Welcome To The Drennan Alliance

So I Am Still Alive

2010-09-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, just thought I'd drop a note to let you all know we are still alive because it's been a while since I posted anything. James has begun law school. Wooo hooo!!! Go James! And I'm currently recovering from a little... mishap shall we say? I was vacationing in Utah a month ago and thought I would try out my trampoline skills which were pretty rusty. I did hand springs, Toyota jumps, 80's Jazz moves, splits, and just had a great time. When I went to get off the trampoline the thought crossed my mind to sit on my rump and then just slide off, but I thought that was ridiculous, I was just going to hop off like I always had. Well..... this was the mishap, my left extremely large toe caught on the padding & I found myself catapulting through the air (not unlike a flaming mass coming from a trebuchet (come on use your googling skills if you don't know what it is), because I have the red hair and limbs flailing and all) anywho, I felt like I was going to land on my face and I thought that would be bad, so I used all my concentration to get my legs underneath me for my landing. And I did! But only my right leg :0( Then I heard terrible crunching and popping sounds. As I felt an explosion of pain come over me I yelled, "Get me off the grass!" For those of you who don't know, I'm allergic to grass, if I touch it I break out in hives. So about 10 people stared at me dumbfoundedly as my 5-month prego sister Chelsea helped drag me off the grass. I did not go to the hospital, I knew it was bad because my knee was all wobbly, but I knew if I went to the ER they would pump me full of drugs and send me to a specialist, the pain was terrible, but I had lived through worse, I knew I wouldn't DIE of pain, it just didn't feel good. I decided to wait until I flew home to go see a dr. My dad gave me a blessing and I will fully recover which is great (thanks Dad). So I went to the dr. and got an X-ray, Ultrasound, and MRI. The results? The Dr. said and I quote, "You couldn't of hurt yourself more if you tried." No joke, that's what he said. I completely tore my ACL (main stabilizing tendon in you leg) and my MCL, and I had a few small compression fractures which will heal on their own, and a huge blood clot in my right calf muscle. Yikes! So I have to be on blood thinners for at least 12 weeks, then off them for 2 weeks before I can have surgery, and until I have surgery I can't walk or stand. Awesome. So not being able to walk or stand is pretty lame, but I'm pretty mobile after several weeks of using crutches (James is an awesome teacher having been confined with crutches for 2 different injuries, he knows all the tricks). And the great news? I was able to return to work this past week part time, my work is totally awesome and they have been very accommodating to help me get back to work despite my injury. So overall life is good, perhaps a little more excitement than I would prefer, but hey at least I live at a time when they can actually fix me right? I so would've been dead or crippled many times over in my life if I was a pioneer. Just little things to be grateful for.

Announcing... My Etsy Shop! Rozella's Creations

2010-02-16T17:24:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone. So I'm really excited to say I have opened an Etsy Shop! For those of you who haven't heard of Etsy it basically an Ebay for handmade goods. So being here in WI with time on my hands I have picked up some new hobbies and I'm just makin' all this stuff. And one day I thought to myself, "Self, what are you going to do with all this stuff your makin' " and I thought, "well I can give some as gifts (which I did) and I suppose I could try to sell some of my stuff to others who might appreciate cool and stylish things and so........... I opened an Etsy Shop and it's called Rozella's Creations (Rashelle + Rapunzel = Rozella) it's a nickname of sorts and I like it. So if you notice on the right hand side of my blog there are some pictures, and you can click on one of them and it will bring you to my shop or you can type http://www.rozellascreations.etsy.com/ and you can find me there! I welcome custom requests and I'm coming to Utah in march for my little sisters wedding so if your interested in something I can make it and bring it with me (no shipping that way) so let me know! My pricelist for selling in person are lower than my Etsy shop prices (I have to pay posting fees and shipping on Etsy) so if you are interested in buying something directly from me email me and I will send you my price list: rashelle.c.drennan@gmail.com. Oh by the way, I primarily make crocheted hats any size from newborn to adult, flower and bow clippies, brooches, and other misc hair flair accessories. Love you and miss you!

--Rashelle

I Had A Wonderful Birthday

2010-01-06T11:28:00.000-08:00

So this year I had a wonderful birthday (12/23). I had the day off, I slept in, I went out on a date with my wonderful husband. We went to dinner and then did a little shopping. For my birthday James surprised me by taking my Miche bag (purse that has removable straps and covers) to a store and giving it a make over! I got two new covers, a green alligator skin bag, and a cool black one, I also got new handles and they are the cute trendy kind with the chunky chains and part leather straps. Then we went to a movie which was The Princess and The Frog. I was really excited to see it... James wasn't. But as it turned out we had a private viewing, the whole theater was empty except us! And even better the movie was awesome! Even James loved it! It's now one of his favorite Disney movies. It is among my top 3 all time favorite Disney's (Sleeping Beauty, Finding Nemo, Princess & the Frog). If you haven't seen it yet you should. And I got this adorable reversible apron from my dear friend Amy North. It is seriously the cutest apron I have ever seen. It is black and white polka-dot on one side, and a cherry print on white on the front. I absolutely love it. And here I am modeling it for all to see! Thank you Amy! And thank you everyone who wished me happy birthday and sent cards and gifts, I definitely felt the love.

Happy New Year Everyone!

2010-01-06T11:04:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!! So I have been dying to post these pics for a long time. But I couldn't because they were Christmas presents and some people didn't open their gifts until New Year's Eve. So a few months ago I picked up another hobby (yes, I know, another one) and it is crocheting. Yeah I know it seems like an old lady hobby but it is coming back into fashion in full force. Have you seen those adorable crocheted or knitted scarfs, hats, or headbands. That is what I have been making for the last few months for people for Christmas! I wanted to make something for everyone I knew because I was just so excited about it, but alas, I only finished about 15 items in about 2 months since I learned. Here is a collage of the things I made. I'm modeling them, but as soon as the people they were for put pictures of themselves up I will post them here too.

So here they are as follows Top to Bottom Left to Right:

1. Texas Long Horn Hats for Jordan (ear flapper hat) & Owen Carver (brimmed beanie).
2. Blue & Gray hat and Scarf for Amy North.
3. Hot pink lacy beanie with brown flower for Chelsea Cooper.
4. Red and Brown Mother Daughter hats for Jessica & Zoey Carver (Zoey's has little bear ears on it)
Next Row:

5. Another picture of blue and gray scarf hat ensemble.
6. Pink and green Mother Daughter hats for Autumn & Summer (Summers has the ear flaps)
7. Purple Delight Ear Flapper hat (I made up the pattern for the ear flaps myself!) for MaraLyn Cooper.
8. Turquoise Head band that comes with a crocheted flower on a alligator clip and pin to be worn attached to the head band, alone in the hair, or attached to a jacket or cardigan, made for Ashley Meldrum.

Next Row:

6. Another picture of purple delight hat.
7. (Top pic) Picture shows turquoise headband with flower attached.
8. (Bottom pic) Jessica's Red lacy cap with brown flower.
9. Black and purple striped sporty beanie (was originally supposed to be for James but it was too small so I wear it now :o(
10. Autumn's Lattice cap with pink flower.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-21T18:46:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings from the great state of Wisconsin! Where the cheese really is better and people pronounce the word bag like “bage” (as in bagel without the “l”). We hope that this message finds you well and happy.

It has been a crazy year of change, blessings, and opportunities for us. It all started when over a year ago James decided he would like to go to law school. Next James commenced a lot of studying, waiting & application writing, and then - more waiting. In the midst of waiting James got laid off his “secure” job. Pretty scary in these tough economic times, but low and behold the very next day James was informed he had been accepted to the Wisconsin University Law Program!! Talk about blessings in disguise! Because James was laid of rather than quitting (as we had planned) he received a nice severance package; which enabled us to fund our move across the country and begin the next great adventure of our lives together.

Since moving to Madison it has been a challenge for both of us. We are away from everyone we know and everything that is familiar, but we are able to take comfort in doing service for people in our ward, & serving in our callings. Mine is Primary Pianist, yikes! I haven’t played on a regular basis in 9 years, but they had been without a pianist for 3 months, I am better than having no pianist--but only just. To be honest I play much better when no one is singing, (sigh) but that obviously wouldn’t work to well. James calling is the Facilities Coordinator, he is in charge of snow removal and keeping our building & grounds nice & tidy. We love our ward, and we are truly in the mission field out here. We are already having missionary opportunities & that is just a wonderful thing.

In conclusion, I just want to acknowledge how blessed we have been through this whole year. I was able to find a good job after only a few weeks at UW Credit Union and I enjoy going to work everyday. James got a job at Best Buy and works in the home theater department. He gets complimented daily on his customer service interactions which is really awesome. For this next year we are just working and living in WI so we can gain residency to save money on tuition costs for the next 3 years. So for now we are enjoying our new city, immersing ourselves in our ward and missionary work, and getting to know new people.

We love you, we miss you, and we hope you have the spirit of the Savior in your homes as we all celebrate this wonderful holiday season.

Much Love,

Rashelle and James Drennan

I Challenge You

2009-08-25T18:28:00.000-07:00

So the other day at work one of my coworkers was sharing some very intersting information about a game one of the other branches plays during the week. It is a sheet of paper with some very funny actions people have to take and they recieve a certain amount of points once accomplished. They are not allowed to do this if there are members in the branches, but other than that their management tollerates it as long as it doesn't get too out of hand. For example, the following are worth 3 points each:

1. Walk sideways to the copier machine.
2. Put our pant leg inside your sock and when people ask about it say, "Not Now!" and storm off.
3. End conversations with a large grimace on your face and hit the sides of your head repeatedly.
4. Mumble incohertenly at your co-workers and then say, "Did you get that? I don't want to have to repeat myself."
5. Drop a pen and when someone reaches to pick it up for you yell, "That's MINE!!"
6. Call someone in the office you don't really know and leave a message saying, "I just called to say hello."
7. Show up to work in full army camo and if any one asks say, "I can't talk about it."

So you get the idea, they are extremely hilarious, especially if you can do them with out breaking your cool facade. So I found some other of these games that you play while riding in an elevator, and I will share a few of my favorites with you.

1. Make race car noises when anyone gets on or off.
2. Whistle the first seven notes of "It's a Small World" incessantly.
3. Sell Girl Scout cookies.
4. Crack open your briefcase or purse, and while peering inside ask: "Got enough air in there?"
5. When arriving at your floor, grunt and strain to yank the doors open, then act embarrassed when they open by themselves.
6. Greet everyone getting on the elevator with a warm handshake and ask them to call you Admiral.
7. On the highest floor, hold the door open and demand that it stay open until you hear the penny you dropped down the shaft go "plink" at the bottom.
8. Stare, grinning, at another passenger for a while, and then announce: "I've got new socks on!"
9. Meow occasionally.
10. Bet the other passengers you can fit a quarter in your nose.
11. Sing "Mary had a little lamb" while continually pushing buttons. (this is James favorite)
12. Walk on with a cooler that says "human head" on the side.
13. Stare at another passenger for a while, then announce "You're one of THEM!" and move to the far corner of the elevator.
14. Wear a puppet on your hand and talk to other passengers "through" it.
15. When the elevator is silent, look around and ask "is that your beeper?"
16. Act like you are a mime in the "invisible box".
17. Say "Ding!" at each floor.
18. Draw a little square on the floor with chalk and announce to the other passengers that this is your "personal space."
19. Sit in a chair behind a desk in the elevator and when the someone enters ask them if they have an appointment.
20. Announce in a demonic voice: "I must find a more suitable host body."
21. Make explosion noises when anyone presses a button.
22. Stare at your thumb and say "I think it's getting larger."
23. Start brushing off invisible bugs from your arms, screaming "Aaughh! Get them off!"
24. Laugh hysterically for five seconds, stop, and glare at the other passengers like they are crazy.
25. As the elevator is going up, jump violently up and down, shouting "Down! I said down, dang-it!" (this is my personal favorite).

So I challenge each of you to apply these in your daily lives (or especially the next time you ride in an elevator) and see if you can pull it off. I too will take the challenge and will post about my results when I have some. Ta, Ta, for now.

note: In order to give credit I got these elevator pranks from this website:
http://www.owensworld.com/pranks/read-53.htm

Bank Robbers are Dumb

2009-08-21T22:01:00.000-07:00

So it has been a pretty eventful week at my credit union. On Monday we had a guy come in to cash a check, he wasn't a member, but the check that was written to "him" was from one of our members. On a hunch one of my co-workers decided to check (in a back room) some signatures and found out not only did the signatures not even remotely match (smooth move ex-lax) the check's had actually been stolen from a lady's home earlier that same day. So while my co-worker was making copies of the guys licence and a photo copy of the check in a back room this guy was getting agitated. For some reason all my co-workers were no where to be found at this time and I was left to run the drive thru and lobby by myself. I was helping someone in the drive thru and this gentleman (let's call him Joe, shall we?) kept saying he had to "get to work" and I told him okay he could come back later, but Joe said, "Your co-worker has my license, and I need it back." (At this point I don't really know there is a problem, I'm just trying to manage the lobby and drive thru best I can), so I go find my co-worker who is now in one of the front private consulting offices on the phone with our fraud department, needing me to pacify Joe while we find out if he is a crook or not (a little stressful? yes, yes it was). Finally we get Joe back his license so he can head off to "work." Well turns out "work" is robbing banks. For whatever reason all he tried to do with us is cash a check for less than $100 and then he needed to take off to do some real work robbing other banks. He made no attempts to hide his identity; I mean after all why would he? All he did was hand a note to a teller and demand money and they gave it to him and he went on his merry way, what had he to fear? He had a grand escape for about 1 day, where he was pulled over in an everyday traffic stop and he was taken into custody. Yeah that's right, BUSTED!!

Meet Joe :0)

Alright so by this time of the week it is Thursday (yeah, the week of dumb robbers isn't over yet) and we have a very large branch in downtown Madison. I do not work at this branch but I was hired with 3 girls who do. Around 1:00 pm a caucasian young man between the age of 19-25 approx 5' 8", brown hair, white t-shirt, blue jeans, and carrying a brown briefcase (I don't know about you, but I've never seen some one in a white t-shirt and jeans carrying a briefcase of any sort, in fact, if he was carrying anything other than a backpack, lunch box, or thermos I would have signaled the alarm right then). He waited calmly in line (how polite) before he walked up to a teller and handed them a note that said he had a gun and demanded money. As per our companies policy, the teller handed over the money requested and the gentleman left (let's call him Bifff, yes with 3 f's, it's not a typo). Now of course Bifff also made no effort to alter or otherwise conceal his identity, I mean really, why would he? So I'm sure it is only a matter of time before good ol' Bifffy, is caught and sent to jail in a giffy!

Wow! What a week. So yeah, bank robbers are pretty dumb.

Meet Bifff :oP

The Hardest Calling I've Ever Had...

2009-08-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

Is the Primary Pianist in my new ward. There aren't a lot of piano players out here and for the last 3 months there hasn't been any piano player in primary at all, and while I am better than having no pianist, it is only by a very small margin. I did have 8 years of piano lessons and am ashamed to say I didn't apply myself nearly as much as I could've (sorry, Mom). But I haven't played the piano on a regular basis for the last 8 years, and after that it was very infrequent. When I started telling friends of mine that I was the new primary pianist they were shocked and said, "I didn't even know you knew how to play the piano." Yeah, I know.

So as I was taught by my father to be willing to serve in any capacity in which I am called, I accepted the challenge and checked out the keyboard from my wards library (I never knew a ward to have a keyboard before). So for the last 3 weeks I have been practicing an hour or so a night. The primary program is in less than 2 months and I need to learn 9 songs extremely well. It's coming back to me, but if they would just stop singing along I could play so much better! (Yes I know that defeats the purpose, but I play better when no one sings, guess I'm naturally more of a recitalist, than a accompanist. Okay so this is a total tangent, so bear with me, the only song I memorized and remember to this day from one of my recitals was when I was about 10 years old and it was called "Indian Dance." As you can probably imagine this song makes anyone who normally sits calmy listening to the recital in to a dancing hollering savage, it is positively riveting. Also to give you an idea of skill, Krystal memorized Rachmaninoff in D, and Autumn memorized Ronda Alla Turca by Mozart, while I memorized the tantalizing "INDIAN DANCE"). So slowly but surely I'm getting better. Right now I'm practicing playing the top and bottom hands together, but I don't play it well enough or fast enough yet, so at church I just play the top hand. :P Luckily everyone is patient with me.

Now for what is difficult. I have been in many wards and have served in the primary 5 different times, in my current ward the primary children are the worst behaved, irreverent group of children I've ever seen. It's really sad. It's all the teachers and leaders can do to try and keep some sense of order in primary. For me as the pianist, I'm already really nervous, and I make a few mistakes here and there. So with children who are incredibly disrespectful, irreverent, and distracting it makes my job even more difficult. Just to give you an example, last week one little girl kept getting on top of her chair jumping as high up and far out as she could, land, and repeat. Today, after several attempts to get one young man to be quiet and quit disturbing everyone he was forcibly placed outside in the hall for the duration of primary. I don't even want to write anymore about what they did, it is so disheartening. At this point I'm holding back tears of frustration. So for the last 10 minutes of primary today rather than sing our program songs we had an impromptu lesson on being reverent, and respectful. The primary president told the children how difficult it is for her to teach sharing time when they are being noisy and messing around. I spoke up and told the children I feel the same way. I emphasized how good I feel when they are being reverent and singing. I tried to focus on the positive but I also felt they needed to know the way they are behaving is not okay. What I said was actually really short, and the primary president seemed to appreciate my comments. She concluded by saying she hoped they would remember what we talked about and how the scriptures continually repeat, those that obey will prosper in the land. I think they got the message, I just hope they will remember.

On the way home from church James asked me how primary went today. I burst into tears. He replied, "That bad?" Oh yes, definitely that bad. This is by far the hardest calling I've ever had.
As James drove us home the story the primary president shared came to my mind. It was one of her ancestors who joined the church in Sweden. He later became the branch president, and he made a commitment to speak to a congregation of members 40 miles away. It was the middle of the winter and he was walking the entire distance. At one point he stopped to rest for the night with a family; he took off his shoes and his toes were starting to get frostbite. He soaked them in warm water and considered turning back, but it was his calling and responsibility as the branch president to go to these people to speak to them as he had committed to do. At the end of his journey all his toes were black with frostbite. The only doctor in the area hated the Latter Day Saints and refused to help so he had to amputate all his toes off himself. He completed his commitment to the members and continued as a faithful leader in the area. He later came to Utah and settled 30 miles from Manti. During the summer he would walk the 30 miles to Manti where they were building the temple and he would work on it for several weeks at a time before returning the 30 mile trip to his family, all without any toes.

Needless to say as this story is playing out in my mind I believe it is Heavenly Father's way of gently chastising me. Yes, what I'm doing is difficult for me, and it can be very frustrating. But at least I get to keep all my toes.

It's all about perspective.

Miss You =(

2009-08-09T12:24:00.001-07:00

So I have really missed everyone since we left Utah, but this last week especially I have really felt the loss of not living and being around my family and friends. Spending time with my family and friends was usually my favorite part of each week. My favorite thing that happens in my week now, or what brings a smile to my face and joy to my heart (other than spending time with my loving husband) is the ability to give out stickers and doggy treats to the members at my credit union. I'm currently working in the drive thru and I never miss an opportunity when I see a little person or dog in the car and I ask, "Is there anyone in your car that might like a sticker?" (we have to give parents an option, in case they don't believe in stickers... or dog treats), As soon as I ask that the children in the car look up at me as if to say "Could this be my lucky day? My mom takes me to do these boring errands and I hate it, except when we go to the credit union and I get a sticker! Hooray!!!" If you could see the smile on their little faces it would feel your heart with joy too. It makes me feel like Santa Claus. It is definitely the best part of my job. So it got me to thinking as I've been a little down this week, "How can I still enjoy my family and friends and let them know I love them and I'm thinking of them?" Of course there's this blog and phone calls, emails, and skype, but how do you make grown-ups excited like a little kid does when you give them a sticker? One of the most exciting things for me is to get a hand written card or letter. So I say to myself, "Self, every week we are going to send 1 or 2 Miss You cards (and a sticker) to family or friends, to let them know their are special to me. It will hopefully brighten your day, and you can wear your sticker proudly and if anyone asks why you are wearing a sticker you can simply say, "I've been missed."

James 29th Birthday!

2009-08-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

James turned the ripe old age of 29 this year on July 26th. Now he is old. Just kidding, now is more mature and distinguished (that's the cool thing about being old, you get to be called "distinguished"). James and I made a delectable meal together of Fillet Mignon,, grilled mushrooms and onions, and I made some garlic mashed potatoes that I was afraid others would smell on my breath even two days later. Luckyily that didn't happen, but it was a close call if ever there was one. I also made a cake for James, it is called Nie's Mud Pie Magnificence and it is a delectable chocolate cake that was inspired by Nie Nie herself. (To see more about this amazing woman there is a link to her blog on the right). The cake was VERY rich, but extremely delicious. It took forever to make but I would do it again for another special occasion. So it was pretty laid back birthday. James and I just enjoyed relaxing in each others company. It was wonderful to spend time with my best friend and share this special day with him. Here are some pictures so you can try to enjoy this cake vicariously thru us. Enjoy!

Mother Daughter Craft Project 2009

2009-07-22T19:36:00.001-07:00

Hello ladies!

Here is the instructional movie and examples for the craft for this year. I hope you enjoy it. I am glad I can still be a part of Mother Daughter even though I'm far away. Have fun with the craft and get creative!

Love you all, Shelle

Here is the promised link:

http://www.frugal-cafe.com/budget-crafts/articles/kid-bracelets1.html

Rashelle Got A Job!!!

2009-07-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

Wooooo Hooooo! I got a job and it was the job I was hoping for! Can I just start by saying that job hunting is one of my least favorite things (it's right there with getting my finger slammed in a door). So in a very diligent search which lasted 3 1/2 weeks,I had a few interviews, a few temp assignments that were not my favorite (I worked in a Pepsi factory for 3 days and a printing company for 1 day, after these experiences I can testify that working at the Bindery with Oldham Associates is worse, I only say this because I was once told by someone I won't name that working in the bindery would be the best job I ever had. So glad that isn't true)and some suspense I got the blessed job yesterday. I applied for a bank teller position at UW credit union (University of Wisconsin Credit Union) where we now bank. There was a lot of competition for the two full time positions. I felt both my phone interview and in person interviews went extremely well but even still other people could have had just as good an interview as me or better (although it would've been tough :D, J/K). All I can say is that I did my best, and Heavenly Father has blessed us once again, we are so grateful. The unemployment here is really bad, possibly worse than in Utah, and it's only been 3 1/2 weeks and I have a job and I will start this coming Monday. I will train for two weeks before I start my actual job. There is a lot of room for growth inside this credit union and I hope before long to become a financial specialist, which is more up my alley of expertise. I just wanted to share that with you. James and I are very excited about it. Take care everyone.

Purging and Packing

2009-06-13T18:41:00.001-07:00

For the last week or so James and I have been purging our house of all the stuff we really don't need, are completely unwilling to move, and don't altogether know how we accumulated. Just to give you an idea I have a scrapbook/craft room that is very small, only 9x9. After purging the room I got rid of 8 boxes and 3 garbage bags of stuff. Unbelieveable!!. On Thursday night of this last week I got together with my sisters and they came and took the stuff they wanted and hauled most of it away to DI for me. They are so awesome. When the purging was finished for my whole house I believe we got rid of 30+ boxes and 7+ garbage bags of stuff. My first feeling some would guess would be relief to get rid of all that stuff, but it wasn't. At first I felt sick to my stomach.... that I bought it/accumulated it all to begin with! But I learned a lot about myself while "purging." I am not the same girl I was 6 years ago when I first married. This is a good thing, I used to keep EVERYTHING.

We will finish packing up today, the moving truck will be here tomorrow. I will be at work while James and company are loading it up. Tuesday night we will clean the house, Wednesday I have to work and James will finish up anything else in the house. I get off work, James will literally come pick me up from work in the moving truck, I will hop in and we will drive away. It's so crazy. We will stay the night in Cheyenne, WY and will be traveling over the next few days to our new home in Madison, WI.

Thank you everyone for your love, encouragement, congratulations, help, and support at this new adventure in our lives. We truly feel blessed to have such wonderful family, friends, and ward members. Good bye for now. This is Rashelle Drennan signing off from our Utah home base. Take care everybody.

Details for the Move

2009-06-06T18:02:00.000-07:00

Things are about to get crazy at our house. So we have found a great apartment and a prospective job opportunity for me. Our official leave Utah date is Thursday June 18th. That is less than two weeks away! This is crazy! We are moving over 1500 miles away, sometimes when I think about it I get really, really excited, and other times I think about all the stuff we have to do in the next 11 days and I think it would be easier to get overwhelmed and just pass out. Totally kidding, actually since I got my tonsils out and two weeks of rough recovery I actually feel better on a daily basis now than I have in the last 3 years. I feel very encouraged by the results of my surgery so far. Back to business, James is just about finished up home repairs because we are going to put the house on the market next week. I gave my two weeks notice at my job last week and James and I are packing up and heading out of here. We are going to get rid of a lot of stuff (not major furniture items except a stand up freezer, mostly it's small things, kitchen appliances, home decor, tools, and anything we haven't used in the last year. More to come on getting rid of stuff). So other than uprooting our lives, quitting our jobs, and downsizing and packing up the remainder of our belongings, and driving 1500 miles to Madison Wisconsin where he don't know a living soul we aren't really up to much this summer. I'll be honest most summers are like this...... I'm totally kidding. But we are excited and will try to see family and friends as much as possible before we go. Love you all.

Madison, Wisconsin Here We Come!

2009-05-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

After one and a half years the waiting is over folks!!! We found out yesterday via email that James just got accepted to the law school of his choice, that's right you guessed it, Wisconsin University!!! It is among the best and most prestigious law schools in the nation and is currently tied for 35th best law school in the US. We are sooooo excited. It has been a long haul of work, , sweat, tears, and praying. In March of 2008 James decided he wanted to go to law school. He spent the next several months studying for the LSAT (required test for law school applicants) and got in the 91st percentile (that's really good if you couldn't tell). Then he had to write a personal statement that demonstrated his skills, strengths and diversity of which I would like to add a special thank you to Amy North and Luis Bonilla for their assistance, Thanks Guys, we really appreciate your expertise! Then we had to apply to law schools; and finally it was just waiting game. We found out we were wait-listed for WI a few weeks ago and our hearts lifted but finally the suspense ended yesterday so I just had to tell everyone the news! We will miss living in this area and being close to friends and family but there is no denying the hand of the Lord guiding and helping us into this future venture. We are truly grateful to him for his help, support, and guidance. There are still a lot of unknowns like when we will move exactly, what we will do with our house, etc. We will figure that out in the next little while and I will keep you posted. For now know that our prayers have been answered and we are moving forward into our future with hope and faith in our hearts. We are truly blessed. We love you all, hope your having a great Memorial Day.

P.S. Just to give you an idea about the what, and where of Madison, WI, this next piece of info is from the University of Wisconsin website. This will basically explain a little about the city. Sight unseen it seems like a place we would enjoy living in, so if you want to know more click on the link below.

Click Here

Image from http://www.wisc.edu/about/map.php

Tonsilectomy

2009-05-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, it's been awhile. I Had a tonsillectomy on 5/5/09 and while I recovered I planned to get caught up on my blog as well as start a new one to keep track of all the books I've read and provide my personal reviews on them as well as recipes. It will be called something like Rasehelle's Reading Reviews. However recovery did not go as I expected. I read some things online that said it can be really bad and painful the older you get to get your tonsils out... but I never expected to be as bad as it was. It was horrible! Without a doubt the worst experience of my adult life. It was like having a sinus infection, double ear infection, broken nose, migraine head ache, the worst sore throat you've ever had x 50, and then some one repeatedly punches you in the face for the first 5 days. After two ER visits due to dehydration (swallowing water was the most painful) and intolerable pain it got bearable with some heavy duty narcotics-which are awful things. The first thing they gave me was percocet and after throwing up 5 times in a row (by the way the last time I threw up was 14 years ago when I have the chicken pox) James called my Dr. (I couldn't even talk at this point, I wrote on a piece of paper to communicate) and he gave me a new RX for vicodin, it was awful as well but at least I didn't throw up and I could stand the pain (as long as I didn't eat, or drink, or swallow, or yawn, or cough, or talk... you get the idea). For some reason I thought the whole surgery part would be a few incisions and they remove the little suckers and then sew you up, but no, they just scrap everything off (tonsils, adenoids, and something else I cant remember the name of) and leave your throat raw and bloody and it just scabs over and takes forever to heal. I think you get the idea. Through the whole thing I have to thank my wonderful husband who loving cared for me, making me food (mostly jello, he would've cooked me anything, but jello is unfortunately all I ate that first week), doing the dishes, taking care of the house and trying to keep my spirits up. I'm not normally a big complainer, I'm generally cheerful, but I will admit I wasn't the best patient over the last two weeks. Thank you dear husband for taking care of me, I don't know what I would have done without you. Also thanks for those that visited it was nice to see other people (Mom and Dad especially), and for those that called or texted me. I appreciate everyone, and if any of you get your tonsils out let me know so I can help you, with info, or company or whatever, it is an ordeal where you really need the support of your family and friends. So thank you everyone. Hope your all well. Oh! and P.S. Steven got home for Korea last Friday!!! I'm so happy he served a great mission but I'm even happier to have him home now!!!. Welcome home Elder Cooper!!!

I Love Photoshop

2009-03-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

Photoshop is a great program where you can take mediocre photos and make them awesome. This is a photo collage I made from pictures taken on my birthday as the sunset into the ocean. I took the pictures myself and they turned out great. I love these pictures of us. It reminds me of a beautiful day filled with dreams come true. Ya it sounds sappy, but it was an awesome day. What were my dreams come true might you ask? One was to swim with dolphins which I did earlier that day at Sea World, and the other was to watch the sunset into the ocean. I have been swimming in the ocean several times but I'd never been there at sunset, and I have a thing for sunsets in general. I will post a picutre of my awesome sunset too.

Full Bangs Were a Big Mistake

2009-03-22T19:30:00.000-07:00

The Top Picture is my photoshopped homework. Looks good right?

The bottom photo is the acutal result... Yikes.

So I wanted to get a new hair cut and I was in the mood to try something new. I saw some people with the full on fringe bangs and I thought I could pull it off. I had been going with the side swoop bang for quite some time and it was worked well for me but hey, lets try something new right? So I even did some homework. I found a hair style I liked on Ashley Simpson and I took it and a picture of myself into photoshop and worked a little magic to get a rough idea of what I would look like with full bangs. The results looked promising so I took the picture to my beautician (and little sister Jessica) and she went to work. She did a good job on the bangs, the bangs just don't do a good job on me if you know what I mean. I know it's not hideous, but it isn't the best look on me either. Thank goodness it's just hair, and it will grow back.... provided there isn't some nuclear disaster and we all get radiation poisoning and every ones hair falls out, but then again everyone would be bald, so it still wouldn't be a big deal. Looks like a win-win to me. ;0)

So Someday If I Grow Up I Want to Be A Photographer

2009-03-22T19:14:00.000-07:00

So right now I'm just an amateur , but some day I want to be a really good photographer. A few people asked me to post some pictures of Katie and Dustin on thier wedding day and here they are. Also notice the cool stylish little netting viel that Katie is wearing? She made it, like she makes many wonderful beautiful things. But I bet you will be surprised like I was when you find out what it is made out of.... an red plastic onion bag spray painted white. How awesome is that?

I could get into this whole blogging thing

2009-03-22T18:43:00.000-07:00

So two weeks ago was my cousin Katie Oldham's wedding. She married a great guy named Dustin Jensen and their reception was beautiful and just really fun and unique. Katie and Dustin choreographed a dance to the the song 'I Finally Found Someone' by Bryan Adams and Barbara Streisand. There are two different climax's in the song. The first one Katie and Dustin were at opposite ends of the dance floor and as the words "I finally found someone! Someone to share my life..." Katie and Dustin ran to each other and he effortlessly lifted her in the air. Everyone applauded and some people whooped. Then at the second climax it repeated the same words and Katie and Dustin took their positions at the opposite corners of the dance floor and they ran together again, and KATIE effortlessly lifted DUSTIN into the air!! It was so awesome! So unexpected. So Katie. And I was the only one who got photos of both lifts. So for your enjoyment, here they are.

What do you blog about?

2009-03-22T18:24:00.000-07:00

So what do you blog about? Any suggestions? How about this.....nope that would be boring, maybe there was a story the other day...... nope that was boring too. Oh! I got it. Yesterday was my husbands friend, Luis's birthday (and my mom's incidentally) and we went to Walgreen's to get a card. There was quite the selection as you can imagine but there were these large cards the size of children's books (I'm talking like 10x10in) and you open them and they play some funny little musical tune. So James and I are checkin them out and most are very predictable, like there is a picture of Snoopy on the front and you open it and it plays the, "Who let the dogs out!" song, but there was this one little gem that on the front there were 3 little mice in tuxedos and it said "So we thought you might want a nice sophisticated party..." and then you open it and the little mice are having like a Mexican hoe-down and they are playing banjos and the chairs are turned over and they are dancing like maniacs and the music playing is like a techno Mexican hoe-down, it's really unexpected and when I opened it up I laughed out loud. Oh, and the inside of the card said "But of course you know us!" it was great. It was the most expensive card we have ever bought..... but it was worth it.

HELLO DAWN!!!!

2008-11-03T19:24:00.000-08:00

So I haven't updated the blog in almost a year but I want to say HI to my friend DAWN

Rashelle's Birthday

2007-12-23T08:13:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Rashelle had a birthday that she won't soon forget. We took her to Sea World. Here are the pictures:

The Beginning

2007-12-02T11:49:00.000-08:00

The Drennan Family Established 2003

Welcome the Drennan Alliance Blog.
This blog is for the James and Rashelle Drennan Family.