Wedding Update!

I have updated my wedding blog!! I can't wait to get married...

Updates!

Man they've changed the layout of blogger since I have last been on. I've been MIA since school started..because I am extremely busy! I thought I would just quickly share a few updates:

-Went to the State Fair at the end of August with the fam. Ate way too much and GAINED weight!! But we all had a fun time...here are some pictures

-Josh and I went and looked at a house in Buxton, ND a few weeks ago. We really fell in love with it, but decided that it would be too much work. It was an older home and needed a lot of TLC, and we figured that for our first home, we didn't want such a big project. The realtor is still sending my homes everyday that are in our price range, but we are pretty sure we are going to at least wait until January until we start look seriously at homes. This way, we will have more time to save our down payment. I am getting really excited to look at homes, becuase I really want to get a pet....we can't have pets in our apartment now :(. I really want a little puppy!!

-Mom is coming up to visit me on Friday, and we have 2 appointments to talk with photographers that day. I am very excited!

-I finally finished my quilt...well mom gets credit for finishing it...the binding and I didn't really see eye to eye. Here are some pictures of the finished product:

-I should graduate early! Instead of next December, I should graduate next August! I'm pumped!

That's all for now!!

Inspiration Boards

I'm so excited to share me new inspiration wedding boards! Check them out on the "blog" section of our wedding website: www.freewebs.com/joshandkatieswedding

Budgetting

Josh and I have been talking more and more about buying a home. We both got terrific raises this year, which helps us to save a good chunk of change. So this past week we attended a homebuyer education class to learn a little bit more of what it takes to be able to afford a home. It was honestly a great class, and we will be able to use our certificates to gain some sort of credit towards the purchase of a home.

For me, this summer I have been working more and more on the American Dream homebuyer program in our office. So, essentially, I am helping first time homebuyers with federal assistance. Well ever since I started this, I have really learned a lot about what it takes to buy a home. I have also seen A LOT of people who are in worse situations than Josh and I and are already buying homes! It got me to thinking that we could probably do this!!!

Well after our class and individual meeting, I am sure that we can do it! Combined we have about $6,000 saved right now, but we are trying to save much more than that to buy down the principal amount of the loan, thus creating smaller monthly payments. In fact, it would be great to have a 20% down payment (although that could be stretching it a bit) so that we don't have to pay mortgage insurance premium. We actually did some budgetting and took a look at our cash flow. Right now, we take in roughly $4,050 a month together, and our monthly expenses are about $2,000. We have been saving quite a bit (at least 20% of each paycheck), but we could save even more (especially after summer when we are travelling home less often). If we save 20% of each check, by next year we will have $10,000 additional saved, but sometimes we save more than that! Both of us also have good credit scores (Josh has a 701 and I have a 692), so thinks are looking great for us!

We are looking at homes between $60,000 and $110,000 (which is actually in the lower end in GRand Forks), and Josh definately wants to look in the country, but we can't be too picky. However, we have time on our side!! We also need to put some of that aside for a wedding!! Ideally, Josh and I want to be ready with a great down payment by the time that I graduate.

New Wedding Website...

Check out my wedding website...I am hoping to keep this updated...it's a hope! I have some engagement pictures posted as well!!

http://www.freewebs.com/joshandkatieswedding/

Books, Books, Books

Since I have two years to plan my wedding, I have drowned myself in gobs of books! Last weekend, mom and I met up in Fargo to do a little shopping. We stopped at Barnes and Nobles to find a wedding planning book. What we found was completely overwhelming! Rows of books--whether it be planning books, etiquette books, or DIY books. Of course, we were drawn to the DIY books. I found a great planning book at Target, plus I made my own binder for magazine clippings, contracts, and such. The planning book has more worksheets and guidelines to help me follow. The books that I did pick up tended to be more budgetting and DIY books. So hopefully they will help.... I also gave mom a book to start cracking on! So we will be wedding divas once this thing is done. One thing we SHOULD be sure of at the end of this, is that we got the best cost for the quality of the wedding we are looking for, because I have so much time I am hunting down deals!! The one splurge that I want is photography. Pictures are sooo important to me (as a scrapbooker), and I really don't mind paying a little more for a photographer who captures special moments that tell a story. There is one photographer I am definately leaning towards up here in Grand Forks. I have talked with her and she travels, so I am really thinking about using her! This is the one item I am okay with spending a good chunk of change on, and I will personally pick up that tab!!

Mom is going to take engagement pictures this weekend. I am excited and nervous at the same time. I really don't want it to be awkward and posed pictures, so I am hoping that we can be relaxed and just have fun with it!! Hopefully I will be able to share some of those on here next week!

For now here's my pile of books:

Wedding Blog!!

WOW! It's almost been 2 months since I last posted!! By now, everyone who matters to me has heard that I am engaged to my boyfriend of 3 years! I've been trying to get pictures of my ring but they are all blurry or don't do it justice! Josh and I are getting our engagement pictures taken this weekend, so hopefully we will get a better shot. In order to cut costs, my mom will be taking our engagement pictures. To me, the pictures are the number one most important thing, because they will last forever, long after the wedding is over! So I am saving the little extra money we aren't spending on engagement pictures to splurge on an AWESOME photography for the wedding.

We don't have much planned, but we do know that the wedding will be the end of the summer of 2010. I will be done with my masters degree in December of 2009, and I wanted to make sure that I could enjoy the rest of the planning and the honeymoon period! I didn't want to get back from a honeymoon and jump right back into school. So our engagement will be long, but it will be worth the wait! We are hoping that with so much time we will be able to find the best deals everywhere!!

Right now, our biggest issue is the guest list!! We haven't even gotten finalized lists from the parents and we already have 300 people! It's tough to find places around here to accomodate that many people! So we will probably have to make a few cuts, but we want to avoid that as much as possible! I guess that's what happens when we both have pretty large families!

Any wedding advice??

I just made this book to help me organize my planning.

Apartment Pictures Continued....

Living Room:It's a lot bigger than before! The big screen is in the corner, and our new couch is by the window! We also just bought a used recliner from another student on campus for $40.

Here is another photo of the chair and couch, and also the wooden lamp my dad had made for Josh and I.

Here is our BARE wall! I am looking for some sort of decor to go under our three black and white pictures! I have been so into watching the home design shows on HGTV, and I just can't wait to have the luxury of affording to decorate a complete room like on the show!

The Kitchen:

The kitchen is also a VERY important room for me. Organization is very key to the kitchen, especially when trying to live such a healthy lifestyle! I really enjoy cooking and baking, so the organization in the kitchen is super important!!

The kitchen counters and floor tiles are definately outdated, but it still is a rental unit! We really can't complain too much! The fridge, stove, and dishwasher are all pretty nice and updated (a lot better than at the old place)!!!

Our kitchen table..

Our pantry...

The other corner of our counter. I hung up all of my measuring cups on the wall, because portion control is very important in my kitchen!

Apartment Pictures!

We are finally settled in! But, we still have to finish cleaning the other place.... I have been trying hard to keep things organized, and trying to come up with new ideas to do so!!

The Bedroom:

The wall is pretty bare yet. Eventually I'd like to find some kind of decor to put on the wall in the bedroom. I am also working on a quilt to go with our tan down blanket. The colors are all subdued and really beautiful (blues, yellows, greens, and pinks). Once I am finished with that Quilt, I will post pictures!

Here is my closet. I am an organized freak! If you didn't believe me before, you should now because, yes, I color-coordinate my clothes!! I barely have enough room for my clothes and I just got rid of three bins full of clothes that were too big!!! Mom and I have a shopping date in June in Fargo to start buying new wardrobes....we both need it now!!

I am a big fan of hooks now to help keep things organized! Here are my purses and belts in our bedroom!

Here are my pieces of jewelry that also hang on hooks. I also have a collage hanging on the wall of all of my high school pictures. It's kind of fun!!

My Office:

This is my favorite room, obviously! This is also my favorite wall! I crammed it full of my favorite pictures of my favorite classy hollywood actresses. They are mostly pictures of Marilyn Monroe, but I also have pictures of Audrey Hepburn and Judy Garland on my wall! I am always looking for new Marilyn memoribilia! There is also a bookshelf that is pretty much full, and a table that is poking out that is currently home to my sewing machine and quilt. However, I will use it to study and scrapbook as well, once the quilt is done!! Here is my desk and my desktop computer. This is where all the magic happens....well there and on my laptop that I am typing on now. It's nice now that we have wireless, because I don't have to continue to change cords. I can just use my laptop wherever I'd like! Again, notice the plastic organization containers...I'm a freak!This is my craft closet! Looks familiar, I think Grandma posted pictures of her craft closet not to olong ago, and my mom has the mother of all craft closets in her office....it must be in the blood!! You may not be able to tell but on the right hand side of the clost I have hooks for all of my bags, included the bags my mom has made!

The Bathroom

It was hard to take a good picture in the bathroom, but I have tried to get matching decorations. We have a black and off-white color scheme going on, but it really doesn't match the funky 70's bathroom sink!!

Josh's Room/Guest Room

This is Josh's "sports/guy" room! On the wall, there are the twins frames that he has. Plus, he has put his baseballs and baseball memoribilia on the corner shelf.

Here is our new klik-klak! It folds down as a guest bed! I wasn't thrilled about the red, but it will work in this Twins room! I made Josh a twins fleece blanket that we are going to drape over the back of the mattress, and I am looking for twins throw pillows also!

I will load the rest in the next post!

Move-in Update!

Josh and I had an appointment to move-in to our new home last Friday, but I got a call late Thursday saying that the previous tenants left the carpet a mess and they would like to replace it. We had a few options. We could move in at a later date (after the new carpet was installed), we could still move in Friday and just keep the living room clear until they put in the new carpet, or we could just live with the carpet and not worry about that affecting our deposit. Well, Josh and I decided that we wanted to look at the carpet before we made up our mind. We figured if it wasn't too bad, then we could deal with it. Josh's parents were coming up, so we knew that we needed to move in anyways because they had the pickup to help us move the couch and bed (and it was the only time that they could make it). However, when we got there on Friday, we knew we had to get it replaced because it was sooo spotty. It was so bad that I honestly wouldn't even have to vaccuum because it wouldn't look any better. There were kool-aid stains and then hundreds of small dots about the size of a dime (or slightly smaller) of God only knows! So we decided to get the carpet replaced! He scheduled the carpet guys to come in on Monday, but they cancelled and came in yesterday. The carpet looks good, except the installers left a huge mess. So we are very glad that we had new carpet installed.

Josh's parents came up this weekend, which was really wonderful because it was their first time to come up. Because we are about 3 hours away, not many people come to visit very often, so when they do we just love it! Josh and I both like it up here, but we do get homesick a lot. We really don't know too many people to just go out with and so it's basically just him and I. We are both kind of introverted when it comes to meeting new people! When we tried to move the couch from the old apartment to the new place, we noticed that it left a HUGE black mark on the carpet (there goes our security deposit). This couch is my parents old couch and it's falling apart, plus we don't know why it's leaving black marks. So Josh and I decided, reluctantly, that we needed to really look at buying a new couch so this one doesn't ruin our brand new carpet in the new home. We went to a furniture store last night, and asked to see the clearance room...I felt bad, but we honestly don't need something fancy (and we definately can't afford it). We found a nice couch for $299 and it's a neutral brown color, which means it will be easy to decorate around. Josh also found a red klick klack, kind of like a futon, which will work in our guest bedroom. I wasn't thrilled about the red, but it works in this room because Josh is transforming it into his MN Twins room (since we have so much memorbilia between the two of us).

So we are ALMOST completely moved in, but our new furniture won't be delivered until Saturday, so we are holding off on the last few things because of that. I have my own office and Josh has his own Twins room. It's a lot bigger, a lot more sunshine (which I am in love with), and a lot more privacy. I am really happy about our move. Now I just need to keep saving some money here and there to decorate our apartment a little bit more. I need some decor for the living room, including some throw pillows, and the kitchen. Decorating is a lot of fun, it's just too bad it's so expensive! But we are also going to be saving money to try to purchase a home next year.

I will try to post pictures after the boxes are gone and the new furniture has been delivered!

Life Happens!

As I am sitting here trying to catch up on my blog, I am also making a mental list of everything that I need to do before May!!

First of all, I have three weeks left of school! That's all! I am almost done with my first semester of Grad school! Yay for me! However, with that being said, it's cruch time at school! I have huge projects and finals in all of my classes, and I am trying not to freak out! I am keeping from being overwhelmed by taking one task at a time! Once school is done for the semester, I have a week or two break, and then I start summer school. Summer school will not be so bad, as it will be just one class that is offered for only six weeks. So I will be done with that June 20th, which is exciting!

I also need to start packing everything up, because Josh and I are moving into a different unit on May 2nd! I am extremely excited, because we are upgrading. We currently live in a one bedroom apartment for $435 a month plus electric. We are moving into a three bedroom in a 4-plex for $675 and all utilities are paid for. We wanted to get something larger, and something more private away from the whole apartment, loud, party scene. We have kids every night running up and down the hallway shaking our whole apartment. We have people outside until the wee hours of the morning with their music blaring in their cars. We live on the first floor by the main entrance, and right by where everyone smokes. If our windows are open, the smoke blows right in, and it's annoying! We just wanted to get out of there! So we gave our 30 day notice, but we have to pay for all of May because we gave it after the first of the month! But the good thing is that we have more time to clean the apartment to a T, which means trying to recover as much of the security deposit as possible. Moving can be so overwhelming and exciting at the same time!

Plus I have to go home the next two weekends-this weekend is Joey's baseball tourney that we always make it back for and then next weekend is a wedding we have to go to! Add all of this on top of trying to make it to the gym and plan out meals to maintain my healthy lifestyle...there's not enough time in a day!!

I just took pictures of my office since I decorated it! I will be posting those sometime...we will see what time allows for!!

Update on the Athena Awards...

The Athena Awards were held almost two weeks ago, and I forgot to update my blog! It was a wonderful night, and such an honor to be nominated for such a prestiguous award! There were actually two awards-the regular Athena Award and the Athena Young Professionals Award. I, along with 4 other deserving women, was nominated for the Young Professional Award. I'm pretty sure that I was the youngest nominee. I didn't win the award, but the lady who did win was much more deserving. She was actually older than I would consider a young professional, and has accomplished so much more than I have! I haven't even had time to earn a PhD if I wanted to...I guess I was just too young! But this was honestly an amazing opportunity! Plus, I was told that I got the loudest cheers! Thanks to five of my work colleagues (2 were my bosses) and Josh, I had a good support system! I was really grateful that they were there for me! I would've loved to have family there, but it's a long drive for one evening!

Anyhow, here are some pictures from the evening! I didn't get many good ones, I hate to say that Josh just isn't a good photographer!!!!

The first picture is of all five of the nominees for the Young Professional Award. The lady who won is the one in the middle.

My new favorite website!!

I have been doing weight watchers for more than a year, and weight watchers online for almost two months. I have been doing really well, but lately I have been wondering if there was a way to continue my healthy lifestyle change by noticing the different amounts of protein, sodium, and carbs that I consume. Right now, on weight watchers, I am doing the flex point plan and get a certain number of points to use a day. Each foods' points value is calculated depending on fiber, fat and calories. These are great things to pay attention to, but I am not paying attention to anything but these things! Weight watchers has been a great tool for me, and I have used it to my benefit!!

BUT NOW...I found a brand new site that goes beyond losing weight! They are more concentrated on healthy lifestyle changes! There are so many tools, like calorie tracking and fitness activity tracking that help to keep you accountable of everything that you put in your mouth! There is also great support through the message boards and teams that you join. You can make your own page and include your own blog! Plus there are points that you can earn as rewards! You get points for tracking your food, your activity, reading an article, completing a challenge, etc. The points are just extra added motivation! But there are many great articles and food comparison charts! There are also tools that help you decide what a healthy weight is at your height and BMI levels! I'm super excited about this website! It's packed with great healthy recipes as well!! Not sure if anyone's ever heard of it, but its http://www.sparkpeople.com/!!

I recommend every taking a look at it! It's super interesting, and can help anyone at any level. Whether you are looking at a few healthy recipes, or looking to totally revamp your lifestyle! If you are interested in starting your own account, add me (katester04) and we can be friends. Plus I can help as much as I can!! I really hope people check this out!

Oh I forgot to mention this....This tool is great and free! Weight watchers online costs me $16.95 a month, which isn't terrible, but I am going to try to use both tools right now. I'm really quite terrified to go off of weight watchers as I have come so far! It's kind of like a security blanket, but if things go well on sparkpeople, I may be able to save $16.95 and still visit the weight watchers message boards, as you don't need to pay to frequent those!

Nomination!

I know I still have to put up some more pictures from DC! I'm a big time slacker!!

I just wanted to come on here and tell everyone about the award I just found out I was nominated for! I'm super honored to be nominated! I'm not sure if anyone has ever heard of the Athena Award (www.athenafoundation.org) before, but I have been nominated for the Athena Young Professionals Award in Grand Forks (a regional award). I found out today over the phone by a lady who I have been working with. She said congratulations on your nomination for the Athena award, and I had no idea what she was talking about! I finally dug a little deeper, and my boss admitted that he knew who nominated me but couldn't tell me! He also said he wished he had nominated me, and I was very deserving of the award!

So apparently, there is a banquet that will be held next Thursday evening to announce the winner of the award. I definately don't expect to win, but it's such an honor to be nominated!!

To be nominated, one must possess the following qualifications (found at www.gfchamber.com):

• The individual is an emerging leader who demonstrates excellence, creativity, and initiative in their business or profession
• The individual provides valuable service by contributing time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community
• The individual clearly serves as a role model for young women personally and professionally.

I'm extremely honored that I was nominated for this award! It's very exciting! I just am very curious as to who nominated me! I will know soon enough....

Washington DC, Part one

So I really have a bad time positioning these pictures on here, and don't ever have the time to figure it out! So here it is, even if they are a bit discombobulated! The first picture is of the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial. It was a long black wall with names etched in the stone. It was really breathtaking. A volunteer tour guide told me that the names represent everyone who served in Vietnam and has passed, or hasn't come home (MIA). Each year, on Memorial Day, they add new names to the list, including those who served in the war and have since past. By each name there is either a diamond or a cross, a cross symbolizes that they are still missing. Once they are found (if they are found), the cross is filled in the represent a diamond. It is truly remarkable, and very emotional and overwhelming.

The next picture is of our whole group in front of the PRICEY hotel that we stayed at! Don't get me started on the price and poor service of the hotel! There are two pictures of the Lincoln Memorial. The one is obviously of Abe Lincoln in his finest! To be honest, I was taken aback when looking at this statue! I couldn't believe the size of it! It was huge and just amazing! It's really so weird how something you've seen in history books and read about forever looks in person! I know I am a nerd....but I love this history! The other picture of the Lincoln Memorial is of the outside of the building that holds the statue. On top of the building is the name of each state etched in the stone, which was really hard to capture in a picture, but really special.

Finally, the last picture is of the Lincoln Memorial, which is the very first thing I saw and recognized as we were landing in Washington DC! I do have pictures of it closer up, but I love including the reflection pond!

I will post more later!

Promotion!

I got the news that I have been waiting three months for yesterday! I am no longer an intern at the City, and I am now a certified full-time employee! I am excited! I knew that they were working on a position for me, but it seemed to be taking quite awhile! I knew I would get benefits, but wasn't sure about a raise. I was hoping/praying for a raise, but wasn't sure if I would get one. I was going to stay on as an intern here regardless of a new position, because it's hard to get a good job without the experience. So now it's finalized, and I got a $10 raise!! Meaning I am making $10 an hour MORE than I was last week! That's huge! I will also get other benefits, but I am just waiting for that paperwork!

The only (kind of) bummer is the 40 hours a week thing. I was working 30 hours a week (plus full-time at school), and I thought that was tough. I am just going to have to manage my time better! Before, I would get off of work at 2:30, go to the gym, go home and eat, and go to school. Now, on the days I have school, my time at the gym will have to be limited. It's not terrible, but it kind of stinks! But I would take the pay raise over that, and I work out in the mornings before work anyways!

It's amazing what a little degree will get you, or maybe my standards were just too low to begin with! Either way, I am happy! Now I can help Josh a little more with grocery expenses, and actually save some money for a house! What a concept??

I have tons of pictures to come of my trip to DC last week...I've just been too busy to add them yet! They will come though! It was an amazing trip!!

Before/After Pictures

I know the numbers of the scale have been great, but just looking at pictures puts things into perspective even more! I am not ashamed, anymore, to share my weight-loss stats! I started at 195...I wasn't going to get to 200...and right now I am at 152.4! My ultimate goal, to reach by June, is 140. I really love my new hair cut, but it's not looking like its full potential in the picture!!

When do we really grow up?

So lately I have been resenting the college atmosphere. Okay, I love the grad school atmosphere, but something about the younger students bugs me! Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to get on my high horse and say I'm better now that I graduated, but at what point do we focus on the reason we are in school?

Case and point:
I am terribly sick of using the computer lab in the evening when the athletic-type (wouldn't be surprised if they were the athletes of this campus...that's a whole new story) guys are in there together. When I go to the computer lab, I go because I have homework assignments on programs only the school has. I am there to work, and work hard so I can get out of there as soon as possible. Unfortunately, not everyone feels this way. I know this because, silly me, I chose a computer a few spots away from these rowdy guys. While trying desperately to concentrate on the task at hand, I was distracted by these guys who were on facebook looking at pictures of "hot chicks" and rating how hot they were...oh and if they could "score" with them. Oh it gets worse...after about a half hour of that, one of the guys got on the phone to someone else asking about the homework assignment that was due. He was getting all huffy and puffy over the phone, because, apparently, the caller on the other end was not going to give them the completed assignment as agreed upon. When off the phone, we went on and on to his buddies about what a liar the caller was, and he should've never bought him the shot the night before. Apparently the shot at the bar was the payment for this particular homework assignment. Why put such a large investment into something, like school, to cheat your way through it? This type of scenario has happened the last two weeks in our computer lab, with two different sets of guys.

Case and point number 2:
Why do the girls here feel the need to "doll" themselves up?? I guess I have felt pressure from the type of girls who go to school here since I started my freshman year. I know that this materialistic type of girl is everywhere right now, heck I see her every time I open up a magazine, but why do we make others feel inadequate if they don't meet these standards? I have recently become somewhat angry at myself, because I fell to this pressure. My biggest beauty peer pressure vice since starting school has been tanning. I don't know why, but for some reason burning our skin makes us beautiful! I admit that I like how I look better when I am tan, but why?? For this reason alone, I haven't gone tanning since the end of summer last year. So why am I starting to feel like I need to go? The only answer I have to this question is the poor effects of the typical hollywood stereotype portrayed everywhere...particularly in the media. I dare to be different, and have always thought of myself in this way. I hate that I fell for the trap set out by beauty experts whose job is to frame the way society thinks about beauty. Never have I felt more beautiful than I do now. I have made a complete lifestyle change. I will be happy, and I will no longer succumb to shallow standards ever again.

DISCLAIMER: I will avoid tanning beds, however, I will never avoid the beautiful sunshine outside...let it be summer!

Coming soon: Did I mention I chopped all of my hair off?? I will be posting before and after pictures (pre-weight watchers and pre-haircut)!

Other tag...

Okay so thanks Kristine, I am stealing your other 'tagged' post, it looks interesting enough!
This time it is different! Here's the rules:1. Pick up the nearest book (of at least 123 pages).2. Open the book to page 123.3. Find the fifth sentence.4. Post the next three sentences.5. Tag five people.

I'm a nerd...and the book closest is, of course, a school textbook! I actually enjoy reading it though, so here goes nothing:

In the months after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the number of witenesses representing fishing and environmental interests grew significantly, and oil company representatives were less prominent than they were in the policy process before the spill. Of course, as interest in the spill faded, the balance of forces returned somewhat to normal, but not to where it have been before the spill. (NEW PARAGRAPH) Groups that cannot gain a hearing in the legislative branch can appeal to executive branch officials.

Now that I bored everyone...I forgot to say HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

Okay, I'll bite!

Sorry, Kristine! It took me awhile to get to fulfilling my "tagged" duties! Here are my 6 things (I don't have six people to tag though...)

1. I get incredibly OCD about many things...particularly cleaning/organizing and my school notes! I color code my closet! I have two closets for my clothes (one for tops and one for bottomrs...and they are all color coded)! I am a freak about my notes for school being neat and organized (with many many bullet points to bat!) If I am at home taking my own notes by hand, Josh will make fun of me, because many times I have to tear the paper out of the notebook and start over! Plus I like to use only black gel pens...don't ask me why....

2. I get emotional easily! (ahem...grandma...your fault??? haha!) I cry about tv shows, movies, new babies, special moments...everything! I am the typical girlie girl...that cries too much!

3. I want a pet so bad right now! I wanted a pug girl, and I would name her Lola. I still want a pug because I think they are so darned cute, BUT I decided I want to get an animal from the humane society when I can because I know the pugs will be taken, but there are so many other animals that need a home. Now, if I could only afford a house or find a place that allows pets....

4. I pathetically follow the tabloid gossip! I know, I know...that's what's wrong with the world today, but I can't help it! Whether it is browsing the tabloid headlines in the line at the store, purchasing, or persuing the internet, I have to find my fair share of gossip. And I still secretly feel sympathy for Britney Spears. I think she is not doing her job as a mother, BUT I think living under a microscope has gotten to her. She really needs help before something tragic happens!

5. I am much too responsible for my age. I should be careless, fearless, and risk-taking (I hear...), but I am the girl in the crowd worrying about the consequences of my actions CONSTANTLY. I am probably known as the boring girl or "mom" around my friends, but I am pretty set in my ways. There are many times when I would rather stay at home than go out...I have always been a homebody though! Staying home playing board games and watching movies or going out to the bar (and dealing with a headache tomorrow)...I'll usually choose the first option. But every once in awhile.....

6. I am and always will be a summer girl. I dislike, very much, the winter and cold air!! I don't mind SNOW before Christmas....but after that it can melt. I don't really know why I'm still living here! HAHA!!

Good-bye January...Hello (cold) February

So before the new year, I made a calendar for my office. I was intending on putting the pictures of each month up monthly, but, as you can see, I'm a bit behind....SO you get two for the price of one!

My Diploma...

..finally came in the mail! What a relief! I truly have graduated...and I have proof! YAY!! (Sorry the picture is kind of poor quality)

The green medal on the left side of the frame (just hanging on the corner) is the honors medallion that graduates received if they qualified (I graduated Magna Cum Laude, which is the second highest honor). The tassel that is hanging in the frame is considered "drab orange," which is the color that indicates the School of Public and Business Administration. To be honest, I would call the color tan or dark tan. May parents bought me this beautiful frame as a graduation gift. It's now hanging on the wall above my high school graduation picture and tassel!

New TV

I know it's been awhile since I've posted! Today I will post a few different things to make up for it! Josh and I have been looking to get a new TV (ours was going out--it was may parents old one and probably 20 years old)! For Christmas, my parents gave us a very generous gift card to wal-mart (could be used at Sam's Club) to buy a tv. We had wanted to use the figt card and spend a little extra money to get a nice one! Well needless to say the tv was put to the back of our minds with my car problem. However, a few weeks ago, we went to Josh's work holiday party and he had won a few hundred dollars off of pull tabs! So he used that money, the gift card, and some of this paycheck to purchase our tv! We had actually done a lot of research into flat screens, and knew the good brands to look for and good prices for the size of the screen. We went into Wal-mart just to check their selection, and they had a 37" RCA for $699 (more than I wanted to pay, but a very decent price for the size)! We asked someone if they had anymore in the back, as the shelf was empty, and we were told they were sold out. After talking his manager into selling us the floor model, we got a 10% discount on the tv, and, better yet, it had only been on for 3 days! Needless to say, Josh made us rush home Sunday for the "big game" on his big screen!

I can't believe that I forgot to share this.....

WOW! This happened before New Years! Josh and I were on our way to Walmart the weekend before New Years, and my car started shooting cold air at me. We thought it was maybe low on coolant, but to be safe, we pulled into the mechanic that I usually take my car to here in Grand Forks. After waiting for an hour, he broke the news to me....it may be a good idea to get a new car. Those were pretty much his exact words. The mechanic thought that it was my head gasket that was out, but, because there was only one mechanic on duty on Saturday, he wanted me to come back in on Monday. So I did, still trying to be optimistic. This time the news was worse! It wasn't the head gasket, but he gave me a list of the things that were wrong with it. He also attached a price to that list...$1500 roughly. Well, because my car is 10 years old, and has a lot of miles on it, I'm not sure that fixing all of these problems would prevent something else from going wrong! So now, I am sort of in the process of looking for a new car. But, you usually need money to buy those things! I am waiting for my excess financial aid to come through, and I will use some of that to buy a car.

So until then, I get up at 4:45 am to drive Josh into work (with his car), go to work myself at 8, and pick him up at 4:30 pm. Not to mention go to my evening classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesay. At least we have his car!

In Threes

My future

Top three countries that I want to visit

• Italy
• Rome
• India

Top three cities in the US that I want to visit

• Washington DC (I'm going in March!)
• Memphis, TN
• Hollywood, CA

Top three Career accomplishments that I want to achieve

• Receive my Master's Degree
• Become a City Administrator
• Be happy at my job!

Top three ultimate life goals

• Be a wonderful mother and friend to any future children
• Take time to enjoy the little things
• Be able to look back on life and have no regrets and feel fulfilled

I wanted to write the top three girl and boy names I like for my future children, but it seems anytime that I utter these names outloud my friends who are having children before me go and snatch them up! So for now, they are my secret! Who knows, they will probably change by the time that I have kids. I just like the unique names...but I am started to hear more babies being born with one of my names :(, and I don't like to be in the mainstream...in anything that I do!

I'm grateful for...

Today I realized that I am very grateful for my eye doctor and the invention of contact lenses/glasses. I would not be able to function as well as I do without these wonderful items! I have terrible vision (almost as bad as my father's already)! I have had glasses since I was in fifth grade, and every year my eye sight gets slightly worse. I started to get concerned at my last visit, but my eye doctor up here told me that it was normal for someone who was yound, but soon my eye sight SHOULD start to stabilize. This is a good thing, because in order to be a good candidate for lasix eye surgery, you must have like 2 or three consecutive eye doctor visits in which your eye sight stays the same. I would like to do the laser eye surgery in my future, but it's just not possible right now. With that being said, glasses and contacts can be a hassle and annoying, but I don't know what I would do without them! In fact she told me that I am legally blind without them! Scary!!

In Threes

I also wanted to try another kind of regular post on threes. The theme of this first post is MOVIES! It's kind of hard to explain and better to just jump right into it!

3 Favorite Movies of 2007

• Because I Said So
• Hairspray
• Shrek 3

3 Favorite Disney Movies

• Beauty and the Beast
• Aladdin
• Cinderella

3 Worst Movies

• All of the Saw movies (they are just too morbid and scary for me!!)
• Scary Movie
• Not Another Teen Movie...see a trend?

3 Favorite Classic Movies of All time

• Breakfast at Tiffany's
• Gone with the Wind
• Seven Year Itch

3 Favorite Musicals of All Time

• Sound of Music
• Grease
• West Side Story

That's all for now!!

New Reoccuring Post

So in attempts to try to appreciate the small things in life, I decided that my blog would reflect on these. I was thinking about trying to write everyday about one thing that I am grateful, thankful, or appreciative in my world, however once a day me be difficult. So I will try to write at least once a week. I am obviously the most thankful for the wonderful family, but I want to start on a smaller scale. I want to try to elaborate on the small things in life that may go unnoticed or taken for granted.

Today, I am grateful for my warm blankets on my bed. I know it sounds silly, but in the newspaper today I read about a small boy who died from being outside in the Frigid air in New Ulm, MN. The article was very brief and didn't answer the questions I had like, "where were the parents?" My heart is just full of grief and thoughts about how children can get outside without realizing the dangers of cold air. I starting thinking about the high locks that I will put on the door of my home once I have children. It just made me think about how lucky I am to have a warm home and bed to go back to each night. Not everyone is as lucky as me, and yet I sometimes complain because I am too cold. If I am too cold, I can throw on a sweatshirt or grab a blanket, but that's not the case for everyone.

NEW YEARS

I also wanted to post on the New Year. First of all, I was contemplating my biggest accomplishment of 2007, and it was hard to narrow it done. I guess I would say that graduating from college had to be my number one. Following that path in close seconds and thirds, I would say that getting accepted into Grad school and losing 40 pounds (thus sticking to my New Year's resolution from last year). I just have to say that 2007 was really a great year for me when I think back on it. Things are still going well with Josh and I, I turned 21, and have completed many personal and professional goals of my own.

So this year, I had to come up with a new resolution (since I can't use weight loss as a resolution this year! YAY!!)

• I want to start attending church in East Grand Forks. I have decided that I really enjoy going to church, but do not go nearly enough!
• I NEED to budget my money better. I get paid very little for being a college graduate (it's the price I am willing to pay for the experience of my internship), and I need to save as much as I can. I won't be able to save too terribly much I realize, but if I don't put any away I tend to buy things I really don't need!
• Plus I suppose I need to just say it....continue to tone my body and maintain my weight loss!!

Good luck to everyone on their own resolutions!!

Happy Holidays...to be politically correct!

Okay, I'll just say it...Merry Christmas. Or umm belated Christmas? I have neglected this blog once again! This blog is more for my sanity, but I get a few visitors once in awhile. I just love the Christmas time of year. I start feeling the "bug" on Thanksgiving, and it continues right up until Christmas day! It's almost as if the anticipation for the holiday season lasts so long...and then before you know it, Christmas has come and gone in a flash! I'm sad to see it gone, but it was a wonderful Christmas!

Both Josh and I spent Christmas with our wonderful families together! Christmas is about family time, and we couldn't have asked for a better year or for better families! MY only regret is that more of my side of the family could get together! I love getting together with Josh's family, but it also makes me a bit jealous because, for the most part, they all live around the same area.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!!