Catching Back Up!

Wow.. Has it really been since AUGUST since I blogged last?! That seems like forever ago, but at the same time it feels like the past 3 1/2 months have FLOWN past me. So much has happened in the past months..

First,

I FINALLY GRADUATED!

I don't think I can express how extremely happy I am at this very moment. Anyone who has been keeping up with me over the past two years knows just how anxious I have been for this day to arrive. Sometimes, it feels like the years slowly passed by; other times, it feels like I was just a nervous newlywed entering orientation for Semester 1. From urinary catheters to IV catheters, from dressing changes to open heart surgeries, from reading every book in semester 1 to barely reading our notes in semester 4, from nursing homes to emergency rooms, we finally finished! I am so extremely happy and proud for our class! Also, I graduated cum laude (not that it's a huge deal, but I was happy to see my hard work pay off and feel accomplished for the hour I had my cap and gown on). As happy as I am to have graduated and have my BSN, I still have one big monster ahead of me... NCLEX. Those dreaded five letters make all of the difference in my career. I should take this horrific test sometime in January and then begin work (oh yeah, pray I find a job!). Am I sad that I won't start working immediately? Not. One. Bit. I plan to enjoy my last "break" before venturing into the work force. Also, I must say that Matthew is EXTREMELY happy that I have graduated. He has his wife back now! I am so very thankful to have Matthew as my husband. He has been the best companion I could have asked for to stand by me these past crazy two years. I love him so much (cheesy, I know). So with no more studying, projects, clinicals, etc., we can finally feel married again! Second honeymoon, please??? :)

Secondly, we are in the process of looking for our first home to purchase. Boy, was I in for a surprise. Heed this warning: IT IS NOT AN EASY TASK. We have been looking since September and I have now lost count on the number of houses we have looked at. We have such a wonderful realtor (if you're reading this Stephanie, you rock!) who has been SO patient with us. Because of Matt's position at the church (which we are both loving more than we could have dreamed), we want to stay close to the Byram area. With that being said, finding what we want/need in a house and in the right location has not been the easiest thing. So, if you know of a house that's NOT listed online (AKA-- for sale by owner).. PLEASE let me know. If you know of any houses coming for sale soon, PLEASE let me know. We are so ready to have our own house and start this new chapter in our lives.

Now that I have graduated, the same question that was asked immediately after the wedding is coming to surface again. "When are y'all gonna have kids?!". I think everyone knows how I feel about that question. And many of y'all (whether you ask it or not) probably wonder the same thing. SOOOOO, here's what I can tell you. We are not "planning" a family right now, BUT we are one step closer today than we were yesterday and we will be one step closer tomorrow than we are today. Ha :)

Lastly, I am SO looking forward to this weekend. Tomorrow, we will go to Matt's parents and have a HUGE Gates' Family Christmas. The Gates' family is SO big and I absolutely love it! We are having a huge Christmas pajama and karaoke party! Too fun! Sunday, we will celebrate our nephew, Hayes, first birthday.. I can't believe he's already one! Then Monday... we celebrate our SECOND, yes.. SECOND, wedding anniversary! I cannot believe it's already been two years since we said "I do". I am so excited about all to come in our future!

Well, I think that about catches everyone up to date with the Gates!

Xoxo

School's In Session

School is back in session. What does this mean for my readers? Large lapses of time in between each post. Sorry :(

What does this mean for me? I'M ALMOST A NURSE!!!!!!!!

Well, it does mean that, but it also means several other things. It means my days have been consumed with sitting in a classroom with arctic temperatures as I try to comprehend oxygen dissociation curves, fetal heart monitoring, ventilators, MODS and a number of other very complicated (to me) things. It also means my afternoons are spent reading, rewriting my notes, reading, studying, reading, independent studies, reading.. and so on. It also means that my husband has to fight with my textbooks to get my attention. It means I cook maybe twice a week. It means we eat a lot of leftovers. It means a messy apartment, and for those of you who really REALLY know me, know I don't deal well with messiness. It makes me twitch almost go into convulsions. It means that my clinical shifts are now 12 hours long (I mean, I'm almost a big girl now).  It means that Diet Coke, even though I gave it up this summer, is once again my best friend. It means that I get really moody and snap at my best friend when she doesn't understand ABGs (sorry Ash, love you!) It means that relaxing is but a distant memory. It means that I will probably take way too much Tylenol PM to induce sleep/rest. It means that I'll get my exercise (since we pay 7Gs a semester to park in Egypt). It means that I'm beginning to lose my mind and forget everything else that goes along with nursing school.

But, looking on the bright side.. in just a mere 107 days (which includes weekends, breaks, etc.), I'll be walking across that stage (or whatever the heck it is) in Provine Chapel to be pinned and get that diploma! Yes, in approximately 3.5 months, all of this hard work over the past 231987348927342 days will pay off. I'll finally have LETTERS behind my name! I will finally be able to get a big girl job and Matthew and I can exit this season of our lives and move on to a new and exciting one! I'm so excited!

I hate that I won't be able to post as often, but now you all know why! Keep me, and my 33 other class mates, in your prayers as we finish the last piece of this long journey.

Xoxo.

(almost) Caitlin Gates, R.N., B.S.N.

Our DIY Mantel

Ok, so Matt and I have lived in both a house and an apartment, neither of these had/have a mantel OR fireplace for that matter.  For those of you who truly know me, you know that has the potential to cause problems, namely around Christmas season. HOW is Santa supposed to come visit without a fireplace?! He seemed to find his way last year, but I'm sure he would be MUCH more appreciative if our stockings were hung on a mantel, as opposed to our door frame.

example:

the last two years' Christmas stockings

ok, ok.. I know the crown molding IS pretty, but it's STILL not a mantel.

So, Matt and I decided to have a little DIY Sunday afternoon. This was so exciting for us because we never, I repeat NEVER get to spend much quality time together because of his work schedule (seeing each other at dinner and bedtime does NOT count for good, quality time). My idea for a mantel sparked when I realized how bare our apartment looks. I figured a mantel would be the perfect touch to our living  area to decorate.. for every season (especially since it's almost Fall, yay!). I began looking around on Pinterest for a few ideas. I found several ideas I liked made from pallets, but they were all shelves. I also found several gorgeous mantels with no tutorials. So, we decided to mix and match a few of my ideas and make our own unique mantel.. out of pallets! Matt brought home some pallets from his Saturday job and we began. Here's the process..

Step 1:

Start with one whole, solid pallet

Step 2: Saw off bottom section (of both sides)

Step 3: This is what you should have after sawing off one bottom section

Step 4: Determine desired length and connect another section of cut off pallet.

(We used half of the other side of the pallet)

(see below, you can see the additional section we added for extra length)

Step 5: After pieces are attached, bust up the extra wood off of the pallet. 

Next, use those extra pieces to run across the top. Secure with nails.

(below: top of mantel now assembled)

Step 6: PAINT! Any color you wish!

We used a cherry color to match our existing furniture.

*Optional*: We "aged" our wood while painting to give it more of a rustic feel.

You can paint it completely solid if that's more your taste.

Step 7: Final step.. HANG your mantel!!

These instructions may not be the clearest, but from a woman's perspective.. they make sense ;)

I'm so happy with how our mantel turned out! I cannot wait to get more decorations for it and decorate it for each season! I can't wait to see what a few pumpkins and fall colored candle will look like up there! I already know stockings will look amazing :)

Xoxo,

Our Caribbean Cruise

I have battled with whether or not to write this entry today simply because, well, I'm so bummed out that when I woke up this morning, I was in Byram.. not the Caribbean. But, I figured if I didn't write it now, I would never get around to it (plus, who wants to be doing laundry right now anyway, ha).

So, to start our adventure.. Matt and I left last Thursday (the 11th) and drove to Theodore, AL (right outside of Mobile) to visit and stay with his grandparents. We stayed with them Thursday and Friday night and they took us to Mobile Saturday morning. LUCKILY, I looked at our itinerary ONCE more before boarding the ship only to find out that we were not returning until THURSDAY. This whole time we had been thinking we would be back Wednesday. Frantically, Matthew made a few phones calls to sort out business stuff and all of that jazz. I, on the other hand, was perfectly alright with spending an extra day on the ship (go figure)! So, after everything was sorted out, we said our goodbyes and boarded our ship. I had been on a cruise four years prior to this, but it did not make it any less exciting. We were both thrilled to be facing five days and five nights together with NO cell phones.. just US (and 1,200+ of our "closest" friends). We were both amazed at the ship and everything it had to offer. Obviously, we immediately went and grabbed a meal (which we did often) and waited for our luggage to be delivered to our room. This post could have the potential to become very lengthy, so I'm going to break the trip down by day, throw in a few pictures, and quickly write about what we did. Hopefully it won't be too terribly long.

Day 1-
We boarded the ship, grabbed lunch, went to our rooms, unpacked our luggage. We ate an amazing dinner and then went to the main lounge to watch a show. Then, we hit up the karaoke bar and laughed our butts off. We played a few slots and did not win any money (but we had fun, that's all that matters, yes?).

Day 2- We woke up, grabbed breakfast, hit the deck to lay out. Then, we played some mini golf on the top deck, took a nap, went to dinner (it was the Captain's dinner-- so it was a formal night), went to karaoke (we became a huge fan), and lost the rest of my casino money.

Day 3- We woke up to the sound of the ship docking. We safely arrived to Progresso, Yucatan. We ate, got ready, and headed downtown. We did a ton of shopping, had massages on the beach, took a tour, then came back to the ship. Progresso is still in the Gulf so it's not as pretty as the Caribbean, but the beaches were still very pretty. We had dinner in the dining room again (my backside is not going to appreciate all that I ate), went to another show, and just hung out and relaxed.

Day 4- Hands down, my all-time favorite day of the cruise. We woke up in beautiful Cozumel, Mexico. Matthew has decided that this is where we will retire. He has also decided that next summer, he wants to fly down and spend in week in Cozumel (and I'm not arguing). We caught a cab to Chankanaab which is a beautiful beach/reef/park/ about four miles out from the port. We went snorkeling, laid out, ate authentic Mexican food (which wasn't that great), watched a sea lion show, got kissed by a sea lion, watched the dolphins, and my favorite.. went scuba diving. Yes, I went SCUBA diving. It's safe to say the equipment nearly weighed as much as I did, so walking to the water was quite a sight for all, I'm sure. However, it was by far the most AMAZING thing I have ever experienced. I can honestly say I do NOT know how people do not believe in God, especially after all of the wonders we saw in the bottom of the ocean. I can not put into words how magnificent His underwater creation is, so I'm not going to try. But, I'm going to suggest that if you EVER get the chance to scuba-- DO IT! You won't regret it. After that, we went back downtown, shopped some, then got back on the ship just in time for it to leave. At night, we did the usually, karaoke and eat.

Day 5- Our last day, so sad :( However, we enjoyed another great day at sea. We slept in, had a late breakfast, and spent about 5-6 hours at the pool laying out. We grabbed dinner with some sweet friends we met on the ship, went to another show, and just enjoyed hanging out with our friends on the last night.

Matt's grandparents picked us up Thursday morning from the terminal and we headed back to Mississippi. We had such a wonderful, relaxing trip and were so sad to leave, but we were definitely ready to be home and see our family and our sweet little boy. We had been gone 8 days without seeing Romeo, and while that may sound silly, we really missed him. He is like our child and we are both super attached to him. We ate dinner with my grandparents, mom, and sister last night and brought our little pup back home. He did not leave our sides last night and has not left my side today. I love that sweet boy :)

I know this post probably went way too long, as always, but oh well. We had such a blast and cannot wait to do it again one day.

Xoxo