First Day of School (Round 4)

So today is the first day of school... again. Since graduating in 1999 (that hurts to type lol) I have attended a junior college, a university in China (Guilin University of Electronic Tech), the University of Washington, and today Lake Washington Technical College.

I believe that I am going to be 70 and still in school... with no degree higher than a BA. I've never really known what I want to do with my life. as far as the Who/What/When/Where/Why questions, I've only got the "Who" part down. I know that banking is definitely not my calling, although I truly love the people I work with. Someday I'll find my niche.

What I'm really especially excited about is the opportunity to study art. I really haven't had much exposure to art at all, and I look forward to seeing how little artsy skills I actually have. The only art class I've attended was in HS. Having javascript:void(0)a complete introduction to color theory and drawing will be very interesting. I can't wait to see how my cartoon dinosaurs evolve.

Missing?

So I've been in a bit of a dark place lately... A lot of stuff hit us, and I am just trying to take everything one day at a time.

Happy things:

I'm starting school tomorrow! I'll be attending classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, while still working full time.

Abigail Vandermeyer celebrated her 3rd B-day on August 16th. We had a Hello Kitty themed party for her, complete with pizza, punch, and poker. She is so spoiled.

Unhappy things:

Our cars got vandalized- someone poured polyurethane foam down Val's gas tank, and dumped foam on my new car's paint job.

We're talking about pushing the wedding until 2010. With the way the economy has been we've been unable to save anything for our wedding. What we did save we had to use to fix our cars.

Have you seen the news regarding WaMu? Everyday, hours on end, I've been answering questions regarding FDIC insurance, and the status of WaMu stock. I can't wait for things to get better.

So there you have it. We're alive and healthy... Just trying to roll with the punches.

Val Learns to Ride

For the 4th of July Val learned how to learn a motorcycle, I started my own business, and we made pasties for dinner. Might have been the best 4th ever!

This will be the summer of Many Pounds.

I made this today for dessert. Super easy, turned out quite yummy too.

Strawberry Pie

1 1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 cup sugar
1/4 strawberry jello
~4 cups strawberries
cooked pie crust

Bring water, corn starch, and sugar to a boil and boil for 1 minute while constantly stirring. Remove from heat, add jello. Cool for 1 hour.

Wash and slice strawberries, throw them in pie crust. Pour gelatinous mixture over the berries, cool for 2 hours.

Great for a hot summer day!

Do you know what these are?

Those are the marbles from two Ramune drinks. I'm going to start collecting them.

Sweet Tomato!

 

My first tomato has shown up on our patio! This is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Brief Update!

 

So in the mist of our cruise ship excitement, I forgot to share with you an interesting event that transpired.

Val got his hair cut!

I had set up an appointment for my birthday to visit a private hair studio (hairbyjoey.com) and Val tagged along. The guy did such an awesome job on my hair that Val was brave enough to sit down in the hot seat. And voila!

So here's a pic of him rocking his new hair-do in Mexico, right by La Bufadora. Rock it, honey!

Also, I was having a bit of a rough day on Monday so I decided to become an ordained minister. It's now Reverend Julie to you, buddy! So if any of you need to get married in a pinch, you know who to go to. I'm also legally available to do exorcisms, but I promise you that all I'll do is throw nail polish remover and to chant in Latin.