Smell-Good Day

So. I went to Target today. (exciting in and of itself, I know.) I had a few things to pick up, one of which was dryer sheets. After standing there smelling boxes for an unnecessarily long time, I settled on one that smelled pretty good and was on sale. I didn’t think too much of it.

After paying, I went to have coffee with a friend and left my dryer sheets (and the rest of my newly-purchased goods) in my car. I came back to it about an hour later and OH MY GOODNESS. I don’t think I’ve smelled something so spectacular in my entire life. It was like delicious scent was emanating from my vehicle. Not to mention the close contact made the rest of my groceries smelling freaking fantastic too (including this really cute dress I picked up and the nail polish remover I’d purchased). I now want to put these sheets everywhere: my room, my bathroom, back into the car – everywhere I can, really. I want the world to smell this awesome all the time.

So thank you, Gain Apple Mango Tango, for making my day wonderful.

Weekend of Awesome!

This weekend. Ohmygoodness. This weekend.

Let’s start with Thursday. Wait wait wait, let’s back it up to Monday. By which I mean, Monday, May 21st. This was the day things really seemed to begin, cuz my friends Laura and Lauren came to visit from home. Monday through Wednesday were filled with good talks and lots of laughs, late nights and unfortunately early mornings, Trader Joe’s dinners and nachos like never before. Then, come Thursday morning, we packed up our stuff, hit up our local doughnut shop, and headed home.

I’m not out of school yet, so this was nothing more than an extended vacation for me before dead and finals weeks strike. However, I wanted to make it as productive as possible and get a jump on wedding-planning. I’d scheduled appointments with a photographer and a dress shop and figured I’d get as much done as I could in the time in between.

And boy, was it a lot! My mom and I met with the prospective photographer soon after I arrived home on Thursday, and while we haven’t officially committed yet, I’m really thinking (praying, hoping) she’s the one. Her photos are GORGEOUS at a price we can afford. Plus she was patient and nice and not overbearing at all! I think she’ll do a great job. 🙂 We decided to run to two cake shops afterward and subsequently scheduled tastings for both. We also stopped by a florist and talked to one of my mom’s friends, who has some ideas and helpful hints for the wedding. I borrowed some books of hers to look through for ideas – they were colorful and helpful! We topped it off with talking to my family’s piano teacher, who also has some design ideas. I’m starting to get really excited that the wedding will be in my hometown – there are so many friendly people who want to help!

Friday was filled with dress-tryons and cake-tastings, both of which weren’t too successful. As my mom so eloquently put it, it showed me what I didn’t want. I won’t elaborate too much here, but I’m just going to say that I’m slightly shocked and a little appalled at what people wear. Anyway, I feel really good about a dress I tried on a few weeks ago, so now I just need to show my mom and I’ll be set! 😀

We kicked off Saturday morning with another cake tasting, this one being at our favorite bakery. And it wasn’t just my mom and me this time: my entire family (minus my sleepy teenage brother) came. We were presented with six cakes, and all six of them were absolutely incredible. I mean, even their white cake tasted good. I decided on a design for the cake and officially confirmed my colors (with myself… I took forever to make up my mind!), so now we’re a couple steps closer to the big day.

The rest of Saturday was filled with watching A Goofy Movie (“Chedda!”), going to church (I think we have our officiant too!), and eating dinner at my grandparents’ house. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my family over these past few days; ’twas quite nice 🙂

On Sunday, after crazily packing and finishing the final things on my “To Do” list, I was picked up by Davis to go to San Diego to celebrate his mom’s birthday. We had a fabulous time down there – the condo they were staying at was beautiful, and it was very relaxing all around. I met some of his parents’ good friends, who were so incredibly nice to me. We lounged, we shopped, we walked the beach – it was pretty great 🙂 I’m really glad I got to spend time with his family – I love them ever so much.

We jumped back in the car on Monday and drove back to school (well, that’s after Davis went to a Memorial Day celebration with Mitt Romney and his mom, her friend, and I went shopping… 🙂 ). Nothing else too exciting to report, except that class was cancelled for me yesterday, so I spent the day cleaning and relaxing some more. Ahh, life!

That’s really all I have to report… though I feel that it’s quite enough, don’t you think? This weekend make me feel so incredibly accomplished. I’ve made so much progress planning my wedding. It’s really starting to feel real now. I also feel like it can be done (my mom’s motto for this year – Reagan had a sign on his desk saying that, so it’s the words she’s chosen to live by). I can break this all into little pieces and create the wedding of my dreams.

So now off to class I go… last lecture of the school year, hooray!

Back in the Swing of Things

Life’s starting to look kind of normal again.

My broken arm (and, subsequently, my cast) severely slowed down the momentum of my life. I was improving myself at a pretty steady pace: going to the gym three or four times a week, trying to wear contact lenses, eating right, planning my wedding. Things were going pretty awesome for me, if I do say so myself. And then, the hiccup: the fall, the cast, and the six weeks of struggling to do basic things for myself. I don’t want a pity party – I tried to stay as far away from those as I could with my wrist in a full-arm splint and my rolly-backpack – but ultimately, it did kinda suck at times. I did learn to cope – I got pretty good at washing my hair one-handed and taking engineering notes via computer. But now that the cast has come off, I’m reveling in my freedom and also starting over.

The funny thing with exercise is how quickly you slip back into your old ways once it’s taken out of the picture. I was feeling great about myself towards the end of last quarter, and quite the opposite when this one started. I couldn’t really cut fruit or cook for myself, so I bought quick, easy, and rather unhealthy food for myself simply out of necessity. Add my pneumonia to the mix and, well, my pantry shelf can vouch for the vast collection of cookies, crackers, and chips that accumulated over the past few months. Now that I’m better, I want to minimize my intake of junk food and start cooking with fresh fruits and vegetables more often. That’s my goal, at least; I still have a box of saltines and a bag of animal cookies slowing the process down, but I’m trying!

And the gym! I’ve rediscovered my – well, not quite my love for it, but at least my appreciation that it’s back in my life. I’ve gone three times this week (yes!) and figured out how to entertain myself while sweating away on the ellipticals: bridal magazines! Add the fact that “Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta” was on today, and the time was far from miserable and just flew by. (when a second episode came on, I had to pull myself away from the machine so I’d have time to get stuff done at home this afternoon)

I was given a quote at the beginning of the year during the orientation program that Davis and I led. It reads, “What you want to be eventually, you must be every day. With practice, the quality of your deeds gets down to your soul.” (Frank Crane) This has been what has propelled me this year: I’m not going to get where I want to go unless I start working on it now. Even though I feel as though I’m starting over, I can still get there. I can eat right, exercise more, wear my contacts, become the person I want to be. While the end goal seems so far away, it’s within my reach – I just need to take the steps to get there.

So wish me luck! Slowly but surely, I’m getting back on track to becoming the person I want to be.

I survived.

Cast came off. Senior project presentation over. Banquet finished. Project management workday complete.

Since Saturday I’ve switched productivity gears: from non-stop intense schoolwork to wedding-planning.

And the excitement’s hit me all over again. I spent yesterday calling caterers and cake people and photographers and making appointments to meet with them. I’m trying on more wedding dresses this weekend (and next too) and flipping through wedding magazines like it’s nobody’s business.

I almost feel like I’m not in school anymore – all the hard stuff’s done, so now it’s just finishing up these last few weeks. Nothing can stress me out now! 😀

I suddenly got struck with a dose of “Everything’s Going to Be Okay”.

Today’s the start of what I’ve been thinking of as my marathon, with today being the true Big Day. First my Senior Project presentation, then the department banquet, which I’m putting on with my friend. Then I have to be up bright and early tomorrow morning to clean up for my Advanced Project Management class (6 AM! Woohoo!) which is followed not by sleeping, but by attending a fundraiser for the class. Sunday will focus on finishing up the writing of my senior project and completing my almost-done theatre review. Maybe if I’m lucky I’ll be able to take a nap that afternoon.

But come Monday, as Jimmy Buffett says, it’ll be all right.

But yes! I’ve got this! Huzzah! Onwards! Look out, world – you’re about to be rocked!

Cast-Away

It comes off tomorrow.

My cast, that is. Four weeks ago I switched out my full-arm Ace-bandage splint for a hip forearm-only neon green cast. Hearing the doctor tell me that my ligaments were fine and that the only thing broken was my radius was music to my ears – something I never would have said a mere two months ago. But getting this cast equaled getting my freedom back – I could shower, I could type with both hands, I could cook myself dinner. I’d be able to put a normal backpack on again, and I could hold Davis’s hand when I felt like it.

And it comes off tomorrow.

You’d think I’d be rejoicing. You’d think I’d want to rip this thing off and scratch my arm until I couldn’t feel it anymore, or run it under warm water until our water heater ran out. But honestly… honestly I think I’m going to miss it.

I mean, yes, there are perks: I’ll be able to go to the gym again. To take showers without putting a bag over my hand. To, you know, write like I used to. To eat with it. To bend my wrist. I’m going to truly get my freedom back.

But I’m so afraid of what’s underneath this green (albeit graffiti-ed) arm of mine.

What if The Bruise is still there? The last time I saw my forearm, there was a distinct dark line down the middle of it – nothing like I’d ever seen before. What if it hasn’t disappeared yet? My arm looked tiny, yellow even – what if it hasn’t gotten better? Of course my skin’s going to be scaly, but that’s the least of my worries. What if it still hurts? If it didn’t heal right? What if I can’t bend my wrist?

This cast is the last obvious and physical reminder of my accident six weeks ago. My last saving hope of “fixing” myself back to the way I was before. What if it didn’t fix me? What if I’m still broken?

Who knew that running could be so bad for me? I realize the tumble I took and the bone I broke are minor compared to others out there. But they still had a drastic impact on my life, from having to change bandages twice a day to not being able to wear pants with buttons. I’m better now, but what if it comes off and I’m still not fixed?

These fears are foolish, I realize. The doctor I’m seeing is the best in the area – he won’t let me leave without making sure everything’s just right. I’m still kind of dreading the visit tomorrow, though. Excited, but dreading it. Wish me luck – we’ll see how things turn out.