In case you haven't heard...

Ben and I are going to be parents!!! We are expecting our first child and are truly thrilled!! We broke the news to our families on Christmas morning. If you would like to see how it all went down.....please visit the carreker's blog:)

waiting...

on these guys to get here!!!!!!!!

counting down the days

The semester is winding down and I can't wait till it is over next Saturday! I have a presentation tonight, a powerpoint due tomorrow, and a final next week. Then I am off for a whole month!!!!! Whoooohooo!!!! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I am so pumped to spend Christmas with my family! Hope you are all having a wonderful week!

the big 3-0

I'd like to give a shout out to my sister. It is her 30th birthday today!! Hope you had the best birthday yet sister! LOVE YOU!!

Happy birthday Co!

Today is this lil man's 1st birthday!! Is he not the cutest birthday boy??

Anniversary Recap....

Ben had to work on our anniversary but planned a day full of surprises. He started off by taking me to Panera for breakfast. We then went to Las Tortugas for lunch and ended the day with Flemings for dinner. It was such a fun day FILLED with delicious food from my 3 favorite restaurants. Finally, as you can see from the pic above, he gave me a gorgeous David Yurman pearl and diamond bracelet. LOVE him!!!!

3 years ago today....

I married this hunk and truly could not be happier. I thank God for such a loving and compassionate husband who loves me just the way I am. He is a hard worker, a loyal friend, a good listener, and he always makes me laugh even when I am stressed beyond belief. He makes it a point to tell me I am beautiful and that he is proud of me every day. I am truly blessed. Love you Ben! Happy anniversary. It has been the best 3 years and I'm looking forward to many more together.

Blessing of the week....

Yay for getting reimbursed for our sewer line disaster!!!! Back at the end of May, a cable company hit our sewer line, which caused our bathrooms to flood and our yard to be gutted down the middle. We originally thought that it must have been old tree roots that had done it. However, the city and cable company representatives came out to inspect and they determined that it was the cable company's fault. Well, we thought, "Great. They will have to pay for it".....WRONG. Both the city and cable company were arguing that it was the other's fault so guess who got stuck with the HUGE bill? We finally found out this week that we will be getting reimbursed!! Now.....that will cover the cost of the new transmission that had to be replaced in Ben's truck last week. If it is not one thing it's another, right? It may not seem like a big deal to anyone else, but that was our blessing for the week and I thought I would share:)

Prayers please

Please remember Micah's family in these next few weeks. I spoke with Mrs. Rine (Micah's sweet mom) and she said that they will see Thomas for the first time since May at the October 15th hearing. In case you haven't heard, the charges have been increased to first degree, premeditated murder. I ask that you pray for this very tragic situation. Pray for peace for the Rine family and courage as they go through this very difficult time. The trial will not be for another year, but these next few weeks will still be very hard. My heart aches for them, but they have been so incredibly strong through it all.

Ridiculous...I know

Yes, I have been a total blog slacker!! I plan on getting all of my pictures from this summer uploaded soon. But....here is a bit of what I have been up to....

-school
-work
-beach vaca with the fam
-hanging out with my sis and Cohen

For those of you that are interested, that is a brief synopsis of the past few weeks...will post more later.

copper is tired of studying!

me too buddy!! me too!!

Why I have been M.I.A...

Studying ALL the time + Copper wearing a lampshade for for 2 weeks + Renovating my bathroom + Bathroom flooding due to busted sewer line + Back hoe destroying my front yard = NO TIME FOR BLOGGING!!!!

Dallas trip

We had so much fun visiting the Carrekers!! We want to go back!!! Here are some pics from our wonderful trip!

renovations

Ben and I had such a great time in Dallas last week! We were very sad to leave and come back to the real world. I will post pics of our trip later. I start back to school June 1st so I am enjoying my time off by renovating my bathroom. So far it has turned out great. I will post those pictures soon.

Remembering Micah

Thank you all for praying. There are so many thoughts and emotions running through my head. I do not know the answers and probably never will. The ONLY comfort I have right now is that precious Micah is in the Father's arms. For those of you who did not know her, let me tell you a few things....Micah loved the Lord and earnestly sought to serve Him. She truly was a woman of God. Her smile was beautiful and completely contagious. Her words were always truthful. She loved her family, loved her friends, loved to run, loved her dog, loved her patients, loved delivering babies, loved learning, loved laughing....Micah loved to love. I was so blessed to know her, love her, and to call her my friend. Please continue to pray for her family during such a time of immeasurable sorrow. It is hard for me to ask, because I am struggling with this, but please pray for Thomas as well. Thank you again for your prayers. They have been felt and are so cherished.

Please pray for Micah

Please pray for my dear friend Micah. She has been missing since last night. My heart is aching. I will post more when I know more but for now...please pray. God please protect Micah. Give her peace and comfort that only you can give.

look who came to visit....

This little man took his first plane flight today! He and Lins are here until Monday and I am LOVING it! This pic was taken on the way home from the airport! I love this kid!!

Easter Bonnets galore!

I have been a bit busy lately...studying and writing papers and what not. Sometimes I feel like there is just not enough time in the day. However, I did make time yesterday to go with my mom Easter bonnet shopping. Yes, you read it right....Easter bonnet shopping. I really wish hats were still in. If people wouldn't look at me funny, I would totally wear one to church. Anyway.....My mom is having some friends over next week and they are all supposed to come sporting their Easter attire. Let me just tell you that if it were a contest, my mom would win hands down. It is horribly ugly. We had a good time trying on all of the hats at Burlington Coat Factory. We tried on the biggest, ugliest, most gosh-awful "bonnets" in Memphis and tried our hardest not to pee in our pants. I really wish I had a picture!! I will try and post one as soon as my mom has her get-together.
Do you have your Easter bonnet? If not, you can pick up one of these beauties down below at your local BCF. Hope everyone is having a good week!!

vacation

I need some ideas on where Ben and I should go on vacation in May. Anyone got any good deals/fun places?

worth EVERY penny....

I finally did it! I worked some extra hours and finally got a Dyson! Let me just tell you....it is AMAZING!! I highly recommend it to anyone needing a vacuum....especially those with hairy beasts running around. It truly is spectacular! Trust me....I have never been one to get excited about vacuuming, but let's just say that I vacuumed my whole house twice!!!!

little things make me happy...

I made a trip to Birmingham during my Spring Break and got to visit some family and friends. It was lots of much-needed fun but just too short. My friend Kristen had this fun easter egg wreath on her door and I just LOVED It. I just happened to come across it in Kroger of all places and just had to get it! Hope you don't mind Kristen:)

do i, or do i not...

Spend the money on a Dyson pet vacuum?? I need help! If anyone out there has any suggestions, feel free to send them my way. I have gone through two vacuums in the 2+ years that Ben and I have been married. As most everyone knows, I have this dog named Copper. I love, love LOVE him but he is one hairy beast! My last vacuum died a week ago and the dog hair is ridiculous!!! Plus, I am fresh out of swiffers! Let me know what you think.

crackin up

I could just eat this kid up!!!!

dallas

I love love LOVED my quick trip to Dallas! Lins and I got some good quality time together with the little man! I hate living so far apart but it makes the time we get together even more special. I left Wednesday and came back Friday and headed back to work on Saturday. This week is full of studying, laundry, cleaning house, and more studying. I have a big test next Tuesday so I am trying to get prepared. I have spring break coming up in a couple of weeks and I am pumped! I don't quite know what I will be doing but maybe I can make a trip down to see all my Bham friends and family:) I will post pics of Cohen as soon as I get them downloaded. Hope everyone is having a fabulous day....back to studying for me.

He loves me this much:)

So this isn't the most flattering pic in the world of either of us...but it is still hilarious none the less!!!

Waiting...

So it has officially been over a month since I last posted. Not much is going on in my life other than studying, working, and studying some more!! It has been rough but I must say that I have a wonderful husband who has been so very encouraging and supportive. I really don't have anything new to report other than I am currently sitting in the Little Rock airport waiting on my flight to Dallas. My first flight was cancelled (frustrating!) but I luckily am due to depart at 11:00....yay! I can't wait.....pictures to follow!!!

Good times

Well, I made it through my first class. It is called Theoretical Foundations of Nursing...otherwise known as A Class That Really Makes My Head Hurt!!! Now, don't get me wrong, I like to think deep from time to time. However, this class is way beyond that. Basically, it is a glorified ethics class directed towards nursing. If you have ever taken ethics....you know how much fun it can be. I don't want to sound bitter or anything. I truly am hoping to learn a lot from the class but I can already tell it is not going to be one of my favorites! Who knows...maybe I will change my mind.

Ben and I went to the Brad Paisley/Dierks Bentley Concert last night with a big group of our friends. We aren't huge fans but recognized many of their songs and they put on a great show. I tried to take pictures but it was too dark and they didn't really turn out well.

On another note....Ben is still working for Bob:) We are very happy about this! It will be more of a part-time deal for now but hopefully things will turn back around someday soon. God is so good!

Not much else to report today. Hope all is well with you and yours!!

Happy Birthday Ben

I know, I know...it has been a while. Not much has changed at this point. I am anxiously awaiting school to start on January 15th. My classes are scheduled from 4pm- 7pm every other Thursday and then 4pm-10pm every other Tuesday. I am excited but still a bit nervous, too. I won't actually be in the clinical setting for the next couple of semesters so it is basically going to be a lot of book-reading, paper-writing, and test-taking for me!! yay!!!!!

I am really enjoying working weekends. I miss my friends on the weekday shift but I like my new weekend friends, too. Here lately I have been picking up quite a few shifts during the week before I start school to try and make a little more money. Unfortunately, it is looking like Ben's job with Bob Reed Builders is coming to an end due to the economy. It is very sad because Bob has been such a great boss to Ben and he has really learned a lot from him. He is currently discussing a job opportunity with another builder so we shall see where that takes us.

So....today is Ben's 29th birthday!! Let me just tell you a little something about this man. He loves to ruin surprises!! He was the kid who would find his Christmas presents months in advance and this year....out of a bizzillion things I could have gotten him from Bass Pro Shops....he guessed what I got him two weeks before Christmas!! I played it off like he was wrong but I was soooooo mad that he got it right!! I mean seriously!!! So I had planned a little surprise get together for his birthday tonight at Osaka. I kid you not, he has already ruined the surprise. Last night he was asking me "So, what do you want to do tomorrow night? I think we should get some people together and go out to eat." The boy was trying to plan his own party!!! So I then had to tell him that I was the best wife ever and had already planned it all:) Haha.

So Happy Birthday to my man! Love you Ben!!