A Few Pictures

This is the best I can do on pictures. The first one is of the Yale Peabody Meusem (where the dinasaurs are!). It's a perfect example of what most ot the buildings on campus look like. The last two are the outside of our apartment complex. Once the inside looks a little less like a tornado hit it, I'll post some of pictures of our apartment. I've been so tired lately that even when we go around town I haven't been taking pictures. Kevin's made fun of me because for the first three days we were here I didn't take a single picture! Hopefully I'll get a little of my camera gusto back once we get better settled in so I can show you all what a gorgeous area we've moved to.

Holiday

There's so, so much to do, but Kevin ordered me to take a day off from working. It's hard to sit around when there are still sticky spots to be cleaned and boxes to be unpacked, but I'm trying really hard to do it. I'm so tired and sore from the long weekend of moving furniture and shopping and cleaning that I know my body desperately needs the rest. I never knew I could hurt so many places at once!

This morning, we took a long walk through campus, since we still hadn't seen it. It's beautiful. Beyond beautiful. It's absolutely perfect. There are big green trees and grass and gardens everywhere. Between huge, ornate school buildings are little shops and restaurants that we can't wait to try. There are nice wide sidewalks and crosswalks everywhere, making it easy to walk around downtown. Huge, old money houses line the edges of campus. The whole area is lovely and has a unique historical feel to it. We still haven't come into contact with a single unfriendly individual. We bought a paper from a man on the street and stopped in a bagel shop for a snack. I feel like I'm on the set of a movie and that someone's going to yell "Cut!" at any moment. We'll see if I still feel so captivated come winter. We've had more than one person look at Kevin's Arizona driver liscence and tell us they hope we stay in Connecticut after experiencing a northeast winter!

There's lots to keep us busy until then, though. On Friday nights, they play old movies in the big park on campus. On Saturday, they have free music concerts there. Wednesdays, there's blues music and a farmer's market. They have city sponsered hikes at the 17 New Haven parks, and tonight there will be fireworks over the ocean on Long Wharf Drive. This weekend, our surrogate daughter, Betsey, will be coming up to see our apartment, which is still a bit of a disaster. We found an irish restaurant/pub that we'd like to take her to this weekend. It's designed like one of the many old buildings in Ireland and looks very homey. I'm excited to take a break, maybe have a Guinness and let somebody else cook some greasy fish and chips. It will take my mind off the six million tasks that wait for me at the apartment.

We're Here!

We made it! It's been a very long and stressful weekend, but I think things are finally starting to calm down, although I think it will be a little while before I can post pictures or anything.

The apartment is perfect for us. I was a little frustrated with it at first becuase it was much smaller than the sample one they showed us online. It was also extremely dirty! But, having scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed, it's finally starting to come around. We got a beautiful sleeper sofa, shelves, a computer moniter, and lamps from our neighbors upstairs who were moving to a smaller apartment. We also bought a mattress, which improved our moods a lot. Sleeping on the floor when you're exhausted from moving is not the best way to recover. We spent all of our gift certificates - that was fun! We had six carts from Bed Bath and Beyond - we really got everything we needed! There's still a lot to do, but our apartment is finally starting to feel like home.

I would write more, but Kevin needs to use the computer before he goes to work. Hopefully I'll be able to update soon.

And Michelle Makes Three

Honeymoon in Hawaii

Hawaii

Our first week of marraige has been wonderful. We drove down to Arizona and have been staying at his parent's villa. It's so nice to have a little house to ourselves. While we're in town, we've been able to visit with his friends and family. Last Saturday, we had a reception here, which went really well. His uncle Greg catered it and went all out - Italian style. We had lasagna, tortillini, ravioli, tirimasu - everything! We had it here at the house, and Nancy got a bunch of little gerbera daisy plants and decorated the house in red and black - it was so cute! There was a lot of visiting and then later, we played cards until late. I really enjoyed spending time with Kevin's friends and family - they're all so nice (and very loud, but nice!). Lots of people have been sending us pictures from the wedding and some of them have turned out so cute! They make me excited to see the ones Pat took. I put all the good ones in a wedding album and sometimes I like to look through it slowly. The day went by so quickly, I hardly remember it! With the pictures, I can remember more details and I like to sit and sigh like a girly girl about how beautiful everything was.




Tomorrow morning, pretty early, we leave for our official honeymoon. I'm so excited! We're going to Kaui, where we plan to spend a lot of time on the beach, hiking, and snorkeling. I'll post pictures when we come back. I'm pretty sure it's going to be awesome.

We're Married!!

I know I haven't been updating a lot, but life has been a little hectic lately! I graduated from college, moved all my things (and all my boyfriends things!) to my parent's house, and since then I've been trying to get all the wedding stuff ready in time for next Saturday. I can't believe I'll be married in a week! Right now I feel like I'm in this strange limbo. I always kind of feel like a little kid when I stay with my parents, but I've been living on my own for so long that I still feel like an adult. I'm ready to be married, and have my own home, to take care of my husband and have him take care of me. I'm ready to make curtains and buy furniture and cook dinners. It's still weird to me that I will have to wait a whole month after we're married to do those things! I am looking forward to seeing all of Kevin's family and friends in Arizona, and I'm really looking forward to our honeymoon in Hawaii! I know everything will happen very quickly - I can't believe how fast the last two years have flown by.

Last Saturday, three incredible women threw me a beautiful shower. I've never even been to a wedding shower before, much less had one myself, and it was really fun! I'll try to post pictures sometime this week. We finished all the thank you notes last night, and are still organizing gifts - I can't believe the support we've gotten from friends and family. It will make our move to Connecticut so much easier. We actually have silverware that matches now! And color coordinated kitchen supplies!

Michael and Flower moved into their own apartment, and while I think it's really good for them, I still miss having little Miguel around. Luckily, we've been babysitting a lot while they get all settled in, so I haven't had to go a whole day without seeing him yet. Whenever I hold him, though, I think about how far away I'll be later on this summer, and I can't help but wonder how big he'll be the next time I come home.

Sometimes when I think about how far away I'll be and how many loans we had to take out and how long we have to postpone having children, I start to have second thoughts about going to Yale. But the thing is, I know that I'll end up with a job I love, and I know that Kevin and I will love exploring the east coast. I know that three years isn't too long to wait to have kids and that if Kevin is 38 versus 36 when we start, it won't make that big of a difference. It's just a scary thing, moving to a place I've never seen to start a program I have almost no experience in. I'm so blessed to be able to take my best friend with me. That makes all the difference in the world.

Home Again

Today is Miguel's one month birthday. No, there has never been a cuter baby. And yes, that is a mohawk.

Your life isn't really complete until two of your friends re-enact an extremely embarrassing scene from 40 Year Old Virgin on a table at Pancake City. I have never been more horrified or entertained.

FINISHED

As of ten minutes ago, I am officially done with undergraduate work. I thought I would be excited and bouncing off the walls like Kevin was when he finished school. But I just feel sad. I had such a wonderful experience at Truman, I feel like I need a little period of mourning for all the good things I found here. I know that I'm going to a new school and I know that I will find good things and good people there to fall in love with. I know that I have this amazing new life ahead of me, and I am blessed with a man that loves me and is suited almost perfectly for me. But I think today, I will cry a little bit and hug my closest friends tight before I begin my great adventure.

One Last Hurrah

All the seniors...
Here comes the train!!!
Apples to Apples never gets old, especially after a rousing game of Disney Scene It.

EMPLOYED

My fiance is officially employed by Yale New Haven Hospital in Connecticut! This is very exciting news because he was able to get the floor and the hours that he wanted. He's working in secondary care, which means that when people get out of ICU, he will take care of them. This means he will get good experience so that he can work in his ideal emergency room or critical care after a year or two. He also got rotating shifts, which means he will work days and nights. Since he'll be working days a lot of the time that means I get to see him! His manager promised him he won't flip-flop a lot, so his sleep schedule shouldn't be too crazy. Life is good. It is so, so good.

It's the last week of classes, which means one thing: it's crunch time. There's a lot of stuff to do, but I won't bore you with the details. The important that is this: I'm really happy to be doing it because I'm about to start a new phase of my life, one that I've been looking forward to a long time. In less than four weeks time, I'll be Mrs. Kevin Hove, and I'll be on my way to Connecticut to begin a program I'm really passionate about. How many people are lucky enough to do something they love? These thoughts are helping me fly through the next two weeks with all the errands and projects and tiny nagging details that go along with moving and graduating and getting married.

Over to the left is one more reason I'm really excited. Her name is Alexis Renee Hove and I think she may be the prettiest little girl I have ever laid eyes on. Seriously, isn't she gorgeous?

Arrival

I have a new niece! Alissa Hove gave birth to a little girl this morning, who weighed in at 7 lb, 1 oz and was 19 inches long. There's no word on the name yet, but the last I talked to Alissa, she said she was leaning towards Alexis. I can't believe I have to wait four more weeks to meet her!

Things are looking way up in Kevin's search for a job. He's been talking with both St. Raphael's and Yale University Hospital and they're both offering him pretty nice packages. The deal is much sweeter than it looked originally and he's been very excited about it the last week. It makes me feel really content to see him so happy. Now he just has to decide what floor and what hours (nights or rotating). He's also been looking up events and stores in the New Haven area. In July, there's going to be a jazz festival and a Shakespeare festival. There's all kinds of little specialty shops, food stores, and restuarants near us. There's even a little farm where you can go pick your own strawberries! Kevin thinks we might fall in love with Connecticut, and has even stopped using the phrase "when we go to Arizona." Now it's just "We'll see what happens." Doesn't that sound like fun? I can't wait to start our lives together - I can't think of a better way to do it than going off on an adventure in Connecticut.

It's raining today. Kevin's leaving tomorrow. I had a presentation this afternoon that crashed and burned. Group projects hardly ever turn out well - I hope my professor remembers this and is kind.

I had my first wedding related nightmare. The one where everything that could go wrong does (including finding a body at the chapel complete with police tape and search dogs - how very romantic!). At least it was one outrageous enough I could laugh about it.

SOLD

I put a "for sale" sign in my car window a couple of days ago, and accepted an offer from some guy named Ron. I'm letting the Centra go for $600. While I'd hoped to get more, I'd rather have that than nothing but a car I can't use and don't want to take to Connecticut. My dad's supposed to mail me the title today, and then I'm meeting Ron at the bank on Wednesday to make the exchange. I'm excited to have a little extra money to make the whole marraige/moving across Connecticut transition a little easier.

Apartment!!!

So, we got the apartment at Yale!!!! This may not immediately sound as exciting as it really is, so let me explain: Housing on the east coast is really competitive. Like really competitive. This apartment will allow us to eat something besides roman noodles for dinner every night. This apartment is located on campus so we only have to take one car to Connecticut, since both of us will be able to walk to work and school. The whole complex is graduate students, and most of them are married, so we'll have an instant social network. And, best of all, we get to move in on July 1st, which means Kevin can start working right after Michelle's wedding and we won't be poorer than dirt all summer. I think this will be so good for us. We were offered a two bedroom apartment, which means we'll have room for a work place so that Kevin won't drive me crazy if I'm trying to study and he wants to watch TV. This also means we'll have room for company, so pack your suitcases!!!

Miguel Andres Blair

In case any of you missed it, Miguel Andres was born on April 15, weighing 8 lbs, 5 oz. I was surprised at how quickly I totally and utterly loved him. He's a little bundle of perfection and anyone who wants to argue otherwise will be hurt, perhaps severely. Now, enjoy the masses of baby perfection:

Unexpected Trip

Last night around 10:30, Kevin and my mom talked me into coming home today. It was a long drive, but I'm really glad I made it. Tonight was a big family dinner at my Grandma's house, and it was really good to see everyone all together, eating and talking and everything. Tomorrow, Flower's going to the hospital very early in the morning to have labor induced! That was really the reason for the trip home. Miguel will be my first "blood" nephew, and I figured I really ought to meet him as soon as possible. I probably won't be in Missouri for his first birthday or first steps or any other major milestones, and so if I can make it home for this one (his birth), I probably should. I think it was the right thing to do, despite the long hours in the car (and the even longer ones for Kevin!)

It seems that things are finally looking up for my brother, who made a deposit on an apartment that he plans to move into next month. He's very excited about the apartment and very nervous about becoming a father. I'm nervous and excited for him. I can't wait to see his baby - he's going to be so beautiful. I just hope he comes before I have to go back to Kirksville on Sunday!

Joel and Kristin playing Hoopla at Amber and Elizabeth's apartment last Saturday.







Amber and Steve's wedding. Everyone's on their feet because it took the wedding party two and a half hours to get to the reception and everyone was really excited to finally see them (and no food + open bar + long wait = lots of drunk people cheering).





Laura (Kevin's brother's wife), me, Alissa (Kevin's sister), Jen and Matt Hunsaker (one of Kevin's good friends and his wife). We were all seated at the same table at the wedding and got to know each other much better since there was nothing to do but talk, drink wine, and slowly starve for many hours.




Alissa at her baby shower, with the quilt that I made her. She seemed to really like it, which made her maybe my favorite person in the world.











And finally, here is little Brayden, my soon to be newphew, trying to stuff an entire banana into his mouth. He was not happy when Uncle Kevin saved him from choking by taking the banana peel away.

Arizona

We made it safe and sound to Arizona. It's so nice to be someplace different. I've grown very tired of grumpy skies and shifting weather. Here it's always nice and sunny and that is somethign I can get used to.

We applied to a couple of townhouses in New Haven to give us a couple of options in case we don't get into the University apartments. I really like them. They're a little more expensive than the apartments, but they have more space and privacy and they still fit into our budget. Kevin also applied to the other hospital in New Haven (finally!). So now we just have to wait and see what happens.

This weekend will be one full of parties. Last night we went to Mark and Karen's wedding reception (they eloped in Hawaii two weeks ago), and it was fun to see all of Kevin's old friends. He seemed to have a really nice time and I got to know some of his friends better. Today we have Steve and Amber's wedding, which should be fun even though Kevin's in the wedding party and can't sit with me at the reception. He has, however, promised to dance with me, so according to him, I'm a very lucky girl! Tomorrow we're going to see Mark and Karen's new house and then in the afternoon Alissa's having her baby shower. I haven't ever been to a baby shower before that I can remember, so I'm kind of excited about it.

I guess that's really all that's going on. I think it's been really good for me to get away from the mundane routine in Kirksville. I already feel a little less moody and a little more refreshed.

Well, I have one test down, three more to go. Two today, one tomorrow. I feel suprisingly ok about everything considering how little studying has been going on. I also finished my senior portfolio, which is something I'm very proud of. To graduate from Truman, every senior is required to put together specific papers (six of them) and write not only about those papers and how they reflect how we've grown at Truman, but also write about our Truman experience in general. And then we have to burn it all onto a CD since we're not allowed to hand in paper copies. It took me a few tries, but I figured out how to burn a CD on the school computers. Success!!

Should I give you the not so great news first? The hospitals that Kevin's been talking to only offer night shifts to new graduates. He's still looking into it, but it's not looking good as far as day shifts go. That means he very well could be working from seven at night to seven in the morning while I am at school from 8 am to 5 pm. This is not ok with me, and I'm really struggling with it. I've already gone almost two school years with only getting to see him on the weekends. Now I may finally be able to be married to him, only to see him for an hour at dinner time. We won't even sleep at the same time! It's very frustrating. Kevin keeps telling me that everything will work out, that he still has a hospital he hasn't even talked to yet that may offer him something better, and that no matter what happens, we'll find a way to work it out so we're both happy. He is so much more optimistic than I am. I have a bad habit of immediately jumping to the worst case senario, and I am really struggling to see things in a more positive light - like night shift employees make 10-20% more and it will only be three days a week. Unfortunately, I'm much better at thinking things like: he'll be gone all the time and when he's around, he'll be tired and grumpy. Like I said, I'm working on it. He hasn't even accepted an offer, so we really don't know what's going to happen yet. So no reason to worry yet, right? I wish it were that easy.

The good news is that I finally get to go to Iowa tomorrow! Then we get to fly to Arizona! I'm really glad we scheduled this trip. I wasn't sure when we did it, but I think I need a vacation. Plus, since we know we're going to Connecticut now, it will be really nice to spend a full five days with his family and do some real visiting that we may not have time to do during the wedding.

How gross would it be if I told you I bit off the very tip of my tongue in my sleep last night? Too gross? I think the stress of this semester is really starting to get to me.

Would you like to get your mind off that tongue thing I just told you? You would? Me too. A couple of my friends and I started the Lazyman's Triathalon at the rec center. We're in our second week and I'm really proud of the milage we've covered. We have to run 26 miles, bike 112, and row I don't remember how many miles. We have five weeks to do it, and we record our milage every day we come in. It's really been nice, having regular workouts with people I like. One more thing to miss when I move so far away.

I have all those tests I wrote about earlier this week. I have made an honest effort at the whole studying thing, but senrioritis makes studying very, very hard. I'm not used to school being this difficult for me. The ability to focus, something that I had in spades my freshman year, has eluded me these last few weeks. I have less hours than I have ever had, easier classes than I have ever had and I am making the worst grades of my college career. May 12 can't come soon enough.

I wish I could say this week has been every bit as productive as I needed it to be. Unfortunately, senioritis has a way of interrupting minutes that should be spent studying. I stayed in Kirksville this weekend with high hopes of getting a lot accomplished. My high hopes have been fading kind of rapidly.

My research partner and I did get all of our experimental trials run. We ran almost fifty undergraduates, although we'll have to throw one set of data out. Not only was one of the participants raging drunk (instead of writing down word lists, he wrote the word "beer" about twenty-five times - very helpful), but there was a huge thunderstorm during the testing time and hail actually starting to come in through the ceiling. I swear I couldn' t make this stuff up. Apparently, our participants found the hail distracting, because they remembered about half as many words as the people in other trials. Of course, instead of the hail, it could have been the drunk guy shouting or me running around the room in a panic because I was pretty sure the ceiling was going to cave in and we were all going to die.

Finito!! I finally finished my Disney Princess quilt! Now it's all ready to go for Alissa's baby shower April 9th. I think I will miss it, but to console myself, I've begun working on a superhero quilt for little Miguel. I already miss the big squares of the princesses - the superhero squares are much, much smaller and it makes for so much more work!






We went and saw Michelle's ranch over Spring Break. I'm just now printing and scanning pictures. Isn't it great how many things can be accomplished in order to put off homework? I took about six thousand pictures of her ranch, because it's beautiful there, and it took a while to sort through the awful and the ok.








Michelle with one of her four horses.










Two other horses Michelle owns. I can't remember the name of the one in the foreground, but the one in the back ground is Amigo, the horse she's owned since she was 16.

Let's say, just hypothetically of course, that you put off all your school work because you're a senior and therefore above doing such trivial things. Let's also say that next week contains four tests and two projects, none of which you have either studied for, read for, or started at all. On top of that, add a big move, a wedding, and a million tiny details that go along with graduating and starting life at a new school.
The cool thing about having a boyfriend is that if this situation happens upon you and you start to cry, he will totally put in a U2 dvd and rock out playing air guitar with the band until you stop worrying about next week and start realizing you may be one lucky girl.

In case you hadn't heard, it snowed several inches this week. The day after we got back from Spring Break to be exact. Yesterday the snow was utterly depressing because it was cold and gray outside. It felt like the middle of January instead of the end of March, and I really wanted to hop on the first plane out of here and go somewhere warm. Today, however, there's a lovely mix of winter and spring in Kirksville. The snow is still here, even though a couple of inches has melted off, but the sun is out and I keep seeing little robins jumping around on the snow. It's nice and cool out instead of bitterly cold. I have four papers I have to write and a project to complete before the day has ended, but I have a nice view out my window and I finally feel ready to work.

Accident

Monday morning before I left for Kirksville, I was slicing cheese for a sandwhich for Kevin to take to the hospital. I had sliced one piece when I missed the cheese, and landed hard on my finger. I looked down at it for a second and then it started to bleed. And bleed. And bleed. He had to go to the hospital, so I taped it up tight with several layers of paper towels and drove the three and a half hours to Kirksville. When I got home, I carefully unwrapped my finger and the silly thing started gushing again! Irritated, I called Crown Family Medicine and they got me in right away, despite the fact that it was a Monday morning. Of course, after bleeding for four and a half hours, it stopped bleeding as soon as the doctor entered. The nurse and I were trying to tell him about the gushing blood and the bloody paper towels, but I felt like an idiot. He said I probably lobbed an artery and that he was afraid that if he stuck a needle in there to stitch it up, it would start bleeding again. So he used those butterfly bandages to hold my skin together and then the nurse proceeded to wrap my entire hand in guaze. I looked like I'd had a serious accident, instead of a very small, well-aimed cut. I have never seen such a ridiculous amount of gauze in my life. When I went to class a couple hours later, I tried to hide that silly hand, covered in white sterile fluff, because I didn't even have a cool story to go with it. My research partner noticed, however, and asked me what happened to my hand. When I told her I'd cut myself with a knife in a little kitchen accident, she looked horrified. She asked me, in all seriousness, "Do you still have all your fingers?!?!"

Back at Home

I had a nice week with Kevin. As I predicted, there was a lot of dancing, cooking, X-box, and cards. I really got used to seeing him every day. I saw him this morning, but I can already tell it's going to be a bit of an adjustment going back to seeing him once a week.

Home's been nice so far. The drive was good - I stopped on Osage Beach and bought my new favorite shoes with a bit of birthday money. I still have enough left over to buy the NorthFace coat I've been looking at. Well, ok, two coats, really. One's really a lavender fleece liner, and the other is a jacket that goes over the fleece to block wind and water. It's so pretty - just the right color.

I got to see my new cousin today. They haven't named him yet, but I think he looks like a Conner, which was one of the three name choices (others included John and Joshua). It was so amazing to hold that tiny bundle of warmth - to feel him snuggle up next to me and hear his little sigh. I really didn't feel like sharing him, but eventually I handed him over to Will, who was much more willing to hold him than Michelle was, who is scared of babies. The reasons why I can't have a baby get so foggy when I have a tiny wonder cuddling up against my chest. Yet they become so clear with the stench of a dirty diaper kicks in and that tiny precious face screws up and begins to shriek. For now I'm content with the kind of baby I can hand over to a responsible party when things get grumpy. Lucky for me, I have already have a baby newphew, with two more one their way in the next month. There should be lots of baby to go around until Kevin and I are ready to have our own.

The coming week will be full of wedding business. I have to speak with the hotel, the restuarant for the rehearsal dinner, the caterers, the cake baker, and the Stonegate Chapel people. I also have a dress fitting, a hair appointment, and a invitation/favor making party. It will be busy, but I'm so excited!! It finally seems like it's getting close! I hope it turns out as beautiful as it plays out in my head.

I can already tell it's going to be a good week.

Kevin's spring break is this week, which means I get him for nine whole days. This is extremely exciting because it means someone else will be doing my dishes and helping me cook and throwing dance parties in my kitchen. There will also be a lot of cards being played, screaming at the X-box as one or the other of us completely fails as a ninja, and staying up late (for Kevin) watching movies and talking.

Friday night, I made Kevin watch Grizzly Man with me. If you don't know, it's a documentary about a man that went and lived with grizzly bears for 13 summers. He and his girlfriend were eventually eaten by a grizzly bear at their camp. Kevin, as it so happens, is terrified of bears. Any bears, and especially grizzly bears. Viewing this film with someone who hates bears and who just finished up his three weeks of rotations on the psych ward of the hospital is the best person to watch this movie with. We spent most of the movie diagnosing Timothy Treadwell (we decided bipolar, with strong manic tendencies), and then in the end decided never to go camping in Alaska. I would be lying if I said I didn't have a dream that night that Kevin, Michelle, and I were eaten by a ten-foot-tall bear in Grandma Mary's living room. We were bear hunters, you see, and we thought we'd killed it with our frying pan (our only weapon) but it woke up hungry from it's place as our rug.

Saturday night, we went out with Amber and Elizabeth. Kevin lasted an hour before the music got to him (he has a bad cold) and he drove home. The rest of us stayed behind to experience my English professors punk rock chick band. My old next door neighbor, who is now a rapper, opened. I got to listen to his beginning rapping in the dorms through the walls, so it was interesting for me to see how he had evolved. Right before the chick rock band, some guy started puking all over the floor, more puke than should come out of a human being, according to the people that saw it. I avoided looking at it like my life depended on it. The bartender grabbed the sick guy and escorted him out, but no one came to clean up the puke. Then the band started to play, if you can really call it that, and we had to leave because between the squawking of the lead singer and the incredible pumped up volume of the "music," we just couldn't handle it. So we headed over to John's to watch the end of a game of Solar Galaxy (a game I plan to never play) and then some cards. We finished off the night with a midnight rearrangement of John's apartment, which the three of us girls thought was a huge improvement. I have yet to hear what John's roommate thinks of our taste.

Today, the sun is shining and spring seems to be on it's way. It's a good day.

Birthday Pictures

I think I can safely say the birthday weekend was a success. It was really nice to see my family, and I'm looking forward to spending more than 24 hours with them over Spring Break. This drawing was a gift from Michelle, which I framed and now have hanging on my wall. I fall a little bit more in love with it every time I walk into my apartment and see it hanging there.






What this picture doesn't show is us messing up each other's cakes while my mom got the candles and then us trying to feel bad about it when my mom came back and expressed her displeasure at our cakes being less pretty. As you can see, we really pulled off the whole remorse thing rather well.

Italy

It's been voted a no. We're going to wait and do it right. I feel good about this decision - we have enough going on this summer without a trip abroad!

Home Hunting

Now that Kevin and I know where we're going in four months, we've started the slow painful process of searching for a place to live. Apparently, the apartments in New Haven are hard to come by and expensive. Graduate housing is extremely competetive, but no less so than any apartment anywhere near campus. According to people that have lived and worked there, we have to be careful what neighborhood we settle in and it is wise to settle as close to school as possible. The fact that Kevin's applying to work at the hospital located on campus makes a nearby home doubly convienent. We'd like to sell my car to reduce our expenses and if one or both of us could walk to work/school, it would save us a lot of time and money.

My dad warned me about the attitudes of the east coast, and already I'm finding out that he was right. I'm trying to grow thicker skin - really I am, but I've lived in the midwest my whole life and I'm simply accustomed to a certain degree of civility. However, in the brief interactions with realtors I've had on the east coast, I'm often cut short, bluntly told no, or sent impersonal, attached emails that offer no kind of courtesy or friendliness, and do not answer any of my specific questions. In my experience in Missouri, business people are always nice to potential customers, because they want customers to spend money at their particular business. In New Haven, no one seems to care. It's a seller's market; I'm competing for them - not the other way around, so it seems like they have no reason to be nice to me and would rather not waste their time doing so. It's a little frustrating because I'm not quite used to it yet. It makes the hunt for a home that much harder.

I think every girl envisions the place she'll live when she gets married and I don't think any of those visions include a frat house across the street, crushed beer cans in the lawn, or cramped study spaces packed with books and papers. I want a grown-up, cozy space that looks more like a house than an apartment. We found one like that, which is slightly out of our price range, but there aren't any units available. For the first year at least, we may have to settle for a 500 sq ft little space that we can easily afford and just put up with all the inconviences that come with living on a college campus. If we can spent four weeks in a car together and not kill each other, we can spend 12 months in a little apartment, right? If we can get in, that is. What's crazy is that applying for an apartment on campus is just as competitive as trying to get into the school in the first place.

Another big decision we're facing is Italy. We had already decided not to go, but Kevin's cousin recently announced that not only is she marrying an Italian man, but they are getting married in Rome this summer. It would be so amazing to return to Italy and experience a real Italian wedding with food and family... Weddings are a huge part of the culture there, and it's something that I've always wanted to experience, but never thought I could - I mean, we'd be treated as family! I can't imagine a better way to celebrate our own marraige. However, with all the moving and trips and weddings we already have going on this summer, the budget is going to be tight as it is. So, do we take the plunge and risk having a depeleted emergency fund or do we play it safe and miss the once in a lifetime Italian experience? We're still talking about it. We're both pretty torn on this one. When it gets closer to time, we'll have a better idea of exactly where our finances are. More specifically, in the next two weeks I'll find out what kind of scholarhips/loans are going to be awarded to me, if any, and I have a feeling that might play a major role in the course of our summer.

These are the flowers my Mom and Alice sent. Don't they brighten up the room? I just love them! More news on grad school: I got the actual acceptance "packet" which consisted of one piece of paper and a little magnet. I was excited to get it and all, but I was really hoping to find out more about when the program is starting. I also found out that I can't apply for housing until April. That was a little disappointing because I was hoping to get that all squared away before March so that if either Kevin or I need to head off to CT and look at apartments, one of us could use our spring break to do it. By one of us, I mean Kevin, since my spring break will be spent doing wedding stuff in Springfield.

This is the quilt I've been working on so hard the last few weeks. The top part is finished, as you can see in the photo. I'm now in the process of sewing all three layers together, but it is hard and very slow. And I'm not doing such a great job, but I think I should get an A for effort because I am putting a LOT of effort into it. This makes it more disappointing when the results are far from perfect, but still - Alissa will like it because I made it right? I hope so. I just wish the back looked as "put together" as the top does in this picture and not all crumpled and wadded.

I tried to upload pictures of the flowers my mom and Alice sent me and of the quilt as it has progressed so far, but I was enormously unsuccessful. I used a different scanner this time, so I think the picture may have been too big for my blog. It's a shame because I wanted to show off my mad sewing skills. Oh well.

I'm still waiting for my acceptance packet. I can't wait to get it so I'll know where I can live and when I actually start school! It's all still very, very exciting!

Celebration

A group of us went out last night to celebrate my acceptance. It was a lot of fun, especially since I haven't spent many weekends in town lately. It was so nice to hang out with everyone, all together! We were out pretty late and I'm pretty tired, but it was definitely worth it.

Kevin and I have been talking about Connecticut a lot and we're both really excited. We think it will be an adventure to explore the east coast for a few years! We've been looking at apartments and have decided to apply for the ones on campus, since they're so close and relatively inexpensive. They're a nice size, too, especially the two bedroom ones. He's going to apply for a job at the Yale Hospital next week too - lots of exciting things are starting to happen!

It was hard to see him go this afternoon - I really look forward to having him around more often. That might be the best part of this May.

Snowing

It's snowing... AGAIN. It's very pretty, but very cold.

My partner and I just finished the first portion of our research project, which is due on Monday. For this reason, Kevin drove down this weekend instead of me. It's nice having him here and getting to see my friends on the weekend, but I surprised myself by missing the long drive and the escape. I've gotten to enjoy the long rides in my little car with my Harry Potter books to keep me company (I'm on the third one!). I especially enjoy getting away from Kirksville for a little while - I like it here, but I am ready to move on.

Someone tore off my side mirror today while I was parked at the rec center. I only had one to begin with and I do not appreciate having none! I had to go to the police station, which was conveiently located about twenty feet from my parking spot and fill out a report which I'm sure will do absolutely no good getting my mirror back. Whoever took it off took it with them, so to get it fixed, I'd have to get the whole thing replaced. This is frustrating because I don't plan on taking my car with me to Connecticut. If I'm only going to have it a couple more months, it seems wasteful to spend the money repairing it. On the other hand, if I want to sell it in May, who's going to want to buy a car with no mirrors?

!!!!!!

So a lady called me this morning from Connecticut to tell me I'm going to Yale in the fall!! I promptly called all major family members and had a minor freak out session with each one. I still haven't been able to call Kevin. He's been at the hospital all day, but I can't wait to tell him we finally know where we're going this summer!!! I'm so excited!!! I had to look up Connecticut in order to spell it correctly, making me wonder what in the world those admissions people were thinking!

Good Decision

Somewhere between finding breakfast made and all four of my car windows scraped, all by Kevin before he had to be at work at 6:30 this morning, I thought to myself: Good decision, girl. Good decision.

I had a rather uneventful week. I spent most of my nights with friends. Kim came over for dinner on Sunday. Amber and Elizabeth came over for dinner on Wednesday. Thursday night, I spent a lot of time catching up with old friends on the phone. Friday I spent completely and totally humiliating myself.
I went to my psych research class after spending twenty mintues straightening my hair and having a nice lunch with Kim, Amber, Elizabeth, Cathi, and Joel. There are twelve people in my research class and we sit at a conference table facing each other. About half-way through class, I reached over the top of my head to smooth down my hair and realized with a surge of horror that my wrist was stuck. Stuck to the very top of my head. A button had caught in my hair and the more I pulled, the more it stuck. I looked around to see if anyone had noticed how long my hand had been on top of my head. Let's be honest, in that class, there's nothing else to do besides notice people who's wrists are stuck to their heads. I yanked and pulled while people stared and stared and finally leaned over to my research partner and whispered, "would you please follow me to the bathroom?"
We got out into the hall and could not stop laughing. Were we in a sitcom? What was going on? Do things like this actually happen in real life? It took her a full five minutes to get that ridiculous button out of my hair and we could not look at each other the rest of class without cracking up. I so hope no one remembers in class on Monday, but I know everyone will. I am such a dork.
Now I'm in Iowa, trying to get some homework done. I've had two dreams about recieving packages and envelopes from Yale. Maybe this is a part of my anxiety in waiting for an answer. I just want to know where I'm going to be in five months so I can start planning my honeymoon and my life after college. Of course I can't place too much meaning on my dreams because I also dreamt last night that I was in charge of taking care of two palm sizes babies on a camping trip. It was very hard to keep their caps on their heads. Oh, and then there was the dream that Elizabeth ate my hair and hid my camera in a granola bar, while Amber, Phil and I were with her on a cruise and Phil kept chasing monkeys around the boat, trying to capture them and take them home as pets.

Two Dates

I decided to treat my car right, since she's been so good to me, and I took her out for a full work-up. I got the tires rotated, oil changed, and new windshield wipers put on. I must say, being able to see out my window when it's raining is quite a treat. Since I've been driving between seven and eight hours a week, I thought Susie Mae deserved a little treat for all her hard work. Hopefully she will continue driving smoothly, even if I ignored the mechanic about all the new things he thought my car needed. At the beginning of the ordeal, he said it'd be about an hour. Two hours later, he still hadn't called, so I stopped by to see what was taking so long. He said it'd be another five minutes. Half an hour later, I very politely told him that he told me at 10:30 it'd be about an hour and now it was 1:00, and I wasn't very happy. I told him if it was going to take three hours, he should say it's going to be three hours, because it was very frustrating for me to be sitting there two hours after I expected my car. So he took ten dollars off, which I thought was better than nothing. I've been getting better about speaking up when I'm paying for something and not getting what I paid for. You'd think after living with my mother for eighteen years, I'd have this down ( I can't count the times she's gone back to the grocery store because of smashed bread) , but it's still something I'm working on. I'm always surprised, too, when I get a discount! I was pretty excited about ten bucks off.

Kevin surprised me, too, with an early Valentine's date. He said this way it's more of a surprise, and we won't be together on Valentine's Day anyway since it falls midweek. He hand-picked a card for me (something rather rare), wrote a whole paragraph of all the reasons he loved me (which gives me a whole other reason to love him!) and then took me to the Texas Steakhouse for a nice meal. They have the best bread there!!! And good steak. And I indulged in a pretty tasty margarita. It was maybe the best early Valentine's Day I've ever had.

Now we're at the library and he says he's doing homework, but he's really looking up x-box games online - I can see him! Boys will be boys will be boys...

Already the Same

It's only the second week of the semester but it already feels like the twenty-fourth week. I feel like I've been in this routine, with these classes, for ten years and I would do anything to be able break free of the horrible cycle. I think the proper term is senioritis. The exciting thing is that I have less than four months left until graduation. The awful thing is that there are four months left. I really have liked it here, but I am so ready to move on. I'd be lying if I said that a large part of it wasn't wanting to be able to spend more time with Kevin. I've known from the start that a long distance relationship would be hard, and we have worked out most of the kinks, but I miss him.

School-wise, everything is going fine. I think classes will be generally mild and about half of them will be interesting. My creative writing class is not at all what I expected, but it is challenging me to think and write in new ways, so I guess it's accomplishing it's task.

I wish I had an interesting story or something exciting at all, but at this point, life's pretty ho-hum.

Pictures At Last!!

This is all of us playing Disney Scene-It. Amber, Kristin, and John's team won in a BIG way, though things got a little close at the end. Kim and I, overall, didn't stand a chance. Joel and Phil fared well enough to make me think they may exaggerate their disklike for Disney.


The last two are pictures of my oh-so-cute boyfriend, one in the suit he bought for the wedding (you have to imagine the red tie we bought, which he chose not to try on for the picture) and one on his way to the hospital, all decked out in his scrubs. So cute!

Lesson Learned

Despite Kevin telling me not to drive up, and Aric Ho telling me to choose life over a trip to Iowa, I decided that I could actually beat the snowstorm and arrive to Davenport safely before the bad weather hit. About a half hour into the drive, I started thinking of all those stories about young adults who thought they were invincible and so braved conditions and ended up in ditches. About an hour into the journey, I hit the blizzard. Luckily, I was right next to a Best Western in Fairfield, Iowa, where I spent the next 15 hours or so. I had to get a room and pay a heart-wrenching $68 (I had no idea a hotel in a tiny town in Iowa could charge that much for a room for one person!), but I figure in the long run, it was cheaper than buying a new car or a new leg or something a little more heart-wrenching. I would have done much better to have stayed put in Kirksville like everyone told me to. I guess I was a little stir crazy - Kirksville does that to me sometimes. Next time, I will stay in Kirksville and brave the stir-craziness rather than trying to brave a snowstorm. This morning, when I got up, I had a nice long chat with the front desk girl to make sure there was no more snow coming and that the roads were nice and clear. They were perfect the rest of the drive up and it was actually a nice day for driving. As I passed more than fifteen cars in ditches the remaining two hours of my trip (I guess those people chose not to pull over when the snow hit, or else their pulling over was much less successful), I was really glad I stopped in Fairfield - it was definitely worth the money. But the next time I see a snowstorm on the news, I will automatically assume that the storm will win any sort of race with myself, which will save me some money and a whole lot of stress.

My Last First Day

Classes so far have gone pretty well. I saw my romantic relationship seminar professor after class and asked her what I should do about the tempermental professor. After relating my story to Amber and Elizabeth, they said I should talk to someone about it so that an unsuspecting visitor didn't get the same treatment. Elizabeth even talked to the division head, who said he needed a name so he could teach that professor how to talk to students, even students who are parking illegally. Before I got him in trouble, I wanted to talk to another professor to get their opinion on the situation. I told her briefly that I had parked in the wrong place and a Truman professor had yelled at me in a threatening manner. Phil and I had done some detective work earlier this morning and we had discovered this man's name. I saw him in McClain and got scared, and that's when I decdied to talk to my professor. She asked for his name. I gave it to her. She said, "That's my husband!" I was mortified. Apparently, she did not take his name. I told her I was embarassed. She said he was a very kind man. I said he really didn't come across that way last week, but I was sure under normal circumstances he was. She also mentioned that he aims for cars that he thinks are too close to the yellow line while he's driving. I started to become concerned. Then she mentioned that he also yells at her for not screwing jar lids on properly. I became even more concerned. Then she reassured me once again that he was a very kind, generous, wonderful person. I remain unconvinced, but still embarassed. What are the chances that the person I go to for advice would turn out to be married to the person that I was asking advice about?

I have my creative writing class and 3, and after that I'm done for the day, with classes anyway. I told Eric I'd stop by his apartment later, and then Kevin will be calling at 7, for our one conversation of the day and then I have APO and afterwards, a very important TV date with Amber. It's so nice to have a day full of things to do.

Sunday

I have spent an incredibly boring couple of days holed up in my apartment, so I decided to take a break from the stuffy, somewhat chilly (have you seen the gas prices!?) air and venture outside. I walked, to avoid any parking lots whatsoever and arrived safely and unharrassed. Though my days in the apartment were spent with minimal human contact (I did talk to Kevin on the phone and had friends over twice), I managed to get a lot done. I finished all my wedding invitations, which took approximately twelve years, then I sewed boxer shorts originally for Kevin, but I tried them on and I like them so much I may keep them as PJs. Then I started on the baby quilt for Alissa. It's Disney Princess in theme. I've been dying to make a Disney princess quilt and was really pulling for one of the three pregnant ladies I know to have a girl. Alissa really pulled through for me because my cousin and my sister-in-law are both having boys. There is no totally awesome boy fabric. I mean, I'm thinking about making a superhero quilt for little Miguel, but it will be nowhere near as spectacular as Disney.

The weather outside is lovely, a huge change for Kirksville. I'm soaking up the sunshine and the non-use of my heater. If I don't use it at all, it's between 60 and 65 in my apartment. I've become fine with this because my gas bill last month was $55, and I had the heat turned down to fifty degrees for two of those weeks while I was out of town. I am terrified of what a whole month of seventy degrees is going to cost me, so I've been keeping the temperature a little cooler and layering up on the clothes. I have about twelve blankets on my bed. I remember complaining to my mom when I was little about how cold she kept the house, and now I finally, finally understand. Mom, seriously, 68 was generous. I don't even allow myself 68 and I'm just heating a one bedroom apartment.

School starts on Tuesday and then I have my interview with Yale on Thursday. I am so excited and nervous I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night. There's also the exciting and sad fact that this is my last semester with all the wonderful friends I've made here and then I'm off to start my own family, a little two person family, far away from everything I've ever known. That was on my mind a lot in the wee hours of this morning, too. I'm as excited as I am scared. I know Kevin and I will be happy, but I also know how much I'll miss my friends and family. It's nice being able to drive down and see everyone when I want, and for the last four years my best friends have only been a few blocks away. Yet moving away and getting married means I'll get to see Kevin every day. I'll get to wake up to his smile and go to sleep with him beside me. I can't think of a nicer way to start out and end each day. I was reading last night about the Buddhist theory of impermanence. The monk that wrote the book was talking about how everything is constantly changing, that nothing can stay the same for even two moments in a row. He said we must embrace it because nothing would be possible without change - we could not be born or fall in love or have children. He said we must take every moment we're given and be grateful for it, because it won't last very long. It gave me peace, thinking about it. Sure, things will completely change in May. But things will also change tomorrow. Today I have friends meeting me for dinner and then coming over to play Disney Scene-It. Today I will laugh with them, eat with them, love them while they are around me, and let tomorrow take care of itself.

Jerk

I'm currently upset because a jerkface professor yelled at me for several very long minutes in the parking lot. You see, they took down all the signs saying you had to have a red parking pass to park in this one particular lot. There used to be one in front of every single parking space. Since the signs are gone, I assumed I was allowed to park there. I thought this was true because term hasn't started yet. I thought they would put the signs back up once term started. I pulled into the last open space and got out of my car. A professor pulled up behind me, blocking me from walking away from my car and started yelling at me and then, still preventing me from moving, called the cops. I pointed out that the signs were gone and he said that there was a sign. Sure enough, he was right - there was one sign at the entrance of the parking lot, but I had completely missed it when I drove in. He said some very mean things to me in a very angry voice and didn't believe me when I told him I didn't see the sign. I recognize him from campus, but I don't know his name or even what department he works for, so I guess there's nothing I can do. But I'm pretty sure he gave my plate number to the cops. I moved my car as soon as he moved out of my way, but I'm not sure what's going to happen now. I didn't park illegally on purpose and I was only there for a few minutes while he yelled at me. I honestly would NOT have parked there if I had known I wasn't supposed to. I know I was in the wrong, but it was an honest mistake. I was more than willing to move my car to another space and walk to campus as soon as I was aware I wasn't supposed to park there. After spending several days in a quiet apartment mostly by myself, this confrontation was a very rude awakening to the real world. As silly as it sounds, I'm still recovering from it. I'm just not used to being treated like that, like a stupid, deceitful, disgusting person. I don't think anyone has a right to treat anyone else like that, no matter how wrong the other person is. I never thought a Truman faculty member would speak to me like that, or that another person could make me feel so small. Maybe calling him a jerk on my blog isn't the best way to deal with it, but it does make me feel better.

Now, I think I'll go home and sew.