Out with the old.

I would like to note that tomorrow is the last day of January. We're already one month into 2010. Before we know it, it'll be the holidays again. Sheesh. How in the world does time fly by so fast?!

So a couple of entries ago, I mentioned that I was starting a new job in a couple of weeks. Well...trim that couple by one week. This past Monday, I started in the Honors College, and I've loved every freaking moment of it. I feel like I have my life back. I'm not worried about anything anymore. My travel schedule is down to zero. Don't get me wrong...I loved being a recruiter. It was so great to work with the students and parents. But being an academic counselor has been one of the things I've always wanted to do, and I really like where I am. My office is freaking sweet, too. :)

My last day at work ended up being on the same day as another co-worker's last day, and one of our tour guides made this freaking sweet cake so we could all wish us well on our new adventures elsewhere. The party was a blast:

Here's the cake. Three tiers...almost looks like a wedding cake. Bottom layer was white cake; middle was chocolate; top was strawberry. ALL delicious.

Shelby and I cutting into the cakes.

So I guess the party was also supposed to be a dance party, and one of our tour guides made himself a tailfeather. :P

I'm definitely going to miss our tour guides and everyone I worked with...but the great thing about still being on campus is that I still see them all the time. I saw them last week, matter of fact. Twice. :)

My first week there was cut short thanks to another storm that moved in. I'm so thrilled the weatherman was actually wrong about how bad it would hit Stillwater...my parents got hit pretty bad [didn't lose power for too long though, thank goodness], but we were totally safe here. I actually overprepared for once, and JJ and I weathered the storm just fine. I'm hoping we can get out of here tomorrow though, because we've been stuck inside since Thursday afternoon and are going a little stir crazy. There's only so many ways you can entertain a nearly 14-month-old active baby boy before you HAVE to get out. I wasn't brave enough to try the roads today, but I think we'll be OK tomorrow.

So, I'm really starting to get into this whole Vegas trip thing. I've booked dinners, am trying to figure out what kind of spa treatment I want, and I'm just throwing myself into this. I'm hoping that pre-planning will help us make the most of this trip and guarantee that we won't get bored. I also want to learn poker, so I'm trying to find casinos that have free poker lessons and working that into our schedule. I found TripIt.com, which is helping me plan our days out. Love.It.

I'm getting better at this whole cooking thing. Now that JJ can eat table food, I'm forcing myself to cook more and am more willing to experiment with things. I'm not that great at dinner planning yet, but I'm getting there. With February just around the corner, I've got to plan my meals out, figure out which recipes I want to try and stick with them. The main goal is to make meals that I can put together fast - JJ usually eats by 6:30, which leaves me less than an hour from the time we get home to have dinner ready. It's creating a unique challenge, but we're getting better at it.

Time for bed. Back to the list later.

Oh. Ending note. I FINALLY legally changed my last name. Only took nine months, but I did it. I finally feel married. Legally.