Who dat? Who dere?

So....it's been a little while.

School is still in full swing. I'm fully into specialties at this point, the last leg of my journey through nursing school. I'm in my second rotation, Labor and Delivery. So far it's pretty interesting...most of it I already knew, but there is quite a bit I have picked up. We have our first clinical day tomorrow--we've been in the classroom all week learning everything so we don't look like idiots in front of the parents.

We're also starting to get everything ready for graduation! We elected(after a VERY heated debate) which uniform we'll be wearing at graduation. Sounds trivial, but you gotta keep in mind that when 35 women are together day in and day out...it gets a little catty. Sigh.

Troy and I are doing well. We're excited for the holidays--my father and his family are coming down from Indiana for the week following Christmas. I'm super excited about that. My mom and stepdad just adopted my new little brother, Jay, who's 3, this past weekend after a 2 year struggle with the system. We're going to visit them this weekend and meet Jay.

Well, that's the basics for now. Hope everyone's doing well. Except for my stalker...that's just plain sad. If you want to know something about me, to talk to me, or just want to tell me off, then be a big girl and just send me an IM. Pretty simple.

Move Along

The cheerleading competition was a blast yesterday. Erica's team made it to the finals, and then came in 6th out of 18 teams. Not too shabby. The team that won ended up being the HS that is our school district--where our kids would go if we still live here when we have kids. Interesting.

Next weekend is the competition on home turf--my old high school. Troy and I were planning to attend POC's next weekend up at JMU(the big HS marching band competition), but now I really want to go see Erica cheer again. We're thinking about doing a double header. Harrisonburg in the morning/early afternoon then Roanoke for the evening. We'll see. That's a long day with A LOT of driving. 2.5 horus to H-burg, then 1.25 to Roanoke, then 3.5 back.

I have my big final this week. I mean, we have tests everyday, and then a final every other week, but this is the big culmulative final. We had one I think two months ago, and it was crazy. If you don't pass, you don't come back. They actually have us take it, then kick us out of the building and don't let us come back until they grade them. You see your grade...if you passed, you stay and go over the test, if not, bye bye. It's a little harsh. We started out with 50 students, we're down to 40 now, and expecting to drop down to 35 with this next final. Fun times. I have absolutely NOTHING to worry about, but it's just interesting. I also love that we're having a speaker come on Wednesday to talk about how to effectively take tests. We have been in school for 13 months! Why didn't we have this back at the beginning????? Haha. Retards.

Anywho, I'm going to go finish cleaning the kitchen. I've been trying to unpack stuff still from our first wedding shower....well, rather trying to rearrange stuff so we have room for the new and better stuff. ;-)

Ok....

We're married now. NEWSFLASH! I think everybody knows now, just making sure. So to commemorate that, I'm changing my blog back to a "general" blog. Yay. We're still having the "big" wedding next year, so you're all still invited.

School's alright. Hard to believe I've been in school for 13 straight months now. Seriously. 6 more left. End of March. I. Can. Make. It.

I only have one more week left of Med-Surg 2. Then we start specialties. Yay. Orthopedic rehab first for me, then Labor and Delivery. Man, I can't wait to be done. I'm SO sick of school! I can't believe I'm going to go through school again...I'm an idiot. Then again, I'm sure that as soon as I graduate, I'll miss it and forget about how horrible it was. Nursing school amnesia.

I'm going to see my sister compete with my old HS's cheerleading squad this weekend. She's a flyer. Hopefully I'll have some good pics to post next week.

Weekend after Troy and I are attending POC's in Harrisonburg--Parade of Champions for those who don't speak geek language. And I'm sure Troy is just THRILLED beyond belief.

I might be getting a job at Outback Steakhouse. Should be interesting. I have an interview tomorrow. Yay for me. Yay for steak.

That's about it. Almost bedtime and Troy'll be home soon. Test number 2/3 tomorrow morning, so I must go fall asleep in my book inbetween the section about colonoscopies and people who put gerbils up their butts. Yum.

Bridal Show Fun

I really should've brought my camera for the fun(madness) that was had today. We gots tons of business cards, flyers and brochures. Had some yummy cake and spreads and dips, and I even won a 100 dollar gift certificate for a wedding planner. Too bad I already have one for free!!! It was fun though, though there were a lot of undesireables there....if you know what I mean. I did get a cool "Bride to Be" heart shaped pin, and free Godiva chocolate. Can't beat that. And I know that if for some reason, ANY one of my vendors doesn't work out, I have about 432 other backups.

We also had our engagement photos taken on Saturday evening at the beach in Sandbridge. I so cannot wait to see them. Becca was our photographer, and as soon as she has her site up and running, I'll link her. She's doing some color, some black and white and some a mix of the two. Can't wait!!!!

That's about it on the wedding front right now. Very overwhelmed with school right now...so I think I'll sign off with a plea for luck wishes for my big Cardiac final on Tuesday. Ciao!

INTERNET!

I have been without internet for quite some time now. Of course, it comes and goes in spurts, so some of you might have seen me online. I just got it restored, and it's about 5 times the speed it was before--and it's FREAKIN' storming--BAD. I'm just waiting for the power to go out.

School's going good. Killing me, but it's going good. It feels so awesome to have nothing to focus on BUT school. At the same time, that can really suck. I go to school ALL day, then come home and study my butt off until I collapse in the bed at 8 pm. Yes, 8. I get up at either 4:30(when we're at the hospital) or 5(when we're at school), so I'm pretty tired at night. And the working at the hospital? It's great--but it's just like working(but so much more stressful--more on that in a minute), but you're not getting paid. I was literally getting sick to my stomach(Kim, I'm sure you'll remember what I mean from swim team back in the day) twice a day from nerves. This is our first time "working" in a hospital, and we're just thrown in. The very first day I performed these tasks ALONE: vital signs, bathing a patient in their bed, changing their bed while they were in it, feeding the patient, doing a doppler on the distal pedialis pulse, checking the patient's blood glucose level. Not to mention constantly having a very overbearing scary Wicked Witch of the West teacher coming in to ask you questions like "Why is your patient on this drug? What are the side effects? What is the effect of a patient having a high level of creatinine on their skin?" AHHHHH! I did well though. I finished my first rotation in the Cardiac unit with perfect scores all around. The only thing she requested of me was that I be less nervous. She even asked me if I was already working as a nurse(CNA, a step lower than what I'm in school for), because she said I seemed to really know what I was doing and had a real rapport with the patients and their families. That made me happy. :-) I think I might have actually found something I'm good at!

In wedding news, I met with my wedding planner/coordinator on Sunday, and that went well. She's awesome, in fact. I also discovered that our reception site is too small to hold the number of people we want to invite, so I need to find another place, which makes me mad. I loved our reception site. Any ideas would be fabulous! Also, we're having FREE engagement photos taken weekend after next! Yippee! At the beach, as well! Annnnnnnnnnndddddddddd, I'm picking up my dress this FRIDAY! WOOOOHOOOO!!! I can't wait!

Soooooo.....only one other thing to say, and that is.....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIM!

Blast from the Past

Since I stayed up to an astonishing 2:30 AM last night, I spent a great deal of time sorting through all my old pictures from my old computer. Fun times, I tell you. Let me just say this: All those times in 2002 and 2003 that I thought I was fat...I had no clue what I was talking about.


Looking at some of these pictures, when yes, I was already a mere 50 pounds over weight, makes me just want to kick myself. But seeing as I've put on a total of 80 pounds since JMU, I can't hardly lift my legs to tie my shoes.

I know I know, I shouldn't complain about it, I should get out there and do something about it! Easier said than done. Especially when it's in the 90's outside and the central air feels just so awesome. I have about 2 pages of excuses. I could put some down, but that would require extra energy.

I should be excited! I have my size 14 wedding dress just about ready for me to take home...and I can actually put it on(no small feat for a size 18 bride). Granted I can hardly breathe, and I have to wear a corset to be able to zip it up, but that's besides the point. I should be literally working my ASS off to fit into that dress, and even have it taken down a size! It IS possible. I have well over a year.

For those of you who know me, I do this vent quite often, as in several times a day. Even my fiance has gotten on the ball and has lost 18 pounds so far. I have been eating better...with being stuck at school all day, and my nerves being a wreck, I've been eating small meals and most of them are really healthy.

I even have a huge vacation this weekend. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are mine, until I sell my soul back to school. Yesterday was wasted because I felt like dirt--I ended up sleeping all day. Today...well, half of today is already gone. I've been drinking copious

amounts of coffee trying to get myself going, but even that doesn't seem to be working. I have a million things to do: grocery store, massive cleaning, laundry, homework, and I even offered to help my friend repaint her townhouse. Maybe I should get started?

Sorry for the massive embarrassing non-productive rant. I do feel a bit better now. I should stop feeling so damn sorry for myself. Here's a truce: for every ass-kicking comment you leave me, I'll go exercise for 30 minutes. That way I can blame you guys for me not exercising. :-D Sounds like a plan to me!

Dress pics, again!

My Matron of Honor, Kim and I went to DB to order my dress yesterday--and of course tried it on again. We also decided to go ahead and order Kim's MOH dress--and then when I ask the other girls, hopefully we'll be able to get theirs ordered too--the dress is discontinued, as was mine. Actually, the dress I have on in the picture is MY dress--we were unable to order it brand new. So it'll stay in the shop while they clean and fix a few threads here and there.

Relaxation

Well...only one more week of work until I'm a free bird. Free, that is, until two week later, when I start hell--oops--I mean, school full time. I have my CPR certification class on Thursday(9 hours long!), and then Friday's my last day!!! Whoopee!

I plan to fill my days with copious amounts of Gilmore Girls--I bought the two newest season DVDs on sale just for this reason--and sleep...and I guess some cleaning and gardening. Oh yeah, and some reading. I wish I could wedding related stuff, but that requires large amounts of money. Poo.

Kim's coming up the week before I start back at school. Hopefully we'll make to more than just one bridal store--don't ask me why, other than because it's fun, I guess. I'm going to take her to show her the dress I picked out. By the way, both of my dresses I had in reserve sold on eBay, so that made me happy. I can't wait til Kim comes...it'll be my last hurrah until I graduate!

Troy also bought me IRL tickets for the Richmond race that same weekend. I'm sure that'll be a GREAT time as well. I haven't been to an IRL race since I lived in Indiana, which was a looong time ago.

Hope everyone's doing well!

Wedding dress #2

Taken with my camera phone, but you get the idea. Go ahead...everybody hates on the black/white wedding dress. Honestly, I didn't like it at ALL at first....but now I LOVE it.

Wedding pictures!

After a brief trip down to the Roanoke area on Saturday, I've sorted out my pictures from my little sister's wedding.

The first picture is (from left): Me, my youngest sister, Erica, my sister Alison, my Mom, and my stepdad Rich. Second picture, me and my sister. Below that is my cousin Paige(Maid of Honor) and myself. Last but not least, my mom and I.

In other news--I am getting(buying) my dress this week...the new dress that is. I've come up with half the money for the dress, and I'm putting it on layaway until I come up with the other half. I had to do it so quick because the dress is discontinued, unfortunately. I'll hopefully get to post some pictures when I go in to order it because I plan on trying it on again!

You Will Be a Modern Bride!

While you aren't ready to throw away all wedding tradions, you want a wedding with a twistYou're more inspired by celebrity weddings on E! than from bridal magazinesWhether this means getting married on the beach barefoot or a mariachi band for the reception...Your wedding will be a blend of old and new - white dress cocktail, personalied vows, whatever suites you!!!

What Kind of Bride Will You Be?

More fun stuff

Here's a bouquet I really like. At this point I am leaning towards using gerbera daisies as a "theme"...not sure though. Since the wedding will be in late September, we might go with either a fall theme, the daisy theme, or just a color theme. I really would like to use a green/yellow color scheme.






I found this picture of a fall cake from a baker's website, I believe it was Jacques's Cakes. I like the fall theme and the sugared leaves. Very pretty.




















This is the monogram that a fellow Knottie made for Troy and I. There were a few made, but this was the final design that we went with. Not sure where exactly we will incorporate it yet, whether it be invitations or what, but it's still cool to have!






In other news, I'm sick again. I came down with this latest bout of the plauge on Wednesday, and now I have a raging ear infection in BOTH ears. Which means I'll have to take time off work AGAIN one day this week to go get more antibiotics. I hate having to ask off work to go to the doctor. Ug. And I'm sure she's always pissy about me being sick. But you gotta think: I watch children. Not just her children, other children too. AND I'm doing nursing clinicals in a nursing home. There are germs there. Not everyone can have a wonder immune system like she does. Anyway.

I'm going to go take some more medicine and sleep. Later!

Busy bee

Soooo busy this week. Started nursing clinicals on Tuesday night, which was a stress case for me in itself. We're at the nursing home for the next 4 weeks, and it's a bit intimidating.

Also, Troy's nieces are staying with us, which causes even more stress for me, because I can't follow my usual routine....I get very OCD during the week with when I go to bed and stuff....little hard to follow that when there's a 6 and 10 year old bopping around in the living room.

Oh well.

At least I have my dress....I seem to have gotten into the habit of saying goodnight to it everynight...I'm a head case.

Anyway, I'm waiting for my monogram designs to come back that I'm having made by a fellow Knottie. Hopefully in Sage/Buttercup or Sage/Silver for the wedding colors. Then it's off to work out, babysit, and enjoy more nursing home fun. Oh, and Troy's dad is here unexpectedly this morning, so I'll go play hostess.

Troy owes me this week, I believe. Good thing our anniversary is Saturday. I'm pushing for some earrings. ;-) (Shhhhhhhh, I got him a Video iPod!!!!)

Dress pics!

My dress from eBay that I bought for $40!!!!

Above: Where we're getting married(Libby Hill Park) in Richmond. Ideas for a beach destination wedding were scrapped when we realized how many people we wanted to invite.

What do you think?

I'm considering turning this blog into a wedding planning blog for the time being. Anyone have any objections? I didn't think so.

I have all my planning stuff on TheKnot.com, and talk non-stop in the online communities....oh man, it's addicting. They have bios, and everyone puts ALL of their wedding ideas pictures into the bios...I lose so much time just reading one after another. Here's a link to mine, which I just started putting together today: BIO MANIA!

I have so many ideas, and I like so many things that I see...but with a budget that is literally nothing, it's hard to not be able to have everything. Most of the girls on the Knot are having what I call "normal" weddings. They have to buy things like place cards and centerpieces and OOT(out of town) bags and all sorts of fun stuff. I, on the other hand, am having a *very* informal wedding, at the beach. There will be no place cards. There might be OOT bags...if we have anybody actually come to our wedding(it's a destination wedding at the Outer Banks). Sigh. I know, waaa waa, right? I don't know....I love the way we're doing things, and in the long run, I know I'll be happy about it...sometimes I just feel like I'm going about things the un-natural way.

I'm SO looking forward to going dress shopping next weekend with Kim!!!!! I'm absolutely estatic!!!!! .........although, I do have to say, I found this one really really beautiful dress......it's 750$(WAAAAY too much money), and not really fit for the beach. You can see it in my Knottie Bio. We'll see. There's a bridal shop right down the street from me that speciallizes in that particular line of gowns, so who knows.

Anyway, back to searching for the perfect beach house for our wedding....or rather, the cheapest with the nicest view. I'm very picky...so this might be a while.

We're engaged!

It's official! Troy proposed to me Saturday evening...

I'm a very happy girl..............Here's a link to our ever changing site

Happy Holidays!

Belated happy holidays to everyone! I have been busy busy, as I'm sure all of you have been.

Christmas went fine for once, considering. We went to Troy's parent's house...and it was madness as usual. I don't understand how one family can handle so much yelling and screaming and bitching and chatter. At one point, we took Maddie for an hour long walk over to one of his friend's houses...just to get out. Once again, a visit to Hampton made us solidify our plans for a very very private quiet wedding. Sheesh. If that were present at my wedding, there would be no wedding.

Anyway, to be pleasant though, they gave us some very nice gifts for the house. Lots of kitchen stuff that we needed, and some we didn't, but wanted anyway.

New Year's was much more low key. This is the first year that I haven't been working on New Year's Eve, so that was nice. We had dinner at P.F. Chang's for the first time, even though we couldn't afford it, then came back here, tried to watch The Longest Yard(Comcast blows), and ended up watching The Dukes of Hazzard(I protested) and then watched the ball drop. I got my standard 10 dollar bottle of champagne and got little drunk(well, maybe more than a little). It was nice. Then today, I purchased something I had been researching for a while... Yourself!Fitness for Xbox. I love it so far. It's great.

When I have more time though....I'll post a bit of info about the program. I'm trying to get to bed early tonight so I'll be rested up for a busy week. Hope everyone's holidays went well...though I know Kim's never will as long as the in-laws are around! You make me look foward to mine! NOT!