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Hehehe...my bad...I deserted you yet again.  However, this time I have really good excuses!  I have been so very swamped lately!  At the beginning of the month, I went to Vegas with my sister for Little Joe's wedding, then I was supper absorbed in finalizing my plans to move to Tucson and register for all my classes, then I have been trying to get financial assistance--a work in progress--, and finally, I actually moved to Tucson, started classes, and started working.  See what I mean about having been swamped?!

Now then, in order, I shall elaborate upon all the events that prevented me from updating prior to now because I know you've just been dying to know **insert sarcastic me here**.

Vegas:  Caylin and I went to Vegas for our oldest second cousin's oldest son's wedding (hehehe...that sound's confusing).  Anyway, we call him Little Joe.  That is how he was introduced to us and that is who he will always remain, I don't care if he outgrew his parents.  It was kind of a slam-bam-thank-you-ma'am wedding, but it was cute nonetheless.  It was a wee bit irritating that we waited for the service to start for more time than the service itself took.  They wrote their own vows...it was adorable.  She was hilarious because second's before she began, she announced that she cheated and wrote her vows down while he was frantically memorizing his.  Caylin and I couldn't for the life of us find the stupid chapel before the wedding.  All we knew was that it was near the Stratosphere.  We parked at the Stratosphere and began walking around, frantically calling our Great Auntie Marion who didn't pick up until about the tenth time we called.  Luckily, she and Great Uncle Joe were running late as well and they found us on a corner looking totally lost and drove us the rest of the way to the wedding.  None of us had eaten and were really looking forward to the reception because we figured there would at least be a large cake we could munch on to tide us over.  What did they have?  A plate of fruit, cheese and crackers and then a small tower of  TINY cupcakes...we were a tad upset, but willing to cope.  It was a strange reception mostly consisting of her family who did not feel obliged to talk to us or even tell us who the heck they were.  We were pretty much divided into two factions: her family and our family and we didn't mingle.  Our family excused ourselves from their cramped hotel room with a serious lack of seating to the hallway where we sat on the ground and sent the youngest child back and forth for the delicious, albeit minuscule, cupcakes.  The wedding was the reason we were in Vegas, but the night before was my first one ever and it started off with a bang!  Caylin and I got in at around seven that Friday night and checked into the hotel--we stayed at the Excalibur.  Our room was kinda small and a bit tacky, but we were only planning on sleeping there so it wasn't a huge deal and we didn't really care.  That night, after we got all settled, Caylin and I decided we wanted to go to Margaritaville for a drink.  It was the best and most expensive margaritas of my life.  When we got back to the hotel, there was a huge line for the elevator and because it was our first night in the hotel, we didn't think anything of it.  However, after about five minutes of waiting to get into the elevator, the Las Vegas Fire Department came out of them.  Caylin, being her, said, "I bet they came from our room."  we laughed it off and then barged our way to the front of the line for the elevators.  (On a side note, the fire fighters in Vegas are freaking delicious!  I wanted to jump a few of them...not exaggerating....I actually debated the pros and cons of doing so.)  Anyways...we got up to our floor and what greets us?  A bunch of fire fighters and hotel maintenance standing outside of where our room should approximately be.  At that point, we began laughing hysterically because Caylin's previous statement was becoming less and less of a joke.  A police officer came toward us as we made our way down the hall and we asked him what room the fire was in.  He asked us what room we were in and after our answer said he thought the fire was in the room next to us, but he wasn't sure.  Now the panic began to set in a bit.  The fire turned out to be in the room next to ours, but our room was completely flooded.  This would have been absolutely horrible had Caylin and I followed our normal tendency of throwing all our stuff on the floor surrounding our beds, but this time we had pulled everything up and put them on any hard surface available, which was fantastic because we both brought our computers.  The firefighters laughed at us as we giggled while wading through the lake that used to be our carpeted floor and grabbed all our stuff as quickly as we could.  After we glanced back longingly at the delectable firemen, we went to the front desk to get a new room.  They tried to put us on the fifth floor in the smoking tower, yes tower, which would have been just as tacky as our previous room but would also reek of smoke.  Caylin, however, in her infinite wisdom, told the man helping us that she couldn't be in the smoking tower because she has asthma--not a verified fact.  We were then placed on the top floor of the smoking tower because they had no rooms available in the non-smoking tower.  The new room was B-E-A-UTIFUL!!!  We ended up getting a free upgrade.  The sheets were amazingly soft, the bathroom was gorgeous and the view was spectacular!  We actually had a pretty good view of The Strip and the hotel's pools.  And that was my first night in Vegas.  The next day, we slept in, had lunch with the family, and went to the wedding which I already explain.  After we left the "reception"  Caylin and I walked down to Paris Casino where we decided to play the penny slots.  We started out putting twenty dollars in the machine.  Caylin lost about fifty cents and I won seven.  After that we switched to the nickel slots.  Again Caylin lost money.  I hit a mysterious button, it took fifty cents and then the wheel thingys just kept turning.  It said I had ten free turns...I don't know how I got them.  At the end of the possessed machine's episode, it informed me that I had won 5850 credits, which meant nothing to me.  Then the credits started turning into money...that meant a lot to me.  I won three hundred three dollars and fifty cents on the nickel slots after which I promptly cashed out and changed my ticket out for money.  I gave Caylin twenty bucks because for some reason I felt guilty that she had lost while I had won so much, then I bought us both these huge drinks in an Eiffel Tower cup thingy.  The following day, we had breakfast--I paid--and checked out to go home.  I still had two hundred dollars left of my winnings.  It was a very exciting trip!  I have decided that I like Vegas very much.

Sorry that was so lengthy and not in chronological order.  Onto the school stuff.  It took me forever to register for classes!  I was going to take two online, but they both were only offered through the outreach college which was a hassle I wasn't willing to contend with.  One of the classes was then offered through the main college and I therefore jumped right on it.  The other refrained from such a course of action so I decided it was time to jump ship on that one.  I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get into a class that I needed for my History major because the adviser told me all the sections were full, but then, one day while I was looking at classes for upper division history, I saw the coveted green circle by this class.  There was one seat open and I'd be damned if someone else was going to get it.  I snatched it up supper fast!  I tried to register for two English classes for my English major--because as an undergraduate, Literature isn't offered as a major--but both said that I needed adviser approval.  I was late for my first adviser meeting because I got lost and so I had to reschedule it to the same day that Adam and I were going to sign our lease...big day!  It turns out that she used one of my transfer credits for one of the classes I was trying to get into and that the other class is a prerequisite for basically all of the other English courses I need to complete the major, so I got approved for that one and was able to sign up for it a week before school.  Instead of taking the abandoned online history course, I added a class on the French Enlightenment mostly because of where the building was positioned honestly.  I have completed the first week of classes and have decided that they are all acceptable and that I will be able to handle the one teacher who is an advocate of group work and that the other two are just too adorable to dislike.  The financial aid is presenting a bit of a problem for me at this point.  I got one federal student loan, but it isn't enough to cover all of my tuition.  My parents, for some inexplicable reason, were approved for the Parent PLUS loan, but they can't accept it and the school can't offer me more because they were approved.  I have tried to get a few private student loans, but I can't even get one for $3,000 which would be $1,500 a semester.  I need a cosigner, but my parents can't do it.  I am scared to ask Adam to help me, but I think that is my only option at this point.  It is really frelling depressing.  However, I am determined to think happy thoughts and am still attempting to convince myself that it will all work out well in the end.

Now, work.  I have worked about two weeks at the Creek now.  The people I work with are really nice and so are the people who shop there.  I am still learning the ropes and some of the women I work with kind of treat me like an idiot, but I'm new, so it's kind of to be expected.  I am still getting to know some of the ladies, but I pretty much already know that I am not a huge fan of three, maybe four of the ten or eleven that work there.  One is just kind of a nazi about her particular area of the store...not ok.  Two are just irritating, and the fourth...well the jury is still out on her--honestly one of the two irritating ones only really rubs me the wrong way on days when everything is really rubbing me the wrong way, so I suppose the jury is still out on her as well.  However, the work is alright, but the pay is crap, as are the hours so I am looking for another job, not necessarily a replacement job, but definitely a second job to help pay all the bills....I don't like being a big kid anymore.  It's great in theory, but in practice, I find it sorely lacking.  However, I did get a call today from Bare Minerals wanting to set up an in-person interview with me for the key holder position.  The woman I talked with was kind of turned off by the fact that I have classes on Tuesday/Thursday, but she said she may be able to work with that.  She loved that I had Key Holder experience and that I am already familiar with the line.  I am really hoping to get this job!  I am also really hoping that they can work with my class schedule so that I can be full-time.  If not, that's fine too, but I really need this job super fast.  I know that she didn't like that I was going to be out of town next weekend because of my plans to go to New Mexico with Genny and her family, but I already committed to this wedding and I said I was willing to come in whenever they need me for the training the next week.  I really, really want this job!!!!!!!  Pretty, pretty please let me get this job!

Other than all that, you haven't missed much in the life and times of Kerstin.  I still love him, I have inexplicable feelings for Ben and I am still not entirely sure how to classify our relationship, not that it matters to anyone other than me.  Oh, one new thing...Nate and I are now attempting to be friends...it's kind of weird, but nice all at the same time.  He even sent me a "happy birthday" facebook message which, let me tell you, threw me through a loop.  I'm not going to lie to you, when I saw that I had a message, I was hoping and praying that it was from boy I love, but that dream burst into flames and burned slowly into ashes, contributing heartily to my sour birthday mood.  I took the delusion that he would even call me on my birthday to wish me a happy birthday and when I took my phone out of my locker and saw that I had a voicemail, I let my heart hope it was him.  Was it?  Not even close.  Though, i did get a nice surprise on that one; it was Genny's grandma singing me "Happy Birthday"...i saved the message cause it was so freaking cute.  I still think about him far too much for it to be healthy and I still wish he still loved me and that he would come to his senses, show up on my doorstep and sweep me off my feet...but then I wake up and realize I don't actually live in a romance novel and that he is far too stubborn to ever come to his senses without several forms of torture coming into play.

Hmmm...I guess I just had to end on a rant...NO!  I will conclude this obnoxiously long entry with the fact that I am, thus far, rather enjoying living in Tucson.  It has rained a bunch, school is nice, I am making friends in a few of my classes, my books don't cost too much, and Adam is making living with him as nice as possible, though there are still times I want to punch him in the throat for no reason at all really, he just gets on my nerves sometimes and makes me uncomfortable other times...whatever, I live with a boy, uncomfortableness comes with the territory.