She liiiiivvvees!

After a month and a half or so of not posting anything of new interest, I have quite a lot to catch you all up with. In July, my parents took Jake and I on a two-week trip to Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and Estes Park/Rocky Mountains. It was such an amazing trip, I absolutely fell in love with Yellowstone. During the trip we saw two black bears, two grizzly bears, a TON of buffalo, elk, deer, pronghorns, bighorn sheep, and two moose. We got lots of fishing in, and one day in Yellowstone my dad and Jake and I hiked to Bunsen Peak. It was a challenge, and I felt so good afterward for the accomplishment. I think everyone should visit Yellowstone at least once in their life :)

The day we got home from the trip, Shanda and Brian came by, and once we were unpacked and visiting in the living room, Shanda pulled out her phone and said she wanted to take a picture of the three of us (my parents and I). So we put on our smiles and she said "Ok now on the count of three, say 'Shanda and Brian are having a baby'". !!!!!!!! Our mouths dropped open and my dad just collapsed backward on the couch. She was actually recording us and the video is hilarious. So yeah, I'm going to be an aunt!! The baby's due March 18, about two months before our wedding. I'm super duper excited about that!

July also marked the end of YMCA summer camp, and I decided to work an extra week at what is called iCare Camp, and environmentally-geared day camp for kids before school started for them. We did some hiking, went to a wildlife park, and helped a teenage group at the Y with maintaining some trails in Los Alamos. It was fun, and I worked 40 hours that week in 4 days...10 hour days with no break. The time went fast, but boy was I tired at the end of each day. My last day at this camp also marked the end of my time with the YMCA. Perhaps I will work a week or two here and there when I'm home for Christmas break and such, but after we're married, Jake and I will live in Las Cruces at least until I'm done with school and I will hopefully find a job that is more related to my field of study. I'm okay with this; while I enjoyed my time with the YMCA (I've been there since my senior year of high school), I'm ready to move on to something else. I'm also SO over riding on buses for hours with noisy 6-year-olds while suffering a headache.

Now to catch you up on wedding details. Jake and I have officially set the date for May 28, 2011. We finally found a reception place that is friendly toward our budget (you know-the budget of two recent graduates and one grad student whose salary mostly goes toward tuition). It's at the Delancey Street Foundation sites in Espanola, and the property where we would have it is just beautiful. We will be having a wedding mass at the IHM church in Los Alamos. Even more exciting, I BOUGHT MY DRESS!!!! I have been looking for "the one" since May. I found one here in Las Cruces at a boutique that I really loved at the time, but there were some things about it that I was a bit wishy-washy with. Then recently I went to a David's Bridal in Santa Fe, and after many dresses, found one that was very similar style to the one in Cruces, only much cheaper. But as with the first one, I would love it one minute, then the next I would be uncertain about it. So when I moved back to Cruces last week, my mom and I went to the boutique here so I could try on the first one again along with another that I had tried on in May, and the consultant pulled out another dress that was similar style to both of them, so I thought "sure, why not." The dress she suggested was the first I tried on that day, and it was love at first sight. I walked out of the dressing room, and as soon as I saw myself in the mirror (even though the dress was many sizes too big), a smile instantaneously plastered itself on my face and didn't leave for a long time. My mom could tell that I was in love with it as well, and she loved it too. So I called up my dad, gave him the "I love you daddy, and I love this dress" persuasion mechanism (because my parents told me they'd buy my dress), and he said, "Ok. Have mom use the Southwest card." I am so so so happy about it, and cannot wait until it comes in. It was reasonably priced compared to the designer gowns you might see on "Say yes to the dress", and within our budget :)

Ok, last spiel. I started grad school last week. It began with grad student orientation on Monday (all day), then the Communication Studies department Grad assistant orientation on Tuesday. I attended the lecture of COMM 265 on Friday (the class for which I am teaching supplementary lab classes) where all the TAs were introduced. Today, I had my first day as a teacher! I taught three classes back-to-back, and I think they went fairly well. I was nervous, and it will definitely be a learning process, something I won't get perfect hang of right away. But I got more relaxed with each class. Today we just did introductions/ice breakers and went over the syllabus, and Wednesday we will start activities for public speaking. Then I had my first class as a student, Seminar in Communication Theories, with Dr. Morgan. I am both excited and nervous for the semester, and as my graduate student career in general. It will require a lot of perseverance, drive, decision-making, and discipline, but I think I can :)

Peace!