Happy three years to this blog! Here’s my first post on Somewhat Voluble: breathless.

I hope every one is having a lovely weekend. So far mine has consisted of: taking my brother for fries and ice cream before getting his hair cut; finishing my research paper on Alzheimer’s Disease TEN DAYS EARLY; taking my brother, sister, cousin, and nephew out to lunch yesterday and then watching Harry Potter 7 Pt. 1 on dvd; and today, I’m going to the movies (to see Your Highness) with Husband and my brother-in-law. So far, a great weekend!

Over the weekend, though I wasn’t writing, I was working on some things around the blog. Here’s what I’ve been up to:

101 in 1001. As you may remember, I’m not a fan of definite goals. However, one of my personal goals has been to overcome that and create a list of goals I’d like to accomplish and a specific timeframe–between April 22, 2010 and January 17, 2013 to be exact. I’ll be updating it as I complete things, so keep an eye on it.

About. I’ve updated my ‘about’ page slightly. Now, you can see some of the places I’ve been featured. I may be tweaking it a bit more in the near future.

Project Read. A while ago, I started a project. I just wanted to read as much as I could. Now, I’ve deleted everything on that page to start from scratch. Join me on an adventure in reading!

A Look at the Past. Nothing has really been changed on this page. It’s basically an archive of things I wrote BEFORE I was on this blog. It also contains some of the posts I wrote while on this back that take a look back on some things I’ve gone through.

Design. Okay, I haven’t changed the design yet, but I’m looking to do so. I’ve had this design since the beginning of the year, and I’m ready for something different. Any suggestions on designers?

Offline. I wrote my LAST paper of the semester (a 5-page research paper on feminism) and I took my first final. I only have four tests left, and I’ll be done with the semester!

What were you up to over the weekend?

Since it’s the last day of 2009, I decided to do a bit of a blog cleanup. First, if you’re a subscriber, you might want to click through to see my new blog design (made by Judith Shakes Designs). It’s simple and clean, just the way I’d like 2010 to be. I’m also in the process of revamping my about page by answering a few FAQs in an effort to make my blog more “reader-friendly”. (If you have questions, please send them my way.) I’d like to continue with the cleanup by organizing my blogroll in a Kyla-esque manner.

Today is Husband’s twenty-third birthday; tomorrow is the first day of 2010. Soon, I will be back to blogging on a regular basis.

Until then, enjoy your New Year’s Eve.

Occasionally, I forget that most people thirty years older than I aren’t quite as tech-savvy. While anything to do with technology is almost second-nature to me, it takes a while for some people to really “get it.” I remembered that today when I overheard this conversation in the cubicle next to me.

1st guy: “What is an ipod?”
2nd guy: “It’s a music player.”
1st guy: “What do you do with it?”
2nd guy: “You could download deer calls to use when you go huntin’.”

Honestly, I was already baffled/amused by the first sentence, but the rest is just icing on the cake. I mean, maybe that last sentence only happens in Tennessee. That conversation really made my day, though–and by “made my day,” I mean it nearly made me burst into a fit of giggles.

P.S. What makes it even funnier is the fact that these guys are engineers. I love my job.

Oh, hi. The last two posts (some of my photography & a recipe for chocolate chip dip) were scheduled in advance, so I feel like I haven’t been here in a while. If I were at home, I wouldn’t be here right now because I received my macbook on Friday. I’m kind of in love, I won’t lie, and I’ve been spending almost every free moment playing with it. (I’m at work right now, so the macbook is far, far away from my fingertips. Oh, that beautiful keyboard…)

I’ve loved everything about it so far. I did have a little problem with the Internet randomly shutting off while I was on it, but I installed Mozilla Firefox, and ever since then, it has been fine. (Could it have been Safari?)

My favorite thing about my new computer, though? Photobooth. It’s fun!

Hello, from Photobooth. Why, yes. I am wearing a small amount of makeup.

Last Thursday, I was able to finally make it down to my school’s main campus (which is an hour from where I live) to get my financial aid check. By Friday morning, the check was in the bank, and by Friday afternoon, I had ordered something that I’ve wanted for a long time.

Hello, lovely. I opted for a 320gb HD with 4gb RAM. Not only that, but I’m getting iWork pre-installed as well as Microsoft Office 2008. I’ve never used a Mac before, so I’m looking forward to learning.

My computer is “prepared for shipment” at the moment, so I’m expecting it to arrive in a few days. Any advice from Mac users?

I miss this blog. I miss wanting to write. Well, I still do want to write, but I’m having trouble of coming up with anything aside from work or school things. However, I have some ideas floating around. (One involving my film camera + the town I live in, but that’s all I’m giving away.)

This weekend, Husband and I are taking a mini-vacation (before classes begin next week) with my in-laws. We’ll be heading to Gatlinburg, which is just less than three hours from where I live. We’re leaving Friday afternoon with a return home Sunday evening. I’m looking forward to it. The last “vacation” we had was our honeymoon last year, so this is needed. I’m looking forward to staying in the cozy cabin and skipping across rocks at the creek. (I might be lugging my film camera with me for this; while I’d choose film over digital any day, I really wish I could afford that Nikon D5000. Sigh.)

This is completely off-topic, but I have a question for all of you tech savvy people. Basically, I’m going to be purchasing a new laptop soon. I’ve had my Dell since my senior year of high school, and I’ve never had problems with it … but I’m itching for some new/upgraded technology, especially since I’m taking online classes this semester. I’m just unsure of whether I should buy another Dell or go for a Macbook. I’ve always wanted a Mac (I love the design, especially), but Dell has been great for me the past few years. What do you think? I’m trying to weigh the pros and cons, so I’d love feedback of any kind (especially if you’ve used both).

Just a sneak peek of where we’ll be staying this weekend.

{image via Hearthside Cabins}

Once I save up ~$900, I’m buying this baby:

Nikon D5000.

In the meantime, I’ll be playing with this:

LG EnV Touch.

If you keep seeing a new post from me in your google reader, I’m sorry about that. (For some reason, my comment feed is showing up.) Right now, I’m having technical issues with my blog. Every time I click a link (to look at the comments, go to a new page, etc…), it takes me to http://somewhatvoluble.com/feed, and I can’t figure out what’s going on. Not only that, but I can find the contact email for WordPress. (It’s probably right in front of my face, hah!) If anyone can help me out, send me an email at somewhatvoluble[AT]gmail[DOT]com.

Update // less than ten minutes later:

Apparently the blog is working again. It’s actually letting me go to the comments now. It did this last night, though (then continued to not work again), so I don’t trust it.

Email/tweet me if it has any problems. Thanks!

Feed Readers: You must click through so that you can see my new, custom blog design. A HUGE thanks to Rachie Ann!