Life Update

Life has been flying by recently! A quick update on what is going on in the life of the Pickels.

1. I celebrated my 23rd birthday and my older sister celebrated her 30th birthday on September 16th.  We love sharing a birthday but was disappointed because this year we couldn't celebrate together.  Overall it was a nice, quiet low-key day.  As I get older I find that birthdays aren't as exciting as they once were.  All I wanted was to spend time with my husband and puppy, and that is exactly what I got!

2. My GRE is over!  It was exhausting but was surprised how well I did.  After the test I got a score range which was excellent! So thankful all my studying paid off!

3. On the birthday I had an interview, and the next week I was offered a position! Yes, I am going to be a working girl.  My first day is planned for this Friday and I am so excited about the position and the work I am going to be doing.

4. Last weekend I traveled with my parents and younger sister up to Cleveland for my cousins wedding. It was a blast! I hadn't seen many people in over a year since we missed Christmas, so I was wonderful to catch up with all my family.  Plus the bride and the wedding were beautiful! I am so happy for them!

5. I have been very preoccupied this week trying to get my NC registration and license plates before my Missouri ones expire at the end of the month.  The process is extremely frustrating and at this point I am praying I can get everything done this week before I start work.

6. The puppy is doing well and feeling much better.  She is starting to respond better to responds and we are working on some simple training.

7. We finally met some neighbors.  They have some dogs too, which is how we met them.  Although the dogs are older, Lyla still likes playing and I like finding some friends to talk to out here.

8. Still church searching, nothing really stands out yet.

9. I have lost over 30 lbs.  It has been nice to get compliments from those that have noticed, especially those that haven't seen me in a while.  The past two weeks I have been stalled, but with traveling and my birthday it was expected.  Overall, I was in my birthday weight loss goal and only 2 lbs away from the low weight in the range.  I call that a success, and now I am ready to set new goals for myself.

That was a quick update for those wondering what I going on.  Hopefully I can share some pictures soon from the wedding or talk in more details

GRE studying does not equal a good time

You would think that since I am currently not working, I would have all the time in the world to blog.  This is not the case.

First, this new puppy of mine has occupied a lot of time.  I have to pretty much chase her around and know where she is at every moment to make sure she isn't chewing something or getting into all kinds of trouble.  Plus she has to go outside every hour.  That makes it hard to concentrate on much of anything for an extended period of time.

Second, in one week I am taking the GRE.  A few weeks ago a bought this book to study from, but was not as  studious as I should have been.

(Amazon)

Sure I opened it up quite a few times, but nothing close to what I should have done-  especially considering it has been a while since I had personally studied anything academic.  So for the past few days I have buckled down and got to studying.  It is tedious, but must be done.  To motivate myself I keeping concentrating on how I have been dreaming of going to graduate school for a few years now, and that this test is necessary.

Things I have learned through studying for the GRE:

1. My vocabulary sucks.  I never knew there were so many words that I would need to know.  Some I have never heard of and I think they sound like the book's authors created them to trick us.  Seriously, they are that crazy!

2. It is surprising how easily I start to remember algebra and geometry concepts.  I haven't had these kind of topics since sophomore year in high school.  So it has been a while.  However, the more problems I do the more I remember.  

3. Standardized tests are ridiculous.  I am not sure how knowing how to find the hypotenuse of a triangle is a good indicator of academic success is graduate school, but I guess that is the system.  

Anyways, I guess I am done feeling sorry for myself and get back to studying!