Happy Thanksgiving!

Logan's First Thanksgiving 2006

(I love pictures of Baby Logan)

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving and also list the things that I am most thankful for this year.

• Robert Mondavi, Woodbridge, Liberty School, Kenwood, Chocolate Block, and the 7 Deadly Zins. (seriously, try the last one.)
• The Southbeach Diet. (I look good!)
• All my pets. They drive me SO crazy but my house would be way to ordinary and quiet without them
• My Blackberry. (Not proud, but if I wasn't already married, I would marry it)
• The Best Family on the planet. With out support we are nothing. It truely takes a village.
• Chris. For his never ending positivity and his drive to be the best he can. I admire that trait so much more now.
• Ryan. He made me appreciate the "little" things. Literally. I now know a love that is beyond words.
• My sensitivity to the world around me. This can be overwelming at times. But for the most part, it has made me real, confident, logical, compassionate, and balanced. I like balanced...

  XOXOXOXO

Do we really end up with nothing?

I have been contemplating this blog for over a week now. My grandfather, who I never remember being really sick in my life, was admitted to the hospital last week. He had some major muscle weakness and was not well at all. Come to find out it was a dangerous reaction of two drugs that he was prescribed. I guess the reaction raises your enzyme levels in your body and attacks the muscles. Needless to say it put him out.
But there has been a much bigger lesson here. One that I can hardly think about without getting upset. My grandmother is in the late stages of Alzheimer's and my grandfather has been exhausting himself to no end to try and keep her out of a nursing home. In the last 4 months it has become unbearable for him. He says he rests at night. But as an 86 year old man from "The Greatest Generation", being a caregiver was somewhat foreign to begin with.
As we age we never stop to think of how hard it could be one day to loose our independance. To rely on others, where we use to do it all ourselves. To be married to someone for almost 60 years and watch them loose who they are. Can anyone blame him for wanting to hold on to their life? For not wanting to let go?
A hurricane takes their home and most things in it. A disease takes the person who was suppose to be with you through 3 children, 11 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren. Now. That same disease is taking you down with her.
I believe all this is the turning point. I believe that with faith, HE answers prayers. And I believe that we can worry. But when the time comes we need to get on our knees and thank HIM for stepping in. Well I am on my knees now. I mourned the loss of my Granny. I gave that to YOU. But damn it, I will not let the disease have my Granddaddy too...

Seasons...

A very important person got married this past weekend.

Just being in the room with them at this wedding, you know that they put the happy in "happily ever after." These two have it together and their world is now an open door. Not only did she get married, she is moving away too. I feel like a piece of me has gone. I am better for having her around and I KNOW that her and Tyler will do just fine. Now. Hopefully, my adjustment to life without her will go as smooth. :(
Congratulations Katy & Tyler!!!

I love you...

Helping all Babies get their Nine Months...

This past Sunday was a great day for us! Ryan and I participated in Gator Walk 2008. It is the 5th annual March for Babies held on the UF campus sponsored by the March of Dimes. This was our first walk and it definitely will not be our last. The weather was gorgeous and it was an amazing day to get out there.

We were getting ready to start the walk when one of the representatives from the March of Dimes approached me. She asked if I would be willing to take Ryan up on stage and share our story. I think my knees immediately began shaking. You see there isn't a day that has gone by in the last 18 months that I didn't think about what I would say to all those doctors and nurses if I got the chance. So we headed up and I told just a little bit about what we went through. Thinking back now, I wish I had said so much more. I will say that Ryan loved his moment in the spot light. He even became somewhat of a little celebrity afterwards. We posed for pictures and talked to a ton of people. All the way home last night, I still felt like I had so much I needed to say and didn't. It wasn't until this morning that it hit me that no matter how many times I say thank you, it won't be enough. How do you thank someone for saving your most precious thing in the world? You can't. So I will walk next year! And the year after that! And the year after that! It will never be to much. Because I can never repay what was given to me. I want to thank Mom, Debbie, Vicky, and Brittany for walking with us. Again. Words can not express how much it means to me.

Here are some highlight pictures from our day.

Over All GatorWalk 2008 raised $38,000 to help prevent Premature Birth!

Please pardon me for the interruption.

So is it weird that I think Harry Potter is HOT? I ran across this picture today of him and was DAMN that's not the little wizard I remember.

He has been on the brain today, along with these other strangly attractive British men. WTH?

NO! Ryan isn't British. LOL

But I never miss a chance to post a picture of my favorite American Idol host...

Electrolux is popular in Europe???

Happiness arrived at my house this week in the form of a NEW washer and dryer. Please know that when I purchased my new laptop, I was poised and ready for something large and expensive in my house to blow up. Well. It was the washer. It was getting ready to go. Chris and I knew this. We had been pricing them out and were fully expecting that it would be the next thing we would spend money on. It was 8 years old and had mold growing on it.

So here it is. Or should I say here THEY are. Ours are Mediterranean Blue not the Teal. But none the less they are sweet. We will probably need to wax them once a week. Because the paint job is nicer than what is on my car. Please know that my husband swears that Kelly Ripa had nothing to do with his wanting them. And personally I could care less. She is gorgeous but the washer and dryer are PERFECTION...

My New favorite Thing...

In my never ending quest to save money on groceries, we have been doing a majority of our food shopping at Costco. One big bag of frozen veggies and Ziploc's NEW Zip'n Steam Bags go a long long way!!! Love them...

My reason for getting up everyday...

CHANGE

I have spent the last 24 hours trying to digest exactly what happened to our nation lastnight.

I knew there was something coming. I knew that the winds of change were inevitable. I mean. Isn't it true that when you hit rock bottom the only way to go is up? Barack Obama was my candidate. I have followed him for almost 3 years. I saw him in an interview and had a feeling then he was something. Didn't know what? But something?

In the end, I do not credit him for what happened. The American people after many years of deception and mistrust, found a driving force. In my life, I have many times decided that drastic change was THE only way. It cleanses the soul and moves one forward like nothing else. When you get to that place, where you can't turn back, there is no alternative. Go forward.

Lastnight. A whole generation finally grew up! We decided that this country is ours. Our grandparents left us an amazing legacy at the end of WW 2. They were not called "The Greatest Generation" for nothing. That country wasn't gone. Just lost. We found our voice. And now we

EVOLVE...

Hey did ya'll know there is an election today???

So this morning. After voting. I was listening to the "Early Show" on my drive into work. Something was said that made me very proud of this election. No matter what happens today. No matter who wins. History will be made. This election has been remarkable for so many reasons. These candidates have brought back the enthusiam and excitment of a campaign. Voters now again have opinions about their futures. They feel like the government is listening and is going to do something to change where we are and where we are going as a nation.
So think about the possibilities.
100 years ago their were 134 million people in this country. 2 million of them were slaves. Now tonight. An African American could be elected president.
Not long ago. Women didn't even have the right to vote. Now tonight. The first woman could be elected to the White House.
I find comfort in the fact that Americans want something NEW. They want something DIFFERENT. Senator Obama. Senator McCain. Whoever, is elected will not get tomorrow off. You will be held accountable and if you do not deliver. This generation will NOT let you slide. Know it.

So I am headed out of work now. I can't wait to get home tonight to watch Brian Williams walk all over that huge map of the United States.
YES!
First, I have a doctors appointment though. Today is such an exciting day. A new president and a pap smear. GOD I LOVE THIS COUNTRY!!!

So long Sony Vaio...

So I am a whore.



A terrible terrible addicted to technology whore. I am really ashamed. I am. I spent two days last week in tears about my laptop. I rushed home and saved everything on the hard drive. You see, I lost all my honeymoon pictures when the hard drive crashed the last time. After everything was saved, I took the computer to a place here in town. I walked in and was greeted by a guy who was definitely a hacker, (No doubt, had a hand in creating the virus that killed my laptop. Lip ring and all) and a skinny guy in tight jeans wearing a "members only" jacket. (Yup. That guy in the back of the class IS making more money than us.)

They wanted a ton of money just to run a diagnostic on it. Well that I could swallow. It was when he told me he wouldn't be able to get to it for a week, that I panicked. WTH!!! No way!! I couldn't go a whole week without my computer. I might as well be drifting alone in the middle of the Atlantic on a raft. No effin way!!!

So I did the unthinkable. I went to Best Buy. I bought a new laptop. I am ashamed. So here I sit. Typing to you on my New HP. Call it buyer's remorse. Call it guilt. Call it anything you want. But by the end of the first evening with it. I called it LOVE!!!

My week...

So this where I have been.

• Sick Baby
• Sick baby
• Annoying pediatrician
• Sick baby
• Deadly computer virus infects my computer
• :(
• Sick computer
• Well baby
• :)
• Sick mommy

That sums up my week. How about you?