Happy Birthday Julie

Me, Julie, Chris, and Julie's housemate at Julie's birthday dinner in DC.

These are the guests at part of Julie's birthday celebration. We went from one restaurant to the next.

Julie had a full day celebration including a massage, shopping, drinks, dinner, and dessert with friends. I joined in on the dinner part and left before dessert came. (For those of you who know me really well, I did not get home until 11:30 so don't think I left early. :)) I hadn't seen Julie in awhile. I really haven't seen anyone in awhile so it was really good to see her.

There was a guy there that was extremely flirty with me. It was so fun to have the attention from a man. It's been quite awhile. The funny thing was that somehow (long story) I had to give him the sex talk. (He brought it up, not me.) I realized that I had never had to do that before as I have only dated LDS men. Once he found out he wasn't going to get lucky- any time - he backed off. I was really disappointed as he was very interesting and we were having a really good time. I do recognize that it's a good thing as him not knowing up front would have just delayed the problem and I may have become a little attached. Still, it's nice to have positive male attention. Usually it seems like I get attention from men I am not at all and never will be interested in. Or, at least over the last year, men that are commitment phobic or can't follow through.

I don't know if you can really tell in the pictures, but my hair is way short! I went to get it cut last Thursday and showed her a picture that was one length. There is a small language barrier, but you would think a picture would show what I wanted. She parted my hair down the middle (which I never do) and cut off like three inches--maybe more. Once she blow dryed it and showed it to me I was in a state of shock. I have really super short hair. I'm just taking it in stride and saying it's a nice new change. :) What else can I do. I have to wear clips because it is constantly in my eyes, but hey I won't have to have a haircut for months now. :)

I have finally started to bike to work again. This has been such a weird weather summer. Last year I was able to start much ealier, but this year we have had so much rain or the threat of rain and thunder storms I have not been able to ride. I like riding to work because I feel like I'm helping the environment and getting exercise all at the same time. :)

Since January I have gained 12 pounds. I started to equate organic with healthy which by the way is not true! It may not have chemicals in it, but it does not mean that you can eat all you want. Who knew?! I finally got my courage up and weighed myself last week. (This may also have been because I couldn't fit into a pair of pants that were loose on my last year.) I thought for sure the scale was wrong. Luckily it gave me a sense of purpose and helped me get back to writing down everything I eat and counting my calories. I have dropped four pounds and really hope to drop a lot more over the next few weeks. To celebrate my graduatation I am going to the beach with some friends and I want to feel good in my swimsuit. I also want to fit into those pants again before the summer is over.

I am still in school, but will finish July 21st. I cannot express the feeling of bubbling joy and liberation I feel whenever I think about that! I am so excited that the weekends will be all mine again. Wow! Plus every waking moment (and dreaming) will not be filled with school and what I need to be doing. My head will be so light I actually might start hovering above the ground. :) I do need to start my job search (ahhh!), but I am going to give myself a little break to enjoy my liberation.