Monday, May 26, 2008

Graduation and a little bit of everything else...

So I graduated on May 17th, well, at least went through the ceremony, I have to still finish my internship/senior project. The ceremony itself was pretty standard, nothing exciting to report, though, about halfway through the commencement speakers speech, a stage light exploded backstage. That was probably the most exciting thing that happened. Here are some pictures, they aren't the greatest as far as posing goes, but I believe it was my sister that took them and she likes to go for the more "natural" look.

The choir and president of Northwestern and a few other important guys that I "met" for the first time that day (as they shook my hand and gave me my diploma holder)
A candid shot, courtesy of Kate

Posing in the backyard in regalia

The family (from left to right: Grandma, Mom, Jeanie (Jordan's Mom), Jordan,
Hailey, and Elin (Jordan's sister))


Last Friday I went to the Children's Museum with Kristine. We had been planning to go for a long time and actually went this time! I was worried Hailey was going to be crabby because the time we were there overlapped when she would have taken a nap, but there was enough to do that kept her busy she didn't mind. As Kristine mentioned in her blog we went without strollers (mostly my idea) thinking the girls would be old enough to walk (at least I thought Hailey would do ok) and learned that strollers are still a good idea to bring along, especially if you are almost 9 months pregnant (sorry Kristine!!). So we spent most of our time chasing the girls around and snapping pictures as soon as a photo-op presented itself, so here are some of the shots I got:

Hailey going down the "Jack and the Beanstalk" slide
Hailey eating at the "Beauty and the Beast" dinner table
Hailey playing the keyboard that scared her at first

At the soap bubbles table Hailey for some reason decided that the suds had to be on
her face and started patting them on her cheeks, it reminded me of what guys
do with aftershave, it was quite humorous

Here she is with Graycen playing with the boats at the water table, let me just say, that after this exhibit, Hailey's shirt was considerably wet (thought it was pretty damp from a previous exhibit that had a play stream that she wanted to splash in)

And on Saturday I went to the ranch in Andover again and was delighted to find out that myself and 5 others were going to go on a trail ride at the Rum River Park! (note: below is not an actual photograph, but the scenery was quite similar) I got to ride one of the lady's (not using her name for the sake of her privacy) horses and we all explored the trails. To be honest I was a little nervous at first because it had been 2 years since I had been on a horse, but once I got on I found out I wasn't the only one who was really nervous which made me calm (don't know why, but it did). So horses can tell if you're nervous and they themselves get nervous because of it. There was a girl who was on a horse that she recently bought that was feeling frisky (first trail ride of the season) and this girl was super jittery. The lady with the ranch wasn't able to give me pointers because she had to spend most of her time calming down this other girl, understandably. So we get to this big sandy incline and this girl's horse starts crow-hopping up the hill and she is bouncing everywhere in the saddle helplessly shouting "ho! ho! ho!" (not like Santa, "ho" is used to tell a horse to stop/slow-down). So we all get to the top and she is shaking like a leaf, again, understandably. So we all take a little break and let her compose herself. There really isn't an "ending" to that story, it's just the only occurance of note that happened. I guess I felt better knowing that I wasn't the least experienced rider there. Though I felt bad for her, she just wanted to have a nice ride and wasn't able to keep her horse in check. But let me just say that riding a horse is a workout! I didn't realize it at first, but my muscles are still sore and it's 2 days later! But I have to say I love the feeling and I have missed it terribly, it makes me feel like I've actually done something and am maybe moving in the direction of getting back in shape. (((sigh))) someday (((sigh)))
So that is the end of my post.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Makeup!




So today I cleaned off and organized my vanity counter in my bedroom. I'm so happy! I had forg0tten about some of the makeup I found because it was buried under other makeup. Also, today I got my shipment of e.l.f. makeup, I was even MORE excited! Makeup is one of my favorite things, and chocolate-chip cookies :) So I decided to take a few pictures of my counter so you could get a visual of what I'm talking about (for some reason one of the pictures wouldn't load). I feel like a professional makeup artist, I definitely have enough makeup to do the job! I (heart) makeup!

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Getting closer!!

This picture shows what we did last Saturday, very similar to lunging a horse.

So from now on I think there may be more posts about horses now that I am around them regularly, just a heads up :)

So I went to the ranch last Saturday and it was amazing. We didn't get to ride though, because it was so windy, the lady said that it might spook the horses because it can mess with their hearing. But I am going back next Saturday (instead of the Saturday after that because of graduation).

This time instead of riding, we took one of the horses (that happens to be for sale) named Al into the round pen and she taught me one of the ways to work a horse. It was amazing, just seeing how horses interact in such an intimate setting, and when being asked to work. This lady is so full of information and I am so grateful to have met her.

We talked about the possibility of me leasing a horse and just paying boarding costs, which is super great because her board is super cheap! She also told me she could take me to Fleet Farm and outfit me with everything I would need except a saddle for $100. Wow. I'm so excited. I have talked to Jordan about it and he is ok with it! So I might "have" a horse soon!

Friday, May 2, 2008

Glasses


So yesterday I went to my annual eye exam, I made the appointment mostly because I was having trouble focusing on things far away and my eyes were getting tired.

My whole life I have had "perfect" eyes, at least that is what the doctors have all told me. I remember one time when I was younger I went in to the eye doctor and had to get a test done where they put drops in your eyes that make your vision SUPER blurry and then look into your eyes. When the doctor looked into my eyes I remember he was amazed at how "perfect" my eyes were, "just like in the text book" I remember him saying. He even had his co-worker come and look because he was amazed.

But yesterday I went in and the "nurse" (the lady who does tests before the doctor examines my eyes) told me my sight had changed and understood why my eyes were getting fatigued. So then I went in to see the doctor and we decided that I would get glasses to wear part-time. Basically when I'm not looking at things close-up, or horseback riding :)

So I go in today to pick out a pair of glasses and join the world of people with "four-eyes." I'm kind of excited about it, maybe it'll make me look smarter for my interviews! Maybe I'll post a picture once I get my glasses.