Good Times...Good Friends

I didn't know how much I'd missed their smiling faces until I had the opportunity to see them again. Its so good to see friends that share a common thread from your past, and reconnecting with Michaela, Abby, Danita and Tammy made me think about what fun a heavenly reunion would be like. I laughed until I cried. I laughed until my face hurt...and I hated to see the night end, but all good things do. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Ladies... (let's not wait so long to do this again). XOXO

Hope Floats....

So I woke up first this morning (as I do every Christmas) kind of hoping that our house would be covered by a cozy blanket of snow (just for Christmas morning...not forever). But to my disappointment..nothing of the sort had happened. Instead I found a Purple Pansy blooming in the backyard. What a sense of humour God has...I hadn't received the snow I'd wanted...instead the gift was this defiant little flower, battered by frost and wind. It was surrounded by barren landscape, littered with reminders that fall had come and gone weeks ago. I laughed because this Purple Surprise seeming full of purpose... like beauty, and hope. It had the nerve to show up when the going was rough. I wish I could be that determined. Maybe that will be one of my New Year's Resolutions for 2007.

Thousands of years ago...another Miracle happened in a manger, and like the flower...God provided a miracle to the world at an unlikely place...at an unlikely time. I don't want to forget that during this Christmas season. When everyone around seems to want to get a piece of me (work, school, etc.) I'll remember the determination of the pansy, and I'll hang in there knowing that I've got what it takes to get the job done.

Big Ideas...

I've been a busy girl... I'm involved in a love triangle with work, baking in the kitchen, and church. I've managed to avoid the mall. It was a New Year's resolution that I made in January 2006, and I kept my promise. (so proud)
Just yesterday a woman tried to kill me with her vehicle. She thought I was competition for a parking spot at the bank. WOW. As I stood in the insanely long line at the bank I fantasized that one day...if I made enough money, I would buy a sweet little cottage outside a small town, and a week before christmas I would stay at the cottage and relax. I could bake, sleep, decorate, have a fireplace going...on and on. So that's my big idea. I think its one of the best I've had yet.

The big ideas just keep coming...so on to warmer topics, like Florida...I've lived in Florida in the past and would consider returning if I knew I could work somewhere amazing like the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Children. It is a brand new facility that has just opened up in Orlando and the facilities are amazing. It has a 112-bed neonatal intensive care unit...the fourth largest in the United States. 30 Labor and Delivery rooms....and soooo much more. But you don't have to take my word for it check out these 2 websites and and see for yourself:
1)http://72.3.247.146/winnie/index.html
2) www.wesh.com/video/92952141/index.html?taf

Florida has so much beauty, from the climate to the environment, and its diversity of cultures, I think I would be very happy to return...on one condition...'that I found the perfect job for me. I've learned how crucial that is to one's happiness, and I'm excited about planting my feet and growing. Its about to be 2007 and I'm excited about the unknow...what have I to fear...this is my Father's world.

Merry Christmas to you....

Ahhhh yes, there is a certain sweet satisfaction I get out of staying in pajamas til noon. Its one of those simple pleasures that I've decided to indulge in today. I woke up a bit early and tossed some laundry in then decided to try and make the morning last as long as I could. With my third year of nursing school half over, and exams behind me, I decided that I could relax for just a little while. I dozed off watching BT (breakfast television), and shortly thereafter jolted myself awake with the fear that I'd missed a class or the bus or something crazy like that. Hmmmm, its gonna take some work to re-program my body.

I watched the blue lights on our Christmas tree twinkling...and I remembered Christmases past when Mikey and I would shake the gifts and wonder. Those days are long gone and fondly remembered, but the trends that I see on television today bother me a little.

Its seems like every time I look, someone is trying to change the original meaning of Christmas. Happy Holidays has replaced "MERRY CHRISTMAS" in stores and greeting cards. It makes me stop and wonder, why is there a holiday if it isn't about Christmas? If people want to remove Christmas...then what are you planning to celebrate? WINTER??? (gimme a break)

Christmas trees have been removed from airports because its no longer PC (politically correct) to have them display. In Toronto, a choir was asked to stop singing christmas carols because a dignitary in the audience was Jewish. It seems to go on and on.

Times have changed a lot...in the last year or two, but I'm certain that not everything must change. Christmas has a place in our lives, and it might do the 'nay-sayers' some good to look a little closer.

Have yourself a Merry Christmas

Words of Wisdom from Dad...

My first blog ever... (how sweet it is) The past 6 years have tested me in ways I can't describe, but I know I'm stronger and have a stronger faith in God because of it. So on this inaugural day in my blogging experience, I've decided to share one of the most precious things in the world to me; a birthday card I received from my Dad a couple of years ago as I was just beginning my journey in nursing school. Please read on and thanks for stopping by.

"How to make a beautiful life"

Love yourself. MAKE PEACE with who you are and where you are at this moment in time.

Listen to you heart. If you can't hear what its saying in this noisy world, MAKE TIME for yourself. Enjoy your own company. Let your mind wander among the stars.

Try. Take chances. MAKE MISTAKES. Life can be messy and confusing at times, but its also full of surprise. The next rock in your path might be a stepping stone.

Be Happy. When you don't have what you want, want what you have. MAKE DO. That's a well-kept secret of contentment.

There aren't any shortcuts to tomorrow. You have to MAKE YOUR OWN WAY. To know where you are going is only part of it. You need to know where you've been, too.

And if you ever get lost, don't worry. The people who love you will find you. Count on it.

Life isn't days and years. It's what you do with time and with all the goodness and grace that's inside you.

MAKE A BEAUTIFUL LIFE....The kind you think you deserve.

For my beautiful daughter on her birthday, Happy Birthday...I love you....DAD.