Step by Step, oh baby, gonna get to you girrrrrrrlllll!

Step 1: We can have lots of fun!
Step 2: There's so much we can do!
Step 3: It's just you and me!
Step 4: I can give you more!
Step 5: Don't you know that the time is right???!?!!

Now for those of you faithful fans out there, you know exactly what I am talking about. New Kids on the Blocks. Jordan, Joey, Jon, Danny, and Donny. Step by Step. Hanging Tough. The Right Stuff. Some of the best memories of my childhood involved these guys (I might be slightly exaggerating here). Sleepovers with my NKOTB sleeping bag, playing with my NKOTB Barbie-like dolls, kissing Joey's picture goodnight at my friend Lexie's house, cutting out pictures of the guys from Teen Beat (and then organizing them into separate folders), skating around Courtney's garage to their music... I'm gonna stop there. The keyword , however, is "memories". I don't feel the need for this reinventing of New Kids on the Block. Why not let the memories linger pleasantly in my mind:-) The other morning on the radio they were giving away free concert tickets for their upcoming reunion tour and you would have thought they were giving away free tickets to Europe. Grown women were calling in screaming.
But does this make me less of a true New Kids on the Block fan? Is it ok to think grown men should not call themselves "kids"? Is it ok that I prefer to keep their songs on my 80's/90's playlist on my Ipod? Is it ok that I don't want to hear 30 year old men sing creepy lyrics about half-naked girls in the summertime? After much deliberation and soul-searching, I think it IS ok. And the next time I hear my boys sing "Hey girl, can I get your number", I'm going to have to say no.

Valentine's Weekend

I think Valentine's Day and all things associated with it (well, all except boxed chocolates and stuffed animals) is great. This year I decided to have Valentine's weekend. My goal was to have an all-things Adam and Shawn weekend. Weekdays can be soo stressful and with my new job, I cherish the weekend. So here's a run-down of our weekend: Friday night we went out to eat for our nice dinner at Maggiano's. Keep in mind that our reservation wasn't until 9:30 (Adam was a little delayed in making reservations:-)) But dinner was awesome and we had a great time. Saturday morning consisted of sleeping late and homemade blueberry pancakes at 11:30am. We then decided to take Ellie, the Franco's chocolate lab that we were dog-sitting for the weekend, to Belle Isle for some walking and swimming in the river (her, not us:-)) We went with another couple who has a dog and it made the dog-fever even hotter. (Insert random thought: Adam just sat down and put the "Find Pets" section of the newspaper down in front of me...Too bad he was looking for used cars on the back:-( ) When we got home, we exchanged gifts. Adam got me flowers (that he arranged himself), a red pair of my favorite Nike running shorts and mountain biking gloves (how romantic:-)). I got him the The Love Dare book from the movie Fireproof and a very cute sweater:-) We decided to go see a movie that night and saw He's Just Not Into You (or whatever it is called.. I never get it right). The other option was to see Twilight in the old $2 theatre downtown, which had specially balcony seating for "couples only" on V-Day- haha. We went with Option 1. Anyways, the movie was cute, with lots of famous faces in it, but I didn't think it had the world's greatest view on marriage. I did, however, inspire a new haircut which I am going to attempt to have my hairdresser try on Thursday (stay tuned for more). So anyways, that was our Valentine's Weekend 2009. I'm still married to the most romantic husband who makes every little thing special and I'm thankful for our relaxing time together.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!

The other day it hit me while I was in the Christian bookstore. I realized that my parents 30th wedding anniversary was January 12 and being the horrible daughter that I am, I never properly acknowledged what an accomplishment this truly is. It's definitely not the norm anymore for parents to stay together and I am so proud that mine have! I thank them for this example and in honor of this momentous event:-), here are the 30 reasons that I am thankful for my parents: (in no particular order)
1. For making me and Scott 8 years apart. 8 years as an only child was awesome:-)
2. Sitting at countless tennis matches, softball games, basketball games, baseball games, ballet recitals...I could go on and on with this one
3. For dad secretly letting Courtney and me ride in the back of the truck to Dairy Queen
4. For buying me my very first car (the 93 Camry), then giving me the trooper when I wrecked the Camry, and then finally letting me have the 4 Runner as a graduation gift
5. For paying for my dream wedding
6. For not being TOO much in my business but ALWAYS being there for me at the right times
7. For moving me in and out of numerous houses and apartments
8. For building/sewing/crafting/painting/molding anything I can ever dream up
9. For always taking the verbal abuse if I've had a bad day
10. For making it a priority to take family vacations every year (usually to the Outer Banks or Snowshoe... you guys aren't much for changing it up:-))
11. Allowing opportunities to be around extended family as much as possible
12. For letting me believe in Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy
13. For being at church EVERY Sunday morning..bright and early at the 8 o'clock
14. For welcoming Adam into our family with open arms
15. Having family dinner every night at 6:00
16. For paying for me to go to college and supporting me financially through grad school
17. For always telling me how pretty I am.... even with braces, frizzy hair, acne (you get the idea)
18. For never claiming to know things they don't
19. For raising me in Tennessee... and NOT New Jersey or New York:-)
20. Sending me to public school, even though I always thought I wanted to go to private
21. For allowing me to have freedom in high school to hang out with friends and learn my own mistakes
22. For always being a phone call away
23. For always having brownies on hand when I come home from being far away
24. For living in the same house I was raised in (for 23ish years!)
25. For letting me stay with Bam and Doda after school when I was growing up
26. For having dogs.... NOT CATS!
27. For your involvement and generosity with the schools and the Cleveland community
28. For attending every awards banquet we ever were invited to
29. Always making sure I have cash on me:-)
30. For always letting me, Scott, and Adam know how much we are loved!

These are just a few of the reasons, but I just wanted to tell you guys how much I love you! Happy (late) Anniversary!!

Winter Advance '08

Well, for those of you that doubt that Adam and I actually do youth ministry up here, here is a little proof for you:-) Martin Luther King weekend is always our designated weekend for Winter Advance. It is the biggest trip for the youth (they don't have a youth camp during the summer like most of us fondly remember:-))and they LOVE it. This was my 2nd year to be able to go and we took the most kids since Adam has been the pastor: 61 youth and 18 leaders! We stay at Camp Bretheren Woods, about 2 1/2 hours away, for 4 days and 3 nights of no sleep and eating junk. Sunday is the day we head up to Massanutten Ski Resort where the kids can ski, snowboard, tube, or just hang out in the lodge. This year's theme was "Purity with a Purpose". Pastor Wayne (our head pastor) was the teacher this year and laid it ALL out about sex. It was so awesome and the kids got alot of answers to questions they had and had the chance to sign a new covenant with God for purity in their lives, focusing on grace-filled accountability with each other. I'm telling you, there is nothing more rewarding in life than to see young people turning their lives back to the Lord. I was tearing up alot that day:-) I also got the chance to talk with all the girls on Saturday morning, sharing my own testimony about relationships and high school. I was sooo nervous but so glad I got to share with them.

Here are some highlights from the weekend. I apologize for the poor picture quality (I'm still using the ghetto Kodak EasyShare since I dropped my good camera)



The first game of injuries: some sort of thumb war or something



We played another game where certain kids had to describe what was under the boxes to the audience. The boxes had fruit, a shoe, and then under the last box was Tim Brock, one of our adult leaders.Every kid screamed when they peaked under. It was hilarious!



This was sharks and minnows only on land, not water. The kids had to crawl from one end to the other, with the sharks having to steal a shoe from the minnows. It basically turned into a giant wrestling collision.



Some of my favorite girls







Bad quality picture but here is everyone sitting down for a session



Can ya'll believe that people STILL play the cup game?? I for one was never a fan, but they still love it!




Adam in charge









Scary snow monster:-)



Yes, my husband is wearing a Teletubby costume at the ski resort. There was an autistic boy who thought he was real and wanted to stab him to death!






How pretty...

First Day of Work

Well yesterday was my very first day of work as a nurse practitioner. Needless to say, it was quite overwhelming! As most of you can remember, I graduated school in August of 2007 and haven't really been in the NP mindset since then. So of course I have been freaking out for a the last couple of weeks and trying to study notes, etc. I was slightly at ease though when the doctor said about a week ago, "Don't worry, I'll hold your hand the whole way through". So I showed up Wed. morning with a hand ready to be held:-) Instead, I show up to a schedule that has me seeing 10 patients by myself!! I basically had to b.s. my way through the first day and act completely comfortable and that everything was no problem. I was there at 8:30 and didn't leave until 7pm. (Then of course, I had the 1 hour drive home). Needless to say, it was overwhelming. I did annuals, contraceptive planning, HPV counseling, pyschosocial consults, and more cultures and paps then I've done in a while. I've realized that I'm working with a brilliant doctor and that is also a little intimidating. She is a VERY OCD with cleanliness and she says everything is "beautiful" (ex: beautiful uterus, beautiful cervix, beautiful breasts.... you get the point:-)) Anyways, today is a well needed day off and I'm hoping I can recoup a little bit. I guess we'll see how the rest of the week goes!

School Loans

Few things in life frustrate me more than school loans. Can somebody please explain to me how a STUDENT loan can cost you nearly 3x the amount you borrowed in the first place??? How compounded interest can depend on if they do it daily, monthly, or continuously?? How you pay and pay and pay on your "principal" and all you are really paying for is more interest?? Or my favorite is when you call the loan people to ask them a question and you get some super math nerd spitting out so much information that you finally just say "oh, I get it now" (when you are even worse off than you started). I am not even lying, if I had known how much this whole process was going to cost me in the beginning, I would have done a whole lot of things differently. (How differently? I have no clue. Just differently). And if one more person tries to tell me that school loans are an "investment", I might just scream! Now don't get me wrong, my wonderful parents totally helped me out with college and I couldn't have done it without them. And precious Adam probably didn't realize that my marriage dowry included so much fun like school loan debt. He just smiles and says, "We'll get through it". And in the end, I know we'll get through it. It just makes you wonder if the amount you pay off in the end was truly worth the education you got.

New Year=New Beginnings (pun intended)

So the word is officially out on the streets--- I got a new job!!! Praise the Lord! After a very long and often sleep-deprived year (and the reason I've been up since 3AM tonight), I will no longer be working the night shift! In about 2 weeks, I will officially be employed as a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner at New Beginnings OBGYN. I am so stinkin excited! The office consists of 1 female physician (they are looking to hire another), 1 RN, an ultrasound tech, a phlebotomist, about 4-5 office staff, and ME. During my interview, the physician told me that they are a Christian office who "prays together and plays together":-) Shoot, they even hugged me when I left my interview. The biggest downfall of the job is that I will have to commute 1 hour each way. Luckily, I will only be working part-time (about 27 hours/week), with the opportunity to move up once I build my own clientele. The 1st 90 days will be a trial period where they make sure that I fit well with the practice and that I know my stuff. Which brings me to my next emotion: FEAR. I am so scared that I've forgotten all my knowledge from school and I am going to get into a patient's room and just blank-out. But I believe the Lord has given me this position and I know that I will be ok (hopefully)! So keep me in your prayers on January 21 and until then I'll be sleeping in, having 3 day weekends, frantically studying, and preparing for my sex talk to the youth girls for our upcoming winter retreat (more on that later:-)!