Welcome Baby Asher!

This entry is dedicated to my best friend for life, Amanda Lem and her new little miracle, Asher Kale Lem. Through thick and thin, we've been there for each other over the years. From peewee cheerleading and city projects in GT, to high school softball practice and cheerleading, we've been together through it all. This girl means the world to me, and I wouldn't be who I am today if it weren't for her. I am so blessed to have her as my best friend.

This is one of Amanda's pregnancy pics taken by her Aunt Lynn!

SO cute and creative! She was such a precious pregnant woman.

Amanda started having contractures on a thursday/friday and went into the doctor on friday, December 10. She found out that she was already 5cm dilated, and plans were made to induce on Monday. Thankfully, I was able to take my Monday's final early at 8 am, then drive to Pine Bluff to wait for Baby Asher to arrive. I made it just in time, and baby Asher was born at 11:45 on December 13, 2010. He weighed 6# 10.7 ounces and was 19" long.

Welcome to the world Asher Kale Lem!

First family picture!

Me holding baby Asher next to his glowing mommy!

I was so thankful to be a part of this special day! Asher is just perfect, and this little family is amazing. Amanda and Kyle are going to be the best parents ever, and I plan to be the best Auntie Laura ever!

Clay Walker Concert

As sort of a last minute decision, Amber and I decided to attend the Clay Walker concert along with Leah some of her friends. Amber is NOT a fan of country music, but I am so glad she decided to come along. Clay Walker is sort of an older name in country music, but I was SHOCKED at how many of his songs I know! I sang along with nearly every song!

It was SUCH a fun concert!

Did I mention we were standing only ~10 feet from the stage! Talk about front row!

My sister and I waiting on the concert to start. The only thing about having such great seats is that we had to stand the entire time! The were two opening acts that were also very good!

Amber and I in between acts. I'm so glad she decided to come. She knew most of the songs, even though she claims to hate country! ;-)

Halloween

Halloween is always a big event, and this year was no different! In the past years, the 3rd year students haven't participated in the physical therapy halloween party, for whatever reason, but that just isn't our class' style. We tend to go all out. I wish I had gotten a group picture, but unfortunately I didn't. Besides our group, The Spice Girls, some other costumes included the characters of scooby doo, Party in my Pants, Dolly Parton, and many more!

Scary Spice, Dolly (Molly), and Nicki (Baby Spice)

Nicki and I getting in to character! We had a lot of fun with this!

Our whole group! We really threw this together, but it turned out really well!

The night before halloween a large group of us dressed up to celebrate Amber's 25th birthday! We had so much fun dressing up and watching the costume contests at Cajun's Wharf. I was a flapper, thanks to the dress provided by my Aunt Julie. I had a lot of fun accessorizing, and dancing was especially enjoyable with all the tassels.

The birthday girl, Amber, and I before going in to Cajun's Wharf in Little Rock

*Group picture still to come!

DPT Camping Trip

During fall break, my physical therapy planned our annual camping trip to Petit Jean. The plan was to go up on Wednesday afternoon, but Angela, Nicki, and I decided to make a day of it and go up early!

Nicki and Angela were planning to leave early the next day, so I'm glad we went up early on Wednesday. We got in a hike to the waterfall and took some pictures at the overlook.

We were the first to get our tent up! Not that we were racing, but if we had been, the girls WON! I think me and Nicki have plenty of experience in the tent area. ;-)

We had quite an eventful night filled with no campfire (burn ban) and lots of varmints(skunks/armadillos) trying to raid the campsite. The next day, Nicki and Angela had to leave, but once everyone got up and going we headed out for some more hiking.

This was the view from the highest point. We had to do

some pretty intense climbing to get to this point, but SO worth it!

This was the group of girls that made it to the top! We had so much fun and got such a good workout! The next trail we hiked after climbing this mountain was 4ish miles in a couple hours, all to find out that the grand finale was all dryed up...bummer. All in all, I had a great time and enjoyed some very beautiful Arkansas fall scenery!

Family Pictures

A few weeks ago, my family met with Melissa Stover, a photographer in Woodlawn, to have our very first professional family pictures taken! It all began when we needed to have a picture made for the church directory, because we missed picture day at the church. So, mom took this opportunity to have a good family photo taken. Dad thought we were going to have 1 single photo taken, and he wasn't very thrilled to learn differently. Needless to say he was a party pooper, but we still got some good pics!

This is the one we chose for the directory!

Overall, it was a very fun picture-taking experience, and I recommend Melissa Stover photography for any of your photo needs! =)

Race for the Cure

Wow! After coming home from Springfield, I got busy and haven't slowed down since! I'm so far behind with my updates, so I'll try to give a brief overview to get everyone caught up.

On October 16, 2010 two of my best friends, Amber and Nicki, ran together in what was my first 5k (3.1 miles)! We've done the race each year, but we've always walked it. This year, we've been training and working up to the big race.

It is always overwhelming to see the huge crowds of people that gather in downtown Little Rock to support the Race for the Cure. This year the LR race was the 3rd largest in the nation with over 35,000 women "racing for the cure"!

This is after completing the race! We were grabbing for water and pizza as soon as we crossed the finish line, but we made it! I know this isn't a very far distance, but you have to start somewhere. We decided this will have to become an annual tradition!

Welcome Home!

After enjoying a relaxing evening on friday, I woke up to a very busy and exciting day on Saturday. That morning I woke up early to have plenty of time to get ready and pack my things. After saying goodbye to Uncle Ron, Aunt Julie and I headed to Branson for some last-minute shopping. Since I usually only go to Branson with my family, I've never really experience the outlet mall due to my dad's refusal to shop! SO, I was determined to experience the outlet malls on my trip to Missouri. We found some really good deals!

After shopping and saying goodbye to Aunt Julie, I headed south to Conway. I had mixed feelings about coming back since I really enjoyed my time in Springfield, but I was also ready to get back to normal and be around my sister and friends. After enjoying the beautiful drive home through north Arkansas (the trees are starting to turn), I finally made it to Conway and was welcomed home in just the first glance!

Leah and Tasha had all the fall decor out and everything looked so great!

As I made my way into the house, I noticed that there were signs EVERYWHERE! I only included a few of my favorites on here, but there were over 20 signs!!! On the ceiling, on the mirror, on the shower, in EVERY drawer, in the closet, on the floor, and last but not least, IN my bed! They went over the top to say the least! I felt very loved and could tell that I was missed. It was very sweet and I am very glad to be home!

This one was ON the fire alarm!

on my bathroom mirror...

my bedroom mirror

This one is sweet, because I know how much Leah dislikes cleaning!

And this is the BEST!

If all my clinicals go by as fast and are as wonderful as this clinical, this is going to be a VERY fun year! And "almost PT" makes me very, very, very excited!!!! Stay tuned! =)