7 down, 1 to go

Oh yes, and I forgot some of the most important news, though I'm guessing most people that actually read this already know.  But that test from April???  I passed!!!  Seven of these awful things done, 1 left.  Study season is almost upon me again (gag gag) but ONE LEFT.  I can do this......

Excuses, Excuses

So, maybe no one has noticed, but maybe at least a few people have.  Noticed my recent MIA status, that is.  Here's what's been going on over the past 4 months (i.e., my laundry list of excuses).  Also, in typing this I wondered what "i.e." actually stands for, so I googled it.  Here is website that will give you a brief lesson - whether or not it is completely accurate, I have no idea.  But it sounds good, and is highly entertaining.  You should check it out.  When to use i.e. in a sentence.

Okay, back on track. 

March and April: 
1. Studying.  My awesome sister helped a lot.  As in, hours and hours on the phone quizzing me with ridiculous things that I didn't find to be particularly interesting, so I'm guessing that she didn't either.  May I say again that she is awesome? 

2.  A snow tubing weekend with some great friends.

The line to get back up the hill.  Unfortunately, there was no walking option, so we just had to wait.  Fortunately, we had great company and great weather (snowing!) so it was all good.

 Plus, an enclosed conveyor belt back to the top isn't a bad way to go!

Who even knew you could get lazy on a conveyor belt ride???

Part of the crew: Mex, myself, Bex, Jax.  Also present: Bex's sister and her family.

3.  Got a visit from Kammy.  We had great fun playing games and laughing.  Mostly laughing.

4. Krista visited while she was in the area for some training.  We were supposed to be doing dinner and studying, but my living room floor is GREAT for sliding on, as Krista found out.

May: 
1.  Group and Health Advanced Exam.  5 hours of good times.  Click here if you want a peek at the fun.  (Far right column, 2nd from the bottom.  Exam GHADV.  Totally worth your time.)

2.  Visited Mom and Dad and reveled in not studying and not feeling guilty because I wasn't studying.  Met up with Steph, went shopping  (I probably bought myself presents.)  Beyond that, I have no idea what we did, except that it was great.  Because I wasn't studying, of course.

3.  Kyle and I met up and went to Indiana to see Kamela.  It's rather rare that the 3 of us are together and that it's just the 3 of us.  We had a pretty good time, despite the fact that EVERY TIME (this is for dramatic effect - it happened twice, but that was in fact every time) we tried to take a walk in the park, it would start out nice and clear, wait for us to get to the opposite side of the park, and then start raining.  Pouring, in fact.  Which, as it turns out, isn't so bad while you're actually out in it.  Kind of fun, actually.  It's the wearing-wet-clothes afterwards part that is less fun.  But we didn't melt.  Lots of games, lots of laughs.  They're pretty great siblings :)

4.  Mom came up to visit while Dad was away turkey hunting.  We got some prep work done in my yard and did some plant shopping.  My parents are pretty awesome in the yard work department, and my Mom and I are pretty awesome in the shopping department, so it was an incredible combination.  Also, I'm afraid that I am turning into my father.  ("One more?  One more what?")  You had to be there, but I'm pretty sure we laughed so hard for so long that my neighbors thought we were lunatics.

Most of our work was more practical than beautiful (removing stump debris from 2 trees that I had cut down and hauling it to the back yard) but we did get at least a few flowers planted.


5.  Mom and Dad both came up for Fri-Sat to help me with my yard.  (See, I told you they were superstars.)  Here are a few before pictures:

Quite the mound of mulch to work with, no?  Might've been slight overkill...
Anyway, we planted 4 hydrangea bushes and a multitude of smaller plants.  Here are a few after pictures:

They look a little sparse at the beginning, but wait until later...

June: 
1.  2 weeks in Turkey with my cousin Katia.  Totally delightful,but that deserves a separate blog post, which will come later.  Upon my return, the plants were looking a little better....

2.   Went to Mom and Dad's to see everyone and show off Turkey pictures.  This was about my only chance, since the rest of their summer calendar looked about like mine, and finding an overlapping free weekend was tricky business!  Got to see Mom and Dad, Kyle, Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Rhonda, and Krista.  I call that a successful trip right there.

3.  Kyle came to visit. We were very responsible and accomplished many things.  We were so productive, we decided to keep a list:

• 1 round of (sad) go-kart rides
• 2 games mini golf
• 6 games of bowling (5 regular, 1 crazy-style.  Turns out Kyle is a champ at crazy style.  Also at regular, but we already knew that, because he's a champ at all games.  Except for mini golf, which I won.  Both games.  Just saying.)
• 2 games croquet
• 1 game rook
• 6 games Carcassonne
• 1 game Monopoly City (kind of dumb, but we had forgotten that)
• 5 games backgammon

This is aside from the game night that I hosted Friday night for some coworkers, and possibly some games on Sunday, I'm not sure.  Clearly, we used our time wisely!  Even fit in some time at the park...

July:
1.  Flew to OK to see Kyle and Kalynn.  Saw some fireworks and some friendly faces.

 Oops, that didn't quite work...

 Kyle has 2 heads!!

 Third time's a charm.

 Aww, love these two.

 Gorgeous sunset on my way home.

I do love flying home at night!  The view of the city is fantastic.

2.  Another trip to Indiana to see Kam, this time by myself.  Again, we had some issues with the rain, but this time not so much that it changed our plans.  What's a little rain when you're kayaking?  Takes the pressure off for not tipping over :)  Kam has the pics, but maybe I'll post them later if she sends them to me... hint hint.

That's it - all caught up!  Turkey trip entries to follow later.

Nerd Alert!

You know how sometimes, you've just gotten the stage all set in your dream, and then you wake up before you find out how it ends? I don't remember what I was dreaming about this morning, but it must've been one of those good ones where I was anxious to see what was going to happen. To my amusement, after I woke up a bit more, I remembered my first thought after my alarm went off this morning: "Oh no! I just got all of my data populated!" That's one way to put it, Karmen.

Beautiful

Occasionally, a song just catches my attention... big and sweeping and dramatic.  This guy does some really awesome a capella songs.  Check it out.

Old Dog, New Tricks

I have a newly discovered respect for anyone that straps on a long pair of boards to their feet and tries to go down an incline with a more than 3 degree grade.  (Especially if they are trying to go straight.)  I also have a few newly discovered bruises on my knees, my elbows, my hands, and another rather unmentionable place.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Skiing has been on my bucket list for a long time.  It looks like so much fun, when you see all of those graceful, coordinated, practiced people doing it.  I already knew I wasn't coordinated, but I had to try it at least once.  So this past weekend, I met up with Kyle for a little introduction to the activity.

Luckily, he is very, very patient.

Turns out, I'm very good at turning right.  In a war between my left leg and my right leg, my left leg wins EVERY TIME.  Who knew it was so opinionated??  I certainly didn't.  I do now.

Turning left on skis is not really an option for me.  For that matter, going straight is not as easy as you would think it should be.  Head down the hill, veer right.  That's my M.O.  Even if there's a steeper hill over to the right.  One I really don't want to go down.  Even if there's a pole.  Or a net.  Or a chair lift.

Hence, the bruises.

But we had fun.  I think I'll go again.  :)

Almost done with snow pictures... probably... I promise... I think

So winter is eventually going to be over and I will stop posting pictures of the snow.  (And I will be happy when spring comes too.  But since winter is so badly bashed, I feel like I have to overcompensate so that it doesn't feel bad.  Plus also, I just love snow.  Every single time it snows.)

But for now... after seeing emails popping up ALL WINTER LONG of other offices in far more southerly climates (read: wimpy) closing early due to inclement weather, we finally got our own email last week... due to some rather quickly-falling snow, the office would be closing at 3:00.  YES!  FINALLY!

I headed home and took a walk in the still-falling white blanket of happiness.  Not many pics, but here's what I got.

Anyone for a trip down the slide?

May I just say that this has pretty much been the perfect winter???  We're close to setting some snowfall records, I think, and I literally haven't seen a speck of the grass in my yard since the first weekend in December.  Doesn't get much better than that :)

Brr

Meanwhile, back at my house, I've got some snow, but I've also got a few icicles going on.

Granted, they're really just a sign that my gutters probably need to be cleaned out.  But isn't it handy that they also look pretty??