I'm a grown-up now!

So, it has finally sunk in that I'm an adult...I think. Finishing grad school and getting married weren't enough. But now I think I've hit it because...

I made my first student loan payment today!!!

YIKES!!!

Crazy, huh? This comes just two weeks after starting my first official social work job. I spent four months working as an activity therapist part time before transferring departments at East Central Regional Hospital. I went from playing Yahtzee with consumers to trying to find them places to live. My long, leisurely lunches were swapped with "working lunches" where I try to type and eat a sandwhich at the same time. Leaving 9 minutes early (on the dot) has turned into me being excited if I'm only 9 minutes late getting out.

But, I wouldn't trade the jobs back for anything. I love helping my consumers. I love feeling important. I love having my own office (even if I'm still waiting for a phone). And, I love truely making a difference. Being a grown-up can actually be fun...

O Christmas Tree

Two weeks later than we had planned, we finally put up our Christmas Tree!!! As this is our first Christmas together since being married, I was really looking forward to this. And, our tree may only be three feet tall and not real, but I absolutely love it!

Merry Christmas!!!

Private Healthcare and the Public Option: A Halloween Story

For the past six weeks, our thoughts have focused on Halloween--candy, costumes, plans, etc. We were very excited. Every time we found candy that was at least 50% off at Publix, we bought it. There are so many kids in our neighborhood, and we didn't want to be short. In the end, we had 20 pounds of all "the good stuff." And, we hadn't touched a single piece while in the stockpiling mode.

Our next delima was our costumes. We didn't dress up last year, so we'd never had to come up with matching ideas. This was a BIG challenge. (Devin would want to be a ninja, but I'm too tall to be a geisha....) Eventually, while looking at Grim Reaper and medical accessories side by side in a costume store, we had it! We'd be Death and a Doctor...aka Private Healthcare and the Public Option. Without imposing our views on anyone else (we never said who was who) we received quite a few laughs.

For our festivities, we also made white chocolate peanut butter balls to look like eyeballs for a party.

We had to find a costume that actually fit for our tall, long, and super skinny dog (The Devil).

We carved Mr. Pumpkin.

And, we attempted to had out our candy. After a torrential downpour, we sat in our driveway to entice a few more trick-or-treaters. Ten kids claimed candy, leaving roughly 17 pounds yesterday morning. We've shared with neighbors, missionaries, and friends and are now under ten pounds left to go. It was a little sad not to have more kids come...

But, there's always next year!

79 days...

When our landlords moved out of our house and transferred their mail, this did not stop the flow of random catalogs that arrive at our house. For a while, I would throw them away as they were marked "for current resident," and I was sure these would be reordered at their new house. Then, I started to browse one last week, and it was FULL of the most exciting and random Christmas items! When I found one in the mailbox this afternoon, I was soooo excited to look through it. I guess this new catalog love has made me a little pathetic, but it's definitely gotten me in the Christmas spirit already! Now, I can't wait to start decorating our new house for the season...especially hanging stockings for Devin, Blue and me!

Life is...

...laughing with my husband until we both can't breathe.
...watching my dog chase a toy around the house.
...smelling the fresh rain as I'm leaving work.
...sitting on the porch with neighbors while our dogs play together.
...finding a cereal that I love on sale at Publix.
...knowing I have Halloween candy hidden and not eating
any of it...yet.
...renting a movie and talking to the employees who know
us by name.
...eating a homemade dinner at the end of a long, long day.
...smiling just because I see my Babe.
...smiling just because I think of my Babe.
...knowing my Babe loves me as much as I love him.

Life is very, very good!

Blue Time

I have finally finished all of my orientation and training at work and have begun to settle into what will be my regular schedule. This means I have cut back my hours and have a lot more day time hours at home. Even though I don't necessarily want to work evenings, Blue has loved having me home in the day. We haven't had as much time to spend together, and he's been by himself much more than he is used to these past few weeks. I love having him follow me around and love that he still wants to cuddle!

White Coat

This Saturday was Devin's White Coat Ceremony. After completing his first module of med school, this ceremony was meant to recognize him as a "student-doctor." With this, he will now also start working in the hospital and interacting with patients. I couldn't be prouder of him and speant the whole day smiling. Congratulations Babe!!! :]

Labor Day!

For Labor Day weekend, we went to visit Devin's family...and his brother showed up on his motorcycle. Devin has wanted one for a long time already, and now he's even more excited for the day when he can have one. Just seeing him on one was a lot of fun for me!

Bookworm

We are very slowly finishing unpacking our new home. My wonderful husband spent this afternoon painting the spare bedroom to surprise me. We have been saying for the past two weeks "once the other bedroom is painted..." as our excuse for every mess in the house. So, I was very excited to have this done. Also, Devin had started by painting around our bookshelves first so that they would be dry enough for me to fill up while he finished the borders of the room. I was so excited!!! Here are the final results.

Thankfully, these bookshelves leave us a little room to grow, because medical textbooks are huge...and I just love books!

Augusta

So, I've been thinking that I would wait to do a new post until I had some amazing new pictures. I would use pictures of my newly painted and nicely decorated house. Or, there would be one of Devin and Blue and me exploring a local park. Possibly, I would be able to have a shot of us at some cool get together with new found friends at a fun local restraunt. However, that is not the case. Instead, our nearly 3 weeks here can best be summed up with two standard images that I found with Google.

Since getting here, our lives have been ridiculously busy. We have not finished painting or unpacking. I just finished day 18 of "orientation" at ECRH and have started "training" for the next 2 or 3 weeks. Devin has started classes and already has his first exam Monday! Most nights, I help him study for a little while after he's spent a good bit more time reviewing on his own. Blue is getting more used to being alone but very much enjoys the time we are home. He has also learned to catch a frisbee since getting here, too! We all love time in the backyard playing together. Devin and I also have made time for a couple of the new MD student socials, which have been tons of fun--I just forgot my camera. Hopefully, the pictures I had pondered will become a reality sometime in the near future, at which point I will in fact post them! And, once life gets a little more interesting, I'll blog about that, too...

July

I haven't done to well with posting this month, so I'm just going to sum everything up. Independence Day was a lot of fun for Devin and me. We spent the day cooking a huge meal and had family over to share it with us. Then, we were able to go watch the fireworks at Bishop's Park. We didn't get to do this last year because Devin had to work, so I was especially excited about it. And, it ended up being amazing.

We have also spent this month perfecting our pizza making ablilities. In February we attempted to make our own pizza crust for the first time. It didn't turn out too well. But, we've made pizza four times this month and seem to be getting closer to where we need to be with the help of our great cookbook.

Also, we were able to go visit my family for a few days. The trip flew by too quickly. We spent one day hiking at Ohiopyle and visiting the waterfalls. This was actually the first time that Devin, Blue, and I posed for a family photo. Blue loved his time with my parents' dogs on this vacation and almost stayed behind when we left.

Another day, we visited a lake and spent the day canoeing, swimming, kayaking, playing volleyball, and playing with a frisbee. We picnicked bu the lake for lunch, too. After lunch, we rented a hydrobike to try, which was so much fun but more difficult than you would imagine.

Yesterday, we left my family's home to head back to Watkinsville. On the way, I received a phone call from East Central Regional Hospital in Augusta with a job offer! I am very excited because this was a job I really wanted. It is a better job than I could have ever hoped to have straight out of college. I will start working on August 3rd. Then, Devin starts med school on August 10th. Now, Devin and I are just trying to finalize everything to move there in a week!

Bubble Boy

About a month ago, Devin and I bought 2 tubes of bubbles. That night, we blew them in the backyard for a long time. Later, we had fun with them with friends. A couple nights ago, Devin grabbed a tube of them and started blowing them at Blue. Until I pretended that they were attacking me, he ignored them. Then, he started to fight back. We had so much fun. I still laugh when I watch the video of him! Unfortunately, it's too big for blogger, but you can see it on facebook!

Fixing Blue

One week ago, Blue got "fixed." We tried to talk to him about what this meant, but we don't think he understood. When he came home, he was very drugged up and spent his evening acting like the boy in David after Dentist. By the next morning he was fine, though. The only balls he ever seemed to notice missing were his tennis balls, which had been hidden in a cupboard. He also wanted to continue to play and get dirty as he had before. It was heartbreaking to watch him follow us from room to room slowly piling all his toys at our feet and begging us to rough house with him a little. After following orders for seven days, we have been celebrating since this morning. We've spent hours playing tug-of-war, chasing tennis balls, and running out back. And, Blue was finally able to be bathed again! Yay! After a day like today, I have a little puppy who crashed hours earlier than usual and will likely sleep amazingly well all night long...

New Home

Today Devin and I went to Augusta to look at a couple places to possibly rent starting in August. We had picked out a favorite and loved it even more once we saw it in person! After touring it and talking for a long time, we signed the lease!!! I am super excited to move into our adorable new home in just 8 weeks! :]

Honeymoon Cruise

For anyone who has never been on a cruise before, you need to go! For our honeymoon, Devin and I cruised on the Freedom of the Seas with Royal Caribbean. This is the largest cruise ship in the world right now.

Our first stop was in Labadee, Haiti. Here, we got to enjoy a beach barbeque on a private resort.

The next day, we went to Montego Bay, Jamaica. After arriving, we took a taxi and then a six wheel independent drive vehicle into the jungle. We were able to go on a course of five ziplines, including the longest one in the Caribbean. This day was an absolute blast.

On our last stop, we visited Georgetown, Grand Cayman. I have always wanted to visit the Cayman Islands, so this was amazing. We got to go on a three-stop snorkel excursion. The first visit was to Stingray City, where we swam with, played with, fed, and kissed (for luck) stingrays! Additionally, we were able to go snorkel the Coral Gardens and Barrier Reef. This was a great day.

However, the cruise had to end, as all good things do. So, we made our way back to Watkinsville to settle in to our new, temporary home for the summer!

Wedding Day

Two weeks ago was one of the greatest days ever imaginable. Devin and I were married in the Atlanta Georgia Temple and had a reception in Bogart afterwards.

The night before, we had a super fun barbeque/pool party for Devin’s and my families to meet for the first time. I also had a lot of time with my sisters that night.

Nearly my whole amazing family (We missed you Kate!) was able to come for it. While I am now a "Stephens," I will always be a "McCollum" as well.

I also got to join a new, wonderful family that day.

But, the best part of all was that I gained a husband and became a wife that day. Nothing could have been better that day than that.

A Sticky Situation...

I have a new favorite gum, I think: Orbit Mist Watermelon Spring. I can't wait to try the rest of the Orbit Mist line: Mango Surf and Peppermint Spray. While not accepted by the ADA to strengthen teeth like the regular Orbit gum line, it's just too cool not to try. However, I have a WARNING! If you try to blow a bubble...

You might in up in a very sticky situation!

Winding Down...

I thought college went fast. Wrong. Grad school has been the fastest part of my life...hands down. A year ago, I hadn't even graduated college. 11 months ago, I was just moving to Athens. Wow. Now, in 15 more days, I will be done with college for a verrrrrrrry long time. Someday I'll get a doctorate's, but not now. It's cRaZy that college is ending!

Seventeen Years Ago...

Seventeen years ago, three of my sisters and I sat at the window watching a flash flood outside our Las Vegas home debating what a Native American would name a baby who was born that day. Around dinnertime that night, my little sister was born...without a Native American name. Jessa came as a very loud little girl who wanted to make her presence very known. Every since then, she has always been very energetic, outgoing, and crazy. And, while we could barely stand each other when we were sharing a room at ages 6 and 12, we couldn't be closer now. She has grown to be a very smart, beautiful, and amazing person. Jessa is now one of my very best friends.

Happy Birthday Jessadork!!! I love you!!!

Little Boy Blue

One week ago, I had a sleepy, floppy-earred little puppy to bring home with me. He spent the majority of his time napping and loved spending time in his little bucket bed. At that point, he was given the name Blue for his beautiful eyes.

A few days later, his ears began to stand up, and he looked adorable. Also, he began to be more comfortable with his new enviornment. Blue has a pile of toys that he became inseperable from at this point.



Just a couple days ago, his ears stood up all the way!!! I think he looks so cute and goofy with his too-big ears! I can't get enough!



These pictures may also be the first time he has sat still in days. He loves to play and be active--night and day!



The newest challenge is to teach him to walk on a leash, because I need a running buddy, and he will certainly have enough energy to do it! Of course, he has also found a fire hydrant that he loves...

Puppy Love!!!

When I arrived home on Saturday, I learned that my parents' neighbors had a new litter of puppies! Dad walked into the house carrying one of them, and he was adorable!!!

After talking with Devin and doing very little convincing (he was hooked too!), we decided he had to come home with me at the end of the week.

Since then, I have been spending a little time with him each day...I just can't get enough!

By the end of the week, he will be 5 1/2 weeks old and ready to leave his three brothers and his mother. And, Devin and I will name him once we get home!

Wedding Update

For those of you out in blogland who are wondering what's been going on with plans...

On Saturday, Devin and I had our engagement photos taken at Piedmont Park in Atlanta. This has been one of the most fun parts of wedding planning thus far. Since the last update post, we have also moved the ceremony from Orlando to Atlanta and switched the open house to a reception. However, this is still taking place on May 2nd! We have also registered at Bed, Bath, and Beyond...which was an adventure in and of itself. Now, we are trying to lock in on cakes and catering while trying to take care of flowers and finalize honeymoon plans. Whew! Plus, we don't know where we'll be for the summer yet! But, please enjoy these pictures if you want, because we sure had fun taking them!!! :]

Eventually, the smiles just got to be too much, and we just got goofy! I love that we got to have every picture that was taken...not just the serious "good" ones!