Travelin fools

Ok, I apparently really suck at keeping up with my blog. Since my last post I attended the egg bowl and forgot to post pictures, went to Memphis for Barrett to run the 1/2 marathon, went to Florida for Andrew's college graduation, came home to PA for a very busy but very fun pre-christmas visit with family, and now we are getting ready to fly back to Jackson. Next on the agenda...Christmas in Jackson, Dress shopping with Ashley, relaxing in Starkville, New Years in Jackson, Driving to San Diego, 2 weeks in San Diego, and then NAVC in Orlando. Whoooo, what a vacation!

Florida last week was wonderful and warm. Andrew's graduation was really nice and he was one of the only people there to graduate Suma Cum Laude (cuz he's so smart). I also finally got to meet Lorri and she is so sweet! We of course made the trip from Daytona Beach to Disney World several times to eat at our favorite places and we went to Mickey Mouse's Very Merry Christmas Party. This is a party at the Magic Kingdom after the park is closed. We got to ride lots of rides, drink hot chocolate, and watch the christmas parade.

On the PA side of this leg of our holiday Barrett got to see his first snow storm. He has been coming up here for Christmas for the past 6 years and this is the 1st time that its snowed. We played in the snow for about 2 minutes and then I was over it. I would much rather be drinking hot tea and baking cookies in the house, which was just what I did.

And really, this time I promise to post some pictures, very soon...

Turkey Fun

We've had a great family Thanksgiving. I cooked a full dinner for Barrett's parents, Jessica and Lucas, and my parents. Today my mom and I went shopping and to Dandy Doodlez for some fun painting. I love having my parents here, too bad they can't stay longer.

We're looking forward to a good egg bowl tomorrow and at least a fun tailgate even if we don't win.

I'll post pictures of the tailgate and game soon

Pray, Pray a lot....

almost time

So, just to let you know. Testing is in T minus 2 days...

I would like someone to please give me a kick in the butt so I have a little more motivation to study.

Yesterday my friend Ashley told me "Somedays you are the windshield, somedays you are the bug, today you were the bug"

Not much seemed to go right yesterday. I kept getting distracted then I got tired and I couldn't get any studying done. Then I came home and Reggie had not only knocked over the Trash but he also pooped in the middle of the mess. After that I was ready to relax so Barrett and I went out to eat. Sounds great right. Well I thought so too until my dinner made me sick and in the middle of the night I woke up nauseous.

Thankfully today is going better. I went to class today, made lunch with Barrett, and Ashley's wonderful dad is coming over to look at my broken dryer. I am so blessed to have good friends.

On a different note, is anyone else ready for Christmas. I already want to start listening to

Christmas music. I have been working on Christmas presents for people. I have a list of what I'm going to get everyone and I've started ordering some of the presents already. I am so excited for all of my Christmas travels. I will be really tired when I get back but it will be so much fun!!!!

TaaDaaaaa

Here they are, my new chairs.  So pretty.

Happy Fall

It is officially glorious fall weather.  Today was cold and brisk and the perfect day to sit inside with slippers on studying by the flame of my woodwick candle.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been a fire place but since I don't have one my crackling candle will have to do.  

I now have both of my chairs back and they are really nice looking.  I will post pictures tomorrow.  Barrett doesn't want the dogs sitting in them as much since they are brand new so we are working on breaking them of it.  I think I might have to get Dora a new bed for in the living room.  Her current bed is gross and I hate taking in apart to clean it, and if its going to be in the living room all the time it can't look like it does now. 

This week has been fairly unproductive because I got sick on Tuesday and wasn't able to get anything done that day or Wed.  I am feeling better now thank you to some antibiotics.  Barrett and I went on a dinner date to Little Dooey tonight.  I hadn't been there in a long time and it was yummy.  I decided that when my parents are here for Thanksgiving we are going to have to go there because they have never been and it is a Starkville classic.  

I am about to begin the rest of my weekend.  It consists of studying (boo), cleaning (kinda fun), and Baking (awesome!).  I am going to make Pumpkin muffins and Banana nut bread.  If anyone wants the recipes just holla.  Cooking is fun!

Missing...1 green slidey phone

What a day, all was going well until I realized that sometime between talking to Barrett at lunch in the union and driving to the health center after class I lost my phone.  Barrett and I have searched all over (mainly the union and the vet school since those were the only 2 places I went today), and we didn't find it.  My theory is that I threw it away with my lunch trash or someone picked it up and is now using it.  I guess I will be going to the ATT store tomorrow to discontinue my sim card and get a new phone.  

I really really want an Iphone but Barrett doesn't want me to spend the extra 30/mo for the internet plan.  We'll see.

Also, Reggie get into the trash while we were out phone-searching and had it spread all over the living room.

Sad Day

Come on Over

I'm having a cookout this weekend so if you are in Starkville, want to grill with us, watch the State game, and play Guitar Hero come on over.  I love to entertain, its one of my most favorite things. 

Also, I think barrett and I need a grill like this :)

Something to sit on

So I gave up on my chair project because I figured I had more important things to worry about.  I really just need to study instead of re-doing my house right now.  I decided to just take the chairs to get professionally done.  Here is the fabric that I picked.  I will post pictures of the chairs when they are done.

I'm Back

I can't believe that it has been a month since I've posted anything.  ICU ended 2 weeks ago and everything has been pretty great since then.  I did a Board Study DIS with Ashley and we spent 2 weeks learning about Goats, Sheep, Pigs, and Poultry.  I also got to go to the beach for labor day and Kat's Birthday.  We met Kathy and Walker and David and Emily in Destin and had a great weekend full of seafood, shopping, and lounging.  So Relaxing!

I also made some changes to my appearance and Barrett calls me his little rebel.  I got my hair cut short and had it re-colored a little bit darker than last time.  I love it.  I also got a tattoo!!  I got a dove and olive branch on the top of my foot.  I went over to west point to have it done.  They were super nice over there and it didn't really hurt either.  

This weekend Barrett and I are relaxing and enjoying some time together.  We got up this morning and went running and then worked in the yard.  The rest of the weekend will be spent watching football and reading fun books.  I am especially excited about the running part of that because it has been a while since I worked out.  I start the Cat Class this week at school and we are supposed to end class between 3-4 everyday so I am planning on going to the gym right after class everyday.  

I'll post some pictures from the beach soon!!!

Life on Hold

So I have been the most incredibly boring person recently.  I have had to work in ICU every single day for the past 2 1/2 weeks and I have 1 1/2 weeks to go.  All I have done recently is go to school and sleep.  I really need to study for my ICU test but I have been too exhausted to even attempt to study.  The good thing is that this week I am on day shift so I actually get to see my husband from time to time.  Yesterday I got home at 4:00 and Barrett was asleep so naturally I fell asleep and slept for 3 Hrs!  

Tomorrow is Barrett's birthday and I can't wait to give him his presents because I think he'll really love them.  We're going to dinner at the Veranda and I'm going to have a yummy dessert for afterwards.  I think we will also watch a movie and just enjoy our time together.  

Our life is also currently on hold because we Still have not received our financial aid for this semester.  I haven't even been given enough money to cover my tuition right now so I had to apply for the Graduate Plus loan and I have no idea when that will come through.  Barrett also waited until the last minute to fill out his FAFSA so he hasn't been given an award yet either.  It will be so nice when we're not in school anymore and don't have to worry about applying for student loans.  

Night off

I am currently enjoying my 1 and only night off of ICU for the next 3 weeks.  Tomorrow is CPC day.  I practiced my presentation earlier and then took Dr Johnson's advice to not think about it anymore this evening and go have a drink.  Barrett and I went to the mexican restaurant that just opened and got margaritas and really good food.  So wish me luck tomorrow!

Bakers united

What a weekend, It has been full of fun yard work, cooking and shopping...My favorite things!! Friday I finished my Powerpoint for my CPC and I feel pretty good about it.  For my birthday last week Barrett got me some gardening tools so I got to use them this weekend.  I planted Lantana in baskets on my front porch and we put Black Eyed Susans and some other flowers in our garden.  I also put some bird feeders up last week and saw the first bird on it today!  Although I love gardening, it was so freakin' hot these past 2 days.  

My cooking adventures this weekend all turned out great.  Saturday I made granola bars to take to my late night ICU shifts.  They turned out really good and I'm sure I'll make them again.  This evening we were supposed to go to a cookout at Barrett's boss's house but it was pushed to tomorrow, so instead we grilled Fish Kebabs.  I had to tweak the recipe because the store didn't have halibut or tarragon so I made the Kebabs with Perch, tomato, peppers, and onions and I put basil butter on top of them.  They were delicious.  

Then, since I didn't get a cake on my birthday Barrett and I had baking time and cooked a cake together.  It was so much fun to be able to do it together.  He made a chocolate layer cake, I made homemade chocolate mousse to put in the center, and then we covered it with a homemade peanut butter frosting.  I think it was as good as any cake you could buy in a restaurant, and I bet we won't ever buy a birthday cake again :)  I love spending time like that with my husband!

Now we're watching foodnetwork!  What a great weekend

Frustration overload

My project did not go as well as planned today.  I was having a hell of a time covering the "wings" of my chair.  I also bought the cheapest and crappiest sewing machine which I will have to return because it is worthless.  Hopefully once I borrow a real sewing machine from a friend all will go as planned.  I will post pictures of the whole ordeal once I have some good news to share.  

Home Improvement Mania

It has been quite a while since I've posted anything.  Last week was pretty busy.  I spent the last week of our Clinical Pharmacology class making a massive easy to reference outline for our open-notes final.  It was a really hard test even though we could use any resource we wanted.  It took my 3 full hours to finish and I was one of the 1st to leave.  Several of my friends took 5 hrs to finish the test.  Monday I start CPC prep and ICU/Emergency.

This has been a really exhausting but fun weekend so far.  Friday Barrett and I went out to dinner at the deli and then bought Guitar Hero World Tour for ourselves.  We then played it all evening until his parents arrived around 11:00 pm.  Today Barrett and his dad started building a shed in our backyard.  Shortly after lunch Barrett got one of his really bad headaches so his mom and I took his spot and worked on the shed with his dad.  We didn't get as much done as we had hoped to but we have the foundation done and 2 walls up.

Before we started helping with the shed Lynda and I went to a fabric store downtown so I could look at upholstery and buy some really cheap fabric.  I am attempting to re-upholster our living room chairs and I wanted to get some cheap, crappy fabric to practice with before I bought the expensive stuff.  The store also let me bring home some swatches to hold up to my chairs and see what I like.  I found some great stuff but I can't decide what looks best and I can't decide if I want to do both chairs the same or not.  On Tuesday I'm going to go to a fabric store in Columbus to see if they have anything different.  So far I have the back of the chair completely de-upholstered.  I'm going to take the upholstery off the rest of the chair tonight and recover it tomorrow.  I will post pictures of my finished product then.  Hopefully this will work because it will save us approximately $350.  That was the estimate I got for a professional to do it, plus the cost of the fabric.  

Check back tomorrow to see what the chair looks like.  If this works maybe my blog will have to become a DIY blog :)

Diets suck

Some people might look at me and think she looks pretty good (at least I wish they would), but to tell you the truth, I am not feeling so good.  I am very frustrated with myself.  I weigh more right now than I have in a long time and I am very very unhappy about it.  If any of you have tried to lose weight you know how difficult it can be.  I have been working out just about every day for several weeks and haven't lost a single pound!  I HATE IT!!!!!  Anyway, just thought I needed to scream about my non-weight loss for a bit.  I will keep you updated and hopefully my weight will decrease.  

Planning Pro

I have my first client (thank you Ashley) in my new field of wedding planning :)  I think this will be an awesome side business for me.  Although I am just doing this for friends because I love it I think it would be fun to make this into a money-maker someday.  We'll see...For now I am having fun looking at wedding stuff again since my own was long ago

If any of you need a wedding planner you know who to call!  

I have Stress

I have stress in my life, so please pray for me.  Here are the reasons why I am stressed:

1. Barrett has headaches and has to go for a CT Scan tomorrow morning

2. My dad is in the hospital

3. My computer is having problems

4. I just spent a lot of money to register for the NAVLE and Navle related items

5. Money...I don't have enough money to deal with any of the above issues

Home again, Home again, Jiggity Jig

Barrett and I have been enjoying a super lazy/relaxing weekend together.  Last weekend he and his dad played in a Father son golf tournament in Jackson and I flew home to Pennsylvania.  

After the first 2 days of play Barrett and his dad were tied for 1st place in their division.  Sadly they finished 5 under par (which is good but the winners were 40 under).  Man, Shankapotamous!

I went up to PA because my mom just had surgery on her food and I want to go home to visit and help out a little bit.  I had a great time.  I got to hang out with my mom and watch a ton of movies.  I also got my hair done at my mom's good salon (I am now a red-head), I had coffee with Leah, and got to visit my old vet clinic.  It was a good relaxing few days that I got to cut class for.  

We've been busy since coming back to starkville.  I love leaving town but then I always have a bunch of cleaning and laundry to do once back.  I finally got that all done today and I got caught up on some school stuff.  

We also took a cue from Wimbledon and played some tennis this evening.  Barrett always beats me, usually by a lot.  Tonight he still beat me but it was 6-3 instead of 6-0, so I guess I'm improving.  

On a scary side note about school, I spent $179 today on the VetPrep study site.  This is scary not only because of how much money i dropped but because I realize that the NAVLE is only 6 months away!!  I am going to have to drop about $700 more getting registered for the NAVLE and the MS state boards.  This is stupid because I have to sign up for MS state boards in order to take the NAVLE here even though I know I'm going to be practicing in another state, probably Ca.  Please pray for me because I am terrified to take this test (as I'm sure everyone is).  

Names

Just wondering...why do so many girls keep their old name as their middle name once they get married.  I didn't know people who did this until moving south.  I kept my middle name.  Its a family name and means something to me.  Do other people just not like their middle names or is there more too it.  I just thought you were supposed to change your last name, not keep one and add another.  Anyway, just wondering...

I have just met you....

I feel that it is time for a movie review, mainly because I saw a fabulous movie this week.  You all need to see Up.  This movie is probably the sweetest movie I've seen in a long time and it is a perfect example of why I love dogs.  The best quote from the movie is from Doug the dog when he says to his new human friend, "I have just met you, and I love you!"  Dogs just inherently love everyone!!  I think I need another one.... :)

School, Old School

When is the last time you saw one of these babies?  For me it was today, and yesterday, and everyday for the past 2 weeks.  I've been taking an ophthalmology class which has been good considering we don't get Ophto at any other time in school, but the technology is a bit out of date.  Not only do we watch slides from a slide projector, we watch slides on 2 slide projectors at the same time.  We also watch slide "movies" with the audio coming from a cassette tape recorder.  Classic!

I Love Weddings

I always love going to weddings, they tend to remind me of how happy I was on our wedding day and how great marriage has been.  This weekend we traveled to Gulfport to go to Amber and Chip's wedding.  The drive in itself was quite an adventure.  We left Starkville shortly after 12 and got to gulfport around 4:30.  The wedding wasn't until 6 so we planned to go to a shopping center to hang out and change into our dress clothes at the Barne's and Noble.  We shopped for a little while and got some new things at Academy sports and then changed clothes.  We thought we were well on our way, until we realized that the google maps directions were very very wrong.  They took us halfway there and then we turned as the directions instructed.  We ended up on a dirt road.  This was definitely not the place!  We called Miss Sally and Mr Greg (Meghan's parents) to help us out, they were a little helpful in that they got us to Hwy 605 but they still didn't know where the church was.  We guessed and happened to turn the right way and got to the church just in time, or so we thought.  They apparently started the wedding a bit early and the ushers made us and some other late arrivers wait in the lobby until the bride walked down the aisle.  After all that mess, the wedding was beautiful.  

Amber was such a beautiful bride and her dress was amazing.  The ceremony was also beautiful and of course made me cry.  

After the reception we drove back to Jackson, stopping along the way to visit Jessica and Lucas. Sunday we went to Pinelake.  It is so nice to get to go to a church that we like every once in a while.  We have lived in Starkville for 6+ years now and have not liked any of the many churches that we've been too, they just have bad choices here.  Then I did a little shopping and I got to hang out with Natalie.  I sure do miss all my friends who have moved out of Starkville but at least I get to see them once in a while.  

Thats all for now, here are some pictures from Amber and Chip's reception.

Giving In

So it seems that I've found one more thing to keep me from doing all the things that should be filling my day.  Study for the NAVLE (the big test, as Barrett calls it), no, but start a blog, YES!  I've been having such a good time reading other people's blogs...Thank you Lora, Whit, and Kristen...that I figured I might as well join in.   This seems to be the best way to keep up with people who have recently moved away from Starkville.  

A few weeks ago the previous 4th year vet students graduated.  This is exciting because it means that I am now a 4th year, but once again it reaffirms that I am the last one left in this town.  I love my vet school friends but everyone else I knew has moved off.  1 year till I also move off...

Anyway, thats it for my 1st blog post ever, I promise there will be more exciting ones to come.