Hello from Sydney!

Ok folks I made it! After traveling for 26 hours I landed safely in Sydney, Australia! Yesterday we settled into our hostel and got acclimated to our surroundings with a nice little train ride around the city! Today we toured the opera house and cruised around the Sydney Harbor Bay! We also stopped off at a few shops while waiting for the ferry! i got some amazing pictures, but those will come later!

On the agenda for tomorrow is a day long hike in the blue mountains! So pumped!

xoxo,
Carol Ann

"God made us best friends because he knew our mothers could not handle us as sisters"

So I absolutely must make a shout out to this girl that I have been best friends since oh just THIRD GRADE! This crazy girl befriended me when everyone else thought I was unusual, too small, and not to mention having a strong southern accent! Yes folks, if you know anything about me you also know about my best friend MISS ABIGAIL CHRISTINE DORSETT!

Many people go through life not having the opportunity to make a lifelong friend like this and I can honestly say that you are missing out! I cannot express how grateful I am to have just one friend like this. I can tell this girl ANYTHING and I don't have to worry for a second that she is going to judge me or try to tell me what to do. She just listens and gives great advice when asked! It is like she is a part of me sometimes. It is wierd too how sometimes how people can confuse is for each other too.
Just because we both have brown hair and are considered taller for girls!

We have gone through so much together, more than any two girls should have to go through sometimes!I guess you would come across that being best friends for almost 15 years! WOW that's crazy!

We played almost every sport possible together. Lets see...it all started with soccer haha, then basketball, the terrible idea of cross country (Abby, remember to always "look ugly" as you run through Deming park because of the creepers!), finally our favorite VOLLEYBALL, and then our great track days! We did the exact same sports and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way!

We even had the same summer jobs! As you can see we were pretty much inseparable! Where you find one of us you were sure to fine the other.People had to think that we were obsessed with each other. And we were fine with that. Oh another weird fact...the boys that were our first kisses were brothers! haha shout out the O'leary boys who are both getting married this summer to 2 great girls!


We have had so many GREAT memories over the years and I know they will continue to add up! Even though we have attended different colleges we have stayed so close to the point that out best friends at college are friends with each other!


What I am trying to say is that I hope everyone could experience a friendship like ours. But I don't know that anyone could eve be as close as we are! Its so nice to know that someone is in my corner no matter what! I love this girl to pieces and I honestly don't know what I would do with out her!

So much to do, so little time....

Ok so I really was going to try to keep this thing updated but time has just really gotten away from me these last few weeks....

Since my last post I have had some pretty amazing days with my friends and the boyfriend! Cubs game @ Wrigley field for the first time! Camarada/Dativus formal and some fun bowling games!


Hottest couple there!



Cubbies!




Best Fraannn




I CANNOT believe that I am down to my final 2 weeks of my college career!! This is insane! I started my freshman year with a completely different group of friends and people in my life and it has all changed for the extreme better. I am happier now than I have ever been in my life. I know that I am on the path that God wants me to be on because everything just makes sense. I have no idea where this path is leading me but I am excited to find out!

So whats next for my immediate future?? I'll tell what I know so far...

1.)I present my teacher work sample on Wednesday here in the next week! (I have been working on it like crazy this last week)
2.) Graduation on May 8th and celebration with friends and family to follow that day!
3) Hopefully a fun little hiking and canoeing trip with Mr. Kennedy
4) Then I jet set off for Australia on May 10th for 2 weeks! Agh I am soo excited for that excursion!
5)When I get back I will be home for a week or so and have the annual family cabin trip in southern Indiana.
6)Then finally I will move to New York with my brother Steve and his family for the summer to help them out with some nannying and a nice little side job! (and hopefully a few visits from Andy to explore the great NYC!)

Welp thats all I know for now! I will be applying for jobs like crazy, expecially in the Austin, Texas area! Let me know if you have any connections there! Hopefull I won't have to update some much in my next blog!

XOXO,
Carol Ann

And then there were five.....

Wow....I will never forget the events of today!
Here is a rundown...
I was up at 6:00 AM and I woke up with out even thinking about sleeping more! It was definitely a ponytail and glasses type of day! And of course I wore my new grey Chuckie T's! We headed out the door at around 6:45 and in the hospital room a little after 7! I posted up in a rocking chair in the corner and read my book (The Last Song) waiting for the action to start! The parents both made their visits and they were so cute! My older brother (Chris) and I both left the room during the epidural because I decided that I didn't want to see this infamous needle, keeping in mind that I would like to have children someday and I figure ignorance is bliss in this situation! The epidural didn't exactly go as planned, but they got it figured out. I left the room for a bit so Nelly could spend some time with her parents and Chris and I caught some Z's on a couch in the lobby. My mom woke me up and told me that she was having contractions 2 minutes apart and I had better get my tale in there! I went back in and found my chair again. The Doc came in and told Nelly it was time to push...she pushed a whole 2 times and baby Zayden Anderson graced us with his presence! The first action he made a newborn was biting the doctor while she was pulling him out! Hopefully this is not a foreshadow of a April Fools Day crazy kid! Nelly did so awesome during the entire labor! She made it look easy! I snapped a few pics of the sweet baby boy and then was honored with the duty of going to the waiting room to tell everyone the exciting news and details!

Details: 8 pounds 5 ounces and 20 inches long and HEALTHY AND PERFECT IN EVERY WAY!

My Mother was worried about me not wanting to have kids after watching a live birth...Well she doesn't have to worry because I have no fears about it! That definitely is not enough to stop me from having a couple of my own...SOMEDAY not anytime soon! I got different reactions from people that I told I would be in the delivery room during the birth of my nephew...mixed emotions from quite a few. It really was a beautiful experience because I am so close with sister-in-law! I will probably not be in a another delivery room until I am the one doing so, but I am so thankful to witness this miracle!



XOXO,
Carol Ann

beginners luck

So.....I have read so many blogs and was never really interested in starting my own until I decided that I had something to really write about that people just may interested in. I am currently at a crossroads in my life and its the first time that I really have no idea whats going to happen! I graduate in May 2010 with a degree in Elementary Education and I will be licensed in grades K-6! I have a just a few weeks left of my professional student teaching semester and I could not have asked for a better experience! The first 8 weeks I spent in 3rd grade which went great! I have been in Kindergarten now for the past 3 weeks and I am head over heals in love with these little snotty nosed, no shoe tying, tattletalers! I have five more weeks with my kindygartners and I truely enjoy every second with these little guys and gals! I typically have at least one hilarious story to tell so get ready to laugh (hopefully) in my future blog posts!

Enough about that and onto the present! I get to experience a miracle tomorrow! My brother and sister-in-law are having a baby tomorrow and I have been invited to join them in the delivery room during the birth! Ok so maybe I invited myself..but they excitedly agreed that it would be awesome for me to join! I know its going to be super intense at times but this is a once in a life time opportunity for me to experience and it will be a special memory of my forth nephew! We head to the hospital tomorrow bright and early at 7:00 AM for Nelly to be induced (if she doesnt go before)! I have been at there house for the past 24 hours just to be sure that i didn't miss it and I it is sooo true that mothers go into hardcore "nesting mode" before the baby comes. Nelly has been cleaning and stocking up on groceries and what not all day! SHE IS READY! Hopefully I am too for this experience!

xoxo,
Carol Ann