sneak peek:

I am blessed to be married to a preacha'. and a very good one at that. 

I am grateful that sometimes he lets me read his sermon first. Give him my thoughts and opinions- which most of the time are... wow. that was great. ...and he never believes me. but its true. his sermons move me. challenge me. inspire me. and then make me grateful to remember... i am married to this guy. the man that so beautifully received God's word and wrote his message. I am blessed. and grateful. 

This week I got to glance at his sermon... and man. his last 3 paragraphs got me good. 

AND I wanted to share them here.... sorta a sneak peak if any of you go to my church (doubtful) or just a word to think on. 

"This morning I ask all of you the same question. “How is your soul? Really, how is it?” “Where are you receiving grace?” “What have you read recently that filled your soul? When is the last time you went on a prayer walk?  Do you have friends who are uplifting you?”  If you cannot receive God’s grace, then you will never be able to love God in return. And your heart will be forever restless.  

We hate gifts from strangers, don’t we?  God is the friend who shows up on our doorstep unannounced.  And God says, “You don’t know me that well, but I would like to give you something. His name his Jesus Christ.” For Jesus Christ is the gift we did not want.  He was a gift that we oppressed and then put to death.  And yet, Jesus Christ is the gift that we so desperately need.

If you choose to receive the gift of this stranger, it will show you the truth: that you are helpless, needy, indebted, and utterly dependent. But this gift will also give you life. If you choose to try and repay this stranger, then may your heart always be restless.  Thanks be to God for that. " --Ryan Snider

grateful for this gift of life that has been given to me. I pray I can accept it. accept God's grace. and love. and life a life that is glorifying to Him. 

funny.

the blogs:
keepingupwithkatie
and keepingupwith katieb



are different. totally different. the other katie--- since you are wondering--- is in israel.
i kept wondering why my katieb wasn't posting... there ya go.

ps i just blogged twice in one day. nice.

reflecting back on the old j-o-b.

as you all know im sure- in my "previous career" i was an ER nurse. 

and by previous career i mean the one i did for a few years before starting grad school.

working in the ER was the most challenging thing I have ever done. [really]

it was also the most rewarding. 

when i started working in the ER i was told- i was too nice to be an ER nurse. 

I proved that guy wrong. :) i learned to be tough when needed (which is quite often). 

it was very hard from the first day until the last. 

not only did i take away a lifetime of memories, knowledge and experience---

i took away two incredible friends. 

thinking back i don't really remember the three of us seeking each other out to be buds- but it just happened. we are very similar- and half of our coworkers thought we were the same person. 

really. 

but throughout our time working together we grew a bond that I don't have with other friends. 

our friendship is so different and deep and turned into a dear treasured friendship.

my most vivid memories with these girls include saving a guys life- seriously. he was a 'stemi' (heart attack) and we got him in and down to the cath lab super quick.

and then working a code- just the three of us (with a doc) and being together when the patient didn't make it. 

there are also lots of fun goofy moments. silly times. and being in situations that other friends just don't experience together. picture: naked people. puke. pee. the list goes on & on.

the reason im thinking all these things probably has to do with the show new york med. 

it really does show ER nurses how they really are. 

laughing with patients. dealing with the agressive patients. getting yelled at. yelling at others. 

its a great show.

and really has me thinking back & missing my 2 years running through the halls of the ER. 

it was a hard job- but one that has made me a much stronger nurse and person. 

it also gave me two incredible friends- that i couldn't be more thankful for. 

they've seen me cry. made me laugh. picked me up when disheartened. encouraged me through school. (heck encouraged me/pushed me to apply to school to begin with). 

they are great girls. 

thankful for them. and for the experience of working in an ER. 

even if i did cry, whine, complain and 'hate' my job sometimes, in the end it was the best experience of my life! 

construction

life is changing. 

so is the blog. 

perhaps that means more posts are coming soon. 

that could be exciting. 

if only i didn't have clinic 8.5 hours a day... 

and the other days im driving across the state to go to clinic. 

just a few more weeks and ill be done. 

and ill start working :) 

the final countdown.

i think ive waited long enough. 

its time. 

finally.

for the FINAL COUNTDOWN. 

2 weeks (out of town) pediatric rotation. 

2.5 weeks to finish my adult rotation. 

(thats at home so its even better)

a wedding. 

a visit from my grandma. 

probably some BS paperwork. (can you tell im TOTALLY OVER SCHOOL)

and ill be done. 

DONE. finished. grad school will be over and my diploma will be mine!!!!

what this all boils down to.......

35 days until Jamaica

where me and ryan will have 7 days to do nothing. 

beautiful. 

oh. and then ill probably blog again.