Wordless Wednesday~Gone Fishin'

YAY!! and BOO!!

I knew I would crash and burn when finals were over...I just knew this would happen. I finished finals yesterday. YAYYYYYY!!!!!!

I could tell that the stress was starting to get to me. One day I was eating everything in site, and then the next I did not want anything to eat, and then my throat started hurting. BOOOO!

Today, I am sick with strep throat. BOOOO!!

Will catch up soon and update on the house-selling process/finishing school/starting rotations... I am so happy, relieved, and tired.

More importantly, I am done! Will be back soon. :)

Wordless Wednesday~Sleepy Sweetness

Because of them

In 2004 I had the crazy idea decided to go
BACK TO SCHOOL!
1 year later after several chemistry classes...

I mention the possibility of Pharmacy school.
Click here to see what led me to Pharmacy.

5 year program

Pharmacy Doctorate.

Chris says,"I know you can do it"

So, I decide to apply and
Lo and behold, I got called for an interview!

Spring 2006 Pharmacy School Interview Day
(look how young the kids look)

Chris went with me to the interview (loved his matching tie ;) , and I got ACCEPTED

THAT DAY! Here we are; very excited!

A few months later...

Fall 2006 White Coat Ceremony Day

Class of 2011

another day, another matching tie ;)

Chris was checking me out in the white coat. LOL

My Daddy came to cheer me on....

and so did my Mom and sisters.

My entire class;

110 students got their White Coat that day.
And began the crazy little thing called
Pharmacy School.

In the midst of the White Coat excitement,
 I got a little wild and crazy and hopped on
the nearest tractor I could find.

(Yes, my school is in the country in the middle of
Nowhere, NC, and I love it.)

It was a happy, happy day.

Chris has been my #1 fan every step along the way...He has been the best. There were many times when he held me when I cried, ignored me when I was short and snippy due to stress, and helped out bigtime with the kids and house...etc....He was my rock when the waters would get rough. Anytime I would start to doubt the path I had chosen, all I would have to do was talk to him. He would reassure me again "You can do this". His quiet confidence somehow made me believe that maybe I could. I couldn't have done it without him.

BUT FAST FORWARD 4 YEARS......

Now, I am two exams away from being done with the didactic part of my program! This time next week I will officially be a P4, and I will be done with the classroom and exams forever! It has been quite a journey. Of the 110 people in my class, I was one of the 5 crazy students that were ALSO MOMS. Many times along the way, during a particularly stressful week~a classmate would occasionally ask me,

 "How do you study?"

 "How do you find the time to do..XYZ...?"

"How are you holding it all together?"
OR

"How do you catch up from the school work you miss when both of your kids have H1N1 flu for a whole week and your husband is out of state with a new job and no one is here to help you?? Surely, you are about to go crazy, aren't you?"
(Ok, the last one was a true story)

Ya know, questions like that.

 I had my moments, and I certainly bombed a couple exams. I even ran out of one exam crying and thought I would surely kicked out of the program. And who could ever forget the time during my 2nd year (which proved to be my most difficult) when ALL of our exams were at 7am and we had to be there at 6:45am ready to go.  ?!!? Who in the world can think that early in the morning?, let alone do pharmaceutical calculations? On this given morning, I did not eat breakfast (big mistake) and halfway through the 3 hour ordeal, I almost went into a hypoglycemic crisis. Hands shaking, dizziness, blurred vision etc....all this was happening while I was trying to calculate how much protein binder or surfactant was needed to make 30 ml of a 0.05% antibacterial emulsion. Sheesh! 

It has been quite a journey with many high and lows. Many times I would just look at Dylan and Karsen. Honestly, they kept me going. So, when one of my fellow classmates asked me "How in the world do you do it?" I can say that I couldn't have done it without my kids. They kept me grounded, they made me laugh even when I didn't want to, they continually reminded me what mattered in this life (sweet hugs and kisses, those little moments, the importance of taking study breaks to eat ice cream and make cookies)...along the way...I can honestly say that has made all the difference.

From start...

 To finish....

Look how far we've come

(and how much the kids have grown!)

I couldn't have done it without them. Period. I did not finish these last 4 years inspite of them, I finished because of them!

Family, food and fun

Our weekend was full of lots of fun.

Friday night was laid back~I was happy because Chris was able to come home for a long weekend. He even got home early enough in the afternoon to surprise the kids when he picked them up at school! That night involved two of our faves~Indian take-out AND movie night at home!YAY!

Our Saturday included sleeping in, a late breakfast, an afternoon matinee, and Panera bread (YUM).

Image courtest of www.epagini.com

I now know "How to Train a Dragon" Very cute movie.  We all loved it! That night we grilled out the best ribeyes and veggies. YUM.

Sunday was full of church, Mexican for lunch with friends, and then the ACMs. I love country music...and I never miss them!

It was a wonderful weekend full of my favorite things; family, food and fun!

River Whispers

River Whispers

(photo copyrighted by C. H. Kennedy Studios ©)

Chris painted this oil painting of me in 2005. The picture was taken when the kids were very young. Dylan was 2 and Karsen was about 8 months old. Circa Spring 2002. We were vacationing in the mountains of NC with Chris' parents. At some point during the trip, I took advantage of having the grandparents around and snuck away for some quiet alone time. I was sitting beside the Nantahala River that ran behind our hotel in Cherokee, NC, and Chris snuck up behind me to take this picture. He painted it  a few years later, and it now graces one of the walls of our home. I love it! I know I am extremely biased...but I think my husband is pretty talented!

The painting is special to me because it reminds me of how I felt being a young mother of two. I felt so blessed and certainly stressed at the same time. The contrast between feeling so much joy and love for your children and then carrying the heavy responsibility of wanting to be the best mom you can. It is not an easy time by any means. Those moments of solitude are few and far between when your babies are that young. I remember!

Yet, looking back... this time in my life went by so fast. Too fast. I miss it! If you are a young mom, who feels busy, stressed, and tired all the time...don't let that keep you from treasuring all those moments along the way because they are fleeting. And PRICELESS!

I also love the painting because it is of one of our favorite places in NC.  It is such a beautiful place to visit, and I have never seen anything more gorgeous than the Blue Ridge Mountains of NC in the Fall. Can't wait to go back for a much needed vacation to peacefully sit by the river again.

He has her eyes

Mine are brown. Chris' are brown,
 and Dylan's eyes are blue.

Everyone wants to know
 where Dylan gets his eyes.

He gets them from his great-grandma, Mable.

My grandmother on my mother's side.

Dylan and Grandma Mable, March 2010

She is full-blooded Lumbee Indian.

She will be 87 years old this year.

She raised 14 children

 and share-cropped tobacco fields

 for most of their childhood.

She is the feistiest woman I know.

At 10 years old,

Dylan is now as tall as she is,

And he has her eyes.

A day at the ZOO!

We had a great time at the Columbus Zoo last weekend. I love monkeys, always have. So, it was no surprise that the Gorillas were my favorite part of the day.

The kids loved the gorillas too.

The youngest of the gorillas was very silly, and he spent some time at the window bonding with Dylan. This picture was taken right before he picked up some "poo" and starting throwing it around. Of course, Dylan thought that was hilarious.

Here my two favorite men talking about snakes, lizards and icky boy things like that.

Dylan and Karsen both loved the reptiles exhibits. Dylan's "must see" animal of the day was the komodo dragon, and Karsen could not decide which snake she liked the best.

We had perfect weather, and even enjoyed a train ride through the zoo.

And Karsen rode a pony. She insisted on riding the tallest pony they had there because she is "big enough"...and right before she got on the saddle, she looked at me, sighed and said "I wish this was a wild mustang instead of a pony". I just cracked up laughing. She is fearless.

It was a great day, and it felt so good to be back together again for a little while. Chris even had the chance to grab the camera and take some pictures for a change. I am not surprised this is the first picture he took. I think he misses us ;)

It's mutual. I am looking forward to US being in Columbus TOGETHER soon!

The King & Princess

King Dylan

Princess Karsen

Both were very happy to be voted King & Princess by their classmates and

were excited to go to the Spring Fling at their school...

to get the one thing that all kids love...

a TROPHY!

The whole assembly was super adorable as they announced the names of the Prince/Princess for each class for K-2nd grade and then the King/Queen for grades 3-5. Karsen walked as prim and proper as she could with her fellow Prince; they were just too cute. Dylan was the perfect gentleman as he walked in with his beautiful Queen. I was very proud of them both!

It was a fun afternoon spent with other parents, teachers and the kids at a school we have really grown to love.

Wordless Wednesday

John Wayne to the Rescue

OMG a FOR SALE is going up in front of our house soon and very soon.

I have very mixed emotions about this. I am excited because it means, "things" are starting to happen, the ball is rolling and we are one step closer to being back together as a family... but I am also very nervous/stressed because "things" are starting to happen! Make sense? Good!

Selling your house is stressful period, so please understand if it scares the beejezus out of me and worries me just a tad to be attempting to sale our house by myself. With my husband in OHIO. As I am finishing up (my last) tough semester. And starting my P4 rotations. And.....oh yeh doing everything else that is our life. Please join me in prayer....please specifically ask that my sanity remains in intact throughout the entire process.

I have a list as long as my leg of "things to do" before we list our house, but we just found out that our house should have been listed...like yesterday...or ASAP...so I had to make a few calls today.

My sweet, dear brother is a life saver. He is coming to spend all day Saturday to

1. power wash our house and driveway
2. clean out our gutters
3. cut the grass
4. lay down pine straw and do some light landscaping

Wesley & Heather

Wesley, have I told you lately that I LOVE YOU! Thank you so much. You are the best little brother ever!

I also had to call in the head honcho, the cowboy of real estate 'round these parts.....No other than...

the one and only, John Wayne!

That's right, I called John Wayne today. I actually played Cowboys and Indians phone tag with the one and only today. Seriously, I am not kidding when I tell you that our realtor's name is John Wayne. And I am not kidding you when I tell you that he says "Howdy, partner!" to everyone, the above picture is on his business cards along with the following oh-so-savvy business slogan, "The Hottest House-sell'n, Gun-sling'n, Pilgrim Realtor Around!" (only in NC...)

John Wayne to the rescue!!  I am his damsel in distress! GIDDY UP, hunker down on those saddles, and hold on tight, y'all, because things are about to get wild!