1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
I got married and shot a gun (same as Amy!)

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year
I haven't really ever followed my New Year's resolutions, and yet I keep making them every year. This year my #1 resolution is manage finances better

5. What countries did you visit?
Nada

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
More money!

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
January 5th (one year ago today!) because Jared and I got married. Also December 24th because we had to put our oldest dog, Patch, down

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Hmmm...I think developing my relationships, old and new

9. What was your biggest failure?
I didn't manage my money very well at all

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing more than colds and allergies-I did get the flu last winter

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Probably our new computer

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Pretty much all my close friends and family. This past year I really valued my close relationships

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Jared's uncle David, who left his family and refuses to pay them any support money

14. Where did most of your money go?
Bills and food/gas

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Getting married :)

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
"So What" by Pink
"Love Story" by Taylor Swift
Any song from "Mamma Mia!"

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or hardened?
I think hardened, just because this past year has been the first year I've been truly "on my own"

ii. thinner or fatter?
fatter, unfortunately, although I hope to do something about that soon

iii. richer or poorer?
definitely poorer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
been more conscientious about money and bills

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
spent money and worried about what other people thought of me

20. How did you spend Christmas?
we have had FOUR Christmases, just like the movie! On X-Mas Eve we went to my mom's sister's house, X-Mas Day was spent at my grandma's nursing home. Then on the 28th I went to my dad's family celebration, and this past weekend was Jared's family celebration!

23. Any one-night stands?
Haha, no

24. What was your favorite TV program?
I really enjoy "Fringe" as a new show, but I've re-discovered my love of "Alias"

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't hate anyone, but I really resent Jared's uncle for what he's doing

26. What was the best book you read?
the "Twilight" books

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
ABBA/"Mamma Mia!", and music from "High School Musical"

28. What did you want and get?
a husband who I love and who loves me

29. What did you want and not get?
a debt-free life, but that's really our own faults

30. Favorite film of this year?
"Mamma Mia!", "Sex and the City", "HSM3"

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 22, my in-laws and I went to a Twins game and then my parents came to celebrate as well

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
More casual than ever

34. What kept you sane?
Jared, my friends, cleaning

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
OBAMA and how there are a lot of closed-minded people in the world. Oh, and of course the many stupidities of Sarah Palin

37. Who do you miss?
Some old friendships, Patch

38. Are you happy with the year over all?
I think so. I've learned a lot, that's for sure!

39. Are you happy the year is over?
Yes, I'm looking forward to new beginnings

40. Do you think next year will be ( even) better then this year?
I am going to try to make it better

41. How do you feel, another year has passed you by?
Today I'm feeling like a year goes by really fast, and also amazed that in May, high school graduation was 5 years ago!

So it's been a really long time, and I've missed everyone's posts so I decided to make one of my own. :)

Lately I've been feeling like I really cannot do school anymore. I have at least a year left, and I'm totally burned out. This semester I'm taking my pre-capstone class, which basically means I've been picking out a topic, searching for sources and trying to get together my 10-page paper for THIS semester...all while worrying about writing the big 40-page history paper NEXT semester. It's been really stressful, especially since my professor just got back from sabbatical and is really slap-happy about life-meaning she apparently doesn't have time to answer e-mails or questions at all. My friend Keely dropped the class because she couldn't handle the prof and all the work, and I'm really beginning to wish I did that too! Realistically I know I can do it. I've written big papers before and done pretty well on them, it's just I have no desire for school anymore. Not only do I have this class, but another class where we have two big projects that I swear my prof thinks are the only ones we have to deal with. I just can't get motivated-does anyone else struggle with that? I feel kind of like a loser because it's taking me so long to finish up, and maybe I should just stop complaining and do it. Plus, we are really struggling financially and I wish I could quit school and just work full-time to help out. GRRRRRR.

Just wanted to send me complaints out into the world.

Well, here we are in July already. Yesterday was my 6-month wedding anniversary, isn't that strange!? I was looking around on Facebook the other day and came across a bunch of girls from high school that are married (or so I assume, their last names have changed): Jenna Klongerbo is married-she lived by my parents' house, when we moved we were kind of forced to be friends for awhile-Jamie Engel is married, and so is Angie Umeda. Not that I was really good friends with any of them, but I knew who they were. Kind of strange to think it's weird that they're married when I'm married myself. I guess we really are growing up.

In other news, I have an interview for a bridal boutique tomorrow to be a consultant. It's a smaller shop, not like David's Bridal, and it's literally a 30-second walk from our apartment. I'm really hoping to get it to save on gas money, and also because I don't like my job or my bosses. Maybe it's me that is wrong, because at Starbucks I didn't get along with my boss either. Anyway, I'll only take it if the pay is the same or better that I'm making now, and if they can give me full-time in the summer. I'm hoping they know I'm a student (it does say I am on my resume so they should) and that I want full-time. I'm worried about the fact that I need a bunch of days off the rest of the summer. July 22-23 we're going to be in Pepin for Jared's birthday, August 9th we have a wedding and August 20-30th I'm going to Nebraska with my friend Janna-she's from there and is going home to have surgery, I'm there to keep her company on the drive. If they offer me a job I'm going to tell them straight off about those days, so they know up front. Hopefully they won't not hire me because of that.

Right now I'm getting ready to eat ribs at the York's, then I'm heading back home. Hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day!

1) Are you currently in a serious relationship? I'm married...does that count?

2) What was your dream growing up? I really wanted to be an actress, which is so weird because I'm not even a little bit talented like that

3) What talent do you wish you had? I wish I could play the piano

4) If I bought you a drink what would it be? Right now an orange juice

5) Favorite vegetable? Corn

6) What was the last book you read? I just finished "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" again today

7) What zodiac sign are you? Virgo

8) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Just a hole in each ear. I used to have a cartilage and a second pair of holes in my ears, but I let them close up

9) Worst Habit? Either biting my nails or not controlling my temper. Sometimes, I honestly WANT to get mad at people

10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride? Well, I got this quiz from Amber's blog, I would totally pick her up!

11) What is your favorite sport? Baseball and swimming to watch, softball to play (or at least it used to be, ever since I got hit in the mouth last year I'm really afraid to play, and I was kindly coerced into joining a league this year-we start tomorrow night)

12) Do you have a Negative or Optimistic attitude? negative for sure

13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator? If I was alone, I would definitely freak out. I don't handle crises well at all. If I was with someone I knew, I would probably be ok

14) Worst thing to ever happen to you? Hmm...probably going through my depression

15) Tell me one weird fact about you. My shoulders are double jointed

16) Do you have any pets? No, sadly

17) What if i showed up at your house unexpectedly? I would be like, "Hey Amber! Long time no see!"

18) What was your first impression of me? I think we had a class together and I remember thinking you were really smart

19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary? SCARY

20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? Clear up my skin

21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience? Conscience, I'm normally not ok with doing the "wrong thing"

22) What color eyes do you have? Green

23) Ever been arrested? Nope

24) Bottle or can soda? Fountain is my favorite, but can if I had to choose

25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it? Pay off my credit cards and buy a new computer

27) What's your favorite place to hang at? My apartment

28) Do you believe in ghosts? No, I'm a scared enough person already

29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time? Watch tv-I'm a tv addict

30) Do you swear a lot? No, if I start swearing you know something is seriously wrong

31) Biggest pet peeve? Snoring...Jared snores and it drives me crazy

32) In one word, how would you describe yourself? Emotional

33) Do you believe/appreciate romance? Of course I believe in romance...but sometimes I get a little embarassed if I'm on the receiving end of it

34) What is your current favorite song? "Say" by John Mayer

35) Do you believe in God? Yep

Well, it's official-I'm a York!

The wedding was just about a month and a half ago, and married life is so much fun! We had a fabulous time in D.C., we probably didn't see half of what we could have but it was a great time. Unfortunately, we didn't see either Katie Holmes or Tyra Banks, both of whom were there when we were. We didn't see George W. either. :(

Then we had to come back to normal life, which meant settling into the apartment. It's totally awesome because when Nate and Jared lived here, I hated the place. It was dirty, smelly and not decorated at all. Now that I have my stuff here and it's my home, I love it. It's the perfect size for the two of us.

I love being married...it's different than I thought it would be. Last night we celebrated Valentine's Day, Jared of course made me think he wasn't going to get me anything, and then he comes upstairs with a bag full of "The Jungle Book" and a stuffed dog. It was very sweet. :)

Hopefully I can keep up on my blogging. I refuse to let it die!

I have discovered that I love Macs. I used to hate them-I was a PC girl all the way. But now, with my computer's wireless STILL BROKEN and only the computers on campus to love, I'm getting more and more used to Macs. In the computer labs they're always open while the Dell's are full 24/7. I would get one, but they are really expensive.

Nothing much going on in my life lately. I'm realizing that opening up my availability for Sundays @ work may not have been the best idea, because it really sucks to work Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun/Mon, like I did these past days and will continue tonight. Not only did I not study as much for my Bio test as I should have (plus other hw) but I didn't really have any time to do much. It sucks being so booked, and with the wedding stuff piling on it's even harder. I'm beginning to not feel as pathetic for taking 12 credits!

But on the plus side, in 3 MONTHS it will be time to go to the cities and almost get married! I'm so excited-nervous that I'll do something stupid during the ceremony like fall over, but excited. We have a lot of stuff done. Pam finished our invitations last night so we have those, we booked our hotel room, we're looking at flowers this month and bridesmaids' jewelry and shoes are decided upon. I also bought my earrings that I'll be wearing. My bridesmaids are being so helpful with everything, and it's a lot of fun. I have 5-yes, 5-bridal showers planned, so I don't see how Jared and I are going to be wanting for anything after January 5th! It's just so cool to see how everything is coming together. Wahoo!

Now I need to balance my checkbook. Hope everyone's day is going well!

1. Who was your first prom date?
Matt Stewart.  We were dating and I remember he asked me in his driveway after I dropped him off from school.  He said, "So, you wanna go to prom?"  It was magical.

2. Who was your first roommate?
Liz Erhardt, my freshman year.  She was amazing. 

3. What was your first alcoholic drink?
I got drunk once freshman year, on rum.  I think that was my first drink.

4. What was your first job?
I worked at the Minnesota Zoo, in the food court.  Most of the time I was assigned to the Kalahari Kitchen, which was right by the meerkats.  It didn't have air conditioning and there were four fryers in there...it was hot.

5. What was your first car?
A tan 1992 Mazda 626. 

6. Who was the first person you texted today?
I rarely text, I haven't texted today at all.

7. Who is the first person you thought of this morning?
Jared.  

8. Who was your first grade teacher?
Mrs. Barker...she got a brain tumor and died. :(

9. Where did you go on your first ride on an airplane?
I think I was about 2 when my parents and I went to Florida. 

10. When you snuck out of your house for the first time, who was it with?
I don't think I ever snuck out of the house, my parents were pretty lenient.  

11. Who was your first best friend and are you still friends with them.
Beth Kieda...and yes, she's my maid of honor. :)

12. Where was your first sleep over?
Probably at Beth's house, we used to watch a Barbie video that had her going around Epcot and experiencing all the cultures that are there.  It was cool!

13. Who was the first person you talked to this morning?
Janna (my roommate).  She came in to see how I was feeling. 

14. Whose wedding were you in the first time?
I was in my cousin's wedding, technically I was an "usherette" but I wore the bridesmaids' dress and was in the pictures.

16. What was the first concert you ever went to?
LeAnn Rimes/Bryan White, when I was in middle school.  I think the first cd I ever had was her cd, "Blue."

17. First tattoo or piercing?
I had my ears pierced when I was in...4th grade?  I remember I still lived in Michigan so it was between 1st-5th grades.

18. First foreign country you went to?
Like Megan, I had a layover but it was in Amsterdam.  Then Germany!

19. First crush?
Brandon Viers in 1st grade.  Beth and I used to go to his parents' comic book store in the mall and hide behind the shelves, looking at him.  Gosh he was cute. :)

20. First TRUE love?
Jared

21. When was your first detention?
I never had it.  I was a good kid.

22. What was the first state you lived in?
Michigan. 

23. Who was the first person to break your heart?

 I just read my friends' journal updates, and it seems I've been missing a lot!  It made me want to update my journal, in the hopes that people are still reading it. :)

I started classes a week ago, and they're going well.  I dropped one of my history classes because the prof was so irritating that after one class I knew I would want to rip my hair out every single session.  So I dropped it!  I have 12 credits but that includes a Bio lab, so it's going to be a hard semester when it comes to that.  Plus the wedding is less than 4 months away-eeek!  Right now I'm working on getting people's addresses so I can send them invitations, which is really hard because people, especially college students, move a lot.  

I'm sick right now as well.  Last night at work I all of a sudden felt really nauseous and gross, and last night I didn't sleep very well at all.  I took 4 Advil this morning which is helping, but I'm really thankful I don't work for a couple days.  I hate being sick, especially when you can't really miss class.  

Love you all!

I was on facebook and I looked at Fran's picture album "Alcoholism for Dummies."  It made me really sad all of a sudden because in the album there were people from high school that I haven't hung out with in a very long time.  Megan, Doug...it just made me really sad.  It seems like so much has changed in the past few years, and I sometimes feel left out of the loop-I guess I am.  I don't come home very much anymore, which to me seems kind of pathetic because I don't live that far away.  It makes me really upset that I haven't seen people like Megan or Matt in years.  Just reminiscing, I guess.