Never smell hand sanitizer right away

Last weekend, the 12th to the 14th, was a great weekend for me. I finally met Jake, a man I've been writing to for the past year when he was on his mission. I met his mom at my brother's wedding reception in June of '06 and she told me all about her son, Jake, and how much I absolutely had to write him, so I did. We kept on talking and then he came home 5 months ago. He lives in Tucson but was in town on the 12th. It was great seeing him, we got along so well. At the end of our lunch date, he brought me to his brother's house and I met his brother, Mack, his sister-in-law, Kari, and his 3-month old niece, Brooklyn. It was really nice and enjoyable. We're still keeping in contact. We'll see what happens. ;-).

After that, I drove to Thatcher! It was really nice being on the road

by myself and enjoying the time alone. I belted out songs and just thought things out loud. I arrived Friday night, met up with my friend Jeska and her fiancee's son, Damien, and we went out to dinner then went to her fiancee's house and hung out for a bit. I spent the night with Jeska in her house, which she shares with 8 other girls from EA! Jeska and I were both so tired, we went to bed at ten. Saturday, I spent half the day with Jes and her friends then went over to see my friend, Kirsten. We went to Kayla's birthday party, tried to get our nails done but the beauty school was closed, and just spent time together talking. Saturday night, Kirsten, Mike, and I went to the natural hot tubs and it was my first time being there. It was sooooo nice and I loved it! I called Jake to invite him since he lived only an hour away but his grandparents were in town so he couldn't make it. I spent the night with Kirsten and Angela and we had a bunch of crazy things happen. Angela, Kirsten, and I shopped at Walmart at midnight (Don't we all love Walmart?), buying a remote control that turned out to be the wrong one (those blasted tv companies), and buying snacks to eat for the movie to watch. Sunday, I went to church with the girls and it was very nice. It went by really fast. I relaxed for an hour afterwards, watching TV, said goodbye to Kirsten, drove to Jeska's house to say sayonara, then I officially left Thatcher to go back home. I had such great times; I love little road trips to visit people and just to simply see the sights. Kirsten, remember the hand sanitizer, the ticket (which will remain between you and I only), our web-cam promise, and me waking up in the middle of the movie? Haha good times! Jeska, I drove that ghetto car of yours! It was UGLY but I loved it! I loved making breakfast with you and Kayla but never eating what you made because I ate my take-home tamales from the dinner the night before. Remember "Quincy" and vowing NEVER to name our future kids with any names starting with the letter "Q"? Loved it! I miss the both of you already!

Jeska is in the first one with me. We slept in seperate beds but got cold in the morning when we woke up. Kirsten is in the second picture. This was taken by the bathroom, changing in our clothes after the hot tubs. She'll probably kill me for putting up this picture but I know she loves me!

I've been doing great with clinicals at the hospital. When I get my certification (I'll be done with clinicals this Thursday), I'm going to apply at the same hospital I'm at now. I love it; it's such a laid-back environment, my supervisor is great, and I love the nurses and doctors who work around me. They let me check out some things they do. For instance, I've watched people go through dialysis and watched a burn victim get his bandages changed. It's different every day and that's what I like.

Previously, I talked about the scholarship I applied to about a month ago. Well, I have news. I got it! I was told wrong; people did apply for it but not at my school, just in different locations. $2000 buckaroos. That on top of my other scholarship I got last year, which is $2500...so $4500 is NICE. I can stretch that out throughout next year, which will be great. That relieves me of any financial worries for school and enables me to spend my money in other areas as well as saving/investing it. I'm just really happy to not have to apply for any loans. I never want to use loans for school; I do not want that black cloud hanging over me after graduation. I plan to live life debt-free, especially when I get married, travel, have kids, etc.

I turned in some paperwork for Habitat for Humanity. Starting November 3rd, I will be a construction volunteer. It's all in the works right now, I'm waiting for a call to confirm my spot. I want so badly to go somewhere far away and do something, help someone, learn something new, and I thought to myself, "Why not start in my city and expand upon that?" So that is what I'm doing. I'm stoked to learn and help build a house. Y'all should check it out! Www.habitat.org.

Jennie, are you still walking in the morning? If you are, I greatly applaud you! It feels great to do that, doesn't it? Get up early, breathe in the morning air, enjoy the scenery, push your body almost to the limit, and feel refreshed afterwards. Although I know you've been taking the girls out on the stroller when they wake up. That's fun for the girls and hopefully, fun for you too!