Laura’s Blog

You know, sometimes you just want time to yourself and when you take it, you feel guilty, like you should be doing something else.  I really have not stopped for the last couple weeks and the time I take for myself is at 10pm, hanging out with my brother and my cousin, playing Rock Band (band name, “Big Ham and the Hambones, just in case you are crazy like us).  I should clarify what I mean when I say time for myself too.  I think many of us have a different idea of what this is.  I am referring to the time where I am not running around trying to get things done for school, work, or even my wedding.  Where I am so involved in the fun thing I am doing that those things do not cross my mind.  For me those things are watching some of my favorite T.V. programs, playing video games with my brother, or going to the movies. 

Genc was in about a week and half ago and we made a bit of time for fun things, but most of our time was spent accomplishing wedding (oh so much fun) things.  Elope unless you can afford a wedding planner.  It is crazy how many things there are to planning a wedding, things you would not even imagine.  Oh and to make our week a bit more interesting, someone threw a rock through my car window on the Sunday night he was here.  Then it left us without a car on Monday and Tuesday, limiting our time a bit to get wedding things finished.  Taking him to the airport was not easy, of course it never is, but the thought that next time I see him it will be me flying down there to pick him up and drive back here for good. =)   I am really excited about that.

Okay, well onto school.  Wow, graduate school is crazy.  I love it so much, but there is so much work.  I know you are thinking right now, “Of course there is you idiot, it’s grad school.”  I know, but you think there will be tons of work, you imagine tons of work, and then you are in it, and the” tons of work” is really there.  Does that make any sense?    It did not seem like a lot in the beginning and I was really ahead with all my researching for my two papers due at the end of the semester, and then all of a sudden there is only 3 weeks left of school and “poof!” what happened to the semester and why aren’t my papers done yet.  Between Saturday and Sunday all I am doing is homework.

I was determined to do fun things before the weekend began.  I worked and went to school all week, but Thursday night I went and played Rock Band after work, and since we were slow on Friday at work I came in late and spent the morning down town with my brothers and my cousin celebrating my brother Jim’s birthday.  It was nice.  Then after work about 8 of us went to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall, must see, but keep in mind that it is really, extremely raunchy.   If you do not like uncomfortable movies, do not go see it.  I had to go because as an actor I love Jason Segel, and as an actress I love Kristen Bell.  Come on, How I Met Your Mother and Veronica Mars/Heroes.

Of course, now after 2 days of fun, I have to sit and concentrate on my presentation and 2 papers.  I have been working on them all day and thought this would be a great break to studying.  I hope you are all doing wonderful and hope to hear from you if you are a Rock Band junkie, if you want to talk T.V., or you want to let me know what you thought of Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

If you guys start talking to me I promise to make a point to post more often, the only problem is one sided conversations are pretty hard to keep up (at least for me).  I mean if you talk to yourself that is completely fine and normal.  Just help me keep this conversation alive.  I would love to answer questions you have about school too.  Hopefully you will be seeing me around campus next semester.  You know what I look like, stop me and say hi if you see me.

I know, I always say I am going to post soon and it ends up being a while.  I did start a post about a 2 weeks ago and then got distracted.  Well, I think I have mentioned it already, but just in case, Genc lives in FL and well, I went to see him over the weekend of the 2^nd.  We had a wedding down there that was crazy fun (wedding on the beach and reception on a boat).  It was beautiful. 

Class is going great and I love my classes right now.  My Wednesday night class the teacher is awesome.  It is my first time ever having her and so far no complaints.  She is intelligent and makes the class fun. 

I haven’t really been doing too much other than school and work lately though.  There really has not been much on TV because of the writers strike so I am getting more and more movies in from Netflix.  Plus, my new thing is watching reruns of Cold Case and Without a Trace.  Both are great shows if you have never watched them.  The reruns replay on TNT all the time (just in case you are bored without the new shows on TV). 

Still, I don’t know if I have mentioned about the endings of any of the other programs.  Did any of you get into that new show Journeyman.  Wow, I cannot wait until that is back on the air.  It is amazing (as si-fi shows go).  If you guys watch anything that you want back on the air talk to me about it, we can try and think of how we would write them if we could.  Or even just tell me what you think is going to happen next on Heroes.  Or any other show for that matter.  It may just be one of the television programs I watch and we can compare notes. 

Hope all is well, Laura

Okay, so I know I am the worst blogger ever.  I have not written in so long and I hope you guys actually missed me.  A new semester has started, and I hope that now you guys will be a little more vocal.  I hope you guys have a ton of questions and comments.  I know I am upset about this writers strike stuff.  I am really craving some Heroes and How I Met Your Mother.  I am sure you guys are all feeling the same way right now.

Well, I graduated, on with the next chapter of my life and school.  I have started my graduate courses and so far, so good.  Life has been so busy lately.  My sister-in-law is pregnant (I am not sure if I had told you that already), but now my mom and I are in the process of planning the shower.  It is actually this coming weekend, and wow, it is a lot of work.  Plus, with Christmas, and my inevitable trip to Florida for New Years it has been two very busy months. 

Okay, so I am going to be writing a lot since I have not talked to you in a long while.  So, let’s start with the Financial Aide department at school.  Since I graduated in the middle of a normal financial aide year, and it is uncommon for most that graduate like this to begin graduate school right away, several did not understand my situation.  Yet, I must say, that I absolutely love PUC.  I also had several people to help me so much and help me to understand the entire process that I am extremely thankful to those.  There was one woman in particular that helped me so much, and even kept in contact with me to let me know exactly where my paperwork was in the entire process.   I think I talked to her enough times in one week that she probably began to get annoyed with me, but she sat on the phone with me until I fully understood everything.  It is so nice to have someone who cares that much that they will take time out of their days just to let you know how everything is going so that you will not worry nearly as much.

So onto another subject.  In November, Genc and I went to our food tasting for the wedding.  That was so much fun.  I am not sure if I told you where the wedding is, but it is at Silver Lake CC in Orland Park.  For anyone looking that way for weddings, they are by far the nicest group of people I had the pleasure of speaking with before even booking my wedding with them.  The food tasting was awesome because we want to do a family style dinner and since they have two different types.  For those of you who do not know what family style is, it is when they have all of the different foods in the middle of the table, and you have the opportunity to choose which foods you would like to eat (unlike a plated dinner, when food is brought to you on a plate and that is your only choice).  Well, anyway, since we were able to try both types of family style dinners, we were so stuffed by the end of the night that neither one of us wanted to move.  They have some awesome double-baked potatoes and an amazing steamed veggie platter. 

Well, unfortunately I must be going.  I still have so much to tell you.  I will make sure to write again soon.  Please let me know any questions you have because I would love to talk with you and be able to answer them.

See you for now,

Laura

Hey everyone.  I still have not heard about how your year is going.  Life is so busy, but is that any different than normal.  I have made some time for fun though.  Last weekend I managed to go Apple Picking with my brother and my uncle; it was crazy fun.  Then one of the girls I work with got married on Saturday night; the food was great.  And then on Sunday I was able to see one of my friends that I have not seen in over a month; we were able to catch up on everything.  Plus, if you are a Bears fan like me, that was an awesome game.

This weekend is going to be fun also.  My best friend (my maid of honor) is coming home for the weekend and we had decided to get together by her house out in Palos Heights.  Now, though, my other really great friend also standing up in my wedding is coming out this weekend.  She and her husband moved about 4 hours south and I have not seen her in about 3 months.  So I am having them all over at my house.  It’s gonna be some great fun. 

Hey, I need some Heroes fans to talk to.  Please let me know what you are thinking about this season.  This last episode was so sad, but actually pretty predictable.  My friend that I normally talk to about Heroes is on her Honeymoon for the next 2 weeks, I would like someone to have fun discussions with about the craziness of the show.

School is crazy.  I have officially found out that I am graduating in December upon the completion of my last 4 courses this semester.  Awesome, huh?  I am so excited I cannot even begin to tell you.  I have applied to the Masters Program and PUC and I am eagerly awaiting a reply.  Of course, I am way too impatient for that, so I have made an appointment with the head of the English department to see how the process is going or even where it is in the process.   I have already been looking at classes for next semester and I am so truly excited about some of the classes that are posted. I know, I am a huge dork.  Who gets excited over their potential next semester class schedule.  I am in a class right now, that while somewhat boring if you are not interested in the material, I find riveting.  It is a Linguistics course and next semester the next level of it is taught for Masters Students.  Need I say more?

What is your semester like this year?  If you are still in High School are you having fun applying to colleges?  I know, I know, not a fun process.  It can really get under your skin.  Just remember to take a deep breath and realize that you will end up right where you belong next year.  Things always have a way of working themselves out and we (definitely including me) get stressed out easily and there really is no need for it.  Enjoy your last semester of High School and I hope to see you soon (Of course you need to talk to me in order for me to know who you are for next year).

Laura

Okay, so it has almost been a month since the last time I came on to talk to you.  Well, let’s see, I thought it was only like 2 weeks ago.  Wow!  Time is sure flying this semester.  It is almost midterms and for me I have already taken two of my midterms.  My classes are really stressful this semester, but they are awesome.  I hope you are going for a degree in Literature also.  My classes this semester are really interesting.  It is just problem of finding time to do my homework.  My television obsession has been limited to like 4 shows.  My brother comes over on Wednesdays and we try to get them all in, in just one night.  It really is interesting.  Tell me about the shows you are watching this season.  Maybe I will be able to catch up on some of the shows I have been missing =(

I just got back from a weekend in Florida.  It was really fun, I actually had time to sleep.  I stayed up really late last Thursday night in hopes of finishing my homework before leaving to visit Genc, but of course, with no success.  I managed to get about 2 ½ hours of sleep before getting on the plane.  I flew with a friend who I work with and she was kind enough not to poke me to try and keep me awake (I slept 2 hours of the 2 ½ hour flight).  When I got there, I slept 12 hours the first night, followed by 5 hours of napping throughout the day.  Of course, it was not just all sleeping.  I did spend most of Sunday drinking coffee and working on some homework, while Genc sat across from me looking bored.  I cannot blame the amount of homework I had though, it was the time I spent at work last week, not being able to concentrate enough there in order to complete my homework.  While I do love work, I wish I could afford working a bit less (like 20 hours less a week).

Hope all is well with you and I am really awaiting a reply to hear of your television obsession.

Laura

Wow!  What a crazy semester this has been so far.  I have been working really hard with my studies.  I think putting more effort forth than ever before.  I still watch a good amount of television, but only when I am exercising or visiting my aunt.  This is hopefully my last semester as an undergrad student.  It has been a really long and short 4½ years.  I know, I know what an oxymoron.  I do not know if you feel the same as me, but day to day I think about how slow each day is moving.  “I cannot believe it is only (insert time of day, day of the week, or day of month).”  Of course, after the semester ends it is like “What happened to this semester, it feels as though it just started.”  I know day to day I think time is moving so slowly, but in one hand it seems like I graduate high school yesterday, and in the other I feel like I started college 15 years ago.  Time is a very interesting thing.  We all complain during the school year that time is moving so slowly and then when we have any sort of break we protest there is not enough time to get everything done.

I hope everyone started the beginning of the school year off on the right foot.  I hope time is moving slowly for you so you can get all of your work done.  I also hope that you are taking time in your day to just take a deep breath and realize how lucky you really are to be where you are today.  If you are able to sit in front of a computer to read this, remember, “you are fortunate.”  Appreciate what you have today because tomorrow will become today before you know it.

Have a great week!

I know, I know. I am such a horrible blogger right now.  It has been forever.  I have missed talking to you guys.  Of course, I must say, I have had absolutely no time.  Last Friday I had nothing planned for my weekend besides homework and my blog.  Naturally, around 5:00pm I began getting phone calls from all of my friends telling me they were coming home for the weekend (some of which I have not seen for a couple of years).  I ended up with a busier weekend then my week was, if that was even possible. 

I know I have been talking about my wedding a lot the last few times I have blogged, but for now it is a big thing in my life, and I must say, I never knew how expensive this was going to be.  If I had I would have started to save when I was born.  I have decided that I have to work tons in order to have money for this wedding.  Right now I am going to be working 40 hours a week and hopefully still be able to keep up with my schoolwork.  This semester is going to be crazy for me.  Between school, homework, work, and housework I still want to be able to see Genc (my fiancé).  I am taking a weekend trip down there in October and I am actually flying down with one of the girls I work with, it should be crazy fun on the plane.

And even though I am busy, I can never be to busy for my television programs.  Now, for all of you other television fanatics out there, are you ready for this season to begin?  I know I am, although they did take my favorite show off (Veronica Mars).  Still, I am so ready for Heroes, Bones, How I Met Your Mother, Men in Trees, Grey’s Anatomy, and of course the new Private Practice.  If you want to talk tv, TALK!  Let me know shows you like.  You know, talking to me online may actually be fun.  I cannot hurt you.

So how has your school year started off?  Stressed at all?  Excited because you are one step closer to graduation?  Are you loving or hating your classes this semester?  Now these are actual questions I am hoping for answers to.  I would love to hear from anyone out there, you can always respond to what I have to say, I do not bite. 

Hoping to read your responses soon,

Laura

Just wanted to check in and say hi!

Wow, this summer has been going by so fast.  I cannot seem to keep up.  I have not read nearly as many books as I had wanted to, learned as much of a second language as I was planning, or lost nearly the amount of weight I had in mind.  It is already mid-summer and the only thing that I accomplished that I had in mind are the amount of wedding plans that I felt needed to be completed before school starts.

Anyway, how is your summer going?  Have you done everything that you were planning on doing?  I hope you have accomplished more of your goals than I have.

Talk to you soon!

Oh my goodness.  I am so sorry it has been so long.  It was a very busy end of the semester.  It was so busy I did not even have time to mow my lawn.  I actually came home from my last final (with only enough time to eat before going to work) and on my door was a WARNING.  My mom and I were in violation of the city ordinance.  Our lawn was over eight inches long, which, if you know me, that is something I would never let happen.  Needless to say, my lawn that usually only takes me about 45 minutes to mow the entire thing, took me about five hours between Friday and Saturday.  Then this last week, I worked about 45 hours.  Whether I am getting paid for those hours or not is a different story.  I had to clean the salon on Monday, Tuesday I worked 2-8, Wednesday I worked 10-9, Thursday I worked 8:30AM-10:30PM (I was so tired when I got home), and then Friday I worked 8:30-6:30.  It was definitely a long week.  Saturday I had a wedding, my best friend’s brother got married.

Now onto planning my wedding.  I have the entire summer ahead of me still.  I am taking a trip to Florida, my fiancé has his tickets to come up and visit me, and today I am going dress shopping with my mom and my maid of honor.  It is going to be so much fun, I really cannot wait.  My plans for the summer have already begun.  Well, they started yesterday.  I finished reading my first book of the summer, I worked a lot last week, I am starting wedding plans, and I have vacation and a little trip set up (to Turkey Run), and the summer is going to be super full.   I almost cannot wait until next semester begins.  You know, the sooner is starts the sooner it is over.  Plus, since next semester is my last as an undergrad, I could not be more excited for it to begin. 

You know how I have my trip to Florida planned for the end of this month?  Well, my cousin did not plan things really well; I am coming back on the 6^th from my vacation in Clearwater, and my cousin and my brother are leaving on the 7^th for their vacation there.  Sometimes I wish there was more communication in my family. 

Well that’s it for now.  I hope everyone’s summer starts off less busy than mine.

Hope everyone loves this weather. I know I do.  I spent my week in Florida with Genc and managed to get really burnt while I was there.  I have been home for about a week and a half now.  I am working tons this summer, although I cannot complain considering I am planning for a wedding.  The planning is becoming crazy and outrageously expensive.  Some of the quotes that I have been given are seriously sickening to the stomach.  One place quoted me $125 a plate (everything included except tax and gratuity).  Then the same place charges $1500 for the ceremony.

Anyway, enough about wedding plans.  How is everyone’s summer?  I hope everyone has great summer plans for vacation.  Remember everyone needs some sort of break, even if you are not going far, take a weekend for yourself. 

Are any of you getting ready for the school year to begin?  Nervous about anything?  Just ask any questions you have about school and I will answer them to the best of my knowledge.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Laura