Ooh, look! Something shiny!!

I have kind of a lot going on right now. Who doesn't, right? But I've got a Senior Portfolio due in two weeks that I haven't started yet. I am throwing a friend/coworker a baby shower in a month. I have three upcoming vacations. I need to schedule maintenance for my car. I need to call my dentist because my tooth feels weird. Justin Bieber's voice has been in my head for approximately 13 hours singing, "And I was like, Baby, baby, baby, Oh!" On repeat. I am trying to arrange for time off for my graduation from school. In six weeks-ish.  Still scheduled to work all weekend. I really need to take care of that. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to get time off for two weddings coming up this fall. I also really want to go to Chicago sometime this year. Remember how I still haven't been to a game in the new Yankee Stadium?  I need to change my FTE at work. I don't want to work so much!!! I need to somehow make it to a friends bridal shower and another friend's jewelry party while I'm going to be in a different time zone. The feeling of cotton balls bothers me. Like, nails on a chalk board irritates me. I'm going to be on my last pair of scrubs tomorrow and have no willpower to do laundry. Wagner and Turbin are both coming to Seattle?! That's pretty awesome. I wonder if either of them will be in need of some good ol' USU cooking? I need a new phone, but I should wait until I get back from Greece, just in case it ends up in the ocean. Do I want to keep renting my apartment or rent a house? Can I rent a house for cheaper? When can I buy a house? Oh yeah, that's right, when I stop spending money. I wonder when my new iPad is going to get here. I really need to call and schedule the interior/exterior auto detail I bought a while ago. Ugh, and my windows still need to be tinted.  I need to call my dear friend Mercy. And I haven't talked to Serena forever. I have a parking ticket that I need to have the university void. I don't know what to get my sister for graduation. She graduates in four days. Crap, mother's day is coming up and I haven't thought about that yet either. Sorry mom... it'll be great, I promise.

 All of these things are milling about my brain, but ya know what's keeping me awake tonight?  Grad school. Do I go to Johns Hopkins or Georgetown? Do I really want to get my CNS? Do I do it online or do I move? Georgetown has such a great tuition reimbursement program... Georgetown would be a stellar school, their program is wonderful. Johns Hopkins is Johns Hopkins though, so there's that. But also, Georgetown is Georgetown.The idea of moving to DC sounds heavenly; the physicality of it is a bit daunting. If I did go to Johns Hopkins and if I didn't do it online, I'd still move to DC and just commute. Do I move to DC anyway? I could do either program online from DC as well. And then I'd be in DC. Worrying about the what/when/where of grad school is already keeping me up and I won't even be starting it for a year and a half... at the soonest. Which reminds me... What if I don't get in? Sigh. My brain needs to be quiet. Or at least think about things going on in the next six months. Ok, just think about things this week. Or tonight. Just be quiet brain!

Come With Me!

My daily walk has been so beautiful lately I've wished for several days that I'd brought my camera, or at least my cell phone so I could capture the sights. The fact is, I quite enjoy my six miles of daily cell phone-free time every day. But today, I thought ahead and brought my camera ...using my camera case as a fanny-pack. It was hot, let me tell you ;) and my walk took significantly longer than normal and included many more squats than normal, but I accomplished what I wanted. So come with me on my beautiful daily walk! (There's a lot of photos, and I made them small for the ease of formatting... fee free to double click and flip through at actual size :) )

Leaving my Apt

Birds Nests in the Making

Squirrel!! 

The Lake was kind of angry today. I kind of prefer it when it's still.

It was too cold and windy for the 3 turtles who usually perch here.

Heading back home

Today's News: School is Expensive

I just ordered my graduation announcements... eek!!! It's getting closer!!!

Life in the Pac NW

Why I love living where I do:

Procrastination

In today's effort to postpone doing my homework that's due in the morning, you'll be very happy to know that I finished unpacking from my last two vacations. Yes, two. I spontaneously shampooed my carpets, went through my dresser and came up with nine bags for goodwill, did all my dishes, mopped floors, cleaned my blinds, dusted, cleaned out my window-sills, and washed/folded/hung-up ALL my laundry. Included in my laundry was all my bedding. All of it. Most notably my gorgeous white comforter that I've had for several years that was starting to yellow around the edges. Yellow no more (thank you pinterest). So you see, it's been a thoroughly productive day! It's also amazing how much stuff there is to look at on pinterest... What is it about homework?!  I think I'll go through my closet... Since I'm making a trip to goodwill tomorrow anyway...

Other than...

I'm now at the end of my four days off, and it's been a blissful four days. In that I've been shopping, and I've read, and I've spent a lot of time at the lake, and I've ate a lot of fresh fruit, and I've slept a lot. I've done a lot of everything except the one thing I had to do just once in these four days. My homework. I have one online posting, two replies to other postings, and two worksheets for fill out. I expect it will take about 30 minutes. And I just can't force myself to do it. Every time I try I end up deciding it would be more fun to Skype with my family. Or read my book. Or check Facebook. Or go to the lake and watch the sun set. Or take a bubble bath.

I've accomplished good things though. I've decided that my face is "done" with the routine I've been using. Much like when your hair gets tired of a certain shampoo and needs a break from it. So I ventured to Sephora and decided to try the Clinique line. I'd never used it before and quite simply, in two days I've become quite smitten. My skin feels and looks sensational, and oh so soft!

I also discovered on pinterest that if you rinse your fresh fruit in a 1:10 vinegar/water solution that it kills all the bacteria/mold already on them from the store and lets you store them in your fridge for weeks. So today after a fabulously refreshing Easter church meeting, I rinsed my grapes, blueberries, and strawberries.  We'll see how it works out.

And now I've lounged on the couch mindlessly flipping through channels and websites simultaneously. I've wittled everything else away. There's nothing to do but the simple bit of homework that's due in a few hours. And I just... can't... make... myself... do it. Yes, yes I will. Power through. Get it done...

Still

There's something about the reflection of the city lights on a perfectly still lake that is so good for the soul.

(I didn't take this photo... it's actually from Puget Sound ...on the other end of Seattle. My phone batter was too depleted on the way home from work to grab the shot... but this is the closest I could find. The lake by my house was perfectly still. A precisely still mirror image of the lights reflecting from the surrounding shore. I love it.)