some how, some way…

I got an A in Chemistry this semester. I’m a regular Walter White over here. I am half in complete disbelief, half in complete joy! I can’t believe I pulled it off.Yes, I worked my butt off, but I was fully prepared for a B. It almost makes me want to take another Chemistry class… almost.

I also got 3 other As, and a puny little B (my first one). Yes, bummed about the B, but my GPA is still 3.90 so I am pretty happy about that.

What a great way to end the semester.

speaking of school

I’m totally going to try this on an exam.

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

busy.

I thought I knew busy… but I had no idea. I’m sorry for not updating more, but I am slammed with 17 credits at school this semester. I hope to be able to post more, but right now I have to focus on my studies! The good news is, I still L-O-V-E what I’m studying. I feel fortunate to be able to pursue my passion.

And since I don’t like to post without photos, here’s a recent photo of me in Mexico, holding a tiger:

final fall grades

Just got my last grade (FINALLY!) and…. drumroll please… I did it! I got all As this semester! I don’t think I’ve EVER had a 4.0 in any semester of school, maybe ever. It feels great! I can’t stop staring at my grades and smiling. All that studying paid off. I am one proud lady!

Photo: Elizabeth Messina

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 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!!!

goal: reached!

It’s been a very busy week so far, as I anticipated! Lots of scrambling around trying to get into the rest of my classes (all the animal science classes are full, but so far I’ve gotten into two of them, maybe 3!) But so far, I love love love school. I mean, sure I haven’t really started the hard work yet… but even talking about the material and being around people that share my passion is so energizing.

Speaking of energizing, I’m just popping in to update that I ran for 31 minutes tonight! Yes, I officially passed my running goal!! I wasn’t planning on it at all, I was planning on doing a 28 minute run, but when my time was up, I just kept going. I ran until I got to my house and it turned out to be just about 31 minutes. The craziest thing is, I didn’t even feel like I had to stop… I could have totally kept going. The past couple runs have actually been oddly easy… I’m not sure if I passed some kind of a threshold or what, but all of the sudden it’s like my body remembers what’s going on and pushes through without any problem. Even the hills that I usually struggle on are a piece of cake. It feels unreal… I don’t mean to brag, but I am so, so proud of myself! I guess this means I need to start working on a new goal. Speed, perhaps? Or I might integrate cycling into my “off” days. We’ll see.

Hope you’re all having a great week! Xo

Photo: Nike ad from 1988. Found here. 

back to school

The day I’ve been waiting for has finally come… the first day of school! And just like when I was younger, I fought & argued to stay in bed. I could hardly sleep a wink last night because I was literally buzzing with excitement and anxiety/nerves. The minute I think to myself, “I wonder if I’ll have a hard time falling asleep?” I know I’ll have a hard time falling asleep. Does this happen to anyone else?? It’s the worst! But today ought to be fun. I’m ready to dive in! Bring it on, higher education!

Wish me luck!

Photo: found here. Doesn’t it stress you out? Thankfully I don’t think I’ll have any classes like that this semester.