Marriage Prep

We "graduated" from our "Marriage in the Lord" workshops that we have been attending every Tuesday night during July. Brian and I LOVED these classes and are sad that they are over already. We are looking forward to attending retreats or workshops like these in the future. They really spark up a whole new/deeper level of communication and really brought the two of us even closer together. We had the largest small group and had a lot of similarities among each other. One girl is in nursing school (a LVN to RN program) and her and another girl both have Dutch fathers, just like me! :) And our moderator couple goes to San Antonio too. All in all, it was really neat hearing from/about other Catholic couples; for instance, I enjoyed hearing about what traditions their families have had and what they would like to keep/start with their new family. These classes were very beneficial and I think all couples preparing for marriage should go through something like this!!

Help Fight Hunger #2

I love going to thehungersite.com and taking about 10 seconds to help others just by clicking each of the "click here to give" under each tab (hunger, breast cancer, child health, literacy, rainforest, and animal rescue). I encourage you to try to click daily - it only takes a few seconds out of your day.

Another great site is http://bhookh.com/, which will donate a cup of staple food to a chronically hungry Indian.

Gordie Brown

I received the pictures from Kimi's camera, which had most of the pictures from our Vegas trip, so I thought I would post this one from when we went to the Gordie Brown show.
He is really talented (comedian, musician, artist) and we had a blast, especially since Kimi was the highlight of his show! We were able to go backstage and meet him, which was so cool, but we did feel a little weird about it too. Anyway, this was the picture we took with him.

Where did July go!?

Wow, I can't believe today is July 22! I noticed that I haven't posted much in a while, so I thought I would write a short update.

• School is school and it is crazy busy as usual. I cannot even wait for this semester to end, but after registering for the fall semester, I am not looking forward to starting that. I am looking forward to my externship in the fall though, which will be at St. Jude's. :)
  
• I went to Vegas over the weekend with a few girlfriends which was loads of fun. (Kimi turned 21 earlier this month). It was soooo nice to get away for the weekend and relax and have a good time. I'm not a big gambler, but I played some slots and won a whopping $7! :) Hey, it's better than losing, right?
  
• I'm currently housesitting 2 puppies in Anaheim Hills (till tomorrow). The family has only had them for about 2 weeks, so I have found myself spending much of my time training and cleaning up after them. It is not fun to come home to some nice "puppy presents" everytime I leave and I sware the 2 of them team up on me on purpose. Anyway, they are really cute dogs and I have enjoyed having my own place for the week. :) I will try to attach a picture soon.
  
• My dad was in the hospital for a few days for a bowel obstruction, but he went home this afternoon. I visited him a couple times and realized how much I would probably hate to have him as a patient! He actually told the student nurse that she could not take out his NG tube and that he had seen a little too much of her! Poor girl! I probably would have cried. :P Glad he is home though.
  
• Lastly, my grandfather was diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer. He is turning 81 on Sunday and as of right now, he will not be getting any surgery or treatments because of his age. Please keep him and my grandmother in your prayers.

I think that is really all that's new. Also, please keep my friend Tiffany in your prayers - she lost her husband today.

Reception Site

Today Brian and I booked our reception site. It was very exciting for us and we are very happy about it. After much searching, we are glad we found the perfect place that represents both of us (although, this was the first place we looked at). I can't wait to celebrate our big day at the Fullerton Arboretum.

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. :)