The first morning....

I woke up at 5:30, the same time as my husband to go to yoga. The class starts at 6:00 and goes until 7, all the mornings I've gone, I have the sunrise waiting for me when I get out. That was not the case today. I realized this morning that its getting to that time of year, where the sun comes up late and goes down early, you feel like you don't get enough done during the day. However, sometimes when I'm up that early I like it, I feel like I'm out in the city before it has had a chance to wake up. Lincoln is funny like that, it tends to wake up and get moving whenever the sun comes up and tends to get sleepy when the sun goes down (well, except if there is a night game).

Since I've been here for graduate school, I've had a new appreciation for this town and my home state itself. Its the kind of appreciation you really don't have until you move away and come back.

Wow, I'm rambling! Gotta jet.

Sometimes I just don't know

I couldn't wake up this morning, having appointments at 8:00 are not good for me. I had to miss my hot yoga class *gasp* for this. Stupid root canal.

On the blog cupcakesandcashemere.com, Emily asked what our biggest faults are. It got me thinking, I tend to be negative. Once something doesn't go the way I expected it to go, I automatically get grumpy and all negative. Work the past couple of weeks has been testing this fault of mine. I've decided that it takes more energy to be negative, impatient and downright unpleasent than it does to be positive.

Do you ever have these moments? Where you just get angry and then the rest of your day is cast in a negative light?

Awesome Weekend!

I had a wonderful time in Minneapolis with my mom and sister. It was beautiful weather and we had so much fun eating out and exploring her new city. I have to say I'm kind of jealous of her, she lives in such a cool city. There is always something to do there. I will post the few pictures I took very soon (I still haven't downloaded them onto the computer).

On another note, I finally got wedding pictures uploaded onto my computer! I thought my CD player on my computer was broken but it wasn't, just needed to rip the sticker off the DVD.

One of my favorite things (and there were alot) on my wedding day was my bouquet. I looked forward to seeing it that day, I held it the rest of the day and I'm not sure how I didn't lose it that night. Never the less, I hung it to dry while we were in Hawai'i, and now dried it sits in a vase on my dresser in the bedroom.

Top Photo Credit: The Leekers:)

One of those mornings....

I woke up this morning and went to HOT yoga (not Brikam, they explain this in the yoga class description), came home at 7 and decided I needed a treat. I reached for the coffee pot, then I decided to utilize an awesome wedding gift.....my french press!

I love my kitchen, Mark hates it. Our house was built in 1947 and I think it still has the original cabinates. He wants new ones, I cannot stand the fact that he wants rip them out and put new ones in. The only thing I wish we had different was a bigger oven so my new cookie sheet will fit, along with a different sink. This is where we put our mugs which is above the sink. I love how simple and classic our new dishes and silverware are. P.S. the cow creamer was Mark's registry item.

I get to go to Minnesota tomorrow to visit my sister! I'm so excited, I never been to Minneapolis and I cannot wait to see her big girl house. But, before that I have to do well on my food micro test.

One of the best things

I love showing horses. Anyone that knows one thing about me is that I'm completely and utterly horse crazy. I love everything about it, the amount of dedication it takes (read: time) to the finishing touches of a winning performance. Although I have yet to master the latter, that is what keeps me going with it.

One of the best things about showing (or one of the worst, depends on who you talk to) are the clothes. Western style clothes are the best. You see, even though I have the "hot" all black outfit, which consists of startched black fitted button down, black chaps, black hat, and black/white/purple saddle pad, I love the sparkle.

This is my new showmanship outfit I made for next year:

I love the waist detail, when on, it looks amazing!

This is one of my horsemanship shirts, pink isn't really my thing, but I snagged it on sale.


Sometimes I go to my closet and just stare at these pieces. I just love the sparkle, brings out the 5 year old in me:)

New Obsessions

Ok, I've recently become obessed with a new blog: www.cupcakesandcashmere.com. Emily, the blog creator is simply fabulous and I love her fashion, cooking and decorating tips!

I broke down and uploaded my pictures from Hawaii, below are some of my favs in no particular order, except for the first pic (which was supposed to be the last!). Fall is here and the evidence is on my kitchen table!

Bahhh!

I'm so bad about this! I need to update this thing more often, though those close to me know what is going on.

I'm MARRIED! I'm now officially, Mrs. Didde, or as my friends like to call me: Double D. Soon, I will be Dr. Double D, too bad I didn't go to medical school and become a plastic surgeon, instead, chickens will have to do.

Ok, I will update this thing later today, I promise, but I really need to work on my seminar that I'm giving in a couple of weeks. I'm horribly behind on it, but I will catch up I just know it!

Later the same day....

I told you I would edit this thing! I started blogging at school when I realized that I needed to really get some work done, so I promptly got off the computer.

Rewind to June....

The wedding....was fabulous! Though I'm biased, I'm sure that all have seen the pics taken by the oh so wonderful photographrs the Leekers (www.theleekers.com). It was a complete whirlwind of fabulous friends and family.

Hawaii was everything and more, I would post pics from our vacay if they were on my computer. Yes, our vacay was 3 months ago and I still haven't sorted through the 300 plus pictures between Mark and I. I'm saving it, for some dreary fall day. You know, the first fall day that chills you to the bone, where all you want to do is sit in a chunky sweater, on the couch with tea, watching Sex and the City or something else that is increadibly girly.

Anyway, I'm saving the pics for that day. That way, when I'm freezing I can be whisked away to Hawai'i. P.S., if you haven't been there, make it a lifetime goal. It is truely everything everyone who has been there says it is. Though, it is expensive, save your pennies so you can enjoy some awesome seafood, and island food in general. The weather is fabulous, the ocean is blue, and you feel like you are in a different country, however you are safe, it still the U.S.! Seeing that state gives you an appreciation for America!

Ok, enough of that. I went to my last paint show of the season in August. We had a decent show, but still have a slew of things to work on. Good news is that we have made HUGE strides in our training. Plus, my show wardorbe is set for awhile with some fabulous pieces. One of my favorites I scored on a massive sale at www.showmeagain.com, the other I got custom made. It was my first custom made piece and is totally worth it. The design is different but classic and fits me like a glove.

I will post pictures of all this soon. Have a great weekend!

Its been awhile....again

Hey! Well I did it, I ran my first half marathon! It was the most mentally challenging 2 hours and 29 minutes of my life, but I did it. It was so much fun that I think Jill, Eric and I have Mark convinced that he needs to try it next year. It was also so fun and addicting that I signed up for a 10K at the beginning of June the goal being that I need to keep running until the wedding. I also want to keep running after the wedding, so hopefully I can keep the motivation going.

School is going well, we are really busy. Its so funny, the summer is when most people think I slow down and have a whole bunch of time on my hands when actually its the opposite. We are starting a bunch of new studies right now and getting everything set up for my study along with two other people's studies. Its crazy right now but once birds are in and everything is done we will wonder why we freaked out so much.

As for horse showing, its on hold right now:(. There is a show this weekend in Fremont I would love to go to but it just didn't work out. I won't show again until August but hey that is ok, its hard because showing can consume you but I have to keep everything in perspective and realize that its not just me anymore. Its ok though, I wanted to get my feet wet again this year and hopefully next year go out and show a lot more. I would really love to hit up some of the bigger shows, but we will see what I can afford and if my mom ever teaches me how to drive the rig.

Other than that, wedding planning is chugging along. Its about to get nuts up in here, but I'm really excited for it!

That is all I have for now, peace out!

Right when I get in the groove...

I'm training for my half marathon. I'm (finally) addicted to running, then BAM! On my long run this past weekend, I had this hot stabbing pain run from my knee up my leg and back down to my knee. I just about fell over on the MoPac trail in pain, the pain from my knee and biting my tongue so I wouldn't scream F*%^ at the top of my lungs. I was halfway out on my run. I had to hobble home. Muttering profanities all the way. I'm pretty sure I freaked some people out. Here was this red faced sweaty girl with her ipod blaring, muttering and stringing curse words under my breath that sailors probably wouldn't dare say. Yep, pretty sure I scared some people, while also making an old runner laugh. At least I made someone laugh.

But, at least this week is recovery week in bootcamp, which translates into yoga along with low intensity workouts. I'm putting ice on my knee twice a day. I'm going to try and run 1 mile (pathetic I know) on the treadmill (gasp) at the rec tomorrow and then try and bike for a little bit. Hopefully I can run 2 miles, but it all depends on the knee.

As for school, I'm getting my manuscript ready to publish. I'm pretty stoked about this, I'm hopefully going to be published soon. I know I need to edit my paper more to shorten it, but hopefully my advisor will help me with that and I'll get it in before the end of the semester. That is the goal at least. We are still waiting for price quotes on equipment for my research and my one class is going well. All in all I'm just hanging out, especially this week since I don't have class.

Charlie is going really well. We still have a lot of stuff to work on but hopefully we will be ready by the end of April for our first show! Will keep ya posted on that one:)

Have a good night folks!

Its been a LONG while....

Wow, its been so long since I last posted on this thing! Last semester flew by, I apologize for not writing like I should have been. You see I had a good reason, I was writing and editing my thesis. I have officially become Master Dana, I have the piece of paper now, they can't take it back!

This semester is going well. Just getting started in class, I'm taking one class this semester. I'm such a slacker from last semester, but I was supposed to take 2, but one was cancelled. I'm also getting my Ph.D. project ready and also getting my manuscript ready for publication. Its going to be another busy semester with the wedding coming up in June, getting a trial ready and getting a paper ready to be published. I'm up for the challenge though! You all know I've faced busier semesters than this and made it out smelling like roses and with sanity semi attached.

To add to this craziness, I'm getting back into the paint shows and training for a half marathon. Yes, you read that right, I didn't think I had enough on my plate so I added more. I bought my first show top in a long time. This means I have a dollar commitment in getting Charlie ready for our first breed show in 5 years. In addition, I'm still doing my bootcamp class (though I was a bad girl and skipped today, hey I couldn't get to sleep last night and 4:30 comes quick!). Combine all of this with running 4-5 miles two days a week with a long run once a week followed by a short run (2 miles or so) leads to one busy me.

Though a lot of this sounds nuts, I'm really excited for all the changes and challenges coming this spring. I'm excited to get my very first paper published. It will be a lot of work, but it will definately be worth it. I'm also really excited about my Ph.D. project, its really applicable for industry and its going to be really cool. More on that to come. I'm also going to knock something off of my bucket list this year, and that is run a half marathon. I'm mostly doing this to get into really good shape for the wedding, I'm also doing this to prove to myself that I can do it. I never thought I would be able to say 3 miles is an easy run, but I am. I ran 4 yesterday, it was hard, the last half mile was really hard. But, nothing like Won't Get Fooled Again to push you through your last half mile.

I'm going to try my best to document all of this in this blog. Stay tuned.

My Newest Addiction

Since the remainder of the summer will consist of writing my thesis and analyzing data, that leaves me with a lot of time to go crazy and surf the web. Since I'm planning my wedding right now, I've discovered a new addiction that I've created for myself. I love, I mean LOVE looking at different wedding blogs and different photographers blogs for weddings.

I mean, you have no idea, I love looking at all the pretty pictures with real life people who look so magical on their wedding day that they look like movie stars. Everyone that surrounds these magical people look like movie stars too, its like some aura that the married people put off. It never ceases to amaze me how these people look.

One of my favs is www.weddingchicks.com, they have such chic and wonderfully simple looking weddings on their site. The types of weddings I really want to pull off but of course, I will fall short of their professionally planned soirees.

On this blog site are some of my favorite photography sites, they are listed on the main page on the right hand side. My photographers are also featured on their site, if you look under Nebraska, they are the Leekers. Their blog is fab as well, they are kinda new to the whole wedding thing but the few wedding pics I've seen on their blog I love. Their blog site is www.theleekers.com/blog.

I love looking at dresses, I want to see my flowers, I got my DJ booked (and even in dramatic fashion, beating out another bride!), I have my place and I even have my invites picked out (I think). I have nothing to do now, zip, nada, nothing, except keep working out.

Speaking of working out, its going great! Even though I have to get up at the break of dawn to go three days a week its totally worth it! I'm already seeing results and so I can't even imagine how I will look a year from now (not to toot my own horn or anything).

Oh, and the house is finally coming together! I love the color of my bedroom and bathroom. Its a color called soft denim, its a lovely blue that adds a punch but isn't overwhelming. Its a neutral blue that a lot of bright fun accent colors will be able to go with. I'm excited to have some money saved up to buy a new comforter and stuff for it.

I need to get the guest room (also called the green room) into shape and fast, we have friends coming! Katie, Anessa and Dom are all coming for a visit and I'm excited to see them!

Ok thats all for now, have a great Tuesday everyone!

The Bebe!!

BAM! As promised in the last post I have uploaded pics of Harley. He is so sweet and fitting right in and is learning manners even though I can tell its hard for him. We took him down to the lake last weekend for the fourth and I think he is still recovering.

Other than that, nothing else is really going on, I'll get in the mood to write one of these days I promise just not right now:)

Peace out home slices!

I've Gone Crazy

The reason I say this is because I looked in the mirror and I decided that I need to start getting in shape for my wedding. Yes, I know its a year away, however its never to early to start getting in shape. After doing some thinking about how I can't stay motivated to go to the gym by myself, I decided to go the class route. I then decided that I'm going to do a two week trial with this boot camp. The kicker is that the only class that really fits well into my schedule is at 5:15 in the freakin morning!!! Mark thinks I've gone crazy because I'm getting up so early to go to this class three days a week. However, I went and I got such a good workout!!! Its only 45 minutes and its painful, however I know I'll see results if I stick with it. It always helps when you have some lady yelling at you and the motivation of not being the quitter in the class.

As with the house, we are working on it. The master bedroom is almost done and Mark's parents are coming up next weekend to help us finish it. Harley is doing well, we are still working on manners however we know we can trust him not to make messes in the house when we are gone for a long period of time, which is huge in my book. Other than that, he is learning that the world does not revolve around him, which is painful for him but he is learning.

Other than that, school is going well. I'm plugging away at my thesis and finishing writing a grant this week and I'll start working on my presentation for the conference I have in July in Denver. All the while I'm trying to finish up lab work. Staying busy as always!!

Hope everyone out there in blog land is doing well!! I promise I'm going to get better at this one day:)

P.S. I promise in the next post I'll put up pics of Harley. I was going to do it here but my camera and computer are being slow. Boooo, I know!

Settling the Homestead

Hello All!!!!

Well we are all officially moved in to 1342 Idylwild Dr.! It was quite an exhausting week, the last week of May we began the big push to move everything over to the little cottage. It is so great, I love living here even more than I thought I would. Although our master bedroom is not quite ready yet, Mark has mudded the drywall so pretty soon all we have to do is paint it:). I'm so excited for the bedroom to get done!! Once its all done, we will HAVE TO have visitors!

Also, another exciting piece of news is that we got a dog!! Yes, I talked Mark into getting me a dog! His name is Harley and he is a 10 month old boston terrier, he is absolutely adorable, however we do have some manners issues to work out. He can get a bit bossy with us, but we are working through it!

With all of the hustle and bustle of moving, wedding planning had gone on the back burner. However, now that we are somewhat settled, I feel better about going back into planning and booking mode. We are now trying to nail down our photographer, I'm really excited about these people, its a husband and wife team and they seem to get what I'm looking for in my wedding pics. They are the Leekers, their website is www.theleekers.com, they are great fun and have some pretty awesome credentials.

However, the people that we have booked so far are the venue (Wilderness Ridge Lodge), cake, which is ever so important (the Cup). Also, the cake lady, Kristin is fab! She is so great and got what I wanted for the cakes right away, I'm so excited to work with her! The florist, which is Blooms and Bouqets, her name is Melissa and she is just as fabulous! She and I are having a peacock feather/earthy theme. I'm so excited to see the finished product.

However, with planning the wedding, I'm still struggling with picking out the bridesmaid dresses. I didn't know finding a grey bridesmaid dress would be this difficult, oh well I have tons and tons of time! I'll find something great really soon I'm sure:)

Thats whats going on in the Hahn-Didde household, hope all is well with you guys!!

I'm the worst blogger ever

I always forget that I have a blog. But, this will change, I promise! I need to set time aside each week to write about my adventures.

Well, last week Mark closed on the house, so now the house is OURS! Well, his but mine by default. So, last week the floor guy came up and he proceeded to rip out some of the old floor and sand down the wood floor that was already laid. He also began laying down new floor last week in the kitchen and dining room. However, half of our house is still floor-less.

Then, last weekend the future in laws (aka Mark's parents) and sister came up to help do some things around the house such as landscaping and painting the garage and such. Well, Friday night Mark and his dad are in the master bedroom (which is small) and decided to rip out the closet. They then decided that it would behoove us to move a wall a foot and another wall a foot. Thats right, Mark and his dad moved two walls in my house last weekend. I have no floors in 1/2 the house, I don't have two walls and I have to move in 3 weeks. Oh well, hopefully all of this gets done soon.

I have to go to Indiana today to accept some money, I'll be back on Thursday. Hopefully then most of the house that doesn't have floors will have floors again. That will make me feel better about the situation.

I wish I could say that I have pictures from this, sadly I don't. I know I need to become a better historian. I thought that was something that comes with age, but apparently this takes effort. I was going to post pics so that way you could see the house now and then when you come up to visit fully appreciate the state it is in finished.

Wedding planning is going. I'm really slow. I need to get on the ball about some stuff, its just that I feel some things can wait, considering I don't have walls.

Oh, but back with the house, the outside looks 21903597658934 times better than when we bought it. Thanks mostly to Mark's mom, she told us what to do.

Also, I'm officially an old woman, I have an herb garden and I will soon have tomato plants. I need to plant mint in my front pot for mojitos!

Ok, I need to get back to work. Peace out!

Such a good week and weekend!

Well, everyone that reads this already knows that Mark FINALLY proposed and we are now engaged:) It was such a wonderful surprise on Easter Sunday, he did it when I was least expecting it since two of our very close friends got engaged just three short days before that. But, we are so excited and me going to so many weddings, I know exactly what I want and where I want to have it. So, Friday we went and looked at a reception/ceremony location. It will be at Wilderness Ridge Golf Course, the wedding will be outside and then the guests and the group will walk up to the clubhouse for the reception. That is all I have planned right now, future wedding plans will be posted as they come up:)

This weekend I ventured to Manhattan, while Mark went to KC to meet up with some friends that were on his internship in Las Vegas. I went to Manhattan to meet up with my very preggo friend Riley and see Annie, Hallee, Claire and Katie. It was so great to see them all again and to catch up. We haven't seen eachother in so long but whenever we get together the conversation flows like we've been living together this whole time, its so great. Then, today when I got back into town, I went to the Chi Omega sibling day and we had so much fun in the beautiful weather at Holmes Lake Park. But, now I'm so pooped and I'm ready for bed. Pics and everything will be up later this week. Peace out everyone and keep it real!

Dana

Such a semi-lazy Sunday afternoon

This weekend, I feel like I've been working really really hard up until 5 minutes ago. I've been going into the lab this weekend to catch up on some work so I can make myself feel better about taking the weekend off in a couple of weeks. Also, I need to do a lot of lab work so I can go with the horse judging team in the middle of April and take 3 days off.



Anyway, today I worked until noon, then I went out and rode my horse. I came home and lounged (because its the weekend, and I can do that). Now, I decided that I should probably start putting a presentation together that I have to give in a week. But, here I am, typing.



As for anything new, nothing is new. I haven't heard a lot about my comps, however I did hear from my advisor that I did very well on her questions. So, still be keeping your fingers crossed that I passed with flying colors! Mark left me to go to KC for the weekend to help his sister paint her new house. I would've gone, but I had the aforementioned lab work to complete.



Oh, we bought new furniture for the house! Slumberland was having a super sale and we scored a sofa, love seat, two end tables and a coffee table for a helluva price. I'm very excited about it, again I can't wait to move into the new house!



Also, since the weather has decided to turn nice, I've been running outside and its been so great. I'm trying to get into bikini shape before we go down to the Lake of the Ozarks at the end of May. Hopefully all the running and riding I'm going to be doing will help slim me down fast.



Sigh, ok well I should probably get back to working on my presentation. Man, I feel sorry for these people that have to listen to this, they have to listen to me ramble on about crap for 40 minutes. Oh well. Happy days everyone!

I changed my look:)

Due to the fact that "my house" passed inspection and Mark and I (well Mark) are getting it, I changed the color of my blog. I feel that the new layout reflects my house's style, laid back, cool, and uncluttered. I'm so excited to move in I can't believe that I have to wait two more months before I move in!

Other than that, I'm totally nervous about my comprehensive exam tomorrrow. I've been told my pretty much everyone that I'm going to pass. The test is pass/fail, so I don't need a certain percentage to pass it which takes some of the pressure off.

Well, Mark is laughing histarically in the bedroom, watching America's Funniest Home Videos so I better see what he is laughing about.

Oh, and I heart Bravo, they have the best junk food tv for my brain.

In case you need to watch something funny, this is what I watched today when I needed a break from studying:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi9zcRDeEcQ&feature=related

I leave you with that link, go ahead, click on it.....

All of the sudden, I feel very grown up....

Ok, I was trying to put these at the end, but I'm lazy and I don't want to move them. So, here is the house! Excuse the random people, they are family.

Yes, yes its true. Maybe a year late, but I feel like that all of the sudden I've been thrust from poor college student to you-have-to-be-an-adult poor college student. No, I'm not preggo or engaged (although last week at the wedding I did tell Mark that if he took the bouquet I caught we were officially engaged, don't ask, I was drunk). Mark recently bought a very cute little house for us to live in together. I'm very excited about it, we close May 3 and we aren't moving in until our lease is up at the apartment, which is the very end of May. So, the month that we have it we are going to redo the wood floors and do some painting. This way when we move in we hopefully have everything that we have to cover funiture for done.

Also, this week, I'm taking my comprehensive exam. For those who don't know what this is, it is an exam that your committee members make. I have three committee members and they will each submit 2 to 3 questions each, and some of these questions will be open book and most will be closed. I have all day to complete these questions. So Wednesday night, if your in Lincoln, you'll find me at Risky's which is right behind east campus. Come by and have a beer with me!

So, as you can see, I'm moving closer to graduating and moving into a house...yes, I'm being forced to become an adult and less of a beer slugging idiot. Although I never knew when this day would come, I'm actually excited about all of these changes. It keeps me going and makes me feel like even though I am in school, I'm not falling behind in making all of these key transitions.

Ok, now the moment you've all been waiting for...the house

Please excuse the random people in the pics, they are family members who were walking through with us!

Down in Georgia where the peaches grow...they drink coca cola and talk real slow...

Well, I've been back from Atlanta for a week. To catch up those who don't know, I was in Atlanta for a poultry conference (yes, get your giggles out now). I had to present some very important findings from the first half of my research on Monday. Then, we were there until Thursday morning and the rest of the days I took in the meetings, the people and the sights of Atlanta and proceeded to get my name out there in the poultry industry. I had a lot of fun and made some really great contacts. It renewed my excitement for all of my research and getting my M.S. done. Speaking of that, I've finally gotten a ballpark date for my comps (for those who don't know, in order to get a M.S. degree, you have to pass an exam given out by your committee and then write and defend your thesis), my date is around the first of March. So I need to get crackin on studying!

Other than that, I'm a crappy blogger. I think about blogging a lot, but just never get around to it, and for that my followers I apologize.

Anyway, since the weather has decided to be halfway decent (and I mean temperature wise) I've been getting in a lot more riding lately. Charlie is coming along nicely and hopefully I'll be able to show him this year. Keep your fingers crossed.

Oh, and a large piece of news that I need to share. Mark has recently decided that he (and by defalt, I) are financially prepared to buy a house. So, now we embark on the daunting task of finding one that fits us. I'll be sure and keep you posted on what we like and what we end up with. In order to get the tax credit, we have to move kinda quick (by April 30), so hopefully we will find something quick. Oh, and for those who read this as a sign that we will remain in Lincoln for ever and ever are wrong! Haha, since I'm getting my Ph.D. and we will be here for about 4 more years, it makes more sense for us to buy and then sell when I get a job rather than rent for 4 years.

Other than the above, that is whats new in my life. Let me know whats happening in yours! Leave comments, I love to read them, but only the nice ones, no mean ones please:)

Happy Days!