Say Yes to the Dress...erm...Scrubs?

Remember this post?  Well...these guys said no, but These Guys said YES!! I heard back in August, and I think it has finally sunk in.  Maybeish.  Can you imagine me in scrubs, with a stethoscope around my neck?  Or starting an IV, or helping a doctor with a procedure?  Eek!  I am starting to...as it sinks in...mostly am really really looking forward to a job where I can care for people first hand.  Really looking forward to that.  After the year of hellacious courswork & clinicals....it's definitely not a cakewalk ahead.

As part of the curriculum I have to have 15 cr hrs at Rockhurst, so I'm workng on that now.  I was very fortunate to be able to enroll in evening classes, which will let me keep my full time job for the next year until nursing school officially begins.  Yay for that!  This way I can pay for these crazy expensive credit hours as I go instead of having to finance them in some way.  I think I have been living in a land called denial when it came to the expense of private schools.  I went to a public university for my first degree, and when I went back to school in 2009 it was to community college.  Hoo boy!  What a difference.  At this point my opinion is that TSU and Rockhurst are pretty solidly comparable schools.  Wouldn't that be a topic for discussion...or another post. :)  Maybe I'll table that for after my first semester here is behind me.

So anyways, back to the point...you are reading the blog of a nursing student! Eeee!  The countdown has begun...T-Minus 10 months to full time school, an experience I have yet to have the luxury of enjoying.  My husband is THE ONE that is making this happen for me...without his love & support it probably would have been even longer before I'd have been able to do this.  He's a wonderful guy, that one.

Anything else new? Hmmm...well, the weather is cooling off, which is good because the humidity is my nemesis...but then so is sub zero weather.  I'm trying to soak in as much of this gorgeous weather that I can!

Beyond that, I'm just really really busy.  On top of the 6 credit hours this semester - Ethical Theory & Abnormal Psych - I was promoted to manager in a new group at my current job, and it has definitely been a humbling experience so far.  I get to deal with clients directly now and have a 3 people reporting to me, and while I enjoy both of those things immensely, it can be daunting some days.  Being a manager, esp in client service is not for the faint of heart...as a good friend recently said, "I have learned that pleasing everyone is hard, but pissing them off is way too easy."  Oh well...can't win em all. 

Have a good nite loves!


p.s...sorry about no pictures.  It's late & I'm decompressing from the day...hope to have something for you in the next post. You know, when Christmas rolls around... ;)

Ta Da!

Oh man!  Guess what!?  Heh.  I'm posting again, and it's sooner than Halloween!  AND...I have pictures too, as promised!  Talk about a happiness bonanza. :)

I found my camera, and managed to find the charger for it too which was a good thing because it was d-e-d-DEAD.

Here are pictures of the baby blanket I made for my friends.  I thought it turned out to be such a cute afghan, but next time i will actually pay attention to the part of the directions telling me how to measure the gauge.  Turns out using a 4.0mm instead of a 4.4mm hook makes a difference. Hm.  Who knew? Oh well.  I plan to make another one of these some day...really liked the basket weave pattern & the girly border.

Looky what else was on my camera?  Wedding cake!  We had New York Style cheesecake for our wedding cake, and my mom did a superb job of wrapping it up.  After sitting in our frost free freezer (say that ten times fast!) for a year, which i hear is not the best for keeping things frozen long term, that cake was still in fine form!  Even so...it was so much cake that we couldnt eat it all even by having dessert every night after dinner for a week.  I'm pretty sure I didnt mean to celebrate my anniversary by gaining 10 lbs.  Oh, the things we do for love.  Love of cheesecake, that is.  NOM.

 

And, lest you think that I am someone who crochets & eats wedding cake all day, here is proof I do take some things seriously.  I mean, a girl cant do the YMCA at her wedding without feathers. And friends who enjoy funny poses & hats as much as she does!

Life on the edge...of being a blog...

So wow...it's one of those deep questions.  Is a blog really a blog if the blogger doesnt frequently post blogs? Will have to think on that one for a bit.

The last post was written in February...with snow on the ground and cold, cold misery in the air.  But, temperatures have warmed, and life is now good!  Except for that humidity.  But whatevs, i'll take this weather any day over snow & chattery teeth.

The spring semester wound to a close in early May, thank goodness! Now we can put microbiology behind us & concentrate on getting into a good school.  Hopefully one of them will take me...or both! Should know by the end of july/first week of august...any & all good vibes sent this way would be stellar!

Not long after the semester wound down, I met my mom, grandma & aunts & cousins in Rocheport for a girls weekend. It was SO much fun!  We all had a great time, and while I knew I was related to amazing women, this weekend just reinforced that feeling. We rented a house & while we were there went walking on the Katy trail, went antiquing around town, took a cooking class, and had a tasting & dinner at the winery up the road.  I HIGHLY recommend such a trip.  We had a great time.  You know, except for that a/c that broke.  Details, details.

Hmm...what else? Weeelll...I've been thoroughly enjoying my summer break from school by being as crafty as i can!  So far I have made NINE reversible aprons from this pattern.   Here they are being modeled by some very lovely women...well, you can sort of see them...but everyone got a different apron made from some very cute cotton fabric (if i do say so myself!).  Can you see me being a cheeseball in the background?  Guess this is what a night of making aprons with zero sleep will turn a person into. :)

(photo credit: the beautiful & talented http://chickinczech.blogspot.com/)

About a week ago we hosted a baby/bridal shower at our apartment for some girls I work with (one was getting married, a different one having a baby), and I promptly got to work on a baby afghan after finishing up the supercute aprons. 

Unfortunately I'm a fun hater & have no pictures for you of the afghan...but it was pink & brown & white, and just all around soft & cushy & wonderful.  It even had baby pink fleece binding on the sides to cover up the color changes.  CUTE!  Aside from the recipient being a July baby & thus not so much in need of warmth, I'm hoping it will be a keepsake for her.

After finishing up the baby afghan, i decided to make a SECOND baby afghan!  Crazy, right?  Nah.  So this one is pink & light green & white.  Supercute too. I dont have a picture for you yet b/c my camera is dead, but I will post one soon.  And by soon I mean sooner than Halloween. :)  And btw...this second baby afghan is NOT for me. Or for an offspring of mine (which i have none).  Or for an offspring which we are expecting (which we are NOT).  While I do have baby fever & readily admit to it...the sometimes blogger of this here blog is not about to be a babymomma just yet. :)    Side story...this weekend i was showing my grandma my progress on the afghan & she asked me with a twinkle in her eye in ever just so the right tone of voice..."and...so who might this blanket be for?"  Hehe...sorry, not so fast...unless than whole nursing school thing doesnt pan out.  Then maybe.  Ask JN.

So ANYway.  I guess I've been going through craft withdrawal b/c i have crammed more craftiness into the last month and a half than even martha stewart herself could shake a beautifully hand-painted self carved stick at.  Oh yeah, i forgot...i altered some clothes in there too.  Details.

So...if anyone is out there still reading...please tell me i'm not the only crafty crafterson out there...what are you working on for your summer projects?

smooches!
kt

These days...

I haven't posted in a bit, so I thought I would pop in to say hello! It seems our time is governed by what's going on over the weekends these days...a month is over before I even know it! Where did February go??  I was lucky enough to sign up for a couple of shifts at the HL this month, the first & last weekend, so there's a little money in the bank.  The other 2 weekends left in the month we were out of town. Where did we go?  I'll give you two hints:

   

(source & source)

Did you guess? 

Last weekend we were in StL visiting my family & also so JN could go to a IDPA match in troy.  He hasn't heard where he placed in the match yet, but they did a qualifier afterwards and he classified as a Sharpshooter! He was 9 seconds away from qualifying at Expert (it goes Novice-Marksman-Sharpshooter-Expert-Master), so pretty good day for him. Lookout world!  While he was busy with that, I was spending the day with my mom & dad, and visited Historic Main St. in St. Charles.  It had been such a long time since I'd been there (other than pics for the wedding) and I really enjoyed the time we spent there.  We ate at Louis & Clark restaurant, and enjoyed the mild weather (there was sunshine!) while wandering in & out of the shops.

Weekend before last, Valentine's day weekend, we were in Springfield for JN's mom's wedding.  The weekend went by very quickly, given that we didnt arrive till 1:30am on Saturday morning & left after breakfast on Sunday.  I was so tired!  Usually when we go out of town we have to wait until JN gets off work from the OG, which can be anywhere from 8pm to 11pm.  Brutal.  Anywho, we went right to bed when we arrived & slept through until almost lunchtime!  It was kindof funny, JN got up & left pretty quick, saying he needed to go to walgreens to get some carmex, and then was gone for like 4 hours!  When I texted him to find out if he went by way of Arkansas (there's a walgreens less than a mile from where we were) he said that he got "lost" and was on his way home.  Lost?!  Huh.  Lost in a certain sporting goods store?  Or maybe found a fly shop that confused his sense of direction? Heh.  Riiight. :)  That evening we went to a little church nearby for the wedding & dinner following, and it was a nice evening.  The ceremony was a small & intimate one, with just immediate family.  My new in-laws are a big family, so it was kindof exciting to me to meet all of them because that side of JN's family is pretty small (his mom only has one sibling).  I come from a big family that's pretty close, so I am looking forward to getting to know the new extended family.  Although - all of their names begin with the letter J, so it will be a challenge remembering who belongs with what name. :)

Hmm...what else is new?  Umm...well, today marks the one week mark of my being on the South Beach diet.  I hate that its called a diet, mainly b/c in my mind that indicates that it will be short lived, but i'm really hoping to make some positive changes that will stay with us.  The first 2 weeks of the program are pretty restrictive, so it's been hard for me to get this far.  I've fallen off the wagon in the evenings the last couple of days, and the first couple of days i was really grouchy & headachy because of low blood sugar, but I'm hoping I'm over the hump & the second week will be better than the first.  Also, today I worked out for the first time since the KC Half Marathon, and while it felt good I was pretty pooped because I havent had many carbs over the last 2 weeks.  It was hard to push through that, for sure!  I'll be glad next wednesday when I can start adding fruit back into my meals. 

You can tell that i'm out of practice...I went to the gym after work & since I was just going home afterwards I didnt bother to change back into my work clothes.  Seems reasonable but I think it was a fail.  During my walk home from work I looked a little like these folks (which you need to check out this post...pretty funny concept, i totally would have participated had i lived in NYC!):

 

(source & source)

I had forgotten my running pants!  Talk about a failure to plan ahead.  And you know what I was thinking as I walked out into the cold?  "Oh!  My hair's wet, I better put up my hood so I don't catch cold."  Hehe...nevermind my NAKED legs.  Oh yeah, and the snow on the ground (today's hi: 29degrees; low: 12)...d'oh!

Moving on to the new year

After sitting in our apartment for too long past the new year, our Christmas tree finally came down this weekend.  I was so sad to see it go!  But, I was more sad to see a dark tree in the corner of our living room every day.  I think this is my least favorite time of year, because its so dark, dreary and dirty all over the place.  And, after such a hopeful & generous Christmas season, it's depressing to get back to the daily grind!

This weekend we cleaned the apartment, which was the product of our taking down all the holiday decor.  Also caught up on laundry & homework & sleep.  Not an exciting weekend, but a productive one nonetheless.

To avoid this post being entirely of the debbie downer sort, here's some good news.  We recently had an addition to the family:

(image from automotive.com)

Her name is Millie, she's 11 years old and has a very good temperament. :)

My grandma purchased this car from a family friend who had neuropathy in his feet & ended up driving it through the back wall of their garage a couple of times. A little bent & bruised, but not too much worse for wear.  Grandma ended up not needing the car, so I purchased it.  She's got power everything - seats/windows, cruise control, a remote control unlocker/trunk popper thing, and floats over the bumps in the road like a cloud...definitely the cushiest old car I've ever had.  However, I tend to drive like an old lady in this car because I'm still getting used to my boundaries...all the cars i've driven before (except the beloved 1989 Chevy Caprice) were much much smaller.  I think its kindof  funny that I drive this way because I don't think i fit the description of the average Buick LeSabre driver.

This is a very welcome addition to the family!  We've been a one-car household since July 2008, and while we've learned to share it has not been all fun & games & sunshine & rainbows.  Let me tell you, standing on the corner of Linwood & Broadway at 9:00pm waiting for the bus so i can go home from school is NOT fun!  Also, with the addition of Millie we are able to enjoy having 2 cars & the freedom that comes with that without an extra car payment.  She is not glamorous by any means, but she's very cushy, and safe, and gives us some more freedom. 

Welcome Millie!! :)

The Last Decade - Newlywed Style - part two!

So I bet you have been waiting with baited breath for the next installment! It was like pulling teeth, but I did manage to get some details of the last decade from The Husband.  Without further ado, here is his last decade!  Please bear in mind that he's not a very talkative guy, so i had to take some creative license here.  Oh well, at least there's a second installment....

2009 - got married, aka lost my freedom; visited another country for the first time (st lucia) (oh wait, except for when i went to mexico in 2004 christmasish time))
2008 - went fishing at Roaring River for the first time, moved downtown, survived engagement pictures & wedding planning
2007 - moved into midtown, proposed to the love of my life, got a fly fishing rod for christmas, traded my manly Ford Explorer in for a cute Honda Fit.  there was also QT nearby where i was able to still get coffee conveniently every morning.
2006 - started dating the love of my life, moved into the wornall apartment where i enjoyed being able to get QT coffee very conveniently every morning. started working back at the OG but this time not in columbia.  love that place!
2005 - met the love of my life, started working at my current location of employment, graduated from m-i-z. also worked at BWW part time, until i quit on valentines day 2006.
2004 - i was in college, bought my Ford Explorer, wrecked my Volvo, interned at the gates of hell a credit union.  oh yeah, also went to mexico around christmasish time
2003 - i was in college, was a roofing lackey during the summer, lived on a diet of dr pepper and funyuns while sweating my body weight in water every day hauling shingles everywhere.
2002 - went to m-i-z in the fall, started working at the OG in columbia my favorite job ever
2001 - worked at a heating & cooling place making ductwork & went to community college.  also worked at a car dealership where i drove cars & wrote tickets (not like a cop but for services). 
2000 - graduated from high school, raced mustangs and evaded The Law like smokey & the bandit

when asked "do you have goals for the next decade?"  JN says:  "nope."

if you know my husband at all, you should know this is his way of saying "please stop asking me questions and take your laptop back in the other room". :)  I'm sure he has goals, but for now i will leave him be.

The past decade - Newlywed-style!

My cousin's wife gave me this idea, and I thought I'd test Jeremy & I's memories to see where we've been for the last 10 years!  First installment - the wife!

2000 - The year two - thousand....Anybody remember those skits from Conan O'Brien? :)    Hmm...well, i dont remember a ton about that year, other than that it was partly my junior year of college, partly my senior year.  I lived with my dear friend Erin, who was the best roommate E.V.E.R. I loved living with Erin, and we had great times together in the 2 years we lived together! This year we lived in a house above some army ROTC kids, and it was a crazy, fun fun year.

2001 - This was a mixed up, busy, bittersweet year.  It started off terribly - I lost my friend Steve in a tragic accident in February, and bumbled my way through the next few months trying to make sense of the loss & cope with the grief.  Thank God for family & friends to lean on, because I did a lot of leaning during this time.  A lot of my friends at Truman graduated the following May, which was great for them, but somewhat sad for me!  I was sad to see them go!  But, this was my last year of college at Truman.  I studied abroad for 3 weeks at the end of the Spring/beginning of Summer semester, spending a week in Belgium and two weeks in Russia - Moscow & St. Petersburg.  I studied the emerging European Union, got to tour NATO headquarters, got lost in Bruges, got to touch the North Sea, toured Antwerp, studied at the Univ. of Moscow, toured the Kremlin & Stalin's tomb, walked through Red Square & past St. Basil's Cathedral, experienced an 8-hour red-eye train to St. Petersburg, toured the Hermitage...and much more!  That's just the highlights!  A life-changing experience, for sure.  The last semester was a blur, ending with GRADUATION!!  And a move from Kirksville to StL to KC, all in the span of 2 weeks.  Whew!

2002 - Moved to Kansas City & started a new job.  Pretty much didn't know a soul in the area, save for my cousin Sarah, and an old BF.  Made lots of new friends, and lots of trips home to StL.  After 9mos in the metro area I got smart & moved closer to my job & into downtown KC.  I also volunteered with the ACS late this year, starting a long relationship with the organization in memory of my Grandpa Norb, who lost his battle with cancer that March.

2003 - I was diagnosed with high cholesterol, and turned over a new leaf in an effort to get healthy & stay there.  I started running & changed my eating habits - in August I started training for my first marathon.  In October I ran my first half marathon - the Kansas City Half Marathon sponsored by Humana.  Also did a handful of other races, including the Great River Road Race in Alton the day before (or was it the day after?) Thanksgiving.  I did my last long run, 22 miles, around Lake St. Louis (literally)...with mom right there the whole way, knitting scarves for fundraising in between driving to each of my 2 mile water & fuel stops. That's one heckuva coach!  I also started working part time for the ACS in the spring of 2003, with my first shift falling on the one year anniversary of Grandpa's death...definitely gives personal meaning to the work done here.

2004 - Started the year with my first marathon in Hamilton, Bermuda with a time of 5:02; mom came with me & was one of my greatest supporters - she helped me to raise over $5,000 for the American Stroke Association!  I also had lots of help from friends & family in the form of running buddies, fundraising buddies & supporters, and just good vibes overall!  This was also the year I kicked the smoking habit, definitely  no small feat.  This was also the year I moved into the HL as the resident.

2005 - I ran TWO marathons this year!  The Walt Disney World marathon in Orlando Florida in January, and then the Chicago marathon.  I ran both of these with Mom, and we fundraised for the Disney marathon - an additional $3k!  And guess what - i ran THREE half marathons that year too!  Art & Sole St. Louis in April, Louis & Clark in St. Charles in September, Waddell & Reed in KC in October.  Talk about an overachieving year!  Who was that girl?!  Oh yeah, and if you can believe it, I squeezed in a trip to Italy with 3 of my BFF's!  We spent a week in a villa outside of Milan, and it was just amazing!  It was a little like the movie Planes Trains & Automobiles at times, but overall a memorable & relationship building trip for us. If it wasnt for sure before, it was now - these girls are FAMILY.

2006 -  I've racked my brain & can't come up with what races I ran in 2006.  It looks like for awhile my life was defined by what race i was training for.  But, 2006 was still a big year.  I started dating Jeremy in April, started a new job at the Big C in April also.  In August I moved out of the HL & in with my dear friend Denise.  So i guess that's enough change for a year!

2007 - Yet ANOTHER marathon this year...the Chicago marathon.  That race now qualifies as both the best & worst race in my life yet.  We only made it to mile 15, and I was a dehydrated, sore, sorry mess at that point.  They called the race due to lack of resouces (they ran out of water) and heat warnings. No lesson lost though, I decided to stop running for awhile until my heart was in it again.  It wasn't such a bad year though!  On Christmas Eve 2007 Jeremy proposed!

2008 - This was the deja vu year.  I returned to the mutual fund world, working alongside Jeremy & lots of old friends again for the first time in 2 years.  Also returned to the HL as the resident.  Funny how life comes full circle.  Spent the year planning for our wedding.

2009 - I got married! In April I married my heart Jeremy, surrounded by our family and friends.  Followed by a week in St. Lucia, aka Paradise.  In January I went back to school & had a 4.0 year, albeit one class at a time.  Also managed to get back on the running wagon & ran the Kansas City Half Marathon with my amazing & inspiring Mom.  Then I fell right back off the running wagon.

Reflecting back on all of that - goodness!  It was a busy 10 years!  There was a LOT of growing up done.  High highs (marriage, marathon finish lines), low lows (losing friends and family).  Personal growth.  No wonder I'm so tired!!

Hopes for the next decade, in no particular order:
-Run some more marathons!  Make exercise a more regular & less fitful part of my life.
-Graduate from nursing school, find a job I love so much that I dont mind going to work.
-Buy our first house.
-Start a family.
-Travel & experience new things!  this one's kinda general, but applies!


In the next installment - cross your fingers that i can get the last 10 years out of JN!  I've only been here for about 3 1/2 of them, so there's 7 years to go! :)