Pics from Drew's 2nd Birthday

Drew turns TWO!

Well, again I am playing catch up! Drew had a wonderful and sweet birthday. We decided to have a small one this year, as opposed to last year, and will probably alternate back and forth that way in the future. He and I spent the whold day enjoying his birthday, which started with breakfast at IHOP, where the waitresses sang to Drew and thoroughly embarrassed him. They also gave him ice cream, so he forgave them, I think. We spent the rest of the day together, playing, until Daddy got home and then we went out to eat at our favorite Mexican restaraunt. Afterward, we went home and opened presents, and by the end of that, Drew was just tuckered out. It was a wonderful day....pics soon to come!

Catching up...

Oh man, it's been forever! I've missed blogging, but have been learning a new job, and have been absolutely drained at night. I'm finally coming around now, though, so I'll try to play a quick catch up here!
Halloween was wonderful, as usual. It is one of my favorite holidays, if not THE favorite. I think it's because I enjoy playing dress up, and sweets, and scary movies:) Drew went through his whole bag of candy in like, a week and a half (yikes)...though we did help him. He also consumed some paper since he ate through some of the wrappings. My brother turned 30. Geesh, I feel old now. That's my LITTLE brother. His wife threw him a surprise party, with just family, and it was a really good time, and really sweet of her to do that for him. He recently started a new job at Prairie Farms, so support them-and drink your milk, folks! It's a great oppurtunity as far as benefits and pay, but it is also very stressful right now, and he has to work some awfully strange hours. In the last month Jason and I have enjoyed TWO dates, enjoying a Pacer game and a Purdue game, both of which we lost, but it was still a fabulous time. I have now been at my new job for almost three months. It has gone so fast! I am a case manager for hospice. Our branch is out of Muncie, but Southern Care is a fairly large corporation, with offices in several different states, and several cities in Indiana. So far, I enjoy it very much, other than the on -call nights. I have one on call night a week, and then one weekend every four weeks, but we are about to hire two more nurses, which will end up giving me only five on call nights a month-yay! I love what I do for the patients and families, and feel priveleged to be a part of their care, and their passing. Right now I manage care for fifteen patients, and I make visits to them every week. My job involves quite a lot of hands on care, which I love, and also a lot of paperwork, which is so-so. I was recently asked to take part in our churches Christmas Eve production, so practice for that will begin very soon. I'm looking forward to it!
Drew is just growing and changing as fast as ever. He climbs and jumps off of nearly everything in the house, and he repeats about half of what we say. He is absolutely hilarious. His favorite thing is to "ride ride ride in the truck!" (He likes to stand in the seat and pretend to drive.)
The paperwork for the selling of our house is being finished this week, and we hope to have the for sale sign in the yard by the following week. I am praying that God sends us the perfect buyer, and soon!

Here are a few recent pics I snapped when Drew was being impish. Enjoy!

Rawrrrrrrr

These are a few pics from our day at The Children's Museum. I hadn't been there in several years, but it now has five levels of really cool activities and hyper, bouncing kids...it's a great time! We rode the carousel with aunt Amanda and Grammy, and Jason enjoyed the sand display very much, as much as Drew, I think. Drew's favorite things were the water, the sand, and the dinosaurs. He has been rawr-ing ever since!

Our summer! (so far:)

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Fun in the sun

Well, I'm just now getting to it, but I wanted to share some pics from our 4th of July celebration, and our vacation the following week! We had great weather, and spent time with wonderful friends. We spent much of the time on Lake Webster, but also spent time on Tippy with Andy and Amber. Tippy always has the best fireworks show...probably the best I've ever seen, and Drew just loved it. He clapped and belted out "oohs and ahhhs" the whole time, and also loved on his buddy (future girlfriend) Isabelle.They are such lake babies! They know they'll get great snacks, and sips of pop, along with jamming to music. They know the drill! We fear the day when they are 16 and are asking to go to the Tippy dance hall, like we used to do. I'm sure one of us will be spying on them if that happens:) None of us got too terribly sunburnt, though we definitely soaked up some rays! Drew has no fear, as you can see from the pic where he's jumping off of the pink rectangle raft...not sure if this is a good or a bad thing! All in all it was a wonderful time.

Finally!!!

It has been a LONG road, to say the least. From several years of working on pre-reqs, and working as an LPN at the same time, to competing with lots of other students to get into the program and WORRYING myself silly about getting in, to getting in and making the decision to stop working and make some hard financial decisions this year, to finally being done...that about sums it up, if you leave out all the in-betweens. Obviously they didn't teach me not to use run-on sentences and incomplete sentences, or I didn't listen! :) However, I am thankful for what I did learn, and am more than ready to use my "RN brain" at a new job. I am excited about what this means for our family, and very excited about the opportunity to do Hospice. I have been pulled that way for such a long time. I truly believe that God did everything in His PERFECT timing so that I could do this. He held us up the whole time. In the midst of thirty to forty page care plans, the major stress of tests, and believing that I just might become a psych patient myself, He carried me through! I also would have never made it without the support of Jason, and all the help and prayers from our families. I know that Jason is ready to have his wife back, and in a less crazy state! He has been wonderful. I am so thankful to be surrounded with love. One of the things that I did not expect was to make the incredible friends that I did, and two in particular, as some of you know. They have been sisters in Christ to me, and truly amazing friends. I don't think I've known better, and I am excited about future time spent with them.We have so much in common, and yet, I look up to and admire them for having already traveled some of the life paths that I am just now beginning to go down, and how they handle everything so gracefully. They were an unexpected gift from the Lord. Now, I am just praying about NCLEX, and I know God will take care of me still.       "That I may proclaim with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all your wondrous works" Psalm 26:7

Celebration of Mothers!

This weekend marked my second Mother's Day, and we basically celebrated all weekend! We also got to enjoy both Jason's mom and my mom, and spent Sunday together with all the family at church and at lunch afterward. On Saturday, my mom and I enjoyed the Mother Daughter brunch at Lindberg, which turned out to be really fun. We used to go when I was little, but they haven't had one for a while, until this year. My mom sang and played guitar, as you can see from the picture above, which proved to be the highlight of the whole event. Then I came home and was surprised by my husband with a beautiful stepping stone that will hold Drew's handprints, (and hopefully go into a garden at our next house), and a beautiful onyx and diamond ring and necklace that is a Mother's Day/graduation present put together. I was so surprised! This man is good in the gift department! He knows just what I like. Sunday was spent at church and with our folks, and Sunday afternoon we finished planting flowers, and Drew helped. He also managed a face dive straight into the potting soil, which was loads of entertainment:)
Most of all, this weekend reminded me of how blessed Jason and I both are to have the kind of moms that we have. Jason will admit, if you ask him, that he is a "mommas boy". He is extremely close with his mom, and I consider her to be my close friend, also. She is tender and kind, and loves her kids and grandchildren more than life itself. She is beautiful and talented, too, and can really paint and draw, which most people don't know, but she's really good! She is also really funny, and gives us lots of laughs:) It's easy to see that Jason has endless good memories about his mom, and the kind of mom she was when he was growing up. One of the things he said was that she would always fix him macaroni and cheese with hot dogs, and turn on The Price is Right, when he got home from school. (I know, no other child would watch this, but that's just Jason). She always encouraged him in sports, and everything else he wanted to do. He also knew that he could get away with a lot more, if he just asked his mom. He was blessed! I, too, cherish my own mother more than words can express. Mostly because, above all else, she has always lived the kind of life, and walked the walk that I desire for myself. She is beautiful, talented, and incredibly smart, though she would never admit any of those things. She sings beautifully, plays guitar, and can write poetry, and draw really well. She was a stay at home mom, who spent hours reading to her children, playing with her children, and cleaning up after them! She did not push me to be the best, or the most popular, or the wealthiest. She didn't expect me to be perfect, and still doesn't. She did not push religiosity. She didn't push ANYTHING. Instead, she led by example, always encouraging me in my walk with Jesus. She remained faithful to Him, even after a failed marriage, the loss of her brother to cancer, and later her mother to cancer, during the tormented relationship with her father, and through my teenage years when I was such a handful. She always told me I was beautiful, not based on looks, but on my heart. I cannot express enough how incredible this woman is, but she IS. She taught me that "blessed are the humble", and "the meek", and blessed are women who walk with the Lord! Thank heaven for fabulous mothers!

"Pour aimer et etre aime"...( To love and be loved)

Jason, I remember when you asked me out. I almost fell out of the chair. How could this gorgeous and very gentlemanly guy be interested in ME? I was the girl who always found the bad guys, and they found me, too. I remember thinking, "How could I tell this guy no?" And later, when I couldn't decide what to do, my mom said, "What is it that you love about him?" I answered, "We can sit on the porch drinking coffee, and we don't have to say ANYTHING. We can just BE." I'd never had that with anyone. Everyone else had to be entertained. Not you, though. I could look into your green eyes and smile, and you were happy to recieve just that. I felt so safe with you, so perfectly fit in your arms, with my head against your chest, and your lips in my hair. I have never been so happy to be short in all my life:) I loved looking up to you, in all your tall glory:) You were like water in the desert. Then, when you asked me to marry you-of course I thought you were joking. I'm so glad you were not! Our friendship has grown deeper over the years, and I am so thankful for that. Sometimes people grow apart. We have grown closer. With God in the center of it, we can only grow closer to each other as we lean in toward HIM. You have grown spiritually, and emotionally, and so have I. You are the perfect compliment to my life. You are such a good Daddy, and I hope Drew grows up to be so much like you. Thank you for stealing my heart away, that first night that I met you, in the midst of my messy, crazy life, and pulling me in to the shore. Thank you for continuing to steal my heart every day. I love you. Happy anniversary.