Tess Colette.

I realized today that I've never actually put up photos along with any of my posts. So I decided to switch it up this time. And what better way to do that, than to dedicate a post to my baby sister, who also happens to be the most beautiful kid in the universe. Tess joined our family 5 years ago, but I can't even remember what life was like without her. She is a miracle and a blessing, and we adore her- and spoil her- like crazy. But look at that face; how could anyone not? Even though Tess is 20 years younger than me, she and I still have so much fun when we hang out and have "sister time." She's so smart, funny, & stinkin' adorable, it blows me away most of the time. And she's a total Dunshee; she's got the same goofy sense of humor as the rest of us. Not a day goes by that I don't think about Tess's birth mom, and how much love I have for her. She made an amazing, selfless decision, and gave our family the most amazing gift anyone can give. I would love to meet her one day, give her a huge hug, and just thank her. Although we could thank her a million times, and it still wouldn't be enough. Adoption is such a beautiful thing, and I have an incredible amount of respect and love for all birth mothers. I wish I could hug them all! Anyway, I sure do love my little sis. She's one of the greatest blessings in my life. I thank God every day for this sweet girl.
= )

Super.

I realized the other day, that I am not even old enough to legally rent a car... aw, see? I'm still just a baby. Suck on THAT, Utah!

More CNA Shiz.

Well, I passed the written exam, and just took the skills test earlier today. Won't know whether I passed until they mail me my result in 5-10 days. Seriously, who uses snail mail these days? Oh, well. I guess it's time to start the official job search, which is probably my least-favorite pastime.... ever. There's just something so demeaning about the whole job-hunting process. I'm definitely not a fan. But I'll survive. I always do, somehow or another. I'm very excited to finally be able to use my CNA license, though. Doing something that you love and getting paid for it; that's the American dream, right? Or something like that. Anyway. That's all I've got for now. I have a good feeling about where things are going for me, though. I do eat success for breakfast, after all.
; )

How 'bout that?

Just got a semi-job offer. I am excited. At first, I was hesitant to work at a retirement home, only because I've heard horror stories about employees who abuse the residents. I know it happens, and it breaks my heart to think about.
But that shouldn't stop me from accepting an offer from such a place. I feel like if anything, I do need to take that job. If only to make one person's life a bit easier. I bawled my eyes out after my first day of clinicals, but it was only because I absolutely fell in love with the people that I was able to help that day. That's how I know this is what I should be doing.

Thought of the day.

I'd like to thank the "Hoarders" marathon on A&E for giving me the motivation to FINALLY clean and organize my closet.

What's up, Blog?

I am currently having a love affair with pistachio nuts. They might be the most delicious little snacks in the world. Of course, they're so ridiculously expensive that I can't afford to buy them very often. But maybe that's one of the reasons I enjoy them so much?

In other news, I have almost completed my CNA training. I passed the class & finished up all of my clinical hours. (Clinicals were an amazing experience, by the way.) So now all I have to do is go take the state test- which consists of both a written and a skills exam. I've been kind of putting it off, because I'm not sure that I'm fully prepared to take it quite yet. I am a terrible test-taker. But at the end of the day, I can only study so much... I know what I really need to do is just bite the bullet & go take the dang test. So wish me luck. I'm gonna need it.

Still alive!

My poor, little blog rarely gets any love from me, which makes me feel very sorry for it. Therefore, I'm going to start blogging more regularly, if only to make myself feel more... productive? Yeah, let's go with that.
Well, I don't really have anything terribly life-altering to post about; I'm not in school right now, & have been out of a solid job for a few months now. I blame the economy, because really- that is the reason that I've been out of work for this long. It's been incredibly discouraging, but today I received some very joyous news- starting tomorrow, I am going to be watching a 16-month old baby girl on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays. She lives in our neighborhood, & my mom actually watches her on Mondays & Fridays, so she'll be spending 5 days a week at our house. She is the cutest little thing since Tess was that age. [That's not to say that Tess isn't still the most adorable girl in the universe, because she is. But there is nothing like a chubby little toddler, & kids just grow up way too fast these days!] Anyway, watching her will be a blessing for me, because not only will I be making money- and not having to get any taxes taken out of my paycheck- but it will also just be great to be doing a daycare-type job again. I've been missing my babies so much from the 2 daycares I've worked at over the past year. It's tough to go from taking care of them all day, all week long, & then suddenly never seeing them again. And some of those kids I had been taking care of since they were new babies; it was sad for me to bond with them & love them so much, & then just kind of be cut off. Some of them would even cry when their moms came to pick them up at the end of the day, because they didn't want to leave me. Which honestly made me feel horrible sometimes, but also happy to know that they loved me back. Anyway, the point is, it's a good-news day! I figured such a day was deserving of a blog-entry, so... that's about all I've got for now. Check back in soon, & see how much better I get at posting! 'Cause that's totally gonna happen. ; )