Wedding Update!

Well, we're only 73 days away from OUR WEDDING!!! Ohhhhhhh brother...talk about anxiety!! I think we have all of the big things taken care of, I'm just afraid I am going to forget some of the small things. For example, my friend, Laura, reminded me last week that I need 2 garters! I made a "to do" list. If you can think of something I missed, please enlighten me :)

     Thank God for Laura (again)! I absolutely LOVED the programs she had at her wedding, they were kind of like a little book & there was enough room for her to put anything she wanted to put in there! I am so thankful that she was willing to email me the template from her program, so all I have to do is type in our information! With 9 bridesmaids & 9 groomsmen, I was having a hard time fitting everything on 1 small piece of paper!

     I have always been big on pictures & things of sentimental value. I have decided to (hopefully) play a slide show of Hunter & I growing up while guests are arriving at the church. Here is a sneak peek... 



     I picked my flowers last week! It was hard to figure out colors that I liked that would also match the navy dresses. For the bridesmaid bouquets, we decided on...



 

Hot Pink Ranunculus

Lavendar Lisianthus

Eggplant Stock

Yellow Solidego

Green berries

Cotton







     If everything works out, the guys will have cotton boutineers. I'm afraid all of the cotton from around here will already be picked & gone by October 13 :(. Want to know what my boquet will look like? Then I guess you better show up at our wedding because I'm not telling!!!!

     If you're wondering if Saige will be included in some way, the answer is...DUH! I wouldn't dare take her in the church or let her run loose at the reception (she's notorious for snatching food off of plates as soon as she sees it). But our awesome photographer, Wes Roberts (you can view his blog here), did a wedding a couple of weeks ago & took this photograph...

I knew right then that this was what we would do with Saige...put her in some of our pictures! The bow tie on this pup is super precious but since Saige is a girl, I did a little brainstorming as to what we could "decorate" her with. This is what I came up with...could it be more appropriate???

A pearl doggy collar!!!! Since I wear my pearls EVERY DAY, I thought this would be perfect!!! You can shop for these collars here!
     I think thats's about it for our wedding update post!!! Stay tuned for more updates!! Until next time...

Grateful: A Nurse's Point of View

'In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus' -1 Thessalonians 5:18

     When I was about 10 years old, I decided I wanted to be a nurse. As a little girl, I thought I would graduate high school, become a nurse (apparently I thought it would happen over night because college was no where in my plans), be married by the time I was 21 (because 21 sounded so old back then) and have 2 little boys by the time I was 23...WRONG. First of all, proclaiming to be a nurse without any kind of college education is scary! Second, 21 is NOT old and I couldn't imagine being married at the age of 21 OR having 2 kids by the age of 23! What I didn't realize at the age of 10 is that nursing isn't just administering medicine, helping people get well instantly (like my pretend patients did when I played "hospital" when I was younger) & wearing cute scrubs. It is long 12 hour shifts, cleaning up poop, blood & vomit, suctioning mucous from breathing tubes, continuous charting, being talked down to by doctors some doctors, holding your pee for hours until you get a free minute to go to the bathroom & fighting with aggravating beeping monitors & IV pumps, just to name a few. These things might sound awful to some people, but seeing a patient go from extremely sick & not expected to live, to moving out to the floor to a regular room, totally outweighs all of the unpleasant stuff that I mentioned earlier. After 3 weeks long, uncertain weeks, today I watched my patient roll out of the ICU to go to a regular room. For the first time in my nursing experience, I watched a patient go from terrible to good (not great, yet). Knowing that I had a little part in that patient's recovery process makes my heart smile & makes me extremely grateful of this profession that God saw fit for me to be in.

     On my way to work Wednesday morning, I got to thinking about being grateful. I consider myself a grateful person, in general, but what am I grateful for? I thank God everynight (yes, I still say the same ole "now I lay me down to sleep..." prayer that I have prayed my whole life) for my friends & family, the food in my stomach, the clothes on my back and the roof over my head, but what about the little things that I take for granted everyday? I decided to buy a $0.99 app called "Gratitude Journal" & list 5 things that I am grateful for each day. I realize that I could have easily just written 5 things down on a piece of notebook paper & save the $0.99, but I thought the gratitude journal sounded super neat-o & it would be nice to look back & read them. I wanted to do a whole week in my gratitude journal before I did a blog post about it, but after watching my patient leave the unit today & feeling so grateful to be a part of the recovery process, I decided to blog about it tonight!!!

If you don't have the Gratitude Journal app, I encourage you to get it! Sure, it's $0.99 that you could have spent elsewhere, but it makes you think about that the small things in life that you might take for granted & it has brightened my days...and maybe it'll brighten yours!

"To do what nobody else will do, a way that nobody else can do, in spite of all we go through; that is to be a nurse" -Rawsi Williams

Saving Your Marriage Before it Starts

When I called Bro. Ty last October to ask him to marry us, he told us that we had to do a marriage counceling session first. I really had no idea what to expect. I thought we would just go to Thomasville, chat & that would be that! But, he sent us one book & 2 workbooks in the mail to start working on before we meet him on August 9. One workbook is for women & the other is for men. Each chapter in the book has its own section in the workbook. We are to work on our exercises seperate, then get together & discuss our answers. I have to admit, I thought I knew everything about him, but I have learned a few new things! So far, my favorite exercise has been "Your Personal 10 Commandments." It concerns some of the unspoken rules we grew up with that are so ingrained in us that we are rarely aware of them. Here are a few of each of our "commandments"...

          Rules about traditions & holidays...
             Me: Open 1 gift on Christmas Eve
             Hunter: Open presents on Christmas morning

         Rules about quirky things...
             Me: Remove empty hangers from the closet
             Hunter: Ketchup goes in the cabinet, not in the fridge

The other topics this book focuses on is determining roles in the family, avoiding the blame game, adjusting to things beyond your control, communication, money, and your spiritual journey as a couple. It includes 7 questions to ask before & after you marry...

1. Have you faced the myths of marriage?
2. Can you identify your love style?
3. Have you developed the habit of happiness?
4. Can you say what you mean & understand what you hear?
5. Have you bridged the gender gap?
6. Do you know how to fight a good fight?
7. Are you & your partner soul mates?

Whether you're just dating , engaged, or even already married, I encourage you to read this book & do the workbook! It has already been a blessing!!

Orlando, Florida

After 6 long fun years of college, I decided it was time to graduate!! Actually, my parents didn't really give me a choice. As a graduation gift, Britton's grandparents gave us a paid trip to Orlando for a week! Thank you, Pop & Grammy!!! Britton & I met in nursing school at Troy & she introduced me to Taylor & Meredith. Britton & I graduated from nursing school in Troy, Meredith graduated with an Athletic Training degree from Troy, and Taylor graduated from nursing school at AUM. They all went to high school together in Wetumpka & Britton lived with Meredith while we were in Troy. We left Wetumpka on Monday, May 21st at 7:00AM and we were BEYOND excited to get away & relax!!

We arrived in Orlando around 4:00PM...finally. Between Meredith begging Britton to stop at the Jellystone Park so she could hang out with Yogi Bear, Taylor & I snuggling in the back seat to keep each other warm in Britton's igloo of a car, and Britton trying to put DOLLARS in the toll road COIN machine, we had a pretty funny hilarious ride!

We stayed at the Wyndham Resort & it was absolutely fabulous!

 

Monday...

When we got there Monday afternoon, we went to the grocery store to get snacks & went back to the condo & made homemade quesadillas...yummy!!!!!!!

Tuesday...

Tuesday morning we got up & went to the roof-top pool. Never have I ever seen anything so neat!! It was absolutely beautiful up there & we had it to ourselves, for the most part. We could see Disney World!!! After we showered that afternoon, we decided to eat at the resort, rather than getting ready & going out. We inhaled our supper quickly & hurried back to the room for American Idol!!!

Wednesday...

I haven't mentioned that there was a WATER PARK at our resort!!! Yes, we were the biggest kids there! It was complete with a HUGE water castle & a lazy river!! We LOVED it!!! After we sat in the sun all day, we decided to order pizza & watch the American Idol finale!!! TEAM PHILLIP!

Thursday...

Rain, rain, rain!! We slept late, ate, read books & watched TV ALL DAY LONG!!! Yep, you guess it, we got take-out food, AGAIN!!! We finally took off our pajamas & got showers late Thursday afternoon.

Friday...

Friday was another roof-top pool day!! It was our last day/night in Orlando so we sat by the pool for a while then showered & got ready to go to Universal Studios for dinner. The one & only time we put on make-up the whole time we were in Orlando!! We ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, but first we got a drink from Fat Tuesday's. I got a 'Code Red' and I don't remember what was in it, but I do remember I was a little tipsy just half way through the drink!!!

"To Infinity & Beyond!!!!!!!!!" -Buzz Lightyear & Meredith Pendergast

We had such a fun time!!!! When we got back, Britton & I started work, Meredith moved to Oxford, MS to start her job as a graduate assistant at Ole Miss, and Taylor lounged around until she started her job 2 weeks later! This trip was exactly what we needed to kick-start our new lives in the "real world!!!"