This is the face of...

SPRING!!!

2 weeks ago today...

I gave blood.

***WARNING!! IF YOU GET QUEASY LOOKING AT BRUISES THEN DON'T READ!***

I have been giving blood since I was 18.

I don't mind doing it.

Actually I feel really good when I do it.

However, two weeks ago just may have changed my mind. Just a little.

First of all, I didn't have a good vibe from this lady the second I sat in the chair. I told her I had hard veins to find. So she had someone else come ok the vein she "found" and proceeded to stick me.

As soon as she did, this is what I hear," Um...why is it coming out slow?",asking the lady next to her. (are you kidding me right now lady!!!!) Then that lady kind of starts to freak out a little and she says,"You need to get that out now! Um so and so, come over here and look at this!" So now I have three of these blood suckers over me and I'm trying not to pass out because they are all making it seem really bad!!

Anyway long story short, what she had done was poked my arm and totally missed the vein and was almost coming out the other side.

Yeah. Seriously.

In the end I let them try the other arm (different girl this time!) and they ended up getting it.

But hey, I got pizza, a mug, a shirt and some Razorback basketball tickets out of it! Haha (the only "I'm sorry consolation thing" was the mug, the rest was already given out!)

But I'm not going to let this stop me. No. I will give blood again. Because dadgumit, if one day I need blood, someone better be a-donat-in! I kid!

Here is what it looked like a few hours after...

look at that huge knot under the skin...TERRIBLE pain!!!

DAY 3:

DAY 5: these pictures really don't do the bruise justice...it was a nice one! DAY 7: DAY 9:

TODAY: the bruises are almost all gone but the knot is still there and it still hurts to put pressure on it!

Urgent prayer request!!

If everyone could keep my sister-in-law Rachel and the precious baby in her tummy, in your prayers that would be awesome! She is in Dallas for work and Shane went to go pick her up today to bring her back home. Visit her blog often for updates as I'm sure she will be posting.

Thanks so much!!

Just so you can giggle to yourself

Just so our family doesn't think we are lying that Sterling really can sing this song (because in true Sterling fashion he won't perform in front of anyone) here it is. It's to the tune of "Jesus Loves Me" but it's to learn the 12 Apostles names. He has not stopped singing it since he learned all the words.

Quick interpretation for you:

"Jesus called them one by one

Peter, Andrew, James, and John.

Then came Philip, Thomas too,

Matthew and Barthalomew.

James the one they called the less,

Simon also Thaddeus

The 12th apostle Judas made,

Jesus was by him betrayed."

Sterling always says "Jesus was in be-a-trayed"...so cute!

I cut this off too early because he stood up and gave a bow. HYSTERICAL! Then I asked him if he could do it again because I didn't get that on the video, "No, I'm tired of doing that." Typical Sterling! :)

>

What a great Valentine's weekend!

We had a great Valentine's week/weekend! I'll show you in pictures!

Wednesday: Sterling getting ready to go to his V-day party at school...a little photo-op...

Sterling being his usual silly self...totally natural, no posing necessary! (I promise!)

A rock star in the making...

Owen and Sterling had the same shirts on...

His class enjoying some yummy cupcakes Sterling apparently thinks the the icing is lotion... go ahead and click on that to make it big and look at his hands. Look at that face...guilty!

What a fun day! Could you tell he didn't feel good?

Thursday: We had a V-day party for Mommy and Me...decorating some cookies!

We had to go to the chiropractor after the party...this is how he stayed the whole time!! NEVER happens...can you tell he still doesn't feel good?

Friday: Heath had a dozen roses sent to the house for me! What a sweetheart! Saturday: We have a thing around here called "Polar Bear Plunge". It's to raise money for the Special Olympics. Well our crazy brother-in-law decided to do it! They have to go into the FREEZING lake at 12:00...crazy! But it's for a good cause and thank you Mitch for doing that!

Sterling found a big pile of leaves and decided that looked like some fun. Minus the fact that it's all muddy in there and he had a white shirt on...boys will be boys!

After the Plunge we headed to Kohl's for some quick sale shopping, then went to visit with Heath's grandparents for a while, then went to visit the neighbor that used to live next door to us who has liver failure and is in an assisted living place, then dropped Sterling off at our church because they had Parent's Night out (whoo hoo! thanks again you guys!) and Heath and I headed to a little po-dunk restaurant here that serves AWESOME endless crab legs and got our fill for sure! We had a wonderful Valentine's week!

Now it's off to the dentist for me...cleaning and 3 cavities. I'm gonna need some "happy gas" for this 3 hour trip! Then it's off to the doctor for Sterling.

HAPPY MONDAY!!

great news!

Our world has been a little crazy the past two weeks:

~The computer was in the shop for a week.

~We had a huge ice storm that had us locked indoors for 5 days straight...no exaggerating

~Heath was swamped with work from the ice storm and we didn't see him from 7 in the morning to about 10:30 at night for a week, but that was a HUGE financial blessing to us!

~Heath got a new job.

~Sterling and I have been fighting off sickness since Thursday.

Yes, I said it...HEATH GOT A NEW JOB!!

It is with the company I have been talking about that has been wanting him for the past two months. With MUCH prayer and advise from our parents he finally caved and did it. He has a company truck. He is one of three employees. It is one of the biggest electrical companies around here. He has been promised work.

So why have I not blogged about it before now?

I am sad and scared at the same time. Mostly because of the unknown future. Whose to say that 6 months down the line, or even a year at that matter, that he won't be laid off again and there we go starting from square one...again. It has happened twice so that fear is real!

Also, in order to work for this company he had to cease Heath Brown Electric. Now, when I say cease I mean, he can't do any side jobs...nothing. So there goes our cushion that we have been used to for the past 5 years. There go all the clients that Heath has built relationships with. They can call this new company and ask that he be the one to do it which is great, but will they do that? The reason being that they are in direct competition with each other because this is a company that does strictly services calls to peoples homes. That is exactly what Heath did. So...

There are so many other little tid bits that I would love to share but really can't just in case his boss may see...I don't know. My emotions are all over the board right now. I want to be excited about this I really do. It is going to be a HUGE learning experience for Heath. The owner is around Heath's age and they have built a really good relationship already. He is willing to tell him anything Heath's wants to know about how to run the company...anything. For right now, Heath is in training for the next 2 months. Not electrical training...how to run the business training. Heath and one other guy are the only ones in trucks that are going out to people's homes, so Heath has to learn how to do all of that. It's all kind of complicated to explain, but Heath is very excited and that's all that matters. He feels like he has made the right decision and I totally support it 100%. It's just scary.

So, to all who have said prayers on our job situation behalf (is that really how that needs to be worded!?!) THANK YOU!! It seems as though God is, once again, taking us in a direction that we think is going to be good for us right now and hopefully for a long time to come.

I'm ready to feel and be settled again.

H

Jenn over at First comes love...then comes marriage had a fun game going on and I thought it looked so fun and figured I would do it! Here's the deal: If you want to play, leave a comment on this post letting me know, and I’ll assign you a letter. You write about ten things you love that begin with your assigned letter, and post it at your place. When people comment on your list, you give them a letter, and the chain continues on and on. I got the letter H! (I think this is going to be a hard one!) 1.) Heath ~words don't express the love for this man!

2.) His Son~ Jesus! The Name says it all!

3.) Happiness ~ I try my hardest to be happy and to have a great attitude. It always makes me feel good to be around someone who is always happy, so why not try to be that person!

4.) Harding University ~ the college where I met the love of my life!

5.) Hayley ~ one of my best friends ever! Her and I were inseperable from 9th grade to our junior year in college...when I ran off and got married and moved away. sniff sniff. But we are still really close and hope to one day live in the same place again.

6.) Helping others ~ I was going to be a nurse most of all because I love to help people. I think Heath and I are a good match in this department because we like to help people where ever and whenever we can.

7.) Hard-knock life ~ I had a rough childhood and if it weren't for that I don't think I would be the person I am today. So that is something that I am growing to learn about myself!

8.) Home ~ at the risk of sounding too cliche...it's where the heart is!

9.) Hot fudge sundaes with brownies~ need I say any more!?! MMMM...

10.) Hidden camera shows~ As much as I hate to admit it and as much as I don't really like Howie Mandel, I love his new show "Howie Do It?"!! I'm all about pranks!

Ok, H was a hard one because I DO NOT like hamburgers, hot dogs, ham, hair (ick, just the thought of loose hair makes me ill!), horses, and all of the other common words that start with H! Now that I'm done with this I will probably think of a ton more! But these are the ones that came to mind first and I am happy with the answers! It was fun and if you want to play just leave me a comment and I'll give you your letter!