march's month in pictures

first week of work and i am very very tired. waking up is hard to do when you have slept in as long as i had!

on the bright side i had some beautiful flowers blooming in celebration of spring!

it was a very nerve wracking week until i got some great news! i passed the CRNE! found out on the monday. so glad i don't have to worry about that dreaded exam ever again!

i then could look outside and appreciate the little things like beautiful sunsets!

mark's parents gave me celebratory flowers in honour of my passing grade. they said (like many others) that they knew i would pass...too bad i couldn't share their sentiment as i cried in happiness when mark opened the mail and told me (over the phone...in the work parking lot).

then it snowed....hard. so hard that we now have the biggest record for the amount of cars piled up on the q.e. 2. sigh. i was glad it was a no work day for me!

i had dinner with my favourite ladies at famoso pizza....yummy caprese. my fav!

smile!

in nyc! love love love this city. with a huge mix up in the airport our parents finally caught up with us at the apartment and we had a quick late night stop at a pizza place. yummers!

mark and dad checking out the sites from our apartment window. so happy with our place as we were just a few blocks off time square and right by restaurant row. so many great food choices!

our first day began with a walking tour around new york city lead by ourselves. we started from our place to times square, empire state, zipped to macys, city hall, nyse, battery park and up towards the 9-11 memorial. a subway ride back was in order!

one of our stops for lunch in washington state park (by NYU).

having a little fun on our jaunt

hello empire state building!

the bull from bowling green which became a big joke as we couldn't for the life find it. but alas we did and dad told us the story of the bulls vs. the bears

world trade center building (7). when i last visited there was nothing so it is interesting to see it built.

times square in all its glory. so fun!

the next day i made my parents go to fao schwartz because i do believe it is one of the funniest stores  around. and mom and i got our fortunes from zoltar (the fortune teller from big)

eerie and surprising the fortunes were quite realistic to us.

we then made our next walk to central park to see alice, watch people sail remote control boats, and visit the met.

it was still slightly cooler than i was used to although it was warmer here than my neck of the woods. 

and spring was making an appearance!

jersey boys was that night which i loved loved loved. but really who doesn't love a musical (unless your name is mark) 

on day three we checked out the united nations. i think one of the favs for my mom and mark

mine was the red velvet cupcake i found on the way at the grand central station market

remember this. well attempt two happened again! this time we ordered just one frozen hot chocolate and the outrageous banana split and a blackout broadway fudgy surprise! this was dinner!

we finished it!

a fun museum in its own right. the natural history museum had tons of fun things to read and look at! this was day 4!

loved the blue whale. so cool!

me and my parents and the blue whale!

mark couldn't get enough of the vendor food and i think he tried absolutely everything there was.

 took a little gander over to radio city music hall and nbc studios where "the voice" chair was set up. i decided to "turn around"

rockefeller skating rink was all set up and beautiful at night!

us at the top of rock with a view of the pastel colours of the empire state building...all ready for easter!

seriously can't get enough of spring!

last dinner of our new york city trip. i had sushi and the rest had burgers.

my cutie parents at five napkins restaurant. it was pretty fab. 

 of course we had to see one last play and it was fitting that it was annie! very good!

it was a fab trip. a good ending to the month.

love

The adventures of house hunting

Last year it was all about the wedding. I have stated it many times that their were certain aspects of that that I did not really enjoy. Although looking back it was 150% worth it. This years adventure is finding a house. I was nervous about it. I really can't pinpoint why but maybe I thought it would be tedious working towards finding the best value for the options that are place in front of us.

Shockingly the little dip we have taken has been surprisingly fun. Mark had been looking at houses for awhile on websites. I looked at his and then took a gander finding my own. Some how with our looking we managed to merge our ideas into the tentative requirements.

Mark then made a few appointments with a real estate agent and we checked out some houses today with Marks parents. Although everything is so very preliminary, I have to say that this has so far been the best part.

I don't know if it is that we had fun with the company we were with, listening to their advice and input...plus watching them walk through the house on their own was quite fun and had us both smiling. Or it could be that we seem to be both on the same page, ensuring that each of our requirements are validated and considered important. Another possibility is that we have no time requirement unlike the wedding and I feel more at ease. Added that I am not in school and dealing with added stressors. And finally it could be the newness and excitement of e process of finding our own house.

I think it is all the above.

Love

Snowy spring

It snowed A LOT yesterday. It makes sense being spring and all. ;) So I thought long and hard about what to be grateful for this week. And I could think of quite a few.

1. Days off. Especially since I have a little bit of a commute. With a bit of a mix up, my orientation training got split. And I got the lucky draw as I didn't need to go in the last three days. I know it hardly seems fair to have time off after just a week and a bit. But I will make up for it. For now I am grateful.

2. With those said days off I have done some work related stuff but I have also stayed snug as a bug in the house watching movies and scrapbooking. It is just how I feel when I wake up and see snow but I usually have to go to work. Ha ha. Not today! Again I am grateful.

3. To extend my happiness Mark and I are outta here on Monday, New York bound to meet up with my parents. Now New York is no Hawaii, Mexico or anywhere else hot hot hot. But it is warmer than here with little to no snow. And New York is fun. Pumped. Grateful for a long awaited retreat to make up for Las Vegas. He he.

4. And with all this bragging (err, I mean all these things I am grateful for) I have to say something in all seriousness. A cab didn't come for Donna today to drive her to the airport, so I hopped into the car and got her to a cab. On the way home I was pulling in when I saw a neighbour stuck in their driveway. Mark and I then helped push them out. It just made me think and put out there how grateful I am to all the people in my life that have helped me and us out. Like going outside last night to see Lawrence and David had shoveled not just our walk, the whole driveway but my car too. Thank you! Moments like that not only are appreciated but help in extraordinary ways. Knowing that, Mark and I both acknowledged after our offerings of help that we have absolutely no problems helping others in a bind. Putting goodness out into the world promotes more goodness right?

Love

I'm ready

So it has been a pretty stressful week to say the least. I may have broken down into a few hysterical sobs. Lol.

It all started with me leaving Facebook. Reason being. As much as I love my fellow nursling friends. I knew that once the crne results came in people would be posting like crazy. And why shouldn't they? They passed and should have every reason to shout it from the hills or social networking sites in celebration.

I left Facebook as I didn't want to see these results out of the slight chance that my results wouldn't come at the same time. But then I cracked. And by shear coincidence I went on when the results started to pile in. And then I found out that I was right in my assumption as I wasn't going to get my results right away. All this happening during the first week of my job which I found to be info overload and really one stressor is enough! Ha ha.

Not to mention that during this whole result waiting I have been convinced that I failed. Convinced. Sometimes I would think about it replay some of the answers I got wrong. Not a smart thing to do for a smart person! I think I managed to even convince others. Not many but some.

So what happened you asked. Mark found out that it had come in the mail. Rushed home to open the results and then phoned to call me. Where I proceeded to cry in HAPPINESS in my work parking lot.

Yes. There is a lot to learn in this situation.

1. Worrying sucks and I really need to figure out a way to get rid of the horrible bad habit. It wastes useless energy.

2. It's not what I learned but what I know. I have an amazing husband. He let me cry this week. Then he boosted me up. Rushed home from work or call from work to have someone check the mail. Just so he could be with me when the results come in. I love him and so appreciative and GRATEFUL he is in my life. He is a champ. Anyone that can deal with me in my disastrous moods is a good one!

3. People have more faith in me than I do myself. And that is just plain old silly and kind of ridiculous. I gave that stupid exam power. Instead of giving it to myself. Definite self improvement here. Time to bone up on my confidence!

That is it. Thank you all for your faith, confidence and just being there. I hope to return it to you all!
Love

P.S. and I am back on Facebook. So much for a permanent change. Lol.

bad me

i promise myself that i will be posting here in the next week about the going on(s). right now i just have to sort those thoughts out. i am still thinking. he he. till then. here is one of my favourite shows and a favourite clip of said show that i saw recently. couldn't get enough of it (although i know it will only be funny to those that have actually seen the show)


love

Time to put on the big girl pants.

School is over. It has been for awhile. But I still have that student feel.

Then on Saturday we got a Costco membership. It may seem small but it kind of felt like something my parents would do. I felt like an adult. Until we made our first purchases, sour soothers, cereal and hot dogs. He he.

And still more. This whole week we have started to officially look at houses. Not going to them but looking online and seeing what we are both interested in. Narrowing choices down. Doing budgets. It seems kind of like it did when we picked out our wedding venue. And hopefully just like that choice we will both just know.

And of course I am officially starting my job tomorrow. No more free student work. Nervous is really all I can say are my feelings right now. He he.

It's funny to think of all the changes that have accumulated over the years. And yet sometimes I still just feel out of high school, having fun, laughing, taking part in adventures. Maybe it's because I still have that. Hopefully with all these grown up decisions we have had to make and will continue to make we will continue to be young at heart!

gotta love good

so i took a temporarily leave from facebook. no big deal. there were a lot of reasons. some trivial, others not so much. i will probably go back after awhile. we will see. but i think this means i will probably be writing more blog posts in the future. AND i like that idea as i have come to consider this as kind of like an online journal of events and things that come into my life.

but before i dismiss facebook altogether i saw this little video that seriously had me in tears. happy tears but tears all the same. i love seeing absolute, genuine goodness in the world. i literally have a physical reaction where i feel all warm and i get chills up my spine.

take a look if you haven't seen it already!


love

new job

In a mere weeks time I will be training for my job. I feel like I have been on a super extended vacation since school ended December. Like I had the summer off from school. The only difference was I wasn't enjoying like I should have. Until I found out I had a job then I could relax. This last week I am going to try to make the use of. What do I have planned?

1. Continued early runs. I am hoping to keep them up after (more for after work than before). I will see. I know the place I work has a gym for a mere 8$ a month. That may be the option of choice.

2. Do a chunk of scrapbooking. It is sad to see my hobby so far behind. But it is a hobby so I deem it acceptable. I did however want to finish scrapbooking my New York trip before I went a second time. I don't think that will happen.

3. Wake up early. It has been nice to be able to sleep in these past months. But that is over. Starting tomorrow I must train my body to wake up early. At least the long dark days are waning.

4. Review work stuff. The perfectionist in me wants to keep on learning what I already know. It gives me reassurance.

5. See my wonderful friends. It's not like I won't be able to see them after but with this spare time it has been nice chatting and walking with them, seeing the kiddies. Those days will soon be ending.

6. Relax and enjoy this last week. And the weeks that follow. I am learning once again. Everything will not come easy at first but they will in time. Forgive myself and trust myself. Two things I must remember.

This sounds reasonable enough, doesn't it?

Love

Small moment of gratitude.

Small moments in sad times. This is what I found to be grateful for.

I was able to listen and enjoy my husband and his cousin laugh, reminisce and tell stories about all the memories they had of their grandmother. Whether it be their own memories or those told from their parents, so much of it showed what a truly remarkable person she was and what fun and infectious children they were. I love hearing stories about families when they are young. Both of them brought smiles and images to me and more importantly (I think) they brought it to themselves.

Family togetherness can bring great things. Especially in moments of sadness.

Love