Happiest Birthday Mom!

We celebrated my Mom's birthday this past Tuesday with some cake and presents!  She said she wanted home-made angel food cake with cream cheese frosting and strawberries like my great-grandma Phillips used to make. So, me being a good daughter and all, decided to tackle this feat.  I was worried because I am honestly not the best cook in the world and usually mess something up ha ha!  But it ended up tasting yummy and looking pretty!  I really enjoyed making something that my great-grandma used to make, it made me feel good!  I took a couple pictures of the cake because I was so proud! My Mom and Jim went to Savannah, Georgia this past weekend to celebrate and I was working of course so I missed out on the adventure but they really enjoyed the town and it will be on my list to see! :)  Those who were here to celebrate with us were of course Jim and then Kay, Don and Colton joined in to celebrate.  Jim actually blew out my Mom's candles prematurely and there is a funny picture of her dirty look! I'll have to get the pics and add them on! Enjoy!

With all the fixins'

After a hurricane comes a rainbow.....

Well so much for keeping up on the blog ha ha!  I have totally slacked but I honestly have been non- stop busy it seems since February.  I haven't taken the time to keep up with this as I was hoping to but I'm gonna keep trying! :)  I'll start back in February with my update.  I got a job at a hospital nearby as a unit secretary in the middle of February.  I was sooo excited when I got the job and it seemed to happen so fast I was shocked!  I decided to apply for the job on a Thursday night and didn't actually submit it until like 9pm.  The next morning at like 11 am I got a call to set up a time for an interview.  I had the interview the next week and was hired not long after that.  It was shocking because I had heard it was near impossible to get a job at this hospital unless you knew someone so for me to get a call back and hired that quick was crazy to me but I couldn't wait to get back to working and getting out there outside of just going to school.  Well I didn't even know what a unit secretary did when I was hired so I went into the whole thing kind of blind.  Boy was I in for something new.  The floor I work on is a medical/surgical floor and it is a busy floor.  Busy does not even really explain how crazy it can get in there.  I have really struggled with getting the hang of things and all the different people I work with but so far I haven't given up and don't intend to anytime soon.  I had no idea how stressful the job can be when I went into it and and to be doing school full time it has definitely been an interesting few months.  I am looking at this time in my life as a learning and growing experience for me.  I knew moving away from all I knew would be the biggest challenge I could give myself and I was sure right about that!  It has been tough for me but I'm getting through it and learning new things every day so I will be stronger in the end. 

As far as school goes this semester was a challenge, as well.  I ended up the semester with an 'A' in 3 of my classes and a 'B' in one class.  That 'B' was hard for me to swallow but it taught me that it is ok to get a B, I'll survive it ha ha!  In my anatomy and physiology class my average in the class ended up being 99.7 which I am very proud of because that is a difficult class but I totally kicked some butt in it!  :)  I enjoyed most everything I learned this semester and enjoyed learning most of it.  I did not enjoy one class, which is of course the class I got a B in, but it is over and in the past and I at least got a B in it! :)  Again, learning experience! Ha Ha!  I should hopefully be receiving my letter of acceptance in the nursing program here soon and I am looking forward to seeing it but a little nervous too.  I hear a lot about how hard nursing school is and how it is "the worst time of your life" but if I go into it thinking all these negative things then that is exactly what I will get out of it.  I'm going into it knowing it is gonna be hard but I'm gonna work my butt off to learn as much as I can so I can be a good nurse in the future!  My biggest fear is that I will fail out of the program but that is something I push to the back of my thoughts and focus on learning all that I can! :)  Life is such a crazy roller coaster and it is interesting to think where I'll be in the future because right now I have no clue where that will be.  I titled this blog with "after a hurricane comes a rainbow" because I just love this thought.  I believe that when you get through things that are hard and difficult to get through there is something beautiful on the other side waiting for us! I'll always be looking for and enjoying those rainbows! :)

Another new thing that has happened is that my step-dad's mom and step-dad came out to visit.  While they were here they went and looked at a log cabin house and fell in love with it.  They decided to move here and they will be closing on the house this week and will be out here by next week.  I never thought any other family or friends from back home would be living so close to us here and I'm so excited to know someone familiar out here! :)  While they were visiting we went to the botanical garden they have in Columbia.  There were some pretty flowers blooming and it was so great to get out in the warm weather so early in the year!  Some pictures of the garden will follow!
Ok.... so I took a break on this draft and a month later I am just now getting back to it haha the stuff I wrote before now was from May 16th :)

Soo... another update :)  I started summer semester and am just taking 1 class which has been a nice little break but it still keeps me busy enough because it is microbiology which is a toughy class.  I enjoy the lab because we get to grow and look at all different kinds of gross bacteria but the lecture can be tedious and A LOT of info to learn. I got a 93 on my first test though so that was a relief!

Kay and Don moved into their house and they seem to be enjoying working on their yard (2 acres) and the warm weather.  It hasn't been too bad yet but the next 10 days are supposed to be in the 90s so I'm sure I'll be sweating it up!

I received a letter that I am now qualified for the nursing program!!! Yaaayy!!! Now I just have to go to an orientation, pay to save my spot and get my start date! Fingers crossed I can start in January!! :)  Other than all of this I am soooooo excited to be going back to Utah on July 5th! I am going up there for a bachelorette weekend for my friend Kerry and we are actually going up to Jackson Hole, WY to got white water rafting! It is going to be soooooo nice to see my friends and some family! I seriously can not wait! I learned that my favorite item to but is now a plane ticket!! It is the best feeling to know I am going to be headed back to see a bunch of people I love and enjoy spending time with! I seriously am dying for a break! :) Well I am going to keep up on this thing if it kills me haha! Until the next post..... "It is attitude, not circumstance, that makes success possible in even the most unlikely conditions." :) I've got to keep this in mind!

 My cute Mom taking my picture while I take hers :)

This is how I find Sable some days half under my bed!

Bruno enjoying the fan on a warm day!

Such a model dog  ha ha!

Oh and we took a quick day trip to Isle of Palms beach.  It was a MUCH needed trip that I needed to get away and just relax in the sun! It was a really neat beach with bathrooms and other things with easy access. 

There were never ending people going one way on the beach though.  It was great though cause all the people seemed to be just out enjoying the day and it didn't seem bad when all the people were so friendly and enjoying themselves!  I think it might be time for another beach day soon! :)