Almost there....

Whew! That parts done - my psyc final. Now I just have to finish up a paper tonight then I'M DONE! :)
Tomorrow I'm taking a friend to the city. She has a Dr's appt. and she hasn't driven much in the city so I said I would drive her. Might do a bit of shopping after too. Yes more shopping. I don't really LOVE shopping, but since I don't go very often I enjoy it when I can get it.
Kellan's eyes flared up with ezcema yesterday/today. Looks so sore! I had it when I was pregnant with Brennan so I put some base cream on and it seems to be clearing a bit. Poor little gaff.

Study Break!

Tomorrow is my psyc exam. I've been cramming the last 2 days - that's what I'm good at ;) I'm good at procrastinating too...I guess that's why I cram.
I got my English exam mark back.....[insert drumroll here]....91%!!! Whew! Wasn't sure how I did - I guess I can write better then I think I can. Now if only I could pull that off tomorrow...

The weather is b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l here! +10 the last 2 days so we took the opportunity to go for walks yesterday and today. Loooove it!

Right now I'm listening to Brian talk and make noises to Kellan...and Kellan giggling in return! So cute!

K is doing great - as usual. He slept 12+ hours the other night! - but ONLY 9 last night. No, I am NOT complaining....just simply stating!

So, I found another GREAT workout DVD. It's called 'The 30 day shred' by Jillian Michaels. She is the chick trainer on The Biggest Loser. There is 3 stages. I *got through* the first stage not too bad, so I decided to see what the 3rd stage was like. Yup - almost died! It's only 20 minutes a workout - but a total killer.

Hmmm....what else....
My bro & s-i-l left for a 10 day missions trip with their church to Costa Rica this afternoon. Should be a neat experience for them.

K, I think that's a long enough break. Back to the books!

2 days ago

I wrote this Wednesday evening as we were driving but just didn't get around to adding pictures and posting it. So, here it is:

Well, we are on our way home from our spring getaway. Last Thursday we did a long day of travelling (11.5 hours) – Kellan did great! We stopped every 4+ hours for a stretch, some food and a diaper change. We left our place at about 6 AM so got to our brother & sister in law’s place around supper. Brian’s parents and other siblings were there (minus our one s-i-l who was holidaying in Hawaii – just a bit jealous). The 3 days with them went by WAY too quickly!




Sunday was our niece, Anaya’s baby dedication. What a sweet little dolly. We were glad to be able to be there to witness it as well.

Monday we went to Kelowna for a few hours of shopping (which I then proceeded to get sick – ugh!) Tuesday we stuck around and visited. Then today after lunch we headed for home. In between all the visiting and little trips Brian and his brothers worked in the studio and recorded most of a song (didn’t get the vocals done). They are amazing musicians and it’s neat to hear their talents, creativity and the progress that they make every day.



I’ve been *needing* some new clothes and I was able to add a few things to the closet on our couple shopping trips we did. I found a nice pair of trouser jeans, a vest/sweater, some t-shirts, and a pair of capris for the summer.

Tonight we are staying in Jasper. We thought we’d take out time coming home and enjoy some time together as a little family before the busy spring season starts.

Kellan went swimming for the first time on Friday. He usually loves his baths so I was pretty sure he would like this too. The pool was really warm and so was the kiddie pool water so it was perfect. I put him in a cloth diaper (since I didn’t have any swimming diapers) and he was passed around between his relatives’ arms and he loved it! We have a pool in our hotel so we might take him tonight or tomorrow morning before we go.

My headache is pretty bad still today – not sure if it is from my infection but can’t think of anything else it would be.

This coming weekend/week will be a busy one for me. My due date for my courses are March 31st so I have to wrap up my 2 essays and study/write my PSYC exam. Then I’m DONE! Thursday is going to be a good day!

wishing

I don't like to wish my life away....but I wish it was the end of March and I was done my school work.
I really did enjoy the challenge and the learning - but I feel like right now it takes away from things I could or should be doing/reading. Like reading my bible, more devotions, reading christian parenting books, or even just reading a book or a magazine. I can only take so much reading and I feel like I'm wasting it (for lack of a better word) on school. Not that this knowledge is wasteful but in the big picture (I think) there is knowledge that is more important.
Back when I was in highschool I used to read books just for fun. Then when I graduated and went to college and was forced to read I let the fun reading go. I haven't ever really gotten back into it. I think I've maybe read a book a year since then....(hehehe - my Mom is probably wondering if I'm her daughter since she reads a couple books a week!)
Even after I was done bible college and nursing school I didn't read because I always felt I should be doing something more productive or reading something more productive.
The end is in sight tho. I'm in the middle of my last 2 papers and the 2 exams are coming up quick. Maybe I should get a really good *fun* book to read as a reward when I'm all done!
Crazy to think tho - I am looking forward to starting a new course. (?) I'm thinking one course would be easier then 2 and I probably won't have to take off 2 months in the middle to have a baby then cram the last few papers at the end :) Hmmm. What should it be, philosophy or statistics?

English Essay - Genesis 11:1-9

I'm on to my next English Assignment and it is on an aspect of language. One of the choices was this:

Read the story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). Does the story have an application to the question of English and other languages today?

Now, it interested me because it was on the Tower of Babel (all the others were some other boring readings that really didn't interest me). The only thing is that it is supposed to be a 4-5 pages essay. Any ideas on how to stretch it out that long?

Back to school...

I like procrastinating. I always leave things until the very end. Usually I start off with a bang on things too then slowly the excitement fades and I lose interest...
So, my 2 courses are due by the end of March. I have 2 assignments and the final exam in each course which makes me about 75% done. 6 weeks and 6 assignments/exams. Yikes - I'm cutting it close!
I hope to get a good chunk done this week. I really want to get my psychology journal article critique (blah...) done tomorrow. It's probably the shortest of all the assignments but the most boring!
Brian has said he has noticed that I write better and sound smarter! Hehehe - works for me! I am finding that I am really picky on spelling tho. I guess that's a good thing.
I wish blogging counted for marks :)

Stuff & Things...

It's 7:39 and I'm waiting for Brian to get up. I just got off my 2nd of 4 night shifts. 2 more and I AM DONE WORK!!! Wow - can't believe it! I told my boss that I will pick up shorter shifts for another month or so, but I'll just be on the casual list so no pressure!

Last night I was working on a 'personal essay' for my English class. I hope to get it done today. I'm mostly on schedule for getting these 2 courses done before babe - but I'm thinking I'll have an essay or two to write afterwards. Which is ok - I just want to get a good chunk done so I can have a month or two that I can just focus on baby and get to know him/her (without having the stress of a course deadline). So far I'm doing pretty well. I've got above 80% on every assignment/quiz I've turned in so I'm quite pleased.

A friend from highschool just had a little boy on the 15th....k, well, not so little - he weighed 10 lbs 14 oz!!! (I'm hoping for a 6 pounder.... :) ...wishful thinking maybe?)

And of course, speaking of babies, I'm 32 weeks today! 56 more days! The other day Brian and I wrote down our guesses for baby on our chalkboard.

Back to last night - what a CRAZY evening! In about 1/2 hr (right when we got on shift) we had 8 people come in to see the Dr! Now for a big city hospital that's no big deal but for us 2 girls that kept us hoping for a few hours. Nothing too serious but busy none the less! After midnight no one came in so we were able to catch up on our nightly jobs and relax a bit.

This is the newest addition to our house... (no not Brian, all the equiptment in front of him)


...yep, it's a recording studio. Brian's brother owns/runs a studio in BC so now Brian is able to do his own recording and send it to his brother. Now that the basement is all finished and winter is almost upon us, Brian was needing a little hobby. We're pretty excited about it and I'm so happy that Brian will be able to use his amazing talent of music in another way. Maybe he'll be debuting a CD pretty soon :)
Oh, and *Paige*, he could record you a CD too! (hehehe - I love your singing!)

This is my latest purchase fo baby. I had fallen in love with them before but they were something like $40. So, I was thrilled when I saw them in the Thrift store for only $5!!! Love em!

Well, I guess this is getting pretty random. Better get to bed for a few hours! Nighty night!

Snow!?!

Eeek! It's snowing today!!!
Actually it's quite pretty and I love the cozy feel of a warm house and scented candles burning. I'm quite ready for winter really. Brian was talking about putting up the Christmas lights the other day so he must be ready too.
Today I'm catching up on some school work. Yesterday I handed in a big/hard assignment so I'm quite relieved that's done. The other day I received some marks back in Psych and they were 99% and 85%. Also my English teacher returned a paper and said I would do quite well in the class. Such a good feeling to know all the work is worth it and to get good comments back!
Brian finished painting the garden shed the other day and cleaned/organized it all inside. Yay, another job checked off the list!
(I know I've posted tons of pictures of this shed but 2 more can't hurt:) )


And I'll leave you with this chuckle for the day:
When we were at the Legislative grounds on Saturday we came upon this guy. I don't know if this would be my favorite job:

It's not a very close up pic so if you can't figure it out he is washing windows...with a really long squigee...

Overtired

Hmmm....for some reason these last 2 posts have been about sleep... so why am I awake at 5 am?
Well, for starters after I climbed back into bed after a middle of the night bathroom break, baby got the hiccups. So, after I layed in bed for 1/2 hour marvelling at the little life squirming and twitching every 3 seconds....I was awake.
Secondly, usually when I'm overtired I can't sleep.
I'm not sure why I'm overtired tho, I did have a long nap yesterday. I think that because my husband is so tired it just kinda filters over to me :) Must be contagious.
I can tell these long days are starting to wear at Brian. The last couple of nights I've been riding around in the grain truck with him for an hour or two - last night he wasn't his positive/happy self. Quiet and a little on the edge...

So, today we are looking forward to a busy morning/afternoon with church things, but hopefully we can have a long relaxing evening together.
Last week I sat down with my calendar, my job list and my school work and scheduled my life for the next 12 weeks. My goal is to finish my 2 courses and have a clean and organized house by the time the baby is here. It's going to be busy but I *think* I can do it. I almost finished my 3rd chapter in Psychology last night - only 7 more to go. I've taken a little break from English these last couple weeks cuz I don't have contact with my tutor until Oct. 1st and because of that I can't submit anything for marking until then.
The other day my Mom came to help with clean up my flower bed & garden so it's ready for next spring. I still have quite a bit of yard work I want to get done before the snow flies, but I know only some of it will get done.
Speaking of snow...I'm getting really excited for Thanksgiving and especially Christmas! We don't have plans for Thanksgiving as of yet but I still am looking forward to the smells and the coziness of it. Maybe I'll cook my first turkey!
Well, I'm thinking I should go do a bit of homework while Brian's still sleeping.
Can't wait for our nap this afternoon!....

PSYC 290

I got my Psychology course in the mail the other day and so far I'm really enjoying it. It's a great break from all the writing in English. I feel like I'm actually learning something instead of writing a bunch of words and hoping for a good mark. I'm a note taker and so far I've filled 12 pages. Almost done chapter 1 (out of 10)! - not bad for only 2 days.
A while ago I gave my good friend a gift certificate for a massage here in town. Her appointment was yesterday so I said I'd watch her 2 little kids while she went. I also invited over my sister in law and my neice so the kids could all play together and us girls could chat. We had a great afternoon - a little chaotic at times but that's normal for kids. They all stayed for supper since they are both married to farmers who were in the fields. Fun times!
Brian was actually able to come home early last night since it started to rain so they couldn't combine. Well, early means 7:30 pm so we had a little time together which was great. We even slept in until 8 this morning! Funny how our lives are predicted by seasons - 8 am would be considered EARLY in the winter! hehe!
Oooh, and in other great news - I got a raise - a $3 one! And also 5 months of retroactive pay! When I told Brian he said, "oh nice, you should buy yourself a new pair of shoes or something" - hehe, funny how he's catching onto the things that make me excited:)
Well, I'm off to work this afternoon.....for DOUBLE TIME!

Monday morning

Here I am sitting at our office desk doing some 'homework'....or should I say: 'postponing the homework'....

Kinda have a gut ache this morning. Maybe it's the morning sickness finally hitting at 6 months! My cup of Red raspberry leaf tea is helping tho (dual purpose - helping my tummy and toning my uterus!)

Today I have a few things I want to do. My #1 job today is to work in the garden. I need to pick all my tomatoes and clean things up a bit. It's been dipping below freezing at night the last week and I'm getting kind of sick of covering all my tomato plants at night with blankets, so today I'll just pick them all and they can ripen in our cold room. I also would like to 'spring' clean our bedroom. I am trying to do the whole house before the baby which should be possible since I only have a few rooms left.

Yesterday Brian spent most of the day siding our garden shed. We are doing it white with charcoal trim. Looks great so far! We plan to do our house in the next few years so he's getting good practice on the shed.

I worked this past weekend and now I have another week off. (ahhh, the beauty of working 12 hr shifts and part time!) I was getting pretty tired by 4 so I can feel the effects of our little munchin on my body now. Yesterday I wrote my letter to my boss about going on mat leave. I plan to work my rotation until Nov. 1st then use my vacation and sick time until the baby comes. So, yesterday I counted and I only have 11 more shifts!!! Eeek! I plan to pick up short shifts up until December but the 12 hours are just too long after a while.

Well, I better hit the books. I ordered another course today (Psychology 290). I hope to get these 2 courses done before the baby so hopefully I get this new one soon so I can get working on it too. English is mostly writing papers and they don't want you handing in papers back to back, so I thought I should get another course to do along with it. And plus the Psych will be a more memorizing course so that should balance out the writing.

September is here

Yesterday my best friend in highschool was home for the long weekend and I haven't seen her since the spring. After church we went over to her parents house for a BBQ and some hang out time. Most of her family and some extended family were there so there was lots of entertainment & socializing. After lunch the boys had a football game in the backyard while the girls chatted and watched on the sidelines.




My friends sister-in-law is doing distance ed for her Masters in Counselling. She gave me some encouragement and tips which was so great. She has 2 little girls at home and is expecting #3 so with her busy schedule she's making me think I can do it too!

We were invited over for supper at another families place. Their son is starting his 1st year of college tomorrow so it was a informal farewell. We had a great time chatting, eating, playing Rockband on the X-box and helping with the last minute packing.

Today Brian is combining and I'm doing this & that at home. I've jumped full force into this school thing and have gotten a pretty good headstart. I've also been doing a lot of canning/freezer filling. A couple weeks ago my sister-in-law, my Mom and I made 6 different kinds of jam and canned 2 boxes of peaches. Then on Friday my Mom and I made 2 batches of zucchini relish and Saturday I made freezer corn. Today I'm making cookies for the harvest lunches - so I'm getting right into this fall season.

Well, I better get back to my cookies and essay writing :)

English 255

That is my latest endeavor. 2nd year university English course. Why? You may ask. Well, lately I've been thinking about my job/career and where I see myself in the future. Obviously in the very near future I will be starting my full-time career of a stay-at-home Mom (in my opinion: the best career in the world) but I'm thinking more when the kids get old enough and are in school. I really do enjoy my job as an Emerg/Acute nurse - but the long days and shift work are not jiving with our values/vision of a family. And lately I feel as though I'm a bit bored at work so I'm looking for something different. I do have other options here as an LPN but 2 big dreams I've always had require an RN status behind my name. So, I'm thinking that while I'm at home with the kid(s) I'll throw in an hour or two a studying/school per day (depending on the day) and hopefully a few years down the road I'll have those 2 letters.

Through a distance University near Edmonton I am able to do a Post LPN that bridges to a Bachelor of Nursing (RN degree). My LPN counts for 30 of 120 credits so the 4 year full time program is cut down to 3. Being a new mom and the work that that entails I won't be able to do it in 3 years. The program allows for 7 years so I'm thinking that is a little more doable. I haven't yet registerd for the program but there are 4-5 courses that are needed for the program that I can do before I fully commit.

So, currently I am doing English 255: Introductory Composition. We'll see how I do then go from there. In highschool, English was definately not my favorite subject (tied with Math) but being able to learn at my own speed and with my own style I'm actually enjoying it. It definately is a University level course since they jump past the noun, verb, sentence, thesis stage right into 'Deductive premises formed by Induction' (a wee bit over my head right now but I think I'm up for the challenge).

Now, after a few months of this I might pack it in and say "forget it!" but for now I'll just learn about persuasive appeals, characteristics of writing tones and logical fallacies....can't hurt to try anyways.