celebrate good times, come on!

After graduation on Saturday, we loaded up and went to the beach. What a great way to celebrate. Ang and Dylan went with us, so it made the trip that much more special. We had awesome weather, great food, and a lot of laughs. I think I could have stayed a month....as long as I could have come home and got my kitty and took him back with me. (Just imagine, that sand would have been like litter box heaven to him!)

Anyways, while I was there, I got the call that I officially have a job! It's only a summer position, but it's with the CDC (Center for Disease Control). In the public health world, this is HUGE! It's almost impossible to get them to even talk to you, much less offer you any kind of position. I was just in the right place at the right time (and I had a professor who was actually praying daily for me to get this job! How great is that!?!). I would love for it to turn into something more, and it is possible that it could, but just in case it doesn't, I am of course holding onto my CVS job for a little longer.

I am very excited to see where this job takes me. If nothing else, it is going to look FABULOUS on a resume.

Yay for beach vacations and those pesky phone calls you get while you are there that just happen to be REALLY AWESOME news!

I DID IT!!!

Well, thank the good Lord, I finally DID IT! I graduated on Saturday the 14th with a B.S. in Public Health (with a concentration in public health education, but who cares).

I DID IT! I finally have this college degree that I have been working towards for (now this is where it gets embarrassing....) 11 years. Almost 11 years to the day! I have to try and make myself feel better by saying that I didn't go for 11 years straight. There were several years in there where I didn't go at all.

Ahh, who cares how long it took, I finally made it!

Thanks to those who supported me and loved me through this whole thing. Without that, I never would have made it. I barely made it out with my mind, but I did, even though there were times it was a little iffy.

WOOO HOOO!! WKU Alumni!!!!
Wonder how long it will be before I get something in the mail asking for alumni donations?? I give it a week.

P.S.--In Kelly-like fashion, you had to know that the day didn't go off exactly like it should. I mean, there is no way that would happen for me.
1. I split RED fingernail polish on my dress right before leaving. I said screw it, I'm wearing it anyways. I think that it will make for a great laugh.....eventually......

2. I got in my car, thinking I had plenty of gas to make it to BG. Ummm, when I was getting off the interstate, crying, I prayed more than one pray to just get to the first gas station. (my car said "Zero miles until empty". Nice.

3. Got parked (finally), ran down the stairs of the parking garage, looked to make sure I had everything (which I did--shocker), get to the bottom and......wait for it....have no tassel. That's right. It was GONE. Thank goodness they gave me another one (after giving me a really hard time and I finally yelled that I would pay for it if they would just hand it over.)

Again, thank the good Lord that this is all over......until graduate school.......

Silly Saturday

Nothing says "We had a great lake trip" like an Olan Mills Photo shoot on the dock, while my bra strap hangs out, my hair looks pretty unpleasant and how we seem to be "glowing" off the backdrop. (Ashley--We need more times like this VERY soon. I miss you guys like crazy!)

Say a little prayer

I'm usually not the person who asks much of others and I usually don't continue on a story that someone sends to me. But, I feel that this is something that needs to be passed on and I hope that you will pass it on as well.

The following explanation comes from my cousin Jennifer. She and Lacey have been close friends since living across from each other their freshman year at Western. Lacey and I were also together a lot at a lot of places when we were both in school and some even since we have been out. She is a sweet person with a big heart. I hate that she is having to go through all this. I have prayed a lot for this baby and for Lacey and her husband Jim. Please help me out and pray for Lacey, Jim, and baby CeCe.

Some of you know my friend, Lacey, and the story of her baby Cecilia. For those that do not here is a quick overview. She was born in February and immediately started having seizures. She was transferred from Summit to Centennial where she stayed for a couple of weeks to monitor the seizures to see what was causing them. After a couple of weeks they said they had mis-diagnosed her and she was actually not having seizures but had a sleep disorder that caused her to twitch in her sleep which they thought were seizures. They sent her to a specialist who also agreed that she had this sleep disorder not seizures. 5 weeks ago she got really sick and they took her to the ER at Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt said that she was in fact having seizures and had been the entire time. At that point she was having up to 10 seizures a day. Medication is not stopping her from having the seizures. At this time she is still having around 5 a day. Her condition has worsened over the past 5 weeks to where she has had to be on oxygen and feeding tubes all the time. She can no longer swallow on her on. She has been in ICU at Vandy for the past 5 weeks. Yesterday they gave Lacey the news that there is a 50/50 chance that she has a disorder called Malignant Migrating Epilepsy Syndrome. If she does have this syndrome it will most likely kill her before her 1^st birthday. They are waiting for test results to come back any day now to confirm if it is or is not this syndrome. I did a lot of research on it last night and it is a very rare disease, in 2005 there were only 25 known cases of it. There are not any known causes or cures for it at this time.

Please say lots of prayers for baby Cecilia and her family that they get good news in the next couple of days.

Baby bunny...and I don't mean bread...

This week has been crunch time. In approximately 8 days, I graduate from college. YAY! But, before celebrating, I had a million things to finish.

My internship was over last week, so I've had this whole week to complete my internship binder. This meant I had to take EVERYTHING that I had done for the entire semester, put it in a binder and hand it all over. There is no telling how much money is wrapped up in that binder and I will never get to see it again. Anyways, my kitchen table became my work station for the week. It was ridiculous how much crap I had to get in this binder. (side note--when working on a project like this, I prop open the front door so that the cat can go in and out at his leisure and I won't have to constantly get up to let him in or out....I know, it's ridiculous.)


So, here it is, Friday night and my binder is complete. I decided to be a good little wife and go ahead and clean up my mess. With printer in hand (yes, I said PRINTER), I turn and look and there is the cat......inside.....with a baby rabbit in his mouth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm home alone with a cat who has a baby bunny in his mouth in my living room.



(Here he is, trying to figure out how to get back outside through glass)

Thank god I thought in time to put the printer down before picking the cat up (who is still holding the bunny in place) and tossing him outside. I then kinda shook him until he dropped the poor bunny (which is now hiding on my front porch and won't come out). The bunny survived, don't worry, and eventually Jordan got him to hop right off the porch.

Thank GOD this semester is just about over.

Negative Nancy

Yep, that's me. I'm a Negative Nancy today. Maybe even a little bit of a Debbie Downer.

I mean it's bad. I have yelled at people while driving (who obviously can't hear me), yelled at my cell phone (who doesn't seem to want to yell back), ranted and raved when I got home to Jordan about how awful I think facebook is (which he LOVED because he HATES facebook), and on and on. I am just exhausted. I have exactly 25 days left until graduation and I am feeling every bit of it. I even went so far as to ask off for next week just to get my ducks in a row and to not feel the way I feel right at this moment. After this week I will have only 18 hours left of my internship. I have to say, those 400 hours went FAST! I have enjoyed my time at the HD, but I am ready to move on.....ok, actually, I am just ready to work for money and not for free. I would love to stay there, but there aren't any job openings.

Have I mentioned that I apply daily for at least 4+ jobs?? I am DYING for a job. I am desperate. I am so desperate that I am even considering a job that pays...ummm....6 less dollars an hour than my CVS job. (p.s.--you better love public health, because it's never going to make you rich).

Have I also mentioned that I have found a new love for environmental health? So much that I am actually angry that I didn't major in it. So much that I am looking into it for my master's.

That's right, I said master's. I have found out that in the public health world, I HAVE to have a master's. There's only two words to sum up how that makes me feel......DAMN IT! I thought I would be done for a while, but as the magic 8 ball says, outlook not so good.

Can you see why I feel like a crazy person who needs medication? I feel like I am drowning in a sea of papers, binders, cover letters, and resumes.....and I'm not a very good swimmer.

Color by numbers....Kelly Style......

The last few weeks have been a blur. I feel like I have not really gotten anything accomplished, but then again, I have.

1. I order and received graduation invitations. My day is rapidly approaching and my invitations make me sound much more important than I really am.

2. I had 2 job interviews with the same company. Ok, not a company, actually the University of Kentucky. It was for a job with their "SNAP" program. SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Basically, the SNAP person teaches those on government assistance how to stretch money, use WIC, and still eat healthy.

I did not get the job. I'm ok with it though because it got down to me and one other person and they wanted someone right now, which I can't give them until May. Life goes on and there will be a better job, God didn't want me there and I can feel it.

3. I have taken 3 midterms, written a paper, and still go to an internship where I don't get paid for at least 30 hours a week. Life can really seem yucky at times.

4. I have still managed to keep a house somewhat clean, keep the laundry caught up, yell at my husband for not helping out, etc. (p.s.--those of you with children who work and/or go to school, you are my hero).

5. I have also somehow managed to work out a few nights a week. Yay me! I have to be honest, since I have started the semester I have gained 10 pounds. Not so wonderful when you are 5'2" and already feeling not so great about your weight.

6. I booked a beach vacation with 3 people I love this week starting the day after I graduate! Happy graduation to me! Happy vacation to Jordan, Dylan, and Ang. I can not WAIT for those days to get here.

7. I have cried over the sickness of one of my dearest friends. Kim has been like a sister to me since grade school and her health seems to be rapidly taking her over. She goes for surgery tomorrow, which will leave her on 24/7 dialysis. Please pray for her.

8. I have had good laughs, great lunches, and sunshine more than once this week, which makes me one lucky girl. Even more lucky because I have a lunch date tomorrow with my 3 favorite public health majors (a.k.a.--partners in crime).

9. I pretended to be a gardener this weekend and planted tulips. Now, the low tonight is 34. So, I became that old lady we all know and went outside and covered them with a sheet. Let's hope this saves them or Jordan won't ever let me plant again!

That's all for now. Happy Thursday, even if it is a little too cold outside .