Wow. I can’t believe it is already 2018. It feels like yesterday I was in Washington D.C. sitting in DAR Constitution Hall at my high school graduation, listening to speeches about the unknown journey life was about to take us on. Man, they were so right. It has been a journey. My life really isn’t THAT exciting. I never went to a fancy out of state college, traveled abroad, started my own business or became famous. BUT I did go to a college where I met lifelong friends, traveled to a different country, fell in love with my husband and discovered the career I was meant to pursue in life.
With that being said…2017 has definitely been the most exciting year for me so far. Between getting married, moving to a different state and starting a new job, there are no signs of life slowing down anytime soon. Oh yeah and I’m pregnant! Yup, definitely NOT slowing down. People always think that once you get married and have kids, life has officially frozen in time and becomes boring. I used to believe in that thought too, until I started living it. While I might not be out at the bar every Saturday night, I get to stay in with my husband and work on projects to get ready for our little human. I get to work in the best hospital in East Tennessee and help sick people get better. I get to focus on my health and literally grow another person inside of me. This is anything but boring!
My first big accomplishment in 2017 was obviously graduating nursing school. While it took me longer than the traditional 4 years to finally realize what I wanted to do, it was a blessing in disguise. In nursing school I got to meet another group of lifelong friends and learn from some amazing nurses. It was a very difficult and long journey, especially with planning a wedding at the same time, but it was so worth it. I have a career that can literally take me anywhere…it’s already taken me to TN! I work alongside amazing nurses who are not only great mentors but also becoming great friends.
Weddings, weddings and more weddings. Brendan’s side of the family had a big year, with 3 weddings and 2 babies on the way! All three weddings were so unique and beautiful in their own special way. Brendan’s older sister, Kelly got married in May. Kelly and Aaron’s was probably the most unique. The ceremony was located in the center of the Gaylord hotel which is nothing short of high class and romantic! Birds were flying over our heads and we were surrounded by trees (all indoors) with a beautiful overlook of the water. The reception was at the Piano Bar which included amazingly talented musicians that could play anything you requested all on their pianos. Kelly looked beautiful and radiant in her simple strapless gown with her pretty bright lip!
Our wedding followed just a short 3 weeks after Kelly and Aaron’s. In the couple of days leading up to ceremony I was such a nervous wreck! Brendan and I worked really hard on the majority of the decorations ourselves along with all of the planning. Setting everything up the day before was insane, but luckily we had an amazing bridal party that busted their butts to make sure everything was in place. And while there are always some bits and pieces of a wedding that don’t go exactly as planned, it still turned out to be the best day of my life. It didn’t rain, it was hot (just how I like it) and most importantly it was a BLAST. I still get comments from people saying how much fun the wedding was. I wouldn’t have changed a thing about it!
And the third and final wedding of 2017 was Brendan’s brother, Mickey and my sister-in-law Brittany’s wedding. It was a beautiful barn wedding in Virginia with an outside ceremony in front of a lake. Although it was quite chilly, once the clouds opened up and the sun beamed down on the beautiful bride everyone forgot about the cold. Brittany looked so beautiful in her vintage lace gown and romantic updo. The reception was such a blast, even with my sober pregnant belly. Needless to say, I am now super comfortable dancing with Brendan’s side of the family.
Other highlights of 2017 include moving to Knoxville, which I’ve already mentioned. Still liking it down here, but I am SO ready for it to warm back up. The temperature is starting to creep back up, and people try to reassure me by saying winter ends here pretty soon. I CANT WAIT! Ya’ll already know I hate the cold. We also became kitty parents to 2 crazy cat brothers. They are seriously crazy but also so loving. They are obsessed with Brendan and I, but still like to make us mad by jumping on the kitchen counters….alas, cats will be cats.
Update on 2018 so far….
January has been a pretty eventful month already. We had yet another wedding in Brendan’s family. It was nice to see some friends and family since we didn’t get to see anyone during the holiday. Kelly gave birth to her beautiful baby boy, Roscoe. He is such a little nugget. I am so excited that our baby girl will have cousins close in age. Fun times ahead!
However, it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows this month. Last week during my shift I started feeling very queasy. My first thought was “oh great morning sickness is coming back”, but then as the day progressed, so did my stomach ache. Before I knew it I was hurling in the bathroom and I’m pretty sure all surrounding patients and nurses could hear me. So embarrassing. The drive home was rough. I was trying so hard to talk myself out of having to pull over and puke. The second I pulled into the driveway I ran into the house, started stripping everything down and wrecked the bathroom with my vomit. So pleasant. The puking continued for several more hours and before I knew it I had fluids coming out of every orifice of my body. I have three words for you….my poor husband. I am almost 99% sure what he saw that night was 10x worse than whatever he will see when I give birth. It was pretty rough.
Anyways, I started getting concerned about the baby since I knew I was becoming dehydrated. I called my OB and she recommended going into the ER. They sent me up to the L&D unit where I received 3 liters of IV fluids, tylenol for my fever and antiemetic drugs. They hooked me up to the fetal monitor to track baby’s heartbeat and to make sure I wasn’t having contractions. Luckily baby was fine! The nurse even had to manually hold the monitor for 20 minutes on my belly because she was moving around so much that we would lose the signal of her heart. She’s already a wild one.
It took me two days to feel semi-normal…and for my husband to share the same bed with me again. LOL. It’s been quite a rough week, even work was hectic when I went back. But now I have a nice 5 days off and the weather is getting warmer (in the upper 50’s!). We plan on getting the nursery somewhat put together this weekend. I am so excited to start nesting and get ready for baby girl to arrive! I can’t believe it’ll be two more weeks until third trimester…time is flying!
2017 was definitely a huge year for me and my new family, but I have a feeling 2018 is going to be even bigger. I feel so blessed to share the journey with all of my friends and family!
And the adventure continues.
