My favorite People

I love being able to come to Iowa and just hang out with my favorite people. Now when I come visit Mia has school. So that means Jace gets a LOT of my attention. As you can see by the pictures. Unfortunately my camera wouldn't turn on when I got here so I only have a few pictures and they are all from my phone, so the quality is not very good.

Jace playing

Jace and his AWESOME sense of style!!!


Ready for church

Playing in the leaves~! (of course he made a lovely mess after daddy raked the leaves)

Mia in her cute school clothes! ($.99 for the skirt- awesome deal)

On our date-The park and ice cream!

STINKY BLOGGER

Ok, So I TOTALLy stink at blogging. Oh well, life is busy. Most people know what is going on in my life from facebook but I will write about it here too! Lots of things are going on at this point.

First we are looking for a house, I don't have a good picture but here is the house we have an offer on at this time. (short sale offer which means anything but short)
Our two duplex's that we own are also on the market to sell still and have been for almost two years. We have been wanting to get rid of them anyway but in the past two weeks are need and want to get rid of them has grown SO much. We are currently being sued by one of our renters. Long story and anther post. We have done nothing wrong and trying our hardest to take care of the problem without paying lawyers and going to court although with as tough as this lady is fighting and as ridiculous as she is being it doesn't seem like that is going to happen.

On an upside or a downside however you take it. I am looking into finding a labor and delivery job even if that means moving. We aren't totally set on anything and we are definitely looking to God to direct us. We are not pulling out the offer on our house, but we are starting to look at our options in other states. Right now the two besides Colorado are Texas and Iowa. If we get this house in Colorado we will take that as God keeping us here at least for now. Any and ALL prayers would be appreciated. ( my mom is praying we stay in Colorado because she doesn't want her favorite kid to move away ;) hee hee) And if anyone hears of any L&D jobs that hire without OB nursing experience I would be glad to know!


ABI STRUSKA

Photo of the Day

Walking along the train tracks right up from the Condo!

The Condo

The condo is the one place that my whole family is able to hang out together! My family has been coming up to Winter Park since before I was born. The first year I was able to join them I was only 7 days old! My favorite thing about coming to the condo now, spending time with my family and my super cute niece and nephew!!! They are so much fun! Mia loves performing, and Jace loves playing with Basket balls, soccer balls, and baseballs....any kind of ball!!! And of course my mom and dad LOVE the role of Grandma and Grandpa! Here is a preview of the first day!

What I love about vacation!

The Aunt

This post and the last both contain very few words, but that is because I don't believe I even need to explain this part of my life! I absolutely LOVE being an aunt and just wish I could live WAY closer to my Nieces and Nephews! The Nieces and Nephew that are close to me right now, are foster kids, and I love them too, however I am not allowed to post their pictures! As for the 12 nieces and nephews that are not on this blog, I really need to get some pictures of them! But for now you can see two of my favorite little people in the world!!!!

These first two pictures show a few crafts I have worked on, the tie onesie, and the tutu!!!

Jace doing what he does best, just hanging out!

The glasses on the baby are compliments of his big sister!

My Favorite Video of my Sweet Nephew Jace

First Wedding Anniversary!

June 20 was my First Wedding Anniversary to the man of my dreams! On Friday we rented a pontoon boat and went up to 11 Mile Reservoir. Joe fished while I just hung out and tanned (however that tan turned VERY red). Unfortunately since we went out in the middle of the afternoon Joe was unable to catch any fish! We spent 4 hours out on the lake.


Neither of us really liked our wedding cake, so even though we have some left from the wedding, I decided to buy one we would both like and we could eat that as part of our celebration.
After the reservoir we decided to stop in Green Mountain Falls on our way back home to try out their little lake and see if we could catch any fish. And of course, we were unsuccessful! haha I told Joe that I have never caught a fish or been with someone who did, so it must be me the repels the fish.
On our actual Anniversary we were actually up in Denver with my family celebrating Father's Day and my Dad's birthday! After honoring him and surprising him with a GPS we decided to put on our wedding attire and take some pictures, just for fun!
Last but not least, I decided to put up a picture of us on our actual wedding day and one from our Anniversary. See any differences! haha

June 20, 2009______________________________June 20, 2010

Rockies Rain Game

We came up to Denver for the week for my sister in law's birthday, a wedding, and just to hang out. Well, on Friday night everyone seemed to be busy doing their own thing so we thought, hey let's go to a Rockies game. We invited a few friends and headed off. Before the game started as we sat and waited it was lovely out...

















Then, before the game even started, it was delayed for weather.
After an 1 hour and 45 minutes they started the game (even though it was still drizzling)
The game proceeded all the way through the 6th inning....going between a drizzle and pouring!!!

and then... after the 6th inning the game was NOT cancelled... it was delayed AGAIN!!!
Eventually, like an hour later they decided to just cancel the game! ROCKIES WIN!!! What a fun, wet, cold experience!!!

My First Flower Garden

So being newly married and owning a home for the first time I have not had a lot of experience with planting flowers. Seeing that our yard needs A LOT of work I decided to start by adding a few flowers up by the front. I think it actually turned out pretty well, not I just have to wait for the flower seeds to sprout.

The Before Picture


During


After...There are flower seeds in the back section that I hope will grow!

The Handyman

The reason my blog is called a Handyman and a Nurse, is because my husband, Joe is a Handyman, and I am a Nurse like I previously mentioned in my introduction post. Upon the suggestion of a very wise woman I have decided to expound a little on the Handyman part of my life. My husband grew up as number 10 of 11 children. Yes, I said 11 children all from the same mother and father who were awesome Christian parents! I am not sure where Joe’s dad learned his trade, most likely from his dad, but anyway, Joe’s dad worked as a maintenance man at a hospital working on the ventilation and heating and that type of stuff. And now works in the maintenance department at MBBC. All of Joe’s life he has watched and worked with his dad on home projects and little fixer up type things. When Joe was younger he wanted to be a plumber when he grew up. And although that may seem strange and possibly even gross to some it wasn’t to Joe, nor was it the gross factor that intrigued him about plumbing. It was the puzzle of making something work that currently wasn’t, finding a solution and making that happen. As Joe grew he learned more and more from his dad. Joe started college after high school but after his first semester he chose to drop out because of difficulties with controlling his seizures and being able to remember the content. (Another post for another time) At this point Joe moved out to Colorado to live his brother and sister-in-law. His brother just happens to be a realtor and loves to work on fixing up houses as well. During this time, together Joe and Phil were able to buy 3 junky houses fix them up and then sell them for profit. In these houses they replaced windows, remodeled bathrooms and kitchens, tiled floors, painted and many other things that I don’t even know. These were all very successful.

When Joe was 19 he made his first home purchase of his own. He bought two duplexes that are back to back. These duplexes were bank owned and incredibly disgusting inside. In one of the four units there was a bum living, if you can imagine was a mess that was. Joe began to rip all of the old stuff out and replace the appliances, windows, carpet, and completely redo the bathrooms and kitchens on all four units. During this time Joe had moved into one of the units. As they slowly got done Joe put them up for rent and during the last three years there have been renters in and out. Some of which have taken good care of the place and some of which have trashed the place. Being a landlord definitely has some interesting moments.

Although these duplexes are Joe’s pride and Joe and show so much hard work and effort we have decided that it is time for us to move on and sell. We are both ready to move into a single family home with a backyard and a few feet between our neighbors bedroom walls. Also, we are ready to move to a new location with fewer gunshots and less scary people. Since putting our property on the market in January we have had 3 people look but no interest beyond that. We continue to pray and wait for God’s timing in selling and finding a new home, even though that is one of the hardest things to do.

Some extra things to brag about my husband for; He built me a pantry that rolls out, VERY Awesome and necessary for our minimal storage space, he built a beautiful deck for a family COS, he remodeled my parents entire bathroom, and he has taught me how to do some very basic things such as how to hang a picture and use a drill. Although Joe would prefer to work on other people’s homes it has been incredibly nice to have someone living with me who can fix pretty much anything at any time of day. (My parents have appreciated him for that too). At this point Joe is working for himself and running his own business, Struska Remodeling and Renovation. Business is very up and down at this point, but Joe is LOVING being able to do the work he has a passion for. Hopefully this gives you a little bit of a look into my other half! Oh, and since I am a nurse I will be there to aid him back to health when he chops a finger off! ;)

(Pictures to come later)

Cabin Freeze

The last month or so has been a crazy whirlwind, with Holidays and in-laws and trips here and there and of course working. So, me and Joe decided to take a few days to ourselves and go up to Woodland Park to his brothers cabin and just get away! Unfortunately, We had to postpone our trip by a few days to attend a viewing and funeral of a very dear friend who left this earth much too early and unexpected. Although there is and will continue to be mourning for awhile especially from his wife and two young boys we can rejoice that he is home in Heaven with our dear Savior. So because of this tragic event we pushed back our cabin days to going up this past Thursday after the funeral and burial service.
When we arrived it was a tad chilly as the mountain air usually is when nearing night. We went outside to take some pictures and enjoy the mountains. We walked a little but mostly stayed right near the cabin. We planned for the next day to walk up to the end of the trail where Joe could shoot his gun (no idea what kind) and I could maybe get a few rays of sun. So we called it a night and went inside to make dinner and watch a few movies, (6 to be exact). Then we headed off to bed to prepare for our day of exploring and hiking.
Morning came around 1130 (this is the time of day you wake up when you have no kids=heavenly). However, this day did not start as we had planned, first I was awoken by the dreadful sound of smoke detectors going off, and we are still not sure why they did. As we looked out the window we noticed that my car was not there, and that the weather had changed drastically! There was a huge blanket covering the outdoors. 14 inches of white blanket to be exact. Now, although I am very comfortable driving in snow and would even say I have some skill, my little Neon would NEVER have made it back up those windy roads and out safely. I really don't think it would have even made it out of the driveway. Seeing as this could potentially be a problem we started brainstorming. We had a friend check the weather, who so kindly informed us that we probably wouldn't be able to get out until AT LEAST Sunday! Now, we probably could have made it fine but we would have been rationing both food and toilet paper!
We then decided it would probably be in our best interest to try and fine a friend to rescue us. Actually I decided that because I am semi claustrophobic and was NOT excited about being snowed in. Our awesome friends Grant and Miranda and baby Charli Kay came and saved the day picking us up in there 4 wheel drive truck that only got stuck REAL bad once. We arrived safe and sound at home on Friday night. Although a much shorter different plan than we had originally decided on it was a blast and a definite success!!!!!

First Post

So, this is my first post in the Blog world! I hope that I can inspire someone through my Blog like I have been inspired so much my others! Just a little background on my life for those of you that don't know me. I grew up in a wonderful Christian home with two parents and two older brothers! (Yes, I am the baby, and Yes, I am the only girl- Definitely has it's benefits!) Growing up I knew I wanted to be something that helped people and living with a mom who is a nurse inspired me to become one as well. I went to nursing school in Wisconsin at Maranatha Baptist Bible College where I got a 4 year Bachelors degree as an RN. This is also the place where I met the man of my dreams. On my May 8, 2009 I graduated and on June 20, 2009 I married Joe and moved to Colorado Springs where he already lived and owned some property. On that day I became a wife, a home owner, a landlord, and a grown up! We started our life together with little money and no job for me.
On September 2 I passed my Nursing State Boards (NCLEX) and officially got the title RN. However, I did not find my first job until October. During this time my husband was (and still is) working as a handyman with his own business. As the school year started business started to slow down as did our income. The Lord continued to provide for us during this time as He always has and always will. As I started my first job in October at an endocrinologist office I was making less than I was as a CNA and working part time, but I was very thankful for the opportunity to be making SOME money. As I continued to look for a full time RN position I came across a lady in our church who is a nurse and informed me her hospital was hiring. The big reason for the difficulty in finding a job was being a new grad. Hospitals had lots of available positions but lacked the finances to hire a new grad who would require extra orientation and education. I applied for this job and was hired. I was now starting as a critical longterm care nurse. Not what I had planned for my future, but then again it's not my will but God's! So I continue to work there and learn something (usually more than one thing) new everyday! I work with a great team of people and couldn't ask for more knowledgeable, kind,group of people who answer all of my stupid and smart questions. At this point the only thing that I would really like to change about my job is working night shift!
Eventually I would like to be working as an OB nurse on a mom/baby unit and maybe some day as a a Nurse Midwife! I am not sure what the future holds at this point but I do know that an All Knowing, All Powerful God is in control and I couldn't ask for anything more reassuring!