The Little Things In Life

These days, it doesn't take much to get me excited. I was thinking about some of them at 1:15am this morning as I'm hacking my lungs up from one of those beginning of the year colds!
5 for $10 name brand cereal
cars that don't blow smoke out the muffler
not having enough dirty clothes to wash a full load of laundry tonight
making two meals tonight for dinner so that we don't cook tomorrow (notice I said, "we." My man is good!)
Spending the afternoon with my mom and nephew feeding ducks at Lake Ella (YEs, I did help feed ducks!)
There's plenty more but I think the coughing has subsided and I've got to get some sleep!

This Time Last Year...

This time last year I was on cloud nine because Josh told me he loved me. I was also confused and uncertain about the future and where that love would take me. This time last year I was slowly getting the hang of teaching 8 little friends with severe and profound disabilities. I came home exhausted but happy about their sweet enthusiasm.
Now... its that time, THIS year and I couldn't be more settled. Living in a double wide helping to care for my soon-to-be father-in-law.
...Knowing that at 5:15pm I can guarantee that the man of my dreams will be pulling into the yard from work. Anxously awaiting the birth of my third nephew. Taking in a roller coaster of emotions as I plan my very own wedding. Who'd of ever thought that!?! Time sure does fly and I'm trying to take in every minute and appreciate those little things in life!

An End To A Legend...

I've been living in denial for quite some time now. Reality hit me two Fridays ago. I was in the drive-thru at McDonalds when all of a sudden I hear a loud baboom as white smoke came swooshing out of my Honda CRV. I left the car at my parents' house and waited for the news. My step-dad called me and told me it was time to bury it. The compressor was bad, the radiator fan needed to be replaced, (not to mention he had just replaced the radiator a month before,)the transmission was skipping and the catalytic converter was well... we weren't sure when it was going to go but its been bad for over 5 years.(there were more issues but after 217,000 miles, who's complaining?) On August 28th, 2009, I said my final goodbye to my sweet ole Honda CRV. I tell you, I felt like I was giving a kid away. I even cried. I felt like a traitor driving home in my new 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe. Its been a whole week now and the grief is slowly going away. It helps that I have cold air coming out of the a/c vents and my driver side window rolls down with the press of a button. I'm blessed to have gotten a great interest rate and a reasonable payment.

Engagement Pics

Random Thoughts

Its 5:15am and I can't sleep because my sinuses are draining and I can't stop coughing. I decided to get up and blog so that poor Josh could get some sleep. I just took a Zyrtec and my nasal spray. Now I'm eating Wheat Thins and drinking Diet Mountain Dew. So much for my 3-day protein only diet! I figure if I continue to gain/lose the same 4 pounds I'll be ok. LOL!

Its hard to believe that I'll be Mrs. Joshua Register in less than eight months. While its got to be the scariest thing I've ever done, I definitely feel its apart of God's plan. The saying, "good things come to those who wait," is definitely true. Now don't get me wrong, the grass ain't always greener over on my side of the doublewide but it sure gets cut on a regular basis and I have unconditional love from a man who makes me feel like I'm a princess. Is it possible to grow more and more attracted to someone as time goes by? I guess I'm scared because of my past relationships, fear of being left alone and things I've seen happen in other people's relationships. ( I know that was so incredibly wordy, but hey... 5:20am!) Anyway, I just pray everyday and try to keep an open line of communication.

My friend Wendi's daughter will be going to school in St. Augustine in the fall. I am so excited for her. Wendi jokes and says she is me made over. While I'm honored, and I definitely see the similarities, I'd have to say Chellsea has a lot more spunk than I did at her age. Her self-confidence exudes her. Anyway, she told me the other day that her anxiety is building because of the unknown but she knows its all apart of God's plan for her. My advice to her was to enjoy every minute/opportunity she has and not to worry so much about the future. Gee... here's a thought... maybe I should take my own advice!

Well, I think the Zyrtec is kicking in. I'll blog later on. I have some wedding updates to share. Love, J

My Newest Nephew

Here are 3-D/4-D ultra sound pictures of Baby Tucker... that's what Thomas calls him. Poor kid... he'll be Baby Tucker even when he's 30. Anyway, he's already bigger than Thomas was at 27 weeks! Molly is huge. I told Thomas that Molly ate Baby Tucker and that's why she's so big. He looked at me very confused and asked, "Mamma, why you eat Baby Tucker?" In the first picture he's actually smiling. Molly said that after about 4 or 5 pics he got pissed and quit smiling. He's so big they had to poke and prod to get good pictures. I don't have a picture of the money shot, if you catch my drift, but lets just say... he and his brother will be no competition in the locker room!





Its funny how I've never even met this kid and yet I feel a connection. I am so excited about our newest edition. I can't believe all the love that surrounds me. Its overwhelming at times.

Change of Plans

We are getting married February 27, 2010 instead of April 3rd. Originally, I wanted to get married at a place called Bradley's Pond but they were booked for April 3rd. Apparently, everybody likes to get married in the spring. So, I decided to get married at the church I grew up in and have the reception at the Shriner's Club, just like my sister did. I set the April 3rd date not realizing that was Easter weekend. I thought that weekend would be perfect because it was the start of my spring break. When I called the church to find out when I could have the rehearsal they told me I couldn't because of Easter festivities going on that week. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I really wanted to get married at Bradleys. Soooo, after discussing all of this with Josh we decided to go with Bradley's. February 27th was the latest they had available before my spring break so we took it!

Wedding Plans

Here is the website for our wedding: http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/JanieTucker&JoshuaRegister. Its a work in progress so bear with me. Since I can remember, I've dreamed of having the perfect wedding. Now the time has come to plan and I'm a bit overwhelmed. I never knew there were so many shades of teal! It'll all come together.

Thank the Lord... We did it!

As I've mentioned before, Josh's dad Tiny had a stroke back in late February. It left his left side pretty weak. Before the stroke he weighed around 350 pounds. He is now under 300. He is able to walk using a walker but his left knee is bone to bone and sometimes it gives out on him... get the picture.

Anyway, he had some errands he needed to take care of today so I took him. Uncle Larry came by and helped me get him in the car and then we were off. We had to take care of some things at the bank. I prayed very hard that I'd be able to help him get back inside the car. I realize now that my CRV is quite narrow and doesn't accommodate tall people. Anyway, the Lord was looking down on us today and all was well. Tiny got in and out of the car all with little help from me and he didn't have to go to the bathroom while we were out!

As I'm blogging this, I'm reminded of the people I saw this weekend in Orlando. I went to the Family Cafe. Its a conference for families and caregivers of people with special needs. My heart went out to the families I saw with older children in wheelchairs. Of course I felt for the children too. A lady had to change a 12 or so year old girl on a changing table designed for a small child. There are times I get disheartened because we can't just pick up and go like most young couples can then I'm reminded that there is a reason for everything. And, just when I think I have it bad, I think back to when I lived alone in my house and how I knew something was missing but didn't know just what it was. Life isn't so bad afterall!

My Boys

This is a picture of Josh and his daddy May a year ago at Kelley's wedding. I sometimes have to laugh at how humorous life can be. My daddy died when I was 12. My whole life I wanted nothing more than to have a daddy. Now that I am marrying Josh not only am I getting a husband but I got a dad too. (Although, he's more like our son most of the time, lol!)I guess its a 2-4-1 deal.

Janie and Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day!

If you've ever read this book you'll understand the title of my blog. Its a cute book about a little guy named Alexander who has a very bad day. That was me, yesterday.

See, I took this class with our district called Level II Leadership program. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn about administration and the Florida Leadership Standards. As a culminating activity, each candidate was required to go through something called Targeted Selection. In a true TS, its an opportunity for school board administrators to interview candidates who are applying for a principal/assistant principal's position. It involves a team panel of "big wigs" who ask you questions about your leadership experiences. Then, as you are answering the questions, they critique you on your answers.

I had on my calendar that I was supposed to go through TS on Wednesday, June 10th. Guess what??? My interview was Tuesday, June 9th. I'm teaching Voluntary Pre-K this summer. So, our school secretary called me out of the cafeteria around 8:30am Tuesday morning and says, "Janie, the HR lady just called and said you are supposed to be in an interview right now." I gulped! Fortunately another teacher was going through the same interview and was dressed for the occasion. So, she switched times with me. I, on the other hand, was dressed in flip flops, shorts and a t-shirt. I had a pair of dress pants in my car that I needed to return to a friend. My principal told me to go and do whatever I needed to get ready. So, I made a mad dash to Wal-Mart bought a $7 pearl set, blouse, pantyhose and a $2.50 pair of heels. I have to say, I didn't look too shabby.

Unfortunately, I went in to the interview with a complex... I was embarrassed about switching up the days and I also didn't study enough (i.e. I thought I had one more day.) To top it off, my very first principal was also in the room. I have the utmost respect for him. Talk about nerves! I felt like I was on The American Idol. The first guy to ask me a question, let's call him Simon, was brass and told me right away, before I even had time to show any emotion, that if I was emotional to suck it up because they were about to lay it all out there. That of course caused me to turn a bright red. Then, once I began answering the question he says in a loud voice, "stop right there!" and critizes my answer. Needless to say, the waterworks began. I haven't been this humilated since I tried out for the flag corp in high school. The head HR lady was in the interview with me and she suggested we go get a drink of water. I'm telling you, if I could have, I would have ran far, far away but she encouraged me to go back and give it my best shot. To make a long story short, I survived. While it was painful, it was definitely a great learning experience. I'm thankful to have been apart of it. I also know that unless I start taking testosterone shots (that was my nice way of saying, "growing balls,") I have absolutely NO desire to become a principal.

I pretty much cried off and on the rest of the day. That evening I was thinking about things and realized that maybe it wasn't so much the interview as it was I had doubled up on my birth control pills because I had forgotten to take them the night before. I think I OD'd on hormones, lol! Geez Louise!

That night, Josh and I were able to go to dinner. I had a very large beer and a great dinner. So, at least the day ended on a good note!