Day 151

Hey folks! It feels like it's been too long!

I'm feeling much better today... woo! I even got up and dressed today. I feel as though I am out of the worst part... this past weekend was horrible.

But as my mom keeps saying, I need to take it easy so that I don't relapse... which is probably true. So, I continue to watch a lot of tv/movies and I continue to read a lot.

Thankfully now I am awake enough to do that... this past weekend I pretty much lay around feeling miserable.

Thanks to all you who have been praying!

Micah moo came and posed for me today... what a sweetie :)

(f/6.3; 1/50s; ISO 800)

So, I quit my job... before I even started it... Yes, that's so sad... But I was able to transfer it over to my sister who was looking for a job. So, my younger sister has a job, while I am unemployed. That's okay though... So far I've gotten over $3,000 in graduation gifts (thanks to my wonderful grandparents who gave me more than 1/2 of that :))... So that should more than cover my class this summer and my fall semester. In the fall I can go to work and save up as much as possible and pay for the Spring semester. Then, in the Summer, I'll find a full time job and work and save as much as possible for the next school year.

It feels good to have a plan... although I'm sure this plan will probably change.

God really does provide though :)

Other happenings of this past weekend were not so great. Sunday it was my mom's birthday. I dragged myself out of bed so that I could join them for lunch.. but really I was out of it ALL day. Sunday afternoon, I stayed home and my family went on a walk on some trails here in the springs... on said walk they passed right by a rattle snake. Andrew and Poncho were the closest to the snake. Andrew jerks P away from the snake because he is trying to sniff it, and then they continue on their walk. Soon after that P starts whining. All of a sudden he just stops walking. My mom starts thinking that he was bit by the rattle snake. So, she calls a friend and finds a 24 hour vet. They rush him over to the vet... and the vet shaves his neck looking for a bite mark... She couldn't find one so then they just assume that Andrew must have jerked P a little too hard, and so the vet tells my family to take P home and just let him rest.

The next day, my mom decides to give him a bath... when she was drying him off she sees that his neck is just all black and blue... she can't decide if it is a bruise or if it could be internal bleeding. Thinking that it may be internal bleeding she rushes back to the vet. Later on, the veterinarian concludes that the rattle snake must have scathed P, and so he was injected with venom. He's been at the vet hospital since Monday night. Sadly, today we found out that there is not much more they can do for him, so he's either going to die within the next week, or he is magically going to get better.

The hardest part for me is just watching my little siblings cry. Poncho was thier friend. We just keep thanking God that it wasn't one of the kids who were bit by the snake.

Anything could happen over the next week... we'll keep hoping and praying.

Day 149

Yesterday was my mom's birthday.... so Happy Birthday to her!

I was hoping to at least do something nice for her, but I've been so tired...

I did manage to get out of bed and go out to lunch with her and the family.

We went to an all you can eat buffet... which worked out nicely because I've been having some weird cravings. All I ate was mashed potatoes and gravy. Maybe I wanted that because it was so easy to eat?

(f/5.6; 1/25s; ISO 400)

I'll probably look back at these pictures... and think about how dumb they look... but really, I could hardly wake up to take them.

Day 148

Definitely not the best lighting... but I was too tired to try and move it somewhere else. So for now, I'm just going to say that all the noise in the picture adds character. :) 

I got these flowers at graduation last night. I actually told Julianna to get me flowers and give them to me after I graduate so that I look all cool. I'm surprised my mom went along with the plan. She probably felt bad that I was sick. So we can just say that these are "happy graduation and get well" flowers. 

I'm going to try and keep up with this project as much as possible, but I have been sleeping A LOT. So there are days that I might miss. I just hope I can recover quickly, and get my life back. 

Day 147- graduation

My mom took most of these pictures, and the camera was on auto. A lot of the pictures of the actual ceremony were taken with my telephoto lens. 

Enjoy!

before graduation

My siblings

My beautiful mom

My mom creepin' on the Schultz family.... way to go mom :) 

David borrowed his brother's NHS thing... so he was the only one in the entire graduation wearing one... although there was about five more of us who were in the NHS

I look strange

The first co-validictorian (she got her entire Bachelors degree in high school) 

(Other co-validictorian)

I'm right behind the tall guy. 

This just shows that Vicadin can be confusing... I wasn't sure if I was supposed to turn around and face the audience or not... so I just stood sideways.... Here they called all the NHS members to stand up. 

David getting his degree

Woo, degree! 

Now David got his diploma

Me with my diploma

Boykin sang... but had to read the lyrics off of his phone... 

Hat throwin' time.. I threw mine like 2 feet cause I didn't want to lose it. 

My mom started taking pictures when I still had food in my mouth. 

Sisters

My mom and I... do we look alike?

My family... we are one strange group. 

For those of you who may be wondering...

I have mono.

No idea where I got it, but it's good to know why I've been feeling so horrible... and sleeping so much.

I can still go to graduation... I was prescribed vicadin for the pain... My spleen is swollen, and so that is why my body hurts so much.

Now I shall try to take a quick nap (which won't be hard) and wake up in time for graduation (that's the hard part).

Photography Contest

Day 146

No picture for today... still feeling pretty bad.

Day 145

The only pictures I took today were with my webcam.


Unfortunately I have not been feeling well lately. I went to Urgent Care tonight because we're thinking that it is possible that I have walking pneumonia. That's just one guess though.

Tomorrow was supposed to be my first day of work, but I had to call off and I feel so horrible. But I don't think I could have gone and watched two rambunctious boys while I'm having trouble breathing and I have no energy.

Tomorrow I will probably go get a chest xray and some blood drawn... hopefully we can figure out what this is! Then these headaches, pain while breathing, shallow breaths, and fatigue will go away... hopefully. Right now I am taking it easy and sleeping when I can... which is actually quite a bit. I was over at my neighbors house today and I fell asleep there... Which is so weird.

Day 144

(f/4.0; 1/80s; ISO 1600) 

The kids were super excited to see Poncho when we arrived home around 9:30 p.m. Poncho was equally excited to see them. It was great.

Not a great picture, but I didn't look at my settings at all when I took it.

May 24, 2011

In about 30 minutes, I'm going to get in my car and drive to Denver.

My family gets back tonight!

It's been 9 1/2 months and I made it!

I feel like this is something I should celebrate.

Word.

Day 143

Boys are SO messy.

(f/5.6; 1/50; ISO 1600)

The ISO was too high.... but then the lighting would have been really bad...

This Weekend.

Yesterday was a good, exhilarating, long, fun, happy, and tiring day. It was full of laughter and conversation.

I went to Denver with my friend Bailey. We went shopping (the Forever 21 there is HUGE), we ate good food, and we took some fun photos.

Today was another busy day. I had church, an interview, a graduation party to go to, and plans with a friend. 

Days like those are good. I like being busy. 

Oh, and I am 99% sure that I found a job. She wants to check my references, which should be stellar. In that case, I will start Thursday. It's two nine hour days a week. Which is nice, because then I still have free time this summer to spend with my family and my friends. She has two boys (what is it with me and always watching boys???) Thier ages are 7 and almost 6. 

It's nice to know what I am doing with my life over the summer. I definitely feel much more at peace now. Although, I know that even if this job does fall through, God is good and He always provides. 

I vote this was a good weekend.... and it isn't over yet... I'm assuming that this entire week is going to be grand. Tuesday my family comes back, and then on Friday I graduate :) 

Day 142

Hello Spring, thanks for coming even though it is practically Summer.

(f/ 8.0; 1/160s; ISO 400)

Okay, really... I put no effort into this picture... I grabbed my camera and took a picture of whatever was closest. But, I do love the different shades of green.

Day 141

Today was a good day. 

And I feel more confidant than ever before in my photography skills. 

What do you think of this photo:

(f/ 5.6; 1/320s; ISO 400)

Of course, Bailey was a great model. 

She was so easy to work with. 

And she is already GORGEOUS. 

I think I will be posting a few more pictures from today, but I think this one is my favorite. 

Day 140

   I dislike goodbyes. 

They make me sad. 

So, when I had to drop off my dad at the airport at 5 this morning...

Well, let's just say I was in a slump all day. 

It's known as the "saying goodbye to family" slump. 

I sat by myself. All day. 

It was lonely.
But it was somewhat expected, and not uncommon.
Maybe the next time a family member leaves I should have plans to keep myself occupied?
That sounds smart. 

In the end, I'm thankful to have friends who laugh with me.

I'm thankful to have a God, who is all powerful.

And I am thankful to have a family, even when they are far away. 

Also, these pictures were thoroughly edited in Picnik.... whoever knew that department stores have BAD lighting?

The top picture is one of the dresses I am considering on getting for graduation. Who knows. 

Day 139

Meet my fish.
He's pretty easy to take care of.
Which is good.
Although, somedays I'm surprised that he is still alive.

(f/4.5; 1/20s; ISO 800)

Happy Birthday, Blog!

One year, and 196 posts later, I am still blogging. Last year when I wrote this post I did not think I would still be here a year later... and with almost 200 posts no less. It's been a good year, and I enjoy going back and reading older posts that I wrote. It's a good reminder to me on how things change, and how prayers are answered. So, here's to another year. Will I make it? Who knows, but I feel like it's much more likely than it was a year ago.

In other words... I still do not have a job. I've had several offers, but I haven't felt much peace about any of it. Maybe I'm being too picky... but I think it's more than that.

This past month, something that I have been thinking about is how God ALWAYS provides. always. Last year at this time I was in this very same position, and although I had several interviews, I never got a job for the summer. Finally, on June 4th I had a great interview. That interview gave me the job that I have today... with my three favorite little boys :) I know that come August, I will be back again, and even before then I am sure they will still use me for the occasional date night and what not.

At the beginning of this semester it was looking like I was only going to be working about 10 hours a week... it ended up that I worked close to 20 hours a week. It was perfect.

I believe that this is a good time for me to really just trust in God. It is yet another way that I can build my relationship with Him. This doesn't mean that I stop looking for a job, but it means that I don't worry about it. That is such a huge sense of relief. If I don't get a job this summer, then so be it. If I do? Well that would be great!

I will wait... as patiently as I can.


Happy Thursday, ya'll!

Day 138

Have you ever just taken some time to look at God's creation? Every once in awhile I do... and I am reminded once again just how glorious it is. It's beautiful.

(f/32; 1/20; ISO 400)