December/January Update

 

I spent the majority of Christmas break traveling. From Kirksville, to St. Louis, to Kansas City, to St. Joseph, to Denver and back again. Amtrak and I became good friends and I finally finished my goal of reading the Harry Potter series as well as a fascinating booked called Jane Austen and Game Theory. Just another reason to love my favorite author!  

Spencer and I had loads of wonderful dates together. One of our favorite breakfast spots is The Kolachi Factory (right), but we also enjoyed a romantic dinner at Pietro's where he chose the cheese bread and I chose the wine. Hey, relationships are all about compromise! 

My friend Lois hooked me up with a gig doing wine demos at various grocery stores in the St. Louis area during the Christmas season. The best part was keeping the leftovers and at one point I was up to over 20 bottles.

Since I was only working a few afternoons a week I had plenty of time to craft and visit old friends. One of my favorites, Whitney, took me to the oh so lovely London Tea Room where we enjoyed scones and Lavender Earl Grey Tea. I'm so blessed to have a friend who shares my interests in traveling and literature, and every time we get together it seems like hardly a day has passed. 

I always think homemade gifts are the best, and with all my free time I was thrilled to accomplish quite a few! I made two fleece blankets; a Phi Kapp one for Reid and a pink dachshund puppy one for Crystal (Spencer's sister-in-law). I finally started and completed a knitting project resulting in a scarf for Mallory, and the men all received beer coasters.

 We are enraptured with BBC's Sherlock Holmes and are always sad to wait yet another year for a new season.

In an attempt to return to a healthier state, we gave up fast food and soda. It's difficult in college when it's such a convenient option, so instead we are trying to be better at planning our meals ahead of time. Typically we use my meal plan for lunch and Spencer's groceries for dinner. My most recent endeavor was a pot roast which was fabulous, if I do say so myself. 

 Now it's back to the grind with the last semester of school. I'm preparing Beethoven's Sonata Op. 14 No 2, Debussy's 1st and 2nd Arabesques, and Chopin's Posthumous Nocturne for my senior recital at the end of April. Additionally, my British Literature teacher, who is the head of the department, flattered me by recommending I submit one of my papers for the Student Research Conference. Spencer has officially registered for the Becker CPA review program and will soon be consumed with studying. I know I will be seeing much less of him, but I'm so proud of how committed he his to his career. My own career search is a slow one. At the moment I'm applying for Event Planning jobs in the St. Louis area, but I am also considering an easy nanny job so I'd have the financial support to start my own company. Lois and I have decided to start a book club in an attempt to fill all the extra hours we both have. Our first month's selection is Gone Girl and we are already seeing an overwhelming amount of interest from our friends. Hopefully it will be something we continue long after our college years have ended.