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I came home after class last night.  It was late when I finally arrived, but well worth it to have an extra night to sleep in my bed!

Emma had to get her annual shots today.  Although she got two very big shots and another needle stick, she did so well!  The vet even gave her a treat!  She got the 3 year rabies shot, so she won’t need another one until 2012.  I want to keep her from being stuck any more than absolutely necessary.  She also had to get the Kennel Cough vaccine, a liquid that goes in the nose, since she goes to the groomer.  They said it was recommended for dogs that are boarded or get professionally groomed.

After Emma and I finished in Muscle Shoals (her vet moved there recently and bought out an existing practice), we went to see Grams and Grandaddy.  Grandaddy and I went to his barber and I must say he looked so handsome after the barber was through!  We went back home, some company came over, and then we just chatted for a little while.

Emma and I went home around dinner time and caught up on some TV we missed this past week.  Now, we’re going to eat some ice cream and unwind.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

New Layout

Last night, I played around with a new layout.  I couldn’t find something that was exactly what I wanted.  To be honest, I’m not sure exactly what I wanted.

Where do other people get layouts?  I got the last one from The Cutest Blog on the Block, but nothing was exactly screaming at me on that website.

I don’t know why it was so important to me.  I read all of my friend’s blogs in Google Reader, so I don’t even see what their layouts look like.  Everyone looks the same in GR.

So, for now, I’m going to stick with the black background and picture of Emma and I.  Maybe we’ll get a more recent one this weekend at home.  Or maybe not—I like this one of us—it has my favorite girl and my favorite flower in it!

I’ve also started using Windows Live Writer to write blog posts.  It came loaded on my new computer and so far I really like it!  It’s much easier to insert pictures and links and I like being able to see exactly what the post will look like when it’s on Blogger.  I guess this is why I was thinking about changing the layout—I could see it with this new program!

What’s been going on…

So much has happened since my last post.  I’ve turned 22, graduated from College, started my Master’s Degree, celebrated Emma’s adoption day plus many more things I’m leaving out.

My birthday was a pretty low-key day, but nice nonetheless.  I was served breakfast in bed…well I just happened to be on Mom and Dad’s bed when Mom brought breakfast to me.  Pretty nice room service, huh?  I don’t particularly remember what we did during the day, but we were able to go out to eat with Grams and Grandaddy for dinner.  I ate way too much and somehow our waitress overheard it was my birthday, so we enjoyed a wonderful chocolate dessert after our huge meals!  After returning home, I opened gifts from Mom and Dad and one of my gifts was a blender.  I’ve been wanting one for quite a while and they got me this Kitchenaid one.

 

 

So far, it has made some pretty good treats! :)

After my birthday was Graduation.  Quite possibly the hottest day of the year in a quasi-polyester black graduation gown.  And, of course, I had to get my picture made in front of the Auburn University sign and Samford Hall—along with the entire graduating class.  We waited for what seemed like forever, but really about an hour to get to the front of the picture line.  Thanks to Uncle Mark, we were able to start and finish in the time that it took other families to take just one or two pictures.  Having a professional photographer in the family is a REALLY good thing!

I seem to have serious problems with keeping my eyes open.  I guess that comes from my crazy sunglasses habit where I wear my sunglasses practically until it is dark every day—sometimes even rainy or cloudy days!

I’m so grateful Grams and Grandaddy were able to make the trip to Auburn.  It meant the world to have them there to see their first grandchild graduate from college.  Considering the year Grandaddy has had, I am so lucky to still have a grandfather, let alone have him make a 5 hour trip to see me walk across the stage and receive my diploma.

My good friend and fellow MAc program person, Morgan, and I sat together during the ceremony.  I was truly lucky to end up interning with her.  She’s become a good friend and I hope we remain friends after we leave Auburn next summer.

Smiling for the camera looking down at me from the top of the coliseum.  Uncle Mark seemed surprised I found him so easily, but I knew he would be around and with his “uniform” I was sure not to miss him.  The huge camera lens didn’t help disguise him either! :)

After Graduation, we went home for the rest of the week and then saw on of the best musicians of all time…Sir Paul McCartney!  The concert was in Atlanta at Piedmont Park.  We drove in the day of the concert, enjoyed the concert, spent the night in Atlanta, and then went our separate ways as I returned to school and Mom and Dad went back to Florence.

Before the concert, I experienced another first—my first trip to The Varsity!

 

Before I knew it, school was starting and is now in full swing.  I actually had my first test today.  Emma went back to Florence since I didn’t really have floor (more on that later).  I’m a Graduate Research Assistant this year and I’m actually working with the Director of the School of Accountancy.  He’s writing a new edition for a textbook and I’m helping with various aspects of that as well as some other things—basically I am available to fill whatever need he has.

Emma came back on Thursday of the first week of school along with Mom, Dad and a good friend of theirs.  Dad and John installed hardwood floor in the living room and bedrooms of my condo.  We never really liked the carpet that came with the condo and this floor looks wonderful!  I’ve had it for about two weeks and absolutely love it!

Got to sneak in a picture of Emma along with the new floor!

Mom spent part of last week with me re-organizing my things and cleaning up from the floor installation.  After she left, it was just me and Emma.  You know what that means…

 

PICTURE TIME!!

Uncle Mark gave me a new lens for my camera for Graduation and my birthday.  I’ve been taking tons of pictures of Emma since I got it and it’s so much easier with the longer lens!

I guess that’s all for now!  I’ll try to update more often in the future so updates are not this long again! 

New Computer

I got a new computer during the tax-free sales.  still trying to figure everything out, so please excuse me if something looks odd about this post.

Graduation pictures will be coming soon along with Emma pictures taken with my new lens.

Graduation

All I have left between me and Graduation is one test on Monday that might take me fifteen minutes. I wanted to take the test yesterday or today so I could go home for the weekend, but my teacher said no. Oh, well. I did plenty of shopping yesterday and today to make up for being here another weekend. I plan to go back and get one more thing tomorrow too, so maybe that will make tomorrow fun too.

My parents have asked how I feel about being finished with undergrad. I don't really feel different. I know I still have another year of school ahead of me in the same building with many of the same teachers. I know I will be more excited when I actually get my cap and gown. The real excitement/anticipation is for next year though. This time next year, I will really be done with school and ready for work. I have to say I'm excited for work. I really enjoyed my internship and would like to be back at work already. As my Mom said earlier, this marks the end of being required to go to school. I could work and become a CPA with just my Bachelor's degree, but I know it will be so much easier with my MAc.

I guess that's all for now. I'll try to post some graduation pictures sometime after the 10th!

Here to Stay

I'm back in Auburn to stay...for a little while at least. I haven't been here for the weekend since the second week of June. Yep, that's five weekends of driving and about 2,500 miles on my car...yuck. The visits here and there were all pretty good though. I was home four of the five weekends and visited with family and even got to see a dear friend from high school get married. She was beautiful, as always. The other weekend, I stood by another dear, dear friend who married her very own Prince Charming.

It's so weird that people I went to school with are getting married and having babies. Kinda makes me feel like I'm still a little kid in a grown up world. But, on the other hand, I cannot imagine being married at this point in my life. I definitely want to finish school and hopefully have passed the CPA exam before tying the knot. I think, for me, following my parent's example and being a little older before getting married is the right way to go. That being said, there's still a little bit of the green monster of jealousy when I see my friends and seemingly everyone around me finding someone to spend the rest of their lives with

Enough of the marriage talk. I have the Charter people coming tomorrow afternoon (or night!) to install digital cable and high-speed internet. I also having a group coming over tomorrow, so I need to unpack and do a little spot cleaning before I have people coming over.

My parents are also coming this weekend! They haven't been down in quite a while and I'm excited to take my Dad to Sno Biz. It's an old treat from my childhood and the place here tastes just like home. Sorry to the one at McFarland Park...you're better than the waterpark shaved ice place, but not the shaved ice of my memories!

Florence, Here I Come!

This is where I'm going this weekend! Over my four years at Auburn, I have really learned to appreciate Florence and all the good things there.

First and foremost, the majority of my family is there. Mom and Dad, Grams and Grandaddy, and my as-close-to-family-but-not are all there or close-by. I am so grateful for every minute I get to spend with them--especially with Grandaddy in light of the events of the past few months.

There's also my church family. They are a big part of my life that has been missing while I have been in Auburn. It's just not the same here and I have never felt like I really belonged. Maybe because I knew it was only temporary, but my church home is at 415 N. Seminary Street in Downtown Florence. I know when I'm there, I will be welcomed home with open arms and pulled down to the choir room to sing and gossip, of course!

I'm a little ashamed to mention this, but I love coming home and planning my meals! Mom has always asked me if I'm thinking of food all day. I do admit to planning dinner sometimes during breakfast! I love Saturday lunch at my Grandparents' house--always something good and always accompanied by ice cold tea. I can't remember when we started going over there for lunch, but I also can't remember what we did before the days of Saturday lunch. I love summer at Gram and Grandaddy's house because Grandaddy and I would sneak off and cut a watermelon. That's always been our thing. We would share if there were other people around, but it was really just for us. I know to look in the basement refrigerator to see if we have a treat for later that day! At trip to Florence is not complete without a visit to Casa Mexicana or Ricatoni's either! You just can't beat the food you grew up on!

Lastly, I can't wait to sleep in my bed. My bed has such special memories. Before it was in my bedroom at my house, it was in my bedroom at my Aunt's house. It actually belonged to my Great-Grandma Almond and was passed down to my Aunt and then to me. I slept in this bed at my Aunt's house for most of my childhood and it was what I wanted most from her house after she died. I guess I felt like bringing this bed home with me would keep a part of her with me always. I have other silly things with me all the time--the ring from her keys has been on my keyring for years--but seeing this bed when I walk into my room still makes me smile and remember good times of weekends past.

Another good thing about Florence is Emma is there! She's been with Mom and Daddy for two weeks since I was so busy last week with school and I was out of town at Tiffany and Will's wedding this weekend. I miss her like crazy! I hope she's excited to see me and will cuddle up to me so we can make up for lost time!

Well, I'm off to pack so I can get home to Florence faster. I'm leaving as soon as my class gets out at 11:15. I'm so grateful for only having classes four days a week this minimester. I'm looking forward to being in Florence alot during July!