A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Again, I have let myself forget this blog.  I very much want to keep up with it, but life tends to get in the way.  April and May both flew by in the blink of an eye.  I must discipline myself, because what happens when you have children?  I have numerous friends who have had babies in the last year, and those children have been growing up so quickly, and they aren’t my own!  I know this will happen ever so quickly when my own children are born and grow up.

School is going well; I have received 3 As and an A- in the four courses I have completed.  I am currently in a Management class.  In a month, I will start another class.  Then, I will be half-way done with my Master’s degree.  A bit insane, isn’t it?  Considering the fact that last year at this time, I hadn’t even applied for the program.  It’s amazing as well, yes?  Hopefully, new opportunities will arise in the near future.

On a different note, hubby and I went to London for vacation this year!  It was amazing to be back.  When I got on the plane last time, I knew that it wasn’t going to be my last time visiting.  But, I had no idea that in 5 short years, I would be back, showing this amazing city to my husband (I didn’t imagine I would be married either!).  Hubby was super smart and found The London Pass.  What a life saver it was!  So much money and time was saved, it was awesome!  This pass let us into many attractions for free, and by passed many lines.  We went to restaurants that I had visited my first time (an amazing Italian restaurant, a very good Indian restaurant, and an awesome French restaurant).  We learned the Tube (“Mind the gap!”) and the trains.  We saw such amazing sites/sights (both!); hubby was in awe.

It was a long flight, but not awful.  Our first day there, we walked around, helping jogging my memory and finding places that we had gone with choir. We visited St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster, Hampton Court Palace, Greenwich, Abbey Road (for my brother), and so much more!  The following are some pictures from the trip. Enjoy!

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Sometimes Life Gets in the Way

I, unfortunately, have slacked off in my blogging adventure this month.  I follow the Twitter feed for “Post a day” and know that I need to write a blog, but work, school and life have gotten the better of me and blogging has gone to the wayside.  (So has my poor picture project.  I am aiming for an April 1st restart date.)  I have found it hard to motivate myself to write a blog during the week if I miss on Sunday.  Work has gotten so busy the last few weeks that I often come home grumpy and tired and then I must do some sort of homework, whether it is reading, assignments, or meeting with my group (thankfully, they were willing to meet late yesterday, meaning they were up until midnight).   I also have to do CEs for my re-certification for my pharmacy tech license.

On the life front, my beautiful niece was married last Friday, the 18th.  So young, but I wish them happiness, health, faith, and love in their marriage.   This was their first dance, Brad Paisley’s “Then”.  (Ironically, that was our last dance at our wedding.)  I forgot my actual camera, so I only had my phone.

It was a lovely ceremony and it was awesome seeing family I haven’t seen in years.  I got to see my older brother and his wife for the first time since I was 10.  That is a very long time.   I also got to talk with my grandfather and his wife, whom I haven’t seen since my own wedding.

This is my 50th post and I have passed my one year mark on this blog (Sunday was the official anniversary).  I set out on this blogging adventure to record my life, share my favorite recipes, share my husband’s and my journey through marriage.  I think I have done I decent job, though I know I can improve my writing and how often I write.   I promise I am trying.

What hinders you from blogging more?

Busy with school, busy with life!

I am sorry I missed my post this week (my given day for posts, Sunday).  Last Sunday, husband and I were dealing with some family drama and were at his mom’s house for the day.  And then, since we were up in the area, we stopped by a friend’s house to hang out for a bit.  While there, I did my homework.  And this week has been busy.

You know that point in the semester when everything is due and everything seems to make you get behind?  Yah, that is the point I am at in my semester.  Everything seems to be due right now, and we are going into Spring Break, though it doesn’t look quite like I will have a break from anything.  I am up early on a Saturday because I am meeting with my group for our project.  Today will be a homework type of day, as I have an assignment due tomorrow night and discussion to finish up.

1. Group project due 3/21 (week of) – 6210
2. HW #2 due 3/13 – 6210
3. Reference Set #2 due 3/25 – 6120
4. Reference Set #3 due 4/15 – 6120
5. Comparative analysis of index and database due 4/8 – 6120
6. Quiz #3 by 4/22 – 6120
7. A/V presentation by 4/22 -6120
8. Paper on observation 4/27 -6120
9. Final for 6210

WHEW!  It doesn’t look like much, but every thing on that list is very involved.

Tomorrow I will be working all day to make up some hours that I will be missing on Friday to attend my niece’s wedding.  And, I have to find time to do some CEs to be able to keep my CPhT status and those take time.  I have 8 more to complete by the end of the month.

March is just jammed pack!

Grammy, I love and miss you.  11 years.

News break…

I am saddened to report that the woman I wrote about in my last post, my boss’ wife, has lost her battle with cancer.  She died, at home with her family by her side, on Tuesday, February 22, 2011.  Please, pray for her family during this time of grief.  May God comfort them in their time of need.

On a lighter note, I am more encouraged and excited for my career in library science.  For one of my courses this semester, I have to write a paper based on an observation of a reference desk.  I’ve completed the observations, today and last Wednesday.  It was a lot of fun, and very informative.  I met 7 different librarians and have made some good contacts with them.  It was interesting and cool to be able to give my input to some questions.  Hubby asked me if I was excited about librarianship after the observation.  And I absolutely am.

Yesterday, we were at my parent’s house and got snowed on!  It didn’t stick, but it was awesome.  And FREEZING!  We were out at the SCV Food Truck Festival (which was awesome), and it was hailing/snowing on us.  I forgot my camera at home, and my phone in the car, so I didn’t get any pictures, but we had FrySmith and Papa’s Tapas again.

I am sorry if this post feels very scattered and short, but I am incredibly tired.  🙂  Next week will be more enticing.  And, I need to get at my pictures.

Support a Cause

Tonight, I write my post with sadness in my heart.  The wife of a former boss (a fun and awesome boss), is unfortunately in her last days.  It’s heart-wrenching to hear the news every week how she is slowly losing the battle with cancer.  Three years ago, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.  She beat that and was going into remission when they found lung cancer.  She had never smoked, and yet she had developed it.  And the ovarian and lung cancers were two different types.  She began treatment, and things were going well, until they discovered tumors in her brain.  This cancer was related to the ovarian cancer.  Then, tumors were discovered in her liver, which were related to the lung cancer.

Sadly, the cancer is overpowering this poor woman.  She has been strong for her family, but she is slipping away.  Her husband is standing by her side, trying to be strong, but those who know him can tell what a toll this has taken on him.  I only can pray for her ease and painless slumber.  I ask all who reads this, please pray and send good thoughts to this family.

This is the most recent encounter I have personally had with cancer.  One of my best friend’s father is in remission from lymphoma, and we are rejoicing that he continues to get stronger.  When I was very small, my paternal grandmother died from cancer.  And there are so many people suffering from cancer and the effects of the disease.

I am asking anyone who reads my blog, please click the SocialVibe widget on the side and do one of the activities.  It’s free, and the activities are very easy and only take a few minutes of your time, but those minutes can translate into minutes of cancer research.  We need to find a cure for this devastating disease.  If you are able, please donate to the the American Cancer Society and the Relay for Life.  And even more, walk in a local event for Relay for Life.

How many birthdays can we save?

Date Nights

My husband and I try to have at least one date night every week.  We consider date nights anytime we have dinner and an activity out.  This week, we headed to Disneyland on Friday for our date night.  It was wonderful night; dinner and a few rides.  And it wasn’t so awfully crowded.  The above picture was taken as we moved through the line at Space Mountain, which was only about a 25 minute wait.

Some of our favorite date night ideas:

1. Disneyland  (having passes has an awesome benefit)

2. Dinner and a movie

3. Mini golf

4. Ice skating

What are your favorite date spots?  If you are in the Orange County area, where are some spots that hubby and I just HAVE to try?  We are always looking for new date night ideas and would love to hear from you.

Air mattress?

Why are air mattresses so uncomfortable?

Hubby and I babysitting his nieces as my sister in law and her husband are in Vegas.   It’s been a nice weekend; the girls are super easy to babysit and I visited with my parents for a few hours yesterday.  I’ve also finished homework for the week and am enjoying the Superbowl commercials (I have little interest in who wins the game…I guess I’m rooting for the Packers?).  But we have slept on an air mattress, and it has been awful.  At least this time we remembered our own pillows.

Why do they have the dips in them?  It makes no sense.  And, the covers do not stay on.  Last night, I woke up about 5 times to fix the covers because it was so flipping cold!  And hubby woke up at least twice due to the cold.  Due to this lack of sleep, I am achy and sleepy.  I am very much looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight.

On a separate note, I played Just Dance 2 this weekend with the nieces and it was awesome!  It’s so much fun and such a workout.  I believe hubby and I will be purchasing it in the very near future.  I want to get in better shape, and hopefully this game will motivate me.  What motivators do you have in exercise?

And a lovely picture from sunset on Friday (it was a gorgeous sunset):

Reading, cataloging, and baking

Well, this weekend has flown by, as always.  I wish time sometimes would slow down because I have so many things to do and so very little time to do them all in.  Pictures are still coming along, check them out!  Yesterday, I spent time (almost an hour) reading outside.  It was nice and quiet and lovely, until it became too cold.  It is still winter, after all, and I almost forgot it because the weather has been so beautiful.  But, I finished reading for this week for one of my courses, and finished the chapter for next week.

Today, I spent all day working on my MARC exercises and homework.  I am still somewhat lost on cataloging.   It is going to take a lot of practice and concentration, and re-reading the books.  School this semester is a lot more reading than last semester, but I am still on top of everything.  For the other course, I finished all the reading for this week, and have been looking into the assignment that is due on Friday.  Tomorrow, I will be spending sometime with encyclopedias at the library for that assignment.

Dorfy has been wonderfully cute all weekend.  She has been sleeping next to me since Friday.

She’ll get up, play a bit, eat, drink some water, and then come back to where she was sleeping.   Cats are really the best.  All three of our cats are super cute and on Friday, they all took care of me.  Luckily, I am feeling a lot better than I was on Friday.

This weekend, I also made lemonade from lemons (Real lemonade! Not the powder stuff).  It was very good and I am excited to not have to use the powder stuff.  I also baked some cookies, but they weren’t original because we ran out of eggs (that’s what happens when we have eggs for breakfast both weekend days).   I made the Pillsbury Funfetti cookies.  They are still yummy.

What are your favorite cookie recipes?  What should I make next?

 

Home Sick

Today, I am home sick.  Hubby has been sick for the last week; it was bound to get me.  As I sit here, checking homework, classwork, and StumbleUpon, I found Wordle.  And thus, my extra post for this week.  It’s pretty cool to see my popular words.   Go to the site and try it out!  I would love to see your wordle.

Short post

Tonight, we are sitting at my parent’s house, watching Hawaii 5-0.  Every time we watch this show, I just want to jump on the next plane and fly to Hawaii.  The water is so clear, so bright, warm, clean.  I love the beach and spending time in Maui and Kauai has only reinforced my love of water.

This week has been busy at work (it really isn’t going to be any slower, everyone is sick) and hubby has been getting sick as well.  This post is short because I am very short on time.  If we get back home early enough, I will expand.  🙂

What are your favorite vacation spots?

Here are some favorite shots from Kauai (2009) and Maui (2010):

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