My friend Jeannette...

Went to a baby shower today for my dear friend Jeannette who is due in September with her first baby. It's a girl!! She won't tell us the name they have picked out, but we'll find out soon enough.

Sadly enough, Jeannette broke her ankle a couple weeks ago. So she is in a cast and wheel-chaired her way around the party. She was beautiful all the same and it was such a lovely party. Baby girl Schneider is already one spoiled little girl. Here are some pics:






Check out Jeannette's new blog!!

Where do I begin...

Alright... I know I have been a terrible person!! I have completely neglected the blog and for that I don't expect you to quickly forgive me.

Let me bring you up to speed... first off, I have moved. It was a lot of work but I am comfortably tuck in on my couch in my new living room. I really am loving being in Tempe. I am close to work, I will be close to school when it starts. It's all great!! I also have a roommate. He name is Emily and she is so awesome! I will have to do a complete post all about her... sorry I don't have any pictures of her yet... you'll have to wait yet again.

Aside from moving I also went 3/4 time at work. It is on a trial basis this next quarter, which is a good thing because who knows how everything will go down with school and working 30hrs a week. I am excited though to have a steady income still. I also will still have my weekends free for homework and a life. I just found out this last thursday so it is all still new and relieving to know I have a job.

Speaking of the last couple days I have been in San Diego with Teresa, SImon, and Addy! It was a great vacation and very relaxing! I did get a little sunburn as the pictures will reveal, but they have already tanned out in a day. Here are some pictures:

I was tagged...

Sorry for the delay in posting... I have been packing and moving and although I do have some pics and stories to share, I have little time to do them. If you're lucky, maybe later today I'll find a moment.

But I was tagged by Kerri do fill out a mini questionnaire... and since I am not meeting with Nicole Hunter for another 20min I fingure I'll try to get a chunk done.

1. What did you do 10 years ago?

ten years ago, I was 13!! On July 2nd, I was probably in the throws of my active summer (seriously I have no idea what I did with myself during the summers before a job and work crews etc). It was the summer between my 7th and 8th grade year. I was probably in Wisconsin with the family. I love wisconsin and have sadly not been there for 3years. I want to visit very soon, but I am not thinking I will until probably later NEXT year.

2. Five items on your to-do list today:

1. Meet with Nicole Hunter
2. Help mom load up my couch and some other furniture to go to my new apartment
3. Lunch with Nicole Thompson and Emy
4. Go over to new apartment and hopefully take more full boxes with me
5. Go to work from 6pm - 11pm... yeah I know..

3. Snacks I enjoy:

Oh, I like this question because I am definitely a snack person!!! I LOVE sunflower seeds. My roommate does too and therefore we will be consistently well stocked! I also like chips and Pace salsa (blended, I don't enjoy biting into a onion chunk. Then there is ice cream - phish food is in my fridge right now. And I LOVE white cheddar popcorn!

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?

This is another awesome question that I think about all the time, although I know I'll NEVER be a billionaire. First I would pay off my debt to school and car. I would travel around the world for an indefinite amount of time and see EVERYTHING - seriously EVERYTHING. I'd also donate to ODF so they could have a building - not anonymously though like Kerri - I like people to know how generous I am - haha j/k. Then I'd buy a nice house along Central and Glendale/Northern area (I love those houses). And I'd just travel and travel and travel and not have to work a day in my life because the interest alone will keep me quite comfortable.

Lack of photos

I missed church today... I am about 30min late and so now it isn't worth going. I really wanted to go, but alas I slept in too long and then took too long to get ready to go. It'll be even harder when I live in phoenix and will have a 30min drive instead of a 5min drive.

Went out dancing last night with my friend Marie and her husband. It was really fun. And Marie talked me into Karaoke... which I think I did terrible at, but marie said I was fine. I pulled out the old "Let's Hear It For The Boy". I couldn't hear myself on stage so I know I was pretty off key. It was lame... Karaoke is not my thing.

I have no pictures to share with you... nothing I have done in the last couple of weeks merits photography. I could just take random photos of myself or my apartment, but you've seen it all before :)
I think I may have to plan a "Random Picture Day" with some friends. I use to do this in high school when I needed to finish off a roll of film (remember film, haha). So I think I'm gonna get some friends together and have a photo shoot in a park or target (the target pictures are fun, because you get props). Anyway... hopefully if I do that soon, you'll have pictures to enjoy.

Because Amy knows me so well...

I have discovered that there is a website that sheds insight into my life... it is genius. Check out some links

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/02/28/77-musical-comedy/

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/02/24/74-oscar-parties/

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/02/22/72-study-abroad/


Be fully expecting the study abroad conversations to ensue when I return from England... I will be so much more cultured than all of you... :)

Tales from a converted Eco-friendly tree hugger...

okay, so I don't hug trees... well, not regularly ;) But I am trying to be better to the earth - not that the earth has been all that friendly to me (it's 110 degrees outside today and I feel like my blood vessels are going to explode from over heating). Anyway, every time I go shopping my heart sinks with the thought of getting 50,000 more plastic bags to store in my pantry until I re-use them or get to a recycling bin. So next to the cash register I picked up some re-usable grocery bags... and I felt so proud of myself for being so "green". I even fit ALL of my groceries into just two bags because their so spacious. It was great to not have 1,000 plastic bags to spread out over my back seat. I just felt so good about myself :)

Aside from that, I am just trying to clean my apartment... I can't seem to get into the groove of organizing and cleaning. I'll sometimes have this surge of cleanliness and I'll clean until this place could be shown in a magazine... but on days like today (I'm blaming the heat) I can seem to get up the energy.

I am still very indecisive about college prospects in England... and very disappointed in Financial Aid prospects.

Also here are some pictures of our "Halloween in June/Friday the 13th Pool Party" put on by the college group :)

Clark as a guys from the discovery channel show - deadliest catch
Nicole as a cowgirl, Emolyn as a baby
Tyler was Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt in Fight Club)... I did the eye make-up. Ben was not dressed up
I styled myself after Rachel McAdams from The Notebook... Meredith was Superman (the t-shirt)
Shawn was "a guy who shops at Metro Center" and again Emolyn as a baby

Bailey the Lynch's dog... she posed for the camera - dead serious.
Rebekah and I
Joel with our Pirate ship Pinata
Our Pinata prizes... reminded me of the rewards you got from the dentist

Apartment!!!

I found one!!!! YAY... it's on rural and broadway in an apartment complex called Desert Palm Village Apartments. It is a really great place, close to ASU and close to work... it is far from church, but the freeway is close. I signed all the papers and put down a deposit, so everything is pretty much a go! yippie. I am moving in two weeks though, and I need help loading and unloading... so anyone interested :) I am sad to be leaving my apartment, but at the same time I know it's gonna be a good thing for me in this season.

Also in other news... Paul Newman is sick (possibly). For those of you who don't know, I have this incredible crush on Paul Newman - okay, not him NOW when he's old and everything, but if you've ever seen Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or Long Hot Summer you should understand my love. I will be so sad when he passes away... he was such a great man and he has been married to Joanne Woodward for 50 years which is absolutely UNHEARD of in hollywood history... what a legacy.

Anyways, that is what's new :)

Apartment hunting...

So I am moving back to Tempe... at least until I'm done with College in two years. I figure with me driving out there so much now with school, the fact that I'll be working in that part of town still... the fact that I will be making significantly less money by not working as an instructor, and gas prices are over $4 a gallon, I figured it was in my best interest to move to Tempe and cut down on gas and drive time and get a roommate to cut down on rent. I am nervous about it all, but really see the benefit of it all. At the same time, I have discovered just how blessed I have been over the last 2 years to be working at such a well paid job and over the last year and a half to be living in such an INCREDIBLE apartment. I am seriously having the hardest time finding a suitable apartment in Tempe that won't take my arm and leg and raise my risk of being murdered or raped... crazy. The thing that is really making it all difficult is that I can't sign a lease for longer than 6 months. I am still hoping to be in England in January and so I don't want the complication of getting out of a lease with everything else. I also found such a great roommate :) Emily is a friend of Kendra's and goes to her church. I really do think this'll be a great experience for the next 6 months.

BUT please pray that I find an apartment... and soon!!! 6 months starts July 1st

Weekend pictures...

The day started early with my two hour drive to Flagstaff. I was in charge of doing the bridesmaids' hair!! So exciting and a little nerve-racking. But once I did the first persons hair is was WAY easy and really fun. Kali was one of the most laid back brides I've ever seen. Enjoy the pics...

It takes quite an entourage to get a bride ready... everyone did such a great job.

Amy was a wedding planner extraordinaire!! She did such a great job planning out the whole day... it was so laid back and easy-going


These pictures are always my favorite... they just make me smile - it's not all glamour :) This is was sisters/maid-of-honors are for

Kali's dress was made for her, just so you know. It was based off one she saw in a bridal shop... but they altered it a little... it was so incredibly beautiful!!!




The bridesmaids... I did all their hair - kind of proud


The groomsmen


Mr. and Mrs. Lynch


Emy made her public debut at the wedding... she did so well - she slept for most of it.




and of course... the peanut

So I am heading out tomorrow for Flagstaff for Kali Kuyper's and Caleb Lynch's wedding... 10 years in the making (seriously they have been together since they were 12... it is such a sweet story!!). I have spent almost every Christmas Eve with the Lynch family - their like family to us. It is so fun to think about this wedding tomorrow.

I am heading up super early in the morning because I am doing all the bridesmaid's hair (all 7 of them). Luckily it is an easy hair style... sneek peak here:


So that is much of my weekend...

I also am definitely quitting my job. Talked to over with my boss of course and I will definitely be sticking around as a teaching assistant and substitute when needed. I will definitely be needing to find another part time job to make up the difference with my expenses, and will be definitely cutting back on said expenses - it'll be an adjustment, but good adjustments... more details on that probably next week.

Looking to staying in England over next summer as well as through the spring... I figure if I'm over there already, I may as well take as much advantage of it as I can. I still haven't decided on a spring program (I have a college I keep coming back to, but I really can't decide... I keep considering if I want to be in the city of the country... probably city - I'm a city girl... and as much as I love Jane Austen Novels, the country lifestyle would probably be super boring). The summer class I definitely want to take is in Westminster London England. It's walking distance from Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey and London's West End. The class, which if even better than school location, is "London's Musical Theater". Basically we will study musical theater history - vaudville, Roger's and Hammerstein, all the way to Wicked and Lord of the RIngs the musical - that's right LOTRs his a London musical. Also, part of the class is we'll get to g back stage at some musicals... SWEET!!!

Amy, I know you're drooling :)