Life without Chicago food

YAY I'm so glad to see that I had two readers the first day I wrote. WOO HOO!!! Makes my day. :-)

So, IN ADDITION to CPK, we also have to live with Panera, Noodles & Co, and Steak and Shake. Those are the ones that make it the hardest for me... but of course there are things like Max and Ermas, Cheesecake Factory, Giordanos, etc. that would be nice to go to every once and a while too. BOO.

I talked to my realtor, sounds like everything is going well with the house.

Magic: The Gathering is this LAME-O card game... I've heard of it for years, but never played it. I kind of got "tricked" (not intentionally) into playing it at a friend's house, but it honestly turned out to be really fun. I've found out since then that a bunch of my friends play or have played it in the past, so it's kinda cool to chat with them about it. It's one of those things you kind of keep on the DL that you enjoy, but hey, it's a blog... I spill my guts here!

A quote for the OC fans...
Seth: So when you lost your virginity, I was playing Magic: The Gathering.
Ryan: You're still playing Magic.
Seth: But not as much.

Anyway, thanks for staying tuned. I'll try to be a little better about updating... maybe I'll make a once a week goal? That should be reasonable.

Hello party people!

Okay, so here are the major developments in the last few weeks:
- Christine is still here, everything is fabulous and wonderful.
- Addy moved in full time this weekend so we're all 3 here and one cute little happy family.
- We move into the new house OFFICIALLY next Wednesday, I can hardly WAIT!!!
- Home Depot is going to be my demise.
- Andy threw a FABULOUS dinner party.
- I'm going to Sears and Best Buy today to buy a fridge, washer, and dryer.
- Alex threw an awesome birthday party for Vin.
- I started playing Magic: The Gathering (this is where you get to mock me for the next, oh, about 12 years)
- CPK is coming to Oregon!

Okay that's all random stuff, not major developments, but just what I'm thinking about at the moment I suppose. I'm writing sitting amongst boxes in the living room... yay packing. Packing is SO much more fun when you "get" to do it instead of studying for finals. Not when packing is the actual chore.

Hello

Yes, I'm still here. Very stressed-out and overworked lately, but I think it's mostly my own fault. I'm getting more excited about work and taking on a lot of different things which is cool but it's also causing a rukus because I feel like work is taking over my life, not to even mention the house stress that I have. Here, I'll make a list of my stresses and praises for you all to enjoy:

*Stresses*
- Constant paperwork, etc. related to my house
- Business in preping to move (calling movers, breaking lease, packing, etc.)
- Overworking myself at "real" work
- Not having enough time / dedication to be working out the way I should be to prepare for a climb I have coming up next week
- My sister being here for the summer and adjusting to her needs
- Big life decisions

*Praises*
- My sister and Addy being here for the summer to enjoy spending time with and also to have support me when I move
- A possible shift to a day job
- My new house, once I'm all settled in in July/August
- Amanda considering moving in with me this fall
- A possible business trip to So Cal! (man, haven't been there in about 9 months!)

So, there are always constant praises in life, but sometimes it just seems like the stresses weigh them down. That's rare for me (which is a praise in itself), but I need to learn to better compartmentalize work better. I think this weekend I'm going to really enjoy Saturday off, then spend half of Sunday relaxing and half working on personal things (cleaning, paperwork, etc.), then work all day Monday (I have a class), then Tuesday finish up personal work and errands and maybe enjoy a movie in the afternoon. Then I have 2 and a half days of work before my first big climb!

Miss y'all! :-)