Happy 60th Birthday, Dad!

On Saturday, January 24th, my dad turned 60! It's hard to believe he's that OLD, since he still seems so young! :)

Brent and I went back to MN to help my mom throw a little party for him. They had quite a few of their friends from church over, and it was fun to see my dad enjoy himself so much!

Here's a picture of the yummy cake, with delicious frosting. We decided not to burn down the house with 60 candles, and stuck to just one big one instead!

I think he liked it!

Enjoying his grandson. By the way, it was fun to see the way David jumped into my Dad's arms when he and his parents arrived at the house. He sure loves his grandpa!

Part of the group of good friends from my parent's church.

Most everyone else.

Brent and I gave my dad a good laugh that night! We decided that since I was now officially a Wisconsinite, we should help him feel a little more at home when he comes to visit. So, we got him a Packers t-shirt! (don't worry, I haven't turned my loyalties yet, I don't own any Packers gear yet...)

My dad really laughed, and he knew instantly who it was from! He got a lot of advice about wearing it, such as inside out while he's working in the garage, under a sweatshirt when he's shoveling, etc...

David helped him open some of the cards, and loved the one with the blinking lights, and the other one with music playing!

Happy Birthday, Dad!!!! We're so glad we could spend the day with you, enjoy the company of friends, and have a few good laughs!

New Job!

I'm a working woman again -well, I will be in the morning!

I was offered the job I wanted here in Appleton! I had interviewed at all three hospitals, and knew that I could work at any of the three, but preferred one in particular. It had the right "feel" about the place. I'll be working on the pediatric/gyn unit which is also on the same floor as Labor and Delivery, Post-partum, and NICU. It looks like I'll have the chance to float to NICU and post-partum which is something I'll enjoy.

Tomorrow I start the hospital orientation and then I'll be working every day for the next two weeks, either classroom or on the unit. It'll be good to get back to work! After orientation, I'll be working three night shifts a week, and get this.... NO WEEKENDS! Well, to clarify, I guess I'll work every other Friday night, so I'll need to sleep some on those Saturdays, but that's it! Then, I'll have every 8th weekend on call. That's UNHEARD of in hospital nursing! It's hard to get much better than that! I'll be on 8-hour shifts, so working 11pm-7:30am which means that Brent and I will still have our evenings together, and then on nights I have to work, I'll go to work when he goes home.

I'm really glad that I won't be working full-time, and I'll be able to pick up shifts when I want/need. I always figure that work is there to support the rest of my life, not the other way around! So, it's been good to have saved up so much this last year and a half to make this work.

I guess this means that I'm officially done with travel nursing. If you spend any time in the hospital, ask around to see if they have travelers! You'll be able to say you knew one and that she absolutely loved it. I really did. I learned so much about myself, about people, about nursing, about being flexible, and of course I was able to see so many wonderful things all over the country!

Now, however, I'm really excited to have a home base, a stable life, and to make new friends in a new community.

If you ever know of someone who is thinking about becoming a travel nurse, send them my way! I'd love to tell them all about it and answer any questions they have.

Thanks for praying with me about this next job. I'll be excited to tell you how it's going!

Hello from Appleton!

Yes, that's right, I moved last weekend and I'm now a Wisconsinite! Don't worry, though, I don't think I'm ready to become a Cheesehead just yet...

I actually have quite a few posts in my head of all sorts of stuff I'd like to tell you about, but I'm really writing today to let you know that I FOUND MY WEDDING DRESS!! I went shopping this past weekend, and was able to purchase a dress!

I'm so excited about it, because it's a completely stunning dress, but also because I was surprised by the whole experience! I had gone in with the mindset that I'd just discover what sort of style I like so that I could continue looking in all the magazines. I had always hoped that I might someday find a dress that looked mostly okay on me. Then, after I've lost all this weight, I knew that I could probably find something that looked nice. Well, the interesting thing about the entire shopping experience is that I didn't have the problem of not finding enough options for me, but instead found that there were quite a few things that I really liked!

So, I went to a few shops in the Twin Cities over the weekend with my mom and my best friend, Aimee. I had planned that they would help me determine the best neckline, waist, skirt, etc for me and then after I found the dress that combined all three, I'd go shopping again with the rest of the girls. Well, we found lots of good options, narrowed it down to the best style for me, and then I found it! In person!! I went back to one store feeling like I really liked a particular dress and wanted to try it on again. I walked in the door and was reminded about a different dress I had wanted to see, but didn't take time for earlier. Well, I stepped into it and knew it was the one! I tried on the original one again and thought "This would be okay. Good, in fact. But, not the dream."

The one I got is The Dream! I didn't go into the weekend knowing what the dream was, but I realized what it was when I had the thought "this is how I always hoped I'd feel on my wedding day but didn't know could be possible!" I felt exactly how I'd wanted to feel walking down the aisle to Brent to become his wife.

So, that's all you get to know for now! There's a certain groom who looks at my blog and I'd like to keep the surprise for him. And for you!

By the way, what do you all think of the groom either knowing or not knowing what the dress looks like before he sees the bride in it? Just curious! Share away!

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In other news, I love my new apartment and once I get a little more settled I'll take some pictures. It's a different experience for me because I didn't have any furniture provided for me this time around, and I was able to bring lots more stuff than I had for the last year and a half. There are actually boxes to unpack! So, I'll keep working on that and let you know how it's going.

Lastly, I had a couple of interviews last week, that covered all three hospitals here in the Appleton area. I am supposed to find out some news in the next few days so please pray with me that just the right situation works out. I'd love to be in a job that I enjoy, with a schedule that's conducive to a marriage. That's not too much to ask, right? :)

I better get to unpacking a little more. Pictures of our Christmases, my apartment, etc. to come later. Thanks for your patience! Signing off....

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! It seems like 2009 is going to turn out to be a pretty good year -I'm really excited for it! :)

You know how people always say that every year seems to fly by faster than the one before? Well, check out how quick 2008 flew by!