Well there hasn't been much going on lately. I feel like I just work...a lot. It's really hard being gone for so much of the day. I was thinking about it, and if I was making sure to go to bed in time to get 9 hours of sleep...that would mean I would only have 3 hours at home after work before I'd need to go to bed. Just three hours...to make/eat dinner...spend time with my husband...relax after working all day...go to the store, gas up the car, or do any errands that need done. That's just not enough time for me!
So as you can imagine, I generally don't cook much of a dinner and I never get enough sleep. I just stay up late every night so that I can hang out with Stephen more. And this routine has already started taking its toll on me physically. Over the years I've realized that my body doesn't handle stress very well. I just get sick. Headaches...sore throats...body aches...fatigue...just plain feeling lousy. I've had to give up on goals and plans in the past because I end up just making myself too busy. I always seem to put more on my plate than I can finish!
I just hope I can keep up with everything on my plate this time. There really isn't much there besides work and home life. I should be able to handle this. Sometimes I hate how weak I am.
I've been really feeling like I need something else to do. I feel like I've lost myself...I need to be Susan still. And that means I need to be taking time to do the things I enjoy. I'm really missing acting and the theatre...it's been hard not having that in my life right now. I never realize how important it is to me until I stop acting. I know there must be plenty of groups I could join or plays I could audition for here in Reno, but there's just not time for me to do anything. It's so hard........
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Updates
Now to share all the happenings of the summer months. The easiest way for me to remember is through the photos we've taken:
I welcomed a new little nephew in May. My sister Nancy and brother-in-law Dave had sweet little Colby David Farnworth on May 12th, 2008.
Janet and I got to go spend a weekend with Nancy and her boys while Dave went out of town in June. It was so much fun to have some sisterly bonding time and to get to know Tyler better and meet Colby for the first time.
Then most of the family went to Nancy and Dave's for the 4th of July weekend to be there for Colby's blessing. Sarah and Tyler played in the little pool together, we all played games on the Wii and GameCube, and a few of us spent an evening doing a little mediocre tennis.
I got to be in my best friend's wedding!!! It doesn't get much better than watching your lifelong best friend find love and happiness and join the man she's crazy about in marriage. I'm so happy for Robin and her new best friend/husband Todd. It's great to have her join the married couple ranks! She was beautiful, it was a wonderful day and evening, and I shed a few loving tears. (and she had the coolest wedding cake I have ever seen)
On a sadder note, my sweet little guinea pig Nellie died on August 4th. She got stopped eating a drinking a week before that and got very sick. We tried to get her to eat/drink, but she wouldn't do it...she was just slowly dying. It was so hard and sad to watch her go through this. To see her little body grow smaller and smaller, and to feel all her tiny bones underneath her hair (there was nothing else but bones). The only option would have been to take her to an exotic pets vet to see if she could be saved, but Stephen and I decided it was better to just let her go. She had lived a good, long guinea-pig-life, and we felt like it was time to let it end. It really hurt, but I got to say my good-byes to her and hold her and pet her and give her kisses and cry for her before she died.
Just like me, Stephen got to be in his best friend's wedding too! We drove to Utah (along with Caleb and Shanelle) to be there for Kevin and Kaitlin's wedding (Stevo was the best man). Now Kaitlin has moved to Reno too and they live in the same apartment complex as us (with Caleb). It's so much fun having a new girl friend to hang out with, and to have another female in the group. We spend a lot of time with those kids, so it's nice to not be the only girl anymore.
And sadder even than Nellie dying...my grandma, Doris Mae Reed Young, passed away on August 24th. We had her funeral on the 30th, which would have been her 91st birthday. She actually had been dying for months and months, so it wasn't really a shock to any of us. Just like Nellie, she had been dwindling away...not eating or drinking, her body growing tiny until she was literally just skin and bones, only being able to lay around and sleep. She was in so much pain and had been suffering so much, that my heart ached for her. We were blessed to be able to spend time with Grandma and say good-bye as we prepared for her to die. When I got the phone call that she had passed away in the night, I hardly cried...I was more just relieved for her to not have to suffer anymore and happy for her to finally be reunited with her husband (she had been living without him for about 18 years!). It was wonderful to get to see all my cousins and family at the funeral, and to spend the weekend with all my siblings. Funerals are wonderful in that they bring the family back together again.
I truly love this woman, my awesome Grandma Young. I look up to and admire her so much. This has always been my favorite picture of her; I can't get over how gorgeous she is. She was an amazing dancer, an athlete, an incredibly intelligent individual, a teaser with a great sense of humor, a hard-worker, and most of all a loving wife, mother, and grandmother. I can't wait to see her again someday.
I welcomed a new little nephew in May. My sister Nancy and brother-in-law Dave had sweet little Colby David Farnworth on May 12th, 2008.
Janet and I got to go spend a weekend with Nancy and her boys while Dave went out of town in June. It was so much fun to have some sisterly bonding time and to get to know Tyler better and meet Colby for the first time.
Then most of the family went to Nancy and Dave's for the 4th of July weekend to be there for Colby's blessing. Sarah and Tyler played in the little pool together, we all played games on the Wii and GameCube, and a few of us spent an evening doing a little mediocre tennis.
I got to be in my best friend's wedding!!! It doesn't get much better than watching your lifelong best friend find love and happiness and join the man she's crazy about in marriage. I'm so happy for Robin and her new best friend/husband Todd. It's great to have her join the married couple ranks! She was beautiful, it was a wonderful day and evening, and I shed a few loving tears. (and she had the coolest wedding cake I have ever seen)
On a sadder note, my sweet little guinea pig Nellie died on August 4th. She got stopped eating a drinking a week before that and got very sick. We tried to get her to eat/drink, but she wouldn't do it...she was just slowly dying. It was so hard and sad to watch her go through this. To see her little body grow smaller and smaller, and to feel all her tiny bones underneath her hair (there was nothing else but bones). The only option would have been to take her to an exotic pets vet to see if she could be saved, but Stephen and I decided it was better to just let her go. She had lived a good, long guinea-pig-life, and we felt like it was time to let it end. It really hurt, but I got to say my good-byes to her and hold her and pet her and give her kisses and cry for her before she died.
Just like me, Stephen got to be in his best friend's wedding too! We drove to Utah (along with Caleb and Shanelle) to be there for Kevin and Kaitlin's wedding (Stevo was the best man). Now Kaitlin has moved to Reno too and they live in the same apartment complex as us (with Caleb). It's so much fun having a new girl friend to hang out with, and to have another female in the group. We spend a lot of time with those kids, so it's nice to not be the only girl anymore.
And sadder even than Nellie dying...my grandma, Doris Mae Reed Young, passed away on August 24th. We had her funeral on the 30th, which would have been her 91st birthday. She actually had been dying for months and months, so it wasn't really a shock to any of us. Just like Nellie, she had been dwindling away...not eating or drinking, her body growing tiny until she was literally just skin and bones, only being able to lay around and sleep. She was in so much pain and had been suffering so much, that my heart ached for her. We were blessed to be able to spend time with Grandma and say good-bye as we prepared for her to die. When I got the phone call that she had passed away in the night, I hardly cried...I was more just relieved for her to not have to suffer anymore and happy for her to finally be reunited with her husband (she had been living without him for about 18 years!). It was wonderful to get to see all my cousins and family at the funeral, and to spend the weekend with all my siblings. Funerals are wonderful in that they bring the family back together again.
I truly love this woman, my awesome Grandma Young. I look up to and admire her so much. This has always been my favorite picture of her; I can't get over how gorgeous she is. She was an amazing dancer, an athlete, an incredibly intelligent individual, a teaser with a great sense of humor, a hard-worker, and most of all a loving wife, mother, and grandmother. I can't wait to see her again someday.
Returning
It's always so hard picking something back up after leaving it alone for so long. I don't know how or where to start again. Time keeps slipping by...everyday I mean to write and never do...everyday I mean to get back in touch with old friends and never do.
Well, I want to be better. I want to finally do all the things I've just been meaning to do. Tonight is the night. I have the evening to myself and nothing to stop me but my own procrastination...I've been slowly forcing myself to sit down and log in to this blog for the past three hours.
So much has been happening in my life. It's been a very busy summer and I'm sooo ready for the fall...cooler weather, sweaters and layering, cozy living rooms, life slowing down and becoming more routine. Stephen and I are starting to get into a routine now that we have places to be and things to do.
I was offered a job through a temp agency in June and have been working at this job ever since. The opportunity came right in time...I had been getting really worried about my inablity to get a job and we weren't going to be able to pay our bills after that month. This temp agency found my resume online and wanted to interview me that day. The job they were trying to fill needed me to start the next day, so I immediately had a busy busy life. I work for a company that sets up promotions with big retailers/companies. We provide movie tickets, rewards cards, etc. to these companies (like Disney, Kmart, Expedia and such) for them to have promotions for their consumers/the public. Its a little confusing, but basically we are the middle man for all sorts of free offers and promotions that retailers offer. I work in Customer Service, answering calls and emails from consumers who are having problems with their rewards (we mostly do free movie tickets) or who have questions. It's not my favorite thing in the world, but it's a good job and I feel good inside every time I'm able to help someone. I get a wonderful sense of accomplishment when I finish a bunch of emails, and I'm constantly motivated to be better and faster at getting through all my work.
The only downfall to the job is that the office is up at Incline Village (Lake Tahoe), so I have to drive up and down the mountain everyday. That adds two extra hours to my work day, so I feel like I don't have much time for anything else. Instead of an 8-hour work day, I have a 10 1/2 hour work day (with the half hour of lunch I have to stay there for). At least I get to work somewhere beautiful, though, and have gorgeous views on my commute! Plus having to drive on the Mt Rose Hwy each day has really made me braver and a better driver. I was so terrified the first few times I drove, but now I feel confident and comfortable with all the twists and turns and cliffs. We'll see how I do when it's all snowy this winter.
It was supposed to be a temporary job that would end at the end of June, but we kept staying too busy to let me go. Now the employers at my office have offered me a permanent position. I just accepted it this week and can't wait to get the offer letter and finalize everything. This will be a salaried position with full benefits and everything. It's everything that I was hoping to get out of a full-time job and the salary is way more than I was expecting to get. It will be much more than we need to pay for everything, so we'll be able to save and pay off student loans and live a little more comfortably. I might have to change the title of my blog, since I don't really feel like we'll be just "getting by" anymore! I feel like we have been so blessed; everything just keeps working out for Stephen and me!
Stephen started classes last week. He ended up not taking any summer classes because we just didn't have enough money to pay for summer tuition when it was due; it came too soon. He's changed his major around a few times, but he's pretty excited now about his classes and current plan (a major Anthropology and a minor in Basque Studies). He has lots of reading (he's taking a full load of classes, plus a few extra independent study classes) but he's doing really well at keeping up with everything. I'm so proud of how hard he works! He also got a job at the new UNR library and he seems to be enjoying that. They are working him quite a few hours, though, so we may have to see if that can be cut back (if things get to busy and stressful).
We're both definitaly a lot busier now than we were the last time I updated on here. I wish we had more free time to just hang out and be together, but I think we'll survive. It's funny to remember how bored I was before (when we had no jobs or obligations), and now I just wish I could have that laziness back. I guess it just shows that we need to appreciate and enjoy the circumstances that we're in and try to make the most out of the present while it's there.
Well, I want to be better. I want to finally do all the things I've just been meaning to do. Tonight is the night. I have the evening to myself and nothing to stop me but my own procrastination...I've been slowly forcing myself to sit down and log in to this blog for the past three hours.
So much has been happening in my life. It's been a very busy summer and I'm sooo ready for the fall...cooler weather, sweaters and layering, cozy living rooms, life slowing down and becoming more routine. Stephen and I are starting to get into a routine now that we have places to be and things to do.
I was offered a job through a temp agency in June and have been working at this job ever since. The opportunity came right in time...I had been getting really worried about my inablity to get a job and we weren't going to be able to pay our bills after that month. This temp agency found my resume online and wanted to interview me that day. The job they were trying to fill needed me to start the next day, so I immediately had a busy busy life. I work for a company that sets up promotions with big retailers/companies. We provide movie tickets, rewards cards, etc. to these companies (like Disney, Kmart, Expedia and such) for them to have promotions for their consumers/the public. Its a little confusing, but basically we are the middle man for all sorts of free offers and promotions that retailers offer. I work in Customer Service, answering calls and emails from consumers who are having problems with their rewards (we mostly do free movie tickets) or who have questions. It's not my favorite thing in the world, but it's a good job and I feel good inside every time I'm able to help someone. I get a wonderful sense of accomplishment when I finish a bunch of emails, and I'm constantly motivated to be better and faster at getting through all my work.
The only downfall to the job is that the office is up at Incline Village (Lake Tahoe), so I have to drive up and down the mountain everyday. That adds two extra hours to my work day, so I feel like I don't have much time for anything else. Instead of an 8-hour work day, I have a 10 1/2 hour work day (with the half hour of lunch I have to stay there for). At least I get to work somewhere beautiful, though, and have gorgeous views on my commute! Plus having to drive on the Mt Rose Hwy each day has really made me braver and a better driver. I was so terrified the first few times I drove, but now I feel confident and comfortable with all the twists and turns and cliffs. We'll see how I do when it's all snowy this winter.
It was supposed to be a temporary job that would end at the end of June, but we kept staying too busy to let me go. Now the employers at my office have offered me a permanent position. I just accepted it this week and can't wait to get the offer letter and finalize everything. This will be a salaried position with full benefits and everything. It's everything that I was hoping to get out of a full-time job and the salary is way more than I was expecting to get. It will be much more than we need to pay for everything, so we'll be able to save and pay off student loans and live a little more comfortably. I might have to change the title of my blog, since I don't really feel like we'll be just "getting by" anymore! I feel like we have been so blessed; everything just keeps working out for Stephen and me!
Stephen started classes last week. He ended up not taking any summer classes because we just didn't have enough money to pay for summer tuition when it was due; it came too soon. He's changed his major around a few times, but he's pretty excited now about his classes and current plan (a major Anthropology and a minor in Basque Studies). He has lots of reading (he's taking a full load of classes, plus a few extra independent study classes) but he's doing really well at keeping up with everything. I'm so proud of how hard he works! He also got a job at the new UNR library and he seems to be enjoying that. They are working him quite a few hours, though, so we may have to see if that can be cut back (if things get to busy and stressful).
We're both definitaly a lot busier now than we were the last time I updated on here. I wish we had more free time to just hang out and be together, but I think we'll survive. It's funny to remember how bored I was before (when we had no jobs or obligations), and now I just wish I could have that laziness back. I guess it just shows that we need to appreciate and enjoy the circumstances that we're in and try to make the most out of the present while it's there.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
No More Excuses
Okay, so it's been a long time. And I really have had no excuse not to update since April. To be completely honest, I've just been really down and depressed and haven't felt like blogging because I really don't have anything interesting going on. But I just need to get over it and try to be social again. So I can at least tell everyone about the big changes we've had (the biggest of all being that Stephen and I have moved down to Reno, NV).
In February, I spent a week in Wyoming at a regional acting festival, and I competed in the Irene Ryan competition for the third time, this time as Colby's partner. I much preferred being a partner rather than being the nominee, and I really felt like Colby and I had a great performance. Alas, we didn't make it to the semi-finals, but we really did the best we could.
The month of March was honestly one of the busiest times of my life. I was in a very time-consuming play one week, the next week was finals (and now Stephen and I have both officially finished our Associates of Arts Honors degrees!!!), and then the last week was spent working extra hours (right up to the day before we moved) and packing, packing, packing. It was a little hectic! Thank goodness for my mom coming the week of my play and helping me pack and for Stephen's parents coming to help us move. We really couldn't have gotten everything done without them all.
Part of getting ready to move was getting a vehicle that's a little more snow-worthy. The Mustang could barely handle rain, so driving in Nevada's snowy winters was out of the question. So before we moved, Stephen and I traded in the sleek Mustang for a used Toyota 4Runner and we're really happy with our purchase.
We lived in Washington for almost 3 years and this was my first time seeing tidepools. It was so neat!!!
In February, I spent a week in Wyoming at a regional acting festival, and I competed in the Irene Ryan competition for the third time, this time as Colby's partner. I much preferred being a partner rather than being the nominee, and I really felt like Colby and I had a great performance. Alas, we didn't make it to the semi-finals, but we really did the best we could.
The month of March was honestly one of the busiest times of my life. I was in a very time-consuming play one week, the next week was finals (and now Stephen and I have both officially finished our Associates of Arts Honors degrees!!!), and then the last week was spent working extra hours (right up to the day before we moved) and packing, packing, packing. It was a little hectic! Thank goodness for my mom coming the week of my play and helping me pack and for Stephen's parents coming to help us move. We really couldn't have gotten everything done without them all.
Part of getting ready to move was getting a vehicle that's a little more snow-worthy. The Mustang could barely handle rain, so driving in Nevada's snowy winters was out of the question. So before we moved, Stephen and I traded in the sleek Mustang for a used Toyota 4Runner and we're really happy with our purchase.
One last trip to the water before we headed back to dry NV.
We lived in Washington for almost 3 years and this was my first time seeing tidepools. It was so neat!!!
We moved down to Fallon temporarily while we waited for our apartment to open up. Stephen's dad owns his (Stephen's) great-grandparents old house and didn't have anyone renting it at the time, so we got to stay there for free! Shadow got into this weird habit for the few weeks we lived there...he would crawl under a blanket on the couch and sleep there all day, every day. Then as soon as we moved up to Reno, he stopped doing it...so weird!
Stephen and I love our new apartment!!! It's walking distance to UNR so we won't have to juggle our one car or pay for a parking pass. It's just the right size for us (and it's even bigger than our last house), and it's surrounded by pine trees with a beautiful view out to the mountains. We're so happy with it! I'll try to take and post a picture of the view sometime soon.
Thanks to a "going-away" Safeway's gift card from our good friends, we were able to fill our fridge with all sorts of delicious foods.
Our first meal in the new place...spaghetti and meatballs and artichokes, mmmm!
And as you can see, Shadow has been doing a lot of sleeping (and looking mighty cute). His new favorite spot is on the swivel chair (in the 2nd picture); he sleeps there everyday and gets a little upset whenever someone else is sitting there. I guess he thinks he owns that chair!
Stephen is all signed up for classes for the summer and fall at UNR, and the plan is for me to work full-time while he finishes his education. Problem is...I haven't had much luck finding a job. I've been hunting for almost two months now and I've applied for almost 40 jobs, but no one seems to want me. I really thought it would be easy for me to get hired with all the experience I have, but I've been unpleasantly surprised. Hence, the depression in my life and the reason I have no more excuses to not be blogging. I have nothing to do all day except laze around. It was fun and relaxing for the first few weeks, but now it just makes me feel blah. But some amazing job is bound to present itself soon, right? I'm just glad we've had some money saved to live on for awhile.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Super Busy
Sorry everyone...I have a lot going on lately. It might be awhile until I have time to write.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
I Love February!
More and more, I'm falling in love with Valentine's Day and the whole month of February. Not so much because I want to give/receive V-day gifts or do anything special...I just love the look of this holiday. Any holiday that lets me decorate with and wear RED all month long is great in my book!!! I just love red!!! I don't really like the look of red and pink together, so Valentine's Day can sometimes bug me, but keep them separate and you'll keep me happy. Plus pink is a good color on me, so I get to look cute wearing pink this month too.
And I love the hearts as decorations too. The other day, one of my coworkers gave me a York Peppermint Patty and the whole thing was so cute. The wrapper had little pink hearts on it, the patty itself was in the shape of a heart, and the mint inside was pink instead of white! It totally made my day!!! I'm such a sucker for seasonal things like that.
I'm finding more and more that I like to dress and decorate for the seasons/holidays each month. I never thought I'd be like that, but I guess I'm more like my mom than I realized (I've even gone so far as contemplating making a wreath out of branches that I could change/add to each month to go with whatever season or holiday is going on...just like my mom had while I was growing up).
And I love the hearts as decorations too. The other day, one of my coworkers gave me a York Peppermint Patty and the whole thing was so cute. The wrapper had little pink hearts on it, the patty itself was in the shape of a heart, and the mint inside was pink instead of white! It totally made my day!!! I'm such a sucker for seasonal things like that.
I'm finding more and more that I like to dress and decorate for the seasons/holidays each month. I never thought I'd be like that, but I guess I'm more like my mom than I realized (I've even gone so far as contemplating making a wreath out of branches that I could change/add to each month to go with whatever season or holiday is going on...just like my mom had while I was growing up).
Monday, January 28, 2008
Snow Day!!!
It snowed last night (not much...maybe 6 inches) and our town is completely incapable of handeling snow, so they closed the school for the day! I was so excited when my boss called me this morning to tell me!!! Nothing like an extra day off! Last year we missed a whole week of school when it snowed--not so much because of the snow, but because when they plowed the parking lot and roads it all turned to ice! (I'm secretly hoping it'll snow more tonight so I won't have to go tomorrow either...I'm soooo lazy!)
I know it's a little late, but I wanted to post some pictures from Stevo's birthday. He turned the big 2-1 on the 7th!!!! Unfortunately I was sick so I wasn't able to do much for him to make it a special day. In fact, I kind of feel like I completely ruined his birthday (of course he assures me that's not true, but I can't help feeling bad)!!! I planned to make him a wonderful dinner and cake with candles and everything, but we ended up just ordering a pizza instead (I just had no energy to cook). But I guess having pizza delivered was a nice treat too. He'd taken the day off from work so he could just laze around all he wanted, and I tried to make it as special as I could (cleaning up the house, setting out all his presents before he could come out of the bedroom, and making a few surprise "presents").
Here's the birthday boy in the morning:
And here he is at night, after "getting wasted" on his "Alcoholic" Beer (I just covered up all the spots where it said Root Beer--silly I know, but he needed something special for turning 21!!!):
I know it's a little late, but I wanted to post some pictures from Stevo's birthday. He turned the big 2-1 on the 7th!!!! Unfortunately I was sick so I wasn't able to do much for him to make it a special day. In fact, I kind of feel like I completely ruined his birthday (of course he assures me that's not true, but I can't help feeling bad)!!! I planned to make him a wonderful dinner and cake with candles and everything, but we ended up just ordering a pizza instead (I just had no energy to cook). But I guess having pizza delivered was a nice treat too. He'd taken the day off from work so he could just laze around all he wanted, and I tried to make it as special as I could (cleaning up the house, setting out all his presents before he could come out of the bedroom, and making a few surprise "presents").
Here's the birthday boy in the morning:
And here he is at night, after "getting wasted" on his "Alcoholic" Beer (I just covered up all the spots where it said Root Beer--silly I know, but he needed something special for turning 21!!!):
Sometimes Shadow likes to help me with the chores. One of his favorite games is "Let's Change the Sheets!" He loves attacking the folds and wrinkles as I try to smooth everything out, and he likes it when I throw up the sheets/blankets and let them land on him:
Nothing much going on here. School is keeping me extra busy this quarter, which is strange because I'm taking less classes than usual. I'm just having trouble with my calculus class this time...I have a different teacher than before and he's not very good at teaching!!! I actually have to read along and study at home (as opposed to my usual just doing some of the problems and being able to ace the tests). Math usually comes pretty easily for me, but I guess it helps to have a good teacher.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Further Proof I'm a Terrible Cook...
I again attempted to make a cake, and it's a pretty big mess! I had some cake mix to bake Stephen a cake for his birthday on the 7th, but since I was sick then I didn't ever do it. So I was thinking about making a cake today, and then Stephen inconspicuously set it out on the table when he left for work, so I decided to take the hint!!
I don't know why I am so bad at baking cakes! (I could probably do a sheet cake just fine, but Stephen likes the round layered ones better) I thought it would turn out ok, but then I couldn't get the layers out of their pans and they were all crumbly and breaking apart. I just slathered them with frosting to keep everything from completely falling apart! And the finished product is lumpy and lopsided and really ugly! Seriously, it's pretty bad!!! At least I have a sweet husband who won't really care what it looks like.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
sporting the side pony-tail today...
...and loving every minute of it!
(and obviously not wearing any makeup on my day off--sorry everyone!)
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Turning a New Leaf
Well, it's a new year, and a time to start posting more regularly. Hopefully I can do better this year than only writing about once a month :)
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I'll try to do a quick recap in pictures of all of December...
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I called Stephen to come pick me up one night after I finished either a rehearsal or performance of my play, and he said he had a surprise for me in the car and that I couldn't get mad at him. I get in the car and find a big dog sitting in the backseat!!! Apparently there was this dog running around the parking lot at Star Video all day so the employees (probably instigated by Stephen) brought him in and put him in the back room. By that time the Humane Society was already closed, so Stephen offered to take the dog home for the night and take him over there in the morning (not the first time Stevo has taken in a stray--he has a soft spot for animals).
I called Stephen to come pick me up one night after I finished either a rehearsal or performance of my play, and he said he had a surprise for me in the car and that I couldn't get mad at him. I get in the car and find a big dog sitting in the backseat!!! Apparently there was this dog running around the parking lot at Star Video all day so the employees (probably instigated by Stephen) brought him in and put him in the back room. By that time the Humane Society was already closed, so Stephen offered to take the dog home for the night and take him over there in the morning (not the first time Stevo has taken in a stray--he has a soft spot for animals).
So we kept this big guy for the night, which meant Shadow had to stay in our room with us, which also meant we didn't sleep very well (the cat gets a little crazy at night). Stephen took him over to the Humane Society and they were able to scan his microchip and get all his info. His name was "Blue" (which totally suited his quiet, sad-ish personality) and his owners had already reported him missing. We were relieved that he had a home that wanted and missed him (so we didn't have to give him to the pound and feel bad about not keeping him), but we were kind of sad to see him go. He was a really good and sweet dog.
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Here's a picture of me from the play. It went really well and it made me happy (as always) to be on stage and feel like I did a good job. Three of us were nominated to go compete at the regional festival, but our director only wanted to actually have two of us compete. One guy and myself have already competed twice and we both were kind of ready to be a partner instead so our director left it up to us to decide. So Colby will be the nominee/competitor and I'll be his partner. I'm really excited!! I make a much better partner than the one to hog the limelight (not that Colby does that). So we'll go to Wyoming in February to compete and hopefully do a little bit better this year than in the past. Colby and I work really well together, but we've never been able to be partners for the competition because we've both been nominees. So I think our chances are a little better doing it together!-----
Stephen and I flew down to Fallon as soon as we finished finals (it was the most haphazard packing I've ever done...I literally had to just throw stuff in a suitcase because we were in such a hurry...and my obsessive personality had a REALLY hard time being ok with that!). We went over to Sacramento with my parents for a couple days to visit two of my sisters and their families. That was so much fun...I loved seeing them all again and having time to just hang out and visit and relax. Here's Nancy and Tyler, who is such a big boy for his age (he's only about 1 and 1/2, but he looks like he's 2 or 3)!!! He was a cutie!
-----We spent a couple days with my parents and got to spend some time hanging out with my other sister and my brother and their families. More fun family time...lots of laughing and relaxing. Benjamin loves to play the "take a picture of me making a silly face" game, so we did lots of that, and I played too! Here are some of our silly faces:
Sarah is so adorable!!! I just kept wanting to hold her and give her kisses. Now her hair is long enough to have two little pigtails, which just makes her even cuter! Here she is playing with "Papa's" lips:
And here she is playing the piano...maybe she'll follow in Auntie Susan's footsteps:
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Stephen and I celebrated our 2-year anniversary while we were down there!! He took me out to dinner (Mexican--our fave) and we bought each other new shoes because we were needing them badly!
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We also spent a couple days with Stephen's parents. We visited with them, had dinners with the Achurra grandparents and the Van den Heuvel grandparents, and got to visit a little with Stephen's aunt and cousin. And we spent to night before we left in the Atlantis because it was easier than driving back up to Reno the next morning for our flight after being in Reno for dinner. One of the rooms got upgraded, so Stephen and I got to stay in a suite with a big whirlpool tub and with access to a special lounge for breakfast (all thanks to Grandma Achurra's free room she won)! We considered it an extension of our anniversary celebration!! Paula got me all suited up in her skis one night...it was really fun and probably the closest I'll get to skiing! I'm not a fan of being in the snow, but maybe I'll be brave and let Stephen teach me sometime.
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We came home to have Christmas as our own little family...it was just really nice to be alone and relax together. On Christmas Eve we watched "It's A Wonderful Life" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas" (why not have some Halloween too!?!?) and drank lots of hot chocolate. Here's our cute little tree and presents:
And here's the traditional Christmas morning picture:
Our stockings...Shadow's was filled with fun little toys that he loves, and Nellie's was filled with a huge wad of lettuce!!! She was very pleased!
We spent the day lazing around and watching more movies ("Back to the Future: Part 3" and another one that I can't remember). For dinner I roasted a ham and made barbecue sauce from scratch, and we had rolls and green beans and apple juice with 7Up. I was going to make a pumpkin pie too, but I just forgot to ever do it that day. I'll have to make it some other day soon.
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We didn't really do anything exciting for New Year's Eve...just watched another movie (do we do anything else!!) and drank some sparkling cider. We had a fun time just being together, though, and it was nice for both of us to have New Year's Day off together.
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Classes started today...uggggh. I really wasn't ready to go back yet, but I guess I'll manage. I'm technically done with my AA degree, but I'm just taking two more classes (Calc. 2 and another Pych. class) so that I can get the Honors degree. I figured I might as well do more since we're here and since it gives me a job through work-study. Stephen is still trying to decide what to do about his classes. He just needs one more humanities, so he's signed up for an online Lit. class and he's also signed up for an online Chem. class so that he can get the Honor's degree too. But he might appeal to the dean to be able to use some of the other classes he's taken as the humanities credit he needs. He just doesn't really want to take 2 online classes at once, so we'll see what happens with that.
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I guess I've gone on too long already. I should probably start doing some reading for my class and maybe I'll be motivated enough to also get some housework done!
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