5 months away

5 months from today I will have my masters degree!!!!

Hard to believe that I have less than 6 months to go. It feels like I just started.

I finished up my fall semester today, despite troubles outside of the classroom (car trouble, printer malfunction) and it is such a rewarding feeling to know that my hard work paid off and I made it to the end. There were times in October when I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. But, I persevered and here I am, one semester away from graduation.

It snowed here the other day and some of it is still on the ground, and it's been unseasonably cold, makes curling up with a cup of hot cocoa and a blanket sound amazing. Can't do that just yet though, still have a few days at field, a few days of taking kids to school, a trip to Panera and a trip to the cheesecake factory before i can stay home and do nothing. What happened to my carefree days?????

Olivet the beginning years

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Pictures from Olivet

Olivet Homecoming!

Yes as shocking at it may sound, I made it back to Olivet for homecoming this year, and it was a blast. Pictures unfortunately are not as my camera battery decided to die 2 seconds into my adventure or so it seemed (and I had just charged it, grrr). But the one or two pictures I do have I will post at some point. Right now I am at work and do not have them avaialble to post.

Anyway, so I started my 12+ hour long journey in my olivet t-shirt and athletic pants with a stack of CD's some recent, some old school, and my GPS. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I'd be, just a little bummed that the drive was so long. Through Virginia and West Viriginia I had beautiful scenery to look at as I made my through the mountains and down miles and miles of what seemed like an endless highway. Before I knew it I was in Indiana and getting more excited as each exit passed because I knew that soon I would be reunited with my best friend and my amazing Olivet friends enjoying the festivities that make up homecoming. However, the weather had other ideas. About 10 miles from my exit the wind decided to topple over the backside of a tractor trailor resulting in one lane traffic. Thus my drive took over 13 hours, but it was still worth it.

After my traffic ordeal, which included strong winds, stand still traffic to where people got out of their cars and an annoying amount of horn honking, I found myself entering "home" passing the football field, Weber Center, Ludwig...and this new building which seeemed foreign to me but of course I knew it was the new CHAPEL! I was awed at its beauty and size (it's huge, trust me).

Coronation was the night I came into town so it was the perfect place to surprise Molly, if she was going to be there. I sat through Coronation amazed at how the ceremony never gets old but wishing it would go quicker because I needed to see my best friend. Finally it ended and Hannah (Molly's sister) said that Molly was around and that she would hide me until the right time (hiding behind Hannah is easy, she's about 6 foot and I'm 5 so you couldn't see me at all). Well the time finally came. I could see Molly even though I was behind Hannah and Hannah kept looking at Molly and then pointing her fingers behind her to tell Molly to look behind her. Molly wasn't getting it and so finally Hannah just moved over and SURPRISE. I think Molly about fainted because she just couldn't grasp that I was actually standing there in human form. The words "what are you doing here?" came out in broken pieces after many gasps a little screaming and a ton of smiling and my favorite part the HUG! A little chaos ensued after as Molly and I were talking and trying to get things figured out for when we would spend time together. But, in the end I stayed at her place, I gotta love Molly for that she says that her door is always open for me regardless of the messiness and craziness in her life. I can always spend the night with her and Joe, and Joe is actually ok with it.

Going to Molly's new apartment (now that she doesn't work at Olivet) I got to meet their newest addition Chief a wonderful but rambunctious little puppy who likes to bite, playfully, but it still isn't the best feeling in the world. And Joe and Molly and I stayed up way too late chatting, because it just didn't seem real that this was all happening. Me being at Olivet and all. Finally we went to bed, or tried to. But, the weather decided to do its own thing again and snap the power line across thes street creating an electrical fire and a little panic. Needless to say not much sleep was had by any of us that night, the dog included.

Over the next two days I spent most of my time on Olivet's campus visiting old work places, seeing professors, meeting old friends, grabbing coffee at common grounds, playing games with Hillary, Ian, Nick, Brandon, Brenna, Brittany, and Evan, talking over bowls of chili. It was a fabulous time and a great closure and reminder of the strong and fun friendships I have formed at Olivet and kept after graduation. I even went to the Intro to Social Work class to talk to students about grad school and surviving the program at Olivet, it was interesting to be on the other side.

I also went to the dedication chapel service in the new building...not sure about my thoughts on it. But the music was great as usual. A huge building maybe a little too over the top though...I can't decide.

Saturday was my favorite day though hands down. I spent the morning cleaning up Chief's poop and pee because I new my best friend needed the help (he's not quite potty trained) and we had great conversation oddly enough. Then I went to McDonalds and Walmart with Whitney Allison since I had to grab cookie dough and frosting for the best friend adventures that were going to ensue later in the day. Whitney has become such a great friend and I don't think something as simple as walmart has been that fun in a long time.

After parting with Whitney I went back to the apartment to continue my day. Molly and I washed and put away the dishes singing and dancing a long to Mariah Carey's Christmas cd from the 90s..she had asked if we could do Christmas early this year, I said yes of course as Christmas is a tradition of ours (we normally spend part of the holiday together). We then proceeded to bake sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies and watch Elf, which Molly fell aslepp during but hey she teaches all week so I don't blame her for being tired. Then we frosted cookies, another tradition of ours and we actually did a decent job this time around. Hannah came over soon after with a friend of hers and we watched Enchanted or actually Enchanted was playing in the background but Molly fell asleep again and Hannah and I got to have a conversation that we hadn't ever really had because she always used to be too busy or too young. It was a great way to end my day and the weekend overall.

Sunday I went home...got there at a decent hour and now here I am four days later, once again swimming in a sea of studying and papers but much more joyful and fulfilled than before so I think the trip was a great idea.

You probably didn't want to read all this and decided to skip a lot of it and that's ok but it was just such a great experience that I had to share.

Oh God you blessed my life and I am so thankful!

New Church

I don't post much anymore, and it's not because there isn't stuff going on, it's because I don't have time. The month of October has been spent writing papers and just trying to get through every day without getting sick or burnt out. 4 papers are/were due in the month of October 3 of which are thankfully completed. I'm about to start the 4th one after I finish this blog post. Then I have 1 paper, a matrix, and some research due in the month of November, and mostly all in the beginning of the month so November should calm down and i can finally clear my head and enjoy the holidays.

I started going to a new church if I didn't post about it already. It was a hard decision because I do have a history with the church i was going to previously, it was the first church i went to when i first moved to North Carolina and I got pretty involved and developed some great relationships. But, recently I've felt like my growth has slowed and going to the church seemed to be more of a requirement than wanting to go and being excited to go. So after much thought and prayer I decided to try a contemporary Nazarene church i had seen a few months ago, and I love it. The church is more contemporary than i'm used to but it's speaking to me in ways i've never been spoken to before. I'm learning and growing so much more in my relationship with Christ and finding that there are more ways i can serve this church more so than my old one. My new church is so focused on the community and is excited that i am in the social work profession because I can contribute some great ideas for how to assist the community. I feel important and like I've finally found where God wants me for the time being.

I also love the sermons they are so intriguing and I've been able to apply them to my life more so than any other sermon I've had growing up! I'm actually super sad that I am missing church this week (I woke up feeling achey and pukey figured it would best to stay home and rest so as not to be sick this week) and I can't wait to be back next week to learn more about relationships, the sermon series we are doing right now (aka THE BIG BANG THEORY!). Please pray that God continues to bless my new church and myself as I embark on this new journey, I'm so excited and I'm hopeful that I will have so many great things to share with you in the coming months and years as I get connected with this new church.

That's pretty much it for right now. Hope all is well for anyone who reads this.

Sermon Quotes

To whom something is given something is required! What is your respond ability?

Smile it increases your face value :)

I just have to say I love the sayings on Dove Chocolate wrappers they can make my day so much better. My title is just one of the sayings and it was what I needed today.

Hard to believe we are already half way through the month of September, soon it will be October and then November and that means Thanksgiving, family, and SHOPPING for Christmas!!!!! I haven't seen my dad since May and will be so excited when November comes because it means I get to see him again. Of course I can't wait to see my mom either but I saw her more recently because she visits more often.

Life is life these days. Missing Olivet right now because Ollies Follies just occurred and it was one of my favorite times of the year when I was a student there but I'm glad I was a student there at all and that I got to meet so many awesome people.

And now I have nothing else to say...

Hope life is well wherever you are today, God bless!

Writers block?

It's weird how I can write a blog post for my school's website and make it sound all great but then I come to write my post on my personal blog and my words get all jumbled and sound ridiculous.

Graduate school turns my brain into mush by the end of the day that's all I have to say.

Boy life just got completely chaotic. In the past week I have

* Signed on to volunteer at Duke again, I miss that place and my kids they definitely hold a piece of my heart
* Started classes and homework. I got one assignment completed that is not due until November!
* Got a new job. I'll be working as a building monitor for the School of Social Work at UNC from 5-9 one day a week at $13.00 an hour and picking up extra shifts when people have conflicts. I will make 52.00 in one night, that will definitely help with the extra money I need to pay to UNC.
* Officially started back at the hospital on a new schedule.
* Scheduled my residency appeal hearing for September 7th, please pray about this! I've been trying to get residency since beginning school for tuition purposes and have been repeatedly denied


Sorry no pictures to post, I've not had much time on my hands to take good pictures. Hopefully I remember my camera one of these days.

So Long Summer

So long summer see you next year. The end of summer is always sad for me because it means I have 3 more seasons until it's my birthday again and a lot more traffic on UNC campus to the point of insanity. I start classes next week and soon my life will transition into a new routine. The start of classes mean that the holidays and visitors are closer and closer as well. My parents are coming to North Carolina for thanksgiving and as it stands at this point I will be traveling up to Michigan for the Christmas holiday. After Christmas comes more class and job hunting as well as preparing to apply for my social work license and take the required and then graduation! For now I'm going to go out on the porch, read Eat, Pray, Love and enjoy one of the final evenings of summer. Thanks summer for being so good to me i hope you treat me good next year too.

H-A-P-P-Y

Let's see. Life in my world is a crazy hectic ball of fun....ha ha. In all seriousness though I actually am having the time of my life. Sure there are days that I don't get home until 7:30 at night and people think I'm personally out to make their hospital stay horrible (my job is to provide resources and help the hospital stay go easier but some people tend to think otherwise), but I love what I am doing. When I look back I realize how God has always had the pieces of my life puzzle fall into place leading me to where I am today, but of course a few years ago if someone were to tell me I was going to be a social worker I would have laughed in their face because I had my heart set on being a nurse. But of course God cleared a different path and here I am getting my masters degree in social work and working at an amazing internship that has challenged me in every way possible but that has also been so personally rewarding and I go home with so many good things to say even if there were also many bad things that went on during the day.

Lately, I have also had the pleasure of going to Charlotte and visiting my brother and his family last weekend. It was so nice to get away from everything for a little over a day and enjoy just being ME for a while. My brother and I played Cabela's Big Game Hunter in the Wii until 1:30 and the morning, just the two of us and I honestly don't remember the last time that it was just the two of us hanging out, we had a blast. I also was able to go brunch with them and went to an awesome (and very expensive, thank goodness I didn't have to pay!) restaurant called The Terrace Cafe that had S'mores french toast and fresh squeezed OJ, I was a very happy girl :). Then to top of the day my sister in-law had my brother bring home food from my favorite restaurant BRAVO! and I about died with excitement and the food as always was amazing. Pictures of my nephew and I will be posted soon (I just tried to post and something is messed up)

How's my attempt at blogging? I feel like my blog is boring, I'm not very good with words when it comes to informal writing.

No day but today!

I went and saw my favorite musical RENT for the first time LIVE the other day and it was great! I went with a friend from Graduate School who is also a huge RENT fan, and we had a blast. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed inside, so the only two pics I got were of the ticket, and the playbill. If you like RENT the movie and have never seen it live i highly recommend seeing it live because it is much better than the movie, and makes a lot more sense.

This week marks the last week of class for me until the end of August, so I'm writing a paper...or going to start writing I should say and then i will be done with my first semester (2 summer sessions = one semester)! It feels like i started just yesterday but also feels like I've been in school forever.

Not going anywhere during my three week break, except maybe visiting my brother in Charlotte but here are a few things I am looking forward to

* Working at my internship just a few days a week without class too
* Cooking (I have only made like 1 meal since school started)
* Watching seasons of The Golden Girls
* Reading the new Charlaine Harris book in the Sookie Stackhouse series
* Working at Wendy's...some (gotta make money) I miss the people.

Can't believe it is almost the end of July, hope everyone is enjoying the summer!

Birthday Birthday

I'm now 23 years old. It's a weird feeling, but I've enjoyed being 23 so far. God has blessed this year by bringing many new friends into my life that helped me celebrate my birthday, and it's been a busy week.

Thursday I went and got pedicure at the Aveda Institute, worth it but not as relaxing as I had hoped because I'm too short to reach the foot bath and had to sit on the edge of the chair to dip my feet in. My toenails are a pretty shade of green (see below). Then one of my friends from UNC took me out to Red Robin (I had a coupon for a free burger) and a movie. The movie was Dirty Dancing which is my absolute favorite movie of all time and it was playing outside at a local amphitheater for only $3.00. This made a great end to a good birthday.

Friday night most of the girls from UNC hung out together at Nicholle's house (she's one of our classmates) for a cookout and we ended the night by hitting the town. This is truly my first time "hitting the town" and it was interesting. I of course stayed sober, alcohol is not my idea of fun, but I still had a great time because I got to watch people make fun of themselves and I will remember the entire night and it was a way to bond with my fellow classmates. My classmates even paid for me to take this thing called the Raleigh Rickshaw (a man driving a bike that has comfy cart behind it) to get into town since I can't walk very far, and it was fun.

A few of us girls enjoying the cookout

me and the girl who is known as "The Life of the Party" aka Josie

Katy and I at the amphitheater waiting for Dirty Dancing to begin

The amphitheater

My pedicure

What you've all been waiting for...Pictures!

Since my birthday is coming up (5 days!!!!) my parents decided that if I could find a good camera at a decent price that they would buy it for me as my one and only birthday gift. I was ok with that considering I've been without a camera for more than a year. I didn't expect to find one so soon because usually I do a lot of research on electronics to make sure I'm getting something really good. But, when I was driving home from Charlotte last weekend I stopped by walmart to get a few groceries. I decided to meander over to the electronics/camera department just to start my research once I was finished getting my groceries, and discovered some great bargains. Walmart had a case of cameras that had red sale tags, but they were still way too expensive, until the sale clerk said that all the cameras in the case were 1/2 off the red tag sale price! I went through pretty much all of the digital cameras in that case before deciding on a sleek blue/gray Olympus digital camera with 12 megapixels. It was on sale for $150.00 according to the red tag and then take 1/2 off and it was only $74.50! It didn't come with a memory card, but I got a $25.00 gift card when I bought the 1 year replacement plan (for only $5.98) so I'll be investing in one soon.

But hopefully now my blogs will be a little less boring and everyone will finally get a glimpse into my life here in North Carolina, especially my life now that I am in graduate school at UNC.

Below are just a few pics of the house I live in because I don't think I've posted pictures of every part of the house, plus it's changed a little bit since my last pictures I posted.

In other news, I received an overall grade of High Pass in my advanced standing bridge course! And I've started my internship at the North Carolina Children's Hospital in pediatric oncology. So far I love it! Granted I haven't done much but observe but I can feel that it's going to be a rewarding experience, and as always I feel right at home at the hospital and comfortable in pediatric oncology. I'm sure I'll have my breaking points, but I will get through them and come out the other side a better person.

Happy 4th everyone!

part of my bedroom, it now has a TV stand, chair, and desk that all came from Michigan

Front porch, I love to sit out here and read when it's not too hot!

View from the front porch It's nice out today only 79 degrees

Kitchen! I love cooking in here, tonight I'm making chicken breasts with italian marinade

My shelves in the entry area . Top shelf has a picture of me, Kara, Amy and Kalen from Christmas Banquet junior year and a picture of me and Lauren G. at Ollies Follies senior year. Middle shelf has a picture of me and my best friend Molly from graduation and a picture of Lauren G. and I at graduation. Bottom shelf has a picture of Courtney E and I from Christmas banquet senior year and a picture of my daddy and I at the social work pinning ceremony.

View of the TV/family room including the shelves with pictures, left shelf is Brandi's right shelf is mine

Cool shelving that Brandi found (before I moved in) that has picture albums and photos of her family and other odds and ends. It is in the entry area/living room. Above the shelving are pictures of Brandi's nephews Jace and Kale. Jace is on the left, Kale is on the right.

My bathroom with the new bathroom curtain and towels Brandi bought after Kelli moved out.

Got a camera! Pictures coming soon....

Momma & Daddy may be buying me a new camera for my birthday, so pictures may come soon.....2 weeks till the big 23!!!!!

DONE DONE DONE DONE DONE!!!!!!!

I'm done with the 6 week bridge course, done done done done done!!!!!!!!! The relief is indescribable. I'll try to post more about what's been going on soon.

I'm getting smarter

I feel like I've been in graduate school for months, and it's only been 4 weeks. Not that I'm complaining, I wouldn't change my life for anything even after the emotional breakdowns, late nights, and group projects. I just have to remember to ask God to sustain me each and every day and keep him the center of my life.

Still no pictures because I still don't have a camera, but maybe I'll get one for my birthday :)

Module 2 finished yesterday, I've officially survived 2 graduate school classes. Can't wait for module 3 to be complete so I can finally start my internship, I'm ready to put what I've learned to use in the real world.

And yes I'm getting smarter, at least it feels that way ha ha.

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

It's been chaotic here lately. I started module 2 and while I love it, it's very challenging and more paper writing than the previous module. The added paper writing means late nights and early mornings for me, making getting into a routine difficult. Luckily the girls in my class are becoming a great group of friends and we push each other to get through each day and we even do stuff together outside of class. Like today we are having a cookout for memorial day which is going to be so much fun.

Overall, life is good can't believe May is already here though, time sure does fly.

Last piece of news is that I received a HP which = a High Pass (100-94) in my first module so I got off on the right foot which is always good.

Module 1 of my 6 week bridge course is complete (for me anyway, we still have class tomorrow but I did my presentation today)! I have successfully survived my first real grad school class, and it feels Amazing. There were times last week when I was having some doubts and wondered if graduate school was something I was going to be able to accomplish. But through the grace of God and an awesome friend, the Lord got me through and here I am at the end of the second week, celebrating that I made it to the finish line.

The advanced standing cohort I am in is totally awesome. There are 17 of us, all girls, and all from VERY different backgrounds and states, bringing a lot of diversity to the classroom. But let me tell you the bridge course caused us to bond real quick. We are even having a party tomorrow night, and we had a birthday party for one of our class members this week as well. It's not anything like the Olivet environment, but because of what I learned at Olivet I'm able to stand my ground and not get swayed by the environment that I am in.

This weekend will be filled with relaxation, preparation for the next module, maybe a visit from my brother and niece and nephew, and working at wendy's (not looking forward to it but hey what can ya do).

Thanks for all the encouraging words and well wishes, I'll try to update as much as possible.

First day of school complete

I finished my first day of graduate school!!!!! It was completely different than I expected, and almost a 180 from what Olivet classes and teaching is like but I know I am learning from some of the best in my field (e.g. my professor now wrote the book we are using and a couple of the articles we are reading from established social work journals). It will be a fast and furious 6 weeks but I can tell I will probably learn more in those 6 weeks than in 6 weeks in undergraduate classes. Updates about my journey will occur when I get the time, so not very often. But I will try my best. Thank you to all my friends and family for your support.

Since I'm stranded

Stranded at the airpot means I truly have time to update this blog so here's the week in review

Saturday (May 1st): Road trip with Dad & Mom from North Carolina to Michigan, nothing much to report that day, though I discovered I'm not a big fan of West Virginia or Virginia, too hilly and country for me.

Sunday: Church/Surprise Gram & Gramps. Gram & Gramps J. didn't know I was coming so I surprised them by showing up at church and sneaking up behind them, definitely gave my grandma a mini heart attack. Church was filled with the usual crazy chaos that ensues when I go home, it's the one place where I wish there were like 5 of me so I could see everyone. After church we took Gram & Gramps to my favorite local restaurant Fenton House and my brother Tim and his family decided to join, without knowing I was there, so I got to surprise them too. Later that day I went over and surprised my cousin Susie and was hoping to see her 3 year old boy Noah but he was sleeping.

Monday: Frankenmuth & Bestie day. My mom & I took my niece Addison to Frankenmuth where we enjoyed scrumptious pieces of fried chicken and buttered noodles. Then traveled over to the general store and got some old fashioned candy, and then went over to the world's LARGEST Christmas store. The World's Largest Christmas store was definitely interesting with a 3 year old especially since a majority of the hundreds of christmas ornaments are GLASS! She did a pretty good job not touching them but sometimes that's just too much temptation for someone that young. After all this excitement I met up with my best friend from Olivet, Katie who I haven't seen for an entire year. We had so much fun I wished time could've stopped. We went to UNO's pizzeria, sat in her car and talked, and then took wacky pictures on my mac camera (which can be seen on facebook)

Tuesday: Had Olive Garden with Aunt Vanessa and Morgan. Just had a ladies day which was nice.

Wednesday: Did my UNC homework, and then saw Letters to God with a few of my mom's friends, which is an amazing movie you must go see. Then we met up with my Uncle and his family at a coney island and just enjoyed some family time.

Thrusday: Brother and nieces and nephew came over to play and then Addy spent the night with me. Oh and we went over to gram & gramps for a while and to to see my aunt tamara and uncle mark and my cousin chase, and also got to see my uncle brian and some of his family again. He played a mean prank on me, by sticking a "kick me" sign to the middle of my back and I had it on for quite some time before someone finally told me about it.

Friday: Babysat Addy, got my hair cut and went to the ambassador concert and saw my best best best best friend in the whole wide world Molly! We had the pleasure of watching Molly's sister Hannah sing her senior solo and laughing throughout the show and just enjoying each other's company.

Today: stuck at the airport, missed my connecting flight, ready to be home, so much TV to catch up on and so much to do before Monday.

I think this blogpost is long enough don't you....

Busy vacation

It's been an eventful few days here to say the least!

I had my last day of work at the airport...it was bittersweet. then my parents arrived later that night and I brought baked potatoes (from wendy's), poppyseed chicken, and raspberry jello to the hotel for dinner. Wednesday mom and I did some shopping at Kohls in the morning and then headed over to the southpoint mall with dad where we did some more shopping then took in a movie (The Last Song) at the cinema at the mall. Then we went to walmart and did some grocery shopping and then went back to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. Today we've toured UNC SSW, and UNC campus, and ate at the japanese steakhouse right down from the hotel with my roommate Brandi...boy was it yummy.

Yep been a busy few days, hopefully tomorrow is a little more relaxing.

Hello nano

Why I was so against ipod nano is beyond me. I just got the (product) Red ipod nano and I'm in love (I used the rest of the gift card and only paid a mere 13.00 for the nano). Right now I'm listening to a local raleigh/durham radio station....and it's totally clear! This means I will stay occupied during the 12 hour drive to michigan, all of which I will not be driving, and to be honest I like driving it makes the time go by faster because you get focused. This time next week my parents will be here and I will be enjoying their company.....AH vacation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am blessed beyond words.

Friends don't let friends buy PC's

The title is what my uncle told me while justifying the amazing apple gift card he gave me.

Brand New White MacBook = a very happy ME!

Bye Bye Mac :(

My nice Mac decided to leave this world and become apart of the technology junk yard on Monday. I miss it a lot, it was my best friend and my lifesaver. Since them I am at the mercy of my roommate who has been kind enough to let me borrow her computer when she is not using it, and the library in Hillsborough, which luckily is a very nice library. Not having my music however is driving me insane and until I can get a disc or another computer that recognizes my external hard drive my music will go unplayed. I have had various offers since the death of my mac, and am debating which one to accept. The $1200.00 mac gift card, or the Lenovo PC employee discount? I love Macs but at this time is it really what will work best for me? If I get a mac do I get a macbook, macbook pro, or an imac? If I get a lenovo do I invest in a sturdy laptop that is reliable yet heavy and awkward or the sleek and stylish laptop?

Ahhh so many choices! I wish they had the black macbook like Amy has, I think that's my favorite one.

Pollen & Pizza

One word can describe this week...Pollen. The nasty yellow stuff covered my car, and even our kitchen counters and other surfaces because we had the windows open since we wanted to try and leave the air off. It was totally disgusting and annoying because a car wash is pointless since the pollen is attracted to cars like a strong magnet and returns as soon as you wash it away. The picture below gives just a glimpse of what we had to deal with.

Other than the pollen life is moving along. It's hard to believe school is now only 1 month away and its causing some stress since I am trying to figure out how to pay for school, buy my textbooks, and finish up all the necessary paperwork and immunizations (I hate shots, even though I'm not afraid of needles) but it will all work out, just hard to trust God in times like these when I'm such a perfectionist and a worry wart.

I've also made a new friend and she could not have come into my life at a better time. She goes to my church and she is a social worker! She got her MSW not too long ago and connected with me when she found out I was accepted into the MSW program. Tonight we set out to cook and freeze meals in bulk so I can just pull one out of the freezer and heat it during school instead of going back on the college diet. We got the list of recipes we wanted to try and the ingredients we would need, but we got to talking and connecting that we didn't get to the shopping or cooking part. Instead we went out for pizza at a new restaurant in Durham called Enzo's Pizza Company. It was definitely something I needed both the pizza and the time with a friend. Especially one who understands where I'm coming from and is willing to be a support to me during grad school. I'm so excited to see where this friendship goes, I think it could turn into one that will last for a long time.

Only 17 days till my parents come!!!!!

Resident of Nowhere

Apparently as of today I am a resident of....NOWHERE! That's right folks I'm not a resident of Michigan anymore, but according to the UNC board of residency I'm not a resident of North Carolina either. This could be good in the fact that I could just move to another state and start over with no worries of forgoing residency of my previous homes in other states but bad in the fact that out of state tuition costs about the same as one year at Olivet, and we all know how dearly I am paying for my Olivet education financially.....I think I just read that one of my loans will be paid off in 2040, which means I'll be over half a century old, that hurts a little, but it was worth it. Today I successfully made chicken parmesan served over a plate of spaghetti noodles (with butter and parmesan cheese) with a side of garlic bread and brownies for dessert. My Mr. Right will be quite a lucky man when it comes to the cooking that's for sure and as Amy says *grin*

It's been a good week in my book, though I'm anxiously awaiting tomorrow and Saturday because I get to spend the day at UNC instead of at work. While it won't be totally relaxing it will be a nice change of pace, and a good kick off to this whole graduate school thing. Plus it means 1 extra day of sleeping in, even if sleeping in now means 8:00 a.m. instead of 10:00a.m. My favorite days though recently are ones where Jace and Kale come over to play and a toy explosion occur. I can't wait till the day I am married and have my own kids and can enjoy days of eating dinner around the kitchen table with toys strewn about the house, I think I really am growing up, it's a scary thought to say the least. Oh I found a picture of the School of Social Work at UNC so that is what I will leave you with.

Things continue to chug along in my life, though there isn't much to report. That is unless you'd like to here about the mounds of paperwork I've been doing, and the papers I've had to write regarding how much I need financial help for grad school. Let's see what I can think of that is interesting though

- I made pot roast for the 1st time, good and edible but definitely needs some work.
- I made homemade macaroni cheese, edible, definitely not going to work on it, boxed macaroni and cheese dinners are going to be just fine for me!
- I have had a complete obsession with egg noodles and ritz crackers mixed together, they are my dinner of choice 4 out 7 days of the week it seems, and yes it's like a craving but I'M NOT pregnant :p
- NCAA March Madness is upon us, bring on the bracket competition, love this time of year go MSU and Duke!
- I start school in less than 2 months yikes!
- My uncle is posting very embarrassing photos of me on his blog (like photos from when I was really young that are very embarrassing), I will get him back one of these days.
- Charlaine Harris is my new favorite author...probably due to my fascination with vampires.
- The Twilight Eclipse trailer came out and yes I felt like I was going to faint because I was so excited.

That's it for now...headed to bed considering I have to be up in less than 7 hours.

Still no keys

Still no keys. But on the bright side of life I got my internship for graduate school! I will be working as an intern at UNC Hospital in the adult bone marrow transplant unit! I'm super excited as internships at UNC are VERY rare, and I love bone marrow transplant so it will be interesting to do it on the adult side. I really wish I had a camera to post pictures, sorry if my posts are boring.

More soon, when I can think of more to write about

Oh yeah I lost my keys

Did I mention I also lost my keys today, on top of the fact that the bachelor was ridiculous I seem to have lost my keys at work...so all and all not a good day. Luckily I did have a spare key I just hope we can find my other set of keys.

The Bachelor is stupid.

I think I'm not going to watch The Bachelor anymore.......wait a minute I think I said that like 3 seasons ago, this time I hope I stay true to it.

I GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At around 4:45 p.m. today I opened up the mailbox to discover a letter from the UNC @ Chapel Hill graduate school. I was excited and nervous all at the same time, and I prayed that God give me peace whatever the envelope held, although I was praying that it would be a yes. I pulled into my driveway and tore open the envelope and got past the first two words before I started shrieking, I think I blew my dad's eardrum I screamed so loud (he was on the phone soon after I opened the letter). I will start graduate school at the #3 program in the country in May. God is so so good. Thank you for all your prayers regarding this, they have been answered and I am so grateful.

supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

I love that word, it's so much fun to say. Not that I really know what it means but I love it anyway. Things are going good here this week. Brandi had her surgery and it was successful, at least at this point. The house has been quiet without her, but I've enjoyed it, I've discovered I like to live by myself more now than I did in college, guess it's a part of growing up. My parents and niece Addison are in Florida visiting my grandparents, and Addy did a good job on her first plane ride. But she keeps asking for Aunt Brittany to come home, and that's hard, because I miss her a lot, and I do feel like I am missing out on a lot of important moments in her life, at the same time I know I've made the right decision by staying here and only coming home for Christmas, and unless something dire happens. Just hard to know that she does realize I'm gone and misses me. Josh, Shanna and Nolan will be in Florida in a few days, and then the kids will experience Disney for the 1st time, wish I could be there to see that, but at the same time glad I'm not because I really hate It's a Small World After All, and I guarantee they will be going on that ride at least once.

Still no word on grad school, I'm becoming a compulsive mail checker, like those girls and guys you see in movies that check the mail as soon as they get home each day to see if they received a letter from their significant other, but I can't help it. I mean basically my life is hanging on one piece of paper that will tell me yes or no, which is definitely nerve wracking. Not that I'll really enjoy being a tarheel, they are doing horribly in basketball this season ha ha (just kidding about not going to enjoy being a tarheel, but the basketball part is true).

One more thing....Amy, Kylee, Kara you guys need to come visit me, I miss you!!!!!!

Moved in

I'm all moved in and so far I love it. This room just seems to fit me better, and I feel much more at home, I know weird. The walls are bare, for the most part but I'm not a teenager so it seems kind of silly to put posters up of bands or movies, but black and white pictures don't seem to fit either, and I'm not good at finding artwork so for now the walls will stay bare. If anyone has suggestions about what I could do to decorate my walls, feel free to share your thoughts. Of course I won't be living here for the rest of my life, so it needs to be something temporary/easy to get off the walls and take to other places I will live. For now I just have one picture of the room taken with my computer. Notice the bear in the middle of the bed. It was my birthday gift from my best friend Molly, the bear has a shirt on it that has the letter F printed on the front and is the same as our high school colors Orange and Black, Fenton Tigers!


I love how the bed is so big! I'm so used to sleeping in a twin bed, I literally have slept in a twin bed since I was old enough to be in a big girl bed, so it's nice to finally be moving on to bigger and better things (yes I get a much better sleep now that my bed is bigger because I don't have to worry about rolling off).

The Olympics start tonight, yay!

Guess who's coming to visit.

My parents are coming to town in 76 days. So excited! Now it's time for me to get back to moving.....into the other room. I like the layout better, and now that Kelli has moved out I asked Brandi if it was ok if I could move into the other room, and she said yes. The only thing is that I forgot how consuming moving is, brings back memories of moving into and out of Olivet apartments and dorm rooms, so chaotic and messy, and time consuming. Ugggh.

Just for fun:
The first 5 songs that came onto my itunes when on shuffle
1. Single Ladies (Put a ring on it) - Beyonce
2. Red Sky - Brandon Heath
3. Amelia's Missing - Jon Mclaughlin
4. Everybody - Ingrid Michaelson
5. Be Be Your Love - Rachael Yamagata

Check those songs out, they are all great.

BBQ and Goodies

Well my brother has come and gone. I saw him for about an hour and a half, so not enough time, but so worth it, even though he ate basically all of my french fries and picked on me the entire time.

We met up at a truly southern restaurant, a BBQ joint famous for its banana pudding and vinegar based BBQ. I wasn't a big fan of the vinegar based BBQ, but that banana pudding was the best I have ever had. Too bad the place is an hour and a half away from where I live. Mostly, Josh and I spent the time talking about what's going on back in MI with the family, and he asked me questions about North Carolina, all and all a very good time.

I also got many goodies from my brother, and from my parents back in MI. I got a Michigan State shirt (picture above), peanut butter M&M's, Chex Party Mix (pictured above), Clothes (that I had left in MI from Christmastime), my pillow, mixing bowls, popcorn popper, DVDs, skittles, plain M&M's, and root beer barrels. Plus some furniture that I am using to decorate the bedroom I am moving into. Same house different bedroom. I am so blessed to have such a great family who makes sure I am taken care of.

In other news, my parents are coming in 77 days! They will be here for 4 nights this time, 2 nights more than the last time so we can actually just relax and have a good time instead of rushing trying to cram things in and see everything. I can't wait to see them, and play Wii with them :)

The pictures above were taken from my camera on my mac so unfortunately I can't get a lot of pictures because the camera isn't as versatile as a real camera.

Please pray for my roommate as she was supposed to undergo Gastric Bypass Surgery this morning but it had to be postponed and she is having a rough time emotionally with how everything is changing and uncertain at this time.

Winter Storm 2010 and more

So that snow I talked about actually happened! We ended up getting around 7 inches of snow (that's A TON for the south) throughout Friday night into Saturday. It pretty much shut the entire state down for days. I was the only employee that braved the roads on Saturday and Sunday and worked extra hours which is good for me financially, but bad for my sanity sometimes, especially because the airport closed down so customers were beyond angry. But I survived! The schools were shut down Monday-Wednesday and had a 2 hour delay on Thursday even though it snowed on the weekend, made me wish I was still in high school.

Monday after the snow my car broke down, but by the grace of God I was blessed to be able to make it to work before anything totally major occurred and then a fellow employee let me follow him to the mechanic shop and then drove me back to work so that I could work while my car got fixed, since I had no way to get home if my car didn't get fixed right away, one of the downsides of living in a state with no family. I was back on the road as soon as my shift ended, thank the Lord, and I've had no problems since.

Now here it is Friday night, and I have the opportunity to say that my brother is coming to North Carolina.......on SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!! He's actually helping a family member on his wife's side move down, but he couldn't come to NC without seeing me, so I'll get to see him for a few hours. Plus, he is bringing me a lot of stuff from home that I have missed, like my pillow. my mixing bowls, chex party mix, a bookshelf, a tv stand, and other odds and ends. It will be so nice to see some family, I haven't seen anyone since Christmas, and if he wasn't coming it would have been 5 months until I would see family.

Sorry I have no pictures of the snow, I'll see if I can find some that my friends posted and share them.

Please continue to pray for me as I am still awaiting an answer from the UNC graduate school/MSW advanced standing program that applied for in January. It's hard playing the waiting game.

God bless :)

Snow

Walmart sold out of bread and milk guess what that means.....SNOW!!!! Yes folks we are supposed to get a good 6-9 inches of snow here in North Carolina, and that means it's complete and utter chaos with people gathering supplies to stay indoors for days instead of just hours. If I lived in MI it wouldn't be such a big deal because we have the equipment to deal with that amount of snow, but 6 inches is rare around here and they don't have the plows or salt for it, so we'll see how things go.

No camera

No camera = no pictures sorry hopefully I'll get a new digital one in the future and be able to post pics of the house, the new room I will be moving into (same house, different room), new friends, and even family if they ever get the chance to travel down here. Until then you are just stuck with my words :)

So ummm I don't update anymore oops...maybe I will soon, let me know if you want me to update.