I'm about to drop off the face of the proverbial earth, but don't worry. I'll return.

Well, kids. It looks like I am about to disappear for a little while here. I worked all weekend on my midterm, which is due today (THANK GOD it's done with) and I have a couple of tough weeks coming up. So don't worry about me, I'm fine, I'm just buried in the books for a little while here.
Friday I shadowed the school psychologist in Benton all day. I looooved it. Looks like I'm doing the right thing here. I'm going to love my new job. It's very exciting. It's also reassuring to know that there IS an end in sight, and all this statistics work will be worth it. Eventually.
That evening, we went to the goooood ol' Arkansas State Fair. Yeeeehaw! To see the BEST ride there was (I dare say one of the best I've ever been on....) click this link then click on the box that says "EXT" in the top right corner. You will get to watch a video that just doesn't do it justice. Awesomely terrifying. Also got to see a minute of REO Speedwagon and a shark show (pretty lame, the sharks, not REO).
Saturday I worked hard on my midterm, yes again, and spent the evening by the fire pit. It's that time of year again!!
Coming up:
*Midterm due today.
*Shadowing in Cabot on Friday.
*Jeremy and I are going to see Demetri Martin (of "The Daily Show") and Seth Myer (of SNL) at UCA on Friday.
*Halloween party on Saturday!!!
*40 minute presentation due Monday.
*Stats test on Wednesday (on Halloween?? Seriously?)
*Paper due sometime next week, must check on that.

So you might not hear much from me on here... but I'll be back! Much love.

A biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig Happy Birthday to Missa Faye!!

Happy birthday to my lovely sister today!!! (Not that it's a big birthday or anything.... not making a big deal out of it!) I'm so proud of Miss Melissa, and I love her oh-so-much!!
PS, it's nuts to me how kids multiply in size- look how small Carleigh was just a year ago!

Have a great day, Melissa! Wish I could celebrate with you... stupid class till 9. :( Love you!!

Yay, Fall!

I finally got a chance to do some fall-time activities this weekend. Namely: the pumpkin patch. Hooooooray! It was a beautiful day on Sunday, and I had a little window of study-break time, so Jeremy, Julie and I went out there. It's so hard picking just the right one because there are so many good ones. Our wagon overfloweth. I have lots of pictures today so keep scrolling....!

OH NO! Carnage at the pumpkin patch!

SURPRISE!!

Saturday night we had a SURPRISE birthday party for my lovely lovely Missa Faye (who's birthday is actually tomorrow...). She was totally surprised, especially since she said NO birthday this year. ;) TOO BAD. Love my sister, and we had a great time!! Happy (slightly early) birthday!!

Who are those ADORABLE children??

OH! That's me and my sister! ;) My mom sent this to me as her vote for her favorite Halloween costumes that we wore as kiddoes.
Pretty stinkin' cute. BTW, I even had a fake wart. And I think I won a prize. I was one scarrrrrry 3-year old witch.

It's actually true.

toothpastefordinner.com
Got my first round of tests back... allllll A's thus far, baby (look, Ma!). Unfortunately, I have the sneaking feeling that this triumph will come to a screeching halt. Coming up in the next couple weeks:
*40 minute presentation (including powerpoint, handout, and activity for the class)
*Midterm due (basically 3 papers and a powerpoint all rolled into one)
*Papers, papers, papers... in all classes basically.
*Round 2 of tests just around the corner. All at the same time. Including the beloved statistics what the professor has called "the test from hell."
*Shadowing two full Fridays (aka "my day off" ha ha ha ha ha) in Benton and Cabot with their school psychs. That will actually be fun though. ;)
*So if you don't hear from me for a while, I know you'll understand.
*After Thanksgiving I should be golden. ;)
*Go watch this now. Click here to watch a seriously funny video from BWE. And this one too... It's Drew Carey on the Price is Right and a woman that needs to potty.

And you?

Whoever dressed their 4th grader child up as a suicide bomber has some serious issues, I'll tell you that much. Whoever dressed up their child as STRONG BAD, however... well that's a different story. What was your favorite costume as a child?

It's that time of year, folks. Time to decide what you'll be this year! Let's start by taking a look back. ;)

MAN!

WELL, that's no fun. Turns out Wes Anderson's new movie is nowhere near us. "Limited theaters." What the heck is that...????? There is no sign of it coming here any time soon. Seriously. What is going on here?

On a better note, moviefone has released their list of top horror movies (adding one a day till Halloween). What's yours??

Outlook good says the Magic 8 Ball

This week's assignment: positive outlook.
*Someone loves me enough to have made me a LIGHT SABER. And Melissa and I take a funny picture with them. I just came across it...
*Halloween is riiiiiight around the corner. It's my favorite.
*I've made my favorite October snack: candy corn + dry roasted peanuts= the inside of a Butterfinger, and it's deeeelish.
*My house is already getting decorated for the holiday. Yes, that's right. I have purchased holiday decorations, and I'm thrilled.
*A trip to the Pumpkin Patch is in order very very soon. I love gourds.
*I got to babysit Melissa's pups this weekend. My doggies are still recovering from constant play.
*I have my first professional organization conference this week. I'm an official member of the Arkansas School Psychology Association. I have a card and everything.
*I don't have class today.
*Midterm soooo almost here. Once this month is over, the rest will happen REAL quick-like.
*I'm having Mr. Stir Fry with Melissa P. Haney on Wednesday- hooooooray! $3.99 for a TON of spicy fried rice. Mmmmmmmm my tummy is growling now.
*See?? Outlook good.

Meet Henry, the vaccuuminator

True story: when I was a child (well, through the teenage years in fact), Henry was a member of our household. Yes, he was stored away in a closet, only to emerge on Saturdays when my dad would get him out. I eventually harolded him as a friend, although our relationship started off rocky (since I hated his sole purpose and all). But there's just something about a vaccuum with a face-- a smiling face-- that makes it ok to do chores. You should see him with his long nose attachment.

Henry showed back up in my life yesterday when I was looking at my old MSM bud Catherine's facebook, and she had posted this pic of Henry. She was in FRANCE of all places, and thought it was quite amusing. So she posted it along with all her other French pictures. Ol' Henry. It's a small world, after all.

I found these quite amusing today

nataliedee.com


nataliedee.com

I've got me a test today to take in Theories of Counseling. I ain't worried though- I think this class is for people that have never heard of Freud before (lots of "eeeeew! That man is sick!" comments heard throughout the classroom). Ease up, everyone. Can't believe it's almost midterm time- EEK.

A couple of things...

Today= my boo's birthday. He is officially old (did I say that last year??). He doesn't read this blog, but I don't mind. Happy happy berfday to Cody, pop-culture extraordinaire!!
Take a moment to gaze upon the wine cellar. Yup, on those shelves are wines that we have made. Each and every one of them. Most recent: our Malbec, which was recently completed. I just wanted to share the beauty of such a sight with you guys. It's truly incredible, that wine cellar.

Here's another shot just to put it all in perspective for ya. And yes, those are bottles on the bottom row as well, and noooooooooooo we didn't drink all of them. Seriously, we didn't. Don't worry about me. ;) A good portion of them come from friends and co-workers who want to contribute to the wine-making process.
It's a sight to behold, yes? ;) Leah makes a monstrous cake, we make wine! Ah yes.

Another funny wedding picture

This one's from Katie... and here's what her email said to me (I'm laughing right now as I write this):

"i will send an album of all the photos later, but i love this one the best. perhaps because your tan native american skin makes my pale skin look so so good. i might actually be a ghost."

Love that Katie.

Finally... ta da! Jaime and Ryan's wedding!

It really was so much fun... Thanks to Jaime and Ryan for letting us be a part of it! Jaime looked beautiful, and the band (Damn Bullets) were incredible. We danced and danced! Love you guys!

PS, I have taken the slideshow off... if you want to see more pictures, let me know and I'll email you a link to the full album!

HOLY LORD, what happened to my week?

(ha, ha, there's her mean face! I think it's hilarious cause she's quite possibly the sweetest dog in the WORLD)

I have no idea what happened to the last week. I have been crrrrrrrrrazy busy. First, the wedding (which I'm trying to upload photos of). Jaime and Ryan's wedding was AMAZING. I had such a good time. It was one of the best weddings I've ever attended! The reception was a blast... pictures to come. Other things to be thrilled about:

• I got an A on that ridiculous stats test. It is a miracle from above.


• Melissa and Greg are movin' back to the big city!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't wait!


• I temporarily lost my G.A. position (long story short: lack of funds), but got it back again..... STRESS, but it all worked out!


• Got an A on my first paper.


• Going to visit CLS tomorrow (sniff!)


• The weekend is ALMOST here.

Birthday, Gregie-poo-licious style!

Happy birthday to my wonderful brother-in-law Gregie Poo. I hope you have a wonderful day!! Is this a good use of my time (drawing hats on family members)? I think so. ;)

Happy berfday, Greg! Love ya!

I'm a member.

Today is my first official test (shudder in fear) in statistics... Not just any statistics, but the kind where you have 60 definitions you have to memorize because you have to write the whole thing out on the test. Yup, that kind. So wish me luck. This week has been slightly insane, work-wise. I hope to return to the land of the normal-functioning student (OR human being, for that matter) at some point. Wish me luck. I'll let you know.

Belated yet sincere!

My wonderful friend Katie turned the big 2-5 (how is she such a baaaaby??) on Saturday! Happy birthday, Katie! Love you oh-so-dearly! Truly, I do!
Weekend update:
I had a ridiculous amount of homework to do this weekend, so I stayed home on Friday and read 5 enormous chapters from my ginormous book. Took a much-needed break and watched "Disturbia." Saturday, studied some more then went over to Ben's house to watch the game. Sunday... guess what? Studied some more- knocked out a 9-pg paper in no time at all. I still got it, people! Dat's right! Last night, we went to eat at Pizza Cafe when I was done with everything then went to see "3:10 to Yuma." Jeremy says it's no "Lonesome Dove" (and really, what is??), but it's a great cowboy movie if you're into that. Christian Bale did a really great job. And AJ from "Empire Records" is in it for like a minute and a half. Yup. It's what I do, spot obscure people in movies. ;)
I found this adorrrable pic of Katie and Holt hanging out for the first time ever ONE year ago at David and Judith's reception. So cute. Yay, them. ;)
Have a good week, everyone! Here we go again...!

If you've been wondering what I've been doing...

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Trying to capture Zoey's killer face when they play, but my camera's too dang slow. It will come with time. Trust me.


But really.... workity, workity, work. That's what. ;) But if you're REALLY interested, visit the Arkansas State Improvement Grant website and read all about it. I work with the two fellas that are in charge of Goal 2. It's really interesting work and a lot of great experience. Today and yesterday I went to a training they give at the DoubleTree. Some awesome stuff on time-out, teachers.
Up next on the agenda: reading, reading, reading, and studying for a big stats test I have next week. I'm fairly certain it might kill me, so wish me luck. Stats and me, not good friends. Plus, there are only 3 tests, and those are the only grades for the class. Must do well. Peace!

What happened to the wine o' the week??

It's been far too long since I've departed some wine-y wisdom, so here we go... Apparently school has distracted me from my duties. My bad. This one is a Kimmy P. suggestion that is fantastic for the remaining hot days we have in September. Silver Birch Sauvignon Blanc-- very refreshing. Very grapfruity but not sweet. Here is some info from a website review:

About Sauvignon Blanc:

"Every winegrowing region in New Zealand produces Sauvignon Blanc, yet the best examples come from Marlborough, on the northern tip of the South Island. Warm, dry days, very cool nights and long days of sunlight during the growing season ripen Sauvignon Blanc just enough to develop its mostly green-fruit flavors, yet retain the wine's signature firm acidity."

About Silver Birch:

"This wine is distinctive for its aromas of talc, jasmine and musk, and the palate of juicy ruby grapefruit, kiwi and passion fruit. It's brightly acidic, with a stony, lemony finish."

Mmmmm!

One day late...!

... but it's never too late to wish my parents a very very happy 32nd anniversary!! 32 is my dad's favorite number, so that means it's going to be one heck of a year! Love you both dearly!!

I am home today, not driving back and forth between here and C-town for the first time in 2 weeks. Whew! I will normally have Fridays "off" (although I plan to take advantage and study a lot those days). It's just nice not being in Rhonda the Honda a little. ;)
Work is going great so far- it's really interesting. I like all my classes too, and I finished my very first paper last night (not due till next week, thank you very much). I am having trouble getting used to all the reading they love to make me do, but I'm getting in the swing of it. Looking forward to October, when everything should be in a flow... ;)

Have a good weekend, all! Anyone have any big plans?

More B-ville pics

Oh, there you are, Ben! My pictures from Lucero at the Riverfront did not turn out so well because we lost our super-sweet seats in the front... apparently the kiddies don't like to sit and watch. Oh well, we kept them for most of the day. Anyway, these up-close pictures are from the "after party," where the kiddies (well, the high schoolers) weren't allowed. Ben and Cory played basically another whole show. Makes a girl happy.
Anyway, I'm at work (shhh...), but I'm about to get rollin' on some state school discipline data. Yeeeeehaw. Wednesday is my long day, so I am in C-town from 8 a.m. till 9 p.m., so be thinking of me.
PS, I'm pretty sure we're BFF with Cory Brannan now. Prettyyyy sure.

One last shot of the sunset on the White....

And here's a pic of Glossary, a band I now like a lot. Their new album is available for free uploading on October 2nd, so look them up. They have a chick that sings (like the Paper Hearts) and a bearded man that plays the slide guitar. ;)

Beautiful, downtown Batesville

Jeremy and I traveled all the way to Batesville on Saturday for the first annual Lucero Family Picnic. Let me tell you, folks, it was a genius idea. They got a bunch of bands (Lucero, Cory Brannan, Glossary, Southern Bitch, and Two Cow Garage) to play down at the Riverfront Park there. We could bring in a cooler (as long as there was no glass), BBQ was for sale (among other delicacies), and they played for hours. Throw in some family-picnic-style games (pictured here) and some CAGE FIGHTING (pictured at the bottom), and you will guarantee some F.U.N. on Labor Day weekend. I will definitely be going to the second annual family picnic, as it was one of the funnest things I did all summer. No joke. Here are some of the many, many picutres I took. Thanks for the ticket, Jeremy- I had a blast!

Cory's guitar cord kept punkin' out on him, so he went cordless. Incredible.

An accordian. It gets no better than that.

More pictures soon...