I Can Hear the Bells...

So, as some of you may already know, Jason and I got engaged!

How he did it: On Christmas Eve, Jason went to my parents' house and did the traditional asking for my hand thing and bought the ring. He thought about proposing while we were in New York on the 28th, but once he had started the wheels in motion, he couldn't wait. He even had trouble sleeping, which if you know Jason, is quite a statement! On Christmas morning, he came to our house for brunch, and when I opened the door, he put a little towel down on the porch, got down on one knee (at this point I asked "What are you doing?", possibly assuming that Jason was doing his best Jim Halpert impression), and after he got the box out of his pocket, he asked: "Pickle (my nickname), will you spend the rest of your life with me?" and I said "Yes".

So, that's the story. I'm already feeling the pressure of planning and such, which is odd since the wedding is about 17 / 18 months away. I know it's going to be really stressful, but fortunately, I want to save money (so any advice / help is appreciated) and I don't want a grossly-expensive wedding. I just want to be married...and that calms me down every time. :)

Well, that's all.

I'm .... strike that .... we're peachy!

Extreme Home Cry-fest

I know I'm going to get made fun of for this, but...

I was watching "Extreme Home Makeover" today during lunch (I was watching "I Love Lucy", but it ended) and they were helping a family with a son with cerebral palsy. Nothing out of the ordinary for this program.

I cried at least 4 times.

Not just misty eyes either, but almost sobbing about how beautiful it is to see people helping people (even if it might be a contrived reality show...). The cast of the show seems to really care about these people and the lives they live.

We were talking about being considerate the other day in my 21st Century Civilization Class. They were all complaining that no one ever holds doors or says "Thank You" any more. Now, perhaps La Salle is a bubble, but I don't recall people being too inconsiderate. Sure, the Masque kids laughed at people trying in vain to push the door to Backstage. Yeah, my dorm neighbors played their music loudly and drunkenly screamed at all hours. However, as we got older, that happened less. If you had an issue, especially with noise, you could usually go next door and ask politely for the music to go down. Here in my apartment now, the neighbors downstairs wake me up all the time because they choose to screech at their children at all hours of the morning. I can't go down there and ask them to quiet down...I've seen them in action outside and I'm almost afraid of them. The people who used to live upstairs from me had sex constantly...very loud sex. They moved. Maybe the people downstairs will move too.

People at Penn State think I'm some sort of weird communist because I think that people should have a chance to get a good education and enjoy learning and be part of their community. They think it's odd that I feel that people should take part in their community and represent the things they belong to when they go out into the world. Be good to others. I think that is strange.

I saw a sign the other day that said "Just Be Nice". That is my new phrase to live by.

I'm peachy.

I'm older.

Today is my birthday. Here are some facts about it: (thank you wikipedia)

1531 – The Apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe: According to traditional Catholic accounts, the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary miraculously appeared imprinted on the cloth of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin's tilma during his last vision of her on the Hill of Tepeyac outside of modern-day Mexico City.

1897 – Belo Horizonte, the first planned city of Brazil, was inaugurated as Cidade de Minas.

1915 – President Yuan Shikai (pictured) of the Republic of China reinstated the monarchy and declared himself Emperor.

1985 - Arrow Air Flight 1285, a Douglas DC-8, crashes after takeoff in Gander, Newfoundland, killing 256, 248 of whom were U.S. servicemen returning to Fort Campbell, Kentucky from overseeing a peacekeeping force in Sinai.

1988 – In one of the worst railway accidents in the United Kingdom in recent times, a total of 35 people died and 500 others were injured during two collisions between three commuter trains near the Clapham Junction railway station in London.

2000 – The U.S. Supreme Court delivered its 5–4 decision in Bush v. Gore, ordering the election recount of the ballots cast in Florida for the 2000 presidential election to stop, which effectively ended the election in favor of George W. Bush.

I also share a birthday with the following people:

Bob Barker
Frank Sinatra
Sinead O'Conner
Jennifer Connelly
John Jay
William Lloyd Garrison
Edvard Munch
Laura Hope Crews (huge nerd points if you get that one)
Jesse Owens
Ed Koch
Dionne Warwick

Deaths that occurred:
1939: Douglas Fairbanks
2006: Peter Boyle

Additionally, for all the Catholics out there, I do not share my birthday with a saint. This is Our Lady of Guadalupe Day (see above). When I picked a confirmation name, this did not help. (I chose Elizabeth, for Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton)

Well, enjoy the day. I know I will. 23 is going to be huge.

The big 2-3.

I'm not entirely sure why, but I'm really excited to turn 23.

Maybe it's because its an odd number. I've always enjoyed odd numbers, for some unknown reason. Perhaps because its an age most people are not at in college, so it's a real separation between college and grad school...although I doubt that. Otherwise, I have no idea. Even so, I'm excited.

3 days!

- I'm peachy.

f-you, windows 2007.

just to explain my title, i wrote the second half of a paper at school today and when i went to print it, it said i couldn't. oh well, i thought, i'll just email to myself, then print it over in the humanities office. I had about three hours before class. Then i couldn't find it...long story short, it was completely gone. apparently, if one sends oneself a file from a computer that uses word 1997-2003, and the computer you are using is a word 2007, you have to re-save it as a different file. it will not prompt you do to this, due to a macro setting of some sort. and penn state, in their infinite wisdom, resets the computers and the settings are all screwed up. they even turned off the 'autosave' feature...lame.

anyway. i didn't exercise today because my body put me back to sleep. it was a weird day anyway, so no worries. tomorrow though, it's gotta happen. well...vent over.

i'm peachy.

hooray endorphins!

so, jason and i have made a pact of sorts to exercise more. he runs, which is something he's been doing for years, but fell out of practice with in the last few weeks. i dance, but as anyone knows, it's not easy to dance your hardest in your bedroom. i'm returning to dance over the winter break, but i'm so out of shape that i need to get ready to go back to dance now. i woke up at 10 this morning and went right out to the living room and found the program and started. normally i'll look at my email and putz until i realize that if i don't start now, it's not happening. it was a 10 minute pilates program and after about 7 minutes (there's a counter in the corner...it gives you hope as you die inside), i thought i was going to puke. if you ever do ab workouts, you know that feeling. after i was done with that, i found a leg work out and did that. i'm still running off the endorphins.

i went to target to fill prescriptions and found that many generics are only $4. I ended up saving $10 on my meds, which was nice because I wasn't looking to spend $75 on stuff. I got a peppermint hot chocolate from starbucks to reward myself for getting stuff done. i got lunch and went to work and got even more stuff done, running off of the endorphins and the joy of minty goodness.

i have never had exercise give me such a rush. i can't wait for tomorrow morning!

i'm peachy!

and hyper!

People Extra

I have decided to pen a list of things I'm thankful for:

1. Jason. duh. for everything.
2. IHOR and it's various members. You made my senior year the best. :)
3. Family. again, duh. for everything they do.
4. My scholarship to Penn State, even if it's making my life lame for a year.
5. Health Care!
6. Quesadillas. They are delicious.
7. Good food in general, which I've been lucky enough to enjoy this past year.
8. Target.
9. La Salle for giving me a degree and stuff.
10. The Masque (this is for the past year, so it's still applicable).
11. The Geek Squad.
12. Brant, Coralee, Fred, and Danielle: for making PSU less sucky.
13. Amtrak: for getting me to my friends and my boyfriend.
14. Jason's parents, because they let me come on vacation and take good care of me.
15. Philly Steak and Hoagie on the Pike. You feed my need for a heart-attack and my second home.
16. Philadelphia, because it's awesome.
17. President-elect Barack Obama (I finally got my t-shirt!)
18. The ability to write this list and have so much to be thankful for!

I'm peachy.

Thanks Timeshares Only!

So, I survived my first Thanksgiving with Jason's family. All in all, a sweet weekend. Jason and I had our own hotel room with a California King-sized bed, which some couples would have taken one specific advantage of, but we instead just enjoyed making sheet angels and not kicking each other all night. We played copious amounts of Wii Bowling (by the by: my Wii age is 68). I got some writing and reading done, so the long weekend wasn't a waste. I actually took the last week off from work, because I had racked up a lot of extra hours so that I could take this time off and work less during these final weeks of school.

Speaking of school, I'm burnt out. I'm not going to get my doctorate anytime soon. My advisor says that I'm more than capable of gaining such a degree, but unless I want to go into teaching or academia (which I no longer wish to do), a Masters opens doors, while a Ph.D. limits the doors that I'm not over qualified to enter. Additionally, I'm ready to really do something that matters, which most of the things I'm doing right now do not. So that's that.

I got a large majority of my holiday shopping done today. Thank you Target. You suck, Hallmark. I bought a nice ornament for Doug 2 years ago, and I thought I would buy a similar one for Megan and Maeve this year. Its the "son/daughter" ornament, and the first one was really tasteful and pretty. This year and the last, however, have been hideous gingerbread or candy people...very juvenile. Sorry girls...hopefully Hallmark will get its act together soon and I can fulfill my ornament quota. On the other hand, I love finding that perfect gift and waiting to give it to that person.

Sigh...I'm discontented with school. It's sort of overwhelming. Not much else to report. I just figured I should update, since everyone else did.

I'm peachy.