Well, here I am again after a break in writing... I knew I'd slack off again. However, school has been really crazy before and after spring break, so I will excuse myself.

Speaking of spring break, it was amazing! I flew out to New Mexico last Thursday and spent a wonderful 9 days with my boy! We drove down to Phoenix on Friday to visit Anthony's great grandmother and prematurely celebrate our one year anniversary (which is Monday, btw!). Friday night we got all dressed up and went to a nice little restaurant called Coup des Tartes which had very very delicious food! They use local organic foods to spice up ordinary dishes, and the results are very tasty! Saturday we took Anthony's grandma out for breakfast at IHOP and then hit up Arizona Mills mall afterwards. On the way to the mall I spotted an Ikea store and started freaking out, so we visited its 3-story gloriousness after the mall. Anthony had no idea what Ikea was, but he was soon a huge fan. It was really fun to go to and we both bought a few fun items! Next stop was the Desert Botanical Gardens where there were some amazing glass sculpture which were not there the last time we visited. We left for dinner and came back just before the gardens closed to snap some shots of the sculptures lit up. We got kicked out pretty fast though. :( Sunday we drove back to Gallup and made a stop in Sedona which was gorgeous! I'm sure I'll post lots of photos on Flickr and Facebook once I have them edited.

Back in Gallup we just sort of chilled out for the rest of the week. Although I was on break, Anthony still had classes, so we couldn't really go anywhere other than around town. However, we had a lot of fun playing Rock Band and Mario Kart together. :) At the end of the week we had planned to visited the Painted Desert in Arizona, but sadly thunderstorms prevented us. (Of course it rains for two days in the desert just when we want to there. :P

Saturday we drove to Albuquerque and I flew back to Atlanta (but not before making an unnecissary stop in Minniapolis) where Kaysie picked me up. Sunday we drove back to school and I got back to "real life."

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone reading this (which I am sure is not a great number) is having a wonderful Christmas!

You may be wondering why there is a poorly drawn sleeping bird as the image of choice on this blog post. Well, it is my first drawing. On my new tablet! I had put a tablet on my Christmas list, but I totally was not expecting it! I'm pretty horrible at drawing on it right now, but hopefully I will improve. However, I'm not that great of a drawer anyway. :P

So, I know that Christmas if far more than getting and giving gifts, but I am tired, so I will list what I got instead of rambling on about the true meaning of Christmas.

Gorilla Pod for my Nikon
Remote for my Nikon
4GB super-speed SD card for my Nikon
Chic-fil-a calendar with coupons (for the poor starving college student)
Black and white photography calendar
Lens cleaning kit for my Nikon
Sansa Fuze from Ryan :)
Tablet
Lots and lots of candy and Christmas Tree Cakes!
A new Nalgene
Body spray stuff
And I think that's about it other than some random stocking stuff not mentioned already.

It's been a pretty good Christmas really. This is one of the only years in my whole life that we've stayed home. And really, after all that has happened this year, I'm glad we did. Christmas wouldn't be the same with relatives anymore. We had the traditional Pillsbury cinnamon rolls (with orange icing of course!) and we're having some ham tonight I think. Even Toby had a good Christmas. He got a new bottle to throw around, a piece of cardboard to destroy, and a long walk around the lake. And a bath. But I don't think that was on his Christmas list this year.

Merry Christmas to you all...

Being a Maid of Honor...

...is a lot of work!

I spent 7 hours shopping yesterday for the last of my accessories for the wedding, and for decorations/needed items for the shower I'm throwing next week. The shoes were dyed today, so I just picked them up, which is a relief because I wasn't sure if they would be done in time. So, things are really close to being done, but there are still so many little things that need doing! I'm very excited about the whole thing though. I'm sure the wedding will be amazing, and I hope that the shower is a success as well. One thing that is going to make everything even sweeter is having my boy there with me. :)

A New Mexico Christmas

Hooray for New Mexico! Or rather for being in New Mexico with my wonderful boy!

Friday morning my family and I drove down to Greenville where we had lunch with Angie. I spent the rest of the day with her, and then that night we met up with Taylor, Tommy, and Lindsay and some of her friends at The Orient. The next morning Angie took me to the airport where I flew to Atlanta and finally Albuquerque.

It was so wonderful seeing Anthony again, even though I still got a little bit of that nervousness like I used to. We went by the mall to get the world's greatest lemonade and ducked in a few shops, though we didn't find anything of great interest. Next we headed to Subway for lunch, and then to Old Town. I had seen some photos of the SanFelipe de Neri Church and thought it would be really fun to go by and snap some shots, so we did. Unfortunately we were low on time because we had to be back to Gallup in time for a Christmas party, but we did have a few minutes to photograph the church and some of the places around it. I'd love to go back to Old Town some time when we can be more at our leisure to explore the area.

Saturday night it snowed a bit, so it was an interesting drive to church on Sunday. Anthony and I got stuck in one place, but his parents were not far behind us and helped us out. That afternoon we went to a Christmas party at Camille's and then came back and watched Casino Royale.

It's been snowing more all day, although it's been a light and small sort of snow. It's supposed to snow another 1-3 inches tonight, and then 3-5 tomorrow! So fun! I can't wait to take some photos of the beautiful red rocks poking out of the white snow!

So far, Christmas break has not been very relaxing! Yesterday I got up at 4:30 to drive to Boone, NC to work at the Samaritan's Purse headquarters at an Operation Christmas Child warehouse. I did the same thing last year, and it was so amazing that I decided to go again. Basically we worked in teams to open and inspect each box for inappropriate items, resealed the boxes, and packed them into bigger boxes which were then shipped out. Yesterday our boxes were being sent to Madagascar, which is pretty awesome! (Last year I think they were being sent to India.) It's a really awesome thing to be a part of, and we heard so many awesome stories of how God had gotten the right box in the right child's hands and provided for their physical and spiritual needs.

So, because I was gone all day yesterday, all the pre-New Mexico packing and all the wedding shower prep has to be done today. Yipes! The floor of my room was covered this morning with all the stuff I brought back from school- everything from ceramic tea cups to dirty laundry. So, I had to organize that enough that I could find the things I need to take to NM with me. I have no doubt it will be a long day... Speaking of which, I ought to go now since I have to head to town to buy stamps for the shower invitations...

Exam Breaker

So, it's been forever since I've written something on here. And, of course, I have decided to revive this blog at the worst possible time- right in the middle of exams.
So, rather than studying for Spanish III and Introduction to Multicultural Literature, I am on here. Not to mention all the time I wasted being crazy with Taylor and Sarah. But, I have to make like a 30 on the Spanish exam to get a B in the class, so I'm not too worried about it (there is no hope of an A, even if I made the impossible 100 on the exam).

Anyway, last night was the Secret Santa party for all the girls we live with, and of course it was super fun (note the photo of our dear little Charlie Brown Christmas tree). Taylor was my SS (she got me an awesome glass box and a cute little journally thing with birds on it) and I was Shelley's SS. After we opened the gifts, all 10 of us headed to Olive Garden and had a really great time with super yummy food. I kinda crashed when we came back though. I picked up my ceramics stuff, which I was pretty depressed about. I'm sure you'll see a rant on here about that eventually.

Anyway, sleeping in today was nice, although I missed going to Marathon North. Basically I slept in unitl 11, got up and showered, and started working on my Honors Lit project. I finally got that done, so that's a relief, but there's still the test. Which reminds me, I ought to go study now... ug.

Ahhhh!

I hate to make this short, but basic point...

I finally told my parents, and by the grace of God, I wasn't very nervous and they took it really well! So yeah, Anthony and I are officially dating now! I really can't believe it still... He and I are both super excited about getting to see each other again and my parents are all for him coming to see us soon! Wow, 2008 has been amazing so far! <3