....where do I even begin

Oh my goodness, I've been such a bad blogger - I feel as though I have lots of backtracking to do. I guess I should probably start with finals week....here it goes (hope this doesn't get too boring)-

Finals Week - definitely a crazy week! I completely sequestered myself in the library - all week long. Everyday it was me, my iPod and my books for hours upon hours. Happily, all that studying paid off - which meant that I was all set to graduate!! Woo hoo!! In addition to finals I also had a presentation on Aquapheresis that week....have I mentioned it was a long week, lol! Here's a picture of awesome Aquapheresis poster
And, here's a picture of me and one of my wonderful friend's from nursing school - it was taken the day after we found out we passed, we were soooo incredibly happy!!
Graduation - The thing about graduation is that I wasn't even really planning on going. Since I have already done the graduation thing once, complete with a party, I didn't feel I should really make a big deal about this one. When some of my friends found out, they were determined to get me to attend my graduation. I walked out of my baccalaureate mass to find my best friend (who has a newborn and lives 8 hours away) waiting for me.....Um yeah, there were most definitely tears - lots of them! Lol ;) She spent the whole weekend with us, it was great! My Aunt also came up for the weekend....with my Aunt, best friend and my husband (who was actually not on TDY and in town - YAY!) I was in Heaven. I truly wish I could relive that weekend over and over. Here are some pictures from that weekend -

Me right after graduation, that smile means "stop taking pictures!!" Lol! :)

All of us at brunch - yum!!!

And, of course, my Aunt and I found time to cook ;)

My trip home - The day after graduation my Aunt and I jumped in the car and made our way down to Oklahoma. It's about an 8 hour drive so I was soooo excited to have a driving companion - not to mention that my Aunt and I are super close and I always enjoy spending time with her! :) While down in OKC, I stayed with my amazing friend, Heidi. She is such a wonderful person and I feel so incredibly blessed with her friendship. I love sightseeing in my hometown!! Here are lots of random pictures of my trip to good ole Oklahoma -

Memorial Day Weekend - Saturday Kevin and I spent aaalllll day just hanging out. Since Kevin is away ALOT it was really great to be able to spend a relaxing Saturday with my husband. Late Saturday afternoon, we headed out to my friend Laurie's wedding. Laurie is one of my friend's from nursing school and I was just so excited I could be there for her big day - she looked absolutely gorgeous!!

On Sunday, we woke up early, went to the early service and then headed off for a day of hiking at Indian Cave State Park. Despite a few sprinkles we had a great time!

Monday morning we woke up early again (....kinda odd, I know but since Kevin and I don't get a ton of couple time, when he's home we like to make the most out of the time we have.....yeah, not really sure why I felt the need to justify why we got up early), strapped on our running shoes and headed off to the park for a jog. Afterwards, we were able to meet up with our buddies, the DeHart's, who just returned from their honeymoon in Europe. We met them for lunch and they brought lots of fun pictures of all their fun European adventures - and since they flew "Space A" (space available) I would definitely say it was quite the adventure!! After lunch we all headed off to see The Terminator - woo hoo!!

This week - my agenda included an NCLEX (the nursing board exam) review, it was at my school so I definitely felt as though I was back at school - "just when I thought I was out...they pull me back." Sometimes you just gotta throw in a Godfather quote for good measure. ;)

Well, I think that just about catches me up. Now, I'm going to have to catch up on all of your blogs - woo hoo! I *heart* reading all of your blogs!!! :)

What was I thinking???

After a few days of being in a "funk" I'm so happy to report that I'm a wonderful day!! Last night, my BFF and I had a 2 hour conversation and did some much needed catching up and then today's weather has been just perfect!

So today my friend Tessa and I decided to go out to lunch at one of our favorite places, Jimi D's. We love this place because not only is it super close to campus but, the food is yummy and they have a cute little outdoor patio....which happens to be where we sat since today's weather is so nice! Yay! I ordered ordered their famous P.L.T sandwich (which stands for Pancetta, Lettuce and Tomato - um yeah, it's delish!). Since I was really hungry I gobbled it up at lightening speed. Around, 1:15 I looked down at my watch and realized I would need to leave asap to make it to my 1:30 class on time....my next class which was Power Yoga....oh yeah. I was seriously struggled all the way through class today!! I seriously thought I was going to loose my P.L.T. sandwich if you know what I mean..... The best was when the instructor looked my way and asked if I was going to make it - so embarrassing.

What was I thinking?!?! Lol!!! The moral of my story - don't have a huge meal right before yoga. :)

Happy Wednesday Ladies!!!

Going Away Party

Yesterday was our friends Lindsay and Jeremy's going away party. Thankfully, they aren't leaving just yet (which is good because I'm not ready to say goodbye to Lindsay) but, they are heading to Europe for a month long honeymoon - how cool!! Even though we are sooo sad they are leaving we are also very excited for them because...they are moving to the gorgeous Monterey, California!! Yay!! We can't wait to visit them there! The Air Force is sending Jeremy there to go to graduate school and Lindsay says she is going to become a "beach bum" - lol! ;) I am so happy for them that God has blessed them with amazing opportunity.

Here's us with our buddies Lindsay & Jeremy( Sorry about the horrible red-eye)

How cute do these boys look in their flight suits?!?!? ;)

....Other than this little outing I've been a pretty busy girl. This weekend I spent the majority of the time typing papers - blah. But, I am very happy to report that I have almost all of my end-of-the-year projects done! Woo Hoo!! I can't even tell you what a relief it is to be able to say/type that!!

Here's my little to-do list:

ICU Reflection Journal - Done
Theology Prayer Paper - Done
Personal Nursing Research Project - Done
Group Nursing Research Project - Done
Theology Final Project - 1 & 1/2 pages left to write - seriously having writers block
Theology Take Home Test - Not yet posted - so frustrating

Hope everyone else's weekend was fun & productive! :)


P.S. I'm sorry I haven't been a very good commenter lately - I love receiving comments and usually try to be good about leaving them but lately with school things have just been so crazy....I know, excuses, excuses.... :)

Wedding Video Trailer!!!

Our videographer just posted our wedding video trailer! Yay!! I just love it!! She did such a fantastic job!! Kevin and I couldn't be happier!!

Baby News!!!

My best friend, Christina, just had her son. He was born March 5th and weighed in at 9lbs and 13oz! I think he is just the most adorable baby boy ever...but, I might be a *little* biased. ;) I'm so incredibly thankful that God has given them such a wonderful blessing and I feel very lucky to be so involved. I just can't wait to meet this little man!!

It finally happened....

it was above freezing today!!!

Just when I was beginning to wonder if I would ever see warmer temperatures....or if my flip-flops would ever see the light of day. I began to give up hope for Spring all together, BUT it actually got above freezing today!!! Yay!! In fact, I think we reached 44 degrees (that's pretty warm for Omaha) - yippee!! I actually went out without a coat....now once the sun went down and I found myself without a jacket I decided that I may have been a bit to eager - lol!! :)

Oh! And, I got the cutest hair cut today! Isn't it great how a new hair cut can really lift one's spirit?!?! I have the sweetest hairstylist, I just love her to death so going to see her is like visiting a friend, which always makes me happy. :)

Just one more thing...today is one of my Twitter friend's, (Jennifer) birthday. She has an adorable blog that I highly recommend visiting so, if you happen to stop by, be sure to wish her a happy birthday (or, belated birthday - lol). Happy Birthday!!

I hope everyone else had a great day too!!

My BFF's Baby Shower

I just have to say that this trip home might have been the fastest trip home we've ever made. We were there for about 28 hours, and considering it's an 8 hour drive and we did have to sleep sometime - yeah, it was pretty fast. But, I am so glad we went. I wouldn't have missed my Christina's baby shower for the world. I'm so glad I was able to spend time with my two BFF's and my fabulous Aunt....every moment of the time we spent with them made this weekend worth it and I wouldn't have rather spent it any other way.

Since I'm in clinical until late Friday night, we woke up bright and early Saturday morning and headed to good ole' OKC. Luckily, I'm not one of those people that gets car sick while reading and since Kevin (my fantastic husband) drove I was able to get some great studying done.

Whenever we go back home, we always stay with our friends, Heidi & Eric. They are a great couple and are incredibly generous with letting us stay with them when we come to town. Heidi and I have been best friends for years and I couldn't be happier that our husbands are becoming friends too - don't you just love when that happens?!?! :) They are seriously great and we have so much fun with them.

As soon as we got to OKC, I took the worlds fastest shower and got ready in record time(seriously someone should have called the Genius book of world records). Then Heidi and I headed to Shawnee for the shower (also my hometown and where the mother-to-be lives). We were really so busy that I didn't take many pictures. Crazy, I know!! Especially coming from the girl who takes her camera everywhere - just crazy. Luckily, Heidi grabbed the camera and snapped a few pics....

The Beautiful Mom-to-be Opening her presents { oh, and the random girl taking notes next to her is me :) }

The adorable cake

We did find time to stop at my new favorite cupcake place. Sara Sara Cupcake is bright, cheerful place with yummy cupcakes....what more could a girl ask for??? Funny how I always have time for food, isn't it? Lol!

I just CANNOT wait for Christina to have her baby! I just can't wait to meet the little man!! I promise to post lots of adorable baby pictures!!

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A Baby!!!

Hello blog friends!! I'm so excited to be able to write that my week is finally over! Woo Hoo!! Kevin and I are getting up really, really, really early tomorrow morning for good ole' Oklahoma! It's always nice to go home....even if it is just for the weekend. Especially when it's for....your best friend's BABY SHOWER!!! I'm so excited for her! I have bought TONS of stuff (I've gone way over my little shopping budget - lol) and I can't wait to share this time with her before her adorable son arrives. :)

Talk to you lovely ladies later!!

I hope everyone has an awesome weekend!!

Superbowl Sunday

I love Superbowl Sunday! I love watching football, eating tasty food, hanging out with friends, and of course, talking about the commercials....I mean come on, what's not to love?!? ;)

For years, my house was the place to be on Superbowl Sunday and I have some really great memories of those parties and I can't wait to have a house again so we can do lots of entertaining. Since my husband is out-of-town (yeah, sadly, he's gone a lot) I've still been cookin' it up and am going to take some yummy treats to a friend's house where I will be "watching" the game - probably more talking to my friends than anything and eating lots of junk food!

I hope you guys are all having a great Superbowl Sunday!!

P.S. Go Cardinals!!!

Off to Say Good-Bye....

With the exception of some of my nursing school posts, I really try to keep my blog upbeat and my complaining at bay (because if given the opportunity, I can be quite the complainer) so, I really hope this post doesn't come across as whinny.

When I saw my step-mom's number flash across my cell phone screen I already knew why she was calling...Sadly, when I answered my phone I assumptions were confirmed. We are all pretty sure that the Lord is calling my Nana home - her doctors are have said they think it will be sometime Saturday. So, I have decided to take a few days to say good-bye. I would like to ask that you please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you all so very much.

I hope your weekend is filled with lots of blessings!!

I've been tagged!

The The Preppy Polka Dot tagged me in a fun book game. Her blog is pretty new and, if you guys have been over to her blog, I highly recommend you check it out! It's super adorable and she makes some really cute monogrammed things!

So....here are the rules:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 2 to 5 sentences, along with these rules.
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual book. Pick the CLOSEST!
6. Tag five other people to do the same!

And...here are my answers:


The book closest to me is The Queen's Fool By Philippa Gregory. I can honestly say that I've never been in historical fiction books but...back home (in OKC) a few of my close friends started are reading Philippa Gregory's books and they decided that I should start reading them too - lol! I love my besties!! So, when I packed up and headed back to Omaha they sent some a few of these books with me and this book happens to be the first one I grabbed.

I glanced over to where the Sabbath candle burned under the upended pitcher, its light hidden but it's flame burning for our God. "But we're not the same," I said simply. John Dee and I read together every morning like devoted scholars. Mostly he commanded me to read the Bible in Greek and then the same passage in Latin so that he might compare the translations.

Sadly, instead of reading more of this book, I should probably read some of my nursing textbooks. I'm going to make myself a steaming cup of hot tea (I'm desperately trying to combat with the subzero temps outside) and read for a few hours before I head off to my next class.

Hopefully your weather is a bit warmer than ours but - either way bundle up and have a cozy evening!!

***I totally forgot to tag people!! Woops!****

I would like to tag the following ladies:

A Hokie and a Wahoo

Vineyard Vogue

Jennifer

Fabulously Frugalicious

~ and ~

Caroline in Texas

Bye 2008, Hello 2009!

Happy New Year!!!

I can't believe 2008 is just about over! It's just nuts! I feel as though this year has completely flown by. Even though soooo much has happened - very little has actually changed. The biggest thing that has happened this year is that Kevin and I got married! Our wedding was such a wonderful and very blessed time. Not only did we have a beautiful wedding but, we were able to spend a whole week with our awesome friends and family. In addition to our wedding, we went on an amazing honeymoon! We are so blessed. 2008 was definitely a very busy year! I can't wait to find what 2009 will bring for us!

I hope everyone has a safe and fun evening! May God bring you lots of blessings in 2009!

Our Christmas Story

Our Christmas turned out a bit different than we expected and....I couldn't be happier! I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas.

It all started two weeks ago (in the middle of finals week - yuck), Kevin had left and wouldn't return until Christmas Eve so, I decided that as soon as finals were over I'd jump in the car and head to OKC to spend some much needed R&R with my friends and family. I thought I'd leave bright and early Saturday morning and drive back Tuesday (the 23rd) so I could make sure I was here when Kevin returned.

Except the fact that I forgot my camera the trip was perfect! It's odd trying to explain but, it's as if I didn't realize how much I missed my friends, family and OKC until I was down there. We had the best time together. We went to a OKC Thunder game (which, they almost won - yay), we went to Eischens (home of the BEST fried chicken - seriously, it's AMAZING), we went shopping, of course ;) and we went to some new places too - like, The Wedge Pizzeria (I highly recommend the Truffle Shuffle - super yummy but, everything is really tasty). The best part was just hanging out with 2 of my best friends in the whole world talking about nothing and laughing about everything. I cannot believe how much I had missed them.

By the time Monday night had rolled around I realized I wouldn't be heading back on Tuesday as I had originally planned. I just kept thinking the same thought, "I'm just not ready to leave." Since I have a very supportive and thoughtful husband, he immediately understood. Kevin offered to hope on a flight from Offutt (the base in Omaha) to Tinker (the base in OKC) so that we could spend Christmas in Oklahoma. I was ecstatic!

I couldn't have asked for a better first Christmas as husband and wife. It was absolutely perfect. I was just so thrilled to be home, with my friends, family and husband....there really wasn't anything else I wanted.

Here we are with our friends Heidi and Eric - they were our very gracious hosts! :)

I know it's a bit late but, I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas!