Quick update on my dad

I'm on my break at work so I only have a few minutes, but in case there's anyone out there reading this that is wondering how my dad is doing I thought I'd fill you in:

He's still in the nursing home. He will be until at least next week (he was hoping to be home for Christmas, but that's not going to happen). He is in his own private room now so that's made it a little easier.

He had surgery on Friday to put a stunt in his head that will slowly drain the extra fluid that has been harming his balance, memory and urinary system. His balance has already improved slightly and we're looking forward to a lot more improvement.

My dad has been able to pray "the sinner's prayer", as he calls it, with 3 people at the nursing home and many more have taken an "Amazing Love" cd and/or are interested in coming to our church. God is really working in and through my dad!

Modesty Movement ...

One of the young men in church started this movement. He spoke in youth group last night and it was really, really good. Especially for a 16-year-old. Please check out the website/blog ...

www.modestymovement.org

They also have a facebook fan page and group. Search for modesty?movement in the search bar.

Lack of Computer ...

My home computer doesn't let me post on blogger for some unknown reason. That's why I haven't been posting lately. I have a bunch of posts written in my head, but I can rarely get to a computer to type them on here. Oh well ... maybe someday I'll have a computer that works right. :)

The old men in the room

I say that with absolute affection and respect - I love my dad's rehab roommates. There's 4 of them in a room, they're all elderly and none of them can hear. It's actually really comical because they all just talk and none of them really listen. They try, but it doesn't usually work well.

The oldest in the room is Henry. He's 85 and has been in this rehab place for 8 months. It's his choice though - he loves it there. Because he's been around so long he's the expert on everything and is always sharing helpful (and sometimes not so helpful) advice, even when no one's listening.

The next oldest is Sully. He's 83 and still owns a furniture store. I'm not sure who's running it while he's gone, but he doesn't seem too worried about it. Sully is a Yankee fan, yet somehow manages to get along well with pretty much everyone on the floor of this rehab place in the heart of Red Sox territory. He has a lot of stories to tell and they usually take a lot longer than necessary because he often forgets what he's trying to say.

Last, but certainly not least, is Larry. He's in the bed right across from my dad. Larry likes things to be his way and doesn't mind telling the nurses, aids, doctors, volunteers, etc what he wants and how they can do it for him. He's a good guy though - just a little rough around the edges. He's 75 (almost forgot to say his age).

My dad, being my dad, has already had conversations with all of them about the Lord. Sully is a very strong Catholic. As far as we know Henry is not part of any religion. Larry is either Catholic or Episcopalian, I'm not sure which. Please pray that my dad gets through to these men. He's been taking every opportunity he can to share Jesus with them and now we just have to pray that the seeds will take root in their hearts.

Blog that I LOVE

It's not very deep. It's not about someone with cancer or a rare disease. It doesn't have amazing words of wisdom or even shopping advice. What it does have is pictures and what it is about is weddings. I love weddings, every part of them, and I love pictures. Put those two together and you already have the perfect blog for me to waste time on. Add that the photographer is AMAZING and funny and you have my favorite blog of the moment (other than the blogs written by people I love of course).

http://abiqblog.com

Check it out - it's so much fun!

This past week ...

> My dad went into a rehab place with the goal of learning how to be more independent with less pain (they're even working on his breathing. Yay!)

> My mom had an H1N1 scare

> I worked 35.5 hours (instead of the 10 I was hired for). These hours included being by myself for the first (and second) time with a preschool class AND having a practicum student. Stressful, but such a learning experience!!

(There was a also a small fire in the microwave at work this week - that was interesting)

My mom's birthday ...

was spent in the ER with my father. He's ok now - they were just checking him because his blood sugar shot up and he was feeling really weak (he's diabetic, but they wanted to check for infection). Because of this we didn't really have a birthday celebration as a family (yet, hopefully my dad will feel better this weekend). Thankfully, my mom has awesome friends ...

The day of her birthday my mom and I were supposed to go to a wedding. As a surprise for my mother, the bride and groom had bought her a cake and some flowers and were planning on singing "happy birthday" during the reception. That didn't happen of course, but my mom did get the flowers and cake dropped off to her. :)

Then my mom's Bible Study had a birthday party for her - complete with an appearance by The Cat in the Hat.

Don't you love her expression? :)

Thank you everyone for making my mom's birthday special!

ba da ba baba ... I'm lovin' it!

Not McDonald's (though I do sometimes give in and get snack wraps from there), my job. I'm loving my job!! :)

Right now I float around to all the classrooms. I go where I'm needed and it's a beautiful process.
My usual day is infant room in the morning, toddler room(s) during and right after nap and preschool room(s) during afternoon recess until the end of the day. It's practically the perfect day. The babies are so cute! I love cuddling them and playing with them (stinky diapers not so much, but what are you gonna do?). The toddler room is fun because they're just learning how to be independent and it's a blast watching them figure it out. The preschoolers are my favorite age group (which is why I went to school to learn how to teach them). Being outside with them is so much fun! And the end of the day is so relaxed and laid back, I basically spend it playing ... and I get paid!! I cannot say enough how happy I am about this job.

To top it off - I was hired for only ten hours a week and so far I'm averaging 20. Praise God because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to live on ten.

Hi Grammy!!

I just found out that my Grammy reads my blog. :) That makes me feel so special. She's my mom's mom and a very special lady. I got to know her better when she came to visit my family this Summer. We had a lot of fun and it made me wish that I could see her more often. Until I see her again though at least she can keep up with me here.

I love you Grammy!

Cleaning out the office ...

Tomorrow's my last day working at LAOG. I've spent the last 3 hours cleaning out my office and computers and all that. It's kind of sad, but I'm excited for the next stage of my journey - child care here I come!!

Am I seriously blogging about a cleaning product?

Yep. I'm excited about it too.

Scrubbing Bubbles Orange Action. My new favorite cleaning product. I've used it before, but tonight I let it sit for a couple minutes like it says to in the directions before wiping it off and it was like using an entirely different product. The soap scum and dirt came right off! Who knew that the commercials weren't lying? Well, it took a little more elbow grease than the commercial suggested it would, but when do you not have to use elbow grease?

On a side note: Whoever invented the toilet brush was a genius - they should get a trophy.

I got a job!!

It's not very many hours, but it has the potential to be more. I am being hired to work 3-5 everyday as a float in a daycare. Only 10 hours a week for now, but they said they will be able to offer me more very soon. And if someone else ends up offering me more hours than they will understand if I choose to leave.

Unfortunately I won't be able to post any pictures of the kids because they don't allow that.

Visiting Cait

Laurie B. went to parent's weekend at Caitlin's college and graciously invited me along. Rob B. and Stephen A. came along too. We had a great time visiting a cavern and an historical (and fun) museum, going to a soccer game, hanging out in the hotel and with Cait in her dorm and attending Cait's church. This was the last parent weekend Caitlin will have at her college - she'll be graduating next May!

Excited because we're about to see Cait

Hugs!! (there was a playground at the caverns - Caitlin's standing on some sort of climber)

*pictures by Laurie B.*

I love changing my blog :)

As you can see I've changed my blog around again - three columns now and a very pretty background if I do say so myself. :) I tried to do some other stuff too, but so far it hasn't worked yet. I'm not quite done, but I have to go eat now so I can be to church on time.

I'm so addicted to personalizing my blog!

Two months later ...

I'm all done school!! Practicum 2 is over (I had a blast with the children, but I'm not supposed to post pictures of them - sorry) and I have my official associates' degree. Yay!! I'll be starting school in January for my Bachelors', which I'm actually excited for now instead of dreading.

I resigned from my job as church secretary at the end of August so that I could start working in my field. Unfortunately, the job that I had fell through. Thankfully, the church hadn't found anyone to replace me yet so I'm still here until I get a job in my field or they find someone else to do my job. Please pray that I get a job in my field quickly - I really want to start gaining experience and spending my days with children instead of at the computer.

My dad's eyes are completely healed from the cataract surgery. There were absolutely no complications and he's been able to see much better now. Praise God!

As of this Sunday I am taking over as Nursery Director of our church. Aahh!! I'm not sure I'm quite prepared for the responsibility of it all, but God is faithful and I believe He's asking me to do this. The more I get into it the more work I realize it is, but I have a very qualified Nursery Administrator (Haley W.) to help me and, as Pastor Mark keeps reminding me, I went to school for this.

Great Opportunity

I got to have lunch with my state's Commisioner of Education and a bunch of other higher ups in the system this past Wednesday. The Commisioner came to my college to discuss Early Childhood Education issues with my professors as well as some local leaders in the field. I was chosen to represent the student body. I didn't do much besides introduce myself and listen during the lunch, but afterwards when they got a tour of the lab school I was able to give a little bit of information about being a student there and the type of education I received. It was an intimidating, but fun time and I am so honored that I was chosen to be there.

Cute moments

Yesterday at my new Practicum site we were talking to the kids about the weekend and the special day coming up (they're not allowed to celebrate Holidays, but birthdays are ok - so Happy Birthday America!!). One of the teachers was talking about red, white and blue and asking the kids why those colors are so important to America. One of the little 4-year-olds chimed in with, "Cause it's the grand ol' flag!" :)

There is a little girl at my Practicum site who just turned 2 years, 9 months and is now able to be in the preschool. She's teeny-tiny and absolutely adorable! She holds her own pretty well with all of the older kids, but she also does a lot of playing on her own (completely appropriate for her age by the way). Her favorite thing to do is paint. She goes to the easel at least twice a day just to paint a picture. On Wednesday her arms and hands were covered with paint. As she was admiring her artwork (the paint on her hands, not the paper she had been painting) she looked up at us and said, "I do love it." "What do you love?" She held up her hands, got a huge smile on her face and said, "Paint!"

Flowers :)

I found this picture on the computer. I took it last year in the dark.

God is so good to us. He didn't have to make beautiful things for us. He could've placed us in a drab world, but He loves us too much. Thank you God for giving us such beautiful representations of your love!

Question

What do you think is more important?

1) Helping a friend move boxes from a family member's house to their own
or
2) Attending a Bible Study that you've commited to, but missed last week because of Father's Day

I'm having a hard time deciding if my responsibility is to my friend or the Bible Study.

God is Stronger ... Right?

My dad got sent for blood work two weeks ago because he's had a constant infection and a high white blood cell count ... I'm sure some of you already know where I'm going with this. This morning, after what felt like months of waiting (it was actually only a week) the doctor called us with the news - my dad has Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and he's had it for 2 years. Ouch. The doctor seemed optimistic though - he said that my dad's white blood cells doubled in 2 years and they don't start worrying until they double in 4 months. Which means that my dad could feasibly live another 20 years. I'm not sure what his quality of life will be, but at least he didn't say 6 months. So right now all it means is more doctors appointments and more blood work. My poor father already spends so much of his time in the doctor's office - diabetes, multiple chronic breathing problems, glaucoma, nerve damage, broken back/back surgery, getting older in general, and now this. He's taking it surprisingly well - he doesn't understand why my mom and I are so worried, to him God is in control and what happens will only bring glory to our Creator. I wish I had that much faith.

*Oops! I was wrong - my dad doesn't have glaucoma, he has cataracts. I also forgot to add osteoporosis to his list of ailments.

I graduated!!!!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009, I graduated with an associates degree in Early Childhood Education from Mt. Wachusett Community College. I have been working on getting this degree for 3 years instead of the usual 2 in an effort to not go into debt. And it worked - I'm debt free!! :) I'm not quite done with the degree though. I still have one more Practicum to do. I'm working at it right now though and should be done by mid-July. I'm so excited!!! Next step will probably be working towards a bachelor degree because they're eventually going to be required. One step at a time though.

Walking into the "auditorium" (otherwise known as a gym).

Some of the people that came out to support me - thank you guys!! :)

There it is - my empty diploma cover. Good thing it didn't have the diploma in it because it would have been misspelled - when they called me up they said "Christina E. Salliby" Definitely not my name. Oh well though - the actual diploma should be right.

After party at my house - cake and ice cream and lots of fun. (Caitlin left for Cyprus at 4 the next morning, but she still hung out with us - she loves me.)

My parents couldn't hang out after the graduation, so we had the official parent/graduate picture at the house after. I couldn't have gotten this diploma without them - I have the best parents in the world!

My graduation gift from my parents - internet access for my laptop!

The after after party - we all headed to Mack and Marci's house when my dad kicked us out because he wanted to go to bed.

I'm so excited I graduated!!!

My Last Day with the New Loves of my Life (aka - Practicum 1 is over)

*I had to take the pictures out of this post for safety reasons. All notes written in red are descriptions of what the pictures were*

My first student teaching experience is complete. Three months of spending three mornings a week with the same kids is over. :( [It was actually over in May, but I'm not that caught up yet]. I learned a lot and grew to really love these kids. I'm going to miss them so much! Here's a peek into a morning spent in Pre-K at BCDC:

*children reading in a small tent*

Hanging out in the tent during free play.

*two little girls at the art table - gluing shapes to a paper plate*

Art time - not too many kids interested that day, which is unusual for this classroom.

*a little girl reading a book, wearing a basket as a hat*

Reading in "the one person area" during free play (notice the basket on her head).

*teacher and children lined up, holding onto a rope*

Headed out for a walk (my place was always in the back of the line).

*children on the swings - flying high*

Swinging. I lost track of how many times I heard, "Ms. Christine! Can you push me?"

*many children on a climber, including one that is perched at the top*

The little guys sitting at the top? He's not supposed to be up there.

*a little boy in a hooded sweatshirt (with the hood up), a jean jacket, a baseball cap and sunglasses*

He's afraid of bugs.

*teacher and little boy looking at an I-Spy book*

Indoor quiet time after being outside for so long.

*picture of the whole class plus one*

Me, my cooperating teacher Ms. Carolyn, and the Pre-K class (the little guy in the orange shirt at the end is not actually in the class - he just snuck into the picture).

Remember Me?

I'm back online now. I stopped blogging for awhile because I can't blog from home and I didn't want to spend too much time at work on the blog, but I have nothing to do right now so i figured I could take some time to catch you all up. :)

I graduated with my associates degree in Early Childhood Education on Wednesday night. :) I still have one more Practicum (student teaching) to do over the Summer, but then I am DONE!!! Am I getting my Bachelor's? I don't know yet. We'll see what the Summer brings.

I've been working at my church for 3 years now, but by the end of this Summer I'll be all done - preschool teaching positions call ... hopefully. I basically have a job waiting for me at the last place I did my practicum, I just hope that it stays there. I'm not too worried though - God knows what I need.

I just became involved in a Triad (which is a Christianese word for three people getting together to have a Bible Study and encourage each other in their walks with Christ). Triad's are a way that our church is working on building stronger relationships with each other. We're actually calling ours a Trio though because according to Nick the word triad has something to do with the mafia. It's Leah, Marci and I and I think we're going to have a lot of fun getting to know each other and digging into the Word. I'm really excited!!

The Bible Study my mother is in came over our house on Tuesday night and fixed up our front and back yards. Woohoo!! They look beautiful! Now there's space for me to try something I've been thinking about doing for a while - garden. I'm not going to do much this year - a few vegetables and some flowers, but if it works out I'll have a bigger garden next year. :)

Caitlin is back from Italy, and now in Cyprus. She's there on an archaeological dig for 3 weeks.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading. :)

Never ending

I know I sound just like every other person in school right now when I say this, but I'm saying it anyway, "When does the work end??" Seriously, as soon as I accomplish one paper or project I realize that I'm already behind on working on two more.

I'm spending the day at the library today trying to catch up to some classes and get a head start on others. What a way to celebrate the beginning of Spring Break.

They're Back!!!

Everyone that went on the trip to Israel got back safely. :) They're full of stories and smiles. You can tell it was a great experience.

The Skype attempt

As you know, Caitlin is in Rome for the semester. This, of course, makes communication very difficult. It's made even more difficult by our crazy schedules and the 6 hour time difference. A great solution to this problem: Skype (if you don't know what it is you should probably look it up because I don't know how to explain it. Sorry.). Even with this great solution Caitlin and I weren't able to Skype till tonight for the first time. And guess what? The connection was so bad that we were only able to talk for 3 minutes at a time! It was so crazy. Our entire conversation consisted of, "Hi! oops! I lost you. Can you hear me? There you are! Oh no - I can't see you again." It was sad. It was nice to see her face, but I miss her way too much for that to be enough. I'm not giving up though - we'll try again soon! I think I'm going to have to skip something on my schedule so I can fit in time when she'll have the best connection.

I love you Cait and I miss you so much!!!

RIP Pepe

My mom's dad (Pepe) died last night around 6pm. He wanted to be alone when he died and he was - my mom and grandmother had just left the hospital. I don't have many details right now because my mom wasn't up for talking.

I just love to update you all ...

I know, I know, every time I post I have a billion things to say. That's just how it is right now. :)

First and most urgently: My mom's father is dying. He's had heart problems for years and fought through numerous near death illnesses, but as far as we can tell this is the end. He has pneumonia in both lungs and has stopped eating. This is the first time he seems to have given up and that's why we think it's the end. My mom is in Florida with him now. We just pray that the Good News he's heard so many times will really sink in before he takes his last breath.

I got my first official illness from my practicum kids last week: conjunctivitis. I've had it before and I knew I had it right away, but when I called my doctor for the drops (they've just sent me a prescription for them before) they said I had to come in to be seen. That was on Wednesday. They couldn't see me till Friday morning. Which meant that I was contagious till Saturday morning. That's a lot of days of not doing anything! Of course I didn't use that time wisely so I still have a mountain of school work to get done. One of these days I'll learn.

Nick and Marci are married!!! I didn't get to go to the wedding (like I said before - family only), but I did get to see some great pictures. Here's one of them (stolen from Marci):

The last news we heard is that Nick isn't leaving for Afghanistan until April.

Haley's back to normal now (except that she's avoiding lactose - doctor's orders) and is in Israel right now. She and 24 other people from our church (including Pastor Mark and Terry) are there on a ten day tour. They left yesterday and they'll be back next Wednesday. We all think they're a little crazy considering the war that's going on over there, but the tour people claim that they won't be anywhere near Gaza and they'll be perfectly safe. I'm still a little worried.

I guess that's all I have to say. I felt like there was more, but apparently not. Tune in soon to hear all about my amazing 21st birthday! :)

Green Painted Jeans

I started my student teaching last week and I am LOVING every minute of it!!! The classroom I'm in is Pre-K (so 4&5 year-olds). Their teacher is awesome and we have so much fun everyday!! One of the big things we do in the classroom is open ended art projects. Which basically means that Ms. Carolyn (the teacher I'm working with) puts out a certain medium (usually paint) and a specific kind of paper (dinosaur shaped paper, wax paper, construction paper, etc...) and then lets the kids do what they want. There is no right or wrong and they can even use their hands if they so desire. For some reason unknown to me they are all loving green. Green paint, green bingo dotters, green markers. They're having a blast with the green, and I've gotten it on two pairs of jeans now. I actually like that idea - I feel a little more like a real teacher.

They're my badges of honor - green painted jeans. :)

Dad's surgery

I'm just about to leave school, but I thought I'd give you all an update real quick. My dad just got out of his surgery and the doctor said he's doing just fine. :) I'm going to be headed to the hospital now, hopefully I'll make it there before he wakes up.

Thanks for all your prayers!!! :)

My new schedule:

Every semester my schedule changes to fit around the classes I'm taking (just like every other college student out there). This time my schedule is busier because of practicum. I thought I'd write out the major weekly things here so that the people that have asked me about it can find it:

Monday:
7:30-12:30/1:00 Practicum at BCDC
1:00- 4:00ish work at LAOG
6:00- 8:30 "Guiding Children's Behavior" at MWCC

Tuesday:
9:30-12:15 "Leadership in Education Seminar" and math class at MWCC
1:00- 4:00ish work at LAOG
6:00- 8:30 "Day Care Administrarion" at MWCC

Wednesday:
7:30- 12:00 Practicum at BCDC
12:20- 2:00 Practicum seminar at MWCC
2:30- 6:00 work at LAOG

Thursday:
9:30- 12:15 "Leadership in Education Seminar" and math class at MWCC
1:00- 4:00ish work at LAOG

Friday:
7:30- 12:30/1:00 Practicum at BCDC
1:00- 4:00ish work at LAOG

Sunday:
8:00- 1:15ish Church, teach 2&3's Sunday School and nursery at LAOG
4:30- 6:00 young adult Bible Study at LAOG
6:30- 8:00 work in youth Bible Study at LAOG

So now you know where to find me at all times during the week. If there's any time when I don't have to be at work or school you can find me fitting hours in at my practicum site. I'm supposed to be finishing early so that I can start the next one right away. The goal is for me to be done with both practicums by July so that the President of the school will let me walk in the graduation in May. I hope it works out!!

Updates and News (again)

Hello everyone! The update fairy here with some updates (because if she was bringing you something else she wouldn't be an update fairy now would she?). First, my dad is definitely going to have surgery on Thursday. He'll be staying overnight at the hospital and should supposedly be in much less pain when he wakes up. I'm a little skeptical of this less pain thing because doctors have said that to him before, but I have to remember that I'm not putting my trust in his earthly doctor, but in our Heavenly Doctor that created my dad and knows him better than anyone else. He'll take great care of my daddy. :)

Caitlin is adjusting well in Rome, to find out more about her you should check out her blog because she says it so much better than I could.

Haley's doctors have finally decided that the pain they thought was her gull bladder was actually severe acid reflux. She thinks the pain was too bad for that, but she had an endoscopy and that's what it showed. She just got her stitches in her arm out on Monday and though she's pretty badly bruised still she's feeling much better. She's even going back to work today!

Now for some bittersweet news: Marci's getting married!!! For those of you who don't know, Marci R. and Nick S. have been planning on getting married in June. The wedding day was set and she was just about to send out invitations when they found out that Nick is going to be deployed (that's the bitter part). He's leaving in February for training and then in April they're going to send him to either Iraq or Afganistan. He'll be gone for a year. They just found this out last Friday (Jan 16). Instead of postponing the wedding they decided to move it up - to Saturday (Jan 24). They're getting married in two days!!! They're going to have a small wedding with just immediate family and then a big wedding and reception in a year when he comes back. This time for them has been absolutely crazy! They're trying to get an apartment ready and a wedding planned in a week, plus Marci started school on Tuesday! I don't think they're going to have time to process him being deployed until after the ceremony. Marci says she's not feeling too stressed at the moment which is great! Please pray that God continues to give her peace and that He blesses the time that she and Nick have together. Also pray for Nick's safety and Marci's sanity while he's gone. I'll update you as I know more.

My verse ...

The verse that keeps sneaking its way into my life and that I am now seeing as my verse for this year is ...

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."

~Matthew 6:33 (KJV)

Updates and news

My dad had a doctor's appointment last week and the doctor was suprised at how little he's healed. Instead of making my dad sit in pain for weeks and months on end until his vertebrae "fixes itself", they're going to schedule a surgery. Because it's a compressed fracture the surgery is going to consist of squirting a concrete-like substance into the vertebrae to bring it back to its original shape. The doctor said that the pain after the surgery is not as bad as the pain my dad is feeling now. If that's true then praise God for surgery because I can't stand to see my dad in pain much longer.

My last post was about Caitlin and her trip to Rome. Well, there's already been a bump in the journey. Caitlin's flight was cancelled and her mother had to scurry around to get her another one that left much later than the original one was planned. Now she'll make it to Rome with very little time before orientation begins at the school. For more news on this and updates on her trip check out her blog: http://caitlinnicoleb.blogspot.com/.

Onto the news of the day: Haley W. and her many trips to the ER. On Friday night Haley was in the church carrying 14 china plates down the stairs when she tripped on her high heel and fell forward down the stairs, breaking the plates and badly slicing her arms. She was rushed to the ER where they cleaned out her wounds, ruled out a broken arm, stitched up the really bad cuts and gave her a prescription for pain meds. She was really sore all the next day and needed help to do everything. Then, on Sunday morning she woke me up at 6 (I had been sleeping over so I could take care of her) saying that her heart hurt. Of course it's the middle of a snow storm and we're at her grandmother's house which is at the top of a hill that is off of another hill that is off of another hill. It's the kind of house that you don't leave when it's snowing cause you'll never make it back home. Thankfully her mom has 4 wheel drive. We rushed once again to the ER while Haley is writhing in pain and trying not to throw up (at this point we've realized that it's not her heart. but most likely her gull bladder). 6 hours in the ER and all they could do was tell her that she wasn't pregnant (which she told them but they didn't believe) and they didn't see anything wrong with her. "It must have just been a functioning problem" was the doctor's "diagnosis". Her primary care doctor (whom she saw on Monday) is sending her to a surgeon because she thinks that it IS her gull bladder, even though the tests didn't show that. So now the poor girl is in pain all over from the fall and this issue with her gull bladder. Please pray that whatever is wrong can be resolved quickly - Haley can only rest for so long. :)

Today's the big day!

Caitlin is headed to Rome today. Off on the start of her last 18 months of college and the incredible adventures that God is placing in her life's journey. I'm so proud of her and all the work she has done to get to this point in her life. I can't wait to hear the amazing things God is going to do in her life as well as in the lives of those she meets!

She'll be gone for 4 months and I'll miss her everyday, but this is the opportunity of a lifetime and I'm so excited for her!!! I just hope she doesn't meet some great guy over there and decide to stay. ;)