Last day and 2 weeks away!

Today is the last day of a 10 week internship I've held this summer. It has been quite an experience. This is my sixth internship, but the first time that I've ever worked full time in the journalism world. Normally I work 2 or 3 days and spend most afternoons with Kids Express. It's not been what I expected. It's not difficult, but it's not what I thought it would be. And more than that, I've found that I really miss seeing my kids every day. I love being in the classroom and I feel a lot more comfortable there than in the newsroom. Who knows where I'll end up, but I'm considering getting my Master's in Education so I can teach instead. Only time will tell...
The other big news (well it's much bigger really): Our wedding is only 14 days away!
It hardly feels real; we've been waiting for this to come for so long that it seems like a mean joke and we'll be forced to wait another four months. But it's actually here!
So many exciting things are happening: next week we take our pictures, I'm getting my dress tailored (I sure haven't worn that thing enough and I'm eager to put it back on!), we're signing the lease on our apartment, family is coming into town... Gosh we just can't wait!

Cute doggies

Tonight, Austin and I were shopping for bedding at Ross (we scored btw) when Austin thought to go check for a small bed for one of his dogs.

The Baxters have 2 dogs, a Yorkie named Sailor and a King Charles Spaniel named Story (she's still a puppy ).

Sailor, on the other hand, is getting up there in years and has bad arthritis. She's also much heavier than a Yorkie should be. Most Yorkies weigh in at 8 pounds. Sailor weighs 21.

Like any girl should, Sailor loves to be cozy and normally cuddles up in a corner to sleep.

But look at her now...

Story was very curious

Here are both the girls

Wedding update: 25 days left :)

Less than a month!

As of today, there are 28 days left until the wedding! We are, obviously, so excited.

Life is just moving along. I only have two weeks left of my internship and then I get two weeks off before the wedding! Thank goodness

I'm living back at home right now. I have a month in limbo between one lease ending and our new one beginning. I could have stayed at the place in Tempe, which would have been great to be close to work, Austin and my great roommates, but dealing with the landlord has been such a nightmare. I was happy to leave all the drama that came with her. If you hear of someone moving into a house owned by Kathryn Jones, tell them to run FAR AWAY. I promise it will save you so much headache.

But life is good. I am sharing a room with Janie for the last time, and taking up all the space that she has gotten used to in the past 7 months! And she lets me steal clothes from her closet. I have a pretty sweet gig :)

Also, Austin has finally realized that reading is a good thing and bookstores are not all bad :) I can't tell you how excited it makes me! My family has gotten really excited with the release of the last Harry Potter movie trailer and Harry Potter fever has spread to Austin. He's actually reading the books!

We went to my 2 favorite stores, Bookmans and Half-Price Books, last night and believe it or not, Austin bought more books than I did! I am blown away and quite pleasantly surprised :) I'll make a bibliophile out of him yet!

Last night I also found the funniest gift card at Half-Price. Please tell me someone else gets it... Austin sort of chuckled and my parents didn't get it. Oh well, somebody must

All things green

so this week, the Reynolds Center for Businenss Journalism is hosting a "covering the green economy" seminar. as a lucky intern, I will be covering most of the classes and events.

It should be interesting. I'm not opposed to being green, in fact I think to some extent it's very wise, saving energy=saving money, and I use re-usable grocery bags and water bottles and all that jazz. But I'm not buying into everything... we'll see how this week goes.

Threes

They say good things come in threes. Well, whoever "they" are, I think they're right!

First, I found out on Monday that the Goo Goo Dolls (my favorite band) are coming to Phoenix in August! I have missed them the past 3 times that they were here. But I bought tickets on Wednesday and Austin and I are going! I'm way excited. (just maybe not to see the funky hair)

Second, we have an apartment! We found out yesterday that we were accepted. It's a little place, one bed one bath, in a complex called Rancho Murrieta in Tempe. (Rural and Broadway) But it has a lot of closet space, a decent sized kitchen and an in-unit washer and dryer. It even has a little patio :)

I am not the greatest at using photobooth but here is a backwards shot of our apartment. It's cozy, but best of all it's OURS!!!

And third, the best news of all... Today is 7 weeks until the wedding! 49 days! We have been counting down and it feels soo good to get under 50 :) I can't wait!

Officially a slacker

Admittedly, blogging has not been high on my priority list since I started this new job.

I am interning full time 3 days a week at the Phoenix Business Journal and 2 days a week at the Reynolds Center for Business Journalism, a national center housed at ASU's downtown Cronkite school.

My time has been rationed in a completely different way. I'm doing the 9 to 5 thing everyday, but it turns into the 8 to 6 thing with travel time. But, although it's not quite what I thought it would be, it's not bad. I'm getting a lot out of it and I'm building good contacts who will hopefully help me get a job in a year.

On the wedding planning front, things are going well! We are working on collecting all our addresses right now. And I'm designing the invitation. It's almost finished.

Taking the pictures for the announcement was tons of fun! Here are some of my favorite shots:

Calling all Potter Heads

I'm a proud Harry Potter fan. I've read all the books and really like them. Seen the movies, most of them at midnight opening day.

But, I thought this was a little much....

So school is nearly done for the summer! I have two more finals next Monday and Tuesday.

Outside of work and school, Austin and I went to two of his brother Cole's concerts this week. Cole is a pretty amazing musician. He sings in the top choirs at Marcos de Niza; they actually got an invite to perform in Carnegie Hall this year!

Tuesday's concert was the most advanced choir. It was great; very talented people! Thursday's was the "pops" concert (popular music) and three different choirs performed songs from that show GLEE and Michael Jackson. Pretty entertaining :)

And tonight we are going to First Fridays and I am so excited! I haven't been in months.

What an art filled week!