My feet have shrunk...

I have always worn a size 8.5 in shoes. Ever since jr. high I have had these clod-hopper feet, but I have noticed in my recent shoe buy escapades that I wear an 8. I know that is not a HUGE deal, but sometimes I will find a pair of 7.5!!! Now before you think that it may just be the brands of shoes that I am wearing, you'll be happy to know that even the 8.5 shoes I have owned for a while are big on me now... what is this??

Okay, so after 3 requests submitted for classes at Royal Holloway I have finally finalized my "study plan". I kept picking classes that I was less and less interested in before I finally found some classes that still had space available. My classes are as follows:

English 2208 - (Elizabeth) Gaskell, (George) Eliot, and (Charles) Dickens

History 2010 - Conquest and Colonization: Culture, Society and Religion 1000-1300

History 2213 Modern British History 1914 - 1973

I am choosing to look on the bright side though and although I am not interested AT ALL in modern British History or Colonization pattern amongst Europe PRIOR to the Middle Ages I am going to take it in stride and think that there must be a reason why I am in these particular classes. After all I will still be in England and that was always the point anyway.
I have also been stocking up on the stuff I need for England. I got a down jacket the other day at Burlington coat Factory which is really cute!! I also have lots of sweaters and long sleeve shirts and scarves and gloves, etc to keep me warm.
I have also researched the amount of luggage I am able to take with me over there and I have no idea if I'll be able to fit it all in my 2 checked bags and 2 carry-ons (one carry on being a backpack). I'll probably ship stuff over there too, but I can't think how much that'll cost.
Other than that life has been good! I am feeling more scholastic. With my work schedule being minimal (15 - 20hrs a week) I have more time to do homework and more time to RELAX!!
Also, one of my FAVORITE holidays is this week!! YAY halloween! I have already had one party and this friday I'll have 2 more... one is for work in the morning and the other is Shawn and Nicole's. I am way excited!! The party on sunday was our college groups and I went as Buffy the Vampire Slayer! I think what I love most about Halloween is the part where I dress up! I had so much fun getting all dressed up. Of course I was the Sarah Michelle Gellar Buffy, which meant 1997 baby!!! I also loved walking into Home Depot and asking for a wooden stake (of course I was in costume on the way to the party). The guy looked puzzled, so I clarified, "a stake that you'd hammer into the ground." to which he replied, "or kill a vampire with?" I laughed so hard and he became my favorite person for the day. Here are some pictures, because I know none of you read the above and that all we blog readers look at are pictures, hehe.

bad things happen in 5's?

It would appear that life is not going my way...

1. I lost my notebook that has ALL my notes from my classes thus far this semester. (Note: I did end up finding where it was and will retrieve it shortly... but still: Freak out!!)

2. ALL the classes I requested to take over in England are full. SUPER BUMMED! Now I have to find new classes and I really thought I had the perfect class load.

3. My bike has a flat tire and so I will continue to drive to school and pay for parking until and alternate bike can be retrieved from my parents house or my bike can be fixed

4. I don't understand my Spanish homework and have not read all my required reading for my "Arthur class"... I think I am hitting the "I want to quit school" phase of the semester.

5. As the last 9 weeks of work slowly count down, it is harder for me to engage in my job. I am really trying to end well there, but I am loosing motivation, and fast.

On a lighter note, got to spend time with Emolyn on Sunday. My family had a really fun time over at Shawn and Nicole's for lunch.

I wish...

I wish I could afford to buy an entirely new wardrobe. I have working in a professional environment for 3 years now. Every time I go shopping I always buy based on whether I can wear something to work. Now that I will shortly be leaving my job and at least for a time (while in England) dress however I want, I have no idea what my style is. Do I like my clothes because they serve their purpose for work or because they represent who I am... I would love to just start from scratch.

I wish I could sit down for the ENTIRE day and pour over my travel books in England and really get excited. I have yet to really think long and hard about my trip to England and plan my time there. It is only 11 weeks away and I have not serious thought or allowed myself to seriously think about the fact that I will be living in another country for 7 months... be away from my family for 7 months... I have pondered non of the logistics and every time I try to begin, I always have something more pressing to do for homework, or work... etc.

I wish I could read books off my pleasure reading list. I have a whole list of books I WANT to read, but they come second to books I NEED to read for class. I can't wait till december... I'm gonna catch up a lot.

I wish there were better movies in theaters. I don't even know what movies are in the theaters right now. I kind of want to see The Duchess, but I can wait for rental. I CANNOT WAIT for James Bond next month. But other than that the movie selection currently leaves much to be desired.

I wish I didn't have to sleep. Sometimes I could stay up all night if I was allowed to. But work the next day or school the next day always talks me into going to bed. But, sometimes I wish I didn't have to because there is so much I want to do and not enough daylight hours to do it in.

I wish I had time and money to cook a REALLY GOOD meal. I haven't cooked in months and months. Not since I lived on my own. I miss it, but I don't really have money to spend on delicious ingredients nor the time to prepare, and I feel it's pointless unless you have someone besides yourself to cook for.

I wish I had motivation to prepare for the class I'm teaching tomorrow. I am teaching a brand new class this quarter called Myokinetics and it takes a lot of prep since... like I've said... I have never taught it. I feel like I'm a brand new instructor again because I have no experience with this class aside from a couple of days worth of trainings. It make me nervous.

I love this time of year...

For the last 3 days it has been in the temperature range of the 70's!! I love this time of year, like clock work the temperature drops right around this time. After the long, hot, draining summer, most people have little faith that the heat absorbed by the cement will give way and allow the cooler weather to enter in, but it does. I just absolutely love it... and you know what I did to enjoy it? I opened up the arcadia door to allow the weather in. I turned off our air conditioning and just let the outside weather cool the house. The apartment temp-meter read 75 degrees for most of the day - cooler than the 80 degrees we keep it at to keep our energy bill low.
I had the whole day off today and had the time of my life!!! I didn't get everything I wanted done, but I got the important stuff out of the way at least- including cleaning my room (which has been 3 weeks in coming), Study Abroad online orientation (which was informative and kept reminding me that I am in fact going to England - a fact that I often have to remind myself and then subsequently pinch myself for), printing off CPR cards (this actually needed to be done 2 months ago... yeah, yeah), preparing for the brand new course I am starting teaching tomorrow morning (I'm gonna be sick about this one), and all while watching the 5th and 6th season of Gilmore Girls. I love my life. I absolutely love the fact that this is probably the first day in about 2 years where I seriously have not changed out of my pajamas!!! Even on my most laziest of days I will have to go to the grocery store or something - but I made a point to do that last night!! I LOVED being lazy and sitting and enjoying the light breeze from outside my door.
The only things I wish I would have had time for today were a trip to Bookman's (used bookstore for those of you not from AZ), and maybe laying out by the pool (I need to keep my tan until England... I need from pigmentation before the sun goes away), but that'll have to wait for another day.
It is now 8pm and I still have a midterm to study for, a book to finish reading for my religions class, and I am determined to go to bed early tonight because I have a VERY full day tomorrow with work from 7am - 12:30, School from 1 - 4:30pm, and back at work from 6:30 - 10:30pm. But the upside is that this week starts my new job of working only around 15 hours per week (and subsequently my deduction in income - significantly, but I'll trade money for sanity any day). This also means I will only be working 1 night a week!!! I am so excited for that fact!

New Email Address...

I have a new email address all of you to use from now on:

mirandat1184@gmail.com

both addresses will work for the next couple of months, but eventually I'll just be using the new email only.

Reasons why men should want to marry Kendra and Miranda

Tonight in between the ceremony and reception of the Nelson wedding, Kendra and I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to make a pictorial portfolio of why men should want to marry us... (and notice the dress and how well my alterations turned out!!)

Miranda
Age: 23
Occupation: Massage Therapist, History major @ ASU
Interests: movies, books, England, witty banter, and Christ
Special Notes: She knows her comic book mythology, loves Disneyland, and speaks in a british accent - often
Favorite Song: anything but reggae
Kendra
Age: 24
Occupation: Child-Life Specialist
Interests: Likes kids, painting, laughing really hard, and Christ
Special Notes: She can sew, bake, and her eyes change color from blue to green depending on what she's wearing
Favorite Song: "Forever" by John Stamos
mmm... what's cookin' Kendra?
eat your heart out gentlemen
hot stuff comin' thru
not just a pretty face
no wrinkle stands a chance against the ironing prowess of Miss Kendra Evans
yes, I always vacuum in heels... don't you?
it's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it... and in a gorgeous cocktail dress no less.
time for the dusting...
Donna Reed has nothing on us.
The bed even matches her outfit.
Martha Stewart says the throw pillows should take up half the bed... mission accomplished

Spinster Night!

Tonight is the first official "Spinster Night" for my friend Teresa and I. I am very excited because we have been talking about having this night for some months now. It will basically consist of her and I sitting, talking, catching up, and probably watching Jane Austen movies and drinking tea (even though I don't like tea, I should get use to it since I'm going to England). Shannon will also be joining us and so we trio of Spinsters are in for quite a night!!

Speaking of tea, I got rid of my stye!! (well for the most part... it's still slowly going away)
I realize that unless you have facebook, you obviously haven't been in the know about my eye affliction. I I got a stye in my upper eyelid. It wasn't a serious one, but it was super annoying and hurt when I blinked and I couldn't wear my contacts or eye make up, so I have been sporting the glasses for 3 days. Good thing my glasses are amazingly cute!
Anyhoo, the trick to getting rid of it was tea bags. My friend Leah at work told me to get a tea bag REALLY hot and place it on my eye for 20minutes and every time it gets cool, quickly reheat it so it stays really hot... two days later and the stye is gone!! yippie! I am really thankful it is gone because I have to look particularly pretty for a wedding tomorrow night. Basically Kendra and I are going to a wedding (3rd wedding in 2 weeks) and we are taking the opportunity to look REALLY pretty and get all fancy-fied and have the time of our lives. There also may be cute boys at the wedding and so I didn't want gross eye stye to drive potential suitors away.
As for what I'm wearing to the wedding, well I'm glad you asked. I bought a dress at forever21 2 weeks ago just for this wedding (because I don't own a lot of NICE dresses that I haven't already worn to SEVERAL weddings). When I tried the dress on everything was fine in the fitting room. It was a little roomy on me, but, I for some reason thought that was okay. Until I tried it on yesterday and it seriously SWIMMING on me. I called a couple other stores to see if they had a smaller size, but no luck - it was clearance so I don't know what I was expecting. I also noticed the seam along the zipper was undone so that would need to be re-sewn. Well, my seamstress is touring the midwest right now, so it was up to me. I am so very proud of myself, because I altered it and got it so what is probably 2 sizes smaller than what is originally was. Medium -- XSmall!! yay me. I wished I would have taken before and after shots of the fit so you could see all I did, but it looks beautiful! I am so excited to rock the wedding tomorrow!

I will definitely take pictures so you can all see my great accomplishments!

It's finals week at work...

One of the many things I will NOT miss about my job... finals week is filled with stressed students, inane questions, high tensions, grading, the stress of wondering if your class will fail miserably and make you look like a bad instructor, etc etc.

I had such a strange day... I don't want to say "bad" day because in the end it wasn't terrible. But I slept through my alarm and woke up at 8:35 - 5 minutes AFTER I needed to be at work. Luckily I got there RIGHT at 9am as class was starting, but that left me 30 minutes behind on prep and set up for class. Then one of my students cell phones went off in class... I let it slide because they were in the middle of a final and even though I was supposed to send him home right away, I felt compassion. Then 5 minutes later it went off AGAIN!!! I told him he had to go home and he got angry and yelled that it wasn't his fault and that his phone was off and he didn't understand why it kept ringing... right. Whatever. Then I just couldn't regain my day... I felt so incredibly off kilter. The rest of the day was filled with minor annoyances - students asking questions that I have answered 10 times before, I realized I filed homeworks that I hadn't entered grades for yet (which creates so much confusion for me and messes up records), my arm ached all afternoon (I think I slept wrong), my throat is scratchy, etc etc. Ugh... I hate days like this because most of these things wouldn't bother me in the slightest except when all piled together it is just so much. Finally around 4pm everything seemed to regain itself and I realized that God is in control. I am now home and finishing up homework and getting ready for a new day tomorrow. A better day tomorrow.

Okay full story...

I know it's late, but lord knows I won't be sleeping tonight with all the excitement. I actually SHOULD be sleeping because I have a rather full day tomorrow, but who care... I'M GOING TO ENGLAND!!

Since tuesday afternoon when I dropped off my application I have not stopped thinking and stressing and analyzing and going over and over the worst case scenario to the best case scenario and trying to not have my head explode. My hands were shaking and I felt sick every time I thought about what could or could not happen. I have been dreaming of studying in England for like 5 years-ever since I started college. And today was to be when all the dreams came true... my life would change forever. I knew God's plan for my life would, no matter what, be far better than anything I can drum up on my own and so even if I didn't get the spot, I would still trust God. But with all my trust in God, it still would hurt incredibly if I didn't get to go. So all day today I kept checking my phone to see if I'd missed the call. In my classes, I left it on vibrate so when it rang I could run out of the classroom. Finally at 1pm I figured that since I was on a break from class I may as well call the office to get an idea when I could expect a call either way. I left a message with Michelle (head of the programs in England) to have her call me just to let me know the status of everything... hoping she wouldn't judge the fact that I am borderline annoying.
I went to ASU alumni building
to sit and read my book... it's such a beautiful building and near my religions class. I waited (again agonizing while waiting for a call back... then 2:30 rolls around and Michelle calls (I have always loved that Michelle... she's my new best friend). When she told me I was awarded one of the spots at Royal Holloway I immediately started crying. I think it scared some guys walking by, but whatever, I'M GOING TO ENGLAND!! I called my parents immediately, then Tyler, then Nicole, and then Shawn!! I had to correct myself about 4 times from saying "if I go to England" instead of "WHEN I go to England". I can now indulge in all the thoughts that I have denied myself until I found out what my life will look like next year.

And again... here is where I'll be living in January

An American in London...

I GOT IN!!! I am going to be spending the spring of 2009 in London England!! I still cannot believe it! I apologize that I can't write more now, but I'll tell you the whole story when I get home from work tonight!! Love you all and thank you for your prayers. God is a good God, not that he wouldn't be if I had not been accepted, but just the fact that I get this opportunity is an answer to all my prayer and frustrations about the direction God has been leading my life in over the past 5 years. I am so incredibly joyful and full of incredible wonder at his sovereignty in my life.

Here is a glimpse of what my life will look like in January!

I should be doing homework...

hey all... so I turned in my application to study in England next semester yesterday. I will find out if I'm going tomorrow. I am seriously so nervous. Every time I think about it I get this lump in my stomach. I think when I had all my packet with me I felt like I had a little more control than now when everything is both literally and metaphysically, out of my hands. I just have to wait and do sit and pray. So if you all could pray along with me, that would be much appreciated. To fill the time, I have homework. Granted with my big project in my religions class being done, I now have a much less stressful work load, but I still have plenty to do. I have a take home quiz to do for my History 300 class and a resume to translate to spanish for, well, spanish. Oh! By the way, I thought I completely failed my Spanish exam last week... turns out, I got a 90%. Apparently the professor is really forgiving with grading. I seriously had NO IDEA what I was doing. The only thing that can truly explain the grade is God's love.

Also, today is the first week day in almost 6 weeks that I have had a morning off. I usually have a morning class at work to teach or school in the morning, but the quarter at work is coming to an end, so I have less classes therefore more down time. I slept in... not my plan, but when my body knows I don't absolutely HAVE to be awake for anything I tend to sleep through my alarm. I am gonna finish my quiz this morning so that tonight when I also don't have to work, I can just hang out at home. Pushing Daisies (my new favorite show) has the season premiere tonight so I'll be watching that. I also am gonna get my halloween/fall decorations out and decorate my apartment with Autumn cheer.

I am super excited to decorate this year because I just got back from Disneyland and saw the park all decorated for Halloween for the first time!! It was really beautiful. They don't have it all decked out like it is at Christmas, they just started going all out for Halloween about 3 years ago, so I'm assuming every year will build. I LOVE Halloween. I am my fathers daughter. When I was little I think it was because I loved dressing up... but as I am older the dressing up part, while still fun, is less the reason. I think it's cause I know it's gonna get colder out. Like clock work, in phoenix, the week before Halloween is when the temperature drops from 100 degrees to the high 70's to low 80's... heaven. I am still not sure what I want to be for halloween, but it'll be fun!!

I also spent the weekend in Cali, not just for Disneyland, but also for my cousin's wedding. It was absolutely beautiful. Right on a cliff overlooking the beach. There was dancing... my dad taught me the rumba!! There was great food, and my cousins were there... minus Shawn and Tyler who couldn't make it out. It was so great to see Matt and Sylvia from Germany (if I get to go to England, I'll more than likely be seeing them again in February, this time in Europe - man that's fun to say... but the stomach lump is back). Lyle and I failed to catch the garter and bouquet... as the two single cousins there, we completely failed at our ONE job. I have caught 2 or 3 already though, so I can already see this tradition is bogus. I also have 2 more chances with weddings in the coming weeks. So enough talking... here are some pictures from the wedding and Disneyland.


Mr and Mrs Thompson!!

Mom and Dad's dancing lessons have paid off
the most comfortable dress ever... it's jersey material so I felt like I was wearing PJs all night.

on to disneyland!!

we're going Pooh together. Yay Winnie the Pooh

I still love this ride
Lyle's brush with fame

I got pulled on stage during the Bill Hill and the Hillbillies show in frontierland