Groupon

I have decided to give groupon a try. Yesterday, I bought 10 hot yoga sessions for $45. I have been wanting to try hot yoga and figured this will give me the perfect opportunity since it makes it really reasonable. And now, I went online and got 5 Healthy Choice Single Serving Meals for $9. They normal are anywhere from $2-$3 each, so this was a good deal. Chick here if you are interested to see what is being offered: GroupOn website

Snow Shoeing

For my dad's birthday, we planned a trip to go snow shoeing on Mt Baker.  It would have been a lovely trail with amazing views had the weather been more agreeable.  Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy, so we turned around after about a half hour.  The best part of the trip was stopping at Graham's on the way home for some burgers.

The Swing of Things

I am in the full swing of things with school.  It has been pretty crazy adjusting to everything.  Besides the hours of class time every week, there is a lot of work to do outside of class for each course as well as "other" classes (workshops) that we are required to take.  The last few weeks have been a little hectic, but I think things may actually start calming down as I get used to what is required every week and focus on my time management.  I turned in my first paper to be graded last week and am anxious to see how I did.  I am a little nervous as the teacher did say that she grades the first paper really hard.

Overall, it has been a really good experience so far.  I have taken classes online before, but never like this.  That platform that USC uses is really nice as there is a lot of face to face interaction with the professors and other students.  I feel a lot closer to my classmates here than I did in any other program that I have done online.  Also, the amount of support that USC offers is great.  So far, I am really glad I made the choice to do my MSW@VAC.

Snowmageddon

We are having our first snow of the year, and it is turning out to be quite a storm.  As of this afternoon, we are officially in a state of emergency as an ice storm is hitting the area the day after we received about six inches of snow. So far, I have been okay, but cold.  Yesterday my battery was dead in my car, but I was able to get a jump start and replacement battery in the afternoon.  In the meantime, I did have to walk to work (which is luckily only took about 20 minutes) in the snow.  Then after work, my coworker gave me a ride back to my apartment where we had to push my car out of its parking space before jumping it so I could get to the store for a new battery.
 

Today is just plain cold and icy.  It's right around thirty degrees and we have had a variety of frozen perciptation all day.  A little snow, some freezing rain, snow pellets, sleet...you name it, we have seen it.  At least it is suppose to start warming up soon so hopefully things will be back to "normal" soon!

First snow in 2012

Yesterday, I woke up to our first snow of the year.  We had a few flurries throughout the day, but not much accumulation and the roads have been fine.  The are however predicting we will hey six to ten inches of show tomorrow during the late morning or early afternoon.  Many schools have already been cancelled and my only hope is maybe my work will let us leave early if business is dead. I guess we will find out tomorrow.

Books, books and more books...

I officially start classes on Monday at USC.  They had sent out a required book list a few weeks ago and when possible, I opted to rent my books instead of purchasing them to save money. For the books where that wasn't an option, I waited until I could review the syllabus for the class before ordering them. All my syllabi were posted yesterday and I just ordered what I hope to be the last of my required books this morning.

Here is a picture of my books so far and I have three more coming (plus, the other misc readings that are posted online). Good thing I like to read.

Bringing in 2012 with a splash

On New Year's Day, I jumped into Birch Bay for the 29th Annual Polar Bear Plunge.  It was my mom's idea.  It was something that she had always wanted to do, and standing out in 42 degree weather waiting to jump into a 38 degree ocean, the thought crossed my mind that she may be a little crazy.  But then again, with the hundreds of people that stood around us for the noon plunge, the idea didn't seem that crazy at all.

Trinity, cousin Grace, my mom and I all did the plunge.  And, it really wasn't as cold as I expected it to be. We were in and out of the water within 2 minutes.  The best part is now that I have done it once, it is crossed off my bucket list so I won't ever have to do it again.  But, it was kinda fun, so then again maybe it will turn into a New Year's tradition!

Sagittarius Outlook for 2012

Year 2012 Overview

The winds of change are not about to let up just yet! With the arrival of 2012 comes yet another flurry of eclipse patterns to shake up your status quo. In June, the full Moon lunar eclipse in Sagittarius is the last of the series, bringing the final wave of a sea of oceanic changes you've weathered over the past few years. You've probably experienced dramatic endings or beginnings (or both) of important relationships and extensive personal transformations recently. Depending on where you find yourself at the start of the year, you can expect to experience the total other end of the emotional and relationship spectrum before 2012 is over.

Venus will grace your relationship sector for an extended stay this year (spring to summer), setting the tone for beauty and romance at the ideal time of the year for new love. You'll welcome the amorous reprieve, because Mars and Jupiter will have kept you working hard most of the year. Plus, Jupiter will spend the first half of the year in your work sector, something that will bring glorious opportunities in your chosen field ... but won't leave much time for anything else. And with Mars firing up your career sector for the first six months of 2012, you'll channel some serious energy in service of taking your career to the next level. By summer, you should be at the very top of your game. This is the year to get yourself on the map, Archer, so go for it!

In June, Jupiter will enter your relationship house, changing your focus from work to relationships. Saturn will depart from your social sector this October to give you back a real social life. When it moves on to your house of sleep and dreams in the fall, you'll welcome the retreat after the constant work mode of the first half of the year. Be sure to push all your projects during the first nine months of 2012 - you'll be ready for an extended vacation by the time October comes around!

Changes

A lot has changed over the last few months.  I don't want to get into it all and will just highlight a couple of things:

- In December, I completed my BA in Sociology with a minor in Psychology at Central WA University.

- Around that same time, I was accepted into the MSW Virtual Program at USC.  I am so excited to start this 4 semester program and become a part of the Trojan family.  If everything goes as planned, I will graduate May 2013.  Maybe this will be me in a year and a half??

- I am still working at Line-X NW, but things may be changing when I find out what, when and where my internship will be.

- I have registered for a CPR/First Aid class as well as the other pre-training class required to get licensed as a foster parent.  I am hoping to complete my licensing soon and be able to be a foster parent for children in need.  I know school will be keeping me busy, but also have a strong calling to be a parent and am not going to resist that urge for much longer.

Those are the main points in my life right now.  Things between Andrew and I are weird.  We aren't together, but we aren't apart either.  We are still trying to work things out, but a lot has to change for that to happen and right now, we both have a lot going on.  I am focusing on school, getting licensed as a foster partent, and then will worry about the rest like where I will be living and working.  There is a good chance I will be moving to get closer to where my internship will be once that is announced, and that will have to occur before I can commit to being a foster parent.  Right now, it's first things first.  Classes start on January 9 and I am extremely excited, nervous and apprehensive about starting.  Here goes nothing!

Day Off

Today was my only day off this week, so I figured I better make the most of it.  First, I hopped on my bike, met up with Andrew and took a nice ride towards Mt. Rainier.  We stopped at a little place that looked cute and had a yummy lunch.  He had homework to finish so we had to head home after lunch.  It was a really pretty ride and I hope when I have more time I can take my bike up and do the loop around Mt Rainier since it has been a while since I have been up there.

When I got home, I didn't want to stay inside and not enjoy the sunny weather so grabbed Zeus and headed to the Ruston Way waterfront in Tacoma.  We went on a little walk there which we both enjoyed.  I am still trying to kick a nasty cough I acquired a few weeks ago when I was sick, so didn't want to go too far.  It's also hard with him since he doesn't get along well with others.  I guess I should just take him out more so he gets used to other dogs and maybe he won't try to attack everyone that he meets.

Now, I am home and feeling tired from a long week and a busy day.  I have plans to make baked rigatoni for dinner and finish up some homework before calling it a day.  It's amazing how fast today went by and I am glad I was able to spend it outside since I am cooped up indoors all day at work.