jury duty done!

I was selected for jury duty earlier this year, but was able to postpone it since it fell during the time of our honeymoon. When asked what part of july i would like to do it, i happily said the first week of july, NOT thinking of the holiday weekend. so, since i was on call for it tues and wed, and unable to be told if i were to be needed until the night before after 6, i was unable to go up to rys cabin in manistee with the family (BOO); instead i worked extra and did some home projects. i was not to report yesterday, but today i did. i am glad i brought a book along, because from 8-9:45 all of those told to report sat in a room waiting, to find out the case (a third repeater DUI) had settled before jury selection was to commence. so, that was my expierence with jury duty. enough for me! hopefully i don't get called for the next 24 years- i wouldnt mind reporting if i knew *for sure* if i was needed or not! :)

oh canada!

We had a great honeymoon! We spent our time at Niagara Falls, Niagara-On-The-Lake, & Toronto. We stayed busy with tours & spending time with each other, and the days flew by! It was romantic and fun, and more of our style. This is my favorite photo from our honeymoon:

It was taken with the American Falls in the background, and the small building it was in was also used (I think) for a movie Marilyn Monroe was in, Niagara Falls.

Besides having a great time, we were ready for our life back here, and we both missed Remington terribly. I told Ry that when we go to Alaska for a few weeks, he is going to have to fly there with us. Yes, he will not like the plan ride, but he will like everything else. :) Now we're back to our grind, and I am doing some landscaping, and working lots & staying busy, of course! Now i'm off to plant some rosebushes and whatnot for the morning.

we're married!

Ryan & I had an amazingly wonderfully fabulous wedding! The weather was PERFECT, our friends & family were there to support us, and we had a great time! We cannot wait to get the photos back!!!

Here is one quick photo Ryan's mom snapped of us (with part of the photographers in it as well). The rest we will get back in a few weeks.

Tomorrow we leave for our honeymoon to Niagara Falls & Toronto, yay!! :)

bachelorette party mayhem

The bachelor and bachelorette parties were this weekend, and everyone had a great time!

The guys went tailgating/tigers game/Windsor, and ry is feeling a bit rough today. :)

The girls had an early dinner in Detroit, to the hotel to get ready, to Dannys for some male eye candy (perhaps a bit TOO much), back to the hotel to get our cameras and freshen up, and then to clubs to dance dance dance and drink drink drink. I had an amazing night, and I am so glad everyone had a great time too! More amazing, I wasn't hung over and nobody else was either... even after 15+ drinks and shots! I guess that 3am burrito was the curb and fixer of any hangover. :)

My entourage:

This week is busy & exciting! Monday: review, one final, and work til 8. Tuesday: study, and work. Wednesday: have my fingernails done, flushing 5k with numerous friends/family who are in town. Thursday: final at 9am and noon [and done for semester!]. Back to grand blanc to shower and finish packing, then go to my parents to get supplies and drop off rem, rehersal at 6 with dinner afterwards, and other fun stuff all evening. Friday morning setting up the room and getting married!! I am super excited, and can't believe this year flew by so fast!! Catch ya all after the honeymoon!

two weeks to go!

... and we both are very excited! we went and got our marriage liscence and pick it up tuesday. all the other things are checked off my list (including reminding vendors), so now I am just waiting & studying to be prepared for exams (b/c really, who wouldn't love taking finals the day before their wedding?!). sister arrives thursday, ry's best man arrives friday, and the bachelorette & bachelor parties are next saturday (seperate parties!), and i am so excited for all of the festivites to start!
for now, i am working extra hours as i will not be working much after wed for a couple weeks, and studying-- which i am off to now. :)

catch up time

its been awhile! i have been very busy with school, work, wedding stuff and life in general!
-saturday i spent the day on the couch with a stomach virus, ugh. Luckily it was just 24 hours. Unluckily, I had the day off and had planned to get other stuff done!
-today is my last day of clinicals until fall, yayyy! i've had enough of 5am for awhile!!
-today i also finish details with eagle eye & chair covers, pick up my dress, and go with bro to get a hair cut, wahoo!
-plus, its going to be above 80 degrees out.
:)

boo

I came out of work last night, to a flat tire-- boo! Ry came up to help me put the spare on. The flat would not come off, so ry called the towing place he uses for work, and they got it off. Apparently, the tire is also not repairable, so Ry is out buying me a new one, and putting it on before I have to go to work and then laingsburg later today.
Downside: flats really ruin a day and waste a lot of time.
Upside: Ryan is amazing.

That is all.

a breather

Last weekend was so nice because I randomly was not schedule to work, so I had sat & sun completely off! I was able to plant seeds & pots, go garage sailing, study, and catch up on home life, which was really great. saturday night an old friend of mine, alexa, was having her bachelorette party, so i went to lansing for that. we had a lot of fun catching up and enjoying some cocktails as well! sunday i was pretty tired, and even took a nap (first time in almost a year for that!), but it was worth it!
This week in clinical is a bit different for me. Today I get to go observe surgeries in the OR all day, so hopefully they have some good ones scheduled, and tomorrow I get to go to endoscopy, and hopefully more than colonoscopies are scheduled!
The hour drive in the dark to Sparrow at 5:45am is killer twice a week. I have found making and eating my breakfast in the car helps me stay awake a bit easier, and then I stay more full longer before lunch. I have also managed not to spill any breakfast on me, which is also pretty amazing.
This week is week 5 for baker, which means we are halfway done with this term, yayyy. i am ready for a break, for summer, and to get married! :) 5 weeks, and counting. .. .

bridal shower

Sunday was my bridal shower! I woke up at 7am bright eyed, and studied for a couple hours. Amy also arrived the night before, so we worked out, and then showered and got ready. It was near Ry's hometown, so about an hour drive away. I had so much fun! There was lots of tasty foods, and of course many great gifts I got to open! I didn't get a chance to sit down and talk to everyone, unfortunatley, but there just wasn't time! It was great, and we've already used many gift we were given! A great time had my ladies near & far. :) Thanks everyone!

(Me & my michigan-located bridesmaids & groomswoman!)

my first bloom

Saturday my first flower opened. We have a couple other flowers that bloomed that I did not plant, but this was the first one I planted. :)

A new more are now open, pics to be taken and posted later on. School and clinicals and work have kept me going going going going constantly these past few weeks, and no time for blogging or facebooking! I'll update as I can breathe. . . .

Happy Easter

Easter was great! We decided to host it, so we had both sets of parents, siblings, and neices here for dinner! (Kayla also LOVED the trampoline... and so did matt & dena, and jerm & lili!) Here is my Easter-themed table (before we added a card table and a glass table to it so we could all sit together). Dinner of grilled serloins and delish sides, followed by 3 different kinds of pie was perfect for the spring day, and we were glad our families could come out for it. :)

two weeks of break done

I've had a great spring break. I would've blogged more about it, but blogger freezes up 3 times every time I try to sign in, so I get annoyed & don't blog. POS.
I landscaped a ton on break; moved over a ton of rocks, 120 pavers around our big trees, filled in with brick nuggets (not to be confused with lava rocks), planted bulbs, finished raking the leaves in the back yard & spot raked the front, picked up sticks, etc...
Ry had his wisdom teeth out, so I nursed him back to health too.
Worked quite a bit!
Spent time with grandparents, parents, and some friends.
Spent the last 4 days dogsitting for mom & dad. Aspen is just a horrible dog; he's the kind of dog that makes you not want a dog at all. Besides his barking all the time and need to be on the furniture, he's very furry making our house gross. The icing on the cake was him lifting his leg & attempting to "mark" his area inside our house Thursday night, succeeding in getting a few drops on the hardwood floor & the drywalled wall, which after flying into a rage, I had to clean up. This i will fill my parents in about when they get back, so as to not ruin their vacation. I will also never dogsit for this untrained dog ever again, with good reason. He leaves tomorrow, and to never come back!
I also found time to catch up on DVR, exercise & take lots of walks, read a couple good books, and spend time with Ry. This breather was just what I needed before jumping back in with both feet for the next two months. Craziness, commence!

google me

so i just googled myself to make sure a facebook search doesn't come up with my name (they now do that, but my profile has been set to private since that feature was added). no facebook link, but apparently i made the deans list this term, and there was an article in the flint journal. hooray for me! :)

a great birthday

I had a great birthday yesterday. The weather was more than agreeable; 68 and sunny with a slight breeze. I studied in the morning, then cleaned out the eaves, moved rocks, raked leaves, picked up sticks, took Rem rollerblading, chatted on the phone between all that, chatted with the neighbors, when to Home Depot with Ry to make sure we were on the same page about landscaping materials, came home and laid out in a bikini to study some more, got the motorcycle out and went for a ride (almost was side-swiped, because apparently ry's bright green helmet and my bright pink helmet are not seen by lousy motorists: GAH), came back and got ready, and then went to buffalo wild wings with friends for a few hours! I didn't drink very much since I have a final today at 10am (boo), but I still had a great time! I was tired out by 10 so we can back home and cuddled and went to bed. It was a great birthday-- thanks to all of you who sent cards, texts, gifts, and called. I had a wonderful day bringing in 24! :)

Busy busy

I've been quite busy the past week with school & work!
--
Last weekend I had a blast with the girls. When everyone else was getting ready to leave I whispered to Kayla (how about smoothies in the tub?!) and she proceeded to kick everyone out so we could get going. So we had yummy strawberry smoothies (just strawberries, milk, and ice!) and grapes while we played in the tub. I let her stay up late while I fed Aubrey (who was content to watch us in the tub & listen to the water sounds) and had her fall asleep. I don't get to spend much time alone with the girls, so I was happy to get some one on one bonding time in. :)
Last week I also I had two big "exams"; my head-to-toe physical assessment I had to do one someone (mom came in for me to do it on her!), which basically makes or breaks me in that class b/c it's worth more than anything else; and I got a 95%!! :) I also had I lab final, where I drew a number out of a fishbowl which corresponds with a scenario & 4 skills, and I got a 98%! It was an excellent week. I only have my fundamentals final left which I take on Wednesday, which I'm not worried about. :)
This past friday night I organized my first "ladies night" out since living in grand blanc (mainly because I did not know anyone), but now i've made a few friends here and we all had a great time; we went bowling then went and danced and had some appetizers. Not too much of a wild and crazy night, but fun was had by all- and I am glad I'm making friends in my new hometown. :)
Yesterday Ry & I went to my parents for the afternoon/evening for my bday dinner with my grandparents, which was delicious as always. It was warm and sunny which was even better for the dogs! I can't believe I'm 24 already... the past few years have flown by!! Tomorrow we are going out in the afternoon/evening with friends for some cocktails as well, yay!

done with my first rotation!

Today is my last day for my clinical rotation in long term care (non-pc term: nursing home), and I am so glad!! Next term I will be in medical-surgical, and I get to watch surgeries and take care of those patients. Bring it on!
--
In other news, we have received most of our RSVPs back in the mail; I will be making a list for parents to contact those family members we have not heard from yet. Other a couple other things left for stuff to do: have my dress fitted (later this spring), make sure my grandma's suit fits that I bought her (will do over spring break), and continue to coax my mother to go try dresses on ("i'm going to loose weight before the wedding") - but with the last one, I leave the ball her court as I do not want another stressor!
I have been staying busy with work, life, etc. This weekend we are going to rys parents for sat night to celebrate Dena's 30th bday-- me and the nieces are going to the dinner part, and then back to rys parents when the rest of them go out-- I plan on spoiling them so matt & dena can have a fun night out with everyone else! :)
Off to clincals....

4 years already?!

Ryan and I celebrated our 4 years anniversary on Thursday. I had clincals in the morning, and come home to fresh baked cookies, beautiful tulips, and instructions to be dressed & ready to go by 5:15. I did some paperwork I had to have ready for clincals the next day, then we took a nice long walk and exchanged gifts. Ry loved the crazy shoes I got him, and I loved the necklace he got me! Then I went & got ready to go! Ry took us to dinner at Charleys Crab in Troy. It was probably the nicest restaurant I've ever been to; it was very nice inside & the food was great! The funniest part was that they apparently print menus for special events, but they printed ours with a typo... I like their optimism though! Here is the top of it:

Dinner was great, and we stopped for Shamrock Shakes on our way home once we had room for desert. It was a great day... and I ready for June to arrive! :)

gas leak?!

Today I came home from doing errands to see a man shuffling around snow in our front yard and a Consumers Energy van parked along side the street. I go out to investigate, and apparently called in that they smelled gas. I have caught whiffs of it when out walking or running, but since I didn't smell it 'til the end of the driveway, I thought it was someone elses home. Apparently, its coming from our yard. The man took me in the yard to show me where it was coming from; and I got a strong whiff of gas & heard the gurgling where it is leaking into the ground. A work crew came out to dig down into the ground and repair it. It wasn't our gas main, but the neighbors across the street where it connected to ours. Here is a photo of when they were working (the whole got bigger):

The upside is they said they would have a landscape company come out in the spring & repair it, so I am glad it's fixed now, and, it was winter and the ground was hard & didn't ruin all of the grass & front yard.

---
Two weeks ago I picked up these gems as well:

I eyed them last year, but by the time spring/summer arrived & I decided we had room for the on the deck, everywhere was sold out. This year I started looking right after xmas, and have them all set for this summer. They are super comfy, and remind me of the ones from the Bahamas... but better since they are plastic we don't have to repaint them, and they are very durable!

I am soooo ready for spring. :)

love day & sunny skies

Yesterday (Tuesday) was a great day. My morning lab is done now that we have clinicals, and my afternoon class was moved to today due to my professors good friend having a heart attack & dying, so that left me work & class free. A free day! Ry's days off right now are also monday/tuesday. SO, we were able to spend the whole day together, which was a great bonus love day for us. :) The amazing sunny 60 degree weather was a great extra bonus as well! We took Remington for a 3 mile walk in the morning, went out to lunch, went to a movie, did a couple errands, enjoyed dinner, and had a great day. We haven't been able to spend much time together lately, as our scheduled are opposite, so it was just what we needed. :) I also took Remington out rollerblading in the afternoon for the first time this year. We only went about 3 miles, but we were both happy as clams to be out enjoying the weather! He was still exhausted today (said ryan), which is ok since it rained alll day (with the exception of a couple hours this afternoon, which worked out perfectly for outdoor running in shorts!).
I'm sure the global warming will once again retreat, leaving normal yucky February weather, but it was a great last few days for all. just what i needed to get over the winter blahs, and be hopeful for spring!

one day of clincals done

today i completed my first day of clinicals at durand senior center (which is, the new PC term for nursing home/convalescent center, etc). it went well, and the six hours went pretty fast. for the next 3 weeks i will be there thurs & fri 7a-1p along with 7 other classmates. (we are divided into 4 centers in the area). hopefully it continues to go well. it's basically doing a lot of the same tasks i had to complete when i got my nurse aide certification. i do not like nursing homes, and will never work in one (let alone live in one), but i understand knowing these skills will make me appreciate nursing assistants even more later on in my career. next semester should be more fun in med surg, etc. for now, i'm enjoying the 81 degrees the thermostat is set at. :)

1 year!

Today marks the one year adoption date of when Remington came into our lives. :) It seems like he's been with us much longer than that- and has helped really make home feel like home. We shall celebrate later with a new femur bone that is stuffed with meaty goodness. I leave you now with warm & fuzzy feelings. :)

a check off my bucket list!

This week, I excitedly checked something off my Bucket List (things I wanna do before I kick the bucket!)-- I picked up a hitch-hiker! He was on Hill Rd, which is a very busy road in grand blanc, and has no sidewalks-- fine in the summer, bad in the winter when the snow is piled up and you have to walk on the road. It was quite exciting- he was very nice and thankful, and no he did not want money or anything else. apperently his ride did not pick him up from work and he had to walk to the bus stop- 3 miles away.
so, i am glad i helped someone out, AND did something i always wanted to do! :)

if it was another girl, i would say domestic violence.

So, I am sometimes a bit hasty, making myself a *wee* bit clumsy... but yesterday, I really outdid myself.

I was rushing out the back door into the garage to go to work. I quickly opened the door, and the door got stuck on the rug, but I continued walking, and slammed the corner of my eye into the corner of the door, about knocking myself out. I double over for a few seconds to gather my bearings, and go to work. My eyebrow puffed right up, and I have a sharp bruise under my eye. Luckily, most of my bangs cover up the damaged. But, if it was some other girl and I saw it, I would think somebody popped her in the eye.

Hopefully this bruise fades quickly... because it's quite embarrassing.

Here are two photos I took today, 25 hours later...

i want it!

while grocery shopping at wal-mart this week with ry, i decided i was going to give into my cravings for Count Chocula cereal... but I couldn't find it. Either could ry, or any of the other related cereals like Boo-Berry. So, halted on my craving, I stopped in Mejier the next day, and they did not have it either. Did they stop making it?! Are the holding out on me?! So, now I really really want some, and cannot have it. :( Bummer.

some updates

the past week i've been pretty busy. classes have been going great, and so far so good with tests! next week we learn to do Foley catheters, and the following week, enemas-- unfortunately it's all with mannequins, as who the hell would want us to practice that on them?! it should be exciting!
we mailed our wedding invites out last week too. i wanted them out, as most people already know when it is, and we're giving them a month to rsvp-- plenty of time to request work off, etc, and put into the calender. yesterday, we received our first batch of rsvp's back too! :)
off to work & lab check off-- more later?

sidenotes: bloggers has frozen up repeatedly when i've attempted to log-in the past few days and closed its own browser winder in the process.... whyyyy

1 week down, 9 to go

My first week of classes went great! I laughed more my first three days of class than I have the last year. I am really getting to know the girls (and few guys) finally, and most seem really great. I am more excited now, and feel like I will do well. I'm sure things will get busy & hectic, but in 18 months, I will be a medical professional, and that's more exciting, & worth the hard work to get there, and to better ry & i's life. :)
yay!

up & at em

first morning of classes:
i am nervous/excited!

Nursing begins!

Cost of books & supplies this term: about $800.
fake nails: painfully removed.

Amount of free time expected to have in the 18 months according to our profs: zilch.

My face as of now:


Bring it on! I know it'll be a very busy next couple of months. So, if I don't catch up with you all, I am busy with nursing classes, working, spending time with ry, working on wedding plans, eating, working out, sleeping, playing with rem, or attempting to juggle in a few more things.
:)

home improvements

I thought I would share two of the "bigger" projects ry & i have done. the first being the downstairs half bath. I did it over thanksgiving break, and have added to it.

before:

and after:

the other project was we ripped out the weird ugly green carpet in one of the spare bedrooms.

before:

and after:

The next projects will be landscaping this spring. :)

welcome 2009!

2009 already?! 2008 flew by so quickly.
highlights of 08: adopting remington, going to az/seeind the grand canyon/getting engaged in the grand canyon, buying a house and moving in, getting into the nursing program.
lowlights of 08: waiting to make sure we could adopt remington & not someone else, waiting to see if we could buy this house, waiting to see if i got into the nursing program, grandpa having a heart attack.
overall, an amazing year!
what i'm looking forward to in 09: wedding events (wedding shower, bachelorette party, wedding itself, and honeymoon!), nursing classes, and landscaping this summer.
:) Happy 09 everyone!

--

I rang in 09 at Jeremy's apartment with him and lili. Ry stopped by right in time (he was working) for about 15 mintes so we were able to ring in the new year together (and rem too). I had a fun evening with a few cocktails with them as well. Not a real wild night, and I went home around 1:30.
Friday night a group of us to celebrate the newest cop in gb finishing training and had a fun night out to b-dubs and kickers bar/club!
Grandpa is recovering, and was released to go home today, much to the happiness & relief of the entire family (most of all, grandma).
A good friend of the family, petuck, passed away last night. he was 91 and in hospice for the last 2 months, so it was time for him to go. i'll be going back out to lbg for the funeral later this week. :(
I have one week left of my winter break, before classes resume jan 12. Most of it I will be working (to pay for all those expensive medical books), as well as relaxing as I know my time will be lessened quite a bit. I'm excited & nervous to begin my classes... but mostly excited! I have orientation all day Tuesday so I'll know more of what is in store for me!
For now, back to a pretty good book & snuggle time with my men. :)