"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

This is a special time in Nic and I's life as a married couple.  I know other young couples go through similar events and changes, and that we're nothing new to this, but I'm sitting here just thinking... wow, this week is is a pretty big one.

He gets all blushy when I talk about him in front of his face, but at least if I do it here, you can't see him!  :P  I can't say enough great things about my husband.  He's asleep right now so he'll be ready to go for his final in the morning.  Did you catch the big word?  FINAL.  IT'S HIS LAST WEEK OF NURSING SCHOOL!  This time last year, we had just moved to Texas and every day we were working like crazy to get the house and my classroom put together before the kids started school and Nic started his program.  Here we are, a year later, and he's in his last week and I'm preparing for my second year of teaching.  He's really put in A LOT of hard work with this program (understatement of the year!).  He's practically lived in his books and on his computer, and somehow has pulled it off with awesome grades and still a smile on his face.  Now let's just keep our fingers crossed that he lands a good job (preferably in an ICU to prep him for a Nurse Anesthetist program)! I'm SO PROUD of Nic and all that he's accomplished in one year.  Seriously, think about it... he earned a whole degree in ONE YEAR!  How INSANE is that?  (Did I ever mention he's also really really cute and funny, and incredibly sweet?)  ♥

This was taken the day he found out he got accepted into the program:

Going in for his first clinical shift (yup, he's EXCITED!):

Annnnd one more to show that he actually has hair now.  ;-)

The anticipation for everything has gotten us quite excited.  I can afford to be awake right now because, even though tomorrow is a work day, I've still got just A FEW days of summer left!  I can't believe how fast it went by, and also can't believe all of the things I still have to do before the kids come.  So within the next week, Nic will *officially* be finished with school, and I will *officially* be starting again.  Isn't that the way things usually work?  So we're sort of just sitting back and relishing this time we've got- me still with a bit of summer and him with assignments slowly tapering off as they get finished.  I think about this time NEXT YEAR and how we'll likely be in our new home in Hampton and how we get to work like crazy to put the house together again, and how I get to work at making new friends all over again as well.

Speaking of friends, I can't tell you how many times I've thanked God for all of the AMAZING people we've met (and already knew) here in Texas.  It was a treat, first of all, to be near Nic's family and get to spend more time with them.  But it's just icing on the cake that I work with some really stellar people.  I mean REALLY stellar people.  These are honestly some of the funniest, sweetest, most outgoing, and sincere people that I've ever met.  I've enjoyed eating lunch with them, planning with them, working for them, and seeing their faces every day.  Teaching can be hard (another understatement of the year), especially in a school like ours.  And while I don't think I ever really voiced it to them, they made my first year teaching a lot smoother than it could have been.  They were there for me to talk to, to lean on, and to make me LAUGH on my best and worst of days.  Part of me wonders how I ever got so LUCKY.  And also part of me wonders if I'll EVER be this lucky again in Virginia.  I really am looking forward to school starting again so I can see everyone EVERY DAY, not just on sporadic little dinner/lunch/pool dates. 

I love days like this, when I know the next few days will be full of lots of FUN.  Tomorrow's plan involves a POOL with some fun NURSING STUDENTS (celebrating 1 Final down), working out and then MORE FRIENDS in the evening...  Saturday will again include friends in the evening, and Sunday will include brunch with Nic's parents, POOL again, then celebrating a friend's birthday in the evening.  Monday and Tuesday?  Well, they're the last two days of summer and I'm sure I'll be filling them with something fun!  I know there's no real WORK in my very near future, and even on Wednesday when it all starts back up again... there's STILL fun in the plan (I'm hearing something about a team-building ropes course? Yippee!!!).  I love knowing I've got plans to see people I really love spending time with in the very near future.  Ahhhh Summer.  Ahhhh end of Nursing school (it's great to get my husband back!). 

Life.is.good.  ♥

Missouri Trip- July 2011

So... maybe my plan of posting a couple of times a week has kinda failed.  Miserably.  BUT, at least I have a good excuse:  I was in Missouri visiting family and friends!

As mentioned in an earlier post, my brother got married!  The night before the wedding, the wedding party all went cosmic bowling.  As usual, my game started out with some beginner's luck, which made me really happy and giddy inside, and ended with some no-longer-a-beginner-and-you-suck-at-bowling scores, which made me sad.  But considering I've bowled less times than I have fingers, I'd say I did alright!  More than anything, I enjoyed playing on the same team as my brother, and getting to know his Best Man, Travis (Jessie's brother-in-law). 

After Cosmic Bowling, I stayed the night with the girls at Jessie's house.  It was nice to be around them and get to know them, even if it was just a little bit.  They're all really sweet girls.  It's times like those that make me wish I'd walked away from college with better girl friends.  I'm not sure how many times I've wished I hadn't had my head so up in the clouds and around a boy, and wished I would have spent more time with good GENUINE girls.  I almost get teary-eyed thinking about what great friends people can be to each other.  I love that they have such good friends to share their special day with. 

The next day, I went with the girls to get their hair done.  Isn't little Kylie SOOOOO adorable?  Possibly one of the most hilarious kids I've met, as well.  (At the reception this girl was THE Dancing Queen.  I mean this girl can CUT.A.RUG.)

(Photo by Katie Shea.)

Saturday, July 23rd, Brian and Jessie tied the knot.  The ceremony was absolutely BEAUTIFUL.  My favorite part (that I SO wish I had thought of for our wedding!):  when they washed each others feet to symbolize servanthood and putting others before themselves.  It was really touching. 

The reception decorations were also, of course, AMAZING.  The night was truly magical, and most importantly- I think the bride and groom had a BLAST.  I'll post some of the professional pictures once Bri & Jessie get them up, but until then I'll have to make due with just a few.  (I somehow managed to be too engaged in what's going on to remember to take pictures, so these were taken by Katie Shea, one of the bridesmaids.)

They honeymooned in JAMAICA and just got back yesterday.  Excited to hear about their adventures!

Monday, Nic and I headed to Columbia to get the remote start to my car replaced.  I can't say enough nice things about Sound Performance.  They upheld their warranty with ZERO questions or issues.  It's really nice and refreshing when businesses actually DO good business, you know?  We had them drop us off downtown in The District to kill some time while they got it installed.  Who knew four hours could go by so fast?  We had to stop in at Lollicup, so we could grab a couple of snows (since there's not one in TX).  Then we walked around in the scorching heat, delighting in our ice-cold drinks.  I swear, I felt- for just a second- like I was Carrie Bradshaw, walking the streets of NYC, browsing the shops, drinking my drink, wearing my cool shades.  Yes, I REALLY enjoyed walking around downtown.  We ate lunch at The Rome, where we used to go about once a week, and will always be a favorite of ours.

After we got the car back, we headed to Les Bourgeios since we had plans to meet up with some Columbia people.  Despite the fact that nobody was able to make it to the winery in the end, Nic and I had ourselves a great time.  We split a bottle of wine and dreamt about the future, discussing fun things like moving, babies, traveling, and US and OUR LOVE.  ;)

Despite the fact that we had a gorgeous view of the Missouri and a cool bottle of wine, we were getting eaten by mosquitoes and the bees seemed to smell the sweetness of our wine.  We decided to take the party indoors- to Addison's- where we split the famous Crab Rangoon dip and then the Creamcicle Cheesecake.  (No, that's not on the CrossFit diet, and YES the calories were TOTALLY WORTH IT!)  It turned out to be one of my most favorite Date Nights that we've ever had. 

Thursday I had dinner with my Jeff City girls (who ALL made it!).  Afterward, we had dessert at Culver's and then a few came over to watch a scary movie, just like old times. :)  It's nice to have friends that you've known since the beginning years of elementary school.

Jenna & Aubrey

Rachelle & I

    Jenna, me, Rachelle & Aubrey

The rest of the week was spent with mom and dad, and also I got to see some good friends, Ashley and Jared Jones (wish I had a pic). 

My stay was longer than Nic's (he had to get back from some clinical shifts) because I wanted to be sure to attend the 2nd Annual Run for Hope 5k.  The money from this 5k goes to Hailey's Hope and also March of Dimes, both causes that are now more important to me than they used to be. 

Rachelle Glavin is my very best friend in the whole wide world (she's wearing the grey shirt & black jacket in the pictures above).  I was her Maid of Honor when she got married, and she was my Matron of Honor when I got married.  I've known her since elementary school, and we have too many fond memories to count.  Even today, despite our busy schedules and lack of talking like we used to, when we're together it's like no time has passed at all.  So Rachelle and her baby, Hailey,'s story became more personal than others I've been told.  It would take a while to tell the whole story the way it should be told, but PLEASE check out the link to hear her inspiring story. One result of her story is that there is an annual Run for Hope 5k in Jefferson City, to remember Hailey and to remember to have hope.  I was honored that I was finally able to be in town to support my dear friend during this time.

 
SO... that's what's been happening since my last post.  Weddings, visiting Columbia, time with friends, time with Rachelle.  A lot of busy-ness, a lot of EATING, and a lot of seeing people that I love in Missouri!  Now that I'm back, it's time to get back in the swing of eating right, working out, and posting here more often!  School starts in just a few weeks, and I'm itching to hit the pool right about now seeing as there are only a few more days to make that happen. 

I hope this finds you well, and I hope you leave a comment so I know you read this!  Take care!