My baby girl has graduated.
From Kindergarten.

And to think that it was just last year that she graduated from preschool…
Of course, she was the most smartest, most gorgeous kindergartner there ever was and we are just so proud that she made it through the rigors of Kindergarten! ~sigh~
No, seriously, enough of my sortof-sarcasm… She kicked Kindergarten’s butt and is an amazing reader and really super great at math. I wish you all could have been at her graduation because her class did a dance and she was, of course, the star of the show. You had to be there to see it…. and even though I am a VERY proud parent, I am NOT exaggerating about my little diva performer. I honestly don’t know what to do about her sometimes. There is just ZERO stage-fright inside of her. I mean, there is just NONE!

In other news….

We made the big, huge, gigantic leap and added a cute little puppy to our family. On Sunday, May 23rd, we met her at the airport after her long flight from Texas. She was just as scared and nervous as you would think an eight week old puppy would be, but she soon found that we loved her already and wanted to make her feel safe and happy.

We named her Cici and after just a few days of being with us she is in full puppy mode and loving her new family and environment. She is a Rhodesian Ridgeback, was born on March 24th, 2010, and is just everything that we were looking for.

She wants to play with everything that she isn’t supposed to… Like my slippers, Tyson’s shoelaces, my clothes, her leash… I think you get the general idea. Most of playtime is spent redirecting her to play with “Cici’s toys”. (Aka: anything that apparently doesn’t interest her.) She is getting the idea though… I just think she is a sassy little thing that likes messing with us.
She has been amazing with housebreaking. Basically, we’ve had only one accident and that happened on the very first night she was here. She got the idea of the leash really fast and is already responding to “heel” and “come”. Obviously, she doesn’t always respond to those commands, but pretty much, she has me sold on the idea that she is just the smartest dog on the planet.

Yes, we are having a lot of fun with Cici, so expect more Cici posts and Cici pictures!
I am really busy with my summer Anatomy and Physiology class and already cannot wait for the end of July… because that is when my Summer officially begins! I get a whole THREE WEEK break before the fall semester starts and it already doesn’t seem like enough of a break for me.

I’m off to study now…. That is unless Cici makes me go play with her again!

… And the worst semester is over.
~sigh of freaking relief that should be heard round the world~

I did it, too…. I mean, I got all the A’s that I wanted/needed.
A true miracle, if you ask me.
I went into my Calculus final with an 87% in the class. That meant that I had to get a 95% on the final in order to get an A (an 89.9999%) in the class. Well, I guess I pulled it off and I was nothing more than shocked and relieved when I saw the A posted on my online grade sheet. What a freaking nightmare. I do feel like I understood the class though, and I hope that I truly did because in the Fall I am taking Calculus II and I am totally intimidated by it already.

Moving on…
My kids are getting bigger, bossier, funnier, and talk-ier by the day and I still can’t believe that they are both in school from 7:45am til 2:45pm. This is just insane to my old stay-at-home-mom mentality. Don’t get me wrong, I love it… and they love it. It’s just that it came quicker than I thought it would. But, that’s what I get for having them within twenty months of each other and then not having anymore after the fact. If I do say so myself, they’ve certainly morphed from adorable babies/toddlers to super cute kids.

They have two weeks left of school and I am still trying to figure out what to do with them over the summer. I know we are getting them a dog…. at this point it’s just a matter of when. We are looking to get a Rhodesian Ridgeback and are finding it difficult to find any that are close by. I’m hoping that the addition of a new dog will keep them busy because I sure as hell know that it will keep Tyson and I busy! I guess I should clarify and say that we are getting them a puppy. And from what I can tell, babies are easier to deal with than puppies. Wish me luck….

I’ve already started summer school and I’m taking Anatomy and Physiology I. I figure that I am utterly insane to take a class like this over eight weeks, but desperation makes people do insane things. Long story short, I am looking at eight weeks of of a two hour class four days a week and six hours of study time every day of the week. Love it. Again, wish me luck…..

Remember how I said that I was doing some interesting things to get more energy into my life? Well, about six weeks ago I went full vegetarian and am trying to go completely vegan. Most days I adhere to the vegan lifestyle, but sometimes it gets hard because eggs are EVERYWHERE and cheese is just really freaking good. I’m also trying to cut out refined sugar… Again, a very tough thing to do as it is quite literally in almost EVERYTHING. (including swedish fish, which I am totally obsesssed with.) Has this change worked?

YES!

On more days than before, I am feeling better, more energized. I’m no longer dozing in classes, which is HUGE. I still have days where I feel worn out, but certainly not as much as before. Other things in my body seem to be working better as well, and I feel like I look better. Gone are the dark circles under my eyes. Gone is the perpetual tired look. I’m also not breaking out near as much or near as bad as I used to… and it’s only been six weeks!

Me, after I dyed my hair much lighter (okay… blonde) and with very, very little makeup on. In fact, I think I only have a tiny bit of powder-foundation on in this photo. A month ago, I would have NEVER posted a picture like this.

I do have some way to go, however, because I do want to be full vegan. I am learning how to cook that way and shop that way, so very soon, I think, will I be where I want to be. I do fully expect that I will cheat on the cheese front every now and again because, whoa! I just love cheese sooooo much. But I’ve gotta say that I don’t miss the meat at all. I also don’t miss most of the dairy products out there. I’m not missing eggs so much because you can buy egg replacer… but when you buy things pre-made from the store it is hard to get things that don’t have egg in them. As far as refined sugar is concerned, that is going to be an on-going process and I think I’ll get there over time. A lot of time. I mean, refined sugar is in MOST things nowadays. I’m also trying to shun white flour totally. It’s not so bad, but I do get a white bread craving that is annoying.

Anyway, I hate to bore you with my new eating regime, but it is working for me so I thought that a little bit of this kind of talk wouldn’t hurt anybody.

So… life for me is still busy, I’m going to be starting up Project: Nello Runs here in a few weeks and I am excited. I think I’ve given my RSD relapse enough time to completely go away and am eager to see if another go at the running thing will bring on another one. If it does, then I guess I’ll have to stick to walking… boring old walking… but I’ll find something to do if it kills me!

Time for bed.
I’ve got a day tomorrow!

ps… loving this song: