Sunday, March 29, 2009

Fun Weekend!

I was able to take a little time away from all of my work this weekend and relax a bit. It was fun to get out both nights and spend some time with Evan and friends.

Last Monday, the Weed family welcomed Zella Cate into the world. Since her arrival, I have been so anxious to meet her! I have been close with the Weed/Baldwin family for many years, as Martha is one of my closest, oldest friends. Today I drove to Charlottesville for Zella's blessing and to have a much needed visit. It was beautiful. After the blessing, we went and had a delicious lunch. It was so much fun to catch up with everyone. I especially enjoyed holding Zella. She is a beautiful baby, I could snuggle her all day! I'm looking forward to many more fun visits!






Thursday, March 26, 2009

Busy Bee


I met with my adviser yesterday to talk about registering for next semester. It was a reality check when I realized I only have 27 credits left. After taking all 17-18 credit semesters, the next year should be a little less stressful, and give me some time to enjoy my last year of college! I'm feeling quite nostalgic as I only have one year left. Its crazy how quickly the past 3 years have flown and how much has changed. Aside from this nostalgia, I am beginning to freak out about what I want to do with my life... so we shall see.

I have had so much going on the last several weeks that I haven't been able to think straight! I took some time to myself yesterday and skipped my Forging class (I have never skipped a class in college just for the heck of it), and the family I was supposed to babysit for canceled on me. It was perfect! I escaped for the evening to Poquoson. Evan and Austin were already there visiting their Dad, Jeff who had a hip replacement on Monday. It was great to see Jeff and know that he is doing well and is in good spirits. We had a delicious enchilada dinner, and it was wonderful to be in such good company! Last night's escape was exactly what I needed! However, I am still anxious for next Tuesday to come so that I can turn my in two big projects and have a day or two to recuperate before the next assignments come rolling in! I promise to post pictures of my pieces!!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy Birthay, Evan!



Last Saturday (3/14) we had a lot of fun celebrating Evan's 24th birthday! We had plans for a cookout, however, due to the rain we had a good old pizza party. We had all the birthday party essentials: hats, balloons, decorations, etc. I was most excited about his rainbow cake! A camp friend told me about this cake just in time for Evan's birthday- I couldn't wait to try it out. Boy was it delicious!



Evan's parents came up for the pizza party and it was a lot of fun to celebrate his special day with them. They surprised him with a new 32" flat screen t.v. I must say that I'm looking forward to some serious snuggling and movie watching at his place!


Saturday was a great night! Happy Birthday, Honeypants!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Franciepants


Upon arriving to my weekly babysitting job for two of the most adorable boys, Jeb and Mosby- their mom informed me that their father's job would be moving them to Paris, France this summer. While I am very excited for the family, as this is an amazing opportunity, I can't help but be a little sad and selfish as I will miss them dearly! My sadness did subside a bit when their mom, Ann, asked me if I would be interested in going with them for the first three weeks while they got settled in. I could not say yes fast enough! I am so excited! I have never been out of the country and this is truly an amazing opportunity! Aside from playing with these amazing little boys in Paris, there are plans for museums, flea markets, delicious french food, and much much more! I cannot wait!

Ohhh Jiffy Lube...

And the car saga continues.. since Friday, I have been stressing over penny pinching to buy a new car to replace my beloved '91 gold Volvo station wagon. After having the car towed home to have our mechanic work on it for a much more reasonable price than the Volvo dealership in Richmond, it turns out that NOTHING is wrong with my car! Jiffy Lube simply put 5 quarts too much oil in, completely flooding the breather box. Now the question is- when I returned to Jiffy Lube complaining about the absurd amount of exhaust expelled after having my oil changed- WHY they didn't check the oil levels. AND when i took the car to Mooer's Volvo- WHY didn't the mechanics check the oil level before declaring my car totaled? guh. I am more than relieved that I don't have to buy a new car and that I can continue to save money, but very frustrated with the service at both Jiffy Lube and Mooers- I plan to be fully refunded for the towing, labor etc.

SO- word to the wise, avoid getting your oil changed at jiffy lube. saving a few dollars is NOT worth the headache!

Friday, March 6, 2009

Car Troubles

Needing an oil change 500 miles ago, I decided I'd be a good girl and take some time out of my morning off to head to jiffy lube and get a quick oil change... the quick oil change turned into my car expelling so much smoke out of the back exhaust pipe that I couldn't even see the car behind me. After returning to jiffy lube twice with the same complaint, they sent me on to the Volvo dealership, promising to pay for any damage that had been done. Volvo took a look at my car and found the problem (which jiffy lube apparently didn't cause... shucks. i was looking for them to cover my bill) and many other problems. The volvo dealership found over $1000 worth of problems. yipee! so. my 20 minute oil change turned into an all day $1000 affair. im getting a second opinion, and fixing the car... hopefully to move on to bigger and better cars!

Monday, March 2, 2009

A Snow Day in March?

Growing up in Lexington, snow was a frequent occurrence. Often if I was hopeful enough during the winter months, we would conveniently have a snow day on the day of important school due dates. In the 3 years I've been in Richmond, I have seen light snow flurries a handful of times, making last night's 8" snow fall quite a surprise! I blew off yesterday's forecast for 6-12 inches of snow, especially since it was 65 degrees last Friday. Needless to say, I was elated yet somewhat panicked by the beautiful blanket that covered Richmond. Ironically, I did have a critique today, but didn't trust the weatherman as I would have in high school, and finished my piece last night, making for a more relaxing day.

I am babysitting this week for the most adorable 2 year-old Mosby, so it was really fun doing all of the snow day classics with an enthusiastic toddler. We made pancakes, played in the snow (although I couldn't get him to keep his mittens on for the life of me), read lots of books, enjoyed a few episodes of Max and Ruby, and colored in his Sesame Street coloring book. Today was a treat but I'm also looking forward to being back in class tomorrow (I know I sound crazy)