There ARE a few things I'm not any good at...Part One

Well, there you have it. An admission of guilt. There are a few things in this world that I absolutely suck at. I'm pretty good at a few things, and really horrible at others. One of these things I suck at is starting a fire in the fireplace!! I can light a fire log, but I cannot get a hunk of wood cut from a real tree to start burning! Mostly they just smolder in there and smoke a lot. Yes, the flue is open...thanks for asking! The firestarter logs burn really really well, but I cannot get a real log to catch fire. Anyone have any suggestions??

Icy and Nicy

It's "nicy" outside today. What I mean is : it's ICY but it's NICE too. It's quiet, and everything seems Ok with the world. This morning we lit a fire, and I'll probably light another one here in a bit. Since it's been such a dull day outside, we've all been a little slower inside. The kids are already both in bed, and well on their way to sleepy land. And it's not quite 6:00. It's one of those days that makes you thankful you've got someone to cuddle up with. In my case, I've got three someones which makes me happy.

I think that ice is one of the prettiest things that occurs naturally. It gives everything a clean, bright, decorated look. It makes even things that are dead look alive, because of the glow. Here are some pictures I took from the warmth of our living room! Enjoy!

This particular tree looks like it's wearing diamonds to me.

You can see the totally dead shrub next to the green leafy vegetation? It looks like it's wearing a silver and diamond jacket. I love it!!

This one just looks lovely to me, for some reason. It looks like strands of pearls, or diamonds. I love this weather! It's like diamonds for nature! What a cliche!! But it's true.

"My Mommy Is A Nurse"

It's a phrase Daniel's learned over the last few days...today, he got to say it for REAL!!


Exam Date:
Thu, 11 Jan 2007 at 11:30 AM
Candidate:
COURTNEY NEWBERRY
NCLEX ID:
null
Registration #:
null
Exam:
NCLEX-PN: NCLEX-PN
Grade:
pass

My 2 Little Frogs

He's throwing you the "Go Frogs" symbol...for those of you who "know" you know how very close he is to that!! He calls it "two frogs" WHAT A CUTIE PIE!!

He wants to be a Doctor, by the way. I'm so proud!!


And here's the pie.....she's so curious about what I'm doing when I'm on the computer!! She's adorable!!

Some Pics

Daniel LOVES edamame...they are his "magic beans" and at Pei Wei he decided to try out his chopsticks...he did really well with them!

I love the fact that Zoe's hair is finally starting to be long enough to "fix" and we call this "Zoe bug"... Daniel decided she looked like a bug with her "tenna."

Red Fingernails

I've recently re-discovered the color red. It really is a rather underrated color, in my humble opinion. But I discovered just how much fun painting your nails red can be! I've gone an entire year without painting my fingernails, and since I've graduated I wanted to paint them!! Dang it! Well anyway, I bought some red shoes today and I think they're very cute...I'll post a picture later....

and onto "settling".....

I never thought I'd be one to settle, and hopefully I won't have to, but finding the right job is getting discouraging. And there's only so many times one person can be rejected before they start to think it might actually be THEM. I don't know, I shower on a regular basis...at LEAST once a day, and sometimes more often than than. But now I'm starting to think that the "right" job for me might just be the one that gets offered! Who knows. chin up, right?

{check ya later}

2007

Well, another year has gone...and I say GOOD RIDDANCE. This year had it's definite ups and downs, like all years...but the difference with this one : it's been a hard year. It's been a really quick year, and it's been a year full of knowledge for me. I'm finally on track with my life and it feels really good. I'm hoping that everything will even out in 2007, though I have a feeling it too will be a year of upheavals. Hopefully, though, these upheavals will be good ones and will result in positive changes. Here's to seeing the good in everything, finding the silver lining no matter what, and making the best out of negatives. I suppose that's my New Years Resolution, if you could call it that : returning myself to my former state of optimism. No more jaded personality.

Happy New Year(s)!!

Family Photos

We went to Portrait Innovations last night to get family pictures done. It was really fun, actually! The kids were great...especially Zoe. She's such a little hambone!! And Daniel has so much fun when he sees the camera. They're so sweet. But they both are just infatuated with having their photos taken. Here are a few of them :

This is the "Newberry Pile"


First Professional picture of Mommy and Daddy in roughly six years!!

This rocking chair was the source of great consternation....Zoe adored it

She had so much fun rocking in this chair!!

We have 90 pictures they gave us on a CD which is great...we can print them from home once we get a fancy photo printer!!

NCLEX

NCLEX exam date : January 11, 2007!!!!!!!!!!! YIKES...I'm so nervous but excited!! Pray for me, because the last time I took a prep necessary test I choked....


Lots of prayers for jobs, too if you don't mind....just waiting for someone to call me, I've put all the resumes out that I can and now I just wait....and wait....and wait!

I'll keep you posted and updated!!

Sicky

I've been sick for over a month now, and yesterday I FINALLY went to the DR. I got some antibiotics and some Tylenol with codeine. Nice. Only I took that plus my vitamins this morning on an empty stomach. NOT a good idea...now I'm nauseated and it's not pretty. Daniel is convinced I need to go back to the "hop-sit-all" and he's convinced that he can make me better!



So I let him try...he got a "Dr Daniel Kit" for Christmas this year, and here he is making me feel better. He told me it worked...

He's such a cutie...anything he can do to help, he will!! Check out the family photos blog for Christmas pics!

Merry Christmas to ALL and to ALL A Good Night

Today is Christmas Eve. And, as we sit here this morning I like to reflect on the TRUE meaning of Christmas. Since we don't really know the actual day of Jesus' Birthday, we rely on tomorrow to celebrate it. Now, I've never baked a cake for Jesus or sang "Happy Birthday" to Him on Christmas. For me, Christmas is a time for reflection : a time to realize and remember just exactly what the year has meant. A time to look back at the many Blessings of the year, and NOT a time to dwell on the unimportant...this is not a time to fight, it's a time to love. It's a time to spend waaaaaay too much money on those people you love the most, just because this is a Culture where money = love. This is the time of year when Miracles can happen. It's the time when you can look and truly see what LOVE means. I don't know, y'all, but something magical happens at Christmastime...even the grinchiest of grinches turn bearable. And I LOVE it all! I love 103.7 playing Christmas music all Season long! I never thought I would, but I LOVE my 12.5' inflatable snowman "Gordy!" I adore my Christmas tree, and I most of all love my children all dolled up in Christmas pjs. I love the fact that you can ask Daniel whose birthday it is and he'll tell you one of two things : 1) "mine" or 2) Jesus! What a sweet little boy!

Tomorrow we'll have a house full of people, and that is perhaps my favorite thing of all. I LOVE having people over! I love watching childrens' faces light up when they see Christmas trees and Christmas lights. I love watching their faces when they see what Santa brought them. And I LOVE sharing the birth story with my kids. I think we'll start a new tradition this year...we'll tell the Christmas story at night before we go to bed, and get ready to greet the day with smiles and kisses. Oh to be a child again on Christmas....and to have Christmas last all year long. Wouldn't that be awesome?

New Christmas Tradition : a night at the Adolphus! Merry Christmas, y'all!!

Life Updates in GENERAL...

Sorry it's been so long since we updated! Memaw DID have to have a pacemaker put in, but she's doing awesome now!! I can't believe the recovery she made. She's like a different person. I only hope she continues to improve!

I got a kick butt new camera....so expect lots more pictures of the kids!! We're going to get Christmas and Family photos done on Thursday...we'll see how they turn out!! :)

I WILL update more later.

Memaw

Today is officially one of the worst ever. My Memaw told me today that she has to have an Electrophysiology Study done on her heart on Tuesday. To make matters worse, the DR that is doing it said he’s fairly certain she’ll need to have a pacemaker installed. The good news, since every cloud MUST have a silver lining, is that he told her it’s lucky they caught this early. He said usually this sort of thing is caught in the ER when a patient has to have an emergency pacemaker installed. So yeah, I suppose we could call that good news. But I’m writing this to ask for prayers for her. She always acts as though things are OK when everyone around her knows different. And of course, her first thought was not of herself but of me and my family. She wondered how we were going to be able to have the kids taken care of if she had the procedure done, with me only having 3 weeks of school left. She also seemed more concerned about being able to help out with them and watching them when I start work than she was about herself and the complications she could face. I don’t know that I’ve ever known anyone more selfless and giving than her. She has put her heart and soul into my family this year, and she’s gone way above and beyond anything anyone could ever expect or ask anyone to do. I cannot help but feel that her worsening cardiac status is somehow my fault. She’s been put under so much stress and strain this year, and it’s all my fault. Well, not ALL my fault…there is at least one other person to blame for a lot of stress, but that’s another story and a different blog. She’s taken care of our kids at least two days a week, and usually more like 3 while I’m at school and Michael is at work. She’s very rarely complained. And she works like a dog when she’s here – she’s constantly cleaning this or straightening that or even washing something. Good grief, it’s like having our own personal maid. And the thing is : I LOVE that she does it, but I HATE it too. She drives me nuts because she won’t just sit there and do nothing but watch the kids play. She tells me she feels like something needs to be done and she’s going to do it. I can’t fault her for it, it’s just her nature. I hope that if she does have to have a pacemaker installed, that the procedure goes smoothly and she has no complications. She sure could use all the prayers you can give right now. And so could I. I’m thankful for family and friends to help us through this right now. Everything happens Tuesday December 5th at 7 am. Yeah, that’s the day after my 27th birthday…gee willikers I’m getting old. But again, a different story for a different blog. Thanks for the prayers y’all, they mean the world to us.

Turkey Day

The “BIG T” yeah, that’s right people…yours truly is attempting a TURKEY!! You heard it right, and you heard it first here : Thanksgiving day at MY house with my little family and I’M doing all the cooking….I cannot wait to see how it all comes out. I’ll post some in situ pictures, so to speak. Here’s the menu (it’s OK to drool, just don’t get it on your keyboard OK??) :

Turkey stuffed with great yummy stuffing
Dressing (called dressing when it’s not inside the turkey & stuffing when it is)
Green bean casserole (face it, what is Thanksgiving without it?)
Mashed potatoes (whipped, actually…I can’t wait!!)
Gravy
Sweet potato casserole with marshmallows
Iced tea

Oh yeah…I just really can’t wait!

We’ll start the morning off with cranberry orange muffins, sausage balls and coffee.

Look for the fun pictures to be posted tomorrow or Friday!!

WHO ARE YOU???? WHO WHO WHO WHO...

Yeah, so Michael and I TOTALLY went to see The Who last night. It was the most fun I've had in a single night in a long time! Special thanks to KC for the tickets, he REALLY hooked us up...SERIOUSLY!!!! The seats were awesome, the concert was incredible and even though our tickets said "no cameras allowed" when we arrived we found we could take flash or no flash stills...so I whipped out the Motorola Razr which takes surprisingly decent pics!! The distance of the photos doesn't do our actual distance justice, but you'll get the picture.

On a different note (but the same night...) we had our very first babysitter last night!!! It was awesome...THANK YOU ERIN!!!!!! We couldn't have had this much fun without you!!!!

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