It's a beautiful life...

Packing...

2011-04-21T15:48:00.003-05:00

I've lived in the same state, the same city, the same little town, and the same house my entire life. I've never been away from here before. Wes & I are getting married in just 23 short days, so over the past couple of weeks I've been working on packing up a few of my things to get ready to move.

All the things I had in my desk are packed up now, and all of my nursing books that I won't need for the rest of this semester are already at Westley's house. All of my pictures/frames I've had in my room for years have been taken down. There's only a few clothes left in my closet because all of my winter clothes/dresses/sweaters have been moved already. My shoe wall looks so bare with all of my winter shoes packed up. It's crazy to think that my last night to sleep in my bedroom is coming pretty quickly.

I'm being a little too dramatic...I'm just moving to a different house about 11 minutes from where I've always lived. It's still bittersweet though...

Speaking of my future house --I should really post some before and after pictures! Wes bought it in July of 2009, (I think I may have mentioned it in one of my really old posts) and when he bought it, it needed a ton of work! We've about got it all fixed up...it just needs me to move in and decorate! (Westley's idea of decorating is a framed Spiderman poster hanging in the master bathroom...)

I'll do a house post eventually!

Engagement Pictures

2011-04-20T21:14:00.007-05:00

A few Saturdays ago Wes & I traveled to Blount Springs to get our engagement pictures done by Alisha Crossley Photography. Alisha did an amazing job!!

Here are some of my favorites...

Texting Blog Entries...

2011-04-20T20:50:00.002-05:00

A couple of nights ago I decided that I wanted to start writing blog entries through text message. It's been easier to keep up with. The only downside so far is that it won't recognize entries over 160 characters long. :( Very frustrating. I really can't get into Twitter, no matter how hard I try, so I don't want to go with that option.

So I think I'll just do little text updates throughout the day, and maybe a couple of real entries a week. We'll see how this goes....

day @ clinicals pt.2

2011-04-19T16:31:00.003-05:00

oh. my. word. busy afternoon!! Our photographer added our pictures online! I can't wait to get home & look at them! I'll have to add some on here! :)

day @ clinicals pt.1

2011-04-19T13:09:00.005-05:00

lunch break over....back to a very busy day on med-surg! I'm having a great day so far, and I've been working with some awesome nurses & students!

We'll just see how this goes...

2011-02-05T12:00:00.002-06:00

After over a year, I'm back! I had forgotten that I even had a blog online. My sister started to write on her blog again, so I was on her page and saw that I was still following.

I clicked on my blog, and wow!!! My last entry was over a year ago. To say that a lot has happened/gone on since December 18, 2009 is a crazy understatement.

I have tons of things going on today, so I won't do a recap now...but notice in my info/profile that I changed "boyfriend" to "fiance" -very exciting! I still love my red background, but I also feel like I need a fresh start. I'll be looking for a new one before I do the recap. I also took the music off my blog. It had changed over the last year to something I didn't even know...

As far as what I'm going to write about now -It'll still be about life and nursing school with wedding planning added! I don't know if I'll keep this going, but we'll just see how it goes!

Have a lovely Saturday!

Let it be Christmas*

2009-12-18T12:31:00.002-06:00

Right now, I'm sitting in the recliner in the living room. Drinking the best coffee out of my favorite purple CCC mug. I just finished off a yummy bagel with plum jelly. One thing I'm not doing?...studying. I don't have to today. Life is wonderful.

Finals are over. I survived my first semester of nursing school & my last anatomy & physiology class. Although I do have a lengthy reading assignment & a list of drug cards to complete before January 11th, I'm not doing it until AFTER Christmas.

I need this time to chill, think, REST, be with family, and my Westley.

I have not even thought about Christmas yet. So today, if I can muster up the energy to get up & get out of my pajamas I will go shopping! :)

I know there are some of yall who start school in January. I wand to know what yall are thinking, so leave me a comment & let me know your thoughts/feelings! Good luck to you :)

Well, thinking of something to write is too much like work, so I'm going to get back to doing nothing!

Music

2009-11-17T18:03:00.003-06:00

I added a few songs today.

Beautiful Life -fisher ....the one my blog is named for. ;) this song just makes me smile. Every test day I listen to this song while I'm riding to the houn.
Just a Ride -jem ....listen to the lyrics. so true
The Heart of Life -john mayer ....because really, the heart of life IS good.
Free Fallin -john mayer ....sorry tom petty, john's got you beat. his voice is amazing.

***If the music annoys you just pause it and it'll quit. I don't mean for it to be annoying, the songs are all really good & if you listen you might smile.

Have a great night!!

a new adventure!

2009-08-24T22:51:00.000-05:00

FIRST DAY OF NURSING SCHOOL:

Wow. I can finally officially say that I am a nursing student. I've been saying that since June 19th when I got my acceptance letter, but now it feels real - right, actually. I've had the strangest feeling ALL day. About a million trillion things have been racing through my mind. Mostly excitement with a little bit of "can I really do this?" More on all that later.

So in the days leading up to today...
All last week I was off work & school. It was so great. Just to breathe and sleep. No thinking for a week! I won't see that again for two years.

Wes and I took a day trip to Nashville (to shop of course) on Friday. He picked me up reallllly early. I don't remember much about the first thirty minutes of the trip. I was sleepy because I was already used to sleeping so late again. We got to Nashville before the mall opened, so we ate at Shoney's. It was incredibly good. Usually it is nasty, gross, and so not clean. The one we ate at though was actually nice. Anyway. We ate way too much, but we both agreed that we would work it off because of all the walking we were about to do.

Then the mall opened. We started off at Bass Pro Shop. Good place. We looked at a bunch of random things. We even played a shooting game. Wes won. I let him. When we FINALLY left there our plan was to walk around the entire mall once. Not go in any stores the first time around. Just look. HA! yeah, that didn't happen. We stopped at a few. There were tons of those little kiosk stands with people basically grabbing you to try out some "awesome new product". Usually I would have been totally annoyed by them, but I had named Friday "my last free day" so I decided to have fun with it. We stopped and listened to all these people trying to sale us random things. A man tried to sale Wes an electronic cigarette?? A woman asked me if I wanted her to do some fancy art on my nails....I simply just said "I've been biting my nails for forever, so I have none." She gave me a strange look. I really do think I'm finally growing out of that though by the way. Anyway. We stayed at the mall until around 8 that night. I ended up with a new watch and having lots of fun with the amazing boyfriend. Westley ended up with new sunglasses and a shammy...long story for that one.

OH - the stingrays!!! We got to pet the stingrays. It grossed me out at first, but I ended up loving it. There was also other fish tanks around that place. There was one with clown fish that looked exactly like Nemo. A fish that looked really close to Dory was also in the tank. Then we saw the snake. Wes loved that...We got to watch the marine biologist feed the piranhas. Which really wasn't as cool as we hoped it would be. Then we ate at the Rainforest Cafe. Very good. And even more fun!! Very long day, but it was so worth it. Westley and I both really needed that.

Saturday. Mom and I spent all day painting "the Spiderman bedroom" at Westley's house. We got all the blue, red, and black covered up with white primer. We are going back over there sometime this week to finish it. I picked out the new color for it. "Tropical Nut". I think it fits Westley.

Last night at church I remembered that I was going to be at school today from 8-3. After church Wes and I went to the wonderful Wal-Mart and I got a few things so I could make my lunch. Being the wonderful man that he is, Wes carried my stuff inside my house for me. Then he packed my lunch for me. It was completely adorable.

So now for the fun part. Yep. Nursing School. Today all of us basically sat there and listened for a long time. We went over a little bit of the 30 pound syllabus. They scared us. Then told us we would make it. We talked about how serious nursing school is. Then they did a funny skit for us. We even danced a little. More of the 30 pound syllabus. Legal stuff. Background check info. Malpractice Insurance stuff. Took notes. Took a break. Took more notes. More teachers came in. They get angry if you refer to them as "Mrs. or Mr." if it's supposed to be "Dr." They tell you they know how you feel. Then compare us to flies...comparing themselves to frogs. Took more notes.

We all thought we would be there until 3:00, but DR. Roark said, "for some reason the college will not let us keep you 7 hours. So you will be getting out at 12:00" Relief. By that time I had had a brain over load.

I really think this nursing thing is a good idea so far. In about two weeks I will most likely be wondering why I'm putting myself through this. Good thing I already know the answer.

How much longer until May 2011??...

wild at heart...

2009-08-14T23:52:00.003-05:00

I'm alive!!! I survived the summer semester.

2 Bs and 2 As.

Not the greatest. I should have got a A in preCalculus, but I focused SO much on the Anatomy&Physiology that I let that slip just a little.

It's over though, and now it is time for the whole TWO WEEK summer!! Yes. Time to chill.

Well, week one of summer is over. It was very uneventful, and I love it that way!

Sunday- Church. Afternoon with Westley. Nap. Church. Dinner with Wes.

Monday- Work until 6 and then I really don't remember! Boring night most likely.

Tuesday- Day with the grandparents. Went to see the Amish people in TN. Got a watermelon. (More of the Watermelon later)

Wednesday- Work until 6 and then church. GI Joe movie with Westley after church. Oh, and a Sonic slushy!

Thursday- Stayed in pajamas for a long time. Found out that a forgotten watermelon that is left in a hot car for a couple of days is messy and will make a Jeep smell horrible. Cleaned up the mess. Went to Wal-Mart. Dinner at my cousin's house. Click here for her blog full of recipes and pictures of the WONDERFUL food she makes!!

Friday (today)- Woke up early and met Westley and his friends at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. They went to Atlanta today for a concert. I just talked to him. The concert is over, and they are headed to Auburn to crash at some more friends' place before coming back to Athens tomorrow.

Beth will be moving back to Bama tomorrow for the last time!!! I won't get to go this time because of work, but I helped her pack today...well, really I just sat and watched TV in her room while she did all the packing. She wanted me there to "supervise." We ended up watching the Disney Channel for most of the day. I don't really know what we were thinking, but we ended up laughing a lot! I'll miss her, but she will be done for good this December! I'm so so so proud of her!!

Next week I will be off work all week!! I don't know what I am going to do yet. I know for sure I will be reading four chapters out of the Fundamentals of Nursing book. Good thing that's something I will be interested in, or at least I hope so since it will be my life for the next two years! I really do think I will enjoy nursing school. I just don't know how I will handle everything yet. I haven't figured everything out yet, but I'll figure stuff out as I go I reckon. I might go down to the river and spend more time with my grandparents. I think Wes and I might go to Nashville on Friday to shop a little and spend a day together before nursing school. I know for sure I won't take any relaxing, boring, quiet, thinking time for granted next week.

Westley's 23rd birthday is Tuesday. I was just going to give him a gift card to Lowe's so he can fix up the new house (that's what he wanted), but now I thought of something else. Momma and I decided to "adopt" one room in his house. We are going to redo it for him so it can be his office. I finally decided on a paint color! I know he probably will read this thing so I'll give more details after Tuesday! More on the house.... So far he has gotten the kitchen, living room, and one bedroom painted. He has changed a lot of the light fixtures and the kitchen cabinet hardware. It is looking a whole lot better than it did when he first bought it. He moved in last weekend, and one of his friends from church is renting a room from him.

Westley's new puppy, Ruger, loves the new house. I can't believe how HUGE Ruger has gotten. Wes just got him last month, and he was a cute little puppy. Now, he is still cute but he doesn't really look like a puppy. Haha, I absolutely love the way he is able to fall asleep ANYWHERE in ANY position. He still loves to bite. Ruger knows that my entire wrist will fit in his mouth! He also loves hair. He obviously hates ponytails though because whenever I have my hair pulled up he finds a way to mess it up! I love that puppy. Ruger loves Westley. All three of us were riding in the car maybe 3 weeks after Wes had first gotten him, and Wes got out to pump gas. I thought Ruger was going to have a heart attack. It seriously sounded like someone was torturing that dog. He can't stand it when Westley leaves. It's very adorable.

That's enough rambling for now Yall have a wonderful night!

This world keeps spinning faster...

2009-07-12T21:54:00.000-05:00

This summer has been crazy!! Good, bad, okay, AWFUL, hectic, busy, fun, not so fun, smart, upsetting, happy, eye-opening, insert any good or bad adjective here...

May 22nd. Last day of high school.
May 22nd-26th. Summer.
May 27th. Summer is over.
May 28th, 8:00 AM. First day of summer (pre-nursing) classes.
May 28th, 7:00 PM. Graduate high school.
May 28th-August 7th. Classes 4 days a week with work in between & TONS of hours of studying.

I promise y'all, I usually am SO SO SO optimistic, but this summer has been rough! I know all that I mentioned above is normal "adult life" stuff but I just came out of high school?! It's like a big eye opening experience. I know it's good for me...it's just crazy. Those who know me best, Westley especially, know that I HATE CHANGE. This summer has been nothing but lots of changes.

This paragraph will be more complaining/whiny/venting junk, so for the more positive happy stuff feel free to skip down to the next one....I feel like I am missing out on so many things this summer. During the summers I always just get up and go to the river to see my grand parents whenever I feel like it. This summer, instead I have to study. The past 3 summers I have gone on a mission trip to Poughkeepsie, NY. I missed it last week. Since I was in first grade I have gone to church camp. I'm missing in right now. I'm missing out on making countless memories with Westley. Our last real date was us in a restaurant, and me sitting across the table from Wes with my anatomy book and homemade flash cards. Fun, right? This weekend Wes went to TN to get a new puppy. I would have loved to go....just to ride in the car with him and talk and play those stupid car games and listen to the radio. But instead of being there when he saw Ruger for the first time, I was at home learning about sphenoid bones and mastoid processes. I've always heard that the summer after you graduate you feel this sense of freedom, but all I feel is the weight of 9 books for 4 classes.

BUT...after I finish my little pitty party I start to think about the future. I have just finished high school and I will be starting nursing school in the fall. Sure, it's scary, but it's really cool because I know exactly what I want out of life. I have a great family, and wonderful boyfriend/best friend, and 3 awesome dogs. I have been very blessed, and I really do love my life. I'm sure I can go back to Poughkeepsie next year. My last year for camp is next summer, so I will be there. (I refuse to take a full load of classes during the summer ever again :) ) And there will always be more memories to make with Westley, even if they do invovle me studying!!

All the craziness of this summer is part of what makes my life a beautiful one.