Up

Today, as part of our work Christmas present, our administrator took us to see "Up". I had not seen the movie, but I heard it was good, and it was, really good. Lots of life lessons in this movie and be warned, it will make you cry.
The beginning of the movie starts out showing this little boy and girl who meet and grow up and get married. They both are into adventure and love each other dearly. They grow old together and she dies. The old man is left alone, in this house they had since the day they married, and he is lonely. He then goes on an adventure, in his house, with this little boy, and he learns to be happy again. I think one of the most important things I took out of it was that you don't need to have possessions to be happy, those are just things, in the end it's all the memories that you can always take with you. I enjoy reminiscing of different things in my life, like things we did while growing up, and even memories of Jeremy and I.
One thing I really enjoy about going home to visit my family, we always talk about the good times we had and talk about different memories we all had while growing up. It's so much fun, and so amazing how everyone has different events that were significant to them.
If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it!

Almost done

with school for the semester. Last night was my last day of OB/Peds rotation. I am so glad to be done. After this rotation, I don't have a desire to work in that area at all. Being around the sick babies made me sad, and seeing one die was even worse. I give credit to all the nurses that work in that area, however, it is not for me.
I am so thankful to be almost done for the semester. I have a test tonight and then one more week of classes and finals the following week. My plan for the end of the semester? Sleeping and being lazy!!! I can't wait. It will be so nice to have a chance to relax and be able to do whatever I want with no school obligations.
I take composite pictures for school tonight. This picture will hang on the wall of the nursing school and probably be the pictures that go out with my graduation announcement. I can't belive I will be graduating in May, this will be my first degree, ever! (Besides my LPN license). The plan is to also do a Bachelors degree after I graduate.
Jeremy is busy with work this time of year, working 60 hour weeks and only 1 day off per week.
It seems like the past few months have flown by.
Jeremy and I had a good Thanksgiving. We spent the day with his family - grandparents, cousins, all their kids and his Aunt and Uncle. Unfortunately, Jeremy had to end up going to work for a few hours that day, but all in all we had a great day!
The next few weeks will keep us busy. I am looking forward to Christmas, just spending the day relaxing and doing nothing. I have some shopping done, but still have a little bit to do.

PICU

Last night I started my pediatric clinical rotation. I was assignedd to the PICU, Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. My experience was amazing and I give credit to any nurse that does that job. I had the opportunity to see my patient's chest get closed up. He had surgery the previous day to repair a heart problem and they left his heart open, and last night they closed it up. I was very fortunate to be there for the surgery, and the most amazing thing was I got to see his little heart beating. The team work and coordination that goes into caring for these little babies it AMAZING! I don't think I could do that job. I have a co worker that used to work in the NICU at the hospital I was at last night and she said that the inital training for the job is 12 weeks long, and then for 3-6 months, you are assigned to low acuity patients. All I can say is that I am impressed with what those nurses do!

Time for updates

It's been over a moth since I have blogged, so I felt it was time for some updates!
I'm still moving along in school. Right now, I am in my OB/Pediatric rotation. I am learning so much, but I have realized that I have no desire to pursue this part of nursing. I am almost done with my clinial roations and classes. I have less than 1 month of class left and take finals the week of December 14th! I am looking forward to this, as then I have 1 month off of school. I am getting really excited because I am one step closer to graduating. I received my degree check in the maill a few weeks ago, showing that I am on track to graduate with an ADN (Associate degree in nursing). Woo hoo! I am starting preparations for that. I will enroll in classes for next semester on the 8th of December and on the 2nd of December, I will take my graduation pictures. I can't believe it!

Jeremy applied to OU for admission for the spring semester. He is planning on going back to school, but as for what type of masters degree, he is unsure. He plans on taking a few science classes and a business class in the spring to help give him some guidance for what type of degree he may want to pursue. I am really excited for him to go back to school!

Change of Heart

Up until tonight, I had been dreading OB clinicals. Tonight was my first night and after tonight, I think I'm really going to enjoy this rotation. I was assigned to Labor and Delivery and my night started out slow, but by the end of the night I had: hooked up fetal monitors, started and IV, got blood, hung IV fluids, discharged a patient, read the fetal NST, and got to deal with a couple different problems. I can't wait to go back tomorrow night!!

Wonderful Husband

I was so happy when I came home from school tonight and Jeremy was making dinner. He made beer can chicken, home canned green beans, biscuits and a salad. I was so happy! I told him he could cook all the time. I'm excited to see what he cooks up next.

Time for some updates

First of all, I can't believe it is already October! This year has flown by so fast, where does the time go???
Jeremy is working hard, seems like he works quite a bit. Radio Shack definitely keeps him busy. He decided a few weeks ago that he wanted to go back to school starting in January. He's thinking about taking a couple of classes before deciding what kind of masters degree he wants.

I have been in school for 7 weeks already. This semester is divided into 2 - 8 week sessions. This first 8 weeks we are studying psychiatric nursing and aging. It has been very exhausting so far. At our clinical sites, we are always having to use therapeutic communication and really listen to what these people are talking to us about. I came home every night was was mentally exhausted. I think psych nursing is not something I really want to do. I take a final this Tuesday night and then I have to take the HESI exam on Wednesday night. The HESI exam is basically a predictor test on how you will do on your NCLEX. If you score greater than an 850 on the HESI, you get 5% points added to your final grade. So if I have an 85%, it will bump me up to a 90%, which would be an "A". I am so happy for this 8 weeks to be almost over. Wednesday night I have orientation to my OB/Peds class. I have heard that this part of nursing school is very hard and challenging. There is so much information to learn. I will have 6 weeks of clinicals, 3 weeks of Womens (pregnant ladies) and 3 weeks of pediatrics (babies). I will finish this semester in mid December, and then I will have about 1 month off.
Work is keeping my busy, so far I have been able to find the balance between work and school, which is great!
A few weekends ago, Jeremy and I flew to Colorado and surprised my mom with a visit. I'll post more about that in another blog.

3 day weekend!

I am happy for the 3 day weekend, but I only ended up with 2 days off. And even with those 2 days off, I seem to have been busy doing other stuff, like laundry, and homework, and writing papers, and reading 5 chapters at a time.
School has only been in session for 2 weeks, and I already have a test on Wednesday. Today so far has been spent catching up on my online class for the week, doing much needed laundry and procrastinating cleaning out my scrapbook room. Tomorrow will be spent with a study group, studying for my first exam. I am a little nervous, but think that I will do good.
Clinicals have been really fun, tuesday night will be my first night at the mental health facility. I am really excited about that. We mainly interact with the clients and use all the skills we have used thus far.
Nothing else exciting to say!

Therapeutic Communication

This has been our topic of conversation for the last week at school, and we are utilizing it in our clinical sessions right now. Today and tomorrow I will be at a Rehab center. We started the day in group therapy and then we had lecture after that. I felt really comfortable in my group and I really enjoyed hearing everyone's stories and it seemed as if everyone wanted to be there and get help.
Part of therapeutic communication is listening.
I ask you, Do YOU really listen? Are you really paying attention to the person you are talking to? If you are thinking of what you want to say, while the other person is still talking, then YOU are not REALLY listening. I find it fascinating that most people don't listen well. I am included in that population. I feel my communication has improved over the last few years, however, it still can improve.
I challenge everyone to try "listening". Look the other person in the eye when you are talking to them, give them your undivided attention, paraphrase what they just told you and then respond accordingly.
I think we would all be surprised how our communication would improve, if we just take the time to listen!!

AA Meetings...

Tonight I went to an AA meeting as a requirement for part of my clinical experience for my nursing program. It was quite interesting. There were people there that had been sober for years, months, and even only a month. There were some people there that looked like they were still drinking, but were trying to recover. I enjoyed listening to everyones stories and experiences. Now, I get to write a paper on this experience.

I am very proud of myself, in the aspect that I am trying to be proactive about my school stuides. I am usually the type of person who waits until the last minute to do anything, but when I did my summer class, I decided that I needed to always get my assignments done as early in the week as possible, and I ended up with an A in the class. I have had the same approach with my classes this semester. I have am halfway done with my readings for class this week, I attended my AA class, which my paper isn't due until next week, and I got all the stuff for my online class done, which isn't due until next sunday. In addition to the above, I have started working out 3 times a week, and this week I will be aiming for 4-5 times. I have also started eating healty, I have been bringing my lunch to work, and eating healty snacks throughout the day. I started doing these things before I started school, with the intention that I would have the energy to do the nursing program, but also to be a little more healthy. I am happy to say that I have lost a few pounds in the process and have noticed my mucles taking on some defination. Jeremy has also started working out, he is working out every day before he goes to work. It's nice that we are both able to do that together in the morning.

I start school on Wednesday, and I am very excited. I know I keep saying that, but I really feel that way. Even though I know that I will be busy, I know that the end result will be worth it. I don't feel overwhelmed, like I think I should, I am just taking everything one day at a time.

Bad restaurant luck

I always seem to have bad restaurant luck, so when we get bad service or something goes wrong, it now comes as no surprise.

Last night, me, Jeremy and our friends went to La Iguana for dinner. I have eaten there once before and the food is really good. We get there about 8:30, get seated, order drinks and some guacamole, and then we order our food. Well about 9:15, our server comes over and says that our order got lost, something about the systems crashing, and he needed our food order again and they were going to make it on the fly. Well about 9:30, still no food, and no manager had even come over to our table to apologize. Oh and inbetween the time we were waiting, they brought us a complimentary salsa appetizer (it had 4 different types of salsa, kind of like a little salsa bar). Well by the time they brought this, we were all pretty full and didn't even want our dinner. So when the manager comes over about 9:30, she says "It will be a few more minutes" and Jeremy looks at her and says "we aren't even hungry anymore, cancel our order" So she did, comped our apps, all we had to pay for was our drinks, and we got a $20 gift certificate to come back again. What an experience, it seems as if I always have bad luck with restaurants!

So Excited!

I start nursing school in less than 2 weeks now, and I am jumping for joy. I know this will be a very busy 9 months, but it will all be worth it in the end!!!
I have 2 orientations next week, which I think will make this whole thing real.
Don't really have much more to say, than, I AM EXCITED!!

Time to play catch up

This weekend was very eventful. Friday night, Jeremy and I went to his grandparents house to see his dad, Twila, sister and brother. We had a nice dinner and then hung out for a while. Since we had the BBQ the next day, I made my potato salad at their house so I would not have to get up early the next morning to make it. We got home probably about midnight or so.

The next morning, we slept in (which was really nice) and then we went to the family BBQ (we were really celebrating his grandparents 60th wedding anniversary which was in April). The entire family was there, minus a few people. There was about 33 people (including kids). We all gathered at Brian's house, he grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and there was tons of food. It was nice to sit around and talk and hang out with everyone. After a while, we had some cake (compliments of Voni) and homemade ice cream (compliments of Aunt Sherry). I had not had homemade ice cream in a really long time, and let me tell you, it was delicious!!!

Later in the day, Larry and Twila left to go to his reunion of the 70's, the rest of the cousins stayed behind. We decided to play a game of spoons. There was 12 to start with and there could only be 2 winners. Me and Michelle. We are the spoons champions!!! This was the most vicious game of spoons I have ever played. Blood was shed, bruises were had, scratches happened and there were many instances of people jumping across the table to get a spoon. In the end, there could only be 2 winners (co-champions). Michelle and I made the Masons' proud.

After that, Me, Jeremy, Michelle and Walter came back to our house and then went out for a while. We made a taco bell run at about 2:30 in the morning, in which we ended up going through the drive thru twice. We ended up back at our house and went to sleep about 4 in the morning. We had to get up to be back at the grandparents house by 10am for breakfast, so essentially we only got a few hours of sleep. Sunday we hung around the house, played the wii, Jeremy kicked everyones butt at golf, then we bowled, and then went to dinner at Tarahumaras. That evening we enjoyed card games (you call it poker). That was also fun.

Monday was the day of my brothers bone marrow test. I was a nervous wreck. I am so thankful to have a wonderful work support system, I feel very helpless not being near my family in Colorado. His test went well, they won't have any results for about 7-10 days, he has a follow up appointment on the 24th and the doc said he would call my mom if he needed to come in sooner. I really hope they figure out what is going on, and start treatment. He is supposed to start school this week, but he will be staying home for a bit until they figure out the cause of his illness. My mom is scared to death that he will get sick, if he goes back to school. His WBC count is still 1200. He has been taking it easy.

That evening, after I found out that the procedure went well, I started to feel better and not be so nervous. Jeremy and I went golfing with Larry and Twila, and I felt that was really nice and relaxing for me. We played a scramble game and I forgot what our final score was, but we did pretty well.

Larry and Twila left the next day, Jeremy took them to the airport, since he is on vacation. I'm not sure when they will be back, but hopefully it is soon!!!

I think that is it on the updates. Please keep my family in your thoughts as we try to figure out what is wrong with my brother!

Last night was fun

After work, Jeremy and I went over to his grandparents house. His dad and step mom flew in on Thursday and his brother and sister flew in yesterday afternoon. They had made dinner - Lasagna and bread, vegetables (from the garden) and salad. It was delicious! After dinner, we all sat around and talked and had a good time. I went ahead and made my potato salad for the BBQ. Once I got that done, I joined everyone again.

During the visit, Jeremy was gathering some books. These were "child craft" books. There is a set of about 15 books, all different types such as fables, stories about families, the world, etc. Jeremy has been wanting them for a while, and he was really excited to get them. Michelle grabbed book 3, which is everyones favorite, and started reading the pancake story. I dont' know the correct name, but the story was hilarious. Michelle did such a good job reading, she did voices for the characters, and entertained us all!

Jeremy and I left about midnight to go home. Everytime we are around my parents and siblings or his parents and siblings, it makes me really want to be around family more. I really miss them. As time passes, I get the strong desire to move back to Colorado. I miss being able to drive to my moms house anytime I want. I miss being able to hang out with my siblings any time I want. I miss everyone! Maybe one day we will make it back there to live!

Jeremy hasn't lost all his wisdom

Just his teeth!

Silly, I know, but I couldn't think of a better title....
So...the surgery went off without a hitch. It took about 1 1/2 hours, they were able to pull all 4 teeth out with no problems and NO STITCHES! They sent him home with pain meds and orders to rest, and he is on a soft diet.
I got him home earlier this afternoon and made sure he had everything he needed and then went back to work. I picked up some mashed potatoes for him on my way home and he ate those up. He is feeling OK, still sore, and getting lots of rest. He will need it, especially since his family is in town.

Wisdom Teeth

Jeremy got some sad news today - he will have to have his wisdom teeth removed tomorrow. Last year when he went to the dentist, they told him he would have to have them removed because they had cavitites. He scheduled his appointment last august, but the doctor cancelled because something came up. So fast forward to Monday, he starts having tooth pain. He took some advil. Tuesday it was worse and tuesday night he woke up 2 times with pain and this morning the pain was unbearable. He called the dentist, they called him in an antibiotic and he goes in tomorrow morning at 10am to get them removed. I will take him to the dentist and then bring him home and make sure he is comfortable and then go back to work.

Tomorrow is the day Jeremy's dad comes in town, so I'm kind of hoping he makes a speedy recovery. I did stock up on ice cream and soup for him, so he should be set with foods to eat.

I got my school schedule

And I am very pleased to say that I will have a little bit of a life. Class 2 days a week, clinicals 2 days a week and most weekends off! Woo hoo!!

Now, I am super excited to start school. Only 3 more weeks! My first 8 weeks of class will be psych nursing. We are doing clinical rotations at the psych hospital. That will be so much fun. I really can't wait. Reality is sinking in that I will be an RN in 9 months!!!!

Where has the year gone?

It seems as if this year has flown by. I can't believe it's already August.

Here are some updates on our end.
Last week I finished my summer class. I had my final on Thursday and got my final class grade that same night. I made an A!! I was really excited. I hope this sets a precedent for how I do on the rest of my nursing classes.
Jeremy had a busy week last week. His store was broken into on Monday, he got called at 4:15 in the morning. The person hit the storefront with their vehicle and it broke 2 window panes and they stole 6 TV's. He had worked many long days last week. He is getting excited for his vacation starting next Saturday.
I am stressing about school and financial aid. I got a letter last month saying that I don't qualify for student loans because I have too many credit hours. The school I am going to is a 2 year college, so 100 hours of college work is way to many for them. I called up there the other day and asked if they make any exceptions for people in degree programs (i.e. RN) and they said I had to fill out some additional paperwork. I plan on getting that paperwork signed when I enroll tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed. I also found out that I won't be able to come in an hour early to work to help get my 40 hours, so this means that I will probably only work 34 hours a week. This may be a blessing, but not if I am having to pay for nursing school out of pocket. We will see how this works out.
One of my brothers has been sick for a while now and his primary doctor has not been able to figure out what is going on, so they referred him to a specialist. That doc has been running many tests, and my mom has to call and schedule yet another test for him tomorrow. He has it narrowed down to 2 things, and hopefully they will have answers soon.
This past Sunday, Jeremy and I, and 3 other friends took a motorcycle ride to Mt.Scott (Elgin, OK). Yes, there are mountains in OK. It took about 2 hours or so to get there, we rode up the mountain, ate at a place in Medicine Park (never heard of that town) and then rode around the mountain and back home. We left about 10:30 in the morning and got back about 6:30pm. It was a long day. I had lots of firsts on this trip. I passed through or stopped in many cities and towns, some that I have never heard of (Medicine Park, Cement, Cyril,Gotebo, Eakly, Binger) and some that i have heard of but wanted to go to (Chickasha). We went through 7 different counties. We (Jeremy) tipped the bike, we were both OK, both of us had scrapes on our hands and knees, This was our longest bike trip, EVER! I got sunburned, and so did Jeremy. Oh, and we saw 2 hears of buffalo. My ears got sunburned for the first time in my life, and both of us are extremely sore. So I'm sure you are wondering a little more about the bike tipping incident. We were traveling along, Jeremy was leading, and he pointed in the direction toward Meers, Tim did a thumbs up, and Jeremy slowed down to turn that way, well he was only going about 5-10mph and his back tire hit a little patch of gravel, and the bike tipped over, landed on both of us, I was yelling for him to get the bike off of me, he asked if I was ok, I said just get the bike off me, he asked me again if I was OK, I said "Yes, please get the bike off me" and he tired to stand up, but couldn't lift it. Neil was standing in the way of cars that were turning so they wouldn't fly through and run over us, Tim and Dave were standing on the other side of the road in shock. Finally they come over and pick the bike up, I get up and run to the side of the road. My hand has road burn and my knee hurts, but thank goodness didn't have but a scratch on it. This other couple stopped to make sure we were OK, and the lady said to her husband, "I see why I have to wear jeans on the bike" We were both lucky to have little scratches. Our friends said from the way we landed, it looked like I landed on my shoulder, I didn't, it was just my wrist. Well, my hand was throbbing for the rest of the day. The best part of the entire trip was when we drove around the mountain, we came across a heard of buffalo. The car in front of us stopped and there was a momma buffalo and a baby buffalo in the middle of the street. They took forever to cross, but it was so neat to be close to them. I took a few pics from our trip. We came home, I took a shower, and we both crashed. I feel asleep about 9 and then didn't sleep well for the rest of the night.
The rest of the week should be fun. I enroll in classes tomorrow, so I will either have a life or no life. My father and mother in law come into town on Thursday and then Jeremy's brother and sister come in on Friday. I am excited to spend time with his family, I really enjoy their visits.

The first picture is of the heard, the second is of more of the heard and a baby, and the third is of the momma and baby that just crossed the street.

Laziness has hit our house

and hard!
This summer I have been taking a class for my nursing program - Transitions in Nursing. Basically it's a sum up of the 1st and 2nd semesters of the nursing program. Since I am going right into the 3rd semester, this was a requirement for the program. I have really enjoyed this class. We have mainly done a lot of careplans a discussions. The last week of class we discussed "Health Maintenance and promotion" Nurses seem to make a big impact on people and their health decisions. Our last assignment of the semester was do to a Health Promotion Assignment. We had to find a client and ask them questions related to their health, and then they had to pick the biggest area that needed improvement and have goals and rewards for those goals. I chose Jeremy. His goal is to work out 17 days in a row (before going to work), because if you do something 17 times, it becomes a habit (those were Jeremy's words). He plans on starting this after his vacation in August. All of his goals, except 2, include me helping him with stuff, like washing his car and motorcycle, cleaning out his car, etc. Doing this assignment, I realized that we are both LAZY, and we don't really have a good excuse for it.
In the beginning of the year, Jeremy used his work rewards points to get me a Wii fit, I used it for about a month, and then quit. I could tell that i have gained some weight in the past month or so, and with starting nursing school in 3 1/2 weeks, I was getting worried about gaining even more weight. So.....this whole assignment and realization has sparked me to start working out, utilizing the wii fit and try to eat a little healthier.

Last night was Day 1
I bought a new workout game for the WII - Jillian Michaels Ultimate workout. I got home, charged up the wiimotes, and then started with the wii fit, and found that I gained 5 pounds in 3 months. I mainly want to lose a few pounds and then tone up, get a 6 pack flat stomach and get my upper body strength. I did my WII age and it was 27! 1 year less than my actual age. After doing that, I did the Jillian Michaels workout. It was good. Just going to take some getting used to. I burned about 150 calories last night, not bad, but could be better. My plan is to workout every day, for 17 days, and then maybe it will be a habit ;-) My sister and I are going to hold each other accountable for working out, even though she lives in Colorado and I live here. I called her last night when I was done working out to let her know what I did! She was proud of me, and she also let me know the workouts she had done.

I feel really good today, was not tired when I woke up, and felt like I had some energy. I plan on working out tonight again after my test. I'll keep you posted.

Snickering...

This weekend went by entirely too fast. Saturday I worked at the yarn store and then met with some friends for dinner at Teds, we then headed to the mont to hang out on the patio and enjoy the heat. I was tired from only getting a few hours of sleep the night before, that I was home by midnight. Jeremy didn't get home until a little later, but we were both able to sleep in. I slept until 9:30 and Jeremy until noon. It has been a really long time since I have slept in that long. All I can say is, It was nice. I was able to get the rest of my homework done and then spent the rest of the day being leisurely. I was available to do visits that day for work, and I ended up seeing 1 patient.

Today at work, we were busy. The day seemed to fly by, which was nice. After I ate lunch, I went to the scrub store and bought my scrub tops for school, white and boring! My uniform is blue pants with white tops. I discovered today that I will probably need to buy a white shirt for underneath my tops, cause they are a little see through. After the scrub store, I went to braums and got a double dip ice cream cone. I ate a few bites before leaving there, got in my car and proceeded to eat some more, next thing you know, I have ice cream dribbled down the front of my shirt! Yep! And the best part is, I had to do an inservice a little later in the afternoon. I manage to finish my cone back at the office, and clean my shirt off so I looked presentable for my inservice.

The marketing rep picks me up at the office and we get to the nursing home. The inservice topic was perineal care. Yes, pericare. I copied information out of my nursing book and highlighted a few things, and then came up with some questions (I did all this before the inservice). They wanted me to talk for about 30-45 minutes about pericare. Well if you have ever had to do this, it doesn't take very long to talk about it, especially with people who do it all the time. I managed to talk for about 30 minutes (questions and all). I found it kind of amusing that people snickered when I used the words "labia" and "penis", yes, grown adults snickered when those words were used.

My life is never dull!

Eventful Week

Jeremy's week of vacation officially came to an end this morning, he had to go to work :-( I do have to say that he got lots of stuff fixed around the house, so I am a happy wife :-D. The dishwasher got fixed first, then the yard got mowed (after about 1 1/2 months, it was really bad), he bought the garage door, which cost us nothing, thanks to birthday gift cards from my favorite father and mother in law. His car got fixed after about 3 days of trying to get the engine unflooded and the battery charged up again. The garage door got installed and he thinks he got my car fixed. My brother told me that I should drain the radiator fluid out and replace it, so I told Jeremy that and he did. Upon doing that, he noticed that the fan in my far was not spinning. He tells me yesterday that he thinks he got my car fixed. Keep your fingers crossed that he did, and I'll find out today when I go to work.

Last night we went out with our friends. One of our friends, Amy, was in town for the weekend. She used to live in OKC but moved to Dallas and travelled for her job about 2 years ago. It was nice to hang out with everyone. We met for happy hour, then went to Iron Starr for dinner, then off to midtown deli and then the dougout. Dinner at the Iron Starr was OK. It is not my favorite place to eat. The food is really spicy and just has different flavors, but Jeremy and some of our other friends really like it.

Work has been really hectic for me. I see patients 2 days a week for wound care, and then other visits if needed. I am really enjoying seeing patients again, and it's getting me really excited to start nursing school. I get overwhelmed sometimes when I am out of the office a lot and then I have to come back to the office and play catch up. But, I don't mind.

School is almost done (for the semester). Thank God! I have to take a test this week. I can take it anytime this week and I think I'm going to try to take it on Wednesday. It is our careplanning test. So far, I have gotten A's on all my practice care plans for this class. I am really looking forward to my break from school. I'm getting a little nervous about how I'm going to pay for nursing school. I can't get a student loan because I have too many credit hours (it's a 2 year school) so I have to call the school on Monday to set up a time to talk to the counselor to see if there are any other options, especially since I'm in the nursing program. I am also waiting to hear back about the scholarship I applied for. I'm sure everything will work out, I'm just a little scared.

Today will be a busy day for me. I am working at the yarn store, then off to dinner at Ted's and I might be going home after dinner, as I still have an assigment for school I need to complete.

I hate the heat!

Summer is usually my favorite time of the year, well not this year! It has been so hot this last week - over 100 degrees every day, and my car is acting up. It is overheating all the time, especially when the air is on. So I have to drive around with the windows down and heat on. This keeps my car from overheating, however, I still overheat. I can't wait until my car gets fixed (if it ever gets fixed) or until Jeremys car will start again. His car has been in the garage for the last few months and not been moved at all. After the car got broken into, the engine somehow flooded (which we thought at the time the antitheft system activated and needed to be reset) and the battery has since died. It's taken almost 2 days to get the battery charged back up and Jeremy found out that the engine was flooded, so it's taking a while to get it working again. UGH! So frusterating. I just want everything fixed. On a different note, Jeremy bought our garage door opener today, and will hopefully get that installed and working tomorrow. We are on our way to having things fixed!! Woo hoo!!!

My dishwasher is fixed!

So, after a month and a half of not having a working dishwasher, it is finally fixed!
Jeremy is on vacation this whole week, and he has been getting stuff fixed around the house. His to do list is pretty long - Fix the dishwasher, cut the grass, fix the garage door, fix the car....you get the point.
I know he has enjoyed having the last few days off, and hopefully he will get some nice R&R.

The countdown to school has begun, my summer class has 2 weeks left, and then I get a 2 week break and start school again. UGH! I am super excited, but dreading that fact that I won't have a life for 9 months, and I won't have a vacation until June. But, in the end, it will all be worth it.

Work is going well, been busy though. I have been seeing a few patients and tending to their wounds, which, I haven't done patient care in a while. I am enjoying it.

I get to enroll in my classes on the 4th, at that time I will pick either evening clinicals or weekend clinicals. I am torn, because if I get weekend clinicals, then I will have school/work for 7 days straight and not have a break, but I could get evening clinicals (during the week) and I would have weekends free, but then I would have to adjust my work schedule (if they let me). And, it also depends on what they have left that is open. My enrollment time is 1pm, so I'm hoping for the best.

I'm already making plans for going from my RN to BSN. I think i"m a little crazy, however, I really want my bachelors degree because I want to continue on to get my masters. Not sure what exactly I want to do, but I have considered Education (teaching) or general nurse practitioner. Time will tell

I think that's about it, enough of my ramblings. :-) Time to do something productive, like study!

I love my girls

I realized today that I don't really write about our "girls" aka the puppies and gatos. So...I thought I would write a quick blurb about all of them.

Skittles is now 7 years old. She was my Christmas present in 2002 from Jeremy. I had just moved here in November from Colorado, and was used to having lots of animals around me, and was actually wanting a cat. Jeremy took me to the pet store and we picked skittles out. At first she didn't have a name, and Jeremy said "skittles" and it made me smile, so that is how she got her name. She is such a loving cat. She does have her moments where she is snotty and doesn't want any pets, but for the most part, she loves cuddling and getting pets. Skittles also loves: Tuna, Butter, macaroni and cheese (sauce), milk, ham, catching flies, trying to escape and cuddling with Bits. She sleeps with us just about every night. She loves to lick our arms, she is really curious about everything, she drinks Jeremys water right out of the glass, she likes to hide in between the shower curtain and the liner while laying on the edge of the bathtub. She loves to lay on any papers or books that you may have out while trying to study. She also loves to play with toy mice and will fetch as well. She hates going to the vet and she hates car rides (they make her sick). Sometimes she will come and lay across my leg while I am sitting down, or sometimes she sprawls out on the arm of the couch. She always greets us at the door when we walk in the house. She doesn't like the puppies and hisses at them when she thinks they are threatening her.

Bits is 5 years old. WE got her in 2004, in June. We felt that Skittles needed a friend, so we went to the animal shelter and picked her out. She was only 6 weeks old when we brought her home. She was very small when we first got her, hence the name "Bits" but she grew into a 15 pound cat. Bits is pretty scared of everything, and up until recently, she would run when you would come near here. Now she likes to lay next to me while I sit on the couch, she loves pets all the time. She has a morning routiene, when Jeremy and I get up in the morning, she gets on the dresser or the entertainment center in the bedroom and will wait for Jeremy or myself to walk by. She meows really loudly, letting us know that she is there and wants some love. She gets the msot pets at this time, only because it's about the only time she seeks attention. Jeremy will lay his clothes down on the bed, and she will come right over and lay on them. She also likes to catch flies and will find the toy mice, pick them up in her mouth and meow really loudly and bring them to us. Bits loves: milk, macaroni and cheese (sauce), spaghetti sauce, BBQ sauce, butter, tuna, and lots of other things that I can't think of right now.

Sophie is 3 years old. She is a beautiful black lab. We didn't plan on getting a dog, but Jeremy's old boss contacted him and asked if we wanted her, for free, she was 4 months old at the time and the last one left of the litter. She is extremely smart and loves attention. She is very obedient and loves water and loves to play. When we first got her, she always wanted to play with Skittles and Bits, however, they didn't want anything to do with her. Sophie loves to eat bones, and devours a rawhide in less than 5 minutes, eats a busy bone in the same amount of time. She is a daddys girl and absolutely LOVES Jeremy. She doesn't like to get brushed. She will watch TV, especially when there are dogs or animals on the show. She loves to play and wrestle with Sasha. She will tear apart a stuffed animal in 10 minutes and also loves to play fetch. She will devour a piece of meat in less than 5 seconds and doesn't even bother to chew it, she just swallows it whole.

Sasha is 1 year old, she is a rotwiler/boxer mix. We got her from the animal shelter. She was sick at the time we got her, didn't know it until I took her in for a well puppy check up. A couple hunderd dollars later, and she is fine. She gets along with Sophie, loves to play, however, she will steal her bones everytime Sophie picks one up. The run and play all the time. She loves to dig in the yard, bark at the other dogs, and run along the fence with the neighbors dog. Sophie does this as well. Sasha started a bad habit - she comes up to Jeremy and will stick her head under Jeremy's arm, letting him know that she wants to be pet. In turn, this caused Sophie to pick up the habit, and now Jeremy is breaking them of it. Sasha loves to get pets, cuddle, she thinks she is a lap dog (she will come and lay on your lap if you are sitting on the floor), and she also loves to lick. She will lick your hand, legs, feet, the floor, the stove, the cabinets, the chair. She loves to lick everything. She has chewed up a couple pairs of my shoes. When she gets a bone, she protects it and saves it, making sure that Sophie won't get it. She will also lay in front of her food when we put it down, making sure that Sophie doesn't get that either.

All our animals are extremely loving and we love them all. I never thought I would have big dogs, but I do have to say that they are really good and I enjoy their company.

Finally Finished

Last October when I went to Colorado, my mom and I went to a local yarn store and picked out some yarn for me to make her socks. She came across the pattern when a lady came into her store asking her to make a copy of the pattern, so she asked if she would make one for herself. The pattern is called Annetrelac socks. It's a really neat technique that when knitted up, it looks like blocks stacked sideways. Here are some pictures

Busy Busy Busy

This last week has been busy for me. Wednesday I was back at work and we were just really busy at work. I stopped by the yarn store after work, just to hang out for a little bit and work on my moms socks. Thursday was the same, busy at work, and I didn't end up leaving until about 5:30, then I met a friend of mine out at Dan McGuinnes for some girl time and a drink. She was meeting a guy and didn't want to be there alone. It was nice to relax. Jeremy went to the cabin with his grandpa and helped him cut the grass and do stuff down there. I studied after I got home, and waited for Jeremy to get home. Friday was busy at work too, but not too bad. After work, Jeremy and I went to Incredible Pizza with Michael, Allisyn and Piper. It's so cute to watch Michael interact with his girls. I learned the way to Allisyns' heart is by giving her candy, and Piper is so quiet, you barely realize she is there. Jeremy and Allisyn did the go kart race, but they didn't win first. After we played all the games, I cashed in our tickets, we had about 140, and Michael had about 40, so the lady rounded up to 200, and we spent it all on Allisyn. She thanked us for the toys, it was cute! Oh, and we got invited to her Birthday party next Thursday, so Jeremy and I are looking forward to that.
Friday after we got home, I studied some and then fell asleep. Saturday, I was up early, like 6:45, so I started studying. Jeremy worked and he planned to get off early, so the goal was to get as much studying in as possible. About 10:30, I get a text from our friend, Evan, who had an extra ticket to see transformers at 11:30 in the balcony. I couldn't resist and went. The movie was good, and LONG. It got out about 2pm. I came home and studied for another hour or so, until Jeremy got home. We then went to Lake Hefner with our friends and went on the sail boat. It was HOT and there was very little wind. After sailing around for a while, we found a little cove, ancored and Tim, Julie and Jeremy got in the water and swam for a while. I was too chicken to get in. We stayed ancored for a few hours and then decided to head to Louies to eat dinner. We docked, and decided to eat at Mama Rojos instead. The food was OK, not the best mexican (Ted's is the best). After that, we headed back to the dock and headed home. We got home about midnight. I really had a great time on the lake, it was relaxing, I got to read "Twilight" some and also worked on my tan.
Today has been a lazy day for me. Woke up, about 8:45 and started studying, at lunch, studied, watched House Bunny, got a sno cone, studied and now I'm writing this blog. I have a little bit left to study and then I have some practice tests to take. I want to be really prepared for my exam tomorrow.

3 years and counting

Today was our 3 year anniversary. We both took the day of and spent time together. We both had a great time today and we are not exhausted.
I had a dentist appointment this morning to get some fillings put on my teeth that had areas of sensitivity. Before I left, Jeremy had a bunch of website places pulled up on his computer, and asked what I would like to do. Things ranged from going to the arbuckle wilderness, turner falls, red pin bowling, haunted house. I decided on Red Pin bowling lounge, Oklahoma history museum and then dinner at the haunted house.

We left the house about 12:30 and headed downtown for bowling and lunch. We took the motorcycle, so it was hot, but the breeze felt really nice. Bowling was OK, I didn't really like the bowling alley.

After bowling, we headed to the museum. It was both of our first times there. It was neat to learn about Oklahoma History. We visited the rock and roll exhibit and that was really cool as well. They showcased a lot of great bands that were from OK. Hanson was part of their exhibit, and of course I took lots of pictures of them because my sister is obsessed, so I thought she might like to "pretend" she was there. We were done at the museum around 3:20, and our dinner reservation wasn't until 6pm, so Jeremy suggested that we go to the race track or the movie theater. I decided we could go to the theater and catch the next movie that was playing. We arrive and it's 3:40, Night at the museum started at that time and Land of the Lost started at 3:45. My vote was for Night at the Museum 2, but Jeremy absolutely didn't want to see that movie at all, so we were forced to see Land of the Lost. The move only cost us $7 total for both tickets. I DO NOT recommend that anyone go see this movie - it was THE worst movie EVER!

After the movie, we still had about 20 minutes before our dinner reservation, so I suggested to Jeremy that we just drive around for a bit. We went to the race track, which was across the street, and he stops in a huge parking lot and asks me if I want to learn to drive the motorcycle. I say "yes" but I didn't know anything about shifting or what I needed to do. He gave me a crash course about the clutch, the gas and the break and the shifter. He sat on the back and I was on the seat. It felt awkward because I felt that the bike was going to tip over and it was hard to balance it. I went about 10 feet and didn't stall at all the first time I tried! The second time I stalled, but by then it was time to go to dinner.

Dinner at the haunted house was great - as usual. Nice, quiet, really good food.

Now we are back home for the evening. We had a great anniversary day! I am looking forward to learning to drive the bike more often ;-) and I am also looking forward to another great year of marriage.

A good nap is always refershing

Last night I went to bed early and woke up about 6:30. I feel like I got too much sleep, as I was still tired. I had my 2nd day of skills lab and that all went well. We got there about 9, went over documentation, IV information and how to give medications - IM, subcutaneous and subdermal. Then we took our test. There was 46 questions, I got 41/45 correct, so it was an 89%. You needed a 74% to pass. When I left there, I was headed to Jeremys work so we could go eat lunch, but stopped by the movie theather to buy our tickets for "The Proposal" for tomorrow afternoon. They are balcony sets (which are the best). Once I got to Jeremys work, I had to wait about 45 mins for him, they were slammed. We went to Tarahumaras (mexican food) and had a nice lunch. After that, I went to the yarn store to crochet some of my sisters blanket I am making for her. It is almost done. I had been pretty much tired the whole day, and after being at the yarn store for about 1 1/2 hours, I decided I was going to go home and take a nap before going to Natascha's BBQ. I got home, changed clothes, let the puppies in, got my pillow and blanket, turned on the TV and laid on the couch. Next thing you know, I wake up, there are 2 cats on the couch with me, Skittles was sleeping across my lower leg and Bits was done by my feet, Sophie and Sasha were sleeping on the floor. The whole house got to nap (except for hubby, he was at work)!

Now I shall finish up, as I need to get stuff together to go to the BBQ. :-D

Nursing skills lab

Today I had to take a nursing skills lab refresher course. This is part of the requirement for admission to the RN program for the fall. I could either study and take a test and perform skills for the class, or I could take the class over 2 days. I chose the latter. The class was $75, which I paid when I enrolled. They also said that there was a kit I would need to get for the class, which I could get from the bookstore and it was also $75. I figured I would just wait until the day of my class to buy the kit, as I would have time before the class was to start. I called the bookstore yesterday to make sure they had the kits in stock, and they said they did, however the price of the kit was $200 with tax, WHAT??? I almost flipped out, well...I did! I went to the bookstore this morning to get the kit, and paid for the crazy thing. I figured there would be gold in there....I was wrong. Just all the equipment we will need for our entire nursing program. Instead of making individual kits, they decided to make 1 kit for everyone and hike the price up to $200. What could I do? OH well. I get to the building that the class is in and I see a sign on the door that said that my homework packet needed to be completed, so I asked the instructor, "What packet?" She asked if I got one when I paid for the class, I told her that I registered and paid over the phone, she then asked if they mailed me one, and I told her nope. Thank god I wasn't the only one who didn't get a packet, she graciously made some copies and gave them to students who needed them. The first hour we went over some refresher information, then we were off to the skills lab in which we had to perform nasal suctioning, inserting a catheter, inserting and NG tube and doing wound care. This went pretty well and it was very laid back. Everyone passed. Tomorrow should be a short day, maybe done in a few hours! Sweet!

After today, I am starting to get really excited for nursing school. I can't wait! I am excited to continue my education and am also thinking about getting my bachelors degree. Life is good. There are some stressors about this situation, such as I will be working full time, doing evening classes 2 nights a week and then either clinicals on the weekend or 2 other nights during the week. I think the next year will be very hectic for me, however, it will all be worth it come May.

A simple oil change and $100 dollars later...

Yesterday I took my car in to get an oil change. I usually go to Shell, near my house, but I decided I was going to go to Jiffy Lube. 1. It was near my work and I could go on my lunch break and 2. I got a coupon in the mail for $10 off my oil change. So I went to Jiffy Lube, pull up to the bay and ask the guy how long it would take, he replies, "not very long" So I get out of the car and he asks me what kind of oil I would like. I ask if she has synthetic oil (Jeremy suggested that I get it for my car) and he replies, "yes we do". Then he proceeds to point to my windshield wipers. So, about those, they needed to be replaced, really bad...so bad to the point that the rubber was coming off the wipers. I KNOW! Dangerous. So the nice Jiffy Lube gentlemen proceeds to tell me that they are buy 1 get 1 free, so basically 2 for $20, and they are guarenteed. I tell him to go ahead and replace them, as that is one less thing I have to do. He then shows me to the waiting area and there are 2 other people waiting at this time. One of the guys checks out and leaves, the other one is waiting. After a few minutes another lady joins us. Well I know her from the yarn store, so we start conversing. A few minutes later the nice Jiffy Lube gentlemen (JLG) comes in and calls the gentlemen in the waiting room up to the counter. He starts off with "These are our recommendations for your car....." He tells him about the air filter, and about 5 other things. I'm sure the grand total would have been about $1000 or more if the guy had all that done. So....he sits back down and the JLG leaves. All of us in the waiting room proceed to talk about all these crazy recommendations and how they probably make a ton of money off people with all of their "recommendations" Well that guy leaves and it's my turn to be in the "principals office" My recommendations include: air filter (told him NO), coolant was about 2 quarts low (told him OK) transmission flush (told him NO) and clutch service (which I already know, as my clutch needs to be replaced) So with that being said, I was getting an oil change, windshield wipers and 2 quars of coolant. He leaves and comes back after my car is done and tells me all he did and that I can come back any time and have my fluids topped off for no additional charge, no questions asked, etc. I say OK and tell him about my $10 off coupon and he shows my my total $101.00......YES $100 for an oil change! My mouth drops and I asked him to show me the breakdown of the costs. Well he starts with the synthetic oil - it was $79.99 for synthetic. I knew it would be expensive, but I didn't think it would be that expensive. SO.....note to self...ask the price of synthetic oil prior to saying that is what you want!

Another year come and gone

It seems that this year I have had 3 birthday celebrations. The one I blogged about before this one, I celebrated on my actual Bday and then again this past Saturday. Thursday (my bday) was a great day. I started the day being showered with birthday wishes, first from Jeremy and then from Dad and Twila, and that was about it. I was at work for a few hours and got a few wishes from a few more people. About lunch time, Jeremy called me and asked me where I wanted to go, I replied "Victorias" If you have never been there, I highly recommend it. They are THE best Italian restaurant EVER! They make all their pasta from scratch and it is AMAZING! I had this really awesome pasta dish (it was the special) and for dessert I had key lime cheesecake (HOMEMADE) and also on the house cause it was my birthday. I get back to work about about 30 mins later, my boss asks me if I want ice cream from braums...well....I can't resist braums! So I say OK, I would like a single dip heath bar sundae. She comes back with a double dip. She ordered a single one and they gave her a double. YUMMY! I ended up eating most of it. If that wasn't enough, we had our weekly marketing meeting at work and the marketing team bought me a YUMMY chocolate cake. This was THE BEST chocolate cake I have ever had. And, it came from target. The cake was moist and the icing was whipped cream. Let me tell you, I had 2 pieces, yep...2 pieces. I really didn't need any more to eat after I had the ice cream, but who can resist chocolate cake? So by the time 5pm rolled around, I was FULL. I couldn't eat anymore. I ended up getting a few more birthday wishes from my siblings, my dad, and my mom. I asked Jeremy earlier in the day if he had bought my birthday present and he replied that he had not. So I asked him if we could just go shopping for clothes because I was in need of a few more summer clothes. We met at the mall and shopped for a few hours and then Jeremy was getting hungry (while I was still full) so we went to Pizza hut for dinner. I just got a sald. After I got home, I decided that I didn't want to eat for another week becuase I was so FULL.
Saturday night was the night of my birthday celebration with friends. The tradition is that we usually got midnight bowling. We arranged to go to dinner at Johnny Carinos and then off to the bowling alley. Its actually kind of nice because we usually have a big crowd turn up for my celebration. This time, we had Becky, Duane, Riley (their baby), Tim and Julie. Time and Julie havn't been out to celebrate my birthday for about the last 4 years or so. The 6 1/2 of us went to dinner and then we went bowling. Becky and Duane couldn't make it because Riley started having a melt down. :-( So it was just the 4 of us! We had a great time. It was an early night, we ended up leaving about 1pm. So I think next year I might do something a little different for my birthday.

Summer has begun....

And so has my crazy schedule. The beginning of the month, my summer class (Nursing Transitions) was opened up online. It is an 8 week class, and it looks like it will consume a lot of my time. Last weekend, Jeremy and I went to Colorado (probably my last vacation for a while) to help my mom out with her garage sale. Well, I actually told her that I would run the sale if she payed for my plane ticket. We bought Jeremys and the flight was super cheap - $137 round trip. We had a great time with my family. My mom worked, Ashleigh had school, Austin was at football camp and Adam stayed home. He helped quite a bit with the sale, getting things set up and broken down. The week before I went out there, it had rained quite a bit, so I was hoping for some nice weather. Friday was the first day of the sale and it was cloudy for a bit in the morning, but the sun came out! By the end of the day the clouds started rolling in and it started raining just as we got everything put away. I ended up getting sun burned, I didn't put on sunscreen. Saturday was another day, we also planned to celebrate my birthday that night. After the sale, we got ready to go eat (my choice) so we ate at Mt. Fuji, a sushi and habachi grill. The whole family went and we had a great time. IT was nice to celebrate my birthday with them, I haven't done that in about 6 years! My mom got me 2 kitting magazines and also some money to buy 2 things I was wanting to get. On Sunday, we did the sale for half of a day and then planned to celebrate an early fathers day with Mark (my moms boyfriend). My mom arranged with her kids that they would come to our house for a BBQ and surprise him. Mark knew we were having a BBQ, but he didn't know that his kids were coming. It was neat to see his face when they got there. I think he truly was surprised. We enjoyed hanging out and had a great time!
Monday was our lazy day, we went to LePeep for breakfast and then went back to the house and hung out for a bit. The boys (Adam and Austin) really enjoy Jeremy, they all three like to play world of war craft and it was cute to watch Austin ask Jeremy about certain things. We got home late on Monday night and it was "back to reality"
This week has been good, work is good and busy and I've just been getting adjusted to this nursing class I'm taking. Jeremy and I are making plans for my birthday. It looks like we will be celebrating on Saturday with dinner at Johnny Carinos and then midnight bowling! I love bowling and have been doing that same thing for the past few years. More blogs soon to come!
Oh and here are a few pictures from my trip to Colorado.

Ashleigh's Visit

Ashleigh came back to Oklahoma with me after my Colorado trip. She came to work with me the next day (Tuesday) and then stayed home on Wednesday. I took Thursday and Friday off, and we spent both days just hanging out and doing "sisterly" stuff. We went to the movies, went downtown, ran errands, went to the yarn store and just flat out had fun. On Friday night, we picked up her friend - Samantha - from the airport. They were going to be driving to Tulsa the next day to see Hanson in concert. Ashleigh and Sam enjoyed their concert, while I stayed home and just relaxed (which I seriously needed). On Sunday, Ashleigh, Sam and I went downtown and saw a movie and walked around for a little bit. We also went to the Haunted House and the girls had the pants scared off of them. We took Sam to the airport on Sunday night and then Ashleigh and I just hung out the next couple days. She ended up leaving on Tuesday night :-( but all in all, we had a great time. Oh, and I taught her to knit while I was in Colorado, so by the time she came back here, she started 2 other projects. She is doing really well and I can't wait to see all the neat things she makes.

Colorado Weekend

I was so excited to go to Colorado for a long weekend! I had a lot of fun and enjoyed spending time with my family. I think the last time I saw them was in October. My flight left the evening of May 7th. That night my sister picked me up from the airport and we met my mom at Dawn's (the lady that does her hair) I was going to get my hair done as well. I was really excited. I went in with the intent that she could do whatever she wanted to do. It seems that no matter what color highlights I put in my hair, they always turn red. It drives me crazy. Dawn asked about purples and I said that was fine. I was so stoked with the finished product.

That night we just went home and relaxe!d and went to bed early. The next day me, my mom and Ashleigh went to breakfast at LePeep (one of our favorite restaurants) and then my mom went to work while Ashleigh and I headed to the Southlands mall to shop. I was wanting/needing some new clothes, so we went to NY&Co (also another favorite) and a few other shops there. We then hit a local yarn store. I was very disappointed with the store. They didn't have a good inventory of yarn and it was really disorganized and dirty. After we left the yarn store, we headed to sonic to get our strawberry limeades ! Yummy! We then headed back to castle rock and had lunch with my mom. Then we were off to Target! We both found some great deals and just had fun wandering around the store. After that, we went back home and watched TV and relaxed. I made spaghetti for dinner, per Ashleigh's request. That was yummy too!
Saturday was the day I was least looking forward to, the day of cleaning out and organizing all the stuff for my moms garage sale for the following month. She took all us kids to breakfast that morning, then to walmart for groceries and then back home. I went out and took one look at the garage and just shook my head. I felt like I was in over my head. We ended up cleaning and organizing the garage in a matter of about 5 hours. In the meantime, my mom was going to make a roast for dinner and forgot to turn on the crockpot. We didn't end up eating until 8pm. After that, I met up with an old friend for some drinks and pool. We had a great time.
Sunday was mothers day. We didn't do anything special for breakfast because we were going to be going to lunch. Ashleigh and I took mom to the nail salon for manicures and pedicures. Ashleigh was very absorbed in reading her magazine, and my mom decided to paint each one of her nails a different color while we were waiting an open chair. It was really nice to just relax and enjoy some pampering time. After the pampering, we went back to the house and picked up the boys and Mark (moms boyfriend) and then we headed to Red Lobster. Ashleigh called the week before asking them if they took reservations or call ahead seating, they said they didn't, however they said their slow times were at 4pm and 8pm. So we got there right about 3pm just to ensure that we wouldn't have to wait too long. We put our name on the list and they told us it would be about 1 hour. So we sat down by the lobster tank and about 15 minutes later our table was ready. We really didn't expect to get to get seated so quickly. We ordered appetizers and dinner...I got 1 pound of crab legs and I was really in heaven. After dinner, my mom wanted to go see a movie. We went to see 17 again. The movie was only $5 per person, and Mark paid. :-) Once we paid and were about to go into the theater, the boys saw that X-Men Wolverine was playing and started just as we got there. They went to see that one instead. Me, mom, Ashleigh and Mark went to see 17 again. While we were waiting, Ashleigh entertained us with a fun mind game. After the movie, we just went home for another relaxing, yet fun evening. We played some more mind games and everyone laughed and had a great time.
Monday was the day that I had to come back to OK and Ashleigh was coming with me. That day my mom called in to work so we could spend the day together. It was really fun. Ashleigh and i had a nice flight back to OK.
Before I left, I told my mom that I would run her garage sale for her in June if she bought my plane ticket, so she did! I am excited to go back out there. It will be the weekend before my birthday and mom and I will get to celebrate with my family! I can't wait. :-)

Updates

The month rest of the month of April proved to be a really busy month. April the 17th, Jeremys grandpa was put in the hospital for having a blockage (something he has had before). On the day he was admitted to the hospital, while they were running tests, the doctor found a 7cm abdominal aortic aneursym. All we knew is that he would have to go through at least 2 surgeries. There were many factors that went into when he could have surgery - one main one being how well his kidneys were functioning. On Tuesday he had his first surgery - he was slowing making a recovery. On Friday they noticed that his WBC was very high, but he seemed fine. Next thing you know, they have to rush him into emergency surgery. He had a hernia and an infection in his bowel. After this surgery, they put him in ICU for 2 days and then he went to a progressive care unit. This recovery was not as speedy as everyone had hoped. Slowly he made progress, and was able to leave on Friday May 8th. Just when we thought things were good, it looks like he may have another hernia. He goes to the doctor today to have that checked out.

As for me, I've been really busy and a little stressed. School is almost over, thank goodnes! I have my final on Wednesday, and then I'll be done for a few weeks before I start my summer online class. About nursing school, I re-took my NLN exam for OU and still didn't pass the maternity portion (I got a 90) so that means I'll be starting at Rose State in the fall and then graduating in May of next year. I'm already looking into programs about getting my BSN straight out of graduating with my RN. I enjoy by job and am not really sure what I'll want to do when I graduate from school. Time will tell.

Jeremy is re-applying to the DM (District Manager) program. I hope this time around he will get a district. He has a new Regional Manager and his DM just took a position in Texas. Jeremy spoke with the new RM about applying for the DM position here in OK, but he was told that they don't promote directly to their current district. So basically, he would have to apply to another district. He is going to look for open positions in OK, Colorado, Utah and Florida. Those are the 3 top places we want to go due to having family there. Since his DM left, Jeremy and another DM candidate are sharing the DM responsibilites for the district. I think he is enjoying doing this.

Everything else seems to be going well. The dogs are getting big and the cats are still the same - lazy! We have been getting tons of rain, and it seems that the rain will never stop. It's supposed to rain for another week! I'm in Colorado, but tonight, Ashleigh and I are flying back to OK together and she will be with me for a week. Once I get back, I'll be posting pics and stuff from my weekend excursion to Colorado.

Jeremy's Birthday Celebration

Since Jeremy's Birthday fell on a Wednesday, we decided to celebrate his birthday on the following Saturday. We invited all of our close friends over for a dinner party. I made Jeremys' favorite food - Spaghetti with garlic bread and salad. I also made dessert - a strawberry jello cake. The evening turned out to be a fun one. We ate dinner and the hung out at the house for a bit, talked and played the wii. After that, we decided to go out for a bit. The evening turned out to be fun. Jeremy enjoyed the cake I made and he had a great time. Here are some pics from the evening.
Becky and Duane

Tim and Julie

Amy and Cullen

Evan and Sharon
Neil and Leah

Jeremy and me

Jeremys Birthday

On Wednesday, April 15th, My dear husband turned 32! We both had to work that day, but were able to meet at Louies for dinner and drinks. Just as I got to the parking lot, Jeremy called to let me know that the battery was dead on his motorcycle and I had to go pick him up. He was just up the street at a radio shack store. So I pick him up and then we head to Louies. Evan and Sharon joined us for dinner and then Cullen showed up after his soccer game. About 9:30, we left and all went to the Radio Shack where Jeremy left his bike. Cullen was going to help him "pop" the clutch. I tried to get some pics, but it was really dark and I was only able to get a couple. It took them a few tries, but they finally got Jeremys bike going. Cullen and Evan were pushing Jeremy on the bike and then Evan and Jeremy we pushing Cullen on the bike. Needless to say, Sharon and I were in hysterics because of this. When it was all said and done, Jeremy realized he left his jacket at the store, so he had to borrow my sweatshirt so he didn't freeze. We had a fun night and we were looking forward to the weekend, when we would be celebrating his birthday again.

Jeremy and I at dinner

Cullen pushing Jeremy down the hill


Almost ready to go

I'm ready, lets go!

Graces' Blanket

This is the blanket I knitted for my neice - Grace. I sent it off to my brother and sister in law earlier this week and I hope they enjoy it!

Nursing School

Last week I received a letter from Rose State (one of the two schools I applied to for nursing school), that said I needed to enroll in a 1 class and take the skills lab before I could be in the program. I had intended to call them, however time got away from me, as I was super busy studying for my exams for OU. I get a call today from a lady at Rose State who asks me about enrolling in the skills lab. I told her that I intended to do that as I've been studying quite a bit. I also told her that I was a little confused by the letter - if I enrolled in those things, was I accepted? She said that my stuff was sent to the program director and the dean and I was suggested as a candidate for acceptance to the evening/weekend program. She said, "Yes, once you enroll, you'll get your official acceptance letter, so congratulations, you are accepted into the program!" I am so excited, I will graduate next May!!! WOO HOO!!! I am still waiting on word from OU, so if I get in there, then that's where I'll go, but if I don't, then I'm going to Rose! :-D

Just call us Aunt Natashia and Uncle Jeremy

As of friday, Jeremy and I became and Uncle and Aunt for the first time.
Our neice - Grace Evelina Morton was born on Friday morning, she weighed in at 9lbs 5ozs and 20 inches long. She is absolutely precious, and we can't wait to spoil her!

I passed

As most of you know, I am trying to apply to nursing school. My first choice is OU. In order to get in there I had to take a series of NLN exams. These were 3 different exams that tested over 4 different subject areas - 1. Care of the Adult Client 2. Care of the Client with Mental Disorders 3. Care of the child and 4. Care of the client during childbearing. I studied for the tests and took them in early March. We were told by OU, that the hardest of all the tests was the Mental Health test. I thought it was really hard, and thought that I might not have passed that portion of the test. Today I get my test results, with a letter explaining the scores, etc. You have to pass each section with a decision score of 95 or higher. I passed the adult portion with a score of 96, and the mental health portion with a decision score of 100! I was schocked...the area that I thought I didn't pass, I did the best in. With that being said, I scored a 94 on care of the child (1 point away) and really bad on the childbearing part. So, my plan is to re-take those 2 sections next week, study, study and study some more for those tests. I am starting to get really excited about getting everything in order to finish my application for nursing school.
There are times when all this stuff gets overwhelming, but I manage to stay calm (most of the time) and I get through it. It's really exciting for me, I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel (for finishing school).
Most of this month will be spent studying and finishing my correspondence class and also my physiology class. Then in May, I'll be headed to Colorado to spend mothers day weekend with my mom. This will be the first time I've spend mothers day with her in about 7 years, I'm excited and she is excited as well. When I fly back to OK, my sister will be flying with me and will be here in OK with Jeremy and I for about 10 days. I am excited for her visit and can't wait to spend time with her. Jeremy and I have talked about going to Colorado together in June for a mini vacation, but we'll see how that pans out. I know that I will need some R&R before August - when I'll hopefully be starting nursing school!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thunder Game

Last night, Jeremy and I went to see the Thunder play the Jazz and we had a very good time. I am really into basketball now - I think it's becoming one of my favorite sports. We have been to a few thunder games, and at each game I admire the t-shirts. Last night I finally got one!


I LOVE this shirt. The thunder have a player named "Desmond Mason" and I thought I would be cool and buy the "Mason" shirt! Crazy, I know, but I couldn't help myself. After the game, Tim, Julie, Jeremy and I went to a pub and we had a great time there too. I ended up laughing at something that someone said. I was laughing so hard, my stomach hurt and I was crying. I had everyone else laughing at me! It was great. I think I needed a good laugh.

Bye Bye Tree

In January of 2008 we had an ice storm that caused our tree in the front yard to completely freeze. Half of the tree broke, and thus leaving the other half of the tree leaning toward our house. It never got cut completely down - until last Sunday. Jeremy paid a couple of his friends to cut down our tree, and this is what is left

All the branches from the tree

The new view of the house

Our house can no longer be identified as the house with the huge tree in the front yard. Now all that's left is we have to grind the stump down and then we can do whatever we want to our front yard now!

WII fit

Jeremy is the best husband in the entire world!!!!! He got me a WII fit from rewards points he had from radio shack. I had a great time playing it tonight - and I realized that I am out of shape and will definately be sore tomorrow. When you set up your Mii person, it does a little fitness test and also tells you your Wii age - my BMI is great, however my balance is terrible and my WII age is 44!!!!!!!!!! I thought that was crazy - and then Jeremy does his WII age and it's 30! He is 1 year younger for his WII age than his real age. Jeremy was laughing at some of the exercises I had to do, but he was also very encouraging.
My goal is to do this every day or at least every other day - we'll see how this works out!!!

Nursing School

As most of you know, I am trying to get into my RN program. My main goal is to get my BSN (bachelor of science in nursing), which OU is where I plan on applying to. After lots of thought, I felt I needed a backup plan in case I didn't get into OU. I am taking my pre-reqs at Rose State, and I just recent discovered that they have a fast track LPN to RN program similar to that of OU, except you get your ADN (associate degree of nursing). I would prefer my bachelors, but felt that I should apply to rose state as well. The application deadline for Rose was on March 1st. So the week before, I filled out the application, and took the approrpriate tests and turned in my application on Friday February 28th. My application for OU isn't due until May 1st, but as my mom says, I need to get it filled out and turned in now. One of the requirements for OU's program is showing competency in 4 subjects that you aren't tested on for your LPN, and you have to sign up to take the tests. I am taking mine March 12th and 13th and like always, I need to get on the ball and study hard core for those. I am really begining to think that I am going to have to have discipline and study for many hours each night and no more fun weekends, and spending saturdays at the yarn store :-(
I'll keep everyone posted on the status of my acceptance to these nursing programs!

Skittles Adventure

Shortly after I posted the previous entry with Skittles being so adorable - she escaped.
It was Monday Feb 16th - I just got home from class and was relaxing, and eating dinner. A little bit later I noticed that I had not seen Skittles since I got home. I woke Jeremy up and asked him if he saw her. He said he had, but had not seen her in a while. Skittles ALWAYS greets us at the door when we get home. Jeremy said that he accidentally left the back door open when he let the dogs in and he saw it later and shut it. We searched the entire house - No skittles. We then started to look outside, call her name, and even took treats out there and was shaking the bottle. Nothing! We figured she would eventually come home later. The next morning there is no sign of her. We both go to work and then come home and start looking around the neighborhood and also ask any neighbors if they have seen her - still nothing. Jeremy makes "missing" posters with her picture on them and posts them around the neighborhood. He also puts her food, water and litter box outside. We go to bed hopeful that she will return - Wednesday morning - still no sign of her. By this time I am really worried that something bad happened to her. I had class that night, so Jeremy went to the animal shelter to check and see if someone turned her in there. I call him after class and he tells me that she wasn't there, and that he just got home and she wasn't there either. I get home about 30 minutes later and start looking at lost pet websites. I go into the kitchen a little bit later to make dinner and hear this really loud "meow". I ask Jeremy if that was coming from the TV and he said
"Yes" Then I see what he is watching and it's Jurrasic Park - I really didn't think there could be a cat on that movie. I go back into the kitchen and hear it again, I yell to Jeremy that I hear a cat, he gets up and goes outside and I check in the garage and IN RUNS SKITTLES. I was so happy that I started crying. I think she knew that we were really sad she was gone and since her return has been extremely loving. She must have had quite an adventure because she just had a scratch on her nose and ear. All I can say is that Jeremy and I are very happy for skittles return.

Skittles

Tonight Skittles decided she was going to do something cute.....I was sitting in my chair, looked down and this is what I discovered.....

She is so darn cute - I couldn't resist a picture!

Winter Storm

On January 26th, we started getting word that we would be having a winter storm coming. It started to sleet, so we closed the office early. I got to leave work at 3:30, went out to the car, and there was about 2 inches of thick ice on the cars. It took me 30 minutes to get the car defrosted and at the point where I could safely drive home. So I get home and am trying to get up the driveway. After 4 attempts, I call Jeremy and let him know that I can't get up into the garage, he said to just leave the car in the driveway and he would take care of it when he got home. So I put the car in park, turned it off and put the brake on. Well the car started sliding down the driveway. Well, I didn't think that was a good idea, so I turned the car back on, backed up out of the driveway and I actually made it up the driveway!!! I was supposed to go into work at 10 on tuesday. I got up about 7:45 for my conference call @ 8. I looked outside and the ground was everything was covered with snow! I couldn't believe it - it barely snows here. I decided since Jeremy was off work, that he might be able to take me to work. I woke him up abou 8:15 (on his day off) and asked him to take me to work. So he gets up, I get ready and we get in the car and start toward work. It takes us about 10 mins to get 2 miles, and we got a little stuck twice. I called my boss to let her know that I wouldn't be in. Jeremy turned around and we went back home and got to spend the day together trapped at the house!!!
This pic was taken on Tuesday before I left to attempt to go to work.

Today was a much better day, lots of snow piles everywhere. The snow reminds me of living in Colorado (although its nothing like what Colorado gets). I can't wait until the weather gets a little warmer, I'm ready for winter to be over!