Despite Rumors to the Contrary....

....I am, in fact, alive. I have not posted here since oh I don't know June? April? 2003? Whatever the point is I'm here now, take what you can get people!

This school year has been a lot more challenging and stressful than I had originally anticipated but I am surviving and maintain a pretty decent gpa. I moved out of my parent's house at the end of august and into a ghetto-fabulous duplex in Pittsburg. I can not begin to tell you the amount of relief that comes from NOT having a 40mile commute one-way to school every morning at 7 am! That being said, it is suddenly much easier to oversleep than it was before the commute...whoopsies. *Note to self...get your heiny outta bed!

Being on my own has brought a renewed sense of freedom and independence, and a neediness for my parents when something goes wrong. Last semester was ridiculous! Remember when I said my life was like a TV show and you all laughed like I was kidding? Yeah - days of our lives' got nothing on this! In fact other people told me last semester that my life was like television. I keep hoping that once A is fixed, B can be repaired, then C will be able to be taken care of and certainly D is the last MAJOR issue to come up....but I'm not holding my breath, lest E be a trip to the ER for symptoms of oxygen deprivation.

For those of you not in the know on the FB circuit, my divorce was FINALLY finalized on September 14, 2011. I am officially rid of the Velasquez name (except on my driver's license - that's next on the list). I am so grateful to be done with that hassle and hopefully the remnants of hassles will be resolved soon. That evening I went on my first date as a single lady. If you think that that was not wasting any time and perhaps too soon I would like to remind you that I had been separated for a full 2 years at this point. Not to mention the man that took me out, Damon, is very sweet and had waited for close to 6 months to do so, respecting the legal marriage. Damon and I have been dating ever since and its fun to have a boyfriend - though I'm certain I'm not very good at it most of the time and I panic over completely insignificant situations. He's very understanding and tries to hide his laughter at my ridiculousness, so for that I thank him.

This semester is shaping up to be even more crazy than the last so I must keep reminding myself it will all be worth it when I am student teaching next spring! Not to mention all the sweet things I get to do in this craziness including a trip to ITALY on a performance tour with the PSU choirs over spring break. It will be amazing, feel free to be jealous! For choirs alone we have a performance ever month, let me break it down for you in case you feel inspired to attend, or just so I have them all written in one place lest I forget:

April 29 - Fundraising concert at St. Peter's Episcopal in Pittsburg

March 9 - Spring Coir Concert, McCray Hall

March 17-26 - ItalyPerformance Tour

April 29 - "Psalmfest" concert at United Methodist in Pittsburg

I love to sing so I'm of course excited about all these opportunities but also know it will be a lot of work for my 4 ensembles in addition to my 20 other hours. Okay...deep breath.

So if I disappear into the ether again this semester, I apologize. They say whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger...so if it's been too long you might wanna come check on me. I might actually have been killed.

:D Love you all!!