I can't believe I am doing this....

Hello Everyone!!!! I think the title says it all... I can't believe I am doing this.... that is starting a blog!!! I guess the fact that its yucky outside and being bored has a lot to do with my choice to start one... so here we go! I love to read other people's blog and always seem to find them entertaining, but I am not sure how I will do with mine (but I am willing to give it a try). I just have to try to think about what I can write about... I guess I will try to update everyone on my life for the past few years! Here it goes...

Well I think most people know that I went to college in Wilson, NC and graduated in May of 2007. After finishing undergrad I went on to grad school at the University of Maryland to get my masters in Medical Social Work. I finished grad school in May of 2008.

While attending grad school I must have thought I was super woman because I thought it was a good idea to not only focus on grad school but also try to plan a wedding and build a house all at the same time!!!! Needless to say... I was a very busy person for that year and half (and probably not very nice).

We built our house just outside of Spring Grove, PA (right near York, PA). It was a long and difficult process, but we absolutely love our house. We built a two story house with four bedrooms and 2.5 baths. Although its a pretty big house for us now, we hope to stay in it for awhile and eventually have a family in it :) But for right now we are happy with our two furry babies- Snickers and Sophia.... I will do a separate post about them a little later :) We started the building process in July when we put our contract in on our lot. We actually started the building process in December of 2007 and the house was finished in March and we settled March 25, 2007. Although we were able to custom our house to our needs....we still have lots of projects to work on. So far we have painted and decorated our kitchen, master bedroom, family room, dining room, morning room, powder room, guest bathroom, master bathroom, and office. We still have to work on our guest bedroom (we only have a bed for now), living room, and finish our basement (although that is probably going to be in a few years). We worked on a very exciting project this summer..... we finally got to build our deck!!! Rusty, my father, and my brother-in-law designed and built it- it was a very exciting process. We are super excited about the way it turned out (I will try to post some pictures). We still would like to do some more projects outside around the house including planting some more flower beds, putting up a fence, and someday maybe an in-ground pool (we like to have big dreams!!!) Well I think that is enough about the house... like I said before I will try to post some pictures later- I have to learn how to work this blog first!!!

I finally finished grad school in Mary of 2008 and was able to get a job in April of 2008 with Stella Maris in Timonium, MD working on the rehab unit. I was a medical social worker and in charge of about 25 patients at one given time- a very overwhelming first job out of grad school. Not to mention the stress of planning a wedding that was approaching fast!!! I worked with patients who had just experienced life changing events (including strokes, brain injuries, fractures, surgeries, etc). I enjoyed my work but knew that it was not something that I wanted to do long-term. I started looking for another job about a year after I started working on the rehab unit. Fortunately, a position opened on the in-patient hospice unit (in the same medical facility) that I was very interested in, I was able to get the position and started my position about a year ago. I definitely can say that I love my job and it becomes more and more rewarding everyday.... but enough about work!

Rusty and I were married on October 4, 2008 at The Links of Gettysburg in Gettysburg, PA. It is hard to believe that it was over a year ago!!! I guess time really does fly by. We had an outside wedding on their stone deck that overlooks the golf course and a beautiful panoramic view of the mountains. We were very lucky to have wonderful weather on our day.... we could not say the same for our rehearsal day. It was cold and windy... we actually thought that we were going to have to move the wedding inside because it was so cold and windy, however, the weather turned overnight and we ended up with a nice warm, sunny day!!! I will have to post some pictures of the wedding as well! We left right after the wedding and headed to a honeymoon at Disney World- we had a wonderful week of fun and relaxation!!

For now.... we are just loving life hanging out with our two furry babies- Snickers and Sophia. They are our two Shih Tzu's that we have adopted over the past year or so. They are definitely a big part of our lives and make life interesting everyday!!! Our lives seem to be a lot less stressful these days.... no school, house building, or wedding planning. We spend a lot more time enjoying life and a lot less time stressing! We both spend a lot of time working and enjoy what free time we can- I guess just like everyone else.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my first blog post. I thought I would spend the first post updating everyone on the past four or five years of my life. I hope to have more interesting posts in the future.... but I am not sure how that is going to go if they have to be about my life :) Until next time.... byebye!