And the doctor says...

Got my Holtor monitor results this morning! Apparently my heart is beating a few extra times per minute (about 3-5 extra), but it is nothing serious. Most people can't even feel it, but for some reason I can! (lucky me!) He said they don't usually treat people for it unless their heart is beating several extra times per minute and that giving me medicine for it would probably do more harm than good because the medicine just slows down your heart rate. Mine is already slow & healthy, besides the few extra beats, so it would probably just give me more symptoms. It could be caused by Mitral Valve Prolapse, which is common in girls between the ages of 20 and 30. This wouldn't be serious either, but the only way to know if I had that would be to get a heart ultrasound done at the cardiologists office... and I'm not even sure how they would treat that, if they even would. So, I'll probably just wait a few weeks and see if it continues and/or gets worse before I make an appointment...

But all in all: nothing serious, and I should live! whew! :)

Today has been nice and I worked out for the first time since my "heart condition" came up last Thursday. It went pretty well - 40 minutes on the elliptical and then some weights.I got a little dizzy toward the end, but that could have just been because I hadn't eaten lunch yet. I have, however, hit a plateau as far as weight goes. I'm not really worried about it because I'm not really one of those people that has to be at an exact number on the scale... however, I am convinced that I would not be stuck if it weren't for my ice cream addiction AND Sonic's 99 cent milkshakes!! oops. Oooh well, it's too good to quit eating. :-D

All that's left for today is finishing up some chores around the apartment and then tomorrow I have to pack for Florida!

Ticking Time Bomb

The day has finally come where I am in my very own real-life 24 episode. I feel (and look) like I've been hooked up to some sort of explosive device. It's like at any moment, I can decide to set it off and I'll forever be known as one of those suicide bombers. It even beeps at me, as if to warn me that I could detinate at any second.

Really it's a Holtor monitor which is just basically a portable EKG. Because OF COURSE when they did the actual EKG in the doctors office, my heart didn't do it's little fluttering thing. OF COURSE it did do it right after we were done. So Dr. B hooked me up with this Holtor monitor. Then OF COURSE it did flutter again after I was hooked up, but BEFORE it was recording. I have to wear it around for the next 24 hours...see... Jack Bauer only has 24 hours to get me out of this bomb! 3 down... only 21 to go. hurry up, Jack! I can't even shower. Okay, out of my 24 episode... my heart has since done its little trick several times, so there should be plenty of flutters recorded.. we'll see on Monday!

This little contraption has 7 little thingies (I don't know the technical terms, sorry :)) that will monitor my heart rate and hopefully give us some type of idea of what's wrong with me. Although, it could be nothing that has to do with my actual heart beat, so it could tell us nothing and therefore being hooked up to this bomb EKG could prove to be useless. Hopefully it will at least point us in some direction!

More later... I'm off to enjoy a chocolate/peanut butter milkshake and watch 24 (the real one!)

Wall-E & Heart Flutters

So today wasn't as long as I thought it was going to be. It was a pretty good day, actually! Minus my random, un-explained heart condition. I took Harris and his friend Wesley to see Wall-E. It was so cute! I must have been living under a rock until today because I actually hadn't heard of it until a couple days ago when his mom asked me to take them to see it.

It was definitely cute and the boys both gave it an "AWESOME!" So, way to go Disney/Pixar!

My heart/chest has been doing the nervous/anxious/tightness feeling all.day.long! Yesterday it was a few times throughout the day, today it has been happening pretty frequently and consistently. Still for seemingly no reason and it still goes away as quickly as it comes. But I am so blessed to know the people I know! I am so very thankful for the moms of the kids I watch, who turn into concerned mothers for me when I need them since mine is 5 hours away (not that she is not as concerned and supportive as they are!), even the ones that have moved out of town.

Maureen offered to go to the ER with me tonight if I wanted to go, even though it's their anniversary and she has 4 kids at home! And Amy & Tim talked to me and offered to call doctors and get me in really quick either tonight (at the hospital) or at the cardiologist on Monday - and they don't even live in Jackson anymore! And did I mention it's their anniversary, too?!

Happy Anniversaries, everyone!

Annnd... I am of course also thankful for Beth's family, who have pretty much adopted me as one of their own. This will probably prove to be more of an "awkward blessing" than just a regular one as Dr. B (Beth's dad) is probably going to give me an EKG in the morning. But in all seriousness, I am very thankful that he can and is willing to see me tomorrow.

I will definitely miss all of my TN family when I move home!

Wish me luck getting to sleep and at the doctors tomorrow....

All in my Heart?

Last night Beth and I stayed at her aunt's house to dog-sit. In addition to Beth's dog/westie, Duncan, we had her aunt & uncle's 2 westies Mac and Maggie, AND Maggie's four 6 day old puppies. Maggie is so protective of them, it's so cute. It amazes me how dogs and other animals just know what to do when they have babies. They were precious! What was not so precious was that Duncan didn't sleep, so he had us up at around 3:00am, barking, LOUD. He finally went back to sleep though, and I probably wasn't awake as long as it seemed...



I haven't had a whole lot going on this week, thus the lack of posts.... today's going to be a long day. I'm going to watch Harris (7 y/o boy) at around 10:00 until his mom gets home (probably between 4 and 5). Then at around 5:15 I'm going next door to watch 4 kids until.... she said at least 9:00. Long day, but it should be fun!

Now to tie in the subject of this post... I'm slightly worried about my heart. Just slightly. You know that feeling you get when you're really nervous, like about to go on stage and your heart starts beating really fast and you get that, almost shortness of breath and feeling of butterflies in your stomach? That happened to me about 5 times over the course of the day yesterday. But I wasn't nervous or anxious about anything, it just happened randomly, and it went away as quickly as it appeared. I didn't even think it was strange until it happened a few times. Now today, at nearly 8:00am it's already happened twice and I've been awake less than an hour. I'm only slightly worried, because I don't know if it's something to be worried about. I don't even know for sure if it has anything to do with my heart. Heart things just always make me nervous since I had to have open heart surgery when I was 6 for an Atrial Septal Defect. Supposedly I'm all better now though, so I don't think it has anything to do with that... I'd just prefer to keep my heart nice and closed up in my chest for the remainder of my life.

I guess if it keeps happening I'll go see a cardiologist in Jackson, since mine is in Louisville....

Same Dress, Different Wedding

Yesterday I went to my 2nd "Kappa Delta wedding!" It was Mesha's wedding in Cape Girardeau, MO. I don't know her too well, but it was still lots of fun! Quite different from the last wedding I went to - but we all donned our traditonal black dresses for KD weddings :) {thanks, Amanda!} I made the two hour long trip with Rindi and Goley...we kept ourselves entertained with the voices on the GPS - "Earl" (a complete country hick! it was hilarious!) on the way there, and Darth Vader on the way back (he was scary! especially at night).

The wedding was pretty and the reception was long! It was from about 5:30-10:00! But we had good food, good friends, & good fun!

I had so much fun and I'm so glad I went! New friends, old friends, dancing, and wedding cake! What else could you ask for?

Mesha's fiance husband is from Australia, and she left today to go live there! I can't even imagine being that far away from friends and family... but at least Australia is a cool place and his family was really nice!

Congratulations, Mesha & Nick! Best wishes! :)

Late Night Swimming

.. oh yeah!

Madison is crawling!

One of the best parts of my jobs I think is watching the babies grow up!! I've been watching Madison since she was 3 weeks old... and now she's crawling and pulling up! It's so much fun to watch her learn, grow, change, and discover the world! What a little cutie! :)

Happy National Siblings Day!

Thanks to Oprah, I know it's National Siblings Day! I was flipping through the channels and saw something about conjoined twins on her show so I stopped to watch.... she is featuring "Super Siblings" since it is National Sibling Day! Never know what you'll learn on Oprah...

Anyway, in honor of the sibling day, I thought I'd just let you all know that I have the best big brothers in the world! :)

I love you guys!

Father's Day in the U.C.

Went to Beth's house to celebrate Father's Day with her family... and the zoo! There were 5+ dogs (all Westies - one pregnant), and 5 cats (not pictured).

It was an eventful day of lots of food & sweets (they have every kind of ice cream imaginable in that house, so I ate a tonnnn of it!) And we made a Butterfinger cake for Dr. Bruce & in honor of my dad (it was/is both of their favorites!)

It was delicous! After it cooled, we also added cool whip and extra Butterfinger!

Since Dr. B is such a nice daddy, he washed and waxed Beth's car on Father's Day!

Then we attempted to take a picture of all the dogs together... out of probably 50 pictures, this was about as good as it got:

at least they are all in the picture...

I took a nap & Beth woke me up...what was she thinking??

Father's Day

I'm not sure what to say about it, other than that I miss my daddy. Not that I don't miss him every day, but I guess Father's Day just kind of magnifies it....


Happy Father's Day, Dad!

I love and miss you!!!!

Lazy Day

I love and hate days where I have nothing to do. I do need SOME time alone... but often times if it is more than a few hours, I get bored and/or feel like I am wasting time, or start thinking way too much about everything. Most of the time it is better for me to be super busy since it keeps my mind occupied and actually makes me more motivated to get other things done. But, that being said, I am thankful for days where I can just lounge around, especially this week because next week starts my busy babysitting schedule for the rest of the summer.

Today is one of those nothing-to-do days. While I am thankful for them, I also feel bad for just sitting around all day. I feel like there is something I could or should be doing. I actually thought I was going to watch Joshua this morning, but it must have slipped my mind that she said Thursday, not Tuesday. Thankfully I realized this before I made myself get up super early this morning. No Joshua today, thus, nothing to do. I don't even have laundry or chores to get done...which is usually always hanging over my head. But I have, for some strange reason, been staying on top of it (not that I'm complaining). I am turning more into my mother every day, and for the past couple weeks or so, I've been making my bed every day. she would be so proud! I always thought it was pointless, unless you were having company over, because you just un-make it later in the day to go to sleep. BUT, it does make my room look a lot nicer, and I think it motivates me to keep the rest of my room clean too.

The only thing on my to-do list today was to get the vacate notice for our apartment. They require a 60 day notice, and since our lease is up August 20th, it is fast approaching.

I love this apartment and I will miss living here... we've had absolutely no problems besides our loud, rap-loving neighbors....but they're long gone now. The staff is so nice and accomodating.. they even knew our names (and who was who) - BEFORE we actually moved in! At the old apartment complex, they had to ask me my name and which apartment I lived in every time I went in (which was often because we had a lot of problems there) even after we had lived there for a year. Here we've only had a few maintenance requests, so they don't even see us much, and they still know who we are and which apt we live in. Yesterday, I even had a maintenance guy recognize me when I was out in the parking lot and I've never even met him before. In a way it was a little strange I guess, but they just take the time to actually get to know you.

Anyway.. it will be bittersweet I think. I am excited and sad to be moving back home... there will be some things and people (and precious babies!) in Jackson that I will surely miss, but I am so thankful for my friends that are still at home and it will be nice to be a lot closer to family again!

Well, seeing as how it is almost 2:00pm, I should probably grab some lunch, then maybe I will force myself to go to the gym... we'll see... maybe I will just lounge around? :)

God In The Whirlwind

A Union University faculty member has put together a book that recounts the events that took place when a tornado hit Union back in February, through the accounts of the students and other people who experienced it.

I don't have a copy of the book yet, as it has just been released, but I can't wait to get one! I am daily reminded of God's providence, grace, strength and protection every day when I drive on Union's campus to go the gym and see the new dorms being built in place of the old ones that were destroyed, serving as a reminder of that night. It truly is amazing what happened that night.... it - if nothing else - is my first hand experience of a miracle and truly feeling God's protective hand.

I do believe the book would be inspiring to anyone, whether or not you were anywhere close to Jackson, TN on Feb. 5th.

When a powerful EF-4 tornado with winds in excess of 200 miles per hour slammed the Union University campus on February 5, 2008, destroying eighteen dormitory buildings and causing $40 million in damage, the immediate assumption was that dozens if not hundreds of lives would have been lost. Miraculously, nobody died, and the next morning major media outlets flocked to Jackson, Tennessee, where Union students and faculty credited God for their survival and got to share their faith with millions worldwide.

God in the Whirlwind recounts the entire experience through twenty eye-of-the-storm accounts from those who saw the walls and ceilings crashing down upon them and felt their ears pop as the pressure dropped, from anxious parents who waited for their child’s call, and from Union leaders who marvel at the university’s unbroken spirit in the face of such devastation. This inspiring book also includes eighty photographs that visualize God’s mighty hand upon nature and his gentle hand of grace.

If you are interested, you can purchase it here, and it should be listed on Amazon soon. All proceeds go to the Union Disaster Relief Fund.

Here is a link to my tornado experience.

No swimming

Well... Joshua and I were all ready to go swimming this morning... and he was so excited! We got our swim suits on, sun screen, towel, and his hippo floaty and he was ready to go! But as soon as we pulled up to the pool.. he started crying! He decided he didn't want to go swimming.

This was only the 2nd time I had tried to take him swimming this year, and the last time we didn't even make it all the way into the pool (it was too cold). He loved swimming last summer, but this year he's not as much of a "baby" so I wondered if he'd feel different about it this year... I think he will warm up to it though.

It was weird though... I am sure he will love it once he realizes how much fun it is! Instead, he really wanted to come back home and play inside. He didn't even want to go to the playground. Who knows??

So...we watched Barney! I hope this does not become an every day thing....

Oh well.. we'll try again on Wednesday!

Boys & Baby Turtles

Today proved to be a little more difficult than yesterday as far as watching Harris goes. I ended up going to the Country Club with not just one, but TWO, 7-8 year old boys. I took Jack along with Harris. I guess it ended up working out alright though because the boys played together so I didn't have to do as much of the entertaining, plus I think Jack is a good influence on Harris so they mind better when there is 2 of them.


While I was laying out, I noticed that there were several huge clouds that kept passing over, some were dark, some weren't, but they were all huge. So I looked up the weather forecast to see if it was supposed to rain or anything, and this is what it said:

88 F, Clouds. Hot.


Well, I had already figured that out, but thanks.


That's pretty much all that went on today, though.... nothing too exciting. After I got home and ate dinner I went to the pet store to get another filter for Obie and Zeke's tank. I just cleaned it about 3 weeks ago and already had to clean it again. It usually lasts about 2 months, but I think they got fed a LOT more than normal while I was gone. That's okay though, I'm just glad they got fed :) And now their tank is all nice and clean again! Maybe they can make it until I move home and they can move into their mansion tank....

Okay, well, it's pretty late... so off to bed!

Not a lot...

.... going on lately! I've had a less busy week this week! I'm watching Joshua less this week (only Mon & Wed, because they are saving money and getting a new, blue roof - true story!), so on Tuesday I had absolutely nothing to do! It was glorious! I finally got to sleep in! :) And we had a pool party! I'll post pictures when I get them developed... yeah, developed! I had a few pictures left on a waterproof camera from last summer in Panama City! I can't wait to see the crazy pictures Cousin and I took last August!

Then today I watched Harris (7 yr old boy)... it was pretty interesting! Not too bad, I'm just used to the babies. I only had to "yell" at him once though, so I considered that a good day.

He mostly played on his Nintendo DS, anyway...

they have a little white dog that looks like Duncan! her name is Sophie

pics taken on camera phone, so not the best quality, sorry!

Tomorrow I'm going to tackle taking Harris to the Country Club to go to the pool... so we'll see how that goes!

Yesterday I went to Hobby Lobby and got a bunch of cruise scrapbook stuff! I really want to get back into scrapbooking, and I'm planning to start with the cruise - I figured that would be better than trying to go back and pick up where I left off (I never finished my senior year scrapbook...3 years!!!) maybe one day... So hopefully that will motivate me to start again! My mom also said I can have a room in the basement just for scrapbooking and she won't complain and ask me to pick it up all the time! thanks Mom! :)

Just a side note...there is music playing on my computer right now and I can't figure out where it is coming from!!!! so weird. I WAS listening to itunes but then I heard extra music playing in the background so I closed out itunes and it's still there.....

Anyway...I guess I am going to get off here and go eat some dinner! I'll try to have something more interesting to post about soon... m a y b e .....

And now, June...

I can't believe it is already June! The time sure does fly...I feel like this year is going by so fast!

The weekend was pretty busy... on Saturday we were gone pretty much all day for Crystal and Derek's wedding in Paducah, KY. It was my first "Kappa Delta Wedding." I wasn't exactly sure what that was going to mean, but all it meant was that we sang to Crystal at her reception. So it wasn't bad. The wedding was really nice though! Derek was super cute when he started to cry saying the vows... how sweet!

How the KD's entertained ourselves at the reception.....

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Playing with bubbles and taking pictures!

such good "just married" faces...

I love weddings!

Congrats, Crystal and Derek!