Helloooooooooooooooo! We're back!

Hey guys! We have returned! I am still sorting through all the millions of pictures and videos (all awesome), but go visit the wedding bloggity for some pictures from the honeymoon...!
Good to be back, I tell ya! But it was awesome. Much much love!

Yeah buddy!

Here it is...! Pictures from graduation! I got hooded. And became a MASTER. It was actually pretty exciting and fun. In the picture (starting on the left): Amy, me, and Krystal












Next we have: Jamie, me, Krystal, and Amy















Followed by the same folks + Josh...
















And guess who was there?? Kim was watching her brother graduate. What a happy coincidence!!














Jeremy got me an AWESOME Nikon camera as a graduation/wedding/
yaywe'regoingonvactionsoon present! It takes the clearest pictures. Ever. My old camera (I believe) was a 2.3 megapixel. This one's a 10. WOW. And it waits for people to smile. Trust me, we've tested it out. So here comes many many more pictures on the blog cause my camera won't be so crappy. ;) Thanks, Jeremy!
We are down to FIVE DAYS!!!!!!!!!! Hoooooooray! I have serious doubts you'll hear from me before the wedding, so this is me, signing off for now. Much love you all, and there will be many many posts to follow! Thanks for all the support, guys.

EIGHT DAYS.

Go see the wedding bloggity... 8 days away! Can you believe it?
We made our bags of snow for you guys to toss at us as we leave the reception. It's going to be beauuuuutiful.
I graduate tomorrow! Pictures of the batcape to come. This robe is hilarious. Whoot whoot!

Word.

A message from Pooty:
If you haven't reserved a room yet for the wedding and you are still wanting one... please oh-please do that soon! We are trying to get everything all figured out and it would help mucho mucho!
You know who you are. ;) That little thing in your invite has a stamp on it. Hee hee.

But seriously, getting mail every day is FUN. Seeing who is coming to the wedding is often the highlight of our day. We cannot wait. We are in the HOME STRETCH. 20 days. TWENTY! Wow.
Besides all that, I am wrapping up school. Finals this week. Finish up at work next week. Graduate on the 13th. Yes, I'm graduating the weekend before the wedding. Cap, gown, and hood and all. Should be incredibly exciting. I will get my masters... but I still have a semeseter of classes to go. Yeeehaw.
If I am quiet for the next few days/weeks, you will know why. Call me and make sure I'm alive. And maybe go have a happy hour with me. I might need it. ;)

Whoot, whoot double whoot whoot!

I.passed. Hoooooray!!!

I got the letter on Saturday. I almost passed out from anticipation... but it came, and I passed! NOW I can finally relax. And finish up wedding plans. :) Hollah!

DONE. For realz

Well, it's over. Finally. After alllll the months of worry, dread, and studying till I was cross-eyed, it's over. I was in there from 8:30-4. The first half of the day was multiple choice (150), and the afternoon was essay.
Was it really as bad as I thought, you might ask??

YES. It was. Perhaps worse.
After reading the questions on the first page, I had a moment of pure panic. My vision actually blurred and I freaked. I didn't know any of them. These were questions I had never seen in my life. Concepts we had never talked about.
So I skipped to the next page, and it got a little better. Then it got a little worse. I skipped over 50 questions the first time through.
At lunch, I discovered everyone else in my program thought maybe we had been given the wrong test, too.
But we hadn't.
So I have no idea how I did. Fingers crossed that I got a 70%. For real. Fingers crossed. I was hoping to have this huge sense of relief that's over, but I'm not quite there... Now I'm just nervous about the results. Oh, and essays went great. I think. Oh, no.
But I AM glad it's OVER. There is no more studying and freaking out (well, except for the normal amount). Who's letting me borrow "Twilight?" Tonight?

Where you can find me:

TOMORROW: 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. COMPS... Oh, Lord, here it comes.
Tomorrow 4:30-??: At the bar. Either crying or celebrating, it remains to be seen.
Thursday night: Juanita's for Ben Nichols
Friday: BACHELORETTE PARTY.

Counting down the hours... Think of me tomorrow. I need all the good vibes I can get.

Many, many pictures today!!

This picture is from FOREVER ago, but I have not updated in forever, so here it is! ;) This is from Melissa's birthday waaaay back on October 17th. HAPPY VERY VERY VERY BELATED BIRTHDAY to my wonderful sister.
I truly love this picture.


What a busy weekend we had! Friday was our HALLOWEEN SHOWER, so be sure to head over to the wedding bloggity today to see the millions of pictures. Everyone looked awesome.
This is the pumpkin we carved this year. You might notice an odd sheen on it....


That's because we painted it with blacklight-reactive paint! Jeremy hung a blacklight on the porch, so our jackolantern was so super spoooooky and glowy this year. The kids loved it. ;)

SPEAKING OF JEREMY... it was HIS birthday yesterday! We went to Playtime Pizza on Saturday to celebrate and out to dinner with his folks last night. I made him pumpkin cake... mmmmmm! More pictures... scroll on!

Engage-iversay...

Not only was yesterday Jeremy's birthday, but it was our engage-iversary. It has been exactly one year since we got engaged (can you believe it? I cannot.)! To commemorate, we drove out to the spot where he proposed (Flatside Wilderness) with the pups and checked out all the gorgeous trees that are blowin' up. It was a gorgeous day, and it was really nice to revisit our spot. I haven't been there since that day. We have just about a month and a half until the wedding. I can't wait!

Pooty-Zoey were also very happy to return to the spot. ;)

That rock is exactly where the proposal took place. Everybody say, "awwwww...!"

Pretty awesome though, yes?

Whoot.

Many pictures to share with my friends today, but I will start with yesterday's activities with that darling Nate. ;) I got to witness Nate's very first pumpkin patch experience, and it was quite fun. I think he really enjoyed it... the parts where he was awake. Hee, hee.
Our old pumpkin patch (Hidden Valley, out hwy. 10) is closed now (sadness), so we went to Motley Farms. It was $6 to get in, but you got a hayride, petting zoo experience, and pig races included! My pig finally won in race #3.
We got some pretty awesome pumpkins and decorated a little for Halloween. Yay! Pictures of that to come...

Friday, Jeremy and I went to the capitol to listen to Hillary. It was pretty cool, I must say. It was my first political rally (unless you count that one time I went to listen to Nader at UCA years back). Those who spoke included Mary Steenbergen and hubby (my mind just blanked, all I can think of is Tony Danza... what's his name??), Blanche Lincoln, Vic Snyder, Marion Barry, David Pryor, and Mike Beebe. It was good stuff.
If you click on it, you can see Hillary... my camera kind of sucks. ;)

One last cool pic of the capitol...
















LAST weekend, we went to Memphis for marriage counseling with our pastor, and we were going to go camping afterwards. So we loaded up the pups and headed out. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a good spot and ended up coming back to LR. But look at them snuggle....
Even several more weeks back, we went to the zoo. These guys were pretty funny. The gorilla was beating on the big metal door before his feeding time, on the other side of the exhibit, this ape could hear him beating on the door and would run up, jump on top of the bucket, look in the window, and screech back at him. It was a little intense, and also hilarious.
Check out the gorilla with his fists up. I hear ya, buddy.



A side note: I officially registered for comps. They are November 11th. I am starting to seriously study now (not that fake stuff I was doing before). Wish me luck. I am going to be very, very stressed and worried about them, but I will survive! I'm really just ready for them to be OVER now.
Catch ya on the flip side.

Anyone want to go?

Hill's going to hold a rally at the capitol steps tomorrow evening at 5:00 for Obama! Anyone like to go with us??

(PS, don't they look kind of in lurve in this photo? ha ha)

I can't believe the election is so soon... let's go listen to Hillary! Come on, kids!

Here I am!

When did I become such a terrible blogger? I think it's when I became obsessed with google reader and I didn't have to go see my blog every time I wanted to see if any of you guys had updated. Since I don't have to see mine all the time, I kind of forget. I used to be so good... Ah, well. Update!
1. Last weekend was the Lucero Family Picnic in Batesville.
2. Kim and Martha came with me and Jeremy. We had a great time.
3. Jeremy and I talked to Ben, and he's definitely in for the wedding. Can you freaking believe it? This is really happening.
4. Kim and Martha handed out sparklers to many fans at the show. It was a beautiful moment.
5. They sped up the lineup because of the impending hurricane. Lucero came on at 7:30 instead of 10:30. They played for a long, long time, and we didn't end up getting wet. It was awesome.
6. My school year is going really well so far... I am actually working in Conway Public Schools, doing real work. I am totally going to love my job when this is all over with.
7. Classes are not too terrible right now, however...
8. I am in the process of studying for COMPS (gasp. gulp.). That means I have a test on November 11th over every.single.class.I've.ever.taken. Multiple choice and essay (she says as she vomits).
9. My GA position is going (pretty) well so far too. I am in the same building pretty much all day, which gets fairly old, so please feel free to send me an email to entertain me during the loooong days.
10. Today is the first day of fall. This makes me very happy.
11. Jeremy and I have enjoyed a couple of firepits in the past week because of the cool(er) weather. This also makes me very happy.
12. Know what else makes me happy? I have some pretty amazing bridesmaids. You girls are awesome. Thanks for all that you're doing... for realz.
13. Katie's bday was last week! Happy (very) belated birthday, my love!
14. I got to talk to Chandle for a long time on the phone on Sunday. She makes me laugh. A lot.


15. Corey Branan and Ben played an acoustic set at Josie's (just like last year). They were incredible, as usual, and I think Kim fell a little in love with Corey.
16. Ummmmmmmm..... that's all I can think of at the moment. My evenings are much less homework-filled these days (except the nights I study for comps... once a week at this point). So call me. ;)

Good news!

Da booooooooooooooooooot's off! Halle-freakin'-lujah! Let me tell you, it feels so much better. The doc says it's not healed but it's healing. That means I should be very careful... no running and jumping for a while, but low impact should be ok. ;) So hooray! Three of the longest months of my life. OVER. Yay.
This is my first-day-of-school pic, Mom. I had my first day of classes today! Here are my classes for this semester: Applied Behavior Analysis, Practicum I, and Intervention I. I start prac next week, which is basically an unpaid internship where I'll be doing "real" school psych duties. Should be a lot of fun... and a lot of work.
I ALSO got a job today! I am a G.A. again this year, but this time I am working for 2 psychology professors. I got assigned my stats and research design professor and my undergraduate thesis adviser. Should be pretty good. So glad I got a job... I had pretty much given up on it and resolved myself to find something else. This will work much better.
So good news all-around! It's going to be a crazy semester for me, and I know things are going to just fly by as the time gets closer to the wedding. Bear with me...! ;) Peace out.

Pretty nice, don't you think?

Hey kids-
This past weekend we decided to take advantage of SUMMER VACATION 2008 (whoooooooooot) and go camping on Lake Ouachita (every time I spell that word I say "oh-wha-cheetah" to myself to help me out). We got there Friday afternoon and stayed until Sunday. It just so happens that this weekend was the first time in like three months that it rained for more than 10 minutes at a time. The first night was lovely, and Saturday afternoon was gorgeous and sunny. At about 6 p.m., though, the rains started, and they didn't stop until Sunday night. Whew. On top of that, one of the dogs (who shall remain nameless, ZOEY) barfed in the tent right before bed, the tent leaked allllllllllll night on me, and there was an unfortunate encounter with some fire ants. Despite this, we had a blast. It was so nice to be outside and do something since I haven't in SO long. I mean, seriously. Check out that sunrise!
So it's "summer break" for me now. I start back on the 21st. HOPEFULLY I am getting das boot off on the 19th. Fingers crossed! I have no plans for the next week, so if you're around, gimme a call. I'll be watching "Buffy." ;)

Fingers crossed.

Just a quick update....

• I'm coming up on finals week.... hooooody whoo!!! This time it's only just regular tests, not cumulative- THANK GOD. I have group counseling on Monday learning problems on Tuesday. I.can.do.this. This is the last of summer school for me for the rest of my life. Knock on wood.
  
• I kicked some serious bootwah last week with all my hard stuff. I led group counseling on Monday, and it went great. I had them do puzzles (it's really much deeper than that, but that was the fun part, ha ha). Tuesday I had a pretty tough test in learning problems (totally got an A). Wednesday I had a group presentation that I was completely dreading. It was on medical aspects of learning problems (ICK). Totally got an A.
  
• Once Tuesday's over, I am DONE. And I have 2 weeks off. We're planning on taking a mini-vaca (a "staycation" if you will, ha ha ha). Looking forward to it more than you know.
• Making huge advances on wedding planning. My goal is to have all the hard decisions made by the time schools starts for me again. I think we can totally do it. Feeling really good!
• Going to see Kat, Karl, Nate, and Blake tonight. Hoooooray!
  
• That's about it for now. Someone entertain me in my 2 weeks off. I'm free to hang out, hallelujah!!
  

I have been rightly tagged by Melissa Haney.

1. Google Reader has changed my life. Now I can stalk all you people without all the effort. It tells me when you update AND recommends other blogs I might enjoy. I currently subscribe to about 50 bride and do-it-yourself websites. Maybe not 50, but dang close. ;)
2. Because of said suggestions on Google Reader, I did something yesterday.... head over to the wedding bloggity to see what I did.
3. I have 1.5 weeks left of summer school remaining. This semester has brought very interesting classes (Group Counseling and Learning Disabilities), but there are many homeworks and papers due every single day. Makes for a lot of work around here. Almost done!
4. After those 1.5 weeks off, I have a 2 week vaca!
5. The boot supposedly comes off August 19th. FINGERS CROSSED. I feel there may be some very bad news if it's not healed by then.
6. Jeremy's been in Galveston all week. Just a hop and skip away from Hurricane Dora. He said it rained a few times, but as a result made the waves awesome. I wanna go to the beach... He's coming home tonight. Yay!!
7. Again, let me reiterate my excitement over #2!!!!!! :)
8. Now I tag KRISTEN, Leah, and Chandle.

This is from forever ago, but...

A few weekends ago, Jeremy and I drove to Memphis to meet with the pastor from our wedding for (dum dum DUM)... marriage counseling! It was really helpful and actually a lot of fun. We got the OK from God, so we're moving forward with this! ;)
While we were there, we took the opportunity to go to the Memphis Zoo, which I love. I had been there several times with CLS 8th grade field trips, but Jeremy had never been. First of all, they have meerkats (anyone watch the show on Animal Planet? No? Just us then. Ha, ha), penguins, and of course, the panda bears. Not only that, but the "Northwest Passage" is open now, complete with a sealion show. Whooooooooooooooooot.
We had a lot of fun- Jeremy PUSHED me around the whole HUGE zoo in my wheelchair. That's right. That's love. It was about 10,000 degrees out, and we were both just sick afterwards, but it was lots o' fun.
Highly recommend it for those near enough. ;)
Not nearly as sad as the Little Rock Zoo.
I almost bought a wedding dress on Ebay yesterday. Mom had to talk me down from the ledge. Ha ha ha.
Anyone want to do a girls night on Thursday? On the deck? Let me know if you're interested.

El Jardin!

Check out Jeremy's garden, peeking out over the fence! Things are really starting to happen in there! We've had lots of peppers, squash, and ENORMOUS cucumbers (I can't describe how monstrous these things are!). Tomatoes are just starting to ripen!
Check it out in allllllllllllllllll its glory. A-mazing.

If you click, you might be able to see the tomatoes, there are a million, no lie.

The delinquint returns (sort of)

Hey folks. I am indeed alive (just barely). I am smack in the middle of finals week of my first summer session. I just took my phyisological psych final. It was not as good as I had hoped (yucko). There was some stuff on there that I swear I've never heard of. What can ya do?? One more test, tomorrow, on Legal and Ethical issues. I'm a ethical gal, so I think it'll be ok (check. No "relationships" with clients. Got it.).
Let's see... what else? We signed up for community-supported agriculture (CSA, for the lingo folks) last weekend. Here's the website if you're interested- I highly recommend it. Every 3 weeks or so, you get a basket from local farmers stocked FULL of fresh fruits and veggies, plus eggs, milk, and cheese (mmmmm)! You never know exactly what you're going to get because it depends on what's in season. So every time you get a basket, you get to figure out what to make with it (it's like a game, I'm going to love it). It's $60 a basket, but they're huge and will feed you for weeks. It also comes with some grains too (like hushpuppy mix or rice). All local, all fresh, all farm-raised. For you meat-eaters, you can also get a "whole farm basket" which includes chicken and other meats. It's gonna be awesome, I will let you know how it goes. If you're interested, you can sign up at the NLR Farmers' Market.

PS, these are flowers that Jeremy brought me. They're absolutely beautiful, and they look awesome in my new Kate Spade vase he also got me. ;) I'm a spoiled lady. And a lucky one.

Double PS, Chandle's coming home?? Come see me!

Triple PS, I swear to start being more social now that this summer session's over. ;)

Happy birthday, Nate!

Welcome to the family, little guy! Your parents are amazing. (Seriously, go read the story, it's the best thing ever) ;) I can't wait to get to know you better.

Congrats to Kat and Karl! You're going to be great! Love you all dearly!

6 months to go!

Go check out the wedding bloggity for pics from this weekend's celebration!

Sorry for the lack of bloggiture

I'm sorry, did you say it's already MID-June?? What in the world happened to this month? AND the one before this one (don't answer that, I think I know what happened to May)?! School has already flown by. I only have 2 more weeks of this summer session left. Last week was a killer... I had 2 tests, and one was definitely a tough one. Well, STUDYING for it was waaaaaaay worse than the actual test itself. I worked myself up so bad and had many small panic attacks, but the test was not that terrible- I scared myself more than I needed to. Has anyone noticed I tend to do that? Hush it. ;)
Went back to el doctor last week. He didn't even take the boot off, looked at the x-rays, and said he'll see me in a month. My hope is that he tells me I can take the dang thing off at that point and walk out. It's getting old. Imagine wearing the same sock every day for a month. That's my boot. EEW. And it's heavy. And HOT. But it's not a cast or surgery, so no complaints.
I will try to do better with keeping you guys updated. My bad!

They gave me da boot.

Sorry it's a week late, but...

I went to the orthopaedic doctor last week in C-town. He basically took a look at the UCA x-rays, poked on my ankle a bit, and put a boot on me (PS, this isn't me in the pic as evidenced by the black socks). He says I should be crutch-less in a week or so (that means hopefully by this weekend), and I have to go back to him next week with new x-rays in hand.
Good news: It's NOT a cast. I can take it off and bathe whenever I choose. WHEW.

Not-so-good news: I have to wear the thing for 6 weeks. That takes us to July. Oh God, I just realized I'll STILL be in the dang thing when Baby Hills comes to the world. Kat, tell him/her that Aunt Elizabeth doesn't always look like that. ;)

School has officially begun for me! I am taking physiological psych and legal and ethical issues. The latter is a little more interesting for me, but they're not too bad. I have a million things to do already. Luckily, I have a program friend who lives in Little Rock who has been gracious enough to drive me to C-town every day. WHOOOOOOO! Alright, must go study now!

While my foot has been turning purple...

... Jeremy's thumb has turned green! Look at his AMAZING garden! I am so proud. I, obviously, have not contributed one little bit (well, I'm big in the "moral support" department). Soon, there will be vegetables galore, and I can't wait!!
A tour of the garden: imagine a clock... Starting straight up at 12:00 along the whole back fence, we have tomatoes. Around 1-2:00, you will find some peppers (tabasco, serrano, and poblano). About 3:00, you will find cucumber. 4-5:00, two basil plants, some rosemary, and some Greek oregano. From about 6-9:00, the big daddy plant- squash... mmmmmmmm!
Everything has really taken off. Jeremy took pics for me since I have not moved from my station on my couch for more than a week now. ;)
The squash is my favorite... the pic just doesn't do it justice- it's HUGE!!

Third pic: The cukes and basil

Fourth pic: The very first teeeeny pepper!! He thinks it's a tabasco. Things are really coming along! Way to go, Jeremy. I'm proud. Mostly because I kill plants, and I am in complete awe. ;)


Update on the break... not much to report at this point! I have had LOTS of visitors, which really makes the time go by well. Chandle sent me 2 seasons of Buffy, which has also really helped. It makes me oh-so-happy. I have had trashy mags to keep me entertained for days, and lots of candy. ;) I think once I make it till Thursday, things will get much better. I am expecting a hard cast, but we'll see what they say. The swelling has gone done immensely, but the bruising is still a little icky (I had lots of scrapes from the gravel where I slid). The pain is getting much more manageable, for sure. And I've definitely caught up on sleep! So thanks again to all you friends for coming to see me. It makes me feel muuuuch better! Will let you know what the dr. says soon!