Help Fight Hunger

About a year ago, a friend of mine from school told me about this site. It's a fun way to help fight hunger around the world!! Check it out...and have fun! (Warning - it can easily become addicting) :)

Housesitting in Ladera Ranch

I just realized that I haven't really posted anything for a month! Sorry about that, although there really isn't much to update you on.

I'm in week 4 of summer school and it is keeping me busy, as usual. We are starting our "thesis project" this semester and I will be doing mine on Fibromyalgia symptom management. I am looking forward to it, but I know it is going to be a lot of work. However, it will all pay off in the end right? Less than a year until I graduate...and almost a year until our wedding!

Speaking of wedding...we are in the process of finding our reception site. It has already been fun checking out a few places with Brian, but we have several more to go. Other than that, not much else is going on. We start our marriage classes in July (every Tues night for 4 weeks). We are looking forward to going.

Right now I am housesitting for my sister in Ladera Ranch. Lily, my sister's dog, is one of Sade's puppies from her 2nd litter and she is very close to me. She is so cute and such a sweetheart (minus the 3 am wake up barking and potty trip this morning). Also living in my sister's apartment is her cat Shadow, hamster Lionel, and fish. Brian has been hanging out with me here and it has been sort of a little vacation for us (obviously not really since we are working on school stuff constantly). We watched "Taken" Monday night and last night watched "Doubt" - both were great movies. Oh, today and yesterday I took care of my other Ladera pet buddies. I walked from my sister's to the house where Max and Rose are and hung out, walked, and fed them. It is so nice being able to walk somewhere! I also walked to the grocery store and probably will run to the gym sometime soon too. Everything is pretty close by. I will be here until Sunday morning and I am looking forward to having my "own place" for a few more days.

Traska Wedding #1

Last Saturday, June 20, was Brian's older brother Paul's wedding (I've known Paul since 9th grade, when we started Confirmation classes). It was a beautiful wedding and we are so happy for Paul and Jenny! Brian was the best man and he gave an excellent speech. My camera wasn't being very nice during the ceremony, but I got a few nice pictures (below). You can also see more at http://picasaweb.google.com/tkengen/TraskaWedding2009?feat=directlink

The start of the wedding ceremony

The wedding party

The parents of the groom (or should I say my future in-laws :))

Brian and me with Matt and Emily

Paul and Jenny visiting our table

Wedding Gown

Well, Brian and I haven't really done much wedding planning yet due to the busy-ness of school, but now that it is summer, we are hoping to move more quickly on things. To start this summer off, I went and bought/ordered my wedding gown on Friday. That is of course very exciting and I can't wait for you all to see it! I LOVE it! :)

Another Semester DONE!

Well, I took my last final last night...it was pretty hard, but I am glad it is over. I am just so glad that I survived my first semester of grad school - it was looking a little scary at the beginning. It feels soooo nice to have a few days off!! Summer school doesn't look like it will be any easier though. :( I start summer session the week of June 1, so I am planning on catching up with friends and relaxing a lot over the next week and a half. :) I think I will try to work on a cross-stitch and catch up on my magazine reading. haha. :)

A huge thank you to all those people that helped me get through the semester - for proof reading, offering words of encouragement, and being there when I needed to vent. :)

Health Promotion

I came across this website and just had to share it because I thought it was really cool. Since we have been studying, performing, and teaching breast exams this semester, I thought it was very fitting to mention it here as well. So, make sure you are feeling your boobies!!!

I can't believe it!

I went to visit my mom for Mother's day and I couldn't believe how much my brother has grown in the past couple weeks/months! I mean it hasn't been that long since I last saw him, but he just shot up!
He is now as tall as me...at age 13! He will be 14 in about 6 weeks and he is starting high school soon - he has already started wrestling (and his shoes are a size 12!). Absolutely crazy! So the question is, will he be taller than Brian? :)

My 1st RN "job"

Friday morning I received a call from Dee Dee who was going to be the Confirmation 2 Retreat nurse, but she was feeling ill and ended up needing to be home with her kids for the weekend. So, she asked me if I wanted to do it. I did not think that it was just a coincidence that I had no assignments due over the weekend and I was feeling very called to do it. After thinking about it all day, I decided to go. Dee Dee was preparing me on what to do and expect, but she started freaking me out with all her stories, but I remained prayerful. While I was babysitting, but once all 4 kids went to bed, I looked up some med information for the teens' prescriptions and then left at 10:30 pm, picked up Brian and we headed up to Running Springs (arriving at 1 am).

It was a lot of fun being on the retreat this weekend, but at the same time, so strange being there in a different role (and also only knowing a couple dozen familiar faces). It was a wonderful experience and I am very thankful that nothing bad happened. Nothing occurred that a little advil, benadryl, pepto-bismal, or a band-aid couldn't handle. :) I was really scared to be there working as an independent nurse for the first time, but I knew God was there with me (and also Brian). I definitely think this experience has increased my nursing self-confidence and I look forward to using my skills to help like this in the future.

I included a couple fun pictures from today, hanging out with Jon and Megan. We missed our photographer, Dick, though...

Max vs. Rose

Well, I am not housesitting anymore, but I said I would post a picture of the mastiff and lab together so that you can compare sizes. So...here is Max and Rose. Both of them are soooo sweet!

Relaxin'

Well, it's spring break for me right now and I am thoroughly enjoying the extra time! I am still housesitting in Ladera, so I have been making good use of their Wii while I am still here. :) I love that thing and am actually thankful I don't own one because I would spend WAY too much time on it. :P I am in love with Wii Fit and this Endless Ocean game. (It's a diving game and is basically so realistic that I never need to go diving...I actually get scared in this game (so silly, I know), especially when there are sharks in front of me or nothing but black deep waters - lol). Anyway, I can't believe spring break is half over now, but it has been so nice catching up on some zzzzz's and lounging around watching TV and movies (like The Little Mermaid or Must Love Dogs). Well, that's all for now...better go do some more relaxin'.