Studying.  That’s what I’ve been doing.  All the time, every day.  It feels like it’s never ending but an end is truly in sight.  May 10th will be my last day and I will walk in my graduation ceremony May 17th.  It can’t get here quick enough.  Sometimes it feels like all I do is go to school/clinical, go to my small part-time job, and come home to study.

Gabe and the poor kiddos are awesome to put up with me but I know it’s not easy.  Last night we went to a local bounce house/game place so the kids could run off some energy.  I sat and did medication calculations and studied while Gabe made sure the kids didn’t run in to anyone during all of their joy.  See, I told you he puts up with me.

Today I have a ton of housework to do, things to clean, stuff to organize, and yet I’m sitting here studying for nursing once again.  This week brings the first two tests of the semester and lots of homework to turn in.  The one frustrating thing in all of that (as if there’s only one thing!) is my silly printer is out of yellow ink and because of that I can’t even print in black and white.  The consequence of that is no printing the moment I need to print, which ended up turning in to me having to go to my awesome mother-in-law’s house late Monday evening to print out things I needed for Tuesday.  Yep, really annoying.  I even took a few minutes to write to one of my favorite blogs – The Consumerist – about it and they printed my frustrations!  Check it out HERE.

So that’s how I’m passing my time these days.  Studying and complaining about things that hinder my studying/schoolwork.  If you need me, just look for the woman with her head buried in a book.

Wow, so it’s been a while since I posted.  And I mean really posted, not just a quick blip.  You may be wondering why I disappeared so easily.  I have two words for you – Nursing.  School.  Because WOW.  This second year of nursing school has been kicking my butt!  Obviously nursing school is never going to be easy but man, last semester was rough and of course the final semester, which I’m staring down the barrel of now, is going to be just as challenging.

That’s not to say I don’t miss this space.  It’s just that when it comes to priorities this space ends up taking a back seat.  I have Gabe, the kiddos, church, school, my home, etc, etc.  See, tons of stuff!!  So, even though it’s almost mid-January I’m still going to do a 2012 breakdown, if for no other reason than to remind myself everything we survived in 2012.  So stay tuned!

Gabe’s book is free on Amazon again! Please don’t miss out on this one day special! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008SLF2QA?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1&ref_=aw_bottom_links

I don’t care how old you get or how confident you are in yourself, when someone calls you fat it hurts. A lot. That’s all.

I wish I could put in to words what the last four years have meant to me. Four years ago today my baby girl, Olivia, came in to this world and I was forever changed. She is sweet, sassy, silly, and strong willed but there’s nothing about her I would change.

She added something special to our family of three and made us complete.

To say she is our princess would be an understatement.


Happy 4th birthday sweet Livi!

Livi prefers to wear pajamas while joining Aiden at the bus stop.

I would too if I didn’t think I would look like one of “those mothers”. LOL.

Can anyone name that quote?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Well, I’ll leave it up in the air and you can discuss.  😉

So last week we went to church camp with our church’s young people and the two kiddos.  We had a fabulous time filled with friends, food, and fellowship.  Not only that but we got to try a few things we hadn’t before and have some neat adventures.  That being said, I’m a little battered and bruised from all the fun.

It started with a giant swing.  You read that right.  You get completely harnessed in for safety, including a helmet (although the helmet is not pictured here).

Once you are safely fastened to the structure you are then hoisted up very high in the air until you reach the top.  This is adventure by choice so you have to pull the release yourself (or make your husband do it if you’re a big weenie – thanks babe!  He he).  You free fall until the line catches you, then you swing back and forth until you slow down and are unhooked.

This is the structure.  There is actually another one across from it and you swing toward another couple of people.

If you know me, then you know that I couldn’t do anything 100% normally like every other person out there.  From the time I sat down I never felt good about where I was in the seat.  When we were pulled up I felt too far back and like I was off balance.  The countdown ended and Gabe pulled the release.  I found out that I am not a screamer in a free fall situation, I’m a teeth clenching grimacer.  We hit the bottom and started the upward swing, which definitely felt better.  That is until I fell off the back of the swing.  I FELL OFF THE BACK OF THE SWING.  Please reference the video to see my feet in the air and my head upside down.  Upside down.

That was an adventure to put it mildly.

After letting my stomach and nerves calm down, as well as eating a little lunch, it was time for another new experience.  Next up was the zip line.  I wish I had gotten more pics of it or some of us on it but I didn’t want to take my phone out in the woods for fear of dropping it.

To say it was AMAZING is putting it mildly.  We had to hike out through the woods in to a field.  We then got harnessed up again (see the above picture!) and had to climb a large telephone pole up about 30 feet.  Once up there we were harnessed to the zip line and just had to sit down and let go to swing high above our friends and end up back at camp.

This is a picture taken at the stopping point.  If you look off through the two poles you can see another two poles and a platform out in the distance.  That’s what we zipped off of to end up here.

I liked the zip lining SO much better than the swing for a lot of reasons.  I would have gone right back out and done it again if we had had the chance.  It was really neat to be so far up and just zoom right down.

All these adventures did come at a price.  Now to tie this all in to my title.  After camp was over I started noticing a few bruises on my body and within about a day I realized I was covered.  Here is a collage of just a few.

Aren’t they pretty?  Yep, every one of these came during our adventures at camp and they were all worth it.  I’m battered and bruised but I had FUN!

Okay, I have to admit, I am a HUGE “Beverly Hills 90210” fan.  And I’m not talking about that new thing out there.  I’m talking about the Brandon, Brenda, Kelly, Dylan, Steve, Andrea, Donna, and David original.  I can’t help it.  Don’t judge me.

This show started just as I was on the cusp of becoming a teenager and it kept me company throughout my teen years.  I remember discussing the SHOCKER episode of Dylan’s father being blown up the next day on the bus.  I remember being so upset when Kelly told Brandon no the first time he asked her to marry him.  It was all so good!  I would still watch reruns if I could find them on and have definitely watched a marathon before when it was shown.

That’s why I was super happy to see this commercial hit the airwaves.  As a rule I do NOT like commercials.  I tend to read or do other things while commercials are on and basically avoid them whenever I can.  The other night I happened to catch one that just made me smile.

I almost cheered to see Kelly, Brandon and Dylan back together again.  I’m not proud of it but I will definitely take it anyway.  🙂

Today was a big milestone in my first born’s life.  The first day of kindergarten.  Ugh.  Just typing that makes me tear up.  I can’t believe it.  How have over five years gone by since the day he was born??  How can he possibly be ready for this step??

To say he was ready would be an understatement.  From the time he graduated from preschool last Spring he has been talking about when he would be heading to kindergarten.  Every week he knew he was one week closer.  Last week we were at church camp (which I will write about later this week) and all week long he talked about how when it was over he would be going to kindergarten.  And every time he talked about that, I started having palpitations.

Last night we talked about kidnergarten and prayed for him to have a good day as I tucked him in to bed.

This morning I stayed up after Gabe left for work at 5:40.  I was too anxious to go back to bed.  I made pancakes and bacon for Aiden’s first day of school.  I wanted him to have his favorite breakfast to start the day out right.

Once breakfast was done getting him up wasn’t 100% easy.  He was excited for school but he also wanted a few extra minutes.  I did get him up though and he decided he wanted to eat breakfast in the dark so I obliged.

He got to watch Sonic Underground (one of his favorite shows) while eating breakfast, which seemed like a good way to start the day.

While Aiden was eating I decided to go ahead and get his lunch all put together.  I don’t know the menu of the school yet so taking his lunch definitely seemed like the best way to go on his first day.

Once it was all together it was time to make sure we had everything before getting dressed.

Next was getting dressed and getting Livi up to eat something and head on out.  Even the ride to school was a thing of excitement.  The kids pointed out every bus we saw and I’m pretty sure Aiden couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.

Arrival at the school was a little anticlimactic, as it was raining and we had to stand in a line outside to get his name tag and check him in for the day.  That didn’t dampen his excitement though.

After just a few minutes of waiting (and getting to see Mamaw Denise!) we were in.  A very nice lady took us down to his classroom and before we knew it Aiden’s backpack and lunch box were safely stowed in his cubby and he was happily sitting at a desk with his name taped to it coloring away.  That was about the point I might have lost it but my big brave boy just smiled his toothless smile, waved his sweet little hand, and said “bye!”.  The nice classroom helper said that was usually the best time to leave and I was inclined to agree.  I snapped this last pic before heading on my way.

As I held Livi’s hand and we walked out the door all I could think was that in 7 short hours I would have my little guy back.  I think I might be able to handle this after all.