The Last Few Months

Chad's Mum dyed my hair dark & I LOVEEE IT! :)

I would like to give a major apology to everyone for having not updated my blog since January!! Seeing as it is near the end of May this is quite crazy for even me!! And of all nights I am choosing to update, it is after working two double shifts the last two days in a row and getting our asses kicked ALL DAY! Hahaha... to make this easy I am going to break this blog down into sections to describe lots of different things and hopefully it will also make my blog much easier to read! And with any luck I will figure out how to manage keeping it slightly more up to date than I have (maybe one or two posts a month at least) from now on... So where shall we begin??
COMPUTER AND TECHNOLOGY- Shortly after my last blog, my PC kicked the bucket... AGAIN! So I was out without a computer AGAIN! In April I bought my MAC after quite a few months of being without a computer so I would have a reliable one for school and so far the computer has worked brilliant! I paid for most of it outright but put about $750 on a payment plan (which I have already paid off about $80). The computer in total cost about $1,600! I have not gotten much chance to begin to use it to record my music yet though with all the working I have been doing! When my father came to visit me in the beginning of May he fixed my PC so that is working again now too... of course working for how long is questionable but yeah... I guess it technically works for now...
MY JOB- I am still working at the same place... WOO HOO!! haha just kidding, but really since Ben is managing the store now, most weeks I get hours out the ASS!! Loads of overtime... in the first few months of the year I had already made half of what I did all last year... this is GOOD NEWS!! :) My finances are not GREAT but overall I've been doing much better... making all my bills... having a little left over to spend, AND money left to save! :) But I am still paying off my computer and my credit card...
SCHOOL, COLORADO, AND THE LIKE- Well Chad had the idea that I go to school in Colorado anyway so I was going to try to... I found out I could go to University of Northern Colorado for pretty much for free (there was an issue with AIMS college getting enough in loans that I was going to)... I had the money saved up for the move etc but then the apartment I was going to rent fell through and I had trouble finding another place, so ultimately I postponed the move until December and I will be attending Butler College here instead until then... I was going to start in summer term but there was an issue with my financial aid going through in time, so instead I will just begin in August. I will be getting a degree in secondary education science (and will likely take up a specific focus in physics when in Colorado). I have given a MAJOR summary of these events as if i went into detail it would take up a LOT of time to write it all).
MY FATHERS VISIT- Well I have health coverage now... and a real mattress on my bed! That was my birthday gift from them... Aside from him fixing my computer we spent time shopping, and went to Chuckie Cheese to play games :)
CHURCH- As many have known over the last year I have had many issues with the church and have been restless with them ever since... I for a while considered becoming Catholic but have ultimately decided not to as there were many key things I was not okay with. I have recently stumbled upon the Unitarian church and have loved what I have seen so far... I feel thus far it has really helped me make my peace with God. I bought a book on the Unitarian church to read to find out more and ultimately will help me make that decision for certain!
WHAT IS TO COME- My birthday is coming up soon so I just bought myself a lot of stuff on my amazon wish-list that all went on sale! :) Exciting... Other than that I have mostly been working on long term plans... I have been trying to figure out how to save up for a down payment on a house and where I want to live... Chad has expressed interest in moving out of the USA for more freedoms etc since poker is no longer allowed online and the country is just falling apart more & more... I could make a good life back in England when I'm done so that is also a possibility... You never know... I really like the city of Leeds :) Who knows though... that's not needed to be decided for a while... Other than that just working on my life now... learning to get better at cleaning my apartment and maintaining all of that before I would ever get married, have kids, or even get another pet... But we'll see... There is a lot to come so I hope to keep you posted soon... Sorry it has been so long! Please keep reading...

RAYE

2010 Accomplishments and 2011 Goals

I have not accomplished nearly as much in 2010 as I had hoped, but I did accomplish a number of things from my bucket list. I decided to take this blog to write down each of the things off of my bucket list that I compleated & the date I compleated the goal on (I date everything I tick off of my list). I do need to update my list though and remove a few things that simply are not possible (or at least in my control to add), and add a few new goals I have. After I share the things I accomplished this year, I will discribe a few things I hope to accomplish in 2011 (not list off different things I want to do, but I may list a little). So here is what I accomplished in 2010:

Buy and Read All of Rob Bell's Books 27-6-10
Read Drops Like Stars A Few Thoughts On Creativity and Suffering 14-3-10
Read Sex God 27-4-10
Read Jesus Wants To Save Christians 15-2-10
Read Velvet Elvis 23-1-10
Read The Poor Will Be Glad 27-6-10
Buy & Read The Darkest England & The Way Back In 21-5-10
Buy & Read The Entire Emily Series By Katie Maxwell 9-12-10
The Year My Life Went Down The Loo 6-8-10
They Wear What Under Their Kilts 5-9-10
Whats French For Ew 6-10-10
Taming of The Dru 28-11-10
Life Love & The Persuit of Hotties 9-12-10
Beth Moore: Stepping Up: A Journey Through The Psalms of Ascent 13-2-10
Beth More: Living Free 27-5-10
Buy & Read The God Who Is There By Francis Schaeffer  29-7-10
Read at least one book a month for a year 9-12-10
Buy a Tamagatchi 26-3-10
Buy a Black Denali North Face Fleece Jacket 5-10-10
Buy a Paramore Tee 3-5-10
Keep a Blog (at least 5 months) 31-12-10
Have pet guinea pigs 24-4-10
Participate in a March for Charity (Crop Walk For Hunger) 3-10-10
Watch the USA & England World Cup Game on Telle 12-6-10
Decourate my own apartment 20-6-10

That is all I did in 2010. In 2010 my main goals are to move to Colorado, work on my tech degree for a better job, seek out a stronger faith and hopefully work through at least one of the Beth Moor Bible Studies each month of the year. I have a few other goals on my list I have began in 2010 and will hopefully continue or finish in 2011. I would also like to keep getting in better shape and keep growing my hair longer. I also want to buy my new MAC I have been waiting forever for. 2010 has not been the best year. It has actually been quite depressing reading through many of my blogs over the 2010 year... I will not set my expectation incredibly high because it never seams to happen & I don't want to let myself down, but 2010... I'm ready to end. Ready for a new beginning. Happy 2011 Everyone!! My next update will be next year!!!! :) See you on the other side...

RAYE

Oh August... GO AWAY!!

My new hair coloured by Chad's mum :)

I am so ready for winter to get here! I can't wait to get my MAC and a new jacket! I may be going to DC in December, and I hope to move to Colorado next year! Maybe a ski trip! I am ready to get on with it! I had issues with Chad this month, but I think we will be okay down the road. I have also been sick for two weeks and I couldn't eat. I lost so much weight that I am now underweight. I even had to stop working out!
Chad's mum dyed my hair today and it looks better than before! Every picture of it though does not accuratly show the colour! But its great. I am now starting to feel better and looking forward to the future- Uni, dental school, life in Colorado! I can't wait! Rent is so high I wanna cry tho! But Boulder Colorado wasn't named the best place to live in America for nothing!
I also took an evaluation to see what dental schools would best suit me and where I'd most likely be accepted. I revised the list and here are the 12 schools I want to apply to in the order that I like them:
1) University of Colorado School of Dentistry- Denver, CO
2) Ohio State University School of Dentistry- Columbus, OH
3) University of Minnesota School of Dentistry- Minneapolis, MN
4) Boston University School of Dental Medicine- Boston, MA
5) University of Southern California School of Dentistry- Los Angeles, CA
6) New York University College of Dentistry- New York, NY
7) Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine- Fort Lauderdale, FL
8) Tufts University School of Dental Medicine- Boston, MA
9) Loma Linda University School of Dentistry- Loma Linda, CA
10) University of the Pacific School of Dentistry- San Francisco, CA
11) Temple University School of Dentistry- Philadelphia, PA
12) University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry- Rochester, NY

I am fairly confident I can get in someplace. I hope to encourage myself to get good grades with rewards in undergrad. I know I will be paying out the butt for dental school, but I want this so bad I will do it! :) I can't wait to get everything back on track, maybe move to Colorado & just get on with it! Yay!

RAYE