101 Goals Revisited--How much did I accomplish?

I figure I'm good for one last post on this blog. I'm not going to lie, living my life away from the internet has done me more good than harm, so I'm going to keep things that way (excepting goodreads... I will not leave goodreads!)

Back in 2008 before I moved to Colorado, I signed up for the Mission 101 challenge. Well, the end date for the challenge was in April for this year, so I thought I'd follow up to see just how much was fully accomplished. Results are below.

Red=accomplished

Blue=partially accomplished

White=never happened

Creativity:

1. Experiment with food design and making food look pretty (and taste good too.) I took a cake decorating class in 2009.
2. Pick up some form of sewing or knitting and have one project completed. I took up knitting, crochet, and stitching and have projects finished for all three.
3. Draw and paint again .
4. Ask Jon to teach me basic photography techniques.
5. Ask Jon to teach me basic Photoshop techniques.
6. Make something with the bulk of dried lavender I accidentally bought last year. Jon made some lavender sachets, but we didn't use the entire lot I purchased.

Financial:

7. Establish a ROTH-IRA to supplement any retirement earned through an employer. We both contribute the maximum amounts possible to our retirement accounts, but I never followed up on this (nor can we afford to now).
8. Start contributing to a cause... likely something to help animals and people who help animals (Humane Society or some ASPCA.) We tithe at our church, contribute to dachshund rescue funds, as well as the endometriosis association of america annually.
9. Make an effort to tithe more.
10. Continue to pay bills in full and on time.
11. Continue to stay credit card debt free (neither Jon nor I have ever been in cc debt) and continue to only use cards for what we can afford.
12. Pay off Wonda, my car.
13. Get Jon a new car/truck, and only after my car is paid in full to avoid two car payments. We purchased a Sub@ru Outback in February and love it (although everybody and their mom drives a Sub@ru in Colorado).
14. Prioritize major purchases for the house and only purchase another major item when the item of higher priority is paid in full. I honestly don't know if we've done this, but we're not paying off anything at the moment, so I'll say we partially accomplished this.
15. Only dip into high interest savings either in a dire emergency or to use towards school. Oops. We dipped into this to supply a down payment for the car, so not exactly an emergency.
16. Continue to contribute any small amount to the high interest travel fund.
17. Stay insured for health and dental even if unemployed.
18. Do not impulse buy books because they'll likely be donated within the year anyways.

Food:

19. Bake at least one confection per week, excepting vacations. I really can't verify this, but I was able to do something most weeks.
20. Grow an herb garden. It was kind of a favor, but we expanded beyond the herb garden and have done some really fun stuff, particularly over the last couple of years.
21. Bake bread more often and learn how to hand knead.
22. Better icing technique and piping skills.
23. Attempt a fancy pastry like a napoleon or an éclair, or reattempt the French macaroon.
24. Practice new cooking recipes to become a decent cook and not focus so much on baking.
25. Get used to high altitude baking.
26. Bake a soufflé (stole this one from Amanda.)
27. Start getting milk products from a dairy delivery service instead of the grocery store. We did this until I went part time at work. It was great, but a bit more expensive.
28. Learn how to cook an authentic foreign dish. I suck at Asian food!

Fun Times:

29. Get a dog and successfully train and socialize it. We got two!
30. Get a bike and use it. I definitely need to use it more. Who knew that you could lose bike riding skills? I'm so not confident on a bike anymore.
31. Host some form of a get-together once per quarter. We were doing this, but the house is so small, so it's hard to entertain for more than two people.
32. Have board/card game nights as much as possible.
33. Watch all Doctor Who DVDs available on Netflix. Yeah, didn't happen.
34. Go see a drum corps show if they come to Denver at any point, since I haven't been to one in a while.
35. Watch one watered down horror movie with Jon... during the day time... when it's sunny.
36. Watch the original Star Wars trilogy.
37. Attend some sort of theater event. I went to see South Pacific with some friends last year.
38. Go to at least one festival (food, Renaissance, etc.) Cheyenne Frontier Days in 2008

Health/Environment:

39. Pick up an activity/hobby that requires exercise and/or being outside. Running. I hate it, but it keeps my heart rate down.
40.Walk as much as possible.
41. Join a club of some sort in Fort Collins to meet new people.
42. Make an effort to get out more.
43. Do not commute to any job more than 30 minutes, unless our financial independence relies on it. School would be an exception.
44. Continue using reusable bags at grocery stores.
45. Eliminate coffee to very special occasions and drink only tea for caffeine needs.
46. Drink only one soda per week.
47. Replace all lamp bulbs with energy efficient ones.
48. Get a physical once every 3 years.
49. Go to the dermatologist every other year.
50. Wear sunscreen when exposed to the sun for long periods of time.
51. Learn to ski (I've never tried.) I went cross-country skiing last year. It was okay, but I'm way too uncoordinated to ski.
52. Eat red meat at the most twice per week, preferably less.
53. Eat at least 3 servings of fruit/vegetables per day.
54. Start stretching and become limber again.
55. Learn how to shoot a gun.


Home/Organizing:

56. Never leave dishes unwashed.
57. Plant flowers and bushes around the house and maintain them to become a better gardener. We've discovered a love for gardening, and may have gone a bit overboard on this.
58. Decorate tastefully for Halloween, Christmas, and Easter.
59. Do not decorate for Christmas before the day after Thanksgiving (yeah, I might fail at this one.)
60. Devise a storage system for kitchen items. Jon built basement storage. It works great.
61. Dog-proof the house.
62. Put up dry wall in the garage and devise an organized system for Jon's stuff. It's organized, but we didn't put up dry wall.
63. At least make plans to have the basement refinished so Jon can have his office/man cave.
64. Get a bedroom set. We didn't buy a bedroom set, but we did purchase a nice dresser and bedside tables.
65. Establish the guest room. It's still combined with Jon's office, but the basement renovation isn't happening, so it will have to do.
66. Make a set and realistic house cleaning schedule and stick to it.

Learning/Career:

67. Consider schooling for possible new paths and try to avoid student loans to finance education.
68. Pick up French and Italian again, or learn Spanish, as it is more practical.
69. Read at least 3 history texts, mainly in European history (one on England, one on France, and one on Eastern Europe.) I read 3 texts, but they all focused on England.
70. Take a business or entrepreneur course if switching careers.
71. Re-read The Elements of Style by Strunk and White since I'm awful at grammar and writing, as well as other grammar books.
72. Have at least a part time job by October, whether it be as a librarian or something else.
73. Vote in 2008 election.

Personal:

74. Get married and change my last name.
75. Make an effort to start my marriage off on the right foot by establishing alone time, us time, and keeping communication open.
76. Establish a living will.
77. Consider pregnancy or adoption by the age of 29 (having a child by 30.) I'm glad I said "consider" and added in the adoption piece on this one.
78. Be less private about my relationship with God, but do not overstep boundaries and do not rub religion in people's faces.
79. Attend church more often.
80. Get to know the in-laws better, as well as my own family.
81. Learn how to drive a stick shift.
82. Have my hair cut at least 5 inches sometime after the wedding.
83. Make an effort to be more social and pursue quality friendships. Making friends is a lot more difficult when you're older. There are so many possible alienating factors, that it just isn't easy to establish something new. I've found that my closest acquaintances are at work.

Reading:

84. Read 100 classic novels that I have not previously read.
85. Read one book outside of my comfort zone. We started a readers' advisory book club at work so I've been reading a lot of genres that I wouldn't normally read (western, romance, inspirational)
86. Read and complete a Tolstoy novel (Anna Karenina was a failure for me.)
87. Read all current and past Printz, Newbery, and Caldecott Medal Winners.
88. Attempt the Lord of the Rings trilogy again.

Travel:

89. Visit at least 10 national parks that neither Jon nor I have previously visited. Close, but no cigar.
90. See New Zealand.
91. Visit at least 2 of the 4 states I have left to see in the U.S. (Alaska, Hawaii, North Dakota, Idaho.) I only made it to Idaho.
92. Get back to Europe, preferably England again, but I wouldn't complain if I visited Prague, Greece, or Italy either.
93. Camp at least once per year.
94. Go to Dinosaur monument.
95. Take the Colorado Train
96. Drive through Independence Pass. Uggh, I JUST did this, but it was after the deadline.
97. Take Jon to Devil's Tower and Little Bighorn.
98. Renew passport (can't travel internationally without it!)
99. Find a good and safe place to board the dog(s) when traveling.
100. Go home at least once a year.
101. Visit the Northeast again during summer. We went, but during springtime, which was just as lovely.

Overall, I think I did pretty well. I'm interested to see what the next three years holds.

Bye for now. It's been fun blogging. When/if I get the new blog running, I'll be sure to post the link here.

Offline

Some people have been asking me why I'm not writing blogs at the moment. Okay, my mom and my best friend have asked me, but to be fair, they make up the majority of my readership.

2010 has been rough. Not rough as in "the world is coming to an end and I'm having real problems" but more rough as in my physical and emotional health have been all over the place. I'm not very happy right now and my busy schedule doesn't help. The internet only makes things worse, particularly a lot of social networking, so if I'm not updating my status everyday or responding to messages, you might know why (but then, you'd have to read the blog to know this) because it sucks to enter those sites.

I may be back, and I may not. I have 5 years of great memories on this blog and I'm not really willing to erase those. But for now, I need to focus on what is positive in my day-to-day life (husband, family, etc.) and work on coming to terms with possibilities that I didn't think would ever occur in my life.

So farewell for now! I hope to be back as soon as possible.

Lately...

I was lucky enough to have a five day weekend starting last Thursday. I had worked the previous weekend and am generally over full time hours anyways (unless we're on call for reference, we generally make up our own schedule, which usually gets out of hand with meetings, programming, etc.) so I had the time. It has been a great 5 days of catching up on reading, baking, and trying new things.

For example:

I read: I finally finished The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell, which came highly recommended. It was really good, but I don't think I was fully present for that read. I also read about 150 pages of Villette (less than 100 pages to go and loving it!) and also finished A Wrinkle in Time, which is one of my favorite books. I've decided to re-read all of L'Engle's children's books this year. My current read is The Ladies of Grace Adieu (short stories) by Susanna Clarke.

I baked/cooked: cookies and cream mini-cheesecakes, homemade doughnuts, Lobster Colorado, etc. All were very good, but now that I'm sitting in a canola-oil smelly house right now, I'm kind of regretting the doughnuts.

I tried: cross-country skiing. This was my first time skiing... ever. My parents never took me as a kid, and I was not about to learn how to downhill ski with 3 year olds skiing circles around me. I figured that even level skiing would be a bit easier (knowing full and well that it is quite a workout). We went with some friends who do this often, but who are also relaxed about the sport. I fell twice going downhill (and once going uphill) but finally got used to the weight distribution and gliding towards the end. Having special tracks in the snow helped a ton and being in Wyoming at the time didn't hurt either. It wasn't crowded at all. We all spent some time in Laramie after the skiing, which was cool, since our friends had previously lived there. We went two days ago, and I'm still sore... ouch!

Today, the library is closed for President's Day, so I'm trying to cook for the week, make sure the house can survive the upcoming work week, and catch up on my knitting. These next few weeks (okay, through the first part of April) are going to be immensely crazy. I will update when I can.

Stitching Fun

Here are some stitching projects I've been working on lately...

All except the bib are for a male co-worker. Yes, I'm giving a guy tea towels for his birthday... at least they all have things he enjoys on them! I have no clue who the bib is for. I had some left over bibs from when a local friend had her baby in July and I wanted something to stitch... something Holiday-themed.

I won't be around much until Christmas time. We leave the country for two weeks this Saturday and I have one heck of a week ahead of me before I can even dream of late spring weather instead of fall (feels like winter here) and driving on the left hand side of the road.

I look forward to reading lots of interesting blogs when we get back!

Fall Madness

So, I can't believe it's been over a month since I last blogged! A couple of weeks back, I tried to chronicle our awesome trip to the pumpkin patch, etc. but I didn't end up publishing it for some reason.

I had a wonderful 4 day weekend planned, but of course things got in the way. I ended up working more than I wanted to (which was not at all) but it does mean less work during the week. We're pretty jammed packed schedule-wise until our big trip overseas next month, so blogging will be sparse.

I will, however, chronicle some of our fall madness over the past few weeks. I should mention that there is 2 inches of snow on the ground as we speak, so it feels more like Christmas right now than October.

A couple of weeks ago J and I went to a pumpkin patch in Ault, Colorado. The dogs had a blast (even if Quincey got a bad reaction to something and we had to rush him home to give him medicine) and we walked away with 15 pumpkins for $17. Jon and I love different varieties of pumpkins, so we were satisfied. I immediately ran home, pureed one of the white pumpkins and made a lovely pumpkin chiffon pie. It may not have been orange, but it is one of the best tasting pies I have ever made. And yes, that is homemade cinnamon whipped cream... yum!

Jon and I decorated the front of the house with the rest of the lot. We decorated the window boxes with gourds and winter squashes and the doorstep and porch with pumpkins. We don't have a picture of the entire front yet because we're waiting to carve some pumpkins closer to Halloween. We do, however, have a picture of some of the pumpkins... one is particularly fluffy (trust me, he looks like a rat when wet)!

So it's been a busy fall so far at our house! More later with some home improvements!

Updates

The smell of fall is in the air in Colorado. Okay, well, it's still pretty warm here, but the mornings and evenings are perfect! So what has been happening in the life of the G. family???

• I have convinced hubby to semi-decorate the house for fall. He thinks that I decorate for seasons far too early (understandable since I once decorated for Christmas in October) but I have convinced him at least to let me change out decorative pillow covers, candles, kitchen linens, place mats, etc. to fall colors. The fall color scheme is by far my favorite, and I'm loving the warmth it brings to my house. J. even bought me a small pumpkin to make the place more festive. When I do go all out, I will post pictures (hopefully a couple of weeks from now).
• I have experienced success in the bread baking department! I have been baking bread for a while now, but moving to an elevation more than 4,000 feet higher than my previous location has been bad for baking... especially whole wheat breads. I have tried everything under the sun to adjust recipes and nothing has worked. I was so close to buying a bread maker when I checked out a high altitude baking book from the library. Alas, success with a whole wheat bread! Now my small kitchen can be spared from a huge clunky bread maker and J. and I can eat well.



• I am reading too much at the moment: The Monk, The Devil in the White City, Sea of Monsters, and The Sunday Philosophy Club (this one is for a book club at work). I feel like I'm finally back to a reading routine, which makes life seem just right again.
• We're slowly preparing for our big trip to the southern hemisphere in November. Does anybody know anything about getting a temporary cell phone that works overseas? We've already decided that we don't want to take the laptop with us because we'll be traveling all over the north and south islands, but don't want to be completely isolated... it would be nice to communicate with family once in a while.
• As if I wasn't already a nerd, I have forged new paths of geekery and am now taken with this show. I found out recently that my best friend from college attended this this past weekend. I continually wondered why we never explored these interests in college! Sigh, the life of a nerd.

Hello Blog!

I have neglected you once again!  Today is EXTRA special because I'm posting twice!  This is a rare occasion indeed.  I have another random Wednesday off and thank goodness because I have managed to mess up my back over the past few days.  So, what's been happening in Colorful Colorado?

-The in-laws visited a few days back.  We took a trip down to Colorado Springs to visit this and this.  The dogs were an absolute hit at the first stop.  People went nuts over their coloring and the fact that they have long hair, which longhaired dachshunds are common, but people just don't realize that they're dachshunds.  They had a blast getting all of the attention and they enjoyed climbing rocks.  Here is a picture... they were exhausted.

The cog rail was awesome, although the seating was uncomfortable and is the likely reason for me sitting on the couch with a painful lower back now.  The scenery was beautiful though and the summit was breathtaking.  I found out that one of my friends worked up there in the shop when she was in high school... they make great high-altitude doughnuts!

-Our dear friends here in FoCo gave birth on the 3rd.  The father went to high school with us and is a medical animator, like Jon.  They gave birth to a precious little boy and he is the first newborn I have ever held.  He has give me reason to practice my stitching lately, which is a hobby that I have come to really enjoy.  So I have created several images on a set of terry cloth bibs.  Cats, drum sets (his dad is a drummer), sea life, rockets, etc.  So much fun!  We're so happy for our friends.

-My parents will be out for a visit next weekend.  I'm so looking forward to this because the dogs love both sets of grandparents and their visit coincides with this... something my mom and I have anticipated for quite a while.

-Jon and I have started one of those "couch to 5K" programs.  Since moving to Colorado, I have done the same amount of exercise, but have eaten more.  I feel awful.  My heart rate feels so fast, so my main goal is to reduce my heart rate. Running here has proven a bit more difficult.  Not only am I out of shape, but the altitude kicks my butt.  We're gradually working our way to a healthy running regiment (we're only on week 2 now which has us walking a lot) and I'm looking forward to feeling like I'm not going to have a heart attack every day.

So that's it for my update.  I'll be back hopefully sooner rather than later!

A Day Off!

I always dread the beginning of the month because I'm usually working and don't get much accomplished at home.  There are 4 librarians where we work, so we each take a weekend to be in charge of the building.  I always take the first weekend, which I don't mind, but who wants to work weekends?  Anyways, I'm very behind on blogging, so I will write a quick, but possibly long update.

A few weekends back, Jon and I spent way more money than we should have and spruced up our little backyard.  The majority of the weekend was spent trying to get rid of rocks.  Living in a desert environment, rocks are huge in landscaping.  They take up space and don't require a lot of maintenance. Jon and I aren't fans though, so we opted for a dark mulch.  We planted some juniper trees, which will eventually allow us some privacy, and of course flowers, flowers everywhere.  I LOVE the flowers out here.  Lots of delphinium, peonies (which we didn't get, but I REALLY want some at our next house), columbine, etc.  I love the colors in our backyard. We also got some honeysuckle, clematis, and raspberry to grow along our fence and some strawberry plants, which we hope will do well next year.  The only problem with all of this?? The DOGS.  They love eating mulch and Quincey completely toppled one of my beautiful delphinium plants a few days ago.  We have some areas fenced off, but can't find enough fencing anywhere around here.  Also, our grass is completely destroyed from their urine.  I'm very happy they almost never have accidents in the house, but our grass is paying the price.  Even with the crappy grass, we're very happy with our backyard and love eating on the patio set on the cool Colorado evenings (yes, it is still cool here.)

About a week later, we traveled to Georgia for Memorial Day weekend.  This was the first time we had both been back in almost a year and it was a delightful visit.  I am particularly impressed all that was accomplished during our visit.  Jon and I traveled to Gainesville our first full day back to visit the Brenau library.  I left with a tear in my eye because looking back, I had the best job and worked with the best people.  I was so lucky to get a job like that straight out of graduate school.  We also managed to see Ashley, Adrian, Chris and Margaret, and also accomplished our main objective of surprising Jon's mom.  His dad wanted to throw a surprise party for Karen's 60th and have a lot of visiting relatives be the main surprise.  So he flew in relatives from Massachusetts and Minnesota, and we flew in from Colorado.  Karen was completely surprised, so mission accomplished.  I also got to spend some time with my parents and even visited a store that Bakerella likes (to the envy of some Colorado friends)!  I might just make some cake pops today.

So what do we have to look forward to this summer?  It's going to be crazy for me since summer in a public library means summer reading program.  When I can get away, Jon and I will be camping and exploring this place and hopefully one place in the Poudre Canyon this summer.  Jon's parents are visiting for the 4th and we'll be headed down to the Springs with the dogs in tow.  My parents will be out in the middle of the month and I hope to do some Wyoming explorations with them (and watch this).  Yes, Wyoming is my favorite state.

I plan on posting pictures of all this at some point.  For now though, it's on to positing some book reviews.  I need to catch up with my reading challenges!

Ahhh...

A walk after work in perfect weather and the sun still shining at 7pm... the faint smell of sage in the air.  I love Colorado.  I love approaching warm weather. 

Goodness

Good Reads

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban-- I'm on my quest to reread the series before HBP comes out in theaters this summer.  This is also the first time I've reread the all of the books since she completed the series.  It is just as wonderful as I remembered and I'm looking forward to one day planting my butt on the couch and having a 5 movie marathon.
• Brideshead Revisited-- I'm about halfway through this British classic and I'm in love.  Not only do I appreciate the book itself, but am intrigued by the characters and all the mention of Catholicism.  I might post a full review when I'm finished.
• Various other reads-- I'm also chugging my way through the teen Alice series, which is like crack, and I want to see how things turn out.  Also on my shelf are various nutrition books, books on fertility (long story but it has multiple purposes), books on canning and preserving, and books cake decorating.
  
• Upcoming goodness-- I think my next classic will be Forster's Howard's End.  I also need to read one of two Agatha Christie novels for the year, so I'm going to go in the order she wrote them and read The Secret Adversary.  I would also like to try the Western genre to expand my horizons and Lonesome Dove came highly recommended.  We'll see.

Good Times

• Jon turns 28 this coming Monday.  I'm looking forward to making him a Wall-E cake and just having a nice quiet, peaceful birthday celebration with family.
• My parents are going to visit the second week of April.  I'm going to work my butt off the end of this month so I don't have to take much official vacation time.  It looks like I'll have three days to (finally) explore Colorado with them.  I don't mind playing tourist in the least!  Celesti@l Se@sonings factory here we come!
• Wii Fit!  We've had it since February, but are waiting to actually open it in April.  Talk about discipline!  I love our Wii and am looking forward to exercising when I want (I have a knack for wanting to take a walk when the weather is crappy.)
• I'm enjoying a day off today.  I worked another marathon recently, and have enough hours to take today and Friday off to stay even with my hours.  I'm off to make bread.

Hmmm...

I need to vent.

Quick Update

-Well, I took the plunge and CHOPPED my hair. I think a good 8 inches came off and my hair hasn't been this short in about 8 years. I think I'll get pictures this weekend and post them. I didn't show one ounce of emotion when I saw all of the hair on the ground, although, it's been very weird to not really have much hair to run my hands through (well, I'm sure my hands would have gotten stuck anyways from all the tangles.) Jon likes it too, so that's a plus!

-Another Christmasaholic and I have been assigned to decorate our pretty library at work for the holidays. And we have money to spend. This could get dangerous.

-Thanks to Camille, I'm finally thinking about Thanksgiving dinner now that we're only a week away. Thus far, all I've gotten has been the small turkey. Since we're only cooking for ourselves, we have a small lineup:

• Turkey
• Homemade stuffing
  
• Green Bean Casserole
• Smashed Potatoes
• Homemade crescent rolls
  
• Pumpkin chiffon pie

So, very basic, but we will also be decorating for Christmas that day, so I'll live vicariously through reading about fellow bloggers' Thanksgiving dinners.

Other than the above, I've been a YA reading fool. Good thing my job coincides with the literature I prefer!

I'm Back!

I've decided to make the effort to blog more.  What is the point of having a blog if I don't even post?  In my defense, I've been trying to get used to a new state, job, and planning my wedding, which is now over, so I have time to write, or do I?  I have quite a bit to talk about.  I tend to lose interest in long blog entries, so I might be writing several small one topic blogs over the next few weeks.  Some of these topics shall include the following:

-My dogs

-Wedding

-Obsession with large families

-Books and reading (or lack thereof)

-Upcoming events

-Christmas obsession

I would like to blog about other things like work and politics, but just know that my work schedule is far more busy and full of professional development than I expected, and I chose a long time ago not to campaign, although I have enjoyed reading some interesting/informative posts (and some of the sometimes harsh comments) on blogs.  I commend you all for taking advantage of the first amendment (as a librarian, I defend this right everyday), but for now, I shall remain neutral.  

Anyways, I have the afternoon off, so maybe I'll post on one of my topics sooner rather than later!

I'm Married...

YAY!

Hmmm...

There are quite a few things/people (don't worry, you're 99.9% likely NOT one of them) on my "suck it" list currently, but time is definitely number 1 because it's truly getting the best of me.

I wish there were more hours in the day!

Whirlwind

It's amazing how much my life has changed in one month. On July 16th, I was getting ready to go to bed on the eve of my departure from Brenau. Since then, I've driven across the country, started living with a boy, interviewed for a job, accepted a job offer, began said job (and worked 11 days straight,) lost a grandfather to cancer, got two puppies, and have had absolutely no time to read (I've been on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone since last Monday.)

I've dealt with things as best as possible. My stomach has paid the price of my ruined nerves and I expect to deal with the grief of losing a loved one next weekend when we drive to Illinois for the memorial service. Luckily, some of the change is good and is there to balance all of the sad and stressful events. I wouldn't change living with Jon or the pups for anything!

It has been cold (mid 50s) over the past couple of days due to some needed rain. Today it finally cleared up and I was able to take the dogs out back without my umbrella. The air was crisp and the Colorado sky was so pretty. I think it was my first "zen" moment since I've been here. I felt at peace and happy watching the pups run around, even though the potty training hasn't been going too well today (exceptionally, and I hope that they don't keep this up.) I'm really looking forward to fall here and all I can think about right now is making chili, reading some Gothic novels, and wearing coats and prettier clothes.

I'll take these zen moments when I can get them because before I know it, I'll be back to working on my ever expanding "to do" lists!

New (and very adorable) puppy pictures to come.

Decisions, Decisions

Well, it's been quite a week for me. I'm not even remotely settled, mainly because I've been spending time with my parents. Time just seems to slip away from me as it usually does and tomorrow will mark one week in Colorado.

Yesterday was huge. I received a job offer from a nearby public library system. I accepted it because this is my chance to do outreach to the community, even if it is not the county I live in, while I still have the flexibility in schedule to do so. I also liked the people who interviewed me. They were in a tight situation, yet still managed to crack jokes. The people I worked with were the key to my happiness at Brenau, so hopefully things will go well over the next few weeks, because I'm not a fan of starting new jobs (I hate the learning curve.)

I also visited puppies for the first time yesterday. Jon and I were unbelievably excited to pick the little boy, Tony, who I've been eying for weeks. He's spunky and sweet and was definitely the biggest show off in the crowd. We even got the first family photo. He will be named Quincey, a name for one of my favorite characters in literature, as well as the name of the town (spelled differently) where Jon and I will be married.

Quincey

It was a great experience, but we definitely fell in love with a little girl puppy as well. Her name is Meadow and she has the sweetest eyes and is super chill. I'm pretty sure had Jon not known that I wanted Tony so badly, he would have snatched her up. She definitely struck a chord with me as well, so today after a plea for advice from Ashley (Jon's best friend who got us interested in dachshunds) Jon called our breeder and it looks like we'll be taking her home as well come two weeks from now when they're ready to go.

Breeder's picture of Meadow, since we didn't snap many photos of her on our visit

I cried when I found out we were going to be taking her home because it felt like we made the right decision, despite knowing how overwhelming this situation is going to be. Jon and I were going to get two dogs eventually anyways, and I feel a lot better knowing that they have that brother/sister bond, so they should get along while Jon and I work, etc.

So, we'll be welcoming two, instead of one, lovely dachshunds into our lives come two weeks from now!

Getting Settled

Well, I made it to Colorado. My last day of work was on Thursday and leaving Brenau was the only time I teared up throughout the entire move. I will definitely miss the sarcastic outlet and the laughs. Friday my parents, my brother, and I loaded up the moving truck in record time and my parents and I left Snellville at 10am. We spent the night in Mount Vernon, IL. The next day was spent maneuvering Missouri, and a large chunk of Kansas, including a stop to see the world's largest prairie dog in Oakley, Kansas. Awesome.

We arrived Sunday and we've been going full speed since then. I don't think it has quite hit me that I'm really going to be living here now, instead of vacationing, mainly because my parents are here for the week doing just that. I really did enjoy my two years back in Georgia, but it's time to move on. I have to figure out how to live with a boy, meet new people, and drive in the snow (again.)

I miss everybody in Georgia, but being with the one you love is definitely worth it.

Oh and R.I.P. Estelle Getty. Thank you for being a friend!

Crazy

This personal update will be in list form.

-Moving to Colorado on Friday! We should be in town come Sunday afternoon. Wow, there is so much to do before then, including:

• Work 25 hours and make sure everything is in place for the next person who will arrive in August. Sadly, I was the only person doing this nature of work at the library, so I might be taking some phone calls or even coming back at some point in August.
• Try on altered wedding dress and pray that it fits.
  
• Pack. I'm still not finished. Granted, a lot is done at this point, but my wardrobe and other essentials are still around and I have many boxes to take down to the garage to await loading on the truck.
• Prepare for a job interview at 1pm Monday. I did this in Georgia too. I got back from Indiana one day and interviewed the next day.

-Rosie the chocolate and tan dachshund had her puppies! Okay, so she had them 4 weeks ago. There are two boys, two girls, all chocolate and tan, and 3 of them are long haired dachshunds! Jon and I have taken a particular liking to the long hairs, so this is good news for us. We will visit sometime next week and should actually get the dog come mid-August.

-I'm currently reading Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. I like it so far and for once, I have no clue what I'm going to read next. I might do one of Madeleine L'Engle's series, or I might dive in to Harry Potter again, which I will have to do sometime soon since the 6th movie comes out in a few months.

That's all I have at this point. The move is pretty much taking over my life!

Updated Good Times

-I finally saw the Prince Caspian movie. I enjoyed it and will definitely make the purchase when it comes out on DVD. I'm pretty sad that they messed up my favorite part of the book (where Lucy meets Aslan in the forest) and I'm not too sure about the whole Susan and Caspian thing. I understand that they're trying to draw in a larger audience, but I'm a stickler for movies following closely the book (which I know never happens) and the love thing just seemed unnecessary, especially since Susan never goes back to Narnia, not even in The Last Battle with the rest of the kids. Thanksfully, this is my least favorite book in the series, so I don't care too much that they messed with the book. My favorite, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, will be filmed next and they better not screw it up! Jon grudgingly put up with my mumbling the entire time, although he did claim that he's never going to watch another book adaptation with me again.

-I finally have a set moving date in the middle of July. I'm excited about the move, but not excited about unemployment. A break will be nice, because I can catch up on some reading, baking, and work through the 200 something DVDs in my Netflix queue. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about my career though and I don't care to elaborate at this time, but I've made some interesting revelations.

-Jon and I are getting a puppy!!! We found out that Rosie is pregnant and is due sometime next month. The breeder will keep the puppies for a while (rightly so) but we should be parents by late August/early September. This motherhood thing should prove to be very interesting.

-I'm currently reading my first Anya Seton, via a recommendation from my co-worker Melissa, who is very well read and has excellent taste. Seton wrote from the 40s through the 70s and her stuff is surprisingly well researched and nice to read. I'm reading Avalon, which takes place during King Edgar of England's reign (10th century) and beyond. I will also read another of her books to split up my The Mists of Avalon re-read.