Monday, December 19, 2011

Christmas at our house

So we decided to do our little families Christmas on Sunday afternoon after church. Really it was Dave that wanted to do it so soon, HAHA, he couldn't wait to open his gifts! I didn't have any gifts to open, as Dave & Haylee I already got the iPad!

Friday night we decided to let her open one gift first, one that she had been asking for...

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I think she likes it!

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kicking her feet in excitement! LOL

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silly girl

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she switched out her red ladybug real quick!

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Now onto Sunday...

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more excited about the wand than anything!

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loving her umbrella!
(she tells me all the time now that it's raining and her baby is in the rain! LOL)

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new puppy

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she named her Princess haha

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she kept saying "Kylie has one like this!"

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new camera...
good thing it's "kid tough"!

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Daddy's turn!

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she HAD to put on her new nightgown... although it's freezing (& apparently raining)!

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Princess wasn't so sure about the new "Princess"

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such a Diva... I asked her if she was Paris Hilton and she said "I can't hear you"
aka "I don't know what you are talking about" HAHA

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I think she loved all her gifts and thanked us often throughout opening them. I love how sweet and polite she is! Although, she did keep asking who got her them (as in, Grandma & Grandpa or us) HAHA. She's so funny. I love the things that come out of her mouth... sometimes!

Christmas in VA... I mean NC!

On Saturday we headed out to my parents house for our family Christmas. We always do this before going to IL so we don't have to bring all the gifts with us to IL (& after you see how many my parents get the kids you will understand!).

First we took some pictures

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I love her <3

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so sweet, Kylie grabbed Haylee's hand to take the picture <3

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such a little model

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then it was time to dig into the presents!

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The Princess and the Frog movie

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thanking Grandma after she got some bracelets, she loves jewelry!

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her pretty ballerina and cross necklace (that she wears every day)

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showing Kylie her necklace

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opening her very own "iPad"!
(aka Fisher Price iXL)

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showing Kylie her doll LOL she kept an eye on Kylie the entire time

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she loves this thing!

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showing off her necklace and bracelets...
yes, she has candy in her mouth haha

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then we played a little bit of Wii

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and ate some yummy soup!

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As you can tell, we had a great time! Grandma even sent us home with some goodie bags with lots of cookies and banana nut bread! MMM!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

It's official!

I can sign my name "Nicole Salisbury, RNA" HAHA. Not yet "RN" but I'm close! (RNA = Registered Nurse Applicant). The day that I never thought would come finally did... I graduated from NURSING school (with an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Health Science with a major in Registered Nursing). Let me tell you, it feels great! It feels good to have made it (the first time around) and with relatively good grades & being a member in the National Technical Honor Society... and with only slightly loosing my mind once or twice ;-)

My journey isn't over yet of course, I still have a lot of studying & practicing for my NCLEX. Right now I just wait until the Board of Nursing approves my application (& gets all the paperwork from my school) and then I will get my ATT letter and be able to schedule my NCLEX exam. I'm hoping for mid January. Then I can start working!

OK, OK, here's what you really want... pictures (& there's lots of them)!

Haylee and I before the ceremony started <3
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The classes (final edit done by Rebekah) put a slide show together for the families...
Here is mine
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a random one, I'm in the bottom right corner if you can see me LOL
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Beautiful girl waiting SO patiently!
Dave and her got there at 2 and it didn't start til 3... and it was over at 4:30. Not to mention she didn't have a nap! I was proud of my girl =)
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Rebekah and I LOL
(Rebekah is the oldest sister of the little girl Gabby I used to watch all the time)
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Rebekah saying her speech... which was pretty funny
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Getting pinned by Ms. Farazaneh
(she taught out class Med/Surg 1 and Acute Care)
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waiting for the others to be pinned with my lamp
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Just got my lamp lit
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Saying the nurses pledge by Florence Nightingale
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half of my class & the night class
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the rest of my class
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My family & I after the ceremony <3
With beautiful flowers from them, my parents and my sister & her family!
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My favorite sister and I ;-)
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Angie & I
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Pam came too!
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My wonderful parents!
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So glad to have gone through this whole thing with Rebekah
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After the ceremony we had reservations at PF Changs to celebrate. I thought it was only going to be Dave, Haylee, my parents and Kimberly & Jacob but they surprised me and Pam & Angie were there also! Sneaky, sneaky!

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Cutie! She played with Pam most of the night!
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Opening Pam's gift
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so pretty!
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close up...
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Eating with chop sticks
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She did really good!
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Then they surprised me again with a cake!! Photobucket

Dave did a great job picking it out =)
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Haylee is eyeing that cake! HAHA
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My Mom and Dad got me a gift certificate to All Heart. I'm very excited, I plan to get some shoes and probably some scrubs (when I know where I'm going to work and what color to wear)! Kimberly and Jacob got me a hair gift certificate. They gave it to me early so I could get it cut before my ceremony... although we had to wear our hair up so I guess it didn't really matter HAHA. Oh well, I was very excited! And Angie gave me a super cute Christmas ornament (see below)...

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I had such a wonderful day and I am so thankful for my hubby, parents, sister and Angie & Pam. I felt so loved that day and could feel how proud everyone was of me =) Also, the love I got on Facebook from all my family and friends who couldn't make it made me so happy! Thank you EVERYONE, you'll never understand how truly blessed I feel.