Seven Random Things and The Stones

Last week Kelly's mom, Judy, tagged me to list seven random things about myself. I did this last year so you can go here to read them. I'm sure there are more random things I can add but these will have to do for now. Unless you would like to add some for me!

Yesterday I went to the urologist to discuss the stones. It was awful trying to get there. There was a lot of construction going on so the entire road was blocked, there wasn't a sign on the building or the door so I did a lot of driving around in circles. Finally once I was parked I picked a door that looked good and decided to check it out. Luckily it was the right one. When I opened it the lobby was full of people. So many people had to see a urologist yesterday. I was shocked! They weren't all elderly either! When I went to check in the lady at the desk handed me a cup and announced in front of everyone what I needed to do with it. I realize everyone in there had to do the same thing but it was still a little chawing! And besides it wasn't even a fancy doctor cup. It was a plain ole dixie!

After I provided them with "a sample" I was off to have a X-Ray taken. I wanted to take a picture of the machine but I wasn't sure the tech would find that amusing. The machine was like none I had seen. It reminded me of something you'd find on the TV show Lost. You know, something The Others would use to brainwash the survivors of the Oceanic Flight. Fortunately there was no brainwashing yesterday...that I know of. I guess only time will tell on that one. Anyway, after the X-Ray I went into a room to wait, and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait for the doctor. I waited so long I got bored and took a picture.

Once the doctor arrived he was there all of about 3 minutes. Enough to tell me the stones are small enough and have a 100% chance of passing on their own. That was pretty much the jest of it. He gave me his card and said if I needed anything to let him know. So I guess that's great news! And who knows maybe the home remedy did the trick. Now if I can just get rid of all this other costochondritis mess I'll be great! I'm currently hooked up to my heating pad at work. I took a picture of this on Friday but it is on my computer at home! I would take another one but there are quite a few people around! Maybe another time!

Blog Recipes

This weekend I decided it was time to try a couple recipes I found in blogland. When I first saw the recipe for cake balls on Ashley's blog I knew I had to try them. My love (obsession) for cake and icing were my driving force. And when I saw them Friday on Kelly's blog I knew I better get after it. I decided to make milk chocolate cake with butter cream icing and white almond bark! DELICIOUS!

They looked like meatballs before they were dipped.

For dinner last night I wanted to make something easy so I decided to try a recipe I saw on Sunni's blog. Well actually she had gotten the recipe from Annalee's blog. These are BBQ cups and they are really yummy and oh so easy!

I made some cheese dip for our side dish and it was great!

Josh added some mustard and ketchup to his cups. If you can't tell he likes condiments!

Over all both blog recipes were great! I sent the leftovers home with Josh to share with my parents and they also liked them! Can't wait to make more cake balls next weekend!

Invitations

I should start by saying that from the beginning of this wedding planning madness I had in my mind some things I wanted to spend more money on and other areas that I wanted to save money. One of the things I wanted to save money on was invitations. Don't get me wrong, I love the invitations with the multiple envelopes and several functioning parts. I just couldn't get over the fact people throw them away either immediately or after the wedding. And I certainly didn't want to have part of my wedding budget go towards extra envelopes and postage. At one point I just wanted to e-mail everyone an invite but clearly that wasn't the way to go either.

My mom's friend, Diane, has been planning a wedding for her daughter as well. She mentioned to my mom that we ought to go look at Treehouse Paper Co in Little Rock. I was skeptical because I figured anything from a cute paper store would be more than I wanted us to spend. My mom had gone in there a few times before I did and had made best friends with the cute ladies that work there so I knew I had to at least humor her and stop in. We made an appointment to meet with Angie one Saturday afternoon.

It took me all of 5 minutes to find an invitation I loved and realize it was completely affordable. I was a little shocked. I wanted something simple, no extra parts, but different. That's exactly what I picked out. And to top it all off I totally know why my mother has made such great friends with the people at Treehouse. They are wonderful to work with. Angie has been so great and timely about getting things done for me. I'm never had to wait on her she's always waiting on me. I'm so happy thus far and can't wait to see the invitations.

Besides all that it is the cutest store! They have so many things! If you're the kind of person that likes a bunch of different parts to your invitations they do that as well. You can find anything from casual to formal. And they have cute gifts. In fact, I've already gotten a few things from there and have plans to get others as well. So, if you live in that area and need any kind of invitation, stationary, or other gifts you really should stop in. I know you won't be disappointed!

There's more good news... last month at the Little Rock Bridal Fair they drew my name for a gift sack of personalized stationary. Here's what I got:

Sorry about the picture! It's not great quality! They are a lot cuter than what the picture shows! I'm really excited to use my new cards! And the little card with the ring on it is so adorable!

P.S. I ordered my dress today!!! Yea! Sorry, girls, no details! It's a surprise...except for a few who have seen it and given me their opinion! But I love it!

Lunch and Dresses

Today has been a great day! I had in my mind that I was supposed to meet Laurie and Emily for lunch on Friday. But my phone rang today around noon and Laurie was wondering where I was. I hopped in the car and was able to make it in a few minutes.

I had a great time! Not surprising because I always have a great time with them. And Emily is so cute! But let me just tell you her teeth are hilarious!!! Laurie says she looks like a cross between William Hung (sp) from American Idol several years ago and Laura Ingalls in her early years from Little House on the Prairie. Ha! She's so right! Her passy has made a show of her little white teeth! It certainly doesn't make her any less cute!

Isn't she cute?!

Then after work today I had two of my bridesmaids, my friend Shannon and roommate Holly, meet me at The Briar Patch to try on a potential bridesmaid dress. They both loved it and so I made the decision then and there that it was the one. What do you think?

TOTALLY KIDDING!!!!

Clearly that's NOT the dress I chose. I chose a rather plain but beautiful dress with different necklines so each bridesmaid can pick the one most flattering on her. I'm really excited about them!

Here's Shannon about to get measured for the dress.

Here's Holly catching us up on the latest Heidi and Spencer (The Hills) gossip.

Weekend Recap

FRIDAY

Friday I was able to leave work early to head to Clarksville to help Josh finish packing. This was the weekend to move to Little Rock. He, along with my parents, decided it would best if he just lived with them until we get married. When I got to his apartment on Friday this is what I saw when he opened the door...

He knows me well! Flowers, cake, and a movie! Can't go wrong with any of that! After I got there we both finished packing him up and loading the car.

Then we headed to Little Rock. When we arrived Josh unloaded the cars and I put on my pajamas. I love being in my pjs and so I don't usually waste any time getting there. I had extra motivation because my dad was on his way home with dinner from one of my favorite places.

BLT Pizza

Cheeseburger Pizza--has mustard and pickles! Soooo good!!

After dinner we all gathered in "the red room" and went through the song list for the band to play at the wedding. My dad got on ITunes so he could hear each song to make sure its one we wanted. In his old age he doesn't see as well as he used to. He grabbed the first pair of glasses he could find. Turns out they are just his style.

When we finished with the music my parents went to bed and Josh and I went through his clothes so he could organize his new closet in his new room.

For the most part Josh was able to get settled into his new crib. He still has some things to get from his apartment but all should be moved by the end of this week. I'll post more on that later!

SATURDAY

On Saturday we organized more of Josh's things and then we were lazy. Well at least I was lazy. I hadn't felt well all week and it got worse on Saturday (more on this later in the post). Josh worked on his seminary homework and I took a nap, watched the hog b-ball game, took another nap, and that's about all.

Saturday night was really the main event of the day. We went with my parents to their friends Mark and Diane's house. Their daughter Jenny and her fiance Daniel were there too. They all hadn't been able to spend much time with Josh in the past and since we're getting married and moving to Little Rock it's definitely something we all wanted to do.

Mark and my dad decided earlier in the week they wanted to get the Jermain Taylor/Kelly Pavlik so that would be the perfect time to get together. Mark made some delicious steaks and sweet potato fries to get us energized for the fight!! And Jenny made a yummy and healthy dessert.

We had a great time! The food was delicious and the company couldn't be beat. Unfortunately Jermain would be beat...he lost. It was a much better fight this time than the last time. He didn't hand out on the ropes as much and he kept his gloves up. Too bad it wasn't enough to win! That's ok JT, we still love you!

****************

Health Update: Still no stones. I haven't been hurting so that's a good thing. Hope I didn't pass and flush them on accident. I did have to go to the doctor today for another issue. Aside: I haven't gone to the doctor in years and in the last two weeks I've gone 3 times. Anyway...I have been having some chest and upper back pains. I thought it had something to do with a cold I had earlier in the week. Apparently I have costochondritis. Nothing serious. He gave me a steroid shot and told me not lift anything over 15 pounds, raise my arms above my chest, or work out for at least 2 weeks. That's great and all except I haven't been to the gym in 3 weeks already and I have a wedding to get ready for! Oh well! It's the doctors orders!!

Home Remedy

Update: Good news and bad news...the good news is I haven't felt much pain lately but the bad news is I still have 2 stones, that I know of! I mean I'm sure one could have gotten away from me but I highly doubt it. Thanks again for all your prayers! I'll keep you updated!

Last night was not at all a typical Wednesday night. Normally I would be going to my Beth Moore bible study at church and Josh would be delivering a message and hanging out with some crazy teenagers. Instead I was at home drinking gallons of water and Josh was on his way to hang out with me.

When he arrived he looked like this...

And I looked like this.

Ha! Quite the unmatched pair. I didn't care though I still thought we needed to go get a few things at the store for a kidney stone home remedy. My friend Shannon called and said a man at our church took this remedy and passed his stone in a hour! Woohoo! Sign me up! It consists of olive oil and lemon juice. I researched it on the internet and found the same kind of information. Drinking this will help you pass a stone in less that 24 hours. As soon as Josh arrived we got in the car and headed out for some lemon juice. I already had the olive oil in my cabinet. I was excited about the thought of passing the stones without surgery but was not excited about drinking this...

It kept separating so I tried to stir before I chugged it.

I just had to hurry and go for it.

At first it wasn't bad. Just felt a little weird. Then the lemon juice hit. I chased it with a bottle of water but it didn't help that much. My mouth still felt like oil.

After a while it didn't seem to bother me anymore but then right before bed I started getting really queezy. Josh set me up a "barf" bag next to my bed in case I needed it. Fortuntely I didn't need it but unfortunately as of now still no stone. Oh well! I'll just keep waiting and praying. Thanks to all of you for your prayers! I REALLY appreciate them!

P.S. Isn't Josh a cutie??????

Stone Update

For those of you that read this post I have an update for you. I talked to the nurse today and she confirmed I have two stones, one in each kidney. That was actually good news to me. I was more worried it wasn't stones and something more serious. As Fran said, at least with stones I know the drill. The plan right now is to pray I pass the stones on my own. If I haven't passed anything by Thursday I'll go see a urologist to see if another procedure is necessary. I would love if you would pray for minimal pain. God has been good with this so far and although I've had pain I haven't had to take anything major. Also pray that I can pass them on my own. I would MUCH rather pass them than pay for them to be blown up. However, if that's the only way to be rid of them I'll gladly go along with it! Right now I'm just drinking lots of water, straining (this is so annoying), and waiting!

Wedding Planning At Its Finest

Since Josh and I got engaged on January 14th we've been busy getting all of the details for the big day worked out. We still have lots to do but we're finally making some progress. My mom and dad have been a big help in all of this craziness. In fact I think they've done more than I have. I should also mention that my dad's assistant, Laura, has also been a HUGE help. She will also be serving as our coordinator on the day of the wedding to make sure things get done and run smoothly. She's done a great job so far!! Here's kind of where I'm at with the planning.

Completed:

• Wedding Date


• Location


• Colors


• Bridesmaids/Groomsmen


• Ceremony Musician


• Minister


• Band


• Save the Date cards


• Invitations


• Guest list (Josh has done a great job of getting his addresses)


• Photographer


• Rehearsal Dinner location

In the works:

• Cake (meeting with a lady soon to discuss ideas and have a taste test-YUM!)


• Dress (I think I've found "the one")


• Bridesmaid dresses (this has been a challenge)


• Song list for the band

Next on the list:

• Finish getting all our addresses


• Send out Save the Date cards


• Wedding website


• Flowers and Decorations**

Obviously there are a lot of others things that need to be done but since we still have 7 months and 8 days I can do some of those other things later on.

**I am trying to avoid using flowers on the tables at the reception and using very few flowers at the ceremony. I know flowers cost a lot of money and I'd much rather spend the money in other places. If any of you have ideas for centerpieces please let me know. I've seen a few things I like but I would definitely love to here thoughts from any of you!

Cracker Barrel Welcomes...

This morning I had breakfast with three of my favorite people at one of my favorite breakfast joints. Kelly, Katie (and Zach), and I met at Cracker Barrel this morning and we had a great time!

I have some of the best friends in the whole world and I love spending time with them! I want to enjoy it while I can! Anyway, normally when I go to CB I like to get one of everything...seriously. You see, I love salty breakfast foods just as much as sweet breakfast foods and I don't feel satisfied unless I have both. And today was no exception!

I must take this moment to let Kelly know how proud I am of her! As soon as I saw her walk into the restaurant I was shocked! Completely shocked! You see, Kelly ALWAYS dresses up, normally in a dress. It's just one of those things she's always done. But today, she wore jeans, a fleece, and tennis shoes! Don't get me wrong Kelly looks super cute in anything! The first thing she said to me, after seeing the look of surprise on my face, was, "I knew you'd be proud!" She's right! I was!

TMI

Those of you who know me know that I have had issues with kidney stones in the past. Actually the last time I passed one was January of 1997. It was quite an experience and one I never wanted to re-live. A few weeks ago I started dropping hints to my parents and to Josh that I might be dealing with those pesky things again. In effort to rule a few things out I went to the doctor. I was hoping they would tell me I just have an infection and all would be well. Last Friday (before Josh's big weekend at Lifeline...what great timing) I went to the doctor. She gave me an antibiotic but also made subtle hints that she didn't think it was a UTI but something else. She told me if my symptoms didn't get better by Monday to give her a call. Well they most certainly did not get better. Fortunately I was able to make it through all of the weekend festivities. At the beginning of the week I called the doctor (actually the lady I've been seeing is a nurse practioner but since my good friend Laura is also one of those I knew I was in good hands). She made me an appointment to come back in and see her. At this point I'm convinced its kidney stones. But the more I started thinking about it the more I didn't know. Those are simply the only thing I've dealt with that are comparable. Anyway, I went in to see her. They drew blood, I peed in a cup (fyi), and then she informed me she wanted to schedule a CT scan to see what's going on. She's not convinced its kidney stones so I guess she wants to get a picture of everything just in case. Before I left though she provided me with the famous strainer.

Since I've been through this drill before I knew it was coming. You simply use the apparatus to strain your pee...excuse me...urine. That's the proper name. But not only did she give me that she gave me something else too.

Apparently I'm supposed to pee (urinate) into this and then strain it. The best part was that I had to carry that from where I was, through the lobby, and to my car. Talk about embarrassing! I realize I'm going against the doctor's orders but I figure I have pretty good aim so I'm not going to mess with the potty seat they gave me! For the love!

Anyway, the nurse called and scheduled my CT scan at the hospital for this coming Monday. MONDAY! That's so long away! What if it is a kidney stone and it hits? What if its something more serious? Who do I call during the weekend and late at night if I need some pain relief? I was talking to my good friend Shannon about what the nurse had been saying. Without me knowing it she spoke with her boss (who has major connections at the hospital). Apparently he (her boss) didn't like that I had to wait until Monday so he made a phone call. Lo and behold today around 8:30 this morning the hospital called and told me to come on down for my test! Woohoo!! Talk about knowing the right people! Thanks to Shannon and Dan for helping me out! Now I'm just waiting for the results. I'll find out in the next 48 hours. In the meantime I'm continuing to drink gallons of water and praying that its nothing more serious.

It's Official!

As some of you already know the job search for Josh is now over! He is to be the new youth pastor at Lifeline Baptist Church in Little Rock starting February 17th. He and I are both excited about the church. Of course it is bittersweet because that ultimately means I'll be moving away from Northwest Arkansas. BUT I won't think about that now! I still have some time left here.

Here was our schedule of events leading up to the church vote:

Friday night: Staff Dinner-I had a really good time! Everyone is a lot of fun! They pick on each other and laugh a lot. Those are my kind of people. Plus anything that involves food is usually good for me.

Saturday evening: A youth get together at a church members' home. It was a lot of fun. Josh played basketball with the guys and I chit-chatted with the ladies from the church. They were all so nice and we fit in really well. Josh gave a brief devotional and then there was a Q&A session for the both of us.

Sunday morning: At 9:00 we had a meeting with the deacons. We were only in there a few minutes. Just long enough for them to ask us both questions. After that we went to the youth department. We met some more of the youth and then Josh did the large group opening. He just shared his vision for the youth group. Next Bro. Jeff took us around and introduced us in all of the Sunday School classrooms, including the nursery. There are some cute babies in that place! After our tour of rooms we joined the young adult Sunday School class. That will be the class that Josh and I will attend. Bro. Jeff expects him to do the youth opening every Sunday and then we'll be able to go to our own Sunday School class. That excites me because I like to intereact with adults too! Once Sunday School was over we headed to the sanctuary for church. My parents joined us for the service and I was glad about that! Josh gave his testimony during the opening. And of course we dined out for lunch. The search committee and their families made up the lunch group.

Sunday afternoon: NAP!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday evening: We arrived at the church around 6:00. The service started at 6:30 and that was Josh's big event. It was a Q&A (we had LOTS of those over the weekend) time with the congregatoin. He did great, as always, and it didn't last too long. Once it was finished the church voted "yes" and Josh accepted. They prayed over us and then all welcomed us to the church. And of course we went with a group out to dinner afterwards. It was a big relief to have the busy weekend behind us!



Thanks to everyone for all of your prayers throughout this process! I hope you will come visit us in Little Rock!

Showers of Blessings!!

Saturday morning I was priviliged enough to help host a baby shower with some of my best friends for one of our best friends. I've known Jenny since high school and she's one of my favorites! In fact all of the girls involved in the shower are some of my favorites and to be honest they are part of the reason I named my blog "Fruit Basket." Our moms helped out with the shower too!

The Fruits (minus Laura...we missed you!)

Our Mothers

We all arrived to Afton's home to get ready for the shower. There were lots of things to get done before the guests arrived!

Katie and Afton making the punch.

The guests drank out of Sippie Cups! What a cute idea, Afton!

We had lots of fun at the shower! Jenny got some really nice things! And of course no shower is complete without a game or two. Katie put together a Celebrity Baby game for all to enjoy!

Katie, Jenny, and Benjamin

Baby Game! Match the celebrity with their baby(ies).

Our first and second place winners!

To top it all off Zach joined in on the fun!

Jenny presented us with our hostess gifts...monogrammed aprons! I love mine! It has a "B" for my soon-to-be last name! Thanks, Todd!