updaaaate!

I’ve been a bad blogger lately. According to whose standards, you ask? Yeah, I ask myself the same thing. I spent some time this weekend being a real nerd and reading my old blog posts and laughing at all the memories and things that were happening in my day to day. It really made me miss updating, which I didn’t think I would miss anytime soon.

Part of my slacking is due to the fact that I have been in school, which took significantly more of my time than a day job ever did. Part of this is also due to the fact that I simply lost a lot of interest in/become overwhelmed with blogging and just wanted to step away from it for a while.

It’s super easy to get overwhelmed by having a blog because you feel pressure to update, put your life on display (to some degree), be “one of those blogs,” and then you feel guilt for not keeping readers happy. I also get stage fright from time to time, realizing how many people that I don’t know are reading this. I don’t write (or draw) well when I know people are watching. But like I’ve said before, this blog isn’t about any one particular thing, I don’t have any goals for it, it’s just about me (how self absorbed does that sound), and I just needed a break from it. Especially coming off years of being a working writer. The last thing I wanted to do was write everyday.

All that to say, I think I will try to make this thing a ‘thing’ again. If I let go of my ideas of what it “should be” and just let myself do what I do, I generally like the way it turns out. I also really like looking back at my posts. I certainly have plenty of time right now, as I’m not working or going to school this semester (short story: I need to take Anatomy before I can take my upper level classes and I can’t take Anatomy this semester, so I’m just taking the semester off).

I probably could have done without writing this post and just jumped back into it but I wanted to let you all know what’s up. I’m thoughtful like that!

Image: Becca Stadtlander

friday quote: september 7, 2012

“Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste
of energy; you can’t build on it; it is only good for wallowing in.”

- Katherine Mansfield

Photo: EyePoetryPhotography

yoo hoo!

Hello? Anyone still reading? I don’t blame you if not. I am so not going to apologize for not posting these past few months though, because hey – life happens, and some things are more important than blogging, yaknow?

I am staring down the last few weeks of the semester, with my eyes happily set on the summer ahead. It’s been a verrrryyyy busy semester, 17 credits worth of madness full of chemistry, animal science, and medical terminology. But I still love my classes & have even managed to keep up my grades (though I may get out with a B in at least one class). If school weren’t enough, I also managed to plan (and fly home for!) my Mom’s 50th birthday party, my sister’s bridal shower, and my sister’s bachelorette party – all super fun, memorable events that I hope everyone enjoyed as much as I did!

This summer will definitely be a welcome break, but we’ve already got a few exciting plans in the works. First of all, my sister is getting married Memorial Day weekend in VA which I’m so excited for. Then a couple weeks after finals, we are heading to Scotland to hang with my grandparents, and then spend a week in Ireland. It will be J’s first time in Scotland and both of our first time in Ireland! If anyone has any suggestions on places to go or things to see, we are all ears. We’re flying into Edinburgh, then traveling up north to Inverness for several days, and then we have a week open in Ireland until we fly out of Dublin. So exciting! We are flying back into DC to spend Fourth of July with my family and then we’re back to LA. A couple weeks after that, my little (soon-to-be-15-yrs-old-omg) sister will be joining us for a week. That brings us to the end of July and so far we have no plans for August! Who knows, maybe we’ll actually stay put and do nothing for a month?

Until then it is just business as usual around here, studying & enjoying the Spring weekends. Julian’s got a big birthday coming up, actually – 25! He’s pledged his birthday to charity: water and asked all his friends & family to donate to clean water projects instead of giving him a present. So far he’s already halfway to his goal!! I’m so proud of him. I love reading all the sweet comments from his fans, too.

Trying not to get too weepy over the fact that I’ll be 30 the same year my husband is 25 but hey, that’s what you get marrying a younger man. And I think 30 won’t be as bad as I think.

Photo: themostamazingofthings

2011 was a fine, fine year

Happy 2012! Yeah, I’m a bit late with this post, but I couldn’t resist adding a 2011 recap/appreciation rundown, because it was truly a phenomenal year for me. So many big changes, amazing trips, happy feelings, and so on. So here goes.

In 2011, I/we

• began the year by doing handstands
• got laid off from Myspace and began a happier new chapter of life
• visited friends in Italy, saw Naples, Rome and the Amalfi Coast
• went snowboarding in Big Bear (Julian’s first time!)
• bought road bikes!
• gave up sweets for Lent (SO hard)
• celebrated our first anniversary in Kauai, Hawaii
• Julian interviewed James Cameron!
• started running, met my goal, and ran my first 5k
• decided to go back to school to become a veterinary technician (& got straight As my first semester!)
• went to Chicago to have fun in the city & visit family nearby
• said goodbye to Noah, my family’s loving yellow Lab
• celebrated 4th of July with the beach & Hall & Oates
• moved to the valley and into our first REAL house, spent a week with my little brother & sister, and welcomed Frank to our family! (all in one week – crazy!)
• celebrated my 29th birthday at the Gentle Barn
• had the most wonderful Thanksgiving with J’s family back in Nashville
• said goodbye to Julian’s Great Grandma Dorty, one of the most unique and inspiring women I’ve ever met.
• welcomed visits from many friends and family
• spent an incredible week in NYC and VA over Christmas
• hosted our first party here at the house on New Year’s Eve

In 2012, I hope to:

• visit my Grandparents in Scotland this summer
• make the most of our trip to Mexico (later this month!)
• be the best Maid of Honor ever for my little sister Ana
• grow my hair long
• keep running
• eat breakfast everyday
• start volunteering at a veterinary hospital
• finally hang some art on the walls of our house
• be a more patient, appreciative, and proactive friend, sister, daughter, and wife

my buddy

Julian took this adorable photo of our pup tonight (btw – it feels wrong to call a 75lb dog a puppy – he’s HUGE! – but absolutely still a puppy at only 8.5 months). He is now currently growling/barking in his sleep. Too adorable. I love Frank.

P.S. Only one more final to go. I am *pretty sure* I got As on my first three, but time will tell. Hope you are all getting excited for the holidays! I know I am!

december!

Happy December, everyone! Let the guilt-free Christmas music-listening, holiday decorating, sequin-wearing, and shopping officially begin. Only two and a half more weeks of school and then we will be off to NY and Virginia to celebrate the holiday right. But as I’m sure is the case for many of us, I have a looooot to get done between now & then (finals, for one), so I know you’ll forgive my silence on the blog. I have the entire month of January off of school so who knows, maybe I’ll be posting more. Though I will definitely enjoy the mental rest as I have a full 17 credits ahead of me in February. Wow.

P.S. A little tip from me to you… these Oreo fudge brownies (unfortunately) taste as good as they look. Good luck resisting!!

Toodles.

Photo: TutorArt

happy halloween

A couple of pumpkins I painted last night (way to wait until the last minute, eh?)

Myself on Saturday night. Costume started as a Grandma, but once a girl at the Magic Castle mistook me for an 80s romance novelist, that’s what I started telling people I was.

 One with Grandpa Julian, after his mustache fell off. You can’t really tell here, but we both had white/gray hair.

Happy Halloween to all!  We’ll be spending the rest of the day/evening watching scary movies and handing out candy to trick or treaters (so excited about that last part). See you in November!

happy birthday, ana

Just have to stop in to give a super happy birthday shout-out to my beautiful sister Ana, who turns 24 today. Ana, I know you’re reading this, and I want you to know how much I love you, cherish you, and wish I could be there to celebrate with you!!! You are the best sister a girl could ever ask for & I am grateful everyday to have you in my life!

BTW, your gift will be late.

Ana and I this time last year

By the way – I’m alone again! Julian has once again been shipped off – to NYC this time to film his best friend Marc as he wraps up his new record in the studio over the next few days. I’m sad he’s gone so unexpectedly, but I think it’s a gift in a way because I really need to play catch up on a lot of school work and it’s hard to make myself focus when I have such a dashing, entertaining man hanging around the house all day.

See what I mean about the dashing part:

At least I have three furry kids to keep me company around here til he returns. Things are going well in my world – just had a lovely visit with Julian’s parents, started my 10k training program (so far so good, but it’s early – I’m enjoying the strength training & looking forward to getting some cycling in), been getting good grades at school & learning so much, and the weather is finally starting to feel more Fall-like regularly. I can’t believe it’ll be Halloween in 20 days! We don’t have costumes yet, so I guess I should get on that soon.

Hope you’re all having a beautiful October… xo

Photo: first by Julian / second by Julian’s Mom, Laura 

happy almost friday!

I’m stuck in the middle of a whirlwind of doing homework and studying for quizzes and exams. It’s like I haven’t stopped except to eat, sleep, and clean! And yes, watch a little bit of The Good Wife, which I’ve been devouring via Netflix (or shall I say… “Qwikster”). Today was my first real test (in what is probably going to be my hardest class this semester) and I am pretty sure I got an A. I will definitely feel like a fool for saying that if I didn’t, but I really did study hard and there were only 1 or 2 questions that really ‘got me.’ I had little time to celebrate though, because I have my weekly quiz in Algebra at 8am tomorrow and you can imagine how much fun it is to calculate mixtures (how much pure alcohol do you add to 35L of 20% solution to get a final solution of 50%?) – I think I’m getting the hang of it, but my mind is like Jello pudding right now.

Once class is over tomorrow (and I swing by the RVT building to do a little work on an assignment), I am coming home to hopefully soak up every last minute I can with J before he leaves town for a week. What a total bummer. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to mope about him leaving as I usually do, but I really will miss him once he’s gone. It’s just a week, though! And I think Frank will have it harder than I do. That dog has become so attached to him, he’s gonna wonder where his Papa went.

My birthday was absolutely perfect btw – despite getting a rough start to the morning with a dead car battery, we had a great time visiting the animals at the Gentle Barn (and met a 1,000 lb pig named Biscuit), got great massages (not at the barn, I assure you), and had an amazing dinner at a romantic Italian joint out in Santa Monica. Julian really outdid himself with the planning, and considering how busy he’s been lately, I appreciate it even more than usual. What a good man I have.

Buddha and I

Handsome Monty

A pig named Zeus (believe it or not, not the 1,000 lb guy)

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend… and happy Fall!!!

mid-september update.

Ack, it has been a while since I’ve last posted. As anticipated, I’ve been busy with school work, which I LOVE bee tee dubs. I am thoroughly enjoying my classes. One of the highlights of the semester so far has been kennel duty – which sounds pretty awful, cleaning up after & feeding animals… but the animals are so sweet, I get to feed an alpaca and a pot-bellied pig, for example, and it’s so much fun! It’s also so great to be around people that share your passion, and I have to say, I am much more focused & driven to get good grades the second time around. My first couple tries at college didn’t go so well. So fingers crossed things keep up for me!

My birthday is just one day away and I’m already more excited for it than I have been about years previous… I’m not even planning on having a birthday party. I’m just going to spend the day with my wonderful hubs & I know he’s got a few surprises planned (like a trip to the Gentle Barn!) This is officially going to be my last year in my 20s and I am 100% not ok with that. I may feel like a youngster inside, but creeping up on that 3-0 is just so…. not for me. Not much I can do about it, however, so I better learn to deal.

Today was the first day it really felt like Fall outside (I even turned the heat on… just because!!), but sadly I don’t think it’s going to last. Knowing LA, it will be back up in the high 90s next week. I am very much looking forward to cooler weather though, because I’ve got a couple new cold-weather garments that I’m itching to wear (like this and this, for example). I’d also love to test drive our fireplaces!!

All is well in my world. I hope the same for you. And I hope to be back with more exciting updates/posts soon. Xo

Photo: Stephen Rahn