Las Vegas Clarification

I just wanted to apologize to who ever I offended in my last blog. I posted that after this semester of school Link and I were going to Las Vegas, and someone took it the wrong way. There are many things to do in Vegas that do not include showgirls and gambling. It is an entertainment city filled with a lot of (clean) shows and places (Hoover Dam for example) to see. I'm sorry that I misled someone to believe that I was going for the wrong reasons. Link and I got to go a year ago to see Josh Groban (a great singer) in concert and we missed out on some really neat sites because we couldn't find them and ran out of time. So, we are getting a chance to go back and see the fun, clean parts of the city. The thing is that there are bad things to every city and I know that the advertising for Vegas is not good but I am a good person and I feel bad that someone thinks bad of me for going to Vegas. So, anyway, if you don't care then you wasted your time reading this but I just wanted to clarify. . .

Only 2 more weeks!!!

Only 2 more weeks of school and then off to Vegas!!! I'm really excited because I only have 7 days left of anatomy (which means only 7 more days with cadavers :)), 6 tests, 2 papers and then Link and I are going with the in-laws to Las Vegas for 3 days. It'll be a nice getaway. Link just got home tonight (Monday) after being in Mexico since last Sunday. They drove 26 hours (each way) in a bus. I'm kind of glad I wasn't on that trip. He got to see Toni (my sister) and Cory (my brother-in-law) and Josiah (my nephew) and Abigail (my niece) and Hannah (my newest niece) though so in that case, I wish that I'd been on the trip :(. I'm really glad that he's back. He's already crashed out asleep and it's only 8:20. Anyway, I better get back to studying.

school (ugh)

Yes, I realize I haven't posted in a while and there is a reason. PT school is hard!!!! Therefor, I have been studying and doing homework and sleeping when it is allowed and eating when my stomach reminds me that it time to leave the library and take a break. I'm doing fine is school but they weren't kidding when they said that it would consume our lives this summer. Luckly they say that this is the worst semester as far as the amount of material that we are covering and current PTs have assured me that this semester is the worst and I will make it through alive. Anyway, that's what my life consists of now. Pretty boring. Oh yeah!! My sister Toni had a baby girl on May 31 in Mexico and she is healthy and beautiful. Thought I'd add that .

One more day!!!

I like my job. I'm a physical therapy rehab aide and it's good experience for the future. But alas, tomorrow is my last full time day. have to work the weekend but those are only 2 half days and much easier than the weekdays so my real last day is Sunday. I'm still going to work 1 weekend a month just to help out and get a little bit of extra money. I'm excited because I get two weeks off and then school starts. That's kind of scary. Link and I and a friend (Kami) are going to the lake for a couple days to play on the water and do nothing and then I'm going to come back and get things organized around the house and go buy my books. I'm just so excited to have time to do nothing and whatever I want to do!! I haven't had that in a while so I'm going to cherish it. Anyway, that's it. Just thought I'd share that!

a new niece and. . .

On Wednesday my sister, Jessica, had a healthy baby girl, 6 lb 13 oz. She's precious. She was three weeks early, planned early. There were a few little complications and she was healthy so they delivered her Wednesday. My sister, Toni, and her family came up from Mexico for the baby and they will be here till next Thursday. It was an exciting day and to top it all off, I came home from the hospital and there was a letter from Texas Tech in the mailbox and I got accepted to Physical Therapy school!!!!! God has a funny sense of humor. He waited till I was having a perfect day and decided to bless me even more. So, thank you to all who said prayers for me! I start May 30 and go for the next three years straight. I'm so excited!

Oh, wonderful PT school

So I've known this since we got back from the fishing trip and I'm not sure why I haven't posted it yet. Maybe it's just because I feel blahhhh about the whole thing. So I got a letter from Texas Tech and it says that I'm an alternate for Physical Therapy school. It wasn't a happy letter, it wasn't a sad letter, it was a blah letter. They said, "If you, haven't received another letter by May 22 then you know the class is filled, thanks for applying, apply again next year and well, it stinks to be you!" Okay, so it didn't say all that, but it did say that if I hadn't received a letter by May 22, the class is full. Now I'm playing the waiting game and I want to receive a letter in the mailbox!!! That would be a good thing. I know that it is still in God's hands and that He knows what's best. I'm wondering if I accidentally prayed for patience one time and so God is making me wait. . . There still is hope though because some alternates don't hear until the end of April/ beginning of May. I don't know how many alternates there are or where I am on the list, so that makes it a bit hard but like I said, God knows better than I! Anyway, it doesn't hurt to pray, so if you could keep (or put) this in your prayers, that would be wonderful!

Fly Fishing

Link and I got to get away this weekend and spend some time with our friends, Kami and Jay. We went to a town outside of San Antonio and stayed at this little lodge that went by the Guadalupe River. It wasn't like a nice log cabin lodge but it was a good price and it was very pretty scenery. On Friday Kami and I slept in while the guys went fly fishing (and caught nothing), then we shopped while they slept and on Saturday we all went to San Marcus and shopped at the outlet malls there. That night we got to go over to San Antonio (sorry, April, that we didn't call, it was last minute) and looked at the Alamo and ate on the River Walk. Jay ate a whole rack of ribs which was very entertaining. On Sunday morning we all got up and went fly fishing and once again caught nothing but it was a lot of fun to be out in nature and not have to worry about time or have a schedule.

TAG!
Well, I got tagged by my friend Amanda...here I go...

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. working at a go-kart/mini-golf/arcade place (and it was fun and not nerdy to work there)
2. filing charts at a clinic in Childress, Texas (after college)
3. Admissions Counselor (fancy name for recruiter) for Lubbock Christian University
4. Physical Therapy Rehab Aide (I exercise and walk people)

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. You’ve Got Mail
2. Princess Bride
3. Sweet Home Alabama
4. My Fair Lady

Four places you have lived:
1. Cerviano, Italy
2. Watertown, SD
3. Childress, TX
4. Lubbock, TX

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. CSI
2. Grey's Anatomy (even though I don't admit to it. . . wait. . .)
3. The Office
4. Las Vegas

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Mexico
2. England
3. Russia
4. Australia

Four websites you visit often:
1. hotmail
2. ASB (our bank)
3. nts (our other email)
4. blogspot

Four of your favorite foods:
1. italian lasagna
2. sour cream enchiladas
3. pizza
4. bisteca melinaze (I think I butchered the spelling, it’s an italian fried beef thing)

Four places you would rather be right now:
1. Dominican Republic (or on any beach actually)
2. Disney World
3. On a cruise
4. not in Lubbock (I get to go fishing this weekend!!!)

Four people who are tagged to do this:
1. Crysty K.
2. Traci B.
3. Neena J.
4. ??Anyone else who wants to do it??

What a day. . .

Someone wrote and said I hadn't updated in a while so I decided I better. It's good to have people to keep me on my toes. Anyway, I had my interview for PT school and it went well. It's one of those things that you have no idea how you did because the interviewers just stare at you and nod their heads. The 30 minute interview only lasted 20 minutes which bothered me until I realized that almost everyone's interviews were short. I hope to hear back by spring break so please keep it in your prayers.

We had a funeral today for a girl named Courtney Day. Some of you may know her or her dad, Tim Day. He's a minister in Hobbs, NM and has been around Encounter and LCU. The funeral was at LCU and it was really good. She was a really sweet girl that lived the way that God wants us too and stayed happy even through a ton of medical problems. You should have seen all the people that were at the funeral that had been touched by heart 16 years of life. It was beautiful. Link's mom was one of her teachers and she only has wonderful things to say about Courtney and what kind of person she was. It made me really think about our kids in the youth group and my own life, how we're healthy people but yet we walk around complaining about little unimportant things and if someone who didn't have health could find the happy things in life and share them with everyone around her, then I should live by her example and do the same. It was the kind of funeral that people hope to have. I hope that all made sense. It's been an emotional day (as most funerals are) and I don't feel like going back and reading it so if it sounds like babble, sorry. Please keep the family in your prayers during this difficult time.

Well, we're having a youth rally on Saturday at Sunset and I'm teaching one of the girls' classes so I need to go work on my lesson. God bless!

Mary Kay clearance

I sell Mary Kay. Yes, I know the girl that hardly wears any makeup (so I can get 10 extra minutes of sleep) sells it. Anyway, a coworker and I decided to go put our inventory on sale. Everything listed is at least 50% off. Just let me know if you want anything off the list!

CLEARANCE ITEMS
(ALL AT LEAST 50% OFF)

Pink Custom Compact $8.00
Pink Foundation Compact $4.50
Pink Color Compact $4.00

Timewise Cleanser (old formula) $8.00
Timewise Moisturizer normal to oily $11.00
Night Solution or Day Solution $15.00

Sunblock SPF 15, 20, or 30 $4.50
Term d isola Set (old Satin Hands/Body Set) $15.00
Instant Action Eye Cream $5.00
Triple Action Lip Enhancer $5.00
Acne treatment gel $3.50
Satin Lips Lip Mask $4.00
Velocity Body Moisture Gel
Velocity End 2 End Lip Gloss/Perfume $6.50

LIP GLOSS $6.50
Moonlit Pink Silver Sand Chocolate Spice
Brownie Cream & Sugar (2) Beach Bronze (3)
Natural (3) Pink Diamond (3)

LIP STICK $6.50
Gingerbread Plush Violet Chocolate Mousse
Sweet Nectar Caramel Intensity Controler
Paradise pink Raisinberry Mocha Freeze
Pink Daisy Pink Coral

Desert Bloom Cheek Color (pink packaging) $4.00

EYE COLOR DUETS $3.25
Fig Lagoon Jade

Black Waterproof Mascara or Black Endless Performance Mascara $4.25
Domain Cologne Gift Set $26.00

MEDIUM COVERAGE FOUNDATIONS $7.00
Ivory 100, 200, 204
Beige 300, 304, 400, 404
Bronze 500, 607, 708

PT school

An exciting thing happened this past Wednesday. I got a phone call from the Texas Tech Physical Therapy school and I have an interview on Feb. 18th!!! I have to go up to Amarillo for the actual interview but that doesn't mean that I'll have to go to school at that branch. So, pray that I get in and that I get to stay in Lubbock!! I'm starting to get nervous but I'm very thankful that I've gotten interview.

Christmas (a month late)

Okay, so I got in trouble for not posting in a long time. . . sorry, April :). Anywho, December was a lot of fun with my sister and her family staying with us for over a month. It was great to see them and we had fun playing with the neice and nephew. They came in the beginning of December and left mid-January. Christmas was great. I had to work Christmas weekend but that's okay. I got the afternoons off to be with family. My mom and dad came down from SD and my in-laws came over from NM. My grandad from Ohio and my grandparents from Oklahoma also came so a lot of family was here. And my big present this year. . . a new Kirby vaccuum!!! I didn't know I'd ever be excited about a vaccuum but I was. Ours had broken and would only suction if you stepped on the front of it while pushing it. It was funny. I love my new kirby!!! We also got gift cards to Lowe's so we bought ourselves an over the counter microwave. Man, we're getting old when we get excited about new appliances. . .

My birthday and UT

All I got to say is that UT handed me a beautiful birthday present from Stillwater (sorry, Amanda, for the loss). My birthday was yesterday (October 28th if any of you would like to put it on your calenders) and it wasn't that great. Link had accidentally planned an overnight guys retreat last night but before he went my sister Jessica and her husband Jeremy and Link and I went to eat at a Japenese steak house called Shoguns. They light things on fire as they cook in front of you so we were really lucky to leave there with all our eyebrows. Anyway, tonight Link planned a semi-suprise party for me. It was semi because I got upset yesterday from the normality and he told me about it. So we had people (his parents and his brother, sister-in-law, and nieces and Jessica and Jeremy and our friends Kami and Jay) over for steaks and cake. It was a ton of fun. I got chef pasta bowls (they are way cute), a manicure, a gift certificate to a pottery making place (so much fun) and. . . . . . . a new Canon Rebel XL EOS which is a digital camera that has manual or automatic focus, 8 megapixels and takes amazing pictures. I'm sooooo excited about it but also afraid. I dropped the last good camera I had about 6 times before it finally broke. Hopefully I'll have better luck with this one. Link bought me a bathrobe, The Wizard of Oz, and a new pair of tennis shoes!! So my birthday ended up being great (even if it was celebrated a day late) and was only topped off by UT coming out during the second half and winning the game. Oh, yeah, and the extra hour of sleep that I'm going to get tonight is also a major plus!

Ruidoso

A friend of Link's family passed away in a flying stunt show back in July and they were having a memorial for him in Ruidoso last Monday (October 17). It was a sad reason to be there but it gave Link and me a chance to get out of town for a little vacation and spend some time together and with his parents. The memorial lasted about 4 hours (2 hours of speakers and a meal and then a video). I was hoping to get some fun shopping in but unfortunately the shopping wasn't that great. Oh, well, the scenery was beautiful!

Girls' Weekend

I just got back from Amarillo were I got to hang out with some good friends from college this past Friday and Saturday and it was amazing!! I miss hanging out with people my age. It's kind of hard to meet people my own age when your around junior high kids and their parents (not that I don't enjoy hanging out with them. . . they are fun!) all the time. Anyway, we watched a semi funny movie called Without a Paddle, we did a lot of window shopping (with a few purchases) and we got some new furniture put in Traci's bedroom. And by the way, Traci and Crysty, it took me 1 hour and 50 minutes to get home :). It was good to get away from Lubbock and just hang out with the girls!!

Life is such a race. . .

So several of you responded to the last blog by saying that we need to slow down. . . and that is so very true. Sadly, life hasn't slowed down much due to church events. We had one man come in two weekends ago to try out for the youth minister position and we have one come in this weekend. I am really looking forward to someone finally being hired. Then Link will hopefully have less meetings and less activities that he needs to be at.

On another note, I love my new job!! The day goes by quickly and I meet a lot of interesting people. The biggest thing that has happened is that I sent my forms in today for Physical Therapy school!!! If everyone that reads this could say a prayer for me, um, about 20 times a day, that'ld be great. PT school is something that I really want to do and I'm just worried that there are too many people applying this year. So please start praying!!!!

August (what a crazy month)

Link and I have had a crazy month and I'm glad that the month is almost over. We started out having a fabulous time at my friend April's wedding where we met some great new people. It was in Oklahoma so Link was able to meet a lot of my old friends :).

The Tuesday after the wedding Link's grandad had a heart attack. He flat lined and they brought him back, flew him to Lubbock and put a stint in his heart. He is doing amazingly better and got to go home after a week at the Heart Hospital .

My month (besides the heart attack) has been exciting because I got a job as a rehabilation aide at Covenant Hospital. It's great because I'll get paid for getting my observation hours for Physical Therapy school. I'd put my application in July and never heard anything back and then they called on Thursday, interviewed on Friday and was hired 2 hours after my interview!! It was such an unexpected blessing! I've also started doing Mary Kay as a side job and I now have a website so people can order online!! If you would like to look at it, go to www.marykay.com/monicablevins .

Link has been running around crazy for the past month. We have a youth group retreat this weekend. It's actually the biggest event of the year for our youth group. It's in the mountains of New Mexico (yes, New Mexico has pretty parts as hard as that is to believe) at a camp called Blue Haven. We leave Friday and don't have to come back till Monday thanks to Labor Day. I haven't started my new job yet but hopefully I'll get to start it when I get back from the retreat.

That's what is happening in our lives. . . maybe I'll get better at this blogging thing. . .

Monica and Link

Monica and Link

Things are pretty crazy here. It was snowing yesterday and today it's all gone. That's how the whole winter has been. It'll be in the 60's one day and the next it'll snow all day long, be cold for a couple of days and then back up to the 60's and 70's. We're getting a new puppy and I hope to have a picture posted of him soon so everyone can see him.