Sister Time

Enjoying God's great outdoors this Fall on

a Sunday afternoon walk with my sister

November, 2009

Girl Gab

Tonight was the first night for our new group 'Girl Gab'. I recently decided that I wasn't getting nearly enough friend time during the week so I sent out some letters.....as did mom, since we decided this would be a group for women of all ages.......and waited to see what kind of response I would get. And I must say that for the first night we had a great time! Plans were made for future Thursday nights, and I was able to reconnect with friends that I haven't seen in years! Literally!





I also enjoyed the time with my sister. Now, I know I see her quite a bit through the week, but ( as much as I love and adore my niece and nephews ) it was nice to sit and have some conversations with her without a little voice interrupting :-)





We read through Philippians tonight and had a great discussion afterwards. Melted chocolate squished between pretzels was on our menu for this evenings snack (since we all decided that chocolate is a MUST have for these gatherings) and we split into teams and played that game with raw spaghetti and gum drops. For those of you who have never played I think the picture below explains it all :-) Our team won by one inch, with a whopping 27 inch tower!


Looking forward to our next meeting!

The Champions

(L-R) Heidi Redmond, Mary Heath, and Me

It's a Wonderful Life

The first week of my new job has been amazing! I never thought I'd hear myself saying this, but I love my job! Since there is so much to learn about working in a doctor's office they are training me on one thing at a time and giving me several days to catch on before they show me anything else. So all this week I've been working in the intake room. The first two days I was being trained by a co-worker, and the next two they gave me charge of the room by myself :-)



The intake room is where you call the patient back and get their vitals , talk to the parent/guardian about the reason for the visit, and answer any of their questions. If you feel it necessary you also order any flu or strep tests to be done in the lab. You also keep track of which rooms are empty and show the patients to their room to wait for the doctor.



The best part of working in the intake room is that you get one-on-one contact with all the patients......get to hold the 2 days old babies and everything :-)



The hardest part, however, is when you get a patient form and realize that you can't pronounce the name! Or, like what happened yesterday, you get a name like Geronimo and feel like if you go to the waiting room and yell 'Geronimo'! everybody is going to get up and run away :-) Or you get sister's named Ackinzie and Danae and accidentally call for McKenzie and Renae! Oh well.



I had to stay home sick today. My co-workers told me that I would most likely get sick within the first two weeks of working there, and they were right. A little boy was afraid of my temporal thermometer on Tuesday so I bent down to his level so I wasn't so intimidating and he coughed right in my face.....they said eventually my immune system will be strong enough to deal with it.



I'm also learning to be a 'holder'.....which put simply, is someone who helps hold the child down while getting a shot.



I want to thank everyone who has been praying for me. If my first week there is evidence of how all my time working there will go, then I don't see why I won't be there for years :-)

I'm Baaaaackkkk

After a long absence from blogging, I'm back. I haven't been feeling the greatest for the past few months, and blogging has been at the bottom of my 'motivation-to-do' list. So I thought I'd do a picture post and just start where I left off in August.

I'm starting a new job on Monday, so I'm going to try my hardest to keep up at blogging during my first few stressful weeks. While I was taking some time off from work due to medical issues, I got a call from a pediatricians office that I had sent my resume to waaaaay back in August. I had been praying for a job in a pediatricians office, so I was thrilled when they called and asked me to start November 2nd!

Other than that, most of whats been happening is laid out in the pictures below.......

After finishing my CNA classes this summer ( and receiving my license/certificate ) my family had a party for me. We had it at a local restaurant, with just a small group of family and friends

L-R: Wray; Cosette; Jaime; Noah; Joel; and Eli, waiting on dinner to be served at my party.

L-R: Sarah; Jenny; Adam; Bito; Dad; Me; and Uncle Chris.....also waiting on dinner :-)

This is my Grandfather, demonstrating to party guest how 'Kristin baby' crawled. This has become a tradition of sorts at any event that happens to be in my honor........I do believe that other restaurant customers were quite amused.

This September one of my Mom's childhood friends brought her family to visit and spend the day with us. It was the first time for some of us to meet, and it was cool to finally meet the friend that I had heard so many stories about. This is Cosette with Sarah, one of the younger children in the family.

It was such a nice day that we spent most of it in the yard enjoying the sunshine!

In the beginning of October, my Mom and I took a trip to visit Ken Ham's Creation Museum. We had a two day pass, so we spent a few days on the trip and were happy with our hotel room and a King size bed :-) Traveling from our house to the Museum, we were in 6 states in only 6 hours.....my new personal record












Some of the displays were so life-like! If you ever plan on going to CM, I definitely encourage you to buy a two day pass, as there is sooo much to see and read.











The Gardens located behind the Museum were beautiful. We went at the time of year when it was starting to get a little chilly out, but it wasn't so cold that we couldn't enjoy walking around.










On our way back to the hotel after our first day at the museum, Mom spotted a cloud in the sky that looked strangely like a dinosaur head! Maybe it was just because we had them on our mind after being at the CM all day, but I think sometimes God likes to let you know he's watching what your doing :-)








Noah absolutely loves to ride on the 4-wheeler. This was his first time riding, and he just stuck his thumb in his mouth and sat there, as if all was right with the world now. Each time Wray would pass the porch where we were all sitting, Noah would laugh and wave as if to say, "Look at me!"





This is Cosette and I watching The Swiss Family Robinson. Although she enjoyed the time at our house, she admitted later that this was not her favorite movie.....The next picture explains why..........

......There were some 'slightly scary for a 4-year-old' parts....so Cosette was glad to have a blanket to cover her eyes....

Well, that's all for now! You've been updated on my summer, and I'll try better to keep you updated a little more often.

*Bounty, the quilted quicker....er....uh, the mess inside my washer...

The Day: Thursday, August 27th, 2009

The Time: 1500 hours

The Scenario: I'm really dumb! Ok, so this is what happened....

We had company coming to our house Thursday evening so I was straightening up the house a little. I got a new roll of paper towels out of the cupboard and the Windex off the laundry room shelf....and then noticed that my laundry basket was about to over flow. So I sat my supplies on top of the dryer and threw in a load of laundry real quick and went back to my prior task, which was Windexing the bathroom mirror.

Hmmmm I thought when I turned around and didn't see a roll of paper towels sitting next to the windex on top of the dryer.

I know I got out a roll of paper towels. Oh well, I'm in a hurry and don't have time to figure out what I did with them. I'll just get a new roll out.

So, after our company left that night, I went back to the laundry room to retrieve my black capris from the washer...the pair I planned to wear to my job interview the next morning.

I open the washer lid.....

I stare......

I stare a little longer.....

I rub my eyes.....

What in the WORLD!

I could not see the clothes in the bottom of the washer due to a thick layer of this white-ish brown stuff. It was way to much to be a tissue that I had simply left in my pocket. I dive my hand to the bottom, and pull out a shirt that was covered...and I mean covered....in white fuzz...lint....stuff. It's almost midnight and I'm way to tired too figure out this white-ish brown mystery, so I close the washer lid and head to bed.

The next morning mom inquires if I know what happened in the washer. So I told her what happened and cleaned out the washer. I threw the clothes in the dryer hoping that the lintish looking stuff will fluff off a little; it didn't, so I re-washed the clothes.

You know those brown paper sacks that you get at the grocery store? Well, with all the lintish stuff that I got out of the washer and dryer lint trap, I filled one of the bags almost half way full! It blew the vent cover off the side of the house and this white-ish lint stuff was in our back yard!

Mom and I spent the remainder of the day trying to figure out what had happened.

And then it hit me!

That roll of paper towels...the one that I had been too busy to look for.....had some how been knocked into the washer and washed with my laundry! I have no idea how this happened, and most of all how I didn't notice!

The Lesson Learned: Bounty is not only quick at cleaning up messes.....its also really good at MAKING messes

The Quilted Quicker Picker Up-er

Bounty!

The Finish Line

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race ---2 Timothy 4:7

All the tests have been completed, all the forms have been signed, all the class work has been completed. I thought it would take forever, but in what seems like the blink of an eye the summer is almost gone and all the classes are over.

Now, its time to get to work :-]

Clinicals....Almost done!

If you had told me on June 15th when classes started that this day would come so fast I probably would have just laughed, thinking 'yeah right' in my head. However, believe it or not, the past 2 months have flown by and there are now only two days of clinicals standing between me and my certificate! To be honest, I have a problem finishing a lot of stuff that I start, so the fact that the end is in my grasp amazes me....and my family :-)

There are several people who have really helped me in making through a summer full of classes, and I would like to thank them publicly.

• Dad: Making phone calls to the business office, calling me off sick when I caught a stomach bug from the nursing home, and those much appreciated extra tanks of gas are just a few of the things you did that made this summer less stressful for me.

• Mom: I would be in such a hurry to get to class in the morning that my room would always look like a tornado went through it when I left. However, every day when I came home my room would be in perfect order. I know we joked about the little elves that cleaned it up, but I want you to know how much such a simple act means! And most of all, thank you for my daily proverb. Every one of them hit a place in my heart...usually exactly what I needed to hear that day!

• Wray: I so appreciate your encouragement! You may not realize it, but your text messages to me every morning before class started put me in better spirits for the day. Just to know that you were thinking about me made me feel like a pretty special sister :-]

• Joel, Jaime, and Kids: Thank you so much for your prayers. You both reminded me that you were praying for me and were always interested in how my day at school had gone. Thanks for being there in thoughts and prayers!

Just a few more days! I can hardly believe it!

Clinicals....One Day Down....

The first day of clinicals was a success...meaning no harm came to the residents while my class was on the property :-] I worked on the 4th floor, which houses patients who are still mentally healthy but need some help with daily care. Over the next few weeks, I'll have the chance to work with rehab and Alzheimer's patients as well.

Mom snapped my picture as I was coming home from my first day of clinicals.

I'm not a doctor, but I'll take a look....... :-)

I Have Only One Word For You

Whoops!

A Hint of Laughter, a Dash of Fun, and 4 Wheels

I spent Tuesday evening in God's great out-doors, enjoying the fresh air after being stuck in the class room all day. The 4-wheeler is always a good way for me to forget about up coming exams and just relax :-]

Wray doing a wheelie on the 4-wheeler.....

Me laughing at myself after trying to do a wheelie......

....everybody sitting on the porch was laughing, so I figured I might as well too :-]

Thankful Thoughts #7 --- Each New Day

• I thank You, God, for Your Guardian Angels that were watching over Wray and the other driver Saturday morning

• I thank You, God, that no other cars were near by

• I thank You, God, for seat belts!

• I thank You, God, that Wray's car did not flip over when it started to spin

• I thank You, God, that the other driver escaped her over turned car with only a small scratch

• I thank You, God, for the EMS and EMT

• I thank You, God, for insurance

• I thank You, God, for sending my brother home to me

• And most of all, God, I thank you for EACH NEW DAY!

The Love of My Life......

...is spending time with my niece and nephews! I especially enjoy having some one-on-one time with them, when I can really focus on one little person :-) Here are some pics of a recent Mall Day with Eli and a Girls Night with Cosette

Unfortunately Eli was the only little boy in the play area at the mall that day. As you can see, the girls weren't too welcoming...

This little guy loves, really really loves, to ride the rides in the mall. As soon as they are in sight, he asks me, "Aunt Kristin, do you have any 'warters (quarters)?"

Bringing back many childhood memories for his Aunt, Eli hid behind every box on every shelf :-) Can you "Find It" ???

All little girls need to express their creativity on someones hair at one point or another :-) I can remember doing this same sort of stuff to my mom's hair (Thanks Mom!)

Jaime didn't believe that I would actually post these pictures....

And last but not least, my three little treasures playing in the window.........

Thankful Thoughts #6 --- To Train Up a Child

Here's a peek into a recent conversation I had with Cosette. This Thankful Thoughts post is for my Sister and Brother-in-law. I love my niece and nephews and am so thankful that they are being raised with a strong foundation in Christ.

Cosette: "Aunt Kristin, did you know that I have TWO dads?"

Me: "Really? Who are they?"

Cosette: "Well, I have one on earth who takes care of me. He buys me food, and clothes, and takes care of my family. His name is Joel! Then, I have one who lives way up in heaven, but that's ok, because hes with me all the time anyway. Hes making sure that when I die, there is room for me to come live with him. His name is Jesus! Don't I have two really great Dads?"

Me: "Yes Cosette, you certainly do!"

...May Her Testimony Carry On...

"He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

There will be no more death or mourning

or crying or pain, for the old order of

things has passed away."

--- Revelation 21:4

Three Little Kids Sitting in a Row....

If you happened to be sitting on our front porch on this nice Sunday afternoon, this is what you would have seen......

One little girl who showed up at Grandmas house with swim suit

in hand asking "Grandma, do you have a pool?"

One little boy who hates the grass, but is quite content to sit

on a blanket and watch everything going on around him.

One little boy who was tired of the pool and just wanted

to lay on "the nice soft towel".

Add all that up and what do you get?

Three little kids sitting in a row!

The Girl Who Cried 'Nurse'!

One of my dearest friends really made me think this week. Kalia's Facebook status read something like this:

"Want to make God laugh?

Tell Him your plans."

That took me back to many many years ago....let me explain....

When I was a little girl, I couldn't stand hospitals, doctor's offices, dentist offices...basically anything that had to do with doctors and nurses. I would literally start feeling sick if I knew we were going to visit a person at the hospital. The smell, the strange noises, ugh....I hated it all.

Therefore, since the time she could talk, Kristin Skidmore has made it know that "I will NEVER be a nurse!"

This proves you to be correct, Kalia! I told God my plans and he just laughed, "Yeah right Kristin! Too bad you're not in charge!"

I am thrilled about becoming a CNA. Actually, I haven't been this excited about something in a long time! I'm excited about all the opportunities that this will open up for me.

In other words, learn from my example.....NEVER, ever ever...say NEVER!

The End of the Beginning, and the Beginning of the End!

Yes, the title of this post says it all :-) I took my last test at GC today, the place where I started my college experience. On June 12th, I will begin classes at AC and graduate in August as a CNA...Certified Nursing Assistant!

I am really excited about this! Graduating College, being able to do something that I (hopefully :-) ) enjoy, and best of all....never having to worry about school again :-)

We will be working in a Nursing Home the last few weeks of class; I'm not sure which direction I'm headed (ie geriatrics, pediatrics, home health etc) but I'm really looking forward to that experience.

I'm sure I'll have some fun stories from class this summer, so this blog should get really interesting in about a month :-)

Thankful Thoughts #5 --- Always

I've been reminded this week that even in hard and confusing times, there is always something to be thankful for. I found this picture by complete accident....when I needed it the most. While doing a google search for something completely unrelated, I found this random picture in the middle of the other images. I saved the picture and exited out of the screen. Just out of curiosity, I went back and did that exact same search......the picture wasn't there the second time.....

Thank You God! You always know when I need a word of encouragement!

Lets Get Together.......

Although it was for a sad reason, My cousins and I enjoyed being able to spend so much time together last week. Since then, we have been able to get together and hang out a little more than normal. I know Grandma Rosina is smiling down at us from heaven.....she loved when we all spent time together. One of the best parts is that our 'long lost' 2nd cousin, Larae, came back into contact with us! I have enjoyed having her back in my life!

While together we were able to 'reproduce' a picture that was taken over 10 years ago in Grandma's back yard.

Other than Skyler and Damara being switched, the picture was exactly the same. (sorry about the quality of the first picture....its just a cropped version of the bulletin boards at Grandma's viewing)

(Left to Right)

Me, Wray, Damara, Skyler, and Larae

Many Years Later......

(Left to Right)

Me, Wray, Skyler, Damara, and Larae

My Grandma.....and My Pap

My heart hurts.

There is a void, a hole that can never be filled again. In my short 20 years, I have never lost someone as close to me as Grandma Rosina.

How does one recover from something like this? I watch my Pap coming and going on his own...arriving at his house to find him eating lunch alone with grandma's home-made CD playing in the background.

I watch him standing by her casket, tears streaming down his face; I can't recall a time that I have ever seen him cry.

I know grandma is in a place that she never wants to leave again, she is happy. She can hear out of both ears.....she never has to worry about being cold, taking an extra pair of gloves along.

But what about Pap? His constant friend, companion, lover, soul mate........is no longer at his side.

Is there anything to say to him?

"It will be ok Pap. We're here for you"

Nothing we can say to him will ever heal the hurt in his heart.

Grandma is dancing on streets of Gold, while my Pap is hurting.

I love you Pap!

My Grandparents on their 25th Wedding Anniversary

October 1986

A Westinghouse

Maybe this is on the slightly silly side, but I thought I would share this joke with you anyway! Enjoy :-)





A lady opened her refrigerator and saw a rabbit sitting on one of the shelves.

"What are you doing in there?" She asked

The rabbit replied: "This is a Westinghouse, isn't it?",

To which the lady replied "Yes."

"Well," the rabbit said, "I'm westing."

The Last Supper

During the meal, Jesus took and blessed the bread,

broke it, and gave it to his disciples:

"Take, eat.This is my body."
Taking the cup and thanking

God, he gave it to them:

"Drink this, all of you.
This is my blood,God's new covenant poured

out for many people for the forgiveness of sins.
I'll not be drinking wine from this cup

again until that new day when I'll drink

with you in the kingdom of my Father.”

This is Next

I just discovered that Joshua Harris will be having a Next conference in Baltimore, MD later next month (May 23rd-26th.) This is similar to the New Attitude conferences he did several years ago, for anyone who is familiar with those. I've ordered some info packets, which I expect in the mail sometime next week. I'll hopefully be planning to get a group together, but I'll post more about that when I have more details. The conference is geared towards college students and young married couples, ages 18-29, but anyone is welcome to come. All the registration and cost info is on the website thisisnext.org Check it out and be thinking about it. Baltimore really isn't that far, and it sounds like its going to be an amazing 4 days!

Thankful Thoughts #4 --- Spare Keys and A Big Brother

I was running some errands for work and talking to Wray on my phone while I was driving. Just as I was pulling in my parking spot at work our conversation ended with him telling me he was getting ready to leave the house. ( Mom and Dad were both gone for the day )

I hung up the phone, turned off the car, and got out with my phone and keys in hand.

"This is goofy", I thought, "I don't need to carry in my phone and keys, I'm just dropping stuff off and coming right back out."

Now, I normally lock my doors when I go into work, just out of good habit. So I threw my phone and keys on my front seat, and (out of habit) locked my door. As if in slow motion, I slammed the car door shut just as I was thinking " Oh darn, I'm locking my keys in my car!"

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it was too late. The deed had already been done, and there was no way of reversing the fact that I was locked out of my car standing in the parking lot at work.

"Easy enough to fix," I thought. "I'll just call Wray real quick before he leaves and ask him to bring me my spare key." So I reached into my pocket to retrieve my phone....."oh yeah, I locked my phone in there too!" Figuring that Wray was probably walking out the door at that very second, I ran across the parking lot, flew through the door, across the room, and slid over to the phone. ( Getting some very strange looks from my co-workers, might I add) I dialed the house phone, but nobody picked up. "Darn, he already left!"

So I went to dial Wrays number...and my mind went blank! "Ah noodles! What is Wrays number?" I usually just use the phone book on my cell phone, so I hadn't actually dialed it for a while. After a few failed attempts, I finally remembered all the numbers in the correct order :-)

Thankfully, Wray was only at the end of our drive way, so he went back inside and got my key for me. When he pulled into the parking lot he just rolled down his window, held out the key, and rolled his eyes as if to say, "What a weirdo".

Family Vacation --- The Last Days :-(

Please forgive me for not blogging the last few days of vacation but, as I'm sure you all know, One can become very distracted on vacation!

We had a very relaxing last few days in the beach house. Lots of family game time, eating out, movie theater (more on the movie later), and just hanging out.

The drive home wasn't so great; we were stuck in traffic for several hours, and didn't make it home until 9:30 last night....about 4 hours behind our original ETA. Over all it was a nice and relaxing time, although it is also nice to get home to my own bed :-)

Since I didn't post any pictures from the last few days, here are some of the kids with their hats and sunglasses I brought back from the OBX.

Family Vacation --- Day #4

Today has been the warmest day yet so me, Wray, and Sarah did a little souvenir shopping this morning and then spent a few hours down at the beach this afternoon. Therefore, not a lot of pictures were taken, but I did take a picture of the house yesterday so I thought I would share that with you.

Ta-Da!

Ha! Just kidding ;-) Here is a picture of the house we're really staying in. (sorry about the dead bush that is blocking part of the house, but I guess it kinda makes this post a little funnier :-) )

Well, I'll try to take some more pictures tomorrow! Its not supposed to be quite as warm so I shouldn't be spending as much time at the beach and will be able to take more pics.........

Family Vacation --- Day #3

Here we are, at the end of Day 3 already. It was finally warm enough to walk down to the beach! (Sorry about the space between the pictures. My computer is being stubborn)

Whats the point in climbing on top of a random rock in the middle of the beach if you can't take some fun pictures, right?

My hunky-surfer-dude-brother :-)

This is Wray, SAND surfing.....and getting his shorts full! Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike sand?

The Outer Banks have some really neat sand dunes. They entertained the three of us for quite a while today.

My favorite phrase this week has been, "You two are crazy!"....talking to Wray and Sarah of course

This is me, laughing at something Wray and Sarah were doing. My second favorite phrase has been, "I had nothing to do with it! It was Wray and Sarah!"

Cosette: I miss you, little lady! I'm going to call your house sometime tomorrow! You need to tell me what you have been up to with out me.....