sneak a peek

    Here's a little sneak peek at what I'm currently working on. I found some new bamboo blend yarn that is so very soft. And once I'd touched it I knew the crochet bug had bit me once more. I've been working on it on my own pace and really just enjoying myself. It's been great.

love, love me do.

Cleaning usually leads to uncover long lost lovlies. In my case, it was a "new" pair of slippers that had hidden from me under the bed so they were not listed before Christmas.

    But I've uncovered these sneaky little slippers. They are now listed in the etsy shop. Don't let these sneak away again and scoop them up before someone else. There's still a few other pair of lovely slippers listed in the shop, too, so be sure to stop by.

one hundred.

My 100th post! A very exciting milestone in the blogging world, if you ask me. One hundred is what? Gold? A golden post?

Perhaps not. Just a simple update about the lazy weekend Andy and I have been enjoying. I guess it may be golden to some: it's all in the eye of the blog-holder.

On Friday, Andy and I finally got around to seeing The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. We tried to see it earlier, but were sadly turned down due to it selling out. It didn't turn out too badly, though because we ended up seeing Doubt which was a fantastic film. But back to Ben. The movie was long, but wonderful! Great visuals, great story, great acting - all about a great love. I definitely recommend it (and Doubt) to anyone looking for a good escape. Ben is more for the weepies while Doubt more for the thoughtful. Both wonderful. 

Saturday was a lazy day the entailed Andy and I finally exploring the produce market we have in town. It has only taken us two years to get around to it. And it was a wonderful surprise. I picked up some great looking things for the week ahead. Simple things just to spice up salads or side dishes. We also got some crepes from a local coffee shop after dinner as a little treat. We hadn't been in a while and I was craving a Chocolate Monkey crepe; all good excuses to make the short drive. 

Today we've mostly lazed around the apartment after our weekly trek to the super market. Nothing wrong with that. Tonight I'm looking forward to snuggling up on the sofa and watching the Golden Globe awards - the start to the major award season. I'm always a sucker for these movie and tv award shows because I love watching movies and good television (when it can be found). I've managed to see a few of the nominated movies, but not as many as I had hoped. A lot have not even come out here (like Frost/Nixon) which is a total bummer, but I'm sure I'll see it one of these days even if it's not before the Oscars.

Hope everyone else has had a good weekend. Looking forward to the week ahead and the upcoming three-day weekend. 

a few important steps.

I've finally gotten around to sharing some of my graduation photos! 

I graduated Summa Cum Laude in December after 3 and 1/2 years in college with a 4.0 GPA! It was exciting. I was selected by the College of Science to be the gonfalonier for the college during the ceremony. In English terms, that means I carried the banner representing the college at the beginning of the ceremony, which was a great and very fun honor. 

I wasn't initially planning on walking when I graduated, but I realized it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only walk but to carry the banner and I quickly changed my mind. And I'm glad I did for I'll have the memory of that day, my accomplishment, and all it stood for for the rest of my life. 

For now, the plan is just to work until next fall when I will hopefully starting graduate school to earn my Ph.D. as a marine biologist. I'm in limbo as far as graduate school is concerned; just waiting to hear back to find out where the future will take me. But I'm enjoying the school-free days and the worry-free (for the most part) evenings and I'm sure '09 has some great things in store for me!

for now, until then

The first few days of 2009 have been good so far. Now that I'm finished with school only work occupies my days and takes up far less time during the evening so I've been catching up on some of the things I've been missing due to lack of time. One of those is reading for pleasure. School required tons of reading, but all of it from text books. Being able to dive back into the world of fiction has been very nice indeed. 

One of the first things I did in the new year was to head to the used book store. I was looking for a recommendation from my aunt, The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde but I couldn't locate it anywhere. Once I had given up the hunt I found myself drawn to my usual section - the young adult section. I always seem to have more luck locating great fantasy novels in this section over any other (even the Sci Fi/Fantasy section). I've had luck here in the past with His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman so I always give it a look over. I ended up with two books: The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly and The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud. 

I've already begun The Book of Lost Things and am enjoying it so far. It's well written and besides the main character being a young boy doesn't seem to be a book written only for younger readers, which most of the time I find to be the case. It's a fantasy set in WWII London about a boy who finds comfort in his books after the loss of his mother.

Besides reading I'm also trying to keep up with other things I've let fall by the wayside during school whether I particularly enjoy them or not - such as the much needed (and deserved) cleaning of my apartment and trying to start exercising more regularly. Both have started out well: I tackled the bathroom today (the most dreaded of the rooms besides the kitchen) and went out for a jog before dinner. Here's to hoping I hold myself to it. Reading is much easier to keep up, if you ask me.

For now, crochet has taken the back burner, though. Other things are occupying my mind and time even if sometimes it's just taking a lazy afternoon nap (a joy never quite appreciated to its fullest during college). 

I hope everyone's '09 is looking as clean, lazy, and well-read as mine. Take care!

Eve of the New Year

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with family and friends. I spent mine home with my family and luckily Andy was able to fly up for a few days to spend Christmas with me. Christmas is always one of my favorite times of year and getting to spend it with Andy for the first time since we've begun dating was a Christmas wish come true.

On Christmas Eve we ended up taking a carriage ride and spent the afternoon playing with horses and dogs on the farm. It was a great time and the weather was so nice - warm and clear. It was a perfect way to spend the afternoon. After an always satisfying home-cooked meal, we headed out to see the lights around the neighborhood. Viewing lights on Christmas Eve is a Christmas tradition we've celebrated since I can remember, and is also one of my favorites. Then of course, it's time to wait for Santa and head to bed! I had a great Christmas and got some great stuff including a TomTom GPS for when I (hopefully) head off to California for school. 

Andy has since gone home this his family for the New Year. Tonight my parents are having some friends over for food, fun, and games. I don't have much plans myself. I may just hang around here for the night like I did last year. I'm not much for staying up for the New Year - I get far to sleepy now that I've programmed myself into a sleep schedule for work and school. I'm sure it'll be a good night no matter what I do.

I hope everyone has a great New Year with good fortune, health, and wellness. Happy New Year~

Christmas Eve

Merry Christmas Eve from west Texas! 

I'm back "home" for the holidays here in west Texas with my family. My grandma, aunt & uncle are also visiting us along with Andy for super full and fun Christmas. I think every sofa, bed, and air mattress are full of bodies this year.

For me Christmas Eve is even better than Christmas itself! It's the closest you get to Christmas every year so you still have all the festivity and excitement left ahead of you plus every year we have great traditions for preparing for Christmas. So far today as been a fun, festive day. The morning started out with everyone pitching in to get some of the dishes for tomorrow prepared to be popped in the oven for a quick fix for dinner. 

The weather has been very nice the past couple of days so we all headed out in the afternoon for a horse-drawn carriage ride which was a total blast. I haven't downloaded the pictures from the trip yet, but I hope to have them soon to introduce all my new furry friends. 

For now we're all back home waiting for dinner and then once it begins to get dark we'll load up our caravan of people and hit the town to take in all the wonderful Christmas lights - which is one of my favorite traditions! Once we get home it's time to hang up the stockings and wait for Santa to come visit. Christmas is almost here!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday with family and friends and the ones they love. Merry Christmas!!

happy holidays!

I may be a little behind the curve, but I must wish you all a happy holidays. 

I have been a little lacking on updating lately because of being so busy with school and graduate school applications. Finals finished up last week and on Friday I graduated Summa cum Laude from Texas A&M University with a B.S. in Biology. The weekend just flew by, but my family came down and spent the day with me. I'll have pictures of the ceremony as soon as my parents get a chance to email me.

All this busy work hasn't kept me from getting in the holiday season, though. We even had snow last Wednesday which is a rare sight down here! I, of course, took lots of pictures which I'll get around to sharing soon. I've gotten my small apartment all decorated and cozy with my little Christmas tree and all the ornaments I'd been collecting lately waiting to get a tree of my own. I leave for home on Saturday to spend the holidays with my friends and family and get a nice, worry-free break from work and school. 

I just wanted to wish everyone a cozy holiday and let you all know I am still around and kicking! Picture posts of my adventures in the past month coming very very soon.

goodies.

New goodies added to the etsy shop (finally, I know!) Hopefully more coming soon with tests winding down before the holidays! Check them out before someone else snatches em up.

I'm baaaack.

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I promise. Things have been hectic - school, work, etc. Though things have been busy, I've been having some fun. A few weeks ago I was selected as the gonfalonier for the College of Science during the December graduation ceremony. If you were like me and have no idea what that is, let me explain. Each college has a banner that represents it, and the person who carries the banner out during the ceremony is the gonfalonier - and that's me! I was nominated by the biology advising office and gladly accepted the position! I'll represent the students from the chemistry, physics, statistics, mathematics, and biology departments this December. Very exciting! And a great reason to go buy some new shoes (which I did!)

I have been having some fun outside of school, however. Andy and I drove down to Houston a week or so ago to see Ben Folds in concert. I've loved Ben's music for several years now and was very excited he was coming so close and the tickets were affordable. It was a fun concert with a crowd of people who really loved Ben and his music. He was a great performer - engaged the crowd, told jokes, played some goofy songs, and was overall super entertaining. It was a bit of an early birthday present for Andy and I for each other. The only bad thing about the concert was having to drive the hour and a half home at 1 am. 

Things are getting in order and school is beginning to wind down with Thanksgiving break on the horizon. I've gotten two of my graduate school applications turned in and am very close to finishing the others. Then it'll be time to wait and hope. 

Hope everyone had a great Halloween (we stayed in and watched scary t.v. shows) and will have a great November. I've got some new items for the shop, so pictures of those will be coming very soon!