Summer at the Holliday's

It has been so long since I have blogged that I couldn't remember how to login to my blog account!!! I guess I need to start updating this more often. A lot has happened at the Holliday house this summer. Let me just started a list:
1. New drive pad: Chip added a gravel drive pad area to the side of the carport so we don't have to park behind each other anymore. It was a great idea and has been so great. We both love it!

2. New Patio: We had a new patio poured in the backyard. Chip and I stained and sealed it. I still want to put a flowerbed around it to break up the concrete and grass. That will probably happen in the spring. The staining and sealing was a lot of work. We are still waiting for some more patio furniture from my parents. They gave us the dining table & chairs. I love it when Mom decides she wants something new!

Before sealing (just stained)

After sealing

Some furnitre

3. Backyard Clearing: We hired someone to clean up the backyard because it was a mess. There is a ditch just beyond the tree line. There was a dog run that was probably 30 years old and very overgrown. Chip and I were going to try and clear it out, but we lack the equipment and time to do it. I have to say the guy we hired did a great job and it only took him 2 1/2 days! Now we really need a fence to keep the pups from running into the ditch by accident. The "fence" that is currently back there is only about a foot tall because of all the leaves that have been thrown back there over the years. Fencing will be next up!

4. Homebrewing: Chip and a friend, Bryan started brewing their own beer. I wasn't at home for most of the process, but snapped a few pictures when I got home. It is still fermenting. It should be bottled this weekend and will sit for another week or so, then we can drink it! I have just been drinking beer lately so they can have the bottles. I'm such a supportive wife :) 

5. Roman Shade: I created a roman shade from a blog (Here) that I found on Pinterest, which I am now addicted to. The shade was fairly easy to create. My mom came here last week for the day while my dad was out of town at a meeting and helped me do it. I am glad she was here to help because it was a two-person job. It turned out great! Now, I need to do 3 more (1 very big one) for my living room windows. Hopefully, I can find some fabric cheap and start on that one soon!

6. New Wall Art: I found these prints at TJ Maxx when my mom was here and thought they looked just like Riley and Lucy. They are so cute. I hung them in the living room. Love them! 

Lambuth University's Final Graduation

This weekend was the final Commencement ceremony for Lambuth University, Chip's alma mater. Lambuth will be closing its doors on June 30th. Chip graduated in 2007 and we haven't been able to attend a Commencement ceremony since his graduation. They have been in financial trouble for a couple of years and most recently lost their accreditation due to the financial problems. There were about 150 students graduating. A lot of faculty left when the financial problems began with the school because there were months at a time when they weren't being paid, but some remained at Lambuth until the very end. Those faculty members were noticeably upset during the ceremony.

The Chapel on campus

The campus is so beautiful in downtown Jackson. I really hope the campus does not sit there for too long because I am afraid it will become very run down and the beautiful old buildings will not maintain their current character. There have been talks of other universities like U of M that are interested in purchasing the school for satellite campuses. I hope something like that happens. The area around Lambuth is not as safe or "good" as it used to be so I'm afraid if left unattended the campus will go down with the area around it. Hopefully, something good will happen to the campus.

Me, Chip, Andrew & Cinda at Graduation

And Lucy makes four...

Chip and I have talked about getting Riley a dog friend, but we didn't know if we wanted to adopt a dog needing a home or get another puppy.. Last Saturday our question was answered when I took Riley to the dog park to play and run with the other dogs. When I pulled up, there were pugs everywhere. Apparently there was an event called "Pugs in the Park" that was going on. I grew up having pugs and love their little smooshed up faces and their snorting noses. Riley played with them like she plays with my parent's pug. She was a bully. There was one pug there that the rescue group had just received from a local kill shelter. She was so small (probably the smallest I have ever seen) and she was two years old, the same age as Riley. The only problem was that she was high heartworm positive and would have to undergo treatment before being adopted. I immediately called Chip and texted him a picture and told him we HAD to have this dog. I told the rescue group we were very interested. The next day I filled out the application and e-mailed them to find out if we could foster her through her treatment, then adopt her. They said yes, but Chip still hadn't met her so she came over Monday before starting her treatment and Riley and Lucy played so hard and Chip fell in love with her. Riley is a little confused now because Lucy must be confined to her crate for 2 1/2 months while getting her heartworm treatment. Riley and Lucy want to play, but they can't right now. Once Lucy is heartworm-free, Riley and Lucy will be best friends! Lucy is such a laid back, sweet dog and Riley is so wild so this might be interesting, but we are excited about our newest addition!

St. Patrick's Day Brewfest in Franklin

I have not been good at all keeping up with my blog!!! I guess this lack of attention could be blamed on work. I am really enjoying work, but it is hard for me to focus and think of something to write about on my blog when my brain doesn't work after 12-hour shifts. I am learning a lot very quickly. Chip and I haven't really done a whole lot of exciting stuff. We went to Jackson in January for my dad's birthday. I have been working some weekends and almost every Friday so that has made it difficult for us to do anything on the weekends.

I had a week off that overlapped with Chip's Spring Break so we were able to go to Franklin, TN to go to a Brewfest. That was a lot of fun and great to get away. We went last year and had a blast. The Brewfest is in Downtown Franklin the weekend before St. Patrick's Day and all of the stores are open and that is where the beer is served. Some of the beer is locally brewed and some is beer you could find in a specialty store, so it's not your normal, everyday beer. They give you a small pilsner glass and you can go in and try a beer, some stores let you try more than one beer. The stores were a lot more willing to do that this year than last year. We had some friends, Andrew & Cinda, go with us. They had a lot of fun, I think. Before we came back we went to breakfast at "The Pfunky Griddle." It is a restaurant in a small house that has a griddle at each table (kind of like Hibachi) where you can make your own pancakes, eggs, or French toast. It is great, but a little overpriced for having to cook your own food. When we came back I still had three days off which was really nice, then I worked three days in a row, which was exhausting. A great trip though!

This couple got into costume for the St. Patrick's Day celebration at Brewfest!

Our sample pilsner glasses and tasting site list.

Orientation Week at The Med

I started my first week of general & nursing orientation at The Med this week. Going to back to work has been quite an adjustment for me. I started orientation bright and early at 7:30 a.m. on Monday. It shouldn't be that different from when I was in school because I was also gone from 8-5 most days. I'm not sure if it is the amount of information they give you in orientation or that I have a "big girl job," but I am EXHAUSTED when I get home. I never thought I would be so excited to go to bed, but I am also excited to get up in the morning, which is a first for me. I can't remember ever being so excited to wake up and go to work. I was even excited to wake up when I was in nursing school, even on test days, but that was mostly anxiety!
I started the nursing part orientation today and will be in the classroom learning all about policies, procedures, medication administration, computer training, and everything else there is to know until Monday. I can't wait to get on the floor and start working with patients. I have really missed having contact with patients since nursing school is over. I have started flipping through my Maternal Health book because I need to get familiar with the fetal heart monitoring and all the maternal complications that can occur. Hopefully, I can find some time this week to do that.
Unfortunately, this weekend is going to be extremely busy for Chip and I. We are doing a class to join Second Pres., which goes all weekend long. It will be Friday evening, Saturday morning, Sunday morning, Sunday afternoon, and Monday evening. They are very serious about joining Second. It is only offered quarterly and with my future work schedule there is no guarantee I will be off on the weekends to attend. I am excited to learn more about the church and the Presbyterian denomination because I do not know a lot about the denomination even though we have been going there for almost two years. The class is called Inquirers and after the class you can choose whether or not you want to join the church. It will be great to learn more, but I'm not sure my brain can handle anymore new knowledge this week!

Just another day....

Once again I have been bad at blogging....It has been a little crazy around here. We have had a couple of snow days this month. Chip has been out two days because of snow. I took the NCLEX (nursing boards) last week and passed!!!! I am so excited to be done for a while with tests and studying. The anxiety of testing and studying is exhausting to me.

I start my job at the Med next Monday and I am very excited and nervous about my job. I will be working with a preceptor for a few weeks who will train me and teach me what I need to know. I hope I have a good preceptor.

Chip and I went to Jackson over the weekend to celebrate my dad's birthday and Clayton's birthday. It was fun to be with family and not have to worry about anything. We went to church with my parents on Sunday. They have just hired a new pastor who is great.

This week I am going to pick up around the house and get it in order before I start work next week. It has gotten a little crazy over the past year and there is some stuff that still needs to be done. I am hoping to start making a list of things we need to start saving for. There is so much we want to do as far as remodeling the house and travel, that we really need to start budgeting.

I have some picture of the snow, but they are on our new camera and the CD to download pictures onto the computer hasn't been installed yet. I will post those later. I don't need to let myself get so behind on blogging.

Seattle

The day after Christmas, Chip and I got on a plane and headed to Seattle to visit Thad, Lauren, Hayden, and Presley. This was the first time we had seen Thad, Lauren, and Hayden in exactly a year and the very first time to meet Presley Kate. She was so cute! We had a lot of fun. This was Chip's first trip to Seattle and my first trip to do touristy things.
Sunday- We got in about lunch time. After Hayden and Presley woke up from their naps we went to a pizza place called Pegasus on Alki Beach (which Hayden called Malachi beach). They had really good pizza and beer there. Chip and I were pretty exhausted so we called it an early night.

Alki Beach

Monday- We went to Pike's Place Market in downtown Seattle. They have lots of fresh fish, flowers, and other handmade items that are sold in the market. We also visited Nordstrom and a Columbia store where Chip did some shopping with his Christmas money. That evening Thad and his friend, Phil brewed a double IPA beer. According to Thad, if this beer turns out it will be the best beer ever. It will be six weeks until they know if it is good or not. Chip and I got to go to a homebrew store, which was really interesting since there isn't a lot of homebrewing around here. I think Chip was pretty intrigued by it.

Tuesday- We went to a pastry place called "Bakery Nouveau" in West Seattle near Thad and Lauren's house. Chip and I both had really good pastries there. He had a double chocolate pastry and I had a chocolate hazelnut pastry. They were both very good. In the afternoon, Thad and Chip went to some local breweries and sampled a lot of different beer. Lauren and I stayed at home with the kids while they napped. I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies with Hayden.

Wednesday- We went to the Experience Music Project Museum in downtown Seattle. This was a lot of fun. There were music and science fiction exhibits. It was very cold this day so we tried to stay inside. Lauren and I went to the mall and did some shopping. I bought Chip a sweater, but that was all. Lauren had to return some things. We went out to dinner at Pyramid Brewing Co.

Thursday- Thad rented a van so we could all ride together and we drove around Seattle to see some of the very expensive houses and some parks.First, we went to Beth's Cafe, home of the 12-egg omelette. Chip and I split the 6-egg omelette. Maybe we can try the 12-egg omelette next time. We also went to the locks and Hayden liked to see the boats go from the bay to the ocean. We saw two boats go through. There were some very pretty views of the city and the houses were very nice and probably cost at least in the millions. We saw Kurt Cobain's house.

Kurt Cobain's house 

Friday- Thad and Lauren had planned a party for New Year's Eve with some of their friends. Chip and I went to Ikea. I was looking at kitchen stuff and couches to get some ideas for what we want to do in the house. Thad and Lauren's friends came over and we played a Newlywed game, charades, and catch phrase. Some of their friends stayed the night, so the next morning we all got up and had breakfast. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday- We were all pretty tired from New Year's Eve and staying up late. Hayden and Presley were up very early so Thad and Lauren put away their Christmas stuff and stayed around the house. Chip and I went to lunch in West Seattle.

Sunday- We got on a plane to head back to Memphis. We got stuck in Salt Lake City for two hours, but made it back about 11:30 p.m. We were pretty tired, but still on Seattle time (2 hours behind).

The trip was a lot of fun and it was great to see Thad, Lauren, Hayden, and Presley.