Leap of Faith

I've always been sort of a timid person, but then I get a streak of "genius" and I go with it. In college I had decided to sell Mary Kay. I found out just how much of a sales person I am not! HAHA I also found out that I really didn't care too much about the products I was selling. I am girly and I like makeup...it just isn't something I get ecstatic about. I also am frugal when it comes to makeup and just make all my makeup selections via Walmart run. :-) Anyhoo...fast forward to today.

I have fallen in love with USborne books. While I was expecting our 3rd I hosted a party and purchased several awesome books. Over the last 2 weeks I went to 2 more parties and have now decided it is something I am passionate about and have decided to be a consultant! The differences are in the passion. I truly want my children to be successful in life. It is important to me to see them flourish and I believe in the books that much! My son will stay glued to the xbox or tablet if we let him and I want more for him. Technology is wonderful, but it should not replace our imaginations. Afterall, that is how technology came to be in the first place! Someone imagined it could happen and made it so!  So on a leap of faith...I am investing my time and money into these books as a business. We'll see where it takes us! I will fill you in on this journey as we go! :-)

New Beginnings

Well, it has a been a minute. When I started this blog back in 2011, there were just the 3 of us. Now we've added two new members to our family. Who knew that our little family wouldn't be complete without two little girls running around? It changes the dynamics just a bit. Let's meet the players

Nathaniel: Our first born. Our 7 year old going on 27 years. He has always been our wise beyond his years child. He is a blessing and a great big brother to our girls. Although he can have his typical ornery moments that any little boy does, he has a true heart of gold and is always there for a pick me up when I am feeling down.

Addison aka Addy Paddy: She is our spunky 3 year old. Every family has to have the one that keeps them on their toes. That would be her. As we speak, I have yelled at her numerous times for jumping off the couch. This is after she fell and blacked her eye out once. Does she learn? Nope...she makes life interesting. She is the perfect mixture of sweet and sassy.

Emma aka Emma Nemma: Our newest addition. She is our damsel in distress. The boys are going to have a hard time with this one. If they don't shower her with love and affection 110% of the time...she will drop them. She doesn't give up her smiles easily and she definitely chooses her favorites (I am one!). She is a sweetheart and very likely our last!

So there they are. The very reasons I wake up and do what I do. I just recently took look at my life and realized I need to do some editing. Life is more than just going through the motions each day. My personal goals are to the be the best wife and mother that God created me to be. To live and enjoy every moment that has been given to me. This is my journey. This is my story. This is our life. 

ONE NIGHT-ONE STAGE...NKOTBSB ROCK KC!

We made it...finally. Drink tickets in hand we made it to the wine selection. I wouldn't say I'm the type of person who has to drink to relax, but after the fiasco of the the afteroon (see previous blog)...I was not about to go into that meet and greet PO'd at the world and ruin my short and sweet time with the guys.

Not 5-Star Virgins

By the time they called for "G" (my assigned letter for the photo op) I was pretty buzzed. In hindsight, probably one would have been sufficient. This was the 3rd M&G that we have done and the last one was probably the best. I had been relaxed enough to be casual with them, but this time I think I was still on the higher anxiety side. I was so spent after trying to get in that I was even more giddy this time, because I didn't think it was going to happen. It always happens so fast. You walk inside and you see these 5 handsome guys lined up and you just walk to someone open. Prior to, everyone asks who wants to be with who for the photo shot. I always say "I prefer Jordan, but I just want to be able to stand by a guy." My first M&G I ended up being wedged between my sister and another chick while another girl had Jordan on one side and Donnie on the other. It just so happened that Jordan was at the end and nobody had went to him so that's where I went first. Not how I really wanted it to go, because then I still for yet another M&G have not met Jon. I hugged Jordan and Donnie and made my way to Jon and another girl got there so I just went back to Jordan right before the pic. So my sister and I were on either side. No complaints at all, but personally, I would have liked to have made it through the whole group and a mix of my anxiety (from the pre-pre-show) and the wine didn't work so well. It was cool though, Jordan was awesome (of course) and did a little shoulder rub thing on me so its definitely not time wasted! ;-) Just sayin'...should've got a few guys in b/c I love em' all. The problem is that you have seconds to make up your mind where to go...and with each 5-star it gets a little easier. The next one (provided that there will be one) will be even better! Still waiting on the pic to be posted! Hoping I didn't look like a disaster! YIKES!

NKOTBSB...Need No Introduction

 
There really are no words to describe the concert other than AWESOME! They are always great and as person who is not a BSB fan...they do put on a good show. They make a great team...and everyone looks good! :-) 

 I may show slight favoritism toward one group over the other...

We had awesome seats. Floor 1, Second Row...right next to the runway would've been way cool, but I am in no way complaining about my seats. The drawback is that when they are looking down at the people in the first few rows you have no way to know they are smiling and looking at you. A few times Danny looked like he was looking at me and gesturing (not sure what he was trying gesture...even if it wasn't directed at me) but I don't know for sure. My sister said she thought it was directed toward me, but she didn't know. I can't even explain it, but he lifted his shirt to show off his tattoo (lookin' pretty good I might say) and then pointed in my vicinity. I wasn't about to do the same, lol...my abs don't look nearly that good! haha Anyway, truly amazing night!

Time to Go...Or Maybe Not...

A crowd of people, as always, wait out by the buses. I'm going to vent for a moment, because there are a wide variety of fans at these shows. There is always at least one obnoxious person that doesn't know when to shut up. This girl in the front kept yelling at everyone coming out and giving people nicknames. Everyone around her (including me) was annoyed so I can only guess what the crew/security/and NKOTBSB were thinking. Joe ran out really fast towards a bus. We all screamed and the annoying girl said "Gee, thanks Joe for coming to see us." With an attitude. My thought, that sucks, but as a fan I'm not going to be rude b/c the man needs his space. They go above and beyond to put on an amazing show...they do not owe their lives to us just because they are NKOTB. Joe has a family...3 small kids and a wife and you have no idea what he went to go do. Anyway, stepping of the soap box for a minute. We kept hearing that they left and that we should leave. The annoying girl finally moved and went and sat across the street on the curb...a little while after Joe came strolling back up and shook hands and met the fans. I don't know if was coincental or if he could see her from the bus window...either way...it serves her right. After that we saw 3 buses leave and my sister and I finally left. 

Peace Out Yo

We made it an all nighter though and ended up at Harrahs...just to see if the after party was true but we didn't see anything. Doesn't mean they weren't there, but I was feeling a little too stalkerish...and hungry so we left and ate at Denny's. To then return to the hotel and collapse at 6 AM! :-) Awesome show...awesome night!

Nothing Comes Easy...

What a weekend! My boys put on a awesome show Saturday...never to disappoint. That's a different blog, because the events of Saturday really require 2 separate entries. The first being the Odyssey of a trip we took just to get to KC.

We Need What?!?!?!

   Went to bed late on Friday night and the AM came pretty quickly, but that's alright because I knew what the night was gonna bring. Finishing up packing and spot checking the pre-ride hair and my phone buzzes with texts from my sister. Her fiance was AWESOME and helped us buy the 5-star tickets for the meet and greet. The sign of true love is a guy who will go through the pains of ordering these tickets with two highly anxious need to be in control kind of girls. I've purchased the tickets the last 2 times and have always pretty much taken the lead on what I needed to get done to get to where we needed to be. With that said, the text sent to me Saturday basically said we didn't have one of the most important things you need when you get to the pre-show...the confirmation. After a few phone calls and a little help from previous experiences in ordering the tickets, we got it figured out...the paper printed and we were on the road.

Road Construction...REALLY?

  Three hours is the typical drive to KC...not a bad since its a pretty straight shot most of the way until you get into KC. I used to live in Lenexa (right outside of KC) and so I knew how to get there, but we didn't bring the GPS that would've helped us get to our hotel and the Sprint Center. "We got this..." is what I kept telling myself. Plenty of time until we landed in the middle of some heavy duty construction for about 45 minutes. All was good, if we got to the hotel at 3 it would give us about a hour to finish getting ready for the show. My dad gave us the directions and once the traffic cleared we were on our way!
Riiiiight...
Heaven Sent Angel...with a GPS!


  So somewhere in the directions we took a wrong turn in what I would say is not some of the best off the road sight seeing areas. Sitting at a fork in the road my sister waves this older gentleman down and asks him if he knew where the hotel was located. He was out of town, but he said he would plug it into the GPS. We thought he was just going to give us directions, but he said just to follow him and he was lead us there. THANK GOD for this heaven sent man for helping us...otherwise I have no idea where this story would be going right now...probably further into the bad parts of KC and a liquor store! 

Get This Party Started...WTF Lady Are You Kidding Me Right Now?


  I may have take a xanax just to finish typing this part. After driving around the Sprint Center and finding our parking garage and then finding the wrong VIP group...and then finding the RIGHT VIP group well after 4 PM (when we had to be there)....we meet a new angelic face. I'll remind you that these tickets were a gift from my sister's fiance...so in order to make sure we could get in he called days in advance and they told him to send a paper copy of his license along with the confirmation and we would be able to get in without him. Please please tell that to dragon lady apparently running the show! She looks at us and says "I don't have anything on my paper about a name change. The main office calls me with any changes like that and if I don't get that call then we just can't do it." Are...you...serious? She was a witch no doubt, but in all honesty I wasn't mad at her. She has a job to do and I get that...I do. But REALLY? As my sister explained to them that he called in order to have this ready when we got here and tried to convince them to talk to him on the phone...I had to walk away before I had a breakdown. In haze, I do remember saying "So your main office f*#@ed up and you are saying for that we can't go in." And then I went and sat down and prayed as hard as I could for divine intervention. She asked us to stay to the side while she finished being rude the other late comers and I heard her say "I just don't understand how people are late to this." I didn't say anything, but I was like "You have no idea..." Out loud I thought..."I spent $83 on a shirt with rhinestones clearly meant for tonight's show and I am being told I can't go into a concert we already paid for..."  I couldn't even listen to her as she told everyone they needed to hurry, because time was running out and then she said "Ok girls, if you'll step back over here."  ***ANGELS SINGING***


Where's the Wine?


 







 

    This is a scripture I've always based my working ethic on. In college, I spent my summers working at a country club in town. I learned then, that no matter how rude people could be, my service was not for them...it was for the Lord. I believe that principle even more today in the nursing field. I believe that especially as a nurse, that people come across my path for a purpose. Some for me to teach...and some to teach me. Today was one of those days I had to remind myself of this. Today was a particularly difficult day on the floor, not just for myself, but also for my fellow nurse friends. It was just one of those chaotic fly by the seat of your pants kind of day.

   Now that I am no longer a full time nurse at the hospital, I always feel that I am directed to work the days I do work. I look forward to the day because if God did not will it to happen...then neither my patient nor I would be there.  It makes the unusually (or not so unusual in most cases) patients easier to bear. Today I had a special patient that would normally drive me nuts. She was a sweet as could be and kept telling me that she didn't want me to leave and asked if I would return tomorrow. For many reasons, these comments are very special to me. They are the biggest compliments anyone can give a nurse. We see these patients in some of their weakest moments and when  they can look at me and smile and tell me how much they appreciate me it reminds me why I do what I do. I am not saying I'm a great nurse and I'm not saying that a patient needs to praise me every time I bring them a pill, it is just a bonus in the midst of a hectic no lunch kind of day. This particular patient today had many things going on and had been through several in the recent past and had every reason to be down. Instead she was quite positive and always upbeat when I went into the room. It's these patients that remind me that life outside of work isn't so bad and that I have more to be thankful than I give God credit for.I believe that us nurses (me personally), benefit as much from the patients as they do us. This is why I truly believe that our steps are guided by the Lord as it says in the scriptures. With His guidance, it makes a crazy day purposeful. 

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My Introduction...

Well, ok...here's the first blog. I guess I'll use it as sort of an introduction of myself. First and foremost I am a wife and mother to the two most important boys in my life. I've been married to my husband for 4 years this upcoming September and we dated for twice that. Our son, is entering his "troublesome" twos. I wouldn't label them terrific nor terrible, because he sort of fits in the middle. He certainly keeps me busy. I love my boys, as discouraging as life can get sometimes I can count on them to make me smile. My son is a spitting image of my husband and has the personality to boot. I will say, if we are ever blessed with another...I wouldn't mind having a little more estrogen around. :-) I forgot to mention, with my two boys we have another couple of 4 legged males running around. Smooch (our awnry boston terrier/shih tzu) and Foosby (rowdy chocolate lab)


My other calling, if you will, is nursing. I've been a RN for 4 rather interesting years. My specialty area is Women's Health, however I am looking to branch out a little and see what else is out there. I am looking to eventually get my masters and move up to ARNP...that will have to wait until my husband finishes school. My life seems to change faster than I can keep up with sometimes. In that 4 year time span after graduating nursing school and getting married I have moved six times and have had 4 jobs. Not all by choice, mind you,  but you do what you can do to keep the peace. My heart, I've learned, is torn between KC and Texas. I haven't physically lived in Texas for many years, but my heart has never really left. Born a Texan I will die a Texan.  However, my husband and I lived 1 1/2 years in Lenexa, KS (outside of KC) and a part of me will always miss it.  My husband, on the other hand, couldn't be happier away from that place. Which is why we are where we are now. C'est la vie...God has a way of taking us down roads we don't always understand so I just figure I am where I am supposed to be and soon I will find out why. 


Speaking of roads we don't understand, like most people we've had our share. No bigger than anyone else...quite smaller I'm sure. With each challenge always comes a resolution and then replaced by a new problem. Again, I've always believed God is taking me a long the road to use me for His purpose which is why I find myself writing this blog. As random as I seem to get sometimes, I hope that I can somehow make a difference to someone. I wouldn't call myself inspirational or anyone that could be life changing. I am only hoping that something I say might leave a spark in someone and somehow God can use my words to give hope. We shall see...on the other hand I could just have a bunch of rambles that make absolutely no sense...lol. For now I will sign off as my  call comes at 4 AM to head to work! :-) For now, God Bless!