Procrastination

Current mood: productive ;-)

I don't want to be a big, fat procrastinator anymore. Shopping online seems to be what I choose instead of studying. I need to study. I'm going to think like Bridget (fellow Nutrition student)... no procrastinating! :) Well, at least I'll try...

*reyanna*

The Rolling Stones.

I went to see them in concert with my daddy. Yeah... that's hot. :)

There were lots of old fogies smoking dope. It was pretty funny.

So kids... you wonder where your grandparents were on January 15th? They were in Boston... lighting up, while watching Mick Jagger dance and take off his clothes. ;-) Crazy grandparents.

*reyanna*

London.

Today would have been my late niece's (London Michele) 11th birthday. I can't believe that she's been gone TEN and a half years. I know she's celebrating with Sister Stephen (and my dog, Bridgette) in Heaven.

Happy Birthday, London! Enjoy, and I'll see you soon (but not too soon...)!

Love, Ani

Death.

Life is short. My hero is gone. She died on Monday night. I did get to see her when I visited Minnesota in June. She didn't look old. She didn't look sick. She looked wonderful. We looked at pictures, we listened to music, and we sat outside in the sun.

She loved my big, plastic, lavender sunglasses from Old Navy. I gave them to her, and it made her day. Still... at 91, she looked beautiful in them.

Nothing about her seemed 91.... except the wisdom and courage she had. Those things could only be gained with age. Sincerity, kindness, unconditional love, patience, a loving heart, a giving heart... she had all these things.

She served people and Jesus Christ her entire life. She spent 73 years in the church as a nun... and then retired. Her room in the hospice was never empty. Her smile, laughter and positive attitude radiated to all who knew her. She was a joy. She was popular with adults, children and even the birds down the hall.

Although it seems cliche... I'm privileged just to have met her. She was wonderful, and I thank God that I got to know her the way I did. She said she wanted to out-live her last living sister and brother (my grandfather), but she didn't. She's gone.

My chest hurts still... several days later. My whole body aches. I feel down and depressed... feelings I rarely feel. I know I should be happy... happy that she lived a good life. She served God every minute of every day, and she was the epitome of a good Christian woman. There will always be a hole where Stevie was. My breath still catches in my chest at the sight of her name.

Stevie, I love you... you will always be my human-inspiration. Thank you for being you. I'll never forget you. :)

Your niece, Reyanna Joy

Television.

Jeremy and I are seriously considering getting rid of our television and DVD player. Many reasons. The number one reason (and could possibly be the only one): we don't use it. I don't even remember the last time I turned it on.

We had Netflix all year, and now I'm just... bored of watching movies. We cancelled it. I hate TV shows so I'm not missing anything there. Well, I did watch three shows last year (Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives and The Ellen DeGeneres Show), but I figured I could just rent those on DVD and watch them on our computer or at my parents' house. I feel like it's a waste of space to just have a TV sitting there.

Maybe we'll regret it in a few months, but really... I haven't watched TV in about ten years (thanks, Mom and Dad!). And sure, we'd only get like $50 for both, but hey... a dollar is a dollar.

Even as a child, we didn't have cable or satellite. We had to make-do with CBS, ABC and NBC. No biggie. And now... a big part of me wants to be one of those people who others look at with their mouths gaping open saying, "You *don't* have a television?! How do you survive?! What do you DO?!" I do what people did fifty years ago BEFORE television. THINGS. And I feel like I'm neglecting those things.

I want to read more. I want to spend more time with Jeremy and the puppies. I want to scrapbook and hang out with friends. I want to run and bike and hike and do fun things. I don't want to come home and watch television.

And when I'm driving down the street at night, there's always a glow coming from EVERY living room. They're watching television. And I don't want to be one of those windows.

I think I'll just feel better about my life when I look in my living room, and there's just a place to sit. Maybe some art or some nice knick-knacks to look at. But no television. Sure, people will think we're nuts. But... we are. In more ways than one. We're just not TV people, and we no longer want to conform to the thought that it's novel to have one.

So long, television. You won't be missed.

Weddings.

*sigh* My friend's wedding was magnificent. Truly the best wedding I have ever been to. I cried all day long. Tee hee. She looked so beautiful and in love... so young and innocent (and she is...). I loved it. The songs were great. The ceremony was enchanting and calm. The reception was low-key and stressless for everybody involved (or appeared to be so). I had the best time, and I can't wait to see them again.

I'm glad I got this photo of she and her sisters too. I can't believe I used to *baby-sit* all these girls!! They look so OLD! LOL.

It made me think of my own wedding. Jeremy couldn't come to this wedding with me, but I brought a good friend with me (also a friend of the bride). She had fun lusting after the bride's older brother. Tee hee.

I hate to say it, and I usually look for the positive in situations, but... there were so many things I wished I would have had at my wedding that I didn't...
I wanted a friend of the family to marry us, but because of the date (Christmas Day), he couldn't make it. It was the only day out of the whole year that my parents had off work so none of my friends or other family members could make it either.

We planned it in three weeks (that falls into the elopement category, I think ;-) ), and no dress-shop had my size in stock. I did, though, wear a beautiful off-white and gold, glitter ballgown.
I felt like I looked like a princess. I loved my dress, but I deserved to wear white, and it makes me sad that I didn't get to.

I wanted to dance at my wedding. I wanted to hold Jeremy on the dance floor for the first time as husband and wife, while my family and friends looked on. I wanted to dance with my daddy while he gave me that smile that says, "I can't believe you're grown up now!"

I loved my wedding though.

How could I not? I finally got to marry the man of my dreams. I had a gluten-free cake...

... without somebody telling me it's impossible. (LOL... you wouldn't believe how many cake-shops told me that!) Pachebal's Canon played as I walked down the aisle. It snowed that day and was perfectly clear the next. We didn't get a real honeymoon (we stayed at Disneyland three months later, but we worked there! LOL), but the B&B was lovely.

I tell myself that we will renew our vows, and it will be like the wedding we never had. Maybe I'll even call it my wedding. It will be at the beach (or a hotel on the beach), I'll wear white, my friends and family will be there. Daniel will marry us, and there *will* be dancing. If you think about it... It's almost SO cool to renew vows that way. We have more time to plan and time to save money. I know it will be a blast. :)

Until then, I'm having a great time being married. I love Jeremy SO much, and I love waking up to him every single day. I feel truly blessed to have him, and I thank God every day.

I just hope my friend is as happy as we are. :)

Cereal Foes.

I have a craving for Cap'N Crunch. I'm allergic.

Cocoa Pebbles will have to do. They're kinda stale, but they still taste yummy.

Yummy. Cereal. Yummy.

*emmett* ~ who hasn't had cereal in quite a long time

Books.

I've been reading a lot lately. I missed reading. I felt like I was too busy to read. Well, that was sort of it... too busy with the wrong kinds of activities. Too much time online. So... less internet, more reading.

I'm really enjoying myself. And now, I'd like to start a novel. Maybe more of a collection of stories, but I'm excited. It will be great. I've already started working on it, and I can feel that it's lots of work, but I love it.

I've written many before, but only one did I actually do an outline beforehand. This time, I'm doing it right with the outline. My mom was right... if you write an outline for your book, it practically writes itself. At least my first one did... until I ran out of ideas and put it away. Anyway, this one... that won't happen because it's a true story. Though, I will pass it off as a work of fiction so people don't know how crazy my life really was a teen-ager/college student. Tee hee. I know it will be fun. I can't wait! :)

Back to the Future

I really love Back to the Future. I watched it today. I hadn't seen it in SO long so it was awesome to see it. I think I cry every time I see the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance part. LOL. I'm such a dork.

*emmett* ~ who loves movies that remind her of her childhood

Fireworks!

We saw the fireworks!

Last night we took the bus (WAY too much traffic on the island right now) to town, and we walked over to the water to see the fireworks. The Queen Mary 2 was friggin' RIGHT in front of us, so that was awesome. That is one big boat. Seriously!

At the end of the fireworks show, the QM2 blew its horn, and then ALL the boats in the marinas (TONS!) blew their horns too. It was one of the neatest things I've ever experienced.

Yesterday was tons of fun. I spent all day working on our new home-business, and I had a fun time designing and creating things. :) Jeremy did some filing and cleaning (SHOCK! ;-) ), and I made some pancakes for breakfast. Those are good. I think I'll make some today too. :)

Jeremy took a picture of me doing a handstand in front of the Newport Bridge in town last night...
My doctor said I really shouldn't be doing handstands, but it was only one, and I just couldn't pass it up. It looked neat with the sunset. I'll have to remember to post it in my Handstand Porfolio. I'll see if I can get around to it...

I bought a plane ticket yesterday to fly to another state for my friend's wedding. I'm VERY excited. I'm only going for four days because I don't want to miss much work, but it should be lots of fun. :) That's THREE plane trips this summer. WOW!

I feel bad about leaving work though. With two weeks vacation, one week given off because of a holiday, and then this 4-day weekend trip, I feel like I'm ditching them. I'm sure they don't feel that way though. I mean... everybody has taken 2-3 weeks off this year for vacation... except me. And I do deserve two weeks vacation!

*sigh* I just wish I didn't feel so guilty. But even though I know that practice was canceled this last week, I still felt guilty about that. SO weird. LOL. I just love working, and it's difficult to be away. I miss the kids.

Speaking of kids... there was this family of five children (2 boys, 1 girl and toddler twin boys) sitting next to us last night at the fireworks. They made me want kids. And not just one... like four or six. LOL. I'm strange. I go through stages.

Before I was married, I wanted eight children. That changed to four after some thinking. Then after I got married, it was zero. Jeremy talked me into having one, but I'm still not sure. Sometimes I think I can handle it (physically), but other times... I know I can't. I suppose I just have to wait until God tells me when and how many. I do feel like in ten years would be good.

It's smart to pay off the student loans and the car, buy a house, get a boat (tee hee) first. :) I feel like having those types of things out of the way before we start a family. Children are expensive. Did you know that raising a child to the age of 18 costs over $250,000! That's crazy. Not that I care more about money than I do children (quite the contrary), but it's just interesting to think about. You should actually *have* that kind of money before taking on such an endeavor.

I love children though. I love my nieces and nephew. They're so great. I don't know what I'd do without them. Any time I can see them, I'm thrilled. I just love them so much. And the amount that we love our puppy dogs? WOW! If I loved a child just half as much, it would be a ton. I'm not sure what my heart wants, so I know that I'll look to God to figure it out for me. I'm glad He does the worrying, and I don't have to. LOL.

For now, we're just going to enjoy each other (which is great for us!). Enjoy loving. Enjoy living. Enjoy caring. Enjoy the fireworks...

My Costume!

I finally finished my Harry Potter costume! Woohoo!

And with my robe tied up...

And me, playing with my wand. "Swish and Flick!"

I'm a little bummed about the fabric of the robe, but it was the cheapest one I found, so I bought it. I'll probably end up selling it on eBay so I can make a custom one. The fabric is a little see-through, but I think that's so more air will get through. The seamstress said this would be the "coolest" fabric for the summer, so that's why I chose it. I hope she was right. :)

Nonetheless... it's a robe, and I love it. :)

Hooray! It's coming so soon. I'm excited.

Anthropology is so fun!

I can't write much today as I have an appointment with a woman in the anthropology department at school. Yes, I think I've decided to double major. I just love anthro too much to *not* get a degree in it. It's been a passion since I was a child, and I can't let the opportunity pass by. It may take me an extra semester, but who cares?! LOL.

I went to the doctor yesterday for this strange pain in my back, between my shoulder blades. The doctor said it could either be a compression fracture (I hope not!), a pinched nerve, or a herniated disc.. I think it's the latter. I hope it is anyway. That's the easiest thing to cure. :)

She said I can't do any gymnastics or lifting, spotting or anything with my hands/arms until next week when I find out. That's kind of a pain. Last night I went to gym, and the only thing I could do was splits. Not that it's a bad thing... I need to work on my over-splits anyway. At least I'll get good and flexible this week. :D

Another thing... Jeremy's leaving again. I'm going to miss him SO much. At least it's only two weeks without him this time. AND I get to join him the last week. Woohoo! We get to visit his parents, which is pretty cool.

OH! And, AND, AND... I might get to go to the Fort Worth Zoo! It's like five hours away from his parents' house so we'd have to spend the night. Jeremy said if that's the case, then we're not going. HUMPH! No! How often do you get a chance to see bonobos (my favorite animal)! There are only about eight or so zoos in the world that have bonobos, and Fort Worth is one of them! I NEED to see them. It's not just "want" now, it's a NEED! It's for... research! Yeah, that's it! I'm an anthro major... I NEED to witness their behavior! ;) Hopefully, I'll be able to convince him...

So... it's almost eleven now. I probably should get in the shower and start getting ready. I'm very excited. :) (Not about my shower, but about my appointment... ) AND I get ice cream today! I hope Baskin Robbins because I haven't had that in a long time. If not Baskin Robbins, then I'll get this super-tasty, soft-serve stuff. We'll see how it goes.

Okay, oh! I wanted to say one more thing. I really would like to be a better wife. I'm not sure how exactly because Jeremy said I can't be better (how sweet!), but I really do feel like I can better myself in many ways. I'm going to think about it a whole lot and track it all in here. :)

Leaving?

I told myself I wouldn't leave Diaryland. I've been there since 2002. I didn't want to leave.

But... but... then I found LiveJournal. I know, I'm a sell out! A big, fat sell out! I don't know what to do.

I also found MySpace... and I have tons of friend there, and that is cool. I suppose I can have three online journals, right?! Maybe?! *sigh* Well, maybe I'll see ya? I still love you, Diaryland. Don't worry. I won't forget about you... the one who introduced me to online journals/blogs. :)

*emmett* ~ who thinks maybe she can keep up three online journals...

Home Sweet Home!

Well, I'm back. I actually got back last Tuesday, but I've been super busy. I had school orientation and registration on Wednesday. That was fun and crazy. I couldn't get ANY of the classes I needed because I'm an incoming junior. UGH. That sucked. So... I talked to the Dean, and she got me in to all of them. Woohoo. :)

I really, really, really would like to double major in Nutrition/Dietetics and Anthropology. That would just be awesome. I'd have to stay another semester or two, but I think it's worth it. I want both so badly. It would be great if I could pull it off. We'll see...

So I was able to register for Primate Behavior, and I'm stoked! I should have probably registered for one of the preceding classes, but I wasn't thinking of the double major at the time. I was just thinking I really wanted to be in that class. I'm going to see what classes are still open. I'm also going to try to get a hold of the dept. chair. I gave her/him a call, but I haven't heard back. I need to drop an email. That seems to work better these days.

Being back home is good, Jeremy and I are "spring cleaning" and moving things around, which is always fun to have a nice change. We turned the "cupboard under the stairs" (tee hee) into the computer room. And it's awesome! Jeremy calls it the "Micro-Room," because he has a sign that says so (that may or may not have been taken from his school in CA...). LOL.

He's so cute. He told me he wants him to make him breakfast and lunch every day, not to mention, dinner by 6 pm. All I have to say is... it's about time! Gosh! I was wondering when he was going to let me do that. Sheesh. It only took 2 1/2 years! I LOVE making him lunch and breakfast. I'm so weird. Last night we had pizza. Yummm...

And... I'm finished with my Harry Potter Ravenclaw costume! Yahoo! (please don't mind the no make-up or hair being done... LOL)

Okay, technically, I don't have the robe yet. It's on its way, but it should be here in a few days. Then, I'll just have to sew the patches on. YES! I'm so excited. And Hanna will be here in about two weeks, and that will be so awesome. No Jamie (her ex-husband), no Leif, no Jeremy. I get her all to myself! I'm so silly.

Well, I think that's about it. I can't think of anything else going on. :)

Stress.

Gosh, yesterday I was SO stressed. I leave for vacation tomorrow, so I had TONS of stuff to do yesterday. I had to drive SIX places. UGH! At least Chris went with me for some of it. That was cool. Jeremy would have gone, but he had to work. :-( Anyway, shopping with Chris is so fun because he actually *likes* shopping. LOL. I just had to return a hundred things yesterday. I am *so* the queen of returning things. But at least I'm saving money. LOL.

I cried twice yesterday. I guess I'm just nervous about my trip. And I'm upset because I've been so tired lately, and I can't work more hours (which I want). I feel like if I don't work more at my job, I'm left out. That's a bummer. Anyway, I need to get over that. Being tired because of my disease is not THAT big of a deal... really.

In other news... Harry Potter is like 31 days away. Yay! I'm almost done with my costume too. Hanna and I are dressing up as Ravenclaw students, and I'm trying to find all the pieces to our costumes. I have everything now except the robes. But I think I found them for like $25 each on eBay, which would be SO sweet-@$$.

That's probably how much it would cost to make them so that would be cool if we could minus the 20+ hours it would take to make two of them. :) This *is* costing me lots of money though. I'm going to have to sell stuff on eBay like MAD when I get back. I was thinking of buying a button-making machine and making HP buttons for the release. I actually have tons of ideas for HP buttons so that would be sweet.

Anyway, I have to go to work in a few hours so I need to finish cleaning and packing. Tomorrow at this time, I will be one hour from vacation! Yahoo!