go through and be good) and once she gets the okay from them, I've got the job. The pay is good. The other one I'm waiting to hear back. The mom is a nurse at one of the hospitals, so I know she's busy. Between work, school, and babysitting probably once a week or so I'll be busy. The plan is to use my daycare paychecks to pay everything (or as much as I can) off by the time the boy gets back from this deployment. I'm sick of being in debt, so I figured it's time to do something about it :)

Hopefully it'll be one goal checked off my list when he gets back. And who knows, maybe running after the boys all the time will help me check another goal off, losing weight. Who has time to eat when I'm running after kids all day!

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Happy Weekend

I love the weekend. Doesn't everyone though? A chance to relax and unwind. Although a lot of the time it ends up being when I get everything done. Cleaning, laundry, errands, etc. Oh well. Today, as embarrassed as I am to admit this, I haven't even gotten out of my pajamas. And can I just tell you how great it feels? I'm so used to running from one place to another and never having enough hours in the day that just one day without it is like this huge weight off my shoulders. Tomorrow, I go back to trying to get a bunch of things done, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy this to do list free day.

I went to the baseball game last night. We ended up having to get me a scalped ticket. $10 over the regular price, but hey, I'd rather pay that than the $40 for the only seats they had left. Luckily whoever bought the tickets for the seats next to my friends didn't show up, so we were all able to sit next to each other with no issues. Our team won, 7-2. There were even fireworks after the show. It was a good time.

No craft/scrapbooking related news or posts recently. Hopefully this will change pretty soon. I'm still working on the massive clean up/reorganization of my craft area, and with any luck this will make it much easier for me to do projects there with the little free time I usually have.

Speaking of little free time, since school is usually the reason for that, I did pretty well in my classes. Compared to the past few semesters anyway. I had been letting my grades slowly slip more and more each semester. Hopefully I'm on the climb back up now. My summer class starts on Tuesday. The break has been nice, luckily this is only a month long class so I'll be able to get another break for a little under two months after this class is over.

Well I'm off to watch a little TV and do...well nothing really. Surf some blogs, SCS, and so on. Maybe I'll finally make it through these 10 scrapbooking magazines I've had sitting here for the past two weeks.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Missing him.

Okay, first things first. I just have to put this out there to make me feel better. Maybe it's just me, but I just don't understand why people say "Happy Memorial Day". It's not like it's a happy day. It's to remember the fallen soldiers and marines. It's not like "Happy birthday!" or "Happy Halloween" or something. It's a somewhat sad day. You're remembering people that died fighting for freedom. Yes, you could be celebrating their life...but it just irks me that there are a lot of people out there who don't remember the reason for today. And just think of it as a day off of work, a day to go to a cookout, an extension of the weekend and another night to drink. I guess being the granddaughter of someone in the navy, a grand-niece of someone in the army and then coast guard, the grand-niece of someone else in the army, and girlfriend of someone in the marines...it just affects me a little more. So please, if you read this today, just remember the real reason behind Memorial Day.

But moving on. I've been missing the boy a lot. I mean, in general I've been missing him, but yesterday was just a big reminder of him being gone. I went to my best friend's graduation party yesterday and there were a bunch of couples there. Not that they were all over each other or anything, but you could tell. I ended up drinking more than I should have (not to the point that I was completely messed up) and I really missed him taking care of me. I had friends there obviously, but none of them were taking care of me, which I completely understand, it's not like that's their job or anything, but it made me miss him so much, because he would have been taking care of me. Little things like that just tug at my heart and make me practically miserable for the rest of the day. But we're one more day closer now to him coming home. One more day closer to the happiest day ever. One more day closer to being in his arms again. That's one thing I miss probably more than anything. You know, that amazing feeling where you just feel so unbelievably comfortable, warm, and safe. You feel like everything you need is right there..you could stay like that forever and be completely and 100% content. Okay, now I've got my eyes welling up, it's time to go. I have to go get ready anyway.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Relaxation

It was so nice to be able to not go anywhere yesterday, and not have to do anything. I haven't been able to just sit here and relax in forever. I did manage to get some work done. I cleaned out the freezer and two shelves of the pantry in preparation for the grocery run I'm about to do. No more eating out, no more eating junk. I also rearranged my room a bit and cleaned a lot of it. I still have to do some organizing, but the majority, I'd say about 75%, is done.

Once I get the eating under control I'll join a gym.

Ive gotten two of my final grades back so far. I got an A. I was so happy. I know I have either a B or an A in one of my other classes. In math I got a C... I missed a B by less than two points. That's going to make me crazy! I wish these teachers would hurry up and put these grades up. I'm assuming I got a B or C in my english class. Next semester I'm going to work by butt off and get all As and Bs.

Alright, I gotta get ready and head to the grocery store. I'm already cutting it close by being back by 1:15 and still having time to get ready and get to my best friend's grad party!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

7 month countdown begins

He's gone. He left on Thursday. This deployment already seems harder than the first. A few times a day, especially at night when we would usually call each other, I just want to pick up the phone and text or call him. I go so far as to get my phone in my hand, take off the key lock, and then realize I can't. He called last night. It was really nice to hear his voice even though it was only for a few minutes and even though he had only been gone for a day.

I can't wait to start on his care packages. I already know of a few that I'm going to do. I want to try and send one at least once a month. First I have to figure out how long it takes to get something from here to him on average. I don't want to send some type of food that spoils in two weeks if it's going to take a month to get to him!

At least from here on out, instead of counting the days until he leaves, I get to count the days until he's home again. Which obviously is a much better date to count to.

I have lots of plans to keep myself busy while he's gone. Joining a gym, taking a summer course, taking a full course load in the fall, continuing to work full time the entire time he's gone, completely clean/rearrange my room, quit the terrible habit of smoking, save money, oh the list could go on and on.

It's one of those really disgusting days out. I'd much rather it be pouring down then this sticky wet feeling. It's like you're sweating all day, but you're not. You just have this nasty wet, humid feeling all day long. I feel like I need to shower for the second time today and it's only 1:30 in the afternoon.

Well, I'm off to go and get ready for a graduation party I have to go to at 4.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

where I've been.

Whew! Its been so long since I posted. I've been so busy! This whole going to school full time and working full time kicks my butt. I'm almost done thank god. Well...for a week or so anyway. But at least then I'll only have a month of one class where I meet twice a week and that's all. It's a little bit of a break anyway. Then I'm free for almost two months. Free from school that is. Still have to make that money! Haha. No, but I love what I do. I love each and every one of my babies.

My great uncle did pass away shortly after my last post. While it was expected, it still hurt. A lot. He will be and is greatly missed.

The boy and I are still together, still going strong. He was just up here visiting for a little bit under two weeks. Unfortunately it was for pre-deployment leave. Off to Afghanistan he goes. Actually, right now I should be doing a million things for homework that I need to get done before I go down to North Carolina to see him before he leaves...but instead I'm procrastinating by writing this blog. I'll be down there from Friday until the day he leaves, which I'm not going to put on here for OPSEC reasons. But lets just say, it's entirely too close.

I figured out I'll be done school (with my AA) anyway after the spring semester (so only a year to go) Then I'll have another two years till I'll have my Bachelors. Ack. I'm so ready for school to be over with.

Well, enough procrastinating for now. Off to go do tons of homework!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Sad news.

Long time no see! It's been almost exactly a month since I last posted. Can you say busy!? I feel like school has taken over my life. As I type, I'm reminded of the test I need desperately to study for and the big project I need to start and complete! Today is my day to not do a thing (although I did go out and pay my car payment...) so I'll do all of that tomorrow.

I've also come down with a pretty bad cold. I also had pinkeye at the beginning of the week as well (thank you daycare kids!) The pinkeye is all gone now, the cold is still kicking my butt though. I lost some of my hearing in my left ear, the ability to breathe out of my nose, and the ability to taste...all because of this cold. I took medicine to help me breathe out of my nose again, and it gave me a pretty bad nose bleed in the middle of the night, so I'm back to letting it run its course.

The boy and I are still together, everything has been great since we had a little bit of a chat about how things were going.

In very sad news, we found out earlier this week that my great uncle billy is, according to the doctors "actively dying", and will be gone by the end of this week. He is refusing to eat, in and out of a coma, and when he is given food (I'd assume through a feeding tube) his kidneys shut down, etc. He's unfortunately been going downhill for the past year or so. He's 89 and has lived a good life... Fought in WWII alongside his two brothers, had two children, many grandchildren, many nieces, many great nieces and nephews, and overall lived a happy life. I feel like I had so much left to ask him. What was life like back then? What happened to you during the war? How did you meet your wife? What was life like growing up with pop pop (my grandfather)? He lives in Florida, we live in Maryland. When he was up here in Maryland everyone wanted a piece of his attention so I never got to ask him those questions, the same ones I wanted to ask my grandfather. He was like my grandfather's twin more than his brother. They are the spitting image of each other. Every time I saw him it was like seeing my grandfather again. Almost like seeing his ghost. I mean obviously I know it wasn't him, and no one will replace my grandfather and the memories we shared (I'll go on about those another day), it was nice being able to spend some time with someone who was able to spend more time with my grandfather then I was. In a sense it was almost like God was giving me back a little piece of something I lost when I was 12. Now, this morning we got a call that he is in his last hours. My heart is breaking as I type this, because not many family members were able to make it down there. Just his daughter and son. No other news yet, but as hard as it is for me to say this, it's inevitable, and I know it's coming. I know that when he goes, he'll be greeted by his brothers...probably with a hug and then a gentle push and a "where ya been" followed by a expletive that Pop Pop always used as a term of endearment. God, I miss him. And I'm going to miss Uncle Billy too.

Now that I'm all upset, it's time for me to go. Hopefully it won't be another month before I post again!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Trouble in paradise

Yep, you heard that right. Over 3 years since we've been together and we've hit a bit of a bump. Lots of things were discussed, and we've decided to try to make it work. We'll see what happens over the next week or so. I'll leave it at that.

I had a lot of fun the past few days. I think it's just what I needed. Sometimes you just need to let loose and be you, fully and completely.


Anyway, enough of my babbling. I am desperately in need of doing a major cleaning of my craft area, and my room in general. Things are shoved everywhere and in no order whatsoever. I did make a birthday card for a friend amidst all that mess somehow. I kept meaning to take a picture of it, but I never got around to it. She has it now, so it's a little too late.

Once I clean (and find some time), I'll take a picture of whatever I make.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

This weekend.

This weekend has been crazzzy. Well, not really..but it just seems like the more I get done, the more I have to do. Ever have that feeling?!? I feel like I did a lot for some reason. I think I'm just emotionally exhausted. Work on Friday, then watched one of my "old" babies and his sister...that brought up some things..., emissions testing on Valentines day, then a whole lot of nothing, but it took some out of me emotionally, then today I went store to store, did laundry, homework, etc.

Now I feel like I have more to do...more laundry, more homework/projects, shave my dogs down (two shih-tzus...they're a mess), grocery store...I could go on forever.

This week will probably be busy too. I have a full week of classes ahead (I have every other monday online instead of at school, but this monday is at school). Not to mention my best friend's turns the big 2-1 on Thursday. So that will be a late night. Dinner on Friday with an old friend too. Hopefully, I can get some craft stuff actually done this weekend. I have a few projects in mind.

How was everyone's valentines day? I thought I could get through this one pretty easily, I mean he's been gone every other one...I thought wrong. I cried. More than once. I guess I didn't help myself by watching sappy romantic comedies on TV all day either. It just seems unfair that they take them away for months of training right before they're deployed for months. That's the Marine Corps for ya though. I can't wait to see him again. I miss him so much it's ridiculous. I just keep telling myself "one day at a time". I need to get a calendar soon. Last deployment I crossed off each day and wrote "one month down", "two months down", etc on the correct date. It really helped me to see that I was making progress, that the days really were passing, and I was another day closer to seeing him again.

Alright, enough blabbing, I'm off to put a few things away, put my laundry in the dryer, cuddle with my dogs, and call it a night.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

I'm still alive

I swear I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. I've just been so busy lately. It felt like (and was basically true) that I was only home this past week to eat and sleep. I'd come home for my break from work and let the dogs out and eat my lunch. Then it was back to work. Then home for a snack and then off to school. When I came home from school it was dinner time, and then I was so exhausted I went up to bed.

Last night, I was knocked out at like 9:30! On a friday night! I woke up long enough to get off the sofa, let the dogs outside and back in, and go up to bed. I didn't wake up until 8:30 this morning. I felt like I should have gone back to bed too, but figured if I did I wouldn't wake up until noon and I didn't want to sleep that long.

Since I'm so tired each night, the last thing I want to do is homework. Which means that's all left to do on the weekend. It's only the first week and I have a ton to do tomorrow. Here it is, barely 10:30 and I feel like I'm up way past my bedtime. Can you believe this? 21 years old and wanting to be in bed before 10:30 each night? Hopefully my body will adjust soon and I'll get on a good schedule and won't feel so zapped of energy all the time.

The good news is that I love my job. I love my coworkers, although I see some talking behind backs, but it's nothing I haven't dealt with before and to a much larger extent. The kids are all really good. I just need to learn their schedules. I'm doing it, it's just hard to learn all 9 at once. I think I'm going to really study their schedules on Monday.

My classes this semester are going to kick my butt. Theirs no doubt about that one. There's going to be lots of projects and papers, not to mention the regular chapter readings. One of my classes is going to have guest speakers and a field trip to the NICU. I think this would be an amazing class if the teacher wasn't so ... what's the word I'm looking for? Not boring just... blah. Nothing special I guess.

In paper craft related news, I got a little bit of organizing done today. I added everything to my clip up. I had just enough space and just enough clips. I want the upper tier, but then it won't fit on my desk hutch. I have to move some other things around as well. I got my other two cropper hoppers yesterday so I'm going to have to put them on the hutch as well. This means 4 cropper hoppers, my clip it up, plus my stampin up ink caddy all up there. So my watercolor crayons, trio punch with tin, and random other things that are up there need to find a new home. Not sure where I'm going to put them yet.

I spent entirely too much money recently. I need to cut back on that, but I'm hoping with this spent I'll be set for a while. It was just bills, plus my virus protection software subscription, and I caved and ordered some things from Papertrey Ink. BUT! Most of the things from PTI are going to save me money. I'm thinking way in advance. I'm talking 10 months in advance. I decided to make recipe boxes for my extended family instead of buying things for them. I bought PTI's Recipe Box stamp set. Plus one of their egg boxes so that I could get a feel for what I'm doing. I got an order of their recipe cards as well. The stamps I'll use to make my own recipe box too, which is something I've wanted to do for a while, so I would have bought them anyway. So total cost for probably 12 presents for christmas? $48 dollars. I'll probably end up buying another stamp set anyway, so I'll get the boxes at that point and qualify for free shipping. So each present is only going to cost me $4 since I'll be using paper or paint I already have to cover the box.

Well, now that this post is entirely too long, I need to get off to bed so I don't get too far off my schedule and sleep too far in tomorrow. Then I'll start the torture of getting used to a new schedule all over on Monday morning and that's not something I want to do!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Quick post

Visiting the boy in North Carolina was great! I had a really good time. Who knew playing a video game could be so much fun?! We played Resistance on PS3 a lot. I'm not even into video games, but it was a lot of fun. We did a lot of running around too, but I even enjoyed that...ugh. He's getting ready to get deployed (even though it's not for another few months) but I'm not ready. I guess I'll just have to be. Nothing I can really do about it huh?

I rearranged some of my craft stuff in my room. I like it a lot better..the only problem is that I now can't fit my chair under my desk. So I'm going to have to figure something out.

Normally this would be longer, and probably have some pictures, but it's gotta be quick tonight. I have to get some stuff ready to take to my new job tomorrow to complete all of my paperwork. So, I'm off to get that all together.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Storage Solution Number 1

So, I had to run out to renew my drivers license today. Yes, in the snow and slush...oh and while I was cleaning off my car, someone drove past me and splashed me with the now black (from dirt on the street) slush. It was a great start to my day. But then...

I decided to make my day a little better and went to Michaels (plus I had a 40% off coupon from a previous purchase that I needed to use before I go see the boy tomorrow) and bought two of cropper hopper vertical storage value packs. I knew it was going to make a difference, but I didn't know it was going to make that much of one.

Here's the before (note that both sets of drawers are full with patterned paper - either in packs or single sheets):

Here's the after:

Here's what they look like next to one of the storage drawers that were full (I had two):



I was able to clear off the top of the hutch of my desk too that had another drawer set that was full of other random things too. So the cropper hopper stuff is up there now, I'm getting another two from a lady on split coast stampers who is kind enough to sell them, some clear stamps, and some heat and stick powder as well. I've been wanting the heat and stick powder forever, and even though I'm a demonstrator, I just couldn't see making an entire order just for that! I figure once I get my tax money back I'll buy some of the stuff out of the new catalog, and if the heat and stick powder works well, and I use it a lot, I'll buy some more of that too!

I'm still waiting for the clip it up to get here. I'm so excited it feels like it's taking forever even though I know it's not. I made room for that up on the hutch of my desk as well. The mess that's under the before picture up there is my attempt at organizing my alphas, stickers, rub ons, etc so that things are a little easier for when I get my clip it up.

My next big project (other than getting the other cropper hoppers organized and putting my stuff on the clip it up) is new ribbon storage. Right now I have a rolling drawer cart that holds a lot of adhesive, random tools, etc and my ribbon. I never end up using it because it's a big pain in the butt to search for it since it's all just piled up. I'm looking for something to buy or make that holds a lot, isn't wall mounted, and is small to medium sized. Preferably something I can stick under my desk.

I start school on Monday, and also go to do paperwork and such at my new job. Then Tuesday I actually start. I'll be busy busy once school starts, but I'm hoping that first weekend I'll be able to knock out some of these projects and then instead of spending the very little free time I'll have organizing, I'll be able to spend time crafting! Sounds good right?

Tomorrow I'm going to visit the boy (hopefully the weather will let up a little bit so that I can get there safely and quickly). I'll be taking my lap top since he'll be at work all day on Thursday and I need something to occupy me, but I probably won't be on much other than that. So I wouldn't expect another post until Sunday or Monday!

Well, I'm off to start laundry I should have started about oh....3 hours ago!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Phew!

Well where do I start. I'm not at the old daycare anymore, my friend and I told the truth to a parent and we both got told we weren't "needed anymore" even though we were already quitting. Its okay though, because the parents believe me and we know the truth, and now so do other people. Not to mention, it's like a little vacation for me. I get to sit and do nothing for the first time in what feels like forever. Plus I'm going down to visit the boy earlier than originally planned. So it's kind of like a much needed break. Thank you daycare for attempting to screw me over.

I finally finished my class. So far, I have a B. That's with the final exam already counting against me, if you know what I mean, so whatever I earn on that will just up my grade basically. It's out of 50 points, and I don't think I did that bad (I freeze up on tests), so I would imagine I at least got a 50% (that's the lowest I think I'd get) and even that would add up to an A for me. So yay!

I do have a review set up. I just need to take a few more pictures and type it all up and what not.

I'm still waiting for my clip it up to get here. I'll have to take before and after pictures. I know its going to be a big difference. I can't wait.

Well I'm off to just lay here and spend some time with my poor puppies that I feel have gotten the short end of the stick recently because I've been so busy. Then maybe today I can tackle some things.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

And the call came.

I got the call last night...I GOT THE JOB! I'm so excited. The girl seems like such a sweetheart (I hope I'm not going to eat these words, but I don't think I will). I gave my "2 weeks notice" today. I put that in quotes because it's not going to be two weeks. My last day is next Thursday (the 29th). I feel bad, but I needed to do something for me. School starts the Monday after that, so this is the last time I'll be able to go and see the boy for longer than like 2 days. With him getting deployed and training about 75% of the time, I'm trying to see him as much as possible. My boss is less than thrilled and her and the district manager kept trying to get me to stay, but it's not going to happen. Sorry, but it's time I do something for myself. More pay, less gas, more time at home vs less pay, more gas, less time at home... hmmm which to take? It was an easy choice for me.

Anyway, I have a review lined up, pictures ready to go, I just need to get some other stuff done first. I have to type up the progress reports for my kids at work, not to mention laundry, etc. I finished every module and every assignment for school except for the 4 projects. I'm determined to do at least half of a project a night until the weekend, which will be used to finish them all. I'm going to try and get one observation done tomorrow night, and then another one on Thursday and then I'll leave the other two for Friday and the weekend. It's going to be a busy few days. Tomorrow, I go to work until 5:30, rush to school to take my final exam at 6, then rush back for a parent-teacher conference for one of my kids. The other two are Thursday. I really want to tell my parents then that I'm leaving, but apparently I'm "not allowed to" until management writes some sort of stupid letter. I'm half tempted to do it anyway. I mean they've screwed me over too many times to count and I've dealt with it without saying anything, so why can't I do it to them?!? Except I don't think I'd even be screwing them over. I don't know yet. I probably won't do it, but who knows. It might slip out if the parents say something about the future.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Gamsol and colored pencils

So, here is my first "review". It's not really a review, as much as a "you have to try this technique" and sort of a tutorial. After reading some posts on Split Coast Stampers, I decided to ditch my aqua pen, inks, blender pen, etc, and give Turpenoid, paper stumps, and colored pencils a shot.

I went out to two different stores (I'm lucky enough to live very close to AC Moore, Michaels, and Joanns) for different things. AC Moore had everything I needed, Micheals had at least the paper stumps and colored pencils (Prismas). So, to begin with, I bought Derwent colored pencils (I couldn't see spending that much money on Prismas if I didn't know if I'd like this coloring technique), ProArt blending paper stumps, and Odorless Turpenoid (not pictured). Under the reccomendation of one of the girls on SCS, I looked for Krylon Matte Spray, but couldn't find it. I ended up buying Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating (1303). It seemed to work just fine to me! The spray prevents the paper from soaking in the gamsol and helps your color blend more smoothly. Thank you Kathy (stampin8mom) for that tip!

First I stamped my image. I was in a bit of a rush, and could have chosen a better stamp for this technique I'm sure, I chose the dotted butterfly from Stampin Up's Flight of the Butterfly set. I stamped it in Jet Black StazOn on Whisper White cardstock from Stampin Up and let it dry for a few seconds. I then sprayed Krylon Crystal Clear on it (I'll warn you I had my window opened and sprayed it out the window and still nearly choked on the fumes. This is one you want to spray in a VERY ventilated space, or better yet, outside). I let that dry for a minute or so and then sat down and began to color. I only did four, and this was one of my two favorites. Sorry the picture is blurry. I don't really like the left wing, but the right wing looks well blended when looking at the actual paper.

The other one I like is this green one. I definately added too much dark green outlineing on the left wing. I learned to add less color at first, and as more as needed. Of course, all this was the first time I did any of this so I still need some more practice. For anyone who ever wanted to try this, and is hesitent, I really recommend it. It's really easy and with a little practice I'm sure you could get it! It's relatively cheap too, depending upon the colored pencils you buy. The paper stumps cost $2.19 for a pack of 2, and from the limited coloring I've done, it didn't seem like it was going to wear away really easily. The Odorless Turpenoid cost under $8 but again, I really don't think it's going to be used up fast. The Krylon Crystal Clear was around $5 I believe. The colored pencils were the most expensive, I think they were between $15 and $20, but I can't remember.

I'm seriously considering spending some money on the prisma colored pencils that everyone likes and buying them in all the colors. Or I might buy the full set of the Derwent ones, they work well for me. I think I'll be using this technique more than watercoloring! Well, I'm off to (of course) finish up some school stuff!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Shopping


So, being typical me, I chose to go shopping instead of sitting down and doing homework. I really am planning on doing some tonight and getting as much as possible done.

Anyway, I ended up spending too much money and came back with all of that. Paper (that I ended up already having...), thickers, lots of adhesive, a book, two magazines, a glitter/embossing powder tray, paintbrush, tweezers, stamps, craft mat, pink palette, and all the necessary things for coloring with gamsol as well as things for a new label maker. I'll do a review on both coming up in the next week.

I'm excited about using all this stuff. Not to mention I can't wait to get my clip it up from Samantha. It will hopefully eliminate a whole set of sticker/embellishment filled drawers for me.

Well, it was a "short" post for once, but I need to go and do some of this homework. I'm going to try and get at least 4 modules (basically sections) of this class done, and then another four tomorrow, and so on until I'm done.

PS - Still haven't heard from the prospective new job yet. She's dealing with the loss of her mother though so I know I'm not top priority right now. I sent her a "thank you for letting me interview" email, so maybe that will generate a yes or no.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Waiting...

So, I had my interview this morning. Now it's all a waiting game. The interview ended up being with the daughter of the woman I've been talking to. She said that her grandmother (her mom's mom) had died, and that's why she was doing the interview. That was fine, I sat in a room and filled out an application that I think I bombed a little on. I couldn't think of just the right word I wanted to use for two of the questions they asked ("How do these qualities affect working with children" and "What is your personal philosophy in regards to a child care center") so I don't think I got the point across that I was trying to and I don't think it quite made sense, but nothing I can do about it now. The daughter (who also works there) was very nice and seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. It sounded like I got the job with some of the things she said. I asked when I could expect a call and she said probably today. I'm hoping it's really soon since I'm leaving in an hour to babysit.

I'm getting a Clip it Up! Thanks to Samantha at The Everyday Scrapper. She was selling hers (the bottom tier) so I bought it from her, and then I'm going to be on the hunt for the upper tier once I hang up as much on the bottom as I can. I really need to get some better storage/organization going on. See, my crafting space isn't in a separate room. It's in my bedroom. So I can't let it take over everything (although I would love to), since I have to be able to sleep and get ready for work in there. Not to mention store all my 500 school textbooks and other teaching materials. Plus my dogs sleep in their crates when we're all asleep or when we're all at work, and their crates are in there too. A picture would better show you what I mean, but my room is a mess right now, so we're not going to go there. I think I just need to get rid of my dresser since I really only use one drawer anyway, but then where would I put my TV and DVD player? I need a smaller bed too. I know, I know, it's not that often that you hear someone say that, but I have a full size bed, and a small room. I'm starting to think I need to turn my bed diagonally. Okay now I'm just rambling.

I wish I could make that (organizing) my project for me tomorrow, but my goal is to finish literally ALL of my classwork for my infant/toddler class, except two projects. Then I have all of this coming week to finish those two projects and take the final exam. Then I'll be done with this class. Of course, it'll be just in time to start up the next semester at school. It's going to be so busy next semester too. This is what my schedule will look like starting in February.

6:30 - wake up, let the dogs out, get ready for work
7:30- work
12:30 or 1:30 - hour break, come home, let the dogs out, eat lunch
1:30 or 2:30 - back to work
4:30 - off work, home for like 30 minutes.
5:00 - driving to school
5:45 - Class
8:45 - Out of class, driving home
9:15 - Finally home, doing homework, eating dinner, etc
10:30 - Sleep.

And that's if I want just 8 hours of sleep each night! Can you tell I'm wishing it would stay January for a little bit longer?!

Well, I have to go get ready and get some caffeine in me to prepare for a night with a 1 year old and a 4 year old! I'll update when I know if I have the job, which will hopefully be really soon.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Excited.

I have the hiccups. They're driving me crazy. I can't get rid of them.

Anyway. I'm excited. After many emails back and forth, I finally have an interview set up for my potential new job on Saturday. It's at 10:30am. I have my resume typed up and ready to go. I just need to type up my references. That will be easy though. I'm so ready to get away from the place I work now. Too much drama, too many people that don't care about the kids and just want to socialize or talk on their phone all day. Don't get me wrong, I like to talk to my coworkers, but the kids come first. Not to mention the benefits this job will have (closer to home, more pay, more relaxed setting, etc) compared to the job I have now.

So yeah, I just had to share my excitement about it being only two days away and hopefully I will know if I can put my two weeks in or not. After that I get to "relax" (aka doing things for this class I'm taking) Then I'm babysitting my two favorite girls, Morgan and Taylor. Although Morgan has been grouchy recently (I blame that on the two molars she's got coming in though) they are probably two of the best behaved and best all around kids I've met. When I first started at the daycare all Morgan did was sleep. She'd wake up eventually to eat and be changed, and then go right back to sleep. Now she's down to one nap a day and crawling all over and about to start walking. I'm going to miss them when I leave, but I figure I'll still be able to babysit. Maybe I'll tell their mom and dad they should take a date night once a week! Ha!

Well, I have got to finish this observation write up for my class, so that I can do the second one tomorrow night or over the weekend. I still have to find my Ravens jersey to wear to work tomorrow as well. It feels so much later than it really is, probably because I didn't get anywhere near as much sleep as I needed last night. Can you tell I'm procrastinating yet?!? Alright, here I go. I'm going to force myself to get it done. Hopefully, I'll be back on Saturday with a happy update telling you about how much I'm going to love the new job I just got hired for ;D!

Monday, January 12, 2009

New Job?

Well, as you can see from the title of this post, things may change soon. Things at work have been going okay, but they could be better. We aren't supposed to discuss our pay, and this is probably why, but I found out that people were being hired with absolutely no experience and/or certificates and making the same amount that I do. I have all but one certificate, and I'm going to a class to get that right now. I wouldn't be getting a raise until March, and it would probably be like 30 cents, which is what everyone has been getting recently. So after some other drama that happened, I realized that I needed to make a change. I really need to get away from that daycare for reasons I won't discuss just yet. I looked on craigslist and replied to a bunch of ads for people looking for daycare employees. There's some sort of clever little saying that basically means don't get ahead of yourself, but I can't think of it right now. So I'll say what I'm hoping will happen.

One of the ads I inquired about sounds pretty promising. They'd start me out and at least a dollar more, probably even 2 dollars more than I make now. The place I work at now is 20 minutes away (with traffic), this place is probably 5 -10 (At absolute most) minutes away from me with traffic. So I'd be spending less on gas, plus making more money. The woman I've been speaking with is one of the two owners. One of them is always on site, so I don't have to worry about getting everything "ready" for the owner to come visit, since one is always there. The woman also seems to be in it for the children, as opposed to most, or should I say, a lot of owners who are more about profit. She already seems genuinly interested in my life and what I want out of this job. There are a bunch of other good points but I'll spare you the detail. Basically, I'm waiting for her to respond (by email) with a good day for an interview and we'll go from there. I'm not trying to sound too...oh whats the word... optimistic maybe? But it looks pretty good so far. We'll see after the interview.

Well, in case she wants to interview me tomorrow (she said we could do a quick interview and tour of the center in the morning - like 7:30am - sometime this week) I need to get my resume and certificates together and in order. Wish me luck! I'll update when I find out more.


PS- I promise, I will (hopefully soon) put up some craft related stuff!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

New years resolutions

Well, it's not exactly the first of January, so I suppose I'm making these resolutions a little later than most...but hey, better late than never right? Anyway...I'm hoping to make this year a big one for me. I'm going to try to do things a little better than I did in 2008.

1. I'm going to lose weight. I'm not going to put a number on it, I just want to look better in my clothes. I don't care if it's 5 pounds or 10..just enough to make me feel comfortable in them and not be so worried about things popping or peeking out that shouldn't be.

2. I'm going to do better in school. It seems like every semester my grades drop a little bit more. I need to get my GPA up to where it was when I first started. I want to do better in my classes. I want to be able to remember what I learned, not try to cram it all in a minute before the test starts.

3. I'm going to save money. It's like I don't even know where it goes. I mean obviously a good chunk every month goes to my car payment, insurance, etc. But it seems like a lot just vanishes. I'm thinking part of it is I don't realize that a ton goes to food. Not that I eat every 5 seconds or anything. I eat the standard 3 meals a day..but instead of making my own food, I eat out. Which gets costly when it's all the time. Anyway, I need to be conscious of where it goes and start making small changes to save more than I spend.

With the boy (and yes, I'm going to continue to call him that throughout the life of this blog) going away for 7 or so months, I figure I'll work my booty off in school since I'll have more free time..I hate to say it...don't get me wrong I absolutely do not want him to go, I wish he didn't have to, but while he's gone it gives me some extra time to focus on things for myself. I don't have to worry about not getting my homework done because he'll be here. Of course he wants me to do well, but when he's home I just want to spend time with him and homework can slip my mind. The spending money thing won't change with him gone, since I don't spend any more money when I'm with him than I do when he's not here. I think I'm trying to think positively of him leaving now, but I know it's gonna hurt when he goes. All the songs I listen to will suddenly become more sad than they seemed before, random things on TV will upset me, couples holding hand will hurt my heart. When he was gone for a year, boy did songs get to me. Far Away by Nickelback, When You're Gone by Avril Lavigne, and Home by Daughtry to name a few. I don't think there was a time when I heard Far Away that tears didn't come to my eyes. Now I hear it and I'm okay but I'm sure those songs or others like them will get to me while he's gone.

Alright enough about that, it's making me sad just thinking about it! I gotta get going. I'm exhausted. It doesn't sound like I did a lot today (work, home for break, back to work, the teaching store, home, grocery store, home) but I feel like I did. The boy is sick with something, and I'm pretty sure he gave it to me. While I was there he was saying he didn't feel well and his body was hurting and sure enough the day after I got home mine started to. So far that's all it is, and I have a healthy breakfast and lunch as well as a Vitamin C waiting for me in the fridge so I can eat it tomorrow. Hopefully that will help fight it off before it gets to be more than just a body ache.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Back from NC

Well, I just got back from seeing the boy in NC. The drive didn't seem as bad as it usually does. Probably because I actually did the whole thing during the day. Normally I either do it all at night when I get off work and don't get there until midnight or later, or I end up doing at least half of it at night. I won't see him for a few months at least. Hopefully I'll see him again in early March. I hate this stupid training crap. He's already going away for 7 months why does he have to train somewhere else for the 3 months before? Why can't he train while he's at work on his base?

Anyway. I'm so exhausted. I'm waiting for my textbook to get here so that I can start doing my school stuff. She said she sent it about a week ago, so with any luck it'll be here tomorrow. I was hoping it would be here when I got back from the trip so that I could knock out a few things now, while I actually have some motivation. Plus, it's easier for me to get things done on the weekend. After working all day with my babies, I'm tired as anything. Not to mention, I have to come home and take care of my dogs who have been in their crates all day. Oh well...I'll just keep my fingers crossed I guess.

I'm determined to make at least one thing scrapbook/papercraft related by the end of next weekend. I have one week. I'm going to make it happen!