Making Memories of Us

I've moved my blog over to Wordpress

2010-06-03T02:28:00.002-04:00

You can see my new blog here:

http://hrichey.wordpress.com/

Looking in the rearview mirror...

2010-06-03T01:36:00.002-04:00

Well, a lot has happened since the last post (about 2 semesters, I think). Heidi graduated with her BS in Nursing (magna cum laude and was inducted into Sigma Theta Tau, the International Nursing Honor Society) and has passed her NCLEX. That means she is now officially a registered nurse. She also was able to pick up a part-time job at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center as an RN in the PACU. She will be caring for patients that have just come out of surgery. The crazy (yet amazing) thing was that this was the first job that she was considered for and her first interview since graduating. I am so proud of her for all the hard work she has put in and now it's starting to pay off.

As for me, I did not graduate. I still have one more semester to complete my second bachelor's degree. I will be finished with my undergraduate work in December and then will be looking towards my Master's degree. I will be graduating from Bethel with a BA in Visual Art and a BA in Philosophy. I finished the last of my requirements for my visual art degree with a very successful senior show and only have a couple more philosophy classes to complete. I was also named the 2010 philosophy major of the year at Bethel.

I wasn't feeling exceptionally creative for this entry, however, it needed to be done and now it's happening. So that's our meat and potatoes update!

Micah

The Beginning of the End of the Beginning

2009-09-20T21:23:00.002-04:00

This is it. We are now in our fourth and final year at Bethel College and we can smell the end of the beginning. Although we have thoroughly enjoyed these undergrad years, we are coming to the point at which we are ready to try something new. Speaking of new, we just had our first (perhaps annual) young couples retreat for our St. Mark young couples small group/sunday school class. It was at Lake James Assembly Retreat Center in Angola, IN. We had a great time getting to know other couples at a deeper level and were able to just chill and have a good time with everyone.

Heidi is doing a clinical rotation in Home Healthcare the first half of the semester. She enjoys it to an extent but gets bored with it due to a lack of connection with the patients. The nurses that she follows have been providing care to their patients for awhile and have built relationships with them, while Heidi looks on from the outside. Other than clinicals she just has three classes. She is also taking a piano class this semester. She still works at both the daycare and American Eagle, but is only able to work a couple days a week.

I am finally done with my Gen Eds and have moved into all my upper level classes. Most of my work is more independant now and consists of projects that span a longer time. There is the exception of my Greek class which was intimidating to get into but now that the class has started, I am really enjoying it. I am also doing an internship for EnGedi Ministries (my grandpa) and working on converting a group of separate blog sites into a fully functioning website. The blogs as they are can be seen at www.letgodlead.us. I am still working a little bit for the IT department at Bethel. I have branched out a little more this semester and am now doing some multimedia work around campus for chapel, events, and home athletics.

Our summer so far...

2009-05-22T14:40:00.004-04:00

Well, I finally got a job! I am currently employed with American Eagle at the mall! I'm pretty excited about getting a discount and Micah is afraid I'm going to spend my whole paycheck on clothes. :) I'm sure I can control myself. :) Micah is working in the IT department at Bethel. AFter next week he can work 40 hours. It'll be nice having something to do during the day.

We're in ceramics right now, which is pretty fun. I'm not very creative, but I try. It's frustrating when my husband, the art major, sits right next to me creating masterpiece after masterpiece. Haha... oh well, I am enjoying it.

We're planning on moving into our new house next Saturday, which is pretty exciting. We haven't really started the packing process yet. Hopefully we can get some things done this weekend. We're looking forward to having a little bit of a yard at least, for cookouts and such.

And the tragedy of the summer is the death of our fish, Benaiah RIP. He had been really bloated for awhile and according to everything we read on the oh so reliable internet, it looked like he was just constipated. But apparently his kidneys failed. I don't really know anything about fish and their diseases. He was so big he couldn't even get off the ground of the aquarium. It was pretty sad.

I'm looking forward to the pool opening in our apartment complex. We have a week to use it before we move! I hope it's nice this week!

Well, I don't think I have much else to report.

God is Good

We're moving!!

2009-03-02T19:32:00.000-05:00

So I just read Micah's last post and wondered why I even try. He is much better with words than I am. So I apologize ahead of time, this post will merely inform you of the newest happenings in our lives and will not be as creatively entertaining.

I noticed that Micah mentioned the possibility of moving back onto Bethel's campus. We have gone back and forth with this decision but have recently applied and been accepted to move into a house! Our next step is to meet with the director of the physical plant at Bethel (the one who is in charge of all of this) to look at our options. There is one house left on the street that we were hoping to move to. This house would have 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. Which means we can have an office and don't have to have our books sprawled all over the living room and I don't have to do all of my homework on the couch! :) It will be about the same amount a month for rent but will also include electricity (which our rent now does not). We will be saving money in gas as well, because we can just walk to school! Our deciding factor in moving was our scholarships. When we moved off campus our scholarships from Bethel were cut in half. They have allowed us to have those back if we move into one of their houses! This is a major blessing! We were also worried about being able to put a deposit down on the house because it would be equal to one month's rent. We don't usually have that much extra money just sitting around. But the Lord answered our prayers when we checked our bank account to see if we had gotten our tax return yet. We did, and it was much, much larger than we expected!

Speaking of the Lord's blessings, He also provided free groceries for next month!... We get our monthly groceries from Angelfood. We order the "regular" box for $30 online, and then there is a church around the corner that we pick it up from once a month. We went to go pick it up last saturday, and they ran out! They were somehow shorted a few orders. In order to make up for it, the guy that runs it at the church offered to give us our box from this month and next month's box for the $30 that we already paid. The best part is that we are at a point right now (mostly because of our tax returns and me working more hours this semester) that we can actually buy groceries from the store, and next month we will get double the groceries!

Like I said, I've been able to work more hours this semester since I have night clinicals, so that has been really helpful. But this also means that I am really busy. We both are. This week is our spring break, which means I actually have time to update this thing! We don't have too many plans for the week. Micah is working on campus the first two days while I relax at home and do some things around the apartment. :) I would work, but the daycare is closed over breaks. Micah is going to Chicago on Wednesday with some friends. He has to go for one of his classes to visit a museum and do some kind of report. I plan on heading out to spend some time with my grandma. On Thursday, I have an interview for a summer job, and then later in the day we are heading down to Lafayette to visit Micah's parents for a few days. It's nice to have a break, and I'm ready to start new clinicals when I get back to school! I'm going to be starting OB/Maternity (Babies!) :)

My interview I mentioned is for a job at Memorial Hospital. They have alot of openings for a job that is specifically for nursing students. This means that once school starts up again, they will work with my school schedule. They have some openings in some of my areas of interests so I am pretty excited about it. If you read this before Thursday, please pray for my interview! Interviewing is not one of my strong points.

Anyways, I suppose that is all for now.

Love,

The Richeys

Our lives plastered to a blank canvas...

2008-10-06T22:57:00.000-04:00

Well the little home inside our home was turned upside down tonight. It was messy and the trauma it caused the little ones who live there will be determined by close observation for the next few hours. We cleaned our fish tank tonight. It needed it badly-this yellow gunk was growing on the glass. Now it looks nice and clean but in the process of cleaning it the filament in the tank light broke so now we'll have to get e new bulb...uncool...very uncool.

Heidi and I also went for a light bike ride this evening, after our well balanced meal of spaghetti and greenbeans and breadsticks. Well, I guess its missing a few groups but its got to count for something. You may be saying to yourself, "ahh what a nice health minded couple" but hold that thought for a moment. You see there was a marvelously tempting Pillsbury cinnamon roll commercial on the tele and we just had to have them. Since we live so close to Walmart, that's just what we did. Now you may pass your judgement.

We're just chugging along with our school work, both doing fabulously well-you'd expect that being the geniuses we are...lol. That wasn't meant to be serious, but seriously we are doing well and at least I (Micah) am enjoying it. I think Heidi is ready to graduate and get it over with. I on the other hand, along with the counsel of my wife, have decided to add another major to the mix. I am now going to double major in Visual Arts (with and emphasis in Graphic Design and Digital Photography) and Philosophy. Don't ask me what I'm going to do with that...I'm sorry I just love getting down to the bottom of things...or at least as close as I can...not to mention that I absolutely love to think. If I'm majoring in Philosophy then I'm allowed to overthink, which is precisely what I do. Heidi is almost done with her Pediatrics clinical roatation and will be moving into Psych, not something she is particularly looking forward to.

We've also learned that Bethel is going to rent out the houses on the back side of campus for married housing. We are planning on taking advantage of that and I have a meeting with the director of facilities, or whatever his title is, coming up next week. That should save on having to drive to campus and the rent would be cheaper than the apartment we have now.

So that's what's new here.

Life at the Richey's...

2008-09-25T18:47:00.000-04:00

So my father reminded me the other night that we have not posted in awhile. And this is true. Nothing too exciting has been happening. We've been pretty busy with school and work and such. In case you haven't heard from us since our last post, I (Heidi) did not get that job at the nursing home. Apparently that "pre-employment test" was pretty important. Even though it said on the front page "there are no right or wrong answers..." blah blah blah... I still failed!
Anyways... so I've been working at the daycare. With my class schedule, I'm only able to get about 11.5 hours in a week. I have also applied to be a tutor at Bethel, so we'll see how that goes. Micah and I try to drive to campus together as much as possible to save gas. It's not that far, but every little bit helps! So that is why I am currently sitting in the BC computer lab, typing this blog. Micah is in class for another 30 min. Our schedules don't match up that well all the time, so sometimes I have to find ways to entertain myself on campus. I try to do homework most of the time, but that doesn't always happen. (as you can see) :)
I am enjoying clinicals and working with the kids. It is really different than what I've done before. 1 because its kids instead of "grown ups" and 2 because its an evening shift (2-11) instead of the morning shift.
Micah and Drew have been doing some crazy research and such to start their new ministry! It all started when Micah had the idea to bike across the country. So then they went crazy looking up the best kind of bikes & equipment, some good trails, etc etc. The whole time I was just wondering where we were going to find the money to buy all this! I think it would be really fun in a few years, but not the Richey boys.... oh no, they want to go next summer! Well anyways, then they had an idea. What if we raised money and donated it to a charity? That would be cool. It kept developing and now, they are working on logos, a website, and figuring out what all needs to be done to get this thing started. The boys are going to be talking to their uncle Doug who has apparently done something very similar. If anyone else has any experience in the area... let us know! :)
Well I don't really know what else to say, so I guess that's all for now.

It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it.

2008-08-21T15:21:00.000-04:00

So just in case you haven't heard, Micah has been working full time at Bethel. He was planning on starting this Saturday, but he was able to start last Wednesday! He is going to get some overtime this week, which will be so helpful!! Of course we won't get the big paycheck until the middle of September because of Bethel's pay schedule, but at least we know it's coming! Once classes start up again, he'll have to cut back on his hours of course, but he'll be getting as much as we're allowed as students. I will be working at the daycare again, but I'm getting promoted! I will be working at least one day a week as one of the "head teachers". I'm really excited about it! (Especially because it includes a pay raise!) I also just got back from the nursing home! I filled out my "pre-employment test". I'm now just waiting on a call to tell me how much they're going to pay me (she was thinking they could pay me more since I'm in nursing school) and when I can start orientation. I will be committed to every other weekend, and then just whatever I am able to work in between. I may have to work a few evening shifts, but I'll take whatever I can get!This is the most excitement we've had in awhile! :)
Well, besides the fact that Micah's family is moving to Indiana! We are so excited to see them this weekend!
Well, like I said, not too much has been happening around here. So I guess that's all for now!
Heidi

Just an Update

2008-07-30T23:46:00.001-04:00

Well here we are again, sitting at home, each on our own computers until who knows what time tonight. This is how our evenings usually end up. Or watching a movie or finding something on tv. Until just recently I would have said that we would watch my new favorite show "Jon and Kate plus 8." I love that show. It's about a couple that had a set of twins and then sextuplets! The sextuplets are three I believe. I don't know what you would do with 6 three year olds! But they are the cutest things in the world. On the episode where Kate hired a nanny, I wanted to go to PA and get that job! :) Anyways, now here's the sad part... we don't get TLC anymore! I was so disappointed! Before we moved in, we decided on the "light" cable package ( the cheapest one possible so we could just get internet). We thought we were getting too many channels... and we were right. Just the other day we turned on the tv to our 10 channels, or whatever it is. All I know is channel 30 (TLC) was an ant race! I was disappointed, but I suppose I'll live.
Anyways, I just got back from a BeautiControl party. It's kinda like a Mary Kay party, but it was more like a "spa experience" instead of just make up. And I was seriously considering selling it, as a part time source of income. The worst part is coming up with the money to buy the kit to start. Micah and I are thinking and praying about it, so we'll see.
So just in case you haven't heard... Dad Richey got the job at Purdue! We are so happy for him! And the best part is... they will only be a few hours away!! instead of 10! :) That is such an answer to prayer! Now we're just praying that everything runs smoothly with the selling of the house and business and finding a new house.
Speaking of jobs... I finally talked to someone about my CNA test! I am officially scheduled to take my test on August 14th at 10 am. I was hoping for something a little sooner... but what are ya gonna do? So hopefully the job at St. Paul's will still be available then.
Oh, and I finished Pharmacology with an A-. Praise the Lord! :)
We've been playing alot of tennis lately. We play on the courts at Bethel. Micah always wins. I've only won 1 game! But it's fun, and it gets us outside and some exercise.
We just got our thank you notes in the mail today. Micah designed them and they are beautiful! That's our new project. That will probably be our excitement for tomorrow. Friday we're going to the dunes with my fam. Hopefully it doesn't rain. It hasn't rained up here in too long. Our big nice courtyard in the middle of our buildings is dried out and brown.
Well just wanted to give an update of our not-so-busy lives.
Have a beautiful day!
Heidi

Study Break

2008-07-22T19:51:00.000-04:00

Today was another lazy day. I left the apartment once to check the mail. We didn't get anything. It's always fun to get things in the mail and see it addressed to Micah and Heidi Richey. :)

I'm going to warn you that I didn't really have an objective to this post (so it might just sound like me rambling), but my brain really needed a break. I've been studying most of the day for my Pharmacology final that I have tomorrow night. (Please pray for me!) I'm hoping it won't be that bad. I did well in the class, so I'm not too worried. It's just alot of information.

We got a fish on Saturday! I really wish we could have gotten a kitten or puppy, but that's not allowed here. Even if it was, it would be kind of a small place for a dog to run around. Oh well. So Micah finally let me get a betta. I already had the container and all the accessories from my previous betta, Abednego (RIP) that I received as a Christmas gift from my roommate my freshman year in college. We had a betta fight with a friend's fish, and he was never the same. Anyways, we decided to name our fish Benaiah because we think he could kill a lion. :) (if that doesn't make sense to you, read 2 Samuel 23:20) Micah thinks he is always mad. He does look angry... sometimes he just stares at me while I'm doing dishes. He's fierce. Micah just decided that Benaiah would be happier in a bigger tank with a filter. So we bought one. Now we have a real live aquarium! It's only a 5 gallon-er, but it's perfect for our apartment! We're hoping to add some more fish in the future. Micah says Benaiah will be King of the other fish.

I finally played Settlers of Catan! I know, you're all so proud. It was actually pretty fun. I only played it with 4 people, so that helped it move along a little bit better. I do get frustrated though. Especially since Micah won both times! I guess I'll just have to play more and learn better strategy.

We were at the fair all day yesterday. We decided we like it in the morning, when there's hardly anyone there. It was really nice. We watched Taylor show her goat. She got 2nd place (out of 3) in her showmanship and reserve champion in her pygmy class! We were so proud of her, and Otis (the goat)!

Things to look forward to in the near future:
Our photographer said she sent out our album, proof book, and DVD with all our pictures on it! That should be arriving soon. I cannot wait to get the album! It's going to be awesome!
I called about my CNA test today and the tester has my information and should be giving me a call anytime now. Which means I can then start working!
Dad Richey's interview went well, and he should be hearing about a decision by the end of the week! (Keep praying!)

Feels Like a Saturday!!

2008-07-18T15:21:00.000-04:00

So, after staying up way too late last night, we slept half the day away. Following our awesome breakfast of apple fritters and cereal, we entered into an intense battle of the minds...Scrabble. By the way, we looked up Scrabble and the definition is "to scratch or scrape, as with the claws or hands"...whoa...and we thought we were just trying to create words! It was pretty close the entire game, but in the end Micah pulled (scratched) it out by 50 points with the final score being 325 to 275. After that, looking for something to do, we decided to create this blog as a way to update our friends and family with whats going on in our life together.

Heidi is waiting to take her CNA test and then she will be able to work at St. Paul's retirement community. This is a huge answer to prayer, considering we haven't had consistant jobs all summer.

Micah is just doing odds and ends things for some income. He's worked on computers and just got done doing some landscaping at an aunt and uncle's house. He's also done some senior pictures for his brother and brother-in-law and is open to doing some senior pics or engagment pics for anybody else (hint-hint...if ya know anybody lookin).

What we're praying for:

Dad Richey has a very important interview on Monday, we're praying that goes well!!!

For the health and wellness of our family and friends

A continual trust in God and for his continued provision

Praise God for his amazing blessings!!!