Mamacita, donde esta Santa Claus?

The holidays are here! Thank goodness we got another dusting of snow last night, I was starting to see the grass and it was a little disturbing. The big bummer with any snow fall for me is the maintenance man for my apartment complex snow blowing around 5:30 am. We had about a quarter of and inch but I guess shoveling is out of the question for some individuals. The other bummer about winter in my apartment is that we don't control the indoor temperature. Since I'm in a second floor place, we hover in the high 70s most of the time and that's with our windows constantly cracked open.

I always eagerly anticipate my winter break but this one has been pretty boring so far with no roommate or Brian around. I go to work everyday which is fine, but when I go home I get really restless. I'm used to thinking about so many assignments and projects that my head feels a bit empty. To make up for it, I've been watching a lot of online TV shows: Parks and Rec, Bones, Castle, The Office (again), Arrested Development (again), Top Chef (bootlegged since Bravo is stupid), etc. I've also been reading a lot of books. Current YA favs: The Sky is Everywhere and Before I Die.

There was a lovely Fowler get-together last night. I love Fowler people and I'm so thankful I decided on a pretty big whim to apply to work there near the end of 2004. I would have never met Brian otherwise and moved to New York and decided to enter grad school for librarianship. Seriously, right now I could be living in Michigan, doing god-knows what, and scoping out dudes on Match.com. My current life is obv better than the alternative.

Spreading the cheer out the window

School ended last week which was a huge relief. Even though I only had four classes, as opposed to the five I took on during my first two semesters, the ones I had this semester were more challenging. Sadly I did finish all of my school librarianship class requirements. In my next and final semester I will be completing my last two education courses and two 150 hour internships. I am very excited to start my internships. My first one is under a school librarian who was also my adjunct professor recently, so hopefully I am learning from the best. I'm starting on Jan 3rd, so the winter break will seem shorter this year.

It is very strange to be contemplating graduation yet again. When I graduated from college in 2007 I felt much more unsure of my career path yet the job market was better. Now I feel confident in the direction I am headed and love my chosen focus in librarianship, but the possibility of finding a job seems bleak.

Thanksgiving already seems so far away. I spent the holiday in the Midwest and packed my time full with family and friends. I also completed my first 5k during the Grand Rapids Turkey Trot. Thankfully it was not too cold and I was able to complete the run without walking once (my ultimate goal). Since I've never been an athlete this was a pretty big accomplishment for me. I'll have to find another 5k soon because after I finished, my motivation to run took a nose dive.



Christmas will be upon us soon. I finished my shopping yesterday and today Albany got it's first snow fall. I really needed some snow to get into the spirit, so now I feel much better. Brian will come to visit for the holiday and I am looking forward to some Bri cooking.

I got marbles in my mouth

So I've been avoiding blogging since there always seems to be something I should be doing instead (homework/reading books). Also Brian left last week so I've been trying to hang out with him a lot before he took off for WI again.

So in no particular order (although I will try for chronological) lately I,

-attended a lovely Camp Fowler wedding for Darrick and Katherine. They looked super happy and put on a lovely wedding. I really liked seeing a wedding at camp since Brian and I are looking to do ours there in 2012.

-got the new Guster album: love it.

-visited Eric and Miriam again. Last time we went their place still had that moved-in-recently look too it. Now it looked like a real house where adults lived. Crazy! I really liked all their stuff on the walls and made a mental note to get some of that eventually.

-had a weekend trip to Boston w/ Brian where we: went to a museum, had lobster rolls, visited his cousin, and had the best soup ever! I never tried a lobster roll before and now I can cross that off my bucket list.

-took a midterm, presented two presentations, and turned in an 8 page paper all in the same week Brian left! It was intense.

-scheduled my last semester of grad school. Thank god all the classes I need are being offered, it was close.

-I've been training for the GRPS Turkey Trot 5k in Grand Rapids. I've never been an athlete so this is a lot for me. Surprisingly (to me) the training is going really well. My schedule makes it hard since I'm not home from about 8-10 a few days a week and the complex workout room is only open 9-9 (a joke). Running in the dark in the morning kinda sucks. But each Saturday, when I ramp up the distance I'm running, its the farthest I've ever run continuously in my whole life. I feel pretty good about that.

Anyway, fun times...

I can't believe I'm going to be done with graduate school come May. That really isn't that far off. I never really thought I could go to grad school, so I'm really happy I did and I'm really happy I found what I'm interested in and can make a career out of it. Recently at one of my field studies, a 5th grader asked me, "Ms. Stevens, in college do you get to study whatever you want?" I told him that after he took some general courses he could. I said that I liked libraries so I get to study libraries in my classes. The little boy and the girl next to him got so excited I didn't want to burst the bubble about endless gen eds. Man, he still has a lot of "general" schooling head of him. With his 5th grade class we introduced a site called Glogster for making online posters. They 5th graders love it and they also love the brightest colors imaginable.

My Other Fav Band with my Fav Lost character

My Favorite Band

I Whip My Hair Back and Forth

Summer flew by somehow. I went to Camp Fowler again to rock out a cabin. I rocked it out alright. 13 former staff members were volunteering that week. It was great to see so many old friends and meet some new ones. The week meant a lot to me, as it always does. I was exhausted after it, but no matter what, I still love Camp Fowler.

Brian and I have been really busy doing things on the weekends this summer. Last weekend we both had Friday through Monday off. It kinda felt like last summer when we both didn't have jobs (not by choice), only this time we have some dinero so we can afford things. We (Brian) made a couple awesome meals and I bought running shoes. I want to do a 5k this fall so I can cross it off my bucket list. We also went on a couple bike rides along the Hudson. Brian has a nice new road bike. I have a hand-me-down bike from the 80s I got free from my boss called Jazz. Jazz is awful and I think it made its last ride with me this past weekend. Stupid Jazz kept squeaking and the wonky wheels kept holding me back. Needless to say Brian beat me every time on the bike rides.

Grad school started up again last week. This week is a Jewish holiday so I really only had one class. I hate starting school one week only to have no class the next. I want a week off like, right before finals so I can study and write all the papers I've put off.

I'm down to four classes instead of five, like I had last year, this semester. It kinda feels like I'm slacking.

As of July 8th...

As many of you may know about a week and a half ago Brian proposed. It was a pretty intense moment for me. I felt really overwhelmed and honestly didn't know if I should believe what was happening. I kept asking if he was for real and if he was serious. I forgot to say yes right away and started bawling my eyes out. Needless to say, he got me pretty good. I had no idea it was coming and was shocked to say the least.

After the initial shock, we both got on the phone to call those close to us. It was great hearing everyone's happy reactions. It was also great to post on Facebook and hear from people I haven't heard from in years (freshman year RA?) that they were happy too.

The weekend after we went to Burlington, Vermont. It was a wonderful relaxing weekend which was made all the more relaxing knowing we were engaged. Brian and I didn't really do that much there other than drink some good beer, eat some great food and walk around looking at the beautiful views.

This past weekend I took my first teacher certification test. I had a really dumb moment and forgot my IDs in the car Brian dropped me off in. Thankfully they still let me start the test while he brought them over and everything was ok. The test went pretty well I think but its only the first of three. Those plus all the other things I need to fulfill to receive my teacher certification (to be a school librarian you need one) will probably end up setting me back around $1000. Pretty annoying, like grad school isn't expensive.

I also won tickets again from the same site that I won the DMB tickets from (I'm never this lucky something bad must be coming soon!). Brian and I were able to go see the NYC Ballet at SPAC on Saturday. We were both pleasantly surprised to really enjoy our first ballet. One of the principle dancers we saw was even from my hometown of Grand Rapids, MI.

Bucket (of chicken) List

Brian and I have been thinking about all the things we have always wanted to do this summer and then we have been trying to make them happen. I have always wanted to try some Popeye's chicken so we finally got some. It was really good and Brian was pretty surprised to enjoy the experience as much as I did. He actually liked the side of mashed potatoes and gravy more than me.

This past weekend we got to house/dog sit for a family friend of Brian's. Brian and I both like dogs, but I love dogs and I really like springer spaniels. Coincidentally Brian and my families both have springers as our family pets. Brian's dog Molly had puppies a long time ago and the dog we sat for was one of her puppies. The now 11 year-old the dog Jackson was the spitting image of his mom. Just like him mom he likes his front paw held and howls for attention. I took Jackson for walks and tried to get him out from under the bed when that fireworks started to go off (5 hours later he emerged). It was nice hanging out with a dog again all weekend and I found myself a little sad when I had to leave.

The heat wave going on here is no joke. If you know me well you know I hate to sweat so this isn't a good time for me. I had to break down and get an air conditioner since our second floor apartment is above 100 degrees even at night. My un-air conditioned car rides still are pretty brutal though.

With my Spanish finally over thought my schedule would feel a lot more open but the summer weekends are already filling up fast! Hopefully I get to do everything I want to during my last school break (as a student anyway).

Why are you screaming?

Brian and I attended two Phish shows this weekend. While my first SPAC Phish show experience last summer left me un-enthused for more (I was body slammed multiple times and stepped on), I was ready to give it a second shot.

After picking Brian up from his corporate jet ride Saturday (true story) we headed off to try and score some tickets since Brian didn't have any for Saturday. As we were pulling in for parking, we were able to buy some from a couple nice guys about our age, for really cheap. As we pulled away we realized that we only gave them half the money we should have. I quickly got out of the car and ran over to them. The guys were so excited I was offered shots of Wild Turkey. Total mistake. I felt gross for a good 20 mins after that. The show was much more enjoyable than I expected. I didn't get body slammed, so that made the night a success. After the intermission a man in front of us stayed sitting as everyone stood up to watch (lawn seats). His head was between his legs so it wasn't until he got up and was dragged away by his girl friend that we realized he had gotten sick and puked right on the ground. Brian spent much of the rest of the evening yelling, "Thrown up! Look out!" at all the people trying to walk around it.

The next day we got there earlier and took a stroll down to the water. As we reached the stream a guy walked over to us and told there was a naked guy being arrested in the water. Sure enough, we could just make out the lower half of his body being held down on the bank further upstream by police. Another dude near us exclaimed, "That must be the same naked guy we saw running in the parking lot!". Well duh, there probably isn't multiple naked guys running around here. The poor crazy naked man had apparently run down to the water and was splashing around happily until the cops came. They came on foot, on horses, on 4-wheelers, and by car all for one naked guy. We were told to clear off, but not before I saw his little legs kicking in the water. The craziness of the night did not stop there. During Phish songs fans are known to throw glow sticks into the air. Hundreds go up at high points in songs which is one of my favorite things about these shows. During one of these glow stick wars someone held up a large cylinder with something lit up at the top like fire. Unlike other New Yorker's I knew immediately what it was. Illegal in New York, but not in Michigan, this guy was ready to shoot off a huge firework straight out of his hand. The thing went off and shot up right over the huge lawn crowd. I was freaking out since that is one of the most dangerous stupid things you can do with fireworks. Luckily it went off correctly and didn't kill this idiot of hurt anyone in the crowd. Obv I need to go to more of these shows just for the weird things that happen.

You make want to say

Last weekend I had a great time visiting my friend Rachel in Boston. Rachel is leaving the east (like my good friends Anna and Thuan) and moving to the good old Midwestern city Chicago. When I first moved to Albany 2+ years ago I had several friends in the region to visit and one by one they have all left. I liked having them within driving distance but Chicago is always fun to visit.

In Boston we were able to watch the Pride Parade from the roof of Rach's apartment since it was right on her street. We had a great view for the hour plus long parade and got very excited whenever someone would see us and wave. Alexis Arquette was the parade marshal which I thought was awesome since her performance in The Wedding Singer is one of my favs (Do You Really Want to Hurt Me song! anyone else remember that?). Neither Rachel or her roommate knew who she was so I was alone in my excitement. During the parade it started to rain and near the end it was truly pouring. This was when we decided to head to a sports bar to watch the World Cup game. Before crossing the street I looked down and literally saw red glitter being washed away with the rain down the road.

My Spanish class only has four more classes. It went so fast. Awesome. Everything we do looks familiar from high school which is helpful. I also only need a passing grade to get credit at UA which is also helpful.

You know you want to be in a calendar

Obv I quit blogging for a bit there. When your stressing about 5 classes and your bf leaving again the blog is the last thing on your mind. But happily the classes are now over and Brian was unexpectedly reassigned to Saratoga for the summer. Having him around will make summer much less boring. We made another list of things to do this summer and have already crossed something off (hiking!).

On a bummer note, my summer six-week Spanish class started last week. The thing is 8 hours a week. Two nights from 6-9:50 p.m. Awful. The teacher is nice and the class isn't too hard. But after work, the last thing I want to do is drive over to the community college in my un-air-conditioned car and take this class. Its pretty hard to swallow since this isn't a class I wanted or a class I really need to graduate. Its a class I have to take since Michigan (and probably every other state) doesn't offer regent scores. Ughhhh. The class is full of 19 year-olds who look like they have laid by the pool all day.

I was able to go to full-time hours at work this summer. I would have found a second job if I had to stay part-time but this is much better. I avoid working in the mall at all costs plus now my nights and weekends are free.

I still feel like I am forgetting something all the time. After a two semesters of plugging away with 5 classes a term and work on the side, I was perpetually busy. I was making to-do lists like mad woman. I tried to make a to-do list last week and it only had 3 things on it...so I really need to embrace the relaxation.

Stop talking about Chatroulette

Well a snow storm has finally found Albany and another is soon to follow tomorrow. This is great news since it finally looks like winter outside. I hate it when everything is grey and brown and love it when it all gets covered up by pure white snow. The snow that fell yesterday and is still falling is the super heavy wet stuff. So if you get to park on the street like me, you will have a great time shoveling yourself out. I almost broke my back for about 15 minutes this morning doing just that. I felt very empowered once I got out. Finding a parking spot (also in the street) for work was more of a challenge since it seemed like everyone else who had left a spot didn't need to shovel out. I guess they have four-wheel drive or people to push them. I wasn't going to chance my little Ford Focus on a spot like that when I don't have a shovel in my trunk (grave mistake). Thankfully I found a mostly plowed spot and didn't have to pay $10 to park in the lot (knock on wood never have).

They canceled classes last night and today until 12:35 which is great if you have classes then but I don't so it was a total bummer.

I'm heading down to the city this weekend on my second megabus trip (only $20.50!). My good friend Thuan decided to take off for Vietnam until August so obv I need to pay my respects before she flies away. My mission this week is to achieve a comfortable level of work before Friday so I can enjoy the trip and not have a freak out.

Mostly I need to so some "Research Methods" i.e. statistics homework. That class makes me thank my lucky stars I took three math classes in college. That's about the only plus side to my bachelor of science degree. I thought I was really smart doing a B.S. instead of a B.A. to get out of a language course. Now, in a grad program in NY, they tell me its a language course is a requirement for any degree in the state.
"Oh you took it Spanish high school, did you get over 85 on your Regents?"
"No I'm from Michigan, where Regents don't exist, so even though I took 4 years of that stuff I guess it won't matter here huh?"
"Right, sorry."
Awesome. Don't get me wrong I'm very thankful I didn't have to deal with Regents, but seriously, there should be a way to get out of this course (other than a test which I would fail since it's been eight years since I thought about Spanish).

Last weekend we saw our friend Eric preach which was pretty cool. He was able to hold my attention and Brian's the whole time, which is no small feat.

Cooking with Brian

On Valentine's Day Brian decided it was time to make a new favorite meal - avacado bacon burgers. That's my guy.



Needless to say these bad boys were awesome and with it we drank a whole bottle of delicious Traverse City cherry wine.

Biblioburro!

I'd like to hear you read some words

School is up and running again which will result in a direct decrease of blog posts. This semester is going to be a rough one, particularly because I now have to split my time not just between school and work, but between school, work, and Brian. Just my luck he gets a rotation here during my busiest semester. When I'm bored this summer I'm going to be wishing I had the bf around.

I set the grade point average high last semester and want a repeat. I feel a lot of pressure to do well in school. The placement of this pressure comes entirely from my own brain and I need to take a chill pill for my own sanity. Making endless lists can only get you so far in the relaxation department.

Having taken my Young Adult literature class I have now moved on to the Children's literature class. I have to read 45 kids books. This might seem easy but believe me picking out a good picture book is harder than it looks. I know what ones I used to like, but twenty years later, those are out of date and the new ones look much different.

Lost is on again tonight. This is another problem for my productivity.

That's Debatable

My Midwest visit was pretty whirlwind trip. I was in Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, Traverse City, Chicago and Madison.

Breakdown of trip

Milwaukee - Brian had to work a number of days so I got to relax, read, work out, and watch full seasons of The Office and Lost online. When he didn't work we watched the Tudors together, cooked delicious meals, went to a great brewery tour, and visited a wonderful art museum.
Grand Rapids- Obv saw family and went to the Christmas Eve service at Aberdeen. Opened presents with the fam and ate a lot of food. Went to dinner and Founders (finally) with City grads and introduced Brian to Steak n' Shake.
Traverse City - Stayed with Grandma, visited with family including my cousin John's adorable children, and ate a great meal. Bought many Cherry Republic products.
Chicago - Saw Anna's great new apartment and rang in the New Year with her, Rachel, Brian and many others at a super fun house party. Explored Chicago neighborhoods.
Madison - Visited Brian's old friends Maria and Genevieve with respective husbands and bf. We ate a great meal that included fried mac n' cheese and went to a raucous hockey game.

It was great to see so many of my friends and family. It was also great to stay with Brian and see where he has been living. The only bad part of my trip was the temperature. It was absolutely freezing the whole time. When I landed back in Albany the 20 degree weather felt balmy and nice.

Once again I have been reading like a crazy person. I love the newly refurbished local library that just reopened and I go there all the time. I feel like I choose the right career path which is immensely satisfying. Also my grades were fabulous which, I had decided, also reflects my correct career decision.