Wow it's been awhile!

Well hello, Internet World!

It's been a while since I've visited you here. Although I'm sure I wasn't missed too terribly much!

So I bought the Mac I wanted :D I am in LOVE with it. I spent a good chunk of change on it, but I know it's so worth it and that it will last me for a long time so I'm okay with it.

I'm beginning to feel the need to switch to shooting Canon instead of Nikon. I shoot Canon at the studio and it's really just kinda messing with my brain when I come back to shoot my camera. PLus there are a lot of features on the larger Canons that are really nice and that I like a lot.

Why is that whenever I type plus with a capital P it capitalizes the L, too? Do you suppose it's my brains subconscious way of emphasizing the big deal of adding something? Who knows.

Work is going well. Tomorrow I"m working 8 hours at Brady's instead of at Reeves. That will be a nice boost in my bank account, especially since I'll be work 12 to 5 at Brady's on Friday as well. 

Brett and I are doing well. We seem to be acting like an old couple lately. Lots of making dinner, running errands, and watching movies/falling asleep on the couch, haha. Oh well, it's nice to have time to relax and just spend time with him

I'm going to Transformers 2 tonight!! I'm so excited! It is gonna be a little difficult to get up at 7 am tomorrow to get to work at 8 though...oh well! Midnight movies are always a good time :D 

I'm pretty well settled in to the condo, but I'm kind of at a stand still now. Why, you ask? Because I'm getting  NEW CARPET!! I'm so excited. The stuff that's in here now is so gross and old that it's seriously just dissolving at the seams and stuff. GROSS. My mom ordered the carpet today while I was at work and she said it takes about 2 weeks to get in and then they have to schedule the removal/installation. So until then I'm not sleeping on my own bed...AeroBeds are lifesavers. I don't want to move in my actual mattress and NEW HEADBOARD [eeeek!] until after the new carpet is here. It's way easier to move around an AeroBed then a huge queen size pillowtop mattress :) haha. 

My room is all painted a gorgeous, deep, purple. My bathroom is light yellow. Now I just need to find the time to paint my kitchen light green. Then all of that will be done and I can finally start hanging pictures on the walls and making this place feel more like home.

I love being a grown up. I paid my first cable bill the other day - strange feeling. Now I'm just waiting for the electric bill to get here so Rachel and I can figure out who owes what on that. 

I've also been a super bargain shopper lately. I bought a bunch of nice shirts/tank tops/flip flops yesterday for all under 10 dollars! Sure, I spent like 100 some dollars, but everything was such a good deal and it's all very practical items so I'm okay with it. 

I spent a ton of money at Victoria's Secret and Gap the other day, too. Yay new underwear and really cute tank tops! :D I love layering!

Hm. What else.

OH! My birthday was awesome! Brett and I drove down to Fargo and my parents came as well. We did some random shopping and then my sister, her boyfriend Zach, my parents, Brett, my bestie Cozy and I all had lunch/dinner at Olive Garden! It was DELICIOUS! Then we headed over to RibFest [white trash,right?!] for the concerts. Brett and I stood in the rain for 4 hours. Gross. My pants were soaked up past my knees - but Brett had a good time at the concert and I was glad to see him happy.

My parents bought me the software and a TB harddrive that I wanted for my birthday. Rachel got me the North Face flip flops I wanted, and Cozy got me the baby giraffe tea light holder!! I am in love with it :D 

What did Brett get, you ask? The ring I wanted! It's so gorgeous and sparkly sparkly! [PS it's not a promise ring or an engagement ring] The ring matches the necklace I got from Brett last year and the earrings that his parents gave me. :D It's the fake version of my birthstone the Alexandrite.  I'm super in love with this ring and spend many minutes a day staring at it's beauty when I'm bored, or when it catches the light.

Well - I'm all typed out I think. Hope all is well for my few readers out there!

-allie

Ahh, Bloomington.

Once again I'm here for the drive by blog update :)

-Finals week is coming so quickly...actually, more quickly than it is for anyone else because my finals are THIS WEEK. Eeeeeek.

-I found the Mac that I want and I'm really excited about it. We went in to the Apple store in Southdale mall in Bloomington, and there she was in all her glory. And iMac desktop :D Heaven. The thing is so great for graphics, has a HUGE hard drive [1TB], is super fast, GORGEOUS, and actually pretty affordable. I also found out I get a student discount [only about $100 - but I'm not complaining!]. I'm planning on getting it the end of May.
[PS I'm getting the desktop first because it's less expensive and is actually better than a laptop...my tentative plan is to get a MacBook Pro at graduation possibly].

-In case you haven't figured it out, I'm in the cities this weekend! It's been a blast. My dad, mom, sister and I came down. We left Cecilie at home, and Rachel brought her new boyfriend Zach along. I think he's been having a good time watching us all make fools of ourselves and learning some blackmail :)

-We went to Ikea today. Ahh love that store. Got lots of candles and other fun things!

-I also found the camera of my dreamssssssss. It's beautiful. Buttttt about 8 grand. EEk. That will have to wait awhile :)

-My job at the studio is really awesome - loving it thus far. I get to assist at my first wedding on May 22nd - SCARY!!! I'm nervous, but I'm sure everything will work out fine.

-I can't wait to move in to my new condo [no I have not talked about it enough :P]

-Brett's working his little tail off lately, which is good because I am, too. He kind of got a wake up call when the bank called him and he found out how much his student loan payments are going to be a month - YIKES. I'm so glad I won't have to worry about that, but I'll probably worry just as much about his anyway. I wish I was in a position to help out, but I'm not rich, and there's only so much you can do as the girlfriend...

-I'm taking a summer course - but it's only 2 weeks long - yahoo!!

-Bad news: I'm no longer graduating early :( I guess I could work it out so I'd be done a semester early, but we'll have to see when we get to that point.

Well, we're off to have dinner here in a few so I better go make myself presentable :) Toodles.

work, work, work!

Hello, my few followers :)

How has life been in your neck of the woods lately? For me, it's been BUSY.
Why, you ask?

1] It's the end of the semester.
2] I am behind.
3] I have 2 new jobs.
4] I'm gearing up to move.
5] Picking classes for next semester is stressing me out!


So, I have 2 jobs! I must say it's quite strange to go from having zero jobs for about 6 months to all of a sudden jumping in to having TWO! So, I started out working at Reeves Media & Photography in downtown Grand Forks. I started there just as an assistant for a few weeks because Jen [the owner/photographer] needed help with the dance studio photos she was doing for two different studios. I was definitely more than happy to do that! :) So far we've had two shoots with the Katie Lien School of Dance --- they've been a blast! The first day I started out taking money/explaining the sometimes complicated ordering process to the moms in Hillsboro. Yesterday night was our second shoot in Mayville. I was doing two jobs this time - taking money/helping with ordering, and writing down photo numbers/helping Jen with details to make the photos better, etc. It was a blast!!
It was really great to feel like Jen was trusting me with things. She's really great about delegating and just letting me figure things out and listening to my dumb questions :) I set up the lighting equipment for the first time - and I didn't have to ask her anything! Amazing :)
Anywho, so Jen also approached me about possibly continuing my employment there into the summer/school year more as an assistant, because her current assistant is going to be moving to Fargo sometime this summer. I definitely jumped at the chance! I had a formal interview with her a week or so ago, and it's a go!
The best part? I'm getting credit for school! The internship co-op program is a wonderful thing :)

The second job I have is at my dad's office downtown. My sister currently works there as a file clerk/fill in receptionist, but she will be moving to Fargo this summer to start her big girl job, and they needed a replacement! I was pretty excited when I heard that they had chosen me to take the job - best part? no interview! haha. I've been there for about 2 weeks now and it's pretty good. I get paid about $10/hr to check in files, make new files, and file the files away [hehe lots of the word file there]. I also have ot cover the reception desk Fridays during the summer from 12-5. I've always wanted to be a receptionist, so that's definitely a-ok with me!

So as of right now I have 3 credits on my schedule for the fall. THREE. UGH. Stupid university only offering a few classes and having them overlap time slots. Seriously frustrating. I have to got in and talk to my professor from my entrepreuneurship course and beg him to let me take two entr classes at the same time -- they got a new dept chair and apparently he's a stickler and doesn't want us to ever graduate??!?! LAME. I'm hoping I can get some headway , if not for this semester at least for next semester. I have to take the 16 credit entrepreneurship certificate program, as of now I have 1 credit done. UGH UGH UGH. Can you tell I'm frustrated about it?! I am!
I also have to find some BS math/science class to take because it turns out I need 5 credits and I can only get up to 3 from the math clept test....that's if I can even pass the darn thing. I haven't done math in 4 years...haha. That should be very interesting.

In other news, I cannot wait to move into the condo!! Living at home has been really nice, though. I love getting to see my parents and have dinner with them and such, but I'm also really excited to be out on my own and really get in to being an adult. I do have to say that getting 2 jobs [one that could potentially be my future after I graduate] has really made me grow up quickly. I love the feeling of saying "Oh, mom, I won't be home until about 5 because I have class and then I'm going straight to Reeves and then to Bradys" etc etc.

I guess I just feel like I've really hit my stride with this whole being an adult thing. It's not even as scary as I thought it would be! :) I get my first pay check from Brady's on Wednesday I think...eek! Can't wait to have money again - I better hide it away though. Gotta save up!

Let's see...being stressed out has been putting my emotions on high alert. So strange. I mean seriously, I can be watching like HGTV House Hunters or something and I start to get all choked up. WTF. Not even sad!! I mean if it was extreme makeover home edition, yeah, cause who doesn't cry at that?! [shut up if you don't :P]. It caused some issues for me and Brett the other day. We haven't been seeing much of each other because of my work schedule and his work schedule and the fact that it's hard to see one another when one doesn't get done working til 9 and we have to drtive across town to get to each other. I know, I know, Grand Forks isn't really big at all, but it gets to be a little monotonous and difficult when you're tired and just want to get to bed. Anyway, I understood all that and that was fine, but I was really starting to feel like he was being distant. I mean really, I hadn't heard "I love you" from him in like 3 weeks...not ok. I started to talk to him about it, but then we spent some time together the other night just laughing and so I felt better about it. It's not his fault I never see him cause I gotta make the big bucks :P

Update me on your lives!! and KAYT BLOG DANG IT --I did it, you can do it!

Floods?

So, some life updates!

*Fargo is holding out against the flooding. Hoping for the best down there.

*GF is doing fine, as expected. REally sick of people freaking out about it and scaring people who haven't been through a flood and don't know what to expect.

*My gallbladder has been cooperating and not causing me pain for about a month now. I have to be sure to keep track of this in case it comes back so I can report it to my doctor.

*I'm deactivating from AXO. I'm going down to CR on Monday and then it will be done. I'm feeling relieved and excited to be done with this. I'm really hoping they don't try to be bitches about it and say that i have to stay in the house so I can't deactivate or something. They shouldn't try anything because I paid my $2300 at the beginning of the semester so they got all the money out of me that they thought they were going to.
Needless to say I hope it's a smooth process. I really didn't want to have to deactivate because I feel like there's a stigma attached to that, but I really can't handle living here and having all the commitments that I do anymore. I'm just not happy here anymore, and I don't want to waste anymore of my life being unhappy if I can do something about it.

Well, time to shower. Maybe I'll add more later.

The Google Experiment

Type your name followed by needs into google and see what you need! :)

Allie needs a boyfriend. [got one.]
Allie needs a good home.
Allie needs to walk through a greenhouse full of fragrant flowers. [that would set off my allergies and give me a headache]
Allie needs a freaking cupcake Costco cake.
Allie needs some love.
Allie needs a baby of her own.

Gallbladder

So, I went to the doctor on Wednesday. She told me to start taking Prilosec and then [amazingly] scheduled me an ultrasound for 7:30 AM on Thursday. Yes, AM. IT was tough.

So Thursday rolls around and I went to get my ultrasound. I was excited because they had warm jelly for me instead of the normal freezing cold stuff - that was a big deal, man.

So Friday morning my doctor calls me and says that my gallbladder looks completely normal. Then she proceeds to ask me some questions the convo went something like this:

Dr.: Have you been taking the medication?
Me: Yes
Dr.: Has it been working?
Me: Well, I haven't eaten anything that would have upset my stomach or anything.
Dr.: OH GOOD! You haven't had any symptoms! Well that's good. keep taking the medicine for 2 weeks and eat foods that would upset your stomach before and then let me know if you have any more problems.

WHAT THE FUCK LADY. I just said I didn't eat anything that would have made my stomach hurt, so OBVIOUSLY I haven't had any symptoms.

She's such a dumbass. My dad is sick of her so I guess I'll wait this pain out awhile longer and go back to see if anything has changed. I guess if she keeps telling me I'm fine my dad wants me to go to another Dr, which I would be fine with.

Frasier

Spring is on its way, I hope. It's been cold here, but in a strange way where it feels a bit warmer and fresher.

I have a doctors appointment tomorrow morning at 9:30. Hopefully, she doesn't look at me like I"m insane and gives me the time of day, and the tests to figure out what the heck is wrong with my stomach. I'm getting really sick of being in pain everytime I eat.

I rented "Nights in Rodanthe" last night. I'm so glad I finally saw it. Totally threw me a curve ball though, never expected it to end the way it did. Overall, a great film though. Lots of awesome actors!

I also rented "Ghost Town." I'm excited to watch that, too! I'll let you know how it turns out.

I"m watching Frasier right now. Wasting time before I go to class to get my critique on my 6 pictures depicting "Motion." I got some super adorable photos of the two little girls, Jensen and Kylie, that I babysit. They're going on 1 and a half and they're the cutest twins ever. I also took a few of Brett out skating. I tried to get two different kinds of motion. Implied and visual. In the girl's photos, they're blurry in the spots that they were moving, so you actually see that they were in motion. But with Brett's photos, it's just that you can tell he was moving but the whole shot is in focus.

I'm not going to my black and white photography class tonight. I was really sick this weekend and didn't get out to take my photos, and I'm still not feeling 100% so I'm just gonna stay at home and rest up. Watch some movies for my Film midterm probably. Then I'll just need to find out what the assignment is for two weeks from tonight and I'll work on both at the same time.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. So excited! I love Lent, it's my favorite church season. The only bummer is I have class on Wednesday nights until about 8, and that's if she lets us out on time. I'm thinking of emailing her to see how she would feel about me leaving early from class to go to Lent services. I'm hoping she'll say yes, but I'm not too sure. I'll probably have to find some way to make up watching the parts of the movies I miss. Fingers crossed, it will work out!

Kayt - they STILL have not fixed the internet here! Elliot from Sig Ep won for Alpha Male! He's great, I wish you were around to meet him. Crush is on the 7th, "Rumble in the Jungle." I'm not going, but I'm sure everyone will have a great time! Therese ran for Sigma Chi's sweetheart and was ROBBED out of winning. She was totally the best candidate. Oh well. Cassie J is running for Dream Girl for Pike.

Hm. Time to change for class!

Have a great day.
<3 allie