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 :)