Hiking, Snow Days, and I Ate All the Easter Candy

This year I tried to be on top of things and buy Easter candy early.  I figured it would save my grocery bill later if I bought a little at a time.  It worked for a while, but then I remembered it was there and I also remembered that Evan can't really eat Easter candy too much because he's still little.  So I broke it open and ate it all.  Ok, not all of it...yet.  I did finish off the Reese's peanut butter cups.  I still have a few Hershey kisses and mini candy bars left.  Not many though. And then I got to thinking some more and I don't even know what I am going to put in Evan's plastic eggs because he can't really eat a lot of candy yet.  So, maybe I'll get a set of wooden eggs and we can hide those.  And then I won't be tempted to buy more candy to eat.

Today I waited for the bus in the dark again.  However, one thing was different...everything was covered in snow.  Weird, right.  Maybe not if we lived in Alaska or Vermont, but here in Maryland it is odd to have snow on St. Patricks Day.  I am not going to complain about a three-day weekend due to a snow day yesterday, but I wouldn't complain if this was the last snow fall for a while.  Like, until December.  Or next year.  Evan was thrilled and had his shovel all ready.

I took him out to play twice, once in the morning and again in the afternoon.  He was quite happy.  He's pretty happy any time he gets to bring his shovel anywhere.

On Friday we headed to a little nature reserve that had some hiking paths.  It was beautiful out and I wanted to enjoy the nice day before the snow storm, so we headed to the park area.  He loved it!!  We walked along the path and he looked at all the trees, climbed on tree roots, dug his shovel in the dirt, pointed out the birds, and hiked along.  We only spent about 20 minutes there because we got there shortly before they closed, but we'll have to go back again because he had a great time.  I am so excited for him to discover a love of the outdoors.  I imagine hiking and camping trips together and trail runs and all kinds of fun stuff like that.  I took a bunch of photos but they are on my camera so I will try and post them later.

I didn't snap any photos as proof, but I also went running on Saturday and Sunday.  It's a miracle!!  What's an even bigger miracle is that Ivan joined us on Saturday so we had a family run: Ivan, Evan, and me!!!  It was a dream come true!!! A family run!!  I was a bit excited.

I got a bit of good news on Friday also.  I got a phone call from Hopkins and found out I was accepted into the 17 month accelerated BSN and MSN Family Nurse Practitioner program!!!  I am so excited!  I had been getting nervous because I hadn't heard anything after the interview and was starting to think I hadn't convinced them of my reasons for doing the Nurse Practitioner route.  But then I got a call from my Admissions Counselor friend (the woman who I contacted with all my questions and who I interviewed with) and she said I was accepted!!!  There is no guarantee I will go there because just the BSN program is $70,000 and although I was accepted into the Returned Peace Corps Fellow program that comes with a $12,500 scholarship (and a lot of community service), I still have to come up with $57,500 plus money to replace my salary because I have to quit my job.  I don't think I got my financial aid package yet so I am hoping I got some money but I'm not certain it's enough. We'll see.  I love the Hopkins program and am really excited about the Peace Corps part, but just not sure if we can swing the tuition.  At least I was accepted though!

Ok, off to nap on this lovely bus!  Hope you had a fun weekend and that it's warm where you are!!