Last week was my spring break and I spent it working fulltime at an attorney’s office.  I have been trying to find a job in an attorney’s office for the entire time I’ve been in college, and of course I found it right when I’m on my way out.  I had fun despite the fact that I just did office work for a week.  I filed, answered telephones, sent faxes, and made labels for letters to be mailed out.  It doesn’t matter though, it will look good on my resume.  At the end of the week, the attorney asked me to work every Friday, which will most likely turn into more work after I graduate!  Speaking of law, I haven’t heard back about law school, but I should start to hear back fairly soon.

What else has been going on… the weather!  It is absolutely GORGEOUS!  The azaleas, dog woods and wild plums are in full bloom and our little family is loving it.  Tom was lucky enough to go out on the boat a few times this past weekend, but I was busy doing wedding preparations, so I didn’t.  Hunter went out on the boat for the first time, and just like Remington he loved every minute of it.  We’ve got some great pictures on the hard drive, so I’ll have to get those and show them to you all.

Wedding plans are coming along nicely.  I slightly altered the color – instead of “Wild Orchid” on the David’s Bridal web site, we’re now going with “Lilac.”  The other color is called “Clover.”  The moms have their dresses, and the bridesmaids have at least started to look.  I am going to have three bridesmaids, because of a falling out with one of them.  It’s easier to have three because there won’t be as much drama, but my feelings are hurt because of the way it all went down.  Anyway.

This weekend, we also met with the priest that will be marrying us.  He gave us a book of readings to choose from and information that we will need to set all the music up for the mass.  It was really nice to talk with him.  He has been the monsignor at my church since before I was born, so I have completed all my sacraments under him.  He also married my mom and stepdad in 2003, so he knows the entire family.

Flowers are set.  My bouquet will consist of green and white hydrangeas and freesia, and a single green (very light … almost yellow) rose in the middle.  The rose is significant because my deceased paternal grandfather was a wholesale florist and absolutely loved yellow roses.  Since the yellow won’t match with our colors, we’re going with green.  It’s so beautiful!

We also went to two cake tastings and decided on a cake baker/decorator.  We’re doing a three tier with cornilly lace, and a sheet cake that will be decorated the same.  Very simple yet elegant, which is exactly what we wanted.

In other news … I planted an herb garden yesterday!  I only have four herbs in it because it’s just a small window box – basil, sage, flat leaf parsley and mint.

And, after a two week hiatus from the gym because of my sinus infection and working, I went back last night.  It was a little rough, but I’m going back tomorrow.  They actually demonstrated some safety equipment while I was there, which was kind of strange.  I should have pushed myself to go today, but I didn’t.  Tomorrow I’m going first thing in the morning and doing cardio and strength training.  I got some tips from my soon to be brother-in-law and that will also help jumpstart my weight loss again.

Off to finish the laundry and get ready for bed.  I have gotten back into the habit of reading right before bed again.  I really missed it!

The night before I was looking on Craigslist for jobs and came across an ad for a legal assistant for next week only.  If anything, I could use the extra money, even if it isn’t an ongoing job.  Anyway, I submitted my resume and got a call back!  I will be working Monday and Tuesday full time to help a local law firm get caught up while one of their adminstrative assistants is on vacation.  I spoke with the head attorney about possibly getting a more regular job and he said it is very possible.  So, please keep your fingers crossed that I dazzle this guy and he’ll want me to stay on!

Since I’ve been feeling better since yesterday, I’ve gone crazy with cleaning.  The apartment got so bad that I just buckled down and did some of the really necessary cleaning – like the bathrooms.  I even washed the shower liner!  On the agenda for today is laundry (I feel like I’m always doing laundry), finishing up cleaning, dusting, and then who knows what.  I’m hoping that Tom and I can go somewhere to use our camera (like the botanical gardens or something).  It’d be a neat date idea, too.

It has really warmed up the past couple days, and it feels SO GOOD.  Seriously, I love being able to have the windows open and enjoy the warmth.  It got a little too warm yesterday, but once I turned the fans on in the apartment it was much better.  Since it warmed up, I decided to get out my ice cream attachment for the mixer.  I just made vanilla ice cream using a recipe that came with the attachment, since I’ve never done it before.  It’s actually really easy!  I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Other than the two days of work, I don’t have any plans for spring break.  I’m going to probably need to go home to do some wedding stuff.  I’m going to use the time to get ahead in my classes and take care of some impending assignments, and one of my goals is to do some work on this site.  I want to incorporate more weekly articles that you can expect on the same day every week.  What would you like to see more of on this web site?  Be honest, I’d like your ideas!

I need to get out of this room … Remy is stinking it up with his farts!

I did something extremely stupid last night.  I was calling my sister to wish her a happy birthday (she turned 21).  When she didn’t pick up, I left a voicemail.  Instead of hanging up, though, I just closed my phone.  As I was talking to a friend, I realized that for about 3 minutes I was still connected to my sister’s voicemail.  I was talking about something I really didn’t want my sister to hear.  Hopefully she will just ignore the voicemail (like she normally does).  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I also got a weird charge on my cell phone bill and I’m not happy about it.  I dialed a toll free number to get help with reordering my newspaper subscription but managed to get charged for the long distance somehow.  I need to figure that out today.  That’s not okay if you advertise that your phone number is toll free!

Tom and I are hoping to use the new camera at the hunt camp tomorrow.  It’ll be so nice to get some gorgeous shots while we’re there.  And, the weather is going to be amazing.  I think the high is something like 65 degrees.  How awesome is that?

I found a couple new cooking web sites yesterday that I’m going to add to my list of dailies.  A recipe that we’re trying tonight is Broccoli and Beef Stir-Fry.  Doesn’t that sound yummy?  I’ll let you know how it turns out.  This will be the first time that I’ve done an Asian dish, and the first time I’ve used fresh ginger.

The trainer spent 2.5 hours with us at our apartment yesterday, and worked with both dogs (but Remington more than Hunter).  Tom and I are absolutely flabbergasted at the improvement in both of them!  We believe in positive reinforcement training, using the clicker and only rewarding good behavior (instead of punishing bad behavior).  We also bought a gentle leader for Remington, and by the end of the session he was completely, 100% manageable on a leash.  We went for another walk last night and it was as if he didn’t know he was on a leash.  Completely amazing, if you ask me!

We both feel a lot better about Remington.  He may not be a dog park dog due to the unpredictable aggression, but he is not a bad dog and he is still a normal dog.  The trainer has a dog who is also dog aggressive and she lives a completely normal life with her dog – they go on walks, etc.  He just doesn’t go to the park unless there are no other dogs present.

On another note, I went to the gym this morning for an hour.  My 2 week guest membership is up on the 10th, so I’m trying to get as much in as I can until I have to start paying for it.  In one hour (35 minutes on the stationary bike and 25 minutes on the stair master) I burned 700 calories!  I’ve gone through about 60 oz of water today and have about 14 oz more to go until I’m at my “usual” intake.  Going to the gym made me want to come home and eat a really healthy lunch, so I had a banana and a salad with a little bit of grilled chicken (no skin) in it.  And I rewarded myself with a peanut butter cookie from the apartment office when I went to fax something.

I wish it was sunny and nice out, that would complete my day!  Oh, and I really wish I didn’t have a finance test tonight.  I can dream, right?

I added a Wordpress Wall to my sidebar.  Use it if you don’t feel like commenting.  I like random notes and thoughts, so feel free to add to it.

Also, what do you think about this layout?  I wasn’t sure about it at first but now it’s kind of growing on me.  I like the wood background and the colors.  I hope you do too!

It’s nice and warm here again (high 70s this week).  I wore pants to class and couldn’t stop thinking how hot it was.  See, cold weather spoils me.  There’s no way I was meant to live in Florida, haha.

Tom and I are still trying to look for some discount furniture because there are just some bare areas in the apartment.  Being a fresh-out-of-college grad and a still-in-college student, we’re looking at thrift stores.  I figure that everything will match one day.  Just not right now.

I don’t have class tomorrow but instead have to work on a paper for my Criminal Law class.  The paper is based on cases where defendants have used postpartum depression as a defense for murder.  I will enjoy writing that paper only because I get to argue the issue and learn about different cases.  It’s due on Thursday.

Saturday night my friends got together to watch The Exorcist, which I had never seen before.  In the very beginning, the old priest is in Iraq and almost gets hit by a horse cart.  That’s when my freaking out behavior began.  One of my friends was like, “Are you serious?!”  I had a pillow over my face the majority of the time we were watching the movie, and was pretty freaked out until I (finally) fell asleep.  Thankfully, though, I was able to push the stuff I had seen (twisting head, demon face, etc.) out of my mind last night.  Usually things like that plague me for a few days.

Nothing else is really going on … oh!  Hunter went to the dog park again yesterday and did very well again.  He’s finally understanding that the other dogs just want to play! and not hurt him.  He runs around and loves getting chased.  We’re doing better with getting digging under control, but we’re still not sure how to stop it completely.  We’re thinking about buying some mulch, but at $2.63/bag at Walmart and needing about 30 bags to mulch the backyard, we have decided to hold off for awhile on that!

I better get going.  I’m still waiting for Dell to call back, and then I’ve got to get dinner started, followed by laundry and some LSAT practice.  Ciao for now!

It’s been so cold here lately that Tom and I have been looking into espresso machines.  When it’s as cold as it has been in the mornings, we both find it really difficult to get out of our warm, snuggly bed.  Even Hunter bundled into the blankets this morning to cuddle for an extra few minutes.  And Romeo, being the spoiled little boy that he is, slept in his bed in the other room.  What can I say, I didn’t teach him to share!

My computer is seriously effed up, too.  Successive beeping upon start up, down button on the keyboard doesn’t work, weird scrolling on web pages, cannot click links in Outlook 2003, etc.  I haven’t done anything to my computer other than what Dell Technicians recommended, but somehow my computer has ended up worse than it was when I initially contacted them for help.  Needless to say, I am NOT a happy camper.

What does cheer me up is the weather, though.  We’ve had the windows open for a few days now.  The temperature here is currently 57 and the high is only going to be 76!  That’s pants weather (without being disgusting at the end of the day).  Love it :)

Hunter has been doing so well with potty training and just generally listening to us.  It’s like something clicked all of a sudden.  I can’t explain it, but it’s obviously a welcomed change!  I’ll keep you posted on his “progress”, lol, because he could very easily revert back to old habits.

Off to dry my hair and drop my class!

So, is this tropical storm going to affect my first week of my senior year in college?  I hope not.  I’ve had enough of a break.  I’m ready to go back to school and focus on something.  Four hours of work a day isn’t enough to keep me busy.  I’ve decided to drop my ASL 3 class; as badly as I want to take the class, I feel like 16 credits (one of which is Business Finance – one of the hardest classes to take at UF) is too much.  I need all the other classes for my major or minor, so ASL 3 is really the only one that I can drop.  I can always take it in the spring, though (when all my other ASL friends are taking it).  Tom and I are keeping an eye on this storm and if need be, we’ll go home to help our parents prepare.  If not, we’ll just make sure we have gas in the cars and cash and we’ll be set here in our apartment.

I made the BEST spaghetti sauce over the weekend.  I used a jar of spaghetti sauce that I bought from the store and added to it – ground beef, chopped onion, minced garlic, baby portabello mushrooms, spinach, italian seasoning and pepper.  It turned out really nicely and we had enough for leftovers.  I ended up having an old friend over for dinner last night and that’s what we had (along with a salad and homemade garlic bread).  It was a yummy dinner!

Hunter is growing so much.  I really love having him despite how difficult he can be to control sometimes.  We took a long walk earlier and he did so great; didn’t pull on the leash and wear himself out, didn’t freak out at cars, and best of all, didn’t stop completely when he got afraid of random noises.  Now that Tom is working in the office full time again (he was out doing field work the last couple weeks), we’re getting serious about looking into puppy classes.  Tom will do that (since I have school and work to worry about) and I am hoping it will really help him bond with Hunter.  Hunter listens to me a little better than he listens to Tom, and I think it’s because Tom is at work and I spend more time at home with him.  Speaking of Hunter, I really need to post some new pictures of him!

My list of things to get done today is waiting for me, so I better end this right here.  I hope you all have a wonderful week! :)