Mini-rant and what I'm thankful for today.

I'm going to climb up on my soapbox for a minute.

If you see something tragic from afar, 

i.e. someone get hit by a car or someone falling to their death,

don't

go home and facebook about it.

Really? A tragedy has hit that person and their whole families, and you are going to go put it up on your facebook to attract "Oh poor you" comments, and get attention from it?

It's totally cold hearted and selfish.

Okay, enough ranting for the day.

I have a ton of homework, and I am very sleep deprived, which makes me cranky. 

I almost never remember my dreams, but last night I had an extremely vivid nightmare that kept me up half the night.

So I definitely need a reminder of what I'm thankful for today, which is...

My mom.

She's coming over to take me out to dinner tonight for a much needed break.
She's also listened and been supportive of me for all of my emotional breakdowns in the last 6 months, and most of the ones before that, as well.
She has turned out to be one of the most important people in my life, and I don't know what I would do without her.

How cute are we in our Christmas Sweaters? =)

I'm so very thankful for her.
♥

It's finally November!

Well friends, I know it's been a while.

A lots been going on.

Here's the basic rundown.

As of Saturday, I no longer work at Family Video.

I am in a last chance, can't screw up, remediation class, with lots and lots of extra work, and I MUST succeed.

Or no degree.

Yep.

So, it came down to my job or the mountains of work I'm now taking on.

It's a very scary feeling, not having a job.

We'll be okay, as long as nothing super major happens that requires tons of money.

And the worst part is, I'm still not guaranteed a passing grade.

It's a whole world of unknowns right now, and that is very, very scary for me.

But,

because it is November,

and November contains Thanksgiving (which is my birthday this year, just saying),

I'm going to focus on the positives in my life.

for the next 25 days, I'm going to post one thing I'm thankful for every day.

Mostly for me.

I need to remember all of the things I'm thankful for.

So today, I'm thankful for...

Flowers.

Last week was my last week of work (which was of course hectic) and my first serious week of school (equally hectic.) To top it all off, I was sick.

Seriously sick. Like, barely functioning sick.

So, one night, husband brought these home to me.

I love them.

They've been on our table since, and 

they are so wonderful.

They are a nice little picture of brightness in my recently bleak little world.

I love flowers, especially in winter, and am especially thankful for them today.

More things I'm thankful for in the days following.

♥

Eventful Weekend

Well Hello there.

Much has happened since my last post. 

I guess I will go chronologically, since that seems like the most logical way to do it. 

So, here we go.

I had mentioned in my last post that we were going to Wal-mart at midnight for my $9 tupperware, and that was the only Black Friday shopping that we were going to do.

Well, I was half right. 

We got to Wal-mart at midnight, and there was literally no place to park. Jamie dropped me off, and I ran though the store, under the caution tape, through the clothes department, and grabbed the tupperware.

Then, I went back the same way (yes, back under the caution tape) and got in line.

I was way excited.

This is me in line at midnight. You can see a glimpse of the madness behind me.

Well, while I was waiting in line, Jamie noticed a Blu-ray player. For only $70. But...not until 5 AM.

I said "Yeah Right." 

He said "No, we can wake back up and come."

I said "Sure babe, I'll come with you."

Now, let me clarify that I only said "sure" because Jamie is the worst person that I have ever met about getting up for things. Sometimes I literally have to drag him out of bed for important things, like work and school. So, in saying yes, I did so with the knowledge that when his alarm went off at 4:30 AM, he would just shut it off and go back to sleep. 

Problem solved.

So I'm sure you can imagine my shock and horror when the lights flipped on at 4:30 AM, and he hopped out of bed, and said "Come on!"

So, unable to go back on my word, I got up, and we drove to Wal-mart and bought a Blu-ray player.

It sucked.

Then we went home, back to bed, and both got up for work at 9 AM. 

Gross.

That Friday evening, though, after a gruesomely long day of work, my mom took me to Keystone mall, and to Teavana, and bought me a new really cute tea tin, 2 oz. of Ayurvedic Chai White Tea (thanks, Misty,) and 2 teacups for my birthday! She's so sweet.

Afterwards, we went to Beni Hana, and we had a glorious, amazing, delicious dinner.

It was nice to spend time with her.

And then Saturday morning, Jamie was sick.

Again.

He stayed in bed all day, nauseous, and had to miss Thanksgiving with my mom's side of the family, which is his favorite. 

So, he was bummed about that, and so was I.

But, my mom made me an amazing coconut birthday cake, because it's my favorite!

It was so delicious!

And then on Sunday morning, I let Jamie sleep, because he hadn't been feeling well.

And then when he got up, and was feeling better, we decided to be productive and go Christmas Shopping!

So, we started at Mass Ave, then went to Keystone Mall, then to Michigan Rd, and then back to 3 places in Brownsburg!

We shopped ALL day.

It was exhausting.

But, at the end of the day, it was really exciting, because we got all but 3 presents!

That's amazing for two huge procrastinators.  I was proud of us.

But then we got home, and realized that since we haven't done our christmas decorating yet, there was no where to put the presents. 

Oops.

So, here is where they are for now. 

Poor Jamie has had to significantly reduce his homework space.

We should be fixing this sometime this week, though.

And, we got Minnie a cute new Christmas Sweater, and Emma a Kitty Condo. 

They are both so cute!

But, then the day turned bad.
Really bad.
I started having really bad heartburn. I don't ever have heartburn, but I just assumed that's what it had to be.  I had an intense, burning pain from my stomach, behind my sternum, to about my collarbones. I just decided to try and sleep it off, and hope it was better in the morning.
Then, at 3:30 AM Monday morning, I woke up in serious pain. It hurt so bad behind my sternum that it was hard for me to breathe, especially deep breaths or yawns, and my shoulders hurt, and BOTH my arms were tingly and numb all the way down to my fingers.
I was concerned, but I've never been one to just rush to the hospital for every little thing.
So, I called a 24-hour immediate care hotline, and described my symptoms to a nurse.
And she told me to go to the ER.

So, Jamie drove me to to ER, and we got there about 4 AM Monday.
I was concerned about my heart, but they did an EKG, and ruled that it definitely wasn't that.
Which was a relief.
They also did a Chest X-ray, took blood twice (and missed once,) and did an ultrasound of my internal organs.

It was a rough 5 hours.
Finally, around 9:30 AM, the nurse comes in and tells me that it was a severe acid reflux episode, and that they are prescribing me Prilosec.
But, they still couldn't tell me why my arms went numb.
Which is weird.
But, I guess I should just be thankful that nothing major was wrong, and they've given me a clean bill of health, other than acid reflux.
It just sucks that we had to spend 5 hours in the ER to do that.

I will say that I am so very overwhelmed by my husbands love for me.
He spent 5 hours laying across 2 wooden chairs in a 4 foot wide space to be with me.
Even though it totally de-railed his Monday.
I am so appreciative of that.

So, finally after all of that, this week has gotten back to normal.
and by normal, I mean crazy busy.
I have two major homework assignments due within a week of each other.
And by major, I mean can decide by themselves whether I pass or fail this semester.
So, I am going to focus in on that for a while.
Just saying.
I will be glad when school is over, and I don't have to be a lonely, homework driven, hermit.
Seriously.
♥

"You're just to good to be true..."

I had an awesome birthday at Howl at the Moon last night!

Guess who got called on stage and serenaded for her birthday?

Yup. This girl.  

It was awesome. I requested "Can't take my eyes off of you" by Frankie Valli, and wrote on the request that it was my birthday.

He said "This is too good of a song to not sing to someone. Julie, come on up!"

It was seriously cool.

Today was Thanksgiving, and it was actually really good.

We went to Jamie's aunt and uncle's in Rockville, and then back to my grandparent's in Jamestown.

Despite the crazy running around (and the fact that I was not feeling so great for the first half of the day), it all went really well. 

It was the first holiday that I have really enjoyed in a while.

And now Jamie and I are hanging out and watching Avatar for the first time. 

At midnight, I am going to Walmart, because they have a 40-piece set of rubbermaid tupperware for $9.

Woah.

I have to have it.

But, that's the only real Black Friday shopping that I am doing.

Oh yeah, except that after work tomorrow, my mom is taking me to Teavana for my birthday.

Excited!

Oh, and I forgot to mention yesterday what Jamie gave me for my present.

I have been sponsoring a little girl named Rosa through Compassion International since I was 16.  

She is a (now) 10 year old girl, who lives with her grandmother in poverty in Equador. Her parents were never married, and her grandmother is only employed seasonally.

I can honestly say that it is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done.

Compassion is a Christian program,  that not only gives good food, medical care, and education to over 1 million children in 26 countries, but it also gives them Christian teaching, Bible education, and teaches them to love God.  One of the coolest things about compassion is that you get to send and receive letters from your child, and they tell you about their lives, and ask about yours.  You can send pictures, stickers, coloring pages, and anything that will fit into a flat envelope. 

Rosa often sends me letters telling me that she is really trying in school. I love that, because I know that even though she may not be the best student, because of me, she is trying, and has opportunities to succeed.

Well, for my birthday, Jamie agreed that we could take on a second child.  I have been wanting it for a while, but the finances just weren't there. But, now that I am working more, we are able to do it. So, yesterday, I chose a little boy named Emmanuel.

He is 3, and lives in an AIDS affected area of Kenya.  He lives with his mother and one sibling, and his father is deceased.  I am not sure if it is because of AIDS or war, but I am so excited to give him a chance to learn about God, and provide solid meals, medical care, and an education to him.  I felt that his name was so very fitting, because it is God that has given me the ability to help him.

I am so happy to be his sponsor, and I am so excited to get his packet of information, and be able to send him a letter and pictures.

I have to say, it's been a really great couple of days.

I will leave you with a link to Compassion, in case you want to check it out.

♥