Past and Future Weddings

Today was such a wonderful day! My best friend Cassie has gotten engaged and asked me to be her Matron of Honor. Of course I am honored ha ha! She is such a wonderful woman and truly a great friend. She was one of the first people I met in high school when we moved from New York and we've been best buds ever since. She has been there for me through everything that has mattered in my life. She was my Maid of Honor at my wedding and I know we are connected for life.

Today we had a girls day out with her mother and mother in law. We had lunch, went to look at the beautiful chapel she and her fiance chose for their ceremony, and then we went to try on bridesmaid dresses and she tried on a few bridal gowns. Of course she looked gorgeous in every single gown she tried on! She has the most elegant taste, and she loves lace and it loves her! It was such an exciting day! I cannot wait until all of the festivities begin...Her wedding is in April, so it will be a beautiful spring wedding! She has picked a beautiful blue as her color, that would honestly look great on any skin color. The months ahead will be filled with fun and excitement as she plans, and I cannot be more excited for her. She has found a wonderful man, who loves her and cares for her and treats her as she deserves to be treated!

All this wedding talk makes me think back to my wedding! It was the best time of my life, so far. Our 5 year anniversary is coming up in November. I can't believe how fast the time goes by. It honestly feels like yesterday that we were planning! I remember the ups, downs, high's and lows, because what bride doesn't get stressed out to make the day as perfect as it can be. I tried to keep the true reason of our day in plain sight and that helped a lot because all that mattered was that I was marrying the love of my life, and our day was perfect! After the wedding we were blessed to spend a beautiful honeymoon in Hawaii. It was magical, that whole entire month! I will remember it like it was yesterday for as long as I live. Here are a few of my favorite photos from our wedding and honeymoon, now that I have been reminiscing.

Last Registration before Graduation

Each semester, we have to register for classes, normally this would not be a big deal if you weren't in nursing school, however, due to the fact that instructors can only take 12 students per class, it becomes a big deal. Of course you always want to get the instructor you want, that is very important, but in your last semester of nursing, it's even more important to get the hospital you want to be at, because you'll be doing a 2 week preceptorship with a nurse from that hospital! Yesterday my class mates and I sat in front of our computers, with the government clock website up next to the registration website staring at our computer screens until the clock finally turns to 11:00am hoping we get the class we want. It's not fun and it's nerve racking but it's the last time we did it!!!! My friend Colleen sent me a text message the other night saying can you believe it's our last time? I really can't believe it's our last time registering for a nursing course....well for our ASN's anyway! The next will be our BSN's! I really can't picture myself as a nurse yet, but I'm sure I won't be truly comfortable until I've been able to get a few years of experience behind me. It's crazy to think that I've come this far! I can remember my first day like it was yesterday! I was so nervous and had no idea what to expect. By the end of the day my head was spinning with information. By the second week I was having a nervous breakdown, and by the first month I was finding my groove. It was just so much to take in at once, I often found myself questioning whether or not I could do this, but now when I think about it, all the doubt made me stronger! The times when I said to myself last semester when we had 3 clinical preps (which are really long patient clinical picture, a psychosocial nursing paper, and 5 exams within a span of 2 1/2 weeks, are they trying to kill us? I realize that I became stronger. I finished all of my work and did well on my last 5 exams. So here is how registration day really went. I woke up at 9:30 only to look at my phone and find text messages and phone calls since 7:30am from my friend Colleen, she couldn't figure out how to get the classes we wanted into her cart to save. So I call her back, and she doesn't answer. I get the computer out, set up my government clock and check to make sure my classes are saved. This is all so very interesting I can't stand it ha ha! Colleen and I have been in the same classes since semester 2. She's my Best Friend in nursing school, and I am so lucky to have met her. She's a smart wonderful amazing individual, and one day she is going to be a wonderful nurse. So I was thinking registration was at 11:30 don't ask me why, but at 11:04 i decided to take a look at the classes. When I checked they were open, and I about had a heart attack. I quickly pressed the buttons and somehow wound up with the class I wanted. I then tried to call Colleen, no answer, and then called a few other people who told me registration was at 11. I must have had God shining down on me, because any longer and I wouldn't have received my choice. After many attempts to get in touch with my friend, she finally called me back a few hours later because I sent her a text message saying that I was upset we weren't going to be in the same class. She informed me she had got into the same class. Not only was it important to me to finish out my last semester with a good friend, but we will be sitting together at graduation! That makes me so happy! Along with her a few other great individuals will be joining us at Mease Countryside Hospital for our last clinical experience. I know this is very long and probably boring to most, however to me at least it's an accomplishment to have come this far, and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for me as a nurse. It's my dream it's my passion, and finally seeing it come to fruition is more than I could have ever dreamed of!

A Beautiful Day!

When I was in my last few weeks of this past semester, I started thinking about a few things I'd like to do once the semester was over. Last year we rented a boat and took my mom, inlaws, grandpa and my hubby's two younger cousins out. It was so much fun! The day was jam packed with fun, we fished, and barbequed on a little island in the middle of the water, went swimming, snorkeling, and just enjoyed the beautiful day! I wanted to do it again, but this time just Jason and I. So before the semester ended I booked a smaller boat for the two of us. I packed up the cooler with breakfast and lunch, Jason got all of his fishing gear ready and we were off! I was nervous that it may rain that day because there was a 50% chance and the day before was gloomy, but it turned out to be such a beautiful day! I was so thankful for being able to go on our little boating adventure! We caught a few fish, one of which was big enough to keep, but in the end we decided to spare the little guys life, and released him back into the ocean with the rest of his fishy friends! Both of us look like lobsters today! Thank goodness we had sunscreen on because it could have been worse!

It's so peaceful when your on the water, no noise but the sound of the water and the birds, we picked a perfect day because there weren't a lot of other boats out there. Both of us enjoyed ourselves so much! It was just what we needed. Here are a few pictures from our beautiful day!

To all the Beautiful Moms

Motherhood is a serious gig! I can't wait until its my turn! I keep saying to myself must finish school.  Until then I love seeing mother's and their children interact. There is something special, a bond that cannot be broken. I have it with my mother, my husband has it with his mother, and my nephew with his mother and so on....

There is nothing like the love of a mother. The word mother means many things, some that I think about when I hear the word are kindness, warmth, compassion, strength, and above all love, but if you put a resume together for a mother, it would probably be 20 pages long. They are there to wipe your tears when your sad, hold you when your scared, believe in you when you've lost faith in yourself, encourage you to strive for the best, always non judgmental, always just wanting to see their children live their lives and be happy. These are the things I think about when I hear the word mother.

Another type of mother that amazes me are single mothers. I have a few friends that are single moms, and boy do they work hard. Living life constantly to make life better for their children. Making time for responsibilities as well as their children. It's tough to do it by yourself, but some of the most amazing mom's I know are single and their children are amazing! I just think they are special individuals!

So this blog is dedicated to all the beautiful mothers out there with us or in heaven (especially mine) who make the world a better place because of their love and compassion, who spend their entire life living, breathing, and existing for their children. Without you we would not be here, and we would definitely not be who we are without your love, support and guidance.

Hear are some pictures of mothers day and some beautiful mothers that I am blessed to know:

Me and my momma

 My Mother in Law and Father in Law

Landon and his harmonica from great grandpa! 

Landon was such a good boy during brunch! He continued to play with his harmonica the entire time and was perfectly content doing so. He was really good at it too! We truly had a blessed day! Unfortunately we were too busy taking pictures of Landon to take any of anyone else. I must remember there are other people to take pictures of...but it's so hard with a face like that! I hope everyone had a blessed mother's day!

My Nephew!

Can I just say I'm in love with my nephew. He is the cutest, most adorable, smiley little thing. He always finds a new way to make us laugh and smile. He brings joy to our lives like I've never known. Here are a few pictures of the most beautiful little boy!

Landon Sharing His ball! 

Hitting them together

 Landon in his pick up truck

 Landon with his Mommy

 Mr. Smiles!

Auntie Lisa, Landon and Mommy

 He's such a happy little boy

 I love that smile

 Here's one of him when he was smaller in his swing from grandma and grandpa