Re-branding

I have been thinking about rebranding the last couple of weeks. Changing my name, and moving to wordpress. I've been fractured fairy tales since day one. Way back in 2007 when I first started writing, just for fun, as my own personal diary.  I don't really know what I would call myself.  Maybe  "Alana's Little Adventures"  "Adventures of Alana"  "Little Adventures"  "Alana Loves Wine" 

I dunno. But I feel like it's time for a change. 


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No Title

Hey friends!
I wanted to drop in and say hello!
I've finally finished the history class that was taking up all my time. Thankfully this semester it wasn't a #historyclassfromhell. I actually really enjoyed it. It was History of Japan to 1800. It was a lot of fun and I feel I learned a lot. I got to write a paper on Buddhist influence on architecture and a also I wrote a paper on Samurai. Both were a lot of fun. I have a few days before I start my next crazy intense class, Which I am hoping is not that crazy and intense, but with my luck it will be.

We have been doing pretty good overall here in California. It's almost been a year since we left Montana. It's crazy to think that we've been gone for so long. I look at my Timehop and I am so relieved I don't wake up to feet of snow, or WAY below freezing temps anymore. In fact the weather here is really nice. I wear T-shirts or tank tops every day. I have a couple hoodies that I save for chilly mornings, but it's been a nice change.

Not much has been going on besides school . Well and we are all crazy sick right now. Paul brought home cooties from work and it got so bad it developed into pneumonia in Evey. I was really worried at first but I had her followup appointment with her doctor today and she is doing so much better. Now if we can all just kick this nasty cough!

I've also started running. I am doing a "walking for fitness" class and I have to wear a fitbit that tracks my movement, the teacher uses that info to see that I am completing our walks. Being sick has really put a damper on that though, I haven't ran in over a week. Even though the class is called "walking" we are allowed to run, jog or walk, so I decided to take the opportunity to start running. I have a goal of 450 miles by the end of the year. I am somewhere around 60 or 70 miles already so I think I'll surpass that goal.

I hope I haven't lost too much of an audience in my absence, I will try to update here more than once a month. Perhaps once a week will be my new goal.
And remember you can find me on Facebook and Instagram, I am always on there.

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School is a tad overwhelming

Man I am really no good at this. 

I have been forever absent again. 

School has taken precedence over blogging, and personal life, and social life, and everything. 

Last week was especially tough. I had a midterm paper to write and I was suffering from some sickness/stress/anxiety/women issues. But I got it done, and turned it in and got an 87%

I am a little over booked this semester. But now that that paper is over I can refocus, until my final paper in 4 weeks.
My classes are weird. It's hard to explain.
I go to 2 schools, one does regular 16 week semesters. The other does 4 sets of 8 week condensed terms per semester.

So I have 2 classes at the community college here, well one regular 3 credit class and one 1 credit class. (both online)

And then I have 3 classes at the university online. In the first second and fourth terms. So my next class will not start until my first class ends. Thank god, because I have a huge ass paper due at the end of this class (History of Japan to 1800) and I don't think I could handle starting another class before this one is over. 

Oh and I found out a class I took for fun, ended up filling a needed requirement, not just an elective! More time for activities! WooT! 

But things are going well.
Evey is doing great. She is getting bigger and bigger every day. She is talking up a storm. She is bossy, and determined. She is super smart too. She can count to 15 (most of the time) and she is working on her ABC's. 

We just had a wonderful visit from Paul's mom. We did so many fun things, beach trips, a trip to the Zoo, shopping. We had a blast. 

So really besides school, not much is going on here. 

I am thinking of doing another Vlog soon. The next Golden Vlog is up in a couple of days, So I need to film that. Plus I was thinking of doing a hair dye one.
I need to color my hair again, so why not film it? 

So that's all, I should be studying, but instead I am helping my sister with a paper, and writing here. 

I suppose I should go to bed, or study. 

So Sayonara! 

Oh and Aiko Says Hello! 

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More random college thoughts.

A nice unrelated pretty picture, because I hate making posts without pictures. 

I am finally wrapping up the history class that has been driving me mad. If you have been following me on any other social media you know that it really has taken a toll on me. I have had little life outside of the house for the last 4 weeks, besides attending Japanese twice a week I barely walk out the door. I have dubbed the class #historyclassfromhell. But it's almost over. My final paper is off to my sister for revisions.

That's a great thing about having a sister who is in college too, she's a great spelling/grammar checker. 

But she thinks I use too many commas, screw that, I'll comma all I want, , , , , , 

anyway. 

I just submitted my last class discussion, and once I polish my paper and write a conclusion I'm done! I hope to submit it by tomorrow afternoon. 

Then I can focus on bringing my Japanese grade back up. My A dropped down to a B the last exam because I am really struggling with verbs, they all sound so much alike! 

I am also trying to plan next semester. I know I am taking Asian Studies online through the University, so I need to pick a another class to take online through the Community College, and I will take Japanese 102 face to face.

Yeah two schools, it gets confusing. But I'll explain how I am doing that eventually. 

I am so excited to be done with that history class. I have been neglecting so much, household chores, cleaning, my poor child who learned to count to 9 from watching the most freaky cartoon ever made. Seriously Charlie and the Numbers is scary. But she loves it. 

Last night to celebrate finishing my paper, I cleaned and rearranged the play room, so Evey has a little bit more functional place to play and what Thomas the Train. Next week I plan to tackle the upstairs, laundry, bathrooms, Evey's room still needs to be decorated. I have a whole list of fun things I want to do with all my extra spare time. 

How are we?

I feel like I haven't really done much of an update in a while. So here goes, an update, in mostly pictures

Evey has learned to be sassy and stubborn

"hey, at least i'm not standing on the table anymore..."

but remains cute as hell

We BBQ a LOT, like almost every weekend for the last month

ymmm Ribs

We have started to think about maybe potty training (someday)

We have breakfast with dinosaurs sometimes 

I am cooking much more frequently than in Montana

The weather is pretty nice 

I am still trying desperately to drop a few pounds

desperately

happy mornings (not too early usually, thankfully)

But all in all we are having a good time, and getting along pretty well in cali. 

It's not what we expected, but hey, it's not snowing either, so there's that! 

hiding those roots

Ikea is going to put me in the poor house, good thing it's over an hour away and surrounded by crazy traffic, or I would be there every day.

 I can't forget Little Red! We traded in my beloved Hello Kitty Mobile (Jeep Patriot) for a much more gas friendly Toyota Corolla! Also, Yay for no more transmission problems! (briefly mentioned here)

Oh and I am starting school soon. Gotta finish someday right? Two classes start this month, and one next month, and that's all I've got planned until spring. Wish me luck! 

Evelyn is 18 months!

banana face

Evey is a whole year and a half old. She is such an amazing little person. She is running, climbing, trying to jump. She is even talking, but just a little. She can say "mama" "dada" "cat" and "woof". Woof is the cutest thing ever, it sounds more like woo-woo, it's adorable.

bubble fun!

She is eating just about everything us big people eat, the only thing I don't give her is spicy stuff, some things she can handle, but I'm very careful. Evey's favorite new food is Japanese curry, we just tried it a few weeks ago and she loved it, even ate leftovers! She loves to play outside in her backyard with bubbles or on her slide. She is becoming quite an agile little monkey, climbing up things and impressing us with her smarts every day

Evey naps about once a day for an hour or two so mommy can get some diapers washed. We haven't started potty training yet, but we are letting her explore what the potty is. Evey is still breastfeeding and Co-sleeping part time. She has her own bed, set up in our room and she can climb into bed with us if she wants. She will normally spend most of the night in her bed and move when daddy gets up for work. She breastfeeds a couple times a day, mostly just for nap and bed time, but we get one or two extra in there depending on her. 

are you watching me?

She has all her teeth except 2 year molars and canines. but one top canine is cutting right now. We try to not watch too much TV, but she really loves Yo-Gabba-Gabba, and Turbo. Really anything with upbeat fun music, she loves. At her 18 month check-up she was 33 inches long and 24 3/4 pounds. She is growing like crazy, especially the last couple months, she has grown two whole shoe sizes and at least an inch or two since we left Montana. 

chubby little tamale 

Travel update.

Happy Easter! 

We have ween out of Montana for an little more than 10 days now. Traveled to Arizona, New Mexico, and now Virginia. We have settled for about the next week plus, and then we will go back, and head to California. Driving cross country with a toddler is no fun, but we found ways to cope. Once we get settled in Cali I'll write up a bit on it with our tricks. I really hope the trip back is less eventful than the one over here though. We got a flat on the freeway and then the next day Evey and I both had tummy troubles that required multiple stops. But we made it. And now we are relaxing at Granny's house. Evey is napping while mommy lays with her, catching up on YouTube, Facebook, and now blogging. 

I want to say thank you to my sister for watching my animals while We are traveling, she has got her hands full. 

She has her own Boston terrier, and her own two cats, and she is also watching my 2 Boston's and my cat. 

Puppy party!!!

I hope you are having a great Easter holiday, and I'll try to keep updating as frequently as time allows. 

I apologize for any weird spacing or photo sizes, I'm writing from the iPad, don't feel like charging the laptop. 

Evelyn - 14 Months

Today Evelyn is 14 months old. Its incredible to see how much she has grown. She is walking and running, climbing and being a little monkey. She has 4 bottom teeth now and 2 top, about to cut a third. She still isn't talking much, she can say one syllable things - da, ca, ah, ee, and she screams MA when I piss her off. Since she isn't really talking we started working on sign language again. She surprised me this week and signed "more" after breakfast, and was elated when I understood her and gave her a banana. She can also sign thank you, but she doesn't use it in context, only when prompted. She is also waving hello, and has been much more interested in strangers. 

Evey will eat about anything, we have reintroduced strawberries and had no reaction. Pickles make her face turn red though, so we will be avoiding them for a little while. One of her favorite foods is spaghetti squash, she shovels it into her mouth by the handful. She usually has vanilla Greek yogurt or eggs for breakfast. Her favorite snacks are cheerios and gold fish. She eats whatever we have for dinner, lots of chicken. 

We let her watch TV sometimes and she loves Yo Gabba Gabba, she will grab the remote and do a "dancy dance" and we know she wants us to turn it on so she can dance. She still likes Sesame Street, but not as much as Yo Gabba Gabba. 

We had our first urgent trip to the doctor a couple weeks ago, but I'll write a separate post about that. 

Overall she is doing really great, growing like a weed, I think she gets taller every day, and she is constantly 'exploring' the world around her, and by exploring I mean getting into shit. 

All photo credit goes to Yearry Photography in Helena, Mt.
If you are in Helena you should totally check her out!
http://yearryphotography.com/

Winter Blues- update

I think I am back, hopefully I can get to posting again. I have been knee deep in the winter blues, and sickness. What started as a cold, turned into a sinus infection, and then turned into an upper respiratory infection, all over the course of about a month. It finally caught up with me, not being able to breathe, and not being able to get anything done around the house, and barely being able to keep up with Evelyn, I finally went to the doctor and began antibiotics, Slowly I have been improving, and after an antibiotic change I think I feel 100% again, but it's been so long since I felt better I am not sure. So between being knee deep in snow, seriously almost a foot this week, and the winter blues, I am so ready to move to Southern California, where it never will snow. I check the weather every day, it's so beautiful in Oceanside, and our forecast is calling for more snow. 

Yeah, I can't even make this shit up.

Saturday Morning 

Saturday Morning

Tuesday Morning
more snow, yay (heavy with the sarcasm)

But things are still looking good for our move, we should leave Montana some time in early/mid april and we will begin our trek across country to visit Evey's Grandparents, Uncles, and Aunts. Then we will head back west to Camp Pendleton. To say I am excited is an understatement. I have a countdown on my phone and We have about 60 days left until we leave! 

except I don't think we'll go through vegas on our way down, we'll just drive through northern arizona like we usually do.

Its going to be a huge pain in the ass at first because we will be driving 2 cars, 2 dogs, 1 cat, and 1 baby from Montana to Arizona, then leaving one car and the animals at my parents house and my sisters place. Then picking them back up on our way to California. 

For our short time left here in Montana, I hope the weather improves so we can have some nice weekends to spend outdoors with our friends, and Evey's little boy friend, before we move. It really sucks that both places we lived here in Montana, we start making friends when we are about to leave.

Go Link up!