Sunday, November 17, 2013

We Are Officially Certified to Adopt! Help Us Spread The Word!! :)

We are so excited to be certified to Adopt!! We are trying to get the word out so that we can reach the person we are meant to reach! Please help us by following/sharing our FB page, our Adoption Blog, our Adoption Profile or attaching our Grab Button from the side of our blog to your page!

Thankkkk you! :)

Our FB Page:
https://www.facebook.com/ericandbrenley

Our Adoption Blog:
http://www.ericandbrenley.blogspot.com

Our Adoption Profile:
https://itsaboutlove.org/ial/profiles/30441723/ourMessage.jsf

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Whew! One Month Down...

Fourteen to go!

My thoughts on Nursing School so far:

fun.
nerve-wracking.
studying.
busy.
easy.
hard.
studying.
tiring.
exhilarating.
exhausting.
studying.
natural.
Oh, I study a lot!


Things I've learned about Nursing School so far:

the grading system is whack!
recording your lectures helps.
colored pens make taking notes more fun.
read and reread questions on the tests.
people of all ages/backgrounds/ethnicities/walks of life are going to nursing school.
buy lots of ink cartridges and paper.
people drop out... we're down to 35 of the 40.
ebooks suck! are not as user-friendly as they claim to be.
volunteering for things (like performing a skill first) is scary and you will make mistakes, but you'll never make that same mistake again!
cgcc block 1 instructors are wicked awesome.
making time for other things (family, husband, relaxing... napping) is important.
scrubs are comfy.


I'm really loving it so far! I feel like I've been anticipating it so long that I am just soaking everything in (well trying anyway!) and really enjoying it. Most of it actually feels pretty normal and, in an odd way, familiar.
I study a lot, because there is just so much to learn. Not only for the the upcoming exam, but to actually KNOW and understand to be a great nurse... oh and to pass the NCLEX. Its not the type of studying where you cram the night before and memorize terms for a test, but commit it to memory in a way that you can just know it and utilize it moving forward.
So about the grading system being whack... I got an 83% on my first exam annnnd that means I got a C. What's that about? For our exams, the only way to get an A is to miss one- yes only ONE- question! It's slightly disappointing, and somewhat defeating, to only miss a few questions and you are already at a C, but I've been putting in the work and trying hard so I can't be too hard on myself. I've only missed a few questions that I knew, read too fast, and should have gotten right, but I learned quickly to relax and make sure to read and reread the questions and I was able to pull out a B for exams numbers 2 and 3! Woop woop!
I've gotten 100% on my practicum skills so far, and I've done half of them.
We start clinicals in a few weeks and I'm excited and nervous. It will be fun to actually go out and be in the field but I just don't know what to expect until I go. Buuuut I can't wait!

...I need to remember to take some pictures in school so I can have them to remember (and so you all can see, of course!) I guess for now this is just a boring ol' post with no pictures!

Next time. :)


Saturday, May 18, 2013

CRUISIN' Right Along... :)

So... Insanity. Yeah. That didn't last. I'm such a sucker, what can I say? It was hard and we did it for a little while, but not long. For some reason sticking to it was sooo hard! Sorry to disappoint everyone who was wanting to see results. Believe, I did too haha, just not bad enough I guess. Exercising in the morning is just so incredibly unappealing to me! Perhaps I'll try some other time during the day and see how that goes.

We've had a lot going on lately, so I'll do a little catch up post!

My little sister, Emily got baptized in April. We are so proud of her! We had a fun weekend with everyone coming over and aftwards, we went to the park and had a big family picnic and flew kites. The weather was perfect and the whole day was lovely! She is such a sweet (yet feisty!) spirit and we are so glad to have her in our family!


Sisters! :)

Dad and Em

Our family... :)

Emily and her nephews!






The weekend of the baptism, my adorable nephew, Blazye, started having seizures so his mom (my sister) and dad took him to the hospital in Thatcher and he was driven by ambulance to the Cardon's Children Hospital here in the valley. He was there for a week getting tests done and trying to get everything figured out. With the type of seizures he was having, the doctors were thinking there was a tumor on his hypothalamus in the brain. Luckily, no tumor was found on the MRI, so that was good news. They aren't out of the woods yet though, since these tumors can develop over time and are generally hard to spot early on. So they'll monitor him every six months or so and for now he is on medication to help control the seizures. My sister and her family didn't have insurance at the time this started and got denied for ACCHS insurance so they are left with a pretty hefty bill, so we are trying to do some fundraisers to help them out a little. (Like the Bucks for Blayze one my other sister created: http://www.gofundme.com/Bucks-for-Blayze) We are happy he is doing well and responding to the medication and we're so grateful for the prayers as well as the monetary and other services people have donated. Our family is very blessed!



Cruuuuuise! Yahoo! We went on our cruise to Jamaica, Cayman Islands, and Cozumel, Mexico and we had such a blast!! It was so much fun going with our friends, the Webster's, and having a chance to get to know them better. We ate a lot (like, I gained SEVEN POUNDS, a lot!) of food all day everyday. We tried shark and alligator, which was exciting. The shark was too fishy for me and the alligator was actually pretty good. The weather was beautiful nearly the whole time.
When we were in Jamaica, we just explored the area ourselves instead of booking any excursions. We rode a shuttle bus to a few different stops to check out the local shopping, a beautiful beach, Jamaican food, and sight seeing.
In Cayman Islands, we got to swim with stingrays and hold them. They are so soft and slimy! It was awesome. We also got to dive for starfish and snorkel in coral reefs- which was so incredibly beautiful!
In Cozumel, we did an amazing race which was awesome! I absolutely loved it because we had the chance to see so much more than just the normal "touristy"places and interact a little with the locals. Eric and Matt both served their missions in Mexico (which is how they met) so Eric was in heaven since it was his first time back in Mexico since he came home from his mission. We were given clues to follow which led us to different places in the heart of Cozumel and then it ended at a restaurant where we ate and they had an "awards" ceremony. We didn't get first place (the people who did, finished the race in like less than an hour and a half because they ran the entire time) and we were glad we didn't rush through it so we could enjoy being there. The water there was incredibly beautiful!
It was our first cruise and I am already ready to go on another! We loved the staff and enjoyed all of the shows and everything they offered. I was even on the "Ultimate Gameshow" and won a medal :) (Although I didn't win the awesome trophy, which I wanted so bad! haha) We participated in girls vs boys trivia and the boys had some weird genius guy on their team that knew random things, along with Eric knowing a ton about history/geography and the likes, so needless to say, we got demolished. But it was fun playing! One other thing Eric and I did that was so much fun, was participating in "Dancing With the Cast"- which is their version of "Dancing With the Stars". We didn't place or anything but it was so fun getting to learn 3 dances. We want to start taking actual dance classes together sometime... whenever we can get time. :)
Overall, we love cruising! We highly recommend it! So go book a cruise... like now! :)

PS- Sorry the pictures are not really in any specific order!

When we first got on the boat!

friends! :)

relaxin in a hammock.

The starfish I dove for. :)

fooooood.

Jamaica. no problem.

On our way to the Stingray Sandbar!


so cute!

Eric showing off our view.

The view from our window :) We were at the very front of the boat!

The first formal night :)

Jamaica 

Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica

Cayman Island- Our tour guide getting the squid ready to feed the sting rays. Yummy!

That was a huge sting ray! And Matt and Karly lookin fly and tan!

Excited for hunting for starfish!

So cute! She's a little excited!

Attractive :)

Right before jumping in to snorkel! 

We're pretty cute.

Riding on the boat. :)


What a looker! :) 



Waiting to get back on the ship.

Monkey!

This is our room. It was pretty spacious because it was a handicap room :) 

The Amazing race!

We both look a little tired and sunkissed.. haha
This is right after we finished the race. We were so sweaty!

Interesting seating arrangements :) 

Shopping in Mexico

Funny hats

The Carnival Magic.

So lovely!

I wish we were barefoot in this picture, but we were wearing tennishoes from the amazing race. 

Lovin the hammock!

Lovin IN the hammock :)


The water was gorgeous!





So happy to be in Mexico together again!


I made this monkey!! Our steward showed us how to fold towel monkeys! 

Bebe elephant!

So when we got back from the cruise, I had to take my MicroBio final.. The day after we got back! I had missed 2 classes and 2 labs in order to go on the cruise, so I was worried about how I would do on the final. I studied and prayed hard and took the final as well as a lab quiz I had missed. I wasn't as confident on the final as I would have liked to have been buuuuuutttttt I ended up getting an A in the class!! Woohoo!! It truly was a miracle! The class was hard, and my teacher was awesome, but not easy, and I was able to pull out a barely-but-still-counts-as-an-A, A! :) 

A few days after my final, my sisters-in-law, mother-in-law, and nieces... (in law?) -haha basically all the girls on Eric's side of the family- took a trip to California to go to the American Girl Doll store. It was such a blast! Although I was worn out from driving too and from Texas for our cruise, it wasn't something I was going to miss! The girls had a blast and we made fun memories! We will definitely be going back some time! The cafe was so much fun to eat at and the dolls were lovely! We also went to the beach, which was actually pretty cold, but so fun! 





















We had a lot of fun!



Alright... and now for the grand finale!

I got placed in nursing school! Not only that, I got into the accelerated program at chandler-gilbert that started early... So I started May 13! One week down already. I should be graduating in August 2014 since its the fast track. Its already a LOT of work and I'm trying to find the best way to be organized. (Obviously I could be using this time to be studying, which I should, BUT I just had to give an update since I know everyone was on the edge of their seats just WAITING for an update from me ;) haha right...) Anywho- I'm so thrilled and thankful! We have been so blessed and I continue to feel the Lord's hand in my life, comforting and guiding me to where I should be.

Putting fertility treatments on the back burner for now was both a tough and easy choice at the same time. Easy because I was ready to feel like myself again and ready to have a break from the physical, mental, and financial exhaustion that comes with it. Easy because I was so ready for something new.
And obviously a tough choice because it meant waiting longer to be able to become a mother. I know its not impossible for us to get pregnant on our own, but the chances are really low (from a scientific perspective), so it was hard to choose to stop being active about getting pregnant and actually doing something (treatments) to help us get there, rather than just letting it be and if it happens, it happens. So we will just keep "not preventing" the good ol' fashion way and if we are blessed with a pregnancy, we'll take it, and if not, I'll finish school and we will decide after that what we're going to do about treatments, adoption, etc. 

For now, I'm so excited for this to really be happening! I've waited so long and am so ready to start this new chapter! If I don't blog till next August.. you know why! ;)