Chopped!

So I chopped my hair off today. So many women after they get married cut their hair nice and short. They are sick of it being long for their wedding day, so they cut it. I am not doing to for that reason. I need a change, a new start to the school year. What do I think of it? Well, I'm not typically a fan of short hair, but it feels pretty good.

Why does a haircut make you feel new? Who knows, but it does. You feel like people are looking at you from all directions... "Did she just-?" "What was she thinking!" "Who does she think she is to pull off a haircut like that?" Things like that running through my mind. I shouldn't worry about such things, but I do. It grows back, and soon enough mine will too. BUt for now, I am enjoying feeling like a new person! I feel ten pounds lighter and five months younger! Ha.

Tripped

Sometimes my tongue gets tripped up. Sometimes I can get tripped up on a math problem. All manageable things. However, the other day while I was running, I tripped - I fell right in front of an old lady vacuuming her car. She didn't even look up to see if I was okay. I felt like a complete idiot!

I think we all need to trip every once and a while. It humbles us, brings us back to where we started from, and wakes us up all in the same moment! The day progressed into more thinking and really examining what the heck I was doing.

So even though my leg oozes, and I have a permanent band-aid mark, I'm glad I tripped... in a weird sort of way!

Whoop Whoop!

I have ONE week left of school... WHOOP WHOOP!!!!!

So Cute!

I know, we're adorable together. This is what we look like these days for those of you wondering out there!

Sitting

When I was in swimming, we had a "bull-pen" where we would wait for our next race to begin. We would mentally prepare, focus on the task at hand, and check out the competition too. All I remember from this was the overwhelming nervous feeling that overcame me. I'd be sitting there with butterflies, birds, airplanes, jets, you name it... stewing inside.

Right now - I feel like I'm back in the bull-pen. Sitting. Waiting. Getting nervous. Wishing it was time so I can just do what I know best. The wedding is three and half weeks away. I can't wait!!! However, finishing school, finding a job, moving to a new town. Its overwhelming and I'm stuck in the bull-pen. Sitting.

Skinned Knees

I miss the days of skinned knees and grass stains. You know why? You were most likely a kid when that happened. You were ten years old, playing in your back yard as happy as can be that a slug had washed up in the little water trail in your yard. Those days were easier. They were care free and fun. Some days I wish I was back in my back yard looking at slugs.

Getting Away

I'm sitting in a hotel room, by myself, watching the snow fall over the Mississippi River. I am away. Simeon has a job interview tomorrow for John Deere in Moline, IL. I, like a good future wife, am supporting my future husband by calming his nerves and encouraging him during this stressful time. I know he will do great tomorrow - most likely get a job.

However, tonight I want to write about getting away. I love hotels. I come and sit and all the possible seats to decide where the best one is. I look at all the hotel offers: three year old instant coffee, a laundry bag, a notepad, stinky-gross shampoo and conditioner, and a lot more. Why are these things so amazing and luxury to my eyes? Well, they are not mine. They are out of my zone and world far enough for me to feel away. Sometimes in the midst of crazy life and on-the-go moves, you need to escape.

I like to look upon the neighboring buildings and think about where my life is away from where I'm at. Student teaching, planning a wedding, working at a job, trying to stay healthy, driving, and more driving. It is a wonderful life. I'm more than in love with Simeon, I love being at home with my family, I'm almost done with something I've invested 5 years of my life to. I'm about ready to start a new life with the love of my life, and only God knows where. What could be better?

Sometimes we need a different perspective to realize that to get to the good stuff, we've got to face the rain. That's another reason why I'm getting away.

I do!

I DO want it to be June. I DO wish that I would be graduated and teaching. I DO wish that Simeon had a job that he absolutely loved. I DO wish that I lived closer to both my brother and sister. I DO wish Meredith lived here so I could see her again. I DO wish that it was warmer outside. I DO love snow days. I DO wish that I wasn't as pale as an egg white. I DO wish that working out wasn't so hard. I DO wish things like wedding cakes and honeymoons grew on trees so I wouldn't have to spend so much money. I DO wish that the political ads would leave everyone alone. I DO wish that people would go out to vote. I DO wish that I wouldn't get so nervous about things. I DO know that God has a plan for our lives. I DO believe that God made me the way I am. I DO know that God loves me. I DO love God. I DO love Simeon. I wish I could say the real I DO in June. But alas. It is about three and a half months away! What do YOU DO?

Bah Again

I'm sick...again. I hope it goes away for student teaching next week!!

How is everyone out there??

Bah

I'm sick.

Welcome Winter!

Welcome back to Wisconsin winter!!

Tis the season for giving

I would say I have a giving personality. I like to give to others, not to please myself, but truly help those around me. Lately though, some of the people I like to give to, take and take, and then criticize the gift. It is HARD! I try very diligently to continue to give with a smile and a positive attitude. How can I be more like the Lord? He has no qualms about giving everything to us when we criticize and do not deserve it. How can I have that same attitude? How much (not so positive) feedback can one person take? Perhaps I am to keep to myself and give gifts that don't have a repercussion or need to be done by the individual. There are many things I can learn...I just want to feel needed.

Well, I'm all over the place with this one... Merry Christmas and I really think it is the season for giving, no matter what!

Is it the Seasons?

I'm inside, curled up underneath a blanket, sipping hot chocolate and reading my email. Today it is supposed to snow 4-6 inches. The wind is blowing and I can hear it hit the house. I love winter. I love that you can see your breath and that when you were little you would try and try to make a ring with it. I love that you can have a snowball fight and run around for hours just trying to stay warm. I even love the stupid ice that is on the road making it hard to drive, it makes me leave early and actually get somewhere on time.

I also love the summer. Sipping iced tea on our porch swing listening to the cicadas sing back and forth to each other. I love the clouds that come rolling in and cool things off in the evening. I love hot days where you sweat walking to get the mail, it just feels right that it is summer. I love just reading a good book on a chair outside basking in the sun trying to bring my freckles to life.

Spring is beautiful. Flowers in bloom. The smell of freshly cut grass. The fact that evenings get later and later. The energy you have to spend the day running or just being outside. I love the feeling I get the first day after classes are over. Relief.

Autumn may be my favorite. The colors and the weather are astonishing. One minute it will be 60 degrees and the next will be 40. Vests are acceptable and used :) Love is blossoming with people at school meeting each other for the first time, or the first time in a long time. Football games and caramel apples. Mmmmm...

When I think about all of this and why I love the seasons so much it is unclear. Do I love the seasons themselves, or do I love the carefree moments during the seasons? As I am looking to graduate in may, I'm starting to picture the rest of my days...working and stressing over work. Is this really what a year is all about? Waiting for time off and hoping to enjoy some of these timeless moments from seasons past? I'm not that terrified, but listening to friends and family talk about how Friday cannot come soon enough scares me a little. Will I enjoy my job? Will I get a job?

Seasons are wonderful. 'Weather' or not I will see them as i do now, I can only hope.

Prime!

23 is a prime number. You know what that means? I'm in my primes! Oh if only I had a permanent drum set sound after all my jokes.

Seriously though, now that I'm twenty-three...It is going to be one of my prime years! Pun intended. Oh man, I'm such a math geek...

What woman in her primes DOESN'T look like this??

Blessings in Disguise

When I was a freshman in high school I entered the publications class at my high school. Pub, for short, was the group of students who put together the newspaper and yearbook. Brandon and Katy were in it, so I of course had to be in it. Rumors spread of how hard and mean Mrs. Jonas was. And...when I started I was sure I knew where those rumors had stemmed from.

As the year progressed I began to like Mrs. Jonas. What about this rough and tough woman was appealing no appalling? It hit me years later - She is a GOOD teacher. Not just a good teacher, but she was REALLY GOOD. When it came time to decided whether we went to the newspaper or the yearbook, I wanted desperately to be on the newspaper staff! Please oh please let me work with Brandon and the other smarties on the newspaper! As fate would have it, and Mrs. Jonas would have it, I was put on the yearbook staff!!

What a blessing in disguise. Mrs. Jonas knew me and what area I would best excel in. As a junior I was editor-in-chief, and as well as my senior year. I worked well with the people on my staff and had a lot of fun. Did I know it was going to be the right fit? Nah, but Mrs. Jonas did!

What made me think of it all these years later? I ran into Mrs. Jonas today. She asked me how Katy and Brandon were, asked what was new with my life. She was genuinely happy for me. It made me smile from ear to ear! That is what a good teacher is. That is what I want to be...

Excited!!

I got some decorations for my wedding this last weekend! I'm wicked excited. Yes, Meredith, you will have to hear about them!! You'll love it! Well, I hope you will!

In related news...I solved the Rubik's Cube. SEVERAL times might I add! Stupid cube... it has taken over my thoughts and time for the last two months!!! I'm writing this paper on the mathematics behind the cube and it isn't terribly difficult, but it is about 13 pages and counting of Rubik's Cube information. Yikes! Well with me luck because it is due on Tuesday and I've worked all semester on it!

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving, that's all I can say!

Help!

Help! I need somebody. Help! Not just anybody. Help! You know I need someone....Help!

School is stressful! Its just not cool right now :)

Anyone agree??

Absurd!

Sometimes I feel like school is absurd. I work hard at the work I do to get grade that reflect my dedication. Does it happen? No. So why do i do it? Well, i tend to blame others for the misfortune that i am dealing with - math. Those engineers have hundreds of other engineering students to run ideas off of - can't be that hard! The art students...all they do is draw all day! History majors - sheesh! Why, they don't even study and they ace exams!

I chose math. I LIKE(d) math. This is my choice and i will have to live with the consequences. Am I absurd? Yes. Am I okay with that? Ask me in two weeks :)

Goodbye

I will miss you.

Fifty Nifty...

Yes, there are fifty nifty united states, but now there are fifty nifty candles on the cake for one special lady!! Dad, Simeon and I helped celebrate!