SO PROUD

Today, my Dad was ordained as a deacon! I've been raised in a Christian home, but my parents have had some trouble really finding a church home. If there was a youth group I liked, they weren't as happy. When they found a group and pastor they liked, I didn't like the youth group or didn't get much out of the services. Some churches were just too big and you got lost, some were too small with too many cliques. Ryan and I were blessed enough to find a church home in Colleyville shortly after being married. My parents found their church about a year ago and finally have a real church home that meets their needs and where they can serve and meet the needs of others. Mom teaches Sunday school and Aimee has really been doing well with the kids her age. Dad has served in a few other capacities at two different churches, but never as a deacon. The pastor and another deacon approached him, and it really took him by surprise. After prayerful consideration of the proposal and discussing it with all of us, he decided that he did feel called to say yes. He and mom have had to go through counseling and classes for a while, and today it was made official...Dad's a deacon! The Pastor did a really nice job with the ordination ceremony for Dad and 3 other members that had also been called to be deacons. Anson and his family and the Aylesworth family came to church with us for the ceremony and joined us for lunch afterwards-some good ole BBQ! Just a beautiful day :) So proud of you, Dad! But now the work is just beginning, so y'all please keep our family in your prayers.

CONGRATS!

Congratulations to my cousin Brian and his wife Whitney. Yesterday, they welcomed a baby girl named Addison to their family. I'm sure big brother Zane will be so excited!

Also, my cousin Alex and his girlfriend Victoria will be welcoming a baby this September.

Congratulations and best wishes to both families!

SICK. SICKER. AND STILL SICK.

Well, my rotation here in Dallas has been going well except that I've been awfully sick for just about all of it. If you'll recall, Ryan had strep throat just before I left to come here. About mid week my first week, I started feeling down...just tired and generally lousy. By that Thursday, I was running fever with lymph nodes swollen and a terribly painful sore throat. I was voted off the island at work and sent to the doctor, with the assumption I probably had strep, too. Well, the test was negative, but the doc gave me antibiotics and steroids because I was in really rough shape. Over the weekend, my sore throat migrated down to about my voice box, and I developed some awesome asthma trouble and a cough that just wouldn't let up. I was going through Robitussin, NyQuil, and cough drops like water and using my nebulizer and rescue inhaler about 3 times each day. When I couldn't swallow without grimacing, I decided it was time to head back to the doc. I left with another negative strep test, a steroid shot, another week's worth of steroid pills, meds for my asthma, prescription cough medicine, and some lidocaine for my throat. That night, I actually got some sleep! Some was better than the next to no sleep I'd been getting before. I expected improvement, but about 5 days later, I still am miserable. Improvement, yes, but certainly not nearly up to par yet. So I went back to the doc this morning. I left with a clear chest xray, another negative strep test, different antibiotics (for 2 weeks! yikes!), and a different prescription cough medicine. Here's hoping this finally clears up. With only one week left here, if this clears up, it looks like it will be just in time to head back home. I'll be very glad to feel better, but I wish I could have spent more time with family and friends while I was here. I still have this one week left, so hopefully I'll feel well enough to make the best out of it.

SURPRISE!

Jason, one of our roommates, turned 30 on Feb 4. His girlfriend Heather, our other roommate, threw him an awesome surprise birthday party. She's been planning this for months, and I'm really proud of us all for keeping our mouths shut. I really don't think he had a clue. She got a bunch of his friends to come into town from Corpus Christi and from Michigan. His parents and sister were sweet enough to come all the way from Michigan to be part of the surprise, too. Heather's mom even came to town for the big event. We had everyone at the house getting ready while Ryan took Jason out golfing...which almost got nixed due to rain. Poor Ryan, he did a great job. His entire job for the day was to keep Jason occupied until we gave him the OK to come back home, and I'll tell ya, that wasn't an easy task! So while they were out, Heather and I were running errands and getting the house ready with lots of help from some of Jason's and Heather's family and friends. When the boys got home, we had all the cars hidden and the guests hiding, too. Jason saw tons of decorations and me when he walked in...but that was it. He looked awfully confused! He took one more step, then everyone yelled "surprise!" and jumped out. He seemed to happy to see everyone! We had some yummy Tex-Mex for dinner, then hit downtown in a party bus...all Heather's ideas. It really all went off well, and everyone seemed to have a great time. His family stayed in town for a few days to see Galveston, NASA, and some other local stuff, but everyone else had to head back pretty quickly the next day. Thanks again to everyone who came out for making it such a success. Many thanks to Ryan for owning the most difficult job of the day, and huge props to Heather for pulling it all off! Fun times! I'll try to get some pictures posted when I get back home and can confiscate them from Heather.

UUGGGHHHHH!

Ok, that's about how I feel. My brain can barely form words right now. This week has been INSANE. On top of the usual days full of work at the hospitals, I have finished my 13-page paper over bone tumors and cysts, finished my rotation and got all the end-of-rotation business taken care of, finished a ridiculous amount of the world's most boring task-patient logging, healed a hubby with strep throat and I haven't caught it (yet), found a puppy then found her a home, dealt with a sick cat...and still have Roomie's 30th birthday on Saturday that I'd like to be awake for, then I have to pack/move/clean house on Sunday for a 4-week rotation 5 hours away. Yes, by the way, my and Ryan's 8-year anniversary is tomorrow. Sleep? I think not.