Heavy Heart

I'm laying here in bed, my puppy snoring beside me. This is the second night I've left Marc alone at the hospital, and the second night I cannot sleep.

Too many things on my mind.
Many people on my heart.

As rough as the past 2 1/2 weeks have been, I'm reminded that everyone has things going on in their life: trials they are facing, big events to prepare for, decisions to make.

So I ask you guys to continue to pray for Marc, but also for these sweet people:

* my friends Lauren and Chris, who will be welcoming their second son, Carter, into this world, their family, hearts, and lives tomorrow. Also pray for big brother, Gage, as his little world is about to change.
*my (former) Aunt Stephanie lost her daddy this week. He was the only granddaddy my cousins (Jeremy, Brooks, and Brent) ever knew.

*continued healing for Drew's leg

* we ran into one of my Mama's coworkers at the hospital, and she has several family members sick and hospitalized, on top of having surgery to remove cancerous tissue herself on Friday. I can only imagine how overwhelmed she is, because I've barely managed with just caring for Marc!
*Ashley Duke...y'all put him on every prayer list you know of! Ash is a fellow CF-er, and is the twin brother of one of Marc's closest friends, Zach. He underwent a double lung transplant some time ago, but had to have one lung removed last week. The remaining lung is doing great, but Ashley's kidneys have struggled to recover from the surgery. Please pray for divine healing of his body. Oh, y'all...I hate CF!

Not What I Had Planned (Marc's Surgery, Part 1)

Y'all know I'm a planner.

So naturally, I had our Christmas plans all set.

We'd leave Milledgeville on the 23rd,
have our Reagan Christmas on the 24th,
spend the night with Katie and the kids on Christmas Eve,
go to church on Christmas Morning,
drive to Pelham Christmas Night,
have Christmas with Mama and Jeff, Christy and Nathan on the 26th,
see Daddy later that day,
hang low on the 27th, Brian's birthday...his first in Heaven,
come home on the 28th.

I even knew what I'd do with the rest of my Christmas break...
take down my decorations,
work on a few paintings,
 maybe read a new book.

Well, God had other plans...
and we barely got through opening gifts with Mama and Jeff
before our Christmas took an ugly turn.

Actually, it started Christmas night.
As we left Granny and Papa's house,
Marc mentioned he'd unbuttoned his pants.
I thought he'd eated too much.
We had steak, salad, bread, baked potatoes.
Turns out that was his last meal.

I awoke about 5:00 the morning after Christmas.
I was hot
(that's a South Georgia Christmas for ya!)
and Marc was not in bed.
I found him in the living room
(we were staying at his parents' house...well, I still am!)
and he said his stomach was bothering him and he couldn't sleep.

By 6:30, we were at my Mama's house,
waking them all up to open gifts.
Somehow, it never feels like Christmas until I celebrate with Mama.
We opened gifts then had breakfast.
Marc isn't much of a fan of breakfast casseroles,
but he hardly even touched his cheese grits.

We ended up falling asleep all over the house,
and I woke up on the couch...cold.
(that's a South Georgia Christmas for ya!)
I crawled in bed with my sister
and woke up later to find out
Marc's stomach was still bothering him.

He assured me every time I asked
 that he was able to go to the bathroom.
Ever since we rushed him to the ER in Thomasville
when my Uncle Stacy died,
I'm paranoid about a blockage.
But when I heard his burps...my intuition told me something was up.
It just sounded...different.
Just like it did when we ended up in the ER.

Again, Marc assured me he was fine.
We were headed to my Daddy's house to celebrate with him,
but I really felt like Marc would be more comfortable
going back to his parents' house,
so he could lay down.
I was still in pjs and slippers, but I drove across town.
As we passed the hospital, I half-jokingly said,
"Should I just pull on in?"
Marc...dead serious...said, "Maybe."

I knew this wasn't good, but now I was seriously concerned.
I flew to his parents' house...
(Marc says it took forever...I don't know which of us is right!)
my sister following me so I could ride with them to Daddy's house.
I  threw the car in park,
left Marc crawling out the passenger seat,
ran to the house,
yelled "MAMA!!!"
threw on jeans and shoes.
In the 30 seconds it took me to rejoin them outside,
Marc was on his knees in the grass, dry-heaving.
Mrs. Debbie, Mr. Terry and Christy surrounding him.
Christy made Nathan stay in the car.
I don't even remember getting in Mrs. Debbie's car...
but several minutes later...
we were in the ER.

Christmas became a blur.

Another Pinterest Project

I finished my exhaustive to-do list yesterday, 

so I thought I'd share a project I completed a few weeks ago.

I saw this tomato cage tree on Pinterest...

Seemed simple enough.

I picked up a few supplies...

tomato cages at Lowes

and a box of Christmas lights at a yard sale.

(I got 8 or 9 strands for $5)

Our Lowes had already put these 

on the top top shelf for the winter 

and only had one height available. 

I would've loved to had varying heights.

I began to wrap...

and wrap...

and wrap.

 At first, I wrapped really tight to the cage.

It took about 7 strands.

Too many.

And I really didn't like the look.

So I tried again...

 I ended up using 4 to 5 strands on each tree. 

And I used colored lights.

Marc loves colored lights.

The garland and the wreath 

on the front porch have 

only white lights,

so this was my compromise!

 I still need to get a picture of the whole porch at night. 

But these 3 little trees set off a beautiful glow!

Not According to Plan

I am a planner by nature:

I love my calendar.
I love schedules.

I thrive on routine.

I keep a running to-do list,

and I get a 

HUGE

 sense of accomplishment and satisfaction 

from crossing something off the list.

Honestly, I've been known to add tasks I've completed 

that weren't originally on the list...

just so I can check them off!

So as you can imagine,

I had grand plans for yesterday.

It was Marc's last day of school,

and only a 1/2 day of finals...

so I had a lot to do in little time. 

(I love spending time with my man,

but I am waaaayyy more productive

 when he's not here!)

I had a plan.

I had a list.

But Thursday evening, 

Zelda began crying out 

whenever she pushed up from lying down.

She'd been shivering for days, despite mild temps.

In the middle of the night,

she woke up crying and 

wanting to get in our bed.

Marc and I both think our pillowtop mattress

just adds to her injury,

so she no longer sleeps with us.

{Praise the Lord...

now I fall asleep with Marc holding me...

until he snores in my ear 

and I kick him until he rolls over!}

So I (hardly) slept with my precious puppy

 in the guest room 

so Marc could get his sleep.

Ugh...I know how this story plays out...

long hours spent waiting at the vet

to spend lots of money

of medicine for my girl.

So that became my new plan...

and after two hours

I came home with $100 worth of medicine.

Zelda has to take 1 pill a day for a week,

and 1 pill a day for a month!

But she was feeling better 

almost immediately after the shot the vet gave her. 

And the shot helped bring her temperature down.

She has a fever every time we go.

Probably why she's been shivering.

It was so weird...I actually felt her sweat the fever out!

We came home and napped on the couch

until Marc got home from school.

I then proceeded to do 

nothing 

on my list.

We played outside with Zelda.

We played inside with Zelda.

We watched a movie.

 ("The Help"...finally!)

We went to Kroger.

We cooked dinner.

We turned off all the lights in the house,

just to sit in the glow of the Christmas tree.

We drank sparkling grape juice.

I let Marc open a present...

and surprised him with the present he bought me!

{Which really means...

I felt guilty for splurging on something 

for myself at Christmas time,

 so I wrapped it...but couldn't wait to have it!}

I went to bed with nothing marked off my list for the day.

But I went to bed with a 

sense of love and peace in my heart.

Gratefulness for my little family of 3,

and my quite larger extended family.

And I'm up early today
to get that to-do list taken care of!

Happy Saturday!

Still Here...

A friend of mine posted on Facebook 

"why doesn't anyone blog anymore?"

And that's when I realized I've seriously neglected my blog. 

You know, sometimes I get so busy living life, 

I forget to take time to document life. 

I've journaled, scrapbooked, or blogged 

most of my life now. 

It seems weird not to document the special events 

and the every day routines in between. 

I'll try to do a better job 

(I've got to upload pics of my Christmas decorations), 

but this time of year is especially busy.

So where have I been?

What have I been doing?

Am I still painting canvases?

After two years of working from home,

I had the opportunity to return to teaching.

At first, it was a part-time position as a

teacher's assistant for 2nd grade.

As of November, I am now a full-time assistant,

working with 2,3,4 year olds and Kindergarten.

I love love love my job,

and the increase in hours in a financial blessing.

But that leaves little time for crafting, blogging, 

and to be honest...laundry, cooking, and cleaning!

I'm doing my best to balance 

home and work,

teacher and wife.

I consider myself to be a good multi-tasker,

but I've learned I don't have to do it all.

I don't have to make the bed every morning.

I don't have to empty the dishwasher immediately.

We sometimes wear clothes straight out of the dryer

because I'm too tired to fold them.

Yes, I am still painting

(sealed 2 today, have three on my table now).

Working full-time outside the home

leaves me little time to paint.

So orders may take a little longer to complete,

I'm taking only a few orders at a time. 

So I'll be around.

Maybe on Facebook, maybe on Pinterest...

maybe hanging out at home with Marc...

and occassionally I'll post here!

Promise!

Not Just Pinning Anymore!

Like so many others, I am addicted to Pinterest.

I love looking at what other's have pinned,

including recipes.

When I saw the recipe for 

Crock Pot Hawaiian BBQ Chicken...

I immediately thought 3 things:
1. crock pot...easy
2. 3 ingredients...easy
3. pineapple...extra bonus points

I followed the link to the original recipe 

on the blog Six Sister's Stuff.

4-6 Boneless Chicken Breasts (mine were still frozen!)

1 Bottle Archer Farms Hawaiian Style Barbecue Sauce (from Target)

1 20 oz. can Pineapple Chunks, drained

Spray the inside of your crock pot with cooking spray for an easy cleanup!  

Place frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot and cover with sauce.  

Empty can of drained pineapple chunks on top.  

Cook on High for 2-3 hours or Low for 4-6 hours.  

Shred chicken with two forks while still in the crock pot 

so the chicken will be well coated with sauce.  

Serve over rice.

I followed the directions exactly.

(except I use the crock pot bags for even easier cleanup!)

I even bought the exact same BBQ sauce 

at Target on a recent trip to Macon.

It's been cooking all day...filling the house with a wonderful smell.

And I've been anticipating that pineapple all afternoon!

First bite...spicy.

Second bite...hot!

Third bite...really, really spicy.

Fourth bite...good golly, 

my MOUTH IS ON FIRE!!!!

I have no idea what's in that BBQ sauce. 

I threw the bottle away earlier in the day.

But it is SPI--CY!!!!

I will cook this again,

but I'll make my own tweaks.

Next time, I will use regular BBQ sauce.

And I won't use an entire bottle a sauce.

It was a little too "wet" for me. 

And I probably won't add the pineapple

 til the last hour or so...

or maybe not til I serve dinner. 

I'd rather my pineapple 

not taste like hot, spicy BBQ sauce!

Overall...it was a winner.

Marc liked it, but agreed it was a bit too spicy.

I'm just excited I finally used a link from Pinterest!

We Have Twins!

A few weeks ago,

 I showed y'all my new dresser nightstand...

My original plan was to buy two, 

but when I found this one

(oh, those curves!) 

I knew I had to get it.

Ever since, 

I've been on the lookout for another one 

to use as Marc's nightstand.

Yesterday, we stopped by "Just Peachy"

(for you locals, it's beside BoJo's)

just to look. 

I found a few ornaments 

that I'll be showing in the next couple of days.

And there, just behind the Christmas tree display...

there he was...

Not an exact match.

More like fraternal twins.

My curvy girl.

His straight boy.

Perfect pair!

The problem?

Marc liked it in the store

("I like it alot better than the one you've got now.")

but once we got it home, 

he wasn't willing to give up the mismatched one he had.

Ugh.

Plan twarted.

Over the past few days,

Marc's been talking about moving the TV

 from the office into our bedroom.

I hate TVs in bedrooms. 

I don't know why...I just have a thing.

Today, he started moving things off the armoire.

(it's not inside the armoire

 because of the angle from our bed...

frustrates me even more!)

So, we compromised.

He won the TV battle.

I won the nightstand battle.

As my sister said, 

compromise is what marriage is all about!

His...

and hers...

Latest Paintings...G&C

My friend Lauren asked me to do two paintings

 for her little boy's (soon to be boys') bathroom.

This is the shower curtain...

G is for Gage...

 and grasshopper!

C is for Carter...

 and caterpillar!

 These are some of my favorite paintings in quite a while!

 I was so excited to see Lauren post pictures

 of the finished bathroom makeover!

 All the accessories come from 

Target...the Circo ABC Bath collection.

 I love to see my paintings in their new home!

Family Fall Fun at the Corn Maze!

Marc and I have been wanting to do something fall-ish

for quite a while...

even before he went into the hospital. 

Between our schedules and the weather,

we kept putting it off...

until today!

We went to Lane Southern Orchards in Fort Valley.

 They have hayrides, a cute store (open year round), and a pumpkin patch. 

We were a little late in the season for the pumpkins...

most of them were picked over.

Marc seems to think he's the pick of the patch, anyway!

 But we were really there for the corn maze!

The weather was PERFECT! 

Bright, blue skies with a cool, crispness in the air.

 Marc loved the roots of the corn stalks.

They had these neat signs posted throughout the maze...

CORNundrums.

And you could text for clues...but we didn't try it.

Where, oh where, oh where is Roxy?

I am NOT the person you want guiding you through a corn maze!

I am great with directions,

but horrible with a map!

It didn't help that we weren't sure 

where the starting point was on the map, 

so we had no idea where we were from the very beginning!

 Mmm...corn!

 Much better navigator...

...and he found our way to the bridge!

 I LOVE CORN MAZES!

 YAY! We found our way out!

We really did have so much fun! 

After we left the corn maze, we drove to Warner Robins.

We had lunch at Logan's Steakhouse, 

did some shopping,

(I went to HobLob, Marc went to Best Buy!) 

and came home to watch football.

Baldwin won Thursday night, Lowndes won Friday night, 

FSU, UNC, and UGA all won today!

This has been one of my favorite weekends in a long time!