Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Oh, Your Collegiate Grief Has Left You...


{I DID IT!!!}

It's finally over. I even have all my grades in for the semester! Although I thoroughly disagree with my Business Ethics final, I got the grades I was expecting for the semester. 1 A, 2 Bs, and 1 C. I will not have to take one class next semester to make up for a poor grade. I am officially done :)

My recital when super well on Friday night. I had about 30 people attend and every single person told me what a wonderful job I did. I really was humbled by the amount of people that came and the lovely things they said. I do have video, but there are a few things I need to edit before I share. I will say it's one of the more tolerable recordings of my singing for me to sit through. I usually hate listening to myself because it sounds SO different from what I hear in my head.

After the recital, my parents, Phil's folks, my brother, and our friend Abbey went to Macaroni Grill for dinner. Considering I only had a dry bowl of cereal the whole day, I inhaled my food! It was really good and I had a great time. Here are the two pictures I have from that night.


{Phil, myself and my dad before it started}

{My amazing teacher, Catherine, and I before the recital}

The next morning, I had to be at school by 9 am because graduates traditionally march around campus before entering the field house for graduation. Well, with all the construction on campus and with it being super windy and COLD, it was cancelled. I did not get this memo until 20 minutes before graduation was supposed to start. Oh well. I walked across the stage like a pro and we had pizza and cake at the apartment afterwards. It was a really wonderful day and I realized just how blessed I truly am :) Here are a few photos!


{Phil and I after the ceremony}

{My family :)}

{The in-laws and myself! Hopefully their camera has a better picture}

{Abbey and myself :)}

{The card from my parents that says it all... Hot Damn & Hallelujah HAHA}

{My wonderful support group at the apartment}

My folks agreed to caravan with us up to Minnesota. Well, despite stopping overnight in KC with family, the roads and weather was still not really good on Monday morning. We decided to stay north of Des Moines, IA to give the workers enough time to clear up the roads. We dropped off the Jeep at a Goodyear place for some new tires we desperately needed and went to see "Yogi Bear". It was lots of fun to see! By the time we left yesterday morning, the roads were much better and we had a fairly easy time getting to my parents' house. I definitely have a white Christmas :)

Today, Phil and I have most of the day to ourselves. We slept in a bit, and now I'm relaxing while he does a little data analysis on his computer. After he's done, we'll get some lunch, go to Borders to redeem my gift card, (I got $50 from the in-laws as a graduation gift!), and to find some better shoes for Phil. We bought him some new sneakers back in January, but with them being around $20, we should have known we'd have to replace them. They are getting holes in the side so he's feet get soaking wet whenever we walk in snow.

Also, a quick shout out to our really good friends Carrie & Jon O.! Yesterday was their 4th wedding anniversary! Both Phil and I had the honor of being a part of their wedding party and they've truly become our closest married friends. They are some of the best people in the world and we are so happy for them. I try to get them a tradition wedding anniversary gift every year. Since the 4th anniversary is fruit & flowers, I thought an Edible Arrangement would be fun :) They did get it yesterday and I just know they'll love it! Love you two!! XOXO

Other than that, I'm just so happy to have this college thing over with! I don't know what they future holds for Phil and I, but I know we'll be surrounding by amazing family and friends who will support us no matter what :)

Peace to you,

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

You Can Ring My Bell...


{via}

This morning, Phil and I took a very special trip. You see, it is a tradition at the University of Tulsa to ring the school bell after you have taken your last final before graduation. Even though my degree will not be from that particular university, I felt I deserved to ring that bell. I was there for 3 years AND my current school is counting every. single. class. that I took from TU. If that's the case, then I deserve to ring that bell! Now, I do still have 1 more exam to take, but considering it's a 3 hour round trip, I figured this morning was close enough to the actual time :) Even though it was cold and windy, it was totally worth it.


I had kind of a rough day yesterday because my to-do list is so very long. I felt overwhelmed and thought I would have no chance of getting everything done that I wanted. So, after Phil *cough* volunteered *cough* to help out, things didn't seem so bad. I had a voice lesson and a coaching that went REALLY well. When I got home, Phil had picked up and vacuumed, as well as accomplished a few other things on the list :D That definitely made me feel much much better.

In celebration of things getting done and all, I thought I would share a few things today. First of all, this video, although Christmas-y, made me smile and I just love to watch it :)


Second, even though I explained I'm not in a Christmas mood just yet, one of my favorite parts of winter is snow. I love snow and snowflakes :)


{via}

The other day, Phil and I tried a new recipe from Alton Brown. We love Alton and his show "Good Eats" and this recipe looked really interesting. It's called Whole Pumpkin Pie Soup. It was SO good too! The fun part is eating it right out of the pumpkin :) Now, silly me, I added 4 oz of goat cheese instead of 2 like the recipe called for. Also, we don't have an immersion blender, so it wasn't as blended as Alton's version. However, it was still really good and definitely recommended. Here's a photo I snapped of the finished product!


Finally, here's a photo of our lights from the outside.


Hope y'all are having a great Wednesday!
Peace to you,

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

You've Got Garlic In Your Soul...


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I've been dreading this post, hoping the subject would clear itself up. Unfortunately, nothing has changed...


Folks, it is now December 14th, around 1:20 p.m. in the afternoon. And I, Courtney, am not in a Christmas mood.

Let's clear a few things up. I usually love Christmas. It's not my favorite holiday, but I enjoy it every year. I usually look forward to the tree, the gift shopping/giving, cookie baking, holiday movie extravaganza that happens from December 1st until the day after Christmas. Phil and I even decorated the apartment for the holidays much earlier than usual, (we wait until December 8th so my dad's birthday is not overlooked).

For whatever reason... I'm just not feelin' it.

I avoid the all-Christmas-music stations. The holiday movies do not have the super warm-fuzzy-feeling effect they usually do. I even opted out of driving through some Christmas lights the other day because it was "too cold" outside. The thought of dealing with the general public makes me uneasy. I hate driving anywhere near the mall. I hate running errands, even Target runs! *gasp* It's almost like it's a chore to get through the next 12 days*.

*P.S. I had a girl at my final say that yesterday, December 13th, was the start of the 12 days of Christmas. Um... no it is not. The 12 days of Christmas starts on Christmas Day and goes until Epiphany, when the wise men made it to baby Jesus. I actually talked about this earlier in the year. It just bothered me and I didn't want to be the weird, know-it-all girl in class and kept my mouth shut.

Could it be that I'm finishing up school and just have too much on my plate? Am I scrooge this year? Am I Mrs. Grinch?

I am excited about giving my gifts. I can't wait to see people's faces when they open them :D I am excited about going to Minnesota, spending time with my folks and having a white Christmas. I am excited about seeing my in-laws and spending time with them. I'm even excited about the Christmas Eve service we'll go to.

Do you ever have years like that? Years that Christmas just isn't that exciting? Am I alone? Will my "Christmas spirit" appear out of nowhere and I'll be just like everyone else?

Peace to you,

Monday, December 13, 2010

So Close You Can Almost Taste It...


{via}
This has been my life for awhile...

Oh yeah, I totally went there.

So here I am, mere days until I am a college graduate. I have stressed out and cried more this last year about school and life than I think I ever have. Some days I didn't think I could make. Some days I nearly threw up my white underpants on a stick and surrendered. I wanted to make it all go away and start over.

Something,

something deep inside of me kept on pushing.

I remember that voice from before...

it has a little more wisdom and life experience in its tone now.

However, I recognized it every time...

it was me.

Pushing to finish. Knowing that I would regret it every single day if I gave up. Knowing I would be more disappointed in myself than I could ever imagine my family being. I always used them as an excuse, but this time I knew it was all for me. It's the voice that used to be around any time I set my mind to something. It just somehow started getting covered up by my voice of fear after I went off to college. Now, the fear is leaving and I hear the voice getting stronger every day.

The past two weeks have been nuts, but it was worth it.

I did my first final this morning and it wasn't too bad. I know I passed, but it would have been nice to know for sure that I answered the essay correctly. Oh well, no turning back now.

I'm in full swing with recital preparations as well. I still need to memorize my butt off, but I know it'll be good no matter what.

I can't WAIT to see my parents :) It's going to be so wonderful to see them and for them to celebrate with me as I showcase my voice AND finally finish my bachelor's. I can't wait to see the smile on my dad's face!

I still have some hard work ahead, but it's not too much and I know I can handle it. 1 500 word essay, 1 take-home final essay, 2 revisions and 1 written test (Shakespeare) before I'm home free. Once I'm done with all this stuff, I'll be updating much more often. I know you're excited ;) Plus, we're headed up to the cold tundra of Minnesota to be with my folks for Christmas! *singing* I'm dreaming, er getting, a whiiiiiiiiiite Christmas!

I made a play list after Thanksgiving to get me through the last few weeks as I finished up school. I hope you enjoy it as much as it has pumped me up :)

1. "The Final Countdown" by Europe (but of course!)
4. "This Year" by The Mountain Goats (theme song for the year like I said here)

*****
Phil and I exchanged gifts early because I knew I was going to get a video camera I requested so I could record my recital. Plus, the "big" gift I got him was so exciting for me, I knew I couldn't hold on to it for too long ;)

Not only did I get this beauty...

{via}
but the package he got came with a bag, an SD memory card AND a tripod! It's pretty cool :)

And I gave him this...


{via}
He was very happy to receive it.

p.s. On the Nook, I bought it from Best Buy online, got an super cool package that included a light and leather cover AND I could pick it up the same day in the store of my choosing. It was pretty awesome :)

*****
An important man in my life had a big day...

{via}
Happy Belated Birthday to my Daddy-O! I love you very much and I'm so happy you're in my life. LOVELOVELOVE

Peace to you,

But I Know What It Feels Like

This post is going to be awfully vulnerable and hard for me, but I really want to finally say it out loud. I got permission for my daughter ...