endings & new beginnings

24 days. 
3 weeks.
12 hours of lecture.
11 trips to Champaign.
6 tests.
3 clinicals.
1 presentation.
1 project.

That's. It.

Then I get to tell Parkland goodbye.
And say hello to Carle Foundation Hospital!

Can't believe I'm to this point already!

Oh...and there's the whole Boards thing that I'll have to do at some point... ;)
And then RN here I come!

Thanking and Praising God for His grace and strength each day and for His leading!
All Glory goes to Him!
I didn't get this far on my own.  And I most certainly won't be going any further without HIM.
By HIS Grace...

Procrastinitis

What I thought was going to be a stressful, time-crunched, studying-cramming week has just turned into a relaxing, snowed-in 2 days of bliss with oodles amount of study time, therefore why not put it off and write a blog post instead?!

A typical day-in-the-life of college student, Jeana - "oh I have plenty of time to study...later!" as I indulge in any kind of food that I can scrounge up to satisfy my cravings d/t bored-ness and by passing my time doing anything that isn't school related! (okay, so not all the time...but I definitely need to work on my time-management skills and unhealthy eating habits!)
I believe I have a very severe case of procrastinitis d/t its comorbidity of senioritis.

*Sigh* only 3 more months or 13 weeks or 88 days until graduation! - Enter gigantic-ly huge grin :D! -

And since it's been a while since I've updated this blog...I'll give a little recap into what's been going on in our life the past month.

- Took a "2nd" honeymoon to Riviera Maya, Mexico over my college break.  It was a much-needed get-a-way and we thoroughly enjoyed it even though it rained every single day we were there!  We did enjoy a few hours of sunshine our last day before heading home!

waiting for our plane and hoping our flight wouldn't get cancelled!

There was always some sweet looking design on our bed each day!

Last day before heading home...notice the sunshine!

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- Had the pleasure of spending part of a day with this special girl from CT!

K & T joined us for lunch.  Little did I know they were all keeping a secret from me! ;)

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- Spent a fun weekend in January with the Eisenmann's at the Old School Center in Farmington, IL.

Guess the word game

Service projects

Lots 'n' Lots of V-ball!  An Eisenmann fav...

Kirk & Kurt played their fair share of pool...

Relay games - my team had the tallest & strongest tower! Go us!

We also had the longest bridge!

~~~~~

Spent a Saturday Skiing in WI with some of Kirk's siblings. 

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- Kirk had the FLU virus over valentine's day so instead of going out to eat, I decided to cook a fancy meal in.  Here's what it amounted too!

Choc covered strawberries for appetizer (some of them came in the mail as part of my Valentine's Gift!)

Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo, oven fried veggies, and cheesy garlic-basil bread - delish!

The other part of my gift was a dozen roses in the mail!  First time to have flowers delivered by UPS!

And Creme Brulee for dessert!  Double-yum!

While life has been a bit stressful and I could find many reasons to complain, instead I'm thankful.  Thankful that I can go to school and learn.  Thankful that I have the health and strength to get out of bed each day and go about my daily duties.  Thankful for a husband who has a job and provides for our family.  My heart goes out to those who have recently lost loved ones.  A dear mother & grandmother, and a dear son & brother.  We just never know what tomorrow may hold, but we do know who holds the future, and for that I'm thankful.

year in review -- 2013

2013 flew by...literally.

So much happened...so much changed...so much stayed the same.

January brought another semester of school - teaching me an incredible amount about Mental health and general med-surg information.  It wasn't one of my most favorite semesters...

February came and I said goodbye to a dear man I helped care for for many months, ending my part time income which came in handy.  I also traveled to OH for a wedding...spending time with some wonderful friends.

 March came with a trip to KS to surprise a dear friend and a trip to OH again for invite-a-friend...which began with a unexpected text bringing a whole new dimension into my life with a proposal. The end of the month my whole family spent a long weekend at a house in Cincinnati with a day at the Creation Museum.

April held lots of time in prayer, seeking God's word, doubting, learning to trust, freaking out, stepping out in faith...etc. And an amazing long weekend spent in OR for invite-a-friend.  It was extremely good to get away, spend time with new & old friends, and take a little break.  I returned home with more very clear signs that God was leading me on this new journey and after a couple more weeks, numerous more signs from the Lord, and a certainty of God's leading, I gave my answer back.

The first weekend of May a group of girls and I traveled to Taylor, MO for a little get-away.  It was interesting keeping my engagement quiet with a few of the girls knowing about it and a few not.  The next weekend brought our Engagement. And thus began my journey of getting to know a man I hardly new but with confidence that he was exactly the man who God had chosen for me.  

June was a frenzy of wedding preparations, showers, shopping trips...I think you get the point. I enjoyed a Mystery Weekend with a wonderful group of ladies in St. Louis...thankful for the memories. We also found a house to rent, which we were and still are very thankful for and took engagement pictures.

July we began moving stuff into our house after some painting and cleaning.  Showers continued with many more wedding preparations.  The end of the month I was able to go on one last vacation with my parents and lil bro to Washington state.  While it was different than many of our other vacations due to a certain man who I left back at home, I was still able to enjoy our time together very much and am very thankful for the memories we made.  I flew home a few days early to spend a birthday with my fiance and start tying up all the loose ends in preparation for our wedding the next weekend.

August, of course, brought a very beautiful wedding weekend for us.  We spent a few days in a cabin in Gatlinbury, TN.  And came home to a week full of "settling in" before I started my third semester of nursing school.  

September we spent a night with some married friends in WI Dells...school continued with lots of studying.  It was interesting trying to learn how to balance all of my new tasks and school together, but we managed!

October we traveled to OH for a friends wedding.  School continued.  Spent some times with friends. Took some family photos.

November brought more school.  The end of the month was filled with lots of family time and thankfulness. We welcomed a new, absolutely adorable niece, Ellie Anne. And took some more family photos.

December brought FINALS! which I couldn't have been more happy to see.  Took some more pictures. And Winter break which was full of Christmases, catch-up, organizing, relaxing, shopping, and so much more.

Looking back 2013 was filled with so many blessings.  A year ago today I could have told you of what I had planned for the year.  But today I can look back with the realization that my plans and God's plans can be very different.  And while this past year didn't hold what I thought it would, one thing is for certain; God has been faithful and for that I am so very thankful.

While today has been a day of reflection, it has also been a day of wondering.  Wondering what this new year has in store for us.  I could create a list of many things that I think 2014 will hold...like graduating from Nursing school...taking my boards...getting a job...and so forth...but I know that the list would be incomplete.  Instead of beginning the New Year with expectations or a list of what-I-think-I-will-accomplish-in-2014, if I just leave it in God's hands, I know that this year will hold so many blessings, learning experiences, growths, and most importantly - exactly what God has planned for my life.  I wouldn't want it any different!  So here's to another year - 2014!

Silence

That pretty much sums up my blogging life for the past month and a half. 
It's not that I haven't had anything to blog about. 
And it's not that I haven't necessarily had time. 
And not that I haven't began numerous posts, only to stop and leave them in my draft box to complete at a "later date." 
I don't really know what the reason is for my silence. 
Not in the mood? Nothing exciting to talk about? Unmotivated? Overwhelmed?
I think it's possibly a combination of all 4.

For one, I have to "be in the mood" to post something.  Which sounds kinda silly but it's true.  If I don't have the ispiration and I try to write a post, I get frustrated and end up trashing it or just leaving it there for "when I am inspired". Maybe it's because deep down, I'm have this expectation that I have to write something soo profound to keep my reader's entertained.  Or maybe it's because I'm afraid to expose my heart as an open book for all to read.  Or maybe it's just the fact that writing can be overwhelming to me unless I have the inspiration. I don't really know.

Having nothing exciting to write about is a matter of the reader's opinion I guess.  I'm sure I've had something more exciting to write about than just plain silence. But I guess I decided to resort to silence.

Unmotivated.  That kinda goes along with "no ispiration."  However, I feel like unmotivation is the story of my life right now.  And I think we all know how that goes in our own lives (or maybe it's just me).  If it's present in one part of life, it's there in every part.  It's like a progressive disease.  It develops in one small area, and begins to grow.  If it's not caught and treated right away, it spreads. And soon it's infected every area and from there it continues to spiral downward. I feel as if I am climbing and fighting against the downward spiral at the moment.  I've recognized my problem, maybe a bit too late, but early enough to have the strength to fight against it. My first treatment is to admit my problem.  SO we shall see where it goes from here! ;) 

Overwhelmed I think is a symptom of my unmotivational progressive disease.  And since I know that just treating the symptoms doesn't erase the problem, I've realized I have to fix the cause of my disease before the rest of my sumptoms will disappear. Which leads me to the reason this whole disease began and my best prognosis is - plain and simple "laziness."

**Edited to add: Wow...I appologize for the long, boring, and completely unitentional therapuetic writing session I just had with myself.  I just diagnosed myself with a disease I never realized I had prior to this post!  About that open book...

So on to a more exciting and less intense update on my life! ;)
Well...It's officially 2013!! (I'm only a month late!) While I would love to do a run down of how extremely blessed year 2012 was, that looks a little overwhelming to me at the moment so I will just attempt to update you on the past few weeks. :)

Christmas was such a blessing, as it is every year.  There's is just nothing comparable to plain and simple "family time."

FIrst Christmas was with the Eisenmann's:

These 2 are quite the rascals together!

Deira being her sweet self!

The 3 Stooges...well we used to be (or more like the 2 stooges and the other 1 easy prey) but now we're just 3 wonderful friends. :)

The traditional "live play" of the Nativity.
I think this year's was officially that fastest one on record...but it was still sweet.

Next on the schedule was our family Christmas.  Everyone ended up spending the night and we all had breakfast the next day together and opened our stockings. Oh and celebrated Jeremy's bday. Love love LOVE family time!

RIver putting together the puzzle I gave him. 
He is quite the "puzzle-er!"

New Year's Eve at Brenda's.  I was a loner since mom, dad, and jess were all in mexico over the new year.  But I enjoyed the evening playing games and hanging out with brenda and the dotterer's!

Lovely appetizer table.

Playing "Ha Ha" with out smiling.  Good luck.

Deira took her first steps!! But she hasn't taken many since...she's getting there!

SO many random, last minute memories with these lovely ladies.  :)

 

 



And since this post has become overwhelmingly long, I will sign off, with a promise of more posts in the near future! ;)