catching up

I have not been good at writing lately- i feel like it has been nonstop lately! I had several opportunities for some overtime (Hawaii money!) and then my normal working. and then saturday I started feeling poorly and turns out I have strep and a little bronchitis. I started some antibiotics and I feel so much better. still coughing, but much better.
it is rainy here today. and everyone says 'better rain than snow'. well, not me.but it will hopefully motivate me to get this house clean.
Philip has been working the night shift lately, so we have been seeing each other for a few minutes in between my shift and his. sucks. and he is exhausted. we are both so looking forward to our vacation in March.
We start our scuba diving lessons next week! I know Philip is excited about it, and that makes me happy. Me, I am mostly doing this for him. But I did get some cute pink fins and pink mask out of the deal :) Don't get me wrong, I will love to see the beauty underwater in Hawaii and wherever else we go diving. But I dont surf the internet for hours on scuba diving like he does. or buy scuba diving magazines like he does. :)
I have today and tomorrow off, so I am trying to cram a lot into these two days before I work the weekend and three days in a row (yuck!).
If you think about it, say a prayer for my Grandma B, she is having knee surgery today. And surgery when you are older is never easy.
Countdown to vacay: 24 days!

scuba diving in mexico

you can see the mask imprint on my face:)

Valentine's Day

I'm never been the biggest fan of this day. I never loved it when I was single or dating. But then Philip gave me the best Valentine's ever on our first Valentines Day together. and he seems to always find a way to  make me feel extra special on this day, so I am becoming a small fan of it :)
Philip didn't get to bed until 3am the morning of the 14th (work). But I still woke up to these:

It makes me so happy to walk into the kitchen and see surprise flowers. I always used to say I didn't like flowers, that they were a waste of money. I retract that statement. I like them. a lot.

while he continued sleeping, I got Jax ready for this big day of getting neutered:( I dropped him off and had a small anxiety attack when they told me they were going to intubate him. But I called my Aunt Ellen, she calmed me down. I went to the gym then came home to make philip breakfast. I'm usually not this corny, but like i said, I seem to be buying into this day...

heart shaped pankcakes

We got to enjoy breakfast together and then spend some time together before he had to go into work. He seemed pretty tired. I am glad he has today off to catch up on his rest.
I went to go get Jackson around 3. Dr McCord (who we love and I can not say enough nice things about) said he did great. He has 4 stitches and was so happy to see me.

tired lil pup

a lil sad that they are now gone....

Jackson was so thoughtful. he wanted to thank the nice people at Gainesway Small Animal Clinic and show them some love on valentines day

heart shaped cookies

Emily and I made dinner last night and Donielle came over to share it with us. We made a yummy spaghetti bake from my Aunt Shirley's recipe. emily was mad I made her shred the chicken instead of dicing it. but I just like shredded over cubes. so she did it, but wasn't happy about it. it turned out delicious. Afterwards we hung out and watched 'Valentine's Day' and ate skinny cow ice cream. yummy.

I love these girls

 It was a wonderful day for me. and the best part is, tonight it continues! Philip is taking me to Jean Farris Winery for dinner. neither of us have eaten dinner there before and we are both so excited to try a new place. I am also getting a massage at 4, which is something I look forward more than I can explain:)

*yesterday was Rachel's first day to work since she got engaged, and she got to show off her new beautiful ring. what a fun valentines day for her.
* mom and dad called from puerto rico yesterday (they are on their cruise). they are having a great time. somehow she managed to get a card to us yesterday wishing us a happy day with a gift card to go out to dinner. she's amazing.
* philips mom spoiled us with books and maps on Waikiki. she also gave each of us our own funny card with our own gift cards. me- yankee candle. philip- home depot. we can't wait to spend them.
Hope you all had a wonderfully happy day yesterday!

Wonderful Weekend

I had such a wonderful two days. I'm not sure if it was the warm spring weather or being away from work, but either way I have had such a happy past two days.
Saturday morning I got up, took a spinning class with Jordan, came home and made breakfast for Philip and I. I got to spend some good time with him before he went into work. That makes me happy.
THEN my brother and his girlfriend stopped by to show me her ENGAGEMENT RING! thats right, matt FINALLY proposed. He had told me he was going to do it on Saturday, so all day I was sitting by my phone just waiting for him to call me. when his face showed up on my phone, i could hardly control myself. I can not tell you how happy I am. I love Rachel so much and I love that she is going to be a part of our family (well, officially).

The happy couple

 That night I went to a japanese hibachi grill with Emily and Whitney. and it was a lot of fun. I love those girls.
This morning I went to church and Jon preached such a good sermon on angels and demons. and talked about how we are at war with Satan, every day. I will probably have a separate post about this. but it was thought provoking, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
After church I picked up lunch and had Subway with Philip before he had to go into work. Since the weather was so amazing I went on a walk with Erin, trying to push Baby Brayden into the world. I came home and took Jax for a long walk so he could enjoy the day too.

This is the new study we started tonight. about making our marriages better. I am excited about it.
Now I am relaxing on the couch with Maya and Jax. I hope Jax does ok tomorrow with you-know-what. I worry about him.
Hope you all had a good weekend and were able to enjoy the weather!!!!

weekend ramblings

We had a pretty low key weekend. I worked on Friday and then was on call on Saturday. (and we all know how much I hate being on call). But i did get to have lunch with my friends Emily and Donielle at Stanley J's. yummy. and I got to make Philip dinner that night ( a new but easy and delicious recipe!). so, yay for not getting called in.
Philip is gone to SnowShoe WV right now. He went on a ski trip with 4 other residents that he works with.
So he left bright and early Sunday morning and will get back Wednesday night. It's just me and the 'kids' for a few days.
I spent the day in Georgetown yesterday. I promised Jackson i would take him to play with his GrandDad. and he loved it ( not sure who loved it more, dad or jax). Dad took him for a run on the farm. Dad rides the 4wheeler and Jax runs with him. He used to run behind, but now he runs way ahead of Dad. When they got back, jackson was covered in mud. I mean, one big mud ball. So dad carried him into the bath tub where mom and i showered him off and made him clean. and in turn turned the bath tub brown. ew.

best buddies

 Last night I went to The Donovan's for the SuperBowl. It was a lot of fun. Lots of yummy food. lots of laughs. I don't care much about the game. I just like the social aspect. and the food. and the commercials. but there weren't many funny commercials last night. I think the best part was the enthusiasm that Brian Burton had for the game. I have never seen the like. But it was very entertaining:) Meg we have videotape!
Today is a rainy day here in Lexington. Maya went to get her shots this morning so she is puny. Jax is still recovering from his day yesterday. I am in search of a new good book. any suggestions?

Fancy Watch

Yesterday Philip came home with a random ' i was thinking about you' present. these are my favorite. because they are always thoughtful. 
Yesterday he gave me a Sportline watch. It monitors my heart rate, calculates my speed & distance, calculates calories burned, steps taken, etc. It is like a tiny little computer on my wrist!

He said that since I have been so excited and committed to working out lately, that he thought this would be a fun toy for me to keep me going:) The watch can be set to keep your heart rate in 'health zone', 'fat burning zone', or aerobic zone'.

you touch anywhere on the silver perimeter & it reads your heart rate & tells you the % of your maximum heart rate

 and you can have an alarm go off when your heart goes below or above this target zone. It also stores your work out memory for the day, so you can go back and review it. I am so excited to take this baby to the gym !!!!

Worry Wart

I have sometimes been accused of worrying. ok, a lot of times. and for me its more of a anxiousness rather than a consuming thought process. But I tend to worry/be anxious, a lot. Well, my wonderful preacher Jon preached a sermon straight to me on Sunday. So I thought I would share (see the whole sermon series here).

Jon talked about how every day, you can choose to live a life of certainty or uncertainty. You can choose to be consumed about things that you have no control over: health, money, family. or you can choose to be consumed with His Word. that tells us not to worry (Matthew 6) and he said when you choose to be on the uncertain side, you are struggling to control these things that you just can't. and it leads to more anxiety and more stress (it was one of those moments I wanted to look around to see if he was literally talking to me).
He listed many reasons why not to worry. Saying that worrying gives a small thing a big shadow. which I do all the time. I take something that doesn't really matter, and let it's shadow cover everything else. Another point was that worrying is unproductive. and I love productivity. but he's right. taking up my thoughts and time worrying gets nothing accomplished.
The last two points he made, made me really think. he said that worrying is unchristian. that you can't say ' I love the Lord and I trust the Lord' and then worry all the time. that it's either one, or the other. and most of my life I have done both.
Then he made the statement that "worry is practical atheism". whoa. but it makes sense. 1 Peter 5:7 says to "cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you". And going back to Matthew where He says ' do not worry". it puts a new light on worrying for me.
He then talked about Proverbs 12:25 where it says 'anxiety weighs down the heart'. and that you should take that weight, and just let it go. and i thought to myself  "well, ok".simple enough. well, not really in action. but the idea is simple enough.
For those who know me well, you know that there are times I can't sleep because I am worrying (especially for those who dealt with me in my dating days-- talk about anxiety and worrying!) After the sermon I have been thinking about what Jon said, and what the Bible says, and I am really trying to focus more on the certain. Because God has never given me a reason to doubt Him. or to question whether or not He is speaking the truth. in fact, He has gone so far in the opposite direction, that I am ashamed of my lack of faith and trust.
So I am trying to let God do what He wants to do, and take care of me. And I don't know why this is so difficult for me, I like to be taken care of:)