25 Things I've learned in the last 25 days...

1.) If you cut your dog's toenail too short try a corn starch water mixture first
2.) If that doesn't work try flour
3.) Next try a bar of soap
4.) Lastly try styptic powder, try to get it at the pet store as apposed to the Tractor Supply store in town. You will never use up a bottle made for cattle on your 30lb puggle
5.) ALWAYS use a lot of tape when making a temporary bootie for your dog's paw. They will not like it but too bad....you are trying to save their life!
6.) Never sit on the edge of an old wooden bench that has been sitting out in the rain all spring. They tend to collapse and chances are pretty high you could injure your tailbone or further injure your dog who is loyally sleeping under the bench at your feet.
7.) When playing a game of softball and standing on second base while your 6'4" 200lb male teammate is up to bat, DO NOT put your bare hand out to stop the line drive that is headed toward your face.
8.) When all of options 1 through 7 happen to you in one day, it is safe to say you probably should have stayed in bed that day.
9.)When doing laundry, always check underneath the pile you have just sorted for a wasp that is waiting to sting you.
10.) When mowing the lawn for your dad on father's day...if at any point you have trouble getting it to restart, don't sit and yell at it for 15 minutes. Attempting to throw it across the lawn will only hurt you, just check to see that it has gas. Then, when you discover it does not, fill er' up and move along. Don't feel foolish, who knew that a lawn mower needed gas to start?
11.) When trying to stop your nieces from fighting over if the object on the sidewalk is a wood chip or a bat wing...do not tell them that it can be whatever they want it to be unless you are prepared for them to say that they want it to be "a make-up" or "a Jonas brother".
12.) When driving home from work on a 90 degree day, if your car battery light starts flashing...it is not because you filled up with gas that morning and forgot to click the gas cap three times. It is indeed...a much bigger problem!
13.) When you get to the auto parts store and they tell you that all you need is a new battery and you will be fine....do not believe them.
14.) When, after placing in your shiny new battery, and driving for 10 minutes your battery light starts flashing...it is indeed most likely your alternator as you suggested to the kid pushing you to get a battery at the auto parts store.
15.) Alternators for Hyundai Sonatas are made in France and the company that manufacturers them will not sell them to just anyone.
16.) After calling all of the places your dad told you to call and finding out that the new alternator will cost you somewhere between $260 and $280, you will inevitably find out that your dad has been calling and somehow found one for $70
17.) While for most cars changing the alternator is "easy as pie(whatever that means)"; in a Sonata you will have to pull the whole car apart to change the alternator
18.) If all of your headlights burned out at the same time....your tail lights will most likely do the same
19.) While for most cars changing the tail lights is "easy as pie"; in a Sonata you will have to pull apart the whole trunk to change the tail lights.
20.) Apartments in St. Paul near Grand are hard to come by
21.) Life without pop is hard but after a week or two you get used to it.
22.) Sweet tea is not so good
23.) When taking your dog camping they will always bark at the park ranger's truck and no one elses
24.) Turtle Derbys are AWESOME
25.) A day without laughter is a wasted day (ok I already knew this one, but it sure helped me in a few situations this month)!!!

Things I learned on my way to The Show Me state...

1.) Deer make funny faces right before they die
2.) Sometimes semi drivers get distracted while talking on their cell phones and try to run you off the road
3.) The Dixie Chicks,Norah Jones, Shania Twain and Michael Buble` make great traveling music
4.) Raccoons make funny faces right before they die
5.) Dollar General is quite a nifty store
6.) A car parked in a ditch is not for sale
7.) My sister and I have a lot of fun together
8.) $2 CD's from dollar general get old pretty fast
9.) Fried Gizzards are a delicacy
10.) Red Bull gives you wings
11.) The term "Welcome Center with restroom" means an abandoned building with an outhouse
12.) Outside Unionville Missouri, you need to share the road with travelling buggies
13.) Orange Slushies at QT taste like Tang on steroids
14.) A 6 hour drive down with just my sister and I = a 7 and 1/2 hour drive home with a 10 week old puppy added into the mix
15.) Puppies never go potty when you want them to
16.) All of my fear of public restrooms goes out the window when I've had a Venti iced coffee, 1 Dr. Pepper, 1 liter of water, 1 red bull and part of a slushie
17.) THE Walmart is a good place to kill time
18.) disposable cameras are equivalent to dial up Internet...a complete waste of money
19.) driving for 14 hours is like taking a large sleeping pill
20.) Seeing the look on my nieces faces as they see their new puppy makes every last minute worth it!

Just wanted to tell you...

Well, this weekend another one bit the dust. You see, growing up or at least for a large very important part....there were 6 of us. Some of us came in later and some were there from the very beginning, but there were 6. Six very different, equally amazing girls. Six girls who came from different homes, had different struggles but through it all we had each other. Now pardon me if this gets cheesy, I'm really good at that! I also want you to know that I fully intend on bawling by the end of this post.

Now you might ask why if there are 6 of us, would I put up a picture of 4? The answer is, this movie was our favorite one to watch. We would go over to one person's house on a Friday after school, eat as much junk (Doritos, starbursts,skittles, mtn. dew, pizza and of course cookies freshly baked by Em's dad) as possible and watch this movie over and over. We would switch it up sometimes. There was always Casper with the incredibly dreamy Devon Sawa or as we got older...my personal favorite, Tommy Boy. Through it all, we grew up together. We had the bond of our faith and I know the missions trips, softball teams, dances, classes and times shared crying over lame stuff like boys helped us to grow together and create something truly special.

I saw you all this weekend and the joy my heart felt is unexplainable. Life has thrown each of us a few trials. We have all changed SO much and gone in a lot of different directions. But through all of that...we are still " The 6 Of Us". I love each of you girls SO much and know all of you feel the same. I love when we do get to see each other but it is not often enough. I know that the bond that was created all those years ago is not gone.

I need you to know, I am here for you. I know each of us has A LOT on our plates right now. I want to share in your joys, pains, laughter and anxiousness. I am so thrilled to watch you grow and become. I love being a part of that. I want to make the commitment to each of you...to be there for you, to love you and to pray for you. I mean that. I do not say it without knowing the true commitment it brings. I AM HERE FOR YOU NO MATTER WHAT! Oh yeah, and I love you!

One more thing, and this is VERY important....PLEASE PLEASE don't let me turn out like Chrissy!

My thoughts put into words...

If everything comes down to love
Then just what am I afraid of
When I call out Your name
Something inside awakes in my soul
How quickly I forget I'm Yours


I'm not my own
I've been carried by YouAll my life

Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free

When my life is like a storm
Rising waters all I want is the shore
You say I'll be ok andMake it through the rain
You are my shelter from the storm


Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free

3 days, 21 hours and 4 minutes!!!!

See you in November!!!!!!!!!!! Except you Jen, I will see you at your wedding, but I can't promise that I won't be wondering what the score is while you are walking down the aisle!

Bubbers turns ONE!!!!

Well, this may not exactly be our best picture ever but it was the only one that I got with the birthday boy. As you can see, he wasn't exactly thrilled about the hat. I can't believe that he is already a year old. Man, how time flies!
As some of you may have heard me state on numerous occasions as it is also one of my favorite quotes listed on facebook, I truly believe that live is too short to not live it with intention. I have uttered those words to myself SO many times over the years that it is unbelievable to me how often I in fact, do quite the opposite. There have been quite a few situations lately in which I have realized how true those words are. Time does fly by and before you know it relationships, goals, hopes, promises....they all fly right on by with it. When we live life just to get by or just to "go through the motions "(thank you Dad for that quote!), we miss out on all that life really is supposed to be.

I just have really been hit hard with how important it is to be genuine and intentional lately. My relationships with my family, friends and God are so much more rewarding when this is the case and I find that life is so much more fulfilling and fun and it sets the groundwork for days and months to come. Just something I have been pondering.

Funny story for you. Well, at least I think it's pretty funny. The other morning one of my co-workers who is in charge of inventory alerted me to the fact that we were missing two full bottles of Xanax XR. Now for those of you who don't know what this drug is I am guessing one of these options might be true about you 1.) You've never seen an episode of ER, Grey's anatomy or House MD 2.) You don't watch a lot of movies 3.) You've never struggled with anxiety or being antsy (highly medical term). Anyways, my coworker was just curious about a couple of things and was not indeed asking me if I had stolen said medications. Later in the day I was walking around the pharmacy like a chicken with my head cut off (as always), laughing and being very sarcastic with my co-workers (as always)...when the pharmacy manager stopped me and asked "Hey Abbie, I was just wondering...what gives you all of your energy and joy? You are just always so happy and energetic and I was wondering what you did to stay that way ALL the time?" I have to tell you guys, the first thing that popped into my head was "Is this a test? Is he quizzing me to see if I admit to taking the Xanax??" I looked at him and in a very thought-out response said "Uh, I don't know. It's just the way I am." I'm pretty sure I am no longer a suspect!

Also, just to let you know. Bubbers is Elijah's nickname given by my mom. I really feel sorry for the poor kid, and am praying that another cooler nickname comes soon as I don't want to be responsible for him having to take Xanax some day.

A funny thing happened...

So, the other day I was sitting at my desk at work....now I know most of you know I do not have a desk job...but last week I did. I must say I do not know how people can sit all day, kudos to you if you can and not want to rip your back apart at the end of the week. Anywho, I was sitting at my desk in our outpatient pharmacy. My job was to intake prescriptions and let patients know how long their wait would be. Now, this is the perfect time to clear something up for those of you who are wondering why it takes so long when you go into the pharmacy. We do not as you may think, take your prescription grab a bottle off of the shelf and "slap a label on it". I can't tell you how many times I have heard this. It does take time to input the prescription, decipher the doctor's writing, bill the insurance, fill the order and have a pharmacist verify that you are indeed getting the antibiotic prescribed and not some sort of hormone pills. Anyways, that is a long story for another day.
I was sitting at my desk typing away when I looked out into the lobby. Our lobby is shared with the transplant clinic which is across the hall. This last week the lobby was full to quite full ALL week. As I looked out at the chairs about 15 feet away from me I saw a man who didn't look too good. His wife was sitting with him and a couple of nurses were asking him questions like "do you know your name?", "what street do you live on?" and "do you find it annoying that I am asking you these questions?"...anyways he was responding and they were giving him some V8 and crackers to try and get some food in his system. Next thing I know, he is completely passed out in his chair, and falling to the floor. There is all of a sudden a plethora of nurses around him with the crash cart and they are all working together to bring him back. I see all of these machines, they are talking to him and one nurse is taking his pulse. They are for the most part calm as I am sure this is a daily occurrence. One nurse starts to poke him in the arm for some reason as if she was going to take blood. A few minutes later the man opens his eyes, looks over at that very nurse and says "what your doing, hurts like hell!". She is turn says "you really scared us there, we're just trying to help you." He says, "I understand that, I just want you to know, what you're doing hurts like hell."
Now, please understand that I do not find it funny that this man has passed out. I feel so much sympathy for what I can't even imagine he has been through or will go through as a result of his transplant. I just love his reaction upon coming to. The nurses I am sure have dealt with some pretty scary situations but I know if I were the one he would have said that to...I would have burst into tears. Sometimes being a nurse can be a thankless job and I just want to say to all of the nurses out there....thank you for what you do, even if it hurts like hell!