Merry "Belated" Christmas

I guess it is better late than never, but Merry Christmas. I just returned home from a very nice 10 day visit with my family. This was the first Christmas I have spent with my family in 5 years. It would have been a perfect Christmas if Jason could have been there:( But we will have our Christmas and his birthday together when he comes home. But I had a wonderful time and got to see some of my family that I have not seen in several years. It was really hard leaving last night but knowing Jason will be home in about 2 weeks, it eased the pain of leaving...YES I said 2 weeks!! I am so excited and I know he is just as excited to come home!

I pray you all had a wonderful Christmas and may your New Year be prosperous!!

Fun is Contagious

Check out this video...too funny!

A New Friend....

Jason went to an Arabian nights thing yesterday and here is his new homie, Joe! Jason said it was pretty cool. He got to ride some camels and east some traditional Qatari food which consisted of a huge plate of rice with lamb and no eating ustensils. He said he did not think it was very good, but neat experience to say the least!

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a blessed New Year!!

Only about 3 more weeks left on our countdown to the end!!

New Pics

Here are a few pics J sent me today. They went to see a few planes today and got to go inside most of them. The one of him in the cockpit is a B1 (the big black plane!) Hope you enjoy!
And just for the record we are under the 4 week mark now!! YEAH!!

My God is Oh SOOO good!!

I am so excited I want to jump out of my skin (if that is possible!!) LOL:) I often wonder, God are you hearing my prayers...even though I know He is and it is all about His timing and praise God for His timing or we would all be a big ol mess!
My job offered me to stay on after I graduate with them as a labor pool (as needed) nurse. They were hesitant on hiring me full time do to Jason being in the military and I can not give them a specific time as to how much longer we will be here, so they offered me this position. I would be a PRN nurse for all 3 of our clinics (family practice, OB/GYN, and pediatrics!) But they said they will get me my hours that I want - which is 40 hours a week. My ultimate goal is to go back Civil Service. That way every time we move everything (leave, sick leave, retirment etc.) will follow me every where I go whereas working in the civilian world I would have to start all over at the bottom of totem pole each time. So come January 1, I am sending in my resumes for some GOV jobs. I do not graduate until the end of March, but we were told we can start applying in January and of course the government takes their time, so that should give them plenty of time. But it is refreshing to know that I have a job already for when I graduate., in case the gov does not come through right away..YEAH!! I would be a PRN nurse for all 3 of our clinics (family practice, OB/GYN, and pediatrics!) But they said they will get me my hours that I want - which is 40 hours a week.
Also, another HUGE praise report is that J called today and said they are getting a pay raise in January. Praise God Praise God!! With the few hours I have been able to put in at work due to school, this is a tremendous blessing to us. We are so undeserving of the blessings God has bestowed upon us and give Him all the glory for everything He has done and is doing for and in us!! He has truly blessed us financially during my school!
Lastly, J does not have an exact date of when he will be home...but should be about 4 weeks!! Talking about wanting to jump out of your skin for all of my excitement....I have been sooo antsy and can not wait until that day in January!!
I pray you all are having a wonderful week and will chat again soon!!

Another Milestone

We, our church, had our first service in our new place Saturday evening and was simply Amazing!! The building was oh so nice and spacious. And it was really great to actually get to hang out afterwards without having to rush to tear down or get out of the theater in that the moviegoers can have their way. Unfortunately, I missed most of the sermon due to being on the hospitality team and helping out the ushers a bit....but the bits and pieces I did hear were great. I will have to share more once the podcast is up and going and I can hear it all. But after the service we had a little receptioon well it actually turned out to be a big reception!
And then on Sunday I actually was able to have a day of rest (well of course with some studying and car washing going on!) Listen to PF's sermon here. But nevertheless that was a day of rest for me, I can not just sit on the couch all day!
So I am totally looking forward to what the Lord is doing and going to do in our church and through each of us as we can use Sunday mornings to spread His light to those around us!
May you all have a wonderful week!!

Only 4.5 more weeks! til J comes home! YIIIPPPEEE!!

The REGATTA

Here are a few pics that J finally was able to send. He has to borrow a laptop there to send them out....unfortunatley they can not download pics to the GOV computers any longer. 4 people built the boat he is racing, but he was picked to paddle it over! He did come in 3rd place overall. He said about 30 boats entered the competition. But looks like they did have fun! J is looking mighty buff, despite his "Deid" Farmers Tan - too funny!! I spoke with him this morning and he sounded good but is past ready to come home. He said they have all been ready to come home for a while now.
Hope you enjoy the pics!! And just for the record (not that i am counting - but we have about 6 weeks or so left!! YEAH!!!)

L&D???

So I had my first day at labor and delivery today and I will just say it was so AWESOME!!! Words can not describe how excited I was to witness such a wonderful thing!! Oh how I would definitely love to work L&D...although most places want you to be an RN! So we are praying about that and see where the Lord leads me as far as school and lead us when J returns home to see where he will be working! I heard that some of the military hospitals hire LPNs for L&D, but I am not too sure. I saw 2 babies delivered and these moms made it look soooo simple (although I know it is not!) No screaming or any sounds coming out of them for that matter, but then again they did have an epidural. I had a 17 yo on her first kid and then another mother on her second child. And I watched an epidural go in on a mother on her 4th kid. I felt really sad for her because she was there by herself and was going to labor by herself....if I did not have to work, I would have stayed with her! So this was definitely a fun, rewarding rotation and I still have 1.5 more days to go - YEAH!!

Back to the Real World....

I am back in VA...well at least for 3 more weeks until I head back home for Christmas!! YEAH!!
Even though I know I will be back in a few weeks it is always still so sad to leave and even more sad to know I am coming home to our lonely little house! But I had a wonderful time hanging out with the fam and enjoying Thanksgiving with them all. So tomorrow it is back to the real world of school and work. Although I am really looking forward to school this week, so that has helped me with coming back to VA :) This past week I was in the mother/baby unit and then starting tomorrow we will be in the Labor and Delivery unit for 3 days. I am sooo excited and pray we get to see a lotta little lives come into this crazy world!! Last week was so much fun too in seeing all the new proud parents and these precious little gifts of theirs!

Jason had a good Thanksgiving and was able to have a few of the Thanksgiving menu items. He had his regatta on Thursday afternoon. He said there were about 30 boats that entered the contest. He was the lucky one who got to paddle his boat in the actual regatta part. Although it teetered a bit and he fell out of the boat once, he ended up in 3rd place!! He said it was fun and was really surprised at the turn out. So hopefully he will be sending some pics soon that I can post.

We are down to the 6.5 week left mark - YEAH!! So I pray these next 3 weeks fly by and I know my time at home will and then once I return back to VA we should have only 2 weeks or so left! PRAISE GOD!!!

Well here are a few pics from mom and I decorating their house for Christmas....dad was behind the camera, so we will have to get him in the pics at Christmas!

I pray you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Thankfuls

So much to be Thankful for....

God - for all He has done for me and sent His son Jesus to die for my sins
Jason - for being the most awesome husband that he is and for him serving our country for our freedom and for the sacrifices he makes daily
Family - for being the models that they are for us
Friends - for their support and prayers during times such as we are going through now


I am thankful for the job the Lord blessed me with exactly one year ago, when I thought He was so not listening to my prayer for a job - He was faithful and taught me a lot in that waiting period and I am seeing His perfect plan unravel with this job he placed me in. I am thankful for the opportunity to go to nursing school and the wonderful success I have had thus far with this.

I could continue to go on and on, but these are just a few of the MANY thankfuls that I have.
I pray you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!

Capping

Practical Nurse's Pledge

Before God and those assembled here, I solemnly pledge:

To adhere to the code of ethics of the nursing profession.

To cooperate loyally with the other members of the nursing team and to carry out faithfully and to the best of my ability the instructions of the physcian or the nurse who may be assigned to supervise my work.

I will not do anything evil or malicious and will not knowingly give any harmful drug or assist in malpractice.

I will not reveal any confidential information that may come to my knowledge in the course of my work.

And I pledge myself to do all in my power to raise the standards and the prestige of Practical Nursing.

May my life be devoted to service and to the high ideals of the nursing profession.

My Confession

So I must finally confess that I have a secret competition going on with the neighbor...well not so secret because my friends always are laughing at me about it. Well I am always competing every week with my neighbor (who does not even know he is in a competition with me) to see who can get their yard done first. I am not saying whose yard looks the best (because they got us beat by way far) but who can get theirs done first! Kinda funny because my friends are always teasing me because they always ask what I am doing for the weekend and it is always, do the yard, wash the cars, and study. And of course their reply is "oh yeah Michelle gotta beat that neighbor to their yard work."
He normally beats me but that is because he is retired and loves to do yard work (so I guess because he is always out there) and I am never home and yard work is not my favorite (although I do not mind mowing - I love to see the lines from where you mowed, kinda like the vacuum lines on the carpet, but do hate all these dang leaves I have to bag up every week.) So he did beat me this weekend but that is because it was raining all day yesterday and I was at church this morning. He started while I was at church, but that is ok, I just keep praying for them.
But I must say that J and I do have them beat on the cleanest car competition (in which he probably does not know he is involved in either!) LOL!!
Anyways...now that you all think I am totally weird - hopefully it will give you a good laugh!

Update on Jason

He has moved to the day shift, so we will most likely only get to talk via phone on the weekends now due to our crazy schedules and the time difference of 8 hours (they did not "fall" back an hour!) So that is a bit hard, but thank goodness for computers.
He is doing good though...it is a bit warmer being on the day shift (it has dropped to the 90's now and around 60's at night), but he is keeping really busy! They only had one day to switch from nights to days, so it was a rough start for him on Wednesday but I think he was so tired by evening, that he was able to get on track fairly quickly. But it is definitely quite exciting to know we are definitely on the downside of this deployment!!! The ending can not come quick enough!
Also, in other news...we thought there would be a chance for us to go back to Florida, but the military decided to nix that. Jason has been doing some calling along with his wonderful command that he works for now (kinda sad you have to deploy in order to find good supervisors!) in hopes of having something for him for when he returns. He kinda does not have a job when he returns, so he was "looking" for a job and there were some in Florida (sorry -trying to put it in laymen's terms.) After his commander made a few phone calls they were told we have to be on station 2 years before leaving. Which kinda does not make much since...but we do like it here but Jason was trying to take advantage of having an opportunity to actually pick your next assignment. So it looks like we will be in VA for a little bit longer...for how long, we do not know?? But if you think about it, please do say a prayer that all goes smoothly with a job for him when he does return.

God is in Control

Now that the election is behind us and forward we must go and remember that God is in control!!!....here are a few thoughts from another blog of a friend of a friend "Whether you personally like it or not, Barack Obama is our president now. As such, he deserves the prayer, support and respect due to someone in that office. Paul commands us to honor and serve our rulers as the ministers of God (so far, of course, as conscience allows) Speaking disrespectfully of them is an offense against God and a bad testimony to the name of Christ. (1 Peter 2; Romans 13). He is our president and he has my prayer and respectful support." May we all have this thought process as we continue to pray for our country and the new leaders coming into office!

It has been a bit of a tough, yet enlightening week for me. A friend of mine reminded me at our bible study Wednesday night that it is just funny how God's timing works and of course works perfectly. With J's deployment, it is hard to not have him here yet I think about the timing of this deployment and praise God for it. School has literally consumed me and all of my time and with J being deployed during my busiest months of school is a relief to know God is in control of it all. I have said this many many times, that I wondered if I was in His will in going to nursing school. Yes, I have wanted this for many years, but when the time came I had to wonder if this was really what I was to be doing. And as each day comes and goes I am quickly reminded that I am in His will in doing this whole nursing thing and I love it more and more each day....although I wish J was here to celebrate it all with me, but he will be home soon and my schedule should be way calmer when he gets home!! So Praise God for His timing and for His calling on our lives uring this season as a military family and a nursing student!!

As in thinking about God's timing it is really awesome to sit back and ponder on the timing and the people He surrounds me with during each season of my life. We are doing a study called a Walk Across the Room (I highly recommend this study if you are in a life group!!) But the Lord has been speaking to me a lot about this lately. And to keep this secretly without telling this person's personal business too much. I just ask that you pray for this friend of mine. I do not know for sure, but I believe they are thinking of getting an abortion very soon. I do not quite understand this, but just pray that I have the words and actions to speak to her through God's love. It is crazy this all came up this week, because we started our OB rotation and watched a video called "The Miracle of Life!" I will not go into more detail but just ask for prayer for her as well as myself. Also prayer for me as I obey God and walk across the room to this person as well as a few others on my prayer list.

Half-Way There!!

We have finally reached the half-way point of J's deployment!! YEAH! It has gone fast yet it has gone slow. These last 2 months will hopefully fly by with all the busyness I will have with school...I did not think they could make us more busier than we already have been.
J is doing great and is keeping busy too and says the time is going by fairly quickly. I spoke to him last night and they are making plans for their "regatta" they are having right before Thanksgiving. They have to have a team of, I believe he said 4, and they have to build a boat out of cardboard and see who can get across the pool the fastest or just get across period. He is trying to get the exact specs/rules to see what can and can not be used for their raft. So he seemed pretty excited for this. Over the past several weeks they have been building things...the latest being a bookcase, then a backboard for the dartboard I sent (some people are having a bit of a hard time hitting the dartboard itself LOL!) and they have built a card table. So hopefully he will be able to send some pics from the regatta that will be taking place on 22 November.
Please continue to keep him in your prayers as well as our country and the other troops deployed!

I'm offiically a Senior!!

Well I can say exam week is officially over and my worries for this last semester are over. I left my last final on Friday a bit aggravated at myself for a dumb "mistake" I thought I had made which would leave me with a B instead of an A for the class. So I have yet again worried and stewed over my dumb mistake all weekend...only to find out that I Aced the class and did not make the dumb mistake that I thought I had made. Yet again, God pulled me through these exams and all of my tests thus far. I truly was a B-C student throughout high school and into college, but the Lord has totally proven me to be an A student through nursing school thus far. Praise to God for helping me through this school. I have had straight A's up until this semester in which I had one B, but not to use it as an excuse those test were worded weirdly, not to mention Hard. So now, onward to the next semester.
Our evening rotation at the hospital tonight, was our first day being seniors!! YEAH!! In a couple of weeks we will have our capping ceremony where we receive our nurses caps and are officially marking our senior status. I can not believe how fast the school has gone by thus far and can not believe we have a little less than 5 months left.
My prayer is just that I sense the Lord's direction in where I should be going with my career as a nurse. At the end of this month and beginning of next month I will be in the mother/baby unit as well as labor and delivery. I say this is what i want to do as a nurse, but I have never worked nor been in these 2 fields for any reason. So we shall see. By the end of January we have to make a decision of where we want to do our preceptorship in March at. We get 3 choices and I pray I make the right decision for this because you generally want to choose where you think you might want to work and in making that decision you kinda want to choose where they may be hiring in that they hire you right on after your preceptorship. Kinda confusing and hard to explain, but please if you think about it, say a prayer for me in making the right decisions and that I can continue making straight A's.

How Great is Our God!!

Our church has finally found a home to call ours..well at least until God leads us elsewhere. There is a place here in town called the Mosaic and they have 4 other churches that use this facility. Our church service will be held on Saturday nights now instead of Sundays. Please see our church's website here and listen to our pastors sermons from the past few months as he speaks about this issue of Sunday only services. We have only been in this church for 1 year and the church was started almost 3 years ago and have always met in a movie theater...so this is definitely exciting times. We love our church and are so excited to see where God is to take us next. We have both grown so much in the Lord this past year and in being part of this church. But we are so excited to see what God has in store next for the church as well as for Jason and I.
In other news, we were totally blessed with a HUGE blessing this week. To try to keep the story short, I was officially separated from Civil Service at the end of July in which I was to get my leave that I had left paid out to me. So after a few months of waiting and a lot of patience in trying to find out what happened to the money (it was kinda lost for a few months!) we received the check and the Lord totally provided us with way more than what we were expecting to get from it. God sure does have a sense of humor and I have totally been laughing all week with Him. I have been asking myself for the past several weeks if I am or have been effective for His kingdom in all that I do and say and act! (My schoolmates and coworkers have been a true test for me!) And just this week with this huge blessing from Him and then showing me several things through people I have been praying for...I felt He was saying yet again...See Michelle - just trust ME!! (Hopefully that makes some sense - I was trying to not go into great detail to keep this "short!") But to sum it our God is soooo Good and always shows up when you least expect it.
As you can see by the pic....I got a bit bored this weekend and got a new doo. Exams were finally over and I have NO homework this weekend and with J gone, it got a bit boring here!! LOL!
I talked to J for a few minutes on Friday and he is doing great, yet totally exhausted. I know he is ready to come home and really excited that it will be striper season here...so his brother Brad will be flying out after J gets home so they can get their fishing on, not to mention to brother/buddy time in!! So I know he is excited to have all that to look forward to when he gets home!!

Life is oh so Precious

I have survived the first exam for the semester and am now gearing up for next week!! It has been a tough week because of exams and with the patient I had at the beginning of the week...made me step back and take a look at life and reminded me to enjoy it more and to also keep myself in better shape. I think it is all kind of hard to understand or realize until you see it face to face. This is the second patient I have had in the short time that I have been in the hospital doing rotations that makes me step back and say WHOA!! This week I had an 81 year old lady who had dementia/alzheimers and was in restraints in that she would not pull out any of her lines. She had a bad decubitus ulcer (big open sore) on her bottom from laying down for so long and had many other decubs starting to form. (On a side note, if you have someone in the nursing home and is bed ridden - PLEASE make sure they are turning the patient!) Anyhooo...she does not talk but a few mumbles every now and then that does not relate to what you are asking her. And she can not feed her self and is incontinent. It would take me at the minimum 45 minutes to feed her and she would just stare into my eyes and I would just wonder what is going on in that brain, what is she thinking, what does she want to say, who was this lady or what was she like before the disease?? These questions are not being asked in a mean way, but with the disease what goes on in these peoples minds. This is only a blurb of what my few days were with her were like...but I learned so much about life itself from this patient who could not really communicate with me. My grandpa had dementia but I was not living in town when he had it so I was not around him when he was diagnosed and lived with this disease - and have come to learn how scary and sad it is. I know the Lord is keeping her here for some reason, but still makes me want to ask God why?
I know this is only a glimpse of what I am to see in my future career as a nurse but I am looking forward to it all because it gives me a new perspective on my health and my life. I just pray the Lord will use me and I will allow Him to use me in whatever way!!

On a happier note...J had a good birthday despite where he was and the fact that he had to work. And I can not believe I forgot about his birthday last year and felt really bad when he reminded me that he was working 14+ hour shifts this time last year. So he got home around 9:30pm and had Sonic for his birthday last year! But he is doing well and keeping busy with work!!

Check out our "old" website for some pics from my school. Click on jandmishi in the upper right corner of this page. I can not get them on our new website, so I just posted them all on the old one until J gets home and can show me for the 100th time how to do it!
Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Birthday Homie!!

Today is Jason's 28th Birthday!!! He is finally catching up with his old lady here!! But to my awesome husband - the Lord has truly blessed me with you. I could not imagine nor live my life without your love, friendship, inspiration and most of all your understanding. I hope you can make the best of today being where you are and can not wait to see you in a few months!!!

**Had to post this picture as I know you are counting down the days to get back on the water!!

And More Company!!

This past weekend my parents came up and brought up "neused" furniture to us. They got new furniture and we got their "old" furniture! And it looks awesome in our living room. We had a fun time hanging out this weekend. It was kinda dreary and really cold on Saturday so we went to the outlets and of course to the BIG Yankee Candle store and then out to eat. Then on Sunday we went to church and made a quick trip to the Seafood Festival on Sunday. It was a bit chilly and windy so we walked through the craft section and then we all had crabcake sandwiches and fries! It was some good greasy stuff for our guts...but it is ok, we had a little long walk back to the truck! Also, while they were here they helped with a few odds and end things around the house. Thankfully (in a good way) it was chilly this weekend because I turned our heat on for the first time only to discover it was not working. So thankfully dad was here and investigated it for us and we were sleeping nice and cozy Sunday night (it was a bit chilly in the house Saturday night - as I thought the heater was working?!!) Also, my dad fixed ol blue and she is up and running again for me to drive. And then my mom and I piddled around the yard - cut the hedges and raked up the first bit of fall leaves.
So it was a bit sad to leave them this morning...but thankfully I have the holidays right around the corner to look forward to!! But we had fun hanging out and just relaxing.
Unfortunately for me....back to reality! The next 2 weeks are slammed with Exams!! Let the fun begin!
J is doing great and he has been really busy so his time is still going by pretty fast. He is currently on night shifts but will soon move to the day shift...I am thinking it will be around the half-way point which will be in about 2 weeks. I sure hope the backside of the deployment goes fast!

Lil Company

This past weekend my brother, Chris, came up to spend a long weekend with me. He came up on Friday and left early this morning. It was nice in that we could just hang out as it has been a while since we have been able to do so....but hopefully he did not get too bored?!! We made a trip to the outlets and found some FAB deals there and then we were to head to Busch Gardens for HalloScream - but the line just to get into the park was ridiculous. And just a side note on that - I found out today from one of my coworkers that people were waiting like 1.5 hours to get into the park just to park their cars only to find out that the park was full to its max capacity and were not letting more people in. So after seeing the horrendous traffic, we ended up driving to the beach Saturday evening and ate dinner there. It was pretty brisk so we were only at the beachwalk for a total of 5 maybe 10 minutes. But had a nice dinner with some funny old ladies sitting behind us talking about their guy problems. Too Funny! Then Sunday we went to church and he helped me with a few things around the house (like cranking the weedeater and edging our yard for us) and then I washed our car and he washed his truck! And then just took it easy the rest of the day as I had to hit the books a bit!! But all in all, I had a great weekend hanging out with my Bro and was bummed to see him go early this morning! It was definitely weird coming home to a quiet, lonely house again!
So that was our weekend in a nutshell! Another festival is coming up this weekend, so I will have to mix a little of that with a lot of studying... EXAMS start next week! YIKESER!!

One Month down...3 to go!

Well, one month is down and we have 3 or so more to go with this deployment!!
This is a pic that J sent me tonight. It was taken shortly after they arrived there.
I pray you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Where has the year gone?!

Today marks exactly a year that we moved into our house here in VA! This year has flown by...despite the slow start and bumps we hit moving back to the states. But just in one year we have been through so much and accomplished a lot. It is awesome, to look back just on the this year and see where the Lord has brought us to and excited to see where He is taking us next!

Also, we will reach another mile marker next week...it has been a month since J left, so I just pray these next 3 go just as fast! His time is going fast for him as well and he is doing great and feeling a bit better!

We hope you all are having a wonderful week too!

Happy 90th Birthday Mamo!!

Today is Jason's Great-Grandmother's 90th Birthday!! So Happy Birthday Mamo! We wished we could have been at the big party yesterday, but know we were there in our thoughts!! 90 years old...something very proud and honored you should be! And oh the things you have seen, done and been through and have many stories and memories to tell!
We wish you a Happy Day today!!

And more problems...

I spoke with J Friday evening and he is doing great and he says the days are going bye a bit faster now that he has his routine down. He sounded a bit congested but he was not sure what it was. And then I got an e-mail from him this morning and he said he believes he has gotten the crud from his roommate. He is achy, sore throat, congested and all the flu like symptoms. So he said his roommate has had it for at least a week and some other girl in their workcenter had strep. I told him to go get his throat swabbed...so we will see if he actually will. Don't really blame him if he opts to just medicate himself because most likely the doctor will just give him the standard Air Force TicTacs...Motrin. Anytime you go in sick that is all they ever have given either of us as well as the rest of the Air Force...Motrin. But please pray that he does feel better and that it will continue to circulate around their workcenter. No fun to feel sick in 90+ degree weather!!

And the weekly problems continue to rear their heads here on the homefront. I just have to laugh because everytime J is gone, something happens literally every weekend (weather it be house stuff or car stuff or whatever!) So this weeks Saga at the Wells house is a leaky roof. We have had a ton of rain this past week and in one our bedrooms a stain (that I reported back in February!) has grown a bit and was a bit cold and wet. So I called for the 3rd time on Friday to report it....so we shall see what happens. It has not caved in yet, but the property manager seems to think it is the air conditioner pan overflowing. So I have done all I can do and now just laughing at the devil telling him "He ain't gonna get to me!"

I pray you all had a wonderful weekend and fall is coming your way...it has been very pleasant after all the rain we had!!

Just a little laugh...

I thought I would share my experience with you all from yesterday to give you a little laugh...it was not funny at the time but too funny now! (or maybe it was a had to be there moment?)
I did my clinicals with home health yesterday and today. The nurse I worked with drove around everywhere...thank goodness because we were mostly in the GHETTO all morning. She has several gun shot wound patients she cares for. And she was saying how most of her patients thinks it is normal to shoot people or hear gunshots. CRAZINESS I tell ya! So I am like great, nice rotation the school put me on. Her clients tell her she is safe because she is white and they all would think she is the PoPo riding around downtown! Too Funny! She does mostly wound cares....and all of them were from bed sores. Nastiness! I was in a rush and forgot to eat breakfast and I did fine all morning until the last house. Let me keep it short and say that they call this house the "Roach Motel!" The nurse literally told me to make sure I keep my feet moving at all times to make sure no roaches try to crawl on me! Anyhoo, I was really nervous for this house because you know I don't like the bugs. So we go in and the client is another gun shot wound victim and he has some bed sores on his heel and 2 Big'uns right above his butt crack (how do you like my anatomy terminology?!!) He is paraplegic which caused these sores to come up because he often lays in the same position for a long time. Anyhooo...we go in and the house smells a bit and I am standing recording all the nurse finds with the first sore. She redresses it and such and then she begins on the top 2. And I feel the blood just rush out of my head and I thought I was going to pass out or puke! I am not sure what got me to feeling that way. My head was going crazy thinking should I just squat down, run outside or heaven forbid sit on their furniture. I wanted to sit down but was scared that roaches would run out...but I ended up sitting in a chair but stayed on the edge of it just in case any roaches wanted to run out. I sat with my head propped in one hand and I was acting like I was rummaging through his chart in that they would not see I was sick. So the nurse finished up the dressings on the last 2 and then we left. I had to apologize for sitting down, and said I was not sure if it was because I did not eat breakfast or the smell of the house or the wounds or the sight of the wounds or maybe a combo of it all??? But needless to say I was embarrassed.
Today was much better. I only got to go to one house, which was full of cigarette smoke...lovely, right?! But this guy was in his 40's and was a quadriplegic. And she had to do more dressing changes and a catheter change. Funny ol guy though!!
But home health care was a wonderful experience...I would definitely have to think a little extra if I want to go into that field of nursing??
Well, hopefully you got a good laugh out of roach/sickness story.

J is doing great and working hard. His 3rd roommate finally left last week, but now he is hoping his roommate will stay quiet while he sleeps during the day. Hopefully they will get those little kinks worked out. Also, one guy he worked with in Germany saw him at the chow hall over the weekend. And then another good friend of his was to be passing through this week headed back home...so I hope they were able to catch up with each other. He is getting married in October in which J was going to go to his wedding before this trip was popped up on him. So I am glad his is getting to see some old friends, even if it over a meal at the chow hall. I know it helps boost the ol morale. It is so funny of how small the Air Force really is because no matter where he or we go we always see people that we met at other bases or places that he has been!

Until next time....

Fall is here???

Well it seems fall is here or maybe it is for these past few days and the weekend? The weather has been very pleasant....in the mid-upper 70's and little breeze. I hope it stays this way, but we shall see!
Today at school we had a hot dog cookout and the weather was perfect for us all to hang out. Tomorrow I am participating in a Heartwalk that my hospital I work for and go to school at is sponsoring. So I am excited to get to hang out with some of my friends from work for most of the morning tomorrow! And the rest of the weekend is packed with a whole lotta studying!
I will post some pictures later on this weekend of the events from last weekend as well as this weekend...our website is having a few difficulties at the moment!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Happy 1st Birthday Kara Faith!!

We just wanted to wish our niece,Kara, a Happy 1st Birthday! We hope you have a fun day and a wonderful time at your party this weekend!
Love
Uncle J and Auntie Michelle

Volunteering

Here is me in "action" this morning! LOL!! I will put the rest of the pics on our website later on tonight. I volunteered this morning at the hospital in which I go to school at for their Men's Health Screening day! And it was so much fun and everyone was so nice. And best of all it was all free for the cleints coming in. Each client received free goodies (t-shirts, cups, pens, etc.) and we as students/volunteers received a bit too. I knew they had screenings around most towns, but did not realize that they went to such extent. I always thought it was more of an informational type deal - you leave with a handful of papers telling you what your normal levels and such should be. But this event has all kinds of information as well as actual tests and screening for the men. So I just encourage you all to keep an eye out in the newspapers or an ear out for radio announcements for screenings such as these to take advantage of. They are free and what could it hurt for you to get an extra screening.

Onto the mouse situation...I think it may be gone. After getting back this morning I spent the rest of the morning and into the afternoon cutting grass, cleaning the cars and just picking up around the outside. So as I gently got the lawnmower, vacuum and power washer out, I did not see the mouse scurrying around anywhere. So hopefully he snuck out the other day!

I talked to our friends, Mike and Jamilia and Caden (we were in Germany with them) today, and they will be stateside in 2 weeks. YEAH!! I am so excited although we will not be able to see them for a while, but to know they are back and we will hopefully get to see them soon after I graduate. They will be in San Antonio next. So they are excited to get back to the states and indulge in all the fattening foods and a 24 hour Walmart!! So safe travels to you 3 and may this transition be a smooth one for you guys!

I have not been able to talk to J everyday via phone but we get to e-mail everyday. He is doing good, but very busy at work. He is just waiting for the 3rd guy in his room to leave (he was on the rotation before him) so that he and his roommate can make their room "more homely" for the next few months and he will not have to walk around quietly while he is sleeping. Unfortunately, he can not talk about his days too much with me being it is all confidential, so it is hard to give you a long update on him other than he is doing good! So please keep praying for him!

So I thought....

So I thought I was a strong woman until tonight, I was proven wrong. I must say it seems when J is gone everything likes to go wrong and it has already proven so and he has not even been gone a week. I must put God and myself on a pedestal for a second and say with the Lord's help we get through the storms that come my way when J is gone....such as car troubles (in which J's supervisor just left from here helping us out) and hot water heaters gone wrong - which I know is just the beginning. But tonight I believe I was defeated by a mouse...yes a mouse. I will take car troubles, problems with the house and on and on before I have to deal with a pesky mouse. We spotted him in our garage tonight while Winkler was tinkering on the car. So I just pray he escaped before I closed the garage door or I never see him again. I truly will be dreaming or as I like to say having nightmares about this pesky thing for days now....about like the "ferrets" in Germany (that one is for you J!) But hopefully tomorrow the mouse will run out while they are putting in the hot water heater.

Anyhoooo....

J is doing good and working like crazy. I have not been able to talk with him on the phone too much since he got there due to them being really busy at work, but thank goodness for e-mails. So hopefully the time will fly by for him seeing how they are a bit busy and he gets settled into his routine.

Just wanted to send out a prayer request as well. My mom's boss, Cleve Edmunds passed away yesterday. He has been in the hospital for a few weeks in ICU and they have been running test to see what was wrong and was finally diagnosed last week with cystic fibrosis. Please keep Ms. Max and the rest of the family and BBQ family in your prayers this week.

I hope you all have had a wonderful start of the week.
I will keep you posted on the Mouse

Made it Safely

J left in the wee hours of Thursday morning and made it to his destination about 24 hours or so later....so only about 120 more days to go and 19 more weekends! I sure hope it flies by! He is doing well thus far despite being tired (he has only gotten about 3 hours of sleep in the past 2 days!) He is 7 hours ahead of me or 8 ahead of the Texas fam. I spoke with him last night and he said he checked the weather before calling and it was 93 with a real feel of 102 (mind you - at 3am!) CRAZINESS! And he said the humidity is just crazy...I personally did not think humidity could get much worst than here or GA's humidity - but he said it is way worst. UGH!
All is well here on the homefront with ol Hanna touching ground. The town starting "shutting down" around 1:00 yesterday afternoon, although my job of course still wanted to see patients, so I was at work until 7pm. Up until I went to bed last night, we had only got about 20 minutes worth of rain and a tiny bit of wind. And to be honest I am not sure if it stormed bad through the night...I was still trying to catch up on my sleep from this busy week, so I slept hard and woke up to the yard full of leaves and the sun popping out.
If anyone wants J's contact information just let me know and I will e-mail it to you.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Sorry the pic is off centered - it was about 4am when I took it before we left Thursday for the airport!

He's Baaacckk!!

J made it back safe and sound this past Saturday. Even though he is back for a short while, we will take whatever time the military gives us!! We just hung out over the weekend and did not do a whole lot, but was nice. Then back to the real world yesterday of school and work for us both. Although I will not work a whole lot this week, in that I can come home after school and study and have the evening to spend with J.
Check out our website of some pics from J's trip to Pike's Peak while in Colorado and our a few pics of our "kids" in our backyard. We have always had 2 bucks in the backyard, but this was the first time we saw the 3rd one...and J was finally able to catch a few snapshots of them until the pizza man came to our neighbors house and it spooked them back into the woods!
Hope you all have a wonderful week and enjoy Labor Day this weekend!

Happy 4th Birthday Katelyn Grace!!

Today is our niece, Katelyn's, 4th Birthday! We hope you had fun at your party yesterday and have Happy day today!

1 Year Ago....

Today marks exactly 1 year that we have been here in Viginia...a bit hard to believe how fast the year has gone and what all has happened in just this year! It has been a great one and we are looking forward to and excited for what is in store for us next!
Here are some words from the group Sanctus Real that sums this past year up for us and all the obstacles thrown in our way...

"Whatever you're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something heavenly

Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Revaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow your will
or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is you want from me
I give everything I surrender...
To..."

J will be home next weekend...and I am SUPER excited to see him! So please pray for safe travels for him next weekend!!

Only 11 more days....

The first countdown is slowly coming to an end...only 11 more days and J will be home from this first trip. He was able to go meet his parents in New Mexico this past weekend and hang out with them. I think they all had wonderful time hanging out and 4-wheeling, but unfortunately was a quick trip because he had to get back to Colorado for class today. But was definitely a trip J needed to get away from it all and just have fun.

This past Thursday J had to call his Chief back here in VA and chat with him a bit...so to make the story short and sweet, another kinky loop has been thrown at J about his job and what is possibly in store for him when he returns from his next trip. Without going into too much detail, they are trying to cut back on his rank in his career field and trying to get rid of 50 people. So J is number 76...so if they end up getting to his number he will have to make the decision to separate or cross-train, most likely going for the later one. So this has really consumed my thinking and mind since then, until today....

In my study I am doing, today I read about the Blouse Theology based on the scripture Matthew 6:10..."Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" Here is an excerpt from the study "I have a friend who shares tongue-in-cheek her theory about how to know God's will when shopping. It's called "blouse theology:" "If I find a blouse I love, it might be God's will: if it goes on sale, it's definitely God's will." Often we connect God's will with our need for guidance in making decisions, big and little. And there's certainly an element of truth in that. We do need God to show us the right path in all things. Sometimes, though, we lose sight of the fact that God is less concerned with what blouse I buy than whether I'm generous. His priority is who He wants us to be. Who should we be becoming? That's the question most of Scripture answers when the subject of "God's will" comes up. 1Thess. 4:3 reads, This is the will of God - your sanctification."

So after reading that and me being usually a huge worry-wart I got a "revelation" from it. I need not worry about tomorrow, as for today has enough trouble for itself (Matt 6:34.) If I take each day and ask God, how can I serve You today at work or school or around the area for Your glory? If I focus on each day like this, then there is no need to worry about tomorrow or the next day or the next. If I take each person I come into contact with and ask my self...what do they need from me? (especially our angry patients.) So if I ask how can I serve You....this will lead to my treasure in heaven - Matt 6:20-21 So I just pray that as we are waiting on the "what" of God's will, that we will remember to continue on being who He wants us to be.

Also, an update on Nanny. She is doing great. She is a my parents house still, but moving around and recovering quite well. The PT comes out and she also is doing her exercises and walking very faithfully. So Praise be to God for this good report and quick recovery.

Hopefully my "revelation" was not too confusing - I am just so excited to see what God is going to do, that I can not get my thoughts down straight on paper!!

May you all have a wonderful week!

Update on Nanny

Well I spoke with Nanny briefly today on my lunch break. She is still in the hospital and "bedridden." They do not want her moving in that her clots will not be moving. They still do not know the exact cause, but she is still on blood thinner. She was not sure if they were going to take her down today to get more pictures in that they can see how the clots that she has is doing. She had only seen a nurse all day at this point. So not too much has changed since the last post, but please keep praying. Her being bedridden may set her back a little bit in her recovery from her knee replacement. I asked if they were coming in exercising her leg, but of course they have not because they do not want her moving a whole lot. But God is good and we are praying for a speedy recovery from it all!

J is doing good in Colorado...he survived his first weekend of boredom out there. It rained on and off on Saturday so he was unable to golf. Then he attempted to go to church on Sunday on base, but it was only for the cadets at the Academy....which was kinda weird - why turn people away from church? But was able to get in a round of golf there.

Here is a verse that spoke to me at church yesterday....something I will be pondering the next several months as we face a deployment, more separation and my goal of graduation. Praise God that He will never give us more than we can handle.
1 Corinthians 10:13 from the The Message Bible reads "No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it."

I pray each of your weeks was off to a great start today....I am definitely enjoying my "vacation" from school, even though I am working full time for these few weeks, it is nice not to have to rush home to study!

Prayer Request

Just wanted to post a quick prayer request for my grandma, Nanny. She had her knee replaced almost 2 weeks ago and is now back in the hospital. Yesterday, she called my mom at work and told her she was having shortness of breath and sharp pain on her left side/arm. So my mom rushed home and picked her up and they went to the ER. After many blood test, EKG's, and CT Scans, they have found a blood clot in each lung. They kept her last night and have been searching to see where the clots are coming from. She is currently on a blood thinner to help keep clots from forming and that the clots that are already there will hopefully "disappear" over time. So please be in prayer for her as she is in the hospital still and awaiting to see what they can find.

In other news, J is in Colorado and doing good. His class is going well and is a lot to take in. And of course he has been able to get in a round or two of golf after class during the week and will get another round or two in this weekend! So please continue to keep him in your prayers these next few weeks!

May you all have a blessed weekend and talk to you again soon!

27 Days Left...

Well the first countdown has begun...only 27 more days until J gets back. It has been a busy past week and weekend. We had a going away dinner/get together for J Friday night and then ran errands yesterday and my BFF, Donna, was in town and they were able to hang out for a bit and go to dinner. So it was sooo great to see her. And then today I dropped J off at the airport this morning as he is in Colorado for his 4 week training. He is there safely, although they have lost his golf clubs. The airlines always loses his luggage on just about every trip he has made. There are 2 more flights due in today, so hopefully they will show up....his work boots are stuffed in the golf case, so we pray it does show up tonight in that he needs his boots. He said the area is nice and he is living it up in a very nice hotel!! He has taken a few pics today, but we will not be able to post them until he gets back. In regards to his next trip, it looks like we will not have near as long together after this first trip, but we will take whatever time we do have and enjoy that....so it is a bittersweet deal, glad to have been given time together but wished it was more.

And here is a couple of Praise Reports for the week...I actually was able to work 40 hours this week. It was exam week, in which I only had to go in on Monday and Tuesday to take my exams and I was done for the week. And Praise be to God, because I have finished my first semester of nursing school with straight A's!!
Also, we had our second womens bible study and God is totally talking to me through this one. It is AMAZING! There were many areas we touched on such as being the salt and light to the world, hungering and thirsting more for the Lord and being the Peacemakers. The Lord says, blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God. Being a peacemaker requires wisdom, and oh how I pray for wisdom. Proverbs 17:9 says "the one who forgives an offense seeks love, but whoever repeats a matter separates close friends." And then we are asked to read Matthew 18:15-17 which talks about when it is too early to get involved in someone else's conflict and ways to be a peacemaker. The Lord has been speaking to me through all of these topics and He has answered many of my prayers in which burdens have been lifted. So Praise God for the walls that are down and the expectancy that we have for His next plan for us!

New Pic Site

J has built another picture site for us.....the layout is a bit better than the other one we had. We still have both sites but the newest pics will go to the JandMishi2 site. This pic is one J took the other weekend while fishing.
May you all have a blessed week!!

God is SO Good!

Wednesday night we had our first women's bible study. We are studying a book called Mocha on the Mount. I think this will be a great study with awesome fellowship. The Lord has truly blessed us with a wonderful church family here....ya just don't know how awesome and excited we are at what God is doing in us and what he has planned for us and for our church!! It was so great to hang out with some great Christian girls the other night and love on the Lord with them. And I can not wait to see what He has planned for us through this 6 week study.

In school news, the Lord has been so faithful and has been speaking to me so clearly with school. At the beginning of school, I was really doubting if this is where I should be and what I should be doing, but He has been so evident to me through the 3 months of school thus far. My friends in class truly think I am a nerd and a straight A student....BUT I keep telling that I am so not a straight A student and have never been one. All through high school and college I was more on the B-C side of the ol grade scale. I had a test on Wednesday that I knew I had failed, but hmmmm, got a 92...I know it is only the Lord guiding me through this. And this has happened several times throughout the 3 months of school. And yes I know it is my determination helping, but I still give God all the glory. And on Tuesday when I had my first clinicals, I was soo nervous, but prayed for confidence (not a Big Head confidence attitude,) but you know, just confidence, because I so lack that in myself. And he sure did give me the confidence to make it through the clinicals.
And then yesterday, I went to the OR for the first and I was oh so scared I would vomit everywhere or pass out....but made it through that too! School has been so exciting thus far although, finals are next week for the semester! Fun times!!
Here is a little tidbit of a flashback in "current history!" 1 year ago today we woke up to an empty house in Germany.....they were packing up our house and finished on this day 1 year ago. Man how the time has flown this past year.

Not too much going on this weekend, I am studying a lot for the finals and J will probably try to get in some last minute fishing...he will be leaving next weekend for Colorado for 4 weeks for training. So please keep in your prayers next week for travelling mercies. And also please keep us both in your prayers as we are seeking out what we are to do next with our future careers!

Well, I will end this blog for now...sorry to have been so selfish with it and talk about mostly me in this one.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

Happy Anniversary Dad and Mom W!! We hope you have a wonderful day and many more blessed years together! We Love you guys and thank the Lord for the wonderful example you are to us as a couple!

I SURVIVED!!

I did survive my first day at the hospital...YEAH!! It was not a traumatic experience like my first clinical rotation I had when I was in Florida. Today I had a very "good" patient. He was admitted to the hospital in March because while incarcerated, he became unconscious and fell thus causing him a bit of brain/neuro trauma. So he could not speak or do much for himself, had a feeding tube, and catheter. So I had the good case for the day. But all went smoothly and my teacher let us work with a partner (in which I don't think she was suppose too, but we were all SOOO nervous!) I know I will most likely be nervous each time, but it will be a slight less nerve racking each time! But all it takes is some prayer to walk me through it all...the Lord was definitely with me all day and kept filling up my confidence! So we shall see what Thursday will bring on my surgery rotation....my classmates had some "awesome" cases today!

Also, just a quick prayer request....Nanny, my grandma, had her other knee replaced today, so if you would please be in prayer for her recovery and for my mom, as she will help her out this first week. I have not heard the report from the surgery, but will hopefully get a call in a bit tonight.

I pray you all are having a wonderful week!

It is Getting Real....

My nerves are starting to kick in this weekend about the whole nursing thing....I go to the hospital for the first time this week for our "pre-clinicals." We are going on Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday, I will be on the hospitalists unit just bathing and doing vital signs and other beginner stuff like that. Then on Thursday, I am heading to the day surgery department, in which this makes me really nervous. I told my partner that I am going with to keep reminding me to not lock my knees in that I will not pass out. LOL!! The rest of our class will be on the units or the OR. But as my surgery partner said, we get a better chance of seeing a lot more surgeries, in the day surgery arena, versus the people in the OR. And then after this week we will be finishing up our first semester with exams and then get 2 weeks off. In September we will begin our hospital rotations on a permit basis and be there every week. So the fun will really begin.
Well in other news around the Wells house here....J flies out on 27 July for Colorado for his training! So the time between now and then has been ticking away too fast, if you ask me. And he found out this past week that his name will hopefully be pulled from the list that went out to receive orders in September for a new assignment. So we are praying that his name is able to get pulled out and he get on the next rotation of assignments, which would put us moving about this time next year, if he does get orders. So basically it is all up in the air and we will find out come September if his name was able to get pulled out of the "to go" list and wait until the next cycle to see if we will be leaving the area. Sorry if that all does not make sense, I understand it all, but is hard to write down in words.
So other than all of this hurry and wait stuff going on, not too much exciting stuff going on.
We hope you all have had a blessed Sunday and your week is full of joy!

Grand Re-Opening

Well, we had to reopen the car sales lot....the guy brought the truck back. Long story, but Jason was gracious enough to take it back despite what the contract said "Sold As-Is!" Here in VA you have to have your car inspected and the guy said it was going to be like $800 to fix what the inspector found wrong. And J was trying to work with him in either knocking money off the price or fixing the stuff for him. So who knows...we are both bummed about the whole deal, but I believe J did the right thing in taking it back. So now we just pray it sells for real this time and soon, especially before he leaves. I am not quite the expert in that area!
May you all have a wonderful hump day tomorrow!

Officially Closed!

Our car lot is officially closed now!! J and his brother, Brad, bought a kayak together in that Brad will have one to use while they were visiting and then were going to turn around and sell it. We also had a nifty ol 1985 Ford Pickup truck we were trying to sell. Last week the kayak sold in a record time and then today J sold the ol red truck! Praise God for the selling of them both. So J is retiring temporarily from the sales lot....although I am sure it will reopen once he returns?! Too Funny! He bought the truck for a great deal and then sold it to only make a lot more money on it. So Thank you Lord for that wonderful blessing!

I hope you all had a wonderful long weekend celebrating our independence. We had a quiet, yet nice weekend! On the 4th we went to Yorktown to check out the festivities during the day and then headed back that way to watch the fireworks in the car, it was raining pretty heavy, but so worth going! And the rest of the weekend we just hung out, ran some errands, of course some studying was fit in and J was able to get a little bit of fishing in.....it rained on and off so he got a little bit of time in, in between the storms. We surely needed the rain and we surely got it, along with the thunderstorms! It has been awesome to hear thunderstorms again....in the 4 years we were in Germany, there was not even a handful of times that we heard thunder and lightning, we had PLENTY of rain but no noise to go with it!

J heads back to work tomorrow after the long weekend, so I am sure he is excited about that! LOL! Although it will be interesting, because his shop is closed and they did not tell anyone where they were to report to. But please do keep us in your prayers these next few weeks, as assignments will be going out and we find out if we are to move or not. Also, we are just praying for what the next step would be in regards to his career and becoming an officer and if that is His will for J, that the right doors be opened in regards to his schooling and the right program to get into.

Also, our website should be up and running within the next few days. J is tweeking it up a bit and should be finished soon with a few new pics on there!
We pray you all have an awesome week!

Belated Happies!

Well this is a bit of a belated post, but it has been a busy 2 weeks!! Our family came in for a week and half, so we were busy hanging out with them all! We had a great time hanging out with the fam and just spending time with them all seeing how our visits with each other are not as often as we wish they could be. It was sad to see them go because we know it will most likely be a while before we get to see everyone again, especially with J deploying here in a few weeks. I will post some pics from the visit later on this week...our website is down at the moment, but will hopefully be up and running again soon?!
We do want to send out a few belated Happies...June is a very busy month of celebrating in our family! Last Wednesday, was Nanny's, Michelle's GMa birthday. So Happy Belated Birthday Nanny! We hope you had a wonderful day and a year full of blessings ahead! Then on Saturday, June 21, we were able to celebrate with Brad and Kelly for their 30th birthday! We went out to a wonderful seafood restaurant and then came back for some good ol ice cream and cake! We were excited that we got to celebrate a holiday with them and the rest of the family that was here!
And lastly, our good friends from Germany, Mike and Jamilia, celebrated their wedding anniversary on Saturday, June 21 as well. So Happy Anniversary to you guys and to the many more years to come as a couple! Miss you guys!!
Tomorrow we will be back into our routine again of work and school, J goes back to work tomorrow after being off for a week and a half. He has a busy few weeks ahead of him in preparation to leave for his training. We still have not word on if we will be moving, but hope to hear something before he leaves for his training in Colorado.
We hope you all have a wonderful week this week and reflect upon our country and our soldiers who have and who are fighting for our country and ALL the Freedoms we have!! God Bless America!!
Until next time.....

A Whole Lotta Happy's!!

This week there is a lot of celebrating going on...a couple anniversaries, several birthdays and our family is coming in town!
So first, I just wanted to say Happy Anniversary to my wonderful Hubby, Jason. About 2,555 days ago, was the best day of my life, I married my 'soul' mate! Today is our 7 year anniversary and man does the time fly when you are having fun! It is an honor to wake up every day and be with your best friend. The Lord truly blessed me way beyond belief when he brought J into my life. To many more wonderful years! Love ya Bud!
Secondly, today is my grandma's birthday! Happy Birthday Grandma! We hope you have a wonderful day today!
And lastly, it is one of our good friends, Mike's Birthday! Happy Birthday MG!! We hope your birthday is full of blessings and we can not wait to see you guys SOON!!!
Many more Happy's to come throughout the week.....

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!

Happy Father's Day to our Dads!!

Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!
~ Lydia M. Child

We ARE truly blessed to have such wonderful dads, ones we can look up to!!
We love you both and can not wait to see you in a few days!!

Forver
After
The
Hearts (of)
Every
Relative

Love, J and M

God is Good!!

What a week it has been....very busy! God is so good and faithful to us. Thanks for the prayers for my family, God has definitely done a miracle for my mom. I just pray that the Lord continue to speak to us and let us see what we are or were to learn from this whole experience and may He continue to heal her body! Love you Mom and can't wait to see you soon!!

Also, an update on J's job....there is still a chance that we may be moving when he returns from his deployment, but there is still many things to be decided. His unit here will no longer be in existence in a few weeks. They had a meeting earlier this week and there are 3 places they are giving the "option" of going (Las Vegas, Oklahoma, or Georgia.) And personally, I do not like any of the places because they are Combat Coms which to me equates he will be gone a lot...but like Jason said, each squadron is different, so he may not have to be gone a lot. And yes, I realize that that is the military life! So in the meantime they are working on trying to get him a spot in another unit here at Langley in which we would not have to move. We are hoping for him just to move to another unit, seeing how he has a bit more rank now, and is a 7level that they will accept him over there and that we just got here may play in the decision too? So we are just praying that we go where He wants us to be. So everything is up in the air, but that is what the options are for now....so J has updated his dream sheet in hopes that if we do have to move that he gets a good assignment if they let him go to another place besides the 3 "options" they are giving everyone.

Sorry if I am sounding confused with this blog.....my head is spinning with all that is going on!! LOL

So in the exciting news of the Wells....our family is coming NEXT WEEK!! We are sooo excited that both our parents will be here along with Brad and Kelly and our nieces Katelyn and Kara! We have not met Kara yet, so we are excited to get to meet her finally. Unfortunately, I still have to go to school but J is able to take off the whole time they are here. We are looking forward to hanging out with everyone when they come!

And of course as you have family planned to come things go wrong around the house. We have had some hot temps lately, and of course the A/C is not wanting to cooperate. So I am home from work this morning waiting on the repair guy and will head to school shortly.

We pray that you all have a wonderful weekend and until next time.....

The Lord is my Strength

Praise God for He does not give us more than we can handle....after a week as this, mainly a day like Friday was, I have to keep telling myself "The Lord will not give us more than we can handle!"

I first want to ask for an unspoken prayer request for my family...please just keep them in your prayers these next few weeks in that God will give them strength, peace and wisdom.

Also, please keep praying for our friends Lauren and her hubby Darin and all of their family. She sent out an update yesterday and here is the summary of the continued prayer request "Please pray for my dad and his decision about which treatment to do as well as safe travels for he and Pat. Please pray for Darin's mom, Marlene, that the scans next week don't show the cancer anywhere else and that she will be comfortable with the treatment options."

And one last bit of info we also got this week was that Jason will most likely be leaving at the end of July beginning of August to go to Colorado for training before he heads downrange. He does not know any of the specifics of when he will leave and how long he will get to come back here before heading downrange. So please be praying for us as his "4" month deployment is now turning into "5-6" months give or take a few weeks with all the waiting times he will go through as he makes his way downrange. And not to be selfish, but I have 2 weeks in August off in school and we were going to go on a vacation...seeing we normally go on vacation when he returns and I will be in school and can't go, we were going to use these 2 weeks for that vacation time...and of course it has been nixed due to the training.

On to a few praise reports....Chris, my brother, is closing his business and has a new job lined up and will begin on June 23. He will be working for SRP Federal Credit Union, under the supervision of the Great Ed Templeton! Chris will be maintaining all of the buildings. This is a HUGE blessing for him and he has been very patient in the waiting of this door to be opened. Also, I just received my acceptance letter today for another scholarship that I applied for, the HAP Arnold Grant. I have been awarded $2,000. Praise God!

I pray you all have a wonderful weekend!