I love summer. I love love love summer. I do. I love to wear sundresses, go swimming in the river, go swimming period and I love getting at tan and toasty. BUT this summer has been hellacious. I know we don't have it as bad as some people and I know we are truly truly blessed to have what we do have, but has anyone besides me been keeping a record of all the horrible things that have happened this summer? It seems like everyday in the news this summer someone has died, killed themselves, been raped, been on trial for being a horrible person, shot up a summer camp- I mean it's been an icky icky no good summer all around. So when compared to all of that my summer stuff doesn't seem nearly as bad, but it sure as hell is enough to make me wish it was fall already.
Top Five Reasons Why Tyler's Summer Was Crappy
5- Summer started out with my mother in a coma for 6 days and in a hospital for a month
4- Bruce and I had to cancel our honeymoon and may not get the money back for the cruise
3- The day after my mom got out of the hospital my Grandma fell and broke her hip
2- The week after Bruce stopped being able to see out of one eye one day and had to get eye surgery to fix that 1- In July my Grandfather (mom's dad) died
While the first four have all been taken care of. My mom is doing amazingly (even though the doctors don't know what the hell happened). My grandma recovered like a pro and was in the hospital and therapy less than a week. Bruce's eye healed up and he can see as well as he could before. We rescheduled our honeymoon for next week, it's no cruise, but it is Vegas and we love the place.
The only one that isn't really fixed or taken care of is my Grandfather dying. There really never is any fixing it when someone dies, but all you can do is take comfort in the fact that if they were in pain or suffering then they aren't anymore.
Maybe it would be more appropriate to say that I have had an emotional summer or a emotionally crappy summer, because all of this on it's own would normally of course not be okay, but it wouldn't constantly feel like the hits keep coming. Small things have gone wrong, small things that seem so inconsequential to anyone else but when piled together with the frustration the rest of the summer has been are enough to make me constantly tired and drained. Small things missing my graduation cause my mom was in the hospital. I still graduated so I can be happy about that, but it feels like it just passed and was very unnoticed because we were all doing something else vastly more important. Another think like the pretty flowers my cousin and I planted dying- even though I watered them everyday and they sure got plenty of sunlight. My art exhibit not getting the supplies needed till the day before the exhibit opened. My washing machine deciding to stop spin drying clothes forcing me to hand wring them before throwing them in the dryer.
Small very petty things I know, but it's been a long, hot, emotional summer and I'm just ready for it to be over with. We go to Vegas next week and when we get back it'll be a sprint for school to start and hopefully then things will get back to normal and less stressful and way less emotional.
On the opposite side some very good things have happened this summer to counteract all the bad.
#2 Haley found out she's having a boy! Which is the best news ever
and
#1 Mama woke up even when the stupid doctors told us to pull the plug- and as long as I keep thinking of that number one thing then everything else totally seems doable.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
The Problem With My Kitchen
OMG I love my kitchen. I really really do, it's open and has a huge window (currently concealed behind Bruce's tapestry thing) and it's just big enough for two people. But...once I got all my stuff in there I realized it's definitely too small to have what I would normally like to have out on the counters out on the counters, if I ever want to do any serious cooking. Which as of today I have still yet to cook anything on my stove top...I know, I'm a bad wife.
I have very little counter space to begin with. Currently the microwave has to live on the counter because there is no where else to put it. In a perfect world I'd be able to mount it above the range but the headroom above the range is already too shallow. The kitchen aide can really only go on top of the counter- and it's way too pretty to hide away anyways. The blender usually lives on top of the counter as well because I use it like everyday. All my cookbooks currently live on the counter because I don't have my super awesome wall spice racks turned into bookshelves yet. The waffle iron shouldn't be on the counter I don't know why it's there but I'll move it immediately when I get home. The dish drying rack I guess can move into the left sink but really what else am I supposed to use the counters space above the dishwasher for.
BUT even if I move all those things and organize a little better- I still have very little cabinet room. The bottom cabinets are TINY. I only have two drawers. The cabinet to the right of the sink is really narrow. And my pantry well I'll deal with the pantry later, I really really dislike the pantry but I'll make it work. But like I said I still love my kitchen. More than two people can stand in it- which is a vast improvement from the narrow, narrow, narrow kitchen we had at the apartment. I like to be able to turn around in my kitchen and take a step back and all those little things.
This I do not see as a problem, except for the rug thing hung over the window.
This area doesn't bother me. It's the perfect size for the table and it'll work fine. Once we pull the table out a little bit you'll even be able to walk behind it and I'll have plenty of room on the wall for my plates. The tapestry is concealing the sliding doors and a 1 1/2' space between the sliding door and the other wall. It's a lot narrower than I thought. So I'm either gonna have to get smaller spice racks, or just figure something else out, but I do still want my cookbooks there. And drapes, drapes, drapes, gonna have to figure out how to have them but not hide that little space on the wall otherwise my whole plan will fall apart and I'll cry.
Sookie likes it when I pull the tapestry up cause then she can see outside and sit in the sunbeams. Not relevant to the post but Sookie's cute.
Anyways so yesterday I did work a little more on the decorating stuff and went to Hobby Lobby. I love Hobby Lobby, they always always have sales and coupons online. Coupons + Sales = lots of savings. Guess what I found?
PLATES! On sale for $2 down from $7 I only bought one but if I go back later this summer and they are marked down more I'll buy 'em. I got the Asparagus one cause it's yellow.
Then since wall hangars were already cheap $1.99 no matter the side I snatched up one of each size so I could test them with my plates to see which'll work. And then because frames were 50% off I bought a couple large sized clip frames, cause I can't pick out real frames to save my life and everything looks nice in a clip frame. All in all I spent very little at Hobby Lobby and will go back next week to check out what new sales they're having.
Current plate collection is kinda sad- that big wedding plate though is HUGE 17" diameter luckily my plate hanger works up to 18", the blue one looks way cooler in person and the IHOP one looks loved.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Garden Ridge aka This Place is Huge
Day One of my "getting serious about decorating" plan and we went to Garden Ridge. This first trip really should have been all about looking cause there is just so much there! My awesome decorating friend Jenn said to tackle one room at a time and give yourself a budget. I'm really bad at following directions. I chose three rooms to complete before the Housewarming party- one in which I have absolutely no control of how it turns out- cause I'm crazy. So my big goals are the kitchen and the living room, and I'm starting with the kitchen first because it only has two walls and one of those walls is tiny! Which means in my head there's less to decorate in there- yay! But while I was at Garden Ridge I forgot that I was starting with my kitchen first and got lost in the football field of frames and mirrors.
Anyways- I've made a mental note to take before and after pictures of my kitchen and promise to eventually post them, but basically my kitchen is a rectangle with 2 and 3/4 of the walls taken up by counters, pantry, fridge and walkway. So I have one full wall behind the kitchen table and to the right of the sliding glass doors that lead to the patio. All the appliances in the kitchen are white, the cabinets are a very pale, pale weird wood color (pictures to come I promise), my dining table is not a pale wood color but a medium-light wood color with chairs that have Christmas trees on them and green seats. I have two black and white checkerdy mats on the floor and under the table- cause they looked cool and I had yet to pick a theme for the kitchen. Above the cabinets there is space and one day that space will have plants (fake ones) and pitchers- because someone told me that's what I should do and I turn down no free decorating advice.
In my head I see my kitchen as a warm cozy place that I'll be cooking in very frequently. Cooking things like Chicken Sinegalese, Chicken Piccatta, Greek Gyros with homemade tzatziki sauce, Carrot Cake and hundreds of thousands of Green Smoothies (just because they're cold doesn't mean it doesn't involve cooking). Currently most of my counter space is taken up by my microwave, 12 cookbooks, my kitchen aide stand mixer, dish rack and my Black & Decker blender/food processor that I'm in love with. To solve the counter space problem the little sliver of a wall that's left between the sliding door and the other wall would be perfect for some spice rack book shelves. Then the only piece of decorating that I'll actually be creating myself will be the plate wall! I love plate walls! They remind me of this next door neighbor we had growing up who had a wall that was covered in coffee mugs, none of them matched but it still always looked homey and fabulous- Right now my plate collection consists of 4 plates I've deemed wall worthy- one is the plate Haley gave me for the wedding that everyone signed it's HUGE and will be the center piece, another is this plate my ex-best friend Robynne stole for me from IHOP a hundred years ago when we worked there in high school, the 3rd plate is a plate that has a shoe on it- a cute dessert plate, and the 4th is an awesome blue eye shaped plate with sparkles that I found for $4 at Garden Ridge. My rule for the plate wall is that all plates have to be under $5 and I'll just buy them as I find them- I'm gonna hit up thrift stores and goodwill to find more. Other than that the kitchen will need curtains over the sliding door- right now Bruce has an old tapestry thing hung up over it and while nice it does not match my vision or allow for easy access- also it blocks out too much natural light- it's gotta go. Then the pitchers and vines must be located for above the cabinets. Hey I found vines at Garden Ridge-
Back to Garden Ridge- so wandering through the HUGE Garden Ridge Pottery we found frames, mirrors and wall art. Bruce got lost in the wall art for a while and I looked at mirrors. The theme for my living room is kinda early my couches are moss green and I'm gonna have this beautiful picture of the trees at my mom's house from the wedding. So with that minimal idea my living room needs a mirror-
Like this one!
Partially obstructed mirros are cool
Or this one- mind my legs
This one was neat too the metal was different hues of natural colors
I kinda liked this one too- the leaves might be too much though
The plain-est three different size mirrors might be nice.
We're getting a hutch from Bruce's mom the weekend of the housewarming party, so unfortunately I wont have it early enough to really play around with everything before the party, so I'm making due with a picture and my minds-eye (which is a horrible thing to trust). I image the hutch to the left of the back wall of the living room and to the right of the hutch a mirror or mirrors. Then on the wall opposite of the mirror the picture of the trees at my mom's house. Another room with only two walls to decorate- it makes me happy. Then I start thinking about curtains and want to hang myself... there are two windows in my living room...sigh
So at Garden Ridge we were really overcome by home much stuff they had- furniture, clothing, luggage, kitchen stuff and cheap suits of armor (Bruce wants one). I ended up getting a big beverage dispenser for the party for my Sangria I'm making, a big bowl for ice and that cool eye shaped blue plate for the plate wall. Not a very good first shopping trip, I'm hoping tonight's excursion to Hobby Lobby goes better. But I still feel like there's lots of time so no worries yet.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
I don't have the decorating gene...
I bought a house! Well back in April I bought a house, before the wedding, before mama went to the hospital, before my lease was up and before I graduated. The house was a part of the wedding deal we made with the 'rents. Instead of having a big big wedding both my parents generously donated towards the down payment of the house. So with their contributions, my own, help from my grandma and my not too horrible then credit I was able to get a nice little house on the North East side of town.
In May 2010 Bruce and I officially moved in together in a new apartment in the same complex I was already living in, we moved into a 2 bedroom, 2 bath pretty good sized apartment. 7 things went on the walls of that apartment in the year we lived there. 2 posters Bruce wanted, 2 pictures I've had since High School, 2 cork/message boards and one big kissing poster Haley gave me for my old apartment. That was it! Nothing else. To say we never really decorated is a huge understatement, we did nothing to that apartment except live there for a year and make a mess of the living room. So when we bought the house I knew I was in trouble cause if you're living somewhere for more than a year you really should decorate. Crap.
We officially moved in on May 21st, we were delayed because mama decided to take a three week vacation in the hospital- she's doing fine now and we were happy to delay our move for her...really we were happy to cause we hadn't packed a thing as of May 3rd anyway. We took another month to finally get every out of the apartment and on June 19th I turned in our apartment keys!
My step-mom helped us find and get the house and she kept asking me about a housewarming party- I said we'd do it eventually once things settled down. On June 24th I realized we hadn't unpacked a thing in our house (except our 300 DVDs and part of the kitchen) yet and it was starting to annoy me. So I made Bruce and I pick a date for our housewarming party. Since July is also his birthday month (the big 30) and I graduated during mom's vacay in the hospital, I made the executive decision to combine the three in hopes of getting more people to come celebrate. We picked July 30th because it was still in his b-day month and cause Haley said we had to do it that weekend- she's pregnant and scary and if you don't do what she says she may sit on you.
So with a deadline in mind I started trying to get serious about unpacking. Then I realized that I'd have to decorate this house as well BEFORE that deadline- or at least start. I can't have a bunch of people coming over for a party and have absolutely nothing on the walls- cause right now even today with 17ish days to go there is still NOTHING on those walls. My good friend Jenn has a nack for decorating (apparently she has the decorating gene- B) and has volunteered to help me figure out what the hell I'm doing. She told me to pick just a couple of rooms to try to get done before the party. I chose the kitchen, living room and guest bathroom because they're the main rooms that will be seen during the house warming party.
Will I reach my goal? Will my house be unpacked and decorated by the 30th? I sure hope so, we have more furniture coming in the 24th and then the weekend of the housewarming so hopefully it'll all fit!!!
In May 2010 Bruce and I officially moved in together in a new apartment in the same complex I was already living in, we moved into a 2 bedroom, 2 bath pretty good sized apartment. 7 things went on the walls of that apartment in the year we lived there. 2 posters Bruce wanted, 2 pictures I've had since High School, 2 cork/message boards and one big kissing poster Haley gave me for my old apartment. That was it! Nothing else. To say we never really decorated is a huge understatement, we did nothing to that apartment except live there for a year and make a mess of the living room. So when we bought the house I knew I was in trouble cause if you're living somewhere for more than a year you really should decorate. Crap.
We officially moved in on May 21st, we were delayed because mama decided to take a three week vacation in the hospital- she's doing fine now and we were happy to delay our move for her...really we were happy to cause we hadn't packed a thing as of May 3rd anyway. We took another month to finally get every out of the apartment and on June 19th I turned in our apartment keys!
My step-mom helped us find and get the house and she kept asking me about a housewarming party- I said we'd do it eventually once things settled down. On June 24th I realized we hadn't unpacked a thing in our house (except our 300 DVDs and part of the kitchen) yet and it was starting to annoy me. So I made Bruce and I pick a date for our housewarming party. Since July is also his birthday month (the big 30) and I graduated during mom's vacay in the hospital, I made the executive decision to combine the three in hopes of getting more people to come celebrate. We picked July 30th because it was still in his b-day month and cause Haley said we had to do it that weekend- she's pregnant and scary and if you don't do what she says she may sit on you.
So with a deadline in mind I started trying to get serious about unpacking. Then I realized that I'd have to decorate this house as well BEFORE that deadline- or at least start. I can't have a bunch of people coming over for a party and have absolutely nothing on the walls- cause right now even today with 17ish days to go there is still NOTHING on those walls. My good friend Jenn has a nack for decorating (apparently she has the decorating gene- B) and has volunteered to help me figure out what the hell I'm doing. She told me to pick just a couple of rooms to try to get done before the party. I chose the kitchen, living room and guest bathroom because they're the main rooms that will be seen during the house warming party.
Will I reach my goal? Will my house be unpacked and decorated by the 30th? I sure hope so, we have more furniture coming in the 24th and then the weekend of the housewarming so hopefully it'll all fit!!!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The Things I Got to Call Work! My First Job 2007-2011
March 2007- January 2011
Here are some memories through pictures and one video of my time at San Antonio college
Trying to be in chronological order...
May 2007- I was able to go with a student organization and Posadas to Monterrey, Mexico. We took about 30 students and saw museums, the country side and some rural towns where the students taught children English songs and rhymes. One day a tour bus took us to a park/resort and we were able to either climb up the mountain or take a donkey- Posadas opted for the donkey but I walked and saw beautiful waterfalls.
February 2008- I got to play with an armadillo which was super exciting for me cause I alway thought they carried leprosy. The were racing the armadillos which I'm sure would upset animal support groups but the handlers assured me they were fine....
April 2008- The Student Activity Fee partially sponsored the production of Beauty and the Beast, Posadas choreographed it and I got to be a part of the ensemble- it was great! Totally reminded me of NESA. It was fun to go to rehearsal, put on costumes and make-up and perform two weeks in a row- obviously this was before I started grad school...
April 2008- For the rewards Banquet Posadas let us bring back a band we liked called Fort Pastor. They are great guys totally cool and relaxed. The first time they came in the fall of 2007 I took them on a tour of downtown and we went to the riverwalk. This time they came was during fiesta so I took them around Market Square, Alamo plaza and back to the riverwalk. Jono from Australia even wore a SAC t-shirt around all day. Their favorite restaurant you ask? Dick's Last Resort- we had the same waitress twice!
May 2008- One of the fun best parts of working at SAC was the traveling I got to go to so many places. This year I got to go to Washington DC with the ladies from SGA. I just started bawling at all the memorials so at the Lincoln Monument I put on sunglass to get a pic of me without red eyes. I loved DC and walked around at night in Dupont Circle without feeling unsafe at all...looking back that probably wasn't the smartest idea...
July 2008- Posadas and I went to a conference in Miami for SGA. I think we spent more time on the beach and downtown than actually at the conference. We rented a convertible and drove around downtown. It was a lot of fun. Both Posadas and I came back to Texas red as lobsters...the sun is a little stronger down there.
January 2009- Every January for 3 of my 4 years I went to the APCA Conference in Las Vegas. One of those years Posadas went with me and we lounged around at Margaritaville inside the Flamingo Hotel. The first year I went to the conference my mom still lived in Vegas so I stayed with her, the next two years I stayed at the conference hotel the Mirage...the first two years I got into a little too much trouble but by my last one I'd learned better...
May 2009- Back to Florida again for SGA this time with the students in Orlando. We went to Downtown Disney or Adult Disney as one of the advisor's said and shopped around. I should have been studying for finals, but this just seemed like a lot more fun. The sparkly mickey ears were my favorite.
Halloween 2010- Another great part about working at a college is you still get to dress up for Halloween. My first year I was Little Red Riding Hood, the next year I was Mini Mouse, the third year Posadas, Aaron and I were jail birds and this year the theme was toys but I think I'm the only one that actually played along.
May 2007- I know I've already done Mexico but I didn't mention that at the top of the mountain they had bungee jumping. This is probably my best memory from traveling with SAC. The guys strapping me in didn't speak English and the first time I tried to go they said "no, no, no" at the last minute and luckily I hadn't jumped yet. But then they told me to just fall forward so I leaned forward and went....
How many people can go Bungee jumping in Mexico and call it work? I'm gonna miss SAC. Just looking through all these pictures makes me kinda sad, it was a great 4 years and I'm gonna miss it. But I know I'll make new memories at UTSA. I was 21 when I started at SAC and am leaving at 25, I can't stay a kid forever...
Here are some memories through pictures and one video of my time at San Antonio college
Trying to be in chronological order...
May 2007- I was able to go with a student organization and Posadas to Monterrey, Mexico. We took about 30 students and saw museums, the country side and some rural towns where the students taught children English songs and rhymes. One day a tour bus took us to a park/resort and we were able to either climb up the mountain or take a donkey- Posadas opted for the donkey but I walked and saw beautiful waterfalls.
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| May 2007 outside of Monterrey Mexico |
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| February 2008 Armadillo Races at Wild West Rodeo Roundup |
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| Spring 2008 Beauty and the Beast |
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| April 2008 Downtown during Fiesta with the guys from Fort Pastor |
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| June 2008 Washington DC view from Lincoln Monument |
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| July 2008 view from hotel in Miami, Florida |
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| January 2009 Margaritaville in Las Vegas, Nevada |
May 2009- Back to Florida again for SGA this time with the students in Orlando. We went to Downtown Disney or Adult Disney as one of the advisor's said and shopped around. I should have been studying for finals, but this just seemed like a lot more fun. The sparkly mickey ears were my favorite.
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| May 2009 Downtown Disney Orlando, Florida |
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| Halloween 2010 |
May 2007- I know I've already done Mexico but I didn't mention that at the top of the mountain they had bungee jumping. This is probably my best memory from traveling with SAC. The guys strapping me in didn't speak English and the first time I tried to go they said "no, no, no" at the last minute and luckily I hadn't jumped yet. But then they told me to just fall forward so I leaned forward and went....
How many people can go Bungee jumping in Mexico and call it work? I'm gonna miss SAC. Just looking through all these pictures makes me kinda sad, it was a great 4 years and I'm gonna miss it. But I know I'll make new memories at UTSA. I was 21 when I started at SAC and am leaving at 25, I can't stay a kid forever...
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Hello 2011...what's cookin'?
I don't really want to sum up 2010 cause anything I had to say about it I probably already said in another post. I went to lots of weddings, went to school, sang karaoke, took a cruise to Greece and got engaged- to me that kinds sums it all up. 2011 however is gonna be busy busy busy. I really may be crazy because I am going to try to do so many things.
First I have to leave SAC, which I hope is going to be the hardest thing I have to this year. Comps, getting married, moving those should be easy! I've been at SAC for 3 year 10 months. SAC was the first job I interviewed for after TLU and the first job I got offered. I was the Assistant Coordinator of Student Leadership and Activities which initially meant I got to create new events and activities on campus, work with a few student clubs and organizations and travel when necessary with sports teams as their soccer mom. Over the years the position really grew and evolved and hopefully I grew and evolved with it. When I look at my job there now it barely resembles what it started as and that has been making me unhappy so it was just time to leave. I am going to be so sad to leave the people I work with, they have become a really great dysfunctional, sometimes judgmental, but definitely loving family. I will also miss the students, faculty, staff and some of the administrators, it's gonna be so strange to stat someplace new. January 14th will be my last day.
Then I get to start a new job on January 18th! I can't wait! I will be starting my new job as Program Coordinator at UTSA main campus. This job is in the University Center, a huge 3 building area that could eat TLU's whole campus in 2 bites. It's crazy big! At this job, from what I understand so far, I will be working with student workers and the activities board. I will also be in charge of their new art gallery- so excited- and help get the exhibits in there and do the openings and such. I'm thrilled about this since I've actually worked in a museum before and got a little taste of public history at TLU (before they cancelled that degree option). I'll also be working with the students in "the roost" their game room area. I'm so excited it's going to be very different from what I do at SAC but I'm hoping that it'll make me happier and give me a little more time and flexibility that SAC wouldn't. From speaking with my new supervisor I think it will. One big change will be the dress code- OMG they wear business casual clothes! I'm so excited but also have to go shopping cause none of my casual clothes are in anyway business appropriate. But they have such a more relaxed dress code there and I'm totally looking forward to that. They also have a million places to eat on campus and two Starbucks- majoring drawing point. Enough about the new job cause I haven't even started it yet!
Comp exams, finals, and graduating! While starting a new job I will also be trying to finish my masters. Not trying- but finishing. I have to finish this semester or I will go crazy. We get our comp exams on February 7th and they're due March 7th these are 4 very large research essays on the 4 main core areas of the degree program. They used to be given a little later in the semester but I'm so glad they're going to be early so I can concentrate on other important Spring business afterwards. The exams don't scare me as much as they initially did when I started the program. When I first started I didn't think I'd ever learn everything I needed to to be successful on them, but now I think I'm pretty well equipped and know where to get my info. In late April or early May we'll have finals and in my program usually finals are just more papers so again now as worried about that. I currently have a 3.75 GPA and would really like to bring it up to a 3.8 at least this semester so hopefully I can get my 2 As to do that and be done with grad school...for now. If all goes well I should graduate on time in May with my Master's in Educational Leadership and Policy Students: Higher Education Administration.
But before I graduate I have to get married! Not have to but get to! To my amazing fiance Mr. Bruce Moran. I cannot wait to be married to him, but there is just so much stuff to do first! We luckily already have my dress and shoes, my bridesmaids all have their dresses, we have a venue for the ceremony, a restaurant for the after ceremony dinner, invitations picked out and the officiant for the ceremony. I'm trying to get the bulk of most of the major decisions made before comps, so I have till February and I think it's going pretty well. After comps we'll start worrying about the other fine details like alterations and flowers. But most of my wedding trials and tribulations will be available on my other blog Tyler Getting Married so I wont go into very much more detail here except to say oh ya this is happening the week before finals...I hope...Saturday, April 23rd.
Everyone does keep giving me the- that's a quick wedding, are you...? NO I AM NOT PREGNANT. What is going on is that instead of having a big multi-thousand dollar wedding we have decided to have a small family wedding. We're getting married at one of the houses I grew up in that is just perfect for a small wedding. Then taking the money that would have been spent on a large wedding we're going to get the down payment for a house. The rationality behind this is why spend $9K on 6 hours when we can spend that or less than that for a down payment on a house we can love a lifetime. My lease at the apartment is up in May...I think...so in March or April we're going to start actively looking for a house, I can't resist and have been looking now anyways, but we'd really like to move in the beginning of the summer to our new home. Like my wedding dress I kinda already know what I want and will probably not be satisfied till I find it, but also like my wedding dress I may find homes that have things about them I never knew I could love so much. We're looking for a 3-4 bedroom, 2 bath home in the NEISD school district. We'd prefer to stay kinda in the 281-1604 area but are flexible. Can't wait to really start house hunting. And super luckily my step-mom is a realtor.
After the wedding and after my graduation we're going on a cruise! This cruise was originally supposed to be my graduation gift, it was being planned almost from the instance we got back from the last cruise. I wanted to do something special for graduation and also wanted Bruce to be able to go on a cruise as well. Now that it's following so close to our wedding it's kinda gonna be a small honeymoon as well. We still want to take a real honeymoon someday but this one is gonna be kinda perfect in itself. My mom and one of my sister's friend's friend is going with her and then my cousin and her husband are also going. So it's like a pseudo-honeymoon with friends and family which we're both just fine with. This cruise is at the end of May and is going to the Western Caribbean.
I know this only covers the first half of 2011, but I still feel like it's an awful lot even if I was trying to squeeze it all in to a full year. It's gonna be busy and messy but that's okay, that's how I like my life.
First I have to leave SAC, which I hope is going to be the hardest thing I have to this year. Comps, getting married, moving those should be easy! I've been at SAC for 3 year 10 months. SAC was the first job I interviewed for after TLU and the first job I got offered. I was the Assistant Coordinator of Student Leadership and Activities which initially meant I got to create new events and activities on campus, work with a few student clubs and organizations and travel when necessary with sports teams as their soccer mom. Over the years the position really grew and evolved and hopefully I grew and evolved with it. When I look at my job there now it barely resembles what it started as and that has been making me unhappy so it was just time to leave. I am going to be so sad to leave the people I work with, they have become a really great dysfunctional, sometimes judgmental, but definitely loving family. I will also miss the students, faculty, staff and some of the administrators, it's gonna be so strange to stat someplace new. January 14th will be my last day.
Then I get to start a new job on January 18th! I can't wait! I will be starting my new job as Program Coordinator at UTSA main campus. This job is in the University Center, a huge 3 building area that could eat TLU's whole campus in 2 bites. It's crazy big! At this job, from what I understand so far, I will be working with student workers and the activities board. I will also be in charge of their new art gallery- so excited- and help get the exhibits in there and do the openings and such. I'm thrilled about this since I've actually worked in a museum before and got a little taste of public history at TLU (before they cancelled that degree option). I'll also be working with the students in "the roost" their game room area. I'm so excited it's going to be very different from what I do at SAC but I'm hoping that it'll make me happier and give me a little more time and flexibility that SAC wouldn't. From speaking with my new supervisor I think it will. One big change will be the dress code- OMG they wear business casual clothes! I'm so excited but also have to go shopping cause none of my casual clothes are in anyway business appropriate. But they have such a more relaxed dress code there and I'm totally looking forward to that. They also have a million places to eat on campus and two Starbucks- majoring drawing point. Enough about the new job cause I haven't even started it yet!
Comp exams, finals, and graduating! While starting a new job I will also be trying to finish my masters. Not trying- but finishing. I have to finish this semester or I will go crazy. We get our comp exams on February 7th and they're due March 7th these are 4 very large research essays on the 4 main core areas of the degree program. They used to be given a little later in the semester but I'm so glad they're going to be early so I can concentrate on other important Spring business afterwards. The exams don't scare me as much as they initially did when I started the program. When I first started I didn't think I'd ever learn everything I needed to to be successful on them, but now I think I'm pretty well equipped and know where to get my info. In late April or early May we'll have finals and in my program usually finals are just more papers so again now as worried about that. I currently have a 3.75 GPA and would really like to bring it up to a 3.8 at least this semester so hopefully I can get my 2 As to do that and be done with grad school...for now. If all goes well I should graduate on time in May with my Master's in Educational Leadership and Policy Students: Higher Education Administration.
But before I graduate I have to get married! Not have to but get to! To my amazing fiance Mr. Bruce Moran. I cannot wait to be married to him, but there is just so much stuff to do first! We luckily already have my dress and shoes, my bridesmaids all have their dresses, we have a venue for the ceremony, a restaurant for the after ceremony dinner, invitations picked out and the officiant for the ceremony. I'm trying to get the bulk of most of the major decisions made before comps, so I have till February and I think it's going pretty well. After comps we'll start worrying about the other fine details like alterations and flowers. But most of my wedding trials and tribulations will be available on my other blog Tyler Getting Married so I wont go into very much more detail here except to say oh ya this is happening the week before finals...I hope...Saturday, April 23rd.
Everyone does keep giving me the- that's a quick wedding, are you...? NO I AM NOT PREGNANT. What is going on is that instead of having a big multi-thousand dollar wedding we have decided to have a small family wedding. We're getting married at one of the houses I grew up in that is just perfect for a small wedding. Then taking the money that would have been spent on a large wedding we're going to get the down payment for a house. The rationality behind this is why spend $9K on 6 hours when we can spend that or less than that for a down payment on a house we can love a lifetime. My lease at the apartment is up in May...I think...so in March or April we're going to start actively looking for a house, I can't resist and have been looking now anyways, but we'd really like to move in the beginning of the summer to our new home. Like my wedding dress I kinda already know what I want and will probably not be satisfied till I find it, but also like my wedding dress I may find homes that have things about them I never knew I could love so much. We're looking for a 3-4 bedroom, 2 bath home in the NEISD school district. We'd prefer to stay kinda in the 281-1604 area but are flexible. Can't wait to really start house hunting. And super luckily my step-mom is a realtor.
After the wedding and after my graduation we're going on a cruise! This cruise was originally supposed to be my graduation gift, it was being planned almost from the instance we got back from the last cruise. I wanted to do something special for graduation and also wanted Bruce to be able to go on a cruise as well. Now that it's following so close to our wedding it's kinda gonna be a small honeymoon as well. We still want to take a real honeymoon someday but this one is gonna be kinda perfect in itself. My mom and one of my sister's friend's friend is going with her and then my cousin and her husband are also going. So it's like a pseudo-honeymoon with friends and family which we're both just fine with. This cruise is at the end of May and is going to the Western Caribbean.
I know this only covers the first half of 2011, but I still feel like it's an awful lot even if I was trying to squeeze it all in to a full year. It's gonna be busy and messy but that's okay, that's how I like my life.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
New fiance, new internship, new job and a new blog
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! This has been a very exciting December for me and it's not even over! The last week of work December 13-19th was just packed full of fun.
Monday the 13th- Bruce met with my father to ask for my hand in marriage (well kinda he asked for his blessing). And of course my daddy said yes cause everyone loves Bruce. I was so excited but then had to play the serious waiting game because he had the ring, he asked my father so now all he really had to do was propose.
Tuesday the 14th- I met with my internship advisor at the Cafe College downtown. It's a P-20 initiative to get students from middle school, high school and adult learners through college and beyond. It's a super cute building on a weird side of town, so it kinda sticks out and you can see it from the high way. But the inside is nice and cute and bright and friendly. I will be doing 150 hours there helping future students apply for college, fill out Financial Aid packets, pick colleges and plan. It sounds exciting.
Tuesday night we had plans to hangout with some friends and karaoke. We went out to dinner and karaoked at the place we met so I totally wanted him to propose there but alas he had other plans.
Tuesday was also the first day of #ringwatch
Wednesday the 15th- Was a regular day at work but it was frustrating cause I was waiting to hear back about a job for UTSA and Grades and my ring. So these three very important things I was waiting for and it just felt like none of them were ever going to get here. I was also trying to wrap up work stuff before the break. I emailed the lady from UTSA about the job and she said she was still waiting to hear from HR, I checked the UTSA grade page like every hour and nothing, and then it was time to go to the Braniff Christmas Happy Hour.
And very luckily!
Merry Christmas!
Monday the 13th- Bruce met with my father to ask for my hand in marriage (well kinda he asked for his blessing). And of course my daddy said yes cause everyone loves Bruce. I was so excited but then had to play the serious waiting game because he had the ring, he asked my father so now all he really had to do was propose.
Tuesday the 14th- I met with my internship advisor at the Cafe College downtown. It's a P-20 initiative to get students from middle school, high school and adult learners through college and beyond. It's a super cute building on a weird side of town, so it kinda sticks out and you can see it from the high way. But the inside is nice and cute and bright and friendly. I will be doing 150 hours there helping future students apply for college, fill out Financial Aid packets, pick colleges and plan. It sounds exciting.
Tuesday night we had plans to hangout with some friends and karaoke. We went out to dinner and karaoked at the place we met so I totally wanted him to propose there but alas he had other plans.
Tuesday was also the first day of #ringwatch
Wednesday the 15th- Was a regular day at work but it was frustrating cause I was waiting to hear back about a job for UTSA and Grades and my ring. So these three very important things I was waiting for and it just felt like none of them were ever going to get here. I was also trying to wrap up work stuff before the break. I emailed the lady from UTSA about the job and she said she was still waiting to hear from HR, I checked the UTSA grade page like every hour and nothing, and then it was time to go to the Braniff Christmas Happy Hour.
And very luckily!
I totally wasn't expecting it to happen there but soooo glad it did!
After happy hour we went and Karaoked the night away at Legends Sports bar!
Thurday December 16th- Nothing too terribly exciting happened this day but I did get to show off my beautiful ring to all my work friends and then created a new blog to start sharing about that journey. Tyler Getting Married
Friday the 17th- At about 9 AM I got a call from a UTSA number I was sooo excited and ran out of the office, only to have it be another interview for a different job I'd applied for at UTSA. Back to the office to wait. I kept checking for my grades and nada. Around 10AM I got another UTSA call and was a little slower to run out of the office but this was the call I'd been waiting for! UTSA was offering me the job as Program Coordinator in their University Center. So excited! And so totally scared! First they wanted me to start right away but I couldn't cause I needed to give SAC 2 weeks. I called my mom, Bruce and Deirdre to try to figure out how to negotiate some of the finer points like my cruise and school and salary. Friday was only a half day at SAC so I was already running around like crazy to finish everything that needed to be finished but adding this to that day made it seem even more rushed.
At five o'clock I checked for my grades again at UTSA and still zip.
Then we added two Christmas parties to this list and the day just would not end! First we went to the office Christmas party at Mr. Posadas' house and I was able to share with everyone my good but sad news. I spent most of the afternoon crying and stressing about leaving SAC and how I was going to get everything done in two weeks when we got back. After that party we went to my dad's where we knew absolutely no one!
By Saturday the 18th we were wiped out. It felt like it'd just been a week of celebrating which is good when you're newly engaged. But we were just drained. Finally around noon on Saturday I was able to see my grades. I passed yay! One more semester! Bruce got off late Saturday night from work and so we decided to do some light Christmas shopping, dinner and call it a night.
Sunday the 20th- Another Christmas party and more Karaoke! It was the ToneDeaf Christmas Party at Oak Hill Tavern and it was a blast. We got to sing which always makes us happy and got to see a lot of the karaoke people we didn't see Wednesday night to share our engagement with.
It was a busy busy week and if only this week had been calmer. But last week was perfect cause I got everything I wanted my grades, my job and my wonderful fiance Bruce.
Merry Christmas!
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