#2011was ... Crazy

January 2011

• As with each year, I looked forward to 2011 being a year of improvement.. I 
• Once again started the year off with School Drama, while I had FA money (for once) there were other documents the school required, and through no small miracles, I was able to get that in and registered for classes.. four days late.
• Pompei went back to New York, to start his formal Training as a guide dog. 
• My Dad and Mom sold his car leaving me vehicle-less  

February 2011 

• Started getting settled into the school routine sans puppy.
• Was scared out of my wits with my Photojournalism class 
• Was getting depressed from all the drastic changes that had taken place in over the last few weeks. 
• Puppy #5 Arrived! 
• I realized how incredibly stupid it was too get a puppy during the MIDDLE of the semester. 
• My sister was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa (Show Off) 

March 2011 

• Dropped my Photojournalism Class - Too much pressure 
• Still looking for a car. No end in sight 
• Saw record rain fall in Knoxville that flooded several roads for months 

April 2011 

• A very random month according to my blog posts 
• School continued on. 
• The puppy continued to grow.. 
• A couple killed each other just two houses down from me.
• The Royal Wedding Happened
• Tornado's ripped through the south east. Scariest night of life. Hail damaged countless cars and buildings in the area. 

May 2011 

• Finished Semester #7
• Re-started the car hunt in earnest. With all the hail damage good prices were going to be easy to find
• Found a car!
• Tried to get bank to fax paperwork to car dealership but hit a brick wall.  
• After three weeks of waiting, I finally was able to drive MY car home.
• Congrats to Patrick, Devin & Willie for graduating this year! 
• First Whitewater rafting trip of the year 

June 2011

• Summmmmmer Time! 
• Started a second job. 
• Busyness and insanity ensued.
• Added: "Knows how to insert IV in dog" to my skills
• Also: Can set off house alarms with finesse 
• Meet new GDF friends Julie & Ben

July 2011 

• Wedding Month! - Roomy super busy trying to get things done with that.
• Still attempting to juggle, two jobs, three dogs + life. 
• Another fun trip to Arkansas 
• The Wedding happened. It was beautiful. The End. 

August 2011 

• Time to get ready for Fall 2011! 
• Signed up for three classes instead of four. 
• Received a certificate in basic photography
• Family moved away from me.
• Took my internet connection too. <cue depression> 
• School Starts. Right away I now I can't continue raising the puppy I have with the schedule I have. <cue sadness>
• Found I would be working Football through the whole semester. <cue tears. Good bye weekends>

September 2011 

• Turned 22! 
• Football season begins
• School continues
• Re-Homed Rob. :( 
• Acquired Trump 

Bye Robsters!

Added Trump - Rob's litter mate

October 2011 

• Regretted acquiring Trump 
• Football continues. Moral plummets 
• Found an iPhone 4. Life improved.
• School continues. 
• The dogs acquire fleas. The house acquires fleas. Insert an Un-Happy & Stressed me.
• Found out FA wasn't going to pay my tuition this year. REALLYY.!?

November 2011 

• Fleas are gone! 
• Trump is taken out of the Guide Dog program
• Trump is re-homed. 
• Much to my relief.
• I bask in the freedom to....work on Finals 
• The rest of the month? FINALS, FINALS oh and Finals. 

December 2011 

• Survived Finals
• Adjusting to life with two dogs 
• Committed to another Guide Puppy in February 
• Looked forward to a New Year :D

How was your year?

#2011was ... Crazy

January 2011

• As with each year, I looked forward to 2011 being a year of improvement.. I 
• Once again started the year off with School Drama, while I had FA money (for once) there were other documents the school required, and through no small miracles, I was able to get that in and registered for classes.. four days late.
• Pompei went back to New York, to start his formal Training as a guide dog. 
• My Dad and Mom sold his car leaving me vehicle-less  

February 2011 

• Started getting settled into the school routine sans puppy.
• Was scared out of my wits with my Photojournalism class 
• Was getting depressed from all the drastic changes that had taken place in over the last few weeks. 
• Puppy #5 Arrived! 
• I realized how incredibly stupid it was too get a puppy during the MIDDLE of the semester. 
• My sister was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa (Show Off) 

March 2011 

• Dropped my Photojournalism Class - Too much pressure 
• Still looking for a car. No end in sight 
• Saw record rain fall in Knoxville that flooded several roads for months 

April 2011 

• A very random month according to my blog posts 
• School continued on. 
• The puppy continued to grow.. 
• A couple killed each other just two houses down from me.
• The Royal Wedding Happened
• Tornado's ripped through the south east. Scariest night of life. Hail damaged countless cars and buildings in the area. 

May 2011 

• Finished Semester #7
• Re-started the car hunt in earnest. With all the hail damage good prices were going to be easy to find
• Found a car!
• Tried to get bank to fax paperwork to car dealership but hit a brick wall.  
• After three weeks of waiting, I finally was able to drive MY car home.
• Congrats to Patrick, Devin & Willie for graduating this year! 
• First Whitewater rafting trip of the year 

June 2011

• Summmmmmer Time! 
• Started a second job. 
• Busyness and insanity ensued.
• Added: "Knows how to insert IV in dog" to my skills
• Also: Can set off house alarms with finesse 
• Meet new GDF friends Julie & Ben

July 2011 

• Wedding Month! - Roomy super busy trying to get things done with that.
• Still attempting to juggle, two jobs, three dogs + life. 
• Another fun trip to Arkansas 
• The Wedding happened. It was beautiful. The End. 

August 2011 

• Time to get ready for Fall 2011! 
• Signed up for three classes instead of four. 
• Received a certificate in basic photography
• Family moved away from me.
• Took my internet connection too. <cue depression> 
• School Starts. Right away I now I can't continue raising the puppy I have with the schedule I have. <cue sadness>
• Found I would be working Football through the whole semester. <cue tears. Good bye weekends>

September 2011 

• Turned 22! 
• Football season begins
• School continues
• Re-Homed Rob. :( 
• Acquired Trump 

Bye Robsters!

Added Trump - Rob's litter mate

October 2011 

• Regretted acquiring Trump 
• Football continues. Moral plummets 
• Found an iPhone 4. Life improved.
• School continues. 
• The dogs acquire fleas. The house acquires fleas. Insert an Un-Happy & Stressed me.
• Found out FA wasn't going to pay my tuition this year. REALLYY.!?

November 2011 

• Fleas are gone! 
• Trump is taken out of the Guide Dog program
• Trump is re-homed. 
• Much to my relief.
• I bask in the freedom to....work on Finals 
• The rest of the month? FINALS, FINALS oh and Finals. 

December 2011 

• Survived Finals
• Adjusting to life with two dogs 
• Committed to another Guide Puppy in February 
• Looked forward to a New Year :D

How was your year?

Year in Review

January 2010

The truth of the matter is this: Two Thousand and Ten started off stressful. Just reading some of the post from the first week is bringing back all the feelings of stress.

• ·         Pompei Arrived – Pompei arrived January 6^th as a complete surprise, I wasn’t prepared for him at all but I’d told them I wanted a puppy and who says no to puppy breath? So  on he came.
• ·         Victoria Career Changed – At the same time as Pompeii’s arrival, my co-workers and I decided to take the other dog, living with me at the time, out of the service dog program and place her as a pet. I wanted to keep that dog so.badly. And I spent a lot of time, considering and thinking and trying to figure out if keeping her would work. My father was quick to inform me three dogs was my limit and to tell them “no”. So now I had to find her a new home…..
• ·         Spring 2010 Started –One of my goals for this year, as I’d skipped the previous semester due to work. However getting that done in the week before classes started was difficult. Not that I hadn’t started it earlier, but you know me, I allowed myself to procrastinate and put it off until the last minute. So once I finally got around to doing it I had to spend five hours trying to get things arranged etc..etc.. It was ridiculous and stupidly self inflicted. I signed up for four classes.
• ·         Paying for School – Financial Aid has been my friend and my parents friend since I started school, however since I signed up so late, I had to jump through some hoops to get my information in to them knowing I wouldn’t be able to get my money when everyone else did. However I didn’t expect to have to pay $5,000 to go to a community college. We were able to get it reduced but it I still had to pay $750 out of pocket. Not. Cool.
• ·         Pompei + Work + School –Another fiasco. When the idea of the puppies coming was presented to both places it was baulked at, my school quickly saw the error of there ways, and gave their blessing to Pompei and I. However my job had other ideas and dragged out the issues……
• ·         New House – After living for a year in a small 1 bedroom, 1 bath, house with four dogs…..my petition to move into a bigger place was approved by my landlords and I began the long process of moving down the street. Unfortunately for me, the pipes had frozen and the water was shut off for the time being, so the move wasn’t as imminent as I was hoping. But I began shuffling things nonetheless.
• ·         Celebrated one year as a Tennessean.

February

The Good: I bought another DSLR camera, this time in the form of a Canon Rebel XTI (which I’m willing to sell to the tune of $650)

•  The Good: I finished moving into my new place, and was able to piggy back off of my parent’s internet, eliminating the need to pay for service. $KaChing$
• The Bad: No Refrigerator or Stove in the new place. Had to keep running back and forth between palces
• The Good: My friends Rebekah and Hope decided to move into my old place
•  The Interesting: Rebekah sister Christina asks to move in with me and I decide what the hey, sure!
• The Bad: My supervisor was moved to another division placing me under someone I didn’t know as well. (scary!) At this point I began thinking of looking for another job.
• The Bad: Its official Pompei wasn’t going to be allowed at work with me.

March

Sister bought her first car. Yeah the stupid green eye monster popped his head up but I banged it back down.

• Cleaned up a park for Disney’s Give a day Get a day program. What a waste of time for me. At least my family enjoyed. #noI’mNotBitter
• Photog Teacher was starting to get…shall we say difficult to work with which = stress for me
• Healthcare Bill passed. Woo. NoT!
• Roommate officially moved in.
• Changed my work schedule to give myself three day weekends. Best Idea EVER
• Got my original boss back! YAY!

April

• Was a relatively calm month, filled with school, puppies, finals. Just pleasant in other words.

May

• SUMMER!!!!!!!
• Pompei + My Roommate and I went on an 8 mile hike one weekend.
• Thought about getting an additional job…
• Lost all motivation for planning and organizing my time….still looking for it….

June

• Gained my first ever foster dog. And INSANE experience to say the least
• Vacation Bible School
•   Watched my family go to Florida without me.

July

Family Reunion with all three pups in tow. Worst.Trip.Of.Life.

• Annual Youth Jubilee Trip – A BLAST!! Broke down on the way home, repair the car with the help of a stranger and roommate had to replace her radiator. Note if you see pieces of tire laying the road..AVOID THEM!
• College finally got all my FA paperwork from FEBRUARY done and I was able to put that burden down….
• Only to pick up a $250 burden from the IRS
• Killed my $300 phone with a damp napkin

August

• Roommate Got engaged!!! 
• Signed up for the Fall Semester relatively early….13 credit hours..
• Woman ran into the side of my car on the way to work. I received a citation due to expired registration and no proof of insurance. $kacHiNg! $96.50
• Found out my NC drivers license was to be suspended due to the ONE and ONLY speeding ticket I’d ever gotten
• The day before the drivers licenses was to be suspended I was able to get my TN drivers license and continue driving. Thank.You.God.
• Foster dog Zipper was adopted. 
• Watched friends raft down the Nantahala...

September

• School Starts
• More School
• ...Did lots of School....
• Went off Caffiene
• Annual Campmeeting at my Church
• Did I mention school?

October

• Schoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool

November

• NaBloPoMo

December 

• Finals tried to kill me
• Finals almosted killed me
• A girl in the car behind me tried to kill me
• But I survived.
• Then work tried to kill me
• But I survived then it was break time!!!

Of course that leaves out a looot of struggles and challenging times. I can't say I'm sad to see this year become a page in history at all. I am looking forward to this year and hopeful for good!