A Weekend of Firsts

Despite the weather this weekend, James and I spent Friday at the hospital. We and his family were awaiting the arrival of his sister's second baby boy. Much to my surprise, Tina didn't mind one bit if we stayed in the room during the delivery. At first, I wasn't so sure about it but decided to stay and watch the process unfold. Truth be told, it was the most amazing event I have ever witnessed! Words could not describe what took place in that delivery room, but I will never forget the experience.


Logan Matthew was born on Friday, January 28, 2010 at 4:30pm. He weighed 8 pounds and 1 ounce and was 20 inches long. 

Matt, Tina, Oliver, and Logan are now at home, happy and healthy. We visited with them tonight. It's so amazing how small Logan is compared to Oliver, who is about 18 months old. It won't take long for Logan to grow as big as his brother! They grow up so fast!

With the snowfall we had this weekend came snowball fights, snowman building and snow mobile riding. That's right, friends! I got the chance to ride a snow mobile! James' dad has had it a few years now, but neither of us have ever been around to ride it until yesterday. What's funny is how James' nearly 80 years old grandpa rides faster than anyone else!

What I have to say next is certainly not the best part considering my sister-in-law brought a new life into this world on Friday, but this is exciting news nonetheless. Someone finally called me and set up a job interview! The engineering department at UT Martin needs a temporary secretary, and they asked that I come in for an interview tomorrow! Hooray! Let's all be praying!

And lastly, I hit the 10 pound mark this weekend! Only 6 pounds to go before I'm at my goal weight!

Mystery Solved!

Steve and Adam, two installers who work at Cole's, solved the "wall crawler" mystery! They found two mice trapped in a vent above the door of the guest room. Unfortunately for the mice, freedom from the little wall prison only led to their demise. Thanks to Steve and Adam, I'll be able to get some sleep tonight!

Lexie vs "Wall Crawler", Part 2

That animal in the wall at my cousin's house is still going strong. I'm starting to feel bad for whatever it is. It's been in the same spot in the wall/in the attic (not really sure which) for at least two days now. I wasn't there all weekend, so it could have been there since Friday for all I know. One of the installers at Cole's took my copy of Christie's key so he can do some work on her house today. I told him about the little "wall crawler" and he said he would check it out. Maybe he can solve the mystery. To be continued . . .

So much for one blog a day!

Well, I wrote a blog every day for three whole days! :) No offense, my dear readers, but I had other things to focus on this weekend like . . .

. . . spending the weekend in Martin with James! After visiting Zach, Emily and Jonah Cook for an hour or so Friday night, I drove two hours to be with my husband. It was so good to see him again after being apart for a week. Honestly though, I haven't missed him as much as you would think. I suppose I'm really focused on our goal here. That is, James go to school and Lexie make the money.

On Saturday, James and I went for an hour long walk down a new (it's new to us) trail. We went at the perfect time too because not long after we finished, the weather started to get bad. On Sunday the weather had cleared so we went for another walk. This time our intentions were to walk to Movies-to-Go and Wal-mart. The girl at the movie store informed us that we could only pay with cash or a check, and we only had a debit card. We started to walk toward Wal-mart thinking after we made our purchases there, we would get cash back in order to rent a movie. Mid-way through the (movie theater/rental store) parking lot, James decided that he was hungry, so we started to walk toward the Dragon Star Buffet. We changed our minds, turned around and backtracked toward Los Portales. After seeing how full the parking lot was, we changed our minds again and walked back to the Chinese restaurant. After a satisfying meal, we walked to Wal-mart, made our purchases and walked back to the apartment. This all took about three hours to accomplish. It was actually a lot of fun, and we laughed practically the whole time.

On Monday morning, I drove back to Millington so I could work at Cole's. Around 1:30pm, I went to the Millington Police Dept to report a fradulant check writer, and at 2:50pm I picked my brother Eric up from school. After work, I went to my parents, ate dinner, watched tv and walked a half hour on the tredmill.

Back at Christie's around 9:30pm, I had a bit of a freak out moment because I heard noises in the attic or walls or something. James reassured me over the phone that there was not a person in the attic, just some animal. That pesky thing actually kept me awake too! It moved around in the wall (of the room I'm staying in) for hours (it seemed). I even woke up to it moving in the wall! That crazy thing needs to either die or get out and go live in the wild where it belongs (preferably the second option).

That concludes my weekend! I do hope you all had a great one and an even better week!

Healthy Habits

What?! Two blogs in one day? Shocker, I know. I just wanted to share this piece of good news with you!

James and I got married nearly two years ago. Within that frame of time, I gained about 20 lbs. Ever since, I've fought the discouraging thoughts that plague me about my weight. Most people have told me that haven't even noticed a change (thank goodness). Throughout the past two years, I have tried to work-out and eat healthy, but after a week or so, I'd revert back to my old habits. At one point before we went to Thailand, thoughts about my weight consumed me. I ate whatever I wanted and never exercised. I was not happy at all. I was losing control. Finally, after some confession time with God, I regained focus.

These were the truths I needed to accept:

1. I'm not fat.
2. I have lost control of my eating habits.
3. I need to regain self-control in a healthy way.
4. Weight doesn't matter; my health does.

Thankfully, with God's help I changed my tune about how I felt about my weight. I've been able to spend my time enjoying life as opposed to feeling "weighed down" so to speak about my weight (which wasn't even that bad in the first place).

The Memphis VA gave James an I-pod Touch to help him with his memory. There's an application he downloaded that allows you to log your food and exercise to help you attain your goals. I've been using this handy little app for a few weeks now, and I'm already seeing a difference in my eating habits. I no longer just grab whatever I want to eat without thinking; I know I'll have to log those calories later. I'm more conscious about what I'm putting in my body. This tool has even motivated me to exercise. In only a couple weeks, I've already lost somewhere between 7-10 pounds! What a self-confidence boost! I'm feeling better overall.

Now let's all just pray I can keep this up! As I said in one of my previous posts, Brandi and I hope to work-out together when I get to Martin. I'm definitely looking forward to it!

A Cole Family Minute

My dad's complaining because he has to drive to Germantown. Eric has a soccer game at 9pm. In my opinion, that is too late to be playing soccer on a school night. As they walked out the door, Britt's cat, Jack, got out and Eric had to track him down and make him come back inside. He's strictly an indoor cat. This boggles my mind because growing up, we were NEVER allowed to have animals in the house. Now they have a rabbit and a cat. Every once in a while my mom lets her basset hound come in as well. He was in the house when I walked in tonight.

Mom's trying to find a movie to watch because their Dish Network box went out and they had to order a new one. She choose CSI: Miami. I'm seriously about to head to Christie's house and go to sleep. I stayed up way too late last night and I am beyond tired. Uh-oh, Mom's dvd remote has no batteries so she can't choose the episode she wants to watch, and there are no batteries in the house to speak of. That's funny because five out of the six people in this family work at a hardware store which has a plethora of batteries. Oh the irony!

This one's for you, B!

Someone (not naming any names...Rebecca Ann Shelton!) accused me tonight of not blogging enough. Naturally, I have to blog now. It's after midnight and I'm sitting at my parents' house. My mom got home late from work so after hanging out with my friends, Becca and Becky, I knew she'd be awake even at 11:00pm. I haven't really had internet access, but since I do have it here at my parents' house, now's as good a time as any to update everyone (or just Becca) on my life these days.

James is in Martin now and classes started today. He found out that he won't actually be able to get into the nursing program until next year, so until Fall 2011, he'll be taking pre-requisite courses. This could seem like a set-back, but in fact, he'll have more time to take his time. His course loads will be lighter and he'll be able to focus more on doing well instead of rushing through things. Once he is in the program, it will take him two years to complete it. That means he should have his nursing degree in about three years which that is exactly what we estimated in the beginning.

I have still not gotten a job in Martin. This is somewhat of a problem because that means I'll be living in Millington with my cousin and working at Cole's until I do get a job. The living with my cousin part doesn't bother me. She's out of town until the last week in January, so I technically have her house to myself until then. Even when she does come back, I think we'll get along great. She's an officer in the Navy and is real easy going. She just moved back home for the first time in years, so it's nice to have her back. Working at Cole's doesn't bother me either. I actually wouldn't mind staying there for good this time around. It's definitely crossed my mind to make that my career. The part that gets to me is the living two hours away from my husband. I just keep thanking God that he's only two hours away and not across the ocean fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan though. I truly am blessed. That thought keeps me focused and grateful.

I'm reading That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis every night before I go to sleep. In the morning, I read the One Year Chronological Bible. I'm actually kind of behind on the daily readings, but I'm trying to get up to date in it. I've been reading through it since November and honestly can't get enough!
In case anyone was wondering, we did find a new home for our cat, Orange. James' sister Tina took him and her son Oliver just loves him! That makes me very happy. Tina is due to have her second son, Logan, next Wednesday! Logan will be the fifth grandchild born to James' parents. Including the soon-to-be born baby, we have four nephews and one niece. I'm certain they're waiting on James and me to get started, but they'll have to wait. He's got to get that degree first!

I would like to send a shout-out to my dear friends Brandi and Zach. They live in Dresden which is only about 15-20 minutes from Martin. Brandi and I lived together during my last summer in Martin. God has blessed us with a tightly bonded friendship, and we are both so happy that we'll be "neighbors." In addition to the fact that we are close friends, our life situations are similar. She and Zach got married two months after James and I. Zach and James are both working on getting their degrees, and Brandi and I both graduated from UT Martin around the same time. Neither of us are quite ready for kids, but we do have a strong desire to get in shape! That's something we both hope to work toward this year. Maybe together we can achieve some goals!

There you have it. I can't really think of anything else just now. It is nearing 1:30am. It's crazy how difficult it is for me to get to sleep at a decent time when away from James. Confession: I need to be a more disciplined person.

The End.