Bam Baby!

I had the pleasure of graduating about a week and a half ago. It was a great weekend. I had friends/family/future family/fiance all here in the same place. It was wonderful to see all of my favorite people together and enjoying each other's company. Also, excuse to get dressy!




Today was my last day with New York State Library Development. My student assistant job ends once you graduate so there were three of us leaving this semester. It was so nice to hear everyone wishing us well.

It was strange thinking about my graduation - last exam ever! last paper ever! last group presentation ever! no more classes? boo
As hard as school can be, I love an interesting, well taught class. I'll miss class discussion and learning from practicing school librarians.

I received many lovely cards for graduation and my last day at work - last cards with hats that have tassels!

The Right Stuff

My graduation looms! I seriously cannot believe that I'll be done with grad school and have a masters degree in less than a month. It makes me a little sad. I'll miss my classes and my nice little downtown campus. I won't miss the pointless assignments that I sometimes got, although those were def outnumbered by the useful assignments grad school offered. I really liked learning about libraries, so mostly I'll miss that.

To witness my awesome graduation I have my parents, Anna, Rachel, Thuan, and Brian all visiting. Albany will be hoping! Hopefully I can juggle everyone and keep them entertained.

My last spring break as a student finishes up this week. I spent it dog-sitting (what else?). The dog was pretty nice but did throw up at 2 am. I played catch with him a couple time in the yard. The next day I realized it must have been years since I last threw a ball repeatedly since my arm was really sore.

The best part of dog-sitting is the cable! The only channel I really miss is Bravo. I love Bravo. And Bravo doesn't put their episodes online so I have to search for sad bootlegged versions on YouTube.

Because I'm a showoff

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Watch it

The month of March was full of dog-sitting. I dog, house, and teenager sat for three different families, five dogs, one bunny, and one teenager. Taking care of the teenager was by far the easiest. The dogs were all pretty good. There was only one "accident" inside a house and nobody got loose. There was a ridiculous amount of barking though. Annnnd the bunny bit me. It really hurt. I wore gloves after that when it was feeding time.

I love the side job of dog-sitting (and the cable) but it is exhausting. I was dreaming of my own bed and sleeping in. I really liked having a dog in my family but I now realize that I got the pleasure of sleeping in only because my parents got up and let the dog out.

After about ten years without wearing a watch (other than when I run) I broke down and got one.
It's a perfect teacher watch. I really don't know how I functioned without one before. I look at it all the time.

My only bridesmaid and bff Anna and I have very different taste. This has become amplified by the bridesmaid dress search. It also came to mind when I bought my watch. She recently bought a watch too which is pink with diamonds all around (I'm pretty sure hearts were on there somewhere too). I'm not worried though, since she will look slammin' in whatever she wears to the wedding.


I ran my second 5k last weekend. It was about 25 degrees outside but I felt good. I ran behind local anchor Benita Zahn for about a mile and had the good fortune to watch her leopard print scrunchie the whole time. I'm signed up for a thrid 5k at the end of April and will probably run the huge deal of the Freihofer's Run for Women at the beginning of June.

Ugh the job search continues. There really might only be a handful of jobs for me to apply for in the area. So basically I feel like this all the time:

Dear god just retire, pretty please?

He can't swim!

Winter keeps slogging along here in upstate New York. We had 50-60 degree weather for about 3 days last week and it was a total tease. When the cold came back it felt like a slap in the face. I'm so sick of running on a treadmill in my apartment's sad excuse for a "workout" room. More like a smelly closet with three machines and a tv. Let me outside winter weather!

I'm on a lovely winter break this week from both my master and my elementary school internship (these breaks were nonexistent in MI, I have no idea why). I did a solo week last week at my internship so the break was very much a welcome one. The solo week went well, although I did feel like I was running to keep up a couple times. It feels like the students there are getting used to me and off I go soon (I'm done there next week). Next I will concur middle schoolers.

The break isn't a huge break on the work level. I'm using the pause in homework to catch up on my resume, cover letter, portfolio, online portfolio, LinkedIn account, getting fingerprinted, and going to the dentist. It's been very productive so far.

Brian visited last weekend which was fun as usual. It's good to see him since we def won't see each other next month. I'll be dog/house sitting the whole month for three different families. I met one of the dogs this week, a very friendly Portugese water dog. I feel closer to the Obama's already.

Old School Stuff

I'm in the last weeks of my first student teaching post. I'll be really sad to leave. The school librarian I'm working with is awesome and the library aid is really nice. I'll be sad not to see them every week. Being in an elementary school has changed my outlook on my ideal job. I always thought I would be happiest in a high school library but now I think I might prefer an elementary school. It makes me ridiculously happy to help students find books on what they want: karate, scary stories, chickens, robots, Shiloh, etc. It's pretty great.

I call Brian by his last name all the time. I'm now realizing that I might need to take that down a notch since when we get hitched it will be my name too. Gotta say, I'm a little sad to see my last name go. My initials now are so nice plus they are the same backwards or forwards.

I just started training for another 5k. I have a really hard time committing to running regularly unless there is an end goal to work towards. I think this training will be much easier that the last time since I can actually run for more than 5 minutes now.

Check it

"A Wrinkle In Time" In 90 Seconds from James Kennedy on Vimeo.

This is pretty great.

Can I just say something, "Isn't copying wrong?"

The holidays flew by as they always do. Brian was here for 10 days which was really nice except he was sick for about 4 of those days. We don't get to see each other that much so that was a bummer. Overall Christmas time in Albany was really nice. The food was delicious and the company was lovely.

Right after Bri left, I started one of my student teaching posts at an elementary school library. I'm currently splitting my time between there and work, next week school classes will be thrown in there as well. I really lucked out with my mentor school librarian, she is also an adjunct professor and was probably one of my favorite professors. She really knows her stuff and immediately threw me into working. I've already taught multiple library lessons by myself, booktalked, collaborated with teachers, and attended faculty meetings. I'm being worked to the bone, but I know I'm going to learn a lot.

Since I have two internships/student teaching posts, I am only taking two classes this last semester. One class is online and the other is at the undergraduate level. In all my graduate semesters I have never felt more relaxed about my work load.

While the New Year's celebration came and went without too much fanfare (Brian wasn't really eating food yet), 2011 is going to be a big year for me. It will contain:
-last classes ever (unless I need some sort of other degree but I can't see that happening)
-graduation grad school (never really thought that would happen until a couple years ago)
-hopefully getting job in a school library or library field (please please please)
-moving back in with Brian (the sooner the better)
-further planning of wedding (I'm so glad I have till summer 2012 to finalize everything, no stressing out here)

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.