My suckage at updating!

So I'm not as good at updating this as I thought I would be. It seems like I have to other many things to do and just forget..oh well. Maybe this will make up for it!

Much as happened since the last time I blogged. We married off my brother on May 2nd to Leslie Childress. She is such a sweet girl and is a great addition to the family. And to make it even better, they are expecting! Josh and Leslie will be parents in December. I will get to be an Auntie!! Not that I'm not one now because I'm an aunt to lil Miss Ally, but now I'll be a blood aunt! I can't wait! It will give me an excuse to go home more often now! :)

I decided in May that I would be going back to school. I applied to the graduate program at WKU and got accepted into the Nursing Administration Program. I will be graduating with my Master's of Science in Nursing Administration hopefully in May of 2012. It will take me 3 years of part-time study, but I want to have a life as well. This first semester I am taking 6 hours. I took 3 hours in June with my graduate statistics class which is online! Let me just say.. it was a doosey but I managed an A.

Jason and I have been to visit his parents in Lynchburg a few times and have a trip planned for next weekend there. I absolutely love going to the lake and just hanging out. It's so relaxing and just nice to not have to worry about anything. Hopefully it will warm up enough for us to get a swim in the neighbors pool! :)

Speaking of Jason, I have to say he is becoming the king of canning in the past two months. He has made blackberry jelly, hot pepper jelly, and has even pickled some peppers. This weekend is is making mint jelly..so I can't wait to try that. He's the super duper househusband I've always wanted...haha! J/K! He is a great cook though. Everyone says he needs to go to culinary school. He never ceases to amaze me by the things he comes up with to cook.

Work has been going well. We were really busy for a while and then got really slow. That's how it is in the baby business, it's either feast or famine. Thankfully it's picked up a bit now! Also, I just stay busy at work being involved in projects, meetings, and helping to make our unit a better place for our nurses to work. I guess this is why I wanted to pursue Nursing Administration. I've seen a different side of nursing being involved in more than just the patient care side and I think it will be something I will thoroughly enjoy!

I'm going to try to update more often! Until next time...

Spring has sprung...sometimes

Wow...it's been a few months since I've updated the blog. A lot has happened since the beginning of February. I am now MARRIED! That's right...Jason and I tied the knot on February 28th. I am now officially a Bechard (pronounced Beshard...it's french canadian). It was a beautiful ceremony despite the uncooperative weather (rain and snow). However, we did have a great turnout but not as many as we were first expecting since some people had to travel far and didn't want to get out in the weather. Jason's father did the ceremony and I couldn't have picked a better person to do it. It was a very simple ceremony and very moving, at least for me. After spending the night in Nashville (compliments of his parents) we headed out the next morning to Antigua, which is just north of South America in the Caribbean. It was absolutely breathtaking and was just what we needed. I am so happy we were able to go and see such beautiful water and countryside. If you haven't already, you should check out my pics on facebook.

I finally went to day shift at work after we got back from the honeymoon. I will have to say it did take a bit to get used to...especially having to wake up at 5:15 am. I have gotten more use to it now but it still is hard at times to get out of bed. I am now accustomed to going to bed between 10p-11p. Who would of ever have thought that?!?!?! LoL... I was a total night owl...and now I'm exhausted by 10. I do like working days better because the day goes by so much quicker and it is also so much busier too. I still am trying to get my ducks in a row and it gets very stressful at times...but things are going a bit smoother than when I first started out. I do need to learn to control my temper when I get upset though because of being stressed and all... sometimes I let loose without evening thinking and it ends up hurting feelings. I don't mean for it too..it's something I'm just trying to deal with and learn to control. Wish me luck and pray for me! I need all the help I can get! All in all though.. I'm really liking dayshift..which is very surprising! :)

And on to other great news.... My brother Josh is getting married in a few weeks. His wedding date is set for May 2nd. He is marrying Leslie Childress who is originally from Michigan but moved to Butler County from Florida. They met last year and have been together ever since. She is such a sweet girl and I really wish them the best. My parents won't know what to do which both kids being married...haha! Of course I've been out of the house since 2004 but now with Josh being gone too... I bet they'll go stir crazy..or really enjoy it!

I've decided to head back to school in the fall to get my Master's in Nursing Administration. I've thought long and hard about the different programs and have decided this will be the best route for me. I don't plan on staying in BG forever and I want something to fall back on since I don't want to do bedside nursing the rest of my life. I just now need to go talk to someone about it. So hopefully I'll get this ball rolling soon. I've got so much to do within the next 6 months with work, doing projects for work and trying to get my Clinical Ladder 4 at work (which means a 10% raise on the hour)... it can get overwhelming at times, but I hope to follow through with each.

The next few weeks involves us going to the hotrod games, the crawfish boil for Jason's work, hanging out with our Nashville friends (which if it hadn't have been for them...I would have never met Jason), Josh's wedding and then spending time with Jason's friend in Knoxville. We'll have busy weekends ahead after our busy weeks! Until next time...

After the Storm...

I hope everyone survived the ice storm! It did some damage to my tree in the front yard. The ice actually broke off a fourth of the tree and almost hit my Vue. My tree is divided into 4 parts, so one part broke off, which was made up of two huge limbs. Thank goodness it didn't do any damage though. Dad and Jason cleaned it up on Saturday, so now at least you can see my yard.

Last week my house was like a motel. Mom stayed with me 3 nights so she could go to work since they didn't have electricity back at home. Josh and his girlfriend Leslie have stayed here the weekend with me since they didn't have electricity either. Finally, mom and dad got electricity this morning around 4am. I'm so glad nothing happened to ours! We were very fortunate. The farm is a total wreck back in Butler County. There is tree limbs and trees down everywhere! It will take months for it to get all cleaned up. I'm just glad no one was hurt and there wasn't any bad damage!!

In spite of all the snow and ice, things have been really crazy for us. We finally got our wedding invitations addressed and will mail them out tomorrow! I still have a few things to buy and "thank you" cards to send out. I had another shower at work this week and a shower on Saturday morning with my church friends. We are so very fortunate to have great family, coworkers, and friends who are so generous. We still have 2 more wedding showers to go. One will be at Jason's work and one will be for my Butler County family. Only 26 more days to go! We are getting really excited and are counting down the days! What we are really looking forward to is the honeymoon! We are going to Antigua and can't wait to get to the beach!!!

Countdown...

Well it has been a over a month since I last wrote. The holidays were a busy time for us with having so many gatherings to go to (and Jason's birthday) plus my having to work throughout them as well. We had a wonderful time down in Murfreesboro and Nolensville with Jason's family and then back in Butler County with mine. I just enjoy spending time with everyone, it seems like I don't get to do it much now-a-days. The first weekend in January was our first wedding shower down in Murfreesboro, hosted by Chad and Holly. We had a great turn out and got alot of nice things. It was a co-ed shower, so Jason go to partake in it! I had bridal shower in Louisville this past weekend with my family up there and still have 3 more bridal showers to go...lol. One will be with my church family, one with my coworkers, and then one with my extended family in Butler County. I'm really looking forward to them!

The countdown to the wedding has begun! 40 days to go. Of course I've been counting down for months..lol. I have all of the big stuff bought and taken care of. Now, it's working on the little things that is driving me bonkers. I swear I never knew so much thought and preparation had to go into this. Poor Jason is having to listen to me talk about it all the time. He could really care less what I do, but I still want his opinion on things because it's his wedding too. He does have some really cool ideas for how to decorate for the reception..so I can't wait to see what the finished product looks like! Just think...red christmas lights..white tulle... candlelight..OHHH the excitement of it all! :)

It's finished!

I am finally done with my Post-RN Program at WKU! I feel as if a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders! I graduate this Saturday, the 13th at 10 a.m. My nursing convocation is at 8 a.m. and that's where I will receive the Student Achievement award for the Post-RN program. The past 2 1/2 years have been trying times for me but I think it has made me so much of a better person and better student after taking these courses. I would recommend the program to any associate degree nurse. The teachers have been wonderful and I've learned so much that I can apply to my career. I have even thought about going back to get my master's. I may try to do the Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Program or either the Management tract. I am taking a semester off to get married and enjoy being married while not having to worry with school. My plan is to go back in the fall of next year. We'll see...

On to a lighter note. We finally got our engagement pictures back. Alan Hudson did them and I think he did an awesome job. His style is different and that's what we like. I can't wait for him to take my wedding pictures..I'm sure he'll have great ideas in store. You can check out his work at http://www.alanhudsonphoto.com.


My new niece (well niece to be) was born this past Tuesday morning. She shares a birthday with her papaw Leo, which is Jason's dad. Ms. Ally Grace Bechard was born at 2:56 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2nd! She is such a cutie. She weighed 5lbs -15 oz and was 18 inches long. She had to be kept in the NICU for about 12 hours to transition because she was born at 35 5/7 wks. She did great though and got to go home on Thursday. Unfortunately, on Friday, she had to be put back in the hospital for a high bilirubin level, but after being under phototherapy lights for about 24 hours, this level came down to a more normal range and she got to go home yesterday! We are all very excited she is here. Our first wedding shower had to be postponed because of her birth since Holly (her mom) was going to host it this past Saturday (the 6th). We just laugh about it because me and Jason say we are the reason Holly went into labor in the first place because she was decorating and cleaning the house for the party last weekend. :) All is great though now and we can't wait to watch her grow up!

All things wedding...

My wedding dress is finally here after ordering it the last of August! I went to try it on today and I must say, I don't remember it looking that good on when I first tried it on. I felt like a princess! I am super excited about the gown and cannot wait to walk down the aisle in it. Mind you, it's not very elaborate and kinda plain with some beading, but I think it is beautiful. I'm not the fancy shmancy type either, so it is perfect. The funny thing is, I let Jason see a few pics of me in different dresses I had tried on and he guessed which one I got based on how well he knows me. He's pretty smart...lol. And yes, I know he's not suppose to know what dress I got, but it's ok. We are very comfortable with telling each other everything and I wanted him to know. No surprises here but he won't get the full effect of it until he actually sees it on me. Below is a little sneak peak of what's in store...


On a lighter note, we had our engagement pics done last Sunday by Alan Hudson. He goes to our church and was referred to us by several people. We took pics downtown and at his partners farm out in Rockfield, so the pics should turn out really great. He showed us a few that he had taken and they looked wonderful. We should have them back in the next week or so, and I will post a few. He is also doing our wedding pictures and has alot of neat ideas for capturing the pics. Jason nor I want the traditional photos, we are all about individualism and trendy, so I can't wait to see what he has in store for us!

School will be wrapping up in about 4 weeks. I have a busy next month ahead of me though, with 3 papers and 12 chapter summaries left to do plus a discussion board. I am currently working on 2 of the papers and have finished about 6 of the chapter summaries. All I keep thinking is "4 more weeks...just 4 more weeks and I'll be finished"... I guess it's what gets me through. I went to pick up my cap and gown on Thursday but couldn't do to my name not being on the graduation list. I called the registrar's office and spoke with a girl who said my degree plan still had my old date of May '09 on it so she was going to forward it to someone who would check over my degree plan and email if there was anything wrong with it....well of course there was. I had taken different classes than what was initially put on there so I had to have Dr. Jones (coordinator of the post-rn program) fix it and get the signatures on it so I can graduate in December. They are so picky about those things... you would think it would be a little easier than what it actually is.

Last month quickly flew by with us attending the annual Witches Brew and BBQ festival down in Lynchburg the last two weekends of the month and then Kelly's annual fall bash at the beginning of the month. It was so nice to see everyone down in Lynchburg and the folks from back home at Kelly's. I hate that I don't get to see everyone as often as I would like too. Hopefully once school gets out, things will calm down a bit and I can visit with everyone more often.

Below is a pic of me dressed up as a zombie nurse for Kelly's fall bash. Jason did the makeup and he did an awesome job! Wouldn't you hate to see me taking care of your baby looking like this! haha.. till next time....

There's not enough time in the day....

I'm totally feeling overwhelmed by school, work, and not to mention..planning my wedding. The more I look at my workload for school and trying to find time to go out and find stuff to do in the community..PLUS trying to work 3 nights a week...makes me wanna cry. I have so much stuff to do and so little time to do it ..it seems. My schedule is full this week and it seems like it is the rest of the month too. This week I work Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights and have to go to the Pediatric Clinic on Monday at 3 to learn the computer system and then again on Wednesday at 2 to give flu shots and then on to church that night at 7. Thursday I have a doctor's appointment at 1030, school from 1-5 and then a meeting at work at 6...then work that night. Friday is sleeping then hair appointment at 3 and Hancock's vet appointment at 4 (which Jason is taking him to) then onto Lynchburg, TN that night to visit Jason's family for the annual Witches Brew on Saturday night...then Sunday night I have to work....so it starts all over again.

This wedding planning isn't getting anywhere either. I do have a dress, photographer, and a church but that's about it. We have no idea what kind of food we want for the reception...we do know we want appetizers, but that's about it. We have no idea what to do for decorations even though we are have a ton of ideas for our asian-inspired reception ...we can't just seem to settle on anything. Right now, we are sitting here trying to figure out what we want on our invitations. We have been looking at pics of cherry blossoms and throwing some ideas together...but haven't come up with anything so far... well I take that back, he has...but I don't think I like it all that well. This is kinda frustrating. I have a little over 4 months to get stuff together.... and it seems like it's not coming together at all.

On a lighter note, I just spent the past 4 days with my mom and my aunts/cousin/ and family friends...in Pigeon Forge. We had a wonderful time hanging out and I really enjoy spending time with them. Jason came down on Friday to pick me up so we could visit his friend Fletch, his wife Charity and their daughter Xoanna. They are extremely nice and Xoanna is a trip. She is 2 and is the CUTEST little girl I've ever seen. She reminds me of Shirley Temple with her naturally curly hair and her expressions. If I knew I'd have a daughter just like her... I'd have a kid after we got married...but that's the only way I'd have one...if it would be just as cute and funny as her! Anyways...I thoroughly enjoyed my much needed mini-vacation.