Ah, Fall!
I had off from work this past Friday and went home for the weekend to go to the VT vs Miami game. I drove down on Thursday after work, so it was too dark to take in the fall foliage on the drive down. I returned to Maryland on Sunday afternoon, and was finally able to see all the trees on the mountains and across most of the state of Virginia painted in all the beautiful fall colors. For me, one of the most spiritual things is to be outside and in nature, but during fall, when the trees still have their leaves and all the fall colors are in full strength -- how can anyone look at the splendor, beauty, and perfection and not believe that there is not some divine mastermind? Even if they don't believe that God is an active participant now, how can they not look at the world around and not believe that God knowingly initiated all the necessary reactions that needed to take place in order to form the world as it is.

In other news, VT has had a few solid conference wins here at the end of the regular season and we have one more BIG game coming up this weekend against our in-state rival, UVA, who we are currently tied with for the lead of the Coastal division of the ACC. This one game determines who will be going to the ACC Championship game and who will have to suffice with going to another of the ACC bowl games such as the Peach Chic-fil-a Bowl or the Gator Bowl (if they're lucky). The Redskins aren't having quite as good success, but lost a heartbreaker yesterday to division-rivals, the Dallas Cowboys. I was lucky enough to listen to most of the game on the radio during my drive back to Maryland and arrived home just in time for the 2-minute warning. I rushed inside to have to watch the Skins' last hope at scoring with my roommate, who just happens to be an avid cowboys fan.

Oh and Also, Trent has actually spent the good part of a month in town, not on TDY... and so we have had some good quality time together, approaching what might be considered a "normal" dating relationship. In fact, he even threw out the "L" word on me, clarifying that he's not sure if its a "forever kind of love" and to be sure it takes time... but at least I know that he does love me at least enough to say it (which for him is a big deal) and I'm not just way off in left field. :)

that's all for now.... hope everyone has a good thanksgiving and can forget about whatever little troubles bother you and can think about all the things God has given you to be thankful for!!!

Just another Manic Monday...
Yeah so Trent actually called me last Thursday evening, probably prompted by a text message... but he still called me!

And we spent all day Friday together -- we didn't do a lot, but it was still fun. Slept in... went to IHOP for lunch... browsed the movie store (but didn't get anything)... went walking around Elms beach park... went to Chancellor's Run park to check it out and ended up playing frisbee which was a LOT of fun... watched tv for a bit... went to dinner at Petruzzi's and then watched some more tv until my family showed up.

in other news, my carrier trip may be back on the normal schedule -- its kinda in limbo basically. but that means there is still the chance that I won't actually miss the last home VT game (against Miami). We'll see.

VENTING
Well, sometime between last night and this morning my brand new car got a scratch -- a white scratch right above my rear wheel (its in a really ODD spot). UGH

Then, it sounds as if my carrier trip is being delayed by a week -- which means that I'll probably have to miss the last 2 home VT games AND the ESDP symposium I'm in charge of planning. GREAT -- but the carrier trip should be awesome if I ever go.......

On top of that, the only other home VT game is next Thursday -- I thought I was going to host people over at my place to watch the game, but it sounds like most of the Hokies I know up here are going back for the game -- which really makes me want to go back, but I don't really want to use much vacation, so I'm really tempted to fly back -- even more so now that I'm probably going to miss the last two games of the season!!!!!!!! :( :(

SIGH....

and Trent travels all the time and I miss him.... and I want to tell him that I could see us getting married someday but its so fast and I don't really know where I stand with him... I made a fool of myself saying that I loved him and him not being at that stage yet-- I don't want to put myself in that position again even though he says I can tell him anything......

he's supposed to be back late tonight but said he'd see me tomorrow -- but I really want to call him... but maybe I should let him have his alone time. SIGH.

Wasting Time
I'm trying to make it through the last hour or so of the work-day.... but its moving awfully slowly.....

I've been able to spend some more time with Trent over the last few days because he's actually in town for about a week. Which is great!! This may be the first time since we've been dating that we've spent more than one or two days in the same town back-to-back!

This is really unnerving, but even though we've only been seeing each other for a little over a month now (since aug 22), I honestly can picture myself marrying this boy. YIKES! I wish I knew how he felt about me though -- I mean I know he likes me, but is it strong liking/physical attraction or is it something more... L-O-V-E.

sigh.

when did I get to be such a mushy-gushy girl?

My Wishlist
I keep finding things I'd like to buy, but can't bring myself to spend money on.... so I'm making a wishlist of things I want but don't want to pay for. Maybe eventually, I'll get some of them -- or use this list to tell my parents something they could get me for Christmas. This list is currently in no particular order of importance
1. Brown/black leather belt - example: Fossil
2. Wallet - example 1: Fossil, example 2: Fossil
3. Ceiling Fan - example: Home Depot
4. GPS unit - example: Best Buy
5. A new laptop - example: Best Buy
6. A Watch - example 1: Fossil, example 2: Fossil, example 3: Fossil
7. A new camera bag - example: Circuit City
8. Camera Lens adapter and lenses - adapter, filter, wide angle lens, telephoto lens
9. Gorillapod for ultra zoom cameras - Joby
10. Barstools

Another Update
Well... things are still going strong between Trent and I since I last posted at the end of August. Either he or I have been on travel for work for a good portion of September though. He was back from the Netherlands for about a week before I left to go to New Orleans. Then, we hung out on Tuesday (the first night I was back in town after getting back from New Orleans and going straight to Atlanta for college recruiting) -- actually he took me out "on a date" to dinner and then we came back to his place and watched a movie. That next weekend, he came with me back down to Blacksburg for the VT vs Ohio game. We went downtown on Friday night and then the game on Saturday and downtown again on Saturday night --- Sunday we went to BW3s in Blacksburg to catch the early NFL games (including the Green Bay game). Then we drove back home. It was hillarious though on the drive back -- he was all goofy and stuff from being bored of driving. I guess then we had Sunday night and Monday night together before he left again to go on travel to Ohio.... I left to go back to Blacksburg on Tuesday anyway for college recruiting and then just stayed in southern VA for the William & Mary football game... On Sunday morning, I drove back to southern maryland and picked up Trent and Bruce to take them to the Redskins game.... and then after we got back home on Sunday night, trent and I hung out and watched the tape of the Green Bay game, since he missed it to drive to the skins game. Then, Monday he left to go on TDY again -- this time to San Diego.

My car broke down again about two weeks after I had it fixed the first time. This time it ended up being the radiator -- but I left for New Orleans the afternoon that it started overheating and stuff, so I had just left it at Avis and was going to deal with it when I got back in town. However, my dad decided to drive up to Maryland to take my car to the shop so itd be dealt with before I got back into town.... long story short, he ended up switching cars with me once my radiator got fixed -- so since then I've been driving his car while I decided what to purchase for my new replacement car.

Last weekend, after I finished with the job fair -- Dad and I spent a lot of time on Thursday and Friday test driving cars. I had done a lot of reasearch and found about 10 cars I was interested in... so then I focused on some of those to test drive. Thursday I drove:
- Pontiac G6 coupe v6
- Pontiac G6 sedan 4cyl
- Mazda6 v6
- Mazda3 4cyl
- Hyundai Sonata v6
- Hyundai Sonata 4cyl
- Honda Accord 4cyl
- Honda Civic 4cyl
- Toyota Camry 4cyl

On Friday I drove:
- Nissan Altima 4cyl
- Mazda6 4cyl
- Toyota Camry 4cyl

By the end of Friday, I had pretty much narrowed the field down to the Mazda6 and the Toyota Camry and was having a hard time deciding between the two. There is a Toyota dealership closeby down here in southern Maryland so it'd be easy to get warranty maintenance done, however the closest Mazda dealership is inside the beltway. The Mazda is more sporty and has the 5-door option that I have reallly liked for a long time. The Toyota has a special bluetooth option that would be really handy for the future when using cell phones while driving becomes illegal. Saturday night, while talking to my parents about making my decision, my dad asked me, "If there was a Mazda dealer next door to the Toyota dealer in Lexington Park, do you know which you'd get?" And I said the Mazda.... so I thought about it for a while, and decided that if I'd get the Mazda if there was a dealer down here... I shouldn't let a little bit of inconvenience in dealer location be this big of a decider.... I should get the car I like the best.

So, hopefully, this Friday I will be picking up my new Mazda6 5door from the dealer in Roanoke. Here's a link to the vehicle locator info from the mazda website: MY NEW CAR!!!

And then, last night, dad's car's check engine light came on... so I had to take it to the service shop to get it looked at today. Turns out the light was triggered due to poor seals in the gas cap, but then they also found that the rear wheel bearings had gone bad too -- so now that's getting fixed. But hopefully this weekend I'll get my new car, it won't be a lemon, and I'll have a nice dependable, pretty, shiny new car that gets me everywhere I need to go!! :)

August 2007
I passed my private pilot exam on August 4th. Woohoo! That evening a bunch of friends and I went out to dinner at Stoney's on Solomon's Island to celebrate. Afterwards, two of my neighbors (and friends who will be labeled A and K) as well as another friend (who will be named T) went to Cheeseburger in Paradise for drinks and a little bit of sub-par live beachy music. A was driving, so I could actually partake -- if you don't know anything about me, I'm a HUGE lightweight and usually get tipsy off of half a drink -- partially because I drink so infrequently and partially because of my small stature. So, needless to say I was slightly tipsy after my sex on the beach. T had a number of beers too and after we got back to our apartment complex (since the 4 of us had carpooled together), I insisted that he wait a little bit before he drove home. So we hung out for a bit and watched TV and really got to know each other just by talking... I found out then that we had a lot in common... and I don't know if it was just that we were both a little more open than we would normally have been because of the slight buzz but I really got the feeling that he liked me.... but because he knew that I was dating D (I was still with my boyfriend of 3 years at the time), he knew not to act on anything....

Anyway, after that we hung out a few more times -- he has NFL network, so I came over a couple days later to watch one of the preseason games that I couldn't see because I don't have NFL network. Later that week, I invited him over for dinner and a movie... but still we were just friends hanging out.

That weekend was when D and I parted ways -- although amicably, so we're still friends. When I came back from hanging out with D for the weekend -- that week T and I hung out a few times, including on a Saturday when he and B (another person we know from work) used my guest tickets to the Redskins game -- so we all went up to the game and had a good ol' time. After the game, T was staying in a hotel because he had to catch a flight early the next morning for work travel. I ended up crashing in his extra bed so I didn't have to drive home half asleep.

T got back from TDY on Tuesday night and so he came out to lunch with a bunch of us on Wednesday. Wednesday night after work I was on my way to Redskins band practice when my car broke down -- so after calling AAA to get a tow truck and my parents to get dad's word on things, I called T to see if he could come pick me up and give me a ride home. So, while we were waiting for the towtruck to unload my car T mentioned that when he had gotten home from work he was just so lazy and hadn't eaten dinner and probably wouldn't have -- so I told him that he should come over to my place and I'd make us dinner (I hadn't eaten either). So, I made dinner and then we started watching tv.... at some point in the evening, i noticed a scar on his hand and asked him about it -- and that conversation ended in us holding hands. A little bit later he put his arm around me so I was kinda leaning on his shoulder... at this point he said "Is this okay?" I said "yes" thinking that he was asking if I was comfortable. And he followed up by saying "I don't want to be getting in the way of another guy." Which was super considerate of him to not want to complicate things if I had still been with D... But I confirmed to him that everything was okay and that I was no longer dating D. Later in the evening he kissed me..... :) :)

So that was the start....

On Thursday evening, Green Bay was playing a preseason game (T is a big Green Bay fan) and so he invited me over to watch that game. Again we cuddled some more and he drove me home.

Friday evening, we hung out again... we went out to dinner at Nicoletti's and then thought about going to see a movie but neither of us were really dying to see anything in the theater, so we just went back to T's apartment and watched tv for a bit and then watched a movie. We hung out forever -- and as quiet of a guy as T is in normal social situations, I've found that he is a gentle, sweet, compassionate gentleman. He's a smooth talker too -- he said it felt good to kiss me and later that I was beautiful. I fell asleep in his arms while watching tv on the couch and ended up just sleeping there.... geez we move so fast.... but on Saturday he was leaving for TDY in the Netherlands, so I would have to go at least 10 days without hanging out with him.... before I left he said that he really thought he was going to miss me over the next week. What a cutie!!

I'm crushing so hard!! And I can't wait till he gets back.

An Update
September 2005 was the last time I posted before this morning -- at that point, I believe I was at the beginning of my senior year at VT and since then A LOT has happened. So let me recap --

Collegiate Life: I majored in Aerospace Engineering and was really active in the Marching Virginians (where I was a rank captain during my junior and senior year for the mellophone section). In addition, I was an officer in Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honors society, and Sigma Gamma Tau, the aerospace engineering honors society. I co-oped at GE Aircraft Engines in Cincinnati for 2 terms. During my senior year, I was on the International Design team -- a joint design project between VT and Loughborough University in England. During that project I served as the VT Team lead and also got a free trip to England out of that team. I graduated in May 2006 summa cum laude with a BS in Aerospace Engineering. I had a really great time in college -- learned a LOT, met a LOT of really great people, and had a TON of really great experiences.

Work Life after college: I accepted a job at NAVAIR Flight Dynamics in Patuxent River, MD (its on a little peninsula between the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay) where I started July 24th, 2006. The job description was everything I wanted in a job... I have been in a rotational development program since then. My first job rotation was in Flight Dynamics, where I worked on Small UAVs. Some of my job was cool, and a lot of it was boring and monotonous, however, the work I saw people in my group doing was pretty cool and I want the chance to experience that. My second rotation was with the Flight Controls group, where I worked mainly on the Firescout UAV which was a good experience but the workload fluctuated a good bit -- also during that rotation I got the chance to work on a really unique investigation of the A-7 rate gyros for the Greek Air Force. This rotation also gave me my first trip to California (San Diego). Now I just started a rotation in the Carrier Suitability Flight Test group which should be a really fun rotation and give me some unique experiences, most likely including a shipboard test (on the USS Reagan?).

Other Life after College: I'm pretty active in the ESDP (Engineer & Scientist Development Program) and am my competancy's council rep so I try to organize activities for ESDPs in my competancy and for all ESDPs so I can meet people and keep busy... its taken me a while to really start meeting people that I feel like I mesh with and can hang out with but finally in the last 5 months. In addition to that, I joined the Redskins Marching band last year and continue to do that which is pretty fun and gets me (and 2 guests) into all home games for free. This spring/summer I finally got my private pilot license, so now I fly all sorts of random places to expore or just grab a bite to eat.

Personal Life: While co-oping at GE, I met a boy whom I started dating in May 2004. He also was an aero engineer at VT, but started a year before me -- we ended up graduating at the same time. We liked to travel a lot and have been a lot of really great places together -- including England, France, Las Vegas, and multiple sporting events (Indy 500, Pepsi 400 at Daytona, VT football game at Miami, and NCAA playoff games in Columbus), and many other places inbetween. As of this May we had been dating for 3 years, but I started really thinking about things and wasn't sure that I saw myself marrying him -- after meeting a new ESDP up here who had been dating a girl for 3-4 years and was starting to think about the "M" word, and then realized that they weren't meant to be together... I decided that it probably wasn't fair to either of us to keep things going if I didn't see it going there.

So that's a brief recap....next time an update of the last few weeks since I became single again....

BACK TO BLOGGER
Its been a long time since I participated in the blogger world, but recently I've been looking for a place to record everything I've been up to and what's on my mind -- somewhere other than facebook and somewhere that less people I know look at... I used to be against the menial posting of what I do from day to day and would only post messages about deep thoughts or other things like that... I'm going to say that my new posts will probably not be as deep all the time, but don't discount that I may get deep at times as well....

Expect the next post to be an update on where I am in life and from that point anything is fair game! :)