Back To School

Yep.

It's that time of year.

It's been crazy since coming back to school TWO WEEKS ago. My planner is already jam packed and midterms will be here before we know it.

New decorations on campus!

If I haven't told you before, I'm telling you now: I am a list person. Just as my boyfriend or my mom. I have to write it down or I forget it. As I was moving into my new apartment, I found a list I made at the end of last year. I had forgotten about it and was grateful to find it because I couldn't think straight for the first few days of school. Here is what the list said:

Senior Year

- Cook yummy recipes!

-Work out regularly

-Ride horses again?

-Prep for NCLEX

-Volunteer @ Church

-Drink Sangria!

-Grow Herbs

Favorite spot on Campus.
Photo taken during my 2nd run of the year!

This list is totally random but captures the thoughts I was having at the end of last year. So far I've started a running routine (with help from the RunKeeper iPhone app), took two riding lessons with my sister, and am doing 1,000 practice NCLEX questions for a class. This weekend I hope to menu plan & go grocery shopping so that I can start cooking next week. I'm on the lookout for herb plants, trying to decide how/when to volunteer at church and sangria is officially on the grocery shopping list! 

I cannot believe this is my last year of college. It is quite possible that I'll never again be a tuition paying student at a university. Luckily, in both life & nursing, I will be an eternal student learning new things every single day. 

These are a MUST have.

My friends also know and appreciate what a list person I am. In the spring we made a "Senior Year Bucket List".  Here's what it looks like....

One down... only about 20 more to go!

We kicked off the bucket list with a spontaneous trip to the women's volleyball game. Our intentions were not totally pure... What we really wanted was a free t-shirt. Much to our dismay, they were all out of free t-shirts when we arrived.

Sad as we were about the t-shirts,
the game was actually pretty fun!

Leave a comment and let us know which things YOU think are missing from our bucket list. We'll be sure to document our progress throughout the year.

Gotta love nurses :)

Stay tuned for: The Apartment Tour! & Where I'll Be One Year From Now

Celebrating the blue moon on Aug. 31st

Day Trip to Chicago

Right before school started back up again, my aunt and my cousins came up to Chicago to visit. My aunt was only 14 years old when I was born and we spent a ton of time together during my first couple of years. I couldn't say her name so to this day I call her my "Baba."  She and I have a really great relationship. I wish I could see her more often and that I could be for her girls, the person she was to me.

Baba and I

On our day in Chicago, we rode the ferris wheel at Navy Pier and make the trek up to the top of the Willis Tower. For a pretty penny of $17.50/adult and $11.00/child, we took an elevator going 18MPH up to the sky deck on the 103rd floor. I've been up to the sky deck before, but the I had yet to experience the newest edition.... four glass ledges that extend four feet over the city below. Here's our view, looking down, from 103 stories above street level:

The first step out was pretty scary!

The little girls seemed to enjoy our adventure as well. I'm not sure if it's totally worth the price of admission, but it is absolutely a unique experience. As with all tourist stops, the gift shops were EVERYWHERE at Willis Tower. We perused the shops and laughed our butts off.

We had too much fun :)

At the end of the day, we were all pooped and STARVING. It was time to head back home to the burbs. We mastered public transportation and avoided rush hour on the drive home. I'd call that a success!!

THE END

My Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittnes

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things

Pinterest, s'mores, farmers market baskets

Cream colored ponies and crisp Apple strudels

Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings

These are a few of my favorite things

Pediatric scrubs, owls, Instagram

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes

Snowflakes that stay on my noes and eyelashes

Silver white winters that turn into springs

These are a few of my favorite things

Wheat, scrabble, elopements

When the dog bites

When the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don't feel so bad

A few more of my favorite things....

• Health Care Economics - How much does your CEO make?
• Humans of New York - The ultimate people watching!
• My Parents Were (Are) Awesome
• Getting Healthy Apps - Infographic
• Advice for new graduate nurses - This stuff is GOLD
• 35 Things in 35 Years

Creative Date Nights

Ross and I were SO blessed to spend the entire summer together in Peoria this year. We had a great time being together and grew closer together as a couple. We're about to celebrate 3 1/2 years together! In some ways it feels like its been forever... in other ways it has been such a short time!


For the past three summers we have celebrated the end of summer by going to Chicago for a day (or two).  This year, we were in Peoria and Chicago was a bit to far to travel. Instead, we had a weekend of fun before heading back to Naperville.



Weekend of Fun Part 1 - A Sunset Cruise on Spirit of Peoria

Weekend of Fun Part 2 - Hiking (in the rain) at Starved Rock

We got caught in the rain at Starved Rock. Luckily, we had prepared for rain by packing extra clothes, brought towels and packed all valuables in plastic baggies. Many of these pictures are burry because we took them through the baggie when it was raining.

The absolute BEST part of the hike was being at the top of the mountain, looking over the river when a HUGE storm hit. We were safe behind the wood railing but felt the immense power of rain and wind swirling all around us. It was indescribable. We had so much fun on our day trip in the rain. We can't wait to go back when it's sunny and we can get some actual mileage in.

Pandora Disney

I love listening to Pandora (as stated in THIS previous post).


My new favorite station.... DISNEY Pandora!

Halle didn't know many of the songs we heard on the Disney station. I was SHOCKED she didn't know Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas. We now have a list of "must watch" movies for Halle to catch up on :)