The wind beneath my wings...

I'm 25 years old. I'm an only child, and I'm a true daddy's girl...still. 

However, I do not discredit my mother for raising me to be the woman I am today. She's had a rough life, but she's triumphed through the things that have been thrown at her. She is my best friend. 

History:

I was born in Thibodaux, Louisiana on May 14, 1986 to 23-year-old Victor and 21-year-old Paige. They wanted more kids, but my mom was told she couldn't have anymore. We lived in a trailer 2 doors down from my grandmother for 4 years until we moved to Beaumont, Texas for my mom's job. My dad was a truck driver for a little, tiny bit of my childhood, but when we moved, he started working for a different company because he didn't want to miss my childhood by being on the road. I went to Kindergarten in Beaumont. One year later, my parents found a rent house in Groves, Texas. I started first grade at Van Buren Elementary in groves.  I was also taking dancing lessons; I started when i was 3. My parents took me to dance lessons during the week as well as ccd and things for school. 

In 1991, my mom was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease.  However, they never stopped taking me everywhere. My dad stepped up and started getting me ready for school (fixing my hair, dressing me....) while mom was feeling like crap. she would have bad days where she just couldn't get out of bed because she felt so bad. no matter how she felt, she showed up to all of my performances, except 1 dance recital. because she was sick and in the hospital. my aunt and my mom's friend stepped up that year and helped me get dressed for my dances. i'll never forget that because i remember i was dancing while my mom was stuck in the hospital wishing she could have been there with me. i feel guilty for that. i should have been with her. 

dad gets hired on with a plant in beaumont and we're all so happy about that. they also buy the rent house they had been renting - and the lady owner-financed and used all their previous rent toward the house. i'm pretty sure that's the biggest blessing they could have gotten on a house. 

for a while, mom finds this great medication that makes her feel so much better - she's off all these other medications that she doesn't need anymore and she looks and feels great. we take family vacations and mom and dad take trips together and they're doing amazing. 

a few years later, she starts getting extreme migraines and an mri confirms a small lesion on her brain. so we have to discontinue the super great miracle medication because they fear that's what caused it. so now we're back to square one. all these extra medications and more medications to offset the side effects of other medications. meaning -- she feels like crap again. she's unhappy and miserable. but she doesn't show it. when she's out in public, you don't know anything's wrong with her.  i was heavily involved in high school: band, freshman/jv/varsity/head twirler. i had a busy schedule. they were at everything i did. beaming with pride for their daughter. i'm their world. 

so i finish high school and start college, at my local university here in beaumont. i'm still living at home because, well, i'm working at a local grocery store. and that pays next to nothing. 

mom's still not feeling great. some days are good, some days are bad. but she's still fighting and looking for a better medication. she gets involved in clinic trials, but nothing makes her feel better.

fast-forward to april 2007 -  i get engaged. so we go into full wedding mode. mom goes everywhere with me, picking out dresses, flowers, everything.  she didn't want me to be stressed, so she took on the weight of planning a wedding. she even met with the decorator to surprise me with some extra things for the reception. our wedding day was absolutely perfect.  and she was behind it all - but no one knew that. dad had a migraine the day of the wedding. but he hid it. during the reception, mom got a bad migraine and it was making her sick so dad had to take her home. she had been so stressed that it made her sick. 

One day, mom gets super sick and ends up in the hospital in Houston. But, the upside is they discovered this new drug that has been working on Crohn's disease patients. So she tries it and it WORKS! So she gets back off of all that medicine, and start this one. She's feeling GREAT and she and dad are going on vacations again and they're both so happy!

Mom has fought this disease for 20 years now.  There is no cure, but there is relief. She feels so much better, and she's so much happier.  

But, if you notice - no matter what was going on in my parents' lives, they never let that get in the way of being there for me and bringing me where I needed to be.  Dad worked overtime to make sure I could keep dancing/twirling and mom worked so that I could have the life I had.  They made sure I never had to sacrifice or lose anything. They never rubbed that in my face, but it's something I noticed. My parents never were people who threw me to be raised by other people.  If I wasn't able to go where they were invited, they didn't go. They put me first in everything they did. That's something I'll always carry with me, and I hope I can do that for my kids. 

They always stood back, in the shadow, while I got the recognition for being a good dancer/twirler/student. But I always knew that it was because of them and their support that I got to be all of those things.

My parents taught me logic and reason, and how to keep a level head. They taught me to think before acting, to weigh the consequences. They taught me how to change a tire. They taught me that I need to be sure that I can take care of myself and never have to rely on anyone else. They taught me how to be independent. They taught me how to be thrifty. They taught me how to do-it-myself. They taught me how to love. They taught me how to have fun. I have my mother's attitude, which I love. Her cajun, quick-tempered attitude. It's what makes me Rae. I'm Vic's level-headed and Paige's quick-tempered daughter. You never know what you're going to get with me, and I absolutely love that. I am equal parts Vic & Paige. And there's nothing I would change about that.

This may be the most cliche song ever, but it's so true. My parents are the wind beneath my wings. Through the joy and the pain, they have never let me see their pain. They always put me and my happiness first.

It must have been cold there in my shadow,
to never have sunlight on your face.
You were content to let me shine, that's your way.
You always walked a step behind.

So I was the one with all the glory,
while you were the one with all the strength.
A beautiful face without a name for so long.
A beautiful smile to hide the pain.

Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be?
I can fly higher than an eagle,
'cause you are the wind beneath my wings.

It might have appeared to go unnoticed,
but I've got it all here in my heart.
I want you to know I know the truth, of course I know it.
I would be nothing without you.



Mom and dad, 
You are two of the greatest people I'll ever know. I am who I am because of you two. You both have instilled your values into me, and I'll never know what it's like to live a life with parents who don't love and appreciate me. And I'll make sure my children never know that feeling either. I see the love of God in you, because you love me unconditionally. You have sacrificed a lot to keep me happy, and I appreciate that more than you know. I'm so glad I have parents who are still married and who are so in love with each other. You have shown me how to love someone, and how to believe in something bigger than myself. You both are my heroes.


Rae

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Just a small town girl...

I love living in a small town. Period. You cannot take me out of here.

I've been "living" in Houston three days a week for the last 2 months and I realized how I take for granted the perks of living in a small town:
1. I can get to the store/post office/church/anything else in about 5 minutes.
2. I can leave my car unlocked and not worry that someone is going to steal/break into it. (Disclaimer: this is in MY town, not every town. Try this at your own risk.)
3. I can jog around my neighborhood without the necessity of a rape whistle.
4. My neighbors know me, my husband, my pets, and our friends' vehicles. So they know when/when not to worry about us. They're the best.

My one complaint about living in a small town:
Everyone knows you, your family, where you went to school, where you went yesterday and what you wore yesterday. I no longer live in the town I grew up in so I don't encounter this too much. (I live in my old high school's rival town.)

Today after leaving the post office, which is an exhausting 2 minutes from my house, I got in my car and thanked God for allowing us to live (and remain living) in a small town. I'm not a big city girl and I have no desire to become a big city girl. Ever.

Geaux Tigers.

I still don't understand the reason people use the spelling of "geaux".  It takes even more letters to spell. Sam decided yesterday that we're cajun now (I've been cajun all along) and that our name (Guerrero) has been changed to Guerrereaux. When you look at it, it does look cajun.  Moving on. 

The "Guerrereaux's"  ;)

My dad scored some tickets to the LSU/Auburn game Friday afternoon, texted me, and by Saturday morning at 8am, we were heading to Death Valley to watch the game.  We had a few stops to make on the way, so we got there around 1pm.  We had to park like a mile away - no sweat.  Then we met up with my dad's childhood friend at a tailgate party.  People in Texas don't know how to tailgate properly.  There were canopies set up everywhere. People had TVs set up to watch other games while they were tailgating for this one. Several people never even go into the stadium - they watch the game from the comfort of their motor home. Yes, I said motor home. These people get here DAYS before the game. That's dedication.  Or obsession.  Tomato, tomato. 

Mike the Bengal Tiger.  He's Mike #6. 

So now we're in the stadium.  We get to our spot and start to pity the folks who are what it seems like a mile above the field.  A little aside: You can see LSU Stadium from I-10.  So we've been discussing these nosebleed seats since long before we made it to the stadium.  My mom and dad sat in the 2nd row from the very very top when I was a little baby bean in her belly. So I've actually been to an LSU game before now. Anyway, scary scary seats. One good sneeze and there you go. We have great seats in the corner of the end zone. On the opposite side of the band. So we didn't have a whole lot of noise. Only the noise coming from the loudest fan ever 2 rows behind us.  Then, in the 2nd half, my husband decided to join in with the yelling.  And cheering.  And whistling.  It was comedic. 

Touchdown :)

I've never been to a game that had to waste time because of commercial breaks.  So every now and then, they would bring people on to the field and do presentations.  It's a good use of wasted time, but you don't think about that when you're watching the game on TV. "Hmm, I wonder what they do while we're watching commercials..." 

We had a great time, and we're so thankful that my dad was able to get these tickets.  I'm ready to go again!

 

It's been a while.

Now I've got that song stuck in your head, huh? Good.

I'm into my 4th week of clinic and I'm still LOVING it. Houston Ear Research Foundation (HERF) is the best clinical offsite I've been to thus far. I got my foundation at Lamar and my speed/efficiency at the ENT sites. But I'm so in love with this site. The patients we see are so gracious and willing to tell me everything I'll ever need to know about cochlear implants. It's cute when they find out I'm a student.  They get so excited.  If I had the option of choosing cochlear implants as a specialty, I just might do it.  It's definitely not an easy job; these people have to start over from scratch after they get implanted. It's challenging, but it's so rewarding.  To watch someone from day one get sound detection almost in the normal range gives me goosebumps.  Then, to see them a month later, understanding speech and communicating in the world again...it's mind-blowing.
I get to see a cochlear implant surgery next week.  I'm stoked and nervous all at the same time.  I can't wait to see the surgery, but I'm hoping I remember to breathe so I don't pass out...nothing major.
Although I love my clinic site, I hate having to "live" in Houston 3 days a week. I hardly get to see my husband, my poor dogs probably forgot who I was, and I absolutely hate having to pack, unpack, wash clothes, and re-pack every week.  It's easy to get burned out from this.  8 weeks left!

Now, I need to go get ready for tomorrow so I can go to clinic and then head home for some well-deserved time with my husband!

Rae

I'm now a 3rd year student.

Hallelujah! I'm over halfway there!

Recap: I went to Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels this past weekend with some of my best friends. I had an ah-mazing time! We did the water park thing on Friday and floated the Comal River on Saturday. I got sunburnt Saturday, but I'd do it all over again this weekend if I could.  It was a great trip and we had a blast.

I also wanted to say that we started a high-five train while waiting in line for one of the rides. The high-five started on my behalf ("that's what she said" joke) and it went back and forth at least 4 times while we were in line. It seems silly, but we got everyone in our line to be a part of something huge! Keep 5 alive!

So, school. I start school on Monday. And you know me, I'm a nerd. So I'm excited.  We have two weeks of orientation (or re-orientation for those of us who have done this before) and then we start clinic. My clinic site this semester is Houston Ear Research Foundation, aka HERC. I don't know where the "C" comes from. I will call it HERF. They do cochlear implants. I'm beyond stoked. I'll get to see a lot of cool stuff. Maybe I can watch a surgery?
So I will be in clinic 3 days a week this year, Tuesday-Thursday. My site is a good 2 hours from home. No need to fear, I will be spending the night at my classmate's apartment so I don't have to drive back and forth. That's a waste of gas. I can only imagine the dance parties that will go on. Oh, Deya...

I finally broke down and got sucked into the Harry Potter cult world. I used to think to myself, "self, why would anyone want to read stories about witches and magic? That's stupid." And then, I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. And I enjoyed it. I'm not obsessed. But I did watch all of the movies. Including the last one. Totally was not expecting that little Snape part to happen in there.  Maybe if I would have read the books first, I'd have expected it. So now I'm spending my week off reading the books. I'm on #4.  I hope to be done before school starts on Monday, but there's a good possibility I will be reading throughout the next week as well. Either way, I love it. The wizardry and stuff is cute, but I'm more interested in her writing. She sucks you into this world and you're right there with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, living it up at Hogwarts. I love the adventure. To be honest, I was kind of embarrassed to admit that I'd finally watched the movies. But I really enjoyed them. I'm not going to go all Voldemort on everyone and become an evil person. I still love Jesus. However, I do enjoy the fact that I now understand the little jokes people throw in regarding all things Harry Potter. They used to go over my head. I get them now. Props.
I just wonder...after I read all the books, then what? Harry Potter's over. I guess I will have to find another series of books to bury my nose in. Hello my name is Rae, and I'm a nerd. And I'm proud of it.

Off to spend some quality time with the husband. He's the best.

'Til later,
Rae

Rocky Mountain High

I've had the pleasure of spending the past week with 4 of my classmates and about 80 other students in Colorado.

Keystone, Colorado - around 11,640 ft.

We went for an Audiology Summer Camp put on by a hearing aid company called Oticon. During the week, we had plenty of free time to explore and take part in activities on our own. 

Sunday, I hiked up a ski slope with David and Joe. 

My view once I climbed the ski slope. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I almost quit twice. David, however, talked on the phone most of the way up and showed no signs of exhaustion.

That evening, we went to a restaurant called The Mint. You order your food, and they bring your steak to you raw and you go cook it. We had a great time cooking our food and spending time getting to know other students in our program. 

Monday, we went white water rafting. I didn't bring my camera to take pictures because I didn't want it to get wet. We got soaked. The water was freezing and the sun wasn't out, so leaving my camera on the bus was a good idea.  

Tuesday, we had a day packed with sessions and workshops. That night, we had free time to go enjoy dinner wherever we wanted. A group of us went to the village and enjoyed a nice dinner at Wolf Rock. I had the best filet mignon. Ever. It was perfect. Then, it rained. According to the locals, this is the most it's rained. So, you're welcome, Colorado. We took the rain with us from Texas.  

Wednesday, I rode a ski lift up to the top of the mountains. 

Another scary thing. Going up was much scarier. 

But once we got up there, the scenery was amazing. 

Just one of the views from the top. Breathtaking.

We stayed up there a while and enjoyed the view, taking plenty of pictures. I've always wanted to go to Colorado, but I'd imagined myself there during the peak season. When it snows. To see it like this was a real treat. 

That evening, we went to the Country Boy Mine in Breckenridge.  It's an old gold mine. 

You can't see our tour guide in this picture. He looked like Shaun White. He also looked like he was about 16. He referred to the miners as "we" so it was hard to take him seriously, because we all know good and well that he was not around back in the day when this mine was still in business. He took us about 1100 feet into the mine, 200 feet before the gold vail. He claims there is 50 million dollars worth of gold still in there, but it would cost about 70 million to get it out. I don't think I believe that, but it keeps people from trying to get in there to steal the gold. 

We also encountered this beautiful creature: 

Meet Blizzard. He's a purebred Newfoundland. I thought he was a bear.  I want one. 

This is 100% the best trip I've been on thus far. The Oticon staff were amazing and they never once distinguished themselves above us. They spent the whole week hanging out with us, starting trouble (Henning!), and having a good time.  It definitely gives you positive thoughts about how the company is run. The people who work for Oticon love their job, and they look forward to the summer camp every year. 

I am so glad I was able to go on this trip, and I had one of the greatest experiences of my life. I will definitely go back to Colorado. But I'm making sure Sam comes with me to enjoy everything Colorado has to offer. It was so refreshing.

But I'm definitely glad to be back home. 

Houston, Texas. View from the plane!

I decided to do this blog as a picture/diary one. I figured it would give you a good insight on my trip and invite you to enjoy some of it with me. I have many more pictures that will be up on Facebook towards the end of August (took a Facebook hiatus for a couple of weeks). 

Rae :)

There is a season, turn, turn, turn.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1 NIV


Ok so I was at work earlier and a co-worker and I were talking about working holidays in retail. For example, in August, we are going to put out Halloween stuff and in October we'll take Halloween stuff down and put up Christmas stuff.  If you don't understand, here's another example. You go to your local department store looking for a bathing suit in June. What? They're out? That's because they put them out in February and now there are no more matching sets. You go in July and they're putting Christmas stuff out. So in our conversation I said, "People are so rushed to get to the next season that they can't stop to enjoy the one they're in." Oh man. I had an epiphany right there in Bath and Body Works. 


How many times do we find ourselves in a rough season and we're so ready to get out of it? For example, money may be tight and your car breaks down. That's a rough season. Or some difficult family matters take place. That's hard to deal with. We find ourselves saying "I'm so ready to get out of this season in my life." There's a reason for our seasons (I'm a poet...). God doesn't just decide..."oh let's see who I can pick on today." There's a reason your car broke down today. You may have gotten a chance to share the love of Jesus with someone through your broken down vehicle. You never know.  

I know I especially am trying to rush through this season in my life. Going to school full-time and working is not fun, but it's something I have to do to push myself and grow. I'll definitely appreciate it down the road when I'm reaping the benefits of my schooling.  But I'm not there yet. So instead of complaining about how much I can't wait to graduate and start doing whatever it is I'm going to do, I need to embrace my season and try to get everything out of it that I can.  God knows what I need during this "rough patch" and he's going to provide.  He'll equip me with the tools necessary to grow and mature.  And when this season is over, I'll have more knowledge than I did before. I'll know how to handle more difficult situations. I'll stress less over the little things. I won't stress about money because I know He's taking care of me.  I'll trust Him more than ever. 


If we are in a rush to move on to the next season, we lose sight of why we are in that season in the first place.  


"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." 2 Timothy 4:2 NIV


Love,
Rae :)

My blogging has been falling behind due to school and work piling up on top of me. Summer school is kicking my behind this year, just like it did last year. Lots of work in not a lot of time; cramming a long semester's worth of classes into 10 class days. It's overwhelming. But I LOVE my class. We are learning so much and getting to do lots of case histories/differential diagnosis. I love solving cases. I feel like a genius.

Our washing machine hose decided to bust during a cycle Sunday night. I didn't know this so we didn't see it until Monday morning. Water was in our kitchen. On the bright side, it wasn't the entire washing machine that needed to be replaced. Just a hose. Thank you, Jesus! We mopped up the water, Sam replaced the hose, and we are good to go! Hallelujah :)

I've been working much more this week since our co-manager is on vacation. Good thing: more money. Bad thing: no free time. It's just for a week, so I'll survive. However, I've been looking forward to reading Sisterhood Everlasting: A Novel (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) for a few months. It came out June 14 and I've read one chapter. Once I get more time, I will definitely throw myself into it.

Speaking of June 14, Sam and I celebrated 3 years of marital bliss on that day :) We watched our wedding video the following night and I have to say, I'm so glad he shaved his mustache! I didn't know it then, but he looks so much better without it. And yesterday, June 22, we celebrated 5 years of being together. Ever since he swept me off my feet, I've been head over heels in love with him. He really is a blessing. I've had so much fun with him these past 5 years and I know we will be blessed with many many more years together. Yes, there will be kids in the future. Just not right at this moment. Check back in a year and a half or so :)

Ok that's a little update on me for now! Nothing too profoundly philosophical, I'm too tired.

Rae :)

2 blogs in 1!

I haven't written in a while, and over the past couple of days I've been thinking about two things. So I'll write them as two separate blogs, but they're all being posted together. Two birds. One stone. Let's do this.

Knowing When to Push...

So I went jogging/walking the other day and I really had a goal to jog most of the way and to go at least 2 miles. Well I went almost 2 and a half miles, but I walked most of the way. I could blame it on my 3 year old dog who, in the middle of a good jogging stretch, forgets what she's doing and runs smack into my legs. But I really doubt it's that.

The problem is that when it starts to hurt, I quit. My goal is to get in the habit of running everyday that it becomes second nature to me. That running can be a stress reliever, a way to get away from it all for a little bit. I don't know that I want to run races and marathons, but I do know that I want to run. For miles and miles. 

Even though I'm literally talking about running here, there are many of other things we can replace running with. School, work, relationships, God, family, etc. The list could go on forever. How many of us, when things get tough, want to back off or quit? We have to know when it's worth it to push through to get the results we want. 

My goal is to run a little more every day so that I eventually get up to where I'm satisfied. Even if I can only run 2 miles. That's 2 more miles than I can run now. My goal is 5, but I'll start where I can and then push until I, one day, get up to 5. Or 10. 

What's Worth It?

Over the past week, I've been going through our monthly bills, wondering what is really a necessary bill. We have our house note, car note, phone bill, utilities, etc.  Most of our bills are things we need. However, our Dish Network bill is one that I've been thinking about. Do we use it enough to justify $50 a month? Even if we do use it enough, is that something we can live without? So, we discussed it and decided that we don't need it. We went through the weekend with it and this morning I called and canceled it. 

Let me tell you, this is definitely something we use. Sam watches TV when I'm at work, and I watch TV when I'm on breaks from school. But we don't NEED it. We have a PlayStation3 and a laptop with wireless internet. We are still able to watch our shows. We have a Netflix account so we can still watch movies. I don't see anything that we will be missing because of it. The only deal is convenience. It's not as convenient to turn on the PS3, log into Netflix, and then find what you want to watch. It's super easy to turn on the TV and go. But, is it worth it? No. 

I'll definitely be keeping my eye out for other things we can cut back on, but this is the first one that popped into my head. It'll take some adjustments. But I also thing this will help me to be more productive around the house. I can't just turn the TV on and veg out all day. I can get up and re-organize, wash clothes, clean, cook, etc. Things that I should be doing everyday but don't happen because I get lost in TV show marathons or movies. I'm not saying that getting rid of Dish is going to completely turn my life around. I still want to lay around sometimes. But hopefully it won't be as often :)

Think about it. What are you paying for that you really don't need? That money can be used more wisely or you could put it into a savings account. 

Rae

A few days left...

until the semester is over! I have two finals, a notebook, and a manual due along with one more lab and then I'll be finished! I'll technically be a 3rd year. I'm excited! I have about 3 weeks in between my last final and the first day of summer classes. This summer, I'll be at Lamar for my clinic. I'm happy to go back because I'll be getting a lot more experience with hearing aids and I'll be close to home! But I'm pretty sure starting in the fall I'll be in Houston three days a week. It's ok, I'll be done before I know it.
Sam and I saw "Water for Elephants" last night. It was a good movie, but it wasn't as much like the book as I would have liked. All in all, still a very good movie. Two thumbs up.
P.S. My birthday is in two weeks. I'll be 25! I can't believe I'm going to be 25. I'm getting old.

Anyway, I need to go study. I have a lot to do over the next few days and I can't afford to waste any time! I'll update after finals, hopefully to say I've managed to make all A's this semester!

Rae

Chicago, Church, and Cleaning.

Let me start off by saying I had a fantastic time in Chicago. I went there in August, so it wasn't a new city to me anymore. We didn't do the tourist (visiting buildings and important places) thing this time. We did, however, stroll over to Millenium Park. It's the home of the bean...you know...this one!

The Bean!!!

It's so cool! And you can see the Chicago Skyline in the reflection. On our way to the bean, we ran into Vince Vaughn. No big deal. Whatever! I was freaking out! But I couldn't get my camera out fast enough but I managed to get a picture of the back of his head. It's totally him. Zoom in. He's the tall one with the sideburns. I promise it's him.

It's Vince Vaughn. For real!

Anyway, other than that, we had a fantastic time in Chicago. The convention didn't seem as interesting as it was last year, but it could be because I spent most of the time I was there in meetings about the Student Organization. Either way, it was fun. It's in Boston next year, so I'm excited!

Last week, a bunch of people and myself participated in a Human Video for Palm Sunday. It was to "Dry Bones" by Gungor.  The song is amazing. Anyway, I'm going to post the link off of my friend, Deirdre Field's facebook video, and hopefully you'll be able to see it. If not, I apologize for teasing you. 

We will be doing that video again tomorrow, along with "Beautiful Exchange" by Hillsong, and "Living in Me" by someone's name I can't remember at the moment. That one is a really upbeat, cheeseball kind of song. It's ok though, I still enjoy dancing to it :) And "Beautiful Exchange" is an amazing song, as it naturally would be since it's by Hillsong.  So, if you're in the area and you don't already have plans for Easter Sunday morning, you should come join us at Triumph Church Nederland. We'd love to have you! (shameless plug...)

We have practice and dress rehearsal today starting at 2. I've been up since 9 cleaning my house and I'm nowhere near finished. But I have two clean dogs, a clean living room and kitchen, lunch is cooked, and all of the clothes are washed. So I have made some progress today. 

Let me just say that everytime I sweep, I have enough dog hair to make a new dog. Whether I sweep once a week, once a month, once a day, it doesn't matter. I always have enough hair to make an entirely new dog. It's ridiculous. Like the dog hair king is out to get me. 

I recently read Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. What an amazing book! The movie came out yesterday, but I haven't had time to go see it yet. Maybe I'll go either tonight or tomorrow evening sometime. I also just finished The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks. Another good book. The last chapter almost made me want to throw the book at the wall, but Mr. Sparks tied everything all in perfectly, like he usually does. I can't wait until these last two weeks of school are over so I can dive into all the books I can possibly read...until summer school starts in June. 

That's about all I've got for now. I have to go get everything ready for practice and rehearsal. I have a feeling we may be there several hours. By several hours I mean 6 or more :)

Have a beautiful Saturday and a Happy Easter!

Rae

Grown-up purchases, dressed up, and traveling!

Wow! It's surely been a long time since I've updated this. A lot has been happening lately. My Honda decided she was tired and she died on me. So, a few weeks ago we added this new addition to the Guerrero family:



This is not MY car, but it looks just like this. It has everything: navigation, leather seats, sun/moonroof, heated seats, etc. We are so blessed. We named her Ana. She's our first big purchase besides our house.








In addition to the car dying, our refrigerator decided it was time to go also. So last week we had a new refrigerator delivered:

Nothing special, just a fridge.














I'm obviously most excited about the car. I love to drive it and I feel awesome driving it. She's currently getting fixed...apparently there was a cracked rim (the disadvantages of a used car) and they are fixing it at the dealership. So at the moment, I'm driving this thing:

It's ok. Not my favorite, but it's free while they're fixing Ana.

Moving on from that, this past Friday we hosted our White Coat Ceremony. What's that you ask? It's a banquet honoring the 3rd year Audiology Doctorate students. Before they leave off on their 4th year externships, we send them off with their white coats and a gift. We had a wonderful ceremony on the 8th floor of the Library and I believe everyone was pleased with it. It was very nice and everyone looked great, especially these two beautiful people:

I LOVE this picture, courtesy of Stacy Waller. Sam has been trying to grow his hair out since like January and he finally gave up and cut it back to how he used to have it and I have to say, I LOVE him with short hair. It's really a huge difference. His face is so much more joyful with short hair. He's a different person. I promise.

Here is a picture of my class. We're the best class ever.

Other than that, things have been going good. School and work have been consuming most of my time but I'm trying to keep them balanced.

Oh, and I'm flying Wednesday to this lovely city:

Chicago!!! My class and I went there in August and we didn't get to see everything. Our national American Academy of Audiology convention is there this year. So we get a second chance to see everything we missed! So I'll be gone starting tomorrow night and I'll be back Sunday. 

That's about it! I'll definitely be updating when we return from Chicago. And I'll definitely have lots of pictures!

Love,

Rae

Sharpen me and I'll sharpen you.

Proverbs 27:17 (ESV) " Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."

If you're like me, you've heard this verse a million times and you think about it for a little bit and then move on about your life. 

The King James Version says "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." 

It is important to choose your friends wisely. Their behavior, good or bad, will have an effect on you. I know personally that I have picked up traits from people I hang out with often. In my case, they have been good traits. Honesty, humility, genuineness, and a pure heart are just a few of the character traits I have seen in close friends or relatives and I strive to possess more of each of these. 

1 Corinthians 15:33. This is a bible verse I hold close to my heart. 

"Do not be deceived: 'Bad company ruins good morals.' "

NIV says, "Bad company corrupts good character." 

This is not a "you are a bad person and you need to change" kind of blog. This is a blog strictly for me. A written challenge, if you will. I need to challenge myself to be the kind of person people want to be sharpened by. I want to be a humble, honest, genuine, and pure-hearted lover of Christ. I want to be the Proverbs 31 wife. I want to be the kind of person people love being around and can't wait to hang out with again. Not for selfish reasons, but because I love Jesus so much people just can't get enough of it. They strive for that kind of companionship. I believe it's how we should live. I want to position myself with people who are that kind of people. They sharpen me and I sharpen them. 

In addition to being a good "iron" for my friends, I want to be that for my husband as well. If you look two verses above Proverbs 27:17, you will see an example of a horrid wife. 

"A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike; to restrain her is to restrain the wind or to grasp oil in one's right hand."

A leaky roof versus a mean, bitter wife are one in the same. You are trying to get out of the awful weather so you come inside only to notice you have a leaky roof. You are now under the same conditions you were when you were outside. Same with the wife. You deal with people all day and you come across people who are hateful, bitter, rude, deceitful, etc. You come inside, hoping to get away from it all and you have a wife who won't quit bothering you. She's rude or critical of you. She doesn't trust the decisions you make as the head of your home. 

I want to be the wife that my husband loves to come home to and get away from the world with. A wife who bears his children and makes his house a home. A wife who he can be vulnerable with. Someone he can talk to about how his day went. His ups and downs. His successes and his failures. Someone who will be his strength when he is weak. Someone who will take care of him when he is sick. Someone who will be by his side no matter what. I want to be someone who can sharpen him. We, as a married couple, should be continually sharpening each other. Two imperfect people, joined in the union of marriage, have become a perfect covenant. Surrounding our Father. He has made us a perfect union. Never to fall apart, never to break. Never to cheat. Never to be rude to each other. Never to fight unfair. Never to walk out.  

I have a spectacular husband. A God-fearing husband. One who is loved and respected by many. One who works hard to take care of his family. Who never complains about work. Even when he works 12 hour days, he never whines. When our funds are getting low, he never worries. He says "we pay our tithes, so I know God will provide."  He has faith that our God will take care of us. He will be our shelter, our strong tower, our provider, and our very help in time of need. 

I am very blessed to have Samuel in my life. He truly is a blessing from God. I'm so thankful that I found someone who will challenge me, who will sharpen me, who will care for me, and who will love me. I'm so happy I get to spend the rest of my life with him. Working together. Wrecking lives for the Kingdom of God. 

I hope you enjoyed me spilling my heart and my goals. It's hard to open up and become vulnerable, but a lot of times it's what someone else needs to read. To know someone else doesn't have it all together. 

Rae

De-clutter the clutter.

Ok so I had to go grocery shopping today, and Wal-Mart is usually my grocery store of choice. Today, I told myself I would look for a hamper to put in our bathroom to catch the dirty clothes. We usually just throw it on the floor but I want to be more sophisticated. I chose a hamper. Then I decided I would like to de-clutter the space underneath our bathroom sink. This disaster area annoys me every morning. I decided that today's the day I'm going to fix it. So I grab two slide-out bins. I also remember that I have yet to get a full-length mirror for our room to help me get ready in the morning. I usually dress myself and trust that everything looks good before leaving. Now I can let my vanity get the best of me by checking myself out before I walk out the door. Next, I had to grab a few groceries and finally I'm out the door...determined to de-clutter my house. Starting with the bathroom. Sorry to those of you who were expecting pictures. There were none taken. Pictures of my bathroom cabinet just don't seem appropriate. Use your imagination. Anyway, an hour later, I now have a de-cluttered and re-organized bathroom cabinet. I also managed to get rid of some things that had been stuffed away in the corner. I feel so much better already! I also had my lovely, manly husband hang the full-length mirror. In anticipation for spring weather (please come soon!), I grabbed a few storage bags to store sweaters and long-sleeves. I can store them in our closet until it's time to take them out next year. Usually they just kind of hang around in the closet at the back. I'm in the mood to spring clean my house right this minute, but I have work in about 30 minutes so it won't happen today. But I did get our bathroom fixed up. As soon as this cold, nasty weather is gone for good, I'm spring cleaning!

Rae

Idle Time Failure

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's ever had this happen. You finally get a day off from school or work and you plan out your entire day. To-do lists, shopping lists, etc. Then you wake up that morning and you don't do any of it. You spend the entire day watching tv or reading. That was me on MLK day. I planned on reading and taking notes for school and grocery shopping and doing all kinds of productive things. And I failed. I'm admitting to the fact that I enjoy lazy days, but too many of them are unhealthy. Today, I WILL be productive! I get a second chance today to try and make up for what I failed to do on Monday. I didn't plan on waking up until around 9, but I couldn't sleep past 8. So I'll be getting my day started early and hopefully I'll get everything done on my to-do list!

On another note.
I love to read. So I thought about investing in a "Nook" by Barnes and Noble or a "Kindle" by Amazon. Well. You have to buy the device. I figured that part. But what I didn't know is that you have to buy every book you want to put on there. So I come out cheaper buying actual books. I'm sure it's a lot easier packing just a kindle than several books for a trip. And you get to keep all of your previously-bought books all together on one device. So anytime you want to read it, you have it right there. But I don't see the value in one of these guys yet. I'm sure eventually I'll snag one of the aforementioned reading devices, but for now I'm content with paper books. What are your thoughts about wireless reading devices? Do you have one? I also know that with iPods, iPhones, and iPads, you have an iBooks option that you can do. So if I already own that device I can just add books on there. That may be a better idea for the moment.  Just a thought.

Anyway, I'm going to start my productive day!

Have a FANTASTIC weekend!!
Rae

Here are the links to the previously mentioned reading devices:

The past week...

has been action-packed. To say the least. School started on Monday, and we immediately got thrown back into our clinic rotations on Tuesday. Last semester, I drove 2 hours one way to Sugar Land every Tuesday and Thursday. This semester, I drive 25 minutes to Beaumont :). I'm definitely enjoying the extra sleep I get.  My clinic site is a fast-paced Ear, Nose, and Throat clinic with 5 physicians. So far we haven't been ridiculously busy, but I know it will come soon. We get to see a lot of different cases, including hearing aids (which I haven't seen since last summer). I honestly wasn't too excited about this place at first, but I'm glad I'm here and I know I'll learn a lot. Moving on.
I previously posted that I was doing the Bible in One Year Chronological plan. So far, so good :) I've been keeping up with my readings and I'm learning a lot. I just finished the book of Job and for some reason, I've never read it before now. I don't know why. It's such a good book. Well, all the books in the bible are good. But you know what I mean. I finished Job last night and I'm back in Genesis tonight. I'm really excited about reading my bible in a year and I'm proud of myself for pushing through the desire to go to bed so I can stay up and read. God's definitely speaking to me through it.
My husband's a Jets fan. Needless to say, I am hiding away in our bedroom while my husband is watching the Jets/Patriots playoff game. I'm watching it as well, but I like to actually watch the game and not feel guilty when a Jets player makes a mistake. They're winning right now 14-3 which I'm shocked about, but glad nonetheless. I really hope they win. For the sake of my husband's sanity. Please.

Well I'm off to study a bit before I have to head to work in an hour. We have a floorset tonight so we'll go in after the mall closes and change around the store. I love floorsets. Plus, we ordered a cookie cake. With all of the different colors. I'm a happy girl.

Have a great week!!
Rae

A new challenge...

I've never read the bible cover to cover. I've read pieces of it, but I've never completed the entire bible. So, this year I'm challenging myself to do it. In chronological order. I was going to buy the bible seen above, but I printed a schedule from this website instead. You can choose how you want to read it (beginning to end, chronological, etc). Today's January 3, so I'm a couple of days behind but I'm hoping I can catch up tonight. In addition to completing my goal of reading it in one year, I would like to make this a yearly commitment. But for now, I'll take it one day at a time.

Peace,
Rae

Bring it on, 2011.

Happy New Year! I'm so excited about the new year. It marks a new beginning and a new season. It's a chance to start over or to redeem ourselves of things we failed to do or change last year.  I'm taking on this opportunity to take a look at myself (on the inside) and change what I don't like. For example, I sometimes say things in the moment, and then I realize what I said and feel awful about it. One thing I need to work on is staying calm in situations where I feel pressured or angry. I let it get the best of me and I explode with whatever rude comment I have ready to say. So I will be working on that. Thinking before I speak. The bible says we should be slow to anger and quick to forgive. If you are around me, I give you permission to hold me accountable.

I purchased "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis. I haven't seen the movies yet, but I will when I finish reading the book, or should I say books. There are 7 books combined into one huge book. It looks overwhelming but when I think of the 7 different books, I feel better about tackling it. This evening, I finished the first book, "The Magician's Nephew." I loved it! I love the way he relates it to Creation, Eve's temptation, and the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. I will either start on the second book, "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" tonight or tomorrow. This one is a movie. I don't know if the movie incorporates the first book. I'll have to wait and see.  I do know that I enjoy the way C.S. Lewis writes.

Saturday, we had my parents and Sam's sisters over for New Year's day lunch. Overall, I was pleased with how it turned out. The food was delicious, and my sister-in-law's fiance fried a turkey and it was amazing. Oh man. I thawed out a cheesecake that had been in my freezer for around two years (I kept forgetting it was there). I wasn't sure if it would even be good, but my aunt (I got it from her daughter's school fundraiser) said that she was told it would be fine as long as it stayed frozen the whole time. It did. But it smelled and tasted like a freezer. So after a bite or two, I threw it out. On the positive side, I freed up space in my freezer though.

Sam and I went with a few friends last night to watch "Little Fockers." Cute movie. I'm pretty sure they left it open for a 4th movie. I'm not sure what they're going to call it.  Something with the word "Focker" in it, I assume. Moving on.

Tomorrow is January 3, which means I only have one more week left of my winter break before school starts again. I'm excited about this semester. I'm not sure why I'm in such anticipation, but I feel that it will be a great semester. I have 6 amazing classmates who are like brothers and sisters to me. And I have 3 awesome professors (advisors, mentors, etc) that pour their hearts into what they love to do. I know God has me here for a reason. And I'm super excited about that.

Sam and I are about to go to some friends' house for game night. I love game nights. Even though they sometimes get heated. It's all in good fun though.

Have a great night!
Rae