The McMillen Family

Congratulations!!

2011-11-16T18:19:00.001-06:00

Congrats to . . .

1. Suzy, my cousin, for guessing the name before the last letter was released! She was the first to send in the correct answer!

2. Chris and Paige; Chad and Ashley; and Lindsay for sending in correct answers on the blog! Great job to Paige for being creative in her posting!

3. Ashley V. for texting in the correct answer!

4. Mrs. Donna for knowing before the last letter was posted and just heard the letters during choir practice!

5. Larry Swords for correctly guessing through a verbal guess!

Charles Elliot McMillen will be joining us in a few short months! It sounds even closer when you count it in weeks – 15 more weeks to go!

Charles – Justin’s father and grandfather both had the first name of Charles! Charles means strong, manly; valiant one.

Elliot – Jehovah is my God – When we first talked about the name, we were still talking about other options until we found the meaning! We love the meaning of his name!

Thank you for playing along in our name game! It was lots of fun for us and I hope you enjoyed it too! More baby news and house news to follow!

The moment we have all anticipated

2011-11-14T21:25:00.001-06:00

Here it is – the next letter – the final letter

Before I begin, I would like to say congratulations to one individual who sent a guess via email prior to this post with the correct information. We will wait until after the guessing period to reveal who this was. I want to protect their identity so no cheating will transpire.

Guessing period will begin immediately. Guesses should be submitted via comments on this blog post. Guessing will be over Wednesday evening prior to Prayer Meeting (7pm). Congratulations and the reveal will follow the deadline.

** To post a comment, click on comments. Type your comment in the box that says “Leave your comment”. Type in the word verification in the next box. If you have a Google account, click beside Google account (you will later be prompted for user name). If you don’t have a Google account, click on anonymous and you can type in your name. Then click publish comment.

Light Painting!! (and another letter)

2011-11-07T21:25:00.001-06:00

Justin subscribes to lots of RSS feeds and is constantly learning new things. Recently he discovered the coolest photography technique that I have ever seen!

Light Painting!

I am so very addicted and tonight it wasn’t so cold that bundling was a necessity, so it was fun and not bitterly cold. We spent over an hour at the new house playing with pictures and drawing with flashlights.

This fall when working on the house we were talking about when the house would be completed. I commented that it would be nice to be able to put a Christmas tree in my new house. Well, the verdict is still out on a real Christmas tree, but here is a Christmas tree in our new house.

Then we added presents!

Justin drew himself “discoing” down the stairs!

And lastly, the next letter of Mini Mac’s Name!

Letter (Part 4)

2011-11-02T21:46:00.001-05:00

A new letter is here, but first the BABY! What a beautiful picture of Mini Mac! Justin calls this his “racing pose”. Clearly he is holding an imaginary steering wheel in his hands! We love our sweet baby boy!

The first consonant!

Letter (Part 3)

2011-10-28T20:39:00.001-05:00

It’s about time for a new letter. At least that is what I was told!

I can also tell you that this is final vowel in our son’s name. I can’t wait to get the consonants out so that you can start guessing!

We had a doctor’s appointment in Memphis on Thursday. It was precautionary just to check everything on Mini Mc. The sonogram lasted about an hour taking lots of unique pictures of bones, his heart, and parts of his brain. We also have beautiful pictures of our sweet child. I will post these soon, but the grandparents all get their chance first! He had his feet straight up in the air in front of his face with his ankles crossed. I’m not sure where he learned that trick!

Letter (Part 2)

2011-10-22T20:33:00.001-05:00

I am feeling generous today and I thought I would send out another letter for Mini Mac’s name.

Mini Mac continues to be “gifted” with lots of things to start his new life. We are filling up the room that would have been Mini Mac’s if we were staying in this house! We are very grateful for friends and family who have given us a great start!

The house is coming along nicely this week. We have most of a roof and the bonus room upstairs is beginning to take shape! The progress continues, the baby is growing, and we are excited!!!

What's in a name?

2011-10-18T21:17:00.005-05:00

If you ask my mom she will tell you how important a name is to the person. She has more than one name meanings book and can tell you the meaning of her childrens' names! I have borrowed her name book, my favorite name book! Even though all of this info can be found on the internet.

So the big question is, what is his name? I know you are all patiently awaiting the reveal. Well maybe not, but I will pretend like you are. In keeping with this excitement in order to reveal his name, we will be posting pics of the letters in his name. You must continue to follow often to keep up with new letters as they are revealed!

Two and a half

2011-10-11T20:00:00.002-05:00

Is blogging even hip anymore? Or is this a world of fewer words?

Tweeting – 140 characters or less - - I’m already half way there!

Facebook – better known as face stalk – I don’t know why I even keep my account

Google + The new and improved social network

I guess if you update none of these, then what is the point. I am going to try to move back towards blogging. To sum up life we are building a house and having a baby!

House – The house is coming along nicely. I will try to find some pics that help you visualize. It looks very different and takes longer than regular stud houses. We have a two man crew and laying block just takes a little time. We have a few interior walls and all exterior walls complete. The floor joists are going up this week in preparation for the roof rafters. Justin and I go daily to see progress and can’t wait to get moved in!

Baby – The baby is on its way! Well, not that close, but we are halfway there! Justin went with me to the doctor on Friday to find out that we are having a BOY!! I don’t think I have ever seen him so excited about anything! We are still working on a name. Check the blog for updates about this topic. To tell our parents, we ate dinner together as a family, phoned in the sisters out of town and served cake. Traditionally people have a pink or blue cake made and when the grandparents cut in to the cake, they see blue or pink! We had a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. When the grandmothers cut into the cake there was silence. Just funny looks on all faces. Justin explained there is no point in eating cake unless it is chocolate. But in case they were wondering, we were having a boy! My dad nicknamed the baby, “Mini Mac” shortly after sonogram number one. So until the name is decided and revealed – Mini Mac will work. Mini Mac is on schedule to arrive on March 1. We plan to be in moved into the new house and ready by his birthday!

Two McMillens are now Two and 1/2, soon to be 3!

“ . . . house upon the rock.”

2011-05-21T21:48:00.001-05:00

As our lives continue to be filled with lots to do, there is progress on our new house!

If you refer to the previous post, you will see that since March 26 our foundation was full of water for weeks! With record snowfall and rain since we signed loan papers in November, we have been waiting and learning to wait patiently! One week ago Thursday, the concrete truck arrived! (After a few days of digging out, relaying steele, etc.) Aunt L sent me a text at school to update that a concrete truck was at my house!!

7am – May 12

4pm – May 12

This week lots of progress was made! Everyday we went out there was new block laid in a row!

Monday – corners

Tuesday – front wall
Wednesday – side wall
Thursday – front porch

This is all for the foundation. I certainly don’t want to take scripture out of context, but we are physically building our house on “rock”! And we can’t wait!

In the meantime, Justin has had an exciting Month of May! May 7th we had a great crawfish boil with our Sunday School class! It was delicious! (Justin likes to think it was the kick-off for the month of Justin) Last weekend, we went to Memphis for the weekend! It was wonderful! Have you ever felt at the end of the day or even worse the end of the week that you haven’t accomplished anything, wasted your time, or not really sure where the time went? Last Friday, was not one of these moments! Justin and I packed Thursday night and worked 1/2 days on Friday. We headed to Memphis, checked in our hotel and rested a few minutes. At this point we had been up since 6am and the day was just beginning (it was 4pm). We headed across town and at supper at Rendevous, Justin’s favorite. We walked to the river and took some pictures, mainly just took in the moment. It was definitely a once in a lifetime to see the “Mighty Mississippi” pushing the limits! After our photo session, we headed back downtown and decided to go to a Redbirds baseball game. I’m not really the biggest baseball fan, but we thought it would be something different! We had a blast! It was like we were cheering on our favorite local team, such a rush! We will definitely being returning! We were back at the hotel by 10pm and I felt very accomplished. Not wasted time, just lots of good quality time spent with my husband for his birthday!

Last night, we had a surprise/not surprise birthday party for Justin! (Monday is his 30th!) Surprise in that he didn’t know we were going to do anything special. Not a surprise in that when he saw the tables out and the grill fired up he knew something was up! We all had a great time! Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us!

I can’t think of a title!

2011-04-02T21:56:00.001-05:00

I have so many things I want to share with you, my small community of readers. However, after a long day of work my mind is confused and not thinking straight. This blog post could last for hours, but I know that long posts get boring to those who don’t actually live in my small world. Those of you who know me I’m sure would agree that being one with few words is not my gift. However, to keep things as short and simple as possible, I will steal from Meg the numbered list of items. I will also title each numbered item, so you can chose to read or not to read those which you have interest.

1. March 25 – 5 years – Have I shared with you that Justin and I have recently celebrated our 5 year anniversary! Each year for our anniversary, we plant a tree OR a perennial of some kind to remember our anniversary. This year, we chose a white dogwood tree, which we planted last week at our new house site! It is our first planting at what we hope to soon be our new home.

2. Gifts – Last Thursday evening, Justin told me we were going to get my present, but before we went he wanted to tell me about my present. Justin proceeded to explain how he had researched the traditional 5 year anniversary present. Turns out the traditional present is wood. We talked about that and he also researched why it was wood. He says it symbolizes strength in your marriage. We then drove to Tupelo to buy two Beautiful, white rocking chairs for our front porch. I can’t wait to sit in these chairs on my new front porch.

3. House – Last week, the foundation of our house was dug. It was nice to see this part of the house begin with all the rain and snow we have seen. Then there is steel laid before the concrete footing is poured. Keep in mind that I am merely repeating what I have been told about this and really don’t know anything about foundations or building a house for that matter. Justin went down last Friday night to help finish getting the steel tied together with anticipation of the concrete truck arriving at 6am. However, the rain came around 2am Saturday morning, again on Sunday, and a few more times before the sun returned this weekend. So, some progress with a small set back, but patient I will continue to be.

4. Spring – I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this time of year. As much work as it is to clean up a yard, it is always a nice feeling to be finished and enjoy a nicely groomed yard. It also means re-connecting with people. People don’t get out as much in the winter. I love seeing people come by waving because you know them or just because its the neighborly thing to do. Also, Beth, Jeremy, and Mary Hatley dropped by while they were out and about. We were in the middle of cleaning the yard, but it was a nice break to get to chat with them for a little bit. Which leads to what exactly we did today. Our morning started with a trip to Tupelo around 10 to buy the newest addition to our home. We came home, dropped off the new toy, and went to eat lunch. The rest of the day was full of hard work until sun down. Raking, picking up piles, burning leaves, trimming bushes, mowing the yard, and enjoying the view. Here is Justin on his new toy for the first time. ( I took a video, but I am having technical difficulties!)

Life as we tell it

2011-03-17T20:32:00.001-05:00

Sometimes as I live in the moment, I imagine that I am living in a movie. Not quite like Will Ferrell in Stranger than Fiction, but something like that. As Justin and I enjoyed a hot fudge cake Sundae at Shoney’s tonight at 8:00pm (where we went just for dessert after our burger and fries dinner), I had one of those moments. Justin and I have spent almost as entire week here in Gatlinburg and have increased the revenue of the town by quite a bit. We have spent a small fortune stomping at the Dixie Stampede, looking at the unbelievably, unusual, yet beautiful fish at the aquarium, and attempting to play 18 holes at the most up and down golf course I’ve ever seen! But, we have also spent every waking moment together. Here are a few moments that make our life worth telling our way.

Yesterday we took a drive to Cade’s Cove, an 11 mile loop to recap a once small farm town. About half-way around is a hiking trail to Abram’s Falls. (I remember when my family traveled to Gatlinburg many years ago, we saw some falls. However, hindsight tells me this was not it!) The sign at the base of the hill says 2.5 mile moderately difficult. (Let’s think about this. When Justin and I were walking at the gym a year ago, we walked 2 miles in a half hour or less. We are at least 10 pounds lighter a year later, so I’m thinking we are in decent shape. ) The rest of the sign says 3-4 hours. What?!?! I can stroll and walk a mile in 20 minutes, that calculates to 50 minutes – one way. Let’s just say that climbing a mountain, which is what I would say we did, takes a little longer. 15 minutes into the walk, I’m thinking this isn’t so bad. When we reach what appeared to be the top of the mountain, I realize this is rough, we aren’t there yet, and I will have to walk all the way back down to get back to the car. I had begun to give up hope, since there are no “mile” markers to track your progress, when I finally got up the nerve to ask someone coming back. She said that is was only about 20 more minutes. At this point we had been walking 50 minutes. She was right at 1 hour 10 minutes we completed our 2.5 mile hike to this waterfall.

We also tried out some new photography techniques, but I’ll leave that explanation to the expert.

Knowing about how long it would take to get back and that the top of the mountain was half-way, the walk back was a little better and about 10 minutes quicker. But it was nice to spend the time walking, hiking, climbing in the beautiful mountain that the Lord gave us to enjoy. But most of all as we climbed, we remembered just a few years ago this wouldn’t have been possible. Learning about Justin’s heart condition and knowing that not getting it fixed would be taking a risk, then the by-pass failing again leaving him at-risk and finally being able to have it fixed by a renown surgeon who wanted it fixed more than we even knew was possible and now climbing a mountain! Isn’t God Great!!

Today we spent the day playing golf, not playing well but smiling all the same. I would say it was moderately difficult to “AHHHHH!” level of difficulty. The good news: I two-putted a few holes, had 1 really good “stick it” shot from the fairway to the green about 5 feet from the hole, hit a couple of good drives, didn’t lose my temper, made some new friends, and spent a beautiful day playing golf with my husband!

The celebration of our 5 years of marriage has been a wonderful trip full of adventures, smiles, reminiscences, and most importantly – LIFE just as we like to tell it!

Northern News

2011-02-03T22:26:00.002-06:00

Let’s start with a multiple choice question.

This picture was taken in my car this afternoon.

Was I . . .

A)taking my car through a car wash

B) sitting in the school parking lot with 1cm of snow on the windshield of my car

C) had my windshield shaving creamed by mischievous children

Fortunately for my students it is B! I hope you made a 100 on your little quiz.

So, my blog today is focused for the Northerner. No, not the northern Mississippian, but a true Northerner. Not that any of them read this blog, but just in case I don’t want them to feel left out. I also have some important questions for them. Let’s begin with some background info. In case you haven’t been keeping count, it has snowed 4 times this winter (At least that I can remember) . Who would have thought that here in Mississippi Someone could lose count of the number of times it has snowed in one winter. A more accurate problem would be how many YEARS has it been since it snowed!

I understand that compared to the Northerners, we have still received nothing. But we all know that even a sprinkling cripples our lifestyle because we aren’t equipped to handle the weather. We spend our time wishing it will snow just one time, so we can gather all of the clothes in our closet that we have been saving and wear them all on the same day. You know, you start with the tight fighting pants, that you can barely wear for your first layer. Move on to something you can move in, and finish up with jogging pants that you wear when you don’t feel like getting dressed, 2 pairs of socks (at least), an undershirt, long sleeve tee and a sweatshirt that you plan to wear under your thick jacket that you only wear once a year. This year I topped it all with some rain boots and went sledding. So the questions remain. . .

1. Where do you find clothes that are warm enough to wear in below 20 degree weather? Do you wear layers everyday? And then half-way undress when you get to work since the heat I would imagine is turned on?

2. At what point do you actually enjoy the snow? Do you ever just think – we should go sledding?

3.And if you do throw caution to the wind, take a sick day to “play” in the snow, any chance you pull your buddies around on a car hood behind your four-wheeler OR on a knee board, holding a ski rope attached to your dirt bike going down the street!

4. Is there any point in the winter that you look outside and say with a smile and glee in your voice, “It’s snowing” immediately followed by a phone call to your family to see if it’s snowing at their house which is only a mile a way – Knowing the answer is YES!

5. Do you trust Punxsutawney Phil or read your 2011 Farmer’s Almanac that basically says – Yeah right! Have you looked outside lately?

Winter has never been a big issue for me. I like it (I don’t love it) I am usually excited to see snow and yes all of the above comments are personal to me Or I have seen with my own eyes. But this year, the one year that I really could have used Spring – I don’t know – Yesterday OR even just a dry winter. No – it just couldn’t happen. The house is still in Phase “waiting on the weather” and the one year that having to go to school during Spring Break might be a possibility, I have a huge plans! Northerners I wish you the best and Punxsutawney Phil, I’m rooting for you this year!

Bright Idea

2011-01-25T22:43:00.001-06:00

I haven’t been able to blog much lately. I have been busy watching my husband steal my thoughts for his blog. (See Link on Blogs I follow) You should definitely check it out. You can hear his sarcasm all throughout his writing. Anyway, he is doing a great job and will continue blogging, since its one of his yearly goals. That means I must be more creative and write about things that either he isn’t a part of OR just do a better job of portraying our life than he does.

In order to move on, I’ll blog about school. On the way to school I had a bright idea or better a divine intervention that worked wonderfully! To keep from boring you with the details, I introduced my students to the coordinate plane today (it looks like a plus sign labeled x and y). I put my desks around the edge of the room facing the center. I used painters tape to tape the x and y –axis. The tiles on the floor served as the grid paper. Then I had students find their ordered pair on the grid. It was awesome! Kids coming to life on the coordinate plan. We made shapes and performed geometrical transformations (slide, rotate, reflect). Then students transferred their knowledge and practice on graph paper. One student (when trying to work the problem on the graph paper) got up, stood and moved in the grid and then went and finished her work. I love it when math can come to life! This week has been fun and its only Tuesday! Yesterday we moved, reflected, rotated, and slide with a partner. It was priceless!

As much as I am enjoying my life-size coordinate plane, I am also using my math skills to count down to Spring Break. Yes, that’s right. I know there is lots of school between now and then and normally I wouldn’t rush it, but this year we have big plans! 7 weeks from now, we will in a beautiful cabin in Gatlinburg! I can’t wait!! So as much as snow is a rarity in our part of the world, we don’t need anymore during the school week. No more missed days!

Snowice 2011 –post 2

2011-01-09T22:29:00.001-06:00

Looks like about 4 inches around 9pm

Documentary: Snowice 2011

2011-01-09T15:58:00.003-06:00

Note: For fear of confusion, please be advised that this is for informational and entertainment purposes only. No weathermen were consulted for photos, videos, or questioning during the making of this post.

At 2:53, as my husband chatted with our builder about house questions, I began to bundle as the first snowflake of this event, I like to call SNOWICE 2011 (pronunciation: snowice twenty eleven). I grab my camera and wanting to document, beg without using words for my husband while still talking to follow me outside to take these first pics.

This was at 3:00 (hence the three fingers). No sticking and you can’t see the snow/sleet, but it is coming down.

Video Clip – You can’t see any snow or ice, but you can hear the sleet. This is not wind or video noise. This is what it sounded like outside.

It’s been an hour. Must go take pictures.

The Perfect Harmony

2011-01-04T22:22:00.001-06:00

After a wonderful Christmas break and lots of fun with family, I will totally admit that I was not looking forward to this week. I am usually ready or at least comfortable with the idea of returning to school after new year to begin the new semester. This year has been different, I don’t know exactly what it was. However, after a wonderful day in church Sunday, the Lord reminded me that He would take care of me and my concerns, I should put on my smile and count my blessings. So, I woke up semi- on time Monday morning ready to get in to the swing of things. (We didn’t have school, but I wanted to give this getting up routine a trial run before today.) I would have only been about 20 minutes late. I needed to get some school things wrapped up, so I spent the morning getting ready for the return of the sweet, hormonal adolescents that would be greet me today. (Which, by the way, were GREAT today!) I ate wonderful chicken salad (prepared by Jannie’s cafe) for lunch and then came home to freshen up – for the rest of my day was already booked!

When I am out of school, I often drive to Tupelo and spend Justin’s lunch break with him. My smart husband realized only a few weeks into his job over 6 years ago that taking a late lunch was good for 2 reasons – other people are not eating lunch at 1:30 they are at work AND it makes for a short afternoon! So, I headed to Tupelo. Justin and went to Lifeway to pick out some church material and then back to work for Justin. No – we didn’t go eat lunch. We rarely eat lunch on his lunch break. He eats his sandwich as we travel to our destination. We usually have a plan. For instance, last week, we went and picked out concrete stain on this lunch break. Sometimes we spend our time at Lowe’s daydreaming. And there is the rare occasion in the summer that I pack a picnic lunch and go to the park. That is of course only on a perfect summer day when humidity is 95% instead of 100%, the clouds are perfectly aligned to block the sun with a slight chance of rain, so that everyone else stayed home! Moving on . . .

After returning Justin to work, I had a few hours to waste before evening because we had dinner and a show waiting for us after work. Since, we are building this new house, which we can’t start until it stays dry and above freezing for many days in a row, I like to look at pretty house stuff. I’m very tight with our money and even though we have a little Christmas money to spend, it must be the perfect item that I already know I am for certain going to use, have researched thoroughly, and am confident that I can’t find it online for half-price. I started at dirt-cheap, just browsing, not really for house stuff. I did buy a cute, small, black wallet for my small black purse, which I use when I wish I didn’t have to carry a purse. Anyway - $4 - - LOVE IT! Went out to the car, turned on the nerd in me and organized it neatly with all of my things. Then headed to Pier 1, that’s right, NO – not to buy anything but to bargain shop and price shop. I wanted to know that when I went to Ross, I was actually getting a great deal. Almost bought some nice silver decorative balls to put in an old bread bowl that was my Grandmothers. I had blue and silver balls in it this year for Christmas, but I need some large ones. Anyway, they were half-price, but I still wasn’t sure. I found wooden ones for year round - $2 each, moved on to Kirklands – an assortment for $12, and bought the wooden at Ross –6 pk for $8. This is about $1.25 each for those who are having trouble with the math. Did I save a bundle? no, but it felt good. (If you know where I can get them cheaper, wait a month before you tell me)

The evening – My husband and I ate a low calorie delicious meal at Peppers and then went to Link Centre to hear . . . are you ready for this . . . the Whiffenpoofs! What? You’ve never heard of them? They were one of the outstanding musical groups on the Sing-Off, a cappella group from Yale. I knew their musical talent from the show, but they were also gifted comedians! Loved it! Loved it!

We were home by 9pm, exercised (Or Dance Central Kinect) until 9:45, had some surround sound research to do and headed to bed.

All in all – the entire day was in perfect harmony!

Thoughts, just because I have them . . .

2010-12-14T19:41:00.001-06:00

1. Its been a while, so keep up.

2. School will be out in 3 more days for Christmas break! I wrote my first semester exam last week and the verdict is still out on how well that will go over.

3. Justin and I planted camellias for our anniversary this year after traveling to Natchez during Spring Break. They finally bloomed about 3 weeks ago. I’m not sure when they are supposed to bloom, but it was December for us. They are a beautiful light pink and I can’t wait for them to bloom again. We plant something different every year on our anniversary. The first year, we planted 2 running rose bushes, which have filled out beautifully and are pink and white. The 2nd and 3rd year, we planted hydrangea trees which have yet to bloom, but are growing nicely. Then there was this past ear, year 4 with camellias and they have finally bloomed!

4. An earlier blog told of our new grill. We grilled every weekend of football season, so I guess every weekend since we bought the grill. We have smoked a jerk chicken and a boston butt, grilled bbq chicken, jerk drumsticks, hot wing drumsticks. It has been delicious.

5. Justin and I ate sushi at Kyoto for the first time this weekend. Both were firsts for us. The waiter was very helpful. We tried a new sushi with shrimp, crab, and steak. He brought the sushi out and then used a blow torch to cook the steak to medium rare at our table. Then he said, the blow torch was ours to keep since we ordered this new sushi. He began to walk off then said, just kidding. It was a nice first experience, but an acquired taste to say the least. He asked were we going to use chopsticks and we told him we didn’t know how. He brought us what I can only imagine were the “kiddy” chopsticks. Tied together with rubber bands and held apart with rolled paper. They worked nicely!

6. Justin and I have been working since April on getting a loan to build a house . After much frustration, we have finally signed papers on a construction loan. Sadly in the dead of winter, but whenever the weather clears, the house will begin! We are so excited! If anyone is wondering what I want for Christmas, it’s gift cards and decorating ideas all for a new house, which I probably won’t be in for a long time, but that is ok I can dream right?!

7. I know that this isn’t my best blog posts, but maybe I will clear my mind this week and be better before the next post. So, just for the sake of getting a post out there. . .

One Year Ago, Today (Post 2)

2010-10-12T16:27:00.001-05:00

One year ago, today, we met a sweet little boy sitting in the same small waiting room as us with his father. Justin had just finished signing his life over to me, literally, and we had moved up to the next waiting room for the rest of the day’s procedures. From one waiting room to the next and then back to this one. A sentence or two into the small talk, the father replied, “You aren’t from around here, are you ?” I’ll have to say, the northerners catch on fast. A few sentences into most conversations returned the usual reply, “Where are you from?” Or my personal favorite, “What part of the South are you from?” The conversation continued as Justin commented on the little boy’s balloon, the boy never said anything much. The father replied, “ Tell him, you have to be real brave to get a balloon.” I can’t imagine the fear going through either of their minds, but knowing the procedure was the same for this 3 year old little boy was overwhelming even just to me. I don’t remember either of the parents names, but I do remember seeing them the next day in the ICU waiting area and waving as I passed their sweet child’s room in ICU on my way to get some ice. However, the most memorable and exciting meeting was in the hallway a week later, when he almost ran over Justin and I on his tricycle with mom trailing behind. He wasn’t shy or quiet, smiling, half screaming/half giggling as he rounded the corner! What a miracle! I hope you find the screaming/giggling/smiling child in you today!

One Year Ago, Today (series – post 1)

2010-10-10T09:48:00.001-05:00

One year ago, today on October 10 – Justin and I woke up to a beautiful crisp morning in Boston. We had arrived early that morning around 12:15am, and spent our first of many nights at the Holiday Inn. I still remember how heavy my heart felt and yet the peace that the Lord provided. I remember trying to enjoy sight-seeing and making certain that every moment was well spent and memorized!

We started the morning with showing the cab driver, the map! That’s not usually the best thing to do when you are going to tourist attractions in the Boston Harbor. Is it just me or should he know where that it is? Nevertheless, we arrived safely and the horn on the car was not wasted to say the least. We walked more than we probably should have considering the circumstances, but enjoyed the day just the same. We saw the Harbor, a beautiful rose garden, the USS Constitution, and ate a big lobster (or Justin did!).

Stay tuned for post 2 in series, One year ago today . . .

Grillin’, Growin’, and Grinnin’

2010-10-03T21:45:00.001-05:00

Our last post (which was a month ago) begins our story for today. Over the last few weeks Justin and I have spent quite a few nights over the grill. It has been a blast! We have grilled for all of the Mississippi State games, enjoying each of them with yummy food served up on our MSU platter (which I painted in Hilton Head).

Jerk Chicken – so good!

We have had jerk chicken and hot wing chicken. Both have been delicious. Paired with sweet potato fries that are tossed with Tony’s. Our latest was a Boston Butt which we smoked yesterday. It took all day and we have some perfecting to do, but it tasted good! I only have the before picture (it was way too late when it finished cooking to worry about a picture . . .)

Moving on to growing, Justin and I, as most of you know, do a little gardening each year. We tried potatoes for the first time this year and have enjoyed them thoroughly. The white potatoes came in around the same time as the peas, and we put a few up in the freezer. Our garden has since grown into a hay field, and our sweet potatoes are down in amongst the weeds. We have been wondering when they would be ready. Justin said he saw a truck full of sweet potatoes this week, so it must be about that time. We went to the garden yesterday and looked for the sweet potatoes. Justin dug up 2 hills which was about 3 sacks of sweet potatoes! (Please ignore the beautiful hair) This is 2 of the sweet potatoes, some of them are quite large! Being the home maker that I am, I made my first sweet potato pie (ever) yesterday! I can follow a recipe as good as anyone, and I have a beautiful Kitchen Aid mixer to do the work for me!

But wait that’s not all – a few weeks ago, we had an enormous tree removed from our back yard ( or as we call it the back fence row). Half of the tree was lost in the ice storm of ‘94. The remainder of the tree was still much larger than anything else in our area, but it fell sometime last spring. It has been laying the field for over a year now. Anyway, we had the tree cleaned up and there is just a dirt area behind our house in this spot. Justin threw out some squash a while back in that area. And guess what, his green thumb is unbelievable, we have multiple squash plants blooming and producing squash!

To sum it all up, we are still here –

Grillin’ in style

Growin’ squash unconventionally,

and

Grinnin’ through it all!

Feeling of Accomplishment

2010-09-05T21:19:00.001-05:00

344 Miles

$50 to get the truck unlocked

5 tools

2 boxes

2 manuals

1 trip to New Albany to look at manual that was not included!

1 hard working husband

1 completed grill

Only 5 hours later!

Dinner at our house – next weekend!

Running around like . . .

2010-08-31T23:00:00.001-05:00

How many ways can you think of to complete the sentence? I can think of three.

Running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off. (Gruesome picture when you actually spell it out. However, it’s an analogy I can understand.)

Running around 90 to nothing. ( I don’t really understand this one as far as it’s actual meaning. Maybe I’m reading to much into it.)

Running around like crazy. (Can you put the word crazy in almost any part of speech now? I think it’s used a little differently here than its original intent.)

As I take the time (which I really don’t have) to blog about “running around”, I have come to the conclusion that it’s really just life. I wanted to take the time regardless of my busy, unorganized schedule, to blog about the things that I have pondered in my head for a few days now. I wouldn’t want to deprive you, my special readers, of the chaos in my mind. And so, this is the conclusion I have reached.

I split my time between work (which is actually a calling to share in the life of kids), church (another blessing that God allows me to be apart), friends (who I cherish and enjoy spending time), and family (who support and get me through each day). Having and being involved in so many other people’s lives, I conclude that . . .

“running around like a crazy chicken with its head cut off, ninety to nothing” is really just summarized as

L – living

I –in

F – full

E -enjoyment

To teach or not to teach, there is no question . . .

2010-08-14T21:55:00.001-05:00

I’ve been wanting to blog about this for a few weeks now, but with fear of what might come out of the ramblings in my head, I decided it best wait until my thoughts my were better in a row.

School has begun.

That is not all.

I am now a 7th grade math teacher.

A change from the years past. It’s not that math is not my favorite, because I do have a few tricks up my sleeve when it comes to math. It’s more that I was just beginning to understand the gifted kids I was teaching. Just beginning to be more passionate than I ever imagined about a specific group of kids and just what exactly I wanted them to learn. But God knows best and has taken care of me, so I guess His plan was a little different than mine. I do plan to return to the gifted class, but it’s very possible that spending time with the “nerdy” kids like myself has made me a better teacher. Knowing and understanding how students interact in small groups. Being able to recognize work among the chaos. Learning to control my OCD (the pencils might be out of place, but if learning is taking place, then leave well enough alone. Besides after 3:00 I can rearrange the pencils all I want. )

The week before school started, I wanted to write about how terrified and nervous I was about starting this new adventure. With so many thoughts running through my head, I was confused of where I should even begin. As the week grew on and the day grew closer for the students to arrive, the butterflies grew twice as large and begin practicing their gymnastic skills. The afternoon before students came on Friday, I sat at my desk until 4:30 trying to make sense of it all. I called Justin and asked him to take care of supper, went home to eat at 6:00, went back to school and worked until 8:30. Even my first year as a teacher, I didn’t spend that much time in my classroom the night before school started. But after getting everything ready, the butterflies went away for the most part and I went to bed ready to meet smiling faces!

Many prayers went up for me on that Friday and the Lord answered everyone! It was a great first day of the new school year! I have great students who work well. I’m excited to see what the year has in store. Knowing that this year will bring exciting and frustrating moments and that everyday will not be as great as the first, I am ready to see what God has in store for me and thankful that I still get to do what I love - - TEACH!

My beautiful blue classroom. The students are filling it up with work everyday! I let them do the decorating!

. . .

2010-07-22T22:34:00.001-05:00

There are no words to describe the beauty of this bride! (But of course you know I am going to try!)

Am was the most beautiful bride - - -(Sorry to the rest of you out there who thought you were!)

with the sweetest ceremony - - - (did any of your husbands write a song about “your story” and then record it with you singing harmony?)

with the most perfect vows - - -(They wrote their own – Personal to them with promises to each other! It was the best!)

When leaving the reception, Am put on a cute pink headband and Drew put on his ball cap! A perfect closing to the most beautiful day!

Garden Goodness

2010-07-09T12:28:00.001-05:00

The following pictures tell the story. If you have ever used these items, then you know exactly what I’m talking about.

View Full Album

My loving husband, picked a bucket full or peas Wednesday night! Last night we caught up on our recorded TV and shelled away! I consulted with the garden experts, Grandma Wise and Mrs. Anita, and put up peas today. This is the first time, I’ve ever put up peas or much of anything really. I have put up stewed tomatoes, but that is it. As I was bagging the peas for the freezer, I had to taste one. Delicious! I think I got them just right! I also put up some potatoes. I read online you can do them just like peas and what not. I blanched them and put them in the freezer. I’ll let you know if it works the same. What a rush, Garden veggies ready for winter!

PS – Yes, we both have cute garden gloves! I love them!

Summer lovin’

2010-07-03T21:40:00.001-05:00

Or maybe it’s just loving summer! Justin and I have been around the world and back or so its seems over the last few weeks. The days between traveling, I was getting ready to travel again. You know you don’t want to start a project knowing you may not finish and have to wait a week before getting to finish the project. Its hard to get motivated knowing I have to clean the garden at least once if not twice before going out of town.

Last week, Justin and I went to Atlanta – just slightly north actually to Alpharetta. Justin had a conference and I spent the week, laying in the hotel room and driving around town. It was very relaxing! It was also Ty’s first trip back to Atlanta since we picked him up over a year ago. When we got him, only a few weeks old, he slept most of the way home in my lap. He has grown up quite a bit since then and a few pounds! He now sleeps in his pin in the back seat. Ty laid around in the hotel with me and we had a great time!

This week has just been a great week! The weather has been wonderful, the evening temperatures have been lovely to say the least. If you haven’t enjoyed them you should start. Justin and I have been soaking in the cool breeze and beautiful scenery! Our garden continues to come in. We shelled a few peas tonight. Have lots of cucumber, but I don’t pickle. I dug up the remaining potatoes on Monday, so we had a successful potato crop. Justin has perfected dicing and cooking these. YUM! We have picked 4 ripe tomatoes, so we can’t wait for the rest of the these! As much work as it takes to keep the garden clean, there is nothing more rewarding than having homegrown veggies to enjoy!

Just a few more weeks before Am’s Big Day and we are getting excited! She has her house just about ready and is finalizing her wedding details! We can’t wait to see her beautiful smiling face on her wedding day!

Learning to write again

2010-06-17T21:33:00.001-05:00

I feel like this is my first blog ever. My thoughts have been racings of what to write for the last few days. I can’t seem to find the time to put my thoughts out there. So, if at some point during this blog, my thoughts get lost or confusing, just consider it a journey through my brain. Like most women, my thoughts are like spaghetti (or at least that’s the analogy I’m familiar with). Women’s thoughts are like spaghetti, all of the areas of their life run together with all of the other areas. Its difficult to separate them. When they are at work, they are thinking of what they need to do at home, what they will cook for supper, the most efficient ways to take care of all of these thoughts. Men are like waffles, they think in compartments. When they are at work, they think about work. When they get home (and have time to unwind) they eventually begin to think about home. But I digress.

So, we are definitely in the garden business. This is one of the largest gardens we have had with new things planted potatoes and cabbage. We also added squash and cucumber for my sister, Amy. She normally has a garden, but is moving this summer and didn’t have a garden spot. (Amy – your squash will be ready next weekend! We picked the first 2 tonight.) Gardening is a lot of work, but rewarding. I am not vain enough to think that keeping the grass out of the garden is the reason we have an abundance of tomatoes and peppers each year. It is so amazing to watch God take care of our garden and how a little seed grows into such an abundance of fruit. I guess that’s why its used in the Bible so much as an analogy. If we just gave a “seeds – worth” of God’s Word to others and spent a little time working in it – just think the things that God would do with us.

I’m excited about having lots in our garden this year. I’m hoping we can save a little money by eating from the garden. We started this, by eating from Nathan’s garden (Justin’s cousin). He has a large garden this year and shared with us! Thanks Nathan! I do not like to cook on the weekends, but Justin informed me Sunday that we would be eating at home Sunday night. So, we did. Before church I began cooking some cabbage. (Which I never thought I liked, but had some of Mrs. Anita’s a few years ago and realized I did like cabbage!) After church, I had a meeting, so my sweet husband came home and got supper ready! I stopped at mom’s and got some ham left over from lunch. When I got home, Justin had cooked the potatoes (from Nathan’s Garden). He diced them and baked them and they were delicious. He also cut some daises from our back yard and put on the table! Supper was wonderful! Justin and I started Sunday night eating at the table. Since its the 2 of us, we typically eat with tv trays in front of the tv. But, we decided over the weekend, we should try to table. It has been a wonderful week!

Life Recap

2010-05-24T09:42:00.001-05:00

April 10 – My cousin Ney married his sweetheart Melissa

April 25-26 Talladega

May 1 - Amber’s Graduation from MSU! She is going to be an awesome teacher!

May 8 – Beth’s Baby Shower – She’s so cute!

May 15 – Flugtag – We were so busy, we didn’t take any pictures!

May 22-23 Justin’s B’day

His first golfing experience since the last surgery! He played awesome!

May 29 – Leave for FLORIDA!!

Pinning

2010-04-18T16:59:00.001-05:00

I wasn’t sure what to title this post, without sounding boastful. I’m actually not even sure I’ve posted anything about this since last spring. Posts from last spring will remind you of endless hours on the computer with National Boards. Well, in November the results came in that I had passed my National Boards. This weekend, there was a pinning ceremony for NBCT in Oxford. My sweet husband snapped a few pics as I received my NB pin!

Thank you Justin – for helping me through the entire process. For cleaning the house, cooking supper, washing clothes, and making me work on my writing.

Thank you Mom – for pushing me at school, for checking up on me to see what I had finished, for reading my papers and for sharing your mentor with me.

Thank you Andrea (My mentor) – for reading my papers, providing wonderful feedback, and coaching me for the test!

Thank you Lord – for the health and knowledge to accomplish this goal and for sending special people in my life to help me along!

Watch out Usain Bolt

2010-04-13T22:04:00.001-05:00

Watch out Usain Bolt, Justin and I are catching up . . .

About 2 weeks before Christmas, Justin and I joined the HealthPlex at New Albany. Although we are far from skinny, we have made some progress.

Let’s Recap . . .

December – Justin – 20 min mile - - - - Abigail - - 17 min mile

January – saw Dr. Gupta – told Justin to work twd 15 min mile

Jan – Justin – 17 min mile - - - Abigail 15 min mile

Feb-March - - Justin – 16:30 mile - - - Abigail 13 min mile

Thursday – April 8th - - Justin 15:33!!!! - -- Abigail - - - 11:50!!!

It may not be much to most, but we have worked hard!

4 years ago . .

2010-03-25T23:20:00.001-05:00

So, I’m a little behind on my blogging. I have a funny story about our Natchez trip, but tonight I want to skip ahead to today!

Today is our4 year wedding anniversary! Although, the years haven’t been easy, they have been a blast! Our trip to Natchez was our anniversary trip and we bought a new camera for our anniversary present to each other. But today was a great day – even with no presents!

I came home from school to find some beautiful daises! (Which, Justin says he tried not to pick over 1 or 2 from any single yard. :)

In case you don’t know – Gerbers are my favorite! AND they were the main flower for our wedding! Yeah – I know my husband’s the best!

Our night continued with my ideal date. We discussed going to Boure or Old Venice, but settled on Pizza Hut. Drastic difference, I know, but this was the best!

We ordered our 1/2 BBQ, 1/2 Super Supreme Pizza from Pizza Hut online. Stopped at the store to buy popcorn and coke. Picked up our Pizza and came straight home. We then watched “Did you hear about the Morgans?” streamed over the internet through the Xbox! (Yes – my idea of a perfect night is ordering out – eating in and watching a movie.) It reminds me of when Justin and I were dating. Every Sunday when we got back to Starkville, we would spend the afternoon unpacking and then get together for supper. Usually it was a $5 large pepperoni pizza (had to only be 1 topping) from Papa Johns, which we would pick up to save on delivery. Go rent a movie or watch a classic. And spend the evening together. So, I would say this anniversary was pretty close to perfect . . .

Four years ago today,

we both promised our lives away

A promise to love

and never let go.

A promise to live

the only life that we know.

Its been a great ride

full of laughs and big smiles.

There have also been

Some tears through the miles,

but I have to say

that no matter the minute

You are the only person,

with which I would spend it.

Spring is in

2010-03-15T22:30:00.001-05:00

Spring is in the air, the ground, the colors, and the big smile on my face! I’m so excited that Spring is beginning to show itself. I took a few pics of some buttercups and hyacinths last week. The first blooms of the season.

Justin and I left Saturday morning = off for Spring Break OR (Where we are) Spring Pilgrimage. We are in Natchez for Spring Break! But don’t let me get ahead of myself. We stayed in Jackson on Saturday night to break up the trip a little. We ate at a wonderful place called Biaggi’s - A Delicious Italian Restaurant! I’m sure it is a chain and I’m probably behind on having never heard of it before. But is was so good! I ate slowly just to savor every bite!! The portion size was perfect – just enough to get full and want for nothing, but not miserably full so you wish you hadn’t have eaten!

Then we came on to Natchez! We visited 3 homes today. Our favorite was Elgin. It is a few miles away a tucked beautifully in acres of magnolia trees!

Lastly a picture of US in front of The Elms.

Having a blast – Will need to rest when we get home!

Grad or Mad

2010-03-01T20:58:00.001-06:00

Tonight was our final class in beginner training! And I know the suspense is killing you . . .

Yes – Ty passed! So, here are a few pics complete with Grad cap!

This is Ty – The Hyper Havanese (who doesn’t like wearing this cap)

Diploma

Good Times

2010-02-28T09:38:00.001-06:00

This week has been a great week! It didn’t start off too well, but it has made up for itself. For anyone who doesn’t know, our dog (Ty) has been taking beginner training classes for a few weeks now. We have been going every Monday night to PetsMart for an hour to learn commands such as: sit, stand, down, up, leave it, take it, drop it, and STAY. He is passing with flying colors with the exception of STAY! We thought he would get to graduate last week, but unfortunately STAY did not go well. I understand that he should not pass if he doesn’t know the commands, but still disappointed. Monday night was not a good night. Tuesday morning, I took a deep breath and decided this would not ruin my week.

The week began to improve - - I like to sleep, I need sleep, I’m a happy person when I get to go to bed early, I get up on time and not in a rush, when I go to bed on time. This week, Justin had a busy week at work and he was pretty exhausted when he came home each night. So, we went to bed by 9:00pm every night this week! Loved it! We were on time for work and not rushed to get there!

Tuesday night – I am taking IC3 training at school. It’s a basic computer certification. I did much better on my practice tests this week! Wednesday night at church, the Bible Drillers made me smile! They are working so hard and I get so excited to see their improvements! Friday night, Justin and I had an indoor date night! We ordered a pizza and watched a movie (Oceans 12). I always enjoy watching a good movie, even if I’ve seen it a few times! Saturday morning, we didn’t have to get up early (1st Saturday in about 6 weeks!) We got up, made it Starbucks by 10:30, did a little leisurely shopping (had a blast, laughed a lot!), came home, visited with his parents while our dogs played, went out to eat, and once again went to bed early!

Now, nothing about this week made Ty learn to STAY any better, but we are working on this and will continue! Hopefully, he will graduate tomorrow night and we advance to INTERMEDIATE classes!

Bragging Rights

2010-02-17T17:12:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to take this opportunity to brag on my husband! We don’t usually do much to celebrate Valentine’s Day, but he never forgets it. Friday afternoon he came home with a bouquet of beautiful roses and some chocolate. The chocolate was in a heart shaped box like the standard heart shaped box of chocolate, but Justin knows that I do not like that kind of chocolate. I only eat the caramel ones and I don’t like most of the other pieces in the box. (I think I told him that the very 1st year we dated!) So, he picked out a box of Ghirardelli Chocolate – individually wrapped with caramel squares – My favorite!!

Saturday, I went shopping with Amber, Amy, Brandy and Mom for dresses for Am’s wedding! (We found her a beautiful wedding dress at a different store, picked out lovely bridesmaid dresses, flower girl dresses - -AND had a wonderful time doing it!) Anyway, this is about my husband - - when I got home, he had unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, and started a load of clothes!

Justin is a wonderful husband and I wanted you to know!

Passions

2010-02-09T21:54:00.001-06:00

Those who know me well, would probably say that I am not the most high strung person they know (or hopefully not), but would most certainly agree that I have my “Soap boxes” as some may call them or as I prefer my “Passion Points”. However, in expressing these Passions, I try to exhibit self-control. (Something I preach to my students about. Know yourself and control yourself). I’m sure hard for most of you to believe, but I have worked diligently over the past few years, diagnosing myself, controlling my impulsive defensive speech, and learning my trigger points. (Working with Gifted Students helps me learn these things about myself.)

To the Point . . .

This past Saturday, I spent the day with the Girls of the family looking for Bridesmaids dresses for my beautiful sister, Amber (the Bride). During this trip, I exhibited much self-control, identified my “triggers” and “bit my tongue”. (Frustration from employees not family). It took quite a few hours Saturday for me to unwind from the trip and worst of all, I could feel the “Passion” level rise so high, that I physically hurt. (No I didn’t have a heart attack, but unhealthy to say the least.)

However, the Lord took good care of me. Saturday evening our friends came over and I enjoyed a relaxing evening of girl chat and enjoyed cooking supper with my husband! Sunday morning was an awesome day in church! Some people were there that I was very excited to see! The singing was good, the message was good! It was just a great day to be a church! Sunday evening, we had another uplifting message at church and then went to a friends house to finish the Super Bowl. I am so glad, the Lord changed my heart and didn’t allow a terrible Saturday to ruin the weekend!

The week is just getting better - - I have some positive “Passion Points”, which I’ve been able to express this week! I LOVE my job!! My students are great! They are learning about themselves and others, and I have seen growth in them this week! We are beginning our “All About Giftedness” Study where the students learn about “Why we do what we do in Gifted?” “Gifted Characteristics” “Issues Gifted Kids deal with” and so much more!! This is why I teach this class! My kids have been so great this week! I have got to express my “Passion Points” for Gifted with them and they have reciprocated with their opinions! I have stood up and applauded them for comments, went around the room with “high-fives”, almost jumped up and down and screamed just to name a few! I tell my kids - “It’s ok, I know I’m weird!” I’m just so excited to pass the “Gifted Passion” on to others! Although, its been a long week –at Tuesday- It’s already been a great one!

Life in the Fast Lane

2010-01-31T21:26:00.001-06:00

Though my life has rarely been void of excitement or ,what some might call, entertaining - - There are times when it seems there is so much going on I can’t just stop and do anything. Growing up, Mom referred to our house as “Grand Central Station”, always people coming and going, the phone ringing (I can’t imagine if there were cell phones then how much worse it would have been). Nonetheless, mom was always cool, calm, and collected raising her 4 children, having “clothes folding parties”, telling us we were going to eat supper at “Jannie’s cafe”, and somehow distinguishing between Amy, Abigail and Amber when she called our names. I have to say - “Way to go MOM!” How you ever raised us all, kept your sanity, and taught us about the Lord - - I will never know!

My fast lane has changed now – There aren’t 4 children at my house. Only Justin, Ty (our dog) and myself which would lend you to think that life should be fairly calm. Maybe it comes from being raised at “Grand Central Station” or maybe life is just this way, but even in our small family - - life flies by.

It makes me think of driving through a massively, large pile of leaves that could cover the road - - As you drive through them, the leaves begin to fly everywhere, and though they aren’t in a pile anymore – They are in your way and you can barely see the blue sky on the other side. Yet, the leaves are so beautiful, that you can’t take your eyes off of them either. So there you are (caught in a “Matrix” like slow motion), everything is so busy that you want to slow down, but the beauty is just living in the middle of it! (It makes sense in my head! :)

Justin and I have recently put some work in our house (see prev blogpost), joined the Healthplex (Before Christmas – walking 3 times a week), take Ty to Beginner Dog Classes once a week (which we follow by a trip to the gym), and continue to live life in the middle of the whirlwind. Although it seems too fast and furious, something new all the time - - It is nice to enjoy every moment of it – One leaf at a time!

The wait is over . . .

2010-01-22T22:42:00.001-06:00

After the quick teaser of the remodel (showing you only the painted walls), I am finally ready for my readers to see the completed house! Well, completed for this project. I’m constantly wanting to re-arrange, change the pillow covers, take this table and swap it with that one, etc. And while, I still have a list of accessories to buy, I am ready for you to see the “new” house.

**disclaimer – I am not a professional photographer, so to get the full effect, you should just come visit. [Give me at least 30 minutes notice to de-clutter :-) ]

(BEFORE)

(After - Kitchen)

(After – Dining Room)

(BEFORE – Living Room)

(AFTER)

(BEFORE – Office)

(AFTER - office) –- Will be adding a bulletin board behind the desk

(AFTER – office) – MSU wall

(BEFORE – Guest Bedroom)

(AFTER – Guest Bedroom) - - Quickly becoming my favorite!

(AFTER – Guest Bathroom)

Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!

Work in Progress

2010-01-10T15:56:00.001-06:00

Welcome back, to all readers, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year’s! Justin and I did as well! We spent time with our families and with each other. We had a very blessed year of 2009!! Moving Forward . . .

Justin and I are in the middle of a house renovation. It continues to be a work in progress. We are at a point in our lives where we can spend a little money to update the house. We have wanted to do this and we are super excited!

Step #1 – Paint

Step #2 – Flooring

Step #3 – Don’t put all the junk back in its old place

We have completed the Paint, and the Flooring will be done this week! (Step 3 will take a little longer)

Here are some pictures from Step 1 – I forgot to take before pictures, so I will describe the previous color and then show pictures of the new color!

Room 1 – Laundry Room, Kitchen, and Dining Room

The Kitchen and Laundry Room previously had almost white walls. I did have Coca-Cola Decor, but slightly differently arranged. The dining room was yellow (Same as the living room).

Entering into kitchen from laundry room

(my favorite wall)

Thank you Amy (My Secret Sibling!) for the beautiful Debris ART! It completes this wall so well!!

Now transformed – Beautiful gray-green walls with all of my beautiful decor! (Thanks mom for helping me hang my pictures!)

Living Room – This was a nice bright yellow with green trim . . .(No pictures on the wall yet, but again – work in progress)

Now a beautiful calming blue, nicely accented with brown curtains. (Right now the floor is a mess, so I will do better with the final pictures.)

Guest Bedroom and Guest Bathroom

Bathroom – Previously printed wall board

(the Curtain was only $15 from walmart.com)

Bedroom – Previously wood paneling

Beautiful Blue – Loving IT!

Office – Also paneling – sorry about the mess

Justin loves it – We can’t wait to get it all set up for him to use again!

Amber's home!

2009-12-21T22:39:00.001-06:00

Thank you so much for your prayers while Amber and the entire team was away. From the reports we have heard, the Lord blessed their time while in Peru. They were all very excited about the Lord's work that had been done. They were also ready to get home!

Day 8 - Amber

2009-12-19T22:23:00.001-06:00

Hi Friends and Family,

Just a quick update ~ Amber and the team made it safely to Lima! Thank you for your prayers regarding their safety today. I'm sure they are looking forward to an evening of hot showers, rest, and dinner. May we continue to pray that the team will be a blessing of Good News to all whom they come in contact with tonight and tomorrow.

If you would like to continue to follow the Holeman family and the ministry in Peru, visit www.reapnorthperu.org.

More tomorrow,

Amy

Praying for Amber – Day 5

2009-12-16T22:06:00.001-06:00

Sorry we missed day 4. Here’s an update for day 5. Plans have changed slightly. Amber called her parents today from a satellite phone and had only a few seconds to talk. She said the village does have electricity and running water. However, Amber has been bathing in the river. The team will leave village 1 on Friday and spend the night in a city (forgot the name) Friday night. Saturday, they will make their way back to Lima. They will fly out of Lima Sunday night. Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for the team as they minister to the people in the village. - JM

Praying for Amber – Day 3

2009-12-14T20:27:00.001-06:00

Hi Friends and Family,

Praise the Lord! There is much to catch you up on today!

Amber and the team had a safe journey on Sunday. And, she called again this morning before they headed out to "Village 1"! All was well. The plan was to spend three days and two nights in Village 1. They took camping supplies (all had to fit into ONE duffel bag), tents (from the missionary), and food (i.e. canned meat). Although those arrangements don't sound too glorified, you'll see in this YouTube video - "Outtakes Pichanaki" why going back and forth from the village each day isn't the best of plans either. (I randomly found this video. I have no idea who the people are or what mission group they are with, but based on the footage and the promo video Amber had, this team probably walked some of the same paths that Amber's team will walk this week.) Skip over to 4:05 (that's 4 minutes, 5 seconds) into the video, and you'll see the zipline that Amber and the team crossed this morning. (Yes, that is two Peruvians on top of the line pushing the "cart" across.) To get to Village 1, they had to cross the Perene River. Did you see the trail leading away from the zipline? That's right. It's all on foot once you cross the zipline.

On the phone this morning Amber noted that they might not get to stay in the Village tonight because of a rumor circulating in the area. Rumor has it that the white people were coming to steal the children. So, as of this morning today would be a relationship building day. And, as all mission trips require, it would be a day of flexibility. So, who knows? Maybe they came back across the zipline this evening. . .

Either way we can thank the Lord for safe travels, for Peruvians who work the zipline (I wonder what they really think of the white people!), for the fruit the villagers will share with the team, for the blow up pillow that Barbara loaned Amber, for health to walk up the hills!, for cell phones that work from Peru, for Jeff (the missionary) and his family who have begun planting seeds in the Village, for toilet paper that can be carried in a duffel bag, for Amber's big smile and bright eyes that she will share. . .

And, we can pray for the 300 or so people who live in Village 1 with little access to the Gospel, for Jeff as he is away from his family this week, for Jeff's family, for the fruit (and no parasites) the villagers will share with the team, for small amounts of nourishment and hydration to multiply into health in Amber's body (trust me - she is eating and drinking little), for rest soundly in Our Father's arms each night, that He would open Amber's eyes to truly see all that He has for her this week, for parents to be open for their children to play with Amber, for the hearts of the Peruvians to be ripe unto harvest. . .

Until tomorrow,

Amy

Amber in Peru

2009-12-13T22:16:00.001-06:00

As many of you know, Amber left yesterday morning on her way to Peru with Bro. Shawn, our youth minister, and others from our state.

They left Ecru, Saturday morning around 4:15am, flew out of Jackson, connected in Atlanta, and then flew to Lima, Peru. She called home about 1:45am when they arrived. Today they drove over the Andes Mountain. So after 2 days of travel, tomorrow they will begin going in to meet the people in Peru. My older sister, Amy, has been sending out emails concerning what to pray for Amber and the team during that day. I will be posting her email on the blog, so you too can keep up with them while they do the work of the Lord!

(Even though this is late – Sunday’s email)

Hi Friends and Family,

Thanks for your intercession yesterday and last night. Amber and the team made it safely to Lima and had about four hours to sleep last night. Today they will be traveling from Lima to Pichanaki, which is north east of Huancayo pictured on the map below. Although mapquest does not find Pichanaki, :) one blog I read noted that Pichanaki was an 11 hour bus ride from Lima. Thankfully, they are not going by bus, but it will be a long journey on mountainous roads, nonetheless.

Tonight they will stay in a hostal (basically a guest house) in Pichanaki. According to one blogger, Pichanki is home to 3 hostals (we don't know which one the team is staying at), all of which are "reasonably okay" (of course, that is a subjective description).

(Photo from www.haggai-institute.com )

You can view additional photos of Pichanaki (a city where coffee exports are becoming a way of life) at this blogger's photo site. If you view the photos, you'll see she will have ample reason to praise the Lord as Creator today!

More tomorrow,

Amy

(Mom heard from Amber, and they have arrived safely!)

So much to say

2009-12-08T22:38:00.001-06:00

Justin and I went out of town for the weekend and there are a few stories that need to be told from that trip. I also want to talk about yesterday and today (Mon and Tues), but to keep us all straight - - Tonight I will blog about the weekend and later this week, I will blog about tonight!

So Justin decided Thursday (while I was at school) that it would be fun to get out of town for the weekend. (For those who don’t know, last week was his first official week back at work.) He thought we should get out of town and spend some time together before the “hustle and bustle” of the season continues. (Yes, we have spent lots of time together in the last few months, but this is different.) We also decided it would be a nice time to introduce Ty (you remember our sweet puppy, right?) to traveling. So, after searching for a few hours Thursday night, we found a hotel that didn’t cost an arm and leg to bring your pet. (Most hotels charge at least $50 for you to bring your pet if they are pet friendly). The Drury Inn and Suites is a pet friendly chain – with no fees for the pet - - reasonably priced rooms – free HOT breakfast - - free wireless internet - - and it was Clean!!

The weekend with Ty went well. He ran around the room in circles when we got there on Friday and was very comfortable all weekend. He didn’t bark or whine or have any “accidents”! He did look up to 2 large dogs coming off the elevator – That was funny!

So getting to the interesting part - - Saturday morning, I get up around 7 and take Ty out before waking my adorable husband. It was quite chilly that morning, so I had on exercise pants and my hooded MSU sweatshirt. As Ty and I are walking up the sidewalk back to the building, a guy and girl come out the side door and down the sidewalk towards us. Being from the south, I expect a Hello or Good morning to be exchanged as we pass on the sidewalk. Instead, the guy says “Hotty Toddy” -- Seriously dude – I don’t even know you and by the way we spanked you last week on the field - - Seriously. Of course I say nothing except “Yeah, I hear ya!” We are now walking away from each other and he turns and says, “I almost covered my eyes like this.” (And then puts his hand over his eyes). To which I reply, “The feeling’s mutual!”

Anyway, the day continued nicely. Justin and I started the day at Target around 11 with a mocha frappuccino and a little shopping, ate lunch, went back to the hotel and watched the SEC Championship game, went back out to get a few more presents and finished the day with “to-go” supper from J.Alexanders . . . which leads to the other interesting part of the weekend. It was about 9pm, when we ordered supper and Justin wasn’t sure that he could hold out to stay and eat, so we ordered supper to go. I ordered spinach dip and a salad and Justin ordered a steak! As we are leaving, I asked if the to-go silverware was in the bag. The reply - “We don’t have any to-go silverware.” Great, now what? The hotel does not have room service, so I’m doubting they will have anything worthwhile to use. So, we drove over to Target. I figure since I’m buying anyway, don’t waste our time with plastic. So for “real cheap” silverware:

4 pack of forks - $6

4 pack of knives $6

20 piece place setting (4 of each of the 5 pieces) - $10!!

So, instead of spending $2 more for less, I bought the box of silverware.

. . .

Silverware - $10

Black and Red plates - $4

Supper From J. Alexanders - $50

Spending a wonderful weekend with my husband, eating to go food at a coffee table in the hotel, while watching football - - PRICELESS!!

Motivation and Inspiration

2009-11-30T21:31:00.001-06:00

When thinking about these words, many things come to mind. This is the goal of parents and teachers all over, but how is usually the question. How do you motivate kids who don’t care? Well – These are the things I used to think about . . .

NOW – These words bring to mind – Coach Dan Mullens – AKA “Dan the Man”. Who when moving to The Beautiful city of Starkville last fall, hung up the motivation sign of the year! The Countdown to the “Team Up North”. He put the goal in front of the team from the beginning of the end of the season. Constantly ticking, always a reminder, pushing forward, he motivated and inspired these passion-filled players! After a few disappointing seasons, the players and the fans joined in with new motivation and inspiration to set new records on number of fans attending the games, to play every quarter with heart, and to ring their cowbells with new found passion! Many coaches have a quote, but I think Coach Mullens quote is the best and lifetime guaranteed, “If I don’t have to coach effort, I can coach football!” What a motto! Take out the word football and insert what you do! “If I don’t have to coach (teach) effort, I can coach (Teach) _________”

Thanks Coach Mullens and Bulldogs for an awesome season and wonderful season finale!

Moving forward – Other important topics!

I mentioned this briefly in Thankful Thoughts, but this deserves more info than one sentence . . . AMBER (my sweet, younger sister) is ENGAGED!!! Yes, it was so sweet. Her husband to be called a few weeks ago and told he was going to ask her. He knew that Amber wanted pictures of the engagement and for the entire family to be there afterwards to celebrate! So, Bride to be, got her wishes. My older sister, Amy, and I hide behind a tree in the park and videoed and took pictures of this sweet moment. Then the entire family (both sides) ran up to congratulate them! How exciting!! They are both such wonderful Christian people! We are very excited for them!

Lastly today, I need to mention that my husband has become a Facebook Junkie. Don’t get me wrong, I myself am a Facebook user, but not habitually. I check other people’s status, but rarely update my own. I look at other people’s pictures, but again rarely contribute anything new. (Of course, my outlet is Blogging!) Justin finally decided he needed a Facebook page to stay connected with “the world”. He has officially become a “Facebook Junkie” Updating his status, checking it habitually, bragging about his friends, etc. Watch out world – Justin has finally joined the “Dark Side” of technology!

100 Thankful Thoughts (cont. post #4)

2009-11-27T23:50:00.001-06:00

(If you haven’t shared your thankful thoughts, please feel free!)

55. Good Neighbors who take out your trash – So, After seeing that my neighbors had their trash out today (And Friday is normally Trash day), I put out ours. Then my mom called and said my trash day was tomorrow. Before I remembered to go get it – The trash was gone. I’m pretty sure my neighbor took out our trash and the other neighbors trash too!

56. Chocolate cake – Just like my mom makes - - JM

57. Mrs. Anita and Jimmy came brought Thanksgiving to us! We had such a great time fellowshipping with them tonight!

58. Christmas decorations that help you get in the Holiday Spirit!

100 Thankful Thoughts (cont. post#3)

2009-11-26T22:07:00.001-06:00

32. See comments (Thanks Hillery!)

33. The new member of the family – Drew proposed to Amber last night!! A new brother-in-law to be!

34. Having the entire family home for Thanksgiving.

35. Being able to sing and play the piano with Brooks (and his guitar) and Amber’s sweet voice!

36. For fun Family games – Such as Loaded Questions

37. Learning to cook Chicken N Dressing from my Mother-in-law!

38. Being able to take family vacations every year!

39.Technology – That allows me to share my thoughts online!

40. Funny Family stories that never get old!

41. Being able to spend Thanksgiving Holidays with my husband!

42. Good food and great cooks (especially from today!)

43. The opportunity, I get everyday to work with students!

44. The students that keep me on my toes, especially this time of year!

45. For having the opportunity to change a students’ lives everyday – even though the responsibility is HUGE, it is a wonderful opportunity!

46. Being able everyday to teach in the same room with a WISE Teacher – My mom – who I learn from daily!

47. Learning about myself from my students- Who come in with smiling faces and sweet hearts – Who are uninhibited about sharing about their salvation experiences.

48.For passing my National Boards!

49. A warm place to sleep on this cold night!

50. Spending time with my husband, being a kid and playing video games!

51. A wonderful pastor who is not afraid to preach the Word of GOD!

52. My pastor’s sweet wife, who is an inspiration to all of us!

53. The many children that were reached and coming to church as a result of Extreme Life and Extreme Tutoring!

54. Being able to move home to “John’s Creek” after college to start a family – JM

100 Thankful Thoughts (cont.)

2009-11-25T23:38:00.001-06:00

Today’s Topic – FAMILY

11. (See Comments from previous blog) Posted by Hillery

12.(See Comments from previous blog) Posted by Deanna

13. Justin’s sweet smile and wonderful disposition. His willingness and dedication to support me, even when times are tough.

14. Mom - Who shares her beautiful smile with all of us. Who raised 4 children (still not sure how) and taught us many skills. Who is loving and supportive in everything I do and has taught me about loving God, marriage, and teaching.

15. Dad – Who gave me the ability to speak to strangers and speak up even when it’s not popular to do so. Who taught me to plan and organize. Who has prayed with mom daily for all of their children. And loved us unconditionally!

16. Amber – My little sister, who is an inspiration to me always. She has a sweet personality with compassion and love for those in need. She has an inspiring love for Christ and is not afraid to venture into unknown territory to serve HIM!

17. Amy and JD – Who follow God’s will for their life, even when it means being away from home. We miss having them here in Ecru with us, but know that their are being used of God to reach people in non-traditional ways and show them the LOVE of God.

18. Brooks and Brandy – Who are wonderful parents to their 3 sweet children. Brooks helps lead in worship at his church and Brandy who brings a beautiful SMILE into our family always!

19. Katie and Allie – Who often remind me of the simpler things in life. Who are learning scripture at a young age and love to read Bible stories at Bedtime. Who bring joy into the room, every time they enter.

20. Mrs. Anita and Jimmy – She has been a wonderful mother-in-law who is supportive and loving. Jimmy who has been a blessing to Mrs. Anita and our family.

21. Grandmother Hamilton – who taught me many things, but especially the meaning of Christmas. We read Luke 2 every year before opening presents! Who was always committed to prayer!

22. Grandmother Wise – who has taught me about love and Faith in the Lord. Her sweet, gracious attitude that reminds me to give my burdens to the Lord. (Who also shares wonderful gardening tips)

Today’s Other Topic – Heart Surgery

23. Thank you Lord for giving Justin the wisdom to have his chest pain checked (back in July.)

24. Thank you Lord for having the right doctors on call to have the wisdom to run the CT scan.

25. Thank you Lord for providing us with Dr. Gupta, who took the time to research, make phone calls, and send emails on our behalf.

26. Thank you Lord for making the plans for us to go to Children’s Hospital (where we received excellent care.)

27. Thank you Lord for allowing us to have their “rock star” surgeon and for guiding his hands with YOURS!

28. Thank you Lord for the grace and mercy you showered us with during this journey of our lives.

29. Thank you Lord for giving Justin the rest he needed in the hospital.

30. Thank you Lord for Justin’s continuous speedy recovery!

31. Thank you Lord for the people who prayed for us!

There is still time to say thanks – Post your comments below!

100 Thankful Thoughts

2009-11-23T23:03:00.001-06:00

With Thanksgiving upon us, I thought it would be great for us to share in this time together! We have all been blessed beyond measure! So, I thought why not share our thanksgivings and praise the Lord for our blessings together! Many of you aren’t bloggers, but here’s your chance!

I will commit to 50 Thankful Thoughts before Friday (spread over a few blogs), and hopefully you guessed the rest! Yes – Readers and Fellow Bloggers, I am challenging you to post the other 50 Thankful Thoughts with your comments. (This is simple – Click on Comments below this or any future blog posts. A new webpage will load with a text box. Type your comments and leave your name if you don’t mind. Click Post comment.) Let’s Get Started!!

I am thankful for . . .

1. My salvation – For Jesus our Savior and His sacrifice for our sins.

2. My raising – My parents raised me in a Christian home, where attending church was not an option, but expected. Where reading your Bible daily was taught and helping those in need was a norm.

3. My sweet husband - Although Justin and I have both made mistakes in our lives, I know that the Lord brought us together. We compliment each other so well and the Lord has blessed me with him – such a loving, Christian husband.

4. Health – Yes, we have had our share of health issues, but the Lord has walked us through them all.

5. Church Family – Our church family is very loving and always there to help when needed.

6. Friends – We have been blessed with wonderful Christian friends who are always there when needed. They have surrounded us with love especially when times have been tough.

7. Jobs – I have a job that I love and a work environment beyond belief. My work family is awesome and supportive. Justin has also been blessed with a wonderful job that he enjoys and wonderful co-workers.

8. Neighbors – I have sweet, loving neighbors who are always there when we need a hand. They visit, mow my yard, cook me chocolate pies, and much more.

9. Holidays – It is so wonderful to get together as a family for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Birthdays.

10. Vacation – It is nice to take a trip or stay at home, just to be able to take some time to rest from work.

(These are broad, but I will narrow as the week goes on! YOUR TURN!)

A Special Lady

2009-11-23T22:18:00.001-06:00

Ouida Hamilton
ECRU – Catherine Ouida Bush Hamilton, better known as “Mrs. Ouida,” 91, peacefully and gracefully journeyed to be with her Lord and Savior as her grandchildren sang praises to her heavenly Father and read the scriptures that she had so often read to them. She made this journey on Friday, Nov. 20, 2009, following her husband who made this journey on Nov. 20, 1969.

She was born Sept. 18, 1918, in Greenwood to Flonnie Arant and Albert Jasper Bush Sr. At an early age, she professed her faith in the Lord. She was a living legacy of faith as a beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

She received her bachelor’s degree in math and science from “The W” and began her teaching career in Randolph, where she met her future husband, J. Brooks Hamilton, whom she later married on May 30, 1941. She taught high school mathematics at Ecru High School until her children were born, at which time she and her husband established Hamilton Manufacturing Company. After her husband’s death, she went to Mississippi State University, where she received her master’s degree in Special Education. Upon receiving her degree, she helped Margaret Woods pioneer the special education program in Pontotoc County at Beckham School for special needs children and later taught Special Education at North Pontotoc. After retiring, she stayed involved with the local school system as a volunteer while privately tutoring children and teens for many years in her home. She was known as a gifted and inspiring teacher who cared deeply for the well-being of her students and their families.

As a devoted Christ-follower and servant of her Lord, she led Pontotoc County Southern Baptists in receiving training in Christian education and the discipling of others. She spent several summers at Gulfshore Baptist Assembly in Mississippi as a youth counselor and chaperoned additional youth groups to Ridgecrest and Glorietta Baptist Conference Center in New Mexico. Known as a teacher of God’s Word, she was a cherished Sunday School teacher at Ecru Baptist Church for over 50 years and at Church Street Personal Care Home in Ecru for 13 years. In addition, she had the privilege of beginning the Bible Drills program and was also instrumental in beginning Woman’s Missionary Union work at Ecru Baptist Church.

With a love for proclaiming God's Word, she enjoyed being involved in mission work with her family throughout Mississippi, across the nation and internationally in Korea, Honduras and Belize. She was known for her generous spirit and zeal for life as she spent her days ministering to and loving others through visiting shut-ins, teaching about missions, volunteering at the local food pantry, and participating in other local ministries.
The past two and a half years, she has resided at Church Street Personal Care Home in Ecru, where Lorna and the staff tenderly and graciously cared for her.

My Apologies

2009-11-18T21:25:00.001-06:00

I apologize for not being a better blogger. Things get busy, I get lazy, and life moves on without blog updates. I would promise to be better, but I’ll be honest that’s not going to happen. Some days blogging comes natural to me and other days a nap comes natural (especially in the winter). But I digress . . .

Justin had his checkup with the docs in Tupelo today. Everything went well. They ran the standard EKG, blood pressure, heart rate, breath in-breath out, are you having any trouble, etc. That was pretty much it. He continues to be on no prescription meds which is such a blessing! The doc said that he can go back to work soon, continue his walking and building up his strength. The doc said with his walking, it was more about time than speed. He said he would encourage taking a less strenuous walk for a longer period of time, so we will work on that. Justin is already making a full loop around the yard without getting winded, which is about 1/3 of a mile. It doesn’t sound like much, but Justin has been working extremely hard to get his strength built back up. Last year, he just couldn’t hold out to do much of anything. He was not ready to go back to work when he did. This year, he is working to build up his strength, feeling well, and actually getting a little “stir-crazy”. (Which didn’t happen at all last year) Thank you Lord for taking care of us!

Justin made his first “big” outing on Saturday, we went to Lowe’s in New Albany. (I forget that store is there or we would be there a lot more.) We bought a storage cabinet for our back porch to keep our dog/cat food in. Which led to cleaning out the washroom and the washroom cabinet(since that is where the food used to be kept). I am very pleased with the progress. I also started cleaning out the office. As much as I am OCB, I do make piles of things in the Office. I try not to keep things out on the table, but I just “pile” it away in the office. Every few months, I have to go through it and de-clutter. I am still working on this! Next week, I will be busy finding new “piles” to clean-up and decorating for Christmas! Even though, I hate that Justin had to have surgery, I am very excited about spending my entire Thanksgiving break with him!

Last, but not least, the “child in us” bought the new Mario Game for Wii and have been playing it together! It’s quite entertaining! When we play together, we can actually get in each other’s way, so I blame all my “bad moves” on him! It will take a while for us to beat this game. We have only made it to World 2!

Time well spent

2009-11-03T21:17:00.001-06:00

Warning – some information in this blog entry may come as a shock, however (as the author) I promise that all are true and sometimes “the truth hurts”.

Justin and I dated for a little over 3 years before getting married. During that time, we spent most of our waking moments together! Once we got married, we obviously also spent most of our waking moments together. I, a teacher, and Justin, a bank employee, we share most major holidays! So, very often when I had a 3-day weekend – so did Justin. As newlyweds, this sounds awesome right?? Honesty – for the first year, these were not my favorite weekends. They always started out great and I was excited we would have an extra day off to spend together, but by lunch time on Monday I was ready to go back to work. I think the main reason was sometime around 8am on Monday, my guilty conscious (the one your mom instills in you that says “Get up off the couch and do some housework!” OR as Am and I call it - “the voice inside my head”) would kick in and make me work in the house or outside the house. Justin (also one who likes a clean house and nice yard) wanted to take the holiday that was given and relax! Leaving the weekends to less than lovely.

Change of heart!

After Justin’s surgery last year, we spent LOTS of time together. Even though there were frustrating times, due to the situation, it was awesome sitting and spending time together! I don’t suggest volunteering for surgery OR clogging your arteries in order to have your chest cracked open, but I do suggest taking OR making the time! I was reminded of this because of the surgery this year. It is actually really nice to say that in the last 3 weeks, I could count the hours that Justin and I have been apart. (It’s not many). Spending time with Justin in ICU was quite an experience. There is a reason that families don’t normally stay in ICU – you worry about every little thing. After Justin began to recover, it was nice to be able be there with him the entire time. Although, maid or servant, is not a title or job description I would have; being able to be there every time he needed a sip of water, or be fanned because he was hot, or need an ice pack, etc. was – time well spent. As Justin recovered in the room, began to take strolls around “the block”, needed help getting out of the bed, or ordering his food; it was – time well spent. Being able to help get Justin out of the hospital and settled in the hotel, get “comfy” in the hotel, lay down and need help getting up, put his shoes on to go for a walk, or just be there to ask, “do you need anything?” “Are you still ok” – all time well spent.

Spending a week at home, staying up late catching up on movies, sleeping in – just because we can, eating take out – I have no excuse for not cooking, putting his shoes on for him (just because this week he has to do it himself), sending a Best Buy list with his mom because this is what makes him happy, watching Transformers and Transformers 2 – because these are a great mix between “sappy” and “manly”, learning to watch baseball because he likes it, eating chocolate ding-dong cake together – feeding his bites to him just because he’s pitifully cute - - ALL – TIME WELL SPENT!!

This time last week . . .

2009-10-31T16:39:00.001-05:00

It was about this time last Saturday, when we pulled in our driveway! We have officially been home a week and it has been wonderful! What a beautiful site it was to see “The Mighty Mississippi” when flying in to Memphis. Home, of course, was beautiful too. We went to Boston in the Fall hoping to see nice fall foliage and the most beautiful leaves I saw were in my own yard! We have a very nice tree in the front yard (That will have to be cut down because it is leaning towards our house.) that has beautiful red leaves! (I can’t find my camera or I would already have a picture on the blog for you to see.)

All week long, we have played the “this time last week” and “This time 2 weeks ago” game.

2 weeks ago

Monday – meet the docs, learn the hospital, get a good night’s sleep

Tuesday – Surgery, funny ICU story

Wednesday – Surgery, answered prayers

Thursday – Friday – Recovery and move to a room

Saturday – Monday – Recover in the room

A week ago – Tuesday – discharged from the hospital – Friday – doctors appointment and make plans to come home

That’s a quick recap of 2 weeks in Boston!

This week – sleep late everyday, naps in the afternoon, watch movies, play Halo, play Halo ODST and beat the game in one day, eat good food, and visit with lots of wonderful people! Thank you to everyone who brought or sent food, visited, called, and prayed! Justin has had a great week and felt so good! The Lord has sent so many blessings our way!

Survived the Flood

2009-10-27T22:02:00.001-05:00

Knowing that it rained today, I’m sure that most of you would assume that this meant, we didn’t wash away with the rain. It was a nice rainy day. And since Justin is still recovering, we had the liberty of sleeping in late and lounging around today. (Back to our college days when it was just “too messy” to go to class.) But this is not what I mean by the title. Since, it was a rainy day, we played HALO!

For those of you who are not familiar, let me fill you in. HALO is an XBOX game. (We like to run and gun.) Halo 3 came out a year or so ago, and we bought it because Justin was “raised” on this game. This is one thing that we do together. So, Yeah I would say that I am a wonderful wife because not all ladies would endure this wonderful time consuming combat. When Justin and I were at MSU, he always tried to buy Xbox games that I would like to play with him (Bugs Bunny, Golf, Looney Tunes). Now to brag on my husband, I get to watch the chick-flicks that I want see. He has endured all 10 seasons of Friends, Pretty Woman, Failure to Launch, I could go on, but let me get back to the point.

Justin and I have already beaten Halo 3 (when it came out) on Heroic! (Levels are Easy, Normal, Heroic, Legendary) Now we are replaying the game on Legendary. Its really all about bragging rights. So, today we completed “The Flood”. I won’t go into detail about it, but “The Flood” is not rain!

Even though it took a few hours of the day, it was nice just spending time together! I have actually gotten much better and get in to the game too! I’m sure our lives will change drastically if we have kids, but for now we are happy just playing Xbox together!

(I have my own pink controller!)

There’s no Place Like Home

2009-10-24T20:58:00.001-05:00

What a blessing from the Lord!

10/13 – Surgery

10/14 – 2nd surgery

10/20 – Dismissed from Hospital

10/23 – Follow Up Appointment

10/24 – Non Stop “Flight” to John’s Creek

Home at the Holiday Inn

2009-10-21T23:34:00.001-05:00

Let me start with an apology. I did plan to update last night after getting settled at the hotel, but I was completely exhausted. I apologize for anyone who felt withdrawals from the blog. I will try to redeem myself with this post, however, the Holiday Inn is mostly uneventful.

On Monday, Justin had a CT scan from 3-4pm. We expected to hear from it on Monday, but that did not happen. Monday night around midnight (while Justin and I were staying up late as if it were a Friday night!) Justin decides to sneeze! Painful as it was, it was also a little concerning. Justin asked me to see if he had “pulled” anything. There was a little clear drainage, so I had the nurse come to look at it as well. She called the on-call surgeon to come look at the incision. (Which got us a little concerned). He said, It looked fine! He also instructed us what to look for to detect any issues. After that episode, the surgeon asked if we were going home on Tuesday. So we explained about waiting for the CT scan results. The surgeon said he would take a look at it! The nurse reported to us about a half hour later, that he said the CT looked good.

Tuesday morning, we woke up, ate breakfast and prepared to go home. (Every morning the BACH – Adult Congenital Heart Team – came around to see how Justin was doing.) For some reason, the BACH team did not come around during the morning. So, we ordered lunch. They finally showed up around 1 or 2. Agreed the CT looked good! Then the nurse practitioner came in and went over his discharge summary that she has prepared. Then our nurse had to write a report as well. Finally around 5:30pm we were prepared to leave. Unlike my other hospital discharge experiences, we took our paperwork and walked out! No wheelchair, no escort, Just have a nice day! The taxi ride wasn’t the most pleasant for Justin, but also wasn’t unbearable!

Finally at the hotel, Justin took an hour nap! Then “not-so-good” Chinese delivery for supper and bedtime!

Today was a productive day – get up early; have a small bite to eat; go back to bed; get back up and eat again; take a shower; shave – what was turning into a full beard; rest; take a stroll around the hotel; send Abigail out for lunch; take a nap; wash some clothes; take a stroll around the hotel; rest; eat supper; take a stroll around the hotel; watch the Phillies win the National League Championship; get ready for bed.

Justin has had a productive day. Although, he is having trouble getting comfortable between the bed and the couch. He is really missing his recliner.

We have a follow up appointment with Cardiology. It was planned for next Wednesday, but they called today to change it to this Friday (trying to get us out of the hotel and on our way home). The nurse is going to call Thursday morning to tell me if we have the Friday appointment. If we see the Dr on Friday, all goes well, then maybe home this weekend!! We don’t know for sure, but I will let you know as soon I we have a plan!!

Quick update

2009-10-20T17:28:00.001-05:00

All settled at the Holiday Inn. Justin is doing fine ( taking a quick nap). I will update tonight about the day.

Song and Dance

2009-10-19T22:50:00.001-05:00

Today has been a good day – I think it should be diary entry style.

7 am – Justin awakes and takes medicines. (Last dose of prescription pain medicine 3am. Now taking only Tylenol and Motrin!)

7:30 – Mrs. Anita calls for breakfast order

8am – Justin takes a walk in anticipation of breakfast

8:30 – Breakfast arrives – Sausage and biscuit as requested.

Mid – morning – Cardiologist (Dr. K) arrives as Justin is being weighed. This is the first time Dr. K has seen Justin vertical. He is very happy. (We told him Justin had been up and walking, but by the time Dr. K gets here each day, Justin is resting again.) Justin comments - “I have a bone to pick with you.”

**Let me explain before I finish the story. After heart surgery (and probably other surgeries) you are given an Inhaling device that you inhale into to reach a certain goal. This one has 3 tubes with a ball in each. If you inhale hard enough you raise all 3 balls. This is the goal. It helps expand the lungs after you have been on the ventilator (I think).

Dr. K – looks at him funny - Justin continues, “You told me yesterday that if I got all 3 balls to raise up, this device would sing a song! – Dr. K smiles and says, “Maybe as a consolation, we will have Dr. V do a little dance.”

The doctors have joined right in with Justin’s sarcasm. They have had a good time together. I thought this story was only appropriate since a few of you think that Justin should dance for his recovery. (Am – Justin says the gopher dance has many more moving parts that meets the eye. He will have to work up to this.)

Also Mid morning – Justin walked “downstairs” for a chest x-ray. For some of our readers (LY), I should clarify. Justin walked to the elevator, rode the elevator down to the 2nd floor, and walked around to the x-ray dept. Then stood for the x-ray and returned in the reverse route.

Noon – Lunch – Ham sandwich, chips, pepsi, choc chip cookie

1pm – Special visitor – A co-worker of Justin’s who was in town for a conference surprised Justin with a visit!

3pm – Rolled to get a CT scan. Rolled to the elevator, rode to the 2nd floor, waited in an exam room, then went to CT, then back up around 4pm.

5pm – Supper – PB and J, chips, pepsi, choc cupcake

5:30 Walk around the neighborhood (This is a longer distance than the block). While out for a walk, He and Mrs. Anita put “Pontotoc on the map”

(Map on wall, you put a sticker where you are from).

8pm – Walk around the neighborhood

10pm – Listen to Abigail talk to Amy on the phone for about an hour.

**The day has also been showered with gift baskets and balloons from various people. Thank you so much for thinking of us.

It is a possibility that we will be discharged on Tuesday (Today or tomorrow – depending on when you read this). After being released from the hospital, we will be staying at the hotel for about a week. Then we will have a follow up visit before flying home to Ecru.

Thanks for sharing in our lives!!

Man on a Mission (titled by JM)

2009-10-18T22:06:00.001-05:00

Justin had a great day today – I feel like I should make a list of his accomplishments!

p Sit in a chair and eat breakfast

p Complain because it was a plain biscuit , without sausage

p Let the nurse practitioner remove “electrical wires” and large bandage from stomach area without any drama

p Walk “around the block” (or down the hall – whatever)

p Take pain meds without nausea meds and not get sick

p Eat an entire roast beef sandwich for lunch

p Walk “around the block” again

p Eat chicken nuggets for supper

p Take a shower

p Take a nap after taking the shower

p Walk “around the block” for the 3rd time!!

p Eat some choc pudding

__ Rest – working on this

Not only was Justin on a mission, we have seen the 3 year old boy in hallway (The one from the dr.’s appt on Monday with the balloon). He was walking much faster than Justin and blowing bubbles as he walked. It is amazing how kids forget their pain. We also heard some nurses holler down the hallway, “Stop him”. Apparently another little boy was also feeling well. Some of the kids ride little cars and things. Mom and Dad saw a little girl dancing for her recovery! It has been fun to see the different recovery methods.

Hope that everyone has a restful night and finds something to smile about tonight!

It is Snowing!

2009-10-18T16:42:00.002-05:00

That's right - SNOW!! It apparently is not a big deal in Boston, (Which we figured) but is uncommon for October. It is really funny though - Because what do we do in Mississippi when it is snowing? . . . That's right - we call everyone we know and ask - "Do you see the snow?" "Is it snowing at your house?" "Go look outside!" "Do you think it will stick?" "Will we get out of school?"

The reaction here in Boston - Nurse walks in the room - "Oh , is it STILL snowing?" (with a frown). Apparently they like snow for the coziness of the Holidays, but snow this early sets them up for a long winter.

In the meantime, the Mississippians are staring at the window with huge eyes and trying to find a better view! Seriously, the snow flakes are about an inch in diameter! We are talking HUGE! We've never seen snowflakes so big. (Of course it rained yesterday and this morning, so it's not sticking.)

Oh - and Justin is doing fine. :) Just a side note - to the snow! (May update again tonight!)

It's been a long day (Titled by JM)

2009-10-17T21:32:00.006-05:00

Now that Justin is alert, I ask him what he wants me to blog about. He usually says, " just whatever". And then he says, "Its been a long day." So that is how I get my titles. Justin's short version of the blog itself.

We all slept well last night! Justin woke up a few times is all. The nurse had to run a view things through his IV. He said he woke up one time because he tried to move his arm and felt resistance; turned out to be the nurse. Then the IV pump was beeping (it does this when it finishes the meds) and he said, "Can somebody turn that off?" I went to get the nurse and she was on her way in. She is our nurse again tonight and is very sweet. She was on top of the IV all night as far as the beeping and things. She has been great! I'm sure things are more quiet at night, but she seems to really stay on top of things.

Justin has done well with eating today (In my non-professional opinion). It is so great to be at the children's hospital and at a place with many different cardiac operations. Most places have traditional heart patients with clogged arteries that require strict dieting. Here with so many non-clogged artery patients, they have really no restrictions. If you feel like eating it, and it won't make you sick - Go for it. They have room service for the patients in the rooms. They found out they were really wasting a lot of food and people eat at different times. (For anyone who has been in a general hospital you know meals come at 6am - when you just want to sleep - noon and - 4pm in the afternoon!) So, Justin has a menu and calls to room service and orders what he wants. Breakfast for supper, Ice cream sundaes, Powerade at 2 in the afternoon - Whatever he wants for the most part. You can order from 6:30am - 6pm. It is such a kids menu - mac'n'cheese, hamburger, hotdog, pizza, and other stuff. Tonight Mrs. Anita and Jimmy brought him chicken nuggets from McDonalds! Then he had some choc ice cream for a snack a little bit ago.

He has walked down the hall twice today, moved around the room some, rolled in a wheel chair downstairs for a chest x-ray, and sat up in a chair a few times. He is really trying hard. The nausea has been some better today, they are alternating medication for this. If they could get the nausea under control, the pain has been fine. He thinks he would be better to move if he wasn't sick and dizzy. I think this is somewhat caused by medication (But I really have no idea and don't plan to get a medical degree - so I know some of you nurses are reading this - just look past my incorrect medical info)
Looking forward to another restful night. Look forward to coming home in a few weeks. I will let you know when we have a game plan for that.

Thanking the Lord for health, good sense of humor, and nurses!

Busy Day (titled by JM)

2009-10-16T21:53:00.002-05:00

I was trying to see if Justin would feel like walking up the hall this evening and he said, "I think I should rest, I've had a really busy day!"

He is doing so well! He is taking little to no medicine through his IV. He is able to get out of bed to move around a little. He is doing such an awesome job getting up and down in the bed. He can get up and down with the help of just one person. Yesterday, he was needing at least 2 people to help.

He has begun to eat today, which is good. The oral pain medicine is a little rough on an empty stomach, so we tried to get him to eat when he felt like it. Mrs. Anita ordered him some chicken tenders, toast, and jello for lunch. He ate some of this and enjoyed having real food! This afternoon we wanted him to continue to get stuff on his stomach, so when he would wake up I would feed him some jell-o. Finally he asked, "Am I about done with that? Can we just put that to the side?" So, no more jell-o for now! Tonight for supper he had some more chicken strips. So, he is beginning to eat which is great!

Thank you to those who have posted messages! While Justin was resting from his busy day and waiting for supper to arrive, he wanted me to read him the blog entries and the comments! He loves to hear from you! Also, lots of you have left facebook messages, emails, etc. and I am passing these along to him as well! Thanks to Laurie and John for the flowers, they were beautiful and helped pick up our smiles a few days ago. Thanks to Teresa and her family for the candy bag, Justin has already gotten in to it! (I don't think this was the best for his stomach, but he ate a twix for dessert!)

The last few weeks in church, Bro. Barry has been preaching from 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray without ceasing,
18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

So, we have been thinking about this as we were preparing for Boston. And there is so much to rejoice and be thankful in!

Praises for today -

Moved to a private room!
Being able to eat again and not get sick!
Moving around without much help!
Great nurses and doctors
Parents on both sides to be here for us!
People praying and loving us!

Please pray for a productive day tomorrow and for a safe trip home for my parents!

Room Service

2009-10-16T11:37:00.001-05:00

Justin has been moved to a room this morning! He is doing great! All of the doctors and nurses are very excited about his progress.

Before leaving ICU, they removed most of his “stuff” (except for one IV). This allow him to move around more freely, which is the next step. Justin will be getting up and walking around this afternoon. He is also just starting to eat again. If you think about it, he hasn’t had anything since Monday night supper. So, it will be like learning how to eat after the stomach virus. We are praying this doesn’t make him sick. They will also be giving pain medicine by mouth, so we are also praying that his pain continues to stay under control!

He is making such great progress! I think he is far ahead, especially with moving around, than he was this far out of last year with his surgery! That is exciting! Praising the Lord for this!

Loving your comments, I read them to Justin as he is dozing in and out. I can’t wait to read them to him when he is more awake! He asks every once in awhile who has emailed and posted comments. He definitely has his sense of humor and is smiling a little more each day!

Update and Welcome

2009-10-15T19:30:00.002-05:00

I know that many of you are new to our blog, so welcome! Justin and I enjoy blogging about our lives, but I know that many of you have just joined us for surgery. So, please stay tuned for the rest of our lives as well!

Justin is doing well. He has rested most of the day. He also sat up in a chair for an HOUR! He said his chest pain was fine, but he couldn't get his neck comfortable in that chair (because he wanted to SLEEP!) He has been a great patient and has his normal humor. He also has comments that make little to no sense and probably won't remember most of this!

Funny Comments from Justin today -

Mrs. Anita was talking to Justin and finally said, "I think you're sleeping, so I'm going to leave you along. " to which Justin replied (With eyes closed) - "I can multitask!"
Mom was cracking jokes by his bed and said, "I guess you don't think this is funny." And I said, "That's ok, right Justin, that is how we talk at home." Justin said, "Yeah we make jokes about your mom all the time."
Yesterday I stepped out to eat lunch with my parents and Justin asked Mrs. Anita where I went. And the he said, "Go tell her that I said she is not to leave this hospital without her mom and dad."
Yesterday the nurse asked how he was doing and he said, "I feel like I just had my chest cut open."
Today, one of the doctors asked how he felt and Justin said, "Like a million bucks" (Obviously sarcastic!)

Praising today for a GREAT day! Lots of rest, Little pain, Able to sit in a church, prayers are being answered!

We love you all and ask that you thank the Lord for his progress and continue to pray for his healing!

All is well

2009-10-15T07:48:00.003-05:00

Justin is off the ventilator and doing well. It came out faster today once they woke him up, because he most of the medicine had worn off throughout the night. He is dozing in and out right now. He is hot today, but no fever that I know of. So, we are constantly fanning. The nurse who just came in to adjust the bed said that it has a cooling feature, so that should help.

He feels much better now that the ventilator is out. He is definitely about himself and commenting about things.

Mrs. Anita, myself, and Justin all rested well last night. Today is going to be a busy day. They will take out most all tubes and stuff (I'm sure that is the correct "medical term"). Then I think he will have to sit in a chair and maybe walk, just depends on how he is progressing.

Praising the Lord this morning for . . .
1. Family and friends who have continued to pray - this is what has gotten us through
2. Ventilator came out quickly and without issue.
3. Justin (although not in his opinion) is doing well. They have really worked to control the pain and nausea. It has been a bit of a battle, but they have changed his medicine. They did not give him morphine, so I think this has helped.
4. A restful night

Continue to pray and we will keep you as updated as possible.

Praising HIM!

2009-10-14T19:33:00.005-05:00

Justin is out of surgery and doing well! He is fast asleep in ICU. They want him to sleep all night to help him recover. They will work on the ventilator coming off in the morning. Dr. Del Nido really wanted to give his body time to rest.

The rest of us are better now. Going to get some rest tonight and look forward to the day tomorrow. We do understand that the recovery process is long, but we have been carried through it before.

Most importantly - We do not want to neglect Thanking the LORD for bringing us through this. He has had HIS hand on us for quite sometime now. We have felt HIS love and feel HIS presence. I think we will all sleep better tonight. So, if you can tonight - Just say a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord for Justin, his health, the doctor and his wisdom, and for his saving power of salvation.

Moment by Moment

2009-10-14T16:30:00.003-05:00

Justin has been recovering fine from his surgery. After surgery yesterday, Dr. del Nido told us that what he looked like inside was different from the pictures. The artery that is causing the issue because it is at risk of being pinched was running into the heart muscle. He called this a myocardial bridge. He removed this muscle to correct this issue. He told us that he was concerned about another place that could also cause him issues. So he had a CT scan done today to check to see if this was an issue. In fact it was, Dr. Del Nido wanted to fix this now and send us home completely fixed! Justin was of course disappointed, but also all of us wanted to get it fixed and be finished.

Praises . . .
1. The Lord has carried us this far. (Definelty his footprints in the sand.)
2. The Lord worked out all the details to get us to Dr. Del Nido (who has been described by one employee here as their "Rockstar")
3. The Lord has granted us with grace and peace.
4. We know the recovery will be long, BUT their will only be 1 recovery. (Also a blessing from the Lord)
5. The Lord has blessed us with some funny memories - will save for future blogs(Even though we will not want to remember some of them)
6. The Lord has given us a wonderful support group of family, friends, and church members. Thank you for your support and prayers!

My sweet adorable husband

2009-10-13T21:43:00.002-05:00

Justin is still doing fine. It took a while before he could come off of the ventilator because he was so groggy (not sure of the spelling) . The surgeon came in this evening and said to go ahead and take him off the ventilator. AFter they did this, he wanted to go to sleep. This was causing his oxygen levels to fluctuate a bit, so we had to try to keep him awake. I say all that so you will understand the rest of the blog.

Since he is groggy, he is also talking very much like a drunk with some slurred speech here and there. To keep him awake the nurse wanted him to talk, so she asked how Justin and I met.

How we met

By:Justin

Paraphrased from memory by: Abigail

So, Abigail and I grew up together. Our families went to church together our whole lives. So one day I was in the youth boys class, 7-12th grade. I was in 9th grade. And Jason Horton, you don't know him, was sitting there beside me. Abigail had to come down there to take roll or something. And Jason said, "Hey man, you should ask her out. She's pretty." So I said, "Yeah, she's pretty." Then a few months passed and I went on a youth trip with this guy, his name is Brett. It was at Tishmingo Park , you don't know where that is. Brett and I went out in the river, well really it was creek, and were just discussing life and stuff. And Brett said, "Yeah you should ask Abigail out." So like the next day at school, Brett grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me around and then called Abigail to come over. So, I was kinda put on the spot. I asked Abigail out. Well, you know, when you are that age it's not really going out. We were boyfriend and girlfriend. So we dated for a while and then broke up ((Let me point out, this is the first time that he has told this story without saying - then she broke my heart - anyway)). Then we ended up at the same college together. We dated for a while without anyone at home knowing it because if anyone had found out, they would have assumed we were getting married. We dated for about 3 years. (So then the nurse asked about the proposal.) Well, I didnt' really know how I was going to do it, but Abigail came over to the house for something. I had wrapped the ring in a regular Christmas bag, because it was close to Christmas. And Abigail saw the bag and asked if it was hers. I said, "Yeah and you can open it before Christmas. Its just a little happy I picked up." So Abigail opened it and when she got the ring out, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. And everything has been wonderful since then!

The end

So I thought that was a good explanation of what happened. It kept him awake with a few prompting questions and he told the story well.
Justin is resting now and his breathing is under control. Hopefully he will rest well. We may move to a room tomorrow, just depends on how everything goes.

Hope everyone else has a wonderful evening. Justin has made mine great!

Quick Update

2009-10-13T18:31:00.003-05:00

Just a quick update, I will try to add more later.

Justin got out of surgery around 2pm. Then was moved to ICU. He will stay at least one night here, maybe longer. This is not a big deal. We were told to expect 2-3 days. They like to be cautious.

We cannot use our cell phones at all in this area, not even in the waiting area. My parents will have their phones on at some times during the day.

All is well right now. I do have email, but I hesitate to put it on my blog. You can get it from my parents or leave a post on the blog.

Praises
1. Justin is out of surgery!
2. The surgeon, cardiologist, and nurses are all in contact with us and agree he is doing well.
3. The Lord has taken care of us until now and will continue to grant us with His love, grace, and peace.

Blogging as a distraction

2009-10-13T08:47:00.001-05:00

So for the next few hours, please disregard the incorrect grammar, misspelled words, and incomplete thoughts or run-ons. Laugh about them now, tell me about them later. :)

Yesterday was a good day. We were at the hospital at 7:00 to begin our day. They told us to prepare to be there for 6-8hours. Everyone worked very quickly to get us in and out. Justin signed his life away, had a chest x-ray, and blood work. Poor thing though, all of the other kids got balloons. The dad sitting next to us with his 3 year old son (who also is having surgery this morning – please pray for them as well) said, “ You have to be a big boy to get a balloon.”

We met with the anesthesiologists who said their plan was to keep him comfortable and safe. They said his case would be “boring” which I can understand, since they normally operate on little ones. After testing and a few meetings, they told us to be back around 1 to see the surgeon. So, unlike most, we were able to leave and go eat lunch. We met with the surgeon and a few cardiologists who were extremely nice. They explained the procedure again and we understand a little better. (I will have to tell you in person because otherwise it would take too long to type.) The day yesterday was good! I think we all felt more comfortable after that was done.

Today . . .

The process this morning went fairly quickly. After being taken to pre-op, they immediately started the IV and “the good stuff”. The anesthesiologist said (as he was pushing the meds in), “1 wine, 2 wines, 5 wines, how do you feel now?” Then he waited a few minutes and finished with that. Justin was talking, but only when spoken too and with his eyes closed. They said they would tell him a joke when he got back to surgery, but I imagine Justin won’t remember it. So, it is nice to know that he didn’t know anything as they were taking him back.

More updates to follow through out the day.

Sights to see

2009-10-11T15:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we spent some time seeing a few sights. We went to the Harbor and walked around for a while. The aquarium line was too long. So we decided to walk to the USS Constitution. It is the oldest ship still commissioned by the US Navy. It is wooden, which is awesome! After the long walk, we didn’t feel like climbing around inside of it, but we did walk up on the deck. (I wish I had wood floors in my house that looked like the deck of that ship.) So, here are a few pictures of our day!

Waiting for a cab outside the hotel.

Looking out at the Harbor.

(Seriously guys, we have water in MS)

Beautiful archway in Columbus Park.

Justin is in his own little world as usual! Jimmy and I are checking out football scores on the iPhone because “there’s an app for that!”

USS Constitution – pictures don’t do it justice.

Last night, we went to eat at Legal Sea Foods – I will post that picture later from my phone. My parents came in yesterday afternoon and we all rode the “T” for the first time on our way to supper. Then we took a cab back to the hotel!

More blogging later . . .

Boston Bound

2009-10-10T01:00:00.001-05:00

Well you will notice (assuming I get internet and get to post this blog) that it is in fact 12:17am. If you know me at all, you know that I am not awake at this time by choice! Also keep in mind that it is technically 1:17 where I am.

Let me walk you through the day . . .

Mrs. Anita and Mr. Jimmy arrived in Ecru around 8am to pick us up. The ride to the Memphis airport was quick and talkative. We arrived at the airport around 9:30. We unloaded all the bags at the curb and the men went to park the car. Just trying to get a jump start on the day, I went to the ticket counter (where there was no line!) to see if I could get us checked in. The man let me check all the bags and bumped us up to an earlier flight. He was afraid that due to the weather, our 12:45 flight would be delayed. When we got the gate we found out that the flight we were put on was also delayed. The original flight was late getting to Charlotte, then flew to Memphis but could not land because of weather. The flight had to go to Nashville to land and refuel. In the meantime, our original flight was delayed in Charlotte. There was also a 2:30 flight that was waiting to arrive. By the time we left, there were 3 planes all going to Charlotte very close together. We finally flew out of Memphis around 2pm.

We arrived in Charlotte at 4 (which was 5 – eastern time). Our flight left at 4:30(ET). So, we went to ask what we needed to do. The next flight was at 6:55, another at 8 and another at 10. All of which were booked! The 6:55 flight was overbooked. (To get to the 6:55 Boston flight, we walked from Terminal E to Terminal B – basically across the airport) At the terminal, they explained the situation and sent us to customer service, who I’m sure you can guess, sent us back with Stand By tickets. The man at the gate was super nice and said he could book us on a flight to DC and then to Boston. That would be our best option of getting to Boston. Our luggage on the other hand would just fly straight to Boston. (Which if you’ve ever connected flights, you know this was better than changing their route to DC)

So, we walked to our DC flight. Would you like to guess where it was? That is right – all the way back to Terminal E! Choke down a few bites of something to eat and on the next plane! We left Charlotte on the way to DC about 6:45. Landing in DC around 8:15.

Our last flight to catch – DC to Boston. It departed on time at 9pm. So, we are very excited that we have made it to this point! A long day, but not running or anything! When we begin taxing out, the pilot says, “Many of you may already know this from the person at the gate, but we will not be able to take off from here yet because we are not clear to land in Boston. So, we will be sitting on the runway for about an hour.” (Here is what I don’t understand. Why couldn’t we just sit in the terminal? What is the point of sitting on the airplane?) Anyway, on a positive note the pilot was right on – we left in an hour and arrived in Boston at 11:15.

We get to baggage claim – believe or not ALL of our luggage found its way to Boston!! (Good thing too because Justin and I only brought a backpack for a carry-on with our contacts/glasses and a t-shirt. Its easier on Justin if he doesn’t have to carry that stuff around, which makes it easier on me because he doesn’t hurt the entire next day!)

Found a mini-van taxi – checked in the hotel – ordered take out – blogged about it!

More info to follow this weekend, when I am refreshed!

Things to be excited about . . .

We took 3 flights in one day and made it to Boston!
Our luggage found us here!
Everyone all day was super nice!
We all felt pretty good all day!
Sight-seeing starts tomorrow!

Update and Blessing

2009-10-01T22:45:00.001-05:00

Let’s start with a quick update about Boston. Justin and I will be flying out (along with his mom and Mr. Jimmy) on Friday – Oct 9- around lunch time. We will arrive in Boston in time for supper and a good night’s rest! Saturday and Sunday will be spent seeing the sights and good eating! Monday – the 12th – we will go to Boston children’s hospital for some routine tests, meeting with the doctors, and whatever else. Then we will go back to the hotel for another good night’s rest and return bright and early on the 13th for surgery. We are excited that the trip is finally here. I will do my best to keep my blog updated as we travel through this part of our life journey.

Now back to life right now!

This week God sent us 2 wonderful blessings! Monday evening as Justin and I were returning home from a trip to Wal-Mart (My husband likes to look around!), we received a phone call from our former pastor, Bro. George Smith. Bro. George and Mrs. Miriam played a part in both of our raisings! He was our pastor when Justin and I were kids, and baptized both of us. We also asked him to marry us! They have been a huge part of our lives! Last year they kept up with us closely during our surgery journey and even drove up to visit us! Bro. George brought Justin a pack of M&Ms and told him that was his medicine. (When Justin was a kid, he was in the hospital and Bro. George brought him some M&Ms). Anyway, it was such a blessing to get to talk to them! They are a very special couple and we are very blessed to be able to have them as a part of our lives.

On Wednesday, Justin and I were eating supper and had a knock at the door. It was our neighbors from across the road, Bro. Bill and Mrs. Fannie Dowdy. They are wonderful neighbors. (I blogged this summer about their vegetable soup, and how Bro. Bill helps take care of our yard.) They have been gone for over a month traveling in their RV. They stopped by Wednesday to share the pictures from their trip. It was so nice to see their pictures! They traveled to Minnesota and many other places. (Sorry, I can’t remember.) Their pictures were beautiful with farmlands, barns, some of the Great Lakes, and many people they met on their journey. They are a wonderful witness and share about God everywhere they go! It was very refreshing to spend some time with them and be able to share in their travels.

There have been many blessings in our lives, but these were special this week! So, Thank you Lord for sending these special blessings our way!

Lots of Nothings

2009-09-15T21:17:00.001-05:00

So, I was thinking on the way home from school today. (Dangerous, I know, after having worked my brain so hard at school. ) I was thinking, why am I not blogging more often? Is it . . .

A. – My husband is about to undergo a major surgery and I feel that blogging about other things is a waste?

B. – I am back at school and I have nothing to blog about except school? And who wants to hear about that?

C. – Because I am in school, I have little time to blog?

So, I don’t know what it is exactly, maybe a little of each, but no more! A blogger I will be. I am actually going to get my students involved in blogging through their technology classes. I can’t wait! How awesome to let the kids share their thoughts through technology!

Justin and I spent the majority of last week watching the newest season of THE OFFICE. Season 5 came out on DVD last Tuesday and Justin came home with it! Here’s the funny thing. I went to Wal-Mart Tuesday to get a few groceries. Knowing that Justin was bringing home The Office and we would be having “movie night”, I bought myself some popcorn and coke. I try to limit my intake of theses items, because I know they are not good for me to eat on a regular basis. However, it was “movie night”. Anyway, Justin is not a popcorn/coke person, but more an Oreo/Milk person. I wouldn’t want him to be left out, so I , of course, bought his snack as well. Justin gets home with the DVD and I see he has an extra sack as well. My adorable husband bought popcorn and coke in glass bottles! How well does he know me?!! So we watched The Office with our own snacks – Isn’t marriage great?

Our week is not always driven by TV or Movies, but last week was definitely a TV week! Tuesday -The Office.

Wednesday after church - Season Finale of LEVERAGE. (Let me speak to this just for a minute. Are there any Leverage fans out there? Seriously, is Sophie not coming back to the show? Are they really going to cut her out like that?)

Thursday, disc 2 of the Office.

Friday, Dinner with The Terry’s to continue our Office addiction.

Saturday – Nascar and MSU game on at the same time!

Sunday night – Season finale of Design Star (Which was awesome! If you aren’t an HGTV fan, the traditional show is no more. Well, some of them are, but the winner of Design Star is very rough around the edges. Antonio is a very buff, rough edged, guy with tattoos who is a great designer! He is not the typical designer! His show will be great!) Monday – finished the Office. Tonight – blogging in bed. Next TV addiction beginning Thursday night with THE OFFICE Season 6!

The call . . .

2009-09-08T23:02:00.001-05:00

Well today was the day we have all been anticipating. Justin received a phone call from Boston. I’m not sure exactly who called him, but for our purposes we will say it was the nurse from Boston. She called a little after 3:00 today to give us the surgery date which is October 13th. To save you the trouble of getting a calendar, it is on a Tuesday – 5 weeks from today.

Its extremely crazy how we have waited and anticipated this call. Almost everyday I would think, “Maybe they will call today.” And then this morning, after I got to school I said a little prayer asking that we would hear today. Even so, I was a little shocked when Justin called to tell me that someone had called. (Oh Me of Little Faith) I was finally at a point where I could talk about the issue, surgery, etc. and not feel sick at my stomach. And yet, when he called and told me the date, I almost lost it. The Lord has really protected us from being worrisome for the last 6-8 weeks.

Great things about our news today!

We finally have a surgery date! I can actually start making plans (plane tickets, hotel reservations, etc.)
The date is not in mid-November (Which we thought it might be because that was the surgeons first open date.)
Having the surgery in October gives us time to plan to get there AND time to recover before Christmas!
We have a date with an elite group of doctors. Our surgeon, Dr. DelNido, has performed many heart surgeries including heart transplants. (We have been researching him online)
Going to a children’s hospital might be fun! They are used to families being involved in the recovery process.

We think we will meet with the doctor/surgeon on Monday – Oct 12. Justin will have some x-rays and blood work done that day. Then we will return the next day for surgery. Please continue to pray for us as we wait for the day to arrive, as we make travel plans, and for the surgeon/doctors to be able to choose the best solution for Justin’s surgery.

Weekend away . . .

2009-09-08T22:43:00.001-05:00

Justin and I took a little road trip for the weekend to watch the first Atlanta Motor Speedway Race under the lights! We had a great time! (The previous blog entry had a picture of Justin that I had taken of him at the race with my phone, but apparently it did not load correctly.) So here are a few pictures of the track from our great seats!

View to the left . . .

View in front of us. . .

View to the right. . .

The pictures may not show how well we could see everything!

This is the crew bringing out Dale Jr.’s car to get in line.

This is Dale Jr. during driver introductions.

This is a picture of the cars as they are moving which shows 2 things. 1 – the cars are moving FAST! 2 – My camera isn’t fancy enough to capture the speed of light.

(There are 3 cars on the track in this picture. They are between the pole and the right edge of the picture. Dale Jr. is the 3rd car just passed the start/finish line)

This is Dale Jr’s pit stop. These are also very fast. About 15 seconds tops!

And lastly, Kasey Kahn won the race and this is the burn out!

During our short weekend trip, our sweet puppy TY spent his first weekend away from home with Mamaw ‘Nita (This is Justin’s mom.) and Papaw Jimmy. I’m sure he was spoiled by his visit with Grandma. We stopped by to get Ty on the way home and ate supper with Mrs. Anita and Mr. Jimmy. Supper was delicious! We had grilled chicken seasoned with who-knows-what (Jimmy is an excellent griller!), along with homemade mashed potatoes, green beans, fried okra, tomatoes from the garden, and fudge brownie cake. All of it was awesome!! Thanks to Mrs. Anita and Mr. Jimmy for taking care of Ty and spoiling us with great food!

Made it to Atlanta!

2009-09-06T17:10:00.001-05:00

Race starts in an hour!

Home Cooking

2009-08-27T20:16:00.001-05:00

Tuesday night Justin and I took my Grandmother Wise out to eat for dinner. We had a great time! It was so nice to spend some time talking with Grandma. (Every Saturday night, the Wise’s eat at Grandma’s house, and since Justin and I got married we haven’t been very often. Many Saturdays we have something to do and sometimes we just don’t make it, but none the less spending time with Grandma was fun!) We talked about things going on in our lives as well as gardening. Grandma has had a garden as long as I can remember. She plants the usual for this area, tomatoes, peas, okra, etc.

As we were talking Grandma mentioned she didn’t have a lot of okra this year, so I offered her some of our okra. So, on Wednesday Grandma came to our house and picked our okra. She called me after school and had me stop by her house. Grandma had not only picked our okra, but also our butter beans. I told her that I was not good at frying okra, and that is the only way Justin likes to eat it. (I tried a few years ago and it was NOT GOOD!) Grandma had picked, shelled, and blanched the butter beans so they were ready to freeze or cook. She had also cut and battered the okra for me!

Wednesday night, Justin wasn’t feeling well, so I waited until tonight for good home cooking! I followed Grandma’s frying instructions and guess what! My husband loved the okra!! We had butter beans, fried okra, and fried bologna! It was great! (I was going to make cornbread, but my cornmeal was out of date.)

So, thanks Grandma for helping me cook supper!

Precious Memories

2009-08-21T21:41:00.001-05:00

I’m having blog withdrawals. With no update from Boston, I feel I have nothing to blog about, so I’m going to blog about not blogging.

I never was one that could journal or keep a diary. For several reasons. (I’ve been thinking of these for hours.)

1. I thought I had something better to do besides write about my day.

2. That something better was go to sleep. (You should ask my husband, sleeping is not a weakness of mine.)

3. I could only find my “diary” for about a week. After that, I cleaned up and put it away. Then I forgot where I put it.

4. As I got older, I didn’t need evidence of what I had done.

5. I didn’t want to relive what I had done or have my conscience remind me of what I shouldn’t have done.

I did find a journal of mine that I started at Mississippi State. Poor Justin, he didn’t have a chance. I was head over heels from day one and “cheesy”. I was a little embarrassed to claim it.

I have to give props to my best friend Beth Russell Graham. Beth has multiple journals. Beth and I became friends about the 8th grade and she always had a journal. She would write in it everyday! (As an only child, she didn’t have a sister to share a room with! So keeping up with a diary was easier.) :) Beth could probably relive her entire high school life with her journals. It is so great to go back and read how life has changed. Beth and I have often recapped our high school life experiences. So, Beth, I would just like to say “Precious Memories”! (Hope that makes you smile!) We should definitely read the journal entry from that interesting time in our lives!

So instead of keeping a journal, I will continue to publicly publish our lives! I’m not dedicated enough to daily entries, but I will try to keep it interesting!

More of you . . .

2009-08-13T22:48:00.001-05:00

Dr. Gupta called on Tuesday to give us an update. The doctors in Boston have accepted Justin’s case, which means we are going to Boston. (I know we have suspected this all along, but that is more of the finalization.) There is another test they want to run on Justin before they decide on the final surgical procedure. The doctors plan for us to make one trip to Boston for the test, consultation, and then surgery. We hope to hear from them next week (we were hoping to hear this week, but I doubt we will since we are already at Thursday night). Now that they have accepted Justin’s case, we hope that they will move quickly to an appointment, but they are not on our time schedule. So, we will wait for them to call.

Justin and I were reading tonight in Luke 8. (We have been reading through the new testament. We try to read a chapter a night, but sometimes we read a devotional instead.) Anyway, in Chapter 8 there are 2 stories that are meaningful to us. First, we have recently talked about this and talked to Mrs. Anita (Justin’s mom) about this story. There are a few verses where Jesus and His disciples get in the boat and Jesus tells them to go to the other side of the lake (my paraphrased version). The interesting thing is what Mrs. Anita had heard a preacher talk about recently. Here the disciples were, in God’s will, and He sent them straight into the storm. Then when they got scared, Jesus said, “Yeah of little faith.” I don’t want Jesus to say that to me. I don’t want Him to point out a lack of faith in my life. Instead I want to be the lady who comes in a few verses later. The lady who had the blood disease who believed if she could only touch Jesus, she would be healed. And she was! I want to have that much faith. I want to believe that I don’t need Jesus to stop and speak to me, if I could just touch “the hem of His garment.” My brother, Brooks, and my sister, Amber, and I have sang a song together that talks about this. I think the title is “More of you, Jesus”. But the first verse says, “I have touched the hem of His garment. I have felt the healing of his hand.” That is where we want our faith. Just to touch the hem of Jesus!

Families

2009-08-09T14:57:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday, we received an email from Dr. Gupta explaining that Justin’s situation would be presented to the surgeons on Monday. We are not sure exactly what that means or when we will know anymore details. We definitely want everyone to agree on what should be done, how it should be done, and who the best person is for the job. We continue to pray that all of those involved will have the wisdom to make the correct decision.

Friday was the first day of school for middle school and high school students! So, I had my first day with students! Mom and I teach together in the same room for those of you who didn’t know that. Because of the laws about teaching gifted students sometimes it works out that you get 2 teachers in the same room. We love it! We have a 6th grade homeroom (VT- Viking Time), which is great because they are new to middle school and usually a little scared. It is nice to be that comforting support system they need on the 1st day of middle school. My students learn quickly if they are shy, that will not last long. It won’t be too embarrassing, but I do ask that you take some risks (not anything life threatening of course). For some getting up in front of their peers is not easy and very risky. I ask this of my students on the first day, so that they get used to the idea of speaking in front of others. I ask them present their work all of the time! 1st day in Intellectually Gifted (IG) is spent jumping right in to work. Since, we have the same students from year to year (for the most part) we don’t spend time getting to know each other, we immediately jump in to thinking!

Also, on Friday, Justin’s co-workers had a benefit for him at work. They are a wonderful team who has really taken care of Justin the entire time he has worked there. His group at work is only about 5 people, but he works closely with many others. Many of these people visited him in the hospital last year after the surgery. But most impressive was after he came home for recovery. Justin’s co-workers drove from Tupelo to visit him at home twice! First they came to visit. The second time they brought him lunch and sat down and ate with him! What a great group! After finding out a few weeks ago that we were going out of state for surgery, his co-workers told him they wanted to have a benefit for him. Justin tried to talk his way out of it, but they would not have that. They worked very hard to organize a benefit for him which happened this past Friday. My boss, also wonderful, let me leave school to attend the benefit. It was very humbling to see the hard work and participation. The outcome was way more than we ever expected! I can’t say thank you enough to all of those involved! Justin has a wonderful place to work and a wonderful work family! We are both so blessed, not only to have wonderful jobs that we love, but to have wonderful work families that love us and pray for us just like our other families!

The Sunday School lesson this morning was about having faith without works. In the book of James, it says that faith without works is dead. When you put your faith in the Lord to practice you work for the Lord. Then the message was also similar in that we get the biggest blessing when we get in to the meat of God’s word and begin to serve Him. If you are a Christian but have not been serving the Lord, then you are missing the blessings of being a Christian. Then the pianist played “How Great Thou Art” during the offering. And that is just it. Its not about how big we are or what we can do. It is about putting our total faith and ability to the Lord because He is so GREAT! We have faith because He is GREAT! We want to serve HIM because HE is GREAT! We want to tell others because He is GREAT! We can endure because HE is GREAT!

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Sunday’s are great!

2009-08-02T23:17:00.001-05:00

Justin and I have had a wonderful day!

Last night at church, we had a Back-to School Bash for the kids. It was lots of fun. They also had a conclusion service for X-treme Life Camp! This summer has been so awesome for the kids in our community that were able to be a part of this. Most all of the kids came with their families last night to the event. We were able to give away 6 full backpacks and every kid went home with a pack of crayons, pencils, and glue sticks. It is so fun to see kids get excited about the little things in life.

This morning the doctor emailed. We are fairly certain that the surgery will be at the Boston Children’s Hospital. The surgeon, who is reviewing the case, is the lead surgeon for the adult congenital heart division. The surgeon and other doctors reviewing the case are working on the best possible solution for Justin’s specific case. Dr. Gupta hopes to get some finalized plans this next week. He said that he feels like the consultation and surgery will be close enough to only make one trip to Boston.

This morning at church, many of the kids from the summer camp were there with their families. How exciting to see God at work!

The choir special this morning was “Praise You in this Storm” (I think sung by Casting Crowns). This is an awesome song, but so fitting in our lives right now. I ’ve always liked this song and I love to sing it, but last year after Justin’s surgery it began to take on new meaning. One part of the song says “every tear I cry, you hold in your hands”. This is an awesome picture in my mind. God loves me so much that He catches my tears. You think about the relationship of a father and daughter. How the father protects her and wipes away her tears. This in itself is an awesome, warming emotion. But to take that to the next level and imagine this relationship with God! And then I ask myself, “Can I do this? Can I praise HIM in this storm? Is my faith really that big?” It’s humanly impossible to wrap your mind around this, but when you have experienced God (even just a little bit) you know that He can help you do this. God can give you the faith to praise Him even in the storms of life – BIG or small -

Quick Update

2009-07-30T23:19:00.001-05:00

Justin and I received an email from Dr. Gupta tonight. The consensus of the doctors is that he does need surgery. They are still talking to a possible surgeon who can do the surgery. Dr. Gupta is staying in contact with them to find the next step for us. The surgeon they are talking to right now is in Boston, but again no final details have been made.

As we come to this information, it is a reality check all over again. The reality of surgery and the scary parts of that. Having been through this once, we know more than we did last time, which could be good OR bad. Anyway, I was thinking about the analogy, “going through the storm”. Growing up I was terrified of storms to the point of physically being sick if there was a thunderstorm or tornado warning. (I was like this until I moved to college and had to face the issue!) You watch the tv warnings and take precautions, and you wait until the storm passes. But the best part of the storm is of course the end, but usually because it is so calming. It usually ends with the light rain. Rain is so calming. And even though the rain is part of the storm, it is refreshing and beautiful at the same time. Unfortunately we are still just watching the warnings come in, but before we know it we will be enjoying the rain.

Just waiting

2009-07-29T20:20:00.001-05:00

I know many of our readers are “sitting on pins and needles” to know an update of our situation. Ok, maybe that is a little vain of me to think that everyone is just waiting. We are just waiting. Our doctor in Tupelo emailed to say he has no update from Boston. But at least we know where he stands. He has been great about keeping us posted!

You know – waiting really is the hardest part. You know how when you were little and Christmas or your Birthday just couldn’t get here fast enough. Or a different waiting - when you were at church and your mom said, “wait ‘til we get home.” in that stern whisper. And you started praying that she would forget. Surely, I wasn’t the only person this happened to. Well, sometimes that is how we feel. You go from one extreme to the other. That sinking pit of why can’t I just know so I can plan – for those of you who are OCD like me and need time to plan how your clothes will be organized in your suitcase. - Or who sit and imagine how you are going to organize your carry-on to get the most for the space that you have. Or maybe you aren’t like that at all and the packing doesn’t bother you. Maybe for you its more like – just get the beating over with so I can move on. (Referring to the trouble you got in at church)

Anyway, our devotion last night and the prayer meeting message tonight went along together for me. You know sometimes God sends us through the storm just for the purpose of His Glory! In fact, we are here for His Glory! Sometimes, he chooses to heal instantly, sometimes not in this world at all, and sometimes he wants us to wait! But all the time it is for His ultimate goal! His purpose! His glory!

So, as I learn not to be selfish or worry about packing remember we are here to Glorify Him! Even if we are just waiting.

Nothing like a neighbor

2009-07-24T22:52:00.001-05:00

When Justin and I got married, I learned all about country life. I know there are people who live much more in the country than I do, but we do have some country tendencies around here. Let me name a few: washing the window unit air conditioner filters on the front porch, having your neighbors stop in the road to talk to you at the mailbox, hollering from your porch to theirs just to say hello, stopping both vehicles in the middle of the road to chat, getting off your lawnmower/tractor to chat, and then just being a neighbor! I’m not as good of a neighbor as my neighbors are to me. We know everyone on our end of the road very well. (There is one couple that we only know of at one end of the road, but everyone else has lived here for as long as I can remember!)

So, Justin and I came home from the hospital on Monday evening and then spent the day together on Tuesday. Wednesday night, Mrs. Pearl and Mrs. Voilet Jo – who live next door – brought us a chocolate pie. (This is chocolate pie with no meringue – just the way we like it!) Mrs. Donna – a church family member who also lives down the road – brought chocolate chip cookies – YUM! On Thursday, Bro. Dowdy from across the road called to let us know that Mrs. Fannie (his wife) had made vegetable soup for lunch and made enough for us. It was delicious – all fresh vegetables from the garden! (Bro. Dowdy has mowed our yard a few times when we just couldn’t get to it and usually mows my ditch where I can’t get it.) This morning, I saw Mr. Rex (husband of Mrs. Donna) at the quick stop. He was finishing breakfast, and I was getting biscuits to go. He asked if we needed our yard mowed and I said it would be fine without it. Guess what – I left this afternoon to find Mr. Rex mowing the yard with his tractor! On the way home, our neighbors from down the road – The Browns - stopped me on the road just to check on us! You just can’t beat small town living!

I can’t say thank you enough to those friends who have blogged about our situation, those who have added us to your prayer list at church, and called to check on us! As difficult as we know this time will be, we also know that their are many prayers going to the Lord for us! Thank you – Thank you!

Welcome new readers

2009-07-22T23:29:00.001-05:00

First, I would like to welcome our new blog readers to our lives online. Because of Justin’s heart situation, we have some new readers to our blog. I would like to encourage you to follow after this is all over with as well. This is a fun way for Justin and I to share about our “interesting” (although you may not think so) lives!

Health Update – Justin and I talked to and received an email from Dr. Gupta, the doc in Tupelo who is taking care of us. He said that he is sending all of Justin’s info to Dr. Landzberg in Boston. They should receive the info by Friday and hopefully review his info by Monday. Dr. Gupta is expecting to hear from them by mid-week at the latest, hopefully by Monday or Tuesday. So, Justin and the rest of the family are just in the waiting stage. It reminds me of Dr. Suess’s book “Oh the Places You’ll Go”. There is a page or two about the “waiting place”. You can tell from the pictures in the book and the writing, that this is not the best place to be in the world. But, it will pass and we will move forward. ( I like Dr. Suess, and my students will tell you this is one of my favorite stories of his. I based my high school graduation speech on it, a speech in college on it, and use it in my classroom with my students!) Please pray for the doctors who are reviewing Justin’s information that they will be able to make the correct suggestions as to what we should do. Pray also that we will have the wisdom we need to make the correct decisions as we move forward.

Justin went back to work today and we have moved on with life as much as possible. It is difficult at times to move forward, but we are keeping our heads up through the power of prayer and our trust in the Lord. We enjoyed prayer meeting tonight at church. (We have asked others to take our Wednesday night children classes, until we can get back.)

Other good news – We also found out at church tonight that some friends of ours who are expecting a baby received good news at the doctor today. This sweet couple, who are our age, lost a baby this past year. We are so excited that this new baby is healthy. They are due in January.

My cousin, Suzy, is having her second child on Monday – very excited about this. Her sister is having surgery tomorrow. She broke/splintered her ankle/leg. (Not sure of all the correct details) Point- she is having surgery Thursday morning. Please pray for the doctors as they operate and her as she recovers.

On a lighter note, Ty (our sweet puppy) began taking puppy classes last week. We are not going to be able to continue these right now, but he is a fast learner. We went to talk to our trainer yesterday and she actually boards dogs! So, if we have to leave town, our trainer might actually keep our dog! He will be really smart, by the time we get home!

Heart- who does yours belong too?

2009-07-20T21:29:00.001-05:00

First, if you haven't read the blog in a while you should read the previous 2 before reading this one. Today there is good news and bad. So to stick with tradition, we will start with the bad.

Justin had his heart cath this morning and the new bypass artery from last year has closed. Basically putting us back to where we started. If you read my last blog you know that Justin and I have given this situation to the Lord. I can't tell you that we aren't scared, but we know the peace of the Lord.

Good news
1. Justin was taken early for his heart cath this morning, so there was no time for worry or anxiety.

2. To close the heart cath, they were able to use a star close, which just to us means that he only had to lay flat for 2-3 hours instead of 6 hours.

3. Our cath doc, Dr. Gupta, has been more than wonderful. He has contacted and consulted doctors from all over looking for the best. He has talked to us, let us ask questions, and provided his contact info for our convenience.

4. Right now we are looking at Harvards childrens hospital which justin's cousin, Kim, found out is in his insurance network.

5. Justin and I have been wanting to go to the east coast.

Zephaniah 3:17 says "the Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

Wonder what God sounds like when He sings?
Oh, what a wonderful God we serve!

Praise ye the Lord

2009-07-18T22:50:00.001-05:00

The outcome from the doctor changed a liitle today from last night. Let me start there, but read the entire blog.

This morning the doc said, if in fact the bypass is closed as we are 95% sure that it is, then you will need to have open heart surgery again by a surgeon who can do a special surgery to reroute the left main artery. Heart cath on Monday will double check the bypass artery.

Everyone we have spoken to today we have asked to pray specifically that the bypass artery is open when we do the heart cath. Tonight Justin and I both got encouraging phone calls from different people. Justin's mom called to say that his papaw said, " I have been praying about this since I heard this afternoon and I have peace about it. The Bible tells us if we have faith even as a mustard seed, we can move mountains.". My dad called to remind me that when he was battling cancer, they found a gray spot that they were certain was a problem and was not.

It gets better. . . Justin and I have been reading through the new testament and tonight was Mark 11. A little over half way through the chapter, tears filled our eyes as we know the Lord was speaking to us. I won't spoil it for you, go read Mark 11!

The Lord knows all!

2009-07-17T22:57:00.001-05:00

This week has been quite the whirlwind. Arts institute was great! Lots of ideas. Our team met today to make some plans for the school year. Lots of awesome people with great

Today Justin stayed home from work beacuse he was hurting pretty bad in his chest. He was hurting really bad last night. We are not sure what is causing the pain, but think it is muscle soreness. Just to be safe, Justin went to our family doctor, who sent him to the cardiologist just to get a thorough check. Justin had a ct scan just like last year to be on the safe side. The scan showed a gray area on the new bypass artery. The doctor who read the scan believes that this new artery has shut down and not working. We have been admitted to the hospital for a heart cath which will allow the docs to know for sure if this is true. At this point they think that the old artery is still working which will be good. The old artery is supposed to have a clamp on it but we think that has come off, which in our case now would be a good thing. If the old artery is closed with the clamp and the new bypass artery has quit then we are looking at surgery. If the doc is right and the old is working and new is not then they will just leave well enough alone. If both arteries are still working then that will be great and we will talk about that.

However, once again the Lord provided us with this unknown knowledge because Justin's pain is still very possible muscles and not cardiac, which is great!

Monday morning will tell the story. Please pray that the Lord will guide the doctors in their decisions and us if we have any to make. Our selfish desire and our prayer is that both arteries are open and we go from there.

Not to be out done

2009-07-13T19:09:00.001-05:00

So I am at the whole schools summer institute in oxford this week learning more about infusing the arts into lessons. Felicia Pollard, her blog link is to right, is also hereand asked if I had blogged about it yet. So I won't be out done. Thanks Felicia for getting me on the ball.

Today I learned about using video as a form of assessment and video techniques. This afternoon I went to a session about learning though movement. It was awesome! I have a similar class a few more times this week.

I also learned how to make a quilt that can be easily changed as often as you like with ziplock bags and duct tape. Very excited about this.

More another time!

Are you kidding me?

2009-07-06T11:08:00.001-05:00

So- Justin and I went to Georgia and stayed in a beautiful cabin this weekend. We were in the foothills of Lookout Mountain. The trip was great and I will talk more about that in another blog because . . .

After a 5 hour drive home plus a few hour detour for shopping, eating, and stretching of the legs in Huntsville, Justin and I pulled up in the driveway a little after 6pm last night. Home-Sweet-Home. We were so excited to see our sweet puppy- Ty. As Justin says, the sweet puppy he had thought about on the way home – apparently went on vacation too and had not returned.

Ty was WILD! Jumping, running, tugging, biting, tinkling in the floor, etc. We took him out as soon as we got home and he went to the bathroom. Then we brought him in and he went 2 or 3 more times. It was crazy! Anyway, wired as he was, we still tried to play with him. I don’t think he had any interaction all day. (He is much calmer this morning).

Then – we thought – lets watch some TV. OR maybe not – the satellite was not working in either room. So after trying to reset the satellite box, wiggling some wires, and unplug-replug . . . we called DIRECTV. Guess what – the trouble shooting did not work and it will cost $50 for someone to come check on it and repair it. What I don’t understand is this. If you rent a house from someone and something breaks, the landlord is responsible for fixing it. (For the most part). Well, I “rent” this box from DIRECTV everyone month. If something, that I don’t have control over, breaks – It shouldn’t cost me $50. Anyway, we will pay the $50 and have TV again tomorrow.

So – no TV – lets check our email, surf the net, etc. (Remember we are very “tech” people without internet and phone reception for 4 days. Withdrawals are starting to kick in.) What do you know – our monitor will not come on. Plugged in – check! Plugged to computer- check! Power strip on – check! Turn off power strip and restart- check! Power on monitor- no . . . Panic slightly – check! Ok – now how do we know for sure that our computer still works. Well - (Having a tech husband) – lets use our internet connection from the xbox to connect to the computer (Yes – this is a fun feature) and check our files. Except – “how ‘bout no” – the router has also bit the dust!

After speaking to my mom, apparently there was a bit of an “electrical storm”, Sunday morning. So- thanksgivings – The power strip had the monitor, computer, printer, router, and modem plugged in. Only 2 things affected – monitor and router. IT could have been much worse.

Called DELL today – to check about our limited warranty. They were extremely nice. However, just about anything besides an act of nature would have given us a FREE monitor. However, this is not covered.

Let’s recap – DVR box in living room – received at Christmas – not working. Monitor – bought in December of last year – not working. Router – purchased at Spring Break – not working.

Good news! Mom had a monitor at home they were not using, computer files are good! The old router in the closet still works – which is how I am communicating with you. (Yes – I hooked it all up myself!) Seasons 1-10 of Friends already in the DVD players to replace the satellite until tomorrow! So – SMILE today because it’s really not that bad!

A quick life update

2009-06-30T08:04:00.001-05:00

It is surprising to me that I can’t keep this blog more current than a week a time. Meg (whose blog you should really follow) who is in the middle of planning weddings, moving to a new town, and taking a relaxing beach vacation can somehow seem to update very often. So, I guess I’m not a skilled blogger just yet.

Last week, I celebrated my birthday! My husband took me to eat at Olive Garden – love it! Then we had Starbucks on the way home, and watched Pink Panther 2! Then I opened my presents, my husband is very good at gifts! He knows me all too well! He gave me a new pair of yellow-box flip flops (Brown and white polka dots), a gift card to Hobby Lobby (could spend all day there), and a gift card to Lowe’s! Now, most girls would not be excited about Lowe’s, but I love this store!

You should probably know that I am not much of a typical shopper. I don’t enjoy spending hours browsing at the mall or shopping centers. When I go shopping, I usually have a purpose and a list! If my family is taking an all-day shopping day (with the girls), which we have planned for a few weeks from now, I go for the quality time and GOOD Lunch!

Back to Lowe’s . . . When Justin and I were dating, I always had a 10:00 curfew. I know it sounds harsh, but it kept us out of trouble. So, we usually didn’t have time for dinner and a movie. And dinner is much more important than a movie. So, Justin and I would go eat supper and then go to Lowe’s and browse. We thought it was great! We always had something to talk about and we actually got to enjoy our time together. When you go to a movie, there is no talking! You have to decide chick-flick or Man Movie (There are very few in-between). Then you run the risk of hating the movie all together! So, Justin and I went to Lowe’s! We still enjoy going to Lowe’s! And I can’t wait to spend my gift card.

Sunday was my sister’s B’day (Amber). We were born 5 years and 5 days apart. So, we shared a B’day cake at mom’s on Sunday! The best part of B’days at the Hamilton residence this year is my niece Katie Brooke. She learned in Kindergarten this past year, the ending to the Happy Birthday song. (And many more on channel four, and Scooby Doo on Channel 2) Just singing the ending to the song would be adorable, but Katie does it in a very low, and slow tone – It is hilarious!

So – moving on from B’day's. Last week, Justin and I noticed that Ty ( our puppy) starting coughing real bad – It was like he had something caught in his throat. Of course, we think he has a terrible disease. So, I call the vet and take him that afternoon. Ty – sweet dog that he is – has a cold! Yes – A cold!! I know that dogs and animals can get sick, but I wasn’t expecting a cold. Anyway, I guess when you drive 5 hours and pay good money for a dog – You treat the cold. So, I am giving my dog a dose of antibiotics twice a day along with children’ Benadryl (recommended by the vet). Lucky for me, Ty really likes the taste of both so we don’t have a fight! I guess new experiences are what life is all about.

So, not a “quick” life update, but a thorough one! Have a great day!

Pics from Atlanta

2009-06-22T10:34:00.001-05:00

I was so busy introducing everyone to our cute, adorable puppy that I didn’t take time to post pics from our trip to Atlanta. When we went to get Ty, we made a weekend trip out of it. We spent the day Friday sightseeing. We went to World of Coke. (For those who don’t know, I collect Coca-Cola stuff.) I thought it was awesome (and half price from the cost of the aquarium!!)

Enjoying the memorabilia!

Seen here with the most famous polar bear in the world!

Then we went to the aquarium. It was pretty good. They have 4 whale sharks that are not near fully grown. They are all about 22-25 FEET long! The aquarium tank was built large enough for 6 FULL grown whale sharks. They also had a manta- ray or sting-ray (Can’t remember which) with a “wing-span” of 9 FEET that will grow to 25FEET wide!

The pictures don’t show accurate sizes! We had a great time!

Lastly, being a Mississippian I thought this was awesome. The sign in the fresh water display!

We didn’t take many pics from here – we all know what carp and catfish look like!

VBS

2009-06-17T22:01:00.004-05:00

First of all - I am an aunt again! My brother just had his 3rd child - Hayden Cade! I'm not a good enough aunt to take pictures, sorry. but he is adorable.

This week at church we have had Vacation Bible School! My sister, Amber, and I have been working with 1st and 2nd graders. For those who know me, these are like babies to me. I am usually more comfortable with older kids. However, I have learned to love these kids! They are so innocent and so sweet! I wish had pictures of these sweet children!

Today's story was about the crucifixion and the resurrection. So as I was telling the story, I asked a question about something. This sweet little girl said, "Well, He just had to raise from the dead and that's all." It was so sweet! To hear these young children tell how simple, yet how powerful the story of the cross and the empty tomb!

Also this week, Justin and I are headed to Starkville for the weekend. I will be helping Meg with a wedding and Justin is taking the weekend off. It is going to be lots of fun to hang out with Meg and Hunter and have dinner together!

Our weekends are full for the next few, as usual. There is always something going on!
This weekend, we are going to Starkville
June 26th - Shake and Share Celebration for Ladies in our Church
July 4th weekend - Camping with Bubba
July 11th - Sunday School Fellowship

Life in the fast lane . . .

2009-06-10T21:31:00.001-05:00

So, for those of you out there who think that teachers don’t deserve the summer off. Don’t worry, I don’t feel like I’ve had a break!

I have been very busy, but it has all been worth it! I mentioned a few weeks ago that my sister was planning a summer mission project for our church and youth group! Many people have jumped in and worked very hard! This week was the first week of X-treme Life Camp! The theme for the summer camp is living your life to the extreme for GOD! Each week the kids are learning about people in the Bible who lived their life to the extreme for GOD! Amber has done an excellent job with planning, our church has been very generous to donate materials and pray, and many of the youth have volunteered to help. They have done an awesome job working with the kids! Much of the responsibility each day is theirs: set-up, clean-up, feed the kids snack, make/lead crafts, play games, etc. I have been helping drive the vans and then I get to sit back and watch the youth serve the Lord!

Amongst this, gardening, mowing, the usual house stuff (which my husband may say hasn’t been much of that being done), and taking care of my cute puppy has occupied my days. (And maybe a few power naps).

Ok, so it really hasn’t been that hard. But it has been busy. Here are a few pics.

X-treme Life Camp

Way to go new moms . . .

2009-06-02T13:50:00.001-05:00

So, as you already know, Justin and I have a new addition to our family. His name is Ty and he is a Havenese Puppy. We have absolutely fallen in love with our new baby!

To all of you who are moms, I’m sure taking care of a puppy doesn’t even compare. But, how do you do it?

Ty is such a sweet pup, but is very little like a baby. First, let me say, he is a great rider! We drove 5 and half hours home from Atlanta and he didn’t get car sick or use the bathroom in the car! I was completely worried about this! And, if I could steal a word from Meg . . . If Ty had gotten “happy” on me, then I would have gotten “happy” on him! And then I’m sure, Justin would have chimed in! Lucky for the entire family, no one got “Happy” all the way home!

Ty has done a great job training to be a house dog. We are training him to go outside and not on puppy pads. I hope we made the right choice, but time will tell. He has only had a few accidents in the house, and I am very glad. But can I say, cleaning up Sterling’s (45 pound cocker spaniel) accidents in the house was much more difficult than cleaning up Ty’s accidents in the house. I don’t think we will use near as much carpet cleaner.

The last few nights, Ty has slept with us so that I could take him out when he got up and moved during the night. This was working great Saturday and Sunday night. However, I am very sleep heavy and last night was not as good! He went to the bathroom twice, luckily he was on the floor and not in the bed.

So, to the new moms who wake up all night to change diapers and feed babies, my hat goes off to you! I apparently am not there yet! Also, I can definitely see where people can have separation anxiety from their new born babies. I know this is no comparison ( I do realize we are talking about a dog and not a miracle child from God!) but I feel bad for leaving him here by himself.

Anyway, he is super sweet! Fun to play with and he sleeps when we sleep! He is too fast to take pictures of when he is not sleeping! So here are a few pics of Ty!

He likes to sleep on his back! :)

Ty

2009-05-30T08:09:00.001-05:00

GeoTagged, [N33.78534, E84.49448]

Home to Ecru!

Ty is on his way to ecru!

2009-05-30T08:07:00.001-05:00

There's an app for that!

2009-05-30T06:49:00.001-05:00

I'm not one for bragging on apple being married to a microsoft man, but I will give credit when it's due.

1st justin and I are in Atlanta spending the weekend. We went to the world of coke and the aquarium. We had a blast spending the day together and now I'm blogging about because . . . There's an app for that!

2nd, we got back to the hotel about 8:00 with our to-go supper. The power was out! Apparently a transformer blew and it would be about an hour before the power came back on so justin and I ate a lovely "dimly lite" dinner in the hotel lobby by the window. Finally we decided to come on up stairs ( on the 5th floor) to our room. The flashlight on my phone came in real handy. . .there's an app for that!

Soon I'll update again with pics of our new puppy because. . . There's an app for that too!