Ice Skating Outside :)

Well i can check off one of things i wanted to do in "in 5-7 years i wan to..." post!

Lukas and I went ice skating outside in Pittsburgh (i know my original post said NYC but i was unaware you could do this in Pittsburgh). It was soo much fun! I have not skated in years, so i was a little nervous to fall. But i knew Luke would be there to help me. He has played ice hockey all his life, so he's a pretty good skater. It was soo beautiful out! It wasn't super cold, it was just right. There was a huge decorated Christmas tree in the center and a lot of trees that were lit up around us. We were also surrounded by very tall and beautiful glass buildings that made everything seem even prettier. There were so many people, even kids that were like 6 speeding around like crazy. Since hockey is big in Pitt a lot of people can skate well i guess. Luke informed me that those would be our kids some day. So i guess i need to practice so i can keep up with them. We skated around for a good hour or two! I was ready to go by then, my feet were hurting by the end. (thanks to dad for awful shaped feet that don't fit into any thing right).


So after skating i think i have an idea of my learn something new goal. I am going to have Luke teach me how to play ice hockey! I think it will be fun and cute to have Luke teach me something new :)

Here are some pics:

The beautiful Christmas tree!

Lukas and I skating!

Ps. Luke did not let me fall at all!

Being in the classroom

The past week I have been in a 5th classroom everyday at Victory Elementary. My Co-op is a great teacher and you can tell she loves her job! I was disappointed at first with my placement because i wanted a younger grade, but so far it has been a great experience. I love being in the classroom and seeing how other teachers run their classrooms. I have got so many good ideas and organizing tips! You HAVE to be organized to have a smoothly run classroom!

So far i have taught spelling and health (kind of boring) but what can you do? My teacher is only responsible for Lang arts, spelling, health and reading. The other 5th grade teacher is responsible for math, SS, and science. I think being departmentalized has both advantages and disadvantages.

Although its going to be stressful, time consuming, and overwhelming at first i am so excited and cannot wait to be a teacher! i have so many great ideas and love teaching. The only thing im having a problem with right now is getting up at 630 :( ugh it sucks. But with the way my schedule is i can never get to bed before 12-1230. Mornings are not my thing but someday i will get on a routine.

2 more weeks till christmas break :)

Halloween 09

Halloween 09 was a blast. Janelle and I ventured down to WVU for the fun filled nights. We have been doing this 3 years now :) The first night was fun. We went to taebo. there was not a wait and it wasnt that busy. Janelle was a Devil. I was an Angel. Dawn was a Asian girl? i think. Cass was a leopard and Karen was a Sailor.


After friday night, we had much recovering to do! But that did not stop us for getting dressed up again and going out AGAIN! Saturday was alright. We had to wait in line for 2.5 hours to get in the club. I knew we were going to have to wait bc they always "hold" the line so it looks busy and the place to be. But after standing in line and fighting with people for cutting (GO DAWN). i was kinda not into dancing and what not after FINALLY getting into the club. The second night I was a pirate, Janelle a cop, Dawn an Indian, Cass a Gold digger, and Karen a Sailor.


It was a great time and i wouldnt want to spend it with any other people! Maybe next year lukas and i will be able to dress up and match! how cute ;) haha

<3 lyss

E-session pics are up!

happy to announce that lukas and mine engagement pics are up on the website! They turned out fantastic and i wish i only like 2 so i wouldnt have to spend so much money! The gallery will be live for 30 days, so feel free to message me for info and password! i want everyone to see them (get my money worth)! haha.

Tonight is thursday. going out with the ladies of course! going to be a ball!

this weekend is Halloween. FINALLY :) Janelle and I are going as an angel and a devil. If you know us you will have no problem knowing who is going as which one! The 2nd night we WERE going as mario, luigi, and peincess peach but with lack of time and other things thats no longer happening. keep in mind for next year (check). So the 2nd night i may be a teacher, a french maid, a cow girl, or anything i can whip up in .5 days! haha.

Officially excited to finally see lukas in 8 days! woohoo. good things in the future!

halloween pics will be added with a fun recap :)

Good News :)

Alright, so i have mentioned about being impatient about hearing some news. Well finally we don't have to wait no more. Lukas has a job offer back in Altoona :) I could not be more excited for several reasons. Now instead of being 4 hrs away from each other, we will only be 2! yay for dividing it in half. He will be off most weekends! yay for visits to SRU (haha). He will not have to work 6 days a week during the holidays! And he will be much happier and doing work closer to the field hes interested in! We hope that everything will work out and he can have a nice smooth transition back home and into a new job! We are super excited about our future and all the things it brings to us! Of course you have to take the good with the bad, but not all life decisions are dry cut!

Yay for good news :)

Now Halloween... hmm been thinking about it had a few good ideas, but they may fall through. Jay and i will spending the holiday in WVU! Been that was for 3 years wouldn't change it now. Getting excited for a fun weekend.

Unfortunately gotta get some work done since ill be unable to do so during the weekend ;) Now if i can only bring myself to reading these long articles about literature circles!

Have a great day :)

Dealing with STRESS!!

Okay so i always thought that i could deal/handle stress. Actually not too long ago things did not stress me out easily (or so i thought). But i have realized recently that i do not deal with stress very good. I need to find ways to deal with it better.

my problem: i let things stress me out that i have NO control over?!? i wish i could be one of those care free nothing bothers me im gonna sit back and enjoy the ride kind of person. nope i am far far from that. Everything stresses me out, from big things to small things that shouldn't. Luke always tells me not to stress about things i cant change or help, but this doesn't work i still worry/stress. I deal with stress by holding it in then BOOM one small thing and im done. I cry and be mean to the people the closest to me (sorry babes). I know this is a problem and i wish i could learn how to deal with it more. Ive tried the whole do something that relaxes me, but that doesn't work. i only think more. i try staying busy, but that only adds to my stress level.

Okay what i need to do: find a healthy way to deal with stress. i WISH i could go to the gym when i was stressed or worried, (heck id be 50 lbs)! haha. My main goal is not to get stressed over things i cant handle. This may be my new goal for November! Stress is unhealthy!

If i do become stressed im going to breathe (duh gotta live) and count to ten and think of good thoughts. Sometimes i think that if i lived on the beach id never be stressed. All i would have to do is put a bathing suit on and go lay out and get tan (ohh the life).

Stress tips:
Relax
Take vitamin C
Get some exsercise
Use aromotherapy
Laugh a little
Talk to a trusted friend

If only life was this relaxing & cute

Looking forward to stress free days.. or as much as possible!

<3lyss

Just one of those week(s)

So i have not blogged in a while.. i have not had much to talk or blog about. Its been one of those weeks where i feel like blahh. i cant even explain how i have been feeling, but i know i have not been feeling 100%.

Part of it could be the fact that i have been impatiently waiting for some things and like everyone knows patience is something i need to work on. I hate not knowing things.

I have not seen luke in 2 weeks and i wont see him for AT LEAST another 2 weeks, maybe more. I need to go back and reread my long distance post because i am going through one of those rough patches.

I did not do to much this weekend besides work and complete a crap load of school work and although this is great, it was quit boring and nothing exciting. Missing luke combined with a boring weekend makes me feel more blah.

I hope i can get out of this frump i am in. I know i have an awesome understanding fiance who tries his best to cheer me up and a FEW good friends who i know i can always call if i need someone to talk to.

Gotta think happy thoughts and i truly look forward to a better few weeks in the future. i hope :) I hate not being happy like i know i can be.

Okay, i am alive, have food, a house, in school, and friends and family that care about me. Gotta be grateful about what i have.

<3 lyss

Cedar Point Recap

Okay so here i am, i did survive my LAST ever fundraiser trip to CP! I am just now catching up on my sleep! The trip was fun getting to know the new girls and hanging. We were in a haunted house that was suppose to be a mansion. All of our girls were dressed as maids and the fraternity we were paired with were dressed at ghosts. It did not rain or snow while we were there, although it was cold the house was warm!

The girls in our maid costumes.

We checked into Auschwitz after our first say of work. We were all so tired that most of us passed out after getting situated. I always bring my sleeping bag so i can curl up in it and not have to touch a thing. Too bad my sleeping bag did not block out the smell pee. I think this was the cat litter box wing. That's what is smelled like YUCK! There were 4 people in each room.

Our bunk beds!

Although it was a tiring weekend it did not go as bad as i thought. I guess i need to start being more optimistic. On Saturday we did not have to be at work till 330 so most of the girls decided to hit up TGIF for a good meal before work. It was nice going out to eat and talking! Although the weekend is over i do not think i will miss it... at all :)

The front gate to the dorms.

Good bye CP, i will not miss you :)

No weekend dont be here yet.

I know this is rare right? I do not want the weekend to come? Well it is true, sad but true. This weekend is the.... Cedar Point fundraiser. (punch in the stomach). This seriously has made me hate CP. That's very sad because i would love to go and enjoy it once in my life. This weekend has to have some sort of child labor laws (im not really a child, but i am). We work all weekend. i would like to think 40+ hours and get 200 bucks. Half goes to illusions other half goes to my account. YAY for money, except i would almost rather pay the money then have to sleep in Auschwitz. It really is.. must show idea to get into doorms, the dorms are surrounded by a high fence, we sleep in the room the size of my living room closet with 2 sets of bunk beds on a 100 yr old mattress. Sounds awesome i know, be jealous.

Is there anything good about this fundraiser. Let me think.. the 3 hr drive there on Friday afternoon and 3 hour drive back Sunday at midnight... welp maybe if we are jamming to some backstreet boys and hansons.. maybe, but i doubt it. Could it be the over priced park food we must buy? on a good day maybe, but again im going to say i doubt it. Wait maybe its the putting on scary mask and having to dress in black? Well black is slimming so maybe somewhat? I know it's the fact that it's suppose to snow this weekend right? Wrong snow in October, hello mother nature whats wrong with you ? do you have swine flu? Is it the fact that im starting to feel a little sick? Nope bc i will only get to sleep for about 6 hrs each night. (refer to previous post i need 8-10 hrs to be a happy camper).

Okay the one good part for real is getting to hang out with the girl friends and meet the new members. yup im pretty sure that may be the only positive part of the trip. Ugh not looking forward to this adventure... maybe ill post pics and an update when i return Sunday night. After i crawl up in bed and sleep Monday away. Ah thank god class is not till 530 :)

Okay i hope i survive, i hope everyone has a better weekend then i do!

My Relaxing Tuesday

Lets do a mini recap of the weekend.

Lukas and I had our engagement session Saturday morning! I was so nervous about the weather, it was suppose to be rainy all morning, but it turned out to be a great day! We had so much fun getting our pictures done. We cannot wait for our online gallery to be up. If you are interested in viewing some pics i can send the link :)

Luke and I also visited his gram at health south. She was admitted to the hospital last week and is now recovering. Keep her in your prayers so an awesome lady and very strong for being in her 80's!

I also got to spend some time with lukas and his friends at the Bucc. This was fun even though i was soo tired! thanks to mom for playing DD!

Finally i got to spend time with my mom. We went searching for Halloween costumes, but they are so darn expensive! Janelle and I have one idea so far, and ill fill you about that closer to Halloween! Thanks to mama for buying us food and sending us back to school all stocked up!

Now its tuesday and im RELAXING! My school is on fall break so i do not have classes till thursday (i have no classes wednesday) Tuesdays are my crazy busy days and it feels good to be sitting here chilling with no running around ALL day! Tonight the girls and I are having tacos and margaritas :) This should be fun!

Have a good relaxing Tuesday!

It's been a good few days!

These past few days have been awesome! For several reasons!


Friday- My girls and i took a trip down to Pittsburgh to have some fun at Alex's house! I finally got to see lukey for the first time in 3 weeks. It does not seem like long, but it really is!


Saturday- After coming home from Pittsburgh and working. I was exhausted and could not keep my eyes open. BUT i knew i could not just go home and go to bed, i have to take every opportunity and enjoy my last year of college. The girls and i headed back down to Pittsburgh to go out in station square. We went to the bar called Buckheads! Lukes brother is a bouncer there so we got in for free and cheap drinks :) that was a bonus & super fun! Except for the part where the cab driver ripped us off TOTALLY. somehow a 10 dollar cab ride tuned in to like 25$. That guy did not turn his meter on because he wanted to rip us off! How can he sleep at night?

Jello shots @ buckheads!

Sunday- The steelers had a game. So some of my Friends & Luke got some wings and beer and enjoyed watching the game together! It was fun to have luke at my apartment hanging out with me. (i hope he didn't mind crazy girls haha)

Sunday night football with the girls.

Monday- Luke and I relaxed and he applied to a million jobs! no joke. so fingers crossed i feel something good coming along. (ill keep you posted). I studied for a midterm which sucked! The sucky part was i had to go to class and take a test while luke was at my apt. This was no fun!

Tuesday- i had class ALL DAY! I finally got to see luke at 830pm but just for enough time to drag him to practice with me! I know we didn't get to talk but it was nice being able to look at him. (ok I'm lame enough said). Then Tuesday night luke, jaime, jay, and ash convinced me to partake in some drinks and kings. so we did so. it was a fun time.

Now i am at work! With no school work to do? really its the truth and lukes at my apt laying in bed. what i would do to be home with him!

Events of the upcoming weekend: Luke and I are heading home Thursday after my class. We have our engagement pics planned for 830 am Saturday! (BLAHH) They got changed from Sunday evening. It is suppose to rain, so i hope it changes by then!

Welp thats all i got!

<3lyss

Sleep

This post is all about sleep. I'm writing this because i am extremely tired!

So when i was a little kid, i was always called Alyssa"Crack of Dawn" McNeal along with my 100 other nicknames. I was called this because apparently i would wake up (& woke everyone else up) before the sun would rise. (sorry about this Ky i know how you feel now). And i now wonder how i was soo active on such little sleep. Even in elementary and jr. high i would only need about 6-8 hours of sleep and i was ready to go for the day.

High school is when it started going down hill. hoodies with the hair in a pony was always the outfit because i could sleep in 25 mins before i had to leave for school. Everyone always told me once you get to college you learn to live off of no sleep. They also said 5 hours of sleep would be a full nights worth of rest.

Well let me tell you something, once i came to college i needed more sleep than i ever had in my life! And i blame it on naps. i use to NEVER nap till my freshman year of college. All my classes were earlier so i would sleep the afternoons away then sleep all night.

With my class schedule now all of my classes are afternoon and night classes, therefore no more naps, but i get to sleep in till 12 everyday! well except wed and thur bc i work at 930! i need to get back on a schedule here soon. over the summer i would go to bed at 11/12 and get up at 8/9. Once i start teaching at the end of this semester- i am going to DIE!

Hopefully next semester i can get morning classes and get on a routine! but then i wonder how am i ever going to be able to be a teacher and be up and dressed nice and to work by 8 am!?! i don't want to think about it!

Point is, last night i went to pitt and went to bed at like 2 ish and woke up at 830 and im soo tired i cant keep my eyes open ( this is still after a 1.5 hour nap).

I want to go back to pitt tonight to go out to buckheads with Luke and his brother. (his bro works there so we can get in free and cheap drinks) so when does this opportunity happen? i feel like i need to embrace it but my eyes wont stay open. wonder if they will mind if i take a short nap on the bar?

wising i could go to sleep now!

Rain Rain Go Away

This post is short, sweet, and to the point.

I do not like the rain at all. I mean its great and all that it waters our world, but it messes up my days.

First i dont like rain because i hate walking to class and getting soaking wet. It makes my feet and jeans wet. Not to mention my hair all wavy and yucky. Plus it makes shopping at the outlets a pain in the butt, and going out in pitt no fun.

the only good thing about rain is cute umbrellas and rain boots.

WHY did i choose slippery rock, i mean the rocks are apparently slippery for some reason, but i never realized it.

okay bye rain, i wanna have fun tonight!!

Reasons why I love fall.

Fall is my favorite time of the year for several reasons.

First i love the leaves and the colors. There is just something amazing about how the leaves turns colors then fall off the trees. I could sit outside and look at the fall scenery for hours.



I love going to a pumpkin patch and finding pumpkins. One of the best parts is going on the hay ride to the patch. Although i have not done this in a very long time, its so much fun :) I also enjoy the corny but fun corn mazes!



I love drinking hot chocolate and I know this somewhat relates to winter, but i enjoy it a lot more during fall because i am not a fan of winter. I wish i could like apple cider, well i never tried it, so maybe i will this year. Maybe ill be able to add it to the list of reasons why i love fall!




I love fall for the cute sweaters, scarfs, and hats! i Like being able to bundle up but not be freezing my butt off! The wind and the smell of the air is great and i can never seem to get enough of it :)


Finally i love fall for football! This is true i do enjoy it, when i get to see it in person. I can thank luke for making me enjoy football more than before! But it is nice watching the games with luke (when its not 5 in a row on the couch). Lets go PSU & Steelers!





I love fall and i can't wait for it to be here! I just don't like how it is the shortest season of the year.

<3lyss

Long Distance Relationships

Okay here i go on my rant and rave about long distance relationships.

Lukas and I started dating the summer before his first year of college. Luckily (for him and I) he picked to go to PSU. He was able (i think not by choice) to go to Penn State Altoona for his first two years. I think everything happens for a reason and by him staying in Altoona was one of the best things for our relationship. We had just started dating in July and the truth is looking back i do not know if we would have been able to do the long distance thing then. Thank God luke and i had two years to build an awesome foundation to our relationship. In 2006 luke and i both went away to college (luke PSU university park and I went to SRU). About 3 hours apart (driving the speed limit luke, dont say i could get there in 2 hrs because that's a lie).

The first year was tough. But we made it work. We would meet at home about every other weekend! He came to SRU a few times and i would go to PSU a few times. We were always texting and calling, but our main time to talk would be at night. I loved being able to lay in bed at night and talk about our days. This allowed me to feel that we both weren't missing out on things in each others lives.

Year two just pretty much the same. Except for mine and lukes little break (which made us stronger).

Now year 3 was a little better, but it started getting hard. I just wanted to be with him more often than every few weekends! Luke graduated in Dec. and moved home to altoona. This made us a little bit closer. We got to see each other a lot more between his time of graduating and starting his new job. Once he started his new job our schedules were NEVER the same. At times we would go almost 24 hrs without talking. (this is when it started to get hard and frustrating). But we made it work and summer was near and Lukas and I were getting exciting. Summer is the time where i see luke a lot and get sick of him then im good for the next year (haha). Well this summer would be different.

Summer was only here for 3 weeks when we got the news that luke would be getting transferred to Harrisburg. So now we got to play this horrible long distance game in the summer. I am not a fan. I tried to fill my time with 2 jobs, but still did not get many hours. It did not help that he does not like where he is either. But we made it through the summer, it was bittersweet. Only seeing each other once in a while, but also getting engaged!

Now here we are the home stretch right? year 4.... You think it would get easier with time, but in reality it doesn't. This year has been the hardest because we are now a little over 4 hours away and he works SOO much. It really should be illegal! i know he could be across the country (and i always think if my older sis Ky and her hubby) Lukas and i have it easier than they did but it is still hard.

Some advice i have to help make it work:

Communication- take the time to talk and fill each other in on your day. This allows us to feel like we are not missing out on things. Also talk about feelings. Make sure both of you are not hiding feelings and be open with each other!

Visit each other- this may be hard but when you have time try a surprise visit! Luke has done this for me a few times and i LOVED it :)

Have fun- both people in the relationship need to remember to have fun and enjoy life! You have to be happy to make it work.

Try not to get upset- this is the one i am not good at. i get sad a lot when luke and i go awhile without seeing each other. I have to remember that we both want to see each other and getting upset is only going to make it harder.

Send a surprise text, email, flower- this shows the other person that you are thinking of them and you miss them :)

Our long distance relationship is over half way over! (YESSS). After my summer student teaching (ending mid Aug) luke and i will be able to say we are done doing the long distance thing! I will be so happy to wake up next to him everyday (even if that means fighting over covers and bed space). And i know in the end this will only make a STRONGER couple!

Now if only i can take my own advice and make this next year go smoothly!

<3lyss

Weekend recap

I have not blogged in a while because i have been busy with school and what not. But i was suppose to go to CP for a fundraiser for illusions, but i did not go because we had so many girls sign up! Therefore, i had a carefree relaxing weekend!

Thursday: (my weekends start at thur at 5:10) thanks to being awesome and knowing how to schedule the best class schedule ever! But i went to a friends house and pregamed a little, then frineds and i headed to the bar. (i think this may have been one of the funniest nights at the bar so far) it was just fun to be around friends and have a good time. i had the chance to put my wing-women skills to the test and im proud to say i still have it (your welcome janelle).

Alex and me before bar Thursday night

Friday: I went shopping at the outlets on a mission and came back empty handed, i HATE shopping under pressure :( We then went to the bar for a little, but the weirdos were out (haha) so we came home and made it an early night.

Saturday: I slept in and was a bum. i did get some homework done, but not enough. Janelle and I went to a wedding reception with my roomie Ash. I took a lot of mental notes! haha it was fun and then once we went home jay and i went over to a frineds house for a while.

Roomies a the wedding.

Sunday: I slept forever and relaxed. Watched the steelers play and tried to do some homework so i did not feel like to big of a waste, but still have not completed everything i need to yet. It's okay because once again i have an awesome schedule and my weekend continues till monday at 5. (night class at 5:30). :) I also cleaned the apartment!

It was relaxing and fun, but i wish i would have got more work done, but o well ;)



<3 lyss

I can make up my mind once in a while!

So everyone knows or should know that i am the most indecisive person you will ever meet. I can not even pick where i want to go out to eat half the time. sometimes Luke gets frustrated with my lack of making decisions. But i have good reason why i am so indecisive. My mother, see i inherited this trait from her. Nope i did not get her nice thick hair or tall gene, i got the indecisive trait (thanks mom). Truly though i dont make decisions because i always think that something better will come along and i'll miss out! haha o my anways...

Luke and i decided on our wedding colors (and we are sticking to it, ok IM sticking to it). We are going to go with Blue and Green. I am actually really happy with this decision because when it comes down to it, those colors express us the best and that's what we want :) We have not decided on specific shades yet (baby steps here) but we will someday in the near future (i hope).

We also picked a photographer for our engagement pictures (Jessica Ames photography). Luke and I met with her and her husband this past weekend in State college! they were super friendly and nice! Luke and I are both excited (luke is really excited because Jessica said he was photogenic, she obviously doesn't know him very well). But our date is October 11, so hope and pray that the weather is nice and they the leaves are turning by then!

She asked us what we wanted out of the pictures so that she could get a better understanding. Luke and I just want to have fun pictures. We are young and IN LOVE and we want to capture this great time of our life. We plan on taking some pictures with the leaves and trees in the background and somehow Luke talked us into getting some done in front of beaver stadium (where penn state plays). haha O MY! But we are really excited and now i have to plan outfits for us. I know i want to wear dark jeans (Luke too) then she said a plain bright color top with accessories! So im excited to pick out a brand new outfit! (hopefully i can find one, i don't like shopping under pressure).

Today is a long day i have classes from 150-830, meeting 830-9 then practice 9-11. so im going to go start getting ready for my day!

<3 lyss

In 5-7 years I want to.....

So i have started a list of things i want to do within the next 5-7 years. They aren't your normal "goals and dreams". Of course i want to graduate college, get married, buy a house, and think about having kids, but these are smaller things that i want to do or complete within the next 7 years.


I want to ice skate outside in NYC! I don't know how long i have wanted to this but it always seemed like it would be fun and romantic. Since Luke is a good ice skater (he was a hockey player so he better be) i would feel safe and comfortable :) I can't wait to get all bundled up in a cute coat, scarf, and hat!



I also want to take cooking classes (with luke). YES he actually agrees that we should do this together. Neither of us are good cooks, so we figured it would be fun learning how to cook together :) I am actually pretty excited about this and i cant wait to share the experience with luke. Hopefully after our cooking class, we will be able to cook good food for our family some day!



I want Luke and I to visit Paris. I have always loved Paris and i have (Mary-Kate & Ashley Passport to Paris) to thank for that. I have always loved this movie and it really made me interested in France. I also took French my senior year in HS and it made me want to travel to France even more. It just seems so romantic and fun! I always told luke i wanted to be proposed to on the Eiffel tower! haha Someday Luke and I will vacation here, im just not sure if it will be able to be with in 7 years though.



Finally i want to learn something new! I don't know what yet, but maybe something a little out of my comfort zone. Learn some type of new dance? Learn how to play a new sport? I'm not sure yet what i want to learn but i am sure whatever it will be, it will be fun exciting and i plan on sharing the experience with luke :)


<3 lyss

Growing up way too fast!

Okay, so i still feel how i feel from a previous post (life is moving way too fast). I really started thinking about it today after attending my (little) cousins baby shower. Okay when i say little i mean 20, but STILL where has the time gone?

I remember when we were like 8 (which was last week i thought?) Playing sailor moon, storm chasers, making a band (the spice cats), and just being young and fun. But now sarah is married with a baby girl on the way, and im engaged, and janelle well she hasnt changed much (still being a player.. JK). Are we REALLY suppose to be growing up this fast?!?!? i dont think im ready for it... :(

But on a happier note, the baby shower was fun (i won a flower) which i left there...., it was decorated soo cute (pink and brown), the food was good, and sarah does make a cute prego girl... hahah!

I remember we use to talk about "growing up" together all the time. Sarah you missed the memo about having our babies at the same time!! its okay we are planning to all have boys in about 6 years! The good part is i can always look back and remember sooo many fun times we had together. It was truly a blessing to have a sister and cousin close in age and that we were also my bestfriends! Some of my best childhood memories are from times spent with them!

Okay, no more thinking about growing up, it has to come sooner or later!

Luke is on his way home and im super excited.. 2 weeks is just too long!

Wedding Colors part 2

I was searching around the internet today on my day off trying to decide on wedding colors (again). First, I love all the combos i have picked so far, but i think the green and purple may be to springy... The orange and green may be too bright, the blue and green are still a go, and no one has really been a fan of the green and coral-ish. So, so far i think i MIGHT be leading towards blue and green.... BUT i found this picture today and might have fell inlove... but i donno:


But these blue and green pictures make me really like them too!

I love these invites they are so cute :)

Luke and i both love the beach and we got engaged at the beach, so green and blue is kind of beachy :) hmmm its a thought!

<3 lyss

Wedding Colors?

Here i go again, thinking about wedding stuff... but i think that there are a few things that can be thought out in advance and one of those things are the wedding colors. I am the most indecisive person a live and I can't decide on colors. (Luke is not to much help, all he says is can blue be in there somewhere?) Well we will have to see about that haha ;) But here are some pictures of colors I was thinking about:

The line green and bright blue would be using both of our fav colors!

I like the celery green with the coral-ish color.
(i don't like the material of those dresses!)

I was also thinking of purple and green, maybe a
celery green with 2 shades of purple.

I love orange and green they are my 2 fav colors and
when i thought we were going to have a fall wedding
i was set on orange and green (darker shades).

i know i have plenty of time to make a decision, i like to get some stuff settled so when people ask me i can give them a few ideas that i have!

<3lyss

Hair

This post is going to be short, I am super tired!

BUT i have decided that i am going to let my hair grow! I always say this then i get it cut. The problem is i am a very impatient person and my hair grows slow. So the two are not a very good combo, but i am going to try and let it grow. I just dont like when its gets to the akward stage where it lays goofy on my shoulders.

Okay thats it, im letting it grow.... i hope ;)



<3lyss

Senior In College, Really?

I can't believe i am a senior in college already. I seriously remember moving into my doorm freshman year. I wonder where all of the time has gone? I know as i get older time even goes faster, but i would please like it to stop, now, thanks :).

Being a senior in college is bittersweet. I wish i could stay in school for a few more years. Am i really ready to be in the real world and have a real job? I don't know its kind of scary. The good part about being a senior in college is in one short year i will finally get to be with my fiance forever! No more only seeing each other on weekends here and there! We will get to fall asleep and wake up next to each other every day and this makes me very excited to get this year over with (he does have a super comfy bed). I know there will be times when I'm like Luke do you ever go away, but after a few hours i will miss him again. Graduating from college is exciting and nerve racking at the same time.

I'm excited because i feel like Lukas and I can finally start our life together and start officially planning our wedding (although Ive been looking stuff up since the day he proposed) I know where ever we will be living it will be a fun new adventure!

I'm nervous because well i will need to find a job. With the way the economy is this is not for sure. I would love to teach 2nd grade, but i will take any grade i get. I will have to learn to be a big girl and take care of myself, and this can be scary! haha I am also use to living with Janelle, so I wonder if Luke will mind if she moves in with us? haha

Regardless of the future, i still have ONE last year to live it up and i plan on doing that as much as possible. No worries i will keep in mind the whole reason i am at school! I plan on doing very well in all of my classes :)

Its a rainy day here at SR and im ready to go home from work and cook dinner with the roomies!!

<3 lyss

Photographer

Okay, so here is my first little blurb about wedding stuff. I know i have a long time to make decisions but i like to start looking early and get ideas. To me, one of the main things I'm concerned about if photography. I think this is important because in the end all you have are pictures and the memories. I have this certain idea of how i want my pictures. I like artsy pictures that aren't your everyday angles, colors, etc. I have been searching the Internet and so far I have found ONE photographer near me that i LOVE! Her style is exactly what i had in mind and i love her creativity and personality (from what i gathered from the website). I e mailed her a few weeks ago and I think Luke and I are going to set up a date to meet with her and get to know her and for her to get to know us. The only problem is shes a little pricey, but i guess you get what you pay for. Luke and i were thinking about getting our engagement pictures done in the fall (since i love it and that's when i originally wanted to get married). But i wanted to share the link of the photographer i liked and wouldn't mind some feed back if you think the price and quality are equivalent or not.

http://www.jessicaames.com/

<3 lyss

new apartment

I have lived in 4 different apartments in my 4 years at college. (2 different dorm rooms and 2 different apartments). When my roommates and i went apartment hunting for our apartment last year, we said where we move is where we are staying! Well we see how much that worked out. We left our previous apartment for several reasons.

The cons about the old apartment:
The first one was that our landlord was a creeper, no joke. (he even sold my roomies bike for 10 dollars and only gave her 9) Anyways they NEVER fixed anything, our fridge was broken for the whole year and leaked water. Second we had only 2 windows and my one roommates room had no window and was the size of a closet (no joke). We lived right one main st. and we heard every car drive by and every drunk person stumble home. Also there were a lot of steps to get to our apt. ok maybe thats a good thing, but not when you have bags of groceries, furniture, laundry, and other stuff you have to lug up there everyday!

The pros about the old apartment:
We were right on main st therefore close to everything in SR. We lived above a tanning salon therefore we didnt have to turn our heat on in the winter! That was a money saver! It was close to the education building, i could be leave my apt 5 mins before class started and still be early!

The cons about the new apartment:
Its farther away from campus about 2 more blocks than my old one. My room and my sisters room is a little bit smaller. There is no AC, even tho the AC in my old apt didnt work. The fridge is smaller and there is less counter space.

The pros about the new apartment:
Our parking is right out front (no steps!) Its cheaper and its not right on main st with all of the noise. Our living room walls are painted a mint green, i mean come on this is a dream come true? There is a washer and dryer in our apartment and my roomies room is BIG! a lot bigger than her old room and bigger than my sisters and I. Our landlord has already fixed our fridge in one day! seriously awesome! haha

The good part about moving for me is that i can throw away stuff/junk that i have accumulated over the past year. This will make it a lot easier when its time to move back home when im done with school. It allows me to rearrange furniture and even redecorate a little different. Here are some pics of the new place so far:

Desk area.

sleeping area.

living area.

kitchen area.

our small bathroom.

<3lyss style="font-style: italic;">

The Beach!

The beach was soo much fun and i couldn't have had a better time. We had wonderful weather, all except for one day when we had to leave the beach because of thunder and lightning. The water was warm, but we did spot some jelly fish (no worries i had plenty of friends that would have peed on me if necessary)! We went to the party block 2 nights, and did a few bars on the boardwalk one night, and went to mackys & big peckers for dinner. We ate in the room a lot bease we were all poor college students! haha. It was fun being able to relax and spend time with my girlfriends! This had been my 3rd beach trip with my friends and i hope to keep it a tradition! After the week came to an end we were all very sad, but i was able to talk my awesome friends into driving to harrisburg to see luke for the night then to continue our trip home the next day! i was SOO very greatful they aggreed because i missed him so much and i will probably not be able to see him again till sometime in september :( But here are a few pics from the beach :)

Beach Bound

Saturday morning my friends and I will be heading to OCMD! I am super excited because i LOVE the beach and being with my girls (jay, jam. kels)! We are finally all 21 and this could get exciting! haha. Although there is no doubt that i will be missing my fiance A LOT! I feel that its important to have some separate time. We will have plenty of time together later, because we are going to be together forever! (no doubt).

So, i tried to pack lightly and i feel like i accomplished my goal. i am ONLY taking one duffel bag, a small bag for hair and bathroom stuff and my beach bag! My motto was if it doesn't fit im not taking it! haha

welp i hop all goes well at that the beach and i am sure we will have one hell of a time!

lyss<3

Getting Engaged ♥

July 25, 2009 was one of the best days of my life!

My boyfriend/soul mate of 5 years finally got down on his knee & asked me to marry him!

How it went down:
I have been going to the beach with my boyfriend and his family for 5 years. Every year they go to Ocean City NJ. We always look forward to this vacation because it gives Luke and I a lot of time to spend together and on a side note im not ready to leave at the end. Luke and I were both looking forward to this years vacation because now Luke lives and works in Harrisburg, therefore we do not get to see each other as much as we would like. Anyways, it was the first day at the beach and somehow I was able to drag Lukas down to the beach to get in a quick tan :) I accidentally let him get burnt and im sorry about that! haha but anyways we always order take out the first night then head to the boards to see whats going on! After we checked out the boardwalk luke and I decided to walk back on the beach. We then sat on a life guard chair and he asked me what I thought he got me for our anniversary, and I said a blanket but I was secretly wishing something else. And then right then and there on the beach under the moon light he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. After I almost pushed him over, I said YES! I then made a few important phone calls and text messages. We then went back to the apartment where his family was waiting for us with banners, cake, and champagne!

The ring: it is absolutely beautiful! I actually tired it on a few months before when we went looking but now that it was mine, it was even more beautiful and perfect than what I remembered. It is a 3 stoned princess cut with the 2 side stones turned with band accents!



Luke and I are super excited about our future together and we can't wait to spend forever with each other!

The semi permanent date is July 14, 2012!

I will probably be posting different thoughts and ideas about the wedding :)

lyss<3

So why did I create a blog?

This is a great question, is it because I have been sitting at home all day relaxing on my day off? It could be. But the truth is I have always kind of wanted one but never found the time to make one. My older sister has one and I love reading her blogs, they are interesting and fun! It is always nice to have a place to write what your thinking or feeling regardless if anyone reads it. More than likely not too many people will probably read mine, but its ok :)

I will more than likely be blogging about how I am feeling, my life, things that I like or bother me, pretty much anything and everything on my mind!

I think it will be fun to look back one day and see what i wrote!

Lets hope I can keep up with blogging, I think it will fun and give me something to do when I should probably be working on school work :)

Lyss<3