Study, study, study...

A good friend has been asking me to post a picture of me with my "brown" hair so... there it is. If you missed it from an older post, we are tight on money and didn't have any to spare for me to get my hair done- so when my mom visited we dyed my hair back to my natural color. This color is very close to my natural color, surprsingly... (and we were watching the Phillies play the Braves- Go Phills!)

Since I have finished fieldwork and officially being a student, I have spent my days being busy studying for my board exam. I study very hard all day until Ben returns home from his school day. Most people think that I am bored and have nothing to do but relax, that is definately NOT the case. I study as long as my mind can focus and am trying very hard to stay diciplined. My biggest fear is that I will not pass my board exam and all that money will go down the drain. I want to take and pass my board as soon as possible so I can start working. I would be able to work under my temporary license, but the Georgia state board isn't meeting until September 25th, meaning I wouldn't get my temporary license application approved until then and not be able to work until then. So I am choosing to spend my days studying hard- and not freaking out :o)

September proves to be a quiet month for us, no big plans. A quiet month will be a good change for us, so we can collect ourselfs and spend some time together before I start working full-time and before all of the "happenings" in October. Ben's parents are visiting for a football game (I can't wait) and then the end of October we are traveling home for my dad's 50th birthday. Then of course we wish to go home for the winter holidays but will have to wait and see if we can afford the time off and plane tickets.

All is well down here in Atlanta, Ben is busy with classes and TAing (being a teacher's assistant in lab) and we are enjoying the weekends together. We miss all of you at home and think of you often. Wishing my sister a happy 26th birthday on the 6th!! :o) Wishing I could be home to celebrate it with her.

Love you all.

Another visitor from PA :o)

Well it's Sunday night and my mom just left from her weekend visit. She flew in Thursday evening (after two delays) and left tonight around eight o'clock. Friday was a girls day, we spent the day shopping at the mall and bought a birthday gift for my sister Lauren, who is turning 26 on September 6th. Then we went out for dinner and came back here and had some wine and dyed my hair. Yup, that is right, I am a brunette... not by choice! Ben and I are tight on money and I could not afford to go get my highlights done again, so we just dyed my hair to my natural color, which is sadly- brown. It looks great, but was a little shocking to get use to.

Anyway, Saturday we went to a bridal salon called "Kelly's Closet" in Atlanta. It was great! I actually found two dresses that I LOVE. One of them might end up being the dress I choose, but I don't want to get too excited, we are going to continue checking out small bridal salons and then make a decision once I have tried on more dresses. That was only the second time I tried on dresses so I don't want to make a rash decision. After that, we made another stop at Demetrios- the shop that I went to before to try on dresses, I tried on more, but none dazzled me/us like the other two at Kelly's Closet. My mom tried on dresses Friday and Saturday as well, she found two that she liked and will continue to look in PA. If she does not find any that she likes as much as what she found down here, she will come down next time and get measured and pick out the color for her dress for the wedding! Then Saturday night we went to a yummy dinner at Gordon Bierch, one of our favs down here.

Sunday (today) we were lazy by the pool. It was a beautiful day for chilling and getting some sun. As we were walking out to the pool we noticed water coming from under the cement in our parking lot. Well it turned out to be a burst pipe and our water was shut off for about 30 minutes... needless to say, my mom panicked and took an early shower so we spent most of the day in the shade playing cards.

It was a GREAT weekend, and a fantastic way to start off being done with school! Now its time to crack down and start studying for my boards!

Visitors from PA and I'm finished w/ fieldwork!!

Today I officially graduated with my masters degree... why now?? Because I finished my fieldwork at Atlanta Medical Center! Now it is just a waiting game as to when my temporary license will come. I am also going to sign up to take the National Board Certification for Occupational Therapy next week. I just can't wait to actually be making money! It's so weird, I'm almost a full-time working adult... I have been going to school for so long that it feels weird to be done!

My mom is coming in tonight to visit for the weekend too! So overall, today is a fantastic day. Right now her plane has been delayed due to weather but she is scheduled to get in at about 9:00pm. We plan on going wedding gown shopping this weekend and just having good old girly fun. I wish that Lauren could have come, I miss her dearly, but know that she needed to stay in PA to work. We will be thinking of her this weekend.




My friend Melissa visited from home two weekends ago. It was sooo good to see a friend from home and spend some time w/ a girl. No offense to Ben, but it's just different spending time a guy than it is w/ a girl. I consider Ben my best friend, but still, it's different w/ a girl friend. We had a blast and I hope that she will visit soon again so I can show her more of the city!


I also bought a plane ticket to go home for my dad's 50th birthday in the end of October. Brenda actually purchased the ticket for me because she knew I couldn't afford it, so she made it possible for me to be there for my dad's big 5.0. I can't wait and am excited that I know when the next time I'm going home is!

The Smith's are visiting in the middle of October for a GA Tech football game. The games are a blast and I'm glad that they are coming to visit too, there is nothing like a parent's love :o)

August in Atlanta

I have 5 more days left of fieldwork. Thank goodness!! I am just ready to get things started. :o) I am pretty much independent in everything other than a few questions here and there, it's a pretty cool feeling actually. I'm finishing up my temporary license applications and then will have to wait about a month... sooo... I'm applying for a part-time job to bring in some extra money (we could all use some right?). I have an interview on Saturday at Ulta, which is a cosmetic store. Hopefully I get it and we can have some extra cash flow for once!

Lauren and Jeff are officially an aunt and uncle! It happened about 2 weeks ago but forgot to mention it, Jeff's sister had a baby boy and he is adorable. You can check out Lauren's website for pictures, I am so glad that they have a nephew- way cool! They were up in Canada at Jeff's family's cabin when he was born and they came home to an additional family member, I can only imagine :o)

Dad is done with chemo, he still has his port in which they will take out in about a month. He is relieved and sounds like he is back to his old self. We are very lucky and blessed for our fortune and what we have been given. I am grateful every day for the outcome of the whole ordeal.

Ben is chugging along in lab, he starts classes again on Monday. He will continue to do research in lab but focus the majority of his time on classes and being a teacher's assistant (TA). As a result of starting classes and continuing to do research in lab, he will have to spend even more time in lab during evenings and weekends... boo!

Mom is visiting next weekend and I can't wait! I miss my family soooo much and need some good old girl time. Plus, some special motherly love is always welcomed :o)

2 more weeks left!

Only two more weeks left at AMC. I have experienced much more in just a week and a half. I am growing even more toward becoming an independent occupational therapist, the majority of the time my supervisor leaves me alone during treatment/evaluation sessions- leaving me to make most of the decisions. I have seen many different kinds of diagnosis such as amputations, general medical complications, all levels of strokes, gun shot wounds and many more. I even got to stand in on another surgery. It was an open forearm fracture. Both of the bones in the forearm were broken and one was through the skin, creating a gaping open wound in the forearm. It was very gruesome and messy- a few surgeons came in to see it because it was so "cool" and unique, so I felt honored to be standing in on it. I also saw the physical therapist clean wounds- not an average wound but wounds that almost go down to the bone and through the fatty tissue. The wounds bothered me more than the surgeries, just the smell is worse and the visual aspect is much more disturbing. I am continuing to learn and grow toward becoming an O.T.!

I was originally suppose to start my full-time position at Golden Living Center, but came to find out that the review board for my temporary O.T. licence will take 4-6 weeks and I cannot practice until I receive my temporary licence. So... I will be forced to take time off and study for the board exam until my temporary licence comes in. I realize this doesn't sound like such a problem to many people, but when you have not been able to work and pull in money for almost an entire year- you are eager to earn something let alone a real salary. I know my patience will pay off- but at times it is extremely challenging.

This past Thursday Ben and I saw Jackson Browne in concert. He rocked and it was an awesome concert! I would most definitely go see him again, he played all the songs that I wanted to hear and liked the songs that I haven't previously heard before the concert. My friend Melissa visited from home this weekend. We showed her around Atlanta and Georgia Tech. We had a great time and I miss her terribly already. My mom is visiting my last day of fieldwork and staying for the weekend (in two weeks) and I can't wait for her to come as well. This Friday a friend is getting us tickets to see the Phillies play the Braves and Saturday is the Steely Dan concert. Another good weekend ahead of us!

This past Monday was Dad's LAST CHEMO TREATMENT!! Yippee- he is done! Now he just has to go back for blood work and hopefully get his port out soon. He is also going to see a genetic counselor to see if it could possibly be hereditary and then Lauren and I can get tested if we want to. It doesn't seem like much, but it is a big step for him that he is finished w/ chemo now. I think we are all relieved that it is over- but no one is more relieved than him I'm sure.