Angie

Harley Jane Got a Job!

2009-03-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

That is right! Harley was at work today for an hour and a half. Starla and my mom took Harley to Miller Merry Manor in Wakarusa to visit the residents. She did an excellent job and the residents loved her! She left with them begging for more :) She will be going back with Starla and my mom and maybe I will even tag along next time.

Are my photography classes paying off?

2008-10-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

Well my photography classes are almost over and I put them to the test in taking Starla's senior pictures. We still need to take her soccer pics but here is what I have now. Let me know what you think! Good or bad as long as it is constructive criticism :)

Photography 101: Outdoor Landscape

2008-10-09T17:57:00.000-07:00

This week we went to a beautiful park in Goshen across from Meijer. We learned how to take professional looking pictures and what makes a good landscape picture. It was a beautiful and relaxing evening.

Photography 101: Understanding ISO AND the different Scene Modes

2008-09-27T18:47:00.000-07:00

The past two weeks have been very busy which is why I have not been able to post the last two classes. The first class was on lighting, specifically ISO and White Balance. ISO allows me to adjust it according to how bright or dark it is around the subject. It does not relate to the flash at all. It is what enables people to take pictures in places like museums where flash is not permitted. The different settings of ISO changes how sensitive the camera is to the surrounding light. I took these pictures in my dark basement in the back corner where there is only one little window. The only thing that chages from picture to picture is the ISO settings are 200, 400,800,and 3200.

White Balance is a setting in your camera where you tell the camera which temperature of light your subject is in. The settings of light include incandescent(light bulb),fluorescent, or daylight are the most common.If you set the camera on the wrong setting then your whole picture will tint a certain color. For example if you set your camera on incandescent and take a picture in natural daylight it will be tinted blue. And then when your camera setting is matching the same as what is on your subject the color is really natural.

The last lesson was learning about the different scene modes and what the camera is doing in each setting. I learned how to take better pictures especially in the action mode. To do this I had to adjust the shutter speed so that the camera wouuld take the picture faster but as a result the images are not as clear as they usually are.(there are other things but I don't want to confuse more than I already have) For practice I took lots of pictures at my little brother-in-laws soccer game today.

A Great Weekend!

2008-09-23T18:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had the opportunity to have our two nieces Lauren and Kierstyn over for the weekend. It was very busy and a lot of fun!

Photography 101:Understand Apature and Shutter Speed

2008-09-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

Today was Lesson #3 and it was mostly focused on photo editing using the program Adobe Photoshop. The main objective of the lesson is to understand the terms Apature and Shutter Speed and then take pictures that show our understanding. To help you further understand this I will tell you which kind of camera I have exactly.

It is a Nikon Coolpix P5100. It is digital and has a fixed lens. Because of the fixed lens it is harder for my camera to show the drastic difference between Macro Mode and Landscape mode when you are a certain distance from your subject. The ideal cameras for showcasing these features are the SLR (single lens reflex) cameras. Unfortunately there is approximatly a $500 difference in price at least. Thankfully to Adobe Photoshop I can edit the pictures to get the same great effect. Here are some pictures illustrating these camera settings.

This setting is indicated on most cameras as the flower. The camera automatically zooms to the position at the closest distance at which the camera can focus. My camera can focus as close as 4 cm.

This setting is indicated on most cameras as a mountain. The camera focuses at infinity. Sometimes the objects in the foreground are not always in focus. Meaning, sometimes the dog in the front would be out of focus while the dog in the back would be in focus. It is a pretty neat setting! Because I was so close to both dogs the camera picked up both of them clearly.

I used Adobe Photoshop to edit this picture because I did not like the background, i.e. the register, and so I blurred out everything except the dogs which made them really stand out.

Harley is the dog in front and Ervin's dog Lucky is the one behind her. They are so well behaved!

Photography 101: Exploring Your Subject

2008-09-09T18:29:00.000-07:00

This week we met at Martin's Hardware Store in Nappanee. It was a challenging lesson. We learned how a camera works; what the functions are of the different parts of the camera. We learned about the depth of field and which settings you want the camera set to depending on what depth of field you are going for. The terms that we learned were f/stop, aperture, and shutter speed. It was frustrating and challenging trying to figure out what the instructor was wanting us to do until after she had critiqued my pictures and didn't have anything good to say about them. So being the anal person that I am I stayed after and took more pictures to gain her approval and to make sure I knew what I was supposed to be doing. So here are some of the pictures that I took. Enjoy!

For my homework assignment I decided to have my bike be my subject and here are a few pictures of it. I know there are a lot but it really is "a few" compared to the approximately 90 pictures that I took. It was really hard to narrow it down to 50 and I still have a lot of work narrowing it down to the 3 best that I have to turn in on Thursday!

Photography 101: The Rule of Thirds

2008-08-28T18:59:00.000-07:00

Well today was the first day of my "photography classes". Me and 5 other girls from work signed up to take photography classes from a professional who also works at the Wakarusa Clinic. She is who many of us use for a photographer for family pictures etc. instead of going to JC Penney, Picture People, etc. Well earlier this summer we learned that she is planning on moving to Florida. We all were sad to see her go as well as her photography skills. We knew that she used to teach photography to 4-H kids and asked if she would teach us the basic skills that are needed to be a great photographer. She agreed and has developed a 12 week course for us; each week focusing on a different element of photography and by the end of the 12 weeks we will be shooting pictures in her studio. I am very excited about these classes. I see it as an investment for the future. One day if we ever have kids I will be able to take my own pictures and not have to pay any sitting fees or over priced prints. I now also have the connections to get professional prints over the Internet at the original prices (otherwise not the prices that are way over marked by photographers; i.e. a 5x7 picture that cost $1.29 but photographers mark the price up to $9.50). I also got a great photo editing program that I am very excited to learn how to use. Here are a few pictures that I took today that illustrates what I learned- the rule of thirds. I actually took a lot of pictures these are the ones that my instructor said were the best. Enjoy!

California Missions Trip

2008-07-10T12:06:00.001-07:00

Camp Berea

The trip was a major success! It was a fun, exhausting time spent with approximately 40 kids, age range 6-12 years.The week was spent playing games, hiking up and down steep trails, and watching out for mountain lions and bears! A mountain lion was spotted on one the trails the day after we were on that trail. A mountain lion had not been spotted for years prior to. It was exciting but I was terrified to walk the trails with 12 little kids multiple times a day, let alone by myself; which I unfortunately had to do. Here are some pictures of what the camp was like.

(1) Girls Cabin (2) Look Out Point (3)A small part of the long, steep trail (4) The Main Building (5)Home of the Keepers of the Camp (6) Another cabin along the trail (7) Arts & Crafts (8) Story time with Buddy the Porcupine

***Interesting note: We walked passed the above cabin (6) daily, multiple times and if we saw that the trash cans were tipped over we needed to be extra careful and watch out for the bear. Thankfully we never encountered or saw any signs of the bear thankfully. The rumor is that last fall the bear was shot. The bear was around a lot last summer at camp, they even had blow horns that the counselors carried around when a bear was spotted. It just gives me the goose bumps thinking about it. I praised God daily for keeping us safe!!!

Highlights of the Week

This is a picture of Ricky and me. Ricky was in my trail guide group. He heard of camp through his grandma's friend. He has two little brothers that live with him at his Grandma's house. They have never gone to church. Until this week at camp he had never really heard of who Jesus is. Throughout the week Ricky and I talked a lot about who Jesus is and how much He loves us. We also talked about how He died on the cross to save us from our sins. How the topic of the in-depth discussion arose was when Ricky was scared one night and wanted to go home because of the one the scary camp stories. We talked about how Jesus protects us and is with us all of the time. I told him how we have to ask Jesus into our hearts and what being a christian means, how it is a big decision and something he needs to think and pray about before he makes that life changing decision. Well two days later on the last night of camp he asked me to pray with him and he prayed for the second time in his life to ask Jesus into his heart. It was beautiful to hear such an innocent voice pray the sinners prayer. He was so excited to tell everyone, we even ran half way down the trail laughing and cheering, we were making noise to scare any potential animals away, to tell Sam Carney another one of the counselors. It was a tearful goodbye on Saturday but we knew we would see each other one day in heaven. Also his grandma was asking about information on a church close to them. His grandparents are planning on attending church with the boys. PRAISE THE LORD!!!

Another highlight from the trip is David, (bottom photo) who is one of the teens from Nappanee who went with us, accepted Jesus into his heart while on the trip. David and Starla both had made the decision to be baptized on July 6 at the NFBC church baptism. When we met for dinner Saturday night after camp had concluded David was sharing his new decision with Pastor Paul (Pastor of one of the Brethren Churches in California) he was very excited for him. He began to talk about baptism and what it means and what all it involves and then said "Heck we could baptize you over in that little pond" and David said that would be awesome. So Pastor Paul baptized David and then Starla said she wanted to be baptized too. It was an amazing time and Gods presence was felt by many. It was truly a unique and memorable experience.

Well as you can see it was a very exciting time for all involved. I think everyone came back a changed person. We all appreciate all the prayers and support that was given to us prior to and during this experience. Thanks for everything, we could not of done this without you! God Bless!

note: oh yeah, David fell off the railing of a deck and sprained his ankle, which is why there are crutches in the photo

California Missions Trip

2008-06-09T17:28:00.000-07:00

California Missions Team 2008

Sorry for the lack of posts. I have been very busy with work, church, family, and preparing for this very exciting mission trip with this group of teenagers. From June 14-22 we will be spending our time at Camp Berea, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. We are all very excited for what God has in store for us. The team includes:(back) Tony Hasse, Ryan Smith, Samantha Carney, Molly McFerren, David Kronk (front) Starla Beachy, Breanna Yoder, Felisha Clark, Dani Huber, and me. There will definitely be pictures and more to tell when I return from the trip.

Angie Mattern R.N.

2008-02-26T18:03:00.000-08:00

That's right...I passed my state boards and am now an R.N.!!! Thank you everyone for your prayers and support! It is such a great relief to move on with my life and not have to worry about studying!

Now that I am done studying I am going to take Harley Jane to classes to become a Delta dog. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is where Harley will be able to go the hospital and visit patients there. She has to pass a test and will be certified. I think she will be great at this job. She has already had some practice when she went to visit my grandpa, Menno Beachy Jr., in the hospital earlier this year. She really made him smile and lift his spirits.

January Update

2008-01-15T10:49:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas is over and January is half way there! I can't believe how fast life goes! It has been one busy month at the Mattern house on Clark St. Here is the run down to get you up to date...

Christmas was another exciting and successful event. We made it to all of the families' Christmas parties and then some. Harley got lots of toys and even a Santa hat. Even though she wasn't exactly a fan of it she did look pretty darn cute in it!

I took my NCLEX in December and found out unfortunately I did not pass yet again. However, I did not let that discourage me. Ryan and I decided that it would be best if I went to Toledo to take an NCLEX review course. I was excited to take this course because it stressed the test strategy. Since I knew my content, after talking with several professors and reviewing my results it was determined that it would be best. So this last weekend and this coming weekend Ryan and I get to spend time in Toledo, OH. Ryan chose this wonderful hotel for us to stay in. It is a "newly" remodeled Days Inn.No, there is nothing wrong with you computer coloring, the Days Inn was the ugliest lime green I have ever seen! It was one of the worst hotels I have ever stayed in! There wasn't a fan in the bathroom and you could barely get in the bathroom and close the door! It was missing pieces of obvious furniture. Then when I went to Toledo University, which is where my class was held I was scared for my life! I have never wanted to own a gun in my life until then! I was convinced that I saw a man walking down the street carrying a gun! Ryan says its a cell phone, but it would of had to of been a very large cell phone! Thankfully my instructor is very nice and funny to make the class worth going to. He has given lots of helpful hints and suggestions.

Since all of the holidays are done and over with we are finally getting back into our routine, except for our two trips to Toledo of course. I get to play with Lily every Monday once again and have a blast. Here are a few pictures of Lily and Harley. Lily has really come to love "playing" with Harley.

It's Christmas time!!!

2007-12-02T18:19:00.000-08:00

Its Christmas time and I am ready for it! Ryan and I have set a record for ourselves and had all of your Christmas decorations up by December 1!!! Our house looks beautiful, I only wish it was bigger so that I could have people over to see it. Here is a small glimpse of our Christmas decorated house...Ryan was the best husband ever and put up lights outside for me! It was the first time ever!!! Ryan was really excited about decorating for Christmas this year as you will see! After all we put these up before the "snow storm", according the weather man, came. After he had these beautiful lights up he went to plug them in and realized he had the wrong end by the outlet. Needless to say Ryan accomplished the whole process with only yelling at the lights a few times.

Yes that's right Ryan and I took the next step in our marriage and got our first REAL Christmas tree!!! Why is this such a big step you may ask, well just say the way Jim and Cindi go about putting up their Christmas tree isn't so pleasant, you know making sure its straight, etc. Proudly Ryan and I survived the process without even raising our voices!!! Being the perfectionist that we are after I put the lights on and decorated it Ryan and I decided to take everything off and redo it. It is somewhat bare but that is what is so great about Christmas. Every year our tree will get more beautiful!!!

I have always wanted a blue and silver Christmas tree! A tree that is beautiful and has a "theme" and not a bunch on miscellaneous ornaments, so I finally got my tree! There are beautiful navy blue, a light silvery blue and silver bulbs on our tree. Our tree doesn't have a topper yet but hopefully I will find that perfect piece one day.

When I went to water my real tree later in the day I noticed that the above ornament appeared on the formal tree. At first it started toward the back of the tree where you couldn't really see it but then as the hours and days went by it became eye level in the front of the tree. Since my husband has been wonderful in decorating the house inside and out I decided that it would be okay to leave the ornament on, not to mention that it does still go with the colors of the tree.

Don't worry, we still have our first Christmas tree. Ryan was busy decorating this multi-color tree while I was decorating the formal tree. This tree showcases all of our childhood ornaments including all of Ryan's sports ornaments, my Disney and Barbie ornaments, and the bible themed ornaments. We have acquired all of these ornaments from our beloved grandmothers. The Santa hat is perfect to top our Christmas tree.

Well that is a glimpse of our beautifully decorated house. We are ready for Christmas! December is a wonderful month due to our birthdays, decorating Christmas cookies, and all of the Christmas Parties!!! Lets not forget the real meaning and most important reason to celebrate Christmas, to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! Merry Christmas!

J.K. Rowling has went past the line...

2007-10-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

J.K. Rowling, the author of the famous Harry Potter Series, has recently told, at one of her book signings, that Albus Dumbledore is gay, a homosexual. No where in the book does it ever suggest that he is gay, interested in the male gender, or acts feminine at all. As written on CNN.

"She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. "Falling in love can blind us to an extent,"J.K. Rowling said of Dumbledore's feelings, adding that Dumbledore was "horribly, terribly let down."Dumbledore's love, she observed, was his "great tragedy.""

"Neither Dumbledore nor Grindelwald ever seems to have referred to this brief boyhood friendship in later life,"' Rowling writes. "However, there can be no doubt that Dumbledore delayed, for some five years of turmoil, fatalities, and disappearances, his attack upon Gellert Grindelwald. Was it lingering affection for the man or fear of exposure as his once best friend that caused Dumbledore to hesitate?"

It is absolutely ridiculous for her to say this!!! The series is complete. She isn't writing anymore books about Harry Potter or Dumbledore. Why would you say something like that now? I am furious. This is a big stretch for her to say this about Dumbledore. I don't know why she thinks she needs to make a" a big step for Jo Rowling and for gay rights." This is like her to say, well yes I wrote a wonderful series and you know I think now that I am done, I will top it off and make Dumbledore gay and I will stretch it as far as I can. Who does she think she is, William Shakespeare? Is she mimicking Romeo and Juliet by having Dumbledore kill his true love? Its just utter rubbish if you ask me.

Before I admired her for how well she had written this child fantasy series. Notice I said this book is for children!!! I have all of her books and think that it really gets the imagination going in children/teenagers. Its a great fantasy book and doesn't ever encourage kids to join the wicken religion. The fact that the beloved Dumbledore, that you have grown to love and admire, is a homosexual is absolutely absurd!!! I guess the good thing is is that this is just a book. It doesn't really exist and you can use your own imagination. So in my mind, and when my kids read this book, they will not hear anything about Dumbledore being gay.

Did Jesus go to hell when He died on the cross?

2007-10-17T19:28:00.001-07:00

You learn something everyday...especially if you are studying theology. I am not studying theology but tonight when I was leading senior high small group this question was asked. Initially my mouth dropped and I immediately thought "heck no, duh". Thankfully Pastor Ryan was there to save the day! Even though I had never heard of this question before, because some theologians have really, really studied this, it really got me thinking. So much that after church tonite I read the entire Gospels, looking at the Crucifixion, the Death of Jesus, the Burial of Jesus, the Resurrection, and the Ascension in particular. Mathew 28:7 says that Christ has risen from the dead. From what I have read about Heaven and Hell is that Heaven is life, eternal life. Theologians have done research that shows that when Jesus died He obviously did not go to Heaven but rather went to Hell and battled Satan for 3 days and was then resurrected. He then later ascended to Heaven. Of course I do not have actual proof where I could reference this in the bible. I just thought I would share this very interesting thought with my family and friends. This is one reason I love working with youth. They have wonderful questions and while I do not know half the answers I have God's book to help me. The questions make me think so much that I can't sleep at night until I have already done at least some reading in the bible. Feel free to let me know your opinions and if you have any resources on this topic.

Update

2007-10-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

Wow! Sorry for slacking and not updating my blog. My fans are begging for more (actually just my loving mother-in-law) and I will do my best to update weekly!

I am still studying tons for my NCLEX Examination, the date is approaching quickly but the date will still not be told. Your prayers will be much appreciated however!!! I will have the results by Thanksgiving, I will tell you that much! :)

My mom did have a successful parathyroidectomy surgery (where they removed her parathyroid). The nasty little, walnut sized parathyroid (average size is the tip of your pinky finger, well unless you have huge hands like Mark) was between her esophagus and her trachea, or in my dad's terms, her eating tube and her breathing tube. It was not cancer and she is recovering well from the surgery. My family would still appreciate your prayers in the months ahead.

My lil-bro-in-law's varsity soccer team made is to Regional Finals! The first ever in NorthWood's history. On my husband's behalf they did have a lot easier bracket to play in than when Ryan was in High School.

My "lil" sister's varsity soccer team made it to Sectional Finals, the second time in NorthWood's history. The first time being when I was in high school. :)

Prayer Request

2007-09-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Please keep my mother, Anna and her Doctors in your prayers in the next week to 10 days. Dr. Gulec from Goshen Hospital will be performing exploratory neck surgery to correct her hyperparathyroidism problem she’s had for quite some time. In the past 10 days she has had a sestamibi scan, CT scan, and 2 nuclear tests done with 2 different dyes injected in her to try and locate the over-active parathyroid. It’s very unusual that they can’t locate it with the test they have done so far. The Dr. said the sestamibi scan showed that it might be located in with her main thyroid but didn’t show a clear image to be 100% sure. He has 6-7 different steps he will take during the surgery if need be, with each step being a little more complicated and serious. She might lose a part of her thyroid or all of it if need be. There will be a team of pathologists helping with the surgery to determine if what they find is a gland or the parathyroid. The surgery, if everything goes good could last 30 to 60 minutes, if he needs to take all the steps it could be several hours. If any of these steps aren’t successful then it will mean she will need to have major surgery which would require opening her chest and having major exploratory open chest surgery.

The surgery will be tomorrow Tuesday September 25 @ 8:30.

For those of you who don't know what Hyperparathryroidism is here you go: (provided by Web MD)

Hyperparathyroidism is over activity of the tiny glands in the neck that are next to the thyroid gland (parathyroid glands). The parathyroid glands release a substance called parathyroid hormone that helps control the amount of calcium in the bloodstream.

When the parathyroid glands produce too much hormone, the amount of calcium in the blood increases. The body removes calcium from the bones, absorbs more calcium from the intestines, and releases less calcium into the urine. This can result in constipation, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and other symptoms. It can also lead to kidney stones and weakening of the bones (osteoporosis).

This picture shows where your parathyroid is supposed to be. However, when you are developing as a fetus it is up underneath your chin with the lymph nodes and gradually gravitates down beside your thyroid. Sometimes your parathyroid doesn't make it all the way to your thyroid or it goes past your thyroid into your chest. My mom's parathyroid is not where it is supposed to be which is why they are now doing exploratory surgery.

Thanks for your prayers! I will keep you posted on her condition post-op!

Apple Festival

2007-09-23T18:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry this a week late but I have been very busy. Too busy in fact. I have decided that I have needed to temporarily cut a few things from my weekly schedule to make time for my family, especially my adorable Harley and my beloved Ryan.

The Apple Festival did provide the opportunity to hang out with my B.F.F. Amy and my lil sis Starla. Harley of course loved it because she got to walk all over Nappanee all day long on Saturday and even a few hours on Sunday.

Starla and I bought a few scarves for all of the pets in the family. We definitely had a blast taking pictures of 4 different dogs in one picture! They actually turned out pretty good!

From Left to Right: Jasmine, Rusty, Harley, and Axel

For some reason my family thinks that I need to have a baby. I don't know why when you can have so much fun with adorable dogs!

Why nursing is such a rewarding job to have... or not

2007-09-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

In my current location of work as a nurse I do frequent ear washes (lavage). This week was exceptionally "waxy" because the ear lavage experiences were different from you everyday ordinary ear lavage. The procedure includes a spray bottle with a 6 inch tube attached at the nozzle with a disposable attachment that you place right inside the ear. You fill the bottle with hydrogen peroxide (to help prevent ear infections) and warm water. As you spray water into the ear it creates a movement of water that goes into the ear canal and comes right back out. The water ends up in a container placed below the ear. It softens the ear wax and usually comes out in either medium size flakes (similar to fish food) or large balls of ear wax.

What the nurse hopes to see when she looks into the ear with an otoscope prior to the procedure is this...

This generally only takes a few minutes to wash out. The only protective equipment that is worn is the patient usually has a plastic cape draped over their shoulder (similar to what you wear when you get your hair cut) and maybe a towel or two to prevent getting wet. The nurse does not wear anything. Well, nurses really should start wearing shields over their faces because this week I got ear wax all over my face while cleaning a patients ear out. The patients entire ear was compacted even more so than the picture above. I go about my usual routine but as I start spraying the water into the ear, the water basically ricochets off of the ear wax (which immediately softened) and came shooting back at me and hit me in the face! Large wax chunks and all. It was like the ball exploded! It was the first time this had ever happened to me and hopefully the last!!!! It was disgusting!!!! Needless to say I was successful and her ear looked like new when I was done.

That shiny reflection is what you want to see! That is your ear drum!!!!

Isn't nursing so rewarding!

A ditzy moment

2007-09-11T19:35:00.001-07:00

Well today was the beginning of a new bible study for me! When I read about it in the Life Line at church I thought they would be doing a study titled "Extra Grace Required" (aka EGR) with the scripture based from the book of Judges. I didn't know the study was actually just on Judges, because at the time I never really knew anything about the book of Judges except that it was a book in the bible. I thought it was going to be specifically on "Extra Grace Required" and basically all about Grace. So I call and tell Amy all about how wonderful this study is going to be and we were both really excited. We knew there was going to be a book involved and I was going to tell Amy the name and all about it! Well.... I get to the bible study tonight and the NAME of the bible study is "Extra Grace Required" and they are not actually doing a study at all on the topic itself. Well, needless to say I was pretty surprised by it all. I am going to continue going, beside the fact I now made the obligation, but also because I have been pondering the idea of starting a personal study in the book of Judges and it would be great to work through the book with a few other people.The reason I was interested was because it is a good book to read on leaders. Being that I am a SALT 3 mentor and my mentee needed to study this book intensely last year I thought it would be a good idea for me to do the same. I am still excited about the bible study and I have learned alot within just the few hours I was there tonight. For example, I learned that the book of Judges actually talks about the 12 judges in the old testament. And that after the judges did such a poor job at leading then there became Kings. It really is all starting to come together!

My very first blog entry ever!!!

2007-09-10T19:45:00.001-07:00

I have recently learned that "Myspace" is not becoming so popular anymore. Instead of switching to the latest fad all of the time I have decided to create my own blog. I will still check my "myspace" but probably will not keep it updated. Although I do love updating photos. I wish this blog thing had a place to put a photo album.

I am devoting this blog to my thoughts and feelings on numerous events. And if you know me at all, you know that it will not be boring. One of Ryan's favorite things to do when we are riding in the car in silence is to ask what I am thinking. He usually does this to get a good laugh. Another purpose is to keep my family and friends updated on my life.

I am currently studying for the NCLEX Examination. I have already attempted this exam once but received a "Nearly Passing" with a 95%. You need greater than a 95% to pass. I do plan on taking the NCLEX during the month of September but am not telling anyone but Ryan when I am taking it. The only reason Ryan is going to know is because I need him on the day to drag me into the awful testing facility. And then after I am done taking the test he is going to hug me and tell me how smart I am. We will then spend the afternoon at the zoo. Well, I have to have something to look forward too!

I am also helping my kid sister Starla Fern learn Human Anatomy which I thoroughly enjoy. Being that Human Anatomy was permanently engraved in my brain forever, I am glad to be of some help to her.

I am also a youth sponsor at the church I have grown up in. I really love working with the youth and being a mentor to them! I have advanced from attending the Junior High bible study (last year) to attending the Senior High bible study this year! This was due to my change in work schedule. I am learning a lot through my time with the youth and would not trade it for anything! Helping people is one of my passions in life.

Another passion of mine is working with animals, which is why my second job is working at a veterinarian. I have worked there since July 30th 2002. I started work there with my best friend, Amy. I work there every other weekend (usually). People always ask me which one I prefer, people or animals. My response always depends on the mood I am in. The benefit of working with the animals is that the muzzle is always an option!