I'm still alive!

Hello everybody!

This is Nick here, I know I know, it's been too long. Needless to say, the past 4 months have been some of the craziest so far. Where to begin...well first, I finished up my youth minister internship in Whitney at the beginning of August. And then, after only one week back home in Tomball to relax, I moved up here to my new home: Lubbock! I moved into my dorm here at Lubbock Christian University, and my roommate is my good friend from home, Jordan Meuse. We have a pretty sweet set-up if you ask me. We have two rooms, joined by one bathroom. In one room, we put the beds and desks and all of our study stuff. In the other room, we have a 48 inch plasma TV (thanks to Mara Bosch and her husband!), a fouton, surround sound, a microwave, a coffee pot, and many other wonderful items that every college student needs. So if you're ever bored and in the Lubbock area, come by our dorm for some entertainment!!!

Also, Katie and I have gone on an adventure since we have both been here. Seeing as she never took the time to come see me and my church family in Whitney, I dragged her down there last weekend!







So you might be wondering, "What do these pictures have to do with anything?" Well...while in Whitney, we visited my good friend Matt Bruce (big guy with glasses) who just so happens to have two donkeys! And on the way back from Whitney, Katie and I stopped in Dublin for some delicious Dublin Dr. Pepper!

Well that's about all there is too it! I'm sure if I missed any important details, Katie will be sure to point them out to you. :) As a quick sign off, I type in Greek, seeing as I am learning that in class: αγάπε. Cool isn't it!?

The countdown begins!

2 more weeks until my summer school ends! I am finally beginning to see the light, and I can not wait for my two week break in August. I have really enjoyed anatomy and all of my OT classes, but my brain needs a siesta! I was able to take a small break this weekend, though, because Nick surprised me and came to Lubbock! It was wonderful to have him here. He came Thursday evening and stayed until Saturday. We spent our weekend catching up on some movies we have not been able to see together due to our busy summers and going to the leisure pool at Tech. I am in LOVE with the leisure pool! I think every university should have a lazy river, pool, and water slide!










I mean, seriously, what college kid does not like the pool in the summer? Friday provided Nick and I with beautiful weather to be at the pool, and the sun was not being shy (Nick got burnt, but we are not going to talk about that because someone *cough* myself told him to put on sunscreen but he said he was fine and wasn't burning...) Because of these unmentionable event, Nick spent most of Saturday layering himself in Aloe Vera. We had fun, though, sunburn or no sunburn!

To back track a little, last weekend after our anatomy test on Friday the girls and I planned a weekend full of fun! We all went to the leisure pool on Friday and floated for a good 2 hours and then played water volleyball for another two. Needless to say, I, once again, discovered and showed everyone at the pool that I am NOT even close to being skilled when it comes to volleyball...really any sport that involves a ball causes issues for me. At least I was able to provide a good laugh for everybody, and I had fun trying. On Saturday we all went to the drive in movies and saw "Despicable Me." We took Mandi's truck and put a futon mattress in the back. The movie was fantastic! I highly recommend seeing the movie. Here is a sneak peak (and my favorite scene).





Because our 4th of July celebration got rained out, Mandi still had smores supplies at her house. We have been wanting to make smores for a long time, so we all came to the conclusion that the drive in would be the perfect place...WRONG! We brought candles and the graham crackers, marshmellows, and Hershey's chocolate. The first clue that this was going to be a bad idea was obviously our lack of light to even see what we were doing. We lit our tea light candles and tried to roast the marshmellows but the wind was blowing too hard and the flame was a little small for roasting. The next problem was the temperature outside...it was pretty toasty outside which lead to our chocolate bars becoming chocolate syrup. We tried so hard but in the end we all ended up with warm marshmellows, runny chocolate, and graham cracker. It provided a good laugh and it still tasted good, so we were not too disappointed!








Also, here are a few pictures from Kelsi's birthday party. We made masks, dressed up, and went to eat. It was a blast!








Until next time, I hope everyone is having a great week! I will keep you posted on the countdown :)

And the cadeavor adventure continues...

So before I get into all of the wonderful things that are taking place in the cadeavor lab, I will start by updating you on what has been going on these last few weeks. Two weeks ago my mom came to visit, and we had a great time! She flew into Lubbock Thursday night and left on Sunday. I have officially decided that Lubbock has one of the tiniest airports EVER! I walked in the wrong dooor (on the complete opposite side of the airport) and it only took me about a minute to get to my correct desination which was on the other side of the airport. I usually get really nervous trying to navigate airports, but this one was a breeze! We had a great weekend! We went shopping, got ice cream, made a new recipes, and even studied just a bit. It was really nice to have her here!

My mom and I cooking!


Baked Spaghetti

My mom bought Stella a new toy, but Stella seemed more amused by the box itself

This past weekend I had another visitor: Nick! He drove up to Lubbock on Thursday after church camp and we got to celebrate the 4th of July together. Seeing that I am such a planner, I made eleaborate 4th of July plans for us. We were going to go over to one of my friend's houses, Mandi, and meet up with some of my OT girls. At her house we were going to cookout and then head to Big Springs lake to watch fireworks. Problem #1 with this plan: Lubbock had a downpour on Thursday, so the fireworks at the lake got canceled. Problem #2: It continued to rain on Saturday and Sunday and the roads flooded so bad that Nick and I could not navigate my little grandma car around town. Solution to all of this....Mandi had to come retrieve us from Walmart and drive us to her house where we still cooked out (under umbrellas) and played Uno. We were able to get one of the fireworks to work, but the rain pretty much soaked the rest. It was still fun though and I have officially come to the conclusion that Lubbock is not set up to get more than like an inch of rain! I wish I had pictures, but just to describe to you how bad it was, all of the parks were underwater and you could see the lamp posts sticking out. The parks all looked like lakes. I think the city of Lubbock should reconsider there drainage plan! Besides all of the water and craziness, we managed have a really great weekend. I even took Nick down to the cadeavor lab to show him what I have been working on in lab. He did really good! He did decide that he never wanted to be a doctor, though, and that he has no idea how I am able to dissect everyday...good thing he wants to be a youth minister!

Okay, now to the cadeavor adventures!!! Today we cut through the skull of our cadeavor with a bone saw and removed the brain!! I know! Its crazy! I felt like I was on Grey's Anatomy. I chose not to handle the bone saw, in fear that I may mess things up, but I did volunteer to remove the brain. It was a really neat experience!

I'm taking over!

So I decided last night that I will probably be the only one able to post on the blog this summer...so I am taking over! Notice the new layout and picture! I think it is wonderful, but I am sure when Nick realizes that "our" blog has been "bedazzled" he will be surprised to say the least. Oh well it will be fun while it lasts! Enjoy the pretty, girly backgrounds everyone!

Brain Break

I had my first anatomy test last week and it went well! I feel like I have a full time job studying for anatomy, but thankfully I only have 7 more weeks (yes I am counting down). I did come to the conclusion last week, during a study break, that life would be much easier as a cat. I looked up from my books to see them lounging and living a carefree life. The pictures below will explain exactly why this seems so appealing...

This weekend my mom is coming into town! I am really excited to see her because this going a whole month without seeing family is not working for me. I will also have Nick here for the 4th of July weekend. We will be celebrating by having a cookout and watching fireworks on the lake with some of my friends from OT school. I had no idea that Lubbock had any lakes, but we will see what they call a lake here...I am thinking it will be more like a pond, either way hanging out with everyone should be a blast!

And just because I need to vent for a second...somehow I have managed to end up with rapper, gangster, drinking type neighbors AGAIN! I am convinced that I have the worst luck! My freshmen year of college I had the same issue and when I called the courtesy cop for a noise complaint, the guy ended up getting arrested because he had a warrant for something worse than noise. Needless to say I think I will have issues with this my whole life (sigh). I mean the reason I moved into my apartment complex now because is because it is a complex where a lot of young families and older people live. Apparently I just thought I could break the curse...boy was I wrong! It seems the only young, partying individual in this place resides in the apartment right next to me. This has presented a few issues because I need a quiet atmosphere to study and sleep (like most normal people do), so I have had to call the courtesy cop twice. The office told me next time I call, he will be evicted so he is hanging by his last thread! I have never considered myself to be a hard person to live next too, but I have a small fuse for noise. We will see how it goes, though. I haven't heard a sound from him in the last week, so things may be looking up!

On the other hand, I feel it neccessary to announce that Nick is still alive and doing great in Whitney! I would elaborate more, but, well I don't know anything else! He is extremely busy, so hopefully I can get a play by play of what happened this summer in August when his internship ends. I do know that he is at church camp right now as a counselor. This week is the junior high kids camp and next week is high school age kids. Nick has to stay for both sessions so I am sure he will be exhausted when he arrives in Lubbock for the 4th of July. The boy will need some sleep for sure! I did get the opportunity to have dinner with his Aunt Donna and Emily this Tuesday, though, and we had a great time! Emily is coming to Texas Tech this Fall, and I have already planned for us to have dinner at my apartment at least a few times a month (I will have to let her know of these plans, of course). I am excited for her to be here and I know Nick is even more excited! Well that seems to be all for now. I hope everyone is having a great summer!

Don't forget to take a deep breath

So life has been absolutely crazy since the last post! Two weeks ago I moved to Lubbock and Nick went on his merry way to Whitney, TX. He is doing a great job as an intern there and is having a great time with all of the kids! He recently designed a t-shirt for the youth group, so I will try and hassle him to put a picture up of the design.

Since I moved to Lubbock a week early, I was a worried about what I was going to do to occupy myself, but thankfully my wonderful friends came to the rescue! Jen and Becca drove up to Lubbock and stayed for about 5 days. It was so much fun to have them here! We explored Lubbock and even went to New Mexico to see Roswell.

They left the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, but I was not alone for long. Nick and I met in Abilene Sunday night and spent some time together. It was really nice to see him and we treasured every moment because I may not see him agian until August. We basically found everything to do in Abilene that was free. We went to the mall, to the park, and even on a self directed tour of ACU. Unfortunately, on the way back my 2 and a half hour drive to Lubbock turned into a 4 and a half hours because I missed my exit...another reason I should probably get a GPS.

As far as my life goes at the moment...oh wait I don't have one! I started classes at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center on Tuesday, and I haven't been able to breath since. I am taking three classes, two focused on Occupational Therapy and an anatomy class where we dissect cadeavers. I was a little bit concerned about dissecting a human, but so far I have been fine in the lab (no passing out, feeling faint, or even needing to sit down). My lab group is all boys, which makes for an interesting lab session everyday, but they have turned out to be a great group! We will be dissecting all summer, and we have lecture every day for 2 and a half hours. It is definitely exhausting! I have met a lot of girls in the MOT program, but I have become really close with about five of them. We have formed a study group, which I was a little weary about because I have never felt like I benefited from group study, but I am warming up to the idea. It is amazing what a motivated group of girls can get done...nothing like undergraduate groups which usually consist of a little study and a lot of chatting. We met today and studied for 3 hours together, making charts and talking through all of the muscle functions. This is going to be a tough summer, but thankfully I am not working so I can devote every bit of free time I have to school. I may not be posting very much thoughout the summer because of how busy I am, but I will make sure Nick updates everyone on how things are going!

Wow, what a month!

Well hello strangers! This is Nick here. I have been planning to post something in our blog for quite some time now, but then finals happened, and I ceased to exist for a week. But that's all over as of yesterday!! Well, for those of you who don't know, I went to Whitney about 2 weeks ago to interview for a youth intership position. Oh, you want to know if I got the position? Ok ok, don't be so nosey about it. Yes! I got the job! It was an incredible weekend with the church in Whitney, and I felt like I was right at home there, even though it's a pretty small little country town and I'm somewhat of a city boy. I'm sure they'll straighten me out though. :) The one downside to all of this though is that Katie will be six hours away in Lubbock, carving up a cadaver for her anatomy class like it was the Thanksgiving turkey. Yuck.

In other news! Katie turned 21 on May 6th and she drank until she couldn't see straight...just kidding. She had some fancy wine drink at Cheddars that she couldn't even finish. The night after her birthday, her and I celebrated by going out to the Houston Aquarium for an evening of food, fishies, and fun amusement park rides. She got a fancy daquiri drink at the restaraunt that tasted just like banana bread! And being the loving fiance that she is, she bought me a big stuffed sea turtle from the gift shop. I named him Tito. If I wasn't writing this blog at work, I could post all of our pictures that we took, but I guess you will all just have to check the Facebook if you want to see them.

And finally! I am officially done with my time at Lonestar College- Tomball!!! After two long years of servitude, Lonestar has finally released me. Come the 24th of May, I will be moving into my new church home at Whitney, preparing an awesome summer for the youth group there. I do have to ask for a little help though from all of you lovely readers on the internet. What are some fun activities and event that I could do for the kids this summer? Please, any and all ideas will be considered, nothing is too crazy!! So leave comments of your ideas, so that I may be inspired. :) Well that's all I have for today. Thanks for reading, and as usual, feed the fish on your way out.

Nick