UUUGGGH!

EEEK! I just want to scream! I'm so frustrated with work! I just don't understand how my fellow co-workers can't listen to a professional! For example, when I recommend thick liquids for someone who is aspirating they think it is okay to keep the patient on thin liquids for 4 days until they "get around to it" to change the liquids.....

Does that make sense to anyone else? This is what I put up with everyday. Writing recommendations for the safety of my patients and my recommendations being totally disregarded. I mean, who is the professional here? That's right. ME! I thought I was the one who went to school for 6 years and I have those special letters after my name.

It's just annoying.

Anyway, to make this more positive... Christmas is almost here! :) YAY! I love the holidays. I made my grandma's holiday cookies, buckeyes and peppermint patties. I took them to work today for our christmas party. It was great! Did I mention that I love living in the south and I love working with Filipinos! It's so different here. Different food for holidays and I'm learning so much about other cultures! And I'm learning that I eat WAAYYYY unhealthy compared to Filipinos! But oh well! I enjoy being here and seeing how other people celebrate their holidays and how different it is from how I celebrate!

I'm looking forward to my Mom coming to visit. But it's with sadness knowing that I will not be able to see the rest of my family. I really don't like working holidays and not being able to go home for just a few days. I am really missing my family and Dan's family too! I guess there will always be next year!

Side Note: My sister is doing wonderful with her two babies! They are still finishing the nursery and I can't wait to see it! I am planning the baby shower and I go home in a few weeks! YAY!

I'll post again after the holidays. I want to take time to spend it with my new family! :)

Now Hiring

Job: Seeking creative writer who is willing to do my thank you notes. Please inquire within. :)
UGHHHH! Now here is something I've added to the VERY end of my to-do list. I just don't feel like writing them, butIi know I need to. So needless to say, they will be done this weekend. It's going to be like ripping off a band-aid: quick with little pain (hopefully).


It appears I am horrible at updating (see previous post), because I didn't even say the most important thing we are doing! Dan and I are in training (again) for another half marathon for me and a full marathon for him! We just started this week, but we are off and running (ha!).

It feels good to be running again. I missed it, which is very surprising because I don't even like to run! But I guess I am beginning to change. And it is nice to run here because it doesn't get too cold. It's been in the 50's for the last 2 runs, but not all that bad. The scenery is the same and it is flat, but it is nice to get out and run.

Here is our plan:
March 21, 2010 - ING Marathon and Half in Atlanta, GA
September 2010 - Air Force Marathon and Half in Dayton, Ohio
January 2011 - Dan will be doing the Goofy challenge (a half marathon on saturday and a full on sunday) and I hope to do the full marathon! :)

Hopefully we can keep this schedule because it will really motivate me to keep myself in shape and healthy. Well I think we have updated as much as possible. Nothing too exciting going on right now! I hope to post some of our favorite wedding pictures on here for good memories!

Wedding

It appears I have not blogged in a while... which goes to show that I am too busy to even write about our life. Our wedding was WONDERFUL!!! It was perfect.... minus that fact that our dinner reservation for our rehearsal dinner was not held, the tire in our limo blew, and they announced us as Dan and Christian Welsh... but other than that, it was AMAZING!!!

The pictures are up online... by the way, the photographer was awesome! major props to her! the pictures look beautiful!

here is the website:
http://ashleyesterle.instaproofs.com

password: Welsh (make sure to capitalize)

Things here are pretty normal... we bought everything from our registry and our house FINALLY looks like a home... our home! Sidenote: I LOVE my dyson! cleans wonderfully!

anyway.. now that i don't have much to do around the house and I am not planning a wedding, i will update this more often.

the next thing in our lives is my sister's baby shower! i'm starting to plan now! I will be heading back to Cincinnati in January for the shower, but not for Christmas. It will be our first Christmas away from our families, but i guess we are our own family now! We are looking forward to the holidays here in the South!

Updates

Well golly neds... i just realized i have not updated in quite a while! With working full-time now, it's hard to do much of anything at night. And, since I'm apparently allergic to the entire state of Georgia, i have been feeling a little under the weather. And by a little, I mean completely worthless every night after work for the last week. But the good news is, with the antibiotic, nasal spray, and allegra, I am starting to feel much better!
Why is it that when you get sick with allergies you can't hear?! For some strange reason, I have the feeling that my ears are popped, but they aren't. And it won't go away. I'm sick of being in this muffled world. Hopefully it will get better soon!

I still LOVE my job! I treat some of the craziest people! They make me laugh every day! I got my first pay check... HOLY COW!!! and it was only for 8 days of work! I definitely can't complain of being poor anymore! :)
I deserve it... i've worked hard the last 2 years and I deserve this feeling of having money now!

In other news.. .the wedding planning is coming along! It is less than a month until our big day! One of these days I will feel like things are coming together, but not right now. Hopefully the day of I will think that! LOL.
Dan needs to get his guys together too... Only 2 out of 5 will be able to be in the wedding! BIG PROBLEM!!! but good thing we put some guys on "reserve." HAHA. That sounds bad, but we had to knowing that they were in the military! So now my brother-in-law will be in the wedding! that is exciting! our return rate for our RSVPs is low.... like we only have 33 out of 100 back. good times. If you are reading this and currently have my RSVP sitting on your table, please send it! K thanks!

Things are starting to come together around the house too. We just got new lights for our kitchen. they are modern and fun! not what i'm used to. but i really like them! i'll post pictures later...

i think that is all i can post right now! nothing else is going on!

First Week of Work

I finally started my job!! Whew about time. I almost ran out of money! Well I got my license on September 14th... I can't remember if I reported that already or not. I am working full time at 2 nursing homes: Bel Arbor and Cherry Blossom... They are pretty good places. I don't have much of a caseload right now. The previous therapist had to let much of her caseload go because there was no full time therapist there when she left. Now that I am there, I only have 4 patients. So I do some treatments, then I sit in the dining room to listen for coughing and choking! HAHA! Yep that's pretty much how my day goes. I should be getting some patients here in a bit.

IN addition to listening for coughing/choking, I also have to check all the weight lists to screen those who have lost weight for any reason. It's time consuming, but I need a caseload, so I don't complain.

The first couple days, I was just learning how to do the job and paperwork and such. Then on Thursday and Friday I saw my patients on my own. It was a little nerve-wrecking, but I need to learn! LOL.

So... I totally LOVE LOVE LOVE my job! I love the patients and the fact that I will probably do 95% swallowing, I love the people I work with, and I love my supervisor! All is good and I can't wait until I have a caseload and I can start being a real Speech Therapist!!!

Always Remembered, Never Forgotten

It's been 8 years.... 8 years... I can hardly believe it. It still feels like yesterday. Eight years since September 11, 2001. I was in math class. Our teacher was known as the "mean and rude" teacher. She was never in a good mood. I remember someone opened our door and our teacher just shot her a look. Then when we found out what happened, our teacher immediately turned on the TV and we watched. We took the whole period to watch in horror as our nation was attacked. It was so hard to believe. I remember going home that day and watching all of it, continuously, on TV. I couldn't take my eyes off of it and I couldn't believe it. I cried and cried because I felt so vulnerable. At the same time, I have never felt more proud to be an American. Our nation came together that day and I was so glad to be alive to see that happen.

So today, as I do every year on September 11th, I watched all the specials on every channel. I just couldn't stop watching. It's like every year they come out with another movie or another show that just gets me and I just have to watch. So I watch and I am thankful that I never had to be there to see what some people had to see. I pray for those who had to live through that day and for the countless number of Heros that came out that day. I hope they are all making it through the nightmare that crushed our nation. I know they will because they are American's and America is the best nation. I thank all of the soldiers who have fought for our freedom, those who have lost their lives, and those who are willing to put their lives on the line. It really makes me proud and brings a tear to my eyes. They are amazing individuals and I can't thank them enough.

I also thank Dan. My own little soldier, who might not be fighting for our freedom now, but I know that if the time comes, he will be there. He will be there because he loves this nation and loves the Air Force.

It's amazing how this horrible tragedy can really change lives... i know it changed mine.

Keeping Busy

Many Updates to report. We are finally finished with the wedding invitations and favors! YAY. I took up WAAAAY too much of our time. But that is finished and finally some things are starting to feel in place. This reminds me that I had a HORRIBLE dream about our wedding. My hair was horrible, I was wearing my glasses, we didn't have a limo, I missed all the pictures, and no one RSVPed. How awesome is that?! Haha. Hopefully that actually doesn't happen and things actually go well. It's hard to believe that it is coming up so fast. It seems like yesterday it was February and I was still planning and had all this time. Oh well. Time flies when you're having fun I guess.

Dan has been gone all week. Just me and Chloe all alone! It is my first experience with him being away. I've been getting a lot of stuff done and looking forward to cleaning the house and organizing things. It's a crappy day out which is perfect for doing housework! (or shopping)

I should be starting my job any day now. I was told that the board didn't need to review my application because I'm not a criminal or sex offender and it will most likely be completed this week or early next week. Maybe I can get in a few days of work before we head back to Cincy for the Air Force 1/2 marathon. Who knows!

I can't wait to start working and making money. I am BROKE! I guess all is well in the Welsh household (or soon to be all Welsh household). I couldn't be happier and I can't wait until Dan gets back from TDY! I miss him!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a nice little weekend for Labor day! Dan had a four day weekend so I got to spend 2 extra days with him that he would normally have to work! YAY!
Although it was a nice weekend, it was busy. We dogsat for our friend. Chloe and Lucy were totally into each other the first day. I thought I was going to have to deal with two hyper dogs all weekend, but eventually they settled down. They are great friends:



Dan worked on the cabinet all weekend and IT'S FINALLY FINISHED! It took so long to build it and then when it was ready, it was too heavy and about to rip the drywall down. So he had to hurry and build the bottom so the upper cabinet would rest on it. I'm so proud of him! It looks SO good. Here is a picture of it:



We also went to the Reds vs. Braves game in Atlanta at Turner Field. It was only my second time going to a game that was not at Great American. It was so much fun! The forecast said it was going to be 82 and mostly cloudy... that turned into mostly sunny and 92. So we got fried! But it was fun!
Then to wrap up the weekend we watched the UC game at a new bar. We are trying to find some UC alumni that live either in Warner Robins or Macon so we can get with them to watch the games. Hopefully we will find something! It will get old if we are the only 2 cheering in the whole restaurant (which happened today).

It was a great weekend but now back to the real world; well for Dan anyway. He is going TDY for the first time since I lived with him. It's going to be strange not having him around. But I'm going to clean this house from floor to ceiling!

The Waiting Game

I turned in all of my information for licensure this afternoon!!!! It's exciting but yet nerve-wrecking! I checked over the application at least 32 times in hopes that I included all information they needed. MU finally sent me my hours and my transcripts. It's about time they are on the ball. I also got my transcripts from UC. I had all of these copies sent to the board so I know 100% that they arrived. Now we just wait. Wait for the board to get their lazy butts to meet and discuss my application. If everything goes well, then I will have my PCE license in the state of Georgia and I can begin work on September 22nd!!! :) :) :)

ON a side note, I also met my CF supervisor. She is young, hip, and very knowledgeable!!! I"m so excited to being working and I really think I"m going to enjoy this environment! She is awesome and assures me I will be okay She offered to come cover my caseload while I shadow her until I feel comfortable. I hope all goes well!!!

Shit for Luck!

So it appears that my beloved Chloe ate my grandmother's ring for lunch today. My neighbor, Donna, came over and demanded (not asked) if I would come see her new wood floors. Well I wanted to be a nice neighbor, so I went. I decided to trust Chloe in our bedroom. I made sure all objects were not within reach (so I thought). I was gone for maybe 20 mins. When I got back, I opened the door to a disaster area. She had somehow got up on our chest of drawers and took all the laundry out of the basket, she flipped over and drug our DVD player all over the room, chewed and disrobed the bear I got Dan, knocked over a ton of shit, and then decided to eat my grandmother's ring. SO NOT COOL. I was so pissed at her that I cried my eyes out and cursed at her and almost killed her. Then I thought, well if I kill her, I might never get it back.

So I've been following her around the backyard all day and night. As she poops, I search. Armed with my rubber glove and a flashlight (if it is dark), I dig through smelly poo to try and find my ring. I will keep searching until I find it. I am planning on calling the Vet tomorrow and possibly going to get an x-ray. My friend on facebook told me to take her to the Vet to get an ETA of the "output." I laughed so hard. ETA. That's just funny.

Hopefully it will come out sooner rather than later. And if by chance I find it around the house, this will be a funny story to tell my children and grandchildren! HAHAHA.

Big Girl Job!

Well I finally got a job!!! I had an interview a few weeks ago (almost a month I think) at Bel Arbor Nursing home. The company is Integra Rehabilitation. The people seem VERY nice! I spoke with the CF who just finished at this same nursing home and she said it is wonderful and she has learned so much in her CF. I'm a little nervous about the location of the nursing home. The neighborhood is not what I'm used too, but Integra said they are getting ready to rebuild the entire nursing home in a more friendly location. So if I choose to stay with them after my CF and if they offer further employment, then I could work at this brand new nursing home. That excites me! In the mean time I am working at this location and at another called Cherry Blossom Nursing Center. I have never been to the second one, so I'm not sure what it's like.

I accepted the position on Monday before I left Cincinnati. I went back and forth trying to find the best offer and the best job for me. It ended up working out and now I have a job! I am incredibly nervous about it but at the same time I am anxious. I apply for state licensure on September 4th and the board will review my application on September 21st. If all goes well, then I am going to start employment on September 21st or 22nd. I really hope it goes well! I am BROKE and really need to start work!

I will keep you posted on how I like my job and how things are going!

On a side note: I am really going to miss coliseum. That is where I worked over the summer. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the hospital setting and really loved all my supervisors! I wish they had an open position to accommodate me, but maybe in the future I can work there! A hospital setting is definitely where I want to be!!!! I love acute care!

Wedding Website

Hey Everyone! So I spent the whole night updating my wedding website! What a task. I had so much to do.. I didn't realize that! But now it is all updated and ready to go for viewing. It contains all information any guest would need such as driving directions and accommodations for all guests.
Here is the website:
http://weddings.theknot.com/pwp/pwp2/view/MemberPage.aspx?coupleId=6953660860896470

I picked up the bridesmaid dresses today! They are adorable and I can't wait to see them on all my girls! Especially my sister! By the way, in case you didn't know, she is having TWINS!!! She will be 23 weeks pregnant at the wedding and is claiming she will have to be rolled down the aisle. She will be so cute pregnant. She just doesn't think so.

I also bought pearl earrings today to wear on the big day. I have to try everything on with my dress. Unfortunately, I can't get into my dress without assistance. I guess I will just wait until I get it to David's Bridal to see what everything looks like.

That is all for now I think!!!

Wedding Update!

I had to meet with the minister today about our ceremony. I felt out of place since Dan was not with me, but it still went okay. She (yes, she) gave me a "wedding choice" book. In this book is basically our ceremony. Dan and I just have to go through it and pick what options we want. Simple as that. Excepct for each part of our ceremony there are like 15 options. It will be amazing no matter what we choose!

We finally booked our honeymoon! We are going to Grand Cayman Islands and Cozumel on a cruise with Carnival. I'm pretty darn excited about it! I can't wait, actually. We also booked hotels rooms for our out of town guests. And I finally asked Teri to make our cake. We want it to look something like this:


I just think it is the cutest cake ever!

I had my bridal shower on Sunday. It was amazing! My sister and my mom did a GREAT job. We had so much fun! I got a lot of stuff off my registry, but still need so much more! But I am so grateful for what we have gotten thus far and I can't wait to take it home! For now, that is all I can think of!

Finished with School!!!

I had a very traumatic experience going back to school after my wonderful semester in GA. First, the airport lost my luggage. That was an experience. I probably wouldn't have cared if it didn't contain my portfolio for school. I had to turn it in as my final project for this semester. I'm pretty sure my professor would have failed me if I didn't have it. Needless to say, I went through hell and back to get it. Drove to the airport 3 times until I finally got it Thursday morning before I had to drive to WV.

On a side note: I'm finally finished with school!!!!! I am officially Kristen S. Bodenstein, MS SLP-CF! Very exciting. I got to see some of my friends while I was at school. We went to a cookout at Lacie's. I didn't realize how much I missed those girls until we got to sit around all night and talk. It's crazy that I will only see them like once a year after this year! :(
We're arranging a yearly trip to the beach for a reunion. It's still in the works. I'm glad to be finally finished, but it hasn't really hit me yet.

The only thing left to do is grow up! Eek... not sure if I like the real world so much right now.

Just keep searching....

Well I haven't updated you since I was told about a potential job in the schools in Bibb County, GA. I was notified on Thursday and yesterday I allowed the staffing agency to send my resume. I didn't want a job in the schools AT ALL. However, I am currently unable to find a job at all, so I will take whatever I can get at this point. Also, the pay was AMAZING! I mean... good stuff. That is the only reason why I would have taken it.

Bad News: Got a call today from the staffing agency and the job was filled YESTERDAY! seriously! I guess it's kind of my fault since I waited too long to let them release my resume... but ugh. I guess I'll keep searching for that job I NEED to have by August. I'll keep you posted.

FINALLY

I FINALLY started my final practicum! Only 4 days late!

I went in around 10am today. It wasn't as busy as I thought it would be. There are only 5 patients in inpatient that I will see, although my supervisor said there might be more. He does a lot of cognition, dysarthria and swallowing therapy. I think I'm going to enjoy it, however, I think I will enjoy a more fast paced job instead. I wish I was in outpatient because they get to do like 3 Modified Barium Swallow Studies a day! I'm SUPER jealous!

Everything went well and the best part is that I get FREE lunch. Every day. And it's good lunch too! :)

Good Day today!

are you serious?

Once again, I wake up this morning and hope for good news about my background check only to be disappointed. AGAIN. Seriously. This is getting frustrating now. I'm worried about not getting enough hours to graduate. I only need 70 overall hours to graduate, but at this point, it seems rather impossible to do that. We'll see.

The hold up with my background check is the Georgia statewide criminal search. I haven't even lived in GA long enough to commit a crime but they have to check for my name anyway. Which should not be hard because I have only lived here a month. Can't they just move my application to the front of the pack? Guess not.

So today I guess I'll do some grocery shopping and a lot of laying around. It's hot out and I wish I had a military ID to get on base. I could go the pool and get a nice tan. Instead, it's like 95 degrees outside and to just lay around in that weather seems painful.

Hopefully this afternoon/evening and hopefully tomorrow will bring good news.

annoyed

So I was supposed to start my final clinical offsite on Wed 6/10... Now, here I am, on 6/16 and I still haven't started yet. I'm a little annoyed and VERY frustrated. It's out of my control and I think that is what is driving me insane.

It all comes down to one thing: stupid background check. Do I really look like a sex offender or a terrorist? Didn't think so. But it's procedure. According to Melissa (the nice woman from Coliseum), I am supposed to start either tomorrow or Thursday. Hopefully tomorrow. I'm seriously losing my mind.

How many things can you do on your off day? Well since I've been off for like 2 weeks, A LOT! I returned a bunch of stuff today, bought more painters tape, and a new fancy alarm clock. I guess I'll paint, which is what I've been doing since I can't go to work.

Maybe tonight/tomorrow will bring better news!

Wedding

I thought I better update about the wedding while I am into this blogging thing. We have a lot accomplished already, but still have SOOOO much to do.

Here is what we have:
Ceremony Site at New Thought Unity Center
Reception Site at The Benchmark in Covington
Flowers by Sweet Peas
DJ by DJ Jon EG
Photography by Ashley Esterle
Cake by Teri Schibi (hopefully) :)
I have my dress and my bridemaids have their dresses
Favors
Save-the-dates
Invitations (have them but have not printed them yet)

Still need:
Honeymoon Site
Limo (working on it)
Block of hotels for our guests
Bridal Party Gifts
Registry
Alex's tux
Flower girl (anyone know someone who wants to be one?!)


That is all I can think of right now. But clearly we are on our way. It's been VERY stressful trying to plan this wedding when Dan and I don't live in town. But a lot of the places have been accommodating to us because we are out of town. I will keep you posted with more information about our wedding as it gets closer and as everything starts to fall into place.

The Big Move!

I'm not sure if I will be good at this blogging, but I have nothing else to do and I want to update everyone with what is going on in my life as of now. Dan and I are finally living together. We have been waiting for this day since October when he bought the house.

The move was a long and miserable journey. It took us 10 1/2 hours to get home and it rained the ENTIRE time. I had to follow Dan, who was driving the Penske truck. BUT, we made it and now I am all moved in. We still need some furniture, but we are getting things taken care of.

I have been bored out of my mind when Dan is at work. For the first week, I mainly unpacked and put things in the rooms they belong in. Then I started organizing. Trying to find a place for all of my crap is NOT easy. But, again, things are coming together.

While I was bored all week, I looked up adoption shelters for a new puppy! I am proud to say that Dan and I are parents to a lovely furry brindle colored puppy named Chloe. She is a catahoula leopard dog and lab mix. She is already starting to show her personality and is going to be a very lovable dog. She is five months old, but the shelter was not sure of her birthday. So we made one up and it is on our anniversary on January 18. I am very happy that I adopted her and Dan and I are so glad she is now a member of our home.

our baby girl chloe

I will continue to update on Chloe, living in the south, and the wedding via this blog. Happy reading!