Hi!! Guess what? I GRADUATED!! Woohoo! And since I graduated, I've been extremely busy doing grad-related stuff (aka partying) and haven't been able to find time to blog. I know, I'm sorry for being a total loser. But I have time now, and I'm going to talk about Seattle and show ya some pictures. Hooray!

We spent last Friday night in Tacoma and stayed at the Emerald Queen Casino. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you ever decide to stay there, keep in mind that the hotel is NOT connected to the casino. It's two miles away, and they don't mention that because they know they would lose customers. The website states only one location, but don't be fooled. If you plan on gambling and drinking until early in the morning, you need to take the shuttle. Roulette was good to me that night :)

The next morning we drove to Seattle to catch the Mariners vs. Angels game at Safeco Field. Here are some pics.

It was a BEAUTIFUL day! However, the game was horrible. Our relief pitchers lost the game for us. 11-2 was the final score, and I will forever hold a grudge against Shawn White and Shawn Kelley. ALSO, I bought Jake these first baseline tickets because Ken Griffey Jr. was Jake's childhood hero. Jake's been to a Seattle game before, but complained that he never got to see him up close. He was SO excited to see his hero, but THREE DAYS before the day he would finally see Griffey, he retired and moved back home to Orlando! Can you believe it?! Uggghhh figures. Just my luck. We still had a blast, no matter how ugly the game was. We'll go to another one at some point. Probably not this season though. This season has been pretty disappointing.

After the game we relaxed for a bit at our hotel, and then we went to Pike Place and checked out the very first Starbucks store (1912).

We ordered iced caramel macchiatos. They were yummy. I also bought a mug and a bag of their special reserve coffee, which you can only get at this particular store.

Afterwards, we went out to eat at Hooters. I've never been to a Hooters before. They have amazing fried pickles. If that doesn't sound good to you, I dare you to try them. Delicious! Here's a sign we sat next to in the restaurant.

It doesn't show well in the pic, but the "bumps" have nipples.

Our last stop was the Space Needle. I love heights, so it felt amazing to be up there, especially at night. 

I love this picture :)

So, Seattle was AMAZING! We had a lot of fun, and I have a lot of pics to show you all... on another day. I don't have time to type a bunch of stuff today because I have to leave for work and finish week 2 of my 12-week training program, after which I will receive a $100 bonus. Booyah!

I just wanted to stop by and brag about let you all know that

Remember the entry I posted about my job interview at Jasper Mountain Center? I got the call this morning. I GOT THE JOB! I am so excited, I can hardly contain myself at school right now!! 

I feel so lucky to have found the job I wanted before graduating. This is seriously what I want my career to be. What I want to do with my life: helping children in need. 

I will be on the Treatment Team at the main center in Jasper, OR and at the organization's SAFE Center in Springfield, OR (only a 10 minute commute between the two). 

I have orientation on Monday, and then I will have 2 weeks to complete two AM shifts (1 at Jasper Mountain Center, and 1 at the SAFE Center) and two PM shifts (1 at JMC and 1 at the SC). Then I will start full time work once I graduate.. in less than 4 weeks!! 

Seriously. I feel like the luckiest college senior in the world right now. It means a GREAT DEAL to me to not have to worry about the post-graduation job hunt.

Hey everyone! Wanna enter the best giveaway I've seen in the blogger world yet? Yes, you do! Check out V Chronicles and enter to win a visa gift card. The amount is unknown (but she hinted that it's over $25). 

This has been an awesome week! I had no major exams, papers or presentations PLUS three days were dedicated to Jake's 23rd birthday.

Why did he get 3 days of celebration? Well first of all, we always have a huge bonfire on the Saturday before his birthday. Here are some pics of it. It was a lot of fun.

His actual birthday was Wednesday, so we went out to Jameson's and celebrated with all of our friends who were available on a Wednesday night. I gave him his gift there, and he definitely caused a scene. In a good way. I bought him a new Seattle Mariners hat and what was inside of it? TICKETS ON THE FIRST BASELINE. LOW BOX AISLE SEATS RIGHT ABOVE THE MARINERS' DUGOUT. I swear he fell in love with me all over again. I can't wait for June 5th! We will be playing the Angels, so it should be an awesome game. Oh and better yet, our friends Shawna and Shaun got tickets in the same section and we are staying the whole weekend in Seattle! I've never been there so I am very very VERY excited! I didn't expect Jake to get so excited. Boy was I wrong. He said that this was by far the coolest thing anyone has ever done for him. I made him so happy. And that makes me feel SO GOOD :)

So apparently I'm smarter when I don't waste time reading for my classes than when I do. So weird. I spent forever doing all of the reading for my Sociology class just to get a low B on the first quiz. I know a B is considered awesome for college, but I really felt that I deserved an A. I mean, c'mon, I read everything and felt that I understood everything. That B was actually discouraging to me because the amount of reading we need to do for that class is insane. I couldn't get myself to spend hours reading anymore. I was like "Fuck it. I hate reading. I'm not gonna read for a class just to get a grade lower than I deserve." Not very good logic. Actually it was very stupid logic. What was I thinking? That I would do any better by not reading anything?! Apparently so, and apparently I was right! I got an A on this week's quiz without reading a single page! I don't even see how this makes sense. It really doesn't. But okay, I'll take it! Go me! 

Here's is something that I found interesting. Stacy over at Stacy Says mentioned in a blog post a few days ago that there is a site that calculates just how many cups of a certain caffeinated beverage it would take to kill you. First you "pick your poison" and then you enter your weight. It would take just over 90 cups of coffee to kill me. Good to know. Also good to know is that it would take more cans of Amp Energy to kill me than cans of Rockstar, answering my question, "Which would give me more energy, Rockstar or Amp?" It would take 135 cans of Amp to kill me while only 63 cans of Rockstar would put me in the ground. That's a huge difference. I'll spend my money on Rockstars from now on. Find out your numbers here.

Well I'm hoping my boyfriend comes home soon from golfing. I want to go hike Spencer's Butte. Until then I think I'll read my book and enjoy the sunshine. And no, this will NOT be a book for school. Wanna know who I read? Check it out here.

Have a wondrous weekend! Happy Mother's Day!

So I finished up my week (successfully) without coffee and soda. It was hard. Man was it hard! All I drank was water and tea. Mostly water. Okay I had a shot of vodka on Tuesday after pool league, but I don't think it should count. We got our asses kicked and I really needed to loosen up a little (it didn't work. I shouldn't have had the shot. That was a waste of $6.25). I feel accomplished, but truthfully, I felt that I needed my morning caffeine rush. It was really hard without it. But I'm glad I tried it. Even more glad that I got to have coffee this morning for the first time in 7 days. I feel AWESOME!

What feels even more accomplishing is that I lost 6 pounds this week. In this month's issue of Health magazine, there was a one-week-speed-diet plan that is supposed to make you lose 5 pounds, and man it really does work. It even made me cook for the first time in like ever. My pants feel a little looser and my waist feels a little smaller.. in just one week! I've been doing yoga and cycling a few days a week too, and I'm starting to feel more muscle. I'm super stoked. Once this term is over I'm going to look up any spinning classes being held in Eugene because I REALLY don't wanna stop cycling. Best cardio workout ever.

Today is my last day of Week 6, and this week has been hell. I'm so glad I'm finally out of it. Two exams and a presentation. All stressful. But today is my Friday, and I'm feeling AMAZING. I seriously have the 'Happy Happy Joy Joy' song from Ren & Stimpy singing in my head. Man I miss that show. Well I'm going to go outside and enjoy the beautiful sunshine before my cycling class.

So while I was killing time before getting ready for my long day at school, I was reading today's entries from a couple of my favorite bloggers. And what do I stumble upon? 

Tara from That's Why Her Hair Is So Big awarded me the Sweet Blog award!

Thanks Tara! I will pass this on to:

 I will update you all soon, but I've got a busy day to get ready for.

Okay, so I'm like 98.76% sure that I just nailed my dream job before graduation. I really don't want to jinx myself, and I'm trying so hard to stay calm and not get my hopes up again, but yeah, I'm pretty sure I got it! I had my interview today, and my interviewer talked about the job while using "You will ____ ... you will get trained to ____ ... you will learn to ____ .... you will get paid ____ ..." You get the idea. Saying "will" instead of "would" is a huge difference. She loved that I'm very flexible with hours, and she wrote down which days I'm available before graduation (Fridays and weekends), and asked me what days I would need off in the next 90 days. She also let me observe the staff, and I met a lot of really nice people and a very adorable group of kids. I'd be surprised if I don't get hired.

It really depends on the lighting. Sometimes the hair looks dark brown, light brown, red brown, or bright red (in the sun). It's quite confusing actually. But if someone asks me what my hair color is, I guess brownish red explains it best. I just got bored with my hair and decided that it was time for a change. It makes perfect sense too, since I am at a point in my life when everything is changing for me. 

I'm ending a chapter in my life, and soon starting a new one.. a big one. I'm just a couple of months away from officially starting my life in the Real World (whoever claims that starting college is a transition into the real world is full of crap.. I used to claim that and quickly realized how wrong I was) -  Instead of  living off of my financial aid, I'll be starting an actual career and working for my money, while paying back the money that I have been using to pay my rent/bills/groceries/insurance/everything for the past four years. Instead of doing homework every night, I'll be relaxing cooking, cleaning, and bitching about how exhausted I am from my day's work (the level of bitching will greatly depend on the job I'll have, which is hopefully a job that I'll enjoy and can actually use my degree for, but you'll never know with our society's crappy current economic situation). My relationship with Jake has become increasingly more serious and committed (we've been talking a lot about future plans, wedding, kids, though he hasn't officially popped the question yet - he's currently saving for a ring - we're basically engaged, or "engaged to be engaged" as he puts it). In a matter of a few years I'll be engaged, married, buying a house, and picking out baby names. 

So I went to my eye doc for an exam and an upgraded prescription. I have an astigmatism in both eyes, which causes my vision to get worse each year. Instead of just ordering a new supply of contact lenses I decided to buy a new pair of specs as well (the ones I had before I've had since middle school, and I couldn't see anything with them). Jake demanded helped me pick out which ones to get, and he we decided on this pair of Liz Claibornes. The quality of this pic sucks but it's the best one I've got for now.

I also thought I should mention that I may be MIA for a while. This term is basically wanting me to ditch my life and work nonstop. If I find a slot of time, I'll update y'all, but I'm not making any promises.

So until next time,

I'm sitting in the student union, eating amazing pad thai, and figured I would blog while waiting for my next class. 

Spring term started yesterday, and I'm really liking my classes so far.. which is good because this is my last term EVER. I'm taking Sociology of Mental Health, Human Sexuality, Nonviolent Social Change, and Group Cycling.

Sociology of Mental Health is a class focused on society's interpretation of mental health, meaning we will be learning about the ways that doctors diagnose and label people who they consider mentally ill, how they are treated, and so on. This class reminds me of the study I once read for another class about a researcher who went undercover in an asylum as a patient, and while he displayed absolutely no symptoms, he was labeled and treated as a seriously ill individual. It's messed up. The books I had to purchase for this class were memoirs of people who considered themselves mentally ill (schizophrenic, bipolar, depressed, etc) and underwent treatment. You may recognize the title Girl, Interrupted. That's one of our books, and I was assigned to do a group presentation on it. Yay!

I am going to LOVE my Human Sexuality class. The very first thing we did was break into groups and make a list of all of the nicknames that people have for penis and vagina. Awesome ice breaker, in my opinion. Then we had to shout them all to the teacher while he wrote them on the chalk board. The list was extreeemely long, and we didn't even get to half of what we came up with. Here are some examples of what we came up with for penis: tonsil tickler, pogo stick, spitting cobra, purple headed soldier, mushroom tip.. and vagina: bermuda triangle, cock holster, sperm catcher, bearded clam, honey pot.. these were the names I've never heard of. The rest were all obvious nicknames that almost everyone recognizes.

Nonviolent Social Change reminds me a lot of the Social Movements class I took last year. We will be reading about MLK Jr, Ghandi, and other nonviolent activists. I'm against violence and war, and I'm sure I'll take a lot out of this class. Today we had to talk about our personal exeriences, and how we have handled conflicts. I talked about how Jake and I flip a coin sometimes to solve disagreements. Other people talked about being passive aggressive, screaming, storming out, etc. One girl even talked about stealing curtains from her roomate who moved out without warning. I love that we are all open and honest :)

I needed one more credit to graduate, so I decided to take a PE class. I took cycling last year and loved it, so I'm taking it again. It's intense, and I need more cardio. I've actually made it my goal this term to lose a few pounds and tone up a bit. Eat healthier (no more Taco Bell, which will be one of my biggest challenges) and work out more. Oh and drink a lot of water. I hardly drink any water, but I guess it's important, so I will be drinking more of it. 

So those are my classes, and what I will be focused on for the last 3 months of my college career.

<---- This is how I feel today.

On Friday, I finally stumbled upon an internship opportunity that I'm totally qualified for. And not just that, it was PERFECT for me. A social work internship at a mental health clinic. I want a job that allows me to directly help people, and I'm also taking a Sociology of Mental Health class for Spring Term (which started today, but I'll get into that later). It felt so meant to be! I typed up a kick ass cover letter, and emailed it with my resume. There was finally hope for me, and I had felt so lost and hopeless this past month when I couldn't find anything available. Let's just say, it was an awesome start to my weekend.

I couldn't wait to check my email this morning because I knew I would hear back today. Unfortunately the Spring Term slots were already filled up :( :( :( It's because I procrastinated so damn long! I'm totally beating myself up because of this (not literally!). I feel that the internship was mine. I was totally qualified, and I know that they would hire me if I applied sooner. I'm not trying to be cocky, but realistically, I would have had that internship in the bag: I've been on the Dean's list for the past 4 terms (with straight A's for the last 3 terms), I'm in two honor societies, and I'm also taking a mental health class! UGGGGHHH. Whatever. I guess I deserve it. Now I need to start all over and pray I find something. I'm back to feeling kinda hopeless. Mostly just bummed out beyond belief. I knew I shouldn't get my hopes up, but I totally did. I guess it really wasn't meant to be.

But I had a GREAT weekend. My severely sore throat greatly improved (and is 97% better now), and Jake and I took a trip to Florence to hang at the beach and gamble at Three Rivers Casino. Jake won 50 bucks, while I broke even, and since I didn't lose anything I believe I came out a winner :)

The beach was BEAUTIFUL. Here is a pic of Jake and I at our favorite spot: Heceta Head Lighthouse. 

 We like to climb the cliff, and sit down while watching the waves crash on the rocks (as you can see from the reflection off of my aviators).

 One of my favorite beaches ever. I love the Oregon Coast :)

I'm not usually one to read for fun. I already have too much reading for school. But there is one author that I just can't get enough of during school breaks. Nora Roberts. For those of you who have never heard of her (which is impossible unless you've never picked up a romance novel before, or any novel for that matter) she is a fictional genius. She is known primarily as a romance novelist, but she is so much more than that. Her books involve romance as well as mystery, suspense, sex, fantasy, magic, action, and total awesomness. 

My mom turned me on to her a long time ago. She gave me her book titled Midnight Bayou, and I LOVED it because I was just expecting a mushy romance novel, but instead I got a suspense/mystery/action novel with a side of romance. Next I read her Key trilogy. AMAZING! 

 

If you have never read a book by her, I demand that you do. I turned a couple of my friends on to her, and they love her too. I recommend reading her Sign of Seven trilogy, and her Circle trilogy (both pictured on the left). Those are my favorites.. so far. She makes characters that you end up caring about, and you almost cry when the trilogies end. I actually did cry. After both trilogies. I didn't want them to end! That's how amazing Nora's writings are.

 

I am currently reading Bed of Roses, which the second book of her Bride Quartet. There isn't any mystery or action, but there is fun, friendship, and romance with characters that you love and relate to.

On any other day I would still be sleeping for another 3 or so hours, but I had a very interesting - and very disgusting - wake up call this morning.. Ladies and gentlemen, I got my very first bloody nose. Ewwwww I know. I fucking FREAKED OUT. I have this nasty cold, so I assumed that my nose was just a little runny.. until I sat up and saw blood on my pillow, and then the blood became a river coming out of my nose. I ran to the bathroom to frantically pull out some toilet paper to plug my nose, and then I got a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I looked like I lost a fist fight. It was sick. Since I've never had a bloody nose before, I had to google How to Stop a Nose Bleed. I guess you need to pinch your nose (just under the bridge) with your thumb and index finger, and DON'T release pressure for at least 5-10 minutes. After I was cured, I WebMD'ed myself to make sure I wasn't dying, and fortunately I'm not. I guess nose bleeds are pretty common with colds/sinus infections, especially if you have been taking a blood thinner. I've been taking Ibuprofen for my horrible sore throat. My throat has been so painful for 4 days now, and not getting better. I've been taking Zicam (my mother swears by it) but it apparently isn't working. It's not really medicine though, just a dissolvable tablet packed with vitamins and minerals proved to significantly reduce the amount of time that you're sick. Whatever. I'm going to the store and buying Dayquil and Nyquil. 

So for those of you who never had a bloody nose as a kid, don't worry, you'll get yours soon enough. And when you do, don't worry, you aren't dying. Just follow the instructions above. 

Turns out that my laptop charger works.. has worked all along.. and I'm a fucking idiot. But I'm not going to get into that humiliation. All that matters is that I'M BACK and I don't have to waste money on a new charger that I actually don't need. Hurray.

Mine and Jake's 3 year anniversary was Saturday, and we spent Friday night down in Canyonville and stayed at Seven Feathers Casino Resort. It's the biggest casino in Oregon, and we had a blast.


We came back on Saturday and exchanged gifts and went out to dinner. JAKE GOT ME A SNOWBOARD!!!!! Now I'm fucking stoked to hit up the mountain. I'm praying that the weather this weekend will be clear. Snowboarding season is about over, and I haven't boarded in over 2 years. I'd hate to have to wait another year.

I finally made my resume, and I'm very pleased with it. I uploaded it onto the UO Joblink site and was excited to finally search for internships available that I may be qualified for. However, after over an hour of searching I realized that.. well.. there is none. At least through the site, anyway. Oh and Internships.com as well. That had absolutely nothing for me. Saying that I felt disappointed and discouraged is quite an understatement. I went through a period of complete panic. There were so many options, but I wasn't qualified for any of them! Now I wish I was a marketing or business major. They are buried with amazing options. The jobs that I can get post-grad require experience, and apparently there isn't anything available for me to experience. I guess I'm just gonna have to search harder. UGHHHH.

It's finally Spring Break, and I have nearly two whole weeks off of school before the last term of my college career. I'm stoked to have this time off, and I'm celebrating it by vegging in front of the TV at 4pm while still in my pajamas. It feels amazing to be relaxed and lazy, but I'm still not as de-stressed as I thought I'd be.

I met with the career counselor last Friday, and he showed me around a couple of UO websites that are used to find internships and job opportunities. I was hoping he would lead me to a certain internship, but apparently I was stupid to think that he would. There are a bunch of opportunities on those sites that I need to explore. I'll have to pick which ones are right for me and then apply to them. However, I have yet to make a resume. There's a resume builder on the site plus the counselor gave me a resume formatting guide. I know it's simple to make one, but why I'm I dreading to do it? I've been thinking up the lamest excuses to procrastinate it all. Seriously, I'm sitting in my pajamas at 4pm and haven't been doing anything but be completely lazy. I have NO reason not to start looking for an internship that I know I need ASAP. Why? Why am I putting this off? Why am I treating this like it's something to be scared of?

Maybe I'm scared of being rejected. Maybe I know that I am about to take a crucial step toward the rest of my life, and I'm horrified that I will screw up and make a regrettable decision. Thinking about life post-graduation is an overwhelming nightmare. Yes, I am scared of being rejected. Yes, I'm scared of putting hard work into something, only to end up with nothing. Yes, I am scared of making a wrong decision, and feeling regret later on in life. I'm scared of failing. Being in school was comforting for me. When I entered UO, I knew that I would be there for 4 years and I won't have to enter the real world until I graduate. When I finished my frosh year I knew I still had 3 years.. after my soph year I knew I still had 2 years, then 1 year when I finished my jr year. Now I will be pushed into the real world in 3 months. In 3 months I will either be volunteering through an internship, employed, or desperately unemployed. Now is the time for me to take action towards post-graduate employment, and I simply CAN'T procrastinate anymore.

I need to take the first step 

and build my freaking resume.

Tomorrow.