A pig has wings... and so does time.

How fast does time fly? On Sunday I will have been here 5 months, holy toledo! Life just keeps going and sometimes you barely notice what has happened.

Hmm. in a nut shell I have moved to NJ, found a suck job, been in so much love, made a friend or two, and decided that NJ tolls and roads suck more than the job ;-)  But things have happened recently, and I recall it all even though it went by fast as lightning.

Ok since the last time... I GOT A NEW JOB! I won't start til the end of March (poop) because I missed the training class by one person (double poop), but I actually got a job! It's working for Bank of America doing customer service, which doesn't sound the most thrilling, but if it gets me out of retail, I"ll hop that train with no clothes on :-) And if you don't know what that means, well... I guess I'm just SUPER anxious! Just imagine, full-time, benefits, weekends... Wow, I haven't worked a job where I got weekends off, maybe... ever!! Can I get a "woot woot"?  (The imaginary crowd inside me is screaming "woot woot" right now.. maybe it's sad that they respond.. oh well)

And the day after that happened, I got to fly back to Iowa to meet up with Em and her hubby Paul, Mom, and P to the etters at the airport. Flights obviously went great and there were no unexpected landings. The trip home went by very quickly. We spent a couple days at mom's, two days at dad's, and I left. Em and I got to see almost all of our family, and good times were had by all. At mom's family party we decided to take some cousin pictures and I can't explain how much fun we had, even though none of them came out. We were just giggling and loving each other.

I had to remind myself that life goes on when we're not together, Ben is all grown and strong (he punched me in the stomach a few times to inform me of his muscles) and Hana is taller than Aunt Dawn. So weird.

After mom's family party we made our way to Grandpa Chet's to spend time with dad's family. Almost everyone showed up and it was perfect! We met's our cousin Jenni's baby, who is awesomely gorgeous, and were informed that our cousin KatiJo and her Hubster is expecting and will be shooting out a cheetah cub in August (we call KatiJo a cheetah because of her awesome muscles)!

And yes the trip went by fast but it was so full of love and laughter, the only thing that would've made it better is if E could've made the trip with me. This was our first time apart since my move and it was hard. BUT my beautiful boyfriend sent snap dragons (my favorite flower) and a stuffed zebra (I named Mr. Heart Shaped-Nostrils) to mom's house on Valentine's Day. Yup, gooood boyfriend!

AND SPEAKING OF GOOOOD BOYFRIEND... He received awesome news. The night I flew in we got the mail (that hadn't been touched since I left)... Evan got a letter from the NFL stating that he is an eligible free agent for the 2011/2012 season! He is going to a combine (for those of you who are clueless to nfl talk, a combine is basically a tryout. The NFL holds them in a select few cities and then a national combine in Indy with the top notch peeps). Evan is looking at attending the combine in Baltimore or Columbus. I have decided not to stalk him when he goes and let him take a couple of his guy friends. They are more like coaches and might better motivate (my decision, definitely not his). But I made a deal with his best friend that I am to be informed during the combine of EVERYTHING that happens. We will definitely keep you all updated on what happens with this. He's just so excited. Every time I call him "my free agent" he grins ear to ear. :-) I love him so much and I'm so proud of him and his determination to make this happen!

Everything else has fallen back to normal. Our daily routine never fails, sleep, work, eat and sleep. But no worries, we are making time for some fun stuff. We have a new job and a new opportunity to celebrate. :-)

I love you all!
I miss everyone! Come to NJ to visit! I promise to make it look cooler than you think :-)
hugs and kisses
Tea

Go Pack Go! :-)