Blessed

"Fear though not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." -Isaiah 41:10

Last Thursday, my sister was on her way to stay with me for a couple of days. We were going to lay out by the pool and just relax. I was sitting in my bathing suit talking to Kelly on the phone when my mom beeped in. She was calling to tell me that my papaw was being admitted to the hospital through the emergency room. I panicked. I would like to think that in an emergency situation I would be able to compose myself and do whatever needs to be done at that point in time. I am just not that person. I knew I needed to get over to the hospital quickly, but I couldn't process how. Tyler told me to get out of my bathing suit and into some regular clothes, and then he drove me to the hospital. I called my mamaw on our way over, and I could tell in her voice she was very upset and nervous. I didn't know what to expect when I got over to the hospital. I took the elevator up to the third floor and cautiously walked into my papaw's room only to find him standing up and walking. What a relief! They ended up sending him straight up to his room as opposed to making him check in through the ER which surely would have been a long, drawn out process. His room was gigantic and very nice! My mamaw was sitting in a chair in the room with him, and her little hands were furiously shaking. You could tell that it was a big surprise to both of them that he had to be admitted that day. 

They had initially gone over to get images taken of his heart after he had a not so great stress test performed. His regular heart doctor of over twenty years was out of the country, so papaw was being cared for by one of his colleagues. At the time, this really stressed us out. The new doctor was wanting to do a heart catheterization on my papaw - a procedure his regular doctor had been trying to avoid for ten years. We were all very nervous and worried. The family spent the day together laughing and talking at the hospital. Papaw felt fine, and we were just trying to keep everyone's spirits up. That night around nine, Kelly and I told papaw goodnight and left to go home. As soon as we walked out of his room, we both burst into tears. I had been fighting it all day, and I know poor little Kelly had been too. We were very nervous, worried, scared, sad, upset, anxious.. you name it, we were feeling it! 

The next morning we headed over to the hospital bright and early to see him before the heart catheterization. The doctor had a talk with us and explained the heart cath was an absolute must. He had seen a blockage on the images that he didn't like. He said we would discuss further options after he does the heart cath. That tells me he was expecting to have to put in a stent or do another procedure. Before papaw was taken back to be prepped, we all gathered around him, held hands, and prayed. My uncle Freddie led the prayer, and tears filled my eyes as he was praying. I felt God there with us. 

They took papaw back, and the long wait began. After several hours, they called us back to speak with the doctor. He wasn't saying anything, so my mamaw asked, "IS HE OKAY?!" The doctor said the procedure went fine........ (I was expecting a big BUT here). The blockage was minimal and much less serious than what he had thought. That's God, y'all! We know the blockage had to have been bad because: 1) They wouldn't let him leave the hospital the day before. They told him it was possible that if he went home for the night he could have a heart attack and die. 2) They obviously saw something they thought was very bad for them to have done the heart catheterization. I explained to his new doctor that his regular doctor wanted to avoid the heart cath at all costs. The doctor said he understood that but this was an absolute must. He wouldn't have done that if he thought it was something minor. 3) He was preparing us for another procedure. He kept saying after the heart cath I will come out and discuss the options. He was planning on putting in a stent. 

We all prayed so hard. I do believe that God touched my papaw that day. A quote from one of my favorite movies, The Notebook, says it best: "Science only goes so far, and then comes God." Studying in the science and medical field, educators teach you that there is a reason for everything. One thing causes another. This treats that. As a pharmacist, I take that knowledge and apply it as best as I can. As a Christian, I know there is more to it than just what they teach us in school. I also apply that knowledge daily! 

We are all so fortunate that our sweet papaw is going to be okay! My mom hosted a dinner for the family last night to celebrate papaw's health and to spend some time together. She had steaks, mashed potatoes, million dollar spaghetti, french bread, cornbread salad, two desserts, and some crab legs especially for papaw. They're his favorite! It was so great getting to spend time with everyone! We love our papaw so very much, and now I know to cherish any time we get to spend with each other. Thank you Jesus for taking care of my sweet pap and keeping him here with us. Papaw told me he prayed to God to just be with him throughout this and that His will be done. I told pap that I prayed for him to be healed and to get to stay here with me LOL That made him laugh! Papaw was my first baby sitter, my Bible story teller, my advice giver, and my comforter. He has always been there for me throughout my entire life. God blessed me by making him my grandfather! I love you Pap! 

A Walk Down Memory Lane

We are so happy to be spending time with our Pap at mom's cookout! We matched perfectly and didn't even plan it!

This and That

Since the wedding and honeymoon, I have been enjoying married life. I am currently doing my rotations for my fourth and final year of pharmacy school. I am loving it so far! I have met so many wonderful people at my rotation sites, and I am learning a lot. Since I didn't blog for awhile because I wanted to wait on my wedding pictures to come in, I figured my next post should be a short round up of a few exciting things that have happened since the wedding. I am finally getting my life back to normal - well, my new normal. 

1. I cooked. Now that I am married, I have a newfound interest in being a homemaker. I have been cooking ever since I started living on my own a few years ago, but now that I'm married, I actually enjoy it! I love trying to make new things. Sometimes the stuff I make turns out great, and sometimes it doesn't. Hey, it's a work in progress! 

This dinner was delicious! I made pork chops, baked beans, glazed carrots, cornbread, and brown sugar and cinnamon baked peaches with vanilla ice cream for dessert. So good! The recipe for the pork chops can be found on my pinterest "Recipes" board. 

I love flavored teas. As long as it is sweet, I will drink it. I found a recipe for peach flavored tea, so I decided to try it. Y'all.. YUM! It was phenomenal. Tyler isn't a huge fan of peaches, so he didn't care too much for it. More for me! Isn't this pitcher the cutest? My sweet aunt Michelle bought this for me. I love it, and it matches my dishes perfectly! 

I let these peaches simmer in sugar water for about 30 minutes, filtered out the peaches, and poured the mixture into the tea pitcher. Refrigerate and enjoy! 

I made this meal one evening when I was homesick. It is one of my family's favorite meals to enjoy together. My Nanny cans hot kraut, and it is phenomenal. It is maybe my favorite food ever. I didn't have any of her kraut, so I improvised and made my own. She puts banana peppers in hers to give it a kick. Nobody will ever can kraut as good as Nanny, but my makeshift kraut was pretty good in a pinch! We also had pinto beans, mustard greens, and fried potatoes. It was a good southern home cooked meal!  

This dish was SO easy to make. I found the recipe on pinterest which also can be found on my "Recipes" board. I used Prego Alfredo sauce for this one. Usually I make my own Alfredo sauce homemade, but I was exhausted after work and wanted something quick. I thawed out frozen spinach and mixed that with artichokes. I sprinkled that with some garlic and mixed in the sauce and noodles. Then, I added some Italian blend cheese on the top and baked it for about 20 minutes until the cheese was melted and gooey. It was so good! 

2. I spent time with friends at my sorority sister's wedding. Bree had a destination wedding, but she had a reception in the Huntington area for friends and family. It was like a mini sorority reunion. I loved getting to catch up with the girls, and Bree looked so beautiful! I wish I would have taken pictures of this event. The only picture I have is one that Ashton took on her phone and sent to me. That just means I was having too much fun to be taking pictures!!

3. I attended an Eagles concert with my mom. Guys, she was so excited for this. We had to listen to Eagles songs, watch documentaries, and hear stories about them for a solid two weeks leading up to the concert. It was all she could talk about. I recall one time she was singing an Eagles song to us, and she grabbed her arm and exclaimed, "I just gave my own self chills!" LOL She was loving life seeing them live! Unfortunately, they requested no photos or videos during the concert, so I have two pictures that we quickly took right before the show began. I loved getting to do something with my mom that meant so much to her!

I also talked her into staying Sunday for church. We had lunch at a local Italian restaurant before she headed home. I loved having her in Lex with me!

4. I got a new car! If you read my last blog post, you know I started having car trouble on the way home from the wedding. We just knew it was going to be expensive to fix because the engine light was on, and it was saying something about traction control. Surprisingly, when I took it to the Cadillac dealership, they were able to fix it for a very reasonable price. Just when we thought our problem was solved, the air conditioning started going out. We decided my car was on its last leg. We were worried we would start pouring money into repairs and end up putting more in than it was worth. I had put over 150,000 miles on that thing. It was a beautiful car, and I was sad to see it go. However, crawling into this new beautiful car helped ease the pain of parting with my old car. I told Ty that if I was a car, I would be this one! Tyler facilitated this entire thing. He went to the dealership several times to make sure I got exactly what I wanted. He takes good care of me!

5. I celebrated my birthday. I recently turned 26, and my family and I celebrated in Northern Kentucky together. My dad and Tyler played in a golf tournament up there, so my mom and I tagged along so we could all be together on my birthday weekend. My poor sister was sick with strep throat, so she didn't come. Mom and I had a blast shopping while the guys played golf. My dad and his partner, Chippy, ended up in the play off. Mom, Ty, and I followed him on the golf course and cheered him on. They ended up coming in second. In my opinion, they deserved first! LOL On one hole, Dad made a really good shot, and before I realized what I was doing or where I was, I let out a big cheer. My mom and I started cracking up! I forgot you have to be quiet on a golf course.. oops! Looks like I may need to tone down my inner cheerleader and practice my golf clap!

I love him! Look how cute!

I put my birthday money to good use! My JuJu called me while I was in the Lilly store shopping. She asked what I was doing, and when I told her where I was, she said, "Courtney, you are addicted to that stuff."  LOL Guilty as charged! My friend Tamus said it best when she said being a Lilly lover is a lifestyle. It is more than clothes y'all!! 

I had to work Friday, so I met my parents and Ty in NKY Friday evening. Ty sent me these beautiful flowers to work as a surprise! Everyone loved them!

6. I ate smores in the city. Ty and I love smores, and we found a restaurant in Lex that had smores on their dessert menu. You can imagine our surprise when they brought this out to our table. We got to roast our own marshmallows and everything! It tasted (almost) as good as a real back-yard campfire smore! This is the city version of making smores y'all! 

7. I met friends for dinner. I know no one in Lexington. Okay, okay.. I know Tyler and a couple of people that I have met recently through Tyler, SO you can imagine how excited I was to meet up with some girls in my pharmacy school class one evening for dinner. We talked, laughed, and shared so many good stories. We talked about everything from fall decorations and hair cuts to pharmacy rotations and the latest nail colors. I forgot how much I missed "girl talk." So glad we got the chance to hang out!

8. My sister cut her hair. Okay, I know this isn't something that I did, but I couldn't make this list and leave this out. How cute is she?! Kelly has always had long hair, and she had BEAUTIFUL long hair. The longer my hair gets, the thinner it gets (thank you Jesus for hair extensions). Kelly's hair was always so thick and shiny. When she mentioned cutting it, we were all hesitant, our dad especially. He dared her to cut it. In true Kelly fashion, she did it anyway, and it looks awesome. She went all out on the first attempt and cut her hair from midway down her back to above her shoulders. I think it makes her look so mature and classy. I also think it makes her look like our mother! I found two pictures of Kel in the same dress - one with long hair and one with short. She is beautiful in both, but she is rockin' the short hair y'all! 

9. My best friend got married. Again, another thing I didn't do, but there is no way I could do this post without including Lauren's big day. Everything was perfect from start to finish and was completely "Lauren." The color scheme was ivory and gold, and it was stunning. She treated the bridal party like queens all day! She had us matching shirts made to get ready in and cute totes with our names embroidered on it. She had Panera catered for breakfast and Subway catered for lunch. Two girls came to do everyone's make up too which was a special treat. We took bridal party pictures at my house, so that was fun having all the girls running around taking pictures while the boys hung out in our basement. The decorations at the church and reception took my breath away. The cake table was the most fabulous thing I've ever seen, and the dinner that was served was phenomenal. She really thought of everything. I can't say enough good things about her big day. I know how much time and effort goes into celebrating a new marriage, so I can appreciate everything she did to pull this off.  Lauren had an awesome celebration and treated all of her guests like royalty! Everyone had a great time, but the entire day remained about Lauren and Josh, which I loved! You could see nothing but happiness when you looked at them! I am so thankful my friend found someone that I know will treat her right and love her unconditionally! That makes ME happy!

Here is a picture of some of us at the rehearsal dinner!

Right before this picture, I had just ran from the church to Lauren's house to get the rings, marriage license, and her garter. I made a quick pit stop to zip Terri's dress up before I ran back to the church! Talk about finishing up last minute to-dos before the big event! 

She looks stunning. I remember one year in high school Lauren wore a beautiful white dress to prom. I don't think I ever told her this, but I always thought she looked so gorgeous in that dress. It made me think how beautiful she would be one day in a wedding gown. When she did her reveal to the bridesmaids and I saw her for the first time fully ready, she surpassed any expectations I had. I couldn't believe my eyes. She was literally glowing. She looked perfect. 

These little turkeys kept us entertained the whole day. My mom has an especially funny video of them arguing over who got to keep Lauren's bridal bouquet. There was almost an incident with the cake table, but luckily Nancy and Tamus saved the day. They are too cute for their own good!

10. I spent time with friends and family in WV. If you know me, you know there are few things I enjoy more than spending time with the people I love. Since I moved away, any time I get to spend back home is something I treasure. On Labor Day weekend, my mom hosted a cookout at our house, and it was a blast. So many of our friends and family came to visit, and they all got to officially meet Tyler if they hadn't already. I loved getting to spend time with everyone just laughing and talking (and enjoying some good southern BBQ thanks to my uncle!) 

That same weekend I also attended the Marshall season opener. We went to my friend Lauren's family's tailgate, and it was a blast! It was so good to take Tyler to my old stompin' grounds. It was an extremely hot and long day, but The Herd pulled off a win! 

The following weekend I traveled back to WV for yet another visit (hey, you don't have to twist my arm to go home! LOL) I had a quick lunch date with my sweet momma, and we almost cried when we said goodbye (I may or may not have shed a tear on my way back to Lex that evening). Then I headed to my friend Jill's mom's house to celebrate baby Chase's first birthday! He is such a beautiful baby! I remember going to the hospital the day after he was born to see him, and here we are a year later now. Time flies! 

Jill informed everyone it was time to watch Chase eat his cake, but y'all I was not expecting that sweet thing to walk into the room wearing this! It was a huge hit! Everyone loved it! His party was Mickey themed, and Jill found this little pants and tie set for him to wear during the cake smash. I have never seen anything cuter in all my life! 

This post was a little random, but I just wanted to share what I have been up to lately since I haven't blogged in awhile. I have been busy with rotations and just life in general. I am loving married life. It is fun to spend every day with your best friend! I do miss my friends and family back home, but as you can see, I am still able to see them often. Before, I took my visits with them for granted, but now that I am four hours away, I cherish any time at all that I get to spend with them. I am lucky to live in a beautiful city like Lexington, but there is no place like home! I hope y'all enjoyed this post. I will try to be a more faithful blogger and start doing weekly posts again!