It's funny here... It seems that one day, the leaves finally decided to fall off the trees, & the next the blossoms started to show.  With those blossoms, & the crops that grow all around & in town, my allergies came in full force!  I'm finally off claratin the past couple days & not feeling like I'm dying, but I think I might appreciate taking it still.  I'm having trouble appreciating the beautiful weather though, because I see how cold it "SHOULD" be... in places that have winter.  & then I remember how hot it was when I moved here, the $200+ monthly electric bills of summertime, & the fact that I'm going to be here for another summer... & I'm not enjoying the BEAUTIFUL 65-80* weather we've been having RIGHT NOW!

I didn't open up this post to talk about the weather, though I don't know that I had a specific purpose...  I'm just having trouble focusing on ANYTHING in particular, because I have so much that I SHOULD be planning/prepping/thinking about/DOING.  Tonight's plans include a big stack of grading & planning, hopefully a little prep for my formal observation tomorrow, & hopefully a little cuddle time with my Love.  I don't know what's for dinner, I haven't seen my poor dog in a month, & we desperately need to delve deeper into finding a place to live for April-September! 

Okay, well... This is a random, rambling post.  I need to go home.  I need to get back to grading & planning.  I need to decide the next specific steps to move toward a perfect wedding! (haha!)  First, I need to get up from my desk, clean off my board (as well as the silly things will), gather my things, go pee, & head to the store so I can get some essentials & get home & move on to some of the other things.  WHEW! 

Sorry for such a silly post, but, eh... This is a Day In The Life!

:)

A little song for you...

I just made it up.  Yes.  RIGHT now.  As I typed it.  Haha!  It's to the tune of My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music.  I hope you enjoy it.  Or at least it makes you laugh at me.  Maybe even a lot.

Grading their papers, & colors of flowers.

working & sleep that lasts just a few hours.

Planning & prepping & wanting to change.....

These are a few of the things on my brain!

Dresses with beading, & satin with lace.

Scheduling parties- the time & the place.

How to announce it & who just might come...

All of these things might make me come undone!

When the kids yell, when my voice runs,

when I think "Just elope!",

I simply remember the WHY's of it all,

& that's when I knooooooow

I.... won't... choke! 

hahahaha!

Happy Friday All! :)

California... & Getting a new Sister-in-law

Last Friday morning I left my house. I haven't been back yet, and don't expect to get home for several more days. First I headed up to Prescott where I met up with my family & headed west to California. We got there pretty late & met up with Grammy & Seth, who had left earlier with Trenton. Cameron drove all the way to California, and almost into LA (Yeah, we're not going to talk about that)... ;) ... And then I became the LA driver. Almost the whole rest of the trip I drove Mom's car, with only a couple of exceptions.


Saturday, after sleeping in more than we'd planned, we headed to Six Flags to play at Hurricane Harbor. I'm proud of myself for the fear-level of some of the rides that I actually went on. We did really well at applying sunscreen before we left, & re-applying while we were out. After a day at a water park, my family who would usually be sunburned, only had a couple of pink spots.

We went to dinner with all of our family, including Terina & Brent, Grammy, Travis & Stef, & Travis' groomsmen. That was fun times... & really funny to be texting across the table because the group was too big to just have one conversation.

Sunday morning we went over to Santa Monica to meet Travis. Trenton & the kids played on the beach while the rest of us went to the Rehearsal Dinner. That was probably when I really realized that I was actually going to be IN the wedding. After the rehearsal dinner & everything involved in that, the girls all headed up to get our nails done. That was my first ever manicure & pedicure-professional style. It was funny to realize that Stef's Mom was giving me a graduation present too! I looked at the Bridal magazines with Stef. That was a little funny too.

Monday was the day of the first family wedding I've been to. I'm such a cry-baby, & cried as I stood beside the woman who is now my Sister, & my brother's wife. Her Brother became an ordained minister & performed the ceremony, & it was so sweet. He even included some... surprise vows. Vows like: "I will buy you junk food at odd hours of the night. I will watch old black & white movies with you whenever you ask." ... and... "I will close the cupboard doors when you leave them open. I will pick up your dirty clothes when you leave them on the floor." I wish I could have seen Stefanie's face when she had to repeat the one about the cupboards, because from the back it REALLY looked like she was going to refuse to say it. :) The weekend was a huge realization that there are a lot of people out there who know my little brother better than I do. I've seen him just 3 times-ish in the past 3 1/2 years or more, and I miss him. It's cool though, because despite the fact that I know so little of who he is now, & that I really hardly know Stef, I love Travis, & by extension I love Stef. I hope that I can find a way to make them a bigger part of my life. Same thing goes for my other siblings, for that matter, though I have spent much more time with most of them in the past many years than I have with Travis.
Tuesday we spent some time down in Hollywood, then headed home. We left after we knew we should in order to avoid the bulk of the traffic, but somehow it still didn't slow us down too much. Mom wasn't too happy with me keeping up with Trenton for the first leg of the trip, because it definitely dropped our gas mileage. After we filled up with gas I stopped driving, because the tired was kicking in. I slept for a while... after I helped Seth decide to be a good traveler again (because really he IS so good, always). After a while I started staying awake, because Chelsea wasn't doing too good at talking & keeping the driver talking & such. That was about when I got to start hollering at my MOM about her driving. It felt like a role-reversal of the stereotypical. We were all laughing so hard, and that was what made me keep it up. We did get home safe & sound, & tired, last night, even though the tired driving, curvy roads, & hollering gave me heartburn.

Now it's on to other places & things, & dealing with other feelings.

Done!

I Just Finished My LAST Undergraduate FINAL!!! Woo-Hoo! So I wanted to share the joy! Now it's on to Travis & Stef's Wedding, & then Graduation Here I Come!

After that, I guess it's time to find my place in the "real world".
Wish me luck!

Busy, busy BUSY!

I am ALMOST done! I'm almost done teaching already anyway, but I still wouldn't have imagined that these last few weeks could be SO busy. I'm finishing up my big senior capstone paper for resubmition tomorrow, I'm down to 3 more spanish classes & my final, Student Teaching is going to be over sooner than I know (and maybe sooner than I'd like with only about 7 days left!), I will finally be done suffering through my spanish 314 class at ASU, and maybe I'll have a minute to sit down and BREATHE! That is, AFTER Travis & Stef's wedding, the trip involved with that (and the fun yet to be had), and my actual Graduation. :o)

For now I'm still running around like crazy, and working on all I have yet to finish.