Witty Title Here

I feel like I should post....even though I really have nothing to blog about. I've been getting over a little sickness. It started as a common cold and then moved into my lungs. I was aching in my lungs worse than I even had before. I told Derek that I thought I might have pneumonia, even though I had no idea what it felt like. Turns out, I had a mild case of it. I was just freaked out more that I actually had it after that was what I thought I had. Oh well...I'm feeling better now.

Today I went and helped my sister go through nearly 10 boxes of baby boy clothes that her friend gave her. It ended up being about 10 boxes of only newborn to 6 month old clothes. I don't know if you know or not, but that is a heck of a lot of clothes for that short amount of time...granted it had been used by twins. Never-the-less, we got through it all and only ended up with 2 boxes, which I thought was a little more reasonable. After we were done with the I helped her clean out the room she's going to use for his nursery and hang a few things around her apartment.

Derek hasn't been up to too much. We were looking at his school schedule the other night and it looks like everything should be set up for him to be done with school in December!! Yay! There was one class that he was going to have to talk to someone about because they don't offer it for like another year, but I feel sure they should be able to work through that. They can't expect him to wait around a year to complete one class!! He's really been working hard at the bank. I think he will be happy to start working part time versus full time. He complains all the time about not being able to play basketball, so I am definitely encouraging him to play intramural basketball starting in January. Make him be quiet about sill basketball!

My next blog will hopefully be pictures of Ernie at the dog park. I know, VERY exciting! Ernie has been the dog that I never saw myself owning. He has costs us nearly a thousand dollars in damages (not to us but to our stuff)....yes, really! He is very timid and skittish. You can barely take him on walks because he has issues with men, big things, big things that move, people on bicycles, and especially a black person on a bike. So about a month ago I signed him up for the dog park so he could get his exercise, run, and be exposed to other dogs and other people. I have been taking him almost everyday and it's been a real help to our relationship. I know it sound silly, but I was not fond of Ernie AT ALL before the dog park. Since we've been going he's getting braver around men, he is probably one of the sweetest dogs at the park, he never bites or plays too rough and I can let him play with the little puppies who come who still fragile. He listens to me so well when we go, while most dogs are going crazy all over the park, jumping all over people and getting in fights. Needless to say, things between Ernie and I are getting better! Yay for us.

Christmas Celebrations!

Well we just celebrated Christmas with Derek's side of the family. Saturday night we had a Dirty Santa (or White Elephant) party with his dad's family and Sunday was with his mom's side. Instead of doing the big extravagant meal that takes like 2 days of slaving over the stove, they just ordered pizza instead...and I have to say...I loved it! That's my kind of celebration!

We got lot's of great gifts and I LOVE not having to wait till Christmas day to open stuff. I am not much for surprises and I would just rather open up everything and have everyone open up my gifts as soon as we arrive...but unfortunately that's not how it works. I think I will implement some kind of tradition into our family that everyone gets to open up stuff early. At the Dirty Santa party we took a Ice Tea maker and ended up leaving with it, which I was very happy about (although I do not like stealing it back from people, secretly they hold a grudge and I haven't been in the family for that long). At his mom's side Derek and I got lot's of nice clothes, a gift card to O'Charley's (an excuse for a date night!), a cool picture which I am thinking about hanging in the hall, new pillows which are conducive to me sleeping like a baby...I love them! His brother and sister-in-law got us Laundry stuff which is great for us hobo's who have to take our laundry to the mat....and I feel like there is something else, but I can't remember what it is. Needless to say we LOVED all our great gifts and are very appreciative of everything we received!

Tomorrow afternoon we will leave for my parents house. I did some last minute shopping today for my sister and her baby on the way. I got the baby the cutest little corduroy overalls, a matching hat and a wiener dog shirt. Here's a pic...and don't worry, I don't think she gets on my blog.

Derek's mom asked me to put some pics of Christmas up, so here they are.

Derek's parents and his Great Aunt Doris!

Derek's cousins playing Rock Band

Jeremy, Bethany, and Deacon

Harlee

Deacon and his Mr. Potato head

Jeremy, Deacon and his first basketball goal

News, news...

Well....I can't say that I have a ton to write about. I got finished with my MNA/CNA class about 2 weeks ago and since have taken the test to be certified. I received a letter in the mail yesterday saying that I had passed. I got a 67/75 on the written part and passed all 5 of the skills that I had to preform. I'm glad that class is over with, but I am ready to get a job at a hospital or something.
Other news: because Ernie has about a 20ft by 20ft area to run outside, I figured I could do a little better and signed him up for the local dog park. Now he'll have 2 acres to run wild!! I don't know that we'll be able to make him leave.
We are getting ready for Christmas. I think I am pretty much done with gift buying. We weren't able to get real extravagant gifts for people this year, but I think everyone will enjoy what they got. Buster enjoyed one of the gifts I got. He was nice enough to drag it under the bed and go to town chewing on it. Thankfully I don't think the person I got it for will mind. We will be traveling to Owensboro on the 20th to celebrate. His cousin is having a Dirty Santa Christmas party the night of the 20th and his family will be having Christmas at their house the next day. It's kind of a tradition for my family to celebrate Christmas the morning of. We come down, open our stockings (which is by far the best part because we get scratch-offs!) then open presents.
This past Thursday my sister invited me to go with her to the doctors appointment where she finds out the sex of her baby. The baby was moving all over the place like a wild child, I knew then that it had to be a boy...and sure enough, it was. We were all hoping for a girl and I can't say the picture he took of "the proof" fully convinced me that it was a boy. She goes for another ultrasound after Christmas, so I'm hoping they can confirm it a little more. haha.

My Sister's Baby!!

The same day I found out the sex of Les' baby, I also found out one of my good friends from home was pregnant (she will remain anon. for now in case she doesn't want everyone to know yet)! She had told me last month that she going to start trying, but I hadn't heard anything from her. She told me while I was driving (in front of a cop) and out of my excitement he definitely had reason to pull me over! I couldn't be happier for her. She is going to make a GREAT mom and I can't think of anyone who deserves such a blessing more than her. Congrats!
Well that is all for now. I have several errands to run and if I don't start now I may never complete them!

Christmas decorating

Well we finally got the tree up. Derek's mom was nice enough to give us a tree that they used to use. Saturday I was all ready to get the tree up and decorate it, but after I opened the tree box I realized there was no stand for the tree. So I sweetly asked Derek if he wouldn't mind to go out and buy one, so an hour and 5 stores later, he was home with a tree stand!! Derek's mom had also given me some gold ornaments, so I bought a few more gold ornaments, some burnt orange ornaments and some burnt orange and gold bows that I was lucky to find. I had bought two boxes of lights, but when I got home I realized 1 box was white light and one was multicolor, so I just used the white that I had. I must admit, in person, it is one of the prettiest little trees I have ever seen. Probably just because it is mine and Derek's and we put it together together. This will be our second Christmas together and I am so thankful for all the love we have between us. We may not have much more than that, but our love is really all I could ever want anyway!

Not too much to say...

Well not much is going on with us. We had a good Thanksgiving with our families. Whenever we go it feels sort of like a mini vacation and then we have to come back to Louisville....back to reality. We really are planning on taking a little weekend vacation to a cabin in the smokies. I always said I couldn't stand Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, but when you escape into the mountains you kind of forget where you are. Plus it's within driving distance and fairly affordable.

Derek has been working a ton! I am very happy about that because I was starting to worry that he was gonna inherit a permanent lazy gene or something. I am still constantly asking him for a child. I say it jokingly, but when I ask I'm very serious. I am somewhat jealous that like EVERY one of my friends is either pregnant or has a child, but truly I have dreamed of being a mother since I was like 8. I pray that when we do start trying that things go smoothly. Now a days you hear so many stories about how couples have problems. I get to go 2 Thursdays from now to find out the sex of my sisters baby. I would like to have a niece and I make that very clear, but...do I really have any say in that.

Well Derek and I haven't really done any shopping at all. We got his brother and sister-in-law something and I know what I want to get my sister and my mom...other than that, we got nothing. I can barely shop on days with regular numbers of crowds, so I don't dare take on Black Friday. I figure the money I would save would not be worth my sanity and mild fear of crowded places.

I've started my clinicals for my CNA class. We go to an all womens nursing home and assist them with daily living. I wasn't looking forward to it at all, but I thought the women were so sweet. This past Monday and tomorrow are the only 2 days I have to do it and then on Saturday I have my test to become certified. I am a little nervous about it because I can't say the teachers were that great at teaching/demonstrating the skills. In January I will start anatomy and physiology and then the following semester I will start actualy nursing school. I am very excited to start because I think nursing will really suit me well.

Well this is all for today.