update

I AM AWAKE.

and hungry.

why is it i can be bored and sleepy all day, and not eat anything and be content, but when 8pm rolls around, i am wide awake and hungry?


so i haven't updated in ages because i've been out of town, unemployed, bored, and kind of forgot about this blog.

ANYWAY.

james and i played the adult game tonight and went dishwasher shopping. sounded MUCH more exciting than it actually is.

REWIND: our house has been falling apart. we rent from my grandmother, who moved to a retirement home last year. we get a good deal and we take care of her house, and she is lovely and generous and lets us live here for a good price. unfortunately.... her house is over 45 years old and for the majority, was lived in by one person. So when three boisterous post-college students moved in... her pipes, appliances, and carpet got some mclovin. that being said... a few months ago, the fence fell over. in the last two weeks, the water pipes broke and flooded the carpet, ruining it. and just this past weekend, the 1965 avocado green old school kenmore dishwasher finally bit the dust. so we called up the "landlord" aka my dad, and said... "so bad things come in threes...." and it was time to go shopping.

Here's how it went:

"i am busy this this and this night.... let's just go tonight to look at dishwashers" - james, as i get home and he's busy steaming off wallpaper while i sat on my butt watching TV and ran a few errands most of my day.

"okay." -me

if it had just been me, i would have gone and wandered around and probably have gotten distracted by the fancy fridges, wine fridges, and camping gear.... oh wait, that's EXACTLY what happened.

we found the sears _______. call it what you want. it's the place where unloved sears appliances go to find new homes when there are cosmetic defects or people just didn't like the product, but they still work. it's in santa ana. so we go.

James? Brings his legal pad, a pen, and the 2008 consumer reports manual. i just so happen to have my camera in my purse, and my cell phone to call my dad and ask what kind of dishwasher they had in their house.

while i wandered around, he recored serial numbers, prices (before and after) and stock numbers. i took some pictures and tried to pay attention.

that being said, we came home, constructed an email to send to the appropriate people, ironed some clothes, and played with the cat. we'll probably have a new dishwasher in the next week, one that was chosen dilligently and from research. he did the research, i dillegently bugged the "landlords" for the money to pay for it.

we're a good team, we are.

update

i feel that maybe i should actually invest in a computer that works, instead of stealing my boyfriends, but i'm poor and unemployed, and well, that's just too hard.

that being said, i kind of suck at this whole blog thing lately, but here is the short version:

i went up to my hometown for 2 weeks and survived, and had a good time! my brother's dog is super cute. when i got home, james surprised me with a sweet homecoming and congratulations cake!


i went to nebraska and met my boyfriends parents, and survived that too! two thumbs up for KP. plus, nebraska was actually kind of cool (shhh...) and i enjoyed seeing james' old stomping grounds (okay, three years worth... he lived in montana for 15 years before that and then moved to california for college).

we celebrated our one year anniversary by getting a cat. his name is TJ (short for Thomas Jefferson) and he's pretty rad. i've learned a lot over the past year, and my other half makes my life pretty darn great. okay, better than great :)


here's us a year ago, exactly

we housesat for this super swanky couple who have an AMAZING house with an incredible view for the weekend and coming back to our cozy little home was a little depressing, but whatevs. we'll have that nice home someday. :)

grad school

so i applied to grad school a month or two ago and it was a hellish experience, dealing with lots of papers and people and OMGOSH i'm glad that process is over.

and as of yesterday,

i have been accepted!!!!





i don't know if i'll be able to go (it's EXPENSIVE) but the fact that i got in to USC (university of Southern California),

SQUEE!!!

i'm officially a trojan!

it's almost a little ridiculous how not having a working computer/internet can be. i mean, i have a computer. i have internet. but the two, they just hate each other and refuse to be friends.

therefore, i have a crackberry.

that takes lots and lots of time and attention to actually do anything with.

so i check my email *they show up as texts. i check facebook *i have the facebook app. i check LJ and blogs when i can *LJ and blogs never work on my blackberry.

then i am left to my own devices: stay up until midnight, pretend to sleep with j, get up, and steal both his computer and his internet, which both like his computer (Unlike mine).


THEREFORE.


sheesh. it's weird not updating. exactly one year ago:

-my grandma had a heart attack
-i met drew, my gay BFF
-i joined the gym, resolving to lose X number of pounds
-j and i went on our first "date" to the regan museum
-there was a watershow for my swimmers
-i found out that driving was a big no no for my gma
-i found out that i'd be living at my gma's house



today, a year later,

-my grandma is in great shape and in no danger of any health problems (i had dinner with her tonight, in fact)
-i still am friends with drew, but in a different capacity
-my membership is over, and i have lost 25 pounds and gained some of it back, and have been really lazy about going.... and am about to go to costco and buy the two year membership deal they have
-j and i have been going strong and i have no doubt in my mind that i will marry him one day and we will have a family and a dream home. i love him.
-i will be having a watershow on Friday and then i will most likely quit because i (still) hate coaching
-my grandma still can't drive, but i think her moving was the best thing we could have done for her, and she is good where she is.
-i know that i will be living in this place one year from now, and not moving is a huge plus.




i know i have written about my grandma Grace before, but i truly believe that she is next down the road somewhere next to jesus. i have never met a more loving, compassionate, selfless, caring, giving woman in my entire life. if i could be 1/10th of the woman she is, i would be amazed. i wish i could be 1/10th of the person she is. she is who i aim to be in my life. she is the mother Theresa of our time. i know a lot of people do good, and some even do good to produce publicity. and i've said once, and i will say again, that she has touched the lives of many many people and i could never imagine someone better than her. someone who has lived a harder and better life than her, and someone who could ever top who she is and how much she loves. even if there was an unbreakable wall in front of her, one that no one could break, even the strongest fighter, my grandma would find some way over, some way to find whoever was on the other side and love them and make them believe they were a special amazing soul that could never be replaced. and she would do it softly, with a smile, and try not to bother anyone around her. she would hate to displace anyone.

there are few people in this world i could imagine without. my grandma is one of them. how a world can exist without a soul, a heart, a mind like hers is unthinkable. she is the world, she is the heart beating blood through the veins, and she is the mind that influences the people to love one another for who they are and to have more hope than anyone i have ever met. her joy is nothing that i have ever seen, unspeakable and like watching a child being born: nothing you can explain. just a phenomenon that takes place that can't be described with words. a deep appreciation that can't be explained.

a world without Grace is unthinkable. and a world without Grace is sad.

so tonight, i thank God that i have her one more day, and that Grace is given to me, even though i surely don't deserve it. but it is still given to me, because Grace is forgiving, loving, and can overlook the bad things. Even as I lay at the pit of despair, or at the feet of greed, the Grace of mercy is given to me, both here on earth and in heaven above. i pray that somehow i can show how grateful i am. and all i can say, is "thank you." words that never seem enough compared to someone so great.

i hope, that one day, i can be like her.

still here, same old, same old.

unemployment is interesting. on one hand, i want to get a job and have an income and work towards something.

on the other hand,

it's nice to have (free up to $2500) money and three (VERY VERY VERY) part time jobs.

meaning, i spend a lot of time watching HGTV shows and wanting to fix up the place I live in right now. The problem?

I want help. and my help is in law school. and an intern for the OC sheriff's dept. and... well, not around when i am motivated.

not to mention, I AM BORED.

j and i had a nice dinner on the pier tonight in balboa and watched the sunset. i should definitely take advantage of the fact that the ocean is a mere 15 minutes away, and that LA is less than 45. they have all SORTS of free museum days and whatnot.

in the meantime.

thinking. and waiting to hear back from grad schools. *DOH for waiting until the last minute to apply.