Thanksgiving/Vincent's Birthday Celebration

The Birthday boy!


Blowing out the candles!


Today we went over to my brother Dana's place to celebrate Thanksgiving and Vincent's 2nd birthday. My mom's sister & husband were visiting from Mexico so they came also. My cousin Miriam and her family also came. It was a nice time! :) Definitely missed my sis as well as my cousin Esther & her family.

Family Photo Update

Just wanted to post the latest pic of my sis & her kids as well as my brothers with my dad. Why do they think beards are cool?!?! ugh!

Cookie Baking '06

I drove over to Pennsylvania to bake cookies with my mom & sister-in-law. This was our 2nd annual cookie baking day. It was fun! We definitely missed my sister, Trina, who is in Thailand. My little nephew, Vincent, wasn't feeling very good that day! :( And, my other nephew, Colson, slept most of the day! (I was a little jealous!!!) We ended up with over 800 cookies...didn't quite make the 1,000 mark like we did last year. Bubba - we need u here!! Needless to say, it was a LONG day!! And on the way over I was almost in a head on collision with this old man who decided it was ok to drive the wrong way on an exit ramp into oncoming traffic on a highway!!! Definitely don't like those kinds of adreneline rushes!!! Enjoy the pics!

Relaxing weekend

Just got back from a wonderful, relaxing weekend with friends. My friends Laura & Karen and I went up to Binghamton to visit my friend Mona. We hung out with a couple of her friends, Michelle & Nikki on Saturday. What a great time...good memories....lots of laughs!! :)

Girls Nite Out

Today is my friend Laura's birthday!! To celebrate, a bunch of us went out last night and then had a sleepover!! So much fun!! :) Made lots of memories!

Jeaden's 1st Birthday Party

Today we celebrated my godson's birthday party. Jeaden wasn't too sure of what was going on, but he seemed to have a good time! :)

Blood, Sweat & Poison Ivy

Some things I hate:
1. Sweating like you just worked out for hours when in reality you just started pulling weeds.
2. Pulling weeds at dusk with bugs biting you wherever there is skin. It is NOT cool to have bug bites on your forehead!!!
3. Chopping through wild rose brambles and other various wild stuff with prickers. My poor arms look like I was in a cat fight.
4. Applying lotion that is suppose to "repel" poison ivy oils prior to pulling weeds. Immediately after weeding, disrobing, jumping in the shower and scrubbing with a wash that is suppose to remove all poison ivy oils. Only to have the "lovely" poison ivy rash appear on my arms, etc.
5. Now that I have the poison ivy rash going....taking the "wonderful" Prednisone to help shorten the life span. Now poor Chris gets to put up with my mood swings & increased hunger....both dreaded side effects of Predinsone.
6. Working your butt off pulling so many black trash bags full of weeds to only make a dent in the jungle of vines, dandelions and a multitude of weeds I don't know names for. I've literally pulled at least 14 big, black trash bags full so far. I still have at least 6 more to go. Oh YAY!!
7. A week left of "freedom" and it has to be filled with pulling weeds, reading my two big textbooks for nursing as well as making medication cards, and memorizing the serum lab values for about 10 different lab tests. Where did the summer go!?!?!

Oh....I really do LOVE gardening!!!! Maybe someone can remind me why as I sit with heating packs on my back and shoulders/neck! :)

Cabin 2006

My family rented a "cabin" in Wellsboro, PA for the weekend. We missed my sister, Trina, tremendously! It was fun hanging out and playing with my nephews. Actually only really played with my nephew Vincent 'cause Colson only wanted to sleep & eat. Imagine that!! :)

Jeaden

I was so excited that I was able to go see my godson, Jeaden & his mom, Sharnett. We had a great time! He's growing like a weed. Hard to believe that he's almost a year old!!!

End of Externship

Wow! Ten weeks sure flew by!!! My nursing externship at Danbury Hospital ended tonight. (Actually last night as I'm posting at 2:30 in the morning!!) I thoroughly enjoyed my time as an extern & learned A LOT from all of my preceptors! I can't wait until it's official & I'm actually working as a nurse! From the first night of my externship on, I knew I was doing what I really was meant to do! I LOVED it! Made some good connections & it looks good for a possible hire in the spring! YAY! My summer class also just finished. Now I can relax & enjoy August!!! Hopefully I'll get some good beach days in!! (I also need to do some reading for nursing next semester! Gotta love those fluids & electrolytes!!!)

Family Get Together

My mom's brother James & his wife Bette from OR came to PA & stopped in at my parents' place for a visit. Great time for a family get together! Jaren, Jarrell & Shaila enjoyed having Jeremy read to them. The little yellow chair was consistently being fought over by the younger three (Janae, Anisha & Vincent). Colson was content to lay on the couch and observe ! And Vincent (along with the rest of the kids) enjoyed going up and down the stairs! Wish I had their energy!!!!! :)

Gemma's Wedding

My friend Gemma got married July 4th at Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful setting and a lovely wedding! What a fun night! :)

Father's Day/Pop's 50th Birthday Celebration

We went over to pennsylvania to celebrate Father's Day and my dad's 50th birthday. We surprised him with a scrapbook of memories for his birthday. He loved it! It was also great to see my nephews Vincent & Colson!!

God is good!!!

Just a praise report!! I received a letter from WCC (the college I attend) stating that I got a scholarship for my last year of nursing. It will cover the majority of the tuition expenses! We were trying not to worry about the finances for this upcoming year. We knew God would take care of us & this is a great reminder! This is such a "God-incidence"!!! We feel very blessed indeed!

New Nephew

My new nephew, Colson Tyler Martin, has arrived. He was born 6/5/06 at 8:58 am, weighed 6 lbs 13 oz and was 18" long. He's such a precious bundle of joy! I drove 6 hours round trip to go see him in the hospital (about 1 1/2 visiting time). I'm exhausted now, but it was SO worth it!!!

Good fun!

I had so much fun watching our friends' kids...Brandon & Jack. Their mom went to get her hair done, so it was just me & the boys! Jack pretty much chilled the entire time. Brandon & I had fun playing t ball, basketball, big wheels, Thomas the Tank Engine, etc. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but was tuckered out by the time I left! :)

Grades!!

I'm SO relieved!! I got an "A" in Comp & Lit II and "B+" in both Nursing & Microbiology!! To those who know me well, I'm "growing" and can now accept "B+" sometimes!! :)

Finals

Well, half way through nursing school!!! I am SO EXCITED!!! I finished my last final this afternoon!!! Now I have to wait patiently for my grades to be posted!!! I have a couple weeks break before I start my externship at Danbury Hospital. I'm also doing an online course over the summer. Should be an easy "A"!!! Definitely won't have any opportunity to be bored!! Tomorrow I'm tackling the weeds that have flourished during this semester! :)