Grades, wedding, update, etc...

Guess I should update this thing!

I ended up getting an A in precalculus, an A in organic chemistry, and a B- in biology... I ended up with a 3.557 for the semester, and was also on the Dean's list. :)

I also got into Drexel! I'm starting in the fall, and I'm going into environmental engineering. I kind of went from environmental science to engineering mostly because I'm a problem solver, and engineering is more of an "applied" degree--I can use what I know to solve problems related to the environment. I had considered chemical engineering since I seem to have a knack for chemistry, but I feel that an environmental engineering degree will accomplish the goal I set for myself when I decided to go back to school: giving back to the environment. I'll probably always want to do something else (like being a vet or being a tack shop owner, the latter of which I can still do many years from now), but I figure that's something I'll just have to live with. There are just not enough years in a lifetime to accomplish what I want to do! (For those that are interested, here's a link explaining environmental engineering: http://www.drexel.edu/academics/coe/cae/ugenve.asp )

The wedding plans are sort of coming along. When it comes to wedding details, I'm clueless. The whole wedding thing is just a foreign concept to me or something... I never know what I should be doing and when. *shrug* I guess as long as Eric and I sign the papers and make it official, that's all that matters. ;)

So, this semester, I'm taking precalculus II, an engineering class, and a literature class. After that, I'm planning on taking at least calculus and maybe physics this summer, but all of the other classes I need for the environmental engineering degree have to be taken at Drexel. I did get $13k in scholarships from Drexel, which is kind of a drop in the bucket (in my Midwestern-every-college-is-cheap opinion) considering how expensive Drexel is, but I guess every little bit helps! After Eric and I get married, I don't think we'll qualify for much aid. BOOOOO.

EEK

I just applied for a government scholarship with the Department of Defense. It's a shot in the dark for sure, but I'm glad I tried. Basically, it's a full-ride scholarship, with summer internships at the DoD, and a guaranteed job after graduation (there's more to it than that, but that's the gist).

Now that I think about it, I almost feel like I just applied to vet school or something. I had to write an essay, had to get recommendations from professors, had to send in transcripts... The minimum GPA just to apply is 3.0, and I've heard (through people on the internet, so who knows how accurate this is) that they're considering raising the minimum to 3.5. My cumulative GPA is 3.6, but I think what would hurt my application the most is the fact that most of my grades come from community colleges. I have applied to Drexel University, so hopefully if I get in, that will help boost my application's "credibility". I should find out about Drexel in January, and I'll find out about the scholarship in March/April.

I don't know why, but this is a really big deal for me, lol. If I don't get the scholarship, I'll still be happy that I tried!

Vegas, here we come!

Yep, we're getting married in Vegas. I've never been a big wedding kinda girl, and I don't really care to have a "glamorous" wedding, so we're doing it (relatively) cheap and easy! We've decided on March 14th, and Eric found a beautiful outdoor wedding facility where we're having our ceremony.

So, I've managed to pull my biology grade up to a low B... I'm hoping to keep it up, of course, but his grading seems to be influenced by his mood. I mean, really, how can one honestly subjectively grade essays? Sigh.

I still have a high A in both precalculus and organic chemistry, woot!

I'm engaged!!

So, Eric and I went out October 16th and bought rings kind of on a whim. We'd been looking for a while, but we just happened to be at the mall, went looking without really an intent to buy (at least I don't think there was an intent, lol) and found a ring that I really like, so we bought the engagement ring and both wedding bands for a very good deal. We had to get mine resized, and we were told it would take a week to get them back (which would have been October 23rd). So, a few days go by, and on Oct 21st, after I got home from school, I heard our home phone ring, which I never answer, and the message came on the answering machine... "This is Bernie from Littman Jewelers. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but we got a new manager in [at this point, I was starting to panic, thinking this new manager didn't like that we were given such a good deal... yes, I really do live in my own little world], and there was a mix-up with the jeweler. The rings will be delayed about 7-10 days..."

Grrr. You can imagine how disappointed I was--I was expecting to be proposed to that weekend, dammit (little bridezilla that I am, lol). So, in order to make me feel better, Eric suggested we just go out to dinner that weekend anyway, and even get dressed up. I liked the idea, and ran with it.

So, Saturday comes around, we get all dressed up, get in the car, and it starts raining. Well, whatever, we had an umbrella. We go to Wawa for gas, head to the restaurant, and it starts to POUR. The restaurant we were planning on going to required walking a block from the parking lot, so I suggested we just turn around and go to Bacco, the restaurant Eric had kept trying to gently talk me into, lol. At least at Bacco, we wouldn't have to walk in the rain.

We get to Bacco, and I was really quite impressed. It was such a cute little restaurant. We ordered our food, Eric talked me into ordering wine, and we sat back to listen to thunder and the rain pouring on the building. I kept catching Eric trying to hide little smiles, and he was talking about how it would have been the perfect night to propose (I was starting to suspect at this point, but I didn't think in a million years that he'd be able to talk Bernie into leaving that message), and then he suddenly got down on one knee, and pulled out a piece of tissue paper with a ring--I was seriously expecting him to have a sort of "temporary" ring, but nope, he had the real thing! I was shocked! I never thought he'd be able to talk Bernie into leaving that message!!

I immediately called my family (literally two minutes after he proposed), and we were served champagne while the other waitresses came up and congratulated us. :)

Yay, I'm engaged!

Woohoo

95.5% on the organic chemistry exam. Class average was 79.4%. I still didn't get the highest grade, dammit. Lol, that's okay though. I probably rushed through it a bit.

I'm also down almost 18 pounds. I'm at the weight I was when I was 20-21 or so. Yay. :)

As it turns out...

... I have a propensity for organic chemistry. I just find it rather easy. We had an exam yesterday, and I was done in 45 minutes. When I stood up to hand in the test, I think I heard someone say, "Are you serious?" My lab partner called me at 9:30 (I was done with the exam at 6:45) to ask where I went. He thought I had just left without taking the exam! He had just finished taking the test, and almost half the class was still there. I don't know what I got on the test, but I'm pretty sure I got an A.

Precalculus is also going well. We had an exam last week, and I received a 96% on it. The professor was much more pleased about the grades on this one... guess a lot of people are improving.

Sigh, biology. It's a subject that really fascinates me, but the whole memorization thing is just beyond me. I'd really like to major in something biology-related, but if I'm going to continue to just pull a bunch of Cs, there's no point, is there? I found a program at a school close by called Villanova. It's a 5-year BS/MS biology program that concentrates quite a bit on research, which is what really appeals to me. I'd love to do something like that... however, Villanova (like 99% of the schools around here) is expensive--$38k/year.

I sometimes feel like I have no options around here. Penn State has a campus near here... but they only have biology programs; no chemistry (not that I've made my mind up about what to major in anyway...). Plus, what can I really do with a chemistry degree? Teaching is not my thing.

Oh, and the barracuda...

Is actually not a barracuda, hah. He's an arapaima (I know, doesn't look anything like a barracuda, but I've only seen him a couple times--I couldn't even find him in the exhibit on Saturday, which was a little odd). Here's a video of one being fed... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI9RGiibt7M

The sound doesn't do it justice. No, seriously.

Oh, and I've lost 15 pounds. :)