too bad the architects never get any credit...

The school project I've been working on for a long time got some press today. It is exciting to see a building I've designed in the news! Can't wait to actually start construction :) I guess we'll have to finish the design first...

Richmond County vocational high school plans move ahead | The Augusta Chronicle

Now E really is an Architect!

So today is the day that will go down in history--I'm an architect now! I got the letter today that I passed my final exam, and the state has assigned me my Registered Architect number :) now I just have to get a stamp. And what's really cool, is that you can look me up on the Secretary of State's website--under the Board of Architects and Interior Designers! so cool.

now to figure out what the next life goal is to be. maybe this one won't take 10.5 years to complete :)

finally! a pass!

After 10 long weeks of anticipation, I finally received the score report from the first division of the ARE that I took back in July: and I passed!!

So far:
1 test passed
2 tests taken, results pending
4 tests left to take

What a process this is! I'm taking the rest of the tests between now and December 15th...so that day will be a big sigh of relief...but not as big of a sigh (and a huge hooray) as the day I get the last score report :)

fripp fotos

so I didn't manage to get my camera out until the last day at the beach, on our way back home. but boy, did we have a memorable trip out. On the way off the island, we saw a really big alligator swimming along in a pond. he posed for us several times, with the warning sign close by. great photo shoot, gator!



do you think they get good reception in there?

shots from the course

Lindsay and I went to the practice rounds Monday, and had a great time. It is so beautiful out there!! Here are a few shots from the day.


The first group we watched. The group included Gary Player and Trevor Immelman.


Gary and Trevor discussing clubs. Gary was so fun to watch interact with the other players and the crowd.


Lindsay was trying for an up close shot of Zach Johnson (2007's champion). Unfortunately, he was applying massive amounts of sunscreen the whole time :o)


Vijay Singh teeing off on 7. Don't get behind him in a practice round, he goes slow and hits a ton of balls!

Zach and his caddy, with Anthony Kim teeing off.


Ian Poulter. Most definitely the best pants we saw on a player. What you can't see is the seafoam green belt that matches. I dig his outfit.

Ishikawa had the best club cover of the day--it's a stuffed version of himself!


The shark in the hunt. Greg Norman was back after 7 years. Great to see him!

Roar tickets on sale!

Roar of Love tickets are now on sale for both performances: Saturday March 28th @ 3:00 and 7:00pm.

See the link below:
http://www.columbiacountyballet.com/tickets-Roar.shtml

it's Roar time again

fyi, friends and fam: I'm dancing in the Roar of Love this year! I'm super excited. A group of ballet alumni are dancing penitents! One of my favorites! Mark your calendars: March 27th & 28th :o)

some belated Christmas cheer

So I know that it's after Christmas & New Year's, but I am finally getting around to posting some pictures and videos of my house decorated for Christmas (after some encouragement from my very active-blogging sister-in-law). I've had the outside shots for weeks, and just never got around to posting. And then it was time to take down my very dried out tree, and I decided I needed a picture of it first. So, for all of you who did not get to come to my house this year, here is a tasting of what it looked like. It's kind of sad now, without any decor up. Just back to plain old house. But now, the cheer will at least live on in photo & video!

The tree this year received a new bow at the top, as well as a new skirt & matching ribbons. I really think they add a lot!

The front with the flash...

...and without. The wreath on the front door also got a new bow--made completely out of ribbon I already had. Sweet!


sorry for the sideways video--not sure how to turn it...


and this is the rear patio.

all in all, I had a great time decorating for Christmas (no surprise there). now just to get all of the storage bins back in the attic... :)

it must be a recession...

because Christmas trimmings in the store today were 60% off! It's a week before Thanksgiving, and it's all already on sale. It makes me wonder how on sale it will be the day after Christmas. I'll think there will be some deals to be had!

I know that everyone tells me I don't need to wear heels...

and some people go so far as to tell me that it's not fair for me to wear heels.

but I can tell you this, they sure can make you feel good.

today I felt just a little more authoritative, a little fancier, a little more important, a little thinner, and a little prettier. I also think I walk a little straighter when I wear them.

my heels today were a whopping 3 1/2" tall. so they made me 6'-1 1/2". (definitely taller than I'm used to being)

so I'm sorry to those who think it's not fair when tall people wear heels--but I'm going to keep wearing them and feeling good when I do.

hooray for heels!

you know what's not fair? when all of your sleeves are about 2" too short. :o)

I turned my heat on last night for the first time since last winter--hooray for that "just turned the heat on funny smell" that I love!

"I'm not a vegetable person...

...but I think I'd like that."


This comment made me smile this week at lunch. My experiments in cooking "real" food have become a means to provide lunches during the week that are NOT a turkey sandwich if at all possible. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a turkey sandwich, I just have had so many of them (years worth) in my lifetime--it's my default brown bag lunch.

I try to cook a big meal once a week (usually Sunday evening) and then take the leftovers to lunch during the week. While it can get old eating the same thing five days in a row, the repetition is far outweighed by the convenience of not having to come up with something the night before, after a long day at work (and various evening activities that keep me out till 8 or 9 pm).

This week's dish was a peanut veggie stir fry in a wheat wrap. (the recipe called for chicken, but I just added more fresh veggies instead--think broccoli, zucchini, cauliflower, carrots, & sugar snap peas ). A guy at work (four of us bring our lunches & usually eat together) made the comment, "I'm not a vegetable person, but I think I'd like that." This guy eats a microwave frozen dinner (or leftover fast food) for lunch every day (and I have yet to see any green veggies come out of his boxes) :o) The comment made me smile, and made me think there is hope for people out there who hate veggies (especially the green ones)--veggies can be yummy! You just have to know how to prepare them.

This particular recipe came from kraftfoods.com--one of my favorite recipe websites. For the link to this recipe click here (I used the variation at the bottom).

FALL!

for those of you not on facebook, I reproduce musings from it:

I LOVE Fall. It's my favorite time of the year. I get giddy thinking about pulling down sweaters and blankets from the attic. I love turning off the AC and opening the windows. My favorite day of the year is the day I turn on the heat in my house. I LOVE the smell. I know, its a little weird. But even stranger is that I'm also strangely drawn to the cinnamon spice brooms they sell in the grocery store this time of year. The only thing that's kept me from buying one is the thought, "What the heck am I going to do with a spice broom?!" Also, there's something about them that I associate with grandmas. I think its because there was one (or something close to it) hanging in my Nana's house throughout my childhood. I try not to encourage grandma tendencies in myself, considering I'm only 27, and don't even have kids. But I can tell you this--if I ever become a grandma, you better believe I'm buying a spice broom!

our first real golf

last weekend was our first real golf outing. it was definitely different being on a course as opposed to the driving range! lindsay scored a 70, and I scored a 72 (that's only counting the swings when we made contact with the ball). amazing, huh? well, not when you find out that was on 9 holes :o) but we had fun. I got stuck in one bunker, and lost one ball, but other than that, we did alright.
lindsay teeing off on the first hole--isn't her hot pink club cute!?

my tee shot on the par 3 No. 7--see the hot pink ball on the green? by far, my best shot of the day.

us posing with the No. 7 sign--it was our favorite hole. both of our tee shots got closer to the hole than our coach's! the highlight of the day :o)

17 things

I know, I know, its been forever.... what have I been up to? well, here are 17 things I've been up to in no particular order:

redoing my bathroom,
rearranging furniture,
a blueprint art project for my wall,
working 10 hour days with a three day weekend (but that just ended),
joining facebook,
making jewelry,
starting Financial Peace Univ next week,
getting in the last few swims of the summer,
studying up on LEED for my first LEED project at work,
trying to get over a cold--lots of chicken soup and vitamin C!
work, work, work--designing a high school (I have such a cool job),
trying to finish IDP so I can take the ARE and become a real architect,
seeing old friends,
weekly evening activities: small group, adult ballet, & choir
trying to repair my internet--boo routers that quit on me!
going to the eye doctor lots and lots--boo my punctate keratitis!
recovering a $3 desk chair--hooray yard sales!

17 has no particular significance--that's just how many I thought of. maybe I can get it together enough to post some pictures--we'll see :o)

golf in action

sorry its taken so long, but I finally got around to downloading pictures from my camera from vacation/ birthday. here is a picture of Linds and I at the driving range in our FABULOUS golf attire on my birthday :o) we had a lot of fun, AND we're getting better at the game.

I swear we didn't plan on dressing alike, it just kinda happened :o)

quite a sight

working in a field that is male-dominated makes for some interesting moments, especially on the construction site, like today. in my trunk, I keep boots and a hardhat for just such site visits. but because they don't really make "work boots" for women, mine are rubber galoshes-- white and black herringbone with pink insides. picture these with a white eyelet skirt, polo shirt,big sunglasses and a hardhat. quite the fashion statement. if only I had a camera...

arm strength? apparently not...

so I had my first golf lesson this weekend. it was fun, but not as easy as it looks. on saturday i went and got my clubs, and learned how to hold the clubs, practiced putting, and hitting whiffle balls in the backyard. and then on sunday afternoon, I went to the driving range with Bob & Zac. (Bob is long-time family friend, Zac is his son & also family friend). Out of the like +100 balls in my bucket, I probably hit 5-10 good shots. quite a few times I failed to make contact, and quite a few other times I dug into the dirt. but it was still fun! I also woke up monday morning with sore arms and torso--clearly not muscles I use often :)

Lindsay and I are taking our clubs to the beach next week, so we may spend some time at the driving range there...but I don't think I'm ready for a real course yet. that day will come :)

Bob said I'd do better next time once I had my golf shoes ;0) (they should be arriving soon!)

hooray for new golf clubs and new golf shoes!

thanks to the magic of the internet, clubs and shoes are on their way to my doorstep!

fence construction