Time flies

Holy Hannah time has flown past since I last updated this thing!

Lets see....what have I done since September? Oh there's lots of stuff.....

In October I spent a week out in San Diego. It had been about 5 years since I was last out there and I had missed it dearly! My good friend Kendra lives out there, who I stayed with, as well as some family that I made sure I got to see. Kendra's man is in the Navy out there so I was able to get a quick tour of the base in San Diego and out on Coronado Island!

I wish I could get out there mor often, but unfortunetly money doesn't grow on trees! Kendra will be in town though around December 9th, which makes me incredibly happy because she is so much fun to hang out with!

Halloween was also a blast. My roommate Laura and I deided that we needed to have a house warming/halloween party and it went pretty good! Enjoy a few pictures of the festivities.

The sister and I

Laura my roommate and I!

Nate and I!

I also adopted a new dog. His name is Beasley and I've known him since I started the Vet Tech program at MSB. He's a handful sometimes, but he hasn't exactly ever had a stable home and a firm hand to guide him. I now provide that firm hand! He definitely needs someone who won't let him get away with scandelous things like stealing food off the counter and jumping all over people! He's got a lot to learn, but in the month that I've had him he has at least started to learn a few things about the proper way to behave!

There is also a new man in my life! His name is Nate and I couldn't be happier with how things are going. :) Our mutual friend Colin hooked us up, so here's a HUGE thank you to you Colin! It's rather nice to have someone who treats me like a queen.

Thanksgiving have come and gone too. I spent it down in Plainview with the family like usual and good times were had by all. There was all the usual food, and people there. I had to work the next day though so eventually I had to head back to the cities to get my beauty rest. lol

Christmas is fast approaching and I'm sure it will be filled with its usual chaos, and fun. I've gotten almost all my gifts bought, and this weekend will be spent with Laura, setting up our tree and decorating the house!



Graduation!!!!!

I am officially a college graduate! Go me! I now have an A.A.S degree in Veterinary Technology from the Minnesota School of Business.

The graduation ceremony was held on Friday September 23rd, and I was one of the speakers. Now to register for my boards and take the VTNE to get certified. EEK. Below is my speach, and I rocked it!

                                                                  Graduation Speech!
First off…I’m not normally big on public speaking, and would never have dared to volunteer to give a speech, but I thought to myself, I just obtained a college degree, so I can do this too!

Secondly, thank you friends, family, and instructors for being here tonight to help us celebrate this huge accomplishment.

To the graduates….We are here, we made it, and you should all be EXTREMELY proud of yourselves.

To the instructors, you should also be proud of yourselves. You helped get us here. Having great instructors is huge! It can make the difference between skipping class, and actually wanting to go to class. MSB has awesome instructors. It can’t be easy to teach, and you all do a phenomenal job.

Finding the determination to go to class and do your homework in order to obtain a college degree isn’t always an easy task. I found that having a good support system helped me find that determination; be it parents co-signing loans, or putting tuition on their credit cards, or all night study sessions with fellow classmates, and even instructors who will let you vent about the work load in other classes, there was always someone there for me, and I wouldn’t be here today with out you guys.

I never thought that I’d like a small class size, but it became beneficial. Here at MSB, you get that individual help that’s sometimes needed. You’re not just another number. You have a name, a recognizable face, and you become a friend. You also become close with your fellow classmates.

I remember my first class here. I was terrified to walk though the door, but I could tell from the looks on everyone else’s faces, that I wasn’t the only one feeling this way.

The first class of the program was Introduction to Veterinary Technology with Virginia. She made us feel welcomed and she also made all of us realize just how rewarding our career field can be.

Other instructors also taught us great things. In Parasitology and Hematology with Alesha, I learned that while sometimes gross, finding that parasite egg in a dog’s fecal sample can be so exciting when you know what you’re looking at, and being able to finally get a good blood smear after about 15 tries can put the biggest smile on your face.

Surgery and Anesthesia was with Stacie and Cassie. There I learned that if you’re the scrub nurse, you should always eat breakfast, DON’T wear a sweatshirt under your surgery gown, and don’t let the person tying your surgery gown tie it too tight, or you will end up passing out while standing under the hot surgery light.

Sheree taught Veterinary Office Procedures, and there I learned that it’s good to have an enthusiastic instructor if the class is a boring one.

And finally, our last class, Cert Review with Hayley, to prepare us for the VTNE. Hayley: thank you for putting up with our complaints, finding ways to make that class interesting and being there to support us. We all had days where we struggled, but we truly appreciate you, we appreciate all of our instructors and all that you guys have done for us.

Being a Veterinary Technician isn’t just playing with puppies and kittens. It’s that and so much more.

Not everyone is cut out for the careers each of us graduates have chosen. It takes a special kind of person to get through each of the programs that MSB offers, and we are those people!

We have all met some amazing people along our journeys here, and some of us will stay in touch with each other, but no matter what happens, we have all learned from each other in one way or another. We are here. We made it. CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!

Updates, updates, updates!

So obviously I'm not verry good at keeping this thing updated but.... I have started a new job! It's at the humane society as a Veterinary Technician. I'm loving every minute of it too. I've only been there about a week so far, so there's not much to talk about yet. Don't worry though, I'll have something to share eventually. The middle of August was spent with my good friend Becca and her parents in Iowa on Lake Okoboji. It was so much fun to just sit back and relax. They hauled their boat up there and we went on it every day. There was also lots of mini golfing and shopping that was done! It's so much fun to just get away sometimes :) My last quarter of my college career is almost here! I will be a college graduate on September 23rd! For some reason I decided that it was a good idea to volunteer to give a speech at the ceremony and woulnd't you know it, I got chosen. Today I finished my speech and I feel good about it. I've practiced it a few times and it's in the required time legth of 3-5 minutes. I'm excited to give it now, and after graduation I will post it on here so everyone can see what I said. This past Wednesday my friend Laura went with me to the Twins game. It was my first time at the stadium so I was super excited about it. We lost of course, but it was still fun to experience! And finally....I am moving back out of moms house again. A neighbor has an empty house, so my friend Laura is going to move in with me. I'm super excited for this. I think that we will get along great. Pictures will be posted once I am moved in and set up!

4th of July

So I have totally been slacking on updating this thing...oh well life happens sometimes right?!

4th of July weekend was so much fun. Friday, Saturday and Sunday I had to work, which wasn't so bad because I really need the money.

Sunday afternoon I picked up Grandma Avalon and we headed up to Toms house in St Croix Falls, WI. There were about 18 other people up there so we had lots of fun for 3 days swimming, having bonfires, and trying to find places for everyone to sleep. Grandma only stayed one night, but I stayed until Tuesday afternoon. It was so much fun to see family and get some sun.

I am also offically moved back into Mom's house. I moved back yesterday so now I just need to organize my room....so for any of my long lost high school friends that are still in the area.....I'm back in Golden Valley....lets make a date to catch up!

This weekend is full of fun stuff but I'll write about that stuff later....until then you'll just have to sit and wonder what it is that I'm up to!

Fun Fun and More Fun!

The last couple weekends have flown by, and have been a lot of fun.

Memorial day weekend was spent with Mom and Tom, up at Toms house in WI. We mostly just hung out inside as it was raining. We did however go visit some of their friends on another lake. It was a good time having drinks and food with them.

The weekend of June 3, 4, 5 was spent down in Plainview for my cousin Alex's high school graduation. I can't believe he is 18 and going off to college next fall. That just seems crazy. His graduation ceremony was the 3rd, then the party was on the 4th. The 5th was spent helping cleaning up, and driving home.

This last weekend I spent a ton of time with friends.
On Friday I joined Karen, Mark and their family, along with Mom, Tom Grandma and my friend Tara at Hamline University to was Alex pole vault at state. He ended up going 5th place in the state, which I think is awesome. I'm so proud of him!

Saturday was spent going out in uptown with a bunch of friends. We went to Cowboy Slims, and The Cafeteria. It was a fabulous night of drinks and fun times with great people.

Sunday was a lot more laid back. I had dinner with Dad and Rachel at their place. They grilled some really good steaks, and then we hung out in the back yard for a bit and threw the ball for the dogs.

I have also learned that my dog is apparently very scary to bigger dogs. She is a pug, and likes to play rough. Cookie, the dog who belongs to the people I live with is afraid of her when she plays like that, and so is my Dad and Step-Moms dog.

Hello again

Well it's been a while since I've updated this thing....

I only have about two weeks of my internship left. I can't believe it went so quickly. I think it's going really good though, and I love it.

April 30th was the walk for animals. I was able to raise $285, so thank you to everyone who donated! The day before, Becca and I drove to Plainview to get Cloe, and then slept at moms house. Saturday was miserable and we ended up walking in the rain. Us and the dogs both got sick of that pretty quickly so we only did about half, then called it a day and went back to the car to drive Cloe back down to Plainview.

Since I will be graduating soon I also got myself a new tattoo! It's four puppy paw prints going up my foot. I love it!

Mom's birthday was this past weekend so Tom, Mom, Kaite and I went to Stellas in uptown for a super yummy dinner and drinks. It was fabulous. Sunday was also fabulous. We spent the afternoon at Nana's nursing home, eating lunch and just hanging out.

Inbetween all of that I also got to hang out with some awesome friends. Bingo was on Saturday night, and then I had some lebanese food Sunday for dinner.

hmmm other than those few things life hasn't been all that exciting. Just lots of internship hours, school, and then working on the weekends

Internship

Today was day one of my internship and it was freaking awesome!

I arrived at the Minnesota Valley Veterinary Services clinic at 8 a.m. and joined in on the daily morning meeting. I got reintroduced to everyone, checked out the schedule, got to choose which farm calls I wanted to go out on, retoured the clinic, and got put to work!

I got to help out with two small animal appoitments, and two large animal appointments. One of the large animal appointments was an alpaca farm, and it was so much fun.

I also got to fill out a bunch of health certificates, and take an xray, which turned out perfect!

I also got a present lol. Well not really a present, but the clinic doesn't use heartgard and had a bunch of samples of it. Since my dog is on heartgard they gave it all to me for free! It doesn't expire until 2013 so I now have abotu a 2 year supply of it. lol

Day one was awesome, and not stressful at all. I'm sure that not all days will be this smooth or stress free, but I love my internship so far. Everyone is super nice, and I'm already getting invited out to hang out with all the girls, so that must mean they like me too so far! lol

Wonderful Weekend

Lately I have been reconnecting with people I was really good friends with in high school.

This weekend I spent Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at my moms in Golden Valley so that I could see some of these people.

Thursday night I met up with my friend Eric in Champlin at B-dubs. It was awesome to see him, as it had been about 8 years. That's way too long to go inbetween visits. Eric is unfortunetly moving out of state soon though, so I will for sure get to hang out with him at least one more time before he leaves good ol MN!

Friday night I got to hang out with my friend Tony. We used to hang out quite a bit after high school before he went into the Navy. Well he is back in town for good now so we went out to dinner to Olive Garden, then watched Black Swan and enjoyed some tastey beers.

Saturday I had to bring Cloe to the vet because she has kennel cough, so Becca was able to squeeze us in before anyone else got to the clinic. Then I had lunch at my Grandpa's nursing home. Most of us on my Dad's side have birthdays in March so we celebrate them all at once. It was great to see everyone too.

At night I got together again with Tony. We went out to eat, then met up with our friends Lisa and Joe at Big Louies in Crystal to play bingo and drink. One of Tony's friends who wasn't drinking drove us back to my Mom's at the end of the night.

Sunday morning came and Tony and I decided to walk back to my car....4 1/2 miles to it. It didn't seem like it was that far away because we joked around the whole time

Sunday I met up with Mom, Karen, her kids, and Grandma Avalon at Nana's nursing home for lunch. Nana will turn 101 on April 6th so we were celebrating that. We also had cake and just hung out to visit for a while. It was good times.

Sunday I left Cloe at Mom's house and she will be bringing her to Karen and Mark's for me on Friday when she goes down there.

My weekend was awesome. It was busy, but really nice to see family, and have lots of friend time.

Holy Hanna I Need To Update This More

First off I have finished off yet another quarter of school! I had three classes this quarter, which were career development, veterinary office procedures, and special procedures.

Career development is just a pass or fail class....so that was obviously a grade of pass

veterinary office procedures I got an A in

special procedures I got a B in.

Now the next quarter starts April 4th, and I'm excited/terrified. I will be starting my certification review class and my internship.

On the 26th of March I helped out at a coggins clinic. The place that I'm doing my internship at asked me to come help out. It was fun to get to know the people I'll be working with every day, and get some more experience with horses. After it was finished, one of the Vets paid for us all to have lunch at the pizza ranch. That was super yummy!

That evening I met up with mom and katie and some family at CRAVE in St Louis Park for happy hour, and then we all went back and hung out at moms for a while.

Sunday I had to work at 6:45a.m. but before that I needed to pick up Cloe from Tony's. He had been taking care of her for me and we are now no longer talking to each other so I needed to get her. We don't need to get into that mess though.

Monday of this week I got to see my friend Darla. She cuts and colors my hair, and since she is moving to Canada on April 15th, I needed to get one more in before having to find someone else to do that for me. It was great to chat with her, watch movies, and eat pizza.

Tuesday I headed to my friend Becca's after work. Her and her mom were hostessing a princess house party so I hung out with them at that. I also spent the night there too.

Other than that I have been working like crazy to try and save up some money before I'm only working weekends.

I almost forgot to add that Kendra and I also stocked up on koala yummies. They are a yummy treat that used to be around when I was a kid and I haven't seen them in forever. Kendra found some and took me to the grocery store where they are. I love Kendra!

This weekend will be another busy one so I will have lots to write about Sunday night!

Walk For Animals

It's that time of year again....

The Walk For Animals is happening April 30. It's put on by the animal humance society, and I am once again participating in it. I'm super excited about it too.

Last year I walked with a group of people from my school, and it was so much fun. I will be taking Cloe on this walk with me again this year. She was exhausted by the end of it, but at least she is small enough that if she gets too tired I can just carry her!

My goal this year is to raise at least $250....I think that's pretty doable :) Everyone should go check out my personal page and make a donation. This all goes towards helping out the animals the shelter brings in.

I'm looking forward to seeing who donates this year, and how much money I can raise. It's a fun challenge that I enjoy doing

http://events.animalhumanesociety.org/site/TR/Walk/General?px=1436521&pg=personal&fr_id=1150

Happy Birthday!

I'm 26! That's crazy!

March 10th, so yesterday was my birthday and after the incredibly shitty month I've had, I was very happy to have the day be a great one!

I got to sleep in a little bit, finished some homework that was due for class that night, and then got ready for the day. Talked to a few people on the phone, called Tom (Mom's boyfriend) to wish him a happy birthday also. It's kind of fun to share a birthday with him. I also ran to target.

Mom had to work that morning, but was done by noon so we met at the olive garden in Bloomington and she bought me lunch. I love olive garden, but don't remember the last time I was there. Then we went to the Masonic Home in Bloomington to visit Nana. She has been living there for a while now, and on April 6th she will turn 101 years old. We hung out for a little over an hour, look her to the library they have there and showed her pictures on facebook.

After all this, it was time to head to class. I had some homework to finish up so it was fine that I was there early. Class wasn't exciting, but it was nice to find out that next week is our final and then I'm done with that class. It's crazy to think that I only have 3 1/2 months left of school until I graduate! I'm super excited to be done, although I will miss all the friends I've made that I see on a regular basis there...oh well it's a good excuse to get together and go out to eat and have some drinks together!

To finish off the night, Becca met me at applebees and we had some food and a drink. It was really nice to sit and chat with her. Then it was back to Prior Lake and off to bed!

The celebrating hasn't ended yet either. Sunday I will go out to eat with Dad and Rachel, and then next week I'm going out a few times for dinner with a coupld different friends. Like I said above, it was really nice to have a good birthday. The past month has been crappy and hard, so I was a little unsure about how enjoyable yesterday would be, and I was pleasently surprised!

Vegas

Vegas was a lot of fun!

I was in Vegas with some friends from school from February 19 - 24. We mainly were there for the Western Veterinary Conference because as a student we were able to get in for free, which totally rocked! Pretty much every day we did attend something at the conference. There were lectures about behavior, parasites, emergency medicine, genetics....anything you wanted!

Also at the conference there was a FREE Styx concert, which Alesha, Becca and I all attended. We were some of the first people in line. The concert was Tuesday night, and started at roughly 7:30, so because it was free and a bazillion people wanted to go, we got in line at 4:30, and it was totally worth it because we got to pretty much pick our seats! I got a ton of great pictures too from it.

Outside of the conference we did things like walk the strip, and see all the awesome hotels, Krista, Becca and I went to Thunder From Down Under, which was a lot of fun, and of course we did all the animal related things like seeing the MGM lions, the flamingos at the flamingo hotel, sigfreid and roys tigers, and the shark reef which is located at Mandalay Bay.

Vegas was fun, and I wasn't ready to come home yet. I could of easily spend another week out there and not missed MN. If you want to see more pictures from the trip you will have to check them out on my facebook.

Single

Well I have been single for a little over a week, and it sucks, but that's to be expected right now. Tony and I were together for 4 1/2 years, and it's hard to just say goodbye to your best friend, and person who has been with you every day for that entire time.

We have an apartment together in Burnsville, but because I can't afford anything on my own at this time, so I will be moving out when I get back from Vegas (which I leave for this Saturday) I will be going back to the moms house for a while, and then in April it looks like I will be doing some jumping around between friends houses and moms house so that I can get my internship done and graduate from school.

Anyways, I am thankful that I have such great friends, and family who will help me figure things out. My friends will teach me how to be single again lol, and family will let me sleep anywhere, whenever.

So I know you're wondering why this happened, and for the most part it was a mutal desicion for Tony and I to part ways. There just has been way too much arguing, and we both want different things at this point in our lives. There was no big blow out, nothing bad happened. We are just two people, who are going down different life paths. It sure doesn't feel like it right now, but we both know and have discussed that in the long run, we will both be happier people with this decision. I miss him like crazy, and wold give anything to see him, and hang out, but I am also able to recognize that that's not possible right now, so instead I need to just focus on finishing school, and getting a job so I can get my own place.

Lia Sophia

Since I have been hanging out with Becca so much lately, I thought it would be nice to invite her to a Lia Sophia party that I was going to. Don't know what Lia Sophia is? Well it's jewlery!

Friday night after we were both done with work, Becca came over so we could get a quick work out in. Saturday we both worked, and Tony and I got to hang out for the night. Tony has been super busy with work projects so I haven't seen must of him lately. It's usually very breif and just for dinner, then he has to go back to his computer to work yet some more.

Sunday Becca showed up at my place around 11:30 a.m. and we headed to my friend Chris's place. There was lots of awesome food and drinks provided by her, and it was great to catch up with her while buying jewlery. Chris is a long time family friend, and used to babysit me and my sister, and now that we are all older, she's a great person to hang out with!

Here is the stuff I bought! The pictures aren't that great because I had to take a picture of a picture on the internet! I won't have the jewlery for about another week or so.


I have always liked having a pair of plain small hoop earrings, but I am sick of buying them from claires or other stores because they always break. Hopefully these ones will hold up better, and if they don't, it's nice to know that Lia Sophia has a lifetime gaurantee and will replace them for me at anytime.




These earrings caught my eye several years ago when I saw them at a friends party. I at the time couldn't afford them though. At this party there was a deal where if you bought once item, you could get the next two items at half off, and they could be the most expensive pieces!


This ring is my favorite one! It's called Ocean..hmmm I wonder why :)



I absolutely love pearls and have been looking for a nice pearl ring for a while, that I could afford! I have found several at local jewlery stores, but they have all been over $100 and I can't spend that kind of money on just one item right now. When it comes it will be one of the first rings I wear.



This ring is just a fun every day wear ring! I don't have to be dressed up, or going out for a special occasion. I can wear it anywhere and with everything and that's what I love about it.



Thumb rings are great and this is exactly what this one will be used for!


Here is my partner in crime! I love having her living so close by so that we can hang out and lots :)

January!

January has been a busy month so far, with lots of fun happenings :)

At school I discovered that I can fit into the cat kennels! I know what you're thinking....and maybe that's weird, but you have to remember that I'm in school to become a Vet Tech so these kinds of things should be expected :)

Krista and I can both fit into the bottom ones, and I can fit into the top ones by myself. I think we could squish a third person into the bottom ones with us, and it would make for a hilarious picture!

My friend Becca and I also had a margarita and movie weekend. She came over on a Saturday evening and we went to cub to get the needed ingredients, and some redbox movies! We also hit up pizza hut for some food and had a fabulous time just hanging out and being silly, watching movies, playing board games, and chatting.

Becca and I have also started working out together. I need/want to lose some weight so that all my fun clothes will once again fit me, and we both want to look good in the swim suits we own. We are hoping to be able to go swiming in Vegas, which is now only five weeks away so we have come up with a schedule that allows us to work out together 3-5 times a week! So far it's going great and I feel good, hopefully my swim suit will fit in five weeks :) I just keep telling myself I cant do it, I can do it. LOL

I also went to a Lia Sophia party on the 16th, and took Becca with me. That will be another post though because I want to put up pictures of all the stuff I bought!

Hodge Podge of Stuff

The first week of my second to last quarter of my college career went off with out a hitch! I have classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and so far there is a lot of homework. Luckily though my Wednesday class is only 8 weeks long, were my other two are 12 weeks long.

I can't believe that April will be the start of my final 3 months in school....hopefully forever! I will also have to do an externship at this point. I am looking towards doing that at a large animal clinic, or an emergency clinic. Last week I sent out 3 resumes with cover letters to some large animal clinics. I hadn't heard back form any of them yet though. Since I need to get the ball rolling on this, I called my number one choice of clinic. I was able to speak to the manager and set up a date to have a working interview. It's not until Feb. 8th, but I'm super excited for it. Next week at school we have a meeting with the Vet Tech program coordinator to get all the needed details of our externship. I'm sure there is a lot of info. I am super excited yet terrified at the same time to do my externship.

This week (Thursday to be exact) I also got my pearly whites cleaned! My Mom is my hygienist, and I'm totally not lying when I say that I enjoy going to the dentist! I love the feel of walking out of the dentist office and having nice smooth, clean teeth. After my appointment, Mom took my sister Katie and I out to lunch at a restaurant called pinstripes. Katie works there. It was nice to sit back, relax, enjoy a bottle of wine, and share some food with my family. I love being around them.

So kind of a funny story.....two nights ago I was going to take a picture of my new shoes I bought. I went to sit on the floor and I heard a RIP! I tore a big hole in the crotch/very upper leg of my jeans. Now tonight I had to go buy a new pair, because I don't have any other jeans at the moment. I was successfully able to find a pair, and I was also able to find a fabulous carry on bag at TJMAXX. I will use it in February when I fly to Vegas!

Isn't it cute?!?!