i should be doing homework.

school has been in full swing for a week now, and i'm still trying to find my groove.
i've been keeping up fairly well, but i could definitely be staying on track a little better [i.e. not scrapbooking at night]. the good thing is that i have been finding time to spend in the lab, so hopefully i will keep with that. i took a little break from lab work, and it felt really nice to set up some pcr yesterday. isn't it kind of cool how a little break can make you appreciate the things you have to get done?

anyway. i think i saw this site when it first started, but i didn't pay too much attention because i'm not a card maker. i'm trying to make the transition though. making a few cards with scraps is such a fast and fun way to clean up, and there is so much fabulous inspiration on this blog. check it out if you haven't yet:
sketch this: cards!
[finally, i can make links when i blog from my mac. woo whoo.]

i made a super simple card tonight with the latest sketch, and i really enjoyed the process. :] i don't tend to use sketches for layouts, but for making a quick card... they are perfect.

okay. i have to get up early tomorrow to go to the graduate workshop for macromolecular biophys. i have a feeling it's going to make me *not* want to go to grad school. [yesterday, an old ta of mine told me that i would be a really good grad student. for about 2 minutes it made me wish i had applied for the fall. ha.]

music is a must.

especially on a windy night like tonight.
a little music helps drown out all the crazy noise my house makes during the wind.
[it's supposed to snow a foot tonight. i don't believe it, but there are already a few inches on the ground and it's not even 1 am. so we'll see.]

anyway. just wanted to share a few things.

1. portugal. the man: i can't stop listening. it just never gets old. and the louder the better. super inspiring too. [http://www.myspace.com/portugaltheman] listen to all of them, but my favorites are "my mind" and "shade".

2. jackie greene: my friend liz told me about him. not only does he have fabulous hair, he's super talented as well.
[http://www.myspace.com/jackiegreene] again. all of the songs are excellent. "closer to you" makes me smile big time. such a sweet song. i just might ask him to play at my wedding. ha. [& no. my wedding is not any time in the near future!]

*just open a new browser, copy & paste one of those addresses, let the songs play while you peruse the internet, & i promise you will have a little extra swing in your step when you get up from the computer. :]

3. a little book i made tonight. i'm hoping to fill it with photos and stuff from korea this summer. i have a lot of work to do convincing my dad to let me go still. so i guess i made this out of wishful thinking. :] that is my favorite shape for the ultra shapexpress. i have to admit. it's a tool i never imagined actually using for my own stuff, but i love love love that shape! it's just too perfect for making minis. i made another very similar mini with the hambly clearly heavy overlays for the covers and some of my favorite scenic route papers. it's far from done, but i'll share it when it's a little closer to done. [p.s. sadly, the usx doesn't cut through the hambly clearly heavy overlays. :[ but i still used the shape template to trace the shape and cut it out with my microtip scissors.]

so much for getting ahead on my homework. :/
goodnight. :]

movie update.

tonight, i finally saw 27 dresses! i've been wanting to see it since it came out, but james wasn't too excited to see it. i almost went by myself on friday, but it started snowing pretty hard at my house, so i didn't go. needless to say, i was stoked with liz called me tonight and asked me if i wanted to go. :] it was such a cute movie. and i'm glad that i didn't have to make james go because you know... it's just better to know that the person you are with is enjoying the movie as much as you.

speaking of enjoying movies... i don't think i mentioned that james and i saw sweeney todd the other night. ha. neither of us really enjoyed that one. he said that the last 3 movies we'd seen had be "amy movies" so it was time to mix it up. i decided i could handle it, so off we went. about 15 or 20 minutes into we both kind of looked at each other and started laughing. i said "don't you wish we picked 27 dresses?" he said no, but i think he meant yes. ha. i will say that i loved the part with mrs. lovett's daydream. when they are sitting on the beach, the look on sweeney's face is just perfect. & & i told james that we should be sweeney todd and mrs. lovett for halloween. i think that would be so fun. :]

i still want to see juno again. i've only seen it twice, and that's not ok with me! maybe i will just have to tell everyone that's what i want to do for my birthday. forget going out. dinner and a movie is classic amy.

anyway.

i did a little pre-birthday shopping today. i only found two tops, but i'm happy with them. i decided i will wait until i'm in vegas for some more serious shopping, but i needed a few things to wear while i'm there. ha.

i guess that's about all. work in the morning and another week of school. eek. but i'm really excited for friday. it's crazy how much i enjoy vegas now. but i guess it's more the idea of going *somewhere* than the idea of going to vegas because let's face it... if i had my choice, we'd be going to san francisco for sure. :]

back to school update.

here's my basic rundown...
-i have my thesis and proseminar, which both consist of doing work in my lab, writing my thesis, giving presentations, and letting the freshmen shadow us in the lab. i had these last semester as well... the only hard part is finding the time to spend in lab when i have homework and exams for my other classes.
-my first class on tuesday morning was evolutionary biology. this is a required course for biology majors and they like to talk about how hard it is. i don't really get that though... i guess it's going to be a lot of work [we have to post three discussions a week, and we have a quiz almost every lecture] but as far as i can tell this will be my easiest class. plus, it's pretty interesting stuff. [did you know that the giraffe's neck isn't really long because they need to reach the high leaves? it's more of a mating preference... the ladies apparently find longer necks more attractive, so that trait was selected for over time. i was talking with liz, who is in the class too, and we decided that we concur with the lady giraffes. you know those football players who are so muscular that they don't have a neck? it's just no bueno. ok. i didn't actually learn about the giraffe neck in class, but a discussion after class sparked a little wikipedia search. ha.]
-next was organic spectroscopy. yikes. it's clearly been too long since i've taken organic chem. i don't remember anything. we had homework that was due today, and let me just say... i was using that index in my old organic text like never before. plus i was nearly crying yesterday in the library when i was trying to work on it. :/ [a near mental breakdown on the second day of school, eh?] so it's going to be a lot of work [relearning], but the professor is really cool. he makes class super easy to sit through and interactive so we stay awake. but interactive also = challenging. so the relearning needs to happen asap so i'm not totally embarrassed when i can't draw a structure properly. oh! & & my whole lab is taking the class... even rubi and andrew, our grad students. so that's pretty cool.
-wednesday, i had macromolecular biophysics. and the good news [not] is that i have to take this course as an honors course because i am three credits short for my honors credit requirement. that means i have to do "something extra' beyond what the other undergrads have to do. well for this course, i have to the extra work that grad students do. [is that little star by my name denoting the honors distinction in the graduation program really worth this? i'm not so sure.] it gets better too. previously, the professor [dr. welch. look him up on the unr website if you're bored.] had a weekly journal club for the grad students. so each week they would have certain papers pertaining to the class to discuss and they would have to take turns presenting the papers. i thought i could handle that. but. dr. welch decided to "change things up this year". so instead, we "get" to learn a computer protein modeling program so that we can discuss in more detail the proteins in the course and other "fun stuff". [it was shortly after this news that i went to the library to do the organic spec homework... so this was a likely contributor to the near mental breakdown.] also. class participation is part of the grade. so in the middle of lecture, dr. welch will call on "dr. tanoue" or "dr. kim" or "dr. smith" to answer a question. yes. he randomly chooses someone from the class list. i happen to think that's just plain mean, even if he does offer the flattery of calling us a doctor.

so yeah. as predicted, stress is already high. plus i have two tests the week of valentines day, so i can't go to cha. i was really hoping to be able to make it down at least for sunday, but i just know i shouldn't do it. it's my last semester, and i want to have a strong finish... so i have to put school first. :|

by the way, that's the new student union in the photo. it just opened towards the end of last semester.

for a little excitement, i booked a flight to vegas for the weekend before my birthday today. :] james and i are going along with my parents. my dad is super excited to go to the bellagio superbowl party even though none of his teams are in it this year. he says the food will be amazing... and i'm all for that. ha.



last night, angela and i held another fiskars training session. it was a small group again, but it was a lot of fun and everything went smoothly. angela hasn't learned how to use one of the tools yet, the ultra shapexpress... so i'm always a little nervous when we get to that part because the pressure is all on me. plus, everyone thinks this is an impossible tool for some reason, so they really put the pressure on by paying extra close attention. i kind of feel like they are just waiting for something to go wrong. haha. i'm glad i've practiced with that little guy a lot. :] i really like doing the trainings for that reason. it's fun to show people that a seemingly impossible tool is actually really fun to use.


tonight, james and i went ice skating with carol and her sister, soo. it was supposed to be an alpha zeta event, but everyone chickened out because it was snowing and below freezing. we had so much fun though. i was the only one who had ice skated before. but james didn't have any problems... he's already better than i am. go figure. soo caught on really fast too, and she was doing so well by the end. carol was a little more afraid. she had never been roller blading or roller skating like the rest of us, so it was kind of hard to explain to her how to do it. james grabbed onto her and pulled her into the middle and said we should leave her there to learn. typical guy, right? [if you look in the photo of the two of us, you can see that his foot was moving as it was taken. hmm. that couldn't be because he was kicking my foot to make me loose my balance could it? ha. i guess i can't blame him... he had to have a little fun since he was surrounded by girls.] but i managed to get her comfortably away from the wall before we left. :] and no one fell, so that was a good thing.

ok. this post is *way* longer than i planned to make it. i can't believe tomorrow is friday! i am so excited for the weekend. i want to catch up on my birthday countdown album. plus i'm excited to scrap some of the ice skating photos. i hope you all have a fabulous friday. :]

back to school.

today was my last day of winter vacation. ever.
eek.
so what did i do to celebrate my last day of break?
nothing.
nada.
zero.
i left the house to take the garbage from the garage to the street for pickup tomorrow morning.
and then i made a snowman.
but as you can probably tell... i couldn't find my gloves, so i found the first thing i saw that would work [a chapstick tube] and traced one into the snow. ha.
i forgot to give him arms, but i think he's still pretty cute.
maybe tomorrow i will try to convince james that we should make a real snowman. it's been a long time since i've made one.

so. woo whoo. i really lived it up today.
ha.
it's ok though. i guess this is just want i needed to do. and plus, since it's been snowing all day [sometimes to the point of a whiteout] it was probably better to just stay home and relax. oh. and i was able to catch up on laundry. [3 loads. yay.]

i'm still not up to my usual level of back to school excitement. i'm trying, but it's not really coming.
i read over the syllabus for my evolution class last night, and i instantly thought that maybe i should take the stem cell class instead. the stem cell class is way easier, but not nearly as interesting to me.
so yeah.
i couldn't sleep last at all night because i was in a total panic about school. it seems like i didn't even have a break and once classes are going again, i am just going to be back at the same stress level i was at during finals last semester... like the stress is just going to pick up where it left off instead of starting from zero.

in other more fun news, i finished a layout that i started at the crop the other night. it's pretty simple, but i think i'm happy with it. it might need another embellishment or two. i can't decide. and i'm trying to finish up the little mini i started at the crop too. it's nearly finished, just needs two more photos and some journaling. :]
oh and i'm still working on the birthday countdown album. it's been fun. i'm a little behind, but not too bad. i'll try to post some photos if i get home early enough to have good light tomorrow.

ok. well i'm off to shower and try to get a better nights sleep than i did last night.

decisions. decisions.

i just decided that i am going to dismantle the second layout below and make a mini book with the photo as the cover. i'm certain it will make me much more happy than that layout does. & & that way i don't have to re-print that photo or buy those stickers again. :]

also. i went craft table hunting today.
no luck.
grr.
the thing is... i know what i'm looking for and nothing that i find locally is meeting the expectation. i'm sad our pier 1 is closed because i would probably just go with that one. [a la gigi kennedy.] there is also a pretty fabulous looking option at pottery barn [the bedford project table], but like i said... i don't want to spend a fortune. then there the target-version of the fabulous looking pottery barn option [the adams craft table], but we don't have it at our target, so i can't see what i looks like or evaluate the quality.
i checked dania = nothing.
i checked the office supply store = nothing.
so. there is a pier 1 in carson. i might have to see if they have what i am looking for and just make the drive. i'm sure james will want to go out there to see his parents sometime soon. :]

ok. i'm going to try to finish a layout and work on my birthday countdown book until i get tired. i hope everyone is having a wonderful long weekend.

p.s. tonight i told james he should do something romantic. he started laughing and asked me what to do. and i said he should sing to me. in my mind, i was secretly hoping he would start singing the chorus to "amie" by the pure prairie league. but. no. he busts out rev run style singing "oh baby yoooou you got what i need..." ha. nice. [you can check out a little sample in this video. http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1578902&vid=201750 it's about a minute into the first clip.]

oldies.

i finally got the internet working on the computer with the scanner. :]



here are a couple older layouts.

the christmas one is the layout i showed on fiskarstv when i was in texas.
i put it together quickly the night before i left. i have to say... i don't love it. but i guess i don't really hate it either, so i decided to post it. you can't love every layout, can you?
the other one is really old. i may have posted it a while back, but i looked and didn't see it. so here it is.
i made it back in march. super simple layout, but i love that photo.

tonight, i went to the store and scrapbooked for a bit. i didn't bring too much with me, and i made a goal not to buy anything... so now i just need to put some embellishments and things on the two projects i started while i was there. it was kind of nice. i don't like scrapbooking away from home all that much because i don't like trying to take everything with me. but every once in a while it can be nice. :]

i can't believe school starts on tuesday. eek. i bought my books today. usually i buy them as soon as they go on sale, but not this time. i guess it's another sign that i am just not ready to go back.

ok. back to tennis now. the australian open is really taking some weird turns this year. :]

have i mentioned this.

i am so excited for the sex and the city movie to come out. i feel like i've blogged about it, no?

anyway. today i was thinking i need to start watching the series again so i can be done with it in time for the movie. you know. a good little build up. and now. one of my favorite episodes is on tv. a definite sign that i need to get out the dvds now.

in other news that i don't know if i've blogged about... my mom has decided to make the front living room my scrapbook room. it's supposed to be a formal living room, but since we moved into this house, it's been the catch-all for random furniture [mostly antique pieces that my dad has collected and doesn't want to get rid of, but don't really have a suitable place in our house.] then when i moved out of my apartment i added to the mix with a bunch of boxes and bags [yes. i packed the majority of my stuff into good old paper shopping bags because that's what i had on hand. loved those handles for carrying stuff down the stairs.] the room also housed deepa's furniture and belongings for a summer while she was in vegas. so yeah. currently, the room is totally nonfunctional. and my scrapbook stuff has spilled all over the house [i know i've at least mentioned that part.] so i'm on the hunt for some cool furniture to make a scrapbook space.

here's a silly little sketch i made tonight in powerpoint. nothing is to scale, but it's a general idea for the layout. i need to find a nice work table, and shelves of some type at the very minimum. i would also like to have a little couch in there and some armoire-type cabinets. i don't know exactly what they are called, but just shelves with a door on the front. and a cute rug of course. :] i've checked out pottery barn, but i don't want to spend tons of money to get this done. i like the expedit shelves from ikea, but i don't know when i'll have the chance to make a trip to ikea and the cost of shipping is ridiculous. plus, i want to get this done asap. so. yeah. tomorrow i might try dania to see what they have. anyone have any other suggestions?