I guess I made it to the right spot. I haven't updated in so long...I have no idea how with the new changes.

I can't remember what I said the last time so if I repeat, deal. Let's see, I passed all my classes. (yay!) I even got a B in disease...of course Whitney got an A. Meggers and I got two little kittens! Their names are Sake and Mochi. I'm getting married to Curt on May 16, 2009 in Ripley, WV. The wedding plans have started but I also think they are part of the reason I'm currently somewhat upset...whcih you know, is why I'm updating.

I think it's a lot of things really. I'm a bridesmaid in Whit's wedding and it's costing me about $300 more than I ever dreamed it would. No matter how hard I try, my concentration prevents me from being able to study efficiently and so I'm not able to make the grades I want. I mean, I really want C's. C's=diploma. But, I study and study and study and Whit will pick up the notes 2 days before and still make a higher grade. It's frustrating. I'm tired of school and yet it keeps on coming. I now have one more year of classes and then a year of rotations. 2 years to graduation...it's like an eternity. I only get to see curt for a month and a half this summer. 44 days or so. I hate it! it's all pharm schools fault too. we have stupid monthlong "introductory" rotations that don't even count for anything aside the fact they say we have to take them. waste of time.

I'm tired of drama. I'm surrounded by it both with some friendships I've made and with wedding plans. The bridesmaids dresses have become somewhat of an ordeal and oddly enough, I'm not a bridezilla about it but the one most willing to bend and twist and compromise for the betterment of well, everything. I want my sisters to like their dresses. I want them to look nice and where people are like, Oh Mindy picked really great dresses! I want them to both care about what they are wearing and at the same time not be so opinionated. I want them to trust my judgement and LISTEN when I tell them...it will look good, I'm not going to put you in anything unflattering, my wedding isn't formal and therefore I don't want floorlength dresses.

Speaking of listening, I want to stop being in this invisible sound proof box where people can't seem to hear me or even realize that I'm speaking. I seem to say stuff all the time and I don't know if it's that they don't care, don't want to hear, or I'm invisible as to why they never acknowledge me. My little sister and I moved into an apartment together at the beginning of the semester. It's been great! We were originally supposed to have a house but I think the apt has been a better option for us. I'm in pharmacy school and Meg has a bunch of art labs which means neither one of us has a lot of time for anything. My dad has decided he wants to start looking for houses again. I expressed my concerns over taking care of a yard, keeping the extra living space clean, and the time constraints I have to do it in. He doesn't seem to listen to a word I say. I asked if they'd be doing a lawnservice...he said yes, I'll buy you a lawnmover...it'll even be a riding one. No...you didn't listen! I asked because I DON'T have time to take care of a yard. An apartment=no yard. My dad looks at the apt as a waste of money. A house would be n investment.

I want to be remembered, not forgotten--the housing stuff hasn't helped. My mom and I have been planning to go to Flair's jewelers to look for wedding bands on Monday since before her and dad came down to LA. We went out to the Mohawk Tavern and Grill last night for dinner. I had just invited mammaw to come with us on Thursday and she seemed fairly excited. So we're waiting on a table and I lea up and say hey I just remembered, we can get our jewelry cleaned for free while we shop on Monday! Mom gets this horrified look on her face...I immediately say, you made other plans. she said yes, we're supposed to be looking at houses. she then starts naming off all these other days we can go...too bad she'd FORGOTTEN that I'd told her I had to work today, Baton Rouge for bridesmaid dresses/family functions Tuesday-Friday, work next Saturday and guess what...mom and dad leave town shortly after that. I had been looking forward so much to getting down with the semester and doing major wedding stuff with mom whil she was in town. Sure, we can't like book sutff because that's in WV but like jewelry, invites, budget, etc...she forgot. She forgot about practically everything..but mostly the rings. I'd been telling everyone about the stupid ring shopping. Forgetful and replaced by houses I don't want.

My boobs and diet are also a problem. I've be eating CRAP for virtually 2 months now. I hate it but I can;t seem to stop. Mom had been nice enough to order me a new bra but oh, what's that? it doesn't fit. it's a style I used to wear which she got it because she couldn't find the one I use now...want to know why? Vicky's decided to stop making it. So I'm like no big, they jsut came out with several new ones. I went into the store the other day to try on some alternatives so I'd know what to exchange the other for. Not a single one fit right. There was either back fat, side spillage, quadraboob...you name an undesirable aspect...I experienced it with all the different bras. It was so disheartening. So, I'm like wel okay...I'lll try to find a swimsuit since I'm going to GulfShores, AL as part of the 31 Ambassador retreat in August. I decide I want one with an underwire...you know, makes since with the size I carry around. Why is it so hard to make the cute ones just one size bigger. That's all I need...just one size. None of that drop a cup size, add a band size crap. That doesn't work for me. I just...I hate them. I hate everything about them. I mostly hate that they couldn't even be what the insurance required for them to be so that I could make them go away. I hate how people look at them...you know, like guys...when I walk by. I hate the back pains while studying. I hate how they make shirts fit. I hate that I can't get my favorite of anything I see because it's designed for people with A cups. I hate that even if I stopped eating...they still wouldn't leave. And...I absolutely hate the fact that they will only get bigger when Curt and I decide to have kids.

I guess a lot of this buildup is only accented by lack of sleep. So, perhaps I should leave it at this. I'm not falling apart upset and I am really excited about wedding planning still...it just isn't happening as fast or as much as I'd like and as easily as I'd like. I'm really excited about our kittens and will be even more excited when they become declawed in the front. They love being on shoulders and often become parrots when you pick them up to hold them. I'm excited about all of Meg's art that I've put all over our apt. Okay, there's your happy.

i love you soo much. kisses!

I'm 22 as of yesterday. It's crazy...I don't feel older but then when I remember that I'm 22...I do. 22 seems lightyears older than 21 and I have no idea why. Curt was down a couple of weeks ago. It was absolutely wonderful having him down here. He managed to secretly contact a few of my friends and coordinate a surprise birthday party for me the sunday before he left. It was so exciting! And Trey's burgers were delicious along with the oreo icecream cake Whitney ordered! My fiance and friends are the best!

Curt and I have almost been dating for 4 years. 4 years! that's nearly 1/5 of our lives. I love it though! The semester is just over a month away from being overwith. I can't wait! I'll be up in PA for the winter break with Curt. Then, we get to do some hardcore wedding prep stuff! We're looking at May 30th, 2009. YAY! Whitney is excited because it's the day before hers (only a year later). I have to get a dress to wear to hers because it's an evening wedding...Curt should be coming to that with me. He said he would. We get to pretend like we're part ofthe wedding party and enjoy in all of those type festivities! :) I'm excited.

The only bad news I have to share is that my Uncle Thurston died on Oct 1st...which happens to also be my mother's birthday. I guess he just couldn't beat the cancer. He was only 69 but had lived a very full life. His ulegy was filled with all these awesome careers and all the stories he used to tell us that I honestly had never believed because they were just too big and too many of them for them all to have happened to just one person...but they did. He asked my Aunt Alice to marry him on their 2nd date...she said yes on their 3rd. How crazy is that? And how awesome is it that they stayed together all that time....over 40 years. Amazing. Aunt Alice is handling it as well as can be expected. She along with my grandparents decided to take a roadtrip up to Wisconsin to stay with my parents for a bit. Meg and I are housesitting. I think the trip will be a good one. I hope so anyway!

Anyway, there's a small update. I need to go study before a night filled with meetings.

I love you soooooo much! I completely enjoyed your visit and can't wait to see you again!

who wants to drop out of school??? ME!!!

i just really would prefer just working or just sitting on my bum.

anyway, i should be studying...but i lost focus about an hour ago soooo yea. the semester has obviously started. im on 31 ambassadors so thats taking up some free time. we were kind of recognized on national television via espn2 when they were covering the ulm vs tulsa game. i cant believe we lost like we did. not a single point in the second half...anyway... the people kept commenting on how well ulm had treated them and about our shrimp boil. the 31ers always help with an alumni shrimp boil during the first home game...well, the night before we also did one for the espn2 crew. mr don weems, the owner of the waterfront grill, brought out his boat (the resturant is right down the bayou and does bayou dinners) to the alumni center to take the crew on a trip down the bayou. we didnt really think anything of what we were doing for them...i figured all colleges would feed them at least. the camera guys were so nice and kept thanking us and saying that they never get anything like this...and then on tv the next night the sports guys were talkign about it too! so i guess, if we cant be good at football, at least we give a warm welcome!

i got nominated by mortar board for homecoming. if i get another organization to nominate me (ex 31) then i'll be on the ballot. i can't decide if i want to do it or not. curt may be down that week which would be awesome if i made it bc then he could be my escort but at the same time...i dont want to take away our time. homecoming is going to be busy anyway because of 31 stuff and i have a couple of hefty tests that week (they both WERE scheduled before curt owuld come in but one got moved....). i don't know what im going to do. feel free to cast your vote w/ a comment.

my parents are in town this week from wisconsin. mom, mammaw, and i went and looked at wedding dresses. not such a great trip. it's good that they know how to sew and how things should fit and where lines should hit...but they can totally tear apart a dress with comments. i had one that i really liked...but im just not so sure anymore.

okay, well..i have pharmacology in 45 minutes...i need to go get ready.

here's a pic of meg, leiter, curt, and i at the pirates game we went to this summer. enjoy!

i love you soo much! cant wait to see you again!

so..it's been forever again. plenty of time has passed...too much if you ask me. time just needs to slow waaay down. especially in the evenings when curt's home.

i got to see some old friends a few weeks ago! went to cheddar's for lunch with megan and erin. it turned into a 3 hour lunch! it was so much fun just sitting there catching up with those girls. learned that they still read this. haha. at least someone does. hey guys! after i got back to the apt, it was about an hour before monica called to come over and watch movies! we caught up a bit before curt got home then the 3 of us went to applebee's for dinner. monica had a lovely experience with our waiter...he was kinda creepy. we went and rented breech and children of men. breech was great but children of men sucked! poor curt wasn't able to stay up for it all. that weekend, curt and i headed to parkersburg. we went and fed Big Foot, played w/ kittens (probably why i know have poison ivy), hung out with his parents, looked for churches for our wedding, and got to visit with shirley at the mall for a few minutes! it was great seeing her. we were going to go over to lisa's house to see everyone there but those plans fell through. : ( on the way home, we stopped by the huge antiques store off of Rt 50. Curt found a decanter he really liked and so we bought that. The boy has never even smelled scotch but still wants to have a decanter with scotch glasses sitting on a table some where in our future residence. haha. okay then. monday, i got to hang out with erin. i went over to her apt and watched wimbleton. i guess we really only saw the ending because we were talking too much during the first 2/3 of it. what can i say? 3 hours wasn't enough time to catch up on the 3 years since highschool.

not much else happened last week. my shorts and jacket that i ordered came in! so, now i own a whopping two pairs of running shorts and a running jacket. i no longer have a valid reason to skip running in whatever the weather. (other than i'm lazy)

Curt and i went back to Pittsburgh for this past weekend. we stayed at the embassy suites near the airport--very nice hotel! on saturday we went to the zoo and yesterday was spent at kennywood! it was a fun weekend. we bought a new camera (since mine was stolen at the beginning of the summer) on friday to prepare for the trip. you know i loooove pictures! speaking of which...i suppose i could put some on here even though they're on everything else already...just a few though.

first of all...a clear picture of the beautiful engagement ring that curt gave me!
feel free to comment on it's gorgeousness...curt would love to hear how well he did.

hello pittsburgh!

too many animal pictures so here's one of curt and i <3

pictures in the car!

focus less on my always lovely face, and more on my new, now soaked, jacket and shorts! : )

poor curt, he looks a little cold.

yay for kennywood and theme parks everywhere!

us again, but this time you can see the phantom and kennywood sign...haha

back at the apt, tired, but just loving the new camera!

kennywood was just as i remembered it. it was curt's first time going but my jr high took the "good kids" every year soooo i'd been 3 times...6 years ago. good times, good times. the zoo was cool too. all the animals were out and about and well, being animals. the bears were being lazy bums, the peacocks were struttin their stuff around the park in touching distance, the gorillas were wrestling, and the otters were playing. we even got into kid watching because it was apparently baby day and so there were double the number of kids that would normally have been there. some of them were sooo cute! anyway, i need to get back to cleaning so i can say i did something today. : P

i love you soo much! thanks for a wonderful weekend!

my rotation is over...has been for 2 weeks now. wow...it's been 2 weeks already. this summer is flying by waaay too fast!

meghann was up here with curt and i for a week. chris, kristen, and leiter (all from frostburg) came up for a weekend. we all went and ate at chili's and then saw the new die hard movie. after that, we came back to the apt and had a little belated 4th of july cookout celebration. leiter, meg, curt, and i went to the pirates/cubs game last sunday. curt was given the tickets and a parking pass at work. the seats were on the second level and part of the club area. they were AWESOME. it was a lot of fun. the best part was i was the only one that didn't get sunburned...i felt sorry for the rest of them...but i'm never the one that doesn't burn. we almost ran out of gas before leaving pittsburgh...my bad. and then we had some delicious food on the way home. anyway, everyone coming and visiting was a lot of fun.

i went running kinda with curt on saturday...ran 9 miles!!! that's the most i've ever run in one day in my life. i'm pretty pumped about that. let's keep it up.

this weekend, curt and i are going to parkersburg. i think he's going to go play a round of golf with his brother and ted and i'm gonna try to catch up with shirley and lisa. i haven't seen or talked to them in forever. i miss them. may end up at lisa's house on friday..i don't know yet.

this sounds/seems like a 6th grader is writing it. oh well...my brain works in incomplete and runon sentences so this is what you're getting today.

today marks 44 months for curt and i. it's kinda crazy it's been that long. i love it though. we have such a long history together. i can't help but thanking God for putting us together in his plan. we've been working on the guestlist...trying to narrow it down to around 150...dad hasn't given me everyone he wants on it...i think this weekend while we're in pburg we may swing around town to check out some locations. still no date yet. looking at end of may, early june...but the year may be changing...it depends on how a couple of different scenarios play out currently. it'll either be next summer or the following. sooo...who knows. i really like weddings. : )

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY CURT!

i love you with all my heart. i've enjoyed every minute i've gotten to spend with you. this summer has been great so far, i know it'll continue to be so.