The Brighter Side..

It has been a sad week. Grandma's services were this weekend, and everyone was in less than high spirits. We all know that she is in a better place now; she is pain free, and she can be with Grandpa again, but that doesn't make it a happy time. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during this time. Please continue to pray for the family as we all cope with her loss in our own way.

On the brighter side.... I received the Tervis Tumbler I won from Hayley at Deals, Steals, and Heels on Friday! It was nice to have sometime to smile about! In addition to my Tumbler (which is so super cute), she also sent a lid and straw for it, some super adorable coasters she handmade, 2 packs of note cards, and a journal. Love it all! Thanks for brightening up my day Hayley!

My Tumbler

And all my other loot :)

Saturday Ed and I spent some time together and relaxed. We really and truly don't do it often enough, and I really enjoyed it. We went swimming with our puppy dog (who is oh so cute and adorable in her little life vest).

Ok, so I happen to think the boyfriend is kindda cute too (but don't tell him!)

Ed is trying to teach her to be a diving dog, so he is working on getting her to put her head under water to grab her toys...

Ed demonstrating a rescue technique, lol.

And then we headed off to see G.I. Joe. It was alright.... A little long. I got to look at Channing Tatum, and he got to look at Sienna Miller, so all was good. lol.. We had some yummy dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (and of course some yummy Kahlua Cocoa Chocolate Cheesecake with a Cappuccino). And then we played some car racing game on his new Xbox 360 where I crashed a lot, and he laughed a lot, but a good time was had by both :)

Today we are "getting things done". I have to study for my last test of the semester, and do some housework. You know, un-wife housewife stuff... and he is off to his parents house to do some work on his boat so we can try and get some more use out of it before summer is over!!!! Zoey keeps askin' when she will get to use her life vest out on water instead of the pool!!!

Wondering where I have been?

I know... I've been slackin' on bloggin'... I promise I have good excuses though!

Wow... my last blog was on July 20th!!!! Whoops.... Anyway. Things have been mucho crazy around here. School is wrapping up for the semester, and I have been trying really hard to stay on top of things and keep my grades up. Which I am in succeeding in... I got another A last week ;-). No complaints here!!!!!! The other reason I have been trying to keep on top of my school work was so that I could afford to play hooky for 2 1/2 days. Yup, that's right, I played hooky.

Last Saturday I went to a bridal shower for my friend Danielle, then rushed home to change and pack and drove to the keys for some of this...

I skipped clinicals on Monday for some more of this....

(I got the biggest catch of the day of course)

And then drove home Monday night to be back in class on Tuesday. (Leaving the boyfriend behind with my godparents for some more of that...) Then I went to class and studied uber hard for 2 days, took a test on Thursday (my A) and signed myself out right after to drive back down for some of this.... Thank goodness it's only a 2 hr drive!!!

We go EVERY year, I couldn't resist!

I came back home on Saturday after some more of that fishing stuff, to rush off (in every sense of the word) to a Bachelorette party for my friend Jess! Partied hard, went to bed at 5 am, spent Sunday cleaning, laundrying, cooking, spending time with the boyfriend and the puppy dog! The puppy dog who I missed so dearly that we had picked up from a full fun filled week at Grammy Angie Camp! I planned on doing some Mutt Monday yesterday about that, but got tied up with that studying junk again :( No worries, there is always next week!

Grammy Angie took LOTS of pictures!

So anyway, that's why I have been MIA lately. I apologize.

On a sadder note... I know some of you have been following me for a while and following Ed's Grandma's story. So, I wanted to share with you that we got the sad news today of her passing. Please say a prayer for the family as they truly need your thoughts and comfort at this time. She will be missed greatly.

This is Grandma meeting Zoey for the first time last year on Christmas.

A "Catcher Upper"

I am definitely behind on updating my blogger friends!

I know I said I would tell you on Tuesday how my first day of school was, and how Ed's grandma was doing, but I have been SO busy this week, the only thing I have had time to post was giveaway links real quick! So sorry!

Anyway, here ya go... this is my "catcher upper" for ya.

Update#1 - School!

School is alright. I love that there is only 24 people in my class and therefore, my teacher already knows my name! And I'm already making friends! At my old school we had over 100 people when we started, and I'm pretty sure my teacher NEVER knew my name. My teacher is really strict, and structured, but I think it's a good thing. Other than the fact that I'm not allowed to have my sunglasses on my head, chew gum, or drink Coke or coffee in class. :( Does she not realize that my well-being and alertness depends on caffeine!?!?!?!?!?!? grrr..... The content is pretty much a review so far, and therefore I am terribly bored in class. AND I look like a smarty pants because I answer so many questions. I'm really trying hard not to look like a know it all... but I can't stand it when teachers try to get the class to interact and everyone just sits there with a blank look on their face afraid to speak up. It's such a waste of time!!!! Therefore, I answer questions and look smart. Whatever. The one thing I'm really having trouble getting used to (other than my caffeine restrictions) is going to school EVERY day of the week from 8-2:30! I haven't had to do that in 6 years or so! It's so wierd to have something to do every single day,it makes the days fly by so fast, AND we have homework. Well... sorta.... It's not anything we have to turn in, but we should do it anyway. It's where that whole class participation thing comes in.... We are given an "outline" of sorts and a list of key terms that we are supposed to complete before lecture so that lecture itself is more of a review and you can ask questions and participate in class. It really is a great idea, and it pushes me not to slack (which I need) but it sure is time consuming! It's also a big change for me since I'm used to working at my own pace. Oh well... I'll get over it all. We had our first test today, and Clinicals at the hospital tomorrow so I don't have any homework and I actually have time to blog a bit! I won't get my grade back until some time next week, but I think I did pretty well. The questions are definitely written at a much lower level than what I'm used to. Hopefully that means good things for me....

Update #2 - Grandma

Surgery went alright. It took much longer than they had anticipated for some reason and it had us all on edge. A predicted 2 hours took over 3 1/2. Not for any particular reason apparently, it just did. (not that they thought it was necessary to update the family when it ran over.... grrr) They accomplished what they needed to by putting in screws where a vertebra had crumbled up, and they biopsied that "spot", but the surgeon doesn't suspect it's anything. He thinks its just the way the bone showed up on the MRI. Watching her in recovery was so sad. She was in so much pain and couldn't get comfortable and there was nothing we could do about it. We worked with the nurses and tried to move her in all kinds of positions and nothing would ease it..... She is doing much better now. I went and saw her yesterday. Even though she was still in agony and was complaining that she didn't think it was all worth it, she looked tons better and I think she just needs time to heal. It's going to be a slow process, and she will likely be in the hospital for some time making sure she can get back to her old self and continue with her daily routines like she always has. She is one tough cookie!

So anyway.. between all this school adjusting and time at the hospital, my blog has been neglected. As well as my house! I just cleaned the floors and vaccumed the couch, and man did it need it! Soooo nasty! We have had two dogs and a boyfriend running around this place with nasty muddy feet from the nasty muddy ground outside from the nasty icky thunderstorms! Bluck! Oh... that's the other thing I did this week.... Picked up Mom, Steve, and Derek from the airport and gave them back their dog! Now there is only one muddy puppy running around this place. Who coincidentally went and body surfed in the mud the day after I gave her a bath. I just never ends....

I have done my blogging duties. I am now off to do the dishes that have been piling up, put away laundry, make dinner, organize my stuff for clinicals tomorrow, and maybe read ahead for school? hahaha... ok, so I might not get to that last one. I sure am going to try though!!!

See why I'm ready for the weekend??!?!?!?!?!

(don't forget to check out all the way cool giveaways going on right now.... as well as my mom's blog. She is definitely due for a new post, but I have seen some of the stuff she is working on lately and I think it's going to be a good one!!!!)