It's official!

It's official! I am now Emily Hicks, Licensed Massage Therapist! All that schooling and testing has finally paid off. I am looking at a few different jobs right now, but in the meantime I am working at the State Fair. Our school rents a booth and we offer chair massage, for a fee of course. I get to work there for a few hours almost everyday the next 2 weeks! It'll be great exposure! Get my name out, and so on.

I am still working on training for the triathlon. Unfortunately I think I jumped in over my head. I have about 3.5 weeks before the race and I rode my bike today for the first time. I had wanted to get one, so I figured now was a good time to buy one. Then to top it off, the pool on post is closed for renovation so I can only do my lap swimming at the waterpark between the hours of 11am and 7pm. I'm going to do this, even if I come in last! The other girls haven't decided if they want to do the triathlon or not, so I may be flying solo.
I don't think I told you all the particulars of the race before so here they are: It is a 400 meter swim in a pool, followed by biking for 8 miles on some roads, followed by running for 3K (1.86 miles) out back where it is slightly hilly. This is going to be pretty tough, not in comparison to triathlons, but in comparison to how much I usually exercise. I've had to battle tired/laziness along the way and sometimes I lose the battle, BUT I'm trying. This is more than just a physical thing for me. It's physical, emotional, spiritual. It tests me on so many levels.
Thanks to all of you for your support. If I can do this, who knows what lies ahead!

I'm really going to do it!

I can't believe its true, but I am doing a mini-triathlon! Come September I will be swimming, biking and running for a day! There are 2 other girls doing it with me. Its interesting how it all came about.......I was doing a presentation with Arbonne when the hostess, Amanda, asked if I would like to do a triathlon with her. Normally I would have politely refused instantly, but something made me stop and think. "I've wanted to get into better shape and into the HABIT of exercising for a while now, but it's been hard to be consistent when there is no clear goal. Here is a definite clear goal. What a great opportunity for me! I get the bests of both worlds: workout buddies and an end goal. I don't have to finish first, I can go at my own pace during the triathlon...the important thing is FINISHING. I should do it! It will certainly push me outside of my comfort zone, but......that is where growth takes place. I really could use a change too and it would be GREAT to have something to look forward to instead of sitting at home alone, especially these last few months before Jason comes home. I NEED something to look forward to"......isn't it great how God provides for our every need even when what we need is to get out of a rut and off our butts?
I had a little extra incentive too...when I mentioned it to Jason he thought it was a great idea....in fact he told me how great that would be that we could finally run together. ( We attempted a run together when we were camping in Texas in February of 2006. It was awful! I had no stamina and our run ended up being a hoppy-walk for about .25 miles if even. It was so embarrassing.) Jason has really wanted to be able to run together and he joked that if I didn't learn to run then he would tie a rope around my waist and drag me along...LOL Even though he said it in a joking way, I knew he was still serious. I didn't realize how important it was to Jason that this be something we can share. Now I know and now it makes me want to do it all the more!
So now I have a bunch of reasons to motivate me to do this triathlon and now that I've told you all, you can keep me accountable...eek.
I really am excited to see what happens. I'm already feeling better after I exercise! Woohoo!

I passed the certification test!

Well, I passed! The certifiaction test wasn't the easiest test to do. I wish I would have done a little better in the assessment part, but hey, at least I passed! Now I just have to wait for the state to license me....
Last week a few of us Army wives were asked to comment on the show Army Wives that is on Lifetime. They wanted to know what a real army wife thought of the show. They actually got a few things wrong from the interview. I was the one who talked about the FRG not Carmen, but other than that everything else was the same. Check it out: http://www.thenewsenterprise.com/articles/2007/07/09/news/news03.txt
Today I have my first Arbonne presentation on my own. It should go well, since everyone there is really great! Well, I gotta get ready to go!

Family

I got back from the Kilbourne family reunion last night......there were so many people there! I met cousins that are my age that I didn't even know existed! It was great! We got to talk and catch up with everyone! It had been so long......I hadn't seen everyone in like 10 years! Everyone remembered me as a little pipsqueak. Last they knew me I was a quiet little girl that didn't have much of a personality. Well, I DEFINITELY have changed! I think I shocked some of them with my "loudness".....LOL
Family is great! Especially a family that cares about each other and makes the effort to stay in touch. Next time your family is having a reunion....be sure to go. You never know how blessed and refreshed you'll be when surround by those who love you.
Take my advice....you won't regret it. :-)

I'm biting my nails in anticipation

I got the letter stating I can take my Massage cert test. I scheduled it for Tuesday the 10th at 4pm. After the fact I figured I should have schedueld it for the morning when my brain is the "freshest". Ah well, I have no choice.
For some reason I always get super nervous before a test. I work myself up for no reason. Well I am determined to not freak myself out this time. It's going to be fine. Come on, it's mulitple choice questions. Not that bad.......
I am still trying to figure everything out with working at the massage clinic in Elizabethtown. Somehow, we've misunderstood each other so hopefully I'll still have the job. If not though, I do have options. A Chiropractor in Louisville wants to hire me and I heard that one of the spas in Elizabethtown is hiring. So we'll see......
This weekend, I get to go to a family reunion with my Grandpa's side of the family. Mom and Dad and Grandpa and Grandma are picking me up along the way. I haven't seen everyone in years! It'll be nice to catch up!
Well, I should be off. I need to clean up the house for the girls that are watching Ben while I'm gone. Hope everyone is having a good day!

Natalie's trip....

Natalie arrived on Thursday night at 11:30 pm. We were both so excited and not too tired so I gave her the grand tour of the house, she met Benny and then we went to bed and being girls, we did the norm and stayed up talking until 2 a.m. You know there is so much catching up to do! :-)

We didn't really have any plans set during her trip except to go to six flags. So Friday we got settled, and kinda bummed around. I gave Natalie the short tour of Fort Knox and where are my favorite places to go. We hit the Old Navy store and Goody's, plus we grocery shopped so we wouldn't starve, then chilled that evening.

Saturday we bummed around for a while (we did a lot of that) then we headed out to one of our favorite spots.....Kart Kountry! We played mini-golf and rode Thunderbolt go-carts.

I knew I always had a bit of competitiveness in me, but I didn't realize it's full potential until we went on the go-carts. Whenever Jason and I go to Kart Kountry we ride the fastest go-carts and race each other around the winding 1.5 mile track. Well, needless to say, I left Natalie in the dust! At least the first few times.....

We had so much fun at Kart Kountry that after church and the FRG get together at the park, we headed back there! Natalie's putt-putt skills as well as her driving skills improved a lot overnight! Watch out everyone...she was hot and ready to go! :-) It was a blast!

Natalie had brough the BBC series called North and South. It was 2 DVDs. We watched it that night and just at the end of the first DVD when I was left wondering what would happen we decided to quickly, and I mean quickly, run over to the Asian restaurant to get a bite to eat. I ate in anguish, but soon it was relieved as we finished the movie. It was very good, btw.

Monday was our first day at 6 Flags. We decided to split up our time so as to not feel rushed and spent one day riding the rollarcoosters and the other at the waterpark.

Monday was rollarcooster day. We got there right after lunch and rode to our hearts content. It was perfect! The longest we ever waited for a ride was maybe 25 minutes!

We of course had our favorites: Breakdance and Thunder Run in particular. We both were screamers and it wouldn't be right to ride without our hands in the air either. Needless to say, the next day left us just a bit hoarse! But hey, that's just part of the experience!

Here we are enjoying some Dots Ice cream and a bit of shade!

It wasn't really that bad, but we're goofs! We really play off eachother well!

Tuesday was the waterpark. Now we couldn't go back without riding Breakdance JUST ONE MORE TIME! And another time, and another time.... So here we are....and it was worth it. It was our first and last ride of the day. The last time was definitely the best!

We were so busy soaking up the sun that we forgot to take pictures so this is the only one we have for the waterpark. We rode all the rides. From the lazy river, to the water cooster, to the funnel thing that you ride up high on the sides in a raft. That one was really fun, but for some reason the poeple up top had the hardest time believing that I didn't want to go down backwards so finally after the 4th time, I got to see us wooshing down into the funnel as opposed to just seeing why Natalie had a semi-frightened look on her face. :-) It was great!

On Friday we had gotten some Pina Colada mix so finally on Tuesday night, we blended it up with the ice and drank up.....virgin ones of course.

Wednesday was the worst day of all....Natalie had to go home. But we made the most of it. I know Benny was bummed to see Natalie go as much as I was. He really bonded with her. When we walked in it was like" Forget Mom, Natalie's here!" Just kidding, not QUITE that bad. LOL But He loved walking over to her side of the bed in the morning and sticking his cold wet nose in her face....

As much as I was bummed to see Natalie go, I was SO GLAD THAT SHE CAME!!!!!!!!!!!! It was like a little piece of heaven on earth! Thanks for the fun times Girl! Your the best! I love you!

I have not fallen off the planet.....

Though you might have thought so. I have been crazy busy! Let's see......
I planted our garden...tomatoes and green beans. Benny has managed to avoid it so far. Yahoo. Hopefully everything comes out well. Jason would be so proud. :-)
I finished all of my hours for massage and I have mailed off the paperwork for taking the certification test. I can't wait!
I got to go home for Memorial Day weekend and visit with my family, Sara and the Rogers. We had a great time. It was almost like the good old days on Henry Place. Between all of our crazy stories we managed to go without anyone peeing their pants, although we got AWFULLY close.....LOL I look forward to spending time with the kids again in July!
I sang my 3rd special at church this last Sunday. It went very well. I am building more confidence each time. I know my parents are happy about that...:-)
My best friend Natalie is coming for a week this Thursday! I am so excited I can hardly wait! We haven't seen each other since Thanksgiving and even then it was only for a couple of days. We are going to have so much fun!
Now for a not so good note......we got a time frame for Jason returning home. It is the middle of November. He'll miss both our 1st and 2nd anniversaries but at least he should be home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. There is something to look forward to....
Well, I really need to finish laundry and get ready for bed. I'll try to update this more often than I have been. Note I said TRY.......