Jordan and his tractor

While riding on the fender of Jordan's tractor a few days ago, as he dug post holes for his barn, I realized how long it had been since we had been in this "situation". Back when we were in high school, Jordan had such a love for tractors and farm equipment that it wasn't at all odd for us to end a date in Bowling Green by going to the John Deere place (Hartland equipment? Maybe?) and "admiring" the new ones they had. They also had the habit of leaving them unlocked (can you lock a tractor??). We would climb up into these unbelievably expensive pieces of equipment and talk about having a new one ourselves one day. Some talk about children, we talked about tractors.

Life was so simple and Jordan was so easy to love.

Then life changed for Jordan and for us. Our tractor dreams were no longer something that we talked about or dreamed about. Jordan put all his attention into engineering school and I put all my attention into....well.....we won't go there right now.......

A few weeks ago, we drove by there and told friends we were with about going there when we were "kids". They found it so funny (is it weird that I never found it weird?). As I watched him on his dad's old tractor today and as I rode along with him for a few minutes, I thought to myself, what will we ever do with this tractor if we ever move? I know that selling it will NEVER be an option. I wouldn't even want to sell it. It's a piece of Jordan's childhood that I know (because I've asked) that he would ride on everyday for the rest of his life if he could farm again. Even if the seat is terribly uncomfortable and there isn't an air conditioned cabin. (yep, air conditioning on a tractor is possible).

celebrate good times, come on!

After graduation on Saturday, we loaded up and went to the beach. What a great way to celebrate. Ang and Dylan went with us, so it made the trip that much more special. We had awesome weather, great food, and a lot of laughs. I think I could have stayed a month....as long as I could have come home and got my kitty and took him back with me. (Just imagine, that sand would have been like litter box heaven to him!)

Anyways, while I was there, I got the call that I officially have a job! It's only a summer position, but it's with the CDC (Center for Disease Control). In the public health world, this is HUGE! It's almost impossible to get them to even talk to you, much less offer you any kind of position. I was just in the right place at the right time (and I had a professor who was actually praying daily for me to get this job! How great is that!?!). I would love for it to turn into something more, and it is possible that it could, but just in case it doesn't, I am of course holding onto my CVS job for a little longer.

I am very excited to see where this job takes me. If nothing else, it is going to look FABULOUS on a resume.

Yay for beach vacations and those pesky phone calls you get while you are there that just happen to be REALLY AWESOME news!

I DID IT!!!

Well, thank the good Lord, I finally DID IT! I graduated on Saturday the 14th with a B.S. in Public Health (with a concentration in public health education, but who cares).

I DID IT! I finally have this college degree that I have been working towards for (now this is where it gets embarrassing....) 11 years. Almost 11 years to the day! I have to try and make myself feel better by saying that I didn't go for 11 years straight. There were several years in there where I didn't go at all.

Ahh, who cares how long it took, I finally made it!

Thanks to those who supported me and loved me through this whole thing. Without that, I never would have made it. I barely made it out with my mind, but I did, even though there were times it was a little iffy.

WOOO HOOO!! WKU Alumni!!!!
Wonder how long it will be before I get something in the mail asking for alumni donations?? I give it a week.

P.S.--In Kelly-like fashion, you had to know that the day didn't go off exactly like it should. I mean, there is no way that would happen for me.
1. I split RED fingernail polish on my dress right before leaving. I said screw it, I'm wearing it anyways. I think that it will make for a great laugh.....eventually......

2. I got in my car, thinking I had plenty of gas to make it to BG. Ummm, when I was getting off the interstate, crying, I prayed more than one pray to just get to the first gas station. (my car said "Zero miles until empty". Nice.

3. Got parked (finally), ran down the stairs of the parking garage, looked to make sure I had everything (which I did--shocker), get to the bottom and......wait for it....have no tassel. That's right. It was GONE. Thank goodness they gave me another one (after giving me a really hard time and I finally yelled that I would pay for it if they would just hand it over.)

Again, thank the good Lord that this is all over......until graduate school.......

Silly Saturday

Nothing says "We had a great lake trip" like an Olan Mills Photo shoot on the dock, while my bra strap hangs out, my hair looks pretty unpleasant and how we seem to be "glowing" off the backdrop. (Ashley--We need more times like this VERY soon. I miss you guys like crazy!)

Say a little prayer

I'm usually not the person who asks much of others and I usually don't continue on a story that someone sends to me. But, I feel that this is something that needs to be passed on and I hope that you will pass it on as well.

The following explanation comes from my cousin Jennifer. She and Lacey have been close friends since living across from each other their freshman year at Western. Lacey and I were also together a lot at a lot of places when we were both in school and some even since we have been out. She is a sweet person with a big heart. I hate that she is having to go through all this. I have prayed a lot for this baby and for Lacey and her husband Jim. Please help me out and pray for Lacey, Jim, and baby CeCe.

Some of you know my friend, Lacey, and the story of her baby Cecilia. For those that do not here is a quick overview. She was born in February and immediately started having seizures. She was transferred from Summit to Centennial where she stayed for a couple of weeks to monitor the seizures to see what was causing them. After a couple of weeks they said they had mis-diagnosed her and she was actually not having seizures but had a sleep disorder that caused her to twitch in her sleep which they thought were seizures. They sent her to a specialist who also agreed that she had this sleep disorder not seizures. 5 weeks ago she got really sick and they took her to the ER at Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt said that she was in fact having seizures and had been the entire time. At that point she was having up to 10 seizures a day. Medication is not stopping her from having the seizures. At this time she is still having around 5 a day. Her condition has worsened over the past 5 weeks to where she has had to be on oxygen and feeding tubes all the time. She can no longer swallow on her on. She has been in ICU at Vandy for the past 5 weeks. Yesterday they gave Lacey the news that there is a 50/50 chance that she has a disorder called Malignant Migrating Epilepsy Syndrome. If she does have this syndrome it will most likely kill her before her 1^st birthday. They are waiting for test results to come back any day now to confirm if it is or is not this syndrome. I did a lot of research on it last night and it is a very rare disease, in 2005 there were only 25 known cases of it. There are not any known causes or cures for it at this time.

Please say lots of prayers for baby Cecilia and her family that they get good news in the next couple of days.

Baby bunny...and I don't mean bread...

This week has been crunch time. In approximately 8 days, I graduate from college. YAY! But, before celebrating, I had a million things to finish.

My internship was over last week, so I've had this whole week to complete my internship binder. This meant I had to take EVERYTHING that I had done for the entire semester, put it in a binder and hand it all over. There is no telling how much money is wrapped up in that binder and I will never get to see it again. Anyways, my kitchen table became my work station for the week. It was ridiculous how much crap I had to get in this binder. (side note--when working on a project like this, I prop open the front door so that the cat can go in and out at his leisure and I won't have to constantly get up to let him in or out....I know, it's ridiculous.)


So, here it is, Friday night and my binder is complete. I decided to be a good little wife and go ahead and clean up my mess. With printer in hand (yes, I said PRINTER), I turn and look and there is the cat......inside.....with a baby rabbit in his mouth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm home alone with a cat who has a baby bunny in his mouth in my living room.



(Here he is, trying to figure out how to get back outside through glass)

Thank god I thought in time to put the printer down before picking the cat up (who is still holding the bunny in place) and tossing him outside. I then kinda shook him until he dropped the poor bunny (which is now hiding on my front porch and won't come out). The bunny survived, don't worry, and eventually Jordan got him to hop right off the porch.

Thank GOD this semester is just about over.