The stress of school has been getting to me lately. It's been low, but constant, and it's starting to wear me down. Kevin and I drove by a little yoga studio tonight and it got me thinking that maybe this could be a solution. I started poking around online and I found a studio across town that I really like. It's a bit more than I wanted to spend, but Kevin and I talked about it and he thinks it would be good for me. It's taught by a woman who has her PhD from Yale in psychology, who has been teaching for 6 years, and who specializes in the physiologic responses to stress. It sounds like it might be exactly what I need. I'm going to go to the beginners class Wednesday evening. I feel better just thinking about it.

New Things

First of all, my books from Powell's in Portland arrived! They are about 100 years old an contain records of all the original letters and first hand documents of the Queens of England. They are fascinating! I've been flipping through them, though I haven't had time to give them the good read they deserve. Maybe over spring break.

I also got my hair cut and colored. This was before:

And this is after. I really like the color and the cut is so much easier to deal with than my longer hair. All the choppy layers which you can't see in the picture give it a lot more versatility. Now I wake up and when it's sticking out every which way, it looks like cute styled bedhead instead of ratty tangled bedhead. This is good considering my habit of waking up too late to shower in the morning.

Now that I wrote a whole paragraph about my hair, I'll write my habitual "I have a test next week so I'm meeting Mary to study" sentence. It must be boring to read, but that's my life. I go to class and clinical, study on the weekends, and have an occasional night out with my very sweet husband. Speaking of which, we bought tickets to see Lewis Black this Friday. I'm excited!!

I made it through my whole clinical today without hearing the word "unacceptable." This is marked improvement, which I am choosing to take as a very good sign. I may survive nursing school after all!

I've been puttering through this semester. I've got a bit of a cold and a bit of the winter blues, so I haven't been very social or very optimistic. My new psych rotation is interesting, and by that I mean I feel sinking dread in the pit my stomach when I think about going back there. It isn't the patients. They actually are interesting. It's that I made a very bad first impression on my preceptor and I feel as though I'm going to be spending the next six weeks trying to make up for it. I don't mind working hard as long as I pass. I've never had to worry before that I wouldn't pass.

The only thing that seems to cheer me up is baking. I just finished making an apple pie, and the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg are comforting. Now I just have to make myself a pot of tea and settle into my desk (the only space in the apartment that's clean) to study for a while.

Miguel Walks

I think I've shown this to everyone I know, but just in case I missed someone, you should watch this. My nephew is pretty awesome at walking. At least when there's chocolate involved.

NYC Trip

First of all, I have to ask the question, why is it always cloudy and rainy when Kevin and I go to NYC? It wasn't very cold yesterday, but it was very wet and grey out. Between the two of us, though, we still managed to have a pretty good day.

The Bodies Exhibit - the whole reason we came to New York this time. I thought it was worthwhile, Kevin was less impressed. Neither of us would go again, but I'm glad we went yesterday.

Trinity Church graveyard, with the American Stock Exchange in the background.

The Statue of Liberty! My first time seeing it.

There were these metal plates in a park by the ocean and each plate played a different note when you stepped on it. Kevin really got a kick out of it.

Pier 17 - I thought it was awesome how the boats were lined up right next to the city - so pretty!

All in all, it was a very good day. We ate New York pizza, had excellent baked goods, went to a huge used bookstore, saw parts of the city we hadn't seen before, and enjoyed what I thought was an interesting take on anatomy. By the end of the day, we were exhausted and stopped in a bar to have a beer and watch people go by. Well, I watched people. Kevin watched football.

This week has been very busy. It's difficult for me to return to school. My attention span isn't what it once was. Yesterday, instead of studying for the test I have next week, I ran several errands. One of the important things I did was getting our wedding portrait framed. I'm still not sure I love the frame, but Kevin likes it and it was 50% off at JoAnn's fabrics. I wanted a bigger frame and possibily a mat, but this one was pretty... I downloaded a kind of crooked picture of it. What do you think? Should I keep the frame?

The amazing discovery of yesterday was a wine store that carried the Frei Brothers pinot noir I've been looking for the last several months. I was so excited! Until I saw the price. It was twice what we normally spend on a bottle of wine, but I went ahead and bought it because I liked it so much and had been searching for it so long. Maybe it will taste even better knowing what it cost! I made a lot of other more boring purchases like work pants and a magazine rack, but I'll try to keep those to myself.

Kevin was assigned to work nights for three weeks next month. I am not looking foward to sleeping alone at night and being very quiet during the day and tolerating his mood when we both happen to be awake at the same time. The last time he was assigned to nights, Kevin was really grumpy - he just couldn't get used to it.

I am not having an easy time adjusting to being back at school. Paying attention for so many hours in a row is hard! Coming home to study is impossible. The good news is that our weekly hiking group is starting back up again next week. It's so good for me to get out there with good people and not do anything relating to nursing for a while.

Today was my first day of classes in the spring semester. Two out of the three I had today were the same as last semester. So instead of feeling new and fresh it just felt strange to have a psych class and not to have med-surg. Overall, however, it was a remarkably good day, especially considering it started with me running late in the rain. It was so nice to see people and catch up and hear about everyone's breaks. I also confirmed plans for a trip to NYC to see the Body Exhibit this Saturday. I've been wanting to see it for a while, and there's going to be a YSN tour guided by Linda, my med-surg professor who I enjoy very much and who is incredibly knowledgable about nursing. Kevin's going with me and although she doesn't know me very well, she loves Kevin, so she'll get a kick out of him being there.

In the meantime, I have other very exciting news. Maybe not to you, but certainly to me: we bought a vacuum. I did not realize how filthy our apartment was until I found myself digging a shard of glass out of my foot from a glass that Kevin broke over three weeks ago. Obviously our swiffer is not cutting it. Our new vacuum is so awesome. Look!

That's not all. Yesterday, Kevin and I went to the mall and American Eagle was having the best sale I've ever seen (I'm not exaggerating here, really. It was the best sale I've ever seen). I spent all my Christmas money from Arizona there and got some amazing stuff that I can wear for school/work. It was awesome! These really nice sweaters that are normally $60, were on sale for $20!! TWENTY!!! I bought one v-neck with blue and gray strips and one dark green cable sweater with pockets. They're both very pretty. And I got another shirt and a soft, fluffy robe that has a hood for when I get out of the shower (it was also normally priced 60 and on sale for 20). I used it this morning and it was awesome. I waited to get dressed until the last possible second so I could wear it for as long as possible, which probably had a lot to do with why I was so late this morning.

Sorry it took me so long to get pictures up, but I've been very busy throwing up and coughing and not sleeping for three days. I went to the doctor who mercifully gave me some codeine and I slept for 15 hours last night, which felt like heaven.

When Kevin got off work yesterday, he told me that he'd had a needle stick. I guess this is part of nursing; we had a whole class on it, but I still thought it only applied to other people. It's really scary. Luckily, the tests came back clean so far and we should be out of the woods by next week, but it shook me, knowing that someone I love might not be safe. Because he hadn't worried me enough this week, Kevin threw out his back at work today and the occupational health department at the hospital told him he couldn't go back to work until Tuesday. Hopefully he will be healed up by then. He's pretty miserable right now, even with the muscle relaxants.

In some good news, I'm finally feeling better, mostly due to sleep. I saw the doctor again today and he said I'm definitely on the mend. This is good seeing as how I still haven't unpacked our suitcases from Arizona. It's hard to believe I start back to school in two days. Do you think if I called the dean she'd extend Christmas break for another week or two?

Miguel and me in Missouri
Alexis and me in Arizona

Brayden and his daddy finally alseep after a rough afternoon filled with screaming.

Brayden feeding the dog.

Alexis smiling. This baby is always smiling. It's adorable!

Holidays

The holiday season ends for us officially tomorrow. There has been lots of visiting and presents and really yummy food. Christmas Day was spent with a couple of friends in New Haven while Kevin worked. We went on a walk and cooked ham and potatoes and asparagus. Later, I picked Kevin up from work and we spent a cozy evening opening presents and watching movies. I went to Missouri for a week before Christmas and now we're rounding out a week together in Arizona. We've seen lots of good friends and family and have had a really wonderful time. We rang in the new year among friends playing Bunco and then I spent new years day with a wicked case of food poisoning, which I will complain about in great detail to anyone who is willing to listen. Maybe my new year's resolution should be to share less.

Kevin and I had some joint new years resolutions which include going to them gym together twice a week and going on a date every week, which we will take turns planning. My personal resolution is to plan out my grocery shopping and cooking so my husband gets a good home cooked meal every night instead of whatever I happen to throw together, which is too often a frozen pizza.

When I get home I'll post pictures of my beautiful niece and nephews, who grew despite my specific instructions to stay little while I was away.