christmas eve eve

Best Boyfriend = Bradley

He got me legos for an early christmas gift last night

built a fire truck already, i can also build a helicopter and a jeep.

How sweet :)

need/want

I've been waking up so much lately in the middle of the night. I think about my dreams & remember them vividly.

Sometimes I will be up for hours for no reason just in my own head.

Well, coffee is done brewing.

Time to study for my final at 1 [eeks]

http://www.modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Apartment/Bookstore+Desktop/I+Can+t+Sleep+Journal

Mustache Cocktail Party

Tori and Tyler hosted a christmas party--theme: mustache cocktail merry christmas

here are a few pictures, our friends are fun.

crafts

it was great seeing kendra tonight

we made bag-bags

i love doing crafts at her house,

because she has a sewing machine :)

bored

apparently I am bored and in the christmas mood... making snow flakes.

lights

[picture taken by a sweet iphone app]

I am wrapping christmas gifts tonight

Bradley is the best thing to ever come into my life (not trying to be mushy) but I am so excited to be spending another christmas with him.

Winter time I become a little kid. I think I just have the best memories of Christmas. The snow, music, decorations, lights, presents, family, etc. I loved it all and love it still.

Merry Christmas 2010.

I have been working really hard on finding gifts Bradley will be excited about. I can't wait to give him everything!

cutest

Ya really got a hold on me.

Endings

So this semester has gone fast. By 7:30 pm tonight I will be done with 3 of my 4 classes.

It's that last class I am going to stress about. History class is my weakness. I won't get an A in this class : / but it's not the end of the world, I am trying my hardest. I have a week of studying and my final is on Monday at 1pm. i can not wait until this is over.

In other news. Bradley and I had a really good weekend. Got a lot accomplished, made some delicious food and hung out with Bryan.

Ready for winter break. & it snowed about 5 inches this weekend.

Bradley is in D.C. for a few days. I dislike him being gone and hearing bumps in the night.

cards.

i love writing christmas cards.

i started last night.

i didn't get all of them done

because i could write a book to the ones we love about how great they are and how we'll miss them over this holiday season.

7 down 9 to go

Happy Holidays!

Lobstas!

new england... lobsters are a must!

so delicious. just another picture from our trip.

Jumo.com ?

Jumo was created by Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes. It's a non-profit platform that matches users philanthropic interests to various causes.

Goals of Jumo:

• make it easy for people to find issues and organizations they care about
• allows people to follow the latest news of these organizations
• followers can support these causes with time, money, and skills

With Jumo individuals and organizations are connected which can help improve the lives of millions. It's hard for people to know how to help organizations and being a part of Jumo can make that easier. This is a social networking opportunity for non-profits

There is a need for something like Jumo. This site is easy to use, easy to connect, easy to network. As I am finishing up my education and getting my BSW I can follow all the agencies that I want to stay connected with. Some day I would like to find a non-profit agency to work for so this is a site for me to keep my eye on and try out.

Lets see how it goes.

Newport RI

just a few pictures from our trip.

had such a great time.

i'm so in love with this man.

snowmens

we have a large back yard.

this is what it's going to look like in the winter.

...yessss!

Pacers Game

even though i'm a little under the weather.

i went to the Pacers game last night with Bradley and Evan.

We had courtside seats 3rd row, could basically touch the players.

It was a good time.

2 years

NOW

&

THEN

2 years... woohoo!!! love you bradley

9 days till an 9 day vacation

in 9 days this will be our travel plan...

such a long drive but so much fun.

[plus i'll be driving stick.. eeks

wish me luck!]

Sufjan Stevens show Indianapolis 11/04/10

Bradley took me to Sufjan Stevens (i absolutely love his music!)

we had great seats first row center on the balcony.

I expected this show to be good. But i was blown away by how amazing it was.

It was great sounding as well as visually stimulating.

He described what his thoughts were when writing his songs which was very interesting.

Also Sufjan told a story about a man who inspired his songs and artwork for the show.

Royal Robertson ( http://www.intuoutsiderart.com/rRobertson.shtm)

an artist in a small Louisiana town who's outlook on life was inspiring to others.

Later in life Royal was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia saw

visions and his paranoia made him isolate himself and made

artwork of aliens, end of the world, warnings against the FBI etc. So crazy.

All in all I had a great night. The Age of Adz is an awesome cd and translated into an amazing show.

Thanks Bradley :)

everybody's fine

If you have parents or a parent who lives far away this movie will probably make you sad.

for everyone else this is a really good movie. makes me really thankful for the relationship i have with my father and the memories we share. even though i'm 23 i'm still his little dumples.

i'm a busy individual and may not get to see everyone i want all the time but once i am out of school i sure will try to do special things to spend time with people i care about.

pups

doggie play date.

alyssa and jenny brought their dogs over

to run in the back yard with bora.

now she's all tuckered

burrr

apparently i am in love with everything

Mod Cloth sells.

i've been looking for a new coat

and i love this one. if not this exact coat

one like it. i need a hood for sure.

vacancy

i am a coffee zombie^^

actually i think my thoughts today are vacant [va-cant |ˈvākənt|• (of a person or their expression) having or showing no intelligence or interest ].i think of something then i loose it. i stare blankly into space and no one notices. i fall asleep in class and no one cares. i've had only one thing on my mind and music in my ears.

today is a game of hours and minutes. what time i wake up, how long until i am out the door, how many hours i am in my first class, how long i have for lunch, how many minutes i have until my next class, what tasks for the week can i fit in my free time sitting around campus, how many seconds until class is over & now how many hours until i go home. school is wearing on me. 18 days until our road trip, we need the vacation and break from every day life.

i must be doing something right i got positive feed back from a professor who i haven't spoken to a lot before this interaction. she thinks i have potential to facilitate and saw that i have natural skills in leading a group, told me i did a really good job today in class. this is a big deal because i often think leading is a weakness of mine... guess i am 'growing up', and i am feeling more comfortable in my skin with who i am. Because a few class mates of mine told me today i was very good at client sessions, opening statements and empathetic listening. Guess i found my knack and good thing it's skills i need to use in my future career.

lady bug

1 and 1/2 year old addison,

my niece is adorable.

& i dressed up like her.

this was the first year

i have gotten to pass out candy.(i was so excited) although a little disappointed.

some of the kids were so rude. next year i am only going to give candy to people dressed up and if they are nice. none of this i am young enough to go trick or treating but i am too cool to dress up... losers.

also the kids LOVED that i had kit kat bars and said i was the only house with them. how odd.

Music - Sufjan Stevens

Lets talk music for a bit.

I don't think i've posted a thing about what i'm listening to lately since David Bazan's -Curse Your Branches (so good!)

Last week bradley came home with Sufjan Steven's new cd- The Age of ADZ.

let me tell you it's so great. I've always loved Sufjan Steven's for many reasons

but this next cd is wonderful and every song sounds epic. The album art work is great

and I haven't stopped playing it in my car for the last week.

It starts out with the song 'Futile Devices', it may be my favorite song on this album. It's beautiful sounding, like a soft story is being told in his hushed voice about his relationship and loving someone deeply. Which reminds me of something off of seven swans ( one of my favorite cd's Sufjan Stevens has put out)

This quiet song is followed by the song 'Too Much', you won't be able to stop listening to the complexity of all the synth sounds, mixed with horns and jerky electronic sounds. The music paints a picture in your mind more than the words do.

To skip to the end of the cd the song 'Impossible Soul', is impossible not to love. With 25 minutes of glory, in a melting pot of different music genres, it's got something everyone will love. It starts with Sufjan's soft spoken words telling you about a dream of his of the perfect love and love for us all.

"And I was in a dream, I was gone away without you, but not too slow

Lest I put it off, 'fore I put it right for the impossible soul
And all I couldn't sing, I would say it all my life to you, if I could get you at all
Don't be a wreck, trying to be something that I wasn't at all
Seems I got it wrong, I was chasing after something that was gone
To the black of night, now I know it's not what I wanted at all
You said something like, "All you want is all the world for yourself"
But all I want is the perfect love, though I know it's small, I want love for us all
And all I couldn't sing, I would say it all my life to you, if I could get you at all
Oh, oh oh oh, trying to be something that I wasn't at all"

There is a break of electronic mixes and horns which Sufjan Steven's shouts and sings different phrases leading into the 2nd part where his voice actually has some sort of effect on it talking about some man.. leading into a sort of hip hop electronic mix of sounds and chanting in the back ground.. on to the 3rd part last but not least. An up beat conclusion to the cd with answer and calls with multiple voices. Not only is the music up beat but so are the lyrics:

"It's a long life

Only one last chance
Couldn't get much better
Do you wanna dance
It's a good life
Better pinch yourself
Is it possible? Is it possible?
Boy we can do much more together
Better get a life get a life get a life get a life
Boy we can do much more together
Better get a life get a life get a life get a life
Boy we can do much more together
Better get it right get it right get it right get it right
Boy we can do much more together
It's not so impossible
It's not so impossible"

If you listen to the whole cd and lastly the whole 25 minutes of the last song, I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

fall 2010

Pumpkin patch!

it's fall...

finally.

Went to Stuckey Farm with Bradley this weekend to pick our pumpkins.

I now understand why people have the urge to smash pumpkins, as we were walking around there were some already smashed, seemed like fun ha.

i enjoy doing these things with bradley. This is our third halloween together. Fall is always a good time with him.

[25 days until our road trip!]

ready for fall

bring it on mother nature.

i'm ready for the chilly wonderful

fall &winter days you have in store

for the midwest.

after searching high and low for the perfect fall boots.. [leather not suede, slouchy, no buckles, no studs and no extra frills, & flat not heels.]

i bought these lovely steve madden boots.. [thanks to bradley's last minute need for running shoes]

book additions

i got my newest book in the mail today :)

LET'S-BRING-BACK

i'm excited to flip though it's pages soon

relax

my days have been long, I feel as though I am spinning and cannot stop.

Yoga has been my way to unwind. Yoga found it's way back into my routine.

harley?

haha

sleeping under stars

sometimes in the middle of the night i'm awake...

laying next to you wondering if you're awake thinking of me too.

i keep quite not to wake you and try to fall back into my dreams.

i wish i could hear your thoughts,

when i walk in the door after a long day

what do you think? how do you see me?

when i tell you a story and you seem lost in my face

what are you thinking?

when we hug goodbye or hello do you ever want to hold on

for a second longer like we did years ago after getting coffee and talking for hours?

it's good to be with you, to call all of this home.

my thoughts get away from me in the middle of the night

but they are pleasant as i drift off to sleep.

only to wake up next to you again and start a new day.

i love you

Delicious Halloween

Britt and I were talking about putting on a Halloween Party together.

We would want to do all the yummy/scary food for people to munch on.

Here are some ideas of food I would like to make.

1)Monster Munch

2)Witches Wands

3)Spider Dip (7-layer taco dip)

4)Mummy Dogs

5)Ghoulish Goodies (pumpkin pie cups)

Let's Bring Back

Mod Cloth has the cutest stuff. I could buy so much from them. But I think I may get this.

Seems fun and a good coffee table book.

Girl from the Ring?

did you think this was the girl from the movie The Ring?

yeah it's not (i'm 99% sure it's not)

she's recently became 'the face of Pitaya'. and i think it's interesting...

Pitaya needs someone to be/look friendly, smile a little and focus on

selling the clothes NOT her HAIR or pouty looks....

just saying you're probably just as cute if you smile :)

can you even see the outfit this picture is showcasing?

no it looks like a bed head ad.

hey you

cute art:

[if you knew how much

i love you

you'd faint]

lets go together

"Who knows where this path will take us but lets go forth hand in hand and promise not to let go because it may lead us somewhere vast and amazing"

fall road travels.

09/24-09/26.... Bloomington, IN (lex&ev)

10/01-10/03.... Nashville, TN (lauren&jimmy)

11/12-11/14....Winona Lake, IN (cara&corey's wedding)

11/20-11/27....Groton, CT &Boston, MA (bradley's family)

birthday calendar

i would love this .

it's darling

i always send birthday cards.

Zombie Attack!

"Right now it’s a bunch of shelves filled with small bags of chips. (@ Calvin Fletcher’s Coffee Co) Hopefully the chips are brain flavored."(via dylan james)

i think this is so funny.

the object to my left is Bora.

she would for sure be the best weapon to lick the zombies to death

or she would pull her hound dog bark out and scare them away....

my iphone is to the left of her

too bad that wasn't to my left.

i am sure there is an app to ward off zombies, i just haven't downloaded it yet.

Learnings

Social Work will be my profession soon.

I'm almost shocked to learn that China

doesn't have any social work.

They are just now starting to 'grasp' the idea of social work.

Starting with developing a program in the universities.

After graduation... there aren't any jobs.

(maybe a job in government but you don't need a degree for the jobs that are like social work... at least for now)

Hopefully in the next couple of years those will develop as well.

China is so large and has so many people in need of social services. They use to have their large families to take care of them in times of need. But since the one child law families are getting smaller and smaller. This is where social work will come into play.

A Hot Air Balloon Fiesta!

New Mexico- Balloon Fiesta

October 2nd-10th 2010.

I NEED TO GO TO THIS SOME YEAR!

thanks to Ashley Francis for showing me this gem of a festival.

http://www.balloonfiesta.com/

Tea & Honey

if you want me to love you for ever

you can get me a bunch of these candles!

(i don't mean 1 or 2, i mean 10 or 20!)

i could burn these every day.

i need 10 or 20 because they stopped making 'Tea and Honey' candles (which is a bummer.)

maybe every holiday someone i know needs to buy me one.

another thought:

if people sold yankee candles like they do mary kay make up, i would for sure buy Tea & Honey candles from them all the time.