Jordan's baptism, Dec 21st

Jordan and Grandma
Jordan and mom (Katie)
Uncle Bruce and Aunt Boo

SANTA!

Today was our Christmas party at Kosair. I think it went pretty well. We didn't have as many kids (actual patients) come through as last year, but we had a lot more support and help from teams at church. Also, this year, the Child life specialist and the nurses brought the kids (and their families if they were there) down floor by floor, starting with Oncology. Because so many children were isolated or unable to leave their rooms, we had a team of carolers this year who went upstairs and caroled and left little gifts.

I got to visit with Santa myself. I told him that I wanted peace on earth, to pay my bills, and of course, a new orphan, for Hope


someone has to keep Santa in line

one of the girls from the college ministry painted my face!


one of the most precious moments of the day was towards the end. A little girl in a wheelchair (Not a hospital one) wheeled herself in all bundled up in her pink coat, hat and mittens. She made a beeline straight for Santa, and was just overjoyed to see him. The conversation went something like this.
her "SANTA!"
him "HO HO HO"
someone "do you want to get your picture taken with Santa?"
her "NO" never taking her eyes off of Santa, "Santa, I haven't seen you in SO long"
At that point he got down on his knee to talk to her
her "can I have a hug Santa?"
She hung out with him for a minute, they did take her picture and she asked for about a hundred hugs, then told him she'd see him on the 24th. Her mom wheeled her out toot sweet. I guess they were at the end of a long stay. She didn't make any crafts or ice any cookies or get any presents, she never took off her hat or mittens, but she saw Santa and she was thrilled.

baby steps

my first Christmas tree in oh...15 or so years...








and finally...we shared the same sunset last night...

oh, here's mom

with James, Maggie and Me

Here you go Marlita! (p.s. I can't stand Sparks either!)

well, I'm still waiting on a set of photo's, but here are a few while we wait! (it will be a few weeks)




James and Patti (our friends) me and Bruce


Bruce designed the cake, then added the flowers when we got it


flower girl and ring guy (his term) Miracle Joy and Elijah


me and 4 of the 5 siblings, Maggie got a little lost
James, Becca, Katie and Jennifer


James and Becca


those adorable show stealers


my brother James and me


I like this picture because it shows how intimate and sweet the ceremony was, and
it shows the lake and the poles...there were people sitting on chairs up under the
lanai, but all of my family was around us. I'm pretty sure it was my mom sobbing behind me

I sneaked peaks at the kids during the prayer, both of them had their eyes closed, Elijah was oh so serious.


do you really need an explanation?

Katie's daughter, Maggie's son, my wedding

A. We're Adorable

home sweet bed

we're home. i started my new career in the food service industry today. hey, it's a job.
we had a perfect wedding, a wonderfully fun honeymoon and we are happy to be home.
there is much to write. in the meantime, here's a little picture.

wedding preview`

hair and makeup practice tonight. I hope I look this thin on Saturday, but of course, I can't hide behind props all day....

Sunday picnic in the park

I had to stand on a BIG rock to get this tall....

Brittany Rae turns 18...

doesn't even seem right. Here she is holding cousin Miracle Joy

and here's mom, Jennifer Lynn.

more pictures later :)

prayer

please pray for my friend Olivia. When I say she's my friend, I mean it. Like, my mom and her grandpa hang out. My sister fixed her mom's hair for her wedding, before she even had her or her brother. I sometimes clean and paint and do laundry for them. Last time I did laundry for them, Olivia sat near my feet for 3 hours playing legos while I did 3 hours worth of laundry and sang quietly to myself. From what I understand, she is in pain that is equal to a woman who is 10 centimeters dilated and in full blown labor, even on 3 IV pain meds. She's 8 years old.
Please pray for Olivia.

music

I've seen two videos this week that have stopped me in my tracks.

The first one was coming to the end of my walk/jog/run (the cardio equipment at my gym has t.v.s, thank you Jesus, I switch between CMT and VH1 to keep myself going). Now, I'm not a big Daughtry fan, but I think he's alright. I had not seen this song, but I'd heard it on the radio. To be honest, I just did not have the energy to change the channel so I watched. Not only did it energize me to finish, but it got me thinking about the rest of my life, our (as in me and Bruce) lives. I thought about Deb and Hanna and Troy and Jeney and Troy. I thought about a lot of things. I appreciated that he spent as much time on our Country as other countries and that he spoke to the heart, and healing from within. I just really loved it. Maybe I read too much into things, but really, how much do we heal ourselves when we reach out to others?

The embedding has been disabled for this video (What about Now), but if you haven't seen it, and read the words that go across the screen during the song... I HIGHLY encourage you go to you tube and watch it. The full video is included there


The other one is this Kid Rock Video, Warrior. Now, I know he's controversial, but I love him. He doesn't pretend to be anything that he isn't. There are several other good songs that deal with the same issues, this was just so powerful. We saw this video at the movies yesterday, it gave me goosebumps and made me cry. I don't think this is the full version, but you can watch it at the National Guard website.

wedding preparations

sorry I haven't figured how to put things behind a cut on here yet!

If you've seen the move Fool's Rush In (a favorite of both of ours), we are trying to recreate the poles that they used for the wedding at the end of the movie. In our own fashion of course! We are also making miniature ones to go around the cake. 4 for the wedding, 6 for the cake. And when I say "we", I mean Bruce. I help (a little) but mostly in a consulting fashion and with little things. He's the brains of this part of the operation.


early stages of the miniatures. I wish I had taken pictures of when these were all just pieces of wood!

in various stages of completion. There is a beer bottle behind them for scale, but it's hard to see

finished!

bucket of autumn

practicing the bigger version...the poles still have to be painted, etc...

Bruce, working on the stands for the big ones


invitations

Bruce saved my butt. He came home from work at almost midnight and found me all emotional and exhausted putting these things together, and sat down and helped me until we were finished.

that's all for now....

off to clean my house, maybe....

this and that

-I have been very sick this last week, and Bruce has helped me on two big jobs that I was working on. Getting up in the morning and going to my job with me, spackeling, sanding, painting, until it was time for him to go to his own job and work till midnight.

-He's a goofball. We were both painting in the same room the other day and Meatloaf was singing "Paradise by the Dashboard Lights" in the living room (well, it was really coming from the stereo, but you know)and Bruce said, "you know, he's a lazy man, it takes a lot of energy to sleep all day". And I said "what are you talking about?" he proceeded to tell me how Meatloaf was telling the girl that he wanted to "sleep all day, baby baby let me sleep all day". I went into a dissertation about how he was saying Let me sleep on IT, and I'll give you an answer in the morning because the girl wanted a promise of love and marriage before she would *ahem*, because you know, why buy the cow if the milk is free? But he insisted I was wrong, and continued to sing "Let me sleep all day" for the rest of the song, and talk about lazy people even while Linda, the lady we were working for was singing the right words in the other room. I have a strong suspicion he was pulling my leg and singing these lyrics just for fun. Which it was, it made me laugh.

-Well, it's been one month since the big work out, BFL diet started. I tried on the dress, and it still doesn't fit. So, it has to be sent back. I won't lie. I am very, VERY, sad. I will not be defeated though, the workout and BFL will continue. I will look pretty on my wedding day.

-Bruce's outfit is complete except for the shoes. We got an exceptional deal on the slacks, so we went a little overboard and bought him the most beautiful Tommy Bahama shirt I've ever seen. I can't wait to see him wearing it with a pair of blue jeans on our honeymoon. -sigh-

-I took some pictures of the wedding preparations in their various stages, Bruce says it looks like we have buckets of autumn. that makes me smile. It makes me happy that we are doing so much of it together and so much of it will be reuseable. will post some pics soon.

-Oh yeah, the wedding cake is finally picked out, bought and paid for. Italian cream with butter cream frosting. Our first big disaster averted. The cake lady got ill, but the hairdresser directed us elsewhere and we got a great deal from well respected shoppe.

off to work on invitations.

ch.ch.ch.changes

someone got a hair cut



he is so HAWT

mine is coming up next. how do you think I'd look, bald in a wedding dress?
um, no, read my lips, not gonna do it. (insert Dana Carvey impression)

less than two months to go

Well on Monday morning, I broke through the 20 minute wall on the elliptical trainer. I did a little over 2 miles and 27 minutes. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it today, but I did, 25 minutes. It's hard not to get discouraged, watching Bruce do twice the distance in the same time, but I have to remember that he is 6 foot 3 and I'm barely 5'2. His stride IS longer. It is nice that he and Becca are working out with me. I am committed to not trying the dress on again until September 1, but I have lost 8 lbs in the last two weeks. I'm sticking to Body for Life, and just trying not to bulk up at all in the back/ chest area, thus the massive cardio.

In other news, I have given up the search for another corporate job (but not a part time job at night) and am going to continue pushing forward with my personal assistant work that I've been doing on the side. I'm so much happier doing it, I just need to bring in more clients.

more of this and that

(1)I've made a conscious decision not to write too much about other peoples children these last few years, for personal reasons. By other peoples children, I mean children not in my family, I can't help it if I consider Becky and Madeline in my family...they now have a baby brother, Caleb...so get ready, after I see them in October, pictures.... Anyhow. I digress. I'm going to tell you a story that's too cute not to share.

My good friend Jenny had an end of Summer Lueau on Saturday. I took a few hours off and went over to visit with her. Her mom came over to pick up the baby, but her 5 year old stayed. Her mom told me this story.

"We were driving and M said 'Nan, how do they make bridges?' and I said, well you should probably ask Poppy, but you see those big concrete pillars? Well, they go down into the water and they hold the bridge up. The, M said to me, 'Nana, I think you got that wrong, cuz God made the world right?' and I said right. 'she said, well, I think he made the world first, then he made the people, then he made the animals, then he made the bridges, then he made the water. Because he would have to have floaties or something to make the bridges if he made the water first'"

We all agreed that M may not know her numbers, but she may be a philosopher.

(2)
Bruce and I had a movie day yesterday. We went to see Journey To The Center of the Earth. GO SEE IT. TAKE YOUR KIDS. Unless they have sensory issues. Then don't, see it first to determine if it is safe. I so wish we could take Jordan. But I am afraid it would trigger a seizure. I loved it. Even Bruce was smiling through it. He thought it was short, but then he said maybe it was because he was having so much fun.

Then we saw The Dark Knight. Wow. I thought the last one was great. But this one was really phenomenal. also, I don't want to over analyze anything to do with Heath Ledger, but wow, what a twisted character he had to play. I would not have been able to submerse myself into that psyche. He was totally believable. However, how about Gary Oldman. wow. It was all incredibly acted, by the whole cast. There is this song that I love by Chris Rice, called Sometimes Love. The line says, "Sometimes love has to drive a nail into it's own hand". When Commissioner Gordon's son asked why Batman was running when he hadn't done anything wrong, and he said, because he is the hero that we deserve, but not the hero that we need, and he can do that, because he's not a hero...that song went through my head. I saw that allegory in my mind. We're all looking for someone to lay down their life, their pride for us. How many of us actually see it. I don't think I look for these things, but I'm always seeing them in the most unexpected places.

In Which Aunt Boo turns 41

and announces her engagement


birthday haircut, I got bangs



Brucie Barbecue-ing



They really love him (story to follow)






mom (donerleg) and baby brother

So, Bruce and I will be getting married on October 18th , yes, this year. When I told Miracle, she said "can I come! Can I come!!???" then she said "Yer marrying a motorcycle dude?". It was pretty funny. Elijah was being a bonehead and wouldn't talk to me at my party (see below)

he had his head buried in Maggie's chest, so I sat down next to them and said, "Eli, I have to ask you something important...is it ok with you if I marry Bruce?". Maggie was all excited and Becca was smiling (of course she already knew) Then Elijah (without looking at me, gave me a thumbs up and said "YES".

Kids.

The birthday was a smashing success and great fun was had by all. All my siblings and nieces and nephews gave approval for Bruce and I to be married. Mom and Becca had already signed off. So... more to come!

TV

I so wish that I could like Burn Notice. Bruce Campbell is in it and I ♥ him. But I just don't dig it. I keep dvr'ing it and I just keep not liking it, except to stare at Bruce Campbell. His chin still works.

On the other hand, In Plain Sight rocks.

laughter

Bruce and I went to see a couple of movies this weekend. They weren't great movies, but they had some laugh out loud moments in them. The second movie, we went with his ex-in-laws and fellow mason brother (?)(i guess that's what they are called) Anyway. If you know me in the flesh, you've heard me laugh. When something tickles me, I just laugh right out loud. Secretly, I've always loved this part of myself, but outwardly I'm always apologizing for my "obnoxious" laugh or for being too boisterous or unladylike. But this weekend, I decided to stop apologizing and embrace this side of myself. To outwardly appreciate my joy of all things silly and laughable. Life is full of enough things to make me somber and to make me cry. When something makes me joyful, I will laugh, right out loud without apologizing or covering my face any more.

Miracle turns 7, my beautiful family

As only our family can do, it was a tropical party with Mexican food. We had our favorite Mexican lasagna. Becca made the best picco de gallo ever and I made my famous guacamole and of course we had margaritas.




I apologize, I don't know how to use cut's on blogger yet, but I will learn. Here are some photos from Miracles 7th birthday party! (Katie's youngest) These are off of my digital, late I'll have some 35 millimeters that should be great. I like to give Daniel the camera because people are less guarded with an 11 year old! (this would be Daniel, Katie's middle son)




Miracle and Elijah (Maggie's son)













three nephews in a row, Cole (Jen's youngest) Jordan (Katie's oldest) and Daniel (Katie's middle child). To the left, is Miracle's sweet brother, Mookie. I love him. So technically, 4 nephews in a row.









swing away Colio...yes, cousin Cole broke the pinata and temper tantrums ensued. Nothing like presents to make it all better though. That's Miracles Daddy Joey and Elijah's daddy Joe in the background (click on the pic for the priceless expressions)









the beautiful mommy














Uncle James and Brittany (Jen's oldest...she's almost grown up -sigh-)











Miracle Joy and her best friend Nina