Pictures of snow

Here are some pictures from the week of clear cold, and the week of snow.

Shoes

I've been shopping for comfortable business shoes to wear to school and interviews. I finally found some at Macy's. They're great!

Hot water tap!

John's so great! He added a hot water tap to our sink, so we got to retire our tea kettle.

Cold week

It has been very cold this week. Two days I wore long johns to stay warm while walking to/from the bus. Since the start of the term, only two days have had slippery roads. This week had all dry roads, so walking wasn't a problem.

We've had some nice ice formations on the edges of our pond this week. The pond doesn't get any sun, and it hasn't been warm enough to thaw in the shade, so the splashed water from the fountain just keeps building up on the ice and freezing. I'll post some pictures soon.

We almost had frozen pipes the first morning it was below freezing. I turned on the faucet in the bathroom, and it stopped running after a few seconds. I thought, uh-oh. John woke up right away and came to see what was going on. (That's the best way to get up him up in the morning - some kind of crisis. Works great.) He decided to just keep the water running. There was enough running water to break up the ice in the pipes, and we didn't have a problem. Since then, we've kept the faucets dripping at night. The reason we have such a problem in our bathroom is that while adding the addition and the master bathroom, the previous owners put the pipes in the attic and ran them right along the roof. The pipes are very sensitive to changes in temperature. We should add some insulation or find out something else we can do for them to lessen the effect of the weather.

The first day we moved into the house, the pipes tried to trick me. It was a hot summer day. I thought I was running cold water, but the water was hot, and it kept getting hotter. So I moved the handle over to the left. It stayed hot. I moved it back to the right, and it finally got cooler. Now, if I know it's hot outside and want cold water, I have to wait longer. The insulation or whatever fix we figure out to do, would help with that too.

Interview

Yeah! I got an interview with the accounting firm I applied to. The position is an internship with them this summer. They were the only ones left in the area still taking applications for the summer internship. So to get into the biggest firm in the area, I have to get in with them.

Sorry, I'm not going to drop names to protect my privacy.

I'm very excited to get the interview because of what I overheard some people saying about internships and this company in particular. One person applied, but didn't get invited to interview. I had first assumed that everyone would probably interview if they applied, but I guess that's not the case. Maybe some day, if I get the position, I will be able to find out what percentage of people get interviewed.

Dog boots

Hey, Mom, you should check out these boots for dogs. From the story that Nate and Andrea told, it sounds like they work great. I'm not sure where they got them, though.

Busy, busy, busy

I'm done with my first week of classes this term. I like all my professors and the classes, too. I'm most excited about the intermediate accounting class. It's the real meat. Oh, there's accounting information systems that will be cool too. I get to design an information system in Excel that includes ledger accounts and journal entries, and financial statements.

I have a three-hour break on Mondays and Wednesdays so I brought enough to study during those times and took advantage of it. I also went to the gym yesterday and walked around the inside track. In total, I exercised three times in the last five days. Plus I walk to the bus and walk home.

This term looks to be very busy. There's a meet-and-greet next week that will get my foot in the door for the internship interview process starting late January. Also, I'm going to get certified to be able to participate in VITA, which does free income tax preparation for low-income people in the area (including students). That will be good for the resume and put me in a good position to run for an officer position in the accounting club, which I'm a pledge for this term. There's also a thing that's organized for early February that pairs people with CPAs in the area and we get to have dinner and find out more about their careers. Very exciting, and it's free!

Three classes online

Now there are three classes on the online school system. I can see the last class, math, in the list, but all the folders are empty. I'm not sure if the prof. hasn't allowed access to the website yet, of if there is a glitch in my access to the class. I'll find out tomorrow at class I guess.

Christmas gift card projects

For Christmas I received a generous gift card to a craft store. This week I used the card to buy stuff for some projects I've been wanting to do.

First, I got really soft brown yarn for a scarf. I'm planning on finding a unique, challenging pattern in my Encyclopedia of Knitting book that will look nice in the uniform color yarn.



Macy is always around for a pose!



I also got beads for a brown necklace. I have lots of brown shirts and sweaters, and I made a brown bracelet last fall. I'm still working on some brown earrings, then the necklace will complete the set. I'm excited to start the necklace. Since I'm busy reading for school already, and I go back tomorrow, the necklace will probably have to wait until next weekend.

Started reading

I started reading for school today. This term is going to be very heavy in textbook reading. Also, the textbooks are very heavy themselves. The four books for my four classes together weigh twenty pounds. I don't think I'll be taking all three books to class on the days I have three classes. Two will have to do.

The class I needed

Yeah! I'm so excited! I finally was able to register for the class I need to go through the accounting program in a reasonable amount of time.

They made me take Math 242 again, so I couldn't apply to the school of business until this coming term, and I couldn't register with everyone else for the classes I needed. I needed to get into Accounting 320 because it's a prerequisite for almost everything else. If I wasn't able to take it this term, then I'd have to extend my schooling a whole extra term. When I found all this out in November, I really freaked out.

Thursday I was sent an email from the adviser at school wanting to know if I still needed to register for it because there was one empty seat. I didn't read the email until today, so I replied and hoped I didn't miss the deadline. A few hours later I tried to register online, and I got in! Yeah!

Getting ready for school

I now have access to two of my classes via an online system. I printed the syllabi and the first couple weeks of assignments and readings. I put everything into my three-ring binder. Tomorrow I get to pick up my textbooks.

I also put the assignments and readings due dates in my Outlook calendar. Last term I printed out one week from Outlook on one side, and the second week on the other side. I kept only one sheet of the calendar with me in my notebooks. This term I'm going to print out the whole term, so I can reference more weeks in advance. I saw lots of people using a spiral calendar, and I thought I wanted to get one, too. But I figure it would just take up more space, and I can accomplish the same thing using my computer.

Happy New Year!

It's New Year's Eve. This year we're staying home to be with each other. I'm really looking forward to it.

We're going to try a few new drinks, play games, and maybe watch some movies. But we're also planning on going to bed by 10 pm. That'll be a first for me. I'm starting a strict sleep schedule for school because I have early classes this term.

An Inspiration for All

You have to go see these quilts that Andrea made. They are absolutely gorgeous! And she finished four quilts in one year! She is truly an inspiration and an encouragement to me, and I know she will be for anyone else that also has projects that need dedication and finishing.

Rock climbing

There's a rock wall at the school recreation center. I've gone a few times since the beginning of the term. It's really fun! Belaying is cool. I'll take some pictures here sometime soon and post them.

Heroes

I love Heroes this season! John & I totally guessed that Adam was the English dude. Hiro had to go back in time to straighten him out, but then he gave him his god complex and made him vengeful.

Each episode keeps getting better and better.

Ideas?

Any ideas for a population or environment problem or solution that I could do a project on?

First an A, then a D & an F!

So I took these two online exams for my business computer class, one for Access, one for Excel. I was blown away at how hard they were! There wasn't enough time, and the program was really picky about how you completed the steps. I got a D in Access and an F in Excel!

I was so frustrated that I emailed the professor. I guess I wasn't the only one who complained because he turned the exams into assignments each worth 5% of our grade instead of 20% each. He also changed the third exam completely. It's now a combined Access/Excel data problem to be turned in.

I'm relieved that he changed things. Other than that, I really like this class.

Surprised by an A

So I finally got my first test back from my geography test. I was so nervous before I took it, and I didn't think I did that well. Frankly, I was expecting a C or D.

But, I got an A (90 out of 100)! I couldn't believe it! I might actually have a chance in this class to do well. Very exciting!

Business school application

I applied to the business major this week. I had to answer two questions on the application about my academic and career goals and how I would add value to the college of business. John gave me a big compliment on my writing, which really impressed me, so I thought I'd share what I wrote:

Growing up, I always knew that I would get my bachelor’s degree. My parents encouraged me to strive to achieve my dreams and goals. They taught me that any person could do anything if they just worked hard enough.

Since high school, I’ve spent some time going to college, experiencing life and gaining perspective on work. It has taught me to value goals and put a plan in place to achieve them. In the business school, I want to study accounting because it is applicable to and imperative in any and every business. My vision is to consult with small businesses in order to help them manage their accounting needs.

I’m not yet sure of my career focus. I’m hoping to discover this along the way by taking advantage of the different clubs and student organizations on campus. I’ve heard a little bit about some clubs (I removed the names), and I want to learn more. I would like to work towards an economics minor because I’m interested in the free enterprise market, and I think it is a great alliance with business and accounting.

Because I’ve had some time to reflect on life, careers and school, I feel prepared to invest more in my schooling and the relationships I am forming and will continue to form while I’m here. I’m ready to center my energy, skills, and time in order to cultivate my overall school experience and build up the lives of those around me.

I will add value to the college of business by actively participating in my classes. When working with groups, I will encourage other students to fulfill their potential. I enjoy working as a team to solve problems and get a sense of connection. My most recent job involved working as a team in the accounts payable department at a local store. I was brought in as a temporary worker to help fill in for vacations and help catch up in some areas. I learned various tasks, and, as needed, I rotated through the positions, such as data entry clerk, imaging clerk, accounts payable specialist, and a general clerical support position. The supervisor insisted that if I wasn’t going back to school, she would have liked to hire me.

I would like to dedicate some time to leadership roles here at the college. It’s really important to me to develop these skills to use in my life and my career. An example of my taking the lead was when I worked at the church coffee stand. I volunteered to help on a regular shift before and after Sunday services. I helped set up all the equipment and prepare the coffee pots and espresso machine, and I cleaned up in the afternoon. After a couple months, the team lead asked me to help with the daily accounting books and fill in as team lead as needed. It was exciting to be given more responsibility and to explore the different areas of the organization.

I would like to volunteer or work in different areas of the college, possibly in peer advising, in the career center, or in one of the computer labs. Helping other students transition into school and understand the resources available to them is important to me. Already this term some kind students and faculty have made me feel welcome and feel like I belong, and I’d like to continue to help others feel the same.

School update

So I've been in school for two weeks now. I like most of my classes. I have two that make me think, and two that are for my business degree that are kinda just keep up with the work and you'll be fine.

I really enjoy being on campus. I like going in the morning before my afternoon classes and finding a quiet corner in the library to read and study. I like being able to ride the bus and reading while on it, and getting some exercise from the walk to it.

John has been a great support. He took off from work some days last week to help me with the adjustment of starting school. He gave me a ride a couple of times this week too. He's been very sweet, like he usually is!

Which should I choose?

The electric company has a list of trees it recommends for planting near power lines. I have a good incentive to pick one from their list because if I buy one from a certain local nursery, we get a discount. So, here's the list.

Beech, weeping purple
Cherry, flowering
Columnar Spruce
Dogwood
Dwarf Plum
Galaxy Magnolia
Globe Maple
Goldenchain Tree
Halesia
Hinoki Cypress
Japanese Maple
Japanese Snowball
Lilac
Photinia
Redbud
Rhododendron
Royal Galaxy Magnolia
Smoke Tree, purple
Snowball Bush
Stewartia
Weeping Hornbeam
Weeping Spruce

A few are out of the running right off the bat. We already have too many rhododendrons. We also have a couple lilacs; they're nice but I'd like a real tree, and lilacs just seem like a bush to me. We already have two cherry trees. And the plum is out for sure. Too messy!

I think my favorite without researching them is the dogwood. I've always loved them, and by the looks of the trees around the neighborhood, they do really well here. But I still want to explore our other options.

Plum tree

We had our plum tree cut down this week. It was growing into the power lines and was a very messy tree, so we asked the electric company to take it down.

Here are before and after pictures.





Obviously, it's very sunny in our backyard now. My job now is to pick a tree or trees to replace it so we can have some shade again.

Update

Okay, so since both my Mom and John's Mom have posted blogs after being away for so long, I'll post too.

I've been enjoying my crosswords lately. I copy the puzzle page out of the newspaper at work and work on it during my breaks and lunch. There's a Sudoku puzzle, Jumble, Crytoquote, and the Crossword. I used to just do the Sudoku, but it started to not last all day. Now it takes me most of the day and some of the evening to finish the page. I used to be so intimated by crosswords. Most of the time I complete about 80% of the puzzle on my own. It feels really good.

Fresh veggies

We've really been enjoying our fresh vegetables out of our garden. I like the Blue Lake Pole beans the best; they have the best flavor!

Yum - green stuff

We're finally getting produce from our garden! We've had lettuce, spinach, green and purple beans, zucchini and two cherry tomatoes. Everything's so tasty!

Look at all these future zucchini!

New kitchen light

This was our project for the weekend. And I have to say it was the speediest project ever! Our old light was cracked. Our new one is not only whole and pretty and clean, it's a lot brighter. And I mean a lot. It's like having the sun in our kitchen!

Aren't they cute?

These are my Mom's two cats. They goofy guy on top is Google. The sleek huntress on the bottom is Yahoo. She named the cats to get Dad to let her have them. She knew he would like the techie names.

It's going to take over the whole garden

At least it looks that way. I can hardly believe the zucchini is this big!

Before and after

These first two pictures are of some flower seeds I planted a little late. Most of them were so tiny they kinda got dumped in one spot.




Here's our growing vegetable garden. The corn, pole beans, tomatoes, and zucchini have just taken off like I can't believe!

New fish

We got some new gold fish and two koi. Sadly, the orange and white koi didn't make it.

Cherries

We got a LOT of cherries of our trees this year. This picking here in these pictures was about 40 lbs. We figured we got about 100 lbs of cherries total. There are still cherries on the tree, but we left them on too long. Next year we'll know to pick them all before the end of June.

I don't know what to post

Does anyone else have these days? I feel bad for not posting and letting everyone (mainly my Mom) know what's happening in my life. I try to think of what I could write about, but nothing seems important enough to put on the web. Then I feel like nothing happens that's important. Then I think about writing something like "nothing's happening, but here I am anyways." That might be alright, but then I've read so many blogs that post empty stuff like that and I wonder why they put such meaningless thoughts on their blogs. Then I wonder why we post anything at all because it's all meaningless. So I end up not writing anything because nothing's happening and it's a bunch of bull anyways.

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Please don't get me wrong. I enjoy my life, and I enjoy reading blogs. I just felt like I needed to go off for a little bit, then I'll get back in the swing of things.
Stay tuned for pictures of our garden! Hee hee.

College student!

I registered for classes today! Yeah! I'm going to take a few basic business classes and a couple classes needed for general education requirements. It's so cool that I get to start as a senior because I got to register early according to the priority schedule. However, I found out when I talked to my advisor that I have more classes to take to graduate than I thought. It could take up to two years.

One of the things I'm struggling with is what to take for this one requirement. I have to take 24 credits from an inter-related set of courses. I thought I could put my economics credits towards it and basically be done plus qualify for a econ minor. But the minor needs me to take several classes at this college.

If I went off what I enjoy and not just getting done the fastest, I could go towards math, geology, computers something, physics or chemistry, or architecture. I'm still trying to figure this out. I could change my mind about what classes to take this fall. I just need to hurry up so I register early and get the classes I want.

Walked 3.07 miles

John walked with me almost an hour this morning. We weren't expecting to be gone that long, but I remembered wrong the location of the park of which we were heading. Oh well. It was a very nice morning to walk, and we got good exercise.

Starting the garden

We started the garden a few weeks ago. I have green onions, pole beans, basil, parsley, cilantro, and sunflowers planted. I still need to plant corn, white onions, spinach, more beans (purple ones), tomatoes and peppers. I also have some flower seeds to plant.

Cute birds!

Here are some birds that have visited us. They can empty the bird feeder in less than one weekend.

Walked 1.89 miles

We walked a little later tonight. Lots of bugs out.

Walked 2.28 miles

We walked through a new neighborhood. It was a very nice evening for a walk. And John was such a good husband for dragging me out there when I didn't want to go. Yeah!

Birthday party

Here's our family celebrating my birthday. We had an easy dinner of shrimp and pasta. My Mom made a wonderful lemon cake for me.

Haircut

It's kind of hard to see in these pictures, but I got a haircut. The stylist said she cut off about five inches in the back. I love it! And the good news is I can still get most of it in a ponytail. Very cool.

Fresh new pansies

We added pansies to our front yard. They're doing quite well.

Walked 1.65 miles

I walked with my husband in the rain. Very romantic! I enjoy looking at other people's yards and gardens. I'm actually starting to recognize some plants and trees. Today I noticed lots of dogwood trees and flowering azaleas.

Garden progress

I'm in the process of planting my vegetable garden. I was sick last weekend so I couldn't work outside, so I'm hoping to make some headway today and tomorrow. I will post pictures as soon as I have them.

Walk 1/12/07

Walked almost 3 and a half miles in a little over an hour. My pace was slower because I was walking carefully over icy patches in some spots. However it was a nice walk because the sun was out, and I went through a beautiful neighborhood that had extraordinary ponds and fountains everywhere!

Walk 1/6/07

Walked 1.25 miles with John to the store and back. It was a beautiful day!

Star Wars in the Rose Parade

John's going to love this video I found. The parade had two Star Wars floats, storm troopers, Obi Wan, Anikan, Darth Vader, and Ewoks!

Enjoy.

Walk 1/3/07

Walked almost 1 3/4 miles with John, 30 minutes. It was lightly raining so we didn't see many other people out and about.

Laundry tubs

I finally found some tubs to put laundry detergent in. I'm getting more organized every day!

Walked on Christmas Eve Eve

Walked almost 2 miles, 40 minutes. Nice leisurely stroll.

Here are some recent pictures of what's happening around here.

Mom came and helped make some curtains for our family room. Here we are finished cutting out the panels for the two dining room windows. Mom got one of her panels almost done.



Here's our setup in the living room. It's nice to have a room that doesn't have any furniture in it yet so it can be used in a project like this.



We got a new set of french doors! They are so cool because they have mini blinds inside the window pane. Now we can control the light coming in those doors.





This is the rhodedendron that fell over in the last wind storm. It's evident from looking at the trunk that it was pretty much dead. I told John, "oh darn, it fell over." I never liked it because it looked so scraggily. We were only keeping it because it blocked the view to the neighbors. Now we'll put something else in there.

Thursday 12/21

Walked almost 2 miles
30 minutes

It was nice and sunny this morning. I remembered to take my sunglasses!

I took it a little easier today because I've been sore since Monday. Last night I was very sore. This morning when I got up it was a little better.

Wednesday, 12/20

Walked 3 miles
50 minutes

Tuesday 12/19

Walked 4.5 miles.
One hour, 15 minutes.

I found a bridge to cross the river so it makes a loop to walk. Very fun.

New habit

Again, I'm starting an exercise habit. I'm going to walk or exercise every day. Yesterday I walked 3 miles down the river. This is day 2.

My goals are to walk or exercise from between 30 to 60 minutes. After exercising, I want to come home and stretch for 5 to 10 minutes.

I'm still trying to figure out how to fit in breakfast. Yesterday I ate a bowl of cereal then waited about an hour. Today I'm trying just one piece of toast with peanut butter and jam, and cup of hot tea, and I'm waiting just 20 minutes.

When I reach the goal of exercising every day (90% at least) for 21 days, then I will go buy nice comfy headphones for music. I'm listeneing to mp3's on my phone for now. Maybe when (not if) I keep this up for 3 months, then I could get a small mp3 player. At some point I would like to have dedicated exercise clothes, and maybe 2 or 3 sets.

Another goal is to keep a regular sleeping schedule. I would like to be in bed by 10 or 10:15, and get up at 7:00, maybe 6:00 eventually.

I'm starting this habit before the new year so I have a head start on the resolutions. It's not a New Year's resolution, it's just a plain old decision to do something better with my life.

Another Macy picture

Macy doesn't let curtains stand in her way to a good viewing window.

First snow

We got a little bit of snow this week. It didn't stay around very long which was fine for me.

Family picture

I am so thankful to be close to both of our families, both in miles and in relationships. When we get together, it's always a time we look forward to. And it doesn't matter what we do, just as long as we're together.

Here's my husband's family with both of our nephews.

Buns of Fire

A funny Thanksgiving story... We took rolls and buns for Thanksgiving dinner at my uncle and aunt's house. I usually put the rolls in a paper grocery bag, sprinkle it with water, roll down the top of the bag, and stick it in the oven.

There were two casseroles in the oven already heating up. I put the bag on the top shelf and it just fit. After a few minutes I thought I smelled something so I opened up the oven. Everything looked fine. This happened a couple more times. The next time I checked on it, I opened the doors (the oven's in the wall and has two side-by-side doors), and saw the corner of the bag in embers and smoking. I pulled out the rack, and, poof, it burst into six to eight inches of flame. I yelled "help, help, help!", each time a little louder, and the kitchen got very quiet as everyone noticed the fire. My uncle stepped in and put a kitchen towel over the bag. He waited a few seconds and lifted the towel to see the situation, and the bag started more flames. So he stuck it in the sink to soak it with water. My dad got a good picture of the bag on fire.



Because the bag was rolled down and the fire was in the middle of the rolled down part, every time my uncle thought it was out and unrolled the bag, it would start again. He finally soaked the whole bag. Then we took it outside because it was making a lot of smoke and their kitchen doesn't have a fan. The fire was out, and my husband and I were able to rescue most of the rolls from the bag. We put the burnt bag in a small metal BBQ with a lid they have for such situations.

I learned a couple of things from the ordeal. One, soak the outside of the paper bag, then put the rolls inside. This worked great for the second bag of rolls we had - no smoke or fire for that bag. Two, stay calm during a fire and use lots of water. It was my first kitchen fire and a good learning experience.