Goodbye blogger!

After 2 years of blogging here, I am shutting down my blog site. I have a new blog in progress at www.freewebs.com/lifeofjennifer

I am ready for a change and I like the set up better on the new site. I've got a couple of things up over there already, but wanted to make this announcement before totally deleting this blog page. I hope I see you over there too!

Thanks :-)

It's good to be home!

After driving for what felt like an ETERNITY to Orlando and back, I am so glad to be in my own bed, in my room, in my house, in Alabama! I had a lot of fun--for the most part--while we visited Universal Studios. Those pull out sleeper-sofas are works of the devil....trust me--LOL

Just a few of the sights at Universal. I forgot my camera the first day (bad Jennifer) so I guess I will just HAVE to make a trip back soon so I can catch a shot of those nice lookin' mummy guys that were walking around....







Loved the wild rides! I am a roller coaster nut! Sort of strange though--I am slightly terrified of heights, but I love thrill rides. The higher/faster a coaster goes, the happier I am. The best ride at Universal is definitely the Mummy ride--awesome! We rode that one about 3 times I think. Islands of Adventure has more thrill rides, so I liked it better. The Hulk is pretty good, but not long enough. You wait in line for 45 minutes and you only get a 90 second ride--bummer! Anyway, hopefully sometime this year we can go back (when it's NOT 90 degrees).

My first attempt....

I took piano lessons YEARS ago and learned just enough to play for our church. I can play most hymns without a problem. I've never been good at all that "play by ear" stuff...NEVER! I have to have the music sitting in front of me--and even then, depending on the difficulty of the song, I may have to practice a lot before it's good enough to sing by....oh, and I DO NOT sing either...LOL

I had some trouble sleeping a while back and decided that nothing would frustrate me more than trying to play a song by ear. I got up, turned the keyboard on, and the wheels started turning in my head..."Which song should I try to butcher tonight?" After all, this being the first attempt at a "all by ear" song, I wanted it to be a good one...LOL

My favorite guys sing a song called Reason Enough. It's a great song and it had been stuck in my head ever since we went to Iowa last year! I catch myself watching the video clip from the concert over and over. After hearing this song about a million times (by choice of course) I decided this was a good one to work on.

A couple hours later, this is what I ended up with--not a masterpiece, I know.....but for my first effort, I thought it wasn't THAT bad...LOL

This song was written by E. Haase, W. Haun, and J. Lindsey

LINE-2008-05-04_00h07m45s.mp3

New pet?

When I woke up this morning, I was overly thirsty and couldn't get downstairs fast enough to get some ice cold water! I grabbed my favorite jumbo plastic racing cup, filled it to the top with crushed ice, and headed to the sink...
As I look out our kitchen window, I spot these horridly wretched black birds and they seem to be attacking a small critter. I bang on the window and mumble a few words under my breath hoping they would sense my hatred toward them. They took a hint and flew away...just in time--I was ready to run out on the porch in my "Roll Tide" PJ's. As I look closer at this critter, I realize that he could have held his own against those evil crows!

It's a turtle! He poked his freakishly cute little head out as I was walking toward him. He looked thankful that I shoo'ed those nasty birds away, but still he looked a little scary with his bright red eyes and long 'fingers' sticking out, almost like they were waving at me....eww...I don't think I like turtles...LOL

A few sights from Chi-town

Although Chicago is NOT my kind of town, I did shove the small Canon camera in my pocket and go around snapping shots all around the pier. Lake Michigan was gorgeous and reminded me so much of the beach. The view from the grand ballroom overlooking the water was worth the 8 mile walk (or at least it felt like 8 miles) down the pier. I was so happy to be at the taping, but just a little inside info for those of us who are from the South...Southerners don't transplant well in Chicago! Don't ask for 'sweet tea'....what you get in return is not pretty...LOL I was SO glad to have our plane touch down in Birmingham late that night! I will never again complain about Birmingham being a 'mad house'....LOL

On to another chapter in my life...

The new nurse.....well....ALMOST!


Our RN graduating class of 2008 just completed our pinning ceremony! Yay! I wasn't very social throughout my 2 years in the nursing program, but I think I might actually miss a few of my crazy classmates. There are will always be the 3 or 4 that I stay in touch with forever, but for the most part, I will probably never see half of those people again. Kinda sad huh?



On a happy note, I am so glad to be finished with my ADN, but now I am thinking even further ahead--BSN to MSN! That will take a while for sure, especially while I am working, but I want to take a small break from the stress of school for a while before I start back with full force. I have an "interview" tomorrow with Trinity Hospital in the CVICU. I'm a little nervous, especially since I am a fresh graduate. I have 9 million things to do in order to take boards, get temporary license, etc... Still not sure what area I want to pursue as far as my 'career' is concerned, but I figure starting out with a slightly familiar environment is probably the best bet.
Pray for me!!!

Talent close to home is worth the drive :-)

Tonight I went to Double Oak Community Church in Birmingham to hear the one, the only, Wes Hampton. I knew he lived around here, but I didn't realize that all that stood between me and a "Wes-only concert" was a 20-25 minute drive up 280! He is absolutely a wonderful singer! I am so accustomed to hearing him do 'Gaither' material so I was in for a surprise when I heard different songs. They were all beautiful songs--I wish I knew the names of them...LOL.
He sang a few familiar to me, one of which I thought could only be done justice by Marshall Hall, but I was mistaken---Wes nailed it! His wife, Andrea, sang two songs with him and she has a beautiful voice also. I didn't know she was a singer. The Praise Choir joined Wes in singing on some of the songs and they are fantastic as well! His two little boys were there and are as cute as can be. Most of you that keep up with my blog know that my life almost revolves around seeing EH&SS, but this was pretty close to being a perfect night too! Wes is one of the nicest people I have met in the gospel industry. He is very easy to approach and has a great memory of the fans he meets. I can't wait till I can do this again :-)

My Dog

Riley has blessed our lives for the past 12 years. She is a little on the spoiled side and a little lazy, but she is my 'baby' and it broke my heart to find out she is very sick. She has an enlarged heart and it's cutting off her oxygen supply. She is on some doggy heart medicine now and if all goes well, she could possibly be with us for a couple more years. I don't even want to think about the medicine not working...I have already cried until I can't see straight! So, as I sit here and type, she is laying on the couch snoozing away like nothing is wrong. Her breathing has gotten somewhat better since Sunday, so I am seeing that as a sign of improvement. She will have to take those doggy medicines everyday for the rest of her sweet little life--but it's worth it to be able to keep my baby well enough to stay with us longer :-)

I hate packing...

Since I was able to keep my plans for this weekend, I thought I might start packing a few things so I won't have to worry with it tomorrow. My cat KNOWS that something is up! He has never seen a suitcase before but he knows deep down that it means mom is going away for a few days. He's not happy about this--I guess he thought that if he sat on my suitcase then I wouldn't be able to put anything else in it :-)


In addition to Jazz sitting on my suitcase, he just HAD to check out the Ernie bobble-head! He ended up slapping it over on to the bed--I'm not sure if he genuinely likes Ernie yet--We will have to work on that ;-)