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