Thanksgiving 2011

Another holiday that wasn't spend with my family back home in WA. But this year was just as good as last year. We are all grown up now!! It was me, Heidi, Nate, Tyler and Katie at our apartment this year and everyone brought their own little pieces of tradition to our dinner. I did the turkey and my dad's famous mashed potatoes, Heidi did her families sweet potatoes and Katie made THREE pies--pumpkin, my grandma's apple pie and her family's snickerdoodle pie. Let's just say that dinner and desert were AMAZING!!! We all did a great job and made it feel like we were truly surrounded by family and in a way we were. We all said what we were thankful for, said grace and enjoyed a meal as a family in our nice clothes. We made the boys dress up for dinner and a group picture which they quickly changed out of as soon as dinner was done. We watched the Macy's parade and a lot of football (despite the girls not really wanting to watch it), lounged around and just relaxed. It was the only day this past week we were able to actually relax since this semester is done in 2 weeks and we have a TON of papers and projects due in the VERY near future. But our rule was no homework/studying on Thanksgiving so we did just that and it was GREAT!! Now, back to the grind we go. We are all going to be zombie's for the next two weeks! But oh well!! I come home Dec 14 @ 1 pm and CAN'T WAIT to see my family, friends and my boyfriend. Hopefully he doesn't have to go back to war before I get home or go see his daughter in Texas but if he does, he knows I will support him either way!!!

 Katie's mom sent us an edible arrangement for Thanksgiving so we had an appetizer to eat while we waited for the turkey and good to be done

 Tyler caught a pre-dinner nap :)

The turkey I prepared that tasted AMAZING!!

our dining room table (plus a chair from Masa since we only have four)

 Heidi and Nate after we ate (notice he changed into his sweats already)

 

Our thanksgiving group :) Tyler, Katie, Nate, Heidi and me! I am blessed with amazing roommates!!

Above pictures are me in my UNO Athletic Training GEAR :)

For any one that is interested below is the link to my Relay for Life Team that I am a captain of. Please feel free to go to the website and donate to a GREAT cause!

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?pg=team&fr_id=41276&team_id=1015932

Relay for Life Summit-Lincoln, NE

This past weekend I was able to attend the Nebraska-Relay for Life Summit in Lincoln. Wow, I thought I was passionate about fighting back against cancer before, well now I am much more passionate. The summit was amazing and I loved that I was able to share it with my amazing committee members. We got great ideas for our upcoming event and met a bunch of people that shared some other ideas from their events. We are all sooooo excited about our future event!!

2 years ago

Well, 2 years ago to the day I was told I had to have a hysterectomy. There were masses that were growing fast in my uterus, it was riddled with disease and crippled to the point of no return. So with the support of my family and close friends I made the decision. I still look back at that day and remember how scared I was and how sad my mom looked when we heard the news. But when I look back I also remember that right now, I am healthy and disease/cancer free. I am happy. I am no longer in pain. I may not be able to have my own kids but I will be an amazing mother regardless of blood. I am a different person than I was 2 years ago because of what I had to go through back then. I am a better person, I am stronger and wiser. I had to grow way beyond my years that day but I have been battling ever since and I wouldn't change that for the world....

3 years, 7,000 miles and FINALLY we are Reunited in TEXAS

Well, after 3 years Jenn and I were finally able to see each other while she was doing some training in Texas. I couldn't tell you how awesome it was to have her in the US and to actually be able to see her. We have been unable to see each other every time she has come home due to surgeries or school things so it was GREAT to finally see her. We only got 2 days but man was it fun! And its funny that after 3 years of not seeing each other how fast we got back to being exactly the way we were when we lived in E-Burg. I loved it!

 I took Jenn to get her very first frozen yogurt and she absolutely LOVED it

 we went to a wild game farm that you drive your own car around in and boy was that an adventure

 My AMAZING girlfriend Kira from back in WA came out for a girls night with us, this is her and Jenn at Howl at the Moon :)

 Our FIRST pic together since 2008 :) and notice the HUGE margarita

 Kira and I at Howl at the Moon-had so much fun and I love this girl more than you know!

 pretty Zebra

 look at those adorable ears :)

And we took a trip to see the Alamo. It was smaller than we both imagined it would be, but pretty nonetheless.

On another note, school is going great, we have about 7 months until we graduate and boy we are counting down the days (obviously). Things have started slow but I am sure they will pick up big time here in the near future (once basketball starts for me). I am co-captain of our Relay for Life team this year and I am also on the committee of planning it. I am pretty excited about it since I am a survivor and it is close to my heart. I am in charge of the Survivorship portion, so LET THE PLANNING BEGIN!!  Two months until I go home for Christmas and I can't wait to see my growing and adorable niece who just keeps getting bigger and bigger! Welp, there is the update for now! I will blog again soon!

And the fall is nearing....

Awww I love that moment when you just know it's fall!! And it has just started to hit here in Omaha...some chilly days followed by extremely HOT and HUMID days, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. We are all settling back into our fall routine for classes, work and sports schedules and things are going quite nicely. We are all moved into the huge apartment and loving every minute of it. I just can't believe we are 7.5 months away from graduating! That is just so crazy to me!! But I love it.

Round 2 starts NOW.....

Well, graduate school year 2 begins already!! It seems like yesterday when I moving to Nebraska to start, now I've got 10 months until I am done :) It's crazy to me to be honest. But I love it and I wouldn't change anything....my internship this summer was beyond amazing. I gained a wealth of knowledge, found an amazing mentor and got more practical experience than I ever could have imagined. It was quite the experience. I am beyond blessed to have found such a rock solid community back home in WA.

School started Monday and me, Heidi, Nate and Katie are almost fully moved into our apartment. We got lucky and found a 1,750 sq ft apartment about 8 minutes from campus for a decent price and believe when I say the pictures below DO NOT do it justice at all. We are settling in and thoroughly enjoying our time together. We have some pretty fun stuff planned in the next few weeks, so I will update pictures as I can :)

Things are going okay for me post-surgery. I think that the biggest change for me is being in full blown menopause and all the side effects from it.  I have now started taking a once a day women's menopause pill to try and control some of the symptoms I am getting, so we will see how those work. For me its just one of those things I will have to get use to and anyone who knows me, knows that I adapt pretty damn well considering all of the things that have been thrown my way in the past few years.

 my BH CREW!!!

 Bubba & Millie--two of my oldest and dearest friends

 some of my FAV CWU girls in Spokane

me at the Rainiers game WORKING with my AMAZING internship...

 group out at Whiskey Tango

 some of the girls

 again

 pretty flowers at the house

 this AMAZING church in Gretna

 just gorgeous

 one wall in my room

 desk & bookshelf

 my fav girls

 bed with more pics above it

 gotta love my country cross

 front hall in the apartment

 kitchen

 one view of the living room

 dining room (not done yet)

 another view of the living room

 hall towards bedrooms

 Katie & my bathroom

 Laundry room

So here's to our LAST year in graduate school...the count down to May 5 begins NOW!!!