This will make you smile.

I regret to inform my loyal readers that I don't really have anything new and exciting to report this week. Here's what my schedule looks like:
Work/Internship, Class, Workout (if I feel up to it), Read/Homework, Sleep, Repeat
Pretty boring, huh?

I do, however, feel compelled to share my new tv obsession with y'all. I came home last night to find my husband watching a show on Fox called "Glee". After giving him a hard time for a few minutes about watching a musical-comedy tv show, I found myself getting drawn in. And by the time the episode ended, I was howling with laughter (much like my mother is known to do).

Please, I'm begging you, watch this clip!!! You will not regret it. There are few things funnier in this world than the sight of a high school football team performing a choreographed dance routine to Beyonce's "Single Ladies". You'll have to FF to about 2:30 to get to the dance routine. If you watch the beginning without having watched the whole episode, it probably won't make much sense.



That's all for now.

A Castle Fit for a King & A Dream Fulfilled

Usually I would try to come up with some witty lead-in. But as I wipe the sleep from my eyes, I realize that I am just.too.tired. Please prepare yourselves for the randomness that is this blog post. Ordinarily, I would have the time to post about all of these things separately, but since my time is not my own anymore, I'm going to jumble them all into one post. Bear with me, folks.

First things first, I thought my parents might appreciate a picture of my first day of grad school.

With the first two weeks of school under my belt, I'm feeling pretty good.

We decided to head south for Labor Day Weekend. I still spent a good chunk of the weekend getting my reading done for school, but we were able to take one day to visit the Hearst Castle in San Simeon. Just to give you a brief history, during their heyday in the early 1900's, the Hearst family owned approximately one fifth of all newspapers in the United States, plus 8 radio stations, movie studios, and a magazine publishing company (which the family still owns and includes such magazines as Good Housekeeping, Town & Country, and Cosmopolitan). William Randolph Hearst inherited over 250,000 acres of land when his mother passed away, and he decided to build a 60,000+ square foot castle into the mountainside. Ever seen the movie Citizen Kane? That movie is said to portray Hearst's eccentric personality. Anyway, when he passed away in 1951, the family donated the property to the state of California. Actually, they still own the property itself, but they allow the state to use the castle as a historical monument. (Only in California can your house turn into a historical monument simply because of the fact that you inherited a large fortune that was built primarily by your predecessors. But I digress.) This place is truly something to see!

Although this looks like a church, this is actually the front entrance of the house.

Here is the view of the ocean from the house. My lens was dirty, so pardon the smudge.

Here is the dining room. Interesting story behind this: Hearst sat in the very center, with new guests sitting next to and across from him. When Hearst would extend invitations for weekend visits, guests were expected to move one chair further away each time they came. When they reached the end of the table, they had overstayed their welcome and were not invited back.

The Roman Bath House. A portion of these tiles (the yellow ones) were actually made of 24-karat gold, and this entire room is covered in tile from the bottom of the pool, to the walls, to the ceiling.

Here we are by the outdoor pool. This was my favorite part! It's hard to capture the beauty of this pool with a camera.

Ok, onto other things. Last night we attended a concert that I have been looking forward to for months! One of my favorite bands since middle school broke up a few years back and then decided to get back together and do a reunion tour. I know most of you who read this are not huge punk fans, so I'll keep it short. We got to see Taking Back Sunday, Weezer, and, ::drumroll please:: Blink-182!!! The concert lived up to all my expectations. Here's a pic of Pat & I on the lawn. (I just realized that Pat is wearing the same shirt in the Hearst Castle pics as he is in the concert picture below. He does own other shirts, I swear. He just happens to really like that one.)

Alright, I think that's it for updates. It's hard to believe that we've crammed so much into the last few weeks.

To quote one of my favorite songs, "I'm alive and well," and life is very good right now. Peace out.

Ho-ly Crap.

Well I can officially say that the duties and responsibilities of my new life as a worker/grad student/intern hit me smack dab in the face this week. Hard. Like a knock-the-wind-out-of-you and then blow-your-socks-off hard.

Each of my classes require at least 3 hours of reading each week. Multiply that by 4 classes, and that's 12 hours of reading!!!!! In fact, in the last 24 hours alone, I have read a whole book, start to finish. (It's called The Working Poor by David K. Shipler, and it's a must-read for every American who desires to more fully understand the way that the economy affects the lowest wage earners in this country.)

Although this feeling of being overwhelmed and anxiety-ridden is sure to stick around for the next two years, I truly feel blessed to be involved in such an esteemed, competitive program.

And now, dear friends and family, I must log off so that I may attend to the 300+ pages of reading that has staged a hostile takeover of my so-called "holiday weekend".

I'm a Big Girl Now

Tuition fees, paid.
Parking permit, bought.
Textbooks, purchased.
School supplies, check.

And in regards to my internship, I officially have my own caseload. Scary.

Holy cow, this is really happening!!!

T minus 2 days until my first class and my official entrance into graduate school.

::Randi grabs paper bag. Breathe in, breathe out. Repeat.::

Blogging About Politics. And my Favorite Things.

Before you get the wrong impression of this post because of its title, please know that blogging about politics is NOT one of my favorite things. I've never been the type of person who has strong political affiliations. Don't get me wrong, I do have opinions about certain issues (and candidates, for that matter), but the point of this blog is not for me to preach about my own opinions.

So I vowed to myself, for the sake of my readers, that I would never post anything political on my blog. And I intend to keep that promise. But you all should know that I am having a very hard time doing so because of one particular issue that I feel strongly about involving health care reform. Those of you who know me well know how I feel this way, and why I feel this way, because of the state that I live in and the exposure that I've had to underprivileged populations, along with my own experience with health care costs and dealings with a greedy insurance company who can't seem to ever make an error in my favor.

So with that, I will change the subject. Keeping with your suggestions (thank you to all who commented on my last post), here is my current list of my Favorite Things, with some pictures included:

• The Nest Great website for finding recipes, getting decorating ideas, and overall just being a newlywed.
• half.com This website has awesome deals on textbooks!!!
• I've been swooning over this entertainment stand for about a year now. One of these days we might actually buy it.

• My new laptop!!!!! It's a Dell Studio 14 and I ♥ it!!! I bought it in red for school.

• This Moroccan Oil Hydrating Mask. It smells sooooo good, and it works on any hair type!

• These books, which are a few of my summer reads:

Beautiful Boy by David Sheff

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Hope's Boy by Andrew Bridge

Okay, I think that is all for now. Keep those comments comin'!

Hello Out There!!!!!!

Is anybody there???

I swear that I can hear the echo of my own voice in this place.

Is it because my posts have been dreadfully boring???? I sure hope not. But if that is the case, I welcome feedback and helpful criticism on topics that may be, more, well, interesting & entertaining.

When no one leaves comments on my posts, that leads me to believe that no one is even reading the blog anymore.

::insert whiney temper tantrum here::

Here's an idea, if you read my posts and like or dislike the content, leave me a comment! Please, I beg of you!!!!!

That is all.

My Dearest Mother

Today, August 11th, celebrates the anniversary of the day my mother was brought into the world. This year is a particularly important birthday for her (although I won't mention specifics), so I thought it fitting to mark this momentous occasion with a post dedicated to my amazing mother, who's always been my role model for what a great wife and mom looks like. (She's also one hell of a strong woman!!!)

Allow me to clear my throat.

:: ahem ::

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Mah-ahm, Happy Birthday to you!!!!!"

I love you Mom!!!!!