the case of the overwhelms

Clinical has been cancelled thursday and friday due to my instructor being ill. It is nice that I have a few days to catch up but I feel like I am drowning in all the stuff I have to do! I know I am making progress but I just cant seem to finish and on top of it all we are getting extra assignments for these days we are off. But the assignments take hours to do. Or maybe I'm just slow. Just recently I've been thinking more about my honeymoon/vacation that is in just 5months and I just cant wait for it to get here! Oh to breathe the fresh air and not have to study or write papers or do case studies!! Some people think it gets easier knowing its all almost over, but I think its so much harder because I want it all NOW! Its so close but not quite in reach. Like a tease. In many respects of the word (hint: honeymoon). I just needed to vent.
I think my body is preparing itself for my upcoming biological clock change (nightshift in Aug). Back inthe day i used to stay up until like 3am just because.. I just did. I like the quiet and feeling that its my free time to do whatever or something. Well Travis has kinda trained me the last couple years to go to bed early because I usually talk to him before bed (which for him is anywhere 10-11) and then i just go to bed. This week its been like midnight-1am. It also helps that I dont have to wake up at 5 tomorrow for clinical :)
I am going to bed now. I hope I will be able to stay up for nightshift coming soon.

take a breath. its all worth it and one day I will wonder who is this 60 year old woman and where did the time go? And desperately want this time back.

I am craving girl time by the way! But dont know when its possible to hang out.

the JOB

I was starting to do better at frequent postings but here I go again being slacker like.
So... bc of my mass text message yesterday many of you know that I finally GOT A JOB!! Well... i have a job but I know I have a CAREER opportunity! Which is crazy to think... this is the rest of my life! So I had a couple of interviews about a wk and a half ago and found out yesterday that I will be working on the Rehab unit of Christ Hospital. I start training on Aug 17 (the week off for honeymoon vaca 2 wks later is still to be discussed). It is night shift... kinda expected it but definitly mixed feelings about it... i hate the thought of being on an opposite schedule than everyone and not getting to spend time with my man on those days. But it helps that I'm wired to be a nightowl and the shifts are 12hrs which makes it only 3 days a week and its like $4 an hour more than day shift. So definitly some perks. I will deal with it... but i heard years of night shift= years taken off your life. So.. i guess we'll see :) It will be hard to be on opp schedules starting off our marriage but then again we will see eachother much more than now which will be great!
Speaking of... things are really coming together for the big day. I think almost everyting is at least set in motion. I'm really excited about my flowers. The flower guy is great and suggested an idea for flowers/color that deep down i wanted but thought i could never get away with. Wont be too crazy. But fun for sure.
And chrissi we did call your friend photographer and she is great... it is set!

I think i may quit childrens hospital within the next couple of weeks. Well this scheudle ends april 11th so it may be my last day. I just really wanted to solidify a job at christ before i quit... but it will be nice not to have to worry about scheduling days and getting enough hours in, etc. My dad is starting back to work this weeks so I may work like a day or couple during the wk with himand make more than at childrens anyway. This way I can focus more on studying and graduating!! (june 19th!) then I'll take a couple weks off after that and lock myself inside to study for state boards. Hopefully I pass and can have some time off before preparing for wedding (aug 29) and starting my career (aug 17). OH and sometime in there travis will be moving into our apt in hyde park near crossroads church... maybe early june actually.

i miss you! life will be so weird post wedding... SO many life changes! Just glad I have such a great man. He really helped me through this whole job thing and really helped coach me through interviews and what to do next. I dont think I would have gotten it without him! Thanks Travis!

love you all.

So I'm following the herd...

Many years ago I created my "random quotes" book. It has kept me and others very entertained. Anytime I hear a random saying, or funny encounter... any humorous moment, I try to remember to write it down in my book for later enjoyment. So...instead of making up 25 things about myself I'm going to write 25 (or more) of what I consider to be the top humorous things in my book. DISCLAIMER... I understand not all of these will be funny to you. Some were funny in context and may not make sense if you werent there. But they were all funny to me at one point. Also. I apologize if you are quoted and it is embarrassing 

Before I start the quotes... I MUST begin with this picture:
#1:




This is my dad's senior picture. Other than the fact that this is a GREAT photo scanned from the "dictograph" of 1971, notice the name. His given birth name was Larry, not Lawrence. Poor chap.


Now the quotes:

2. "What do we know about strangers? That they want to hurt us and kill us with their candy" –Joe boyd. VCC

3. "Let’s put it this way, if I adopt Travis he’ll be your step bro and all you’ll be able to do is play ball and go skating" – my dad

4. "I need to call someone that has cancer" –my mom (the start of the random quotes book)

5. "It doesn’t matter how old a brotha is.. he is always cut!" –KTB

6. "I think my man of integrity got lost and won’t stop and ask for directions" –CT

7. "I just want to google so many things!" – Dyah

8. "Tiger, too bad its not the future…. LAZER CATS!!" –Jimi

9. "Why would anyone hate coldplay? That’s like hating a little lamb" –Lindsay

10. "It’s okay… I won’t bite, I left my teeth in the car" (this is a for real statement made by a
lady who knocked on my car window needing gas for her car).

11. "Quien.. Que… Cuando… so why do they call it ty-cuando?"- Kati.. learning spanish :)
"Um.. I think its TY KWAN DOE" -me

12. "Nice man bag" "Thanks, I call it a 'murse'". –Scotty

13. "That’s better than getting kicked in the butt with a baseball shoe" (my 75 year old uncle).

14. "If you ever get tired, pull over and let someone else drive. Don’t wait until you start seeing pink elephants run across the road" –KTB’s mom

15. “You died part of your hair.. it looks cute, what did you use?” –me talking to an 8 year old girl from my parents’ church. Her response: “Thanks, I used my mom’s mustache stuff”. (CLASSIC).

16. "The dog is forever in the push up position" –Scotty

17. "I don’t know much about music.. but you know what I DO know about? Robes… they are sweet" –KTB

18. "Have you ever google-earth searched Bin Laden? I’m know I’m gonna find him!" –my mom.. of course.

19. (From me to Lindsay) “So you first said ‘I love you’ at a bowling alley…with the smoky room and sweaty… balls…?"

20. Lindsay: "Were you ever diagnosed for your ADD?"
Travis: "No, I was too busy doing something else"

21. "I HATE PUBERTY!" –spoken by a 23 year old male.

22. "The Washington Memorial… it was shaped like that because, well, I don’t remember why" –dad. “That’s what she said” –me

23. Funny conversation when my aunt called my house and my sister answered the phone like this:
“Hola? Valesques residence”
My aunt: “Hello?”
Lindsay “Hola?........ This is the Ralston’s”
Aunt: “Oh.. I thought this was the Chinese restaurant”

24. From 30 rock: “Who is Conan O’Brien and why is she so sad?”

25. "I really like these cars. Especially the overhead viewing stations" –my 85 year old grandmother

26. "I’m sick of weddings and don’t know what to wear… I think I’m gonna no-shirt rebel to this one"


27. “If there was such a thing as a ‘smell track’, this would be it for our life”. (me to travis after he farts)


28. Dan gently touches Travis’ hand. Travis says: “Dan… I’m confused”


*Ok so it was 28.... I'm sure there are many more.. perhaps I will post some along the way as they happen. It brings me great joy to read back over some of these.

And thats all.

large zippered mom jeans

I brought my dress home saturday! And I am going to be selfish and say that we should have a girls night so I can try it on again! I love it. And of course I'd have a girls night to see you all :) Things are moving along. I still would like the guest list to be like 100 ppl shorter. My mom and I worked on shaving it down today... we ended up with 11 more than when we started... huh. Would not exactly call that a success. I'm giving up... its going to be big and I'm going to be terrified. But its one day it will be fabulous and then it will be over and I'll be in Cancun thinking "wow i cant believe its already over!" Of course I will be laying by the ocean with my man at that point very relieved that it IS in fact over. Can i just say i hate 90% of it? Bringing my dress home sat was the most excited I've been over any of it but later in the day had arguments with the fiance and myself about the wedding moneys and things i dont want, stresses, etc. I understand the man hates this stuff but he should understnad I dont exactly love planning and i need some moral support (which he is usually great at but not this day). I'm chugging along... if I think too much about planning and all i have to do to finish school, and trying to get a job before the wedding (and be able to take immediate time off from a new job!), and moving him in a new place in july, and all the stuff in between... i get really overwhelmed. One day and one plan at a time. Did I say that I am not a planner? I hate planning even dinners. or freak... what to do on my days off! I have kinda worked on a wedding web page thing... here is our link: www.theknot.com/ourwedding/sarahralston&traviswhite
In other news... my man got PROMOTED!! For those who dont nkow he works for a promotions company called PEP which manages promotions for companys such as P&G. For one... they re-(whatever you call it...) their annual contract with P&G... who decided to let PEP take over all of their promotions and drop the other company! So in turn they have to hire new people to take some lead roles... Travis was a manager for fem care (unfortunate for him) and some oral care. When he moves into his position he will be a supervisor over 4 or 5 ppl and in control of all oral B and P&G oral care letting him wave goodbye to tampax and always :) Which is so great for him bc he loves the oral care stuff. I just had to brag on him for a minute. I am so proud of him!
So... i missed girls night. How bout we plan one like more than a day ahead next time? and more regularly! i miss my community. Not that I dont LOVE my fiance... I do.. but I'm not so much involved with anyone anymore just cuz we've been so busy uand any time we have (which is usually wkends) we want to spend together bc it is so sparce. But i need girly time too. i crave it sometimes. i know the phone works both wasy but sometimes i suck at remembering to call so call me if you think about it! If i dont answer i WILL call you back :)
TV is the devil. Why is it I have so much to do but sometimes i just want to watch crappy tv shows? One day a couple weeks ago I started watching the bad girls club. Rediculous but funny. I realized how obnoxious it was that i was watching it and decided to stop... next thing i know i am recording future episodes... who am i and what is this going on? I'm trying to take a tv hiAtus but its not working so much. I did go through today with no tv bc i had to study... but i took like a 2 hr break and searched through facebook, blogs, wedding junk, etc on the internet. So now my computer is the devil. Or hey... maybe I am the problem?... nah... its all them trying to get to me. I am going crazy talking about this like they are people. Its late... i'm regressing back to grade school when I would stay up late hoping school would be canceled the next day :)
love you all.

This is for kate: "if you wear mom jeans, pimp juice is NOT for you"
You still have that video? wasnt kyoung there too? good times

in my head..

So... I finally decided on my dress! It is beautiful and a great relief. Things are moving along. I am hoping that when it gets down to the last couple months we will have most everything done... or wrapping up.. and will maybe not be as stressful as is anticipated?
Its funny how God reveals things to you through others, isnt it? I had an experience tonight like that. I was thinking about a friend of mine and how I feel like she has no idea how precious she is... how amazing God's love is for her... and that it is not conditional. She was saying how she felt God may be mad at her bc of things she's done but ...his love doesnt decrease bc of the sins. As I was thinking about all this it kinda hit me that I too so often underestimate who I am in his eyes... ya know? I rate how I think He feels about me by the things I do... the sin in my life. Travis whispered to me one day out of nowhere "God is not mad at you". It is something I know but that I dont often believe.
I have a heavy burden for a friend tonight... is it weird to say I've almost missed that? I used to feel that a lot around certain people. And not to say that its great to feel burdened for people all the time but lately I've been so wrapped up in my own life that I havent been very in tune with those around me. And for that I apologize. Life is different... and it will only change even more. And I am very excited.. i will be living life beside my best friend in just 8 months. But its so easy to become so self-centered and I dont like feeling like that. I realized tonight that I have the most powerful thing at my grasp (we all do) that I havent been taking part in... PRAYER. i underestimate the power of prayer. And in this day when so many are hurting, and even friends with everyday issues, and bigger ones... surgeries, broken hearts, new jobs, money issues.... prayer is so important. So pretty much I realized my deep need to communicate with God in prayer and plead on my knees for my friends.

I start classes tomorrow. In 6 months I will be finishing up school preparing to graduate. In 7 months I will be brain-fried hopefully ready to take the nclex (state test). In 8 months I will be getting a new job and preparing to get married. I am excited, anxious and scared.

I'm done blogging for tonight..

AGAIN!!

SO.... we went wedding dress shopping yesterday! My mom, lindsay and my grandma from colorado were with me. It was fun but also made me anxious. We went to Davids bridal and I tried alot on. I liked almost all of them and ended up with a top 3 with 2 others on my mind. But honestly I never had a "THIS ONE IS IT!" moment with any of them... maybe my expectations were too high? or too low? or maybe I didnt have any and that was the problem? When I went home, though, i kept on thinking about the 2nd dress that I had tried on that I really liked but the color of the beading was different than what I would prefer. But thinking about it and looking at it in the magazine and looking it up online again.... I think it may jsut be my top favorite.. and to think it wasnt even in my top 3! This is crazy that I am buying a wedding dress. I was watching some wedding shows on tv today and I was just not excited at all... it sounds horrible. I hate planning... I hate having all the attention on me... I'm not a good dancer (which kinda terrifies me). The more i htink about it the more I wish I would have gone with my initial gut instinct to do a destination wedding and invite only fam and close friends. I hate the fact that there will be people at my wedding that I really dont care are there... that I have to invite bc my mom is friends with them or bc we have known them my whole life. So enough about all that... even I am getting sick of hearin and talking about it!!! Life will be a big adjustment for me when we are married... i know a lot of things will hit me hard. But I think I am ready.... as much as I could think I am ready I guess. I have a brilliant man who loves me and would do absolutely anything for me... and whom I also love unconditionally (which is a miracle for me to find someone and not want to run away). He is responsible and smart with money and will take care of me and teach me a lot about being an adult and not living in a house full of people as the youngest child. I'm ready for it because I love him and life brings change and blessings and its time for me to live my own life and stop living inside of others. Not to say I wont still have a life with friends and family... i just mean it will be MY life... I mean OUR life. We will be starting a family with me and him. You dont have to have children for it to be a family. and i will be with him "until death do us part" because I CHOOSE him. We choose eachother. We understand that love is not only a feeling it is a choice. If I could only get one thing out of marriage, it would be that through loving Travis and being loved in return, I would somehow come close to wrapping my mind around God's unconditional love for us.

Christmas is coming. Be joyful.

HELLO

Hey friends. I am still alive. I have finals this week: one wed and one thurs then I will be on BREAK!!! You dont know how excited I am to be free from this for 3 weeks!! Well I will have some stuff to do but wow how I can almost feel freedom :) Its been a crazy household as usual.. so linz moved out in aug, brett& trishia moved back in in october and stayed for 4 weeks then moved to alabama, dan moved out a couple weeks ago (to FL with linz).. brett and trishia are back (just visiting) as of last week and will be here till like the 20th, my g-parents got in town last sat and are leaving the 22nd, linz&dan are coming sunday and are staying through the new year. Did you get all that? Its just a swinging door. Oh and I'll be here until the end of Aug :) As far as wedding planning goes we have the reception booked and I have been workign on the never ending guest list (hoping for no more than 350... preferably less). When linz gets here next week we will be going dress shopping.. which will make it a lot more real, I'm sure, than it feels to me now. Still not compeltely sure about colors or decor, although I do have a few changing ideas, but I'm hoping to see a bridesmaid dress in a certain color and just know thats what I want. Can I just say that planning is so not my forte. I told Travis that I will try not to complain about anything and be excited... its just I see all the stuff we have to do and I get overwhelmed and dont want to do anything. But I have alot of good support around me willing to help so I really should just be thankful for that. Oh and we have chosen a honeymoon... or should I sayy that travis and my mom chose a honeymoon and I looked at it when they decided :) And for the huge news.... Travis went to see his dad and stepmom for thanksgiving and they said they want to pay for the rehearsal dinner AND the HONEYMOON!! I could not believe it!! Such a blessing! That takes off so much pressure.
And as far as the party people goes.. we are keeping it short and sweet... my side is linz, and my cousins emily and megan. His side is his brother tyler, our friend neal and my bro in law dan. We would like to of course have my brother and trishia but they are leaving for africa in june for a year. They are going to try to set up Skype or something online to be able to watch a live feed of the wedding from africa :) Should be interesting.
So other than school, fam, and wedding planning I havent had much time to thnk about much else. But I have been missign my friends! And I hope you all are well.

LOVE YOU ALL hope to see you soon.

Engaged!

SO>.. I am engaged!! You should all know that by now. It happened on Sat, Oct 11 and I've told you all the story. So now is time to plan.. date is set for Aug 29. Can I just say that I hate planning things? And there is so much to go into this! I am lucky however to have so many people in my life willing to help out. And my mom is great.. but there are times when she wants to be too great and plan things or has ideas assuming that I will like it.. but not actually asking me. But overall we are okay. I've been thinking about certain ideas but will actually wait to do the big things.. like dress shopping until december when I have some time off and my sister will be in town. Thats when I think it will really hit me... and everyone else. My sis-in-law took some "engagement" type pics on saturday which I may use for invitations (Im thinking about making myself) and/or table displays. Here are a couple... when I upload them all I will send you all a link to see the rest...

books and life

i miss my girls.

So a couple of weeks ago I was walking through a book store wasting time and found this book:

I was intrigued and started flipping through it. The subtitle is "what you need to know about the inner lives of men". I was really just interested to see if there was actually anything in it that i didnt know about (I tend to pretend/think i know everything). Shockingly there were things I never knew! Even more interested now, I grabbed this other book:

Thinking "this should be good... what kind of crap are they telling the guys that we are like". So i started looking through it and ended up relaly liking both books and thinking that my man really needs to read it.

So I went home and found them on amazon.com ($10 each... $5 less than at the store) and bought them both. I told T about the books and he seemed to like the idea.. so what we did was read the opposite books (like i read the one about females and he read the one about males) and wrote sidenotes to things that really pertained to us and whatnot.. when we finished we switched and read the other. I got a lot out of reading the book about men and actually it made me think alot about why i do, say, think certain things after I read the one about women. So basically I would recommend you reading them if you are single, dating, or married. It opened my eyes like how to approach my man in certain situatoins and how to respect him, etc.

So girlies I hope we can have a girls night soon to catch up.. if not then someone else needs to plan something another time. I miss our time together. and I'd like to tell you more about how amazing my man is... and hear all about life for you the last couple of months!

I love you all and miss you.

who's a hippie?

So most of you have seen me since my recent hair chopping experience but just thought I would post the before and after pics::

Before:

AFTER:



I also wanted to add some pics of my adorable cousinS:

Reese(2) and Reagan(3)

And this one is Jade. She was only a couple days old when this pic was taken (she was only like 5 lbs!). so precious:

surprise trip

So.... most of you know I got my hair chopped... FINALLY. I've been talking aboutit forever and finally it happened. And I like it. A lot.
In other news I am leaving for FL again tomorrow! It was a very last minute decision but I am going to visit lindsay... I'lll be back saturday morning but at least I get some time with her. She is there by herself until daniel joins her in oct or nov bc he is staying here to work with my dad. So I am excited but I've also had a lot to do to prepare for school which starts in 2 wks and to get some other stuff done before I go. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is going by myself... I'd rahter have company during the 1.5 hr layover in atlanta... which isnt so bad tho. Could be much longer and worse.
Aight yo I gotsta go. I will talk to you all soon. LOVE YOUS.

my heart

Hello old friends. I'm sorry I do not say it enough but I love you. And despite what you may think I do miss you. I never wanted to be that person to get a boyfriend and disappear. But I realize to some of you thats probably how you think of me. Well for one thing, do understand that around the same time Travis came into my life I started a new job and a new school (and I also became more involved at the vineyard). And those alone have taken up much of my life this past year. Of course Travis is a large part of why I have been away because I can see him usually the same time i can see anyone else.. on the wkends and no offense to any of you but I just want to squeeze in as much time with him as possible. Bc to be honest with you.. I love him. And everyday we are together we are learning more about one another and I love him more as time goes on. I dont know if I hid it well or not but for a long time I longed for someone. Someone to love and trust to give my heart away to. I feel like GOd kept me from serious relationships to prevent me from getting into trouble and also getting my heart broken. Last year he finally said (well how I took it) "ok... here is your man.. now you can have him... you are ready". Well, maybe I wasn't ready just then bc we only lasted a couple months and kinda broke it off bc we both had a lot going on in our lives at the time. But that whole time apart I longed for him and my heart was crushed. I couldnt imagine my life without him. I think I realized that around Thanksgiving bc even with family around, I felt so alone. And we werent even dating then but we were talking on the phone everyday, or a couple times a day. A month or so later we decided to give it a go again and it hasnt been perfect but I am 100% certain that he is my gift from God and that I am not to ruin this great thing we have. We have such great communication with eachother and are learning a lot of patience and understanding, along with much contentment for where we are in our lives. (prayer for continued patience, understanding and contentment would be great from any of you!) We have grown so much together within even the last couple weeks and I am so excited that he is mine! (well, Gods.. but I claim him too). I apologize for doing a poor job of bringing him around and letting you all get to know him. If you havent been around him enough to decide yet... just trust me on this one. You all know how cautious I have been of dating (some may even say i was against it). He is amazing and is everything I am not: outgoing, responsible, determined, a leader, excited about life. But he is contagious so I hoping to catch some of those qualities :) . He is also so good looking (he has these cute little dimples when he smiles), loves people, gets along so well with the fam, is so genuine, honest, caring. I'm sorry.. I could go on for hours. I hope none of you have puked from my girly-mushiness. You'll get over it :)
I can't promise things are going to be much different within this next year as far as my absence within the group. I would hope I can see you all more, especially now that i have a couple wks of summer b4 school starts back (aug 19). But when fall hits I will be back into the books and probably crying alot bc its going to be difficult and I have a constant fear in the back of my head that I will fail this program and I have no plan B.




..I love you, I miss you, and I plan to see you soon. And chrissialice... I have not forgotten the reds tickets but I have been forgetting to pay you. Please email me your address again so I can send you some moneys.



Heres a couple favs from FL:









I hope you learn to love him. He is so my blessing sent from God.

summer vacation

Check out pics from Sarasota: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sabeth


so much fun!!

summertime

I am leaving for Sarasota, FL tomorrow!! I'll be returning next fri (7/11) and I'll update everything after that :) I love you!

Oh and Chrissi... here are mothers day pics for you.... thanks for the reminder :)


Travis and a cow (lots of farmland in Northern ohio)



The mom and stepdad:


Me and his mom:



Just us:




Love you all. Will update soon.

mom's day

So Sunday--mother's day--Travis and I left at 7am and drove 3 hrs to see his mom for mother's day. So that is why I was not there for Katie's bday on sunday. It was my first time meeting his mom.. and really anyone in his family. We went to eat after church and his mom invited like his whole family! So I got to meet his grandma, some aunts and husbands, cousins, stepdad and 2 stepbrothers. It was a good time. After lunch he drove me around to where he used to go to school and play soccer (he's so sentimental and proud of where he came from). Then we went back to his mom's house and talked to her and his stepdad for awhile where they asked me about everything in my life... but I didnt mind. They were so nice and easy to talk to. I had a really good time being there with him. And he was thrilled to finally be able to drive with someone up there.. instead of driving it alone. It really didnt feel like 3 hrs both ways either... i gues we are just good company for eachother :) I wanted to post some picks of us and his mom... when I find my camera cord for my computer I will post some.

Love yous.
How was your mothers day?

i see heart stars

You know how some people say "I'm seeing stars" like when they fall down or whatever? Well.... I see hearts. Or "heart-stars". I feel like I am floating in the clouds with the hearts floating above my head except that I am not in the clouds or daydreaming... or sleeping. I am in real life just being a girl and experiencing an amazing, healthy, such a blessing of a relationship and I have been expressing more honest girly emotions than I have to anyone aside from myself in a VERY long time... if ever. This may seem vague... but you pretty much get what I'm saying. I have me a great guy. And if you dont know him you should.
He's funny. And I like him.

a lot :)



so long jimmy fallon.... theres a new guy in town.. except his name isnt "new guy" its "since 10 months ago" guy. And he's pretty much amazing. so step off. or stomp off...like have a stomp the yard competition.. that would be joyous to watch.

One year down

Just in case anyone read that last blog... I have taken finals and passed my class! The first test didnt go so well but I killed the second one (translation: 96%). Which was pretty much amazing and shocking. So... thanks for the prayers if you sent some my way.

I can see summer just in the distance

So... I have 2 final exams on Tuesday (april 22). I would really appreciate some hardcore prayer for these exams bc passing them kinda determines what my life looks like for the next year. The exams are for my med-surg nursing class that I am not doing well in and if I dont pass I will have to retake this class this time next year which will set me back a year. I know i am fully capable of passing these tests with good grades if I would jsut get my head in the books and retain the information! So... pray I would be rid of negative thoughts and that I will pass these exams next tuesday!!! THanks :)
Love you.

side job

A friend of my mom's started a veil shop online several years ago. Up until a couple of months ago she has photographed her veils, headpieces and jewelry on manakins. She is now wanting to change all her pictures to have real people in them so a couple of weeks ago I modeled for her. Very strange to wear a wedding dress and veil and pose for pictures. If you want to see me in action (well.. not in action.. just sedentary..) here are some links to her site:

http://www.veilshop.com/1-Layer_c_20-1.html;
http://www.veilshop.com/2-Layer_c_13891-1.html;
http://www.veilshop.com/1-Layer_c_17146-1.html

HELLO!!!

Hey all!!!
Wow its been awhile for this. I have not been on it... and these are the times I should be bc I dont see anyone ever.
School.... been rough this semester. TO the point of emotional breakdowns almost every week bc for awhile I thought I would fail out and I would sit and think about plan B for my life but couldnt come up with anything I could see myself doing for the rest of my life for decent money. But the past couple weeks though I've been okay and accepted the fact that God brought me into this program and he will bring me through it.. i just have to trust... and study... alot more than I have been.
Its been good, though. I dont hate the program like i did at the beginning of this semester. I hated it bc at the hospital we have clinical working with adults and elderly and I do not want to work with adults. But it has been really good to learn so much this semester and I like interacting with the patients (most of the time). By now we pretty much have all the nurse's duties with clinical... we give meds (including IVs), give injections, tube feeds, catheters.... etc. It still freaks me out to do much of that but I'm becoming more comfortable as the weeks go on.
I have like 3 more weeks or so of class left then 7 weeks of summer classes... then summer break!! I am totally counting down.... cannot wait to enjoy the sun!!
SPeaking of the sun.... many of you prob dont know that my sis and dan are moving to tampa, FL in the fall bc Linz got accepted into a Grad program there. I am excited for them to make the move and bc I get the basement when they are out :) but I will miss them so much. not like I really get to spend much time with lindsay right now but still.. more than I will when she moves. And it will be so quiet around here! I am tempted to invite ppl to live here bc it will be so boring... just me and the rents. I dont know what my dad will do without daniel... his best friend :) But we'll make it. My parents want to eventually move down there with them in years to come but for me.... dont really see myself down there permanently...we'll see. I'm only 21 and have much more life to live here I think.
THe boy..... Travis and I are doing really well. I admit that I have not found that balance between school, work, family, friends, and boyfriend... if there even is a balance. Its been really difficult. Believe me, last summer I did not look at this school year thinking.... hmm... i think itll be a good idea to start a new school and a relationship at the same time and see how it goes! But at the same time... I wouldnt change it... he has really been a great encouragement throughout all my doubts and breakdowns. ANd we have a lot of fun together. And hey... its been 8 months and I havent run from him :) (my girls.. you know thats big for me.. and I have an explanation/theory as to why). I'm just sorry that I havent shared him with you all... or see much of anyone in the past couple months. I miss you.

I love you all.. and look forward to seeing you and reading updates on your lives!!