Back in Denver

I'm back in Denver and it's wonderful. The weather here is mostly beautiful. We can walk around outside and eat at picnic tables and enjoy the perfect weather. I have been so so busy helping Daniel get ready for his residents. On Thursday and Friday Daniel finished up training so he was busy all day. I stayed home and unpacked some things, made his bulletin boards, and put up his residents' door tags. We went shopping those two days and spent a lot of money, but I guess that's how it is trying to furnish an apartment. I always feel really guilty spending money. Even if it's like $20 I feel guilty. But I'm given an allowance for a reason, so I might as well use it. We now have a futon for our bed and I have my own desk in our room. Those were the two big purchases. Besides that, we had to buy organization stuff and we got some rugs for the bathroom and picture frames to put up more decorations in the room. We got dishes from goodwill so we now have a small pot and big pot, skillet, baking dish, cookie sheet, big plastic spoon, sharp knife, and a set of two plates and two bowls. We went to Safeway and bought some food to cook ourselves dinner. We saved every place we could. We bought store brand everything and only bought what we thought we would absolutely use. Last night we cooked our first dinner here. Daniel baked chicken in the oven and then added barbeque sauce while I cooked rice on the stove and vegetables in the microwave. It was really delicious! I was proud of us.

Daniel and I went on the United Methodist Church website and looked up what methodist churches are around here. We aren't completely committed to methodist necessarily, but we thought that would be an easy place to start. So after a little bit of searching, we found Grace United Methodist Church. It's about 5 minutes from campus. Based on their website, it looks a lot like Cross in the Desert. They have a worship band, a bell choir, and a young adult group that meets on Tuesday nights. They have an average attendance of about 300. After looking at their website I was really excited to go and see what the service is like and the people. So this morning Daniel and I woke up early and went to church. The church itself is really small (compared to CITD). The service was very similar to what I'm used to. The pastor's sermon was pretty interesting. He seems very young. After the service a lady said she didn't think we were on the mailing list so she handed us a newsletter. Daniel (being the outgoing person he is) told her that this is our first time here and we just moved. She introduced herself as the director of the children's ministry. She asked some questions about us. As soon as she heard that Daniel's a music major, and both of our experience in music, she introduced us to their praise band director. So I'm going to try to go to Bell practice which starts on Thursday night. Daniel wants to go to the praise team's practice on Wednesday. And we both want to go to Young Adult on Tuesday. It's really scary for me going to a new church. It's no secret that I hate change. But, I will take this as a learning experience. I will not just quit because it makes me anxious. So I'm excited and nervous at the same time.

Yesterday, Daniel's friend Jeff let me move in early. Jeff is in charge of the entire dorm. He hired me as a desk assistant and also offered to pay me for any work I do for him this next week. We were just hanging out at the desk and he made me a key, I filled out the paper work, and I moved in! My room is really small, but the view out the window is really nice and the closets are big. Another of Daniel's friends, well actually his boss here at Nelson, also made me a key for Nelson. So now I can get into my room and "our" room in Nelson! Every day it feels a little more like I actually live here.

Daniel and I have been spending lots of time with friends and making new friends. Being an RA means you meet a lot of new people during training and now they are all introduced to me. Pretty much every night we go out or hang out in a common area or something. Wednesday night we went downtown to celebrate a friend's birthday. Downtown was crazy! People were selling stuff on every corner and there were SWAT police officers completely decked out. They were in full body armor carrying HUGE guns. And 3 restaurants (that we wanted to go to) were completely rented out by DNC people. This coming week we will be helping freshmen get settled in and I'm going to get ready for class to start. I'm so excited for classes!

My last blog in Phoenix

Well, my life hasn't been as bad as that last blog made it sound. I actually have been somewhat busy. Making candy with Grandma was really fun. It's not something that you do everyday, but really making candy isn't that hard. It's kind of cool. It makes me feel like a professional or something. The next day I ran to the post office and changed Daniel and my addresses. That made me happy because it's like I'm officially moving to Denver. And I got a facial which felt amazing. I love getting facials. They make me feel pampered and spoiled and my skin looks so beautiful afterwards.

Then I rushed home to finish up the dinner preparations for Pastor Mel. Nicole had everything under control so that was really nice. I was really glad that we made it together because she made homemade bread and took care of the turkey. She did a really good job because they turned out wonderful! Unfortunately, she made the homemade ice cream and that did NOT turn out wonderful. She halved all the ingredients except the flavorings. So we had twice as much nutmeg and vanilla as we are supposed to. It wouldn't have been that bad except the ice cream never froze properly so we had nutmeggy ice cream soup for dessert. Thank goodness grandma brought a delicious homemade apple pie. Pastor Mel got here 30 minutes early, so my mom wasn't even home from work yet. I had a moment of panic, like oh my gosh we have to entertain him until other people get here, but it wasn't too bad. Everything went well and I think it was a good thing for him to get to know our family and all.

The next day I had a million errands to run. I got my hair cut in the morning (I really like how it turned out), I had to run to the bank and buy a gift for Kian's third birthday and take my dad's car to get chips in the windshield repaired. That took all morning, but I was glad to finally get it done. And for dinner we went to Bamboo House at Desert Ridge for dinner. It was delicious! We don't go there very often, and it was fun for just us three girls together.

Saturday was really fun. We went to Kian's birthday party and then to the Bulkeley's house for scrapbooking. I didn't realize that Beth would be coming so that was a nice surprise! I'm glad I got to see her before I leave for Denver. And I think that day we both sort of realized how incredibly different people we are, but that we can still be best friends. That night I went back to the Francis' to babysit for Kian and Rylan one last time before I'm off to school. Theresa and Aaron wanted to see Batman and they figured this would be their last chance. The boys were hyper from a day full of sugar and excitement. Kian actually pushed me which was a huge surprise. He has never really disobeyed me or anything, but I told him to apologize and he did. And of course we couldn't have a night without an accident, so he told me right before bed that he peed in his bed. Oh well, he slept in his own pee. That's the way it goes.

On Sunday I played in church again. It must not have been as impressive as last time. I came home and slept for a few hours and then Dad and I took Nicole shopping. It was fun because Dad was willing to pay just about anything so we went through the store and grabbed everything that looked cute. Nicole got some really cute clothes and she looked very fashionable. It's amazing what different style we have, but I can definitely appreciate her unique style. I wouldn't pick those clothes myself, but I still think she looks nice in them. We went to Gap, and I had a coupon where you had to fill in a code from the internet and use it within 90 days for 20% off one item. I made up the code and wrote it on there and it was 2 months expired, but they gave it to us anyways! Yes! And because my Dad bought Nicole $200 worth of clothes, I asked him if he wouldn't mind just buying me some makeup and moisturizer that I was almost out of. And he told me to go ahead. I felt guilty spending his money, but he didn't seem to mind at all. We had dinner with our whole family that night and it was delicious!

Yesterday I ran a ton of errands in the afternoon with Nicole. It was fun to do it together. We got our nails done with our Aunt Shirley. Then we had to go to the bank, pick up my contacts and glasses (cute), run to Daniel's house to pick up some stuff that he forgot to pack, and pick up Nicole's contacts (at a different location) and then finally stop at the grocery store to get some corn for dinner. It took up the whole afternoon and then we went over to Chris and Aimee's for dinner. It was so nice that they invited us over for dinner. I really feel like I didn't get to see them hardly at all this summer. Nicole did because she was on their volleyball team. And Chris went all out with this barbequed pork and chicken. It was very impressive. And we got to meet their newest foster child. She was very well behaved. She just sat there and listened while we had a converstion at dinner. Before dinner she showed us pictures, and we asked her questions and stuff. She was really cute. When we drove home it was pouring rain! It was kind of scary. I'm glad that in Denver Daniel will be driving in the bad weather. But we made it home safe and sound.

And now it's today. And I am killing time until I can check into my flight (!!) and have my last dinner at home. Daniel has unpacked most of my stuff already. It's nice to know that I don't have to get there and then spend two days unpacking everything. Daniel has pretty much taken care of it. I can't wait to see him and move in! I'm really anxious to find a church there in Denver. This summer I have really enjoyed going to church and it made me realize how much I missed it this past year. Daniel and I will start exploring when school starts. Well next time I blog, it'll be from my (our) room in Denver!

I hate myself sometimes

I hate it when I'm like this. I miss Daniel so I'm really excited when he calls. But then I pick up the phone and all of a sudden I'm this crazy person who can't control her emotions. I'm whiney and needy and jealous. I get mad at him for stupid reasons. So he has a five minute break and I spend four minutes mad at him and then one minute apologizing and I hang up feeling worse than before he called. But I am still dying for him to call again soon. I know that I'm doing it every time, but I can't help myself. I am jealous and I know it. I'm jealous that he's not sitting in his room bored and missing me like crazy. I'm jealous that he's not living with his parents anymore. I'm jealous that he is sleeping in our new bed. I'm jealous that he gets to hang out with people all day and make new friends. I'm jealous that he gets to see our friends (Eric, Jeff, Lexi, etc.) and hang out with them while I'm stuck here sweating to death bored to death and miserable. Well miserable may be overdoing it a bit. I mean I'm not depressed all day long, and I'm finding things to keep me busy. Mostly. Here's the most exciting things (really the only things) I have planned for this week.

Today: babysitting
Wednesday: making dinner for Pastor Mel
Thursday: making candy with Grandma and a facial
Friday: hopefully a hair cut
Saturday: scrapbooking
Sunday: church

That's so pathetic. Thank goodness the Olympics are going on or I think I might just watch soap operas all day. But next Wedneday I will be off to Denver and I will get to be with Daniel after dinner and hang out with my other friends during the day while unpacking and helping Daniel and Jeff prepare for their residents. And then classes will start! I'm very excited for classes to start. I wish I could just be a student the rest of my life. There's something about learning that makes me happy. I guess research is the closest thing to learning that I can get.

Today I babysat for Mary Tassi's granddaughter Karma and Karma's little brother Dakota. I was really glad that I could help because it's not a good situation. Karma is 2 1/2 and she lives with her "Nona" (Mary). Dakota is 15 months and has the same mother, but a different father. Today they had a meeting with CPS. The decision is that both children are going into the custody of their paternal grandparents. Mary gets Karma and Dakota will go with his grandma who happens to live just down the street. I know the situation is really hard for everyone, so at least I could watch them while they had the meeting. Dakota cried (screamed) for a solid 90 minutes until I finally realized that he didn't feel well and gave him some children's ibuprofin. I rocked him and he went to sleep for an hour or two. Then we had lunch and Karma took a nap for over two hours until Mary came to get them. It was somewhat easy except for the screaming child. It's really awkward accepting money from her, especially because she paid me $10 an hour. I think that's a lot. But she was really grateful to have me here to watch them so I didn't argue.

Eight days. Seven and a half really.

change of plans

I decided that three weeks of sitting around the house doing nothing is too much. So I moved up my flight to next Wednesday. I was so surprised that Southwest doesn't charge anything to change your flight. You just have to pay the difference between the original flight and the new flight (if there is one). It ended up costing me about twice as much, but it's worth it to me. The dorms don't open until September fifth so I will stay in Daniel's room. He has RA training for Wednesda-Sunday. But the whole next week it's all freshmen orientation stuff so he doesn't have anything to do. And Eric and Lexi and a lot of my other friends are already there so I'll have plenty of people to hang out with. Daniel happened to mention to his friend and fraternity brother Jeff that I will be coming next Wednesday and he said that he has lots of stuff for me to work on while Daniel is at RA training. So it sounds like I will have plenty of things to do in Denver for 10 days until the dorms open and classes start. And I can unpack some of my stuff that will be going in Daniel's room.

I'm not really sure yet how the living arrangement is going to work out. I'm kind of thinking I might just end up living in Daniel's room. But, that might be a problem, because my ID doesn't work for his dorm. So unless he can get me a spare key, he will have to let me into the elevator or stairwell every time I need to get in. That's kind of a pain. So if he can't get me a spare key, I'll probably live half in my room and half in his. Right now I'm thinking I will have my bed made and some spare clothes and stuff in my room in Nagel, but most of the stuff I use every day will be in Daniel's room. So my room might just be storage space. I hope my roommate isn't offended by that. I don't think she will be, but we'll see.

I am dying to be there with Daniel right now. He's unpacking our stuff and setting up our room and sleeping in our beautiful new bed. And he gets to hang out with Jeff and Eric and Lexi. But ten days isn't so long to wait. I will just try to get everything done that I need to here and enjoy my last ten days of home cooked meals and mommy and daddy paying for everything. Ten days. Sometimes it seems really short and sometimes it feels really loooong.

My first day home from work

It felt good to sleep in this morning. What's really pathetic is that right now sleeping in for me is 8:30am. I'll have to stay up later at night. I couldn't stay away past like 9:30 last night so that's probably why I woke up so early. I met Daniel at Discount Tire Co to get the car all ready for its maiden voyage to Denver. We got the tires checked and rotated. My grandpa just bought new ones about 7000 miles ago (awesome!). It's so exciting that the car is ours now! Yesterday Daniel came over and we completely took everything out of it that belongs to my grandparents (which isn't that much) and we scraped off all their windshield stickers and put our brand new beautiful DU parking sticker on. At that point it really felt like our car. He also helped me pack up every little thing that I want to go to Denver that I don't need between now and when I leave on September 5. It ended up being quite a lot of stuff, so I feel much better about fitting all my stuff into one suitcase. All my stuff is in the car, now Daniel just has to put all his in.

Then we went to Wal-mart and bought a bunch of stuff for his dorm room like bathroom cleaning supplies and stuff like that. We went to Wells Fargo and opened a joint account which we will use to pay for joint expenses like going out to eat and gas. And then we went to Bank of America and finally closed my old checking account. We came home to get some lunch, and then went over to my Grandparents' house. Nicole and Mike came with us. My grandparents have always been saying they want us to let them know what stuff we want to inherit from them. They have a lot of antiques and sentimental stuff too. They move to Utah for the summer and they are just coming home today. So we grabbed three different color of sticky notes (me, Nicole, and Aaron) and we just stuck them on all the stuff we wanted to claim. Most of the stuff was actually stuff we wanted. I claimed this antique clock that's worth a lot of money, and Nicole claimed a doll that belonged to my Great Grandma in 1915-1920ish. But then we also claimed some funny stuff like Aaron has a sticky note on a picture of himself in their room. And I claimed one dining table chair, while Nicole claimed the rest of the set. So when they come home this evening they will find their house covered in sticky notes. I hope they find it funny. My mom thought they would; it was her idea.

Tonight a whole bunch of people are going to a mexican place for dinner. It should be really fun. But it's Daniel's last night here. I've spent a lot of time with him this week so it's not a big deal. I just hope I can stay busy the next three weeks so it goes fast. I really just want to move into my brand new dorm! Daniel and I bought sheets on Wednesday night. Man, it is so hard to agree on sheets! I can't imagine what it's going to be like when we have to agree on a house and furniture in the house and dishes, and everything! It took us like 2 hours to agree on a bed. So we went to Bed Bath & Beyond because I had a coupon for there. We wanted to find sheets for Daniel's new full size futon and also a comforter. And we thought that we will probably use this bedding in our house for next year too. We saw these bamboo sheets that were really soft, but they were 250 thread count which probably won't last more than a year. And I was nervous about bamboo cause I've never heard of it. What if the sheets start falling apart or the color fades or something? So we found these sheets that were 620 thread count for $99. It was a whole set with fitted sheet, flat sheet, and two pillowcases. They were really nice so that's what we went with. And we found some nice comforters for under $100 which was quite difficult. Almost every one we looked at was over $100. We decided on a pale gold color comforter and navy sheets. I think it looks really nice and I can't wait to sleep on super soft 620 thread count sheets! I wish I was leaving tomorrow. At least I can look forward to sleeping in for three weeks and watching LOTS of Olympics on TV. If Nicole can do it all summer long, I can do it for three weeks. And I'm hoping I can cook dinner too because I miss that.

payday!

I got paid today. It’s such a good feeling holding a check that large and knowing I worked very hard to earn it. I have had a lot of expenses this month, so it's nice to put money in my bank account for a change. I finished two tests today at work and they both turned out fabulously. That makes me feel good too. Last night Daniel’s family took me out to dinner. It was so delicious! I love Italian food, I think I could eat it every single night. I guess that’s what people do in Italy huh. Tomorrow is my last day of work. I’m not sure if my boss knows that, and I’m kind of afraid to tell him. I am going to tell him right before I leave. I’m a chicken. It will be so nice to sleep in and have nothing to do for a few weeks. But I am really going to miss Daniel. I am so sad that he has to be there three whole weeks before me! We bought our first bed together on Tuesday. Tonight we are going shopping for sheets. I am so excited for this year. It’s the first year I really feel like an adult. I will be living on my own, except my parents are paying for everything. That doesn’t bother me. Saturday I am going dress shopping with Beth. I am so so excited. I love pretty dresses. I cannot wait to see Beth try on beautiful white dresses. And buy my very own bright pink dress! I’m going to wear it this year probably to formal after the wedding. Good thing my best friend has good taste or else I would have to buy this dress and then put it in the back of my closet for 20 years. Well I should get back to work. I’m almost done with my second-to-last day of work! Yay.

Weekend to end all weekends

This was an awesome weekend. And a terrible weekend. At the same time. Strange how that can happen, huh? Well I don’t want to talk about the bad part, so here’s the good parts. Friday night Daniel and I made chocolate covered strawberries together. And we had my favorite dinner: spaghetti! Then we went to Mesa to play volleyball. The drive there was fun too thanks to Mike and Emily :-) We won and then went to go swimming at one of my teammates house. I had a great time with Daniel. I was sooo tired that night, I slept very well. Then I woke up early the next morning so I had time to stop at Einstein’s and load my body up with carbohydrates before we won the volleyball tournament! I feel bad because I think the other team deserved to get first place. I mean, we beat them last year and honestly it could have gone either way both years. But, regardless, we did win and we got a gift certificate to applebees (for 20 dollars, split 9 ways ha) and a nice large trophy to be delivered at a later date. Then I went home and slept for a solid three hours. I am very sleep deprived during the week. That night I went to Daniel’s house for a party to welcome incoming DU freshman. We answered all their questions and told them all about DU. It was really funny because there were 9 freshmen I think and they were all typical scottsdalian kids. They’ll fit right in at DU. Sunday I went to church. I love going to church with Daniel. I love to watch him play bass. And we went out to lunch with Chris and Aimee. I feel like I never get to see them anymore, so that was nice. And I literally spent the rest of the day at Daniel’s house watching the Olympics. It’s weird how I like to watch the Olympics, but never any other professional sports on TV. I am really enjoying it this year though because a lot of the athletes are my age. It makes me wonder where I could be right now if my life was a little different. Well someone just came in with blood, so I have to go process it and stick it in the freezer.

bored at work...

I’m writing this at work. I don’t have anything to do right now, so I don’t really feel guilty blogging. (Plus, my boss is at lunch so he won’t know). I feel terrible because yesterday I did a test that turned out completely blank. Three days and tons of reagents just wasted. Doug thinks it’s because the PCR machine isn’t working right. But, I can’t help blaming myself. No matter what he says I’m afraid it’s my fault. I was really carefully with everything I did and I really thought it would turn out. I’ve done this test like 10 times and it has never come out blank. But as Doug said “it’s all part of the learning process”. Sigh.

I made brownies last night. It makes me really happy to have something yummy to finish off lunch at work. And it makes me look forward to lunch even more than I already do. This morning I though I was going to faint around 11:30 but I wanted to finish what I was doing before I went to lunch. I thought I would end up eating by myself, but when I got to the break room there was a guy there that works in a different lab on our floor. Turns out his son goes to Horizon. He’s going to be a junior this year. So we talked a lot about Horizon. And we’re neighbors too! He lives on 60th and T-bird. That’s kind of exciting. If I ever need a ride home from work, I know who to ask now. His son is on the football team. So we don’t have that much in common. But it was still fun to talk to him. He’s very nice.

It’s so funny how working here is kind of like a united nations meeting. In my lab, there’s Emily from China, Doug from Britain/Canada, Sherlin from India, Jason from Korea, and the guy I had lunch with is from Germany. And little old me from Scottsdale. Ha. It is really funny for me to listen to them talk to each other. They all have very different accents.

I should get back to work before Doug and Emily come back from lunch. V-ball tomorrow! We’re gonna WIN! (maybe) (probably not)

My genotype is....

3/3! That means I do not have the genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's. Of course, I may have many environmental risk factors (not exercising, eating right, etc.) but I think I'll work on one thing at a time. Work has been exhausting lately. I hate hate hate getting up at 6:30 in the morning. It wouldn't be that bad except I have to wake up so early just to sit in a car for thirty minutes and then sit in my mom's office for an hour. It's such a waste of time. I keep thinking about all the things I could be doing instead of sitting there. But at least I get some good reading time in. When I'm at work and busy, I really enjoy it. But there are lots of times whne I have like an hour of nothing to do and I feel guilty not doing anything so I wander around looking for things to do. Consequently, our lab is very clean, we are well stocked in autoclaved tips, water, PBS, and tubes, and there are always clean dishes. Which is a good thing.

Yesterday I played volleyball. We won. It was awesome. Our team was working really well together and I served 11 points in a row at one point. I like our team. Although I wish some choice people were also on our team. I never get to see Chris or Beth because they're on Nicole's team. And my team doesn't like to hang out after. That's probably a good thing though because I really try to go to bed at 9:00 and that's usually what time volleyball is over.

This weekend is the senior sendoff party. A bunch of kids that are going to DU next year are going over to Daniel's for a barbeque. I'm excited to meet some kids that are from AZ and going to DU. And we get to answer all their questions and tell them how great DU is. I think it will be really fun. Also this weekend is the volleyball tournament. My team is in second place I think. Last year we won, but it's a pretty different team this year, so we'll see. Plus all the other teams are better this year. It should be fun regardless. And this weekend I also am playing piano in first service and we are going tubing on the salt river. I think I overschedule myself. But I don't want to miss out on anything!

Tonight Daniel and I have resolved to spend some time alone together- just us. I don't think we have had more than 10 minutes alone together since we got to Arizona. So we are going out on a date tonight. He leaves for Denver next Friday. I really really don't want him to go. But whenever I think about going back to Denver for another quarter, I get really excited. This year is going to be awesome. I am ready for summer to be over.

Feeling so relaxed

I had a facial today. It felt so good. I think I actually fell asleep for a little while. I love all the different smells. Today, I remember cinnamon, lemon, grapefruit, mint, coconut, pumpkin, and rose. And now my skin looks perfect. Which is great because Daniel is taking me dancing tonight! We are going to a swing club. For $5 you get a dancing lesson and when it's over, we get to use what we learned to dance all night. It sounds like a lot of fun. And I'm getting all dressed up and doing my hair and everything because I'm going out tonight! And before we go out, we are going to have a nice dinner. I am making chicken parmesan with fettuccine alfredo and chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. I made the strawberries earlier and they look delicious! It's very difficult to make them without eating any chocolate.

I have two weeks left of work, and then three weeks before I go back to school. But that kind of stinks because the day after I finish work, Daniel is leaving. So for those three weeks I will have endless amounts of time, but no Daniel to do anything with :-( But the good news is, my grandparents will be here so I can spend time with them before I go back to Denver.

On a side note, it is SO ANNOYING when my parents come up behind me when I'm on the computer. Even though I'm not doing anything bad, I just hate it when they come up and start talking to me while I'm on the computer. I feel weird having them see what I'm doing on facebook and writing on my blog and stuff. Another reason why I will not be living with them ever again after this summer (hopefully).

I got an email back from the Dean of the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. I emailed her asking if they have any more scholarship money they can give me. She said no. They give away all the money they have in May. That sucks. My dad has been on me almost every day about getting more money because we can't afford what they want us to pay this year. It bothers me that he says that. I mean, how much did they just spend remodeling our entire kitchen? And he has been talking about getting a bigger TV. And we go out for dinner like 3 times a week. I mean, it's not like we're destitute here. We have plenty of money. And if it comes down to it, there are lots of things we can do to cut back to be able to afford my school. The reason I got less money this year is because my dad decided not to claim my brother on his tax return this year. So that means he claimed that we are only paying for two children in college instead of three. So the federal government gave us less money. It's mostly his fault that I'm in this situation. Yet he expects me to go to the ends of the earth to get more money. And what bothers me even more is that my parents have not asked Nicole to email anyone or check about getting more scholarship money. Her school does not cost any more than mine. They claim hers costs less because she is living off campus. But they are not counting the cost of her apartment, plus furnishing it, plus she doesn't have a meal plan so they will have to buy her food all year long. There's no way all of that adds up to that much less than mine. Just to be clear, I don't blame Nicole for that, I blame my parents. Specifically, my dad. Because he's the one that is freaking out every day and complaining that I chose a private school blah blah blah. By the way, my parents aren't even paying for school. My grandparents are. But my dad thinks that we can't hand them a bill for $25,000 and just expect them to pay it, plus the car they just gave me.

I'm not so relaxed anymore. Bleh. Time to make dinner.

Shopping makes me happy

From the time my alarm went off this morning I really didn't want to go to work. Usually I'm happy to go because I love it, but I really just wanted to sleep today. I was gone all last weekend so I didn't get any time to relax or sleep in. This weekend I am definitely going to make up for that. I started doing the ApoE for me and my mom, but so far it's not going well. I think it'll turn out okay. But at this point it's not ideal. It's weird with all the other interns gone. There are only 2 other people working in my lab so it's really quiet. I don't like it. It's also boring because there's less people to hang out with and less to do because not as many people are dirtying dishes and stuff. But it means that I will get more personal attention from Doug during my procedures.

I got my credit card statemtnt today, and I spent half of my usual monthly budget. That was a nice surprise. Plus I just got a $50 gift card from work, and I'm getting paid. So needless to say, I'm in a good financial situation right now (except for tuition, but don't get me started on that). So tonight I went shopping with my mom. We have a 25% off coupon for Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy. We went to Banana Republic at Kierland. Originally I wanted to get a dress or skirt or something for church. But all their dresses are like $150 and I didn't find anything I liked enough to spend that much on. So I settled for two very nice blouses that I can wear with skirts, jeans, or nice pants in the winter when it gets cold. My rule is that I have to absolutely love it if I am going to spend more than $30 on it. And I do absolutely LOVE the two shirts I got.

Tomorrow night I am cooking dinner for my family and the Rosens. I love it when we get together. It makes me think about our wedding :-) It's so nice that we all get along. I am lucky to have such great in-laws. Most of the time. Sometimes they can be annoying, but so can my own family haha.

This weekend is going to be nice. I am very much looking forward to relaxing. And I have a facial tomorrow. That always makes me happy. It feels so good and my skin looks beautiful. So overall, not a terrible day. I was tired, but it wasn't terrible. Thank goodness it's Friday.