HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Yesterday was our anniversary and it was wonderful. My only regret is that it fell on a day after I got off work so I had no choice but to come home and sleep most of the day. I was so sad to sleep the majority of the day away but I was so tired even sleeping what little I did. Ben and I had decided not to do anniversary gifts because we went in together and got a tv for our bedroom that we are super excited about. Well Ben never listens to our little agreements. He called to wake me up as he was bringing Pepper home from her final checkup (p.s. pepper is cleared for normal activity). Ben told me that he wanted me to get up and start getting ready. I drug myself out of bed and went into the bathroom to get ready and he had a beautiful arrangement of wildflowers sitting on the counter. If the flowers weren't enough, he went to a local jewelry store and picked out some really pretty white gold earrings for me. LOVE THEM! We both got ready and went to dinner at the Chop House. We wanted a nice dinner to spoil ourselves a little bit since we weren't going anywhere special for the anniversary. Dinner was great. We got the stuffed portobello mushroom cap appetizer. They were stuffed with lobster, crabs and something else. Then Ben was enticed to get the Delmonico Steak and I got the Fillet Mignon. All of it was fabulous. Ben said the Delmonico was a great steak but for the price and flavor next time he would get what I got. You can't beat a fillet! We then went home and installed our tv mount and dvd player to try out our new tv. It will be so nice having a tv in the bedroom...especially once our little one arrives and is a little older and needs distractions while I get ready in the bathroom. Overall, great day...short..but great day. Three years in a wonderful marriage!

Due Dates

Yesterday Ben went with me to the doctor to have my first ultrasound. I didn't have a whole lot of time to think or be anxious because the doctor was in a hurry to get to a woman in active labor! HAH he didn't want to make us wait so everything went very quickly which was fine by me. So before we knew it there it was...our baby on the ultrasound. It was so surreal. I'll scan the pictures as soon as I get around to it. The doc said I wasn't as far along as he thought I was but I kinda expected that ;). So the official due date is July 22. (This just so happens to be Ashlie's birthday! No doubt she's excited about that...she's a surrogate aunt in waiting. haha) Christmas is in a few days...before you know it..the end of the year...2008 has flown by. I can't imagine how the next 7 months will be any different!

Dreams

I've had the craziest and most vivid dreams lately. I don't normally remember dreams but I'm sleeping a lot more lately so this might be playing a role in more dreams. I recently had a dream though about our baby. I dreamt I was getting an ultrasound and clear as day I saw that it was going to be a boy. I found this funny and told Ben when I woke up. Last night at work I randomly mentioned this dream to a co-worker and she told me that she had also dreamed that I was having a boy. Now I'm going to laugh really hard if we have a girl!

SNOW

I was really getting tired of all the rain the last couple days. They said there may be a chance of snow but who really ever believes the forecasts?? I was watching a show on tv for about an hour and then when I got up the rain had changed to snow and everything was white! I loved it. The dogs needed to go outside so I let them go play in the snow. This was Mitzi's first time in the snow. She went crazy. This sent Pepper into a frenzy and they were sliding all over the porch chasing each other. I had to intervene just to protect Pepper's leg. It was funny to watch them though. Too bad Ben couldn't be here to enjoy it with us. He unfortunately is not enjoying the snow in the same way. He has been so incredibly busy with the ambulance service tonight. He has worked so many wrecks and is currently racing to Nashville with an emergency transport of a patient. Everyone be safe tonight! ;)

The word is out...

This was going to be saved for a Christmas surprise for all...but who knew keeping good news a secret would be so hard??!!??

I am officially pregnant. Both families now know so this is why I am posting details now for those who want to know. We've known for about 3-4 weeks now. We wanted to keep it a surprise till Christmas because that would put me about 10-11 weeks along and would lessen the chances of another miscarriage. Thanksgiving day we took Caitlin over to see mom and I felt terrible. It's hard to keep pregnancy a secret from your mother when she can tell you are not feeling well. I didn't explain why I didn't feel good and she didn't ask too many questions about it. Friday morning while hanging out with Bryan and Lisa though, I spilled the beans. Lisa was just being silly and asking me when we were going to have kids and I caught her off guard and told her we were pregnant. Mom overheard me in the kitchen and came out with big smiles and hugs. I just knew that after feeling terrible for a week and seeing mom as often as I do that I couldn't keep it a secret for long. We didn't tell many others early on just because we were still trying to keep it a secret from Ben's family. I didn't want people to say something to me over facebook and spill it to my inlaws. This past Wednesday Ben went with me to my doctor and we had some blood test done. They wanted to check my hCG levels to determine how far along I am and to make sure we weren't having problems like last time. Doc called me yesterday and my hCG levels were 191,000 which puts me well over the mark for 8weeks which is what doc thought I was. With such good levels, Ben was busting a gut to tell his family. I consented and he called his folks and I then told the rest of my family. My first ultrasound is scheduled for two weeks from now. It looks like it will be a July baby...I do no look forward to a hot 3rd trimester but we are excited to be starting our little family. I am holding my excitement until I get past the constant 24/7 nausea that I have currently been dealing with.

Other news: Ben is still waiting to test for the driver position at work. The chief had said that they wanted to complete promotions before Christmas but nothing has been done as of yet. We will see what happens. Meanwhile Ben is still working hard doing two full time jobs and I'm trying my best to continue to work through the nausea. We want to knock some stuff out before I'll have to quit work when the baby comes. There's no way I could find a 24hr babysitter to be able to continue to work...nor would I ask that of anyone. So I will probably cut back to part time or not at all. We will see what happens next summer.

Busy, busy, tired and still busy

Ben is somehow still keeping up his pace of working 48 hr shifts with a day off in between. I don't know how he does it... So much has happened this week and a lot of it I unfortunately can't talk about ;( Ben had an interview at church. We aren't sure where this will lead. We will hopefully find out more in the next few weeks. Until then....we are on the edge of our seats and I have to be shhhhh quiet. I have been so incredibly tired this week at work. I guess I'm not sleeping as good as I used to.

Next week is thanksgiving. We will have Caitlin from Wednesday evening to Sunday when Shannon and Rusty come home from their cruise...lucky dogs! Speaking of dogs!! Pepper appears to be doing better. She is really getting tired of her lockdown in the kitchen. She will occasionally bark at me to tell me how unhappy she is. Her leg looks pretty good. She's been jumping around on it too much today so it is oozing again but this morning it was totally drained. She is on 21 days worth of a medication to get rid of any infection. She probably has a week worth left of it. Trying to keep our little beast calm is crazy hard! Mitzi is getting really big. I need to take updated pictures of them but I forget.

I've spent a great deal of time lately putting some scrapbook albums together. I want to get them caught up. I have taken a break from genealogy for a bit to work on this. My brain was starting to hurt working on genealogy. I will kick it in gear on that in a week or two. That's about all....just trying to figure out what to get everyone for christmas and looking forward to putting up our decorations....just have to make room in the living room for a tree....not so easy.

First House Fire!!!

Today was the first day that Ben got to fight a structure fire that happened on his own shift. The other fires that he's fought were on other shifts when he was called in. It took a year but it finally happened. It just so happened that their truck was the first on scene and Ben was the first to the nozzle. The first to the nozzle means you get the right to fight the fire. He and Chris (another guy he was hired on with) were the first to attack. Ben said that when they got on scene the house was already fully engulfed so they did an exterior attack first. The flames were coming out from under the garage, doors, roof. He was so excited to get his gear "dirty". The house wasn't far from ours. Ben thinks it might be arson. There wasn't any furniture in the house, no pictures, and there were gas cans in the trash cans. Draw your own conclusions... Anyway here is a photo of the house after they were done with it.

Christmas Wish Lists

Ok, so its just easier to post on here the things we'd like or need for those doing gifts this year. Here ya go for those interested.

Ben:
Accessories for his AR15 - I'm not sure what those are...he didn't specify yet.

Camping accessories such as:

• water purifier
• camping stove
• etc...He is supposed to go through a magazine and give me ideas. I will update soon.

Ben also mentioned to me today that he wants a peacoat for dressier occasions such as church. He saw some at Walmart that I guess he liked which made him think of it. He wears size Medium usually in shirts and coats.

Me:
Books from the Patricia Cornwell "Kay Scarpetta" Series. I want hardback books. I have the last three: Trace, Predator, and Book of the Dead. So any prior to that would be fabulous. Here is a list:

• Postmortem (1990) ISBN 0-684-19141-5
• Body of Evidence (1991) ISBN 0-684-19240-3
• All That Remains (1992) ISBN 0-684-19395-7
• Cruel and Unusual (1993) ISBN 0-684-19530-5
• The Body Farm (1994) ISBN 0-684-19597-6
• From Potter's Field (1995) ISBN 0-684-19598-4
• Cause of Death (1996) ISBN 0-399-14146-4
• Unnatural Exposure (1997) ISBN 0-399-14285-1
• Point of Origin (1998) ISBN 0-399-14394-7
• Black Notice (1999) ISBN 0-399-14508-7
• The Last Precinct (2000) ISBN 0-399-14625-3
• Blow Fly (2003) ISBN 0-399-15089-7

I am also interested in getting some new crocs for work. I want various colors. I would like to have light pink, black, navy blue, light blue, chocolate and white. Now do I need all these? No...I wear size medium or 8 1/2.

Also, any kind of clothing gift cards to Maurices, AE, Gap...etc.

I have given Ben this same list as well...so if you want to get any of this...you might want to coordinate with him as to not duplicate anything. ;) I hope this is helpful.

Ooops rewind

ok so I forgot in the last post to update on Pepper. Since this surgery it has been imperative to put Pepper on a diet. She is about 15 lbs overweight. Yikes!! How did she get that way?? umm yeah I know...lazy owners and bad manners for table scraps...No more sweet baby. Anyway she is on a special diet food from the vet and no more table scraps...most the time ;) Anyway...first visit after food diet she went from 87lbs to 83.5. Last week her weight is down again to 81lbs. I'm so proud of my baby. She is losing weight and looking great. I just wish we could keep her calm. Anyhoo she is 6 lbs closer to her goal of 15lbs lost! Well on her way!

Pump Operator/Driver

The city has opened up positions for the Pump Operator/Driver position. Ben wanted to be on the department a year before applying for this position. As of October, he has been with SFD for one year. The last few months he has been preparing for this position. He has been training with a couple of the drivers at his station. They are teaching him the ins and outs of the position. Ben thinks he has a pretty good chance at this position. We are hoping that he gets it. We should know in a week or so if he gets it. A lot of the guys on the department do not like how quickly Ben has moved up the department but it is only due to the fact that Ben is such a dedicated and determined employee. He seeks out education and wants to better himself. Other people on this department get stuck in a rut and like doing only the bare minimum. Hopefully this will be a good stepping stone for him.

Job Update

Yesterday I was stopped in the hallway by my boss. He informed me that things are progressing with our other lab in Murfreesboro. He was making sure I still wanted to work out there. I told him that I did. We got to talking about things and it sounds like there are some hang ups with with the political aspect of things but otherwise it will happen. It is just a matter of time as to when it will happen. I reminded him that I still want to work days. He says that is in his plans. He said it will probably be more of a solo job during the days. I told him that this was not a problem as I was very familiar with day operations from working in Winchester. He said he had no doubt in my qualifications and that's why he and I were talking about it. He is going to keep me posted as to how things progress.

Pepper Update and Happy Birthday

We took Pepper back to the vet yesterday and he still says she looks good even though her leg has a puffy oozing knot on it. He says that it looks like in two days the water has gone down in her leg and she is loosing some of that water through the knot on her leg. He says she is walking good for only having had surgery 2 weeks ago and for being as hyper a dog as she is. He says the knot should slowly start to go away. It may be a sign that she will need ANOTHER surgery down the road to remove the plate in her leg securing the bone. She wont need to plate once the bone is healed. So we will see how she does in a few months as to whether or not the plate will need to be removed. Let's pray not because I don't want her to go through another surgery nor our pocketbook! Meanwhile she's still in confinement with the elizabethan collar on...she hates it, we hate it...the other dogs hate it...I can't wait till her leg stops oozing so she can get it off! She runs into walls, doors, my leg!

Today is Ben's birthday. He is 26! We haven't done anything to celebrate...once again he is working on his birthday. Ben is going on a campout next weekend with the scouts and he is looking forward to that. Next month he will be doing a wilderness survival campout with them. He is really looking forward to that. He's going to teach the kids how to rough it and live off the land. Should be fun.

Pepper Update - Post surgery 14 days

Pepper went back to the surgeon today to get her staples removed. We had been concerned that she might have some swelling and today she was carrying her leg quite a bit. So it was good timing to take her by the vet. He said she looked great. He took the staples out and said that her leg probably has some fluid build up. We are supposed to massage her feet...haha I know... and put cold compresses on her leg for the next week and she will go back check up next Wednesday.

We asked him what to do about her jumping all the time when she gets excited. He said just do what we've been doing. He said she is a lab and she's going to jump. He doesn't want to put her on a sedative because he said she will still jump on a sedative but then will be tipsy and more likely to twist her leg. So all in all...our baby is doing great! She looks a little sore today but I've had her sleeping with me today. ;)

Halloween time again...

Today we carved some pumpkins. ;)

Scrapbooking...again

Animal Instincts

So I got a text message tonight that I had to share with everyone else. Pepper has really hated being isolated from everyone else. She really hates it at meal time. Even though the table isn't far from her, she doesn't like not being able to be right under our feet. The animals have also instinctively wanted to be closer to her and have not liked being blocked from her. Tonight Ben sent me a picture of the sweetest thing that I've seen in a while.Here is Nala laying with Pepper. Ben said that she spent most of the night with Pepper. She would lie there for a while, then she'd get up and go somewhere but she wouldn't be gone long before she would return. I love how the animals know that something is different with Pepper and they want to be with her and keep her company. I love my little animal family!

Pepper Post TPLO Surgery Day 5

We picked Pepper up from the vet today. She is doing well and was very excited to see us. She had been given a C - collar to wear. I don't have a picture of it but the idea was to keep her from licking her leg. We have taken it off of her because she was scratching at it so much. We will keep an eye on here and make sure she doesn't go after her sutures. She has been confined now to the kitchen. This will be her home sweet home for a few weeks. Here are some pictures of her progressive recovery.

Here is the lamp shade they put on Pepper when we brought her home from surgery. She was licking at her sutures and they put this horrendous thing on her. Luckily our vet was nicer to her and gave her the c-collar.

Here is her Kitchen/Kennel...As you can see, Mitzi and Sammy miss Pepper and don't like being separated from her. They lay by her gate and rarely leave her.Pepper finally relaxing...Here is a close up of how her leg is looking. She's doing well.

Panama City Beach

Well after a last minute decision to not stay Friday night (due to missing my babies and feeling bad that Pepper went through surgery and hasn't been with us since) we came home and we back in TN by 4am this morning. Here is a quick summary of the trip.

Our view was beautiful...air mattress sleeping...not so much.

Some of us rode (or were pulled) the boogy board.

Some searched for seashellsOthers found crabs...dead and alive!Some were forced to watch hours and hours of Scooby Doo...Train rides took place for the young and young at heart...We saw beautiful sunsets!We played in the sand and made sand castles...endless funAnd numerous cute pictures were taken...no where near enough room to fit them all here!The trip was wonderful! Time to get back to real life. I go back to work Sunday and Ben returns on Monday. Pepper is doing well but we will blog about that next!

Beach Day 1

We're having fun at the beach! Here is a picture. I'll write more later.

Day of Surgery

We met with the Surgeon today. He said Pepper was straight forward. She held every sign of it being torn. He also told us something we already knew...Pepper is overweight...thank you...shocker. He wants Pepper on a diet food. Unfortunately, even though Pepper doesn't eat a lot of food...she packs on the weight. We will have to get her on a diet because she probably just doesn't have the metabolism to keep the weight off. This will be a pain with two other dogs who don't need a diet food. Great!

The surgery went well. There were no complications and Pepper was in 'recovery'. The doc said otherwise Pepper is very healthy and should bounce back just fine. This can be a 12 week long progress of recovery. The doc said he breaks it down in the first 3 weeks and after 3 weeks. The first 3 are supposed to be very quiet for Pepper. So this means, little to no activity, resting and restriction from as much stairs as possible and restriction from the other dogs as they may jump on her and try to get her to play. After 3 weeks she will then have restricted activity such as some walking in the yard on a lease, some going upstairs, basically everything in moderation and at her own recovery pace. He really put us at ease that she might heal much quicker than we thought. Some heal quicker than others. Pepper is so young that I really think she is going to bounce back quickly but we will have to be vigilant to make sure she doesn't try to bounce back quicker than she should because she is SOOOO playful. I will try to take some post surgery pictures tomorrow when we pick her up from the surgeon. Then we are off to Florida while she recoups at the Vet's. I kinda hate to leave her but we need this vacation and she needs rest.

Here you go Ash

So Ashley told me the other night that I need to update some pictures. So here are some new pictures of Mitzi, Pepper and Sammy. First here is some video of Pepper and her gimpy leg.


This video shows Pepper insisting on playing even though she needs to be off her leg.


Here are some updated photos.

Well that's us...3 days before surgery...

Cruciate Ligament

It looks like it is official. Pepper has ruptured/torn/injured her cruciate ligament in her right knee. This injury is unfortunately requiring surgery. There is probably no way around it. Without it, she would develop arthritis and never have the mobility she needs. As an 80 lbs dog, I NEED her to be mobile. My needs at this point are of no concern. Some people may not see it the same way as we do, but for myself and for Ben, our pets are our babies. Pepper is like my first child. It's crazy I know but we love her so much and would do anything for her. I hate to see her in pain. Both of us are distraught over this news but it is fixable and we will take care of it immediately. Pepper is such a great companion and truly makes me feel safe when Ben isn't home. That to me is reason enough to take care of my baby so she can be right by my side in no time to protect our home and be my warning of any danger.

We have an appointment monday with the orthopedic surgeon on Nashville who specializes in this injury. He will do a consultation and determine the best course of action. If surgery is needed, she will be prepped and taken in same day. She will stay over night for observation and we will pick her up Tuesday. Then we have 12 long weeks of slow agonizing recovery for her and for us! For her because she can be as active as a 2 yr old lab WANTS to be and for us because she's big and she has to be isolated downstairs so she doesn't hurt herself after surgery. Dang our 2 story home! Stairs will probably be out of the option for a few weeks unless she is assisted getting up them.

This whole drama has unfortunately altered our Florida vacation plans. I have been looking forward to this for so long and Ben has worked so hard. We are both in need of a vacation. We both thought this would ruin the chances of going at all. Luckily we will be able to board pepper at the vet after her surgery and will pick her up saturday when we return home. So we hope to enjoy Florida from Tuesday evening through Saturday morning! I can't say my heart wont be with her some though.

We are going to go Thursday down to Winchester with pepper and get a second opinion with Ben's family's vet. They have known this man for years and he has bred Labradors for years. He will be a good opinion to get. I think it will relieve any doubt Ben has on the diagnosis. I can't say I'm holding out hope for a different diagnosis. I think she has truly injured herself. Oh well..

So aside from a bad day yesterday and a lot of logistical nightmares and future medical bills...we are so looking forward to sunny florida and a speedy recovery for our dear Pepper. In true Lab nature, even with an injured knee, she runs around on 3 legs wanting to play in the yard. It will be so hard to contain her. I will post pictures of her ordeal...heck I may even scrapbook it...They are the only kids we have right now so why not scrapbook them.

Poor Pepper!!

The last few weeks I have noticed a slight limp in Pepper. She would only do it on occasion so I thought it was a leg falling asleep on her. Well yesterday when I brought them back in from the back yard, Pepper came in holding her right hind leg in the air. I knew something was wrong at that point. I took her to the vet today and got the shocking news that it could be a torn Crucia Ligament. This is similar to an ACL that athletes tear a lot. If this is what it is, Pepper will need surgery. Otherwise, she could potentially not heal properly, develop arthritis in her knee and never walk right ever again. Pepper is too young for us to be irresponsible pet owners. She's like a child to us. So tomorrow Ben will take her for xrays to see how bad she is damaged. Then we will find out how bad it will damage the pocket book!! EEK!

48 hours...

Ok so this is the first time I've been 48 hours away from Ben since we moved to Smyrna. I can't say that its a horrible experience because I am still lucky enough to see him when he is at the fire hall. The only thing that has made this 48 hours miserable without him is that I have felt absolutely HORRIBLE! Curse this infection! I have progressively gotten worse and worse since Monday night at work. I knew it would turn into this. Today I broke down and went to the ECHO clinic the city provides for their employees. The Nurse Practitioner gave me some meds and hopefully I will be better soon. Until then I feel like my throat is being cut open every time I swallow. Now I won't even mention the excrutiating pain of sneezing...Let's just act like I didn't even MENTION that...oww.

Ben is really kicking it in hire gear pulling all these hours. He is a great husband! This is next week's schedule: Work Sunday (FF), Monday (Ambulance), off Tuesday, work Wednesday (FF), Thursday (Ambulance), off Friday, work Saturday (FF) - Sunday LEAVE FOR PANAMA CITY!!! Woo Hoo! Hopefully by then everyone in the family will be feeling better...no more sore throats and crazy mouth ulcers...oww Shannon...can't imagine your pain right now! Let's pray for no hurricanes and no illnesses! I want a fun family vacation.

Curse things that bloom and make me sniffly

Ok...I've succumbed to some stupid blooming thing....and now I'm getting a dern sinus infection. It all started with not sleeping well...then sneezing...then clearing my throat a lot over the last two days...not being able to breathe when I lay down...and now the sore throat and coughing....yay... ok...time to go to dad-in-law for some meds...

Oh well...its worth it...I'm so looking forward to the fall weather we are getting!!

Hey if you guys want a good laugh then you need to check out my friend Ashlie's blog about her dog Bullet. She took him to the vet the other day and well...there is a hilarious story about her dog on her blog. Check it out. http://haddocks050308.blogspot.com/

Future Plans

Ben is really liking Rutherford County. We are hoping that he will start his ride-alongs this week. He will probably have to ride with another paramedic for 5-7 shifts depending on how quickly Ben can "pass off" that he knows how to do his job. After that, Ben and I have a 6 month plan! If Ben is able to pick up 2 (24hr) shifts a week we will be able to be almost totally out of debt in 6 months! How exciting is that??? I won't have him at home much, but he will be working the jobs that he loves and putting us in a better financial opportunity for me to come home whenever the Lord blesses us with children. We are so excited. Based off of how Ruth. Co. does their part time pay, if Ben works those 2 shifts a week, he will basically supplement my pay check. This means that once we have a child, I won't have to work. I would probably quit full time and go PRN so I could keep my skills up and continue to work a job that I do truly love. But I just really feel I would be doing a disservice to our family to keep working and making it a struggle to try to juggle Ben's crazy shifts, my crazy shifts and day care. It doesn't look like a day position is going to be a possiblity in the near future. I'm not sure when that would be a possibility. It just may not be in the cards for us, and I'm ok with that. Once we get rid of the majority of our debt, we won't have so many responsibilities that will require Ben to work so many hours. But the beauty of his schedule is that he would still be off every 3rd day and if I'm not working then I would be home when he's home and that shift wouldn't be so bad...if you don't mind him being gone 48 hrs straight...that will be tough.. We will see. Right now it is only temporary.

Our plan then is that within the next 4-6 months we want to redo the flooring downstairs. We've decided to tile our downstairs. We could refloor the entire downstairs for cheaper by doing this. We went to the liquidator store over in the antioch area just to look at prices for the fun of it and it we found some really nice looking tile for cheap. We are going to talk to some of the guys at the fire dept and try to get an idea of what it will cost us. That way we can start putting money aside and be able to have the cash ready to do the flooring in 4-6 months. I'm so excited. It will be great to have tile with the dogs. They won't scratch it, if they have any accident it will be easy to clean, etc...We'll just put some throw rugs down and whabam...Ben's aunt did this to her house and it looked great! We were frustrated with the wood flooring options because we are on a cement slab. If we hardwood the upstairs then the wood probably wouldn't match because it would be real hardwood versus what we put on a slab that has to be glued down. Anyway thats our plan; tile the downstairs and put real hardwood upstairs a little further down the road.

Ben had his yearly review at the FD. They are no longer giving everyone a cost of living raise. They are now requiring that the guys go above and beyond...no longer will the bare minimum be enough. The guys are required to do 2 hrs of training per day. They dept. now wants them to do more than that and take their own initiative to do it. The great thing is that Ben has been doing this all along. He doesn't like to sit idle so he has been reading the books for the pumper truck and learning what he needs to for the next possible promotion. Well due to the new requirements, most of the guys at the department didn't get their yearly raise. Ben was one of the FEW who did. Yay Ben! I'm just so proud of him for setting these goals and achieving them! Ever since he was little he's wanted to be a Firefighter/Paramedic...Way to go!

Rutherford Co. EMS

Ben started his orientation this week with Rutherford County EMS. I think he is going to really like it there. Monday he found out that he will get enough work through Rutherford County so he will be quitting Spring Hill. I'm grateful for this because he won't have to drive as far. They drove around the county today to see some of the stations and meet get their ID badges. Ben was sworn in today as an assistant Coroner. Rutherford County gives paramedics the right to pronounce time of death in the absence of the coroner or a doctor. He also got to meet with the special ops medical team for the county. Ben found out some more information on the S.W.A.T medics. He might be able to get his foot in the door and become one of the medics for the tactical team. Ben would LOVE that! So we'll see if they let him do it since he is only part time.

Other than that, we are looking forward to the beach vacation coming up. Hopefully the economy wont crash and there will be a beach and condo for us to visit. ;)

Head First!

Today was Ben's first day as an official Paramedic alone in an ambulance with just an EMT partner. The day started out really slow. I spoke with Ben after I got to work and found out that his slow day quickly took a turn. Ben worked his first Code today. He was very calm and I wasn't sure how it went. Unfortunately real life codes aren't like the tv shows. You can't just shock a patient and they come back to life. Unfortunately, the odds are usually against you. So much has to be taken into consideration...how long has the patient been down; has the family been doing CPR; Are they doing it effectively; what pre-existing health conditions do they have??? So when Ben told me he worked a code...I thought great...he just had his first loss as a paramedic. Unfortunately, it comes with the territory. I was so excited to find out that I was wrong and the situation was much better. So many things were working in this patient's favor. The family had already started CPR. They got their quick and Ben immediately took charge of the scene and started patient care. Breath support started, medications given, heart shocked...etc.. Ben was so excited to get a normal rhythm back...then he coded again. Ben figured out an underlying problem and once again got a normal heart rhythm. When they pulled into the hospital he was able to turn the patient over to the doctor and nurses with a stable rhythm, airway secured and medications started...that is an achievement for his FIRST code. I'm so incredibly proud of him! What a way to introduce yourself to a new hospital and doctors and nursing staff. So many facilities go off first impressions as to whether you are a lousy paramedic. I think this is a great way to make an impression. Way to go Ben!!!

Work work work

Ben has officially been hired on for Rural Metro of Spring Hill. He went and worked an orientation today. That facility is very slow most the time. Ben is only working there in case Ruth. Co. EMS isn't able to give him all the hours he wants. As usual, Rural Metro hasn't changed and there are some policies and lack of proper funding that Ben isn't happy about with their company, but overall, he said they don't seem to be a bad service. He has his orientation with Ruth. Co. in two weeks. Once that is over, he will officially be a Paramedic on a truck! Woo hoo.

We are looking forward to the trip to Florida. I can't wait for some vacation time. I hate to leave all our animals to the care of someone else...it seems like I'm not being a good owner or something, but I'm sure Brit and Jay will take good care of them. We just hope that Florida still has a beach and condo for us when we get there. ;)

I've been throwing myself lately into a lot of genealogy research. I don't know what's put the bug in me, but nonetheless, I am spending hours upon hours working on it. Ben can attest to that. I've link our lines on dad's side to some interesting people and information. Our lines are going all over Europe. Thus far on dad's father's side we are into England, Netherlands, Germany, Scotland, and Denmark. Cool huh? Needless to say there is a TON of temple work to be done. Mom is getting a lot together on her side of the family and I've found quite a bit on dad's side. Grandmother had a lot of it but I've found some that connected to our lines that she didn't have, therefore the work wasn't done. Grandmother had most of the work completed on the names she knew of. Well...time to quit ignoring my patients...back to work...boo!

Oh hey! Happy early birthdays to Brittany and Rusty!

Rutherford Co. EMS

Ben found out today that he will officially be working for Rutherford County. They appear to be able to give him just as much work as he wants. His orientation is in two weeks. I can't wait to have some extra cash to quickly knock out car payments and other various debts.

This week we joined the YMCA. Ben and I have put it off too long. Both of us as been unhappy with how we've look recently so we are making the effort for change! Shannon joined me Wednesday and Thursday night. It felt great to work out...but my poor legs are paying for it now. Ben thinks I hyper-extended a ligament in my knee. So...R&R for me...haha

Out of left field....

I got a text message tonight from my mother in law that totally caught me off guard. She told me that Bryan from Stonecrest Sleep Center would probably be contacting me soon with a better offer for a job. I have been working fulltime with STHS since February. So this is 7 months since I've spoken with anyone from stonecrest. Supposedly, Bryan went to Winchester today to discuss possibilities of their lab going in with the Winchester doctors in a lease to buy option for Marilyn's lab. While there, Bryan was talking with Cathy, and I guess my name came up. Marilyn said I must have really impressed them. I don't know what I would've done to impress them because I only worked a partial night with them and all I did was observe. So all I can figure is that all of this is coming off my interview. Ben asked me if I would consider their offer. I said it would have to be as good as what STHS has offered down the road for me, which is a possible day job. Then Marilyn sends me another text later in the evening telling me that Bryan specifically told Cathy that he might could get me what I'm making at STHS and a day position....so this is all totally out of left field and if it really does happen, then it will be a major decision for me and a huge matter of prayer. So....we shall see. Part of me feels that if I left STHS that I would be betraying them. James and Paul have worked so hard to get me that job and make it a wonderful opportunity for me. They are wonderful people and I would hate to leave them....who knows.

He did it!!!!!!

Oh my goodness we are so ecstatic right now! Ben, with all of the love support and prayers, has passed his National Registry Paramedic Exam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ben is a PARAMEDIC!!!!! He beat the odds...thank you to everyone!

Caitlin's visit

We have had Caitlin at our house for the last two days. What an adventure. Over the last two days we have drawn on the sidewalk with chalk, baked chocolate chip cookies, visited the fire hall, hosed the dogs down outside, read books, finger painted, walked the dogs through the "jungle" as Caitlin called it, picked flowers, swam at the Smith's and much more! Exhausting...

Here are some cute videos and photos:

Fun pictures

The family cleaned out mom's storage trailer a few weeks back. We found a ton of old family photos on my mother's side. I recently finished taking all the photos out of the albums to preserve them and also scanning some in for the family to enjoy. Here are some of my favorites!

Don't you love how my grandfather is looking at grandmother! So much love!Here they look like two goof balls...

I love how grandpa is looking at momma in this picture. Proud brand new father!

Cute photo of momma and Uncle Joe.

Photos of dad in the production of The King and I that he was in during College. Mom was in the orchestra of this production and this was around the time they started dating.

Well I have a ton more pictures but not enough time or space to put them all on. So enjoy!

Keeping Options Open

You never know where you are going to be in a month, in a few months, in a year from now. I like to keep my options open. I'd been hearing some rumors of possible sleep lab expansion to brentwood and rutherford county. Some of the girls I work with are considering leaving or transfering due to gas/driving distance or better pay at another lab. If the girls I work with leave, it would be very difficult for me to work with all these men and not my girls. With the thought of being pregnant and trying to get pregnant, my doctor was concerned with me working nights to begin with. So I have recently been considering going to days if the option was given to me.

Tonight I found myself in the tech room with Paul and no one else was around so I cornered him on the subject. I asked him if they were still looking at expansion and he said they were. I told him to keep me in mind for days and to know that I was interested. He was glad to hear that I was interested. Ben and I have discussed this issue and are not sure if this is what we want or what is best for us. I wanted to let him know that I was interested just in case after prayer and consideration that we find it is what we need to do. I have felt so strongly lately that it might be a good option, that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk to Paul.

A day position would require I work 5 days a week, which would almost necessitate needing daycare but that is ok if that is what the Lord wants for us. Also, I have read recently that shift workers sometimes have a difficult time getting pregnant and having babies...so maybe I need to come off nights since I do not rest well. Anyway...things to ponder and pray about...because this might also be a drop in pay to go to days. We'll see.

Hmm...oh well...time to try again

Well I called today to get the results from the second round of blood work. My hCG went from the 400s to 38...yeah I think its safe to say that I miscarried. :( Oh well. It has been such an emotional roller coaster that I have handled it very well today. I really had already dealt with all the sadness on Monday; so by today, I'm really ok. Today was a half day for my doctor so I didn't think he would call me. What we want now is to get some tests run to figure out why I keep miscarrying. So now I have to wait again on him to call me to discuss this. If he hasn't called me by Wednesday then I will call the office again. So Sunday its back to work and back to real life and time to deal with what I've been dealt. I still have a lot of questions and who knows when they'll be answered. I guess I'm learning patience. Ben and I are ready to be parents. It is now up to the Lord when that all happens though.

Updates

Friday's appointment went well. I will have more information the first of the week. They sent off my blood work to test the HCG levels. Once we know that, the dr will confirm everything for me. Until then he was hesitant to say much. But he DID schedule my first ultrasound for July 9! So there you go.

Here are some photos from our recent trip to the sounds game. We have fun even though it was BLAZING hot!

























Last but not least is Caitlin's Rally Cap!! Oh well...sounds lost anyway.

Unexpected Excitement

Life has a great way of catching you off guard. This past week I have had a strange pain that I started to notice when I laughed or sneezed. I really wondered why I was having this pain. It didn't make much sense to me. I asked Ben about it and he wasn't really sure since nothing else was wrong. I did a little research and let myself start to believe that I had a chance of being pregnant. I had a test lying around the house so Monday I thought I would take it just to see. To my surprise it was POSITIVE...I really couldn't believe it. Having had the pains in my abdomen, I called my dr but he said I was good and I have an appointment for Friday.

We had all intention of waiting to tell everyone just because of the previous history. Then today I decided to take a second test for my reassurance. I took a picture of it and sent it to Ben at work on his phone. Little did I know that Ben didn't have his phone with him and when he got the text Tony told him he had received a message. Ben was in the kitchen and told him to go ahead and look at it and tell him what it says...well that let the cat out of the bag. Since ben works with someone from church, we knew it would get out. He went ahead and told his sisters and called to tell me to tell family. For the last year we have had the prayer that we were ready but in God's time only did we want to have a child. We were tickled to death to hear that Bryan and Lisa were pregnant again...little did we know that we weren't far behind.

I will update more once I go to my appointment Friday. :) We are excited!

The End...

Tonight is my last night of work at Winchester. Ben and I are looking forward to our week off. Provided Ashley isn't working, we are planning to go to knoxville for an evening. I've been working so much on some genealogy to help mom and marilyn out. I swear....the Smith family goes back WAY too far. I have over 1100 names in my PAF now!! So now I have enough to keep me busy for a while.

Station 6

Well the city has finally got Station 6 out near Almaville ready to open. The changes will happen this week. Ben is being moved yet again to another station. He will be moving to Station 1 which is over by the Library. This is the station that has the Service Company which runs all the wreck calls. Ben is excited about this. He thinks his captain likes him quite a bit to put him on the service company so young in the department. Supposedly its a pretty well liked position and Ben is just excited to be on it. This station also happens to be Mike Cook's station, so Mike will be his Lieutenant.

We ran into mom at the Temple today. It was nice to do a session and run into family there as well. I met up with her tonight and went over some genealogy. So now I am going to try...key word try...to help her. I also want to start working on the Smith lines as well. We'll see how long I can stay motivated...Two more weeks of Winchester then I can be much more focused. :)

Tired...and Tired...

All this working is getting to me. I haven't felt good lately...in a long time really. I called in sick to Winchester tonight and had already taken tomorrow night off to have some time off before Ashlie's wedding this weekend. It will be a nice break. I was really looking forward to a vacation that we were going to take. As of today, we decided not to take it. I'm really bummed, but we felt we really should save that money and put it towards bills instead of spending it on a vacation...even though we both badly need and want one. Instead we will keep the time off that we have and try to do things around here for free....ok what's free around Nashville??? We are still going to see Don and Ash for one night but other than that we aren't going anyway for a while...

I can't wait to quit Winchester! Oh FYI...Ben takes his Paramedic test again next Wednesday...God willing...he will pass this one...

Landscaping!

Ben took pictures with the fire department a few months ago and got them in yesterday. Handsome fire fighter isn't he??? Well I think so. :)

Ben has been loving it over at Station 3. The guys there are so personable with him. They have really accepted him and made him feel part of the family...fire family that is. The other station he was at had great guys, they just had different interests and didn't accept Ben as easily. We are a "peculiar people" and Ben really felt that there. He wasn't accepted because he doesn't cuss or drink or smoke. The guys at Station 3 don't care that Ben is LDS. In fact, they don't ever harass him about it at all. They have been talking to him lately about going riding on motor cycles. Most of them ride on the weekends. Ben would love to one day get a bike and go riding. Maybe once we get some things paid off we will look into it. But for now, its fun for him to just think about it.


Yesterday we decided to spruce up our house a bit on the exterior. Earlier in the week, Jerry helped us level out our front yard with some new top soil. Then we spread grass seed in hopes that we will soon have some grass!

We bought some new shrubs, flowers and a beautiful tree.


The tall shrubs are green luster Hollys.
The light green are Gold Mound Spirea. They turn an orange/red color in the fall and have pretty blooms in the spring and summer.







The tree is a beautiful Snow Fountain Weeping Cherry. In the spring it is covered in awesome white blooms. It will be really pretty next year!




The bush to the left is a Silver Queen Euonomymous. Then we have various colors of Asiatic Lillies (Red, pink and yellow which haven't bloomed yet.) Then in front are Brigadoon Hypericum plants.

To the right are assorted annuals...I wanted some more color..The rest of the plants are perinneals because I don't want to have to replant all the time.

Finding old friends and looking forward to vacations

This past week I started a Facebook account for Ben. I've been trying to get Ben on facebook for a while now and he didn't have much interest in it. Finally I added him and told him it would be a great way to catch up with old mission companions. Now Ben is HOOKED! Haha. He is so ecstatic over how many friends he has found.

Marilyn has hired 3 new employees for the Sleep Center. She has hired two part time and I guess one full time. The full time is absolutely GREEN to the field of sleep. We have to train her from the bottom up. So I guess she is my project before I get to leave. She starts on days this week and nights next week with me. Then the two part timers work in Shelbyville and want an additional night a week. So I guess they will each work one night a peice with the new girl once I'm gone. Marilyn says that definately by the end of May when Brittany gets here that I will be done. So that means 6 more weeks! I'm starting the count down!

Ben and I want to go on a vacation once I am done with Winchester. It won't be anything huge. Don and Ashley have been begging us to go to Knoxville. So we might go up there and get a hotel room and see the sites. :)

Oh and here are pics of the new hair as promised:

April already?????!!!!?????

Working this many hours a week really makes time fly. I'm 24 already and don't know what happened to 23! It is such a good feeling to have the other house sold. I drove by there yesterday morning on my way home from work and saw their cars in the drive and they look settled in. I hope they enjoy our old home. We put a lot of love and work into that house.

Ben is being moved temporarily to station 3 which is over by the Nissan plant. They are needing to train some new drivers over at his fire hall so Ben got the boot. He is not terribly excited about the move. One of the guys he got hired on with is also being moved over there and this guy is so eager to please that he sucks up and offers himself and others to do things just to make him look good. He and Ben were there last shift right before they clocked out and he told the guys that since he and Ben were the rookies they would do everything! We'll see how that goes. Ben may just go crazy dealing with Nick all the time for the next couple weeks.

So I'm cutting my hair tomorrow! I can't wait. I'm going to get a short bob of some sort. I will post pictures after it is done. I am going to get some highlights and lowlights as well! We will see how it looks. I want something simple to fix with how many days and hours I am working!

The sale is FINAL!!! We closed on our house Wednesday afternoon and the buyers close on the house Friday morning at 8 or 9am! I am so thankful that house is sold! I cannot wait to use that money to pay off debt!!! We have been so fortunate and blessed that the Lord has helped us make both mortgages! Now maybe I can focus on making my new home look the way we want. I still want to get some parlor chairs for the front reading room and a small table and lamp to go between them. We need to get curtains for all rooms! We would like to paint too...not sure how soon we'll get to that. Oh well... Our bigger concern right now is getting the front yard in order. We are going to get some topsoil hauled in and buy some sod for the front yard. Ben wants to do some landscaping as a center piece for the yard so I have to figure out how we want to lay that out and then how much sod we will need. Fun stuff!

Ben is finishing his refresher course tomorrow then he will study a couple more weeks and try the paramedic test again.

Ben's sister Brittany and husband Jay are coming in for the summer and supposedly she is going to be taking my place at the sleep center. This will give me a summer "break", even though no one has discussed this with me. I keep telling them that once I leave...I'm not coming back. I need a break! So hopefully by the summer Ben will have his paramedic and get his second job like he wants and life will be great: I will go back to just 3 nights a week, Ben 24 on 48 off with SFD and then work an occasional shift once a week or so on an ambulance service...normalcy...that would be nice. :)

**WARNING** Rant Session

OK...I try to take most things in strides and brush off the bad and try to look for the good, but I believe this week I have had more than my fair share! So to update everyone I will share the good, the bad and the ugly.

THE GOOD: The house has a closing date of March 31st. YAY...God bless you Rusty for sticking in there with us! We have to fix a few minor things on the house and hopefully will be out from under that monster.

Ben has been able to work a couple shifts on the Service Co. He enjoys working on this truck because they do all the medical assists and wrecks in addition to the house fires. He told his captain that he loves working there and would be more than happy to transfer. The captain acknowledged his interest and we'll see what happens at the next transfer.

THE BAD: Ben is still extremely frustrated with the entire Paramedic testing program. His refresher course is coming up next week. I hope that this helps him out a great deal. We will see how it goes.

THE UGLY:
1. Monday afternoon I got a call from my friend Ashlie from work. She had spent most of the morning at the St. Thomas Orientation for employees. She was there with another girl from work who is being trained how to use our software and generally how we work at the sleep center. She was expressing to Ashlie how she was so nervous about our software and how she had never worked this program before. Then she made a comment to Ashlie that about made her chin drop to the floor. The girl said, "Oh well, I guess it won't be that bad. Mom says I will be ok because even a MORMON can do it." Ashlie said, "Excuse me, what did you say?" Ashlie knew that the only LDS person at work was me!

This girl's mother who said this, Karen, is a PRN employee that I have NEVER met. Karen's comment implied that people of the LDS faith are not smart, directly put my intelligence down and was inappropriately singling out the LDS faith in a way that doesn't even make sense to me. My religion has nothing to do with my intelligence level nor my work ethic and skills. How can you make a comment like that about someone when you do not even know them. My only conclusion is that this woman has worked with some people on the B shift who knew me and it might have been mentioned that I am LDS. She then might have known someone in her past who was LDS and she is now associating me to be just like that person.

I immediately called my supervisor and complained about how offensive her comment was, even if it was not intentionally directed towards me. My supervisor was shocked and said that none of the full timers have had anything negative to say towards me, which is nice, not that I really care how they view me. Paul said that he is going to handle the situation and speak with Karen about how she needs to be careful what she says and that she can not make blanket statements like that about anyones religion or gender affiliation. If she feels a certain way then she and her daughter need to keep their views at home. I have recently learned that Karen used to be a teacher at Vol. State and she likes to take her book smarts and use it in a way to make herself feel as though she is intellectually elevated above those around her when in actuality I have heard she is horrible in the application of those thing in which she feels so intellectually advaced in. If there is one thing I will defend it is definately my intelligence. I have worked very hard for my credentials and me degree. I'm not the quickest learner but I am good at what I do and my work reflects that. My patients speak highly of me and the doctors have nothing bad to say so she can take her comment and shove it!

2. I came home this morning, unlocked the front door, went to the back door and called for my dogs...they didn't come. I called and I called and I called...no dogs. It was pouring down rain so I walked outside to try to coax them in...my dogs were no where to be found. No holes under the fence where they got out. No damage to the fence. The lock was still on the gate...so where were my dogs? I panicked. I ran through the entire house calling and searching for my dogs in the false hope that I had made a mistake and left them inside when I left for work. No...no where. I called Ben in a panic and he told me to immediately leave the house and wait for him to get home.

Ben got home the same time the cops arrived and they searched the house. No sign of anything being stolen. Strange...The only thing missing were my dogs. No obvious signs of forced entry. The cops were baffled but told us there was really not a whole lot they could do. Ben and I briefly told them what had happened a couple weeks ago when a Kirby salesman came by at 9pm at night and giggled the door handle seeing if anyone was home...Not knocking...Not ringing the door bell...trying to OPEN my door. Yesterday a teenage girl came to the door while I was getting ready for work. I told her I didn't have time to listen to her because I had to get ready for work. I am just wondering if the saw my car leave and took the opportunity to poke around...but still why take NOTHING but my dogs?

While we were standing there talking hopelessly to the cops, I see a dog pop up in a yard 4 houses down...It looked like Sammie. I screamed for him and he came running. I was so relieved. I knew if Sammie was there...Surely Pepper was nearby. Ben went running down the street looking for her. He found her but she did not recognize him until he got very close to her. Once she recognized him she followed him back home. They looked scared and traumatized...We thanked the cops and they left knowing there wasn't a whole lot they could do to help us figure out why this happened.

We got the dogs inside and inspected the yard one more time...nope...no way to get out of the fence. The ONLY way the dogs got out was by the front door...so WHO came into our house and WHY did they do nothing, take nothing, and let the dogs out? We inspected the front door a little closer and noticed visible damage to the lock. We had a locksmith come by and replace ALL locks and add deadbolts to ALL doors. He had to completely replace the guts to the front door knob because of the damage from the burglar. Pepper has not been herself since today. She is acting very sore. She wont go upstairs without coaxing and she won't get on the bed without help, when she usually bounds and jumps all over the place. We are hoping that whoever came in the house did not kick or hurt her in any way. Thankfully Sammie is acting fine. If Pepper has not perked up by tommorrow then we are going to take her to the vet to get checked out for any internal injuries. We feel so violated after this incident. I just can't make sense of it. Why come into my house and the only thing you do is let my dogs run loose in the neighborhood? My dogs are well behaved. They do not bark that much; no more than any other dog in the neighborhood. Both neighbors to left and right have dogs....so they understand...sigh...I just don't know...

Learning patience and understanding...or trying

We found out at the beginning of the week that Ben did not pass his paramedic exam. He felt so confident this time around that it came as a major shock that he did not pass. Ben has done everything he knows to do in order to prepare for the exam. Now he has to take a 48hr refresher course to be able to take his exam again. He is signed up to take one at Vol. State the end of march. We've been told by the EMS director in TN that Vol. State has an excellent program and pass rate. Hopefully this refresher will give Ben the edge he needs. Until then he is going to read every chapter, word for word, which covers his weaknesses. All we can do is hope and pray for the best. This is a goal and a dream, and once set, Ben will not give up till he reaches his goal. It doesn't help though when you really feel let down by your education. We were told that Chattanooga State has not had a very good pass rating over the last few years...if we'd only known...

Ben went out the other day and looked for a part time job in EMS. Most places are wanting Paramedics but Ben wants to get in as an EMT so that he can keep his skills up and pick the brains of current paramedics. He applied over at Spring Hill, TN EMS. It is a Rural Metro corporation, which is who he worked for in Franklin co. They seemed very positive about getting him on board and he met a guy there who has some pull in Rutherford county and he is going to try to get him on there as well. This would be a great blessing. Ben wants the second job so he doesn't go stir crazy in the house and I am getting very worn down working my 4-5 nights a week. So we hope to hear from them this coming week!!

Other than that, we are still trying to sell our house...
I am still trying to get out of working in Winchester...
And I am still trying to get everything settled here in the new house, but this thankfully is coming along nicely. :) We got our new sectional couch, so our loveseat recliner will be going on craigslist shortly, and we got our new bedroom set in today except for the footboard to the bed which was damaged. So my bedroom set will be finished this friday. As soon as everything comes in I will take some pictures. Now if I can only settle on curtains and eventual paint color...

24...

One more year older tomorrow. I can't believe how quickly time is passing. Things are going well for us in Smyrna. Ben loves his job and is greatful everyday to be here. We are still high off his passing his Firefighter II, and we just found out that they have posted openings for the driver position. This would be another pay raise. There are some requirements with years of experience, but Ben was told by one of his co-workers that volunteer experience counts. So Ben is going to apply tomorrow for the driver's position. Then Friday Ben takes his paramedic test. We have prayed so hard for him to pass this exam! I'm SO PROUD of Ben. He has studied so much for the exam this time around. He has been taking numerous practice exams in all areas that he will be tested and he has been making 70s, 80s and 90s. He feels confident this time and I know he will do great! Everything is falling in place wonderfully and God is blessing us once again! Once Ben gets his paramedic he will find a second job and we are going to hit our debt hard...time to pay this stuff off. Now if we can only get that dern second house to sell....anyone want a house in Winchester??? oh well.

We traded our truck in yesterday for a VW passat. I know I know...why did we do it...gas prices are horrible and in less than one year we have put 20k miles on my car. We had to do something to even out the miles and me driving the truck to winchester was just not economical. We had the truck appraised and found out we were not going to get as much out of it as KBB said and it would only get worse the longer we held onto it. So we found one dealership that gave us much more than we expected and we took the opportunity to get out from under the truck. We'll miss the truck though...I know Ben will especially. oh well.

Ben's sister Ashley is coming to stay with us march 1. She has a karate turnament in Smyrna. We will finally get to have guests and not be the guests. So Ben is looking forward to that.

I'm in my 3rd week at St. Thomas full time and I'm loving it. It is nice to finally have some consistent hours. My co-workers are wonderful and we have a blast. I never knew how much fun you can have working. I just signed up for our benefits and life is good. :)