First day of school complete

I finished my first day of graduate school!!!!! It was completely different than I expected, and almost a 180 from what Olivet classes and teaching is like but I know I am learning from some of the best in my field (e.g. my professor now wrote the book we are using and a couple of the articles we are reading from established social work journals). It will be a fast and furious 6 weeks but I can tell I will probably learn more in those 6 weeks than in 6 weeks in undergraduate classes. Updates about my journey will occur when I get the time, so not very often. But I will try my best. Thank you to all my friends and family for your support.

Since I'm stranded

Stranded at the airpot means I truly have time to update this blog so here's the week in review

Saturday (May 1st): Road trip with Dad & Mom from North Carolina to Michigan, nothing much to report that day, though I discovered I'm not a big fan of West Virginia or Virginia, too hilly and country for me.

Sunday: Church/Surprise Gram & Gramps. Gram & Gramps J. didn't know I was coming so I surprised them by showing up at church and sneaking up behind them, definitely gave my grandma a mini heart attack. Church was filled with the usual crazy chaos that ensues when I go home, it's the one place where I wish there were like 5 of me so I could see everyone. After church we took Gram & Gramps to my favorite local restaurant Fenton House and my brother Tim and his family decided to join, without knowing I was there, so I got to surprise them too. Later that day I went over and surprised my cousin Susie and was hoping to see her 3 year old boy Noah but he was sleeping.

Monday: Frankenmuth & Bestie day. My mom & I took my niece Addison to Frankenmuth where we enjoyed scrumptious pieces of fried chicken and buttered noodles. Then traveled over to the general store and got some old fashioned candy, and then went over to the world's LARGEST Christmas store. The World's Largest Christmas store was definitely interesting with a 3 year old especially since a majority of the hundreds of christmas ornaments are GLASS! She did a pretty good job not touching them but sometimes that's just too much temptation for someone that young. After all this excitement I met up with my best friend from Olivet, Katie who I haven't seen for an entire year. We had so much fun I wished time could've stopped. We went to UNO's pizzeria, sat in her car and talked, and then took wacky pictures on my mac camera (which can be seen on facebook)

Tuesday: Had Olive Garden with Aunt Vanessa and Morgan. Just had a ladies day which was nice.

Wednesday: Did my UNC homework, and then saw Letters to God with a few of my mom's friends, which is an amazing movie you must go see. Then we met up with my Uncle and his family at a coney island and just enjoyed some family time.

Thrusday: Brother and nieces and nephew came over to play and then Addy spent the night with me. Oh and we went over to gram & gramps for a while and to to see my aunt tamara and uncle mark and my cousin chase, and also got to see my uncle brian and some of his family again. He played a mean prank on me, by sticking a "kick me" sign to the middle of my back and I had it on for quite some time before someone finally told me about it.

Friday: Babysat Addy, got my hair cut and went to the ambassador concert and saw my best best best best friend in the whole wide world Molly! We had the pleasure of watching Molly's sister Hannah sing her senior solo and laughing throughout the show and just enjoying each other's company.

Today: stuck at the airport, missed my connecting flight, ready to be home, so much TV to catch up on and so much to do before Monday.

I think this blogpost is long enough don't you....

Busy vacation

It's been an eventful few days here to say the least!

I had my last day of work at the airport...it was bittersweet. then my parents arrived later that night and I brought baked potatoes (from wendy's), poppyseed chicken, and raspberry jello to the hotel for dinner. Wednesday mom and I did some shopping at Kohls in the morning and then headed over to the southpoint mall with dad where we did some more shopping then took in a movie (The Last Song) at the cinema at the mall. Then we went to walmart and did some grocery shopping and then went back to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. Today we've toured UNC SSW, and UNC campus, and ate at the japanese steakhouse right down from the hotel with my roommate Brandi...boy was it yummy.

Yep been a busy few days, hopefully tomorrow is a little more relaxing.

Hello nano

Why I was so against ipod nano is beyond me. I just got the (product) Red ipod nano and I'm in love (I used the rest of the gift card and only paid a mere 13.00 for the nano). Right now I'm listening to a local raleigh/durham radio station....and it's totally clear! This means I will stay occupied during the 12 hour drive to michigan, all of which I will not be driving, and to be honest I like driving it makes the time go by faster because you get focused. This time next week my parents will be here and I will be enjoying their company.....AH vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am blessed beyond words.

Friends don't let friends buy PC's

The title is what my uncle told me while justifying the amazing apple gift card he gave me.

Brand New White MacBook = a very happy ME!

Bye Bye Mac :(

My nice Mac decided to leave this world and become apart of the technology junk yard on Monday. I miss it a lot, it was my best friend and my lifesaver. Since them I am at the mercy of my roommate who has been kind enough to let me borrow her computer when she is not using it, and the library in Hillsborough, which luckily is a very nice library. Not having my music however is driving me insane and until I can get a disc or another computer that recognizes my external hard drive my music will go unplayed. I have had various offers since the death of my mac, and am debating which one to accept. The $1200.00 mac gift card, or the Lenovo PC employee discount? I love Macs but at this time is it really what will work best for me? If I get a mac do I get a macbook, macbook pro, or an imac? If I get a lenovo do I invest in a sturdy laptop that is reliable yet heavy and awkward or the sleek and stylish laptop?

Ahhh so many choices! I wish they had the black macbook like Amy has, I think that's my favorite one.

Pollen & Pizza

One word can describe this week...Pollen. The nasty yellow stuff covered my car, and even our kitchen counters and other surfaces because we had the windows open since we wanted to try and leave the air off. It was totally disgusting and annoying because a car wash is pointless since the pollen is attracted to cars like a strong magnet and returns as soon as you wash it away. The picture below gives just a glimpse of what we had to deal with.

Other than the pollen life is moving along. It's hard to believe school is now only 1 month away and its causing some stress since I am trying to figure out how to pay for school, buy my textbooks, and finish up all the necessary paperwork and immunizations (I hate shots, even though I'm not afraid of needles) but it will all work out, just hard to trust God in times like these when I'm such a perfectionist and a worry wart.

I've also made a new friend and she could not have come into my life at a better time. She goes to my church and she is a social worker! She got her MSW not too long ago and connected with me when she found out I was accepted into the MSW program. Tonight we set out to cook and freeze meals in bulk so I can just pull one out of the freezer and heat it during school instead of going back on the college diet. We got the list of recipes we wanted to try and the ingredients we would need, but we got to talking and connecting that we didn't get to the shopping or cooking part. Instead we went out for pizza at a new restaurant in Durham called Enzo's Pizza Company. It was definitely something I needed both the pizza and the time with a friend. Especially one who understands where I'm coming from and is willing to be a support to me during grad school. I'm so excited to see where this friendship goes, I think it could turn into one that will last for a long time.

Only 17 days till my parents come!!!!!