Friends graduating, last summer, engaged, my graduation, california, change.

OMG I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START. 

I haven't written in so long!!!! Ok, let me run down a quick list: 

So this past year was my senior year of college. I SURVIVED. And let me tell you, that is no understatement. I took the most hours ever my last semester, AND apparently I was severely anemic this past year. Like, if I had gotten a wound, I would have bled out before anyone could have helped me. Kind of puts things in perspective, right? So my last year was extremely stressful, busy, and I was NOT myself. I was so tired and exhausted and kind of just going through the motions of each day, trying to survive so much school work and other things that life brings. 

I managed to go out a few times this last spring semester, and also Jonathan bought us Country Western dancing lessons for the month of March. It was like...old school country dancing, so not like northgate two step, but rather complicated and it wasn't exactly wranger style but a little. I would LOVE to learn Aggie Wrangler style dancing SO MUCH. Sean, my friend, took lessons and he has gotten incredibly good at it. 

Also, I do not seem to have much luck with feet and the month of April. Last year I stepped on my shower drain catcher and cut my foot open and couldn't walk on it for a good 3-4 months. This year, I sprained my ankle dancing and couldn't walk on it for about 3 months. I had it x-rayed again and apparently it was just a heck of a sprain that lasted forever. 

Jonathan and I also went to Ring Dance in April.

In May, I got my first part time job since high school, as a computer systems assistant for the Chemistry Department Help Desk on campus. 

Pretty much all of my friends graduated in May as well. We went out to northgate as our one last night all out together. 

In late May, I had a blood test and found out I was severely anemic and had to get a blood transfusion immediately. I got two units of blood which brought my hemoglobin from a 5.2 to an 8.5 (combined with iron pills). Average for a woman is 12-15. Then I had a lot more medical things done over the next month. You can read more specifically on my "About Me" page, since I fill that with more medical facts than my posts these days.

In June, Jonathan and I went to Austin for the weekend to visit and...he proposed on June 15, 2013 :)

We went to Zilker Botanical Gardens, which neither of us had been there before, so I wasn't expecting anything at all. I went happily bounding along the trails while he kept staring at this phone looking at the map he had taken a picture of and suggesting paths to take. I kind of ignored him, but happened to go to the pre-planned place where he was going to propose. There were stairs of stone next to a small waterfall and I kept trying to go up the stairs until he physically stopped me after saying "Brittany" in a slightly pleading tone several times. I think subconsciously I was suspecting it by then but not believing it and in denial, he normally didn't call me back to him to slow down or anything. So I finally retreated down the stairs to him and then he tried to position me on the rock and I almost fell because my shoes had a little heel on them and I was standing on uneven rock. Then he said, "Brittany...You know we have been together for two years, right?"
and I was like....omygosh it'shappening. I think I laughed like omg and my eyes widened, "Yes..." He continued, "And you know I love you a lot..." I laughed yes, as he had been painstakingly try and pull a ring from his pocket, then he got it out and held it up to me as he got down on one knee, "Will you marry me?" and of course I said yes...he stood up and went to put the ring on my finger, but since I was so hot my fingers were swollen, "I don't know if it will fit..."
me: Oh yes it will, here - 
and I helped him put it on and then I hugged him and he kissed my cheek and I was just pulling back to look at him and tell him so many words caught in my throat and kiss him, when he pointed to the left, where his cousin, cousin's boyfriend, friend, and sister were chilling taking pictures of us. I was a little jolted and then unsure of what to do, so we went up and hugged them and then walked and took some pictures in the gardens before going to the gift shop and then leaving and meeting at a frozen yogurt place in Austin. 

I took summer school, Electrical Engineering Electronics (325) all 10 weeks of summer and KINE: Self Defense during June. 

Self Defense was a lot more hardcore than I expected, and I was body-slammed many more times than I thought possible. Don't worry though, the person body slamming me had their turn :)

Electronics sucked a lot. The end. 

This month, in early August, I graduated...I was incredibly nervous during graduation too. I guess I've never had to wait for anything like that before. I was always first or among the first because of my last name. This time, I was almost last out of about 700 graduating. Thankfully, graduation was much smaller because I was an August graduate. Jonathan kept annoying me via text that if I didn't turn around on stage he wouldn't get a single picture of me because their seats were behind me. He suggested turning around while I was walking across stage or taking a selfie with the president. I vehemently denied that I would ever take a "selfie" with the president on stage, but as the time got closer, I knew that if I attempted walking backwards on stage to smile up at him so he could take a picture, I would trip and fall undoubtedly. It became my safest option to take a selfie with the president. And I did. 

Thanks to me, Jonathan, and Holly watching me on her TV at home, I've got a panoramic view of the event. 

LIKE A BOSS. Glad Holly took the picture too, because A&M was like "Hey wanna buy this picture for $65? I did buy some pictures for that amount though, because check out this one: 

I asked my Facebook friends to anoint me with an eagle, because MURIKA, and got the following results: 

I mean, how epic of a graduation photo is this? I AM AN EAGLE I AM SO PATRIOTIC. OH, AND I HAVE ONE AS A PET TOO.

So yeah. 

Then I went on a trip to California with Cindy!

We went to Sausalito, Sonoma, Napa (and surrounding areas), and Walnut Creek. We visited Hall Winery, went on the wine train, and Castello di Amorosa. In general, I kind of hate wine, but the castle had one, La Fantasia, that I really liked. We had two massages, and hung out by the pool, and I discovered an entirely new appreciation for cheese. I also had amazing coconut milk gluten free pancakes with pineapple syrup and really good fingerling and new potatoes with onions. I tried mussels which were alright and steak tartare, which I would rather forget about. Apparently I'm "small town," and you know what? I'm perfectly ok with that. 

Cheers. 
Brittany