Be Amazed

Because I am. I just finished my Accounting class (YES!) and I did some number crunching (see what accounting did to me?) and I am proud to say, I got out of there with a B! Yep, me, numbers, accounting=B. I can hardly believe it! I cried more days than should be allowed trying to understand the numbers. I really thought this would be a class I would be doomed to take again. I think this calls for a treat.

My Christmas Spirit for the day was buying my stuff for the Angel Tree. At work we sponsor a couple of kids by doing an angel tree. I am always amazed at how giving and kind people are! One woman picked an angel that said a shirt and came back with a shirt, pants, jacket, socks and a toy! How blessed I am to not only participate in giving this time of year, but to also see how much others are willing to give as well. All I know is that there are two little girls who are going to be very happy come Christmas morning and I get to look into the faces of the people who graciously helped that happen.

Only Ten Things...

I just wanted to pop in and say how blessed I am. I truly am. Why? Let me share.

1. I have a job (or three!)
2. I have a library cards and can check out all the books I want.
3. I have a great phone.
4. I get to enjoy Lunch with Liz once a week.
5. Lunch with Logan is coming again soon.
6. Online classes rock...Ican do them in my jammies at midnight.
7. I have tickets to conference.
8. I have to go shopping, cause my clothes are too big...and falling off!
9. I have the gospel in my life.
10. I have the greatest friends...and I am so lucky to have them when I need them.

Ok, enough of my blessings. I have a million more but I need sleep. Lots of sleep.

Good Night/Good Morning!

Too Literal?

So I think I may have taken "Labor Day" a little to literally. Opps.

The 6 hours of Accounting have turned my brain to mush. Although I enjoyed snacking on fresh pumpkin-spice bread with walnuts. yum! I think I am off to paint a little and who knows what else. For now though, I am done with the "laboring" of the day.

My Crafty Girls

Kiki and Livy love nothing more than doing crafts. All kinds and the more variety the better. So I have pulled from my creative stores, which are full of fun things, to please these cute little girls(hair clips are on the agenda for next week).

While I can't take credit for this idea, Emily first showed off this idea and I adapted it for kids. We used some bright summer colored cloth napkins and made perfect kids sized aprons. These little budding crafters were in heaven!

Livy decided on yellow with a bright pink tulle fringe coming out from under the fold that made the napkin the right length. See, finished edges and some style! A creamy/pink ribbon to tie it up with and an added pink silk cord got added as well. Some buttons made the bottom in the shape of a pink flower and then we embroidered her initials in the corner and she had an apron perfect for all her future crafting adventures.

Kiki on the other hand went with fancy red satin napkin that was all the fancy and beautiful things that she could ever want! Her tie was a red satin ribbon with pearls in various sizes hot glued around the waist. While that may not be the most comfortable idea, she is willing to suffer for fashion! haha! An organza ribbon decorates the folded over portion of this perfectly beautiful apron fit for a four-year-old fashionista.

Kiki couldn't wait to model this for anyone who would look! She wanted to walk around to the neighbors house to share it. I love this cutie pie!

And mixed in with these two adorable little diva's is me. I have been working hard lately, lots of hours at all four jobs (why do I have four jobs? I have no idea. I wish I knew how I got them!) and at the gym. I made it back to my 15 minute mile, which isn't that fast or anything, but coming off my stress fracture in march is a big accomplishment. I am building leg muscles (which have always been my best muscles) and can easily do 100 pound presses and am almost up to five minute wall sits. I can do more sit ups than I think is possible and am surprised that I can push out a pretty decent number of push ups too. My hair gets curlier and curlier by the day, which while is kinda nice is also a pain, how do I deal with curly hair? Thanks to my dad for that delayed gift I suppose.

All in all my life is hectic, crazy, full and wonderful. Except for that dratted accounting class. Not cool. But I have pushed myself through the first 4 chapters in two weeks so I am almost half way through the class so that I can be done with it and just concentrate on my research. Much more fun anyway.

Have a great weekend and enjoy your family and friends.

Blast From My Past

Circa 1997.

I would like to draw your attention to the insanely long hair that I sported. Why? I don't know. I feel bad that that is how so many people remember me! I like to think my hair choices have been better since then.

Now that I basked in the glow of my senior year and the awesome fun that was disneyland with Show choir, I will take my leave and head back to work. I always bite off more than I can chew. Oh and don't forget school starts monday...ugh.

The Five Steps

So, finals week is here.Yep, the most anticipated week in the last 16 weeks. With it comes a flood of emotion.

First you will feel dread. That paper your professor told you about 15 weeks ago, is now due. And really, there is no way to fake a 20 page research paper. You spend sleepless nights reading and studying for a paper on satisfication and write it as fast as you can, glad to hand it in. And suddenly you feel bad that you just wrote a paper about settling for what is easy and taking the lazy way out. Luckily you used the word "satisficing" which was a vocab word and it worked.

Second you feel anxious. You want to be taking the final already but you are scared to take it. You go back and forth about studying until there is only enough time for the 15 minute cram session before the final begins.

Third, relief that it is done. No more books, or tests or anything! You heave a large sigh of relief that you no longer have to wake up at the insane hour of 7am and be in class pretending that you are all there.

Fourth, a little lost. Suddenly you have no papers to write, no reading to do and no more exams. What do you do with your life now?

Fifth, and my least favorite, resignation. You got your grades. There is relief in the B you got in one class but not so happy about the C in the other. If only you had studied.

Well, there is always next semester when you will study every night and be on time to every class...ha ha ha!



In other news...I got an 90% on my last math test. And for those who know me, me and math do not mix. So bask in that while I deal with the five steps of finals.



Oh, and less than two weeks until I head to Iowa for the wedding. I am excited to see my mom!

Random Thoughts

Well today was full of odds and ends. I feel much better about today than yesterday. Today was by extension a part of yesterday, but it is all a part of my story, so sit back grab a drink and be ready...

Well it is the end of the semester as you all know and if you don't then you are new to me or the blog. I have been studying up a storm. Or at least trying to. Last night I just got into the groove and before I knew it I looked up and it was 2:30am. Yeah, I was a little unhappy about that. So I cleaned up my mess, or cleaned is not the right word. I rearranged my mess to make myself think I had "cleaned" and then headed to bed. I have a 10am class on Thursdays so I set my alarm for a lovely 9am wake-up call. So who wakes up and a bright and early time of 7:30am? If you guess me, you are right.

I do make it to class after scraping the nights snow off my car. I get to class which is Organizational Communication and we begin discussing parallelism in organizations as well as business strategy. Lots of fun! I actually really do enjoy it. I love my professor, he is the best professor I have had at WSU. He asks me hard questions and expects me to know which seems like it would be annoying but really it isn't. I like that he thinks that I am that smart. We get talking today about how stem cell research is a form of communication (you really don't want to know how we got there). Let me just say the class was in an uproar! Half the class was for it and half was opposed to stem cell research and it got crazy. But it was wonderful too. There is something about being involved in an intelligent debate about important and relevant issues. I loved the feeling, and those who know me will laugh, of stepping between the two sides and giving quick to the point synopsis of what the other side is saying and bringing it back to personal choice and aren't we all glad that we have it? There is something about being in that moment with the words just barely rolling off your tongue and the looks and the feeling of the group. I wish I could bottle it up and sell that feeling. I would buy it.

Then I went home and more studying awaited me. I did take a break to water my plants and I was excited to see my basil popping its head out. I have been waiting for it to show its self. I love new plants.

I went outside for an afternoon walk and came home to fall in love with the flowers in my flower bed all over again. I ran to the post office to mail some bills and then to work. How loverly! Why is it that I like to put "r" in things? I call my friend Ashley, Asherley because I like the way it sounds. Would it be odd to name a little girl that? I hope not.

Winter Reprise

Well today about 10:30 it started snowing. It is still snowing. This is not out of the ordinary just crazy. I did not enjoy having wet shoes and having to scrape my car again. I also did not like the fact that I am peeling from the sunburn that I got about a week ago. It seems a little odd to be peeling in the snow. Not that it matters really, it just seems odd.

Do you ever have one of those days that just seems to float right past you? No medicine involved just the all natural feeling of the day floating past and you almost don't even realize it. I had a meeting this morning at 7am. That is early for me. I am waking up between 7am-8am, so to be out and about that early is a little nuts to me.

It was a very productive meeting though. We (the student alumni organization) got a lot taken care of for next year and that was a huge benefit. I have been on a recruiting spree and have found some great people to head up some committees and to be our web designer. That is wonderful! I really was worried about that job.

I got a call from an ex-boyfriend a few days ago. Monday night I believe. It was good to hear that he was doing well and to chat with him for a few minutes. I obvious cared about him so to hear from him was nice. But then he proceeds to ask me if I ever think about what it would have been like if we had stayed together and had gotten married. I was speechless. This is a nice guy and there was a time when I would have thought the same thing but a year and half after we brake up isn't one of those times. I moved on and I am ok with what happened with our relationship. I guess I am torn between feeling flattered and frustrated. I love that he realizes that I was worth having around but annoyed that it took him this long to realize that he has just realized this.

I guess in the process of the phone call, the snow, the early morning meeting and the mush my brain is at finals time the day is just slipping away. Maybe work will be better, maybe not. We will just have to wait and see.

It is Coming

Yes, it is. The last in the string of Lee weddings for a while. Or least one can hope. I am ready for a break from the planning of the wedding that is always right around the corner. Well, I guess I don't mind other people's weddings, just not the ones that I have to be a part of.

School is almost over for the semester. How does that happen? Really, it seems like we just barely started and here I am at the end of another semester. The good news? Only two more left! And I got an internship. HORRAY! I am so excited that I can hardly stand it.

This is an older picture of me, but I felt like sharing. This was taken right before I went to school. Can you see a difference? Do I look Smarter?