Weekend Review

I am sad to say that this past weekend went by way too fast for me!! This week will be what I call my "long week" where I will work slightly over 60 hours...BOO FOR THAT!!
On Friday, we were suppose to eat here with our friends John and Amie, but unfortunately Michael had to work late. So, I decided that I would catch up on some desperately missed Z's, and we ended up at this place around 10 that night. What a waste of a good Friday night!!
If you read my previous post, you know that I woke up around 3 AM on Saturday (possibly due to Michael's snoring, and me sleeping until approximately 9 PM on Friday). I went with my mom, one of her "golfing lady friends," and my good friend Brittany to a place in Monroe, LA called Paul Michael's. This place has the most fabulous home "stuff"...especially Christmas! We had mom's car packed to the brim with Christmas decor...what a fun day!! After returning from our day trip, I spent the rest of the night with my two favorite people..Michael and Winston.
After church on Sunday, we ate with Michael's parents at this place...if you have never been here, you must go and try their quesadillas and sweet potato fries...they are wonderful!!!! We then spent the rest of the afternoon being lazy and watching a little football.
A very uneventful weekend that seemed to evaporate before my eyes. I am really hoping that this next week will go by fast...we shall see.

Suffering From Insomnia...

Lately, I have found myself being wide awake at all hours of the night. For example, last night, I was bright, chipper, and ready to start my day at 3 AM. So, I got up, cleaned out my closet, baked a pound cake for Michael, gave Winston a bath, swept off the back patio, and put a roast in the crockpot. Now some of you, like my mother, may be thinking that this night shift thing is causing this insomnia, and although I think it may contribute, I don't believe it is the main cause. So what is the main cause??? One word...MICHAEL!! You probably won't believe me when I say this, but this skinny white boy can rattle the windows during his sleep...thus causing my insomnia. He is also responsible for saying the most hilarious things during his sleep. Here are a couple incidents that I can remember...

Last night, while my precious angel was resting and snoring, I decided to try to arouse him, allow him to change positions, and hopefully he would stop long enough for me to fall back asleep. That didn't happen as evidenced my long list of accomplishments before dawn. Instead, he rolled over on top of me, looked me straight in the eyes, and stated, "It's OK, Babes...nobody's snoring, just go put the clothes in the dryer, and you will be just fine." He then rolled over and went right back to snoring. HA! What?

Once, I woke up I realized that something dark was floating above my head. If you know me well, you know that I am very blind, and all I could see was this dark blob. Little did I know that it was Michael's arm. He was asleep with his arm straight up in the air. Before I could arouse enough to realize that this fell into the "not normal" category, he dropped his arm and I took an elbow blow to the cheek...again resulting in a case of insomnia.
So, the next time you are awake before daylight...don't feel alone! I am probably up with you, baking a pound cake!

SYATP

Today is See You At The Pole (SYATP). This event serves as a time of prayer, meditation, and bible study that takes place every year at schools across the country. SYATP is just one of the MANY memories that I have from my junior high and high school years. I have recently gotten involved in teaching youth Sunday School, and this has brought back a flood of memories from when I was in the youth group. It has also made me realize that I will not birth any children, but rather adopt a few that are beyond the age of 18! But I digress..What a wonderful time of my life, being in the youth group. I established a solid foundation for my faith to grow on, I made friends that will last a lifetime, and I met my spouse. Although it seems like I just graduated from high school, it has really been almost 5 years! WOW how time flies when you are an adult.
I am about to sound alot like my grandmother, Ruth, but I am amazed at how things have changed since I was a youth. The most pressing thing that I had to worry about when I was in the youth group was where we were going for Student Life? Would our fearless youth leader order Little Caesar's or would we have Wooten's very own cafeteria-style pizza? Would Michael speak to me? Did he like me? Did he like what I was wearing? Did he like someone else? I know, I know, I spent a lot of time focusing on Michael during my youth, but hey, it worked out for me!
I have recently realized that our youth today are bombarded with many issues that are far more pressing than those mentioned above. I teach 7th and 8th grade girls, and I struggle to hide my facial expressions at times. When I hear them discussing their family situation, specific drugs that they hear about at school, specific types of alcohol, friends being pregnant, dating guys 5+ years older than they are, pressure from parents that they MUST be in the "gifted" classes (I won't get on that soapbox today) I wonder how in the world they make it to graduation. I wish so badly that I could get them to see that all of these worldly things mean nothing, but I don't see that happening. So, I will continue to thank God that I grew up in a church, and was blessed to be involved and greatly influenced by my youth group, as well as try to divert my girl's attention from the things mentioned above, and to direct it towards God and all of His goodness as well as the simpler things in life, like pizza!

P.S. My hat goes off to Neil...and yours should too!

My Favorite Things in Life

In order to understand my future posts, you need to know my passions and loves...and meet a few people! So, here is my top 10 list!

#1: My Husband, Michael


#2: Winston, Our English Bulldog:


#3: The children in my life:

Our niece and nephew, Kelli and Matthew


Our cousins, Caleb and Collin


...and their sister, Baby Claire


#4: Our Family

My sisters, Pam and Cindy

(For the rest of our family, don't get offended...I just didn't have a picture of you!)

#5: Our Friends:

Amie and John Murphy


My Bestie, Brittany


Lacy, Me, and Brittany

(I am missing a few pictures of friends, as well...I will work on that, too!)

#6: Diet Coke:


#7: Birthday Cake


#8: White House Black Market


#9: Christmas


#10: Weddings
(I know, I know, I have already had mine, but I still LOVE them!!!)

My Blog Debut:

Ok...it's official. I am entering the world of blogging. After my husband, Michael, started The Ford Retort, I quickly became addicted to reading people's blogs. What a great way to keep up with what is going on in the lives of our friends. As many of you probably know, Michael and I have been through LOTS of major life changes recently. Some of those include: my final year of nursing school (which is enough to make anyone jump off of a really TALL building!), an engagement, Michael graduating and entering the full-time job arena, a wedding, moving into an apartment, me graduating and starting a new job, buying a house, buying a puppy, Michael recently changing jobs, and if that wasn't enough, I decided that I should work the night shift. This has all happened in the last year. It is definitely enough to make anyone go INSANE!
My hope is that this blog will give you a glimpse of what our life is like, but I am afraid that it will only reveal how crazy we really are. If it can make you laugh every-now-and-then, I guess it has been worthwhile. So, please visit frequently (as I hope to be a more reliable blogger than Michael) and feel free to leave your comments...

P.S. The above picture is of my my two most favorite men, Michael and Winston!!!!!