Getting ready to go on a cruise!

I'm leaving in less than 48 hours to go on a cruise with my mom. She's lost a lot of weight (we now share clothes, which is kinda odd--thank goodness she shrunk to me and I didn't grow to her!), and this cruise is a celebration of that (plus, a time to get away!) While I'm gone, my wonderful husband will be taking care of the girls. I have no worries about it, either. He's not one of those days who will trash the house, feed the girls junk food, and let them stay up all night, so I can go away and have an amazing time (although I will miss my family LIKE CRAZY!)

So, to get ready for me being gone for a week, I've been trying really hard to go grocery shopping, get the house cleaned, do laundry, etc. I don't think it's fair to go away for a week and leave a huge "to-do" list for Luke. Plus, he's worked like a dog this week getting yard work done (he hauled away brush, cut down a tree and hauled that away, and probably picked up and laid 8 yards of woodchips). The yard looks amazing right now! I can't wait for another few weeks so I can plant flowers and get my hanging baskets out! I LOVE this time of year (except for the allergies!)

I am thankful for so many things right now. Thankfulness is easy when life is easy, but as a Christian, I know that being joyful in the midst of the storm is a characteristic of mature faith. I am certainly thankful I'm not in the midst of a storm right now (we've had our fair share of those!) Sure, things are really tough financially and will be until I start to work, but I am thankful that our bills are paid and that we have food to eat (and sometimes there's even enough left over to go out for ice cream!) I'm thankful that I purchased a new pair of running shoes this week. I'm thankful that my 10K time is getting significantly faster. I'm incredibly thankful for my husband who works so incredibly hard in every area of his life--work, family, home, church, in order to show me and our girls his love for us.

And, this time next week...I'll be incredibly thankful to the person who invented sunscreen!

Gotta love semester break!

That's what I'm on right now. I had ONE final (that's a first!) and it was yesterday morning. My final was pretty easy, I got an A in the class, and now I'm down to 12 months exactly until graduation! I'm off the rest of this week and next week. My plans for this week are fairly simple...I've done yard work (more of that tomorrow), and then I plan on cleaning closets and going through toys for a tot sale I'm doing on Saturday with a friend. Next week I'm going on a cruise with my mom! I'm not sure exactly where we're going, but I know it's 5 nights and I'll get to see some Mayan ruins.

Our family is doing well. Luke is also on break from his MBA classes,Mandy continues to amaze me with how well she is reading, and Kayla only sat in time-out once today (that's a record of sorts!) My sister and I took my kids and her kids to the zoo today and it was fabulous. My kids enjoyed the zoo part more than her kids did (they are 18 month old twins), but the weather was great and just being outside felt fantastic.

That's about all for now!

Bang, bang, bang

That's what I'm hearing outside my window right now. We are currently in the process of having our roof torn off (to the rafters) and a new one put on. Oh, the joys of home ownership. I'd rather have spent that money on a nice vacation (actually, I'd rather not have spent it at all!)

Our family is needing prayer in a specific way: Our wonderful sitter informed us that she is going to start taking college classes and would like us to find a new sitter for the summer and beyond. We are going to miss her like crazy (especially the girls), and we need to find someone to come and watch the girls. We don't want it to be just anyone; we want it to be someone who is going to love the girls, interact with them, and be reliable! I have placed some ads and have yet to hear anything back. If you could please pray that God provides the perfect someone (or someones!), that would be fantastic. Thankfully, our sitter said she won't leave us hanging and will stick around until we find someone, but I feel a responsibility to her to find someone ASAP. The new semester starts in three weeks, and in two weeks I leave on a cruise, and I really would like to have something set up prior to that! Thanks in advance for the prayers! I know that God will provide ALL our needs--I keep reminding myself of that! It's just very hard for me, the planner, to not have everything set in stone NOW!

Today...

...I had the privilege of being able to tour the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) at our local hospital and do some shadowing of an RN. It was an amazing experience. I was able to hear the physicians do their rounds, hear stories on some of the babies, and see some really tiny babies (some were just over a pound). Some stories were so incredibly sad and some stories were truly miracles, and I was overwhelmed with how such a tiny person can pull on your heartstrings. I am incredibly thankful that I have never had to go through that with my children. Being in the NICU, however, provided further confirmation that I would love to be able to work in that kind of an environment. Emotionally, I know it could be really draining, but there are also some incredible rewards. I love the thought of getting to know the families, I love the thought of being busy, and I love the thought of continuity of care. I'm not kidding myself: I know that I will have a hard time when a baby dies (because the reality of the situation is that deaths ARE a reality of that kind of nursing). I know that there will be days I will want to give up and go push pills somewhere. But I also know that there will be days where I see God doing amazing miracles that mystify the medical community. Days when a baby who was never supposed to make it goes home with his mom and dad.

On another note: Less than two weeks from now and I will be done with finals and only one year away from graduation! It has gone so quickly (although, there have been VERY long days!) Two years ago I was making the decision to go back to school, one year ago I was stressing about getting into the nursing program, and one year from now I'll be graduating!

The plans for this weekend are to relax and sort through stuff! We have a ton of clothes and toys that the girls have outgrown, so I'm going to pull those together and try to sell them at a sale in a few weeks. I'm heading on a cruise with my mom and Luke is most likely going to take the girls to NC to visit some friends, so any $$ I can get off my junk would be fabulous! Anybody want size 3T girl sweaters?!