My sister is getting married in the morning and I cannot sleep. There are so many memories and special moments running through my head! I could fill books and books on the crazy things beth-ann and I have done together... But here are a few highlights!
From the moment I was born beth-ann and I became roomates. Every night we would talk and giggle till we got in trouble.. But it never stopped us from talking and giggling the next night! Beth-ann was the type of person I always found something to laugh about with! When I think about our relationship it pretty much consists of laughter! I just look at her and I burst out! Sadly, there have been many serious moments such as prayers or devotions etc where
I have busted out laughing for no reason just from looking at beth-ann! :-)
Beth-ann was a wonderful friend to me growing up! She was always there to listen and cheer me up! She would spend hours and hours listening to my problems and never mention her needs she is such a great big sister in that she was always looking out for me.
Beth-ann has the sweetest spirit and would always do anything I asked her to do and go the extra mile to make sure I was happy!
I have met so many people that already knew beth-ann prior to meeting me. They always say oh you are beth-Anns sister!!! She talks about you all the time and how wonderful you are! We heard this and that... Etc and I'm like no she is just being nice! She was always my biggest can and I always knew beth-ann was proud of me and cheering me on in life!
People used to ask us if we ever fought... And we would honestly always shake our heads and smile. Cause we never fought... we loved eachother too much and would end up laughing if a fight ever got close to starting!
I am so happy that ba has found Jared and they are getting married! I am just sad to be losing my childhood roomate and best friend! But I know she'll always be there to listen and cheer me up and make me laugh even if it's over the phone or text or vists to eachothers new homes!
She is going to be beautiful tomorrow! Jared is such a lucky guy to he getting such a jewel! But he is wonderful and loves her so much And will be a great husband to beth-ann!!
Beth-ann i wish you so much happiness with your husband and marriage! I love you so much!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
The"UT" Chapter of My Life
I cannot believe that I will be graduating from the University of Tennessee on May 12th! Time has flown by, and at the same time I feel like I have been at UT FOREVER! I have been thinking a lot this week about the things I am going to miss and the people I have met and the person I have become since being here. 4 years of college will grow and shape you into an adult even when you don't notice it happening.
UT has been my "American" home. I moved from South Africa in December of 2007, where I had lived since I was two years old, and came straight to Knoxville to start my first semester at UT. My first impression when I was moving into the dorms was "Wow, the girls here have ALOT of clothes!" ha! My parents were still in South Africa and my grandpa moved me in. And then, he drove away and I don't think I have ever been so scared in my entire life! Beth-Ann, my older sister, lived a few floors down from me in the same girls dorm, and I called her that night and ended up sleepig in her room because I was just too overwhelmed and scared!
I moved from the warm sunny beach in South Africa to the coldest weather I had ever experienced in America! I remember being freezing! South Africa never gets CLOSE to being as cold as it can get here in Tennessee. I was so excited to see snow but could not sit outside in the snow and enjoy it because I had never owned a "heavy" coat in my life! :) I remember being so miserable walking a mile to my classes in the freezing snow just crying and thinking "I am going to seriously die just walking to class, I will never be warm again!"
I remember trying so hard to be "American." I started dating Dave and asked him every day "Do my clothes look American?" "Is THAT what Americans like to eat??" "SO THIS is what Americans to do for fun!?" I would dress up in all orange and cheer on the basketball team not knowing what in the world was going on in the game. I would take forever buying a drink from the machine because I never remembered what quarters, dimes and pennies looked like. My favorite thing was going to the library and heading straight for Starbucks. I had always heard about Starbucks, and it was the best treat in the world to me! I remember one of my closest friends from South Africa came to D.C. and my mom and I got to spend the weekend with her there. I took her to Starbucks and she said "Wow, Coffee in a to-go cup!" No wonder I was so excited to go to the library! ha!
When Dave and I first started to "talk," we were hanging out at the BCM. He asked me if I wanted to grab something to eat down on the strip. (restaraunts near campus.) Well, all the restaraunts on the strip were new and exciting to me so I was like "YES, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING ME!!!!!!!" So, I asked him if he could give me a couple of hours, because in South Africa people do not eat out every day. It is usually for something special and not just to grab dinner on the go. So, I thought this was really special and got super dressed up. When we met up to head down to the strip, he was like "Why are you dressed up, we are just going to Wendys..." And I was like "I KNOW!!!!! Thank you for asking me!"
My friend Sarah Roberson and I would study for nursing together most nights and she introduced me to late night study candy. (brain food) It was then that I got addicted to Raisinets, Three Musketeers and MnMs.
When I was growing up, my dad would have to make trips to America occasionally for conferences and would always bring me back a Diet Dr Pepper! I would save that one diet dr pepper for the most special occasion! I would wait and wait and then finally sip on it all day just enjoying my taste of America. When I came to UT, I realized I could get a diet dr pepper each time I turned a corner at any little grocery store or drink machine. Let me just say that A LOT of diet dr pepper has been consumed in my college career!
My first football game was the most overwhelming experience! I didn't know that I HAD to wear orange and freaked out the night before because orange is not a color I just have stting in my closet. Everyone told me to meet at like 10am to tailgate when the game was at 6pm. I was thinking "WHY are we meeting so early, does it take that long to get to the front of the line???" I remember being crammed in the student section with my friends not knowing when to stand or sit or what I was cheering for! I got extremely sunburnt and was exhausted by the time it was over from cheering and trying to see over people and trying to figure out the actually rules of the game. It was a long game. And I couldn't believe that the next week we would do the whole process all over again! haha! I told Dave that I didn't understand why Americans liked sports so much, but obviously this was going to be my weekend entertainment throughout college!
I also loved having wireless internet at UT. In South Africa we always had to wait like ten minutes just to get logged on and then my dad would give me like ten minutes to be online on facebook. Seriously?? I was missing out! I entered into a whole new world when I realized I could get online anytime, anywhere, all the time, neverending, forever!!!! haha! Thats when I became an amazing facebook stalker and wrote novel long emails to my South African friends.
My parents met at the BCM and my sisters both were very involved and so I started to check it out as well! My sister Beth-Ann had already been going to the BCM and told me she knew who I was going to marry from there and his name was "David Williams." She had been in a class with him the previous semester and apparently she knows us both well! :) I started coming around the BCM wanting to find American friends so badly! I am the type of person who needs girls to TALK to! and walk with and have coffee with and share my life with!! I came to the right place apparently!
I started playing on the worship team at the BCM like two weeks into my first semester and have never stopped. The crazy bass player, David Williams, has never stopped playing either. :) The BCM has been the place where I have found my bestest friends and of course my future husband! I have had the greatest time just getting to know the people and having a home away from home.
I had already decided in high school that I wanted to be a nurse and started doing everything I knew possible in order to get accepted into the UT Nursing Program. I went and spoke to the advisors, took 12 hours of summer classes, stayed up late studying, woke up at 4am to study multiple times during my micro class, got to know girls in the nursing program that I knew from the BCM, prayed, prayed harder, stressed more, worked like crazy, became best friends with the library and finally on March 23rd, 2008 I got my acceptance letter to the UT College of Nursing! I was estatic!!!!!!!! March 23rd, 2008 was also Dave and I's one year anniversary of dating so it was a big celebration day for me!
On the orientation day the professors told us that we were sitting in a room of 100 strangers and soon these people would become our best friends. And that has been so true for me! Through 8 hour clinical days, Monday class days that last for 9-10 hours, labs, study dates, lunches and coffees I have been blessed to have the most amazing girls on my journey with me through nursing school! We have stressed and been exhausted together and cleaned up poop together in hospitals, but cleaning up poop sure has bonded us in a special way! I am so thankful for nursing school and the way I have been exposed to so many different hospital experiences, gotten to know such amazing nurses, learnt so much from my fantastic professors and grown so much as an individual! I love nursing, sooooo much! I loved all my clinicals and loved the people I got to meet in the hospitals. This nursing career is going to be an excitig journey!
I am going to enjoy tomorrow, my LAST day to study for a nursing test in college! I am going to live it up with some starbucks, raisinets and diet dr pepper! But once I take that final, I must say, I will be THRILLED to be done! I am ready to just BE a nurse, BE a wife, BE in the real world and NOT have to study or go to classes!
But UT has been a great adventure and I will always look back on my time here with great memories!
UT has been my "American" home. I moved from South Africa in December of 2007, where I had lived since I was two years old, and came straight to Knoxville to start my first semester at UT. My first impression when I was moving into the dorms was "Wow, the girls here have ALOT of clothes!" ha! My parents were still in South Africa and my grandpa moved me in. And then, he drove away and I don't think I have ever been so scared in my entire life! Beth-Ann, my older sister, lived a few floors down from me in the same girls dorm, and I called her that night and ended up sleepig in her room because I was just too overwhelmed and scared!
I moved from the warm sunny beach in South Africa to the coldest weather I had ever experienced in America! I remember being freezing! South Africa never gets CLOSE to being as cold as it can get here in Tennessee. I was so excited to see snow but could not sit outside in the snow and enjoy it because I had never owned a "heavy" coat in my life! :) I remember being so miserable walking a mile to my classes in the freezing snow just crying and thinking "I am going to seriously die just walking to class, I will never be warm again!"
I remember trying so hard to be "American." I started dating Dave and asked him every day "Do my clothes look American?" "Is THAT what Americans like to eat??" "SO THIS is what Americans to do for fun!?" I would dress up in all orange and cheer on the basketball team not knowing what in the world was going on in the game. I would take forever buying a drink from the machine because I never remembered what quarters, dimes and pennies looked like. My favorite thing was going to the library and heading straight for Starbucks. I had always heard about Starbucks, and it was the best treat in the world to me! I remember one of my closest friends from South Africa came to D.C. and my mom and I got to spend the weekend with her there. I took her to Starbucks and she said "Wow, Coffee in a to-go cup!" No wonder I was so excited to go to the library! ha!
When Dave and I first started to "talk," we were hanging out at the BCM. He asked me if I wanted to grab something to eat down on the strip. (restaraunts near campus.) Well, all the restaraunts on the strip were new and exciting to me so I was like "YES, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ASKING ME!!!!!!!" So, I asked him if he could give me a couple of hours, because in South Africa people do not eat out every day. It is usually for something special and not just to grab dinner on the go. So, I thought this was really special and got super dressed up. When we met up to head down to the strip, he was like "Why are you dressed up, we are just going to Wendys..." And I was like "I KNOW!!!!! Thank you for asking me!"
My friend Sarah Roberson and I would study for nursing together most nights and she introduced me to late night study candy. (brain food) It was then that I got addicted to Raisinets, Three Musketeers and MnMs.
When I was growing up, my dad would have to make trips to America occasionally for conferences and would always bring me back a Diet Dr Pepper! I would save that one diet dr pepper for the most special occasion! I would wait and wait and then finally sip on it all day just enjoying my taste of America. When I came to UT, I realized I could get a diet dr pepper each time I turned a corner at any little grocery store or drink machine. Let me just say that A LOT of diet dr pepper has been consumed in my college career!
My first football game was the most overwhelming experience! I didn't know that I HAD to wear orange and freaked out the night before because orange is not a color I just have stting in my closet. Everyone told me to meet at like 10am to tailgate when the game was at 6pm. I was thinking "WHY are we meeting so early, does it take that long to get to the front of the line???" I remember being crammed in the student section with my friends not knowing when to stand or sit or what I was cheering for! I got extremely sunburnt and was exhausted by the time it was over from cheering and trying to see over people and trying to figure out the actually rules of the game. It was a long game. And I couldn't believe that the next week we would do the whole process all over again! haha! I told Dave that I didn't understand why Americans liked sports so much, but obviously this was going to be my weekend entertainment throughout college!
I also loved having wireless internet at UT. In South Africa we always had to wait like ten minutes just to get logged on and then my dad would give me like ten minutes to be online on facebook. Seriously?? I was missing out! I entered into a whole new world when I realized I could get online anytime, anywhere, all the time, neverending, forever!!!! haha! Thats when I became an amazing facebook stalker and wrote novel long emails to my South African friends.
My parents met at the BCM and my sisters both were very involved and so I started to check it out as well! My sister Beth-Ann had already been going to the BCM and told me she knew who I was going to marry from there and his name was "David Williams." She had been in a class with him the previous semester and apparently she knows us both well! :) I started coming around the BCM wanting to find American friends so badly! I am the type of person who needs girls to TALK to! and walk with and have coffee with and share my life with!! I came to the right place apparently!
I started playing on the worship team at the BCM like two weeks into my first semester and have never stopped. The crazy bass player, David Williams, has never stopped playing either. :) The BCM has been the place where I have found my bestest friends and of course my future husband! I have had the greatest time just getting to know the people and having a home away from home.
I had already decided in high school that I wanted to be a nurse and started doing everything I knew possible in order to get accepted into the UT Nursing Program. I went and spoke to the advisors, took 12 hours of summer classes, stayed up late studying, woke up at 4am to study multiple times during my micro class, got to know girls in the nursing program that I knew from the BCM, prayed, prayed harder, stressed more, worked like crazy, became best friends with the library and finally on March 23rd, 2008 I got my acceptance letter to the UT College of Nursing! I was estatic!!!!!!!! March 23rd, 2008 was also Dave and I's one year anniversary of dating so it was a big celebration day for me!
On the orientation day the professors told us that we were sitting in a room of 100 strangers and soon these people would become our best friends. And that has been so true for me! Through 8 hour clinical days, Monday class days that last for 9-10 hours, labs, study dates, lunches and coffees I have been blessed to have the most amazing girls on my journey with me through nursing school! We have stressed and been exhausted together and cleaned up poop together in hospitals, but cleaning up poop sure has bonded us in a special way! I am so thankful for nursing school and the way I have been exposed to so many different hospital experiences, gotten to know such amazing nurses, learnt so much from my fantastic professors and grown so much as an individual! I love nursing, sooooo much! I loved all my clinicals and loved the people I got to meet in the hospitals. This nursing career is going to be an excitig journey!
I am going to enjoy tomorrow, my LAST day to study for a nursing test in college! I am going to live it up with some starbucks, raisinets and diet dr pepper! But once I take that final, I must say, I will be THRILLED to be done! I am ready to just BE a nurse, BE a wife, BE in the real world and NOT have to study or go to classes!
But UT has been a great adventure and I will always look back on my time here with great memories!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Wedding Season!
In the past month I have attended 4 showers.... needless to say....it is WEDDING SEASON!
When I got engaged in August, I didn't realise that I was about to start a huge trend! ;-) I thought I was one of few people engaged and planning a wedding...until I showed up to my nursing class the first day of Fall semester! EVERYONE was enagaged! And as the year went on, even MORE people got engaged, one being my own sister! I soon realised that I was not in this wedding planning business alone and the new fun thing to do in class was to compare engagement rings and show each other wedding plans. It definitely has been a fun time!
As I think back on my engagement period so far, I just smile. It has been a total blast! I have loved every minute of wedding planning, I have not been stressed, I have received SOOOOOO much help and encouragement and support from friends and family and I have just been so excited about planning the big day!
But I am way more excited when I think about the man God gave me and the life we have together! I could not be more thankful for David and for God placing us together so perfectly in His plan! As little girls we dream about the man we are going to marry and write lists of characteristics they have to have and what they should look like and act like etc. (at least i did! ha!) David truly meets ALL my dreams and then adds pages and pages to a list of things in a husband I didn't even know I wanted, but God just blessed me with anyway.
David is so fun and crazy and brings so much happiness to my life. I remember first meeting him at the BCM and thinking he was so "American" which to me meant LOUD, confident and hilarious! David is one of the most romantic people I have ever known. He has written me songs, made me a pillow for my birthday with messages from all my south african and american friends when I was homesick my first year here, carved a heart out of tree bark for me when he was away at a summer camp, put together a scrapbook of our relationship, cooked me dinner by candlelight, bought me roses, written me love letters and every day tells me that I am beautiful and that he loves me. :) He is my biggest supporter and has let me cry on his shoulder over nursing tests and drama with friends and general stressors anytime I'm upset. We have "bagels and bibles" time where we do devotions together and pray while eating our favorite bagels. I cannot even begin to count the times David has shown up at my door or at the library with my favorite starbucks coffee, a three musketeers bar, wheat thins or a diet mountin dew just to say hey :) He writes me notes, which I LOVE, and I constantly find little love letters in my notebooks and mailbox. He loves God will all his heart and tells me that he loves God more than He loves me, but that only makes him love me the best way possible. David is always ready to go out and do something fun, and I absolutely love our walks, hikes, shopping sprees, lazy days in Borders, Dollywood trips and finding fun restaurants! We love our TV shows ad could definitely spend a Saturday or two watching Lost seasons and Greys Anatomy. :)
I have never been complimented so much in my entire life before I met David, and some days I lose count on how many times he tells me I'm beautiful and have the most prettiest eyes in the whole world. :)
I just cannot believe that David ever took notice of me, the random South African girl, who looked at him with shock and horror as he screamed for the UT mens basketball team with no shirt on and body painted orange and asked WHY sports in America was such a big deal? ha.
We have grown so much together these past few years and I know we have an exciting future ahead of us!
I have enjoyed going to so many showers and getting so excited for my close friends and their future spouses and lives as married woman! I think about how each of us are so different and have such different plans for our lives, but we ALL are going to be some lucky (ha) guy's wife and maybe one day mommies! :)
I love how each gift we get at showers is from a special friend, and when we use it in our home we can always think of eachother and pray for eachother in this next journey of our lives!
But most of all, these showers remind me that this is for real! People are giving me kitchen pans, for me to use, in my new home, to cook for my new husband, and I AM REALLY GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!
I still can't believe that David is my groom... but I am going to thank God every day for the extra special blessing!
When I got engaged in August, I didn't realise that I was about to start a huge trend! ;-) I thought I was one of few people engaged and planning a wedding...until I showed up to my nursing class the first day of Fall semester! EVERYONE was enagaged! And as the year went on, even MORE people got engaged, one being my own sister! I soon realised that I was not in this wedding planning business alone and the new fun thing to do in class was to compare engagement rings and show each other wedding plans. It definitely has been a fun time!
As I think back on my engagement period so far, I just smile. It has been a total blast! I have loved every minute of wedding planning, I have not been stressed, I have received SOOOOOO much help and encouragement and support from friends and family and I have just been so excited about planning the big day!
But I am way more excited when I think about the man God gave me and the life we have together! I could not be more thankful for David and for God placing us together so perfectly in His plan! As little girls we dream about the man we are going to marry and write lists of characteristics they have to have and what they should look like and act like etc. (at least i did! ha!) David truly meets ALL my dreams and then adds pages and pages to a list of things in a husband I didn't even know I wanted, but God just blessed me with anyway.
David is so fun and crazy and brings so much happiness to my life. I remember first meeting him at the BCM and thinking he was so "American" which to me meant LOUD, confident and hilarious! David is one of the most romantic people I have ever known. He has written me songs, made me a pillow for my birthday with messages from all my south african and american friends when I was homesick my first year here, carved a heart out of tree bark for me when he was away at a summer camp, put together a scrapbook of our relationship, cooked me dinner by candlelight, bought me roses, written me love letters and every day tells me that I am beautiful and that he loves me. :) He is my biggest supporter and has let me cry on his shoulder over nursing tests and drama with friends and general stressors anytime I'm upset. We have "bagels and bibles" time where we do devotions together and pray while eating our favorite bagels. I cannot even begin to count the times David has shown up at my door or at the library with my favorite starbucks coffee, a three musketeers bar, wheat thins or a diet mountin dew just to say hey :) He writes me notes, which I LOVE, and I constantly find little love letters in my notebooks and mailbox. He loves God will all his heart and tells me that he loves God more than He loves me, but that only makes him love me the best way possible. David is always ready to go out and do something fun, and I absolutely love our walks, hikes, shopping sprees, lazy days in Borders, Dollywood trips and finding fun restaurants! We love our TV shows ad could definitely spend a Saturday or two watching Lost seasons and Greys Anatomy. :)
I have never been complimented so much in my entire life before I met David, and some days I lose count on how many times he tells me I'm beautiful and have the most prettiest eyes in the whole world. :)
I just cannot believe that David ever took notice of me, the random South African girl, who looked at him with shock and horror as he screamed for the UT mens basketball team with no shirt on and body painted orange and asked WHY sports in America was such a big deal? ha.
We have grown so much together these past few years and I know we have an exciting future ahead of us!
I have enjoyed going to so many showers and getting so excited for my close friends and their future spouses and lives as married woman! I think about how each of us are so different and have such different plans for our lives, but we ALL are going to be some lucky (ha) guy's wife and maybe one day mommies! :)
I love how each gift we get at showers is from a special friend, and when we use it in our home we can always think of eachother and pray for eachother in this next journey of our lives!
But most of all, these showers remind me that this is for real! People are giving me kitchen pans, for me to use, in my new home, to cook for my new husband, and I AM REALLY GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!
I still can't believe that David is my groom... but I am going to thank God every day for the extra special blessing!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Friends and Walking
If you know me, you know that I love to walk....like alot....obession alot! When David was first trying to grab my attention, he asked Beth-Ann what I liked, and she said "hot tea, hillsong and walking." So, he asked me to go on a walk around campus after our first little chat....and I was in love! :)
BUT, I would like to explain my slight obsession for walking and all the benefits it has in my life. :)
And maybe it will inspire you to grab some friends, find a park and start walking to! :)
I mainly go walking to SOCIALIZE! :) I have certain girlfriends that I have developed weekly walking schedules with, and that is when we catch up on life AND exercise at the same time!
I think it all started with Rachel Riley. We walked like crazy people to relieve our nursing stress during freshman and sophomore year. She then transferred to Carson Newman and in order for us to keep in touch, we just decided to walk together every week no matter what! We did miss a few, but we always tried! Lakeshore is our favorite and Rachel is intense at working out and always makes me do 4 miles. ha. Rachel is now engaged and so of course we walk and talk wedding wedding wedding!
Lauren James and I became so close during or time living at the BCM. Living together made it so easy to plan walks and get motivated. I remember for some reason we always fit our walks in early in the morning, and we would drag ourselves out the BCM door with no makeup on and hair in a mess and start walking! Lauren and I always had a million things to talk about, and now that she is at JMU in grad school I would give ANYTHING to enjoy a walk with her!
Chelsea Brooks and I have also developed a little walking social life together since we started nursing school and during this time we really developed our friendship and now she is one of my bridesmaids! She introduced me to Cherokee Trail in Sequoya Hills and I LOVE it! The whole thing is nearly 6 miles, and I think ONE time we might have done the whole thing! :) Chelsea got me through a lot of stressful times and helped me make it through nursing school with all her advice and help! She is a pro at nursing and got into Vanderbilt for Peds nursing! Go Chelsea! :)
Laura Hood and I met at the BCM and she told me she loved parks, and so I decided to introduce her to all the parks in Knoxville! We always go to Tyson and get lost in the gorgeous greenway! Tyson is so fun and it takes you all the way to Kingston Pike. But I don't think we ever went THAT far! Laura is such an amazing, godly friend who always asks about my walk with Christ on our walks, and things usually get deep and spiritual and I love it!
My cousin Megan is one of the most amazing cooks you will ever meet! She also is a hardcore walker and so we meet up at Trex on campus and more recently Lakeshore and catch up on our lives! She is making the groomscake for my wedding and I know it will look fabulous! She came and lived in South Africa with me for a few months my senior year, and we were the most avid step class members at my gym in South AFrica. If the class was offered, we were there! :)
Kayley Ray is like my twin. She probably loves walking more than me and she loves starbucks and green foods and we are just quite the pair. We started walking together when she came to UT at the beginning of the year. She is from Jefferson City, and so over Christmas break, we did not let the tradition die and we met up at Panther Creek in the freezing cold and walked walked walked! :) She is making my wedding cake and everyone is in for a treat!!!!! She did a trial run, mini version of the cake in December and it was gorgeous!
And of course, the people I have walked with my whole life.... my family! Every time I am home on break, SOMEBODY in my family is always there to walk with me! My mom and I will go and talk forever, my dad likes to go on walks and talk about my future (ha) and my sisters of course walk with me and we always have the best time!
David and I walked 5 miles tonight at Tyson! We have done hiking trails, random trails in Knoxville just to be adventurous and Lakeshore, Cherokee and Tyson a million times. Our most recent walks and talks are about wedding plans and jobs and where we are going to live and graduating and BCM etc etc! I really hope he loves our walks, because he will be walking with me for the rest of his life! :)
BUT, I would like to explain my slight obsession for walking and all the benefits it has in my life. :)
And maybe it will inspire you to grab some friends, find a park and start walking to! :)
I mainly go walking to SOCIALIZE! :) I have certain girlfriends that I have developed weekly walking schedules with, and that is when we catch up on life AND exercise at the same time!
I think it all started with Rachel Riley. We walked like crazy people to relieve our nursing stress during freshman and sophomore year. She then transferred to Carson Newman and in order for us to keep in touch, we just decided to walk together every week no matter what! We did miss a few, but we always tried! Lakeshore is our favorite and Rachel is intense at working out and always makes me do 4 miles. ha. Rachel is now engaged and so of course we walk and talk wedding wedding wedding!
Lauren James and I became so close during or time living at the BCM. Living together made it so easy to plan walks and get motivated. I remember for some reason we always fit our walks in early in the morning, and we would drag ourselves out the BCM door with no makeup on and hair in a mess and start walking! Lauren and I always had a million things to talk about, and now that she is at JMU in grad school I would give ANYTHING to enjoy a walk with her!
Chelsea Brooks and I have also developed a little walking social life together since we started nursing school and during this time we really developed our friendship and now she is one of my bridesmaids! She introduced me to Cherokee Trail in Sequoya Hills and I LOVE it! The whole thing is nearly 6 miles, and I think ONE time we might have done the whole thing! :) Chelsea got me through a lot of stressful times and helped me make it through nursing school with all her advice and help! She is a pro at nursing and got into Vanderbilt for Peds nursing! Go Chelsea! :)
Laura Hood and I met at the BCM and she told me she loved parks, and so I decided to introduce her to all the parks in Knoxville! We always go to Tyson and get lost in the gorgeous greenway! Tyson is so fun and it takes you all the way to Kingston Pike. But I don't think we ever went THAT far! Laura is such an amazing, godly friend who always asks about my walk with Christ on our walks, and things usually get deep and spiritual and I love it!
My cousin Megan is one of the most amazing cooks you will ever meet! She also is a hardcore walker and so we meet up at Trex on campus and more recently Lakeshore and catch up on our lives! She is making the groomscake for my wedding and I know it will look fabulous! She came and lived in South Africa with me for a few months my senior year, and we were the most avid step class members at my gym in South AFrica. If the class was offered, we were there! :)
Kayley Ray is like my twin. She probably loves walking more than me and she loves starbucks and green foods and we are just quite the pair. We started walking together when she came to UT at the beginning of the year. She is from Jefferson City, and so over Christmas break, we did not let the tradition die and we met up at Panther Creek in the freezing cold and walked walked walked! :) She is making my wedding cake and everyone is in for a treat!!!!! She did a trial run, mini version of the cake in December and it was gorgeous!
And of course, the people I have walked with my whole life.... my family! Every time I am home on break, SOMEBODY in my family is always there to walk with me! My mom and I will go and talk forever, my dad likes to go on walks and talk about my future (ha) and my sisters of course walk with me and we always have the best time!
David and I walked 5 miles tonight at Tyson! We have done hiking trails, random trails in Knoxville just to be adventurous and Lakeshore, Cherokee and Tyson a million times. Our most recent walks and talks are about wedding plans and jobs and where we are going to live and graduating and BCM etc etc! I really hope he loves our walks, because he will be walking with me for the rest of his life! :)
Friday, April 8, 2011
RN, Registered Nurse, REAL NURSE!
God opened a door for me this week that I NEVER thought He would open, and I am running through it!
I don't even know where to begin!
David, my gorgeous fiance and best friend, and I have been planning on moving to Wake Forest, NC once we graduate since the summer of last year. We have been so excited about this adventure and big move as newlyweds and even had a townhouse already picked out. David was going to be attending seminary and I was going to start my career as a nurse in a hospital.
I started looking for jobs and talking to recruiters in December and was determined to find a job and have everything lined up by March! I over plan a lot, but with this, I wanted to make sure we would have a source of income and way to pay expenses before we picked up and moved.
David and I spent our date nights applying to every hospital we could find and emailing recruiters. We made phone calls and thought we had tried everything possible.
To make a long story short, God closed the door. I don't know why, but obviously His plan is greater than what I had over planned for. I have been so depressed and disappointed and confused by this and I was just so worried about making a big move without me having a job after getting a degree in nursing and feeling like my college career was a waste.
I started my senior preceptorship on the Labor and Delivery Unit at UT Medical Center on Saturday April 2nd. During April, each senior in our nursing program is placed one on one with a nurse in our area of interest to get intense trainig and learn everything we can about that field before we graduate. I fell in LOVE with the UT Labor and Delivery Unit when I started this weekend! I had such an amazing time being apart of so many births and helping in such a beautiful moment for families! To my surprise and EXCITEMENT, on Wed April 6th, I was offered a job to join the Labor and Delivery team as a new grad nurse when I graduate!
Labor and Delivery is my PASSION, I loooooove it!
Now I have to brag on David. When I told him about the job offer, he prayed about it and had such an amazing willing attitude to change the initial seminary plan so that I could take this opportunity. He knew I was so extremely excited to get a job offer in my area of interest and at a place I know and love!! He is going to do some online seminary work and extension through southeastern and start looking for a church here in Knoxville where he can serve, learn and grow for a few years before we go to seminary.
I see this as a huge change in plans for us, but I think God is teaching us that He will provide even if it doesn't happen the way we thought it would. I am excited about working in L and D, like sooooooooo much! I am going to work so hard and love on a whole bunch of pregnant ladies and newborn babies!
David has been an amazing support, and he is going to take every opportunity he can to use this time to grow and learn in a church and gain experience! South Eastern also offers online classes and so he is going to do those in order to get credit hours in and start his seminary experience even while we are here, which is so exciting!
I am excited about our marriage and getting a cute townhouse here in Knoxville and all the amazing things God has in store. I can't wait to buy my first pair of scrubs for a real RN job and start working!
Please pray for David and I as we start this new adventure! :)
I don't even know where to begin!
David, my gorgeous fiance and best friend, and I have been planning on moving to Wake Forest, NC once we graduate since the summer of last year. We have been so excited about this adventure and big move as newlyweds and even had a townhouse already picked out. David was going to be attending seminary and I was going to start my career as a nurse in a hospital.
I started looking for jobs and talking to recruiters in December and was determined to find a job and have everything lined up by March! I over plan a lot, but with this, I wanted to make sure we would have a source of income and way to pay expenses before we picked up and moved.
David and I spent our date nights applying to every hospital we could find and emailing recruiters. We made phone calls and thought we had tried everything possible.
To make a long story short, God closed the door. I don't know why, but obviously His plan is greater than what I had over planned for. I have been so depressed and disappointed and confused by this and I was just so worried about making a big move without me having a job after getting a degree in nursing and feeling like my college career was a waste.
I started my senior preceptorship on the Labor and Delivery Unit at UT Medical Center on Saturday April 2nd. During April, each senior in our nursing program is placed one on one with a nurse in our area of interest to get intense trainig and learn everything we can about that field before we graduate. I fell in LOVE with the UT Labor and Delivery Unit when I started this weekend! I had such an amazing time being apart of so many births and helping in such a beautiful moment for families! To my surprise and EXCITEMENT, on Wed April 6th, I was offered a job to join the Labor and Delivery team as a new grad nurse when I graduate!
Labor and Delivery is my PASSION, I loooooove it!
Now I have to brag on David. When I told him about the job offer, he prayed about it and had such an amazing willing attitude to change the initial seminary plan so that I could take this opportunity. He knew I was so extremely excited to get a job offer in my area of interest and at a place I know and love!! He is going to do some online seminary work and extension through southeastern and start looking for a church here in Knoxville where he can serve, learn and grow for a few years before we go to seminary.
I see this as a huge change in plans for us, but I think God is teaching us that He will provide even if it doesn't happen the way we thought it would. I am excited about working in L and D, like sooooooooo much! I am going to work so hard and love on a whole bunch of pregnant ladies and newborn babies!
David has been an amazing support, and he is going to take every opportunity he can to use this time to grow and learn in a church and gain experience! South Eastern also offers online classes and so he is going to do those in order to get credit hours in and start his seminary experience even while we are here, which is so exciting!
I am excited about our marriage and getting a cute townhouse here in Knoxville and all the amazing things God has in store. I can't wait to buy my first pair of scrubs for a real RN job and start working!
Please pray for David and I as we start this new adventure! :)
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
"Let Go, and Let God"
A lady very near and dear to my heart died this morning of an unexpected heart attack. I had been helping her in her home this past year as a caregiver as she struggled with Parkinson's Disease. Although I was there to help her, she really was a blessing to my life and I have so many fond memories of her and our time together.
One of my duties with her was to prepare all of her meals. Well, she found out I was getting married in July and she took it on herself to teach me every way to cook a chicken, fish, steak and all the sides you can imagine. She would sit in her chair in the kitchen and tell me EXACTLY how to make every dish and if I messed up.... she would make me start again so that I would get it JUST RIGHT! :) She would laugh at me all the time and say that I was a terrible cook but she was teaching me and that David should be thankful for her! :) My last day with her on this earth was Saturday of this past weekend. She had been talking about her famous fried catfsh and how David would just LOVE it! So we got all the ingredients and the fish and I made the most amazing looking fried catfish I have ever seen. (I don't think I've ever really seen fried catfish...lol) She was so proud of me and told me that NOW I would make a good wife! Ha, she was so hilarious!
She threw David and I a "Christmas" wedding shower in December with our families and gave us the most GORGEOUS wreath for our future door this coming Christmas. She had been talking about her gift to me since August and when I finally opened up the box to see the wreath her face was just beaming! I think people in North Carolina are going to drive buy our little house this coming Christmas and think we must REALLY know how to decorate for Christmas from the looks of our wreath, but on the inside, we probably won't even have a tree tall enough to reach our hips. ;-) But I will always think of her now at Christmas and her servant heart that was always trying to give, give, give.
Her favorite phrase was "Let Go and Let God." I would always tell her how nervous I was about my nursing tests, clinicals, the future job search, the wedding details etc etc and she would always just look at me, smile and say calmly.... "Chrissy, just Let Go, and Let God!" She said that God knew my needs, He listened to my cries for help, He loved me and that He knew what was best for me. Such a beautiful reminder for me daily in everything that I do!
I am still in shock that she is gone but I KNOW she is with her Savior and that I was blessed with the time I had with her in her final months. I will always remember her telling me each time I left her house "Chrissy, you are going to be a GREAT nurse and anyone would be lucky to have you take care of them!" Her words of encouragement were such a blessing and I just loved her to death even though I only knew her a short time.
I am taking the Hesi Exit Exam for nursing tomorrow and that dreaded passing score of "850" is running through my head causing such anxiety. But I have been reminded today that when I begin to take the test tomorrow I will just take a deep breath and think to myself "Let Go, and Let God." :)
One of my duties with her was to prepare all of her meals. Well, she found out I was getting married in July and she took it on herself to teach me every way to cook a chicken, fish, steak and all the sides you can imagine. She would sit in her chair in the kitchen and tell me EXACTLY how to make every dish and if I messed up.... she would make me start again so that I would get it JUST RIGHT! :) She would laugh at me all the time and say that I was a terrible cook but she was teaching me and that David should be thankful for her! :) My last day with her on this earth was Saturday of this past weekend. She had been talking about her famous fried catfsh and how David would just LOVE it! So we got all the ingredients and the fish and I made the most amazing looking fried catfish I have ever seen. (I don't think I've ever really seen fried catfish...lol) She was so proud of me and told me that NOW I would make a good wife! Ha, she was so hilarious!
She threw David and I a "Christmas" wedding shower in December with our families and gave us the most GORGEOUS wreath for our future door this coming Christmas. She had been talking about her gift to me since August and when I finally opened up the box to see the wreath her face was just beaming! I think people in North Carolina are going to drive buy our little house this coming Christmas and think we must REALLY know how to decorate for Christmas from the looks of our wreath, but on the inside, we probably won't even have a tree tall enough to reach our hips. ;-) But I will always think of her now at Christmas and her servant heart that was always trying to give, give, give.
Her favorite phrase was "Let Go and Let God." I would always tell her how nervous I was about my nursing tests, clinicals, the future job search, the wedding details etc etc and she would always just look at me, smile and say calmly.... "Chrissy, just Let Go, and Let God!" She said that God knew my needs, He listened to my cries for help, He loved me and that He knew what was best for me. Such a beautiful reminder for me daily in everything that I do!
I am still in shock that she is gone but I KNOW she is with her Savior and that I was blessed with the time I had with her in her final months. I will always remember her telling me each time I left her house "Chrissy, you are going to be a GREAT nurse and anyone would be lucky to have you take care of them!" Her words of encouragement were such a blessing and I just loved her to death even though I only knew her a short time.
I am taking the Hesi Exit Exam for nursing tomorrow and that dreaded passing score of "850" is running through my head causing such anxiety. But I have been reminded today that when I begin to take the test tomorrow I will just take a deep breath and think to myself "Let Go, and Let God." :)
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tea Time! :)
One of the things I loved most about growing up in South Africa was the love it created in me for tea times! Every day, no matter if it was 50 degrees or 100 degrees, the hot water would start boiling and ladies all over the country would take a second (or two) to sit down, chat with friends, relax on their own and enjoy the simple pleasure of "tea time." When I would meet up with my girlfriends it would always be for "tea or coffee" and anytime someone came to your door to visit... you started that hot water! Such a simple way to relax, spend time with your friends and enjoy company without stress.
When I first moved to America I quickly realized there was no "Tea Time" scheduled everyday and that my life needed to be busy, busy, busy and go, go, go! My tea times turned into grabbing Starbucks on the way to class and coffee to keep me awake late at night studying. I realized that people thought I was weird if I asked if they wanted to meet up for "tea" and to chat. I guess they thought I wanted to meet at McAllisters or something to grab some sweet iced tea. I remember one of my favorite South African primary school teachers coming over to our house one day when we first moved to Port Elizabeth and we asked her of she would like to try some gool ol' sweet iced tea from "AMERICA." She of course said yes! She tried it, scrunched up her face, and spat it out! ha! She said there is no other way than hot to drink tea and how in the world did we drink it WITHOUT MILK????
So I decided to title my blog "Tea with Chrissy" because I believe we all need a little time in our day to sit down, relax, and gather our thoughts. I personally need to start sitting down and blogging exciting things that happen this year so I will never forget it! This is going to be a year to remember for me!!!!!
I am graduating (I HOPE) from the UT College of Nursing in May. I am getting married to David Williams on July 2nd, 2011! He is the most handsome, sweet, kind, loving, funny, and crazy guy I know! My sister Beth-Ann is getting married on May 21st and my oldest sister Betsy is having a baby boy in July!
David and I are moving straight to Wake Forest after the honeymoon and there we will start our adventure as a married couple! :) All we know for sure right now is that he is going to SouthEastern Baptist Theological Seminay. I am praying that God provides me a job in nursing and we begin to make friends, set up our first little townhouse and love on that little community!
I am trusting in the Lord to provide all our needs and I am EXCITED to see how He uses us to serve in our marriage and future together!
That is all for now.
Wow, my first blog post! This could be fun!!! :)
When I first moved to America I quickly realized there was no "Tea Time" scheduled everyday and that my life needed to be busy, busy, busy and go, go, go! My tea times turned into grabbing Starbucks on the way to class and coffee to keep me awake late at night studying. I realized that people thought I was weird if I asked if they wanted to meet up for "tea" and to chat. I guess they thought I wanted to meet at McAllisters or something to grab some sweet iced tea. I remember one of my favorite South African primary school teachers coming over to our house one day when we first moved to Port Elizabeth and we asked her of she would like to try some gool ol' sweet iced tea from "AMERICA." She of course said yes! She tried it, scrunched up her face, and spat it out! ha! She said there is no other way than hot to drink tea and how in the world did we drink it WITHOUT MILK????
So I decided to title my blog "Tea with Chrissy" because I believe we all need a little time in our day to sit down, relax, and gather our thoughts. I personally need to start sitting down and blogging exciting things that happen this year so I will never forget it! This is going to be a year to remember for me!!!!!
I am graduating (I HOPE) from the UT College of Nursing in May. I am getting married to David Williams on July 2nd, 2011! He is the most handsome, sweet, kind, loving, funny, and crazy guy I know! My sister Beth-Ann is getting married on May 21st and my oldest sister Betsy is having a baby boy in July!
David and I are moving straight to Wake Forest after the honeymoon and there we will start our adventure as a married couple! :) All we know for sure right now is that he is going to SouthEastern Baptist Theological Seminay. I am praying that God provides me a job in nursing and we begin to make friends, set up our first little townhouse and love on that little community!
I am trusting in the Lord to provide all our needs and I am EXCITED to see how He uses us to serve in our marriage and future together!
That is all for now.
Wow, my first blog post! This could be fun!!! :)
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