Pricey VS. Priceless

One of my favorite stores around Memphis is Bella Vita. Thanks to my wonderful friend, Lauren Flatt, I discovered this amazing sanctuary of adorable furniture and household items in Collierville. Unfortunately, this adorable boutique is just a tad out of my price range these days (or ever). This normally does not pose a problem. Instead of buying all the super cute items I spot at Bella Vita... I use the store as a source of inspiration and ideas for my own projects. This saves me a lot of time and is a super fun hobby (some of my own projects will be exhibited on the blog in the near future). Lately, though, I have been in a small bind. I found the most beautiful paintings there that would be just PERFECT for my living room. Unfortunately again... they were a bit to pricey. The big one that I wanted was priced at $800 and the smaller 2 were somewhere between $300 and $400. Even if I were up for spending that much for a painting (which I'm not), there is no way in the world my thrifty hubby would ever go for it. This was all a problem because while I can make and decorate furniture and other household items all day long... I am definitely NOT a painter! So normally the story would simply end here...and I would have to settle for some lesser decor for above my couch. Lucky for me... it doesn't end here.

I have an incredibly talented brother that turned my pricey dilemma into a priceless experience! After seeing the paintings I had my eye on, he created gorgeous replicas that are practically identical! See if you can tell the difference!!!

Isn't that crazy? If the picture of mine was a closer shot, you would see the detailed texture that is present on the Bella Vita paintings as well. I still am in shock at how incredible they turned out! So I am happy to say that I have some priceless (instead of pricey) paintings hanging above my couch that make my living room look all the more gorgeous!!!!

THANKS, LOGAN!!!!!

Wishful thinking...

So I guess that maybe it was wishful thinking on my part when I said I would be posting more often. Technically, this is still "more often" but once every month or two isn't that great of a track record. I'll keep working on that...

Now, for all of you that have been hanging by a string waiting to hear about my boards... good news... I PASSED. I'm now officially-

KELSEY HOPKINS, RN

It was one stressful experience. For those of you who are not nurses, you can get between 75 and 250ish questions. Every person gets 75. The testing program continues to give you questions until it has enough info to determine if you actually know what you are doing or until it knows that no matter how many questions it gives you, you are going to fail. SO, you can get 150 questions and pass or 150 questions and fail. I got 75 questions, which meant that I either did great or did absolutely terrible- which would be totally embarrassing. Thankfully, I came out on top! Take that NCLEX! I apparently am a "safe practioner" which is still debatable... I have a lot to still learn before anyone should be setting me loose with my own ICU patients!!! :) Thankfully I have wonderful teachers at work that really want me to learn as much as possible and to become a wonderful nurse! I just can't wait to actually know what I am doing!!!

Thanks for the prayers and encouragement!!!

I FINISHED!

So I'm not sure what is more shocking, the fact that I am making a new post, or that I actually survived Nursing School?!?

So here is the first of hopefully (fingers crossed) many more posts to follow in my new found free time.

On Dec. 12, 2009 I graduated Summa Cum Laude with my BSN and here are some pictures to prove it!

Me and my wonderful, helpful, supportive husband. I really don't know what I would have done without him cheering my along the whole way! What a wondeful man!




My amazing sister who flew in just for the occasion.




Marci (Smith's mom) came in all the way from South Carolina to support me.



Erin brought along some special cargo to support Aunt Kelsey. I was happy to share the spotlight with such a precious boy!

Even with the long hours, boring reading, bed baths, foley care, sushi lunches, white marshmellow uniforms, the "i don't know ANYTHING" freak out moments, contraction counting, med calculations, test questions with 4 right answers, ATIs, ENDLESS paper work and care plans, group projects, ugly white shoes, pockets so full my pants almost fell down, and dreams of IVs, catherizations, and NG tubes... I can say it was TOTALLY worth it and I am so glad to be a NURSE!

I started a job at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in January and I am loving it. Such a wonderful place to work!

I take my NCLEX boards this Wednesday so please keep my in your thoughts and prayers as I take this last step in becoming an RN!

Thanks to everyone that encouraged and supported me through the past year. Thanks to my family for always providing a fun distraction from all my stress. Thanks to Erin for calming my fears with each new step of nursing. Thanks to Smith for constantly loving me even when I was riduculous, for being the "house wife" when I couldn't, and working so hard so that we could have a great year.

Hopefully in a few days I will be sharing the good news of passing the boards!!!! Stay tuned! (but not too close incase it takes me a couple weeks to actually make a post haha!)

** SURPRISE! **

A couple weekends ago we threw Erin a SURPRISE baby shower to get her ready for Cole's big arrival. Amazingly, I think she really was surprised (a big accomplishment to keep it a secret from my perpetually nosey sister :D ). We had such a great turn out of old friends, church friends, and lots of family. Everyone was so excited to shower Erin with love and gifts. I couldn't have done it without Reena, Adrienne, Becca, and Amanda. They are all such wonderful friends to Erin and were more than happy to help me out with all the planning. Here are some pictues from the fun day!

She really did look surprised.

I'm sure she had some idea from all the cars lining Reena's street though :)

So happy (and overwhelmed) to see everyone there.

She was looking so cute in her summer dress!

Some of the decorations. I made the COLE letters for his nursery.

Erin got lots of great stuff from everyone!

The bookcase I refinished for Cole's nursery.

I was really nervous about how Erin would like it, but when I saw her tears (happy tears) I knew she loved it! It looks perfect in his nursery, too!

Amanda brought a great game for us to play! It was a lot of fun!

Erin opening all of her gifts.

Super cute diaper cake and table decorations.

Reena made Erin cookie cakes that were so cute!

A nurse like Aunt Kelsey.

Emma was hard at work this weekend learning how to be a nurse like Aunt Kelsey will be soon (December!!!). She loved the "medical kit" she found in the tub of toys at the lake. She may need a little more instruction on some of her equipment, but she's off to a good start!

Digging in her medical bag for something good.

She has the general idea. She also would hold it up to her ears. She is a very observant (and cute) patient apparently!

Can I take your blood pressure Aunt Kelsey?

Well the location may be a bit off, but she did a good job of pumping it up.
This was her favorite one to do. She took a lot of blood pressures!

Me with Emma after my Doctors visit. I think I passed. Isn't she just the cutest?

A playdate for my husband...

We had a great time this past weekend spending some time at the lake with Morgan, Melissa, and our precious niece, Emma. It was a much needed break from our crazy schedules of work and school! Emma is getting so big so fast. She will be a big sister before we know it (Braden is on the way, due 8/1/09). Here are some pictures of all the fun.

Emma was a little excited about being at the lake... if you can't tell! This was her running out to help Morgan and Smith catch some fish.

When smith casted, the top of his fishing pole flew off into the water. As he reeled in back in he realized he had a fish on the end. That was the only fish caught that day! And this is what my crazy husband decided to do with it.... I'm worried about what he is teaching Emma!

This is what the boys do all day long. They never stop for very long- always have to be doing something. They taught themselves to knee-board this weekend.


And this is what Melissa and I do all day long. Life is good :) We are more than happy to do pretty much nothing! (Emma was napping)


Morgan and Emma in her boat. The sun was too bright for Morgan so he put on some sweet shades. Emma thought it was pretty funny!


Emma wasn't sure what she thought about the wave-runners. She would cry when she was on it, but then cry when she had to get off of it.


Emma getting some piano lessons from her Uncle Smith.


Emma with her Uncle Smith and Aunt Kelsey. We bought that sweet dress from Emma on our honeymoon in Mexico. We were so glad it fit her because they sure didn't have regular sizes to choose from. She looked so cute!

Presenting... Our House!

I finally found my camera chip so, as promised, I took pictures of the work that we have done so far to our house. We still have a lot more to do! The living room still doesn't have all the decorations done, but I put it up anyways because it has come a long way :) Enjoy the before and after pictures!

Entry way- before and after...

Family room- before and after...

My bathroom- before and after...

Smith's bathroom- before and after....
















So we still have a lot to do, but this is a small taste of what it looks like so far. We are absolutely loving working on it together. It is so fun to have our own place and to get to decide exactly how we want it to be. This definitely feels like home to us! What can I say?... We love our life!