Ok, let's count up the credits again, JUST to make 100% sure...

Time: 14:47
Date: Thursday 25 January 2006
Place: Office of academic advisor, Boise State University

My head begins to spin and I can't read the words that are before me. I can barely smile though I feel like screaming for joy. My academic advisor and I have just gone over my Boise State transcript. The first run-through leaves me with the joyous information that, after this semester, I only need three more classes to graduate.
But wait! What's this? Two classes we've forgotten to count?! Can it be true???
My brain starts swimming. I can't focus on anything.
"Liz, if you can either take an online course or CLEP out of an Area II class (a list of twenty or so) in addition to your current class schedule you can graduate in May."
I scramble to the computer lab to print off a graduation application, email Heather with the news and drop two unnecessary credits. Then I get on the phone in the hallway (one of the last free-local-calls-allowed-not-just-on-campus-only) and ring: Mom, Dad, Paula and Aislinn. Mom nearly cries. Dad is beside himself. I am to be the first university graduate. Sarah tells me later that when Dad gets home from work, Mom quietly asks him if I'd called. They both smile.

Now the hardout studying begins. Just in case I'm quite absent from the blog realm, know it's for this reason: my attitude is changed for my last semester as un undergrad. No more Miss Nice Guy.

yikes

Wow. I really need to write more often or I'll continue to turn out such books as the last post.

Where have I been??

Heidi confronted me the other day. "You need to post on your blog. You haven't written anything since you got home." I was adamant that I had. The last post (see for yourself) was written after 2 Dec, at which point I experienced one of the longest days ever - living that date twice over.
Regardless, here I am, finally writing.
Christmas was wonderful. For the past 10 years or so, Sarah and I have had the tradition of getting up sometime during the 3 or 4 am hours to carry out the "Christmas Raid." This consists of looking over presents and examining the content of our stockings, all the while being paranoid that Mom will arise and catch us in the act - part of the fun. Funny enough, in light of recent Christmas discussions on blogs, the quote in our house was, "Could you be any more materialistic and nasty?!" The Christmas Raid (I despise the title but it was bestowed by Auntie, who we could never refuse) has become a point of bonding and tradition for our family, despite it's materialistic and nasty underpinnings.
Christmas Day was thoroughly enjoyable, spending rich time together as a family.
That Wednesday, Chelsea, Liz and Jules arrived from Oregon. We were beside ourselves, reuniting on the other side of the world. Four days later they were on their way to Portland after much friend-meeting, hair-dyeing, wedding-attending, movie-watching, late-night hilarity, Swahili-attempting, taco-feasting and more. I slept a LOT after the girls left :o)
New Year's celebrations began the afternoon of the 31st. Friends Matt and Ty convinced me to join them in Boise for fun before evening celebrations. LeAnn joined in and the four of us enjoyed massive bowls of ice cream and a viewing of Orange County. Dude.
The New Year's party was hosted by old high-school friends Caleb and Meg, who rented a hotel room in which to play Texas Holdem, watch videos, catch up with others, and drop crumbs on the floor because "I don't have to clean it up!" as announced blissfully by Meg. That night I visited with Johnny and Dani, who were married two hours after I flew out of the Boise airport to return to Dunedin after Heather's wedding. We toasted with champagne at midnight and went strolling downtown with cigars. Homeschoolers; they all go off the deep end eventually.
Friday, 6 Dec was spent in celebration of my 23rd birthday. I had a bit of a Pirate Party, ice blocking in costume and feasting at Johnny and Dani's. There was homemade chili and cornbread, Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls and Cracker Jack. I'd found one of those "Top-Secret" Recipes books at the house Sarah and I were housesitting at and was pleasantly surprised to discover the authentic store-bought taste of both the cinnamon rolls and caramel corn. The evening was finished with an exhausted midnight viewing of Pirates of the Caribbean.
Saturday morning I went off to Larissa's "12 Days of Christmas" Tea Party. I'm learning a lesson in God's sovereignty. When Larissa opened the door to greet me she said, "Oh good. I knew you'd get here early to help. I just knew it." I'm NEVER early and I'd made NO attempts to be so that morning. I was only hoping I'd be on time. Funny how that happens when you don't wear a watch because you lost your absolute favorite watch somewhere on the Kepler Track on the South Island of New Zealand when you were faking some sort of accent and you met two people from Nampa, Idaho who thought you'd actually picked up an accent in the two months you'd been living in New Zealand. So I helped out with the creation of the fiddly nibbly things and threw all the dirty dishes into the dishwasher.
The morning was a reunion of sorts for a Bible study I participated in the first two years of uni. I suddenly realised it was incredibly special to be sitting there with women I'd prayed for and who had prayed for me, every week, after sharing our life events. We went through heartache galore, weddings, and children in that Bible study, enjoying the sweet aroma of Jesus while we so dearly loved each other. Precious memories.
My actual birthday, Sunday 8 Jan, was spent singing at church and trekking around town for all the free birthday movie hirings. While watching "Hitch" my hair was crimped to white-man-Afro proportions. I donned my eighties apparel, complete with turquoise eyeshadow, and went off to retrieve my friends and neighbors from the airport. Last year I picked them up dressed as Meg Ryan's ditsy dependent daughter character in 'Joe Versus the Volcano.' Even with my back to them, they knew instantly that it was me.
Birthday celebrations continued into Monday with Dani coming over to watch "The Forgotten." Seriously, I haven't movie-screamed like that for ages. Twice. If you've seen the movie, you know what I mean.
That brings me to now. Tuesday 10 January 2006, 10:17am. Hoping for the pinch in my back to go away, hoping for a job, hoping paperwork will be processed quickly at Boise State. Always hoping.