The end of another

Well I am done with another semester. Boy they are sure flying by! This was the hardest semester thus far. I think it was the worst because of the hard material and the month of dealing with Shaun's brain mass. It was really hard to balance everything. I was struggling to stay afloat in classes and with everything else that was going on that I felt like all of the other thing in life got pushed to the side. The house was never clean, I hardly cooked dinners, my relationships with my friends suffered...but in all of that, my relationship with Christ grew stronger. I had to rely on Him to get me through the day.

I passed Pharmacology, Pediatrics, and Obstetrics. I am now moving on to Advanced Medical-Surgical Nursing, Mental Health Nursing, and a Leadership class. I will have classes every Monday, Tuesday and Friday. I will be at the hospital every Thursday. I will start off the semester at Mountain Vista Medical Center, where I'll have 9 weeks on the Med-Surg floor. Then I'll be at Phoenix St. Luke's Hospital for my Mental Health rotation!

When I am at Phoenix St. Luke's Shaun will be there too!! He has a PT clinical in their Physical Therapy department. I am excited about this..even though it is most likely that I will not see him at all because we will be in two separate areas of the hospital..it is still great to know that he'll be there!

This is my last semester in classes!!!!!! I will be in classes for this semester and then my last semester I will only have clinicals the the hospital! I can finally see the end of school! Only 8 more months until I am an RN!

Until I start my next semester, I am excited for my next week off! We spent the past few days celebrating Shaun's 25th Birthday with family and friends. I am using this week to catch up on life. Cleaning the house and spending time with friends is my top priority. I am looking forward to the next week and all of the dinners that we have planned with friends!

4th of July

I took a break from studying for finals last night and we went up to my parents house for the night. Mom made a wonderful low country boil with crab, shrimp, sausage, potatoes, and corn! It was so good!!! And it wouldn't be the 4th without homemade ice cream for dessert!

We then made our way over to peoria for their fireworks show. We did what we do every year and parked in front of the Target and walked to find just the right spot to watch. We arrived right at 9, just before the show stared, so all of the "good' seats were taken. Now when I say good seats, I mean the grass seats. The only spots left were in the gravel. We were ok with this because of what was to come later. After we got all settled, my Dad made a comment about how funny it would be if the sprinklers went off. Well wouldn't you know, the moment that the show started, the sprinklers came on!! Although I felt bad for all those people who were now soaked with water, I could help to laugh at how funny it was!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July!

My Dr. in Training

Yesterday, Shaun had his "white coat ceremony." Shaun just finished his 2nd year at AT Still University. After the completion of each year they honor the students at a ceremony. Last year Shaun was pinned...and this year he received his white coat. He only has one more year left till he graduates with his Doctorate in Physical Therapy! We are both so excited...we can see the light at the end of the tunnel...the end is drawing near!

In his last year, Shaun will not have to go to any classes, he will just have clinicals. In just over a month, Shaun will be leaving me for 5 weeks to intern with the Oakland Raiders at their training camp and pre-season games. After that he has a few clinicals with other physical therapy clinics and hospitals, and then next Spring he has a 4 month internship with the Milwaukee Brewers. I am so proud of him and all of his hard work!

Our 2nd Anniversary

Wow...time sure does fly when you are having fun! I can not believe that we have been married for 2 years already. It seems just like yesterday that I was planning our wedding and dreaming about being married to Shaun.

When I was getting ready to marry Shaun, I thought that my love for him was the most that it could ever be. After being married to him for two years now, my love continues to grow deeper for him on a daily basis. I did not know that I could have such a deep love for my husband. I am so thankful to have him in my life and I have no idea what I would do without him.

For our anniversary on Tuesday, we spent the morning by going to breakfast at Mimi's, going to the driving range to hit a few balls, and then we went and had a relaxing massage. My favorite part of the morning was definitely the massage! I have only had one other massage before, and that was at a resort in Africa...talk about an interesting experience (I wont get into details about how uncomfortable that one was!) So lets just say that this one was 100 times better than my previous experience!

Shaun was in charge of the plans for the rest of the day. We returned home and he told me that he had booked us a room at the Hyatt Regency in Scottsdale. We had been there once while we were dating just to ride the gondola. We had also heard that they have a wonderful Italian restaurant and have always wanted to go back to eat there. Shaun was wonderful enough to surprise me with dinner reservations and a night stay at the resort! After checking in, we saw our lovely room and went to the pool for a few hours. In the evening we went to our reservations at Alto and had a delicious dinner. I ate a ravioli dish and then we shared a wonderful creme brulee! A gondola ride was included with the price of dinner and we enjoyed it very much. The resort was beautiful and exactly what we needed after having such a busy past few months! We were able to regroup, de-stress and reminisce on our memories of dating.

I have loved the past two years of marriage and I look forward to what the next year holds!

My new CAR!

My husband and I bought me a new car over memorial day weekend! We have been thinking and debating about getting a car for a few weeks. I have been driving a 94' Accord for the past 2 years. It was a loaned car from my parents. And athough it got me where i needed to go, it was time to upgrade. After spending some time looking at a Jetta, I just couldn't help going back to a Honda. I have driven a civic and an accord all of my driving years and really love them both. I thought it would be fun to have something sporty, like a civic, before I start driving a mom car when we start having babies. 

I am so grateful for my parents and their generosity in loaning me the Accord, but I have to say I am super excited to have a new car! I have never driven something so flashy before. It is a lot of fun!  

Our Memorial Day Weekend

Shaun and I had a wonderful weekend with family and friends. We worked as usual on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday and Monday we were able to take a break from school work and spend some time with family and friends. On Sunday after chruch we spent the afternoon having lunch and hanging out with the Palmer Family. Our little nephew is getting so big! 

The rest of the afternoon and evening we went to a BBQ with some of Shaun's classmates. It is always fun to put names to faces of people that Shaun talks about. He has a really fun group of classmates.

Monday evening we planned a surprise (50th) birthday party for my Dad. I was put in charge of the cake...so I made a german chocolate cake. I had a little trouble with the icing, but after a few hours, it turned out great! Lets just say, baking is not my strength. I am slowly working on it. Here is a picture of my wonderful creation:

It was pretty delish if I do say so myself

We had a lot of fun hanging out with the family, celebrating Dad's birthday. My Mom made a delicious BBQ with ribs and cornbread. Over all, we really enjoyed our weekend off from classes and school work, but as always we are back to the grind of studying and attending classes. 

OB clinical

Yesterday I saw my 2nd c-section (4th delivery)! woo-hoo! It was great. I also got the chance to try to start my second IV....and guess what...I started it on my first try! I am officailly 2-2 in starting IVs. My professor told me that I am the only student that she has ever had that has been 2-2. (she has had 7 semesters of students)!!!!  I'm a pro ;)