It's been too long

Sorry to those of you that check my blog and see that I'm terrible about posting here. I need to change that. Hmmmm where to start. Well my parents are coming to visit. They get here tomorrow. It will be fun to have them up. I don't know what exciting things we will do but I'm sure they will be fun. The only thing we have planned is to take a pie making class in Talkeetna. That should be fun. We will probably make bacon as well. On that note, I've taken up making bacon. I have found that it tastes better and that it's cheaper than store bought bacon. It's also pretty easy. I'm currently in the process of curing a ham. I'm not sure where the desire to start curing meats has come from but it's been pretty fun and it makes for interesting conversation. As I reflect back on this year, I had some fun firsts. I went to Kodiak for the first time, with Bryan, and we took the ferry. Bryan's brother Anthony got married. I went to Hawaii for the first time, by myself and for 3 whirlwind days. I went to Oregon for the first time for a whirlwind weekend, again by myself. I took two weeks off of work so Bryan and I could go to my friend Crystal's wedding. I got to take Bryan to St. Louis and to see my college. We stayed in a B&B for the first time. Although it's not quite a first, but I now have evenings with Bryan. Bryan quit UPS back in the middle of October. For the first time in our marriage, I have him home at nights. It's really made a difference and been an adjustment. It's nice to hang out with him and eat dinner together and go to bed at the same time. Of course he's asleep right now as I type this because I decided that going to bed at 7:30pm was a good idea and then proceeded to wake up a little over 2 hours later, and I'm still up (it's 11:30pm as I type this). I did get his christmas presents wrapped though while I've been awake and I've succeeded in losing my phone somewhere in the house. I'll find my phone, I'm not really worried about it. It's just a thing, it's not that important. Since it's been so long since I've written on here, I haven't updated that I got a new job. I'm still with the Regulatory Commission but now I'm a Tariff Analyst. I've done this for 1 1/2 years. I've been with the Commission now for 3 years. There are some days I shake my head about my job but overall I like it and they still like me, which is important. As I think about this time of year, I'm grateful for my family and my friends. I'm grateful for my inlaws, who have been my family since I met them (which was almost 5 years before Bryan and I got married, and it was months before Bryan and I actually met). Honestly, I'm grateful for all the people in my life. I'm grateful for my church and my faith. Of course I can't forget that I'm thankful for my spouse. Geez, I don't know how he puts up with me some days, I'm sure it's not easy. Regardless, he's always there for me and usually with a smile on his face. It's so easy to get caught up in the daily grind and forget the things that are truly important. It's important to love and laugh. It's important to focus on the good things instead of the bad, which is really hard sometimes. Always smile. Get plenty of sleep and drink plenty of water. Eat cake or some other dessert that you really like. Serve other people. Sometimes all anyone needs is a couple homemade cookies. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season. I will try to make an effort to write more on my blog. Merry Christmas and lots of hugs.

I must be crazy

I'm doing a detox. A 10 day detox. I've finished day 4. It's actually going pretty well. I feel pretty good. Lots of healthy stuff, lettuce, spinach, beans, asparagus, etc. No dairy, bread, sugar, salt, fat (well minus a little olive oil), junk food, etc. We'll see how it goes by the end. I have wanted sugar and junk food but I'm keeping strong. Happy new year everyone (I realize that it's halfway through January). I, as usual, didn't make any new year's resolution. I'm just trying to be a good person this year (as always) and be a good and supportive wife. I don't know much. Work is still going well. I've been given more responsibility I'm not sure it that a good thing or a bad thing. I'm just busier. Life just goes on. We've had some weird weather. It rained yesterday, it's snowed today, and they're talking rain tomorrow. Oh the joys of weird weather.

The year is almost over

I can't believe how quickly the year has flown by. It's been an interesting year. Sorry to everyone that keeps checking this to keep updated on me and I've failed to write in a while. Looking back on this year there is been some great moments and some times that I would rather not repeat. Isn't that how life usually goes though. Bryan started a second job at the end of March so now he works a full time job and a part time job. It makes for long days for him and I don't see much of him during the week but you do what you have to do. His full time job has given us the opportunity to travel out of town a few times this year. We went to Valdez 3 times and Fairbanks once. That's been nice. He's still working UPS in the evenings which means this time of year sleep is at a premium. It's difficult if you aren't getting home till 2:30AM to get much sleep when the alarm starts going off at 6:30AM. I'm not sure how he's managing it. If you didn't know (and I'm sorry I didn't tell you in person, but hey my mom found out on facebook, there's a story to that) Bryan and I got married back in June. We eloped, much to the dismay of our parents. It was so much easier that way. It's been a great 6 months. Our parents have all adjusted (I think). We made the trip back to Illinois for Thanksgiving. If I didn't see you, I'm sorry but we were crazy busy. Bryan had never been to the midwest so it was fun taking him to some of the places I like to go. We went up to Milwaukee, hung out with my family, and ate lots of great food. He finally got to meet my brothers, an aunt and uncle, and my youngest cousins. He also got to meet some of my friends. My best friend's dad lost his battle with cancer while we were there so we made sure to go see the family. It was so great to spend time with them. I'm still working for the Regulatory Commission and I'm still liking it. It's been an interesting year. The people like me and they like my work. Of course as I glance at the clock I realize I need to get ready for work soon. In other news, I joined a gym. I'm a little thinner and that's nice but more importantly I'm healthier. It's only been a couple months but I feel good. I workout 4 times a week and watch what I eat. I'm sure there is other news I'm forgetting but I've got to get ready for work, it snowed last night which means the commute will take just a little longer. If I don't get on here before Merry Christmas.

Reversed roles

I have officially been working at the Regulatory Commission for 6 months. It's been pretty cool. I wish it paid better but don't we all wish our jobs paid better. My job is not stressful, I enjoy going to work, and they appreciate me there. I'm not perfect at it by any means but my supervisor rocks. There are times that it is tedious and boring but what job doesn't have those times. It's so different from teaching. I'm going to miss having my summers "off" but there are a lot of advantages to my job change. I'm learning a lot of stuff and it's interesting to work for a state government agency. Life at home however has been stressful (I don't think it's supposed to be that way). My relationship with my boyfriend is great. He's not what is stressing me out. Although money is pretty tight, that also is not what is my stress-or. Well mostly, it's a little stressful to think about how I'm going to pay bills and such but with Bryan working two jobs, it's been a little less stressful. Of course we rented out a bedroom to help alleviate some of the money stress, that has been very stressful. I have come to a realization that although people appear to be honest and can pass background checks and such, there are people who are very deceitful. Not everyone's moral compass points north (or in some cases anywhere near it). I truly believe that there is good in people and I have not given up on the human race just because I have had some bad instances with people. I just strive to be the best person I can be and encourage it in others. In other news. I'm doing a couch to 5K program with my neighbor. We have completed 2 weeks of it. There are 8 weeks total. So we are 1/4 of the way done. I've never been a runner and there are times that I think running may kill me but I keep going. In ways it has gotten easier and you know what they say, no pain, no gain. I know this is true. Wow can I get sore. I stretch, we do a warm up walk, and then do our running intervals, then we do a cool down walk and stretch. My calves definitely get sore. I keep pushing through. It's not the kind of sore where I think I'm doing injury to myself, it's more my body revolting from the running. I just keep going though. It's healthy to make my fat cry. I keep doing it. I think it helps that I'm doing it with someone. We motivate each other.

I feel that I should do an update but I'm not sure what all to put on here. It's been an interesting couple of weeks. The weather has been a bit bizarre and it's going to continue being weird. The last week has been really sunny and it's starting to warm up. However, there is snow in the forecast again (as well as rain). Maybe if it rains, it will melt the snow. I'm ready to spend more time outside. The daylight is lasting longer and it makes me want to be outside. Soon enough it will time to do that. My roommates are driving me nuts. We've had several problems recently. I can't wait for them to move out. I don't need the poison in my house. Well I better be productive.

At times too busy

I have been remiss on updating my blog. I apologize. Life has been kind of busy. As my last post indicated, I started working for the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA). They are the people that regulate the utilities and the pipeline. I'm having a great time working there. It's also a bit of a change to be so appreciated. I have taken the RCA by storm. I've gotten a lot done in my four and a half months there. My supervisor is very impressed. I've tackled several really big projects and completed them. My supervisor actually took a vacation this year because she had that much confidence in my abilities. This is the first real vacation she has taken in her 5 years at the RCA. She was gone for two weeks. I'm glad that she was able to do it. I however finished all the projects she gave me in the first week. I then had to ask our boss for projects. He was caught off guard that I had accomplished so much. I got loaned to other departments to help complete some of their projects. I also found projects for myself to do (my supervisor appreciates this). My only wish is that the job paid better. Money has been really tight. Bryan got a second job. This one is full time. He is still working at UPS as well. So now he works 8 hours during the day and works his 3 or 4 hours a night at UPS. It makes him good and tired but we should be a little better off financially. My goal is to no longer have roommates when our current roommates' lease is up. I'm done living with people. I'm fine living with Bryan, although I've already told him that he can decide soon if we are going to get married or if we are going to split up. We've been together long enough that he can figure it out. We've known each other for a little over 4 years and been a couple a total of 3 years. We've had a couple conversations about this. He's a really good man. I'd rather not split up but I'm not going to wait around forever. I finished school about 2 weeks ago. It's nice to be done with that. I can actually read for fun again. I graduated with my paralegal certificate. The weather can't decide if it is going to be spring or winter. We got about 18 inches of snow on Monday. I was in Illinois for that but it was interesting to come home to. I had a very whirlwind trip to Illinois. It was super busy. Life has been really busy but things are going pretty well.

Back to work

I might as well continue with where I left off with the last post. I got my few things with class worked out and I started work this past Tuesday. Yay for going back to working. I also attended my last week of class in the evening. This has made me exhausted. I'm not sure how I'm going to survive this next set of classes, since I have class Monday through Thursday from 6-10PM. So work from 8-4:30 and then class after that. Needless to say, I won't be seeing much of my house, my friends, or Bryan. I'm glad to be working and I only have class until the middle of March so it can't be too bad. It's just going to be like my second year at CLC, 2 part-time jobs, 19 credit hours, two sets of private lessons, and a full time volunteer position. I, of course, wasn't trying to be dating anyone at that time so that was a little bit of a hitch. Currently, since I get off of work at 4:30 and Bryan leaves for work at 4:45ish, there is no way that I see him during the week, regardless if I have class. I guess we are going to be those people that only see their significant other on weekends, well when he's awake. Oh well, I guess it's part of life. I'm truly exhausted from working and going to school, and it's only been a week. My friend Cathy works two blocks over from where I do and so Friday (yesterday) we met for lunch. It was nice to be able to have lunch together. Working downtown is a little bit of an adjustment for me as is working in an office again. The people I work with seem really cool and I'm learning a lot. I've pretty much achieved rock star status already, but apparently I get a lot more done than my predecessor and I catch on quickly. My supervisor is thrilled with this. I have reorganized my area and labeled shelves and drawers so anyone can find things. I'm in the process of updating files, which is tedious but needs to be done. My mother is still a little upset that I'm not teaching but I'm done with that bureaucracy right now. That doesn't mean that I'll never teach again, but I can't do it right now. I still love music and although I'm currently unable to play in community band, I still keep the music going. I better go be productive, my house needs to be cleaned and I have a huge pile of firewood that still needs to be cut. I also need to see if the bookstore at school is open so that I can go get my books for my next set of classes. I better get out of my pajamas and on to my list.