The Life and Times of Alann

I will be doing this between classes and at work because it is so long so if you read this and it is not complete it is not because i don't know the alphabet, it is because I'm not done yet.

A - Attached or Single? I assume we are talking about personal relations and not house style here so i have to go with arched.
B- Best Friends? Becca first and then Dan Story and Ian
C- Cake or Pie? Pie, especially pineapple pie
D- Day of Choice? 3 day weekend
E- Essential Item? watch, it drives me nuts not having one, even if i ordinarily wouldn't look at the time when i don't have my watch i am constantly trying to look at the time
F- Favorite Color? forrest green
G- Gummy Bears or Worms? Yuck
H-Hometown? Le Roy IL, where i grew up in my teen years and had great friends in all may classes at school
I- Favorite Indulgence? Chocolate (I blame mom), Video games and Movies
J- January or July? July i suppose, at least in Utah, where in January you have to be crazy to leave the house
K- Kids? not yet but maybe 3-4 someday with an equal amount of boys and girls
L- Life isn't complete without? a reason to get out of bed
M- Marriage date? 12/2/04
N- Number of brothers and sisters? 1 bro 1 sis both younger
P- Phobias and Fears? Nothing i have come across yet, but i don't really care for praying mantises or walking sticks much, they just look gross and creepy
Q- Quote? I like the ones on despair.com
R- Reason to smile? i usually do it when around friends and fam, i find most things in life pleasing
S- Season of choice? spring or fall i like the cool weather and crisp air
T- Tag three people? they have already been hit but maybe their spouses so Ginny, Shannon and Dan
U- Unknown fact about me? I have a scar running along the back of my left thigh where i tried to jump a chain length fence and didn't quite make it
V- Vegetable? potato, is there a more versatile vegetable in the world, i think not
W- Worst Habit? I have this underlying subconscious thought that work is for working and home is for resting and having fun, which leads me to not work around the house as much as i should
X-ray or Ultrasound? i think it would be cool to own a full body x-ray
Y- Your favorite food? pizza!!!!!!!
Z- Zodiac Sign? Aquarius-Those born under the sign of Aquarius not only march to a different drummer, they make up new music as they go along. They are 'mind oriented' individuals, whose thoughts never stop tick-tocking over. Because of their high focus on intellectual exploration, many inventors, eccentrics and highly original trailblazers are born under this sign. Their intense ability to live on many mental levels, holds both pain and pleasure for Aquarians. For example, in the American Hall of Fame there are more Aquarians than any other sign, yet statistics reveal that in mental institutions there are more Aquarians than any other sign too. Many extremes can surround this sign and these extremes can take them to both heaven and hell. But in everyday terms, most Aquarians are extremely humanitarian and often involved in social programs that assist others. They can also be objective in judgement, for they never let their emotions get in the way. Outgoing and amiable, Aquarians attract friends wherever they go and those whom Aquarians befriend have their unswerving loyalty.

Aquarians are the zodiac's most mysterious and unusual people - and no two are anything alike. Those born under this sign - ruled by innovative and non-conformist Uranus - march to the beat of their own drum. They see life in a different way. Others quite frequently think their habits and ideas are eccentric or crazy in some way, but it is this uniqueness that makes them so special. The Aquarian mind is extremely quick and they never seem to stop thinking (it is interesting to note that many born under this sign suffer from insomnia.) Aquarians usually have strong political, environmental or social beliefs. But whether it is a relationship, career or cause - Aquarians are happiest when they have "something" to believe in and nurture.

So a couple of people have wanted to know what my future plans are so i thought i would just go over a quick snapshot of what i hope will happen. Hopefully at the end of the December if not before i can quit my Lowe's job and be interning at a planning firm of some sort. then by the end of may 09 i hope to have my BS in planning. I would like to then move out of Utah to a more hospitable environment like in the middle to eastern states where land is more plentiful and the cost of living lower. Also i don't really enjoy the dry heat here and i think there is something growing in the desert areas that I'm allergic to, because in TX and UT i get something like hay fever, but not in IL or Mo where i last came from. Becca claims to be a "sun child" so we will probably have to find a fairly sunny place to live. Mostly the job i get will decide on what state we live in.

In what ever state we move to we would like to buy a parcel of land, w/ or w/o a house on it, from 1-8+ acres so we can have a large garden - small farmett. We don't really want to be farmers, but some of the things we enjoy and want to do resemble that type of lifestyle. Hopefully this land would be close enough to the area i work and to local stores that it would only be 15 min or less to get into the city area. We would like to live in a 80,000 +/- 15,000 type city. I would like for it to be a college town, because i think i would enjoy doing some part time teaching at a local community college or university. I also would like to have a small library room for myself and Becca to study and read in piece, man shed/ tinkering shop and small fishing stream/pond on the property whether natural or artificial. I know Becca has somethings she would like too, like a nice sewing/ crafts room, established garden beds with green houses, nice indoor kitchen and a small outdoor one for nice days, to name a few. Obviously most of these things will take time to get and build and some we may never see.

A nice transit system around town and to local outlying areas and lots of people and dog parks, natural trails and camping would also make it a better place to be . I would like to stay with the same company for a while and move up through the ranks, but that is not a major concern of mine. I think i would like to work for/run a private company as a consultant to other government planning organizations. I have heard private companies have more flexibility, larger pay and a bigger assortment of job projects. Still being this far down the work ladder i am still open to other jobs and positions. Being close to family would be nice, but since most of us are still in a moving stage of our lives it would be hard to plan our moving around family, though i suppose if family or close friends wanted to buy/rent land from us to live on that could be arranged.

Kids would be nice to have, ya know to entertain guest and do chores j/k. But hopefully sometime between now and then we will either have one or be on the way of having one. If we timed it right and nature was willing we could have a child just about the time i graduate. Then Becca would still have health insurance and could quit when the baby was born and i could start working. Of course that's all luck and circumstance at this point. Being out of credit card debt is also a goal we have and hopefully that one will happen before i graduate.

I don't know if i have any other large goals besides those at this moment, i really just want out of my college kid life of half work, half school, no money or ability to get more and no permanent plans. i guess the only other "big" goal i have for us is to try and go on another cruise for our 5 year anniversary and the only reason that's a big one is because i need to start saving for it now. Well for anyone who read this whole things i applaud you, i believe this is the biggest blog i have ever written.

So my break has ended and i am now back at school. I also ended my break by getting a cold, it is not the kind like my wife has with the sinus and throught problems,i have the belly flux and no energy problems. So I am skipping the classes i can and trying to make it through the ones i need to be at. So far my mind tends to wander off every 5-8 min and i have to refocus myself on the teacher. One of the ways i can tell i am sick is that i get upset or fall into dark moods easily and for no reason, i think it comes from being overly tired and just wanting to sleep and not understanding why the rest of the world can't just leave me alone to do it. I have twice found myself upset with random strangers who are not even directly interacting with me. They are just doing something in my general area and it bothers me that they are there. I know this is silly and i shouldn't do it, so i make myself stop focusing on them and try to do something else. For the most part its not a problem but i have noticed it gets worse as i stay awake longer.

Break was good. I got my motorcycle title replaced so now i can get it registered. I got the boat registered so we can take it out when ever we want to. I put up another door in the house,which doesn't sound like much, but it takes 3-4 hours to do one with little or no trouble. I also cut holes in our cabinets ceiling and roof to vent outside our stove top hood in case something ever burns and that was a 2 day project by itself. I have to admit that i like doing things around the house. What i don't like doing is being rushed to get it done or having to try and squeeze it into the few minutes i have between work and school. i like to do the projects for the sheer joy of doing them. not so i can get them done and have it beautify or add accessibility to anything. Well I'm gonna stop here because i am losing interest and focus more and more. so c-ya later