Celebrating Christ!!

Not that I don't celebrate the birth of Christ all year, but it's so special to have a day where I can ponder this miracle. God, became man, and died for me so I can live with Him eternally. wow. Pretty spectacular.

Kyle and I spent Christmas Eve and Day with my family. It's becoming a Simmons tradition for my Daddy to cook a standing rib roast for Christmas lunch. And if I have anything to say about it, I think it is a fabulous tradition. He promptly ushered each new guest over to the oven and showed off his hunk of sizzling meat to everyone as they walked in the door that morning. My grandparents and aunt and uncle came over to join us Christmas day. I attempted to make a white chocolate cheese cake for dessert and it turned out perfect. I was so proud of myself, hehe. It was so nice to have everyone together. We played games and ate and ate and ate and ate.... it had to end a little early for us since I had to work very early the next morning but it was such a great day.

Then after I finally got off work on Saturday we headed to Jacksonville to see Kyle's family. It was a treat to get to see John, Diane and Savannah too!!! We did a lot of good eating at the Fescoe's house too. The homemade ravioli and egg plant rollatini were amazing!!! It was a very nice and relaxing time, I'm so glad my work schedule worked out so we could stay a few days.

Kyle is enjoying his last few days off of work. It has been a very nice 2 week break for him. He has done everything on his honey-do list ;)

Happy New Year everyone!!!


Eric(Lesley's boyfriend), Lesley, Leah, Me and Kyle

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the year!!

We have been very busy with Christmas activities this past week or so!

We enjoyed our town Christmas parade last Sunday. To be such a small town it was quite a long parade. We decided there are about 100 dance studios around here, good grief, they took up at least half the parade. And my Jazzercise studio was in the parade but I decided not to participate because then you don't get to see the rest of the parade. Maybe next year. ;)

Saturday I went to two family Christmas events. Poor Kyle had to work and missed all the fun. The first visit was with my Grandfather's side of the family. That is a very small crowd, and getting smaller every year. It's actually kinda sad to see them all so sick and feeble. But it was still fun and we had a great BBQ meal, can't go wrong with that!

Then my Mom's side of the family had their Main Event at my aunt's house. The whole family was together for the first time in a long time. I have 15 cousins on that side of the family and all of them were there except three. And the cousins brought all their kids too. So there was almost 40 of us total crammed in the house. I love it!! It's crazy but I wouldn't have it any other way! There were three babies there under a year old so I was in heaven. I just went from one baby to the next, totally being a baby hog. hehe. It was so much fun!!

We have one more Christmas party to attend this Saturday and we are excited about that! The theme is "An International Christmas" so we are all bringing foods from around the world. We have it easy, we are doing Chinese!!

And the baking is starting this week as well!! I have a whole list of goodies to make this year, it's going to be yummy!!

Here are some of my favorite pics:

Mom and Dad



Me, Holly and Nevaeh



Lesley, Leah and Kooper(he was being a good listener during the story)


two sweet girls, Joli and Nevi

Just a bunch of randomness

- This is day 12 of a really bad head cold for me. I've never had a cold last this long so it's starting to get quite annoying. It's not the flu, it's not a sinus infection, it's just a mean nasty cold. At least I feel fine now, just dealing with the sneezing and runny nose. yuck. I'm one of those people who can be anti-medicine at times and prefer to just suffer through it but I did end up having to take Tylenol Cold this time.

- My work is requiring that all employees get the H1N1 vaccine or else we have to mask our entire shift even if we don't have a patient, from now until MAY. If we get caught without the mask, we lose our job. Not cool. I'm NOT getting the H1N1 nor did I get the regular flu shot. I don't want it. I will mask dang it. I do think it's completely ridiculous (and probably illegal) to force that on us and threaten our jobs, but whatever. I think this H1N1 is getting a little out of control, they are freaking out and it's quite annoying. They are not requiring the regular flu shot, so why require this? really? We are not a hospital, we are an out patient clinic. I'm not pregnant. (sorry if you had your hopes up) I don't have any other health issues that would put me at high risk. Therefore, I'm not getting the shot. I don't care what they say, doctors are half and half on this vaccine. Some say it's totally safe, some are not so sure. It's probably totally safe and all, I'd rather just not risk it. Thanks anyways.

- I accepted another part-time job this week at Rex Hospital in Raleigh. Not that I remember it, but I was born at Rex Hospital! :) I will pick up a few hours every week as a PRN MRI tech. I will not start until February but I'm already excited about it. I will be learning a whole lot which is cool. I will have to learn new software first of all, Rex has Phillips MRI equipment and I only know how to operate Siemens and GE. Secondly, I will be learning how to do Breast MRI imaging!!!!! It's a pretty new technology and I'm so super pumped about it! The sad part is that all the breast patients we get will have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. That makes me sad but at the same time, this is such a cool technology and I will be helping them diagnose more specifically and help the doctors plan better and more accurate treatment. Awesome!! I will continue working at my current job, at least for a few more months. My hope is that I can start picking up more hours at the new job and kind of phase out of the current job. It's tiring driving so far to work everyday and I've not been too happy there lately anyway.

- We finally finished painting our dining room!!! We still need curtains and a new light and then I will post pics! :)

- We are going over to some friends' house tomorrow night for a Fondue Party. Anything dipped in chocolate or cheese is yum!!! I'm excited!! And I will be going with some girlfriends to a Tea Room on Saturday morning!! yay!! It'll be good for us to get out and do some fun stuff this weekend!

- I'm so anxious for Thanksgiving to get here, I can hardly stand it!!! I have been telling anyone who will listen about how excited I am about going to Myrtle Beach. Definitely one of the highlights of our year! :)

That's all I have for today... hope you're all having a great week!!

Celebrations!

We had a lot to celebrate this past weekend!

First of all, it was our last Upward game!! YAY!! It was a long and tiring season, but it was still good to step out and try something new. We are both glad we did it, but are very thankful for a break!

Coach Kyle and Coach Wes


Charger's football team huddle


My precious girls!


cheering at half-time


sitting on our buckets



We also had a great time at the NC State football game on Saturday! Dad F and Chad drove up and we all went to the game. We met up with Courtney and Heidi at halftime too. It's definitely been hard being a Wolfpack fan this season but they really stepped it up and played a great game! They finally got an ACC win against Maryland so it turned out to be an awesome game to go to!


16 days til Thanksgiving!!!

23 days and counting!

Life still hasn't slowed down much at all for us. This is the last week of Upward and I am so glad it's almost over! It was taken so much of our time the last 3 months. We really need a break and we'll be so happy to sleep in on Saturday mornings again.

I had a really awesome birthday on the 24th! I got lots of special treatment for the whole week. We were actually still celebrating yesterday with my Grandparents who came up to take the whole family out to eat at Olive Garden... they have pumpkin cheesecake right now!!!!! I got lots of cool stuff too, that's what matters, hehe.

This past Saturday was just craziness. It was Parents Day at Upward so I was there first thing in the morning to help put up balloons and decorations in the rain. (Kyle conveniently had to work his Saturday that day) :) The rain eventually went away but it was still kinda miserable being outside the whole day. I was on the football fields from 8am-1pm then I had to walk across the parking lot to the other field where our church was having the Fall Festival. I had to volunteer with that for two more hours. There was over 150 families that came though so it was pretty successful. Then I came home took a shower and hit the coach for all of 10 minutes before I had to get ready for the first batch of trick-or-treaters that came ringing the doorbell. It was only like 5:30pm too, seriously, it's not even close to being dark yet! How annoying, haha. I'm not a big fan of Halloween to start with, so it was extra nice of me to even hand out candy to the 200 people that came by. I really just wanted to eat it all myself but I gave it ALL away, what was I thinking!?!? ;)

Now we are counting down the days until Thanksgiving!!!!!! Whoohoooo!! We are super excited!

Perfectionism!

Hey everyone! Yes, we're still here!!

We have been super busy! We just have a few short weeks left of our Upward season. It has been such a challenge and very time-consuming but it has also been so much fun. Kyle is so proud of his undefeated team, even though we're not keeping score ;)

We are also so thankful for Kyle's recent promotion at work!! He so deserves it, he has worked so hard for the college the last few years and it's about time he got more appreciation and respect.

I have been participating in another Beth Moore Bible study and it's awesome as always. It's a study on the book of Esther, I love it, especially since it's about a WOMAN! yeah! Today's lesson left me feeling so encouraged. I struggle a lot with being a perfectionist. If I can't do it perfect, I tend to not want to do it at all. Sometimes I overcome that and do what I know I should do anyway, but I always stress myself out over everything. It's a major problem, I stress to the point that I can't sleep and end up with migraines. I have so much self-doubt and I'm so insecure over every little thing. Beth's words were exactly what I needed to hear, I thought I would share just in case anyone else could use some encouragement too!

"Do you happen to struggle with perfectionism and perhaps could use a little ministry? Do you feel if you can't do something to perfection, you ought not bother? Do you frequently feel pressure to perform tasks that will result in applause? When you blow it, do you wait a long time before you try again? Do you feel the need to always make an "A"?

A continued stronghold of perfectionism could be a severe detriment to your destiny.

I'm not suggesting we shouldn't do our best. I'm simply saying that sometimes just surviving certain tasks without falling apart is our best and in those times God is not ashamed of our performance. He's proud of us for fighting overwhelming human emotions to do His will. God isn't interested in our stellar performance but in our hearts. He loves our willingness and obedience despite our insecurities."

WOW! Thank you Lord! I so needed to hear that today!

Weekend Get-a-way

Kyle and I had a much needed, relaxing beach weekend. We met up with 5 other couples down at Fort Caswell. The weather was awesome and we got to spend the weekend having fun, getting to know our friends better and talking about marriage stuff since it was a Couples Retreat. The leaders gave us different projects and activities to complete with each other and the hardest one was definitely the Kite contest. Each couple spent Saturday afternoon making a kite that was supposed to fly. They gave us a roll of tape and kite string and we were on our own. We couldn't use anything we brought or buy anything. ha. Building things is most definitely not mine or Kyle's specialty but it was still fun. We failed miserably and the only points we received were for effort and for being on time for the contest. :) Anyway, I know other people took pictures, unlike me, so maybe I can steal some and post them eventually.

Oh yes, and I can't forget to add that this Saturday is our first Upward football game. My 2nd and 3rd graders are so excited and have their cheers all ready to perform. They are going to be so cute in their little uniforms and hair ribbons. I should probably take pictures, haha. And I think Kyle's team is ready for their game, maybe? I think they might have some not-so-athletic kids on their team. haha. That's always fun. Anyway, should be a good time.

PS - I bargained with my manager for the Friday after Thanksgiving off so we are officially Myrtle Beach bound!!! woohoooooo!!! :)

Labor Day Weekend

As usual our weekend was busy!

One of my good friends Jeremy that I've known since middle school got married Saturday! Kyle was a groomsman so Friday we had the rehearsal and dinner (which I missed because I had to work 2 hours late, grrr) and then Saturday was the big day. It was one of the sweetest weddings I've been to. It was a simple, laid-back country wedding, representing Jeremy and Bethany perfectly. I had a few emotional moments, surprise surprise. We are so super happy for them though, especially Jeremy, he's been through a lot and he so deserves to be happy!

Sunday we had a cookout for lunch at my parents house and the g-parents came up! It's always a good time to see them. Then shortly after lunch Kyle and I had to be rude and isolate ourselves on the internet to do our Fantasy Football Draft. It only took an hour and a half, holy cow! But I got my top two picks so it's all good. We are playing with 6 other super competitive people like ourselves so it should be a fun season. And of course we had to finish out the day with the NASCAR race. (My boy Kasey Kahne won btw!)

Thankfully today we both have off work! We could both use some down time. We are super excited about next weekend though. We are headed to Fort Caswell at Oak Island with our newly married Sunday school class!! We haven't been to the beach in a while so we're due to go!

Happy Labor Day everyone!!


The Happy Couple: Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Taylor



US! my hubby cleans up very well ;)

Living Room

We are VERY slowly getting our house together. We are almost finished with the living room and we will then tackle the dining room. We pretty much know what we want to do in each room, it's just a matter of time and money to make it happen.

BEFORE


BEFORE



CHANGES MADE:
Wall color: hot chocolate... similar to what it was, but it needed repainting so we decided to change it slightly
new pillows for couch (Pier One) and "matching" rug (Kohl's)
curtains (Bed, Bath and Beyond)
switched out ugly fan for a plain white one we already had
new brushed silver wall plates

I have the wall decor, just don't have it up yet... we still need to add more seating, roman shades for the back doors, and a new coffee/end tables

But, here is the living room so far...

AFTER


AFTER


AFTER

Too busy!

The last couple of weeks have been way too busy for us! I had to work long hours last week covering for someone who was out on vacation and then our manager got sick and was admitted to the hospital so I had to cover some hours for her too. After all that I basically slept all of Saturday away... I didn't even want to go look at furniture! *gasp*

Kyle and I are both getting ready to start a program at church called Upward. It's a Christian based sports program and our church participates in the football and cheerleading part. I am coaching a 2nd-3rd grade cheerleading team with my sister. hehe. I'm a little nervous about this since I have never coached before, actually I've never had anything to do with cheerleading at all. We have a coaches manual with all the positions, jumps, cheers, etc and a DVD to watch. Practices start next week so hopefully I will have time this week to sit down and study everything. We have ten precious girls on our squad and since it's very low competition it is mostly just for fun. Thank goodness. Kyle is also helping coach a 4th-6th grade football team. I hear they drafted the fasted kid in the league so him and the other coach are super excited. They have already been working on plays and studying the rule book and such so I have a feeling their team is going to be a lot competitive, haha. So that will keep us busy a couple nights a week and every Saturday morning through mid-November!

Well I must get off the computer now and finish getting things ready for our Ladies Luau tonight! The Heart-to-Heart team (I think I blogged about that before...) that I'm a part of is sponsoring this event to get to know our new lady members at church and kick-off the new year by advertising all the upcoming events! My friend and I are responsible for the games and door prizes! I going to try to remember to take pics... we will have women of all ages playing hula hoop games and such :)

Furniture Shopping

Saturday Kyle and I decided to go furniture shopping for the new house! Actually, we decided in advance that we would not buy anything that day, just look! I am kinda bad about buying things in a hurry and then finding something I like better the next day, yeah...

So anyway, it was a very productive day... we did 4 stores in about 3 hours and there were tons of people since it was tax-free weekend. We found a master bedroom suite we love (cherry, sleigh bed style) and coffee/end tables we love too. We have about three more stores we want to go to and then we will make a decision. We were thankful we had some really great sales people too... not the pushy, annoying kind that hover over you while you're trying to look. I just get ticked at them and end up walking out or saying something not so nice to them. We actually felt like they let us walk around and talk about things and we found them if we had questions. I like it that way.

I have really enjoyed fixing up our new house so far and making it ours! It is such a great feeling :)

For my husband

Everyone needs a little encouragement sometimes, this post is in honor of my wonderful husband Kyle. Let me just share a few reasons with you why I love this man so much!

Kyle approached and pursued me. - So many women these days run after men they are interested in, I didn't have to do that. Kyle came up to me the first time we met and called me to ask me out. I love that!

Kyle gave up sleep on Sunday mornings - He learned that if he wanted to see me on Sundays, he had to be at church with me because that's where I was every Sunday. He stepped out of his comfort zone to be with me and in the end fell in love with not just me, but also with our Lord and Savior. Now Kyle is an active and dedicated member at Fairview Baptist Church. Praise God! (btw, this was not forced on him, but highly encouraged)

Kyle can fix my computer - Seriously...I always depended on my Dad to handle that problem, now my hubby can be my hero and repair my computer when I break it ;) To me, that is a big deal.

Kyle is logical - He is my voice of reason when I get a little carried away or overwhelmed.

Kyle is patient - ...with everything, I'm the complete opposite.

Kyle works out for me - He always come home from the gym and makes me feel his muscles. He gets buff for ME! Love it!

Kyle is family oriented - That was big for me when I first met him, our very first date he was already talking about his family. He loves his family and my family, and I know he is going to make a great Dad someday.

Kyle teaches me about sports - I wasn't into sports a whole lot before we met but Kyle is IN to sports. Any sport, any day, anywhere, any player, he is into it. He teaches me a LOT which I find very cool. I'm sure I get annoying with all my questions but he always answers them...over and over.

Kyle lets me have the remote sometimes - He so willingly gives it up and I don't even have to ask. Then he doesn't leave the room, he watches my shows with me. How awesome is that?!?!

Kyle is trustworthy - Kyle can keep a secret way better than I can :) And I know he doesn't tell anything I don't want him to, men are much better at that than women, that's for sure.

Kyle supports me - A job decision, a house decision, a church decision, anything... Kyle listens to me, has great advice and stands behind me when I make a decision

Kyle loves food - and so do I. He is not a picky eater, thank goodness! I don't think I could live with a picky eater... the foods he doesn't like, I don't like either, hehe.

Kyle takes care of my car - Kyle keeps track of all my car stuff and washes it for me... and he does a good job... it takes him at least 2 hours to wash my car, clean the tires, check the oil, etc. I greatly appreciate that.

Kyle helps me with house cleaning - Kyle often does the dishes and vacuuming is his thing! He doesn't expect me to do it all!

Kyle goes shopping with me - even when he doesn't want to, and that includes grocery shopping too!

There are tons more reason why I love Kyle, this is just a very short list. The petty arguments that come from two imperfect people trying to live together will never outweigh the love we have for each other. I am so blessed to have him in my life and I am proud to call him my husband!

I LOVE YOU KYLE!!

Deeper Still

I had the awesome privilege of going to a Deeper Still women's conference this weekend with my mom, sister and aunt. I love me some christian women's conferences, they are truly the highlights of my year. I can't even describe the encouragement, joy and refreshing that comes from these events. There were 11,000 women packed into the Greensboro collesium for two days and we praised God like nobody's business. Beth Moore has been my one of my favorite Bible teachers for years now and joining her were Kay Arthur and Priscilla Shirer... not to mention Travis Cottrell's praise team. You can't go wrong with those three ladies. Three different personalities and three different teaching styles make for one fun and exciting time. It does the heart good to see such strength in these ladies and they are on fire for God, they bring it everytime. It was so cool to see 11,000 other Christian women there too, there are many times I feel like I'm alone in where I stand, but I am so not the only one. I could hardly stay in my seat when Kay Arthur was talking about the downward spiral this country is in and how God's hand of judgement is on us because our cup of iniquties is overflowing. I so wanted to jump out of my seat and embarass myself my yelling "preach it sister"....but I didn't, don't worry. I laughed my head off at Priscilla's "mommy" stories and of course I enjoyed every minute Beth Moore had the stage. Great weekend!!

Sunday was also another fun day when Kyle's parents, Chad, Courtney and my family came for a visit. We had a cookout and had a really great lunch and family time. Donna had tons of decorating ideas for the new place also, which I loved!!

The living room is FINALLY painted, after a week of working on it in bits and pieces! One room down...12 to go, hehe. Now I just have to get my curtains, furniture and decorations and we're good.

I will leave you all with this bit of encouragement I got from the weekend:

"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

God can do ANYTHING, believe Him for it.

Us with Priscilla Shirer


Priscilla, Kay and Beth picking on each other


Priscilla and Beth trying to rap on stage...too cute

Happy 50th Dad!

We had a surprise 50th birthday party for my Dad yesterday! We had most of the family and lots of friends over to my parents house for some good ole NC bbq, fried chicken, slaw, potato salad, hush puppies, baked beans, etc... and a delicious cake! It was a lot of fun... especially the sideshow with tons of embarrassing pics of Dad through the years, hehe.

HAPPY 50th BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!!!

We moved!!!

We just got our internet hooked up yesterday... that's right, 4 whole days without the internet. I thought I was going to die.

The closing went well on Friday and we moved in on Saturday. Just a few minor set backs along the way but no major problems so far. We still have quite a few boxes to unpack but overall it looks great in here! We are going to start painting and decorating next week and I can't wait! I'm so excited to give the house a make-over and make it mine!!

On a funnier note... we introduced our indoor-only kitty to the great outdoors and she has proven to be quite the princess. She is refusing to walk across the grass at this point, it apparently feels funny to her soft, sensitive, INDOOR paws... she would rather sit in the garage for 8 hours than run around and play in the yard. She just sits and cries at the door to come in or sleeps on the stairs. Bless her heart, she acts so deprived. I've already explained to the neighbors about the situation so they don't think we are evil. She WILL learn to love the outdoors!

I will post pics soon, I promise!

Softball and moving

Kyle's softball team from church was in a local tournament yesterday. Kyle was at the ball fields from 8:30am-8:30pm...long day! I went for the first two games and came back home with a friend. They won a couple of games though and had a really fun time. This officially ends their softball season until next spring though. :/

Friday night was super exciting though, we went and bought a new fridge and stove for the new place! We got a good discount and free delivery, whoo hoo! I love the ones we picked out though, I can't wait to cook on my brand new stove. There's just something about new appliances, even going into an older house, it feels new to me... and like it's really my own. We decided to go with black appliances since the new microwave the sellers put in was black and the dishwasher is black... I don't like white... and stainless steel was a little more than I wanted to pay for ALL new appliances. So black it is.

We have a walk-though of the house on Wednesday, we close on Friday and move in on Saturday! Yipee! =)

July 4th!

We had a super fun weekend in Atlanta visiting some of my family!

We got there Friday afternoon and cooked out hamburgers and hot dogs of course! The weather was so nice we spent most of the evening outdoors playing redneck golf and lounging in the hammock. I got to meet my cousins new baby, Nevaeh. She is only 3 weeks old and she is totally precious! I held her most of the time, hehe... yes, I'm a baby hog.

Saturday we headed out to the lake! My uncle has an awesome boat and he was nice enough to ride us all around all day. We all attempted tubing and some of the brave ones did the wake boarding, I'm too weak to handle that one. It was a beautiful day though, couldn't ask for better weather in July!!! After a long day at the lake we decided not to mess with the craziness in Peach Tree City and opted instead for some smaller fireworks at the house. And my aunt made some homemade ice cream... strawberry and rocky road! Oh my! I was in heaven, forget the fireworks, give me the ice cream. It was still great fun and it makes it so much more fun when you have little kids running around and getting all excited! :) Too bad there wasn't a Braves home game this weekend, but Kyle did get to watch his NASCAR, that was one crazy finish if anybody else out there saw it too! Anyway...it's totally worth the 8 hour trip there and back to spend an awesome time with an awesome family!

We hope everyone else had a wonderful time celebrating our country's independence! Happy 4th of July!

This was so relaxing


Me and sweet Nevaeh


Little cousins with their matching 4th of July outfits


Me and Kyle at the lake


cousins on the boat!


me and Kyle again


ready for the fireworks!

Baseball, weddings and cajas de cartón

What a fun week!!

We finally made it to our first baseball game of the season. We went to support our local Mudcats team with the whole fam. It was a late game so it wasn't so hot and sticky, perfect weather! We really hope to get to a Durham Bulls game too. Maybe soon.

Yesterday was the first wedding of the season. It was hot but still a very nice wedding and thankfully it was indoors! I loveeee weddings! I again forgot the camera, so no pics of us all dressed up!

Cardboard boxes are everywhere! They are lining every wall in our apartment now. YAY!

Friday we are headed to Atlanta to see family for the 4th! I haven't been down there in a couple of years so I'm super excited! We hope everyone else has a fun and safe and Happy Independence Day!!

I'm done!

No, not with packing ;)

With Jon and Kate Plus 8. I'm done. I'm no longer a fan.

This is a blog about my life, and sadly the Gosselin family was a part of my life every Monday night at 9pm. I fell in love with that family four years ago, right from the start. I love big families and those kids are totally adorable.

Their life is a tragedy. They have lost their family, their friends and ultimately their marriage. Fame and fortune took over and turned them into two different people. I was truly about in tears watching the show last night. It was horrible.

Obviously if any of you have seen the tabloids, there is plenty of blame to go around. However, I am most disappointed in Kate. She treated her husband like the ninth child, she degraded him and constantly yelled at him until he gave in to her every wish. He had finally had enough, and while I don't condone what he did, I'm not surprised. Jon himself said last night that he had been too passive and let her rule the roost and do whatever she wanted. Jon wanted to quit the show at the end of last season and Kate said no way. She loves the popularity and the money. I truly believe that Kate should have enough respect for her husband and poor children to have quit the show. Jon hates being on the show and all the attention that it brings. How can a loving wife and mother over look that. Kate said that hopefully their divorce is for the better and that it will bring peace to the family. yeah. right. In my opinion, they have ruined not only their own lives but the lives of those poor innocent children. How terribly sad.

So, I am no longer a fan of Jon and Kate Plus 8. I refuse to watch any more of their shows. I can't support what they have done to themselves and their family. Yes, divorce happens. I get that. But it makes it that much worse to watch it all play out in a real family on TV and see how totally preventable it was for Jon and Kate. What a shame.

**********************************************************************

Enough with the depressing stuff already! Good grief!

Happy Father's Day a little late! We had a great day spending time with some of the daddies in our life. Mine of course, being the best Dad around!

We are 24 days away from closing on our house! I'm running around packing like crazy. I'm pretty sure we are not going to miss this place AT ALL! ...expect maybe the pool and the gym and our friends being so close :)

Have a great week everyone!

HOT weekend!!

It was definitely a hot weekend in NC, not usually this bad until July. It was still is great weekend to be at Race for the Cure in Raleigh. My Mom, sisters and I along with about 12,000 other people participated in the breast cancer event. This was my first time there and it was quite an awesome experience, I intend to be there every year from now on. All of the survivors had a special pink t-shirt they got to wear and it was so neat seeing so many of them. We didn't get to stay for the whole day because we were so hot but we did participate in the One Mile Fun Run. Next year my goal is to step it up and do the Women's 5K. We'll see how that goes :)

and... Happy Birthday to my Momma!!!! She is such a special lady and I greatly enjoyed spending the weekend with her. I hope you had a great birthday weekend Mom, I love you!!


5 weeks left til we move!! The boxes are starting to pile up now! YAY!

6 weeks and counting...

...til we move!! We are getting SOOO excited. I've already started packing too. Some of our friends just moved and they had over 50 brand new boxes they didn't use so they gave them to us. Very cool. We are ready to get in that house and start painting and making it our own.

So we are moving to a town called Fuquay-Varina, (people around here just say Fuquay) ....btw it is pronounced “FEW-quay vuh-REE-nah" It's about 15 minutes from where we currently live. It's a cute, but happening little country town with easy access to the city. I'm definitely not a city girl so I love it! And they have a super Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Chick-fil-A, so we're good. We are just a couple of minutes away from down town Fuquay which we are very happy about. They have some awesome stores and restaurants that I adore. Most of all I love Fuquay because the people in general are so nice! Unlike Cary aka "Relocated Yankeeville" where the people can be quite rude and everything cost too much. I know we are going to really enjoy our new town... if we can ever get there!

We also had a very fun weekend. Friday night we had a social with our Newly-Married class from church. We had homemade ice cream... my fav. Then Saturday morning, Kyle ran in Fuquay's "Run the Quay" 5K challenge. He did awesome and like the wonderful wife I am, I forgot the camera. So I'm stealing some pics from other people.


Fairview Baptist Church group: BEFORE


Running


FBC group: AFTER

Pink Ribbon!

You guys have to watch this video, it's so beautiful!

Weight of the Ribbon

"The gallery reflects the emotional journeys of breast cancer victims in their battles against the disease...from moments of strength and triumph to moments of defense and collapse. Dancers from the Carolina Ballet translate the photographers concept into visual form through distinct expression and movement."

http://www.weightoftheribbon.com/

PS...

I have another quote to add to my list. I was complaining to Momma the other day about how I wish sometimes that certain things in life could just be normal. She tells me in her typical sweet-Mother-way... "Lindsey, normal is just a setting on the dryer." I had to laugh... it's true though.

Quotes!!

I love quotes, don't you?? Here's some recent favs...

"Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the wrong. Sometime in life, you will have been all of these."
- Lloyd Shearer


"Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Grab life by the mane. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion."
- Mark Batterson


"Faith is not clinging to a shrine, but an endless pilgrimage of the heart, audacious longing, burning songs, daring thoughts, an impulse overwhelming the heart, usurping the mind- these are all a drive toward serving Him who rings our hearts like a bell."
- Abraham Joshua Heschel


"If God were small enough to be understood, he would not be big enough to be worshipped."
- Evelyn Underhill.


"Jesus pounds 'Do Not Enter' signs on every square inch of Satan's gate and tells those hell-bent on entering to do so over His dead body."
- Max Lucado


"I have but one candle to burn, and would rather burn it out where people are dying in darkness than in a land which is flooded with lights."
- Anonymous Missionary


"Never let a problem to be solved become more important than the person to be loved."
- Barbara Johnson


"...paying a baby-sitter every couple of Saturday nights is cheaper than paying a marriage counselor."
- Lisa Belkin


"The only thing worse than waiting is wishing you had."
- Paul Sailhammer


"People are not interuptions to my work - people are my work."
(don't know who said it but I have to remind myself of that everyday)


"Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the whole thing looks improbable: but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable."
-C.S. Lewis


"Defending the Bible is like defending a lion - you don't defend the Lion, you just let him loose He'll defend himself!"
- Charles Spurgeon

More reading...

I recently finished up another book...The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. Very interesting book. Not one I would have picked up off the shelf on my own but someone wanted my opinion of it so I read it, very neat stuff. It had some new perspectives I never thought mattered to husbands before. It's an easy read too :)

I like what Dr. Laura says at the end: "Men rescue, repair, provide, protect. Men don't sit, stew, and rehash. Men are active and proactive. They do that out of love, duty, responsibility, and character. That needs to be respected and appreciated if a woman is to have a happy life married to a good man. A good man is just that--a man. A good man is not a best girlfriend."

"The truth is that when it comes to home and relationships, women rule, this is a book about how to rule wisely and lovingly."

Life is good

Life is pretty fun and exciting for us right now!!

We are trying to narrow down our list of things that we really need for the house and start our shopping. Our want list is like a million times longer than the need list, hehe. We should be in pretty good shape when we move in though. We have two months to finalize everything. The owners are being half way decent about repairing things that the inspector found, so overall we are satisfied.

Kyle is finishing up his softball season this week and then they start the tournament. It's been a very fun season, the games have been quite exciting.

We have various things that will keep us busy through the summer as well. I've started on a new team in the Women's Ministry at church. I'm going to be on the Heart-to-Heart Activities team, how awesome is that! There are two of us who get to plan a fun activity night for the ladies once a month. Kyle is on the Lawn Maintenance team so he gets to cut the church's grass a couple times (all 20-something acres of it, hehe) We have several trips we are trying to plan as well. I love summertime!!!!

We are headed to Jacksonville for Memorial Day Weekend to see Kyle's family! YAY! Hopefully we will get some beachtime in too!

Mother's Day!!!

It was a great week for the most part. First of all I finished up my 5-day work weeks for a while! Now I will be working between 2-4 days, I'm so excited about finally having some days off! I'm still working between 3 different offices and I've actually been enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would.

Second, the house inspection went very well. There is just a few things the sellers will have to fix, nothing major though. We are so thankful for that. Our list of things we want/need for the house grows longer everyday! :)

We had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend! My sisters and I took my Mom to the spa on Saturday to get pedicures. We have decided to make it a monthly thing, hehe. Then we brought Mom back to my apartment where I cooked lunch for everyone. It was fun and relaxing. Then Sunday we went to my aunt's house and we saw my grandparents too! Very fun times!


Our pretty toes after the pedicure!


Lesley, Leah Mom and Me!


Leah, Grandma, Me


Aunt Lou and Dad being... themselves


Gpa, Lou, Dad and Kyle playing bocce

They Accepted!

The sellers accepted our offer! Whuhooooo!!!! The inspection will be on Thursday so Kyle has to go to that, hopefully there is nothing major wrong with the house. We are so super excited that I can hardly sleep at night, which doesn't happen often to me, haha.

The foot is slowly getting better. After 8 hours of walking... or hobbling on it yesterday at work, it was very swollen and sore last night, and both legs are cramping up like crazy. SO annoying. I did get tons of sympathy at work though, it was kinda nice ;)

Have a great week!!

Crazy Weekend

Friday night Kyle and I helped chaperon a Youth Lock-In! Yes, we are crazy, haha. We were supposed to be at Adventure Landing from 11pm-7am with like 50 teenagers. I agreed to ride as passenger to one of the teenage girls... who didn't know how to drive. So we ended up crashing, really hard into another kart and I hurt my foot REALLY bad. I seriously thought it was broken. I was so mad... the first race of the night and I was already hurt! So my foot started to swell and bruise and hurt even worse. I tried to elevate it and ice it but it didn't help much. Kyle and I had to leave early, 3am and head home so I could take care of my foot. So I slept for about 4 hours and then after continuing to deny I needed an x-ray I finally gave in when I could no longer put any pressure on it. Kyle took me to the urgent care to get my foot x-rayed (by a girl I used to work with... radiology is such a small world). Thankfully it was not broken, only sprained. I did get a sexy looking shoe I have to wear for 4-5 days though. At least I can walk without crutches though, and I can still work! Don't think we'll be doing any more lock-ins though... it was fun while it lasted, I feel so old!

Saturday my family from Atlanta came up for my cousin's baby shower!! We had tons of good food and Holly got lots of super cute things for her baby! We are so excited for her!

Today Kyle and I had the 4-year old nursery at church, wonderful timing with the hurt foot and all! God really does have a sense of humor sometimes, haha.

Anyways... negotiations are still underway with the house! We are getting closer... and super excited!

House

We decided to go ahead and make an offer on this house before somebody else does. The housing market in our area is actually doing very well. Many of the other houses we've looked at and liked are already under contract. Hopefully the sellers will be good to work with and will negotiate with us! **fingers crossed**


and YAY for tomorrow being Friday!! It's been a long week...

Update

We had a wonderful Easter day! The church service was awesome as always. I was part of a Creative Movement team that performed in both worship services. We used dowel rods (yes, dowel rods) and learned motions to the song Arise my Love by Newsong. It was so cool, I will try to get a video loaded sometime... Then we went to my Grandparents house for lunch! It was a nice relaxing day spent with family!

Besides working all the time we have added softball to our lives. Kyle is playing on the Men's softball team at church. He has done very well in the three games they have played so far. They play about two games a week and the last few games have been cold and windy so we are ready for some warmer weather to play ball!!

We are also officially house hunters. We have looked at several already and are very excited about getting out of this tiny apartment! We are looking to buy around the end of the summer or the fall when our lease runs out. Fun times!!!

Not much else going on right now.... hope everyone has a great week!

He is Alive!!!

Christ the Lord is risen today!
Alleluia!!


"He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said..."
Matthew 28:6


Happy Easter Everyone!!!

Why Easter??

With it being Palm Sunday... we were challenged in church today to really consider the resurrection and it's meaning to us as Christians. Why do Christians celebrate Easter? Why celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of a man named Jesus? Because without the resurrection, we have no hope. The resurrection is the hinge of Christianity.

"For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, our faith is worthless, you are still in your sins."
- 1 Corinthians 15: 16-17

In the words of Dennis Rainey: "If Christ is who he claimed to be, and He didn't come back from the dead, then as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:16-18, our faith is worthless and "we are of all men most to be pitied" (vs19) ...The one thing that separates Christianity from other religions is that God conquered death. And sin- my sin, your sin- was atoned for."

Jesus Christ was our substitute. Don't you see?? We are all sinners, we must pay for our sins... "for the wages of sin is death..."Romans 6:23. Somebody had to die so our sin could be forgiven. We were supposed to die. Jesus took our place, my place and your place so we wouldn't have to die. He shed His blood on Calvary's cross so that we could be saved. What kind of love must that be. Not only did Jesus give His life so we might live, but he rose again! Death couldn't keep Him and the grave could not hold Him! Jesus wasn't just some good man, some prophet, he was the Son of God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Savior of the World. All you have to do is believe that you're a sinner, ask for God's forgiveness and you are saved from eternal separation from God. It's really that simple.

I am humbled at how much He loves this stinky rotten sinner. I just can't get enough of His love. He was truly changed my life and I don't know how I could ever live without Him. I don't know about you folks, but I can't wait to see the mansion He has built for me, dine at his banquet tables and walk the streets of gold when I get to Heaven!

God doesn't push faith in Him on anyone and neither will I. It's a free gift, you must decide for yourself if you will receive it. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." Revelation 3:20. I can't make anyone believe what I believe, but I can promise you that you will never regret the decision to follow Christ, ever! It is the most important decision you will ever make.

If you're still not convinced, let me just say this. If I'm wrong about Christ, if this is all just a made up story, if none of what I believe is real... I'm still OK. I've lived a good life, I'm a "good" person, never done anything really bad... I'll go to Heaven if that's real, or I'll just be laid in the ground and decay away with no regrets... But what if I'm right. What if there is a God who created the universe, who sent His son to die for us, what if Heaven and Hell are real places? I'm going to heaven because I'm forgiven, I believe. I am certain of my salvation in Christ and I know without the shadow of a doubt that I'm going to Heaven. Do you have that certainty? Don't you want to know where you are going when you die? Do you want to live the rest of your life hoping you're good enough to get to where you want to be in the "next life"? Give it some thought my dear friend.... I love you and I want to spend eternity in Heaven with you!!

After speaking about the salvation you can have in Christ, I love what D.L. Moody had to say: "If what I have said tonight is a lie, then you have nothing to lose. But if what I have said is the truth, then you have everything to lose."

   Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,
        Calling for you and for me;
      See, on the portals He's waiting and watching,
        Watching for you and for me.
      
      Why should we tarry when Jesus is pleading,
        Pleading for you and for me?
      Why should we linger and heed not His mercies,
        Mercies for you and for me?

      Oh! for the wonderful love He has promised,
        Promised for you and for me;
      Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,
        Pardon for you and for me.


            Come home;
            Come home;
            Ye who are weary, come home!
            Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
            Calling, O sinner, come home!
                         

Life as we know it...

...is all about work work work right now. I work all the time and have very little time to do anything else. My work days are between 10-12 hours everyday, Monday through Friday. It's very exhausting. Hence there is really nothing interesting to blog about other than the Women's Retreat I just got back from.

The ladies at our church go on a retreat every year and this was the first time I was able to go! It was a blast!! We stayed at a very nice leadership center on a lake in the western part of the state, it was beautiful. Our theme was Extreme Makeover: New Attitude Edition. Talk about God's perfect timing... I definitely needed an attitude adjustment. haha. I got to meet several new ladies, now that our church is growing so fast I feel like I don't know as many people anymore so that was great. I really enjoyed hanging out with the older ladies too, they are so full of wisdom and encouragement! One of our key focuses was about our thoughts. What we think about, situations and other people really affects our witness for Christ and our relationships with other people. It was good information that I'm sure everyone benefited from.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

- Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

Great times!! Now it's back to work tomorrow to start another week! The only thing that gets me though Mondays is knowing 24 will be on that night!! ;)

One Year Anniversary!!

Kyle and I are celebrating our one year anniversary today!!! It went by really fast! We've had a great year, I love being married! We decided to head to Myrtle Beach for the weekend... one of our favorite places! We stayed in a very nice, brand new hotel. We ate wayyyy too much food! We visited the NASCAR race park.... that was super fun, and Kyle only beat me one time ;) We also went to the Aquarium, shopped at Broadway (where I got some fudge, of course), and then went to Medieval Times. We had such a fun and relaxing time... it was a very much needed get away. It was kinda cold and cloudy but it didn't rain the whole time we were there.

I was very thankful that I felt better this weekend. I have been suffering with a massive sinus infection for almost 2 weeks now. Never had one in my life until now, it was awful!! I thought I was dying... I missed two days of work and finally went to the doc and got a z-pack... it helped my sinuses but then I got an ear infection. After not being able to hear out of my ear for two days, I went back to the doc on Friday and had to get amoxicillin for my ear. It was quite annoying. I don't wish that mess on anyone. What a pain. I was so glad I felt better over the weekend so I didn't ruin our trip!

Tonight we are going to watch our wedding video that neither of us has seen all the way through yet. I guess after a year it's about time we watched it! :)

Truckin'...

Just for the record I am NOT complaining about having a job, I am VERY thankful that Kyle and I both have fairly stable jobs right now :)

I have been completely exhausted the last couple of weeks though. My supervisor regularly changes which office I'm working in, my hours and my modality(CT or MR). I never know where I'm going to be until I get a call or get to work that morning. I like the variety and I'm meeting a lot of neat people and I'm learning a whole heck of a lot of stuff but it's very tiring. The next few weeks or so I'll be working 50+ hour weeks plus my hour drive to work and hour drive back home everyday. I get home, eat and go to bed most nights. Thankfully I love what I do, it makes it easier to deal with all the stress. Just gotta keep truckin' along.... it'll get better eventually.

Kyle is still happy with his job for the most part. He really likes being off-site and having a lot more freedom. Everybody at the college loves him to death, he is everyone's fav IT tech. When he was at main campus everyone would call his direct number instead of putting in work orders, haha. Kyle has recently picked up a new hobby... the guitar! He borrowed one from a guy at church and he's been teaching himself for the most part. Him and his buddy at work spend their lunch hours in the music stores. I'm lovin' it, it's going to be much fun when he can play songs for us. I love live music so this is very exciting for us.

In other news... my car is in the shop this morning getting a belt tightened. It kinda irritates me because we just paid a ton of money to get all the belts replaced and now 3 weeks later one is lose. It started squealing last night when I left work and it really scared me because it was dark and I was in a very bad area of Durham and I really didn't need my car breaking down there so Kyle took it in first thing this morning. Hopefully nothing else is wrong... I really need my car.

Anybody else ready for March?? I AM! It will be a very exciting month and we have plans like every weekend already. We have tons of March birthdays in our family! I'm super excited because our One Year Anniversary is coming up and we are gettin' away for a few days, yay! Then two of my very good friends that I've known forever are getting married. And then we have a women's retreat at church that I'm going on. Hopefully I won't be too tired from work to enjoy all the fun stuff in life ;)

This is one of my most favorite songs in the whole world, it is so powerful. Here are the words, but you have to actually hear it. This is what it's all about it...two words can truly change your life. Jesus Christ. I love Him more than anything and I live to honor and praise His name because he has changed my life...forever.

In Christ Alone
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend


In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsgwfliQoqg

Valentine's Day!

I know this is a little late but I've been too busy and tired to update :)

Kyle and I spent our first married Valentine's Day together on Saturday! It was so much fun!!

I had worked a very hard 12 hour shift on Friday but I came home to roses and chocolate (my man loves me)! Then Saturday Kyle was so sweet and he took me to the mall(he REALLY loves me) and let me buy some prettifuls from Kirklands for the apartment. I was so happy! And he bought me a cute necklace and earrings too!

Then since I love Kyle... I agreed to go to the International AutoExpo with him out at the fairgrounds. I actually had a really fun time looking at all the nice cars. We even sat in some :)

Then we went to Outback for dinner.... I had been craving a good steak for months. After a 2 hour wait we finally got a table. The food was awesome and of course we had to get a bloomin' onion....SOOO good! We had a really great Valentine's Day together!


Happy Valentine's Day!

People

Can I just say that people never cease to amaze me? I find it very fascinating to people-watch.

OK so last night Kyle and I are headed out somewhere and as we are walking to our car I notice this car come flying in the parking lot and whip into the handicap parking space. hmmmm... so that got my attention. Then a very sweet looking older lady steps out of the car and proceeds to get several things out of her trunk. Just as I'm contemplating that maybe we should help her... she starts booking' across the street as fast as she can to her apartment that again, is ACROSS the street. That's when I noticed that there were TWO totally empty parking spaces right in front of her door. So instead of making her life easier by parking right in front of her door, she just HAS to take full advantage of the handicap parking space across the street. She wanted to make good and sure that everyone knew that she and only she had the special Handicap sign hanging from her mirror and only she could park in the special parking space designated for HER... even if there was a closer spot. Amazing.

I really do love people... really. I'm not hatin'. I just had to share this story because it truly fascinated me :)

Triples

I am very proud to announce that I made my first attempt at "triple coupon" shopping today. So many ladies I know do it regularly and they keep telling me how much money they save and all these things they get for free. (They have baseball card notebooks that they keep all these coupons in, they buy like 3 or 4 Sunday papers every week and spend lots of hours researching and shopping, etc etc) I like saving money and all but it just seems like a lot of work to me and I don't really have time or the patience for 2-3 hour grocery shopping trips each week, plus I already despise the task to start with. BUT... I spent about 30 minutes online yesterday and rounded up a few coupons for things that I already regularly use and decided to go for it. It was actually kinda fun. Besides the millions of Moms and children crowding the whole store. I did save about $30 this week so I was proud. I don't see this as becoming an addictive, obsessive thing for me like some women, but I can definitely spend 30 min a week searching for coupons, that much I can handle, haha. And I only spent an hour in the grocery store :)

And to toot my own horn just a little louder (hehe), I finally purchased some reusable "GREEN" grocery bags. I'm not totally into all this "go green" and be all organic and stuff so I'm having to take small steps, one at a time. I'm trying.

Exaggerated Sickness

At first I didn't find Monday to be funny at all, but now it kinda is :)

We had spent the weekend in Williamsburg, visting family and we had a really awesome time. We spent sometime at Jamestown and did the outdoor tour which was freezing but very interesting. We got to see Kyle's brother Chris, Michelle, Ava and baby Lincoln who is so adorable! It was a short but very fun trip! The stomach bug had been passed around their house last week so there was apparently some germs still floating around. I hardly ever get those stomach bugs so I wasn't too worried...

But Monday I felt fine all day until I had to leave to go to work around noon. On the way to work I started to feel a little nauseated but nothing too serious. Then I just felt worse as I started working and eventually around 4 or 5 I decided I needed to go home after I vomited up my entire breakfast and lunch. So I very calmly go tell my supervisor I need to go home and for some reason she sort of freaks. In the middle of me feeling sick and being concerned about leaving the other tech by herself to do my work... I didn't get what the big concern was. But my very sweet and concerned supervisor decided it would be best if I laid down in one of the rooms for a while and she proceeded to go get one of the radiologist to come check on me and make sure I was ok. Good grief, I just wanted to go home. So the doc comes in and then I find out why everyone is freaking.... I had just gotten my TB skin test done (which is negative btw) that day and they were concerned about an allergic reaction. They checked my BP and heart rate and everything was elevated, of course. So they made me call my doctor to see what he recommended... at this point I'm thinking this is ridiculous and I really just want to go home. It was not an allergic reaction, duh. I was just dehydrated and needed to go home. Then they found out I would have to drive an hour to get home and they wanted me to go to the ER... seriously?!?! So after tons of convincing they let me go home. My gracious!!!!! By the time I got home I was feeling much better and my lovely husband went to the store and got me some Pedialyte so I drank some of that and a couple of hours later I was fine. I never got sick again and I was completely fine the next morning. So I don't know if I really had the bug or just ate something bad, I don't know but it only lasted for a few hours. So basically I learned that I'll never be able to fake being sick while I'm working in health care, haha. They'll just break out that BP cuff and make sure I'm good and sick before they let me go home :)

God is at work

I love to hear stories like Charlene Cothran's. Just when you think the world is unreachable, God proves us wrong. Cothran was a gay rights advocate for many years and the publisher of Venus (a magazine targeting African American gays and lesbians) magazine for 13 years. The remarkable story of her life changing experience of accepting Christ as her Lord and Savior was on the cover of Venus magazine a few years back. Her whole story and new focus is described on the website: http://www.venusmagazine.org/index.html.

Her message is HOPE. There is hope and a way of escape out of the homosexual lifestyle for those who desire to get out. Praise the LORD! May their eyes be opened to the truth and to their need for Christ.

Just for Fun

Write 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you.

1. I am a very emotional person, I tear-up over anything (Ex. I cried during Wall-E, haha)
2. I love BIG families and I want like 5 or 6 kids... doubt that will happen ;)
3. Radiology is totally fascinating to me, I love my job!!
4. One of my favorite things to do is sit around in comfy pants and fuzzy socks and watch movies.
5. I have a strong sense of discernment and I tend to be able to read people fairly easily and that sometimes makes me very skeptical and untrusting of others, ideas and situations at first.
6. I'm pretty much addicted to Dr. Pepper.
7. My goal one day is to be a stay-at-home Mommy.
8. I love studying the Bible and learning something new about God each day.
9. I am very critical of myself and want to always be perfect in everything I do.
10. I don't generally like cooking, but I try.
11. I love flying in airplanes, especially over the ocean.
12. I have the most excellent napping skills, I can sleep pretty much anytime of the day.
13. I do not like talking on the phone, I'd rather email or talk face-to-face.
14. I usually have nightmares if I watch scary movies or shows (I can't even watch CSI...but I love 24 for some reason)
15. I love people watching... it's very entertaining.
16. I get headaches all the time, it's quite annoying, especially when they turn into migraines.
17. I love having painted toe nails, I actually won't leave the house if they are unpainted.
18. I hate being late, I am almost always early for everything!
19. I love and appreciate all kinds of music, and I miss playing the piano and flute very much. I love listening to music and counting how many different instruments I hear.
20. My husband Kyle is my very best friend.
21. I get annoyed with computers and have no desire to learn much about them.
22. I drive only when I have to, I prefer to ride.
23. I love watching home design shows but I'm not very good at it myself.
24. Eating too many sweets and desserts is a big weakness for me.
25. I love seeing rainbows in the sky and being reminded of all of God's promises to us!

Cuba

What really scares me is that Fidel Castro says he believes in Obama, thinks he's a good man, Raul Castro wants Guantanamo's prison and base to be closed and "the territory it occupies should be returned to its legal owner - the Cuban people." Are you kidding me?!?! OK, so the average American doesn't give much thought about Cuba, most don't care. But ever since my trip to Cuba, I have a new awareness and concern for the country. Giving back land to it's rightful owners... the Cuban people, that is a joke. The Cuban people don't own anything. They are prisoners in their own land. Their careers are chosen for them, like they get paid much at all anyway. Their food is rationed. They live in fear, in shacks. They aren't even allowed down on the beautiful beaches, only tourists are. So why are we rewarding the evil Communist leaders?? I have no idea!! It makes me so mad I could just spit, haha. Seriously though... if we're going to "negotiate" with the Castros like Obama has so graciously offered to do, why don't we show a little more concern for the real freedom of the Cuban people instead of the "rights" of terrorist prisoners in Guantanamo and making life easier for the evil dictators. I just shake with anger when I see billboards all over the Cuban streets advertising the "Revalución!" and when the Cuban people won't even dare say "his" name but annoyingly refer to "him" (only when necessary) by a gesture that looks like they are making a beard under their chin with their hand. I thought it was a joke at first, but they seriously do not ever say Fidel's name. I remember all the friends I made there and their desperate attempt to understand the American way of life. They just could not even fathom the freedom and the wealth that we have. They begged our group several times to take them with us back to America. They are not allowed to even leave the country unless they win the "lottery" that happens every year when only a few families are chosen to make the coveted trip to Miami, only if they can afford it of course. The Cuban government's attempt at anti-American propaganda all over the streets and on TV doesn't sell. The people know they are prisoners, they know life could be better and they know that America is not evil. All I could do is look at their sweet faces and tell them that we do care, we do love them and unfortunately I don't have the power to do anything to help them. I pray for my Cuban friends everytime I think of them and their sad way of life. So my point, and then I'll hush... for one of the most evil and hateful Communist leaders in the world to think that Obama "is a good man" and will close Guantanamo really scares me.

k, I'm done.