Our House...so far

Actually, these pics are from about 2 weeks ago. There is now paper on the roof and walls up. I'll post those pics later. I'm ready to move in but its not ready for us. Building this house is exciting and stressful.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Everyday we are faced with making decisions, some bigger than others. With building a house I find myself making multiple decisions everyday but recently I have been pondering a big one....to start a new job or not. Well you probably say I start a new job all the time since I work full time at the hospital, part time at USC Salk and part time nursing home so whats the big deal. Well the big deal is whether or not to change my full time job. I truly love what I do and where I work. Of course its work and any of us would much rather stay at home any day. I wasn't looking for a different full time job it just fell in my lap. USC has offered me a full time position as a Student Success Manager in the nursing program. However it is a grant job for only 3 years but I'm like I can always go back to the hospital...hopefully. Its a M-F job, no holidays, weekends, or nights. I've never worked a M-F job, don't know how I would like it. I know I would like the no holiday, no weekend, and no nights part. I've worked nights for 4 years. Oh and by the way, its more money. So, whats the problem you wonder? I like the people I currently work with, they are like family. I have been at HRMC for 8 years. I know I could always stay PRN there and see them every once and a while and also keep up my skills. Allen totally supports me, so its up to me what I do. I'm praying about it and will keep you updated.

Lately.....

So its been a while since I've blogged. Living with Allen's parents is going well. Our contractor started building our house on May 31. We are so excited and stressed at the same time but trying to enjoy every moment. So many decisions to be made. Concrete has been poured into the footings and the brick arrived yesterday. Todays delivery will be blocks. I will try to post pics soon. June 7th I traveled to Blythewood to meet Lindsay so we could travel to Clover to see Jessica and baby Izzie. I really enjoyed this trip and getting to see my two best friends from college.

The Big Move

Well, we have officially sold our mobile home. We moved out Sat after I worked 16 hours and then continued to move until today. We are now living with Allen's mom and dad. The move went well except our brand new chest of drawers I got for Christmas was dropped and broken. I called the company and ordered a new one. We had so much more stuff than we thought we did. Once I get to move in my new house I never want to have to move again--its no fun. We met with our contractor Sunday to make final changes to the plans. I've met with the building inspector and all the red tape you have to go through just to get started is already driving me crazy. I feel so disorganized right now because I haven't had a whole day off since the move to get things organized, especially our clothes. They are all in boxes--wrinkled up. I'm off on Friday but Allen has his cardiology appt that day. We will be there all day. Echo at 1145, stress test at 1 and see the doctor at 2. Allen's mom is in a play that opens Friday night so we hope to get to go see it when we get back. Only one more clinical day and then no more teaching until August.

So Much Going On

So much has been going on since my last post. I had bronchitis last week which had me down a couple of days. Allen had been having chest pain the last couple of weeks so we went to the doctor last Friday. They did an EKG which found an abnormal rhythm. So we had to go to the hospital for labs and xray. The doctor said he would have to see a cardiologist and have a stress test. So all week we have been stressed. We went to the cardiologist yesterday in Columbia and he said he didn't think it was anything to worry about. That was a huge relief. We did find out Allen does have high cholesterol and is going to have to have a stress test and echo done next month. On to better things, Allen and his dad bought a John Deere tractor from Alabama and it finally came last night. So I'm ready to take a ride on my big green tractor. We also think we have sold our mobile home. Now, I have to pack everything up and find a place to put it---this is not going to be fun. And we're going to move in with Allen's parents until our house gets built.

New Car

My new car

Our pond full of water since all the rain. I can't wait for a house to be sitting where the trailer is now.

Bo passing time now by watching TV

Bo doing what he loved before he was injured



Well I finally decided to get a new car. It was bitter sweet. I have had my Jeep for 6 yr and it had 181000 miles. Monday Allen and I went and got a Chevy Trailblazer and I love it. I am finally posting some pics. We are to meet with our contractor in April but still can't start on our house until May or June.

Car Trouble And Surgery

Well since the last post a lot has happened and not really anything good. But despite all the bad I am blessed. First of all, on Jan 23 I backed my car into a tree in my own yard. This made me sick to my stomach because there was a good amount of damage. I've had my Jeep for 6 yrs. It moved me to and from college 3 yrs. It now has 180,000 miles on it and its age of 10 yrs is showing but I have been putting off buying something new. Well, I was internet shopping and found something I liked at Hendrick Chevrolet in Charleston. I called them Friday and asked if it was on the lot, they replied yes. So after working a 12 hour night shift Allen and I traveled 2 hours to Charleston in the rain. It felt a little crazy but I was excited. When we got there they told me the car I wanted was in Kansas. Needless to say I was furious. They tried to make deals but I didn't buy any of them. I got 1 hour of sleep and had to go back to work. So I have decided to let my insurance fix my Jeep and keep her a little longer. If that wasn't enough for one weekend, Bo's hip became dislocated again on Sunday. It had stayed in for 3wks. We spent all day in the vet Monday with no success. They would put the hip in and it would come out. So Tuesday we went to Columbia to South Carolina Vet Specialists for surgery. The surgeon called me at 5:30 yesterday and said everything went well and I can pick Bo up on Wed or Thur. Bo now has to be on restricted activity limited to mainly rest for 6 wks. I don't think this is going to be fun. I've always believed things happen for a reason and now I know why I didn't get a new car, because now I have a huge vet bill, but Bo is truly worth every penny. Rite Aid has a new thing like McDonalds monopoly game but instead its the game of Life and someone asked Allen's mom yesterday, are you playing the game of Life, she said no I'm living it. I thought that was funny.