Izzy and Buster

Fall 2008

Hey all,

I know, I know--I've been slacking on this whole blog thing. I've been super busy with school, and since I now actually have some semblance of a social life, I've had almost no free time!

I have some great news though--I've been accepted to the University of Maryland-College Park! Starting this fall, I will finally be a full-time student again! I haven't talked to anyone yet about credit transfers, so I don't have any definitive idea of when I'll graduate, but I'll let you know when I do.

I hope everyone is doing well!

NYC Trip

Here are some pictures of our fabulous view:

And here's a video of the entire view from our balcony on the 44th floor of "Riverbank West":

(yes, our apartment building had its own name)

Holiday Update

I've been really busy lately, but I wanted to update everyone on what I've been up to!

I finished school on December 10th with a 4.0, which was an amazing way to end my first semester back in college.

I spent my birthday at home with my family and boyfriend, Justin. He conspired with my mom to surprise me by coming over for dinner. It was really nice to have a quiet celebration at home, and it was definitely my best birthday in years.

Christmas was wonderful. All of the Maryland Andrews came over for an early Christmas dinner, which was absolutely delicious! A few days before Christmas, the New York Andrews (Peter, Susan, Carol, and Mark) stopped by for a few days. It was great to see everybody, especially Carol. Susan surprised me with a beautiful "hope" quilt that she made for me, and I still can't believe how much work she put into it! It's amazing and will be something I will cherish for the rest of my life.

I just got back from a New Year's vacation with Justin. We spent a few days in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. It was my first "real" New Year's, and it was fantastic. We arrived on Sunday afternoon and spent some time at the outlets before having a quiet evening at the hotel. On New Year's Eve, we spent the afternoon at the Dogfish Head Brewery, followed by an early dinner at Fusion, a great (and GF-friendly!) restaurant less than a block from our hotel. After I rested a little, we went out to Finbar, a very mellow bar in the heart of Rehoboth. We spent the evening chatting with our bartender and just enjoying each other's company. Tuesday morning we walked around a little and spent some time sitting on the beach. It was a beautiful day, and we watched families and dogs (in sweaters!) playing in the sand. If you ever get the chance to go to beach in the off-season, do it--it was a real treat to see the ocean in the middle of the winter. Although I caught the flu during our travels, I had an amazing time. I look forward to more adventures with Justin in the future. Click here for pictures and his take on the trip.

Tomorrow, my family and I are heading up to New York for our Christmas trip. We are planning to see a few shows, do lots of shopping, and just enjoy New York in the wintertime. We are also planning to have dinner with Molly and Erica, which is super-exciting for me since I've been really missing them lately!

Well, that's it for now. I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays as much as I did!

Thanksgiving

My family and I went away for Thanksgiving this year to a small ski resort in Pennsylvania (no, we didn't ski). We all had a great time just relaxing and enjoying our first gluten-free Thanksgiving. Although nothing beats StoveTop, Chrissy did make a tasty gluten-free stuffing for the GF-ers in our family.

The whole family


Dad and his three girls

We also drove about an hour and a half to Pittsburgh to visit the Wagner clan for an afternoon. It was the first time all six of us had been there in several years, and we were able to see just about everybody. As usual, Grandma Aggie was her spunky self.

Aggie with her grandkids

We had such a great time that we have another trip planned for after Christmas--but it's a surprise! Our parents won't tell us until Christmas Day, so you'll know when I know!

Oh, the best part: it snowed on Thanksgiving Day!

Finals Week

I can't believe it, but my semester is already almost over! My first final (accounting) is this Friday, and my psychology final is the following Monday.

Forgive the sparse amount of posts lately--I've been incredibly busy with school. In fact, I just finished a 10 page accounting paper. It was a little rough in the beginning (it took me a little while to get over the mental block of the last time I wrote a huge paper like this, which took me 2 months working all day, every day), but I prevailed. It wasn't my best paper, but I still think I did pretty well.

Overall, I'm pretty proud of myself for working so hard this semester, and I'm excited for my next 2 classes. I will say that I'm looking forward to finishing up school--I wish I could be out working like all of you--but I will enjoy it while I can.

I hope everyone is doing well!

School Update

Hey all!

I'm over halfway through my first semester, and I have good news! Not only have I gotten 100%s on both my midterms, I've also finished my first paper--3 weeks early!! I've never finished a paper that early in my entire life, and to be able to do it now is such a blessing. Yes, I'm actually celebrating college papers. Those of you who were with me at Fordham know how much this means to me--you saw firsthand how hard it was for me to write, especially at the end. This is the first time I've written a paper with no stress and no Adderall in over 4 years (maybe even 5).

Oh, the college stuff for Fall 2008 is on the back burner until I finish school (on December 10th), so I won't have any new information about that for a little while.

I know everyone must be super busy, but if you get a chance, try to get in touch--I'd love to hear from you!