Thirsty

"I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all that you have done;
I ponder the work of your hands.
I stretched out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched
land."
Psalm 143: 5-6

Happy Balumtine'th Day

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO YOU!!! Hope you feel so very loved today!

click here for a very funny video by Dave Barnes.

Haiti Update: Many hands

There is a Haitian proverb that is translated, "With many hands, the load is not heavy."



Officially 4 weeks from today, we will be leaving for Haiti. God has been so faithful and since I sent out support letters 2 weeks ago, I have already raised $1355.00, and a lot more in prayers!!!!!! Wow, I am blown away at the generosity of my family and friends, and the desire to send me on the mission God has called me to. I am so grateful!

Also, we just got an update on what they need at the Rescue Center and clinic:

large safety pins
contact paper
index cards
hard candy
arts/crafta for the boys school
boys underwear (2T-and up)
girls underwear (2T- and up)
baby shampoo
baby lotion
hair pomade
barretts
spray bottle (like to put bleach water in to spray stuff down)
cheap plastic table cloths
rechargeable flashlights
rechargeable batteries
wind up flash lights

So there are the needs. We will be packing this stuff to take with us on the trip. If you have any of this stuff lying around, or can get a box together it will bless them in SO many ways!!! The dollar store is a great place to get lots of this stuff. If you live out of town and want to help, you can send a box to me, or money/gift card and I can get it here.





How can you resist those sweet faces?

Love you all and ask for your continued prayers over the next month!!!!

I love you more than...

To continue the Valentine's week, I wanted to share this site. I love you more than blank started as a blog, but now they have a whole site with hundreds of ways people compare their love. They are so fun to read and you can even submit your own. Here are a few that I thought were cute...


and just for fun...

Beth + Caroline = BFF

I often find myself adoring celebrities and telling myself that if I knew them, we would totally be best friends. I have thought that about Beth Moore for a while now, big hair, southern drawl and all. I was browsing another blog recently and came across Beth's very own blog. You think I am a stalker? Fine, but how else am I going to get to know her?

Anyway, she blogged most recently about a trip to El Paso and a new pair of Lucchese cowboy boots that she received as a gift. After reading this quote, I am POSITIVE we would be BFF.

"They were the exact ones I would have chosen off a shelf: a rich brown which is my signature color (hello, Shelby) as much as I wish it were blush and bashful." -BM

That is a reference to my all time favorite, seen it a million times, can quote every line movie, Steel Magnolias. If you haven't seen it, I am so sorry. You'll laugh hysterically, cry hysterically, and want to time travel back to 1989 in Natchitoches, Louisiana. So if you don't have plans for Valentine's Day (only 4 days!!!!!) you should grab some girlfriends, a couple bottles of wine and a big box of tissues.

Drew, Dave and then some...

Last night I spontaneously decided to go to the Drew Holcomb and Dave Barnes concert at Stubbs. I really wanted to go and couldn't drag anyone with me, so I went by myself knowing that I would find someone I know there. It was really fun and I got to meet Ellie (Drew's precious wife that sings with him) and told her that I am friends with The Fontenots, I felt really cool. Here are some not great, but you get the picture, pictures I took on my phone. If you don't know them you should!




I also found out this morning that I got an interview for the job I applied for! Really excited, and it's next Friday so I already bought my plane tickets and I'm just going to make a really fun weekend of it with my parents! I'd love your prayers.

Tomorrow I am taking care of 3 patients, a little nervous but it should be fine. I just took 2 benadryl, so I'm going to crawl in bed, spend some time with Beth and Jesus and I should be in a coma in appx. 35-45 minutes. I love that alarm clock at 4:45 :)

Love y'all!

DTR

A common phrase that is often thrown around at the point when two people have been spending a considerable amount of time together (or just texting) and on at least one end of the relationship, there are feelings. It can get sort of messy defining exactly what the relationship is. So have no fear my friends, Hallmark has done all the labeling for you.



I was shopping for Valentine's, and came across these. So when you aren't sure what to tell people (or yourself), just make a sweep down the card aisle and maybe you'll find your relationship.

I also got this fun present from my best married friends The Fontenots. It is going to be really hard to wait a whole week to open it, but if I don't Caro told me that Cupid will arrow my eyes out. Ouch.



This weekend has been really restful, and as I am sitting at my desk looking at the calendar of the next few weeks, I am going to need it. I shopped yesterday afternoon and thought about making some plans to see a movie, but as I sat down with my pizza, spinach salad and a glass of wine, the Notebook had just started on Oxygen. Needless to say, those were my plans. This week shouldn't be too bad, and my parents will be here next weekend so I am planning to stay with them at the Lake. Happy Sunday!

CES

This is one of my best friends Christina.




She called me today to tell me two blog-worthy things she saw as she was driving home to San Antonio. What is really blog-worthy is that Christina was driving home to see a doctor, who confirmed she does in fact have Shingles. Who gets Shingles??? Only my same friend who had Scarlet Fever our freshman year of college, and who has severe allergic reactions to peaches and blueberries. You wouldn't have survived long on my favorite childhood computer game the Oregon Trail, but I still love you friend! Pray for her, and that the shingles goes away soon!

(***Update: Caroline, one of my other best friends just informed me that she also had shingles. It's a good thing they have me the nurse!)

Today was great. I had lunch with Mackenzie and we caught up on life. Then, I spent several hours laying on a blanket in the park at The Triangle with nurse friends laughing at all our stories from nursing school. I really wish the weather would stay warm, springtime in Austin is always the best!

Four day weeks

Tomorrow is Friday for me. I don't have class on Fridays this semester so I am lovin' every minute of these 3 day weekends. The weeks are already flying by, and it makes me sad to think that May will be here before I know it. Here are some highlights of this one...

- transvestite patient yesterday, such a character and really fun
- everyone's 25 random things on facebook
- finding out that my pre-season prediction about Jin was correct
- planning a June trip to Zihuatanejo
- new Beth Moore study on Esther
- filling out my application for graduation

I'm ready for another Austin, Texas weekend.

Not quite royalty...

Me: "So we are not quite the Pastry Queens"
Christina: "More like Pastry Duchesses"
Me: "I actually feel like a Pastry Peasant"

After several trips to the grocery store and the neighbors, 6 hours of baking and a smoking hand mixer, we were covered in powdered sugar and exhausted. But this is what we had to show...






We used the Pastry Queen's, owner of Rather Sweet Bakery in Fredricksburg, Texas, recipes for Red Velvet cupcakes and iced sugar cookies. Some of them may not have been as pretty but they were absolutely delicious and we ended up taking them to a super bowl party tonight and received many compliments. I want to love baking but I'm not great at it, and it usually ends up being a chore. I am realizing if you do it enough, and have all the right equipment it probably isn't so hard. One of these days, I hope to be a Pastry Queen.

In other news, we had another gorgeous day in Austin. The weather has been phenomenal, and you better believe that in Texas it is completely acceptable to wear a bathing suit and flip flops in February. More and more I am realizing how much I am going to miss living in this city.