time well spent

Well friends, my internet sucks. That's why this will be loaded with fun pictures! :) This semester is over. I can't believe it. Tomorrow is graduation and DISNEY!! Although I may not have loved school from the start, this semester was definitely a great last chapter of the journey. I made new friends, built existing friendships, and made the most of my last few months of college life. There are a few things I'll miss about this life...the schedule, the time off...all that jazz. :) But I'll also miss seeing the friends I made! 

This semester I didn't miss a single weekend in Fort Collins. I'm really going to miss Fort Collins and all my friends there. Even little Chilly...

In November mom came up again to take me suite shopping for any work interviews. Unfortunately, it was an outdoor mall and the first (and kind of the last) real snow of the season thus far.

But Man-Cub and I went home and had just the cure for the chill! A warm fall candle and some White Russians!

Even if I wasn't thrilled with my apartment this semester, I did get to cuddle in with my snuggie and diligently study.

Man-Cub went through a very competitive job interview process and ended up getting a job! He'll start sometime in the summer and be right in the middle of the city! We went to our favorite fancy place to celebrate...Bisettis!

We then bought some champagne and headed home. I'm too scared to open a bottle of champ so watched Man-Cub from the stairs. It exploded all over the kitchen floor! 

But he cleaned it up quickly. The only thing Chilly got was the cork, and she was FASCINATED!! Don't worry, we took it away before she destroyed it. 

After some champ, we went to the Mayor with the roommate. This scenario really just describes my favorite moments of senior year. These guys are both pretty awesome and I feel super cool when I get to hang out with them. 

This is just funny...

The guys got some free Kohl's cash they had to use before it expired, so after walking around for at LEAST an hour, they finally settled on some head massagers...weirdos.

 We went to Target after Kohl's, looking for a board game. I found a cute pink rope with a tennis ball in the 1$ bin so of course I bought it for my little friend....she promptly destroyed it by the next morning.

I made these delicious baked apples with whiskey. Chilly was sad she couldn't have any of the delicious fall smell.

While I made dinner and apples and cleaned up, the guys played their new game that looked way too complicated for me.

So naturally Chilly and I practiced Mario Cart.

Then I went home for Thanksgiving break and was greeted by my first graduation present from my aunt!

They were pretty awesome!!!!

My wonderful grandparents were visiting and so we went out to dinner for mom's birthday before all the Thanksgiving chaos began.

I then made mom an awesome birthday cake!

And she got lots of cool presents. 

Then it was Thanksgiving and mom made on of the best turkeys I've ever seen.

And we had lots of company over to join in the festivities. :)

The day after Thanksgiving was superb and we finally got to set up for Christmas! I started the year off correctly by placing Joseph in the corner...in honor of my sister of course. (Mom, you can be happy the sheep are appropriate. It took a few tries before they calmed down and finally got off each other.)

Then the whole gang went bowling to test out my skills I learned over the semester...I lost all 3 games.

Back at school there was the CSU vs UNC basketball game. I took my friend Hannah and wore my UNC colors to cheer as a student for the last time...in the middle of the CSU section.

Afterwards, we took Hannah to see the Mayor and I discovered the goodness of cider beer...omg.

And although we haven't had much snow at all, it is finally getting super chilly at night. One evening I came home and my roommates had set up a Christmas tree and found Charlie Brown Christmas on TV. Naturally I made some hot chocolate and settled in with them. 

Man-Cub and I tried to eat at a different place every weekend to make sure we hit our favorite FOCO spots with my limited time still in school. One evening we went to the Beach House and they had a 5$ special on the drink below...he's lucky I didn't drink it all.

I snuck a picture of my ASL prof cause he's pretty awesome. And although you can't see it, the board behind him shows that we had learned 470 signs....plus the ones he taught on the side. Holy cow.

I took the best final in all my school years ever...complete with free pizza not in the picture.

There was finally a call for snow so Man-Cub and I bundled up over the weekend...only for it to be really cold and windy with no snow.

I said goodbye to my favorite little friend from the semester...and told her not to die during all her holiday travels.

Took a picture of one of my favorite buildings on campus...while I said goodbye to it for the LAST time.

Watched football with some friends and had fun cuddling up with their little puppy...that's not so little anymore.

Whew. I know that was a lot, but if you made it to the end, thanks for sticking with it. Hopefully I'll have better internet soon and can update more often so it's not this long. 

But I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the highlights of my semester. It was definitely better than expected and time well spent. I won't forget the new friends I made and can't wait to visit them in the spring!! 

Oh, and I got the job at the insurance place in Broomfield! I stat January 14th and you can be sure I'll post pictures of my awesome new apartment...once I find it.

Stay tuned for my epic graduation postings. They will include more pictures than you'd like to see of Disney World and one very happy 21 year old little kid. ;)