Anniversary

On Thursday, Bob and I will celebrate being married for 4 years. I feel like we've been married much longer than that (and I don't mean that in a bad way at all). Maybe the fact that we lived together for 2 years prior to getting married is why I feel like it's been longer. We have pretty much been inseparable since we started dating in May 2001.

I can't help but think about what an impact Bob has had on my life. Before I met Bob I was walking down a dangerous path of self-destruction. The things I was doing at that time are not things I was proud of, nor were they things that I wanted to include in the definition of who I was. Part of me feels like Bob rescued me from that life. He swept me off my feet and saved me from the life I was living. I could have been doing things much worse than I was doing, but the activites I was participating in wasn't who I really was. It's weird that through dating Bob I discovered who I was, and who I really wanted to become.

Most people probably thought Bob and I were crazy when three weeks into our relationship we announced we were moving from MN to WI to go back to school. We weren't going to be living together, but we were moving to another state together. It was very very difficult for me to make this decision. I would be moving in with my grandmother, which was AMAZING. BUT...I would be leaving behind my mom, the place I called home, and some very great friends. I remember crying and crying and saying goodbyes I never wanted to say. Bob was there for me the entire time. He was so supportive; giving me space when I needed it, and a shoulder to cry on when I needed that.

Despite the fear and sadness that came with the move, I believe 100% it was the single greatest decision I have made in my life. I was able to start fresh, escape the people that I felt were holding me back, and begin a new life with the man I loved.

Bob and I registered for classes together at the University of WI-Marathon County. Pretty much all my aunts and uncles went to this 2 year UW school. We took all our classes together and really enjoyed going to college and expanding our horizons. It was simply AMAZING to share this time with Bob. Without Bob's constant support (and nagging), I never would have found the ambition and drive to make it through that first semester.

Bob has continued to be the greatest support EVER as I have embarked on my journey through nursing school. I don't know what I would do without him. When I'm overwhelmed and just want to quit, it's Bob that's reminding me why I started this journey in the first place. When I don't have time to do laundry and memorize Fluid and Electrolyte levels, it's Bob that's washing and folding AND offering to do the rest of the weekly chores. He's simply the best. I can't say enough great things about him. I just love him to pieces. I don't know what I would do without him, or where I would be without him. Part of me thinks that I would have gotten myself together on my own, while another part thinks I'd be living the same life I had been living.

I just know that without Bob my life would not even be half as happy as it is now. Without Bob I would never have experienced the love of a soul mate. It's hard to put into words what my husband has done for me. We've only been together for 8 years, but I know that they have been the 8 greatest years of my life, and I can't wait to spend every day of the rest of my life as Mrs. McInnis.

Diaper Cake

One of my best friends is due to have her first baby on August 23rd. Her shower was last weekend and as a gift I made her a diaper cake. I thought I would share some pictures.


Close up of some of the things I put "inside" the cake:

I ended up adding two more tiers after this

Half-way done!

A view from above:

"The Village"

I just wasted 2 hours of my life watching "The Village." What the heck was that movie?! I was watching it thinking the movie had another 30 minutes to go...you know, to wrap things up and to make everything actually make sense...and all the sudden the credits start rolling!
Maybe I'm just tired, but did that movie make any sense to ANYONE out there?! I read a synposis of the movie on www.imdb.com (GREAT SITE BTW), and it makes a tiny bit of sense now, but I still feel like it was a pointless, waste of time and money movie! I just hate wasting time on lame movies.

However, I went to "The Proposal" on Monday night. GREAT movie. Super funny. I also watched "Transformers 2" last night. It's alright. It was long, but I liked it. Movies that have a lot of action are easier for me to watch at home...on a smaller screen. I just can't watch high-paced fight scenes on the giant screen. I can't tell who is who. (I know..I am lame).

Tomorrow Bob and I are going to see "The Hangover." I can't wait. I've heard it is just super funny. I kinda wanna see "Bruno" too. I've heard it is funny, but offensive. Oh and I HAVE HAVE HAVE to see "My Sister's Keeper." It's one of my favorite books EVER! I gotta bring a ton of tissues. The book is written by Jodi Picoult. She is the best author in the world. I highly recommend every single one of her books (except "Songs of the Humpback Whale" I didn't like that one). I also cannot wait for HARRY POTTER. I want to go at midnight opening night, but I'm a loser with no friends that love Harry Potter like I do. Summer always has the best movies. Which doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Why not have winter be good movie time since there's nothing to do in the winter?!!? Hello... Maybe I should be a movie person instead of a nurse?

A Day at the Cabin

While I was in Wisconsin I spent the day at my aunt and uncle's cabin. I went up there with my aunt and three of her kids (Savannah-5, Timmy-7, and Lydia-12).

We got there at night so we had a bon fire and made s'mores. I think I ate 4 s'mores. They are so tasty. We did have some excitement during the bonfire...The blanket that was covering Savannah and me kinda started on fire. I think a spark from the fire must have hit it. Savannah was pretty scared. There's a nice hole in the blanket now.

The next day we played in the water, went kayaking, rode in the paddle boat, fished, and played on the tire swing.

Here's some pictures

Timmy is pulling Savannah on the "surf board"

Timmy and the fish he caught from the paddle boat:
Savannah fishing off the dockTimmy "surfing"

Timmy and Savannah on the tire swing:

Lastly, the view from the dock

Grandma's Surgery

My grandma had surgery back on June 2nd to remove a cancerous tumor from her kidney. I was able to fly home to be with her for the procedure as well as for two weeks afterwards.
The morning of surgery we had to be at the hospital at 5:30 a.m. This meant we had to leave her house by 4:45. Of course the night before I was so worried I couldn't get any sleep. I think I ended up with 3 hours of sleep that night.
The brought grandma back to the pre-op area and I got to go back and see her before surgery. The doctors were really hoping to do robotic surgery because it has a much shorter healing time. They called me two hours into the procedure to tell me they were using the robot and the surgery was going very well.
Around 1:00 that afternoon Grandma made it to her room. She was very sleepy, which I totally expected. She would sleep for thirty minutes then wake up, ask how surgery went and fall back to sleep. Then thirty minutes later she would do the same exact thing.
She cracked me up when respiratory therapy came in to her room to teach her deep breathing exercises. They were teaching her how to use the incentive spirometer, and she wanted nothing to do with it. As he was telling her how to use it, she took it out of his hands and showed him she already knew what she was doing. He was taken aback, but it was still funny to me.
She was able to go home 2 days later. She got sick the day she was coming home becasue she was given a pain pill after not having eaten solid food for three days! I felt pretty bad for her.
She was really tired and cold for the first few days after surgery. (Completely normal and expected) She also developed a cough so I made her keep doing her deep breathing exercises every 30 minutes. I'm sure it drove her crazy but I didn't want her getting pneumonia.
She stayed pretty tired up until the days before I left.
I'm so grateful I was there to take care of her. It was kinda nice to cook and clean for her after she did it for me for two years while I was in college.
I love my grandma a ton and just loved spending two weeks with her.

Spending Time On The Boat

Today Bob and I went on Jonathan and Candice's boat for the day. It was so much fun. I forgot my camera, which totally bums me out, but as soon as I can, I will steal the pictures from their camera and post them on here.
We spent most of the day in the water. It was a little chilly. We also went tubing for a little bit. They have a 2 person tube so Candice and I rode together. The boys couldn't flip us off though :)
It was so nice to be in the water all day. I got a little red, but usually my sunburn turns into tan in a few days. I love having a nice tan, but in the back of my mind I always have this little voice saying "Melanoma....out on sunscreen."
I am super exhausted from swiming, drinking, and being in the sun all day. I have to stay up for at least one more out, though. Alabama and Arizona State are playing in an elimination game. :)
Hope to get back out on the boat soon.
Thanks Candice and Jonathan!!!

The Scrapbooking Adventure Continues

Tonight I decided to get back to work on my San Francisco scrapbook. I looked back on Snapfish today to see how many pictures we took while we were out there...the grand total is 798! No wonder this is taking me so long. We were there for 5 days and I may be done with one whole day.

I have made pages for all the pictures we took of Alcatraz. We took a night tour so the sun was setting as the boat was going around Acatraz Island. It was simply beautiful.

I also made pages for the pictures we took when we went to the wax museum. I had never been to a wax museum and was really excited to go. It's really amazing how artists can make wax look exactly like a human being. Granted some statues weren't very accurate, but it's still really cool to see. My favorite section in the museum was the artist section. They showed DiVinci painting the "Mona Lisa" as well as Norman Rockwell, VanGogh, and more

Anyways, back to the scrapbook.

I also finished the section about our adventure through Daly City, CA. In San Francisco itself we didn't see much of the ocean so we decided to take the train to Daly City; which is on the coast, and according to the public transportation map, the train station is only a few blocks from the ocean. However, the map failed to show the massively giant we had to climb, and also failed to show the 4 lane highway that didn't have a crosswalk that we would have to sprint across. Luckily we made it to the coast alive. Unfortunately you wouldn't actually get to the ocean because Daly City lies right on San Andreas fault. It's really dangerous to walk down to the coast. There were giant cliffs that were the result of previous earthquakes.

I still have to make sections from our time at the Painted Ladies, on the Golden Gate Bridge, at the Tea Garden, in Coit Tower, and of all the random pictures I took.

Here's two pictures of what my dining rom looks like as I take on this project: