The Wassons

The Wasson, Cereceres, and Ruiz Families

2008-01-12T22:47:00.000-07:00

From then until now

2008-01-12T22:22:00.001-07:00

I'm trying! Really, I am trying to blog at least once a month. I don't know who all reads this, but if anything, it's nice to have a record of what all Steve and I (and now Flower) have been up to.

Well, the holidays flew by pretty darn quick. It was a wonderful holiday season, full of family, friends, and parties. For Thanksgiving, Steve and I ventured to Phoenix, AZ to spend time with Steve's mom and some distant cousins. It was a nice five day getaway. Not to mention that we also saw Van Halen in concert while we were there. We had nosebleed seats, but even from way up in the top of the arena Van Halen rocked! It was probably the best concert I have ever been too, and Steve was smiling for days. Steve is more of a Van Halen fan than I am, and this was a "Steve-treat"; However, I enjoyed myself. The music was wonderful and the people were interesting. I'm surprised we didn't get high when we first entered the arena because it was very smelly. At the beginning of the concert, this guy who was sitting in front of us and already drunk got a little exited to see Eddie Van Halen and fell into the row in front of him. It doesn't sound that bad, but where we were sitting, it was quiet dangerous. It was extremely steep up there and kind of creepy. Toward the end of the concert, there was this lady behind us that was asleep. How do you fall asleep at a Van Halen concert?!? The music is loud, the people around you are screaming, and the tickets cost so much that it would be ashame to sleep through something you spent so much on. Needless to say again, Van Halen rocked, and Steve nor I fell asleep.

For Christmas, we had a massive influx of family come to our house. I told my mom earlier this year that I was refusing to go to Alamogordo for Christmas this year, so she agreed to drag the family up to Abq. for the holiday. Along with my immediate family, Steve's dad also joined us. It was probably the best Christmas that I have had in awhile. We put up a huge Christmas tree and decorated our house with festive decorations. We had one wall dedicated to eight stockings (Flower even had her own!)and the other dedicated to Christmas cards we received. And for once, my brother did not throw a fit after we opened all of our presents.

For New Years, Steve and I stayed home, watched a movie, ate fondue, and drank Margaritas. It was nice and relaxing, which was something we needed. It was probably best that we were home because Flower freaked out with all the fireworks and gunshots that went off at midnight.

So now, two weeks into the New Year, we are keeping busy with work and other activities. Steve is studying for his Masters Exit Exam, which he takes this Friday (1/18). He has to pass this test in order to graduate this Spring. We're both getting ready to go back to school on the 22nd. I will be starting at UNM for grad school. Four more years of torture...woo-hoo..I'm so excited.

We're thinking that 2008 is going to be another year of massive change. There have been some behind-the-scenes activities brewing that may lead to a major change in our lives if it comes to fruition. Stay tuned. There may be a big announcement coming up soon. (No, we're not pregnant!)

~Carmelita

2007-11-15T19:37:00.000-07:00

The newest addition to our family, Flower.

We're Still Here

2007-11-15T19:28:00.000-07:00

Honestly, I don’t know why I try to keep a blog when I know that it will be months in between blogs. However, I think it’s nice to actually post things that are going on every once in a while; like once a year. I thought that once I graduated college I would have more time and inspiration to blog, but I was completely wrong. I’ve thought about blogging lots of time, but when I get down to putting in the effort and the time to update my little area in cyberspace, I fail. I’d rather watch Chuck or play with my dog. (Yes, we now have a dog.)

Seeing that I haven’t updated the Wasson blog in quite a long time, I’ll provide a brief list of things that have happened since the last posting.

1.We Bought a House! Many of you know that on the last day of January we bought a house in Albuquerque. It was a great deal, in a prime location, and the perfect house for us. It’s a two-story, four-bedroom house on the NE side of Albuquerque. Steve can get to work in about 10 minutes, which makes him extremely happy. Our yard is HUGE and sometimes it’s a bit overwhelming with how much maintenance it needs. We’re hoping to remedy that sometime next year. Although we have been in the house for almost 9 months, we have yet to completely unpack. We’re working on that.
2.Steve became the real Scuba Steve. Fulfilling a longtime dream, Steve received his open water scuba diving certification in March as a birthday present. His training included two weekends of intense class work, pool dives, and then the final open water dives. His open water dives took us to the Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, NM. I had never been to Santa Rosa, and in all honesty, it’s not much of a town, but the Blue Hole is interesting. You should check it out if you ever get a chance.
3.I Graduated from College. After five marvelous years at New Mexico Tech, I finally finished my degree in May. I received a Bachelors of Science in Technical Communication with a minor in Biology. Sounds pretty cool, huh?
4.Steve and I ventured to Mexico. As a graduation present and an early wedding anniversary present, Steve and I vacationed in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with my mom, stepdad, and grandma. It was such a fun week. We stayed in this Americanized resort on the beach that my mom owns a timeshare with. During the week, Steve and I kayaked into the ocean, ate interesting food, experienced a booze cruise, watch seagulls ravage for food, swam in the ocean, went on a pirate ship cruise, went on a canopy zip line tour, ate lots of Mexican food, and swam in the ocean some more. Since Steve was able to Scuba dive, he scuba dived once during the week with a company called Vallarta Adventures. While Steve scuba dived, I relaxed on a beach and snorkeled for three hours. I fell in love with snorkeling.
5.I Got a Full-Time Job. Upon graduating and returning from Mexico, I accepted a full-time position with a technology company in Albuquerque. I had been working with them as an intern since December, and they liked me enough to hire me on full-time. So far, I love my job. I especially like the travelling involved. I don’t have to travel extensively, but when I do get to travel I get to either go to cool places or go see and be apart of awesome events. Having a full-time job right after I graduated was such a blessing, and I don’t take it for granted.
6.We’re Selling the Socorro House. Since I’m no longer going to NM Tech, Steve and I decided to sell our house in Socorro. We thought about renting it out, but after little deliberation, decided that it was best if we just sell the darn thing. We spent many weekends in the summer doing yard work, painting, and shampooing carpets. As of date, we have accepted an offer and should be (God-willing) closing in the middle of December. We are super excited!
7. We decided that we like Seattle, but we just would never live there. In July, I went to Seattle for work. At the end of the week, Steve flew out and we spend four days in the Seattle area. We visited Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Ranier, the downtown area, and the Experience Music Project (EMP), which I highly suggest you visit if you ever get to go to Seattle. Oh, yeah, we saw the Space Needle too. We also were quite adventurous and camped on the East side of the Cascade Mountains one night. We originally wanted to camp two nights, but the first night it was raining too much, so we searched for three hours for a hotel room in Tacoma. We loved the Seattle area, but we decided that we don’t think we could ever live there because of all the traffic. The traffic was horrendous! It took us three hours to get from Seattle to Tacoma, and their only 30 some miles apart! I don’t complain about the traffic in Albuquerque as much as I used to.
8.We added a new member to our family. No, we did not have a kid. Better, we got a dog. When we returned from Seattle, we got Flower, a cute black Labrador Retriever mix. She’s mostly lab, but she has a bit of chow and pit bull in her. She has been such a treat to have around. She’s named after the skunk in the Disney movie Bambi. The name is very suiting since she is mostly black with this distinct white stripe down the middle of her face and she loves to fart and stink up her surroundings. Flower loves walks, busy bones, playing football, playing Frisbee, and jumping on Steve. Actually, it’s quite evident that she loves Steve more than me.
9.Steve is still in school. We had hoped that Steve would be graduating in December, but things started to pick up at his work and he opted only to take two classes instead of the three that he needed. Because of this, he won’t graduate until May. At first, it was a little disheartening, but there has been more positives than known negatives by doing this. Steve is definitely excited to almost be done. He really hates school right now.
10.I’m going back to school (hopefully). For some crazy reason, I decided that I want to pursue a Masters degree. I struggled with this decision for months, and we finally decided that it’d be best for me to go ahead and pursue a Master’s rather than not doing and one day regretting it. With that said, I’m planning on starting in the Spring at UNM’s Anderson School of Management to get an MBA with a concentration in Marketing. I should know in a couple of weeks if they are going to let me give them my money for the next four years. Since I want to continue working full-time, I’m going to only go to school part-time, so it’s going to take me four wonderful years. Yes, I know, I am crazy.

Well, I think that brings things up to speed. We have some exciting activities coming up in the next month such as a trip to Phoenix for Thanksgiving and to see Van Halen, closing on the Socorro house, and having our first Christmas in our Albuquerque house. Hopefully, I will keep up the blogging and let you know how these things turned out. Until next time!

God Bless!
~ Carmelita

Our New House

2007-04-06T18:09:00.000-06:00

Steve and I bought a house in January in Albuquerque. It's a wonderful house, and we absolutely LOVE living in it.

Drowning in School

2006-10-03T06:26:00.000-06:00

It's amazing how school can consume all your time and your every thought. Since school has started, Steve and I have been BUSY BUSY BUSY. And so is my excuse about not blogging in over a month.

Despite being busy, Steve and I are doing great. Steve is going to several doctors to try to remedy the pain in this legs. His knee has been hurting since February, and, after finally getting health insurance, he is seeing an orthopedic. They did an MRI a few weeks ago and didn't find anything major, but suspect a slight tear in the lateral meniscus. We will find out, probably next week sometime, if he has to get some sort of knee surgery done. Steve is also seeing a foot doctor, who has recommended that he stretch four times a day to help reduce the pain he feels in his feet. This makes me feel good because I have often suggested stretching to him, but.......

Thankfully I am not having to go see the doctor as much as Steve has, but I am making a visit to the dentist soon to have a cleaning and a filling repaired. I am adding Now and Laters to the list of foods that I will no longer eat. It was one of those stupid candies that took my filling from my tooth. They are bad for me anyways.

Tomorrow, Steve and I celebrate 16 months of marriage. We love keeping track of the months we have been married and call them monoversaries. These give us a perfect excuse to have a date night, which are still precious and meaningful in our eyes. I hope it always stays like that too. Since I am in Socorro on Wednesday nights, we are going to do our monoversary date tonight, which will consist of dinner and a trip to Hinkle Family Fun Center. The weather is perfect for miniature golf!

~Carmelita

It Begins

2006-08-21T23:00:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow I start my last year at New Mexico Tech. In other words, classes begin tomorrow. I'm debating whether or not I'm excited. One minute I will be thinking about the school year and all the fun activities I'm in and the fun classes I will be taking. Then I get overwhelmed at the thought of all the homework and tasks I will be responsible for. This is the time that I am no longer excited about class. Overall, I'm anxious about the school year. This is the year that I have waited for - my last year.

My first class tomorrow is Yoga at 7am in the morning. No, I'm not crazy. It's a wonderful class, and I am usually very wired and awake after class. I then have might 330, immediately followed by Physiology. My last class tomorrow will be TC 420: Senior Seminar. I'm looking forward to this class.

On Wednesday I only have two classes: Philosophy of Medicine and Macroeconomics. They should be simple but very interesting classes. I have no labs this semester. Woo-hoo. Labs suck.

Steve started classes today. He is taking two 3-credit hour classes for his EE masters degree. I can't remember what his classes are, but he told me today that his morning class has the potential of being a very good class. I think overall he is quite disappointed with his graduate school experience, but he's going to stick it out and finish his degree.

So, here we go. One more year of school!

~Carmelita

Vacation in Utah

2006-08-10T21:26:00.000-06:00

I know it has been such a long time since I have posted. I thought that once the summer arrived that I would have lots of time to post everything that Steve and I have done, but I was wrong. This summer has been incredibly busy, and my motivation to do anything decreased dramatically.

Well, right now, Steve and I are in Moab, Utah. We have been in Utah since Saturday for our end-of-the-summer vacation. It has been a great trip. I have never been to Utah, but Steve has. This trip, however, has been a great experience for both of us.

Saturday we arrived in Snowbird, Utah after driving all day from Aztec, NM. We stayed with my mom and stepdad who are also vacationing in Utah. Snowbird is famous for it's 18+ feet of snow they get in the winter and for their awesome skiing. Obviously, we did not visit Snowbird for the skiing.

Sunday, we spent the whole day in Snowbird exploring their summer activities, which included a zip line, an alpine slide, and a tramride. Steve and I rode the alpine slide three times and the zip line twice. It was so much fun. My mom and Joe just sat and watched us, but they joined us for the Tram ride.

On Monday we took a trip to Salt Lake City. We purchased 2-Day Connect Passes from the Visitor Center which allowed us entry into 12 different attractions, provided a free meal, and offered discounts at participating stores. We were not able to visit all the sites, but we definitely got our monies worth out of it. On Monday, we visited the Clark planetarium, the Living Aquarium, and had lunch at the Lion's House Pantry.

Tuesday was the second day of our Connect Pass. Our first stop was the Hogle Zoo. THis was a great zoo with lots of animal activity. It was a great zoo. I'm not sure if I like the Albuquerque Zoo better or not. Next, we went and ate lunch at this Greek restaurant near the University of Utah, and then we visited the Utah Museum of Natural History.

By Wednesday, we were so tired that we decided to chill out and hang out in Snowbird for the entire day. We slept in and then played around at the resort. We did, however, take a trip down to Sandy, Utah for dinner. We had some wonderful sushi at Mikamoti Japanese restaurant.My mom and Joe fell in love with the Mt. Fuji roll.

That brings us to today. Steve and I left my parents in Snowbird this morning and headed to Moab, Utah. We will be here until Sunday. Tomorrow we are visiting the canyonlands, and then on Saturday we will visit Arches National Park. I'm excited. I've never seen either one of them, and am looking forward to visiting them.

I will (hopefully) blog about our trips to the parks. Right now I am being beckoned to go to bed. We are getting an early start tomorrow to beat the heat and the crowd at Canyonlands National Park.

~Carmelita

Exploring the Caverns

2006-05-28T22:08:00.000-06:00

What an incredible day today was. Steve and I travelled to Carlsbad Caverns National Park today to explore the caves, and what a magnificent trip it was. Although I have lived in New Mexico most of my life I have never had the privelage of visiting the Caverns. I sure have been missing out on such a wonderful creation! I knew that the Caverns were a great sight to see, but I did not expect them to be as magnificent as they actual are.

We decided to walk the Natural Entrance route instead of taking the elevator down to the Big Room, which is where the main visiting area of the Caverns. The Natural Entrance route was a mile in distance and dropped 750 ft. into the Caverns. Honestly, the route felt a lot longer than a mile and it tooke us about an hour to complete it. It was a steep path, and by the end of the path our knees were a bit weak. The views along the route were breath taking though.

By the time that we reached the bottom of the Natural Entrance route we were one step from being famished. Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but we were quite hungry, so we had lunch in the rest area which is located in the Big Room. We had packed a good lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, banannas, gold fish, and carrots.

After lunch we explored the Big Room. According to the park's visitor guide, the Big Room is so big that it six football fields could fit inside it. There's a 1.2 mile trail that circles the Big Room. It was an amazing 1.2 miles. I was quite frustrated at times because my camera does not do well in dark places, and the Caverns were quite dark. Some of my pictures came out pretty decent though.

About 3/4 of the way through the path I got a bit sick so we didn't get to enjoy much of the rest of the path. We took the elevator back up 750 ft to the Earth's surface. We could have walked the Natural Entrance route again, but we figured it would have been a very strenuous walk back up, and the elevator was a quick and easy way to get back up.

Steve and I walked around the visitor center for awhile, bought some magnets and postcards, talked to a park ranger, and decided that it was time to leave. We anticipate to return to Carlsbad Caverns one day and do one of the ranger guided tours.

We're staying in Carlsbad tonight and tomorrow we are going to check out Gaudalupe National Park. After a short hike in that park we are heading back to Socorro.

If you have never been to Carlsbad Caverns, I highly suggest checking it out sometime. It is so beautiful and wonderful. Truly a great creation of God.

~Carmelita

Yippee for the summer!

2006-05-23T01:08:00.000-06:00

Well, Steve and I surived finals week and the spring semester and are now almost recovered from the brutality of the last week of school. We both passed all our classes with wonderful grades. Steve received A's in all his classes, and I got all A's except for one C (curses to Ecology). Looking back, we decided that it was a tough semester, and we are thankful that it is finally over. We anticipate the next two semesters will not be as bad as this past one, but who knows what can happen.

Our original plan was to not take summer classes this summer; we wanted to just work and enjoy our second summer as a married couple. Our plan was washed down the drain when Steve was convinced by a very influential person in his life (that is not me) to take a directed study over the summer. On top of that, Tech is offering an awesome class this summer, Philosophy of Language, that I decided to take. Fortunataly, these classes are not demanding classes and we anticipate that we will still be able to thouroughly enjoy our summer.

We plan on doing some traveling this summer, although the traveling will consist of short trips around New Mexico and Sourthern Colorado. We are beginning our traveling with a trip to Carlsbad Caverns this Memorial Day weekend. I've never been to Carlsbad Caverns even though I have lived in New Mexico most of my life. Steve and I are both excited to go and explore the caves together.

I hope the summer is treating everyone well. If you live in New Mexico I hope you don't fry too much over the summer. It's going to be a one hot summer!

~Carmelita

In the Middle of Finals Week

2006-05-09T21:46:00.000-06:00

No, Steve and I have not fallen off the face of the earth. We have, however, fallen into a big pile of projects and finals. It's the last week of the semester, and you know what that means...FINALS. In lieu of in-class finals, Steve has two projects and two take home finals. For the last three days, he has been glued to his computer. He has hardly left the table. It's really bad for him, and he's a bit stressed out.

My crazy week was actually last week. I was just like Steve, glued to my computer. I had to force myself to go to class, and I skipped work for the entire week. Things have calmed down a little bit for me. I have a Western Literature final tomorrow, and then my last final is for Ecology on Thursday. I studied for Ecology all day yesterday, and tonight I studied for the Westerns final. The Westerns final shoulnd't be too bad, but I'm a little worried about Ecology. Ecology is my hardest class this semester.

So other than finals...nothing much is going on. On Thursday afternoon, both Steve and I will be done with school for the summer. He starts full-time at ATA sometime in the near weeks, and I will increase my hours at ICASA for the summer. I got a raise today, so I'm really excited. Working at ICASA has truly been a blessing during these last four years. Yes, I have worked for ICASA for almost four years.

So, yeah, there's not too much to say right now. I will definetly have lots more time to post over the summer, so be on the lookout for more frequent posts. Praise the Lord, this semester is ALMOST over!!!

-Carmelita

2006-04-24T23:24:00.000-06:00

Mom and me at the Thousand Waves Spa in Santa Fe.

Bliss in the Mountains

2006-03-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

What a great weekend I had. After several weeks of hecticness and neverending homework, I was able to be pampered and relax. My mother came up to Albuquerque with several of her wild and crazy friends on Saturday. Steve and I met up with them and had dinner and Papa Deux. That is a wonderful restaruant! Steve said it was some of the best catfish he had ever had, I enjoyed the food. This was also our "monoversary" dinner. Saturday marked 9 wonderful months of marriage for Steve and me. Can you believe it has already been 9 months!!

Well, dinner was fun and interesting, but Sunday was even better. My mother and her friends pried me away from Steve and whisked me away to lovely Santa Fe. Actually, they really did not have to pry me away from him very much since I went very willingly. My mother gave me a VERY early birthday present. We spent the day at the Thousand Waves spa. It was so much fun.

We started our "day at the spa" in a hot tub room. We had an entire hot tub room to ourselves, and there was a sauna in the room too. Actually, the room actually wasn't a real room. There was no ceiling or walls. It was basically and area sectioned off in the forest with a hot tub and a sauna. It was quite nice, and my mother crazy friend were quite a riot. I think I know where I get my crazy side from.

After an hour in the hot tub "room," my mom and I separated from the rest of the group and went to the basement of the spa for our treatements. Here, we were given an herbal wrap treatment, a 50-minute massage, and a salt glow. My favorite part was the massage, but I really enjoyed the herbal wrap as well. I felt like I was marinating in tea.

This was definately a nice a relaxing day, and I enjoyed every moment of it. Spas are so much fun! My mother thinks that she is turning me into a spa junkie. I think she has a bit to go, but I will never say no to a day at the spa with her.

-Carmelita

The Battle Between Pride and Sanity

2006-02-23T00:38:00.000-07:00

So here was my day:
I woke up, late as matter of fact. I wanted to get up at 5, but I set my alarm wrong and ended up getting up at 6:30. My back-up alarm, Steve, woke me up.
I then started to study for my ecology test. I was feeling pretty good, not doing hardcore cramming, but just reviewing all the material.
At 11:30 I ate lunch with Holly in the kitchen.
Then at noon I began to study Ecology some more.
At 12:30 I headed to Ecology class. When I got there, I did some last minute review with some classmates.
At 1:00 I took my Ecology test. At this moment, I knew I did not ace the test, but I believed that I did not fail the test either.
At 2:00 I went to Biology II Lab
At 3:15 I got out of Bio II lab and went to Work
At 4:30 I left work and ran to Smiths to pick up food for my STC meeting
At 5:30 I went to my STC meeting. We worked on our newsletter today.
At 7:00 I left the STC meeting and went to my Political Science class. I was sitting in class when I realized that I had mixed up two questions on my Ecology test. I started to slightly freak out and started to believe that I may have actually failed the test. At this moment my desire to go to school plummetted, and I almost left class. But being the good student that I am, I stayed in class physically, but my mind was wandering. I was burnt out from studying and lab and work and STC.
At 8:15 I left class and came and sat at my computer. I checked my email quickly and browsed MSNBC.
At 9:00 I started to work on my book report for Psychobiology of Sex that is due tomorrow.
Around 11:00 I started to talk to Steve on the phone and broke down.
As you can see, my day was consumed with homework, studying and class. I feel like prisoner to my books and my computer. Tonight I realized that I have a big problem. Actually, I broke down tonight.
See, I'm taking 18 credit hours this semester. 15 credit hours are 3 credit classes, then I have two one credit lab classes, and then a one credit physical recreation class. That's a total of 8 classes that fill up my time. Then I work at ICASA, am the president of STC, have dishes to do, and I have a husband. Not to mention, at the moment, I am sleep deprived. It's enough to drive a girl insane, and I'm almost there.
While talking on the phone to Steve tonight, I vented out that I feel completely overwhelmed with school. It's been very hard to keep on top of all my homework. It's draining too. And the more time I spend doing homework the less I feel motivated to do anything. So Steve suggested I dropped a class.
NO WAY!!
No way was I going to drop a class. I would be a failure to drop a class. I'm only allowed to drop one class during my college carreer, and I already used that oppurtunity. Steve tried to convince me that it was ok to drop classes, but I would not have any of it. I DO NOT quit. I DO NOT give up. And if I dropped a class, I would be giving up.
Steve and I continued to talk about the possibility of me dropping a class. He finally had me somewhat convinced that it would be the best thing for me to drop a class, but which one? The two options were Political Science or Pyschobiology of Sex. Steve suggested I drop Poli Sci, but I was not sure. I like Psychobiology of Sex better than I like Poli Sci, but I know how to get an A in poli sci. By the end of the conversation I was frustrated, and was on the verge of tears. I knew Steve was right. I know I need to drop a class, but I would feel like a quiter, like a failure, if I dropped a class.
When Steve and I got off the phone I went and talked to Holly, and she said pretty much the same thing. She talked about how she dropped all these classes in the past and that it's ok to drop classes. I wouldn't be a failure or a quiter.
So, I decided that I'm going to drop Pyschobiology of Sex. I really like this class, but it would be the best to drop. 80% of the grade is based off of tests, and I suck at tests. Poli Sci has essay tests, which I am a lot better at.
I asked Steve to hold me accountable, and make sure I actually drop the class. And I do feel like a quiter, but I know that it will be best for me in the end. I have too many things on my plate, and there is nothing wrong with removing something if it's in the best interest. So my pride tells me that I shouldn't drop the class; I made it 5 weeks into the semester, why stop now? But my sanity is threatening that if I don't free up some time it will leave me, and I will go insane.
Tomorrow I am going to retrieve a drop slip and drop Psychobiology of Sex. I really do not want to, but I know it will be best. This is really hard to do, but the good thing is that I don't have to finish the book report that is due tomorrow. :)
-Carmelita

Praise God, The Week is Over

2006-02-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

What a rough week this past week was, for me at least. Steve had some little annoyances throughout the week as well.

First, let's talk about happy things first. Valentines Day was obviously on Tuesday, and Steve and I volunteered to be on a "Married people panel" for NMT's Intervarsity. It was quite interesting. There were four couples, and people from the audience asked questions about marriage and all the fun stuff that go with it. It was a little weird being on this panel because about three years ago I was in the audience asking the questions, and now here Steve and I were being asked the questions. Despite the akwardness, Steve and I had a wonderful time, and Steve enjoyed seeing old friends. The ones that are still there at least.

Aside from the wonderful Valentines evening, the week was rough on both Steve and me. Steve injured his knee almost two weeks ago while we were playing racquetball, and he has yet to recover. Basically he hyperextended his knee, and it bugs him. He has this cute little limp, but this injury is causing some slight annoyances. First he has to take the elevator at work as opposed to taking the stairs. Then there's the task of getting to school. Our trailer in Albuquerque is near UNM, and so Steve usually rides his bike to school. Well, since his knee hurts, he has to find an alternative way to get to school. You would think that it would be easy living only 5 minutes away, but it has been tough. Poor Steve. Man, I am sure grateful for the free parking we have at Tech.

My week was very tiring. Taking 18 hours is a lot harder than I want it to be, but I'm not going to give it up. This week though, I suffered in the form of no sleep. I had a take-home test due Wednesday, a test on Thursday, and a project also due on Thursday. Not to mention the daily reading for my Westerns class (which average about 50 pages). So, between Tuesday and Wednesday night I got about 7 hours of sleep, and spent most of my waking hours in front of my computer and studying. Finally, on Thursday night I was able to sleep. I slept so hard that I didn't hear my phone, which was right by my pillow, ring four differnt times. I have pretty much caught up on sleep and I'm ready to take on next week, which comprises of two tests and a paper. Bring it on!!!

Praise God the weekend is here! I'm looking forward to spening lots of time with Steve. Of course I will be doing some homework, but not until Steve takes me to go see Curious George. I love Curious George, and he is going to take me to see it tomorrow. I'm so excited. He is such a great husband!

-Carmelita

My Mother, My Hero

2006-02-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

I am completely opposite of my mother, and my father for that matter too. Sometimes it's amazing that my mother raised me and I did not pick up many of her traits and habits, as many kids do. Now, there are some things that I catch myself doing that is totally my mother, but for the most part, we are complete opposites.

Despite this fact, I love her so much. She is my hero, and I thank God for her. Like every child, there are a few things that we wish we could change about our parents. One of my big things was my mother's smoking. I believe she started smoking when she was 16 years old, and now at the age of 44, she is still at it. I used to tell her that her lungs were black and would feel like tar, but she would just tell me to shut-up. I have never quite understood how hard it is to stop smoking.

Well, last week, while talking to my mother on the phone, she told me that her and my stepdad, Joe, decided that it was time to stop smoking. My heart rejoiced and I became so proud of my mother. My mom continued to tell me of her plan, and how hard it had been the last few days. She explained that it's really hard to give it up, both physically and emotionally. It's not just a habit, it's part of her life. Despite this, she is trying her best, because she knows that it's time to give this up. So, down to only 4 cigarettes a day, my mother has taken on the strenuous task of quitting smoking.

I'm so proud of her. I am hoping that this time she conquers the smoking habit. Keep her in your prayers, and if you have any tips on how to conquer this deadly habit, email them to me. I'm pretty sure she can take all the advice she can.

Yeah..Go Mom! You can do it!!! We believe in you!

-Carmelita

The Virginian and other enjoyable things

2006-02-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

I have just finish reading a great book - The Virginian by Owen Wister. Now, I was forced to read this book. I'm taking Western Novels this semester and this was the first book we read. Oh, and it was wonderful. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes westerns, and anyone who loves a good book. Ok, so that is a broad range there, "anyone who likes a good book," but it truly is such a good book.

I finished reading The Virginian last night. It only took me two weeks to read, but that was rough because I have a million other books to read this semester. (This semester is the semester of reading) We are reading 8 western novels this semester, which averages out to be one book every two weeks. I hope the rest of the books are as good as The Virginian, because reading an enjoyable book does not feel like homework.

Aside from drowning in reading, and being swept away to the West (wait, I'm already in "the West") by the Virginian, everything is going great. Steve is still enjoying his classes, and he has a better outlook on his job. There was a brief period of time a month ago where he really was not that happy about his job. But they bought him a new "toy" at work, and he is excited about using it. I know that this "toy" is a DAQ card and some software to go along with it, but you will have to ask him to explain why he is so excited about his new "toy." Maybe he'll blog all about it one day!

This past weekend Steve and I celebrated our 8 month "monoversary." Can you believe we have been married for 8 months already. I remember this time last year when I was anxiously awaiting June so I could call Steve my husband. And now here we are - 8 months later...and happy as ever. I love being married to him. He is such a great guy.

To celebrate our 8 months of marriage, Steve took me to eat at Japanese Kitchen in Albuquerque. It is a Japanese Teppanaki, where they cook your food at your table. It's a little impersonal because you are seated at the table with 6 other people, but it's wonderful food and it was wonderful to be there with my husband. We went to a restaurant of that type on our Honeymoon, and that was one of my favorite parts of the Honeymoon.

I love being married, and I can say that Steve is enjoying it just as much as I am. It's one of the best things about life right now, and we highly suggest getting married. It's a wonderful experience. And to think, we are only 8 months into it. We have so many years and experiences yet to come!

-Carmelita

Survived!!

2006-01-23T18:33:00.000-07:00

What a crazy past ten days it has been for Steve and me. We have survived a move, the first week of classes, and Steve being sick for three days.

We are all moved out of our apartment and are now comfortably living in Ed's trailer. We're going to call it home now instead of referring it to as Ed's trailer because, well, it's home now. The move was horrendous. Thank God for our friend Jesse Yates who helped us. He's such a great friend.

Fortunately we did not have many casualties. Nothing was broken, at least not that I am aware of (Steve has a history of breaking things during moves), and only minor injuries were sustained. As I was carrying our microwave down the stairs of our apartment I fell down the stairs and banged up my knees pretty badly. And then later, while we were unloading at the trailer, I ran into this shelf thingy in the Uhaul and hit the side of my head. Then, after I got down from the Uhaul, I turned around to tell Jesse and Steve, and WHAM, a chair fell from the Uhaul and hit me on the otherside of the head. After a few involuntary tears, I was all better. Steve hurt himself with the mattress; Jesse did not get hurt.

Needless to say, we are all healthy and healed and our trailer is all pretty now. I took all day Sunday and unpacked, organized, and prettied up the place. It feels like home.

Classes started on Tuesday for both Steve and me. Steve is enjoying his classes and is excited about a couple of them. I'm liking most of my classes so far, although I'm a little concerned about my Ecology class. We'll have to see how that turns out.

2006-01-23T17:04:00.000-07:00

Steve and me at Rachel and John Milton's wedding.

We're Moving!

2006-01-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

Ok, so at the moment Steve and I have two places of residency - one in Socorro and one in Albuquerque. We are definitely not moving from our residence in Socorro. Steve bought the house two years ago, and we plan on keeping it until I graduate from Tech in May of 2007. I stay in that house during the school week. We are moving from our residence in Albuquerque, which is an apartment.

This is pretty much a spare of the moment decision. Steve has a brother, Ed, who owns a trailer here in Albuquerque. Currently, Ed is in the Utah National Guard and is gone a lot for training. He had two friends live in his trailer, and when he is not training, he stays in the guest room of his trailer. Well, the last time Ed was down in Albuquerque (which was just after Christmas) he mentioned to Steve that his friends were thinking about moving out and he needed to find someone to rent the trailer.

This turned out to be a perfect situation. First, Ed's friends weren't moving out until this month (Actually, they moved out this past weekend) and our lease at the apartment expires at the end of his month. So it was an opportune time to move out of our apartment. Also, with Steve and I living in the trailer, Ed will have a place to stay when he is not training for the Guard. It will also be cheaper to rent the trailer than it is to rent the apartment we are currently in. So it turned out to be a great deal.

The trailer is actually very nice. It has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The master bathroom is very nice. It has a HUGE bathroom and then an separate shower. The vanity area is pretty spacious as well. Steve and I might actually be able to get ready at the same time there and not have to kick accouter out of the way for the sink or mirror space. There's a walk-in closet in the master bedroom, and that bedroom is pretty big. The kitchen is spacious and has a small island for extra counter space. Oh yeah, there's a washer and dryer there as well. The trailer is located in a gated community, and is located near UNM. It will be easier for Steve to get to school, and it will cut 10-20 minutes off of my commute.

There are lots of advantages to this move,and Steve and I are excited about living in the trailer. We are not excited about the move though. Moving is so tiring and time consuming. And things end up broken. Thank God for our friends who are going to help out. We will be moving this Saturday, and hopefully will have the trailer in somewhat order before school starts on Tuesday.

Wish us luck on our move, and pray that Steve does not drop anything. :)

~Carmelita

Happy New Year!!

2006-01-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

I promise I did not forget about the blog. I've ignored it for two reason: my internet access has been limited and Steve and I have been ultra busy lately. But now it's time for a massive update.

Steve and I survived finals and ended the semester pretty good. Steve got an A and a B in his two classes; I got all As and one B. This brought up my overall GPA significantly. If I keep up the good work I can graduate from Tech with honors. The spring semester starts on Jan 17th for both Steve and me. Steve will be taking 9 hours, and I will take 18 hours. We are both expecting this to be a tough semester, but this may be my last tough semester.

Christmas was wonderful! We went down to Alamogordo and spent the Christmas weekend with my family. My brothers were not there this year (they went to Louisiana with my dad), but we still had a great time. My mother and stepdad showered us in Christmas gifts. Steve and I received several Pampered Chef products. One of them was this cool chopper thing that I utilized just last night to chop up bacon. We both also received robes, which are soft, warm and comfortable. They are so nice. My mom also bought me the Chronicles of Narnia. It's one big hardback book with all seven books in it. It's pretty big, and not a book I can carry around,but it's really pretty and I'm looking forward to reading it to Steve and my kids (when we have them).

I gave Steve two Lego sets, a case that holds eyeglasses and contacts, and the Johnny Cash Legend box set. He loved all his gifts. I love spoiling my husband.

New Mexico Tech is closed during the week between Christmas and New Years, so I could not work. Steve, on the otherhand, was allowed to work during this week, and he worked as much as he could. I became a brideslave during this week. One of my best friends, Rachel Bixler (now Milton), got married on Friday (Dec. 30), and I had the privilege of being her Matron of Honor.

For New Years Steve and I went up to Aztec, NM to stay with his dad. It was a nice and relaxing visit. We didn't do anything grand for New Years Eve; we just watched the ball drop in New York and then went to bed. On New Years Day we took a little road trip. We visited Shiprock, Four Corners Monument, and then Cortez, Colorado. I had never been to any of these places. I was looking forward to visiting the Four Corners Monument, but when we got there I was not very impressed. It was neat to be in four states at once, but for some reason I thought it would be much grander.

Well, I wish you all the Happiest of New Years! Till next time.

~Carmelita

STC Scholarship

2005-12-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

In September I had this great idea of applying for the STC Lonestar Community Scholarship. I have no idea where I got the idea other than the fact that a scholarship of some sort would really help out financially. I almost abandoned the idea, but a couple of weeks before the scholarship was due Steve persuaded me to finish what I started. He helped me put together a website where I presented the information the scholarship committee requested. Although it was stressful toward the end, we had fun putting it together. We put the website on a cd and used an autorun program to make it boot up when the user placed it in their computer. This way they did not have to navigate to a certain file on the CD. It was a good idea.

Well, here we are, two months later. I get home today and see a letter from the STC Lonestar Chapter sitting on the table. Excitedly, I opened it up. The letter congratulated me on being selected as the winner of the scholarship! I was so excited! It's great to win something, and this recognition can be listed on my resume. Not to mention, it's $600 that I do not have to pay for school. Praise God for this wonderful gift!

On another note - it's finals week. After I finish posting this, I will slave over my Political Science take home final. That is due tomorrow at noon.

Steve is done with one class, Linear Processes (I think that's the name of the class). He found out today that his final grade is an A in that class. I'm so proud of him! He has a final take-home final on Wednesday/Thursday that he has 24 hours to complete. He is not looking forward to it. What he is looking forward to is being done with his first semester of graduate school.

Well, it's time to work on the Poli Sci Test. Till next time!

~Carmelita

My First Website

2005-12-08T02:58:00.000-07:00

I have worked on websites for the last two years. That's all I pretty much do at ICASA now-a-days - work on the ICASA website. Since learning Dreamweaver and HTML and that website fun stuff...I have NEVER made a website all by myself. I've always worked in groups, or Steve has helped me. That changed tonight. I had to create a website all by myself for TC 251: Web Design, and after hours and hours of slaving over it, I am done! Woo-Hoo!!!! I'm quite pleased with my final product.

You should check it out!

www.nmt.edu/~ccerecer

That was pretty much my focus of the day. Steve took his last test in linear....crap I can't remember what that class is called. He only has two classes this semester, and I can't remember half of their names!!! Ha.

Tomorrow is the last day of classes for both of us. Praise the Lord this semester is almost over! It's 3am, and I think I'm going to go to bed. I should. Steve will be giving me my wake-up call in 3 hours.

~Carmelita

2005-12-06T18:07:00.000-07:00

Steve & Carmelita Wasson

Starting to Blog

2005-12-06T17:32:00.000-07:00

I've often told Steve that we should start a blog. We have so much going on that it is often hard to keep in touch with friends and loved ones. When I tell Steve that we should start a blog, he thinks it's a good idea, but expresses the concern that we may not have the time to keep it up. He's probably right, but I'm starting one anyway. I would like to use this blog to share Steve's and my experiences as a married couple. Also, hopefully family and friends will look at it occasionally to see what we are up to. Although I will probably be doing most of the posting, hopefully Steve will post every now and then.

So what are we up to right now? Well, Steve is in Albuquerque tonight studying for a test. He has a test tomorrow that he would really like to ace. He always wants to ace tests, so this is no different. I'm in Socorro right now...avoiding my homework. Not a good thing to do on the last week of classes. As soon as I finish writing this post I will start my TC homework, and then, once that is finished, I will slave over my website that is due on Thursday.

Next week is finals week. Steve has one final; it's a take home final. He gets it on Wednesday and has 24 hours to complete it. I have two finals; one is a take home final and the other one is on Thursday morning. Wish us luck.

Well, it is time to do homework. Till next time...hopefully there will be a next time!!

~Carmelita