Day Two, Day Three

Wednesday and Thursday were busy, but not much of note occurred. All my classes had syllabus days and my psychology class has started to roll along.

On Wednesday night, it was Planet's query letter night. It went really quickly for the size of the class. I've got a great story group, and I can't wait to see how their stories take shape.

Last night I made enchiladas, which are what I make when I'm stressed out. I'm stressed out because my family just received some pretty shocking news. It's pretty private, so I'm not going to share here other than to say that someone in my family is pretty sick, suddenly, and that it has repercussions for the rest of the family.

It came out of nowhere and I'm alone, isolated from my family so I don't have as much of a support system as I would have if I was living at home. So, I'm a little more stressed than usual.

BUT this weekend I'm going to relieve some stress. Today the fiance and I are driving to Seattle to have his test scores evaluated by the baking program he wants to get into. Then, we're going to Salon Armand to get hair cuts. I'm also getting my hair dyed. Yay!

Then, tomorrow we're going to Emerald City ComiCon. I just adore ECCC. This will be my third year attending.
Stay tuned for my rundown of just how awesome ECCC was!

Day One, 74 left.

I only have 74 days left in my undergraduate life.

Today was a good start to my final quarter at Western. I didn't have to be to campus until noon, so I was able to get up at 10 and spend a long time getting ready. I actually put make up on today!

My first class today was Psychology of Gender. The professor is hilarious. I can't wait until we actually get moving on the material. It's going to be an interesting way to finish out my time in college.

Then I went into work. I love my job. I had expected a flurry of emails, but I actually had fewer than ten to deal with. I was pretty happy about that. I've set up some of the meetings that I needed to for hiring and I checked in with my designers. My guys are pretty great.

After work, I went to my other work, which is also a class: The Planet. I'm a story editor, so I have to read and edit a quarter of all the articles that go through the magazines. We introduced ourselves and the process to the writers and photographers and spent time going over the wonderfully important minutiae that make life on The Planet grand. I had so much fun last quarter doing it just for pay that I just had to do it again, but this time for credit and pay. We've got an interesting issue lined up. We're celebrating the 50 year anniversary of Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring."

Tomorrow, I have work, astronomy and then we'll read Planet query letters. I'm so excited to see what people come up with!

The Beginning of the End

Tomorrow is the first day of my last quarter at Western. It's the most exciting thing ever and the scariest thing ever.

I'm so excited to be done with school. It's been 18 long years of school. Classes, homework, a neverending cycle of tests and homework. I like learning, but I'm really looking forward to being able to go to work and come home to my own time. I'm sure I'll be the kind of person that will bring work home with me sometimes, but I'd like to have most nights be mine. I'm looking forward to my time not being monopolized constantly by homework and studying for tests that might not be any help after I graduate.

I'm also terrified to graduate. I don't have an internship or a job lined up yet, and that scares me. I like to have things planned out way in advance, so this is a bit terrifying not having things nailed down. I have to find something in either Bellingham or Seattle this summer. By mid-August I have to have something figured out in Seattle. I'd have liked to be able to move anywhere, but the fiance is starting baking school this fall at South Seattle Community College. It's a two year program. He'll be done in June of 2014, about a month before our wedding!

This moment is more terrifying than graduating high school. At least when I graduated high school I knew I was going to college. I knew which one, six months before I graduated. I had things figured out. I had a plan and I was going to something at least somewhat familiar. This is completely new.

If you know of a PR opportunity in the Seattle area let me know. If not, wish me luck.

Best weekend home, ever.

Finally back in B'ham.

My trip home was one of the best I've ever had. For one, my sister and I didn't fight a single time. In the whole history of our lives, this has never happened. That alone made this trip special.

The fiance and I started looking for a truck. We want a little beater that will get him from point A to point B and help us haul some furniture to make some extra cash on the side.

I got to eat some excellent food. My parents are fantastic cooks. First night: steak 'n' taters. Second night: out for Thai. Third night: wishing for summer, daddy made ribs. We had corn on the cob, baked beans, coleslaw and the fiance made cornbread. It was the omnoms. I had four whole ribs to myself. There's just something fantastic about gnawing meat from bone. Mmmm. I'm making myself hungry just thinking about them again....

Aaaaand then there was that little wedding dress thing. Finding the perfect dress to get married in was the highlight of my weekend. I just get the silliest grin on my face when I think about this dress.

Tomorrow, I'm back to the daily grind. The AS has hiring training and it's the only training of the year that I find worthwhile. This is one training I'm not going to complain about.

The scariest part of this weekend: realizing the next time I see my family my sister will be graduating high school and I'll be graduating college.

Wedding Dress!

Today, I went to the Tri-Cities to meet one of my favorite authors. I missed her when she was in Seattle a few weeks ago and luckily she was just an hour and a half drive away. Patricia Briggs is a lovely woman. Mom and I were in the bookstore for about 20 minutes.

Next, we went to Lumber Liquidators and looked at bamboo flooring for my parents house. I've been trying to talk them into bamboo for so long. It's eco-friendly and beautiful and adds lots of value to a home.

Then we went to Burlington Coat Factory. It was creepy. There was crap all over the place. It was messy and felt trashy. We left very quickly.

Then, we were going to go to Subway, but on our way out to the car we noticed a David's Bridal. We went in on a whim. We browsed and eventually saw a few dresses that were pretty. I tried on three. One was a lacy mermaid cut, another was a lacy sheath and the other was a poofy princess dress.

The poofy princess dress was beautiful but it didn't feel like me.
The lacy sheath dress was pretty, but didn't fit quite right.

The lacy mermaid dress was the most gorgeous dress I've tried on. It fit me so well and it fit my personality perfectly. I tried it on twice.

My wedding isn't for two years and the dress was $400. Mom and I went to Burger King and we talked about the dress. I sent pictures to some of my best girl friends and asked their opinions. Everyone liked it.

We bought it. I have officially ordered my wedding dress!

Today my little sister turned 18. She's almost four years younger than me. I feel old at 21. She had a pretty low-key birthday. She had school. When she came home she opened her gifts. My fiance and I got her a ticket to go with us to see A Day to Remember and Rise Against in April. She's really excited about that. Then, we went out to dinner. She wanted Thai so we went to The Tea Garden in Yakima. My review of the restaurant can be found here: http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/333/1588789/restaurant/The-Tea-Garden-Yakima.

After dinner, the fiance and I went out for drinks with some friends we don't see very often.

All in all, a pretty good day in Yakima. What a surprise.

So, spring break has been truckin' along at a dizzying pace. The past two nights I've been up late playing Mass Effect 3. It's such a beautiful game. It's cinematic and feels like I'm watching an interactive movie. I play it on the PC because I didn't grow up playing video games so xbox controls are difficult for me to play. I get confused and fumble around and die a lot. So, instead, I play on the PC where I can look where I want to look and walk where I want to walk and it makes sense between my hands and my head.

Last night, before jumping into ME3, I had some friends over for dinner. We made chicken alfredo! I've heard alfredo sauces can be really fussy, so I'd never made one before. But this alfredo wasn't fussy at all. It did what it was supposed to. I was really pleased. Dinner turned out well, and we all had fun playing Apples to Apples and Kings.

I really like my friends.

This morning, despite not going to bed until 4 a.m., I was up at 10:30. My friend and I were going to visit Drizzle, an olive oil and vinegar tasting room. I've been there so often that the owner knows my name and values my opinion. This was my friend's first time. There's just something about introducing friends to something you love that warms the heart. And, as usual, I bought another bottle of olive oil. This time, I got the blood orange olive oil. It's light and bright and pairs really well with a plain balsamic to make a salad dressing. I'm trying to eat more salads and eat less dressing. A light home made vinaigrette is perfect.

Drizzle is one of my favorite places in Bellingham. Where do you live and what's your favorite space?

Last Spring Break Ever

Today was the first official day of my final spring break.
I did nothing, all day long.

It's been glorious!

I spent my day up to date on The Finder. I discussed future financial plans with the fiance. I cooked myself a shrimp and snow pea dinner. And now, I'm watching Buffy.

I'm in the middle of season two, and I love and hate this show. There are some moments that are painful to watch. And there are moments that are touching.

But, it's the last spring break I'm ever going to have (unless I go into academia). I feel like I should be off on a whirlwind adventure. Instead, I'm going to be sitting at home filling out application after application hoping and praying I find gainful employment after graduation.

I'd love to get a job in the public relations field, I'll be overjoyed to get a paid internship in the field, but if I can find a solid internship (even unpaid) I'd jump for it.

Does anyone have any advice on getting a job after graduation?