Whoa thereee!

I have been SO busy. I have been living and breathing Wentworth, ah! I have been working 12 hour days for orientation, then classes started, then my financial aid went crazy. I just have been settling one thing after another and have been so overwhelmed.

I'm starting to get a grasp of my new schedule. I've been getting into a good routine too!

This weekend I get to craft. YES! I can't decide what I want to do. Scrapbook, sew, play with mod podge... I could barely make up my mind. I'm just so happy to have time to myself to make things and just unwind and do me.

So for an update.....

• My Co-Op ended, now I'm back in classes! I'm taking 6 classes which is 23 credits. I'm a crazy woman
• This month is me and Benjamin's ONE YEAR!!! yay!!
• I saw my sister and Dan since they've come back from Hawaii
• She showed me how to make wire wrap jewelry
• I've done a lot of thrifting
• Ben and I bought a vacuum cleaner (seriously it sounds lame but I feel like we're officially married now. we bought a vacuum cleaner together!)
• Jack, our old roommate, is officially moved out and Alex, our new roommate, is all moved in!
• I came up with lots and lots of ideas.........

I'm so glad to get back into the blog game. I feel like its my year! I feel like I'm gonna do great in classes, plan a great Alternative Spring Break trip, and make lots of things and even make a few garments I can wear. I get to start Project Life!!!!!!!!!!!! (I was going to start it a couple weeks ago, actually, but all the kits are backed up in stocking and plus, I love the new Heather Bailey designed Olive Edition and will be getting this core kit when it's finally out :)

Ben thinks that the PL thing is silly. He understands the idea but is just like "why.." Honestly.. I love the idea of scrapbooking. I love decorating photos and having them as a keepsake but the typical layout with one or two pictures with inspiring words around them just isn't me. My scrapbook pages are so much more boxy and geometric I guess. I like having a lot of photos on one page with stickers to accent and emphasize.. Not the whole thing to revolve around the stickers and just stuff on and around the pictures. I feel that PL keeps the main idea of scrapbooking there and keeps the simplicity of just a life in photos. I want to just take pictures, print them out, and slide them in their place. For me, I almost see it as a journal with lots and lots of pictures. I'm excited to think of things to fill it week to week. I'm excited for the weeks that just fill themselves. I'm excited to pick one or two things to revisit every week to see its change and progression (like a picture of Ben and I week, or our favorite munchies of the week) I want to capture this journey of Ben and I in our college life with no real obligations and just the beginning of our relationship. This month is a year we've been together and when I look back on the year... we have no freaking pictures or anything! There are a couple.. from Thanksgiving... and then a handful of just pictures of us. Literally like 5. A year together and all I can show for it is 5 pictures?! Not this year! This summer we did a couple awesome things and got great pictures (trips to the farm, our fishing trip on the Cape) but those big trips don't make our relationship fun. The every day does. I'm excited for this and I hope that Ben starts to love it when he sees the pages come together.

Taking advantage of this fresh start :)

a little update

Wow it's been a week since I've posted!

I think that's the longest it's been. I've been super busy and wrapped up in a bunch of things, I just haven't had the time.

Last week at work was busy and went fast. I do most of my blogging during my free time at work so that's mostly why it suffered.

I've also been such a baby about the heat and not much. I did some scrapbooking though! I did a two page spread for my mom's book and did one page for me and Ben's. I also bought this date Smash Stamp from K&Company at Blick this weekend and some Mod Podge gloss from Blick art stores.

I also bought this Canon photo printer on Amazon! I figured it'd be a good investment. It's wireless, I could download an App to sync and print pictures from my iPhone. Ben has a really good camera and we could finally print photos from it. It got good reviews and it was pretty cheap! And I got free shipping on it. I think it's worth it. Plus, if I really want to scrapbook and document and Project Life, a photo printer was necessary.

Ben and I have been going out to eat a lot lately! We went to Fire and Ice with some friends Thursday night.

Hahaha FAIL.

Fire and Ice with Chris, Mike, and Ben

My food before it was cooked

On the grill!

Ben and I went to the Franklin Park Zoo on Saturday

Ben entering the butterfly house!

The butterflies they had

Waiting to be beauuutiful butterflies

Tree kangaroo!

and we spent the day in his hometown yesterday!

Adam and the horses

Feeding the horse!!

Flowers I got from the farm :)

I had a really great weekend. Especially spending so much time outside.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!

I was a bad girl :(
I didn't do either of my two plans last night... BUT! For a good reason!!!

So I live with my boyfriend and our friend Jack in an apartment. The least ends August 31st, and we're going to have to resign soon for the next year. Except, Jack told us he's moving back home! So the roommate search has been on. One of Ben's friend's from home, Alex, is looking to move to Boston and has been applying to jobs here and we offered him the open spot in our apartment. So yesterday, he had a job interview in the city, and he called us when we were done with class/work and asked if he could come over and see the apartment and hang out for a little bit. As much as I wanted to clean and do my project.... we need a roommate too. We hung out just talking about the area and this and that, and then Ben had this idea to take Alex and I to the Arboretum at Harvard's canvas to do some butterfly catching. The first time Ben went butterfly catching in his hometown, Alex went with him. The second time Ben went butterfly catching was at the Arboretum with his friend Rob. I didn't get to go to either of the outings, so Ben wanted to bring us both there since we haven't been. How could I not go?! It was a beautiful day out and I couldn't stand the thought of them hanging out outside, especially in the Arboretum and not just around Boston, while I was sitting inside!! Ben's friend Rob also came with us cause he couldn't deny the Arboretum either! Then when we got back we were starving! We dropped off Rob and then Ben, Alex, and I got pizza and then went for ice cream. My old friend was working at the ice cream shop and ended up giving us three free ice cream. That was a sign I was right to go.. right?!? Plus I did so much walking and exercising and climbing!!

I have photos at least :)

Today after work FOR REAL I'm doing work. Making up for lost time. I actually had a guilty conscience the entire time I was there.. but I almost never go out and do things like that. Life happens. How crazy would I sound if I said I couldn't go because I couldn't cheat on my schedule? :P

1. Alex and Rob scoping out the butterflies

2. Blonde hair and Toms!

3. Mmmm. What a treat it is to see trees instead of buildings

4. Flowers :)

5. Rob and Alex both caught these GIANT wasps!

6. Putting it in the jar...

7. SO BIG!

8. Safely in the jar!

9. I was hoping a little coon would stick his head out of here

10. Ben stalking his prey

11. Alex and Rob on the hunt

12. Pretty rocks

13. Pretty bridge and the boys

It was for the sake of potential roommate bonding :)

As much as I wanted to be productive this weekend...

I wasn't. Sigh.
It was more of a

• sleep
• relax
• be with friends
• prepare
• and clean

sort of weekend.

Friday - I worked while Ben went out catching butterflies with his friends. Luckily, I was able to leave at lunch time! So while Ben was out and I was home alone, I cleaned the bathroom, hallway, and tidied up the kitchen. I then rewarded myself with a much needed nap! I woke up around the time Ben came home. Then our friends came to visit! We all went out to the Cheesecake Factory. No one ever cares about the bill and we all just order whatever sounds good and share. It's the best time. We always plan on dessert after but everyone is always beyond stuffed. We got home pretty late and I crashed.

Saturday - Ben had lots of homework! He was in the last stretch of finishing up his portfolio (Ben studies Industrial Design at Wentworth. Last semester he had a Co-Op at Puma! He's so good, I'm so proud of him) but since no quality print places were open, so it was okay if he finished his work on Sunday, Ben and I hung out. We filled the day with Dexter, darts, and relaxing. I did a little shopping! I went to Utrecht Art Store to get some supplies. They had a big summer sale going on, and I really wanted to start making my own wall art and experimenting and getting crafty. I bought Utrecht's version of Mod Podge, a couple of different sized canvases on sale, and a brush! I started my first project that day, but got side tracked...That night we saw Savages. It was pretty good! We got home pretty late that night too and, of course, I passed out right after.

Sunday - Ben's Dad, Bruno, came to visit for lunch. We went to my favorite place to eat, Victoria's Diner. They seriously have the best breakfast, EVER! And, I have a big love for diners since New Jersey is filled with them and they were a common meeting place for my friends and I back in the day. Ben worked on his portfolio while I relaxed. I really wanted to clean my room and rearrange our pantry (that sounds so sad but seriously it's a mess and there are just boxes of food all over the shelves, in no order whatsoever... and it drives me crazy!) and sew and do one of my canvas projects, but I really have just felt so spent lately I just needed the weekend to relax. I thought about what I wanted to do with the canvases, though!!! That's good enough.. right????

So now, I left myself with a ton of things to do for this week. I feel overwhelmed, but as Ben as told me, "don't stress! these are personal projects, you're doing them for you. Take your time and do it how you want it and when you want it. Stop rushing and trying to get all of these things done." It was good advice. Obvious... but what I actually needed to hear. Ben has been slaving away on his portfolio, and he just kept telling me how he was jealous he couldn't work on any of his personal things because he he had so much work that he needed to do. That made me realize I'm very lucky to have an open as a schedule I have (despite my 38 hour work week). He was right! It made me take a breath and kind of put my projects into a different perspective.

My room is a mess, and each corner is evidence of a different project. Today I NEED to clean my room and organize all my little to-dos.. Then I need to finish all my half done projects. I don't have the space to work on multiple things at once and need to concentration on ONE until I'M DONE.

new motto? one until I'm done?
Hmm....

Cape Cod

Yesterday, Sunday, I spent the day in Cape Cod with my boyfriend and two of our other couple friends. Our friend Marie lives in Orleans, and her dad has a Charter boat. He took us out on the ocean and we went fishing for striper. I caught the biggest one!! All by myself!! It was 31 inches. I was so happy. After, we pulled up Marie's Dad's lobster pots and got 16 lobsters! After this, we took the boat to an island only accessible to people who have their own boats and grilled on the beach and walk around and explored.

I have some pictures from the trip, but Ben has the best ones from his camera. Whenever he gets those to me I'll update the post and add them, but for now, here are some of my pictures from our trip :)

My Benjamin

Brian fishing

Tony's fish

The line covered in baby clams

This is a pregnant lobster. Ew.

Sand dollar that got caught in the trap :)

Before the cooler was full

Found this lil baby crab on the beach :) It's dead though :(

Seriously had the best time yesterday. Can't wait till I get Ben's picture and I could post pictures of my holding my fish!!!!