It's A Wonderful Life

Lately has been pretty busy, so I haven't blogged as much as I should! But don't worry, things have been absolutely wonderful.

I got to spend several days with my amazing family last week. I love it when all my brothers and my sister get to come along for the festivities! And even though cramming 10 people into our tiny apartment got a little claustrophobic, it was so great to have them close for a while. We had to say goodbye to Scott and Nicole and little Bailey (I'm not gonna lie, I went home and cried for a while) but we are so excited that they have a great job to get to!

Our little kitten Pip is adorable, and we can't get enough of her. She is so much fun to play with, and is even sweeter when she curls up with us to go to sleep. Having her around has brightened up our lives, and I always have someone to talk to when I'm waiting for Austin to come home from work. She'll be going in for her first set of shots this weekend hopefully, and we'll make sure she's all healthy!

My first semester of Nursing school is officially finished. Anatomy is such a huge hurdle that I am grateful to have completed. And my finals for that class and Chemistry went really well, and I'm lucky to have a brain that can memorize so well!

Rachel, my dearest darlingest best friend, is graduating this weekend. Cum laude, by the way. For her graduation present her parents are giving her a trip to her grandma's time share, and me and Jess get to go!! I can't think of anything more incredible than spending a week with those girls in Hawaii. (Or possibly Mexico or Florida, we're still deciding for sure) It will be like London part 2, and maybe even better. I'll be looking forward to it all year!

I am setting a new goal of trying to take more pictures too, so I will get more on here soon!

Tell me your happy and your sad

When we were little my mom used to come to tuck us in at night, and she would say "tell me your happy of the day, and tell me your sad". I have a happy and a sad for this week that I wish my mommy were here for me to share them with. Cause I know she'd be excited for me about my happy, and would make me feel better about my sad. So my very happy this week is that we got the most adorable little kitten. She is absolutely wonderful, she is playful and fun and has brightened up our little home. Her name is Pip (Tyler named her perfectly!) and we could not love her anymore.

My sad is that on Saturday I put her in her new carrier and we headed off to the vet so she could have her first shots and a check up. On the way there, she was freaking out in her carrier, and I got distracted like an airhead, and as I was trying to get her to calm down in the front seat, I was suddenly smashing into a parked car....on the other side of the road. I can't think of anything else more humiliating then having to tell a cop that I was just blatantly distracted, and ran into an inanimate object. Poor little Pip got thrown into the dashboard in her carrier, as we careened into the back of a '91 Lexus and up onto the owner's lawn. Amidst the wreckage, she did finally calm down and go to sleep while we took care of insurance stuff.

Fortunately nobody was hurt, and the people were SO nice. The only injury was my pride. The cop cited me for an "unlawful turn". I guess they don't write tickets for "crazy cat lady moron who can't do two things at once". It is my first accident, but it's the last time I'll be taking Pip in the car with me by myself. Luckily we're still waiting on our tax return, so we'll have the money to pay our deductible. And we've already filed the claim with the insurance, and my car will be fixed in the next coupe of days. It's drivable still, just body damage. But I will have to drive around with the big "I got in a wreck" sign evident on my driver's side door. Luckily my happy of the week is helping me get through an embarrassing and expensive incident. Even if it was a little bit her fault, how could I be mad at her?

She loves the stack of books under the table.















And she has the prettiest blue eyes














And now here is my sad car all beat up.











But don't feel sorry for me, it was my own dumb fault. At least no broken glass, no broken headlight, and no airbags. It always could have been much worse.

Our First Birthday!

Today is our marriage's very first birthday. I suppose most people call it an Anniversary. Whatever it is, I'm very excited to be having our first one! We're not doing any big celebration or gift exchange, just going to dinner and a movie. Partly because we are poor. But mainly because we shouldn't have to congratulate ourselves on staying married. I don't think I deserve jewelry or clothes just for making a commitment and actually keeping it. It's not like it has been a challenge or a chore to be married to Austin, and I need some yearly compensation for my efforts. It is a joy every single day. The only gift I need today is every year together from now on.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy, Joy!

This was our absolute favorite tape when I was little. I don't even remember hearing it for the first time, I just remember already knowing the words and loving it. Whenever we drove anywhere in the car, this is what we listened to and sang to. I even remember being driven to Joy School and listening to the song "Thank You, Caterpillar". And one of the songs says "Joanna" in it, and I used to LOVE that cause it's my mom's name. I'm so glad that my mom would play such adorable uplifting music for us. What else would you want your children to hear except songs about joy and love and friendship. I am buying the CD now so I can have it for my kids, and probably for me to listen to right now. =) Go here and you can listen to some of the songs from the CD. Sure it's for little kids, but it still makes me feel happy, happy.

http://www.hoffmanhouse.com/happy.html