Picture credit is given to publix website

1.      When I need some help finding an item there is always somebody ready to help. They even go the extra mile by taking me to the exact location of where my item is located

2.     They always let me sample the meat and cheese as I wait for my meat order to be sliced

3.     I can get a fountain coke while I shop (love it)

4.     The manager is always walking around the store greeting and helping customers. He even went so far as to thank my friend and I for being such diligent coupon gals.

5.     It’s clean…. Need I say more

6.     Friendly, Friendly , Friendly

7.      Great deals especially if you coupon

8.     A coloring book with crayons along with a balloon and a cookie for all kids… amazing

9.     They unload your buggy for you

10. They allow you to make requests like… please put all refrigerated items in paper and the rest in plastic. They even act like your request is perfectly normal and they are happy to do it for you.

11.  They celebrate with you when you rock it out with some coupons.

12. They insist upon taking your groceries to the car because they really do want to be helpful

13. There sandwiches are AH-MAZING

You might be a residents wife if.......

1. A random woman answers his phone and you are not concerned. ( Now ladies put your claws back in because if a woman answers the phone it means G is in the middle of a surgery)

2. Your idea of a romantic date is taking dinner to your husband at the hospital. 

3. You can get any box in the attic.... regardless of whether or not it is larger than you and weighs more than you. This is because you have figured out how to push it up those stairs using your head.... ALONE

4. Stories of rectal foreign bodies don’t shock you anymore.

5. If you know how to get blood out of scrubs

6. You wait for your spouse to call and say he is coming home before starting dinner because you just never know what time he might come home

7. You get asked like a billion times.... so is residency like Grey’s Anatomy?

8. You have grown okay with your husband looking at naked women

9. You keep right on eating your dinner no matter how disgusting or gruesome your spouses work stories are.... it just doesn’t get to you anymore

 10. Your husbands falls asleep at church, in the middle of a conversation, during every movie, while you have tons of company over at your house.... you get the picture they fall asleep during everything. 

The newest Addition

      Meet the newest family member!!!!!

Princess Camilla of Kinchafoonee

A.K.A Camilla

Geary surprised me with her for my birthday!!!! I thought I was getting pots and pans. So needless to say when he told me what I was really getting I did a dance. She is so sweet (most of the time) and too funny (all the time). We are currently in the process of house training and just when I think she’s got it she goes and pees like ten times in the house. Darn!!! We will get there soon. 

Miscarriage Part 3

During the time we spent grieving I really thought I would never be okay. The pain was so intense as well as the emptiness.  Well, I was wrong because today I can honestly say that I am okay and better than that I am great. My relationship with the Lord is flourishing and I cling to the promises that I have found in his word regarding children. Children are a blessing from God and hey God is in the blessing business and He is certainly no respecter of persons. So if He can bless one person with a child well then guess what I know He will do the same for me. So here I stand in faith waiting and believing that one day Geary and I will one day have a healthy baby. God is so good. He has healed me and loved on me this whole time. He is my rock and my strength so I choose to lean on Him. 

Do I sometimes still get sad??? You betcha!!! In fact I cried the other day because it was around the time that we would have been finding out the sex of our baby. God was there with me as I sat in the quietness of my car and wept. He loved on me and comforted me. I think I will always miss that baby and thats okay because regardless of what others may think that baby was a life and every life is precious no matter how long or short their life was. 

One thing that really helped us was we named that sweet baby. The baby’s name is Lael ,which means belonging to God. Lael is with God and will be with Him for eternity and one day we will meet that sweet baby. 

I refuse to live in shame and act like the miscarriage never happened because guess what..... it happened.I have finally excepted the truth that it was not my fault. I will not act as though Lael never existed. I will tell all of our future kids about their brother/sister who is in heaven. I will not be defeated but instead I will bring glory to my Heavenly Father as I use my testimony to help others. 

Miscarriage: Part 2

I had Geary call and tell my parents while I was waiting to go back for the procedure. I just couldn’t tell them. I knew it would crush my dad and step mom. They were so excited to be grandparents. We probably should have told them the day we found out but I couldn’t so we waited until there was no chance that the doctors had been wrong and that there was no miracle. We held out for a miracle until the very end. It was so weird to be in the same recovery room as the women who had just had a c-section. It was like rubbing salt into the wound. I would sit there and watch lady after lady come in and awake to hear that there baby was healthy.... all I can say about that is aghhhh!!! 

We then went home and grieved. My parents came up the day after the procedure and stayed with us the whole day. It was so nice to have them there because at that point I wasn’t ready to deal with the emotions I just wanted to avoid them. They left and we grieved. I cried all the time!!! I also dealt with a ton of emotions. 

I felt ashamed as if I had somehow failed. I felt that I had failed in the one area that has always been my greatest desire~ becoming a mother. I felt like I had failed everyone especially Geary. I was so ashamed!! I didn’t want to face anyone or talk to anybody. I was angry!! I was hurt!!! I was sad!! I racked my brain to figure out what I had done wrong even though everyone had told me its not your fault. I wanted an explanation other than these things happen and its actually a miracle that anyone carries a baby to full term. I wanted an explanation that I could fix or at least try to fix. I wanted to stay in my house forever and never come out. I wanted to rewind time and start over. I didn’t want to face all of my pregnant friends. I just wanted my baby to be back safely in my womb. 

I had a choice I could praise God during the storm or I could succumb to the depression that was beginning to take over. Sometimes it just felt easier to give into the depression but where is the testimony in that so I chose to  praise Him ( most of the time) :) . 

I for awhile had decided I never wanted to get pregnant again. I just felt that I couldn’t handle this kind of pain and disappointment again. I think this lasted for a good month and then my heart softened again to the deepest desire of my heart ~ MOTHERHOOD!!! I know that one day I will be Mom !!!

For children are a gift from God

Psalm 127:3

Miscarriage: Part 1

I write this in hopes that it will help anyone who ever goes through a miscarriage. I remember right after we lost our baby I scoured blogs looking for anyone who had gone through what I was currently going through. I just wanted to know that what I was feeling wasn’t crazy or ridiculous because it sure felt like it to me. I wanted to know that I wasn't alone because in that moment I have never felt more alone in my life.

Here is our story:

We were finally pregnant and boy was I excited!!!! I remember our first appointment so clearly. I remember our doctor saying see that little flickr thats your baby and thats the heartbeat. I was so thrilled and Geary and I both agreed that we would call the baby flickr until we knew the sex. 

I remember talking to the baby and loving that little flickr with all of my heart. Everything centered around what was best for that little flickr from what I ate and drank to what I did. I was willing to give up anything so that baby would be healthy. For goodness sakes I gave up all soda which if you know me was a BIG deal. 

Geary and I anticipated our next appointment with great excitement because this was the day we would HEAR the baby’s heartbeat. I was over the moon excited when we finally got to go back. I jumped on the table and Geary was right by my side... boy were we ready.

We never heard the baby’s heartbeat that day. 

I remember this time that finding the flickr aka the heartbeat was taking longer than it did the last time and the doctor wasn’t saying anything and then all of a sudden Geary left my side and went and sat down. ( He is a doctor and he knew something was wrong before the doctor could ever tell me... he was about to pass out so he needed to sit before that happened.) I started whispering whats wrong and the Doctor said I can’t seem to find the heartbeat and the next thing I know the nurse is handing me a tissue and Geary is back at my side. They are saying things like lets try a different ultrasound .... needless to say no heartbeat was ever found and in that my moment all the excitement of this new life growing inside of me, all of my hopes and dreams for our future with that child came crashing down around me. 

We came home and we decided Geary would go back to work and I would stay home. I remember sitting outside holding my cat and balling. I was devastated and i just wanted to wake up from the dream only it wasn’t a dream it was our reality. Geary ended up staying home and we prayed and prayed and prayed. We then moved from prayer to praise because our situation was bad but God He was still good. God is the giver of life and the enemy (satan) steals, kills, and destroys. 

The next day I started bleeding and cramping so it was decided that I would have a D and C because the doctor felt this miscarriage was going to be very painful. Right before the procedure I began the process of the miscarriage and the doctor was right about the pain. Never in my life have I felt cramps like that. I am so thankful that I was able to have the D and C instead of enduring that kind of pain for a few hours.  I left the hospital empty knowing that I would never hold that baby that I already loved so much. I also left knowing that our baby was adopted into the family of God and that flickr was heaven and God our father was taking care of he/she. 

Dinner With The Bush's

 Welcome to Dinner With The Bush's!!!! I just tried out a new dish that I found from a magazine called Clean Eating. This magazine is awesome so you should go check it out. I am always going to their website to get new recipes!!! I love the recipes they offer because they are healthy, easy, and super yummy. So here is the first edition of Dinner With The Bush's. I hope you find it helpful especially if you were in a cooking rut like I was.
  You should most definitely make this dish. I am telling you it was so good and very easy to make. I will be making it again sometime in the future. Thanks Clean Eating for all of your fabulous recipes.
   One thing I did differently was I used a ribeye instead of a sirloin. I mostly did this because Fresh Market didn't have sirloin but they did have ribeye so I improvised.

                              Sirloin Peppery Tomato Reduction With Squash Onion

                                                                       Stir- Fry

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tsp chile powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp sea salt, divided
• 1 lb boneless sirloin steak, about 3/4-inch thick, trimmed of visible fat
• 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 medium zucchini, cut into eighths lengthwise, then cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 medium yellow squash, cut into eighths lengthwise, then cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, quartered and layers separated

SAUCE

• 1/2 cup diced tomato
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, combine chile powder, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and 1/4 tsp salt. Sprinkle evenly over both sides of steak and press lightly to adhere. Let stand for 10 minutes.
2. Heat 1 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet on medium-high, tilting skillet to coat bottom lightly. Add zucchini, squash and onion and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until just tender-crisp, stirring frequently. Sprinkle mixture with remaining 1/4 tsp salt and place in a medium bowl; cover to keep warm.
3. Heat 1 tsp oil in same skillet on medium-high, tilting skillet to coat bottom lightly. Cook steak for 4 minutes per side or to desired doneness.
4. Meanwhile, prepare sauce: In a small bowl, combine all sauce ingredients, except 2 tsp oil.
5. Remove skillet from heat and place steak on a cutting board. Return skillet to medium-high heat. Add sauce mixture to pan residue. Bring to a boil and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until reduced to 1/4 cup liquid, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, stir in 2 tsp oil and serve over steak, with squash-onion stir-fry alongside.