Phillip Phillip's Concert

It's not every day that someone from your hometown is in the TOP 3 on American Idol...

I went to the concert with two of the girls I went to school with, and also made a new friend, who went with us to the concert!

 Parking was CRAZY!

 One of my prayers about  moving back to Albany was to find some good girlfriends. I definitely felt blessed at this concert being with some old friends and a new one :)

 Well, I think he has some fans....

 This was the back of the girls signs.. She marked each time she voted for Phillip.

 Doing the YMCA song while we were waiting..

 I wish I would have zoomed in on this picture.. He had some proud parents. I dont think they ever stopped smiling!

 His sister Ladonna singing with him.

His sister Lacy singing with him. 

Sanford Bishop presenting Phillip with May 12 being "Phillip Phillips Day" in the state of Georgia.

Congratulations Phillip!! You are making Albany/Leesburg/America proud!!!!

Happy Birthday, Poppy!!!

Last Wednesday was my parents anniversary and also my Poppys 75th birthday!!

On Saturday, we had a cookout at Mimi and Poppy's house to celebrate Mothers Day with that side of the family and also to celebrate Poppy's birthday! I didnt stay the whole time because I left to go to the Phillip Phillips concert! But the rest of the family stayed and hung out with each other and went swimming. Chanel had a blast swimming and watching my little cousin jump of the diving board!

 Me and my great-grandma, Nanny

 Me and Mama

 Mama and Mimi

 4 generations.

 Hunter and his girlfriend, Savannah.

 Aunt Pam and Taylor

Taylor 

Poppy and Uncle Mike 

Another one of me and Nanny 

 Savannah, Hunter, and Andrew.

Happy Birthday, Poppy!!!!!

I hope you had a FABULOUS birthday!!!

I LOVE YOU!!!

A New Member of the Family...

In my family, I am known for bringing home animals without telling people. At my house, I have a dog, Buddy, who we found on the side of the road and gave it to my dad for his 40th birthday. We have two black cats that one of my classmates at Valdosta was trying to get rid of. Without asking my roommates, I brought both of them home. They then had kittens at the same time. We have another cat that I got when I was going through a break-up. The list could go on and on....

 Well this is the newest member of the family. My Aunt Sue's cat (which was a kitten to one of our black cats) had kittens. I knew that my parents would say no, so I decided to try and surprise my Mimi and Poppy with a new kittten.

 I had been laying out at their house and at lunch I told them I had to go get a surprise. My Mama and brother went over to their house so they could see Mimi and Poppy's reaction when I walked in with the kitten. I was really surprised that my mama encouraged me to do this, and didnt make me stop..

 I walked in the kitchen holding the kitten and Mimi immediately took her from me. Poppy walked in and I said, "Poppy look at this kitten". His response was, "Thats a cute kitten, but its NOT staying here". I was a little discouraged at first, but then when Poppy wasnt in the room, Mimi said, "I might want to keep this kitten".

 I decided to go back out to the pool so her and poppy could talk without me in the kitchen with them. Mimi walked out to the pool a little while later, and told me that they are keeping her!

She is only 4 weeks old, but is already litter-box trained, playful, and a little cuddler. They have finally decided on a name....

*Sugar Baby*

Poppy wants to call her Sugar, and Mimi wants to call her Baby. 

I am such an animal lover, and I am so glad that they are too!! She is going to be one spoiled rotten little Baby!!!

Happy 25th Anniversary!!!

On Wednesday, May 9, my parents celebrated their 25th anniversary!! My Dad being the romantic that he is, decorated the dining room with candles to surprise my mom with a nice dinner.

The dining room.

 He had his laptop set up on the floor playing love songs from the 70's.

 If you dont believe me, here is proof.

We ate some gigantic steaks!

They pretty much took up our entire plate.

The love birds.

Congratulations Mama and Daddy! Not too many people work at a marriage now, but Andrew and I are blessed to have parents who have made a marriage work for 25 years and counting!! I love yall!!!

Goodbye Augusta, Hello Albany

On Friday morning, all of the interns had to go to the hospital to get our final grades. We also had to turn in all three of our badges :(

Laura Merriem and Stephanie waiting to get their grades. We are sitting in the oncology playroom :)

Im going to miss this so much!!

After we got our grades, we had to meet two of our supervisors at Starbucks to talk about the internship and what could be changed for next years interns. I am so thankful for the two women in this picture! I have learned SO much from both Kym and Katie. I am thankful that they want to help us find jobs and keep in touch with us. It is always nice knowing that somoene believes in you.

That night all of the interns went to a restaurant called TakoSushi for our going away dinner.

Tricia, Me, and Carrie.

Words cannot express how much these girls mean to me. I was so embarrassed when we went to hug and say our goodbyes, I lost it and started bawling. I know I will see them in two weeks when we go to Washington, DC for our test, but it was still so hard saying goodbye. I have been with these girls almost every day for the past 9 months, so its going to be strange not having them around every day.

Saturday, Carrie's family and my family went out to lunch so our families could meet each other.

I never imagined that I would make such a great friend during this time. Carrie has done so much for me during this internship such as taking me to the ER, getting me groceries when Im sick, helping out when I had my wreck.. I could go on and on. I am so glad that my family got to meet her and see how special she is to me.

Our families clicked right away. They all had so much in common, and I have a feeling that ALL of us will keep in touch :)

Andrew trying to be gangster while packing up.

brother & sister.

an empty apartment :(

My bedroom.

 4 1/2 hours later.... I am HOME.

Relay for Life

This past weekend was Relay for Life. It is so hard to believe that only THREE years ago, my Aunt Lynda was the speaker for it, and now she is in Heaven.

I hate that I was not able to be a part of Relay this year.

 My cousin, Spencer-Aunt Lynda's grandson, at the Relay for Life.

 This was Mothers Day, almost two years ago.. I miss this woman! She is one of my inspirations who led me to want to be a Child Life Specialist. I remember wondering how her grandchildren were handling her death and dying experience. I remember seeing the regression that she was going through. I remember seeing family members torn to pieces over this experience (including me). But the number one thing I saw was a FIGHTER. She fought this cancer long and hard! That is why she is a huge inspiration in my life.

Our Going Away Lunch

Today was a great day at the hospital! I cannot believe that I only have TWO more days left with the sweet patients!! All of our supervisors took us out for lunch today at The Pizza Joint downtown. It was nice to be able to spend time with them outside of the hospital. All of the interns got together to buy all 6 supervisors a cute tote bag and got their initials monogrammed onto the bag.

 When we walked in, the supervisors had backpacks across each chair as our "going away gift".

 This is what it looked like.

 .....and this is what was inside!!

These are all items that you can use while providing distractions for kids while they are having a procedure done. My favorite items that they gave us are the fart putty-(the kids have the best time with this!!!) and the magic wand. 

I am so thankful for every supervisor that I have been with. They have taught me more than I could have ever imagined I would learn in these past 9 months. I learned how to introduce what child life is to patients and families. I learned how to prepare a patient for an IV placement, blood draw, PICC line, scope, port access, NG tube, sutures, x-ray, CT scan, MRI, shots, skin test, and many more that I know I am leaving out. I learned how to distract patients while they are getting a procedure done. I learned how to provide support to the patient and families in a trauma situation in the ER. I learned how to help the child meet their developmental and physical needs while being in the hospital. I learned that Child Life can work with dying patients. I was able to see the difference that Child Life makes while working with patients and families while they are at the hospital. I was able to see how special events such as, pet therapy, superhero visits, mini concerts, and art activities helped the patient cope with their hospitaliztion. I learned alot about time management. I learned how important it is to have a good relationship with you co-workers. I learned alot about myself through constructive criticism. I could go on and on about what I have learned. This has seriously been the best experience of my entire life. It feels so good to be 23 years old and already know my calling in life! Wow, these 9 months flew by.