When the cat's away, the mice will play.

All that really means is.... When Drew is at work, Rory and I watch Sex and the City II and Despicable Me. Ha ha. Well, that was last week or the week before that. Break has gone by so fast that I don't even know. And I'm not particularly excited to get up at 6:45 am for my 7:30 class (which is Pilates, which makes it even worse). But not to fear, I have dark chocolate raspberry coffee... and I'm not sure if it is a good idea to drink something like that before working out. I might throw up or something.

Okay so you know what random thing I was thinking about the other day... brand names that people associate with every day items. I want people to comment on this and tell me some that they've thought up. Okay, for example: Kleenex, Jello, Saran Wrap, Vicks Vapor Rub (yes there are other brands), Advil.... that is all I can think of at this very moment lol.

I went back to Russell today to go to the doctor and I stopped at my mom's house to say hey. Casey's dog Jack, a Jack Russell Terrier (yeah, really freakin original) and Semper (my mom's corgi) were there and it is funny because I am so used to the size of Rory, who is only 6 months, and they just seem so itty bitty compared to her. Which I suppose Jack really is because Aurora is probably more than twice his size. Don't mind if I call my dog by all sorts of names like Rory, Aurora, AJ, Aurora Jae, asshole dog, etc.

Also, books for college are too expensive. WTF. That is all I really have to say about that. And having to buy 5 books for one class is slightly ridiculous but it is for my major so I suppose.... I hope everyone is enjoying my random thoughts today; I drank a Dr. Pepper and have been playing with Rory most of the day so far. Apparently, she ate a bead(s) and I hope she doesn't get constipated or something. My mom says, "She will be shitting jewelry." hahaha, yes I suppose so. Jewelry that she ruined that was supposed to go to Good Will. =/

I don't know that I have anymore useless information that I'd like to delve into at the moment. I really hope to blog more than I did last semester. If I blog twice that will be more. But seriously, I'd like to at least once a week. So maybe. Until then... ta ta!

Just thought I'd post a terrible picture of me from Christmas...

... And a picture I find quite hilarious

☮gretchen elizabeth

I'm back! =)

Can you believe I haven't blogged since this summer..ish. Sheesh. That is my life. I am on winter break at the moment and it feeeeeelllssss soooo good! =)
Let me give ya'll a little overview of the fun stuff I've been doing lately...
1) School- Well, obviously. It sucked my soul out of me... I worked my ass off and man, did it pay off! I don't have to take math ever again... muwahahaha. and I got ALL A'S!! (except math, lol) I should only have two semesters left but I might stretch it out to three.
2) Work- It is also draining me. I really don't enjoy it all the much anymore. I know it is sad to say but SOME of the newer people we hired are ridiculously lazy. And don't even get my started on our new 'manager.' He is TERRIBLE. I don't see how we was ever a manager ANYWHERE.. he doesn't do shit and he doesn't even try. Okay, I could go on about this for days so I'm just going to stop there.
3) Boyfriend/Family/Dog- I got to see a lot of my family this summer and spend more time with Ellen this school year. Drew and I haven't got to spend a whole lot of time together lately because of work and school but luckily, break is giving us more quality time. =) My dog Aurora is already 6 months old... can you even believe that?! Sheesh. I remember when she was just a tiny baybay. She is in her 'adolescent teenager' stage so she is a handful but I'm working on her training all the time so she will get better and be a good dog!
4) Relaxing- NOT. Haha, I did have a few days off this week so I did get to relax a little bit... for once. Even though I don't ever get to do just nothing. 10 more days 'til school...

I am pretty excited for what 2011 has to offer me. I'll be starting to prep for my GRE. My 21st birthday is in March and Drew & I are also going on vacation to Florida and the Bahamas.... yayyy! ^_^ And of course there will be a lot of other things going on in my life... some I want to save to reveal when I have it more in the works. I like surprises, don't you?

☮gretchen elizabeth

I got the magic in me

(I have that song stuck in my head. ^^^^) So apparently I haven't posted a REAL blog since June 19th! =O That might tell you how busy and crazy my summer has been!
I went to Wichita for 4th of July weekend and Drew's family reunion... it was a fun time! We were going to go ice skating as a last minute thing but I didn't bring jeans and I've never been ice skating before soooo I wasn't really into falling on the ice with no pants on, lol. AND I everyone was wearing jackets or coats and I didn't bring one of those either. Booo. Recently, we just went to Colorado for vacation and my family reunion. We spent a day in Denver on the 31st and then went up to Grand Lake the 1st- 4th. I had a complete blast! I love being outside and doing things of that nature. In Denver we ate real sushi (the fancy REAL kind... not that nasty kind at super buffets lol) It was quite a treat! Ellen and drew didn't like it so much I don't believe but I loved it. I was pretty proud of Drew however because he ate about 5 pieces and he never even threw up! I went white water rafting for the first time. The really scary courses are closed this time of year so we took a two person 'duckie' out and that was pretty fun! Since I have never been and didn't know what to expect, it was a good experience. Drew and I got freakin soaked to say the least and we hit a rock and about got dumped in the water. But luckily I am awesome and saved us, hehe.
We finished summer school on the 30th. That was such a relief. I got four credit hours... one from a field trip and 3 from world geography. I hate how some gen eds are so freakin hard and have so much information. Really? They're gen eds! But it definitely paid off because I ended up with a 78% and my teacher bumped me up to a B... very pleased! Of course we went to Russell and Kensington a few times, went to the lake, hung out with friends.. the norm. Besides all of that, I have been working like it's going out of style and so has Drew. He loves his new(ish) job and I love being a CSL, even though I am getting slightly burnt out. Drew has a truck now instead of a car and bought an 82 or 83 (can't remember) Camaro and is working on refinishing it. He is also doing some furniture refinishing as well. It's been hella hot outside and just cooled off yesterday so he definitely hasn't been working outside as much, especially when he works in the shop all day instead of the office.
School starts next week and I'm pretty excited. I'm sure that will wear off soon though. I'm taking 18 hours and the first week of school I work 32+ hours so we will see how that pans out... I'll TRY to keep everyone posted. (AND yesterday was my gpa's bday! we went out to eat)
I have an interview tomorrow to be a recovery worker at the Schwaller Center and Westside but I'm not exactly sure if I'll take that job if it's offered to me. It really depends on a lot of different factors.
Well, I must be getting off of here to finish up dinner. I hope everyone is winding down their summers appropriately and you will hear from me soon!

☮gretchen elizabeth

p.s. here is the link to my colorado pictures! enjoy

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=197044&id=500894426&l=9890930ca3

sushi in denver!

it's been awhile

Holy crap.... It's been almost a month since I've been on this. I've been sooo busy... and a lot of crap has happened! I don't really have time to blog right now but I will try to tomorrow or tonight! loves!

R-E-L-A-X

Today was a GLORIOUS DAY! Yesterday was my first day off in about 3 weeks. Seriously, I thought I was going to go insane. I did some father's day shopping with my sister, ran errands, take a nap and then did homework with Drew. (<---yesterday) We went out to dinner at Napoli's Friday night and then had a spectacular evening with friends, got home at 1:30 or so, and didn't go to bed 'til about 3 am haha. So that was sort of off track since I said TODAY was a glorious day.
I woke up fairly early and then went back to bed til about 12:15 (don't judge me, I deserve a sleep in day). Drew and I decided to spend a lovely day shopping and then going to dinner. We went to Salina and kinda got turned around a little bit but it wasn't long before we found our way! ;) We went to Hobby Lobby first... I could have bought so much stuff in there! But we just got a cute little sign to hang in the kitchen that says "I kiss better than I cook". Apparently, Drew thinks that describes me perfectly. *rolls eyes* I don't think either of us were in much of a shopping mood but we got a few things at the mall. We both got some things at Old Navy... I totally forgot there was an ON there! And Drew got a polo at RUE and I got a bra at Victoria's Secret. Semi Annual Sale, baby! hehe
My favorite part of the day was probably going to dinner. We ate at Red Lobster... oh my lanta. It was sooooo delicious. Seafood is my favorite food so I was in heaven! We ate sooo much. We got lobster nachos, cheesy biscuits (of course!), and he got the ultimate something (I forget haha... that had lobster tail, crab legs, shrimp something) and I got some shrimp skewer thing. Not to mention our meals came with salads and a side. Definitely didn't get to those though, haha.
We were going to go roller skating but the weather was looking pretty iffy so we just decided to trek home. So now we're at home, watching Man vs. Wild, just chilling. I totally need a fun but relaxing weekend and tomorrow I will probably just lay around and MAYBE do some laundry and probably do some homework! Well, I'm getting pretty tired so I think I'm going to lay down with my babe! =)

☮gretchen elizabeth

Crazy little woman

Long time no see. Perfect time for some late night blogging, I suppose! haha.. ummm so this weekend I didn't really do any homework so I'm slightly behind BUT I will do a bunch tomorrow. I can't believe classes have already started. But they will be over before we know it... July 30th is the last day for classes but I should finish before that. So I was thinking I'd like this philosophy class but so far it is STUPID. I hate to say that, because I loved Bioethics and I generally like things like that but OMG it's so boring and the reading is fairly difficult because it is SO boring. Our teacher said that we may have to read chapters more than once to understand them and I'm thinking... hell to the no, I will not!
I was looking at stuff for the Water Issues field trip I'm going on actually in a week and I thought we were going to Cedar Bluff or something... nope. Going to the water treatment plant here in Hays. I was looking at pictures... let's just say GROSS. hahaha I'm not weak stomached but that shit smells nasty too (no pun intended lol). But hey, it shouldn't be TOO terrible.
And really one last thing that has been on my mind lately. I can't figure out if something is wrong with me. I feel like an old person because all I really do is work, do homework, clean, do laundry etc. and I usually have no energy to do anything besides that. I guess sometimes we do fun stuff, but not that much. And I fee like I have lost connection with a lot of my friends. I love all my friends to death but there are a select few that drive me NUTS. Okay, I know in high school people can be pretty wild/hyper/loud/stupid whatever but I'm not that way really at all anymore. Yeah I can be goofy but I'm not as immature as I was in high school. I suppose I just feel like I can't stand being around some people because they act like they are still in high school and/or need to grow the fuck up!! There is a time and a place for retardedness I understand... but ALL THE DAMN TIME is just a little ridiculous. I sound like a bitchy old lady, lol... But I've always had a short temper and I get easily annoyed. So, when I feel like someone is being really immature for their age it just drives me crazy!
And I think it's funny when people get mad at me because I don't go out or hang out with them... but I pretty much NEVER get a phone call or a text. If you really wanna hang out with me don't write on my fucking facebook wall because I don't even get on it everyday. Not only that, but my friends hang out with my sister more than me. Not that I care that they hang out with her but some of those people... are not the best influences on my little sister. And honestly when it comes down to it, I'll pick my sister over anyone ANY DAY.
Well, I get the eff off my soap box. That is enough venting for one time haha. I'll keep you updated!

☮gretchen elizabeth

pretty girl swag

It is... already June 1st! That just seems crazy to me! I feel like last summer was just yesterday. Sheesh. I have been super busy with work and various other tasks, so for that I am grateful. Yesterday I finally had a day off however... after 13 straight days of workin! hehe, but I love it and I need hours so I can't say much.
I had an amazing memorial day weekend and a SPLENDID day off with my man yesterday. I don't know if it could have been any more perfect!
So classes start in 6 days and I'm pretty excited. I don't know if that's just kinda creepy that I'm excited for SCHOOL but it will be two more classes to get out of the way. I hope they aren't super hard and time consuming like the last online class I took but it was a really hard web programming class sooooo these two gen. eds. shouldn't take too much of my soul, lol. The last day of classes is the day before we leave to go to Grand Lakes, Colorado for four days! Err, 3.5... whoo hoo!
So nothing crazy crazy around here. Some funny stuff happened at work but I feel it might be slightly inappropriate to put on here, haha. I got my last book in the mail today for classes now all I need to do is go get the discs from the bookstore. Can't do that until I get paid on Friday though because I'm literally broke. Uggh... and our ZVP was supposed to change my pay rate over a month ago and still hasn't... so let's just say work owes me a good chunk of money and I'm crossing my fingers that on Friday it will be fixed AND I will have my moolah by then! 'Cause I am in dire need.
Being broke pretty much sucks but I have it better than at least 80% of the world's population so how much can I really complain?
And I don't know why this just reminded me of this... but that damn oil spill. It literally is making me sick thinking about what damage it is causing and has already caused. I was looking at pictures from the oil spill the other day and I was teary-eyed. Those poor animals and ecosystems that have been killed and destroyed. It really is such a shame. I hope the U.S. can get their shit together and get this mess cleaned up STAT.
Well I better hop off my soap box and finish getting ready for work. See ya soon, friends!

☮gretchen elizabeth
my awesome catch on sunday haha