Life!!!

Can you guess what has been happening in my life this past year????

Wow, it's been so long since I've posted on a blog - I do believe it has been a year since I've posted on here. That's so sad, but I do have an excuse..... I'M GETTING MARRIED (next month as a matter of fact!)!!!!! As time allows, I will try to post our story in bits and pieces on here. I'm so very excited about becoming a wife and helpmeet to my husband. Our story has been God - He brought us together and the ways He directed every step of our lives has been totally amazing!

We met in February 2009
Began courting July 2009
Got engaged January 2010
Getting married April 2010!

There's the overview of my year. I will fill in details as time allows. It's been so neat to watch God at work and how He has changed both Eugene and I and continues to work in our lives to shape us and mold us into vessels fit for His use. We pray that our lives will shine forth God's love to all we meet and that many will come to know Him through our lives as God continues to work in us and through us.

Please pray for us as we prepare for the upcoming wedding and for God to be honored and glorified through it all and in our marriage. Thank you!!!

Pliers & Hair

I haven't posted on any of my blogs for a month! I'm just not a skilled blogger. My mind goes empty when I try to think of something good to post. Life on crutches can be boring sometimes.

End of 2008 highlights:

*I managed (with the help of all my great piano moms!) to put on two Christmas recitals two days in a row. The students did such a great job on their verses and music pieces. Each student memorized one verse from Luke 2: 1-20 which we used to give the TRUE meaning of Christmas to the ladies at a local Widow's Home on Friday and to friends and families that attended the Saturday recital. The ladies at the widows home enjoyed all the yummy cookies which the students made and visiting with all the children. We gave out Christmas cards which all of the students had signed their names and little Christmas greetings. We also gave the ladies ornaments.

*Christmas was lovely and we enjoyed spending time together as a family. Dad had the entire week off and we had a lot of fun!


Highlights of 2009....

*January 5th - started back into a regular routine - piano lessons, guitar lessons, sewing lessons - Yes, our doors are always open and we usually have several lessons going on at the same time - in different areas of the house of course. We easily have over 60 people in our home each week. I often wonder how some people get the idea that homeschoolers are "unsocialized"......

*I caught a terrible cold that is going around our state, city, and county. I've been taking lots of garlic, vitamin C, and eating raw horseradish root (I actually like that stuff!). Sore throat, earaches, stuffy nose, and a little cough is not much fun. Thankfully I'm feeling a little better.


* I started PT (physical therapy....also referred to as pain & torture) today. I'm suppose to be doing aquatic therapy in the pool so I'm going to our local YMCA. Here's a little story you might enjoy.

Please note that this is not algebra problem:

Heather + Y = sister takes brother along to Y so he can work out while she works on therapy exercises.

Yes, that's exactly what I did - I took my brother with me! Curtis was happy to work out and I was glad for his company.

At the first traffic light we stopped at on our way to the Y, being a typical lady I decided to take a look at myself in the review mirror. It was shocking!!! I noticed that I had a long black facial hair (it must have appeared out of nowhere!) shooting out of my cheek - so embarrassing! (I couldn't believe it was so long....I must need glasses.....or at least eyes on the side of my head so I can keep up with things like this!) Considering that my purse was empty when I left the house and I just throw a few things in like pens, a calendar, my drivers license, and wallet while I was on my way out the door I didn't have any thing such as nail clippers, tweezers, and all that important "junk" that ladies carry with them. SIGH.

Well, I was desperate so while the light was still red, I asked my brother if he happened to have a pair of tweezers or scissors on him. Of course the answer was, "no" but he then realized that he had a little knife that I could use if I wanted. He continued to search his pockets and found that he had a pair of pliers with him! I thought, WONDERFUL - pliers/tweezers.....they work the same way!!!

I'm happy to announce that finally after 3 red traffic lights I was able to pluck that little whisker off my face, never to be seen again! :) I must say that I'm thankful to have brothers who carry such handy little tools with them.

So......if you're ever in need of a hair plucking just ask your brother, dad, son, or husband if they happen to have a pair of pliers about them.

* It's suppose to be 1-2 degrees here tonight......brrrrr!!! I think I'll head to bed and try to stay warm.

I'm still amazed at how so many busy moms can take the time out of their day to blog! I find it hard to teach, study, and blog all in the same day. You ladies do a great job!

Things I learn....

Never EVER assume anything!

.... Never assume that it'll only take one person to remove your surgical sutures. For example, I had my sutures removed yesterday at the doctor's office. Typically it takes one nurse to clip, snip, and pull out the thread. I ended up having two nurses in the room working on removing the stitches from my hips. After working on me for several minutes, the head nurse realized that there were 3 empty rooms and patients that still needed to be called back and both of the nurses were working on me. She said that if one of them didn't go out there and call the patients back to the rooms, the doctor would be wondering what happened to his nurses. I laughed and said, "Just tell him what you were doing and on who you were trying to remove sutures from and he'll not ask any questions because he'll understand."

Anyway, it took almost an hour for the nurses to pull out the thread and for me to see the doctor. I got in as soon as we got to the office and they started working on pulling out the stitches as soon as I went back to the exam room. Finally the head nurse threw her hands up in frustration over a stubborn thread that refused to come out and said, "I'm going to let the doctor deal with this one!" and she left. A couple seconds later in walks the doctor. He pulled the thread out painlessly- no problem!

I had spent my Tuesday morning in the kitchen making fudge for the doctor's office. I gave it to the nurses and doctors as a Merry Christmas/Thank you gift along with million dollar tracts from Way Of The Master.


...Or you might be sitting on the couch with your laptop, chatting with a student friend online and trying to get some studying done, when all of a sudden your front door opens and in walks a piano student family!!! At least that is what happened today. Please note that I have several piano students that come every other week and this family wasn't suppose to be coming for lessons this week. You must also understand that my first piano students of the day knock on the door and from then on we have a revolving door - no one knocks they just enter and sit on the couch until the other student is finished. Anyway, I had a family cancel lessons this afternoon due to an upcoming wedding (they are the first students of the day and therefore would be the ones to knock) and I was going to take advantage of my "free" afternoon (I only had 1 lesson to teach scheduled today!) to get some studying done.

I'm sure we should have had the video camera on today because I jumped so high and my slippers literally went flying across the living room when the students and their mother came walking in - - keep in mind they didn't knock - - - knowing ("assuming" that I was teaching a student, which would have been correct, but the first family of the day canceled lessons)!!! I was so startled and I must have looked SO bad! I hadn't fixed my hair, I was still wearing my slippers, I had papers everywhere, etc. As you can imagine I began to panic and wonder what I looked like and tried to remember what day it was and what was happening. Yes, I did have surgery exactly two weeks ago, but I didn't think my memory was that bad! I was so thankful that I had not waited until the afternoon to change out of my pajamas or get my shower. I think I probably would have quit teaching piano right then and there if they had come and I was still in my pajamas!

Then when they walked in and noticed me - - - well, let's just say you should have seen the mom's face! She looked at me and I looked at her. Then I finally found my voice - which was a might squeaky and managed to say, "Hello! I didn't know you were coming today." It was then that the poor mom realized what had happened and felt bad, then asked if I just wanted to wait until next week for lessons. I replied, "It's fine. You're here, so let's go ahead with the lessons."

.....Never assume that your bathroom door knob will never break. Yes, that's right yesterday our bathroom doorknob broke and I have no idea how that happened! I only know that it is very annoying to be locked in a bathroom and having to have someone open the door for you to let you out. And yes, that poor piano mom who came for lessons on the wrong day got stuck in the bathroom this afternoon and her poor daughter who couldn't stop laughing, had to open the door to let her mom out. It'll be amazing if they come back again for lessons!

Then later the piano teacher (me!) happened to do the same thing too! Let's just say, that the timing of being locked in the bathroom was good at all. I forgot to mention the fact that my piano student, who actually was scheduled to come, could arrive at any minute and there you stand in the bathroom, by the door completely stuck! Both my dad and brother worked on getting me out of there while I told my sister that if I didn't get out of there for a while she may end up having to teach. Thankfully dad stopped by Lowes on his way home from work and we now have a brand new doorknob on our bathroom door.

Anyway, it was quite an interesting afternoon and I hope tomorrow will be a little better!

Happy December Everyone!

Thank you!

It's been awhile since I've posted on here, but I wanted to thank you all so much for the prayers. My surgery ended up being postponed from Tuesday to Thursday (which worked out wonderfully for me as I was able to get a bunch of stuff done during those few extra days).
I'm going to try blogging my hospital visit as a story.

A story about a princess who had surgery......

Once upon a time there lived a young girl whose hips hurt very much. The orthopedic doctor of the most beautifully blue mountain peaked kingdom of the land, decided that the princess needed to travel with the King & Queen to another castle to have the hips taken care of once and for all.

So one chilly morning in mid-November the little princess arose to prepare herself for the
journey which was to last for a few days. It took awhile for the princess to prepare herself for the hour long journey. She decided to wear her favorite riding outfit to travel, which consisted of - a jean skirt, white shirt, and navy blue vest. The princess also packed another set of clothing to wear for the journey home. Hospital Castle would be giving her free range of many "lovely" gowns in the wardrobe to wear during her time there.

By the time she appeared at the front gate of her castle home, the King, Queen, and princess' younger siblings were waiting for her to appear so they could begin the drive to the Hospital Castle. After many hugs, kisses, and farewells to those staying behind the royal procession entered the doors of their small royal red coach.

The drive was quite pleasant, not very long and the horses kept a good pace. They all enjoyed watching the sun rise over the blue mountains. The pink, blue, and yellow sky colors were amazing!

The royal party arrived at the Hospital Castle at 8am and were directed to the great hall to await their turn to meet the Hospital Castle royal family and loyal subjects. The castle was huge and filled with many staff members. The members were tall, round, short, and thin. Several had eyes which sparkled when they laughed. They were all very friendly and looked as if they enjoyed their work at the castle.

Finally at 9am the princess was given a lovely blue gown, with little green stockings, and a green riding cap to put on her head - you see only certain royal guests are given these "special" robes to wear while visiting and touring the Hospital Castle.

Then began the liquid IV feast - also given to certain guests of the castle, which the princess personally did not find most appetizing - especially since she had not had anything to eat since the previous evening and her stomach was making rumbling noises!

Now in order for people to take this special tour of the castle they have to sign many papers during the IV feast.

After the papers were signed, two subjects came from the King of Hospital Castle to see the princess and asked her to go for a ride through the inside of the castle with them. The princess immediately accepted their gracious offer and waved good-bye to her father and mother as they walked down the castle halls to a lovely banquet where good smelling food (muffins!) and drinks (coffee!) awaited them.

The princess was given a tour through the large castle. After going down many halls and through several large doors they showed her one of the secret rooms, that only certain castle guests are allowed to see. They called it the OR workroom. This is a special room in the Hospital Castle were the guests are able to take a nap (with no interruptions and they do not remember anything that went on while they rested) while the blacksmiths and carpenters work away at their projects - cutting and sawing. Many of the castle's carpenters are called orthopedic surgeons. They make the most beautiful masterwork out of bone you have ever seen!

The tired princess decided to stretch out and take a short nap on the little cold silver bed covered with a white sheet, which was offered to her. When she awoke, the princess found that the CRNA subject of the castle had braided her hair while she napped. They gave the princess the nickname Rapunzel.

(didn't she do a great job!?! I guess you could call it a twist french braid or something.
I don't think she was bored during the surgery, do you?)

At about 4:30pm, after the long nap and tour of the castle workroom, the loyal subjects wheeled the princess to her own private chamber so she could once again see her parents. The castle chef prepared a huge dinner feast!

(A feast for a princess - I edited out my face because I looked HORRIBLE! I was so nauseous!!!)

-----> Well, folks this is where the bedtime story will end for now. I'll finish it tomorrow.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!!

A little bit of this & a little bit of that....

goes a LONG way! I do believe that when we add a little of this and a little of that in one week we stay quite busy!

Nothing new and exciting has been going on in our household - nothing that I can think of at the moment at least.

*I just found out on Friday that I will be having surgery on the 18th (next Tuesday) to have my metal plates/screws taken out of BOTH my hips at the same time. I have a lot I need to get done before next Tuesday.

*I'm staying quite busy with my studies - getting ready to take my midterm exam this week.

*I'm hoping to do some baking this week and maybe do some cake decorating. I really want to try making a piano shaped cake for my upcoming recitals.

*Oh yes, recitals---I've been busy working on getting all my students ready to play two recitals in December.

The leaves in Virginia have been lovely this year. A few weeks ago, we got home from church Sunday morning and found our dinner wasn't quite ready - so we took advantage of those few extra minutes and went over to a nearby park to take a family picture. I'll try to post photos within the next few weeks.

More hours in a day....

would be nice! Since we cannot add more hours to my day, I will just accomplish as much as I can in the time God has given me. There is a time for everything and I remind myself that God's timing is always perfect.

What has been going on lately....

I'm right now in the process of planning out two Christmas recitals for my 20+ students. I'm really excited, because this year I want to try something different - I'm going to have each student memorize one verse of Luke 2. The main Christmas story is told in Luke 2:1-20, which means there would be enough verses for each student to memorize one verse each! I can't wait to see how it'll all work out.

Also, I'm debating about making a 3-D piano shaped cake - any one have good cake decorating ideas??? I'm willing to try anything and all suggestions would be appreciated! :) I will post pictures of the cake master pieces and my flops....


I'm also excited because tomorrow will be the first Saturday in the month of October that we aren't leaving the house!!!! Those past weekends were a lot of fun, but sometimes it's fun to have time to chill.

(Actually, I believe we'll all be doing a lot of:

.. cleaning & laundry)


I'm cruising through my medical transcription course and loving every minute of studying!


We're all thankful to be staying well this fall. We went for a wonderful 2 mile walk this morning in the chilly air, it was lovely! The fall leaves are beautiful!

Good night all!

I'm here!!!

I do not believe I'm a good blogger....I have 5 blogs and I can only seem to update one each month or so. For example, if you don't see any recent posts on here then you'll know I'm posting on my missions blog (which I would highly encourage you to check out.....since it basically includes everything that has been going on in October!).
If you see posts here you know that I'm neglecting my other blogs. I'm trying my hardest to update each blog evenly - anyone else have problems having more than one blog???