Update: Chris Ritter

So went to Maui for Christmas/New Years. My Christmas was fabulous. Michael bought me an awesome watch that I have been eyeing for the past year or so. Its at a retail establishment that is only found in Hawaii, and New York, so unique... Its more of an international brand. ANYWAYS... Love it and was Shocked I got it. I also got a cook book "how to boil water"... Mike's cute way of telling me I need to learn to cook, so far I like the recipes, easy and practical. And then, after the watch and the cook book, he surprised me with a trip to Oahu! We flew over the next day and stayed at Waikiki beach for 2 nights. Little out of character for him to Plan AND Surprise. I'll take it!

My New Years was pretty lame. Mike was working so I just stayed at his place that night and watched movies... Lame. But I think New Years is over rated anyways.

School started for me once I got back. I like all my classes so far, just want to get out of here! Im also trying to get back into dancing a bit. Found a Studio in Portland, actually Ashley led me to it in some way. Vega Dance Lab. It took me a whole month to get the courage to take a class but I took my first class there last week and loved it and hope to make it a regular thing.

Michael is coming to visit in a couple weeks. Going Ice Fishing (yawn) with his family in Idaho, then coming back to Portland to spend a few days with me.

I realized I needed some glasses for school/work. After studying the pixels on the screen for over 4 hours at a time, it was time to get some. I got two pairs. Tell me which ones you like.

Portland? OR White?

I got one free, so I thought it would be fun to go with a really Ugly, super trendy, hipster, Portland black pair.... so keep that in mind :) I looked ALL OVER PORTLAND (and Oly) for a pair of white frames and found them last week. Tell me what you think.

Hope all is well. Keep in touch!

Chris

Images of Christmas break

Hi loves,

Hope 2010 is off to a great start and that you are all happy and well. I wanted to share a few pictures of a little trip David and I took over Christmas to Westport/Grayland/Seabrook/Pacific Beach on the WA coast. (I've had this as a draft for weeks...couldn't get the pictures to look right but decided not to worry!) Kimmie, I see you have one in draft form too - don't worry, I didn't peek :)

We visited Seabrook, a little planned community with some sweet Nantucket style architecture. Hoping to go next winter with the fam. Took our lovely car for its first experience on the beach at Grayland. And enjoyed a quick walk on the beach - it was cold! The top picture is from a ferry ride during my week off after Christmas.

Things have gotten really busy at work, which is good. I wish I had enjoyed the lull a little more though.

Keep on sending those updates!

New Years Blog

Hey ladies,
Can anyone believe that it's 2010!!! Holy shit!

So anyway, I'm back at it here in Omaha, enjoying (yeah right) the weather. It was -18 degrees when I woke up yesterday to go to school. I started a couple of new classes that seem ok for now and I'm looking forward to spring and summer breaks already.

Winter break was a ton of fun and I really Really REALLY didn't want to come back. Finals back in December were super tough, but I got through them and passed my classes (woo hoo, 1/8 doctor!). I went home to CA for a week, Mitchell met me there and we did Christmas with all my family and even escaped to Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay Aquarium for a couple of days. It was great to see my folks and my sibs, but I felt a bit guilty for not spending more time with them. Some fun news, my brother proposed to his girlfriend on Christmas day so they are now engaged. He called me just a few days ago to make sure that I could come back to CA in May for their wedding... ALREADY! I was shocked, happy and of course willing to make the trip despite the fact that finals will be the next couple of weeks after that.

On the 27th, Mitchell and I flew up to Seattle. We had such a blast visiting with his folks and just enjoying each other's company... it had been so long since I had felt close to him... long distance took it's toll on us last semester for sure. We spent new years with his married friends, which was surprisingly great. Despite the soberness, it was a fun party and I woke up on January 1st without feeling like shit, which is a first in a long time! He and I had a great couple of weeks and it was so hard to say good-bye. I admittedly guilted him into coming to Omaha in two weeks, so I don't have to wait long to see him... it was a super bad girlfriend thing to do, but I didn't want 6 weeks to go by before seeing him.

I'm planning planning planning for my trip to SE Asia in May. I'll be gone for 6 weeks total, 4 of those on a medical mission with fellow students and the last two with Mitchell traveling through Thailand and Cambodia. I'm so stoked but right now just really stressed out about pulling the trip off! It's all on my shoulders to plan and that's a bit stressful. I just need to get my groups plane tickets purchased and I will feel much better I think.

Ok, that's all for me. I hope you guys had a fun holiday season, I certainly missed spending time with you. I'll be in the NW in March for a week (and over my b-day weekend!!!) and then back again for the whole month of July. Let's have a reunion!

Updates from each of you requested. I want to hear some good New Years stories!

LOVE,
Em

I need to vent!!

I'm so damn mad at my school right now, it's fucking bullshit because being in graduate school they know they have all this damn power over you and there's nothing you can fucking do.

So, let me start in the middle. Brent didn't get any NWT spots, he is stuck in southern Cali next year. The first totally fucked up thing is that they didn't even release the spots in Corvallis that should have been given to the SoCal kids to choose from (there were 6 that should have been made available). So, there were only 2 actually decent spots in Tacoma and Salem, but of course the people who DID get NWT from SoCal didn't want to switch. BUT then a girl from the NWT who got Portland, offered to switch with Brent. This should work, yeah? I mean, it's an easy swap. Well, that's the second fucked up thing, they said no, this wasn't possible. We met with one Dean a month or so ago who said that if Brent got in the NW and it wasn't near my spot, we could try to switch me around to get near him. But, since he didn't even get a spot, we decided to ask someone higher up if he could completely switch with this girl in Portland. Not only did we get a No from one Dean, but another angry message from the other Dean. (yes, it's so complicated). Sooo, now we are stuck in the middle of political bullshit. I'm over the fact that we aren't gonna be even close to each other next year, now I'm just pissed at the school for being such assholes. Of course Brent sent both Deans emails back just saying that his main concern is to be with me next year and didn't mean to upset anyone, but it's still all messed up. I don't really understand what happened with my school. Last year everything was great, there was none of this higher power bureaucracy, but this year has just been a shit show.

Urrrgghhh. On a happier note, I only have one test left of the semester and then I'm heading back to PDX on the 19th!! Yay, so stoked!

Okay, back to studying. Hope to hear from you girls soon!!

Home for the holidays!

We missed you ladies who could not make it to our mini reunion.

Hope to see you all soon!

Website of the day

Wordle.com - find out what you're really saying! This site will take the content of a chunk of text or a blog and create an image that places emphasis on the words used most often. I thought it was pretty cool, and promptly began creating images. Here's one for our blog.

No time now for an update, but just wanted to share my nerdy excitement with all you lovely ladies. Hope you have a happy Thanksgiving! xoxo

Help! I'm technologically challenged!

Hey ladies!

I'm not sure if this is going to work, because I tried to test this without success already. It says that I'm "5117 Girls." Do I need to be added as an admin or contributor? Eek! There are so many things that I've been wanting to share with you. I miss you all so much.

Lots of love <3

Nora