Boston, Day 4

Why does it seem like I am just as tired in the mornings here as I am at home? I swear. I seriously thought I would come here and it would be so easy to get up in the mornings because I wouldn't be as exhausted as I am at home. NOT TRUE! Regardless, getting up in the morning is not easy! Not to mention, there is nothing like your own bed. That's for sure!

I ventured out tonight with a couple of the girls in class and went to dinner at Tavolino. It was fabulous!! I had the Salmon which was to die for and a spectacular Chocolate Rasberry Martini. The conversation was nice and it felt good to get away from the hotel for an evening. We are all in the same situation which makes it really easy to relate to.

Malakai made it to Kansas City this evening. They are leaving for Orlando in the morning and he is beyond excited!! He can not wait to see Mickey and everything else. He has strict instructions from Leila to by her a Belle doll, it should be interesting what he comes home with. He is also going on a fishing excursion with my dad and the other "men" on the trip which he is very excited about as well. I can't wait to hear about all his adventures. One of the things I love about the private school he goes to is the close-knit community. People seem to truly care about everyone and it is such a nice feeling. Well today, his class did a blessing for him to have safe travels while he is gone. When I asked him what the blessing entailed, he said everyone in the class put their hand on him and Mrs. Morrow "talked." SO CUTE!!!

No Skype call tonight, J is still driving back from dropping off Malakai. He has his mom with him now, so he should have a pretty smooth week with all of her help. Leila truly adores her Ma Ma so I am sure they will have an amazing time.

Till tomorrow friends!

"Life's challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they're supposed to help you discover who you are." - Bernice Johnson Reagon

XOXO,
Miller

Tres...

Not a lot to update everyone on today. I am enjoying a nice evening in with a bottle of wine, work, and Glee. Not necessarily in that order :)

One of my biggest challenges while being here is TV issues. NO TIVO!! I can't remember the last time I had to be worried about being on a specific channel at a specific time so I don't miss an episode. And watching commercials...OMG!!! They are torture!!! Josh and I worked out a plan that I was going to try and watch what I could and he would save the rest for me on Tivo. Seems to be working out pretty well :)

I find it really amusing that Josh picked Malakai up from Kids Club (After school program) today and they had to ask for his ID. I am the one that ALWAYS picks him up...the only reason he is there 3 days a week is because J works late, therefore I pick him up at 5. Every other day, J picks him up at 3:00 from school, so the Kids Club teachers don't see his charming face that often.

Malakai got in trouble at school today. Apparently him and a good friend got into an argument because they never play with each other at recess. Said friend plays soccer and Malakai plays Mario and Luigi. Well I guess it turned into a pretty heated 5 year old argument and a note got passed around saying "Who do you like more? Malakai or said friend?" Seriously!!! In Kindergarten? Not to mention....BOYS!

Other than that, not a whole lot going on. J sounded a little worn out when I talked to him tonight. He had a full day of work, dance, and the task of packing Malakai for a week in Florida. He is a champ though :)

That's all for tonight friends. Hope everyone is having a blessed week! I leave you with our nightly skype picture and a pic of Leila before dance :)

XOXO,

Miller

Boston...Day 2

Oh, let the training begin! Today was my first day of training (the actual reason I am here). We are talking 9-5, Monday thru Friday. After talking with people who have been through this process before, your experience comes down to two things, 1) your instructor and 2) your class. On a good note, my instructor seems really cool! The class...not so bad. You know how you always have those one or two people that talk and you constantly ask yourself how they EVER made it in the world? COME ON!!!! Let the poor instructor talk for two minutes before you rudely interrupt him with some stupid question! I realize there are supposed to be NO stupid questions, but in the healthcare field, "What is an ICD?" is a STUPID question!!!

On a positive note...they have MONSTER energy drinks in the vending machine for $1.25!!! It's the little things in life people.


I ended up calling my IT guy on lunch today because I couldn't get Skype to work on my laptop and I was freaking out! Thank goodness he got things figured out for me and I was able to get everything working. The thought of not being able to video chat was freaking me out!


I did't sleep very well last night. Not sure if it was the bed or lack of Josh in it, but either way, I hope it gets better. I ventured to the gym in the hotel this evening. Such an exciting day!!! Ha ha!


I leave you with a snapshot of the fam I took while we were skyping tonight :)

XOXO,

Miller

Boston...Day 1

Well, I made it! For those of you that don't know, I am spending some time in Boston for work. And by "some time" I mean like....3 weeks! I do get to come home for a weekend though, so that will be nice. It was a difficult choice for me on whether or not to go through with it, and a much easier choice for Josh. He never hesitated, told me to go for it. That in the huge picture of life, three weeks is nothing and is a great move for my career. I love the fact that I am married to someone so supportive of me being a working mom. Obviously the guilt is still there, but when I am surrounded by such amazing people, it definitely helps.

I think he might actually have it easier while I am gone than when I am there! My fabulous mother-in-law is coming for a week and then my fabulous mom is coming for a week. The kids absolutely ADORE them so I am hoping they will be side-tracked from the fact that mommy isn't home...hoping :) Then, my fabulous dad and step-mom will be taking Malakai to Disney World for a week during this time as well. Friends have even offered to bring them dinner on some nights...Seriously?! We truly have amazing friends! Everyone is going to be super busy, especially Josh, working and running kids to soccer, dance, etc. the time will hopefully fly by!

So, the plan is to blog every day regarding this adventure. Josh and I haven't spent a significant time apart since I was in college. I am even hoping I can get him to log on here and update my blog with the kids' adventures on that particular day. Technology is so amazing these days! Can't wait to skype and talk to my babies every night before they go to bed...

I just flew in this afternoon and so far smooth sailing. My anxiety only hit the roof once and that was driving from the airport to the hotel. Thank goodness for GPS!!!! I am settled into the hotel, made a Walmart run to stack up on some groceries, and now I am getting ready to get lost in a book. It sounds great....for a few days! Not sure how nice it's gonna be in the long run.

Till tomorrow faithful readers....we will see what adventures are to come!

XOXO,

Miller

Ten On Tuesday

1. We have had a lot going on the last few weeks and I just want to take this opportunity to thank all of the people that have been there for Josh and I and the kids during it all! Everyone has offered their help in some way, shape, or form. Thank you to Autumn and Jimmy for really stepping in, your thoughtfulness and help has been SO appreciated. I am so lucky to have one of my besties as my neighbor as well! I bet you never thought we would be this high maintenance! Ha Ha! It's not easy living somewhere and not having a single family member around. Especially going through difficult times. Autumn and Jimmy dropped everything to babysit on several occasions, brought ungodly amounts of ice cream over, made early morning runs to the store to get the kids balloons that they had talked about the previous evening, played endless hours of WII with Malakai, let Leila paint nails, the list just goes on and on. There are no words that could express how much we appreciate them!!



2. Which leads me to Josh and our all night trip at the ER. To make a long story short, we were watching a movie and he started having stabbing pain in his upper abdomen. After HOURS at the ER, it was assumed that he was having issues with his Gallbladder. However, after a HIDA scan and more blood work, his gallbladder has turned out fine. He is feeling a little better, but has to be really careful with what he eats. I think I am still going to make him get an EGD to see if maybe there is something going on with reflux/GERD.



3. I can't believe the time has come for me to turn 30! I really am trying to embrace this new chapter of my life. If you had asked me 15 years ago, where I wanted to be when I was 30, I think I have surpassed my expectations. I need to be proud of where I am in life. I have met and married my soul mate, we have beautiful children, a beautiful home, a career that I actually enjoy, friendships that are irreplaceable, the list goes on. So CHEERS to turning 30!



4. I need to think of a special post to do on my bday. A list of 30 something? Any ideas?



5. A post will come with pics of Leila at dance. It is the cutest darn thing I have ever seen. She is one of the youngest in the class but you definitely can't tell size wise. She spent the first five minutes just standing there taking it all in, but then she participated fully! She is very excited to go back this week and wants to make sure everyday that all her loved ones are coming to watch her at her recital....IN JUNE!



6. We are painting! I will try to take some before and after pics. We are doing the loft and Leila's bedroom, then having someone do the rest of the main level. Leila is SO ready for her big girl bed and furniture. She asks everyday. The problem is, I can't decide on bedding!!! It's SO hard. I have to stick with something that will go with brown because that is the color of her huge rocker/chair that she loves, but I want bright colors to go with it. Here are some I am looking at, PLEASE give me your opinion!!! This is so tough!!

My Favorite

7. I have tried to make it a point to tell Josh one thing he does each week, rather large or small that I appreciate. It's so easy to fall into a routine and overlook the little things. I was giggling the other day because I am a thrower of things when I walk in the door. My mud room is a disaster! I kick my shoes off (on top of an already 3ft pile of shoes), throw my keys somewhere, pile my purses on top of the dryer, etc. However, every morning I never have to search for my keys. Every evening Josh takes my keys and puts them in the designated key holder. This is such a little thing that makes my mornings a whole lot LESS stressful! Thanks J!

8. Back to Autumn, she has me OBSESSED with a certain series of books. I am currently on book four of an 8 book series of The Black Dagger Brotherhood. There is nothing intellectual about these books. They are SO good though. Take Twilight and give it an R (or worse) rating and that is this series. SO GOOD and SO ADDICTING!

9. Chiefs are 1-0!!! Whoo Hoo!!

10. Anyone have any useful hints on washing white uniform shirts? Malakai gets SO dirty!! Help?

PS. I like to ask specific questions in my TonT because I like to get comments and I feel like if I ask questions people are more willing to leave a comment :)

XOXO,

Miller

Phobias

If you follow my BFF Colleens blog, you would be familiar with the fact that she has a pretty odd phobia. To make a long story short, she has a phobia of people knocking on her door. Every time I read her crazy, hilarious stories about her fear for the doorbell to be rang, I always try to think about if I have any silly phobias.

Yes, I have an issue with deleting emails. In fact, some will call me an email hoarder. As of right now, I have 21,316 in my Yahoo! inbox and 14,195 in my hotmail inbox. But guess what? I can find something from years ago if needed, and I've had to do it before! This isn't really a phobia though, unless you would count being afraid of hitting the delete button.

What is a phobia?

pho·bi·a   /ˈfoʊbiə/ Show Spelled
[foh-bee-uh]

–noun
a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, or situation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it.

Why all this talk about phobias you ask? I recently discovered one of my own. That's right folks, I have a silly phobia. Guess what it is? I have a fear of checking my voicemail!!!!! This holds true for my cell phone voicemail and my work voicemail. Luckily at work I have a job where I am very seldom actually in my office, so people have learned to call my cell phone or send me an email. But when I see that red light on when I walk in, my heart starts racing and I have to talk myself in to checking it....sometimes 3 days later! I could have 19 or 20 messages on my cell phone before I get up the nerve to check my messages! Why is this? I have no idea!!! I don't have telemarketers calling, I don't have bill collectors calling (Lord knows I had enough of that in college), I don't have a number that previously belonged to someone else and no one got the memo. Most my messages are from my loving family or caring friends and sometimes I don't hear them for weeks after they are left.

There it is. You all learned something new about me :) Every now and then I like to share something with my handful of readers that they maybe didn't know. It makes me feel like we are bonding.

So, what is your silly phobia? I would love to hear!!

XOXO,

First Day of School!

Better late than never. Just wanted to share a few pictures of Malakai's first day of Kindergarten. He is enjoying the year so far, at least from what I can get out of him. Most of the time his response when I ask him how his day was or what he learned he says "Good" or "I forgot." I have even started bribing him with 5 extra minutes of WII time if he will give me one detailed description of what he did that day! The Cardinals back pack (which I love) only lasted through the first day because a)it was huge and b)he insisted on having one that went on BOTH shoulders. Day two he asked me if I would just drop him off so he could walk in by himself :(

XOXO,