So, this is what's been going on lately.

Paulina and I like to have fancy food and pretend like we're really cool and grown up. 

We go on grocery store adventures when we're hungry and end up with lots of food. 

Now my closet is full of it. 

We need to get back to the gym. Haha. 

Buuuut, speaking of Paulina, her birthday is tomorrow! I'm spending the weekend with her in Auburn, which should be super fun and filled with girly things (I have to get it out of my system everyone once in awhile). And her new book just came out on the Kindle and will be out in various other electronic sources soon! And the paperback is awaiting approval and then it will also be out. So look for it! Broken Wings by Paulina Ulrich. :)

Paulina and I went to Seattle last week for a concert. It was a fun night after a terrible day, so I'm glad I went. Regardless of how tired I was the next morning. 

In other news, my grandparents are renewing their wedding vows this summer! It should be a fun event. I've been asked to be the "official photographer" :) and I'm also working on invitations. They want to use an old and new picture so people can see the difference, which is pretty neat. I'm excited about all of it :)

Random fact: my car hit 40,000 miles last week. Haha. I had to document it.

This is what happens when I procrastinate..... Not that it happens often or anything. :)

THIS is what work looks like. I seriously do dishes all the time. But I also help with homework, play chauffeur, cook, feed/walk the dog, play games. I've officially memorized their crazy schedule and can predict what will happen when. I feel like a mom, hahaha. I guess it's good practice? And I love the kids, they're really wonderful. So I'm not complaining or anything!

Aaaaaand finally, I have some actual news. 

A) I got accepted into the education program at WWU, meaning I can start classes next quarter! I had a meeting with an advisor today and she explained the basics to me. I get to go to orientation and stuff later this quarter/beginning of next quarter. It's pretty excitinggg. 

B) I'm kind of officially dating someone. He's pretty great, in my opinion. :)

He got me flowers for Valentine's day and made dinner and stuff. It was sweet. 

So that's that. 

I also got this cute card from my family :) 

And I went home last weekend to see them!

We went to OMSI (like the Pacific Science Center, if anyone knows what that is), out to dinner, my dad made a fancy dinner and breakfast, and hung out. My amazing father also replaced my windshield wipers and got gas and washed my car for me, so I just thought I'd share how much he spoils me. He must love me a lot! 

I'd share pictures, but I unfortunately left my camera at home........... it's kind of killing me. 

I miss it. 

But absence make the heart grow fonder. 

So, that's about it. I'll leave you with this:

Aren't we just adorable? 

<3

all grown up :)

I know that I JUST posted (or at least it feels like it because time seems to go increasingly faster every day...), but I have some pretty cool news (at least in my opinion):
I officially declared as a communication disorders major on Friday :D
Which basically means that starting next year, I'll be in a lockstep program working towards becoming a speech pathologist. For those of you who don't know (which I think everyone basically does now... So I'm sorry if I'm just reiterating!), that is basically a fancy way of saying that I will be working with people with speech impediments (lisps, stutters, diseases that affect speech and communication, etc.). I want to work with kids in elementary schools (at least right now; I tend to change my mind like every 5 minutes... preschoolers are just so dang adorable!) because communication disorders affect a child's whole life- reading, writing, speaking, learning, social interactions.... all of it. And a lot of children with these problems don't receive the help that could make life a million times better.
But anyway, I'll stop before I get all preachy and stuff. That's what happens when you take a communication disorders intro class and retain too much information- it starts to spill out in lecture form.
One exciting piece of this is that I finally feel like I'm doing something and life is taking me somewhere!

Aaand I'm super happy about my decision to work with kids because I realize how much I love them all the time. Being at a daycare twice a week and nannying does that to me :) It also makes me realize how much of a mom I can be though... Kind of scary. Haha. It does make for good stories though! Just the other day I got to witness a 4 year old learning about physics. He thought it was funny to push the door to the outside toy storage room thing as far open as it could go, and then let it swing shut. However it wasn't so funny anymore when he forgot to move out of the way and it smacked him right in the face. Not only did he learn not to pick a fight with a door, but also that when someone taller asks you not to do something, it's probably for a reason (the 'taller' part comes from him- I guess the taller you are, the wiser!). He was then my best friend for the rest of the day because I can apparently protect him. This is why I choose to spend my time with children, haha.

That's about all the exciting news I have since last week.
Oh, scratch that.
BROKEN WINGS IS OFFICIALLY DONE, AND WILL BE OUT ASAP.
(Just for you, Paulina!)
In case you missed it before, Broken Wings is the sequel to my friend's first novel (Flightless Bird), published right before we graduated high school. Quite the accomplishment for an almost 19 year old!
The sad news is that Paulina has been sick the past week. But don't worry, I've been taking care of her :)

And I guess I have one final piece of news! Yesterday, being the kind and generous person that I am (or try to be), I hosted some potential WWU honors students. They got here around 4pm and I showed them around, took them to dinner and breakfast, answered questions, and let them sleep in my room. I figured since I got a private tour by a generous student last year, I'd return the favor. It was kind of funny to see them in the same place I was not even a year ago- ready to graduate and get out of high school, nervous about roommate situations and meeting people, trying to make all these big decisions that seem to be coming at you out of nowhere. I forgot how intimidating it all seemed, considering the transition was fairly easy.

Aaaaaaand, I got a surprise phone call from my grandma this weekend! It was nice to catch up with her, because apparently my dad doesn't share ALL the family news with me (Love you, dad :D). I also talked to said father and informed him of my exciting declaring-my-major news. I should really talk to people more often, but I'm not the biggest fan of initiating the calling.... Haha.

Okay, well, I think that is officially all.
I'll be home next weekend, so expect pictures thennnn.
They'll probably involve funny faces and be highly entertaining. :)

For now, I'll leave you with a fun fact: I wish I had a train set. And Legos. I'd never be bored again!

time flies when you're taking tests.

So I realized I'm not very good at keeping up with this blog.

Oops!

I'm trying though.

Sooo, the past couple weeks have been ridiculously busy.

Between class, working, volunteering, and sleeping, I barely have time to breathe.

My busiest days go like this:

7:30 wake up

8:30 Spanish

10:00 Biopsychology

11:30 Zoe's (a cafe-type place on campus)

12:00 Honors

1:30 daycare

2:30 leave to pick up the kids I watch

6:00 dinner

Then homework, facebook, and sleep.

So you can see why I've been slacking on the blogging!

Anyway, enough excuses.

In other news, I've been hanging out with this really cool author I know lately! Paulina and I have been friends since like, 5th grade, when we met in orchestra. Since we've been at WWU we've gotten pretty close. I hang out in her room all the time and we talk for hours on end.

You may be thinking, "Wait, author? She's just going to skim over that? Like NBD?" (Okay, so maybe not that exactly. But possibly something similar. And NBD =  no big deal).

Answer: NO I AM NOT! Long story short, Paulina has always loved writing. She started what is now her first book awhile ago (it's called Flightless Bird- look it up! Read it!), and after winning a contest, pieced together everything she had been working on and published it before we graduated last June (HUGE accomplishment, we're all so proud. Haha.). Her second book is coming out sometime this month, Broken Wings, and I'm waaaay excited about it! Mostly because I can't forget about it, considering Paulina is constantly talking about how much work there is left to do.

Exciting, right?!

I think so.

Alsoooo, Paulina recently accompanied me to Seaside, OR for a weekend beach trip with my family. It was reeeeeaaally nice to get away for the weekend, and the weather was AMAZING. Plus I love the beach/ocean. And it was fun to spend some time with my family, as always :)

Paulina and I got our own room!

<3 the beach

We're super awesome at jumping pictures!

We spent a couple hours drawing in the sand and being silly :)

"Paulina + Lindsay = bffls trouble!

We're cuuute :)

Ninja shadow picture!

And people ask where I get it from...

My dad was having a Harry Potter moment :P

Day 2!

We found "wands" and had a battle!

Hahaha, I love my dad :)

"Gangster"

"Is this happy enough?!"

We had some fun with my laptop..... :)

"hardcore, like vampires!"

Well, that's what's up lately in my world. 

:)

so MySpace reminded me today that....

I'm NINETEEN.
I'm not sure how that happened.
(And don't ask why I was on MySpace.... haha).
But I know my birthday was full of well-wishes, which put a smile on my face :)

So here goes the birthday blog:

I guilted Niles into finishing the Harry Potter marathon with me because it was my birthday (almost) on Friday night, so he was the first official in-person happy birthday wisher! We even toasted with apple cider, so it was official and whatnot.
Then I went to brunch with Paulina, Theresa and Elizabeth before my family showed up. Once they got here, the fun REALLY began. We played "how many people can we fit in Lindsay's tiny room" and they sang Happy Birthday REALLY loud. Then we went to the mall and saw Beauty and the Beast in 3D :) Mexican food for dinner, delicious cake for dessert (from my daddy). Then I said goodbye to the family and Paulina and Theresa and I got all fancied up for the Fancy Party. It turned out to be pretty lame though, so we went late and left early. Then I got started on the homework I had been trying to forget about all day......
The next morning I had brunch with my family (they got a 'real college experience') and then they headed off. And I finished up homework like a good, responsible kid.

ALSO! I got packages and phone calls from lots of lovely people :) Thank you again to everyone for the birthday wishes!
And for putting up with me for all this time.... yikes.

:)

So this is what I've been up to...

....since my last blog!
 First off, I went to Utah to see my best best best friend Sarah and her amazing family for a very special occasion- Rachel (Sarah's older sister) got MARRIED!

They really couldn't be more perfect for each other, from what I can tell :)

LEGO PEOPLE. On their cake. Super cute!

Centerpieces at the reception. 

Beautiful bride! :)

Sarah and I had lots of fun together. 

We adventured with her family.

So after I was in Utah (it was great to see Sarah and I'm grateful to her family for letting me tag along all week while I was there!), I returned home for New Year's Eve. Miriah came down for the night and things were kept pretty low-key- lots of movies and food that is bad for us! The next morning I left for Auburn and then it was back to Bellingham!

This is my schedule for winter quarter. I just keep getting busier...

I have a nanny job, and while I was there I discovered something interesting...

DINOSAURS LIVE IN MONTANA.

So I have decided to move there one day. :D

I spend my evenings coloring in my psychology coloring book. It's pretty exciting. And educational!

(and yes, this is actually required for the class.... haha)

Some exciting news, if you can handle more excitement...

I submitted my application to Woodring (the education college here) on the 15th. 

I should find out if I'm admitted sometime in the next couple months.

Fingers crossed!

(This is how we had to turn them in, by the way. The office was closed because it was Sunday, so it was like a secret mission or something- get into the building and slide it under the door!)

Also, I had taco night with Paulina and her roommate Ashley over the weekend! They're so nice to me.

I also hung out with my best friend Niles, after a long process of attempts at planning. We tried to have a Harry Potter marathon, but ended up watching half of the second movie (I don't like the snake at the end), the third, skipping the fourth and going to the fifth. Then we realized how hard it was snowing....... 

Which brings me to the most recent news, the ridiculous weather! 

(There is more snow now, this was a couple days ago)

Aaand this is the current weather. 

It's the reason I'm in my room with all my blankets, blogging, instead of out and about!

Sooo, that's basically my life lately! Balancing behavioral neuroscience (not as scary as it sounds), Spanish, honors and the art of listening to music with a job and volunteering at the on-campus daycare keeps me pretty busy. 

Fingers crossed for no class tomorrow! :)