The End is in Sight...Sort of

So I have only 2 weeks left of this semester before finals start. I'm not super worried, one's a take home, one's online and one isn't comprehensive. That's the good news. The less exciting news is that I still have like 18 mos before I am totally done. I'll survive, all I can say is I better be able to find a job now!
On another exciting note, I started WeightWatchers like 8 weeks ago and I have lost 14 lbs so far. In practical terms that is the weight of a 3 month old, 3 sacks of sugar, or 14 boxes of butter. Just imagine those strapped to your waist and it gives me more motivation to keep going.
So, yeah, nothing earth shattering but I was feeling guilty for the lag between posts.

Nowhere near as clever as my sisters

So apparently my blogging rate is once every other month, which doesn't seem so bad but is not even as close as most people. I was telling my mom about facebook- many of her friends and even her aunt, yes that would be my great aunt, have now joined facebook and so i was explaining the difference between blogs and facebook- anyway i was saying that i like to use facebook just to see what everyone is up to, but i don't usually comment or post about myself. I paused and then added that i do the same with blogging. She laughed and told me i have the same philosophy with phones. So just to update everyone who doesn't already know, technology in my world exists to serve me when it's convenient and i have no problem ignoring it when it's not. this doesn't mean that i don't read or appreciate other's updates, in fact i love them, but i rarely update myself. i apologize for this but lets face it those who know and love me realize this will probably never change.

i actually have an update on my life adventure today. Monday i started a second job, i now work 15 hours a week at Starbright Early Learning Center, basically as an aid. I work with 2 1/2 year olds which are a challenge but have always been one of my favorite ages. Also on the 30th I start school again. I decided against Everest College that i talked about previously and have elected to attend Everett Community College for basically the same program. The disadvantage is that it will take a year and a half verses 8 mo, the advantage is that it is about half the cost. (Everest was $14,000, EvCC $8,000) To save my sanity-which can't survive a year and a half without a real job- i plan to certify in phlobotomy concurrently (it requires the same classes as Medical Assisting, with one extra internship type class). So i will finish phlobotomy in december and hopefully get a job while i continue to study for Medical Assisting. Oh, phlobotomy is drawing blood.

So I think everyone is offically updated on my life, weird I almost typed love life, which for me takes one word- "nada"- unless you want to get fancy and pretend you can hear crickets chirping...

So um, yeah, love you all!

Julie's Amazing

So I was just checking out Julie's blog and was shamed into posting. My title was Happy Thanksgiving and she has posted 7 times just since Lilly was born. My new big plan is to enroll in Everest College (it's in Everett near the mall) to be a Medical Assistant. For those of you who wonder what a MA is, well when you visit the dr the person who takes your temp, blood pressure, symptoms etc, is a MA. They can also take blood and do other dr office stuff. The program takes 8 mo and i'll start either tuesday (1-20) or feb 19th. So as excited as I'm not to go back to school, this degree is very marketable and could get me an actual job that makes actual money which would be a novel experience. Anyway, I'll try to keep you posted on the progress I make, but if you want to read a cute blog, visit Julie's, nothing's cuter than my niece and nephew.

Happy Thanksgiving!

So still not much here, still looking for a job (a real one) but I'm grateful for the part time job I do have. I am excited for the Holiday's, especially to see the nephews. Of course it goes without saying that I can't wait for Julie's baby to get here so I can go visit. Um that is really all for now, Nathan will be here Saturday so maybe I'll have some funny baby stories to post later. Love ya all!

Blah, Blah, Blah

So I don't really think I have anything to say, but I keep catching grief for having so long between posts, so for those of you who really want to read boring stuff, here it is. If you look up boring in the dictionary you would see a description of my life right now. I go to work (about 15 hours a week at the "Gymboree Outlet"-a baby store) and go to church and any ward activities I can fit in around work (I typically work 4:30-9:30, right during prime fun time). The rest of my time I spend with exciting things like, watching my mom prepare for seminary (she is really dedicated she spends like 6 hours a day!), laundry, cleaning or trying to convince myself that those things are more exciting than just taking a nap for a few hours. I did manage to make Nathan (my sister Jenny's baby) a sleeper, though at first it was just me and the instructions- not terribly instructive. By the time I offically decided that something was freakishly weird about it, i had sewn the legs together (like right leg to left leg together) and the zipper went from the neck to the ankle. Yeah, I put that on hold until my mom could look at it and tell me what the problem was-I couldn't tell! Luckily for my nephew-who is not a one leg mutant- it was totaly fixable and just required unpicking-lots of unpicking. But once I had the secret instructions to go with the written ones, it went together quite quickly and easily. I plan to make another to redeem the presentation of my sewing skills. In my defense the existance of unwritten instructions is very common for my mom. She uses recipes and patterns as a reminder of what she really does, kind of like a secret code. I should probably be greatful for that as it provided the only real entertainment of the last week.

Fairwell NY!

So by my last day I had seen almost everything on my must see list, except the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. As I read around though the Empire didn't have a better view than the Top of the Rockefeller, plus the Rock had MUCH shorter wait times. I decided (especially since it was the day after the fourth and I figured there would be lots of tourists) to see the skyline from the Top of the Rock. I went there first but the rain storm from the previous night (see last post) was still around and the guy at the entrance was telling people they could pay and go up, but the visibility was zero and they didn't give refunds. So I elected to head to Battery Park and the Statue of Liberty. After talking with lots of people I had decided to forgo the traditional ferry ride to Liberty Island and Ellis Island- it cost money, took a minimum of three hours and the best view of the Statue was from the Ferry anyway. By that week-with all the tourists, when I went to get tickets there were none that included the museum at the Statue anyway. So again on the advice of others I decided to catch the Staten Island Ferry from Battery Park. This is a free ferry that runs every half hour and goes right by the Statue. I got my tons of pictures and then on Staten Island rushed around to catch the same ferry going back. It worked out great, I got all the pictures I wanted and only spent an hour. I had a list of shopping that I wouldn't go home without- knock off sunglasses, purses for me, Jenny and Steph (mom and Jules declined but after seeing ours wished they had put in an order :), a charm for my bracelet and any cute clothes that I couldn't pass up. So I went to Chinatown and bargained some great deals on two Gucci purses. Then I shopped my way back uptown and by that point there was a brief clearing in the weather so I decided to go to the Rock and see the skyline. It was cloudy, but Hello! From Washington! cloudy is no big deal to me. I got some fun pictures and completed the last thing on my list. There’s still lots of things in NYC that I would love to go back and do again, do better, or do at all (lol) but for the time I had I feel that I was able to see and do everything I really wanted. Going to NYC was a great experience for me and I am grateful for the opportunity and all the many things I learned while I was there. To all the amazing friends I made out their, I love you and thanks for your great friendship. While I am no longer in NY and so the address of my blog is no longer accurate, I’ve decided I don’t care and will continue to use this blog as a way to keep friends and family updated on my life.Statue of Liberty Mimes in Battery Park
Ground Zero
Staten Island Ferry
Statue of Liberty
Me with Statue of Liberty
Central Park as seen from the Top of the Rock
Empire State Building-notice the colors for 4th of July
Chrysler Building behind MetLife Bldg
Fabulous view, even with poor visibility

Fourth of July

So the Fourth of July was my next to last day in the City. I went with my friends Kayla and Rachel. we spent part of the morning trying to find where a concert we heard about would be playing. We walked from Grand Central up to Times Square, then to the Rockefeller Center, and then all the way down to about 10th street and FDR drive, that is a lot of walking. We never did find the concert but we had fun seeing the city. We found a place on FDR to watch the fireworks (the city blocked off the road for the evening) and started to wait. It ended up raining off and on, then pouring but at that point we were already soaked so a little more didn't matter. Despite the rain there were tons of people-duh, NY! The display was frankly not the best I've ever seen,- though they did have some cool shapes, but the point was the experience, which I've now had. It was lots of fun just being with my friends.


Me and Rach



Three of the launch barges
Smiley Faces
Cubes