good morning, starshine, the earth says hello

HELLO WORLD.

I am alive, believe it or not, though my long, unintentional hiatus from blogging would probably tell you otherwise. Much has been happening in la vida de Traci, and I will do my best to give more consistent updates, since I rarely see anyone that reads this blog (assuming people still read it). So here are the highlights of the past month... Consider this your very late "Christmas Newsletter" that everyone sends out, bragging about their family.

BRAINS: I have graduated from American University. I am DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE. The funny thing is, I don't even feel like it's really over - and in a way it's not. I'll be TAing another photo class this semester with a wicked awesome professor (last semester's prof didn't like me much) which gives me access to the studio which means more photography. YES. Also, I will begin my first class in over three years at Nova, beginning a slow start towards perhaps my Associates in Graphic Desgin.

HOME: I now live in a lovely townhouse nicknamed "El Barrio" for its delightful location in Sterling (for those of you outside of Virginia, Sterling is known for its high Hispanic population). My roommate is my best friend Matt, who I met during my original Nova days, and thus far we've managed not to kill each other - good, no? In all seriousness, we somehow are the perfect roommates, feeling comfortable enough to say anything and gaining inside jokes by the day. He appreciates my cooking (yes, I can make edible food!) and I'm glad he likes to clean.

LOVE: Still most definitely in it. JD and I will be celebrating one year in about a month - holy freaking crap...! We hit a rough patch from about Thanksgiving to Christmas, but we're back to our regularly scheduled relationship. And, cough, a certain word beginning with "M" has been put out on the table. No timeframe in any way, shape, or form... but HE brought it up. Not me. Go figure.

JOB: I am one of the unemployed masses. Actually, not really. My piano-teaching business is booming, which is super amazing. I really love teaching and I'm actually considering taking some music classes at Nova so I make sure I'm staying sharp for my kids. I still work at Paper Source, and it's fantastic - I'm less into scrapbooking now, but super into card making. I've gotten two of my friends hooked as well, so we get together every so often and sit and stamp together, it's baller.

PHOTO: I'm really pushing to get my photography business up and running - I've got two weddings in May and am setting up a fun shoot with a few brides for the next few months. I've landed a contract with a local theater company to photograph their season, which is fantastic to have a bit of extra money guaranteed! This past November I did a shoot with Pez with a pole dancing studio (yes, you heard me) and we'll be going back in a few weeks to do another shoot. Talk about unconventional, but it sure does help pay the bills.

MISC: I'm back to going to the gym and thanks to Matt screaming at me to go, I think I'll keep up with it, assuming I don't break my wrist like I did about this time last year. I miss my buddy, Mango, tremendously. I am totally in love with cooking. Matt's mom terrifies me. I'm watching Nip/Tuck, Gilmore Girls and DeGrassi, unashamed. I have a buttload of pics to upload to facebook. I miss everyone terribly, and I would love to hear from you in one way or another (phone, text, comment, facebook) to let me know you, as well, are alive.

2010... here we go!