Happy Thursday

Hello all. It is my goal to start blogging more, I have just been busy. Today I have my first graduate school test, in my research methods class. She pretty much told us what was going to be on it though, so I am not really worried.

I still have to fill out a few more thank you cards then they will be sent. Etiquette says I have two months, so I must finish soon.

This weekend JJ's band is playing in Reno. I never go to the Reno ones, but Mandy really wanted to go this time, so I took a couple days off work and off we go tomorrow. The boys are leaving tonight because tonight is the first show. Lilly is staying with her Grandma, and my friend's Jimmy and Sean are going to keep Reggie company.

Speaking of Reggie, he is getting bigger everyday. He is now the same weight and height if you stand him up, as Lilly. We need to get a picture of that actually.... He is turning out to be a very good dog. He listens well for a puppy and he is very affectionate and happy.

Let's see.... I am having issues uploading the wedding pictures, some of them are coming up as not a supported filetype which makes no sense because they are all jpegs and some of them work, so all of them should. I am wondering if someone of them became corrupted when I copied them from the disk to my computer. Either way, if I can't figure it out I will just burn disks for people that want them. Just give me a few days and I'll take care of it when I get back from Reno. At this point I have school and work today, then I am leaving tomorrow.

That is about all I guess. Life is good here. Hope everyone is well. Hope no one has broken any bone late.... oh.... right....

Pictures

Hello family, the professional pictures are in!

collages. net
username: jeffval
password: 15760

Now, apparently you cannot just take whatever pictures you want off this site because they all say "proof" across them. But, I have disks with all of the pictures on them, so all you have to do is give me an image number and I can get you the picture for free. Or I will just upload them all to photobucket and I'll give you the album name then. That'd probably be easier.

OK, off to school!

Labor Day

So a few days ago JJ tells me that people from his work and their friends were all going to the lake on Labor Day and then he told me "and you're going." He complains I rarely do anything with his friends and that I should.

Well, first of all, I was not in the least interested going to a lake with bunch of people I didn't know (friends of the guys at work, and I barely know them to start with) to a crowded lake on Labor Day where everyone was going to be drinking and acting like idiots.

Then it turned out he invited our neighbors Allen and Jodi who have a boat and still have the Sea doos Allen had borrowed from his cousin for the Bachelor Party. So at least I know them.

But I still got pissy and we had a minor argument about it. JJ, who is so social, cannot possibly understand how upsetting it is for me to be put in a group of people I don't know. He doesn't have the same feelings of panic that I do about that. I am simply not good in those situations and avoid them as much as possible. And boating and jetskiing aren't really my thing at all, I prefer books and computers.

But I did learn that it wasn't going to be a bunch of drunk people on a crowded lake. It was a few groups of families (Lilly and Jodi's kids were going) and we were going to Black Butte Lake, which is not frequented by college kids and it would actually be more of a family day.

So I went and it was actually fun. JJ's boss and his family and his brother and two other people went, along with JJ, Lilly and I and Allen and Jodi and her kids. It wasn't crowded, nor was it is any sort of drunkfest at all.

I actually rode the sea doos and did pretty well for my first time. I guess I actually went a lot faster than several of the boys did at the Bachelor Party. So, it was a fun day at the lake, and I actually was brave, so that was growth for me.

Week one done.

Good morning all. I have finished my first week in the grad program. There is going to be a lot of homework this semester. I have a couple different 25 page papers due throughout the semester, dealing with journal articles, you know the statistical scientific ones. My quantitative research methods class is going to involve reading a lot of those, as is my intro class.

I did have a moment of inspiration in the methods class though. We had to throw out ideas on what we would do our research proposal on. People were saying generic things like, gender communication, and mainly different types of workplace communication. I wanted to be original and suddenly all could think of was the above picture (edited for obvious reasons).

Of course, I didn't call it that, I said "anonymous communication, like on the Internet." My professor said "Yes!" and was very impressed with the idea. So that was nice, except that now I have to write a 25 page research proposal on Internet communication when there aren't really that many legitimate scientific sources to use.... so maybe it wasn't such a great idea. Oh well.

That is about all. I have to work at 11:30 today, an expo shift, which is basically organizing all the food that comes up for 8 servers and 48 tables from 4 different kitchen stations, all in different orders from the tickets I have to compare with. Yeah, it sucks. Then tomorrow I have a night bussing shift, and Sunday a night bar shift. So at least I have some variety. Hope all is well with everyone.

Back!

Hello family! JJ and I got back from Fort Bragg yesterday and we had the best time! It was relaxing and fun and altogether excellent.

I want to thank everyone again for not only coming up to Chico for the wedding, but for all the help I got, which was a lot.

Oh, I found JJ's wedding ring by the way. I had put in in the box where all my extra invitations were, because it was "wedding stuff." Sigh.

School starts Monday (well, Tuesday is my first class) and I did my Graduate Program Orientation today. So that came up fast!

Anyway, I need to go do some organizing. I also need to find my list of who gave us what presents, because that is going to be important for thanks you cards. I don't want to write, "Thanks so much for the (please insert gift here)." Love you all! I will blog more very soon!

It's Already Wednesday?!?!?!

Hello all. Time flies, it is already the 13th! The bad news is we should have gotten married last weekend, or any weekend for the last month, because the temperature is rising! Friday is going to be considerably hotter than Saturday according to the weather report, so if you come to the rehearsal and want to die, it should be better the next day. Plus I brilliantly scheduled the rehearsal at 4, which is a really hot part of the day here. I am pretty bummed that it just so happens this week is the second hottest all summer. Figures. I would be a lot more upset except that there is really nothing I can do about it. We will get through!

JJ and the boys just left for the bachelor party, a two night camping trip, complete with seadoos and beer, so they should have fun. Jordan, JJ's friend from San Diego, brought his wife up for the wedding, so she is going with them. All us girls were invited but I had too much to do and I don't really like to camp, so poor Carrie thought I was coming and she wouldn't be the only girl. But she is, and she looked slightly horrified. Poor thing.

Lillyanne started first grade today. She was very happy because it turns out one of the first grade teachers quit over the summer, so her Kindergarten teacher is now teaching a K-1st grade combo class, and Lilly is in her class again. Lilly LOVES Mrs. Penman, so it is good. Lilly hates change and this makes her have less of one. Of course, she is in first grade so her day is a lot longer, and she is now in an after school program instead of her old daycare, so there will be some changes. Plus Kindergarten was afternoon. Her whole schedule is changing so I am afraid she is going to be just exhausted on Saturday, but I guess that is what excessive and unhealthy amounts of caffeinated soda is for.

See you all very soon! Sorry the heat is going to be harsh, but we are having it late enough so that things should cool down quickly.

Bachelorette Party

Well, the girls and I are heading for Tahoe in the morning and staying one night. It should be fun. For now, I am going to bed. See you all in a week! Wow!