Cast of Characters

Where to begin? I'm excited to start blogging, but I suppose you need a little context first. How about a little Who's Who of my life?

Me

My name is Brianne. I'm 23 years old and will be starting at IUPUI in January, for either a bachelor's in psychology or a BSW - a bachelor's in social work. Either way, my plan is to get my MSW after undergrad, and either degree can work for that. The road to college was not a smooth one for me, possibly more on that another day.

I spent several years working in veterinary medicine, and I miss it terribly and have considered going to school for my DVM, but at the end of the day it's probably not the best thing for my life. Veterinary medicine is can be pretty life-consuming, and I want to get down to the baby-having pretty much as soon as I'm married.

Speaking of married, I'll be that way in just about two years. My fiance, Eric, proposed on May 27. We'll be getting married in November of 2013 - we're college students, it takes time to fund a wedding.

I was born and raised in Indiana. I have two parents and a stepmother. Twin siblings, Katie and Corey, who are 22 months younger than me, and two sweet and beautiful nephews, ages 3 and 1.

My hobby list is painfully chickly: scrapbooking, taking pictures, reading, assorted crafty crap.

Eric

My betrothed.

He is 22, and also at IUPUI. Yep, I'm dating an upperclassman. He's been there for quite a while longer, and is a year or two away from graduating with a bachelor's in psychology. His career end-goal is in the same vein as mine, he wants to get his MSW and then LCSW (licensed clinical social worker) and work in mental health and addictions, whereas I want to focus on child welfare (I also have an inexplicable interest in reintegrating incarcerated people into society when they're released - but that's another blog for another day).

He likewise has a background in veterinary medicine, which is part of what brought us together in the first place. It makes for some lively dinner-time debates and gross-out anecdotes.

He was also born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. He has a mom and a 16 year old brother.

He's pretty into dog stuff: competitive frisbee, agility, obedience. He's super-outdoorsy (my super-indoorsiness is a constant source of chagrin for him), he likes hiking, camping, walking the dogs, anything that does not involve water (which is, incidentally, the only outdoorsy thing that I love - and his dog is on my side on that one). He follows politics fairly avidly and is fond of football, specifically the New England Patriots.

Violet

Violet is my Collie, my friend, the best part of my day, the household clown. She's the best dog I've ever had. She was born March of 2011, so she's about 7 months old right now. She loves to talk, do somersaults, learn new tricks and commands, dismantle rope toys, zoom around lakes, splash in water but never actually swim. She loves the frosting on cupcakes, playing fetch (or her preferred version, chase the ball, touch it with my nose, run back empty-mouthed). She hates thunderstorms and her sworn enemy, the vacuum cleaner. She has no time for that vile machine's tomfoolery.

Piper

Piper is our 5 month old German Shepherd. She's almost exclusively called Peep, and no one knows why. She is insanely smart, bratty, funny, opinionated. Piper knows what's up. She loves walks, jumping onto insanely high surfaces effortlessly, ice cream, more ice cream, cold things that she suspects may be disguised ice cream, water, swimming in water, running in water, splashing in water, standing in water, and forcing her way between us at Piper O'Clock in the morning, which is whenever she decides it's time to wake up, and rather bossily snuggling and poking us until she get up to do her bidding.

Mary

Eric's mom. She's a pretty cool chick. She's a social worker, so that puts her at the top of my Hero Worship list, and she's all around fun to be around. I lucked out in the mother-in-law department. We live with her while we're in school and saving for a house, and a wedding, and some grandkids for her, and perhaps surprisingly, it works out just fine.

Adam

Eric's little brother. He's 16, a sophomore in high school. He's a good kid. Needless to say he lives here with all of us. He's a kickass bowler, a WoW player, and is nearly undefeated in every board game we ever play. He has some kind of ninja mind-powers that make him impossible to beat.

My Grandparents (Gramps & Granny)

They got a mention earlier, but we're super-close. They lived in Michigan until they moved here just last year, and it's been wonderful having them so close. We have a family game night at their apartment every other weekend. My grandmother will probably be one of my bridesmaids.

And that about sums up the major players. I don't know if I have a very cohesive plan for this blog, it'll probably be a combination of general posts, pictures, book reviews, a dash of current events, a sprinkle of crafty things, an all-too-generous scoop of dog stuff. Stay tuned!