That's definitely Merritt

We are all a little weird, and life's a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.
Dr. Seuss

Beginning of a Break

4th semester is over! If I calculated correctly, I should come out with As in both of my classes (a miracle by any man's standards in this school)! We had our final last Friday, and that afternoon we had our preceptorship lottery. I needed some serious Versed that entire day because I was so nervous about that lottery, which I think is just a horrible way of doing the assignments, but that's just my humble opinion. By the grace of God, I was #3 of 111 people to choose a preceptorship. I will be spending 225 hours in special care at Children's and I'm looking forward to it. I just don't know what I am going to do with myself without having to read or do some type of school work for three weeks. It just seems unnatural, but I think I'll somehow deal.


First day of the break, Deavin and I went to Brittany's graduation at Coleman Coliseum. She got a big girl job this week also, and we're proud of her accomplishments. :)

Backing up a few days, Brittany (bridesmaid), Whitney (bridesmaid), Liz (Maid of Honor), my mom, and I went to David's Bridal for the girls to try on the bridesmaid dress I have been in love with since I saw my sister-in-law wear it in June. They all looked awesome in the dress and it is SO flattering on everyone. I'm very excited about them!


How could I leave this face out? He loves laying under Christmas trees. I will get a picture of him wearing his Christmas sweater under the tree.

I never thought I'd say this

I am sad to see my adult health clinical be over (with the exception of the 3:45 A.M. wake-up). I really enjoyed this group of people. We were always laughing about something, whether it was Jon's antics with giving all of his patient's baths or when I overflowed the toilet. It was a really great clinical!
A few things I want to write down so I can look back one day and laugh:
Lauren S. always had blood sugar problems. It was ever 12 or 400 - no in between! Jon loved making all his patients look "fresh" so he spent a lot of his days bathing and washing hair, then walking his patients up and down the hall to show them off to everybody. Evan was ever-so-loved by Ms. Pat, the PCT. She affectionately called him "Red" and he was her favorite, though she loved all of us undoubtedly. When we got bored we would make laps around the unit and pretend to be doing important tasks. Jenny was quite sneaky and managed to never have to deal with a patient with a trach (and when I say "deal with" I don't mean that in a negative way towards those with trachs. She just did not want to suction out a trachea, and that is pretty understandable). Alley, the "local expert on piggybacks", always had a breast cancer patient. I always said she was the lucky one, because most of my patients had prostate issues! Amy and Lauren were constantly in their patients' rooms, because they were the really, really sweet/nice people out of the group, haha. Mrs. P loved to tell us about her great dane, tell stories about red robins in hats, and had the funniest expressions for just about every thing. We had several good nurses and a overflow of bad/mean ones, but we always made the best of the day. And, of course, we cannot forget our two week trip to the neuro ICU.

Save the Date!

Isn't it cute?

Black Friday

If only I had pictures to show from Thanksgiving Night/Black Friday. Deavin and I, once again, spent the night at Best Buy in a line waiting for the store to open at 5 A.M. I was awake the entire time and actually had no problems with it. We were both great until about 1 A.M., when the rain storm came. That was joyous! But we were very successful. We bought a Sony Vaio laptop and Wii for my dad, and Deavin bought a 32" Samsung HDTV. It took forever to get out of there, or so it seemed. It was at least an hour. After that, we went to Chick-Fil-A for breakfast and fell asleep for an hour in the Rooms-To-Go parking lot. They opened at 8, and we went in looking like complete hobos from the long night before, and purchased a really awesome couch. So, it was successful!

This semester of school is just 2 weeks from being over! I look forward to Christmas break so much, but I would much prefer to be able to spend every day with Deavin. Unfortunately, UPS will be spending a lot of time with him. :(

Thanksgiving

My last Thanksgiving at home! Everyone came to our house, and it was nothing short of crazy.


Deavin with future football star Andrew


Debs and her granddaughters


Cedric & Abby -- one of my favorite pictures!


Briggleton with Uncle Daniel




David & Hannah


The Family




Granny, hiding behind Papa


Daniel, his girlfriend Amanda, and Cedric


Carrie, Andrew, Abby, Hannah, & David

The holidays are here (to me)!

To me, the holiday season begins with Halloween. Once again, I didn't dress up. But Deavin and I carved pumpkins, Mickey Mouse and a raven, and watched Halloween: H20 and I enjoyed all of it. I've never thought trick-or-treaters were so cute until now. Especially that fat little cowboy who waddled up the stairs in his cowboy boots. :)
I have pictures to put on here, but I must find the little white cord that connects to the computer before I can do that...
My lovely Deavin did his first sermon on Halloween night. He was great and I was truly impressed by how at ease he seemed once he began and the nerves instantly went away. I'm so proud of him.
Since it's now November (happy birthday, Mom), this semester will be over in one month!!! You know I'm excited about something when I use more than one exclamation mark. Fairly monumental. It's gone by quickly, and I hope the next month is painless. I will be registering for classes for the very last time in about 30 minutes. There's nothing bittersweet about this...it's just sweet.

It's still 80 degrees at the end of October!

At Alabama's homecoming pep rally/bonfire

Too bad we're kind of boring people, or else I would probably have a lot more exciting photos or stories to document. We've both been busy with school. I think Deavin is enjoying seminary, though I'm pretty certain it can stress him out at times. He's doing well and I'm so proud of the effort he's putting forth. As for me, school is just alright. I graduate in a little over 6 months (yay!!) and I'm finished with pediatric clinicals already. 5 more adult clinicals and then those will finally be over.
A few family things have been going on, though I'm sure that the majority of it is not allowed to be shared. :( However, prayer is certainly needed for those things, both good & bad.

I am so excited for Halloween (despite my having no costume), the new Harry Potter movie, Thanksgiving, and Christmas! My absolute favorite time of year! I just wish I were going to Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party or Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party. BUT...we'll be there with my favorite Disney characters in July! And Deavin is going to fall in love with Disney and feel like a kid all over again!

Happy Birthday!

Happy 21st Birthday to my sweet Deavin! I love you more each day.
Deavin is spending his day at school, which is his first day as a student at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. I hope he's enjoying it, and I can't wait to celebrate his birthday with him soon. :)

Wedding News

Wedding plans have gone smoothly thus far. I have a dress, bridesmaid dresses are chosen, the church is booked, the reception location is booked along with the caterer, and I am going to meet with a woman to discuss wedding cakes this coming Saturday. Deavin and I also chose our wedding bands this past weekend and put money down on them! They're so pretty. This picture is the closest depiction I could find of mine, though the diamonds are round rather than princess cut as seen here.

Deavin's is very nice also, and looks great on him. ;)

Our honeymoon has also been reserved. We'll be staying at The Fountains resort in Orlando, Florida, which I am extremely excited about. Thanks to the lovely Mr. & Mrs. Corn for the greatest wedding gift.

Since the last time I wrote anything I also got a job as a CA at Children's Hospital on an orthopedic/rehab unit. I'm enjoying it, but it makes me very tired! However, if there's a job at the end of this tunnel, it's worth it.

The dreaded fourth semester of nursing school as already begun, and hopefully it won't be as bad as others have described. I'll be on a general med-surg unit at Children's Hospital for 1 week (that's all - crazy, I know, but great). For my adult nursing rotation I'll be on the plastic surgery/urology unit at University hospital. Hoping that goes well too.

Wedding

Man, am I excited!

First, I now have my newly re-sized ring back and it fits perfectly. Many thanks to Deavin. You're wonderful, and I cannot tell you that enough. ;) I'm so excited to marry you.

Second, and maybe slightly more exciting that the first point, I found THE Dress. I. am. thrilled! My Aunt Linda has been visiting us this week, and today was her last full day to be here. She began asking me about what kind of ideas I had for the wedding, so I started listing off all of the things I have imagined, including dress ideas. I started searching on a website and found a dress that caught my eye immediately. Aunt Linda, my mom, and I all agreed that it was absolutely gorgeous. After that, my heart was set on seeing it sometime in the near future. Well, the near future came quickly. My mom said that it would be nice if we could go look at dresses, especially since Aunt Linda is here. Two hours later, we were headed to the store on a mission. The eye-catching dress was the first one I tried on, and it made a huge impact. I tried on many more, but the first one would never leave my mind. At the end of the day, my decision was made--my heart was completely set on the dress a saw online, and the first one I tried on. We bought the dress, veil, hair clasp with Swarovski crystals, bodice/bra, and slip all for a little over $1,000. I already have shoes (and hopefully they will work well with the dress when it comes in!), and earrings I plan to wear. I'm so glad we can already check this off the to-do list--which is really a huge one! Hopefully Liz and I will go looking at bridesmaid dresses soon and start narrowing down the options, though we have one special one in mind already.

Check your ring size, and check it often.

Having a ring re-sized: an irritating task that many of us have to deal with at some point in our lives. This is not fun, especially when you are unsure of your correct ring size. And this handy little standardized ring-sizer key chain-esque thing pictured above isn't exactly helpful. You try on one of the sizes and the weight of the other rings pulls down on the one that is on your finger. This makes you think that the ring is smaller than it actually is. Bethany's mistake #1. Try on several different sizes before blurting out which one you think you need. Am I a 5.5? No. I found this out the hard way, after paying $70 for a ring sizing and tightening diamonds on the band. I was sans engagement ring for 12 days, which felt like an eternity. Fortunately, my most gracious fiance is having it resized again to the correct size for my finger. Unfortunately, I will go another week to two weeks bearing nothing on my left hand. This makes me sad, but I know I will be so happy when it comes back, fitting perfectly and looking as shiny as ever.

Easter

We're cute in our matching Easter attire.

-Bethany

Han has no power over me

I hate this book. Lilley, Harrington, and Snyder has been the utmost pain the my side this semester. I would gladly make a bonfire with this book if I knew for sure I didn't need it in the future...or if I couldn't get any money for it from the bookstore. (I'm still debating whether to keep it for future reference or be cheap & just sell it to get money.) Anyhow, I vividly remember the very first day of pharmacology class this semester. The Han walks in, all intimidating-like in her Asian ways, and tells us that whoever our best friend may be is no longer our best friend for January-May of 2010. Lilley (referring to this ridiculous textbook) will be our best friend this semester.
I have laughed out loud every time I refer back to this memory.
Goodbye, Pharmacology. Forever. Having to take another Pharmacology class is enough to deter me from even considering nurse practitioner school!

-Bethany

This is NOT a status.

soandso is..."nothing just sitting here can not wait intill in the moring think about my boyfriend i miss him alot and can not wiat intill monday i will get to see him and i final got minutes on my phone like on thursady night thank god now i can talk to mine friends and my boyfriends think god we handle hands friday at are dance it was fun to love all of yall!"

Guys, this is not a facebook status, don't just put your incoherent rambling on there and expect someone to appreciate it. It's annoying, stupid, and nobody cares! Sorry, but that's just how it is.

Love, Deavin

Switchfoot!

Switchfoot came to Workplay on March 28, 2010. Fourth time for me to see Jon Foreman; 3rd time to see Switchfoot. Best yet.

Spring Break

My gorgeous fiance and I went to Destin, FL for two days during our Spring Break. It was wonderful to get away from nasty weather in Alabama and to lay on the beautiful beach. The water was stunning, crystal blue. Thank you, sweetheart, for making Spring Break a great one.

My beautiful ring

I've said it before, but I love taking pictures of my beautiful engagement ring. Here are some recent ones, but once spring is really here and flowers start blooming, I plan to take many more.

My Taste has changed dramatically since Deavin!

Prior to Deavin, I had no interest in going to many new places to eat. I was perfectly fine with the routine visit to O'Charley's or Wing's. Great places, right? Good food, price, and you know exactly what to expect. Well, once Deavin came along and changed my world upside down, he also introduced me (intentionally or not, ask him) to a variety of new restaurants. Now, and possibly to many others dismay, I have acquired a taste for new things and have a list of new restaurants that I absolutely love! (though their prices may be a tad higher than those old conventional places I previously mentioned) ;)

Now, for a review of some of my most recent explorations in food.


Currently, this is my favorite place. Deavin had nothing to do with the introduction to this one. My first experience at a Cheesecake Factory was in Tampa, Florida with Aunt Janice and Uncle Bob. After one visit and some awesome blueberry cheesecake, I was hooked. I went to the one in Birmingham for my 20th birthday!


Sumo
I never imagined myself being a fan of a japanese steakhouse. I never even imagined I would GO to one, much less love it. This is where Deavin and I had our first date, you could say. It was our fake "prom" night in the summer of 2008. We've been several times since then and it never fails to impress.


I've only been to P.F. Chang's once, and I didn't even order my own meal. I simply tried two other people's meals and basically fell in love with it. I'm seeing some kind of trend here with asian food...
Anyway, this could possibly become my favorite.


I've not especially crazy about California Pizza Kitchen, but I did have a good sandwich there the day after Christmas. And it was definitely different.


Deavin and I went to Firebirds for our one year anniversary of dating. It was great!


Yogurt Mountain. Holy crap. I found out about this place myself. One day recently when Deavin, Taco, Brittany, and I were at the Summit, we decided to visit Yogurt Mountain and see what it's all about. My taste buds were in heaven! I wish I could have a Yogurt Mountain-catered wedding reception.

There's probably more places we have been to that I cannot remember right now. And I'm assuming there are more than likely upscale seeing as that is what we like to gravitate towards occasionally. Point being, I have an awesome fiance and am loving going new places.

A Dream is a wish your heart makes...

In a year and a half I will be marrying not only the love of my life, but my best friend. I cannot even begin to describe how excited, thrilled, happy I am! There has not been any true wedding planning done thus far, only wishful thinking and trying to decide what things I will want when the time comes to get everything in line. Though I can only speak for myself on this, I'm hoping for a Disney World honeymoon. Who else would you want to spend your honeymoon with except for Mickey and Minnie? That should be no problem. As a matter of fact, no one better get in my way on this ;). As much as I would LOVE to get married at Disney World too, I know that it is far too expensive and very few guests would be able to actually attend the ceremony. But, isn't it fun to dream of something like a Disney wedding anyway?