My Birthday!!

Last Wednesday, December 21 was my 23rd birthday!!!

Every year, for as long as I can remember, Mama always writes Happy Birthday on our mirrors with her lipstick! This will be a tradition that I pass on to my kids!

The day before my birthday, Mama and Daddy gave me these cowboy boots so I could wear them to my party!

I registered to win a Christmas card from American Idol winner, Scotty McCreery. And guess what! I WON! and got it on my birthday!

The night before my birthday, the entire family and Anthony all came to Blackbeards for my birthday party!

Me and Anthony!

Aunt Bec, Uncle Bill, Seth

Mama, Daddy, Nathan, Anna

Grammy, Gdaddy, Micah, Poppy

Me and Mimi

I look like a monkey!!

my family :)

I love my family!

Andrew gave me some onesie pajamas!!

I hopped around the house like a little kid!

Justin Bieber came in town just for my birthday!

I wish I had more pictures!! Poppy took some on his camera, so hopefully he will email them to me sometime soon! I had such a wonderful birthday party with my family and Anthony. I love that everyone is so close! For my birthday Mama and daddy gave me my cowboy boots, and a princess watch!!! Anthony gave me a gorgeous jacket. Mimi and Poppy gave me a pretty bracelet and some clothes. Grammy and Gdaddy gave me some money and some cool hand tattoos that the patients will LOVE. Uncle Tod, Aunt Mel, and Nathan gave me some gooooood smelling perfume. Sue and Greg gave me a cute outfit. Bill and Beccy gave me a giftcard for Chickfila. I am probably missing some things that people gave me:( My birthday was so much more than presents. I had such a wonderful time talking to everyone and spending time with the people that matter most to me!
On my actual birthday, I woke up and went shopping and to eat lunch with Mimi and Andrew. I then went and visited with Nanny so she could give me my present. I spent the rest of the day with Anthony. We went to Sunset Grill to eat and then we were going to go see the lights at Chehaw but it ended up raining to hard :(

*Christmas Parties*

Last Sunday Night Mama, Andrew, and I went to a Christmas party at the Edmonds house.

Me and my Fowler
Me and my brother..

Most of the people from the party were from our Church. Alot of funny things happened that night, but to respect my mama, I will not post them! ;)

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On Monday night, Mimi and Poppy had a Christmas party at their house.

Me and Andrew and our grandparents!

Some of the party guests.

One thing my Mimi and Poppy cherish is their friends from church. They had such a good turnout at the party. I am so glad they have such wonderful friends!

Coco Chanel Photo Shoot

When I came home tonight, Andrew got out his camera and started taking pictures of Chanel... These are some of my favorites.....

This one is by far my favorite!!!
Me and my Nelly

sweet kisses.

No words to describe this one.

Santa

Date Night

Tonight, Anthony had a wonderful date night planned for us.
First, we went to Longhorn and had an AMAZING dinner!

We laughed a lot :)

It cracks me up how his eyes get so little in pictures!!

After dinner, we went to look at the house in Lee County that is decked out in lights.

If you turn your radio to a certain station, the lights went with the beat of the music. I heard this has gone on for years, but this is the first time I have ever seen it!!

They even had a spongebob! haha. I took a video of it with the music, but do not know how to upload it!! Hopefully I will figure it out soon!!

Welcome Home Seth!!!

My cousin Seth just got home from Marine Boot Camp in Parris Island, SC .
His ID.
The happy parents decked out in USMC shirts!
I dont know what happened to this picture... But me and Andrew sure are glad that he is home!!

Seth,

Congratulations!! I am so proud of you and who you are becoming!! You have grown into a man just in these past few months! I cannot wait to see what your future holds!! I love you so much!!

One Last Christmas

**Before you play the video, make sure you turn the music off at the bottom of the screen so you can hear the video**

Im going to start off by saying I chose the best career out there. However, with this career of being a Child Life Specialist, my tender heart can be dangerous. Not only are you working with healthy patients in the hospital, but you also work with critically ill patients. Alot of the critically ill patients know that they do not have much longer to live, and it can be very heart breaking. I wish I was able to talk about different patients who have impacted my life in the short time I have been in my internship. They would make your heart smile.

Last week, a new movie came out on the Christian Network Channel called "The Heart of Christmas". I have not been able to see this movie yet, because we do not get that channel. However, I have heard all about it,read all about the story, and watched the trailer for the movie. Tears began to fill up in my eyes until they started pouring. I have worked with several patients this year who this probably will be there "One Last Christmas". I look at Christmas differently this year. It could be someone's one last Christmas. It could be someone's first Christmas without a loved one. Or it could be a Christmas that someone was told they may not live to see, but survived. Holidays can be such a wonderful time, but they can also be very emotional.. They can also be a time where people can be snappy, greedy, angry, and judgemental. Everyone, please be respectful to everyone you come into contact with this season, you never know what someone may be going through....

I have met so many families who remind me of this family.. I ask all of yall to please continue praying for all of the sick children in and out of hospitals around the world.

Jill and Warren Gorman...

Have you ever had those moments in life where you do not think things can get any worse? Where you feel like you've reached your breaking point and have nowhere else to go? Or feel you have noone to turn to? My freshman year of college was a rough time for me. I was in such a dark place and was experiencing some sort of depression. I eventually began to hate myself and did not think that I would amount to anything. This is where Jill Gorman stepped in. Jill and her husband, Warren, had just moved to Albany, and my mom kept telling me to get to know her and sit down and talk with her (Jill is a marriage and family therapist). When I reached my breaking point, I finally gave in.

I remember being so nervous the first time I met up with Jill. I was so scared that she would judge me. I had never opened up to anyone like I did to Jill. I know she probably thought "What in the world am I getting myself into?!" Jill helped bring me out of my lowest point in life. She never judged, never gave up on me, never stopped praying for me, and never broke my trust. Jill helped me to believe in myself, have confidence in myself, and have respect for myself.

I truly believe that God put the Gorman family in Albany, because I needed her. I know Warren was offered a job at Byne.. and he did a wonderful job there, but I do not know where I would be today if it weren't for my sweet friend Jill.
Today, Jill and her husband, and their newly adopted baby moved to Little Rock. I am heartbroken to lose her as a friend here in Albany, but I know that she will be someone that I will always be in contact with. Jill has helped me grow mentally and spiritually, and I have been able to watch her grow into a "Mama". I am going to miss them so much, but will be forever thankful for everything she has done for me!

Jill,
THANK YOU for helping me get through a such dark phase in my life! I seriously dont know what my life would be like if you didnt step in. I am so blessed to have you as one of my good friends. I am so excited for you, Warren, Baker... and Marley. I know yall are going to touch so many lives there in Little Rock. I know yall touched so many here in Albany. I love you so much!!!

Friends come and go...

One thing I have learned this year, is that friends come and go, but family last forever. In high school, I had so many freinds. It was always "Movie night at Mandys" on Friday nights. In college, things changed for me. Some of my high school friends decided to go down a different path than I did.. and the ones who didnt, moved away. I was lost all throughout my college years. I couldnt seem to find anyone who was "just" like me, until my senior year. I decided to just invest my time in the true friends that I did have. I would much rather have a few true friends, than friends that I could not trust. However, this year... my "true friends" have started to fade away. I dont know why. I try to be the best friend that I can be. I try to call, text, email, meet up when possible, but sometimes I get nothing in return. I have friends that I invest so much time in, tell them my secrets, tell them about every detail that happens in my life, ask them to pray for me, and tell them I am praying for them in return. I am not trying to brag on my friendship skills, but I feel that I am a really good friend to people.

It really hurts to find things out about my "best friends" from facebook, twitter, blogs, and so on.. Am I trying to hard? Am I thinking too much about things? Do my feelings get hurt too easily? I will never know. All I know, is I can not keep worrying about this, and upsetting myself about friendships that are fading away. Maybe I am trying too hard to hold onto memories. Maybe it is time for me to make new friends, and stop living in the past. Maybe I do care too much. I have tried many times to confront friends and tell them I miss how things used to be between us, but nothing changes. Maybe that is a sign. Maybe that is a wake up call. Maybe that is to show me that I deserve better friends. Isn't the quote, "To have a friend, you must be a friend?"

I have learned that my best friends are my family members and my boyfriend. They are the people that are always there for me. They are the ones I cannot wait to come home to see. They are the ones that I know I can trust. They are the ones that I know will call me or text me when something important/funny/sad/random happens. They are the ones that never give up on me, and I will never give up on them. They are the ones who do not judge me. They are the ones who will always love me... unconditionally.

I am finally going to do it, I am going to move on. I deserve to have some wonderful friends in my life. This isnt going to be easy..but I know that it is time.

Patients Christmas Party

8 year ago, a oncology nurse from the childrens medical center was killed. Instead of sending flowers to her funeral, the family wanted people to donate gifts to the childrens medical center to start up something called "The Tamara Fund". This group is involved with our Monday night dinners for the patients and families at the hospital. Also, every year they throw a Christmas party for the patients at the hospital. This past Friday, they came and it was such a cool experience.

Every patient was allowed to pick out one toy to keep.
They were also able to make stockings and decorate them with glitter.. I ended up having glitter ALL over me by the time it was finished!!

There was also a station for coloring.
There were toys EVERYWHERE for the patients to choose from.
My favorite station was the cookie decorating station. One girl stacked 5 cookies on top of each other with icing in between each layer... and COVERED it in sprinkles. She asked for a fork and knife to eat it with! haha..
This was probably the highlight of my week. The patients LOVED it, and so did their family members. This was the first time I have heard of what the Tamara Fund actually was, and after hearing about it, it amazed me that the family is able to still come up to the hospital every year after her death. If you want to look her up and read about her story, her name was Tamara Dunstan. It is such a heart breaking story, but her family sure is living out her life here at the hospital.