Momma's Day 2013'

"God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers." One of my most cherished quotes. I cant explain to you how much I love my Mom, Grandma, and Aunt, and now my awesome and incredible mother-in-law. We all have something that no one can take . 

My mom is my hero and my best friend. She has stayed up late nights worrying to death about me, and also has comforted me in a time of need. She is the reason I am here, and why my life is full of promises. 

The past few weeks my family has had a lot going on. My grandma was diagnosed with Lymphoma Cancer. However, ( and praise Jesus) it is the kind that is TREATABLE! It also is NOT in her bones. We have hope and a lot of love, for her to be okay. It's tough, because my grandma is literally one of the people in my life I call all the time, and ask for her help. She is a wonderful, wonderful woman! She has such a big heart, and I couldn't EVER imagine life without her. She is the person I need in the delivery room for heavens sake, when I have a baby! I can't have her leave now, and I won't. 

I am going back home for awhile to help around the house, and to just love on my grandma, as much as she has loved on me. She was there for all the yucky open-heart surgery stuff for me, so now its my turn to re-pay her, for all the lovely and caring things she has done for me! 

She starts her first chemotherapy Tuesday May. 14th, and will go in every 3 weeks. I pray for strength and determination as she goes through a grueling process to be here for 15-20 more years!!! :-D 

3 John 1:2 

^2" Beloved, I pray that in all things thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."

I have been brought to this verse as my grandma goes through this tough time! Love you Nanny, and you are going to kick this thing in the BUTT!

A Kiss to Build a Dream On

Last week C and I headed to Nebraska for an awesome wedding. His roommate from the Academy got married to a gorgeous girl! We had so much fun,and definitely felt it all afterwards.It was only a 6 hour drive, so yet again, we packed the car up and headed onward. I feel like these months have literally flown by! Christian has completed almost two months of training down in Altus, and I have been surviving on my own here in Enid. Thankfully I have wonderful friends left here, and a job to keep my sanity M-F. It's kind of a surreal yet weird feeling almost getting out of Enid. I am so excited for Washington, and what new adventures lay ahead of us. I just really am nervous to start over, if that makes sense.

We have recently decided on buying a house up there. So being new homeowners will be so EXCITING! Our must have's because everyone has them, is that we want 3 bd. 2 bath, open and spacious kitchen, and at least a one car garage! That can't be too hard to find, right? I have been watching a TON of HGTV, those shows are really addicting and bad for the mind, and your wallet. :-)

In other news, next month we are headed to Colorado for a wedding, and then I will be staying an extra week behind. YAY!!!!One last hoorah, before moving! Miss my family to death!

I am sure you are wondering about my job, at Starbucks and what direction I am headed with that.Well after many months of debating, and going back and forth I have decided to stay with the company. I will be a "borrowed partner" for the times I cant have a permanent store. Like traveling to Spokane, and being up there for three weeks. All I need is to at least work 1 day a week, to still be technically an employee. However, all this sounds easy and wonderful, but I do have a degree in English, that I want to use. It's so tough knowing what to do, and what direction to go. But I love what I do right now, and couldn't see myself leaving the company right now. Maybe, in the future once we are settled in WA, I will get a job related to my degree, and only work some weekends at SBUX. But for now, I am a happy camper right where I am.

That is all for now,
Alaina D

Spring has Sprung

Spring has sprung..or lack there of....It has been a crazy Oklahoma spring. Rainy, Cold, Wet and down right miserable. I usually love this time of year. I haven't really been updating a lot on here, so on this cold and rainy day here is my attempt.

Not a whole lot has been going on, besides the usual. Christian is still in training down in Altus, and I am in Enid, working at Starbucks. This past weekend we went up to Wichita, KS , which was really cool. I was actually born there and never had a chance to go back until now. We went to the beautiful botanical gardens, and ate way to much food, while cheering on Wichita St. Neither of us are Wichita St fans, but I guess we had no choice. It was really a great and relaxing weekend.

Botanical Gardens

HOWEVER, we do have some fun stuff planned for the next coming weeks. Christian's academy roommate is getting married April 19th, so we are headed up to Omaha, NE for the weekend. We are so excited to see all of his old buddies, and of course Gabe and Kaitlynn. I have never been to NE so needless to say, I am thrilled at every chance to get out of Enid.

I get to go home in MAY. CANNOT WAIT!!! And we are going to a weeding up in Colorado as well around that time. Worked out perfect. Other than that, another day, another dollar!

The Art of Heartbeats

So as some of you know, (which usually are only people I trust), I had open heart surgery at a very very young age.
 In doctor terms this is what I had: VSD Repair. Also a peristent left superior vena cava was encountered which drained into my left coronary sinus, which then drained into my left atrium.
In people terms this is what I had: Hole in one of my chambers.

I am beyond grateful that the doctors and my Mom were able to make the decision to go ahead with the operation, seeing that I was only almost 2, I couldn't really make decisions for myself! But what if I could, would have I? In all honesty, I haven't a clue, so I am glad I wasn't able to remember a thing. I heard it was pretty crazy though. Seeing your child go through something like that, I am not sure I would have the strength or guts. But my Mom, Grandparents and Auntie did a fabulous job, as from all the stories I hear. Pretty sure that's why my Grandma smoked for so many years. Sorry Nanny ;-) . Anyhow, why I am even writing all this, is because it's about that time for Christian and I to discuss becoming parents.( Not that its happening) So i need to know if:
A) My heart will support all the changes B) If I can support all the changes, will I have to delivery C-section or Vaginally, since Vaginally puts more strain on the heart. C) if my scar will support the weight of the baby. CRAZY to think all these weird things. But I wanna know these answers before even trying AT ALL!

Will let ya know what the Doc SAYS! :-)

New Beginnings

I am exactly a month behind on posting.. I have been trying to write stuff to remind me to write this, but something always comes up! Unfortunately I have no real excuse!!! We have had lots of new and exciting things happen in our lives! From exploring Chicago, to a new CAR!!!!

We went to a LOVELY wedding in Chicago on Feb 23rd, we drove there, with 4 other people (boys).. I will let you figure out the rest. LOL. Actually in all honesty the car ride was a blast, and the wedding was beyond gorgeous! One of my very very best pilot wife friends got married, and I had the honour of standing up in her wedding! So awesome!! All her bridesmaids and maid of honour were so much fun! we all got a long like family! SO blessed to have made friends here at Vance! Thank you for my sanity!

"the bean" in chicago

Lovely bride and i ! Pilot wives!!

Christian moved to Altus Thurday Feb. 28th and is there until June 6th. Lucky for me it is only 3 hours away so we will be able to commute back and forth on weekends to spend time together! Our cats are great, crazy and loving life! Starbucks is the usual, busy and intense, however, I love the people that work there more and more. I am really going to miss my first "starbucks" family! And before he left for Altus he blessed me with a new car! It actually saves his butt, that way I am not screaming at him when stupid lights are going off in the Lumina, or when the car overheats!!! Ya, thats happened twice, on my expense! Needless to say, it was time to say goodbye to the beloved Chevy Lumina, family car since Christians Grandparents! 3 generations this car has been in! What a trooper! Hope our new car gives us that much joy and love!!!

Top : Lumina
Bottom: 2013 Nissan Versa

Tuesday Blues

KACEY MUSGRAVES: MERRY GO ROUND'

This is such an amazing song!!! It really is so true in today's society!!

Bahama Mama - Cruise 2013

CARNIVAL LEGEND CRUISE:

So as you all might have heard my husband and I went on a week long cruise! It was beyond amazing and a blast. We are definitely hooked! We started our journey Saturday Feb. 12th where we stayed in Tampa Florida the night before the cruise ship left. We then woke up in paradise, and headed on over to the port where the boat was waiting. We hopped right in line, and honestly everything went so smooth. I figured we would have have hours and hours of waiting, but to my surprise we were on the ship in about an hour! Seriously!! Our first look into the ship was quite overwhelming, we didn't really know what to expect or even where to begin to look. And heck, at this point we didn't care!! We are on a boat!! Our first and most important stop was the buffet. We ate lunch then explored everything!!! It was so cool, going to different levels of the ship, like how on earth do they make 7 levels!!? Anyhow, we journeyed around and than went to the pool, and laid out. :-) That night we went to fine dining, and let me tell you, it's definitely delicious!!! We went to bed, and woke up and had our very first "SEA" day. These days are pretty laid back, and you kind of just hang out and go to shows, or to the casino, or to the pool. We did all three ;-) That night was a blast, we had formal night, where we dressed up to the nines, and ate extraordinary food!!! Here is our professional photo from that! We took like hundreds, but had to choose one.

Than came the fun part; Day 2: COZUMEL, MEXICO
We practically ran off the boat into our first shore excursion, which we did snorkeling. It was a beginner class, because I have never snorkeled, nor did I know if I was going to like it, so we both set out put our gear on and went for it! It was by far the best time I have ever had in my life!! Literally! We got to see some amazing fish, and octopus, and people diving! Tell me if that is not cool!? We have underwater pictures, but I still have to get the camera developed.

Second stop; Day 3: BELIZE CITY, BELIZE
We kinda didn't know what we were doing this day, so we got off the boat with no real plan. However, we did find a cool shore excursion that lead us to the Mayan Ruins and Belize City tour. Side note: This tour took us up a bumpy, I mean BUMPY car ride. I thought I was literally going to die! And than we were on a one way road and cars and giant buses where blowing pass us. Talk about adrenline rush. But we did make it, finally. It took an hour and half on a crazy 15 passenger van ride, but we did survive...
Back to the story, Belize is a very very poor country so it was sad to see all the homes, and life. But it was neat to get the "cultural feel". The Mayan ruins were really awesome too!!

Mayan Ruins

I didn't get a good pic of downtown so I had to grab on from the internet. 

Day 4: MAHOGANY BAY, ROATAN

We decide for this day to just enjoy the beach, kick back and relax! And that's exactly what we did!!! We both had so much fun laying in the sun and enjoying each others company! This place was our FAVORITE. The scenery was breath-taking, and the water was so clear it was honestly hard to believe. You would have to see it to believe it! 

Last Stop: Cayman Islands

This also was a favorite, we got to swim and hold baby turtles!! How cool is that!! Fun Fact: You have to hold a turtle like your going to eat a hamburger with both hands, otherwise it starts to flap its hands, and to get that to stop you rub its chin! LOL so cute!!!!

Day six was a sea day, and we went to a ton of comedy shows, dance shows and drank WAY to much!!!

Unfortunately day 7 our cruise came to an end and we had to get off the ship at 9:00 am ;-(. 

 It was a blast, and I would gladly do it over and over again, until I was fat, dumb and happy!!! ( Oh,, wait I am) :-) We are looking into Alaskan cruises when we move to Washington State here in 6 mths!! I hope you enjoyed my long BLOG!!

Until next time;

Alaina D