Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas this year was fantastic. On Christmas Eve, the whole family came over to the Rosens where Daniel and I are staying. Julie made her traditional Cuban meal of pork, yucca, black beans, and rice. Christmas Eve in Cuba is called Noche Buena. It was absolutely delicious! My whole family, Daniel's whole family, plus Evan's girlfriend Kristy and her mom, plus some Rosen family friends were here. We had 18 people in all. It was a blast. Nicole and I had to leave around 6:15 to go play bells at church. The service was lovely, though not as impressive as usual. I really enjoyed seeing some people I haven't seen in quite a while. After the service, we went to the Bamboo House for dinner with all the usual church people. This time, Sarah met us there and Evan and Kristy came too! I wasn't really interested in eating again, but it was fun to visit with our friends. I was already getting so tired. We left around 10pm and went back to my parents' house to open some gifts. My mom had to work at 5am the next morning, so we just opened a few presents. Daniel and I collapsed absolutely exhausted around midnight.

This morning, I was the first one up! The Rosens are late sleepers on Christmas. Everyone slowly gathered in the kitchen and we got some breakfast while we waited for Evan to drive up from Tempe. When he got here we opened presents! This was the first year I wasn't in my parents' house on Christmas morning. It was kind of weird, but fun too. I missed my family and the feeling of familiarity and predictability. But, as I told my sister, things will never be the same anymore. We're all adults and more and more we will have other obligations. Soon we'll all be married with kids. Daniel and I got so many nice gifts. As a Rosen tradition, we all went to the movies. We saw "It's Complicated." I thought it was really funny and cute, but most of the guys didn't like it. Julie and Daniel liked it though. After the movie we headed back to my parents' house. My mom got off work around 2 and we finished opening our presents. We got more very nice gifts. My brother in particular gave us very nice gifts. My dad made me book ends that are beautiful. He used glass cups and put a picture in one side and filled them with colored sand. Then he poured wax in the top to seal in the sand. They are so beautiful and will be perfect to hold up my textbooks above my desk. I think that's my favorite gift this year.

Around 3:30 we all drove to Grandma and Grandpa's house where we met George and Shirley. Daniel's parents also met us there. We opened presents and had an absolutely delicious meal of prime rib roast, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole! Yummy!! After 3 hours, we started talking politics so that's when we knew it was time to go :-) The Rosens have very different political views from my grandparents who also have different political views than my Aunt and Uncle. So... we try to stay away from that topic if we can help it. Anyways, Daniel and I spent this evening packing up all our gifts. We had to fit everything in two large suitcases.

Tomorrow my whole family including my parents, grandparents, Aunt and Uncle, Nicole and Mike, are driving to Hollywood. There we will meet my Uncle and Aunt, their two daughters and their husbands. So it will be quite the reunion! We're going to Disneyland, the Magic Castle, Santa Monica pier, the Reagan library, the Long Beach Aquarium, etc. Then on New Years Eve, my family is dropping off me and Daniel at the pier before they drive back to Phoenix. Daniel's parents will meet us there where we will board our cruise ship! We are going to Catalina Island and Ensenada in 4 days. We are going kayaking and maybe ATVing or horseback riding. I'm so excited! Both trips are going to be really fun. I'm a little nervous about California. Being around my family nonstop for 6 days will be a little difficult at times I'm sure. This whole holiday has made me really appreciate that Daniel and I have a wonderful house where we can have our own space and our own time together. I won't have a computer for the next 10 days so.. happy new year!

Vegas Baby!!

I'm back in Phoenix after an incredible weekend in Vegas. We flew in on Friday morning and checked into our hotel- the Flamingo- while waiting for Daniel's parents, brother, and his girlfriend Kristy to drive up from Phoenix. Around noon they arrived and we all went down to the lobby to get some lunch. They had flamingos in a little garden outside! It was so pretty. We also couldn't resist peeking in the wedding chapel. Don't worry though- we didn't elope! After lunch we began walking up the strip. I was appalled by the hoards of hispanic people standing on the street handing out cards with pictures of naked girls on them. We stopped in the Venetian, the Wynn, pretty much every hotel in that direction. The Venetian was my favorite. It reminded me of Venice, only more Disneylandy. Everything was beautifully decorated for Christmas. We window shopped and took pictures. We stopped in one of the hotels to play a little video poker. Robert taught us how to play. It was just a penny machine, but I did end up breaking even. The girls had tickets to Chippendales that night, but the guys didn't so they stopped at a half price ticket booth to see what they could get. They ended up with tickets to Cirque du Soleil! We were so jealous. It was called Zumanity, and it's supposed to be the sexy, sensual cirque du soleil. The acrobats were almost all naked! But we knew that we would have fun too. We all got up very early that morning so we headed back to the hotel about 4pm to rest until our show that evening.

The girls got all dressed up and we went to the Rio for our show. Kristy wasn't 21, so they wouldn't let us in early. Before the show, it's just a bar. So we went to a nearby bar on the casino floor, and again they turned Kristy away. So Julie and Kristy went to window show in a nearby store while Nicole and I got some drinks. The bartender tossed the bottle around and did all kinds of crazy moves to make our drink. It was so cool! Finally, it was time to go into the theater. It was a small theater set up kind of like a club with tables and chairs around them. There were about 10 guys in the show. It was very different than what I thought. I did not realize how pornographic it was! I thought it would just be guys dancing around on stage. But they like acted out sex scenes! Nicole ended up in the front row which put her in the fortunate position to be taken up on stage! I was screaming the whole time. She was wearing a cocktail dress with a little jacket over it and the guy pushed her up against a wall and untied her jacket. Then he led her to the center of the stage and sat her down and all the guys danced around her. At one point, one of the guys actually dragged his finger from her ankle up her leg and lifted up her skirt an inch! It was crazy. Throughout the show, they also came down and danced with all the girls in the audience. One of them came up to me and danced with me. He asked where we were from, and I said Phoenix. Then he asked how I like it there, and all I could think to say was "It's really hot" lol! I guess we know where my mind was.... One of them also kissed Julie on the cheek. We all had a fabulous time. At the very end, you could pay $20 to get a picture with all the guys. One of the ushers told Kristy that she could get one for free! He led her up on stage so she cut everyone in line and got a picture with the whole cast for free. We have no idea why. The guys really enjoyed their show too, though they couldn't get us to stop talking about ours all night! It was great.

We walked back towards our hotel and stopped at the Bellagio to see the beautiful fountain show. Later that night, me and Daniel sat down at a Blackjack table with Robert. The lowest minimum they had was $10, so Robert gave us some money to gamble with. The 3 of us started with $100 and on the second hand, Robert won $125! He bet $1 on the lucky lady which means if he gets 2 queen of hearts, he wins 125 to 1. It was so crazy! But within an hour we lost all $125 and our original $100. It was fun anyways. And let me tell you, free drinks is awesome! That is the best part about Vegas.

The next day we slept in and walked the other way on the strip. We also stopped at the M&M store which was really fun. We saw the huge lion cage in MGM and they even had two cubs there! We went in Mandalay Bay which I only wanted to see because of the amazing race. We also went in Excalibur, Caesar's palace, the Luxor, and New York New York. We found a $5 blackjack table this time and Daniel and I played with $50 for a long time. Nicole played with $35 and we all did really well. We got a 3 foot drink to share and that got us all pretty wasted. Evan and Daniel actually took a shot of 151! Then they got a Jagerbomb (not sure about the spelling). So they were all pretty drunk. We played at the slots just long enough to get more free drinks. It was a great night. Eventually we headed back to the Flamingo and I got an hour nap in before dinner. Then we found out that our show was cancelled on us. How disappointing. We had tickets to a magic show that night but they just cancelled it. We went to this incredible sushi and seafood buffet at Planet Hollywood for dinner. I am really beginning to love sushi. It was delicious! I ate so much of it too. Then the kids split off from the parents and we went to the Bellagio. They had an incredible Christmas display inside. There were polar bears made out of flowers and reindeer made out of pecans! We played quarter video poker and I lost $4. I spent surprisingly little. I think it was under $100 for the whole weekend on gambling and drinks. Daniel's parents were so generous. They paid for everything else, and even some drinks too! We actually went to bed pretty early that night. We were exhausted. The strip is so overstimulating, I was so tired at the end of the day.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and drove back to Phoenix. We stopped at the Hoover Dam and took the tour there. It was pretty interesting. I had no idea how important it is to deliver our electricity and water. I am so glad that I went to Vegas. I think it's a great place to go right after you turn 21. There was so much to see and do. I loved it!

Daniel's 21st

Last night we celebrated Daniel's birthday and it was a blast! Around 8:30 some of his fraternity brothers came over to our house. Some of them just got back from abroad so we haven't seen them since the summer. It was so great to see our friends again. We went to the liquor store earlier in the day so we had a fully stocked bar. We started off with mojitos and within an hour or two the guys were taking shots called slippery nipples. Daniel really likes Baileys so he had a lot of drinks with that in it. He took a shot where he wasn't allowed to use his hands, so he had to pick up the shot glass in his mouth and lean way back to swallow it. I don't know who comes up with this stuff! We sang happy birthday and had cake and ice cream- the cake was delicious! Everyone but one guy was over 21, but we wanted that one guy to be able to go out with us. So we went to the same place we went for my 21st birthday called the Cherry Cricket. Most of the guys took a cab and the rest of us rode with the designated driver. I stayed behind a few minutes and rode with the DD. When we got there, everyone was in the parking lot. Daniel showed the bouncer his ID, and he wouldn't let them in! Even though it was already his birthday and he was already officially 21, they wouldn't let anyone in. He said it looked like they had been drinking already. They had been drinking, but not so much that they were all drunk and disorderly. They all were standing there completely silent waiting to go in. So it was kind of strange and ridiculous. We walked down the street and found a place called miniBAR. We went in and it had a very cool atmosphere so we sat down. After we ordered drinks, and they gave Daniel a free drink, we started to look around and realized that there were A LOT of gay guys there. Daniel went to the bathroom and when he came back he said a guy hit on him very obviously. I asked our waitress and she said that it wasn't a gay bar per se, but a lot of gay guys hang out there. While we finished our drinks, some of the guys went outside to see if they could find another bar. We ended up right across the street at a place called Earls. Our waitress was really nice and she told her other tables that it was Daniel's birthday so they all wished him Happy Birthday. By this point we were all into our 3rd and 4th drinks, so we had a great time. Nobody got too drunk, and everybody had a fabulous time. We took a cab home and called it a night about 1am. I think it was just perfect- we had some drinks and had a good time, but nobody got completely wasted and we were all still responsible about it. The best part was being able to see some of our friends that have been abroad the past 4 months.

When we got home and got ready for bed, I felt like there was something in my eye. I kept blinking and rubbing trying to get it out, but it wouldn't come out. I figured if I went to sleep that it would come out in the middle of the night and I would be fine in the morning. Well, I wasn't fine in the morning. It was so irritating I couldn't sleep all night. It felt like a grain of sand in my eye! I tried putting contact solution in, but that didn't help so I made an appointment with the health center on campus. The doctor that saw me was so nice. He listened carefully to what I said and examined my eye. He put some dye in it and then held up some kind of UV light, but he said he couldn't see anything in there. He thought it was probably a small abrasion on my eye itself that would heal on its own. He referred me to an ophthalmologist near campus, but they couldn't see me until tomorrow. The ophthalmologist told me to get some artificial tears and use them once every hour until my appointment tomorrow morning. I don't do very well with eye drops. Even though I wear contacts and I can touch my eye, there's something about drops that make me very uncomfortable. I have to lay on the couch and hold my eye open while Daniel squirts the drops in. He got mad at me because I kept closing my eye and he couldn't get the drops in. But anyways, it helped a lot. I took a nap this afternoon and when I woke up around 4pm my eye felt so much better. When I cooked dinner, I cut up an onion and that really irritated it again. But now it's feeling back to normal so I'm going to cancel my appointment tomorrow. It was the weirdest thing; that's never happened to me before. But I'm so glad it's better. My biggest fear is that it wouldn't go away and I had to spend my entire vacation in Vegas with a grain of sand in my eye.

Tomorrow we clean and pack, and then on Friday morning we're leaving again! I'm so excited!!

It's so good to be back in Denver!

Well we're home :-) The drive wasn't too bad, just under 13 hours. And we even took 30 minutes for lunch. Jackson did great, he slept the whole time as usual. When we got home, around 6:30, our roommate had dinner cooking! That was a wonderful surprise since we certainly didn't want to get back into the car to get dinner and neither of us felt like cooking after getting up at 5am that morning. While Paul finished cooking, we unloaded the car. This was quite a treacherous task because there was about an inch of ice covering our driveway. I can't believe we fit everything in our car! We got so many Christmas presents early because they were big and we couldn't fly with them. We just piled everything inside and then ate dinner. Paul had to go to work (he deals poker for corporate Christmas parties and stuff like that) so Daniel and I cleaned up dinner. Then we got to start opening up our gifts! We hung our mezuzah on our front door (it's a Jewish tradition). Then we opened up our nativity and set that up. We are a truly multi-cultural family! We opened up all our Christmas presents and reorganized our kitchen a little bit so it would all fit. And finally we unwrapped our rug and put it in the living room. It looks so nice! We poured ourselves a glass of wine and lit the Hanukkah candles. Before bed, we started a load of laundry. It was a very productive evening.

So now we're back home and I am so happy. We were pretty cramped in a tiny guest room at my parents, so it's nice to have a closet and a big bed and our own bathroom now. Jackson has settled in nicely as well, he's been sleeping all day. We still have a lot to do in the next five days before we go to Las Vegas. We have to clear out an entire room full of stuff for Hope to move in, and move some of our storage around. This will be more difficult because Paul has a friend staying in our guest room which also happens to be a lot of our storage area. But that's okay, we'll make it work. We have 2 1/2 weeks worth of mail to go through, and we have to prepare for Eric to move in. A bunch of his furniture will be arriving by mail in the next week. On top of that, Daniel's birthday is on Tuesday and we're going to have a party here! Many of our friends are back from studying abroad so it will be so nice to see them after 6 months. Most of them are over 21, so I think we'll probably be going out that night. I'm going to bake a cake for Daniel in my new kitchenaid mixer! I can't wait. We also have to go grocery shopping because there is no food left in the house. On top of all that, Daniel wants to get a few good days of skiing in. He went up to the mountains today and skiied for about 3 hours. That's all he could handle because it was a brisk 0 degrees today. The weather warmed up down here on the front range today; it's a beautiful 50 right now. It's kind of funny to go outside and feel the warm weather, but there's still a good inch or two of snow on the ground. I guess that's Denver! It should melt fast as long as the weather stays like this. Oh, and we have to pack for Las Vegas/ Christmas in Phoenix/ California family reunion/ Cruise to Mexico. I'm having a hard time figuring out what to wear. I need a dress for 1) Vegas, 2) Christmas Eve, 3) One night in California, and 4) 3 nights on the cruise including New Years. Of course I can double up on a couple of those. I can't believe my winter break isn't even half over! I'm loving it :-)

Early Christmas

Last night we had a little mini Christmas celebration at Daniel's parents' house. Since we are flying back to Denver after Christmas, they want to give us some of the bigger gifts now. That way, we can load up the car with lots of stuff and it doesn't take up room in our suitcase. We got so many great things for our kitchen! A coffeemaker, bakeware, and knife set. We also got a beautiful rug for our living room and a dog bed for Jackson. It felt kind of like a wedding shower instead of Christmas. My parents also got us a kitchenaid mixer! I am so thrilled because I love to bake and it's so difficult to use a hand mixer and hold the bowl and everything. I can't wait to get home and put everything in our house. My dad also bought me a nativity set that I've been wanting for a while. Setting up the nativity was one of my favorite parts of Christmas, so I really wanted one for our house. I feel so completely spoiled. We have such a generous family.

I can't believe I forgot to write this earlier, but I got my grades and I didn't get a D in chemistry. I didn't even get a C in chemistry, I got a B! I'm so thrilled and I honestly can't believe it. I was ready to give up when I studied for finals, but I didn't and it really paid off. My final exam score was higher than both of my midterms, so it replaced one of them. With the curve, that was enough to put me up to a B in the class. I am proud of myself for studying so hard for finals and not giving up. And I think I learned a valuable lesson about studying hard for my midterms and not letting it get to the point where I have to do so well on the final exam that I'm stressing out about it. I got all As and Bs this quarter, even in my labs. My GPA is still a 3.5, so I am very happy!!

I got an email from my future employer yesterday outlining the conditions of my employment. They offered my $8 an hour, even though I asked for $10. Daniel thought I should ask for more, but I don't think I will. I'm so nervous about this job. I'm afraid the extra hours will make me so busy that I will be stressed out. And sharing a car with Daniel will make driving back and forth difficult. I'm trying really hard not to think about that and to focus on what a great opportunity this is. I will get to be involved in important research and learn a lot about respiratory illnesses in a real lab. I am taking less credits this quarter, so that should help. I just hope we can work out a schedule that I will be happy with.

We leave for Denver in two days, and I am happy about that. I will be glad to have my privacy again and some space. And our nice queen size bed! A full size just isn't big enough anymore. Hopefully it's warmed up a bit- last time I checked, it was -15 in Denver. As in, 15 degrees below zero! Crazy!

Thanksgiving break

I know it's been such a long time since I've posted, and that's because I have been so busy! My vacation is just as crazy as the school year.

Since I last posted, we have had family visit us in Denver, a road trip back to Phoenix, Thanksgiving, and lots of time with family.

Daniel's mom, Aunt Barbara, and Abuela drove all the way to Denver from Phoenix to see our new house. We spent hours cleaning and making sure the house was perfect and it was all worth it. We had a lovely time all together. Before we all left to drive back to Phoenix, we did a Native American "smudging" that uses burning sage to bless our house. Abuela couldn't help throwing in some holy water for good measure. So our house is doubly blessed! We stopped the night in Moab, Utah at a beautiful ranch/vineyard. Poor Jackson still has a hard time "going" while he's on a leash so it was a very uncomfortable trip for him. We arrived in Phoenix Wednesday evening, just in time to meet up with some friends and my sister for dinner.

Thanksgiving was perfect. It was the best Thanksgiving I can remember. Daniel and I had lunch with my family, dinner with his family, and then dessert with both. I got to see my brother for the first time since he joined the army, and I got to see my cousin Ceadar, her husband, and her 1-year old baby girl Chloe. At Daniel's house there was quite a variety of people too, and most of them weren't actually related. I was so glad to see our families mingling and enjoying each others' company. I'm sure the wedding will go just as well.

Since Thanksgiving, we've just been hanging out with our families. We have been trying very hard to balance spending time with both sides, and so far it's gone well. It's getting more and more difficult to stay at my parents' house. I miss having our own space and privacy. But I also love having so much time with my parents, Daniel's parents, and my grandparents. We also spent quite a bit of time with Ceadar, Rafi, and Chloe while they were here. We will see them again just after Christmas when we go to California.

Jackson has been extremely well behaved. He hasn't eaten another TV remote, and has stayed off the furniture for the most part. He hasn't even been jumping up on people. The worst problem we have now is that if he gets out, he runs. Twice now he has dashed across Thunderbird, a very busy street. The first time I didn't even know he was gone! Daniel called me and told me that a lady was in the front yard with Jackson. She found him, lured him into her car with french fries, and called the phone number on his tag. It was so frightening that we didn't even know how he got out! Daniel spent some time with him in the backyard and discovered that he had gotten into the garage and jumped out a small opening in a window. He is just too smart! The second time, my mom was leaving out the door and he slipped out. He went straight for Thunderbird. We really have to work on that, it is so scary. But other than that he has been so well-behaved. He gets lots of attention from his grandparents and the other dogs in the family wear him out.

A few days ago, Daniel and I finally came to a conclusion about our wedding. We have been discussing where to have it since we got engaged and it's been a very difficult decision. Daniel wanted to have it up in the mountains of Colorado. He thought that all of our college friends wouldn't have the money to travel to Phoenix. And he made the argument that Colorado is our home now, so we should have the wedding there. I wanted to have it in Phoenix because there are a lot of church friends that I want to attend and I don't think they will be as willing to fly to Denver, rent a car or find transportation up to the mountains, especially not if it's snowy and icy. So we finally settled on a compromise: Denver. It will be easier for people to fly into and they won't have to rent a car or drive another 90 minutes up to the mountains. It's where we live now, and it has special meaning. We both would love to have a snowy wedding and although Denver doesn't always have snow, it is a possibility. And if it doesn't have snow, it's very easy for us to drive up to the mountains the morning of the wedding with our photographer and take some pictures in the snow. We also decided that we want to have it on campus at DU. I don't like the idea of having the wedding at any old place- I want it to have meaning. DU hosts weddings quite often, and they have some absolutely beautiful places on campus. We would like to have the ceremony in Joy Burns Plaza, and the reception in the HRTM school. Joy Burns Plaza is the lobby of the music school. It has marble floors surrounded by columns and there's a balcony that wraps all the way around. A grand staircase goes from the balcony down to the marble floors. To see a 360 degree photo, go to http://www.du.edu/events/popQBurnsPlazaBanquet.html.

The HRTM school (hotel, restaurant, tourism management) hosts wedding receptions regularly. They also host fundraisers, banquets, wine tastings, etc. They have a 5 star restaurant that caters events. The location can seat 120-150 people for dinner. It's decorated in the Tuscan style with stone floors and a wine cellar on one side. There's also a grand staircase, a dance floor, and a patio area if the weather is nice. I think it can be really beautiful. To see a picture, go to http://67.199.119.112//denverbrass.cfm?Action=ViewDetails&ItemID=226&Category=45 and click on the picture to see it larger.

We also moved the date to December 3, 2011. That means it will be in 2 years! I will already have my B.S. in biochemistry, and Daniel will be just 3 months away from his MBA. Since it's over winter break, there won't will a lot of students on campus. And we will have time to go on our honeymoon before Christmas. So it sounds just perfect! I'm excited already.

O Chem= Impossible!!

In the past two days, I have been going back and forth between freaking out about chemistry and just not caring. To be honest, I really have no idea what my grade is right now. I'm not sure how the curve will affect my test grades and how much the homework I have turned in will boost it as well. But I know it's not good. A B if I'm lucky, a D if I'm really in trouble. And if I do bad on the final exam, it is within the realm of possibility that I could get a D in the class. Yikes. I already know I have an A in one class, and I have two finals tomorrow in biology and psychology. I'm sure I will get at least a B in those classes, if not an A. So all that's left is organic chemistry. I'm really proud of myself for studying hard and doing better in biology this quarter than I have all last year. I wish I could celebrate that and feel good about it, but chemistry always creeps into my brain.

Last night I called my parents because I needed some encouragement. They assured me that they would love me no matter what grade I get. My mom told me that o chem is notoriously hard and she had a difficult time with it when she was in college. She is convinced that I'm so smart that if I can't pass the class, she doesn't see how anyone can. That's a mother's blind love. My dad told me that I should just try my best and life will go on. I feel much better after talking to them. I have been avoiding studying because I feel overwhelmed like I don't know where to start. This is the only class that my final is comprehensive so there's just so much material to go over. And the fact that I didn't do well when I was tested on the material the first time does not leave me very optimistic about the final. I did finally spend about an hour yesterday and a couple hours today going over my notes and example problems. I have been improving and I'm feeling slightly more confident. I hope my GPA isn't completely ruined by this one class this one quarter. I wish it was over and I could just let it go. But I still have two days to obsess about it. Sunday at noon, I will be finished and there's nothing left to do but find out my grade.

The doorbell just rang, and there were flowers delivered for me! The card said "We have faith in you! Love Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa" That is so sweet! I feel so much better about finals. No matter what grade I get, I know that I tried my best and in January I can start fresh and work harder. My family loves me :-)

Week 10

I am done with all my labs! I'm so happy!! Labs are the worst: they are so stressful, and no matter what I always lose points even when I think I am doing everything right. I took a final exam in biology lab last Wednesday, so I'm completely done with that and I just finished my last organic chemistry lab write-up! The first two quarters of organic chemistry lab were really really hard. Every Monday I would dread going to lab. There were always things that I didn't know how to do, or something wouldn't work right and I didn't know how to fix it, or I didn't read directions close enough and I screwed something up. Quite often I wouldn't get the right product, or any product at all! It was a lot of work. Finally this quarter I figured it out. I was able to relax and do what I needed to and most of the time it worked out. I'm so proud of myself for working through it and really learning how to problem solve. But even so, I'm very glad I'm done. Of course I'll have another lab next quarter. Actually, three labs.

Yesterday I had my annual check-up and there were a few little complications so I have to go back for an ultrasound next week sometime. I don't want to go into details (I'm sure nobody wants to hear details) but there was about 15 minutes when I thought I may have to have a very painful procedure done. I started breathing really heavy and panicking and my doctor (actually, she was a nursing student) was asking me if I was okay. I told her I was just really nervous and I didn't want to have anything done. She consulted with my real doctor, her supervisor, and they decided to refer me to radiology to get an ultrasound. I've never had one before, so I don't really know what to expect. I just really hope everything's okay. They also did a routine pregnancy test just to be sure, and I surprisingly got a little nervous. I know that there's very little chance I could be pregnant, but you never know, right? It was negative, but needless to say it was a very stressful "routine" appointment!

Yesterday Daniel and I took Jackson to Petsmart. He chews up his toys and flings cotton all over the house, so we wanted to see if we could find some really durable toys he would like. Just our luck, there was a big adoption drive happening which means there were kennels of dogs set up in the store and it was a Saturday so it was crazy busy! Jackson went nuts. He was pulling really hard on the leash. An employee asked us if he could help us find something and Jackson jumped up on him. That's something we've been working on, but he just doesn't get it. Every time we come home, he jumps up to greet us. I was so embarrassed. This guy was a trainer so he told us about the training classes they have there. I told Jackson "down!" and the guy said to Jackson, "Oh, they're confusing you already." Then he told me that "down" means lie down, and "off" means get off. I was really embarrassed. It's so frustrating because we are trying really hard and at home he will sit and lie down and stay and all of that, but if there's a million people and barking dogs and toys and bones and treats everywhere, of course he's a little distracted. But Daniel and I got some tips to work on the jumping up thing so hopefully in the next week he will get better manners. I can just picture him jumping on Grandma when she comes over for Thanksgiving. That would not go over well.

I'm also worried because we let Jackson sit on the couch with us so we can cuddle while we're watching TV or something. But at my parents' house, they don't want him to. So he has to learn that it's not okay there. Most of all, I don't want my dad to discipline him. I HATE the way my Dad yells at dogs and children to get them to behave. I don't believe that yelling is a good method. And my dad has this need to assert his authority over everyone and everything. Seriously, every time we talk on the phone he says "well you tell Jackson that his grandpa Burt isn't going to let him jump all over the furniture. If he does then he's going to have one less leg" or something like that. He constantly threatens to hurt Jackson. I know that it's just threats, but it bothers me! Why does he have to say stuff like that? He's a puppy! Well I'm completely off topic now, but my point is that I'm nervous about taking Jackson to my parents' house.

I'm going to go bake some cookies. :-)

My sister!

My sister is here, and we're having a blast! It's been way too long since we've seen each other. As we get older, I enjoy spending time with her so much. And it was nice that Mike came too, he has been really fun to hang out with. We're so lucky that our whole family gets along so well.

Anyways, we went to the zoo yesterday. We were planning on going because we had free passes. When we drove there, traffic was crazy and then we figured out that it was free zoo day. And on top of that, it was a rare beautiful day this time of year in Denver, so everybody decided to go to the zoo. It was fun anyways. It seemed like all the animals were out and active. Maybe that's because I'm used to the Phoenix zoo where all the animals are laying in the shade so they don't die of heat stroke. That evening Nicole took us all out to the Melting Pot to celebrate our birthday. It was so much fun. We each got a birthday card signed by all the waiters. It was wonderful to feel so special not only because it was our birthday, but because we're twins. Growing up, I thought it was so unfair that I had to share my birthday with someone and everyone else got to have that day as their own special day. But now I think it is so special that I get to share it with someone. The maitre d' came over to our table and asked us about why we were here and where we were from and all. We told him that we were twins celebrating our 21st birthday and that Nicole was here in Denver visiting us because we go to DU. He asked to see our IDs (though somehow he made it sound more like he was excited that we were 21 than he was "carding" us) and told us we could each get a free shot from the bar. We had already ordered cocktails for ourselves, so those came out and then a guy brought over 2 bright green shots. It was called a Jamaican 10 speed and it was delicious! I think I drank a little too fast, because when our entree came out I was feeling a little drowsy. But that food soaked the alcohol right up! We ate so much I thought my stomach was going to burst. It was so fun to celebrate with my sister and our boys. I think they were a little sad they couldn't drink with us, but that will change in another month for Daniel, and 6 months for Mike.

Today Nicole and Mike met me on campus for lunch and we had dinner together. They actually sat in on my biology lecture and then I showed them around my lab. It was so funny, as soon as Nicole left 3 of my friends looked at me and were like "are you twins?!!" Yesterday we had a discussion about whether we still look identical. We think we look so different now, and so does Daniel. But I think for people that don't know us really well, or don't know that I'm a twin, they were really surprised when they saw her. And even though we've lived apart for 2 1/2 years now (that's so sad!) I'm surprised that we still have so many of the same mannerisms. Nicole spent the afternoon painting Mike white and gold for the football game. It's in the 40s tonight, so I imagine he's a little cold. I don't think he cares though. They were both so excited to go to the game; I know they're having a great time. I'm going to miss them when they go home tomorrow morning. But I have to remind myself that I will see Nicole at Thanksgiving and again for our trip to Vegas and Christmas, and then the family reunion in California. So we'll see plenty of each other in the next few months. Maybe enough that we'll actually start arguing again (just for old time's sake lol)

Motivation

I'm tired of getting the average. I want to be better than average, I want to be really really good! I'll settle for slightly less than the best :-) Today I got another midterm back, and of course I got the average. Well, 2 percent above the average, but close enough.

This quarter I feel like I haven't been trying my hardest. I was talking to Daniel today and I realized that I have been purposely doing "just enough." I have been doing my homework well enough that it's passable, and studying just the amount that I feel I will do okay on a test, but not terrible and not wonderful. When I think about that midterm I have tomorrow, I usually tell myself I'll spend about an hour studying and when my brain gets tired I'll stop. Often I tell myself that I will study some more later, and then I don't. It's easier to watch TV, or read, or play with Jackson. In the past I've blamed my mediocrity on the fact that I just don't know how to study. Or that I'm just not quite smart enough. And maybe those are partially true. But the fact is, I have decided that I'm willing to be okay. I'm willing to put in enough time to get Bs, and I will just deal with that.

I sort of convinced myself that it was okay. There are other things in life that are more important than getting As. There are friendships and socializing and cooking and taking care of the house and Jackson... all of these things are important too. I don't want to be that person that goes to class all day and studies all night. I want to go out and have fun too. I decided that the cost of spending an extra 10 hours a week (or how ever much it will take) studying was just simply too high.

Daniel wasn't buying it. He told me that it's not okay to accept mediocrity from myself. Someday, when I have a job, I will need to give 100% all the time. And right now I am teaching myself that it's okay to do just enough to get by. I don't want to be that kind of person. In middle school and high school I was so proud of the fact that I always put forth my full effort in whatever I was doing. And that has changed in the last few years. I don't know why exactly. Maybe because I have much more of a social life, or because I have more responsibilities, or because I have less motivation to do well. And I think a part of me is discouraged. I feel like it's just too hard! I'll never be able to get As.

I'm not sure how much more work it will take for me to get to that "A" level. What if that means only an extra 30 minutes a day of reviewing material? Or what if it means an extra 2 hours a day? How much am I willing to do? I don't know the answer to that yet. I have to try. I am committing to start with 30 minutes a day of studying. Not including homework, papers, assignments. Strictly reviewing the course material. There's only 3 weeks left in the quarter, and one test in each class. I'm going to focus on that. I can do this for 3 weeks.

Impulse shopping

I didn't have a lot of plans today except to get all my homework done. After about 2 hours, I needed a break so we took Jackson for a walk to the park. He ate yet another remote this morning. That's number 5. It's gotten to be pretty ridiculous and I don't know what to do to keep him from eating them. No matter what, he finds a way. I think that we might not be giving him enough attention so he's bored. He has nothing better to do than sit and scheme on how he can steal the remote away from us. He is a really smart dog. For the first few months we had him, we played fetch with him outside for at least an hour a day, and we walked him about every day. But since it's gotten colder and snowy, we haven't been playing outside as much. Today was the first nice day in weeks. It was actually in the 60s! So we took advantage of it by taking him to the park.

After I did some more homework, we ran some errands. Paul didn't have anything to do, so he went with us. We have such a small kitchen and there's not enough storage space so we decided to go to the Container Store and see what we can find to give ourselves more space. We got this rack system to hang our spices on. That frees up a whole cabinet that we are now using to put our liquor and wine. We have quite a collection now! Then we went to Lowe's. Daniel and I want to paint the basement and our bedroom over winter break. We weren't going to buy anything today, just see how much it will cost and look at paint colors. We just happened to see a Christmas tree for a really good price and couldn't resist getting it. We were going to wait and get one right after Christmas when they're all on clearance since we won't be actually in our house all that much this December. Paul's family will actually be staying here while we're in Phoenix. But when we saw one that we liked for such a good price, and we had a coupon that expired in a few days, we bought it. Besides, I'm sure Paul's family will appreciate having a festive house for the holidays.

Next we went across the street to Safeway. We got a bunch of coupons in the mail for groceries we actually needed/wanted for a change. I hate those coupons that are like "take 5 cents off 50 packages of toilet paper." And there was $10 off your purchase of $50 or more which is a good deal regardless. Our total went from $70 to eventually down to under $30. I was thrilled! Finally, we went to Costco to pick up a few things. We had a gift card there so I didn't have to spend any actual money. That always makes me happy. We got a package of like 85 ornaments that all match for our new tree.

When we got home, the three of us put together our spice rack and put up our Christmas tree. I know it's a little early, but we wanted to enjoy it while we're here in Denver. And with the snow and everything it really feels like Christmas already. We put on Christmas music and had some wine that was called "electric reindeer." It was so much fun! I absolutely love having a house and decorating it for the holidays. It feels like we're a real family :-)

Besides that, I have been studying for my biology midterm tomorrow. It is pretty pathetic that after 15 years of school, I still don't know how to study. I have pages and pages of notes and diagrams and figures and charts to memorize. How am I supposed to do it? The past few years I have been using flash cards, but I decided that doesn't really work. It is time consuming to make, and it makes me memorize facts instead of really understanding and synthesizing concepts. And I wasn't doing all that well on my exams no matter how well I knew my flashcards. For my last exam, which I got a B on, I felt like I knew everything pretty well just from paying attention in class. There wasn't so much material that I couldn't remember it all. But this time there is so much it is overwhelming. I mean the sheer number of new terms took up a whole page in my notebook. I ended up just kind of reading over my notes and going through the figures again a couple times. That's the only thing I know how to do. I used to have Daniel quiz me, but he can't even pronounce half the words in my notes and he certainly doesn't understand all the figures. I think what would be most effective would be studying with a group that's in the class with me. Unfortunately, I don't really know anyone and they all still live on campus because they're a year younger than me. I should try harder to get to know them and get a study group together.

A very long weekend

It's Saturday, but it feels like I should be back at school. I've had the past 3 days off anyways. On Wednesday, my morning class was cancelled and then the University closed for snow. Snow day again on Thursday, and I skipped class on Friday. Now it's Saturday which makes day 4 without class. Weird.

I actually have skipped 4 chemistry classes in a row. Oddly enough, I feel like I understand this chapter better than any other chapter. Instead of rushing to copy down notes as fast as I can in class at 9am when I'm really tired, I can do it at my own pace. He posts his powerpoints online, so I copy them down with the textbook in front of me to fill in the gaps. Maybe this chapter was already easy, but either way this method worked much better for me than attending class.

It's very tempting to skip that class on Friday because it's from 9-10 and that's the only class I have. So I have to wake up early and drive to campus just for 50 minutes of class. Then I have to sit around for 2 hours until Daniel is done or drive home and drive back 90 minutes later. It's very inconvenient no matter what. So it's easier for me to just skip class and sleep in, which I do not mind at all of course.

Julie (Daniel's mom) bought us tickets to see two shows in Vegas in December. We are all going to a magic show where this guy makes planes and helicopters and stuff disappear. And just the girls (me, Nicole, Julie, and Evan's girlfriend Kristy) are going to see a Chippendale's show. I mentioned it just as a joke, but it actually sounds like fun. Hopefully it won't be too awkward. Or I'll be drunk enough to not care.

This quarter is going by so fast, there's only a couple more weeks left. I register next week for winter quarter. I am taking only 3 classes because they are all really hard. Chemistry, Genetics, and Physiology. Every single one of them has a lab too which means a lot more time in the classroom than the credits suggest. So instead of taking 18 credits, I'm only taking 14. I hope it will make my load lighter and make it easier to study and do well. This quarter has been fairly laid back, but now that it's getting towards the end things are picking up a little bit. I met with my advisor and we discussed what I'm going to do after graduation. Next quarter I'm actually a senior. That is insane! I'm a senior in college.

Right now I'm planning on doing a one year accelerated program in nursing. That way I will finish school about the same time as Daniel and I will be a registered nurse. Then I can choose to continue on and get my NP (nurse practitioner) or I can hopefully get a good job for a while and put off more school. So I've been looking at schools in Denver and it's making me so nervous. It's really competitive to get into Nursing school and there are only two accelerated programs in Denver. I would have to start the August after graduation, or the following January. And it lasts one full calendar year instead of one full school year.

I wish I were more confident about what I want to do. I'm not very enthusiastic about it. I chose nursing because I want a good steady job that pays well and that I can qualify for as soon as possible. I also want to work with patients and care for people. The actual job sounds really great, but I just don't know that much about it. I don't know anybody who has been through nursing school or is working as a nurse right now. I have so many questions and nobody that can answer them. It's very stressful. And I have to figure this out soon because I have to apply next spring or summer. Is nursing really want I want to do for the rest of my life? I'm not sure about that. What I really want to do is be a family doctor. The person you see when your kid has a cold or strep throat or whatever. I want to work regular hours and make good money. When I started college, majoring in science seemed so safe. It seemed that no matter what I could get a well paying job with a science degree. Now I'm not so sure. It's like you have to get your master's degree. But the thought of another 2 years of school makes me crazy! I never thought I would have to be in school until I was 24 years old! I want to be independent and support myself. I want to get married and start our family. But that will just have to wait I suppose.

Lots and Lots of snow!

We heard a few days ago that a huge storm was going to hit Denver, but I was not expecting this at all! Usually the weather station will say expect 6-8 inches of snow, and we end up with like 4. So when they said up to 2 feet, I thought it was a total exaggeration. We woke up Wednesday morning and our backyard was already covered in a couple inches.

One of my professors lives in the foothills, and they get a ton more snow than us. He had already cancelled class in anticipation of the storm. So I had one hour of class from 9-10, then I didn't have another class until 1pm. I didn't want to wake up early and sit around for 3 hours, so I just skipped my morning class. Instead, we slept in and played with Jackson out in the snow in our backyard. I took Daniel to school at 11 and then drove to the DMV to get a new license. I thought it was time to get a Colorado license, and now that I'm over 21, I need a new one anyways. I also registered to vote in CO and became an organ donor. Luckily it wasn't too busy. Probably because the roads were so scary! I definitely feel myself becoming a Colorado resident. I'm not afraid to drive in the snow anymore, and it has to be in the 30s before I really consider it cold. I thought it was so funny that everyone in Phoenix was talking about how cold it was at 60 degrees lol. Anyways, I got back to campus and got some lunch before my class at 1pm. At around 12:30, I got a phone call, a text message, and an email all at once. It was DU's alert system saying that the University was closing at 2pm! Unfortunately, I still had class from 1-2, but my lab from 2-5 was cancelled.

Daniel and I drove (carefully) home and had a very relaxing evening. We started beef stew and let it simmer on the stove all afternoon. I caught up on my morning class (which I have missed 3 in a row) and got some homework done. The snow just kept coming down. Daniel shoveled our driveway because we couldn't even get our car to drive on the slippery snow. In a couple hours you couldn't even tell he had ever shoveled it. We watched as our patio set in the backyard was overtaken by the snow, and the lawn mower was completely covered! It was so fun to watch Jackson. He had to jump over the snow to get around. And every time we threw a toy for him to fetch, he spent 5 minutes digging in the snow before he found it. It seems like he really likes playing in the snow.

We went to bed last night and woke up this morning to more snow. It's STILL falling. It's been about 36 hours now. Continuous heavy snow. We're at about 14 inches now and another 4-6 inches is expected by this evening. DU cancelled classes today, which means my weekend started at 2pm yesterday. I really really needed this break too. I'm going to take advantage of the extra time to get some homework done and get ahead on the last few weeks of the quarter. This time of the quarter things get really crazy with papers, tests, presentations, etc. It feels like a gift that we got a few days off of school with over a foot of gorgeous snow covering the city. It's just completely white everywhere you look. I'm glad that I won't be out trick-or-treating in this weather though! We're going to go make a snow man in our front yard :-)

My Birthday!

My whole weekend was so much fun. Daniel kind of planned to celebrate my birthday on Saturday since we would be going out that night at midnight when I officially turned 21 years old. He woke up around 8am while I slept in for another hour. At 9, he brought Jackson in to our bedroom to wake me up. He jumped up on the bed and gave me a big kiss on the face. Daniel told me that breakfast was ready whenever I wanted to get up. It smelled so good, I got up right away. I went upstairs and on the table was a pile of chocolate chip pancakes, a vase of pink roses, and all my birthday presents wrapped and sitting on the kitchen table. We ate breakfast with Paul and I opened my presents. Daniel got me a cocktail shaker, a wine bottle stopper, pink fuzzy slippers, and a glass measuring cup. I loved everything. I also opened a letter from my grandparents that had $210 check in it (because it was my 21st birthday). I knew right away what I wanted to spend it on: a kindle! So I ordered one right then. I called Nicole to wish her a happy birthday. Now that I'm older, I actually like sharing my birthday. As a kid, I hated it! But now it's fun to call her and wish her a happy birthday too.

I spent a lot of the day getting my homework done so I could go out that night guilt-free. Daniel and I also went to the mall and bought a cocktail recipe book and some mixers. Daniel cooked fried chicken for dinner. He wanted to make sure I had plenty of greasy food in my stomach! Around 9:30 friends started coming over. Daniel's freshman roommate Colin brought me a bottle of wine. Some of Daniel's fraternity brothers came over and we made some cocktails. I had a mojito and a dreamsicle. They were delicious! At about 11pm, we drove (one of the guys was the designated driver) to a local bar/restaurant called the Cherry Cricket. At the door, we all had to show our IDs. I told him that I turned 21 at midnight, so he told me to sit at the table right next to him so he could keep an eye on us until midnight. At about 10 till, our waiter asked me what I wanted for my birthday. They gave me one free shot. Paul suggested a Washington Apple, so that's what I had. It was really delicious! It tasted like sour apple. I also had a rum punch or something like that. We went home a little after 1am, and I fell asleep soon after. Alcohol makes me so tired. Anyways, it was so much fun. The guys were great, I didn't have to pay for anything.

I didn't really sleep in on Sunday surprisingly enough. Daniel's parents called and sang me Happy Birthday and their own special Rosen Happy Birthday song. They are so sweet, I love my in-laws. Besides that, I mostly relaxed and enjoyed a free day. It snowed all day and it was really cold outside so I didn't want to do anything but stay under the covers. Daniel made the weekend so special. Every time I started to clean or wash dishes or something he would say "no, it's your birthday!" so I didn't have to do anything I didn't want to :-) I'm kind of sad it's all over. But I am still excited for Nicole to come because we'll celebrate our birthday again together. And when Daniel turns 21, it's going to be really fun. That night we can both go out for drinks together.

I cannot believe I'm 21. I feel like I'm growing up so fast! I still feel like a teenager. But then sometimes I feel like an adult. Taking care of a house and a dog and all makes me feel more grown up every day. In the next few weeks I'm going to go get a new ID. I think I will get a Colorado one. Then it's official: I'm a Colorado resident!

No One Mourns the Wicked!

Well Wicked was INCREDIBLE!! Our seats were not terrible. Though we were very high, we could still see everything that was going on. We couldn't really see facial expressions, but the music is the important part anyways, right? I was sitting in the theater and practically bouncing in my seat I was so excited! The cast sounded very similar to the original broadway cast, but there were a few little differences. I definitely noticed that the balance between the parts wasn't perfect. I mean I have listened to the CD which is perfectly engineered a million times, so any imperfections stood out. But the singing and dancing and acting were fantastic! I got to wear my beautiful black pea coat because it snowed all day long. It's all pretty much melted now.

The next day, Daniel intercepted the mail and took all my birthday presents and hid them. One was a giant box from his family. I texted his Mom and told her that Daniel wasn't letting me open it and she demanded that he let me open it now lol. So he did. It was full of so many presents! I got matching red apron, oven mitts, and dish towels. A really soft bubble gum pink bath robe, and 100$ gift card to Costco to buy new silverware! Stuck inside the oven mitts were two free movie tickets and Evan put in a 20$ gift card to See's chocolates! It was so fun that I got to keep opening more and more and more because everything was wrapped separately. I can't believe that Evan even bought me a gift, that was so thoughtful of him. And I LOVE everything! I have the best in-laws :-) So today I want to go to Costco and pick out our new silverware. I actually dreamed about it last night lol. I know I'm a little crazy.

Tonight Daniel and I are going out to dinner and then we are going to the music school to see the Lamont Symphony and the Women's Choir perform. So tonight we are really celebrating our 7th anniversary. 7 whole years. Wow. I'm excited to have a romantic evening with my honey.

What a morning!

This has been a crazy morning. I woke up a full 30 minutes before my alarm was set. That is very unusual for me. I always want to get every minute of sleep I can. But I went to bed at 9:30 last night, so maybe that's why. I woke up to a backyard covered in snow. There was already an inch or two on the ground and it was coming down hard! I had to drive Daniel to work. He got a job helping with elementary school band. When I got home, I let Jackson inside because I felt so bad for him out in the snow. I got in the shower and when I got out, I checked on Jackson. He was sitting right in front of the back door with our remote in his mouth! Again! I was so angry. Paul must have left the remote out last night after I went to bed. Daniel and I try to put the remote in a drawer so Jackson can't get it. Anyways, it was destroyed of course. I was already running late, but I wanted to order the new remote as soon as possible so I called on my way to school. Driving in the snow while I'm running late and on the phone was kind of hectic. When I finally got to school, I was so frazzled and angry at Jackson I couldn't concentrate at all. To top it all off, I had a midterm at 10am. So I had to calm myself down so I could pay attention on my exam. Now I'm home for lunch before I have to go back to school. I have my biology lab, and tonight we are going to see Wicked. We have been taking up to 3 trips to campus a day, and today it will be probably 5. It's not ideal, but by coming home I don't have to use one of my meals in the dining hall on campus. And it's nice to let Jackson in for a little while when the weather is so terrible outside.

So today has been pretty nuts so far. I hope it calms down. I should have at least 2 hours between my lab and Wicked to get some dinner and relax. I hope the show is really good. I'm a little worried because our seats are in the very last row of the highest balcony. It's going to be terrible if we get there and we can barely see because we're so high up.

Tomorrow Daniel and I are celebrating 7 years together! I can't believe it's been so long. I am more in love with Daniel than ever. And I still can't believe we're getting married! Three years feels so far away sometimes, and so close other times. I'm sure it will pass quickly. My birthday is in less than a week, and Daniel is like the present Nazi! He won't let me open any until my actual birthday. He told me he was going to check the mail every day and take anything for me and hide it until my birthday. He already admitted that his gift for me is hidden in the house somewhere. I'm so excited to turn 21!

We have added yet another trip to our winter break. Daniel's parents want to take us all to Las Vegas since we will be 21. Daniel's whole family, plus Nicole and me are going. Evan's girlfriend Kristy may go too, but she won't be 21 years old. This quarter is going by fast. We're already in week 6. In one month we'll be taking finals and soon after that, back in Phoenix. I hope Jackson can learn better manners before then. He still jumps up on people sometimes and barks. And obviously chews. Most of the time I love him to death, but sometimes he makes me so angry!

Well, I'm going to go get some lunch and then head back to campus. I hope the afternoon goes quickly.

Rockies!

Last night I went to my very first ever baseball playoff game! It was so exciting and so FREEZING COLD! Daniel's fraternity brother Evan signed up for the lottery online to have the chance to buy tickets for the playoff games. He won the lottery so he bought 4 tickets for Saturday night and Sunday night's games. Me and Daniel and Paul all wanted to go. He bought Rock Pile seats which were only $10 (plus $7 of fees). We woke up on Saturday morning to see our backyard covered in snow and beautiful snowflakes falling! This is unusually early for this kind of weather in Denver, but as they say here, it's Denver! You never know what kind of weather you'll get. So it's kind of ordinary in that it's unusual. Anyways, they cancelled that night's game because it was so cold and snowy and icy. That game was moved to Sunday night when it was a whole degree warmer! At first pitch it was a chilly 28 degrees. Which I guess "felt" like 19 degrees. We were all bundled up. I wore long underwear, two shirts, a sweater, and a coat as well as ski pants, stocking cap, and gloves. And Daniel and I bought these hand warmer things that felt wonderful inside my gloves. We also brought blankets to sit on because the Rock Pile has metal bleacher seats. We climbed up to the very top row in the Rock Pile. It was an incredible view up there. I really liked our seats. The atmosphere was incredible. Even though it was so cold, everyone was excited and cheering, including us. I was pretty comfortable for the first hour or so, and then I started to get pretty darn cold. By the eighth inning, I lost feeling in my toes and my fingertips despite the hand warmers. I think the cold actually fueled the excitement because it was warmer to be standing up cheering and moving around. I can't imagine how cold the players must have been down on the field. We could see the outfielders sticking their hands in their pockets and shivering. It was a very exciting game full of hits and runs. It was tied in the eighth and then the Phillies got a run, so they won. It was a close game though which made it so much fun. I didn't even get tired, though the game lasted over 4 hours and ended around 12:15am. We didn't get home until after 1am, and I had class this morning at 9. But it was all well worth it. Not many people get to experience that atmosphere, and I feel very lucky that I did!

Finally done with midterms

My life has been pretty ordinary lately. We're almost halfway through the quarter already! I can't believe it. The weeks are going by so fast. I just finished my last midterm about 20 minutes ago and the relief has yet to set in. I know it will though. I think once I get home I will take a deep breath and relax. I think I did okay on it. Not great, not terrible. Which I am totally fine with. I studied a lot, and tried my hardest. That's all I can do.

Yesterday we got our first snow of the season! It was so exciting. Every single time it snows, I am surprised at how beautiful it is. Watching the flakes come down and land in your hair and on your nose, it's just so much fun! And adding to the fun yesterday was Jackson. It was (presumably) his first snow ever. He got very hyper and ran around our backyard. He lifted up his little paw and tried to wipe the snowflakes off his nose lol. And since he's black, the snowflakes looked so cute collecting on his back. I was definitely ready for some snow. Today it's a little warmer, in the 50s, but it's supposed to snow all weekend.

In related news, the Rockies made the playoffs! Many of my friends are huge baseball fans, so they entered the lottery to get tickets. As far as I know, only one friend has been able to buy tickets. He is going with our roommate Paul on Saturday night. It is going to be COLD! The stadium is outdoors, and the highs are in the 30s with snow all day. By the time the game starts around 6, it will probably be in the 20s! Brrr! I'll watch it on TV :-)

On the agenda this weekend is building a shelter for Jackson. Now that it has started snowing, we figured he needs someplace that he can go to get out from the snow. And since he has been a bit destructive indoors, we want to keep him outside when we're not home. On Wednesday evening, we were all downstairs watching Glee, and Paul noticed that Jackson was chewing on something. He reached in his mouth and pulled out.... Daniel's cell phone! It was destroyed. The screen was white and cracked, and there were huge bite marks out of it. Luckily Daniel was due for a new phone anyways, so he got a Blackberry the next day. Jackson has also been caught up on our kitchen table multiple times. I have no idea how he gets up there, or why, but he does. He's just so darn cute, I can't be mad at him for more than a few minutes. Maybe that's why puppies are so cute.

I'm getting seriously excited for my Wicked/my birthday/our anniversary/Halloween/Nicole coming to visit. So stay tuned :-)

Midterms

My first two midterms went great! I got a 96% in cognitive neuroscience, and an 88% in statistics. I am very happy with both. Now I have to focus on my next two. On Monday I have a midterm in Biology: Cell Structure and Function. Then on Friday is my first midterm in Organic Chemistry. Of course, that's the one I'm most worried about. I can already feel my stomach cramping up just thinking about it. Daniel wants me to go see a counselor about my anxiety. As usual. It's an ongoing battle, but not something I'm ready to deal with just yet.

Jackson has been doing great lately. I have realized that we have to give him lots of attention when we can, so that when we need to get something done he won't bother us. Daniel walks him every morning, and I usually play fetch with him when I get home until he's exhausted. It has kept him from destroying things, digging, or barking at us obnoxiously. We went to Michael's a few days ago to buy some fall-ish decorations for the house. I feel guilty spending the money, but I want to be festive. We only spent about $25 anyways, and now we have yummy pumpkin smelling candles, a cute Trick or Treat sign on the front door, and a scarecrow in our front yard. Jackson doesn't like the scarecrow too much. He stands at our front window and barks at it over and over again. We had to close the curtains so he would stop. I am absolutely loving the weather now. It's that time of year where it can be 80 degrees one day, and then 50 degrees the next day. We get brisk winds blow through, and all the leaves are changing. It seemed like overnight all the trees turned to bright gold. It's just beautiful. And it's putting me in the mood to get some snow! I think I'm almost ready. Good thing, because we have a freeze warning tonight. October also means my 21st birthday! Some of Daniel's brothers have offered to take me out for my 21st birthday. Since most of my girl friends turn 21 after me, I didn't think I would have anyone to celebrate with. My guess is we'll celebrate at the house for a couple hours, and then go to a bar or club just for an hour or so. I'm excited!

This morning as Daniel and I were getting ready to leave for school, the doorbell rang. FedEx was there with a huge box for me! What a surprise! I opened it up and discovered lots of goodies (including a dog bone and some biscuits for Jackson). Grandma even made some molasses cookies. It made my whole day. It's nice to know they thought of me and put in the effort to mail that here. They even put in a Halloween costume for Jackson!

Tomorrow we get cable! I'm excited. I know that's silly, but it will be nice. To help pay for our new monthly bill, I have been applying for lots of jobs. I applied for two different research assistant positions at National Jewish. That's a hospital here in Denver that's famous for its respiratory therapy. They put up signs around campus and on DU's website, so I know they will be accommodating of my class schedule.

I will be spending this weekend studying hard for finals. Hopefully. I don't want to get distracted and end up getting everything done BUT studying. The first midterms of the year are so important: they set my mood and expectations for the class. I hope they go well!

Rush Weekend

This weekend was spent entirely focused on Theta Chi. I wasn't actually planning on spending too much time at Rush, but as it turned out I did. On Friday, Daniel has a full day of classes and then he spent the evening at house tours. Paul was working, so I was home all day by myself. It was actually very nice to have the house to myself. I got a lot of work done. Daniel asked me to pick him up at 7:30pm and then we were going to go to a party thrown by his tuba professor for the whole brass department. I went to pick him up on campus, and house tours weren't done so I hung out until the last group finished. When we got back to our car, it wouldn't start. We weren't sure what the problem was, but called campus safety to jump us just in case it was the battery. That fixed it, so we drove home instead of to the party downtown.

The next day we spent running errands. We took Jackson to the groomers to get his nails filed down so he wouldn't scratch us anymore, went shopping at Costco, and bought a new battery for the car. Costco turned out to take a lot longer than we thought. They had a little booth there with cell phones and Daniel has been very interested in getting a new one so he stopped to take a look. Then we saw a sign for DirecTV. We have been looking into DirecTV for a few weeks now, but have never made a decision. So we let the salesman give us his pitch, and we went for it. I am so sick of the TV cutting out and having to adjust the antenna every time we change the channel. When you're splitting the monthly cost 3 ways, it isn't that expensive. It took a long time to go through all the paperwork and everything. I could tell Daniel was very concerned about the commitment and the cost. I was a little concerned too. But we genuinely can afford it. And our roommate(s) can afford it. They are coming on Friday to install the box. I am so excited! I have never appreciated cable television this much.

That evening Theta Chi planned a poker night at school. I drove Daniel over there and helped him set up. I wasn't planning on staying, but once I was there all the guys wanted me to stay. They served us a delicious dinner and it was really fun. It ended pretty early, so we went over to the President's apartment afterwards to have some drinks. I must have eaten a lot of food because I had like 3 drinks before I even started to feel it. One of the brothers knew how to make a bunch of different drinks. I had a "slippery nipple" and a "tequila sunrise." They were both actually really good. Though the slippery nipple was a little too strong for my taste. We were lucky our roommate Paul came and didn't drink at all so he was able to drive us home. We just left our car at the apartment complex.

The next morning Paul drove us to the light rail at 9:30am. We met two other brothers there and took the train downtown. We wanted to get as many tickets as possible for the Rockies game that afternoon. They have a special section called the Rock Pile that are only $4 a seat. But those tickets go really fast. So we got in line at 10:15am and the ticket booth opened at 10:30am. We got 16 tickets, which was just perfect. Then we went into the ballpark and watched batting practice. Around 11:30 we went out to a hot dog stand and got some lunch. That is the first time in recent memory that I have eaten food from a stand on the street. It actually was pretty okay. It put me in the mood for baseball. Around 12:45pm the rest of the guy showed up with the prospective brothers. It was so hot sitting in the outfield. We had the sun beating down on us the entire game. It must have been 95 degrees. I got a really bad sunburn and a sunglass tan on my face. The game was really good. Lots of close plays and the Rockies won. After getting to the field at 10:15am, the game felt like it lasted forever. At 4pm, Daniel and I left even though there were 2 innings left. We were exhausted. And we still had to walk to the light rail, take the train to DU, then walk about 15-20 minutes across campus to the apartment complex where we left our car the night before, and drive 10 minutes home. We didn't get home until about 5pm and I passed out in bed. I was not feeling well. I got up an hour later to eat dinner and I was feeling a little bit better. I still don't feel great today. I really don't want to get sick. I'm going to try hard to get lots of sleep and eat well so that I don't. Midterms are next week and this is the worst time to get sick.

My grandparents called on Saturday and were so happy about the scrapbook we sent them. I miss my grandparents so much! I am really excited for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We will be in Phoenix for about a month. This year for the very first time, my cousin and her husband and one year old baby are coming to Phoenix for Thanksgiving. We have had the same 9-10 people every Thanksgiving for my whole life. It's so exciting that they are coming this year! Also, right before Thanksgiving Daniel's mom, Aunt, and Abuela are coming to Denver to visit us. And then we have Christmas, and right after Christmas my ENTIRE family is going to Disneyland together. Me and Daniel, my parents, Nicole and Mike, my grandparents, my great aunt and uncle, my aunt and uncle, my cousin and her husband and baby, my other cousin and her husband..... that's so many people! Then we go on a cruise with Daniel's family. It's a very family-filled holiday season this year! It's going to be fun!

In the more immediately future is midterms. I have two really easy tests this week, and two really hard tests next week. I actually skipped class today because it was a review session for the really easy test. I have spent this time studying for my brain exam tomorrow and playing with Jackson. He is so demanding of attention. When he is left alone, he rips anything to shreds he can find. This morning we left him for one hour and he ripped all of our mail to pieces in the living room and backyard. I think we may have to start putting him in a crate again while we're gone. But it's his own fault. I'm going to catch up on some more homework until I have to go back to school in an hour and a half. I feel so productive right now.

Jackson.... grrrr

I think Jackson is mad that we went back to school. For 3 weeks, there was someone home almost 24 hours a day. There were a few times that we all went out for dinner or to a Rockies game, but at night he was tired anyways. But now he is usually alone from 9am-2:30pm or even longer some days. When we get home, he is so desperate for attention that he is behaving badly! If I am sitting at the kitchen table on my computer, Jackson will stand there and bark over and over and over again. He doesn't bark often, but when he does it is ear-splitting! I don't want to reinforce his barking, so I ignore him. But that makes him bark more! I have discovered a way to simultaneously play with him while I'm on my computer or doing homework. I use one hand to tug on his rope or another toy and use the other hand to do whatever I'm doing. This doesn't work perfectly though. I don't know if his nails are longer, or if he's just playing rougher, but I have gotten hurt! He has a habit of grabbing on to the toy with his mouth and jumping up with his front paws. His nails hurt! I have so many scratches up and down my arms from him jumping up. And when he plays tug, he always wants to grab the side that you're holding. And quite often he ends up just chomping down on your hand instead of the toy! Last night Paul and I were playing and I threw the rope to him so he could play, and Jackson jumped onto Paul up on the chair and almost bit his hand off! It's dangerous! I don't really know what to do. If I don't play with him, he barks incessantly and loudly at me. So the situation has gotten quite obnoxious. It makes me really wish I could punish him. I yell no and he just barks right back. This makes me dread the days that we have a toddler running around. At least a toddler I can punish. Yesterday, when I got home from school, I spent 90 minutes playing with him figuring that he would be tired and leave me alone for a while. WRONG! But he is cute, so that makes it all better lol.

School has been surprisingly easy so far. Granted, it's only the end of week 2. I have had maybe 4 hours of homework total. I come home from school, and I have no homework! It's amazing. I have my first midterms this week, both in psychology. One in statistics, and one in cognitive neuroscience. And in class this week, my professor stood at the front of the class with the test in his hand and read it to us. So obviously I'm not too concerned about doing well.

Besides Jackson, this week has been very focused on Theta Chi stuff. It's rush week, so Daniel has been so busy preparing. Tonight they have house tours, and all weekend they have social activities. I was invited to go to the Rockies game on Sunday with them. We had a bunch of guys over last night, and one of them was a freshman. However, he is a legacy for Zeta Beta Tau. Daniel still thinks he may like Theta Chi better. I think I had a bit too much to drink. Why is it that in a rum and coke, the last two drinks get you more drunk than the whole rest of the glass? I woke up this morning a little hung over which made Chemistry feel so much longer. I'm proud of myself for not missing any class yet this quarter. Living off campus makes skipping class a little harder. When I'm on campus already, I might as well go, right?

I have been thinking about my 21st birthday and I have no idea what to do for it. All of my friends that are older are Theta Chi brothers. Which means I could go out on my birthday with a bunch of my fiancee's brothers..... that's weird. The other option is having people over here. That's not nearly as much fun as actually ordering drinks and everything. I also thought maybe I will wait until Nicole comes and then the two of us can go out if we want.

We did buy tickets to Wicked this week! DU bought some tickets and sold them to students at a reduced rate. We bought them for $20 and they are just about the worst seats you could get. We are in the second to last row in the top balcony. But I don't care, we'll bring binoculars or something. That's on Oct. 21 so I guess it's sort of for our anniversary, or my birthday. We have so many exciting things coming up! I love my life :-)

On the first day of school

I'm on a break between classes right now. The first day class is always short, so I have an unusually long lunch break.

The first day of school has always been happy to me. I always convince myself that I will work extra hard this term, attend every class, take tons of notes, read every chapter in the textbook, study weekly instead of right before the test, and in general have good study skills. I imagine myself getting understanding everything, doing my homework without getting frustrated, and getting straight As. It never ever turns out that way. Why not?

It usually starts with me assuming that I can do just as well without reading the textbook. Hardly anybody else does, so why do I waste my time? Then I try to do my homework, and I get frustrated because I don't understand a problem. Then an evening comes around when I had planned on studying, but I'm tired or my friends are going out or I have other "more important" things to do. So I don't study. Then the test comes around, and I do the best I can. I don't know how to do every problem, and usually I'm only really confident about half. So I get a B or C on the test.

This has been the cycle since college started. Now here I am on the first day again. My professor is going through the syllabus and I am daydreaming about completing every reading assignment, studying regularly, and seeing a bright red A on my exams. Maybe instead I should be daydreaming about spending hours each week reading and studying and doing homework. That would probably bring me back to reality.

I don't know what I can do to keep up that motivation and actually follow through. Maybe I shouldn't. I mean, if I can get Bs doing a certain amount of work, do I really want to add an extra 2o hours of studying a week to get As? I'm not really sure.

I had organic chemistry this morning and I am very concerned about how much I've forgotten. I think it's a little silly that the school has O Chem I and O Chem II before summer break, and O Chem III after. How can I not forget a ton of stuff? But at least the first chapter is easy and is a good review. I think I remembered more than a lot of people judging by participation in class this morning. My second class was statistics. I am really not looking forward to that class. What I've had of statistics in my normal math classes in high school was not fun. I did fine in it, but I hated it. The professor is very laid back, and he reads the test to us in the review session the class before. So how can I not do well, right? After lunch I have biology and then O Chem Lab. I am really dreading labs. I am so terrible and I get stressed out and somehow I manage to forget to do things, or do things completely wrong and get so many points taken off. I feel prepared for today's lab, but I'm still so anxious about it! I'm going to calm down and do the best I can.

Bells!

I went to my first bells rehearsal Thursday night. It was great! :-) The group is mostly middle-aged women who have been playing for a couple years. There are two women in their 30s that have been playing together since they were 12. There's a really old lady who just joined this year and has never played before. So it's quite a diverse group I guess. Oh, and the leader of the group has an 18 year old son who is also in it. The only boy lol. So I met everybody and we had a chance to learn about each other and talk about the year. I played E and F and it seems like I will be playing two octaves at once almost all the time. We call it "shellying." I don't know if the spelling is right. Anyways, it's enough of a challenge for me playing two octaves at once. And the people feel very familiar. It's just like I walked into a small group at CITD. They were all so nice and welcoming and asking all about me. One lady even said she has a brother and his wife that live in Phoenix and he teaches at PVHS! Crazy world. Well I'm really excited. I hope it will help us get involved and we can start to feel like Wellshire Presbyterian church is "home" for us.

Besides that, it's been more Discoveries orientation stuff. Daniel working, me taking care of the house and Jackson. We took Jackson to puppy preschool this morning. I have to say I know EXACTLY what it's like to be a parent watching your kids on the playground or at daycare. I was afraid that my puppy would be bad, or not listen, or bully the other puppies. Mostly the class was just to socialize puppies, so we took off their collars and leashes and let them play. Jackson turned out to be very good, and actually none of them were really bad. They were all so cute! Especially this rottweiller puppy. He was just one huge muscle! I would never want a rottweiller, but he was really cute.

Then Daniel had a meeting on campus, so we just took Jackson along. He had to help set up for the carnival this afternoon which means just moving tables and chairs in the gym. I kept Jackson on the leash and watched everyone set up. He was a hit again! Everybody had to stop and pet him and play with him. I got really tired of him pulling on my arm, but it was fun anyways. And he was so exhausted when we got home! We had a quick lunch, ran to Costco to get groceries and gas, and headed back to campus for the carnival. That's where all the clubs and organizations and even restaurants around campus give out free stuff and try to get you to sign up for their mailing list. We got so much cool stuff! Lots of pens and pencils, and even an organic T-shirt.

Daniel had to go back again to help clean up so I'm getting some homework done while he's gone. I think labs are the hardest part of college. No wonder, that's the only class I get a C in. At least it's only one credit. But I'm going to try really really hard this quarter. I say that every quarter. Maybe it will last this time. Or maybe not.....

School starts in two days!

Last week before school

This week has been pretty boring. I really want school to start so I can get back into a routine. This summer has been crazy! I think normalcy will be a nice change for a while. Daniel has been taking freshmen around campus all week. This is their orientation week where they register and learn all about DU and not to rape girls or drink and drive. All that stuff. I've been able to see him here and there when he has a couple hours off. In the evenings we have been hanging out with friends.

Last night we had dinner on campus and then took Jackson to the movie on the lawn. They were showing Ironman on a giant inflatable screen out on campus greens. Jackson drew a lot of attention lol. Everyone wanted to meet him and pet him and play with him. It was really hard to keep him calm though. We wanted to sit on our blanket and watch the movie, but Jackson wanted to run around and sniff everything and lick people. Of course everybody wanted to play with him too, but we didn't want him to wander. So we practiced sitting and staying calm. It didn't help that there was cotton candy and popcorn everywhere! Overall, it was a lot of fun. Everytime we go to campus I see more friends and it makes me so happy. I've missed all my friends over the summer. And it makes me a little nostalgic for living on campus. But then I remember how badly I wanted to move off campus when I did live in the dorms. Besides, I love our house even more!

Rachel Homemaker

I have felt like a housewife today. I guess in effect, I am one. Except for the wife thing lol. Daniel is working until school starts, so I'm at home with Jackson and Paul. Daniel is an orientation leader for the incoming freshmen. So while he's at work all day, I have taken it upon myself to make sure everything else gets done. I'm running errands, cleaning the house, and making dinner. We'll see how long that lasts. I will probably get bored and have to find something else to do next week.

So today I have gotten a bunch of things done that I've been meaning to do for a while. I finally bought my brother's birthday present. Price for procrastinating: $16.95 (the cost for 2-day air shipping). I cleaned the whole house. I'm the only one that cleans the house which means that it doesn't get cleaned when I'm not here. So while we were in Phoenix it got quite dirty. And I have discovered that Jackson creates much more dirt in the house. When I pick up Daniel later I will stop at the post office and mail Nicole's hair dryer which she left in Phoenix and I will deposit my check at the bank. I may need to run to the grocery store later too. Don't I sound like a housewife?

I'm kind of worried for when school starts. I'm so busy now keeping up with house cleaning and repairs and running errands, when will I get it done during school? My guess is that I will just have to live with a slightly dirtier house and clean less often. We will probably let some things go un-repaired too. I guess it's good that we're getting all that stuff done now.

I've been thinking about the job situation for this year. I really don't know what to do. Working at the desk last year was awesome. I worked a ton of hours, got my homework done, and hung out with friends at the same time. However, it will not be nearly as convenient now that the desk is a 10 minute drive instead of a 2 minute walk away. That means Daniel and I will have to fix our schedules so we work at the same time because we are carpooling to campus. We will also have to make it so we work right after class or between classes or we will be driving back and forth 3 times a day. I think we'll try it and see how it goes. Right now I have no other job prospects. When school starts I will look into working at the library, or maybe for the psychology department. But working on campus just isn't that convenient anymore. I really wish I didn't have to work at all. But Grandma and Grandpa want me to.

At ths point I'm basically biding my time until Daniel is done. He invited some of our friends over for dinner tonight so that will be fun. And now the house is nice and clean for them all. :-)

Problem Solving

Today was a problem solving kind of day.

First, we had to install a doggie door. We got one from a friend, but it didn't really work. So we looked online at a bunch of different places and found one at Home Depot for about $50. That's the best price we could find anywhere, so we went and got it. When we got home, Daniel started to cut a giant hole in our back door. Then he discovered that our door is not wood. It is metal outside with insulation on the inside. So Daniel went back to Home Depot to get a saw that will work. He cut a big hole in the door and installed the dog door! And Jackson used it right away! Success #1

Then I installed new software. I bought this software this morning and spent all day trying to install it. I figured out that it was a microsoft plug-in that wasn't working. So I went to Microsoft's website and tried to install it there. No luck. Then Daniel figured out that the plug-in should have been installed in an update that never worked. We called lenovo tech support, qwest tech support, DU tech support, and looked into Microsoft tech support (they only offer email support). Daniel worked on it for a few hours. Then I figured out that I never downloaded Vista service pack 2. I did download service pack 1. After I downloaded that (it took over an hour to complete) then I had 43 new updates! I guess it has been a while since my Windows Updater has worked. In those 43 updates was: surprise! The plug-in that I need. So finally the plug-in downloaded and the software is downloading as we speak! Success #2!!

Unfortunately, all that problem solving means I didn't get my to-do list done today. I didn't wash the car, or mail Nicole's hair dryer, or deposit my check, or clean the bathroom, or even do the laundry. Ha. Well I won't be bored tomorrow!

While I was in Arizona, I got all my textbooks and a letter from my health insurance. As I have written before, I am not too happy with my health insurance (who is?). Usually when I get a letter, it contains a huge bill that includes charges I was previously told would be covered. So I wasn't thrilled with getting another one. However, this time I opened the letter and discovered a check written to ME! For $105! How exciting! I have no idea why, but I'm not complaining.

I also paid my tuition today. I wrote a check for over $5600. Crazy. I almost couldn't fit it all on the line on the check. But it was strangely satisfying. It felt really good to be back on campus too. It is so beautiful and feels like home and independence and happiness. I am ready for classes to start! Too bad I have to wait two more weeks. I think I'll survive though.

My life as of late

We've been spending a lot of time in our yard the past few days. In our backyard there is a dog run off to the right of the house. Originally we thought we would rip the fence out, but now that we have Jackson I think it might be useful. Since we moved in however, it's been overrun with weeds. Not little dandelions or something like that. These are monster weeds. Like the entire thing is up to at least my chest and parts of it are as tall as me. After we got a new lawn mower and got the rest of the lawn taken care of, we attacked the dog run. Daniel went in there with a weed eater and hedge trimmer. The weed eater wasn't working too well, but the hedge trimmer worked quite nicely. After about 15 minutes our roommate came out to help us. It was nice that we could just let Jackson sniff around and lay in the shade while we worked. Daniel cut down the weeds while Paul and I raked them up and put them in big yard garbage bags. We got about half of it cut down when I took over. It took me about 5 minutes to cut completely through the electric cord with the hedge trimmer. Oops. It was after noon by then, so we just figured it was time for a lunch break.

After lunch, Daniel attempted to fix the cord. It didn't work. By then it was getting close to 90 degrees anyways so we let it go. Then yesterday, Daniel bought a new cord and we went at it again. This time it only took 20 minutes for Daniel to hack into the cord. But he didn't cut all the way through so he was able to fix it with electrical tape. We finished it up and now the dog run is just dead weeds. We have three huge garbage bags full of branches that we cut down. I really hope the grass just moves in and takes over. If we have to keep chopping weeds down until it snows, I will be very annoyed. I think eventually we will put Jackson outside while we're in class, and just use his crate for bedtime. That way he can run around and sniff and pee.

The days have gone by quickly, though we haven't been doing a whole lot. I have really enjoyed cooking with Daniel. We cook lunch and dinner every day. Our friend Jeff came over yesterday to see the house, meet Jackson, and talk about our summer. He went to Italy for a few weeks during his sophomore year at DU (he's one year ahead of us) so he told us a lot before we went. He wanted to know all about our trip. And he is going back to Italy in a few weeks to study abroad this entire quarter. So he wanted to ask us all the places he should go while he's in Europe. He also told us about his big 21st birthday trip to Las Vegas. I've never been interested in going before, but it sounded like a lot of fun. The whole fraternity is planning a trip over Spring Break because most of the guys will be over 21 by then. And I've already been invited.

I'm also working on a scrapbook as a thank you gift to Grandma and Grandpa. It's so much work, but it'll be awesome when it's all finished. And of course we've been playing with Jackson. Mostly fetch in the backyard, going for walks, and we're working on sit, down, stay, come, etc. He's so smart it's really amazing. I've only been in Denver 6 days and I'm already looking forward to going back to Phoenix. It's getting a little boring here. I'm excited to see my sister and my grandparents before school starts. I ordered my books yesterday. It's not too much longer! My third year of college. Holy cow.

Jackson

It has been a crazy few days. A puppy really is like a baby! No, more like a toddler because he can move around and get into everything. But really we feel lucky that he is such a good puppy. He has had very few accidents over all. He has even whined to go outside so he could go pee. He absolutely loves people. I mean, he can't be over 5 feet away from us at any time. And when we get up, he gets up to follow us. He loves to lick, but he doesn't chew anything but his bone and sticks in the backyard. He is afraid of the stairs, so we have to carry him down them if we're all in the basement. But he doesn't mind going up them with a little encouragement. The only time he has barked so far is if we go downstairs. Then he wants to be with us, but he's afraid to go down so he barks. He hasn't had an accident in his crate once since we brought him home. After one day of crate training, he doesn't whine at all. He doesn't exactly go in the crate willingly, but once he's in there, he's totally fine. He sleeps from about 9pm-7am straight (and the occasional 10 minute nap during the day). Yesterday he finally learned to play fetch and he is so good at it! He has this red squeaky ball that he loves. He sits with it and just kind of sticks his nose on it and rolls it around with his paws. So we throw it and he runs to get it and brings it right back. The first time he did it I was so happy! He's a little afraid of the lawn mower. He loves Paul's big green chair. Last night during dinner, we told him to get down and he did. Then as soon as we turned our back, he was back up there. It was so cute! He doesn't quite know how to walk in a straight line yet. He gets the leash wrapped around things easily and tangled up between our legs because he wants to sniff everything on both sides of the street. He really likes going through peoples' legs. I can't believe how quickly he has learned things and how good he is. We still have to watch him every second that he's not in his crate, but once he's potty trained we won't have to watch him as close.

Can you believe how much we've learned in two days? He is such an amazing puppy. It's awesome having a dog. It's like having someone always there to remind you that you're the best person in the whole wide world! It's also been pretty exhausting. Daniel and I have spent so much time focused on Jackson we haven't spent very much time really focused on each other. Though we've been physically together for two days, we're often preoccupied with other things. Daniel has been getting up early in the morning to let Jackson out so I could sleep in. I'm a little concerned about the 12 hour ride to Phoenix, but it'll be fine I'm sure. We'll make it work.