I turned 30 today.

I'm not sure how I feel about this.  I'd say I'm about halfway "don't care" and halfway "I'M OLLLD!"  Really, nothing has changed from yesterday to today other than the fact that I have now been on this earth for three decades.  However, looking at just the last decade in particular, I am wowed by how much of a different person I am today than when I was 20 and how much has changed:

Ten years ago, I was just beginning to find myself in college, after a few hiccups getting started.  I met some lifelong friends, decided on a new major and shed some of the "teenage angst" from the previous decade.  When I was 20 I began "seeing" Andy (we don't really have an anniversary) and our friendship grew to love. We were married in 2010!

Over the past ten years I moved many times, from California back to Michigan and now in Illinois.  After embarking on a failed career in my original major, I made the crazy decision to throw caution to the wind and pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology, despite never having taken any psychology classes before.  I made that decision in 2007-2008, and now we're here, in 2012, against all odds, I am now in my 3rd year of this program and still going strong.  I can tell you, even though this seems crazy to all of you, I can say without a doubt, I made the right decision and this career makes me very happy.

The past 10 years have seen some big changes in my life, and although some of those times really sucked, other times were not so bad!  Although my life is no where close to where I "planned" it should be, I wouldn't change it for the world.  I'm excited about all the things the next decade will bring and the next stages in my life.  Graduation, career, family, etc, etc, etc!

Happy Birthday to Me!

PS:  I made this hat. Faaaaabulous!!!

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Christmas revelries and microbes who hate me

Hey there.  You may have been wondering, "Hey, what happened to Laurie?", or most likely you have not.  In any case, I've had a whirlwind holiday season, and got home a couple days ago.  Andy and I traveled back to our home state of Michigan to celebrate the holidays with our families.  We had a great time with everyone, and consumed WAY too much food.  Considering both Andy and I have been trying to eat healthier lately, this was a hard blow to our diets.  Here's a "sampler" of what we ate (hahaha, get it?  SAMPLER?!):

Chipotle - Ok, this isn't THAT bad is it?
Pizza - YUM
Mozzerella Sticks - Fried cheese is not a meal  ...or is it?!
Andy's mom's huge spread of Christmas Eve munchies - I ate more massive amounts of cheese and M&M's
Christmas Morning Donuts - Need I say more?
Christmas Dinner Homemade Italian Extravaganza of  ravioli & meatballs & Garlic bread - Which I had seconds and thirds of later that week, Thanks Mom!
Christmas Supper Venison sloppy joes & another huge spread - Thanks Dad!
Christmas Cookies, OH THE CHRISTMAS COOKIES - Many MANY Sugar cookies, courtesy of my sister
Birthday Banana Cream Pie - My mom made me my birthday pie already! :)
More Pizza, etc, etc, etc

Should probably get on those New Year's Resolutions, now, eh?  I'm definitely going to be trying out some new recipes soon!  I have this Paleo Diet cookbook on my Kindle that I downloaded for free from Amazon a few months ago.  I've been meaning to try out some of the recipes in there, and I think I'll start doing that!  Of course I will take you on this journey with me.  Someone warn Andy that there may be Eggplant ahead.  The eggplant is coming, THE EGGPLANT IS COMING!!

In other news, I have been struck down with my most despicable sickness I've had in a very long time.  It started on the 26th with a slightly sore throat, and here we are today, four days later, still feeling like death warmed over.  Also, as a bonus, I have this cough that sounds like I've been a smoker since I was five years old.  Hacking, they call it?  Nothing is lovelier than a young woman hacking her brains out and using 500 tissues in a day.  I've also got this ambient noise going in my ears that sounds something like "WHUMMP, WHUUUMP, WHUUUMP".  Awesome.

At least I'm not alone with my sickness.  According to my Facebook wall, approximately 75% of my friends and/or their children are sick as well.  What is it about Christmas and sickness?  Probably the fact that all these people are getting together at once and talking in each other's faces and hugging hello/goodbye?  Or maybe being in shopping malls with 10,000 other people, touching the same door handles...  Ew.  WHERE IS THIS POST GOING?!  Ok, anyway, because of this I had to cancel some get-together's and head back home a couple days early.  What a bummer.  Sorry everybody!

In any case, I am looking forward to New Years, my Birthday (in 5 days), finishing out this next semester at school, getting my Master's degree, and the rest of what 2013 will bring.  Oh yeah, I'm turning 30 this year too.  YAY!

Here's a sneek peak at what is ahead:

Cat Grass or "Oliver's Obsession"

Winter Gardening or "This basil refuses to die"

Venison Chili or "No one knooooows!"

What did you eat too much of this past week?  Let me know in the comments!  And don't forget to follow me on Facebook and Twitter!

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