The Story of a Girl

Alexandra — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:45:49 +0000

I want to SCREAM and CRY. Arg. I hate winter, snow and not having a life.

I love my horse and feel SO guilty not having seen my poor mare in two weeks. I just want to feed her a carrot, wrap my arms around her thick neck and burrow my face in her mane. I never thought I could miss my horse as much as I do tonight.

…it is going to be a long couple months. Everyone bear with me and my lack of time for you.

2012

Alexandra — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 02:05:49 +0000

Last night to bring on the New Year I nannied my boys until 11pm, then went for a two-hour walk with Leslie down to the beach and back. As we walked down to the beach I told her that 2012 would probably be the worst year of my life thus far, but at least I realize that now. It is not that it is going to be bad, but it just will not be fun. Three quarters of nursing school, countless nights up studying, broke college student…. can’t wait! Anyways, we brought on the New Years by doing 12 high-fives and dancing around down on the bridge by the beach, then Raleigh decided to poop right on the sidewalk so I proceeded to pick up her poop using two sticks (you may have had to have been there but this was quite a funny sight)… then when I got home I stepped on my cat running up the stairs, from there I knew this year was off to a great start.

Looking back at my goals for 2011….

Run two half marathons and run Bloomsday again (ran bloomsday, but just weeks afterwards a horse stepped on my ankle and I was in the ER… so no half marathons for me, I have such a bum ankle and I don’t think people realize this)
Go on an overnight back packing trip (CHECK! – Labor Day weekend with Leslie and Raleigh in the Olympics)
Spend 16 days in Jamaica tutoring children (CHECK! – best trip of my life! Definitely would go back in a heart beat… I miss my students)
Run the staircase at Golden Gardens 10 times in a row (kind of forgot about this one….)
Become a member of Mars Hill Church (something I have still yet to do!) (Was about to take the Doctrine class this fall, but with nursing school there was no way I could fit it in to my schedule…. hopefully this year)
Learn how to bee keep (……)
Put many hours into training my horse (So she still is a naughty girl, but I went on a 9 mile trail ride with her and was surprised at how well she did… )
Enter in my first agility show with Raleigh (CHECK! – have done two shows, one more to come on January 21st)
Learn how to play the guitar (haha, can play the ukulele .. kind of.)
Grow closer to God – always

Looking back on 2011, my favorite memories:

Jamaica for two weeks
Visiting Kari in Texas
6 Lonely Forest shows
Getting into nursing school
Backpacking in the Olympics
Attending/serving at Mars Hill

… time to get ready for school on Tuesday, I am dreading going back. Yuck…

Done.

Alexandra — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 07:15:48 +0000

I finished with my first quarter of nursing school… Praise the Lord!

I spent my first weekend of freedom with the lovely ladies in my community group at the Quinns cabin (thank you SO much Quinns).

And after conversing with a younger but very mature, curly blonde hair, blue-eyed guy, who maybe is as tall as me when I slouch made me realize that maybe I don’t know what I am looking for because although he may have not been my ‘type’ I was quite fond of him, or impressed that there actually are some decent guys out there in the world to say the least.

…and I have been considering moving to Pullman for the summer. The thought just popped in my head and if I can get a job at the hospital there and do not have a boyfriend over here, I see no reason not to. Much prayer will be needed for what I am going to do next summer and for God to provide me with a good job at a hospital.

Farm Livin’

Alexandra — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 03:36:23 +0000

This story is one of the reasons I refuse to raise my children on nothing less than a farm. Where the beauty of God’s creation is very evident, animals are your best friends (and food!) and hard work is all you know.

One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, ‘How was the trip?’

‘It was great, Dad.’

‘Did you see how poor people live?’ the father asked.
‘Oh yeah,’ said the son.

‘So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?’ asked the father.

The son answered: ‘I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.’

The boy’s father was speechless.

Then his son added, ‘Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.’

Quotes from my Week

Alexandra — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:24:08 +0000

People make me laugh.

At community group on Tuesday:

Guy: What kind of perfume are you wearing?

Me: None.

Guy: Oh, is that just your natural smell???

Me: What? Horses and dogs?

Guy: oh….well something smells good around here.

Last night nannying at the dinner table:

7 year old: Allie, you are so good at picking blueberries.

Me: That was SO random, but thanks.

7 year old: Well you are, I’m just saying.

Me: Well I want to be a farmer’s wife when I grow up, so I have had to get good at it.

7 year old: Oh, well when I grow up I want to be a cop.

3 year old: And I want to be a bad guy.

Mount Vernon

Alexandra — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:50:53 +0000

painting by: bridgetbeth

I just ordered a lovely painting by Bridget, an old church friend. I have been admiring this painting for ages, and have recently convinced myself to buy it so that I can hang it somewhere reminding me of one of my goals that I am working towards…. a life in Mount Vernon among the mountains, Puget Sound, and fields of farms.

2 more years….

Three Blues and A Poo

Alexandra — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:35:26 +0000

Well, that is what Raleigh did at her show last weekend. She placed first in the first three classes I entered her in, and in the last class she got half way through it and pooped. hahaha. Oh well, I was super proud of her and am looking forward to shows in the future!! (looks like the next one will be November 27th).

Here is a video of her doing one of the jumpers courses… she barks a lot…yes, I know.

Five-year plan

Alexandra — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 13:50:39 +0000

After graduating with an Associate of Applied Sciences in Nursing from Lake Washington Technical College I plan to take the NCLEX nursing examination to become a registered nurse. With my degree I want to move up to Mount Vernon (or perhaps anywhere in Skagit Valley) with my dog, horse and two rabbits to work at Skagit Valley Hospital. Although I would be content working in any area as a nurse there, I would be especially happy to work in the emergency department. After working for a year or two as a nurse, if I am still single and finances allowed, I may consider applying to get my Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the UW Bothell nursing program that is opening up a location in Mount Vernon.

After nursing school I would also love to volunteer my time combining both my love for animals and people with developmental disabilities by volunteering at a therapeutic riding school. I would love to have the opportunity to serve on a summer mission trip through my church to help treat others in third world countries. As I attempt to save for a cute farmhouse, I plan to also continue showing my dog and would love to breed both her and my horse within the next couple years. I plan on becoming a hobby farmer on the side, raising both show pigs and Boer goats…though this may not happen for another ten years. This has been my plan now for a few years, but I have no idea what God will call me to do two years from now when I am done with school.

…the past few days I have been thinking about my plans for next summer. Considering I will want to get myself known at Skagit Valley Hospital in order to increase my chances of being hired there as a nurse, I plan to apply to work there next summer as a CNA. If I get the job, then I think I am going to try and find a room to rent for super cheap (maybe a nice family farm will let me exchange work for rent) in the Mount Vernon area where I can live with my dog and ride my bike to the hospital. …I’ll be praying that the perfect house, family, or room comes available for me next summer, because that would be so exciting!

On another note, Raleigh did great at her show this past weekend!! Will be posting about it later when I have more time.

The joys of nannying with a Mac

Alexandra — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 03:31:31 +0000

…Endless entertainment…

Alexandra — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 21:37:31 +0000

No matter how needy you may be, how many time you chase my horse and no matter how obnoxious of a bark you may have, I love you Raleigh Ralston.

…I promise I am not THAT obsessed with my dog.