Rants, Recipes, and Running

So, like my sister Lisa stated--these surveys are addicting. I often see them on like...facebook. But I don't like the whole world that I have ever gone to college or high school with to know me. I'm weird like that. I like my friends and family to know me..but not people I graduated with. I'm too much of an amazing person--they would read my survey and want to move to AZ to spend more time with me. (being sarcastic here....) This also allows me to blog without too much thinking. Right now I am writing about eight papers a week (in APA format - which blows. I hate the American Psychological Association. They suck at life). So writing about Ryan and my life is like writing another paper. So here it is! Where is your cell phone?....... by my side Your father? ........ funny and quirky (I miss him and my mom!) Your favorite thing? .........spending an entire Saturday afternoon outdoors with Ryan Your dream last night?.... edema (all I dream about is school...) Your favorite dr...

So, I saw this whole "25 Random Facts" on Facebook that many are doing, and it intrigues me. I think that the BEST way to get to know someone and see their inner workings is found via "finding the peculiarities". So here it goes! 1) I think I have some version of AD/HD. Or maybe I'm just Marlys's daughter. However, I cannot sit still or focus on one thing. I have to be doing something at all times! There is ALWAYS something in the house that could use cleaning. I also can't focus on things in terms of driving. I find myself having to verbally say to myself "Abby, look at the car in front of you and drive...." It's bad! 2) I am the world's worst driver. If I was drove a 95 Cadillac..cars behind me would be cussing "That damn 90 yea r old should NOT have her license!" I don't stay in my lane, and I can't park straight. 3) I failed my written PERMIT test for driving 3 times. 4) I love really gross and graphic pictures...

Although life is quite busy lately, I jsut wanted to send out a little update on life! I am happy to say that "Soon-to-be-Nastase family" had a high-flying week! During the Christmas break, whenever Ryan wasn't working at Raytheon or the Guard...he was studying to take his CDC test to become Staff sargent. He was a bit nervous, since he just focused his time on reading through the books--and the class is usually a 6 week class on leadership and management in the Air Force. He tested Tuesday afternoon, and scored high with an 87% which is awesome! I am so excited for him, and proud! Ryan also started up the spring semester yesterday, and he is very excited about his upcoming classes. The load this semester is will a heavy one for him! Nothing monumental this week for me...but I will say that I have successfully survived my first two weeks of nursing school, and am counting down the days until I can be done with my N-CLEX and call myself an R.N.! I have probably learned m...

So I began nursing school yesterday. It reminded me of the first time I ever stepped onto a tredmill. You feel so excited, confident, and prepared to get into shape. You have the coolest running clothes on EVER, a water bottle with enough water sufficient to run a marathon, and you're just pumped....and you get on--put it at an ungodly speed and you start running. You are tripping over your own feet looking like you don't even know how to walk, until you fall FLAT on your face. I got home at 10:00 pm last night from class, and Ryan was excited for me asking me about my day. I didnt' feel upset, or anything at all...I was just kind of stoic and said "Yeah..it's was cool...." (tears about to come rolling down my eyes) However, I was up at 5, the crack of dawn this morning and started tackling the god-awful APA formatted papers, and the lengthy endless readings, and the research for my group projects--before I knew it...it was 11:30. I have always been a lucky st...

Living in North Dakota my whole life, and Ryan for a good portion of his life--we both grew a STRONG hate for one thing. It is the thing that causes escalating energy bills, ruins your morning, makes you late for class/work/whatever you need to get to, makes your day miserable, doesn't let you wear cute shoes, and turns VERY ugly from the polution of the city.....SNOW. However, for some reason--our minds became quite tainted when we moved to Arizona, for we both found ourselves saying "Man, I miss snow..." In all reality, we know that the SECOND we move back to the midwest, and had to deal with it interfering in our daily lives--we would find ourselves bitching and complaining at the exhausting winter weather. However, I found a great beauty this winter. I wake up to a cool morning where i get to wear sweaters, it stays in the 50-60 degree range (sometimes making peaks into the 70's), and we look up into the mountains and see the snowy caps in the air. Being lovers of...

Our first Christmas together was definitely an enjoyable one :) Although some family and friends were definitely missed--we found the days to be quite merry. Christmas Eve started it off. Ryan had to be up early at 4:30 for Guard, and I was up that early as well baking bread for Christmas Eve dinner, and chocolate pie for Xmas day :) We had Ryan's Christmas party that afternoon at his shop for guard, and it was great for me to see where he works (one weekend a month, anyways), and I finally got to see what an F16 looks like. It was a warm sunny day that day, so after the party we went to a park and enjoyed the beautiful day accompanied by some fresh air. We then went to Chris and Lora's house (his dad and step-mom) and enjoyed some hor'd oeuvres, and went to Christmas Eve mass. The meal was amazing. We did a tradition which is an Italian one where we enjoy 7 different fish on Christmas eve. The fish we savored on were: a wonderful crab dip, shrimp cocktail, broiled shimp, f...

My Grandma, Valeria McDougall passed away when I was about 4 years old..and I never got to know her. However I feel like i have fond memories of her, from the stories that I have been told. She mothered 8 children-- 5 boys (2 of them twins), and 3 girls, she was a teacher, and kept up the household of a farm. She was just as much of a dedicated, hardworking, metitculous clean-freak as my mother (mom, this is a compliment--I am so glad to have inherited your great jeans); and the BEST baker in town. I have heard endless nostalgia about how wonderful her baking was .... so last night -- I connected with her. As this blog has been progressing..it is about my story of Ryan and I..but since Ryan can't see it yet (the wedding dress photos are stricly OFF LIMITS), I am also talking about my journey to becoming that cute, domesticated wifey.....so : Dear Grandma Valeria, I hope you can take a break from scrubbing the floors of heaven to read this--for I KNOW heaven has taught you of the te...