HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

I have to work tomorrow so I won't get to see my dad. I must say, I really need to start paying more attention when I sign up for my schedule. So in case you read this tomorrow dad...and hopefully not tonight...hope you have a great Father's Day!!! Thanks for being the loving, supportive father you have always been. I hear my friends talk about some of their dad's and they are not as fortunate to have such wonderful dads. I feel so blessed to have you and all you do for Morgan and Me. Even Becky wants to adopt you as her dad! :)You are such a strong man and you're always so friendly and have never met a stranger. I need to quote the Father's Day Card Brian gave you this year because it was perfect! I'll get it from you some day and post it on here for all to see! We love you and want you to know you are greatly appreciated. Lillie Bear loves you too and after all, you are her favorite...even though you went to the truck the day I got her. haha! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

P.S. MOM~I THINK YOU'RE THE GREATEST MOM ON EARTH!!!

Good Bye Jill

Our sweet Jill has decided she wants a change of "nursing" in her life so she's leaving us. :( I love her and she's so sweet and fun to be around. I know I will still see her and hangout with her, but she was also a good nurse to work with!!! She will be missed. Some of us went out last night for her good bye dinner so here are some pictures...

Our beautiful Jill. I don't think she could ever take a bad picture. I tried to make her but she wouldn't do it. haha!

Okay, I look a little goofy in this picture because someone just grabbed my booty!

Jill, Me, Lydia, and Amy
Looooove these girls!!! They are the best and make me smile!

Sarah, Courtney, Michelle, and Jill...I think a couple of these girls need to be introduced to sunscreen. :)

Amy & Sarah...such pretty girls!!!

My bud, Lydia. We some how managed to get in trouble with Rob and Morgan and we have no clue what we did wrong. Actually, we might have some idea but we disagree with them. Oh well, we still had fun!!!

I am fine!!!

Okay, so apparently after yesterday's blog I have some people worried about me. No, I am not about to go jump off a cliff or anything. I was just having one of those days yesterday. It's something that's always in the back of my mind, until yesterday and I just broke down. All is good today. Like my friend Lydia said, we know too much and that scares us. Working in post partum we see everything from the good to the bad. Sometimes I wish I could be oblivious to everything and not have all the knowledge I have to scare myself!!! I worked today and as you know, I love the girls I work with!!!! A girl I work with was saying she doesn't know if she wants children and if she does, it won't be for at least 10 years. The girls who have children were making us smile listing all the things we can do because we don't children like vacations, sleep, etc. Don't get me wrong, I want nothing more than to have a child, but I feel much much much better today. I took care of 6 patients today and all of them were in there 30's. I'd say 90% of our population is over 30. So I took a deep breath and realized that Morgan and I have PLENTY of time to have sweet babies. What's the rush? Don't get me wrong, if my pregnancy test showed 2 pink lines tomorrow I would be the happiest girl on earth. But until then, I will just enjoy my one on one time with Morgan because it is something we will never get back...or at least not for 18 years. hehe! Plus, this will give us more time to continue to save money. Little ones are soooo expensive! It's amazing how much one little person needs and how much a little person can cost. I know, so worth it though and I can't wait for the day until I get to pour my heart and soul into caring for one. So until then, I will enjoy all my time with Morgan, our dinner dates, vacations, our spur of the moment adventures, sleeping in on my days off, and anything else I feel like doing in that moment. :)

Poem

I debated if I should share this with everyone. What I am going through today is personal for me. Today has been a very difficult day for me. I have practically cried all day long off and on. I am not one that cries, but I broke down today. (I'm okay Mom and Dad. :))Probably haven't cried this hard in over 3 years. Morgan and I are finally to the point where we want to start trying to have a child. Morgan was ready from the day we got married, but I wanted to wait a year. It's been a year now so I am ready. I am terrified that we will not be able to get pregnant for several reasons. I have always felt like if God wants us to have children, we will. My biggest fear in life has always been that I will not be able to get pregnant. I think Satin is really playing on that fear of mine today. I know God's timing is perfect. It always has been for my life. God has never let me down. Has He always given me everything I have asked for? No. But in hind sight, that was the best thing for me. He's always guided my life and I have always leaned on Him and searched for His guidance. So why am I so worried now? May it be tomorrow or several years from now, I hope and pray that when God's timing is right for us, we will be blessed with a child. God sees the entire picture for us and wants to protect us. The hardest thing for me is that I think about my parents and Morgan's parents. I want them and our children to really know each other. My mom's mom died a year before I was born and I feel like I missed out on such a great woman. Three of Morgan's grandparents died when he was really young so he never really knew them. I just don't want any of this to happen for our children. Morgan and I are both blessed to have such wonderful parents and the thought of our children never having the chance to really get to know them, breaks my heart. I know this is personal to put on a blog, but I know a lot of our family and friends read this. Please keep us in your prayers that we will understand God's will for our lives be it that we have 5 kids, or no kids. My friend Leigh Taylor sent me this poem today and I found it very inspirational and I hope you do too. I feel so blessed that God has surrounded us with family and friends that know how to lift us up in our time of need and despair.


Desperately, helplessly, longingly I cried.
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate,
and the Master so gently said, Child you must wait.
""Wait? You say, 'wait'! my indignant reply."
Lord I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked and am claiming your word.
My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in the balance and YOU tell me to WAIT?
I'm needing a 'yes' and a go ahead sign,
or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
And Lord, You promised that if we believe
We need but to ask and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply!
Then quietly, softly I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again 'you must wait'.
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "so I'm waiting....for what?"
He seemed then to kneel and His eyes wept with mine
And He tenderly said 'I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run
All you seek I could give and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in me
When darkness and silence were all you could see.
You'd never experience the fullness of love
As the peace of my Spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save for a start
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you asked,
Of an infinite God who makes what you have LAST
You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dreams for your loved one overnight would come true,
But oh, the loss, if I lost what I'm doing in you!
So be silent, My child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft' it may My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still, WAIT.

Lillie & GiGi

Yesterday a friend that Morgan has grown up with got married. Luckily, I didn't know them too well. I say this because yesterday morning I wasn't feeling so good. I didn't say anything to Morgan because I knew he really wanted me to go with him. If I had told him how I felt, he would've told me to stay home. So we drove 2 1/2 hours to Oklahoma for the wedding. It finally hit me right before the bride walked down the aisle. I then spent the remainder of the wedding in the bathroom sick. I actually passed the bride on the way out and told her she looked really pretty...beautiful girl with the prettiest eyes I have ever seen. Wait, no, I didn't literally pass her while she was walking down the aisle. She was still in the back about to walk down. We left right when it was over so I didn't even get to enjoy the reception. Blah! It was at Beavers Bend State Park which I was really excited about seeing. The little I saw was beautiful. We're hoping to all go up there as a family and camp. Matt, Morgan's brother, was camping up there for the weekend. His wife, Melissa, was in Florida so that meant we got to dog sit GiGi. She's a sweet dog but she has issues. Not sure if she was beat as a puppy because she always cowards down when you go to pet her and she whimpers. She cries if everyone is not in the same room together. Lillie and GiGi are best buds so I am sure Lillie was excited to have her spend the night. Here are some pictures...






The calm before the storm. Lille resting quietly in her bed before GiGi arrived to spend the night.















GiGi is a weird dog. Likes to sit by the door. Doesn't matter whose house she is at, this is what she does. Lillie is trying to be sweet and make her feel welcome in our house. :)

Lillie trying to figure out what on earth GiGi is doing...she had no idea that this was possible and something she could do. Where is GiGi?

GiGi is under our bed. I guess that's where she feels the safest. We were going to let her sleep under there but when we turned the lights off, she thought that meant play time and she could run around like a wild dog. To the living room she went. She woke us up at 0700 today. ugh! So glad Lillie takes after her mama and likes to sleep in because there is no way I could handle this every day.

Best Friends!!! They love each other.

Picnik

Howdy! Just want to let y'all know about picnik...could I sound anymore "hickish" in that statement?! HAHAHA! Ever since I have been with Morgan I have noticed that I am talking with more of an accent. I LOVE his accent. It's so adorable. Anyway, onto the purpose of this post...there is an Internet site called http://www.picnik.com/ . It's great. You can do all sorts of things with your pictures. For example, this picture above I flipped it, changed the color and added a colorful border. The picture below I cropped it, added two different types of borders and text. They also have symbols you can add. Two of my friends introduced me to it a while back and I love it. Be careful, it can get addicting. Go have fun!!!

Busy Weekend!

This past weekend was sooo busy for me!!! It's funny how I can go weeks without anything planned and then bam, everything is on the same weekend. I didn't even get to go to everything I wanted to because it just wasn't possible. It's funny how life works like that sometimes. I worked Thursday and Friday so I was pretty tired. Work has been insanely, but thankfully, really busy for a while now. Tons of sweet babies being born. That usually means I will be really tired on my day off and will rest, not do too much. Not the case this time. Saturday we celebrated with my parents Mother's Day and Father's Day. This was down in Fort Worth where they live. Then I had to come back home and pick Morgan up and head out dancing in Dallas with a few girls and their men from work. We had a lot of fun. I hadn't been dancing in so long and I love to dance!!! I got a new camera that has a different flash that Morgan is apparently not used to because in alllllllll the pictures his eyes are half shut, ugh! He's going to have to work on that because I am not going to have all of our pictures having his eyes half shut. So here are a few pictures of our night out dancing...



Morgan and me...with his eyes half shut. Bless his heart, he tried but just couldn't keep those suckers open.

This is my girl Lydia and her husband. I love this girl!!! Our birthdays are three days apart so we get a long quite well!!! She is always upbeat and smiling. She's such a positive and fun person to be around. Her hubby's name is Rob. They have been married for 20 years...they got married really young. :) I told Lydia that I hope Morgan and I are still that happy and in love when we've been married for 20 years. You can really tell that they absolutely adore each other. We're planning on going to float the river in late July/August and I am so excited!!!

Lydia...one of my favorite people in this whole wide world!!!

This is my friend, Courtney. This girl can make me laugh alllllll day long!!!!! She is also always happy and in a good mood! I just love her, too! She had her cute cowboy hat on so I stole Morgan's for this picture.

We were trying to get a picture of the four girls but it was a struggle. Rob was just snappin' away, never really waiting for us to pose. But I do love this picture of the four of us. It just sums up our fun night!



On Sunday afternoon I went to Stacey's baby shower. I'm soooooooooooo excited to meet baby Cole!!! Stacey was precious, as always. Stacey and I have the same OB. Our OB told Stacey that she's practically the only patient she has that comes in dressed all cute and stylish while most come in wearing t-shirts. Our OB told me that Stacey is an "edgy" dresser...which she is. Even due in 5 weeks, she dresses stylish and fashionable. I hope I am some what like her when I am pregnant. :)

This is Stacey, Christy, and Me. The three of us try and get together frequently for lunch or pedicures. We, plus Polly and her hubby, are trying to get together for a dinner at Joe T Garcia's in Fort Worth. Sitting out on the patio, sippin' a nice cold beverage with some wonderful friends is a perfect evening for me. I love these girls!!!

A girl we went to high school with made this cake. Stacey's theme for her baby shower was Texas Tech because that's where her and Chad graduated from. It was so cute and Mindy did an excellent job. She also did my bachelorette cake which was fantastic!!! Her cakes are not only cute, but taste so delicious. If you need a cake for an event, contact me and I will hook you up with her. You will not regret it.
This is a picture of my bachelorette cake. We put sparklers in a certain area...hehe...and that's what I blew out. So fun!!!

This was made out of diapers and I love how Cole's name is on it. Some people are so creative!! Our friend Polly did it. Polly also did the invitations for Stacey's baby shower and my bachelorette party. I wish I could post those on here because they are the cutest I have ever seen. She draws them by hand and it's done around a picture of our face. Sooooo cute!!!

After the shower, I went to dinner with some of my other friends. I was tired but I would do anything to see the girls. We've been friends for so long and it's always good to catch up with them. We try to get together every other month and so far, so good!!! We're getting together in July for a couple of our birthdays. I feel so blessed to have all of these girls in my life!!!

Leslie (LC), Eeeesttthhhhhhher (esther), Veronica (VO) and Me (forla)...these are our nicknames for each other.

Stacey & Cole

Some of y'all know Stacey. She was in our wedding and she's in some of the other posts on here. She is due the first of July and we're hoping Cole comes on my birthday. That would be awesome!!! I have been super excited about Stacey being pregnant. I've seen her belly grow over the past 7 months and I think it's absolutely precious!!! She's got to be one of the cutest pregnant women I have ever seen. She's alllllllll belly. She's been blessed with a healthy pregnancy. She didn't even have morning sickness, lucky girl!!! The best part of it all, she is delivering where I work and we are both hoping and praying that I will be working the day she delivers so I will be able to take care of her. I'd love to be able to share that moment with one of my best friends. Love you Stacey and I can't wait to meet sweet baby Cole. He's going to be one blessed baby to have you and Chad as parents. I already love the little guy and he's not even born.

Layla, oh Layla what have you done?!

As I have mentioned before, we have a cat that has adopted us. We finally agreed upon a name, Layla. Actually, I just named her Layla and Morgan still calls her "the cat." I love the name Layla, but Morgan doesn't really like it for a child's name. That's why I named an animal, Layla. Anyway, Lillie and I have a routine on the days I am not working. Around 5pm, I get Layla's food down from the cabinet. This is when Lillie Bear goes sprinting towards the back door. We always go outside to feed Layla and then come back in and Lillie gets fed. I guess Lillie figures the quicker she gets outside, the quicker she gets back in and gets fed. Well the other day we went out to feed Layla and she was no where to be found. Layla is ALWAYS outside waiting for us. She's usually standing at the back door. I was kind of sad, hoping nothing had happened to her. She's always been a reallllllly sweet cat. Likes to get in the hammock with us and cuddle. Always rubbing on our feet and legs. I called her name a few times and finally gave up and went back inside. Morgan finally comes home and I asked him if he saw Layla when he pulled up and he said he hadn't. We then went to dinner and came back home. Still no Layla. I was sad at this point. So I go inside and start watching TV. Morgan's outside doing something with his truck and he comes back inside and grabs me and pulls me outside. He said, "I think I know why 'the cat' wasn't around to get fed today." I was freaking out and I jerked away from him and said, "If she's dead, I don't want to see it." He starts laughing and forces me to keep walking. I saw her just laying there in the driveway. I jerked away from him again and tears filled my eyes and I said, "Is she dead?" Layla NEVER just lays there when she sees us. Morgan, once again, starts laughing at me. What was the deal? Why was she just laying there? She was guarding the rabbit she killed. No, it was a HEADLESS rabbit. So grossssssssssssssssss!!!! Every time I think I have got this country livin' lifestyle down, something else happens to make me realize I don't. I'm sure she kills a lot of bad things like field mice, snakes, etc. She brought home a huge lizard the other day. I sure hope this isn't going to be a trend for her to bring gifts to our house. Not sure I can handle it. The sad thing is, I have only seen two rabbits around our house. I named them Tom and Jerry. Morgan was laughing trying to guess which one she killed, Tom or Jerry. I didn't find it very funny at all!!! So here's a picture of our adventurous Layla eating her prize...barf!!!

Mother's Day 2009

Normally, my side of the family celebrates Mother's Day the Saturday right before Mother's Day. Due to us getting back from Vegas on that Thursday and then me having to work that Saturday, we are going to celebrate in a couple of weeks. I was sad that I didn't get to see my mom this past weekend because she means the world to me. I could not have asked for a sweeter, more loving, more understanding mom in my life! I love you mom!!! Looking forward to spending a Saturday with you soon in a couple of weeks!

You must know, Sandra is my mother in law. She's probably one of the most fun people you will ever meet in your entire life!!! She's the life of the party and would do anything in the world for us!!! When Sandra picked us up from the airport we were driving home and we were about to pass Chuy's. I have wanted to try Chuy's for so long. It's a Mexican food restaurant that I have heard great things about. She was laughing when she picked us up telling us how she and some lady were in a conversation and Sandra was saying how she needed a couple of margaritas after driving in traffic to pick us up at the airport. Our flight landed at 6:30 on a Thursday...prime time for traffic! Anyway, so we went to Chuy's and bought her dinner and a couple margaritas for being so sweet to take us and pick us up from the airport. Then on the way home we passed MiCocina, which is my favorite restaurant. We took Matt, Morgan's brother, there for his birthday back in April and WOW, that was a FUN night! As we were driving by, Sandra asked if that was the MiCocina we took Matt to for his birthday and I replied, "Yes." She said she wanted to try it sometime. Well I decided that we needed to take her there for Mother's Day. What I was thinking? I don't know. Sandra doesn't drink very often and they have the BEST margaritas!!! They are REALLY strong. We had a great dinner. Sandra drank her margarita and then the rest of my first one. (I only had 2, actually 1 1/2.) Then, she ordered another one, whoo! Where this MiCocina is, there are fake, tin horses that you can get on and take pics. Well, kids can get on and take pics. But Sandra and I thought we should try getting on. I got on but she couldn't. I was laughing soooooo hard. This little girl came up and was trying to tell Sandra how to get on the horse, which cracked me up even more because Sandra's response was, "Thank you, but I have grown up riding horses all my life. I know how to get on a horse." The way she said it was so funny! I have a picture of it but it's of my big ole' booty so I don't want to put it on here. Then on the way home we managed to get in BIG trouble with our husbands. That story I am not going to share here because I might get in big trouble. I have never seen Morgan and his dad THAT mad, ever!!! I was laughing so hard I could hardly breathe...which made Morgan even more mad. Anyway, we made it home safely. Needless to say, Sandra was feelin' it the next day but her words to us as we were driving off were, "This is the BEST Mother's Day Ever!!!" Not sure she still believed that the next morning. :)

VEGAS!!!

We survived Vegas. More like, I survived Vegas. I had been there once before so I knew what we were getting ourselves into. I am definitely a beach-type girl vacationer. Remember? We were supposed to go to Mexico but due to the drug wars we changed it to Vegas. Also, the majority of friends were giving me hell for changing my vacation from Mexico to Vegas. I kept telling them that I was just afraid something would happen the week before we were supposed to leave that would keep us from going. My head was on the drug wars, never expecting Swine Flu to hit America and Mexico. I am soooooooo glad I changed it to Vegas. But, if it's up to me, this will be my last time to Vegas. I'm just not really a big gambler, although Morgan likes it. He's pretty good. I just hate sticking money in the machines and it being gone in 2 minutes. Or putting $10 down on black and it turns up red. That's my luck. We did hang out by the pool. The Wynn has an absolutely gorgeous, relaxing pool. They play the most relaxing music. If it was up to me, we would've stayed out there ALL day, but Morgan wasn't having it. He wanted to go see everything. We went to most of the hotels. We walked every where we went. I was exhausted. Completely different from our honeymoon in Jamaica. We decided that when, if ever, we go back we will stay at the Venetian. It's such a beautiful hotel AND they have a food court. Here are some pics of our Vegas trip. We took over a 100 so here's a select few...



I took this picture the first day we got there. I really don't have many of us together because I always hate asking complete strangers to take a picture of us. Although, most seem more than happy to take it for us.

We stayed at the Wynn. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL hotel!!! The casinos in the Encore and Wynn do not get any nicer than these. The decor in these hotels is amazing. The food is really good, but WAY too pricey. These hotels are definitely for the rich, which we most definitely aren't. Most of the hotels, including the Venetian, have food courts in them, as well as restaurants. Ours only had restaurants. They did have one place called Sugar & Spice that served hamburgers, etc. They also served ice cream. I fell in love in Vegas with Chocolate & Oreos ice cream. I had never had it before but I had it EVERY night we were there. It was so yummy!!!

We went to the Paris hotel and went to the top of the Eiffel Tower. The view of the Las Vegas strip is so pretty from the top. The Bellagio water show is so pretty from the air. I wish I had more night pictures but my camera has issues when it comes to taking night pictures.

I love New York. I have been there twice so I had to take a picture of the hotel. I hope some day I can take Morgan there. I'd love to see New York through his country boy eyes. I think we would have so much fun together.

We said that we wanted to see one show while we were there. Ever since I have heard of the Beatles Love Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas I have always wanted to see it. So we did. It was so worth the money. Keeps your attention the ENTIRE time. The only problem is that they serve these ridiculous LARGE amounts of beer/mixed drinks in these HUGE glasses and have a HORRIBLE exit strategy when the show is over. I wish I had a picture of everyone crammed together and everyone needing to pee so bad! It was pretty funny, although Morgan didn't think so.

This is in the Wynn sitting at a bar and looking up. The decor there is so bright and cheery.

These are the waterfalls outside of the Wynn. So pretty!

These are the waterfalls at night.

This is the HUGE waterfall that is outside the Lobby of the Wynn. You could sit out there and have drinks. So peaceful.

Frozen Cake Really Is Good!!!

This was the top of our cake. My sister in law was cutting up strawberries and found this "triplet" strawberry so we put it on top. It was perfect!

The Friday before we left for Vegas we celebrated our one year anniversary. We included our families because we love them so much. But really, we had this huge cake that had been frozen for a year and all we heard all year long was how they all wanted a piece of it. haha! Plus, without our families we would not be the couple we are today. My parents came up that Friday and we all got together and cooked out. I decided to use our families as my taste testers for a new recipe for hamburgers that I made. It was really yummy. Then we all dove into our cake and it was just as delicious as it was a year ago...seriously!!! We had so many compliments on our wedding cake and I must say, it's the BEST cake you will ever have. I can say this because I am not bragging because I didn't make it. :) I am not a girl that likes "fillings" in cakes. I just wanted the basic white cake with butter cream icing. In case you live in the Fort Worth area and know anyone getting married, it's from Creme de la Creme off of Lancaster near 820. It's a tiny little bakery that does booming business. Sooooo good. Anyway, so we were so happy our families celebrated with us. My, how fast a year can fly by!!!

Swine Flu

I have to put this on here. It's a friend of a friend's picture that I saw on Facebook. She wrote, "now this is how you get swine flu." I think it's stinkin' hilarious! I've never seen so much overreaction over something in my life. I must say, this is the first time in my life I am happy to be on the Dallas side of life and not Fort Worth. I think they have gone to the extreme cancelling Mayfest, closing schools for a week, etc. It's absolutely absurd. Get a grip people!!! They even said on TV that the actual flu that hits EVERY YEAR is worse than the swine flu. I don't see this kind of hysteria over the normal flu, which is just as dangerous as the swine flu. The news media doesn't make it any better. I think they cripple the metroplex and those living in it by their constant news coverage. Okay, we get it, wash your hands, cover your mouth when you couch/sneeze, and don't go out in public if you are sick. Aren't these basic things we should know and do on a daily basis? I was at Target yesterday ( I know, SHOCKER, HAHA!) and the lady infront of me and behind me all had bottles and bottles of hand sanitzier. All I could do was roll my eyes and bite my tongue. What happened to basic soap and water hand scrubbing? That's the BEST thing for you!!! Maybe it bothers me so much because for 8 years I went to work and was constantly surrounded by sick people with RSV, flu, pneumonia, MRSA, Rotavirus, you name it and I was around it. The number of actual individuals who have the swine flu in comparison to how many people live in this metroplex should not cause this type of alarm and panic. When people make decisions to close schools for a week, they aren't looking at the ripple effect that has. Parents can't go to work. I know the other day we had 4 nurses call in due to school closures. Do you know the bind that puts on medical staff? Anyway, if the medical professionals are not throwing themselves into a state of panic? Why are others? Sorry, this just all really hit a nerve with me!!!!!!!!

Looks Like We Made It!!!

I just received a CD with pictures of our wedding this past week and wanted to share these with you. The picture above I absolutely love. It just takes me back to our wedding day instantly. When I turned the corner to walk into the church I honestly felt so much love coming my way. I felt like I was walking into a magical garden and there stood my prince at the end of the aisle waiting for me. It was so overwhelming and that's why I cried, but I did get it together by the end of the aisle. If I could chose a moment to live over again thus far in my life, it just might be that one.



The picture below I just love. I have no clue what we were talking about but I love how I am looking into his eyes. This picture, to me, just shows how much I love him to pieces and how he will always be there for me!!! Lord, please let our love last forever and ever and ever!!! Amen.

Sooooooooo, looks like we made it a year. Yeah!!! Here in less then two weeks we will be married one year. I'm blogging about it now because we are about to have a busy couple of weeks. I must say, this year has flown by. I guess time really does fly when you're having fun. Morgan's aunt told us that if we can make it the first year, we'll make it for life. She said the first year is the hardest because we will be learning each other's ways of life and how we function. I must say, it really hasn't been that bad. Morgan is a fantastic husband. He's so easy to live with. Doesn't have any annoying habits like leaving the toothpaste lid off, leaving clothes on the floor, etc. Well, let me take that back. His only bad habit is that when he has to go to work and I don't, he's slightly on the loud side in the mornings. He likes to slam the door when he leaves. It used to take him 5 minutes to kiss me good bye when all I really wanted was for him to kiss me, tell me he loves me and go on...which is now what he does. Now, I know I have bad habits of my own. For instance, every single night, don't ask me why, I cannot remember to take my vitamin and put my chapstick on BEFORE I get in bed. I don't know why this is so hard for me to remember. So, I always have to ask him to get it for me while he's still up because I am already cozy in bed. Oh, I also forget to put my lotion on and turn the ceiling fan on. He always has to get my lotion and turn the fan on. I know these sounds so stupid, but night after night, I know it gets on his nerves. All he wants to do is brush his teeth and jump in bed, but he has to tend to me first. But I see it this way, if these are our biggest complaints about each other, we're doing pretty dang good. I know he would miss me terribly if I wasn't there to ask for these nightly things from him just like I would miss him slamming the door every morning if he was ever not there. :) We've had a really great year. We've had a few bumpy days but they have only made us stronger as a couple. I love my cowboy! He has been such a blessing to me over this past year and I would be lost without him. We will be going to Vegas for our 1 year anniversary and I am so excited. Morgan has never been and I know he's going to love it. I wanted to go to Mexico but due to the drug wars, our parents not real thrilled about it, and Morgan giving me his sob story about everyone has gone but him, we are going to Vegas. We're staying at the Wynn which I am even MORE excited about. I will have to tell y'all all about it when we get back. Thank You all for you love and support during our first year of marriage!!!

Hammock & Happiness

Who ever invented the hammock is a genius! I finally fell in love with a hammock when we were in Jamaica. We had one on our balcony. Morgan and I would lay there together and it was so cozy. We would listen to the birds and people watch. It was so nice. I told Morgan that when we got back to America we were getting ourselves one. Well...11 months later we finally got one. Since we live out in the country and have a pretty big yard I decided that it was finally time to get a hammock. Morgan and I were at Lowe's looking at Hammocks and I didn't even think they would cost as much as they do. Morgan insisted that all we needed was the actual hammock because we already had places in our yard for two hammocks. Well I didn't believe him so I refused to spend that much on a hammock. When we got home I was kicking myself and was so mad at myself. There sits two posts by our garden, under pretty shade trees, a perfect spot for a hammock. Then out closer to our house was another spot for a hammock. I was so mad at myself. You would think by now I would learn to listen to my smart man, but I didn't. So there I was with no hammock. A week later we went back to Lowe's and got us a hammock. We came home and put it up, which was quite entertaining. Morgan didn't realize how tight you have to hang a hammock. It looked pretty high off the ground to us. He told me to go ahead and try it out. In retrospect, I should have made HIM try out HIS work. So I go to get in it and fall straight to the ground on my back because it wasn't tight enough. We were both laughing so hard he could hardly help me up off the ground. The second time he got it right. We both climbed in and just loved it so much. I think every couple needs to buy a hammock. It's a well worth expense to spend time with your significant other. Yes, we can spend time inside. But, there is just something about being out in nature away from the phone, TV, computer and listening to the birds chirp that makes it so worth it. We have a sweet cat that adopted us. She some how lost part of her tail, her right collar bone sticks out, not threw the skin, but out of place, but she's the sweetest thing. She lays there with us and it's so peaceful. Morgan and I keep trying to come up with a name for her. Morgan calls her Bob because of her tail. But she is a GIRL so I refuse to call her that. So now we just refer to her as "the cat." Real original, I know. I also like to go lay in the hammock and read my book and now I can't wait until the lightening bugs start coming out. We have soooo many out here in the country, it's beautiful. I've never seen anything like it in the city. Anyway, so everyone go get a hammock. You will love it, I promise!!!

Cheesecake Factory...Yum!!!

Christi, Veronica, Leslie, and Me

Leslie & Me

Veronica & Leslie

Not much has been going on in our lives lately so I will just blog about last night. :) Leslie asked us a couple of months ago if we could all get together for her birthday. WELL OF COURSE was my response. Since we are all nurses we usually have to schedule way out in advance to make sure we will all be off. You would think that since all of us only work 3 days a week it would be pretty simple to schedule a day for us to get together, but it doesn't. It seems like someone is always scheduled to work that day. That's why we schedule so far out. We already have May 31st scheduled to go to dinner at this Mexican restaurant in Dallas that a couple of my other friends have recommended and I am excited!!! I always love dinner with these girls. The four of us used to work together at Arlington Memorial Hospital until they decided to close our unit down. Technically, Christi had already moved on to McKinney and was working for a pediatrician. Now she works for a Home Health and gets to take care of a sweet baby 3 days a week. Sounds like it would be easy, but it's not. Veronica and Leslie are still pediatric nurses at two different children hospitals here in the metroplex. We all four live in different cities, but I hope that we will always continue to get together for our dinners. Time with these girls is precious and something I always look forward to. Christi, if you read this, we definitely need to go ahead and schedule a weekend that we can come to your lake house this summer!!!!!!! Love you Girls!!!!

Morgan = Best Husband!!!

I have to take a moment and brag on Morgan. He deserves the "best husband" award. My sweet man does so many things for me on a daily basis that I know I take for granted. Last night and this morning we were kind of in a little mini fight. LONG STORY!!! I went to work and I told my friend Courtney that I was going to give Morgan a test today. Yes, I am well aware that this is not right and all types of wrong, but I was going to do it anyway. I worked yesterday and today so I was beyond exhausted when I got off work tonight. These two days have been really busy. Not the type where we just sit around and eat bohn bohns all day long. I needed to go to Target desperately (almost out of toilet paper, no paper towels, etc.) and tonight after work was the best time for me to go because this weekend is going to be busy. So I told Courtney that I was going to text Morgan, like I always do, and tell him that I was leaving and stopping by Target on my way home. In my perfect, ideal world called "Laura Land," this is when he would text back, "okay, I will meet you there." Morgan knows how much I absolutely HATE going to Target alone. To make it worse, it's freezing cold and windy. So I text him and NO RESPONSE! I ALWAYS get a response from him, nothing. So I am pushing my buggy through Target expecting any minute for him to show up and surprise me. Nope! I'm loading our groceries in my SUV, freezing my butt off, and getting more upset by the second. I call him when I am pulling out of the parking lot and at the same time remind myself of the great advice my friend once told me, PICK YOUR BATTLES. WELL, the reason why he did not meet me at Target is because last night I was telling him how my parents are coming up this weekend and how I was going to have to clean the entire house Saturday before they get here. I asked him if he could just vacuum and I would do the rest. I pull up in the driveway and there he is, as always, waiting outside on the back step to help me carry in the groceries. I walk in to a spotless house. The floors swept and mopped. Trash taken out, dishes from the dishwasher put away. Cat Fed. Lillie Fed. The furniture polished, changed the bath matt in the bath tub, the TOILETS AND SINKS spotless!!! Morgan said, "Laura, I want you to look at the toilets and sinks, you can eat off them." Okay, don't know if I would go THAT far, but they were spotless. This is on top of his long day at work he had and he has to get up at 0630 and go to work in the morning. Plus, he had to leave work at 5pm to go meet his mom at the vet for our sweet Lillie Bear. I love Morgan with allllllll of my heart and am so thankful God had him in mind as my husband. He does a million things for me, half I probably don't even realize, to make my life easier!!!! I love you Morgan and I am sorry that I "tested" you today. Technically, you failed. But really, you passed with flying colors since you cleaned the entire house! YOU ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!

K-I-N-D-N-E-S-S

• Today I decided that I would skip the gym and workout outside instead because it is such a beautiful day. I had my MP3 player to listen to music but I still got a little bored. You would think Jake, the neighbor's dog, barking at me every time I walk by would be entertainment enough. No, I needed something else to do. So I decided that every time a car drives by, I would initiate the friendly wave. I was thinking to myself and trying to figure out why are we so weird about waving at complete strangers. So I decided I would see how many people would wave back. ( I know, this sounds silly, but it entertains me...and Jake who likes to bark at the cars.) I would say maybe 10 cars went by and I have to subtract my father in law and Nannie because they don't count. They HAVE to wave at me, haha! I can say, everyone waved back, even the passengers in the car. A couple of times I was disappointed because they waved first. Okay, not really disappointed but I wanted to wave first.
  
  As I was walking I got to thinking lately about efforts I have been trying to make when I come across people. It all started because I have patients and families at work that say to me, "Are you coming back tomorrow? I want you to be my nurse. You are a good nurse are good at your job. etc." No, definitely not bragging on myself but I have to tell you this to tell you why I have started doing what I do. I was thinking, "Man, I like when my patients tell me these things. It makes me feel good and gives me hope in what I am doing. It's nice to feel appreciated."
  
  What I have been doing is that when I go to a store, mainly Target because that's where I go the most, and the cashier is really good at his/her job, I will tell them, "Thank you so much. You are really good and fast at your job. I appreciate it." You should see his/her face. They are shocked and smile and say thank you. That has to be such a thankless job. Dealing with people who really don't want to be standing in line to spend money on groceries? Ya know? I'm sure they don't come across the most friendly people in the world. I've heard once that if you are thinking something nice about someone, you should tell them. None of us receive enough compliments in this life and we all know how compliments make us feel better. I don't only do this at Target. I tan so I see the same girls all the time. If a girl cuts or colors her hair and I really like it, I tell her. Her face lights up and I can tell she really appreciates a stranger noticing something like this on her. I also do this with co-workers. If they have on a cute pair of scrubs, different hair style, etc. I say something and compliment them.
  
  I'm only saying all of this because I think it's something we should all be doing. I challenge everyone that reads this to start complimenting those you come in contact with in your life and see how it blesses you. You can start a domino effect and maybe this world will be a happier place. Being kind to one person may cause them to be kinder to many more. At the very least, you made someone smile.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES!!!

Since my past two blogs were not so much on the bright and sunny side of life, I figured I would tell you about my day today. Let's start with last night...

I was absolutely dreading going to work today based on my past two weeks. Absolutely dreading it. I think I would have rather gone and dug ditches all day than go to work. But I knew I had to go and there was no getting out of it. I was talking to my dad and I was telling him how I felt and that I didn't think I could survive another bad day. That I didn't want to start hating my job. I asked him (and I know he probably told my mom) to say a prayer for me and my work today that it would be a good day. I told him lately that I felt like either God was hearing my prayers and was just not answering them the way I wanted, or they, for whatever reason, weren't getting to Him...which I know isn't true. I know God's plan for our day/patients is not our plan but sometimes it's hard to acccept. Anyway, so my dad said he would pray for me and some how I got this refreshing feeling that it was all going to be okay. Again, I also prayed to God that He would bless me (and my coworkers) with a good day because I didn't want to start hating my job because I was starting to despise it...yes, 99.9% of the time I LOVE it, but that 1% can really do us in as nurses...that's why so many nurses give up after a year. I prayed that I would be a blessing to my patients and that they would be a blessing to me. I also prayed to God that I would acccept my assignment because I will know it's one that He picked out especially for me. I know this might sound nuts to those that aren't too religious, but it works for me. (Just so you know, assignments haven't always been handed out fairly lately.)

I get to work and praise God, we are REALLY staffed well which means we have 3-4 patients a piece. That's unheard of. Then I look at my assignment and I see I have a Gyn patient. A Gyn is usually a lady that has had a hysterectomy. You must know, you've got a 50-50 chance of these types being good patients. They either do everything perfect or everything exactly how you don't want them to do it. I thought to myself, "Dang! UGH!" But then I reminded myself that this was an assignment that God picked out especially for me so it was all going to be okay. Sure enough, my four patients did everything PERFECTLY! My Gyn patient was such a sweet heart and one of the best I have ever had. We had a great day together. Then I got a fresh c/s patient. Another fact you must know, these ladies will either have pain not controlled by the epidural alone, nausea/vomiting, or itching issues. Hallelujah, my lady had NONE of these. When I was receiving report on her the first thing out of the nurse's mouth was, "You will love this couple. They are so sweet, funny, and a joy to take care of." Praise God! They were the nicest couple and the husband had a great sense of humor. I have kind of a dry/sarcastic sense of humor and he totally got it. I am actually sad that I am not working tomorrow so I could take care of all of these wonderful patients I had today.

On top of it all, I also worked with some great girls. Lydia who keeps me laughing. I swear the two of us could talk allllllll day about the color of the sky. Stephanie is so calm and just something about her, when I work with her, it's always nice and peaceful. Then Christine who ALWAYS makes me laugh. Toni and her stories about her daughter, Emily, and how I get to relive my college years vicariously through her. So fun! BUT.....the best part is that we got to talk forever about DWTS and analyze ALL of the dancers. haha!

So, that was my "gift from above" type of day. I seriously believe and know that God knows what we need. He knows when we are about to reach our breaking point and will give us a break. You may completely disagree with everything I say, but it's what gets me through this crazy, lovely, fantastic, sometimes stressful life of mine. Like my friend Leigh-Taylor just told me (who I also asked to pray for me) "we need these type of days to make us want to come back." So true, LT! So True!!!

Plus, I am so thankful to have parents that I can call in an instant and ask for prayers. I know they have sheltered me through life and I wouldn't have it any other way. Like Lydia's quote today to her parents that goes something like this...NEVER STOP ENABLING ME FOR I WOULD BE LOST WITHOUT YOUR LOVE! I just love this quote. You can never love your kids too much!!!

JoBs!

Okay, so I am a little frustrated today. WHY is it so hard for people to do their jobs right? I mean, really! Come on!!! I think I have been experiencing a lot of incompetent people lately and today just finally sent me over the edge. I went to Toyota to get my oil changed which normally only takes 30 minutes on a bad day. An hour later, I am still sitting there. So I get up to only see my car sitting there on the drive. I asked the girl who had been helping me why my car was sitting there, how long had it been sitting there, and why haven't they called me. Normally they call my name, I pay, and then they pull my car around. So God knows how long it had been sitting there. She said she didn't know what had happened, apologized, and told me that she would take $5 off my price, big whoop. But, at least she was making an effort. THEN, she said, "they said your air filter needs to be changed." It was checked on some sheet. I asked her, "Why didn't they tell me this while my car was pulled back like they normally do? What's the point in checking it off on a sheet and then telling me when I am about to walk out the door?" Of course she just stared at me like a deer caught in head lights. I was firm, but never raised my voice. Of course, again, she had no answer. I know people are human and make mistakes, but come on. Some common sense would be nice. I had my debit card out ready to pay and she said there would be no charge today. Which honestly, I would almost rather pay because I wasn't making a scene to get a free oil change. I was making a point so it wouldn't happen to me again or another customer. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I treated my patients like this they would die! What if I just ignored that my patient was bleeding too much or her blood pressure was too high? Would I still have a job or a live patient, NO! Okay, I feel a little better now.

Livin' in a Country Song

This week has probably been one of the worse weeks I have had in a while. In the grand scheme of things and in relation to other people's problems I know my problems are nothing, but still...

The other night when Morgan and I were saying our prayers it was his turn and this is what he said, "Dear Lord, Why? Why did our dishwasher decide to flood part of the kitchen? Why did our heater decide to quit working? Why did our electric blanket decide to quit working? Why?" I must say when these words came out of his mouth I couldn't help but smile and think to myself, "that sounds like a country song, all we need is for Lillie (our dog) to run off." Earlier in the week we were sitting here one night watching TV and thankfully for whatever reason, I got up and went in the kitchen. What did I find? A big pile of soap suds on our wood floors. I then screamed, don't ask me why I screamed because this was absolutely nothing to scream over, and Morgan came running in there. Now this is a new dish washer so this should not be an issue, right? But of course this is the week from hell so it decided to flood onto our wood floors. Not sure what was wrong. We cleaned up the soap suds, which isn't fun if you have ever had to do this because they don't really soak into a towel well. Morgan then some how fixed the dish washer. We haven't had any more problems since that night. Then on Wednesday when I woke up our house was like a refrigerator because when we went to bed the night before it was in the 70's outside so of course we had the AC on. I went to turn the heat back on and nope, not working. UGH! So I thought, okay, that sucks but at least we have our electric blanket and space heater tonight. We'll just shut all the doors to our bedroom and we will be fine. So that night I plug the electric blanket in around 2000 so our bed would be nice and toasty when it was bedtime. Finally it's bedtime and nope, bed nice and FREEZING! Again, UGH! Once again, Morgan some how knew what the issue was, fixed it, and we finally got a toasty bed. This is what lead to Morgan's sweet prayer. I say "sweet" because when he was saying it, he wasn't asking God in a hateful tone, but a very sweet, concerned voice. Which, by the way, I have heard people say that we should never ask God "Why" but I completely disagree. I think it is okay to ask God "Why" when something is happening or something is going wrong because that is part of our human nature.

These three events alone are not why I am saying this week has been miserable. Work has been CRAZY!!! JCAHO is here visiting. These are the people that give us our license to continue being a functioning hospital providing patient care so it is a really big deal. Whenever they come, oh my, it's always crazy. They expect us to know everything about EVERYTHING and it's just not possible!!! On top of them coming, we have had sooooooooo many deliveries and Gyn surgeries. Tuesday when I worked we had 21 deliveries. It was crazy! I love my job but some days are just exhausting, just like all jobs, but what makes our job extra exhausting is that it's not only physical or only mental, it's both. I've said this before, you better know how to manage a million balls in the air at one time without dropping a single one or you will drown. That's the only way to explain it. Also, you better have some GREAT co-workers that know the meaning of "team player" because it's inevitable, 3 of your patients will call at one time needing something. It never fails. Plus, my patients this week seem to be more sick and having more issues going on so that makes it more challenging. I like a challenge, but not when 4/5 have something going on. Don't get me wrong, I am so thankful that we are booming right now because there are so many people that are losing their jobs. I heard that our field of nursing is recession proof because people can't afford to go out to eat or to the movies so they just stay home and well, ya know what happens...haha!

I wrote this blog to tell those that think that my life is so smooth without any bumps, that there are bumps! I don't mind them, I just don't want every week to be like this week. The thing about weeks like this is that it really makes me appreciate every other week that is nice and calm and "vanilla" so to speak. It makes me extra appreciate my patients that just move on along exactly how they are supposed to without any complications.

OH, to top it off, I almost hit our neighbor's dog on the way home. It's a great big dog, same markings as Lillie. I think it's a Mastiff? Not sure. Anyway, he likes to think he's a hot shot and depending on his mood he will chase me as I drive by. Other days he just stares at me. Not tonight. He came darting out and how I didn't hit him I don't know. Now that really would have been the perfect ending to our "country song" type of week. Also, the reason why I am up right now is thanks to someone texting Morgan some stupid joke at midnight....waking me up!!! Yes, we will have a talk about this in the morning. :)