Beth Miller, RN MSN Ed...Hopefully.

I have finally completed my Master's in Nursing Education program! I did it through the University of Phoenix and it was all online. It took about a year and 3/4 with only a 3 week break at the end to finish my project. I was very impressed with the program. It was tough, and I learned a lot from people all across the US. I made two great friends in the process even though I have never met them. These two ladies were such a great support, and we helped each other through our classes. Hopefully we will get to meet someday. I have to wait for my grade to post before I can officially order my diploma, that is why I say "hopefully." Ben gets upset with me for saying hopefully, but you never know. The instructor may hate my project! I think I will be fine, otherwise I would not have posted this. I'm so glad to have my life back and to not have to be on the computer every day unless I want to be. It will be weird not having to write a paper or do a Power Point presentation every weekend. Thanks to all of you who have asked how school is going and given me words of encouragement!

First Baby Clothes

This weekend I took a trip to Clinton, TN (right outside Knoxville) with Lu and Claire to spend a couple of days at Su's house. Su was the perfect hostess making us dinner and breakfast while we were there. We ate, watched movies and shopped. Someone should have warned me that you shouldn't take a pregnant woman around baby clothes even if she doesn't know what she's having yet. I went a little nuts, and there is definitely a theme to the baby clothes I bought. No, we don't know what we're having yet, but all the clothes I bought were for a boy. Maybe that's a sign. Some will work ok for a girl, but I don't really care. It's what was on the clothes that made me buy them.

Can you see my theme? They are all dogs if you can't see the details. Nobody has pug clothes or I would have those too! If someone sees something with a pug on it, you better call me immediately!

A closer look. I just couldn't stand the doggie footies! They were too cute!

Everything dog.

I showed Ben all my purchases when I got home. I did buy him a new pair of shoes, so don't feel bad for him. He thought they were cute, and the dogs were probably better than tons of pink. He did politely tell me that he did not want our child dressed in dog clothes every time it left the house! We'll just have to see how much I find. Only two more weeks til we find out boy or girl!

New Kids on the Block!

On Monday, I finally got to see the New Kids on the Block 2o years late! I was a devout fan in middle school. I had all the tapes, knew every song, had a Danny poster over my bed, and I wore a Danny pin on my jean jacket. The pin was buried on the middle school playground because one of my friends thought Danny was ugly. Well, most of my friends thought Danny was ugly. I loved him! Drennon and I were so excited to go to the concert. She got to go when they were here 17 years ago. I begged, but wasn't allowed. I felt it was better late than never. It was an awesome concert. I've really never heard fans so loud. Makes me never want to go to a Jonas Brothers concert! We started out in the upper level, but when the show was about to start, an usher gave us lower level tickets to fill in the empty seats. We were pumped! They were great seats near the stage. We screamed and danced and so did everyone else. They sang their old songs and some of their new ones. I thought they sounded really good. I can die happy now that I've finally seen NKOTB!

Ready for the concert. See the baby bump?

Joey, Danny, Jordan, Jon, and Donnie

"The Right Stuff" with the trademark dance


Love it

Costume change

Stage 2 by the piano in the middle of the crowd. Look at Danny flexing his huge muscles!

Jordan's solo. Had to get a chest shot. He can still hit all the high notes.

Love this pic

Finale. Hangin Tough in UT jerseys. We loved that!

Enjoy the video below of "Step By Step" one of my favorites from the past.

Naples

Last week Ben and I got to travel to Naples to spend a week at my Nanny's condo on the beach. It was a fabulous trip, and I didn't want to come home. Nanny's condo is literally on the beach, 15 stories up. I always started my day sitting on the lanai eating my breakfast and reading. I read the last three Twilight books while we were there. Couldn't put them down! Nanny made us cinnamon toast almost every morning and made sure we were well fed. I definitely gained back all the weight I lost while I was sick. We went to the beach or pool every day. It was so relaxing. We watched the dolphins and the pelicans play in the ocean. I could definitely get used to that lifestyle. Ben had to remind me that we would never live on the beach. He can take the beach in small doses, and a week was almost too much for him.

The view from the left side of the condo.

The view from the right side of the condo.

Ben finally learned to relax! I think he read four books.

On the beach for our dinner at the Turtle Club. We ate at sunset on the beach. It was very nice and great food.

Sunset at dinner.

The last night we were there, we went on a catamaran for a sunset cruise. This is the boat. It was a two hour cruise around the bay and ocean. We got to see a lot of beautiful, waterfront homes and some dolphins. We took a picnic dinner and ate on the boat.

Us on the boat ready to go.

Getting ready for the sun to set

We had the token "obnoxious" couple on the boat with us who insisted we take a

picture in these glasses. They also had their daughter and her boyfriend do the Titanic pose on the boat.

Sunset from the boat.

Proof I got Ben on the beach! We walked and found lots of pretty shells. Nanny's building is the one on the left in the picture.

Pelicans in the ocean. They kept us entertained by dive-bombing into the ocean for fish. They were so funny.

Pelicans in action. There was a large school of fish in the shallow water and they went nuts.