nursing everyday miracles

Another Thankful Thursday

2010-11-18T09:36:00.000-05:00

Today's list ... in no particular order:

1) I'm SO VERY THANKFUL that I just finished working my last night shift. Day shift (a.k.a. normal life schedule) starts next week!

2) I'm thankful that Marshall will get an ENTIRE week off of school to rest and play!

3) I'm thankful that I have a free week to adjust to a daytime schedule before I start working day shift.

4) I'm thankful for 5 happy months of marital bliss!

5) I'm thankful for Marshall's unconditional love!

6) I'm thankful for God's example of how to love others.

7) I'm thankful for faithful friends who still love & accept me even when I'm out of contact for a while.

8) I'm thankful for my parents who set Godly examples for me to follow.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Thankful Thursday Returns

2010-11-04T11:08:00.000-04:00

Tis the season, again, when we all seem to focus in on our countless blessings. To be perfectly honest, I feel a little guilty for not posting "Thankful Thursdays" throughout the year. After all, God has (& continues to) blessed me beyond my wildest dreams! Some days make it easier to focus on the blessings than others, but I shouldn't let the day's circumstances stand in the way of gratitude.

I'll now step down from my soapbox . . .

1) I'm SO thankful for my most amazing husband, Marshall - his unconditional love and a wonderful 4 1/2 months of marriage!!

2) I'm thankful for my family - grateful for the time I get to spend with them.

3) I'm thankful that I get to be a NICU nurse & see God work miracles in our tiny friends' lives each day.

4) I'm thankful for COFFEE (& especially that the Starbuck's Christmas Blend is arriving SOON!)!!

5) I'm thankful for the cooler weather ... & getting to pull out the fall/winter wardrobe.

6) I'm thankful that a new Freebird's is opening a mere 10 minutes from where we live next week! YUM!!

This is, of course, not an exhaustive list, but it's the first several things that came to my mind this morning. Now I'll stop procrastinating and do the next thing on today's "To Do List".

Have a wonderful month of Thanksgiving!!

Tragedy in East Texas

2010-09-24T08:52:00.000-04:00

I heard of a terribly tragedy that happened earlier this week, and I wanted to ask you to be in prayer with us for all the people involved. To protect the privacy of the people (& because of my poor memory), I will not use their real names or gender.

The "Smith" Family was in the process of adopting a child. This child had lived with them for around a year and celebrated "his" second birthday on Monday. Monday afternoon, while the 16 year old babysitter, "J", was watching this child, "he" was found at the bottom of the pool. 9-1-1 was called, "he" was taken to the hospital, but it was too late. "His" funeral was yesterday. "J" made some poor choices & got distracted while watching this small child.

Needless to say, two families have faced tragedy this week: The "Smith" family in the loss of this child, and the "Jones" family's teenage child - "J" - who will never be the same.

I don't know about any of the legal stuff that I'm sure will be taking place, but my heart hurts for both families. I've witnessed so many parents losing a child. It's not something that can be put into words. My heart breaks for them as they have started down this road of grieving their lost child. Then, I think about the babysitter. I can't imagine what is going through "J's" mind now. One decision and life will forever be different. My heart hurts for "J", too.

As always, God is in control of this situation, and He will be glorified. I firmly believe that He has a plan . . . even in tragedy.

"'In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.'" - John 16:33b

"'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. . . For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Corinthians 12: 9-10

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22

Eighteen Months & Change

2010-09-23T16:37:00.000-04:00

I've never been a big proponent of change ... some might say this is an understatement!! But, good or bad, change has always been difficult for me. When I set out travel nursing a little over four years ago, it was in part because people at work almost dared me to try it. It was also (to a lesser degree) a way to force myself to become more adaptable & flexible to change. Believe me, learning a new hospital & NICU every three months FORCES FLEXIBILITY!!!!

A few verses from the Bible have been my encouragement through the trying times and my reminder to praise my Savior through the joyful times:

"for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." -Philippians 2:13

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" -Jeremiah 29:11

"But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever; the purposes of His heart through all generations."
-Psalm 33:11

Little did I know how God would use 2 1/2 years of flexibility lessons when I made my "temporary" move back to Texas in the fall of 2009!! My plan (obviously, and thankfully!) wasn't what God had planned for me. Did I mention how GRATEFUL I am that He had this plan instead of using mine?!?!? :o)

A little over 18 months ago from today, my life changed forever with one single email.

Here's a little background . . .

I wasn't really looking for anyone to date or have a relationship with while I was living in Fort Worth because in my mind, it was only temporary. I'd decided that I was moving back to the east coast (specifically North Carolina) as soon as my contract was complete. In February of 2009, I watched a friend that I've know for close to 20 years bury her husband of 10 years. It was heart wrenching to see that. On my drive home that evening and the following days, I was thinking about her and praying for her, but I also (more selfishly) began praying again for God to give me that kind of love I'd seen so clearly between her & her husband in the past. I wasn't sure at the time if God had marriage in mind for me or not, so I also continued to pray that He would take away the desire for a husband if it wasn't in His plan for me.

One of the first Sunday mornings of March, 2009, I was reading my Bible with a Christian radio station in the background. It seemed like every time I listened to this particular station, I'd hear the commercial about this new, Christian dating website. This particular morning was no different. On a whim, I logged onto the website and started a profile page.

March - May, 2009

I received a short email from someone on that website. I wasn't sure at first what to think. The email made me laugh, but when I looked at his profile, there was a picture of him dressed as a clown. Hmmm...faced with a dilemma here! I emailed him back (giving him the benefit of the doubt), and it turned into three months of getting to know each other via emails. It was great, because I got to see how he viewed the world around him and a little how he dealt with life's challenges. I LOVED the fact that he initiated everything - from the first email communication to the first phone call and first date . . . what a gentleman!

In April, I accepted a full time (yes, permanent) position at the hospital where I'd been working as a contract nurse. The travel nursing chapter of my life had just come to a close. So, I moved apartments and settled in for what I believed would be two years. That way I could finish saving a house down payment and find the place I wanted to buy. Again ... not exactly what God had in store for me! :o)

New Fort Worth apartment

June, 2009

We decided to meet in person for the first time. We met for lunch at a Chili's in a city midway between where we lived. Our first date was about 5 hours! We just kept talking. It was fun & natural since we'd been getting to know each other for a while at this point. After the 2nd date, which my friend called our "marathon date" since it was around 12 hours, we both started feeling that this could be something special. But, neither of us said anything about that. We just kept everything casual as we continued learning about each other.

August, 2009

Fall, 2009

School was starting back, and it was Marshall's first year as a teacher. I wasn't sure what to expect with our relationship since we'd be keeping such opposite work & living schedules, and we lived exactly 1 hour apart from each other. I was pleasantly surprised! Not that it was easy. We learned early on that we both had to make adjustments if we were going to spend time together. It was truly a lesson in balancing schedules! I was amazed at how quickly I'd gone from "me" to "we". I was in awe at how God had brought Marshall into my life!

October, 2009

Marshall in A Christmas Carol

December 21, 2009

This was Marshall's first day of Christmas break, and we'd planned to spend the entire day together. I didn't know that yet another change was coming that evening! Yep, this is the day he proposed to me in downtown McKinney, TX!! It was all decorated with Christmas lights, and it was beautiful! This began a new chapter of our life together . . . wedding planning - more decisions than a person should have to make in a lifetime are made in the few months leading up to a wedding!!

Kinda blurry in the picture, but the real thing is beautiful! (And, he picked it out himself) :)

January - May, 2010

What a whirlwind!! I firmly believe one of the reasons God made marriage for life is because NO ONE should have to plan two weddings in one lifetime!! :o) SO MANY DECISIONS!! It was fun, most of the time. We'd learned how to work out our schedule differences a little better after the fall, so we were able to spend more time together ... a definite plus!! It amuses me that there seems to be a "set question" everyone asks when they see me. When I was in college, it was either "how are classes?" or "have you met anyone special?". When I was traveling, it was usually "where have you been lately?", but still sometimes "have you met anyone special?". When people found out we were engaged, it was always "how are the wedding plans coming?". It's the "acceptable" small talk conversations ... except most single people (well, maybe just girls) don't like the special someone question. Oh well, off my soap box!

Just before our wedding shower in Livingston

It was a CRAZY BUSY 5 months, during which I lost the friendship of my sister due to a decision I had to make. The last time we really talked was Super Bowl Sunday, 2010. This is the sad change in my life over the past 18 months. The decision was the correct one, and it was made only after LOTS of prayer and seeking advice, but it was a hard one which caused pain. I hate that, because it would have been wonderful to have her with me in all the pre-wedding festivities. It makes me sad. Marshall & I have been praying about this situation for months, and I have hope that we will be friends again someday. Enough about that...

JUNE, 2010

This is the big one!! Marshall finished school the first week of June. SUMMER was finally here!! The week before our wedding, we moved all of his stuff into storage, and he moved into my living room. We were married on a beautiful spring day (which, of course, felt like summer ... it is Texas after all). It was a wonderful celebration of what God had done in our lives!!

It's official, now!!

After the wedding, we went on a relaxing cruise to Mexico. We were able to catch up on some of the sleep we'd missed out on during the spring with our busy schedules. And, we were able to eat at least our share of the 8 tons of food on board the ship!!

Waiting for dinner one evening on our cruise

When we got back home, we had more change to face. He hadn't lived with anyone in 2 years, and I hadn't lived with anyone in 7 years. And, neither of us had ever been married. Life as a married couple is different ... GREAT different, but still an adjustment. Life got back to the new normal as I returned to work.

August, 2010

More change in the works ... Since we work in cities about 45 minutes apart from each other, we'd found a new home in a small town about halfway between the jobs. But, this meant another move. So, off we went to our new apartment the day before Marshall started back with his teacher in service. Not the greatest time to be moving, but we've learned to be flexible!

Our soon to be office & craft room

SO MUCH STUFF!!!! This is the first time we've had all of our things in one place, and it turns out we have too many things. It's now late September, and we're still going through boxes ... slowly, but surely making our way through years of things stuffed into nice, cardboard boxes.

God has blessed us more than we could ever ask or imagine!

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." -Ephesians 3:20-21

I was lying awake the other night just going over the past 18 months and few days in my head. I continue to be amazed at what God has done! He truly is a God who has a plan for my life, and His plan is SO MUCH better than I can fathom!! I'm excited to see His next step for us. :o)

Funny Phone Calls

2010-09-23T08:18:00.003-04:00

My phone rang yesterday just as we were about to eat dinner. I answered, and here's the conversation that followed:

Me: Hello?
Person: Hello. May I speak with ... (pause) ... Jenn?
Me: This is she. Who am I speaking with?
Person: This is ... with Al's Formal Wear. I'd like to congratulate you on your upcoming wedding!
Me: My wedding was in June.
Person: (awkward pause) Well, our records indicate that your wedding will be in June, 2011.
Me: My wedding was in June.
Person: (awkward pause) Hmm...Well...I guess I could update our records to reflect that.
Me: OK
Person: Thank you for your time. And, I guess, congratulations on your recent marriage.

**click**

Aparently, Al's Formal Wear doubts that I know my actual wedding date. I didn't think this was something easily forgotten!! I also appreciated the half-hearted "I guess congratulations" for being married. I guess it doesn't deserve the recognition that an upcoming wedding does. I hung up & told Marshall, and we had a little chuckle. Then we moved on to the food! :o)

Thankful Thursday

2009-11-12T19:53:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since I did one of these ... probably since last fall (sadly). As I wasn't sleeping this afternoon, I was thinking about the hymn "Count Your Blessings". I was reminded of my principal from Kindergarten, Bro. Godwin. Every Friday morning during chapel, he would lead us in this hymn. I can't exactly remember what he looked like, but I remember his smile and the sheer joy on his face as he'd sing the words to this wonderful hymn. Each week he'd tell us how important it was to thank God for what He's blessed us with. Well, maybe we didn't really sing it every week, but I remember singing it frequently.

Count Your Blessing

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Refrain

Count your blessings,
name them one by one, Count your blessings,
see what God hath done! Count your blessings,
name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

Refrain

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings.
Wealth can never buy your reward in heaven,
nor your home on high.

Refrain

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Refrain

So, here's a small list of things I'm thankful for on this Thursday:

Faithful friends
Loving parents
Marshall
Cooler weather - fun times wearing "fall clothes"
COFFEE
Seeing a baby get well when none of us thought she would (love God's surprises!)
Lots of laughing
Pretty fall colors appearing
Beautiful sunset tonight
Schedule change ... I get OFF on Christmas!! :)

Have a WONDERFUL weekend, and let the Holiday Season begin!!

2:30 AM Good Times

2009-10-22T03:52:00.002-04:00

Trying to mend a very sore throat before I head back to work tonight, I decided to make some mashed potatoes for my "dinner". (or whatever the 2-3 AM meal is called before crashing for the day) =) I didn't have any real potatoes - besides, that would be way too much work at this time of day - but I did have a package of potato flakes and just enough milk for the recipe. YEA!! I first needed to boil the liquid stuff before I added the flakes and stirred like a mad-woman. (Can you guess where this is headed?!?) Yep . . . I let it completely boil over the side of the pot. Thankfully, I have a glass top stove so the mess was somewhat contained. Unfortunately, milk & water & butter make a LOT of smoke when poured on a really hot burner. OOPS!! I quickly ran around turning on every vent in my apartment and then shut off my alarm so I could open some windows before the smoke detectors went off. Wouldn't that have made me the most popular neighbor in the building?!? =) It only took about 10 minutes for the majority of the smoke to dissipate so I could finish making the mashed potato concoction. So, here I sit in a slightly hazy apartment with a full belly of mashed potatoes and a throat that isn't much better than before the saga ... who knows whether it's the original problem or from smoke inhalation! Perhaps, in the future, I should leave the more complicated cooking (like boiling liquids) to my "pre-midnight" cooking adventures.

As Martha would say, "Good Times." :~)

Redeemed

2009-10-08T16:52:00.004-04:00

According to my dictionary, not Webster because I don't have his :), to redeem is to recover ownership of by paying a specific sum.

I've always loved the story of Ruth in the Bible. I'm sure partly due to the fact that it's a beautiful love story, and I'm a SUCKER for a good love story. But even more, I love the fact that it's an allegory for what Christ has done for me and everyone else who trusts in Him. Boaz was Ruth's kinsman redeemer, which basically means that after her husband passed away, he was someone in the family to take her as his wife so that her husband's name could continue. (Yeah, the official Jewish law is quite a bit more complicated than that, but that's the gist.) =) The cool part comes in the New Testament, though. Before Christ came, we were held under the law, which no one could live up to being sinful humans. But, when Jesus died for us, he payed the specific sum for our lives so that we could live in eternity with Him.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Galatians 3:13-14

To be redeemed, all we have to do is come to Him, broken, and accept His gift of life. This fact still amazes me!

There's a Christian singing group called Selah that is incredible!! If you've never heard any of their music, I highly recommend that you take a listen. (I promise this will all tie together eventually.) The lead male singer and his wife went through an excruciating experience with their 4th daughter in 2008. About halfway through the pregnancy, they found out that their daughter's condition wasn't compatible with life outside of the womb. To read the full story, you can go to Angie's Blog. One of my good friends told me about the blog in March of last year. I sat down one day, and I literally read the whole story up to that point in one sitting. Let me warn you, though, that you'll need at least one box of tissues to get through it! It was an encouragement to see their walk of faith through this time of unspeakable darkness.

What really hit home with me was how similar their story was to the stories of so many of my families at work. I work on the sickest of the sick babies for a living, and I can't even begin to imagine what goes through the families' minds as they walk that road not knowing if their baby will be alive tomorrow ... or later this afternoon. Some days are awesome, and others are absolutely heart wrenching. Reading through Angie's blog really opened my eyes to some of the thoughts of parents going through this type of tragedy. I will never forget what a mom told a group of us in a class up in DC: "My son may not be your sickest patient, but he's my sickest kid." WOW! What to us, as healthcare professionals, seems normal and everyday is terrifying to the parents. That has stuck with me, and I hope it makes me a better nurse because of it!

Not to be Debbie Downer ... we do have happy endings in the NICU, and we ALL rejoice when the so very sick babies survive and get to go home with their parents!! At the same time, though, not all of our little darlings make it to their earthly home. We see brokenness in our unit - parents and family members at the lowest point of their lives. It is in these times that I wish I was allowed to share more of my faith with these families to let them know there is a Great Healer who can and would love to heal their brokenness while carrying them through this horrible tragedy. Our chaplains do an amazing job with the families at the hospital, and I can never thank them enough! But, they are also limited on what they can say unless the families ask a specific question. Red tape/laws really stink sometimes!!

All this to say, Selah recently released a new cd that has a beautiful song entitled "Unredeemed". Here are the lyrics:

The cruelest world

The coldest heart

The deepest wound

The endless dark

The lonely ache

The burning tears

The bitter nights

The wasted years

Life breaks and falls apart

But we know these are

Places where grace is soon to be so amazing

It may be unfulfilled

It may be unrestored

But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord

Just watch and see

It will not be unredeemed

For every choice that led to shame

And all the love that never came

For every vow that someone broke

And every lie that gave up hope

We live in the shadow of the fall

But the cross says these are all

Places where grace is soon to be so amazing

It may be unfulfilled

It may be unrestored

But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord

Just watch and see

It will not be unredeemed

Places where grace is soon to be so amazing

It may be unfulfilled

It may be unrestored

But you never know the miracle the Father has in store

Just watch and see

It will not be

Just watch and see

It will not be unredeemed

This song says it all. No matter the circumstance, bring it to Jesus, and He WILL redeem! He takes the shattered pieces of our lives that we lay before Him, and He uses them to bring about His glory. What an encouraging message! I don't know how many times I've listened to this song - sometimes singing along, sometimes praying, sometimes crying - since I bought the cd. And, this isn't the only good song on it! It's really a great time of worship to listen and sing along with all the songs!

I tried to upload it to the list of songs playing on here, but it's not yet available. So, you can click here to hear them sing it. Enjoy! =)

A Collective "Ahhh...."

2009-09-28T18:27:00.003-04:00

WOW! What a beautiful day we're having here! It's sun-shiny & cool(er) with a wonderful breeze. It doesn't get much better than this! It makes me just give a happy, contented sigh. :) I woke up this afternoon still tired from a stressful night at work last night, and then I looked outside. Talk about a mood-lifter!! I immediately got ready and went out to run some errands. If I wasn't COMPLETELY out of food here, I would have just gone to the park. But, instead I enjoyed a leisurely drive around town as I picked up some essentials. When I got to the grocery store, I picked up a cup of coffee & a slice of pumpkin bread - another fall favorite! Speaking of, I think it's time to start the 'fall baking rituals' again. This weather makes me just want to bake all kinds of yummies!! I hope you are having a happy, fall Monday! =)

Disappointing Display of Disrespect

2009-09-10T03:35:00.002-04:00

Hmmm...It's now 2:30AM, and I'm awake again. Just another perk of working night shift for a year now. Either that, or I took too many naps Wednesday. =) Anyways, that's not what this post is about.

I'm the FIRST to admit that I'm NOT a political person. Case in point: About two years ago (while living in the DC area), I was sitting in Reagan National Airport waiting to come back to Texas. I was reading my book & minding my own business when this guy sitting by me nudged me & said, "Isn't that John McCain sitting over there?" Sitting about 5 feet from where we were was a familiar looking man, but I said, "I don't think so." And I continued to read my book. In my defense :), I didn't really think someone important would be sitting in an airport like the rest of us, AND the election hadn't really kicked off so much. (I know, I know ... I still should have recognized him!) So, a minute or two passes, and this guy next to me said it again. He asked me if I'd take his picture shaking the man's hand. A little irritated at this point that he wouldn't leave me alone, I agreed. I was secretly thinking that he was about to make a fool of himself by asking this poor man for his picture. Well, guess who the fool was! Turns out that John McCain actually did have to sit in the airport like the rest of us. Now do you believe me that I'm not a political person?!? :)

Well, tonight I watched President Obama's speech on health care reform. Obviously, being a health care worker, this subject is pretty important to me. I didn't vote for Obama, and I don't agree with most his policies that I know of, but I listened tonight to hear his proposal. It's the first of his speeches that I've watched. I have to say that I was disappointed in the disrespect that was shown by the Republicans - particularly the one who yelled out "liar" during the speech. What happened to taking the high road in a disagreement? Has ALL maturity left our government completely? I know ... very naive of me to think that people in government would act their age. I listened to the nationalized insurance proposal, and I honestly don't believe that this "best of both worlds utopia" plan is even possible. But, all that aside, he is the President of the United States of America, and as such deserves a certain amount of respect. God allowed him to have this office for the next four years. Because of this, I'm committed to pray for him. I respect the Office of the President, and I was disappointed that some of our elected officials disrespected it tonight. No matter what happens with all of this, we can have confidence that God is still in control.

"being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you

will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

-Philippians 1:6

"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

-Hebrews 13:8

I'm now stepping off of my soapbox . . . =) Have a wonderful weekend!!

Seems like it's been a while . . .

2009-08-04T01:08:00.007-04:00

And it really has! It's been a full, exciting, fun, busy, stressful, happy, (add your own adjective, and it will probably apply!) couple of months. I'll try to catch up:

Fathers' Day weekend, I was excited to be off of work so that I could go to my parents' & visit with everyone. They were hosting a cookout for the dads that Saturday night, so I got to see two grandpas and other relatives - not to mention getting to spend some quality time with my own dad! Here, he's displaying a set of cuff links. There's a funny story behind these...

For Christmas, dad asked for a new, white dress shirt. (a Christmas 'staple') Well, wanting to get him what he asked for, I went out in search of a nice shirt. I was excited to find one for a great price AND in his size, so I grabbed it and ran to the cash register. As I was checking out, the sales associate asked if I would be needing any cuff links that day. In my head, I was thinking, "What a strange thing to ask someone!" Audibly, though, I just smiled and said, "No, thank you." (In my defense, I work night shift and am sleep deprived most days. So, I often miss putting 2 & 2 together to come up with 4!) =) I'm sure you see where this is going. Christmas morning, he opens the shirt and says, "Great! I'll have a shirt to wear with my cuff links." Hmmm...again with mentioning cuff links? Then he explained to me that the shirt required them. I guess the sales associate wasn't so strange for asking me that after all!! A few months later, as dad's birthday & Fathers' Day were approaching, he told me that he didn't have his cuff links anymore. So ... Happy Fathers' Day to you! Here's part 2 of your Christmas gift! =) (hooray for the special kid!) It was a fun weekend.

While I was home, my dad noticed that my car had been hit & had a nice dent in the rear. He asked when that had happened, and I had NO idea. Good times. So, I got to have a rental car for a couple of weeks while Roony (my car) had some work done. The back looks as good as new, so that made me very happy! Also during this time, my long awaited furniture arrived!!!! It is BEAUTIFUL and exactly what I wanted. The man in charge of the delivery was just laughing at me because I was SO EXCITED with each piece that was brought in. There may have been a little squealing and clapping, but I'm proud to say that the jumping up & down while squealing & clapping was contained until they were gone! :-) At one point, he looked at me and asked if this was my "first big girl bedroom furniture". I asked him, "Is it obvious?" I was just so happy to see the right stuff in perfect condition sitting in my apartment! It took a lot for this to happen.

I was lucky enough to get July 4th off this year! After sleeping for a while, (I worked the night of the 3rd) Marshall and I went to a carnival in downtown Fort Worth that he had read about online. It was pretty fun. They had huge pieces of cardboard & plastic that we could use to ride down a big hill. It was like sledding . . . but on grass when it's hot outside. =) We did this for a while. It was fun and challenging. The challenging part was trying to dodge all the little kids climbing the hill we were sledding down. Good times! We walked around for a while, and then had our picnic while we waited for the fireworks to start. And, I don't use the term "waited" loosely! The fireworks were to start once the baseball game finished. Well, that game went LONG, and the fireworks didn't get started until around 11:30!! They were well worth the wait, though. Beautiful, and not too loud for the most part. There were a couple that made me jump, but it was fun. It was a fun evening celebrating our Great Nation's freedom!!

Next thing I knew, it was my birthday weekend. I'd requested days off and made trades with people at work so that I could have several days off at that time. I think I ended up being off 5 or 6 days!! WHOOP!! :) Friday night, Marshall took me to dinner & surprised me with a bouquet of tulips and a dozen long stem, white roses! WOW!! When we got back to my apartment, my parents had arrived in from Tyler, and we got to visit with them a little while. Saturday morning, I met my parents for breakfast at IHOP. YUMMY pancakes!! =) We went to Target to get a couple things that they had forgotten to pack. What better way to start my birthday?!? IHOP & Target!! We came back to my apartment, and I put them to work . . . hanging heavy stuff on my walls. :~) That evening, Amy & Ronnie joined us for supper. It was a great time joking around with each other. After we finished eating, we went to see the musical "Little Shop of Horrors" in downtown Fort Worth. I love the music in it! I've always been a sucker for tight harmonies, and this performance was NOT a disappointment!! They did a phenomenal job. =) I had a spectacular birthday! Mom & Dad went home Sunday evening after we went to church, had a big lunch, and all had a nice Sunday afternoon nap. What an amazing weekend!!

A couple weeks later, we went to visit Sam and his foster parents. I don't think I've been out there since before Christmas, and WOW!, what a difference 7-8 months can make!! =) A couple of years ago, he started trying to talk & babble. Then, he got really sick, and that was the end of talking. Recently, though, he's just come alive with words, and it was so precious to hear that sweet little (sometimes "growly") voice! Honestly, it made me get a little teary at one point. He's such a miracle, and God has given us so much more time than we ever thought we'd have to enjoy Sam. I'm so grateful that I get to watch him grow up, and I praise God for providing such incredible foster parents! What a privilege to be able to sit back and watch God perform miracle after miracle!!

My Papa Art had his 80th birthday last week, and his party was last Saturday night at my parents' house. We went out there Saturday evening for the celebration. It was so much fun to visit with everyone again - especially since some of my cousins who I haven't seen in close to a year (or more?) were able to come. I didn't get my camera out because my dad was snapping pictures. So, I don't have any to post yet. We came back to the DFW area Sunday night after a day of playing in Tyler with my parents.

Yesterday, I met a good friend of mine & her 2 boys for lunch. We used to do stuff together all the time, but with the hour + commute between our homes now, we don't get to see each other much anymore. It was so much fun to catch up with her and play with the boys for a few hours this afternoon!! After lunch, we went to the Rangers' Ballpark & took the tour. It was a lot of fun, and we got to go in places that I'd never get to see otherwise.

Rangers' Locker Room

View from the dugout

Great president & lover of baseball!!

So, that's my life for the past two months in a nut shell. (Anyone else having an "Austin Powers" flashback?!?)

I hope you have a wonderful day!!

A Work in Progress

2009-06-11T20:36:00.004-04:00

Well, it's been 2 weeks since I moved to my new apartment, and I'm still not completely unpacked. This is unusual for me. I DO NOT like to live with boxes & clutter, so I'm usually unpacked & settled within the 1st week. This move has been a little different since I'm working full time nights and since some of my furniture hasn't arrived yet. It's been promised by the end of this month, and I'm really hoping that they come through with this latest "guarantee". Until then, I'm learning to deal with the clutter - or at least to avert my eyes from the piles. :) By the way, I LOVE my new place!!!! It's very nice and doesn't seem to have the problems my old place had. I've uploaded a few pictures of the uncluttered & decorated areas. It's been a lot of fun to decorate. This is definitely my favorite part of moving! Hopefully I'll be able to post some "completed apartment" pictures in the next few weeks. :)

Baseball Paraphernalia (seems to be growing with time) :)
Musical Jazz Cats (look closely)

Bookshelf in hallway

Office/Craft Room (Aggie Shrine) :)

Dining Area (with easel ready for painting from Dad)

Living room

. . . some gave all

2009-05-24T19:03:00.003-04:00

Boxes, Boxes, and MORE Boxes!

2009-05-11T10:29:00.004-04:00

What a whirlwind couple of weeks! I've been busy, but it's been fun. . . well, as much fun as packing can be. :-) On my apartment hunt a few weeks ago, I found a cute one that would be ready when I was ready to move. It's a in a huge apartment complex, and it's a little closer to work - a wonderful thing when it comes to the morning commute back home after a long night at work! The weird thing is I can't remember much about the inside. I looked at seven or eight different apartments that day, and then I picked this one. I know the layout because I have the paper that the leasing agent gave me, but that's about it. So, I'm PUMPED about getting the keys on Wednesday so I can go have another look at my new home!! :-) Over the next two weeks, I'll be moving some of my more precious things into the new place and putting them away where they can't get hurt by movers & furniture. Then, I'll have some movers come move everything else the last week of May. I'm very excited, but I still have a bit to do. My kitchen, for example, still needs to be packed . . . YIKES! The best part of this move is that I've been making myself clean out stuff. I found a couple of boxes the other day that I'd never even unpacked when I moved in here. Hmmm . . . perhaps I don't need that stuff as much as I'd once thought. It's been good for me to go through & get rid of a bunch of stuff that I'm tired of storing for that "day when I might possibly think I need/want it again". (For all of my pack-rat buddies, you know what I'm talking about!)

But, it's not been all work & no play . . .

Two weekends ago, we celebrated my mom's birthday. She & dad drove in to Dallas from Tyler, and my sister & I met them there. We saw a great play at the Dallas Contemporary Theater called "The Cemetery Club." It sounds a bit sad/odd/depressing, but it was really funny. If you have the opportunity (and you like live theater), I'd highly recommend this play! We all stayed over at a hotel, and had a nice big breakfast that Saturday morning. It was great to visit with them for a while. Who knew that I'd see so little of them even when I'm living just a couple hours away?!? Sometimes I guess I just lose control of my schedule and let time slip away. I need to work on this! (My dad took the pictures that weekend, so I don't have any fun family pictures to share right now.)

Last week, I went to visit my first college roommate up in Virginia. She had her 3rd little angel in December, and Aunt Jenn had not yet met her! This was simply unacceptable!! :-) I had scheduled my nights to work so that I had a long stretch of time off just for this trip. It was a very short & fast trip, but it was wonderful! I got to play Candy Land & Lucky Ducks until I couldn't stand anymore! :) E wasn't too sure about me when I first got there. He's 3 and didn't really remember me, but he eventually warmed up. We played with puzzles & cuddled on the couch while watching TV. Good times! S & I had some color time Tuesday night. That was so much fun! I haven't colored in years, and now I'm wondering why I haven't!! It's something I still really enjoy doing. (might have to rearrange some things in my life to make more time for crayons!) :-) We looked through books to find pictures for me to color, and then she picked a picture she could color for me. Priceless memories! After coloring, we all went up to their room for story time before everyone went to bed. And, then there's D . . . the newest. As I'm sure you can tell by my line of work, I have a special place in my heart for babies! She is so adorable!! At 4 1/2 months, I had a great time making her smile & trying to get a giggle from her. Turns out that her brother & sister are the masters at this trick! And what a precious thing to observe - the three of them playing together. I could go on & on, but I won't. =) My friend there is one of my closest friends. It was completely a "God thing" how we met & became roommates. A&M had run out of dorm rooms my freshman year, so I went to the Off Campus Aggies office to look for a roommate or roommate/apartment combo. She had done the same thing being a graduate student & not wanting to live on campus. We each ended up pulling the same girl's name from the file, but she already had found a roommate. So, she gave Camille my name & number. I like to think of it as God handpicking my first college roommate for me. He knew exactly what I needed! It was wonderful to get to visit with her again this past week.

I guess it's back to the real world for me now. (Or at least as real as my world ever gets) :-) For all of the mothers out there, I hope you had a terrific day yesterday! I'm off to pack some more boxes. YIPPEE!!!!

Seasons

2009-04-21T02:58:00.004-04:00

This past weekend, I was invited to a women's retreat by one of my good friends. I was very excited, and a little nervous, to go. I was excited to see what God would teach me, but I was nervous about being around so many people I'd never met before. God did not disappoint! Our speaker, Pat Harley, gave four amazing messages. And, I got to know some amazing women over the 2 days.

These are the women of Numazawa . . . Room 4: (L-R) Nancy, Julie, Jennifer, Marcy, Melodie, Melissa, Kerri, & me. I had registered to ride the zip line a couple of times, but the weather didn't cooperate. Instead, we all gathered in our room & played games. :-)

The theme of the weekend was I will praise Him in every season. Sunday morning, the sun came out! It was beautiful!! It allowed everyone to participate in the "prayer mosaic". In case you don't know what that is (I didn't either until Sunday morning), it's where you go to several "stations" and have a time of prayer. For example, one of them was Laying your burdens at the foot of Jesus. So, at this station, we wrote a burden on a rock, prayed to give it over to Jesus, and threw the rock in the lake to symbolize its release. They had set up 7 different stations, and we each went through them. It was such an intimate time with my Savior! By far, that hour was the highlight of the retreat for me!! :)

Sunday morning, before breakfast, I walked around for a little while enjoying the sunshine. Of course, I had to get a picture of the lighthouse near the dining hall. Just because I'm living further from the ocean doesn't mean I've stopped looking for lighthouses! :) I sat out on the dock for a little while, too, until the wind got to be too strong.

It was a wonderful weekend, and I'm so glad that I got to go!

On a completely different note, it's April 21st today . . . which means it's Aggie Muster. For those of you who aren't Aggies, this is a day to remember those lost this past year and to celebrate the life that they had. I'm working tonight, so I won't be able to attend a local gathering, but hopefully I'll find a local group before next year. I'm sure there's an Aggie Family here in Fort Worth! :)

Where has the time gone?

2009-04-09T07:30:00.003-04:00

I just looked at my last post date, and it's been a month. I'm sure you've been waiting with bated breath to find out what I've been up to. Or, you hadn't noticed it's been a while. =)

So, let's play catch up. . .

The past 6 months I've been working a contract at a children's hospital in the DFW area. With the end of that job rapidly coming to a close, I've spent a LOT of time praying for direction about what God wanted me to do. Amazingly enough, I've had so much peace (that can only come from Him) as the days ticked by and the paychecks were coming to a close. I looked around the area for NICU jobs, and I talked to a couple of NICU's in NC hospitals. Most every NICU is fully staffed at the moment. . . great for the nurses who aren't being overworked, but not so great for me. :) Even still, God had calmed my spirit about it all. So, I didn't let this consume me. I continued to enjoy my days off. (I know that's surprising . . . ha ha ha)

A few Saturdays ago, I spent a very busy yet very fun day in the Dallas area. One of my oldest friends (not by age, but because we've now been friends for 25 years . . . WOW!) had a surprise sprinkle for her 3rd little boy who will soon grace us with his presence. For those of you who have never heard of this, it's basically a baby shower & a surprise party mixed together. It was wonderful to get to visit with some people I haven't seen in 10+ years.

After the shower, I had planned to go to the Dallas Arboretum to see the tulips. It was smack dab in the middle of Dallas Blooms, so I was expecting greatness!! =) My sweet parents drove in from Tyler to meet me there. We were NOT disappointed!! We got to walk around there for a few hours before I needed to head off to my next activity for that day. It was an absolutely perfect afternoon for being in a garden!! =) Apparently, most of the people in Dallas felt the same way because it was pretty crowded. The past couple of springs, I've been further north & east from where I am this spring, so I've been blessed to get to enjoy all the beautiful cherry blossom trees. They are just gorgeous. Last Easter, I was in NC, and I spent most of the afternoon at the Duke Gardens. They had some amazing cherry blossom trees there. Well, I was missing getting to see them this year, so you can imagine how excited I was to see them at the Arboretum!! They were in full bloom - some still the pink & some were already turning more white. They are beautiful. What more could I ask for than tulips with cherry blossoms?!? Throw in some fun times with my parents & it's the trifecta. :) Not to discount the tulips, though. They were amazing. I can't even imagine how many THOUSAND bulbs had been planted there this year. All colors, sizes, & varieties. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon.

So, after enjoying creation for a while, I went over to some wonderful friends' house for a Red Envelope Party. Don't worry if you don't know what that is because I didn't know about it until my friend explained it to me. Basically, it was people from all across the country preparing & sending empty red envelopes to the White House with a message written on the back about abortion. Each envelope represented a child killed by an abortion. The envelope was purposely left empty because the child will never be able to participate in this life. It's kind of a grass roots effort to let our new President know that we don't agree with his recent decisions to fund & support abortions. I'm not usually a political activist, but this issue is very important to me. I spend HOURS & HOURS each week trying to save sick babies trying to make it for parents who so desperately want a child. It's so hard to hear of people killing their babies. Okay . . . I'm stepping down off of my soap box now. =)

That Sunday, I left on a long & exciting road trip. Well, at least the 2nd day of driving was exciting. :) For those of you who have never had the pleasure of driving across West Texas, let me just tell you - it's not all that exciting! Don't get me wrong, I'm a Texan through & through, and yes, I do believe it's a GREAT place to live. I just don't want to spend another 8 1/2 hours in a truck driving through that part again anytime soon. That evening, as the sun was setting, God really made it all worthwhile! The camera just can't capture the true colors of that sunset. It was gorgeous. Once I hit the state line that night, I only had about 20 minutes left until I reached my hotel. The next morning, after a much needed night of sleep, I got up refreshed & ready to finish my journey. I was heading to Twentynine Palms, CA, for a Marine Homecoming Celebration. Now those of you who have known me for years know that I don't have any brothers . . . officially. But, sometimes you have the family you were borne into & then the family you choose as you walk through life. Well, that is the type of brother I was going to welcome back to the States. Such dear friends don't come around everyday, and I was SO honored & excited to get to join in this celebration. Sean, my little brother, was getting back late that Monday night from Iraq (his 2nd tour). It was wonderful to see him home & safe again. God is doing amazing things in the lives of his parents. His mom is like a sister to me - someone who helped me get through the move from city to country back in highschool. This last picture is one of my favorites from that trip - Sean hugging his dad. It was such a wonderful . . . and VERY COLD . . . night. I'd always heard that the desert gets cold at night, but I was NOT prepared for that. Thankfully, Bea had planned for me & packed extra sweatshirts/sweaters for me. I'm lucky to have people looking out for me!! =) That Wednesday, I had to head back home so that I could go back to work. It was a short trip, but SO VERY WORTH IT!! I will always remember that night.

Now, that 18+ hour road trip left a lot of time for me to think. The saying is very true - An idle mind is the devil's workshop!! I have to admit that during part of that trip I started to get a little panicky about the job situation. I only had 3 weeks left, and then I didn't know what I was going to do. As a contract worker over the past couple of years, I've been able to set aside money, so I wasn't worried so much about the money issue. It's the control/planning issue that always creeps back into my thoughts and causes worry. Something I've been working on during the past few years is patience. If you know me at all, you know this is NOT my strongest character quality. (some might even say it doesn't exist on a regular basis in my life). =) But, as a contract nurse, it's something that MUST be learned! Clearly I haven't learned my lesson yet, because I was getting a little impatient with God about the job situation during those quiet hours in west Texas. I even considered calling a nurse manager of a hospital where I used to work to get a job. I knew they had an opening, and I felt pretty confident that I could just go back there & have a job. The problem was that I didn't have peace about doing that. I knew that it would be me taking control of the situation again instead of waiting on God. So, every time these thoughts would come to mind, I'd try to remember to pray. Each time, God brought one of the following 3 verses to my mind:

"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord.

'As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"

-Isaiah 55: 8-9

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord,

'plans to prosper you & not to harm you,

plans to give you hope & a future.'"

-Jeremiah 29:11

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,

by prayer & petition, with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,

will guard your hearts & your minds in Christ Jesus."

-Philippians 4:4-7

These promises would calm me down again. I ended up not calling that hospital on the trip. When I went back to work after my little trip, one of the night managers came rushing up to my patient's bedside while I was working with him, and she said "I haven't gotten a reply to my email!" I didn't have a clue what she was talking about, and was honestly a little worried that something bad had happened while I was away. I explained that I'd been out of town and that I hadn't yet had time to check my email since getting to work that night. She then explained that they were offering me a position to stay permanently, but they needed to know my answer ASAP since there's a list of people waiting to get hired there.

Talk about an answer to prayers! I'm sure (if you've been reading my blog over the past year) you're wondering why I'm not heading back to the east coast. It is what I've been planning and looking forward to for a while now. But, the more I thought & prayed about it, the more I realized that it's not where God wants me . . . at least right now. I'll just have to take little vacations out there so I can return to my favorite beaches! =) I'm excited because I've made some great friends at work here, and I think that God may use me to witness to some of my coworkers here. That would be awesome! Not to mention the fact that now I won't have to sit through another rah-rah-sis-boom-bah orientation week or two, and I won't have to learn another hospital's way of doing things. BOTH a bonus in my thinking! So, to say the obvious, I'm staying here in Fort Worth permanently. (or at least that's the plan right now) :) I'm actually more & more excited about this with each new day. No, it's not a perfect hospital & NICU. But, as I've learned over the past couple of years, that does NOT exist. I've been here long enough for the rose colored glasses to be removed, and I am still more than happy to stay.

Another bonus is that I'll be close to family & friends . . . something I've missed while traveling. Also, I get to stay at my church here. I'm so looking forward to getting involved in a ministry there! I'm not saying that the change back to "staff" from "contract" isn't scary & a bit intimidating at times. But, it's really what I feel I should be doing. So, with all that said, I'm off on an apartment hunt today. The whole lizard incident last December, along with a few other issues, has made me want a new apartment.

Well, that pretty much sums up my life for the past month. I'm going to try to be better at updating here this month. I hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend celebrating our Risen Savior!!

Celebration & Renewal

2009-03-08T14:06:00.003-04:00

So, this morning's service was so amazing that I wanted to share it with you. It was unlike any other that I've been to. Today was "Baptism Sunday". Now, growing up, our church didn't just set aside one service for people to be baptised. Then again, we always had a built in baptistery. =) So, this morning, the entire service was a celebration of people who have chosen Jesus to lead their lives and wanted to make it public.

I go to a Bible church near here. In case you've never visited one, these churches (at least the one's I've visited) are based on the church in Acts. Meaning that a huge emphasis is placed on small community groups that meet during the week and then with other groups on Sunday for corporate worship. (this will be important later) They often have several pastors with one 'senior pastor', and they have an elder board to minister to both the congregation as well as to the pastors. This particular church has 'area pastors'. These men are pastors to specific areas in the community and all the small groups in that area. All this to say, your community/small groups become like a family.

For the past several weeks, our senior pastor has been preaching about ministering to the 'down & out' people of our community. (i.e. the homeless & destitute population) As a community of believers, we've read the book "Same Kind of Different as Me".

Don't worry, I'm not going to give you a book report or even a synopsis. I'm just going to say it's worth the read! I feel like I've had a big change in how I view the world around me. . . my own little renewal. On this note, please pray with me to know God's will about someone who I'll call "B-man". It's exciting to see God at work in a new way like I have over the past few weeks!

Back to this morning ...

After a time of worship, we watched a video of the people being baptised telling about their salvation experience. It was so personal - like family - getting to hear the background story. As the different people went into the water, the members of their family/community groups went up to the stage to be a part of this exciting day. There were cheers & tears of joy everywhere in the auditorium. What a blessing to get to be a part of this celebration Sunday. I don't feel like I'm able to adequately describe this morning, but it's the type of celebration I imagine the angels have each time someone accepts Christ - or at least as close as we can get to that as humans.

God is doing amazing things in this area!!

Thankful Thursday

2009-03-05T11:14:00.002-05:00

I'm thankful for COFFEE!!!!
I'm thankful for forgiveness: given & received.
I'm thankful for the moments when medical experts sit dumbfounded by a miracle only God could have given.
I'm thankful for tulips - short lived but beautiful! (Well worth the wait each year!)
I'm thankful for spring - reminder of fresh beginnings.
I'm thankful for my fun scrapbooking toys . . . hours of fun!
I'm thankful for music. I always have a song in my heart & head.
I'm thankful for my "smiley" Roony. =)
I'm thankful for getting to see "Sam" turn 4 - relatively healthy - after so many days thinking he wouldn't make it through my 12 hour shift.
I'm thankful for jammy days!!!!

I hope you have a wonderful and 'thanks-ful' Thursday!!

Boys of Summer

2009-03-05T00:10:00.002-05:00

I love baseball! With each spring comes the joy of baseball games and the hopes that one of our Texas teams (preferable the Astros, but either would be awesome!!) will do something exciting! =) After I woke up this evening (that's right . . . I actually slept today! YAY!!), I was flipping through the channels and came across a spring training game between the Cubs & the White Sox. It's my 1st game to see in 2009, and I've already gotten to see a triple! (my favorite & in my opinion, the MOST exciting play of baseball!!) Good times.

People have asked me why I like baseball so much, and really, it's not to just see the players - although I definitely have my favorites! :~) I love to see the teamwork. For example, when an outfielder is eyeing a ball to catch, the other players around him come around him in support: either to high five him for a good catch & throw back or to catch the ball if he misses. When players are crossing home plate, their teammates are standing there to cheer for them. And, if the other team's pitcher hits one of your teammates with the baseball on purpose, you can pretty much rest assured that your team's pitcher is going to return the favor the next time he's on the mound. (NOT that I'm supporting bad sportsmanship, but I do support the camaraderie!)

It reminds me of working in the NICU. Maybe a stretch to everyone else, but it fits perfectly in my mind. For example, when your patient suddenly starts crashing, people seem to come out of the woodwork to help & give support. When all is said & done, those people are there to help get your patient settled again after the excitement; or, they are there for support & to help after "the ball wasn't caught". Another interesting thing (possibly weird to some) is that each thing you learn to do to the babies (i.e. assess for different problems in the babies, insert tubes or IV's, etc.) is exciting to the person learning. I honestly remember most of my firsts at work . . . first IV, first good catch that prevented something bad from happening to the baby, first mistake, first baby going to surgery, first baby under 1kg, first code, first death . . . I could go on. As someone who is certainly NOT an expert in the field but who has been privileged to have many different experiences, it's so exciting to see the new nursing school graduates entering into the world of NICU having their firsts. It's even more fun to help them with whatever the task is and get to celebrate/sympathize with them. I realize this sounds morbid to most people, but there's a certain bond between people that go through stressful situations together. It's unlike any other. Which leads me to the camaraderie comparison between baseball & nursing. For the most part, NICU nurses want to work with babies (the smaller the better!) and not much else. We are often very similar in our personalities. So, when we get sent to work in another unit, it's so nice to see someone from the NICU coming to say hi & check on you during that 12 hours in a foreign land. .

So, sitting here enjoying this game (which is turning out to be a pretty close game) and thinking way TOO much for 11:30PM :), some random thoughts have come to mind:

I'm not a fan of the sidewinder or submarine delivery pitcher. I think it just looks jerky & sloppy.
Sports commentators should stick to just that - sports. Now I'm the first to admit I'm not a fashionable person! If it's comfortable, I'll most likely buy it in multiple colors!! :) But, when these guys are announcing pitches and then throw in a comment about someone's new hairstyle, different shave, different way of wearing their pants, it's just amusing (and a bit disturbing!!).
Speaking of fashion, I wish they'd have the players wear their pants the same way. I honestly don't have a preference: ending at the knees with the color coordinated knee socks or at the ankles with no socks showing. It really doesn't matter, but I wish they would all match!!!! I'm a fan of symmetry, and the different pant lengths are disturbing to this OCD fan! :)
The "new" catchers' masks. Admittedly, I'm a traditionalist - not too surprising since I went to A&M! :) And, I've heard the arguments about how the new hockey mask like catchers' masks (does that even make sense?!?) are safer and easier to use, but I'm just not a fan. I like the old school version where they can remove the front mask part and leave the "baseball cap" part on while chasing a pop up.
I appreciate the guys that run full speed out of the batters' box no matter what. I like that sold out approach. Biggio, when he played for the 'stros, was like that. Even when everyone in the ballpark knew that it would be caught, he went full speed ahead towards 1st base. I like that kind of commitment.
As mentioned earlier, a triple is the most exciting thing for me to see in a baseball game. Sure, I enjoy seeing home runs and pretty swings, but the excitement of someone racing around 270 feet as fast as he can while someone else has gotten the ball and is throwing it to the third baseman is just too much fun!
I'm sad that some of the players decided to ruin it by abusing steroids.
I do not think the players should be paid millions of dollars for a God given talent when America's teachers (helping to form our future leaders) are typically on such a low pay scale. Our priorities have gotten off.
My love for baseball comes honestly . . . I grew up watching it with my grandparents (baseball & Wheel of Fortune - another favorite) when I'd spend time at their houses.
Aggie baseball games are by far the most fun baseball games in the world!!!! If you haven't been yet, you've missed out and should remedy this ASAP. =)
I have a signed baseball from my FAVORITE player sitting on a shelf by his baseball card. He wasn't the best by baseball standards, but he was by far the best in my little world!

Week of Music

2009-02-24T04:32:00.004-05:00

This past week was highlighted with musical events! Last Monday, I got to meet up with my cousin & his family for supper. It's always so much fun visiting with them! :~) While playing with my hair after we'd finished eating, Jenna (the 6 yr old) told me about her performance the next night at the PTA meeting for her school. Then, she told me I could come cheer for/watch her if I wanted to. (How could I say no to that?!?) Thankfully, I was off Tuesday night, so I headed east to see the show. I must admit, I was amazed (& brought to tears a couple times) at the talent these kiddos displayed! Her elementary school - a public school - teaches '6 pillars of character' to the children. How wonderful that they are learning how to live lives of character at such a young age!! Another impressive program at this school is the stringed instrument lessons for each student. Community members have either donated money or donated a stringed instrument to the school . . . enough so that each student in the school gets to learn how to play during the school day. Being a music lover, this touched my heart! The program was about America's "living history". So, the kids told of different influential people from our history throughout the program. It was really entertaining! I forgot to ask her mom if I could post a picture, so I won't. But, suffice it to say she was adorable up there singing her heart out! =) The show/PTA meeting ended with the coach getting several pies in the face - a reward to the kids who sold the most cookie dough last semester. Good times! As my cousin so aptly stated as we left the school - "Anything that ends with someone getting a pie to the face is a good time!" We decided that this should be the conclusion to many more activities in life!

Saturday night, I met up with a friend of mine from Galveston & a couple of her friends to go to the opera. We went to see La Boheme at Fair Park in Dallas, but we actually missed the first half of the opera because of traffic. We sat on MLK Blvd. in downtown Dallas (not the safest place in the area for a car full of girls) for close to an hour trying to get into the gate. As we looked around at the people in the cars sitting beside us, we started noticing that many of the people weren't the opera type. (I know - wrong to judge a book by the cover.) At one point, the girl driving us rolled her window down and asked where the carload next to us was going. Turns out, one of the big country stations for the Metroplex was having a Country Mardi Gras at the Cotton Bowl - also at Fair Park for those of you not familiar with Dallas. All the traffic was beginning to make sense. We did finally get inside. Don't get me wrong, I love the opera & the talented musicians! But, as we sat there, I was wondering a few things: 1) How did these people sing about chickens & eggs with a straight face? 2) Would it sound as pretty if they were singing these words in English? 3) Do the people who speak that language find it odd hearing people sing chicken & eggs, or do they think it sounds pretty & elegant like we do? Hmmm . . .

The other day, one of my friends from the hospital I used to work at in Dallas posted pictures of her beautiful tulips blooming. So, I decided that they must be in bloom here at the botanical gardens. After all, Fort Worth is only about 35 minutes west of Plano - not really a big climate difference! Well, much to my dismay, they weren't blooming in Fort Worth, but there were pretty daffodils EVERYWHERE you looked! Go figure. I enjoyed my walk in the garden anyway, though. For me, you pretty much can't go wrong walking among beautiful flowers on a sunny day!

So, you may be wondering what daffodils have to do with music. Well, they're forever connected in my little mind thanks to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (the good version with Gene Wilder). After the 5 golden tickets have been redeemed, the kids have signed the contract, and everyone has piled into that little elevator, Wonka opens the door to the magical candy field with the chocolate river. "Everything you see is eatable . . . edible!" (Yes, I know it's scary that I know the movie so well!) =) Moving on - As Wonka is singing about this paradise, he sits down and plucks a daffodil off of its stem. He then proceeds to remove the cup part of the flower from the saucer part and drinks from it. I've always imagined it to be some super sweet juice. Anyways, when I see a daffodil, that song immediately comes to my mind & gets stuck. It's still playing in my head . . . hours later. :)

The 'tulip trees' were also in full bloom. I'm almost positive they aren't really called that, but the blooms remind me a little of tulips, so that's what I call them. :) I love that the blooms are different colors on the inside from what they are on the outside. The contrast is amazing!

Undaunted by the lack of tulips in the gardens, I decided to pick some up at the grocery store on my way home. I was determined to enjoy some tulips this week! If I were a flower, I'm pretty sure I'd be a tulip. I always forget how bulky they are at the base, so the two bundles I got took up two vases. NOT a problem, though. I'll just get to enjoy them in my bedroom and my living room! Good times!!

Have a great week!

Farewell Faithful Friend . . . For Now

2009-02-21T16:40:00.003-05:00

Yes, that's a picture of my trash. :-) I'm mourning the end of my Starbuck's Christmas Blend coffee streak. This elixir of life has once again served me well as I struggle to stay out of a coma with my crazy hours. I always stock up on this particular flavor during the brief time that it's sold. I frequently ask them to sell it year round for those of us who are more addicted to it than the normal stuff - to no avail as of yet. But, as anyone who's ever met me can testify, I'm much too stubborn to give up that easily on something so important! =) I've also suggested a "Christmas in July" reprise of this flavor. After all, Christmas is not a date but a state of mind!! I put the last of it into the coffee grinder the other evening before work, so I only have one, maybe two, cups left until it comes back to the shelves in NINE LONG MONTHS! So, I'm off to savor one of my last cups...

'Special' Moments

2009-02-12T16:47:00.003-05:00

(a.k.a. times you wish you could crawl under a rock for a few minutes & hide.)

I seem to be having more of these lately. Most recently was this morning. Yesterday, after a fun breakfast with my sister & sending her off to the airport to pick up her husband, I decided to take my car in for its "60 Thousand Mile Checkup" . . . just a few thousand miles late. (but, better late than never, right?!?) So, off I go. After sitting in the waiting area for a couple of hours, the man I was working with came to find me. At that point, it was going to be at least another 3-4 hours. Then, (my favorite question of the day) he asked if I wanted to wait or if I'd like a loaner car and to pick up mine tomorrow (this) morning. Hmmm . . . not a hard decision! When I checked my car in yesterday morning, he told me that all service comes with a free car wash. YEA!! Roony was filthy (to put it lightly).

This brings me to this morning ...

I went to pick up my baby, and was handed a coupon for a local car wash. No problem. I took my car, stopped for some BOLD coffee, and went to the car wash. Here's the embarrassing part. I was sitting in the waiting area, and the Rachel Ray show was on the TV. No biggy, right? Her shows are typically funny. Well, NOT today's! She'd sponsored a mass wedding for 40 couples in & around Houston whose weddings were postponed due to Hurricane Ike. It was SO sweet! Needless to say, I started tearing up . . . in public. (rolling eyes) I was sitting in the waiting area with some man, and tears started running down my cheeks thinking about how much these people had been through. Thankfully, they finished my car before the show ended, so I could leave before I'd lost all control of my emotions. :~)

Good times . . .

The good news in all of this is that my car is ready for another 30,000 miles, shiny & clean, and still has a little of my NC sand in the back. I'm thinking it's time for some more ROAD TRIPS!!

Just Playing

2009-02-08T20:43:00.006-05:00

As I've mentioned before, I LOVE clocks! The 'tick-tock' sound is so soothing to me for some reason. Knowing this, my Papa Joe told me about a friend of his that is a clock collector & dealer. So, we went out to this friend's house one day the week before last. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! Never in my life have I seen such a diverse & wonderful collection!! They were all antiques and varied in size and shape. Some were American made, but most were from overseas - mostly Europe. He has a shop beside his house where he repairs and sells the clocks, but his personal collection is inside his house. He graciously allowed me & Papa Joe in to see these masterpieces. WOW! So pretty! I had planned on buying one from him . . . having no idea what the average price was. (again . . . WOW) I found one in his shop that he was going to give me an amazing deal on, but I just can't spend that type of money right now. Someday!

While I was visiting in Canton, we went to 1st Monday. I always try to make it out of there without spending money, but I haven't reached that goal yet. It never seems to fail - I see something I need, and the downward spiral starts. =) It's almost as bad as Target! And just for the record, I am a LOYAL TARGET SHOPPER, but the "One Spot" is deceptive!! Granted, most everything in it is $1, but let's be real - who can get out of there spending only $1?!? I get caught up there and finally make my way out 10-15 minutes and $10-20 later. But I digress . . . We had a great time visiting, and the Canton trip was a success in at least one respect - I did not buy a dog!! They have this section called "DOG ALLEY" (very dangerous!) where they allow breeders to come with all the adorable little creatures. Before we entered, I told my Papa Joe that I was under NO circumstances allowed to buy a dog that day!! Thankfully, he held me to that deal, and I left Canton later that evening without a dog. :~)

So, then I worked a few more days so I could have more play time!

This past Tuesday was a great day! I went over to some friends' house to hang out most of the afternoon. (Their little boys are two of my 'nephews'.) She was keeping a friends' 6 month old, so she invited me to come play with the baby, too! What fun! She was laughing and 'talking' and sitting up and smiling - none of which my babies at work can do. What a great way to spend the afternoon! Her husband asked about my choice of "day off of work activities" that night a supper. "You spend your days off playing with babies?!?" Well, yes I do. Only it's a different kind of play. I love what I do at work, but it's so much fun to have some play time with babies that respond. =) After the little girl's mom picked her up, we all (two kiddos, my friend, and I) settled down for calm time in front of "Snow White". Her youngest crawled up in my lap and we had snuggle time during the movie. Priceless times!

Then, I worked a few more days. . .

Yesterday, I met up with a friend of mine for lunch. I was thinking about it today, and we've been friends since we were 5 years old! Now, I'm not going to say how old we are, but suffice it to say we've stayed friends for a LONG TIME. It is such a blessing to have friends like that - where we just pick up where we left off the last time. Honestly, I'm blessed to have a few of these friends, and I can't imagine my life without each of them. God has blessed me greatly! After lunch, she had to get back home, so I went "comfort shopping" (lots of bad news this past week - but that's a story for another time). I found a new shopping center on the north side of Fort Worth . . . shopping and exploring! Good times. After getting some fun new shirts and my bonus (Clinique shoppers - it's bonus days at Belk's!), I headed home. It was such a gorgeous day, I hated to go lock myself in my apartment to finish cleaning it, so I stopped at the Botanical Gardens to walk around. I'd never gone to the Japanese Gardens there, but I went yesterday. It was kinda strange to see so much lush greenery in February. =) Here are a few pictures. . .

See what I mean about all the green?!? Beautiful - even in winter! (Well, the Texas Winter at least!) :~) So, after walking around for a little while, I found a bench and decided to play with my new camera a little bit. Now, I'm not a complete believer in the thought that "reading instructions is only for the weak", but I do adopt this belief partially. For example, when I got my new camera at Christmas, I did read some of the owner's manual to find out what the different letters and knobs/buttons/dials meant. But, beyond that, I like to adopt the "learn by doing" principle. Usually not the most efficient way to learn something, and I often can't remember what I did to get the cool feature, but it's definitely more fun!! Yesterday, I learned about the manual focus and the black & white features of the camera. Good times! I think I ended up taking about 15 pictures of the same pagoda (or whatever they're called) before I got things figured out, but I was having fun. I think black & white pictures are beautiful, so I was so excited to figure out how to use this feature!

Well, I guess that pretty much catches you up on my life over the past couple of weeks. I hope you have a terrific day!

Some things just don't mix

2009-01-28T20:49:00.003-05:00

For example . . . winter weather & Texas driving! :) Tuesday morning, as the 'terrible winter weather' was approaching, I was trying to get home. Now, to be perfectly fair, there was sleet/ice on the roads about 30-45 miles north of here as I was leaving work. Fort Worth, however, was just getting some really cold rain. This didn't hinder people from driving 20 miles below the speed limit, though. How happy did that make me?!? :) So, yesterday evening, thinking it would be bad outside, I left for work early. It really wasn't bad until the middle of the night, which made my evening commute easy. The fear started to set in at about 2 or 3 this morning when most of the day shift workers were calling in 'sick' or 'bad weather'. :) One of the drawbacks of my job is that we can't just leave . . . someone has to be there when I leave or else bad things happen. (to put it lightly) So, needless to say, I was overjoyed when my replacement showed up close to on time!! The drive home wasn't too bad, and because of the late caffeine shot (thinking I was going to be at the hospital for a while), I had plenty of energy when I got home. :) I walked around outside to get some pictures of the pretty white ice . . . looks a lot like snow, but it's very slippery.

You can't see it very well, but there's steam coming up from the water fountain. It was really cold this morning!!!! :) I hope you're warm & safe wherever you are!

"Shoot me a Waco!"

2009-01-16T21:35:00.011-05:00

Long overdue, but I finally went on an exploration/road trip today. Hard to believe, but I haven't really gone exploring outside of Fort Worth proper since moving here. Several years ago, my sister went with a friend to the Dr Pepper bottling plant in Dublin, TX. For those of you who aren't Dr Pepper fans or experts, this is the oldest bottling plant in the world and it's the only one that still uses pure cane sugar instead of the corn syrup that the corporate bottling companies use. Ever since she told me about it, I've wanted to go, and today I did! :) Turns out, it's only a couple hours from my apartment - no big deal for me!

Dublin . . . The Irish Capital of Texas . . . is also home to this Dr Pepper heaven. I wasn't sure exactly where I was going (other than the city name), but it wasn't really a problem. Dr Pepper

was located on the corner of main street. YEA!!

Unfortunately, they weren't actually bottling the sweet nectar today, but I did get to take the tour. By the way, if you're thinking about taking the tour:

it's VERY inexpensive!
free parking
free Dr Pepper with your tour
they only bottle drinks on a couple of Wednesdays each month . . . call ahead!!

This is Kenny, our tour guide, explaining part of the bottling process. :) I didn't realize it, but Dr Pepper was created in a pharmacy in Waco. The inventor combined 23 flavors of soda to make this little piece of heaven. At the time, you could only get it in his drug store, and to order it, you said "Shoot me a Waco!" He had it on tap, so you could only get it in a glass, and had to finish it in his store . . . no 'to go cups'. (a little paranoid? . . . maybe!) :) So, long story short, the next generation started bottling it in Dublin, it went corporate, went to the corn syrup recipe, and is now available all over the country.

After touring the bottling factory, we went into the Dr Pepper Museum. No pictures are allowed in that part, but it does have some fun Dr Pepper memorabilia! Especially the last room of the tour . . . HUNDREDS of Dr Pepper clocks!!!! Needless to say, this was my favorite part of the tour. :~)

Then, it was time for the after tour fun . . . lunch! And yes, I did have some real food, but the real reason for eating there is their floats. . . Dr Pepper (with sugar cane) and Blue Bell ice cream . . . does it get any better?!?!?!? Talk about a SUGAR RUSH!!!! happiness :) After lunch, I walked around Dublin for a little while. Another little fun fact, the 2nd week of June each year, Dublin officially becomes 'Dr Pepper, TX'. They actually switch out the city limit signs. On the bottling company's birthday (or close to it . . . the 2nd Saturday of June), they throw a big party. Apparently thousands of people come to celebrate . . . and possibly for the free Dr Pepper! Good times. Gotta make sure I'm free (& in Texas) for that weekend!!!!

On my way back home, I decided to stop at a few of the interesting places I'd seen along the way. The first stop was at a family farm where they make their own cheeses. (And no, I don't have a clue on how to pronounce that name.) :) The woman in the shop was a fellow Aggie, so we visited for a little while. It still amazes me how just seeing someones ring can create an instant bond. . . but I digress. She showed me around where the cheese is actually made and explained the process. I had no idea that you could "make different cheeses". The man who actually makes the cheese at this dairy has created some different flavors of cheese. Now I'm the first to admit that my palate isn't good at distinguishing different ingredients in foods, but I tried a couple of his cheeses. I really liked the 'Texas Star' cheese. So much so that I brought some home and had it with dinner! :)

After we finished talking, I hopped back in my car . . . on to Stephenville. This is the home of Tarleton State University - my dad's alma mater.

Stephenville is a nice size city, with a beautiful town square. The courthouse is amazing! And, to top it off, 'Moolah' (a statue of a cow made from what appears to be fiberglass ) is right in front of said courthouse. My dad said that it's been there as long as he can remember. hmmm Sadly, I didn't get it in any of my pictures.

The final stop on my journey today was at a winery in Dale Bluff. I really enjoy visiting small, family owned shops!! The lady at the counter told me about their vineyard and the different special activities at the restaurant.

The coolest part is that they have picnic tables all around the vineyards. She said that people often bring a picnic there. They obviously serve food there if you don't want to pack your own, but picnics are always fun! :) She said that the vines would be in full bloom by April, so I'm thinking there will definitely need to be a return trip for that . . .

So, I'm finally back home after a very long and very fun day. I hope you enjoyed the 'mini-tour' of Midwest Texas. :~)

Have you ever . . .?

2009-01-15T22:24:00.004-05:00

I copied this from a friend's blog. The thing said to bold ones that applied.

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars (in a tent)
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby's diaper (too many to count!)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said "I love you" and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold shower
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Survived a Hurricane
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don't
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
70. Found out something significant about your ancestors
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name (tried once, but it didn't last) :)
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep . . . HAPPY moments! :)
105. Dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all four
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people (at least I hope so!)
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe
113. Buried a child (none of mine, but lost several that I cared for)
114. Gone to a Broadway play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt (not by myself)
129. Lived in a historic place
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage

131. Asked for a raise

132. Made a hole-in-one

133. Gone deep sea fishing

134. Gone roller skating

135. Ran a marathon

136. Learned to surf

137. Invented something

138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunch box (LOVED Holly Hobby!!!!)
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hotel
184. Been a cashier (my dream job as a kid . . . until they invented the scanners)
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a camp fire
189. Kept a blog (um . . . yeah)
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
198. Built your own PC from parts
199. Written your own role playing game
200. Been arrested

Happier Thoughts

2009-01-07T20:40:00.004-05:00

Last night . . . NOT the best night at work. BOO on mean people!! So, after a couple of hours of sleep today, I decided to go do something fun as a little 'self-reward'. :-) I went to walk around downtown Fort Worth, AND they still had some Christmas decorations up!! BONUS!! :)

Can you believe it's 2009?!?

2009-01-05T18:51:00.008-05:00

I can't! In some ways, 2008 went so quickly it seems like just a blur. In other ways, I was ready to say 'Adios, 2008!!' . . . time to move on! :-) I hope you had a spectacular Christmas and were able to spend some quality time with the people you love. I had a wonderful and relaxing week off between Christmas and New Year's Day.

Since I worked the nights leading up to Christmas Day, I didn't get to enjoy Christmas Eve celebrations with my mom's half of the family. But, my sweet parents came to my apartment to stay Christmas Eve night so I wouldn't have to come home to an empty house Christmas morning. It was SO FUN to walk in and see my tree all lit up! (it's the little things in life that make it wonderful!) :-) So, after I cleaned up from work . . . no one wants to baste in hospital funk for too long! . . . we had a yummy breakfast, I packed for the upcoming week away from Cowtown, and we headed out to my Papa Joe's house for the big Christmas lunch. To be perfectly honest, most everyone was dreading this day in one way or another as it was our first Christmas without our First Lady of Christmas (Mema). It's just not the same without her, and missing her threatened to dampen our joy that day. But, God's grace came through, as always (2 Corinthians 12:9), and allowed everyone to have a good day visiting with each other and catching up on life happenings. Most excitingly . . . we'll have a new baby to cuddle next Christmas!!!! My cousin & his wife announced that they are expecting the arrival of the next member of their family some time in September! Just another way to remind us that life continues even in times of loss and sorrow. I'm SO excited for them!!

We left there to go to my parent's house around 3 or 4 that afternoon. I'd hit the 'awake for 24 hours' coma, so we left. :) I crashed pretty much as soon as we got home! The next morning, dad & I made a big breakfast for everyone. Then, it was Santa time!! Amy & Ronnie were able to be with us again that day, and she was feeling pretty well that morning - another little Christmas gift from God. After exchanging gifts, they headed to Houston to spend some time with his family, and my parents & I headed to Target. :) Yep, we were some of the insane that ventured to a store on the day after Christmas. Originally, we were just going to Lowe's to get some last minute supplies so we could start on the deck. Then, I decided that since we were out, we might as well go by Target! (shocking, I know!!) Other than the fact that I just like to shop there, I'd gotten money for Christmas so that I could buy a new camera . . . which just happened to be on sale at Target. (a third Christmas miracle?!?) :~) So, I picked up the camera that I'd been wanting, we went to Lowe's, and then the project began!

Dad with the post hole digger

Mom with some measuring/straight edge tool

The pictures are dark because I forgot to adjust the flash - fun times learning a new camera!! :) My dad dug the holes for the deck frame posts, and mom & I were the 'tool & wood getters' . . . which basically means that we handed dad the things he needed. I was photographing the action when he wasn't using the noisy tools. When he was, I was off plugging my ears! :)

Saturday was yucky outside, so we worked on some indoor projects my mom wanted finished. Well, we got it started and ran out of time. (Translation: made a bigger mess & left it!) Oh well, it was a good effort. :-) She wanted to pull out the family pictures from days gone by and get some of them hung on the walls. It was fun (& sometimes a bit scary) to see the old pictures. Mostly, we pulled each one out and laughed at the oh so cool hairstyles we each had! Good times!! That evening, we met some 'family' (family by choice as opposed to by blood) for dinner in Lufkin.

Sunday, after church, we went to my Granny's for a fish fry. YUM!! As I've said before, my Papa Art makes the BEST Crappie!! One of my cousins & her husband were unable to make it for the Christmas Eve celebration, too, so we all got together on that Sunday to visit. Monday was a day of shopping for mom and me. NOT that I needed (or planned) to buy anything, but I think I bought more than her that day!! Tuesday, she brought me back to Fort Worth so I could flip back to being a night owl.

New Year's Eve was a fun day. After running a few errands (like buying some black eyed peas for New Years!!), I met a good friend of mine & her two little boys at Build a Bear Workshop. I'm not sure who's idea it was to have small children faced with so many decisions just to get a stuffed animal, but it's entertaining for the adults! First, you have to pick the shell of the animal you want. Then, you pick a heart to go inside. Then, you decide if you want it firm or soft. Then, you decide whether or not to dress your new friend. This decision is often made more by the person holding the money than by the child, but still something for the little mind to consider. Finally, you have to pick out the animal's name to put on the birth certificate. WOW! That's a lot of decisions to make in a short time!! A good time was had by all! :~) After hanging out with them for a few hours, I met my sister at our favorite place - Studio Movie Grill. It's dinner & a movie in one spot! We went to see the new Will Smith movie . . . Seven Pounds. VERY GOOD!! I can't tell you more without giving it away. Suffice it to say, I was mostly lost during the movie up until the last 20 minutes. It hints at what's going on without giving it completely away. We gave it two thumbs . . . AND a BIG TOE up!! (the next to highest ranking on the Poe Sister Movie Scale!) The only drawback to the movie is that it seems to end abruptly. Other than that, it was really good!!

Are you a 'new year resolution person'? Growing up, I was, and then I quit sometime - not really sure when. Most likely it was because I didn't really keep most of them past January. But, I started again two years ago (2006). The difference, though, was that I only set 3 . . . one of which was to actually keep the other two. Is that cheating? :) Also, I REFUSED to put weight loss anywhere near that list!!!! Why set myself up for disappointment?!? Again this year, I sat down to set some goals to strive for in 2009. It's funny how actually writing these down makes them seem more 'real'.

The Sunday after Christmas, the pastor at my parent's church taught about 'making a difference' in 2009 - the inspiration for my 2009 goals. He shared the back story for the following poem that morning:

"It Matters To This One"

As I walked along the seashore

This young boy greeted me.

He was tossing a stranded starfish

Back into the deep blue sea.

I said, Tell me why you bother.

Why you waste your time this way?

There's a million stranded starfish.

Does it matter anyway?

And he said, "It matters to this one.

It deserves a chance to grow.

It matters to this one.

I can't save them all I know.

But it matters to this one,

I'll return it to the sea.

It matters to this one,

And it matters to me."

-Anonymous

So far, it's been a great 2009!! :-) Today, we even had icy weather today - not bad enough to mess up the roads but enough to make ice cycles on the trees & the buggy corral at Target. (one more opportunity to play with my camera!!)

I hope you're having a wonderful first week of 2009!

"Spring" Weather?

2008-12-20T00:21:00.003-05:00

Today . . . TWO days before the official start of Winter . . . we had amazing 'spring' weather! All this after about a week of 30-40 degree weather. Welcome to Texas!! :-) Well, I couldn't stay indoors when it was so nice outside. Yep, you guessed it . . . I went back to the FW Botanic Gardens.

I saw this tree and immediately thought of 'Boo Radley' from To Kill a Mockingbird. I'm not sure why . . . Anyways, that's the bench I picked to sit & read today. What I didn't notice when I sat down was that a rather large bird's nest was on one of the limbs. At one point, I was on the phone, and the bird was SO LOUD that it was a little difficult to hear! I guess I was invading its personal space.

I just love variegated flowers! I think this is a rose, but I honestly don't remember which garden it was in. . . just a pretty flower. :)

If you look closely, you can see water drops on the petals. A lot of the blooms were messed up during the freezes last week, but there were still a few pretty ones.

Lastly, I thought this looked like a Holly Bush . . . Christmas themed plants!! :) I couldn't find the name tag on the trunk, so I'm just going to pretend it really is a holly bush.

On a completely different note -

This is most likely the last post I'll do for a while. I've decided that I spend entirely too much time on the internet. So, I'm going to have an "internet fast" (for lack of a better word) for a while. (Except for checking email occasionally) :) Please pray with me as I use this time to seek God's direction in a couple areas of my life. Thanks!

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas

and a wonderful New Year!!

Randomness . . .

2008-12-17T22:18:00.004-05:00

I think the twinkle lights on my Christmas tree are possessed. When I tested them before putting them on the tree, they all flashed like they were supposed to. Once on the tree, though, only half of the top strand flashed. This is okay, I guess, since it's in the center of the tree - kinda like a belt. :) Well, tonight for about an hour & a half, BOTH halves of that strand were flashing. It's back to 'normal' now. Kinda weird. I'm thinking it might be time for new lights next year.

Possibly the BEST $20 I've spent ALL year:

In case the picture isn't clear, this is my 'bag lady' - two level cart. My parking space isn't close to my apartment, so this little cart carries all my stuff back to my apartment after grocery shopping - a LIFE SAVER after a day of Christmas shopping!!!! :) It folds flat and rides in the back of Roony to all the stores. If you want one, it can be found at the Mother Ship (a.k.a. Target) for about $20.

Why do people walk up to an empty cashier line where the light is off & wait? Are they hoping that someone will just appear and check them out? Why not just get in a line with the light on? I saw this a few times today. . . always good for a little laugh! :~)
Did you also watch the Christmas in Washington special on TV tonight? Who was the man that sang "O Holy Night"? He was fantastic!! I have always loved a good baritone. It brought tears to my eyes listening to him perform one of my favorite Christmas carols!
I couldn't find a Nativity at Wal Mart today. Do they not sell them there anymore? I walked every isle in the Christmas Shop twice looking for one.
Best buy of the day . . . I got FOUR Christmas CD's today for $25!!!! They were all on sale (one even for $1). WooHoo!! :-)
I miss the college Christmas breaks - a whole month of freedom to play! Aside from the "studying" and tests, it's a pretty good deal.
I love all the Christmas specials on TV!! Last night, I got to be home and watch A Charlie Brown Christmas. . . happiness!!
Even with psycho twinkle lights, Christmas trees look so much better with gifts under them!
The other half of that strand of lights is now flashing again . . . (-:

Intruder Alert!

2008-12-09T12:25:00.012-05:00

Monday was quite a day around here. Knowing I had a lot to get done, I was up early (well, early for someone who just finished a stretch of night shifts). :) As I was getting ready to leave, the maintenance man for the apartments knocked on my door.

A little background:

My heater stopped working sometime last week. Since I'm not at home several nights during the week, this wasn't a huge problem. It doesn't get that cold during the day here very often, and when it does, it just makes me sleep better. All this to say, I didn't report it as soon as I realized why my apartment was so cold each morning when I got home from work. (and yes, it took a couple of days to figure this out since I'm often one small step above comatose when getting home from work) Not wanting to be bothered while trying to sleep, I just decided to tough it out until I had a couple of days off where I could be awake during daylight hours to let the maintenance man in. So, I reported the problem Sunday, and the wonderful maintenance man showed up first thing Monday morning.

Although very grateful that he was able to fix the problem in about 45 minutes, it did set me back a little getting on the road. I did eventually leave, and went to my first destination . . . Sam. (this is the little boy - now 4 years old!!!! - who I took care of for about 10 months in the hospital) Well, his birthday was about a week ago, and I hadn't had a chance to give him his present. Since I'm still having some residual symptoms from being sick a week or so ago, I didn't want to stay around him for fear that I might make him sick. So, this was a very short visit - just enough to see him open his present & visit with his foster mom for a little while. :) It was wonderful to see them again . . . he looked so good!!!!

From there, I went to another friend's house to help set up for a cookie party. We had a great time visiting. One of our friends that came to the cookie party was a former roommate from A&M whom I hadn't seen since leaving there years ago. We had so much fun catching up! :) I didn't get any pictures at the party, but Melissa did, so I'm sure she'll post them sometime... (hint, hint) ;)

After everyone left, we cleaned up a little and then I headed home. I was visiting on the phone with one of my friends in Virginia on my way home (another roommate from A&M who is having her 3rd baby tomorrow!!) and started craving some Freebirds - a favorite restaurant from Aggieland. So, I turned in to grab some dinner before getting home. I guess God knew I'd need some extra strength for what I was going to face when arriving home . . .

I had an intruder in my bathroom!

This picture was taken this morning after the 13 hour battle had ended. In case you can't tell, it's a lizard lying upside down in a pool of Raid.

So, back to last night . . .

I walked into my bathroom and noticed something strange looking on the side of my tub. After a double take, I realized it was a lizard!!!! GROSS!!!!!!!! (I'm guessing it got in while the maintenance man had the ceiling opened to fix the heater.) Now, I am terrified (I'm not sure if that's a strong enough word for how I feel about them!) of lizards, so this was NOT a happy realization. After standing there paralyzed in fear for a minute or two, I started griping at God for letting me living alone or for me not having a little boy who would think this is cool & want to catch it for me to throw it outside. (irrational thoughts, yes, but I wasn't thinking clearly!) So, I shut the door, ran to the kitchen, and grabbed the only thing I could think of:

My original Weapon of Mass Destruction

Granted, this can does not claim to have the power to kill lizards of any kind, but it was my only hope at this point. And, having used lavender linen spray to kill (or at least stun until I worked up the nerve to smash) smaller bugs in the past, I figured it was my best bet when faced with the massive reptile! :) So, Raid in hand, I called my dad for support/suggestions. With him unavailable, I called my sister to see if her husband had any great wisdom. The picture that kept coming to mind as I looked at this intruder on the side of my tub was from that old movie Jurassic Park. It's the scene where "Newman" (from Seinfeld) is face to face with the innocent looking small lizard when it suddenly blows up into this huge, venom spitting creature. (again, irrational thoughts, I know) :) For this reason, I was too scared to get close to this creature! So, on the phone with my sister for emotional support, I stood in one corner of my bathroom and sprayed with all my might at the lizard. Unfortunately, not only did this not instantly kill the intruder, it still had enough strength to run & hide from me!

Now, not only was there a live lizard in my bathroom, but I didn't know where it was. Talk about fear growing exponentially with the unknown factor thrown into the mix! At this point, I needed to just get out of there, so I created Lake Raid in the floor of my bathroom, stuffed a towel under the door and closed it. I then logged onto the internet to look up the effects of Raid on lizards. Come to find out, others have used Raid to kill these intruders in the past, which not only made me feel better about my weapon of choice, but it gave me hope that mine was in there dying - albeit slowly.

I asked a couple more friends what I should do, to which one said, "trap it with a bowl or cup and throw it outside." Well, I'm NOT GOING TO GET THAT CLOSE. Next . . . Another friend suggested that I hit it with a broom. Why hadn't I thought of that?!? (again, not thinking clearly last night!) So, out comes my next WMD:

The stabber/smasher (a.k.a. a Swiffer Sweeper)

After building my courage back up (which took more at this point after reading online that lizards could climb walls, walk on the ceiling, and fall on my head!!!! - sometimes the internet is NOT helpful!), I entered the bathroom - checking the walls and ceiling before each step - with Raid in my left hand and the Swiffer in my right. No luck. The intruder was no where to be found. . . not that I was down on the floor really searching. I was "bravely" standing just inside the bathroom straining to see around (& yes, through) objects in the hopes that it would appear. :) Out of luck and courage at this point, I grabbed what I needed for the night and "locked up" my bathroom - after adding a little more volume to Lake Raid.

After a fitful night of sleep, I awoke with a new found determination to NOT let this intruder best me. After all, I'm a human and it's a reptile. I should be able to outsmart it!! :) Armed with my faithful WMD's, I entered the now "country fresh" scented room (thanks to Lake Raid). Again, no luck seeing the intruder. So, my next plan was to just start spraying the floor randomly in the hopes that I'd hit it. Well, I did! Only it seemed to make it come withing mere inches of my left foot. Well, that was enough for me! I quickly backed out of the room, spraying as I moved, and shut the door. After getting my heart rate back to it's baseline (about 5 minutes of deep breathing) :), I decided to be brave one more time. . .

I entered the room, having added one more WMD:

Object mover/lifter (a.k.a. kitchen tongs)

This time, quoting Philippians 4:13 in my head, I entered the room ready to end this ordeal. Thankfully, I saw it running in a circle behind the toilet. I'm thinking it was high on Raid at this point - or maybe I was! :) I just started spraying at it. It ran to the corner between the toilet and tub. To this, I responded with a solid spray around it - thereby "trapping it" by a "moat of Raid". Again, I left the room for a couple of minutes. When I came back in, I saw it lying upside down in the same corner where I had just left it. Not wanting to celebrate too soon and have it spontaneously come back to life to attack me, I stood there and sprayed some more Raid on it. NO CHANGE!! :) Needless to say, I was elated at this point!

Now, to get rid of it. My original plan, before I picked up WMD #1 last night, was to kill it, let rigor set in, and scoop it up with the "intruder remover":

My WMD #4 (a.k.a. fly swatter)

Well, after this epic battle that had lasted 13 hours, I wasn't about to sit and wait for rigor to set in - or to give it the chance to come back to life while still in my bathroom. I was ready to have full access to my entire apartment again. Armed with WMD's #1, #2, & #4, I entered the bathroom. First, I used the Swiffer to smash it a few times just to make sure it was at least stunned enough to not come alive. Then, I started the trick of "scooping it up" onto the swatter. Honestly, this was NOT an easy task with the limp, Raid saturated lizard!! But, it was doable. I quickly deposited my late intruder into its final resting place:

(a.k.a. toilet) :)

After flushing a few times to make sure it was gone, the clean up began. It took a little work to clean up Lake Raid and the "moat of Raid", but it's done now. I'm hoping the -what is now probably permanent - smell of Raid will ward off any future intruders of any kind! :)

So, as a reward for the Victor (me), I got a yummy breakfast AND was able to eat in peace knowing that I had won over the intruder that had held me hostage for 13 hours! YAY!!!! :)

So, to answer the age old question of "Will Raid kill a lizard?" . . . YES, it will!!!!

I hope you also had a good/adventurous Monday. Now, on to the rest of the week! :)

Coincidence?

2008-12-04T15:44:00.002-05:00

I was just reading one of the blogs that I frequent, and I noticed that she had put a new "button" on the side that simply said choose joy. And, NO, I don't really believe seeing this is just a coincidence. I love how God uses "strangers" (I hate to use that word since I feel like I know her and am proud to be a Sunday!) to drive home a point to this stubborn girl! I followed the link to someone else's blog to read about her journey of choosing joy. Her definition of joy is great! (You can read it if you would like by clicking on my new button to the right.) Have a wonderful weekend, and remember . . .

only 20 more days 'til Christmas!! :)

"Attitude"

2008-12-03T02:03:00.002-05:00

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. It
is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances,
than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.
It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or
break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a
choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We
cannot change our past, we cannot change the fact that people act a certain
way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is
play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced
that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it
is with you . . . We are in charge of our attitude."

- Chuck Swindoll

I was given a copy of this quote in Sunday School a few weeks ago, and it's been on my mind ever since. So, I thought I'd share it. It's such a basic concept, yet it's so hard to put into practice some days! (at least for me) This quote has literally consumed my thoughts recently - which is not necessarily a bad thing. This isn't the first time I've heard about this concept, but it seems to have hit close to home this time with some of the stuff going on in my life right now. It makes me wonder why I don't choose joy more often. I'm striving to wake up each morning (or evening . . . depending on when I'm working) :) and decide to have JOY that day - no matter what. The main scripture that the teacher referred to that morning was:

"Be joyful always; pray continually;

give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

(emphasis mine)

-1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

East Texas Fall

2008-12-01T22:21:00.004-05:00

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving and were able to spend some quality time with your family! I was scheduled to work the night before & Thanksgiving night, so I missed the big family gathering. But, I made up for it this weekend by seeing some of the family. :~)

Saturday morning I woke up early and headed to Canton . . . Yep, it was the December First Monday Weekend!!!! (which means TONS of Christmas stuff for sale) For those of you who aren't from this area, First Monday Weekend is a HUGE (I'm not sure that word is big enough to describe this) trades day/flea market/antique store/craft show . . . in Canton, TX. Vendors come from all over the 1st weekend of each month to sell stuff. Growing up, my Mema & Papa Joe had a candle dipping booth on the grounds. Back then, it was maybe a tenth of the size that it is now. And, there was NO air conditioning/heating in any of the pavilions. In fact, I don't really remember there being buildings. It was just rows & rows of booths. Well, things have definitely changed - mostly for the better - there! When I got to Canton, I picked up my Papa Joe, and we set out in the 1st of many buildings. We had a great time talking while we shopped for Christmas gifts. At lunch, my uncle & his wife came out, and we all had a nice lunch at one of the local restaurants. Then, it was back to the grounds for the next building! There's NO WAY to get through it all in one day, so we quit around 3 so I could get on the road before it started getting dark.

That evening, I went to my Mamma Granny & Papa Art's house. Papa Art fixed his specialty - crappie (YUMMY) - for supper that night. After we were all stuffed, we decorated their Christmas tree and watched the OSU/OU game (sorry cowboys!). Sunday morning, we had a huge breakfast and went to church. After a quick sandwich for lunch, I hit the road again for my final stop.

My Grandaddy wasn't home for me to visit, so I started back home. Saturday evening, I'd picked up a couple of poinsettias for my Mema & Granny Sue's graves. I stopped by Mema's on Saturday before going to my Granny's. After all, being my Christmas Guru, she needed something Christmas-y there! :) So, Sunday afternoon, I was able to put one on my Granny Sue's and get back home earlier than expected . . . or so I thought.

I'm not sure if you've seen the movie Cars or not, but there's a line in it that makes me laugh every time I hear it. A minivan (can't remember his name) has just gotten a GPS system installed, and he says, "Now we'll NEVER be lost again!" Well, I'm here to tell you that yes, you CAN get lost with a GPS system. As a friend of mine says, you just won't "stay lost" with the GPS. :-) (I'm sure you can guess where this is going.) I forgot which highway I was on as I left the cemetery. Thinking I was on 17, I turned left knowing it would take me to 69. Well, HWY 17 does take you to HWY 69. FM 182, however, does not. Good times. Once my GPS found out where I was (backwoods of East Texas) and where I wanted to go (home in Ft Worth), it planned out a route. If you've ever used one of these devices, you know that they are non-discriminate in the roads they choose. If it's mostly paved, it counts! That's what I got to travel down for about 45 minutes on my way back to HWY 69. Honestly, most of the roads (& I use that term loosely!) were one car width wide WITH 90 degree turns every few hundred yards. Nothing if not exciting to navigate this area of Texas!! The positive out of that (besides getting a good laugh at myself) was the scenery. The trees were beautiful, and being that I was the only person for miles, I could stop along the path whenever I wanted to snap a couple of pictures. :~)

All in all, it was a nice weekend. I hope you're able to take some time over the next few busy weeks to just sit for a little while and absorb all the joy and wonder that the Christmas season brings!

A Few of My Favorites

2008-11-24T16:59:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite pastimes (or a huge distraction sometimes) is looking at pictures. In fact, the screen saver on my computer is a slide show of almost all my pictures from the past two years. Sometimes - as a little 'self challenge' - I try to remember where each picture was taken. Clearly, some are more obvious than others. (i.e. The Capitol or a lighthouse) The real challenge is when it comes to the flowers. I go to gardens pretty much wherever I am living at the time, and I really like to take pictures of the flowers. The same thing happens with the beaches. So this 'game' is just a little something I do some nights when I'm trying to stay on the 'night shift' schedule during my days/nights off. Very few people want me to call at 3AM to chat so I can stay awake. :-)

Since I haven't been able to do much exploring in the Fort Worth area recently, I thought I'd make a few slide shows of my favorite pictures. This is the first installment - Washington, D.C., from my 1st travel assignment in 2006.

Tis the Season!

2008-11-18T18:21:00.001-05:00

Aggie Football

2008-11-17T21:58:00.002-05:00

We went to the A&M/Baylor game on Saturday. WOW . . . how sad!!!! I did find out what's been going on with my team this year, though. For some reason (unknown to most of us!), the coach has decided to bench the seniors and play the freshmen this year. GRRRR!!!! This is wrong on so many levels! Anyways, I'm trying not to dwell on the negative. :-)

One of my cousins is a senior at Baylor this year, and Saturday happened to be senior day. So, she was recognized during halftime. How fun to get to be a part of that!

I haven't been to an Aggie game since my senior (or should I say second senior) year. I'd forgotten how exhausting it can be as a member of the 12th Man! For those of you who've never been to an Aggie Football Game, let me give you a little description: (indoctrinating . . . or brainwashing - however you see it!)

The Aggie fans (a.k.a. the 12th Man) DO NOT sit down during the game except during the other team's half time performance.
The 12th Man's job is to yell, stomp, clap - basically make as much noise as possible - anytime the other team has the ball.
We also do "yells", which are short chants led by the "yell leaders" throughout the game.
Aggies never lose . . . sometimes, we run out of time in the game before we finish scoring.
No matter the score on the scoreboard when the clocks run out, the Aggies ALWAYS WIN the halftime show!!
If our score isn't as high as we'd like when the time runs out, we stick around in the stands for more "yell practice" . . . clearly we didn't yell our team on well enough or our score would have been higher. :-)

These are just a few of the jobs of the 12th Man during each football game - all to cheer on our team. It's really an experience . . . not just a game. Even if you're not a fan of Texas A&M (we can discuss this personally later - I'll try to convert you!) or football, you should experience at least one Aggie Football game in your lifetime!

There's a saying about Texas A&M: "From the outside looking in, you can't understand it. From the inside looking out, you can't explain it." I was reminded of this while sitting with another of my cousins & his wife - neither of which went to A&M. It was fun explaining what was going on during the game with all the people in the stands.

Happy Veteran's Day

2008-11-10T22:50:00.002-05:00

Please pray for our Veterans and our active military!! Here are some of my favorite veterans and some pictures of the different war memorials.

A Little Housekeeping

2008-11-09T22:01:00.002-05:00

You may have noticed that I added a square button to my side bar. It's from this blog . If you click on it, you will be taken to her "7X7" post: seven prayers to pray for your child each day, seven days a week. (That is if I clicked, copied, & pasted everything correctly!) I know I don't have children of my own, but I do have (my "nieces & nephews") children that are very special to me. So, I'm joining in the prayers for them with their parents. I'd encourage you to pray these for the special children in your life. They are our future leaders!

"Train a child in the way he should go,

and when he is old he will not turn from it."

-Proverbs 22:6

Also, I'm not sure why, but some of the "last updated" dates on my friends' blogs aren't staying current. I'm not sure why, so I'm sorry if it says you haven't updated in several weeks when you updated it this morning! :-)

The Baxter Family

2008-11-07T08:26:00.002-05:00

A good friend of mine introduced me to the Baxters back in 2004. I had just started working night shift - NOT an easy adjustment for the natural early bird in me. Needless to say, I was having difficulty staying awake all night . . . hence my strong dependence (a.k.a. addiction) on coffee & all things caffeine!! Jill, one of the respiratory therapists working in the NICU with me, told me I should start reading. It would make the 'down time' during the night shifts go so much faster. Well, I remember just smiling at her & saying "I'm not really a reader." It was the absolute truth. I'd NEVER enjoyed reading.

Growing up, our parents had us make a set of goals for our summer each year. (kinda like new year's resolutions, but made to be accomplished during the ever shortening summer break) These goals would be all encompassing: learning how to sow something new, learning how to cook/bake something new, the ever dreaded scrapbook (wow - how things change with time!!), keeping my room clean (guess some things don't change), and the most dreaded project of all for me . . . reading books from the library (whether from the school's summer reading list or anything with more words than pictures that I was willing to try). I was talking to some girls at work the other night about our summer goals growing up (something I hadn't thought about in a long time), and it has opened up a lot of great memories! :-) But I digress . . .

Back to reading and the more recent past -

As I explained to Jill (& continued complaining about how tired I was - always) that reading bored me and would make me even more tired, she told me about a Christian author that she'd found in her church library while going through a difficult time in her marriage. I know this sounds terrible, but that turned me off the author immediately. First of all, I'd never read a Christian fiction novel that kept my interest past the first chapter. The only books I'd ever read that weren't homework or textbooks were medical mysteries or suspense thrillers. Literally, these books had to be non-stop action to get me past the 1st chapter. Even then, if it got slow in the middle, I could put the book down and never pick it up again - not caring in the least how it ended. Secondly, she said that these books had ministered to her while working through issues in her marriage. Well, this one's probably more obvious - what could that have to do with me?!? I wasn't in a relationship with anyone at the time, much less married. Well, Jill turned out to be as stubborn as me. She brought me the 1st book in the Redemption series by Karen Kingsbury. I remember keeping it for a couple of weeks without even opening it. Every time I saw her, I felt a little guilty - like I was slacking on an assignment. (Remember - at this point in my life, I wasn't too far removed from the school/college mindset.)

Finally, I decided to give it a try, and I've been completely hooked ever since. I think that by the time I started the series, the 1st 3 or 4 books had been published. Well, by the time the 5th (& final) book came to the shelves, I was waiting at the bookstore to buy it! It amazed me how I could relate to the different characters or how they reminded me of people I loved. She really made them come to life. The title of the series, Redemption, really says it all. The books, while telling the story of the Baxter family, are all about God's redeeming love for us all. They tell story after story of His faithfulness even through our continued unfaithfulness & rejection of Him. The characters in the books have failures and real problems, yet God continues to love them and seek them out - just like He continues to do for me.

Towards the end of that series, I began to realize how much I enjoyed reading it, and I realized how excited I was for it to continue in the next series, Firstborn. The same theme of God's redemption carried through this series and the the final series, Sunrise. Sadly, she recently published the final book of the Baxter Saga. Again, I was at the bookstore the day it was released. The difference this time was that I couldn't bring myself to read it for a LONG time. Several of my friends who have started the books over the past couple of years had started & finished the book before I read the first page.

I've never been good at goodbyes. I do realize that these are NOT real people but characters in a fiction series of 14 books. But, over the past 4 years, I've laughed & cried "with them". I've felt the anger and guilt of bad decisions made by the characters in the books - knowing I've done the same or similar things. I've gone through September 11th through their eyes. I've seen characters go to Iraq . . . along the same time that my 'little brother by choice' was going to boot camp & then to Iraq. I've read as characters lost loved ones or miscarried while going through similar situations in my life. I've also watched the healing of an ever faithful and loving God in my life and the lives of people I care about - just as He healed the characters who seem all too real in these books.

All this is to say, I did not want this series to end!! It has been one of the constants in my life during the past two years where not much was constant. I could always pick up the next book, "escape" to Bloomington, Indiana, and spend some quality time with the Baxters. I did finally start (and finish) this last and final addition to the Baxter story. I read it slower than all the rest of them - not wanting to rush. It was a beautiful ending to an amazing love story . . . love between people, but more importantly God's love for us.

Jesus, while on the earth, often taught important lessons through parables. These books, to me at least, have been like modern day parables. Karen Kingsbury is such a talented author. I'm so grateful that she allows herself to be used by God as a storyteller. This morning, through many tears, I finished the story of the John and Elizabeth Baxter Family. In case you haven't gotten the picture yet, I'm highly recommending these books!! I'm forever grateful to Jill for introducing me to the Baxters and the author, Karen Kinsbury.

Seriously?!?

2008-11-06T10:36:00.003-05:00

So, here's my Gripe of the Week . . . Is it really necessary to walk around my apartment with the leaf blower for hours every day of the week?!? It's Thursday, and we've had the leaves blown around four days in a row for 2-3 hours each morning. It is AUTUMN . . . which means that you're NOT going to get all the leaves off the sidewalk today (or this week for that matter). I just wish they'd go away so I could get a little sleep.

By the way, that's not my new home. It's actually a state park in NC I visited a few times while living there. I just thought I'd put a pretty, fall picture up to look at while I vent. :-)

Praying . . .

2008-11-04T01:57:00.002-05:00

We all know what November 4, 2008, is. This beautiful house is about to get a new resident. I've voted, and I hope that you've voted also! More importantly, I hope that you'll join me in praying for our country and our new leaders . . . whoever they may be. Our country needs to turn back to God. The presidency is a high profile job with some definite perks, but it's also a high stress job. Whoever wins the election will need prayer! I'm praying for wisdom for our next president, and for God to be in control of his decisions.

There's another - not as publicized - event taking place this Tuesday & Wednesday. A girl I was friends with my 1st year at A&M was tragically killed in a car accident over the weekend leaving behind her husband and their 2 month old son. Her visitation is Tuesday evening, and the funeral service is Wednesday afternoon. Please pray for her husband, Scott, as he goes through this valley. Please also pray for their entire family as they deal with this loss - especially with the holiday season fast approaching.

"'Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth.'

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress"

-Psalm 46: 10-11

CJ & the 'Secret Garden'

2008-10-28T19:40:00.002-04:00

I'd like to introduce you to 'CJ', my pumpkin. Yeah, I know I'm a wimp for not actually carving a pumpkin. But, I found this Mr. Potato Head pumpkin set at Target a few weeks ago and couldn't resist. In all truth, I wasn't paying attention when I bought it. I honestly thought it was going to be a potato dressed like a pirate for Halloween. Well, after getting home, I looked more closely at the tub, and noticed one very important piece was missing . . . the potato. Then, I realized that even the picture on the outside was of a pumpkin dressed up. Oh well! Reading is highly overrated . . . right? :) Well, this afternoon I was at the grocery store and remembered to pick up a pumpkin. And now, we have 'CJ'. YAY!! And the best part . . . No one was injured or lost an appendage during this decorating project!!

So, when the beach is too far for a day's travel, I resort to the local garden. Fort Worth has a beautiful (and FREE) botanical garden downtown! I found it a couple of weeks ago after leaving work one evening. It was starting to get dark as I walked around that day, and with my proclivity to getting lost, I decided I shouldn't do too much exploring so I wouldn't be trapped inside the gate after closing time. Today, I had some free time after sleeping A LOT, and I went back. It's a beautiful day outside - nice, fall weather and the sun shining brightly. What better day to spend surrounded by some of God's most beautiful creations?!? Most of the flowers were popping with amazing colors! I have been missing the fall colors I got to experience the last few falls on the east coast, so this was nice to see some different fall colors.

Some Cowtown Highlights

2008-10-22T20:03:00.002-04:00

The last two days I've been playing in my new city! In case you haven't noticed by now from reading my blog (or if this is your 1st post to read), I LOVE exploring new areas and seeing what different cities have to offer. Well, here's what I've found so far in Cowtown . . . :-)

Yesterday morning, I went to the 'Cultural District' downtown. I'd been seeing billboards advertising and Impressionist exhibit at one of the art museums. Since that's my FAVORITE type of art, I really was wanting to see it before it left the area in a few days. It was a spectacular display!! One entire room of Monet!! :) The rest of the museum was good also. Since parking was free in that area, (and the weather was absolutely amazing!!) I walked around to see what else was in the area. I found a modern art museum and decided to have a look. Now, I'm not always a fan of modern art . . . some of it is just strange to me, and some of it is inappropriate (in my opinion). So, a bit hesitant to jump in to that one, I took one of their brochures and had some lunch while I looked at what was on display.

I'm SO glad that I went! Some photographers had put together some pretty amazing displays. In case you didn't know, I'm fascinated with hands (some might say a bit obsessed . . . but, whatever). :-) Well, one room had a grouping of pictures entitled Holes. It was 'holes' in everyday life (i.e. looking through a break in the leaves or through a window), and someone's hand was in the center of the 'hole'. It's hard to describe, but it was SO COOL!!!! There were other interesting groupings like falling objects and walls (where objects were shot while falling or views of both sides of a wall or floor, respectively). Fascinating pictures!! Some were so intriguing that I caught myself moving around in front of the picture to try & see behind the door (or whatever was blocking something in the picture). Gullible, I know, but the artistry was amazing! And, of course, I spent a while looking at the 5' X 6' painting of the ocean. Ahhh! :)

So, to finish off this 'cultured' day, I went to a going out of business sale down the street from my home to pillow shop. There's nothing worse than a pillow that's lost its fluff. Mine, aside from being old, have been sitting in storage for a couple of years. So, I got some new, FLUFFY, pillows. YAY!!!!

Today, I met one of my oldest (just to clarify - NOT oldest because of age . . . oldest because we've been friends since we were 5 yrs old) friends and her 2 sons at the local zoo. I SO enjoy going to the zoo! The oldest boy, 3 yrs old, was SO excited to see the elephants. All he could talk about at first was seeing the "big things with the tusks". How cute! The younger boy, 1 yr old, got most excited during lunch time. :) (my kind of kid!) I had so much fun watching the animals and watching the boys react to the animals!! Here are a few of the pictures from this afternoon:

The craziest thing happened while we were finishing up our picnic! First, a little background . . . All the news/weather people have been talking about how COLD it was going to be today. So, we all naturally wore warmer clothes today. As it usually works, it was pretty warm when we got to the zoo. :) So, as we walked around, we were actually sweating a little! Back to lunch . . . We were sitting in the shade, which made the weather very comfortable. Then, all of a sudden, a breeze blew by and literally DROPPED the temperature about 10 degrees!!!! You may think I'm exaggerating, but I'm NOT!! By the time we got to our cars, the temperature had dropped into the lower 60's! Now, I've lived in Texas my whole life (these last two years not withstanding), and I've never experienced anything like that before. It was amazing!

So that pretty much sums up my last two days of exploring Fort Worth. Now, I get to watch GAME 1 of the World Series!! YAY! :-) (what a nice way to end the day)

Blessed, Indeed!

2008-10-20T23:43:00.005-04:00

The past couple of weeks have proven to me that God has blessed and continues to bless me above and beyond what I can imagine!

He has given me a job that I love. I truly wish everyone could love what they do for a living! I'm continually reminded of His almighty power each day as He works miracles in the lives of my patients. Things happen and babies live when there's NO medical explanation. It still amazes me to see the faith of some of my patients' families: when faced with this nightmare of a newborn in the ICU when it should be a joyous occasion, they can stand in the grace God provides for that moment. It's a beautiful picture of the scripture 2 Corinthians 12:9 . . . "'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'"
I got to vote today. Having recently moved, I was afraid to change my address officially until I voted. I knew they'd make me register to vote in the new county, and this usually takes a while. Not wanting to miss the opportunity to put my opinion 'out there', I called the voting office in Tyler last week to find out when early voting started. This morning, I went and stood in line to vote. Yep, you read that right. I had to stand in line about half an hour this morning to vote . . . during early voting! I'm wondering if that was just a hint at what's to come these next few weeks. We are so lucky to have the opportunity to vote! I obviously have my own strong opinion about who I want to win the different elections, as I'm sure you do. But, I can rest assured that the person God wants in each office is the person who will win. He is in control . . . even of politics! I know some people are rather nervous about this year's election, and I must admit, I'm prone to worry about it, too. God often brings these two verses to my mind when I'm worrying about our country's future (or other things that I tend to worry about): Philippians 4: 6-7 . . . "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Last weekend, my dad was in a car accident that totaled his truck. He's FINE. . . the horse didn't fair as well. He was on his way to Livingston for a celebration at the church we attended while living there, and a horse ran out into the highway in front of him. God protected him, for which we are ALL so grateful!
I attended a storybook wedding this weekend! I've known the bride since she was 2. I was her babysitter, the person she napped on during church each Sunday, her summer tutor, her big sister, her friend, and this weekend, I got to be a witness to the beginning of a new chapter in her life! She was a beautiful bride!! Now, to be perfectly honest, I was dreading this event a little (very selfish of me, I know!). If you're single, you know how weddings can be a little awkward. . . especially when people you've known since you were 4 will be there. Going in, you know people are going to ask the most hated question of any single adult. On the LONG drive over, I prayed for God to give me the grace I needed to appropriately respond to the questions waiting for me. Mostly, I prayed for Him to guard my heart (which I way too often wear on my sleeve) and to help me not take offense at some of the seemingly innocent questions & comments. As always, He came through and let me enjoy the celebration while smiling graciously as people unknowingly put their feet in their mouths. I'm reminded of one of my "life verses" (verses that give me encouragement, patience, and strength during times when I just don't understand): Psalm 16: 5&6 . . . "Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance."

Sometimes, it's just important to focus on the good things in life! For me, that's what tonight needed to be. I hope you have a wonderful day!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

-Ephesians 3:20-21

Let's Play Catch-Up!

2008-10-05T17:23:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago, I went for an interview at Cook Children's Hospital in Ft Worth. At the time, they had two jobs I was interested in: a 6 month contract in the NICU and a full time (permanent) position in the NICU. After visiting with the nurse manager, I decided that it was best to take the 6 month, contract position as a way of 'easing myself' back into being a full time staff member at a hospital - something I left over 2 years ago and haven't really missed.

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy working in a stable environment (i.e. not moving around every few months). I also enjoy the friendships made when working in this type of environment. I do NOT, however, enjoy some of the 'politics' involved with being a staff member again. It's so hard to avoid being dragged into disagreements and/or 'discussions' at work when you don't have the excuse of saying "It doesn't involve me . . . I'm not staff here!" :-)

So, my thinking is, try this out for a while and see how it goes. Then, as I told the nurse manager during my interview, if we all still like each other at the end of 6 months, we can talk about a full time staff position. It's the best of both worlds!

This is the beautiful bouquet of roses I received as a congratulations on the new job! :) How sweet is that?!?

The only drawback of taking this position was that the start date was set at October 6th . . . by the hospital. This means, there was no room for negotiations on my part. YIKES!! So much to do in SO little time!! So, the race against the clock began. . .

The weekend after accepting the position, we headed off to Fort Worth in search of an apartment that I could rent and move in the following weekend. This is a pretty tall order for the middle of a fall semester in a college town! (and by 'college', I mean a few colleges and medical students, too!) As usual, God stepped in, and provided a nice apartment at a price I could afford. AND, I could move in the following weekend. Cross this task off the to-do-list!

The next week was filled with setting up phone, utilities, cable, and the move itself. HOW QUICKLY I forgot all the details of moving. The past 2 years I have been completely spoiled by the nursing agency taking care of everything for me. What a shock to the system!! :-) For example, while setting up my phone, I had to deal with a faulty phone tree! Yep, you read that correctly . . . the phone tree for the phone company (which shall remain nameless) did not work. I wound my way through the various options given - none of which were what I really needed, which was to set up a new land line - until I actually got a human on the other end of the line. This only took about 40 minutes. To be completely fair, she wasn't the 1st human I'd spoken with, though. I was sent to the phone repair section multiple times for some reason. Each time someone answered, I explained that I was trying to set up a new line; at which time they asked me, "Why did you request (saying this like I had a choice in the matter) the repair line?" Good question!! They would then transfer me to the appropriate department - which meant they put me back to the beginning of the phone tree. GRRRR!!!! (blood pressure beginning to rise at this point . . .) Back to where I was - I was actually speaking with a person in the correct department for about 5 minutes (YEA, ME!!), and I was suddenly put back to the beginning of the phone tree. I'm still not quite sure what happened there. I started punching the buttons to try to get back to that sweet lady in 'new customer services', and I was hung up on by the phone tree. Now, at this point, most people would quit & try again the next day (or maybe even just forget the entire idea altogether!). Not me, though! I'm MUCH TOO STUBBORN for that option. It's the principle . . . I will NOT be bested by a phone tree!! :-) So, I call them back and try again. This time, though, it only took about 20 minutes to get a person in the correct department. And, I got a phone line! Good times with moving . . .

Movers were hired, and my stuff (that's been in storage for SO long!) & I spent the night in my new apartment 1 1/2 weeks after accepting the position! I don't recommend putting that type of time restraint on moving and getting settled, but be assured . . . it can be done. (with LOTS of help!!)

My sweet parents and Papa Joe came over the Saturday after the movers brought my stuff to help me get settled. There aren't words to express how grateful I am for their help! I'd forgotten how much stuff I have! I must admit, though, it was like Christmas opening each box to see what treasures it held. The convicting part of this action was realizing that I've lived a perfectly happy life the past 2 years without all this stuff. That's just what it is . . . STUFF. It made me keenly aware of just how blessed I am - especially thinking about so many of my friends in the Houston/Galveston area who just lost so much. Very sobering . . .

I've taken some pictures of before & after in my apartment. Here's the reveal :

So, here I sit on Sunday afternoon in my completed apartment just in time before my job starts tomorrow morning. I'm SO looking forward to getting back with my babies! I'm also looking forward to exploring the Fort Worth area. Even though I grew up about 45 minutes from here, I've never done much here. This will be a fun adventure seeing what the area has to offer. The best part about taking this position is that I'll be close to home for all the fall/winter holidays! So fun!!

Simple Pleasures

2008-09-30T16:55:00.002-04:00

Living in Texas again lends itself to a few of my favorite things . . . Blue Bell Ice Cream and Sara Lee Bread. I've spent the past few days moving & unpacking (with a LOT of help from the family on Saturday!!). Yesterday, I made the 'pantry stocking marathon trip' to Super Target (yet another great thing of the south!), and then I spent the rest of the day continuing to get my apartment in order. So, last night for supper, I indulged myself . . . PBJ on some Sara Lee Bread and some cookies & cream Blue Bell for dessert. Talk about the perfect meal!!!! :-)

I'm almost finished putting everything in its place (or stuffing it somewhere in the back of a cabinet or closet when I'm not sure what to do with it). When it's completed, I'll get some pictures posted.

My 'Thin Place'

2008-09-25T10:54:00.003-04:00

Below is a view of Virginia Beach at sunrise. In addition to God's creativity with the sunrise and waves, a group of dolphins started playing a ways offshore for everyone to enjoy. It's so much fun watching the dolphins play!!

Don't worry . . . this isn't about weight!! I haven't found a miracle diet to make us all skinny. Last night, my dad mentioned the discussion topic from his staff meeting this past Monday called "Thin Places". I'm not sure who originally came up with this concept, but it's kinda fun to ponder. This Blogger explains the topic perfectly:

"someplace where heaven seems to come down and touch Earth."

It made me start thinking about what my 'thin place' is. For me, it's the beach. The waves rejuvenates me. I love to listen to them and see how they crash into the shore. Here are a few more of my favorites. :-)

This picture is from a deck leading to Myrtle Beach. The best part of being here (other than the fact that I was on the beach!) was that rocking chairs were provided on this deck. That's right, I got to sit in a comfy rocking chair and watch the moon rise over the ocean. It doesn't get much better than that in my book!

This amazing view, compliments of Ocracoke Island, NC, made me fall in love with North Carolina!! I sat in that beautiful sand watching the perfectly blue water wash ashore for about an hour that day - a brief intermission in my lighthouse tour of the OBX.

This is a picture of the last beach I went to, Assateague National Park in VA. It's located on Chincoteague Island . . . the home of the wild horses. How cool is that to watch horses play along the shore. (or in the marshes, which is where I saw them)

Such happy memories! Have a great day. :-)

Hurricane & Birthday Parties

2008-09-17T11:38:00.005-04:00

What a week! It's amazing what a storm can do! Just before I started nursing school, my dad moved me into an apartment on Galveston Island. On move-in day, we had the pleasure of meeting my new downstairs neighbor. What an interesting person! We arrived at my apartment around 10:30 that morning, and he greeted us holding his beer . . . already quite inebriated!! I'm not sure if it was 'drunk' left over from the night before or if he just got to an early start. As we tried to move past him, he continued whatever story he was telling us and then invited me to his next Hurricane Party. I just smiled and moved on, not knowing what the appropriate response to that invitation should be. He continued on by describing this "party" - sitting outside in lawn chairs drinking beer during the hurricane. Not my idea of fun, but I'm guessing that after enough alcohol, the wind, rain, and flooding wouldn't bother you too much!

Little did I know, that hurricane parties are a tradition on the Island! Apparently, the Poop Deck on Seawall sponsors them for the hurricanes that come to Galveston. Who knew?!? (not that it makes it a good idea just because it's restaurant sponsored, though!) Anyways, I've been searching through the online pictures to see how my apartments made it through Ike.

I was SO HAPPY to see that they're still standing, although most of the ground floors were destroyed by the high water. These apartments are on the north side of the island, so they just had the rising water from the bay side of the Island. The one tropical storm we had while I lived there had water that rose up to the parking lot from the bay, but no real damage. I can't imagine what it looked like during Ike! The boat slips are just behind where the person taking this picture must have been standing. Obviously, the water was VERY HIGH to get that sailboat up on top of the car. My old apartment was on the 2nd floor of the building to the man in the yellow jacket's right arm! HOLY COW!! It just blows my mind!!

The pictures of the destruction and devastation break my heart as I see some of our favorite places destroyed or damaged. I'm praying for my friends that still live there . . . that they all evacuated safely and that their homes/belongings weren't destroyed. I know that they would appreciate your prayers through this difficult time, too!

My roommate from Galveston, who now lives in Houston, evacuated to our house last Thursday evening. The commute was a nightmare, but we had fun once she got here. Like most people in Texas, we sat glued to the Weather Channel and Houston news websites most of the next couple of days. The pictures and videos were mesmerizing! Of course, she had SO MUCH more at stake with her home being in Ike's destructive path. She was able to go back to her home yesterday to find that it hadn't received much damage - Praise God! I think they had some limbs/trees down in the yard and maybe some missing shingles. Other than that, their house was protected. They were truly blessed!!

On to a happier topic . . .

Saturday, we celebrated my sister's birthday at a WONDERFUL restaurant in Dallas.

We were so happy that she was feeling well enough to come to the party! None of us were sure how she'd feel with the big storm on the way, but it looks like the newest treatment may be bringing some positive results!

I found a bakery that makes all their treats sugar free . . . very important for the diabetics in our family. So, we got a delicious chocolate cake from there to celebrate! To top it off, one of the waiters came to sing Happy Birthday in a few different languages. I got a little bit of it on video before my battery ran out.

We had a bunch of family there, which is always fun. Good times! I hope your weekend was safe and fun!

Family Fun Weekend

2008-09-08T19:14:00.005-04:00

Saturday morning, we headed up to my Mamma Granny's house to celebrate her 75th birthday. WooHoo!! :-) We had a fun time visiting with the family and eating some delicious hamburgers & hot wings. (I know . . . probably not the typical 75th b-day party food, but that's what she requested)

I always enjoy visiting their place on one of the many branches of Lake Fork in East Texas. It's just gorgeous! This is a view from their backyard of the boathouse and the calm water. It doesn't get much better than that . . . unless you had that with NO MOSQUITOES!!!! :-) The water was amazingly blue that day and made me wish I could just go sit in a boat out on the lake.

Here's Granny "Vanna-ing" one of her birthday gifts. Smell good stuff is ALWAYS welcome!!

After the party, my roommate from nursing school (who'd come up Friday evening for a weekend visit with the fam) and I started out on a Target trip so she could buy her new camera. Somehow . . . still not exactly sure when/how the switch happened :) . . . we ended up at a car dealership looking for her new set of wheels. The first place we went, the salesman (a bit TOO talkative and even more 'slimy') decided Mandy & I looked like sisters. Well, for those of you who know both of us, I'm sure you're already laughing! After giving at least a 20 minute synopsis of his life and hometown back in Oklahoma & asking about the whole sister thing, he decided to ask what we she was looking for in a car. Half an hour later - after having had more than we needed or wanted of that guy!! - we were back in my car & off to the next stop! Honestly . . . WHAT WAS HE THINKING?!? Across the street, we had more luck, though. She found just what she was looking for, and she got (what we think is) a great deal. Now, neither of us had ever gone into the car buying scene without parental help, so there's no telling what we didn't ask/do right. But, it was fun pretending to be "big girls" and do this on our own! :-)

She bought a beautiful Hyundai Santa Fe! (Not that I'm partial to them or anything . . .) Mine is the "old style" since they redesigned them last year, so it was fun to see all the changes & improvements they've made in the design. Here's the very happy new car owner!!!!

Needless to say, she wasn't too sad to say 'goodbye' to the old green car! CONGRATULATIONS, Mandy!!!! :D

The weekend ended with me preparing for my first (of hopefully many!) job interview as I look for a more permanent job situation. More on that later, but please pray for me to see God's will and direction for this next step in my life clearly! Thanks!

Hellos & Goodbyes

2008-09-03T15:44:00.017-04:00

~~ Just a note of warning . . . this turned out to be a much longer post

than I had planned, so get some coffee and get comfortable! ~~

WOW! The past week has been a bit of a whirlwind, but it has been a wonderful time. So much has happened, I'm just gonna write a little about each day to go along with the pictures.

Tuesday

Tuesday afternoon, I got to say 'hello' to my Dad & Papa Joe as they arrived in Virginia for a short visit during the last week of my contract. After getting away from the airport, we stopped for a quick dinner, checked them in to the hotel, and headed downtown for the Navy Band Concert. Since we arrived a little early, we took in a couple of the sights on the way (or at least in the same vicinity) to the Navy Memorial. The top picture is of them standing on Freedom Plaza along Pennsylvania Ave. with the Capitol in the background. After a quick supper at the Old Post Office building (the building behind them with the clock tower) food court, we headed over to hear the concert. It was completely different from the concert I went to with my sister last month, but it was still completely amazing! They have such talent!! After the Metro ride back to my car, we called it a night so we could all get rested up for a Wednesday full of sightseeing.

Wednesday

Wednesday morning, we headed downtown for some serious sightseeing! We started out at the White House (as seen with Dad & Papa Joe here). It was a little overcast that day, but it definitely kept the temperatures down. In fact, it was pretty cool in the shade making me very happy that I had brought a jacket!! From here, we walked around the Treasury Department on our way to the Washington Monument. I had never been up to the viewing deck of this before, so I followed a friend's advice and reserved some tickets online. After picking them up, we had about 45 minutes to kill (no where near enough time to visit another attraction), so we just sat on the benches around the Monument to watch the geese playing around on the grass.

When it was our turn, we rode the minute and a half elevator ride to the top for our look out. It is truly an amazing view of the area! This picture is of the WWII Memorial, the Reflection Pool, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Memorial Bridge (off to the left of Lincoln). Thankfully, by the time we got to the top, most of the clouds had dispersed making for a clear view of the sights. :-) (yea!! more pictures!!) After looking out the four sides, we went down one level to look at some of the pictures of the construction and history of the Monument. It was pretty amazing! If you're wondering why it looks like two different colors of stone on the outside, it's because there was a huge 'time out' during the construction due to lack of funds and/or workers (or something like that . . . don't remember the details). :) On the way down from the top, they slowed the elevator every once in a while to let us see some of the artwork and messages on the inside of the Monument. I took a short video clip of one portion of these, but I've somehow messed up the disk and can't seem to download it to my computer. Maybe some other day!

From here, we went to the WWII Memorial. This picture of Papa Joe is taken by one of the places he went during WWII. We hit this Memorial just after one of the Park Ranger guided tours had started, so we just attached ourselves to this group to hear about the Memorial. FINALLY, I learned about the "order" of the states on the columns. In case you haven't seen it in person, there are 50+ columns with state, province, and country names on them surrounding the huge fountains in the middle. Just looking at them, there is no rhyme or reason to the order of their placement (or so I thought!). Here goes: If you stand in the middle facing the Washington Monument (with your back to the wall of stars), the "order" starts on your right. The names on the columns are in order of their entrance into the Union. The catch is that they alternate sides . . . #1 is the 1st column on your right, #2 is the 1st column on your left, #3 is the 2nd column on your right, and so on. Once we received the explanation, it made complete sense!! (shocking, huh?!?) :-) I'm the first to admit that I don't know a lot about history and the wars we've fought in, but going through the war memorials with my Papa Joe (a person who studies and reads constantly about wars . . . especially the Civil War and WWII) was very special. He knows the names of not only the battles but of the generals, who won, how many soldiers were lost, etc. in each battle!! For example, as we walked around the WWII Memorial, he was telling me about one of the battles we "should have never fought". It was amazing to me to hear his perspective on all of this! We went on to the Vietnam Wall after a short lunch break on the way. Again, I was brought to tears listening to both my dad and my Papa Joe talk about the boys lost and still missing from that war. They have such a different perspective on these memorials than me having lived through the wars memorialized and having friends that were lost in them. Don't get me wrong, going through these is an emotional experience for anyone with the least bit of patriotism, but going through them with a veteran and someone who lost childhood friends in Vietnam puts a whole new light on them!!

Moving on, we next went to the Lincoln Monument

(my FAVORITE!!) Here, I got to hear more Civil War history and Lincoln history from Papa Joe. He's VERY MUCH the "power of the South" type person and can tell you exactly how, when, and why the South lost the BIG WAR, but he has great respect for Lincoln and the great man that he was.

The funniest part of this day (in my opinion) was the fact that we stood and watched the tile layers in front of the Lincoln Monument for at least 20 minutes before moving on to the Korean War Memorial. The workers are making a beautiful, stone tile floor to an area between the Reflection Pool and the Lincoln Monument, so my dad & Papa Joe stood and discussed their technique for a while. With all these huge monuments, memorials, and historical attractions surrounding us, we stopped to watch this. It's like my "lamppost obsession" (taking pictures of all the ornate lampposts downtown) . . . I guess I come by it honestly!! :-)

Onwards . . .

We then made it to the Korean War Memorial. I pointed out my favorite statue to them, and my Papa Joe asked me why he was my favorite. I said it's because of his facial expression. Then he said, "Oh, I thought it was because he's the medic." How strange is that that I picked the medic as my favorite?!? (at least I thought that was interesting) :) We ventured on around the Tidal Basin to have a look at the Jefferson Memorial. We didn't spend as long here because we were all getting tired and hungry at this point. I snapped a few more pictures for my scrapbook, and we headed back to the Metro station. That morning, we had caught the train during rush hour, & they got to see the "locals" on the train . . . NOT overly social! (to say the least) My Papa Joe found this funny, so on our way home that evening, he pretended to be a "local" with his paper. :-) He's TOO FUNNY!!!!

Thursday

So, Thursday was the last day for me to work during this contract. This left my dad & Papa Joe on their own . . . They caught the shuttle from their hotel to the Metro and headed downtown for some more sightseeing. They started out at the Holocaust Museum . . . an amazing & emotional experience!! (NOT for children or the weak stomach for sure!) They then got to tour the Bureau of Engraving & Printing. They enjoyed that tour and even asked their tour guide for a few free samples. Amazingly enough, they were told "NO"!! :-) (If you didn't know, this is one of the places that prints money.) On some of the printing machines pumping out sheets of $20 dollar bills or $50 dollar bills (you get the idea), someone had hung a sign reading, "If you feel bad being this close, think of how I feel. I print out my entire year's wages every few minutes!"; or the one reading, "So close, yet so far!" Great to see they have such a sense of humor with their job!! :) After a quick bite to eat, they went on the the Natural History Museum (or the dinosaur place as my little 'nephews' refer to it!). They thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the dinosaur skeletons as well as the rocks and jewels. I met up with them at the mall near my apartment after work so we could have supper and make a plan for our Friday activities. Then, it was home for everyone to rest up for our last full day of tourism!

Friday

We started out this drizzly day by visiting the National Cathedral. If you've never been, I HIGHLY recommend going the next time you're in the area! It's not really close to a Metro stop (unless you want to walk a mile or two to get there), but they do have pay parking for the visitors. The craftsmanship that the stone carvers, steel workers, and carpenters show in this amazing structure is indescribable! You really just need to see it to believe it. We went up the west towers to the observation deck to look around. Even inside here, the attention to detail was outstanding!! They had miniature replicas of some of the gargoyles stationed along the outside of the cathedral so we could see how ornate even these small parts were. Unbelievable!! They also had signs explaining the steps of building the cathedral over 80+ years it took to build. Here, they also had original (or what appeared to be original) blue prints from the late 1800's/early 1900's . The top picture is from inside this walkway looking at the 1st & tallest tower constructed over the center of the cathedral. The second picture is of Dad & Papa Joe in the walkway that surrounds the two western towers. After exploring up here, we went downstairs & joined one of the tour groups. This gave us more insight into the construction - like the fact that the entire cathedral is in the shape of a cross with the 'high altar' at the "top" of the cross, and the auditorium with all the chairs/pews is the long part under the cross beam. The tour took us down into the basement near where construction was started over 100 years ago. The original chapel . . . appropriately called the "Bethlehem Chapel" was the 1st to be built and may very well be the smallest. It was interesting to see the different architecture styles from the different periods. For the most part, the cathedral is in traditional "cathedral style" (tall ceilings, pointed arches, stained glass, etc.). A few places have rounded arches and mosaic tile work instead. It's now run by the Episcopal church, having daily services and prayer times as well as church volunteers on site to give free tours to all of the visitors.

From here, we drove over to the Spy Museum to have lunch at the little cafe there & then tour this most amazing museum! It's not free ($18/adult), but it's a small price to pay to see all the fun spy gadgets. (If, that is, you like spy/mystery stuff.) :)

Next, we went to the Marine War Memorial (also known as the Iwo Jima Memorial) near Arlington Cemetery. It, too, is an amazing tribute to the Marines and to the guys that raised the flags at Iwo Jima. Here, I played with the timer on my camera to try and get all three of us in a shot. Confession time: Yes, I've had this camera for 3-4 years now, and No, I'm still not sure how to work all the 'special features'. :) But, on this particular day, it worked (at least on the second attempt!), and we got all three of us in one picture. Yea, Me!! After this, we were all tired of touring and tired of getting rained on, so we went to supper and then home so they could pack up their hotel room.

Saturday

After a hearty breakfast, we went to one of the Civil War battlefields just down the road from my apartment. The week I moved in back in June, workers put up an orange fence around the entire park giving off the distinct "you're not welcome in here" message. So, I didn't go! :) But, a few days before Dad & Papa Joe arrived, they took down the orange fence. Papa Joe, obviously, knew immediately which battle this was, who the players were, which ones were killed, and which side won. He kept telling us that if the South had done . . . (I can't remember exactly), then they could have taken Washington and won after the 1st battle at Manassas (or Bull Run for my fellow southerners). It amazes me how he knows all of the details inside & out like he does! The county has done a remarkable job in restoring the park - new pathway, new informational signs, benches, fences, etc. We spent quite a while here walking through this park before taking Papa Joe to the airport for his return trip to Texas.

After taking care of some 'moving out details', Dad & I went to my favorite state park in the area - the one with the Great Falls. It's been SO cool in the area, many of the trees have already started changing colors and dropping leaves. This made for some nice pictures. :-) (As always . . . it's ALL about the pictures for what I've now termed the 'never-ending scrapbook of travel nursing'!!) Instead of messing with the camera timer again, I just asked some unsuspecting tourist to take our picture here. On the way back to the Metro station, we passed a little hole in the wall restaurant called "Papa Joe's Pizza". Of course, we had to stop & eat there! It was possibly the most unusual pizza I've ever had, but it was good. We then hopped on the train to meet one of my good friends from North Carolina. He'd come to the area for a day or two at the end of his vacation and was going to the Washington Nationals' game with us that night. They have a beautiful, new, high-tech stadium in Southeast (which is why I've not gone to a game before by myself!). It was a good game - going into extra innings, and the home team won. What more could you ask for?!? A good time was had by all (except possibly the Atlanta Braves since they lost the game). :) After the game, we were all herded like cattle back onto the Metro trains for the ride back home.

Sunday

Dad & I went to church Sunday morning (my last time at McLean Bible for a long while) and then to lunch at one of the best burger places in the area . . . Five Guys Burgers & Fries. Then, Dad 'got' to load all my heavy stuff into the back of Roony, and we headed to Roanoke. My dad, the master packer!! Yep, I know I took WAY TOO MUCH stuff, but that's why I drive an SUV, right?!? :-D

So, I said goodbye to the DC area. :(

We left earlier than I thought we'd get to, so it made for a very pleasant drive. Just about an hour & a half from my apartment, we reached the 1st of several mountain ranges we would pass through during our trip back to Texas. We decided not to take the famous Blue Ridge Parkway and stick to the main highway, but we were able to see some beautiful scenery. One thing that I wasn't expecting was all the corn fields. And I'm not talking about a couple hundred acres here and there. I'm talking about the majority of the 200+ miles between my apartment & Roanoke (our stopping place for the night).

Sunday night, we stayed at Hotel Roanoke. When I made the reservations, I just picked the cheapest hotel in the chain so that I get more 'frequent flyer' points. Little did I know that this particular hotel has an amazing history! It was built back in the 1800's and has housed several US presidents, foreign dignitaries, and other VIP's (including me & my dad!). :) It is a beautiful hotel design. Inside all of the lobbies, (yeah, it had a few of them) they had old pictures of the hotel from years past. It also had some artifacts from it's long history on display in the cases around the hotel. It's a very cool place to stay. I'm not really sure what all there is to do in the city of Roanoke, VA, but this hotel is very entertaining! :)

Monday

Monday morning, we headed out for our longest day of driving on the trip. We had to reach Memphis, TN, before we could stop for the night. In case your geography isn't stellar, this means that we had to leave Virginia and drive completely across the state of Tennessee. . . the LONG way! A bit ambitious looking back, but with two of us taking turns driving, we managed. We stopped at the Tennessee welcome center so I could pick up my state map for TN. While there, we saw this cut out of Dolly Parton. Dad had to get his picture with it for Papa Joe. My Papa Joe loves Dolly Parton! :-) It's such a lovely drive across the eastern half of TN. One of my favorite restaurants is Cracker Barrel - especially while on a road trip. There are probably more Cracker Barrel Restaurants in the southeastern part of the US than in the entire rest of the country! At one point, I believe we were passing them every 5 minutes! And then we reached the western side of Nashville. . . NOT the most exciting part of the drive! :) Also, the Cracker Barrels started spreading out considerably. BOO!! We did eventually make it to Memphis after a LONG delay through the Smoky Mountains due to some broken down cars and a dump truck that spilled it's contents all over the road. That gave us a good, long look at the sides of the mountains and the rocks along I-40 West. It's actually a pretty drive through that part, & I'm very happy that the delay was on the eastern half of the state! Once we arrived at our hotel in Memphis, we both just collapsed! We saw several families of Louisianna evacuee families. They all looked so helpless and worried; it broke my heart!

Tuesday

Tuesday morning, we left Memphis for the final leg of our journey back to the metropolis of Flint, TX! :D This final part of the drive wasn't very pretty, but it was doable. Then again, it didn't help things having Gustav blowing at us and dropping the occasional heavy band of rain. For the most part, he seemed to be more bark than bite . . . Thank God! He could have done SO MUCH more damage. We arrived back at my parents' house Tuesday evening around 7. We were both SO ready to get out of the car for a while!

It was a busy but great week! Thanks for going on the journey with me. :-)

Ocean Rejuvenation

2008-08-22T22:44:00.012-04:00

Sometimes, we all need to go someplace that is rejuvenating - mind, body, and soul. For me, this place is the BEACH!! Today was one of those days. With a lot on my mind, I jumped in my car for the 4+ hour drive to Assateague Island in VA. It's actually a pleasant drive (for the most part). The road passes through a few of the more 'shady areas' of Maryland, but most of the road is through farmland. I love seeing all the crops in their straight rows and the pretty homes & barns.

This isn't the most popular beach in the area, but I searched it out specifically since it also is home to the one lighthouse in Virginia that I hadn't seen yet. As you can tell, it's currently under renovation. Hopefully I'll be able to go see it again someday once it's been completely restored.

That's right, I drove many hours today to go look at an old lighthouse in serious need of a new paint job and sit on the beach for about an hour & a half. :-) But . . . at least in my warped mind . . . it was COMPLETELY WORTH IT!!!!

Not only does this island have a lighthouse and a beautiful beach, but it also has dolphins playing in the waves. I enjoy seeing dolphins close up like in an aquarium, but there's something special about seeing them enjoying their natural habitat. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at timing pictures of the dolphins, so I don't have a picture to share.

The final great thing about this island is the Chincoteague Wild Horses. They were more in the marsh area than on the actual beach, so I couldn't get very close. If you look closely, you can see the herd of horses in the middle of the picture. All along the path, there were signs warning us not to "touch or chase after" the wild horses because they are not "tamed". Well, DUH!! Isn't that the meaning of the term "wild"?!? Obviously someone has chased after the wild animal, gotten hurt, and then tried to sue the park. In my opinion, those warnings are as much of a waste as the one on the hair dryer tag warning you to not blow dry your hair while still showering. Are these warnings seriously needed? Now, I'm not a believer in evolution, but this could be considered 'survival of the fittest'! :-)

I digress . . .

After seeing my lighthouse, looking (from a distance) at the wild horses, and sitting on the beach a while, I decided to head back home. Once I got closer to the mainland, I saw an advertisement for homemade ice cream. Well, I had to stop and try it!! :) It was delicious!!!! They make their waffle cones fresh as people come in. Mine was so fresh it was still a little warm when she handed it to me with the ice cream. Moral of the story . . . if you like ice cream and you're on Chincoteague Island in Virginia, you should definitely try this ice cream parlor!!

It was a great day! I hope you have a wonderful weekend. :-)

10 Things . . . Sunday

2008-08-17T08:07:00.004-04:00

Several of the blogs I read do a 'Ten Things Tuesday' post about 10 things they are grateful for. It's a wonderful way to cultivate the attitude of gratitude. I was sent a great Martha Washington quote yesterday:

I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be;
for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness
or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances.

It's very similar to Paul's statement in Philippians 4:12-13:

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I
have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether
well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.. I can do
everything through him who gives me strength.

It's truly about perspective, which brings me to my theme verses (at least over the past couple of years):

Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot
secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I
have a delightful inheritance. . . I have set the Lord always before
me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
-Psalm 16: 5,6,8

So, needing a bit of an attitude adjustment last night, I literally fell asleep 'counting my blessings' (or making my 10 things list). I know it's not Tuesday, but here it is (in no particular order) anyway. :-)

My God who loves me in spite of my unfaithfulness & grumbling
God fearing parents
Periods of time when my sister breaks through her sickness and it's like 'old times'
COFFEE!!
A job that I love and actually makes me look forward to going to work . . . most days :)
Incredible friends
Precious 'niece' (soon to be nieces!!) and 'nephews' who can make my day with just a smile
My 'Sam' is talking and singing now . . . and almost 4 Years Old!! What a miracle!!!
Did I mention COFFEE?!? :)
The NICU nurses of Medical City for daring me to try travel nursing

It's always amazed me how my attitude changes when I stop looking at what I don't have (& really want!) and focus on EVERYTHING that God has given to me! I have NO reason to whine!!

More Exploring :-)

2008-08-16T17:45:00.008-04:00

I visited some new places today . . . some on purpose and some not so much. Yep, that means I got a little lost in my journeys, but I did eventually get where I wanted without venturing too far into Southeast. (yea, me!!) I went to the National Arboretum this morning. It had more greenery and fewer actual flowers than I was expecting, but it was still a pleasant 'nature hike'. (Honestly, how wrong can you go when it's sun-shiny with a high in the low 80's?!?) I did manage to find some blooms here & there, so I got some pictures. (I know, Janna, more pictures of flowers) :)

In one area, they have the columns from the original Capitol back before the 1st expansion. They're lined up like a Roman sculpture. There's also a little reflection pool near them. Lots of people were getting their pictures made with the columns. Close to the visitor's center, you can visit the 'Bonsai area' . . . which basically consists of several outdoor rooms with all kinds of trees that have been trained to grow into bonsai shapes. Some of these (like the one in the center of the back row in this picture) have been trained since the 1800's according to the sign. That's a TINY tree for being over 100 years old!

After winding my way through DC traffic and getting back on a familiar highway, I went to Arlington to visit the Iwo Jima/USMC War Memorial. I visited it back during my 1st contract, but I've lost those pictures somehow. And, as any scrapbooker will tell you, I HAVE TO HAVE pictures of EVERY PLACE I visit. Otherwise, what will I fill my pages with?!? All this to say, I got some more pictures of it today that I will hopefully not lose. :-)

Not far from this memorial is a HUGE clock tower that the Netherlands gave to the US a long time ago. When I first moved into my apartment in Arlington that 1st contract, I remember hearing this clock tower chime away the hours . . . along with the all the buglers from Ft. Myer. Good times!

Maybe not the prettiest thing in DC to look at, but it's chimes are pretty to listen to.

I'm guessing the person who rings the bells?

Something to aspire to!! :)

The more 'traditional' DC sites with the clock tower flowers in the forefront.

The Video . . . hopefully :)

2008-08-15T21:35:00.003-04:00

I hope this works! Sorry for the noise; I'm not sure how to mute the sound on my camera while videoing. So, it's probably better to watch with the sound off!! :) Enjoy the pretty fish, and have a wonderful weekend!!

National Aquarium

2008-08-15T18:03:00.009-04:00

Believe it or not, today was the FIRST time I've been to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I love aquariums, but I don't love the drive to Baltimore (TRAFFIC)!! After sleeping LOTS of hours yesterday and last night, I woke up refreshed and ready for a challenge/adventure. So, I got out and braved the Beltway so I could see all the fun fish. As far as aquariums go, it's good . . . no where near the caliber of the Georgia Aquarium, but it was very enjoyable.

One of the first tanks you come to upon entering is full of stingrays - from small to ginormous!, a few sharks, and a big sea turtle (one of my favorites!). Some of the stingrays' wingspan were 5-6 feet wide! (At least that's my guess at their size. I didn't actually ask one of the workers.)

Moving on, they had displays for the different types of water in this part of the country (ie rivers/streams, lakes, oceans, etc.) Of course, I went straight to the ocean display. :-)

Beyond this "small" tank, I went to walk a path around the "big" tank. It had some other pretty fish and some more stingrays. I tried to upload a little video clip of the fish in the big tank, but I seem to be having some technical difficulties. Maybe another time. :)

After grabbing a quick lunch, I went to the dolphin show. It was great! One of the dolphins just gave birth to a calf about 3 weeks ago. It was precious to see them swimming together. :-) Obviously, neither of them were in the show, but the two performing dolphins did a wonderful job . . . jumping, flipping, playing catch, etc. It was worth the price of getting in to the aquarium just for the dolphin show (in my opinion).

Jumping through a hoop

Jumping up to touch the red ball

Jumping over one of the trainers

Missing Child . . . Camille

2008-08-14T20:51:00.002-04:00

One of my friends from Galveston has this message posted about a friend's little girl, Camille. It seems as though the girl's mother kidnapped her and took her to South America after a court gave her husband custody of Camille. She asked us to pass it along. Please pray for this family! Thanks.

Two Thumbs Up!

2008-08-10T04:20:00.007-04:00

On the Siskel & Ebert rating scale, my weekend has been a "2 thumbs up" already. :) Saturday afternoon, after napping for a couple of hours when I got home from work, I went to my friends' house to have "girl time with my niece and her momma". I had promised her almost a month ago that we would spend some more time together before I left Virginia, and we finally got to play yesterday.

They were already coloring by the time I got there, so I caught up by coloring in her Finding Nemo coloring book. It was great! She gave me a card she'd made me and then showed me some of her most recent artwork while we colored. I'd forgotten how much I've always enjoyed coloring. It's usually the simple things in life that bring so much joy!!

After we all finished our pictures, her mom (my 1st college roommate & a wonderful friend) and I went to see Mamma Mia. WOW!! Now, if you don't like ABBA music or (to loosely quote Harrison Ford's secretary in Sabrina) "people dancing about and spontaneously bursting into song", you probably shouldn't go see this one. :-) But, if you like any (or all) of these things, this movie is a MUST SEE!!!! I've enjoyed the use of mainstream, big name actors/actresses in musical movies in recent years. It's nice to see that some of them can sing & dance, as well as act. The talent in this movie was great! (Well, to be completely honest, I think maybe Pierce Brosnan should stick to looking pretty and acting . . . not the greatest singing voice.) The mom, Meryl Streep, and the daughter, Amanda Seyfried, were phenomenal! And, to top it off, it was set in Greece - a country I REALLY want to visit one day. The water looks SO amazing there! (In case you didn't know, I'm a huge fan of beaches!!!!) After the movie, we picked up her husband and two kiddos and went for some yummy Mexican food.

If you look closely, you can see the Olympic Rings down the middle of the road. (Atlanta, GA)

And finally, to top it off, the Olympics have started!! :-) I look forward to them every time they come around. I'm part of the group that was happy they now occur every two years - even though it's breaking tradition . . . an Aggie 'no-no!' I LOVE hearing our National Anthem played as our athletes win the gold medal. I LOVE the intensity and dedication they have for their sport. I LOVE the background stories they do on the Olympians . . . how they're "normal people doing extraordinary things". I LOVE the opening ceremonies (even though I had to work during them this time and couldn't watch). I'm the person sitting on my couch (or jumping up & down in my living room if need be) :) cheering, clapping, and crying with the athletes and their families. It's just so exciting! For example, I just watched Michael Phelps set another world record & win his 1st gold medal of the 2008 games. How cool is that?!? My favorite sports (because, yes, I have to have favorites) are swimming, diving, and GYMNASTICS! They're just so much fun to watch.

You may not pay attention to such things, but if you noticed the time of this post, you may be wondering about the crazy girl writing a blog at 5AM on a Sunday morning. :-) Well, I'm on a "half days/half nights" schedule right now. I wake up at odd hours and can't keep my eyes open at other times. Just part of the perks of working night shift and playing during the day time. But, on the bright side, I'm getting to watch some of my favorite parts of the Olympics. (just have to look for the silver lining)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Humpday Activities

2008-08-06T17:05:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was "chore day", and today has been "play day"!!

I met a friend of mine for lunch at Baja Fresh today. It was very yummy . . . no Freebirds (my fellow Ags know what I mean!), but it is a good substitute for when the real thing is a 2 day drive away! :)

After lunch, my friend had to go to a meeting, so I went to a museum near the airport that I've been wanting to visit for a while. It's the National Air & Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. (try saying that one 3 times in a row!) It's a big name for a huge warehouse that has a bunch of planes in it. I was impressed with the way they had planes of all sizes hanging from the ceiling at different angles. They even have one of the Concord jets. It's free to get in, but you have to pay for parking. If you're a fan of planes, it's definitely worth the parking price and the short drive out to Dulles Airport (where it's located). As I walked around, I kept thinking of my grandaddy who used to be an airplane mechanic. I'd like to walk through that museum with him one day!

I hope you enjoy your 'mini-tour' through this one!

On a side note: the website that makes these slideshows has changed their rules. Now they're planning to charge for some of the features that used to be free. All this to say, I'm not sure if I'll be doing many more slideshows. Any of my fellow bloggers know of a different website that still offers the free features?

Go NAVY!

2008-07-30T14:25:00.003-04:00

Last summer, I had the privilege of being in a Bible study with some "locals". And, I use the term loosely, because if you've spent any time here in the Virginia, Maryland, DC area, you know that FEW people are actually born and live their lives here. Most people come for a while and then leave - VERY TRANSIENT AREA!! Anyways, the leader of the group last year told us about the Navy Band concerts that take place most Tuesdays at the Navy Memorial downtown. The group went last year, but I had to work that night. I've wanted to go hear them since she told us about it, and last night after work, Amy and I went!

To say that it was amazing is an understatement!!!! Such talent! I wish I'd had a video camera so I could post a small portion of what we heard. Of course, we got there late since I didn't get home from work until 8 last night, but what we heard was incredible. They were doing TV show theme songs. . . Mr. Ed, Lavern & Shirley, Happy Days, etc. Then, they moved into some classic rock. At one point, while playing Dancin' in the Streets, almost everyone in the crowd was up and dancing. They ended the evening with military and patriotic songs. It was wonderful! I've always been patriotic, and it was so fun to be surrounded by people who feel the same way I do. We were all moved to tears during some of the songs . . . especially Taps. I LOVED watching the military personnel (current and retired) stand and sing their branch's song with such pride! It's a great experience, and I highly recommend that you go to this event if you're in the District on a summer Tuesday night!

Here are a few pictures from the concert:

DC in the Dark

2008-07-28T21:41:00.005-04:00

My sister is up visiting me for about a week, and we went into DC on Saturday evening. I've been wanting to get some close up pictures of different monuments at night, but I'm MUCH TOO CHICKEN to go there by myself after dark. So, I took along my sister! (safety in numbers, right?!?) :) The monuments are so pretty all lit up!

Here are some of my favorite pictures . . .

Executive Office Building lit up (& of course, the lamppost!) :-)

Soldier from the Korean War Memorial

World War II Memorial

Washington Monument behind WWII Memorial

And, last but NOT least . . .

Lincoln in lights!

MERRY CHRISTMAS IN JULY!!!!

2008-07-25T08:29:00.003-04:00

This morning, when I got off work, I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me in my car . . . Christmas music playing on one of the local radio stations. It's their "Christmas in July" day! :-) Talk about a happy end to my work week!!

My Mema shared my passion for the Christmas season. (probably even inspired mine) It's been a tradition for as long as I can remember to celebrate Christmas in July with her. She faithfully sent me a Christmas card each July to let me know the holiday season had begun and it was time to start decorating. :) It's been a little sad this year - not receiving this card. But, what better way to carry on the tradition she started than to share it with you?!?

So . . .

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

LET THE DECORATING BEGIN! :-)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Perspective

2008-07-21T18:20:00.005-04:00

"The soul is healed by being with children"

-Fyodor Dostoevsky

Sometimes, in my line of work, I hear the most amazing statements from family members of my patients. One of my patient's mom said the most profound thing last night, and I wanted to share. But first, a little background . . .

Her adorable little girl, we'll lovingly call her Drama Queen, was born at 24 weeks gestation. In case you're not super familiar with pregnancy terms, a normal pregnancy is 40 weeks. So, a 24 week baby is just over "half baked" when he/she comes out. LOTS of things aren't ready for the outside world at this point, and this leads to a difficult few months for the baby AND the family.

Drama Queen . . . and I use this term lovingly because she is precious as well as a handful (all 2 pounds of her) . . . has not had the easiest course as far as NICU babies go. Her mom was visiting with her while I worked with my other patient last night when a family member of the patient next to DQ looked at her and had (what appeared to mom) a terrified look on his face.

Now, to be completely fair, if you've never seen a baby this premature, it IS QUITE intimidating/scary/terrifying/fill in your own adjective here. BUT . . . it's not appropriate to make that face at a stranger's baby. I missed this encounter, and I have to admit that the mom of DQ handled it with so much more grace than I probably would have in that situation. When I finished with my other patient, she told me what happened - all the while smiling. Then she said it -

"If he could only see how far she has come!"

DQ is almost a month old and has grown quite a bit from where she began. Yes, she still has way too many wires and tubes for any baby to have, but she is alive, looks around, and smiles occasionally. Last night, we celebrated as we played "beauty shop" . . . we placed a pink bow on her head and she was allowed to wear a little shirt for the 1st time in her life. It was so exciting, and MANY pictures were taken (much to DQ's displeasure - NOT a fan of flash photography!!).

This brave mom - so content with being able to touch her baby occasionally (yep, DQ is still much too sick to get out of her incubator for mom to hold) - having the poise to overlook other's offensive looks with a smile.

Perhaps this other patient's family member was looking on, feeling sorry for her or looking on with a sudden realization of how blessed he was that the baby he was here to visit was doing so well. I obviously don't know his thoughts. I have to catch myself so I don't judge him for hurting my patient's mom's feelings. I'm reminded of what a mother once said while talking at a conference - giving us (the medical-type people) a view "from the other side". . . "My son may not be your sickest patient, but he IS my sickest child." That statement struck me and hasn't left my mind since I heard it years ago.

It's SO easy to focus so much on the medically most unstable patient on your list that the family members of the other patients can feel neglected. Not that they aren't receiving the attention they need, but that you're at the other patient's bedside so much more - almost like it's a contest of who gets the most time with the nurse. Whenever I'm in that type of situation, I have to take a deep breath as that quote comes to mind. It (on most days!!) helps me not get frustrated with the person who needs help to change their baby's diaper so urgently while my other patient is crashing and burning.

Life really is about perspective!!

I truly LOVE my job. The quote at the top really says it all for me! I SO ENJOY time with babies and children. It's refreshing to me . . . even when they keep me running for 12 hours during the night like DQ has done the last 3 nights. :-) It's just so amazing to me when God uses someone completely unexpected to show me the depth of his love for me . . . for all of us. He not only sees where I've come from and where I am . . . yet loves me anyway, but He also sees what my future holds and the plans He has for me. A parent's love is a wonderful picture of God's love for us. I got to see yet another glimpse of that the past 3 nights with Drama Queen and her precious mom.

A Work in Progress

2008-07-17T20:25:00.002-04:00

Since I have been a little under the weather lately, I haven't done much exploring . . . hence the lack of fun Virginia/DC area pictures and adventures. A positive from this is that it has forced me to stay home for several days in a row . . . What better time to work on my scrapbook?!?

It's quite apparent to me, now, that the past two years of traveling are NOT going to fit in one book! I'm sure that's obvious to most people, but I thought I might could get it all in. Well, I have one page left before I start needing the "refill/extra pages", and I'm almost finished with my 1st contract. :-) I'm guessing this project will end up being a "few volumes".

I got tired of cutting, gluing, and arranging/re-arranging/re-arranging yet again this afternoon, so I stopped and took pictures of what I have so far. Here's a sneak peek of the scrapbook . . . definitely a work in progress!

THIRTY . . . and 2

2008-07-13T22:35:00.007-04:00

Does anyone else hear the Jaws theme song in the background?!? Well, it happened on Friday . . . I turned 3 whole decades old!! I remember when I thought 20 was "OLD" and 30 was "one foot in the grave". Well, I'm hear to tell you, it's NOT the end of the world! It was actually a nice day. (aside from being sick and having no voice) :-)

I went home for a couple days to celebrate/mourn (depending on how you look at it) this milestone. Admittedly, I'm not where I thought I'd be at this age. In most respects, I'm in a better place, though. I've gotten to do and see amazing things as well as meet incredible people, and for this I am grateful! Friday night, we had some family over for a cookout and cake. YUM!!

My dad (the Grill Maestro) and Papa Joe

It was great to visit with everyone and hear updates from their lives. After everyone left, I got out my new birthday toy and played a little. Fellow croppers, card makers, and otherwise crafty people . . . prepare to drool a little! :-)

Yep . . . my amazing parents got me a Cricut. How fun is that?!?!? Of course I had to play with it a little before going to bed that night. :-) I guess the thrill of playing with new toys doesn't go away with age. It was a great few days at home, and now I'm back in Virginia resting up to go back to work - hopefully tomorrow night (if my voice decides to return).

So . . . this brings me to another type of anniversary that happens to be today. I left Texas 2 years ago this morning to start this thing called "travel nursing". It's funny to think that I'm about 10 miles west of where I was on this exact day last year.

One of the tigers at the National Zoo

I started this "travel year" living in Arlington, VA, and working in DC. Now, I'm finishing up the "travel year" living in Fairfax, VA, and working in Falls Church, VA. (literally 10 miles down the road) I spent the majority of this year in North Carolina, though.

I got to work at a hospital in Greenville, NC, from last August through this March. Needless to say, I really enjoyed living in North Carolina. So, here are a few shots from the past year.

My little piece of heaven . . . Ocracoke Island

One of the many NC lighthouses

Neuse River near Raleigh

Now, back to the DC area . . .

Our Capitol on a beautiful day

That's my year in a nutshell. It's been a mostly good year, and it's fun to complete my traveling in the same place (well, almost) that I started it two years ago. Like coming full circle. :-) Now, the "fun" task of finding a real job.

Happiness!!!!

2008-07-09T19:28:00.003-04:00

Bebo Norman's newest project releases September 16th!!!! :-)

Time to start saving my pennies!

Happy 4th of July!!

2008-07-07T00:16:00.005-04:00

. . . a few days late. :-) I hope you had a terrific holiday weekend. It's probably my 2nd favorite holiday of all (Christmas, of course, being the 1st!) in spite of my dislike for sudden, loud noises - i.e. fireworks. Although, I like them more now than I ever have. I guess my ears are getting less sensitive with age. :) So, here's my weekend in a nutshell . . .

I worked Thursday night, so I slept a good part of Friday. But, when I woke up, I went to my friends' house near here for a cook out and some neighborhood fireworks. They have two kids under the age of 5 (Oh, if we could bottle that energy we'd be millionaires!!). They were SOOOO cute watching the fireworks from the window of the living room. They were squealing with excitement every time one would go off. We just laughed & laughed at them. I LOVE seeing things through the eyes of children. It's so enlightening and refreshing!

Saturday, I went to a local minor league game with a friend who had come to see downtown DC. The Washington Nationals were out of town for the weekend (ironic since they play in our nation's capital, oh well), so we went to their single A team, the Potomac Nationals. Anyways, it was a close game. The two teams seemed equally matched, but the visitors bested us by just one point in the top of the 9th. I can't say that I was too sad, though, because the other team was a farm team for my Houston Astros. It was a fun time. The picture to the left is of their mascot "Uncle Slam". A little scary if you ask me, but the kids seemed to like him. :-) I must give credit where credit is due . . . the "sounds person" (the person who plays the scenario-appropriate songs and sound effects) was incredible at this stadium!! He was johnny-on-the-spot with song/sound clips for everything. It was VERY entertaining! After the game, they put on a "fantastic fireworks show." And it's in quotes because that's how they announced it throughout the game. I thought that was funny, but it was really a great show! It lasted 15-20 minutes, and they had some fun patriotic music playing over the speakers to make it perfect for the holiday weekend.

Today, we spent touring downtown DC. It was fun to see all the July 4th decorations that were still up. There's just something special about being there on the birthday of our great nation. It's insanely crowded (in spite of all the rain & thunderstorms), but it's SO worth it. There's excitement in the air. Anyways . . . here are a few of my favorite pictures from today.

The Executive Office Building

One of the MANY flags along the Vietnam Wall

And, what's a trip to DC without a picture of the Washington Monument?!?

I hope you had a terrific weekend playing with friends and family!

Shuttles, Trains, and Automobiles

2008-06-25T22:46:00.009-04:00

There's a first time for everything, right? One of my friends from the hospital in Dallas and her husband moved to Richmond, VA, last year, and they just moved into their new house last weekend. She invited me for a visit to see their new home, and she suggested that I try using Amtrak instead of driving to save money. So, after much internet research on the local shuttle buses, Metro, and Amtrak, I bought a ticket and packed my bag.

I left my apartment with plenty of time to spare Tuesday morning to catch the local shuttle that would drop me off at the closest Metro station. After a couple of Metro trains, I ended up at the Union Station in DC. I'm a little paranoid about punctuality and being late - have been all my life. For me, on time is what other's consider about 10 minutes early. Well, I overshot that by about 2 hours Tuesday morning! Yep, I arrived at Union station 1 1/2 hours before my train was scheduled to leave . . . about 2 hours before it actually left. (Little did I know that Amtrak has the opposite problem of punctuality . . . in that they aren't!) Oh well.

I don't remember visiting Union Station in DC before. Once I printed out my boarding passes and found where I would board the train, I decided to meander through the station. One of my friends had told me about it a few days before I went, but it still blew my mind at the grandeur of it all!!

Of course, I HAD to get a picture of the station clock! :-) (perhaps some of the people in charge should pay attention to this informative piece of art) I digress . . . ALL of those statues appear to be life-size, and there are probably a hundred of them all around the foyer. I loved all the skylights and windows there. It really opened up the space. The front area had some specialty shops with unique artifacts from different countries. Between the grand entrance and the trains was a small mall. It was pretty amazing.

We did finally board the train, and they actually shouted "All aboard!" :-) How fun is that?!? I've never traveled by train before, so this was a fun adventure for me. Thankfully, I got a window seat so I could watch the scenery. Our 1st stop was in Alexandria where I got a great shot of the Mason's Lodge. (or whatever it's called)

Our next stop was in Fredricksburg, but I could get a good picture with all the trees outside my window. It looked very quaint. Next, we had a stop at Quantico where I took a quick picture for my Sean-Sean.

It seems like there was one more stop before Richmond, but I can't think of what it was right now. There were some beautiful "doll house" homes in a town called Ashland. I tried to get pictures of them, but we were going too fast for the pictures to turn out. I'll have to remember to go back there sometime!

We arrived in Richmond about 20 minutes after when we were scheduled to arrive, so my friend was there waiting. Bless her heart! We had such a great visit - sharing everything from war stories from work (she's also a NICU nurse) to overseas travel. She also took me on a driving tour through downtown Richmond. It's a really nice city - and VERY small (especially for being the capital of VA). We talked non-stop, catching up on each other's lives. Needless to say, we didn't get one single box unpacked!!!!

A pretty lake we crossed on our return trip to DC

York dropped me back at the local train station this afternoon for my homeward bound adventure. Well, (no surprise here) the train was about an hour late. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem for me on my day off. An annoyance, yes, but a problem, no. Well, in my "great planning" of the trip, I decided to take the shuttle from my apartment to the Metro station like I said before. The problem arises in the fact that the shuttle only runs during rush hours (granted, up here that means between 3PM & 7:30PM for the evening runs). I had timed my return train ride to arrive in DC by 5PM, getting me to my Metro station to pick up the shuttle by around 5:30PM. Even if the train was a little late, I still had until 7:05PM to get to the last shuttle. (I'm sure you can see where this is going.) With my train being an hour late, I missed the last shuttle. Great . . . stranded at the Metro station as it's starting to get dark.

Thankfully, the night before I left, God prompted me to go get a little more cash to take on my trip. I didn't think I'd need it, but I went ahead and found the ATM. Yay, GOD! Once again, He's taking care of me in all my little adventures!! After wandering around the Metro station for a little bit, I found the taxi line, and a nice man from Ghana gave me a rather expensive ride back to my apartment. No complaints; I got home!! (and that extra cash came in VERY handy!!)

All in all, it was a great trip. Next time, I probably will try to get an earlier return trip in case it's delayed again. Maybe I'll even try a longer trip sometime. The only draw back for riding a train is that I can't sing along with my music without getting some strange looks from those around me! :-) I'm so used to being alone in my car and belting it out whenever the mood strikes that I had to keep catching myself while on the train - especially at the particularly moving or exciting parts of a song.

Moral of the story . . . if you have a LOT of free time to travel to a destination and if you love pretty scenery, I highly recommend taking a train! Have a great day!!

Amazing Weather Day

2008-06-17T21:52:00.002-04:00

In case you don't follow the Northern Virginia/DC weather (which, why would you since you don't live here?) :), today was completely uncharacteristic for this time of year! I'm not sure if it even reached the 80's!! Thankfully, I had the day off and decided to take full advantage of the beautiful weather . . . yeah, I went back to the District to sight see. :~)

When I was working up here last summer, the statue on top of the Capitol dome was being worked on, so it had scaffolding all around . . . not great for pictures. I noticed that the scaffolding was gone when I was there a couple of weeks ago, so I went to that end of the Mall to get a couple of pictures. Some of them actually came out okay.

From there, I started back towards the White House. It wasn't long before I stumbled upon the National Gallery of Art. I've never been in there (at least that I remember), so I went. Some of it wasn't exactly my taste (I'm more into the classics than modern art for the most part), but there were several rooms that I just sat down in to admire the talent. Amazingly enough, they allowed photography in a few of the areas. Here is a little peak into the gallery:

One of the cool things in the classic area was that an artist was there with his canvas, easel, and brushes recreating one of Monet's pieces. He's very talented, and I enjoyed watching him for a while. It reminded me of watching some painters on PBS (i.e. Bob Ross & Gary Jenkins) with my dad growing up. People amaze me with their natural artistic abilities!

After leaving the gallery, I was on Pennsylvania Ave., and I was hungry!! Thankfully, there are several places to eat along that road. (horray for Potbelly Sandwich Works!) After getting a full tummy, I continued on my way past the F.B.I. building. I love that they always have beautiful flags lining the outside of their building. Seeing all of them brings such a sense of patriotism.

Aren't they pretty in the sunlight?

Just past the White House on the west side is one of the smaller of the Smithsonian's called the Renwick Gallery. It has "unique jewelry". At least that's how they advertise it, and never was a truer statement made. It seemed (at least to me) to be jewelry for looking at and not for wearing. It looked most uncomfortable! Unfortunately, more for this next part than for the jewelry, I wasn't allowed to take pictures in this gallery. On the 2nd floor, there is what appears to be a grandfather clock covered with a white sheet - like they used to do when someone in the house/family passed away. For those of you who know about my clock obsession, this piece fascinated me! I actually read the sign that went with it! (I know, don't pass out on me, mom) :) As it turns out, it's not really a clock, but a piece of wood carved to look like a grandfather clock covered with a sheet. ALL of it was carved out of just one piece of wood!! Even standing inches away from it, I couldn't tell that the "sheet" was really wood - the curves and wrinkles were so real looking. Absolutely amazing! Apparently, this artist has an entire collection of art with clocks as the theme. Something I'll need to look into.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

2008-06-15T14:42:00.003-04:00

Dancin' with Dad :-)

Dad's are SO important, and they completely deserve to be celebrated! Unfortunately, I'm not able to spend the day with my dad today since I'm living in Virginia. They're having bar-b-q with the family this afternoon, which sounds WONDERFUL!!

I'm so blessed to have a Godly, loving dad. I know I don't even realize how blessed I am because I've never had anything but this. So, if you're a dad, thank you for ALL that you do to care for your children and lead them "in the way they should go." If you're not a dad, I hope you find a special way to celebrate your dad or father figure today.

Here are some of the important "fathers" in my life:

P.S. I don't have a picture of my Grandaddy on my computer so I could put it in the slide show, but I'm so grateful for him! I've been blessed to have 3 wonderful grandpas my entire life! :-)

Guilty Pleasures :)

2008-06-14T21:48:00.006-04:00

Today turned out to be a day of self indulgence! After a quick trip to the post office this morning, I set out to find a coffee shop for a yummy, Saturday morning treat. Much to my joy, there are SEVERAL Caribou Coffee places near my apartment!! :-)

Along with delicious coffee, they serve a cinnamon roll muffin . . . and yes, it's so good it's sinful!!!! It basically consists of 3 small cinnamon rolls fused together on top of a cinnamon muffin base. YUM doesn't begin to describe that phenomenon!!!! Since the weather was so nice this morning, I sat outside with my coffee, muffin, and a book that my friend mailed to me this week. What a great way to spend a couple of hours!

After a little while, I decided to walk around the area to see what stores were in that shopping center. It's like an outdoor mall similar to one that opened in Garland just before I left Texas a couple of years ago. Window shopping is fun, and it's always nice to see new stores and what they have to offer.

When I got hot, I came back home, cleaned a little around here, and then headed to my friends' house for a visit. There is a restaurant near them that serves the closest thing to Tex-Mex that we've found outside of the Friendly State. So, we frequent this place! (great supreme nachos!!!!) The kiddos were SO much bigger than I remember. Yeah, I realize that happens, but it always surprises me to see how much they grow in just a year. :)

After supper, we went back to the house and played/visited for a while. The kids put blankets on their backs and transformed into Super Sarah and Super Ethan. (although Ethan removed his cape before I was able to get my camera) They're SO cute! I love being able to visit with them more while I'm in Virginia again.

So, to complete my day of indulgence, I'm having ice cream while watching some baseball. Doesn't get much better than that! I hope you're having an exceptional weekend, too! :-)

Opening Day for Tourist Season . . .

2008-06-08T21:16:00.004-04:00

at least for me! :-) I had planned to go to the National Aquarium in Baltimore this afternoon after church, but the weather was just TOO pretty to be cooped up in a building - even a building filled with enormously, fun fish tanks. So, I instead caught the closest Metro train and went back to downtown DC. Amazingly enough, each time I go there I see something new (as well as some old favorites).

Mandy, this one's for YOU!! :-)

I went by the Red Cross Building, which is dedicated to the "women of the Civil War" (a.k.a. the nurses). Yay Nurses!! I ended up going to the art museum on the Mall, and then came back home.

For some reason, lampposts fascinate me - especially ornate ones. I noticed this one day last summer while walking around downtown. I asked one of my friends if it's weird to be focusing on them while surrounded by such things as our nation's Capitol, the White House, the Washington Monument, etc. I was told (& this is pretty much a direct quote), "Well, Jenn, I wouldn't say it's normal." Too funny!! I know it's strange, but it amazes me that they put so much thought into the lampposts along the street or fences surrounding buildings. So, to share this fascination of mine, I've made a slide show of the ones I saw today - at least the pretty ones.

Finally, I couldn't resist snapping a picture of this stranger who found the "DC cool zone"! (like at Six Flags with all the spritzers)

This was at the art museum I went to. There's a fountain in the middle of the circular building, and it became a spritzer when the wind hit the water just right.

Mi casa es su casa!

2008-06-07T12:00:00.004-04:00

I took a few pictures of my new apartment the other day after 'tidying up' a little. :) Now that I have functioning internet service, I am able to actually upload the picture slideshow. Enjoy!!

Unexpected Visitors

2008-06-06T17:40:00.008-04:00

So, we have these Canadian Geese that are hanging out around here - swimming in the lakes, squawking (what exactly does a goose say anyway?), and pooping everywhere. I keep expecting them to head on back north. After all, I think it got close to the 90's today . . . WAY hotter than I'd think they're used to up in the frigid land called Canada.

Anyways, Wednesday night during all the storms, I was sitting at my dining room table doing some orientation paperwork while watching the sky for that all-telling green color we all know and fear. (it didn't come to the sky at my apartment thankfully!) I was lost in concentration - or day dreaming - when something caught my eye. It was a gaggle of gees on my patio!! I grabbed my camera and quickly took a picture as they were looking into my dining room at me. A couple of the brave ones came right up to the screen door. Too cute!

I went back to what I was doing, and they went on their way. Then, about 20 minutes later, back they came with their friends and family. I couldn't get a good picture of the big group since they were running by - probably to get back to their home as the storm was picking back up again. It just made me laugh that they felt the need to check out the new kid in the neighborhood. The babies are pretty big, but their wings aren't that big yet. I'm not sure what the prerequisites for flying back to Canada are, but they'll be cute to watch until they have to leave. I only wish they'd have the courtesy to NOT poop on my patio!! :~) It's kinda gross.

By the way, I have taken several pictures of my new apartment . . . too many to post individually on here. So, I'm trying to get a 'blog slideshow' made (stealing the idea from my blogging cohorts out there). The only problem is that with my TOTALLY unreliable and weak internet service right now, it's not working. I should be able to use the new service starting this weekend, so you can check back next week some time if you want to see my new digs.

I hope you have a terrific weekend!!

Road Trip . . . In a Nut Shell

2008-06-01T17:04:00.008-04:00

After much ado, we reached Fairfax, VA, on Saturday afternoon around lunchtime. YEA!! My dad was able to take off a couple of days to help me with the trip up here and the unloading of 'Roony' (always a difficult chore). THANK YOU!!!! I can't put into words how nice it was to have someone to share the driving with . . . not to mention having someone to unload my car for me!

We left the metropolis of Noonday, Texas, :) Thursday morning for our "final destination" (at least that day) of Birmingham, AL. We arrived just in time to get to the ballpark and watch the Barons play some ball. It was a pretty close game which is always fun. When we pulled into the parking lot, we saw the Drumstick ice cream truck. They were giving away FREE ice cream!! :D Needless to say, we got one. (I know, I know . . . dessert before supper.) We did get some supper later.

Much to my joy, this ballpark had the baseball helmet ice cream cups. Since I'd just eaten a drumstick, I asked the man if I could just buy the cups. He said yes, which made me very happy!

Friday morning, we started out on our LONG drive day. It wasn't supposed be longer than Thursday, but we got to sit in some traffic a couple of places. Oh well, part of the road trip fun! :) When we arrived in Georgia, we stopped at the welcome center to pick up our Georgia state map. Little did we know it was Georgia On My Mind Day. This means that vendors from hotels and attractions were set up at all the welcome centers giving away free stuff. (If you're a nurse, you understand my utter excitement when I saw all the free pens!!!!) We spent more time than we'd planned looking around there, but it was fun and nice to walk around a little . . . you know, break up the monotony of driving halfway across the country.

After spending a few hours enjoying the roads of Georgia, we passed the South Carolina State Line. South Carolina wasn't having any special event, so we just picked up our map and went on our way. Starting just east of Birmingham that morning, we started noticing that the number of Cracker Barrel restaurants were increasing exponentially. By the time we hit South Carolina that afternoon, we were seeing them about every 10-15 miles!! Unbelievable!!!!

Moral of the story: If you're ever in need of several Cracker Barrel restaurants in a small area, go drive on I-20 east of Birmingham and I-85 north of Atlanta!

Finally, later that afternoon, we made it to North Carolina. Durham was our "final destination" for Friday in the hopes that we'd get to watch the Durham Bulls play that evening. Well, due to the aforementioned traffic delays, we didn't hit Durham until too late to watch the game. Instead, we walked around Target for a little while, got some supper, and went back to the hotel to rest up for the final day of travel on Saturday.

It only took a couple of hours to get to the Virginia state line after leaving Durham Saturday morning.

Of course, we stopped at the welcome center to get our state map, and then we continued north to complete our journey. Inside the center, they had the cutest benches with the state of Virginia on the back, so I snapped a quick picture. :)

It was only about an hour, maybe an hour & a half, to reach Richmond, VA, the place where we joined the other travelers on the ever-dreaded I-95!! (hearing panicked screams in the background . . .) MUCH to my surprise (and GREAT JOY), there wasn't much traffic along the road. In reality, for that area, I wouldn't even consider it a little trafficky - just normal driving. What a blessing!! When I took this route (going in the opposite direction) last year leaving the DC area, the ~90 miles from DC to Richmond took me around 4 hours!! So, needless to say, this was the part of the trip I dreaded most. Once again, God took care of the details and got us to the apartment complex, checked in, and inside my apartment just in time before the complete deluge of rain that started about 5 minutes after we closed the door to my apartment! (I'm not kidding . . . the creek behind my apartment was dry one minute and then rushing with about a foot deep of water the next!!) It was a quick storm, though, so it didn't really delay us in moving my stuff into the apartment.

Later last night, we did some exploring to find where my grocery store, Target (yes, knowing where my closest Target is located constitutes a necessity) :), and hospital were located. This morning, we got to go back to my church. I absolutely fell in love with this church when I lived up here during my first 2 contracts back in 2006. I was able to get involved there again last summer while I was living in the area for a few months, and I'm looking forward to jumping back in with both feet this time! :D

After church, we went to lunch, and then did a little more exploring of the area. We weren't looking for anything in particular today, just seeing what's around here. Then, I had to drop my dad off at the airport so he could get back to Texas and work this week. So, I've been sitting out on my patio (the place I get the best signal on my phone & computer oddly enough) enjoying the weather and the squirrels playing most of the evening. I can't get over how nice and cool the weather is here!!

I have a few more things to unpack and clean up in my apartment, and then I'll take some pictures of it and the view out my back patio to post. It's an amazing area! I hope you had a terrific weekend and that this will be a great week for you! Please keep me in your prayers as I learn a new hosptial/NICU . . . always a challenge! Thank you! :~)

Fun Family Times

2008-05-28T10:14:00.010-04:00

The past week has been one big party! Last Thursday, my dad celebrated his birthday . . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!! We celebrated by going to lunch with my Papa Joe (dad's dad) and then going to see the new Indiana Jones movie that evening.

After the movie, it was time for homemade pecan pie and presents - YAY!! :~)

Friday, we left for the Piney Woods for my "little brother's" wedding rehearsal. He arrived back in Texas from Twenty 9 Palms in California (Marine Base) late Thursday night. What a special honor to be a part of this happy time in their lives. I used to keep Sean (the groom) and his little brother . . . talk about making me feel OLD seeing him back from Iraq and getting married!!!! We got to visit with some great friends from Livingston over the weekend.

Sunday morning, we got up early, went to an early service, and then headed to the ballpark . . . Go 'stros!!

I didn't get around to taking our group picture (oops), but I did get my ice cream in a helmet! Unfortunately, not all ballparks (ie The Rangers' Ballpark in Arlington :P ) are offering the helmet of ice cream this year. The Astros have the traditional black helmet with the red star, but they also offer a red & black helmet this year. YAY!! These will be nice additions to my helmet collection. :~)

After the game ended (very poorly for my 'stros, by the way), we had some supper and went further south to Galveston to walk along the beach.

We were going to ride the ferry, but it got too late. Maybe next time. :-) Monday morning, we went to Johnson Space Center. I had NO idea how much there was to see and do there! We got there when the doors opened, and we left 6 hours later . . . exhausted, and still having not seen everything there!

Mom, Papa Joe, and me waiting to board the tram ride.

This is Old Mission Control. It's the room they used for all the Apollo missions. It's the room where they received those 2 VERY famous messages from space: "That's one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind." (Neil Armstrong) and "Hey Houston, we've had a problem here." (James A. Lovell, Jr.) The picture's a little blurry, but you can see what limited technology they had to work with. Obviously, no email was available, so they used the same type of tube system that bank drive thrus use to get information spread quickly. It amazes me what they were able to accomplish!!

This ball was used for the 1st pitch of the 2002 World Series Game. The players from the All Star Game that year signed the ball before shipping it to space to be used for the World Series. An astronaut (Peggy Whitson) threw it while up in the International Space Station as the "1st pitch". How cool is that?!?

After we left Space Center Houston, we came back home and collapsed. It was a busy and fun several days! I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend, too! :-)

Thank You . . .

2008-05-27T00:07:00.003-04:00

"all gave some, . . .

and some gave all"

Spoiled & Sunburned

2008-05-19T11:17:00.007-04:00

Dad, Me, and Papa Joe at Game 1 of the Lone Star Series

So, Friday afternoon, the three of us headed west to Arlington for some fun with the boys of summer! Have I mentioned that I LOVE BASEBALL?!?!?!? :~) These intrastate rivalries are always the best because there's so much passion among the fans in the stands . . . Are you an 'astro' or 'ranger'? It was rather obvious by the team jersey's, hats, pants, etc. As you can see by our picture, we were a house divided. Growing up in the Dallas area, we mostly went to Rangers' games - back in the good ol' days with Nolan Ryan pitching, Steve Buechele, Ruben Sierra, & Pete O'Brien knocking them out of the park, and Pudge steady behind home plate.

But, for the last 15 years or so, I've been more aligned with the Astros - mostly because they're National League. I think everyone should have to at least try to hit the ball with the bat. After all, they are being paid MILLIONS to play a game for a living! :~) (please excuse the rant!) What I've decided to do with this "split" in my thought process is that I root, root, root for the home team . . . whichever ballpark I might be in for these games.

This worked well for me last weekend since the Ranges gave the Astros a rather large loss on Friday night. This means my team won!! It was an amazing game. We had just about everything you can have during a game in those 8 1/2 innings, and the Rangers came out on the happy end of the 16-8 score. YEA!!

During the National Anthem, we had a helicopter flyby since Armed Forces Day was on Saturday. There were 4 helicopters, and this was the last of them leaving the stadium.

This may sound strange to you, but I've always enjoyed watching the grounds' crews at baseball parks. It amazes me how they mow patterns into into the fields. (especially the huge socks at Fenway) So, I usually snap a picture or two of them smoothing out the sand with their chains or watering down the field. A fresh ballpark is SO pretty!

Now, to the title of this post. . . the "spoiled" part. I don't think I've ever mowed the lawn. Growing up, Saturday morning chore time consisted of my sister and I doing our individual lists, my mom doing the stuff we couldn't, and my dad doing the yard work. The extent of my yard work was when I planted a garden back in junior high. My parents bought the supplies, tilled the earth, took care of the plants, and picked the harvest. I'm pretty sure all I did was put the seeds in the ground. Not the most difficult part of gardening! Like I said . . . spoiled.

All this to say, Saturday morning I actually MOWED the lawn!!!! At least part of it. (Sorry, no pictures of that memorable moment) I learned a couple things about mowing: concentric circles aren't as easy as they look, mowing on a slope . . . a little scary!, and it's DIRTY work when the wind is blowing the cut grass back on you. YUCK!! Let me just say, I have a WHOLE new respect for the grounds' crews at the ballparks! :-)

Being a pasty white (i.e. Burn & Peel rather than tan) skinned person, I have avoided direct sunlight without MUCH sunblock for most of my life. After my lawn-mowing debut, we washed our cars since it was such a gorgeous day. (which, by the way, seems to be the most effective rain dance EVER . . . yeah, it rained most of the evening) To my surprise, my sunblock washed off my arms - apparently fairly early on during the car washing marathon. Needless to say, my arms are glowing!! :-) Oh well, it was a fun day in spite of the painful aftermath.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

2008-05-13T12:36:00.009-04:00

Yeah, I realize it's Tuesday and not Sunday. Oh well. :~) If you're a mom and reading this, I hope you had a very relaxing day being celebrated. If you're not a mom, I hope you were able to honor and celebrate your mom in a special way. We had a busy and fun weekend . . . here goes:

Friday night, some of our good friends from Livingston, Danny & Bea, came up to spend the night so we could all go to their future daughter-in-law's college graduation on Saturday morning. It's always so much fun to be able to just sit and visit/swap stories with them! As an added treat, their youngest son, Kris, came in later that night! I hadn't seen him since Sean got back from Iraq last fall, so that was fun. Saturday morning, after a HUGE breakfast (thanks mom & dad!), we all got ready and went to TJC for Lindzi's graduation.

CONGRATS, LINDZI!!!!

We went to early church Sunday morning, where we got to see baby dedications . . . my FAVORITE!! I love seeing the little ones all dressed up and their parents pledging to raise them in the Lord. After church, we went to my aunt's house in Forney to have our celebration with Granny (my mom's mom).

Don't they make a cute picture?!? We had a great time visiting with each other that afternoon while eating way too much food! Three of Granny's four children were able to come that afternoon, so we got a picture. (shocking, I know, that I'd have my camera poised and ready!)

By the way, congratulations, Jason, on your new job! I hope you're loving it!!

Finally, that night, we came home to celebrate my mom and let her open her cards & gifts. She's a great mom!! :~) I got her the latest book from our favorite author. And yes, there's a little ulterior motive in that gift . . . I get to borrow it when she's done!!

Amy and Ronnie were feeling under the weather, so they weren't able to join us on Sunday. But, they sent mom a gorgeous bouquet at work earlier during the week. It's still SO pretty sitting on our kitchen table.

Finally, that evening, we went out in Dad's wood shop and made Mom a birdhouse. Now, my mom is a bird lover . . . hence the bird bath and bird feeders. But, she's not a lover of the birds that try to build nests on our patios and then make poopy messes all over the concrete! :~) So, my dad got online and found the plans to build a house for this particular type of bird. We made it and finished painting it last night. (That's the real reason I'm late in getting this posted. I wanted a picture of the finished project - not just because I was being lazy yesterday.) :) Hopefully we'll get it up on a pole soon and get rid of the poop mess soon!!

Just a side note: I've had to delay my departure to Virginia for a while due to some health issues, but it's looking like I'll get out there after a few more weeks. YEA! That's why there've been no road trip posts recently. :~) On the plus side, being home longer has allowed me to celebrate mother's day at home and will give me the chance to spend my dad's birthday with him, too! I'll keep you posted . . . no pun intended! :~) [Go ahead and groan; it was a bad one!]

Completely Unrelated

2008-05-06T15:49:00.004-04:00

These two thoughts have absolutely nothing to do with each other. I just wanted to share them and am too lazy to post them separately. :~)

First thought:

I forgot one picture from the Arboretum the other day. While walking around, my dad and I ran across a little 'village' area . . . complete with stick ponies!! Of course, I had to get my picture on one of them.

If only I was about 2 feet shorter, it would have been perfect!! :D

Second thought:

My wonderful friend, Melissa, told me about a blog that I should read called Bring the Rain. It's authored by the wife of Todd Smith, Angie. Todd is one of the members of the Christian Music group Selah (one of my FAVORITES!). The blog is dedicated to their 4th daughter, Audrey. It's beautifully written to glorify God while being real with the emotional trials they face. I deal with parents going through this type of excruciating agony at work, and it's always such an inspiration for me to be shown a family facing unbelievable hardships with continued faith in our Christ!

I HIGHLY recommend this blog! It really has a way of putting day to day trials into perspective. But, be warned . . . it's a long, and VERY emotional read! Have kleenex handy!!