I am a blog addict!

Yup, I have created another blog on top of the two I update regularly.

http://nathanandmarieke.wordpress.com

I designed it to keep family and friends updated on what's up as Nathan and I get ready and move to San Francisco. I'm gonna start by giving info on our preparations (apartment hunting, visiting the schools and whatnot) and then what comes up after we move. Hopefully both of us will update it, depending on what's going on.

(I also have an option for people who want to get the info via email if that's easier for ya.)

I will still be regularly updating this blog and "Raining Grace" through the summer, and hopefully beyond since these are more personal ones.

So many happenings!

I feel like all my posts lately have been "updates". This one is a long time coming (I can't tell you how many posts I've started over the last couple weeks, but then not managed to finish and get posted).

There's so much going on, I'm finding it hard to limit what I say without getting overwhelmed by all the details. I'll try to make this short (HA! Who am I kidding?!).

School

I finally got my official Acceptance Letter from SF State (after a Notice of Denial scare a couple weeks ago...). Technically I am "Conditionally Accepted", but they just need to get my final transcript for my current classes at SBCC (which I just took care of last night). *whew*

I had issues (big surprise) with the math placement test....they never got my registration form (I suspect it got lost in their offices or something because I faxed it to the right place), so I had to take a chance and try to walk-in to take the exam. Which meant I had to be there way before check-in at 8:30am (I was there at 7am). I did get in to take it, so that was good! And we stayed at Nathan's grandparents' house in Oxnard the night before so we wouldn't have to drive as far. It was so nice to see them and go out to dinner. We've never spent time with them without other family around. They are so cute and still in love after 40ish years of marriage!

Also, I found out that I'll need to go up to SF State for an orientation in mid-July for priority registration, advising, etc. Of course it smack dab between when we go up to finish up stuff for Nathan's school and when we're planning on moving AND in the middle of the week. I found a cheap flight out of LAX ($108.80 RT), though, so I'm just gonna fly up the night before, do the orientation thing, and fly back that night.

So, everything is on track. All I have to do is sort out financial aid, go to the orientation and register for classes! I'm in the home stretch...woot!

As far as SBCC is concerned, I'm nearly done! I turned in all my Work Experience assignments last night, now I just have choir rehearsals tonight and tomorrow night, then performances Saturday (7pm) and Sunday (3pm) at First United Methodist Church on Anapamu (in case you want to come *grin*)


Financial Aid

I'm waiting to hear if I have gotten a Cal Grant or not (should know next week), and I've got a couple music scholarship apps out. I'm auditioning for one later this month, and I'll hopefully hear back about the Santa Barbara Foundation music scholarship in a couple weeks.

I've also got to get back on Fastweb.com and apply for the miscellaneous scholarships they've got on there.

I'm a little nervous about managing the cost of both of us being in school. I'd like to live with as little debt as possible. I'm really (trying to) trust God to take care of us. I know He will, but I still can't help but be a little nervous about it at times. Hopefully I can find a flexible job (I really cannot figure out what type of job I should try to go for...I'm gonna have a relatively big commute, so I want to find a job either on campus, or close to home and it will need to be flexible due to school and performances etc).

If I get a Cal Grant, then we might be able to live off the federal student loans plus part-time work, and not have to take out more loans (at least for my school - Nathan's is much more expensive, though).


Fiber projects

The bag for my mom is complete! I haven't gotten around to taking pictures yet (the lighting has been bad by the time I get around to it), but it turned out well. I just need to figure out what to put in it. It may end up being gifted by itself cause I don't have time to shop before Saturday and we're probably going to celebrate early due to the crazy weekend (choir performances, sisters' work, etc).

I've also been working on the black tank-top I'm designing. I've started the waist decreases (I actually started a little early cause the yarn stretches more than I thought) and it looks like it's going to work out pretty well as long as I can get the short-row bust shaping done right. I've just been trying it on every once in a while as I go to check shaping.


Food!

I've been doing a lot of cooking lately, here are some pictures and links:

Oatmeal Bread (Yummy recipe!)
I've made this a couple times now. It just needs to be given plenty of time to rise.



Easy and quick recipes that I use regularly:
Oven Baked Brown Rice
Oven-Baked Basic Polenta


(These are my bulk food purchases and a few Farmers Market veggies: organic flour for bread, brown rice for recipe above, and white rice that I used to rice pudding)

Oh, and I shelled peas for the first time a couple weeks ago - I felt very domestic *grin*. They are SO much better than frozen ones! I did it while my first batch of bread was baking.



Moving

It's only about 2 1/2 months now till we move. I keep saying that "once school is over I'll start working on [de-cluttering, packing, getting together with people, etc]". Well, school is over after Wednesday of next week! The reality of moving is going to be staring me in the face and I don't want to be rushed at the last minute.

But I'm getting REALLY excited about all the possibilities! We're going to go up to the East Bay area at the beginning of July to take care of some administrative stuff for Nathan's school, then hopefully find a place and put down a deposit (I really don't want to have to go up there again to look for a place). Later that month I'll be flying up for the orientation, and then we're gonna move up.

I'm gonna try to make June the big "push" month to get everything in order and start packing up the stuff we don't need till we get there.

So that's my big huge update! :-D

Too much craziness...

So...things have been a little nuts lately. The last two Thursdays were, um, *interesting* to say the least and unfortunately made me miss knit group.

Last week
Last Thursday, I got a call from my stepmother-in-law saying that she and Nathan's dad wanted to come up for a visit THAT WEEKEND! Mind you, this was their FIRST visit to see us since we got married and since we've been living together, so this was a big deal. I stayed home and cleaned like crazy Thursday and Friday nights and Saturday morning before they came up.

The good news is that we had a great visit with them, they liked the dinner I made for them Saturday night,and the apartment is the cleanest it's ever been! We went to the Earth Day Festival on Sunday and after they left I spent five hours hanging out with Suzanne and Oliver. It was great!

This week
First, I had a long week, a not-so-great day at work (my co-worker has been out most of the last two weeks - ugh), and I think PMS is starting to hit me. THEN, I go home and there's a letter from San Francisco State waiting for me! I think "Yay! It's my official acceptance letter". I open it and it says in bold: NOTICE OF DENIAL

So NOT cool! I think *I* was in denial that it was actually true because of the reason stated (an issue I'd already talked to a higher-up about). Anyway, that was the last straw. In the car on the way home, Nathan had noticed that I was much edgier than normal and seemed like I was really overwhelmed, so he suggested canceling all potential plans and just going out to dinner and then go home and watch a movie or something. After I opened that letter, I was glad we chose to do that.

(Note: I called the person I've been talking to - the "higher-up" - and he said the letter was sent in error and that the person who sent it didn't pay attention to the flags or notes in my file - HELLO PERSON!! Wake up! Sheesh....)

THEN, as we're leaving the restaurant, I get a call from my mom who informs me that a good friend of mine was missing for about three days and it turns out she had a mental breakdown in a restaurant, the cops were called, and she's at the County Psychiatric Department! No one had been in to see her except her brother, but she was asleep so he didn't even see her face (they told him not to wake her up). So, I called someone who had more info on what exactly was going on and got the details on how to go visit her. Apparently the particular type of mental illness she's dealing with that caused the episode runs in her family on her mom's side (nearly all the women on that side have it), and it onsets at her age.

I called the Department this morning and I'm going to try to see her tonight during visiting hours and possibly tomorrow as well.

*whew*

To end on a happier note, Nathan and I have been married for 8 months as of yesterday! Yippee!

Spring Break!

This week is spring break for me and I am OH SO HAPPY about that. Although I can't really sit back and chill *too* much since I still have plenty of homework to do, scholarships to apply for, life to catch up on, yadayadayada. But at least I don't have to go anywhere in the evenings.

This past weekend was a bit of a break, though, since we went down to San Diego and just hung out for the weekend before celebrating Passover last night. It was a really nice trip and we had a good time with the in-laws. We even played pool at a local pool hall on Saturday night! For some reason, that struck me as both amusing and very special. I guess it's partly cause I can't really imagine doing that with my parents! Hee. Not that they wouldn't be willing to, just not as likely to happen, I guess.

I also managed to get a decent amount of knitting done. Saturday, after playing pool, Nathan went to hang out with one of his best friends and I grabbed a movie and went home and just knit and watched Le Divorce. Not the best movie (it couldn't seem to decide whether it was a chick flick or a drama), but it was good for knitting! And I snuck in knitting whenever I could and carried it with me everywhere (not that I always pulled it out, but I had it just in case....very handy when I got stuck at his friend's house while they played video games *sigh*).

Even with all that time I had to knit (and knit I did), I have about 4-5 inches done. I don't even want to know how many hours this thing is going to take me. But I am determined. I brought other projects with me, but the tank (projet du mois) was all I worked on. I suppose I could think of it this way, if I weren't working in the round, I'd have about 9 inches done! There. That made me feel better.

Here's a pic: