What a Weekend!

Wow! I have had a blast this weekend! We had some family over for an end-of-summer/housewarming /just-because-we-wanted-to party. My parents and my sister, my grandparents, and C's parents came down to visit us. I made tacos and fajitas and chips with salsa and guacamole for lunch, with a fruit salad and peanut butter brownies for dessert. It was great to see everyone, and to show off our new home to everyone. Our guests were so sweet--we even got a few housewarming gifts!

This afternoon might have changed my life. C's parents wanted to stop by the IKEA store that's about 45 minutes or so away from our house (there isn't one near them). Neither of us had ever been in an IKEA, so we decided to join them. WOW. I mean, seriously. I could have spent two days in there. Furniture, organizing stuff, kitchen cabinetry, bedding, dishes, kitchen gadgets, lamps, decorations, nursery stuff, custom closets....I could go on for hours. Not all of it was consistent with my personal style, but I was fascinated by it, and surprised by some of the prices. Some were, in my opinion, a little high for something made of particle board that you have to assemble yourself, but some of it was super inexpensive! I will definitely be returning to IKEA! Just not on Sunday afternoon. Too many people that don't know how to drive a shopping cart. Was starting to give me high blood pressure.

After that, we ventured just a little further from home to quite possibly the cutest shopping center I've ever seen. My mom had told me about it after her shopping trip earlier this summer. It's set up like a little village, with street signs and store fronts...it's precious. And so many good stores! I visited the Vera Bradley store, in particular, and came home with this little find(thanks, Grandma!):

I have the weekender bag and a tote that matches, and I think I'm going to try to build a travel collection. I love the pattern, Puccini, because it's not as syrupy sweet colored as a lot of her patterns, and it matches a lot of my clothes.

Now I believe I'm going to begin working on my long-neglected scrapbooking. I have literally YEARS worth of photos to work with, so I need to get moving!

Hallelujah!

I PASSED MY TEST!!! That means I get to keep my salary and have my life back! I can cook real food again, I can keep my house clean (if I only would), I can hang out with my husband, I can read blogs...it's awesome! I found out the day after my exam that I passed, and the next day I found out that I have been granted my permanent license. Whew! What a load off!

Today was a day of what I like to call "personal maintenance." I redyed my hair to get rid of awful roots, I gave my feet a little TLC, I tidied up my eyebrows...and I slept in. It felt great!

Tomorrow we are visiting another church. That's been really frustrating, trying to find a new church. I keep trying to find something exactly like my home church, and we haven't been able to. I grew up in that church, it's the only one I've ever been a member of. I love the mix of traditional and contemporary music. I love the modern application and historical background of the preaching. I love that it's active and has a place for every age and every stage of life. We've found VERY conservative, traditional churches. We've found giant contemporary churches with more members than my high school had students. But nothing that felt like home, and nothing that seemed to have many members our age. I need to make friends in my new town, and I figure church is a good place to do that.

On an exciting note, this weekend we are having our families over for an end-of-summer/housewarming/just-because-we-wanted-to party. My mom and grandma have seen the place, but the rest of my family and none of C's family have. We're going to have some lunch here at the apartment, and then hang out and visit for a while. I'll have so see if I can come up with any interesting things to do for the afternoon and evening. I'm not sure how long anyone is planning to stay, but I'll be glad to have them as long as they're here!

It's over!

It's finally over! Well, at least until I find out that I passed. I took my test today, which went about like I expected it to. I got sick of sitting at my cubicle staring at that screen in an uncomfortable chair. I knew some answers quickly, and others I just plain guessed. I really don't know how I feel about that outcome, I'll just have to wait and see like the rest of you! But at least there's one thing less for me to complain about, right? :)

Thanks to everyone for your encouragement and prayers. It really does mean a lot to know that there are so many warriors on my side. My sweet husband even brought home flowers to me! I think he's more excited than I am that it's all overwith. No more cranky wife! On that note, I am going to enjoy the rest of my evening before I have to go back to work tomorrow!

Help!

Lord,

Allow me to get a good night's sleep tonight and wake up refreshed tomorrow. Help me to find the testing site with no problems. Protect my mind and body from any outside distractions. Bring to mind all that I have learned and studied. Make the meaning of the questions plain to me, and help me to use good rational thinking to find the answer. Help my back not to hurt while sitting for so long, and protect the computer from any glitches. Thank you for the support and prayers of so many friends, family, patients, and other I don't even know. Thank you for the patience and understanding of my husband, and thank you for knowing what I am going through and caring.

Amen!

Give me liberty, or give me death!

That's about how I feel about studying for my Board exam. All I do is work, study, and sleep. Not a ton of sleep, either. My house has suffered, my husband has suffered, I'm sure my health has suffered.... Forty eight hours from now it will (hopefully) all be over. Tuesday at noon, the big dance begins. Send up a few prayers for me, if you think about it. It's a 5 hour exam with one 15 minute break. Seriously?! Give a girl a few potty breaks! And what about a snack? I'm going to need some brain food for a 5 hour test.
I can't wait to have my life back. I'm going to clean my house, actually sit down and order my wedding photos (nope, haven't had time to do that), scrapbook, watch TV, look at my husband....it's going to be great! A day and a half away...

Domestic Life Makes Me Tired

Hello, poor neglected readers (both of you)! Things are hectic as usual, and this time I won't apologize for not posting. It's my blog, after all. I'll post when I want to.

My clinic is changing its hours, and that leaves me even less precious time with my new husband and new home, not to mention studying for my Board exam a week away! (That makes me queasy just thinking about it...) I now work from 7:00 am to 6:30 pm three days a week, from 2:00 pm to 6:30 pm one day, and from 7:00 am to 12:00 pm one day. Add a roughly 30 minute commute on to either end of that, and you'll see that I don't get home until about 7:15 four nights a week. Then by the time we cook, eat, and clean up after dinner, it's about 9:00. That leaves me about an hour to look at my husband, study, clean, or do anything else before going to bed early so I get get up at 5:00 am. I hate it. A lot. Hopefully after I get my permanent license we can change our hours again so we aren't working such terrible late evenings all week.

I can't even remember what we had for dinner in the past week or two. Probably nothing terribly creative or delicious. Sorry.

My apartment is finally finished. Decorated, organized, and finished. And now we're probably going to move. Why? Because we unknowingly picked a terribly apartment complex. Not because of the location. Not because of the neighbors. Because of the management. We have some serious issues with out apartment that we have been asking for THREE MONTHS now to be fixed, and nothing has been done about any of it. Our lease is up on October 31, and we have to give 60 days notice before moving out, so we have to decide by the end of this month if we stay or go. We're leaning towards going, despite the incredible hassle it will be to move. If the management can't do something as simple as having pest control come out, they don't need our hard-earned money. So now we're on a halfhearted search for new residence. Headaches.

I have also decided that I am going to launch a campaign against my weight. I should be in the prime of my life. I should have never looked better than on my wedding day. I should be active and out doing everything I want to do. And I am not. I cannot dress the way I want to because manufacturers don't make clothing that fits me that I believe to be fashionable. I don't think of myself like I should. I don't like photos of myself. Enough is enough. And although it sounds stereotypical, I am going to start next week. I want to do this right. I want to give this the effort it deserves, and I cannot do that until after my test. So I will wait another week. And then you poor dear souls will get to hear about another angle of my life. Adventure, here we come!

But first, we study.