Pic update.

I promised some pictures of life over the past several months...  Sooo, here's a small smattering of the favs.  :)

 Niagara Falls!

 A trip to Toronto to see the Cards play the Blue Jays!

 Summer vaca in Myrtle Beach.

 Beach cheers!

 The whole fam!

 Kristen and me on Uncle Tom's boat.

At the Forest Park Balloon Glow!

  Schlafly's Hop in the City.

 Friends, cousins, and fam, tailgating before the MIZZOU game!

 Wedding in Kansas City.

In front of the Wheel of Fortune bus after the tryouts!  Yeeeah!

My bad.

Geeze Louise!  7 months, missing in action!  A new record?  Probs.  I know you all have been dying to know what is new in my life.  All.... 2 of you?!  Ha.  My bad.  I don't know if anyone still reads this, but here goes!  In the spirit of new beginnings and a fresh update, I redesigned the blog a little.  I mean, who doesn't like a hearty, solid background of... wood?!  That's what I'd like to know!

Ok.  Well.  Since my last bloggage, a few things have happened.  A lot of traveling and even a move to a new address!  Recap.  Let's start with... March.  Going off of memory, so just the highlights!

March... A month full of Irish/St. Pat's festivities and general merriment. April...  Cardinals Opening Day... my first ever, which included beautiful weather and some tailgating!  (Went to many more great Cards games in April.... before they started sucking it up.  Ugh!)  May...  Ellie graduated!  (I think??  Or maybe it was June...  oops?)  She's at Mizzou now, by the way... and joined a sorority - Theta!  All grown up!  Sheesh.  June...  Weddings, A trip to Canada to see the Cards play the Blue Jays (SO MUCH FUN) and Niagara Falls (one of my dreams - check!).  July...  Work conference in D.C. and family vacation in Myrtle Beach!  August...  Irish Fest in Milwaukee!  September...  Moved into a cute new house in Webster Groves!  Pics to come soon!  Joined a new community group/Bible study at my church.  Annnd also a visit to Mizzou for fam weekend!  (Which means tailgating like pro's and some great Tiger football with fam, cousins, and friends!)  October...  ANOTHER fam weekend at Taylor (haha...).  And as of yesterday, Jack and I have been dating officially for 1 year!  Time flies when you're having fun, eh?!

Once I get my pics organized, I promise I'll post a few from the past few months. 

Welp.  Guess that's it for now!  More to come... and more frequently, I promise!  Well... at least something new before another 7 months pass.  ;)

Oh well.

So many things have happened in the past month...ish. Dumb things... where I wish there was an "undo" button for my stupidity or that I could just go back 3 seconds and make a different decision.

Case in point: tonight. Because I didn't want to wait for a train, I sped through the railroad crossing as the lights were flashing (right before the bars started coming down). Aaaaand I'm about 99% sure I got a TICKET. I saw a bright, white flash. Really, Webster Groves??! I've never even heard of that before. But the matter been googled. I'm screwed.

I was SO annoyed at myself for not just waiting. I beat myself up about it for about 15 minutes... And then? I realized that there was nothing I could do about it. Nothing! I mean, I'll never go through a railroad crossing again when the lights are flashing. And when my ticket comes, it sucks, but I have to pay it. And... oh well. It happens.

So, I'm learning that when you view life this way, it's freeing. This isn't to say you don't learn from your mistakes... just that you don't dwell in the past and the "what if's" or "I wish's." There's great freedom in that. Some things just don't matter as much as I think they do.

Life lately.

Life has been flying for me. Has it for you?? It's almost March! Are you kidding?! Don't get me wrong. I am beyond thrilled for March (St. Paddy's Day celebrations, friends' Birthdays...), April (Easter, CARDS OPENING DAY...), May (warmer weather (!!!), parties and BBQs...), June (weddings, a week-long trip to see the Cards in TORONTO!)... Aaaand so the excitement goes... month after month. Man. So many things to look forward to! It's just hard to believe the second month of 2010 is almost over!

So, let's see. What's new? Last Wednesday-Saturday, I was in D.C. for work. My first work trip, haaaay! I went to a conference with over 10,000 people. Since I'm the "Collegians Director" of our organization, I was in charge of promoting our collegians conference this summer... which turned into literally hundreds of mini conversations... over 3 days. Seriously.Exhausting. This job is stretching me. I meannn... in a good way. Today, I used some basic html to format an e-mail. ...And I never thought I'd use ANY coding knowledge from that old "Interactive Media I" class! Haa... I'm sure my teachers would all get a good kick out of how much knowledge I'm actually using from their classes. "I told you so." Yeah yeah... haha.

Despite how life is flying... and I have so much to look forward to... I'll be honest. I'm kinda tired. Just in general. Of the routine. As a freshman in the "real world," I'm beginning to really miss those trusty breaks we always had as students. I've really only had off Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Years Day so far... Just those 4 days since I started working 8 months ago. Not to whine or anything. I'm just getting antsy for my trips coming up. They're a ways off, in June and July, but still... it will be so nice to have several days off in a row. It's fine. Part of being an "adult," right? Riiiiight.

Ok. It's 11 pm and I am exhausted. Another sign that I am no longer the stay-up-till-2am-every-night girl I used to be! (The weekends are a different story... ha.) But really... I'm learning that it pays to take care of yourself. You know... eat healthy, workout, actually get 8 hours of sleep a night. Brilliant, huh? It only took me 23 years!

Ok. Gooooodnight.

Resurrection of the blog.

Kiiiiinda hard to believe I haven't written in this thing since last year! Apparently, people still read this? I'm shocked. Thanks. :) Not making any promises... But I'll try to be better about updating!

So, life! I guess I should give a brief rundown... starting with where I left off?

Bachman January Birthdays! First came mine and my Dad's - Jan. 8! Jack and I went out to dinner at this place called Boogaloo, where we sat on actual SWINGS at the bar. I'm serious. SO awesome. Then Jack was like, "So heeey, let's go to McGurks now!" (McGurks is one of my favorite places in STL! A wooonderful Irish pub in Soulard.) Naturally, I was all about this. And a little bit oblivious. When we walked in the front door of McGurks, I looked up to see my roommate's mom. Weird coincidence, right? And then, there was my little brother, James. And then... my whole family? And like ALL of my/Jack's St. Louis friends?? Surprise party at an Irish Pub! Best Birthday ever!

Then, the following weekend, my dear Taylor/Ireland friends met up in STL for a little reunion. All sorts of fun. :) It's a blessing to have friends in so many different parts of the country who still love each other and keep in touch. LOVE these girls.

And now? Sheesh, it's ALREADY mid-February! Time flies when you're having fun, huh?

A Farewell note.

Dear 2009,

What a year you've been! Perhaps, the fullest year of my life... ever. Up's and down's, but I expected nothing less!

Off-the-cuff recap.

January: Dad diagnosed with lymphoma. Spent my last J-term in the arctic tundra that is Upland, Indiana.
February: Can't remember anything significant. Nooope... not one thing.
March: Spring Break in Ireland.
April: Passed my Senior portfolio! Aaaand Dad is cancer-free!
May: Graduate college! Move back to STL.
June: Weddings, working at a kid's day camp, Job-hunting, grad-school-applying and acceptance, general confusion about the direction of my life.
July: Fam vacation. Ditched the grad-school idea, and within a week, started my first real-life job with a salary and benefits and other such grown-up things.
August: Met Jack. Haaaay.
September: Fulfilled lifelong dream of seeing U2 in concert. Dad got laid-off.
October: Moved into new house and started dating "officially." (All in the same weekend, haaaay.) Also, TU Homecoming.
November: Peeper Denver weekend trip.
December: Christmas festivities. General month of merriment.

2009 was good to me. Clearly, I love being back in STL and am OH so thankful that when I had no clue what I was doing this summer (like ZERO), God did. Such a sweet lesson in trust. God is good. I have much to be thankful for.

2010, lookin forward to ya!

Love,
B

Aaand now it's Christmastime!

So, Thanksgiving came and went! Already! I meannn... Obviously, I love Turkey Day, but it doesn't even compare to Christmas. No way. I literally get giddy with excitement when I think of all that December holds. This time of year is absolutely the BEST! Don't get me started!

At church this morning, we sang O Come, O Come Emmanuel. Our worship leader challenged us to really think through the words as we sang them. I didn't get much past the word "Emmanuel." I remembered from some vague, distant memory - probably from an old Sunday School lesson or song lyric - that the word means "God with us." We throw that thought around a lot, but as I was focusing on it this morning, it really hit me. Emmanuel... God with me... present... here for me... always. How revolutionary and encouraging and comforting is that?! You're probably thinking, yeahhh, oook, Blake... That's like the most basic truth. And it is. But you can't help when things hit you in a new way!

Praise God he's with us always. Seriously. And praise God for Christmastime!