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!

Eggplant Parmesan

For Sunday lunch today we had eggplant Parmesan with eggplant fresh from the Farmers Market! It was so so so good and pretty good for you too, generally speaking! :) Here is my recipe:

Ingredients:
3-5 Med/Large Eggplant, peeled and sliced into 1/4" thick slices
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
3 cups Marinara or spaghetti sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt/pepper
1 tbsp parsley
1 tbs minced garlic
1 tbsp basil
2 cups seasoned flour

(Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees)You will need to peel and slice your eggplant prior to starting this process.

First, beat your eggs and milk together and set aside. Then dip your eggplant slices in the egg mixture and then flour and fry them until golden brown. Drain them and set aside on a paper towel.

Also, add your garlic, salt/pepper, parsley, and basil to your tomato sauce of choice and set aside. Spray your baking dish with Pam and put a little bit of the tomato sauce on the bottom. Layer eggplant, cheese, several shakes of Parmesan, and tomato sauce until you run out! Usually makes about 3 layers. Bake for about 30 minutes and add more mozzarella and Parmesan to the top to melt.

This dish is so yummy and makes a lot for not a lot of money! Enjoy!
This is a picture of it in the oven with my squash casserole!

Football Season, Here we come.. & Farmers Market

I am not sure if I mentioned this before but my husband lost his job due to cut-backs at Silsbee ISD. We knew it would be a long summer of him apply for jobs, going on interviews, and waiting for a call back. Well, the whole month of June went by with no leads and secretly I started to worry. That was my main deciding factor for me going back to work. I was worried he wouldn't find and job and we had to have an income of some sorts. But, July comes around and Waynes friend Clint calls him and tells him he is the new head coach for Kelly High School AND, they are hiring a Social Studies teacher with coaching. PERFECT, sign me up he said, lol! There was obviously steps to the hiring process that was long and drawn out, but we knew that Clint would be able to get Wayne on. Wayne will be coaching varsity football and baseball this season. I am so excited to go to his games and cheer them on. I love football and it bring back memories of being in high school on the Drill Team and spending my Friday nights at football games! YAY! This will be so wonderful for our family but also a big sacrifice for Wayne. He starts 2 a day practices this Monday with the kids!Being a teacher alone requires a lot of time away from your family, but when you add coaching it is a lot more. He will have is regular school day, practice, and then have a game Friday night, AND then have the kids come up Saturday morning and watch film from their game and prepare for next weeks game. It is a lot, but Wayne truely loves what he does and I support him in every way! Go Kelly Bulldogs! :)

And, I have been searching for a CSA(Community Supported Agriculture) pick up here in southeast Texas and there isn't one. If you don't know what that is, it is farms that grow fruits and veggies and package what they harvest and sell it to you weekly and you go pick it up. They usually have a variety of things and is well worth the money! So, the alternative, since we don't have that here,(closest is in Houston)is going to the Beaumont Farmers market on Saturday Morning. We have always wanted to go to this but never want to get up, but we really need to support our local farmers and fresh fruits and veggies are the best! We plan on going Saturday morning and I will blog and post pictures when we get back!

Negativity

I usually don't say the word HATE a lot, but I really hate negativity. I hate when people can't just be happy for others, or see the good in others instead of always seeing the bad. People make mistakes and learn from them and God gives forgiveness for mistakes, I know that. Do you? I blog about things that come straight from my heart. These are true emotions and things that I feel and want to say, but prefer to write about them. I would prefer if you have a NEGATIVE comment about me, my family, or anything I have supposedly done to you, please keep that to your self. Yes, It may be your opinion which you are rightfully entitled to, but I don't care to see, read, or hear about it. I am who I am and if you don't like me or my family, I don't care. I didn't make this blog for others to read it and criticize my actions! All I can say is you need prayer if you think it is ok to come onto my blog and make comments that are absolutely false and tell me that MY feelings and emotions are a lie.. REALLY?? They are my feelings and emotions.. I didn't know that MY feelings and emotions were any of your business! UH! I am sorry to those of you who read my blog and have positive things to say about me or my family, this wasn't directed to you. It was directed to those who are coward enough to post ANONYMOUS comments and think I don't know who they are from.. come on.. I am not stupid!

I enjoy blogging and I enjoy having a way to document my feelings and words and I will continue to do that. But, as far as allowing negativity to effect me, it doesn't it only makes me realize that there are so many people in this world that need God and that as a CHRISTIAN, I am not doing my part enough to spread his word and make people realize that when you put GOD 1st, negativity will fade away! Sorry.. that's my first rant! Have a great day everyone! :)

My Step-Daughter: Allie Nicole Hanks

After telling everyone our story, I wanted to fill in some of the blanks that I didn't elaborate on or go into in that post. First Edition of this will be about my step-daughter Allie! Allie came into this world on May 2, 2006! She was born while Wayne was married to his ex-wife Jamie! I am not going to lie, I was really shocked when Wayne and Jamie said they were having a baby. I don't really know why but a part of me always wanted Wayne to just have children with me.. CRAZY, I know.. since we weren't even married at the time and I was married to someone else! ANYWAY... I never saw Allie when she was small because her mother didn't really think I should, rightfully so! But she was precious. I felt she looked a lot like Wayne, apposed to Eden who looked like me! But as time went on she grew and Wayne and Allie's mom ended up divorcing and then Wayne and I got back together. At the time Allie was 1 1/2! Going into the relationship I welcomed her into my life with open arms and was happy to get to be a part of her life. I never really thought of how it would be to be a step-parent or thought I would ever be one. I never thought I would get the chance to be with Wayne again... but I was excited because I love anything that is a product of my sweet and handsome husband! :) It was hard at first. She didn't know me or wasn't used to my parenting and when Allie was little she was a very routine child. She did the same things at the same times and at that time I really wasn't like that(I am now but never saw myself to be this way. I feel you have to be with multiple children). It was very hard for both of us to get used to each other. We even still struggle with that a lot presently! Allie was always a little behind on her developmental and speech skills so Wayne and I worked with her a lot to get caught up. Allie is not a dainty child to say the least, she definitely takes after her daddy! :) She is a totally opposite child to Eden. Eden is long and lanky and Allis is short and stubby, but it is so very cute! I remember seeing pictures of her as a baby and she had roll after roll and saying I wanted a baby like that. Well.. Who knew but I have one now! :) Anyway, Allie is a very strong willed and stubborn child. She has most certainly has tested my patients over the years, like most children. Allie is a great little and big sister. She loves Eden and Edison and shows her love so cute. She isn't a lovey dovey person, but does it in her own way. We thought she might be jealous of her new brother but she has done better than Eden, lol! I have grown to love her and care for her as if she was my own flesh and blood. I wish we saw her more.. I think she thrives in our family environment and needs to be around that more often. As she grows and I get to "know" her more and more I see so much of Wayne in her and that makes me smile. Even though Wayne and Allie's mom aren't together, Wayne and I try to make her feel like she was and is wanted and that she is loved, often more than our own kids when she is here because we don't get to see her much. We just want her to feel her life is just as "normal" as everyone elses! I thank God for Allie being in my life. She, as a 5 year old, has taught me a lot about myself and a lot about life in general. She shows me that Love is a powerful thing. When you show it to someone and they love you back, its heart melting. I know Allie loves me and she knows that I love her. I can't wait to watch her grow up. Wayne and I often talk about out girls' weddings or future boyfriends and we cringe, but are so happy to be parents to them and welcome all of those fun girl things. Well, I know I do.. I have lived it and can't wait to do it all with them! :) I love you Allie Lou!

The Story of Wayne and I...

I get this question so much... How did you and Wayne meet? What's if your story? So.. I decided to make a blog post about it! Don't judge! :)

Wayne and I went to high school together. We didn't really know each other, we had met a few times just because it was a smaller school but we didn't hang out. But, I thought he was hot! He he! After high school I had been working at Mexican food restaurant and Wayne started working there too. We would flirt and would talk occasionally but nothing beyond that. We were both seeing other people at the time! One day we had break together and talked about our boyfriend and girlfriend and the problems we were having. But, still.. I felt really no connection to him except as a friend. Then one night when leaving work he hugged me bye and just his arms around me felt so right.. I know that's corny, but that's how I felt! From that point on we talked on the phone and went on our 1st date in Sept. 2002, after that day I KNEW he was the "one"! We were dating for 4 months when I found out we were expecting a baby! We were in shock but knew that everything happens for a reason and that God had a plan for us. Wayne and I were both still in college and made minimum wage at our jobs and were not in a position to get married or live together. So 9 months later, we welcomed 7 lb 9oz Eden into the world Sept. 19, 2003! We stayed together and raised Eden until she was about 10 months old and we decided to break up.Wow.. I was 100% devastated. I couldn't function! This was not how is was supposed to happen. I was supposed to be with this man forever. We would raise our daughter and get married after Wayne graduated college. Wayne just wasn't mature enough for all of this!

Months went on and we were civil for Eden, but I just always felt there was still something there between us. We both ended up marrying other people in 2006! Only a year into out marriages, we both found ourselves going through divorces. Again, a shocker for me! Naturally during the process we turned to each other and quickly realized that there was something still there between us. We began seeing each other daily and talking more and more, we really missed each other. In Jan. 2008 we got back together after being apart for 5 years! It was like we fell in love all over again and we both knew instantly that this was right. That this was how our lives should be. We were soul mates. We got engaged on April 10, 2009 and married April 17, 2010! We always knew we would have more children and found out we were expecting on June 22, 2010! Edison Jack Hanks was born on March 8, 2011. The journey to where we are now has been a very long and challenging one, but I followed my heart and know that God put Wayne in my life for forever. He is my dream come true and what I prayed for in a husband. I thank you God for giving me Wayne as my spouse and for giving us two beautiful children! God blessed the broken road, that let me straight to you, Even though it took 8 years! :)

Good things come to those who wait...

As a continual way to help my family save money, I have been buying things second hand. I have been going to a lot of garage sales, re-sale shops, and buying only on clearance if at all possible. The saving is amazing! :) But, Edison is getting older and we are needing more and more to stimulate him and I had been looking for a Jumperoo forever! But, I didn't just want any one jumperoo... I wanted the Fisher-Price Rainforest one! I literally have been looking for a used one since he was about 3 weeks old! The reason for that specific one is that there is a orange monkey on the rainforest things that Edison loves! He stares, laugh's, smiles, and grabs at it so much. If he is upset and I show him that monkey, he will calm down and smile so big. So, subsequently I have been getting the rainforest things for him ever since! I was just having no luck at all with the jumperoo! The ones I found were nasty or missing things or people wanted WAY too much for them! So.. I began searching online to just buy a new one! After looking for almost 3 months I was ready to give up! I found them new online for about $80 because they do not sell them in stores anymore! I just couldn't see paying that much plus shipping for something he wont use too to much! So, I tried one more thing... I posted an add on southeasttexas.com(and facebook), in the baby item section, saying that I was looking for this specific item. After a few days I had someone text me saying they had one that was perfect condition and they would sell it for $30.00.. YAYYYY! SUCCESS! We went and picked it up yesterday from a sweet couple in Nederland and I brought it home and cleaned it! It really didn't need to be cleaned, it was in perfect condition, but I am weird like that! :) After cleaning it, we put him in it and he went straight for the monkey.. HA.. I knew it! :) He really loves it and it really keeps him occupied when I have something I need to do! Moral of my long story is that I wanted something really bad(and all you mother's know when you want something for your child, it is so hard to not just go buy it immediately) for Edison and wish a lot of patience and willing to compromise, I got what I wanted for him for WAY less money! Now.. the adorable pictures of him in his new toy: