Merry Christmas!

We have had the great privilege to have my Dad's parents in Columbia for Christmas this year. I was able to cook all day with my Grammy on the 23rd at my house and on the 24th we took them to our church for the candle light Christmas Eve service. On Christmas we opened our presents at our house before heading to my parents house for our present exchange. We spent several hours opening gifts, making and eating breakfast and spending quality time with each other. After that Stephen and I went to his parents house where we had a fun time giving gifts to our niece and nephew, Elizabeth and Josiah. (and the rest of his family too!) We had a great time visiting with them and enjoying MORE FOOD! Then we went home for a few minutes to let the dogs out and then heading back to my parents house for Christmas dinner. We had a very busy day!!

Christmas night Stephen and I went home and played The Beatles Rockband and then I went to bed. Stephen woke me up around 2:30 am and told me to look outside and it was SNOWING! By 7 am when we woke up again we had about 2 inches on the ground! We took the dogs out and watched Lucy run around the yard and eating the snow. She was so cute. Then we took off for my parents house stopping at Starbucks to grab peppermint mochas to entice Luke to join in a snowball fight. We had a snowball fight and then made a snow man we named Pierre the adventurist snowman and set him up with a kayak and a paddle. We had SO much fun. Then Mom, Grammy and I took off for after Christmas shopping while the boys went to a sports bar to watch the Chief's game. It was a great day!!

The Big 2-5!

Well Yesterday I turned 25! It started with Stephen telling me happy birthday at midnight. I went to work and my wonderful co-worker Debbie had a pile of birthday/Christmas gifts waiting for me! She gave me my very own "Chicken Man" painting, some home made brownies, some cute Christmas socks, an ornament and a candle. There were cards and birthday greetings all day at work. Stephen brought me a Beezer's sub at lunch, it was soo yummy! Luke came for his first allergy shot and he suprised me with flowers! SO sweet!! When I left work one of the doctors helped me carry all my birthday goodies out to my car. 

My "Chicken Man" painting, I LOVE it!

The flowers Luke brought me

This was across the dash of my car when I left work. My sweet husband!!

After work I rushed home and showered and got ready for our shared birthday dinner with my parents and brother. (Stephen's birthday is the 19th) We got dressed and headed out to Carrabbas. I got sirloin marsala and it was the best thing I had tasted in a LONG time. After dinner we went to my parents house where my mom had made a Christmas themed "fun-feti" cake that I picked out for her. We ate cake and took pictures and watched some football. By then I was so tired I had to go home for some fur cuddles from my doggies.

I decided to take some fun pictures by my parents lake :)

Stephen decided to join in

Then the boat started to fall!

on the dock

my parents living room

the cake my mom made that fell apart, but it tasted great!

Stephen being silly while opening his birthday presents from my parents: xbox 360 games to go with the xbox 360 I got for him!

I can't believe I'm 25 now! Some days it seems pretty old...but some days I still feel like a kid with so many dreams and desires to fulfill. I'm thankful to have reached 25 and hope to have many more happy years to come!!

My poor sweet Sadie...

About a month ago Sadie started limping. I took her to the vet and they couldn't find anything obvious wrong with it, gave me some pain medicine and told me that if she didn't get better to bring her back for x-rays. Well I figured she sprained her leg/foot as she is an extremely active and agile dog. (we have taught her to "play football" she will lay down when Stephen says down, she sits up when he says set, and when he says hike and throws the ball she runs after it! SUPER CUTE! and we taught her to jump through a hula hoop among other "accomplishments") So to see my sad girl unable to run and play and jump just about broke my heart.

So we gave it a few weeks figuring a sprain takes a couple weeks to heal, and did our best to not let her run or jump etc (which was hard let me tell ya!). But after a month we said ok, she needs the x-rays! We took her last night and they couldn't do the x-ray so we go back monday, but our vet said she thought it was her knee, that she thinks it is a torn cruciate ligament. Which like our cruciate ligaments holds our knee together. Unfortunately this is most likely going to require surgery. The vet told us that the best place for her to go (and least expensive) would be a five hour drive in Alabama! So I am already worried about cost, but she HAS to have the surgery. Hopefully it won't be fully torn and she won't require surgery but lots of rest.

Right now our vet told us to keep her on "crate rest", which is basically Sadie in her crate 24/7 except potty time. If we can ensure her being calm and laying/sitting down she can be out for short periods of time. Sadly this is hard. I went and got her a new toy today to give her a little entertainment for her "crate rest". My poor poor Sadie girl!!

2 years ago in Camden, SC....

We went to an animal shelter intending to get a little female terrier I had found 2 days before. When we got there we told them we wanted that dog and were told that she was already adopted. I was sad, but we went back to the puppy/small dog room and Stephen spotted this adorable black puppy with one blue eye. Ironically she was the only dog I had held the day I had visited without Stephen. Well obviously we fell in love with this tiny black puppy with little brown "accents" over her eyes, on the tip of her nose, and her feet.We took her home, named her Sadie, and introduced her to Mr. Rupe (my 16 year old silky terrier). They got along alright and Rupe actually played for the first time in months! I was SO happy I cried. Sadly Rupe got very sick just a few days later and passed away from congestive heart failure (that he had fought for almost 3 years) and then kidney failure on December 23, 2008. It was very hard on me but I was so happy to have my Sadie. She was truly a gift from God to help me through the grief of losing my first dog.

Sadie 8 weeks old, with Mr. Rupe

Sadie with her Christmas toys

Sadie was our first puppy and boy was it a learning curve! But we read a lot of books and tried our best to do right by her. Well around 6 months old she started getting gray hairs around her eyes and down her back. It was weird but cute. She had always been kinda sleek and black,and  all of a sudden she was turning into the shaggy dog!  We couldn't believe it, even her vet said wow Sadie! I don't think she is ever the same color when you bring her in! Even now she is getting whiter instead of gray. I discovered a breed called a bearded collie and she looks just like them!! Apparently they start out black and slowly turn gray and white and then sometimes go back to darker! Well I always wanted a "shaggy dog" and I sure got the best one!!

She is starting to go gray!!

Loving the beach!

She likes to lay on my scrubs so I can't go to work, Sadly for her it never works!

Can you believe that little black/brown puppy turned into this "gray beast"!!

Well two years later we now have two other dogs. I love them all sooo much. They bring so much joy to my life and each brings a different aspect to me with their personalities. Sadie is my sweet sweet cuddle bug (hence her nick name Sadie-Bug). Lucy is just a big goof, always wanting to play and jump and get in trouble, but she is really sweet too. (she is aka Lucy-Goosey). Pepper is my shadow, he likes to follow me everywhere and is always ready to chill on the bed or go for a ride or especially go for walks! (he is aka Pepperoni). I can't imagine life without my dogs, and I hope to have these ones for many years to come!

aah the weekend!

This weekend has been great. Friday (which I now have off YAY!) I spent with the dogs, we were cold cause Daddy had not turned on the heat yet so after he went to work we turned it on, hopped back in bed and cuddled for most of the day. I LOVE getting to spend time with my "fur kids" on Fridays all by myself. It is also nice to have some "alone" time because I spend my full time (37.5 hours crammed into 4 days) job talking to patients/other nurses/doctors etc. non-stop. So it is nice to be alone with the dogs and a computer and some crocheting or cleaning or laundry.
Saturday we relaxed in the morning and then went to my parent's house to start the process of scraping, sanding, and painting the doors, window, and porch railings on her front porch. I got very cold and convinced Stephen and Mom to stop around 5. Then Stephen went to a guy's movie night, Dad was at the USC football game and Mom and I went to Starbucks and shopping! I asked my parent's if I could possibly have an early birthday present because my old, trusty camera completely broke about a month ago. They said OK so off to Target we went and I have a new camera, YAY!! We spent the rest of the night cuddled for warmth (they don't have heat on yet lol) in her bed watching Letter's to Juliet while the guys were out with their friends.

The bowls I "made" for the dogs :)

Lucy being her goofy self and Pepper on the back of the chair.

Today was the Free to Breathe 5k. My co-workers husband was diagnosed June 2009 with stage 4 lung cancer and lost his courageous battle May 2010. We wanted to get a big team together in honor of him. We got amazing response from her friends, family, church etc. She had amazing t-shirts made for "Team Gary". It was a very special event. It was nice to see others in our community gathering to help raise money for more MUCH needed awareness and research for lung cancer. My coworkers daughter spoke at the event. I was amazed at her ability to speak in front of so many people about her Dad. She shared how the disease had changed their lives, but not all for the worse. God really opened up their eyes and brought them closer. She was very moving; a testimony not only for lung cancer but for bringing people to the Lord. It was awesome and I am so glad I was able to be a part of Team Gary.

My Mom and Dad, the front of the Team Gary shirts

The back of the shirts

after the walk at my parent's house

cuddling my 3 on the couch after the 5k

warm happiness in a cup? I think so!

Happy Halloween!

Yesterday was the one year anniversary since we closed on our first house! I can't quite believe it has been a whole year already. I feel like there is still SO much that I want to do with it. I haven't painted at all, but the colors were already pretty perfect when we moved in. A few weeks ago when we were walking our "terrific three" I saw a Papa John's delivery guy and said WOW we have never had a pizza deliverd to our actual house! I thought well money is kinda tight but pizza is not too bad of a price so we decided to order pizza for our one year house anniversary. Last night Stephen ordered the pizza and we got to work on our pumpkins. We had so much fun sitting on our porch carving pumpkins and then eating pizza. I decided to carve a "haunted house" and Stepen did a raven with the word nevermore above it. I think they both turned out pretty awesome looking. Well we only had about 3 kids come by for "Trick or Treating" but we had a great night just spending time together with our dogs in our cute little house. This weekend has been just what I needed after a rough week. Now we are onto November! I can't believe 2010 is almost over. 

A Perfect Saturday Adventure

A few weeks ago we decided to see how far it is from our house to Starbucks at Sandhills. In the car it was about 2 1/2 miles. I thought well that's not too bad, we should start walking/jogging that on Saturdays. Last Saturday we walked there and Luke picked us up in the Tahoe and brought us home. It was a lot of fun. 

Last night we went on one of our regular walks, but decided to check out some trails in the woods we had seen the weekend before that are close to our neighborhood. We ended up kinda lost but eventually found our way home, and had a lot of fun. During our "lost" walk I discovered what I was pretty certain were trails I had been on before that connect to the Sandhill's Clemson Park. 

This morning I eventually dragged Stephen out of bed and we got Sadie and Lucy's back packs ready to go with water bottles, a bowl, and plenty of poop bags. We also got the brand new doggie sling I got on sale for Pepper. Poor guy can't keep up our pace for as long as the rest of us and my arms get tired of holding him. The sling is like one you can use for babies, except it has straps to attach to a dogs harness, etc. So we started off down the street and found our trails from the night before. We had a few "discussions" on which direction to go a few times, but being that I have a good sense of direction I usually won, or we turned around. Well we eventually made it to Starbucks and everyone had a chance to rest, drink water, and I got a coffee!! We also met a couple who also had their 2 dogs with them. They mentioned hoping to come every Saturday, just like my plan! So I hope we get to meet them again. 

Stephen and our 3 dogs at Starbucks

Pepper and his sling after a walk

We sat for about half an hour and then headed back home through Sandhills park. There were once again a few wrong turns, but it was easier than on the way there. It was such a great morning and we ended up walking about 6 miles! So really great exercise for all of us too. We made sure to stretch when we got home so we can get up and walk the neighborhood in the morning. It was so nice to be in the woods on a trail with just Stephen and our 3 dogs. I kept saying "This is like a hiking trip but we are SO close to home!" and "You would never even know that so many houses and businesses are close by, I LOVE THIS!" This was my perfect Saturday adventure, and I hope to make it a weekly adventure!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T!

Yesterday my Mom, Dad, Luke, Stephen and I went to the fair. We were having a great time eating food, looking at all the exhibits and just being together. We decided to ride a few rides before leaving. Well my Mom doesn't really ride rides, so she would wait in line with us until it was time for us to go on, or at the point where we couldn't stand together anymore. We rode the ferris wheel and got to listen to Miranda Lambert since she was playing the fair that night. It was great. then we decided to ride this new ride and waited in line for probably 30-40 minutes. Well as we inched our way closer and closer we saw this group of kids trying to be sneaky and cut in line. At this point we were where my Mom couldn't stay with us and she had gone to the side. My Dad said something to one of the kids who were cutting and while he was talking Luke saw Mom saying something to the same kids friends. Just saying hey there is a line and you need to go to the back like everyone else. Well apparently one of the girls didn't take to kindly to being told she was in the wrong because she then proceeded to punch my mother in the face!!!! Luke and I must have seen it at about the same time because he ran at the guy he thought pushed our Mom and I ran at my Mom. She was hit so hard she fell to the ground. Obviously this was very upsetting to her children. I got Mom up and she saw Luke with the guy and she got upset thinking Luke was going to get hurt so she took off after him, and of course I followed. At this point Stephen had followed Luke in case the kids started to hurt him. That is when we realized that the guy had not hurt Mom, but the girl he was friends with did. Well all the kids took off running from us and Stephen grabbed a police officer that was nearby and they apprehended all the kids. Arresting the one who punched my Mother. I just don't know what has happened to basic respect. People need to all follow the same rules, no one is "special" and you just can't cut in line. If an adult person, or someone who is older than you corrects your behavior I would think a person would say "OK you are right" and follow the persons advice. How has this behavior and attitude become an alright thing in our society? My poor Mom now has to go through an ordeal of courts etc, but maybe this will teach the girl a lesson on respect. Sadly it may also have taught us not to always stand up for ourselves and the common courtesies due to all people. Well one thing I know for sure is I will NEVER go to the fair at night again!

The Grass is Always Greener...

Why is it that we always want what we don't have? It seems like I can always look at something someone else has and think " I want that!" or "Why not me?". As humans it seems like we always think oh if I just had this or if only my hair looked like hers or if only I lost 10 pounds I would be happy. But these things will NOT make us happy. Only the Grace of God can help us be truly happy. This is a hard concept to deal with. We are sinful by nature and are selfish and tend to think only of ourselves and what we don't have. 

Recently it seems like its that way with my dogs too. Lucy has always tried to control when Sadie eats and we have been working on it because we don't want Lucy to think she is the "alpha" as we are supposed to be "alpha" in our "pack". Now with the addition of sweet little Pepper they both seem to think that whatever food he has MUST be better than what we put in their bowls, even though they all  have matching bowls and all eat the same exact food.  Why is it that what others have always seems SO much better. BUT maybe from where others are my life might seem so much better.... I guess NONE of us, human or animal can escape the idea that someone else might be getting dealt a better hand than me!

I have been struggling with many of the feelings of "the grass is always greener". It takes many forms and I am trying to recognize it and overcome these feelings of jealousy for certain things that I desire ALOT! Recently God has given me a wonderful sense of calm, a gentle nudge that seems to say "April, I am in charge and I KNOW what I'm doing!!." Maybe this struggle will make it that much greater when my prayers are answered. Many people keep saying to me that God doesn't always answer the way we want, and that is hard to accept.Maybe this is all to teach me patience and to trust in the Lord! Only time will tell. But for now I just continue to pray for strength and peace and the knowledge and understanding that God is in control of my life!!

Three's Company!

As if our life wasn't crazy enough we decided to adopt a third dog! This one is a 7 year old yorkie. His family must have been going through hard times because they left him at a shelter in Camden. We saw him there last Saturday but his information sheet said he was 11 years old. I said Oh NO!! I don't think I can go through another "old" dog right now, so we moved on through the shelter. No other dog jumped out at us like our first two had so we left. All night and all day Sunday I was sad, this little guy was on my heart. I kept thinking no one wants old dogs, he will be put to sleep and I couldn't stand this idea. I know they have to do that some places and that there were other dogs at the shelter that would be put to sleep soon and this makes me VERY sad, but for some reason I couldn't get this particular dog off my mind. 

On Wednesday Stephen and I talked more about him and we decided that old dog or not we could give him a good home and LOTS of love. I was praying that he was still there or had been adopted, not euthanized. I called the shelter Thursday and they told me he had been taken by a rescue group in Camden and gave me their information. I called them and found out they had taken the little guy to the vet and had his teeth taken care of and his shots updated and a full physical. They also found out that the shelter information was wrong and after contacting his previous family for confirmation told me he was actually 7 not 11 years old!!!

Needless to say this was music to my ears. A 7 year old yorkie! I couldn't believe it, we could have MANY more years with him! So we arranged to meet at the rescue's home, they actually run the rescue out of their home and farm. We got there and met the nicest two guys with huge hearts for all animals. We gave them a donation that doesn't nearly cover how much care they gave to our new doggie, and we were on our way home! The girls were excited and we made sure they were gentle but the first meeting went well.

We have named him Sgt. Pepper to go along with Sexy Sadie and Lucy in the Sky! On Friday after work we all walked and it was great. We have had many more walks since then and everyone is getting along better and better. Stephen and I are keeping an eye on everything but things are going REALLY well. I am SOOOO excited to have a little dog again, and that my wonderful girls are behaving the way I knew they would. It's gonna be an adjustment for us all but we are ready for it. God keeps giving us the perfect dogs, I am so thankful for the blessing of my animals, they bring so much joy to my life!

huh?!

Well I guess I had my job prayers answered. I will be keeping my current job. AND it all comes down to health insurance. (plus the fact that I love my job, just want more money/less hours and who doesn't want that?!) It's pretty funny though because when I was offered the job I have I was just happy to get ANY form of health insurance, but now it is like well what do I need covered right now and what does my insurance cover (turns out we actually have better insurance than I thought which is REALLY good for us right now.) So I will be staying, and I think this is a good thing; but of course I am human and keep going but....more money, Friday's off!! But God knows what He is doing and I prayed about this and I guess this is my answer! I've always heard God works in mysterious ways and I guess this is my proof, LOL! 

So far in my life I have learned I am very stubborn, and I persevere to achieve what I want from life. Example: nursing school, there were ALOT of times I wanted to quit and do something else (or nothing LOL) I hope to eventually be a "stay-at-home Mom" but I knew that I needed a degree and a job that would enable me to care for these mythical children should something happen to my husband, or his job, etc. So I kept on going through the tough ex-army teachers and long hours and no sleep and crazy classes. Now I am a nurse! I may not have finished what my original goals were (WAY back in Nursing 101 I planned to become a nursing teacher!!) but maybe I will someday. But also I have come to realize dreams change, and I need to be content and proud of what I have while striving to better myself at the same time. This is hard as recent things have changed my dreams but I know that God will answer my prayers just maybe not the way I wanted or expected. I will continue to be myself and be stubborn and persevere! 

On Sunday our amazing pastor Dr. Ferguson taught from Luke 17:11-19  and it convicted both Stephen and I to thank the Lord more for what we do have. For me to come to Him not with a "bargaining tool" but to be thankful for the trials He has given us because they may be what will in fact bring us closer to Him. Just like it brought the 1 leper to God. I am so thankful for the pastor He has directed us to so that I can learn these things to apply to my life each Sunday that I would not think of for myself!

I LOVE country music!

For years I said "I don't like country music"! Then a few years ago my brother got into it and then my Dad and so whenever I got in their cars I heard country music. Needless to say it started to grow on me. Now it is pretty much ALL I listen too (other than my brother's music of course!). And I must say I feel "happier" when I listen to country music vs. pop music which is mostly rap and who know what right now. Maybe it is because there is a message or a story, or because there is a heavy Christian influence to most songs. Also most of the songs do not contain expletives that have to be censored. Well whatever the reason, I now say that I have become a "True Southerner"! complete with loving country music. 

Well today I was driving to work listening to the XM country station I like (Hyundai has yet to turn off the XM and I'm sooo glad!) and the song "Something to be proud of" by Montgomery Gentry really caught me. I have heard this song probably hundreds of times and I have always liked it. But today it was something I needed to hear. I am struggling with job decisions. Do I want to leave a job I know I like, but don't get paid enough to do to go to a new job I may not like but make more money? (and work 4 days a week vs 5) OR do I continue the Mon-Fri job I know I like and then go work at the prisons on the weekends to make extra money? OR WHAT??!! Well I know that money is not the most important thing, but having enough, or more than enough to live easily would certainly be something to desire! The lyrics that caught me this morning are these: 


That's something to be proud of
That's a life you can hang your hat on
You don't need to make a million
Just be thankful to be workin'
If you're doing what you're able
And putting food there on the table
And providing for the family that you love
That's something to be proud of

I don't know if this is pointing me in a certain direction job wise, but it did make me stop and think and say YES! I really do have things to be proud of. I have a great husband, two crazy but wonderful dogs, a nice house and we both have jobs. They may not be the jobs we want to have forever, and they may be jobs we should be striving to surpass but we are "putting food there on the table" (or on the floor for the dogs). While I am always tending to look to the future and think but if we ever have a baby I don't want to work, and I get frustrated. I am realizing through God's Grace to be more thankful for all that He has given me and not fret about a future that is not here yet. I know He will provide in an amazing way if any of those dreams come true. Until then I am going to trust Him to help me make the right decision about my job!

Live from Nashville, TN!

Ok, I have decided to join the world of blogging. (we shall see how long this lasts)

Well last Friday I decided to take the day off and was planning a nice relaxing 3 day weekend. I knew my parents were going to Nashville to visit my little brother and I was even taking care of their cats. My Mom told me they were leaving around noon on Friday...well at about 11 am I decided I REALLY wanted to go to Nashville! I had not seen my brother in a month and I missed him. So I tried calling my Mom...problem was she was at the doctor, and Dad was on a conference call for work. Hmm how can I go to Nashville? 


Eventually my Mom called back...sure I could come! BUT they were leaving from Downtown Columbia as soon as  she was done at the doctor. So i quickly called Stephen..I want to go to Nashville...do you care and oh yeah can you take care of my parents cats? Well trooper that he is (sometimes) with all my last minute stuff he said sure. I threw some stuff in a duffle took the quickest shower of my life, grabbed my cowboy boots (hello Nashville!) and met Stephen outside our house. OH YEAH I also convinced him to drive me downtown over his lunch break . Well fortunately my Dad's work call ran late and we met Mom at McDonald's and I said goodbye to hubby for the weekend. Eventually Mom, Dad and I left Columbia.


Well we hit two REALLY LONG delays on the way to Nashville that upset our dinner plans. But we enjoyed the trip...I think this was the first trip I had been on with just both my parents since before my little brother was born! AND  I had the WHOLE back seat of their car to myself!! (lately I have had to share with Stephen and Luke).  On the way to Nashville I said come on we have to listen to some country music! and Mom said oh yeah..maybe we can hear "the boys of fall" which she now loves. Dad turned on the radio and the first song we heard was  Craig Morgan's song "this aint nothing". Now  I have loved this song over the summer but over the weekend it grew to mean more.


It became our inside joke if you will...everything we might complain about...waiting in line for an hour in the hot sun at the pancake place, Dad would say "this aint nothing" ouch my feet hurt "this aint nothing". Sunday Luke was excited to take us to his Nashville church called Forward Church. They meet in what is at night a bar and music venue in downtown. Luke has met a guy who is homeless who goes to his church, and  seeing all the homeless and hearing Luke talk about his new friend really opened my eyes, and my heart. 


The night before we went to a "Christian Showcase" of Belmont students (and man all those kids at Belmont are VERY musically talented!) one of the singer/songwriters shared his testimony of being a drug addict/alcoholic and being homeless until he went to a mission and met people who led him to the Lord. Now he is a Junior at Belmont University! I can't even imagine the courage it took for him to just apply to college! And I realized  I take too much for granted. Yes, I might struggle to pay all my bills sometimes and be frustrated with my job sometimes but "this aint nothing"!!


I know that I want to be in control of my life but really I'm not. I may not understand why certain things are not working out for us right now and become very upset, even depressed. But this weekend has opened my eyes to what I've known all along....GOD IS IN CONTROL! He has a plan for my life, He knows what job I should be doing, what my husband will do, if he will go back to school, get a better job etc. Even if we will be blessed with a child. 


These are things I struggle with everyday, and things I try to control and shape on my own. But I can't do it without HIM! I just need to trust in the Lord and let him lead me/us on our lives. I pray that God will give me strength to trust Him and the courage to do so. Because I know that "this aint nothing" God has a plan for us and all my worries and struggles are nothing. I am so glad I got out of Columbia and experienced something I didn't think I would at Family Weekend at Belmont University.