Tooth Fairy

I'm not a fan of the dentist. never have been. That may have something to do with the fact that I can probably count on one hand how many times I've been & haven't had cavities. My teeth hate me. So, when Doc told me {over a year ago} that I needed to get my wisdom teeth cut out, I grew to dislike his job even more. I finally manned up made an appointment (mostly because the pain of them growing into my jaw was unbearable) to get them removed. When Wednesday rolled around, I came up with every excuse possible to cancel my appointment. None of them were legit, of course. So, I decided to be a big girl and face the man. Contrary to what most would believe if having a conversation with me, I have a very small mouth. Thus, normally creating very large problems for my lovely dental visits. After lots of scary stories of what was going to happen to me, I sat in that seat that I hate so dearly & got a mouthful of shots to numb me up reallll good. It's sad that I'm almost 22 years old, and the dentist knows that I'm still such a little baby...which is one more reason why I'll never move to a far away place, because I refuse to be forced to find another dentist. So, after only thirty minutes {trust me, it seemed much longer} I was puffy faced & on my way home to dream in la la land for the rest of the day. I emerged unscathed (with the exception of 2 missing teeth) from the incident, and have now proclaimed myself a big girl...at least until May, when I go back for a check up!

well hello!

my oh my! Although I'm pretty good about keeping up with reading blogs, I have fallen terribly behind in writing/posting them! Therefore, I added to the {not so long} list of my new years resolutions...we'll see how long I keep it up ;)
Normally at the beginning of the year, we think back on the previous year, which has been one of the best in my life. But for me, I've walked a little farther down memory lane. I was lucky enough to catch up with one of my middle school friends, whom I haven't seen since 7th grade! A few of us got together the other night & shared stories we remember from almost 10 years ago. Whoa, that makes me feel old {I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to say that since I'm only 21} As we reflected back on previous years, I've also pondered how far I've come & grown. The past few years have been the best, and 2009 take the cake! On the very top of the list would be the addition of not 1 but 2 {two!!} members of my family...Both of my brothers {and their wives, duh} had babies. So, I have the best of both worlds, with a precious niece & a *miracle* of a nephew!

Miss Isabelle was born September 22; this picture is from a visit to the upstate Miss Izzy made in November
And this picture of Mr. Caleb was during his stay at the *wonderful* Shands Hospital. Shands brought Caleb B into the world on November 13; we have them to thank for Caleb being home now

This was the first Christmas in the past few years where we had the entire family together {minus Poopop}! I have been blessed so much this past year & can't wait to see what God's plan for me is in 2010!

Wordless Wednesday

Faith

When it rains, it pours. However, God has never thrown me into a storm without carrying the umbrella. Never ending faith and lots of prayers get me through many things. I'm not a strong person, but through the many hurdles I am getting ready to jump I hope to become stronger. Sometimes things happen, and it makes me question why certain things happen to some people. People who don't deserve anything less than the best. But then, I am reminded that these people are so good and full of God's love, that God hands these big struggles only to those people that He knows can handle them. Some people go through some of the worst possible experiences, all while keeping their head up and giving all the glory to God.
One of my favorite bible verses is Hebrews 11:1
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see."
I have found a whole new meaning in this verse. No matter what happens, I'll never loose faith.

baby girl

As promised, here are a couple of my favorite pictures of Babygirl. After showing us straight from the start that she was in charge, little Isabelle was transferred & had some tests run. Luckily, God allowed everything to be fine and Izzy is home with her mommy and daddy, and everyone is safe and healthy!!




These next few weeks will be action packed- to say the least! I have a ton of school work, and two big events going on. One of which, Richard leaves for basic. T-Minus 16 days until he's government property. Lots of prayers will be appreciated for him, as well as another big obstacle that we are going to conquer over the next several months!!

xoxo

did ya miss me?!

Since I haven't done anything with this in ohh about 2356493 years, let's try again. School is back in full swing, and I'm starting to see more of the teacher side than the student side. Yesterday was the big day for us early childhood gals; we got our pins & our placements at our first big clinical! I have a K5 class at a school about 45 minutes away, and I can't tell whether I'm more nervous or excited. Hopefully I'll be in the school before next week, so lets hope those kindergartners don't eat me alive!
On another note, Richard leaves for basic training in 22 days. I know they say its tough being in the Army, but you should try being on the other end of it! I'm not so sure Army Strong even does it justice to describe how brave I'm trying to be. Good thing God has this in his hands! :)
I'm about to head on out to Charleston to go meet my brand new neice, and I'm oh so excited! More blogs and pictures to follow!
xoxo,
-l.e.b.

wow

it has been for-ev-er since i've done this...i've been driving myself crazy i've been so busy (and partially lazy)...but i can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! i've realized that i'm only going to graduate a semester behind...and that last semester will be my student teaching so it's not like i'll be at school the whole time anyways...i was pretty excited when i found that out, since i figured i had at least another 2 full years. :) but as soon as i realized that, i became overwhelmed with all of the stuff that i've still got left to do! my first half of screening is this Friday, so I'm pretty anxious about being stuffed into a classroom with 40 something other education majors and given an hour to write an essay, which I have no clue what its about and won't know until we start writing. ugh! on the other hand, I've only got about 3 weeks of classes left for this semester...but my to-do list is longer than ever! I'm up to my neck in lesson plans, papers, presentations, and clinical observations to write...this whole teacher thing is goin to require me to work on my horrible procrastination habits!! it seems like i can't ever find time for all my school work because i'm always working...i've been pulling 13 hour days about twice a week for probably over a month...between classes & both of my jobs i'm always on the go constantly. i'm so ready for a break...however, among all of this stress, i have managed to find a little time for "academic enrichment";) it's be awesome to start hanging back out with my old bff who i've missed being inseperable with!
it seems the past couple days that i've been happier than ever! and i love it! even beyond being stressed beyond belief, my amazing boyfriend has still managed to have patience with me (for the most part) and encourage me. know that i have someone who supports me so much has made me so incredibly happy! i'm not sure why...but something just hit me right smack in my hard head the other day, and i've been able to come to accept some things that I've been super worried about. God has definitel sent Richard to me, and spoken to me about several things. and I'm so blessed to be surrounded by such awesome people!
I guess I've done enough procrastinating and should probably try to get a little school work done while i'm sitting at my desk doing nothing at work...hopefully i'll put some more updates before long!
love: me!