Finally checking into this place again! Although kind of stressed lately, I’ve been having a good time for the most part!

The not-so-fun: It’s been quite the task to get all of my requirements taken care of before starting grad school for optometry. For quite a while, it was an endless task of going around to different places to get things done. I had to retrieve my old lab tests & documents proving my immunizations, get a physical & evaluation, draw blood to perform a chicken pox lab test to prove my immunity to it, get a form notarized, have a TB test done (which required coming back a second day to check the results), get my health insurance sorted out despite my application being in limbo since December, read documents and fill out all kinds of forms, complete a financial aid application and apply for loans, transcripts, blah blah & blah. It all would have been easier if I had health insurance & just one doctor to go to, but I didn’t and had to go around to so many places/clinics. Not to mention the stress of driving on freeways (I dread freeways).

I’m almost in the clear except for a few things though, so besides a few stressful days at work, I’ve been having lots of fun!

So far this summer, I’ve…

Gone to another yelp event that had free food, booze, and an awesome self-guided tour of the Iowa Battleship.

Attended a strawberry festival (the fresh, sweet strawberries paired with soft-serve vanilla ice cream was so good) and went to a friend’s house party for her birthday afterwards. The party was a ton of fun with lots of drinking involved. The end of the night went terribly, however, so I’ll leave the rest of it unmentioned. And no, nobody got sick or puked.

Went to a little get-together at my friend’s lovely (and very large) house for a small jacuzzi party and a tasty dinner at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles.

Celebrated July 4th by working a super short (4.5 hr) shift at work, having hotdogs/hamburgers at my house, a Filipino dinner at my boyfriend’s, and watching a really lovely firework show at the park.

We went too late to fully enjoy it, but we were able to experience a little bit of the local art walk. It was fun seeing the street filled with people and looking at people’s artwork/galleries. We went to a restaurant afterwards to have some dessert (best bread pudding ever) and drinks.

We also went to the arboretum and took a really relaxing walk around. My favorite was seeing all of the turtles!

My boyfriend and I went shopping to prepare some outfits for our Vegas trip in August. This time I bought a pink dress and a red dress for bright, vibrant colors! In the past I’ve worn black and gray dresses so I thought I’d go for colorful this time :) I bought them for super cheap as well – I usually don’t splurge on dresses unless they’re on sale. I got them for $13 and $10 haha. We’re trying to get our entire group to have one matching night where we all wear red! That is going to be so cute :)

We went to the dollar theater and finally saw The Amazing Spider-Man 2. It’s kinda fun going to a 10pm showing after a long day of work, and then knocking out after going home. I enjoyed the movie – I actually like the dorky portrayal of Peter and the smart heroine, Gwen (*tear*).

And you bet, I’ve been doing lots of gaming with my boyfriend as well. Steam had a summer sale recently and I totally bought Terraria for $2. We’ve been playing it a lot together in multiplayer mode and it is ADDICTING. I love these types of games where you get to explore, build a house, discover/craft things, fight bosses. So, Tera has been on the backseat as of lately. I also bought a 2-pack of BattleBlock Theater to play with my boyfriend but we haven’t had a chance to try it yet.