babies oh my

This week I had the pleasure of watching Ava while her parents went to the hospital to have baby number two! Baby John Robert was born on Nov. 16th at 11:51pm. The next day, I got to take Ava to the hospital to see her baby brother for the very first time!

On another note, I'm super excited for the Thanksgiving holiday coming up. I finally get to see my friend Bree, who I haven't seen since her wedding in June. It will sure be grat to see her and eat my mom's fantastic stuffing! :)

Tonight I am babysitting Kylie and Morgan- they are both in bed already while I am watching the comedy channel on tv. Tomorrow is church and Lisa's concert. Yay!

Humility

Getting used to all my free-time outside of work is something I never thought I needed to get used to. What's the big deal? You go home, make dinner, watch a few TV shows, read a book, go online, etc. and then go to bed, right? Nope. Not me. I did all those things yesterday, and the day before, and the weekend before.

And two weekends ago, as well. I might as well eat the words I spoke right in the middle of my last quarter of college... "I can't WAIT to work a full-time job. The ability to be able to go home from work and have NOTHING to do would be amazing." No feeling guilty because you decided to nap when you could have been doing all those biochem problems, or when you could be reading for that history class...

Now that I'm here, I eat my words. Who knew how difficult it would be to entertain myself? The internet, books and TV only go so far.

I need a new hobby. I have decided among a few alternatives:
1) join a gym (and thus, some sort of class... yoga, kick-boxing, etc.)
2) take up knitting
3) take up photography
4) cook more often
5) find a place to volunteer

I'm trying to set a goal by starting at least one of these by the end of the week. Well, I have already finished one... I prepped to cook beef stew in the crockpot for tomorrow, so I guess I'm one down.

Isn't it sad that I'm complaining about my boring life? Some people work so hard they never have a moment to sit down, and they are still struggling. I guess I need a dose of humility.

Hum de dum...

I have officially become part of the full-time work force. I successfully completed my first full week as a full-time employee of UC Davis as a Jr. Specialist. This week was especially hard, because I had to act as boss while she was on vacation. I'm glad I made it through the week.

At first, I was wondering why anyone would want to work full time! What a hassle, and that's a LOT of time to be working! I definitely miss the nice simple life of being in college, having quite a few hours to myself a day. Living with two roommates who are still in college definitely solidifies that fact.

A good reason to like working full-time is the money. THE MONEY! Like, there is actually money in the bank, and money to put into savings, since I don't need to use all the money I make working full-time. What a wonderful feeling! :)

All in all, working full time isn't that difficult, and once I find my niche and get my routine going, life is going to be pretty awesome. Yay work!

pedicure

I believe this has been one of the longest weeks of my life. I have officially started on full-time at the lab, as a junior specialist. Normally I would work 9-4 as a lab assistant, but because of my title change, I am working full time. This means 8 hour workdays, a fairly new concept to me.

After finishing up my hectic week, I can't wait to pamper myself a little by getting a pedicure. Its amazing how something so small as someone massaging your feet and painting your toes makes you feel so much better!

I'm also looking forward to hanging out with a new friend I met through work to go to Michaels and find something crafty to make (hopefully for Christmas gifts)!

Thank Goodness Its Friday!

4 years ago

It's officially the start of the new school year in Davis. With the new freshman moving in yesterday, the city has a whole different feel than summer- all of a sudden people are bustling around and you have to stand in some very long lines to get your morning coffee...

I'm excited, and a little bit sad. Four years ago, I was a brand-new freshman, and I spent this Sunday with my older sister's best friend, Elizabeth hiking across this extremely new and hot and huge and did I mention HUGE campus trying to find where my classes would be located so at least I would have some idea where I was headed.

I was so naive, so innocent of things that happened in the real world, yet so excited and willing to learn and experience and become my own person. The next day I would sleep in (my first class being at 4 p.m.) and at 2:00 leave for my first class because I had to walk from my dorm room in Cuarto all the way to the opposite side of campus (and yes, I thought it might in fact, take me two hours, campus was HUGE)!

Fast forward to today, where I am happy to announce I have gotten a temporary job (that lasts 3 months, as a junior specialist in the same lab I already work in). I get to walk across campus watching these extremely uncoordinated freshman biking (and crashing, of course) throughout campus, one hand holding the handlebars, the other holding a map.

They are SO cute, and I completely empathize with how they must feel. I would give anything to do it all again!

UC Davis and my experiences here, the friends I've made, the relationship I have learned and worked on with God, everything has been a blessing. I'm extremely grateful. Now if I could just get a career position worked out... :)

Getting used to things

So I have officially been living at the new place for a week and a half. It has been interesting getting to know the new roomies better and knowing their habits, etc. For the most part, I have been pretty busy with work. When I am not babysitting or working in the lab, I am finding really cool things to do with my time. Like learning how to create earings with beads and wire.

The new grad student in my lab is super-crafty, and she graciously had us all over for dinner and a night of beading. I had such a good time! Tonight we went to the Varsity to see the movie, 500 Days of Summer. It was reeealllly good. I am usually not a indie fan, but this one was spot-on!

I'm looking forward to the weekend- I will be driving home with my BFF Karen (numba two!) to enjoy a weekend of farmer's market, crafts, the ocean and family. (and, of course, being the poor almost-jobless daughter I am, the ability to load up on free laundry, and good meals).

Only 1 and 1/2 days of work and I am HOME! Yay!

Home Sweet Home

This was literally the longest week of my life. ever. EVER. I moved across Davis on Monday to a new apartment which I am subleasing with two of my friends (exciting!). However, I am so tired of packing, moving in the heat and unpacking- endless unpacking. Our little apartment is very small especially for 3 people moving in plus all their stuff. I still have boxes that I don't even want to open, that have no place to be stored!

Beyond the ridiculous week of moving myself, I am also helping a few friends move too and working full time. All in all, I have learned to take whatever help you can get. My dad and Uncle Charlie offered to come up to help me move, but I felt bad about taking them up on the offer.

Tonight I was supposed to babysit in Sac... but the family canceled leaving me with a glorious evening of TV, pizza and a self-pedicure. Yes! I'm looking forward to finishing up cleaning on the old apt and having some time to hang out with #2! :D