She Believed She Could... So She Did (School Update)

Today was my first day of school at a real university. I've been attending a local community college for the past two years, and I finally made the leap into the university. After what happened to me today, I can say that I only see good things ahead.

On my way to my geology lab class, I met some of the people that run the Geo Club. I ended up talking to a girl for a few minutes before heading into class. An hour later, she was still outside, and she invited me to go to the second floor to meet one of the professors. I awkwardly accepted, and headed upstairs not knowing what I was getting into. I turned the corner, and walked into one of the messiest, most wonderful rooms I have ever seen. There were papers about Wooly Mammoths in Nevada and fossils and rocks strewn about the floor and bookshelves. I cannot even begin to guess how many books were on the shelves too. He introduced himself, and said that he was the head of the Geoscience department. I talked to him about a million things for over half an hour. He invited me to go on digs with his graduate students and to help with a paleontological convention coming up in November. He said that he would help me with whatever I needed and gave me information about other graduate and undergraduate students at the university who I should contact. I walked out of that room more excited about what I want to do with my life in a long time.

I feel like this semester has already opened up so many opportunities for me and this was only the first day! I cannot wait to see what this semester brings me.

Has anyone else started school? How's your first few days going?

Weekly Inspiration

I'm reading this wonderful book. It's really helping me pull my business together and help me realize where I want everything to go!

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Look at his little face! How cute is that?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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There are no words to express my love for Spirited Away.

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I love autumn. It is my favorite season ever. I hate that the leaves don't change colors in Las Vegas. :c

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I LOVE these up close pictures of the displays at the Melbourne Museum.

I cannot begin to describe how relevant this is to my life.

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Finally, has anyone ever seen any of these? I saw them everywhere in Pennsylvania! They're called Wooly Aphids and they float around like cotton balls. I miss them so!

This week has been full of me getting ready to go back to school. I still need to tour the campus and get the rest of my books. I'm so nervous to start school on the 29th! I don't think I've been this worried in a long time. Jason and I have an official day for when we can move into the town house- November 8th. I can't wait! We're both so excited to start picking out paint colors and furniture. 

Vacation Round Up

Jason and I had a great time in California. I would have posted this earlier, but I've been so busy getting ready to go back to school and working on my business that I haven't really had the time! Driving there was insane! We didn't get there until 2 am because I had to work until 6 pm. It was pretty hectic and I was so scared to drive! Luckily we got tea in Barstow that kept me awake. We stayed with my aunt the first night and then headed into Solvang the next day. We stayed at the Hotel Corque. If you're ever in wine country, stay at that hotel! It was absolutely wonderful and watching the fog roll in from the third floor every morning over the hills was to die for!

Isn't that view to die for?!

Before we actually got to the hotel we stopped by the Santa Barbra Zoo. Can you believe that Jason had never been to a zoo?! He loved the capybaras and the elephants! We could only stay for a few hours though because we needed to make it to the hotel by a certain time.

Jason found a bear and made a hat out of it.

Oh! And look at this nifty little guy. His name is Duncan and I could not resist watching the show at the zoo! It was super cute and the dinosaur costume was super intricately made. I wanted to get a picture with him, but they didn't want anyone touching the suit :c

The next day we walked around Solvang all day and went into a bunch of terribly priced 'antique' shops. The town is adorable but way too tourist trappy in some ways. The food is to die for there though! A lot of the restaurants were a pleasant change from the indoor buffets and crowded dining areas in Las Vegas.

Imagine being little and waking up as your parents' were driving through this place. Wouldn't it be surreal?

The last day we were there we spent a lot of time at the beach and I learned how to boogie board! Jason was so much better at it than me... I caught one wave and then just got pushed around the whole time. We walked up to the pier after we were done and we saw dolphins not 600 feet from the shore. It was awesome!

Excuse the beach hair!

All in all it was a wonderful trip and we're both hoping to be able to repeat it again. We're going to try to go into LA next time. Jason has never been to any museums! I want to take him to the La Brea tar pits and to the Museum of Natural History. I'd love for him to see what I grew up on loving and staring at for hours every time the family would take a trip to LA.

Right now I'm really busy trying to get everything together for new items in my shop and trying to figure out where I want it to go. I'm really trying to get into a local farmer's market and manage a part time job and school at the same time. Jason and I are supposed to move in together in November, so we have to start getting everything together. Hopefully I'll be able to find some more breaks to be able to update on!

Do you have any favorite vacation spots?

Stepping away

To get our minds off of everything that has been going on Jason and I have decided to take a trip to California. We're only spending two days there, but I'm hoping that it'll take my mind off of everything. We've both been so busy with work that we haven't had a whole lot of time for each other. Thankfully we'll both be able to take a few days off in two weeks to head out to see the coast. I'm sure it will be good for the both of us to feel like things are pulling themselves back together after this loss and after we've both been too busy for each other for what feels like forever.

After we get back from that, I'm supposed to fly out to Pennsylvania to see one of my best friends. She's about to have her first baby and I'm so excited to see her after seven long years that there are not words to describe it. I cannot wait to get back there and see everyone that I've been so far away from for so long. Hopefully everything goes as planned and life starts moving forward instead of being stuck in the slump 2011 has put me in.

Take a Deep Breath...

Life has been nothing but sheer chaos lately. Jason and I are in the process of getting ready to move in together. This means a massive amount of packing and sorting through things that I do and do not want to keep. I keep trying to have a yard sale, but there never seems to be a weekend that my entire family has a few free days. I feel overwhelmed already and we're not moving in together until September. This feels like the slowest process ever and it's not getting any easier. I also feel like I can't contribute any money to this whole process either. Between having to pay off a massive amount of medical bills and having ridiculous car insurance payments finding the extra money to pay the bills doesn't seem like it's going to be too easy. Hopefully within the next few weeks I start getting calls back from the places I've applied to/that I am planning on applying to. I feel like I need to make a list of things that is a need versus a want so that I can stick on a track to keep all of my finances in order. I'm not going to lie- I'm a lady and I cannot resist a sale... or craft stores... so I need to figure out the things that I am buying to just buy or the things that I really need. I'm going to try it for a month and see how everything goes!

I finally got accepted into UNLV which is an amazing thing! If any of you go to UNLV let me know! I'd love to say hi. I feel like I'm finally on my way to getting where I want to be. I cannot wait to be sitting in those class rooms and start working towards becoming a paleontologist. The only problem is that I have to wait until August 5th to meet with an academic adviser before I can even sign up for my classes. I'm hoping that if I call the department every single day and bother them, they'll either get me in there faster or tell me when someone cancels so I can get in there and get all this moving! I'm planing on taking 12-15 credits during this upcoming semester, so the faster I can get in there and sign up the better. The positive note here is that my foot is in the door!

Inspiration + Life Update

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I am absolutely in love with the old woman's face. I hope to fall in love like that.

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Does anyone else remember these? I would LOVE to see these come back into stores! 

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My love of Totoro will never end.

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This has to be one of the best Pokemon tattoos that I have ever seen. Charmander will always be my favorite original starter though!

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I cannot begin to describe how much this describes my life! I laughed so hard when I found this.

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DUG!

Life is slowly pulling itself together. Jason and I are getting everything together to move in together in September. Between helping my cousin get ready for her wedding, getting into UNLV [YAY!]  and my sister graduating I've had absolutely no time to sit down and work on my etsy shop or anything else really. Life's just been pretty hectic and it would be awesome if the universe would let me have a break some time soon. Trying to keep up with everything has been insane. I'm just hoping that I can keep [sort of] balancing everything.

Mini Vacation + Sister's Graduation

My sister graduated this past week. I can't believe that she's eighteen and graduated now. It's pretty intense to look back and realize that I've watched her grow up into what she is today. The past few days have been spent with family and friends at Tahiti Village. I have not had a day to relax in ages, so it was so nice. I had two whole days of sitting by the pool sipping on pina coladas and relaxing it was wonderful.

Excuse my incredibly pasty legs!

And that's why I missed posting my inspiration for Wednesday. I had way too much going on to sit down and collect my thoughts.

Cheers to everyone who graduated this year! Congratulations on starting a whole new life!

Summer Fun

The past week has been full of a massive amount of hard work and on the few days that me and the mister have off we've been going to the lake. It's so nice to be able to jump into a big body of water without having to drive that far! I hate public pools, but I absolutely love lakes. Is that weird? We've been kayaking and fishing so far, and we're hoping to be able to go again this week on Friday. I need to add a bunch of pictures to this blog. It seems like it's completely empty without pictures to remember all of these moments in my life. I wish that I didn't feel so awkward taking pictures of everything! Maybe I'll feel better when I upgrade my phone and get a new one! I've had my eyes on a new one for months but I didn't want to pay the $300 to upgrade it early. Yikes! 

I never realized how much fun kayaking can be! It's such great exercise and it's SO peaceful. I can't wait to go out again. [And take pictures next time!]

Weekly Inspiration

I could really use the pick-me-up this week. I found out that the store that I work for is planning on sending me all around town fixing the back rooms of all of their stores. Some of these places are just trashed and I'm usually the only one back there for several hours trying to clean up a massive mess that seems impossible to get done. I nearly ended up crying at work the last time I was there because of how frustrated I am with this chain of stores. It's like no matter what they're going to get filthy because no one is willing to take the time to put a few things away in their proper places. And I'm supposed to drive around the city [without being paid mileage, mind you!] and fix all of these stores up while being expected to do this all for under $10/hour. It's really frustrating and I just want to be done with the whole situation. I've been looking for another job, but if anyone knows of anywhere that's hiring in Las Vegas, please let me know. I cannot begin to describe how much it would be appreciated.

Because of all of the stress I'm under, I ended up crying on the phone with Jason last night. I feel like I have such a cloud hanging over me between all of the work issues and family issues I've been going through. It's so frustrating when you're trying to move out and move on with your life, but you can never find the support to do so.

Anyway, that's enough whining about personal things. Here's some things that have cheered me up in the past 24 hours.

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I love deer. Ever since I moved away from Pennsylvania I've missed seeing them something fierce. The photo set linked to above features some beautiful fall photos. That's something else I miss too! It's only ever hot or cold in Las Vegas!

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I need this to be set as a reminder in life whenever I'm feeling bad.

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Speaking of Calvin and Hobbes, how cute is this pokemon rendition?

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I've fallen completely in love with all of Alyssa N.'s work. I cannot wait to get the print that I ordered from her. I think this one might be my next purchase.

Running in Circles

I feel like I've been running in circles for weeks now. I feel like it's all just "eat, sleep, work" and nothing else. I have been working so hard that I can't even remember what day it is. The worst part is that the amount of money I make barely covers my medical and car insurance every month. I feel guilty about buying anything and have a little panic attack after spending money because I don't know how much I'm going to even need $5 later in the month. It's just frustrating when you're in college trying as hard as you can to get ahead in life and you're really just running in circles. Hopefully I can get a place at the Farmer's Market in Vegas soon and enjoy my job. I wouldn't mind working there as a full time job. I put so much time and effort into my etsy shop and I'd be more than willing to put the same amount of time into something that makes me happier than clocking in and making under $10/hour. I really hope that I can relax at one point or another this summer. It would be wonderful to just have a few days to get everything off of my mind and just breathe. Tomorrow I have two orders to fill [one of which is going to Australia!] I just want everything to move onto a more positive note soon. I feel like I'm stuck in a perpetual rainy day.

Does anyone else ever feel like this? I really hope I'm not the only one.

It's the Scarriest Moments That Matter the Most

I got a phone call at work today from Jason. He said that his chain had come off of his motorcycle when he was on his way to work. He lives about 15 miles away from where he works, and it's nothing but 65+ mph freeways all the way there. And the fact that people in Las Vegas usually drive like maniacs doesn't help. He called me from the side of the road and left me a message because I couldn't pick up the phone. He sounded scared, and when I got to go to lunch I checked my messages and heard the way he sounded and lost it. I've never been so terrified in my life. He could have lost his life today, and luckily he didn't. I cannot begin to describe how much he means to me and how scared I was for him today. I'm so glad that he's okay, and hopefully we'll be able to get everything figured out tomorrow. I'm just happy that he's safe.