Workin' for the Weekend...!

Not that I have the weekend off or anything. But thanks anyway, Loverboy. 


Whheeeewww-weeeee! I am tired. In fact, I'm so tired that I think I've officially gone beyond tired and into delirium. And I don't even have children yet, so wait till that gets added to the mix in about, oh, seven years*. Anyhoo--


Yesterday I promised a new post, and tonight I am delivering. First of all, as I mentioned in yester-post, last Friday Aaron and I participated in a Campus Beautification Day. Here's the photographic evidence:

Some plants I helped put in the ground...

...and some shrubs Aaron planted.

It was a great way to spend the morning. We met a lot of awesome Trinity staff and hung out with them for lunch afterward. Apparently something to that similar effect is going down this Friday, but more on that later.


Wait, what's that? You want to see a picture of me and my Target garb? While looking like a grade-A dork? Okay, if you insist...!

Yeah New Team Member!

Friends, to put it dramatically, I'm intoxicated with exhaustion. Enjoy your last 10 minutes of July 28, 2010, Central Timers. You all farther west, well, enjoy your more than 10 minutes of it. 

<"

*or never! But don't tell Aaron. ;)

Too Quick of an Update

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. My apologies for being a bit neglectful with the blog over the last couple of days! I have to go to work (yes, work!) soon, but before I do that, I'll bring you up to speed in terms of what we've been up to over the weekend and beyond. 


And how shall I do this? Why, in an easy-to-read list format, of course!

• Friday--Campus Beautification Day! Aaron and I volunteered a couple hours of our time that morning planting things and shoveling things. The former "things" being plants, and the latter "things" being, of course, frogs. Err, dirt. I'll have pictures to prove it tomorrow!
• Bought Target-employee-friendly clothes... 
• That night--a long and loud thunderstorm! Our internet was knocked out for the rest of the weekend after the storm, hence no blog update.
• Saturday--Adventured to Gurnee Mills, a large mall nearby. Though it was clearly a mistake to go on a Saturday, I did manage to find khakis to wear at Target. I also managed to have very sticky feet after some guy spilled his Coca-Cola all over them at the food court.
• Sunday--went to Evangelical Free Church of Libertyville, which was awesome, though unfortunately we had to leave early because we had....
• ....Target Orientation. Lots of paperwork, new staff, and video-watching. Cheesy-video watching. 
• Signed up for Netflix, what-what!
• Monday--my first day at Target, being trained on the cash register. Never used one in my life, so I was kind of freaking out. 
• Meanwhile, at the apartment, the internet re-appeared! Woohoo!
• Plotted out the route with Aaron to my other job (YAY I have another job!). I'm so happy that it's in walking distance.
• Again, I can't stress this enough, try not to go to Gurnee Mills on a Saturday. You'll be asking for trouble.
• And finally..... today's Aaron's first day at Target, and it's my first day at my billing job. Then afterward I'll be at Target until 11pm. Mistake? You'll find out tomorrow (Hint: Probably a mistake). Oooh, cliff-hanger(?)!

Again, apologies on the blog neglect and the not-as-pretty-as-the-others post. I promise more quality tomorrow. Until then--have a pleasant Tuesday!

<"

our attempt to make friends...

...resulted in my loss in a board game. And no new friends. Single tear...


It's all good though! Last night, Aaron and I thought we'd initiate some social interactions by heading to the Waybright Center (a student center/dining hall building), foreign board game in tow. Whenever we have taken evening walks around campus, we would notice students in the center studying, playing games, and generally chatting it up with each other. So we figured--let's have an impromptu board game session with some prospective friends!

The problem? No college people were in the main area of the building--just a bunch of 11ish-year-old boys. Why? I'm not entirely sure... we think they were participating in some kind of sports camp. All we were certain of was that they ate a ton of pizza, and that we were jealous.

(Pardon the picture quality--courtesy of my cell phone.)

And even though we didn't leave the building with the satisfaction that our mission had been accomplished, we at least know that if we ever needed to escape the heat in our apartment at 9pm, there's a magical place on Trinity's campus where the AC is always running and children are eating pizza. Attempt #2 will be tomorrow morning, as we "beautify the campus" at 10am! Because really, what else would we rather be doing on a Friday morning?


<"

A sweet post... "It's a pun!"

You know how on cooking shows the host has his ingredients all ready in cute little bowls before he throws them all together? I figured that I'd do the same so that I could get my chocolate chip cookie dough made in no time. So, I put the sugars together in a bowl. Then I just stared at it for a little while.

My goodness, it's a huge sugar parfait. I felt like it was entering my bloodstream just through my line of vision. I guess it's interesting to realize how much of certain ingredients goes into tasty baked goods, and it's a reminder to me that it's probably best to consume certain delicious things in moderation (...such as Oreos [hint to self!!!!!!]). Lest my insulin gets conquered and/or my teeth dissolve. 

Things I should eat/drink in moderation but don't--Oreos, Kraft Mac & Cheese, fudge, ice cream, bagels, Aaron's cup of coffee

<"

Deer in Birthdayfield. What?

I feel like my birthday has been spent in very exotic locations ("exotic", of course, being relative). Let's see, in 2003 (and other years) it's been at Camp Iroquoina, China in 2007, the cobblestone street of death in Pittsburgh in 2009, etc. 2010? Deerfield, Illinois! Whoooa! What did I end up doing on my 24th anniversary of being able to breathe? Took a drug test, of course! Because nothing quite says, "Celebrate good times, c'mon!" like going to the bathroom at LabCorp.


No, actually, there's a good reason for this. Aaron and I both got part-time jobs today! Yay for income!! So, the requirement was to get a drug test within 24 hours of the job offer. So we took care of business.


Anyhoooo, check these out:

Beautiful, right? Sunflowers are definitely in the top 5 on my list of favorite flowers (if not favorite things), so Aaron surprised me with some! You can't really look at a sunflower and be angry, unless it made fun of your mother, of course.

Aaron asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and all too quickly I responded, "A PEN!" We went to this awesome store called Stationery Station and a pen is what I came out with.

Cool, huh? I love the color, and it'll be nice to use for some overdue thank-you notes...!

And as if I wasn't spoiled enough, with the flowers and pen and drug test, Aaron also made me dinner...

...and CAKE!

Check out all of those patriotic sprinkles!!

And to end it all, Aaron has agreed to watch a Mystery Science Theater movie of my choosing. I wanted to watch this one, but it turns out that I don't have it with me, but there are still a plethora to choose from. All right--till next time!

<"

Settling In

We've been here for over a week? Unbelievable.


The last three weeks have been an action-packed thrill ride, let me tell you. Moving out of my house then BAM! Marriage! Then BAM! Honeymoon! BAM! Leaving Pennsylvania! BAM! Unpacking and settling into our apartment! BAM! Job search! BAM! Emeril moment!


Can I just say that I love married life? Living with the one I love is just a million times better than living 60 miles apart. It's been especially fun to set up our first place together and explore the North Shore. We've got just about everything organized, and to further beautify the place Aaron set up four of the paper lanterns from our wedding reception to hang above our couch, and we've hanged pictures and artwork (including an original piece by Aaron's mom!). 

Before: Aaron putting together our new couch...

After! One view of our living room.

Tomorrow we'll be visiting an Evangelical Free church in the area--a couple friends on campus say that it has the best preaching out of all the ones they've visited in the area. I can't wait to meet some new people!

<"