Week in Review

It's back!  In an effort to blog a little more often, I've decided to start writing "week in review" posts again.  They're basically quick and easy to write, and it will give me a reminder of these crazy grad school days.  Also, these are my favorite posts to go back and read later on, because they contain so many fun memories of our everyday lives.

Highlights from last week:

*I spent most of the day on Sunday getting ready for the week ahead of me.  This included gathering up and printing out materials for lesson plans, and going shopping for some business casual clothes for clinicals.  Having an excuse to buy clothes is always fun!  I also raided the back-to-school bins at Walmart which contained tons of $.50 gems that I could use for therapy! (stickers, card games, etc).   I also stocked up on some fall candles, because why not?

*We spent Sunday night at Luke's grandparents' house, celebrating his grandpa's birthday.  We all spent most of the evening playing with baby Lilly.

*Mondays are going to be my fullest, most stressful days, unfortunately.  I spent it at a clinical placement all morning, eating a hurried lunch in the car on the drive from one place to another, and then clinicals at another placement in the afternoon.  I'm honestly glad my most overwhelming day is the first day of the week, so I can get it over with!

*Tuesday is my longest day of classes, and I got a text right before my second class from my mother-in-law saying that she made broccoli cheese soup, and was going to drop some off at our house, so I didn't have to make dinner that night!  I appreciated it so much!  It was a huge highlight of my week.

*Later Tuesday night, my mom dropped off a little gift for me, just because.  Tuesday was the day for surprises, I guess!  It is so cute, and I love it!

*Thursday between classes my sister and I met for lunch.  We went to a Thai restaurant, and it was so nice to eat a warm lunch and catch up with her.  It made my day go by so much faster, too.

*I spent Friday at a workshop for children with hearing impairments.  I thought it was pretty interesting, and I also get extra credit for going! win-win.  I know this is going to mark the first of many workshops in the next 30 or so years! 

*On Saturday, Luke went to the Ohio State game again, so I hung out at home alone all day.  I made some coffee, turned on Revenge in the background, wore jeans and a comfy sweatshirt, and made neuro flashcards all day.  I'd be lying if I said I didn't love it.  And Ellie was feeling a little attention starved, so she sat on my lap for most of the afternoon.  It just felt like fall, and I loved it. 

Speaking of fall...oh my word.  Is the sky ever more beautiful than it is during the fall?  I really enjoyed it this week.

I cannot believe it's Sunday, and a new week is beginning already!  Where did the weekend go?  Let the craziness begin again...

Post-Christmas Week in Review

I know this is late, but I wanted to remember the highlights of the last week of 2011! I'll skip Christmas because I already recapped that :-)

So here are some highlights from the week following Christmas:

~I spent most of my time relaxing, watching movies, reading, and playing on my new Kindle. I read 2.5 books the week after Christmas: Catching Fire, One Thousand Gifts, and half of Mockingjay. I'm really going to miss all this free time next week when the semester begins.

~Tuesday evening was fun! We went out shopping with JC to spend some gift card money and we went out to dinner. then I went to the church to watch Luke play volleyball. He is playing in a competitive league this winter with lots of friends, and it's really fun to watch!

~On Wednesday we went out to dinner with our friends Sarah and Doug (my cousin and her husband). Then we went over there for a little while so Luke could help replace Sarah's cracked iPhone screen since he's fixed about 3 of them now, and we had fun playing with her Baby Hudson. Fun night :-)

~ Friday was the TSO concert! We go every year. This year we went with Luke's Mom and sister. It was a great show as always! Afterwards Patty treated us all to dinner at Rockne's. YUM is all I have to say about that :-) It was a great night out!

~We spent New Years Eve at a party at Sarah and Doug's house! It was just a few friends. We played a fun game, enjoyed the cute babies, and brought in the New Year!

What a great week of relaxation, friends, and fun! This week has been much the same. However, I am subbing today and tomorrow, and then next week my world gets crazy again as I go back to school with another 16 credit hours this semester. I'm so thankful for this peaceful time before the craziness begins again!

Christmas '11 Festivities

We had a great and very busy Christmas!

Here are some (sorta) quick holiday highlights and lots of pictures:

~ On Sunday it snowed!! It didn't stick around, but it was nice for a day at least

~ We puppy-sat Max for the week of Christmas!  Having 3 animals in our house made for a lot of snuggling time

~Had a fun date night with Luke, driving around looking at Christmas lights

~ Had a big baking day on Wednesday...I made fudge and 4 other kinds of Christmas treats

~ On Friday I spent the afternoon with Sarah.  We baked zucchini bread and set up her new blog!!  Check it out!!  And follow her!  Her posts are deep and they really make you think.  And she's also super funny!

~ Later on Friday night, Mom invited the whole family over for a big turkey dinner.  It was a really nice evening in with the family, because I knew Christmas Eve and Christmas day were about to be crazy!  

~On Christmas Eve, Max was sportin' his adorable Christmas sweater!  Had to get a picture...even though he doesn't look too thrilled.

~Our first stop was the candlelight service on Christmas Eve.  It was beautiful!

~Second stop on Christmas Eve was my mom's side of the family's Christmas party where we had a delicious dinner and fun white elephant gift exchange

~Our final stop of the evening was Luke's parents house to exchange gifts.  It was a fun time!  And I got a Kindle Fire (from both sets of parents...Luke's and mine :-))  Totally unexpected, and it has barely left my hands in the past 48 hours. 

Luke got "The Bro Code" book from his sister.  SO funny!! 

~Christmas morning Luke and I exchanged gifts.  I got him a sweater and a blu-ray, and he got me a pink cover for my Kindle, and the Crazy Stupid Love blu-ray...one of my favorite movies!

~Next stop was church on Christmas morning for a lovely service, and then to my parents' house to exchange presents with the family.  We felt so blessed and spoiled!

~Next up was Luke's grandparents' house where we had more delicious food, played board games, and exchanged gifts.  I must not have had my camera out much here because I didn't get any good pictures!  Oops

~Finally our last stop of the day was my Aunt Viv's house for my dad's side of the family.  We were barely functioning at this point, but we had a yummy dinner, caught up with family we hadn't seen in months, and had another white elephant gift exchange.  

~ I should have come home and immediately collapsed into the most restful sleep of my life. However, earlier last week I read The Hunger Games, and had started reading Catching Fire (the second book of the trilogy) on my Kindle.  And I just couldn't put it down!!  This is one of the best series I've ever read!! So I stayed up late reading by the light of the Christmas tree.  

What a wonderful, blessed Christmas!  It will take a few days of rest to fully recover, but that's what the week before New Years is for, right??

I hope you all had a wonderful, Merry Christmas as well!!

Week in Review: Christmas Break Week 2

Highlights:

~ After a bit of begging, Luke agreed to go out for lunch after church on Sunday.  It is always a huge blessing when I don't have to worry about cooking!

~Sunday night our church hosted the Young and Alive, a show choir from the high school where I graduated.  I was in Y&A too, so it's always fun for me to watch them!

~On Tuesday I got my hair cut.  I just got a few inches taken off.  I'm still a little unsure of whether I like it or not...it didn't turn out exactly how I was picturing (the layering in the back is kind of weird), but I'm sure it will look better when it grows out a bit.

~After I got my hair cut, I came home to find that my grades were posted!  I am so excited that all my hard work paid, off, and hopefully this will be a big help in getting into the graduate program!

 

~ Later Tuesday night I got a call from my mom, asking if I could fill in at their card club.  I did, and it was fun!  I was totally exhausted afterwards though because I had subbed all day and spent an hour or so at the salon.  I was ready to get in my warm, comfy bed after that evening!

~ On Wednesday I got to spend the whole afternoon shopping for library books for the church library.  Always fun to buy books with someone else's money ;-)  

~ Thursday evening I went out with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to see Luke's cousin perform part of the Christmas show she was in.  It was so good!  She is very talented :-)

~ After a busy day of subbing on Friday, I went out with my parents and some family friends to go see the new Sherlock Holmes movie.  It was so good!  I thought it was even better than the first one.  Loved it! 

~We were busy all day Saturday with the Wallace Christmas party.  We spent a lot of time eating good food and catching up with family members we only see a few times a year.  At one point, somehow the "adult children" (aka the 20-somethings) ended up with this kids activity book where you had to find hidden objects in a picture (Where's Waldo style).  Umm, I think we enjoyed it a little too much.  Ha!  We spent a good 45 minutes huddled around, locating objects.  Because we're cool like that.

                                     

~Saturday night I hung out with Sarah.  we talked, watched Inception, (one of the best movies of all time) and admired her family's ginormous Christmas tree :-)  It was a fun night.  And it was snowing!!!  finally!  So that was great, too :-)

***

I can't believe Christmas is just a week away!  I have to be honest: I am nowhere near as ready as I would like to be.  But I refuse to panic.  My goal is to enjoy the season this year :-)

Week in Review: Christmas Break Week 1

Highlights:

~On Sunday evening Luke and I had our last Love and Respect Bible study of the year. I've really been loving the content and our group!

~Had lunch with my sister between finals on Tuesday.

~Wednesday was my last final!! I was done in the morning, and was on cloud nine for the rest of the day knowing that I survived my first semester!

~I spent all my free time on Wednesday finishing up my dresser project

~Wednesday night I went shopping at a cute little store with my mom and bought some Christmasy things. It was a fun, spontaneous trip

~Later on Wednesday night, Luke and I went out to dinner at Chipotle to celebrate the end of the semester. Then we came home and watched the Christmas episode of Modern Family. It was basically the perfect evening.

~Thursday I visited my grandma and then spent the evening helping my mom watch kids at church. Afterwards I hung out with some friends (and cute babies!) while our husbands were busy

~On Friday I was feeling creative and motivated, so I cleaned the house, finished decorating for Christmas, and completed a craft project which I will be sharing tomorrow. I was very much in my element, and had a pretty great evening :-)

~Saturday was our annual cookie baking day! This year we did it at Luke's Aunt's house. We made so many cookies! It was fun as always :-)

~Saturday night was spent at Luke's cousin's birthday party, and then a spontaneous get-together with our friends and neighbors Jared and Rachel.

So far, Christmas break has been amazing! I can't believe I have a whole month off between semesters! And while I'm still subbing a few days a week, it just feels great to have a long break from studying and homework :-)

Week in Review...Super Late

I have been kind of MIA on the blog the past few days. I haven't really done a real post since Thursday, which is just unheard of for me! Here's the deal: it's finals week. And I got called last-minute to sub on Friday and Monday! A total blessing, but it has made for some very busy days with no time to blog.

I took my first final this morning, and my next one isn't until 6:00 tonight. I'll then take my final final (hehe) tomorrow morning. I thought about using all of my extra time today to study. But I haven't blogged in so long! I guess you can see how that internal debate ended. Honestly...my brain needs a break. And I study better under pressure anyway ;-)

I'm going to have a hard time recalling how I spent last week, but I'll try my best.

Highlights:

~I was pretty sick on Sunday (probably with another sinus infection). And while that doesn't sound like a highlight, it did give me an excuse to chill out on the couch and just enjoy the Christmas lights. And read a book for fun.

~Luke decorated the entrance to our part of the house with the same type of big, vintage-style Christmas lights we used on the tree. I love it, and it makes me happy every time I come home :-)

~ I definitely spent most of my time studying and tying up the loose ends of the semester.

Isn't the IPA cool? I can now do narrow transcription! (it's what my 6:00 exam is on)

~ On Friday after I'd studied all week and subbed all day, I cut myself some slack, and allowed myself to have a total veg-out night. It was so nice!!!! I ordered take-out for dinner, and then when Luke left for basketball, I turned all the lights out and enjoyed the glow of the Christmas tree while I watched movies. An introvert's ideal evening :-)

I grumbled a lot when Luke purchased our projector and turned our living room into a mini movie theater. But I have to admit...it is nice for movie nights.

~I spent Saturday working on projects, and I finally began painting my dresser that I found at a garage sale two months ago! I'll have it finished tomorrow :-)

~ On Saturday night, Luke and I went out with our friends Jesse and Rachel. We ate a delicious dinner at TGI Fridays, and then headed over to Malone University's Christmas program. It was a great night! I always love Malone's Christmas programs. Such beautiful music :-)

***

It was an okay week, but I'm thinking this week will be a lot more fun! Especially since I'll be on Christmas break starting Wednesday afternoon!!!

Week in Review: Thanksgiving!

Highlights:

~On Sunday, Luke and I went with 2 other couples from our small group to a Kari Jobe concert. It was actually more of a Night of Worship than a concert. It was such a great night!

~ I spent most of Monday and Tuesday studying for a huge neuro exam I had Tuesday evening. It was a lot of hard work, but I did really well on the test! So I rewarded myself with probably the last pumpkin spice latte of the season afterward. It was divine :-)

~On Wednesday, I spent most of the day working on Thanksgiving preparations. I made some pumpkin pie cupcakes for the next day, and tried a new mac and cheese recipe for dinner (it was good!)

~On Wednesday I also squeezed in enough time to finish reading a book! This is significant, because it's the first book I've read for leisure all semester. The book is called She's out of Control, and it's book 2 in the Ashley Stockingdale series by Kristin Billerbeck. The lovely Heather lent me the last two books in the series after I finished the first one in the middle of the summer! I'm so happy that I'm finally getting to read them, and so appreciative that she lent them to me and told me to take as much time as I need to read them :-) Anyway, the series is great, and totally hilarious! A really good Christian fiction series. And for me to say that?? means it's really good. I have some problems with a lot of Christian fiction books. (see my Breaking Dawn post if you're curious as to why).

~Thursday was wonderful! I just love Thanksgiving :-) Luke and I slept in and watched the Macy's Parade. Then we went to my grandparents' for awhile, and later headed to Luke's side of the family for the big meal. After we ate, we spent all day playing board games and fawning over Luke's new baby cousin. Later, Luke went out shopping until about midnight with his sisters for cheap blu-rays. I opted out of that (I am too little and gentle to deal with big, pushy crowds like that! haha), and chose to have a peaceful evening watching Home Alone instead. When Luke got home, we were both still wide awake for some reason, and ended up staying awake until 2 or 2:30 watching all the Thanksgiving episodes of Friends. Another great Thanksgiving spent with loved ones :-)

~I slept in super late on Friday (you probably won't ever find me at any of those early bird sales!) but around noon I hit the town with Mom and Julie. We had lunch at Panera, and then braved the crowds at Target, Kohls, Barns and Noble, and Ulta (smaller than the crowds at Walmart the night before. This I could at least handle!). We didn't buy much, but it was fun to have the experience of shopping a bit on Black Friday.

~Friday evening I went out with my family again to go see The Muppets. I have always been a huge Muppets fan, and I have to say that this movie was AMAZING! Sooo funny! It doesn't hurt that Amy Adams and Jason Segel are two of my favorite actors. And the cameos?? hysterical! There was one cameo in particular that caught me so off guard that I almost couldn't handle it. I laughed soooo hard. If you've seen it, you probably know which part I'm talking about, but I'm not going to say who it was because I don't want to ruin it for anyone :-) Anyway, go see this movie now!! I think anyone would love it!

~Saturday was Christmas tree day! We picked out our tree in the morning, and spent most of the day decorating while we watched the (sad) Ohio State game. The cats kind of love the tree, but I'm afraid we're going to have a Christmas Vacation moment!

~Saturday night I was feeling a little under the weather, so we chilled at home in the evening, had a delicious homemade white pizza for dinner(recipe found here) and watched the DVR'd Thanksgiving episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Did anyone else watch it? It was so good! Can you tell that Luke and I took advantage of our leisure time and watched a LOT of TV and movies? Haha...don't judge. Luke worked two jobs for the past 6 months, and I have been juggling work/school/home, and this was the first time in a looong time that we could just do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted! And we loved it :-)

***

I'm a little sad to see this week end. I have one more week of class, and then it's finals week, so I'm going to have to really buckle down and work hard. I guess it's sad to go from being so carefree this week to having so much to worry about in the next two! But then I'll have an entire month off from classes! So I think pushing through two more weeks won't be so bad :-)

Week in Review

~On Sunday Luke and I spent the day shopping. We went out to lunch at Fuddruckers first, which was so good! And then I spent the day spending birthday gift cards. I found some amazing sales, and ended up coming home with a lot of great things! We ended the evening with Bible study, and it was a fun day :-)

~On Monday night we celebrated Luke's moms birthday with the family. And we watched funny You Tube videos for most of the evening, which was fun.

~ On Tuesday I completed and handed in my very last lab exercise for A&P. Yes, it deserved a picture. And yes, it was a huge highlight of my week. I'm in the home stretch now!

~On Wednesday, I completed a huge chunk of work that needed to be done for grad school applications. Again, another huge highlight of my week. The stress level just keeps going down!

~On Friday afternoon I went to see Breaking Dawn with my friend Kristin. I know a lot of people didn't like it, but I thought it was so good! It was sooo romantic. And even though I thought some of the images in the movie were a bit shocking, I really liked it! Maybe my favorite movie of the series so far! (Although Twilight is and will always be my favorite book of the series).

~After the movie, I went to Kristin's house to have some pizza with her and her family, and that was fun :-)

~On Saturday, my mom and I hit up some craft shows. I didn't end up buying anything, but it's fun to look, and start to get in the mood for Christmas!

~Saturday afternoon I had all kinds of plans to be super productive, but then my tooth started trying to kill me! I've had a bit of a toothache for a few days, but oh my word. I thought I was going to die. I tweeted that I'm sure labor is much worse, but I honestly could not imagine anything worse than that pain! It felt like someone had jammed a hot iron poker right into my gums! After a few hours, the pain just subsided as quickly as it had begun, which I was so thankful for! But anyway, all of my plans to be productive didn't happen, but some quality cuddle time with my little Ellie did. While I was trying not to die :-P (why do these things always happen on the weekends when the dentist is not in?!) She was cold and actually climbed under the blanket and then gripped onto my jeans with her claws, and legs straight out, and just started to purr uncontrollably. She is probably the dumbest cat in the world, but she's so sweet!! haha

I just thought she looked so funny and cute! What other cat falls asleep like that??

It was kind of a low key week again, and I spent most of it working on homework and grad school applications. But I am sooo excited for a bit of a break next week, and to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family!

Week in Review: Birthday, CMAs, and Busyness

This post is a day later than normal, but I had a pretty full and great weekend, and didn't feel like wasting much of it on my computer.

Also, thanks for the great response on my Q & A post! Wow, I have so many questions to answer!! I'm definitely going to have to make my answers a series rather than one single post. And I've decided to answer them in vlog form, so that will be something new for me :-) On Wednesday I will be posting the first installment, plus the winner of the giveaway in a vlog! So be sure to check back then. If you haven't asked a question yet, you have a chance to win a $25 gift card to Starbucks if you do!

Okay, now on to last week in review. It was a busy, amazing week!

~Sunday was my birthday, so I spent the day at my parents' house where my mom made a delicious lunch. And then we had an ice cream sandwhich cake like the one I made her for her birthday in May. It was a fun day spent with family. And then my in-laws came over to our house in the evening, so it was a really full day with family. A great birthday! I felt spoiled and blessed.

~ I substitute taught 4th and 5th grade on Monday, and once again loved it. I have shocked myself so much this year with how much more I like to sub in the older grades than the younger ones!

~Wednesday was a busy day. I studied all day, then visited with my grandma for awhile, and then went out shopping for a bit and to dinner at Chipotle with Luke and JC. It was a last minute, unexpected little outing, and it was nice to get out after my long day of studying!

~One of the major highlights of my week was watching the CMA awards on Wednesday! I had no one to watch it with, so I tweeted through the whole thing. That way it felt like I was watching it with some of you :-) Anyway, I thought Brad and Carrie were hysterical and did great hosting again. I was happy with almost all of the awards, and loved the live performances. I've always loved If I Die Young by The Band Perry, but seeing them on the CMAs started an obsession with them. I've been listening to The Band Perry station on Pandora ever since, and love it!

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~On Thursday I met with my cousin Anissa for delicious Quesadillas for lunch. She's going to school for SLP, and is also applying to grad schools this semester. It was great to talk with her about the whole application process, and to have someone to relate to who is going through it right now! We're both highly stressed about the whole thing, but I'm sure God will open doors wherever He wants to, and vice versa :-) With that thought, I can have peace about the whole process.

~After lunch with Anissa, I headed over to my sister's house. We went to Sally's to pick up some hair-highlighting supplies, and then Julie did my hair! I haven't dyed or highlighted my hair in about 7 years, but I wanted to change things up a bit to go along with all the changes in my life I guess. It's a very subtle difference, but I think it makes my hair look a lot shinier and gives it more "depth" if that makes sense. And it literally cost $6 instead of $100. So I think that's a good deal. Julie did a great job!

You can see the highlights pretty well in this picture

~On Friday I didn't have to work or anything so I went out to lunch with some of Luke's family who are from out of town. It was nice to see everybody! And then I went over to Sarah's house, and had such a great time with her! We played Just Dance 3. It was awesome! Have you played it yet?? Umm, Let's go to the Mall by Robin Sparkles is on it! All you HIMYM fans would appreciate that one :-) Anyway, we then took a walk on a beautiful trail near Sarah's apartment, and talked about everything under the sun. We basically solved all the world's problems ;-) It was freezing on our walk, so we came back to her apartment for some hot cocoa while Sarah shared some of her recent favorite songs with me. What a great Friday. I feel so blessed to have someone like Sarah in my life!

~On Saturday morning I made these delicious sweet rolls that I've seen all over Pinterest lately. They were definitely a hit with the hubby! And I thought they were pretty good too! Later this week I'm going to do a whole post of all my favorite recipes I've found this fall, and I'll post a link to the recipe then.

~Saturday afternoon we went to see one of Luke's sister Diana's last volleyball matches. They sadly didn't win, but it's still always fun to watch Di play!

~ Saturday night we went out with our friends Marc and Brandi to dinner and a movie (Di and her friend met up with us later as well). We had a quick dinner at Fazolli's, and then went to see J. Edgar. I thought it was long and a little slow, but I guarantee it will win or at least be nominated for a lot of awards. I typically don't like award-winning movies. I don't know what that says about me. Ha!

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What a busy week! No wonder I didn't get as much done as I wanted to regarding applying to grad. school! So this week I'm buckling down! I want to have it finished before Thanksgiving, even though the deadlines aren't until January 1. I just don't want it hanging over my head during the holiday season!