99 balloons!

So today I happened to catch part of Oprah. Oprah aired this story about baby Eliot. Eliot's story reminded how important it is to live each day like it's your last and live for today, not for tomorrow. I hope this story touches you as it did me. I have to admit. I was in tears after watching this. I also admire and applaud these parents for showing the world how precious a child's life is and should be! God Bless !!

Ready for a break

Well it's been another fun filled week of nursing school and life in general! I had a med/surg test on Monday, that I got a B on! I was totally ok with a B because I didn't have much time to study last weekend since we were babysitting all weekend. Tuesday was a really bad day. I found out that I had been treated horribly by someone who I thought was one of my best friends. I also had clinicals Tuesday. Everytime I go to clinicals it is so hard to think about the care that the residents in the nursing home don't get when my fellow nursing students and I aren't there. Very sad, and heartbreaking! So Tuesday was a very emotional and hard day. But Tuesday night we had dinner with Eric's parents and his brother and that was a good time, and some very much needed family time. Wednesday we didn't have clinicals, but I spent the day at Ivy Tech with Vanessa and Alaina practicing injections and then we grabbed some lunch and headed back to my house to study for pharmacology! Wednesday night was taken up by studying for a math quiz, and preparing for check offs on medication administration and injections. I went to bed at 11:45 that night. Thursday I got up at 5:45 to study some more before class. Only to get to class to find out that all the math chapters they told us to study for our quiz, like 12 of them, were not even covered on quiz! So that was quite frustrating because I could have studied for pharmacology! I then had my checkoff and that went well. I then had lunch with the girls from school. I then took my pharmacology test and to my surprise I only missed one!

Thursday night Eric and I went and picked up my 13 year old cousin from Lynn. She spent the night with us. We took her to pizza hut and then we went to my parents house to hang out for a while. We then came home and hung out and went to bed. Friday Eric had to work so KyLee and I went to an appointment I had at work one! Which by the way, praise God, I will be getting 1000.00 dollars a semester help with school, my uniforms paid for and my NCLEX exam paid for by Work One! God is so good! KyLee and I then went shopping and out to lunch. We then went to my friends house for a bit. We then went to the movies! We then headed back to my house and took naps! Then Eric came home and picked on us as usual!! We won though ;) She went home about 7 last night.

Eric and I then went to Buffalo Wild Wings for our date night! We enjoyed spending time with each other, but we had horrible service! We waited an hour to get our food! I don't think I will be going there anytime soon!

Today will be consumed by writing a15-20 page health history and studying for my med/surg test on Monday!

But there is an end in sight! Only 8 more days of clinicals. In pharmacology we only have 3 more tests, ATI testing, a final presentation and our final left! In med/surg we have 6 more exams and a final. We only have 8 more labs, one more check off, a midterm and a final left! I know it sounds silly....but this is showing me an end in sight and I am excited about it!!!

The weekend of November 7,8,9 we are going on a mini weekend vacation because I don't have a test on that Monday! We have invited my really good friend from school and her family to go with us! So that should be fun and relaxing! Only one rule.....no school books or studying allowed for the weekend :)

Well there you have it a weeks worth of info crammed into one post! But in all seriousness.....God has been so good to us. We are so thankful for the blessings in our lives and also for the fact that God is faithful and He is taking care of us. I am so glad that we have stepped out in faith and trusted in God! He is so awesome! I hope everyone else is experiencing God's goodness too! If not....you should try completely turning your life over to Him and enjoy the show :) God Bless!!

Crazy Week!

Well where to begin........well with the good news first. I did pass my pharmacology test and with an A at that! So that stressor was over as of Thursday afternoon. On Friday and ran my friends daycare for the day. Well lets just say....she has way to many kids for one person, and I figured out that I am not cut out to be that one person! So Friday was very stressful and I have decided that I will not be the one to volunteer to run her daycare again!!

As far as keeping her foster girls all weekend and her boys on Thursday night and Friday and Sunday afternoon/evening, that went very well. Everytime we are around kids it makes Eric and I feel more and more ready to start our own family! I have always had a fear that when we are ready for a family I won't be able to get pregnant. So this fear started Eric and I talking about adoption a while back, whether we do or don't have our own biological children. Eric and I have both felt it layed very heavily on hearts that we are supposed to be helping children in need. We are not sure in what aspect, but we both have felt that adoption may be that one aspect. So we are not sure where God will lead us or when he will lead us there but we are continuing to seek guidance for what God's will is and how it is supposed to happen. We would love to adopt these two little girls that my best friend has in foster care, if they don't adopt them. We have grown so close and attached to them and we see the needs that they have for a loving family and home. So like I said we are not sure where or when God will lead us but we feel like we are being led the direction of adoption. Maybe it's these two girls that we will end up with, maybe we won't end up adopting at all. Who knows but right now we are just continuing to pray and seeking God's guidance. We just want whatever happens to be God's will and not our want!

I have a big test that I am not prepared for due to having the kids all weekend, and not being used to studying around the schedule of a 1 and 2 year old! So I am going to study and hope for the best tomorrow!

This week will be a little better than last week I hope. I have a test tomorrow. Clinicals on Tuesday. Wednesday we don't have clinicals because all of our instructors have a conference to attend. Thursday I have a pharmacology test. Friday I have a meeting with WorkOne, which is kind of cool, I found out that I can about 700.00 dollars (maybe a little more ) a semester to help with school that I don't have to pay back! Then Friday night my 13 year old cousin is coming to stay with us until Saturday! So we are looking forward to that!

I hope everyone has a great week...I will update when I can! Take Care!

Overwhelmed

Do you ever just feel overwhelmed? That's where I am at right now. I feel like there is so much to do and not near enough time to do it. Clinicals started yesterday, as if I didn't already have enough to do! So now with that added, that took away two days that I used to use for studying. So I am now very stressed having lost those two days of studying, well I only had them for 2 weeks, but it was nice while it lasted and I have a test approaching tomorrow that I feel very unprepared for. I am just to the point that I cannot currently wrap my mind around any more new pieces of information. I had a study group with 3 other girls from school tonight for pharmacology after clinicals and when we were done we felt like we got nothing out of it because we are all so burnt out it just felt like things went in one ear and out the other! I can only hope and pray that when I sit down to take my test at 1 tomorrow something will look familiar, something enough for me to get a 75% and pass my test. When will we find the time to fit in all of this studying on top of these extra 15 page papers they want us to do and turn in every week and a half now? Again, like I didn't already have enough to do? Come on people, I know this is nursing school but aren't we supposed to come out alive? So needless to say if you can't tell I am very stressed out right now and I would greatly appreciate any and all prayers.

And oh yeah on top of being stressed already, I volunteered to keep my best friends foster girls ages 1 and 2 for the weekend so that they can go out of town for their anniversary. So we get these two beautiful girls tomorrow night and have them until Sunday night. Which I don't mind because I love them to death, I just wish I wasn't stressed out already! But oh I am sure come Monday I will be very stressed because oh you guessed another test, and the hardest one of the semester at that, awaits me on Monday! And I have to try to find to study while playing mom for the weekend! Should be fun :)

Sorry for venting but I really needed to tonight! Thanks for listening and thanks for all of your support and prayers in advanced. They really are appreciated.

Colts Game!

Eric and I woke up this morning and headed out to Indy to catch the Colts and Ravens game. On our way out of town we had breakfast at IHOP and then headed on our way. Once we arrived this is what we saw:

Once we got into the stadium we ran into the Cline boys and snapped this picture



Here is a picture from our nose bleed seats...but nonetheless...we were there :)




This is the awesome view out the window at the south end of the stadium:


Here is a picture of Eric and I in our seats:



All in all we had a grand time! It was nice to spend some time with each other. The only down time was when the drunk guy behind us spilled his pop all over my bag. I wasn't too thrilled about it to say the least. But stuff happens!! Thanks for the tickets mom and dad!

Tragic Murder, Family still searching for answers

Throughout life you make a connection with certain people that never goes away, regardless of how often you see them, talk to them etc. Well there is a family that is near and dear to my heart and has been since I was in the 5th grade. This is the Rector family. In 5th grade April moved to Farmland and became friends. We played softball together and her family took me to church with them at Union Chapel. Well that same year, in 5th grade, my mom was killed in a tragic car accident. Well my dad was working nights and every other weekend so my brother and I stayed with different friends and family members while he worked. April's parents, Garth and Angie, were ever so kind as to offer to help my dad out. So I remember spending countless nights at their house while dad worked. I always remember before we went to bed every night they would sing us a song and we would all pray together and I always thought that was so neat! As we got older April and I went our separate ways, but we were always cool with each other and always talked when we saw each other.

In 2003 Garth and Angie were involved in a head on collision. Garth was life lined to Methodist hospital in Indy and Angie was taken to Ball. Garth spent a few weeks, 3 or 4 I think (but not sure) in the hospital, with a broken jaw, pelvis and other critical injuries, but he fully recovered. Angie also was hospitalized and spent several months in the ICU at Ball before making a miraculous recovery (one that the doctors were even assured was only by the grace of God, pretty cool.). So during this time I again reconnected with the family of whom I was so close with growing up. I spent countless hours visiting at the hospital and praying. This reconnection I had with the Rectors seemed liked we had never been a part. They hold such a special place in my heart after all the tragedy our two families had been through. And after all, they had supported my family through our tragedy, it was only fitting to do the same for them.

Well then comes March of 2008. I open up the news paper to see that Garth had been murdered! MURDERED?! I think, "how could this happen to such a great guy?" I attended Garth's calling and funeral and I think it was the most heart breaking thing I have ever been to in my life. There were people lined up waiting for over an hour to get in to the viewing. And the line remained that steady all night long. You see, Garth was our softball coach growing up, he coached wrestling at Muncie Central and he also coached his nephews in freestyle wrestling. So over the years Garth touched the lives of many young people. Garth was also actively involved in his church, Union Chapel, where again he had impacted many people. It is so hard to not understand why these things happen to good people. I again reconnected with the Rector family during their time of grief and happiness because they knew that Garth was with the Lord.

Since Garth's murder, Garth's family has believed to know who the killer is, however 6 months later no one has been arrested due to detectives still not having enough information to make an arrest. Garth's family is holding a fund raiser event called "Garth Fest" at 1 p.m. Saturday October 12 at Springwater Park, 5000 E. Centennial Ave. Bands, including Cook and Belle, will play at the hog roast. Money will be raised to offer a reward to arrest the suspect. The money from the event, which costs $5 for admission to the concert, and an additional $5 for the hog roast, will be added to money already donated to a fund at Old National Bank, The Garth G. Rector Reward Fund, which has already accumulated $1,700. If you don't have any plans on Saturday and would like to help this family put a murderer behind bars please come out and support this event!

The starpress reported today that the police have narrowed it down to two suspects but they still need more information to put someone behind bars. Investigators will be on hand Saturday to talk to anyone who might have information to lead to an arrest.

Please pray for this family that the person who murdered their loved one will be brought to justice so that their hearts may begin to rest and heal.

Do you know people who don't believe God is real? Show them this testimony and then see what they say!

Our friend from church, Brian, recently shared on his blog an awesome testimony about the healing power of our God. If you haven't read this testimony, I strongly encourage you to hop on over to his blog and check it out! I would also encourage you to use this story as a tool to reach out to non-believers! It's pretty awesome!

http://high-tek-red-nek.blogspot.com/

Thanks for sharing your testimony Brian!

I wish there were more hours in a day!

If you follow my blog please let me know by clicking on my new gadget to the right and adding yourself as a follower! Thanks!

Do you ever wish there were more hours in a day? I know I do. I feel like I study and then I look at the clock and its time for bed.

I spent most of the weekend working on my drug cards for my pharmacology class. I finally finished them for the entire semester on Sunday afternoon! So that is one project that is done and out of the way! I also completed my presentation for pharmacology. Having those two things done will help to alleviate some of my stress as clinicals start next week!

I already feel as if I don't have enough time to spend with God, my family, my friends and my self, and with clinicals starting next Tuesday I really wish that there were more hours in a day. I wish that there were more hours so that I could do all that I need to do for school and still have time to spend with God, my family, my friends and my self. Honestly, I already feel like I spend entirely to much time for school and not near enough time anywhere else and it is only about to get worse.

Eric and I are discussing joining a growth group again, but when? When do we have time for it? I know that sounds awful but I feel like we have no time for anything now let alone adding something else to our schedule. But we feel like we need to be in a growth group so that we stay connected and so that we don't get sucked away by our busy life and leave God hanging out on the side lines which is so easy to do. We are just concerned about when and how we would work this in.

Weight loss continues to go well. I have another 15 pounds to go and I will no longer be over 200 pounds for the first time since....I don't really know...but sometime in early high school or junior high. So I am really looking forward to hitting that mark.

I hope all is going well in your lives! I will post soon!

Wow! Almost 2 weeks!

So with school being so crazy busy, I am realizing that the time between blogs is getting longer and longer! I do apologize! However, I will update you on what has been going on.

I finished my Fundamentals Class and Lab on the 26th of September. I got an A in both classes. So 4 credit hours down, 9 credit hours left for the semester. I began my Medical/Surgical I class on the 29th. I am a bit nervous about it. The morning class gained 5 people who had previous not passed the class. So.....note to self......pay attention........and study lots for this class.....apparently it's tough! My clinicals start October 14th. I am looking forward to them, but that will mean I am in class from 8-5 on Mondays,Clinicals from 7-3:30 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and Class from 8-5 on Thursdays. And oh yeah, a test every Monday and Thursday....and don't forget time to read the bazillion and one chapters a week....complete homework...do care plans....prepare for skills check offs....go to church....have time with God....have time with my family...and oh yeah....have a life! We'll see how that all works out!

Life in general is going well. It is just very busy right now. We spent last weekend in Pennsylvania visiting with some family. I had a follow up appointment with my eye specialist in Indianapolis yesterday and I received prism on my glasses to help correct my double vision. The prism is very hard to get used too. I have had it twice before, with each time preceding surgery and I just remember it being a pain! I had a horrible headache yesterday, so we are just praying that my eyes continue to adjust and do well with it. The next step is surgery. I have already had 2 surgeries done for this very problem. But due to my age the surgery unworks it self about every 5 years. So we are right on track unfortunately. I go back in 3 months and we will see what happens.

Weight loss is still going well! Do to lack of time I have not been following my weight as closely. I will update on weight loss next week! I will also update with some healthy recipes for the cold weather!

I hope life is going well for everyone else! Thanks for following my blog and I apologize if you thought I got lost! I am still here, just very busy. I will try to update more often. Take care and drop me an email if you ever wanna get a hold of me.

ericncasey@yahoo.com