What A Week!

Wow, I'm exhausted. It's been such a long week.  I've been working on this dreaded analytical report for so long and I FINALLY finished it today. What a relief! I have about a 1-1.5 wks. worth left in the class and then I will be free! I can't wait! This class has been kicking my butt..haha.

Tomorrow's my graduation party....and of course it's supposed to rain. :P This happened last year @ our cookout too. Crazy Indiana weather, always ruining our parties :p So yeah, Mom and Jennica went down to Lafayette to buy all the supplies for the party while I was stuck at home finishing my report. So yeah, we've been busy getting everything ready around here. Mom made a seven layer salad, Jennica and Mom made deviled eggs, I made a corn salad ( I got the recipe from my marvelous friend Beth who is always whipping up yummy things) and I'm making a chocolate sheet cake.  They also picked up a cake from Yellow bowl Bakery in Lafayette.  Dad's been busy putting his new grill together that Mom got him last year and also cleaning out the pool. It was a mess from all these storms we've been having! 

Diego has been having a bunch of interviews, so that's good news.  He has a third interview scheduled for this really nice job in Beverly Hills. I think it will be on Tuesday....so I'm extremely anxious to find out how it goes.

I've been really stressed the past week or so...I've been in a weird mood and I know I've probably been grouchy.  But today I just had a moment where I realized how blessed I am and how truly thankful I am for all the goodness in my life.  I was thinking about the tornado victims in Missouri and hearing all those devastating stories....It made me feel so blessed.  Yes, I have frustrations and stresses, but I am alive, I have my health, my family and friends are alive.....I was watching the news and the reporter was talking to these three teenagers.  Their mom went to the store and was gone when the tornado hit.....she never came home.  they found her car, the seatbelt still buckled, and they found one of her shoes.  They thought that she was sucked out of the car.  And that's just one of many horrific stories.  I simply cannot imagine the devastation...what that would feel like, and I hope that I never have to experience something like that.  I wish that no one had to experience such awful things. So in spite of my crazy moods, I am so very, very grateful for the simple things in life.  :)

I'll leave you with some photos from this week....

My cake from the Yellow Bowl Bakery in Lafayette...I'll let you know how it tastes ;)

Isn't it pretty? It's strawberry with vanilla buttercream frosting. Everyone was mad at me because they wanted chocolate cake :P haha I can't help it if I love strawberry! ;)

Dad put his grill together for the party! It's mammoth! Mom got it for him last year for Father's Day...yes, procrastination does run in the family :P

Dad's been working on cleaning out the pool...It was all messy from the storms we've been having....
but he's got it sparkling and clear!

Jennica's recipe box and cards that I made her for Christmas last year. I asked everyone to write down their favorite recipes and included them in the box.  A great gift if I do say so myself ;) hehe..I actually bought one of these boxes for myself. I just haven't had time to make all the recipe cards and the dividers. It's a lot of work!

I love, love, LOVE cherries! They are one of my absolute favorite fruits ever. I've been eating them by the bowlful the last week or so haha. I have a slight addiction. :P but i guess there could be worse addictions, right?

My favorite chocolate cake recipe. It's the best!

So I've been trying to eat healthy lately....lots of fruits and veggies. This was my first time eating asparagus! I'm not quite sure how I felt about it...it had kind of a different, almost bitter taste, and yet it tasted so good. There was this addictiveness about it that's hard to explain. It left me wanting more. lol...

The new sidewalk @ the house....

Isn't it pretty? Of course, it stormed the day that they put it down.....I think most of it was ok though. There might be one small spot that was affected. 

The pretty balloons that mi familia got me for my party tomorrow! Aren't they nice?!

The cake that I'm baking....it's taking longer than usual...but then I did triple the recipe so that might have something to do with it. I hope it turns out ok!

Well, that's all folks! As soon as this cake is out, I'm going to hit the hay. G'nite!

Some Crazy Weather....

Wow, so this weather has been crazy lately.  On Sunday we had scary weather and then today the sirens were going off again today.  Thank goodness we haven't had the horrible storms that they had in Oklahoma and Missouri.  I couldn't believe the damage that they were showing from those tornadoes.  I don't think I would ever want to live in tornado alley!

So yeah, on Sunday I sitting outside on the porch, talking to Diego when suddenly the wind REALLY picked up and the sky was looking a very strange color.  Mom and Dad were at church, so it was just me and Jennica home.  I raced inside and told Jennica to grab her things and head to the basement.  There was just that weird feeling in the air, when you know something doesn't feel quite right.  So it really started storming, I had never seen it get so windy. It lasted for a little while and knocked the electricity out.  We later found out that there had been a smallish tornado on the north end and it hit the Farm Bureau Insurance building.  Thankfully, no one was hurt! Here's a video clip of what happened:

Rensselaer twister caught on video: wlfi.com

In other news, I've been spending most of my time working on this horrible online class.  I'm not making the progress that I had hoped because I'm stuck on this crazy analytical report. Ah well, all I can do is my best I suppose.  

Saturday was a long and busy day.  The first part of it was fun, but the second half was not fun at all! lol Jennica, my mom, and I got up super early and headed down to Laffy for dress shopping with Kristina @ David's  Bridal. The store opened at 9am  Rensl time and we were even there a few minutes early.  I took my wedding dress back to be cleaned, only three years later. haha. Then Kristina tried on dresses and looked absolutely stunning in all of them! Then it was on to the bridesmaid dresses.  After trying on many different styles, we finally all agreed on this really pretty purple taffeta bubble dress! It's absolutely gorgeous! :) I look forward to wearing it! We went to see the church and it is amazing! I think it's going to be a beautiful ceremony.

So after dress shopping, visiting the church, and eating lunch-- we went over to the apartment to wait for the movers. They had previously told us that they would get there in the afternoon--anytime after 12. Well, they didn't show up until almost 7pm. sigh. And then, they messed around for an hour moving things around in the truck while they had us mark all the boxes with red tape. They finally began to move everything, but it took forever and a day. I do have to say that they wrapped all the furniture really well. So yeah, they finally finished at midnight.  So our things are officially on their way to California.  I still need to go over and finish cleaning the apartment though. I'm not looking forward to that task. :P

Diego has had a bunch of interviews, but so far hasn't been able to find anything decent.  He did have a couple promising interviews for a job in Beverly Hills for a very high end client.  They're doing a background check and then he may be called in for a third interview.  This would definitely be an answer to prayers! But I don't want to get my hopes up.  I'm just praying that it will work out if it's supposed to be. If not, hopefully he will find something else.

Well, that's all for now. I'll leave you with a couple photos from the past week...

The little cubicle @ the library where I have been spending a lot of my time....

Some sandals that I was checking out on Saturday....they were having really good sales at Kohls! I didn't end up buying them though....

The main mover, Nacho, had this written on his clipboard....

I think this was taken on Monday night...I thought the sky looked really cool!

A Moving Update...

Well, Diego left for Cali four weeks ago today. Can't believe it's been a month already. It seems like forever ago. More than likely I won't be heading out there for at least another month. Originally, I had planned on leaving the first week of June, but Diego hasn't really worked much at all this past month and so we're short on money and don't have an apartment lined up.  So it's looking like I probably won't get out there until late June. At least, that's what I'm leaning towards right now. The plans could change at any time. We may leave sooner, we may leave later. Who the hey knows?! haha

Yesterday I got a call from the moving company saying that the movers would be here this morning. So Jennica, Mom, and I headed down to Laffy to finish packing up my things. I think we got almost everything finished up and ready to go! It was quite sad and I'm feeling a bit melancholy. :( Anyways, so then they called back later in the evening and said that there was a change of plans and the movers won't be here until Saturday morning sometime.  I guess the truck was filled up so they have to make a couple stops and drop some things off before they head over this way.  It kind of stinks because I'm supposed to be going wedding dress shopping with Kristina on Saturday. I might be able to get my dad to go let the movers in though...we'll see.

Here are some photos from the packing on Tuesday:

Mi Hermana

Hillbilly packing job...haha

Lots and lots of boxes...

Actually, it's not as much as I thought we'd have...but I'm pretty sure that we're probably over our estimated weight already. lol...

Jennica and I went by campus on Tuesday to drop my graduation gown off . While we were there I browsed the bookstore for Purdue gear! haha Here's the wishlist I came up with:

Now I will be the first to admit that I haven't had a lot of school spirit, but it's amazing how that Purdue pride kicks in once you graduate and are getting ready to move to a new place. As i was browsing through the bookstore, I wanted to grab everything with the Purdue stamp. haha. This coming from the girl who doesn't own anything Purdue.  Oh, except for that Purdue sweatshirt I bought like a year ago and rarely wear. haha. Before that the only things I had bearing the Purdue mark were the tuition bills that I received each semester. haha. Now I"m all excited about getting Purdue bumper decals for my car, the whole Purdue thing around the license plate, the keychains, the things to hang on the wall, the mugs. haha. I think it's because I'm moving so far away. Around here everyone has something that says Purdue so it doesn't really mean a whole lot. But out there in Cali, it will be different. If I run into a fellow Purdue alum, there will be this certain kinship. Sounds sappy, but I think it's really true. Plus, I'm hoping to have a classroom to decorate eventually and what better way to decorate than with a bunch of Purdue banners? hehe ;)

Anyways, in other news. Diego's had a couple interviews this week. He got a job offer for some lighting company, but I think that's going to be a last resort because the pay isn't that great and there are no benefits. He's still hoping to hear back from the Santa Monica Pier job. Plus, he has three interviews lined up for tomorrow. Tow at staff agencies and one about some energy auditing position. So we'll see what happens.

Okie dokie, I'll share a couple photos from today and then I'm outtie. ;)

My graduation announcements came in the mail the other day. I'm super excited about them. I really wanted to order some, but didn't have the money to spend on them. Now thanks to my parents, I have them. Thanks Mom and Dad! :)

:D

I went to the Rensl. library to study today. (They now have free wi-fi...sweet!) While I was there I checked out my old stomping ground. This was my favorite section when I was younger because it contained all the books by my favorite christian fiction author Linda Chaiken! I don't really read a lot of Christian fiction these days ( I don't think they offer many quality books) but I have to admit that I still love Linda Chaiken. haha :p

Last but not least, here are some pictures from the house. They started tearing up the blacktop in the driveway at my parents and will be putting in new concrete. This is what they accomplished today:

They tore up some of the grass to make the driveway a little wider.

They're redoing the sidewalk as well.

Oh, and this is the lamp post that Grandma knocked over when she was backing up. haha


Well, that's all folks. Night night.

Busy, Busy....

Well, one extremely busy week down and one more to go. Last week was crazy busy! I spent the week packing and working on school. I think we packed everyday except for Friday. I had lots of help from my mom and Jennica. Aunt Key, Aunt Mary, and my dad also helped. I couldn't have done it without them all! I think we're about 90 percent packed now. I just have to finish packing up my clothes and all the odds and ends. I still haven't heard anything from the movers. They're supposed to give 24 to 48 hour notice. Hopefully they won't call until the end of the week! That would be nice!

My goal is to finish this crazy online class by early next week. Hopefully that will give me enough time to have my grades finalized by June 7th. Oh, and I took my CPR training class on Friday night. It went pretty smoothly. So now I am officially CPR/AED certified! yay!

Oh, and I graduated! (Well, kinda...i won't get my official diploma until i turn in this online class) Saturday morning was my graduation ceremony. We had to get up at 5 am because the ceremony started at 8:30 am Rensl. time. Craziness! I had to be there an hour early to get signed in, etc. Things were so disorganized, it was seriously a mess. haha. I waited in line (to check in and get my number ) for over an hour. I think the ceremony actually started late. It was pretty cool though! I had never really felt much school spirit up until this point. LOL. I think the ceremony lasted about two hours. The longest part was when they were having the masterr and ph.d students walk. It seemed to take forever. I really enjoyed the whole thing though. They had a priest open and close the ceremony with prayer and he had a lot of good things to say. He actually almost made me cry because he was speaking about using what we've learned to be of service to others in the world. President Cordova canceled out (I guess Liberal Arts isn't really her priority ) and the Provst guy spoke instead. After everyone had walked, they had one of the trustees speak. I'm not sure what his name was, but he had a lot of good things to say and I really enjoyed his speech. He was African American and was talking about his experiences at Purdue and in the workforce and the African American struggles for equality. It was quite moving.  After the ceremony, we walked around  and took a bunch of photos and I showed Mom and Dad my spots on campus--where I had spent most of my time.

Diego is not having a whole bunch of luck with the job hunting. His temporary job pretty much sucks. He's been gone almost four weeks and he's only had about six days of work. He's had a couple interviews, but nothing has worked out. He does have an interview this morning, so maybe something will come of that. I'm just praying that something comes soon; otherwise, we will not have the money to get an apartment and pay our bills. lol. It's really kind of scary. We thought that he would be bringing in money through this temp job, but their work orders fell through and they laid off most of the workers. Diego is actually one of the only ones they even kept on the payroll because they said he was a good worker. They supposedly have work lined up in the near future, but I dunno. We need money now! lol. I'm having trouble applying for teaching jobs because a lot of places require that I attach my teaching certificate,etc. which I won't have for another month or so. I did apply for this part time job teaching writing to 5th through 8th grades students for the summer. It's only part time but it would at least be bringing in some sort of money, plus it would be a great experience! So I'm praying that it will work out if it's supposed to be.




Well, I supposed I should get busy. I'll leave you with some photos from the week.

The creepy little baby that we used at CPR class. I didn't get a change to take a picture of the adult one....haha

View of the sky outside of Pizza Hut on Thursday night. Mom and I were just getting back from laffy and we we met up with Dad and Jennica for dinner.

The sky looked so pretty this night! It looked especially pretty near the fields, and there was this PERFECT shot as we were driving into town, but I didn't stop. I so regret it because it was gorgeous! Ah well...

View of the "windmills" taken while Jennica and I were driving. We were coming home from laffy and traffic was stopped on 65 so we took the back roads up to about Wolcott.

This was taken during packing. That's the monkey that I got Diego for our anniversary last year. It sings some sort of song...can't remember the lyrics though.

Decorations for my Grad party. Jennica and Mom went shopping on Wednesday, I think it was. My party isn't until the 28th I think, but they wanted to make sure they got everything while all the grad things are out.

My cap and tassel. Jennica and I went to campus and picked up my cap and gown on Tuesday, I think it was. We ran into her friend Megan who also graduated on Saturday.

Graduation ceremony tickets. Sorry it's kind of blurry. We were in the car and kept going over bumps. haha

That's me after the ceremony....

Well, thanks for reading. Happy Monday everyone! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! Jennica and I spent nearly the whole day baking...haha. I'll share some photos from the weekend.

The flowers and frosted cookie that we gave Mom last night.

Oops, she had already picked one up. (she loves them--the more frosting the better hehe) Oh well, I'm sure we'll finish them both. :P

My sista, looking pretty with a flower behind her ear. ;)

This is the breakfast we made for Mom. Hawaiian french toast.

Cupcakes that we made for Mom, Grandma and the aunts.

Chocolate with cream cheese frosting, topped with strawberries, coconut, and walnuts.

Frosting the cake....

Just finished decorating...the table is a little messy. haha. I wasn't happy with how it turned out decorating wise...I writing looks absolutely horrible! The bag got a hole and the frosting was leaking out...so this was the best I could do. haha. Ah well...It was the first time I ever used fresh flowers to decorate..I was kind of happy with how that part turned out.

 Mom with her cake! :)

So yeah, it was a nice Mother's Day.

Tomorrow should be a busy day...I think Mom, Jennica, and I are going down to Laffy in the morning to start organizing and packing things up at the apartment. I'm kind of dreading the task. I also have this crazy school hanging over me. So in the next week I have a TON of schoolwork to do, plus the packing. So it should be an interesting week. Hopefully things will go smoothly!

In other news, Diego has an interviews in the morning. I think it's at the amusement park @ the Santa Monica Pier. So we'll see how that goes.

Well, that's it for now. Nighty night!