DONE!

Despite my non-blogging habits, I AM still alive and survived the semester. And I have no idea where it went! I blinked and WHOOSH... my 6th semester of college is over. CrAzY. Ya know what else is crazy? This:

This is the pie chart from my DARS (Degree Audit Report System... or something along those lines). It helps you keep track of your credit hours earned, requirements fulfilled, and GPAs. The dark green is all the credit hours I have completed: 96 hours!. The light green are credit hours that are 'in progress': 20 hours. And the pink shows unfulfilled hours: 4 hours. I'm not actually taking 20 hours right now. That portion consists of Fall's classes and any classes that haven't been recorded from this semester. And that little teeny weeny pink slice? Those 4 hours are being transferred from MCC. Which means... I GRADUATE IN DECEMBER!! I am so thrilled to be graduating a semester early. Yay!

In other news... I'm heading off to Honduras this week! If you haven't already heard the scoop, here it is. I am apart of a group at ASU called Global Medical Brigades. There are 25 of us altogether (including Izzy and I) plus 2 doctors and a nurse. We are spending a week in Honduras to provide medical care to those who really need it. We will be traveling to a new town each day and serving thousands of people. This will be my first time EVER to exit the USA and I'm scared, nervous, and SO EXCITED. I know it is going to be quite an experience. I'll be in Honduras from May 20-27th and your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated. 

There are many more updates to come so check back soon : )

I <3 Geniuses

Actually, I love apple in general and their 'Genius Bar' is fabulous! If you're not familiar... apple has a 'Genius Bar' in the back of each of their stores and you can bring your stuff there if something goes wrong and they fix it! It's wonderful.

The reason I am bringing this up is because my iPod touch screen broke on earlier this week! One second it was fine and the next... gray lines running horizontally across the screen :- / And it was only getting worse. The next morning it had a yellow blob thing on top of one of the lines! Look:

There was also a thick gray line on the bottom but I don't think you can see it very well in these pictures... 

The FIRST thing I thought of when I saw this was: WARRANTY. All apple products have a one-year factory warranty and I knew that I bought my 'touch' about a year ago. I found the receipt and sure enough... one week left till my warranty expired! MAN, I got lucky.

I brought my sick iPod to the genius bar the next day and got a BRAND NEW ONE! Yay! Moral of the story here: Apple rocks : )

Photoshop-ing around

I follow many blogs including the Digital Photography School blog. They have a lot of cool tricks and teachings in many of their posts, sometimes very cool and helpful, sometimes not so much. Today I came across a post on "How to Make a Photo Collage Banner for Your Photoblog or Website" that shared some techniques that you can use in photoshop or photoshop elements. I'm lucky enough to have photoshop elements! (Thanks Scott :) ) 

I didn't end up making a new banner for my blog but I did play around with the techniques and made a sweet new desktop background:

So fun, right? I have a feeling I'm going to be making many more of these.

-CAUTION-

Spring Break only lasts for one week!!

Is anyone else having a hard time snapping back into school mode? Maybe I'm having a little spring fever or possibly a little senioritis. It's too early for senioritis to be setting in! I'm hoping it's just the week-after-spring-break-ITIS and that I'll be over it next week.

I'm in the Noble right now (my favorite library at ASU). 

But am not enjoying it as much as usual. I snagged a fish-bowl room (first-come-first-serve group study room) and was only in there for 3 minutes before a group came along and kicked me out. The rule is that a single person can use the room but if a group of 2 or more people come along they can kick you out... bummer. So I start wandering the floors looking for a seat with a plug so I can get some electrons for mr. mac... slim pickins. All the seats are taken! This has become my new pet-peeve of the semester: people who sit by plugs but don't use them. If you don't need the plug, sit somewhere else so others can use it! I finally find a chair with ONE open plug, HOORAY! But the story doesn't end there... I'm sitting in this chair, working on a study guide (for my exam tomorrow, oops...) and not too much time passes before this girl asks if she can use my plug (the one that I searched for so hard!). I hesitate because I have a 3 hours class tonight and mr. mac needs to last that long. She tells me, "I'm doing a programming assignment." I wanted to reply: "Okay?" Just because your assignment is 'programming' and computer related does mean that my computer needs are any less than yours. I checked my battery charge and I had a 93% charge so I gave her my beloved plug. I guess that's the end... eventful day at the library, huh?

Well it's back to that study guide now... let's hope I can make it to the weekend!      

SPRING BREAK!!!

I am very overdue on a blog update! So here it comes!

Spring break is already over. Can you believe it? They should really extend that to 2 weeks! Here are the highlights of the week:

Watching the cutest kids ever!

Celebrating Izzy's 21st! 

We're pretty : )

The whole group (I'm sorry Skyra. The other one where your eyes are open is all blurry!):

Spring Cleaning with my mom. No pictures to document the event...

Went to a graduation workshop. This workshop was nothing exciting but the fact that I only have 16 credit hours to go is very exciting! I'll be graduating next December!! Woot!

Did some shopping! Skyra, you're a wonderful shopping partner : ) 

And finally... went to the cabin with Scott and his family. The cabin is always a fun and relaxing time. I started to read: Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert and I like it so far. It even snowed a tiny bit!

The 'snow' was exciting and reminded of when Morgan and I visited Shannon last year in Chicago. It snowed for 3 days straight, yet every time we walked outside I would react the same way... "It's snowing!!" I'm such an Arizona kid : )

Counting down the days

School has been hectic so far this semester (out of the house 8am-9pm almost every weekday) and I am ready for a break! Here's a few things I am counting down the days for...

12 days till Spring Break

65 days till I'm 21 

78 days till my last final of the semester

86 days till I leave for Honduras

95 days till Maegan gets here

112 days till Morgan comes home

Fortunately, spring break is around the corner! : ) 

Unfortunately, I have to wait a while for the rest : (

Hope you all have a fantastic week!

Saving the World

Maybe I'm not saving the WHOLE world but I'm helping out mother earth a little bit. I have been taking two water bottles to school with me everyday this semester (that's about 42 water bottles so far!) and I know that is way too much plastic! Did you know plastic begins to decompose after 700 years? And the average American uses 168 water bottles per year! I have been aware for a while and have finally remedied this situation:

With so many water bottle options out there, I had a hard time deciding (surprising, I know). I didn't want to go the plastic route because of all the issues with the different types. Apparently #2, 4 and 5 are supposed to be OK and #3, 6, and 7 are bad. (#1 is still questionable). I found a couple of cool sites in my hunt. I finally decided to go with these babies made of stainless steel from Klean Kanteen. Here's the specs (according to Klean Kanteen):

- made from high quality food-grade 18/8 stainless steel

- non-leaching and toxin free

- no inner lining, clean tasting

- reusable, 100% recyclable

- reduce landfill waste

- super durable, yet lightweight (8 oz.)

- wide mouth fits ice cubes (1.75" diameter)

- caps are made of pp#5 (safe & non-leaching)

- dishwasher friendly

They are a little pricey but they pay themselves off because there is no need to buy water bottles anymore. And I'm going to have them for a long time! They also come in different sizes and with different lids (including sippy cup lids!). I started using them this week and love them... They help me get my 64 oz. of water for the day, the sleek size is perfect for my backpack, I'm avoiding possible harm from plastics, and oh yeah... SAVING THE WORLD : )

Happy Valentine's Day!

Image created here.

You do not have to be in a relationship with someone in order to enjoy Valentine's Day. It makes me sad when people fixate on that. It's about LOVE.  A couple years ago, I decided to start getting Valentine's  Day cards for my family and I just love it. Unfortunately this year flew by me and I didn't pick up any cards. Luckily I have found a new venue for sending out my love. So go check your Facebook inboxes lovers. And I promise it's more than just an ordinary message ; )

Scott and I celebrated Valentine's a day early this year. For Christmas, Scott bought me a giftcard to Dolce for a couples massage. I decided to use it on Valentine's Day since we wouldn't have to spend any money and it is fun and romantic. The massage was soooo relaxing! Afterward they bring you yummy food from PF Chang's. It was really nice. Unfortunately, I picked up a cold a few days ago (just one of the joys of nannying!) so we spent the rest of the night on my couch watching a movie. We had a wonderful low key night : )

TONIGHT.... I am babysitting. I'm super excited because I have been watching this little girl since she was probably about 1 and now she is 5! Time flies. The reason I am so excited is because I am watching her overnight, so we are going to have a fun girl's night sleepover! Yay! 

Hope you all enjoy your Valentine's Day! 

Remember it's about LOVE : )

Back to school, Back to business

Classes started on January 20th and it has been non-stop since then! May this week will slow down? Not a chance... here's what this weeks schedule looks like:

And let's not forget about the homework that school brings and a couple of other 'pending' activities... But don't you fret, I have been pretty on top of my game so far. I'm enjoying the busyness and am hoping for another good semester this Spring : )

Winter break is over...

... and here's what happened!

If you know me at all, you know that I love making lists! Before I start a break from school, I like to jot down a little list of things that I'd like to accomplish over the break. This may sound contradictory... break = accomplishments? But it's true. There are so many things that are put on hold while I'm in school that breaks are like catch up time for me! Another plus in making this list is looking back and seeing all that I actually did. Here's a quick (or maybe not so quick) list of things that I did over winter break.

Advent

I spent the four Sundays before Christmas at my Oma's having kaffeetrinken.

DC

Scott and I were flown out to DC by his brother-in-law's company (who Scott has been working for) for the Christmas Party! Believe it or not this was Scott and my first flight together. While there, we got to do some sight-seeing:

Attended the Christmas party (us with Scott's sister and her family):

We also went ice-skating with Scott's nephew (whom I have the privilege of nannying every week!):

 Jury Duty

I was summoned to serve on a Jury for the first time! But they didn't use me...

RA Interview

On December 18th, I interviewed for a research assistant position with the Arizona Health and Aging Lab at ASU. They invited me onto their research team and I'll be doing research with them for the next year!

Four Christmases

Remember that movie with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn? I didn't even have to see the movie because I had my very own 4 Christmases! Here's a quick recap:

Christmas Eve: At Oma's 

Christmas Morning: At my house 

Christmas Day: At Scott's sister's house

Christmas Night: At Jack's sister's house  

It was definitely wonderful but seriously tiring. Hope you all had wonderful Christmases too!

Work

I'm a nanny for 2 great kids (Scott's niece and nephew). This is not really an accomplishment or anything but I definitely spent a lot of time with these kiddos over break. It's always fun though. How could it not be with all this cuteness:

Jay Leno

My mom and I have wanted to see Jay Leno live for a long time. And we finally got to do it! You can read more here and here.

Friends

I also got to spend time with friends : ) We had good food at: Serrano's, Texas Roadhouse, Golden Spoon, Peter Piper, and Chuck E. Cheese... where a kid can be a kid, hehe. We also played some fun games: Catch Phrase, Farkle, Cranium, Phase 10, and other card games. Mostly it was nice to catch up on everything going on in our lives. I also had to say goodbye to one of my best friends, Morgan. She is spending the next semester studying abroad in Ireland. I'm gonna miss you, friend.

That was my Winter break. It was definitely a good one. Spring semester starts today. Hopefully that goes well too! Now I'm off to class...

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno!

Day 2:

We check our email Tuesday morning and still no confirmation of Jay Leno tickets : ( Since we won't get to see the Tonight Show we decide to take the NBC studio tour instead. As we are signing up for the tour and talking with the ladies working there, they tell us that they have tickets for the show. Literally, right there on the counter in front of us! Apparently, the thing we did online is through another company and NBC just gives them a few tickets. So if you ever want to go to the Tonight Show, just go to the NBC studios, pick up tickets in the morning, come back and wait in line before the show starts and voila... you're sitting in the studio audience!

My mom and I decided to take the tour anyway and were happy we did. After that, we headed down to Hollywood Blvd to see the Walk of Fame.

She's checkin in with the hubby...

There were fun cement prints in front of Mann's Chinese Theatre:

Around 1:30 we got in line to see Jay Leno. There were only 10 people in front of us!

We sat in the 2nd row (not including the few seats on the floor right in front of the stage) and had a blast seeing Jay Leno so close! I swear he looked right at me once, haha. If you watch the Tonight Show and know who John Melendez is, we sat right behind him! He does get time on the air although you can't see us at all but we are SO right behind him! 

Day 3:

We drove home. Luckily we happened to catch the news because there was a major accident on the freeway we were supposed to take out of town. After some detours we made it out of town. We also stopped at the Cabazon outlet stores on the way. If you haven't stopped there yet... do it! It's amazing and you could probably spend all day there!

I'm so glad we finally got to take this trip and see Jay Leno! Love you mom : )

Sun Sun Sun, here we come...

As I said before, my mom and I took a little trip out to California in hopes of seeing Jay Leno. On our first day, we headed to Santa Monica Beach. We had a picnic dinner and I got to take some fun pictures.

The sunset was amazing:

I wasn't allowed to take pictures of my mom cause we had been in the car all day. But I thought feet would be okay : ) She loves hunting for pretty shells:

I even caught this guy just as he was taking off:

Day 1: Driving and beach. Stay tuned for Day 2 and 3!

Traveling Girl...

- Edit -
This was written to be posted on Monday, January 12th, 2009. Couldn't get the pictures to upload then so here it is now (1/14/09).


I am currently sitting in a hotel room in California. Yay for free wifi! My mom and I are out here to (hopefully) see Jay Leno tomorrow afternoon! It's a "wish list" show which basically means that we won't know for sure if we get to see the show till the morning of. Guess we'll find out in the morning.

In other news... This past Saturday, Scott and I drove to Prescott Valley to pick up his new car! Here is the beaut:


And my favorite shot:


More to come soon about my trip to California! Here's a little teaser...

I'd Marry the Beast if I Could Have a Library Like That...

If you aren't on facebook or haven't seen this group yet... it's out there. I'm not a member but I do love libraries. This past weekend while organizing my closet, I decided it was time to get myself a bookcase. It's no library but I was really excited about it : ) Isn't it pretty?!

Happy 2009!

Happy New Year everyone! I can't believe it's already 2009... crazy. I am finally starting a blog of my own. I have been following blogs/blog-stalking for over a year now and been thinking about starting my own for over 6 months! After seeing a few of my friends start out this past month, I decided to jump on the band-wagon too : )

I spent the first day of 2009 watching FRIENDS and working on my mom's wedding album. Exciting, I know. It felt great though. I finished watching season 4 of FRIENDS and finished my mom's album (finally!). Here's a few of my favorite pages:

Thanks for reading! Come back soon : )