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.

Happy Thanksgiving Yall!!

It has been so relaxing having a few days off from work! The night I came home for Thanksgiving, the family went out to eat together and then I made Daddy give me my first art lesson!!

I learned so much, so hopefully I will be able to try and start doing stuff on my own now!

This was our final product
Andrew and Chanel in the car heading to Grammy and G-daddys for Thanksgiving lunch
She looked happier with Andrew :(
Nathan

The kids table.. I had to fight to sit at it this year! Not ready to be a grown up just yet...
Me and my only girl cousin.. Kendyll :)
Aunt Mel and Uncle Tod

One of my favorite things about eating lunch over there was that all of the girls went through our Grammys jewelry, our great grandmas, and our great great grandmas jewelry! It is crazy how some of the things have come back into style now.

We thought this was a pair of earrings, but later found out that it holds a scarf together! haha
Grammy and her watermelon necklace!!!! HA!
I dont know how this turned black and white, but it did. But these are some of the pins we found in the boxes of jewelry. I liked the flower that I found, but everyone made fun of me! But you will notice that I wear it the rest of the day :)

The cousins..

We were all tickling each other.

After we left Grammy and G-daddys we met up with Mimi, Poppy and the rest of the family to go bowling. This is something that we do every year now!

Mama showing off her skills.

Me and Hunter.

Our family.

My Poppy.

Me, Poppy, and our dogs :)

Nanny brought her "pet dog", Chi Chi over to see Chanel. Chanel fell in LOVE with this toy!!!

Me and my Nanny...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! It was so nice to spend quality time with the family all day long. I am thankful to have such a wonderful family, dog, boyfriend, friends, my internship, and lots more.. But the one thing I am thankful for is my salvation. I do not know what I would do without the love and forgiveness from my Jesus.

Happy Thanksgiving yall!

*Weekend*

Im sorry I havent been blogging lately.. Things have been so crazy with the hospital and homework, that I have not had a chance to breathe until now! My week started out to me waking up to this hot air balloon outside my window.

Carrie won all the interns a Mary Kay makeover this past weekend. We were all excited to go get our face done. Carrie got to use the "magic brush" since she is a future bride.

Laura Merriem and Tricia- pre makeup.

Steph, Carrie, and Me -pre makeup. Except I had to put on some lip stuff :)

Saturday night I went to my first art class. It was at a place called "Van Gogh To Go". It was such a cool experience. The teacher would paint on a canvas in front of the class and then we had to copy what she did.

Our class consisted of me and a married couple haha.

Sunday night, Laura Merriem had all the interns over for a Thanksgiving dinner/homework night. I am not going to lie.. her food was AWESOME!!! It was also nice to be able to hang out outside of work and just be normal girls and laugh with each other. I am so blessed to have these girls as the other interns!

Carrie, Me, and Stephanie :)

Doesn't she have gorgeous eyes?
Laura Merriem, Tricia, and Carrie
Tonight, we had Thanksgiving at the hospital for the patients and their families. They were able to come eat a Thanksgiving feast, and we had several activities for the patients to do. This was their favorite! It was called Thankful Turkey. They had to write what they were thankful for and stick it on the turkey. I wish I could have taken a picture of every single feather, the things these kids are thankful for are heart breaking and precious!

I GET TO COME HOME TOMORROW!!!
I am beyond excited. I feel like it is the night before Christmas, because I know I am not going to be able to sleep because I am so excited. I have had to write 3 research papers in the past week on top of all of our other homework and clinical hours, so I am pooped! I cannot wait to get some lovin' from my family, Anthony, and friends!