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I Bought These Today...

2012-02-13T19:33:00.001-08:00

Judge all you want, but I'll wear them with pride.

Random

2012-02-10T13:04:00.000-08:00

So, after reading back through the last 2 posts, I have to admit that I have changed just a teeny bit. I will eat green beans on occasion. But only if they're stir fried with onions and garlic and super seasoned. And if I'm being honest, I can usually only choke down about 6. But that's still better than not having anything green in my diet! And secondly, I have really and truly become an Alabama football fan. I said I was all my life, but like in the previous post, I really just meant that I liked tailgating and saying "Roll Tide" as a greeting... you know how people do that in the South. Since we moved out here though, I think it makes me feel connected to home so I've watched every single game (only Alabama games of course) that has come on TV and actually understood what was going on. I know [some] of the players names and where we fell in the rankings week to week and even cared! Glad I got that off my chest... didn't want to misrepresent myself :)

Also, I'm on the lookout for a vintage-y, retro, one piece bathing suit. Does anyone have any suggestions of where to look? I've looked online some but can't really find exactly what I'm looking for. Something kind of like this maybe?

This is really what I want, but I guess it doesn't exist anymore:

Any suggestions? I can get one made on Etsy, but who wants to pay that much for a bathing suit? Seriously, about $30 is my limit! I just really like the full coverage at the bottom and I just think the older style is so cute.

Just One More

2012-02-09T14:03:00.000-08:00

OK, I can't help myself. I know these things are so narcissistic, but they just keep making me laugh! I found this one from Facebook too and again, I don't know that any of these things have changed:

1. i’m secretly very messy. when it’s just me at home (or recently me and corey) our house is sort of a disaster but anytime i know someone is coming over, i clean it frantically to give the illusion that i’m very neat and tidy.

2. i’ve gone through several obsession phases in my life. the first was julia roberts. the second was selena- you all remember it well. the third was friends. the latest was kelly.

3. i’m terrified of any form of public speaking. even if it’s just a situation where we’re just going around the room and saying our names, before it gets to me, i start sweating and my heart starts to beat really fast and my stomach starts to hurt. and that’s just my name! i only had to give one presentation in college and the morning of the class, i woke up throwing up and was nauseous all day.

4. i’m scared to death of talking on the phone. i’d rather e-mail or send a text message any day.

5. i don’t eat vegetables. any of them. unless you count macaroni and cheese or french fries.

6. i don’t like to figure things out. if i don’t understand something, i may give it a solid 5 minutes of effort, but then i give up and ask my husband or best friend or someone else who likes to research things. but...

7. sometimes i get really interested in things that are very strange for me to be interested in. for example, yesterday i found myself researching “what is crack cocaine” for an hour. why? no one knows. today it was the unabomber.

8. somehow my name has become jess. it used to just be a nickname and it’s slowly evolved into the name people introduce me as. i’m not sure how i feel about that.

9. i attended 5 colleges in 6 years, transferred twice and somehow managed to graduate with both a bachelor’s and a master’s on time!

10. i don’t dance. period.

11. in fact, one time a friend and i tried to take an adult beginners ballet class. we had to quit because we were holding the rest of the class up.

12. my husband does not allow me to take naps. i wake up mean as a hornet. we tried it once. we won’t be doing it again.

13. my favorite food is cheese. i would literally be happy to live on cheese alone. that and bacon.

14. i'm not so much of a sports fan. i like the tailgating and shaking a shaker part of football, but i'm more of a gymnastics, figure skating kind of girl.

15. for a long time i thought the cast of friends were in fact my actual friends. sometimes i still do and wonder how those guys are doing.

16. i love being the hostess. it’s one of my favorite things.

17. i’m really really lazy.

18. i don’t like “going out.” i hate bars and would rather be at the movies or at home playing mario brothers or donkey kong.

19. i love tv. i mean really. i love it too much. if there was a tv watching job, i would do it all day everyday and be the happiest girl on the planet.

20. when i wear long pajama pants to bed, i tuck the bottom of them into my socks because it really bothers me when they ride up my legs and get tangled when i'm sleeping.

21. right under watching tv and movies, i love to scrapbook. i could do it for hours at a time.

22. i firmly believe God will be more proud of my husband than any of His other children.

23. i’ll pretty much believe anything you tell me. i’m easily swayed to any side in an argument because i can usually see both sides.

24. anytime i see something anna has that i like, i feel like i have to have it immediately. i’ve always responded that way to my friend audrey too.

25. my husband plays piano, bass, drums and guitar. my dad is a professional musician and plays bass and guitar and sings. my brother is in a band and plays guitar and a little piano and sings. i play nothing. and i don’t sing loud enough for anyone to hear me.

This Made Me Laugh

2012-02-08T14:51:00.001-08:00

I wouldn't consider myself someone who doesn't like change. However, I am the kind of person who hates it when technology changes. I can't get on board with the iphone (although I'm coming around), I'm still a little confused about what Twitter actually is, and I get really annoyed when Facebook changes. I made the jump to the new timeline thing on Facebook today since I guess they're going to make me do it eventually anyway. I'm sure I'll get used to it. Anyway, it's really funny for me to look back to the beginning of time (Facebook time that is) and see things from way back when. I stumbled across this "note" I wrote and it made me giggle. Not a whole lot of my responses would be different today. I can still remember who each of the people are, I still have the same 2 goals, and I still wear flannel pajamas... and I don't care if they aren't sexy :) So anyway, here it is:

Ten Things I Wish I Could Say to Ten Different People.
10. i become more and more like you every day and the older i get the more i want that to keep happening.
9. He does exist and He does love you very much.
8. i miss you.
7. you deserve so much better and i hate that you don’t realize that.
6. it makes me cry when i think about you doing that.
5. for goodness sake, it’s only freaking 4 hours a day! what’s the big deal??
4. i’m sorry.
3. why do you think you’re always right? you’re the most wrong person i’ve ever known.
2. you broke my heart and it’s too bad that’s all i’ll ever remember about you.
1. when i read “well done my good and faithful son,” i think He means you. i wish you believed in yourself as much as i believe in you.

Nine things about myself.
9. i have what some people refer to as french fry toes. they’re really skinny and extremely long.
8. my #1 biggest pet peeve is being breathed on.
7. i don’t like peanut butter mixed with anything. no, not even chocolate.
6. i hate the dentist. i would rather go to ANY other kind of appointment than go to the dentist.
5. i hate it when people go to a restaurant and sit in the booth on the same side of the table. eww.
4. i think personalized license tags are lame.
3. i spent a large part of my college years doing scary things like looking for the northport ghost and going to old bryce in the middle of the night... and i think it’s hysterical that my life has come full circle and i work at bryce now.
2. i internalize things. i didn't know i did this until about a year ago even though i've been doing it all my life. i still don't know how to stop.
1. i've literally weighed the same thing since i was 13. during the first 4 months i was married, i gained 17 pounds. i'm hoping it's leveled off.

Eight things I love to do.
8. play board games
7. go to the movies
6. snow ski
5. watch tv
4. ice and/or roller skate
3. buy people presents
2. travel
1. shop

Seven things that cross my mind a lot.
7. where is my staff?
6. i miss hoover.
5. 15 months and counting...
4. shower shoes at work, really?
3. the word blouse is really funny
2. i need to clean the house... after one more episode.
1. why are there cups everywhere?

Six things I do before I fall asleep
6. take out my contacts.
5. brush my teeth.
4. wash my face.
3. put on my glasses.
2. pick out me and corey’s clothes for the next day.
1. read with my booklight while corey gets mad at me.

Five people who mean a lot.
5. corey- me and jesus’s favorite
4. anna- my bestest friend and irrational soul mate
3. lauren- who i want to be
2. mom and daddy roy- who i love and will always be their baby girl
1. will- who i’m so proud of every single day

Four things you're wearing right now.
4. socks... always socks on my icy cold feet
3. engagement/wedding ring
2. flannel pajamas (even though i don’t think i’m supposed to wear those until i’ve been married at least 5 years... one year?)
1. glasses

Three songs that you listen to often.
3. andrew peterson... i will not limit his amazing talent to just one song
2. kelly... ditto.
1. whatever corey is learning to play for the next gig

Two things you want to do before you die.
2. have some babies.
1. do some traveling.

One confession.
1. sometimes i take an extra big sip of communion wine because i think it’s delicious.

Chief Mayer

2012-02-07T12:04:00.000-08:00

I just have to brag on Corey for a minute. Last night the residency had their Rank Night which is when all the residents get together and discuss all the medical students who interviewed with the program this year and rank them from 1-112 in the order that they want them to come here. Rank Night is also when they announce who will be the Chief Residents for the upcoming year. Well, Corey is going to be one! This program is unique (I say unique because that's what people have told me... I don't really know any different) in the sense that all the 3rd years are called "Chief." They all cover the work and supervise the interns/2nd years and do the teaching. I'm excited for Corey to step into that role because he really likes teaching. But in this program, 2 of the third years are designated to be the administrative chiefs. I'm not exactly sure of all the duties, but they create the schedule (think of organizing 27 different people's rotations, vacations, call schedule, etc.), handle complaints, things like that. I have a feeling Meghan (the other Chief) will be the super organized one. But Corey is a really good big picture person. He's not into all the itty bitty details, but he's a great global thinker. He's also a very good listener and unintimidating, so I think people will feel comfortable coming to him with their problems. He's also really fair which I think will be important in this role. It's going to be a lot of work, but he and Meghan both really want to make some changes with this program to make it better for the upcoming residents and I think they'll work really well as a team. So, I'm very proud of him!

Valentine Decor

2012-02-06T13:34:00.000-08:00

Who's the Boss at Our House?

2012-02-05T13:29:00.000-08:00

Why Do I Keep Finding Myself In This Predicament?

2012-02-03T13:08:00.000-08:00

Is it terribly noticeable that I'm wearing a skirt with my pajamas?

You may remember this happening to me last year. And the conclusion you can find here. Well, I no longer have a brown skirt because the same thing happened with that one last night! Why does Target make skirts that you can't unzip? Wow, I just realized that both of those skirts were 8 years old, so maybe I just shouldn't keep my clothes that long! I guess they weren't always so hard to unzip. I got home from work and simply couldn't get it unzipped... again. Corey couldn't get it unzipped. I tried pulling the zipper down with pliers. I tried putting a bobby pin through the zipper to get a little extra leverage. Nothing worked. So, this time, I didn't bother sleeping in it. I just cut it right off last night. I'm so annoyed!

Close, But No

2012-02-02T14:00:00.000-08:00

Last night, Corey looked at me and said, "Well, look at the cat calling the kettle black."

No. Just no.

Baby Malachi

2012-01-31T17:21:00.000-08:00

Marissa had her baby a week and a half early! Here he is...

Baby Malachi Robert Lindau

Congrats Brett and Marissa! We love you!

Cultural Differences Part 2

2012-01-25T13:05:00.000-08:00

Spouse group is having a little sprinkle for one of the wives who is having Baby #2. Her first was a boy and now she's having a girl so the shower will be all things pink. I made her a few little outfits for baby Audrey, but as I was making them, I got to thinking about the difference in Southern Babies. Y'all, people out here do not monogram. (Gasp!!) And I don't just mean baby stuff. No one has initialized hand towels or pillow cases or keychains. There are no giant letters on onesies, no baby names plastered on the butt of baby bloomers, no dresses with the name stitched into an ice cream cone. In fact, I can't recall seeing any little girls with bloomers period- monogrammed or not. There are no smocked dresses. No lacy socks. None of those little outfits with the frilly pants. Not a lot of ruffles. And no bows. I worked in an elementary school for an entire year and never once saw a little girl with a bow in her hair. I mean, of course you'll see the occasional headband and it might even have a little fluff on it, but no giant bows that are actually bigger than the kids head like you'll see in the South. And another thing... people don't wear dresses to baby showers. Nope, no heels or pearls either. I was shocked the first time I went to a shower out here and everyone was wearing jeans! TO. A. SHOWER. Can you even believe it? Anyway, here's some pictures of the stuff I made for Megan. It's cute, but I have a feeling it wouldn't fly in Alabama!

I Guess I Never Got Around to Posting About Christmas...

2012-01-24T11:01:00.000-08:00

Oops! I completely forgot to post about our trip to Alabama!

Well, Cotter came to visit the week before Christmas, so of course we had to take him to see the famous Grizwalds.

And as luck would have it, we got to meet MR. GRIZWALD himself!

Here's the neighbor's house this year:

Then we took off for the Deep South. As I mentioned before, it was a whirlwind trip! We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with my family.

Corey got Rock Band, which he LOVES. He played it nonstop while we were there and since we got back, we've borrowed all the other instruments from our friends Brett and Marissa.

This may be my favorite present :)

We all got to experience Will take the leap from childhood to adulthood this Christmas with bedding, blankets, pillows and sheets.

I got to see my all time favorite Rome Family Christmas house:

Christmas night we headed up to Huntsville to spend time with my mom's side of the family. We didn't get to go last year due to the "snow storm." Here's my mom with 2 of her sisters. They don't look alike at all :)

We got to see lots of family:

And some very dear friends:

While we were in Montgomery visiting Corey's family, we took a brief day trip down to Biloxi and spent a few hours at the casino. Of course I didn't take a single picture!

We were so glad we got to see Brusle... he just got back from Afghanistan and he and his wife are about to move to London. It was so nice to see for ourselves that he came home safely and to get to hug him before their next big adventure!

I finally got to meet little Kaylee Mae!

And I missed getting to meet Weston by 2 and a half weeks!

As always, we loved getting to hang out with Lauren and Jeremy!

And then we rang in the New Year like all good Alabamians... with a moon pie!

That's it in a nutshell!

PS: I've officially lost 3 pounds!!!

Indestructible, My Foot

2012-01-22T21:03:00.000-08:00

I bought one of those Kong Chew Resistant beds for the boys.

Yeah, it's certainly NOT chew resistant.

So sorry Mom.

Biggest Loser Update

2012-01-18T14:02:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't lost any weight yet, but I have exercised 5 times... 3 times last week and 2 times so far this week. I've also decided to put $1 in a jar every time I work out as an extra incentive. We'll see if that helps at all.

A Note On Residency

2012-01-17T19:05:00.000-08:00

**Disclaimer: this post will probably only be interesting to our families or people who are interested in medicine. You've been warned! There's a small snippet at the bottom about plans post-residency, so you can just scroll down there if you just care about that.**

The reason I started this blog way back when was to walk our families through the process of choosing a residency program. Here we are halfway done and I've never really explained what residency entails! We always get questions, even from our parents who have been around through the whole process with us, about things that are crystal clear to us. Things like, "Oh, Corey is a Family Medicine Resident? What is he going to specialize in?" or "When will he be a real doctor?" Before Corey was accepted into medical school, the only thing I knew about the medical field was what I learned from Grey's Anatomy and Scrubs. So, if anyone even cares, I'll try to clear it up! Maybe I'll even throw in a few pictures to spice up the subject matter.

First, Corey got his undergrad degree where he took pre-med classes.

Look at that short little white coat!

Then he went to medical school. Med school is 4 years. I can't speak for any experience other than the one Corey had. For him, the first 2 years were the basic science classes. So, sitting in a lecture hall 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and then studying several hours a day. Well, and a few hours a week in the disgusting anatomy lab where he came home smelling like formaldehyde. Gross. The first 2 years consist of studying and taking tests. Lots of tests. At UAB, they get to take their first summer off, but that's it. That's when Corey drove around the country in his car. He left in June, came back in August and got to have the experience of a lifetime. During this trip, he saw the Rockies for the first time... which as you know, comes into play a little later in the story. He slept in his car in Wal-Mart parking lots and truck stops and didn't shave for 2 months. Real classy.

He got one week off in between 2nd and 3rd year which is when we got married and went on our honeymoon. I should also mention that he took the first step of the board exam the day before we got married... yikes.

Third and fourth year are the hands-on learning years. He rotated through every specialty so he could decide what he wanted to do. He had absolutely no idea until he got to his very last rotation 3rd year. He started out saying that the only area he would NOT go into was Primary Care (Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, or Family Medicine). He quickly changed his tune.

I have to include that he also graduated with his Masters in Public Health 2 weeks after med school graduation. May 2010 was a very heavy graduation month for us :)

When he graduated from med school, he received his MD. So, as of May, 2010, Corey was a bon-a-fide doctor. Being a resident simply means they are in training and waiting on board certification. He is not a medical student- he already went through 4 years of that. Nor is he still "in school"- he already finished 8 years of that. As a first year resident, he was called an intern. Still a "resident", but the designation of "intern" just means he is in his first year of residency.

Family Medicine is an area of training... or, specialty. Some family medicine doctors go on to specialize in Sports Medicine or Obstetrics, but Family Medicine in and of itself is a specialty. This in particular causes people a lot of confusion for some reason.

The last question we get a lot, in particular when we go home, is about future plans. What happens after residency? Well, we'll let everyone know as soon as we do! It's interesting how different medicine is in different parts of the country. For example, in the South, everything is every sub-specialized. You see an Internist for check ups, you see an OB/GYN when you need a female exam or you get pregnant, a Gastroenterologist if you need a colonoscopy, etc. In the West, it's more a "Jack of all Trades" kind of philosophy. Corey chose this program because of it's broad scope training. As a Family Medicine resident, he delivers babies, performs C-sections, colonoscopies, endoscopies... lots of things. In this program, the residents usually get more deliveries than OB/GYN residents- just to put it in perspective. In most Family Medicine residencies, the docs would have to do a fellowship after residency (add on an extra year) in order to do C-sections in their practice, but not with the program he's in. They get enough training where a fellowship is not required unless we move to a state that requires one regardless of how many you've done. Corey actually wants to do all of the things in his practice that he's learning in residency. That's where it gets tricky. If you plop a "Jack of all Trades" doc in the middle of a state that isn't accepting of that form of medicine, it makes it difficult to find a job. We're about 5 or 6 months away from narrowing down places to go. There's just so much to consider. Corey will have to decide if he wants to go somewhere that he can do everything he's been trained for or if there are procedures he's willing to give up in order to live somewhere else. We also have to consider loan repayment programs. If he goes to work at some kind of rural health clinic for 3 years, they'll give him money toward paying back his loans, which is definitely a huge plus considering he wants to work with the under-served anyway.

Day by day, he's figuring out what his future in medicine will look like. Pre-residency, he would have said he wanted to do all outpatient medicine (work in a clinic). That's changed. I personally see him working part time in a clinic and part time as a Hospitalist, but what do I know? He likes the critical thinking that goes into working in the hospital, but he loves OB, so he'll have to be in the clinic some to see his continuity patients.

Gosh, I can't believe we're already at this point. I remember 2 1/2 years ago feeling so overwhelmed looking at the spreadsheet we had made of 167 residency programs and knowing we would never be able to choose one. And now here we are about to start all over. So, I'll keep you updated as we figure things out. We've still got a long way to go, but I know graduation will be here before we know it!

Biggest Loser?

2012-01-11T11:54:00.000-08:00

I decided to join the nursing home version of “The Biggest Loser.” It’s come to that. I’m the kind of gal who isn’t going to exercise unless there’s some kind of motivation attached to it. The only time in my life that I consistently worked out was before Corey and I got married. Plenty of motivation there. Since then, I haven’t felt like there was any kind of reason. Being healthy just isn’t going to do it for me. Nobody goes to the beach in Colorado, so there’s no bikini clad summer trip planned to spring me into action. So, when I found out they are doing a little friendly competition at work, I decided to give it a go. I mean, I don’t really have any hopes of winning, but having to get on a scale every week may be encouragement enough. Plus, my clothes don't fit and the first thing my grandmother said to me when she saw me over Christmas was, “Well, now I could tell you’d gained a little weight from your Christmas card.” Thanks, Mama Dot. Anyway, I worked out for 35 whole minutes yesterday! That may be a record for me!

Cultural Differences

2012-01-10T12:46:00.000-08:00

Going home last Christmas was a little different from coming home this Christmas. I guess we just hadn't lived out here long enough to notice some of the differences last year. First of all, people in the South have accents. Yes, they do. Wow. Second of all, everybody tries to feed you at every opportunity. I didn't fully understand "Southern Hospitality" until this trip. Everyone wanted to feed us when we walked in the door. Then they tried to feed us a meal. Then they tried to send food home with us. And then I realized that I do that too. I just didn't know I was doing it! When we have people over, our friends always make fun of me for how much food I put on their plate and that I insist they get seconds. I wonder why we don't see a lot of obesity out in Colorado? :) And then most recently, I fully grasped the cultural difference when it comes to college football. I mean, out here NO ONE cares. At All. My mom told me that there was a 25 page insert in the newspaper this weekend about the National Championship. When I checked the paper this morning after Alabama won the title (Roll Tide, by the way) there was a brief paragraph on the last page of the Sports section. That's it. It's crazy! It doesn't matter though... I think Corey and I were excited enough for the whole city of Greeley! Hater's gonna hate, but I think we proved we deserved to be there!

And lastly, I think I've finally acclimated to the cold weather. My friend Jessie and I stepped outside on day while I was in Alabama and she started rubbing her arms and said, "Brr!" I was wearing a thin t-shirt and didn't even bat an eye. We also got to see some rain while we were home. I called Corey over to the window to see it because we just don't get rain out here. And when it does rain, people freak out about it. Usually it's just the kind of rain that doesn't even get you wet when you walk to your car, but they say "it's pouring!" Try living in Alabama in the summertime and I'll show you "pouring"!

On The Eleventh and Twelfth Day of Christmas...

2012-01-04T13:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I know you've just all been on pins and needles wondering what the 11th and 12th day of Christmas gifts were :) Sorry to keep you in suspense. For the 11th day, he gave me a Christmassy bracelet he found at Target that he said "would look really nice in the family picture that we're going to put in the frame." (Remember, the 8x10 frame he gave me earlier in the week) So, that was really sweet. He also gave me a card that he wrote a nice little note in. Corey doesn't often let his romantic side shine through, especially in writing, so I really appreciated that! And the 12 day was a J charm for my Pandora bracelet.

We had a crazy, busy, lovely Christmas back in Alabama covered in love from family and friends. However, after landing in Birmingham, we drove a total of (no exaggeration) 1200 miles. From the minute we landed on Christmas Eve to the minute we left on New Years Day, we were moving nonstop. It's so overwhelming to only get to come home once or twice a year because we feel like we need to spend time with everyone we love, but there's just not enough hours in the day! Especially when you want to spend QUALITY time with people. Very stressful, but at the same time very blessed to have so many people who love us! So, I'll post about our week soon, but right now I'm still trying to catch my breath. We got in late Sunday night and then went straight back to work on Monday. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and that 2012 is off to a great start!

Merry Christmas From The Mayers

2011-12-22T18:31:00.000-08:00

On The Ninth and Tenth Day of Christmas...

2011-12-22T18:23:00.000-08:00

He wanted us to get a family picture with our newest fur-son to put in the frame.

Amazing.

On The Seventh and Eighth Day of Christmas...

2011-12-22T18:10:00.000-08:00

I should mention that the first year Corey did this, each day corresponded to the number of gifts each day (ONE Christmas bear, TWO snickers bars, etc). Apparently that was really difficult, so this year he said that the presents would NOT be number related. He said that the theme this year was "thoughtful and genuine."

So, these Fresca's were sentimental because the first time, he gave me SIX Fresca's. We're being reminiscent over here peeps!

On The Sixth Day of Christmas...

2011-12-21T14:45:00.000-08:00

!!!!

On The Fourth and Fifth Day of Christmas...

2011-12-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

On The Third Day of Christmas...

2011-12-15T21:42:00.001-08:00

I won't post a picture everyday of the wrapping... just assume it looks like this for every gift. Same bag, same folded tissue paper:

Woo Hoo!! I love Family Feud!

Also, here are the pictures of the outside of our house. We added a few things this year like white lights around the door, candles in the window, and net lights to the bushes by the street.

But as you can see, there is still a heaping mound of bushes without lights. And I really wanted Corey to crawl up on the roof and hang upside down to put lights on the top layer of the house, but I thought that might be dangerous considering he'd have to stand on his car to get on top of the garage and then traipse across a snowy roof to get to that part of the house. We don't have an extension ladder (Geez Louise, those are expensive!). So, those 2 things will have to wait until next year. Small doses people.

On The Second Day of Christmas...

2011-12-14T21:03:00.001-08:00

And just further proof that Shep must ALWAYS be on top of Pete no matter where they are.

On The First Day of Christmas...

2011-12-13T19:40:00.000-08:00

The first year we were married, Corey did The Twelve Days of Christmas for me. I, of course, have asked him to do it every year since and this year he obliged :) So, Day 1:

It's reminiscent of the Christmas Bear he gave me on the first day of Christmas the first year:

It sings "Who let the dogs out" and moves around. The boys loved it:

But probably my favorite part is the wrapping. I mean, I think he just unfolded the entire stack of tissue paper and stuck it in there:

And I just have to share this picture from an ugly sweater party we went to last week:

I actually used to wear those pants out in public. Yes, I did.

Why Do I Live In An Alternate Reality?

2011-12-09T11:42:00.000-08:00

The other day at work, I walked in and saw the newspaper laying on the counter. It was folded in half and upside down, but there was a picture of a bald man on the front page. My initial thought was, "Well geez, what has Voldemort done now?" What's wrong with me?

What's Wrong With This Picture?

2011-12-07T12:09:00.001-08:00

Lucky

2011-12-05T20:14:00.001-08:00

We noticed a little something extra on Shep this weekend. Here's his left foot:

And here's his right foot:

He has an extra toe. We think it's lucky.

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

2011-12-03T16:54:00.000-08:00

We're loving December this year... snow outside, fire inside, and twinkle lights everywhere! I got our new camera in the mail at the beginning of the week and have had a lot of fun trying to figure it out. It literally took me 15 minutes just to put the lens on-probably not a good sign of things to come. I want to take a photography 101 class somewhere, but can't seem to find one in Greeley. But even on Auto, this camera takes better pictures than any other camera I've ever had.

I mean, come on, my point and shoot can't do that! My favorite pictures are those that have the subject in focus and the background blurry. That's my goal. On to some of our christmas decorations. I made our tree skirt this year. Of course it's something I copied from Pinterest.

And I put bows on all of our dining room chairs... also a Pinterest idea :) Have I mentioned that I love Pinterest?

Corey wanted to put our tree downstairs this year so that we would enjoy it more and I think it was a great decision.

I also made some christmas light garland to line my kitchen counters with and I love it! (Also Pinterest) You can see it shining behind all our christmas cookies and candy:

And what post would be complete without a picture of our sweet babies?

Corey's Trip to the ER... as a patient

2011-11-25T20:51:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago Corey got the stomach bug. He's gotten it once or twice every year for the past 6 or 7 years, but this time was especially bad. Once in med school I took him to the ER for it, but every other time he's just suffered through it. He started getting sick around 5pm (I'll spare you the details, but just imagine the worst). He had some Zofran at home from the last time he got it, but just couldn't keep it down. He called the resident on call and got her to call him in some Phenergan. I went and picked it up and he tried for a couple of hours to take it, but just couldn't keep that down either. Finally, at midnight, he decided it was time to go to the hospital. For him, it's not the getting sick part that bothers him; it's the stomach cramps. They're just unbearable for him.

Let me just state for the record that being married to a doctor has VERY FEW perks. Very few. However, I could not have been more impressed with his treatment at the hospital. I'd love to think our ER handles every patient the way they took care of Corey, but I think it may have had something to do with him being employed there. The admitting nurse saw him through the window and waved him right in, so he didn't have to wait at all. (We felt really bad for the other people sitting in the waiting room, but none of them were doubled over in pain like Corey was, so...)

The nurses were all so sweet. They doted on him and gave him the all star treatment. He was actually on his ER rotation at the time, so there were a lot of jokes about him getting sick just so he wouldn't have to go in the next day. They gave him lots of fluids and IV Zofran and Phenergan and pain meds. That's where it gets funny. They gave him Dilaudid which I think Corey said is about 10x stronger than Morphine. So, Corey's a lightweight. He's only had pain meds once before and that was the last time we went to the ER for this bug and they gave him Morphine. So, for a guy who cuts himself off after a beer and a half, this medicine was STRONG.

He was fine after the first dose they pushed except for telling me the circles on the ceiling were moving around. But they gave him one more dose before we left just to make sure he could get through the rest of the night. I've NEVER seen Corey uninhibited... ever. Like I said- a beer and a half. It. Was. Hysterical.

First he was trying to tell me that he had excema because of the antibiotics. (He didn't get antibiotics nor does he have excema.) But when I tried to tell him that, he got very defensive and kept arguing with me. Then, the nurse came back in to check on him and he started trying to tell her a story and only had about a 3 word recall before he completely lost what he was trying to say. He kept on trying though! He'd get about 2 or 3 words out and then look at me with a blank stare. Then he would just crack up at himself. Finally, it was time to leave and he looked at me and said:

"Whatever you do, don't let me walk."

"OK, why don't I go pull the car around and I'll get the nurse to get you a wheelchair?" Me

"I'm not getting in a wheelchair." Corey

"Then how do you want to get to the car?" Me

"I'll just walk out there." Corey

"But you just told me not to let you walk." Me

"No, I didn't." Corey

So, he got up and tried to walk and of course was swaying all over the place. I grabbed him and about 6 nurses came over and helped him into a wheelchair. What an eventful night! But at least he won't get it for Christmas this year... last year he spent the Yarbrough Christmas on the bathroom floor of my aunt's house. What a disaster. We'll be good for at least 6 months now!

Thankful

2011-11-25T19:17:00.000-08:00

We ended up getting to spend Thanksgiving with our good friends Jason and Elsie and of course their sweet little baby Jaycee. They were planning a trip up to Steamboat Springs but waited until today to leave so that they could go eat at Cracker Barrel with us! This was especially fun because they had never been to Cracker Barrel before. Yes, you heard me. Never Been To Cracker Barrel. I think they were impressed!

Corey ordered 2 meals: both the Cracker Barrel Thanksgiving Feast and the Cracker Barrel Sampler.

It was a LOT of food and he was so happy.

And believe it or not, he ate almost all of it! We were also invited to go eat another Thanksgiving meal with our friends David and Anna at their house this afternoon. She cooked a delicious dinner and it was so sweet of her to include us with their family Thanksgiving. Corey and I feel so loved by our little Greeley family. It's so nice having good friends to lean on when your family is so far away, especially on holidays. I think we'll be stuffed for weeks!

We're going to cheer on our Crimson Tide tomorrow and then light a fire and decorate our tree! I've gotten everything else pretty much decorated so the house will look complete tomorrow night and I can't wait!

Shepherd's First Vet Visit

2011-11-22T15:59:00.000-08:00

Man, I've been a terrible blogger lately. We've had a lot going on- just not much that's been blogworthy. I've been really wrapped up in re-reading the Hunger Games trilogy. Corey and Elsie have birthdays 5 days apart, so we had a little party for them.

Addy (the little girl I nanny for) got to hold baby Jaycee:

Shep has decided that he LOVES to sit in the chairs outside:

And he is a HUGE snuggler:

But his favorite thing to do is sit on his big brother. Seriously, he constantly seeks Pete out and sits on his head. Pete.does.NOT.like.it.

We took Shep to the doctor today for his first visit:

He weighs 30 whole pounds now! He had to get 3 shots, but he was very brave.

Please, please don't give me any more shots.

We've got big plans for Thanksgiving this year... Cracker Barrel. That's right. Luke decided to go home to surprise his mom and Miranda is slammed with homework, so we aren't cooking. It'll be delicious though and I know you're all jealous! We're also planning to get a DSLR camera on Black Friday. I've done some research and decided on one (Canon Rebel T3), but I just hope I'm not getting in over my head! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Photo Session

2011-11-07T21:31:00.000-08:00

Corey, Pete and I had our pictures made a couple of weeks ago... 2 days before we got Shep actually. If only we'd waited a little longer, we could have had the whole family together! Guess we'll just have to do it again soon with everybody! The last professional pictures we had made were our wedding pictures, so I thought we were due for an update. It'll be nice to have some pictures on the walls where we're wearing normal clothes! I found a great deal on Frugaloon (Greeley version of Groupon) so I thought, why not? Here's just a couple of my favorites:

I was so proud of Corey for doing such a good job smiling!!

Lil Shep

2011-11-03T15:04:00.000-07:00

Shep is doing great at the Mayer House! He sleeps a lot...

And watches TV with the family...

And sometimes he steals his big brother's favorite spot on the couch...

He's had a LOT of snow to play in...

But don't worry... Pete is still very well loved.

In fact, here is a picture from a few weeks ago at church. Everyone was invited to bring their pets to church for a "Blessing of the Pets." This is Father Pawel (who we absolutely LOVE) blessing Pete:

He even gave him a St. Francis charm to put on his collar! And let me just tell you, people didn't just bring cats and dogs. There may have been a donkey there.

Sweet Daddy/Son moment :)

Halloween Grizwald Style

2011-10-31T16:30:00.000-07:00

Anybody remember the Greeley Grizwalds from last Christmas? Well, as it turns out, they do it for Halloween too!

(I could only get one short video to upload, but believe me, it's only a SMALL step down from Christmas... Thriller, Monster Mash, Time Warp...)

Little Bit

2011-10-26T14:04:00.000-07:00

Well, we haven't decided on a name yet for this little guy. We aren't really fans of his shelter name and Corey doesn't like keeping names the same after they've been rescued. We think he looks SO MUCH like Pete! Same white chest, same facial expressions, same dainty prance :)

We sure surprised Corey last night!! Little Bit fell asleep waiting on him, but when Corey finally got home, I was sitting at the kitchen table with him in my lap and a big bow tied around his neck. He.was.shocked. You know, in a really awesome way.

I'm notorious for blowing surprises and Corey's really good at figuring things out so I can't believe I pulled it off! Best present ever. Or so Corey says. He's getting along really well with Pete so far. We're not sure Petey realizes that they aren't the same size.

We've had just a little snow out here today... more than I've ever seen in my life actually. My boss had to come pick me up for work today! The boys have had so much fun romping around in the backyard. Little Bit roams around behind Pete so he can walk in his tracks. It's too deep for him otherwise!

Please let us back in!! It's too cold!

This is for you, Christie!! It's really short because, of course, the minute I pulled out the camera, they ran straight for the door!

Pete's New Baby Brother

2011-10-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm just waiting on my dad to get home so I can meet him and surprise him for his birthday!

My mom tied this stupid bow around my neck and I don't think she'll take it off until dad sees it.

HURRY UP DAD!!

Thanks Pinterest!

2011-10-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

I've been very invested in Pinterest lately. Very Invested. If you're not on it and want an invite, let me know because it's great! Here's just a couple of DIY projects I've stolen this week:

Before:

Ugly shiny brass knobs

After:

Spray painted with oil rubbed bronze spray! Viola! Just like new :) Next project with the spray paint: all of our door knobs. But first I have to figure out how to get them off the door.

Second project

I saw this on Pinterest:

We have a very large blank wall in our kitchen that I thought something like this would look great on. So, here's my attempt:

You know this southern girl couldn't just do buttons! I had to add some pearls too. After all the glue dries, I'll hang it up and see how it looks with our kitchen colors!

Rosette Skirt

2011-10-12T11:53:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to sewing the rosettes onto my skirt!

I decided to do a row on the bottom with 2 clusters on the sides.

We're getting our pictures made this weekend and I'm trying to decide if this is what I want to wear.

(This is not my house, by the way... it's the house where I nanny)

I Guess I'm That Girl

2011-10-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

I might have cried all the way to work this morning after I dropped Pete off at Doggy Day Care. How in the world do all you mama's out there send your babies to kindergarten?!?!

Look What We Did

2011-10-02T15:09:00.001-07:00

We made some flower beds! There's one area that the sprinklers don't reach, and we weren't sure what to do with that place. Corey (yes, Corey) decided that we should make some flower beds. This won't seem weird to anyone who doesn't know Corey, but to anyone who does, you'll get a kick out of this: He hand placed every single one of those stones. It reminds me of the first Christmas we were married. We went to Wal Mart to buy ornaments for our tree and Corey came around the corner with his arms full of turquoise ornaments. When I asked him what was up with all the blue, he said, "Well, I thought these would look nice because they match our living room pillows and curtains." I honestly didn't know he'd even noticed that we HAD pillows and curtains! What can I say? He may not feel strongly about much, but when he does, he is very particular!

He shoveled and raked and dug until he thought it looked just right. And then when I got back from the store with the flowers we were going to plant, he painstakingly laid all the flowers out exactly like he wanted them.

At one point, I was digging a hole and found some rocks in the ground. I just threw them up against the fence... you know, with all the other rocks. He came up behind me and said, "Jess, you can't just throw them over there all haphazardly. You have to place them just right." What? Who is this guy?

We're not sure how long it'll take Pete to dig them all up, but we're hoping we can train him to stay away. He sure loves to eat flowers though. We planted pansies, tulips and daffodils in one of the beds and mums and wildflowers in the other. So hopefully in the spring everything will bloom and be beautiful!

I also added a few more things to the front porch:

...along with the witch that flew on the Yarbrough porch for as long as I can remember. My mom retired her and now I get to use her!

I also added another strand of smaller lights to the back porch and we really like how it looks at night. Very sparkly!

Sweet Pete is loving his new yard. Although I will say that it hasn't been easy keeping 2 dogs from eating the grass, flipping the sod up when they run, and running through the flower beds. They don't like being cooped up in the house and I don't like my house smelling like dog. But I sure don't trust them out there alone!

Anytime we go anywhere, Pete always finds the biggest stick he can to run around with. The sod guys dug up one of our dead Aspen trees for us and Corey thought it would be funny to see if Pete would fetch it.

He sure did!

And then Pickles stole it from him.

We're absolutely loving our new yard! We just hope we can keep it looking this nice! We had a brief scare with the sprinklers today, but everything turned out ok. For the first 2 weeks, they go off at 7am, 2pm and 7pm. We had the dogs out there when they went off at 2. Oops! We let them out later and they didn't seem to remember where the water came from. So, at least for now, we're ok. We took Pete to church today for the Blessing of the Pets... ha ha! Pictures on that later!

AFTER!!!

2011-09-30T14:27:00.001-07:00

YAY!! We have grass!!

Have you ever seen grass so green??

Or a backyard so beautiful?!?!

Everything is hosed off and clean...

And tonight we'll eat dinner under the twinkle lights!

We decided that we could either wait until right before we sell the house to sod the yard, or we could actually enjoy it for the next year and half. We decided to just get it done and I'm so glad we did. As a reminder, here's why our backyard has been a pile of dirt since the end of last summer: Pete. Is that enough of an explanation? See, in Colorado you HAVE to water your grass. Unlike Alabama, it's so dry that you can't get away with waiting for the rain because the rain doesn't come. Last summer, Pete chewed up all of our sprinkler heads so all the grass died. Now we just have to figure out a way to keep him from doing it again. We're thinking something along the lines of chicken wire, cayenne pepper and bitter spray? We're also going to water the grass really early in the morning and really late at night when Pete is inside so maybe he won't notice the sprinklers. We Alabama folk didn't know you weren't supposed to water your grass during the hottest part of the day :) So we think he loved playing in the water and then got confused when the water stopped and started chewing. Luckily there's not much warm weather left, so it won't be a huge issue until next spring. We've been keeping a friend's dog for a few months while they build a house, but he goes home next week, so hopefully it'll be a little easier just to keep one dog off our brand new grass.

And I know you've all been holding your breath waiting for pictures of the porch! So, here you go:

Just some pumpkin cut outs I made for the window:

Must not forget to water flowers... I'm AWFUL at watering things!

Hay bales and corn. I guess I'll get to put my halloween decorations out tomorrow since it's October!! I can't believe it! That means snow could be less than a month away... wow!

I also made a couple of rings and some more wreaths that I'll be adding to the Etsy site later on tonight. I've been feeling super crafty lately as I'm sure you can tell. I would be so happy if I could just quit all my jobs and make things all day long. I hope everyone has a wonderful fall weekend!! We get to hang out with Luke and Miranda tomorrow... We haven't seen them in forever and are so excited!

Before...

2011-09-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

Eww, right?

CAN.NOT.WAIT to show you the after!

Fall Decor (This one's for you Mom!)

2011-09-26T20:33:00.000-07:00

So, this post is really just for my mom so she can see some of the new things I've made around the house for fall:

This is probably my favorite. Just a few cinnamon sticks, tiny pine cones, hot glue and some ribbon! Viola, happy fall!

Throw in a tiny pumpkin and some fall colored M&M's plus a few more cinnamon sticks and tiny pine cones glued onto a scented candle...

I mentioned that I'm really into rosettes. Well, I'm also really into burlap these days:

I'm making wreaths with it. I'm making rosettes with it. I'm wrapping it around everything.

I'm also hot glueing cinnamon sticks to everything...

and tiny pine cones. Seriously though, how cute are those? They're so small!

And fall just isn't fall without a cornucopia!

And as Halloween approaches, I'm sure I'll find myself hot glueing candy corn to lots of things. Like my wreath last year.

Corey won't let me decorate for Halloween until October, so I haven't gone too crazy yet, but I do have a couple of haystacks and pumpkins on my porch. It's too dark to take a porch picture right now, so I'll post that later. I know you're all on the edge of your seat :)

Remember that time I used to make lots of jewelry and had an Etsy site? Yeah, me neither. Well, I had a request for an Alabama wreath recently (which I've sold 2 of!!) so I decided it was a good time to revamp the Etsy site. It's mostly Bama stuff (sorry Auburn fans), but I think that's because it makes me happy in a nostalgic sort of way. Check it out or tell your friends about it if they're Alabama fans!

Am I Not Too Old For This?

2011-09-16T17:29:00.000-07:00

Seriously, he's almost 2. Are we almost done with the chewing? Please?

Continued...

2011-09-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

Like I said yesterday, I've been kind of obsessed with rosettes lately. Here are a couple of fall wreaths that I made. I've been really inspired by some things I've seen on Pinterest lately, especially burlap:

I saw a skirt in a store a few weeks ago that I fell in love with. This skirt was $50 and I thought, "Nah, I can make that." So, I did. You can't look very closely though. It was way too big when I finished it, so I had to cinch in the waistband, I sewed the hook and eye on upside down, there are only gathers in the front, not the back, etc. But, I did it myself and it probably cost me less than $10. I'm just not sure how to do the rosettes. Here's the plain skirt:

The one in the store just had a few rosettes along the bottom, so I could do it like that:

Or I could put a few more:

Or I could put them on the side:

Or just stagger them all over:

What do you think? I finished it really fast a couple of weeks ago because Corey and I were supposed to be getting our pictures made and I was going to wear it for that, but the photographer canceled. So, I lost my motivation. Any suggestions?

Jump Start on Christmas

2011-09-10T17:21:00.000-07:00

I've been really into making rosettes lately. I put them on bobby pins:

Socks:

Headbands:

And Christmas presents!

Is it too early to be done Christmas shopping?

Is That OK?

2011-09-07T20:24:00.000-07:00

Is it ok that I'm really stressed out about my DVR not being capable of holding all the new fall shows I anticipate watching? Hi, I'm Jessica. I'm addicted to TV.

Hello Fall.

2011-09-04T17:54:00.000-07:00

I think Colorado got the memo that fall is here. Since September 1st, the weather hasn't been above 75. It's.been.amazing. Yesterday, Corey and I went down to Denver to meet our friend Christie at a "Bama Bar" to watch the Alabama vs. Kent State game.

It was so cool. It was literally like being back in Tuscaloosa. Everyone in the place was decked out in their crimson and houndstooth and every tv in the place was on the Bama game. There were Roll Tide signs up everywhere and drink specials that they only serve during the Alabama games. It was a tiny little piece of Alabama in Colorado!

Oh, it made me SO happy! Everyone we were sitting with was even from Alabama. They show every game of the season, so I'm sure we'll make it back down there at least once before the season ends. It was so much fun! Roll tide roll!

We also got our ski passes while we were in Denver. I can't believe it's already time to buy lift tickets again. Somehow the stars aligned and Corey and are both off all weekend, even Monday. We've had so much fun and I have to share this picture of Corey and Pete on the way to the dog park today:

Dad, I'm still small enough to sit in your lap, aren't I?

Also, I've thrown myself headfirst into Pinterest. Wow, I knew that would be a bad idea!

Thanks Jess!

2011-09-02T16:04:00.001-07:00

Last week my friend Jessie sent me an incredibly kind, extremely generous gift in the mail:

She sent a couple of pictures of Corey and I to an artist in Charleston and told her to create something for us. Her name is Elizabeth McKeever and I think she did an amazing job!

We don't have anything like this and I'm so excited to find a place on our blank walls to put it! This is SO special, Jessie and we will always treasure it. Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!

New Do

2011-08-28T16:08:00.000-07:00

For the past 3 or 4 years, I've gotten into a habit where every time I cut my hair, it had to be enough to donate. So, every haircut I've had since we got married has been VERY dramatic. This time I decided to just get a haircut that I liked and not worry about whether or not it was long enough to donate. So, here it is:

Straight

Curly

Apparently Corey likes my hair better long. Oops. Who knew?

What's the Most Random Thing You've Ever Seen Outside a Nursing Home?

2011-08-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

My Itty Bitty Bestie

2011-08-25T13:50:00.000-07:00

Look how big this little princess has gotten! Sweet baby Jaycee is 2 1/2 months old now and just as precious as ever. She has the bluest eyes and is starting to look just like her beautiful mama! It's so fun having such a tiny best friend!

Slacker

2011-08-19T11:50:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty tired these days. I've changed jobs... yet again. Well, not really. I dropped down to part time at the nursing home and added a 2nd part time job. So, I work every day from 8-12 at the nursing home and then I nanny from 12-6. One of the residents who just graduated from the program was looking for someone to keep her 2 kids and I jumped on it. I really like the variety in my day, but I definitely go home worn out! I'm sure I'll get used to it though.

My parents were here last week and we had a wonderful time. I was able to take 2 days off work so I got to drive over to Grand Junction with them to see my cousin. We stopped along the way and hiked up to Hanging Lake and saw a lot of Colorado that I haven't even seen yet. We drove through some old mining towns and spent the night in Glenwood Springs. We went to a Rockies game and hung out in Denver. Corey and I are hoping to get to go home for Christmas again this year... still not quite used to only seeing my parents twice a year!

Here's just a few pictures from their trip:

Go Rockies!

Halfway up to Hanging Lake... are we done yet?

Beautiful crystal clear water!

Back at the bottom... they did it!

On top of the National Monument

Thanks for such a great visit, Mom and Dad! Come back again soon!

I've been a blog slacker, but I think I've had some good excuses!

#29

2011-08-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

Yes, I turned 29 on Sunday. Ugh. I feel really old. Corey was on call, of course, so I got to spend the day with 2 of my favorite people in the world. Elsie and Marissa made a delicious lunch and dessert and we just spent the whole day together (with baby Jaycee too)! That night, Marissa had us all over for enchiladas and to watch 'The Bachelorette'. It was the perfect way to spend the day. Corey kept asking me what I wanted for my birthday and all I really wanted was a clean house. So for my birthday, drumroll please, he got me a cleaning lady. Ha ha! We're so old and practical, aren't we? So yesterday I came home to sparkling toilets, clean windows, vacuumed floors that were dog hair free, made beds, shiny countertops... it.was.amazing. Best present ever. I can see how people get used to that! So now I don't even have to lift a finger to get the house in shape for my parents visit! They get here tomorrow and I'm so excited!

We didn't take a single picture all day long, so this is the only picture I have and Elsie isn't even in it. This is me and Marissa... and her teeny tiny baby that will be making an appearance sometime in February! Yay!

Thank you girls for such a wonderful day! You made me feel so special and it was so thoughtful of you to keep me from spending the day at home alone :) I love you both so much!

I'm Just Saying

2011-07-27T17:03:00.001-07:00

I'm not here to settle the "Do you gain weight on birth control, do you not?" debate, but I'll just lay out the facts for you. The first month I started taking it, I gained 20 pounds. I've been off it for 2 weeks and I've lost 6 pounds. Dr. Husband tells me that there's no scientific evidence that weight gain is a side effect of the pill. I beg to differ.

No, there will be no baby in the near future. I'm just having some body image issues and thought the medicine may be a contributing factor. Turns out, I was right.

Cheese and Rainbows

2011-07-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

Any other day I may have thought what I'm about to share is SUPER cheesy, but given my state of mind, well, today I don't. As I talked about in my previous post, I've been struggling with God's reasons for some things and not understanding His will and yesterday, He reminded me that He's still there. Even if He feels far away, He's still beside me. Corey and I left the house last night and there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky- a whole one. These pictures aren't great, but it was so pretty and HUGE. We could see the whole thing from one end to the other:

And then I noticed that not only was it one whole rainbow, but a DOUBLE whole rainbow. You can't really see it in this picture, but I promise there was another rainbow stretched out on top of the first one.

I was reminded of God's promise to Noah never to flood the earth again:

"I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” Genesis 9:13-16

I'm so thankful for a God who sees my doubt and fear and knows exactly what to do to remind me of His promises. That rainbow was such a blessing to my soul. I'm grateful that when I'm having a hard time, God sees that and sends me little reassurances.

This is completely unrelated (or maybe not), but Elsie sent me a picture Jason took of me with baby Jaycee on her birthday that I just have to share. What a miracle... what a blessing.

Heavy Heart

2011-07-16T23:03:00.000-07:00

I've been struck lately at the number of my friends who have had miscarriages. It's been a lot. I'm wondering if there's been a rise in miscarriages in recent years or if I'm just more aware of it now that I'm at the age where my friends are having babies. I can't even begin to fathom the devastation I would feel if I had finally made the life changing decision to start a family only to lose that sweet soul before I could feel her beginning to grow. I've always been a firm believer that God has a reason for everything, but I have a very hard time understanding His reasoning behind taking a baby. I don't know how to bring my friends comfort because I can't wrap my mind around it. I don't have the words. All I know to do is pray and hope and have faith that at some point His reasons will become clear. So tonight my heart goes out to all my friends who have experienced this kind of tragic loss. I hope these song lyrics may bring you some kind of comfort. Or at least maybe it will help to know that, unfortunately, you're not the only one who has been through this. You're not alone. I pray for each one of you every single day. Some of you have had babies and some of you have not. For the latter, I know your baby is still out there waiting for the perfect time to meet you. And for all of you, please find peace in knowing that Heaven is the only home your precious baby will ever know and Jesus' hand is the very first one they'll hold.

Glory Baby ~ Watermark

Glory baby, you slipped away as fast as we could say baby

You were growing, what happened dear?

You disappeared on us baby

Heaven will hold you before we do

Heaven will keep you safe until we’re home with you

Until we’re home with you

We miss you everyday

We miss you in every way

But we know there’s a day when we will hold you

We will hold you

You’ll kiss our tears away

When we’re home to stay

Can’t wait for the day when we will see you

We will see you

But baby let sweet Jesus hold you

‘Till mom and dad can hold you

You’ll just have heaven before we do

Sweet little babies, it’s hard to understand it ‘cause we’re hurting

We are hurting

But there is healing

And we know we’re stronger people through the growing

And in knowing

That all things work together for our good

And God works His purposes just like He said He would

Just like He said He would

I can’t imagine heaven’s lullabies

And what they must sound like

But I will rest in knowing

Heaven is your home

And it’s all you’ll ever know

All you’ll ever know

*****************************************

Lullaby ~ Andrew Peterson

Well, I haven't got a lot to offer

Just a rhyme and a melody

But I promised I'd write if it took all night

A lullaby for thee

They say there ain't no sleeping in heaven

But baby that don't mean that you can't dream

So when you close your eyes

Know your mother and I

Pray the Lord your little soul to keep

And we never got a chance to hold you

And we never got to tell you goodnight

So we hope you can hear as Jesus cradles you near

Baby, this is your lullaby

So, are you running with the angels?

Are you singing with the saints?

Are you throwing a ball against a heavenly wall

Maybe swinging on the pearly gates?

Well there's so much love between us

And so much that I want to say

I want to ramble a while with my beautiful child

Baby, I can hardly wait

She Said What?

2011-07-13T19:33:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much to say about the new job because, well, there's not much to say. However, old people say really funny things. I'll just leave you with this gem for today and save some other stories for another day. A couple of weeks ago during Bingo we brought one of the residents in to sit next to another resident who was already sitting at the table with her Bingo card and chips ready. She looked at me and said, "If you put her next to me, I'll knock that bitch right out of her wheelchair." Noted.

Tacky Tacky

2011-07-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

A week and a half ago, I got home really late after being at the hospital all night. My friend Elsie finally had her sweet baby girl, Jaycee, after being 11 days late! She was absolutely perfect and I can't believe I didn't take a single picture. So after such an emotional, happy night, I got home and found this in my mailbox:

"Your dog barks all the time when you are gone. If you don't take care of this we are going to call and turn you in. Thanks."

A couple of things about that. Did you really think that an anonymous post-it note was the best way to tell us that? Seriously? Of course I burst into tears because it just really hurt my feelings. Corey and I had NO IDEA Pete barked when we weren't home... maybe it's because (as mentioned in the post-it note) he does it when we are gone. And apparently only when we're gone. He's not much of a barker. A digger, yes. A chewer, yes. But a barker, no. So, I naturally got really defensive and assumed the tacky post-it note neighbor was wrong and that it was another dog who was barking. After a couple of days, I asked our really nice, trustworthy neighbors about it and they confirmed that Pete does in fact bark constantly when we're not home. They said it seems to be only at night. Here's what we think happened. We were gone for the whole weekend in Colorado Springs and he stayed outside both nights by himself. Nancy (nice neighbor) said he did bark a lot both Friday and Saturday night. Then, I was also gone Tuesday night (the night of the post-it) so it was probably just a lot of excessive barking in a short amount of time. So we're betting someone just got really annoyed- rightfully so.

However, what do you do about a dog who only barks when you aren't around to correct him? Well, we're doing the best we can and relying on Tom and Nancy to tell us if it's working. We bought one of those collars that will buzz when he barks hoping that will do the trick. We also got a bunch of stimulating toys to give him when we're gone that will help with the boredom and to maybe act as a distraction. The problem with Pete is that he destroys anything we give him in about 4 seconds flat. Literally. Most of the toys we got him are already gone. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

I feel so bothered by the whole thing. I don't like people thinking bad things about our little Petey. I mean, he truly is our first born and it's like people are saying bad things about our kid! I have no problem at all with people telling us that he's doing something wrong, but leaving us an anonymous post-it note... come on. Just come and tell us and we'll be more than happy to fix it (or try to). But if we don't know about it, how are we supposed to make it better?

Corey Strikes Again

2011-06-30T21:24:00.000-07:00

Me: "Do you want a snickerdoodle?"
Corey: "Yeah, sure."
A few minutes pass and I see his cookie sitting on his plate covered with a napkin (*something he does when he doesn't like something but doesn't want me to know for whatever reason).
Me: "Are you not going to eat your cookie?"
Corey: "Well, it's not really what I thought it was going to be."
Me: "I think it's your standard snickerdoodle. You love cinnamon."
Corey: "Yeah, it's just not what I expected."
Me: "What were you expecting?"
Corey: "Oh, I thought it would have snickers in it."

Anniversary Weekend in Colorado Springs

2011-06-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

Corey and I went down to Colorado Springs last weekend to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary. I got a gift card for a Bed and Breakfast a couple of years ago that we hadn't found the time to use yet, so this was the perfect opportunity. This was our first time in a B&B and it was so much fun. We stayed at the Old Town Guesthouse in the Springs and got to do all the touristy things that we haven't had a chance to do yet. We ate a lot of really good food, soaked our bones in our private hot tub overlooking the front range and slept in a really comfortable water bed... never done that before! On Saturday, we headed up to Pikes Peak.

It was BeAuTiFuL. This was my first time up on a fourteener and it truly was a breathtaking view. Corey did a little hiking while we were up there but my out of shape self couldn't take it. It took me 3 months to adjust to the altitude in Greeley!

On our way up there, we kept passing signs for "Santa's Workshop" and "The North Pole." I was very confused. I had no idea Santa lived in Colorado. As it turns out, it's a tourist trap that I fell hard for. We also saw signs for Bigfoot crossings. You know, like how sometimes you'll see warnings for deer in the road or whatever. Only this time, it was for Bigfoot. ??

We drove through Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs and then on Sunday, we went to the Cheyanne Mountain Zoo which was awesome. I'm not much of a zoo kind of girl, but this was impressive. First of all, it's in the mountains, so the view is spectacular:

Then, they had all kinds of cool animals in fantastic exhibits. It was really neat. We stopped in Denver on our way back home to eat a burger at The Cherry Cricket. Corey saw some show on the Travel Channel about it and that was really good too. Overall a great weekend getaway!

You can see a lot more pictures here!

3 Years Ago Today...

2011-06-07T17:26:00.000-07:00

Slightly Unnerved

2011-06-06T12:12:00.000-07:00

I had a couple of mildly alarming, slightly scary things happen this week. And let me remind you that Corey was out of the country all week and I was unable to contact him. It all started Monday night. Our sprinkler guy came over around 7:30pm. We're idiot homeowners and haven't been able to figure out how to open our sprinkler box to turn our sprinklers on. So, he came over and was in and out of the garage and when he left, he went out the front door. Because I always close our garage door immediately after parking, I didn't recheck to make sure it was closed before I went to bed. Imagine my fear when I opened the kitchen door into the garage on Tuesday morning to find that the garage door had been open all night while I slept alone upstairs. My panic momentarily subsided when I remembered what a safe neighborhood we live in and that I had in fact remembered to lock the kitchen door so no one could have gotten into the house anyway. Then my heart dropped to my knees when I saw that someone had not only stolen my GPS, radar detector, ipod and camera, but they had also stolen my keys... house key, car key, etc. See, I had just recently (like, 5-6 days before this) started leaving my keys in my car so that I would always know where to find them. Great idea, right? So, whoever robbed me COULD have gotten into the house because they had my house key! I of course immediately called my dad who told me to call a locksmith and file a police report. In a strange twist, the guy who came to change my locks was from Birmingham, Alabama! I even got a "Roll Tide" as he was driving away. He changed all of my locks and gave me a new car key- to change the locks in my car would cost roughly $500, so I opted just to get a new key. As long as my car is in the garage with the door shut, they can't steal my car unless they stalk me everywhere I go. Everyone seems to think it was just kids who were looking for stuff they could pawn quickly. I sure hope that's all it was. But needless to say, it was kind of unnerving to go to bed every night knowing someone out there has been in my garage while I was sleeping.

Then, yesterday I was going to take Pete with me to pick Corey up from the airport. Since I was already going to be in Denver, I made plans to meet my friend Christie and her dog at the dog park down there. Everything was fine for the first 5 minutes... Windows were down, Pete was sniffing out the window, beautiful day. I got on the onramp to the interstate and looked down to my left to make sure I had locked the windows so Pete's paw didn't push them down any further. I heard something and looked back and Pete wasn't in the backseat. Yes, he jumped out the window. Out the freaking window almost on the interstate. Well, I pulled over, jumped out of the car and went racing down the onramp screaming his name. By some miracle (I must have had some kind of excited tone in my voice) he came running back to me. I grabbed him by the collar, shoved him in the car, rolled up the windows and spanked his butt. I cannot stress what a busy intersection we were in and how dangerous it was. I was terrified.

Lastly, we realized last night that our air conditioner wasn't working (yesterday was the first time we've turned it on). I called the repair man this morning and he just left a few minutes ago. The problem was that Pete had chewed through one of the wires. Of course he did. He's chewed up all of our sprinkler heads, our cable cords twice, our hose... However, none of those things had 240 volts of power coursing through them. There were 3 cords leading from the house to the A/C. SOMEHOW, he managed to chew through the non dangerous ones, leaving the powered wire in tact. The guy said there were bite marks all over it and he didn't know why he hadn't chewed through it, but that it was phenomenal he hadn't. Now I've just got to get something at Home Depot to cover it all up in case he's not so lucky next time. And believe me, I'm absolutely positive there will be a next time. He's 18 months old, please tell me we're almost through the chewing phase!!

Corey made it back home safe and sound only with burnt knees. Even though he won't be around at night for the next few weeks, it still makes me feel better knowing he's only 5 minutes away. Phew, what a week.

New Beginnings

2011-05-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

I have some great news! I got a new job! I revealed in great detail in this post (quite melodramatically I may add... sorry) that I was less than thrilled with my current job situation. My friend Elsie called me 2 Tuesdays ago and told me that there was a job opening in the Activities Department at the nursing home where she works. The job posting had already been taken down, so she told me to take my resume over there ASAP. I rushed it over there first thing Wednesday morning and they called me to schedule an interview for Friday- the last day of school. I didn't really know much about the job at all because I never saw the job description. The only things I knew was that it paid $10 and hour and that my shift would be Tuesday-Saturday. So, it was only a little more money than I'm making now and I would have to work Saturdays. I wasn't all that excited about working Saturdays just because I don't have a normal marriage where I get to see my husband every day. Sometimes Saturdays are the only day we get to spend any time together. But I just started praying about it and asked God to show me what to do. The interview went well and I felt like it would be a really good fit for me. My only experience so far with the senior population was at an acute care psychiatric hospital, so I had a lot of questions about how a nursing home is different :) Except for the age of the participants, the job sounded remarkably like my job in Hoover with the EXPLORE program. They go on outings, they do pet therapy, they go on overnight trips... I don't think they play basketball, but other than that, it sounded very similar. And from the interview, I got the impression that the department works really well together. The whole team interviewed me, so it was nice get to meet them all and to see how they interacted with each other. I expressed my concern about working Saturdays and they reassured me that if I ever needed a Saturday covered, they would be more than willing to step in and work for me. All in all, I felt like it would be a great job. I did a lot of praying about it over the weekend when I got to Alabama and had decided I would take the job even though I would be working the majority of Saturdays. Corey thought I would be much happier with a job in my field and it seems like it would be a really fun, low key job. Well, the director called and offered me the job on Monday! She also said they would start me at more money an hour because of my Master's and CTRS. And then she told me that she talked with all the girls and they decided that they wanted to rotate Saturdays so I would only have to work every 4th Saturday!! I couldn't believe it! My hours are 8-4, the place is 1.2 miles from my house, it's right next to the hospital, perfect. I was just so amazed at the way God worked out all the little details. She wanted me to start right away, but I didn't feel right not giving at least 2 weeks notice for summer school, so I told her I would just work summer school in the morning and come over to the nursing home in the afternoon for 2 weeks. Then came the hard part: breaking it to the school. Everyone ended up being really nice and supportive about the whole thing and HR already found someone to work summer school! So, I'm officially done with the school system! It was all very fast, but all the pieces seemed to fall into place. I haven't experienced my prayers being blatantly answered in this way in a really long time and I think my faith really needed that right now. I asked God to put me on that plane to Alabama even though there seemed to be no feasible way I would get on and He did. I prayed very specific things for this job that worked out better than I even expected. I prayed for everyone at the school to be understanding and they all were. I just feel very excited about this new opportunity and can't wait to get back into my field!

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8

There's No Place Like Home

2011-05-27T19:36:00.000-07:00

This week, I paid my parents a surprise visit. I decided right after Christmas that I really wanted to come visit the week in between regular school ending and summer school starting, but we couldn't afford the plane ticket. Lucky for me, we have a fabulous pilot friend (Luke) who gave me a buddy pass which means I got to fly for free. The only catch to flying with a buddy pass is that you have to fly standby. So, I didn't know until 15 minutes before the plane took off that I would have a seat! But it's funny sometimes how God just knows what you need and gives it to you at the perfect time. After the couple of weeks that I've had, not making it on that plane would have just about done me in. It looked like there was no way I was going to get a seat. The plane was overbooked already and there were 6 other people on standby. But miraculously, I made it home! My brother and my friend Jessie were the only people who knew I was coming. So, Will came to pick me up and took me to my parents house. My mom was at the grocery store, but my dad was home. I came around the corner and he just stared at me. Then all the color drained out of his face and I seriously thought he was going to have a heart attack. Then he finally started smiling and got really excited and confused all at the same time. Before my mom got home, I just dumped my suitcase out all over my bedroom floor and scattered all my clothes everywhere. When my mom got back, she came in and saw all the clothes, knew they were mine, but couldn't figure out why my stuff was in her house. I jumped out of the closet and just about scared her to death too! They were thrilled I was there and so excited to get to spend the week with me. When we were home for Christmas, I stressed myself out trying to make sure I saw all of my friends and family. This time, I really wanted to make sure I spent good quality time with my parents, brother and grandmother and not overwhelm myself by spreading myself too thin. I really just needed a break. However, I inadvertently picked a really good week to come. Our church picnic was on Sunday, so I got to see a lot of old friends there. Monday night was the EXPLORE end of the year banquet where I was able to see all of my old program kids and Jessie.

That was very bittersweet. I miss my kids so much and I really hate that there's nothing like the Hoover program in Greeley. But it was so great getting to see everyone and getting a lot of wonderful hugs. I also got to see Mama Dot 3 times while I was there! Corey's parents came up one night to have dinner with my family so it was great seeing them too.

Me and my mom watched a lot of movies and I got some much needed R & R. There truly is no place like home. For example, we have a great church here that we love, but those people will never know what I was like as a 3 year old like the people at Prince of Peace do. No one here would have a clue what I meant if I said "Roll Tide" as a greeting. I have great friends here, but they'll never remember being in Girl Scouts with me like Ann Marie does. However, I will say this. I don't miss the heat. I was SO hot all week long! As I said in a previous post, we still have our heat on here. It was in the 90's all week long in Hoover. We went to the Alabama vs Arkansas SEC baseball tournament Wednesday and I can't remember a time in my life when I've been that hot. It's not even really the heat that gets to me... it's that horrendous humidity. It's amazing how only being away from the south for a short time can make me such a weather snob. But man, oh man, it was rough this week! When I got off the plane today in Denver, it was 65 degrees and no humidity! I really enjoy straightening my hair and it staying straight when I go outside! That wasn't the experience I had at home this week!

I have some pretty great news, but I'll wait to share it in the next post. This one is already long enough. And NO, I will not be sharing any baby news, so don't even let your minds go there! You'll still be waiting a while to hear that kind of news! It's JOB related good news, so stay tuned :)

What a Sweetie.

2011-05-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

Debbie Downer-you were warned

2011-05-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

So, if anyone is still reading this blog, sorry I've been MIA. May hasn't been a great month so far. Not a lot has been going on to blog about and work has been really tough. I mean, really really tough. I'm not sure if it's just because our kids are ready to be out of school or if I'm just ready for a break or both. Without going into any great detail, we've been having a LOT of behaviors in our classroom which has been particularly exhausting both mentally and physically. It's been a very long year guys. We as paras have been given a lot of responsibility in our classroom and it's begun to wear on me these past couple of months. I'm so thankful every single day that the other paras in my room are incredibly hard working and passionate about teaching. Tomorrow is our last day with kids and Friday is the official last day of the school year and it can't come fast enough. I've been under the impression for several months now that I would be the lead teacher in our classroom this summer for summer school which means I would be making teacher salary. About 2 weeks ago, I was informed that I would not be able to do that because HR didn't want someone starting their Alternative License program in the summer, but surely I wouldn't mind just being a para for the summer? Well sure. Being the lead teacher and working as a para for 3 hours a day, 3 days a week making $9 and hour is just as good. I also found out today that in order to get my Alternative Teaching License, I have to go back to school. You may be thinking, "Well, that makes a lot more sense than just filling out an application and sending in a check. Who would let someone teach without taking a single education class?" Yeah, well, all year long I'd been told that it really was just that simple so imagine my disappointment and frustration when I found out this morning that I had been misinformed and that I will NOT be able to get a job as a teacher next year unless I go back to school. And the worst part is that I never really wanted to be a teacher. If I had, I might have chosen to get my master's in education rather than rec therapy. But knowing I had a back up plan in case I couldn't find a job in my field was very comforting. And no, I've had absolutely no luck finding a job as a therapist. Greeley just isn't a hot spot for activity for people with disabilities. So, I'll just have to figure something else out. I will not be going back to school. 2 degrees is plenty for me. I have no desire whatsoever to pay for another one. I just feel like such a failure because I can't contribute much right now to our family. And it's just really frustrating because I have the qualifications and the experience but just can't find a job to match it. Corey's been really sweet and encouraging and keeps telling me that I more than make up for my paycheck by taking care of him and the house. I know money isn't everything, but it sure feels like it when you don't have any. I just wish I could do more.

I'm sure a lot of this negativity is coming from Corey's schedule right now. Beginning last weekend, we'll see very little of each other for the next 6 weeks. He picked up a Night Float week this week for one of the other residents which means I only get to see him for 15 minutes a day when I get home from work and before he leaves to go to the hospital. I'll be tied up all next week (more on that later), he'll be on a cruise with Cotter and Collen the next week and then he rolls into 3 weeks of Night Float. It just makes it hard to come home to an empty house when you're having a hard time a work.

I think another source of frustration for me is that I'm reading Harry Potter (Book 6) right now. I get really wrapped up in the books I read and I just don't understand why I can't use magic to solve all of my problems. I mean, I could just apparate myself to my parents house right now for a hug and be back in time to tuck Pete in for the night :)

This Colorado weather may also be a contributing factor. We have yet to turn our heat off and I wore a sweater to school every day this week. And they're predicting snow this weekend. Yes, in the middle of May.

I've also been really heartbroken over the tornados that destroyed Alabama. It's been so hard watching and hearing about all the suffering from this far away and not being able to do anything about it. Tuscaloosa will never be the same again and that's so hard to imagine. I'm just so thankful that everyone I know and love is safe and experienced very little damage. My thoughts and prayers are with Alabama every day.

Sorry to be such a downer. I'm all cried out and don't feel any better so I thought writing about it may help. In my next post, I'll show you the sweet present Corey left for me last weekend. I would have done it tonight, but I can't find my camera anywhere. I'll choose not to cry about that for now though :) I hope all of you are having better months than me. I promise to cheer up. Thanks for reading all about the pity party I'm throwing myself.

Mayer Visit

2011-05-08T19:14:00.001-07:00

Corey's parents came to visit us for Easter. We were so glad that they finally came out to see where we live and work and I think they felt a little better about us living out here now that they've seen it. We got to take them up to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park over the weekend. I was so disappointed that the weather was so bad. It was overcast which is really abnormal for Colorado. On our way up to Estes, Mary Sue piped up and said, "I have a confession! It's my fault the weather is bad. I prayed and prayed that we would get to see snow while we were here." So, I was glad her prayer was answered, but I was sad they didn't get to see RMNP at its finest. She was absolutely thrilled to get to stand in snow. It made us laugh really hard because that's how I was about snow too before I'd lived in it! They got to go to our church with us for Easter. It was really nice to get to spend such a sacred day with family.

Yes, Corey is wearing an Alabama shirt and Mary Sue is wearing a Colorado shirt :)

We had such a wonderful time with them. We LOVE having visitors!

9 days of school left... WOO HOO!!!

Spring Break Part 2

2011-05-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

Sorry it took me so long to follow up my last post but someone didn't e-mail me the pictures until today :) I got to go visit Anna in Kentucky for a few days and we had so much fun! As an added bonus, our moms drove up to spend the weekend with us too! We went to Keenland on Friday which was my first experience at a horse race. It was like nothing I'd ever seen!

The rest of the weekend we just did girly things like going to the movies, shopping, and playing Wii Jeopardy. It was a wonderful way to spend the rest of my week off!

Yay for moms and best friends!

Spring Break Part 1

2011-04-04T17:47:00.001-07:00

I MADE IT TO SPRING BREAK! I can't believe it. I've already had a pretty busy couple of days and am looking forward to relaxing tomorrow and Wednesday. Then on Thursday I head to Kentucky to see Anna! Our moms are driving up to spend the weekend with us too and I can't wait! I'm thrilled to get to see my mom!!

First, I got a new haircut:

I really wanted to cut all my hair off, but I knew I would regret it, so I decided bangs and layers would tide me over for a little while. It had literally been a year since my last haircut (yikes) so it feels really healthy now.

On Friday night, Corey and I headed up to Winter Park with some friends for our final ski day of the season. Saturday was beautiful:
However, it was 60 degrees. Hot weather and snow skiing don't mix well. Let me clarify: for ME, they don't mix well. I might have skied into a tree. Whoops. And then I might have fallen and slid down the mountain upside down on my back. Luckily our friend David (who is an amazing skier) saw it happen and skied down in front of me to stop me from falling any further. And then he skied the rest of the way down with me to make sure I was ok. What a sweetie.
After that, I was just spooked and was even terrified of the easy greens I'd done a million times. When I get scared, I resort back to poor technique which just wears me out. So after doing the "pizza" or "snow plow" for a while, I had just had enough. I even stopped in the middle of a blue run, took my skis off and scooted down the rest of the way on my butt because I couldn't stop crying. I was just too scared of falling again. I hate that we're ending our ski season on that note, but that's ok. There's always next year! Marissa is always so sweet and encouraging when I'm doing awful at volleyball and skiing was no exception. She kept cheering me on from the bottom!
After I finished skiing (earlier than everyone else) I trekked over to Grand Junction to spend some time with my cousins Martha Ann and Jim. Their house is situated in the most beautiful location in Grand Junction. The view from her front yard is the Grand Mesa and the view from her back yard is the National Monument. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of it. Just take my word for it: it's beautiful! Maili, her daughter, is 7 and is like my mini me. She's exactly like I was 21 years ago. Pretty in Pink and ALL GIRL. It's so nice having family [relatively] close.
I got up this morning and drove home:
On my way, I stopped in to see Whitney who is staying in Beaver Creek all week. Whitney has always been one of my favorite people in the whole world and I was so happy to get to see her.
I got to eat lunch with Whit and 3 of her best friends who were visiting with her. I always love getting to see her friends. They've all been friends and sorority sisters since college and have been what I envision God had in mind when he created friendship. I always wished for a group of friends who were so fun and encouraging of each other like they are.

So far, SB 2011 is off to a great start! I'm just thankful for the time off!

God is Good

2011-04-01T05:57:00.001-07:00

Today is our last day of school before Spring Break and believe me, we've earned it. It's been a rough couple of weeks in our classroom complete with kicking, spitting, hitting and pinching and we're all just DONE. Everyone needs a break- teachers, kids, everyone. Our Spring Break is really late in our district because of testing, but I guess the good news about that is that we'll only have 5 1/2 weeks of school left after our break! Woo hoo! I'll be teaching summer school (hopefully as a full fledged teacher assuming my license comes in soon) which will mean teacher pay- not paraprofessional pay!

I've mentioned before that this year hasn't exactly been our best financial year. Luckily, we've had wonderful family who have taken care of us and lent us money. As of last week, we still owed money on one credit card, to my parents, Corey's parents and Corey's brother. I got our taxes done and would you believe that the exact amount that we were in debt is the amount of our refund? As soon as our refund comes in, we'll be debt free (except for med school debt)!!! We can't wait to write those checks and we're thanking God every day for providing for us in this way. He always does, even when we doubt Him.

I've got a busy and exciting week coming up with no work, so stay tuned for a post on that!

Williwonka

2011-03-13T14:55:00.000-07:00

Will and I had a wonderful time while he was here. He got to go skiing for the first 3 days he was here and then we tried to keep him busy the rest of the time. We took him to Dave and Busters for his 25th birthday where we had a LOT of fun.

He was pretty impressed with Colorado. What can I say? It's a beautiful state!
We drove up to Estes Park and visited the Stanley Hotel.
And then headed up to Rocky Mountain National Park.
I took him to Fort Collins for a tour at the New Belgium Brewery. And I just have to pat myself on the back because I showed great restraint. I didn't taste a single beer while we were there! Yes, you should be very impressed!

We took him to an Eagles game on his last night and that was so much fun! We haven't been to a hockey game since we moved out here and I'm really glad we finally did.
Thanks for coming to stay Williburger! I had a wonderful time and I can't wait for your next visit! Love you!

Lenten Journey

2011-03-09T22:48:00.001-08:00

Today is Ash Wednesday. Probably my favorite holy day. I'm not really sure why, but I've always been a fan. I think it's because it's the beginning of 40 days of repentance and I always feel like it's a new beginning. For Catholics, I feel like it's like a second new year. We don't necessarily make new resolutions, but we give something up as a sacrifice. Corey doesn't really believe in giving things up for Lent, so he always wants to do something instead (give money, volunteer, etc.) So, this year, I've decided to give up 3 things and add 3 things.

For 40 days, I will not:

a) Drink cokes (or "pop" as they say in colorado)

b) Eat candy

c) Drink alcoholic beverages

And for 40 days, I will:

a) Go to mass every Wednesday morning before school (eek, that means waking up really early)

b) Be diligent about reading our devotion book every night

c) Read our daily Lenten readings together

I don't really think that giving up drinking coke is in any way going to help me realize the magnitude of Jesus' sacrifice for me, but I did think of Him every time I wanted to eat a piece of candy today. And every Friday I'll dedicate to Him when I abstain from eating meat. I just think of Lent as a time to draw closer to my Father and reflect upon His Son. I love this special and holy time of the year. I pray that the Lord will use this time to make me become more intentional in my relationship with Him. And I pray that I may come to understand His grace just a little more.

Happy March!

2011-03-05T09:31:00.000-08:00

Being a July birthday myself, I must have missed the memo that it's cool in my family to be born in March. So, rather than posting a zillion happy birthday posts all month, here's a collective celebratory post for all of you!

First, my Daddy Roy, born March 1st (about 3 minutes shy of being a leap year baby):

Also born March 1st is Jack, my father in law (very convenient for Corey and I to remember each others dad's bdays):

Next, on March 2nd, my cousin and the most amazing and wonderful godmother a girl could ask for, Shannon:

Coming up next week is Jase, my second cousin, on the 7th (second boy from the left):

Baby brother Will is going to be celebrating his birthday on March 8th with us here in Colorado- Yay!! We'll be taking him to Dave & Busters, skiing, New Belgium and an Eagles game:

Also next week, John Robert, another second cousin, will be celebrated on the 12th:

And on March 27th, my wonderful mom will become another year wiser:

She'll hate me for posting this picture (as will my Aunt Martha) but I just couldn't resist! It's priceless.

Happy Happy Birthday to all of you! I love yall so much!

Ding Dong...

2011-03-02T16:09:00.000-08:00

THE BUGS ARE GONE!!!

It's been about 3 weeks since I've had a bite. Corey is still completely bite free. And Orkin came back 2 weeks ago just to spray again for good measure. After approximately 9 months, hundreds of dollars, sleepless nights, multiple doctors appointments, 4 exterminator visits, I think I can finally officially say we're bed bug free!!!

CASE CLOSED.

Pete's New Best Friend

2011-02-24T06:31:00.000-08:00

Paul, one of the second year residents is doing a rotation in Haiti this month, so a few of the other residents are keeping his dog, Brody for him while he's gone. We're keeping him this week and I'm not exaggerating when I say he's the sweetest dog I've ever met. I secretly wish we could keep him. And, he kind of looks like he could be Pete's older, bigger brother.

Oh Corey.

2011-02-22T18:20:00.000-08:00

I just told Corey that we needed to straighten up the house because the guy is coming back tomorrow to spray (hopefully) for the final time for bed bugs. So, I'm ordering him around and he said, "Let me just stop you right there. I'm not going to clean the whole house just because the terminator is coming over tomorrow." I said, "Terminator?" and he said, "Yeah, isn't that what he's called?" No dear, only if your name is Arnold Schwarzenegger.

FYI and a Question

2011-02-21T13:16:00.001-08:00

Just so you know, I had to cut the skirt off this morning (see post below). I was really sad because it was one of my favorites. Luckily, when I really like something I buy it in more than one color, so I still have a brown one just like it.

Southern friends, I have a question. Upon moving to Colorado, I learned that "unsweet tea" actually means just that: unsweet tea. Until I was 28 years old, I thought "unsweet tea" was referring to tea without sugar. As it turns out, tea is still "sweet tea" even if you sweeten it with Equal, Sweet n Low, Splenda, etc. Did y'all know that? Did I just miss that memo all my life?

Why I Love Being Catholic

2011-02-20T21:48:00.000-08:00

*Before I get into that, I must relay something funny that's happening to me right now. I wearing a skirt and I can't get it off. I physically cannot. I went to a baby shower tonight where I was the only person wearing a skirt. Everyone else in the room was wearing jeans. Apparently only southerners dress up for baby showers. Who knew? I'm learning as I go. Anyway, I got home and tried to unzip the skirt and couldn't. It didn't appear to be stuck on the fabric so I got Corey to give it a tug. He was unable to dislodge it either. I tried and tried and tried and it just wouldn't budge. So, Corey got some pliers to give himself a little extra umph, but alas, I'm lying in bed with the lights out in the skirt. I guess I'll try again in the morning and then cut it off if I have to. It's a really thick corduroy though, so I'm not sure any of my scissors will get through it.*

So, anyway, as I've gotten older, I've grown to appreciate the Catholic Church more and more. I went though a rebellious 8 year protestant phase and am very grateful I returned to my roots a few years ago. I just think there are so many beautiful things about being Catholic that took me a long time to realize. Tonight I was struck by how universal the church is. For example, the readings Corey and I heard in Greeley, Colorado were the exact same readings my parents heard in Hoover, Alabama. And the same ones Corey's parents heard in Montgomery, Alabama and if Corey and I had been touring Europe today, we would have heard the same readings there too. That's very comforting to me. I could walk into any Catholic church in the world on any given day in any language and still be able to understand what is going on. The only part that I probably wouldn't understand would be the homily (sermon for all you protestant readers) which is the only part that varies from church to church. The prayers are all the same, so all I would need is a missal in English to be able to follow along. I love that we can walk into any Catholic church in the world and feel a sense of family even if we don't know a soul. I know all Catholic churches aren't like this, but I've been extremely blessed to have always been part of parishes that are extremely welcoming and accepting. I've also always been lucky to have had priests who are very loving and inviting. I'm not sure how my opinion would differ if I'd been to churches that aren't so unconditionally loving. As a teenager, I was really turned off by all the traditions and it's funny that those are the things that I really love now. I love that we can all have ashes smeared across our foreheads on Ash Wednesday and we don't bat an eye. I love that we have prayers we can say when we can't find the words ourselves. I can't wait to see my kids dressed in white for their First Communion. And I love that this is something I share with my husband. I can't imagine how hard it is for families of different faiths. I'm just feeling really proud and happy tonight to call myself a Catholic. I'm also really grateful for the time I spent as a protestant because I think it's given me a unique perspective on faith. I think one of the most important things I've learned from all my church hopping is that just because something is different doesn't mean it's wrong. It's just different. Here's one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movies:

"Why would God make us all so different if He wanted us to be the same?" from Saved!

Me = Dinosaur

2011-02-16T18:05:00.001-08:00

I wore this today:

My kids called me Barney.

If You've Never Met My Husband...

2011-02-15T17:53:00.001-08:00

...that should pretty much sum him up.

Not Quite Yet

2011-02-10T17:44:00.000-08:00

Sadly we won't be closing the bed bugs case just yet. I slept on the couch last night and thought I woke up bite free. My legs were a little itchy today but I thought it was just a combination of the dry weather and my southern self refusing to wear lotion. I'm always a little itchy. No such luck. When I got home from work, I took a shower and saw several bites on my legs. Big red ones. At least now we know where they are though. They aren't in our room which is great news, but it looks like they are in the couch. I'll be calling Mr. Orkin tomorrow to come back out to do his thing again. We don't really have any sentimental attachment to the couch downstairs. We bought it at the thrift store when we moved here for $40 (maybe that's where the bugs came from?). So, if we need to just toss it we can. Everyone keeps telling me to just burn all of our mattresses and furniture, but that won't necessarily take care of the problem. These suckers can live in the walls, in the carpet, in the baseboards, in your blinds, anywhere! So, we could still have them even if we burned it all and started over with new furniture.

On a different note, does anyone watch Parenthood? It's got to be the best show on tv. I laugh out loud and cry at some point during every single episode I watch. If you aren't watching it, you should! I also started The Hunger Games trilogy this week. I'm on chapter 3 of book one so far and I can tell I'm going to love it. Aren't books great? I wish I could read for a living. That would be the best job ever.

Corey only has one more week of ER after this one so I'll finally have a husband again! Well, kind of. He starts Peds next and I think he's on call for the next 3 weekends. Ahh, the life of a doctor's wife. Doesn't it sound fabulous?

Snow Days and Worst Ski Day Ever

2011-02-06T14:37:00.000-08:00

Living in Colorado, I didn't think we'd ever have a snow day off school. Definitely not like an Alabama snow day. You know the kind: it's Tuesday around 2 in the afternoon and the weatherman says there's a threat of snow flurries the next day so the school district sends all the kids home early and cancels school for the next day. And then after everyone in the state clears all the bread and milk out of the grocery stores, you wake up the next morning to find absolutely no evidence of snowflakes in sight. I thought we'd have to be in the middle of a blizzard for them to cancel school in Greeley. So imagine my surprise when I got a call Monday night that we would not be going to school on Tuesday! What? I didn't think it was supposed to snow anymore and we'd only gotten a couple of inches on Monday. And then imagine my surprise when they cancelled school again on Wednesday when we still hadn't had any snow!! Apparently the negative degree weather was too cold for the kiddos to wait at the bus stop. I'll take it! What was even better was that Corey was on vacation this week. Since he's been on ER, I haven't seen much of him and when I do, he's so worn out that we haven't gotten to spend much quality time together. We took full advantage of having 2 days off in the middle of the week together. We went to Fort Collins to eat, we went to the movies, we went to Dave and Busters... all kinds of fun things! Collen, Corey's brother was supposed to come in Tuesday and because of all the terrible weather in Chicago, he didn't get to come until Thursday night. Which brings me to my next story. We decided to take Collen skiing yesterday. Big mistake. We went to Copper Mountain- about 2 hours away. It took us 6 hours to get there. The weather was absolutely horrendous. The interstate was really icy and it was snowing so hard that at some points I couldn't even see the car in front of me. We totally should have turned around, but we kept thinking it would get better. When we FINALLY got there, we only got to ski for about 3 hours. It wasn't really all that cold, but it was snowing really hard so visibility was awful and it was really windy. We tried to leave early enough to avoid the traffic going back home and it took us 5 hours to get back home. I've never driven in road conditions this bad in my life. We had absolutely NO business being out there. I guess mistakes are the way you learn though. We'll never leave the house again without checking the weather! On the way home, we ate at Rodizio Grill- one of those Brazilian Steakhouses. DELiCiOUS! I've never been somewhere like that before, but it was the most amazing food. We had this little wooden thing that was red on one side and green on the other. If you want more meat, you flip it to green. If you need a break, you flip it to red. When it's on green, people walk over to your table with sticks of meat and cut off pieces for you. There was beef, chicken, fish, you name it. It was so good and a great way to end Collen's visit.

*No new news on the bed bug front yet. Other than the few bites I woke up with last week, I haven't had any others. We know because Corey circled the bites with a black sharpie so we would know if I got any new ones. So far, so good. I'm going to sleep on the couch tonight to see if any bugs are still there. We have 30 days for the exterminator to come back for free, so we want to sleep everywhere this month to make sure they're all completely gone!

Disheartened

2011-02-02T18:42:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning with 5 bites on my stomach. Cool. Don't worry, the only person who is forced to see my flabby gut is my husband so there will be no pictures of this outbreak. I guess we were naive to think it would be this easy to get rid of them. Sigh.

Nope, not spoiled at all

2011-02-01T09:29:00.001-08:00

Pandora

2011-01-30T10:31:00.000-08:00

I never posted a picture of my christmas present from Corey. My charm bracelet is beginning to actually look like a charm bracelet! My parents got me an elephant charm to remind me where I came from. Corey got me the present for our first christmas in Colorado, the graduation hat for helping him get through med school and the snowman for our first snow.

Pretty, huh?

The Orkin man is coming tomorrow!!! Tomorrow night we should be sleeping in our own bed again. It's been well over a month since we've both slept in our bed and we've missed it! The couch is only comfortable for so long. We got estimates from 3 different exterminators. One started at $850. Another one was going to be $450 per room. Both of those estimates were over the phone. When Orkin came, he gave me a quote of $350 to treat all 3 upstairs bedrooms, all 3 mattresses, and downstairs. I'll take it! I think it was so inexpensive because we've already done so much of the work ourselves. Basically all he has to do is come in and spray. We're on the home stretch guys! Corey's brother is coming to visit this week. He gets in Tuesday night, so I'm hoping to have the house back in order by then!

A Southern Belle Always Shines Through

2011-01-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

Last week something interesting happened at school. My accent got in the way of my teaching. I've never really thought of myself as having an accent at all... maybe my southern friends can comment on that. However, since moving out west, I've been told almost on a daily basis that I do in fact sound like I'm from Alabama. Go figure. Anyway, we teach reading with a sight word based program where we basically tell the kid what the word is first and then get them to point to the word and then eventually they read the word themselves. One of my kids, I'll call him Sam, is really smart and always tries to sound out the words before I tell him what the word is and then he'll put it in a sentence which is how I know he understands the word. Ex: (Zoo) He'll say "zoo" and then think for a second and say "I see giraffes at the zoo." or (Out) He'll read it and then say "Get out!" You get the idea. Last week, the word was "End." He tries to sound it out and then says "What's the word?" and I say "End." He looks at me with a really confused look on his face so I say, "Like The End." or "We're going to watch a movie at the end of the day." or "This is the end of the table." He still looks really confused but says "end" so I move on. Every time we got to that word in that lesson, he would say "end" and then look at me like, "is that right?" I encouraged him even though the word didn't exactly roll off his tongue like the rest of the words do. Finally, towards the end of my teacher time with him, I called one of the other teachers over and asked them to pronounce the word for Sam. She said, "End." and a look of realization dawned across his face and he said "Oh! End!" See, I'd been pronouncing it with an "i" sound like "Ind" because that's how we say it down south. When I try to say that word with an "e" sound, I feel like I'm trying to sound British or something. Now every time we come across that word in our lessons, Sam gets really confused and says "Ind, End" twice with both pronunciations of the word. Oops. My bad. An Alabama girl shouldn't be teaching reading in Colorado.

Bottom line: I guess I have an accent.

Renovation Complete

2011-01-25T21:11:00.000-08:00

I have to thank my most fabulous BFF Anna for redesigning my blog for me. I don't know the first thing about writing code or all that html business and she's amazing at stuff like that. She's uber talented (did I just say "uber"?) and has always loved the design aspect of blogs... dating all the way back to livejournal days. So, thanks buddy! I love it! Why learn myself when I have a best friend to do it for me?

What a Fun Way to Spend My Weekend

2011-01-23T10:59:00.000-08:00

Thanks to our lovely unwanted guests, here's how I spent my entire weekend:

First, I moved all of our mattresses to the front porch and the garage. They were on our back porch but they were a little too tempting for Pete, so we had to move them.

Then, I got us all situated downstairs. Looks like we'll be sleeping down here for a while. My bed:

Corey's bed:

I washed all of these guys and dried them on high heat to kill anything that may be living in there. I also discovered that we have a LOT of pillows!

I vacuumed all 3 bedrooms upstairs and immediately put the vacuum bag in a trash bag and took it to the outside trash can.

Then I emptied out all of our drawers in our chest, dresser, closet and nightstand:

I dried all the clothes on high heat and then put them in these:

And this is how we'll live until we feel safe in our own home again:

Doesn't that sound like fun to you? Although, I do kind of feel like we're at camp. That's a little bit of fun. It WON'T be fun when the bugs find us down here. And they WILL find us eventually. I have one exterminator coming to give me an estimate on Monday and another one is coming on Tuesday. It won't be cheap, but you can't put a price on peace of mind. I hope we're nearing the end of this nightmare. So far, I've only emptied the closet in the master bedroom. All of my clothes are in the closets in both guest rooms. I'm going to wait and see if the exterminator thinks that's necessary before I do all that work. Thank you for all your prayers and concern over this. It's been such a pain and I hope none of you ever have to deal with anything like this. But if you do, I hope I'll be able to help!

Drama Queen

2011-01-19T17:52:00.001-08:00

So I should probably wait and write this post when I'm NOT crying so it doesn't sound overdramatic, but I'm just so frustrated. I woke up this morning before my alarm clock went off because I felt something crawling on my leg. I immediately turned on the light, threw the covers off me and saw a bed bug sitting on my thigh. Yes, I was in one of our guest rooms... NOT a room we thought bed bugs were living. I just put my head in my hands and cried. Corey has been sleeping in our other guest room, so I went into his room to tell him about it and when I opened the door, he was sitting up in bed scratching his arm. "Are you itching?" I asked him. Yes. He was. Which means there are probably bed bugs in that bed too. It appears that all of our beds are infested. I sprayed all the mattresses, box springs, headboards, bed frames, trim, carpet, etc. Corey put all of our mattresses and box springs outside today. I don't have a lot of faith in that strategy simply because everything I've read says the bugs have to stay in below freezing temps consistently for at least 2 weeks. While it is definitely cold here in CO, it's not consistently below freezing. I went out after work and bought mattress encasements for both guest room mattresses and box springs. We can't afford ONE new mattress, let alone 3! I just have no idea what to do. I've sprayed and powdered and steamed, but how do I know it will work? How will I know when they're really gone? Are they just in the beds or are they in the carpet? Have they migrated to our couches and chairs? I got home and completely lost it. I'm just so upset. Corey is going to sleep at the hospital and he said I could too, but I don't know. I think I would feel weird taking a call bed in case one of the other residents needs it. I just wish my mom and dad were here. They may not know what to do, but they would sure fake it for me! I feel like I should be thrilled to finally know what's been attacking me, but I just feel really defeated. Every single thing I've read or seen about bed bugs just talks about how incredibly hard they are to get rid of. That's not great news. Especially considering we've had them at least 7 months. 7 whole months of them breeding and multiplying and spreading. Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer, but I can't help it right now.

Friends, meet my nemesis.

2011-01-17T16:46:00.000-08:00

Warning: these pictures are disgusting. However, as gross as this is to look at, imagine how much worse it would be if this was your bed or your house and you'd been sleeping in this bed since June. Oh wait, that's just me. Last night I took advantage of Corey being home and got him to help me flip our mattress so that I could treat all sides of it and the box springs. I've only steamed and powdered the top of the mattress because I can't lift a king mattress on my own. Since Corey is on ER, he's been out of the picture. We flipped the mattress and didn't see anything on the bottom of our mattress. So, just to recap, up until last night we still hadn't seen any trace of bed bugs besides a few tiny brown smears on our sheets. Nothing on the mattress itself. As we were spraying the sides of the mattress, we just happened to notice the box springs. On Corey's side of the bed (which is so weird to me because the only time Corey got bites was when I wasn't sleeping in the bed with him) we found a GIANT cluster of brown dots complete with a few live bugs crawling around!! EEEWWWW!! I was so grossed out and made Corey spray that section. We had never even checked the box springs because the bedskirt was covering it up. I guess we just thought they would be in the mattress before they would be in the box springs. Other than this totally creepy, disgusting section of the box spring on Corey's side, there were no other clusters anywhere. So, we're hoping that's a good sign. We slit the bottom of both box springs open with a knife and sprayed all over the inside of them. We really considered just burning the mattress (and maybe we should) but king mattresses are just so expensive and we're sick of being crammed into a full bed. We'll try this first and then we'll toss it out if we need to. We're going to give it a couple of days and then we'll put both mattresses in bed bug killing encasements and give it a go. Without further adieu, I present to you the culprit of the last 7 months of misery:

This is the cluster section. Corey cut it away from the rest of the box spring.

This is the bottom of our box springs now:

And here's our mattress- clean and clear. So weird.

Ladies and gentlemen, after all this time, multiple doctors appointments, sleepless nights, scars all over my body, horrendous itching, we finally have a known cause. Why don't I feel any better?

What a Perfect Day

2011-01-09T08:38:00.001-08:00

We went skiing again yesterday at Copper Mountain and it was infinitely better than last weekend! We had perfect weather: 35 degrees and sunny, not -30 and overcast.

We went with our great friends, the Wallace's. They were so generous to ski easy slopes with us instead of heading off on their own to ski the blues and blacks. They took us to a lift that went to some really fun greens with a couple of blues mixed in there. I had a great time and Corey and Jason were able to some harder runs that I couldn't do. Elsie stuck with me even though she could have done much harder stuff. However, she has a sweet baby due in June that she was looking out for!

Jason had some crazy helmet hair when we stopped for lunch! And I guess he's signed a promotional contract with Gatorade? :)

Aren't they beautiful?

After last weekend, I got really nervous that I didn't like Colorado skiing. But as it turns out, we were just going up the wrong lifts. I don't think I included this in my last ski post, but the first lift we went up last weekend only had blue runs. Oops. So, basically my first Colorado ski experience was absolutely terrifying. However, I made it down without falling so I was pretty proud of myself. I'm much more comfortable and happy in Green-land though. The runs we went up this weekend were so long and so much fun. Even some of the greens got a little steep for me, but I made it. We even got to stop and eat a Johnny Rockets on our way home. We had such an amazing time. Thanks Wallace's for inviting us!

PS: All of my bed bug stuff came in yesterday, so I'll be busy powdering, spraying and covering everything in our bedroom today! Stay tuned and pray your little hearts out!

I Think The Mystery Is Solved

2011-01-04T18:15:00.001-08:00

I don't mean to jinx us, but I think we've finally solved the mystery of the terrible, annoying, disgusting bites I've been fighting for 7 months. And (we think) the verdict is... bed bugs. As I stated in my last post, I've been making Corey sleep in our bed alone since we got back to Colorado to see if anything happened to him without me there. I've been told by multiple people that bed bugs favor one person over the other and with me in another bed, they would have no choice but to bite Corey. Well, they have. I noticed some bumps on Corey's arms last night and they were definitely itchy. Upon careful inspection, we found some tiny brown smears on our white sheets-telltale sign of bed bugs. (I'd actually seen those a couple of days ago and just naturally assumed it was from Corey eating chocolate in bed) But I think the real giveaway was the teeny tiny brown bug crawling on Corey's hand as he was sitting on our bed discussing the possibility of bed bugs. We stripped the sheets off and STILL didn't see anything on our actual mattress. So, last night I ordered every bed bug treatment known to man. I got the powder, I got the steamer, I got the spray, I got the mattress and box springs encasement, I got it all. Now I just wait for it to arrive and then I'll bed bug proof our entire bedroom. I'm just so upset because we could have gotten rid of them 6 and a half months ago!! I've been living with a solvable problem! But the exterminator, who came TWICE by the way, said it wasn't bed bugs. I mean, if the professional couldn't tell, how was I supposed to? Especially since they STILL aren't showing up on my mattress. Nevertheless, I'm hoping and praying this treatment will work just like I did for the scabies treatment! Maybe by next week we'll be bug and bite free and sleeping in the same bed again!

Catching Up

2011-01-02T13:20:00.000-08:00

Wow, I can't believe I go back to work tomorrow! These 2 weeks FLEW by much faster than I wanted them to! We had a wonderful time in Alabama. We got to see some great friends:

And got to spend time with family:

Corey got to play Christmas Eve mass with the Life Teen band:

We got a TON of presents. Good thing I brought 2 extra suitcases with me!

And, miracle of miracles, it snowed on Christmas day!! I don't know if that has EVER happened in the history of Alabama... at least not in my lifetime. But because of the stupid snow, we didn't get to go to Huntsville to see my mom's side of the family this year. I might have cried about it... a lot. That's one of my favorite things about Christmas and I was really sad that I didn't get to see all of my aunts and uncles and cousins. I guess some of them will just have to come to Colorado! :)

We haven't had more than a couple of inches of snow in Greeley all winter... until this week. It snowed all day on Thursday. I called Corey when I woke up on Wednesday and saw the snow and neither one of us could believe life kept going despite the snow. I mean, I couldn't even see our driveway or the street!!

We got up on New Year's Eve morning and went skiing at Copper Mountain. And let me just tell you, skiing in Colorado is nothing like skiing in West Virginia! The greens here are like blues there and the blues here are like the blacks there. We were amazed at how fast the lifts went and how long the runs were. I was so glad that the slopes weren't crowded. I'm not a good skier and I get really anxious when there are a lot of people out there. I'm always afraid I'm going to run into someone or someone is going to plow over me. The reason they weren't crowded: the weather. Guys, it was cold. I mean really cold. The temperature was -5 and the windchill was... drumroll please, -30. Yes, negative thirty. We've never been so cold in our lives! It was still fun though and I think we're going to go again next weekend.

And now, on the bite front: All of my bites went away and I didn't get any new ones while we were at home. So, since we got back, I've been making Corey sleep in our bed and I've been sleeping in the guest room to see if he starts getting bitten. Well, on Thursday night, I decided to sleep in our bed with Corey, but I slept on top of all the covers and just put a different blanket on top of me. I woke up at 1:15 because my feet were on fire and itching. (That was the only part of my body that wasn't covered) So, I'm betting all the money we have that we have bed bugs. I have no idea why I can't see them or any traces of them because you're supposed to be able to if you look really closely. Now we just have to figure out where to go from here. In our area, bed bug treatment starts at $200. If the first treatment doesn't work, it's another $200 and so on. So, do we just get rid of our mattress and get a new one? Do we try the treatment? I don't know. Corey still hasn't had any bites, so there's still a chance that it's not bed bugs, but that's what I'm putting my money on. We just need to decide what to do about it.

Next week, Corey starts his ER rotation which means he'll work Wed-Sun from some time in the afternoon until 12:30 am. Basically, I won't see him for the next 6 weeks. Luckily, Elsie's husband will be on Night Float and Marissa's husband will be on an away rotation, so the 3 of us can lean on each other. I'm grateful for that.

I think that's the last 2 weeks in a nutshell. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a safe and blessed New Year! Welcome 2011! It's going to be a good year!

No news is BAD news

2010-12-16T21:36:00.001-08:00

I went back to the allergist on Tuesday and long story short, he has no idea what's wrong with me. UGH. I know I keep saying this, but I. AM. SO. FRUSTRATED. We leave for Alabama tomorrow and will be there for 10 days, so if it clears up then we'll know it's either something environmental or something in the house. Maybe, just maybe I'm allergic to Colorado. But that would make me sad because I kinda like it here.

HOME SWEET HOME, here we come!!!

The Greeley Grizwalds

2010-12-14T20:09:00.000-08:00

Now that I've finally seen Christmas Vacation, I understand why these people call their house the Greeley Grizwalds. We heard about this house last week and have been there 3 times so far and plan to go one more time before we go home for Christmas. I've seen houses like this on youtube, but haven't ever seen anything like this in person. And let me just tell you, it's one of the most magnificent things I've ever seen in my life. Believe me, the video doesn't even begin to do it justice. These people have something like 135,000 lights and 320 computer channels to control the lights. They have shows at the top and bottom of every hour and the 2 shows are different. Most of the songs are TSO songs which is awesome. In all, their lights are coordinated to probably 20 different songs. AmAzInG!!! There are at least 2 other houses like this just in the Greeley area, but this one is by far the best. Here's a picture of the house all lit up (sorry it's so blurry):

And I think this is probably my favorite part of all... the next door neighbors house:

And here is a video of one of my favorite songs:

(Please pardon Corey talking at the beginning)

It's kind of a long video, but can you imagine this guy coordinating this song TIMES TWENTY??

**Ok, I tried to upload the video about 7 times and couldn't ever get it to work so I just uploaded these 3 to youtube:

The first one is my favorite so if you're only going to watch one, watch it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0ZZ8n4XgY8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dfdc6G_t5eY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQgQlRIKpaA

Things WERE going well...

2010-12-10T20:28:00.000-08:00

As of last night, I was convinced that all the scabies medicines had cured me. I wasn't itching and most of the bites were gone. Imagine my disappointment when I woke up at 3:00 this morning and couldn't fall back asleep until 4:30 because I was itching so badly. And then imagine how angry I was this morning when I saw that there were bites all over my neck, lower back, stomach and thighs. As disgusting as it is, I was really praying and hoping for scabies. I was thrilled to have a treatment and a diagnosis. But alas, I'm back to square one. I go back to the allergist on Tuesday, so hopefully he has a Plan B. I can't even begin to tell you how frustrated I am. The biopsy came back without a parasite in it, so I don't know where the doctor will go from here. I don't think that necessarily means it's not a parasite... just that there wasn't a parasite in the bite he biopsied.

In other news, in exactly one week, we'll be touching down at the wonderful Birmingham airport!! Can't wait!

Home Sweet Christmas

2010-12-08T06:25:00.000-08:00

I have no idea how to take pictures outside at night, but here are some pictures of the outside of our house. One of the things I was most excited about when getting a house was outdoor christmas lights! Keep in mind that we're really poor, so there aren't many, but we can always add to it year by year!