Thursday 13

This is my first Thursday 13 in months! Good to be back

Thirteen Things about Amy 13 websites I visit daily and why . Let me know if you visit any please 1. Valtools Box- its my hubbys blog OOOOOh, hes got a good Thursday 13, today..If you like anything Disney, check him out! 2.Taking You Back- hubbys 80s blog 3.Cf Husband- just go visit, what a blessing 4. bloglines- gotta keep track of the 400 blogs I try to read. Thank God not everyone updates daily. I cant list all the blogs I read so this covers everyone! Let me clarify, I do not read 400 a day, thats just how many are on my bloglines list! This includes a lot of adoption blogs like www.babyhoffman.com (sorry Laura) heehee! 5. Ragamuffin Soul- awesome, must read blog! Fabulous blogger who is a daddy and worship dude in Atlanta. Quite entertaining. 6.Weight Watchers Message boards 7. Disboards- going on a Disney Cruise in 2 weeks, this is for any Disney fan ..message boards about parks, cruises and just about anything 8. CHOA- my work, CHildrens Healthcare of Atlanta. usually just checking email, great info for parents 9. China Adoption Sites- Links to blogs who are close to travelling to get their sweet babies 10. When Love Takes You In- Our adoption blog 11. Steven Russell- a fun guys with a cool blog who gets his readers into thought provoking conversation. Likes sports 12. Yahoo groups- involved in lots of adoption groups 13 CNN-ok I look at the main stories and then I click on the entertainment section, heh at least I am being honest Rounding up the list is Jeff, since I listed his friend and didnt want to hurt his feelings in case he reads this and I doubt he will so I might as well erase this since I get a comment from him once a year but perhaps by putting his name and link here, you guys can visit him and tell him to stop by. Fun guy!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!









The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

weight watchers,Shelby, and blogs

Please keep praying for Shelby, she is still in the hospital hoping she will eat and drink a little bit more!

Today, got home from work and made a WW English muffin with low sodium bacon, egg whites and chopped onions and peppers.Not bad for 6 points.

But then, I woke up and was starving so I ate 4 girl scout cookies, actually had 2 more when I woke up which is a total of 9 points.

Dinner was a KFC mashed potato bowl which I have been wanting for a while. Now this was a big pointer at 16 points...

I actually have points left over. So, I didn't eat the healthiest today but I am full and semi stayed on the program..

Looking to redo my blog with the blog fairy and shes helping raise money for the Starfish Orphanage.
I'm not sure if I am going to stay with Random Thoughts or attempt something creative!!! Any thoughts my creative blogging friends!!!

weigh in and bullet posts

Got back from this weeks weight in and how do you think I did? Well, this weeks loss is 3.6 pounds making my start from 4/10 (less than a month ago) at 16.8 pounds woohoo!

Last night Michael did dinner and made yummy burgers with a salad and a potato where I added butter and fat free sour cream and cheese and then I added a Weight Watchers cookie dough sundae for dessert. Oh my gosh, that's good. If you are not doing weight watchers, you have to try these!

Lunch today will be another potato and maybe some soup and then a healthy choice meal for dinner with extra veggies and a couple of snacks like WW 1 point yogurt, some almonds and maybe some cheese.

Found out that work is reimbursing people up to 25 dollars a month who do Weight Watchers.

Poor Michael. He went back to work after having a pretty sleepless night. He was coughing sooo much. Pray for him that he returns to good health.

Our little friend Shelby should be out of surgery now from having her cleft palate repair! I get to see her tonight.

Still working on a contest. The prize will be something you can only find on a Disney cruise!! WooHoo

Watched the end of Return of the King last night. Is it just me or does the scene where the guys says to Frodo, "You bow to no one" and the in turns to bows to Frodo just incredibly moving? I tear up everytime that scene comes on!

Working on reading Blue Like Jazz. How convicting. I very much appreciate him writing this book and being so honest with his feelings. It makes you rethink the term "Christianity" and how the world now views it. I think a lot of us have shared some of his feelings before. I am reading about "empty passion" and it is making me think. I do not want to judge every human being, but dude, we are a selfish society. At least I am. Publicly you may not see my selfishness but there are those decisions that you make yourself that you choose to benefit only yourself. I sooo don't want to be like that.

I want sooo much to be selfless. I want to be transparent. I do not want to put on "an act" when inside I feel something so different. Sorry, for the rambling.

Got some baby time yesterday and worked in 7-12 month nursery..Too fun! I played with a Thunder! WooHoo!

comment game-again

Working this weekend. Will post substances later..Until then. Play the comment game. THanks

Here's how it goes: I'll start the game off in the comments section by choosing two words or phrases, like coffee or tea, and which ever one you prefer you choose. You can also explain why. When you have done that you do two new words or phrases for the next commenter to choose from. Feel free to come back as often as you like. Just have fun.

comment game closed for now.

hi there

Hey! Updating my blogroll. Most of you are in my bloglines but let me know if ya want to be added to the list to the left.

I have decided that there is no reason for boredom. I have decided that every time I am bored and can not find anything to, I will just talk to God. Simple.

Well last night God and I had a chat. You know when you go to bed and you close your eyes, there is this silence (even with the radio on). Just very peaceful. I am trying to be a lot more honest in my prayers. God knows my heart anyone, might as well spill everything. I had a prayer jumbo last night. Meaning, it was full of everything, all kinds of people, all kinds of emotions. I have mentioned this week that I am feeling very convicted about telling people they are in my prayers and then not doing it I am working on this.

Well, my heart is really full right now. I am thankful for my husband and a huge decision he made. I pray for him daily. I pray that he will love others. I pray that others will love him and not judge him, but hold him accountable. I pray that he will grow into the spiritual leader he was created for.
I pray for my adoption friends. Tymm and Laura 's family. I pray for Shelby who is having surgery next week. Sooo many things.
Last night I prayed for Tricia and Nate or the CF husband family Now, I have not seen God speak through the internet until this week and it was not a whisper. God's voice has been raining down on this blogging community. If this man prayed that he would touch others, his prayer was answered. I have been inspired by my patients, my friends but friends, this is different. I will never meet this family. I have learned to pray with honesty and to pray for others in a different way. What a gift to pray behalf of friends. They were my prayers all night and I know others had them in their prayers as well.

Its not my place to tell their story but this is a family in which the mom has Cystic Fibrosis. They had a baby born very early. Last night, Tricia had a double lung transplant. You just need to go read. Not only is he a great writer, his photography just rocks. I don't know him. he doesn't know me but Nate and Tricia are my brothers and sisters in Christ,

Michael and I have a friend named April, who is now a rocking blogger. She was Michael's friend before we got married and she is a wife and mother. We now share a connection. Our hearts have been changed by this family. We have cried on the phone, we chat online making sure we are caught up. April just rocks. Now I know she will read this and she is quite a humble person, but before we were really friends, April came over and helped me get my wedding invitations ready. Anyway, where were we? This blog has strengthened my friendship with her.

Anyway, my heart and mind are full. There are many things I want to blog about, but I think it would come out wrong. So I will stop here.

Do me a favor? Pray for someone you don't like today. Sounds odd. I know there must be someone who has hurt you. Perhaps a friendship ended because of words. Pray for them. They need it. Just felt like saying that

Nate, if you read this. I know you had over 1000 comments yesterday. Please know that I am thankful for you and Tricia's hearts and thanks for being so open with us!

pray for tricia, shes getting new lungs..its a go!

www.cfhusband.blogspot.com

woohoo

PRAY PEOPLE!!!!!

its a small world after all!

As we get ready for our Disney cruise the end of the month, I thought I would ask this question to all of you.

Who is your favorite Disney Character (animated or real life and why?)


Rumor has it that Jack Sparrow has been spotted on the boat..Im so excited!!!!!!

today

Okay, so this morning I had a bite (okay a big bite) of FF angel food cake. That was it and then I had lunch with my friend Elizabeth and her new baby Ethan. I had 7 chips and salsa and chicken fajitas with no S cream or cheese or guac but did have beans and rice..Good stuff!!

Came home with a sub for sick Michael and headed to the gym and that felt good.

Then to Publix for supplies (Like WW toffee bars, the WW ice cream is on sale) We are having baked potato's for dinner and adding soup for Michael.

Other than that its just a chill out day. Ive met some new WW blogging friends and that's been cool and a few of them live near me. Hi new friends!

Working Thurs, Fri and Saturday and then nursery duty on Sunday. Not sure if I will be in China or Australia though..

Keep praying for Tricia and Nate. She had to have a chest tube put in to help with some pain.!!!!

By the way, I feel a contest coming on!

Weigh In

Todays weigh in showed a loss of 2.8 pounds bringing the total so far to a bit over 13.. I am assuming i will actually notice a difference with another 10-15 pounds but so far this is great.

I am learning that my eating is really a mental problem right now. I can do this.

This afternoon I had WW English Muffins with mozzarella cheese and tomato's..yummy. I have a new WW buddy, Erika who is a member of our small group. We met at Applebees and ate off of the WW menu. My tilapia rocked.

Anyway, I am having some strawberry shortcake tonight and I will still short points. I was able to subtract a point from my daily total which is fabulous.

Poor Michael has the flu, the nasty flu after he got the vaccine. The flu is bad this year and hoping it will end soon.

Thanks for praying today guys. Hoping to hit the gym tomorrow.

Today I found out that my weekends are going from a Friday/Sat weekend to a Friday/Sunday weekend meaning I will always be awake from church! WooHoo

2pm today peeps

Please join me at 2pm Atlanta time to pray for Nate, Tricia and their sweet baby Gwenyth Rose
Let's talk to God together. What a cool thing!

weekend

****** Pray for CFhusband and Tricia***** she may be getting her new lungs! Oh my gosh, this is better than any post. If you have not been to http://www.cfhusband.blogspot.com/go visit. Pray Pray Pray! I love this family and I do not even know them. What a story they have!!
*** update, the lungs are no good, no transplant today but we are having prayer time at 2pm for this family. Head over to www.thechristopherfamily.blogspot.com !!!


Back to your regularly scheduled blog post!
Hello friends and whoever else that reads this?

Friday night I made Trader Joes tilapia with risotto and a veggie

Saturday I was off and had TJ orange chicken with brown rice. Michael loved it. The dude at TJ said this was their most popular product and I can see why.

Sunday. no breakfast. woke up late. Went with Michael to a bookstore volunteer luncheon at the church and had a nice time watching people. They had lasagna, breadsticks, salad and cookies. I was good and had salad and the Italian dressing with one breadstick.

Snack- WW cookie dough Sundae..Yummy

Dinner- Shrimp stir fry with added chicken breast. Iced tea or water..

Poor Michael. We thought he had allergies but he is down right sick. Coughed almost the entire service. If I had known he was so sick, I would not have pushed him to go to church. It was nice to be back though.

Hes been resting and will be the rest of the night. I leave at 11 for work tonight and tomorrow is weigh in. Although I have followed the program (even using my extra free points last Wed) I feel very full and know I have not lost like the last 2 weeks. That's okay. We are working on new lifestyle so this is okay.

Whats new with y'all???

Tomorrow, no breakfast as I get off work at then hit WI at 10am. Lunch and dinner with friends with Weight Watcher menu restaurants.

You guys rock!

3 word Sunday

Each week if I remember, I will post a pic and 3 words that describe my week. Im not sure who started this, but its really taken off so I thought I would join. Usually you dont write this much since its my first time, I thought I would break the rules. I will do better next week and its hard to see my 3 words but
I AM BLESSED

This is sweet but sassy and naughty Lucy with sick Michael snoozing!

food and weight watchers

Ok, so this Weight Watcher thing may work. its really not that hard, yet. I think the easiest thing for me to do with this will be planning meals and snacks according to work and social stuff and incorporating drinking water and exercising.

Tonight, we had a total Trader Joes dinner with orange chicken, brown rice and Asian veggies. For those of you who have done weight watchers, it was 11 points, and I still have 10 points for the rest of the evening.

I will probably journal some of my meals and stuff. I have found tons of WW bloggers and getting some great ideas. So Monday will be weight in number 3, and as long as I don't gain, I will be okay. I know that I will eventually get to no lose weeks or just a pound or 2.

We have 4 weeks until our cruise and I plan on doing well until then and enjoying the cruise. I should be in good habit by then and will probably feel guilty if I eat too much.

If you are a new reader feel free to leave me your favorite meals and snacks and points.

Rock on! Good bye fluff!

Update

Little boy still in ICU, will check on him tonight

The resident dr apparently looked for me Tuesday morning and was vey ugly to the other RNs. I was helping with an IV on the other side of the floor and she said." I dont care who she is and what shes doing, when I need her, I expect her to be here pronto. Tell her I need her now!!!

Well, I mentioned it to the charge nurse and the Chief MD took care of it and she is no longer allowed to work at the hospital..

If you have no idea what I am talking about, see below

Long post

See title and scroll down for this weeks weight loss!


Ok, worked Thursday, Fri and Saturday night. Still doing WW, going well. Anyway. Thursday night perfectly fine. Friday night, fine. Admitted a little boy with decreased drinking. had some other issues but still should have been an easy admission. At 6am, he had his very first seizure. Ok, pretty scary. Actually, very scary,especially to a family who has never seen them. But I am a seizure nurse, and we dealt with it. Parents were very anxious. Physician was in to talk to them. Rude resident came in and said, "Before this nurse decides to talk again, let me just tell you that i think this is the beginning of a seizure disorder. this is what you need to remember but, Ill let the neurologist come in and talk to you. Ok, talk about stressing a mom out. I was soooo angry I had to leave the room. I had spent hours developing a relationship with this mom, she was starting to calm down and this resident just freaked her out. Ok, Greys fan? Had the demeanor of Christina. Ugh. That stressed me out. He was a sick boy, but I was ready to go home.

Saturday night, I come in and find out he has had no seizures and a pretty good day. Still a bit lethargic or sick looking, but not so worried. 3am, we have another seizure, 4am, not looking good. By 5am, I am getting a bit worried and have already called 2 doctors and I am now calling the pediatrician in the hospital to come take a look. Now I am actually worried. She comes in and sees him and says this is not good. 30 seconds later, we call a code blue and within 10 minutes he is intubated and on his way to the ICU. What makes me sad, is during all of this, I didn't get to talk to mom until we are in ICU. More stress but he's in ICU and has the right people near him.

I get home and its Easter and I am sad and tired and anxious and just exhausted. I make the choice not to go to the 930 Easter service but still make my commitment to the nursery at church. Ok, the guilt kicked in but I know if I sat in the service I would have fallen asleep. Oh I am sooo sad because I love my church and I haven't been in a long time.

So thats my weekend. I am heading back to work, will go check on my sweet family and hopefully have an uneventful shift.

So we head out to church as we are both volunteering and head over to my China room (ages 6-12 months) but someone asks me to switch to the Australia room (12-18 months). Ok this worked out well. I had a blast for 90 minutes. I think I may be the craziest nursery volunteer as I played and sang and read books and colored and got a lot of happy belly laughs. It made my day. I now have new friends like Cameron, Emma, EmmaClaire, Braelyn, Calyn, Lucy (my favorite), Aaron and others.

ON the way home, we hit Taco Bell for lunch and I got some of the new Fresco (WW friendly) menu items. Not bad. Michael's family celebrates Greek Easter so it was just the 2 of us. I took a long nap and woke up to lamb and orzo (Greek tradition) made by my Michael. Seriously, this is the best lamb I have ever had (better than the Brazilian Steak Houses). way to go Michael. We watched some TV and went to bed.

My thoughts. Most of you know I am random so if you feel like trying to follow along, peace out. I love Easter. I love the fact that we get together around the world ans celebrate the resurrection of Christ. The fact that this happened is the reason I have the promise of eternal life. I do wonder though, why I don't celebrate it daily. The fact that Christ suffered the way He did so that I may be free, is something I can not fathom. His mother and friends had to watch his face as he took this pain, makes me sad. More than sad. The fact that a God who loves me (yes me) so much that he allowed His only son to die for the world. Thats bigger than big. That kind of love is too big for us not to acknowledge. Oh, I am a sinner and I am ashamed of things I have done and things I have thought. But to give up a child that you love, I just can not comprehend the gift I was given.


warning: another random thought
One emotion I struggle with is jealousy. I hate it. I really truly despise this emotion. I have struggled with it all my life. One of the things I have learned is when you experience jealousy, that emotion robs you of the opportunity to love and serve God. That makes me stop and think. One of the things I get jealous of his other believers. Huh, you may say? I sometimes feel that other believers are just spiritually better than me. Know what I am saying? They just seem to have it all together. They pray, they are positive, they are encouraging, they just rock. I know better. I dont know why I feel like this. I know its the way I perceive things and it just sucks. And because of my nasty jealousy, I miss out on my strengthening my wonderful friendships. Sometimes I almost feel like friends are trying to make me feel bad. I told yall on my first post I was odd but I wanted to keep this real. And I know my friends dont do that, but sometimes it just seems like that. I hate feeling like that.

Not sure why I am actually thinking about all of this right now. That emotion hasn't been around in quite a while. I think this adoption thing has really help. Ive been surrounded my awesome friends who get us. Friends who share some of the same fears, wishes, hopes and dreams as me.

I want to be better. A better child of God. A better wife. A better friend. A better sister. A better daughter. I no longer desire to be lazy. I want to make sure I take the time to get to know the people in my life. I want to embrace every moment, even the ones that dont seem that important. Because it is in those moments, I tend to hear God's whispers. To think the God of the universe wants to talk to me, is just the coolest thing ever.

I know some of you do not share the same beliefs as me and I know some of you are kind of studying this whole God and Christianity thing. Its more than just church or the type of worship you prefer, it just God. Getting to know God and letting Him have your heart. Its taken me 33 years to realize just how awesome my Heavenly Father is. I hope you will talk to Him.

Im ready to be honest. To be real. I want that peace that I have experienced before. When you are no longer hiding things in your heart. This is random. Sometimes I am like that. Hence the title of my blog.



You wanted to know me. Thats a part of me.

Weight watchers week total

Weight loss this past week 4.6 pounds
Rock in! Great meeting and got a recipe from a new friend for a new low soup


1 pound of chicken broth
1 can of salsa (any kind, any flavor)
16oz of frozen veggies


Just mix and warm

Ok. Go to Husbands blog and watch the video. Pretty Pretty please.

Craziness I tell ya!

Leave him a comment and tell him he rocks as well, ok Mandy? haha

Comment Game

Its the weekend. Ill be working.
Lets play the comment game like we did at Christmas time

Here's how it goes: I'll start the game off in the comments section by choosing two words or phrases, like coffee or tea, and which ever one you prefer you choose. You can also explain why. When you have done that you do two new words or phrases for the next commenter to choose from. Feel free to come back as often as you like. Just have fun.

My visit to Trader Joes

Ok, for some reason, I decided to head on over to Trader Joe's in the rain. I have been looking forward to it and I had a good time. I decided to walk around and take it in before putting anything in my cart. I started talking to a gentleman about the things on my recommended list. He thing proceeded to embarrass me hollering " we have a first timer". Nice guy though. Okay. so its not as big as I thought it would be but dang its a neat store.

I got almost everything on my list except the chicken skewers which were the only thing that was a bit pricey. Seriously, this store is ridiculously inexpensive. So the pics above are what I bought, all for less than 50 bucks and that's a lot of food. Cant wait to go back, but it wont be a daily or weekly thing. I'll have to see what I like and what works for points. There is a cool shrimp stir fry and the whole bag is like 12 points. Wowsers!!! For those not on WW, that's pretty good!

So that's about it for now. This morning I had Special K almond vanilla cereal with FF milk and a banana. Time for Water..

Rock On!

Picture and TJ

This is what happens when you try to change eating habits. I threw out 5 bags of stuff from the pantry, fridge and freezer.
On another note, I decided to visit Trader Joes for the first time today. Anyone have any recommendations?

WW- week one

5.8- the amount of weight I lost this week on WW. Could have been more but I drank almost a gallon of water last night at work and then weighed right afterwards. Not bad though, I do know that most weeks will not even be half of that, so I am off to a good start

75 dollars- the gas card that my employer sent each employee to help out with gas prices

Good day and I still have 34 points to eat before tomorrow morning

Okay,here is a question I thought about while getting gas on the way to work.

When they started making cars did they decide to alternate which side to put the gas?
WHy? Is it to help traffic in the gas stations?

Does anyone else ever think of things like this?

Told you I was odd

Now here is an interesting verse I read this morning

Proverbs 15:17
Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred.

Gotta love it!

whats going on

Boy,

I actually have nothing to say. Seriously. These days I am spending time on weight watcher board, bloglines, and the disney cruise message boards. Im soo keeping busy.

WW has been good so far. I get to go to the gym Mon-Thurs next week which will be good.

Still working on Blue Like Jazz and 5 Love Languages.

Still working on cleaning the house. MIL is coming mid-May so I need to get working.

Work is good. Love my patients. I love my patients and families.

Enjoying my community group (we met at Starbucks on Friday night and I got a treat) and my weekly Bible Study. This week we will be discussing Proverbs. Let me stop here. As we read Psalms last week, I kept singing Chris Tomlin songs out loud. its amazing how many songs are taken directly from the scripture, go figure!!!! Anyway, singing to Psalms is fun, try it!

I hope each of you is having a great day. Hope to have more meaningful posts soon!

whats going on

Did I tell you were were going on a Disney Cruise with the family at the end of April?

Woohoo

weight watchers day 3 in review

Weight watchers Day number 3 was also successful and ended with a Starbucks caramel macchiato! I dont need another one of those.. I once again had to find points last night.

8

Hubby did this meme and sort of tagged me for it so here goes


8 Things I Am Passionate About.
Husband
my relationship with God
adoption
learning more about pediatric brain tumors
getting more organized
contemporary Christian music
losing a massive amount of weight
blogging

Name 8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die
Head to China and bring LynnMarie home
make wonderful memories for my Children
finally lose this weight and stay healthy
spend 2 weeks in Disney World
completely be out of debt
be in a habit of giving before wanting
have a professionally decorated home
have Lucy be able to roam the house and behave




8 Things I Often Say
Rock on!
Dude!
Hello my Michael
You rock!
Hi, my name is Amy and I will be your nurse tonight
No, I dont have any kids but we are adopting from China
Sweet!
Peace out!

8 Books I've Recently Read or am Currently Reading
5 Love Languages
Blue Like Jazz - Donald Miller
Same Kind of Different as me
the Bible
Weight Watcher menu planner
Love Without Boundaries
The Amazing Collection the poetic books
Pediatric Brain tumors

8 Songs I Could Listen To Over and Over
Popular from Wicked
What will you do? by Steven Curtis Chapman
Indescribable by Chris Tomlin
Lift High by Fee
My Wish by Rascall Flatts
Love of my Life by Jim Brickman
I could not ask for more by Edwin McCain
When Love takes you in by Steven Curtis Chapman



8 Things That Attract Me To My Best Friends
The Willingness to Accept me Despite the person I am- stole this from Michael
The Willingness to Accept me Despite the person I am
The Willingness to Accept me Despite the person I am
The ability to make me laugh
the ability to be real
ability to be honest
common interest
they encourage me

8 People I Think Should Do Crazy 8's

Will you be one of them? Let me know if you do it, and I will link you here

Weight watcher Day 3

WW Day 2- SUCCESSFUL!

DAY 3, NOT BAD, HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET ALL MY POINTS IN

Womens Retreat

Seriously. Great time.

Started with a meet up at the church and arranged car pools. The people I rode with rock! Hi girls!

We had a blast driving up and we found a cute little diner to eat dinner. After dinner as we got close to the retreat place, we saw a deer. We slowed down and turned the lights on and then we saw 8 deer! In the fog and totally beautiful! Soooo cool. It was like God was saying "hello my children, I am here and ready to talk to you! It was just one of many cool moments. Lots of singing and worshipping and sometimes things didn't go the way we wanted but boy, God was everywhere.

What did I learn? Hmmmm, God wants an intimate relationship with me. Me! How cool is that? I really think that everyone heard Him differently, which is the way it is supposed to be. Anyway, I just find it awesome that the God who created me in such an intricate way, wants to be my friend. We were encouraged to pray about everything, not to hesitate at all. When things just come to your mind and you have no idea why , just pray about it. Talk to Him like you would a friend. He knows your heart, no need to hide things from him. I think when you can get to the point where you are really honest with him, you find peace. And that my friends, is an awesome feeling.

I learned that people who once seriously intimidated me are no better than me. I sometimes have felt that there are some church members (this is not just my church, this has been at any church I have ever attended) who are just so much spiritually better than me. What a yucky attitude. We are all sinners and are all working to be closer to God. If this doesn't make sense, I am sorry. We talked about how sometimes its hard to be friends. Friendships take time and energy. Unconditional friendship and not only do I want unconditional friends, I want to be an unconditional friend to others.

Lisa Whelchel also talked to us about meditating on scripture. She gave us some examples of verses and how she chooses a word that she finds interesting and just prays about it, thinks about its meaning, how its used in the bible and how it relates to her. It was quite eye opening and I appreciate it.
I made some new friends and its cool how some of our lives interact in such ways that its amazing that I had never met these people.

I was very hesitant to go. Ladies, if you ever have the opportunity, GO. Sign up. Arrange your schedule. Plan on being blessed.

WW Day one

Weight Watchers Day 1- SUCCESSFUL! Yippee! and that included dinner at trivia!


Day 2 has begun and so far I have been to the gym and had a lovely breakfast and hit the grocery store..

Any of you done the WW thing? Feel free to share your favorite foods and points and stuff.....

It all begins today

That's right friends. Today, Tuesday, the defluffination begins. I joined Weight Watchers yesterday and got a ton of info. Had my 5 points for breakfast (2 low fat waffles, 1tbs light syrup and a nana) and the rest of the day is planned out.

Anyone else ever done WW? Need help and suggestions. I'm still missing 10 points for today..Holy cow.

You will in fact never know my actual weight but I will give you guys updates.. the plan is do this strong for 7 weeks and then we cruise for a week and then get back on it. I wont totally screw it up while visiting Mickey and his friend, but also want to stay away from stress..

Pray for me guys! Might sound like a silly prayer to some of you but I need it!

Spiritual Saturation

Interesting phrase but I get this.. This weekend, God just poured his love and grace on this retreat. I mean, he poured buckets on us. I have never experienced any thing like this. My new friend gave me this phrase and explained to me that she feels like a sponge and just needs to soak this all of this amazing stuff that happened. I could not agree more. As much as I want to share the entire weekend for you, I do believe that sometimes God gives you moments just between you and Him.

I too, want to soak this in and spend some more time pondering the things I have learned. I will share some things in the next couple of days but I do want to spend time talking to my God and remembering everything He has promised!

If you feel like it, pray that what I have learned will not be a weekend retreat thing, but a life changing journey.

See ya

I am off on a womens retreat for the weekend. Our speaker is Lisa Whelchel or Blaire from Facts of Life. Should be a hoot. Hope you get the chance to see the pics below. Michael took some amazing pics of tigers in the Memphis zoo. Its so nice to have my own personal photographer..

See ya Monday!

Memphis trip

Simply a great weekend

This weekend was a time of reflecting, remembering and just having fun. We have been planning a long weekend to Memphis for several weeks now.

Thursday morning we got up pretty early and headed to TN. Had lunch at Cracker Barrel and stopped several times before making a stop in Jackson to see my old college Union Univ, which was torn up by a massive string of tornadoes just a few weeks ago. Wow! My old dorms have been demolished and there is nothing there but dirt. We talked to a student there and by seeing the campus (which has already had a massive clean up) its a miracle that everyone survived. My heart still goes to all of those out of state students who did not have their family to support them.

We continued to drive to Memphis. We checked into our hotel (Fairfield) and had dinner at O'Charleys. This is very important because this was my favorite place to eat while in college. Seriously, the only thing I have ordered there were the Chicken O'Tenders and you must emphasize the O when ordering. Its a rule. We spent some time chilling out and we had a visitor at the hotel. Mr. Steven (yes the blogging Steven) came and chatted with us while bringing some Aleve for my toothache. We chatted for quite a while about Union, church, blogging and a ton of other things.. We were actually told to quiet down. Can you imagine someone telling me to quiet down? Geesh. To bed we went.

The next day we woke up realizing we slept for almost 10 hours...Wow, that was cool. It was pretty yucky outside. This was the day we planned to do the zoo and so far it wasn't looking good. We got several phone calls from friends trying to organize dinner and we got a late start. Its a really good thing we decided to go to the zoo because it was a PERFECT day for the zoo. There was about 40 people total there and all the animals were out. As you can see from the slide show, Michael took some amazing pics. I had an awesome experience. We walked up to the chimp area and went up to the glass window where my new friend was waiting for me. Seriously. I have never been so close. It rocked. Ok, so I got a bit silly and got on the ground so that I was face to face with this monkey. I was on the ground looking eye to eye with this monkey. The first thing I noticed were his hands and then he started playing. I really thought I was having an encounter with ET. I put my finger on the glass, and he would try to kiss it. Check out Michael's pics. it seriously was a very cool experience.
So Friday night, we went for some Memphis BBQ and went to Corkys. So we got to see old Atlanta friends, Jeff and Val (valfrey), Stevens wife jenny and his 2 boys and my old roommie LeeAnne, her hubby and 2 girls. We spend the time eating, laughing and just truly having fun. Oh I miss my college times.

Saturday morning, we planned a Red Thread meeting at IHOP. Deanna, who was logged in the same month as me and is active in our yahoo group, organized a breakfast with some families. The red thread continued as Michael and Deanna shared about where they were from. One of the ladies started talking about the Ladmans, who are First Friday friends of ours..It was cool.
After breakfast, we went to Tunica for the afternoon. I am not afraid to say that. I was in yucky mood but after getting some sugar, I played for a bit and the we left..It was quite different than what I expected.
Saturday, we waited 45 minutes to get into Texas Roadhouse. Odd experience as Michael had to send his steak back twice but in the end we got a free meal.Back to the hotel we went where Wedding Crashers and Napolean Dynamite was playing.

The plan was for Sunday to go to church with Steven and his family. We didn't go. Instead, we went to Cracker Barrel with Jeff and Val and had a really odd experience. If any lady bug lovers are out there, check out Cracker Barrel..The stuff is too cute!
After that we went to downtown Memphis to find an Asian art exhibit. So before that, we walked around Bealle street and went to the top of the Peabody and saw the awesome view. Back to the art exhibit, one of the China moms told us about it and I am so glad they did. It was a wonderful exhibit and gave me more of a passion for the Chinese culture..Once again, too cool! Boy, it just hit me that this was a really busy day.

After Memphis, we drove to Jackson so see a college professor of mine and her sons Dalton and Jared. You see while in college, I was the primary babysitter for Dalton from age 8 months- 3 years. As I told Jenni leigh, the night I left Dalton the last time, was a very hard night. I don't remember crying that much. HE used to call me AA. We walked in to Chuckie Cheese, and this 12 year old came up saying, AA? He gave me a hug and we just talked. He decided that since I made him dance to Barney, he is now into drama. He said, thanks a lot! We talked about Dino, a stuffed dinosaur pillow that he had to sleep with every day. As we were leaving, he brought Dino out to show me. Oh he is warn out, but I could just picture Dalton a little boy with his "DOH". I was the one who was supposed to have an impact on, I swear I think it was the other way around.

After our Chuckie Cheese Adventure, we headed over the Casey Jones Village to buy some sauce for Michaels dad.

Then we met some more friends at Olive Garden. First was Sara, my most stable friend. Sara is a fun, crazy, responsible lawyer who was a roommate of Valerie (wife of Jeff). We actually stayed with her on a trip.

So towards the end of dinner, Miss Lorrie Spickard came in with her boyfriend. Lorrie has been one of my closest friends of all times. She was in my wedding. I absolutely adore her. We had not seen each other for almost 4 years but dang, it sure did not feel like it. It was just sooo cool to laugh and share experiences with my good friend. We stayed for hours. We love her boyfriend and Lorrie just made me smile. We talked about short term mission trip with Steven and other people, and the fact that we had so many late night talks. This was soooo cool! We have had some trials in our friendship, but we always come out stronger.

Back to the hotel, for some online time and some needed rest. I was afraid we would be sleep until noon, but that lovely sun woke us up.

Pics coming momentarily

Got tissues?

Ok, so I promise the next post will be the Memphis trip.

I want you to head over to Cf Husband

I will not tell their story, you can read it there. Catch up on the story before you watch the video. Seriously, I have been reading for a while now and this is the best blog post I have read in a very long time.

Seriously, take the time to read and to say a prayer for this amazing, humble, faithful family!!

Tuesday entry

I am waiting to post my long entry on our weekend until I get the slide show done. We did have a good time.

Thanks to all who answered the question below. Interesting answers.

I am presently reading Blue Like Jazz and I am intentionally reading it slowly as not to miss the authors thoughts. What a great book!

Check out our Memphis zoo pics over at Michaels blog and scroll down until you see Saturday. He took some awesome shots.

Glad to be home. Lucy is glad to be home although her voice really changed. I soo dont recognize this new bark of hers.

Until tomorrow.

Have a fantabulous day!

Here is another question for you.

If you had to only have one book of the Bible for one year, which one would you choose?
I ask that because we are reading a book of the Bible each week and each week I learn something awesome. Esther is an awesome book. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Now, on to Job.

Seriously, if you have not read the Bible since you were in little kid Sunday school, try it. I am seeing things in a whole new light. God is amazing. So many things are still so relevant, its craziness I tell ya.

lalalalalal

2 things, one more important than the other

1) Michael and I are heading out the door to go to Memphis to relax and visit old friends. Pray for fun and safety

2) A very close friend asked me a very serious question regarding my faith and what I believe and I am having a hard time answering this. She asked me as she is struggling with answers and thought my blog readers may be able to help. Please answer and share with others who may be able to share their thoughts.

Do those people in third world countries who are never able to hear the gospel and given the opportunity to receive Christ go to hell?
Thats a very hard question for me to even type. But I hope we can some answers as I will not be blogging but she will be reading this. I know what I feel about infants and small children so I guess its the same. I do not know. Please share your thoughts and if this gets into an argument or something, please be nice. I will not be here to monitor.

my life as a pediatric nurse

Someone commented here a few days ago if I really loved my job.

There are so many reasons why I love my job. I love my night shift crew. I love admitting patients and trying to make their stay as easy as possible. I love meeting families whom I have an instant connection with. I could stay for hours in their room just talking but I have other patients to talk to. I love talking to little kids and the older ones..I love talking to 6 and 7 year olds who think they are adults.I love working with difficult patients and families that other nurses prefer to not to care for..I love the challenge.

Mentioning Hanna Montana, Wii, and High School Musical gets you instant points with kids. I love it. I love watching their eyes when they realize Nurse Amy knows about stuff like that. I hate giving shots or checking an IV to make sure its still in..I hate putting kids on oxygen and making sure it stays in their nose. I really dont like giving shots but have gotten really good at it. I don't like it when kids are scared of everything we do.

I really love my job. Ok, let me be honest. Sometimes I just don't want to go to work but that does not mean I do not love my job. I can not believe I am a nurse. I can not believe I have this most amazing job. I can not believe that I get the opportunity to walk beside these families in happy and sad times. A lot of my patients just stay over night and then I never see them again. A lot of patients get diagnosis that change the way they live for the rest of their lives. This is such an awesome experience. To talk to the families and patients who give me such insight is awesome.

Do I cry with my families? yes. The good news is that its usually happy things that bring on the tears. To remember the 3 funerals I have been to since starting here just amazes me. I was part of this amazing experience and it really humbles me. its an experience I can not describe. I do not mean this to be sad but I have seen God's hand in such awesome circumstances. I think of Rachel, Owen and Catie. These little people were not on earth very long but certainly they have made an impact on those around them. I have seen amazing joy in sorrow. When you can find that, its just really special. I have no words for that.

I can not believe I work with the most amazing nurses and physicians I do. I am not the best nurse. Sometimes I do not have the answers to give patients the comfort they need. Sometimes I can not even find the time to give them the comfort, but oh I want to.

Oh yeah, there are some negatives to my job but the positives are so much greater. Who would have thought I would be meeting so many Chinese children this way. The way that I got this job 6 years ago is amazing and I cant believe that because I chose the floor I work on, I am connecting with so many more families and seeing that red thread flow.

So I am sitting here finally checking blogs, watching Rainman and chatting online my sister. Michael and I leave Thursday for our long weekend to Memphis and just this week we booked our family Disney cruise for this April. How very exciting.

I enjoyed the babies in the nursery and I loved watching them interact yesterday. I am in the room with 7-12 months and once they walk, they graduate. Oh they are soooo fun..

Nothing really going on. Lots to do..Im ready for nap..

SUNDAY AND YOUR HELP

I went to China today..really I did. See, I signed up to work in the nursery and each age group has a country. I worked in China with the 7-12 months old and had soooo much fun! They were cute and silly and had a really good time. Its nice to serve and I realized what an awesome children's program my church has More on that. I still have not been to bed and worked last night so i am hoping to have more words later..Its odd that its Sunday and Michael's working.

Just a few more day until the Christopher Memphis trip and we have another trip planned as well! We will talk about that later.

Amy

randomness

So this morning, I decided to hit Walmart for some new scrubs and get some new healthy foods as I want to try a low cal diet the next 3 days as I am working. I have tried 1 1600 diet before and it wasn't that bad.

I did well and thought about getting a salad to take to work tonight. I found the Healthy Food sections and found a yummy salad. I decided to look at the back just to see the calories. This was a normal salad with veggies, grilled chicken, cheese , other stuff and bacon bits and dressing..

Normal size salad and it said it had 5 servings. Each serving was 22o calories..For me to eat this salad would cost me over 1000 calories? what the heck? Seriously, that is just soooooo wrong.



***** update Dont you hate it when you spend hours of looking to find a great deal on a family vacation, then you find it and then works says no way you cant have it off even though its over 2 months away? yeah, I hate it when that happens*********

Blessings and tears

Lets go ahead and answer the question, the concert rocked! Pics by Michael coming soon!

So here is the deal, we were trying to get some of our community group to come with us but it was not in their budget. Last night at 545, we got a call from CG friends. They were given tickets by a friend and wanted to join us..I am so glad they did. I did not know Leslie and I had so much in common. We really really had a good time. It was much more than a concert, just awesome.

Anyway, I started thinking about how I have personally changed in the past few years. I mean spiritually, not physically or mentally hahaha!

No matter what your preference of worship style is, there is something about a large group of people singing together. Especially at church, the sound of hundreds of people praising God is sooo beautiful. I have felt God's presence so many times this year!

Then I started thinking about words like grace and mercy and how I can really appreciate those. I can now understand when I hear people talking about God's grace and mercy pouring down on them. I really understand. I am not sure I will ever comprehend God's grace and mercy, I understand when people talk about them. Its awesome. I used to be really nervous around people who lifted their hands during music. I now understand. God is soooo good. This past year has just rocked. I love singing at church and love having tears pour out as I realize how great my God is and I am so thankful that He loves me and has forgiven me and has given me hope and a promise for the future.

I now have such a peace. even in very stressful situations, I can find peace. Friends, if you want that peace, seek Him. Once you allow him to take over, your life is awesome. Its incredible what I have learned. Your life is soooo much more peaceful and joyful once you just let him have control. Oh its hard to give up that control and not want to take it back.Please don't miss ou. Oh there are struggles and there are questions you want answered, but you begin to learn that His plans are far better than anything you could come up with on your own. I have learned to find joy in sadness. I dont even have to look for it, God just whops me on the head sometimes.

Then I started thinking about those God moments. Have you had one recently? If you dont pay attention you will miss it. I don't want to miss these. Usually when I am alone and stressed God just throws something at me just to get my attention. I need to learn to be quiet, to be still and to listen. I will share some of those tomorrow. I love those. I love God whispers which are getting more frequent or maybe I am just starting to listen. It saddens me to think I have missed those whispers.

Sorry I am so longwinded. There will be more but so much has been flooding my heart and mind. And I know that no matter what happens in my life, it will be okay.

There are no coincidenses in life!!!!!!!

Sunday afternoon. Rain..Wind. Tornado warning. How to make things a bit more cheerful? Well you head over to Alpharetta to see Steven Curtis Chapman in concert, thats what you do! Hoping to leave soon!!!


Dont forget to pray for the Uganda team! They are leaving today!!!

Thats all


and for the one commenter, I accept your challenge and will do one of those posts this week..Heehee

Random thoughts

Michael and I had lunch at a place called Chillitos and then saw the newest National Treasure movie.I really liked it.

I started thinking about something today. Did you see the movie Mask from the 80s? It was the story about a boy born with a facial deformity and how he relates to the world. I was thinking of one scene in particular. IT was the one where he teaches the blind girl how to see colors by putting things in her hands. Im not sure why I thought about that today except i am realizing that we all "see" or view things differently. Things that I think are incredibly important may not be as important as you. We all learn differently as well

I have had a lot of different thoughts lately on a lot of different things. Some things are heavy on my heart and some things are so silly and trivial I just laugh. I hope to share some of these things. Next week I may turn off comments for a while. Why? I dont know. I want to just share my heart and my mind. I may not even do it. Its my blog, I can do whatever I want I guess. Heehee!

2 things

There eventually will be some substance to this blog but until then

1) I figured out yahoo messager so I can chat with sister..My screen name is ganurse321 so add me..Chatting is fun!

2) Michael dedicated a song to me..I wont tell you what it but check out www.rockingthe80s.blogspot.com to what it is!

Let him know if you have a LDD for next week. yes I am pimping his blog

open ended question

I'm still thinking about what i want to do on this blog and I have some idea.

Happy Valentines or Valentimes Day(however you choose to say it )


On that note, what is a perfect date for you?

Thursday 13 repeat

Thirteen Things about Amy 13 favorite romantic movies 1. The Notebook 2. A Walk to Remember 3. Sweet Home Alabama 4. You've Got Mail 5.Hope Floats 6.Moulin Rouge 7.Serendipity 8.How to Lose a Guy in 10 days 9.Dirty Dancing 10.Here on Earth 11.Anne of Green Gables 12.Down to You 13.Sweet November Whats not on this list?

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

Things are a changing

I don't like my blog..OH I am okay with the design and I like blogger, I just don't like the substance. I realized it a few weeks ago.

Let me explain why. I love my job and I mean I really love my job especially when I really connect with my families. I love sharing my stories (as much as I can due to confidentiality) and I really love comments.

I do feel uncomfortable with the comments that tell me what a special person I am because I dont think of myself that way. Dont get me wrong, I am child of God who made me in His image and because of that I am grateful. I don't want my blog to become all about me. Does this make sense? I am not sure what I will do.
I was thinking about starting a new blog sharing my thoughts of my spiritual journey which has simply been amazing this past year. I have thought about turning off comments for a time. I have thought of just posting small posts throughout the day.

Any ideas?????

Uganda

They are seeing things with love. Please go visit here and see what they are seeing. WOW!!! Just beuatiful. Simply beautiful

This is BIG!

the night shift

I have many benefits of my job. One of these benefits is getting to know some of my families. Last night I admitted a patient who was 3 weeks old with RSV. She is beautiful, I mean the kind of beautiful that makes you want to stare at this child. Oh I hope she feels better soon. So, I started talking and asking my questions and learned that she was adopted. My new friend was in the delivery room when this sweet baby entered this world. This is her second baby and shared that story as well.

We eventually got the sweet baby sleep and mom and I talked and eventually I got mom to sleep as well.

Around 5 am, the resp therapist found me to tell me mom was crying. I went in to talk to her and learned that only does she have a brand new baby, her older daughter is sick, her mom is not feeling well so she hasnt seen the baby, the dog has cancer and husband has been taking care of kids, the house and the doh, and prior to this adoption she suffered a late miscarriage of twins from doing IVF. She has a lot on her plate and she is alone at the hospital. Will you please say a prayer for her? I so looking forward to talking more to her as she does have a happy story!
She explained to me her feelings the day she met MM! I asked her if she cried and she said it wasnt until mM cried that she just lost and said no matter how long we wait for LynnMarie, we will treasure the moment we will meet her..

I complain about work and sometimes I complain about the people I work with but I just love my job. I love moments like these,

Uganda

The team is on their way to Uganda with Compassion International. An amazing thing has started. Several bloggers are on their way to Uganda and will be blogging about their experience..PRay for all involved! Check out www.ragamuffinsoul.com

the Grammys

If you ever want to punish me or make sure I go insane, lock me in a closet and make me listen to Kanye West and Amy Winehouse repeat their acceptance speeches. As much as I can appreciate their music (Love Golddigger), I soooo wanted to mute the tv.

Thats all until tomorrow.

Hope this doesn't tick anyone off..

Union- the memories

Union University

To read the impact this school on my life, head over the adoption blog and to see pics google it or visit http://www.valtool.blogspot.com/

As you guys have seen or heard, Union was devastated. God is gracious and no lives were taken at Union, but many people died in these storms. Please keep all in your prayers.

Being the sentimental girl that I am, i thought I would summarize some key points of my college life in bullet style. For the record, my college rocks!

- I changed my major during my junior year. Sorry dad!

-I went to UU for the nursing school but changed to the nursing program because of a pharmacology class

- Because of upstairs neighbor Sara, I woke up a 5am for over a year, went to the YMCA and lost over 50 pounds

-I did not visit the cafeteria until my senior year

-I really tried to be cool, it didnt work

- Sara and I drove to Memphis in the rain trying to find a Clay Crosse concert, we were late and got there for the last song

-I was afraid of a lot of people

- I had friends in all sororities although I was never in one (too afraid)

- I had a kitchen in my dorm, Patton 11

-Vince Gill, Wynona and Michael English all visited Union

- I went to New Orleans on a short term trip

- 2 of my roommates sang in my wedding

-I actually had several roommates in college

-once a month I had to defrost the freezer with a knife and a hairdryer

-I once stole a sign from a park and ran

- I walked out of a movie with Jenny Hinton

-I missed curfew just a few times in college

- I not only lost a lot of weight but gained a lot as well (thank you O'Charley rolls)

-I got in trouble in college by complaining about loud neighbors and had to go to mediation

-i had to go to summer school because the night before my microbiology exam, my RA took a few of us to see Rebecca St. James in concert

- We had several tornado drills in college. Because of that, 8 girls got to bond in a downstairs bathroom

-we learned to keep one foot on the floor at all times during the times when boys and girls could visit each other

- I went on a retreat and apparently was to0 afraid to eat in front of people and my first roommate told on me.

- I was a bridesmaid for roomate Jenny during college

-I thought I was the only person not getting married during college

-I enjoyed going to chapel

- I babysat for my professors son Dalton and he is now in middle school. What the heck?

-Jenny had a car named Larry and she went home every weekend

- I worked at Walgreens, Sears and was a sitter for the hospital during college

-I loved driving home from TN to Fl for Christmas and cranked up the Christmas music

-I would get up on Sat mornings at 5am to be first at the washer and dryer

-I did several "allnighters" at Perkins studying before exams

-I went to church by myself a few times in college

-I leard to love Christmas and learned a song from Jenny called "On december 5 and 20 Fum FUm FUM


Enough about that. Its time to confuse you but here are few things about Union friends

- I was roommates with Jenny, LeeAnne, Tracy, Amy, jenny and Kim (not all the same time)
-my next door neighbors were Tiffany, Nivah, Jenny and Lori
- Jenny married Steven
-Steven was best friends with Jeff. I knew of them but didnt really know them in college
-Upstairs lived Sara and Val and some other people.
-Sara lives in Jackson and flew to Fl for my wedding and I have seen her a few times. here comes the good part.
-Jeff lived in Atlanta. We met him, all became friends and went to trivia several times with him
-Jeff married Val (yes the one above) and they got married in Tn. So we went to their wedding and saw all the people mentioned above and will see them again in a few weeks as they moved back to TN
-next door neighbor Lori is adopting from China and I hope to see her soon as well
-A different Lori lived across the street upstairs who will always be one of my best friends. Lori was a bridesmaid
-Lori, Jenny (next door neighbor) and were roomates for 1-2 summers and watched the movie SHAG dailiy


As you can see, I had amazing friends who are still in my life and amazing experiences..Pray for Union, the students, those making decisions concerning UNion and everyone in Jackson. I may add to this list as my memory brings more things up.

any other UU alumni want to share?





photo taken from www.russellsabode.com

These were our dorms. Looking at this picture, I lived in the dorm to the far left, the one highter on the screen, the closest to the campus. As Steven said, the commons area (directly in the center of the picture) is gone. That is where we socialized since we had men and women dorms.

Praying for Union and Jackson TN

Wow! My college was tore up last night! Wow! Union Univ in Jackson Tn was hit HARD by tornados last night. 51 people had to visit the hospital and several were trapped for a while. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt. How scary! In the last 2 years, many Union alumni have been reconnected by blogging. I know we all feel horrible right now. Many of us called UU home 4 years (some of us 4.5)!
Please pray for Union, the students and the city of Jackson. My MIL emailed me to say she saw it on CNN this morning!

You can find pics by googling it or other blogs..Check out Stevens blog for one heck of a picture!


***********UPDATE*******************

Disaster relief fund -found on www.uu.edu this evening

So many of our friends have contacted us about their desire to help Union University during this most challenging time for our campus. The Board of Trustees has established a special fund to address this particular need in the life of this University. For your generosity to Union at this particular time, please know of our gratitute.

Please send designated gifts to:
Union University Disaster Relief Fund
1050 Union University Drive
Jackson, TN 38305

Faithfully,
David S. Dockery
President

Praying for you TN folks!!!

I have posted this before.. Bloggers making a difference. head over to www.ragamuffinsoul.com and go head and bookmark it, add it to your bloglines. Carlos is one of many bloggers going to Uganda in a week to make a difference and blog about it. This is BIG!! Cant wait to see what God can and will do!

weekend and such

Well, the Superbowl came and went! Im not really a football fan (I really done understand the whole first down thing at all) but I was soo glad another Manning won..I just think its cool that 2 brothers won the Superbowl back to back. It would also have been cool to hear about a perfect season but oh well.

Contest is over and back to your regularly scheduled blogging. Whats beeing going on..

Michaels 80s blog Taking You Back has some cool stuff going on..Check it out!


Im bored so heres a question until I think about something else to blog about..

Whats your favorite dessert?

Wiinners announced

The 2 winners from the giveaway are

1) Melissa at Snapshots of Life

2)Katy at Country Blosson



Congrats! Stay tuned for my regular blogging and maybe another contest soon!


BTW, go visit the winners

ok that was a fun contest..Winners announced in the morning but let me tell you what I missed at work Sunday? or shall I say who? wanna guess? You will not believe it!!

GARTH BROOKS! HOLY COW! OK, SO i get star struck easy but he was 50 feet from my floor..They kept that a big secret..Im a bit tired so I have nothing to blog about but wanted to share another blogs coolest post ever..Yes it will make you smile and cry! Please go visit CFHusband again!

Im so glad he shared this moment with his readers! Ill be back tomorrow! The contest is over but I would to read more about who you would have to dinner..Check the post above below!

2nd book giveaway

So this contest thing is to bring new people to your blogs and I thought I would ask a question. The person with the most creative answers will win another one of my favorite books by Karen Kingsbury.

Here's the question

You are on a reality show. The idea is for normal everyday people to spend an evening with 5 celebrities who they look up to. The dinner must be one of your favorites..

So, what 5 people would you have dinner with and why and what would you be eating?

uh oh

Ladies and gentlemen?
Could it be?
New Kids on the Block are coming back?

Check it out at www.nkotb.com

Think they are doing the Superbowl? Just wondering

Peace out...

weekend

So glad to have a night off. Even if its just one..Rough weekend. 2 Codes last night and one had to be intubated on the floor and was just a tiny baby. Needless to say, many of us were ready to head home. Headed to church where they did a spotlight on the short term mission work from the church. I really enjoyed it.

Can I just tell you how many great blogs i am reading right now? Some of you have amazing blogrolls..Haha!

I feel another contest coming...Stay tuned for details.

and if you live in Memphis or have lived in Memphis, help us plan our trip. What are your thoughts???

i shall blog about blogging

Why do I blog? Several reasons. I find it very relaxing and fun. Here is really why. I like to talk. A LOT! I have a lot to say..I didn't say it was all important, there are just a lot of words.When I converse with people I am always afraid they will tell me to shut up. IN the blogging world, they cant not, they simply quit reading you..

So who blogs? Many people. There are blogs from all over the world, blogging for different reasons. Many people blog about their adoption journey, some blog to journal life events, some people blog to meet others.

Then you find the special blogs. You know the ones I speak of. The ones that make you stand still. The ones that make you cry for a stranger. You learn of God's love and grace. You simply read in awe. I have found one of those blogs lately and I wanted to share it with you. I need to warn you as you read this blog, you will smile, laugh, cry, rejoice with the family and cry some more. I do not know these people but I love them!!!

Ready? http://cfhusband.blogspot.com/

Let me tell you about this family. There is a husband, wife and new baby. Wife has Cystic Fibrosis. New baby is very premature. When mom delivered baby, they had to give her a tracheotomy which she expected and has been in ICU.
Well, today she saw her baby for the first time! Oh I have been reading this blog since baby was born and this is just awesome. Please go and be blessed and encouraged. I love blogs like this.

TGIF? ITS YOUR TURN!!!

Its Friday morning and I am close to going to bed. I work the next 2 nights and hopefully will be stress free!

Its cold and cloudy in Atlanta, that should make for a good day for sleeping. I was able to get to they gym yesterday and watched a whole episode of Different Strokes (the one where Sam was kidnapped) and just listened to the IPOD which is pretty cool. At least I got my 3 days in this week.

Not too much to blog about.

So its your turn, while I sleep say something, comment something. I dont care what. It can be one word (seriously!!!) or a question or comment!!!! Woohoo...whats on your mind

Memphis

hey Memphis people! Be on the lookout for the Christophers, coming to a town near you soon! Any Memphis people out there?

Me

my day

1) I did go to the gym today and had fun

2) Went to a baby shower and had fun!!!

3) Watched the final episode of 90210 and cried! I am assuming this will get absolutely no comments and that is okay! I really liked the show in high school!

Seriously, have none of you seen a bad movie ? (see below)

So, its a rainy Tues morning and we are watching Saving Silverman, which may be the dumbest movie I have ever seen besides the very first Adam Sandler movie called Going Overboard.

Which makes me wonder what the worst movie you have ever seen? everyone has different taste and some of you may actually like Saving Silverman..

SO tell us,

Whats the worst movies you have ever seen? Now after you have answered that question head over to www.valtool.blogspot.com and ask him a question and then head over to www.rockingthe80s.blogspot.com to see what video he has posted!!

Cheers!

Monday

Just got home from a lunch date with my friend Rebekah and her 3 kids Josh, Katherine and Michaela. It was a nice visit and I wish we could visit more.

Lets see, someone asked about the fluffiness. The truth is I am not going to get on a scale at all. Well, I will have to at our yearly physical but other than that I am just hoping clothes will fit. I have been to the gym on my days off and went this morning, just me and my IPOD (I need a name for my IPOD, any ideas?) I was alone at the gym and did over 30 minutes on the treadmill and added the elliptical and some weights. I had been motivated to just come home and start organizing but I did not. I have tomorrow and Wed off but am going to a double baby shower tomorrow.
Don't forget t visit www.valtool.blogspot.com and ask him a question. He has some good ones he will have to answer tonight

Here is a question I read on Steven R's blog and thought I would ask you?

How do you put your desires and good intentions into actions? Some call it laziness, unmotivated but I want to know how you do things you need to do?

Weekend recap

First off, check out hubbys blog at www.valtool.blogspot.com hes having a question day so go work his brain..


I have Sunday-Wed off this week so I am hoping to get some of my New Years resolutions going. Hoping to work out every day and meeting with some friends. Lunch with friend Rebekah and a baby shower are already planned.

Friday night we had our community group and it was the best one yet! To finish our study from the book, "Men are like waffles, women are like spaghetti" we had of course a spaghetti and waffle dinner..Michaels spaghetti rocked. We had 4 couples this week and it was a very honest discussion. Im so thankful we joined our church (which was cancelled Sunday due to weather and allowed me some extra sleep) and our community group!!!! A good time was had by all.

We are now watching some football after catching up on October Road.

I'm feeling kind of tired and wierd so I will work on another post tomorrow

Pray for my friends

If you remember last year, I talked about sweet Miss Catie. Today marks one year since she passed away. Please pray for Tre, Jenny and her family. Miss Izzy was born just a few days after her big sister passed away and I'm so glad they have her. its going to be a hard day for them. What a night that was last year. I was at work the night Catie died and experienced so many emotions as i visited with the family in ICU. It was a beautiful moment and so hard to explain. Catie will always be one of my favorite patients not only was she the coolest kid, but her family had a joy that was contagious. Catie loved Amy Grant and the Sound of Music. I was able to go to her funeral in Savannah a few days later and am so glad I did. It was a beautiful celebration and was truly a worship service. That sweet girl touched so many lives and continues to do so. I am so thankful I was working the night she was diagnosed on her 1st birthday. Patients and families such as this one make me a better nurse..



If you would like to visit the familys webste, check out www.midgetsandmoonpies.blogspot.com


PLEASE PRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ask Away

Just got home from work and noticed Michael already did his AI comentary from last night. Check out http://www.valtool.blogspot.com/ for his thoughts.

Oh I have a story from last night but its probably not appropriate for the blogging world so I will just have to tell Michael anyway.

So as other bloggers are doing,for this post

What do you want to know about Amy? Ask me anything. I think I am ready. Im sleeping today so I will leave this up until Friday afternoon or evening!. So, ask as many times as you would like and on Friday I will answer your questions..

Go ahead!!!

Birthday and AI

Yesterday was my 33rd birthday and also Michael's bday.You know, Michael from www.valtool.blogspot.com It started out with me wanting to go to the gym and MIchael telling me to get ready because we had somewhere to go. I had no idea where we were going and it was a great surprise. We went to Spa Sidell for a couples massage and it was awesome. It was very nice and very thoughtful.


After our massage we headed to a Brazilian steakhouse for a yummy lunch. We came home, played a game I got Michael for Christmas and he taught me Othello, a game he played when he was younger. I caught on and its pretty fun!


We ordered Chinese for dinner and settled down for American Idol. Michael did a good job reviewing the show in detail but here are my thoughts.


I like the show. I love the people who think they are good and I like the silly people. Once again, there are certain types of singers they have to have the first few weeks.

Every season opener they must have a singer who doesn't sing much English. I'm not sure why people find this funny but William Hung started all of this.

There is always a single mom trying to better for their baby. Nothing wrong with this, I enjoy the stories and usually root for these singers but there is one every season.

there is always a very large person trying out. This season there was a big girl who plays football. I don't think she made it through.

there is always the sweet, naive girl who usually sings country.

There are always people looking just to get on TV. Once again there were costumes and such. there were some good ones this week but no one really got my attention.

Did you guys notice anything special?

HAPPY BDAY TO MY HUBBY! WE BOTH HAVE THE DAY OFF BUT I STILL HAVENT SEEN HIM YET! I WOKE UP EARLY..HEAD OVER TO WWW.VALTOOL.BLOGSPOT.COM AND WISH HIM A HAPPY BIRTHDAY

AND NO, WE ARE NOT CONFUSED