Failure is NOT an Option

I have recently been 'reminded' by both friends and family that I am failing as a blogger. I guess an 8 month hiatus is the definition of one big blogging failure. So in an effort to avoid such labels, I'll try to catch you up as much as possible! My life in pictures over the past few months...

OCTOBER

Becky's wedding (everyone came and stayed at my house in Austin, so fun!)

Halloween party with work people

NOVEMBER

Thanksgiving with my fam (1st Thanksgiving I had to work, hello real world. But my fam is awesome and waited to celebrate til Friday)

DECEMBER

Trip to NYC with Katie at Christmastime. Broadway, White Christmas, shopping, Rockefeller tree, Santa at Macy's, so much more...LOVED it!

San Antonio with my mom and MA...River Walk, shopping, Feliz Navidad!

Christmas morning

JANUARY

Dallas to celebrate these girl's birthdays

FEBRUARY

Parents got a sweet new puppy named Lacy

MARCH

John Mayer Concert

March Madness Houston trip to cheer on my Bears in the Sweet 16/Elite 8 games

APRIL

"Little Ladybug" party for Kylie's 2nd birthday celebration

Lisa Ling presentation with my mom, grandma, and Lori

Galveston for Carolyn's graduation and graduation celebration (got to see all my nursing school friends 1 year later)

Wedding for work friend

NYC with mom, mom's best friend and her daughter (Kim and Whitney) for Kim's 50th birthday celebration

MAY

Minnesota for cousin Molly's wedding

I just flew back in from Minnesota a few hours ago, so how's that for being caught up on my life! Taking cue from the roommate, all these pics were a good reminder that even though I sometimes feel like work is all I do these days, I've managed to fit a couple other things in as well :)

I have lots to say, lots to tell you, but never seem to find time to blog about it. I'll try not to take another 8 month vacation.

Happy 100th Homecoming

This weekend was wonderful. Baylor's 100th Homecoming celebration and "Thanksgiving" with my family. (Yes, I realize it's still October. Some of my Minnesota family came to Waco, so we had Thanksgiving part 1...2 Thanksgivings, who's gonna argue with that?!?)

Here's my weekend in pictures...

Playing at the park...

Baylor Homecoming Parade...

Catching up with old friends...

Loving my school...

Family...

Great weekend with great people.

when you give a mom a call of desperation...

...you end up with a kitchen full of spices! Apparently phones calls starting with "Mom, I want to cook something, have any ideas?" followed up by "lemon pepper, one lemon, frozen chicken, goldfish, jelly, stale bread, peanut butter, and cheerios" (after being asked what I have available in my kitchen) can really make the maternal instinct kick into overdrive. I guess there's no real recipe that calls for those ingredients all at the same time? Who knew.

So a couple short weeks after this convo, our pantry got a facelift!

Name a spice/seasoning, it's now in my kitchen, thanks to good ol' mom. Combined with the stack of recipes my NiNi just gave me, and a little inspiration from Julie and Julia (not to mention the numbers on the scale lately...thank you P Terry's and Chuy's), my mission is to learn to cook. Not only to cook, but cook something edible, that could be a challenge.

Any recipe suggestions?

The Big Move

Picture FILTHY. Now picture FILTHY on crack. That is what my new house looked like when I arrived on Thursday. Disgusting beyond belief. So with our cleaning crew of many (aka: parents, friends, cousins, aunts and uncles) and three solid days of scrubbing every single inch of this place, it's almost clean. Scrub. Rinse. Repeat ten more times. Eleven in some places. And I only wish I were being dramatic about this. 

The hippies who lived here before did not think electricity was necessary. I mean who needs AC in the Texas summers? Turning lights on? Cooking on the stove? Washing your clothes in this crazy new invention called a washing machine? Apparently not a top priority when you have enough incense and special "grass" (grown in your own backyard) to last you a lifetime. So the fact that the washer/dryer, AC, hall lights, and stove/oven were not working was not discovered until our move in week. (a few calls to the landlord and Sears, and a new washer, dryer, and stove are being delivered Saturday. yay!)

The good news is that I love this house. I wanted an OLD house, and I got it. And all of the good, bad, and ugly things that come along with it. But I love it. And I love that I'm officially living in Austin now. I still have a million boxes to unpack, and feel it necessary to clean this place several more times. But I also have to pass the nursing boards next week. So until I pass, my life will consist of unpacking boxes, cleaning, studying, and refusing to walk around without shoes on until all remnants of the former tenants are long gone.  

I have pictures for you, but my camera somehow got lost in the mix, and is now hiding in one of the many boxes. I'll find it eventually, but until then, I'll leave you with a teaser...

(this is pre-front yard maintenance, but now this is home.)

today is exactly

one month 'til my birthday.

and one week 'til I move into a house that i love. 

and maybe one day closer to me posting pics of the aforementioned house? 

There's No Such Thing as the Real World?

If there's no such thing as the real world, then I'm not really sure what I'm about to jump into. Because I'm pretty sure it's about the closest thing to the so-called "real world" as I can get. No more being a professional student, and onto the job. To be honest, I don't really know how to not be a student, so this should be interesting! I'm sure I'll adjust really quickly! ;)

With that said, I think it's time to tell y'all what's up. I've made some minor adjustments to the original plan, but not without a lot of thought and a couple agonizing days of decision making. So what will the next step be for me? (umm, I feel a drum roll is necessary here....)

Welllll, I recently accepted a position as an EMERGENCY ROOM NURSE in AUSTIN, TX! I will be working at a hospital in downtown Austin starting this summer. I had two interviews a couple of weeks ago, and will be going back to ATX tomorrow morning for all of the new employee paperwork and other fun stuff, plus a new employee nursing test. (which I need to study for tonight!)

I am excited about Austin, what a fun place to live! Yes, I am bummed that the majority of my friends are in Dallas area and I won't be, but that just means I will have to take lots of trips to visit you all! (And I have a feeling this will be a lot easier without the school nonsense tying up my schedule.) And y'all came come play in ATX!

I have an appointment with a realtor on Tuesday to find a house. Oh yah, I forgot to mention, my current roommate will also be moving to Austin, which will be great! Roommates again, and a friend in Austin :) 2 other classmates are going to be in Austin too, so that's fun.

I'm excited about having a yard. And having Baylie back with me. And having random Austin places to hang out. Weird, hole-in-the-wall, random local band type places. And living in a place equally as weird as Galveston. And living closer to my cousins and uncle. (and a little bit closer to Waco). And getting to spend a lot more time with Alex and Kylie because they're growing like weeds. And getting a bike. And taking Baylie to dog parks and for walks at Town Lake. (or Lady Bird Lake, excuse me). And going to ACL. And just doing my part to...

So that's the plan! I'm moving to Austin! Yay! I'll keep you posted on the house hunt, so you can plan your first visit to ATX with me :)

a sick little piggy went to mexico...

...so we did not. That's right, no swine flu for me. Or should I say H1N1? This is the only pig we encountered this week, compliments of Jorge :)

The cruise ended up being THE CRUISE TO NOWHERE, thanks to the CDC for their recommendation of avoiding all "non-essential travel to Mexico." While I feel this was essential, apparently Carnival cruise lines and the US government did not, and who am I to argue? So we had 5 "Fun Days at Sea" instead. I can't complain though, they were five days of relaxation! 

This is where I've been all week? Maybe? Somewhere out there?

Meet NANCY! She's our fun friend we met our first day. We love her, she was so cute! This is a little glimpse of her and MA in the ABBA Dancing Queen class. :)

  

One of MA's DC roomies (Courtney) and her mom and gma were on the cruise too, so that was an added bonus! Fun people!!!

It was a fun trip, and I'm so glad we were able to go!

Now I'm back on land, but feel like I'm still on a boat. Anybody have a solution for sea-legs?