Snow in Houston

I was so sad that Lubbock was getting snow and we were not there to see it. Well, I guess last night solved that! Here are some pictures of all the snow we got.

Just wanted you to see what my desk looked like on Sunday night as I was studying. This is at about eight at night and it only got worse from here......Papers were everywhere and I had three books open on my desk.



Today I spent a lot of time doing wedding things and then cleaning our apartment. The apartment needs some major TLC. I only got the bathroom done today: cleaned and organized. As I was flipping through magazines at the checkout counter last night though, I came across a couple of ideas. Tell me what you think...Please. Neither is perfect, but I was just playing with the pine needles that were here at the apartment.

FInals!! Finally!

Just to let everyone know I will be off of the radar for the most part this weekend and Monday. I have an online test due that will take me 3 hours plus I have to study for my other two finals that are Monday. One is over Human Metabolism so it is going to take ALL Sunday to cram for that. Amanda, I am still working on a picture list for you. I have it started and almost done, but I am trying to make one for Becky based on what I have on yours. So, still working on both. Hopefully Monday night or Tuesday AF(after finals :)) I will have it copleted and will be all wedding then!
Melanie, I will be calling you too after finals. I bought some pins for my hair. Plus I was going to talk to you about makeup and nails. Once class is done I am calling....it has just been hard to find time for phone calls.
Ryan only has ten more days of school!! Hooray! He has senioritis! I never thought I would see that in him because he is such a hard worker and a perfectionist when it comes to his school work. Well, he is just stressed and overwhelmed with school and work. Too much on his plate at once. He comes home tired and then has to hit the books. Only ten more days!

After Monday I will be open to any and all questions you may have about the wedding and/or Christmas with a smile on my face and a new found appreciation for vacation!!

Crunch Time

The time is slipping away faster and faster now as the day draws nearer. Ryan is excited about his last days of classes (he has already completed his final) and I am getting more and more last minute wedding things to do. Be glad if I don't draw you in to help in some way or another! :) No, seriously, things are falling into place and getting done. Today was my last day of classes and then next Monday I have two finals. Wish my luck on that! Will post more when I have more time (whenever that happens)!

Brideorexia?

I am working on a research proposal currently for one of my classes. I had no idea what I was going to use as a topic because I really am not interested in research that much..until now. Upon telling people about my wedding dress, I got numerous responses asking if I am losing weight for my dress or will lost weight. Being in nutrition, I replied of course not, the dress has to fit me not the other way around. Hence, this is my inspiration for my research proposal. I am only proposing this design and not acutally doing the research. But did you know they actually have coined the tems "brideorexia" and "wedding anorexia nervosa?" I was stunned. Anyway I am really interested in these facts and my proposal revolves around soon to be brides and the onset of an eating disorder. Cool, huh?

Adding More to the To-Do List

Looks like I have to clean and pack stuff up...yet again! Ryan and I have had some weird spots coming up on our carpet and after two weeks of badgering, I finally just told them it was mold. (I did actually see some black stuff by the back door which they claim is just carpte discoloration) Anyway, they did come look at it and told us today for sure that they will be in here Saturday to replace all of our carpet. Literally about 90% of our apartment is carpet and we have new gifts! I have to pack things back up in their boxes and clean, clean, clean. I do not want them touching anything slightly breakable since the manager told me they cannot be held accountable! I guess I should be glad we will have new carpet! I am just dreading everything that it has taken and will take to get us there!

It has been a busy couple of months!

I know that I probably am not quite as busy as some of my sisters/brothers and/or relatives, but for me it has been so crazy! Wedding showers, care plans, tests, assignments, hurricane renovations, internship rotation assignments and responsibilities, planning the wedding, flower girl dress mishaps etc..... have all kept me on my toes. Just to let you know I am still here, I thought I would take a little spare time I have this morning to post some pictures of things that have been going on.

Some of our Lubbock friends were able to make it to the couple shower.

Garrett was a great helper. Amanda said he was disappointed that I didn't get any good gifts! I guess my idea of good gifts are not the same as his.

Wedding Shower #2

I think this is why I have a huge bruise on my right elbow! I told Ryan I have a rule....no playing with Baxter at least one week before the wedding!

Still Recovering from Ike

I thought we were pretty much finished with this whole Ike situation until today. It is raining and since they have not fixed our termite wall, we have water dripping into our apartment. Yeah.........

Everybody Needs a Day Like Today

Before I go to bed, I wanted to brag a little bit. I have had a fantastic day!! First let me start with a random chain of events:
-Ryan and I move to Houston into out third floor apt. and are estatic!
-Notice the VERY strong smoke smell in our apt and decide we have to move.
-After waiting for a month to move, we finally do, but have boxes everywhere due to no time to unpack and settle in.
-Hurricane Ike hits.....
-Boxes everywhere plus water damage
-Maintanence comes TODAY! (one hooray) to fix the drywall. They rip out a lot of walls...
-Findings: TERMITES!!!
Surprisingly, I am cool with this and actually laughing at the random chain of events that have brought us to this point. Honestly, who would have guessed all of these weird incidences coming together!? Anyway, we are unsure if the apt. knows about it (they have a contractor doing the jobs) but if the contractor does not say something....we definietly are!!!

On to the great day.......Yesterday was terrible. Horrible test, LONG lecture, got singled out in class for talking(I was NOT even talking!!!!). I decided to check the tracking on the wedding invitatinos though and it said they were delivered here on Thursday. Funny because it is Monday and I have no invitations! After a little freaking out and frustration.....I have wedding invitations!!! That started the good day today. Then, class this AM was pretty interesting and Ryan called me with GREAT news......He got the job!!! My fiance has his first job in his career choice! I am soo proud of him and estatic!!! I was screaming on the phone when he told me(mind you I was in the computer lab)! Next news he tells me is they are working on our apartment. This is great news because we thought it was going to take them at least a month to get anything done and also because we miss our puppies SOOO bad. They are with the grandparents now until the apartment is fixed, organized and people are done coming in and out. Yeah!! Job and apartment!! Ryan was so excited about his job that we decided to go to the mall and actually order his wedding band. Check that off the list to do! We were so relaxed though we just walked around the mall, browsed around and enjoyed spending time with each other and not spending time studying. Is it bad that lately all of our "dates" have been study dates!!? It was great having an afternoon, just him and I, together and laughing about little things that are important to us. Sooo sweet too! We walked past Build a Bear and Ryan asked me if I wanted one. So, Ryan and I made a bear for me for night when Ryan sleeps on the couch or when we are apart. He is so adorable. Came home then to cook supper together and to our surprise, one of the movies I have been wanting to see came in on netflix. Sex in the city. Ryan offered to watch it with me too! So to end our magical day, we ate supper and watched sex in the city, the movie. He didn't finish the movie with me, but it really was a treat to have him all day to myself!

Fantastic day and I hope you all have a chance to spend a day like this with the one you care the most about! :) Now I have to get some sleep so I can think tomorrow while I am interning!

I am sure you can find a ton of pictures online of Hurricane Ike damage;however here is what Ryan and I experienced.

Shingles spread ALL over the property...gutters too. The one in the background isn't ours, but you will get to see ours in a later pic! I knew I heard something scratching and banging the side of our building. Apparently, it was the gutter coming loose!


One of many tress at our complex.

Every single tree in the courtyard behind out building was uprooted. Keep in mind, all of these trees were also newly planted and some were pine.

Another tree that did not make in through intact.

Uprooted...We are so lucky that we did not have any large trees around us. The only one close was about 15 feet infront of our bedroom window, but we were fortunate that it did not break or uproot!

This was our major problem of the night. Water was pouring into our apartment from around the windows. The office had a steady stream (not just drips) that you could hear. We really did think the window had a crack in it or that it was busted because so much water was coming from the top and the bottom. This picture is actually in the bedroom, where it was leaking from the same places, just not as severly as in the office.

Weird right? How does water come in from an inside wall and from the electical switch. We noticed this and immetiately turned the breaker off and grabbed the fire extinguisher to be safe. Can you see the paint peeling up around the plug?
This is our gutter! It is also the first thing I saw when I woke up!

Ryan and I usually park our cars in the same area that this car is parked in...this makes us so glad that we put ours in a parking garage! (Can you see that his back window is smashed out?) We are thinking that our gutter might have been the culprit.
The poor dogs. They were so confused and scared. When the storm first started, Raider was barking at every little noise. Once he got used to the storm noises, he became my shadow. Star was so scared that she actually peed! Ryan and I layed down to try to nap when we heard a train like howling. We grabbed the pillows, ran into our safe room and started putting more pillows. I reached for Star to put her in and she peed all over!! Poor girl.

That is all for now. I have some more pictures that are of Houston and then even a couple more of our apartment. Perhaps tomorrow I will give you more to look at, but right now I am exhausted, out of words and confused as to what is going to happen next. I am going to get started on my big project that is due Monday in case I do have class first. As far as the test that I am supposed to have, I will study for that once I know for sure. :) Everything is just up in the air.

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Recovery

Ryan, Raider, Star and I are both safe at our parents' houses now, but not without a few stories about our experience! Thanks for everyone who was so concerned! Just letting most of you know, yes we are fine, yes we are out of Houston, and I will be posting some pics and stories just as soon as I can figure out how to get my pictures onto mom and dad's computer.
Couple of things now: our power is still off at the apartment and the poor dogs literally were scared shitless(well pee-less). Be back soon! :)

I am not going to say much other than we are fine. Here are some pictures to hold you over though...

Feels like starting from the beginning,..

Today ws my official first day as an intern with an actual preceptor, one on one. I have to say I am completely overwhelmed, exhausted, confused, nervous, scared, and all of those feelings that you get when it is something new and you feel like you are in over your head! I am positive I can handle all of the pressure and even learn a lot;however this first rotation might be hard due to my preceptor. He has a thick accent and I find myself trying to figure out what he is saying rather than listen to the information and direction he is giving me. I came home today just totally lost. Plus it seems that my mentor talks in circles. I asked questions today, but even right now I am puzzled if I even got an answer. Everyone has their own teaching techniques though and I am sure I will understand eventually. Just at the moment, I am left scratching my head and wondering how I am going to make it through the next four weeks with a suitable grade!
Otherwise, our move went smoothly. The new place does not smell like smoke, in fact it smells like apartment. Ryan says he can smell different foods from previous residents or neighbors, but I think it is just an older apt. smell. There is a problem with this place though and we both knew that this could be an issue when we took a first floor apt.....loud neighbors. They seem to have about a three year old that uses the apartment as a race track (literally) until about eleven at night! On top of him, the parents stomp like I have never heard and are just inconsiderate it seems. Monday morning, a sleeping in day, we heard banging at 6:15 that continued until 6:20. It woke both Ryan and I up and the only thing we could figure out is that their washer was off balance and knocking. Grr it made us mad. I fell back asleep but Ryan was up for the day.
Wedding plans have reached almost a hault, as I expected. As it is I am stacked with homework and reading for school, so wedding planning has simmered down. There are some major things we still have to do and soon, but getting school and interning started was a major priority.
I guess basicly at this point everything is new to me: grad school, interning, and wedding planning. Hence, the title. I feel like I have started undergrad all over again and have those freshmen eyes!

Crazy Clutter

As you all have figured out I am sure, Ryan and I have set a date for out wedding. That is what has been keeping me pre-occupied and not given me any time to post. The past two weeks have been my break between summer and fall semesters and luckily, we picked the date right as this break was starting. I have spent the whole two weeks, with the exception of Ryan's grandma's passing, planning the wedding. I feel as though his grandmother's passing actually brought us closer to his dad's side of the family though, which is a plus. Other major changes going on..we are moving AGAIN this week. Due to the terrible smoke smell in our apartment in the inability to get rid of it, we are transferring to another apartment on property. Meaning, we have to paint (kilz and then paint) four walls and pack AGAIN. I really did think that moving from Lubbock to Houton would be our last major move. It is getting Ryan and I both pretty flustered. I think I am getting really irritated because I hate clutter and our apartment is nothing but clutter right now! Furniture from the office is in the middle of the living room so we can paint the wall in the office and there are boxes lining out hallway. That is just to name some of the inconviniences. Out kitchen has been packed up too, so it is really hard to cook and make just a simple glass of tea to drink since there is no sugar, no milk, etc... Lastly, tomorrow is the first day of fall semester. Getting ready for classes and studying this week is going to be a disaster with all the boxes and furniture displacement! Hopefully I will be posting more on here to let everyone know what is going on with us. Maybe to use it as a place to vent! :)

Long Five Weeks

I can't believe that it has been five weeks already. As this point, I am about to take my first final as a graduate student. Of course, it has been re-scheduled due to Euodaur (however that storm spells its name!!) Nothing ever goes completely by plans anymore.
It was an interesting night filled with cleaning up spaghetti and watching weather. Ryan and I picked up a couple of emergency items earlier in the day and then I came home to study. We are also dog-sitting right now to make things more interesting. Then comes the news of school closure so I decide to make spaghetti for supper. Ryan wasn't planning on eating any because he has not been feeling well, but I ws hungry for spaghetti! So, I made my plate as he was playing with the dog and then he grabbed his. As he was walking through the living room, talking silly to the dog, the spaghetti slid off the plate on all over the fresh carpet! Yuck! Oh I forgot to mention that we are transferring apartments too! There was lots of scrubbing and cleaning gong on over here tonight.
Back to the moving, that is due to the smoky smell. Yup, it has only gotten worse and Ryan and I are having health inplications from it. I am not willing to get lung cancer from smelling some other person's second hand smoke in MY home! More to come about this issue I am sure....

Books

Taking a break from doing homework and orientation worksheets right now to tell you a little bit more about my experience so far. I thought that I had to buy a lot of books for my undergrad, but I was so wrong! Just for this summer session I bought 5 books, had one given to me from TWU(amazing!!), had to buy a lab coat and I am still discovering supplies I will need! By the way mom, the pocket medical dictionary was actually a reference material that was highly recommended that we buy, soooo you saved me some money by getting me one for free! :) I am going to put it to good use it seems! Today I actually had orientation at a hospital and I feel pretty good about things. The computer program that I will be using a lot is actually one that I used in Lubbock all the time at the hospital, so check there. I think I am the only intern that has any kind of previous hospital experience! Even though UMC was not fun for me, it seems like the experience will be so much more resourceful this next year and make it less stressful for me now. I guess being stressed out in my undergrad was ok then, right? (justifying my stress!!! yuck) Also, I have been proud of myself lately. There have been no late night calls to mom crying over something teeny tiny and no anxiety like I expected from starting something so life-altering. Progress I guess!
These past two days have gotten me really excited about the internship and my career. I can see how the internship will help put the information that I have to good use in the real world. That is really good since I thought the whole intership process was dumb in the beginning.
Back to my reading and assignments...night!

Becoming an Adult.....Still

Today was full of grown up responsibilities!! New ones too! Of course there is the internship that started today, duh! But the day started out with even bigger excitement....
The first order of business as soon as anyone wakes up is to releive their bladder, so I am no exception to that rule; however this morning was different.Going to bed last night, we did not realize that the toliet was clogged. First thing this morning, I found out it was clogged and completed the grown up task of plunging the toliet!! A first for me!! Grown up task #1 for the day....
Let me not forget to say that the second grown up task this morning was killing a roach! Yuck! Bonus for me because I did not wake up Ryan by screaming!
Lastly, the most important by far, today was my first day as a graduate student and intern. At the moment I am overloaded, exhausted, confused and I have not even walked into a hospital yet to get lost! The whole process seems overwhelming, but I am enthusiastic about all of it and can't wait for another day of information!

I got a haircut!!!

For the past couple of months I have wanted a haircut and I finally got one today!

Apartment Pictures

I decided to put a couple of pictures of our new home on here. However, we still have boxes everywhere and pictures to hang so it is definitely not perfect! :) Enjoy!

With all the moving and bouncing between houses, I kinda forgot about my blog! Once we moved in with the parents for a month it was so crazy! Ryan and I thought we might have some time to just relax, but we soon realized that just sitting around twidling our thumbs does not work well for us. Just to sum up a little bit of what we did over the month: started painted Ryan's parents's house, painted mom and dad's office, took Raider to the vet three times (two in one day!!!), spent about a week ridding Raider of fleas, took trips to the beach and to the farm in La Grange. I will just stop there for now. I know for sure I am missing a bunch of stuff but I really cannot think clearly right now.

Now we are moved into our new home. It feels wonderful! I love my parents and Ryan's parents very much, but I am so relived to have a space of my own. I never realized how much I really need time to myself and a place to call mine until this past month. Kinda sounds like dad, right?? I better watch out!! Anyway, we are still in the process of unpacking and organizing so there is clutter evverywhere driving me crazy. Meanwhile I love having our dogs back!! For the first week Ryan and I painted accent walls and made trips back and forth moving, so it was not logical to bring the dogs. Yesterday was their first day home and you could literally see them smiling! Raider sniffed everything and Star was prancing around the place. So adorable! Immediately Raider found the spot on the bed by the window so when Ryan and I made to trip to unload the car, there was Star and Raider staring back at us from the third floor!! Terrible to say, but we actually arranged our room so that Raider could lay there and look outside! I am sure I will have many more stories to tell soon. As for now I need to unload the car while it has stopped raining.

Life After Lubbock

I am sure most of you were wondering if I made it home ok and am alive after graduation. Well, yes Ryan, Star, Raider and I have all made the move back to South Texas and are trying to settle in. There are so many things to get in order when you make a huge move like that!! Mostly, at the moment we are relaxing some and then tomorrow is my "business" day. I have internship stuff to take care of, information to mail and arrangements to make with iinsurance. Graduation was great. It still feels so unreal to me. I keep on thinking I am going to leave for Lubbock again in a couple of days. Plus I miss my friends already so I will really have to adjust to keeping in touch by email and facebook and then making friends through my internship too. At graduation, I didn't tell the family where I would be sititng and I didn't haev a cell phone with me so I had no idea where they picked to sit at in the huge arena. Well, I guess it was pretty obvious where they were when I was walking out and saw a sign that said "way to go Missy." Go figure that I would look at the sign and not even think it was for me, then I looked again and started laughing! Thanks again Sue for making a sign! That was so sweet of you and cool! There are many other stories I could write about right now, but I think I will sum it all up with pictures. Perhaps tomorrow I will type more for you.

Just packing!

Packing is all I have to do these days and it is great! Thursday I officially finished! Since then I have been catching up with lots of friends, being a designated driver for others and packing packing packing; plus taking Raider for walks on campus with Bailey and her dog. Today I met several friends on campus, we had lunch and then took pictures. I am going to miss campus. I am sure I will be talking to most of you soon and seeing you soon too, so I will keep this breif and just post some pictures from campus today. More packing to do, but I am excited to do it!