LA: Unabridged and Annotated

A Day In the Life:Working Mom

2012-01-18T17:22:00.005-06:00

After reading two - very different - posts (Thanks Tanja and Madison) of this nature, I thought it would be fun to do one of my own, especially since everything in life changed so much in the last year.

Here's a day in the life of a full-time working mom who commutes WAY TOO FAR!

5:00 a.m. Alarm clock goes off. Sometimes snooze button is pressed. I try for only once. Irish prefers 2 or 3 times.

5:10 to 6 a.m. Get dressed, make breakfast, make bottles, pack anything I need for work, Ninja needs for day care and anything any of our little family may need directly after work, before we make it home. All while listening to the news, traffic and weather - have to double check I dressed temperature appropriate, which can be very dodgy in the STL. Yesterday's high was in the 60's. Today it's 33 and really chilly, but this morning was int he 50's.

6 to 6:45 a.m. Wake up Ninja, dress, feed and pack him and all our stuff in the car for the drive to daycare and work.

6:45 to 7:30-7:45 a.m. Drive to daycare and work. Listen to NPR, try not to get angry at stupid drivers or at the sheer amount of traffic in the nearly 40 miles one way.

7:30 to7:45-7:50 a.m. Drop Ninja off at daycare. He loves his teachers and is always smiling when I leave. it makes this mom's heart happy.

7:45-7:50 to 8 a.m. Drive down the road to work.

8 a.m. to Noon, 1 or 2 p.m. Start my work day. Check email, check voicemail, handle anything urgent. Figure out what needs to be passed along to my grad assistant when she gets in. start on whatever "project" is most time sensitive.

Noon, 1 or 2 p.m. to an hour later (sometimes) Eat lunch. The University provides free lunch to faculty and staff, nice perk, so sometimes I go eat with my collegues, sometimes by myself, sometimes I get my lunch to go and work through lunch, and sometimes I forget to eat all together. The latter is sadly the case more often than not.

After lunch to 5 p.m. Continue working on earlier mentioned projects. Meetings are interspersed through out my days and some days I end up at our other campus in a whole other state - more easy to do than you might think.

5 to 5:15 p.m. Drive over and pick up Ninja from daycare. Pack him, anything dirty, empty or leftover from daycare in the car. And prepare for our long drive home.

5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Drive home. Sing to Ninja, listen to the radio and decompress from my work day. Plan dinner.

6:15 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Unpack both of us from the car, if its a bath night, dumb Ninja in the tub, feed Ninja last meal of the day, make/heat-up/reheat-up dinner (depends on who cooked), put Ninja to bed and do anything else that needs to be done - including but not limited to - bills, cleaning, laundry, exercise, shower and do hair...

8:30 p.m. Go to bed. By this time I am usually so tired that I can barely think about trying to do anything else. Sometimes, if I'm lucky I won't be overly tired and I'm able to read a chapter in whatever book is sitting on my night stand.

Creativity's Source

2012-01-07T13:59:00.003-06:00

Where does a person's creativity come from?

Is it something you need to practice to find? Not quite the same, but it's a good blog about talent vs. practice.

I have been feeling decidedly uncreative since November 2010. Yup, it's truly been that long. I can pinpoint the last thing I really felt creative in doing. I could blame it on all the crazy stuff that I've been dealing with, but wouldn't creativity have helped me in those situations?

SO what drives creativity?

Is it use? As in, if you act on your creative impulses more arise, but if you don't the ones you had stagnate and die.

Does it come from external inspiration - a muse? Be it person, object, color, animal, light, shadows, etc.

Does it come from some well inside? If so, how do you fill up that well? Is it like a natural spring and just is there or do you have to have/do something to fill it up - the above type things?

Not an hour before I sat down to write this, I felt my creativity return.

I really started reading for fun again and finally found a book which has sucked me in enough to not want to put it down to go to bed. This has fueled my thoughts on why I have stopped writing - pretty much anything besides emails and letters for work. I see now that the more I read others works, the more my mind churns and comes up with ideas which drive me to write. (external inspiration?)

But is that why I feel creative again?

I'm not really sure. What do you think?

Multiplication Lesson

2012-01-02T16:15:00.000-06:00

tumblr_kywwemwORc1qzr04eo1_500.png by LABloomfield on Aviary

Year in Review

2012-01-01T09:15:00.002-06:00

Ninja Baby - December 2011

Ok, here's the obligatory New Year's entry. Yes, I will be looking back over 2011. No, I will not be setting any resolutions at the end. Well, let's get this out of the way now.

I don't believe in making resolutions for the new year.

Yup, and every time I say that, I feel like someone is going to look at me like the bah humbug of New Year's traditions. Comically, I don't much care.

I do, however, believe in looking back at the year, reliving the really great moments, and double checking that you got all the lessons you were supposed to.

So here's my year in review -

Big events of the year:

Graduating with my Masters
Getting married
Having a baby
Moving
Starting a new job/higher level job in my field

Those are the things that took the majority of my focus and time in 2011. They also caused lots of planning and stress.

Am I happy they all happened? Definitely!

But I do wish I would have spread them over a few years, instead of lumping them all into about 6 months.

Lessons I learned:

Don't try to do EVERYTHING in one year, it's way too much
That you can deal with and accomplish more than you ever thought
Stability at home makes everything else possible
Focusing on one change/problem at a time makes success more likely
Doing something well takes effort not talent
Failure is a word which takes on its own meaning for each application by each person
Failure is not bad - just part of learning a lesson
Staying calm is the best way to handle everything
Societal norms can be bent or broken, but you have to deal with people's reactions when they are
The person you think you know well enough to know how they will react is the person who will surprise you the most

I can't think of anything else as I write this, but I'm sure more will surface as I continue to think.

Big year, big lessons.

My big want for 2012 is quiet and peaceful settling.

Will I get it?

I highly doubt it with a growing son and everything else that will probably crop up. But I'll smile through it all, knowing that it probably won't even compare to 2011.

New Game

2011-12-15T17:35:00.000-06:00

A friend of mine shared the following game with me and I am now antsy in the pants wanting to play it. If you get to it before I do, tell me what you think. And share the results!!!!

Telephone Pictionary

This is one of those games that I can't help but share. Its a combination of Pictionary and telephone (as the name suggests) where the starting phrase will get transformed by way of drawings and guesses. You don't need any skill at the actual game of Pictionary in order to play. All you have to be able to do is draw a stick figure. Poorly.
Everyone wins, everyone laughs, and everyone has fun.

Supplies:
5+ Players (More is fine, but it doesn't work with less)
One sheet of paper per player (per round)
One pen/pencil per player
Writing surface for each player (that's not too crowded, you need a bit of room)

Gameplay:
1. Each player gets a sheet of paper and writes their name in the lower right corner. Then, within the top 1" of the paper, they write their starting sentence. It can be a quote, a song lyric, a song title, a random phrase, or anything else you so please. Minimum of three words is suggested.
2. Each player should then fold over the top of the paper so that it just covers the writing. Everyone should then pass the folded paper to the player to their immediate left.
3. As each player receives the new game paper, they will unfold the flap to reveal the phrase. FOLD the flap back down FIRST, and then use the next 1"-2" of paper to DRAW the phrase you've just read. Pictionary rules apply (no words, etc). Be quick. Use stick figures. You don't need to be an artist.
4. Once you've finished drawing, you'll fold over the paper again (leaving the initial fold shut) so that the picture you just drew is hidden. Pass left again.
5. This time, you open the paper to reveal the picture (you should not be able to see the original phrase). Fold the paper back over, and in the next 1" of space beneath THAT fold, you'll write what you guess the picture means. Sometimes you can guess the original phrase, but oftentimes you just have to write what you see. Not having a clue is part of the fun!
6. After writing the new phrase, fold the paper so that it covers the phrase (by now the folding starts to get awkward, so just do your best to keep it so the next person can see the phrase you wrote, but not the picture before it.) Pass left again.
7. Repeat the drawing phase outlines in step 3. Fold again and pass left.
8. This is the last stage. This person will repeat step 5, creating the final interpretation phrase. Once everyone completes this step, you can unfold the whole page to see where the phrase got started. Laugh at the changes the phrase went through and then pass it back to the person who started it.

Game Notes:
This game is better when nobody is easily offended.
Please recycle your game papers! Use the backs even!
If you have more than 5 people, you still only want to pass it 4 times (as described above).
If someone mucks up the folding, which they will, just try not to peek at the words/pictures that you're not supposed to see.
Have a few drinks while you play, it gets far more entertaining.
Before you write down a phrase, keep in mind that someone has to try and draw it. (And that you'll end up seeing that picture. And that you can't un-see something.)
Pictionary rules apply, but we allow "house rules" where you can use symbols, roman numerals, etc to help you. No English letters or words!

Changing It Up

2011-12-12T16:30:00.001-06:00

Life seems to continually throw me curve balls from new directions, so I decided a little change here would be good. Let me know what you think of the new look.

As for the rest of my life - Ninja baby is nearly 5 months. He's getting so big and had his first real sickness this past week. ER visit and all. Luckily he's on the mend and back to being my smiling little munchkin.

Christmas is just around the corner and as usual, I'm not nearly as ready as I should be. This year I think it's mostly because it didn't feel like the holidays even after eating Thanksgiving dinner - twice. Oh well, I'm trying to get into the swing of the holidays. Not sure how well I'll succeed, but here's to trying.

Technology

2011-12-03T13:14:00.001-06:00

I got a new smart phone and now I can blog on the go. Maybe that will mean I will actually blog more.

My Last Day

2011-09-23T14:24:00.001-05:00

Today is my last day at home with Ninja. I start work on Monday and have an event to attend tomorrow.

I've always said that I am not stay-at-home mom material. I could stay home with a school-aged child, because then I could still have a "work day", i.e. time to get things accomplished, while being home for them after school and for field trips and special events. My time at home could be filled by writing full time or going out and actually refining my photography skills or baking, cleaning and learning new things.

Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love spending time with my son. I love hearing him coo and watching him take in the world around him with his little crooked smile shining. I know that going back to work means A LOT less time with him and the likelihood that I will miss certain milestones as he grows. But that is a sacrifice I know I have to make.

Money coming in means food on the table and clothes on his back, and hopefully later on, paying for experiences that expand his life. At the same time, being out of the house, engaging with adults on a daily basis means sanity for mommy.

Is this a decision I will regret? I hope not.

Will I change my mind? I highly doubt it.

Will I cry on Monday after I drop my little boy off at daycare and go to work, leaving him for longer than a few hours for the first time? Most probably.

Will working again be an adjustment? Most definitely.

All I can do is hope for the strength to wait to cry until I'm settled in my office and can close the door.

Monday will be a big day - both for me and Ninja. Wish us luck!

Cheers!

Well... here I am...

2011-09-20T16:09:00.002-05:00

Wow, it's been a good long while since I last wrote. Lots has happened and other than a quick run down, I'm just going to jump in as if I've never been gone.

I think we left me last about to move... Irish and I moved in with my mom while my dad is in Iraq for work. We had our son, Ninja baby, on July 27. I start my new job on Sept 26 - yeah that's next Monday. We'll be looking for a new place to live hear in the next few months and then hopefully life will settle into a pattern that I can make work.

On ward to the rest of my life. LOL

The new job is actually my former bosses' job. Yup - proudly, I am now the Director of Alumni Relations. Is it the job I really saw myself in, or the one I dreamed I would have when I graduated? Not really. Do I think I can do it and do it well, despite it not being my dream job? Hells YES!

I learned a lesson about myself over the course of this crazy year. I love learning about and doing a wide range of topics/things and do not have a "calling". Or if I do, I have not been called to it yet. And in trying to help my husband recognize and deal with finding himself in the same situation, I realized that I can be very happy doing something interesting and challenging, all while continuing to learn and grow and look for that coveted calling.

And I've learned that I enjoy motherhood... even when ninja is screaming his head off and we can't figure out why. There's just something unexplainable about being the one (or one of the two) things another living person depends upon completely. I watch his eyes search my face to know whether he should be ok with something new or not. I watch him follow my voice or movement around a room and know that he knows that I am mommy.

I am mommy.

That is a powerful and loaded three words. I am more worried about living up to those three words than taking on a Director level position (one step below VP) with a growing University.

Here's to the journey ahead. Hopefully, I will be able to chronicle it here. So join me, on my new path in life. Wife, mother, Director, knitter, photographer, writer, cook, baker, and pretty much anything else I can dig into.

Cheers!

Changing Directions

2011-07-26T16:09:00.000-05:00

Lots of changes have been happening this year. Well, I'd say that is slightly understating it but compared to the change that will happen tomorrow, not as understated as one might think.

Tomorrow, Irish and I welcome our son into the world. He's been uncooperative in the flipping over department. He's breech and so that means we get to plan when he comes into the world. What a choice.

Which half?

2011-06-13T17:00:00.000-05:00

courtesy of A Softer World

I wouldn't refer to myself as an optimist or a pessimist. I'm not even a true realist. I try to see all the good and bad in a situation, person, or process, and still keep some hope that everything won't take a turn for the worse. I prepare for all contingencies and especially enjoy preparing for the more outlandish and fantastical of the world.

I love me a fun crazy straw. :)

What about you? Optimist, pessimist, realist, or don't put me in a boxist?

From "I Feel Fat" to "Mmmm....oreos"

2011-06-11T17:00:00.000-05:00

photo courtesy of krcarnes17

My friend Janna over at Something She Wrote had a dilemma the other evening. She really wanted to just eat oreos for dinner and she did, even though she knew it wasn't a healthy choice.

Last post I talked about self-image and this one is a continuation (sort of) of that. Justifying the junk food cravings we have with the negative view we have our bodies or parts of our bodies.

I am the queen of craving denial and one of my dearest friends is the queen of craving fulfillment. She happily, and mainly guilt-free, will eat pizza dip or popcorn for dinner. I have to make sure I have at at least three of the four food groups (see the new version of the "food pyramid") represented on the plate, generally a protein, grain and vegetable. If I have a dinner where they are not present, oh my do I feel guilty.

And if I have a craving (which I rarely do), I even more rarely give into it. I think it's because I don't give in and haven't for so long that I don't have many cravings anymore.

Now that I'm pregnant and cravings are considered normal, I am wondering who has it right, my friend who gives in or me who denies. Is it psychologically healthy to always say no to the cravings for unhealthy things we want? I don't deny myself water when thirsty. But is that the same thing?

Once I determine my answer to that, I now get to tie that back to how to justify whatever decision I just made with my view of my body.

If I continue to think that my denial method is healthy, then I know I'm not in the position (position defense-wise) to worry too much about what I look like. It's not like I'm eating fatty foods that actually have the ability to change the way I look vs. the way I think I look. And if I've just justified giving into cravings, am I really able to complain that I think I feel fat, when I'm not eating the most healthfully that I can?

Discuss, enjoy!

Self Image

2011-06-09T17:00:00.000-05:00

Why is a woman who is 32 weeks pregnant going anywhere near the idea of self-esteem and self-image? Of course when you're 20 lbs heavier than you were 7 months ago, you are going to see yourself differently. And you're constantly being told that it's beautiful. So what's the problem?

All women, not just us pregnant ones, see ourselves differently every day. Some days we think we look hot, some days we think we look fat, some days we love our hair and others we want to chop it off. I think you get the idea.

The point is that by taking that ever changing visual and emotional view of ourselves and add the inability to control the fact that you are gaining weight (no matter how healthy it is)... that's going to add to the likelihood for self-esteem and self-image issues.

I can honestly say I am having issues adjusting to the extra weight and the way my body is changing. I've been lucky that I seem to be carrying straight out in front. It basically looks like I ate a basketball, but I have gotten thicker in many other areas as well. However, with the basketball taking the spotlight, many people haven't noticed the other areas.

That should be reassuring, but it totally isn't. What can I say? We are the hardest on ourselves sometimes. This is one of those times.

I really don't mind being pregnant. Dealing with the weird eating habits, the cramps, the unexpected kicks to places that shouldn't be kicked is surprisingly easier than I ever expected. Adjusting to sleeping differently, being tired when you should have energy, being treated like you are made of porcelain - again all things I have gotten used to.

Something I don't think I'll ever get used to - the spandex or top of the maternity pants/skirt/underwear hitting just the right place to make a bulge where no woman wants one, least of all when she's already not happy about the changes to her body. And all because there is now about 6 inches of belly sticking out in front that you can't wrap your waistband around.

So everyone doesn't think this came out of nowhere, this topic was brought to my attention by a blogger who I follow - Sally - and a recent post about self-image. In it she gives the reader an assignment - stop hating your body. Think it's something you can accomplish? I think it's something we all should accomplish.

Evolution

2011-05-24T17:00:00.000-05:00

I am going through a time of evolution. No, I'm not becoming something other than human, just a different version of me. I was a graduate student working full time at the University with a live-in boyfriend and then this year hit me. Now I am a wife, soon-to-be mother, proud holder of a Master's degree, and one of the still hopeful unemployed.

Over the last two years, I put aside my writing, photography (I use this term in the broadest sense), and any other creative venture to devote myself to being a student, girlfriend and employed. Now I am at the point in my life where I again get to choose what I do with my spare time, which I know will have to be adjusted constantly with a move (in the end two actually), a job search and a baby. However, with all the upcoming change that still has yet to manifest fully, I know that I need for my own well being and personal identity to reattach myself to my creativity.

Then I ran across this post on Men With Pens about how writers evolve by Vangile Makwakwa. It caught my attention and had my mind churning away. While it applies to my writerly side, I also see how Vangile's three suggestions can be applied to any evolution of person.

1. Reconnect with your Personal Mission

I got stopped at this one. Personal mission? Do I have a personal mission? The more I thought about this one, the more I realized that we all have a personal mission even if we've never identified it as such before. Our personal mission is a combination of what we want to accomplish, how we are willing to succeed at that and the values we are most unwilling to compromise in the process. That definitely applies to all of life.

2. Acquire New Knowledge and Techniques

This is an easy one, especially for someone who just got her masters. I'm still in exploration and learning mode. :) So it's easy to switch focus from one topic which was more professional to another which is more recreational. In fact the recreational may be more fun to research. Yay for continual learning!!!

3. Build a Tribe of Like-minded People

In her article, Vangile makes a comparison that really sends the point home:

Studies have proven that people take on the qualities of the people they’re closest to. If your five best friends are twenty pounds overweight, odds are good that you are, too. If your entire extended family is middle-class, it’s unlikely you’re a millionaire.

This really rang true with me. I've seen it played out over and over again. Sure you can be that athletic person with heavier friends or the smart person surrounded by non-intellectuals, it has and will continue to happen, but the point is that you will grow in a particular direction based upon the people with which you surround yourself . If you want to write, find a group of writers; photograph, photographers. When I wanted to knit, I found an awesome group of knitters. And that is working out great - when I had the time to actually go to see them.

So what does this mean to me and my evolutionary process? It means that I need to figure out my focus and jump in. Read as much as possible on the subject, find people to talk to about it, but most of all, something Vangile doesn't say. No matter how fearful at failing I am, I need to just jump back in and risk making mistakes for the sake of learning and experience.

Experiments in the Kitchen

2011-05-18T18:35:00.000-05:00

Pretty much every night I cook is an experiment in the kitchen. I rarely remake the same thing twice and when I do, I always find a way to tweak the recipe so it comes out similar, but not necessarily the same. And the results can be fantastic, good, and random. Not once has anyone said, "let's not make this again" or "can we order a pizza," but I have said.... uhh yeah, not so much.

Most of the recipes you see and will continue to see are tweaked versions of someone else's. I am rarely creative enough to create from scratch and remember to write it down. I do really enjoy taking a found recipe and making it work for my pantry or fridge.

Tonight's side was no exception. I had two baked sweet potatoes in my fridge and Irish loves sweet potatoes, so there was no way I could let them go to waste. I took a recipe Ree, the Pioneer Woman, made the other day and tweaked it - somewhat.

Here's my version of what she calls Risotto Primavera. I'll call it Sweet Potato Risotto. Oh and I'm no food photographer and I have a mismash of unmatched pots and pans, so when it comes to pictures, you'll just have to make do with what I give ya. :)

And if you didn't already know, I'm a very messy cook.

To make this yummy dish, which it did turn out very delish (actually so delish that I am still considering pulling the leftovers out of the fridge and eating straight from the tupperware) my modifications are pretty simple:

Bake two sweet potatoes in the oven in tin foil until cooked thoroughly. Letting them cool in the fridge for a few days is totally optional, but it did make them yummy. Also, I peeled them right before I cut them into cubes.
I left out the white wine and used more chicken broth. Now I did that because an open bottle of wine in my house will go to waste. I'm pregnant and cannot drink it and my husband won't remember to, so why waste the wine.
As you can see, I totally left out all the other veggies. I will probably make this again with a random assortment of veggies, but this time I just wanted the sweet potato flavor.

If you decide to try this delicious dish, I wish you luck. It's so good, I could have eaten that entire pan.

What's Next?

2011-05-16T05:00:00.000-05:00

So what's next...?

Next is moving.

Oddly and very much in the spirit of love, my mother has offered for Irish and I to move into her and my dad's very large house until I find a job. Her main thought on this is "how can you know what you can afford when you only know 1/2 your income?" In addition, my dad will be out of the country for work for the majority of the rest of the year, so it would just be the three of us until the baby comes.

We have taken them up on their very generous offer. And I now have even more motivation to find a job quickly. I am ready for my own home. Large enough for all three of us, that I can actually paint and decorate, when I can settle for the next few years.

But in the meantime, that means packing and figuring out what we'll need while we're there and what can be stored. I don't want to feel like I'm living out of a suitcase for the next few months, but I also am not going to feel like I can fully settle in. Another time for precision balance.

A Milestone

2011-05-15T09:12:00.000-05:00

Graduate

I graduated... I graduated... I graduated...

I'm not quite sure how many times I'm going to have to say that for it to sink in.

I had a conversation with a friend of mine yesterday about how all of this feels too surreal right now. And how it probably will not really sink in until I don't register for or start classes in the fall.

It took a lot of hard work, juggling and some sacrifice. Anything that builds you up must take a lot of concentration and effort.

Something I am looking forward to ... having more time for cooking, baking, knitting, writing and all the other creative things that have been on hold for the last 2 years.

I'm also looking forward to sharing all of it here. This blog has definitely been one of the sacrificed pieces of my life.

So come on back and hopefully you'll find a few changes...

mainly - more posts about

recipes I've tried - success or failure
knitting projects - I have 3 in progress and have many more in my head
places I visit - Irish and I are going to try to do more out of the house together
Baby - anything and everything for the final trimester, birth and growth of my little man
funny things
thought provoking things
anything else that crosses my path that I feel should be shared
Dr. Who - because I'm obsessed
anything I glom on to next

My plan is to try to get this blog back to where I wanted it to be before I started the roller coaster, time-suck I called a Masters degree.

Come join me on this journey.

Lite and Summery Food for a Warm Day

2011-04-11T16:00:00.001-05:00

It's been overly warm today for April 10. I'm used to the strange weather swings we get in St. Louis, but I'd prefer to not hit 90 until at least late May. I'm afraid this might mean a long hot summer here. And being pregnant, that is not something I'm looking forward to.

However, it gives me an excuse to break out an easy summer recipe for a chilled Mediterranean Quinoa Salad. I found it at the Tasty Kitchen that The Pioneer Woman started. I just love her blog!!! I decided to toss in some grilled chicken to make my definitely non-vegetarian husband happy and because of the baby bump, no feta cheese for me. Instead, I found a great goat cheese that had been pasteurized and I knew I could have. :)

You can easily follow the directions on the salad part, but to make the chicken here's what I did.

To a skillet I added about a teaspoon of olive oil, some mince garlic, and squeezed the other half of the lemon juice into it. Why let half a lemon just sit around? So I put it to good use.

After coating the chicken breasts in the oil, garlic, lemon mixture, I browned each side and cooked them until they were just done. Nice and juicy. After that I cut them up and put them in the refrigerator to chill. This is what I ended up with...

After the chicken and quinoa chilled enough, I got out everything and began the mixing process.

I forgot to get out the cheese before I took this picture and didn't feel like turning the camera back on just to take another, after I got it out.

In addition to mixing the grated cheese in to the salad, I topped it off with some. Which was good, because I definitely didn't have nearly as strong a flavor as feta usually does. But it sure did turn out pretty and tasted yummy.

It even got a "This is pretty good" from Irish. Which, due to the tomatoes and cucumbers, I was worried about. Don't get me wrong, he generally likes fruits and veggies, but those two are on his not so much list. I wanna chalk it up to the lemon juice. It just made everything pop.

And the ultimate plus, my hands still smell of lemons, even after washing them like 5 times. Gotta love fresh squeezed lemon juice!!!

Enjoy!

Amazement

2011-04-07T21:06:00.000-05:00

I am less than five weeks from graduation!!!! I just got married.... and I'm looking for a job!

Can we say...

Yup - full range of emotions going on right here and it's not because I'm pregnant. LOL

Let's tackle the wedding first.

To say it was wonderful, magical, and amazing would never do it justice. What you feel when you get married can only truly be understood by others who have gone through the same process. And this is coming from someone who didn't have a problem with being in a long-term committed relationship without getting married. I never thought it was necessary to having a healthy relationship and I really still don't. However, I now understand why people get married even though there is no "have to."

I mean who can pass up having a moment like this. My love and I sharing a silly attempt at grace at my alma mater, dressed to the nines and ready to commit to many more moments - happy and sad. You just can't get any better. And isn't my photographer fabulous?! Check her out at Playing With Light Photography.

...well almost there!!!

I have a huge list of tasks to complete before I can officially graduate and because of all the craziness of the beginning of the year, I am worried that I may have ruined my 4.0. :(

Luckily, I am keeping my chin up and my nose to the grindstone. I love the feeling I get when I can, actually and honestly, cross an assignment or paper or project off the list, knowing that in a very short time the whole list will be gone. It, of course, will be replaced by a new list - one with house hunting, baby stuff shopping and all a whole slew of other things to do, but none of it will be mandatory reading and writing by deadline.

So here's to making it alive, sane and not sleep-deprived to graduation!

And lastly, when you graduate, you have to find a job. Especially when you are married, pregnant and have to pay the bills to help keep the roof over your head.

I'm trying to be the little blue guy... see him...the one really close to getting the job and doing well at standing out as a candidate. I'm lucky that the economy is doing better and jobs aren't nearly as scarce as they were even a few months ago. However, I am still cutting it awfully close for comfort when it comes to graduating and needing to have a job not too long after that. So wish me luck. I can use everything I can add to my arsenal for finding a good job and quickly.

See you all again sooner than later and hopefully with more than just random posts and long updates. Hey I might actually find the time to write about our wet, cold, and gloomy honeymoon to the beach. I bet you're going to be waiting impatiently for that post. :)

Enjoy!

Some Much Needed Advice Right Now

2011-04-04T16:53:00.001-05:00

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”

--Mark Twain

What I Used to Want...

2011-03-22T17:00:00.000-05:00

an ICanHazCheezburger site

Things to Remember

2011-03-18T16:56:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of A Softer World

Always remember, the way you treat people is all you really leave behind.

Do You Believe?

2011-03-16T16:58:00.000-05:00

More Dr. Who Love

see more Lol Celebs

Update Time

2011-03-13T20:10:00.000-05:00

Ok It's time again for a LA life update.

courtesy of beachweddingdresses.biz

The wedding is this next Saturday!!! I honestly wasn't confident that everything would get accomplished without me losing my mind and I was wrong. It's all come together pretty well. I honestly know I should be crazy excited and giddy this close to the wedding, but with EVERYTHING else going on (see below), I'm not sure I have even wrapped my head around the fact that it is so close. I'm sure on Friday - the day before the wedding - it will hit me and I'll be nervous and giddy and all the things a bride should be.

Courtesy of TLC

The next HUGE thing in life that is going on is ---

I'm pregnant!!!!! I'm 20 weeks as of this Wednesday. And now I'm sure you'll start attempting the math and realize I'm due in August and that I've been pregnant since the middle of November. And if you calculated and got those months, you are good and much quicker than me. It took me to week 12 to figure out how to even count the weeks properly. Things are going well and honestly, I've gotten off with an easy pregnancy so far and I really hope it stays that way.

courtesy of gothamist.com

Now on to the last big thing I'm managing - well besides my job - my last semester of my masters. As of this point, I have a final draft on a paper due and one class will be officially complete and I have a final group project for an independent study - yeah try to figure that combo out sometime - and I'll be done with that class. So two of the three classes and thesis are nearly complete. It feels good and I'm sure it'll feel even better once I get them actually complete.

So that's the update. I'll be sharing photos from the honeymoon soon after we get back. And I'll also start posting random updates about the belly and all the exciting things soon to be happening.

Enjoy!

Feeling disorganized?

2011-03-12T20:30:00.000-06:00

courtesy of parkermotion.com

I am an organization FREAK!!! I love to have my life organized and my space organized and especially my self organized. With my crazy schedule and large plate of tasks, it is especially important that I stay organized or I forget very important things.

To do this optimally, I try lots of things that are supposed to help me be more organized - planners, computer programs, calendars, etc. Rarely do they do any good, so I rarely mention them to anyone.

This time, I found something that did make a difference to what I was already doing. It was a modification of behavior and thought, as well as concrete actions to do to make myself more organized. That is why I think it worked.

Warning - It takes dedication and daily focus to do, but once you are done with this you will have a habit. So if you can't dedicate the time, you can stop reading now for this post.

What I did was a 30-day challenge with video direction by Chalene Johnson. Each day, you receive an email with a link to the website and video for that day. The time it takes each day is usually under 10 minutes to watch the video, and do the "homework". I say usually because the first 5 or 6 days take more than 10 minutes, because you are building a foundation you will need to function in this new organizational way from this point from now on. However, once you get the foundation laid, keeping up with and making the most of the each days lesson and habit building will be easy.

If you decide to try this, drop me a comment telling me what you think of the process. And good luck to all those who do give it a shot!