jleigh1902

I suppose I'll just jump right in and say that last weekend was fantastic! Last Thursday I took a half day at work. I got myself all freshened up and headed out to Muskegon for Liz and Dan's rehearsal. I got a little lost on the way but figured things out pretty quickly. Dan's mom and the pastor were there already. A few minutes after I pulled in, Liz's parents and brother showed up. The rehearsal ended up going long so I think we were late for the dinner afterwards. Dave (the best man) showed up for the last run through we did so luckily he kind of knew what was going on. The dinner was at Hearthstone and it was delicious! The rolls were freakin'  amazing! Anyway, it was at the dinner that it dawned on me that as Maid of Honor I was going to have to say something at the wedding. I hadn't thought about it at all! So once I was back to my apartment, I spent the an hour or so writing a little something. Friday morning I got to sleep in a bit. I picked up Kaleigh a little after 11 and we headed back out to Muskegon. When we got to the venue Liz's mom was there setting up a few things. Liz got there a little later. We enjoyed some pizza for lunch and began getting our hair done. The afternoon really flew and before we knew it, people were filling up the place, it was time for pictures and then the ceremony. The ceremony was just lovely. I couldn't stop smiling the whole time. It was until the end when Pastor Randy started talking about how much he cared for Liz and Dan and thought of them as his own children, that they started to get teary. Once the room cleared out afterwards, the staff flipped it to be the reception room. The bridal party headed to the state park to get some pictures. Liz posted a link to a few of them and they are awesome! The reception was very nice. The boys gave their speeches first but I totally brought the house down! Haha! Apparently I made quite a few people cry. I'm just so full of lurve! Anyway, the food was delicious and I think everyone had a great time dancing the night away!

On Saturday the whole gang met back up in Muskegon and headed to the beach! It was the perfect day. There was sand and sun and swimming! I loved every minute of it. Megan and I had some secret wedding talk...haha I think everyone was getting sick of us. You'd think I'd
be all wedding-ed out but I'm just so excited to plan my own! Megan and I should be wedding planners! Anyway, after a great day at the beach, Justin and I headed to the movies to see "Up." Someone I talked to didn't care for it much...it might have been my parents...but I thought it was totally adorable! It was so sweet...maybe I'm just partial to the elderly. Haha!

I had to work Sunday, I picked up a couple hours on Monday, worked the rest of the week and now here I am. I'm off tomorrow which I'm very much looking forward to. I have to work the weekend. On Monday, Tim and I are going to Michigan Adventure! I'm so excited! I need a mini vacation. Haha well we're only going for the day but it should be a good time. We haven't been there since we were about 10 or so and I've never been to a water park.

Well I've spend a good chunk of the evening on the computer so I think I'm going to go read for a while. Maybe turn in early for a change...

Here it is! There are two pictures of it. Now I'm off to my appointment and then to work. TTFN!

This will be total randomness.

I had like half an entry and then pressed something that deleted it all. Awesome.

I'm not even going to discuss work because I'm irritated now.

On Saturday we threw Liz her bachelorette party. It ended up just being the bridal party but we had a great time. Sarah Ritchie was there to do our hair before we got the fun started. She didn't have her best hairspray and it was SO humid that all our hair was flat again before the end of the night. After our hair was done, we played "Pin the Macho on the Man." It was hilarious! We had such a good time. We ended up taping all of the extra penises in the room where Dan's band practices. I'll have to ask Liz how they liked that. After another game, we headed to Steak N' Shake for some delicious food. Then we headed to the video store to rent Bride Wars. Liz was the only one who hadn't seen it. I enjoyed seeing it again. We ended things around midnight and it was perfect. I think the other girls really enjoyed themselves as well. I can't wait for the wedding!

I tried tofu for the first time today. I've wanted to try it as an alternative to chicken...not that I thought it tasted like chicken...but I feel like we eat chicken all the time and I'm up for trying new things. Anyway, I attempted to put it in a sort of stir fry that I just made up. It turned out ok in the end. The texture was a little weird but I may have over/undercooked it since I really had no idea what I was doing. It really has no taste so  the texture is the only thing I can attribute to it "tasting" weird. I'm definitely up for trying it again.

My random mini project: I'm going to try to do my hair different every day for the next 7 days. It seems easy enough but I never do anything with my hair. It either just straight down or thrown up in a ponytail. Here's today attempt... I just curled it and pulled some of the top back.

Justin and I have officially decided we're getting married in May of 2011. We just won't have much money with getting the house in the next month or so. So we're going to save, save, save for a while! I'm very excited to get married but on the other hand I'm glad to not feel so rushed. And, we'll have our pick of vendors since it's so far out.

Well, I'm going to attempt to tidy up the apartment a bit. I've got a doctor appointment for a check up for all that nonsense I went through in February. Send good vibes my way. =)

Well I could go back and talk about Jenny's wedding but there's just no way I could cram it all into this entry. To make a long story short, it was so much fun and beautiful and it just flew by. The dance was fantastic and everyone just ate it up!

So I'm going to try to be quick in talking about what I've been up to this week. I drove home to AP last Friday. I was supposed to meet Liz at 7 for a dress fitting so that I could learn the bustle. Well she called me and told me it was moved. I'm sure you've all read the story in her LJ. So I headed straight to my parents' house and relaxed with them. On Saturday, my mom and I headed to Liz's shower at her Aunt Kathy's house. It was so sweet and intimate and I just loved it. Kathy has a GORGEOUS backyard garden oasis. It was beautiful. So we spent most of the time outside eating and playing shower games. My mom and I came in first and second on the Name that Tune game! Yay! It started to rain just a little so we headed inside to finish up one more game and open presents. Afterward, we had some delicous chocolate cheesecake that Liz's mom made and had a toast to Liz and Dan. I think it was on Saturday evening that we met up with some family for dinner at Old Chicago Pizza. It was delicious and lots of fun. And we had a run in with our waitress as we were leaving. She was pretty rude to say the least. Oh well.

Sunday was a pretty laid back day. I went out by myself to Kohls and the mall. I got myself a Tigers shirt since we were going to the game that night and I have no Tigers apparel! Like I said, my family and I went to the game that night and we lost but it was still fun.

Monday was a super fun and busy day! My mom and I went to David's Bridal so that I could try on wedding gowns! And I found the one! It's so fun and pretty and exactly what I wanted. I think you will all agree that it's very me. I'll be glad to show you pictures when I see you again if you want to see. Don't let Justin know the details though! =) After dresses, we grabbed a quick bite and headed to Crystal Gardens to check out the place and get info on receptions. It was pretty but the most expensive of all the places we looked at. The rest of Monday was pretty relaxed from what I remember. I know we rented some movies but I don't remember when we watched them. We got New In Town which was cute but not great. We also got Revolutionary Road which had some great acting and the story was ok.

Tuesday was another busy day filled with looking at reception halls. We looked at The Grecian Center (beautiful outdoor ceremony site), Arnaldo's (nice but expensive), The Links at Lake Erie (best for the price and on a golf course) and Orlando's Familia Banquet (had an ADORABLE chapel and was also on a golf course). So Justin and I have a lot to talk about. I think we're considering moving back the date til May of 2011. With getting the house soon, we just won't have the money. And between the end of August til April, Justin has classes. I probably won't be starting my school again til the fall of '11. So this will give us plenty of time to save money and get in a routine with bills at the new house. It seems forever away now but I'm sure it will fly by.

Wednesday my mom and I spent the afternoon with my grandma. We took her out to lunch and then to see The Proposal. I thought it was super cute and I definitely heard grandma laughing out loud a few times. Haha I love her so much.

Thursday morning my mom and I went to see The Ugly Truth with her friend Joan. I thought it was cute and probably true. The language was raunchy but it's not anything I haven't heard when having deep conversations with my friends. Afterwards my mom said, "Well I'm glad we didn't see this with Grandma!" Haha!

Friday I was supposed to meet Liz in AA for a fitting but she was really sick and couldn't make it. So, it just gave my mom and I an excuse to go shopping! We went to Kohls but all I ended up getting was some earrings for Liz's wedding. We went out to lunch and then to visit my dad at his new/old office. He worked there a few years ago (I worked with him there for a summer), got laid off, then when he got laid of from his most recent job, they hired him back at a higher position. And the office is all remodeled from when I was there so it was fun to see. After visiting for a while, my mom and I went to Ulta (some beauty supply store) and loaded up on nail polish and lipstick (gloss, in my case). Of course, once again, I picked a color (of nail polish) that is so pretty in the bottle but then I put it on and it looks like there's nothing there. Oh well. That night we made another trip to Old Chicago since my dad, Tim, my uncle, and my cousin's BF are all part of thier beer club and they were doing a special that ends this weekend. So they had to drink all the specialty beers and they got a t-shirt.

Today has been a nice day. I slept in a bit and then laid around watching Whose Wedding Is It Anyway? We barbecued for dinner and had my aunt and uncle over as well as my friend Christie. I haven't seen her in over a year so it was nice to catch up. We talked a lot about everything...jobs, weddings, friends, food. My aunt and uncle are still here playing pinochle with my parents. I'm heading back to GR tomorrow morning so I can spend some of the day with my honey! I miss him tons!

I can't believe Liz and Dan's wedding is in just 2 weeks! Yay!

So I'm engaged!  It still feels completely surreal. I'm just so fantastically happy with the whole world. I'm still getting used to calling Justin my fiance rather than my boyfriend. I am crazy stupid happy in love. I am absolutely bursting with excitement and love. I might be making you all gag but I just can't keep it in! I've never been this happy!

A couple of weekends ago, Justin and I went looking at rings. We went to every jewelry store at Rivertown Crossings. At first we were looking mostly at solitaires because that's what I liked. Well, you see one solitaire you've seen them all. We looked at a couple different ones with some diamonds on the band. Our last stop was Helzberg where I fell in love.

*Random moment* I just saw a Billy Mays commercial and it made me sad.

Ok anyway, I fell in love with a totally different ring. It wasn't like anything we looked at before. And of course it was the most expensive one we looked at. I thought there was no way I was getting this ring. So the next week came and went.

Thursday was a fantastic night spent with friends. Jen and Tod were in town and we all had a game night at Keith's. I had a couple glasses of white wine and was a little tipsy. We all just talked and played some games and had a cuddle party. I miss the days when we hung out everyday. Friday was even better than Thursday. I didn't have class or work so I met up with everyone again and we all headed to the beach. We eventually made our way to Grand Haven and I fell in love with Michigan all over again. We spent a couple of hours on the deck of Bil-Mar restaurant...eating, drinking, listening to Kenny and enjoying the day. It was the perfect summer day! Well, besides the bit of sunburn I got.

And if you can even believe it, Saturday was better than Friday! The only downside of Saturday was that I had to work. It was a fairly nice day at work so that was alright. As soon as I walked in the door at home, Justin said, "Let's go golfing!" I was tired and didn't feel much like golfing but changed anyway and we headed out. We went to The Pines which is a course that we can use free. We started playing and of course I was doing awful. Haha I was not a happy camper. We got to the 3rd hole and finished putting. I started to walk back to the cart and Justin said, "Hey come here." I turned around and he tossed his ball to me and I grabbed it and kept on walking. Again he called to me, "Hey Jess come look at this." I turned around and he was on one knee and I knew what was coming. He pulled out the ring (the one I fell in love with!) and said, "Jessica Leigh Ostrosky, will you marry me?" I said yes of course and started laughing and crying. We hugged for a few minutes and had some kisses and finally Justin said, "Let's get out of here!" As we drove back to the apartment I called my parents and told them the news. They were both happy and my mom started to cry. Once home, we changed into some nicer clothes and headed downtown to Cygnus where we had the best filet mignon EVER. We had a fantastic view of the city. It was so nice of them to fit us in so that we could celebrate. After dinner we sat on the patio at the Amway and waited for the gang to get downtown so we could all watch the fireworks together. Even Leah and Nick were able to join us and that made me happy. With the exception of the ash falling on us, the night was perfect.

I was back to work on Sunday and shared my good news with the residents. They're like a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) family to me and they were all happy for me. Sunday afternoon we took some of the residents to the Whitecaps game. The first inning took an HOUR so we ended up having to leave before the game was over. Other than the parking issue, it was a pretty non-stressful outing. Once we were all settled in our seats, it was very enjoyable.

This week has been going by kind of slowly. I had some stuff due for Microbiology. I got 100% on my unknown bacteria! Yay for me! I wish the lab counted for more toward the class. I have a 98% in lab and like an 86% in lecture. I'm hoping I'll be up to at least an A-. I like A's! Monday is the final exam.

I'm really excited to start wedding planning! I'm such a girl! I gotta admit it's been kind of nice having people asking me questions and wanting to see my ring. What can I say...I'm an attention whore.

Well, it's getting kind of late now and I need to be heading to bed soon.

I'm watching "My First Place" on HGTV. It makes me so excited to move in to our house! It's amazing to see the difference in the cost of living in different cities. The episode I'm watching now is taking place in Chicago. This guy is looking for a condo for about $350k. One he looked at was only 900 sq. feet. Sick! Anyways, I'm just so looking forward to having our own place and having people over.

So Justin has left me for the week. He's in Vegas again with his family. I was sad dropping him off at the airport last night. He'll be back next Monday night. It's not that I see him much anyway, but I really don't like going to bed without him. That's really no fun.

Justin and I went golfing both Saturday and Sunday. We both played absolutely awful on Saturday but had so much fun. We went to the range AFTER (instead of before to warm up) and I tried changing my grip. I usually just did I guess what's called a baseball grip. Instead I tried interlocking my pinky and forefinger. I guess that's how the pros do it. I never did it before because it's kind of uncomfortable, especially with my little hands. It was amazing the difference it made in my shots. I hit every single ball and was very consistent. I will definitely be doing that from now on. However, I still didn't play that great on Sunday either.

School has been going pretty well. I did ok on my last lecture test. I got a B which is just fine by me. I did REALLY well on my last lab test. I got 99%! w00t! There's not much else to discuss as far as all that goes. The one girl in my lab group said something about being 19 and it made me feel old. Haha!

I'm still getting annoyed with my job. I'm ready for something new but at the same time, my job is so flexible with me going to school. And I have benefits which is great. It's like if I had only a year or so until I could be a hygienist it wouldn't be so bad. But I have to wait two years to even get in school and then classes themselves are going to take another two years. I don't know if I can do this job for another 4 years. We'll see I guess.

Well I've got some things to do before bed so I'll see you all later!

Wow so it's been a while eh? Well like Tod, I've started writing a number of times and just never thought I had much to really update about. Now I've got lots to say and not much time to say it so we'll see what happens!

Last weekend was fantastic! It was absolutely packed with plans and driving but it was so fun. I drove home to AP on Friday after class. I went out to dinner with the fam and then my mom and I went shopping. When we got home, my mom and I rented Bride Wars. It was so cute! I stayed up way too late that night but oh well. On Saturday morning my mom and I were up early to get ready for Jenny's shower! We got to the hall right about 11am to help with the setup. The hall was super cute and just perfect for a bridal shower. Setup went really quick and there was plenty of time to socialize a bit and pin corsages which proved to be more difficult than anticipated. The food was delicious and the presents wonderful. Just a nice day overall. After the shower, my mom and I headed home to pick up Dad and Tim and go to Justin's parents' house. They were having a get together to celebrate his birthday. It was nice to see some of his family again and eat some delicious food. And Jen showed up too! I stayed at Justin's place Saturday night and on Sunday I went golfing with Justin, Russ and Dad. On one hole I got par which was totally exciting because I'm pretty sure I've never made par ever. Haha! And it was a par 3 and none of the boys made par. It was great!

This week has been a lot of fun. I met with the girls on Tuesday and picked a new book...Water for Elephats. It's really good so far. Well, I'm enjoying it at least. I've heard lots of good things about it so far. On Thursday, Justin got out of work early and him, Liz and I went to the Whitecaps game. We had 5th row seats! They were real seats and not bleachers! Haha! We only stayed through the bottom of the 7th so we could all get home and watch the Red Wings game (which they lost horribly of course). On Friday, Leah called me around 7pm and we headed to Festival of the Arts downtown. We had a really good time. We listened to some good music and ate some good food and had fun people watching. I put a few pictures on myspace if you want to check them out (got some of Jenny's shower too!).

The weekend was fairly uneventful other than working. Justin and I looked at some houses on Sunday night. We put in some offers aaaaand we got a counter offer! So we can accept and we'll have a house!!! AAAaaaahhhh!!! The down side is that it's a short sale/preforclosure so it's going to take a few months til closing. So things are exciting now but we won't be moving for a while. Holy crap!

Ok it's taken me a while to write this and I'm trying to go to bed by 10pm every night and see if it makes a difference. I pretty much have been feeling exhausted this week so I gotta do something. Nighty-night!

Well I've got just a few minutes while I'm waiting for the laundry. I had a really nice day today. I woke up early and enjoyed some breakfast and started watching this miniseries I'm DVRing. It's on HBO and about Alzheimer's. It was like watching a day in my life at work. I think sometimes I forget that the people I work with are someone's mother or father or grandparent. I do really love them all though. Sometimes it's rough to do it day after day though. Anyway, after getting ready, I headed to class for the day. We got out of lecture a little bit early so I headed to the bookstore to return my text book. Did I tell you all this story? Well about a week and a half before class started, I ordered my books online. My lab manual came really fast. And then I'm just waiting and waiting for my text. It wasn't until I actually READ the email from Amazon that I was informed it would arrive anytime between May 1-18. Well that's a pretty big window and my class started the 4th. I didn't really know how much I'd need my book right off the bat but I don't like being unprepared. So it hadn't come by the 4th so I went to campus early and bought a copy at the bookstore...for more than twice the price! Well my book came in the mail on Saturday so I was able to return the copy to the bookstore for a full refund since it was within a week of classes starting.

Class is going well. I'm enjoying the labs although I'm kind of failing to link the info to the lecture. Maybe I'm  not paying enough attention. I just don't really get how what we're learning in the lab has anything to do with lecture. I think it's because the professor goes off on a lot of tangents. Haha and I'm not paying attention. Anyway, lab was kinda fun today and I thought I screwed it up but I didn't. I got out a few minutes early so I headed to Quizno's since I was starving. Kaleigh was there so it was kind of fun to see her again. Then I headed to see Jenny! We hung out with Chris for a few minutes while I ate my Quizno's. Once I had finished, Jenny and I went for a walk around downtown. We headed up to Heritage Hill and had some wonderful girl talk. After our walk we enjoyed a refreshing glass of water and then I headed home.

I've mostly spent my evening watching tv and putzing around the internet. I really shoud do some homework and perhaps I will before bed. I've barely had a chance to get into our book of the month. I guess I should read more instead of watching tv! Haha!

Well I thought I had more to talk about but I suppose that's all for now. Lurve!

Well it's been a few days so I suppose I've failed in my attempt to write everyday. Oh well!

I had a really nice weekend. Justin's mom and dad came to visit for a couple of days. They arrived on Friday night and we played Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader. It was just a demo version on the Xbox360 so we couldn't do the million dollar question but the girls totally beat the boys' butts. I had to work the next day so we all turned in fairly early. When I got home from work, everyone was cooking dinner...pot roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, and corn! Yum! After dinner we decided to go bowling. I did terrible but we all had so much fun. I'm finding I'm more and more comfortable around Justin's family each time I spend time with them. On Sunday I had to work again. Justin's parents had left by the time I got home so Justin and I got to spend the evening together. We had dinner and then went to see a movie. We went out to Woodland and saw Taken. It was a pretty good movie. After the movie, we headed to Meijer so that I could get some school supplies.

Today was my first day of school! I was nervous about the lab because generally, I hate labs. It turns out though that a girl I know from GVSU is in my class! The professor seems pretty cool and laid back. He said 'hell' a lot during the lecture and even let out a couple of 'damns.'

Anyway, I should make some dinner and do some reading for class. Lurve!

Well this isn't going to be a real update. I'm just going to say that I don't feel like writing today. Ha!

Work was boring and girls night was fabulous.

Still no word on the house!

Lurve!

I almost forgot about my daily update! Today wasn't anything spectacular. I had to work today which was fine. The housekeeping folks were stripping and waxing the floor in our office so I had to find things to do to keep busy. And although I'm going to be working every weekend, I'm glad I'm only working 3 days this week.

And now for a house update! Justin got out of work early and when he got home he had news about the house. Somehow there was a miscommunication between realtors and our guy just found out the house we want is a short sale/foreclosure. Basically, the owners are going to be foreclosed upon so they're trying to sell while they still own it. However, it does make negotiating difficult. So after talking to Justin's aunt (who is a real estate agent) and then talking to Mark, we decided to up our offer pretty much to the asking price but asking them to cover closing costs and such. If the owners accept our offer then it will go to the bank and they also have to accept it. This can take between 1-2 months. LAME. It's unlikely that the bank will reject us (either they lose about 30k from the low selling price or lose 30k putting the home through foreclosure) but it's a possibility. Also, we can keep an eye out on the market during that time and if we find a house that's equally awesome and not as much hassle we can be like, "See ya!" So, we should know by Friday whether the owners have accepted us and it's in the bank's hands!

Well, it took me a while to type this short entry because I was also watching Biggest Loser and looking up music. It's off to bed for me!

Well I had quite a fun and adventurous day today! Justin and I woke up fairly early to meet with our realtor, Mark. Yes, we have a realtor! Haha, anyway, we went and looked at a few houses this morning. The first one was a foreclosure and you could tell. I guess when I think of a foreclosure, I would think it would be a lot cheaper. This one was a little over 100k. It needed a ton of work. It looked like someone had started remodeling and then just stopped right in the middle and left everything behind. It was a big house and I liked the layout but like I said, it wasn't worth the price at all. The 2nd house, we pretty much loved and it was the best of the day. It's a multi-level with 3 bedrooms and the master bath has a skylight and the kitchen appliances are included and it had a cool deck and a good size yard. It was great. Are we going to buy it? I really have no idea. It's so much money and a huge decision. It's a little overwhelming to even think about. I hate to jump in to anything but I would also hate to miss out on a nice house at a great price. Justin and I have A LOT of talking to do. The rest of the houses didn't compare to that one but some were quite interesting. One had a log cabin in the basement...hahaha! It was clear an old lady lived there and the best we could figure was that "grandpa" had built it as his little getaway. Right when you walked into the basement, the left wall we covered in logs. There were even windows. Inside there were some couches, a fireplace, a table and chairs, and what looked to be a little snack bar or something. It was hilarious! It left all of us speechless. Another house totally reeked of smoke. That was a quick NO. One had a really nice finished basement. And the last one was another foreclosure that we were in for about 1 minute. More on this later!

After the lovely morning, Justin had to head to work. I looked into some things at GRCC and Liz and I ended up heading downtown for a little while. I got my student ID and talked with the financial aid folks about loan deferment. Liz and I then hit up the library because she wanted to get the book for girls nights and some music for her wedding. It was a nice afternoon.

I spent the rest of the day just relaxing and doing some laundry. About 8:30 Justin called me up and asked me to meet him and Mark to talk about the house. Not that it matters, but we went to Kava House and I got a Raspberry Mocha. It was delicious! Anyway, I guess Justin had talked to a mortgage broker at Macatawa Bank and got pre-approved. So....we put in an offer on the house!!!!! AAAAAAaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!11111111111 We should hear about a counter offer tomorrow or the next day. The house is 109k and we put in a bid for 100k. We'll see what happens! I'm excited and scared!

I've decided that I'm not going to discuss what happened last week or last month. There's too much that happened and I can't remember it all. You will just have to live in wonder forever and ever.

I am, however, going to attempt to write everyday for a month. Obviously my day to day activities won't be very exciting, but there are so many days when a thought occurs to me and I say,"I should write about that in my LJ." But then when I actually get around to updating, I've completely lost all of those thoughts.

Let's get started! Yay!

I had to work today which is always an experience. Weekends are nice because my boss isn't there and everything just feels more relaxed. Today was just that. The old folks got a little crazy this morning and were all trying to talk to me at once. That was a little frustrating and I was ready to go home by noon. The afternoon went by quickly enough and I ducked out at ten after four because the part time girl came in at four. When I got home, Justin and I snuggled on the couch and I ended up dozing off for just a minute until my cell rang. I let it go to voicemail and found out later that it was my mom. Her and my dad are on their way back from Cancun! I can't wait to hear all about their adventures. Anyway, soon enough, Justin and I headed to Meijer to pick up a few essentials. I also got my mom and grandma Mother's Day cards. I can't believe it's coming up so fast already! Well, it's going to be a great summer. I've got some weddings to be in, a class to take, some vacation time headed my way...I can't wait!

I suppose I don't have much else to talk about today. Justin and I are going to look at some houses tomorrow! Aaahh I can't believe I might have a house one of these days!

Let's see how fast can I whip this entry out.

Last weekend was wonderful. I don't remember much of Saturday but on Sunday the weather was fantastic so when I got out of work, Justin and I went golfing! It was a lot of fun. We first hit the driving range and I was afraid I had forgotten everything I'd learned last year. My first few shots were just awful. But I tried to keep positive and Justin gave me some pointers. Once I warmed up, I started to get some good shots off. We played 9 holes...actually we only got through 7 because the sun was going down. I did pretty well...I was only about 1 shot behind Justin on every hole. The best part was that I didn't get upset once! I kept my temper in check and I had a lot of fun. It also may have had something to do with the fact that I was doing as well as I was. I only get upset when I do bad. Haha!

The week left much to be desired. On Monday I did my taxes which was extremely frustrating. I usually have my dad sitting with me while I do them so this was a first doing them all on my own. But anyway, they're done and I'm so glad. Wednesday was of course girls night. After work, I headed to Kohls to buy some new shoes. After that, Liz and I met at the mall to have dinner and then just walked around the mall. At 7 we met up with Leah and Jenny at Schuler's. The book we're reading is The Shack. I think it's great so far. I can't put it down! I'm half way through already.

This weekend was fantastic. Justin and I were both off. We spent most of Saturday cleaning up the apartment. After a while, we went to Maple Hill golf course so that Justin could buy some clubs. He ended up buying me some golf shoes! Yay! I've been wanting shoes for a long time. Then he also bought me a used 6 iron...he wants to see how I do with name brand clubs. Once the purchases were complete, he and I headed to the range to try out a brand name driver for me. It was awesome. I hit the ball a lot farther than I do with my current driver. So Justin bought it for me. Haha he really does spoil me.

When the golfing fun was over, we went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to buy a digital scale. We figured that if we're serious about getting in shape, we better have a scale that works. While we were there, Justin happened to see an ottoman that was black! I've been wanting a storage ottoman since I moved in with Justin. There was a nice one at Target but it was pretty expensive. The ones at BBB are usually either brown faux leather or suede. I was excited they had black! It's just a square but it also has a smaller one inside so we have 2 ottomans! The bigger one also had a tray on the reverse side.

Saturday night, we met up with Leah and Nick and Liz and Dan for the Griffins game. It was a lot of fun and the Griffins won!

On Sunday, Justin and I went grocery shopping and spent a lot of the day doing laundry.

Well I suppose that's all I've got for now. It's time to go work out!

UUUUgggghhhhh I'm watching Notting Hill and it's the part when they climb into the garden and sit on the bench and the romantic music is playing. I haven't seen this movie in a while. It's so cute.

Anyways, what have I been up to? Well it's been a couple weeks since I updated. It's the middle of March already! Spring is next week...yay! I checked the weather forecast and it's supposed to be 39 on the first day of spring. Lame! Haha oh well, the next few days are supposed to be really nice so I'll enjoy them while I can.

Gosh I can't even remember what I've been up to the last couple of weeks. Hmm, well the gals and I have been enjoying our Wednesday nights out. We went to the Griffins game which was fantastic! It was such a different experience without the boys. We had a ton of fun being silly and cheering and making up victory dances. Poor Leah had a boy with one of those loud plastic horns behind her. It was a little annoying but overall I think we all had a great time. Last week, Jenny, Liz and I went bowling. Leah wasn't able to make it which was a bummer. I think next week we are starting a book club and going to Barnes & Noble to pick our first book. Yay!

Last weekend Justin and I headed to the east side. I dropped Justin off at Russ and Heather's condo because he was helping them paint and move. I hung out for a little bit and then headed to my parents' house. Saturday was my cousin Angela's 12th birthday so my mom and I took her to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop. It was actually a cute movie. It was silly but not vulgar. We had a good time and it was nice to spend some time with my cousin. Later in the evening, my family met my aunt, uncle and cousin at Old Chicago. It was delicious and we had a great time. It started pouring rain while we were there and it was just crazy. After dinner we headed to Rack n' Roll to see Tim's band. With all the bands my brother has been in I've still never seen him perform. The band was awesome! It wasn't my favorite type of music but it was really good. We all had so much fun! I didn't feel so good because I had a few drinks. Don (my cousin Jackie's boyfriend) bought us a shot called Johnny Vegas...it was tasty! It was tequila, watermelon pucker and Red Bull. Haha my dad was joking about being hyped up from all the Red Bull. Speaking of my dad!!!...he shaved off his mustache! It was so crazy! My mom and I got home from the movies and his lip was bare! I've never seen my dad without a mustache....my MOM has never seen my dad without a mustache and she's known him for 30 years. Hahaha oh wow we just kept giggling.

Ok moving on...

On Sunday, my parents and I went out to breakfast. I told them about applying to GRCC and being a dental hygienist. They sounded really excited and supportive. Not that my parents aren't supportive normally but they genuinely sounded proud of me and that made me happy. More news on that later. Around noon, I went to pick up Justin from his brother's. Of course it was just filled with boxes but I can't wait to see it when they're all settled.

So, getting back to news about my future goals. I went to meet with the head of the Dental Hygiene program.  I had to ask her some questions about classes. She was so nice and I'm glad I met with her. I have to take microbiology, preferably this summer, and then I'll be put on the waiting list to start the program. There's about a 2 year waiting period. Yikes.

Well the battery on the laptop is about to die so I will have to give more details later.

I can't believe February flew by so fast. Although I am happy that spring is that much closer! I can't wait for the warmer weather to roll around. Justin and I did have quite the adventure in the blizzard last weekend. We knew the crappy weather was rolling in so we did some of our errands on Friday night. We planned on just staying inside all weekend. Saturday morning I woke up and realized I needed to refill my prescription. We decided to bundle up and brave the weather. We actually walked to the Walgreens on the corner and stopped at Quizno's for lunch. It was a lot of fun trudging through the snow. We had a much easier time walking back to the apartment.

I can't think of much else that's happened lately. Justin and I have been trying to get in shape. I've been hitting the gym a lot. I've lost a few pounds but it's slow going. I just need to keep in mind that it's a slow process and not get discouraged.

Blah. I don't feel like updating.

I'm looking forward to starting at GRCC. I need to take a microbiology class. They don't offer a class in the spring/summer. I'm going to call the school on Monday and ask them a few questions. I got a letter telling me I also had to take an organic/biochem class which I already took at GVSU. So I need to ask them what that's about.

Well, I'm officially bored.

Hopefully I can punch out this entry before the laptop dies. The power cord doesn't reach to where I'm sitting and I'm too lazy to get up right now.

I can't believe it's Thursday already. I've been waiting for the week to be over...well, sort of...I'm off tomorrow and I'm definitely in need of a break. I find that I'm enjoying my job less and less lately. It's not bad...I'm just getting bored. Well anyway...

Last weekend Justin and I visited my family. He got out of work early and we were in Allen Park just before 9pm. We just relaxed with my folks and went to bed around midnight. My parents' house in not really equipped for overnight visitors so we both ended up on couches and not getting much sleep. On Saturday we all had breakfast together and decided to go to the Winter Blast going on in downtown Detroit. It was a bit of a washout (literally) because the temperature was 46 and all the ice and snow was melting. They did have some neat ice sculptures. Unfortunately the ice slide was out of commission and the ice skating rink had at least an inch of water on it and I did not feel like falling down and having a wet butt all day. Once we were bored with the Winter Blast, we walked down the block to Hart Plaza. I was such a tourist in my own city. It was fun though! I never explore Detroit. If I go there it's for one purpose...a sporting event or maybe a show at the FOX. Anyway, when we were tired of walking around, we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe to eat. Talking about being tourists...my brother and I got souvenir glasses with our drinks. Good times!

On our way home we stopped over at my cousin's new house. Her and her boyfriend just bought it. It's in Allen Park...definitely a fixer-upper. It doesn't look like much  now but she showed us some ideas they had and I guess they are doing a lot of the work themselves. They plan to move in about a month I think. Justin and I didn't have much time to relax once we got home. It was off to Canton to be with his family and celebrate his brother's birthday. We met everyone in Canton and headed out to dinner. After dinner, we went down the road a bit and saw his and Heather's new condo. It's really nice. It's plain right now, like an apartment, but they have some plans to paint and such. I think they are moving at the beginning of March. Finally, to end the evening, we drove our butts towards Ann Arbor and went bowling (Russ and Heather currently live in Ypsi so it was closer to them). We were at Belmont or Belmark Lanes...it was right by Q16 which I remember because Liz and I met there to see LOTR forever ago! Haha good times. Anyway, we bowled 3 games and I did terrible but it was a lot of fun.

On Sunday, my mom and I had some time to ourselves which was nice. I miss my mom a lot and I almost feel like we're growing apart. Maybe I'm just growing up. I don't know. I felt weird telling her that I wanted to marry Justin and that we looked at rings a couple of weekends ago. I thought she would be excited but she wasn't as much as I thought she'd be. I think she's worried I'm getting swept up in all the wedding plans of my friends. Maybe I am a little bit...it's kind of hard not to when I'm going to be in 2 weddings within a month of each other. How can I NOT get caught up when I go to a bridal expo and see all the flowers and dresses and I've been with my boyfriend just long enough that the topic of marriage has come up on more than one occassion and we've looked at rings and so on and so forth??? ANYWAYS, we spent the afternoon shopping and went to see "He's Just Not That Into You." It was cute, not great, but cute. I guess apart from Brad, I've never dealt with a guy giving me mixed signals so I couldn't really relate. For dinner, we all met my aunt and uncle at Amigo's for our traditional meal. My family goes there like once a week but I only get to go when I'm home so I'm always very excited. After dinner, Justin and I pretty much just packed up and headed back to GR.

In other news, I've been accepted to GRCC (like I was worried). The really good part is that I'm considered a "resident" which means I get cheaper tuition than someone who lives in, say, Holland, or whatever. So that means cheaper tuition...yay! Let's see, what else? My doctor called yesterday but didn't leave a message other than to say to call them back so I will be doing that tomorrow. It's hard to call them when they are only in the office 9-4 and don't answer between 12-1. Like, when the hell am I supposed to call?! But I'm off tomorrow so yay. I'm hoping to get my oil changed and then I'm meeting Liz to do some dress shopping! Weeee! Oh and we're FINALLY getting cable! Now I can watch Biggest Loser without the static. Speaking of TV...did they seriously move back the date to go digital? I don't know how much longer I can stand those commercials about getting a tuner or a new TV or whatever! They've been talking about this for over a year! If you're not ready, tough shit. I was so looking forward to February 17 when I didn't have to see those commercials anymore...and now I have to wait 4 more months. Throw me over a river.

Well the cable guy is coming tomorrow morning so I guess I better clean up the joint a little. Of course Justin, being the goon he is, scheduled the guy to come when he's at class so I have to be here. Yeah, thanks. Haha oh well. Have a great weekend all!

I can't believe January is almost over already. Time has really flown and I haven't updated in a few weeks. Well, I just hope the next couple of months fly too because I am ready for winter to be over. I hate being cold all the time!

Justin and I have been busy playing host on our weekends off. A couple of weeks ago Justin's brother, Russ, and his girlfriend, Heather, came into town for the night. We went out to dinner at Chili's and then headed to the bowling alley. We bowled a couple of games and I actually beat Justin in the 2nd game. Afterwards, we headed to Jen's party. It was an interesting party to say the least and now we all know things about each other that perhaps we never wanted to know. Needless to say, I'm sure Russ and Heather are welcome to our parties anytime.

My birthday was last Monday. Yes, I'm 25 years old now. I feel weird saying that but I don't feel old. I suppose I'm not where I thought I'd be at this age but I'm ok with that. I really like where I am now. More on that later...

On Monday, Liz and I went to lunch at Craig's Cruisers. We had a ton of fun riding go karts and playing Deal or No Deal. When I got home, I relaxed at the apartment and watched chick movies.

Work has been going well. Nothing to report there.

Wow I really thought I had more to talk about. Well, I guess I can share with you all that I'm looking in to going to GRCC to become a dental hygienist. I'm actually really excited about it and hope everything works out. On another fun note, Justin and I have been talking more and more about getting married. We were at the mall today and stopped to look at rings! We actually looked at rings 3 or 4 months ago just for fun but now the prospect of getting married is more of a reality. I'm so excited and just can't wait for Justin to propose! I am so in love with that man.

Well I suppose that is all I've got for now. I suppose I will try to update more often so that I can record my thoughts when I actually have them and not 3 weeks after the fact.

So Wednesday night, we began the Christmas festivities. Dinner was amazing. After dinner we played a game with presents. You rolled the dice and whatever you rolled, determined whether you kept your present or gave it away. It was really fun and I ended up with a stationary set and a candle. The rest of the night was pretty relaxed. On Christmas morning we had a delicious breakfast and watched Jackson (he's 2) open and play with some of his presents. I think it was after breakfast that we played Cranium. It was hilarious! We had 3 teams...me, Aunt Cathy and Erica; Justin, his dad and grandpa; and Justin's mom, grandma and Cathy's husband Darren. And the team we all joked would lose (mom, grandma and Darren) ended up winning. It was so fun. Haha! I don't really remember what else we did on Christmas Day.

Friday was a fun day. Justin and I headed to Freemont Street. If you've never been to Vegas, it's basically where all the old casinos are...Golden Nugget, Binions (formerly Horseshoe), and a few others. Anyways, we walked around there for a little while and since we had a while before the show (they have this big light up screen they built over the street) we drove out to where Justin grew up. He wanted to show me that he lived in the ghetto. It was definitely a shady part of town and I would not have liked living there. We grabbed a bite to eat, headed back to Freemont St. but decided not to stay. When we got back to the house, they had started a fire and were roasting hot dogs and brats. It was a lot of fun but I still haven't gotten the smoke out of my jacket. We didn't stay up too late Friday night because we had to get up early Saturday to catch our flight back to Michigan. We had a long layover when we got to Minneapolis so we explored the airport and got a bite to eat. We were supposed to be in GR at 7:30pm but didn't get in until about 8. Leah and Nick came to pick us up which was super nice.

The last week was spent playing host to John and Nikki. It was fun to see John again and I'm glad Nikki was here this time. It's nice to have another girl around when the boys get into their video games. They got here Tuesday night and we all just chilled out. Wednesday was super fun. a bunch of us headed to a Griffin's game. We won 6-0! After the game we all headed back to Jenny's until about 11pm. Then we headed back out to Rosa Parks Circle to watch the ball drop. There were SO many people...it was ridiculous. We had an interesting time but I don't ever plan on doing that again.

On New Years Day, John, Nikki, Justin and I headed to Craig's Cruisers for a few hours since they were having a special. It was a fun night. After that, we went to see The Day the Earth Stood Still. It was ok. I don't think it was violent enough for the boys haha! When we got home, we stayed up a little while just talking. On Friday, Justin had to work and John and Nikki headed home about 3pm. Liz and I got together for dinner and shopping. It was a really nice night. I miss Liz a lot sometimes.

Yesterday was mine and Justin's one year anniversary. =D I had to work but when I got home, Justin had dinner going and candles all over the apartment. It was a wonderful romantic night.

Well, I should be off. But before I go...

( Year in Review )