What Goes Around...

As you have read before, I was hoping to get the position at our hospital as the primary physical therapist on the Neuro/trauma floor; unfortunately, I was overlooked, and the position was given to a co-worker whom had little experience. At first, yes, I hated it and felt I was not a good therapist. Well, last week my supervisor came to me and asked if I was still interested in being the PT up on 8East because the person who was chosen the first time, wasn't able to handle the position and was often forgetting important things needed in documentation. I told my supervisor I'd have to think about it. I didn't want to be thought of as second-best.

A decision was made, and I said yes. As of thursday, July 10th, I am officially the primary therapist on 8 East!! Yeah! I've had many people say that things happen for a reason, and I truely believe there was a reason for this, however, I am not sure what it was. But, what goes around, comes around, and look where it has gotten me now!? Now starts a whole other world and keeping me more busy than before. I guess this is a good thing. I must say I'm a little nervous but I know I have what it takes. Hopefully everything will work out and I'll be able to do what needs to be done and make sure my patients are receiving the care they deserve. That is the main thing to think about!

Congrats to the Graduate!

Well, for all of you who know my little sister, Emily, she has finally graduated from college!!Friday, June 13th, Emily got to walk down the aisle for her college graduation from Arts Institute International with a bachelors of Science in Advertising! As you can see, she makes a cute graduate!! My parents, Joe and I and his mother Donna, and Em's boyfriend, Kyle were all lucky to attend this magnificent event. It was held at the St. Thomas church on the St. Thomas Minneapolis Campus in downtown Minneapolis. It was a beautiful afternoon for a wondrous day! Here is a cute picture of the new Graduate! Now all we have to do is help here find a job! So if any of you know of anyone in the Twin Cities looking to hire someone with an advertising degree, please let me know so I can share the news with her!

Here is a picture of the two of us together! It's hard to believe the two of us are actually related! But I must say I do love her dearly!

Here is a great family photo since the wedding! We really don't have too many of these so they are precious and worth while.

After the graduation, Emily had the decision on where we would go for dinner. Since we were in downtown Minneapolis and it was just at the start of rush hour, no one really wanted to drive anywhere. So we settled on eating at The News Room, which was only two blocks from the Hilton hotel our parents were staying at. Aren't we all just cute!





One side of the table was Joe, myself, and our dad!








The other side was Donna, Emily, and our mom!

After eating, we headed back to my parents hotel room for cake made by my grandfather. If you can remember, he was the one who made our wedding cake, as well as most of the other ones I may have brought up to school with me. ( Sorry, no picture of the cake! Oops!) After saying our good-byes, Joe, Donna and I headed down to Bloomington toward our hotel. The reason why Donna was with us, she was flying out of Minneapolis to St. Thomas for two weeks!! Lucky her! She asked us to take her car home instead of leaving it down at a Park-and-Fly. Mike, Donna's husband, will be driving down to the cities to fly out on Thursday and the car'll be left at that point! Anyways, she in the sun and having fun, of course!

Over the rest of the weekend, Joe and I stayed down there till Sunday, hung out with the family and the new grad, did some shopping at the Mall of America, traveled over to Golf USA, and just relaxed. It was a nice little get-a-way from Duluth. Sunday, we drove back up to Superior, stopping in North Branch and did a bit more shopping, not that we really needed to buy anything else, but we stopped, as well as my parents. After a brief stop there, we headed up to Hinckley, had lunch at Tobeys, bought two caramel rolls, and made the rest of the trip to our home. Upon getting back, we ran inside, stopped in the bathroom (I really have a tiny bladder!!), and then headed back over the bridge the Miller Hill Mall to Gordons to have my ring checked out. I was informed down at a Gordon's in MOA my diamond was loose and needed to get checked out. So stopping up here made sense! Upon talking to the associate working there, he informed us this wasn't something they could get fixed!! So right now, I am ringless, and not happy about that. But that's another story to talk about another time! I must say I miss that ring. All in all, it really was a great weekend. Congrats again to Emily! The whole world is at your fingertips! I love you!

And of course, I had to add one of Joe and I, just so y'all can see our smiling faces!!

The 10-Year HS Class Reunion

The other day, I received notice about my upcoming high school class reunion. I can't believe it has already been 10 years since I left the little town of Washburn and ventured out into the big unknown. Well, I started looking back at the times I had during high school and realized, yet again, I need not go down that road. I hated almost every moment I had during that time frame. I was teased often, more so because I was better at sports than some of the guys in my class. I wasn't necessarily part of the "in crowd" so I more often than not, got left out of things and was very rarely invited to events or parties. (Hmm, this is sounding more and more like my time in college and post-college times.) I guess I felt school was more important than drinking, drugs, and getting into trouble, something my parents instilled in me, "You have to get a good education to make it far in this world." I'm glad I had a family that pushed me to be the best I could be and to do whatever I wanted to do. (Otherwise, I probably would have given up on being a Physical Therapist after the second time I didn't pass my boards exam and I'd still be working at hell, I mean Sam's Club.) I should say thank you to all of those who have helped me to get to where I am today. If it wasn't for y'all, I'm sure I'd be a whole different person. Our friends are the ones to get us through those hard times and make sure we still have our head above the water to breathe.

As for the reunion, I'm not too sure this is something I really want to do. I feel obligated to attend because of the time Kristen is putting into everything to set it all up. But honestly, I'm not sure if I'm ready to travel down that road again. When I graduated, I wanted to get as far away from some of them that I could. Some people made my life a living hell. There are couple of people I'd like to see though. I have discussed with a fellow classmate, Travis, that we'd drink together, and this time I wouldn't throw up on his shoes like I did the first time we drank together. (The first time I actually drank during HS was a our graduation, so I held out for a long time, all things considered.) There are many things that have always bothered me: many of my classmates never left Washburn, and still live there, either working in the grocery store or not making it is life with many children hanging on their arms. Some have done wonders for them and have their own businesses. To me, I just don't understand why they didn't want to try bigger and better things than little ol' Washburn. But other than these little things, I'm not even sure if many people are going to attend because a fellow HS classmate is getting married that weekend as well. I'm not invited, thank goodness, but I know she is still good friends with a lot of others from our class. So who knows who'll show up either venue.

I'm thinking the appropriate thing to do is attend. I do have things to hang in front of others and of course that include: my great and wonderful husband; my good health after losing 36 pounds and a breast reduction; a great job working as physical therapist; and the ability to say I've made something of myself and have moved on from the small town and ventured out in life to try something new. No matter what happens or what people may think, I can honestly say I am finally happy with myself and am glad as to where I am in life. Granted, we haven't taken the "baby" road yet, but that's to come shortly. So I guess going in with a positive attitude is what will have to be done, and be happy for others choices as to where they are in their lives as well. So if any of you gal's have any hints of making it through the night sober, please feel free to chime in any time! Otherwise, it's looking like my parents are going to be picking us up again at the bar. Its a good thing they'll be around, cause I think I won't be sober enough to drive. Oh well!

Wonderful "US" Day!

Last Friday, Joe took the day off to spend with me. We both had a horrible week at work, and he felt this was a good opportunity for us to have an "Us" day that we've so badly needed. Ever since Joe started his second job, we haven't had too much "Us" time lately and when we can find it, it is golden. Since he surprised me taking the day off, it meant a lot to know he's been thinking of us. To start the day off, we slep until 8 A.M.! A late day for us! We then decided to get some coffee at Starbucks and then make our way up the North Shore. Along our way, we had a great talk, granted it was mainly me bitchin' about my job and new supervisor, but it was pleasant. After passing Two Harbors, we still hadnt decided where we were going. As we passed Gooseberry, we decided to head up to Split Rock Light House. As we stopped at the front gate, we decided to by a Yearly Pass to MN State Parks, that way we have to get out more, hicking and what-not to get our money's worth. Plus, then, we have to spend time together!

Pulling up to the visitors center, we came across this vehicle, which just added to our day. Definately made me and Joe smile! How could you not when you see a sign like that!?

Arriving at the visitor center, we looked around to notice hardly any one else enjoying the day. We thought the two of us were the only ones there, until another couple showed up about twenty minutes later! Upon rounding the visitors center, we literally had to follow the signs to the lighthouse. How appropriate! It's amazing how much fun you can have when you don't have a care in the world and you are just out to have a good time together!

Another photo-op! Aren't we just cute together!?! Smile for the camera! Lovely!

Since we were really the only two around for awhile, we decided to have a little fun, and started taking pictures and poses to remember the moments!

After spending some time around the actual lighthouse, (we couldn't go into any of the buildings at that time because we were there early in the season and there were renovations still going on), we thought we'd walk around and take the trail down to the lake. It was a pleasant, yet long walk through the woods. We spent some time looking at the vegetation and trees that were eaten by rabbits! As we grew closer to the lake, we stopped and found the stairs we'd be taking back up to the top. Hmmm, I was planning on counting them during our venture back up, but then I changed my mind when I saw really how many were there!! Alittle too many for me!

As you can tell, it was a beautiful day outside. You couldn't have asked for more, I must say! While we were walking around on the rocks, we stopped and sat for a bit to enjoy the atmosphere and the company. Before long, another couple showed up. It was interesting listening to them because you could tell they were from another country. Foreign languages are always fun to listen to. They were taking pictures as Joe and I were, so we offered to take their picture, as they did for us!

After leaving the lighthouse, we headed home and stopped at Ski Hut to look for new bikes for the both of us. Once we were done there we headed to the movie theater and watched a great, funny, yet stupid movie: Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It just put a great twist to a wonderful day. Spending this quality time with each other meant the world to the both of us.

Mother's Day and Breast Cancer Walk

Since it is Mother's Day weekend, I decided to sign up for the Mother's Day and Breast Cancer Walk here in Duluth at the DECC. I had asked my mom and sister if they'd be willing to join me in the little venture, but they were unable to make it up for the early morning walk. So, I asked my mother-in-law to join me! It was a good morning. We only did the 2-mile walk, but it was so worth it. It was only about 40 degrees out or so, but there were so many participants! Made me feel good to know there are so many people out in our communities that are willing to share and be a part in saving lives and raising money for such a great cause! I couldn't tell you how many people were exactly there, but I know I saw numbers higher than 1200 for bibs! That's over $30,000 from one little walk! I just think its a great way to get everyone moving and raising funds for a good cause! Anyways, Donna and I had a good talk and finished the 2-miles in just under 29 minutes. For us, that's good!! So, yeah for those who work for others and share ways of changing peoples lives.