thankful for...

i have a lot of things to be thankful for this year!

* the basics: job, place to live, food to eat, health

* a wonderful fiance & less than a year till we wed

* a supportive and special family

* (future) in-laws i actually love

* precious little ones in my life - nephew Luke who is soon to be a big bro, "nieces" Bella & Emi

* an unbelievable group of friends that keep me on my toes and keep me laughing

* my senior friends at bingo

* to be done with grad school!

* to have free time again

* the glorious fall we've had in Chicago

very grateful. very lucky.

freedom!

i finished all 3 of my comprehensive exams and this is my last week of classes - EVER! feels so fabulous, words cannot even describe how great it feels to have my brain and free time back! i still have a couple of papers due but no more reading and no more studying. i don't even know what to do with myself! i spent most of the weekend on the couch watching tv and movies, reading wedding magazines but i also went grocery shopping a lot and filled up our pantry, fridge and freezer with all sorts of fabulous items and cooked real meals for the first time in ages. that's been the best part! rob and i even ate dinner at the dining room table last night, i don't believe that ever happened before. i can't remember the last time that i was able to lounge in front of the television for so long without a worry in my mind or guilty feeling that i should be studying. it'll be even crazier next week when i'm done with classes!

last week i was complaining to rob that grad school was a waste of time and that i couldn't believe i invested so much time and money. now that it's basically done, i don't feel so ridiculous. i finished a video project that i feel very proud of, i keep finding ways to incorporate my grad school knowledge into work and i've met some really great people. i'm so glad i'm done but i'm glad that i did it even though i complained alot along the way. my friends and family have been super supportive, but rob takes the cake! the past few years he's been nothing short of amazing. he always would make sure i had whatever i needed, cooked me dinners, listened to me read papers and offered tons of moral support. i couldn't have done it without him and i'm so grateful i had his support!

me & my masters

it's been a long and tough journey getting my masters. i started the program in winter '09 doing one class at a time. i usually enjoyed my one class and was able to dedicate an adequate amount of time and energy to it. then in spring 2010 i decided that it was time to pick up the pace and i was ready to be done. i started taking 2 classes for the first time. not only did it hurt my bank account, it really hurt my free time, gym time and limited my availability for working events. that spring i took one great class and one awful one. i plowed through and ended up signing up for one over the summer. that was the first time i did that and i'm so glad i did. even though the professor was sort of a joke (letting us out early all the time & doing power points out of order), i learned some stuff in a condensed amount of time. this fall brought me to the end of the program - my last 2 classes and my exams. i've been enjoying both of my two classes this quarter and learning a lot but as soon as i started studying for my comprehensive exams i started to go a little batty. my brain can only hold so much information and i'm starting to lose it. my first 2 exams are this saturday and i feel ok about them. my boss is awesome and has let me take off the past 2 fridays and this friday to prepare. i'm just so ready to get them out of the way and start studying for the last one next weekend. after that i have 1 week of classes and 3 papers standing between me and my masters....here's hoping it goes by fast because i'm at the end of my rope!