Christmas in New York (better late than never)!

Ok, so I am a little late on my Christmas blog but I have been busy so here it is! I was in New York for Christmas and it was great! It snowed 3 feet the day after I got there and was very cold! By the time I left a week later, the snow was almost gone and it was 60! Gotta love winters in New York! On the 22nd, I went to a Syracuse Orangeman basketball game with my friend, Chris. I had never been and it was a lot of fun! Christmas day was very laid back. We went to my aunt's house on Christmas morning for homemade bread and hot chocolate! I was able to see family that I have not seen in awhile which was nice. Then my parents and I came home and opened our gifts from each other. I got the one thing I asked for which was a new digital camera! It is an Olympus and I love it. It takes great pictures and has more memory than my old Kodak camera. I also got a new outfit for my internship and lots of little gifts! My friend Amanda, her husband Nate and their 20 month old daughter, Sabrina came over on Christmas night. We just hung out and chatted! My sister, brother in law and 3 nieces came up on December 26th and we celebrated our Christmas together that night after we went sledding and 4 wheeling (before the snow melted)! My friend Amanda and I went to see Marley and Me on the Saturday after Christmas and it was a great movie! I knew it would be sad but I forgot my box of Kleenex so I used my scarf instead! If you are an animal lover, I highly recommend going to see the movie. Even though it was sad, it was mostly funny and cute, a great holiday film! Overall, it was a great Christmas and it made me realize I am truly blessed with awesome family and friends:)

Snow when I got there


...and when I left!


Amanda, Nate and Sabrina Mueller


Sabrina


passing out gifts


Linsey, Jordyn and Kalli


fun in the snow with Granpa

WINTER STORM WARNING!!!

Ok, I am very glad that I came today! We have a winter storm warning beginning Sunday morning at 7 am and continuing until Monday at 1 pm. We are expected to get 12-20 inches of snow with winds between 30-40 mph. It said at times that some places will have blizzard like conditions!!! I guess I might get snowed in after all!!! Now I know why I moved to North Carolina!! Well I guess we will definitely have a white Christmas!

Five Years Ago....

Five years ago today, I graduated from Oswego! Its hard to believe its been 5 years already...time flies! So much has happened in the last five years...I left my comfort zone of living with mom and dad, moving by myself to North Carolina, my first 'real' job, being completely responsible for how my money was spent, whew, the list goes on and on. I can still remember the feeling I had when I received my diploma...accomplishment, excitement, nervousness and pure joy. But then it started to sink in that I was an 'adult' now and that meant a whole new list of responsibilities. I moved to North Carolina a few weeks after graduation and leaving that day was the hardest thing I had ever done. What was I going to do in North Carolina?? Was this the right decision? Did I think this through? I had my sister, brother in law and nieces there (who I lived with for 8 months) and my friend, Rebecca, who I had met while I was there the previous summer. I admit I was lonely the first few months, so much so that a month after I moved there, I booked my first trip to New York for May, only 4 months after I left. I was so excited to go back to Oswego and see my friends that were graduating that May but it wasn't the same. Life in Oswego had moved on without me. It was disappointing but it also made me realize that it was time for me to move on with my life, just like my friends did. Even though they moved on, they did not forget me or any of the memories that we made together! So I took the opportunity and moved on with my life, taking the memories with me. I came back to North Carolina and I moved out of my sister's a few months later and began making my own life in Raleigh. And now five years later, I do not regret moving and now I cannot imagine living in New York again. Even though I still have friends and family here and many good memories, my home is now Raleigh, North Carolina. And just think, I will be graduating again this May, this time with my Master's degree! I can't wait to see what the next five years has in store for me!!!

PS-I made it to New York! It was a great trip up and went surprisingly fast. They have a good amount of snow but its VERY cold, it only got to 18 today and now it is -5 with snow expected all week! Pray that I don't turn into an ice cube or get snowed in!!!

Its been a crazy year....and I am relieved to see it come to a close

I know its not the official end of the year yet but to me, its close enough. I am more than ready to be done with this year so I decided to blog about the many downs and few ups that have been dealt to me and my family throughout the previous 12 months.


It all began a year ago today. I was at my sister's house celebrating Christmas with them before I left for New York. My brother in law, Rob had been having some vision problems and some headaches and he was going through testing to figure out the cause. Never in a million years would I imagine that he would be diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. The phone rang as we were sitting down to dinner and he disappeared upstairs and Trish went with him. A half hour later, it was confirmed, Rob has MS. I was shocked and upset. This couldn't be happening, this is just a dream, he's too young. But unfortunately it was not a dream, it was reality. The good news was they caught it very early and he had very minimal symptoms and the doctor reassured us that there are medications to deal with this awful disease and he did not think Rob would ever get to the point of needing a wheelchair. It took a few days for the shock to wear off and then it was time to deal with it. i felt I had dealt with it and accepted it until May when my entire family participated in the MS Walk/Run. I decided to run while everyone else walked and on the course they had signs up stating statistics of MS and that's when it hit me that Rob had MS. I think I cried for most of the 5 mile run. Of course, a few days before, Rob's mom had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and given 3-6 months. At this point, I was angry. Why was this happening to my family? We were good people, we did not deserve this! But I knew I had to be strong for my family and we could get thorough this if we stuck together. I thought things were improving until June 14th came and my life was turned upside down yet again. I was working at PaDoodles and Zach called but I was busy. He left me a message and I could tell something was terribly wrong. Once again, I was not expecting to hear what he told me I called him back. Our friend Brandon was killed in a car accident on June 12th. WHY was this happening, this can't be true, I just saw him a few weeks ago, NO! But it was true and I told Zach I would be there on the 17th for the memorial service. Driving to Mooresville, NC was difficult because I knew why I was going, to say my final good-bye to a friend who died too early. It didn't seem fair to say goodbye to someone who should be out enjoying his life. The next morning was also hard because Zach moved to West Palm Beach, FL. Even though we lived 2 hours away, he was my best friend and my rock, what would I do with him so far away? Once again, I had to say goodbye again but at least this time wasn't forever.

Bad things happens in 3's right? I thought by this time, the worst was over but the summer did not improve after this as it should of. I found out the following week that the little boy that I was a nanny for was starting preschool and I had to look for another job. I had been with him for almost 2 years and I couldn't imagine not seeing him everyday. But I had faith that I would find a new job and I did, in the same neighborhood!! Then over July 4th weekend, I went to urgent Care in severe pain and it was diagnosed the following week with ovarian cysts but the good news was there were most likely benign and would disappear on their own (as of October, they had not, hopefully in January when I go for an ultrasound, that will show they are gone).

Finally, the summer slowly improved and fall came and even though some little bad things happened, I made it through the fall without too much going wrong. Finally, life is slowly getting back on track and 2009 looks to be a good year with me graduating with my Master's and hopefully beginning my career in Public Health. Even though I have been through more than I can ever imagine in the past year, I know it all happened for a reason and I am a stronger person now because of everything. I know now I can handle life's bumps and weather the storm and make it through with only minor bumps and bruises. I have always believed that everything happens for a reason and God has a plan for everyone and I truly live by those words now. Even though I was angry at Him for causing me all this pain, I have the peace I need to move on. Thank you to all my friends for helping me through this difficult year...Here's to a wonderful 2009!!

Haha, very funny!

Jill and I ran some errands yesterday afternoon and we had quite the fun time. Check out http://jillrq.blogspot.com/ to see what I mean!

PS-I found the very last Gingerbread House Kit for Jill at Target today:)

4.0 Baby!

I got a 4.0 this semester....YEAH!!!!!!!! I am definitely still in shock. It has been a goal of mine for awhile now probably since I was in undergrad. I was thisclose during my first semester at Oswego, I got a 3.7, all because I got a B- in my Stress Management class...hmm, I wonder if that says something about me... Anyway, I have FINALLY achieved my goal and this will not be the end of this, I WILL get a 4.0 next semester and graduate Magna Cum Laude...Watch out, I am on a mission and when I am on mission, NOTHING gets in my way! And to think this all started at The Mary Walker Health Center at SUNY Oswego with me selling condoms to embarrassed freshman girls:)

Are you sure it isn't Friday the 13th?

Today has been an interesting and freaky day and its only 10:30 am!!! It all started at 1 this morning when I heard my cat Molly start hissing at my other cat, Twix. Honestly, I didn't think much of it because she does that to him sometimes to tell him to leave her alone. She can be very moody. Needless to say, I still got up and trudged into the living room. I could find Twix but not Molly. When I was leaning down to look under the coffee table, I noticed our front door was about halfway open. I of course shut the door and freaked out by turning all the lights on and checking to make sure no one was in the house. I then found Molly under the bed. So I turned the lights off and attempted to go back to sleep even though my heart was pounding! Twix them jumped into bed with me (he likes to snuggle) and I realized he was wet and he smelled different. Then I realized that had been outside! He wasn't soaked so I am not sure how long he was out there or how far he went but it explains why Molly was hissing at him! At least he came home:) He knows he has it made at my house!

Then this morning as I was leaving for work, I noticed my moon roof was open! I thought that was strange since I know for a fact it was not open yesterday because it poured rain here all day and I know it wasn't open when I came home last night. Jill even noticed it was not open last night when she came home around 10 pm. HMMM??? The funny thing is that my car was not wet at all. I called Jill this morning and told her my crazy story and she remembers shutting the door last night and she went in her room and she heard it open. She assumed it was me getting something and thought nothing more of it. She did mention she didn't think she heard it shut again but figured I did it very quietly. So we figured the wind had blown the door open around 10:30 pm and I found it open at 1 am. A 2 1/2 hour window that no one knows what went on. FREAKY!!! All we know is that nothing was taken and Twix came home safely. I know from now on that both of us will check that door (probably numerous times) to be sure it is shut tightly!

And sadly, my sister had to put asleep Fletcher, their 15 year old tabby cat. He was the very first pet that my sister and brother in law had when they began dating in 1993. He was a very sweet and affectionate cat. When I lived with them, he always greeted me and stretched out so I could rub his belly and man could he purr! He had been losing weight lately and having a hard time eating so the vet took some blood and it was found that he had bladder and kidney cancer. So they put him asleep this morning. He had a great life full of love and companionship and he will be deeply missed by our entire family.

So this has been my day so far and it isn't even half over yet. I hope the rest of the day improves, otherwise I may really think that it is Friday the 13th rather than the 12th.

I'm stuffed

I am never eating again...Jill made me do it (see her blog: http://jillrq.blogspot.com). We had our Christmas dinner tonight, cheese fondue and monkey bread....YUM! But now I can barely move. We are now watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation to hopefully laugh off some calories!

I was nosing around on one of my favorite sites, Newzjunky.com and I came across this hilarious article. Be sure to scroll down to see the entire picture, I promise you won't be disappointed!!
http://www.obscurestore.com/
Go to this site and click on the story: FOX Apologizes for Nude Shots of Minnesota Vikings player and then click on these photos!

Like Clockwork

The semester ends, I get sick. This is the way it has always been for me after the fall semester, dating way back to 1998. I am very prone to bronchitis because of my asthma and December seems to be the month of choice. I ALWAYS get bronchitis in December and it is always around this time of the month and it so happens, right after the fall semester ends. Even though, I still end up with bronchitis even when I am not in school. Oh well, at least school is done so I don't have to worry about trying to finish up schoolwork while feeling like death. I can just feel like death with limited responsibilities! The good news is I went to the doctor this morning and I caught it early (I should since I get it every December and I know the symptoms by now)! I am on an inhaler and antibiotic so after a day of rest tomorrow, I should be almost as good as new:)

Three semesters down, One to go!

Drum roll please....I am officially finished with this semester and have only one more semester to complete! It actually went by pretty quick, let's hope the last one goes just as fast! Its hard to believe that this time last year, I was getting ready to start grad school and this year, I am only one semester away from finishing. It is also a little bit scary to think that this time next year, I will have my Master's degree and out there working! I have been there before but it has been almost 3 years but I am very excited to be moving on to the next chapter in my life. It has been a goal of mine to get my Master's degree fr as long as I can remember and its still hard for me to believe that I am so close. I have the next 5 weeks off from school. It will be nice to get home fro work and not have to finish up schoolwork. I will be able to lay on my butt and watch TV and that's exactly what I plan on doing:)