A day off = a day for blogging!

Well I feel like a slacker now because I think I have not posted in the longest. I guess some things have happened that I can tel you all about. :)

First and worst: School. Actually, not that bad this semester. I am taking a course about integrating technology into the classroom and a literacy course. The tech one is sweet because as I think I've mentioned before, a lot of the people in my program are a lot older than me, and therefore I am probably the most tech-savvy person in my class. Which is good for the ol' ego. ;) It's also a lot of fun because we are learning a lot of resources that will be really useful and fun for teaching. I also signed up early for one of the only projects we have to do and presented last week so the rest of the class should be pretty low-stress.

The literacy course is also very interesting although a lot more (surprise) reading and writing-heavy. At least the stuff we are assigned is usually interesting, and I am learning a lot of useful techniques since I'll be teaching Language Arts hopefully. Also, I am just super happy because this is my last semester of classes before student teaching! I'll be full-time at Essex Middle school in January and I can't wait. After that I have about 6 more classes required for the master's but I am going to really spread those out over the next two years because a) they are expensive and b) hopefully I'll have a real job once I am licensed so I don't want to take too many classes when i am actually teaching and c) which is kind of the same as a, Greg and I are hoping to move next spring around when we get married to a place where we can get (a) dog(s) and having a dog will be an additional expense as well as a huge additional time commitment but I am seriously DYING for a puppy.

Speaking of pets, Rorschach is doing well. :) We bought some more wire panels (like the ones I built his cage out of) to block off our computers and under the bed so now we have to worry about him a lot less when he's running about free. We also discovered that putting a sheet of tinfoil on the couch keeps him off of it which has been really helpful because the couch is the one place he thinks is exempt from the litter box rule. Or maybe it is so comfy he wants to take it over and thinks if he pees on it enough we'll let him have it. Either way, he has been outwitted and thanks to out strategies, he's been a very good bunny lately. :)

He also gotten a lot friendlier. It is hard to believe that when we first got him he was scared half to death of us. Now we play games where he chases us around, and he always hops about the bathroom when I am brushing my teeth, and if Greg and I hug each other he always hops right between us so we'll pet him. He's really really cute. :)

Now for more exciting things! I also joined meetup.com and it has been really great. I think I mentioned I joined a women's only group and it has been really active and fun. I am very excited because we are going to see David Sedaris next week--he is coming to Burlington and I love him. Also, one of the girls in that group mentioned to me that there is a game night downtown.

Downtown there is a gaming store called Quarterstaff that sells lots of role-playing books, dice, miniatures and card and board games. They have a separate room upstairs where they have Magic card tournaments and stuff like that, but every Tuesday night they use that room for people to play board games. I'm so happy that my classes are not on Tuesday nights this year! I've been a few times now and really love it. Last night I played Agricola with four other people and it took FOUR HOURS. We played from 6:30 to 10:30. It was insane. Last week I played with the same people and we played Le Havre and Pandemic, both were also really fun. This is probably what I look forward to most every week. The people there are so welcoming and friendly and the games are so fun! I am really bad at remembering people's names though. I know the names of the people I played with last night but that is all. However, one of the guys I play with a lot, Matt, and his girlfriend are friends with the girl Bridgette and they and Matt's girlfriend Becky and some of their other friends apparently all get together on most Wednesdays at a place downtown. It is called Drink and if you guys ever come visit me (hint hint ;) I will take you there. It is a lot quieter than most of the other bars around and they have a lot of board games there and I believe Wednesdays they have cheap Mojitos. Anyway, I will find out tonight. :) They go most Wednesdays like I said, to play Apples to Apples and they invited me to come with them tonight! Yay! I am excited to make new friends, and I really like Matt, although I am a little hesitant because I get the feeling that the girls in that group are a little dramatic. We'll see though. I am hoping I can get Greg to come too tonight but since he hates meeting new people, and loves playing video games when he gets out of work, the chances are probably not high.

That's about all I can think of for exciting things, but because I can, I'll also add in some silly wedding stuff which can be skipped over if it is boring haha. :) Not that you couldn't have skipped earlier stuff too I suppose. :) ANYWAY, I got my dress a bit ago, but I don't think all of you have seen it. I am so excited about it. My sister and I went and tried on a bunch of dresses at a few bridal places in town and we saw some pretty ones (like the ones I posted before) but they were all really expensive. I was looking on ebay a lot and then I started reading the Craigslist wedding forums page. This is where people were posting stuff about what they were doing for their weddings to get ideas, and a few people mentioned some websites they had bought their dresses from. So I checked them out and found a couple dresses I really liked. I was really scared because the sites looked kind of sketchy and the comments/reviews were pretty poorly written which made me doubt their authenticity. BUT they were so much cheaper than ones in stores here! So I was a little torn.

However, one of my cousins got married last year. She bought a dress for the wedding soon after getting engaged, but she ended up getting pregnant and had to buy a different dress for the wedding because she couldn't fit into the first one. She offered to let me borrow the one she didn't get to wear for my wedding. I hadn't seen the dress before, but it sounded pretty when she described it to me. So, I figured, I'd take a chance on this website and order the dress I found there that I really really loved, and if it came and was really crappy, then I would just wear my cousin's. I'm sure it would be fine.

So I ordered my dress--they custom-make them so my sister had to take all my measurements--and waited. The site said I should get it in about three weeks. I got it--it cost less than $150 including shipping. It does not fit exactly, but I do not know if that is their fault or ours since we aren't like professional measurers. It is pretty close, but I will need to get it taken in about an inch. But other than that, it is so perfect! I don't think it looks any different than one I would have bought here, and it seems like it was sown really well too (which was important because the priest I was talking to about officiating was telling me horror stories about brides he's seen whose dresses have ripped off during the ceremony!)

Here is a picture! My sash is blue though, not red. I honestly didn't think the dress would be a big deal to me, but it seriously makes me so excited every time I look at it haha.

My sister and I have started making favors, too because there are so many of them to make and they are kind of involved. But they are going to be so cute! I don't think I want to say what exactly they are here though, it might be nice if there were some surprises left by next year, haha.

Also, if any of you have any input for fun things to do over the weekend (I hope most of you can make it for the whole weekend!) let me know. I am really hoping the weather is nice because there is a lake on the resort and I am hoping my grandparents will bring up their jetski so we can play on that, and I am praying my grandfather's boat works for once when we want it to so we can go water skiing/tubing also. Also, do people prefer a game of volleyball or softball? Greg's mom wants there to be like a contest for towel decorating because the resort does not provide towels. So like whoever brings the most creative towel or something, haha.




Okay done with the obligatory wedding gushing. =P I feel like such a girl when I talk about it. Anyway, I miss you all and I hope we can get together again soon!