Winter is Here!

The past couple of days we have been pelted by ice, sleet and a little snow. It's been a little crazy trying to get to and from work. I've been allowed to take the days off but, when you are hourly, every hour counts! Plus, I'm saving my vacation time to go to Vegas in March with Tim & Krystal. And of course, Justin!

I got home from work today and decided I needed to document this "State of Emergency 2009" as many of the news stations are so lovingly calling .this.

Then Barbara sent us a package and in it Grampa Berkley sent his "grandkitty" Caramel a toy! She loves feathers...

Freezing No More

Justin bought our house in December of 2005 and I moved in October 2006. Since then we have never had a fire because when Justin bought the house, the inspection said that we had a gas leak in our fireplace with our gas starter. So, since I was a little paranoid about blowing up our living room, we both decided to not have one. Plus, we had heard crazy stories of the lady who lived here before us and she burned a few crazy things - like a miniature Christmas tree!! I found the remnants one day. So add uncleanliness to a possible gas leak and you can see why we were nervous. But, being the handyman that Justin is, he checked out the fireplace one day and decided we were good to go. Dusty and Peyton were nice enough to give us some free firewood today so we had our very first fire!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Dad!! I hope you have a great day today. I am so thankful for you!! Love you!

Nana

In all the craziness that has been happening lately, my mom's mom (we call her Nana) hasn't been feeling so good and was diagnosed with Lymphocytic Leukemia. (See previous post here.)When my mom told her the results of her tests, I think she took it very well, for getting the news that no one ever wants to hear. But, I am so frustrated because we found out last week and she still hasn't been to see the oncologist!! I don't understand what the doctor is doing, why he is taking so long, and why he can't figure out a treatment for her. Get on it already!!

My mom has decided to quit her full time position to help take care of Nana. The only real issue with that is that my dad and her are on the insurance through her current employer, so getting (affordable) insurance is the biggest obstacle right now. I wish it could be an easier for them...

But, thanks to everyone who has asked about and has been praying for Nana. It just seems like everything in the world is a little unstable right now. I just found out today that three more people have been laid off, so I am hoping I'm not next.

I just keep reminding myself of this verse that I heard on the radio the other day...

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." - Deuteronomy 31:6

Weekend Update

My parents-in-law came this past weekend and now that my mom-in-law knows the URL to our blog, I have to be nice in what I say... :oP

We had a grand time. I felt bad because I had a few other obligations so I kept leaving, but I think they understood. It gave them a chance to hang out with Justin a bit without the naggy wife. :) We took them to Pops on Friday so I could complete my bottle collection and also went to the Round Barn and met Butch, the Barn Man. I think he has stayed in the barn a little too long by himself...

Then Dan and I went to give blood while Justin and Barb went to look for knobs to hang curtains on. Saturday we decided to take advantage of the free ticket from Chesapeake and went to the OKC Art Museum. Needless to say, I'm not much of an art museum type of girl...although I really did like the Dale Chihuly exhibit. He is fantastic with the glass he creates!

Sunday we went to church and then out to lunch with the Bokers. Then we had a relaxing day watching football. We had a great time and I really am glad they came to visit! Please come again soon!! We love you guys.

Shocking

Did you know you can get shocked by drinking hot chocolate? Neither did I, but it happened to me! This winter, I guess I am just walking around charging up static electricity, because I get shocked opening filing cabinets, kissing Justin, turning on light switches, you name it! Poor Caramel is just full of static too and everytime you pet her she gets shocked! To remedy this, we decided we need to get a humidifier. I remembered my boss registering for this really cute one at Babies R Us, and I thought it would be great for our house. Unfortunately, Justin has to be practical and we'll eventually get a larger, more economical one. But isn't this one too cute?? They also carry a frog humidifer. I love it!!

Thunder

Last Wednesday we went to a Thunder game with Jeremy, Sara, Brooklyn & Jerad. For the first time in a long time, the Thunder actually won!! It was amazing. Meanwhile we had a fun time goofing off, eating nachos & funnel cake, and cheering on our OKC team. HURRAH.

Our picture with Justin's good eye...and Jeremy.

The Lovetts and me

Start of the 4th quarter - sorry it's blurry. We're WINNING!!!

Brooklyn with her "french fry" and her sad face since the BOk parachute drop stunk.

Conversation Piece

I think people wonder about my decorating taste. If you've been to my house recently you've probably noticed the flying pig that sits neatly between by adorable nephews. Well, needless to say, there is definitely a story behind that.

It starts about Christmas time when Justin went to buy my Christmas gifts. I came home one night and he was in the office wrapping. I knock on the door since I knew what he was doing and he opened the door and let me in. That's when I saw it. The flying pig. I asked, what is that?! And he got all mad and said it was my Christmas present and he forgot to wrap it before I came in and now it's all ruined. My first thought was, WHY did he buy me THAT? I mean, I like pigs, but flying ones??

It was a few days later that I finally got the real story. Justin's work group had a dirty santa party and that is what he got stuck with. Whew, he didn't waste precious Christmas present money on that thinking I would really like it!!!

So, I'm sorry if anyone likes it, but if you do, you can really have it! Tonight at bible study everyone said it was a conversation piece, but eh, I'm okay without it.

Ugly Chair

Justin bought this chair before we got married and he absolutely loves it. He got it for $10 at a garage sale and it is the ugliest chair I have ever seen. We did have it in our living room, but thankfully Christmas rolled around and we had to move it out for the tree to fit. Now we have it in our office and it's a much better fit. Anyway, does anyone know of a good re-upholster-er? It's actually a recliner so I don't even know how easy it would be to do it!

Lasik

If any of you saw Justin today, you might have noticed that he has a bit of a red eye. No, I didn't get mad and punch him in the eye...he got Lasik!! What happened is the suction cup that is put on your eye popped off TWICE so that causes the blood vessels to break and "bruise" your eye. But, it will eventually go away, it doesn't hurt (so says Justin) and it doesn't hurt your vision at all!

Anyway, Justin's lasik and my lasik were two completely different versions. I had mine done about a year ago. When I was preparing, I had my sheet of do's and don'ts, I knew what prescriptions I needed ahead of time, I had all my paperwork filled out, and I even had time before my surgery to go to breakfast with my mom and dad! Simple, organized. Justin on the other hand...goodness!! :) I let him take care of everything (since it's his lasik!) but boy, should I have at least questioned him about it. He forgot to get his prescription filled until after dinner the night before, so we had to run to Wal-greens. They were out so we went to CVS. Then the next morning he kept asking me all these questions : Can I shower, what do I wear, etc. I kept saying, I don't remember - look at your sheet! Well, he never looked at it and it resulted in him putting in hair product then having to go back and wash it out. Then he went to go get his paperwork and it wasn't filled out. So he did that ON the way to the surgery center. We were running late too. It was just one thing after another!!! Lesson learned - be organized FOR your husband.

Anyway, this is Justin in his little hat and booties before surgery. Sorry it's a little dark, I had to sneak it in. The second picture is his surgeon (and mine from a year ago) Dr. Taylor. This is about the time I got in trouble for taking pictures so, sorry, I don't have his surgery on video. I know you are disappointed. It's actually fascinating to watch, but I sure am glad I had mine done BEFORE I saw someone get it done. I don't think I would have been able to go through with it.

And this is Justin eating cookie dough on Vallium. It was pretty much amazing once that medicine kicked in. He was walking a little funny and fell asleep pretty much as soon as he laid down with his "bug shields" on.

The day was good and his vision was already 20/20 by the next morning at Dr. Wright's office. Hurrah for Lasik!

-On a separate note, our good friend just found out he has leukemia. He is only 27, and a dad of two. Any prayers you can spare is much appreciated!!!

Prayers

Today was a tough day for my mom and Nana. First off, my Nana had to go to the doctor for a routine check up and they found enlarged lynph nodes under her arm (close to her breast). The dr didn't like what he saw so he wanted to do a biopsy to see if she might have breast cancer. This is a hard one to swallow - my Nana is almost 87 years old and has been relatively healthy her whole life! I don't know what I'll do if she has cancer...but it could be an infection or something else, so I'm going to pray that it's something that can be taken care of with some meds. Also, my mom's cousin's house burned to the ground last night, and they had a lot of family memorabilia. All of it is now gone, they have a small amount of home insurance which won't pay for much, and they have no clothes, phone, nothing. I don't think there is anything we can do for them...at least not yet.

On a more positive note, my friend Sandra had her first baby boy yesterday!! He is totally precious and is a very relaxed baby. He wasn't supposed to come until the end of January, but he wanted to debut a little early. I am so excited for her, especially as she starts the journey of being a single mom.

Baby Jaxson

Weekend Project

BLUE BEFORE:

TAN AFTER:

All in a day's work! :)