Two posts in a row? Who is this girl??

Day #9: A photo of yourself when you were a baby

A ton of hair from day one... and the chubbiest baby born in 86.


Day #10: A photo you like for any reason

I love these beautiful ladies :) And I think we ALL look great in this picture haha!


Day #11: A photo of a night you loved

Headbanging at my 21st birthday bash! Awesome night!

Day #12: A photo of when you were happy

The night Sterling proposed! Look at those smiley faces :)

Sorry it took so long... Day #2!

Yeah, exams, weddings, and Christmas are coming up so I apologize for leaving you all hanging on the photo project ;)

Day #5: A photo that makes you laugh.

Hahahahaha... his face!

Day #6: A photo of someone you love.

My husband of course :)

Day #7: A photo of something you stand for.

Science education... we need more scientists!

Day #8: A photo of something you enjoy doing.

Crocheting... duh.

Stealing :)

After seeing Whitney, Liz, and Alex do the 30 day picture project (sometimes in a week... sometimes in a month) I decided I need to do this, just because it looks fun :)

Before that though, some stories.

This morning Sterling and I got up to go and work out. I was already kind of sweaty, but I blamed it on our new fleece sheets (that we saved $70 on black Friday and are like heaven!). We went to the gym and it was pretty warm in there. I ran a mile and was so sweaty that I needed water really badly. I went to the water fountain and on the way back I got really light headed. I made the right move and headed towards a bench. Now for the scary part. I sat down on the bench, and basically blacked out. My eyes were open and it was pitch black. I was still coherent though. My airways were starting to get constricted and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. The worse part was that Sterling was just across the room running on a treadmill and he had no idea what was going on. I couldn't move, all the energy had left me. Normally in these kinds of situations I panic and make things worse. I just sat back closed my eyes and focused on breathing and staying calm. Finally Sterling realized what was going on and when I opened my eyes I still couldn't see anything. It was the scariest thing. When I was finally able to see, I was so dizzy and lifeless I wasn't sure if I was even going to make it to the car. Sterling told me that I must have been sitting there for about 20 minutes. I got a glimpse of myself and I had no color in my face at all, my lips were whitish blue. I am better now. I hadn't drank much water the past couple days and Sterling and I think I had a case of heat exhaustion and dehydration.

When I was walking away from the bench (which was right next to the free weights, mats, and exercise balls) I saw two people working out within ten feet of me. You read my description of myself... how could anyone see someone like that and not say something? I sat there scared to pieces because I couldn't see and could barely breathe for twenty minutes and not a single person asked if I was okay. I think that is the worse part of this story.

Story #2. Sterling and I are condo/house searching :) We had plans to wait until he had served for 6 months so we can use the VA home loan, but if we save up a down payment by May, we may just buy then. The sooner we get out of renting the better. This is so exciting! We aren't planning on staying in Michigan, but we are currently paying $830 a month in rent. That is more than a mortgage payment. Since I am going to be here for (at least) the next 7 years, it seems silly to rent for that long. And to have a back yard? Oh... that would be amazing. It would be great if we could lease to own starting in May, but we'll see what happens. Keep us in your prayers that we can make good decisions.

Onto the picture project.

Day #1: A favorite photo of just yourself.

This is me. I love sweatpants. I like to dye my hair a lot. Doritos are my downfall in life (I will eat the whole bag if left to it) and I enjoy drinking cheap beer :)


Day #2: A photo of yourself from at least one year ago.

New Years Eve two years ago. I love my hair in this picture. I also love how "special" we look :)


Day #3: A photo that makes you happy (I know exactly what picture to use!)

This picture never fails to make me smile. Honestly though... didn't it just put a smile on your face?


Day #4: A photo of a place you'd like to visit.

Based on my love of the language, I need to go to Paris, France someday. Someday...


Stay tuned...

I feel like this semester is flying by. No, wait, this YEAR is flying by! I mean, I feel like we just got married and here we are coming up on 4 months! Holy moly! It's almost December! Ahhhh!

I am so excited for Christmas break though. The amount of crafting I am going to do is ridiculous. I can't do any other craft though, until I finish making scarfs for Alicia's wedding. I'm done with three, I have five more to go. I can finish about one a day if I spend a couple hours working on it, however, seldom do I have a couple of free hours to spend crocheting. If only...

When I was little my mom used to make these GORGEOUS "doily" angels for tree toppers and other decorations. She found the pattern book for me (which is now considered vintage haha) and I can't wait to start making them. Seriously, they are so pretty (pictures to come!)

This is a random post if you haven't figured that out yet.

Food :)

I love food so much that sometimes I am surprised I don't weight 300lbs. I think there is nothing more satisfying then trying out a new recipe and it ending up freaking fantabulous (yeah, I know that isn't a word). Take my butternut squash soup for example. I've never made anything using a squash, but I know that they are healthy and can be really tasty. So I bought a squash and found a recipe for butternut squash soup. I got my onion chopped, my spices out and prepared my blender. Then I wondered... how the heck do you peel a squash? Then I proceeded to hack away at the peel until it was gone. Probably not the most efficient way... but the peel was off and we were in business. I was skeptical at first... 

BUT OH MY GOODNESS!

After my first bite all I could think of was how I had been missing out on this wonderful food my whole life! I called my friends, I called my mom, I texted my husband... The world HAD to know! And this was just after the first bite! I ate the left overs all week and then the next week I made another batch. 

Don't worry, I'll share this wonderful recipe with you. And if you don't like it, I don't know if we can be friends anymore.

I wish I could be ambitious enough to try more new recipes. However, I simply do not have the time. I should be studying right now (like always) but I wanted to share my wonderful experience with squash. Sometimes I think I could be a vegetarian. Don't get me wrong, I love meat, but I haven't met a vegetable that I don't love. And there are so many out there I haven't tried yet! I just think that I could fill my life trying all these new foods/recipes. 

Speaking about food... Sterling and I finally squeezed our date night in. However, I didn't get home until about 8pm which is way later than our normal meal time so we scarfed instead of talked, but it was still fabulous. We went to Sultans, a Mediterranean  restaurant which was so good. I love chicken shwarma. And the pita bread! Sterling ordered us arabic coffee for dessert. I only suggest this for the avid coffee drinker. It is literally made out of grinds. The bottom of the cup (which is a tiny tea cup... telling you how strong this stuff is!) is full of sludge from the grinds and who knows what else. It kicked my butt. 

I need to go and get ready for church. We are learning about Revelations right now. I don't know much about the end of the world, but it's scary to think about. I like the way Riverview is presenting it though. Instead of telling us how the world could end any time and how we need to repent all our sins (as I've heard before), they are explaining the message that Jesus gives to all the churches and how we can apply them to ourselves in these times. It's gooooood (and you can check it out by following the link!)

http://rivchurch.com/

And the recipe:

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/butternut-squash-soup/Detail.aspx

***** I used unsalted butter instead of margarine. Also... there is NO need for that much cream cheese! Seriously though! I used between 2 and 3oz. I also put red pepper flakes and cumin in instead of cayenne. I just used half of a white onion and one large squash. I didn't measure it out, but it worked out well :) Enjoy!

It seems like I only write in this thing when I have a lot of studying to do...

I got one of my exams back that I took a few weeks ago. The average was 65%. I did a LITTLE better than the average. Needless to say, Sandi needs to study more. I am almost done with my first lab rotation and in a few weeks I will be picking up and moving into a different lab. It kind of stinks because I was just really starting to feel comfortable in this lab. Whatever.

Sterling just ran the Army 10 miler in Washington, D.C. He is such a good motivator to get up and work out. Especially since he wakes up at about 5am every morning to work out. I have found that that is really the only time I am able to squeeze in a workout, so I have been doing my best to get my butt out of bed when he does... it's not easy, but I did it three times this week :) Sterling also just found out his branch that he is going into when he graduates. He is doing three years branch detail in infantry then the next five years in military intelligence. I didn't really want him to ever be in infantry, but the more we talked about it, the more I realized that this was something that he really wants to do and I don't want to hold him back. I mean, he is letting me stay in school for the next eight or so years...

Things are going really well for us right now. We are in a good place. I love living with Sterling and getting to know him even better. I also love that we have a lifegroup now. It is so nice to take a break from everything on Tuesday nights to meet with them. It's always nice to have other married couples to hang out with :)

I do, however, really miss my MP peeps. I wish that we weren't all spread out and there was some way for us to all get together! Seriously though, someone needs to invent a transporter ASAP.

Okay, now I'm going to study :)

P.S. Hank is doing well too!

Graduate school is AWESOME...

Oh grad school.

I have my first two exams coming up. Worried? A little. Behind? A lot. Studying? Nope, watching Jeopardy, the best show on t.v. Don't worry, I'll study afterwards.

I don't want to sound like I am complaining, because I really do love it here. I couldn't have been luckier in picking a school/area to spend the next eight, or so, years. I just feel like I need to take advantage of this year to hang out with my husband since come May, he may not be around. I am okay with spending more time with him than doing homework (even though he is currently sleeping on the couch...).

Things I'm excited about:
-Seeing my lifegroup members tomorrow (we were so lucky to meet all these wonderful people!)
-MSU vs. UM game on Saturday
-First race with Sterling on Sunday
-Perhaps seeing some CMU Alumni at homecoming :)
-Hopefully seeing my best friend Carolyn sometime in the near future
-Alicia Trudeau and Dan Lewan's wedding (kind of far off... I know)

Things I am not excited about:
-Those exams coming up
-Figuring out where to live next year...
-Research forum this Saturday

That's about it.

Mmmmmmkk, Jeopardy is over. Time to make a smoothie and do some homework!

Super Sunday!

Hi friends :)

I plan on using this as a means to keep you updated on my new adventures in married/grad student life over here in East Lansing.

First of all, Sterling and I are both enjoying married life (or so I hope he is...)! We've gotten into some sort of a routine that often includes Wheel of Fortune, video games (COD), taking Hank to the dog park, studying (lots and lots of it), crocheting/knitting and just enjoying each others company. It's a good time. 

Sterling is currently in his last year of his masters program in geography here at MSU and he is also in the ROTC program when he is the Battalion Commander or some fancy name like that. Basically he gets to be in charge and delegate a lot. He's also super ambitious and on the 10 mile team with ROTC and he runs a lot.

I have just started graduate school here and I am going for my PhD in genetics. Next year I'll be starting medical school as well. I am currently working in a lab where we are studying blindness in diabetics. It's pretty interesting stuff. I'm not as ambitious as Sterling when it comes to being fit, but I am doing a 5.5 mile race in October with him (he's running the 8.5 race...)

Hank, our German Shorthaired Puppy is doing great here in EL. We live really close to a dog park so he gets to go there at least once a day to play with a bunch of other dogs. We have also taught him how to run next to us while we ride our bike, so he get's his exercise in for sure!

We are still going to Riverview Church and we were lucky enough to find out that our neighbors go there as well and we've recently joined their lifegroup. Very exciting! I think one of the hardest parts about being down here is that most of my friends live elsewhere in Michigan and I don't get to see them as much as I'd like! 

As I'll often do... I'm going to end this quick update with the excuse that I need to go study. As always!