merry christmas, and #4!

i hope everyone is having a fabulous christmas eve.  we are spending it packing up odds and ends in preparation to move on sunday, and watching chad play call of duty (gag).  

chad is going to his parents' house for a little while tomorrow, and i refuse to, so i am going to houston to spend some time with my best friends before we move.  i am going to stay with catherine and her family, and hopefully see some people on my way out of town.  i am so excited to see her, its been so long!  if she wasn't always studying abroad, jeez... :)

on to #4...buy a new car!  

i finally got everything settled on my car this morning, and picked it up around noon.  i loooove it.  it is a 2009 AWD nissan rogue, with the premium package (intellikey, bose stereo w/subwoofer, 6 cd changer, bluetooth, steering wheel controls for stereo, bluetooth, etc, paddle shifters, homelink, navi, etc.) and the leather package (leather seats, steering wheel, shifter, and heated front seats - luxurious when it is cold.).  i have been playing with the bluetooth feature all day - it is a lot like the "sync" feature ford advertises - where you just push the button and say "call bob" or whoever and ta-da, it calls.  so fun.  also, the intellikey thing is probably the best invention ever.  it keeps your car key in this neat little pod, and you don't even have to put the key in the ignition or unlock the door as long as the pod is in your pocket/purse/wherever.  it just KNOWS you.  very cool when you are in a parking lot by yourself and just want to run and get in your car without messing around with finding keys.  also, i completely owned the salesman/management - they ended up giving me more than market value for my car (totally not worth it) and i paid less for the car than they did.  chad was like, "holy crap, you are cut throat...calm down!"  i don't mess around.

anyway, the point of all that rambling mess is that i LOVE my car and i am so glad to be rid of my POS.  wooooo.

hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

graduation!

i'm officially done! diploma in hand. here are some pictures from chad's and my graduation.

#10!

10.  finish my bachelor of science.

My last professor FINALLY posted our grades from our final, which was approximately eleventy-two days ago.  I am good to go!  I wasn't really worried about my grade, but you never wanna jinx yourself...haha.  I ended up with 3 A's, and my calculus II grade, which although I was impressed with considering my complete lack of advanced math skills, am not particularly proud of.  I am, however, particularly proud of the A I received in hydrogeology - not an easy class.  I graduate on Saturday, and Chad will get to make fun of my honor cords - which are admittedly dorky.

My parents, Chad, and my good friends Mikey O. and James will be there.  Exxxxciting!  I feel so grown up.  I will post pictures after!  

(I still await 2/3 finance offers for my car...come on people, i'm impatient, and have a need to shop around.)

EEEEEEEEEK!!

after re-test driving a cr-v and a rogue, we are 100% in love with the rogue.  the dealership here has made me an amazing offer on a completely pimped out rogue for MUCH MUCH less that the MSRP.  

so now i wait for my financing.  come to me, beautiful car of my dreams.  haha.

honeymoon changes?

so originally, we were pretty set on disneyworld as our honeymoon.  maybe that sounds kid-like, but we both love disneyworld, and you get special newlywed treatment there, so it seemed like a lot of fun.  

then, i suggested a cruise.  but we couldn't really find some place to go on a cruise to that we were really interested in.  lots of places in the caribbean are gorgeous, but we don't really want to sit around on a beach for a week, so that seemed pointless.  we aren't interested in mexico. european cruises are an option, but we want to wait until we have a bigger budget to plan a trip to europe, so that seemed silly, too.

i have always been really interested in going to hawaii, but we pretty much assumed it would be outrageously priced.  i was randomly clicking around on theknot last night, and i was just messing around on the honeymoon channel reading articles.  i was browsing an article about hawaii, and it was ridiculously beautiful.  i was craving it already.  

so, i started doing some google research, with help from tripadvisor.com.  hawaii is really surprisingly affordable.  i mean, obviously, you can rack up a $6000 week if you stay at the $800/night resorts pretty easily, but there are lots of options that make it a fraction of that cost.  i am more than a little psyched about this.  there are so many cool things to do and see there.

1.  volcanoes national park/volcanoes in general - hello?  my major is rocks.  yes, please.

2.  gorgeous, amazing beaches - can't go wrong here.

3.  dole pineapple farms and tours - NOM NOM

4.  coffee plantations and tours - ditto

5.  pearl harbor - dying to see this.

6.  swimming with dolphins - lifelong dream

7.  scuba diving - looks amazing

8.  rainforests & waterfalls

9.  helicopter tours - terrifying but awesome.

i could go on and on, i think.  i am practically drooling at the thought of this.

done!

so today i took my last undergrad final.  exciting!  chad graduates tomorrow, and i graduate the 20th.  and then a new chapter of our lives begins :)

and we've just returned home from a celebratory happy hour.  i hope everyone has a fabulous weekend.

tagged!

i've been tagged by christy...exciting!

here are the rules:  copy and paste the rule instructions in your post.  when posting on receiving the award, make sure you include who gave you the award and link it back to them.  post five winners and link it back to them as well.  post 5 of your addictions.  add the award image.  let the winners know you gave them an award by leaving them a comment on their blog.

so here are my 5 addictions:

1.  photography.  i love taking pictures, of anything and everything.  i'm no pro, but i get some nice artsy shots sometimes :)

2.  stars.  i have a thing for stars.  anything with stars - clothing, jewelry, home goods, etc.  my most recent star addition is this necklace from james avery chad got me.  it looks a little funky here...it is more of a continuous scrolling loop that makes a star, which is sort of hard to see in 2D.


3.  starbucks.  that is probably a really lame addiction, but i love me some starbucks.  plain coffee, seasonal lattes, passion iced tea, who cares?  its all amazing.  

4.  guitar hero.  i could never get into this game.  then, we bought the new world tour edition last month, just for fun on a whim.  i am completely hooked now!  for some reason, i am basically a natural at it, and i can play for hours.  i'm a nerd :/ haha.  if you watch south park, you will appreciate this:

5.  shopping.  online or otherwise.  i don't even have to buy anything, i just love to peruse.  and i am the biggest comparison shopper ever...i get it from my dad.  i have to evaluate a product from every possible store and price to make sure i am getting the best product at the best deal.  and it pays off...for instance, i got chad's tomtom GPS christmas present for 70 bucks, plus a free leather case.  hellz yes.  also, if you are not aware, i highly recommend retailmenot.com for when you are online shopping.  i almost always get free shipping, a percentage off, or both when i buy things online using the codes here.  awesome.

so, i tag (avoiding people that have already been tagged to my knowledge): mikey o, monie, babs, and laurel.  only 4 since everyone else has already been tagged :)

you have a friend request...

um, apparently, me and jim are like this *crosses fingers*...

i am obviously the coolest person alive.  haha :)

#91. and life.

so let's see.  

#91.  no fast food for a month...and try to keep it going.

this goal was actually ridiculously easy.  i don't eat that much fast food anyway, and usually only if i am in a HUGE hurry.  so i just didn't.  it was tempting sometimes, especially because it is chad's best friend when he gets off work late at night.  but i have become victorious.  so now, i just try to keep it going through finals, which could prove tough...but i have faith!

on to life.

i successfully defended my thesis!  woo.  (i meant to blog about this after it happened on december 2, but i was completely swamped last week.  yikes.)  anywho, it went very well.  the dean asked to keep my research - and wants me to present it at a conference in february - and my advisor was happy.  so yay!  now i just wait for my hardback copy of my published research.

saturday, we went to austin to see jim gaffigan record his new comedy central special.  look for us on tv!  we were pretty close to the front row.  the show was awesome, we never stopped laughing.  if you haven't heard his stand up, i highly recommend checking it out, there is a lot of it on youtube.  we went down to austin earlier in the day, sold some furniture to a knottie, ate dinner at p.f. chang's (one of my favorites), and headed over to the show.  good times.

finals are this week.  i can actually breathe a sigh of relief after my calculus II test on friday, which went infinitely better than i expected (thank you, big man in the sky - i almost fainted when i turned the paper over).  i actually only have 2 finals, calculus and greek.  i had my self defense class final yesterday, but it doesn't really count as a final.  most of my time will be going towards calculus...happy thoughts, please :)

hope everyone has a great week, especially you finals-takers!   

#37

#37. register to vote in denver

i went home over thanksgiving, and while i was there, i re-transferred my driver's license back up there. and while i was at it, i registered to vote up there. hooray! another check.

and now i'm back in waco...sigh. :(

my new mantra

i will buy a new car before december 31. i will buy a new car before december 31. I WILL BUY A NEW FREAKING CAR BEFORE DECEMBER 31, DAMMIT.

seriously. i have my eye on you, nissan rogue, with your 30 MPG, magic key, CVT transmission, sunroof, and paddle shifters. you will be my magical AWD, snow-plowing, functioning car. and you will be beautiful.

yes, please.

checks

i can officially cross 2 more off the list!

49. get research published - i submitted my final thesis draft to my adviser tonight. i defend it on december 2. EEEEK.

87. encourage someone else to do a 101 in 1001 - my good friend mike decided to join in on the fun. not sure how long it will be til he has the whole thing up and running, but he is a part of HISTORY!! haha.

woooo!

i have officially been accepted to graduate school. (deep breath). i feel old. as long as i don't accept an offer from the other school i applied to (their deadline is dec. 1), i will officially be a colorado state ram (cue SNL "you win again, ram!"). good thing the colors are the same as baylor, or i would be in a corner somewhere rocking back and forth. i am not friends with change. haha.

and not just accepted, but also offered a TA position for a lab or professor assistant for $1400/month, and full tuition! i am sooo happy.

icing on the cake: the professor i have been working with has research projects in alaska. free trips to alaska please! i would like to see russia from my tent.

this of course also means that i am well on my way to a few of my goals, namely:
4. get a new car - obviously, no one was going to sell me a car when i had no job secured. check!
10. finish my bachelor of science - merely a month and 2 calculus II exams away.
11. earn my master's - being accepted into a master's program has significantly increased the probability of this happening.

and most of my other goals that involve buying things, because you need money to make purchases.

why contacts, WHY?

so if you don't know me that well, you probably are not aware that i am ridiculously blind and have special contacts i wear at night.  they are hard and reshape my cornea while i sleep, and then i take them out in the morning with a tiny plunger, and magical 20/20 vision is bestowed upon me.  they are generally a pain in the butt and i hate them.

(you should never have to do this to your own eyeball.)

anyway, they also require the use of this ridiculously expensive contact solution that is more of a goopy gel.  well, on tuesday i went to walmart in need of more solution and noticed that their crap-tastic equate brand made an RGP lens solution.  "hmm, this is about half the price of my regular goo, and  i am pretty cheap," i thought to myself.  so i bought it.  WORST DECISION EVER.  

i should have known equate could not be trusted with my ocular needs.  the first sign of impending doom was when i opened the solution last night to use it.  it was not at all the gooey consistency i have become accustomed to over the past 10 years of use.  oh well, what could that matter?  so i suck it up and put the horrible things in my eyes.  the beginning of the end.

i go jump under the covers because, as a side note, it is FREEZING.  i close my eyes, and about 20 minutes later, an odd burning sensation starts in my eyes.  well, my contacts cause discomfort a lot, so i thought maybe this was one of those times.  after about 30 minutes of searing pain, i get a little angry and go pop the contacts out (see figure 1 up there).  surely removing the foul plastic + cheapo solution will ease my pain right?  RIGHT?

my eyes are still burning.  the weird thing is, if they are open it is fine, but if i blink or close them, dear lord.  it is similar to the feeling in your eyes when you chop onions, or get too close to ammonia, or wash your face with gasoline.  i will never, ever, ever cheap out on contact solution again.

um, i am in love.

okay people, this has nothing to do with my 101 goals. but i have a new love. and it is morningstar farms veggie/soy foods.

(heaven in a box.)

i know some people get skeeved out by these kinds of things, and i will admit i am one of them. i stood in the frozen food aisle staring at these for at least 5 minutes before i put them in my cart. and then i put them back on the shelf. then came back later and picked them back up again. phew.

then i baked them for lunch today. and stared at the finished product on the cookie sheet, waiting for it to breathe or something. then, i cut one open and took a whiff...smelled like chicken! hmm. finally, i just closed my eyes and took a bite. AMAZING. these are so good. i could not tell there was no meat, and to me they tasted like wendy's chicken nuggets...my fav of all the processed chicken options.

i have read/heard that the morningstar crumbles (aka fake ground beef) are supposed to be great in chili, spaghetti, etc. now, to figure out how to sneak them past chad...

#53

i can already cross something off the list: #53. make a list of 100 things i love about chad and give it to him.

this was my anniversary present to him. i bought a neat acrylic cover at a scrapbook store, and decorated it with "us" things. i printed out 50 pictures (free from shutterfly!) and made 50 pages for the book. one picture per page, two things i love per page, and ta-da! he really loved it, which was awesome because i didn't know if he would think it was too lovey. but he really enjoyed it, and now it is sitting on the dresser, looking fabulous.

i love being crafty.

it begins...

well, i finally decided to jump on the bandwagon and start a 101 goals blog. i am excited to see how much i can accomplish! i officially start tomorrow.

d-day: wednesday, august 10, 2011.