Just a quick post to say...

HaPpY BiRtHdAY

to one of my best friends, eRiN!

Nothing like a bunch of old pictures to say happy birthday....

Here's to an AMAZING year! Love you!

Birthday Recap

I need sleep badly so this can't be too long, but I just wanted to do a quick birthday recap.

Yesterday was my birthday! Of course I'm biased, but I really do think June is the best birthday month ever!

Unfortunately, I was being such a bum about it this year because this is the first birthday I've had with a real job. In previous years I would just request off because it really wouldn't matter. But, this year I finally realized a birthday is just another day.

But, it actually turned out really great and that is 100% in thanks to my amazing family and boyfriend!

As I was getting ready to leave work, Jackie walked into my classroom with two big plates full of funfetti cookies (my favorites)! I was so surprised to see her and my kiddos just loved the cookies! It definitely made my day.

After work, Nick and I went to get my camera! It was love at first sight, ha ha. I didn't have time to get it out of the box until today and let me just tell you....it is going to take me about ten years for me to read through the manual and figure out how to work it. I couldn't even figure out how to put the strap on! Oh, well. It will be fun to figure everything out.

After the camera shopping, Nick and I met my parents and Jackie at Mongolian BBQ for dinner. They made me sing and dance to I'm a Little Teapot in front of the whole restaurant! That part was embarrassing, but the food was delicious!

Jackie is dog-sitting for a family she babysits for, so I went with her to help after dinner. The two dogs are super cute, but something kind of creepy happened before we left. I'm gonna let Jackie tell the story her blog, cause she was more of a witness to it.

I ended my birthday at Jackie and Lydia's.

Overall, it was a pretty amazing day. I had really low expectations, but it turned out so much better than I thought. So, a big Thank You to anyone in my family or friends who read this blog!

I have a feeling I'm going to like 23. Hopefully it's my best year yet!

This weekend is busy busy busy. Erin is coming into town tomorrow, then Lydia's grad party is Saturday. Should be a great time!

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Caught up in the music...

I love music.

Love it.

I have spent the past two hours in front of this computer screen discovering new artists. (And playing freeCell).

I used to do this all the time. Back in college, (I love that I can say that now and sound like a real adult) I used to stay up all through the night jumping from myspace page to myspace page. Lately, I have just relied on Nick to introduce me to new artists because lets face it, he has good taste. But I'm glad I've found some new stuff for myself so I can be the one to show him some great new music.

You know what else I love?

Amazon.com

I just bought 4 albums for 30 bucks. Nice. Happy Birthday to Me!

Here is one of my new finds, Lenka. I have heard this song before, but didn't listen to any of her other stuff. I'll have to put out a review once my CD comes in the mail...I know I'll love it!






Moving on...

My job is pretty great. I'm still getting used to this whole waking up at 6am thing, but it's worth it to be done by 4pm. And my little munchkins make things fun. How can I complain when I get to play with two-year-olds all day? (Except the diapers....I think I have a right to complain about that!)

I have a "mini-reunion" this Friday! My good friend Erin, who lives a couple hours away, is driving here to hang out with me and my other friend, Kristi. We all were inseparable the first couple years of college. The reason this isn't a full reunion is because one girl cannot be here. Her name is Minnesota and she lives in...Minnesota. Ha ha. (Ok, her real name is not Minnesota but that's what we've always called her).

Here we all are a couple of years ago....

I cannot wait for this mini-reunion on Friday! I cannot wait for a real reunion even more!

Graduation Week

I have been putting off this post for awhile now because I know its going to take me a long time to get all these pictures uploaded. But...I can't put it off any longer, so here goes.

(FYI: This also might be a boring post to read, but I don't want to forget any details so you may want to skip this one)

This past week has been even crazier than the weeks before. I had my last final over a week ago on Tuesday. As much as I wanted a lazy Wednesday I couldn't have it because I had to put in lots of hours at work.

Thursday was Ohio State's "Senior Crawl." Basically what happens is all the seniors start on the north end of campus and make their way to the south end while trying to hit every bar along the way for a drink. Everyone wears white shirts and brings sharpies so people can sign them and write down which bars they've been to.

Crazy? Yes.

Fun? Oh, yes!

Lydia and I made shirts together and they turned out amazing! When Nick's brother saw them he said, "What did you do? Buy the official Senior Crawl shirt?"

No, we are just that awesome! (Well, Lydia is for the most part).

Here's the front:

The back has the last couple lines of Carmen Ohio:

We started the crawl at around 6pm and didn't even make it very far across campus. We hit maybe around 13 bars. Such fun though!


Friday afternoon we had graduation practice, then I worked in the afternoon, which was the last day with my preschoolers. Sad, but not so sad because I'll still get to be in the same building as them.

On Friday night I met Jackie and Lydia at their place and a bunch of us headed out to a festival thing with live music and people everywhere!

This is Nick's idea of a nice, normal picture:

All in all, a very fun night (except for a sisterly feud, but lets face it, when you hang out with your sister as much as I do, those are bound to happen).

On to Saturday....

Saturday started with a surprise from Nick. It was a doozy. He told me to get in the car and to not ask questions because he wasn't going to give me any hints. (Of course, I asked lots of questions anyway).

We ended up at a camera store and when I asked what we were doing there he replied, "We're going inside and you're going to pick one out."

Whaaaaaat?!

I have been wanting a digital SLR for awhile now, but that's a lot of money. I was seriously shaking because I was so shocked and overwhelmed. I almost passed out twice because I was so light headed.

I decided not to get one that day because I wanted to research it more. And I also made him promise me that he would let me buy all the "extras" like a memory card, more lenses, tripod, etc.

But seriously, how awesome is this guy? This is the best graduation/birthday gift ever and I cannot wait to go back and pick out my camera!

Oh, one more thing. He made me promise something too. He said if he was going to spend all this money on my camera it better not sit around and gather dust (like that would ever happen). But just to make sure, he is going to give me weekly or biweekly assignments and I'm going to have to report back to him just like in my photography class at OSU. I love it.

Saturday night was very special. I attended a candlelit pre-commencement ceremony on the Oval. My parents and Jackie were there, as well as Lydia and her parents.

We took some pictures before:

I just adore Ohio State's president, Gordon Gee.

The best part of the ceremony was the end when all the candles were lit. Everyone joined in singing Carmen Ohio. I got some serious chills.

So obviously one of the best parts of the weekend was the actual graduation ceremony, which was Sunday.

The weather turned out perfect. It got a little hot at one point, but its June so what can we expect?

I was part of the largest graduating class in the world. There were over 8,000 of us!

Out of the 8,000+ people, guess who I got to sit right next to? LYDIA! So, even if we weren't friends anyway we would have eventually met each other.

My favorite part of the graduation was the singing of Carmen Ohio, of course. It was an awesome moment.

Pictures:


I was not trying to show off my legs in this picture, I just didn't know how else to sit. Ha ha.

Here is our attempt at an OHIO picture. Shane looks totally out of it because he clearly was not interested in getting his picture taken. Ha, I love my nephew anyway!

My family totally spoiled me. Jackie got me American Idol concert tickets! YAY! And I totally loved the card they came in. My parents gave me a dress, a beautiful necklace, a license plate thing, and some cash towards new clothes for my "real job." And of course, Nick is giving me the camera for a joint graduation/birthday gift.

Do they love me or what?!

I am so lucky to have such an amazing family.
I mean, my two nephews made it through a 3 hour graduation ceremony in the hot sun. And my brother-in-law went even though Ohio State is his least favorite football team.

I am a lucky girl.

Graduation week was everything I expected it to be and more. Definitely one of the highlights in my life so far.

The reason I haven't had time to post this all before now is because I have officially joined the "Real World."

I started my full time job on Monday and so far I am loving it.

The only bad part? Having to be there at 7:30am. I still need to work out my sleep schedule because I am tired all the time. It's ridiculous. I even passed up on happy hour with Jackie and Lydia because I was so tried. Crazy.

I am so ready to fall into a routine (which hopefully will include blogging more than once every two weeks!)

Happy Friday =)

Keep Calm and Carry On.

My life has been crazy lately. Really. It's been a whirlwind of finishing school papers and projects, getting prepared for graduation, getting a job, and of course, spending time with my family, friends, and Nick. This is the first day in awhile that I can just take a deep breath and relax. Because....

I am finished with school. I had my last photography critique this morning. All of my finals are complete. The only step between me and graduation is the actual ceremony, which isn't until Sunday.

As I was walking on campus today I tried to look around and take everything in. I cannot believe I am done. It is such a mix of emotions. Of course I am ecstatic! It's been a long five years of college and I am ready to get out there in the real world. But then, I find myself completely terrified. Not because of the real world, but because I feel like time is going by too fast. And I know it's only going to get worse.

I know in the grand scheme of things I am still young. Really young. But, I just want to slow everything down and press pause for awhile. I'm going to be 50 before I know it. Scary.

Ok, ok. Enough of that! I want to blog about some random things now.

#1. I am going through a name identity crisis! No joke.

My real name is Anna, but ever since I was a baby my family has called me Annie. All throughout grade school and high school, and even my first couple years of college, I stuck with Annie. But then, I decided I wanted to be Anna because I thought it sounded more grown up and professional. When I met Nick, I introduced myself as Anna, so that's what he knows me as. At the restaurant I am Anna. At the preschool though, I am Annie, because my sister got me the job and had already told everyone my name.

So now it feels like I'm leading a double life! Whenever I meet someone new I have to think of the people I'm around before I say my name. I've messed up a lot too. I'll say, "I'm Anna. No wait, I'm Annie."

Seriously, it's confusing. I don't prefer one over the other, so I just don't know what to do about it.

#2. My last photography project was all about flowers. Here are some of my pictures.

#3. I have always been an emotional person, but lately it's gotten out of control. I think it's just because I'm graduating and stressing out a lot, but I have been crying all the time. Yesterday I was watching Full House. It was the one where Aunt Becky helps Michelle build a car for the race. Well, when Michelle won the race I totally lost it.

Then, last night I went to get my flower pictures printed, and they looked terrible. So, I asked the guy to reprint them, and they still looked bad. Well, this started a whole big thing and I was at the place for over an hour, and I had to make all these returns and they kept my pictures. After I left I made it all the way to my car, then as soon as the door slammed shut, I burst into tears. Oh, man.

#4. Jackie and Lydia moved into their new apartment a couple weeks ago. It is so cute. They are both super creative with decorating and so far, the place looks great.

We started a tradition called, "Bachelorette Wednesdays." So much fun.

They had their first big get-together this past weekend. Here's one of the only pictures I took.

(I don't know why I look so much taller than everyone. I mean, I am taller, but not by that much).


#5. This is one of the biggest changes in my life right now, so I don't know why its not #1 on my list, but oh well.

I have a job.

My boss at the childcare center offered me a full time position in one of the toddler rooms. I am used to my preschoolers so its going to be a change, but I am really excited for it. I start the day after graduation.

I am so thankful to have a job lined up before I even graduate. Yeah, I won't be making a lot of money there, but it is still I job that I love. I've seen the struggles Jackie has gone through in trying to find a job, so I feel so blessed to have this opportunity. And actually, I owe it all to Jackie, because she got me a job in the preschool room a year and a half ago. So, THANK YOU Jakes!

There it is friends. My incredibly long update. If you made it the whole way through, I am impressed.


(or Annie)