Merry Christmas + Pregnancy Update

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!! Michael and I are happy to have a relaxing christmas this year as we don't have to run around town. His family went up to Wisconsin This year. Last night we had Christmas with the whole Evelo Clan at Grandma and Grandpa Evelo's. It was fun. Raelee of course was the cutest thig ever!!! Today we are relaxing and spending time with my family minus Matt as he is in the MTC.

Time for a pregnancy update:

I am now 15 weeks along

The baby is the size of a large Naval Orange

Total Weight gain: I've lost 20lbs!!!! (The doctor said this is fine)

New Pregnancy symptoms/signs this week: Hello Mr. Reflux!! Wow.. tums are my best friend... multiple times a day.
Also I started showing Friday morning. Its actually kind've funny because we went to the OB Thursday and he said I should start showing soon, and the next morning I could barely button my pants! I'm not going to take pictures until I get a little farther along though.

Continuing Symptoms: Nausea - it's getting slowly better though. Fatigue

Maternity Clothes: I have 1 pair of Maternity pants, but I think I'm going to have to give up and buy more very soon.

Sleep: I'm sleeping pretty good, but I sleep better on the nights Michael is home.

Eating habits: I can't eat much at one time, but I'm basically able to eat everything I normally eat.

Cravings: FRUIT FRUIT AND MORE FRUIT! And trail mix, and orange juice.

Special Pregnancy Moments: Our little one was sucking it's thumb during the ultrasound. It was really cute and special.
We also had bought a fetal doppler heart monitor, and it is really special to Michael and I to listen to the heartbeat together.

Catch up

Wow lately I have been horrible about blogging! Could be because we have been very very busy.

A couple weeks ago Michael was baptized! I am super happy and he is too! The next Sunday Brad confirmed him in sacrament meeting and after church he got the priesthood! I will never take having a priesthood holder in my house for granted again. Ever. It is such an amazing feeling!

The day after Michael's baptism we had another OB appointment. The doctor told us during the ultrasound to prepare for the possibility of twins since he was pretty sure he was seeing a 2nd yolk sac. YIKES!! 2 LONG STRESSFUL weeks later we had another ultrasound and there was only 1 baby! WHEW!! But since I'm an evil daughter I called my mom and told her we were having triplets! She totally fell for it! It was awesome! Our next OB appointment is December 22, so hopefully the baby will cooperate and we will get to see what we're having (it's still going to be a little early, but if the baby isn't modest there is a chance.). Wouldn't that be an awesome Christmas gift? I'm kind've hoping for a girl and Michael wants a boy, but we will be totally happy with either.

Thanksgiving was an awesome day. We had our first dinner at my in-laws house. My MIL had brined her turkey and it was so good!!! She totally won the best turkey award this thanksgiving. Our next dinner was 3 hours later at my parent's house. My mom was able to make my Grandma's cornbread dressing. It is the best dressing ever! If I wasn't already so full I probably would have eaten the entire dish! After dinner we decorated the Christmas Tree! Raelee was sooooo cute when she saw the "MISSMISS taWee" She was VERY excited about it and loved putting the ornaments up!

The Day after Thanksgiving we moved into our new house. We were both very tired after the move so Shelley came over and unpacked my entire kitchen for me! She is seriously the best sister ever!! Now we are almost all unpacked!We are on a short timeline since we are having Raelee's 2nd Birthday Party here this upcoming weekend. It should be great! Pics to come soon!

Exciting News

What could be more exciting then the fact that we're pregnant? Michael is getting baptized next week! He's been taking the discussions and knew pretty much from the get go that this was what he wanted!!! The best part about all of this is the fact that Michael's parents are being awesomely supportive. They even want to come to the baptism! I am so happy that Michael has made this choice. His baptism is scheduled for next Sunday at 6 at the stake center.

In other news: We're going to be moving again! Michael's parents have asked us to move in to Michael's Grandma's house. It is a 3/2 in Weems Plantation, so it is about 1/4 mile from where we are now. I am excited because 1: It is a single family house. 2: It has a garage. 3: It has a good back yard. 4: It has a big screened in porch in the back. 5: NO STAIRS!! I was worried about taking the baby up and down the stairs here. 6: A BIG master bath. This is VERY exciting to me, and those of you who have seen the bathrooms we have now know why. Last but not least 7:They are going to let us pay the same amount of rent we are paying now which is only $850. Houses in WP usually rent for over $1000.

The moral of the story is: We are very blessed with amazing families who love us and are willing to help us.

All is well

I went for another ultrasound today. This time it was at Women's imaging center. It was such a great experience!! The ultrasound tech found the baby right away! She showed me the baby and the heartbeat (128bpm)!! Everything is ok now! I was only one day off. I thought I should be at 7 weeks today but I am 6 weeks and 6 days. The baby is due June 16, 2011! The sense of relief I have been feeling is amazing!

Panic attack!! (TMI Alert)

Last week I started having some slight spotting. I called my OB but they said they wouldn't see me until I was farther along and told me to go to the ER. This was on Tuesday. On Thursday I had another episode of spotting so off to the ER we went. I went to the desk, filled out my paperwork, started walking to sit down and they called me back. (My ER Wait time: less then a minute=AWESOME). Right away they got a UA and blood work. Within the hour they had taken me for a pelvic exam and thus started the wait for the ultrasound. In the ER with me in the adjoining rooms were 2 other girls in early pregnancy with spotting. They were ahead of me for the u/s. After about 3 hours (my hopes for a speedy ER visit had long since flown out the window.) my turn FINALLY came! The u/s tech took me back (she wouldn't let Michael come) and did a transvaginal and abdominal u/s. Both Combined took less then 2 minutes. She even uttered the words "fastest ultrasound ever." As she was walking me back to my room she told me the doctor would be in shortly to review the results. SHORTLY MY FOOT! It took 2 1/2 more hours. Michael had to leave for work and my Dad had to come up to sit with me. Finally the PA (yep PA, I didn't even get to see a doctor...) came in and handed me the u/s report. He said "she saw the gestational sac, but no yolk sac and no fetal pole. It could be that you are not as far along as you thought, or you are in the early stages of a miscarriage." It felt like he had punched me in the stomach. I only had a VERY VERY little bit of bleeding and I hadn't had ANY cramps at all. Plus I have been very very nauseous and my HCG levels were 21000 (which indicates between 5-8 weeks of pregnancy). He said he was going to get me a shot of Rhogam (because my blood type is B neg) and out he walked. Almost an hour later the nurse finally came in and gave me the shot and gave me a paper telling me I was on bed rest for 2 days. I was finally discharged.

Bed Rest majorly sucks when you've gotten possible bad news.... all I was allowed to do was lay there. I couldn't stop thinking about it and got myself almost sick over everything.

On Monday I went to see my OB finally. He did an ultrasound and right away saw the gestational sac and yolk sac. He still couldn't find the fetal pole, but he said that is pretty much normal and didn't seem worried at all. He said it was a really good sign that I have been nauseous and then wrote me a perscription for zofran (YAY!!!!). I got blood work done after the appointment and I went back today for the 2nd round of blood. Tomorrow I will get my results. Heres hoping for HCG levels that have gon sky high!!! Needless to say, this has been one VERY STRESSFUL week!

1+1=3

Baby Fredrickson will arrive around June 15, 2012.

We found out I was pregnant this past Tuesday. I had been feeling run down and was having cramps. It was still a week before my period was due and I never cramp up until the night before.

I decided to take a pregnancy test. It came back positive and I nearly fell off the toilet from being in shock. I then woke Michael up and sent him to the store to buy some more tests. After all of them came back positive I was convinced. I was shaking so bad that Michael had to sit me down because he was afraid I was going to pass out. The next day I went to my PCP to confirm the pregnancy. My first OB appointment isn't until November 7. We are super excited but very very nervous.

Butter is yummy and trips are fun.

Today I made butter!!! It is really Yummy! It is also pretty darn easy to make!



We Went to Milwaukee for Vacation from the 2nd to the 11th. On our way home we took a side trip to Nauvoo! I love it there!



 On our way home we got caught in this... so not fun. But I got some really Cool cloud pictures!

A tough week

This week has been a very very rough week for my families. On Wenesday evening Michael and I found out his Grandma was being admitted to the hospital and they didn't think she was going to make it. We rushed up there and stayed with her until 2:30 in the morning. The next morning Michael went back up to the hospital about 8am and sat with her. She passed away at 1:10pm and Michael was with her holding her hand. There were multiple family members in route to the hospital, but we were not able to make it up there.

Merle H. Fredrickson Obituary: View Merle Fredrickson's Obituary by Tallahassee Democrat

Then yesterday afternoon, my Mom was admitted to the hospital because of a very large blood clot behind her knee. She will be in the hospital for a few days and then on coumadin for months.

A very tough week.

A tale of two cakes: Part 2

The second cake I made this weekend was a Los Angeles Lakers cake. This was an easier cake for me because it wasn't layers. I was originally going to out a basketball hoop on it as well, but after drawing out the different designs, I decided that simple was better. This weekend was super fun but a little stressful. I don't think I will ever agree to make 2 cakes in 2 days ever again! well, at least not until I develop my talant some more....

A tale of two cakes: Part 1

Spongebob cake is done!!! My former co-worker ended up needing it by today (EEEKKK!!) and I found this out this morning. So as soon as I got off work I rushed home and started baking. Luckily I had made the pineapple yesterday. That saved sooo much time. So here is the finished product! What do ya think?

PS: Everything on this cake is edible except for spongebob.... he is a candle....

Baking in my future

I am sooo excited because I have gotten 2 request for cakes to be made this week! One is for a 7 year old's birthday. I am going to make a spongebob cake, and the other is for a 27 year old. This cake is going to be a LA Lakers themed cake! One is for Saturday and the other is for Sunday. So tomorrow and Saturday will be full of baking! This is gonna be fun!!

Not so smart...

I made a HUGE mistake last night. Iwatched like 3 episodes of A Haunting. Then Michael left for work. All the sudden I could hear all the little creaks the house makes. I got scared. So I slept with the lights on and kept HGTV on as well.... I promise I will never do that again.

2 cakes and more house

Pics of our house!!

we moved into our townhouse in January... It is past time I posted some pics! This one is of the Guest Bedroom/Office

My awesome new desk!

Whole desk

Pantry

Kitchen

Kitchen



And Kitchen again

Dining areaLiving room looking towards kitchen

Living Room
There are more pics to come of our Master, and the spare room and bathrooms....

Me and bathrooms...

...Do not get along well when I am out of town!! This past weekend Michael and I went to Destin with Shelley, Brad, Matt, and Raelee! It was an awesome trip, We stayed in a 2 bed 2 bath Cabin in the Topsail Hill State Park. The water was beautiful and the waves were really big! But I got hurt again. I seriously think out of town bathrooms have something against me. We were done with the beach for the day and waiting for the tram to take us back to our cabin. I was walking out of the bathroom, got distracted by Matt and did not see a curb right in front of me... so down I went. Skinned my knee, shin, and toes, and I twisted my ankle.... But I lived and gave everyone a great opportunity to make fun of me. Now it is looking as if my knee is getting infected... Luckly I work in a doctor's office so it was pretty easy to get a perscription for some antibiotics written for me. I also have a perscription for a super duper antibiotic ointment to put on it.
Anyways back to the trip: Michael and I were not able to leave for Destin until 10pm Friday night because there was a chance he was going to have to work that night. As soon as we got the call that he was off we jumped in the car and off we went! We made great time on I-10 and got off on 331. We were making really good time on that road too until we encountered a flashing sign that said: "Caution. Detour ahead. Please drive carefully. Traffic crash." About a mile down the road we were redirected down Old Jolly Bay Rd. After driving down the road for what seemed like an hour it turned into a dirt road. Yep. It was midnight and we were driving down a dirt road. I would have been freaked out but there was soooo much traffic on the road! It was probably the most cars the road has ever seen. Finally we got to the state park and went to sleep. The next day the beach was great! We had Raelee in a float and took her out past where the waves were breaking. She started falling asleep! As least that is what Shelley thinks. I personally think she was getting seasick.... she had that look about her and as I said before, the waves were really big. Raelee ended up being the only person that didn't get sunburnt that day. Saturday night we stayed up way late and played cards. We must have gotten way too much sun because we were all laughing really hard at tiny things. All in all it was another great trip and we are totally going to stay there again. But for longer then 2 nights.

PS: Sorry that this is such a long rambling post. I have a bad headache and cannot put thoughts together very well.

Memorial Day Weekend

Michael and I got to spend Memorial Day weekend in Brunswick, Ga. It was really fun and nice because my new job makes spending quality time with each other hard. We spent alot of time on Jekyll Island which I LOVED!! I want to take another trip and stay on the island. Basically the weekend went like this: Sleep, read, fall and go boom, beach, beach, and more beach. Did you catch the "fall and go boom" part? Well that was the only not so wonderful part of the trip. I was in the shower (which was very slippery from the stuff the hotel used to clean it), and I turned to grab my razor and I slipped and fell out of the shower, somehow making a 180 degree turn, pulled down the shower curtain, and the hit the toilet with my hip, which shattered the toilet seat.... embarrassing? Yes.... Painful? Heck yes!!! And I think I gave poor Michael a heart attack! He wanted to take me to the ER, but I wouldn't let him take me since I don't have insurance again for another month and a half... and I knew I wasn't seriously injured because as soon as I stopped shaking and sheding some tears, I did every range of motion test I know... but now I do have a VERY impressive bruise. I'm including a pic of it, but the picture sooo does not do it justice.

So now to the good part! This trip was the first time I had ever seen the Atlantic Ocean! It was so fun swimming with the big waves! The water was the perfect temperature but a little muddyish. Once I overcame my fear of something unknown possibly brushing against me (or a shark eating me) I was ok.

I fell in love the house right before the bridge, and the bridge was pretty awesome too!! All in all it was a great trip!! I can't wait to go back!

We decided to go home on little roads and drove through some really cool little towns. One town had 3 American flags every 15-25 feet all through town in honor of the fallen soldiers! Then we saw a sign for Ameila Island and took a detour there. It was so crowded that we couldn't even find a parking spot near the beach, so we didn't leave the car. I wish we could have stayed there a little bit because the water was really clear... oh well!!

I hope everyone else had a good long weekend!!





This is the really big and cool bridge





This is the house I love



Very goofy pic of us!





Big waves!!









And last but not least... the bruise... It is soo painful and super swollen.

Another Cake

Ok... so I am addicted to decorating cakes now. Last night I made a new cake in honor of Nurses week. Here it is! It was super duper yummy and a big hit at my office!

Congrats Brad!

Yesterday my Brother-in-law graduated from Flagler with a degree in Accounting!! So as a graduation present I decided to make him a cake for his graduation party. The party started at 3. I started making the cake at Noon.... I may have procrastinated a bit! In reality it was a last minute decision. I got the cake done just in time.... Luckily I took the cake out of the oven and put it right in the freezer or it would not have been done!!

So here are the pics!!! I think it turned out great!

First day

I started my new job today!!! I love it already! I'm working at Medical Rehabilitation Specialist.http://www.medicalrehabspecialist.com. Check it out! It's an awesome place. I'll post more about it once I get through my first week, but some things to look forward to already this week is: Going to Centre Pointe to consult on some patients tomorrow and Thursday, and a trip with Idella Struk (she is my direct boss... she talked Dr. Mauro into hiring me to help her) to Eden Springs on Friday.

Mail call

Dear Marquesas, I love your mail calls so I am stealing the idea. Also, Oliver is adorable! And Miles is too! Plus he was super cute in nursery on Sunday!

Dear Michael, I am really going to miss you starting Monday when I'm at my new job. I love you so much! Thanks for being so supportive all the time.

Dear Sleep Deprivation, I am SOOO looking forward to NOT having you everyday (er I mean every night).

Dear Allergies, Why do you enjoy making my nose turn into a faucet? Because I really don't like it.

Dear Co-workers at Healthsouth, I'll miss seeing ya'll everynight. Thanks for all the good times!

Dear patient with the diagnosis that was caused by something really humerous (and really stupid on your part) that I can't say on here because of HIPPA, Thank you for making me laugh so hard I almost pee every time I read your Chart.

Dear new car, You are the love of my life (next to Michael that is). Thank you for being you! You make driving enjoyable!

Dear Shelley, Thanks for going shopping with me the other day!! It was lots of fun!

Dear Raelee, You are sooooo cute!! I think you just get cuter every time I see you. I had fun playing "Where's Mommy at" with you in Target the other day (or as you would say: werrr seee at??? Mommamama weeerrr seeee at?). You were so adorable!

Dear Idella (and Dr. Mauro, but mostly Idella), I absolutely CANNOT wait until Monday!!! I am soooo excited!

Dear Diet Mountain Dew SuperNova, Let me just tell you... you are awesome.

Dear Healthsouth, I'm glad I'm staying on with you part-time, but I am so glad I only have 3 shifts left with you full time!

Dear Lindsay Lou Photography, I need to get with you to plan a time to get pics of me and my hubby!

Another big change

As if I didn't have enough changes about to happen in my life, Michael and I just made another big change: WE BOUGHT A NEW (to us) CAR!!!!! YAY!!!!!!! We got a 2009 Honda CR-V LX from the local Honda dealership. We got an AMAZING deal on it thanks to my quick thinking! I LOVE the CR-V so much and I have had it less then a day. It was totally time for a new car. I was sick and tired of being embarrassed whenever I would sit at traffic lights and my van would have smoke pouring out. But those days are in the past now! :-) This pic was taken at the dealership. On a sad note: Once we got the car, I was driving out to my parent's house to show my dad. I was driving down the parkway and a semi got over into my lane. All of the sudden a big rock hit my windshield and cracked it. :-( I couldn't believe that it happened...and I not ashamed to say that I shed a tear or two. I mean I had JUST bought the car!! But it's not a big crack and when I wake up I'm going to see about getting it fixed!

BIG changes

Well, since the only consistent thing in life is change, I decided to make some changes of my own. April 22 will be my last shift (full-time) at HealthSouth Rehab Hospital!! I got a job with one of my most favorite people ever, Idella!! She is an ARNP that works for Dr. Kirk Mauro!! Dr. Mauro is one of the most awesome Doctors ever in Tallahassee. He used to be the medical director at Healthsouth, but had to hand it over to someone else because his practice got so big. He also is one of the doctor's that saved my uncle's life! I am so blessed to have gotten this position and I am super excited!!! One of the best parts about this is that I will be off night shift!! YAY!! But that is also the worst part of this. I will no longer be on the same shift as Michael. I'll be working Mon-Fri, but Fridays are half days, so we will only be seeing each other for 6 hours Mon-Thursday.... it will be tough to adjust to but Michael wants to switch to day shift eventually!! Anyways... Did I mention I am excited??? Because I am!!!!!!!!!!!

My new favorite show

I still LOVE Grey's Anatomy but my new ultimate favorite show is Little House on the Prairie! I got a really really good deal on the whole series from Amazon.com!! I love it soo much! There is just nothing like good 'ol wholesome TV shows! Michael and I have been watching episode after episode! It's pretty amazing. And I love that it is based on the real things that happened to Laura Ingalls! So if you haven't ever watched it I HIGHLY recommend it! You can get them off Netflix, but you have to wait for them to mail it to you because it's not on the instant. Have fun!

Handwritting on the....

Today while I was working on unpacking more boxes I found all my old journals. My first thought when I started reading was "Wow... I had REALLY bad handwritting." As I progressed through all the journals I realized something pretty depressing... My handwritting is still bad! Don't get me wrong, it has gotten better, but it's still pretty bad. So I am now inspired to somehow train myself to get better handwritting... this should be fun! Comparison pics to follow as soon as I find my camera!

Checklist

1: Taxes: Done!! Michael and I have been procrastinating. But now we finally got our butts in gear!

2: Get the house organized and all the boxes unpacked: Well... we were almost done with this one, but then being up in Dothan for the last 2 weekends delayed us some. But I am starting back and will get it done by the end of this week.

3: Clear out the vines and weeds from behind the house: Yeah... haven't started this one yet.

4: Start getting food storage supplies built up: I am proud to say I have been working hard on this one. I've been hitting all the sales on canned goods and we have quite a bit!!

5: Daily personal AND family scripture study: I've been doing great with my personal, and we've been getting better about family

. 6: Daily Journal writting: I had gotten away from writting daily... I was down to once a week, but now I have picked it back up!

7: Figure out what I am going to put up on the ledge in our house: Still working on this one, but I think I am going to get some wedding pics blown up on canvas and put them up there.

To Do List:

1: Get up in attic and see how much space we have.

2: Get more info on the online LPN to RN bridge program.... I have got to get going on this.

3: Buy a new (to us) car. I really really really want a Honda CRV.... we'll see if that happens.

4: LOSE WEIGHT- I HATE being fat... but NO MORE!! I've been eating tons better, now I just need to start exercising more regularly... I'm going to start tomorrow morning as soon as I get off work.

Hard times

Today was my Grandma's funeral. It was really nice... honestly I think it was the best funeral I have ever been to. My Dad gave the eulogy, actually he ran the whole service. My Mom got up and shared memories from all the family members. Jared gave a prayer and Grandma's brother Ben gave another prayer. My mom wanted me to play the piano, but every time I even tried to think about playing I started crying. It was a really sweet service. I'm not going to lie, it was really hard for me and I had to struggle to hold it together, but Michael was so great. I love that my husband can sense when I need him. He always knew right when to grab my hand, or give me a hug. He is awesome.Throughout this day it just seems like it hasn't fully set in yet that she is gone. This has all happened so fast. I am so grateful for all the time I have gotten to spend with my Alabama family. I thank Heavenly Father every day for my family and the faith we all have. If it were not for my faith and knowledge of Heavenly Father and Christ this would have been so much more difficult for me. But because of my faith I know I will see my Grandma again. I know that when I die I will be back with my Father in heaven. I am so greatful for that. Well... I am going to sleep now... today has been a very emotionally tiring day. Thank you all for the support and prayers. I know they have helped.

Special Patients

And so do patients!!

One thing I love (and sometimes hate) about my job is that the patients do not sleep through the night... You get the occasional one that has had Ambien and does snooze a little, but the majority don't. This gives me the chance to get to know my patients better then I would have thought (ya know with me working nights and all). There is one patient who has really touched my heart. The funny thing is he has never even been MY patient. Michael had him one night, but I never had. Me and this patient bonded over me giving him a cup of coffee every morning around 6am. We got to talking and he just found a way right to my heart... and Michael's. But the thing that really makes him special to me is the fact that he is so caring for others even though he is in the hospital himself. As y'all know my Grandmother passed away Monday. I stayed up in Dothan that night and wasn't at work. This patient was soo worried when I wasn't there. He got the full story from Michael and asked Michael to tell me that we were in his prayers. Tuesday and Wednesday nights were CRAZY nights and I didn't even get a chance to go on the side of the hospital he was on. Last night was slower and I was able to hang out on the other side a little bit. At 6am he came out of his room and made a Bee-line for me. He proceeded to try to comfort me and was very caring... he even offered to help us with anything we needed once he got out of the hospital. He has so much going on himself, it just really touched me that he was so willing to help others. Reading back over this I realize I made it sound a little creepy, but it was not creepy in any way. Nursing can be so rewarding... I love my job!!!!

My Grandma

My Grandma passed away this past Monday. I was able to be with her and the rest of my family the most of the time she was in the hospital. It was such a blessing to me to be able to be with her as she passed on. I can't even begin to explain the Spirit that was present in the Hospital room. We also had a wonderful nurse that helped my family in so many ways. His name is Jake and I have no doubt that God placed him in our lives to help us through this hard time. I also got to talk with my Uncles more then I ever have and I now feel much closer to them.

I am extremely sad about grandma dying, but I also and very happy because I know she is happy now because she is back with my Grandpa. I also am very greatful of my knowledge of the gosple because I know I will see them again. Here is my Grandma's obituary:

Peggy Sue Baxley St. Mary, 70, of Dothan passed away on Monday, March 21, 2011 at a local hospital.

Services will be held 2pm Saturday, March 26, 2011 at Sunset Funeral Home with Mark Evelo officiating. Burial will follow in Sunset Memorial Park with Robert Byrd directing. The family will receive friends from 1-2 pm on Saturday at the funeral home.

Mrs. St. Mary was born January 5, 1941 in Blue Springs, AL and lived the early part of her life in Newton, AL. She was a homemaker and resided in Fairbanks, Alaska at Ft. Wainwright prior to moving to Dothan in 1976. Mrs. St. Mary was an avid reader, a great southern cook and her hobbies included crocheting and ceramics. She was preceded in death by two husbands, Ronald G. Beaty and Don L. St. Mary, her parents Dempsey D Baxley and Lena Pearl Baxley, her step father, Franklin Spivey, and her brothers, Douglas Baxley and James Edward Baxley.

Survivors include her sons Bobby Bowman (Shirley) of Dothan and Michael Beaty (Brandy) of Dothan; daughters Marlene Chilcoat of Talkeetna, Alaska, Vicky Evelo (Mark) of Tallahassee, FL, and Donna Chapman (Freddy) of Dothan; 9 grandchildren, Cristy Rhodes, Jason Bowman, Jared Evelo, Shelley Wonsch, Lindley Fredrickson, Matthew Evelo, Brianna Beaty, Zakary Mazzullo, and Jude Mazzullo; several great-grandchildren; a brother Ben Spivey (Judy) of Columbus, GA; and several nieces and nephews.

Really?

I had been talking to fellow nurses about how many CEs ( CE stands for Continuing Education, each CE represents 1 hour) I needed to have to renew my nursing license. Everyone I talked to said 24 including the mandatory CEs. So I started working on getting them out of the way.... I should have got online and looked it up on the Florida Board of nursing website.... Today I subscribed to CE Broker, which is a website that keeps track of all the CE you have done and tells you when you have fulfilled the requirements. It turns out that because this is my first renewal I only needed 2 CEs! ONLY 2!! I have done 24.5! Oh well... at least now I know what to expect in 2 years when it's time to renew again!! I wanted to tell myself I had wasted all that time, but since I was learning new stuff it wasn't a waste! So I'm all done, all I need now is to renew! Yay!

1 Year together.

So as of today Michael and I have been married a whole year!! It seems crazy because it really doesn't seem like it has been a year! We are so happy and in love!! For our anniversery we came back up to North Georgia to relive some honeymoon magic.... haha... the only magic we have relived was me being sick!! Except this time I gave it to Michael too!! Sad.... So we got up here and have done nothing except watching TV and soaking in the jacuzzi! But it is still good to be away from home! So if we take any pics before we head home tomorrow I'll post them... but don't get your hopes up... we both feel pretty crummy! But at lease we are together and feeling crummy!!

Let me tell ya..

I love this hotel chain! They ROCK!!!

My night?... oh You mean the hours of 11pm-7am...

Day 4: A picture(s) of your night:

My night was actually really good last night... had some interesting moments and I saw something swollen on a patient that I totally didn't know could swell! Also I learned about a new disease, grieved with a patient who had just lost someone close to them, acted silly with my co-workers, had a good chat with a doctor, nurse praticioner, and a physician assistant, gave shots in butts, and did my fair share of poking, prodding, measuring and so forth. All in all just another night shift. I love my patients though!! Especially the really really confused one! It makes the night fun!

Love these ones!!

Day 3: A picture of the cast from your favorite show.

Oh Grey's Anatomy... how I love thee!! This is by far my fave show!! And.... I have made it into Michael's fave show too!! We can't wait until Friday mornings so we can watch it! (Yes, I know it comes on Thursday night at 9pm, but we are getting ready for work then and wouldn't be able to concentrate). I have all the seasons on DVD and I think I have watched every episode twice!! The earlier seasons are better in my opinion, but the later ones are pretty good! It can get annoying at times when they do things really wrong (like having the oxygen tubing not hooked up to anything) but I just laugh it off!! It is also fun being able to relate to different situations.

On a different note, work is kicking my butt!! I need some MAJOR rest and relaxation because I think I am coming dangerously close to a huge burnout!!

My mommy

Day 2: A person I have been closest with the longest is my Mom. She is pretty much amazing. All my life she has been such an inspiring person. She juggled 4 kids, a house, my dad, and job, and homeschooling us 4 kids all at the same time.... AND she even stayed sane through all of that!! But seriously she is awesome!

For a random story about mom and I:

When I was probably like 5 or 6 I got a kit for christmas that lets you build cool things out of pennies. Mom and Dad got this for me and all the pennies I needed. It was only like $5 worth but to me it seemed like soooo much money!! I was so excited! But... then I got to thinking about how much my Mom sacrifices for me and my siblings and I started feeling really really guilty that she had given me all of this money when she gives up so much! By the way.... all of these thoughts were running through my head in the middle of the night. Well I got myself totally worked up about it and got to the point where I felt really panicked inside. I needed to give my mom the money back. RIGHT THEN! So I went into my parents room and tried to give her the bag of pennies back. Mom of course told me it was ok and was my gift and that she didn't need the money back. Well I was just too far gone by this point and could not calm down. Mom tried her hardest to calm me down but I just wouldn't stay calm unless she held my hand. So I slept next to her and she held my hand the whole night.

I don't know why but I can still remember this like it happened yesterday. There is a ton more stories... but I have been up all night keeping people alive and I am tired.

I Love you Mom!!

10 facts about me.

1. I am addicted to House Hunters on HGTV.... actually I am just addicted to HGTV altogether.

2. I am super duper jealous of my sister Shelley for being so creative with everything.

3. I love cooking... but I'm not very good at it.

4. My biggest goal in life is to be a mom.... hopefully when the time comes I will be as good of one as my mom is.

5. I love cats and if we were allowed to have pets in our townhouse I would probably have like 4 or 5 of them.

6. When I was trying to decided what type of nurse I wanted to be, I would remind myself that I hated old people.... well.... now I love them!!

7. I have the best husband in the world... seriously.

8. I have absolutely NO sense of style. I am not even kidding. Shelley has to take me shopping to help me find clothes... it's really sad.

9. I hate it when people cough stuff up. It makes me gag. I can take throw up, poop, pee, blood, just not coughed up stuff... that is one HUGE reason I am not a respiratory therapist.

10. I love taking a long hot shower the minute I get home from work... there is just nothing like seeing (well I see it in my head) all the MRSA, C-Diff, and other various germs washing down the drain. It makes me happy.

Vampires and strokes

That is what Michael and I have become!!! (Too bad I'm not gorgous like the vampires in twilight.) So I've been on night shift for almost a year and I have become soooo sensitive to sunlight!! Ok I know those of you who know me best are thinking that I have always been super sensitive to sunlight, which is true, but now I am REALLY sensitive. Michael and I are very rarely outside because we sleep all day. Well on Saturday we went fishing with my Grandpa, Dad, and little bro at St. Marks. It was super fun (even though we didn't catch anything), but we were out there from 12:30-4:45, there was not a cloud in the sky, and we didn't have any trees to hide under. I was doing ok until we got in the car to head home. I all the sudden got hit with the biggest headache ever and was so sick to my stomach! By the time we got home I was full blown sick and I was super burnt and was already looking like a lobster! I was sick all night long and finally fell asleep about 8:30 in the morning. I was planning on just sleeping like an hour, going to church, then coming home and sleeping for the rest of the day, but Michael decided I needed to sleep and didn't wake me up. I am really glad he made that decision because when I did wake up I felt like I had been run over by a semi! But I felt alot better! Stupid sun poisoning!

So an hour or so after I woke up we got a call that Michael's Grandma was acting funny. We rushed over and I got her to go to the hospital (It took some major convincing.... she can be quite stubborn). Long story short, she got admitted and they think she had a small stroke. She is really confused and has trouble finding the right word, but she doesn't have any deficits in her gait or coordination (Thank goodness). We didn't get the call until this had been going on for a few hours.... I think I need to do some education with Michael's parents (like CALL 911 if someone is acting very strange and can't talk). So please pray that she will recover quickly!

Just for info purposes here are warning signs for stroke:
*Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
*Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
*Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
*Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
*Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

Be on the lookout for these warning signs! If you suspect someone has had a stroke call 911 RIGHT AWAY. It's better safe then sorry. In Tallahassee, both CRMC and TMH are great with strokes, but in other cities, find out the nearest hospital that specializes in stroke. You won't be sorry. Strokes can be devestating.... Believe me... I know. I work with stroke patients everyday.

Getting there....

Sooo... since Michael and I got married I think that all of our stuff has multiplie times a million!!! It is taking me way to long to unpack and get things where they need to be. On an up note, we finally got our gas hooked up! We had been living in the townhouse, but still showering at the apartment. Not fun! But now we have hot water and it is awesome!! But we had a flood the other night... well actually 4 floods. Blame it on the townhouse which has many broken things in it. This time it was the showerhead. Broken showerhead + water = BIG FLOOD and Michael and I being late to work. But it also equals lots of laughs and good memories. I love making memories with Michael... it's fun. Being married is awesome!

It's the big day...

It's Moving Day!! There has been some complications, but we are moving anyways. Wish us luck!