Home Again, Home Again, Jiggy Jig!

Thank you for all of your prayers!!! They worked!! We made it home on our scheduled flights and only an hour behind or original arrival time!! God is Good! Thank you, I'll post more about my trip later....right now, I have to go get my BABY! I can't wait to see her!

I am never leaving home again....

We had the worst time getting here (canceled flight, no rental car, no bus, no shuttle, had to take a 2 hour cab ride, got in at 2am). And now, we are sitting in the airport an hour past our original departure time, and we have at least one more hour before we even get an UPDATE of the flight. Apparently in Atlanta, where we are connecting, they are having thunderstorms. Anyway, even if we get to fly to Atlanta tonight, we may miss our connecting flight and be stuck in Atlanta until tomorrow. I'm beyond upset. I miss Jordan terribly and need to see her badly!! If you read this please say a prayer that we get home tonight!

This is me sitting in the airport, not happy, but blogging.

Throwback Thursday-School Days....

Aren't we the cutest!! Even then, we would have made a cute couple! :-)





Here, we have entered that "awkward stage" :-)

Fair Fotos Update!

My friend Margo called me tonight and informed me that she and her husband had been to the fair and saw that both of my photos won BLUE RIBBONS!!! (translation, 1st place). Anyway, I'm SOOO excited about this!! You can enter one photo in each category. There are like 20 or more categories. I only entered two. These are the ones I entered, and WON with :-). Thanks for letting me know Margo! I can't wait to go when I get back and see them!

This one won in the category of Black & White Portrait.

This one won in the category of Humor.

The Ocean!

We walked down to the boardwalk today, it was pretty neat. Put our feet in the water, it was cold, but really fun! Here some camera phone pics, which actually aren't that bad! :-) I am having fun, but missing my baby and hubby!!! The lady in the picture is my friend and co worker, Karen, she's so great!!!

Family

My sister in law, BJ's brother's wife, is being deployed tomorrow morning. She is in the navy and they are stationed in North Carolina. She has been in the navy for quite some time, but this is the first time she has been deployed. I am not certain where she is going, but would ask that you would pray for her and her family. She has a husband and 2 children. She will be gone for a while.

Atlantic City

I'm leaving on Sunday and I'm very anxious about leaving. Say a prayer for me please!

Proof that God exists.

Go ahead and click you know you want to!

Throwback Thursday!

There is no way BJ could deny that Jordan is his child.

It's amazing how much she looks like him!

This is BJ and his older brother, Brad.

I'm cute!

I have always really loved this picture!

3 Years

I slept better than I thought I would last night. I anticipated that I would be up all night thinking about today. I guess I was exhausted enough from all the last minute preparations. Last night I spent at the church with my friends, Ashley, Magevs and Scott finishing up the food prep for the reception. We balled fruit, rolled lunch meat and cubed cheese. It was fun for all. I was tired, my feet hurt and I was getting married in less than 24 hours. The whole week has been filled with wedding work. My best friend Ashley is here with me to help share the burden....she's the best! We have decorated, shopped, dumpster dove, and shared a lot of good times this week. So here we are, the day of my wedding. I'm marrying the man I know God has intended for me. I have no doubts, no fears and no worries. Really. I am not even all that nervous. So hair and makeup are priority and once they were done, to the church we went--a few pictures beforehand. We were traditional and did not see each other before the wedding. BJ sent me a beautiful card via a bridesmaid on the morning of our wedding, telling me how excited he was for me to be his wife, it was so sweet.

So we did it, the wedding went off with no blunders and it was beautiful. The reception was brief, as we were anxious to get on with the show :-). We were married at 4:00pm and we left the church at around 5:30pm. We drove to our townhouse and changed out of our wedding garb and then drove to Branson, MO. We stayed at a cute bed and breakfast on the lake. It was quiet and peaceful. We had a hot tub on our porch and the lake was within spitting distance. We were there four days and we stayed in a lot. Saw a show or two, but mostly we just hung out on the lake and in the hot tub.

3 years....it seems like so much longer. I could say that it has been wonderful and glorious, but I would be lying. While there have been many wonderful and glorious times, the road to here has been rocky and paved with splinters. We have had our share of turmoil and tribulation. But, by God's Grace, we have made it, and I know we will be married forever. He is the love of my life and I cannot even begin to fathom my life without him. I still get butterflies in the pit of my stomach when we kiss. We are far from perfect and we have many many things to learn, but we will learn them together and we are committed to one another. The first year was the hardest year of my life, the second was less hard and this last year, well, we had a baby and that was wonderful, but it does have an impact on your marriage and what you are used to. I think the fourth year will be the best yet! I'm ready!

To my husband...

Thank you for putting up with me, I know I can be difficult to live with, but thank you for loving me. You are the love of my life, and I cannot begin to imagine what my life would be life if you were not in it. I look forward to the rest of our lives together and the things we will do and the things we will learn together. Happy Anniversary, I love you!

The different faces of Jordan!

What did you just tell me to do?

Yes, I know, I AM the cutest thing alive!



I'm gonna blow!

Walking Jordan!

Grab a kleenex...

This made me tear up and smile all at the same time! Enjoy!

Throwback Thursday--Biker Edition!

Yay! Another installment of TT! This is BIKER EDITION! Here are various pictures of me on motorcycles as a child. My mom always had a motorcycle, I have more pictures somwhere, but these are what I have now....
Check out my shoes.........they are PUNKY BRUSTER shoes.......they were my all time FAVORITE shoes......I looooooooooooooovvvveeed Punky Bruster!

100th post!

For Jordan's whole life we have "put" her to sleep....meaning we have rocked her and held her at bed time until she went to sleep. Which, who can blame us, right?! She's just so darn cute!! But we have realized in recent weeks that we HAVE GOT to get out of that habit, for all our sakes. I read a lot about child rearing and what to do and what not to do, and frankly there is always equal amounts of information for both sides of any story. But I did a lot of reading about sleeping habits and routines in babies/children and I read over and over again about routine, which we do, but also about letting the child fall asleep on their own, which we weren't doing. I have tried on occasion, although not consistantly to lay her down and let her go to sleep, she always ends up screaming and crying and reaching for me, and I always give in and pick her up. Until tonight. We decided, tonight is the night, we HAVE to do this! So we did, we both went in and stood/sat at her crib and talked to her patted her and tried to comfort her. For a good 40 minutes she just stood there and kind of played a little, wallering around. Then she got fussy, then she got down right mad and was crying and reaching for us. But, we perservered. It was hard and I ALMOST picked her up, but I just bent over and put my arms around her and told her it was ok and she fussed for a little bit, but eventually, she layed down and went to sleep. YES, VICTORY!! Overall, it took about an hour. Which, is not bad, I had read it might take 2 or 3. Anyway, we were pleased.

Jordan has her 2 week checkup for her tubes tomorrow...so that will give me a peace of mind!

This is my 100th post! My blog-o-versary is in a few days, one year. Hard to believe. I blog more these days than I did at first. Not sure why...but I have gotten really addicted to it!

In other news, I've decided to enter 2 photographs in the Washington County Fair. One color and one black and white. I'm excited. It's something I have wanted to do since I was in junior high and have just never really followed through with it. This year I am. There's no extravagant prize, and I really don't care if I win anything, I just want to enter them....just one of those things ya know?!

Week after next (the 26th) I leave for Atlantic City. On one hand I am super excited, but on the other I am really dreading having to leave Jordan for 4 whole days (Sun-Thurs). I am attending a conference there, for work. I'm excited about the conference and I'm excited about Atlantic City, I've never been. I've never gambled and I want to play a couple slot machines, so that should be fun.

Our wedding anniversary is next week and we were planning to go away for a weekend, but since I'll be gone for so many days the following week, we decided to wait and go in September...just space the time away from Jordan out. We are going to go out one evening and let Jordan stay the night with her g'parents, so we can stay out later than usual. This will be her first night away from mom and dad....and mom and dad's first night away from her! We'll probably try this Saturday night.

Ok, well it's late and I have an early morning tomorrow.....work is very very busy. Thanks for reading my boring life updates :)

Go ahead....make my day!

Feedback...

According to my stat counter, several people have viewed my new look, and I'm wondering what you all think. Please leave a comment giving me your feedback to my new look....either good or bad! Do you like it better than the old one, or not so much? Are the colors too blah? Etc... Thanks!!

Ode to Jessica

I am no writer, but an Ode I will try
To Jessica, who I’ve known since Senior High
Now, Blogging is a love we both share
Friends for years, yes it IS rare
She’s smart and crafty, blonde and cute
But when it comes to graphics, her knowledge is en route
She’s the friend you want to chat with at 2 a.m.
For talking with her is like finding a Precious Gem

New Look

I'm working on a new look. So far so good, some things may still be changing........stay tuned!

Jordan's 1st Steps!

yes, folks it's true! She has taken several steps! She had taken one here and there to date, but last night, she took several dozen steps! I'm so excited! I'm pretty sure she'll be walking like a pro within 2 weeks! She's growing up way too fast! She's 10 months now....the one year mark is coming up fast and I can't even believe it! Anyway, I'm going to post a video soon of her walking, so stay tuned!

Throwback Thursday...

Many people in the blogger community are participating in "Throwback Thursday. " These people are more dedicated bloggers than I am and do this every Thursday. While I can hope and plan to do that, I cannot promise! But here's hoping! This is my first installment of "Throwback Thursday!" Sorry for the poor quality, I have no scanner, so these are pictures of pictures....

New Signature!

As part of my "re-vamping" my blog look....here is my new signature... I think I've got it looking how I want it to look...what do you think??

I hate court...

So it's 9:00pm and I have been home for approximately 15 minutes. I have been at court since 9:00am this morning. I had a brief 1 hour break around lunch time. I had two cases today, a 9:30 that wasn't heard until 11:30 and a 2:00 that wasn't heard until 8:10pm. Yes, I said 8:10pm. As if that wasn't bad enough, the case that wasn't heard until 8:10pm is the WORST case I have ever had. I've already been to court on it 4 times. The last time was last Friday night and I was there until 8:45pm. OH, and to add injury to insult, it's not over, there will be at least one more hearing that I will have to be present and testify at and there is a strong possibility that there will be more. I hate testifying, it's the most nerve racking thing. I do a good job, but still after two years I get nervous. Court can be fun when it's brief and you don't have a million other things you could be doing instead of sitting around waiting on your case to be heard. It's not totally horrible, I do get to sit in the court room and hear other cases, but after 5 or 6 hours of this and a pounding headache, I'm ready to go. In short, I hate court.

YUMMY!

My Guilty Pleasure...

If you know me much at all, you know that I have this unusual love for Reba McEntire. (Insert laugh, gasp, sigh, or whatever you so desire here). Yes, I realize that there are many many people who have very strong not so nice opinions about her, but I love her. I'm not sure why. I have always loved her. I know most of her songs by memory and have lots of Reba Memorabilia. My goal is to see her in concert and meet her before I die. Maybe one day. I love her tv show too, I was sad when it ended. I own the seasons on dvd. I'm sad and pathetic I know. Anyway, for those of you who didn't know this about me, now you know my embarassing secret.

This is a good sign!

Deep in thought...

You know you have those pictures that you take not knowing that they are going to be great, even fabulous (at least to you). It's unexpected when you click the camera to take one shot and when you see the picture it's completely different, but amazing. I took this picture of my niece the other day, I was getting some cute close ups of her and Jordan and I guess at the exact moment I clicked the button, she closed her eyes and put her hands up to her head. I just found this to be a really unique and beautiful picture. It's ok if you don't agree, but I love photography and I love the "real" pictures, the ones where there is no posing and no cheesey smile, just the beauty of the moment. This is one of those.

Cookie Monster?

Jordan's 1st Surgery...

So we made it. I was up at 3am crying, worried and nervous, but we made it. She did great. The perfect patient. The procedure lasted all of 6 minutes. She didn't even cry when she woke up, which they told us "they all do." She was extremely hungry and became fussy a few minutes after she woke up, but once she got some food in her, she was fine. She's been a tad irritable and fussy today, but is doing great otherwise. She's taken a couple of good naps and overall seems fine. She goes back for a checkup on the 15th. She is already talking more today than usual. I knew that would happen, but not so soon. After the procedure the doctor told us she had puss on both eardrums, so he drained all that out, so I know she is feeling better. He said that her eardrums looked really healthy considering how bad and frequent her ear infections were, so that is good news. Anyway, I wished we had had our camera, but who thinks about bringing a camera to a surgery...not me. But lucky for us we have camera phones. No, the pics aren't GREAT but you get the idea. The ones where she looks drugged, she was....before the surgery and before the anesthesia, they have her a drug that they said is like valuim for adults. It was supposed to relax her before the surgery...and boy did it...she was loopy! Anyway, pardon the quality, but enjoy the pics.