Catching Up!

Well... long time no see, huh?

It has been exactly one month since I last updated. Perhaps I should update more often since I have so much going on. Let me catch you up:

1. Christmas was... different. Just Dan and I. But it was GREAT! I missed not seeing my family, but it was nice to spend it with my little family here. I got a TON of stuff, including LOTS of cool (possibly cold) weather running gear so I could keep training for the mini!

2. My mom and grandma came down for a visit the day after Christmas. It was nice. Although I had to work most days they were here, it was still nice to come home to my mommy! The only eventful thing that happened is when Chloe decided to break out of her cage and destroy our entire house. She left the tree alone, but ate my grandma's pills, our unity candle arrangement, plastics, her bones, cookies, buckeye balls, and peppermint patties. I was ready to literally murder her until I saw she consumed quite a large amount of chocolate. I paniced and call our friend whose Father is a vet. In a nutshell, I gave her hydrogen peroxide and she threw it all up. Problem solved. She is still alive and still a holy terror!

3. New Years was quiet. NOTHING eventful. Well except the fact that it was our first new years as a married couple. So that was exciting!

4. I went home for my sister's baby showers the weekend of the 9th and 10th of January. It was very fun, despite the horrendous delays and problems I encountered while trying to fly on the worst night of the year to fly. But I made it, safe and sound. The showers were wonderful! Mine was a success! We played: Guess the baby food flavor, Baby BINGO, and Guess how many diapers were on the diaper cake. It was very fun and my sister really enjoyed it!

5. Speaking of my sister!!! Her and the babies are WONDERFUL! She went to the Doctor today and had an ultrasound. The boys are both weighing 5 pounds! For twins that is amazing! Her C-section is scheduled for February 23rd, although she may go before then. Dan and I are planning our trip for the end of February. We will miss their birth, but my sister and mom promised they would skype me so I wouldn't miss out!

All and all it's been a busy month. I can't wait to go home and see my sister and finally meet our nephew and our godson! It's going to be so very exciting.

I'll promise to update more frequently!!!!

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.