My baby sister is 16...

Wow. Jamie is 16. Driving by herself. It's bad enough that she's a good 3 inches taller than me and beautiful, but does she really have to drive now?? I guess I can work this to my advantage. New drivers are just excited to drive, so maybe I can get her to pick me up and drive me to my errands. She does owe me for the last 7 years...

We went to Shogun last night for her birthday dinner and then came home and had cookie cake for dessert. Mom picked out a cute one!

A few people are wanting to see pictures of the haircut, and the only picture I have of him since then is this one but you can't really tell.

Tonight we are off to Atlanta for my cousin Austin's engagement party/Christmas for that side of the family. I'm sure it will be fun as always.

Oh and one more thing....15 DAYS TIL WE TAKE OFF FOR COLORADO!!!

What the heck Raffy?

http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20081217&content_id=3720143&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl

I am upset. I had my hopes up that we would get Furcal back. I thought it was a done deal. Apparently not... I really don't have much to say about it I am just upset. Honestly I am only typing this because Ben is asleep and I can rant to him about it. I have a Furcal t shirt I was going to bring out of storage for games this year. Guess not anymore. If Furcal changed his mind because of the possibility of being moved to 2nd base to leave Yunel at short then he is selfish. Doesn't he know there are people like me and Ben (or anyone who remotely cares about our lineup) who want him back?? Now we will not get to hear Bobby shouting "let's go Raffy when he's at bat". And I love hearing Bobby shout. I will only be appeased if we somehow get Teixeira back. And now that I'm married I guess I should stop wishing for Nick Green's return. We don't really need him, but he sure looked good in his uniform...

Guess I just need to prepare for the usual off season ripping out of my heart.

Our Weekend

We had a pretty full weekend. Friday night one of my BEST friends Meredith who lives in Birmingham surprised me by driving up to stay the night. We had been trying to get together for a while but stuff kept coming up for both of us. When I saw her I am pretty sure I threw my phone across the floor and jumped on her. Thankfully I did not break my phone, or Mer. We were both surprised that Ben did not spoil the secret. I love him, buuut he's not great with surprises. He's can be like a 5 year old boy who just gets too excited to keep the secret anymore. It's actually kinda cute. So kudos Ben, I am proud of you for keeping this from me. Now that I was reunited with Mer (even if it was less than 24 hours) we got to do the thing we were waiting to do until we were together: watch Madagascar 2! A little background...Mer got me a job at the Ladies Lounge while I was at Auburn. Yes, this does sound like a strip club but it's only a purse store. I understand the idea of me working at a purse store is laughable, but I did. I don't really like purses, but you do what you have to in order to stay in Auburn for the summers. At the Ladies Lounge only one person worked at a time, and there were days we sold nothing. In other words, BORING! So we watched the one movie we had in the store over and over again on the monogramming computer, Madagascar. We hummed the theme song all summer long, and let's be honest-the penguins are hilarious. So with no shame we eagerly awaited the sequel and we got to experience it together on Saturday. It did not disappoint. I had so much fun while Meredith was here, it's great to have friends who know you completely and love you anyways.

Next on the list of exciting weekend events: Ben shaved his head. He called me after his haircut saying that it was awful and he was going to shave it, but I didn't believe him. He has been saying this since we started dating and he never followed through. I still didn't believe him when he was at WalMart buying the clippers (is that even what it's called?). He walked through the door, and after about 10 minutes of me laughing at how bad his hair actually did look I still did not think he would actually do it. But he did it! Well actually I did it, but he let me. He has been getting mixed reviews but I think he looks hot. I'm a little biased though.

Sunday night we went to the Behold the Lamb concert that I had been looking forward to since, wellll, last Christmas when I went to the concert. Before the concert we had dinner at my parents house with the Calverts, and then we all went together. We are so blessed to have families that enjoy each other's company and get along so well! The concert was AWESOME! I listen to all of the artists individually, so when they are all together in one building it a huge treat for me. Jill Phillips' voice is unreal, Andy Gullahorn was hilarious as always, Andrew Peterson is a musical genius, I've loved Bebo since middle school and Andrew Osenga playing the guitar just makes me happy. It was also good to be back at Southwood, I had not been back in the building since the wedding. Before the concert even started I found myself feeling all sentimental and emotional being back. I grew up there! I went to Southwood before the building existed, I have played sardines countless times so I can honestly say I know every inch of that building, and some of the most influential people in my life are there. Don't get me wrong, I love love love my new church but there will always be a very special place in my heart for Southwood. And have I mentioned the concert was awesome?

The job search continues. Apparently neither hospital is in a huge hurry to let me know something. But at least I did not get the immediate email saying you don't meet the requirements after filling out the online application for 2 hours. Man I hate that.

Now that I've had time to process what has been going on with school, I can honestly say I am confused. I did everything right, I had all the right classes and all the forms in on time. The reason I won't be starting in Jan is that the school did not get back to me early enough because they were backed up in administration. I really am not mad about that, being mad will not change anything. I understand that it gets hectic. But something that I have been praying about and trying to figure out is the difference between a closed door and something I need to work through. Do I persevere and get through nursing school, or do I move on and get my degree in something else? I have been struggling with the fact that I have graduated yet for a while. My nursing class down in Auburn had their pinning ceremony the other day and I could not help but wish I was there with them! I am searching for a Nurse's Assistant job right now, but if I had not gotten sick and had to withdraw I would be searching for a RN job. I have such a wonderful husband who has so much confidence in me and my abilities. We were not expecting to be in this situation of being married and me not having graduated, and I am so thankful for his constant support. My great comfort is that God knows the exact date of my graduation and He will take me in the direction He wants me. It's a good thing He is in charge, I'm sure I would mess it all up ha. So again I ask for your prayers for the decisions that are in the future.

Have a great week, hang in there, it's almost Christmas!

no school for now

Update from yesterday:

Long story short-I won't be starting nursing school in Jan. So now it's time for some serious job searching. I just applied to Crestwood, and hopefully soon to Huntsville Hospital. If you hear of any doctor's offices that need a CNA let me know. Let's be honest, I just wanna wear scrubs.

So Ben and I are having a minor issue, we can't find the remote. We live in a small one bedroom apartment, there's not a whole lot of places it could be. But it's nowhere to be found! It's a mystery. This may seem insignificant to you but we don't care. It's a pretty big issue. Atleast it did not interfere with The Office tonight. Poor Andy Bernard...

I can save you

I really can save you now. I probably could have saved you before, but now I am (re)certified to save you. Tonight I just finished my 5 billionth (slight exaggeration) CPR/AED course. I have been taking these classes since I was 14 and had the high ambitions of being a lifeguard, and now that I'm required to take them for nursing school I miiiight be a little tired of the cheesy videos and moldy mannequins. But atleast I'm good for another year and if you happen to fall into the adult, child or infant category having cardiac distress or choking you are in luck if I am around. Just saying.

By the time most of you read this, I probably will have already met with the nursing advisor at Calhoun, but I am still asking for your prayers. I have no idea what answers I will be getting, and to be honest I don't really know how I am going to feel about what happens either way. That confusing to you? It is to me too. Welcome to my thought process. I talk myself out of things alot. So I am asking you to pray for God to give me wisdom and to make the decision about school that will best glorify Him. And also pray that I keep it in that perspective.

Victory Dinner

Hello all! I am typing this with a full stomach and a very proud ego. Before I tell you where I had dinner, I will tell you how I got this dinner. I won a bet. I understand people's arguments about how betting is wrong buuuuut it's a pretty healthy part of mine and Ben's relationship. From the time we first started dating we found out how competitive the other person really was. Especially when it comes to our opinions on sports. We agree on the biggies, like the Braves and Auburn football, but past that we are complete opposites. For example Ben has a man crush on Tom Brady, while I think that no one can top Peyton Manning. He agreed with Brett Favre's decision to come back to the NFL (after quitting) and play with the Jets, but I sympathized with the outraged Packers fans who could not believe he would play for another team. He thinks our son will play lacrosse, but my boy's gonna play baseball for the Braves so his momma can retire and travel around the country with the team. But the difference of opinion that gave me dinner of my choice was the South Carolina vs Clemson game. I love Clemson, I almost went there for college. I probably love it because it's so much like Auburn. I also love it because I have awesome memories of a road trip with my dad when going to visit schools. Ben on the other hand loves South Carolina. He really has no good reason, but has always pulled for them as his second favorite in the SEC. So we made a bet on the game: whoever won got to choose what meal we wanted (exception Ruth's Chris). Just in case you didn't see the game Clemson won 31-14, meaning at least one team of Tigers won that weekend. So I got to choose my meal!

Now is the point that most people will be disappointed in me. I could have chosen ANY meal but we ended up at Olive Garden. Go ahead and judge me, I don't care. I have been CRAVING the seafood alfredo for months. I don't really like anything else there, it's just that one dish. I can never convince Ben that it's a good idea to go eat there and I really can't blame him. But tonight I ate my seafood alfredo with a smile on my face, and I will eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow with that same smile. Pasta tastes better when you win it! And when you can say "I was right" in between bites.

It's a good thing we love each others competitive side, cause I have a feeling it's not going anywhere.

Thanksgiving and such

Ben and I had a few firsts this week as a married couple. First Thanksgiving, first major school holiday that no longer applies to us, and first decorating for Christmas. Good times.

Thanksgiving day started earlier than we would have liked it to, because now that we are in the real world we can no longer sleep til 10. So we woke up around 7 and had a discussion about starting our own Thanksgiving traditions. I mean, this would be a good year to start these things but we could not think of anything clever. So instead of starting meaningful traditions we decided to splurge on Hardees breakfast (can't beat their biscuits) and we watched Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Classy. And also not a good call seeing as how a Thanksgiving feast was being prepared at my parents' house. We had dinner with my family, my Dad's parents, and my aunt, uncle and cousins. It was a good time, despite being surrounded by Bama fans and their constant reminders of the impending Iron Bowl. (side note: ugh.) Dinner consisted of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, dressing, sweet potato casserole, asparagus, corn, rolls, apple pie, and pumpkin roll. Great job Mom, and everyone else who contributed! I brought a veggie tray, so technically I helped. Kinda.

Ben had to work on Friday so I went shopping with my Mom and sisters. We didn't get out there 'til nine so we missed the craziness of the super early shopping, but if you know me and my sisters then you know that nine was a pretty big deal for us. Props to Jen and Jamie for making it. We bought some good things for Christmas, but no crazy deals. I got to see my old roommate Cile and her husband Adam for a few minutes while we were shopping, and I'm glad they were in town from Memphis. Wish we had more time though.

Friday night I picked Ben up from work and we headed to Holly Pond to spend time with Ben's family. We made it just in time to participate in their after Thanksgiving tradition of CiCi's Pizza and going to the movies. And after the movies we played Dirty Santa with gifts we all bought from WalMart for $15. Another reason being married has benefits: you can play as a team in games like Dirty Santa. I stole The Office trivia game and was trying to hide it under after the game was over, but then Joe stole it from me. Not cool. So then I stole Ben's gift from him so he could steal back The Office trivia game. Moral of this story: if you have a team member in Dirty Santa then you get to go home with The Office trivia game. YAY! If any Office fans want to show their knowledge on the show, then come on over and we will play.

Today we set up Christmas decorations. We had anticipated it to be stressful, but it was a lot easier than we thought. We picked out our tree from Home Depot because Ben still had a few gift cards. It was easier than I have ever experienced because we could just put it in the back of Ben's truck and drive away. I have always had to tie the tree to the top of the car which is just a pain. So we find our "perfect tree" and head home to bring it up the stairs. After some slight rearranging of furniture we set it set up in our tree stand with surprisingly no trouble. We don't have lots of ornaments on the tree, but I like it that way. It gives us room to grow. We also decorated around the apt and I think everything looks good so far. Well, everything looks good for me being the most uncreative person in all of Huntsville, and probably Alabama.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Looking forward to hearing all the stories (especially about Vegas, C and D!)

hate shopping.

I've been saving money in order to buy some winter clothes. I may have fooled everyone at church into thinking that I haven't worn the same pants 4 weeks in a row, but I doubt I can get away with 5. So I have been saving my money instead of finding ways to spend it all on the usuals: coffee, sour patch kids, books, sushi, and more coffee. Dang, I just realized that's mainly things I eat or drink. I should work on that. Anyways, I have saved up a decent amount of money and I headed to Bridge Street with Ben, Joe and Jen with my hopes high that I will be leaving with a pair of jeans, some nice shirts and if I am super lucky a pair of shoes. Here's the deal. I can go shopping with no intentions to buy something and I find tons of things I would love to bring home to fill my closet. But not this time. Nooooo I actually have a purpose to this shopping trip and I find nothing. Nothing in my size, nothing under a ridiculous amount of money, and nothing I like. Seriously??

As I am typing this I realize how materialistic I sound. But a girl needs some new clothes sometimes. Hopefully I will have better luck during the after Thanksgiving sales...

Of Mice and (Wo)Men

Let me just start this blog by saying that I have the most amazingly strong wife in the world. She's the rock of our relationship. I wouldn't make it without her. There, I said it. (Are you happy, Jess?!) 

A couple of nights ago we spent the night at my parents house to take care of the dogs while they were out of town. During the middle of the night, I heard a loud pop that sounded like a gun shot. Apparently my parents have a mice problem and one of the little demons walked right into their trap. 

I'm man enough to admit that I hate blood, gore and disfigurement. I can barely look at my own finger after suffering a paper cut without getting light headed. So the thought of pulling the giant twisted mouse out of the trap and throwing it away made me gag. Now, I'll take on any roach, spider or other insect, but a mouse with a dislocated neck is just too much. 

Fortunately Jess doesn't mind blood and guts. In fact, it doesn't bother her at all. I guess that's why she's about to be a nurse. After noticing that I was on the verge of fainting, she went over to the trap, picked up the mouse, and properly disposed of the dismembered body. No hesitation, no gagging and definitely no passing out. But not before letting me know that she would do this under one condition; that I let everyone know that she's the one who took care of the mouse problem. So there you go!

In other news, we had a great time playing broom hockey today with the church's youth group. Still a little sore from falling, and losing, but it's nothing a couple of Aleve won't fix. Our team played hard and held the lead for most of the game, but we couldn't withstand a late rally from the blue team and lost by one. Even though we lost, we saw some promising things. Our defense played great and our offense really controlled the ball well. We were able to learn a few things about our opponents and won't be caught off guard next time. It was also hilarious to watch everyone take some huge spills. No one said they were hurt at the end of the game, but we'll wait until tomorrow before releasing the official injury report. 

Oh, and last week Jess told you about our little vacation. We went to the Jack Daniels Distillery and ate at Miss Mary Bo Bo's boarding house. That was probably the best meal I've ever had. However, she failed to mention that after eating more than my body weight in food, we went to a nice dinner with her family and grand parents. I thought about taking it easy and eating a bowl of soup, or something else light, but when I saw the New York strip and baked potato on the menu I couldn't pass it up. I payed dearly for that decision the next day. I spent the entire last day of vacation laying on the floor in the hall outside the bathroom groaning in agony. I'll just leave it at that. The moral of the story, eating is like putting gas in your car. Once the pump makes that clicking sound that signals the tank is full, leave it be. Topping off the tank will only result in a massive overflow. 

LOVE Fall

Seriously though, I really do love Fall. My Mom told me today she remembers when I was three years old sitting in my car seat, I was completely fascinated by the leaves and kept on saying how pretty they were. Some things never change. Now an annoying drive over the mountain to run an errand is so much more fun because of the view. And of course I can't forget to mention one of the best things about fall...you get to wear your favorite jackets and flip flops at the same time without people judging you too much. Once December hits, most people look down on my exposed toes. Have I mentioned I hate closed toe shoes??


Ben recently had some vacation time so we took full advantage. First thing in our long fun weekend, we went to a UAH hockey game with both of our families. So much fun! I don't really follow hockey but I've seen the mighty ducks trilogy at least a dozen times so I feel like I am pretty knowledgeable on the sport. I also grew up going to Channel Cats games with Dad (shout out to Jen and the memory of the old man spilling beer in your hair-we were so traumatized). Hockey is just exciting to watch. I know Ben loves it, and I'm sure it reminds him of his lacrosse days. Like I said, I don't know all the rules, but I think the two sports are pretty similar. Both involve inflicting pain on the other team as much as possible. Close enough. Another exciting thing about the hockey game, we saw Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. Their son is the backup goalie for UAH so they came for homecoming weekend. I wonder what they thought of our wonderful state? We are probably the only decent hockey team to come out on the ice to Sweet Home Alabama...


On Saturday I did some Christmas shopping with Mom in the morning, which was so much fun! Then later that afternoon one of my favorite people in the world, Mary Martha, came to our apartment to watch the Alabama/LSU game. What an intense game!! It was so good to spend time with MM. She has been really busy working for the Wayne Parker campaign, so now that election time is over I am looking forward to spending lots of time with her! After the game we went to Buffalo Wild Wings. Side note: that restaurant is one of those places that you eat there and you don't enjoy it, but then enough time goes by and you convince yourself you like it. So you give it another try, and you don't like it again. Keep me accountable people, no more Buffalo Wild Wings.


After church on Sunday, we picked up the Calvert dogs and took them to Monte Sano. It was wonderful! It was cold, but not too cold after you started walking. Of course Lucy and Dixie (the dogs) were loving it too. On Sundays we usually come home after lunch and lay around watching football all day long, but it felt great to actually get up and do something. It also showed me how out of shape I have become. What a wake up call, I have GOT to start working out before the ski trip or I will be in trouble. I've always loved Monte Sano and even though Ben has been up there plenty of times, it is fun getting to share something with him that I have done my whole life.

Monday was amazing as well. Ben's parents picked us up at 9am and we headed to Lynchburg, TN to see the Jack Daniel's Distillery. We took the tour, so we learned all about the history of Jack Daniels and got to see the process of making Tennessee whiskey. At some point in the tour I decided that I could go my whole life without smelling whiskey ever again and be ok. But still, lots of fun. I am sure that Ben could give you more interesting details.

After the tour we went to eat at Miss Mary Bobo's. Ben had called weeks ago to make reservations, and it was so worth it. It's a family style meal in groups of different sizes, so it was the four of us and 6 others (well 7 including the lady who works there). The lady made everyone introduce themselves and say something about themselves before we could eat. How rough is that?? Forcing me to be social while large bowls of fried chicken, pork tenderloin, mac and cheese, fried okra, lima beans, baked apples and cornbread are withing reach. Needless to say, worth the wait. The food was amazing. I ate more than I usually eat for lunch for an entire week. I almost feel guilty...nah.

Back to the real world now...

Right now watching the Fox News election updates is stressing me out, so I am gonna update you guys on happier things.

This past weekend Ben and I went to Nashville. Friday night we spent the night with Will. I was really excited about this, and I was happy that Ben got to spend time with him. We went to downtown Nashville, which was so much fun! It all has so much character! For the country music fan, it's heaven. For me, it was tolerable. But Ben LOVED it. We went to a bar named Tootsie's that had a guy covering songs from Roger Creager (one of Ben's favorites). After that we walked around and went to a few other places, just to explore. We ended up in a karaoke bar called Wannabes. Usually just the idea of a karaoke bar is enough to make me sweat and feel a bit nauseous due to a chance of being tricked onto the stage. But we had a great time there! Now, karaoke in Nashville is different than anywhere else. There were people who were AMAZING and obviously hoping to get discovered. There were also people wanting to get discovered that have no business holding a microphone and singing. A good friend really should tell them they have no talent. One of those things where my friend Mary Martha would just have to say "bless their heart". Then there's Will. I have never been more proud to be his friend. He got up there and sang Jesse's Girl with all his heart. Good for him, I will never do that.

Saturday and Sunday we were house sitting/babysitting for my aunt and uncle. I love their family so much, and it's always fun going up there. They are my only Auburn support in the family, I come from a long line of Alabama and Tennessee fans. We watched a lot of football, and I am choosing not to comment about the Auburn game. But the Texas/Texas Tech game was INSANE!

Update on school: all of the forms are in except the letter from the Dean of Nursing from Southern Union, so when that gets in I should be good to go! This is exciting and scary. I am looking forward to meeting with the teachers to get some direction on what to study to refresh on my past nursing classes, but I am also scared because there is so, so much information to restudy. Nursing classes are not just something you can "generally understand". You have to know facts, lots of them, especially when it comes to Pharmacology. So this pretty much means, if you want to find me I will most likely be at Stearns Coffee studying for the next 2 years. When I start back in Jan I will be taking classes that include labor & delivery so I am VERY excited about that, since that's where I want to work after graduation.

Please be praying that my transition to a new nursing program goes smoothly!

winter vacation

We are 10 weeks away from being in my absolute favorite place in the world. I am not exaggerating, this is literally my favorite place I have ever been. Crested Butte, CO. Thanks to a generous wedding gift from very loving family members, I will be racing down the slopes in exactly 68 days. I can't wait to share this experience with Ben. I have been on a few ski trips in my life, like to Jackson Hole, WY, Crested Butte, and Copper Mountain with Young Life, but Ben has never been skiing. Part of me is just excited to watch him learn (a.k.a. fall), but really, I am excited to share my favorite thing to do with him. If you were ever my roommate in college you would know this, the trail map for Crested Butte has been on my wall for years. So yeah, this is a big deal.

We are starting to get ready for the trip already. Dad let me borrow the skiing bible: "How to Ski the Blues and Blacks (Without Getting Black and Blue)" by Craig McNeil. I've also been looking up exercises to strengthen the muscles you use to ski, because you don't know sore until you wake up the morning after your first day of skiing. So the next step is for me to actually follow through on these exercises. We will see when that happens....

I can't wait to take Ben to some of my favorite restaurants, like the Wooden Nickel and Butte 66. And of course I will be using this trip as an excuse to indulge my always present desire for more t-shirts. Also, we are going on a snowmobiling tour! I have done this before and loved it. What's not to love?? You have beautiful scenery, animal sightings, and a great meal with your group when you get to the top of the mountain! Ben may be even more excited about this part than I am.

Ben and I are not taking this for granted. We would not be going if it wasn't for the love of our VERY generous family, and there is no telling when we will be able to afford a trip like this again. So we are going to live it up. And take an enormous amount of pictures.

http://www.skicb.com/

My wife is hot and Obama's not

Last week Jess created this blog as a way for our family and friends to keep up to date on the happenings of our lives. I think that is a great idea. However, I no longer work for a magazine or newspaper and have no outlet for the ideas that bounce around my head. Therefore, this blog will also be my forum for rants, raves and other random thoughts. If all you care about is what's going on with us, then bare with me because I'm sure Jess will post something informative soon. That being said...

We've been married now for almost two months. I have a great job and, like Jess said, we're having a great time getting to know one another better. Our personal lives are great. BUT... things are going on in the outside world that are so frustrating, it's not even funny. 

First,  all of my favorite sports teams are terrible. And, not only are they terrible, but the teams that I HATE are dominating. I don't understand why the Phillies and Alabama have to be good at the same time. I'm just hoping that Alabama will somehow shoot themselves in the foot like they usually do. That, or the starters will find themselves in jail.

Also, gas prices are lower than they've been in more than a year. Yeah, I know, on the surface that sounds like a good thing. Which, it would be good if OPEC hadn't met last week to cut production by a million and a half barrels a day. It's only a matter of time before prices go back to four dollars a gallon. That's why Obama (if you put a G in front of it, it spells GOBAMA... enough said) should definitely not be the president. Something needs to happen ASAP so that countries like Venezuela and Iran don't keep jacking up the price of gas. Seriously, I read the other day that we have enough natural gas to be considered the Saudi Arabia of the natural gas world. A gallon of natural gas would also only cost about a dollar fifty a gallon too. And, it's the simplest change to our current cars. Seems like a no brainer.

By the way, did you see that reporter from Orlando ask Biden about the difference between Obama and Karl Marx. He flipped out and acted like the question was completely ridiculous, almost like he was thinking, "I can't believe they found out." Did you also hear that he guaranteed Obama will face some sort of terror attack if he is elected as president. I guess it's easy to predict things like that when a terrorist helped jump start your campaign. That would be like Brett Farve telling the Lions what to expect from the Packers.

That's enough politics for now. One last thing, and then I promise I'm done. I've read talk of an actors strike. All I can say is that if 24 gets postponed one more season, I'm going to kill someone.

I could easily keep going on but I don't want to depress you. At the end of the day I have a great wife to come home to and I really couldn't ask for more (except for the Braves to be in the World Series right now.  

It's our turn...

Hey everybody! After you leave college, several things happen that you just learn to accept. One thing is getting used to living more than 5 minutes from all of your best friends. Another thing you have to accept is not having student tickets for all the home football games (that's been painful). It's hard keeping up with everyone! You can start out with the best of intentions, but life gets busy! And that is why I am introducing myself to the blogging world. As much as I like to be entertained by my friend's posts and pictures, it's only fair that I return the favor. Ben is the writer of the family, so hopefully I can get him to to help me out.

Quick update - we've been married for 2 months now! Ben has been working at Compass Bank as a financial sales rep. I just finished a class and took the state board to get a job as a C.N.A. I am so happy I passed the test, so now it's just time to find a job. I will be starting back nursing school in Jan at Calhoun! Until then, I have lots of studying to do to make sure I remember everything from the classes I had already taken a few years ago. We love living in Hampton Falls Apartments! It's nice being able to look out the window and see mountains. It's a good compromise until I can convince Ben to move us out to Colorado (wink wink).

Ok more to come later!