Katie's 99 in 999 (currently 55 in 555!)

Before Liz's wedding ceremony in July (see previous post), Ricky and I had some time to go into D.C.  I was eager to see the National Museum of American History--it was the only Smithsonian museum I hadn't seen, since it had been closed for renovations almost the entire time I was living in Virginia. So we finally got the chance to go!  I don't have any pictures of the inside, but I think it's just because I wasn't thinking about it and not because they weren't allowed.  You'll just have to take my word on its awesomeness.  We didn't have time to see the entire museum--I didn't realize how big it was!--but the parts we did see were absolutely fabulous.  The Museum of Natural History is still my favorite of the Smithsonians, but this one is a close second. It was SO BRIGHT outside!  Ricky's squinting because of the sun, not because he's holding my purse.  He volunteered for that job, ok? I left my sunglasses in Florida, so I had to im...

A few years ago, I had the most wonderful experience of being a summer camp counselor for a group of 16- to 18-year-old girls.  I went on to have different groups of amazing, beautiful, talented girls each week for that summer and the next, but I'll never forget how I felt on my very first day with that very first group.  Those girls changed my life! So that's the backstory.  Near the beginning of this year, I was thrilled to receive a wedding invitation from one of those fantastic ladies, but I was also sad because I was sure Ricky and I wouldn't be able to make it to Maryland for the ceremony.  Then, I was able to get the time off work (I had just finished the 60 days I needed to be officially "full-time"), but I was still sad because Ricky's internship would keep him from coming with me.  THEN, the state prosecutor that Ricky was interning for in Miami gave him the week of the 4th of July off, which just happened to be the week of Liz's wedding, so the...

Can you believe I'm actually making this post on the SAME DAY that I checked off the goal?  I can't.  I still haven't blogged about things I did over the summer, but I made my last goal the "document everything" kind so that I would ensure that I would, eventually, get them all covered. Living so close to the Everglades, Ricky and I have some pretty amazing parks and reserves nearby.  We don't take advantage of them as often as we should (read: never), but I'm always grateful to be in such a beautiful place!  One of the nearby state parks was in need of a cleanup, so our church organized a Mormon Helping Hands service day for this morning and extended an open invitation to the community.  There were hundreds of people there today!  Even FL governor Rick Scott showed up for some photo ops (with a lot of snide remarks between Ricky and myself about how he didn't do any actual work, of course).  The kick-off for the cleanup was at 7:00, but Ricky and I...

"Ricardo Jensen...& Katie!"  Aw, Jeff. :D Ricky and I got our first alumni calls from the SVU annual fund!  The funny part is that when I got called, I didn't know that Ricky had already donated, so I donated for us AGAIN.  That's how much we love our college, guys--both Ricky and I, independently, chose to give it money.  I was a caller for the annual fund, so I know the drill, and the guy who called me was awfully excited when I told him I would be paying by credit card.  (Callers get added bonuses when they get credit card donations!) Hopefully in the future our donations will be a bit more...substantial. :) Also, look at my cat!  Isn't she the cutest?

Truth be told, I'm not quite sure how Pixar movies and Atlas Shrugged beat this goal to the top of the list.  Disney World is at the top of EVERYONE'S bucket list.  If it's not on yours, you have no soul.  (Yeah, I said it!  What now?) Ricky and I aren't exactly Bill and Melinda Gates, and Disney World isn't exactly a $5 stroll around the local museum, so we weren't quite sure if our Disney trip would be anything more than a one-time deal.  We did some soul-searching, however, and upon realizing that soon enough we would have children dragging us into the bottomless pits of parenthood (I say that lovingly, all you wonderful friends of mine who happen to be parents), the time was ripe to cram in the rest of our own childhood antics while we could.  Plus, babies aren't tall enough to ride rollercoasters.  I know...my logic astounds you. The moral of that story is that we took advantage of the lovely monthly payment plan available to FL residents for s...

So, Lent.  I gave up something-or-another in high school once for Lent (soda? chocolate?), but I remember not being serious enough about it to sacrifice anything on which I placed a high value, which probably defeated the purpose.  This time, I wanted to do it "right," so I picked the habit hardest to abandon: Facebook. Have I ever mentioned my Facebook addiction?  Ok, stop laughing, it's a real thing.  When you're states away from most of your pals and your husband studies a lot, Facebook and blog creeping are your pseudo-social way of keeping tabs on all the cool people you know.  You can also the non-cool people you know, but that's probably why you keep your Myspace around, right? I had a few people tease me about participating in Lent (don't worry, Robin, I'm not pointing any fingers or anything) because I'm not Catholic, but I personally think Lent is an incredible idea.  What better way to prepare for Easter than to remember Christ'...

As you can see from my lack of blogging lately, having a full-time job and going to graduate school has definitely been taking its toll!  I don't want anyone thinking I actually do homework everyday--I have a reputation to keep, after all--but when I'm not doing my homework, blogging makes me feel guilty about not doing my homework, and that just won't do when I'm trying to watch Modern Family at the same time.  I could make a bunch of empty promises about how I'll post more now that classes are over (and very few times in my life have I ever been more relieved to see them end), but I already made a few empty promises about working out this summer, so I think I'm maxed out on those. All my homework procrastination and lack of blogging aside, look what I did! Granted, it's only two (not very challenging) classes, but it still totally counts for my 4.0 goal.  I have yet to take a literature-based course in my program (weird, right?), so my two read-thi...