the busiest & best year of my life

Remember in my last post, almost a yr ago, i mentioned that i was going to date soon? well, I'm married to that man! I've never dated while in school, partly bc i always have to spend so much time studying.

I need to back up and tell u how we met. Last fall, my car didn't work. I prayed that it would bc if it didn't, I knew I would have to take the COTA bus to school. I dreaded that. Dad said, "You never know, you might meet ur husband on the bus!" I ignored it bc he and mom have said things like that before. When I got on the bus for the 1st time, I saw him....Knowing that a lot of people on the bus are creepy, I didn't talk to him. When he 1st saw me, he thought I was gorgeous. He didn't talk to me bc he didn't want to come across as being too forward. This went on for 2 weeks before God decided He was going to take action since we weren't. 1 day, the bus was so full, that I had to sit next to him. We started talking and haven't stopped. If we weren't treading very carefully and guarding our hearts, we would've known that we were meant to be together. We started dating on New Year's. We got engaged March 16 in a park. during the dating and part of the engagement, I was in school. I had no time. Of course, the closer our wedding date got, the busier we were with planning.

The wedding was very small and sweet. I slept well the night before. I didn't expect that. I also had 1 of my bridesmaids over for a sleepover the night before. I wasn't nervous at all the day of the wedding. That kind of surprised me. That next step in Paul's and my relationship seemed so natural. The wedding ceremony and reception were in a park. the weather was great! We wrote our own vows. The pix are on fb. The honeymoon was great! We went to Hocking Hills for a few days.

We have a Bible verse that fits our relationship. Ephesians 3:20-21 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine...to him be the glory." We marvel at how God orchestrated our lives so we could meet! We're amazed at how perfect we are for each other!

Since the honeymoon, we've been adjusting to life as a married couple, living in my parents' basement. It's been hard, but good. Paul has a job at the kmart store. I'm looking for a job that'll give us enough money to move out. We know where we want to live. It's just down the st from where we are now.

Life's been very hectic lately. Our car's not working. We have a great mechanic, though! My mom broke her ankle a couple weeks ago. She was in the hospital for several days, then in rehab. She's coming home tomorrow.

Paul moved my dad's piano keyboard downstairs. It's on my desk, instead of a stand. Dad hasn't used it much lately. I'm getting back into playing it. I'm also studying the book of Job.

Dec '10/ Jan '11

Hey ya'll, I'm finally getting this out. I started it late last month. I went  on a retreat with my church called, Faithwalkers. I wanted my next post to include everything that I learned from there. Well, I thought you might want a post before that happens, since it could take at least a month! The drive there was amazing. The retreat is in Asheville, NC, so we had to dive through mountains. I'd never seen mountains, so i was in awe. The 1st night at the conference, I was sick. I had a migraine and was nauseated. I suspect that was from the 8 hr drive even though I took dramamine and the drive through the mountains, with the altitude change. The rest of the time there was amazing! The main thing I learned was a reminder: Satan knows our weak spots, which buttons to push on each of us. I'd been praying for a while about how to wear the spiritual armor. God answered that prayer while I was there. I was convicted of pride, also. I learned that when I decide to not pray and say I'll do it later, I'm really saying that I don't need prayer, that I can do it on my own. "...God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6 NIV

On the way back, the girls in my car really helped me in another area I was struggling in. While talking about it, we drove through half the state of KY!

I had something to look forward to coming home: 1 of my best friends was going to ask me to date him on New Year's Day at midnight. I know it's kind of cheesy because so many people do it then, but we're both cheesy! In March of last year, my best girlfriend and my mom had challenged me to not look at every guy I saw as a possible hubby. I met my boyfriend in Oct. We've challenged each other in our faiths and to mature as people.

I need to back up and catch you up on something else! After Thanksgiving, we returned a dog we'd just adopted. She didn't fit in the family for many reasons. We, then, went to the Crawford County shelter after seeing their ad on craigslist. From there, we adopted a lab mix pup. Just recently, my cat, Maggie, has been sleeping in my room with my new dog, Feliz, and I. Now, Pumpkin, mom's cat, and Maggie have been upstairs with the dogs.

Thanksgiving 2010

Tues night, mom and I didn't get much sleep because we had to prepare for visiting her family at the beach house on the Outerbanks that her parents own. Our flight left Columbus in the morning for Chicago. We saw Lake Michigan from above it. We then went to Norfolk, Va. In the plane as we neared that airport, we saw the Atlantic Ocean. At the Norfolk airport, we were there from 12:30-8:30, waiting for my aunt to pick us up on her way down. It took so long because of things that were out of her control. We got to the beach house in time for bed, at 11. On the way back, we went from Norfolk, VA to Baltimore, MD to cbus. Sun evening, when we were descending into cbus, I realized that from the night sky, it's a very pretty city. I wonder what Vegas looks like! I like flying, but only when I have Dramamine in me! I don't know what I would've done without it! Some ascents were really bad on my ears, others were good. Some descents were really bad on my stomach, others were good. I think going to and from cbus was bad. I loved the view from the plane! The day we left, it was so cloudy that I could only see clouds for 1/2 the trip. The trip back wasn't as cloudy, so I was able to see the different layers of clouds. I really liked how it looks just like a satellite view on google, except in color! It was cool seeing bodies of water, land, and mountains from the sky. I'll fly again, but only if I have to. If I can afford it and it would make more sense to fly, I will. I didn't get groped or have to go through the x-ray neud! I think they only do that in certain large airports and in smaller ones when someone is suspiscious. Mom was picked randomly to have the palms of her hands scanned for chemicals. On 1 trip, some security people went around and did vapor tests on passengers' liquids. On so many flights, someone announced they were looking for people who weren't on their flight and holding the plane for them. We were on 1 of those planes. We were waiting on the plane and a little girl came on eventually.


Mom and I went on a few long walks on the beach, collecting lots of shells. I'm going to make a collage  of them. I saw sand dunes for the 1st time and jumped down them with my cousins. I had to learn to jump high enough. lol I saw wild horses. Those horses were brought to the US on slave ships that were shipwrecked a long time ago, I think. I drove a little on sand. I thought it'd be similar to driving in snow, but it's a completely different texture. I saw the lighthouse, but didn't go up it because no one would go with me, it's a long walk up MANY stairs and it's cold up there. Speaking of cold, our room was the quietest, but also the coldest. The last night, I kept changing the thermostat on the floor, then either my granddad or an uncle lowered it. It went on like that until I went to sleep and gave up. The room was freezing in the morning.

I'm working on putting pictures on facebook. When they're done, I'll put the link on here. Hopefully, if you don't have facebook, you'll be able to use the link to access them.

dogs

I hate to start this blog with bad news. Polly died a couple weeks ago. We did all we could to save her. We got her ashes a couple days ago. They're next to the ashes of another of our previous dog on the hutch. Eventually, mom wants to get a picture of each pet and put them behind the appropriate pet's ashes. 

We got 2 new dogs just before Mom and I left for a mini vacation with her family for Thanksgiving. The 2 dogs were from different places. We got them for very good holiday deals. They're our Christmas presents. Feliz is my dog. It's Spanish for happy. I haven't had my own dog for a few years, so he makes me happy. He's 7 months and not trained. I just had him neutered. He's a pure bred Cocker Spaniel. When we leave the house, he goes in a cage. He doesn't pee until he sees someone coming to let him out. Before he can get out, he pees. Some dogs just pee from excitement. I need to train that out of him. He needs to be around someone at all times. The 1st time I threw a ball for him to bring back, he brought it back without me telling him to! Our backyard is a perfect size for him! He LOVES to run around it, not paying attention if I throw the ball. The new family dog is Heidi. She's 1-2 years old. We think she's a Manchester Terrier mix. We got her from the shelter. She's so hyper! She's very smart, though! She already knows the name we gave her. She's learning to sit on command and fetch and return.We learned that she can roam the house while we're gone because she'd gotten out of her cage and didn't make a mess. The day after we got them, we had them meet . We took them to a park. They did great! So much better than we expected. This is due to the fact that neither had lived in the house before the other, so there weren't territorial issues and Heidi came from the shelter, so she's use to other dogs.

Polly's health issues & school

My dog, Polly, has autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA). She needs a miracle to survive longer than a week. Miracles do happen. If you want details from the PCV & CBC or what the disease is, just ask.


This quarter has been really hard. I went from aiming to get at least a 3. GPA this quarter to aiming to at least pass my classes. I've had to study less for urinalysis so that I can study more for Clinical Applications 2. In class, we do different procedures in a rotation format. I was really concerned a few weeks ago because I had the dental rotation practical approaching. Dr. Olive, the hardest, but best professor, teaches it. I wasn't ready for it. I can't miss more than 5 points on the practicals. So far, I'm doing better than I expected, but I still have to study a ton to keep it up. I know what I have to do in order to do that. 


Dad still needs a better job & I still need a working car. 


Here's a link to an album on facebook of some of the procedures that I've done in school. In it are the pictures that I promised of the x-rays. As you look for them, you may not want to see some of the other pictures. They're not horrible, but some people may not want to see them. I'm not sure if this link will work. 


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=495285&id=506470458&l=c1aecbb4d0

photo contest

I just found out that if you vote for my cat, you'll have to give ur phone # & will get calls from them. Sry about that. I was going to delete the blog post, but i don't think that's possible.

photo contest

http://www.greatamericanphotocontests.com/voterindex3.aspx?referid=kobe_d1y&p=192288

I entered a pic of 1 of my cats, Cuddles. If I get enough votes, I'll win $1,000. The pic is named, Can't Wait.