Thursday Thoughts {Vol. 22}

This weeks post might be all over the place, because I just have so many random things I want to blog about!

Up first is the fact that my left ring finger is currently naked and will be for two freaking weeks! :( I went to Kay Jewelers yesterday for my 6 month cleaning/inspection and was told that my center stone was extremely loose and needed to be sent in. I am thankful that the stone didn't fall out, but I'm still so sad that I don't have my ring. I feel like a piece of me is missing and I keep giving myself mini heart attacks when I realize it isn't on my finger. Maybe I'll get it back before the estimated return date?! One can only hope!

Speaking of yesterday- It was such a great day and I want to document it. I had the day off so I got to spend the day with my grandma. We went shopping, out to lunch, and had so much fun together. We talked, laughed, and just enjoyed each others company. I am so grateful to get this precious time with her and hope that we have a lot more days like this one!

One of the things I picked up while I was out shopping with grams was the new Sacrifice Pandora charm. I may not be an Army wife anymore, but I am the wife of a Veteran and the military will always be apart of us. I was even wearing my new WWP shirt that says "the greatest casualty is being forgotten."

My new hair dryer is the bomb.com! I mentioned in my last post that I've been wearing my hair down a lot more frequently and it's all due to this guy. It took me months to finally bite the bullet, it isn't cheap {I paid $150 on Amazon}, but I'm so glad I did! It completely dries my extremely thick hair in 8 minutes and my hair feels so soft/frizz free afterwards! Next up on my list is learning how to use my curling iron. Baby steps people...

Another thing I'm going to try out is self tanning, because my legs are beyond ghostly white, I'm pretty sure they could be considered see through, and it finally warming up here in the mitten! This set was only $20 during the Sephora sale so I snagged it up. I am a little lot intimidated though.. I've never fake-tanned before! Any tips?!

It's FINALLY warm enough to take Duke on long walks again! It amazes me how much the weather impacts my mood, but I've been so happy ever since Spring made it's presence in Michigan! My fanny pack cracks me up :) Haha

Dog walking season also means that it's Ritters season! Best frozen custard hands down! I could eat it every single day and not get sick of it. Next time I go I'm going to buy the gallon size to keep at home :)

The last thing I'm going to ramble about is the fact that we need a second dresser. We were blessed with a massive closet at our last apartment so we didn't think it was necessary to buy the 7 drawer chest that went with our bedroom set. Fast forward a year and we just don't have enough room. Half of our clothes are in boxes downstairs, some are in the spare bedroom closet, some are under the bed in storage bags, ect. I finally convinced Thomas that it'd be a good purchase to make with some of our tax return. Now we're just waiting for a good sale to come along!

And there are all the things I've wanted to blog about this week, but don't warrant a post of their own! What random things do you want to ramble about?

Random Thoughts on the Friday Before Christmas...

I honestly don't even know where to begin... I have been SO busy this past week and feel like I'm a chicken running around with its head cut off {so much for being on "vacation"}.

Yup I'm officially on vacation until January 6th! Wednesday was my last day with the girls until the new year. And I can't believe how blessed I am with this job. I never dread going to work and I actually feel appreciated! I mean my bosses gave me a $200 mall gift card for Christmas! How generous is that?! Definitely thanking my lucky stars for this one, I lucked out big time :)

So since I have two weeks off of work I decided that I need to check some items off of the never ending to do list:
- Clean off my laptop and back it up {this has been on the list since August. Yikes!}
- Clean off iPod and cameras
- Edit wedding posts {I want to make them more detailed....LOL}
- Finish T's Army scrapbook
- Start Duke's scrapbook
- Organize filing "cabinet"
- Put together bookcase
- Set up 2014 Erin Condren planner
- Submit all grad school applications
- Start reading Canon T3 book and practice
Not to mention everyday things like blog, walk Duke, laundry, clean, visit my grandparents, ect. I think it'll definitely keep me busy and won't allow me to waste the days away!

I still can't believe that Christmas is 5 days away! We have SEVEN events between now and then, but I'm so excited for all of them. The only thing that'd make these days better were if T was on vacation too :)

I probably won't post again before Christmas so I'd like to wish everyone of you a Merry Christmas and I hope you all enjoy the time spent with your loved ones! My next post should be my big Christmas recap!

Grad School Update

I've been meaning to post about my grad school application process has been going for weeks now. Better late than never right?

For a little background information- I graduated from Western Michigan University this past April with a Bachelors degree in Speech-Language Pathology. In order to work in this field you need a Masters degree. Last year I only applied to one school and got rejected. I decided that taking a year off was in my best interest anyway and I'm so glad I did. Now it's time to apply again.

This time I'm applying to five schools- Eastern Michigan, Wayne State, Grand Valley, Michigan State, and Western Michigan. I honestly don't have a preferred school, I just want to get in somewhere. SLP is an extremely competitive and rigorous program so I'm not being picky.

I mentioned that I took the GRE in October and did well enough {in my opinion}, I have 3 outstanding references {one of my SLP professors, my clinic supervisor, and the SLP I shadow/volunteer with every week}, and now I'm filing out these applications. Which means entering every single class I've ever taken, all the volunteering I've done, ect. It isn't hard work, it's just tedious and time consuming. I'm 95% done with this proportion and next up is writing my personal statements and academic statement. I am draggggging with this part of the application process. But I'll get it done within the next week. My goal is to have all applications submitted around December 15th even though they aren't due until the middle of January/beginning of February.

I'm just ready for the process to be over. I'm ready to know if I'm supposed to be a speech-language pathologist or not. I'm ready to pay for these applications so that the fees aren't hanging over my head anymore {goodbye $800}. I'm ready to find out where we're moving to next. Waiting for the decisions is going to be the hardest part, because it might not be until August! Oh boy, I sure hope that isn't the case.

So there's where I'm at with my applications and what's ahead. I'd appreciate any good thoughts sent my way!

Random Things You Should Know About Me!

Jen tagged me weeks ago and I'm just getting around to posting it.. sorry about that!

1. What is something you thought you would never do or accomplish but have?

Graduating college with honors. School has never came easy to me, I graduated high school with a 2.something GPA and it wasn't something I took very seriously until I started college.

2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Honestly, I have no idea. Things are so up in the air lately that our lives could go off in plenty of different directions. I just hope that T and I are finished with school and working in fields that we enjoy. And hopefully purchasing our first home.

3. Who is the most influential person in your life?
Without a doubt, my grandma. She has taught me everything that I know.

4. What is the best advice you've received about blogging?
Blog for yourself and not other people. 90% of the reason I even bother with this blog is to have our lives documented somewhere, I don't do it for numbers. But, I don't mind "meeting" new friends either ;)

5. If you had to be stuck in one season for the rest of your life what would it be?
Summer, because I love getting to enjoy and explore Michigan in the summer. Laying on a beach/hammock will always be my favorite thing. Ever.

6. What is your greatest accomplishment in life so far?
Two things- graduating college with honors and our relationship making it through Thomas' Army enlistment/the 3 years apart. It definitely wasn't easy.

7. Who in your immediate family are you most like personality wise?
Hmm I'm not sure, but probably my grandma.

8. What is (or was) your favorite class in school?
In high school I loved English and in college I loved my speech classes {obviously} and Psychology!

9. What is your absolute favorite store to shop at?
Target. Come on... that shouldn't even be a question haha

10. What is the best vacation you've ever been on?
I have two- the Eastern Caribbean cruise I went on with my family in 2006 and our honeymoon cruise.

11. Have you ever left the country? If so, where did you go?
Yes- Canada, Bahamas, and Caribbean.

Life Lately

Even though I've kept up with posting lately I feel like I haven't really mentioned what has been going on in my day to day life lately, so here I am :)

• I RSVP'd for my commencement ceremony just a few hours ago! Still can't believe that after five years I'll be graduating with my Bachelors degree. For the first time in a LONG time I have no idea what is next for me.

Don't mind his leash.. we need a new on ASAP

• Duke started Puppy Kindergarten at our Vet's office and boy was (is) it needed! We're having A LOT of difficulty with biting, he's regressed in potty training, and he's getting sick from every treat we've tried. There have been more days than I'd like to admit that have ended with me crying on the bathroom floor.
• In other Duke news- he's getting his man parts chopped off and chip implanted tomorrow morning. I'm reallyyy hoping that this surgery will calm him down some.  I've also found two dog parks in the area that we're going to visit this weekend.
• I'm beyond ready for Spring Break, which starts on Friday. A break from classes and work is greatly appreciated. Too bad I have a lot of schoolwork to catch up on. We're spending the first 4 days in Kzoo and heading home for the last 5.
• I am so over snow and winter and cold weather. This winter is 10x worst than any in recent memory. I don't think I've seen grass in weeks.
• We got our tax return and I've been doing a ton of online shopping ever since! I'll post a "haul" once everything arrives.
• Over the past week I've made our vacation packing lists and I've started shopping. Can you tell that I'm a tad bit excited?!

Must Watch Beauty YouTube videos!

I'm one of those people who could spend hours a day watching beauty videos on YouTube and my two favorite types are hauls and monthly favorites. But, my all time favorite videos come at the end of December/beginning of January.. the YEARLY favorites! And Broadcast Beauty takes the cake! I LOVE all of her videos, but her Emily Awards series are a thing of beauty ;) You can tell she puts so much time and effort into this series year after year (2012 was her fifth time doing it)! So everyone needs to check them out!