Last-Minute Excitement

Funny how when I'm sitting here at work, hours before I leave on my awesome weekend trip with some of my favorite people on Earth, I get soooo pumped! Honestly, I hadn't felt legitamate excitement for the trip, probably because of other distractions and so much prepping for it. But NOW, right this minute, I am ready to go. I'm ready to drive the vehicle, if needed. I'm ready to roll down the windows and go. THREE HOURS TIL DEPARTURE! This means that I won't respond again until probably Sunday. A kind-of mini vacation.

Tuesday evening was a Writing Center reunion at Roadhouse. I saw lots of friendly and familiar faces, which was wonderful. I got a ride home from the lovely April, and then spent the rest of the evening working on packing for the trip.

Yesterday was average again for Bronco Bash, and at the Writing Center, I learned quite a bit about aviation resumes, since I had a special client who I helped for quite awhile. And THEN Aunt Cheri picked me up for a glorious trip to the fabric store to pick out material for the PILLOW she will be making me! I"m SOOO excited for this--it is going to kinda sorta go with my bedspread as a decorative pillow for my lovely bed! It will look perfect in my new bedroom, which I officially move into next Friday! (Yeah, kind of a date change, but that's a long story...and then Friday I'm also going on a trip with SALP, so my room will be FAR from finished and set up for awhile...oh well.)

The rest of yesterday was boring. I studied for the GRE for a bit. Finished packing. Then started watching Little Orphan Annie on Netflix Instant Download. I got halfway through and realized that I had fallen asleep. Midnight was bedtime haha. I got up early for some reason this morning, but I got to chat and kinda have breakfast with Kat. She's such a good hostess/roommate!

Now I'm finishing up Bash office hours and prepping to head to the Writing Center for two hours as a consultant...AND THEN I'M HOMEFREE TO HEAD NORTH WITH ALLIE AND KRISTINA! This weekend will be epic. Beware.

Sunshine, Freckles, and Summer

I love the sun. Seriously, anyone who knows me well enough knows that I worship that giant fireball in the sky. It makes me smile. It makes me warm and happy. It literally brightens my day. Regardless of my love for the sun, I also love sunscreen. I want to live my whole life without skin cancer, so I wear sunscreen. Easy enough.

So I wear sunscreen. And I typically don't burn (I must have missed the backs of both my legs wear my board shorts ended--awkwardly right under my butt, so sitting kinda really hurts...). No other harsh sunburns for me, though! I do have quite a few new freckles on my face...and a darker shade of brown on my skin everywhere...but I guess that can't be helped. I have to balance my love of the sun with my love of having no skin cancer. It's a pretty happy medium.

But yeah, Sunday was a glorious beach day. Warm sun, warm sand, and even warmish water when I stuck my toes in for a little bit. The move to Kat's and Mara's was pretty painless, except I was soooo tired from the beach all day that I went to bed pretty early. (I love Mara's comfy bed with all the pillows!!!)

Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day. I walked to campus from the landing and found my way without getting lost. A little bit of office hours time was followed by the last Bash t-shirt delivery. Then it was just about time for this interview luncheon...then it was time for two meetings at Miller. Then I had to stop by res. life and THEN head back to the Bernhard Center. THEN it was time to work at the Writing Center til 6...and luckily afterward I got a ride back to the Landing from lovely Miz April Bryan! I hung out at Josh and Dan's place last night, which was fun and went to bed pretty late to have to then wake up early this morning and start my day over with Bronco Bash stuff...but less of it today, luckily.

I'm looking forward to this week being purely awesome. I'll let ya know how it goes. YAY FOR SUMMER!

The Day Of The Last Move--GASP!

Yes. That's right. Today I move to my last 'location' before I depart to my long-term residence. It's bittersweet. I've had a pretty fantastic summer moving around so much. I mean, the actual act of moving is just starting to get old, but seeing and hanging out with so many awesome people couldn't have been better!

Catching up on the past few days, I did go with Kyle and Rachel to the Taste of Kalamazoo on Friday. I had a delicious lunch from the booth by the Strutt. It was a Cuban sandwich (one of my favorites!). Then we went to the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, which was actually a lot more fun than I had thought! Lots of hands-on 'kids' stuff (don't fool yourself, we were just big kids at that point!). We made random stops to the amazing candy store downtown and then to Petco (don't ask...) And then I was back to my temp home at the Butler household.

Allie had all kinds of visitors that evening, including her friend Jessie from North Carolina, Kayla, and Jon. Us girls made brownies and watched some girlie tv. Aunt Cheri came home later and brought some gourmet pizza from Eribelli's. It's called spicy napoleon, and I LOVED the spices, especially on the crust! It was a wonderful treat, and after the girls left I even discovered some leftover green-dyed frosting in the fridge, which I put on my Gevalia brownie--YUM!

Yesterday I was up really early because I volunteered at a triathlon. It was one of my favorite volunteer experiences--runners/bikers really seemed to appreciate the work put into the event, and cheering them on was so much fun! Unfortunately, it began to storm with thunder and lightning, so they had to cancel it halfway through. Three racers finished the race (amazing!), but it was pretty heartbreaking to keep directing the bikers who were to continue to the transition station and then find out the race was over.

Later, I found out that my phone got some water damage, but luckily, after a LONG time of trying to help me out, Uncle Brian got it working again! I was SO glad because I had been texting AMILLION people. I was texting T-Holls a lot because we were making plans with some of the Ackley crew, since T-Holls was in town. We all hung out and went to Inception. I had a lot of fun catching up and goofing off with those guys.

I got back last night and just chilled out by myself for awhile. It was pretty peaceful. This morning I am doing my laundry and will eventually be on my way to the beach with Beth! I'm so excited because we've been wanting a beach day for a loooong time! And today is THE day! Fingers crossed for beautiful weather and lots of heat!

Using My Time...Wisely?

*****Initially written on Thursday morning*****

Getting to campus at 7:30 this morning was quite an experience, since I didn't have any obligations until noon. I had made up my mind to watch Hell's Kitchen on a computer in the computer lab and then make my oatmeal and tea in the SOC's kitchen...then watch more Hell's Kitchen in the SOC...then I even got academic and went for walk-in advising at the College of Arts and Sciences (no worries, I'm right on track, and the appointment lasted less than five minutes!), and then I went to the Honors College to get a question answered--all before 11! I ran a couple more errands and headed back to the Bronco Bash office...because what ELSE was there left for me to do?!

I know, I know, I lead such an exciting life! But really, yesterday was pretty cool--I got to visit a baby horse and lots of other horses, too! Allie, Aunt Cheri, and I went to see them at Aunt Cheri's friend's house, and it was pretty awesome because it's been a LONG time since I've seen a real-life horse, and I've never seen one that young before. Once upon a time I wanted to be a jockey, but that didn't pan out in the end (obviously). I still think that horses are beautiful though, but I've got to admit that keeping them would be a lot of work!

Let's see...I also studied a bit for the GRE yesterday (SO EXCITING), and we meade delicious burgers on the grill for dinner with a yummy salad. Mom had called before/during dinner to Skype so that was quite an interesting experience, since Dad and Jonah joined in, too. Mom met Aunt Cheri and Allie and vice versa. It was peachy. (More Skyping will definitely occur between me and the fam from now on!)

I'm trying to think if anything else exciting happened on Tuesday that I haven't mentioned yet...
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...And this is from today...Friday. Got trained to be a triathalon volunteer last night. Should be quite the experience volunteering tomorrow morning at 7AM! Going to hang with Kyle and Rachel in a bit. SHOULD BE FUN!

HA! AVERAGE-NESS!

I wish Skype were fool-proof! But it's not...because Mom couldn't see me yesterday...and I couldn't see Mom...but we made progress because after 45 minutes, we could both HEAR each other! Progress is good but requires patience. Yuck.

Today was an early morning. And yesterday was an early morning. My poor body is soooo confused! I think I've even got my stomach outta whack because yesterday morning it wasn't hungry for a looong time. It's even kinda not hungry today, but it's much better than yesterday. Luckily it revived itself completely by the time dinner hit because it was FAJITA night at the Butler household! YUMMY! And I even ate cake batter ice cream before bed, even though I was still full from fajitas! Hee hee, it was yummy.

Yesterday was exciting because Allie got an itinerary all figured out for the big girls trip up North to see Tara Bell and my bro. My bro actually called me yesterday after I left a message with his music camp, but I didn't recognize his voice at first! Sorry, bro!

Hmmmm...what other news do I have? I'm goin to visit that Rory guy this afternoon. Haven't seen him in about a week. All of us Gorgons have been scrambling to communicate the best we can because move-in day is SOON! (It seems sooner and sooner every time I think about it--because it get sooner and sooner every time!)

I don't really think I have much more news. I am in the process of getting my own renter's insurance for the house, I am in the process of applying for residency, and currently I am in the process of trying to keep myself preoccupied while chillin here at the Bronco Bash office. It's hard work sometimes, ya know? Slinkies can only keep you busy for so long...

Sunny Sunny Sunday

One of the best parts of summer is the food (I mean, this blog is basically a FOOD blog, after all!) Divas and Desserts went splendidly yesterday, except I believe that I do have some suggestions for the owners of White Velvet. For example, I suggest that they not hire three workers for one shift. The shop was desserted when the girls and I entered yesterday. And it's a self-serve frozen yogurt shop. Even if it gets busy...there's only one cash register. No-brainer.

Also, I suggest the shop get some sweeter flavored yogurt flavors. Possibly chocolate and vanilla? The available flavors were tart and fruity, yet there were sweet toppings available, so a sweet flavor base as the yogurt would be awesome. The interior of the shop could be a bit more inviting to customers, too because I recall one area for seating/eating, but it would have been awkward with three workers behind the counter awkwardly 'working.' Maybe the shop is REALLY new and the owners haven't yet invested in more seating. Who knows.

I wish the yogurt containers came smaller. It's deceiving because the containers are HUGE, and they charge by weight, so naturally I wanted to get LOTS of frozen yogurt! However, a full container was pricey. Oops.

Overall, the experience was delicious. I don't know if I'll go back again, but I'm glad we went. One of the best parts was the 'entertainment' while we ate the froyo! We sat at a table outside of Big Apple Bagels, and there was a lane of street blocked off and the Big Apple Bagel parking lot because new asphalt had been put down. Well, a car had knocked down one of the barricades, and a car drove to the empty parking lot. So a worker guy fixed the barricade...and this car was STUCK inside! Haha, we watched the driver figure out how to move the barricade to get out. It was pretty funny. And then it happened AGAIN....so Ali B. and Michelle decided to be 'Good Samaritans' and move the barricade back again! Haha, that time, several cars had gone through and were stuck! It was EXCELLENT!

Ok but back to the traveling me...I'm currently at Aunt Cheri's with Allie D. It's great so far! We had a giant pasta dinner, and there were seven of us total! Lots of company and lots of delicious food! I've even reserved the TV to watch my show in half an hour. Haha, I love it here. :)

Staying with the Kohnerts this past week has been pretty fun, too! It's super convenient being on campus, and hanging out with Josh, Jess, and Nate was a good time! I got to spend time with Sara, and I saw Rory a couple of times, so that was pretty cool. Yesterday there was a get-together at Josh Rockwell's place that the Kohnerts and I went to with Kyle, which was fun to see everyone. Oh, and I've done a lot of sleeping this weekend in particular--It was ridiculous TRYING to sleep in on Friday and only sleeping in until 7:30 AM but then on Saturday, I slept in until 11:45 AM! And I stayed up until the same time the night before! Whatever. I evened it out this morning with a 9:00 AM wake-up. But tomorrow will probably be pretty rough, waking up around 6AM to go to campus with Aunt Cheri in the morning.

OH! So story. I lost my driver's license. Saturday morning I was FREAKING OUT because I couldn't find it. Anywhere. I called home, texted some people. No luck. So I went the the SOC, where I work for Bronco Bash. Nowhere in sight. So I used a SOC computer--I needed to check internet, so why not?! I got a Facebook message from someone glorious alerting me to the fact that my license was found by a landscape services worker, who turned it into the Davis front desk, who turned it in to the campus police. So tomorrow morning I get re-united with my lovely license. And then next month I get a Michigan drivers license. Oh well.

A Blog? Oh Yeah!

It looks like I'm on track to write less frequently. We'll see how my pattern holds up. This week is kind of a whirlwind for some reason. However, less of a whirlwind than last week! (And surprisingly, I was not referring to the ridiculous wind in North Dakota! Just a description of being home in general.)

So guess what? I still really like my haircut. Yesterday I almost had a bad hair day because this curl kept getting in my face all day. But I looked in the mirror at one point and realized that in my face or not, it still looked cute. So all is good. Today the hair decided to just be curly on one side. But since it's got less volume, it lays flat somewhat on the uncurly side and still looks decent. I could get used to this...if it lasts.

Today is Friday, meaning no work for me. I tried to sleep in this morning, especially after staying up kinda late last night (I watched Iron Chef at midnight, then fell asleep for the results part of the show! I woke up twenty minutes later and called it quits for the night.) Believe it or not, I woke up before 7:30 this morning! I wanted to try to sleep until ten or eleven...but it's almost eleven right now, and I've been up for QUITE awhile!

At 2:00, I'm going over to Sara's to watch 'Rock-A-Doodle.' It's a great cartoon movie from my childhood, and I'm kind of excited! For me, my liking of cartoons goes in cycles. I think I'm at a point where I like them for now (I almost turned the channel to Dora the Explorer this morning--almost--but VH1 music videos won out in the end.)

Who knows what tomorrow holds. It's Saturday, and all that I've got legitimately planned is 'Divas & Desserts,' the monthly outing with Michelle and Ali B., where we go and try out something sweet and tasty somewhere in Kzoo/Portage. Tomorrow is this place called White Velvet, which specializes in frozen yogurt (they nickname is froyo, which is really clever!) I always make my Divas & Desserts food a meal, regardless of the fact taht it's supposed to be dessert. I mean, c'mon, it's my once a month splurge, and it will probably be chocolate every month, so it makes sense (to me)! I'm kind of excited, especially because I looked at picture of the place online, and it looks really cute and trendy. And apparently it's all Michigan products to make the froyo. It should be a place featured on Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives. That would be cool. Michelle, Ali, and I drove by it last month randomly. And it won for this month. I'll report back after I experience it.

Good news: I am now taking THIRTEEN credits in the fall instead of TWELVE. One extra credit, which will be 'wall climbing techniques.' The best part is that it's only half the semester. The bummer part is that it's at 9:00 in the morning, but I'll live. I'm a morning person. And I've got Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to sleep in next semester.

Not a whole lot more that I feel compelled to share at this point. If anything groundbreaking happens, I'll post an update. We'll see how soon that is...

Side-tracked...

Life has been going and blogging has not. But it's ok, no hard feelings.

It's been a week. A whole week. So much has happened. But I'll survive not going into gruesome detail about it all.

I got back from a lovely outing to Roadhouse to dine with Larissa, Meagan, and Chelsea--chit chat and chicken fingers was glorious!

Baskin Robbins on Sunday was pretty glorious, too...as was the water park in Bismarck last week...and bowling with Jonah and Dad on Saturday...and go-karting with Jonah on Friday...overall a fabulous week all around!

And life will continue to be fabulous if that is my mindset! Tomorrow is Wednesday already, and I've been thinking a lot about how fast this summer seems to have gone...and how much faster it will go pretty soon! Between weekend trips, planned events, moving into the HOUSE, and Bronco Bash (not to mention the start of classes!), time is just going to FLY by! Scary thought!

I'm already thinking about textbooks...and the GRE...and especially my thesis...and my jobs...and LOTS of house worries...and minors/major requirements...and my brothers...and money...but that's what I do, I guess...worry and think. It's my nature.

Fun stuff is in my future, though. I am making time for the fun. It looks like less credits this fall. Meaning more being social. And more RELAXING! Haha, I'll let ya know how it goes...

Great Day--But not an easy day.

Lots of family-visiting on Sunday and lots of time listening to big booms in the sky that night during fireworks extravaganza (Did you know that fireworks are illegal in Dickinson city limits? Because you couldn't tell...) I got a piece of ash in my eye that night which was lovely. It made the shapes in the sky that much brighter...and kinda painful...haha.

Monday was spent chilling out a lot, playing some cards with the fam, running some errands with mom. I got a webcam. That should be fun to play with when I'm back in Michigan... Taco dinner. Apples to apples. Good stuff. OH YEAH! And a bubble bath! It was divine.

Today was supposed to be my appointments day...and it was...but the car wouldn't start. So I got a ride to the dentist. I have a cavity. Lovely. Grandma gave me a ride home. I ate lunch with Jonah. Then Grandma gave me a ride to the hair dresser. I chopped off 10 inches of hair to donate (I LOVE my new haircut! Haha, but this is day 1...we'll see how I style it myself...) Grandma gave me a ride home, and half an hour later, Mom drove to the doctor with me. She had her appointment, and after waiting an hour and a half, it was my turn. It was supposed to be a simple prescription re-fill. Nope. Full-out physical examination. Awesome. One hour later, I am given an additional prescription and am given instructions to give blood samples at the clinic in the morning. (Yup, an early wake-up for me...) And I have to fast. So no food after midnight. I'll probably be pretty cranky in the morning until I have breakfast.

Anyway, my hair is getting mailed off tomorrow to the donation center. Dad is doing that for me. I'm going to lunch with Trisha. I'll spend the afternoon with the lil bro. And hopefully Dinah will come over for dinner and mani's/pedi's.

We had the best dinner tonight: pot pies! Yay! And we watched Hell's Kitchen! The whole fam! And Jonah just kicked my butt at Crazy Eights...but I don't wanna talk about it.

Hello, North Dakota!

A probably-confusing summation of my time in North Dakota:

"No sundaes? No peanutbutter? Chocolate cake batter, brownie, fudge."
Jonah--Tiki Game, stupid-meter, dog wash apps
Dog scratches...bed jumping...cuteness...LOVE
Mmmmmm Breakfast! PEACHES! Time change? FIREWORKS SHOPPING
GRill. Hot Dogs...No. Turkey dogs?!
Toy Story 3. Yes.
Wally-world, lots of replacements. THANKS MOM!
NEW TEA!
Spaghetti! Yum! THANKS DAD!
Dog-walking. Jonah's mosquito-slapping-dance. Hilarity! *Missing Zach*
Lil Nascar. D-Dawg time! FIRE (struggle)! GIANT MARSHMALLOW S'MORES! Strawberry marshmellow? mmmmm. BIG. Chit chat...*Yawn*
Pancake mastery. Believe it. Card butt-kicking time. Almost reunion-at-Grandma/Grandpa's time.

Ahhhh home. <3

Short and Sweet (Like me!)

I just went for a lovely walk with the lovely Beth Niznak, who is sitting to my right, typing away at a computer here in Waldo Library. I'll begin my traveling adventure very soon, technically. Jill will be here in about an hour to scoop me up, treat me to a delicious meal, and head to Grand Rapids with me tomorrow. VERY EXCITING! I don't know what I'd do without her hospitality--especially at such last minute, since the sleepover tonight was very impromptu!

I think this trip back home will be perfect. Warm weather, lots of family visiting, lots of down time...I don't even think I'll get bored ever, since the time is just too short to be any kind of bored! Besides, Jonah and I will have the car--all kinds of opportunity to get into trouble! I know I'll miss Zach, but I'll see him at Interlochen in a few weeks (Yay!). The silly kid hadn't been in touch with mom and dad yet, as of last night. (He better!)

Not too much to report on with me, it seems. I mean, yesterday was the last official 'work' day with Bronco Bash (I'll be checking emails while I'm gone, but that's not 'official work'). OH and yesterday was the last orientation t-shirt selling day. Which meant LOTS of heavy lifting and moving of t-shirt boxes (I'm kinda sore today!)

Hmmm...I'm getting hungry and am looking forward to some delicious chicken at Jill and Brian's! And I'll be especially excited for yummy food at HOME! Mom even said we were getting ice cream on the way back from Bismarck! CAN'T WAIT!