It's a filly!!

Last night around 7pm, my parent's horse, Ginger, gave birth to a beautiful little girl. Although I was late arriving for the actual birth part, it was neat to see how Ginger's motherly instincts took over once the baby was out. I was also cute watching the baby try to stand. At first it looked as if she would never bend her front legs, but eventually she stood and walked.

Facebook High School Reunion

It has been 6 years since I have graduated high school. Since then classmates have traveled to separate colleges, moved out of town, or just disappeared for a while. Before the social internet revolution it was hard to see where classmates had journeyed to in life. But now it is overly simple to stay connected and follow people to an almost stalking level. You now can see where they live, work, their relational status, and events they are attending. When I first joined facebook I only added people I was truly friends with, but I have noticed lately more and more friend requests from past classmates. Maybe it is due to the recent boom in engagements, or the new "people you may know" feature.

I do have mixed feelings though. I have always been curious of other people, but I don't know if this is the way I wanted to find out. It is nice though, being a person who returned to Warsaw after college, to find out who else has adventured back to Warsaw to start their life and careers. Maybe a way to reconnect with old friends, or to forgive past grudges and form new friendships.

U-Haul expert

In only 2 days I will once again be packing up my belongings and moving. Don't get me wrong I am ecstatic to be moving back to Warsaw to be with friends and family, but I just wish I could stay in a place longer than a year. In the past 3 years I have moved 5 times. Unfortunately I will once again be moving in a few months, but at least I don't have to move furniture. I will also be most likely I will move once more in another year. Maybe I should start my own business with all my moving experience, but I don't think my customers would like to handle my panic personality that emerges when moving stress builds. I will be glad when I am able to stay in one residence longer than a year, but who knows when that will come. Oh, well!

Goodbye dear cat . . .

Today was our last zoology lab, the last day with our dear cats. Today before our final lab exam our professor gave us this poem that I find fitting:
"Goodbye dear cat
with time and patience over you I sat
I'm sure that over time the story will be told
How I put up with your smell and mold
Oh the times I pondered you gastrosplenic
and hoped I would live to see things more senic
Let us not forget our latex gloves
that leave the sweet scent of morning doves
Here's to the hours we sighed and cried
due to the scent of that damned formaldehyde
We thank you cat for this adn that
After this our backs we'll pat
but for now we will look to heaven
and pray our score is a 97"
-Joe Stiefel

End is in sight

I can't believe it! Only one more week of classes (plus a week of finals) before the end of the semester. I will be so glad when I am completely done with school and have a full time job again. I feel like bum currently.

As far as the wedding planning is going we almost have everything done and still 4 months to go! I think Mike might pass out due to the large sum checks he has been writing lately! He constantly refers to the Bud light "dude" commercial and he is constantly saying "dude" to the money he is losing :( Oh well it's worth it, right?

Perfect Cake Topper

You think it wouldn't be to difficult to pick out a wedding topper. Just a plastic statue that is placed on the top of a cake and removed shortly after. But in reality it is. Which topper symbolizes your relationship, who you are as people, and is one that you can both agree on? After traveling to many stores and searching many hours on the internet, I have found the perfect topper. This topper embodies Mike perfectly! How could a stranger know the habits of a male football fanatic? (okay, so most of them have the same habits, but it is still creepy.) Let me know your opinion and if you think that this is Mike!

It's an . . . it?

For the past month we have been dissecting a shark(cartilaginous fish) and a cat(vertebrae mammal) to learn the differences in structure and organs. So far we have skinned both animals to uncover the muscles. If you have never skinned an animal before let me tell you that it is very time consuming and frustrating. Do to some squeamish readers I will not go into great detail.

But this is not the exciting part of the class. This last week we began to open up the body cavity to learn the organs and digestive structures. Well in both species at least one group in our lab had a pregnant specimen. The table behind ours had a pregnant shark, with 4 shark babies, almost fully developed. They were so cut to see a mini shark, only about 4 inches in length.

The following lab, we opened the cats and another table in our lab happened to have a pregnant cat, with one kitten. This wasn't as developed as the shark, but it still looked like a small furless kitten. It was so cute, to see it's little ears on the side of it's head. But this kitten also happened to be deformed, having 7 digits on each hand, and 6 on each foot (a normal cat have 5 digits on each hand and foot). This made the kitten's paw's extremely large, but it was still cute.

Pride and Prejudice

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" Matthew 7:3

In high school I always looked at some people and thought that they were conceited and had no other thought then how good they looked. But as I have gotten older and have seen these same people today, I start to see it was me that was conceited. I was so wrapped up in being one of the "popular" people that I pushed everyone away. I was the one no one wanted to be around. I now find these same people ones who have a big heart and are willing to forgive my pride. I thank these people and hope that as I grow, I can learn not to be so insecure that I push my friends away.

And the planning continues!

I thought I would give my single reader an update on how the wedding planning is going. So far we have the church, the reception hall, dresses, tuxes, and reception dinner is set. Tomorrow we are going to Huntington to meet with a friend who is going to make the food for the reception, the wedding cake, and the wedding flowers. I still need to confirm the photographer and reception decorations.

This weekend also starts our premarital counseling, which is being done in a group setting and not individual. I wonder what we will cover?

BSU Biggest Loser Update

It has now been 2 1/2 weeks since I have started BSU biggest loser. Although I have only lost 2 pounds I can feel the changes from working out more and eating healthier. I can now stay on the eliptical for a half hour at full power, where before I was lucky to stay on for 10min. I wish that I could see the changes more, but I will keep working at it! My goal is to be able to were a bikini at my honeymoon! :)

The stress of dress shopping

This Saturday my bridesmaids and I went to David's Bridal in Ft Wayne to find the dresses that they would wear for the wedding. Going into this day I thought it would be fun and similar to prom dress shopping, but it was a bit more stressful. It was hard for the girls to find a dress that they liked in the color I had chosen. Then my aunt insisted that everyone have shoes that were dyed to match. That presented a problem in itself. In the end everyone found a dress and matching shoes, but even though I didn't even try on dresses it was stressful enough. After all this planning and shopping I am starting wish I just eloped!

Wedding website

Want to learn more about how Mike and I met, our wedding plans, or who's in our wedding party? Then check out our wedding website www.mywedding.com/michaelandmiranda

BSU Biggest Loser

After being a huge fan of the tv show "Biggest Loser" I jumped on the chance to participate in the Ball State version. We (me and 3 other girls) meet 3 times a week for an hour and workout with a personal trainer. I am so glad that I signed up, this is exactly what I needed. I know that I need to workout to lose weight but I had no motivation before. Now I have a team who is counting on me and a trainer who will hunt me down if I don't show. I hope that what I learn in the next 6 weeks I will be able to continue when I return to Warsaw! Wish me luck!

Back to the grind

Today was my first day back in Muncie, starting classes like I never left. Already I have 2 tests this week and a presentation to work on. You have no idea how hard it was for me to come back here, back to studying and lack of close friends. I would much rather be a home planning my wedding and spending time with Mike, but I know I have no choice but to push my way through the next 8 weeks.

Spring Break bliss?

My spring break will be here in just one more day. For most people spring break is a time to relax and jet off to some warm destination. But this year, spring break for me will be an extended study session. For some reason this semester I can not seem to get my head into school and my grades have been suffering due to it. So this spring break I am going north and sitting at home with a hot cocoa and 3 large science textbooks. I keep telling myself that if I can just last the next 8 weeks it will all be over. Thank goodness!!!

What happens at a wedding anyway?!!

As I plan more and more for Mike and my upcoming wedding, I am starting to realize that I have never sat through an entire wedding/reception! I get as far as eating at wedding reception and then usually leave. What happens next? First dance, cake cutting, bouquet/garter toss? I think I have hit the wall in my planning progress and now must turn to the experts, married relatives! But will they remember after 25 years? My dad has a hard enough time remembering the date he got married! :)

Winter weather blues

I have lived in Indiana my entire life and usually the weather doesn't bother me. But this year has been the worst winter, not in terms of amount of snow or freezing temperatures, but because of the way it teases you with a taste of the warm days to come. One day it snows, the next it is 40 and sunny. I will be so glad when the spring sun returns and we are no longer held hostage by the dreary sky and snow covered ground.

Stress, stress and more stress!!!

Lately it has seemed that all there is in the world is stress. The stress of school, the stress of wedding planning, and the stress of trying to figure out what things you have time for. I will be glad when March 9th arrives and I get a week of not having to worry about school, but I know that there will probably be something else for me to stress over.

Car Problems

A gas station, the ER, and a driver education class. What do these 3 things have in common?

Well tonight when my mom was on her way to pick up my sister from drivers ed she ran out of gas and had to call Mike (my fiance) to bring her some. Then I found out that my dad, on his way home, flipped his pickup truck on itside, bending the axle. Once home my dad realized that he had popped open some stitches (from a shoulder surgery last week). So he and my mom went to the ER to have his stitches repaired. Finally 3 hours later they were able to go home for the evening.

I think my sister learned more about driving from my parents tonight than in drivers ed. What do you think?

Across the Universe

Tonight was the first time I have ever ventured out and enjoyed one of the free movies offered by Ball State. These movies are offered almost every Friday and are fairly new. Tonight "Across the Universe" was the feature film.

For those of you who have never heard of this film it is a Beatles musical/opera. It is hard to explain the plot of the movie but it tells a story of love during the late 60's.

I went to see this movie because of my interest in the Beatles and because of friends recommendations. I have to say when the movie started out I thought I was going to hate it. It reminded me of Moulin Rouge but didn't have as strong of a plot. As the movie progressed though I understood the art of the movie and began to enjoy it more and more. I have to say that this is not a movie for the novice but rather for people who enjoy musicals and abstract art. I can't say whether or not you will like the movie, you just have to watch it and see. As for me I give it 4 out of 5 stars for appropriate use of songs to portray emotion and visual effects.