Dear family, friends, and random stranger that may be reading this…

Merry Christmas!!  I cannot believe that it is this time of year again, 2011 is almost over and it seems like just yesterday that we were ringing in the new year.  So much and so little has happened this year that I do not know where to start.  At one time I was a great corresponder, I would write out Christmas cards make my ‘holiday’ letter and send them to people I barely knew as long as your address was in my address book and I kinda/sorta knew you.  Now you’re lucky if you get a ‘howdy’.  I’m terrible.  I’m also a broke college student with very little time on my hands; therefore I’m going the easy route and writing a blog that I will make available to everyone (via email, facebook, or if you know my web address) and I’ll call it even ~ though for those that sent me cards and letters I do feel guilty for not returning the favor.  Just know that you are WORTH .44 cents, the cost of an envelope and paper to me…but to get you updated and to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year within this year, this was my route I had to take.  (Please forgive me!!)

This year was very random and also structured for me.  After finally deciding what I wanted to be when I grew up, at the age of 33,  I started the year off by testing for the RN Nursing program at Three Rivers College.  I tested in February and then had to wait until April to find out if I made it into the program; that was a VERY long two months.  I finally received my acceptance letter and knew that fall of 2011 was planned out for me; I would be starting the RN nursing program and hopefully the career that would take me into retirement.  I started the semester in August, and I’m pretty sure I will never be the same.  I knew it was going to be hard, and the work load was going to be more than in the past, but can honestly say that I was not prepared for what hit me that first morning of classes…nor the four months that followed.  Every day was a learning experience, with some highs and lows.  But I made it!!  I passed my first semester and we will continue on.

This is the uniform I get to wear for clinical days during school.  It’s better than some, and probably worse than some.  The top is a half-zipper shirt, instead of unzipping all the way down, it stops at about navel level…therefore you’re still pulling it off over your head.  Sometimes I feel like a gym contortionist.  And don’t miss the WHITE hose and shoes that top the outfit off, they add that special umph.  :)

In June my mom’s family (The Phillips) did a family reunion in Van Buren, MO.  It was great getting to meet everyone and spend the day/weekend with them.  Family is a great commodity!!  Some of her cousin’s couldn’t make it down for the reunion, so in July we hopped in the car and did a mini-vacation to Michigan to spend Fourth of July weekend with the Rowe’s.  It was a GREAT weekend spent with family, eating way to much food, adding a ‘CITY’ to my list of places I’ve been, and relaxing.

School started shortly after and I basically did nothing but eat, breath, and live school.  It was so bad that I didn’t step into a store other than Wal-Mart for four months.  In December (actually October when practices started), I took the part of Petunia in the annual Dinner Theater our church does (Christmas At Our House), we went for nine nights with approximately 350/night.  So we performed in front of about 3100 people that week, the women in the kitchen feed them (that’s A LOT of food), and the hard working people from the church pitched in and gave of themselves to bring joy to people in our community to kick off their Christmas season.  Sometimes I question my own sanity in taking on that endeavor with everything else (school, two jobs, and life in general); but it was worth it.  I love getting to see everyone from year to year, and being in the play is a lot of fun…and I survived so it’s all o.k. :)

When school let out after finals I took another mini-vacation to St. Louis and Columbia, MO.  I took a side trip to Devils ]Icebox one day.  It was a great time to relax, bum around the city, and do nothing.  Trying to regroup so I can start fresh com January 17 (when classes open again).  The time in God’s Country USA (otherwise known as National Forest), was great.  It was beautiful.

That wraps up my year of 2011.  Hope you enjoyed the update.  I would like to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!  May we never forget the meaning of the Season, and give Him the acknowledgement He deserves for all He does for us behind the scenes and openly; not only during this Season but throughout the year.  God has been good to me this year, He has supplied my needs (financially and physically) and He has been there to help me through the lows and to walk with me through the highs of the past year.  Without Him I would be nothing.  I may not always be what I need to be, or the perfect person…but I know that He loves me.

I do hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas and New Year…

ERM