Long enough break

Well it's been over a year since I posted last. I think that's a long enough break, don't you? I have been completely away from the world 'o blogs except for blogging on the fabulous Mid-Willamette Valley RWA blog. And I lurk on a couple of other blogs, but haven't been much of a commenter.

It's about time to change that. So here I am, a spiffy redesign courtesy of blogger templates and some pink infusion. One of these days when I actually finish designing my Web sites, I'll do a "real" blogger redesign.

This past year has been pretty crazy, but in a fabulous way. I started taking classes in anthropology last fall, to earn another bachelor's degree. I'm hoping that grad school in bioarchaeology is in my future :) I will be talking lots more about anthropology on the blog, especially once classes start back up in a few weeks. I spent July in southern Italy participating in a bioarchaeology field school, excavating Roman burials.

It. Was. Awesome. I'm sure I'll be talking more about that as I fall into mini-depressions wishing I were still there, haha!

I'm excited about my job. I've worked here for a few years, but one of my best friends got promoted to the director of the department. I'm so thrilled for her! And she's going to do wonderful things. We also moved to the cutest building on campus and my office is amazing. And we're getting somewhat caught up on 21st Century technology, which will make my job much more interesting and rewarding.

I adopted a Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier last summer, Rufus. He is the most amazing dog. He's loving, affectionate, kind, and polite! It may seem odd to say those qualities about a dog, but if you knew him, you'd understand. Yes, he really is polite. It's sort of weird, but cute!

My most recent venture is another dip into the world of crafts. I'm always trying to find my "thing." I think I may have found it this time, making cool jewelry and keychains. I'm still trying out techniques, but I've opened up an Etsy shop to see how it goes.

I'm working on a book that I'm excited about. Still working through the kinks and redoing some of the hero's story - but I'm taking an online workshop for Discovering Story Magic and it's been such a help. The one-on-one responses have been beyond beneficial to me. It's daunting to realize I'm going to nearly have to start over with this book, but at least it will be more solid.

I'm going to finish up some things at work so I can head out to Jo-Ann's and Michaels for some shopping! Woooo!