Is anyone else getting those preparation jitters when they have to go shopping for all their new stuff to take with them next year?  I know I had them a few times this week because I am so excited!  I can’t wait to get out of the house and take a break from my family for a while.

That’s not important though.  What I did find crazy was the fact that I have gotten so many new things to take  (bed sheets, new clothes, etc.)  that it will take up almost half my room when I get it all out of the bags to start packing later this week.  So far, this is what it looks like in the bags.

So all out of the bags and boxes to be packed, I am guessing it will take up about half of my room.  It’s just so unfathomable the number of things that I didn’t think about taking until I was out and saw it and realized I needed it!  Things like new socks, a mini fan for my desk, a cooling pad for my laptop, random things like that just caught my eye and I realized I did need them and I had overlooked them.  Anyone else going through that same kind of situation??

And next week I get to go on one last vacation and the best part is, it is in Arizona!  Haha!  I’ll tell everyone about that final adventure when I get back  😉

Wow, are we really almost heading off to Embry?  Just a couple more weeks of summer fun and then we are off to college….it’s sad yet exciting!  Anyways, just wanted to fill everyone in on my last few weeks, since it’s been a while.  I’ve been working hard at my job and that takes up most of my time, so I guess I will start there.  Usually at my job I just answer people’s questions when they find it necessary to ask things like “Where is the closest restroom?” or “Why are all the flowers dead?” but a couple of weeks ago, I did something that I is unforgetable: I helped deliver baby piglets.  I work at a fair, so there is a farm that actually runs year round on the grounds and I was lucky enough to be working the night the mother decided to make it happen (don’t worry, I’m not putting any pictures up here for this one).  I will never view bacon the same way…

I did have some fun during these past few weeks too!  Just last week I went up to Big Bear Lake and stayed in a two million dollar cabin right on the water!  It was extremely fun.  I went with my friend’s family so I automatically had some1 there to hang out with.  The cabin not only had its own private dock, it had a water trampoline! 

For those of you who didn’t know what a water trampoline was, I just showed you.  🙂   It was really awesome to just get some R&R away from home, and being able to go tubing behind a boat helped that along too!  There were two boats at the cabin, one was a cruising boat that was good for fishing or just hanging out and the other was built for speed, but unfortunately we only used the slower boat…  We weren’t at the cabin for more than a couple of days, but the trip felt like it took almost a week.  I had an amazing time and I can’t wait to meet you guys in a few weeks!

Last week was very exciting for me…I took advantage of the cash for clunkers stimulus.  Our family had been talking about getting rid of our 18 year old Jeep Cherokee, but since I needed a car it never seemed like a good time.  When we heard about cash for clunkers, I realized this was the golden opportunity.  We figured it would go until November, as the government had planned.  Well, my dad got a call Thursday afternoon from an auto dealer saying they just received an email letting them know the government was cutting the program off at 9pm due to a budget shortage.  The entire 250,000 car stimulus was used in one week!  So when he got home and told me, we rushed over to look at a Dodge Caliber he had seen.  Upon arrival, an older couple was already buying the car so we started strolling around.  One of the salesmen came up and told us another one had just come in that day, so we went to see it.  This one was the SXT Sport and, unlike the other Caliber, it had tons of features.  It had never been test driven, or driven at all for that matter except to get gas.  I ended up buying the car for $8,000 off sticker price with the Chrysler discount and turning in our old Jeep.  For a few minutes we were freaked out because we couldn’t find the Jeep title, which was necessary for the trade.  So after 4 hours at the dealership, we finally drove my new car home.

I realize now I forgot one small detail; it’s a manual transmission.  So, for the past week, I’ve been going around our neighborhood with my dad learning stick shift.  I’m already fairly proficient and last night we practiced starting up on steep hills.  It’s a really cool car and I look forward to bringing it to ERAU this year.

Here’s a picture of the car, the color is surf blue pearl I think:

Tonight is officially the last night of my former, non-college life.

First off, before I get started on the first post I’ve written in a while, my apologies for not being able to write for the past couple of weeks.  My dad and my brother, being the studly men that they are, decided to rent an auger for the day to drill places for the cottonwood trees that will be planted lining my driveway in Pinetop.  Heaven knows why they didn’t hire professional help in doing so, which would’ve saved a lot of heartache over lost internet and telephone lines, but being the typical men that they are they decided that “it couldn’t be that hard!”  I was reminded of Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor from the TV show Home Improvement, always trying to put “more power!” into the dishwasher or another helpless household object, or trying to remodel the upstairs bathroom on his own, which led to a monstrous hole in the wall and a bathtub being lifted to the room through a hefty crane!  The men in my family definitely give Tim Taylor a run for his money!  Well anyway, little did they know that while this spot was the perfect spot for a tree, it was also a very good spot for the telephone line.  That’s not all.  They continued trying to man it out.  They didn’t just hit the line once…they did it twice!!  So, my link to the outside world via internet was cut off, and the past couple of weeks I haven’t been able to blog!  But back to my declaration that tonight is my last night as a non-college student.

Because I’m playing volleyball, I am staying in a hotel in Prescott Valley tonight so that I can check in tomorrow morning with the rest of the Embry Riddle athletes!  I packed up all of my living essentials (which are currently in my car out in the parking lot), said goodbye to family and friends, and took off for the college life!  Well, right behind my mom.  She still had to lead the way to Prescott!  🙂  Some college student I am, I know.  Don’t worry… pretty soon I’ll know this town like the back of my head!  I mean, um, hand!

So bright and early tomorrow morning,  Anna and I will head to ERAU to begin check in and to OFFICIALLY start preseason as Eagles.  This past month I’ve been thinking about what it will be like, and after going to the Take Flight Volleyball Camp for little girls a couple weeks ago, I definitely think that it will be what I hope it will!  So wish me luck!