Oh Happy Day!!

So today was my LAST DAY student teaching!!! My nightmare is over :) I'm so happy!! And to top it off, my university supervisor is so impressed. I guess there is something to be said for taking the bull by the horns...

Today was the last day of my undergraduate career..

I'm gratuating from college Sunday..I'm going to be a COLLEGE GRADUATE.. Holy Crap..

It's so wierd..I don't think its hit me yet.

You know, now is kinda like a time to reflect for me. All my life my goal has been: get a degree, graduate college, etc.. Now, that goal is going to be fulfilled. I mean, even when I was in middle school, it was like, "get good grades because you have to go to college". It just always seemed like I would never finish and now that I actually am finishing, I feels like it's been both a lifetime and a minute since I've started.

I feel like the same person I was when I was 16. But I also feel like a totally different person too. My whole life has been utterly focused on college for the last four and a half years straight. No summer breaks, no quarters off, no quarters with less than 18 credit hours.. I mean, what the HELL am I going to do with myself???

The ONLY constant thing in my life for the past 16 years of my life has been school. WHAT will be my constant now?? I have the biggest sense of a chapter closing in my life that I have ever had..

I don't feel like I'm old enough to be graduating..Most people go to college till they're at least like, 24 or 25, right?

22? I still feel like a baby in a lot of ways haha..

I'm just sitting here, thinking of all the obstacles I've had to overcome in my life to make it to this point. It has been one HELL of a ride.. I guess I'm a perfect example of "you can do anything if you put your mind to it". I mean, I had no college fund, I had to support myself completely since 2 weeks before I turned 18. Trying to pay rent and put myself through college.. going to school full time, working late night waitressing jobs. All my personal struggles on top of that..When I think back to those times, I don't know how I did it..But I did. I DID IT! and I have myself to thank. So- thank you self for having the tenacity to stick it out, thank you self for having the strength to go on when things were really tough..thank you self for never giving up..

And also- thanks to all my friends and family who have supported me through all this.

Now the door is open for me to have the kind of life I've always dreamed of:

One with happiness, love and music :)

I must admit. I'm in freakout mode.

So much so that my car just got broken into last night and it really doesn't distract me at all from worrying about the next few months.

Student teaching starts tomorrow and my life in the "real world" begins..(of course, minus the money part). As far as I'm concerned, tomorrow is the day my life will change forever and I don't feel ready.

It's sink or swm time..

Anxiety Overload.

So I'm back from vacation. I had a blast! We just rode 4 wheelers at 4:30 am, got a poker game going in the middle of nowhere and went to a huge party. We also learned to cook this kickass dinner. It's curry garlic shrimp...yum. We even learned how to deshell and devein shrimp (basically, how to butterfly it). I'm stoked.

But by far, the best thing about our trip is what we came home with; a quaker parrot named Blake. My aunt didn't have enough attention to give to him so she asked if we wanted to take him. I talked to him all week and we just took to eachother. The bird is VERY territorial about it's cage though and it does bite. I suspect that is a result of the bird having NO out time at all (time when it's out of it's cage). And it's coupled with the fact that the bird has never been handled. But it really is a sweet bird and I have all the confidence that with a little training and tlc, we'll get him to calm down.

He did so good on the car ride home too! it's a 6 hour drive. The whole time, he just sat on his perch and looked out the window. He barely made a sound at all! If that bird was screaming the whole way home, it would have been awful but he did great.

Also, he's back talking again today. That's pretty good. Sometimes birds have a hard time adjusting to a new place but the fact that he's talking this soon is a good indicator that he's adjusting well. Also, we introduced our cats to him. They were also very good. The bird wasn't scared (otherwise it would have been shaking and screaming) and the cats weren't aggressive (they just laid down and listened to him). Blake even talked while both cats were right by him. I think thats good too because I don't think he would talk if he was anxious.

Today, Aaron and I are taking him to get his wings clipped and to get a few training necessities.

I'll keep you posted on his progress. So far, he can say "pretty bird" "hello" "heeere kitty kitty kitty" "meow" and he can do the wolf whistle. He also laughs.. and I gotta say, it's really freaking funny. If people are standing around him just talking and they start laughing, he'll start laughing with them. He even gets louder and higher like laughs do.

Well thats it for now. <3

I'm so excited. Tomorrow I'm leaving for vacation. Aaron and I are going to Kentucky to visit my aunt. She's got a 90 acre farm. She has 3 horses, goats, puppies, cows, chickens and to top it all off, she's got a 4 wheeler and a dirt bike. I'm soooo looking forward to getting away from the city for a week. I've been working 47 hour weeks so I really, REALLY need a break.

Last night was aaron's sisters bachellorette party. I got to bring a friend and I'm so glad. Aaron's sister is very cool but I get nervous around a bunch of people I don't know, plus, they're all older. I didn't like her maid of honor. She was not cool and very annoying. We had to go to this bar at the continent called the collesium or something and megan and I got there first so our intention was to go to the bar and take a few shots before they got there so they didn't see how hammered we were getting (because it was a little hard to deal with) but they totally walked in right as we got our first one because the bartender was slow. bastard... I'm glad I went because I love melissa but I don't know how down I am with her crowd. It was very sweet that she introduced me as her future sister-in-law (and with a smile too :)). I like that. Aaron doesn't even introduce me as his fiance. Last time we met someone, he said "this is my girl". I think it's a little more than that now but he doesn't see why its important to me so whatever.

It's my little sister's birthday party. Happy (early) birthday Amber!! I love you! <3

That's it for now. I hope everyone is having a great summer. I'm trying.

well, won another tournament. I also lost one but it was a very good showing for my first tourney in this circle (6th out of about 20..with rebuys and add ons...I didn't rebuy, just added on 100).

I just got off work. I'm going to chill out for a bit and then head over to the gym. I LOVE the gym I go to. Its so awesome. It's only 10 bucks a month plus 5 for unlimited tanning. They have all brand new machines (and lots of them) and they also have a sauna. It rocks. It isn't really that busy yet either...maybe because it just opened and noone really knows about it. I know i'm keeping my mouth largely shut :)

This past weekend was really fun. Megan and I went down and played sax and guitar at gallery hop. We made enough money to get good and drunk saturday night, thats for sure :) People were really nice and they really supported us. We got to see some crazies too so that was fun.

Nothing else to talk about really. Life is so good. Good job, healthy lifestyle (mostly),  beautiful home, dream guy. My happiness meter is about to explode at this point.

Happy 4th Everyone!