Blue or Pink?

Read this post from last time first. Here is the link: The Girl and the Awful Morning. Go read that, and then come read this. Ready, go!

NOTE: Really. Go read it now. Before reading this.

NOTE: Read it? Good. Carry on.

The girl sat in the waiting room. She was not embarrassed. She was not uncomfortable. She was excited. She was anxious. She had woken up early, and kept herself from getting distracted by anything, not even the wonderfully warm shower water. She managed to shave in a reasonable amount of time. It was amazing how much quicker that whole shaving business was if you bothered doing it more than once a week. When she stepped out of the shower, she had plenty of time to do her makeup, hair, get into her pre-selected outfit, and eat a nice breakfast. She was feeling rather pretty.

In the car, she wasn't stressed about turning left, even if there were lots of people on the road during morning traffic. Not only did she know where she was going this time, she wasn't driving. She was comfortably seated in the passenger seat, sending happy little smiles over to her handsome husband driver. He looked back at her, and laughed. She laughed, too. They must have had the same thought.

"Remember four weeks ago today when you were running late, and had no idea where you were going?" he asked.

She gave him a disdainful look of her best snobbery. Apparently they were not having the same thought. "I have decided to put that portion of my past firmly into my past, and not think about it."

He laughed again. As he accelerated after a red light turned green, he shot her a quick smile that let her know that he actually was thinking the same thing as she. And he was just as excited.

"Should we let our families know that we're on the way?" she asked.

"And ask their guesses?" he offered as a fun idea.

"Agreed!" she declared while whipping out her phone. She dialed the number for her parent's house, and was startled when her mother's voice answered. "Mama! You answered the phone!"

"Was I supposed to let it ring?"

"No. I was just... Well, I guess that I don't desperately need to get hold of you right this moment, so it is in keeping with traditional mom form to pick up the phone. Well, I'm just glad you answered. We're on our way!"

Her mother gasped. "Oh, so early? Yay! How exciting!"

"Yes, and we are now accepting guesses and bets," she said with a laugh.

She heard a multitude of muffled noises as Mama asked Daddy and the various kids around them for their input. "Well, it looks like Karsten is the only one who thinks pink, and he only picked that because he wants you to be happy," said Mama. "Daddy says you're doomed to no pink, since you want it so much."

"Stop cursing me!"

Mama laughed and said, "Call us and let us know!"

"Will do, Mama. Stay by the phone!"

As she hung up, she looked at her husband. "I've been cursed. And Daddy knows everything, so he must be right."

Her husband laughed again. He was happy this morning. It was a good morning. They were getting close, and both were anxiously excited.

"I was really certain that it was going to be blue, and then I had a dream that they did this all without me there, and I was really mad at them for not waiting for me. I mean, how rude! And then I didn't want them to tell me yet, but they did anyway, and it was pink. But I'm not sure how accurate this whole thing is without me present," she said in a thoughtful voice. Maybe more distracted than thoughtful. They could see the building now.

They jumped out of the car and quick marched to the building, holding hands like excited little kids going to the fair. She dragged him into the elevator. There was no one else in there. She confidently pressed the button for the third floor herself. When the doors dinged shut, he grabbed her close for a kiss. She giggled.

The elevator opened up, and they walked up to the check-in counter together. There was only one person in line in front of them, and it was soon their turn.

"I'd like to check-in," she said, and gave her name, doctor, and proof of insurance. There was scrolling, clicking, and a quick brush of the hair along her neck by her husband. The nurse stood up and went to the printer.

"You don't need to fill this out, just hold onto it for checkout," the nurse said while handing over a blue sheet of paper on a clipboard. "Go ahead a take a seat. They'll call your name when they're ready for you."

It was a much better morning than four weeks ago, she thought. She sat in the waiting room. She was not embarrassed, she was not uncomfortable. She was with her husband, and she hadn't done anything silly or wrong. She was excited. He was excited.

"Natashya?"

They both jumped up and ran over the lady in the doorway, who laughed. "You have an empty bladder, right?"

"Uh, no. They said they'd need a "sample" before the appointment," she said. Now she was uncomfortable.

The new nurse who had called her name said, "Well, you can just stroll back through the doors like you own the place and leave your sample back there, and come back up here."

Then her husband and her purse followed the nurse back into a different room, and she was left out there alone, to walk back across the whole waiting room while people stared at her, and stroll through the doors that said "Personnel Only" in big letters, all so she could tinkle in a cup. Sheesh. She started walking. She was embarrassed. She was uncomfortable. The same people who had watched her make a mad dash for one door now watched her walk slowly to the other door.

Once the ignominious task was completed, she scurried back to the appointment room to be reunited with her husband and her purse. She was excited again.

An hour or two later, everything was done. They'd met with all the different people, and they had what they really wanted with them in their hands. Who knew that black and white photos could be so misleading? Because obviously, this little picture was actually only one color.

They called their families, and made ready their announcement:

The Speech the Maid of Honor Didn't Get to Give

Hello, dear family and friends! How are you doing? Was your month as wonderfully chaotic and full and wonderful as my own? I'm guessing that, seeing as most of you are related to me, you will be answering "YES, Tash, it most definitely WAS!" And do you know what I say to that? FANTASTIC!

For those of you who don't know, I shall enlighten you. BEHOLD!

Do you remember Megan of Shower Ninja and Musical fiasco fame? Well, that's her, freshly married to her best friend Ray! Huzzah for Meggum and Raymond! The loveliest couple of them all! They were married May 3, 2013 in the Oquirrh Mountain Utah temple. Megan is absolutely radiant! Raymond is so handsome! Wanna see a better personality shot? Of course you do!

Perfect. Ray is smug, and Megan exultant. Congratulations to the both of you!

Raymond, I want to say something to you. I didn't get to give a speech at the wedding, so I'll say what I wanted to say here:

You should know that Megan's name means "priceless treasure, or pearl." She really is a pearl of great price! She is beautiful, isn't she? She has lovely golden curls, fantastic blue eyes that constantly sparkle with merriment, rosy cheeks that blossom like the flowers she loves so much. But Megan's beauty is so many other things, too. It's the way that her laughter simmers just under the surface, ready to burst out of her mouth like bubbles and chimes. It's the way that she can't walk without giving off an air of joie de vie. It's the way that she revels in the glory and beauty with God's creations. It's the way that her love and devotion are clear and visible to anyone who looks. Isn't she so beautiful?

Megan's love is constant, but her expressions of love burst forth in rays and pops of loving sunshine and fireworks. Having to constantly express that affection makes the storage puddle more depleted, and it's harder for her to store up for her pops of natural, un-forced affectionate actions. You won't be starved for love or attention, however, because it doesn't take that long between the bursts for Megan's loving, joyful, and passionate heart to fill up again.

You now have my sister for your wife. You are a very lucky man. Megan brings with her the love of her family, the loyalty of the people whose lives she has touched with laughter, and the pride of those who have seen her grow and develop. Megan is priceless. Megan is a treasure. When I think of you, the words "steadfast," and "devotion" come to mind. Together, you and Megan's life together will be filled with music, laughter, strength, companionship, growth, and wonder. I love you both. To the happy couple!

*End Speech!*

"A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous." 

-Ingrid Bergman

"Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love." 

-Albert Einstein

"At the touch of love everyone becomes a poet." -Plato

Megan, my only older sibling, is a wonderful human, and my best friend. She and I aren't extremely similar in some things. She's the blonde to my brunette, the Marianne to my Elinor, the Ariel to my... strange combination of Flounder, Sebastian, and a more musically talented Scuttle. But we're also so very alike. Ask us about Anne of Green Gables sometime. Or music. Megan is generally more outspoken about her passions than I am, but we share many interests.

I feel like I should receive some sort of credit for their marriage. Years ago, when I was going to school at BYU-I still, I lived in the same house as Megan. We were roomies three out of the four semesters we were there together. It was near Christmas time, and I saw that there was going to be a singalong for Handel's wonderful Messiah. I LOVE singing, and what soprano doesn't get a kick out of those beautiful melismas? Seriously. I had spoken to this guy named Ray a few times during the semester, and knew that he had one fantastic voice. I decided to ask if he'd like to come along with me.

And BOY, am I glad that he did! Not only did we have a fabulous time trying to get to the singalong (try walking on ice in vicious heels without murdering the kindly gentleman by either spearing him with said deadly heels or bashing his head against the hard sidewalk- it's hard), we also had a great time singing (and Ray shouted AMEN in the ONE silent moment of the entire evening, and I spent the rest of the night trying not to laugh too obnoxiously- and you know how much funnier everything is when you're trying not to laugh!). But the evening came to an end, and Ray walked me home. Where he met my sister. He joined us in singing some Christmas carols. Megan's voice seems to have done the trick in getting Ray to notice her.

Next thing I know, the two are officially dating. A half a year later, I'd transferred to BYU in Provo, and the two are madly in love. And then, next thing I knew, Megan was putting in her papers to serve as a missionary. Ray was very supportive of her doing what she felt the Lord wanted her to do. So Megan left to serve the Lord in Santiago, Chile. Right before she left, she commanded me to not marry until her return so she can be at my wedding. Next thing I knew, I was engaged and getting married. Whoops. Sorry, Meggum!

But then Megan came home, and had no idea what to do with the English language or the opposite gender. Raymond was patient, the good man that he is, and by the time that Megan was getting better at recognizing the difference between Spanish and English, the two were getting it together! Next thing I knew, I was planning a wedding.

So, after a good few years, lots of waiting, being in different schools, different states, and even on different continents, Megan and Ray have found their way to the altar at least. They have been married for one week today! I love you, Megan and Ray!

NOTE: I didn't post anything in the past while because of my many adventures in preparing for the wedding. Those posts will be upcoming. This one was just about Megan and her beloved.

Because Today Went So Well

Dear Folks,

Because today went so well, I am exhausted. I'm not sure what I'd be like if all had come to pass in an ill manner. I am, however, functioning slightly under peak performance. Or optimal. Or mostly alright. But I am well enough to say that everyone should laugh at this highfalutin man trying to be hip:

Because you didn't need to see his face anyway.

And also, in case you are like me and enjoy Shakespearean tongue and get a kick out of this, INSULT AWAY! Here's a handy chart! How many lines can you identify from the Bard's plays?

If you enjoy laughing AT ALL, and you have experienced the horridly boring, yet mildly interesting, irritation of channel surfing, then watch this:

AAAAAAND one last thing. You should definitely go read about my post about SURGERY from last year, because I had another procedure done today. While wholly unrelated in the health problem in question, there are some similarities to state of mind situations. Here's a picture from that post:

I shall report on today's proceedings tomorrow. Until then, adieu!

A Lovely Day-iversary!

Two years ago today, a wonderful thing happened. A tall handsome bloke came and interrupted me from my frantic typing. He saw the dazed, somewhat manic gleam in my eye. He became slightly concerned. Because I am a loving and caring individual, I attempted to tone down my high stress levels, and pay attention to him and him alone despite the fact that this paper was due in just about 12 hours. A paper that I had just started. A paper that was the major research paper at the end of the semester. Rats. But I paid attention to the tall handsome bloke.

AND GOOD THING I DID! How else would I wind up with this gorgeous shiny thing on my finger? Or this magnificent bouquet of my favorite kind of roses?

That is a pretty ring. It has a large sparkly thing on top, and loads of small sparkly things on the band. I wouldn't let Andrew hold my left hand for a week. ESPECIALLY if we were in the sunshine. Nope. No way that anyone was allowed to cover that sucker up. My ring bling needed some flaunting!

I won't tell you how he did it quite yet. I will tell you that it involved his sneaky roommates, a coffee table, the "engagement circles" on BYU campus, a favorite passage from Cyrano de Bergerac, and three too many rings. I'm not telling you the whole story because I'm writing up the whole fantastic scene in "The Story."

That picture pretty accurately describes the beginning of our relationship. And most of the rest of our relationship up until about the point where we figured that it was alright to actually like each other. "The Story" is, believe it or not, the story of how Andrew and I found each other. It started with me falling in love with him before I'd ever even seen him- or heard of him for that matter. It involved cold. I don't like being cold. (I changed the names in the story, because I never want to tell stories about people that they don't want to hear. And it's funny, because people are guessing at who is who. It makes me laugh.)

Andrew and I complement each other. We can fill in with our expertise in areas where the other doesn't exactly overflow with that same competency. He is my rock. He is steady, dependable, honest, wonderful. When I get panicked, he remains calm and helps bring me back to some semblance of sanity. He makes me laugh all the time. He has a dashing and quick wit that keeps you on your toes- and at times a hand on your stomach, trying to help the ache in your abs from laughing too hard for too long! Andrew is also good at math, science, logic, and other (somewhat superfluous) skills. He can fix my computer when it breaks, which is good, because technology has a tendency to spontaneously combust when exposed to my person for too long. Andrew is also intelligent and well-read, meaning that we can have intellectual as well as silly conversations. That is a very nice quality to have in your life's companion!

And I had one of the best bridal shower treats ever at my hometown shower. (I had two-one up at school with my friends, and the other back home with all my other friends and my family.) Behold! Edible man!

My friend Jeni took one of my favorite engagement pictures and had a custom cake made. Not only was it one of the best cakes I'd ever eaten, it had Andrew printed on it. Printed on white chocolate. I told everyone that I was the only one allowed to eat Andrew's likeness, and that was that. They humored me, and I was happy. I took the portion of chocolate that had his face on it, and left (most) of the cake to the ladies. I can be a pretty jealous woman when it comes to my man and white chocolate. You have to admit, though, that's a pretty adorable picture, right?

Yes, it's true. I'm rather fond of my Andrew. He took my overly horrid evening and made it one of the best days in my life. It made it ridiculously impossible to focus for the rest of the night, but hey, what can I say? Have you ever tried typing with a brand new ring on your finger? Do you know how much the light plays with diamonds? Thank goodness my teacher allowed me to walk in two minutes late to give him my paper! And thank goodness Andrew gave me such a lovely day!

Exactly four months after that lovely day, Andrew added another ring to my finger. And this time, I got to give him a ring too.

What a lovely day. What a lovely memory. What a lovely beginning.

Feel Free To Laugh With Me

So, this isn't what I was going to post today. I actually have a very thoughtful post saved as a draft right now. But it's not done, and I wanted that post to be more put together than not. However, seeing as I should be putting something up here, I decided to do it this way.

I am going to share some of the things that made me laugh out loud this weekend. Literally. Laughter came out of my mouth. And loudly. No mere chuckles from this girl, no sirree bob! Feel free to laugh right along with me. I won't even get jealous that it's not my pictures that you're laughing at. These are too good to keep to oneself.

This is in Brazilian (Portuguese): It says "I'm ugly! -- HAHA! April Fools!"

This explains my bangs. Pink cows. Who knew?:

And I have this thing with cows being funny. Especially ones that look like a close relative of Sid the Sloth:

Daddy is a construction man, and I'm sure he feels like this is how we children are when we help him:

Raise your hand if shaving is your favorite part of grooming. I'm not raising mine. Neither is this bear:

I just like this. Politeness and etiquette will always be respectable:

I hope that you know this song, because it's great for when you need a diva moment:

Because we all have moments when we finally get what's going on, and we feel super clever about it all:

Play with the friends that you have. You never know when you're a source of adorable hilarity to the people (who actually know what's going on) around you:

This one nearly murdered me. This is how to handle rocks like a boss. Listen to Zelda boss music or other "I'm Awesome" song of your choice in your head:

And if you want to read a story about a really confusing piece of fish, and how it almost destroyed me like the boss it was, please feel free to read about the Dead Fish Head. It's one of my personal favorites from the Pictorial collection.

This alligator just proves that we all have a song within us, just waiting to burst forth. Don't let anything hold you back:

Sometimes horrible things are just plain alright if the cause is cute enough:

Did you know that Andrew's pet peeve is loserly drivers? And that he plots his revenge constantly in the way that only an engineer would be able to muster?:

Did you know that Star Trek depicts actual, real life moments that happen to all of us? Because we all get that awkward "I just missed the joke ball" thing. What makes is really bad is when we get the "pity smile" from the one who doesn't really know socialness:

And you should definitely bask in the glory of a Brazilian man shampoo commercial. Maybe this is why Andrew wanted "Grandpa's Wonderful Pine Tar Soap Bar." Much better than my Herbal Essence Orange Happy Smelling Woman Stuff:

I have to admit that it's even funnier when your Brazilian speaking husband plays it and repeats every line slowly (in his low Brazilian voice) so that you can try to understand it. 

So... I hope that you enjoyed that. I certainly did. Regular posts will come back, but until tomorrow, I bid you feast your souls on joyous and constant laughter. Laughter really is the best medicine. Heal yourself. 

A RED LETTER WEEK! (Part the First- The First Half)

The week of April 16th- April 23rd was a very important week for our family. A RED LETTER WEEK, as Daddy likes to say. I'd been looking forward to this week for months, because Mama and Spud were coming down on Monday (April 16), and then we were dropping off Spud at the MTC on Wednesday, Andy's parents and Gma (his mom's mom) where coming Thursday morning, and then on Thursday and Friday was GRADUATION for Andy and I! OH HAPPY DAY! Sunday and Monday would be family departure dates. It was going to be the best week since the beginning of this year! The only downside was that Daddy wouldn't be able to come. Daddy is a professor over at another school, and the week of my graduation was the week before his finals- it was hard for him to wrestle out of it. I told him I loved him all the same, and that I understood-even if I didn't like it one stinking bit!

The semester was wrapping up like a two-year-old wraps up your own junk with toilet paper to give you for your birthday: messy and catastrophic to the cleanliness of our humble abode. I had stress and insanity coming out my eyeballs till I couldn't see straight any more.

Andy had engineering coming out his nose, he was doing so many problems and equations and projects.

While it may appear that the stress load made his head short and fat, this is not because of the math above his head. I would like to point out that the equation pictured in the image above is not an accurate representation of Andrew's homework. His math involves a lot of pretty squiggles, some stuff that look like the letter S or F, some Greek letters, and [insert numbers and symbols here]/[even more complicated stuff here] kind of things. I just drew the kind of math that I can do! The chimes: Andy made a piano mechanism with a group in one of his classes- they had to do a project that would be able to teach 4th graders something about science. It was a neat project. Especially the part when he cut the pipes to length and hung them on our shower rod and started whacking at them with my 3 pound dumbbells. Ya. Real cool. Berg: Andy's capstone project was for a company called Schlumberger, but the boys called themselves Team Berg. I'm going to let Andy explain that stuff in his own post. It's really neat, but filtered through me, it would probably be more poorly executed algebra.

I just wrote lots of papers and did lots of projects for my English and Humanities classes. Holy snarkwaffles, but that was a long and difficult week. I seem to have snapped before the end, though, because by Wednesday of finals week, I was just floating along, not even caring if I made it to my last final on time. Andy was surprised, but noted that it must be due to the fact that all the stress and insanity had already seeped out of my eyeballs. (See below.)

When Monday the 16th came, I was all sorts of excited. And nervous. Andrew's Evil Test of Doomsdayness and Despair was the next day. He had been studying so hard, but if he bombed the test, then passing the class might not be an option. Unless we used covert action. Like cookies. I make good pie. The plan was to get Andy to bed early so that he would be plenty rested for his big test. Mama and Spud were going to rent a car at the airport and drive down the hour ride to our place, getting here at about 1:00 AM or so. I tidied everything up, then set up the air mattress, and set out blankets on the couch, and fluffed things up to be pretty and cozy. Then I tiptoed into bed where Andy was already dozing.

An hour or so later, my phone rang. Mama told me that she was in front of my door! I leaped out of bed, smashed my glasses on my face, threw a sweater on, and ran out to get the door for her. I made sure to close the bedroom door gently so as to not wake the sleeping engineer. When I opened the door to let Mama in, Spud wasn't with her. I gave her a hug, and went out to the parking lot to help her with the bags. I hugged Spud and dragged some bags up the stairwell with the two of them.

When I got back inside, I noticed a human shaped lump under the neatly made up blankets on the couch. I became seriously peeved- I had spent all that time making this all cute, and Andy comes shambling out of the bedroom and chucks himself in the cute set up when he is SUPPOSED to be asleep?! I was in shock and confusion.

That's right, folks! Daddy came and surprised me! *Please Note: I don't remember what I/other people actually said, only what happened. For verification of truthfulness of events, ask my mother.* Basically, I freaked out and jumped around, then hugged Daddy, then jumped around, then hugged Daddy again, continue ad nauseam. Then we sat down and talked for a long time. I was so happy Daddy came! It was the best graduation gift I could have asked for!

The next morning, we had breakfast, then chatted for a bit, then studied a lot more, and then Andy and I mosied on up the hill to take some tests, while Mama, Daddy, and Spud went to get some last minute things for Spud before he went into the Missionary Training Center. It turns out that my teacher had told us the incorrect time for the final, and so I was there an hour early. Oh well. More study time. I ended up being the third one done, so I felt smart. Andy and I both felt we did well on our tests, which is good. Andy's test mattered. Good thing he studied so much!

I got to hang out with Spud some, just the two of us. It was really nice. I got to talk to him about memories, and future plans, and how awesome his mission call was. He's only been in the MTC for a week and a half, but I feel like it's been forever. I am comforted by knowing that he's doing the right thing in the right place. (More about dropping off Spud in the next post- including my repeated failures with cameras. This was not my week with picture taking technologies.)

Wednesday dawned. The final final day. The day we dropped off Elder Spud at the MTC. The day we would be finished with college.

It happened. It was at this point that I stopped being invested in caring about grades or thinking. My brain shut off with my worrying centers. Mental productivity levels decreased drastically, except the part that came up with creative ways to avoid thinking. That was a go. We took our last finals, and then rushed home. We went out to eat at the Creamery on 9th, since Andy and I had to use up the rest of our meal plan monies before the deadline. We ate, celebrated that finals were over, then fell over and crashed asleep.

And can I just tell you something? Sleep is a wonderful thing. Floating out on the lagoon of sleep after finals week is like sipping cool lemonade freshly poured from one of those awesome fat glass pitchers. It's like lying down in the warm grass with the sprinklers going on a hot, hot day in July. It's like when you're at the cinema, and the movie *FINALLY* starts after all of those looooooong previews. It's also like being hit upside the head with a 20 pound bag of potatoes. You're just knocked out. 

And we'll just dive right in, shall we?

Hola!

Don't let that opening fool you. Neither of us speak that language. Andy speaks Brazilian, though, and I can blurble French and am also highly fluent in Franglish.
The world is smiling upon us, the happy couple, this fine day. We have been married for ONE WHOLE MONTH today! Is that not exciting? I find it to be so. In honor of the occasion, Randy (ones of Andy's nicknames used nearly exclusively by yours truly) got me some fresh pineapple. ALSO I received some little chocolatey morsels of happiness in the form of Lindt Truffles. White chocolate with cream cheese filling is my favorite. What pure delight does flow from that seemingly inconsequential little thing! *sigh* What happiness is mine because of a loving husband. What? What did I get HIM? Oh, I'm so awesome. I got him a little parachute man to throw off the tops of buildings and such. I like to encourage him in his pursuits of knowledge. He likes aerodynamics. His life dream (after marrying a princess) is to become a mad scientist and work with all sorts of air rockets and other cool explosive things. I am helping to steer him in the direction of saving the lives of the valiant individuals who attempt to fly his creations. We're a good match.

This past Tuesday (a week ago minus a day), we finally got a real bed. We've been sleeping on a twin sized air mattress these past few weeks... and... Well, real beds are amazingly stupendously fantabulous. Yipee! The air mattress was useful as we have been moving into our new apartment. When we needed floor space to unpack, we'd just lean the bed right up against the wall and VOILA! Space. Can't really do that with a big bed. Well, you probably could, but it wouldn't be very easy. 

On Friday night we watched a movie for my Rhetoric class. It's called Sunset Boulevard, and it's amazingly creepily intense. I don't know if I've ever seen any acting that was quite that good. The plot was very tense, but it was so well done, and the music was riveting and haunting! I don't know if I'd ever watch it again, but it was amazing. Andy said the same thing. It was on campus and we got to watch it in the library theater from the old school film reels. This wasn't a DVD up there projecting, it was the OLD stuff! It was a really neat experience to see that. We even got to watch the first installment of the adventures of Copperhead and the Mysterious Dr. Satan! Now that was one trippy little show. It's a serial from back in the days. A serial is something like Pixar's shorts nowadays. You know when you go watch a Pixar movie in theaters and they have those cute little animated things before the show? Apparently, back in the day they used to play a serial, a newsreel, and the feature picture. Neat stuff. 

Erm, other happenings? We got our wedding pictures this week. That's terribly exciting, isn't it? Now we can share moments from our special day with everyone! And, most importantly, we'll get to look at them all we want!... Well, that's actually false since we have so much homework all the time. I'm taking 17 credits of senior level English classes, and Andrew is in his Capstone project this year. We have a lot to do, and we're usually on campus from about 8:00 am to about 4:00 pm or so. Give or take a few hours depending on the day and how many group projects that we have going on.

Andrew is a pretty wonderful guy. When I'm really busy with homework (five too many hours of reading material), he'll help wash the dishes, or play with my hair (one of my favoritest things ever!), or just help lighten my stressed nerves. He's amazing, and I'm one lucky girl. 

Well, that's it for this time, folks! We're off to do more homework, a group meeting, family night, and dinner! 
Ciao!

PS. We don't speak Italian either.