Christmas Memories

Tonight we decorated our Christmas tree. It is always so much fun reminiscing about our favorite past time. My favorite memory is when I was a child. Every year we would go to my grandparents house for Christmas. My Grampy always did a great job decorating the house, I think that's where I get it from. We would get to their house and go running in the house into Grammy's arms. The smell I remember is her homemade macoroni and cheese cooking. All my relatives would come over. The house was full of fun and laughter, never a dull moment. All of us cousins would go to the basement and play pool, atari, or the computer. The next day, Christmas Eve, I would always be so excited about Santa coming. We would go to church at night then come home and sing Christmas Carols. Grammy would play the piano and we would all sing. Before going to bed we would put out milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer. The next morning Kelly and I would wake up so early. We whispered to each other whether Santa had come or not. We waited until we heard someone downstairs and we would run downstairs to our stockings. My parents and grandparents would let us open our gifts first, then we would watch them. Grammy always went last. After stockings we would get ready for everyone to come over. Once everyone came over we opened the presents under the tree, then would eat. Grammy always had so much food. Afterwards we would play games. Once again the house was filled with fun and laughter.

I treasure those Chrstmas'. As the years have passed, we now have new traditions, and the fact that we are over 900 miles away. Santa comes Christmas Eve at my house. On Christmas day Kelly comes over early afternoon. We spend the day playing games and enjoying each others company. We open the presents under the tree. We eat an amazing meal. It is so nice to have that special family time.

Take the time to remember your favorite Christmas past time and to remember the true meaning of Christmas! I hope everyone has a great holiday season!

Almost Done!

I have almost completed my first semester of OTA school. I'm pretty stressed right now with exams. I have 4 exams in 2 days, plus an online exam. I already took one of my exams, it was a take home exam! I love take home exams.

I have truely enjoyed this semester. I have learned so much! I also have met a lot of neat people. I know that I have gone into the right field. Everything I look at I look at from an OT perspective. I have chosen such an awesome field! I can't wait to graduate and get out in the field.

I hope everyone is doing well!

My life and random thoughts

I feel like I write the same things over and over. It's sad how my life is so routine, well maybe that's a good thing. It's good for me.

School is still going great! A couple more weeks left of the semester. The end of the semester is always crazy. I have lots of projects and tests to study for. Today I have tried to study for a test I have tomorrow but I find my mind wandering. I'm not thinking of anything in particular, just not able to focus on the material for the test. I will try again in a little while but my mind just isn't there.

I'm working at the gym again and loving it! I work a couple nights a week. I don't know who is more tired at the end of the night: me or them. When we play tag, all the kids go after me. They tackle me to the ground. We rough house. It's so much fun! I love being there and the kids, and parents, can tell.

Thursday night I went to Spartanburg to hang out with a friend. She is a friend that I have met through school. She is such an awesome person. I know I have made a friend for life. Friday night I went out with a different friend and had a blast. I love friendships that you know you have each others back and that either of you would do anything for each other. That is the kind of friend that he is. His friendship is one of those rare friendships. I was thinking the other day how sad it is that you can't find people that are loyal and truthful as much. It seems someone always has a lie to tell or "stabs" you in the back. I feel fortunate of the friends I have and the friends I have made. Friendship is such an important part of who we are. I treasure my friends.

It's hard to believe how fast 2008 has gone by. It has been an eventful year, to say the least. My mom started to decorate for Christmas yesterday. I looked at her and said "Already. It can't possibly be time to decorate." Those of you that know me well know how crazy I am with decorating. I don't know what it is this year, but I don't feel like going all out and decorating. It doesn't seem as important to me to have the garland and lights all over the house. I would rather be spending my time with family and friends. I don't know. Maybe in a few weeks I'll feel differently.

I've pretty much been the same. Just going to school, working, going to the gym, and trying to find time to spend with family and friends.

I hope everyone is doing well.

First Day of Clinicals

Today we started our level 1 fieldwork. I'm going to Pickens Middle School with ten other classmates. There is not an OT there so we get to come up with different activities for the children. There are 11 children in the classroom. They are all very sweet! They loved having us there and were sad to see us leave.

We brought the kids to the computer lab and they each were able to play educational games on the computer. We then went back to the classroom and did an activity with them. We had them make mailboxes out of styrofoam plates. They were to punch holes around the edge, string yarn, peel stickers off paper, put the stickers on the paper, and write their name. It was a great activity. After the activity we went outside for PE. The children are required to walk two laps around the track before they can play. I was working with a girl in a wheelchair. She propelled herself around the track twice independently. I was so proud of her! It took the whole time, but she did it by herself. She was proud of herself. We then brought the children in to eat lunch. After lunch we left.

Being in a public school setting was very different for me. I enjoyed it. There definately was different from what I am used to. It is going to be a fun and challenging week, but I'm very excited about it!

I hope everyone is doing well.

Update

Wow! I can't believe it's already November, 2nd! Where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday it was New Year's Day.

School is going GREAT! I love it. It's a lot of work. I had a Kinesiology test last week that I truely thought that I had failed. It was extremely hard. I signed into school yesterday and saw that grades were posted. I was scared. I opened up the file, looking for the grade of an F. To my surprise I didn't see an F, I saw a 94/A! I was so excited I nearly jumped out of my chair. That made my day. I had been so worried about that test.

On November 10th we start level 1 fieldwork. It will be the whole week. I'm not sure where I will be going, but I'm very excited. I know I won't be at the Meyer Center because you are not able to go to a place where you have been previously employed.

I went back to work at the gym. I am working a couple nights a week until school gets out, then I will work M-F nights. Parents and kids are excited that I'm back. I love it! I get to run around and play around for 5 hours a night. It feels great to be back with the kids.

Last night I went to a halloween party at my friends house. We all dressed up. I was an arabian princess. It was a lot of fun. There was lots of good food. We had a great time and can't wait to get together again soon.

That is what has been going on in my life, pretty much the same. It is hard to believe that I only have 5 weeks left of school!

I hope everyone is doing well!

An innocent life lost

On Monday night a man was tragically taken from his family. He was cooking dinner for his two children, ages 4 and 2. I'm sure he was making jokes with his kids, he had quite the sense of humor. His brother came into his home. From my understanding they must of had an argument. His brother pulled out a gun, waved it around and began to shoot him. He shot him multiple times, one of the bullets bounced and hit his two year old son in the foot. These two innocent children watched as their father was being murdered. I can only imagine what was running through the father's mind; the fear of not being able to protect his children, probably not his safety but the safety of his children. While he was laying on the kitchen floor dying, there was nothing he could do for his children. The pain of not being able to protect your children had to be worse than the pain of the multiple gunshots. He just laid there helpless, his life slowly being taken from him.

This man had a name. His name was Rusty Staples. He and I were friends. We used to hang out everyday. We drifted apart over the years. I saw him around two years ago, after his son was born. I'm in shock right now. I can't comprehend the fact that he is no longer here. I think of those children. They watched their father die. The fear they felt. The fear all three of them felt. I don't understand. How can somebody, especially a family member, come into your home infront of your children, and murder you? What is the thought process? I know that he had to have been on something or have something mentally going on, but still. These two young children are now going to grow up without their father.

My heart goes out to his family. I pray that God gives them the strength to get through this tragedy. That those two little angels will be able to go to bed knowing their father thought the world of them and would have done anything for them. That he will never be forgotten and those children will grow up knowing what a wonderful father they had.

Please pray for this family and for the healing process.

Weekend with Friends

I had a great weekend! Friday night I went to Chiefs for a surprise party for Lynn. We had so much fun. It was great to see everyone! We had fun catching up, playing trivia, and dancing the night away, although we couldn't get Nancy to dance. We will get her to dance next time! We enjoyed great food and music. I tried the chicken fajita salad. It was so good. I will be ordering that from now on. We had a great time and I look forward to the next time we get together.

Saturday night we had Kathi's surprise party at Gattitown. Only Kathi would have her party there. We had a lot of fun. I played air hockey with Dave. He beat me, only because I gave him 2 points. There will be a rematch and I will be sure to win! I finally got to meet Greyson, Kim and Kevin's son. He is adorable! I can't believe that he will be 9 months soon! I also saw my little man, JP. I can't believe how much he has grown. He doesn't have that baby face anymore. We had a wonderful time catching up.

After Kathi's party I went to my friend Anna's house. Emmy came too. The three of us had such a great time getting to know each other better. I know that Anna and Emmy will be friends for life. It's so neat how we met through school and our personalities just clicked.

I had an awesome weekend catching up with friends! It was a much needed weekend. I completely relaxed and let the stress of everyday life go. It was nice.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Sorry there are no pictures, once again I forgot my camera. Kathi and Lynn got a lot of great pictures. I'll try to get some from them and post them.

Update

School is still going great! I've been very busy studying. This week is test week. I had a test over the weekend in one of my online classes, a test today, a test tomorrow, and a lab practical tomorrow. Everyone in my class is overwhelmed, but we are getting through this week. My test today was harder than I thought it would be. There was a lot of information and on some of the questions I wasn't exactly sure if I gave the answer she was looking for. Tomorrow my test is in Kinesiology. I'm not as worried about that test. We have had three pop quizzes and I study for that class all the time.

For my Therapeutic Media class I have to do a playground assessment. Today, after my test, I went to the Recreation District Park on Beverly Drive. It's not far from the Meyer Center. I've been there before with JP. It was beautiful out there today. There were a couple of mothers there with their daughters. The girls were all running around playing. I sat there and did my assessment and took pictures different equipment. I was watching the girls play and I noticed that I was observing them thinking of OT and of different activities to do. Six weeks ago I would have never thought that my brain would be thinking this way, I know it sounds weird. OTA school has become my life and it's showing in things I do everyday.

That is pretty much what has been going on in my life. I still continue to go to the gym five days a week, that is my outlet. Last week I slacked and only made it one day! It felt great to get in there today. Other than school and the gym I don't have much time. Friday I am going to go out with some friends and relax, definately needed after this busy week.

I hope everyone is doing well.

OTA School

Well, I have made it through the first two weeks of OTA school and ABSOLUTELY love it! The people are great and so are the classes. I have a great schedule. I couldn't have asked for a better one. I do get confused as to what class I am in sometimes. Our classes are between two classrooms and you see the same teachers everyday. I have brought the wrong book to class, opps.

My hard class will be Kinesiology. It is a lot like Anatomy and Physiology, but more in depth. This class is not my favorite, but I will get through it. I love all my other classes. So far my favorite class is Therapeutic Media. We are going to do sand art next week. How cool is that?!

I am so pumped about my classes. Any doubt I had before about making the right decision is gone. The head of the department has said that our class is so enthusiastic and that we have raised the standards for classes to come. Wow! That's all I can say. She said that she can tell each of us are dedicated. It is such a neat environment. How often do you look forward to going to classes? I do each day, maybe not as much for Kinesiology.

The next 15 months are going to be challenging but very exciting. I have started the preparation for the rest of my life. This is not school, but my career. I am truely excited.

Maine

Maine was great! We had a cool and rainy week but still had a blast. We would walk down to the village every night, walk along the boardwalk, and just really enjoy each others company. My dad and I went hiking to Camden, Me. It is about an hour north of Portland. The hike was great, although challenging because the trail was wet. We were supposed to have a great view of the Maine rocky shoreline, but it was very foggy so we didn't have a view. We still enjoyed our over three mile hike. After our hike we ate lunch and had the biggest lobster rolls I have ever seen. It was on an oversized hamburger bun piled high with lobster meat. They were delicious and only $12.95, which is not a bad price. My dad and I also went to Kennebunkport. We went through all the shops and ate lunch at Mrs. B's. We go there every year. The clam chowder is amazing and the homemade blueberry pie is out of this world. We would have gotten lobster rolls, but at $18 a piece we decided to just stick with the clam chowder. We then stopped by the beach we used to go to as kids and the camp ground we used to camp in. We then went to Fortunes Rock which is a place we also used to go to as kids. It has beautiful views.

The week was wonderful. It was so great to see my relatives. It is amazing how much the kids grew in a year. We always have such a wonderful time. I can still hear the laughter of everyone having a great time and the waves crashing on the rocks. I can't wait to go back. I will have to wait for two years since I will be in school next summer.

I'm going to try to put a link up for the pictures of the sunrise and sunset. My mom put these pictures on her website. The pictures were taken by my dad. The pictures are beautiful.

http://www.landscape-solutions-for-you.com/Maine.html

Goldrenrod - where we get ice cream and watch salt water taffy being made

View of the village with the Fun Park in the back
Ryan
Marina

Rachael at Fortunes Rock
Lighthouse at Fortunes Rock

Gino, Elyse, and Francesca

Francesca, Elyse, Gino
Steve holding the sting ray that Ryan found
Steve "eating" the sting ray
Francesca and Elyse

An evening with My Grandpa and Helen

After my dad and I left my Uncle Don's we went to my Grandpa and Helen's house. This is my dad's dad. I haven't seen him in probably 7 or eight years. Again, I know terrible. We had a nice time catching up and talking about growing up. We ate a wonderful dinner. Then enjoyed a very pleasant evening out on the front porch. It was beautiful out. It felt like a late September evening. Definately a change from the extreme heat we are used to. I also got to see pictures of my cousin's babies. It still seems weird to me that my cousins are married with children. I guess because I haven't seen them in so long.

We had a great time visiting with my Grandpa and Helen. I look forward to seeing them again soon.

Helen and Grandpa

Rachael
Grandpa and Dad
Grandpa, Helen, and Dad

Trip to Uncle Don's

On Friday, August 1st my dad and I drove "up north" to see my Great Uncle Don. Up north is in Moriah, NY. It is about 2 hours north of Schnectady or the Albany area. I haven't seen my Uncle Don in probably 14 to 18 years. Yes, I said years. I remember going to his house in the summer for family reunions. He always had amazing gardens. He says he is too old to keep up his gardens, he is 82. I remember having my kid sister doll up at his house and he would hide it next to him. I would get so mad because I couldn't find it. Adventually he would give it back to me.

Uncle Don looked great. We had a great visit with him and a great lunch. He made macoroni salad, egg salad, chicken sandwiches, cottage cheese. He went all out for us, which is so true to his character.

My dad and I had a wonderful time. I can't wait to see him again.

Rachael and Uncle Don

Uncle Don's house

Hello from Maine

Well I am in Maine having a blast. The weather hasn't been the best. It's been raining all day. We are playing cards and relaxing. There are 26 of us here. We are going to eat lobster tonight.

We got to Maine on Saturday. All of us were tired from the drive up, plus my dad and I had already traveled 14 hours. Sunday we went down to the beach, but it was chilly. Yesterday was the best weather day so far. We went to the beach and relaxed. Last night we went down to the village and to the Fun Park. The kids had a blast. I went on the Scrambler ride. I haven't been on that ride in years. I laughed so hard! We also went on the Go-Karts. I think that the adults had more fun than the kids.

Tomorrow my dad and I are going to attempt to go hiking on the coast, weather permitting. It has been a very fun and relaxing week.

I will post pictures when I get home. I hope everyone is doing well.

Update

My summer has been awesome! I have met some pretty cool people and made some wonderful friendships. My last day of work is two weeks from today. I'm sad. I have enjoyed working at the gym this summer. My boss told me that if I had time in my schedule that I was more than welcome to still work there. I told him that I have to see what my schedule is.

I leave for the beach two weeks from tomorrow. My dad and I are driving up to New York on a Thursday. Then on Saturday between 20 and 25 of my family members are driving to York Beach, Maine for a week. We rent two beach houses and we have a blast! We eat fresh Maine lobster, go swimming in the ocean, walk through the village. It is an awesome time! I am very excited about seeing my second cousins and how much they have grown in the past year. There are six of them that range from the ages 5-12. They are a handful, but fun.

Not much else is going on in my life. Just working, spending time with friends, and enjoying my last month of relaxation for awhile.

I hope everyone is having a great summer!

Work...Kids

I know I haven't posted in awhile. Not much is going on. I go to the gym everyday and I work everyday. I do love my job. I love being at the gym and getting to play with kids. I have had so many parents tell me that I am so good with kids, which makes me feel good.

One child always steals your heart. I have found the one that has stolen mine. His name is Cole. He is seven years old and truely a sweet boy. His mom is so blessed. I joke with him all the time that he is my boyfriend. He wants me by his side the whole time he is there. Tonight we were playing in the bouncy house, the big blow up things you see at carnivals. We were wrestling, jumping, having a great time. He looks at me and asks me if I am a woman. I said "Yes." He looked at me, with that curious look, and asked "Are you married?" I told him that No and that he was my boyfriend so why would I want to get married. He just grinned. He is a gentle hearted little boy. He has a heart of gold. Tonight I told his mom that I would only be there for 6 more weeks. She was sad but excited for my new journey of OTA school. She wanted my number so we could stay in touch. She is so sweet. I definately can see why Cole is so sweet.

Working with kids again has been a blast! I have missed being with them so much this past semester. It definately makes me realize that I will work with kids once I graduate school. I know that I have a gift to work with children and I am going to use that gift. Children are my passion, I am so happy when I am surrounded by them.

Well, I hope everyone is doing well and has a great weekend!

Girls Night

My dad left today for a week long business trip in Miami. Kelly came over and we had a girls evening. Mom, Kelly, and I sat out on the porch and talked about the past weeks events.

Kelly has been in Bi-Lo Management school training for the past ten days. It is called Bi-Lo Boot Camp. They worked thirteen to fourteen hour days. Too long for me! She told us all about it, plus the mess she had to come back to at her store. The usual pain in the neck stuff.

Mom talked about her website and the conference that will be held in Orlando in October. She is one of the main speakers. She is going to talk a lot about motivation and building a website. She has been summoned for jury duty this week, downtown. We talked about court and stuff.

I talked about work. I do enjoy working. It's a great atmosphere! I had a parent on Saturday ask me my name. She then proceeded to tell me that I am wonderful with children. I told her that I worked at the Meyer Center for five and a half years and have a teaching certificate in early childhood. I also told her that I love children. She asked me if I do anything on the side. I told her that I was at work all the time and that I am in school full time. It made me feel so good.

We had a nice time, just the girls. The three of us don't spend enough time together.

OTA Program

Today I went to the mail box, not expecting anything important. I opened the mailbox and I see a manila envelope addressed to me from the OTA Program. As I ran up the driveway my heart was racing, did I make it into the program? I got inside and opened the envelope to read "Congratulations Rachael. Welcome to the OTA Program." I jumped for joy! I worked so hard to make it into the program and I did it! All the tears and sweat this past semester paid off! Now comes the challenging part, the endless hours of being in school and doing homework, but for some reason I'm not to worried about it. I'm excited! I know that it will be hard and at times it may seem impossible, but I know this is what I want to do.

There is a lot of paperwork to do. I have to get shots! I think that is the part that terrifies me the most. On August 12th I have an all day orientation. During orientation we will receive schedules and important dates for the next four semesters. My classes start August 18th.

So, in a year and a half I will be an OTA! Wow, that sounds weird. I have said it before, many times, but now it seems so much more real. OTA school, here I come!

The Weekend

First off, sorry for the lack of posts. My mind has been blank for posts.

Well, this weekend was lots of fun. Yesterday I went to Kelly's for a pool party. The weather was perfect! The water was still pretty cool, but it felt nice after being in the sun. We had a few friends come over and spent the afternoon by the pool. Afterwards we went back to Kelly's apartment and had an amazing dinner. Kelly cooked steak, chicken, corn on the cob, and home fried potatoes. We all had such a great time just hanging out. I can't wait to do it again!

Today Kelly and I went downtown to the Greek Festival. This was the first time either of us had been. It was real neat. I ate a traditional Gyro. I had never had one before. It had lamb in it. It was actually real good. A gyro is similar to a taco except in a pita and with lamb. We listened to Greek music and watched some Greek dances. It was a lot of fun.

We had a wonderful weekend. I look forward to more like it.

Family Night

Last night everyone came over, Kelly, Jill and David, and Amy. We had a great time! Amy and I played cards. We all remininsed about growing up. All the memories...wow!

Jill and I used to go to my grandparents house every summer for two weeks. Her twin brother Mike would also go. Andy, one of my other cousins who lives near my grandparents house, would stay at my grandparents houses also. We would have so much fun. We would play with Barbies in our room. I remember one time when we went into the room Mike and Andy were in there playing with the barbies. They said that they were playing with G.I. Joe also. We still pick on them about it.

Last night we also talked about the summer of 1990. We were out in Ohio. Now let me explain that they live on a farm with a 110 acers. They have a pond, barns, etc. We had decided to have a water balloon fight. Jill was chasing my dad through the fields with the water balloon. My dad couldn't believe how much she kept up with him. I don't remember if she actually got him or not but it was fun.

One thing we liked to do while we were in Ohio was to ride the riding lawn mowers. We would have races and chase each other on them. At the time I was 8 years old. I was driving the red riding lawn mower . We were back in the woods when all of a sudden a BIG tree jumped out in front of me! I slammed into the tree. I was so scared. I had just smashed my Uncle Larry's riding lawn mower. I, of course, was crying. When we got back to the house I ran into my Grammy's arms and sobbing I told her that I wrecked the riding mower. My uncle was taking a nap at the time so my Aunt Kandy went in and told him. All he said was "That's okay." I was shocked. Everyone knew that if it had been one of his kids they would have been in a lot of trouble. The damage to the riding lawn mower was $400! I said it that summer that I would NEVER drive a riding lawn mower again and I haven't.

Those are just some of the memories that we shared last night. We had a great time, like we always do. I love when my family gets together and shares memories. Everyone remembers something different. It is always so special.

Update

I know it has been awhile since I have posted. I have been very busy with school. I have completed the semester! I am just waiting on grades to be posted. If I have calculated correctly I have three A's. I have no clue what my math grade will be. That class was a nightmare! It was so frustrating because I am normally awesome in math. It had been eight years since I've taken a math class, so that definately made the class more difficult.

I talked to my counselor for O.T. a couple weeks ago. I asked her if there was anything else that I needed to do for the application process. She told me that I was all set. They will look at grades once they are posted and make the decision on who will be accepted. Only 25 people make it into the program. I will find out the first week of June. I am nervous. This is such a big deal for me, I mean, this is my dream. I have worked so hard to get into OT school.

On a different note, my cousin, Amy, came into town this week. She is visiting from northwest Ohio. Her sister, Jill, lives down here. It has been great visiting with her. Yesterday Amy, Jill, Kelly, and I went to lunch at Firehouse subs. I love those subs! After lunch we went to Color Clay Cafe. I had never been there before. It was a lot of fun! I picked out a sun to paint. Once I get it back I'll take a picture of it and post it, as long as it comes out alright.

Tomorrow night my family is going to the Drive game. It is Bausch & Lomb night, my dad works there. They are recognizing people that have worked for the company for 25 years. My dad has been with the company for 26 years. My dad is excited about all four of us going to the game. It is going to be lots of fun. I'll post pictures of the game too.

I hope everyone is doing well. Have a great weekend!

My day with JP

On Friday I was able to watch JP all day. I had a blast! We played real hard. I don't know if I wore him out more or he wore me out more. We had a great day of playing, playing with my animals, and going to the park.

Here are some pictures, there are a lot of them!

JP watching The Wiggles

Giving Sandy a kiss
After two hours of playing hard
Still sleeping at my house

After nap, "Oh let me get my hands on you!"
Chico and JP

I was going to draw my mommy a picture,

but I would rather dump the crayons and

put them back in the box!

"Kitty!"

Rolling all over Chico

Posing at the park
"Let me out!"
Getting ready to slide
After a day of playing!

Our birthday!

Grampy and I had a wonderul birthday together. We enjoyed spending time together. My Grampy told us many stories. He talked about being in World War II. He told us all of the different places he had been.

One tradition in my family is that the whosever birthday it is gets to choose dinner. We chose to have a pork roast, carrots, peas, macoroni and cheese, and speciality bread. It was delicious! Afterwards we opened gifts and then had lemon meringue pie.

We had a great birthday. I hope that we are able to spend our next birthday together!

Grampy and Rachael

Evelyn and Grampy

Rachael

Mom and Rachael

Grampy is here!

I'm so excited! My Grampy and Evelyn came into town today. They are on their way back up to New York. They stay in Fort Myers Flordia for the winter. They are staying until Sunday! It is also extra special because we will be spending our birthday together, tomorrow! I will post more later and post pictures soon.

Time

I got to thinking this week about how fast this semster has gone by. I mean it is already April! I have four weeks left of school. It seems like yesterday I started these classes. I also got to thinking about being a kid and the anticipation of school being out for the summer. The day would then come when I could play with my friends all day. We would play outside all day and all evening. The only time we would come in was to eat lunch and dinner. We would do all sorts of things. We rode our bikes, played house, hide and seek, tennis. Of course we would have Kool-Aid sales, what kid doesn't. We would spend the night at each others house staying up late watching movies. The days would fly by. Soon it would be the end of the summer and time to get ready to go back to school. No more playing all day. No more spend the night parties. No more staying up late. It was time to get back to the routine of things. Then school would start and it would seem like an eternity until the following summer.

Now not only do summers go by fast, but also the entire year. It amazes me how fast time goes by. There never seems to be enough time in a day. At the end of a day you are always left wondering where the past 24 hours have gone. That is how I'm feeling with the past four months. Where in the world have they gone?

I have definately enjoyed this semester more than I thought I would. I enjoy going to school. I have met so many neat people in my classes and at the gym. I have learned so much this semester. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend school full time and have the college experience without the stress of working full time. I have been able to focus 100% on school, which is something that I have never been able to do before or wanted to do. I have to say that I have no regrets about going back to school. I am very focused about being in school. I look forward to August when I start my classes for Occupational Therapy.

The Lake

Friday I went to the lake with Kathi's family and Andrea and JP. We had a relaxing time. We spent the morning at the cabin. We went out on the boat in the afternoon. Daniel and Brian went on the Big Mable. I don't know how they lasted so long out there. I couldn't have done it, I am definately southern! After the nice boat ride we went back to the cabin and ordered from Toni's.
We had a nice day.

My sweet angel

Rachael and JP
The girls with their little man
JP and his two aunts
What a handsome man!
Kathi and Dave
Rachael and Andrea
Kathi and JP
Andrea and her boy

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! I hope everyone has a great day!

Multiple Sclerosis

Imagine waking up one morning and not being able to see. Imagine having a conversation with a loved one and not remembering any of it. Imagine not being able to get out of bed because your legs wont allow you to. Imagine being scared to death, not understanding what is happening to your body. These are just some of the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) before medication. Once medication starts there are a whole new list of symptoms. Treatment usually includes an injection, which is very painful. Some days you are fine, then there are those days when it takes everything you have to get out of bed. MS is usually diagnosed between the ages 20-50. There is no cure. Researchers have made many advances in finding a cure, but they aren't quite there yet.

I wanted to write about MS because I know three people, who are close to me, that have MS. One is a friend. The other two are my cousins, they are sisters. Kiley was diagnosed in December of 2003 and Jen in July of 2007. When Jen was diagnosed, my aunt asked the doctor if this was genetic. The doctor responded that it was not to his knowledge. I have so much respect for Kiley and Jen because they are both so strong. They are not letting this horrible disease beat them.

Kiley and Jen walk in the MS walk every year. The MS walk raises money to help find a cure. Here is a link to their websites:

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/NYRWalkEvents?px=1903947&pg=personal&fr_id=8530&s_tafId=41582

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Walk/NYRWalkEvents?team_id=99286&pg=team&fr_id=8530&s_tafId=41582

I have posted pictures below of Jen and her boyfriend Casey, Kiley and her husband Anthony, and their three children: Marina, Ryan, and Gino.

Jen and Casey

Kiley and Anthony
Marina
Ryan
Gino