Someday, when this is all over, we'll look back & laugh about it...

... But until that day comes, I'll continue to stress and wonder why in the world I decided to go back to grad school.

We've had a very busy weekend. Our church has had it's sixth annual Youth Rally, hosting around 550 teens in a weekend of praise and worship and focusing on baptism. It was great, but incredibly tiring!

I have yet another Psycho test this coming Tuesday. I've been studying for it since last Monday and the information is slowly seeping into my head, but I still have my doubts about my testing ability for this woman ~ her tests are lethal! In order for me to have a B in the class, I have to make a 90 or above on the remaining tests and assignments ~ ugh! Lord be with me when I get those grades!

Our fun money bank account is drastically low ~ much lower than we expected it to be at this point in the year. I'm about to go nuts waiting for Centerstone to call to officially offer me this job, which would obviously alleviate the situation. God always provides when we're in tight financial situations and I'm positive this one will go accordingly, it's just uncomfortable right now. Phooey, I hate having to have $$$.

I'm ready for this election to be over with. It'll be both mine and Brandon's first time to vote and apparently we differ greatly in opinion on who will do a better job of leading our nation. Maybe things will change, or maybe they'll stay the same for another four years. Regardless, I'll still be a happy person and a child of God ~ He has my true allegiance.

Tidings of Joy... and the election year coming to an end! :)

P.S. Brandon's making me french toast for dinner. I'll top it off w/ Kayro syrup and be a much happier woman in a little while. Sorry if this is a negative post, but things are on my mind and I needed to vent a bit...Now back to those anxiety, mood, and psychotic disorders. <3 ~ :)

Handwriting Analysis:Eerily on Target

This stuff is crazily true... All from writing a paragraph about a people eater! You can play too at this site.

Here is your analysis.

Mae Anne has a healthy imagination and displays a fair amount of trust. She lets new people into her circle of friends. She uses her imagination to understand new ideas, things, and people.

Something is incomplete in Mae Anne's life. She feels frustration relating to her physical needs and desires. Somewhere in her life there is some disappointment, non-fulfillment, and interruption. This is very likely to relate to Mae Anne's sexual needs. [Not in my opinion!]

Mae Anne is sarcastic. This is a defense mechanism designed to protect her ego when she feels hurt. She pokes people harder than she gets poked. These sarcastic remarks can be very funny. They can also be harsh, bitter, and caustic at the same time.

Mae Anne is a practical person whose goals are planned, practical, and down to earth. This is typical of people with normal healthy self-esteem. She needs to visualize the end of a project before she starts. she finds joy in anticipation and planning. Notice that I said she plans everything she is going to do, that doesn't necessarily mean things go as planned. Mae Anne basically feels good about herself. She has a positive self-esteem which contributes to her success. She feels she has the ability to achieve anything she sets her mind to. However, she sets her goals using practicality-- not too "out of reach". She has enough self-confidence to leave a bad situation, yet, she will not take great risks, as they relate to her goals. A good esteem is one key to a happy life. Although there is room for improvement in the confidence catagery, her self-perception is better than average.

In reference to Mae Anne's mental abilities, she has a very investigating and creating mind. She investigates projects rapidly because she is curious about many things. She gets involved in many projects that seem good at the beginning, but she soon must slow down and look at all the angles. She probably gets too many things going at once. When Mae Anne slows down, then she becomes more creative than before. Since it takes time to be creative, she must slow down to do it. She then decides what projects she has time to finish. Thus she finishes at a slower pace than when she started the project. She has the best of two kinds of minds. One is the quick investigating mind. The other is the creative mind. Her mind thinks quick and rapidly in the investigative mode. She can learn quicker, investigate more, and think faster. Mae Anne can then switch into her low gear. When she is in the slower mode, she can be creative, remember longer and stack facts in a logical manner. She is more logical this way and can climb mental mountains with a much better grip.

Mae Anne will be candid and direct when expressing her opinion. She will tell them what she thinks if they ask for it, whether they like it or not. So, if they don't really want her opinion, don't ask for it!

Mae Anne is moderately outgoing. Her emotions are stirred by sympathy and heart rendering stories. In fact, she can be kind, friendly, affectionate and considerate of others. She has the ability to put herself into the other person's shoes. Mae Anne will be somewhat moody, with highs and lows. Sometimes she will be happy, the next day she might be sad. She has the unique ability to get along equally well with what psychology calls introverts and extroverts. This is because she is in between. Psychology calls Mae Anne an ambivert. She understands the needs of both types. Although they get along, she will not tolerate anyone that is too "far out." She doesn't sway too far one way or the other. When convincing her to buy a product or an idea, a heart rendering story could mean a great deal to her. She puts herself in the same situation as the person in the story, yet she will not buy anything that seems overly impractical or illogical. Mae Anne is an expressive person. She outwardly shows her emotions. She may even show traces of tears when hearing a sad story. Mae Anne is a "middle-of-the-roader," politically as well as logically. She weighs both sides of an issue, sits on the fence, and then will decide when she finally has to. She basically doesn't relate to any far out ideas and usually won't go to the extreme on any issue.

People that write their letters in an average height and average size are moderate in their ability to interact socially. According to the data input, Mae Anne doesn't write too large or too small, indicating a balanced ability to be social and interact with others.

Mae Anne has a desire for attention. People around Mae Anne will notice this need. She may fulfill this need by a variety of ways depending on her own character.

Not necessarily "as seen on tv"

My first ever ultrasound was earlier this afternoon. Before I got ready to leave I sat and watched an episode of "A Baby Story" on TLC. The current couple had been put on Clomid and ended up having TRIPLETS!!! I hope it was a sign from God. Anyway, just having seen a woman on tv have an ultrasound, I was expecting the same thing. Not so! Big surprise way of checking out the ovaries (which btw are looking good), I'll stop there w/ the details. :)

In my consultation w/ Dr. B, she said everything looks good and to keep on keepin' on. The next step if another round of 100 mgs of Clomid is unsuccessful is to go to 150 mgs. That level is playing dangerously with having multiples. She said twins would be fine, I was excited about more, her reply was "Emphatically no!" Hey, if we only have to go through all of this once and come out of this experience with more than one baby, I'll consider it "more bang for my buck" and shout "hallejuah"!!!!

Now I must get back to studying Mood, Anxiety, Depression, and Psychosis Disorders. Interesting to learn about, not interesting to study...

Tidings of Joy... and multiples! :)

Where have all the bloggers gone?

"Hello, is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone at home?" Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" asked it the best.

Just checking in. Get back on the blog~wagon people!

Tidings of Joy.... & all being "just visitors here..." :)

Rally Round the Church

This weekend is Ethridge Church's Youth Rally. It's going to be AWESOME. If you or any part of your youth group (Grades 5 - 12) want to come, just call Jeff Johnston @ 931-829-2152. Take the Plunge and be there!

Take a look at Travis' post today on racism in our churches. It's a good one!

I registered for spring classes this morning. FHU is finally making it's way into the 21st century and we got to register on line for the first time. Woo ~ hoo! Go Freed!

Shelby has gone back home. We had a great time and did all kinds of fun stuff. We also watched every recent girlie movie made (Cinderella Story, Ella Enchanted, & New York Minute) and went to see Shark Tale. We all enjoyed it, but see Clarissa's post on it for a different perspective.

Time to get some work done around the house (we may be hosting a youth group in our home b/c there aren't enough hotel rooms in L'burg to house everyone) and finish up an assignment for class tonight.

Tidings of Joy... and a fantastic week! :)

From Shelby

Dear Blog Family,
I had a great day. And I got to watch t.v. all day because my dad was asleep (he is working 3rd shift, he's NOT lazy!). And I got to watch Lazy Town. And that show is great!!! But then my dad woke up and got mad at me because I had all this time and did not clean up my room. But then he made me clean it up.

LOVE,
Shelby :>) <3

From Mae:

Now we are at my house. Tomorrow we're going to go pick out a pumpkin and carve it and then put it out on the front proch. Lots to do so we're going to watch a movie (Cinderella Story) and go to sleep.

Nighty night! :)

Weather Vain

I woke up around 2:00 this morning to one of the most beautiful shows of lightening I think I've ever seen. I love to sleep while it rains, the constant sound is so soothing, but during storms, I've always been a looker/watcher. They fascinate me. Today, things have calmed down. Brandon heard that a tornado touched down in Lawrence County (although we can never be sure of the validity of things he hears at work!) and they cancelled school for today. If I hadn't taken a sick day from class yesterday, I'd definitely stay home tonight and just cuddle up on the couch and wait for the lightening show to play. I hope that you are all safe and enjoying mother nature in the comfort of your home.

Tomorrow I am off to pick up Shelby so she can spend the rest of her Fall Break with Brandon and me. I asked her what she wanted to do, apparently she's looking forward to taking a picture of B and putting him in girl's clothes (some gift she got for her birthday). Hey, whatever keeps us laughing (she snorted just thinking about it, yep, she's my niece alright!)! We may go to see Shark Tale or get our toes done, or both. She's at the age where a pedicure is a good treat, heck, I'd take a pedicure any day as a treat! The next time I blog will probably be through an 8 year old ~ it'll be interesting to say the least! (We may even do the phone blog so you can hear her cute little accent, I can sit and listen to her talk all day. It helps that she can talk incessantly for hours on end. Hmm, wonder where she gets that from...)

Next week I have to go for an ultrasound (to check on my ovaries and make sure they are working properly) and another consultation w/ Dr. Bullard ~ yea rah. (Can you hear the LACK of enthusiasm?) The nurse called earlier this morning to tell me when to come in and what to expect. This stuff is crazy, but at least it's covered by our insurance ~ thank you United Healthcare! I can't imagine having to pay for everything that we're doing. We get two more rounds of Clomid before we go to the Nashville Fertility Clinic, it's frighteningly getting closer and closer.

I'm outie. Gotta go over notes and a case study for class tonight and see if my noodle can absorb some of this stuff so that I can hopefully pass the class.

Tidings of Joy... and fun times w/ the fam! :)

Buick

The word "buick" in my family means much more than an automobile. When Shelby (my niece) was about two, she had a stomache virus. That night when Lynette (my sister) was asking her how she was feeling Shelby said, "I most (almost) buicked (puked)." Imagine the most precious little two year old in the world battling a virus and trying to relay very pertinant information, and you having to refrain from laughing when she's being so serious! Since that night, buick has taken on an entirely new meaning for me, my siblings and their children.

Today, I feel like I could buick.

How's your Monday?

Weary Traveler

Monday: Columbia,Nashville, home, Henderson, home Tuesday:Nashville, home, Henderson, home Thursday: Columbia, home Friday:Fayetteville, Huntsville, Tullahoma, home... Since Monday I have traveled almost 1,000 miles. There should be a rule against that.

On a positive note, it is so wonderful, tearful, and bone chilling awesome to see God work in someone's life. Nikki and her husband were blessed yesterday with a gift that could only come from Him. Stop by, offer a congrats, and keep them in your prayers.

I have almost 1/2 of the Christmas shopping finished. My goal is to be done before thanksgiving so I can take the entire Christmas to celebrate the birth of our Savior and just decorate the house. School will be over Dec. 7 and I'll have a long break to enjoy and maybe even help plan out the festivities.

This verse from Isaiah really spoke to me. "Pay attention...I, the Lord, made you, and I will not forget to help you." ch. 44, v. 21. Soothing words to my ears and heart.

Happy weekend blog family.

Tidings of Joy... and blessings! :)

Relief!

Brandon and I are back from the Dr's office (plus a Lowes and Office Max run). My anxiety was for nothing (you were right Nikki!). She just likes to have both parents-to-be (soon or current) in for the consultation and so that she can answer any questions. I was so full of emotion and so tense that when she said everything was looking great and we were on the road to reproduction (or as I like to refer to it "producing a little Hale!") (sorry if I'm oversharing!) that I started to cry. I could literally feel every ounce of anxiety flow out of my body and into the trash can. I had to give more blood (left arm wouldn't cooperate, Nurse Needle didn't want to use the same vein from last week b/c it's still bruised, and so I got stuck in both arms) and I'll get more results in tomorrow. Thank you all so much for your prayers and concern ~ love shout out to the blog family!

With all of this stuff going on, I realized today that I am starved for God. The thing is, that it's a sporadic, short term starvation. I take time out of my day to do so many other things other than "hunger and thirst for righteousness." With the hunger that Brandon and I have for this child(ren) to come, I can't even imagine the hunger that God has for us to recognize and love Him. Sitting in the car at the last red light before the Dr's.'s office, it all just hit me in the face like a cold splash of water ~ the love and compassion that I have for a baby is but a speck compared to the love and compassion that God has for me.

Thank you Father, for your love, compassion, grace and forgiveness. Thank you for moments of realization and recognition of mixed up priorities. Thank you for the possibility of being a parent and the chance to see your heart and what it must have felt like for you to create this world and everything in it. Please forgive me for being so foolish and self-centered.

Tidings of Joy... and good results! :)

The Psycho Talking Clique

Last night I got in trouble, I'm sure you'll be incredibly surprised to find out that it was b/c of my mouth (I think I'm a direct descendant of Peter ~ foot-in-mouth has been firmly handed down throughout the generations). Anyway, there are about 3 or 4 of us that sit up in the back of the room, last night we were just commenting on aspects of bi-polar disorder and manic depression ~ not being rowdy or disturbing anyone, just making comments. After class, the professor came up to us and said (very kindly, w/ no attitude at all) "Would you all mind keeping it down? I think you're getting too cliquish back here. Maybe you should spread out a bit more to keep from talking so much." Ummm, sure, sorry 'bout that Dr. M. We'll do better next time. What?!! I haven't gotten in trouble for talking in class since the 8th grade! Note to self... "Shut the trap when in psycho."

I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. It's back to the OB/GYN for a consultation about some test results. The nurse (Johnnie, who has purple hair and is very straight forward, but fun) called to ask if we (both Brandon and I) could come in as soon as possible to talk about the latest news. I asked if everything was ok and she said she couldn't tell me over the phone, but that Dr. Bullard wanted us in asap. From past experiences (mainly, my mom's loss to cancer) I know that a next day appointment/consultation w/ the doc is not generally good news. So, please keep us all in your prayers. It's not looking like a lot of sleep will take place tonight. Our appointment is at 3:30, so if you can, just lift us up to God sometime around then?

Friday is Sisters day out. I am meeting Lynette in Fayetteville and we're gonna head down to Huntsville for some good, no child with, just the two of us shopping. I don't think that's happened since Shelby was born eight years ago. I am VERY ready for it.

Speaking of Shelby, her fall break is next week. If I am not employed by then, she'll come and spend a few nights w/ me and her "Uhnkul Braundun". It'll be loads of fun, we'll go shopping and four wheeling and watch movies and eat in the living room floor. Then I'll send her back home to her momma who won't be able to put up w/ her for at least two weeks. I LOVE being an aunt (or as we say ~ aint)!!!

I'm off to attempt to get some sleep, anxiety has definitely crept in since this afternoon.

Tidings of Joy... & hopefully some good news from the doc! :)

Sometimes you just have to sit back & laugh!

Since the beginning of the year, Brandon's company has been talking about changing the company car policy (currently they all drive Taruses) to include trucks and SUVs. We waited and waited to see if they would actually change the option, or if they were just hem-hawing around. We decided they were just hem-hawing, and bought the Expedition.... Low and behold, yesterday, B got an e-mail saying that when the current lease is up (in about 4.000 miles) he'll have the car/truck/SUV option (only this time w/ Chevy). When he told me that last night, I laughed until there were tears rolling down my face. Oh well! I guess we'll have the Ex and a new four door Silverado too!

I found a new verse to add to my favorites list. (Along w/ fave #1, Proverbs 31:18 "She watches for bargains.") This one is Judges 16:16 (the Samson and Delilah story) "So day after day she nagged him until he couldn't stand it any longer." Too funny!

Brandon and I are off to Franklin (just outside of Nashville) again today. We decided late in the game to add and extended warranty onto the Ex, just in case! For the third time in 5 days I'll get to make the three hour trip to and from Fanklin (w/ a possible stop at "Coo Sprangs Mawl") and then a four hour roundtrip drive to FHU. I am so ready to be at home for a few days!

Thursday I had to get some bloodwork done and for the first time, the nurse couldn't find my "good blood giver" vein. Instead of hitting one she could see, she decided she'd just feel around for the "good blood giver", unfortunately, g.b.g. was p.m.s.ing and is now a huge bruise on my arm. Ahhh, the joys of fertility challenges!

Tidings of Joy... and laughter! :)

Parsimonious Amalgamation

I have no idea what amalgamation is, but parsimonious means "it makes sense". So essentially, my title o' the day is "it makes sense to not have meaning" ~ at least to me! (I like to make people think I actually know what I'm saying, when in actuality, I just got those words from some articles for school!)

The Hale family has had such a great and busy week. First and most importantly, Brandon's dad, Ron, is in full remission! He got the good news on Monday, and is undergoing two additional chemo treatments and will still have stem cell replacement for precautionary reasons. So thank you God, good work Vanderbilt cancer doctors and just all over halleluah!!! :)

Do you remember a few weekends ago when I posted about us selling the truck and getting out of debt? Well, sometimes things change and we make decisions that are a bit odd. You can see the end result here. Laugh, call us young and dumb, call us debtors, it's all ok ~ we're happy and we'll work our way out of debt at a slower pace.

Yesterday Brandon took the day off and we headed to Nashville and Franklin to do some SUV shopping ~ you know, for the future football team that I'll be trotting happily around town! It was a good day, we had lunch at Macaroni Grill, and we got to meet some interesting salesmen. Today B worked the long hours of 8:30 - 10:45 and we're taking a clean house and relax day. (If that's actually possible!) I do know that my bathrooms are much cleaner, the dirty laundry is lessening, the clean laundry is waiting to be folded and put away, the dishwasher is going full blast, and now my fingers are a blur on the keyboard.

Two pop culture things. 1. Martha went to prison this morning for her five month visit. Hmmm, lying isn't cool Marti, guess we'll make a difference decision next time, eh? 2. Britany Spears did a remake of Bobby Brown's "It's My Perogative". Is that really a person who's steps you want to follow Brit? Decisions, decisions, decisions....

Happy weekending blog family. We are resting tonight and plan on going to Florence tomorrow to watch Ladder 49 ~ John Travolta and Joaquin Phoenix together, not too shabby!

Tidings of Joy... and SUV's! :)

Lost Thoughts

I'm not sure if it's the combination of medications that I am on, or the fact that I'm aging, but my memory has gone to pot lately. For instance....

Last week I sent off several packages to friends around the country. One of them was to a dear friend, Netta, who lives in New Orleans for her birthday and a little noisey toy for her 18 month old son, Kaleb (isn't that what aunties are for? loud, annoying toys?!). I also gave her a phone call (had to leave a message) and sent a corny e-card. I get VERY excited about giving gifts, almost to the point of being prideful, b/c I really am a pretty good gift giver (although my sister can almost always one-up me. I guess it's genetic.). I got a voice mail from Net yesterday saying thank you and that she had something hillarious to tell me. At that moment, it all clicked, her birthday isn't until the end of October! Yep, I'm an idiot. We laughed until I had tears rolling down my face over that, and she had had a really bad day and the package helped improve on that, but still, I reached a new level of dork status with that one!

Losing my memory and having to memorize so many theories and theorists for school isn't exactly a good combination. On Saturday I got up at 4:30 to get to school early and make sure that my power point was working well, get note packages from other group members together, and make sure that we were all on the sams page as to what each person was doing with their part (control, I like it a lot!). Sunday was church and to reward myself on a job well done w/ the presentation and getting through a mid-term, I did a little shopping, watched the Titans get horrendously smothered (what' s up w/ Tennessee sports lately? come on boys, you can do it!) studied for more tests, did two journal reviews and woke up again to study more all day yesterday. Needless to say, I was exhausted last night in class. Usually I think I can do a pretty good job of faking energy, but my teacher asked 2 or 3 times if I was ok. Then on the way out, he gave me a hug and said if I needed anything to call and he'd help me with whatever I needed. Is that not the sweetest thing in the world??!!!Dr. Cravens, you ROCK!

Do any of you know things I can do to help improve my memory? It's gotten really bad, I'm quickly tunring into my gran ~ not finishing sentences and repeating myself a lot. Did I tell you I'm having memory problems? The other day I... oh wait, I can't remember if it was last week or last year... umm, who was that guy in that movie where he did that thing?... I know you just told me something, but I have no idea what it was... I said I'd do what? When?... For the love ~ make it stop!

Gonna study for my Psycho class ~ I will come out of it with at least a B, even if I end up re-taking it next sememster w/ a different teacher!

Tidings of Joy... and remembering... anything! :)

Harried!

Mid-terms.
Busy.
Over whelmed.
Messy house.
Loving husband.
Information overload.
Dirty clothes.
Dirty dishes.
Dirty bathtubs.
No fall break.
More meds.
Why do I do this to myself?
Delirium?

In the words of the Beatles... "Help me if you can I'm feelin' down. And I do appreciate ya bein' 'round. Help me get my feet back on the ground. Won't you please, please help me?!"

Tidings of Joy... and mid-terms being over tomorrow at 9:00 p.m.! :