Semester 4 is in the books!

Congratulations, Gooding Institute class of 2010!

Yesterday was graduation for the upper class. It was an awesome day! Watching the seniors get their hoods and diplomas, I was looking ahead to next December and just dreaming away. Kerry even received a scholarship during the ceremony! We had no idea, and it is GREATLY appreciated. I am so insanely proud of him and his accomplishments, and the best is yet to come. So now with that group graduated and out, Kerry's class is instantly promoted to senior status. One year to go. That is exciting in itself. :)

Not to put myself in the spotlight, but I will also mention that I was selected as Bay Medical Center's employee of the month for December 2010. I'm floored and deeply appreciative of this, as I've only been there right at a year. I have great co-workers, and a pretty awesome manager, and without them in the clinic, I'd be more than crazy!

Christmas is here, as well! Our favorite time of the year by far, and this year will be very special. I can't wait to see my big brother, hang out with the rest of the family, eat, go to a Christmas Eve service at church, watch 24 hours of A Christmas Story on TBS, help Brayden celebrate his first Christmas, swap gifts, and the rest of the things that come with the next few days. And since we'll be spending the night at my parents' house next weekend, I'll probably do just like I did for years as a child – look at the stars out the window in my room and look for Santa. ;)



Merry Christmas to you.

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

I realize it's the last day of November, and I'm late posting, but you'll have to excuse me.  We've been home in Red Level/ Andalusia loving on our new nephew, Brayden!  He is SO beautiful, and we're thrilled to be Uncle Kerry and Aunt Colie.  He got here pretty late on the 22nd, and was beautiful and healthy from the get go.  It was an amazing Thanksgiving back home with family.  Congratulations to Erin and Josh!

As December starts and this year comes to a close, we're so very excited to only have a year left as a student and wife of a student!  We don't mind it for now, but we sometimes (me in particular) get restless and ready for a change of scenery.  It is a little mind boggling that 2010 is nearly over, and as I sit here and write out Christmas cards, I can't help but look forward to all the events that will come in the next year!

Please continue to remember us in your prayers, and as soon as the magazine is out, I'll post Kerry's article.  That's his latest project...he'll be a published author!  Isn't that something?   My current projects still revolve around cooking, and I must say, I'm getting pretty darn good at it.  Except for the fact that I'm somewhat of an accident waiting to happen, i.e. slicing my finger on a mandolin and burning my entire hand on a cast iron skillet, I'm making some pretty tasty things.  So come visit, and I'll cook you up a little something ;)

I am due to return to the neurologist in a couple of weeks, so I'll update on that as it comes.

Days go by...

Yesterday was our 3rd/9th anniversary.  It's hard to imagine a more crazy day than the day we got married.  Thank goodness for pictures, because so much of it is still a blur in my mind.  Even with the madness, I still consider it to be one of the best days of my life...I mean, look at this picture!  So goofy and in love, just as we have been from the moment we met.  I wouldn't trade the past nine years for anything.  Not to say they've been perfect, but if things trend the way they have, we have a lifetime of goof left in us (ha).  

To celebrate this year, I cooked a big dinner on Friday night before our anniversary.  Then the actual day of, we headed for Bonefish grill, as per tradition, and walked the beach and sat in the sand watching the sunset.  I know blah-dee-blah romantic stuff, but it means a lot for us to just unwind and take in our surroundings while we're here.  And this happens to be the PERFECT time of year.  I couldn't imagine celebrating an anniversary any other season...it just makes sense for us.  

This time next year I hope to be sorting things to sell or give away so that we can MOVE, and I certainly hope Kerry has a job nailed down by then.  It just seems so far away, but when I look back, I think it isn't all that long.  Heck just yesterday we loaded the Equinox like the Clampetts and drove all the way to Baltimore for an adventure, right? 

So on to the future...this weekend we will fulfill our other anniversary tradition and snap a few photos, this year without Otis because he's just too camera shy.  I'll post to facebook and maybe here when that's done. 

'til next time  : )

SEPTEMBER!

Today marks the start of my most favorite month of the year!  In honor of that, I'm posting a video I made for my Kerry to honor our 3rd anniversary...even though that doesn't happen til the end of the month.  I celebrate the whole month though, and I see absolutely NOTHING wrong with that!!!!


Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Another semester down, and all the updates that come with that...

That's right!  Another semester is behind us, and wow did it seem to go by fast.  Maybe because it's summer time, maybe because of wishful thinking, or maybe just because hindsight is better than foresight...who knows?  Semester #3 is gone, and a fresh, shiny new one will start tomorrow.  Along with it will come new faces that we welcomed at the hail party this weekend.  It's strange to think of Kerry as an upperclassman now, but it's a very good thing!  I'm so proud of my straight-A student!  That, and he was chosen to be a member of a committee for the AANA.  Pretty swank, huh?   But we all know how special he is, so I'll stop.  I'm just SO proud of him and his accomplishments.  This time next year (dare I say it) we'll be looking at other places to live!  YAY!  The end is in sight.

At the end of the semester we had a little free time to take a little vacation from PCB.  Of all places, Kerry chose New Orleans. I was skeptical to say the least, but it turned out to be a wonderful trip!  (Mostly because I like to eat, haha...)  We spent the better part of 3 days and 2 nights in a beautifully restored old home that is now a B&B on Esplanade.  The owner is a fabulous cook, too (absinthe in the sauce on the crepes? Hello?!)  We had a good time touring the city on foot and taking in the music at night.  We will be going back because there is so much more to do than we were able in the time allotted.

We also took a canoe trip nearby to us here in PCB on the Econfina Creek.  I have never seen more beautiful blue water existing in nature.  It was a nice retreat from the usual busy highway and tourist filled places here in Bay County.  This will be a definite return trip for us as well.

The trips were fun while they lasted, but it's back to life, back to reality tomorrow bright and early.  It sure is good to have Otis back home (he stayed with my parents while we were gone), and maybe get back into a routine of sorts.  Until then, the countdown rolls on.  ;)

Bye bye, wisdom teeth!

It was nice to have a day off on Friday, except the reason I was off was to get these pesky wisdom teeth out once and for all!  I put it off way too long.  As far as procedures go, I'll say I've had worse, but the recovery hasn't been so fun.  I don't remember much after the doc said he was putting meds in my IV that would make me cough (which did...ha).  The next thing I knew, I was awake and had a mouthfull of gauze!  All I wanted to do was sleep, so that's what I did, and let me tell you, that was the BEST SLEEP EVER!!!  It was so nice to have my mom and dad here to take care of me.  And Kerry was there, too, just as soon as he could get away from the O.R. on Friday.  Even Otis wanted to be in the bed with me and right in my face.  Such a sweet weenie dog :)

Everything is going fine though!  The right side hasn't hurt the first time, but the left is still a little sore because of the way the sutures are positioned. Not much swelling at all either.  Hopefully it won't last too much longer.  Things are looking up because I got my first solid food down this evening, and I will be going back to work tomorrow.

Since I last posted, we found out we will be having a NEPHEW!  YAY!  I can't think of a better Christmas gift for that side of the family. =)

I know I would normally post a picture, but since there wasn't much makeup or hairstyling going on this weekend, I decided to spare you this time ;)

Til next time!

Updates, updates, updates

I realize what a terrible job I've been doing keeping my blog updated lately!  I'm so sorry :(

I've been going home to Andalusia every weekend since Dad's surgery to keep a check on him and mom, and I'm happy to report he's doing fabulously!  He also got an A+ checkup from his cardiologist yesterday, and was told to keep up the good work. 

On to my laundry list of woes...or so it seems! HA!  I saw my (new) new neurologist last week, and have quickly decided that he's gonna have to earn my trust.  He put me on some new medications and was talking about possibly doing nerve blocks, which I am 99.9% against.  On top of that, after my appointment Wednesday, I woke up Thursday with an infected wisdom tooth that very rapidly got worse.  That being said, I now have an appointment to have my wisdom teeth removed on the 18th of this month.  Nice.  So here's hoping that procedure goes well, and the healing is as rapid as the problem started ;)

Kerry and Otis are still doing quite well and both are keeping me going!  Kerry's still making awesome grades and racking up cases in the O.R., and O is just his usual wonderful self.  I'll post later on and let you know how the teeth turn out, as well as how the discussion goes with Dr. Makki about shots in the back of my head (that I don't want...).

God Bless!