Everything, but homework time

I'm not much of a procrastinator. I'm really not, yet every spring I find myself loosing all of my motivation to finish my homework. It's really only the homework though. I get this running list of other things that I could/should be doing, like spring cleaning stuff, getting my bike back out, potting some plants, opening the windows, finishing that book series I started during Christmas break. The point is, every spring I'm done with school (!!!!) and I envy Tony who has no homework. (Maybe a bad example due to his recent deadlines spilling into home territory, but still. It's the idea.)

Well its spring again and here I am. Stuck between needing to finish my homework and wanting to do other things. (Only 4 more weeks!!! So long! Ok. I'll stop being dramatic.)

Did I mention that it's Spring! We finally made it out of the cold and into the time period of ups and downs in the weather, but at least its all above freezing. This means I can ride my bike and stop depending on the bus schedule. Of course this was not as simple as just taking it down the stairs, but rather I needed new tires from the old one being squished on the floor for so long. But, Tony did it and it is wonderful. We also got a free-standing bike rack for storing them in the apartment. This would have probably been a good idea at the beginning on winter, but better late than never I guess.

It looks a bit unstable, but its working. And now the bikes are more efficiently stored and it surprisingly saves a decent amount of space. Not that they weren't efficiently stored previously, but I've got some redecorating ideas up my sleeve and wanted them to find a new resting place.

Speaking of more things to do. Decorating/continually furnishing. That was actually a legitimate transition involving "Speaking of which", a phrase I use all the time, but rarely fits. Anyway, Tony and I have been living in this apartment for ~2 years and just signed on for another year. In general, it's a nice apartment, but there are some shortcomings, as there are going to be with every apartment. But that's not my point. My point is that I am terrible at decorating. I see everyone else posting cute little decor on Facebook or walk into someone else's apartment and think they managed to make their living quarters cute, but I just cannot figure it out.

One problem is that it costs money as everything does. Another problem is that it requires going shopping and finding deals. Also, it requires time and creativity. I've got some creativity stored away, but the time is smaller and its hard to do some bigger projects without the space required to do them. So one of these days I will go out and spend the time and the money to start (and finish) those projects that I've been sitting on and make something cute. Maybe it will work and maybe it won't. I guess we'll see. Unless someone else wants to come and do all this for me :)

Gaming

I lost the camera. I cannot remember what I did with it and it is killing me. Beyond that...

Recently, Tony and I have been playing a lot of games. He has always loved games, board games that is. At work, he has found some friends that also like playing games. This has led to both him and I spending a few Saturday afternoons playing some nerdy games with Tony's coworkers. Even though they take all afternoon, these games haven't been too bad.

1. Battlestar Galactica. Yes. There is a game based on the TV show. We've actually started watching the TV show too. (It makes the game more enjoyable to know the characters.) In the game everyone plays on the same team, but half of the players are secretly on the other team. At least until they decide to reveal themselves. The goal is to survive while the game attempts to win by revealing cards that place various situations that must be overcome.

2. Quest for Middle Earth. It's what is sounds like. A game based on Lord of the Rings. It takes place between the time of Bilbo's birthday party and when Gandolf returns to take Frodo from the Shire. Apparently, there were approximately 17 years in this time where Gandolf was doing research and Sauron's influence was widening. One person plays as Sauron and the other players are trying to defeat him and remove his influence from Middle Earth.

It has been quite an experience playing these games. I've never been one for long games, I've never wanted to touch Risk and Monopoly is evil, but these were different. Another game that Tony has found is Pandemic, much closer to my desired length. He was introduced to the game by some friends in WI, but has been borrowing the game from a coworker the past few weeks. This game is also played with everyone on the same team fighting to eradicate and cure disease throughout the world. It's pretty fun. You should check it out!

Valentine's Day

This last Friday was a holiday known as Valentine's Day (aka: Single Awareness Day). I don't really care much for this holiday. I'm not really the sappy type and I think of it more as a Hallmark Holiday, which it is. However, sometimes it is nice to have a designated holiday for receiving chocolate, as it is one of my favorite things.

Well this year, I was planning on making Tony dinner on Friday night and we were going to hunker down and watch a movie. We had gone out to eat on a date previously this month and restaurants on Valentine's Day are bound to be crowded, so nothing big was planned, but something was planned. Little did I know that Rockwell had other plans.

Date night!! First one in a long time.

This last week has been quite a struggle for Tony at work. Recently, he was put on a project with two other individuals to begin rewriting some of the code. This is very exciting since he has finally begun writing code, however, he doesn't really know the code and the specifications that go with it. On top of that, he was given something that needs to be done yesterday. Well, come Friday and that something is not done, so bye, bye my Valentine's Day dinner.

Good thing Saturday follows Friday. He still worked most of Saturday, but took the night off to make dinner with me and watch The Amazing Spiderman. We had a delicious meal of chicken parmigiana and asparagus. To follow it up, we had a wonderful chocolate cheesecake that I made earlier in the day. And the best part is, there is plenty of leftovers on that dessert! So it may not have been my Valentine's Day as planned, but I know that he still loves me. He doesn't really need a holiday to let me know that and I still got some flowers and chocolate out of the day.

A random slew of events

Well this is now the third time I've started this blog post and still can't think of anything to say. (Hence the reason why I haven't posted anything in a whole month) This may be due to the fact that reflecting on life is not a strong suit of mine. I try, but I just can't seem to make it work. Don't get me wrong. There are some times where I surprise myself and have a whole slew of reflecting going on, but this is the exception not the rule. So, here I am, stuck without the ability to reflect on life on a whim, trying to think of what to say. Stick with me, this might be a random string of things that have been going down.

In general, the start to 2014 has been a good one. It's hard to believe that it's already the middle of February, and yet the end of the semester seems to be so far away. (16 weeks is far too long in my mind.)

Well, we've finally been stationary for over a month now and it has been wonderful. Not that we don't like visiting everyone, but it is very nice to figure out what it looks like to stay home. So what have we been filling out weekends with? Good question.

Taking weird photos like this

Brother and Dad came to visit one weekend in January to watch my cousin wrestle. (He wrestles for OSU and they had a dual meet here against Iowa.) It was nice to visit with them and see family down again even if it was only for a short time.

Tony's coworker invited us over to play very long, nerdy board games for two of those weekends. They were mostly fun games and its been interesting tapping into my more nerdy side.

A friend from college visited for Burr Fest (a beer tasting festival that occurs in Coralville every winter.) Tony always loves a chance to taste some of the greats from the area and surrounding states. I got to stay home this year and watch Tangled with a friend. Such a good movie. (I've been on a recent Disney princess kick with Frozen, and Tangled is always a good one!)

We have been enjoying the cold and the snow (more the snow than the cold) and got to go sledding!! I am looking forward to Spring though to open the windows and not pay so much in utilities.

Tony has been enjoying his ground school for his pilot's license. His one complaint is that it is so much information to learn. Here is his comparison:
Kindergarten = Driver's license
Bachelors degree = Pilot's license
I'm very glad he is getting the chance to have one of his childhood dreams, but I am so also so ready to have my husband back on Tuesday nights.

For myself, school has been going well. Two classes is amazing so far. However, it is only the beginning of the semester so we shall see how it progresses. Either way, one final projects will always be better than three.

Lastly, we had to say goodbye to some friends of ours this last month. They were the first people we really met here and they left us to go on to do bigger and better things in the mission field. Sad to see them go, but behind them all the way! God bless!

And one last thing for this post. I wish I took more pictures of things. In this generation I feel like everything is documented via photo, however, I still manage to find my self a month down the road with no pictures of what has happened. O well.

Play by Play

12/24 - dinner, games and conversation with some friends in Cedar Rapids. Good times!

12/25 - sleeping in, reading the Christmas story, opening presents, watching Netflix, reading books, and jello with whipped cream. That last one definitely becoming a tradition.

Tony: Eragon book series, a book about the history behind significant math discoveries, and a Rasberry Pi (a complex, yet more simple piece of electronics to do simple or complex projects with)

Emily: a weight set for working out at home, mittens, the Divergent book series and a book called the Devil in the White City

12/26 - traveled to Wisconsin for a few days, spent the night hanging out and catching up with my friend, Percy.

12/27 - went out to lunch with friends, went back to Mom and Dad's to play some games and hung out with those who arrived that night.

12/28 - had Christmas with the family before heading out to the Feyereisen Christmas, had a good time catching up with everyone in the F. family, finished with watching Monsters University

12/29 - brunch with the family before heading out to Michigan, attempted to listen to the Packers/Bears game, finished watching it at Michigan

12/30 - read some of my book, spent time with Tony's family, got to see his sister, her husband and son

12/31 - had Christmas with the family, watched White Christmas, played Dixit and watched the ball drop on tv

1/1 - left for home in the bad weather

1/2 - I went back to work while Tony took the day off

1/3 - applied for our passports!!, I went to work again and Tony had the day off again to complete his two weeks of vacation

That's a summary of our Christmas vacation. I'd post some pictures, but I have seemed to misplace the camera.

Since then we've both been back to work and are starting to get into the hang of how this upcoming semester is going to go. Granted classes have not started yet, and I'm only taking two (awesome!!!), but we still manage to make ourselves busy as we continue to lead a small group through church, taking a year long leadership class through our church as well, nad Tony has started ground school as the first step towards his pilots license. Here's to the start of 2014!

Christmas preparations

One more post and I am all caught up. Finals being the week before Christmas has really hindered my ability to prepare for everything. However, in procrastinating studying, Tony and I took a trip over to Lowe's to pick out a tree. I really would have preferred to cut one done ourselves, but drastic times call for drastic measures. Just kidding. Maybe next year we'll find a tree farm near by. I like the tree, but Tony has some structural integrity issues with it. I love having Christmas lights! Here is the final product.

And we got a new coffee table!

The next step in Christmas preparation is making Christmas cookies. All I wanted to do during finals studying was bake some cookies, so now that they are over Tony and I attacked the kitchen. We made four different things. My favorite peanut butter cookies with a chocolate kiss, some famous family gingersnaps, 150 year old molasses cookies and some chocolate covered peanuts.

All ready!

Rolling out the molasses cookies

I has also been making some quilted stockings for the two of us, but my sewing machine does not like me at the moment and I am ill supplied in the way of needles for it so those pictures will have to wait. So today is Christmas Eve, the tree is up, the cookies are made (and are delicious), other decorations are up, the presents are already under the tree and we are late to hang out with some friends. So I bid you adieu and enjoy catching up on our lives.

All done!!

It is no surprise that graduate school was going to be difficult at times, however, this last semester has been particularly trying. I took four classes, which in undergrad, would have been very little. But life is different. I don't want to spend all my time doing schoolwork. I want to come home and spend time with my husband. I want to partake in leading our small group. I want to be able to have time to think about making dinner and cleaning the apartment. Maybe not so much the last one, but I want to have time to think about things beyond my current project and it is hard to do that when there is so much homework. What I really want is to be able to leave most of what I have to do at work to come home and be with Tony and partake in the social events that we are a part of. Don't get me wrong, I love what I have been working on. In fact, this was probably the semester where I have enjoyed the material the most. However, I am so glad that it is over. I finished all my final projects, I studied for all my exams and finished them, I am done! And I will never take four classes again. I only have four required courses left, but I am not taking them all at once. And now I can more seriously focus on my research and a timeline for graduation. Don't worry, it'll still be a few years.