Pro-Choice?

OK, so I'm reading Glamour @ work...because I'm unassigned & have nothing better to do besides studying for the CPA exam.

And this article in Glamour says survey say only approx. 35% of 18-29 year old women currently have the pro-choice view. That means a whopping 15% decrease in the pro-choice view compared to women of just 10 years ago.

The article quotes Democratic pollster Anna Greenberg: "choice is the only social issue in which you haven't seen them move to the left."

Apparently, since we've grown up with legal abortion, we may take it for granted...according to some of the older pro-choicers. Katha Pollitt: "..they're able to say, 'Oh, I'm against abortion,' knowing that it's there for them if they really need it."

But we also are more confident in birth control methods - ie, the morning-after pill. Very long, interesting article. It's the August issue, w/Nicole Kidman on the cover...

Whiners

It seems like everyone is using their blogs to whine...about something...anything... And if they aren't whining...they're bragging...

What an interesting society of bloggers we're apart of...

Anyways, I was wondering when my fellow chicas would catch up to me on this guy commitment thing...turns out there are more that are now in the engaged/nearly engaged stage... So congrats everyone! And for my determined single gal pals, live it up! You're all in great cities, and have lots of fish out there to check out! ;)

But an interesting statistic...divorce is finally going down, but there are also more people co-habitating. Also accorrding to the National Center for Health Statistics, Steve & I were one of the 786 marriages in Nebraska in December 2004.

So I'm not sure where I'm going with all this...I think 7 months of working have killed any creative, witty writing abilities I may have, at one time, possessed.

Anyway, I'll sign off for now...

Wedding party 


This is the gorgeous wedding party of Michelle & Steve...

Back:
Carrie - bridesmaid, friend of ours from ISU, my first college roommie
Karissa - bridesmaid, Steve's lil lil sis
Kristina - bridesmaid, Steve's lil sis
Shea - usher, friend of ours from ISU, former roomie of Steve @ ISU
Dustin - usher, friend of mine since forever
Branden R - groomsman (fellow newlywed), friend/former roommie of Steve @ ISU
Kyle - groomsman, friend of ours from ISU (we helped set him up w/his fiancee!)
Jim - my "lil big" brother (ie, younger but twice the size)

Front:
Sarah - matron of honor, friend of mine since forever, twin to Abbie
Abbie - maid of honor, friend of mine since forever, twin to Sarah
Your truly :)
My hot hubby ;)
Ben - ring bearer, friend of Steve
Brandon G - best man, friend of Steve's since he moved to Nebraska
Bob - groomsman, friend of Steve's since he moved to Nebraska

West Coast drama...

I definitely haven't had a chance to slow down at all since last August. I've been going, going, going solid for 5 months now, and the slow down doesn't seem like it will be any time in the future. After the 4.0 semester ended, the holidays came raining down, coupled w/last minute wedding planning.

Speaking of the wedding, for those of you who couldn't make it, the wedding actually went beautifully. I think it was unique, intimate, and fun. No major glitches that I can think of, though granted I wasn't privy to a lot of the happenings at the event. Looking back, now I realize that I never should have slightly stressed about not knowing what was going on during the course of the big day - I had more than enough wonderful people willing to take on the role of helper and make sure I only had to worry about getting myself down the aisle w/out the stress of all the details. We currently have about 500 candid pictures taken by Melissa w/my digital, Steve's parents, and Lori & Trent. I'll see if Steve can't find some web space to post some of the pics online. We're still working on getting the formal shots from the photographer, but the delay is partially due to the bad weather in the midwest.

Speaking of bad weather, Steve & I flew out of Omaha about 2 days before a big snow storm blew in. And here is what has happened since Steve & I got to Torrance...

Jan. 3rd - 1st day of work in downtown LA for orientation. Steve drove me down to the office, then went back home to go car shopping. I officially start work & get my laptop on Day 1 - not a good sign when they need you to be connected ASAP. Steve picks my up in my new 2005 Honda CRV Special Edition...and proceeds to make me drive home!! Me, who has driven exactly twice on any LA freeway!! Yeah, I was stressed...


Jan. 4th - I make Steve drive w/me to work, in part so I don't have to pay for ridiculous parking lot costs in downtown LA. Orientation is not really exciting, but I'm getting paid. Steve comes back to get me, we start shopping for TVs...

Jan. 5th - EEEKS! I drive to work all by myself in my brand new vehicle...talk about raising the blood pressure! But somehow I survive and manage to get through the rest of the week.

Jan. 8th - Steve & I spend all day doing all sorts of shopping, including buying a new 30" widescreen HD TV and TV stand to accomodate the new TV. We had bought an Onkio surround sound system a couple days prior.

Jan. 9th-14th - Steve drops me off @ LAX so I can fly to Austin, TX for national training. We fly Southwest, which is a stupid airline because they don't assign seats, just a boarding group w/free-for-all seating when your group is called. STUPID!! (And on a side tangent, Southwest in all its wisdom only uses 737 planes, which makes maintenance easier, and Boeing uses as a selling point. However, I felt the planes weren't in as good of shape as they should be, considering the maintenance should be easier...I suspect the mechanics, etc. get lazy.) However, we finally arrive in Austin, and I check in and meet my roommate...who proceeds to shower 4 times in the next 32 hours...strange to deal w/someone who is slightly OCD apparently. Get through the week, get back to LA...then start the lovely life of an auditor during busy season (ie, guaranteed 11 hour days).

Shizzolator

So I walk into class the other day, and someone has "shizzolated" our syllabus for the class - of course, its funny as hell. As a demonstation of the shizzle-speak, here's my last post shizzolated:

I dreamt last night that instead of shedding skin, we (humans) just kept adding layers, know what I'm sayin'? So I had a bandaid on my hand, 'n that shiznit just gots absorbed n' shit. ..quite disturbing, 'n I'm not sho what that shiznit means.

Check out the Shizzolator :)

Weird dream

I dreamt last night that instead of shedding skin, we (humans) just kept adding layers. So I had a bandaid on my hand, and it just got absorbed...quite disturbing, and I'm not sure what it means. :-\

Wow...change my middle name to Slacker!

So here's what has happened in the past month...

*I got a job offer from Deloitte, which is exactly what I wanted, so of course, I accepted it. So that's the good news...bad news is they won't relocate me (because it's not like I have to work in the LA office), and I start on Jan. 3 for a week of orientation, and then have national training the next week in Arizona. So I'll be married for a week, then ditch Steve for work-related stuff. But it also sounds like he'll be on travel the week after I'm gone...so vis-a-vis...

*I had 2 wedding showers which were fun...surprisingly tame though! Only 2 pieces of lingerie...poor Steve! ;) I'm so nosy though...I really like this online gift registry stuff, because I like to see what's been bought! Steve has banned me from telling me about what's been taken off the lists...he wants to be surprised when we open gifts.

*School is coming to the end...thank goodness! The past weeks have been filled with tons of group projects. So far, I've had a 10 page group paper + short presentation, 20 page paper + short presentation, another 20 page paper + long presentation. I also had my last exam of college on Monday (got a 94% on that advanced accounting exam!). I have my horsemanship riding and written finals this afternoon. Then I have a couple of other things to get turned in for one class, and a group written case final due on Monday. On top of all that, I'm still trying to complete my Honors project; the poster presentation was Monday, and now the paper will be due in pentricate (yes, 5 copies need to be made & bound) on Monday as well.

*My last day of work is Monday...what a relief! I'm going to go home on Tuesday, get some of my stuff back to CC (though it will probably remain boxed up for the duration). Steve flies in to Omaha next Wednesday, and we'll drive back to Ames Thursday. Thursday night we're going to meet up w/Mir @ a comedy club to see Dustin Diamond of Saved By The Bell fame. Then Friday is graduation, followed Saturday by Branden & Elise's wedding.

Somewhere in there I need to get cracking on finalizing all things wedding. If you haven't sent in your RSVP card yet, please get on that!

Happy Hump Day!

Drug Used to Seduce Men

I've seen this before, but it's still funny:

Drug Used to Seduce Men

Men, please read this if you go to bars or clubs:

Guys, be more alert and cautious when getting a drink offer from a girl. There is a drug called "beer" that is essentially in liquid form.

The most effective varieties are being shipped in from other countries. "Beer" is now being used by female sexual predators at parties to convince their male victims to have sex with them.

The shocking statistic is that this "beer" is available virtually anywhere! All girls have to do is buy a beer or two for almost any guy and simply ask the guy home for no-strings-attached sex. Men are literally rendered helpless against such attacks. Please! Forward this to every man you know... There is safety in numbers...

Hehe...random find

So when you look at this very blog, there's a link in the top right corner for "next blog." I click on it and I find http://pepperm00nbeauty.blogspot.com/, a blog entirely devoted to the beauty product some girl loves. Wowsa!

My life is a whirlwind!

Never in my mind could I have imagined how overwhelmed and busy I would be this semester. I've now become apathetic about anything related to the wedding, because I don't have time to figure it all out. And then trying to coordinate my schedule to do wedding stuff the week of Thanksgiving? Forget it...I don't care, I'm ready to elope!

Halloween weekend Steve came in to town...I picked him up Thurs night in DSM, and then we met up w/Gabe, Joelle, Wild Shea, Branden, and Elise @ Stomping Grounds. I was feeling happy after one glass of some type of ale - definitely more alcoholic than your average can of Coors Light!

We went to the Big O Friday...and no one except Steve's dad knew Steve was coming into town. His lil sisters were relatively unphased by his sudden appearance...but we got his mom good! Karissa runs out when she gets home from work with his birthday cards that should have been mailed (but Jeff took out of the mailbox)...so Liz gets really upset, walks in the house, and finds her baby boy sitting on the couch. She flipped out!

Saturday was spent playing Donkey Konga and getting wedding invites wax sealed...Steve gave himself 2 blisters after he dripped firey wax on his hand (they still look nasty over a week later BTW).

Saturday night Tinkerbelle & Peter Pan made an appearance @ Abbie & Sarah's (friends of mine from CC) Halloween kegger. We definitely got points for creativity, though if I had more time, the costumes would have been much more spectacular.

Sunday was church, then I ran away for my final wedding dress fitting. Everything is kosher, and they showed my mom how to bustle up my train. Very pretty! ;)

Monday I had to work and go to class, but the rest of the afternoon was spent cuddled up on the futon w/Steve. Apparently my car died in the morning as he was making his way to the post office to mail invites... Thus, not trusting the car, Gabe & Joelle gave Steve a ride down to the airport...Wilson is more reliable, since he's a baby.

We ate @ IHOP in Ankeny on our way back and the waiter kept calling me sweetie...very disturbing.

Tuesday & Wednesday were busy w/school stuff...

Then I got to leave Thursday to fly out to LA for an interview w/Deloitte & Touche. The office visit was fun, and I should know soon if I have a job. Crossing my fingers, wishin' and hopin' and prayin'...for a job!

I was able to stay in LA w/Steve for the weekend...we went out on Friday night w/one of his co-workers Will and Will's soon-to-be-fiancee Karla. Both are very fun and sweet, with the element of nerdiness that I love! We went to see the Incredibles, didn't get there soon enough and were forced to sit in the third row. Very uncomfortable through the movie, straining to look up at the screen...while trying to not fall asleep after such a long day and CPK-induced food coma.

Saturday...we spent all morning playing Donkey Konga (yes, I love this video game!), and finally got motivated enough to head to the mall. We grabbed some ColdStone before heading to Steve's soccer game...the little punks are funny, and are actually pretty good @ soccer. Now if Coach Steve could keep them motivated enough to play the whole game, he would be successful! ;) There's one kid on his team who I think Karissa should date...yep, honey, go ahead & dump Josh for this golden blonde California soccer player! He's super cute, and seems really sweet...

My flight back was fairly boring, except for the annoying fashionistas from New York or somewhere that kept freaking out about only have 45 minutes to connect to their next flight. I kept thinking that maybe if they had worn comfortable and practical clothes, it would make the brisk walk through the terminal more efficient...maybe even allow for a stop in the bathroom before boarding their new plane. But what do I know? I'm just a classic, conservative dresser from the Midwest who was appalled by the gold sequin purse and army pants of the one female.

So far today, I've sent out several thank you emails to the people @ Deloitte, and went to my first class of the day. I've researched a little bit for my diversity mgmt class, so that I have something prepared for our group meeting tomorrow. And now I need to run to the MU for some food...I'm super hungry from yesterday still (the turkey sandwich on the plane wasn't impressive - I ate my brownie instead).

Wow, welcome back to reality/craziness!

Happy Monday!