Update

Veteran's Memorial Park dedication, Lathrop CA

Happy Girl!

breakfast with my friends

Suzy Q....the most beautiful bulldog in TX

Corinne's house in Austin, TX

Okay I know it's been a while. Wanted to let everyone I'm still alive and kicking.....hahaha. Been busy since work finished. I traveled to New Orleans for the month of November and enjoyed seeing family and friends. Here are the pictures from my visit to my friends new house in Austin and then also my visit to California for the dedication of the Veteran's Park in Lathrop. It was a great month. December started with me turning another year older. It doesn't feel any different though. Tomorrow mom, dad, Nick, and I leave for a cruise to Mexico and Honduras. Looking forward to the 90 degree weather and getting a little sun on my pasty white skin. Then off to Illinois to spend a white Christmas with friends. I'm probably going to get sick by going to 80-90 degree temps to very, very, very cold temps. But looking forward to it all the same. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'll check back after the first of the year when I return.

Well, I'm done with work. I'm very happy about this. But that happiness is overshadowed by the time of year that this is. I don't know exactly how to describe what I feel one year later. I'm sad, but have hope. I miss Dave terribly and cannot quite comprehend how time has passed so quickly yet so slowly at the same time. I think about things that will never be and about a voice I will never hear again on this earth. I wonder will I wake up sometimes and this will all have been a bad dream, but I know I won't. Even this does not fully describe how I am feeling even closely. I'm leaving for Austin in the morning to spend a few days with friends and then am on to New Orleans to be with my sister for Thanksgiving. Hopefully, since I'm am again unemployed I will be able to devote a little more time to the internet :) I can't wait to see my family out in California next weekend. I'm so looking forward to that. That's all for now. Know that I am thinking of all of you as I know you are thinking of me tomorrow.

I hate painting because of this closet.....there are more shelves behind me.

Master bathroom

Master Bathroom demo

Pocket doors in the Den

french doors in the Den

Den with actual walls!!!! and my pocket doors

Nick and Dad

The clean up crews

Taking a break to have my picture taken

Sunrise on Padre Island National Seashore

Here are the pictures I've been promising to post. Still working (2 more weeks--6 shifts). I can't wait. New Orleans and California will be here before I know it! I wish it were tomorrow. I can't wait to see everyone. The first few pictures are from the beach clean up that we did last Saturday and the others are updates on the house renovations. Hope everyone is well. I'm off to work tonite and then off tomorrow. Working on a night off a night for the next 2 weeks. Oh well, maybe I can get some serious painting done! I need to.

Hello Everyone

So I've had actually a great week at work. Patients and staff have all gotten along. Maybe it is that I'm finally in the groove. I don't know. If that is the case I wish it hadn't taken me so long to get there. Not that I am considering staying on at this point.....lol. I'm looking forward to a break. The house is coming along. I think I might actually see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Still a lot of work to be done, but it is progressing. I have new pictures of the house to put up but I have to figure out how to shrink their size a bit.....I love my new camera! We are finally getting relief from the hot weather today. A cold front blew threw last night and temperatures are hi's in the mid 70's. I'm so ready for winter.....yeah! Alright, I will work on the pictures and hopefully get those up soon. I have one more night of work and then I'm going to be working on the house hard for 5 days. Have a great weekend.

House Pictures

living room construction

the pups looking in on the chaotic world that is their house

playing with the hummingbirds in the backyard

the doors are in and painted! Finally!

Guest bathroom vanity

front bathroom constuction.

sanding the front bathroom cabinets

Update on the Race

Christian playing with my shoes before leaving for the airport.

The runner's and the race route map

Squirrel

Lounging at Starbucks

Lunch with Steve, Jackie, the boys and Will (who drove down from NY and stopped in on his way to see Nayda in FL)

My friend Jackie with her boys who are stationed at Bowling AFB

Arlington

Arlington

Dinner on Friday night with the Skoglund's and Nordberg's

What would be a trip to D. C. without shopping

Last minute needs at the expo

I know I can't believe I've been back since Sunday night and haven't posted anything yet. But in my defense I had to work on Monday night and also again tonite (back to the grind stome). The run went extremely well. I finished my 10 miles in 1 hours 56 minutes 53 seconds. I was quite pleased with myself as that was 15 minutes faster than I had anticipated! It really makes a huge difference running with others. The experience was awesome and I'm now a little bummed it's over. I may have to do another 1/2 marathon sometime soon. I think I'm crazy....lol! Anyways, I don't have any pictures of the race up yet because I couldn't run with my camera. But Liz took some and I will try and get those and get them up soon. Here are some other pictures from the weekend though. If you want to look at some pictures from the actually race, during and after check out Liz's website.....the link is to the right of my page.

I'm off

Okay, I'm off to DC this morning. Bright and early. Feeling good. I'll be back Sunday night and will try to get pics up between working and sleeping next week. Love you all. Thanks for the support!

Ready for the Run

Okay 9 miles in 1 hour and 50 minutes.......I ran out of water so I had to stop. It is just too hot down here to run without enough water. I'm ready for next Sunday though. I will leave on October 3rd and return on October 5th. It's still not too late to donate to my run in honor of Dave and in support of TAPS. Here is the website link below

https://taps.kintera.org/army10miler/rachaelalvarez

I'm really looking forward to seeing the girls (Meka and Liz) again. Oh I miss them so much. I have to work tonite, but only 5 more weeks to go (so I'm feeling a little better about that). I know I haven't posted any pictures as of late, but I haven't been taking so many. Not to mention my camera is on the fritz ( I think technology hates me this week). Nothing I touch seems to work. I struggle a little more at times lately with the 1 year anniversary of the crash quickly approaching. I don't really feel like it should be called an anniversary (that should be left for a happy occasion, but I wasn't in charge of naming dates I suppose). Hope everyone is doing well. I will work 4 out of the next 5 days until I leave. The dogs are going to the vet on Thursday (Leah hasn't had any problems with her pancreatitis flaring up, but I just feel more comfortable with her being looked after by the vet). Mom, Dad, and Nick are going on a cruise on Monday and will be gone for a few days. Well, that is about all from here for now.

Well, between working 5 of the past 6 nights and the computer being on the fritz, I've been tired to say the least. The Army 10-Miler is set for October 5th. I'm flying out on the 3rd and will return on the 5th. Training is going well and my goal of completing it within the set time looks very positive. I have learned that I am much stronger (physically and mentally) than I ever thought I was. I have 5 more weeks of my contract at the hospital and am looking forward to the end. I plan on doing a little traveling during the month of November. First to Austin for my friend, C's house warming party. Then on to my sister's house in New Orleans for about a week. Then I'm going to be flying from NO to Northern California. Dave's hometown of Lathrop, CA is dedicating their Veteran's Park on November 15th this year. They began this project with a ground breaking ceremony on Veteran's Day last year shortly after Dave died. Then I will fly back to New Orleans and stay their thru Thanksgiving. After that anyone knows. As I am finding out, I wouldn't call myself flighty, but my plans have a tendency to change very quickly. I would like to start a fulltime job back in the ICU, but I really enjoy the time off that contract nursing affords me right now. Only time will tell......for now the job continues, the house renovations continue and that is about as much as I can say for sure.

More work on the house

The dogs...being dogs.

Watching the hummingbirds in the backyard this morning.

Shopping trip to Home Depot.

Made some headway in putting in the french doors.....to far to turn back now!

The only room completely done....a guest bedroom.

Master Bedroom.....painted

Computer Room....almost done

Guest bathroom after removing all cabinetry.

Guest bathroom renovations....

Just to let everyone know......hurricane Ike didn't end up affecting us down here in Corpus at all. Not even a drop of rain. Here are some more house pictures taken last week.