What was I Thinking?

So I finally got my financial package to Hopkins.  I only have to come up with a $38,000 supplemental loan in order to pay the tuition.  Plus somehow get money to live off of, and to be honest, I don't think they give living expense loans to undergrads.  I think that that is a grad school thing.  I'm not sure what I was thinking when I applied to nursing school, how in the world did I think I was going to afford it??  Obviously I am not going to take out a supplemental loan of $38,000, if I even knew what type of loan that was.  I maxed out on federal loans (the limit is so low for undergrad), so maybe they are thinking private loans or something??  Maybe it's because I turned my paperwork in late and they didn't have much money left?  Who know, I just know it's not possible.

I still haven't heard from Maryland and even if I did get in, without living expense loans there is no way I can actually go.  My husband's salary won't even cover our rent, so we can't survive on it.  We'd need a little money to live off of and I am not sure that federal loans cover that.  

So I am trying to figure out what my options are...which are few and far between.  Of course I will try and meet with the financial aid people at Hopkins and see what they say.  But I have to be realistic...I kind of doubt they will give me an additional $38,000.  Maybe it's best to wait a year and apply to a direct-entry Master's program, because I would at least get more federal aid for a program that was considered graduate level.  Maybe it's best to just think realistically and put nursing school on hold and think about my life plan if I were to not attend.  Or maybe look at the RN program at the community college and see whether it's a possibility to go there part time and then transfer to a RN-MSN program or something.  None of the options sound great to me - since I kinda had my heart set on attending this fall.

I don't know.  It was so much easier making decisions when I only had to worry about myself.  Maybe it was a bit selfish to think that I could go back to school with a husband and child to support.  I will have to ponder these options for a while and see what works out.  When I applied I was just hoping something would work out and a miracle would happen and I'd somehow be able to go.  Umm, not the best plan.  Miracles don't happen that often for me.

Just this little miracle.

No Pictures Randomness

Here are a bunch of random thoughts going through my exhausted brain...

* The only thing that got me out of bed this morning was telling myself that I could fall asleep again on the bus.  I am one tired chica.  I tried my best last night to get to bed early but I missed the bus yesterday so I got home extra late.  Some days commuting really frustrates me.  I mean, it always frustrates me in the fact that I leave work at 4:50pm and don't get home until 6:30at the earliest, but it frustrates me even more when the bus comes early and leaves me behind, like yesterday.  I got there with four minutes to spare and the bus had already come and gone.  I had to wait another 35 minutes before another bus came.  Or worse, on Thursday all the express buses were canceled so then I had to take a local and that adds on at least 30 minutes to my already long ride.  Grrr.

* Boo.  I just wrote a bunch of things and it was all erased.  I hate when that happens.  I guess I will start over.

* My contacts are bothering me.  Very annoying as I just changed them and I have cleaned them numerous times.  They should be wonderful.  There is always one bad pair in the bunch, and I must be wearing them.

* Ivan's eye drops for his cataract surgery cost $115.  Isn't that crazy?  I guess that's cheaper than my haircut.... But still, it's a lot of money to pay for some eye drops, especially when you have insurance.

* I have made some good pinterest recipes lately.  I will have to do a post soon with my finds.  Most have been great.

* This week Ivan and I are celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary.  Wow!  Time flies!  I am trying to decide if I want to see Divergent or Veronica Mars.  I read Divergent when it first came out and enjoyed it a lot.  However, I watched every episode of Veronica Mars while I was on maternity leave and felt like we became best friends.  Tough decisions.  Noah also looks really good, but I will probably wait until that comes out to rent.  I have also really wanted to see Dallas Buyers Club, but haven't had a chance to watch it.

* I have an accepted student's open house at Hopkins on Friday and I hope that I can convince them to give me some money.  And a lot of it.  And I hope that I hear back from Maryland soon because the chance that I can afford Hopkins is so slim that I would feel so much better if I had another option.

* I can't fall asleep because someone brought the kid on the bus and is now singing to them.  I am trying to remain calm about it because I have a child and I know I'd be so stressed out if I had to bring him on the bus - but I am so tired and was really looking forward to a nap (see the first bullet).

Ok - share some randomness from your day!

The yummiest thing ever

This weekend went by in such a blur.  It must be because it was 70 degrees out on Saturday and nice days seem so fleeting.  It started off with a last minute dinner invitation on Friday.  Ivan couldn't go because he has soccer on Fridays now, but Evan and I went to eat dinner with my friend from anatomy class.  It reminded me why we don't go out to eat very much anymore.  Evan sat in his high chair for all of ten minutes and then he wanted to sit with me.  And then he wanted to get up and run around the restaurant (don't worry, I didn't let him do it).  Luckily a balloon man came and made a few balloon animals and that kept his entertainment long enough for me to scarf down some pizza.  But yeah, eating out is kind of stressful with a little one (at least my little one).

Saturday I lazily woke up to go running with Team In Training.  Ivan was a grump because he had wanted to sleep in and Evan woke up while I was changing (before 7am).  So I ended up taking the little guy with me.  It worked out fine, he didn't have any meltdowns, but we only went about four miles.  One of those miles was the biggest hill ever!!  It was steep and kept going on and on and on...I could see the end but it never seemed to get closer.  Pushing 45 pounds up that huge hill was exhausting and at times I totally felt like I was walking, but I made it jelly legs and all.  

That afternoon I took a two hour yoga/deep relaxation/meditation class with a friend from high school.  It turned out to be a lot of fun and I only had to do downward dog twice so I was thrilled about that.  I hate downward dog and find it to be the most uncomfortable position ever.  If we have to do it for too long or too often I start to hate yoga.  Afterwards we grabbed a coffee and ran some errands.  My errand was to buy a new charger for Ivan's phone because I accidentally sucked it up the vacuum.  Whoops!  And now the rolls thing doesn't work on the vacuum, which is a great since we just spent $40 to get the vacuum fixed.  And I thought it would be a good idea to buy the charger before telling him about the plight of his old one and then come to find out - he had an extra charger at home.  Grrrrr!

And Eavn has started doing some adorable things.  Every once in a while the house goes quiet and I wonder where Evan is...and this is where he was every time.

Hanging out behind the curtain.  Yup, his new favorite secret hiding place.  He bring books and balls back there, it is really adorable.  You just see his little feet sticking out.

Yesterday was a bit crazy.  I went grocery shopping early in the morning, which I don't normally do.  I didn't have time to go on Saturday so I had to squeeze it in.  Then I did five loads of laundry, Skyped with my mom, and cooked three meals.  One for today, one for yesterday, and a vegetarian meal for me for when I cook meat during the week.  And then I did dishes.  And while I did dished I stupidly chose to start watching the last season of Army Wives which was a big mistake because I bawled my eyes out the entire time.  That show is so sad all the time.

And then I ate this.

It really is bliss.  It's like chocolate fudge in a package.  It is sooooo yummy.  It's a good thing I just bought the package and not the whole jar, because I couldn't stop eating it, it was so delicious.  You should definitely buy some.

And now I'm exhausted because when I set my alarm it said I had 4 hours and 59 minutes before my alarm went off.  Boo.  Good thing I bought that planner because I am not doing very good at getting to bed early.  I also woke up on time today because I am determined to blow dry my hair every day now that I paid $200 for my haircut.   I am still sad/mad about that.

What is something delicious that you ate this weekend????

When cold is now warm

Isn't it weird how your body adjusts to different temperatures?  This morning it is 40 degrees out and I feel like I could have worn my spring jacket instead of my winter coat.  It felt quite nice outside waiting for the bus.  But really, it's 40 and that is not actually a warm spring day.  However, after waiting for the bus in single digit weather all winter, 40 degrees seems quite warm.  It will be extra nice when it's light out in the morning, because ever since the time changed it's been dark.  And I have wait for the bus in front of an apartment complex that burned down so there are no lights and every morning I practically jump up and down as the bus comes because I'm afraid he won't see me standing on the corner in pitch black.  Let's just say I am ready for spring!

In anticipation of spring, I got a few hairs cut.

Wow, it feels amazing to have short hair again!!  I literally hadn't had my hair cut since last April.  My hair was long and blah, so I always wore it in a pony tail.  Ok, so the ponytail was partly due to my laziness but even when I felt less lazy there was no point in doing my hair because it was so blah.  I feel like a new person with my hair cut and normal looking again.  Now I have to actually blow dry it more often then putting it in a ponytail (remember, that was one of my 2014 commitments - look less frumpy and blow dry my hair when I get it cut).  Especially because it cost me $184 to get it cut.  Does that seem like highway robbery to you???  I was a bit shocked...I guess prices go up when you don't go for a year!  Last time I thought I paid $150 and that included tip.  Yikes!  No wonder I only go once a year!!

Yesterday was Father's Day in Honduras so we had a very small celebration.  Ivan got fried fish.  

I'm not sure what Evan's doing in this photo, but he refused to smile.  It kind of looks like he's making fish noises....

That's one of his favorite meals so it was his special treat.  There are not too many places that serve the entire fish (head, eyeballs, and tail) rather than a fillet, but we have found a place right down the street from us.  Since he never knew his dad and was sad growing up as a kid never celebrating Father's Day he is very into celebrating both the Honduran and American Father's Day.  Honduran Mother's Day is the same day as the American Mother's Day so I don't get an extra day to celebrate.  Oh well, one day is enough for me!

Also, I got this exciting new planner in the mail today.  Remember how a few days ago I boasted about how I can survive on only five hours of sleep??  Well, I can assure you, my memory is not happy with that arrangement.  I have forgotten so many things that I decided I need to write EVERYTHING down. So, I started with a beautiful Erin Condren planner that I have been eying for a while.  I was so excited to get it!!

It came in this beautiful box all wrapped up pretty.  It even smelled nice too because she had a candle scent sample in there that smelled refreshingly like a tropical beach.

And here is the beautiful planner!  Isn't it wonderful?  I got to customize the front and back with pictures and had a fun time picking out which photos I wanted on it.  On the inside it has a monthly calendar and a weekly calendar, so I can stay nice and organized.

I love the planner and hope it makes me write down everything so I don't keep missing deadlines or airplanes!

Here's to being more organized!

Also, here are a few photos from our hiking adventure last weekend - I am determined to turn Evan into an avid outdoorsman!!

Notice how we brought his shovel with us - it comes with us everywhere we go.  He did think it was really fun trying to pick up pine cones with his shovel and throw them into the woods.

He still has a huge love of trees and wanted to touch every tree we passed.  It made for an interesting hike through a forest.  He got pretty excited though and would just go up to each tree and touch it for a second or two.  Quite adorable.

 

If you look closely, you can see that he's standing on a tree stump.  He stood here for at least five minutes.  Apparently, it's even more fun to stand on a tree than it is to touch the tree.  He was very excited and stomped around on this truck.  Then he saw an airplane - another one of his loves.

Today is supposed to be 60 degrees so I am very excited to get a run in and maybe a few more outdoor activities this weekend. 

Happy Thursday!!!

Hiking, Snow Days, and I Ate All the Easter Candy

This year I tried to be on top of things and buy Easter candy early.  I figured it would save my grocery bill later if I bought a little at a time.  It worked for a while, but then I remembered it was there and I also remembered that Evan can't really eat Easter candy too much because he's still little.  So I broke it open and ate it all.  Ok, not all of it...yet.  I did finish off the Reese's peanut butter cups.  I still have a few Hershey kisses and mini candy bars left.  Not many though. And then I got to thinking some more and I don't even know what I am going to put in Evan's plastic eggs because he can't really eat a lot of candy yet.  So, maybe I'll get a set of wooden eggs and we can hide those.  And then I won't be tempted to buy more candy to eat.

Today I waited for the bus in the dark again.  However, one thing was different...everything was covered in snow.  Weird, right.  Maybe not if we lived in Alaska or Vermont, but here in Maryland it is odd to have snow on St. Patricks Day.  I am not going to complain about a three-day weekend due to a snow day yesterday, but I wouldn't complain if this was the last snow fall for a while.  Like, until December.  Or next year.  Evan was thrilled and had his shovel all ready.

I took him out to play twice, once in the morning and again in the afternoon.  He was quite happy.  He's pretty happy any time he gets to bring his shovel anywhere.

On Friday we headed to a little nature reserve that had some hiking paths.  It was beautiful out and I wanted to enjoy the nice day before the snow storm, so we headed to the park area.  He loved it!!  We walked along the path and he looked at all the trees, climbed on tree roots, dug his shovel in the dirt, pointed out the birds, and hiked along.  We only spent about 20 minutes there because we got there shortly before they closed, but we'll have to go back again because he had a great time.  I am so excited for him to discover a love of the outdoors.  I imagine hiking and camping trips together and trail runs and all kinds of fun stuff like that.  I took a bunch of photos but they are on my camera so I will try and post them later.

I didn't snap any photos as proof, but I also went running on Saturday and Sunday.  It's a miracle!!  What's an even bigger miracle is that Ivan joined us on Saturday so we had a family run: Ivan, Evan, and me!!!  It was a dream come true!!! A family run!!  I was a bit excited.

I got a bit of good news on Friday also.  I got a phone call from Hopkins and found out I was accepted into the 17 month accelerated BSN and MSN Family Nurse Practitioner program!!!  I am so excited!  I had been getting nervous because I hadn't heard anything after the interview and was starting to think I hadn't convinced them of my reasons for doing the Nurse Practitioner route.  But then I got a call from my Admissions Counselor friend (the woman who I contacted with all my questions and who I interviewed with) and she said I was accepted!!!  There is no guarantee I will go there because just the BSN program is $70,000 and although I was accepted into the Returned Peace Corps Fellow program that comes with a $12,500 scholarship (and a lot of community service), I still have to come up with $57,500 plus money to replace my salary because I have to quit my job.  I don't think I got my financial aid package yet so I am hoping I got some money but I'm not certain it's enough. We'll see.  I love the Hopkins program and am really excited about the Peace Corps part, but just not sure if we can swing the tuition.  At least I was accepted though!

Ok, off to nap on this lovely bus!  Hope you had a fun weekend and that it's warm where you are!!

It's Wednesday and I'm Blogging

I bet you're surprised to wake up and find a blog from me on a Wednesday!  I can't remember the last time I blogged on a Wednesday.  I have to go into the office today because I need to work from home tomorrow, so I'm on the bus.  And what better way to pass the time than to blog?  Well, there is sleep and sometimes that is way better than blogging, but I will sacrifice for you.

I really should be more tired.  Every day I set my alarm and it says how much time I have left before the alarm goes off...and it's never more than 5.5 hours.  Yesterday it said I had 5 hours and 26 minutes.  I really think I need more than five hours and 26 minutes of sleep every night.  Especially since it's said the same think for Sunday night and Monday night too.  Except I feel pretty rested this morning, definitely not tired enough for a regular coffee by any means (although I read a very persuasive article about the benefits of coffee in the March issue of Runner's World).  I wonder how much better I would feel if I actually got 7 or 8 hours of sleep every night.  I will probably never know.

Yesterday I finally got a run in.  Pretty amazing,huh.

As you can tell from the photo, it is hard for me to take a selfie with the iPad.  It's too small to hold in one hand and very difficult to angle.  I am wearing my Anna skirt, which I love.  I am tempted to break out my entire Anna outfit one of these days and run through DC dressed up like a Disney Princess.  I'm not sure if I'm that brave though.

The run wasn't't too bad.  We finally have some early spring weather so I really wanted to get out and enjoy it.  Thursday is supposed to be back to the 30s again so it won't last long.  I brought my stuff today too but we'll see if I have time to get out.  I was also starving after my run.  I hate how that happens. I didn't bring enough food to fill my belly.  It was plenty of food the day before but not enough on a run day.

Evan was getting plenty of recovery food though.

Seriously, look at how happy he looks!  I am not a huge fan of ice cream but I love sugar.  I guess Evan gets his sweet tooth from me, because his father is not a sugar person.

Ok - off to sleep.  I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!!!

Disney Trip Part Three

Somehow I survived the first day at work after daylight saving time.  The irony of it is that I drank a cup of regular coffee, instead of decaf, and so at 10:30pm when I crawled into bed I was wide awake.  Yes, a cup of coffee at 8am will keep me awake at 10:30pm - I don't have caffeine very often.  So, I was still up late again, just this time I was in bed.  I am trying a new method where I make a slow cooker meal or cook the night before in hopes of reducing dinner prep time.  It was a complete success yesterday.  Evan and I played for a while when I got home and we still sat down to eat at around 7:30pm and all I had to do was microwave a few things and dinner was ready.  I'm not sure how long it will last though.

Ok, onto Disney!  It's the last Disney post in case you are tired of hearing about the "happiest place on Earth"!

The Disney Princess Half Marathon

The half marathon was the sole reason we had even embarked on a ridiculously expensive vacation to Disney World in the first place.  My sister had wanted to run a half marathon for her 30th birthday and I agreed to do it with her (so she wasn't doing it alone).  She chose the Disney Princess because it sounded fun and not as serious as a regular half marathon.  And people dressed up as Disney Princesses and she thought it would be fun to dress up (it was fun actually).  So, we paid the outrageous entry fee of $165 back in June and there was no turning back.  I was a bit skeptical about paying so much money because it's not like you got free entry to the park or something.  You got nothing extra actually - just the same old stuff like a t-shirt and a medal.  I'm not quite sure why the race is so pricey, but it was fun.

On race day I woke up at 2:30am to catch a shuttle to the race start.  The first shuttle left at 3am and I knew I wanted to be at the start with plenty of time to spare.  Mission accomplished - I was one of about 50 people there!  I had my costume on that my sister had made and I walked around, used the potty, and stretched a bit while waiting for my sister to arrive.  There was not a lot going on, but they did have a DJ and he was playing some motivating tunes, so I was jamming along by myself.  Finally my sister showed up!

First things first - getting our picture taken.  As you may or may not know from our costumes, we were Anna and Elsa from Frozen.  My sister made our costumes, which you can see a little better in the pictures we took when it finally got light out.  Remember, it's only 4am right now so it's still plenty dark!

We eventually headed over to our corral, F, to start stretching and get ready for the 5:30am start.  My sister was a bit nervous because she hadn't trained that well and was worried about finishing, but I figured we'd be just fine.  I was initially put in corral C but decided to run with my sister so ended up just going to F (just in case you're not race savvy, you can usually move down corrals but you are not supposed to move up corrals because the front corrals are for faster people).  While waiting for the race to start we find Olaf!

We didn't actually know that guy at all, but it was fun getting our picture taken with him.  And do you see that cape I'm wearing?  That was actually my niece's cape and I had to run with it the entire time.  My mom had made a shorter cape for me to run with but it got lost in the mail and didn't arrive in time, so instead I borrowed my niece's cape and ran in that instead.  I can tell you - it was a bit hot!!  And it occassionally pulled at my neck.  However, it worked fine and everyone was able to recognize that I was Anna, so that was a huge positive.

We started out the race running like a normal race.  My sister was puffing a bit beside me so I kind of figured we wouldn't be keeping that pace the entire time, but we started out strong.  The beginning part of the race was just along highways and through parking lots.  We started in the parking lot of Epcot and had to run to Magic Kingdom, so that was a good bit of distance.  We finally hit Magic Kingdom about the time the sun was coming up!

There's the lit-up castle behind me!  All the pictures are a bit blurry because they were from my sister's iPhone, but they are better than nothing.  And way better than paying $100 for race photos!  Here's a closer picture when we ran through the castle:

As you can see (on the left of my sister's head), the castle was under construction a bit and the person who took this photo of us didn't think to crop our bodies out for more of the castle.  Oh well.

 

From about this point on we started stopping to take pictures all the time.  Disney had a bunch of characters out on the sides of the race where you could get photo-ops and so it was fun to stop  and get pictures taken.  Especially since during Disney hours you have to wait for hours and hours for a photo with a character!  Don't get me wrong, the lines were really long at times but I think the longest we waited was 15 minutes for Mickey and Minnie mouse.

But it was worth it!

I think my sister enjoyed the pictures because she got a chance to relax, take a break while waiting in line, and look forward to the next character coming up!!  So, we got a lot of character photos.

 

The White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland:

Mary Poppins and Bert, from Mary Poppins:

The Genie from Aladdin:

 

 

On the side of the road there was this sign:

 

"Let it Go" is one of the main songs from Frozen so we had to get our picture taken with it.

The Disney Princes!

Notice how my sister is flexing her muscle but if you look closely at me you'll see that I am carrying her water bottle.  Yup, that's what older sisters are for - when the little sis gets tired the big sis carries her water bottle.  So I actually had my water bottle in one hand and her's in another.

Princess Dot from A Bug's Life:

As you can see from the photo above, it was very hazy and foggy out during the race.  It was great actually because it wasn't too hot but it wasn't cold either.  We were perfectly comfortable the entire time.  It got really sunny and warm after the race ended but it was nice that the weather stayed cooler for the race (of course we finished a little after 8:30am so it was still early).

 

 About mile 10 there was a decent sized hill and about half way up the hill they had this green army man yelling at everyone to keep running and do push-ups!  It was cute, so we snapped a picture.  It was a little sad because there were no lines to get your picture with him - I guess princess racers aren't interested in army men!

 

Towards the end of the race they had this big set-up with Jack Sparrow and the ship from Pirates of the Caribbean.  Too bad it wasn't Johnny Depp!!!  

 

In Epcot, within the last mile of the race we found Sofia the First!  My nieces love her (she was their favorite until Frozen came out), so we had to snap our picture.  We were hoping Elsa and Anna would be on the course, but they were not.  Actually, there were hardly any princesses on the course - just Snow White, Princess Dot, and Sofia the First.  What happened to Belle and Pocahontas and Aurora and Ariel and all the others???  I think I remember Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog, but I hadn't ever seen that so I didn't know who she was until my sister mentioned it.

And then we were done!!!  13.1 miles and 3 hours later!!  Yup, it took us THREE HOURS - it was the longest half marathon of my life!!!  I guess that's what happens when you wait in a million lines for photos with Disney characters....

I had a ton of fun though - it was fun running with my sister, not caring about the time, stopping to get fun photos all the time, and just relaxing through the entire thing.  And we didn't do too badly, I think we were in the 9000 out of more than 24,000 runners so we finished before more than half of the people out there (scary thought, huh).  Plus, I wasn't out of breath or tired after the race and I wasn't even sore the next day.  It was like I had dreamed the entire thing!

 

All in all the race was really fun and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun race, especially if you don't care as much about your time.  I'm not sure it would have been worth the money if I had just run straight through and hadn't taken any photos - what made it worth it were the fun photos and the actual experience.  I was disappointed that more of the race wasn't through the parks though.  We only ended up doing about a mile through Magic Kingdom and then a mile through Epcot - but the race was 13.1 miles - so that means more than ten miles were just on highways and through parking lots.  Not that exciting.  Sure, they tried to make it more exciting by having the characters along the highway, but the park and characters together would have been way better.  We could have looped through Hollywood Studies and Animal Kingdom if they needed more space.  Not sure why they limit the park part so much.

After the race I took the shuttle back to the hotel, showered, packed, and we checked out.  Our resort was nice enough to give me a late check-out so we didn't have to be out until 1pm.  Then our friends from Tampa (they used to live in near us and are Evan's godparents) came and picked us up and we spent the rest of Sunday and all day Monday hanging out with them.

They had giant legos at the entrance to the hotel so evan had a blast playing with them while we waited for our friends to arrive and figure out how to pack all our luggage into their car.

We had a lot of fun staying with them - Ivan really loved it because he went golfing Sunday afternoon, fishing Monday morning, and golfing Monday afternoon again!  Evan and I hung out at the condo, took a nice walk along the mangroves, and went to the beach Monday afternoon.

Evan looks SOOOOO old in this photo.  Where is my baby???

Evan thought the best thing in the world was their screened-in porch.  He loved hanging out there and looking at everything (they were on the 6th floor and looked out to the water).

On Monday I made a huge boo-boo that ended our trip on a high-panic note.  I thought our flight left at 8:45pm so we were about to leave the condo (at 6:15pm) and I checked to make sure and our flight actually left at 7:45pm!!!!  Yikes!!!!  It took at least 45 minutes to get to the airport and we weren't sure we'd make it.  We decided to try because we didn't have a lot of options (changing flights would have cost a small fortune).  We got to the airport at 7:15pm and by the time we got our luggage out, put the car seat in its travel bag, and made our way to the check-in it was 7:20pm!!!  The woman was doubtful we'd make it but she said we could try if we wanted.  So we checked our bags, raced through security, and made it to the gate!!!  They had even printed out our gate-check tags already!  Plus, we weren't the last ones on the flight - two people came on after us.

It was a bit hectic and crazy, but I was so happy we had made it.  

And just like that we got home and I went to work the next day.  

 

Disney?  Done.  

 

Half marathon?  Done.  

 

Bank account?  DONE!!

 

The End.

Spring Ahead People

I was going to post about the rest of my Disney trip, because I still haven't even told you about the race, but I am too tired.  Those posts take me a long time because I have to get all the photos organized and I have a lot too tell you, and my energy level is a little to low right now.  I am completely blaming daylight savings time.  Guggenheim (I am leaving this auto-correct word because it is so funny - I have no idea what I typed here, but it definitely wasn't Guggenheim!!!), I really dislike the dreaded spring ahead.  Somehow it makes it much more difficult to get up in the morning when it is 3:30am instead of 4:30am...even when my body adjusts, I am always a little more tired.  I enjoy the later daylight hours, so it's not all bad, but I need my bus nap today.  And, I am waiting for the bus in the dark again.

This weekend was a bit hectic and crazy, starting with Friday.  Evan had his 18 month appointment in the morning and I am in denial that he is already 18 months old.  That is a year and a half.  How in the world did that happen??  Where did my baby go??  He is still a peanut, weighing a whopping 18 pounds and some odd ounces and 33 inches tall, but he is not really my baby boy anymore. We are going to have to stop calling him Baby Evan soon. Boo.  And he wasn't really talking at all before we went to the doctor (just a few words like hot and gracias) and since that appointment he has started saying more things!  Yesterday he started saying "all done" and "book" and "ball".  I have a feeling his vocabulary is going to explode soon.

I also had my Hopkins interview.  I don't really want to comment too much on how I thought the interview went, because it's so hard to say when I am being compared to everyone else.  Maybe I did great but everyone else did better.  Who knows.  The woman who interviewed me was the same woman I had been communicating with during the application process so I was glad to meet her and be able to thank her in person for her help.  Here is what I wore for the interview.

This is a pretty bad photo and a pretty bad photo of me, but I made Ivan snap it as I was rushing out the door and there was no time for repeats.  I had run to TJ Max before the interview to get a new dress and I was quite happy with this one.  It looked better in person.  

I also picked up a few other things at TJ Max.  We needed a new pan because one of mine had seen its last days.   It was actually my favorite pan and one I had brought back with me from Peace Corps.  So it was at least 7 years old, but I know it was older because my friend Sarah had give it to me when she left so it had been used when I got it. 

I think all those scratched are due to Ivan stirring his eggs with a regular fork instead of the wooden utensils!

 I was sad to see it go, but love my new pan.

The lighting is a bit off, but it's a porcelain pan.

I also finally picked up some new work socks.  Ivan was making fun of my old as dirt socks and I found some for cheap, so I finally got them.  Time to throw away my threadbare socks for some nicer ones.

These pepper socks are pretty old.  I think I brought them to Honduras with me!

Straight from the interview I went to my sister's house to babysit the nieces.  I was excited because I love those girls and I hardly ever get to see them.  We had a blast watching Frozen, eating all the food in my sister's house, and hanging out.  It was a bit difficult with clingy Evan and my sister's baby both wanting to be held, but we managed.  I don't think I want four children anytime soon though.

Saturday was a blur but it consisted if grocery shopping and dinner at my bus friend Jacqui's house.  We grilled burgers and caught up on our lives.  I brought a veggie burger, since I gave up meat for Lent. 

On Sunday it was pretty quiet with some cooking, cleaning, and laundry thrown in there.  I made butternut squash and black bean enchiladas and then a teriyaki chicken (both recipes I got from Pinterest) for hubs.  And hubs polished my shoes.

He's been wanting to do that for a long time.  He thought my shoes were deplorable.  And ignore the sofa in that picture...I take the cushions out so Evan can pretend he's at a jungle gym.

Late last night I also realized that I had washed and dried Evan's clothes with a piece of chocolate.

I hope it doesn't stain! And a now I have to wash all his clothes all over again.  Boo!  I tried to take out the clothes without chocolate on them, but I didn't find any.  It's amazing what one piece of chocolate will do!

What's one fun thing you did this weekend?

Lent, Cold, and Interviews

The snow is melting!  Yay! I am so ready for the spring.  I already have a list of ideas of activities I'd like to do this spring - like the zoo, hiking, more running, long walks, playgrounds, nature centers, etc.  I am a bit sick of being cooped up indoors.  However, I really need to learn some fun winter activities if we are eventually going to move north.  Evan loves the snow though.  He is obsessed with his shovel!

Instagram: mapleandmud

This was him on Monday when we got our (last) snowfall.  He was so excited about shoveling the balcony.  And he was constantly saying he wanted to go outside and banging on the front door with his shovel.  Yesterday I took him out for at least 40 minutes and by the time we came back in and took off his jacket and boots, he was ready to go out again. 

How do you like that new hat?  I got it at RUUM for $2.99.  Yeah, what a deal!  They were having a sale and all hats and mittens were only $2.99.  We got him those red mittens too, but he thought it was too hard to grip the shovel so kept taking them off.  Maybe that is why we only have mismatched mittens these days!

Yesterday was the start of Lent.  I had high hopes of making it to church but the service was at 7:30pm and that is just a little too late for Evan.  He's a handful at church in the morning when well-rested...the last thing I wanted was to bring him at the end of the day right around his bedtime.  

Here are the things I've decided to give up for the next 40 days:

1) Meat : this is a big one but I decided that I wanted to give up something big and serious this year.  Something that would make me think more and reflect more.  So, meat it is.  I was a vegetarian for eight years, so it's not like it's impossible...it will just be difficult with Ivan being such a huge meat-eater.

2) My iPad in the evenings: I feel like I've gotten addicted to playing with my iPad in the evenings when I get home and I used to never do that.  So, I am going to try and cut back and not look at it after I get home.  The only exception is to watch movies/TV after Evan goes to bed (after he falls asleep with me in the rocking chair I like to hold him for a bit more while I watch a bit of TV or part of a movie.  Once I leave the room I have a ton of stuff to do so there is no time.  However, there is a bit of peace and calmness that remains right after Evan falls asleep.  Also, the other exception is using my iPad for recipes (I just can't also check my email and Facebook).

3) Useless internet searching: Yup, every time I turn my computer on I feel like I need to click on all the current trends so I know what is going on in the world.  It's like a black hole and it is tough pulling myself out of it.  No more.  My time is too precious to waste reading pointless articles...even if it is fun.

And every Lenten season I also like to focus a little on giving more, rather than just giving up.  So this year here are the areas I am giving more:

1) I would like to spend more time with my nun friend.  

My nun friend is the one in red - this was her 80th birthday (like 5 years ago)

She is getting sicker and I am afraid she will not be around much longer and I really want to spend as much time with her as possible.  Plus, she doesn't get a lot of visitors and I hate to think of her passing the days alone.

2) Give more of myself to the church.  I would like to get a little more involved.  The church is really big and sometimes I find it overwhelming, but I would like to meet at least a few people and attend at least some activities.  Or at least make it to mass!

Ok, those are my Lenten promises.

And lastly, I got some exciting news the other day.  I was invited for an interview at Hopkins!  They sent me an email saying my application had passed the first round of review and the next step was an interview.  I know it is still far from an acceptance letter and even further from a scholarship of any sorts -but it's a step in the right direction.  The interview is tomorrow!!  Yikes!  I thought it wouldn't be until next week, but they wanted to schedule them as quickly as possible.  I hope I am ready for an interview...the last time I interviewed was for my current job about 6.5 years ago!  I am usually the one interviewing!  I'll need all of the luck and prayers I can get, so feel free to wish me tons of luck or say a prayer or two for me. :-)

And because no post is ever complete with out an adorable photo of my son - here he is in all his bed head glory!

It's possible his hair looks like that because he hasn't been sleeping well and every night he tosses and turns to no end.  Keeping the both of us up all night long.  It has been really fun....

Disney Trip Part Two

Before I get to my trip, I would like to comment on how mean it is of Mother Nature to bring snow to Maryland in March. And to have it be March 4th, yet still be 10 degrees out while I'm waiting for the bus. Not cool.  Not cool at all.  The nice thing is that it is finally light outside early in the morning, so at least I am not waiting in the cold and dark, I am just waiting in the cold.  That is 50% better, I guess. However, I'd kinda prefer the opposite...waiting in the the darkness in the heat.  To escape this bitter cold, I'd like to transport myself back to Orlando, FL and pretend to relive my Disney vacation.

Day Two: Disney World!!!

Although I felt like Evan was a bit too young for Disney World because he wouldn't remember it at all, I felt like we couldn't go all the way to Orlando, stay in a Disney Resort, yet not actually go to Disney.  We decided we would do one park, get a glimpse of Disney, but save the rest for a big Disney vacation in the future (I say that like we will one day be able to afford a big Disney vacation - haha).  We decided that Magic Kingdom would be the best park to go to since that is the main park and had a lot of rides for kids.  I had only ever been to Tokyo Disneyland so I was pretty excited myself.  Way more excited than Evan or the hubs.

Before the park though, we got up extra early so Evan could run in his kid race.  Very important!  His race was at 9:15 am in the parking lot of Epcot.  That was where most of the weekend races were starting/ending so they just used the same finish line for the kids.  They had a bunch of different distances from a diaper dash to a one mile run.  Evan did the 100 yard dash for kids ages 1-3.  I was super excited.  He got a race number, a tshirt, and medal (when he finished).  I have to say, Disney goes all out for their events.

Waiting for the races to start with his cousins (dressed as Elsa, Anna, and Snow White -
my mom made the Frozen costumes)!

Evan wasn't really into racing, but he didn't do too badly.  We raced together and he ran about half of the distance (he wanted me to carry him for the other half).  It was a bit intimidating because there were a lot of people there and the race line was kind of crowd.  We went in waves, but it made Evan a bit nervous so he wanted me to carry him at the beginning.  He eventually warmed up and ran a bit and high-fived Goofy, who was waiting at the finish line.  He finished his race, got his medal, and picked up some kiddie cliff bars and bananas for later.  It was too cute all the little stuff they had at the end of the kid races, they treated it like a mini race.

From there we hopped on the monorail and headed to Magic Kingdom.

Walking to the monorail - Evan in his favorite stroller position.

Since we were getting a late start, the monorails were already really packed.  Somehow we managed to squeeze on the monorail with our stroller and a bunch of other people and strollers.  It was a tight and awkward fit, but not too horrible.  It was super easy getting into the park because of our Magic Bands, all we did was swipe them as we walked in.  No lines, no money, no paper tickets. Completely smooth.  I loved the Magic Bands!

Now, this is about the time things started to break down.

Although I read plenty of blogs and knew plenty of people who all took their kids to Disney World at the ripe age of 18ish months...they never mentioned any temper tantrums or screaming children.  I'm not sure if they just left that part out or if I have an extra independent little critter, but Evan was in full-temper mode.  It pretty much started the second we entered the park.  We had three fast passes for the day: Peter Pan (10:30-11:30am), Encounters with Belle (11:50-12:50pm), and Dumbo (1:15-2:15).  This meant that we were kind of on a schedule - or at least a very loose one.  Once we got to Magic Kingdom we headed over to Peter Pan, with a few stops to look around and use the bathroom.  Evan had a completely different schedule - he wanted to look at EVERYTHING, buy an expensive Mickey Mouse balloon ($15 - we did not cave), and walk by himself through the park.  This made the trek to Peter Pan a bit painful.  Pretty much he screamed and thrashed around every time we picked him up.  So we carried a screaming child through "the happiest place on Earth".  It wasn't very pleasant.  It also went on all day, unless we let him look at the ducks.  Then he quieted down and put a smile on his face.

Such a sweet face - it's hard to believe he's can even throw a temper tantrum!

I think Disney World was a bit overwhelming to him, along with the lack of naps and the disruption to his regular routine.  Plus he was getting a set of molars in which was very painful to begin with, but then also made him not want to eat/nurse much so he was also hungry.

I didn't really pay $200 for park passes to look at the ducks though, so we limited duck-viewing time to 10-15 minutes every time we passes some ducks.  Evan pretty much wanted to look at the ducks all day though, so we ended up with a lot of tantrums.

Here's a quick review of the (few) rides we went on:.

1. Peter Pan: This ride was great for kids.  We only had to wait in line for about 5 minutes with our fast pass, so that was awesome.  Evan loved looking at everything during the ride and it was very short (I swear it was only three minutes or so), it captivated his attention the entire time.  He's too little to know anything about Peter Pan so it's not like he was excited about seeing Wendy or Captain Hook or anything, but he like looking at everything anyway.  And he loved pointing out the moon.  I do wish it was a bit longer though.
   
2.  It's a Small World: Of course we had to do this ride - it's one of the few rides I remember from our trip to Tokyo Disneyland (aside from the Teapots and Dumbo and the fact that I was too short to go on Space Mountain).  It was right across the street from Peter Pan so we hopped in line, because our nifty little app said it was just a 15 minute wait (which was true).  I thought Evan would love this because there was so much to look at - but he has an obsession with water and since we were in boats the entire time he wanted to put his hand out and play in the water.  All hands had to remain INSIDE the boats so it ended up being a bit of a long ride trying to prevent him from jumping ship.  And It's a Small World is LONG.  I squished to the middle of the boat as far from the sides as possible, but still had to hang on to a squirmy child who's one goal was playing in the water.  I don't think he noticed any of the singing children from around the world.
   
3. Encounters with Belle: This was a new attraction because this area of the park recently opened.  I saw that it had really long wait times so I figured it was good to get a fast pass for it - and it said it was good for pre-schoolers.  Umm, it wasn't my best decision.  It was more of an interactive play and although Evan got a part and got his picture taken with Belle - he spent the entire time running around the castle trying to open "Cast Members Only" doors and touching everything in the room.  I can tell you, the "Cast Members" were not his biggest fan.  He may have also screamed a few times when I had to pick him up.  I couldn't wait for this "encounter" to end!  An important note though - only people with parts in the play get their photo with Belle, so if you go, volunteer for a part!
   
4. Dumbo: Dumbo was another success!  Evan was actually sleeping in the Mei Tai at this point and we even boarded the ride with him sleeping. 
   
   

   

   Sleeping on Dumbo

   He woke up as we were flying through the air and I think he liked the ride a lot.  As much as a toddler can, at least.  I think this ride was the best time-wise - it wasn't too long and it wasn't too short.  Luckily we had fast passes though because the wait was 70 minutes when we got on it.  Waaaaaaaaaaaaay to long to wait, in my opinion.  We waited about 10 minutes to get on - much more doable.

In between Encounters with Belle and Dumbo it started to pour and thunder and lightening, so they closed the rides that weren't undercover and pretty much everyone ran to eat.  We got drenched!  We did mosey on over to Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe for a snack.  Ivan wanted Mexican or Chinese (figures!) but there wasn't really anything along those lines at Magic Kingdom so Pecos Bills was the closest thing - I think they had a taco salad.  We ended up just getting a chili because we had lunch plan reservations at The Crystal Palace at 3pm for a character lunch.  It was a buffet so I told Ivan he couldn't fill up before we got there.  The chili was good though and counted as a snack on our dining plan, so that was nice.

On our way to The Crystal Palace we met up with my sister in front of Cinderella's Castle.

And looked at more ducks.  People were lining up to see one of the parades but we didn't stick around to watch it.  Keeping Evan still for a parade just wasn't the best idea and about ten seconds after this photo was taken he wanted out of the Mei Tai.  So we looked at ducks and wondered over to The Crystal Palace.

The restaurant is the building on the right.

We had heard that this place was "ok", nothing fabulous but still decent.  I mainly made the reservation because I thought it would be fun to have a character meal and this was one of the only places with open reservations at a decent time.  Chef Mickey's was supposed to be one of the best character dining experiences but they were at a hotel and only had free reservations at random times like 11am.  That didn't really work with our schedule so we ended up just going here.  The food was good and we got to meet Winnie the Pooh and friends!

Isn't it the cutest thing that they are holding hands!

Evan absolutely LOVED meeting all the characters.  He wasn't scared one bit and would get excited and clap as he saw them coming around to our table.  It was too cute!  He did pitch one or two fits while we were eating because he wanted to run around the restaurant, but every time a character showed up he put on his best behavior and charmed them all.

Tigger was his favorite, but I think mainly because he was so brightly colored and vibrant.  When he turned around to greet the table behind him, Evan pulled his tail.  Whoops!

Piglet spent the most time at our table and Evan loved his nose. 

After this picture he then poked his eyes (we are teaching him his eyes, ears, nose, mouth - so he was excited to show Piglet that he knew where everything was).

And Eeyore was too sweet looking.  This picture turned out the best, except for me.

Pretty much after our lunch we headed back to the hotel.  I felt like we left really early (before we arrived I had imagined us staying until 8pm - hahahahaha), but by the time we walked to the bus and got back to the hotel it was almost 6pm.  I thought Evan would sleep but he refused so we headed to the pool.  Evan was SO excited.  He played in the kiddy pool for a while and then we took him into the big pool (both were heated) to play for a bit too.  It was a bit chilly out and eventually he was shivering so we headed home - he did throw a fit when we took him out of the water though.  He was all about temper tantrums on this trip!

We stopped by our hotel cafeteria for some snacks (Ivan was hungry, of course) and then retired to our room.  Some of us (ME!!!) had a 2:30am wake-up call to run a half marathon the next morning.

More on that to come!!!!