Alaskan Cruise

Ronnie and I just got back from an amazing family vacation to Alaska, Canada, and Washington State.  We spent seven days on the ship "Rhapsody of the Seas" with the whole family... Mom, Dad, sisters, Grandma, Uncle Rick, Aunt Lynn and Vince. 

Our first stop on the cruise was in Jeuno, Alaska where we went whale watching, saw Mendenhall Glacier, and shopped in the quaint town.

In Skagway, Alaska, we took a tour all the way up to the Yucon and British Columbia; first by bus then back by train.  We stopped in the small town of Carcross where we ate a nice lunch and played with some adorable sled dog puppies.

Our Captain took us to Glacier Bay where we were able to see a glacier up close from the deck of the ship; icebergs and all!

Our last stop was Victoria, Canada.  There, we were able to walk through the Butchart Gardens.  The flowers were breathtaking. 

All too soon, our cruise was over and we were back in Seattle, ready for the next adventure.  My mom's cousin Bill helped us get all ten of us and all of our luggage to Port Townsend to visit his parents for a couple of days.  It was great to see their home and also visit Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park. 

 

Leave of Absence- Done with School

HELLO OUT THERE!  I'm back in blogger world and am excited to post about some of the amazing things I have experienced over the last few months.  I know It has been a long while since I have posted anything.  School left me with very little free time this year as it was my senior year in the IU School of Medicine, Clinical Laboratory Science program.  So I guess we will just start off there.  To all my frequent followers, I apologize for the number of posts coming up in the next few days/weeks as I try to catch up.  I've tried to post most of them ahead of this post

I finally graduated!  We had our IUPUI graduation in May, but it didn't feel "real".  After all, we still had like 6 weeks of school left.  On top of it, our program is made up of 12 IUPUI students and 12 IU Health Methodist students, so it was hard celebrating without half of our friends.  Nonetheless, here are a few pics:

My Instructors

I was surprised at the graduation with an Honor's Cord!  

Our "real" graduation was at the end of June when we had our program dinner.

sorry, I will find a better pic later

Here it is!  All done.  I passed my certification last week so I am now Kristyn McCulley, BS MLS(ASCP).  That is "Bachelor of Science, Medical Laboratory Scientist (American Society of Clinical Pathologists).

Nerd Party!

I was put in charge of our CLS end of the year class party.  We had a nice budget to play with and, thankfully, a class willing to play along.  I [of course] used pinterest as my inspiration:  See my board here.  I passed out ideas to willing members of the class and here is what we came up with!  It was so much fun and a great last hoorah before we all went our separate ways.  

Jello Agar Plates

Ginger Bread Techs

Red Velvet Red Blood Cells

White Blood Cell Sugar Cookies
"Love U Bunny Rodak"

Virus Treats and Red Hots

All the Urine problems

The Stool Cup Chocolate Pudding Bar

Love these Peeps.  : )

Nerdy Oasis- My Office

The office was our biggest project.  Since Ronnie has his man cave upstairs, this was my dream room.  I call it “Nerd Chic.”  We painted those awful bright green walls a soft grayish-purple and accented the room with royal purple and blue. It's not done yet... we just ordered a new [gray] cozy chair and I am still planning to hang a shelf, but it's too fun not to share.

book case

closet moved

House Projects

There have been a lot of projects happening around here since Ronnie moved home.  I will try to hit the highlights.  :)

New Back Door:  Since the new door is smaller than the old door, it needed to be framed in.  So, I figured it was the perfect time to paint the wall!  I love it!  Also, it is worth nothing that our privacy curtains were $7 per panel at Garden Ridge.  What a steal!  I also did a collage wall late last year for one of the living room walls.  

My cute little herb plants, orange walls, and collage

After switching the office and guest room, we gave the guest room a new look with a new [used] bed set and added in a treadmill that was given to us.  Got to love a multi-purpose room!

Mother of the Year

I cant pass up the opportunity to brag on my Grandma for a minute.  She was nominated the 2013 American Mother of the Year for Indiana!  It has come complete with plaques at the State House, Parade appearances, projects, and trips.  It is certainly keeping her very busy and we are all very proud of her. 

Adding her name to the State House Plaque

Her speech at the Ft. Wayne Court House

The Three Rivers Festival Parade

2013 INDY500

We were blessed to be given tickets to the Indy500 this year!  It was a first for both of us.  It was great for Ronnie to get a real taste of Indiana culture.  I think he was really impressed.  It is nothing like you see on tv.  

Sweet 16

In February, my baby sister turned 16.  It still blows my mind, but we wont go into how old that makes me feel.  My mom and I threw Cori a Mad Hatter Tea Party.  Of course, Pinterest was the inspiration for much of it.  Here are a few of my favorite details.

tea table complete with quotes on the walls, heart candies, chess pieces, and the works.

Little bottles filled with kool-aid

Red Velvet cupcakes and cheese cake squares

This was a game of croquet with cards and hedgehog 

Everyone had fun (even the cats)

 They also had a card house building contest and made "Scrap Journals" which are books that you basically destroy each page in a different, creative way (paint, cut, draw, write, etc.).  So fun.  :-D