Kate’s Sweet 16 & School
How terrible am I at blogging? But I can’t say anything TOO interesting has been going on – work is still good, marriage is still awesome, my apartment is still the coolest.
We went down to Charlotte (why do I always want to say “up to Charlotte”?) this weekend for Kate’s 16th birthday (which was actually last weekend, but whatevs). On Saturday morning we left at the ungodly hour of 8:00am, meaning I had to get up at SEVEN. No one should EVER have to see 7:00am on a Saturday.
When we got there, we ate lunch at Lupie’s, which was this really cool joint outside of downtown. You can read my review of it on Yelp here. Afterwards, Kate, Scott and I got coffee with Allie. I miss that girl! It was so good to see her, and I’m glad she seems happy (and still crazy).
That night we had a birthday party for Kate (with fajitas!), and we gave her 16 presents for her 16th birthday. My contributes were the Fail book, a book of Mad Libs, and THIS:
It’s a STICK. And she loved it, which is how I know we’re family. The stick came with a manual with 200 different ways to use it, and our favorite was “jumping over the stick.”
In other news, I started my first class at NC State! It’s Intro to GIS, and it’s online, which is great because I can work on it whenever I want. It’s a lot harder and a lot more work than I thought it was going to be, but I’m really enjoying it! I took an Intro to GIS class at UNCG that I wasn’t TOO crazy about, but I think that’s because it was a mandatory class, so I immediately disliked it. But then I realized, computers + geography = something I should like. I have no idea what I’m going to do with this certificate, but I definitely feel that it’s a step in the right direction.
Nothing else to report! Kbye!
Filed under: Life | 1 Comment
Tags: Family, Photos, School, Travel
2009: In Review
Have I mentioned before that 2009 was the best year of my life? Well, I just did. Here is a brief overview of what happened:
JANUARY
-Spent New Year’s going to Times Square right at midnight (AFTER the ball dropped).
-Started my LAST semester of college, eek!
FEBRUARY
-Decided to stay in North Carolina and not to move to NYC. A decision that I still feel was the right one.
-Found out that I made Dean’s List for the Fall 2008 semester!
MARCH
-Found our apartment that we would eventually move into!
-Said goodbye to I Drive a Dodge Stratus.
-Went to Washington DC for spring break with Britney and Bryan.
APRIL
-Finished up my LAST SEMESTER OF COLLEGE.
MAY
-Finalized our decision to move into our apartment.
-GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE (still can’t believe it)!
JUNE
-Spent my last weekend in NYC as an unofficial resident (the next time would be to move Scott, so that doesn’t count).
-Found out that I made Dean’s List for the Spring 2009 semester!
-Took the very last class of my undergraduate career.
JULY
-Moved into our cool new apartment!
-Adopted two kittehs.
-Annual family beach trip!
-Met Scott’s family.
-GOT MARRIED.
-Went on an awesome road trip around the Southeast US with my sweet husband.
AUGUST
-Celebrated Scott’s 30th birthday!
SEPTEMBER
-Spent Labor Day weekend in Charlotte!
OCTOBER
-Received my diploma!
-Spent a weekend in Atlanta with Scott and Jeff.
-STATE FAIR.
NOVEMBER
-Turned 23!
-Had a wonderful Thanksgiving with my family.
DECEMBER
-Had a wonderful Christmas with my family in Durham.
-Took a road trip to Florida to celebrate Christmas with my cool new family!
-Visited Kennedy Space Center for the first time.
In summary, 2009 was the best year EVER. My only resolution for 2010 is to try to top it.
Filed under: Life | 3 Comments
Tags: Family, Friends, Holidays, Pets
Why THIS reminds me of THAT.
When I was in Israel, my iPod and ear buds were my best friends on the long bus rides (mostly because music relaxes me, but also because I was tired of listening to the Rochester kids running their mouths). I was also going through a pretty big Jeff Buckley phase at the time, and at some point during the trip we were stopped at a rest area and I sat on the bus listening to “Hallelujah” and dreamily staring off at some cactus (Jeff Buckley tends to have that affect on most people).
After the trip, my Jeff Buckley crush died off after listening to him constantly and becoming tired of his songs. He got skipped over so much on my iPod that I eventually unchecked his songs on iTunes so I’d still have them, but they wouldn’t show up on my iPod. It’s kind of sad thinking about it now.
Anyway, a few days ago I was in the car with Scott and Jeff and “Hallelujah” came up on Jeff’s Blackberry that he had plugged into the stereo, and the first thing that came into my mind was that cactus. Not how beautiful this song is or how much I used to love his music, but this half dead cactus on the side of the road at a rest stop.
So, Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah” reminds me of a cactus.
I think it’s interesting what certain songs remind me of because they’re usually not the things that I would expect for them to. Here are some other examples:
- Modest Mouse – “Float On”: Another cactus in Israel.
- Journey – “Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’”: A yuppie in a convertible in an Arby’s drive-thru.
- Simon & Garfunkel – “The Boxer”: This guy I dated for two weeks in college’s roomate’s cousin’s boyfriend.
And so on. It’s just funny to find out that these insignificant things left such a lasting imprint on me.
Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that a half-dead cactus at a rest stop outside of Bethlehem led me to rediscover how much I love Jeff Buckley, and THAT is funny to me.
Filed under: Musings | 1 Comment
Tags: Music
Commute from HELL.
Here’s a list of everything that went wrong with my morning commute today:
- I walked outside to find my car was covered in ice, and my ice scraper, which is always in the way when I don’t need it, was nowhere to be found. I ended up having to clear my windows with a towel while I was pretty sure the construction workers across the street were laughing at me.
- I got stuck behind a school bus which made SIX stops, each of which was in eyeshot of the last one. Can’t these kids consolidate?! (Not into one stop, into one kid. I’m pretty sure they’re all interchangeable.)
- Next I got stuck behind the most cautious driver of all time who had to stop and look both ways about five times before progressing through a green light, and also drove at 20 mph in a 35 mph zone.
- Got stuck behind another person who would NOT go through a left turn light when it turned yellow. They had JUST gotten to the light and it stayed yellow for like 6 seconds, but they wouldn’t budge.
- Had to sit on the side of the road for a few minutes while an ambulance tried to maneuver through the traffic, which was being difficult. I don’t think people realize that sitting there absent-mindedly and making no attempts to move while there’s an AMBULANCE trying to get around them doesn’t help anybody. Especially the person for whom the ambulance is for.
- Hit every red light.
- Traffic was ridiculous.
I’m proud of myself for not getting as irritated as I normally would in this situation, but GAHHH. I also considered not posting this because it’s just one giant complaint, but sometimes it’s just more fun to be irritated than to try to find the positive in things, amirite?
Filed under: Rants | Leave a Comment
The Happiness Project
I started my own personal happiness project a few months ago, and although my posts about nice moments have been few and far between, outside of the Internet it has been working pretty well! I also just found this really neat website, which I feel is worth checking out:
http://www.happinessprojecttoolbox.com/
And today’s nice moment: I think I’ve finally decided on what to do regarding something major in my life, and I’m starting to take baby steps to make this happen. I’m really excited, and I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes! No details just yet, but it’s education-related (had to throw that in because I know some people get weird ideas).
Filed under: Sharing | Leave a Comment
Happy Thanksgiving!
I am always thankful for:
- My loving family.
- My wonderful husband, who woke up at 9:00 am to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with me.
- My amazing friends, and all of the great times we’ve had.
- My sweet puppy, Sam.
- My sweet kitties, Stephanie and Bella.
- The opportunity I’ve had to get such a great education, and finally graduating.
- My great job, which allows me to work with awesome people in a great atmosphere.
- My really cool new apartment with the best view ever.
- Charlie Brown.
- Popsicles with jokes on the stick.
- Google Reader.
- Paul Simon.
- Basketball.
- This slow loris getting tickled.
I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!
Filed under: Sharing | Leave a Comment
Tags: Family, Friends, Holidays
Question #3
QUESTION:
What do you keep in a safe place?
ANSWER:
I have a teddy bear that was given to me the day I was born by my grandparents that I’ve kept very close to me my whole life. This bear has gone everywhere with me, even to Israel! (NOTE: I don’t take this bear with me EVERYWHERE. I’m not THAT weird.) I keep him high up on a shelf in my closet so my cats can’t get to him, but he’s still visible. I’d be seriously upset if something happened to this bear – he’s like my Linus blanket.
I also have several boxes of scraps and things from the past few years that I’ve compulsively saved, such as ticket stubs, brochures, greeting cards, fortune cookie fortunes, etc. I’ve been meaning to put them into albums or make scrapbooks something instead of just having a jumbled mess in some boxes, but I’m so lazy. They’re really fun to go through every now and then.
I appear to be safely hiding some dust bunnies under my bed as well.
Filed under: Questions | 2 Comments




