Scarlett's Birthday and Snow

So, I started writing this post way back in the beginning of February. But, life happens. The last two months have absolutely flown by! 

At the end of January, we celebrated sweet Scarlett's first birthday! On her first birthday it snowed. She had a great time playing in it.

Scarlett's one year photo

First snow of the year, on Scarlett's birthday

A couple of weeks later, it snowed again! One snow is unusual down here in Georgia, so we were definitely surprised to be getting more. Even more snow came down this time and it stuck around longer too. Of course both of these snows occurred on my work week. I am fortunate to have Jason who not only has four wheel drive, but also has experience driving in snow and ice! He was able to take me to work each night and bring me home each morning. I didn't have to stay at the hospital like many of my coworkers.

Second snow- You can see there is a lot more on the ground!

It certainly seemed like a long, cold winter this year. We are looking forward to warmer weather!

One Year...

One year ago today I received the most terrifying phone call. 

"Jason is being air lifted to Chattanooga" he said. 

My heart dropped. I knew "air lifted" really meant life flighted. 

How could he need to be life flighted? I had just spoken to him a few minutes before. He just told me he was fine.

"They are worried about nerve damage in his hand. He can see a specialist there" was the explanation. 

But I wasn't there. I was two hours away, and a part of me wondered if things were more serious but they didn't want to scare me. 

That two hour drive to Chattanooga was probably the longest two hours of my life. Then when we arrived, they wouldn't let us go back to see him right away. All the waiting was tearing me up!

Finally, they let us go back. And there he was! All in one piece and awake! 

I'm not sure I've ever been so happy to see someone! 

His hand and forearm looked awful, but we had hope that it would heal. 

And God is faithful and He is healer.

He was faithful that day on the mountain in protecting Jason from even worse injuries.

He has been faithful every day of the healing process. Jason never got an infection or needed skin grafts. All of the feeling has returned to his hand and fingers. He also has almost full range of motion in his wrist. For someone who makes a living working with his hands, these are huge blessings!

He is faithful today. It is still healing. I'm not sure it will ever look completely normal again. In fact, my guess is it probably won't. And that's fine with me. It serves as a reminder of God's protection and faithfulness. 

 "But The Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one."
2 Thessalonians 3:3

My original posts about Jason's accident are here and here.

Savannah: A Quick Trip

Jason had to go down to Savannah and St. Simon's Island this week for business. Since it was my off week, I went with him. We left on Tuesday afternoon and made it to Savannah in time for a late dinner. We ate at a burger joint near our hotel before crashing from the long drive.

Wednesday morning, Jason made a quick stop for work near our hotel, and then we headed to the historic district. Jason had never been there before, so there were lots of things I wanted to show him! Unfortunately, we only had a few hours. We didn't get to see it all, but that just means we will have to go back!

The first place we went was River Street. It was freezing that morning, so we had to drive it. Next we headed to Ellis Square. Last time I was in Savannah it was under construction. It is an open area with a big fountain for kids to play in when it's warm. Obviously the fountain wasn't on that day! From Ellis Square, we walked to St. John's Cathedral. It's so gorgeous. All the details amaze me!

Jason inside the Cathedral

St. John's Cathedral

The Colonial Park Cemetery was just down the street from St. John's, so we headed there next.

We also stopped by Independent Presbyterian Church. This is the steeple where they drop the feather from at the beginning of Forrest Gump.

We also checked out the Paula Deen Store and a pet store called The Grateful Hound. We had to pick up some souvenirs for our girls! 

Our last stop in Savannah was lunch at the Pirates' House. The restaurant holds the oldest house in Georgia, and our table was in that portion of the restaurant. 

Fireplace in the oldest house in Georgia.

After our lunch, it was back on the road to St. Simon's Island. We didn't get to do anything fun there. Jason checked out the work to be done, and we were back on the road toward home. A very quick trip, but we still had a good time. I love Savannah and am looking forward to going back sometime when we can stay a little bit longer!

New Truck

Jason's truck had been in and out of the shop for the last year. We knew the motor wasn't going to last, so Jason started shopping around for a new truck. Fortunately, he was able to find a really great one! And just in the nick of time too. When he traded in his old one, they said the head gaskets were seeping which is very bad news. The motor was definitely on its last leg. 

So far we love the new truck!

January Birthdays

My last week off we celebrated some birthdays in our family.

First was dinner at Outback with my parents to celebrate my mom's birthday.

On Saturday night we celebrated our nephew's birthday. He turned the big 3-0!

Sunday afternoon we celebrated our niece's birthday with cookie cake.

Jason and his sister.

Happy Birthday Everyone!!

Goals for 2014

I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions. It just seems like they only last a couple of weeks. But because there are several things I want to accomplish this year, I thought I would make some goals for 2014. Maybe sharing them publicly will help keep me accountable!

1. Grow Spiritually.

This year I want to know and love Jesus more. 

2. Be more healthy.

This goal has nothing to do with losing weight. I just want to exercise more and make better choices when it comes to eating.

3. Pay off debt.

Our ultimate goal is to be debt free. Realistically, I don't think we can do that in one year, but I would like to make some significant progress!

4. Cook more and eat out less.

We eat out way more than we should. Cooking more at home would help us save money and eat better!

5. Create a weekly cleaning schedule and stick with it.

I want to be able to do a small task each day instead of feeling overwhelmed by trying to clean the whole house in one day.

6. Take more pictures.

I have not done a good job of making pictures when we get together with family. I want to be able to have pictures to go with all our memories!

7. Be a better wife. 

I want to be the most loving and supportive wife to Jason that I can be.

2013 Year in Review

2013 was certainly an eventful year!

January

We got to meet sweet Ruth.

And we went to Gatlinburg for a weekend getaway with friends.

February

Jason had his accident.

March

Jason and I went with my parents to Nashville to sight see and visit family.

And we got to meet Smokey X!

Jason turned 30, and I gave him a surprise birthday party!

April

We went to the Orange and White game in Knoxville.

May

We took a trip to the beach with my parents.

We celebrated 2 years of marriage!

June

Sweet Scarlett joined our family.

July

We celebrated my birthday with family.

August

Ramsey visited us from North Carolina, and Scarlett went to the lake for the first time.

My mom and I hosted a baby shower for MC.

September

We spent a week at Disney World with some of Jason's family!

October

Probably the most eventful month of the year!

We celebrated Charles's birthday and went to Tennessee for a family baby shower.

Jason performed the wedding ceremony for a cousin and his new bride.

We took a weekend trip to Pigeon Forge and while we were gone our nephew was born!

We also had our family photo for our Christmas card made.

November

We had a full house of friends visit for Thanksgiving and hosted Jason's family meal at our house.

We went to the Georgia vs Georgia Tech game.

December

We visited the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and Brasstown Bald.

We celebrated Christmas with our families.

We are thankful for all the blessings of 2013 and look forward to what 2014 has in store!

Happy New Year!