Fat Tuesday

My parents came to visit for the weekend and we all had a lot of fun. Friday my dad made a big yummy dinner (almost too big for my little apartment!) of pork loin, mashed potatoes, and corn. We watched some of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, and I was truly fascinated by it. Saturday my parents mostly just hung out and did some shopping, and then Jake came over and we all went to have our day-early Valentine's dinner at St. Clair Winery & Bistro. I've known about it since I started school here but neither Jake nor I had tried it yet. It was a really nice place, with reasonable prices and delicious wine and food! Sunday we did a little more shopping and putzing around town. My mom and I went to see the movie Valentine's Day in the evening, which was so good! It was really funny, and I honestly don't think it was that much of a chick flick. Anyone could probably enjoy it. Valentine's Day is definitely not my favorite holiday. I'm not really anti-V-day but if the holiday was banned I wouldn't be too upset. I even have a boyfriend and I don't like it too much. However, I still wanted to give Jake something so I found some amazing-smelling men's body wash from Bath and Body Works, and added a card and Bottle Caps (his favorite candy). He gave me a card, a balloon, and a photo album. It's kind of between a regular photo album and a scrap book...hard to explain. It's really pretty and I guess I'll have to print some more pictures sometime :)

I can't believe it's already the middle of February. February is the best month for Las Cruces, in my opinion. It's not too hot and not too cold...just starting to hint at spring. October is pretty nice too, but the summers are pretty brutal and the winters can be really cold, but normally dry (although this year there were a few snowfalls...quite an excitement for this desert city!).I'm dreading March because that's when the nasty winds pick up, then April brings allergies and the temperatures rise.
Whoa, just saw the time and realized I have to leave for class soon, so I'm cutting out!

Baby steps

I have completed my online graduate school application for NMSU. I paid the $30 application fee. I am in the process of applying for graduate assistantship. I sent one recommendation form over email to a family friend. Another, intended for my supervisor at the YMCA, will hopefully be sent via fax tomorrow. The third will be given to my independent study professor within the next three days. I have decided which research paper to use as my sample of scholarly writing. I intend to begin my letter of intent within the next three days. I have filled out my application for financial assistance for the assistantship. Tomorrow I will have my transcript sent to the correct department.

But the question still remains......

What do I want to do after I graduate in May?

Baby steps. I'm not going to get anywhere or open doors of opportunity for myself if I sit around waiting for the answer to come to me. Hence the application for the graduate program at NMSU. It's the easiest academic option so far and figure if I just apply, no harm can be done. Just because I apply and, granted, get accepted, there's no need to commit just yet.

We'll see when we get there.

I think I need a life

Or at least a new hobby. I have three sets of measuring spoons, and last week I noticed the tablespoon of one of the sets was missing, and just could not find it in any of the drawers or cabinets. This morning I started wondering again where it might be and suddenly remembered that last semester I had a bag of off-brand coffee that wasn't very good and over Christmas I acquired some much better coffee, so when I returned to my apartment after break I stuck the not-as-good coffee in the cabinet. I realized that I may have left the tablespoon in the bag, so when I pulled out the bag and opened it up and saw the beautiful glimmer of clear plastic resting inside, I actually said out loud, "Yaaaaaaaay!" For the next few minutes I was giddy because I found a tablespoon.
I need something that I'm excited about, something normal?