Day 2: The Texan Transplant

Our second day of driving was nowhere near as exciting as the first. If you don't know already, Arkansas is boring. Very, VERY boring. And flat. And long (that's what she said).  We had a 12/13 hour trip  so we left the houseboat and began our journey through the right half of the United States. Tennessee was pretty, but there was a lot of bad weather.  I let Jack out briefly in the car and he growled at the guy getting out of his car next to us at the gas station, haha.  So far being in Texas is not his favorite. We took him to Preston's parents house and he has been hiding underneath our bed since we left him.  Poor thing.  

#southarkalina

helping me drive

Made it! 

We are sitting at the hospital now waiting for Preston to get his gallbladder taken out. It's been acting up/infected for a few weeks, and he even had a fever the night before our wedding ceremony.  Poor guy! I'm glad they're finally taking it out, even if it means he will be out of commission for the first couple of weeks that we are finally together. 

He looks excited, haha. 

Day 1

The time has come! Yesterday (May 26th), we began our trek to Texas. We spent the evening of the 25th putting all of my stuff together so we could pack the car. I had a lot more stuff than I realized!  It all worked out, though. We were able to pack the car like Tetris with everything but our 2 duffle bags and the cat. I picked up sedation from the vet for Jack so he wouldn't stress out on the road. They worked pretty well, he basically looked/acted drunk all day, haha. 

We drove down I40 to the Tail of the Dragon so I could show Preston the mountains in North Carolina and Tennessee. They were breathtaking. We decided that we wanted to live somewhere like that eventually. The Tail of the Dragon is a super windy 11 mile stretch of road that lots of motorcycles like to ride.  It was awesome.  It only added about an hour to our trip so it wasn't entirely out of the way.  We stopped for pictures on the NC side and on the TN side. I wish my iPhone did these views justice. 

Sweet Carolina

Beautiful Tennessee

Those flowers were at the top of a hill overlooking that lake. Makes you feel reeeaalllll small and obsolete standing up there. 

Our end goal for day 1 was Nashville, or actually right outside of Nashville in a town called Old Hickory.  There is a lake with a houseboat out there that we rented for the evening through AirBNB.com (love this website! We've used it before to stay near Eglin AFB in Florida).  The houseboat was awesome. Very homey and comfortable! We ate dinner at a restaurant named Sam's that is on the lake, we just had to walk down the dock to get there. 

We sat on the top deck of the houseboat in the evening after we met the gentleman who owns it.  I took a picture of the sunset with Preston's phone but once again, no justice was done. The colors were phenomenal. 

The ONLY downside to the houseboat was all of our neighbors having 8 legs and basically mexi-packing every corner of the dock and boat. Otherwise it was a great experience! 

Day 2 consists of the rest of TN, all of Arkansas, and into Texas. I'll post more later about the rest of our trip! 

Forever and Ever, Amen!

So Preston and I decided in December that we wanted to get married.  (Well, if we're being technical - I've known for at least a year.  He took a little longer to figure it out).  We spent many nights over Christmas break looking at Pinterest for ideas and colors and themes, only to decide a little later that we would have a courthouse wedding in March and have a ceremony (read: party) later on.  If anyone tells you how stressful wedding planning is, they aren't lying.  What a headache.  Between everyone's opinions and what we could actually pull off - I was ready to quit and just go grab a hobo off the street and feed him in exchange for a witness signature.  

We decided that our ceremony would be short and sweet, no vows, no wedding party.  Just he and I on the steps of the courthouse with our families present to witness.  We had food that we half made/half purchased back at Preston's parent's house where the rest of his family was able to join us in celebration.  It was a really awesome day.  Everything was executed beautifully (minus my macaroni and cheese debacle that Ryan was put in charge of fixing).  

I did my own makeup and Lura helped me with my hair;

 the cake turned out beautiful (as did the cupcakes - not pictured);

and everything was delicious. 

Preston slow-cooked pork in the crock pot and smoked brisket out front all day before the wedding.  I baked our cake and his mom and sister picked up the cupcakes while he and I met with the officiant (who is his brother-in-law's grandfather).  My parents came and met everyone, and I was really happy to have them there.  

Our ceremony (read: definitely a party) is May 24th (this weekend on Sunday) and I'm really excited for how everything is turning out.  Still a very stressful event to plan, and I'm kind of beating myself up over planning TWO weddings in my last semester of nursing school - but now that THAT is over, I have plenty of time this week to finish last minute errands before Preston gets here on Friday.  No more 3 month hiatuses (hiati?) between visits for us! This is it! The big move is next week. :)  Our plan is to stop in Nashville and then keep on trucking down the interstate on day 2 so we can get to Texas in time for Preston to have a minor surgical procedure at the end of next week.  This is the busiest month I think I've ever had.  

Here are a few pictures from the wedding :)

Love this man :)

Waiting for his bride to walk up the stairs :)

I now pronounce you man and wife!

Porter and that contagious smile!

Ryan and Benson

Grandma and Porter giving a thumbs-up

I was definitely blessed with some beautiful and wonderful new sisters

Mr. & Mrs. Rushton

On August 3rd, 2013 my life changed for the better.  March 7th, 2015 is when our fairy tale began.  Stay tuned for updates from our #HappilyEverRushton!

"Take pride in how far you have come and have faith in how far you can go"

Man.  This has been the craziest ride.  I can finally announce that I will have my bachelor's degree of science in nursing a week from today.  It feels absolutely surreal.  I have been fighting an almost ten year battle with college, and to be able to say that I'm finished, I mean honestly - it makes me want to cry.  I have been exhausted, frustrated, sad, angry and beaten down more often than I'd like to admit.  I truly never thought I would make it.  I've watched people I went to high school with complete college AND receive a master's degree in the time it took for me to finish my undergrad.  I don't even really have a great excuse, either. Some people get married young, they start families, circumstances change... and my excuse is that I just kept failing.  Over and over again.  I started college in 2006 at UNC-Charlotte.  I attended UNCC because almost all of my classmates from high school went to East Carolina or UNC or NC State, and I didn't want to go to school with those people anymore.  I ventured out on my own and made some terrible life choices that created many setbacks.  I finally felt free, but 18-year-old me wasn't invincible like I may have believed at the time.  

I moved back to Raleigh after 2 years at UNCC (half because I knew I wouldn't get into the nursing program there, and half because of a boy).  I figured I would attend Wake Tech for a semester and transfer to UNC for nursing.  3 years later in 2011 I graduated from Wake Tech with an associate's degree in arts.  I guess that's fancy for saying I just took a bunch of classes in different studies that didn't mean anything towards a legitimate degree (now-a-days I suppose the term is "well-rounded").  I attempted to apply to Johnston Community College for nursing that year.  Everything seemed to be falling into place - until they dropped the ball on me at the last minute that my CNA license that they required prior to admission wasn't acceptable due to how I obtained it (long story short - it was offered to me in high school as a bridge program after I completed the EMT course I took for my fourth period class).  JCC told me that because I essentially "challenged" the test and skipped the clinical component that it wasn't legitimate.  (Right here is a good time to say that I worked as a home health aide in Charlotte for 2 years, and at WakeMed as a CNA/US for 3 years).  I was so distraught when they told me.  I ended up taking the CNA class at Wake Tech with my health teacher from high school, and I didn't even have to take the test at the end because I was already on the board of nursing registry.  It was a waste of money and time, and then I didn't even end up attending JCC after that.  In a rush I applied to Central Carolina Community College in Sanford, NC and to my surprise, I got in.  I started the nursing program in the Fall of 2011.  Two months into nursing school, my boyfriend of over 4 years broke up with me.  I was devastated, heartbroken, but most of all distracted.  I made even more poor life choices and ended up failing out of that program in the first semester.  After that, I felt like I had nowhere to go.  I debated taking a few random classes because I was surprisingly close to finishing a degree in archaeology. 

I ended up taking a semester off, and I worked full time and enjoyed myself.  I was still getting over the break up, but I had a really good friend by my side that made most of my worries go away.  (Shout out to Tanya for keeping me afloat during that shit storm).   We went to Disney in April of 2012 and had a blast.  Even today, I always refer back to that trip when I talk about Disney.  

A friend of mine had started the nursing program and was halfway through her first semester at Barton College in the spring of 2012.  We discussed my options, and I decided that it wouldn't hurt to apply.  I applied that summer and received a phone call from the college that I had been accepted as a student. I was required to take the pre-nursing class in the fall, but that I was in and I could register for classes at that point.  I took a bunch of nonsense classes to fill my full-time requirement, and was accepted into the nursing program with a 3.5 GPA (it started over at Barton).  I began in the spring of 2013, and through an incredible amount of tears, stress, breakdowns, and all of the shitty things I had to endure from that school, I can finally say that I am finished.  I'm not entirely ready to take the NCLEX yet, but that is the next step. 

I have been offered and accepted a job at the children's hospital in Temple, Texas - and my start date is July 6th.  I truly could not be happier or more excited for this next journey (AND I get to take that journey with my HUSBAND! :) More details on that later).