*something witty here*

Well. It's been a little bit since I wrote. I wish I could say "oops", but there's not even been time to think about it lately. There's been just SO much going on lately. I haven't had much time for people, activities, TV, writing, reading, cleaning, shopping, cooking... It's just been CRAZY lately. Between going back to work, all that's going on with Frank's job and stuff, church things... I am always tired lately. I feel stressed and drained, physically and emotionally. I think that's partially why I've seemed to be getting sick like, ALL the time lately. I've got to get back to working out, eating better, and taking my vitamins (I got out of the habit of doing that when I had my surgery, and have just not yet gotten back into the habit of taking them again). I need to find an organized way to get and keep my house clean with only a short amount of time to work at it. I need to start getting things ready to sell at a garage sale, because we really want to downsize and move in with my folks. There's just so much to do and so little time to do it.

Because of how busy we've are and have been, my brain has SO much on it all the time that I'm finding it REALLY hard to wind down and relax, which means sleep has been almost non-existent for me as of late. I slept for almost 7 hours last night, only waking once. It was heavenly, and I actually felt like I slept.. before I haven't been able to really relax enough to wake up feeling like I slept.. it was always just this "oh, that was a short nap" feeling.

Also, this isn't part of my own particular struggle, but my heart is so heavy for one of my best friends. She's like a sister to me, and has been such an encourager and a good example of a Godly wife for me (she got married young, and so has been married for like, 5 times as long as us, lol). Right now her mom is in the final stages of her battle with cancer. Her mom has moved in with her and its been hard on her and her seven kids to watch this happen to their mom/grandma... especially since her dad lost this exact same battle two years ago. Having worked palliative care (end of life care) before, I am afraid that this battle is almost over. And I know how hard that is to accept. I want to help so much more than I am helping, and I don't know what I can do. I pray for her daily, and I try to cheer her and the kids up.. but my heart is heavy on a daily basis for them. This entire struggle has been so hard for this family. I wish I had the right words to make this burden lighter, or the right technique to make it easier to deal with... So for my praying friends, please keep my friend and her family lifted up, and pray that God will enable me to be equipped for the phone call that will come in the middle of the night, most likely.

Anyways, the dryer has buzzed, the washer has stopped, and the dishes are screaming for attention. I need to muster energy from the great beyond and get to work. Thanks for checking in! Hope you're having a great day. :)

Catch up...

I know its been a little while!! I'm so sorry for that. Well, maybe I'm not. Its been HECTIC getting back into work. Not that I dislike it, completely... but there are moments, that's for SURE. This last week, all told, I was doing three different people's jobs... and had trainings and all sorts of other things I had to deal with. Scenarios I can't even write about that were stressing me out... these last two weeks combined have been more stressful than I expected them to be. I'm up and getting ready before 6 am, out the door most days before 630, the latest is at 715. And the earliest I get home is around 3 in the afternoon, some days later than that. If Frank is working, then I get a little less than 4 hours before I have to go pick him up. I take around an hour of that to get home, unload my stuff, decompress and get some lunch. Then its nose to the grindstone to prepare the next day's lesson plans.. or running off to some church function that we have to do (confession, this week I was too tired... no Wednesday night church for me), or heading out to Frank's karate class. I have been neglecting house work (sadly, Frank's done more house duties than I have these last two weeks) and cooking and keeping up with friends... I only have two people that I talk to (outside of coworkers... seems there's not a day that goes by that I DON'T hear from someone at work, even on weekends) and that's Frank and Angela (my "best"). If you're not Frank or Angela, you may not have heard a peep from me in the last week or so. I'm so sorry if that's the case! Eventually life will calm down and I will have time. Maybe.

Anyways, so. I couldn't keep up with the fast. Trying to eat certain of the foods hurt way too much. I couldn't cut out popsicles and pudding cups or pbj's. But Frank has been keeping up with it. He's doing well. There's only one week left of it now, and he's definitely got a noticeable difference. And even though I haven't kept up with the diet part of the fast, we've both grown through this. We've somehow managed to get up under the scope of some firing squads, which was definitely not our plan, but I guess a side effect of growing closer to God is that you end up getting in the Devil's sights a little more.

On that note, an unexpected twist that has come along is that (for reasons I shall not post, but are still bogus) Frank has NOT been given the position of charge nurse. He was intentionally passed over for someone with less than half the experience. It's frustrating, but we're trusting that as Joseph said in Genesis 50:20, what others have meant for evil God will use for good. It's irritating and frustrating and hurtful and all kinds of other emotions (I had a full blown panic attack over the situation... thanks Angela for the talk-down!), but God is still in control and will lead us in the way we should go.

There are even more changes that may be on the horizon. We're still thinking and praying about moving out of our place (which after these last two weeks, being somewhere else and letting them cook for me would be STELLAR), but no decisions have been yet. And there are other things we're praying about and working towards. Eventually we'll share it all, but for now, we're keeping our cards close to our chest. :)

Hope you all are doing well!!! I'll try to update more before another two weeks passes. No promises though!

Day 3

Well. So far, not so good. I have discovered that trying to do a Daniel Fast less than 3 weeks after a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy is a bad idea. Like, tears by the end of the day, bad idea. I did a good job of sticking with the guidelines yesterday, until around 630 that night. When I caved and ate a pudding cup, cause it was about all I could think of to soothe my throat. My throat hurt SO bad. I almost had no voice this morning when I woke up, which could've been very bad, since I started back to work today and went from 3 groups to 5. NOT talking was definitely not going to work out for me. And since I can't take my lortabs while I'm at work, I just suffered through this morning and prayed that I'd make it home safely and without crying (which I did), so I could take a lortab and lay down. So, Frank is continuing with the Daniel Fast, and I am doing a modified version of it, trying to stick with it as best as I can. But pudding cups and popsicles don't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Tonight though I made that potato and corn chowder that was referenced in my last post. Holy. SMOKES. I was not expecting it to be that good. But it was. It was THAT GOOD. Needed salt, but hey, considering its just veggie stock (organic, so there's no added salts or sugars), water, potatoes, corn and onions, its pretty darn tasty! I only served myself a half of a mug (yes, I eat my soups/stews/chowders from a coffee mug) at the start, and went back for seconds. I could definitely eat this again. Good thing too, because that recipe made alot more than I thought it would!

Ok, so my first day back at work was challenging, but I do think things will run smoothly tomorrow. I'm hoping so at least. Out of my good and bad students, one bad was absent, the other was surprisingly well behaved. However my best (and mayhaps favorite) student actually threw a fit during the class and refused to talk to me. I was just so glad when the day was over. I'm praying for a smoother day tomorrow (side note: apparently the fit that was thrown was because he discovered the stamp for the day was a butterfly, and he did NOT want a butterfly... who knew butterflies could be SO controversial!?).

So there's some exciting things that may be on the horizon for us. Say a prayer for direction, and check back later, I may be able to share an update of what's going on. :)

Hope everyone out there is doing well!! I'll keep you all updated as things keep happening.

Grace and Peace!!!

Binge and Purge

So. One and a half hours until the beginning of our 21 day fast. The Daniel Fast. And in fear of the upcoming fast, last night the hubs and I binged. An incredible binge. A binge that included an assorted dozen doughnuts from Krispy Kreme, three cupcakes from Oh, Snap! cupcakery, and a jr. bacon cheeseburger and small fry (for me), and a triple cheeseburger with a large fry (for Frank) from Wendy's. Then today, Frank had to work, so he wasn't even here to help finish the leftovers from the binge. Not to mention the turkey and cheese and apple pie that were in the fridge. So guess what has made its way over to my mothers house? Hah, yup. All my leftovers. And for the next 21 days, all we will be eating will be fruits and veggies in various forms. Considering I feel like I'm starting to catch the cold that's being passed around lately, I guess this fast is a good thing. It means I'll be getting tons of vitamins and minerals and antioxidants from all the veggies and fruits. Right? Right. So, just for a point of reference of what we shall be eating, here's two recipes that I have found: http://www.caringcarrot.com/super-easy-potato-corn-chowder/ and http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/06/southwestern-black-bean-salad.html

I've done the black bean salad before. It's REALLY good. I'm looking forward to trying the chowder too. Plus add in that Bolthouse Farms makes some really cook looking salad dressings strictly made from fruits/veggies and olive oil, I am now looking forward to the various salads we'll have. Plus the fruit smoothies I can have with almond milk and peanut butter. No sugar added peanut butter seems to be legal. *shrugs* I have had a rough time researching this fast, because there are SO MANY takes on it. Some that are so stringent they literally only have raw veggies, raw fruit and water. Others that allow no bread of any form, some that allow unleavened bread.... others that allow whole wheat bread. Its all over the spectrum here. So I've just decided to go with what seems to be the best and easiest and most affordable for us as a couple. Sadly, I didn't spend days in prayer or fasting to determine which fast was the best for me (yet another option), but I feel confident that I can actually make it through this fast for 21 days. Which is important to me. I don't want to get halfway through and cheat on something because I'm miserable. Though there are schools of thought that believe the whole point of fasting is to BE miserable, denying yourself any kind of pleasure. But I think that's a little overboard, personally.

So, I had my post-op appointment this last week. Good news? I'm healing better than she expected. Bad news? There's still quite a few more scabs to go. I seriously wish someone had informed me what they meant when they initially said "scabs" before the surgery. Le sigh. Oh well, I'll just suffer and keep going. Right now what's killing me is this insane headache and the constant chilled-to-hot in five seconds flat. And then back again. I'm praying for miraculous healing between now and tomorrow night. I don't know how well I'll do on Tuesday if I feel this crappy. Gonna be interesting, that's for sure.

Ok. That's it for now. Check back in a few days and I will (hopefully) have a blog about how the fast is going for us. Say a prayer for us, if you think about it. Thanks!!

Auld Lang Syne

It's here. 2013. A fresh new year, with all kinds of new things waiting to be discovered. And guess how my dear husband and I spent our New Year's Eve. Go on, guess.

We went to bed. Before midnight. Hah. We're so old! I find it funny that while other people in our age range have a blast going out and drinking or partying, we'd much rather curl up in bed with each other and the laptop (playing reruns of Mike & Molly, of course) than to go out with anyone else. I know, we're party poopers. *shrugs* Oh well.

Well, with this new year, there are all kinds of new things on the horizon for the junior Amnott family (I say "junior" because with my in-laws living in the same town, they're the "senior" family. See how that works?) There's a possibility Frank will take a full-time charge nurse position at his job. This means a different type of stress for him (a better kind, in my opinion, as he normally gets off on time when he's charge), and a higher pay. We should be completely debt free this year. Not that we're in debt for hundreds of thousands, but we do have a nice little chunk to pay off from Frank's student loans. I have my new job that will officially be in full-swing (since I was hired during the holidays, my work schedule really didn't get into full force), and I will finally receive a paycheck (I've been working now since the week of Thanksgiving, and I've yet to receive a paycheck! That should change next week, fingers crossed). Our church is starting the year off by doing a fast, so starting this Sunday Frank and I will be doing the Daniel Fast until the 27th. So three weeks. Three weeks of nothing but nuts, fruits and veggies, and water. Should be interesting. We're hoping that God will give us some clear and definite answers to a couple of prayer requests and that He will bless us during this time. It's my first time to do a fast of any kind, so the idea of a three week fast is pretty intimidating, but I just keep thinking "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" (Phil 4:13), and I think I can make it. (Side note- anyone who has any really good meal suggestions or has been through The Daniel Fast, PLEASE leave me comments letting me know what to expect and with any suggestions or tips that helped you make it through!) I will definitely keep this blog up to date on how we're doing on the fast, and I will hopefully gain an accountability tool through it. Feel free to leave me questions asking how well we're doing. Keep me on my toes. ;)

Ok, so. Onto something else. I'll let you guys in on one of the prayer requests that we'll be praying over. To help us save money and pay off our debt even faster, we're praying about moving. Not away or anything, just locationally into a place that won't cost us so much. Not that we're paying alot. In reality, we have the lowest rent payment of anyone we know. We just would like to get it even lower than that. So, we've been talking to my parents, and we're praying about selling what we can, storing the rest, and maybe moving into the "mother in law suite" at my parents place. I know, most people think of moving back home and cringe, or use it as a last resort only. But in all actuality, I don't think it'll be that bad with my family. And I say that because we've been staying here now for a little over a week (I'm sitting in my parents living room as I type). See, after my surgery, Frank had to go back to work. I couldn't drive thanks to the Lortabs, and I didn't want to be stuck at my house by myself for 15 hours. So we came over here. Frank goes to work, and I have a place to stay that doesn't require anyone to come out of their way to get me. It's really worked out well. No one has stepped on any one else's toes, no one has walked in on anyone they shouldn't.... it's been really nice. I enjoy having people to visit with, Frank has his "buddies" (my brothers) to play games with.... we've just had a really good time. So, we're going to be looking at maybe moving in to their house in April, or a little before. Right now its just a thought, a neat idea to save us around a thousand bucks a month, all told. Which is a really nice help towards saving and paying off debt. It wouldn't be forever; eventually we would move out and get our own place again, but when we do we'll do it debt free and with a good bit of savings stored up.

Well, that's about it. If you think about it, please say a little prayer for us. Or a big prayer. I'm not picky on the size, as long as you're willing to take time to pray for me. :)

OH! I have my post-op appointment tomorrow with the doctor. I'm interested to see what she says about where I am in the healing process. I'm also pretty sure she's going to clear me for all normal activity again. Yay me!

Well, I hope 2012 was good to you, and that 2013 brings you all kinds of blessings and love. :)