Untitled Update

December FLEW by. January was the slowest month I've had in a long time. I guess it felt that way just because it came after December.

Corey started his last semester of nursing school! He has an interview in a few weeks at Jackson General. We're praying he gets the job. That would mean a move back to Jackson for us. Go ahead and say it Jen. Yay! :o)

Living in Paris has been hard for me. No established church home, no friends close by, no social life. Don't get me wrong. Life with Corey is always fun and entertaining. :o) God knew I needed someone to keep me laughing. He sure did provide.

I'm looking forward to no more commuting. Almost three hours a day is rough. I am very thankful I have a job though. I'm just looking forward to that change. 1 hour 15 minutes down to about 10 or 15 minutes. Nice.

My health continues to improve. I feel like I'm getting the hang of taking care of my diabetic self. The afternoon dropsies are starting to come around less and less.

Oh and one more thing I'm really really looking forward to...I guess it's two things really. The Howells and FSM! Woot! I can't wait to back in the lives of the Howells more and with my girls. Who will be in 11th grade this year. What?! Wow. I've known these girls since 7th grade. I've had the joy of watching them grow into beautiful women and watching their hearts grow in their faith.

December Doings

A few weeks ago Corey and I met up with some friends and went to Nashville for the day. We went to see Charlie Brown Ice! It was a lot of fun! We have a month packed full of things to do every weekend. I love this time of year. I get to see people I don't get to see very often. It really feeds my social soul. I also got to go to Andrew Peterson's Christmas concert last weekend. I've seen it several times and it is still such an amazing worship experience for me. I always leave very humbled that the Son of God would come to earth to save us. To save me. I've been to a wedding also. It was beautiful. Really beautiful. Regressive dinner with the FSM girls. They are always so much fun to be around. A few days ago I went down to Memphis for my diabetes check-up. I got a good report! So glad. I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas and New Years!

Long time...

I'm sort of stuck in a rut. See, I tend to put things off if I can't really commit a good chunk of time to them. Or I put things off if I'm afraid it won't live up to expectations. My friend, Beth, loves the movie Shawshank Redemption. She always talked about how good of a movie it was and how much I would love it. I kept putting it off. No really good reason, I just did. Then for her birthday one year I promised her I would watch it. I did and I loved it. I'm so weird. Or I don't update my blog because I can't think of anything exciting or interesting to talk about.

Ok, so It's been almost three months since I've updated. I'm still working and commuting. All the time. Corey and I visited a few churches around Paris and found one we like. I'm super excited about that! Corey is almost finished with his next to last semester of school! Yay! I can't wait and I know he can't wait! I had a little procedure done yesterday on my big toes. Not fun. Seriously, the worst pain of my life. But it was for the best and really needed to be done. I'm so glad it's done. Now on to the healing part. Stay classy!

The beautiful blue compression bandage after the procedure.

The big C

I've been trying to find the words to describe how I feel all week. But really it boils down to this: cancer sucks. It doesn't care how old you are, how rich you are, male or female, single or married, Christian or unbeliever. I've been amazed this week and saddened this week. 26 year old male with testicular cancer that has spread throughout his entire body. He has no clue. 30ish year old male starting chemo soon for colon cancer. My aunt receiving the news that she has malignant melanoma.

But then God reminded me that He knows what He's doing and He uses medicine and doctors to heal every day. The reminder came in the form of two patients. Both with aortic valve replacements. That may not sound impressive to you. While I was standing there listening to the clicking of the valve I was overcome with the sense of God's presence. God gave the doctor the knowledge to invent this valve replacement and the ability to place this in a human's heart. I was amazed and encouraged. He knows what He is doing. He has plans. Big plans.

Posting

I find myself experiencing things in my every day life and then thinking,"Oh, I should blog about this." Then I get home and forget what I wanted to say. I will tell you I had a 19 year old patient last week with a lot of fluid around her heart. She was obviously sick and needed help. So we drained the fluid off and she immediately felt tons better. We moved her back to her ER stretcher and she whipped out her cell phone and started texting. Seriously? It made me laugh and shake my head at the same time.

Health

So I know not many people read this so I feel safe venting here. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with my health issues. I have bad days and good days. Some days I feel like it's not a problem and no big deal. Other days I throw myself a pity party and ask, "Why me?" I know there are much larger health issues that people deal with. I know that. Sometimes I just want someone to feel sorry for me. Ugh. I don't like admitting that. But that's the truth. So I'm working on a positive outlook and working everyday to fight the pity party.

In other news, my father-in-law had his hip replaced this past week and it went well. So I will get to see my husband tonight for the first time since Tuesday. It's funny. We were long-distance our entire dating "career." But now we're married and it feels so weird to not have him here. I did get to spend some much needed time with my friend Amy though. Mrs. Cone and Mrs. Konemann together again. :o)

I'm supposed to be working on bills and cleaning the apartment for Corey's arrival. Instead I'm writing to you and picking out a new pair of running shoes for work. Oh yeah, I have a birthday coming up in two weeks. Any ideas of what I can ask for? Corey and my parents always want to know what I want...

A few wedding candids!

Rehersal dinner with all the college roommates together again!








Amanda! And lip gloss. Gotta have the lip gloss.








We call this one "Runaway Bride."











The only few bites of food we got. They were good bites too!








Lunch before the wedding required a bib!








Cousin Ally, me and Lizzie, my sister and Maid of Honor.