She is Whole Again

My sweet Grandma Bunny went to be with the Lord on Friday afternoon, February 15, 2013. Although it was expected, it doesn't lessen the hurt. I thank God for His grace in her last few days as she was able to slip into His arms peacefully. She was such a strong encouragement to me all throughout my life and I am heartbroken to think of my life without her in it. I find peace knowing that she is healed and I will see her again.

 

Rest in peace, Grandma Bunny. I pray that you know how much you meant to me. I'll love you forever and always be grateful to have had you in my life.

A Sweet Birthday

My sweet Macey turns five years old today!  I can't believe that I've had her for five years, it seems like just yesterday that I brought her home as a sweet little rolly polly pup. Happy Birthday sweet girl!


"Mom, this look a lot like a Valentine's Day cake."

 

"Yes, in fact, I'm sure this is a Valentine's Day cake."

 

"Valentine Schmalentine, can I have it now?!"



Happy Birthday Sweet Macey


Baron and I are also celebrating our fourth Valentine's Day together.  I've always loved Valentine's Day, even back when I was single I enjoyed celebrating this holiday of love.  Baron surprised me with a bunch of chocolate and sweets, along with a beautiful bouquet of roses and tulips (my favorite!).  Apparently he also has another surprise in store for me this weekend. I'm no good at the waiting patiently thing. I've got a hot pink sweater to put on and I think we'll go for a quick lunch together today. I have to work tomorrow so we don't feel like fighting the crowds tonight; I guess that makes us old married folks now.


Sweets for my Sweetie



I got Baron a chalkboard mug that isn't dishwasher/microwave safe. I'll let you take a guess how often we use this one! Ha!



Let's see how long I can keep these puppies alive

 Baron, I love you so much! I'm so thankful to have you in my life. You are the perfect balance to all of my craziness and I wouldn't want to do life with anyone else. Thanks for making this Valentine's Day so special! -xoxo

I wish you all a sweet Valentine's Day today!  If you're single do something sweet for yourself today, you deserve it! And if you have a special Valentine in your life, let them know how much you care.  Hope this day is fabulous!

Grandma Bunny

I guess I'll just jump right in.  My Grandma was moved to an inpatient Hospice facility late Thursday night.  The nurses told my Mom to expect about another week before she would pass.  Her first day at Hospice was horrible. She was very agitated, upset, in pain, and probably very confused.  My only prayer for her was for peace.  I know she is dying and as bad as it sounds I would like it to be soon because she is so miserable.  The next day was much better.  Although she isn't eating, drinking, or able to converse with anyone, she rested much better.  I ask you all for your prayers for her to continue to be at peace and comfortable until she passes.  They are telling my Mom that it will be very soon.

I ask for your prayers for my Mom too.  She's doing this all on her own, as her only brother passed away in November (in a terrible coincidence, it was on my Mom's birthday).   My Dad is a wonderful man and has been my Mom's rock during this time. When my Mom is upset and can't be in my Grandmother's room for a bit, he sits with her and talks to her for hours.  My Mom has told me that she doesn't want me to come to Florida right now.  I have mixed emotions because I want to be there for my Mom, but I've decided to listen to her advice and stay put.  I'll probably travel down to Florida after my Grandma passes just to spend some time with my Mom and Dad.  When I went to Florida after Christmas, I said my goodbyes to my Grandma.  I had a strong feeling that it would be the last time that I ever saw her, so I made sure she knew how much I loved her.  I am at peace with my relationship with my Grandma. 

My Grandma at my age...beautiful!

My Grandma and I at my bridal shower- April 2011

I ask for your prayers for my family.  We will get through this and be okay, because I know my Grandma will be whole again in just a few short days.  I know I will see her again.  My own selfishness causes me to want her to stay here with us, but I know that what's best is for to go be with Jesus now.  I ask for prayers for my parents.  My Grandma has no other family left besides my Mom, my brother, a cousin in Texas, and myself.  My Grandma has a large network of friends and as you know, sometimes people don't act they way that we do when they are grieving.  Would you pray that people would respect my Mom and the fact that it is her mother that she is losing? 

Life Updates

Morning friends! How exactly should you start writing when you haven't written in months? I guess just jump right in?  I'll try to do a catch-up post to fill y'all in but goodness knows, I'll forget something.

- My best friend delivered her first baby, a healthy baby girl on October 25 of last year.  Hailee was born by c-section and in a too good to be true coincidence I was able to be there for her delivery! My middle name is Hailee and I can't tell you the tears that were present when her husband came out of the operating room and said "It's a girl! Her name is Hailee!"

- Baron and I hosted Thanksgiving in our home for both our parents this past year.  I've always had dreams of having Thanksgiving in our home and was so excited to finally be able to do that. Granted we ate at the bar while two of us stood at the kitchen sink, but it was great! Hopefully next year we'll have a table big enough for all of us.

- On the last day of my parents' visit we got a phone call that my uncle (my mom's brother) had passed away.  He had a lot of struggles throughout his lifetime and I'm thankful that he is finally at peace.  My parents left the next day in order to get arrangments made for his service.

- We had a wonderful first Christmas in our new house.  I may have gone a little overboard with decorations but I was so excited to finally have a home (and a MANTLE!) to decorate. 

- A few days after Christmas I went home to Florida for a trip for a whirlwind trip of less than 72 hours. I'm getting pretty good at those whirlwind trips!  I wanted to visit my best friend and her little girl before my friend's maternity leave was over.  I absolutely loved seeing my friend as a mom.  She's doing a wonderful job and just looked like such a natural.  We went shopping at an outlet mall halfway between where my parents live and where my friend lives so my parents met us there for lunch and shopping. My friend told me that her feelings wouldn't be hurt if I stayed with my parents for my last night and she told me that she just felt like "I should".  So after tearful goodbye's I headed off with my parents.  That night my mom and I ended up taking my grandmother to the emergency room because she was in so much pain. 6 hours, a bunch of tests, and some pain medicine later, we found out that her cancer had returned with a vengance. I went to bed at 4am that day and was up at 7 in order to catch my flight back to Alabama.  When I got off the plane and into my husband's arms, I never felt so far away from "home".

- My grandma had a major stroke on Sunday and has been in the intensive care unit ever since. They are trying to decide whether to send her to a rehab center or hospice. She's not herself anymore and is in a lot of pain. I hurt for my mom who is trying to figure all this out on her own. Again, I feel like I am so far away.

- Next month I am finally going PRN at my job, meaning I can work as little as six shifts every two months or as much as full time if I wish. I've always said that it's that third day that kills you so I told the scheduling person to put me two days a week for now and we'll see how it goes. To say that I'm excited is an understatement!

- Baron is doing well, he's been busy at work and hasn't had at all over the past few months.  He's still enjoying his job. I'm so proud of him and all of his hard work.

- Baron told me about a year ago that he wanted to go to Hawaii for our second anniversary.  I was totally on board but a little hestitant about spending a bunch of money. After all, we were about to close on our home when he first brougth this up.  He told me that he wanted to pay for our trip using credit card miles.  I thought to myself, "Maybe we'll make it by our 15th anniversary, there's no way we'll be able to get enough miles to get to Hawaii."  About a month ago Baron told me we had enough miles to get there...first class...and we'd only have to pay twenty bucks for taxes and fees!  Obviously when you buy a house, you spend a lot of money. A painful amount of money.  But Baron used his smarts to work it out a little in our favor and use the right cards in order to get us tickets to paradise. Way to go, hubby! And I guess we can thank our refridgerator, washer and dryer, living room furniture, bedroom furniture, fence company, etc. It's nice to get a little "reward" for spending all of our money on our new house. 

- Our trip to Hawaii is in May and I'm very excited! I've been playing with our camera a little more, trying to figure out the settings and even...gasp...Manual mode! I want to document our trip, it will be an exciting getaway!

- In honor of all my camera practice, I give you, a photo dump:

A few weeks ago, we had a significant amount of snow (for these Florida people!)

Loved this rainbow we found :)

I hope to keep my little neck of the blog world more up to date than I have been, but who knows. Maybe you'll hear from me tomorrow, maybe in a year or so!  I love to be able to look back at our lives and see what we've done, things we've been through, and lessons we've learned.

Home, Sweet, Home

Hey y'all! It's been a little crazy in our neck of the woods lately so bear with me while I try to play catch up for you!

First of all, we've finally moved everything into our new house.  We were able to have our closing on July 12 and then slowly moved everything over to our new place for the next two weeks.  All the while we both worked and Baron had to go out of town for a whole week...but we've finally moved everything and have a couch ordered and on the way!




Closing Day, and just like *that* we're homeowners!



Only Baron and I would choose the hottest weekend of the year to move!



The thing I was most excited about was having a fence for these 2 monsters, this was their first day in our new yard!


Y'all we have the bare minimum for furniture right now. Two chairs to sit on in our living room and a bed to sleep in. Also some barstools. So we have a place to eat dinner and a place to sleep, what else do you need?! We have a couch and a breakfast table on the way.  I can't wait to sit next to my husband and watch TV, ahhhh, the little things! The list of "Things to do for the House" is pages long but we're just trying to prioritize and check things off the list little by little.

My parents were supposed to come visit last weekend but unfortunately the week before held bad news for my family.  My Grandma was diagnosed with lung cancer on Monday of last week, had surgery on Tuesday and on Wednesday was given a very grim prognosis.  I flew home on Wednesday for a couple of days to be with my Grandma and help my Mom while they were staying in the hospital.  My Grandma has decided to move forward with chemotherapy and radiation which started yesterday.  Like any family,  we have certain dynamics that don't necessarily help any of this news.  Please keep my Grandma in your prayers as well as my family in Florida who are trying to help her as much as possible. It's very hard to be so far away while my family is going through a tough time.

Our schedules have been so busy lately, we are enjoying being able to walk around the neighborhood in the evening and just breathe.  I'm trying to remind myself that everything doesn't have to be done right away and if it takes 5 years to get our house put together, that it's okay, and to remind myself of what's most important in my life and not stress about the other stuff.  Trying is the key word. 

Hope you all have a great week!

Well Hi There!

Y'all.  I'm no good at this bloggin' stuff! It's been a month since I've updated and I feel like SO much has gone on.  I think my stressometer if just way past the max and the last thing I want to do in my free time is sit down and write about all the craziness.  But there are times when I think that it'll be nice to go back and read what's gone on in our lives, and what we've learned and such.  So I write...

Baron and I celebrated our first anniversary on the weekend right before the real day.  We dropped the dogs off at doggy camp and headed to Nashville for the weekend.  It was such a fun time!  We stayed at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel which was so much fun!  There's so much to see and do in the hotel that we barely left to venture out and see the rest of Nashville.



From our balcony



I had Publix make a replica of our top tier, which I'm sure tasted
a lot better than a version frozen would have!



Baron made a version of my favorite flower to stick with
the traditional first year=paper anniversary gift!



Baron loved his Pinterest inspired framed maps



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We really did have a wonderful (although far too short) weekend! We've decided we need to go back and explore the rest of Nashville on another trip! I just love Music City!

A few days after we got back from Nashville I was doing some homework for my new job and Max came walking towards me and I gasped! His mouth was so swollen! A quick trip to the vet's office, some steroids, and benadryl and he was all better!

Poor guy :(

I guess I need to post some pictures of our house.  It seems like it's moving very sllllooooooowwwly now but I've heard that's normal.  Supposedly the house will be done by the end of this week and then we'll start all the walk throughs and inspections and such.  I am SO ready to be done. This has been such a bigger headache than I've ever imagined.  I just don't understand how so many things can be messed up...granted, most of the things are being fixed after a some discussion, but there are some things that won't be totally perfect because they've had to be redone the correct way.

Yesterday when we drove by the house we were excited to see that our mailbox had been installed!  I got out to snap a picture when Baron dropped the bomb on me, "Um, that's totally NOT our address!"  Haha!  Par for the course, I suppose.  Adding it to the list of things that'll need to be resolved before we close.

Talk about a photo dump!! I'm off to study for some classes that I'm taking for work.  Let me tell ya, it's hard to get back into the swing of studying when you haven't done it in years! Hope you all have a wonderful week!