Engaged on Sunday, Followed by Two Intense Week

I can hardly believe the two weeks that I have had. Two Sundays ago, Garrett proposed!

He took me out to his family's cabin under the rouse of playing in the snow with his nephews. Okay. Nothing really out of the ordinary. We beat everyone there. Now that was unusal. Usually we are the last ones there because some is always late. (LOL!) We drove down the gravel road towards the cabin, and he pulls off by the first pond/lake/body of water. Garrett says to me that he had told his dad that he would pick up the game camera card. Okay, again, nothing out of the ordinary, we've done that before. I was going to wait in the car, but that evidently not an option. I got out of the car, a bit annoyed, since it was cold outside. We started to walk through the woods to the edge of the water and turn and began to head down the little peninsula that goes out into the lake. I start to look around for the game camera, which should be attached to a tree. Just one thing about the peninsula, no trees! I was still looking around when I turn around to ask him where in the world this camera is and to my surprise, Garrett was down on one knee. He barely had the opportunity to get the words, "Will you marry me?" out before I launched myself on him practically screaming "yes!"

I am so proud of him! Garrett completely surprised me! After a few minutes of kissing ;) and some reenactment for picture purposes, we made all of the calls to family and friends. My parents, of course, don't answer their phones, so needless to say, they were not exactly among the very first people to learn of our engagement. No big deal, we eventually talked to them.

So here's the run down of what has happened since then.

*We have talked to our pastor and booked the church for August 6th, 2011.

(People keep asking if I mean this August. Yes, I mean this August!)

*We have talked to the place where we are going to have the reception and have that too booked for August 6th.

*We had made a rough, soon to finalized guest list. Yes, we have been very much on the ball.

*I have talked to all my bridesmaids and Garrett has almost decided/talked to all of his. I am having my three sisters, Lara, Cindy, and KK as well as Claire and Amanda. Garrett's groomsmen are his brothers, Cyle and Cameron, as well as Ted, the best man, Dan, and another that is not entirely decided upon just yet. Never fear! We have time!

*Probably the most important thing, okay maybe not THE most important thing. I have found/purchased my dress! It is absolutely gorgeous! I am completely in love with it! I can hardly wait to be wearing it and walking down the isle towards Garrett. (If you want to see it, you'll have to email me about it as I won't put it on my blog since Garrett reads it from time to time!)

So I think that about covers all the madness. Our wedding is officially on its way. We have 6 months to go and many things left to do! And I could not be more excited!

Until Next Time!!

Lots of Love!

~A

Snow in St. Louis

Snow Day during my first week of nursing school. That has to be some kind of record! Ha! Kidding! I was pretty excited when the alarm went off at 6:30 this morning and to my delight, I discovered that I did not have class and that I could go back to bed. (Garrett was not so lucky!)

I was sitting on the window sill excitedly looking out at the snow! After deciding we had done enough studying for the morning, okay so I was only partially studying and talking to Rachel, Amanda, and Claire all at one time. I spent a lovely morning looking at VS swimsuits with Rachel! It was fun and we should do it again, only this time, I should order something!

The view from the window where I was sitting. Not much of a view really.

This is my favorite part! We have skylights and they were totally covered with snow! It looked so cool!!

We have not seen this much snow is St. Louis in a while. We had some on Christmas Eve but that was nothing compared to the near foot of snow that we got yesterday.

Garrett's truck bed was almost full of snow! I wanted to jump in and make a snow angel, but thought better of that idea. It would have been cold.

The front of Garrett's truck.

Action shot! I was trying to get a shot of him flinging snow everywhere. Garrett was very entertaining to watch!

After our trip to get my stuff, we decided that we should dig out my car before we went back inside. (And also so I wouldn't have any trouble Friday morning on my way to school!) Needless to say, its a good thing that we dug it out this afternoon. It was nearly buried.

Garrett being silly and writing a message in the snow!!!

So cute! I love you too!

After we were able to get the door open. That took a bit of digging, which isn't very easy when you don't have a shovel of any kind. We made due with the scraper. Took a while.

Then I finally was able to back my car out of the hole is had been in. I thought it was quite impressive, for St. Louis snow anyway.

Garrett standing in the hole!

Garrett wanted to play in the snow, but I couldn't feel my fingers anymore so it was time to go inside. Never fear! They said we didn't have to worry about the snow going anywhere as we are supposed to get more this weekend and next week we'll be sitting in the negatives for temperature. I had better get out my long underwear now!!!

Well I am almost done with the first week of nursing school and all I can really say is, information overload! However, isn't that the case for anything during the first week? So far we have covered, The Roles of the Nurse, Mobility/Immobility, Transfer/Positioning, Medical Terminology, Hygiene/Oral Care, Physical Assessment, and we finish up the week tomorrow with Vital Signs. Yipe yipe yipe! Its all good! I will survive! Garrett's mom gave me this pretty necklace for Christmas that says, "Never Give Up." I think it may be a good time to go ahead and put it on right now!!

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love!!

~A

Monday Morning...One Day Until School Starts...

Just another Monday in St. Louis. Garrett is studying and I am playing around on Facebook. While I play, I am listening to my favorite podcast.

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They talk about obscure little bits of history that get skipped over in most general history classes. The stories are interesting, but not necessarily stories that would need to be covered in a regular history class. I think that the things that they talk about in the podcast are more trivia type tidbits. I find the stories fascinating! I feel like I keep learning even if I'm stuck at work. I've learned about the Boston Molasses Disaster of 1919, Catherine de'Medici, and even more on the House of Tudor. These are just a few of my favorites. I enjoyed learning about the House of Tudor before I heard this podcast, but after hearing the podcast I decided to reread, "The Other Boleyn Girl"

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Also, I decided to start watching The Tudors

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The book was even better the second time around and the TV series has me totally hooked. I am nearly done with the second season and I am pumped to continue watching, especially since I can watch them all instantly on Netflix!

As for school, I have everything ready. I was able to accomplish everything on my list with a whole day to spare! So now I get to spend the day doing whatever I want. I wonder what I will do...

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love!!

~A

Action Packed Week...At Least I Hope...

Okay so we are getting down to the wire. School starts in a week and I've made some progress on my list. Here's what I have accomplished...

#1 on my list was to clean my room/get it organized for the upcoming semester. Okay, so I did get my room cleaned. Its beautiful (and vacuumed!). The second part of item #1 was to get organized. I've got the tools for the organizing now, so all I have to do it go home this evening and do it. So by the end of the day, #1 will be entirely accomplished! Woo! One down, really only 5 more to go.

The second thing on my list from last week was to get all my health things finalized. That is all nearly completely taken care of. The only thing I have left for that is the second dose of the varicella vaccine, but I can not get that until the end of January. So the second thing is all but accomplished. So I'm going to go ahead and check that one off the list!

The third thing on the list was to catch up on Gossip Girl. Again, can't entirely cross it off the list, but close enough. All I have left there is to catch up on the present season. Shouldn't be too difficult!

The fourth thing on the list was to get my school books. Yeah that's a strike. No progress on that. I'll be getting them this week, and I can not be more excited!

The fifth thing on the list was to start reading. Since I haven't done step #4, I can't really do this one, so this one will have to wait too.

The sixth thing was to find the outfit that I'm going to wear for this 90s TV character party. I had the one idea but it doesn't seem as fun! I need help!! I need a 90s TV character that I can be for a party on Saturday night! Help me!! Please girls!!

More to come on the 90s TV character thing.

Garrett and I had a pretty calm weekend of killing zombies on Resident Evil 5 and finishing (finally) the last season of Friends. Saturday morning Garrett did volunteered at a health clinic in St. Louis and Sunday we had dinner with my family, during which we counted the number of times KK said the word 'like.' By the end of the evening/conversation, she was totaling 60. I think that's a bit much. I'm sure there was a point, probably around that same age, where I used that word quite a lot. Cindy and I could hardly keep straight faces through the whole conversation. Oh to be a teenager again. Actually, I wouldn't do it again if they paid me!

Goal for the week: To be very productive and get ready for school! Wish me luck!

Well, here's to hoping that the week goes by quickly so that I can start school!! I am so very excited to be starting nursing school, finally, next week!!

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love!!!

~A

2010 Review

2010. It was a great year! The year started off with a kiss and some fun in the snow!

In early February, we had a poor puppy on our hands as Achilles had a run in with an SUV and lost. My poor baby!

In March, we went on Spring Break with Lara and Brian to Chicago and they are already trying to get some plans together for Spring Break 2011! Woot!

Here were are in front of Shedd's Aquarium. It was such a fun trip!

April was Easter with my family!

In May, I experiment with some cake decorating which was slightly difficult while dieting.

Also in May, Garrett left for Air Force training. Needless to say, June was a very long month. So I had to do many fun things in June to make up for his absence.

Amanda, some friends, and I went to Johnson's Shut-Ins for Memorial Day weekend. We enjoyed fun trips down the rocks, sing-a-longs on the picnics tables, and a very crabby woman yelling at us at 10pm on a Saturday night.

Another weekend in June was spent catching up with Claire and having some good old fashioned Mizzou fun!!!

Just before the beginning of July, Garrett came home. (Not pictures from that weekend ;) haha jk) Then in July we had the annual float trip and my family and I went ventured to Orlando for some serious fun!

One of the highlights of my year: Harry Potter! Enough said.

In August, one of my oldest friends got married. The wedding was beautiful...and...

I caught the bouquet, much to Garrett's annoyance. Lol! I was pretty excited!!

In September, there was Oktoberfest. Don't get me started on that one! However, we did have a ton of fun that night! So looking forward to Oktoberfest 2011!

Also in September, Garrett finally caved and took me to the zoo! I love the zoo!

October brought my 24th birthday and Halloween. We had another top notch Halloween party and are already planning next year's festivities! But what to go as is key...as of about a month ago we were thinking 1920s gangster and a flapper...but who knows what else we'll come up with in the next ten months...

Amanda spent Halloween with us! It was a great time filled with fun, crazy dogs, and lots and lots of dancing!!!!

In November, I had my first official deer season! Even though I ended both rifle season and muzzleloader season without a deer, I still had a good time and I'm looking forward to another shot in 2011.

The year ended just as it began. With a kiss. Corny, yes. Wonderful, definitely yes!

I hope everyone had as amazing of a year as me! I'm so looking forward to 2011 and another year spent with Garrett, family, friends!!

Happy 2011!!!

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love!!

~A

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

So as usual, my post about my Christmas is sadly overdue. However, I have gotten everything under control and I am ready to post about the fun that was my Christmas season!

My wonderful break from work and the general craziness of my life began with yet more hunting. Garrett took this one about 10 minutes after I missed/nicked my first deer. We looked around for almost two hours after this with no success at finding her. We had been following the trail of blood through the woods when abruptly the trail ended. We continued to look around, even called in the help of Cyle, but we never did find her. The guys decided that I merely nicked her and that she would be fine. More days of hunting followed this but alas, no deer were shot, by myself or Garrett. (And that's not making him overly happy...plus we'll have a much smaller supply of deer for the year....bummer)

Before too long it was Christmas Eve! Everyone got many wonderful things, but the funniest was still the very first present! We gave Garrett's nephews, who are on a Toy Story kick, this trunk of Woody and Buzz costumes to play with. They absolutely loved it. Clayton wore the Buzz costume almost all day, but poor Levi was a little tired still and had the sweetest/saddest look on his face ever. I think that he wanted to be Buzz...

After opening presents we spent a fun-filled day playing pool on the new table that the Hucks got for Christmas. Later in the afternoon, Garrett and I packed up some of our stuff and headed back up to St. Louis through quite a little snow storm. I'm completely bummed that I didn't get a picture since for the first time, since I can remember, we legitimately had a white Christmas. Everything was so picturesque!

We made it back through the snow and spent a wonderful Christmas Eve evening with my family. There was lots of delicious food and entertainment to be had. Such a pretty bunch of girls! We had a lovely evening!

My family and I. I think for the first time in a long time, I have the shortest hair of my sisters! That's different...

Garrett and I at my aunt's table, looking lovely! :)

Later in the week, after a wonderful Christmas, I made the most delightful cake ever! Okay, so I'll have to back up a little for this story. Garrett got me the Julia Child "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" cookbook for Christmas. Ever since I saw the "Julie/Julia" movie, I have been dying for the Julia Child cookbook and I finally got it for Christmas. My first concoction was Reine de Saba, which is a chocolate & almond cake. It was quite simply one of the most delicious things I have tasted in a long time. It is this glorious combination of chocolate, rum, and butter. Yes, lots of butter! You can almost hear your arteries clogging as you eat the cake. (Hint: If anyone does decide to make this tasty little cake, you must be prepared with a large glass of milk. You will need one as this is an incredibly rich cake!)

We finished out the week with New Years. We had Abby, Dan, and Ted over and took shockingly few pictures! In fact, the only one I have from the evening is the one of Garrett and I at midnight. The evening was filled with tasty snacks, a few drinks, and may laughs. It was a lovely way to ring in the New Year.

The rest of our break, all two days, we spent some time with my family before Lara headed back to school for Recruitment and her final semester of college, cheater. We gave Achilles a much needed bath. After nearly two weeks of complete freedom outside in Jackson, he was definitely in sore need of that bath. We also spent some quality Anna/Garrett time.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year! I can hardly wait to see what's in store for 2011!!!

Until Next Time!

Lots of Love!!

~A

Slacker!

I'm such a slacker. I mean really! Complete slacker! I have so many things that have to get done in the next week and a half! And if I don't post something soon, Rachel may seriously hurt me! (Love you Rach!) Okay so here's what is on the plate for the next 10 days!

1. Must clean up room! Its a complete disaster from the post-Christmas dump my stuff on the bed. Then when I went to bed, I just pushed it all on the floor. Not a good way to put it away. So I really need to make order of chaos.

2. Get my finalized health junk into this weird tracking system that my school uses to make sure we are in compliance for clinicals. Yikes! Okay, so this one isn't so bad, but it really needs to finished, and I'll be able to check this one off the list this afternoon!

3. Catch up on Gossip Girl. Okay so this one is just a fun one, but I really want to be caught up. I can't help it, the show sucks me in hardcore!

4. Get my wonderful books for school. Oh holy crap! Talk about dropping a lot of money at once. I feel like I'm single-handedly fixing the economy with the amount that I'm going to have to spend on books this semester. The good news here is that after this semester, I'll only be looking at about $100 more in books for the rest of the program. So that's amazing!

5. Start actually reading. Haha! Talk about taking off running! I'm super pumped about starting, but goodness the first week is only the beginning of the madness!!! I got my syllabus today, and its going to be a very packed semester considering I'm only taking 6 hours. The only problem with this item on the list is that I have to complete item 4 before starting item 5. Yuck!

6. Find my outfit for this party Garrett and I are going to the weekend before school starts. It's a 90s TV character theme party and we are going as Mr. Wilson and Heidi from Home Improvement. I need to find my jean shorts and ask around for a tool belt.

I keep thinking there are more things than that, but I just can't seem to think of them right now. My mind is preoccupied with the items that I have already listed!!! Well I'm about ready to head out here to really try and make a dent in my list!

Until Next Time!!

Lots of Love!!!

~A