A dream/goal I will fulfill...

Over the past few years my heart has really been heavy on what I am supposed to be, career wise, for the rest of my life? I always just assumed I would do something dental long term, but wasn't sure!! I really didn't have to think much about this but, I instantly knew that if I could be anything what it would be. I would be an RN! I really have a passion and drive for this profession. For example, we were at Sears yesterday and an elderly women tripped over something and was possibly severely injured. I instantly went into professional mode and helped her because the staff at Sears just stood there.. and did nothing. She ended up being fine, just a few scrapes, but her daughter thanked me more times than I can count and told me that she felt God put me there at the right time to help that situation. Wow, what an impact it had on me and I have been thinking about this seriously ever since.

There are a lot of things in my way to prevent this from happening, but it will happen one day. To start this process I will be starting my pre-reqs(which I had taken a lot already, but it has been to long since I took them and have to start over) at night in January! I will need to go to Lamar and get a lot more info, but it is a start. :) I know I can do this and I know this is the direction my life is supposed to go. It may take my longer than most, but my first priority is serving God and taking care of my family.. and this goal will all just fall into place, I pray! If anyone has any info on what path to take to getting this degree while working and having a family, please email me! Alana09199@gmail.com

Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire. ~Arnold H. Glasow

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. ~Henry Ford

Feeling Cheated...

You know the feeling when you know that your opportunity to do something wonderful is over? That you will never be able to experience something again? Well, I feel that way. After a visit to my OB last week, we discussed future children and labor and delivery and if the occasion was to ever arise and I was pretty much told that I would never be able to deliver a child vaginally again. I would always have to have a c-section from here on out. WHAT? VBAC's are common aren't they? Well, giving my history and the positioning of my children, Dr. Long doesn't want to chance it and will only do section births now. I really feel cheated. I felt that way after having Edison, and I feel that way again. I want to experience labor and birth. HECK yes it hurts, but the outcome is amazing. Our bodies are meant to do this, and now my chances are over to experience one of the most wonderful miracles that women go through. I just cried and cried after he told me that. I don't know.. it just hit me very hard. I don't know for sure if Wayne and I will have anymore children, but if we did, having a c-section, in my opinion, takes a lot of the "fun" out of the experience. Takes away the anticipation of labor, takes away the unknown, and adds the worry of surgery, well.. at least for me. I really just can't express my feelings well about this.. I just feel cheated. And feel that even though that precious child will be the outcome, everyone deserves to have the birth that they want, and I can't ever have that. BOOOOO!

On a side note, I still love my Dr.! :)

Eden Lost her 3rd Tooth & Is Starting 2nd Grade

Last Friday, August 12th, Eden and I were cleaning a clients house(she was "helping" me) and she came and told me she had a loose tooth! News to me, I didn't even know. She hadn't mentioned it before! In the past, pulling teeth with her has been a challenge so I wasn't very optimistic about this one either! But, to my surprise I said OK Eden, lets just get it out.. and........ She said OK... here a napkin, pull it out Mom! WHAT? So, I just knew she was going to run away screaming when I actually tried, but she opened wide and I grabbed her tooth and twisted/pulled all at once! It was out just like that! No fuss or tears, just a little bleeding! She was so proud just as if she had pulled it herself! I love how mature she is becoming about some things. Ohh what a year will do for a child! :)

It is really starting to hit me that Eden will start SECOND grade GT on Monday! I know she is growing up because she is all the way up to my shoulder almost in height, but just thinking back on when she started kindergarten, it seems like yesterday! She has really grown to become such a wonderful daughter, friend, sister, and granddaughter! I pray each day for her to have a productive year and to do well in school. I also hope that she continues to grow her friendships she has made last year. This will be the 2nd year she is in a class with the same kids so I know long term friendships are being made. I hope she learns to cherish those! Her teacher will be Mrs. Robicheau and she was my sisters teacher a long time ago, so I am really happy about that! She goes for meet the teacher on Thursday, and I will miss it due to work, but that's OK.. Mamaw is going! :)

A Tree Disaster...

How can everything change with just one tree?
Last week on Monday August 1st, Wayne, the baby, and myself were sitting in the living room having Subway (Eden was staying the night at mamaw's) for dinner and it happened! What sounded like a train driving into our home turned out to be the neighbors tree falling onto the side of our house! Wayne and I immediately ran outside to see what had happened and there it was, a dead, HUGE tree laying down on the left side. Destroyed our air conditioner and electrical on that side. We had several limbs through the roof and minimal structure damage. Whew! No one was hurt. Wayne then called 911, just in case! :) Then, due to the fact that it was so loud, several people were running down the road t words us and stopping their cars and getting out. And, by the grace of God, a fire fighter stopped and got out just in time. The electrical box on the side of our house caught on fire. I then started to panic. What were going to do? AH, Water hose... but before I could even do this, all while holding Edison, the fire fighter grabbed a fire extinguisher from his car and put the fire out. Then, after the initial madness wore off, reality set in. Where were we going to live? Do I need to call my insurance? Is this their fault? It was their tree after all. I called my mom, like most people do in a panic situation and told her to come straight over. By this time, mosquitoes are eating us alive and the police and fire department are there. The police were just taking a report of insurance purposes and the fire department were making sure nothing was wrong from the small electrical fire. With no power and it getting dark I started to realize I probably needed to go inside and get everything out of the fridge and freezer, that would soon stink. And then pack a few things up, we were going to stay at my Moms! After cleaning and packing, because I couldn't leave my house dirty, we left and went to my moms. I quickly wrote everything down we had in our fridge freezer and got everyone ready for bed. I was mentally and physically exhausted. Here are a few pictures of the damage:

The next day all seems a blur! Insurance stuff is not my cup of Joe, but I had to do it and Wayne helped me too...All while at work! I had told them, so they understood and worked with me to go and take/make phone calls. There couldn't have been a worse person's tree to have fallen on our house. He at first told us he had insurance on the property and everything would be fine. Then, after a few calls, realizes, Hey, I don't have any insurance on that property. OMG! So after Wayne calling and nearly loosing his mind talking to him, he calls back and states that he does have liability at least! Well, ok! So for the next few days we waited and checked into a hotel in the town we live in. It is nice and had been great to have somewhere to go to at night! :)

Over the next few days we went back and forth calling insurances and trying to figure out what to do next. I finally just said lets call a contractor. We weren't going to have to, but our builder was way over on his bid and insurance didn't want to pay that. So, I called Glen Stanley, with Glens Custom Homes here in Vidor. He is the nicest guy and has really gone above and beyond during all of this. That day he sent a bid over and our insurance accepted and they started getting things going. FINALLY, some progress! Within two days the work was over halfway through and there were plans for everything else. I was and still am so very happy with Glen and his work. Really the most difficult thing during all of this was dealing with Entergy and Time Warner Cable. They are a joke when it comes to customer service, WHOLE different blog post, LOL! :)

As of today, August 14th, we are back in the house. Not everything is done. There is still cleanup, painting, and some electrical work to be done, but I was so ready to be home I came anyways. On a sad note, my stove and washer don't seem to be working. The electrician seems to think they got shorted out when the wires were pulled and it caused a small power surge. UGH! I love my stove and washer! Hopefully, insurance will pay for us new ones, or at least pay to have these fixed if they can be! So, that is a jumbled up story of how one tree can change so much! The End! :)
P.S. Pictures of repaired home to come soon!