Bitter Sweet . . .

So I just finished my 5th book during this deployment, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. A great read that I didn't want to end, I think that's why it took me so long to read it. It was a Romeo and Juliet kind of story set in the time of WWII, between a young Chinese boy and a young Japanese girl. It takes place in Seattle's Chinatown, which made it even more intriguing to me since as a child I spent time there with my father. All of the places that he talks about in the book are many places that you would recognize if you are familiar with Chinatown. Although the is fiction many aspects of the book are true, which made the book very captivating. Jamie Ford is a great writer and I found myself stay up to the late hour of the night reading because I just didn't want to put the book down. Unfortunately it seems that this may be the only kind of book this author is going to write for a while, now he is working on a set of graphic novels (not something I'm really into). But hopefully he will write more books like this one.

It's my last first day . . .

Today was my last first day of summer camp and everything went smoothly. It's a little bit of a bitter sweet kind of thing since it's my last summer, but I'm excited for the future. Only 80 of our 96 kids showed up today. We kicked off the first day with the Jack Thompson Sports Camp put on by RunToWin and The YES Foundation of White Center. A three day camp with five different sports for the youth of White Center to participate in, lead by some amazing coaches, with great scripture shared.

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith." ~ II Timothy 4:7

Maybe this year I'll be able to make it into the group photo,

all these years and I've always missed it.

Dinner . . .

Got to hang out and go to dinner with my sister-n-law today, she just got back from being deployed. Now we need to pick a day to go to the spa!

Found the dress . . .

So after months of looking for a dress to wear to James' homecoming, I finally found the perfect one. I thought I had found one a few months ago that I liked but I tried it on again and it just didn't look the same as when I tried it on in the store. It was too short and it was strapless so it wasn't very comfortable to wear. So I took it back. I was able to find a dress that fits much better and is a little bit more conservative. It's much different from the usual sundresses I wear, but I love the fit and the green color is really pretty. I would show a picture but I want to keep the dress a surprise for James!

Finally . . .

It took about a month but I finally got my Concealed Pistol License took over a month for it to come, now we can go gun shopping.

Time with the ladies . . .

After a quarter of having to see each other is scrubs everyday we finally got to see each other in regular clothes. Some of the girls from class and I met up to hang out and have a cocktail. It was fun to see each other outside of the class room.

We also got to meet the comedian Louie Anderson.

Check this out . . .

It's amazing what they can do with technology!

A cat has received two bionic legs in a world-first operation set to transform treatment for human amputees.

Oscar, whose paws were cut off by a combine harvester, can run and leap thanks to the mechanical implants.


They were drilled into his ankle then treated with a substance that allows bone and skin to grow around them.


Fake paws were then fitted on "see-saw" joints at the end of the prosthetics, giving full movement.


A day after the pioneering surgery, carried out by Noel Fitzpatrick, a Surrey, England-based veterinarian — Oscar tried to stand.


Four months later he bore weight equally. Now he runs.


Fitzpatrick said the techniques he used are "set to transform the future" of orthopedics

Getting Ready for Summer . . .

It's that time of the year again, summer staff is here and we are getting ready for the kids to come for summer camp. We have a great team and 96 kids (ahhhh... this is the most we have ever had) that will be with us this summer. Excited to see all the kids, but sad that it will be our last summer, it will be my sixth one. But it's going to be great!

Summer staff and kids from 2009!

Christmas in June . . .

Got to witness an amazing event that happens in White Center once a year, Christmas in June! And yes as the kids say it is a holiday. The YES Foundation of White Center, goes to 3 local elementary schools and makes sure that each kid gets a ball before summer starts so they have something to play with. They also do a drawing at each school so that 4 lucky kids get a bike. It was such a great event to be a part of, the look of surprise and shock of winning the bikes on these kids faces was priceless. White Center is so lucky and blessed to have such an organization that is so devoted to it's community!

Pat Thompson the most popular woman in White Center!

(Founder of YES)

Two of the lucky bike winners!

Spring 2010 Quarter Finished . . .

Yea! So I'm finished with my CNA course, so now I can take my state test so I can get licenced. Then I will be able to work as a CNA while I'm finishing up nursing school. Now I just have to wait to find out when I can take my test, hopefully they will be able to get me in before we leave. Next if applying for nursing school in Hawaii, hopefully all my credits will transfer and I wont have any problems.
I'm so glad that I won't have to drive to Kirkland anymore, I was spending way too much money on gas.

Happy Father's Day!

Spent the first part of Father's day celebrating it with my grandfather and then went to my dad's for dinner. It was great, my dad was trying to teach me how to cook Thai food, but my stepmom kept telling him that we were going to slow and that she was hungry. My dad said cooking is an art, it takes time! In Thai they have a saying, which I love and hope that one day I can live my life by this saying. Mai pen rai which means "No worries" or "Don't worry about it" my dad is always telling me to slow down and don't rush (I thinks it's because I'm the baby and he doesn't want me to grow up so fast.) We had an amazing dinner and I'm going to miss those dinners when I move.
So I talked to the husband today, and jokingly wished him a happy father's day, he didn't like the joke too much!

Oh, I did find out some exciting news about someone being pregnant! I'm very excited for them but don't want to spill any beans... see my double yolk eggs were right someone close to me did get pregnant!

No I don't want you to talk to my muscles, I'm paying you to massage them . . .

Ok so after working clinicals for the last two weeks and moving and lifting people, my neck, back and feet are tight and sore. So I made an appointment to get a massage today, really looking forward to deep tissue massage and to get all these knots out of my back. So when I go there I told her what I wanted worked on, and I thought I made it clear just what I wanted. Well half way through the massage I'm thinking maybe she didn't understand me, cause she is obviously just doing superficial muscle work. So I remind her that I really need her to work on my traps and that it's ok to do deep tissue work. And I couldn't believe her response, she told me that she "likes to talk to the muscles" and that she "finds that she gets a better response from them that way." Well after all is said and done all I have to say is, "Look lady I don't think you were talking loud enough cause my muscle definitely didn't hear you and I'm still in pain." Oh and after the massage was over and I went to pay she said "I don't understand why you are so tight when your neck muscles are so flexible."
I could have had better work from laying on a tennis ball to get the knots out and that would have been free. Talking to muscles? What kind of bull shit is that?

Last night of clinicals . . .

These past two weeks have been exhausting but they have been such a great experience. I had such a great time and I'm sad that it's over. I feel like I work there now, getting to do rounds by myself and making sure I have all the patient info correct. I didn't think I was going to like it as much as I did but I was excited to be there. I got to work with a great group of girls and we ended up be really good friends by the end.
What I won't miss is how much gas I spent driving all the way to Everett, how sore my body is at the end of the day and how dry my hands look and feel.
But we ended the night good with dinner and drinks, fun and laughter. I will miss these ladies!

What I love about my Love . . .

What is the first thing you noticed about your husband when you met?
His hair cut, it was just a regular military hair cut (it was cut a little bit closer to the scalp than he normally gets). But I love it when he gets his hair cut, he looks so handsome!

What is something your husband does that drives you crazy?
Haha... That he always catches my little dumb moments or comments that I make and I will never be able to live them down. (But I have a few on him.) And that when we are debating over things he's usually right...


If money wasn't an option what is one thing you would make sure you always had done for your husband? Buy him a jeep, cause he sold his when we started dating cause the gas prices were so high and he was driving an hour to see me. I wish I could buy one for him he wants one so bad.


When do you find your husband most attractive?
I love seeing him in uniform, oh and I love the picture I have of him in his waiters!


What does your husband do for you that you totally appreciate and would miss if it was gone?
How thoughtful he is and all the little things he does that remind me just how much he loves me. Out of the blue he will send me flowers and when he leaves there is always a note hidden for me to find. Another thing is that he is so helpful with things and just so supportive.


If you had your wedding day to do over again and everything was your call, would you keep everything the same? Change something? Everything? Elope or if you eloped vice versa?
I wouldn't change a thing, I think it was so perfect. Everything that led up to our wedding day fell into place so perfectly. We eloped but it was so intimate and beautiful getting married on the beach in Hawaii.

If you could go or be any where in the world with your husband right now, where would that be?
It could be anywhere in the world as long as I was with him, it wouldn't matter.


What is one moment you wish you could back and relive with your husband just to get to experience again? Would you change anything?
I love the past and everything that has lead us to where we are now, but I'm so ready for the future and excited to see where life is going to take us.

What do you love most about your husband?
What I love the most? I don't think that there is something I love the most, I do love that he is very confident (not is a cocky way) in himself, who he is and what he stands for. And I love that he can walk into a room meet new people and be totally comfortable (something that I wish I could do).

Mmmm . . .

My weakness a perfect cupcake!

I'm a little bit envious on how amazing Cupcake Royal makes their cupcakes. Each one seems to be so perfect, but I can't seem to replicate their recipe for the cake or the frosting. I don't think I ever had a cupcake that I didn't like from them. Each month they have a new flavor to go along with their regular flavors. These are my favorite flavors so far:

Salted Carmel

Dance Party

My guilty pleasure . . .

Drama, Drama, Drama...

As long as it's not in my life I'm totally fine with it. I have to admit I love watching the show The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Out of all the housewives shows I think they are the most hilarious and probably the most real. But they sure do have a lot of drama, but it makes for great entertainment. That Danielle lady is crazy, I feel bad for her kids, I hope when shes watches the show that she feels embarrassed (cause I sure feel embarrassed for her).

Mr. Expensive . . .

So while planning our move to Hawaii we had to get this little guy ready to go as well. Hawaii has strict laws on animals coming into Hawaii and keeping rabies out. There is a 7 page check list of requirements your pet must have done so they can fly into Hawaii and be directly released to you when you arrive there. If your pet doesn't meet the requirements they will have to spend up to 120 days in quarantine and you have to pay $1080 for it.

So as soon as we got back for our trip to Hawaii in March, I had to take Shadow to the vet. Poor little thing, he has been through so much. But there is no way in hell we are going to pay for him to sit in quarantine for 120 days and have to pay that much money and the military won't reimburse us for.

The Requirements

• 2 rabies shots a month apart - $25 each
• A microchip implant (which he has two because the first one he got didn't meet the right criteria, so we had to get a different one put in) - 1st one was $20, the 2nd one was $45
• A blood test showing how much rabies vaccine is in his little body - $245 (this must be done 120 in advance to arriving to Hawaii)
• 2 signed rabies vaccination certificates in blue ink by the vet
• A bill of health certificate must be fedex'd to Hawaii 10 days prior to him arriving along with an application to get the cat in - about $45 for the vet appointment and how ever much it will cost to mail the stuff
• He must have tick treatment within 14 days of arrival - not sure the price on that

Other expenses:

• We will probably have to get him a new carrier so we can take him on the plane, even though his carrier right now says airline approved
• Since he is coming to Ohio with us we will have to pay for that flight too
• And the poor little thing has such bad anxiety riding in the car we had to get kitty Prozac to help him out

He is just so darn cute! I couldn't live without him...

Spring Cleaning . . .

So I cleaned out the cupbroads today, got rid of a lot of stuff. It made my hands drier than they already were. Since working my clincals this past week I have washed my hands so many times and it's starting to show. Today they look horrible, I have to keep applying lotion to them and it seems like they just soak right up and still look dry. My poor little hands...

What a Beautiful Day...

So it finally feels like Summer! Today was such a beautiful day, ran a few errands, got my ring cleaned and went to watch my nephew play baseball. I love just getting to sit and relax in the sun.

He pitched a good inning, very cute watching little kids play ball. It was his last game of the season, they did great especially playing the in heat and bright sun.

It fits and it's cute!

So before my husband left for deployment, we went looking for sweat shirts that had the Army logo on it. Everything was huge and mostly guy stuff. So when I found out that Victoria's Secret Pink had an Army collection I was excited. Luckly there is a VS in Washington that actually sells them, cause there is only a handful of stores the carry them, and you can rarelly get them online. So now I have cute Army logo stuff that fits!

Bitch it out . . .

Ok so I love the article in Cosmo Magazine, "Bitch It Out". People send in pictures or write about things that irritate them. Some of them are pretty funny and I often think of things that I would send in if I had the time.



So here is my "Bitch It Out" of the day...

I'm driving home tonight and it's about 9pm, it's not too dark out yet but it's getting there. I turn down the street I have to go down to get to my street, and there are kids just playing in the street (the street isn't crazy busy but many people use it). These kids are about ages 3 to 12, no parents in sight, just running about, riding their bikes and scooters. They see me coming and they just stay in the middle of the street and keep on playing. "Hello, Where the hell are your parents?" I just don't understand how parents can let their little kids just run around in the street unsupervised and at 9 o'clock at night. It's sad and scary cause this type of behavior is going to end up with one of these kids being hit by a car or getting kidnapped.

Some people shouldn't be allowed to have kids. When I have kids there will be no playing in the street and definitely they will not be out late at night by themselves.

Exhausted . . .

What a day, my legs and feet hurt so bad, up on my feet most of the time and did a lot of running around. Today was such a busy day at the hospital, lots of new patients. Got to do some rounds by myself, it definitely made time go by much faster. Got home and showered and I still feel like I smell like the hospital, gross. Rained and poured like crazy, with thunder and lightening today, it made it really hard to drive home. Got stuck in traffic cause of this little accident:

What a Day . . .

Got a lot done today... Did some laundry, went and got my shot, confirmed that I am NOT pregnant and picked a few things I needed for clinicals.
On my way to my Clinicals I stopped to get Starbucks (the drive thru one), I waited in line for about 15 minutes. Luckily when I got to the window the guy was nice enough to give me my drink for free. That was my nice little perk for the day. Now I have some cash to get one tomorrow.
Clincals went great, time seemed to fly by pretty fast. We had lots of patients today, and most of the patients that we had on the oncology floor were not there for that. We had many discharges and only one admitance, but I'm sure there will be many new patients when I get there tomorrow. I'm gonna need lots of sleep tonight, I'm sure tomorrow will be another busy day.
And the husband got more minutes for the his phone so I actually got to hear his voice tonight. I always feel so much better when I get to talk to him. Not too much longer and he'll be home I'm so excited

Long day . . .

So today was my first day of clinicals, I drove all the way to Everett and I made pretty good timing and traffic wasn't bad at all. When I was getting ready, I took out my new scrubs to put them on and realized that I had gotten the wrong size, instead of a X-small bottoms, I ended up getting a small bottoms. It may not sound like a big difference, but I'm already swimming in the X-smalls. These pants were huge on me, I had to pull them all the way up to my belly button and had the rolled up a few times (they are a petite size too), they ended up being so wide. Hopefully they will shrink in the dryer or I might have to take a sewing machine to them. With them costing so much I think I might have to start making my own, they would be much cheaper and would probably fit much better and have way cuter patterns. I'm going to look into that.


Anyways about clinicals, so today was just orientation, we filled out paper work and watched a few videos (mostly out dated and the acting was exaggerated). We were assigned our floors and did a tour and went home early. So I get to work on the oncology floor, I'm very excited, I can't wait for tomorrow.


So I get done with clinicals early, I head home and I get a phone call from my dad saying he wanted to go out to dinner. Ok, I'm up for a good meal, I figure we go get dinner and I'll be home in time for my Skype date with my husband at 9, where could we possibly go where it's going to take more than 2 hours to eat dinner, right? Well I go home and change and then pick up my dad and stepmom, we start driving and I ask so where are we going to dinner? He tells me Snoqulmie falls. What?!? (that's like 45 mins away) So we go out there for my brother's graduation dinner (he just got his masters), we don't get seated 'til about 8:30ish and then don't leave to go home 'til 10 and then I don't get home 'til 11. So much for my Skype date with James, that made me sad.


Hopefully tomorrow he will have gotten more minutes for his phone and I'll get to hear his voice. I miss him so much. Well off to bed tomorrow is going to be much longer than today.


Feeling much better now, stayed online for about an hour and a half and finally got to talk to my husband.  I feel so much better like a weight has been lifted off of me.

Tomorrow . . .

So clinicals start tomorrow, I'm super excited to be working at the hospital but not really sure what to expect. I bought new scrubs this week, so far I think I have spent over $100 on all of them, and all of them have been off the sales rack. I won't be able to wear my wedding ring to clinicals, it's going to be so weird not to have it on my finger.

Time sure has past . . .

Just went to my little cousins graduation party. It was such a blast, getting to hang out with all my cousins and family. We have all changed so much and are growing into amazing young ladies. So proud of them all. Loved these two pictures cause they show just how much we have changed. Next group picture of us we will hanging out on the beaches of Hawaii!

Operation: Love Reunited

Found this site and thought it was so amazing. Photographers from around the U.S. participate in capturing the moments of soldiers being reunited with their loved ones as they return home from deployment. This is such a great idea, all of their time and the development of the pictures are donated the families. I never thought of having an actual professional photographer there to capture such a unforgettable moment, having pictures taken was the last thing on my mind, I just want him to be home. I always loved seeing pictures of families being reunited, they always made me teary eyed just looking at them dreaming of being back in James arms.

http://www.oplove.org/

James and I have never had any professional pictures done, we weren't engaged long enough to have engagement photos taken and we never thought about having a professional photographer at our wedding. I always hoped that when he got home we would get them taken. But I would love to photos like this taken, I think they would be so much more personal and candid. Just thinking about seeing him for the first time in such long makes me so excited and gives me butterflies.

Yesterday I got the chance to talk to him on Skype, it was the first time in three months that I got to see his face. I was speechless for a while and all I could do was smile from ear to ear, I was so happy to just see his face. It felt like a ton of bricks were lifted off of me, just seeing his face made my day and not so stressed as usual.

More about us . . .

How long have you been together? Two years, but it feels like we've been together for much longer than that
How long did you know each other before you started dating? We met in March, but didn't start talking until June, after talking for a couple weeks we started dating
Who asked who out? He emailed me (cause it was the only way he could get a hold of me) asking if I wanted to hang out some time. We exchanged numbers and ended up talking for about six hours. Then a few days later I invited him to the movies.
How old are each of you? 23 and 24 our birthdays are only 6 days a part
Did you go to the same school? Nope
Are you from the same home town? No, we grew up on the opposite sides of the U.S.
Who is the smartest? I think we are both knowledgeable in different areas, he definitely knows more random facts than I. He is very much into politics and what is happening in the world
Who majored in what? I working on getting my RN and he plans on going back to college to finish is bachelors
Who is the most sensitive? Me that's for sure, and it has gotten worse since he deployed
Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? To Hawaii to get married and have our honeymoon. We went to Toledo but we left and came back at different times. But we plan to travel the world, I'm very excited!
Who has the worst temper? haha... uhh, I think it depends on what we are getting worked up about, I think I have a worse temper when it comes to driving
How many children do you want? I think we came to the decision that we only want two kids, but we shall see
Who does the cooking? Not me, we went out to eat a lot. But he grew up in his family restaurant so he knows how to cook. I've never had to cook so I don't know how to, I was suppose to learn while he was a way, I haven't yet and he comes back in July.
Who is more social? He definitely is when it comes to meeting and being around
new people. I'm a little shy when I don't know people. But I think I'm pretty social with the people I do know. I'm going to have to start getting use to meeting new people and being social once we move.
Who is the neat freak? We aren't really neat freaks, but when I get to organizing I'm a good organizer.
Who is the most stubborn? We are both really stubborn, but we both know when we need to give in just a little bit
Who wakes up earlier? He does, but I think it's because it takes me longer to fall asleep. Plus he has to get up early on a normal basis. I love to sleep and just hang out in bed but he would rather be up and about.
Where was your first date? We went to the movies and then we sat down at Alki beach and talked for hours . Our first date by ourselves was the Tacoma water front and we ate dinner over looking the water. I think our second date he took me to the shooting range, it was so much fun!
Who has the bigger family? If you include all my family that doesn't live in the states I do. My dad came from a family of about 10 kids.
Do you get flowers often? I do, I feel so lucky when I come home to find a bouquet of flowers with a note waiting for me. In the past two years I have gotten flowers more often than in my entire life. He is really good at surprising me with a bouquet of flowers.
How do you spend the holidays? So far we haven't gotten to spend a lot of our holidays together, with him being gone and all. This year will be our first Christmas and New Years Eve together, I'm excited!
Who is more jealous? We haven't had too much jealousy come up. I think that we both learned from past relationships that being jealous over little unimportant things is unhealthy in a relationship
How long did it take to get serious? a few months, but I think we both held back a while so we wouldn't get hurt. I think It really got serious once I went to meet his family during the holidays.
Who eats more? I don't know, he's a guy so probably him. But when I'm hungry I can eat.
What do you do for a living? I'm going to school to get my RN and I'm working with a great group of kids at an after school program and he is in the Army
Who does the laundry? He would do the laundry and I would fold the clothes.
Who's better with the computer? He is
Who drives when you are together? He does most of the time, he doesn't like my car, it's small and he says its a death trap.  When he came home for R&R I did all the driving, he hadn't driven  on an actual road in 8 months.
What is your song? I don't think we have an exact song, but he sends me songs that he says reminds him of me. If we had to have a song I guess it would be "To Be Surprised" by Sondre Lerche

Amazing, amazing, amazing . . .

Just saw CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, it was so amazing!

We took the kids in the youth group to go see Cirque Du Soleil tonight, it was such an amazing show. We were donated tickets to the show, what an amazing gift, that gave such a special oppertunity for our youth to see the show. They loved it and hadn't ever seen anything things like it in their lives. I wouls love to see it again but tickets are $50 plus a seat.

Twice as nice . . .

So in the last two months I have cracked open two double yolk eggs. I found this very interesting and intriguing. I thought it would be fun to look up all the myths and superstitions about double yolk eggs. (Both eggs were store bought, by the way)

Myths and Superstitions:

• 
  
  A marriage will becoming soon (already married)
• 
  
  Twins
• 
  
  Improved fertility
• 
  
  Abundance in creativity
• 
  
  That it's Spring Time!
• 
  
  Good Luck

Thought this was funny, but I'm not superstitious. I do know someone who did get pregnant after I found the first double yolk egg.