B’s blog

As my 200th post has finally arrived, I wanted to celebrate by listing 200 things I really loved about my life. I hope you enjoy!

1. My journey with God and watching how He is working in my life daily
2. My husband, who continues to find the good in me, encourages me daily, and loves me unconditionally
3. My children, who make me laugh everyday and amaze me with the incredible things they are learning
4. Avery, when he comes to talk to me about growing up stuff
5. Jaelyn, as she still needs a morning, mid-day, and night time cuddle
6. Braden’s funny facial expressions and the way he tries to be funny on purpose
7. My Dad, who has been my rock growing up and continues to challenge me and support me
8. My Mom, who taught we how to be a good mom and wife and who is more than my mom, but my friend
9. Watching my sister start her life as an independent, confident adult
10. Watching my brother raise his daughter and seeing how great of a father he is
11. Having sister in laws that I adore
12. Having brothers who teach child
13. Knowing that in I am working as the hands of God in my line of work
14. Having friends through the country
15. My inlaws, who have taken me in like a daughter, sister, and neice
16. Still having grandparents alive
17.Knowing that I work hard to give my children the best I can
18. Living near the ocean
19. Watching Avery play sports
20. Watching Braden run really fast, swinging his little arms
21. The smell of sweaty little boys
22. Baby Magic lotion on the kids after a bath
23. Payday!
24. Jaelyn’s hair in pony-tails
25. Watching Grey’s Anatomy with Erik
26. The changing seasons in Iowa, especially fall
27. Orienting new nurses
28. My purple comforter that I’ve had since college
29. Taking photos of my kids
30. Going on date night with Erik
31. The ice from work—love to chomp it!
32. Hobby Lobby
33. Beating Erik in “shoot out” at Chuck E Cheese
34. Playing games around the table at Mom and Dad’s
35. Talking to my neice on the phone
36. Babies
37. Driving fast on the interstate with the music really loud
38. Getting letters from friends
39. Books on organizing your home–I’m addicted to them!
40. Calendars–again, addicted
41. Listening to piano music
42. The color purple
43. Chocolate anything
44. Jaelyn’s laugh when I tickle her
45. Clocking out after a long day at work, getting in the car, and driving with the windows down all the way home
46. A 4 day stretch off of work
47. Spending time catching up with friends on the phone or in person
48. A bear hug from my husband
49. A massage
50. Going to the chiropractor and getting adjusted
51. Taking a nap with Braden
52. When Avery still finds time to climb on my lap
53. Finally knowing people around the hospital where I can say hello when I walk by
54. Hearing about N6 news
55. Starbucks Java Chip
56. Roseanne reruns
57. A comfy pair of old blue jeans
58. Going to a football game
59. Sitting close to my hubby in church
60. Getting my backed scratched like my Grandma used to do to me as a young girl
61. Being able to cook
62. Thunderstorms at night when my whole family is home
63. The first day of a vacation
64. The feeling you get when you finally get home after vacation
65. Getting an unexpected check in the mail
66. The closeness I have with my sister, throughout the miles
67. Being a mother
68. Laughing gas at the dentist
69. Getting my hair washed at the salon
70. Weekends off
71. Medium rare steak with ranch dressing
72. Strawberry margaritas with friends
73. Shopping online
74. Scrapbooking so my kids will remember their childhood
75. Getting dressed up for a night on the town
76. Making inside jokes with Erik
77. The smell of Bounce dryer sheets
78. Candlelit bubble baths
79. Finding a package by the front door
80. Sitting in the dark by the Christmas tree with all the lights on
81. a baby’s soft skin
82. The time in the middle of the night when you get up with the baby and just soak in the moment
83. The feeling you have those first 3 days after giving birth
84. Putting love notes in my kids lunch boxes
85. Feeling skinny and sexy in a new outfit
86. snuggling on the bed with the whole family
87. Feeling the dog at my feet in the middle of the night
88. A nap after a day in the sun
89. Playing tricks on my kids on April fools day
90. Reading books to the kids before bed
91. The smell of Erik’s deordorant
92. Bath and Body works soap
93. Hawaiian Tropic oil
94. Hot Apple cider in the winter
95. Shopping at a big department store
96. Italian food
97. Fresh cut flowers on the table
98. Gift certificates
99. DVR
100. Braden’s little toes
101. Getting a thank you from a patient
102. Crying during a sad movie and then laughing because you did
103. The song they play on American Idol when the contestant goes home “So you’ve had a bad day”
104. When Braden tries to sing along to the supper prayer or when he says his prayers
105. homemade chocolate ice cream milkshakes
106. Marshall campfires
107. Listening to Tyler or Steve on the guitar
108. Going to a Casting Crowns or Toby Mac concert
109. Iowa State Fair
110. scented candles
111. looking out the window during a snow storm
112. Being proud after hearing my kids acheived something
113. Fresh baked cookies with milk
114. Mom’s spaghetti and my garlic cheese bread
115. Chili and peanut butter sandwiches
116. Florida
117. Knowing the “all roads are connected” (thanks for the wisdom Dad!)
118. memories of sitting on the porch swing with my grandpa as a kid
119. cake donuts with chocolate icing-also reminds me of grandpa
120. late night talks with friends
121. making new goals for the New Year
122. staying in contact via internet
123. bill pay
124. Word finds and Suduko
125. Singing loudly in church
126. Toothless grins (from babies, not old men!)
127. Swimming in a swimming pool (never a lake!)
128. the way the house looks after I vacuum
129. Tetris
130. Steak with our secret steak seasoning
131. Portible DVD players to entertain kids in the van on a long drive
132. My children and husband’s baby blue eyes
133. Tall sexy bald guys (ERIK!)
134. Free long distance
135. Seeing the reaction from someone after I’ve given them a gift
136. Looking out my window and seeing palm trees
137. Ball park hotdogs
138. Shopping for home decore
139. Taking out old cd’s and hearing music of my teenage/college years
140. Copper-tone butts (on the kids)
141. Climbing in bed after I just washed the bedding
142. Watching TV in bed, cuddling with Erik
143. Meeting new people and hearing their story
144. Wearing sandles all year round
145. Writing in my blog for others to read
146. Completing a project
147. The quietness of the house after all the kids are in bed
148. Reading mystery books and seeing a good murder mystery movie
149. Seeing Erik’s car pull up in the driveway at lunch and after work
150. Celebrity reality shows on VH1
151. Standing up for something I have strong feelings about
152. The fact I have common sense and a conscious
153. Knowing there are still things out there for me to learn
154. Going to a movie with Erik, letting him eat all the popcorn at the top of the bag (with all the butter on it) then getting some left over on the bottom of the bag.
155. The blankets made by my mother in law that all 3 kids can’t sleep without
156. my huggie pillow
157. Iowa Hawkeyes, KC Chiefs, Chicago Cubs
158. getting to wear scrubs to work everyday
159. laying out in my backyard in privacy
160. When you smell something that reminds you of your childhood
161. sneaking kid’s candy after a big holiday like Easter or Christmas
162. Toe head babies
163. Sleeping with the fan on
164. Climbing into a cold bed
165. Natural highlights that little kids have in their hair
166. Being in control (yes, I’m a control freak)
167. my mother in law’s homemade pizza
168. Family reunions
169. knowing there is no chance of running into anyone I don’t want to run into from my past in Houston, Texas
170. Watching Erik laugh
171. Hearing Jaelyn sing and watching her dance (even if she isn’t the most graceful)
172. when Braden crinkles up his nose and smiles
173. Having a water fight
174. jumping on a trampoline
175.Being able to feel yourself get a suntan from the strength of the sun
176. Laying in a tanning bed and falling asleep
177. Planning a vacation
178. Anticipation
179. Shopping for others
180. When Avery reads to Jaelyn and Braden
181. Hearing stories told by my dad
182. being told I look like my mom
183. knowing my family is only a plane ticket away
184. Tulip festival
185. Amusement parks, baseball game, and Red Lobster vacations with my family as a kid
186. That moment on an airplane when you take off and when you land
187. Trying to figure out what Braden is trying to say but knowing he understands every word out of my mouth
188. Watching home videos
189. My wedding day
190. All the love letters I kept from Erik while he was in the Navy
191. Singing in the car or to my kids at bedtime
192. Scrapbooking with my sister and sister in laws
193. Going on a walk and talking about the day with my family
194. Family meals
195. Christmas letters WITH photos
196. Hearing my kids sing Christian rock songs off of KSBJ
197. Walking on the beach
198. Snorkeling in the ocean
199. Being able to be proud of who I have become
200. Everything God has blessed me with!

We have friends coming to Texas on Thursday! Doug and Tonja will start their journey on Wednesday from Madrid, IA and hopefully will be here by 4pm on Thursday. We plan to take them to Kemah Saturday night WITHOUT kids! A double date! Kim will watch the kids overnight and we’ll pick them up Sunday am before church. Kemah was alot of fun during the day when Autumn was here but in the night it will really be pretty. Plus we will be able to walk through the shops and take our time. AND we will actually get to go out to eat at one of the fancy restaurants. That’s Saturday night. Friday I think we will take them out and about, maybe go to the ocean. It’s a must for our midwest visitors even though we go all the time. We love the relaxing sound of the waves though and being in the sun. I have a great tan already and it’s only April.

They are starting the billion dollar remodel of our hospital this week. The groundbreaking ceremony was last Friday. Since this hospital was originally built to be a mall, it isn’t structurally sound to built up. So they are adding to the front of the hospital and going up from there. It will be beautiful when it’s done and add about 50 more beds, for a total of 200. Now some of you reading this say, “only 200 beds?” Well, it definitely seems like more due to our understaffing issue! How they are going to add more ICU and surgical beds is beyond me because we can’t staff what we have now without the use of a ton of agency and contract staff. We also are remodeling the inside of the building. Painting and getting all new furniture and lighting for the patient rooms. Plus new flooring. It’s going from white sterile hospital rooms to 2 tones of greens and light browns. It’s really soothing to be honest. They’ve also added DVD players in every room. In our 2 larger rooms there are queen hide-a-beds. The other big news is that we are impatiently awaiting the arrival of Joint Commission. 2 weeks ago they were in Conroe, Texas which is only a hop, skip, and a jump from Kingwood. So we were certain they’d be here last week. Now it’s the start of another week and everyone is once again on edge because when they come to evaluate our hospital they stay for 3 days, and pull patients out of hat randomly and if it’s your patient you have to sit through an hour question/answer session. And let me tell you! You better know where to find the answer. We’ve been quizzed hospital wide by our administration for the past month. We’ll get an email about something and if we answer right they give you Astros tickets. It’s important that a hospital get accreditted by the Joint Commission. It’s like a stamp of approval or validation that the hospital is meeting all the national standards. Anyways, it freaks out the staff and especially the admins. I think it’d be fun to get picked. I did it once in a mock settings at Iowa Methodist. It wasn’t bad.

I’ve worked the last 3 days and haven’t even seen Braden. He’s been asleep every night when I’ve gotten home from work. I miss that little guy. He opened his eyes just long enough yesterday to see me and then fell asleep on my shoulder.

Gotta finish my work…next post is #200 so I have to find something special to write about!

It ended up being a really nice sunny day afterall. We walked up to the school to pick up Avery and then headed to the park next to school for a few minutes. There were tons of kids there and they all were waiting for swim team practice to start. I guess it’s big down here. Boy did that water look crisp and refreshing! Reminded me of all the fun I had in swim team as a kid. Wish my kids would get that confident in swimming and want to join. Maybe next year. Just look at the water though! On a hot and humid day, even Braden was trying to undress and started begging to “go swim mommy!”

Our park is nice. It’s next to the school, splash pad, tennis courts, and pool. The kids like to go. They have swings for big kids, baby swings, 2 areas with slides and stuff to teeter and totter on. All around a fun place for my kiddos and it’s only a mile from the house so it is a nice workout too. There’s another park I like to goto but haven’t been for a while. I’ll have to get photos there and make that another post. Keep you all wondering.

We bought a wagon when we moved here and it has gotten it’s use. The neighbor kids like to “borrow” it and race it down the steeper driveways like a go-cart. But I had to put a stop to that as I was afraid they’d bust a head open or break off the wheels and then Braden was out of luck. We got one that has seatbelts and seats 2 face to face. Jaelyn and Braden together weigh about 75lbs so that is a load to be pulling! I’m sure if I did it daily, I’d get some big muscular arms.

Jaelyn and Avery will both be at Whispering Pines next school year. Their mascot is the Panda. When they get up to Middle school they are the Humble Wildcats and stay that way until they graduate. This is in front of the elementary school. There are panda tracks leading up to the front doors.

Here is a few photos of Avery on Tuesday night as one of the 3 Musketeers in the 1st grade play, “Three of a Kind.”

All in all, a superb day! Tonight Erik and I are going to try to get into Silent Hill. Or Benchwarmers, with the Napoleon Dynamite in it.

So it’s my day off and I still have to go into work for a 7:30am meeting. To top it off, I think Texas is having one the worst lightning and thunderstorms I’ve ever seen. It sounds like the sky is falling! I hope it lets up a tad so I get run to my car this morning and then again so I can run from the parking lot to the hospital.

Tonight, my mother in law and father in law are taking my 3 kids and their other granddaughter to Veggie Tales Live. My older 2 really aren’t that excited to go but they will once they see it isn’t a cartoon and that it’s live. I bet all will love it! That leaves Erik and I home alone! No kids! I don’t have to make supper! Maybe we can hit a movie? I don’t care what we do but it’s the fact we have a date night!

Well, Jaelyn’s up…good thing she believes that thunder is just God bowling and lightning is God’s way of taking our picture. Otherwise I’m sure this storm would be freaking her out about now.

We put girly drapes in her room last night and it looks very cute. Plus she talked me into “needing” one of those beaded curtains you put in the doorway. We put it in the closet. Now her room looks even more girly!

Off to work I go. I hate meetings on days off. They are stupid. I would have much rather stayed in bed all morning watching cartoons with my kids.