Bring It, 2016!

Happy New Year, ya'll!  2016 is here and is already going wild in my office (where I still am on a Friday, but am heading home after this!).  It was a different Christmas, just about all traditions were tossed out the window as we adapted to the issues of the moment.  But that's ok, it was still good. Really good. 

Our family received so much good great news at the end of the year, it was just amazing. Let me just list some of it out for you... Dad: has an aneurysm in a main artery that the heart doctor just kind of watches - it's still doing "well," he still has no signs of bladder cancer, he has lost weight and his blood sugar is doing well, ... I think that's all for him.  My brother-in-law is doing good with both blood clots that landed him in ICU for almost a week in 2015 - GONE!  Hooray! My 3-year-old niece Macy, due to a genetic condition on both side of her family, she is more apt to have heart issues.  Went to the pediatric cardiologist and got two thumbs up on both tests they completed. WHEW. She loves her dentist (thank heavens! Somewhere along the lines she thought the dentist would drill in her teeth and she was getting very anxious about the appointment).  Her 13-year-old sister managed to ditch her boot from an ankle injury just before Christmas.

And the twins, sweet boys, are doing well, growing big and handsome!  Liam is probably over 9 lbs at this point, and Kellan should be about 7 lbs.  Their mama had to go back to work this Monday, so please say a prayer. I can't imagine how hard that is for her.

It was like the good news fairy just rained down happy sprinkles all over us! Hooray!

Celebrating Katie's birthday in December

We didn't do the large family Christmas Eve event, but the cousins did come down for some present opening.  It was still wild enough with just the kids! 

This family of boys are always crazy for AH!

Then Christmas morning, when we all sat down and ate some breakfast, opened gifts.  Well, Macy really opened everyone's gifts, but you know what I mean. 

 

 

   

My sweet nieces!!! 

I can't thank you enough for the prayers you have sent up for my family in the past year.  Or several years, depending on how long you have followed along. :)  We believe in the power of prayer, for sure! So thankful for so many blessings we have been given, and my goal for 2016 is to notice, acknowledge and give thanks for my blessings better.

I hope your family had a great Christmas, too. And welcome to 2016!! Let's see what is in store for a new year! :)

Merry Eve of Christmas Eve

Holy cow, where did 2015 go? This last month especially! Today is it for shopping and running like crazy. My family celebrates with a feast on Christmas Eve so all presents must be wrapped up today. So of course, I wake up with a sore throat. Argh!

I noticed when life gets a bit crazy, I put God on the back burner. How crazy is that? I know, it makes no sense. But I've put down the Advent book and gotten behind. And I really enjoy it! It seems when the days go bonkers I crash into bed and the thoughts of reading or writing just seem like more than I can handle. Like it's stressing me out. When in reality, it would calm my stress and soothe my frayed nerves. And even knowing that, I still roll over and ignore. So that must change today. 

Let's talk about what's going right. Both twins are HOME and snuggling with mommy and daddy. One is on oxygen but both are doing well. This makes me SO HAPPY. I'm not able to see them right now (super sad face) because I can't seem to stay well enough, but I'd rather just see pictures than put them in danger. They are so handsome!! Love being an aunt!! 

Speaking of being an aunt, the two sweet nieces are home. I'm so thankful for the time off this week. Even though I'd missed work with my and family's doctor appointments, I decided to go ahead an take this week off. Best decision ever. 

Macy and her mommy and I visited with Santa. No crowds on a Monday - hooray! The mall has these critters to ride an Macy loved it. Especially loved the fact she got a puppy instead of angry bird. These things are really hilarious. 

We came home and rested, then went on a search for Chtistmas lights!  Picked up her sister on the way and life was good. 

Yesterday Katie helped wrap up my shopping while I kept the girls. We really lived it up with painting projects (gifts), decorated Christmas cookies and read pop-up Chritmas books in bed. And Katie knocked out several hard-to-find gifts for me. Hip Hip Hooray!! 

Macy is really getting into Christmas and I'm soooo glad I'm able to see her excitement firsthand.  This is the first year I've felt excitement about Christmas in a while. We've had a rough three years and this one is tough, too. So make it four. Her sparkle is rubbing off on all of us. :)

So this year, mom is totally down with a very painful tear in her knee. Totally. Down. Dad is pretty much staying close to her but he's got some issues, too. So I'm trying to wrap up their shopping and plan for the Christmas Eve feast. Those parts aren't terribly stressful but point back to the health troubles my parents are seeing. Katie went to the eye doctor in hopes of finding something to help her migraines. She can't keep on like this. And her husband is in immense pain from the multiple surgeries that didn't work. Of course the new parents won't make it this year and I really miss them. So there are some prayer requests in there. 

But we always have blessings, too. Like Dad being able to help mom. And me being able to take off from work. Katie being out of school right now. Those sweet baby boys and their successes. Their mama is also a teacher so she's able to extend her leave time. The great reviews of the classes I taught. It's hot here but at least we aren't buried under snow!! Aaaannnndddd...

We have 7 completed NICU isolette covers for our children's hospital from my church!! So excited! So thankful! We have another sew day in Januaury. And I'm excited to see how it goes. Here are some pics. 

I had a pic of another one but must have deleted it trying to get pics of Macy and Santa. Oops. Those flaps sticking out cover the ends of the isolette. I know it looks weird :) 

Ok this is top secret so do not tell a soul BUT this is what the girls made for their daddy. He's from West Virginia and this is the lyrics from a John Denver that all WV people worship. :) the white states are WV and SC, where home is now. Macy painted the background with three shades of yellow and Aliah did the states and letters. Pretty good, eh? He'll love it. He is going to be so surprised!! 

I suppose I should get moving for the day. Things to do and people to see. Y'all have a very blessed Christmas. Tell Jesus Happy Birthday and thank The Lord for sending His Son to us for our sins. That's Christmas. All this other stuff is fluff. 

Hugs to you all!  

Sweating into December

Hello - when did it become normal to have mid-70's weather in December!?! Heaven help it's hot here in SC. No wonder we are all sick. Sheesh.

Are you done Christmas shopping? If you are, please lie to me and tell me you aren't. I have no idea when I'll fit it all in. Tomorrow I'm starting my day at UrgentCare  for the third time, trying to battle this sinus, coughing, ear ache thing. Finished my antibiotics and steroids for the beginnings of pneumonia. But I'm thinking it didn't get the job done. Ugh. With something every night this week, I'm trying to juggle it all and not get sicker :)

I'm very excited for one event this week - the church sew-a-thon to make NICU isolette covers! One lay in the church - very dear family friend- hand sewed a cover and gave it to us on Sunday. It's already at the hospital in use. They were so excited! I have three more that need to get up there, too.  Imagine your baby being in the hospital during the Christmas holidays and someone brings a beautiful cover for your baby for no other reason than your baby is loved. I pray these covers not only help the babies but God uses them to touch the very hearts of their parents.  

See the flap turned over? It covers the ends. The black fabric makes it dark in the isolette and the quilting muffles noise, to help recreate the womb. 

I had to make one funky! 

Wow that is wrinkly!! Flannel doesn't like To stay crisp. 

Anyway, I'm excited to see where it leads. You know I'll keep you posted. 

How are our twins doing? One is home from the hospital and over 6 lbs.!! One is still there and he's over 5 lbs. So thankful for every success. Little miracles. Little fighters!! I can't tell you how excited I am for my brother and sister-in-law. They are going to be such wonderful parents. This is their hopes and dreams coming true. 

One of the floor quilts before I sewed it all together. 

I did gift the floor quilts at the shower on my mom's side. I saw one of them in a picture being used. Hooray! 

Random pics time: Macy and I made cupcakes :) 

And we had a slumber party! 

Me and the boss' dog, Bentley. 

Macy and a swing of cousins at the family Christmas get together this weekend. Crazy hot weather.

My stray kittens that hang out on my porch. And I feed them. Which I'm not sure If that allows them to be called strays anymore?

Macy and me after Thanksgiving. :) I hate the black circles, wow! But I've been sick a while.

We have seen blessings, y'all. The baby boys- what a huge blessing!! Katie has seen some pretty big challenges but she said she feels The Lord carrying her through it. Mom is down with a bad knee but the wheels are moving quicker than anticipated. MRI was Friday and we get results Wednesday. My job has been very understanding of days off for myself and to help the family juggle appointments. My classes (trainings) that I've been teaching are getting great feedback. So thankful! Lots of good. 

Ok I've totally rambled on about nothing and everything. I'm hoping you are doing well, that your heart is in the right place to welcome Christmas (I'm still working in this), and you know the love of God, greater than anything we can comprehend. 

Thanks for listening :)  Off to bed - night! 

Happy Christmas & Such!

The holidays are here and gone! And for a person who absolutely LOOOOOOVES Christmas, I can't tell you how happy I am it's OVER.  I was actually excited to come back to work today because it gave me a break from my disaster of a house.  Sheesh.

I'm so disappointed in myself this Christmas because I allowed myself to completely lose sight of the true and only meaning to Christmas - the birth of Jesus Christ, my Savior and Lord.

I'm already looking ahead to next year and ways to put this first and foremost in the Christmas celebrations because I never want this to happen again - or to have this completely empty and lonely feeling.  I'm exhausted and ready to pack up 2014 and start fresh with 2015.

 
This said, of course we had a good time with family and watching a 2-year-old find such joy in every single gift she opened.  She loved every one of them. But was totally overwhelmed and didn't even open all her presents.  At one point I asked her if she wanted another present and she said, "No thank you, I'm fine."  And went back to playing with her old toys. :)  The 12-year-old was so gracious for every gift she opened and showed appreciation for them all.  It does make you feel pretty good about it.

I'm truly looking for ideas to bring the focus back on Jesus next Christmas and would love to hear your ideas.  Seriously.  Share.

Part of our problem was sickness kept us from many events - our family get-together, our church services and church program - we have quite a bit hitting the family right now. I'm asking for prayers for every single immediate family member because each one of us are battling with issues right now. I won't get into the details, but do ask for prayers.

I had to add this picture of my Dad.  My sister-in-law gave him this squirrel that fires foam "nuts" from its nose or mouth.  He was attacking us throughout the day with that thing! And he figured out to load it so the ammo would really travel! It was quite hilarious.

My mom's beautiful tree.  Loved the gold beads she added this year. And tucked in the branches are stuffed animals! It was really neat!  

My vet cousin and princess Macy.  These two (and one other vet) were so cute dressed up in one of their Christmas Eve presents.  So stinkin' cute!  We managed to stuff about 20+ people or so into my mom's house for Christmas Eve.  I'm so tired of cooking - I think everyone is because no one really ate all that food we made.  I don't want to think about how much of it is going to be tossed out.  

I have to tell you I'm excited about my Christmas present - a Brother SE400 Embroidery/Sewing machine.  Holy cow, I don't even know what I'm going to do with this beast of a machine. Put monograms on everything Macy owns! hahaha!  If you know anything about it, give me some pointers! I need help! But I'm so excited to have a good sewing machine so I can attempt some quilting and monogramming.  I'll never see my dining room table again. 

Ya'll, I hope your Christmas was blessed and beautiful, I hope your 2015 is filled with happy memories.  Thanks for joining me on this adventure called life via my blog and thank you for each and every comment you leave or prayer you send up or just happy thought/smile you give as you read.  It's appreciated!!! 

*hugs* to you!

Beth

PS - My kitten is still visiting me, although she's still a little skittish. She's my bright spot, I'm so happy to have her! :) 

Run Faster! Catch Up With Life!

I feel like life is leaving me behind and I'm running after it, so excuse the randomness that will be this posting. :)

Saturday was an adventure of Macy in Wal-Mart.  We actually had a VERY good time. We went early so it wasn't as crowded and she ran up and down and up and down pretty much every aisle of the store.  Made it interesting to attempt shopping while keeping up with her.  The highlights of the trip: her hugging the bag of marshmallows like a treasured baby doll for at least 3/4 of the trip.  Visiting the pre-lit Christmas trees and petting every one.

...And accidentally running into Santa.  I didn't even see the man there until Macy started jumping up and down, chanting, "Santa! Santa! Santa!"  Oh my, she was star struck.  She told him how she wrote him a letter last night and blew him a kiss.  It's ok that Santa resembled one of Duck Dynasty's cousins... he did a great job with her.

I hate her mama wasn't with me to see it, but she was at the doctor. Because, you know, every sickness passing through our neck of the woods attacks our family.

Anyway, Sunday I loaded the two Sweet Nieces up and headed to church for Sunday School because I was NOT missing another Sunday of the Christmas Story in detail.  So glad I managed to get there, but didn't stay for preaching.  Everyone else was SICK, so we packed it up and went back home.

Celebrated Katie's birthday, where she finally opened the canvas photos I had made for her! They look SO GOOD.  I'm glad she liked them - I'll get pics and post/review those two companies soon. CanvasOnDemand and EasyCanvas.

Sunday night I kept baby sweet niece while Sweet Niece #1 went back to her mom's house. Can I tell you how bad I am - I let her fall asleep. EEIK! I didn't mean for that to happen! I'm fired as babysitter for sure.

Monday - work work work.  Tuesday - work work work. Wednesday - took off to take care of baby sweet niece, since Dad had a dr appointment, Mom had another steroids shot (please pray for her neck), and the babysitter had the flu.  We had a BALL.

Do they come any cuter than this?? I don't think so!

Every hug needs a kiss, right?

Called Uncle Clay to come have lunch with us and she wrapped him up around her little pinky.  She was so good all day - I'm so thankful.  I love moments like this, treasures to store up.  (How responsible am I as an aunt, I went a bought a bib to keep her new shirt clean! uh-huh, I'm good!)

So I don't think I told ya'll that a sweet kitten adopted me! Or if I did tell you, just pretend to be excited about it.  She showed up, totally claimed me, hopped up on my lap - she's got me wrapped. I've named her Noelle and I think she's adorable.  An outside kitten right now, but maybe she'll make her way in the house. I need to do a vet check first, but holy cow, it's only CHRISTMASTIME so that might just have to wait.  But I'm happy with her.

Let's not even get me talking about the medical company that charged my entire remaining bill on my debit card this week, completely without my permission.  Seriously? The week before Christmas and, of course, it takes 3-5 business days to reappear on my card.  So it has the potential to get wrapped up in Christmas, which pushes it into the week after Christmas. Really? *sigh*

But ya'll, blessings abound in my family.  We've gotten good news on my dad twice now, my mom's shot is hopefully helping her neck AND she agreed to buy a turkey from a catering company.  We have so many things to be thankful for, so let's all CHEER! :)

Holy cow this turned into a novel. Sorry about that. Just happy to share some happiness.  Especially at a time where the holly jolly-ness of the holidays is running a little thin and we are all feeling squeezed by the pressure to have the perfect holiday, right? This holiday, ya'll, it is perfect.  It is - perfectly beautiful, brought to you by the most amazing miracle birth of a baby savior.  It's beautiful, so shrug off the man-made stress and send up a word of Thanks for the lovely miracle given to us from God.  :)

And on that note, I'll hush! Merry Christmas, ya'll!

Friday's Letters

Hello weekend! I see you peeping around the corner... don't worry, I'll get you soon!

Dear Flu - you are ruining everyone's happiness around here.  First you attacked my b-i-l, which made sweet niece very unhappy since she was banned from the house. She REALLY missed her Daddy.  Then you attack the babysitter, but only after Macy was already there for the day. Oops. That visit was cut short. So how about packing your bags and moving on outta here, ok?

Dear Christmas - I'm almost ready for you.  Almost. I need to get two more gifts and do a lot of wrapping to be totally ready.  And make lots of cookies, which starts tonight! Hopefully Sweet Niece #1 will be able to help me this weekend.

Dear God - You really answered prayers for my family this week.  Dad continues to be bladder cancer free, based on his test this week - THANK YOU! and other blessings I am so very thankful for... Thank you, Lord.

Dear Book of Job - you are killing me.  Man, I just ache with sadness reading this book! I'm doubling up on my reading, trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel.  One thing I did learn, however, is more often than not, the best thing you can do to be a good friend is to listen and pray.  "O that you would be completely silent, and that it would become your wisdom!" Job 13:5  As Charles Stanley writes, "Very often - more frequently that we know - our best counsel and most helpful advice is to say precisely nothing.  'Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is considered wise; when he closes his lips, his is considered prudent.' Proverbs 17:28 "

Dear friend - Thank you for my surprise at my desk this week!!! I called in Monday so I could go to the doctor and hopefully get some meds (I did, but they are so powerful they scare the dickens out of me, so I won't take them anymore!) - as I ran by the office to get packages, I discovered this SUPER COOL SCARF on my desk! Whoa... you rock for this! Thank you Thank you Thank you! (and thanks to photo programs that hide the spots on my two front teeth. Awesome!)

Dear Prayer Peeps - anyone that is a praying person, our church seems to have been hit with sickness and sadness lately.  I've also had personal prayer requests that a few of you know about. So Prayer Peeps, please pray for my personal family and church family, if you don't mind. God will understand your intent  :)  Thank you.

Well folks, I hope you have a festive weekend of family and friend fun.  Hopefully I'll take more pics this coming week to make these posts more exciting! :)

{Review} Online Shopping Experiences

I have done quite a lot of shopping online this Christmas, helping out Dad, Katie and getting my presents without the hassle of parking and crowds.  (With that said, I'm also a firm believer in shopping at locally owned stores and did some of that, too).

I definitely noticed major differences in how my online shopping experiences went, so I thought - why not share them here! Maybe it would help someone make a better choice.

1.) www.Walmart.com :  This was actually pretty good!  They have a lot of selection online not available in stores.  Many things, however, you can have shipped to store for free and it eliminates the need to wander about and find dozens of other things you "need" causing a huge Walmart bill.  The shipping (I had it shipped to the office) was quick, everything looked good, nothing was too badly damaged.  Even the books, which are easier to dent and ding up, were in good "giftable" shape. Hooray!

Really? This is how I received my order from Amazon? And this isn't unusual.  

This looks like poop.  But I'm giving it anyway. :)  - Amazon

2.) www.Amazon.com : I'm a little frustrated with Amazon. I ordered the absolute most from them, so several boxes came into the office.  Every one was CRUSHED. Is that a problem with Amazon or UPS? I think Amazon is using crappy boxes that end up smooshed. We had to send some items back and re-order because the product boxes were so damaged we wouldn't gift it. This requires serious advance planning if you have to do this! In this box above, the product box on the bottom is slightly damaged, but I'll roll with it.  Thankfully, the rest were clothes. And for some reason. Amazon hasn't

been speedy like everyone brags about.  

3.) www.OfficeDepot.com :  I know, Office Depot, who orders from Office Depot for Christmas?  I did. And I love them.  They had super fast shipping in these great boxes with not a single dent.  The packaging inside protected everything nicely. So fast - the fastest of anyone! Thankfully it was the priciest one, too. Go Office Depot!

4.) www.Zulily.com : For the love of Pete, this is the slowest shipping on the planet.  I ordered on November 14, 2014, and I still don't have all my stuff.  Some of it is in Mississippi.  Seriously - today is December 11! Got some super cute things, I feel like we got good deals, but... I WANT MY STUFF.  Also some damaged packaging.

5.)  www.EasyCanvas.com Got a great deal via Groupon - I'll talk more about this after I give the gift.  But their shipping was Super Fast, just a little less than desired.  One of my canvas prints was kinda tossing about loose in the box? But it wasn't damaged.

6.) www.CanvasOnDemand.com This is a company that did it right.  Took a hair longer for me to receive (also another Groupon deal woop woop!) but they did a great job packaging it up nicely.  No damage to the box or product. Wrapped their box and gifted it because it looked good and fit the canvas perfectly.

---- Let me also review UPS for a moment, who delivered my boxes not to the government building I work at, but to the nursing home two doors down.  Thankfully the nursing home people are nice - they brought it over to me. I went online to chat with UPS.  They said you are not promised a reimbursement if your packages are not received. And when I explained the destroyed boxes and damaged product boxes, I just kept getting "We are sorry. We are sorry." I finally asked where she was located - Pacific Asia. They don't know anything specific about me, so nothing will be done. I'll call my local office tomorrow and make sure someone understands how to read shipping labels. (No, this isn't a snarky remark - I want to make sure the new guy understands what he is doing).

---- Adding to this - FEDEX, who shipped out my package from NV and had it meandered across the country in various random states before dropping at my local post office and my mail carrier delivered it.  Interesting concept, but this took an insane amount of time.

I don't know if that will help anyone out there or not.  Just my observations on the companies I ordered through in the past 6 weeks or so.  :)