Quick Update

Everything lately seems really quick.

Quick updates, quick papers, quick errands, quick nap, quick breakfast...the list goes on...for quite some time.

My life is just cruising at 100 mph.

Which is ok, I like the speed.

I just wished it involved more sleep.

So, as far as quick updates go.

Remember how we got a puppy?

And she was supposed to be a Maltese/Chihuahua mix?

Meaning she would be little.

So I took her to the vet a bit ago for her shots.

(It was a quick trip)

And the vet didn't think she was a Maltese/Chihuahua mix but a Chihuahua/Border Collie mix.

So she would be a little bigger...relatively.

She still is a very small dog, just not a "toy" dog.

Which is fantastic.

For example: here is her first bath vs. the one I gave her last week.

(She grew a little)

And is so much more fun.

In fact everyone there was amazed at the poor Chihuahua mother but congratulated us on our infinitely more awesome dog.

They were absolutely right.

It's funny that we ever thought her to be part Maltese because she looks and acts very Border Collie.

Let me explain:

Her Chihuahua side gives her that little dog attitude.

She cries sometimes, shakes a lot when she is scared or sad (apparently a very Chihuahua trait), and loves, loves, loves to cuddle.

She also has a very Chihuahua face.

Her Border Collie side gives her the desire to go on the little Juan's crazy long runs...and her little legs make him have to sprint for miles.  

She really is an amazing runner.

She also loves to do tricks, jump, play and basically be awesome.

She also has the most awesome eyes.

Originally they were very, very dark blue.  

Now they are a dark, sapphire blue on the outside and around the pupil and chocolate brown in between.

She is absolutely perfect for our family and we all love her so very much.

So there is the quick dog update.

In other news,

I am finishing my first year of grad school in the next few weeks.

They are some very stressful weeks.

Still planning the trip for Jordan and Europe,

but the way things are going in Jordan right now (click here) things might be a little different for that leg of the journey.

We'll see.

I am really praying for my friends in the area.

Crazy times.

Other than that there isn't to much going on.

I need to put my laundry away,

and do my dishes,

and clean my apartment.

I am really beginning to understand how I prioritize things...cleanliness (of my home and self) don't seem to be to high up on that list.

Quick story on that front.

I went to talk to the bishop for my Ecclesiastical Endorsement (so I can continue my schooling at BYU).

We talked for a bit after the interview and he asked me how things were going and if I was making time for a social life...specifically dating.

I told him I was lucky if I got in a shower everyday, dating isn't even on the list right now.

He laughed pretty hard.

It is sad how true it is.

So there you go.

Busy, sometimes clean, but very, very happy.

Till next time!

♥ ♥ ♥

Stories of my crazy, crazy life

     So it has been awhile since I posted and for some very good reasons.  I won't list them because it would take forever, but suffice it to say, my life has been a madhouse this past semester.  Let me sum up.

1. My advisor (who I dig with) got a donor!  That means that I get to go to Syria for free!
2. Despite begging and pleading, BYU will not let me go to Syria.  Apparently unrest in the Middle East is a good reason for dashing my dreams of doing a Near East thesis.  Just because Syria happens to be the safest place there at the moment does not make me bitter...just sad that I can't be there.
3. So instead I am going to Jordan to dig up some tombs.  It has been a few years since I have been there.  Which is pretty obvious from this picture because my hair at the time was a bit shorter...a bit.
4. I should explain this next part.  I was aware that BYU might not let me go so I made a contingency plan to do a survey of Roman theaters that were similar to the theater I was intending on doing my thesis on.  So the big news came when my advisor suggested we use the donor money to do the survey of Roman theaters in a few countries including: Italy, Greece, and Turkey.  Yeah...pretty darn amazing.  But we had to make sure the donor, and BYU, was okeydokey with it.
5. And they were!  We don't have enough money to go to all those places but as of this week the plan is to: dig in Jordan for 3 weeks, stay in Amman for 2 weeks researching, fly to Italy to survey some theaters, and finally head to Great Britain.  I am going with my good friend Jessica who is doing part of her research in Italy and the other part in Wales, England, and Scotland.  So that is where we will hopefully make it.  I will go to Greece and Turkey anytime between Christmas and next summer.
6. Because of this amazing blessing my research is being accelerated so I get everything I need to this summer.  This is super stressful because I hadn't really done much because I had assumed I would not be able to go until next year.  While this all has been amazing it is making me do approximately 12 months work in 2 months...on top of the rest of my schoolwork which was definitely not apart of the plan.  So stressful but worth it.

With everything that has been going on I have kind of reached a new understanding of the scripture in Malachi 3:10.  I know it is about tithing but hear me out.

10. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

     After this week I had the end (the underlined section) of the scripture came to my mind.  I have had trials before, everyone has, and they have seemed unbearable but having blessings so phenomenal that you are completely overwhelmed is something new.  My program, in terms of funding, is a bit competitive.  There are a fair amount of us.  I am completely overwhelmed by school and other things that are going on in my life.  I felt that it was the right thing to go to grad school but I would have felt more comfortable waiting and getting more money so that I wasn't broke...all the time.  Instead I did what I felt was the right thing, and it has been so very hard.

     Then, one day, in the midst of my crazy, crazy life, my advisor informs me that a donor has donated a significant amount of money for graduate student travel to her specific dig.  When I wasn't allowed to go to the dig, this donor allowed me to do a survey of a bunch of theaters across Europe...with no personal expense for me.  This meant that I had to accelerate significantly the planning and research for my thesis, which is unbelievable stressful.  Then yesterday one of my professors says that she felt that she needed to help me.  We discussed things I might do, she gave me priceless advice, she is contacting her associates at Oxford to help me, and she wants to meet with me later to help me along with this process.

     I have never been so blessed.  I have also never been so overwhelmed by those blessings.  It has been so humbling to see the hand that Heavenly Father has in my life.  I know that this is important, but I never would have thought I would be so blessed in this process.  I could not have imagined it.  I am very shy and don't have these amazing friendships with my professors and yet countless times during this process a random person has made what I am doing possible.  It has been a truly remarkable experience.

I hope that I have the opportunity in my life to do for someone else what so many have done for me.  I am so very grateful.

Project 52

Decided to post the remainder of my project HERE instead of posting it in 2 places.

Yep, there you go.

Christmas Happiness

Once upon a time WE GOT A PUPPY!!!

We as in my little brother Deruda.

But he doesn't really do the whole responsibility thing so I get to spend a lot of time with her.

Yeah, the puppy is a she.

Deruda named her Rosie.

She is a Malchi,

super hyper, happy, but also very cuddly.

I love her dearly.

I also gave her her first bath yesterday.

It was not her favorite thing.

So there you go!

Reasons I used to blog more.

I used to blog more.

There are a few reasons...maybe more like excuses.

1. I used to have a life.

I tried to think of another reason but I couldn't think of any that trumps #1.

Yeah, I am in grad school now.

My time is not my own.

My energy is not my own.

My brain is not my own.

My life is not my own.

So now I randomly post pictures and maybe an explanation if I'm lucky.

Today I will tell a story.

I was at job 2 (my TA job) when the professor began explaining the type of person that is drawn to archaeology.  

They are generally introverted loner types who generally avoid social activities/situations because they get along better with the dead than the living.

Way to describe my existence...perfectly.

Despite the seemingly negative connotation with my chosen profession, I love it, and I especially love being around a ton of people just like me...all the time.  It is definitely a first in my life and I greatly appreciate it.  

So to you people (some of which in my extended family) who think I am peculiar, weird, abnormal, and ridiculous...my comrades and I on the 8th floor of the SWKT think the same thing about you. :)  

Because we are the same.

Which I ♥.
Which is probably why I don't mind that I've sold my soul to them for the foreseeable future.
Grad school is slowly killing me.

The End.

Project 52

Latest 2 installments.

18/52

19/52



Until next week!
By the way, I created a separate blog for this project a long time ago and don't remember if I posted it here.
It gives the picture descriptions that I don't post here because...I don't.
It is:
http://52lights.tumblr.com/

Project 52

17/52

Project 52

16/52

Another summary.

One day I was sad and a tad bit lonely.

So I bought a fish.

A male beta killer fish.

He is beautiful,

and makes me less sad.

Although he doesn't have a name other than 'fishy', he definitely has a personality.

He plays dead when he is mad at me, and is really good at it.

The padre almost flushed him down the toilet but thankfully waited until I got home.

I told him to just move the bowl a little and Fish would move.

But Fish ignored me.

Kind of.  He actually rolled a little bit and flapped on of his fins at me.

So I stuck my finger in the water,

and then he swam about, flared his fins in anger, and then swam to the top and played dead again.

Despite the rough start, Fish and I are good friends now.

He is no longer mad at me.

When I sit at my desk he swims about madly and then faces me while I talk to him.

When I stop talking he turns around and makes a bubble nest.  

Apparently that means he is happy, from what I've read.

Here is my impression of Fish.

In other news the padre tiled the backsplash for the kitchen.  

It looks beautiful, and has inspired me to do more cooking.

I made lunch for the week last night.

My apartment smelled delicious.

I have been thinking about the delicious lunch that is sitting in my lunch box for about an hour and a half.

I am really hungry.  

I also packed dinner.

I was planning on being on campus until later tonight but my essay got canceled so I get to go home!

Which is good because I have been sick and have been chugging this stuff so I can survive the day.

It has been a miracle worker.

So, there you go.

That is a super quick summary of some random events from the last few weeks.

The End.

Attempts at focusing - a few days in pictures.

Struggling this week to focus.  

I've had really bad headaches that make schoolwork harder than usually.

Plus I feel like an absolute idiot in my classes.

Oh well,  

I got in for a reason right?

Although if it was just to be constantly humiliated than I think I've met the requirement.

:(

So, this week has been beautiful, even though it has been hard.

I stayed up all night on Sunday writing a paper that was due at 9 am Monday morning.

I finished the paper at 7 am which is when I left for campus so I could print off my paper and the reading I had to also do before class.

Love the graduate student covered parking by the way.

As I walked up to campus I was really happy, and exhausted, so exhausted.

I got to the library and found that only 1/2 of my paper had been saved on my USB drive.

Thank goodness I had saved a backup copy of the entire paper on my computer...

...back home.

:(

So I ran back home, saved it to my USB 3 times, ran back to campus where there was no more covered parking, printed off my paper, skimmed the reading, and collapsed in a chair in my class to tired to focus on the lecture.

But it was ok, my paper was done.

After class and job 2 (I fell asleep in the class I TA for), I headed home, where I tried to grade but couldn't focus.

It was between 4-5 pm.

I had only been awake for about 36 hours.

And that is the last thing I remember.

I woke up at 11:30pm on the floor having no idea how I got there.

Then went to bed and slept another 6 hours.

On Tuesday I went to job 1.

It was beautiful in front of the museum.

I love it when I get the computer next to the window at work.  It is such a pretty distraction.

So, after a good shift at work I kind of crashed again and headed home.

It's not that the all-nighters are killing me,

the stress of life is killing me.

The muscles in my face and neck are twitching all the time.

It drives me crazy.

I'm just stressed.

But I went outside later in the evening to this beautiful sight.

So, there is a quick summary of my last few days.

The end.