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

Look at me, I 'm updating!

Well What do you know? It's only been 8 days since my last post! I'm improving!

So this past weekend was Rachel's birthday. We went to New York on friday morning. We spent Friday (in the rain mostly) going to the American Museum of Natural History. That was pretty cool, it was neat to see where "Night at the Museum" was filmed. It would be even better if I could go back several times and spend each visit on on exhibit- there was soo much stuff in there that would be really cool to just thoroughly read through. After that we walked around and back to our hotel room for a quick break and then ventured out back on the city to navigate the million umbrellas on Times Square. We were searching for a place to eat and it was raining and cold and a ton of people so we just settled on Applebee's. After that, we just head back to the hotel and called i t a night. On Saturday, we went shopping at Bloomingdale's and then we found a cute little market-like thing on the way back from Bloomingdale's and Rachel and I both bought 2 very cute knock-off purses and some earrings. Mom also bought Rache a cute hat and me a very soft scarf. After that we ended up seeing two shows that day: Young Frankenstein and Curtains. Both were really good- David Hyde Pierce was in Curtains and he did an amazing job in it. And then on Sunday morning, we hit the road back to Columbia. It was a very nice and relaxing weekend.

Monday night we went out to dinner to celebrate Rachel's birthday. We went to this new place called On the Border. It's a mexican restaurant that's about to open, so were like their practice. Everything was free except for the booze. It was very yummy! After that we went home and Rachel opened her presents and then off she went to hang out with her friends.

That pretty much sums up my weekend. Last night in an effort of procrastination- I created a photo ablum to put some pictures up for you guys. Right now it's just some random ones from this semester, but hopefully I'll get some up of this summer too. Here's the URL(you can just click on the picture or on my screen name):
by sarahbunga823

Enjoy!

-Bunga

Yes, I'm still alive!

So I figured there are more productive uses of my time besides sitting on the couch watching season three of Grey's Anatomy. My one and only class today was canceled because the professor was sick, so I've been studying all day long. So I thought that it would be a great time to blog (since I haven't done it in forever!)

So things in College Park are, well, busy to put it in one word. Classes have picked up big-time and we're right in the middle of mid-term season which means lots of coffee and late nights. So far, everything's going well, 3 A's 2 B's and an almost B :) Hopefully I can maintain this academic energy for the rest of the semester. It's crazy that I'm already half way through the fall semester already, I'll have to start preparing for finals in just about a month! Yikes!

The weather here has been rather funky too. Today, on October 23 (10 months till my birthday!) it was almost 80 degrees outside, and right now, at almost 11 pm it's still 73. Crazy isn't it? We also haven't had rain in a while too- which has been nice because it hasn't been super muggy.

This weekend is my little Rachel's birthday... number 17 can you believe it? I feel like I just turned 17 myself. It's so weird to think about it. To celebrate the occasion, the Kirkwood clan is going to New York City for the weekend. It's been a while since we've been up there so it will be nice to go up again! Plus, I think we're staying in a hotel not where we usually stay, so it will be neat to see other parts of the city than what we're used to.

Hm... what else... Janet and I have been decorating our apartment for Halloween. We just hung up some pumpkin lights around our window in our living room (which keep falling down and scaring us half to death at night), we have a pumpkin that we're going to carve sometime next week, and we're out to look for some more goodies later!

This past weekend I went home on Friday night and spent the night and slept in my own bed. I love sleeping in my own bed :) On Saturday morning I cut and dyed my hair, it's darker and little bit shorter- with bangs! It's nice to have a change. I'll post a picture up later when I have one taken with my new hair- maybe this weekend in new york. Later that day was the football game- which we were leading until the last quarter and we lost by 1 point. It's always so frusterating because losing in the same stupid ways has become habit now. But basketball season is coming up, so hopefully there is some hope there.

So I think that's it! I just wanted to stop in a let everyone know that I'm alive, ha! I'll post a bit later, hopefully sooner rather than later. Love you all!

Sarahbunga

Yikes, time flies fast!

Well hello there! I've finally found time to update in between classes today. It's been a very busy start to the semester. Classes started last wednesday, and between that and working, it's been crazy! Classes seem to be ok, it's goin g to be a lot of work, as usual. They're more interesting than last semester because I'm finally starting to get down to the more concentrated stuff and I'm past all the mandatory classes that have nothing to do with my major. This semester I'm taking : Drug Use and Abuse, Intro to health behaviors, Exercise Physiology, Motor Development, and Motor Control and Learning. In addition i'm taking 2 sports classes: bowling and badminton. On my first day of bowling i bowled the best game i've ever bowled, which means i have to improve off of that score by the end of the class!

The apartment is doing well, it's been great to have my own bathroom and closet (which, by the way is bigger than the bathroom rache and I share at home). The four of us each cook dinner once a night- I made this yummy chicken parmigiana the first night I made dinner, and janet has made baked ziti and stuffed shells. Can you tell we're big on italian food?

On saturday i'm starting a clinic called the Children's Developmental Clinic. Basically, I'm going ot be helping children with physical disabilities improve their motor skills and get them to be more physically active. Which is great, because this is exactly what I want to do in the future! The first 2 weeks are training weeks and then the clinic continues for 9 weeks after that. Should be a great experience!

MD football played villanova last Saturday and beat them 31-13. Woohoo! In a week, we'll play West Virginia, who is a notably better team than we are, so hopefully we can hold our own against them. Lauren goes to WVU so we've both been talking smack to each other =]

Okee dokee, it's about time I head to class. I've got 2 more today and then I'm heading back to the apartment- Janet's making dinner tonight, and it's bound to be scrumptious! And then a night full of reading because I've worked the past 2 nights and haven't had a chance to catch up yet. Hope everyone is doing well, I'll update when I get the chance!!

<3, Bunga

Greetings from College Park!

Hello! So far I am upholding my promise of updating more often (which, given how often I updated before, shouldn't be too hard). Janet and I just moved in to our new apartment yesterday... it went very smoothly. The apartment is larger and smaller than I thought it would be. Our kitchen, bathrooms and closets are all bigger than we had thought, and our living area is smaller. But everything looks great! Janet and I each have our own bathroom and walk-in closet (which is HUGE). I will have pictures up later when we get our decorations up and such. My room is right by the door, so my window has reinforced glass so no one can break though easily. woo! That's always good to have. Janet is living in Columbia for the next 2 days because she has to finish her last week and work, so I have the place to myself for the next couple of days. She'll move in for real on Friday night.

Speaking of Friday night, that's the night that Rachel, Karina and I are going to the OAR concert and Merriweather Post Pavillion. We saw the band perform last year, and they were pretty awesome, so we're going to go see them again this year. Just about everyone that I work with is going as well, so there is going to be some great company.

Karina and I got back last week from a week-long nannying trip in upstate New York. We went with a family that we've babysat before on vacation with 4 other families. They all met in Med School and have been going to the same place on vacation for 10 years now. There was a total of 10 kids, most of which were under that age of 4. Needless to say, it was tough work. But it was also a lot of fun, the kids were so cute! Plus, it paid for books this semester!

The Thursday night that we got back from NY, Karina and I met up with some friends and went to the DC United soccer game vs. LA Galaxy, Beckham's new team. Beckham made his Major League Soccer Debut in the game, playing 20 minutes! He even took off his shirt... twice ;) Yum! Oh yea, and DC United won, 1-0!

I think that's about it for right now...I've got to get ready to go to work. Later!

Bunga

I'm back....! and still broke!

I'm back! After my hiatus from blogging, I'm now ready to start up again. The summer has gone by very very quickly, in 3 weeks I will be moving into the apartment and in just 5 weeks, the fall semester will begin (groan...).

So far this summer I have...
-Worked and worked and worked. Alot.
-Finished (with an A) my summer stat class.
-Seen both sides of the family via Seattle and Alaska Cruise

Yet to do this summer...
-Move in to my new apartment!
-Go to OAR concert
-Go to Kenny Chesney concert
-Begin fall semester (groan...)

This vacation has been awesome and totally relaxing... which has been great considering I have done nothing but work and go to class up until the beginning of July. The cruise was amazing and everything I expected and more... I just wish they had fed us more! Totally not serious, if they had fed us any more I probably would have burst! The sights and scenes of Alaska were all gorgeous, and the fishing and dog sledding and everything else was so much fun. I'm definitely hooked on cruising now! And to unwind there has been no better place than to be at the Kirkwood house. Being able to sit and relax has been great! And of course, the food isn't too bad either ;)

Hopefully there will be another post about the vacation, but if not, I'll at least continue to blog (hopefully on a regular basis...)!


-bunga


p.s. i'm hoping to download all of the pictures that I have, and hopefully every one else's onto a photo album via webshots or something like that. stay tuned!

Woo!

So for all of those who haven't heard yet... I was awarded the Emma Powers "Employee of the Year" Award for Dining Services! Woohoo! It turns out that there are over 500 students employed by dining services and to be the employee of the year out of all them is pretty darn cool! There is a big ceremony where I will be receiving a plaque and a 500 dollar scholarship. =] I'm pretty excited, I'll send pictures when I get them, but the banquet isn't until Early May.

Hm... what else is going on... I'm starting to see the light at the end of the school tunnel.. only around 20 days of school left and then finals! Sweet deal! But then I'll be taking a class at the community college and hopefully interning at a physical therapy practice AND working at mulligan's. Sounds like a busy summer is ahead of me! It'll be nice to be in Steilacoom and on the cruise for three weeks where I won't have to worry about anything! I can't wait!

The weather here has been crazy... it was about 80 degrees for most of the week last week and then I woke up on Saturday morning to about an inch of snow on the ground! What weather! It's supposed to get warm again this week and hopefully it stays!

Other than that, nothing else is really going on, busy as usual!

-Bunga

My how time flies

Woo! We have finally settled our housing for next year! Our original plan to live in the South Campus Commons was foiled last night when we received and e-mail saying they were all full. So instead, we decided to lease an off-campus apartment which is actually less expensive and a little bit bigger I think. We'll be living at the Courtyards, which is conveniently close to both work and my classes. With this apartment complex rent includes all utilities, washer/drier, cable tv, ac, 2 seperate beds with their own bathrooms, an on-site pool, game room and fitness center. Here's our layout! Oh, and guess who are neighbors are? None other than Chris and Brian! The foursome are now only one wall apart! We've decided that we're going to do a once-a-week dinner thing we're we make a nice dinner and eat it together. It's crazy how grown-up I feel! Ha! I wrote a check for a security deposit today and signed a lease, it's crazy! We're all very excited and want to move in as soon as we can, which turns out, is around August 15. Janet and I have already started thinking about how we want to decorate our place!

In other stuff, I've organized a team for Relay for Life at UMD, on April 14, I think it is. So far, I've got about 8 people from work who are going to come and hopefully raise money. I'm looking forward to it, it'll be a lot of fun!

I still haven't heard back about the Emma Powers Award, but hopefully I should hear soon. I'll let you guys know if I hear anything!

That's about it, school, work and this housing thing has been pretty much dominating my life right now, but it's all very exciting!

-Bunga

80 degrees and sunny

I'm on spring break! Woohoo! Because I don't have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and because my classes (myself included) have begged our professors not to hold class on Friday, my Spring Break officially started this afternoon at 4 oclock. Not to mention that the weather was GORGEOUS today. It reached 81 degrees and was sunny for a good portion of the day. I actually broke a sweat walking to my classes. It's nice to have the spring weather back, but unfortunately, it's supposed to dip down into the 40's this weekend. =[

Some more exciting news... I was nominated by one of my managers at work for the Emma Powers award, which is the highest recognition that can be received by a student employee in dining services. It goes to the student who... well, I'll just copy and past what the website said about the last recipient:
"2006 Emma Powers Student Employee of the Year Award: Phillip Vogel, Student Supervisor from Good Tidings was awarded the highest honor we can give a student employee. $500 Terrapin Express and an engraved plaque were presented at the May Awards Banquet. This award is presented to the student recognized as having made the most significant positive contributions to Dining Services and the campus community."
So that's pretty cool. My interview is tomorrow with the big-wigs of dining services, so I hope everything goes well. It feels so awesome to even be nominated. I mean, to think that my superiors think that I'm the most influential student employee in dining services, and at 19, is unreal. Wish me luck!

Come to think of it, this past weekend has been pretty good. Last weekend was Shamrock Fest, which is an event that's held annually in DC by a local rock station. It has different Irish bands, some of the big ones being Flogging Molly, Carbon Leaf, and the Kelly Bell Band. They also have rides and carnival type games and stuff so it was a lot of fun. Some of my friends from UMBC came down to College Park and we took the metro down to DC. Here's a pic! (Because by now you've probably figured out I love showing off pictures =] ) It's not exactly the best picture of me, the person who was taking the picture was in a hurry because his train was coming, so there wasn't much time to prep myself!

For Spring Break, I'm going home to Columbia for the week, but as for this weekend, I'm going to West Virginia with my friend Christina (the blonde in the picture) and my other friend Cara from high school. Lauren is very excited to have us, she just got a single dorm room this semester and is very excited to show it off!

Tomorrow the Terps play in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They should be able to make through the first 2 rounds without problem, but their trip will probably end when most likely, they will face Florida in the sweet 16. Hey Grandpa! I have WSU going until the sweet 16 as well.. you'll be very pleased to hear that I said "Go Cougs" today at work, defending WSU in their projected upset against them by Oral roberts. =]

And I think that's about it for me. All in all, it has been a very lovely week. It's now time for me to go to bed and get some beauty sleep! Love you all.

-Bunga