One Promise Fulfilled

OK, so I have realized that I've promised more pictures, the recipe to Nick's birthday
dessert, and this video. So for the record I have fulfilled one of my promises and I am now
not the World's worst blogger! Yay for me! :)



Sorry it is sideways, but I didn't have time to wait to rerecord then wait to upload it to here, so I'm sorry, but you will have to deal with it sideways! :)
This is a video of the Christmas tree we got down in Tennessee
last year at this HUGE Christmas store. We saw it and debated forever
if we wanted to get it, but now there is no question about it! We are glad
we decided to get it. In this video it is playing the song "Carol of Bells",
but there is a total of 4 songs that the tree plays.
This means in our tiny apartment we have not one, but 2 Christmas trees! :)
I can't believe how close Christmas is!
Merry Christmas Everyone!

Wowzers!!!

So right now I am pulling a Sar. I am at work and I decided to blog.
Once again...there will not be any pictures...I'm sorry. I will have to get
back on the bandwagon soon. I can not believe how fast this month is
flying by. The other day I was joking with Nick and said, "Hey there is only 18 more days
until my birthday." But after I said it I was thinking wowzers....December is
flying by!!! I am ready for Christmas to be here, but I will be sad when it
passes and then it will be a whole year until we can celebrate it again.

On a different note...I was so frustrated before I came into work tonight.
I have a final on Thursday and I was trying to be a good student and work ahead on
it, but when I went to go pull it up on our computer....You guessed it.....IT WASN'T THERE!!
Ugh! I have no idea what I did or what happened that all of my work did not get
saved. I think what happened because I had a bazillion different windows opened up
that either 1. I saved it under something completly different or 2. I renamed it with
an existing file and the other file was not what I meant for it to be. GRRR so
frustrating....so much work down the drain. I seriously probably had a 1/3 of the
Final Study guide done and now...I have NOTHING.

Nick is so amazing though. Every day he shows me how amazing he is. After I told him...
well lets be honest...Once I yelled that I no longer had the study guide on the computer
he tried to find it for me, in his very calm it's not the end of the world way.

So things we have coming up....Nick is officially done with his semester, I still have
an unofficial week left. I said unofficial because I really only have 2 tests, but I won't be
done until Thursday after 3pm. Then after that...Yay a much needed break.
Over our break we will be working, spending time with my side of the family for Christmas, missing his side of the family, getting things ready for our FINAL semester of our college careers, going to Tennessee and staying in a cabin, and of course...I will be blogging. :)

I will blog more with pictures and a video of our singing
Christmas tree.....

~Allison

Thoughts In My Head....

This will be quick. I really felt as though I should write something to stay connected to my little space here in blog world. :)
Things have been a little crazy, we have celebrated Thanksgiving, which I have to say I am realizing more and more each day that I have SOO much to be thankful for. I should even be thankful for being stressed because of homework and work, because at least I am able to go to college and in 5 months...only 5 months!! I will have a Bachelor's degree. Also, at least I have a job. I definitely don't like it all of the time and wish I could stay home with Nick instead, but at least I am able to work and earn money and then reap the benefits of having that money. (not many, but still.)

We've gone Christmas shopping and we have almost everyone done! I have to say I love getting my niece, Maddie gifts. She is soooo fun to shop for. I haven't had the chance to get any of Nick's presents yet, even though all of mine from him are wrapped and under our tree. He is a Christmas freak...but it is just one more thing that I absolutely love about him!

Our Christmas Breaks will be starting soon...Can't wait....but that also means that a lot of stuff is due to finish up the semester and then finals. YUCK! I did get lucky this semester though...I only have 1 final, but a lot of projects. Well I should get back to homework so I'm not overwhelmed this week.


~Allison

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!!

Awww....Look at our Christmas tree...it's soo small. :) hehe
It is actually just the perfect size for our apartment. I can not wait until we grow up, get real jobs, and have our own house...then I will have a HUGE Christmas tree. I'm talking like 10 feet or more...it will be big. So the next pictures are of some of my favorite ornaments. I love that Mom Doyle has been getting us ornaments even when we were dating...It's so fun to put them on the tree and then reminisce about that part of our relationship and where we are now.

Here is one of our first ornaments...from 2003. Our first
Christmas as a dating couple.



Here is an ornament we got in Jamaica when we went there on our honeymoon.


This is the ornament we got last year in Tennessee when we celebrated our first Christmas as a married couple.













Then of course....it isn't Christmas unless the 3 Stooges are there... :) hehe
These are just a few of our favorite ornaments that we have so far. Later on I will post a video of our singing tree...more to come later.


~Allison

Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

Look what we woke up to this morning...SNOW! I already had an itch to put our Christmas stuff up, but now I really do. :) It will probably still have to wait...there is school stuff that needs to get done first...unfortunately. These are pictures of the beautiful snow around the apartment complex. Too bad I didn't have the camera today I would have loved to take pictures on campus. I actually had Nick take these pictures for me. Early this morning when I was walking on campus it was snowing like crazy and with all the trees around it was crazy beautiful. :) I could care less about cleaning my car off, letting it warm up in the morning before leaving, and also having to drive slower due to the roads, but other than that I enjoy snow for the most part. :) Is anyone else decorating for Christmas yet???

Crazy Week!!

Okay so this week was busy!! On Monday I had my classes until 4pm then we celebrated Nick's b-day. We went to a few stores then out to dinner at Doc Pierce's...Nick loves that place ( I think it's pretty good too). Nick wouldn't let me take any pictures during dinner...this will not happen again. I am going to start taking more pictures and he will just have to learn to deal with it. :) hehe
So then after dinner we stopped by Dairy Queen (thanks mom doyle and kel) to get a Birthday cake. I was a little disappointed to not make my "South Beach appropriate" cake, but it is a tradition for Nick to get a gift card from his mom for a DQ cake and let's face it...we couldn't stop tradition this year. :)


Here's the cake. Yum-O! :)

Here's Nick making a wish...I still need to find out what that was.

Here he is opening his gift...which was something small....a coffee mug and coffee from Starbucks. We are going to celebrate both of our birthdays more by getting a cabin in TN over Christmas Break.....So excited! All of that was just Monday. :) Oh yeah..I also took a test in my Community Nursing class that I got a 48/50...Oh yeah. I am bragging because I was not doing well in the class and now I am on the up hill...
Ok..so Tuesday we had a work day for the Health Fair that we had on Wednesday. Of course, I waited until the last minute to put my tri fold together. Here is a picture of the finished project.


I was lucky enough to get the topic of HIV...a little controversial on Bethel's campus, but to be brutally honest...I didn't care. I feel that this is a topic that should NOT be sugar coated and people should get the facts and get them in a straightforward manner to not misunderstand what they are. Now...I'm not saying that I was hateful in my approach, but I put the facts out there and people could take them how they wanted to. I can not believe the hatefulness of some people and how stereotypical they are about this topic. I have to say I was probably like that before I did research and had my eyes opened at the Health Fair. Let me just say this...Not everyone makes a decision in their behavior knowing full well ahead of time that they could possibly become HIV positive. For example...I will one day be a Nurse....I will be giving injections and working with needels...what if I were to have an accidental needel stick with someone who had AIDS? Just think about that for a little while. Nick and I did discuss this issue and once again he amazes me with his responses...and how tolerant he is of my crazy questions sometimes. :)
Wow...that is just Tuesday...so Wednesday was the Health Fair...this was an ALL day thing...kinda boring sometimes, but here are some pictures...I had a lot more, but didn't want to bore you or take the time to put them on here. :)

I had to put these pictures up...these are 2 of the 3 signs that I made for our Olympic themed Health Fair. Very cool...Huh!??! :) Then on Thursday I had NOTHING! Can you believe it? I had a little homework, but really nothing at all. I can't believe I am going to admit this...but I seriously slept until 1pm on Thursday and it was the BEST thing ever! I love to be able to go to sleep and not have to worry about waking up the next morning. That is when I get my best sleep.
So then today, Friday all of the Senior BSN students took a cardinal bus to Merrillville to see a nursing theorist, Nola Pender, now this was boring. I really don't feel like I learned anything new...and I had to pay to go. Ugh! Ok, I guess I am sure I learned something new..but it was not very interesting! Then a small group of us girls went to the Merrillville mall where we did some shopping. :) This week has been crazy and the weekend will be too. I work tomorrow and then everything will start all over again! Here is a picture to end on. Have you guys seen my new haircut yet? Well I've had it for a little while now, but I know some of you haven't seen pictures yet. Kara does such a good job. I don't know what I will do when she moves. :)
I hope I haven't completly made some of you bored, but here is a week update on what's been going on.










~Allison

24!!

On Monday, November 10th Nick will be celebrating a birthday! His 24th to be exact. :)
Here is Nick at 3 1/2 sitting in his dad's old corvette and the other picture is of Nick at 6 years old and his dad. Isn't he so cute?? On his birthday we both have class, but then after that I am going to take him out to dinner at Doc Pierce's and make him a south beach appropriate oreo cookie ice cream dessert thing. :) Hehehe I'll post pictures and the recipe later. Really...the only thing that makes it "south beach" is that I am going to use all sugar free stuff. Sounds gross, but honestly everything we have tried that is sugar free has ended up being very delicious. :)

Nick and I have been together since we were both 18, I can't believe it's been 6 years already. Since I have know Nick and fallen madly in love with him I am amazed at how incredible he is. I can not put into words how I feel about Nick and how much he means to me! We've started this new thing..it's only been one night so far, but I hope we keep it up. Instead of just saying "I love you" every night we are going to tell each other just one reason WHY we love each other.

Nick, my amazing husband I hope you know just how much I love you and I hope you have the BEST birthday ever! I love you...and you'll find out another reason "why" tonight!


~Allison

The Seasons are Changing

Last weekend I found out that my step-grandma had passed away. Today was her viewing and funeral. It was bittersweet. Since the time my grandpa Isley had passed away, we really didn't see her very often.

Isley, Linda A.

Feb. 22, 1944 - Nov. 2, 2008 PLYMOUTH - Linda A. Isley, 64, passed away Sunday at Cornell Care Center in Cornell, WI. Linda is survived by her stepsons, Eric (Eva) Isley and Keith (Sherry) Isley; brother, Steve Rhoades; nieces, Ronda (Duane) Wallace and Teresa Holbrook; six step-grandchildren and one step-great-grandchild.

After the funeral I went to my Grandma Nettie's and took some pictures with my sister, cousins from Iowa, and my grandma. It really made me realize that we need more pictures.
(I told you this one would have more pictures)




Then after that we went to my parent's house and went through old pictures and other "things" that belonged to my Grandpa Isley and were able to spend some time together.
It was cold today!!! You can definitely tell that winter is on it's way! I love how the snow looks, but that is about it. :) I hate driving in it, I hate freezing in it, and I don't really play in it anymore so what is the point?? :) I am excited about Nick and I taking our first "official" Christmas card picture this year...and that will probably take place after the first snow fall. I am not sure why we didn't send out Christmas cards last year. It was probably because we were sick of sending things out after the wedding. :) Who knows?!?


~Allison

This is a Place Where Bears Hibernate

Nick is at work tonight so I am trying to catch up/get ahead on some homework for this weekend. One of my main things I am trying to get done tonight is this long Literature Review that I have to write for my research class. Luckily we were able to pick our topic of research, and I was even more lucky to find someone who wanted to research the same thing as me. The topic we choose was cervical cancer screening participation in women aged 18-36 on Bethel's campus. You may be thinking... What?!?! I think it is interesting...and I think it is even more interesting to find out through other research articles that not many women get regular pap exams. I won't bore you anymore with that topic...but it is a huge 2 semester research project that the Senior BSN students are working on...Blah! :)
Anyways...what is making it difficult to complete and why I needed to take a break to vent is that the people in the apartment across the hall from us have been playing LOUD music for the past 3-4 hours and it is driving me CRAZY! I can't hear the words or even the music, just the thumps from the bass...Grr...so rude! It's very hard for me to concentrate and think about what I need to type.
So you may be wondering about the title....well earlier today before Nick went to work we took a nap...mine longer than his...(nothing beats a good nap in the middle of the week), but it was all possible due to our bedroom that is equipped to let me sleep during the day when I have to work the night before. Not only do we have blinds on our windows (that are room darkening), but we also have roman shades that make the room darker. Now usually I will try to sleep when the sun is just coming up and so I don't notice how dark our bedroom really gets, but today being early evening and it was starting to get dark here anyways our bedroom was especially dark. So dark that I had to point out to Nick that it could be a place where bears could hibernate. Now that is dark!
Oh my goodness....the music is not as loud anymore!! I can still hear it, but maybe I should get back to my homework.
One last note...I love this weather. It has been somewhat warm here...60's-70's, but today when I was walking on campus there were a ton of leaves just falling and blowing and it was Awesome! There was just something so peaceful about that today for me.
I promise in future posts I will have more pictures. :)

~Allison

Hello Blog World!

So I have a couple of friends who have a blog and I've been reading a handful of blogs every week for a couple of months now, but it is official! I now have a blog!
I kept feeling like I couldn't start one because I don't have kids and most of my family is still close by, but who cares...I've been wanting to do this, so I am! :)

Where to begin?!? Well...Nick and I have been so busy lately. We both will be done with school in May, so along with senior year we both are working tons and trying to fit time into spending time together. It will all come to an end soon, the finish line is finally in sight for both of us. It will be weird for us to be in a relationship where we will only have work and won't be in school anymore. My senior year is proving to be more challenging than what I originally thought it would be. Right before school started I accepted a part-time position at the hospital, which required me to work 2 -12 hour shifts a week, which does not sound like a lot, but paired with 15 hours of clinical time each week plus class/study time it has been anything but easy! To say the least, I was able to get my position changed once again to PRN, or as needed, but that does not take effect until after the beginning of December and at that point all of my projects/major tests will already be over. Oh well, I will take what I can get. So at this point I still have a huge research project and a health fair booth to get ready, but I will do it, I have to do it. It is my senior year and I'm not going to lose what I have worked so hard for in my last year.
Well now I should do some of that homework and not let it pile up anymore.
-Allison