Love!

Happy Mother's Day to a fabulous woman I am lucky to call my mother and my friend. Being a mother will be easier knowing you will be around to guide me. Lucy Clare will have the honor of you being her grandmother and experience all the joys I have experienced with having you as my mother. I love you!

A list of prayers

I have a few prayer requests for you. I believe in the miracles of my Lord and I know He will prevail over any evil or pain. I also believe He does not give us things that we cannot handle and that He will walk us through any valley. I know these things because I believe in the Word and the promises I read. I also know that situations may not always have the outcome we want or like, but the growth we receive in our walk may be just the thing we need.
Please please please pray for these people!

1. Lilly--- Lilly is a former student of mine. She is 7 years old and an amazing kid. She drew the cover for my wedding program and helped pass them out at the wedding if you were there. She has been diagnosed with a rare disease called "histiocytosis" and it is a really scary illness for such a little kid. She is undergoing chemo once a week and it is taking a toll on her little body. Please pray that the chemo will work to keep the weird tumor-things off her body. A full recovery from this illness would be a true miracle.

2. Caroline---Caroline is a teacher friend of mine. She is one of my best friends and she is also pregnant with her 2nd child. She is having a girl too! She received news today that there is a possibility that her unborn child could have something called "trisomy 18". She is very worried and scared (as would anyone be) but she has hope in our Lord! She goes next week to Birmingham for further tests. Our prayer is that the tests were just wrong and that nothing is wrong with sweet Baby G!

3. Lisa--- Lisa is my cousin Brian's wife. We got to meet her when their family came to Grandma's funeral last month. She has become very ill and is the hospital. Her illness is called "cytomegalovirus." Please pray for a quick recovery and healing. She has a very adorable little girl to take care of!

4. Lyndsey---Lynz had her baby way too early. She was due to deliver on May 29ish and Sam decided to show up last month! He is doing great and growing well, but I still think Lynz needs prayer. She is also a teacher and has had to be gone from her kids during the craziest time of year. My prayer for her is that she finds a peace and a stillness in her crazy schedule with Sam and that God will give her the strength for her so tiny baby! You can read up on their blog at www.samuelgodhears.blogspot.com

God is good... all the time! Lift these people up whenever you think about it!

Homesick.

I love Christian music. It moves me in the most prayerful way. It is my perfect prayer to my Jesus and Lord. I find scripture verses I have not heard before in music, my heart finds beats it has never made before and I love to imagine I am sitting at the throne of God pouring my song prayer to Him. This being said, when things are up, down, or normal in my life, I can always find some song to fit my life. I love to share them with others with the hope they will help them one day.

My Grandma went home to the Lord yesterday. It was expected, wanted, needed.... but still hurts. In my daily journal to Lucy Clare, I let her know that I was sad, but rejoicing! The earthly me is crying, but the heavenly side of me is well, jealous. I am not saying I want to die, but to meet my Lord, my Savior, my Redeemer face to face would be the greatest honor. So, I find a song, something to get me through this and a way to speak to my God. Mercyme is an awesome Christian band and they have a great song that explains just this... "I've never been more homesick than now..." I search and wait for my heavenly home. This is the reason we are here, to make it to our real Home.

I hope my Grandma is enjoying her new Home. There are many that have been waiting patiently for her to get there. I try to imagine her new body and new mind. And I wonder if she got all those questions in when she got there!


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This is a sweet video of Lola I found today while playing on the computer. Lola has been in doggy heaven for about 5 months, and the pain has gotten much easier, but I still miss her prissy self dearly. So to you Lolita Bonita Chiquita...

And try hard not to laugh at my voice. I guess that's my doggy voice, especially the "I don't want you nasty" that I repeat over and over at the end. I laughed so hard I cried! And the reason she is scooting on her belly is because I put a sock around her belly.

Top Five

I have been mentally making a list of all the thing I love about being pregnant in my head for awhile. So here it is... my top five favorite things about being Prego.

5. Seeing other pregnant women on the street gives you a real reason to stare at their belly. First for a little moment of "whooo.... I'm glad I'm not that big" to "I wonder how far long she is." I do love this. It's my license to stare card. And she in return doesn't look at me like a stalker. She's probably thinking the same dang thing about me.

4. Stretchy pants. Good God. How have I lived my whole life not wearing stretchy pants? I can bend over without a button cutting into my navel. I can breath when I sit down (except on the days my undies roll down with the belly.) I just think these stretchy belly pants are a fab way to feel pretty!

3. My 20 pound weight loss. I know. I break the rules with this. But when that stick said "pregnant" I vowed to change my eating habits. I figured my baby needed to be smart (you know with a teacher mom and all) so I started eating fresh fruits and veggies. Now losing that glass of wine can't hurt either, and you won't see me eating nothing but good stuff, but I did change alot about how I ate. I still crave hot wings and strawberry milkshakes, but for the most part, I will take real strawberries over the milkshake any day.

2. The cutest dang clothes for her. I am glad I am teaching after school tutorial. That money has come in handy. I have done really well with just cheap stuff. And people that say"you will not want to spend on yourself anymore" don't know me. I buy for her, I buy for me. We both have to look good, right? Poor Scott.

1. And the last reason I like being prego... no, its not all the attention, or the free pass to be gassy, or the excuse to be really lazy, it's just the fact at how it has changed Scott and I already. Before, it wouldn't bother me to go out without him or spend time with my friends when he was home, but now... I look forward to the time we have by ourselves. I know it is going by fast, this time it is just Nikki and Scott, and I want to savor it all I can. I want Lucy Clare in the most loving environment. I want her to feel the love between the two of us.

So, this was no David Letterman countdown, but I do love being pregnant. I can't wait to hold sweet Lucy Clare in my arms for the first time. She is going to be one spoiled girl, just like her momma.

HONK!

I was driving down the road the other day, as I do each day, when I was forced to use my horn. This happens on a daily occurrence. I love to use the horn. I feel the power when I use my horn. I really, really love to honk my horn. I could be blaring my Praise and Worship music, just loving the Lord, when bam.... some lovely person pulls out and I have to use my horn. You see, some of my family members do not believe in the "power of the horn" so when I am in the car with them, I am forced to do the reach over and honk for them. This really makes my husband mad. A lot. He usually slaps my arm away and now says, "Ugh. You are pregnant. That's probably not a good thing for you to do." This in turn causes me to give him a very valid argument. And everyone knows a pregnant woman is going to win her argument!

You are in charge of a massive amount of steel, iron, whatever a car is made of when you drive. Someone has said you are competent enough to get a license and drive on the road. This is a big responsibility. And if you are somewhat young, you were made to take driver's ed. (don't even get me started on people that need to go back to that course again!) So you know that driving is a big responsibility. Now, if you are not paying attention and you come over into my lane, or pull out in front of me, or try to back out on me, you are telling me that you don't care about your wonderful piece of steel you are driving or about your life. Which in turn, makes you not care about my life, or the life I am carrying, or the life of my family member. This is where you need to be told. This is where I HONK. I will honk for five minutes if it was serious enough for me to be scared. Then, oh forbid, we pull up next to each other. I will stare you down. Get a good look at me, fool. You.could.have.killed.me. Thank you. My mother swears I am going to put someone into road rage. "People have guns you know!" I just feel like driving is a pretty serious thing and I would rather not be hit by you if I can help it. And then, maybe the next time you are thinking of changing lanes without looking, you'll worry if the girl in the Black Pilot is gonna honk at you.

And I will apologize to my family for the reach over. I'm not going to stop doing it, but I love you!

Now... the four letter words I spew at you are for another post. Yes, I am guilty of that too. Usually when I am laying on the horn.

Finally, November

A month of crying and a month of joy, all wrapped up into a package called October. The month started out joyous... The annulment finally came through with a YES and now Scott and I can be married in my home church and I can become "real" Catholic again! (JOY!) It's been a long, tedious, and very tiring journey, but faith in our Father is all I can say got me through it, along with all that have prayed so fervently for it!

Then it was my 29th birthday! Wow, I am getting old! We celebrated at the New House.. yes, that came in August/September, and my girlfriends from Gainseville came up for some festivities. (Joy!) Then sadness when I fell and tore my elbow up! (Cry!) It still hurts and for the first time in forever I was honestly embarrassed!
After my birthday, it was Fall Break (JOY!!) No school for an entire week. Scott and I went to Orlando while he worked and then had play time at Universal Studios. Here is where my eye becomes swollen shut and I get a nasty raunchy case of conjuctivitis! Only I would get this on vacation! (Cry!) It clears up by the time we leave, thank God!


I return home to a sick dog at mom's house. Lola and Frannie (my former chihuahuas that loved my parents too much to part with them so forever stayed when I moved on) were sick. The next morning I was up early (JOY! really, I never get up early) when Heather called to say Lola died in the night due to her sickness. (CRY.CRY.CRY.CRY.CRY.) Pretty much I think that is all we did. Still hurts, still crying, but going to get better.
Then the video grant I was writing for $25,000 did not make it in by the deadline. I am still bummed about this one, but, I didn't cry!

While this month will definitely go down in my history, I've learned lessons and become stronger. Isn't that what God is really using things in our life for? Because if I honestly said I didn't learn anything, I could not call myself a Christian. His plan always trumps mine.