So I have been severely lacking in my blog-updating lately and I'm going to try to do better! The last few weeks I have traveled all over the state of Texas (mostly for work) and I've had few opportunities to get on here. I've been to the Panhandle and South Texas, Central Texas and I'm headed to East Texas next week. All in a month's time! The trip to Central Texas was for my cousin's baby shower and Husband's and my anniversary. This week I'm thankful for the trip Hubby and I made and the few days we got to escape normal life! I'm thankful for new babies in the family! This weekend was Cinnamon's baby shower and we found out they are expecting a little girl! I'm so excited to welcome another little one! And, it's so much fun to buy clothes for baby girls :) This week, I'm very thankful for WINE. Our anniversary trip was to the wine country in Central Texas and we had such a wonderful time tasting tons of amazing blends! We spent two days traveling to different wineries and broadening our palette. Now, we have to figure out when we can use the goodies we brought back! Our trip was incredible. We stayed at this amazing Bed and Breakfast in Fredericksburg and we were spoiled rotten. Our room was quaint and perfect and the breakfast was delicious. It was exactly what we wanted and when we left, Husband promised to go back soon! I'm so glad I found the perfect spot for our trip! Check it out - Corner Cottage B&B. So this is King George - the Corner Cottage Conman. He tricked all of us into believing he was a starving, homeless kitty and we were shocked to find out that he specializes in conning lodgers into believing he needs leftovers. Though I felt a little embarrassed that I fell for his tricks, I am glad he added to the weekend. Had to make sure I got a pic with him before I left... Isn't he adorable!?
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Happy Valentine's day everyone!! Today, I'm thankful for a day to celebrate love :) Call me a romantic (because I am), but I just love that there is a day dedicated to showing people how much they mean to you. Whether you have a lover or just a good friend or family member that you love, make sure you let them know how much they mean to you today. I'm thankful to spend the rest of my Valentine's days with my wonderful husband. This is our fourth together and I'm so lucky to have many, many to look forward to. I love him more and more each day and I'm blessed to have someone who really makes this day special. Husband gave me an early present yesterday and it made me cry. This is one of the last good pictures we got of Meg before we had to put her down in November. She was on her way to her surgery the 3 days before her last day and she started feeling a little better so she climbed into to passenger seat to look out the window. Husband took a picture to let me know she was doing okay. Yesterday, he framed it in the most perfect frame that I put on my desk at work. Now I can always see her happy and enjoying her ride. I'm thankful for St. Valentine for whom this day is celebrated. It is said that St. Valentine was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers when it was illegal for soldiers to be married due to the belief that men are better soldiers when they are single and have no ties. This day was not associated with romantic love until Geoffrey Chaucer penned a poem referencing St. Valentine and love birds. The connection stuck and evolved into the modern day celebration of Valentine's Day. Either way, today was made possible because of the of its patron saint and the acts that First of all, I'd like to wish everyone a happy Mardi Gras! This Fat Tuesday (today), I hope you all take a moment to enjoy some sort of splurge before we head into the Lenten season. Though I'm not really one to partake in the craziness in New Orleans, I do enjoy the Mardi Gras season and believe we have something to celebrate. I hope you get a chance to enjoy some delicious King Cake at least! As we move into Lent, many of us are wondering what we should give up. Many people will give up sweets, some will give up coffee **gasp**, and others will give up more personal guilty pleasures. I have decided to give up Facebook. Now, some people (ahem: Cate) have questioned me on this particular sacrifice and what it really means to me. Others have argued why Facebook is a tool and why I should not give it up. I've decided to argue my case here (oh good ol' law school coming out...). First, I believe that Facebook is a very valuable tool (you are correct, Harry), especially for those of us who have friends, literally, all over the world. I could never completely shut down my account because it is a way that I keep in touch with childhood friends I met while living overseas and friends I've met at different points in my life who live thousands and thousands of miles away. There are many benefits to Facebook in addition to a means of keeping in contact with people and I truly appreciate it. However, there are also some serious negatives about it. I am hooked. I mean, seriously addicted. Sometimes, I pick up my phone and don't even realize that my thumb has tapped the Facebook icon until I see my newsfeed loading. I check it at least 10 times a day and I never start or end my day without checking Facebook to see what is happening in the Facebook world. I know, it's bad. Also, it strains my personal relationships that I have on a daily basis. I am constantly distracted from daily activities because I'm checking the latest posts or pictures. When I am spending time with Husband, I'm usually also spending time with my 1000 online friends. It drives him crazy and it also keeps me from giving him my undivided attention. I'm sure I do the same thing when I'm with friends and other family members. I've noticed that I'm checking it while waiting at the bus stop after work and while waiting for my food at restaurants. It's a way to pass the time -- at least that's what I tell myself. The thing is, this constant distraction keeps me from appreciating all of the little things in life. The little, daily blessings that God gives us as a reminder of his love. Instead of checking my phone while waiting for food at a restaurant, I could be watching a child and her parents celebrate a birthday or a new couple in that blissful new-relationship stage. Better yet, I could see an older couple still in love and on a date after 60+ years together! Those beautiful things are much better than what the latest person commented about the power outage at the Superbowl or the traffic jam on the way home from work. After a lot of thought and reflection, I've decided that although it will be extremely tough, I will be deleting my Facebook app from my phone and I won't log on until after the Lenten season is over. In doing this, I will also be making a constant effort to look for the beauty around me. It will give me a chance to work on the relationships God has blessed me with, time to meditate on my own faith and the life I live, and remember that the world is a blessing and it is all too easy to be distracted by technology or gossip or what others are up to. Happy Lent! This morning, the thought crossed my mind that I should start carrying a journal with me so I can write things down on a more regular basis. I have journaled off and on my entire life but in reading my new book from Cate, One Thousand Gifts, I have become even more motivated to journal things I'm grateful for.
I truly believe that writing can help people in so many ways. Whether you are feeling down or extremely excited or just confused, journaling can help sort out the thoughts in your head. I ran across this article this morning and it seemed to fit my thoughts perfectly. It contains a few reasons why writing in a journal can help your emotional and physical health. Now, go, find a journal that suits your personality and get to writing! Who knows what will come out of it!? My sweet Meg passed away yesterday and I was absolutely distraught. The feeding tube didn't work and she just got sicker and sicker over the weekend. It was heart-breaking to hear her cry out and by yesterday morning, she couldn't even sit up. I knew it was time to let her go and I cried and cried until the vet opened. It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make yesterday, but I know she is no longer suffering and can be in peace now. Husband took off the day with me and buried her under the St. Francis in our garden. We planted catnip over her and put some sweet decorations around it. I cried on and off all day long and the house seems so empty without her. I've had her since she was just a couple weeks old and she passed away at 15 1/2. Most of my life I've spent with her at my side and it will be tough to learn to cope without her. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and your calls/texts/messages yesterday. I really appreciate it! I found some good pictures to put on here to help you see how much joy she brought. Unfortunately, I don't have any of her when she was younger because those were the days before digital cameras and camera phones! Hope you enjoy! My dear little Meg is having surgery today at 3:15. Please pray it goes well for her and that the surgery helps her feel better! This has been an extremely stressful week for me because Meg has been so sick and I've felt completely helpless. She didn't eat or drink all weekend long and when I took her to the vet on Tuesday, I was told that she has renal failure and her feline leukemia is acting up. She had lost 2 lbs in two months and is now 6 lbs instead of the 9-10 she has been her entire life. Because of the renal failure, her kidneys aren't processing nutrients and they make her feel awful. Because of this, she has become anorexic and refuses any sort of food. Needless to say, this all hit me pretty hard. We put her on a prescription food diet and gave her some IV fluids which helped her feel a little bit better. Unfortunately, she refused the food so all week, I have had to force feed her and she HATES it. I feel awful shoving a syringe down her throat and making her swallow the food that makes her little tummy hurt but it's the only thing we can do to keep her going. She began drinking water which was great and the last few days, she has spent more time being social (though she is still very lethargic). The only bad thing, is that the vet said if she wasn't eating on her own by Thursday evening (yesterday), we would have to give her a feeding tube. The closer we got to Thursday evening, the more I researched cat feeding tubes and became very discouraged. Everything I saw was outrageously priced and since her renal failure is progressive, I didn't know how much time we could actually buy her with a feeding tube. Honestly, I couldn't afford upwards of $3,500 if it wasn't even guaranteed to save her! Yesterday, I felt awful. I was so scared to call the vet and hear my poor baby's fate. When we called him, I was distraught. Husband took over the call and then we waited anxiously by the phone to get the quote. Let's backtrack to Wednesday night... My lovely little Kanon (you've seen pics before because I call him my little boyfriend but he's really my friend Kim's boy), had decided to include Meg in his bedtime prayers (sorry everyone else who was praying, I really, really appreciate your prayers too but this story is just too sweet!). He asked his mom how I was doing and she told him that my kitty was sick and not doing well and that made me sad. He was worried about her and wanted her to get medicine so when he went to sleep and said his prayers, he made sure to mention us. Apparently, little Kanon's prayers paid off because our vet gave us a quote that we could not turn down. It was such a relief to know that I could pay for Meg's feeding tube and even if it doesn't work (I REALLY hope it does!), at least this mama knows she has done everything she can to help her little baby! Husband is on his way to drop Meg off at the vet and she will spend the day there getting prepped. We pick her up at 6:30 and I'm going to be one anxious mommy until I see her. This weekend, my little angel will be pampered and cuddled and hopefully this surgery will really help her feel better! I know she's old but I just can't imagine losing her! Fingers crossed she makes it through this hiccup and begins to gain weight and feel better for a long, long time!! P.S. I immediately called Kanon to tell him thank you for his prayers and that they really helped Meg! This week I'm so thankful for my sweet, beautiful cat Meg. I got some really bad news from the vet on Tuesday and it's been so hard to accept that my darling girl may not have much longer with us. The last few days, we have had to force feed her and try to make her as comfortable as possible. Last night, she drank on her own and this morning, she was walking around some (which is much more than she has done all week). I just pray she begins to eat on her own and she can regain some strength. She has been in my life for the past 15 1/2 years and I am so grateful to have her today. My dear little sister Caitlin knows just how to brighten my day when I'm having a rough time. Several times this week, I have woken up to hilarious pictures from her. Unfortunately for her (not me!), I learned how to snap pictures from the snapchat app she had me download. Now I get all sorts of embarrassing pics I can share ;) This one pretty much encompasses her great personality. I'm so thankful to have her in my life and know I can rely on her to cheer me up just when I need it! Love you, girl! Last night, I met up with my sorority sister, Fran, and got to meet her sweet little boy Jacob. I hadn't seen Fran in 5 or 6 years (since before Jacob was born!) and I was ecstatic to finally meet him and catch up with Fran! It was soo good to see her and reconnect. It almost feels as though no time has passed! She is welcoming another baby boy next week and I pray everything goes smoothly and I can meet him soon. I'm thankful that I have great sorority sisters and can meet them after years and years and feel as though nothing changes! My husband has been incredible this week. First, he went out of town last week and left little candies around the house for me to find and think of him. I love when he does things like that to let me know he is thinking about me. This week, he has taken such great care of Meg. He is spoiling her rotten and doing everything he can to make sure she is warm and comfortable. He's such a good dad :) He has also been very supportive of the news I received from the vet. There have been a couple mini-breakdowns since Tuesday and he completely understands. I know Meg is so appreciative of how much he is taking care of her and I'm so grateful to see that side of him. Today marks 3 weeks until my favorite holiday of the year!! I can't believe Thanksgiving in so close!! I love the holiday and the family time that we get. I really think it's important to give thanks for the blessings we have and remember our loved ones at this time of year. I can't wait to celebrate with our families and eat lots of yummy food! Tuesday was date night for the bestie and me. For some reason, Salice and I always seem to have dinner dates on Tuesday so I guess that makes it our official date night. This is a good thing because Tuesday is probably my least favorite day of the week (unless it's Fat Tuesday but that's because I love food haha). On the Tuesdays that I have a girly date to look forward to, I feel much more appreciative of the day and it's a little easier to make it through. It was great to catch up with Salice and enjoy yummy steak and wine! I'm thankful for all of the absolutely adorable kiddos in their costumes yesterday. It's great to see kids totally get into the holiday and see what they come up with when it comes to costumes. My sister Cate made the costumes for her family this year - how cute are they?!?! Ellie is Goldilocks and Mom, Dad, and Baby Claire are the 3 bears. I don't think it could be any cuter!! Wish I could have been there to see it in person! Gingerbread lattes are back!! I always get so anxious for this time of year because it means the return of the seasonal red cup at Starbucks as well as my favorite latte flavor. I started out my morning with one and I'm hoping that will set a positive tone for the rest of the day. Basically, I feel like the Starbucks gingerbread latte means the beginning of the holidays (so I'm actually not judged for walking around with that holiday spirit high that I get this time of year :) ) As Hurricane Sandy made landfall yesterday, I began to really pray that my friends and family in the East were prepared and safe. I have always been extremely interested in weather. I know it's silly, and my friends make fun of me, but I'm constantly checking forecasts and weather updates. I think it is because I used to watch the weather channel while I got ready for school when I was little. ANYWAY (I digress), I continued to watch updates yesterday as Sandy made her way into the NY Harbor and continued to thrash through NJ and other areas. Since I've lived up there and I have family from there (Dad was born in The Bronx), it hit kind of close to home. I also lived and worked through Hurricane Ike four years ago. I worked for the power company and was on duty while the Ike came through. Because of this, I have some experience with how devastating a hurricane can be. As I watched updates through the day and night, I saw how much the storm affecting our population. Fortunately, the death toll has been minimal so far but the storm isn't finished. Millions of people are without power and some without homes. Not only have people been flooded and caught in the wind but now, the snow storms are hitting and that becomes a beast in itself. I'm praying that those caught in the midst of it head warnings and don't put themselves in further danger. I also hope that recovery comes quickly to those who have lost something (be it power, homes, cars, jobs, or loved ones). My friends in Syracuse were updating me last night and I was so relieved to hear that the storm missed them for the most part but I know that means that other areas got the wrath of it instead. As it continues across the country, please keep everyone in your thoughts and hope that people, as well as the country as we will suffer economically and physically from this storm. This week, many of my friends will receive their Bar results from the New York Bar Exam they took in July. Since I went to law school in New York State, the majority of my friends stayed there and decided to take that Bar Exam. After 4 long months, they will finally learn whether they passed! Since the NY Bar is the hardest in the country, I know each and every one is anxious to see how they did (I'm sure they did fine!). Many of my friends will have to wait until Friday to see but I'm keeping my fingers crossed all week that they did well!! Here is a shout out to SMK and JCJ and everyone else who has a place in my heart after suffering through long nights and stressful days together! I wish all of you tons of luck this week and I can't wait to share in your excitement come Friday!! |
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