Thanksgiving

I can't believe its December already! This year has gone by so incredibly fast. My Thanksgiving break also went by quickly, even though I had 3 thanksgivings! The monday before thanksgiving, Janet Brian Chris Amanda and I had our own thanksgiving dinner in the apartment. Chris made ham, Brian made stuffing, Janet made mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and I made pumpkin pie and jello. It was nice to sit down and have an actual meal with everyone, we've all been so busy that we haven't had a lot of time to eat together and catch up.

I went home for break on Wednesday. I helped my mom clean and cool and ran some errands. On thanksgiving we had Brian, Sheila and the boys, Travis, who is my mom's cousin's son (my second cousin) and Steve. It was the first time we've had a lot of people come to dinner! There were 10 of us total I think. The food was spectacular as always and it was nice to catch up with everyone.

That night, Steve and I drove out to Deleware to spend Friday and Saturday with Steve's family. We drove out Thursday night at abotu 630-7ish and we got to the house we were staying at in Rehobeth beach at about 930/10ish. That night we just got settled and played some poker with Julia (steves sister) and her husband matt. The next morning we got up bright and early to go outlet shopping. We were pleasantly surprised to see that the outlets weren't all that crowded considering it was black friday. We hit some pretty good deals and we were all shopped out at about 1 oclock or so. We went back to the house to nap, and got up for dinner. Matt cooked yummy burgers for everyone and afterwards while steve's parents went to a play, the four of us watched a movie and then played poker for the rest of the night. The next morning, we all got up early again to have thanksgiving lunch with steve's grandparents. They live in this adorable little house which is really old. It felt like you were escaping from the real world. This was a big thanksgiving too, there were 13 people there. After lunch, we did a little more shopping and then Steve and I headed back on Saturday night at about 63oish, stopping at Sonic on the way back. Sonic is a delicious fast-food burger chain that advertises in maryland, but sadly there is not a single one in maryland. So steve and i took advantage of being in deleware and had quite the dinner that night.

While it was a busy weekend, it was still sad to have to go back to school and work on sunday. The good news is that there is only 2 more weeks of classes and 1 week of finals until the semester is over! Then, the day after my last final, the kirkwood clan is heading out for our cruise to the carribbean! We are all very excited for that :)

I hope all of your thanksgivings were fun and food-filled!!

Sarah

Well it has certainly been a long time since I've posted on here. The past few months have been crazy busy between school and work and trying to have a social life somewhere in there! Here are some of the biggies that have happened:

- In August was my 21st birthday... I had a ton of fun getting to go out with my friends finally (I was the last to turn 21). I survived the night and the next day I went to an Orioles game with Steve, Janet & Brian, Steve's sister and fiancee at the time (now husband) Matt, and my friend Doug. It was lots of fun and definitely the best place to recover from the night before!

- I started a second job at Applebee's to help make up for the loss of hours at the Golf Course (it's being renovated and is closed until Mayish of next year, so as a result the restaurant is still open, but just with very limited hours). So far it's gone pretty well, it's pretty easy stuff and I can also bring my books and things to study if we're slow. I've been there for about a month or so.

- I have registered for my last semester of classes at Maryland! It was such an odd feeling knowing that come this may I'll be done with my undergraduate degree! So weird... then comes nursing school and who-knows-where, I'll figure that out later.

- Steve and I are still going strong... we're coming up on 7 months soon... I honestly don't think that either one of us thought that we'd make it this far... haha! A couple days ago was his sister's wedding which was fun, I got to meet a lot of family that already think I'm part of the family! This thanksgiving he will come to our house for dinner on thursday and then that night the two of us are going to head to Deleware to celebrate thanksgiving with his family.

- Janet and Brian are also still going strong, yesterday was their 3 year anniversary... I can't believe it's been 3 years!! I can definitely see a wedding in their future... :-D

That's about it, I have to head off to class but I'll leave you with some pictures!

Pic of the Beau

So it has been requested that I post a pictured of Steve...I dont have any pictures that are just the two of us, and this one was taken last spring, before we were dating. Ha, he looks pretty uncomfortable, but it's prob the best photo I have of him. Hm... I'll have to work on that...

The girls in the picture are (from left to right) Christina, Lauren, myself and Cara. I went to high school with Lauren and Cara. Christina i met through Lauren and Steve.

I'll post another picture when I get a better one!

Time for an update!

Hello there! I figured it was about time I updated, it's definitely been a while.

There's not really anything exciting going on, I'm enjoying summer vacation and not having to study or read textbooks. I've been trying to read as much as I can this summer, books that I'm actually interested. I just finished Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. It's a fantastic novel about a girl who falls in love with a vampire. Its part of a series, so I think today or tomorrow I'm going to go out and buy the rest of the series.

I'm also working a lot, which is nice, because i'm making more money than I was during the semester. I'm working between 40 and 50 hours almost every week, which is tiring, but at least i can make my own schedule so I can vary the types of shifts that I work every work which is nice. We also have new upper management which is great, we really like the new director. He's very nice (and very gay) and so far he's done a good job with the place.

Other than working and reading all I've really done is hang out with Steve, and my other friends. Steve and I double date weekly with a girlfriend of mine, Ashley and her boyfriend. Last week we did Sushi and it scrumptious! Last Friday Ashley and several other of my girlfriends drove up to Ephrata, Pennsylvania to go to a ginormous flea market. They had possibly everything you could possibly ask for, it was really hard to get out of there without spending all of your money!

I think that's about it- I'll update again soon! :)

Sarah

It's summer time... finally!

Hello summer! With school finally behind me for the semester, I can start to relax... at least until work. I took my last final yesterday, which means that I am now, officially, a senior, and I only have 1 more year until I have to go out and live in the real world (yikes!). Because the lease on my apartment is a year long lease, I have it for the summer, which is nice because it is so close to work and I don't have to commute as much as I did last summer. Also, my apartment complex has its own pool which just happens to be right across the street, so you know where I'll be on sunny days!

This coming weekend is Memorial Day weekend, and on Sunday we're having our usual family dinner, although this time we'll have company- Steve is coming over, as well as Rachel's boyfriend, Ryan. Ryan wants to be a mechanic, so he and Steve will have plenty to talk about seeming as Steve is a mechanic and can tell him what its like. Then, on Monday, Steve and I are going to the Orioles game with Steve's sister and her fiancee. Afterwards, there are several BBQ's and birthday parties that I have pledged my attendance to, so I will be jumping around to several different ones! It will certainly be a busy day!

As for right now, I'll be working a lot this week and next week. Janet and I are also thinking about painting our living room and putting curtains up- we're just trying to decide what color to do. We want to do it soon because she has an internship in Annapolis starting up where she'll be gone Monday through Friday from 8 to 5.

That's about it, I'll blog later when something exciting happens. Have a great weekend!

Sarah

It's been a while...

It certainly has been a long while since I last blogged! Things have been so busy with school and work (and a new boy...) that I've neglected my blogging duties!!

This week is the beginning of finals (I'm clearly procrastinating). I had one this morning, have one tomorrow morning, and have one next wednesday and then that's it! I'll be done for the semester and I'll officially be a senior! Scary huh?? I can't believe how fast the past three years have flown by!

As for work, upper management is changing, so theres been a lot going on to get ready for the switch. Apparently, our new head administrator is quite a bit stricter than our current one, so we're trying to whip the staff into shape before he gets here. Hopefully the new guy will come in and change things to make everything run a little bit smoother.

And as for the boy, I've been dating Steve for just about a month now. We actually went to high school together, so we've known each other for quite a while. We started hanging out again last fall or so and we decided to give this a shot, so we'll see how it goes! So far so good :)

Not much else has been going on, I've gone to a couple Orioles games and been to a few small concerts but that's about it!

I should probably get back to studying, even though ever since Janet bought Mariokart for the Wii, that's all I've wanted to do, which is terrible for the massive amounts of studying that I need to do for finals...

Sarah

Where's the break in spring break?

It's been a busy week since I last updated-

Friday was the last day before spring break- I went and got my hair cut and dyed (nothing too drastic). It's a little longer than my shoulders and it's a nice dark chocolate brown- I haven't taken a picture since I got it cut so I can't show you guys what it looks like. I had my one class that afternoon and then met Mom and Dad for happy hour in Columbia.

Saturday was Shamrock Fest. We had the best weather anyone could have asked for in March. I wore a light jacket and flip flops to the music fest. I went with some friends of mine that go to UMBC, so it was nice to see them again. We had a lot of fun!

Sunday was a huge function at work. It was for NACUFS (National Association of Collegiate and University Food Services). It was quite the event! We had the entire event room decked out and we even put an ice cream parlor in our restaurant! There were about 180 people there, all of which are "big-wigs" in dining services. It was a long day, I ended up working 13 hours total for the day. All was well though, later on we got a letter saying that our event was the best they had been to ever, and they've been to some pretty fancy shin-digs!

Monday was St. Patrick's Day- I was scheduled to bartend all day but I failed to remember that little fact when I scheduled my interview for an unpaid internship for that afternoon. I managed to have a friend of mine watch the bar while I went to my interview, which was for a nurse's assistant job at a local hospital, Montgomery General Hospital. I ended up landing the position, and you're looking at (or rather reading the words of) the newest nurse's assistant on the oncology and ER floors. It will definitely be tough work but I'm really excited to get started and get into the nitty gritty!

Tuesday I had the day off from work, so I went home and helped my mom clean out my room and figure out what to do with half the junk that's still in my room at home. We ended up cleaning it out pretty well- we threw away about 3 bags of junk and gave away 4 bags to Purple Heart. All in all it was a pretty productive day!

Wednesday I worked all day and then went with my parents to meet two of my mom's cousins in town from Wyoming. We met at this nice little grill in Union Station in DC. We also met their son, who is 23 and lives in DC and practically the perfect male specimen! Too bad he's my second cousin...

And today, was a long day as well- I was in at work at 715 am, and didn't leave until about 5 or so, which makes a nice 9 hour work day. I'm heading into overtime for this week- I've got about 35 hours or so already for the week, so on Saturday hopefully I'll move into time and a half!

Today also begins the wonderful season knows as March Madness- my brackets are ready and I'm good to go! So far for the day I'm 8 for 8, 100% :)

That's it for right now! Tomorrow will be the first day of relaxation, the Kirkwood girls are heading to the Spa courtesy of Grandma Kirkwood! We're all very excited for some much needed R&R.

I'll update again soon!

<3 Sarah

T-minus 1 class until spring break

Spring Break is so close I can feel it! It also helps that it's 58 degrees and sunny outside right now. I have one class tomorrow afternoon until Spring Break officially starts. Unfortunately I won't get a whole lot of time to relax, I have only 1 day off from work next week, and my professor just assigned us a project to do that is due the day we back. Arg! I guess its a good thing I'm not going anywhere during break, right?

There really isn't anything else going on right now. Saturday Janet, Brian and I are going to DC for Shamrock Fest. If you recall from last year, it's a huge irish festival with a ton of bands and games and stuff. I had a lot of fun last year so hopefully this year will be as good too.

This past week has been pretty boring, only work and school really. I'll update when things get more interesting!

Sarah

Blogging, 21st birthdays, and spring break?

A friend of mine has just recently started blogging and it's giving me a newfound motivation to blog more frequently. His blog though is much different in that his blog is about his random thoughts that he gets during the day (and of course he's a much better writer than I am) such as "Where do birds go when they die?" and my personal favorite "Can a person without a right arm obtain a driver's license?". Needless to say they're pretty funny, and I'll pass along any of his blogs that I think you guys would be interested in. He's only blogged couple times during the week, but that's way more than I blog and he's just as busy as I am so there should be no reason why I don't blog as frequently as he does. So here goes my update for the day:


This past week was filled of studying and celebrating birthdays. Four of my friends turned 21 last week which made a very expensive week and not to mention hard to study. I've posted a picture of one of the dinners I went to; it was my friend Vicki's birthday (she's the one with her feet on the table) so we went out to PF Chang's in Columbia for some yummy Chinese food.

I also had 2 exams last week, both of which I think went very well and I'm very satisfied with how I did, so that's good :)

My spring break plans have changed as well- it turns out that some of the girls that I was going with (also seen in the photo above) have been arguing about their rent for next year and so they've decided not to go to North Carolina anymore, which would leave Katie and her friends from high school that I've never met and then me. So I decided that I would just stay in College Park over spring break and work, relax and possibly paint my bedroom a different color.

My roommate, her boyfriend Brian and I went to the movies earlier tonight and saw "Jumper"- it was a pretty cool movie, but the acting was pretty bad; the special effects kind of made up for it though.

Other than that there's nothing much going on- next week should be a pretty easy week, no exams and not a whole of work involved so I might get to start spring break a little early :)

<3 Sarah

Only 3 weeks until Spring Break....

Oh, only 21 days until Spring Break- where I will be with my favorite girlfriends on the beach in the warm North Carolina sunshine... it could not come soon enough! School is getting more hectic, with exam week coming up, and the spring semester always seems to fly by.

This weekend was a much needed break- I worked early on Saturday morning, was off by 3 and spent the night in Columbia with Janet and Brian roaming around from house to house to Chipotle then eventually to my house to show them Abbey- they, of course, fell in love with the adorable bundle of fur as we all have.

I had Sunday off so I went home and the fam and I went up to Baltimore to see the BodyWorlds exhibit- where they display actual human bodies that have been "plasticized" to show muscle, bones, tendons and all that good stuff. Dad and I were very stoked to go- Mom and Rache needed a little more convincing though. I think we all enjoyed it- I wish I could have spent the day in there just reading everything and looking at all of the models! It was amazing to see how far technology has become to be able to get to see these bodies. Below are a couple of examples from the exhibit- sadly, photography was prohibited so I got these from the web. The first picture is my favorite- the body is holding his own skin!





Today was spent working out, going to class and then I spent about an hour or so filling out volunteer applications for a variety of different hospitals in the area. Tonight will consist of reading for class and then spending some time with the roomie and her boyfriend.

I think that's it! I'll update soon!

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Fuzzzzzz Face

Can you believe she's only 5 months old?!?!

Yes, I am still alive!

Hello Hello! I began to feel guilty about not blogging very often, so I'm going to try and do it more often (I'm even making blogspot my homepage so I'll almost be forced to update more often).

Here's what's been going on in my busy life:

Work and School.

That pretty much sums it up, however boring it may be. School started in late January and it's starting to get down to the nitty gritty already, with my first exam on Wednesday (yikes!). This semester, I get the pleasure of taking Biology, Biomechanics, Genetics in Physical Activity, Graded Exercise Testing and Weight Lifting. It will certainly be a semester full of studying! Speaking of school, my plans for after graduation have taken a change, instead of applying to physcial therapy school in the fall, I will most likely be applying to the U of San Fran for Nursing. It was an option brought up by my Dad that makes a lot of sense- I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier! So get ready all you west coast kirkwoods and brotzels... i'm heading back west!

As for work, it's well...work. It certainly has lost its luster after two and a half years- but the pay is good so it's worth sticking to for my last year here. Wow that's scary! After this semester I will only have 2 semesters left until graduation! Yikes! Scary thoughts....

Janet, Brian and Chris are all doing well- we've pretty much gotten addicted to Guitar Hero- I still can't seem to beat Brian- he's moved onto the expert level now... but now that we have it at home, I can go home and practice and also get my Abbey fix at the same time!

Abbey is doing well- she's still very much a puppy- even though she might not look like it! Her favorite activity at the moment is finding Rachel's shoes (and rachel's shoes alone) and chewing them. Here are two recent pictures of her (about a month ago?) believe it or not, she's actually grown since then! She weighs 41 lbs now, which makes her bigger than Shelby ever was. Ok well for some reason it won't let me put the pictures up, but I'll try again next time-

Ok well I think that covers pretty much everything right now- look for another post soon!

<3 Bunga