Christmas is Coming!!!!

This is our beautiful fake Christmas Tree from Walmart that came with the lights already on it!!!! We decided to do a fake one because we are starting Christmas so early (and we are starting early because Rachel and Jordyne are going home for Christmas). Another factor was our Dog-we weren't to sure how she would respond to a tree...oh and the bugs!!!! P.S. I am just about to go to work in this picture so I am wearing my cute scrubs!!!

The one problem that we had with having a fake tree was not having the experience of going out, bundling up and getting a real one. So Jordyne (not in the above picture), Ashley, Rachel and I decided to go and get a little charlie brown tree. The only problem with that was that we couldn't really find a tree farm open so we do it our own way...wink, wink.

This is us out in the middle of no where with our little tree freshly cut!!!! Jordyne maybe saying a prayer for our souls!!!!

This is Ashley and my's warning to you that you should not try this at home!!!!

Here we all are...even Mercedes, who had a wonderful time out at the mountain. I hope that you all have a wonderful Holiday season!!!!

dogs, jobs, and everything in between...

That's right... My roommates and I are the kind of people who spend ten dollars to dress our dog up for Halloween. And who wouldn't with a dog that looks this cute in a pumpkin costume!!! Mercedes is really calm and collected about the whole thing as long as we give her a lot of attention afterwards!!!

This is my nephew Noah!!! Isn't he getting so big!!! He is super sweet (although I only see him every once in a while so he probably isn't super sweet all the time!!!) It is so fun to have the little guy around! Andrew and Anna are doing good too!!!

My roommates and I took a weekend road trip to Colorado at the beginning of October!!! This picture is of us and Rachel's brother, Neal!! We went with her family up to the mountains... and as you can see winter was already there!!! It was super cold!!!

I am on my third week of my new job. I work nights at a nursing home and rehabilitation center. There have been some hard nights but you get that at every job!!!! I take my state boards on November 1st and I am super nervous!!!!

Other than studying, work, and doing stuff around the house my life is pretty much the same!!!

Watch This!!!!

Family!!!

This is all of us. We were all up at Camp for Labor Day and on our walk we decided to take some family pics!!! As you can see even Mercedes got in on it (or at least her tail)!
Grammy, Pop, Noah, and Aunt Sarah!!!!
Four Generations!!!!
Noah meets Mercedes for the first time!! She was super calm and he loved pulling on her ears which is what he is doing in this picture!!!

CNA in Training!!!

So these were taken at 6:00 AM (so excuse the exhausted look in my eyes) the morning of my orientation to Maryville, the nursing home that I am doing my clinicals in! I passed my final and now have 4 weeks of practical learning before I take the state exam! Anyway my mom requested that I put up some pictures of me in my scrubs, so here they are!

Mercedes!

So the girls and I decided to get a dog and when we found Merecedes at the Animal Shelter we just had to bring her home. She is a husky mix and super sweet!!!

Time Goes On

Well here are some pictures from my life in the last month. We spent an afternoon remembering my grandpa on the 7th of June, it was the two year anniversary of his death. It was really neat to see his grave and to look at others at Willamette National Cemetery and remember those who have served this country.
I have now settled myself into my new apartment. I love it. Living with three other girls is a total adventure but it is super fun!!! The picture is of Jordyne (one of my roommates) and me in our living room.
Then there is Noah. I love being an aunt and watching my precious nephew grow. He is such a blessing and oh, so cute!!!! My parents adore him and love being Grammy and Pop!!!! (Its really fun to see them step into the role of grandparents-they are so great!!!
Life is good! I start my CNA class in July and I am really looing forward to it. It will be a big adventure!! I guess thats all with me!

NOAH!!!!

This is Noah at almost 4 weeks old. He was just dedicated at Church so the whole family went down to Salem to watch and then we got together to celebrate Mothers Day!!! The first picture is of me and Noah at the church, the second is of Noah and Pop (my Dad!!) and the third is a really good picture of Noah in my lap-he is soooooo cute!!!

P.S. I'm an Aunt!!!!!!

Noah Andrew Bertz was born on April 14th 2008!!!! I met him yesterday and completely fell in love!!! Yay for Nephews!!!

Out of Africa

Well I just returned home from an amazing trip to Kenya. Here are some pictures for all to enjoy. After I recover fully from jetleg hopefully I will write post some more!!!!

SNOW!!!

So we had over two feet of snow up here at camp and a couple power outages but as I look out side right know the snow is slowly melting as the rain wears it down. The top picture you can see is my car Henry stuck in the snow. Henry is still stuck despite the thaw (and by thaw I mean there has been about two or three inches that have melted)! And the last two pictures are of Bentley and me playing in the snow. Its been pretty fun, but as you who know me know, I am not the biggest snow person and I am ready to see some green!!!!!

Upcoming Trip

Thats right...I am off to Kenya again. I leave sometime in mid February-I buy the ticket this week and then I will for sure know the dates. I am really excited-and really nervous but I know the Lord is in control. Right now Kenya is having some unrest...to put it nicely...because of the recent elections that took place, so it seems that I am unable to go without some sort of conflict(last time I went was right at the beginning of the war). Anyway I just wanted to keep you all updated on my life and to let you know that your prayers are appreciated.