#twinning

If I got a dollar for every time I heard, "Better you than me", "I feel sorry for you", or the ever sarcastic, "Lucky you...", I would be a rich RICH woman. Just for the record... this is NOT something that any Twin Mommy wants to hear.


First of all... I feel like I am the most blessed woman in the entire world because GOD chose me to be the mother of two of the most beautiful identical twin boys in the world! I don't know a single twin mom that wakes up in the morning and thinks, Oh my gosh... i can't believe I have to put up with those two brats again today! Seeing my babies interact with each other, and knowing that they will forever more have a best friend by their side, makes me so incredibly happy.




Secondly... I know that it is really cool that I have identical twins... and yes I know that they are super cute... duh... they look like their mommy! anyway... when we are out in public... I don't need your input on how you don't know how I survive with two babies. And I don't need you to stop me in the middle of Wal-Mart and talk to me for 30 minutes about how your sisters' husbands' best friends girlfriend had twins... and now they hate each other. Why would you think I would want to know that? And if you know how hard it is with one baby... you know how much time is of the essence when you are in between nap time and supper. So smile, catch a quick glance... maybe even a "how cute", but please keep walking. We're not a walking amusement park.  Maybe I should start charging admission...


Lastly... please oh please don't tell me how to be a mother, or shoot snotty glances at me because you think that I'm too young to have babies. Just because I look like I'm 16... I'm not. No I don't always wear makeup, and I wear yoga pants more than jeans... but they're a lotttt easier get down in the floor and play in. And the reason I'm at Wal-Mart alone is because my husband works his butt off so I can stay at home with my babies, so I can go to school to make a better life for them. And yes... I'm MARRIED... have been for 5 years. No... I don't have a ring on because I had it sent off to be resized because it no longer fits... because I'm not perfect and held on to some baby weight. I'm sorry my babies aren't always perfectly behaved and occasionally let out a blood curdling scream that could wake the dead. But I know that I am giving them everything they could ever need... and love them more than any mother could ever love her children.


My babies are my entire world... and it drives me absolutely insane some of the stuff people say and some of the looks I get. Please, the next time you see a mommy of twins, or a mommy that looks like she is having a bad day because her little one may not be acting quite as well as they should... instead of shooting them a look, talking behind their back, or saying "Better you than me," smile, and give a quick, "You're So Blessed" or even a "Jesus Loves You."  Being a twin mommy is exhausting... but one of the most rewarding and wonderful experiences I have ever been given!

Lé Haiti Nation

          For several years now, my parents have been going to Port Au Prince, Haiti several times a year, to help with an orphanage called Voice of the Children. As many of you know, I have an adopted brother and sister from there, as well as a brother that is not legally adopted, but still a part of my family. I have been wanting to go, but feared it would be too hard to leave my boys. I had already ruled out going this year, until I found out that someone at one of the churches my parents went to speak to, wanted to sponsor someone's trip. I asked my dad if I could be the person who was sponsored, and he said as long as I got my passport, I could. So I did... 

Monday, June 30^th, 2014

          I boarded a plan with 3 people I had never met, and 1 person I knew from high school to Port Au Prince. I had only flown twice before, once to Cancun with my parents and brother and once to Florida with my husband. So to be honest, I was terrified! We arrived at the airport at 4:30am and arrived in Haiti around 1pm. As soon as I stepped off of that plane, I was in complete culture shock. First off, let me tell you… Haiti is hotter than the sun! From the airport, we met up with my parents and the guys that are our translators/bodyguards. Myself and one other girl got in the car with my parents and sister, while the rest piled into the back of an S10 pickup truck with the luggage, and we took off to the house. I quickly discovered… there are NO traffic rules in Haiti!!! I was scared to death inside the car; I could only imagine what it was like in the back of the truck. People walk in the streets, cars pull out in front of other cars… it is literally every man for himself… and it is frightening! After what seemed like an hour, but was probably like 10 minutes, we arrive at the house that my parents are leasing, which is gorgeous! Although this country is run down and poor, the houses and building are beautiful! They really remind me of the big houses in Florida, as far as the structure goes. They’re beautiful. Anyway, we arrived at the house, and immediately lay down and took a much-needed nap! Hahaha Another girl met us there that afternoon, as she had taken her own flight. After we all woke up from our nap, we took a quick walk around the block, just to get a feel for the neighborhood, and spent the rest of the night hanging out and getting to know one another.

Tuesday, July 1^st, 2014

          Let me start this day off by letting you know, you do not have electricity in Haiti. City power does not come on until 6pm (if you’re lucky) and goes off at 6am (once again if you’re lucky). There is also no air conditioning in the house; therefore, you have fans keeping you remotely cool at night. So once the electricity goes off, so do the fans. So you immediately wake up, covered in sweat. It’s really delightful… With that being said, we woke up this morning, got our much needed, DELICIOUS Haitian coffee, and took off to the orphanage. There was only one guy in our group, so the fellas, Dad, Wayne, and Joshua, went straight to work on the construction of the boys’ room. The girls, Devin, Dana, Kate, Brenn, my Mom, and myself had one simple job. PLAY WITH THE KIDS! We didn’t really have a plan for the day, so we just got to know some of the kids, and had a blast doing it. They have several little games that they like to play. We started off playing a game were one person gets in the middle of the circle of people, and dance while everyone sings a song, that I DON’T know the words to… and at the end, they close their eyes and point to someone, and then that person takes their place in the middle of the circle. We must have played this for 30 minutes. We then went on to play a hot potato game, where we all sit in a circle and one person says, “Tick Tock, Tick Tock…” over and over and when they say, “BOOM,” whoever has the ball is out. Brenn won this game, out of ALL the kids and adults. I apparently thought the ball was a bomb… hahaha. We then played musical chairs. Where I WON!!! I was kinda proud of myself! Then our games turned into a GIANT dance party!!! This was so much fun. We really started to see some of the different personalities come out in the kids, and it was beautiful to see. There was even a dance-off between two of the older boys! One of them could REALLY dance! It was awesome! We all had so much fun just hanging out and loving on the kids. 

          After we left the orphanage and had some amazing Spaghetti Jambone, prepared by my fabulous mother, we went for a walk to the park, then chilled and relaxed at the house for the rest of the night.  This was also the first time I had Fruit Champagne… and also the day I fell in love with Fruit Champagne! 

Little Mama

Mom cleaning Miss Abigail's face

My sweet Abigail

Fruit Champagne!!!

Just a swingin'...

Spaghetti Jombone

Wednesday, July 2^nd, 2014

          This was probably one of my favorite days while in Haiti. We spent the entire day at the orphanage, with stations set up with different things to do. Devin was in charge of sidewalk chalk, Dana and Brenn had a face painting station, and Kate and I were in charge of crafts, coloring and board games. She had brought connect four, and battle ship, and I had cut up probably 6 t-shirts to make t-shirt yarn to make bracelets. A lot of the bigger boys were really interested in the games. I still am not sure that they ever quite understood the concept of Battleship… but they had fun. They then convinced Kate to play their version of Dominoes… and I’m pretty sure they cheated! Haha She ended up having to stand up for 16 games because she lost so badly! It was pretty funny. There were only 2 girls that wanted to learn how to make my bracelets. The rest of the kids just wanted me to make them. There are 3 kids in particular that had me making bracelets all day long. I bet I made 40 bracelets that day. But they were happy, so I was happy. After we ran out of t-shirt yarn, the braiding of the hair started! Devin and Brenn got drafted first. They both have long hair so they just done cornrows in theirs. I was a tad jealous, because my hair is too short to braid…. Or so I thought. I asked our translator, Jimmy, if they would be able to do my hair with the fake hair, and they said yes. I then asked them how much the hair was if they bought it and they said $11, and they told me they would braid it and buy the hair for $16.  So it is ON! One of the girls went and got the hair, and I sat there for over 3 hours while 6 girls were tugging and pulling on my hair at the same time. It was extremely painful! lol I heard lot of giggles behind me… and then I would pick out that they were laughing at the fact my hair was so short! It was really fun. Not only did I help them out by paying them to do my hair, they had the time of their life doing it. They love doing hair, and were happy to do it for me. They also thought it was really funny to see a white girl with braids. Michelet, one of our translators, called me a “milato,” or White Haitian”. Hahaha they all really got a kick out of it. 

          After we got back from our trip to the orphanage, Mom, Dad, Moise, Kerby, Kerlandy, and myself all left to take Moise home and we were going to drive out to pick up Blondy, my brother. We never did get a hold of Blondy or his dad, so we turned around and came back home. 

They decided to use my t-shirt yarn as extensions

she was proud that she learned how to make a bracelet

Miss Eileen

These are some of the ladies responsible for my hair

Thursday, July 3^rd, 2014

This was our last full day at the orphanage, so we knew we had to go out with a bang. So, we planned a carnival! We had picked out several games to play, such as a beanbag toss, beach ball keep away, penny (rock) drop, and balloon pop. It was a hug hit. We started out splitting up into teams. Our first game, the kids had to take a small rock, put it between their legs, and carefully walk to the circle, drawn with chalk, and drop the rock inside the circle. My team lost horribly… but it was still fun! Next, we drew a target, again with chalk, and like a bull’s-eye, the outer ring was 1 point, middle was 2 and the center was 3 points. My team didn’t do too bad with this game… although I think they were cheating. The bigger kids were blindfolded, but they were start jumping and cheering when they landed on the 3, even with the blindfolds on… hmmmm… After the beanbag toss, we got a beach ball, and got in a circle, and whichever team kept the ball in the air by popping up with their hands, won. My team again got last place. They didn’t quite understand that they couldn’t grab the ball. After this game, all heck broke loose in the balloon pop game. We tied a balloon to every kids ankle, and they had to pop everyone else’s balloon, while keeping theirs safe. This broke out in war!!! Haitian kids are VERY serious about their games!!! There were a few fights… lol. For the younger group, a girl won, and she was VERY excited! Of course the boys dominated the older group. After the craziness, every kid who participated got to choose a toy from the “prize box,” and sunglasses were the #1 choice, and the slinkies made perfect bracelets for the older girls. We also bought every kid a “soppibone”, (sp) which is like a big Popsicle. They LOVE these and they are a big treat, which they rarely get. We also got one, and let me tell you… they are the NASTY!!! They taste like frozen medicine… ughh… so I gave mine to one of the kids…

That night, once we got home, I got to meet my brother, Blondy, for the first time! He took a tap tap to our house, and stayed the rest of the week with us. I really think he looks just like Usher… what do you think? He’s so sweet. That night, we didn’t get electricity until about 10:00, so we made our own candles with glow sticks and water bottles for our devotion. It was actually really fun. 

my little love, Abigail

Lining up for Carnival games

Love this girl!

NASTY soppibone

Cool dudes! Abigail and John Billy

Sunglasses were a big hit!

Friday, July 4^th, 2014

I could think of no better way to spend Independence Day, than they way we did this year. We woke up this morning, and got ready to go to a place called Mother Theresa’s. This is a hospital for children, which many mothers or fathers walk for days and days to get treatment for their children. A lot of the time, these children are turned away simply because they do not have enough room. There are 4 rooms in this building, Room #1 being the worst cases and Room #4 being the best cases, or those that are almost well enough to go home. My mom has been in Room #1, and said a lot of the kids in that room, they already know they will not be leaving the hospital alive. We were taken into Room #3, which I was thankful for… I don’t know if I could have emotionally handled any worse than that. We walked in, and there are probably 25 cribs with babies ranging from ages 0-24 months. When we got there, they were feeding “breakfast”, which was some kind of slop, so we all helped feed the children. I picked up one little girl to feed, and I went to feed her a tiny spoon full like I would feed my boys. I had looked on her ankle bracelet to learn she was 2 years old, and she was smaller than my 14 month old boys. I got a tiny bit of food on the spoon and she grabbed my hand and shoveled the spoon in her mouth. I noticed very quickly, she wanted a bigger bite. I looked at the workers that were feeding, and they were filling these serving spoons with food and giving them bites that would be too big for me, but they were just right for these little ones. So, I filled my spoon with slop and fed this sweet little girl her breakfast and he quickly ate it all, licking her lips after every bite. After she finished eating, I just held her, for probably 2 hours. We just sat there, staring into each other’s eyes. There was so much pain behind her eyes; it broke my heart into a million pieces. I don’t know what was wrong with her, but I wanted so badly to take her pain away. After cuddling for hours, I noticed she was getting sleepy, so I laid her down in her crib to find another sweetheart to cuddle. We stayed in this building, just holding babies half the day. It was the most rewarding and life-changing experience I have ever had. I pray that these children get to go home to their parents soon. (We weren't allowed to take pictures inside.)

After leaving Mother Theresa’s, we went back to the orphanage to let the children “shop” for some new clothes. Some awesome people from Scottsville donated over 100 soccer jerseys; so we took them to the orphanage and laid them out and let every child pick their own jersey. I have never seen so many smiles. They were all going around looking at the others kids’ jerseys they had picked out. They were all so proud of their new clothes.  The big kids even got into it. After shopping, of course we passed out some soccer balls or to the new soccer pros!

My Abigail got her jersey! :)

Saturday, July 5^th, 2014

             

          This day was a day of souvenirs and sightseeing. First, we went to a place they call “Tin Village”, where the locals have shops filled with metal work they make and sale. It was here that I spent way too much money. It amazes me how talented these people are. I seen some of the most beautiful pieces of art I have ever seen, and they sale them for next to nothing! After spending hours at Tin Village, we traveled to a place called Baptist Mission, which is on top of the mountain, where you have the most incredible view of Haiti. They also have several shops where you can buy souvenirs.  I ended up trading a guy a soccer ball for a machete for Phill. Hahaha He was really excited! After buying all our take-homes, we went to a restaurant to eat. When leaving the restaurant, there are street kids, kids how literally live on the street, begging for food and money at our tap tap. (BTW… tap tap is a truck with a cover on the back, and the way you get around in Haiti) Several people gave the kids their left overs and waters. As we were pulling off, we decided to give them one of our soccer balls. Dana picked up the ball and yelled, “Hey, BALL!” These kids immediately DROPED their food and ran in front of several trucks to get back to the tap tap to grab this ball. Dana just threw the ball out of the back of the truck, and it was ON! These boys took off, fighting over this soccer ball. Finally one of the boys managed to grab the ball away from the rest, put it under his shirt and walked away. While the other boys were left empty handed… food splattered all over the road. It was very interesting to say the least. We quickly discovered that a soccer ball is greater than food.

Table and Chairs made of metal

I want this dresser so bad!

LOVE this chair

The group! <3 love these people

MY FAM! Complete with Blondy! Just wish Caleb was there...

Sunday, July 6^th, 2014

            We got up this morning and got ready for church, not really knowing what to expect. We got to this church, were there is such a mix of people. We seen other Americans, Haitian, Koreans… all under one roof, and there for one reason… to praise Jesus. The worship I experienced in this church was unlike any worship I have ever encountered. I have never felt the Holy Spirit the way that I did during those few minutes, singing with these wonderful people. The singing was not extravagant, the music wasn’t great, but the love for Jesus Christ could be felt through the words they were singing. And looking around, I saw all these different groups of people praising him, not caring what anyone else thought. I saw kids, in the front row, lifting their hands and voices to Heaven. It was the most amazing experience. It is something I will never, ever forget.

            After church, we all changed clothes and left for the orphanage one last time. On my way to the orphanage, I knew I would be saying goodbye to these children, but I had no idea it was going to be as hard as it was on me. We started off by taking a tour of the FINISHED boys’ room that the guys had been working hard on all week. It looked AMAZING!!! They did such a great job! And Mama was so happy! After our tour, we spend some time with the kids, getting in our last hugs and cuddles. We didn’t have anything planned; we just loved on them for a while. When it was time to go, I of course had my Abigail. I told her I loved her, and she nodded her head. I then asked her if she loved me too, and she again nodded her head. At that moment, I couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. I’m actually in tears as I write this. This little girl, hold a huge place in my heart, and saying goodbye to her was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. My mom said it was time to go, and I sat down my Abigail, and turned to walk away. I looked back and she was just looking at me, with those big beautiful eyes, and my mom looked at me and said, “Just walk away…” So I did. That was the longest walk home I have ever taken. 

love this smile

In the middle is Mama... the heart of Voice of the Children

Monday, July 7^th, 2014

            Today was the day we were to leave Haiti. We got all packed up, spent as long as we could hanging out in the house, made our mark on the house… then took the good ole S10 pickup truck to the airport, where we said our last goodbyes to my Mom, Dad, Kerby and Kerlandy. 

Kate's writing

Brenn's writing

Mr. Wayne's writing

My writing

Kerlandy's writing

Josh's writing

Dana's writing

Devin's writing

Love my brother! <3 Can't wait to see him again, and for him to meet the boys!

Going into this, I knew that I would have the experience of a lifetime. I had no idea just how much this place would change my life. I have been telling my husband that I would like to adopt one day… but now I know I HAVE to adopt a child from this country. It is the most beautiful place I have ever been, and I met some of the most amazing people while I was there. A piece of my heart was left there, and a piece of Haiti will forever more be in my heart. I plan on going back very soon, but next time, I will be sharing my experience with my husband. And as soon as Conner and Brady are big enough, they will be going with us. This is not the end of my work in Haiti… this is only the beginning!

           

Live and Learn

Let's rewind 8 years ago... when I was fresh out of high school, and thought that I knew everything there was to know about everything. I went to WKU right out of high school to become a nurse, and didn't take anything seriously. I didn't go out and party, I didn't drink and stay out all night. I actually stayed in my apartment, playing nintendo games and Rockband. I didn't go to class half of the time, and when I did go, I didn't pay attention, and NEVER studied. After 2 years, and thousands of dollars later, I decided I didn't want to be a nurse, and I wanted to get married.

Now, let's fast forward to the present day. I am now 26 years old, married, have two kids, and going back to school, and BUSTING my butt in the process. At this time, I don't have a job, because all of my focus goes into school and my boys, therefore NO extra money to go out to the movies, or to go shopping, or to take a vacation. Every little bit of my money goes to bills, diapers, and food. I go to school full time, so that I can make a better life for myself, my husband and my children.

I went to visit a transfer counselor today, about transfering to WKU to apply for the nursing program in February. Since I have been back in school, I have maintained A's and B's... A's in all the main classes that are looked at for the nursing program. HOWEVER, due to my past history at WKU... back in 2006, I am having to retake classes, and may end up having to go to school 2 years longer than I should. This could possibly give me a total of 8 years in college! 8!!! Everything you do or don't do eventually comes back to haunt you!

You may be asking yourself why I am telling you all of this. I have many kids on my facebook and instagram that are still in highschool or college. I want to let you know, don't make the same mistakes I did. Now, I'm NOT saying that getting married or having Conner and Brady was a mistake. My husband is my best friend and my children are the greatest gift God has ever given me. But take it from me, it would be so much easier to be 18, single, and going through this the first time around. It's not easy to study all the bones in the body while wiping butts, making dinner, cleaning house and entertaining toddlers. So don't take advantage of the chance you have been given to go to school and make a life for yourself. Give it all you got. Go to class, do your homework, and strive to be the best person you can be!

Downward slop to 30

You read it right... I'm now on the downward slope to 30! On March 26th, I turned 26 years old! No more mid-twenties... nope... I'm upper twenties.... I'm not happy about it. however... this was the best birthday everrrrr!!! First off... my husband is freaking amazzzzing! Not only did he get me a new MacBook Pro, he also got me the collection of FRIENDS. That's right! All 10 seasons!!! Second, my mom and I have a slight obsession with Broadway musicals... so my my dad bought us tickets, both for my birthday and their 28th wedding anniversary, to see WICKED at TPAC in Nashville! It was the BEST Broadway show I have ever seen! We have now seen CATS (twice), Wizard of Oz, and Wicked... I can't wait to go see it again! We went to Nashville on Saturday, then Sunday, we went to Phill's mom's for a little birthday get-together, and they all got together and got me a GORGEOUS Origami Owl necklace!!! I have been wanting one for so long... and it is absolutely PERFECT! And last but most definitely not least, my little brother, whom I love oh so much, is taking me to see... wait for it... JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE in June!!! AHHHHHH!!!! Just so you know, N*SYNC was my very first concert ever, and I have been in love with JT ever since!!! We will be going to Kansas City, MO and staying over night in a hotel! I can't wait!!!

Enough about me... Also on March 26th, my sweet little boys turned 11 months old! :( Yet another thing that makes me oh so sad. They are growing up so fast! They both are crawling all over the place. They are both pulling up on things and trying to walk. Both say momma, dada, bubba, nanna (which my mom loves). Both are clapping. Ughhh... i can't handle this! I've also got to get busy hard and heavy with their birthday party! It's gonna sneak up on me before I know it!

Phill and I have started running again!!! I signed us up for our first 5K the other day! On June 7th, in Bowling Green we will be running The Color Vibe!!! We signed up for one 2 summers ago... but we couldn't do it since I was all big a preggo with two babies! lol I have started eating better, running and doing blogilates to try to lose weight. 11 months is too long to use the "I just had a baby(ies)" exuse. Time to make a change...  

Oh, did I mention we moved back to SCOTTSVEGAS!?? heck yes!!! We found a nice little house in between my parents' house and Phill's mom's house! How perfect is that!? hahaha We are so much happier here! I feel safe being here with the boys, and I love that they get to see their Aunts, Uncles, cousins and Grandparents whenever they want! It is also kind of cool being so close to The Core (YMCA) and Dumont Hill. We have been to walk on Dumont Hill a couple times, and the boys really like it! I think this move was the best for the entire family! Although the drive to class 4 days a week SUCKS... 

Speaking of school... we are halfway through the semester, and I have straight A's!!!! My schedule consists of A&P II, Statistics, and Nutrition! So far so good. I really like all of my classes! They are actually really fun and I am learning a LOT! This summer I will be taking Microbiology, and then taking the test that determines whether or not I will make it into nursing school. You have no idea how nervous I am. I have been back and forth about whether or not I wanted to try to get in at BG Tech or go ahead and apply at WKU... and I think I'm going to go ahead and try BG Tech... i would much rather go there... if I can't get in, I'll just have to reapply for WKU... no biggie. You never know until you try.  It surprises even me how well I am doing in school. When I went to WKU right out of high school, I didn't have a reason to be there. I didn't go to class, I didn't study, I didn't want to be there. Now, I have a REASON to succeed. Not only for myself, but for my children. I want to make the best life possible for my boys... and that is what keeps me going every day! I love my family, and I want nothing more than to make them proud.

Here are some photos of the past few weeks! ENJOY!

My beautiful Origami Owl Necklace

Going for a walk today after class. We love being outside

I have to get a t-shirt every show! :)

Myself and my best friend doing what we love! <3

I love my Mommy! Couldn't we be sisters!?

My husband knows me too well! ;)

My boys helped me celebrate my birthday!... then they got a bath

Me and my mini's on my 26th Birthday, and their 11 month Birthday!

 
 

Small Town Livin'

Well, a lotttt has happened since my last post... let's start with my little men...

Conner and Brady are now 10 month old!!! We've started planning their birthday party, and it is absolutely killing me!

Their Birthday party is going to be Mickey Mouse Clubhouse... I've been doing a lot of stuff with the Cricut... there will definitely be a post after their party with lots of pictures! Brady is now crawling everywhere!!! Conner is still working on it... he will take a couple steps and then fall down. I think he will be crawling by the end of the week. Recently he has started being able to sit up from the laying position. They are both trying to pull up... they will grab my hands and pull up really good! They're so strong. Conner will clap now when I say "yayyy", and they both shake their head when you say "no". haha I am really starting to see their personalities come out, and I am loving every minute of it! They are so funny!

My birthday is also coming up, in 2 weeks actually! I can't wait! This birthday is going to be the best! First of all, my mom and dad got me tickets to see Wicked in Nashville the weekend of my birthday, so me and mom are taking a mother/daughter day! I am so excited! I have been dying to see it for so long! Also, one of my best friends, who's birthday is a week before mine, is coming home for our birthdays, so we are going to go out to celebrate, and go to this painting place in TN. I have always wanted to go there so we are going for our birthdays! AND... the greatest little brother in the entire world got his big sister tickets to see... what for it.... Justin Timberlake!!! I give you all permission to be super jealous! lol  In June, he will be coming home, from Florida, to pick me up and we will then drive to Kansas City, MO, see JT do his thing and stay in a hotel that night and come home the next day! OMG i am so stink in excited! Now do you realize why I am so excited about my birthday!? It's amazing! My hubby didn't fail either! He got me a macbook pro!!! I already got it though! ;) He can't keep a secret! 

Another big change is taking place for our family right now... no I'm not pregnant... shame on you! hahaha No, we are moving back to Scottsville!!! yayyyyy!!! I have no been comfortable in Bowling Green for a long time. It seems like every week there is robbery, stabbing, shooting, or something, and me and the boys are at home alone way too much. I just don't feel comfortable. But a few months ago, the lady that lived next to my parents passed away, and a local realtor was looking to buy her house because her mother lives next to her, and she wanted to know who was going to be living beside her mother. Well, it went up for auction, and someone else ended up buying the house, but she immediately went up to her and told her about us. Well, long story short, WE GOT THE HOUSE!!! The location could not be more perfect!!! It is literally between my parents, and Phill's mom's house! hahaha And across the street from what used to be the YMCA. No more excuses to not get into shape... not only do I have full-time baby-sitters living next door, I also have a gym! 

I could not be more excited about how my life is going right now! I am still in school... I have one more class to take before taking the test that determines if I get into the nursing program! So 2 more years, and I will hopefully be an RN! I'm making changes not only for myself, but for the good of my family! I'm loving every minute of it!