Mind Doodles IV

1.) I like the scarf trend; I think they are cute. What I don't get is wearing scarves with tank tops. I actually think it looks kind of cute until I realize that it just doesn't make sense...it's warm enough to wear a tank top but your neck is still cold? What?? It's like the socks with sandals look: it's either warm enough to wear sandals, or cold enough to wear socks, but definitely not both!

2.) Whenever I finish a project, no matter how good or bad it might be, I only see the flaws in it (at least at first). I wonder if someone like Da Vinci would look at his Mona Lisa and only see what was wrong with it, or Van Gogh look at Starry Night and see all of his mistakes.

3.) 18 years of school (including my fifth of college!) and the first week just does not get any easier to transition into. And actually, this is the second week...darn it.

4.) I am missing the Great Minnesota Get-Together (that's the Minnesota state fair for those of you out there not fortunate enough to be Minnesotans ;)) this year for the first time since I was in elementary school. Sad day.

5.) Below: my first project completed and critiqued for the year, for my Advanced Studies in Interior Design class, which this semester is focusing on color. This is what I was referring to in #2...however mine actually looked pretty darn good when viewed with everyone else's projects on the wall together. Rock on.

What I Didn't Know

In church today, there were some freshman girls sitting behind me, talking about what they thought of the church and other things. It made me think of my freshman year in college; what I thought I knew then, and what I definitely know now...but mostly, it made me think of what I DIDN'T know four years ago...

• I didn't know that I would not get into the interior design program the first year I applied
• Related to the above, I didn't know that I would be in the middle of some Iowa cornfields for five whole years of school
• I didn't know just how difficult DSN 131 and DSN 102 would be
• I didn't know squat about interior design
• I didn't know how much I would miss Minnesota lakes
• I didn't know that I would not be studying abroad in Rome my senior (or in this case, super-senior) year like I had planned since high school
• I didn't know that I would ever find a boy so perfect for me
• I definitely didn't know that my final year of school I would be much more concerned and preoccupied with planned a wedding (MY wedding, of all things!) than with any schoolwork I might be given
• I didn't know that life would be so filled with ups and downs during these college years; almost nothing has been static during this time

Basically, everything that I ever wanted and planned for in college has been completely twisted around and turned upside-down. I was supposed to be done in four years, fully graduated with a degree in interior design, fresh from a semester studying abroad in Rome, before jetting out to the East Coast to work for a few years, and I definitely thought I was going to be single for quite some time (not by my own choice, but I just assumed). Instead, I had my dream of interior design taken away from me for one of the hardest years of my life, and then given back again; had my dream of studying abroad in Rome completely taken away, (that one is not going to be given back), and met my wonderful boy right after I became 100% fully content and happy with being single. God definitely has his own plans, and I have to say, they tend to be at least a little bit better than anything I could ever dream up for myself. :)

Oh how I miss my boy...

These are the things that my boy should have been around for today to help me move, but instead he is off gallivanting in Madison, thinking he is so smart and cool going to grad school (and I know that he will read this, so maybe he will feel just a little bit guilty... ;)):

• Greeting me at the Freddy community center with a big hug and kiss when I came to check in and pick up my keys
• Opening doors for me
• Carrying heavy things from my car up 3 flights of stairs to my apartment
• Putting my futon together
• Hooking the TV up and figuring out how to connect to get the cable channels
• Putting the shelf in the kitchen area together
• Organizing all of the technical (phone cord, computer stuff, etc.) items in my room
• Moving the furniture (desk, wardrobe, and bed) around in my room as I desired
• Protecting me from all of the spider webs in the entryway of my apartment building
• Going to dinner to enjoy some tasty food from The Cafe
• Paying for and carrying my groceries
• Putting things on the top of my wardrobe, because I am just a little too short to reach that high
• Cuddling with me; as comfy as my body pillow is, it just doesn't quite cut it compared to him

So, basically, what I am really trying to say is that I miss him a ton. I never knew how much I relied on him for so much stuff. It is a lot different being here at school without him than it is to be without him back home, and a lot harder since I am so used to him being around here. I honestly have just about forgotten how to open a door all by myself. He is my heavy lifting, spider-killing, bill paying, reach-up-high-for-me, computer geeky, handsome, wonderful, cuddly, bear of a boy, and this year is not going to be quite the same without him.

Love you Bear!

Chronology of Getting Through to ISU's Financial Aid Office

You would think that after 4 years we would have this all figured out, but alas...

8/17/09: Called multiple times, busy signal every time.

8/18/09: Ditto

8/19/09: Ditto

8/20/09:

10:39 am: Ditto

10:51 am: The phone actually rings! Hooray!

10:52 am: Sat and listened to what alternated between classical and old MoTown music from the '60s. I think this is progress.

10:55 am: Continue to be reminded that I have reached ISU's financial aid office. Um...hello? I have gone to ISU's financial aid office a fair number of times and have never heard classical and/or MoTown music playing. Pretty sure they are lying.

10:59 am: More of the same.

11:02 am: A real person! Success!!!

11:02-11:09 am: Explain that I want to get rid of a loan that I already received the money for but do not want. Also ask where to return the money. The guy removes both loans (from summer and fall), repeatedly tells me its my fault for approving all of my financial aid in the first place, (even though you have to approve your financial aid by a certain date, long before you see your actual U-Bill with the breakdown of all the charges, and maybe then decide that you don't want/need some of the loans you recieved), does not tell me where to return the money that I have already recieved, and leaves me more confused then when I started.

11:10-11:18 am: Mom and I sit down with my old bill, the new bill with all charges and payments in front of us on the computer, and one handy-dandy calculator to figure this all out.

11:19: Sip my coffee with a sigh of relief, about 78% confident that we have figured this all out correctly...

Engagement Pics

Check out Tyson's and my engagement photos here:

http://www.getdropbox.com/gallery/491315/1/Engagement%20Photos?h=127d47

or at our wedding blog: http://10-02-2010.blogspot.com/

Recap of Washington DC

Tyson and I just arrived back to the great state of Minnesota late Sunday night after spending 10 days in Washington DC. While much of the time I was lonely (he was at a conference all day every day, so I was pretty much left to my own devices) it was still nice to get away. Check out some of the highlights:

Tyson's first plane ride...ever!

Safe and sound at Dulles airport.

Sweet bubble tube!

Nemo at the National Aquarium in Baltimore

Mary Lincoln's dress

Dorothy's Ruby Slippers (on the Yellow Brick Road, of course)

Abe Lincoln's Hat

Some of my favorite jewels from the Smithsonian...like the Hope diamond...

...Josephine's (Napoleon's wife) gorgeous tiara...

...and a huge (over 22,000 carats!) Topaz

Nighttime in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia...there are no railings around the pier so I am just glad Tyson didn't push me in!

Waterfalls...

...and fountains.

Not only did we walk all the way TO the Lincoln Memorial (way in the background) on the hottest day of the year in DC (102+ degrees!), we also walked all the way BACK to where the car was parked...

Tyson in front of the White House, after we may or may not have seen Obama land in his helicopter.

It's hard to tell from this picture, but Lincoln's hands are HUGE on this statue compared to his body.

What this picture doesn't show is the long, hot walk back to where the car was parked...