Home again!

Ol' Bertha (my 96' Honda Civic) decided to buck up and made it home! Woohoo! I was a little worried there for a while!

So now that I have officially stuffed my face, I shall share the magical pictures with all of you in bloggyland.

Oh. My. Word.

This food was just too much. I seriously enjoyed every bite that I stuffed viciously into my face.

And for dessert, you might ask?

This, my friends, is nutella pie.

The following words are my best words to describe this:

asdcnajskenfjklasencjkla  snckanjkwenrasuri238490c j wkvsmx jkmxzncM,mcvsd Q!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can we say delicious?

.............DELICIOUS!

So delicious, that my wonderful mother made me an entire pie to take home to Matt. It took some sheer willpower not to devour that pie in the 165 miles by myself in the car.

Even Sherman took part in the traditional after-dinner nap.

And, I caught a rare moment where all of our animals are co-existing on one piece of furniture together!

Very sweet.


I suppose I should roll my overstuffed self off the couch and get my day started. I've got lots of errands to run- and no money to run them with. What else is new?

Until next time.

Eat your hearts out.

Happy Thanksgiving!!


I have so much to be thankful for this year. Times have been tough on everyone, and I hope that we all take a moment, at some point today, to stop and think about the many, many things we all have to be grateful for.

I first and foremost could not be more thankful for my family, Matt, and my wonderful best friends, who have all helped to get me through a very difficult time in my life. It has been a hard road I have traveled on lately and I am so blessed with such amazing people surrounding me, that are there catch me when I might trip up a lot a little bit.

I am also grateful for a roof over my head, both in Beaufort, and for my parents in Raleigh.

I am thankful that the house in Wilmington sold, helping to ease the financial burden on my family.

I am thankful for the opportunity to start graduate school in a field that I am passionate about.

I am thankful for having a job interview on Monday, for a job that would allow me to be part-time and go to school full time.

I am thankful to have the opportunity to volunteer at the Aquarium, I have learned so much after just one session!

I am thankful to be able to spend this holiday with my family (and, let's get honest here, my cat!)

I am so thankful to have that special somebody who always seems to have the answers when I am lost, has always been my shoulder to cry (and cry, and cry!) on, can ALWAYS make me laugh when I am at my crankiest (seriously, how does he DO that!),  and is always there for me- no matter how late it is, how annoying I am, how mad I am, and no matter how psycho a little off my rocker I am. I could not be luckier.

No matter how stressful things seem in my life, it never ceases to amaze me with how blessed I actually am.

Hope everyone has an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with gratitude!

Now, go eat your hearts out.

And I'm in!

Got my "official" acceptance letter for Grad School earlier this week, and let me tell you, I am ready to start. I am not good at this sit at home "house-fiance" stuff. I'm sure that when I have kids I would love to be a stay at home wife, but for now, I need to be doing something with my days.

So, like I have said before, I begin in January and I should finish the program in Fall of 2012. Woohoo! Then I'll find a job, and Matt and I will finally be able to settle down for a while.

I went a church-huntin' today and I ended up going to Parkview Baptist church. Pretty nice place, I have never in my life met more friendly, welcoming people than the members there. This place might be a winner. Wanna know how I know that after just one service? As the pastor was reading scripture from Paul  in Romans, he stopped dead in the middle of a sentence (after reading the quoted text of "you all") and said, " I'm sure glad to know that Paul was a southerner..."

The church, was in a laughter uproar, and I am thinking to myself, "Well, bud, you sure as heck ain't in Kansas anymore." And I couldn't help but laugh, very quietly, so that others might not here me, as well.

Now, everyone who knows me, knows I have lived in NC my whole life. This, in turn, makes me a southerner. But I have never seen a more southern way of life, until I moved here. And, I gotta say, I like it.  All of ya'll (see what I did there?)  know I am a country girl at heart. I grew up on country music, love riding horses, am practically obsessed with farms, farmland, green grass, etc. I've just never been in any type of city to lead such a life. So during his sermon, when clearly I should have been listening, I thought, what if I just re-invent myself to be that country girl that 1/9th of me has always wanted to be.

*Side note- the other 8/9ths of me have wanted to be any one of the following at any point in my life:

- a big, bad city girl, with a big, bad city job
- an athlete of some sort- gymnast, duh
- a foodie/wine-y
- normal- because, let's face it, that will never happen.
- A beach bum- okay, so this one isn't really that far off, during the summer at least.
- a foreigner- I could so live in another part of the world, if it weren't for missing my friends/family.
- a monk- I was like, 5. I didn't even know it was impossible for girls to be monks.
- and a blogger. Hence, the blog.


Thing is, I feel like re-inventing myself at least once a week. Is it possible to really get that bored with yourself? Rather than think about how depressing that is, I'm going to chalk those feelings up to me being in a place in my life where I can literally re-invent myself with no qualms or quandries. I guess it's a type of freedom that just takes some getting used to. Yep. Alright then. This goes down as one of the top 5 weirdest blogs in history.

Later ya'll. (heh)

More from San Diego

Welp, I finally got my pictures back! So I will commence the sharing :)

So, so pretty there! Most of these pictures will be of the giraffes Zoo, and the Museums.

I'll start with my favorite animal :)

The true gentle giant! I spent an embarrassing amount of time at this exhibit. Parents with their children were giving me the evil eye for moving around and getting in the way of their precious family portraits with the Giraffes, as I snap what is probably close to a thousand pictures.

What cuties. I don't think there is a single person on this earth who does not love Koala bears. If so, their heart is made of stone.

This exhibit was great, lots of interaction for folks like me who want to get just a liiiiittle too close.

The polar bears were so playful!! They truly love to interact with the crowd!

And, in possibly one of my favorite shots of the day, we have...the Meerkats!!

Just reminds me of watching animal planet, wondering if I will ever get a chance to see these things in real life! They really do stick the roles they are given within their family! Amazing!

 I also went to about 5 museums, and as I may have already said, the museum of cultural arts and crafts was my favorite. They had a Zandra Rhodes exhibit up, and let me tell ya, I have fallen in love. This woman is amazing!! The whole exhibit was beautiful with the colors and the lighting.

For more pictures, I have a whole facebook album up with about 45 Giraffe pictures and then 5 other random ones. (Just kidding! Geez!)

Okay, okay. I'll stop!


That's it for today, I suppose.  Now I've just got to figure out what I am having for lunch (sandwich) and what to make for dinner while we are stove-less. (sandwich)

Stove from you-know-where

Today, at approximately 1:35pm, I decided that I was hungry and should make some lunch. So I opt for the classic, and undeniable- Ramen Noodles. So I put the pot of water on the stove, wait until it reaches a boil, and then throw in the noodles. As I put my spoon in the pot to stir the noodles around a bit, all of a sudden....BOOM.


The stove blew up.....in my face.
I couldn't make this stuff up. There was a literal explosion in my face. My hair blew back, screaming out loud, the works.

Don't worry, fearful friends, I am okay. Physically. Although, I'm not sure if I will ever cook again.

I kid, I kid.

But, seriously.

Really?

Geez.


So I called Matt, who so amazingly rushed home from work to see if I was okay and to call the landlord and get all this figured out. An electrical appliance guy should be here "sometime tomorrow."

Great.

In the meantime, our stove/oven are all pulled out of the wall, unplugged, and obviously out of commission. Guess it will be PB&J's for dinner tonight. Even though that's what I ate for lunch after the Ramen Fiasco.


Also, I made it back from San Diego in one piece, and truly had a blast! It was definitely the getaway that I needed. Now I just need to find a part time job to keep through the holidays and while I go through school :)


Sorry no pictures today. I really wanted to put more pics from CA up, but I had to take my mother's camera and she couldn't find the cord to hook it up to the computer to upload. Ah, well. Hope everyone else's day has been better than mine, and explosion free!

Finally!

Well, I finally have gotten some internet connection here in CA. 1 hour of free wi-fi, If I sit downstairs in the lobby. How generous of them! (Note: Sarcasm)

I got up at *Gasp- is there even such a thing* 4AM on Sunday morning to catch out 6:30AM flight.
Once we got on the plane it was goodbye, Raleigh,

Hello California!

And, Hello beautiful views from our room!

Amazing!

I can see where they get the whole, "Sheraton- Harbor Island" name. Duh.


My dad and I ended up spending the rest of our day walking around the area and seeing what all was around. And guess what?? There isn't too much around at all. We literally are on a secluded area with nothing around. If we want to go anywhere we have to take a shuttle, bus, and trolley, or taxi. So there are 2 restaurants on the island, one AMAZING super local, hole in the wall, deli where we have eaten lunch for the past two days. There is also a nice, much more upscale, restaurant with amazing dinner selections. Here is what I had for my first dinner in San Diego.

Not the best picture, but almost certainly the BEST salad I have ever had. So delicious in its simplicity! All it was made up of was a (huge) bed of spinach leaves, super crisp and crunchy, Sliced and perfectly sweet/ripe strawberries, the creamiest goat cheese I have ever had, and slivered almond bits. All of this was lightly covered in a great, tangy, balsamic vinaigrette. I was devouring this salad like I hadn't eaten food since the day I was born.


The next morning (after waking up at 5:30am because I could sleep no longer!) I looked outside our room and:

It was cloudy! It follows me, I swear! It rained in the early part of the morning and then cleared up very shortly thereafter.


So I decided I would take a trip to Old Town- where all the historic and spanish based heritage is located at. So I take the hotel shuttle to the airport to catch the bus downtown, where I get off and catch the "trolley" to Old Town. Now, when I think of a Trolley I think of quaint, nice, small, open-air transportation. This was nothing more than a train. So I was a little let-down, but alas, I got through it.  :)

So once getting off at Old Town, it seems that I missed the beautiful, historic state park. I ended up in one, not so great, part of town. So I was completely uncomfortable walking those streets alone, and almost immediately (after, in fact, searching for "Old Town") decided to go back to the hotel and walk around the area some more for the remainder of the afternoon. More on this trip later, but it does involve a crazy lady talking to herself, then to me (of course! What is it about the crazies always coming up to me!), and a homeless man digging through the trash cans next to me while I was waiting at the bus stop.


I think, that I might just have to suck it up and pay for the expense of a taxi. Normally I wouldn't do this, as I would just take public transportation. But being by yourself, and a young, easy target, tourist girl, I think it might actually just be safest if I splurge on the taxis. What do you all think?

Anyways, so today I am headed to Balboa park where all of the museums are located and there are lots of gardens to explore as well.  I will let you all know how that goes tomorrow.

But here is a taste of what I get to wake up to on a non-cloudy day:

SO beautiful!!!

I die.


More on my further adventures later! Keep tuning in!

Reunited and it...(Part Two!)

...Tastes so good!!


Best part of being with the family? The good 'ol southern cookin'! My mamma can throw down in the kitchen!

Friday night we went out to dinner at the olive garden, and quite honestly I don't think I have laughed that hard in a while. It was nice to have the whole family together again.

We had the SLOWEST server ever. Our dinner took us more than 2 hours to complete! We were dining European style, it seems.

The dinner was worth it for the desserts alone. I got the Tiramisu, if you must know. Which I'm sure you do.

Here is breakfast waiting for me upon awakening this morning....

Now, THAT, is heavenly.


My mom and I did some serious shopping for the rest of the day, then prepared for dinner.

Once again. Ah-mazing food. Comfort food to be exact. Homemade Mac N Cheese- my absolute, go-to, gottahaveitrightnoworsomeonewillgethurt, FAVORITE. Green bean casserole-creamy goodness with some crunch. And, my mother's specialty, blackened tuna steaks. This woman knows her blackening. My Lord. Bobby Flay could take a few lessons from her grillin' skills. (And don't think I have forgotten that garlic bread creeping in the background. That was simply the icing on the already decadent cake.)

My dad was ready to dive into that bread the second it's warm crusty goodness hit the table.


We also have brownies, fresh from the oven, cooling down on the counter right now, and I am not sure how much longer I can take the anticipation of that first bite hitting my mouth.

Now if that meal isn't something to make your tummy satisfied, I don't know what is.

All in all, a great weekend with the family.

Heading to San Diego tomorrow!! Our flight leaves at 6:30AM so I should be heading to bed about 10 minutes ago. More posting to come from San Diego! Super excited!

Reunited and it....(Part 1)

.....sheds so good.

Yes. I have never had more animal hair on me in my life. But it feels so good to be reunited with my Squirt, Snoopy, and Sherman ( Sherman is a little more than camera shy, so sorry no pictures of the black kitty today, maybe next time!)

I have missed these animals oh-so much!

Backtracking, I had some splendid views of eastern NC's version of "fall" on the drive to Raleigh for my grad school interview today!

Nice,  curvy road to keep my attention at 7:00AM!

Pretty colors. (Well, as pretty as they get in these here parts of NC!)

So the interview went really well! They told me I am in, just have to wait for my letter. And, (This, too, was also a dead giveaway) we sat down and planned the entire program from start to finish. It will only take me until the fall of 2012 to finish, and even then, the only thing I will be doing in that fall is my internship! So that is just a year and a half away from when I will start (I'll be starting spring term of this year)! Woohoo! And, if after I finish this program and decide to do an add-on Master's program in general Visual Impairment, I would only need to complete an additional 15 credit hours within 6 years of completing my first master's!  This is a very, very good thing. Which is good, because I need some good things happening right about now :)

So back to the pets. Snoopy, is the worst model ever. He literally will look dead at the camera, and SOMEHOW at the last second, look away quickly. He is one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen, but you would honestly never know it from his pictures. Not photogenic. No sir-ee.

This is one of the better ones.

This is what usually happens when you take the picture. He is somewhat (and when I say somewhat, I mean 100% completely, without a doubt..) an attention hog. If you are not petting or looking at him, he will force you to do so:

This also, most of the time ends up with some sort of pain happening. He has no awareness of his strength.

So I usually end up doing this to keep him looking at the camera.

Which clearly makes him unhappy. And probably confused.

 And here is Arnold SQUIRTsinator himself! As well as my little brother, who does not look pleased to be a part of this picture.

Squirt is, to say the least, probably the quirkiest cat I have ever met. And he couldn't make me happier. He likes to flop onto his back and let you push him around the floor. We call it "taking a ride." It absolutely thrills him!

He is just too much.

So now you have met 2 of my 3 boys!

But we also have another cat, Sherman, who is very camera shy. Snoopy and I tried, and tried, and tried, but to no avail. Sherman was just not having it. He wouldn't budge from his safe haven under my parents bed.

Ah well, Snoops. We did the best we could. I will keep on the lookout for good Sherman pictures for later!



BREAKING NEWS!! *EDIT*!

I have just found the elusive kitty in action... and here ya are, folks!!

(I know the suspense was killing you.)

Today's quicky

As I am trying to make my new apartment a home, I find myself going to Wal-Mart. A lot. (Hey, it's the only place here in tiny town that has everything in one place!) So imagine my surprise when I walk in yesterday and see this:

REALLY, PEOPLE?!?!?! It is literally the very beginning of November! Whatever happened to Thanksgiving? Are we skipping it this year?


I love Christmas just as much as the next person (probably more actually, it's my favorite time of year.) BUT C'MON!!

This is just too much.




Here is also a little tidbit from Matt and I's day trip to Wilmington to re-stock the car full of my stuff. We made a stop at the Duff's family friend Laura's house to see Barbara (future MIL) who was helping out with watching the kids.

That's my main squeeze. Standing on their two story deck overlooking the waterway. The Ocean is on the other side of the house.

HERE is the amazingly beautiful house. I feel lucky to have even been able to visit!

time to go get my whole grain blueberry muffins out of the oven. I can smell 'em! Yum!

All moved in??

Hardly, but things are coming together. Somewhat.

So, please excuse the mess, but I figured you all were just dying to see what the new digs look like. (hold your enthusiasm, please.)

Here is the view from the front door. That is the bedroom on the left (really, it's on the right, but we all know how the macbook camera flips everything. Right? Right. Good.)
That's the bathroom in the back, as well as the kitchen, obviously.

Here's the living room.

You might wonder, "Wow, Jennie, you really couldn't have folded up those blankets and made those pillows organized for the picture?" The answer, my friends, is NO. I am exhausted from the packing, unpacking, organizing, shoving *pushing, pulling, slamming, throwing* too big items into too small places, etc. So no, dearest people, I could not muster up the energy to make the pictures nice and pretty for you.

*Disclaimer: I did not choose the couch and loveseat set. Those were put in by the landlord. They are a very nice set of furniture, and rather comfy, I'm just not sure I personally would have gone with the plaid/wood look. *

I would, however, like you all to notice the wonderful touches I have put into place within my first 48 hours of living here. The exceptional rug from Ikea (only my favorite place ever) on the floor in the living room. The rug in the Kitchen, the tablecloth on the card table. The matchy-matchingness of the bathroom shower curtain, towels, accent rugs, etc. Yes, all done by yours truly.

But, there are a few things that Matt and I still need to make this place have enough room for the both of us. So we picked up a dresser for me, and a bookshelf to use as a night stand. Matt has taken on the responsibility of putting together the dresser so I said, "Hey, no problem, I'll put together the bookcase."
.............
.....
...
Problem.


I cannot believe how unsaavy I really am at putting together a 15 dollar bookcase. But MAYBE if the instructions were WRITTEN out, rather than just having stupid picture illustrations, I might have a better chance.

I worked on this bookcase for an HOUR yesterday.

Here are the results.

Look at that incredible handi-work. I am a natural.

Who am I kidding? So this one goes on the list of things for the beloved "manly-man" to do. :D

I am afraid that's all there is time for in today's blogging. I am going to try to start making this a daily thing, so make sure you all check back daily to keep me on my toes and on point with this goal. HA.

Things to look forward to in the next few postings:

Bad Men Habits: Part 1

Bad Men Habits: Part 2

and, finally,

Bad Men Habits: Part Infinity.

Also, look forward to more hit and miss cooking/baking adventures

AND

SAN DIEGO!!!!

So excited!

Also, keep me in your thoughts as I go in for my graduate school interview on Friday! Hope all goes well!

'Till then, folks.