Still There?

I'm not sure if anyone really reads this, but I've been away for a while now and wanted to post an update, even if just for myself. At the end of 2014, I started working behind the scenes for a brand new veterinary practice, just a mile or two from home. I was pretty busy helping to organize and set up the hospital, set prices for products and services, create employee forms and client handouts, learn a brand new cloud-based software program, and much more.

We just ended our second month of being open for business and we now have a growing client base, and have just finished dental month. Above is a photo of me performing a dental prophylaxis on the famous Fifty, the two-legged Pit Bull.

Some days I've come home very stressed, as I've been juggling being a veterinary technician and a receptionist, as well as other odd jobs to help the growing practice run smoothly. There is currently only one other full time employee splitting the work with me, but I'm excited to have a full time receptionist joining us next week.

On top of this, I'm also working online for LiveVet writing blog articles, and answering pet questions via email, chat, phone, and video calls. It's a lot to juggle, but I'm trying to work as much as possible because... I'm saving up to get MARRIED.

On our five year anniversary in November, Tristan asked me to marry him! I of course said yes. We have been discussing how we'd like to get married for a few months now, and I think we've settled on a small destination wedding/eloping next summer. Neither of us love huge crowds, and we would rather have just the few people we're actually close with there. We'll be inviting just a few members of our families, as mine is pretty big, and most of Tristan's family lives in England. We may honeymoon in Europe, though.

My dear friend, Andrea, or "Dre", will photograph the wedding. I've also decided to forgo bridesmaids, but if I did have them, she would certainly be one of them. Even though she lives in Seattle, she has been such a good friend to me, and has been there for both of us throughout our relationship. I'll be inviting a few other close friends as we get closer to next year, but I wanted to be sure that she could photograph the wedding. :)

Dre and I have spent so much time on the phone lately that Tristan and I are finally getting a family plan with unlimited minutes because I used all of my 200 minutes this month!

Tristan and I have been without a car for a while as well, which isn't a huge deal in Chicago, where public transit can get you most places, but it can be rough in the winter, especially with dogs. So, we're also saving to get a car, hopefully this fall. (Another reason why we're getting married in 2016.) I'm looking forward to driving again, and getting out of the city more often. I miss being able to spend weekends back home in Wisconsin whenever I'd like. I also haven't been able to see my friends Lauren and Mike as often as I'd like to. I'm also hoping that Tristan and I will start taking short road trips out of town. Although I've grown accustomed to the city life over the past five years, I still miss wide open spaces and fresh country air. I still feel a bit claustrophobic when I'm downtown, where there are huge crowds of people and you have to strain your neck to even see the sky, and I'm looking forward to getting fresh air more often.

Well, that's all for now. Until next time...