ICURIS - a.k.a. Caroline's Crib

the "WAY OVERDUE" catchup post on Caroline

2010-12-27T08:32:00.005-06:00

i figured that i've waited long enough to update on Caroline's doings....last time i posted anything was over 2 months ago. in baby years, that's like 478 years. so, i'm a little behind. :)

*sleeping in her crib (not her carseat). we even are using the pack and play on trips now

*at 4 months, she was 14lbs and 8ozs, exactly double her birthweight. we haven't weighed her recently, but she's a CHUNK now

*she'll turn 6 months old this thursday

*tried cereal on 11/4. made some crazy faces.

*now doing veggies and fruits as well. her favorites so far: squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, and apples. the only thing she hasn't really liked is peas

*everywhere Caroline goes, she makes friends instantly. she smiles at about anyone who will pay attention to her. she is definitely a social baby!

*she's still a lefty...she'll grab and scratch with her left hand primarily. other times, she'll just sit and study her hands....it's like she's thinking: "hey, i'm moving these things! awesome!"

*she loves being startled....she seems like she'll love roller-coasters one day!

*she got to meet Papa (Rick's dad's dad) at Pigeon Forge the first week of November. she was a hit at Thanksgiving, and got to meet alot of her cousins (especially Carolena!).

*now she's eating 4 times a day (7:00, 11:00, 3:00, 7:30). we put her down at around 8:30 most nights, and she'll sleep until 6:30 am before starting to rustle. thank goodness she's such a good sleeper!

*she easily rolls over now....that's her primary mode of transportation. if she sees a toy, she'll roll to it. she was almost 5 months old when she first rolled over, and she rolled both ways that same day (front to back and back to front).

*she loves books. she's getting good at "pat-pat". she'll pat the floor or books or anything for that matter. her big thing is scratching stuff to hear and feel the texture. like last night at church, she was patting the book i was showing her, and she found the seam in the middle of the 2 pages, and started picking at it with her left pointer finger.

*we had Xmas pics made, and she did great! most of the smiles were from us making faces at her, but one of them was from singing one of her favorite songs (Zaccheus was a wee little man....). she just stared and smiled for the whole song!

*we've traveled like crazy with her this month. Brooke's Nanny passed away, and Caroline went with Brooke to Decatur to be with the family. Caroline was an angel!!! she did so well, was smiling for everyone, went to everyone easily, and helped brighten up a sad day.

*as we're compiling this list, Caroline just got up in the crawling position (hands and knees) and rocked front to back a few times. she had NEVER done that before just then! something new everyday!

*she had her first Xmas! she got 3 Baby Faith DVD's and 2 new books for church from Santa. her Baba got her 1.5 million things.....maybe not that much, but it felt like it! she got a bunch of new toys and clothes and books! she's so blessed! and it was a WHITE Xmas! it was Daddy's first white Xmas, too!

*she just got up in the crawl position, AGAIN!!! she might just crawl while i'm typing this. :)

we can't believe she's almost 6 months old! we're so thankful for her. thanks for keeping up with us, even when we're so sporadic! :)

More of Caroline Laughing

2010-12-22T18:22:00.002-06:00

seriously, she could have kept laughing for 30 minutes!

Whispering is SOOOOO funny!!!

2010-10-31T21:45:00.000-05:00

Caroline's doings at 3 months

2010-10-15T05:38:00.005-05:00

we have been so blessed with our little girl. she really is amazing. i know every parent thinks their child is the best baby ever, but i can produce a pretty strong case for ours so far:

*i have to give alot of credit to using Babywise as our guide for her. it has helped us be on a schedule of feeding, wake time, and sleeping during the day. that has really helped us figure out her cries and needs.

*she started sleeping most of the night at week 5. at this point, we do a ritual most every night. i give her a bath at 8:45ish, dry her off, put on her pj's, and pass her off to mama for her last feeding of the day. last night, we put her down at 9:45, and i'm here typing at 5:45 am with her still asleep in her room! i can't imagine how tired we would be if she wasn't such a good sleeper!

*Caroline is a really happy baby. she smiles at us alot. we have made it a point to talk to her constantly. for example, usually after a feeding, we burp her and take her to her room to lay on her changing pad. we'll change her diaper (if needed) and then just sit and talk to her. she'll smile and coo back....this is where we've practiced Dada, Mama, Baba, Pepaw, Mimi, Pa, I love you, etc. it just melts my heart when i can come home from work and get down on the floor with her, and she'll recognize that it's me and just smile!

*here i go jinxing myself, but she hasn't really gotten sick just yet. she's been snotty some with the weather changes, but hasn't had an awful cough or a fever or diarrhea or an ear ache. we've tried to be preventative with her.....like using the humidifier if she's congested. i'm sure it's just a matter of time, but she's done really well so far.

*it's looking like Caroline will be a very social person....she can entertain herself on her play yard mat, but she'd much rather be sitting in your lap talking with you. it's not that she really whines or fusses when she's not with someone, but you can tell how interactive she wants to be with people. we love that!

*she loves when we: blow raspberries with our lips, smack our lips, blow on her face, show her herself in the mirror, clap her feet together, clap her hands together and say "Yay!", make her dance, cradle her to get to sleep with her passy.

i hope there aren't too many typos up there. i just took some meds about 30 minutes ago, and i'm getting drowsy again. so forgive me for any obvious errors. :)

here's a picture from her 1 month photos. we're planning on some more photo shoots soon. she's already changed so much!!!

Caroline says Dada!!!

2010-10-12T08:34:00.002-05:00

listen really close at the very end.....i get right in her face and say, "can you say Dada?"......and you can totally hear her say it!

Caroline Laughing!

2010-10-11T21:06:00.001-05:00

Caroline Update - 3 months

2010-10-03T21:43:00.004-05:00

so sorry for the hiatus. i've slacked on my home improvement projects as well. so i promise i'm not just neglecting my blog. i'm neglecting everything except my family. :)

little Miss Caroline is amazing. she's such a good, happy baby. we've been using the BabyWise book as our general guide, and we've had great results. it's helped get her on a schedule of feedings and sleeping. that's saved us alot of headaches trying to figure out what's causing her to cry (which is usually not that often at all).

in the past month, she's really coming into her own. she's smiling ALL THE TIME. after eating, we usually will take her to her changing pad and talk to her. she will try her best to talk back to us, but all it sounds like right now are babbles and high-pitched squeals. :) but she will talk up a storm. after talking for a while, we usually put her under a play yard on the floor where she can watch and play with some toys. she has been reaching with her LEFT hand! Baba is so excited (a fellow lefty).

she's recently found herself in the mirror, and she'll just smile and make faces at herself.

we went to visit my mom's parents in Fort Deposit a few weeks back. we got a 4 generation picture while we were there.

Caroline loves cheering for Alabama in her jersey that Aunt Laura gave her!

Daddy is so silly! i think Caroline was a little scared here. :)

okay, when i said Caroline loves football, i wasn't joking. she'll lay on her stomach or on her side watching football just like this every Saturday. and it's mainly just football. she's not really a big TV person otherwise. here she is, watching Bama put a whoopin' on Florida! Daddy would have been in the picture, but he was at the game live! :)

i took this picture of her today while Mommy took a nap. isn't she just the sweetest little girl ever???? :)

Caroline - 2 months highlights

2010-09-06T20:12:00.002-05:00

in case you can't see all of the embedded video, you can click here.

you must watch this video....

2010-08-07T21:59:00.002-05:00

like it says on the YouTube page, if you don't cry a little after watching this, you have no soul. :)

Click here.

I don't believe in jinxes, but i think i might....

2010-07-31T19:15:00.004-05:00

just when we get excited about how things are going, we post about it on Facebook or here on the blog, and poof, it backfires. :)

it's not big things, but just little things. like, the first time we let her sleep until she woke up in the morning, she slept like 5-6 hours. we bragged on her on Facebook, and the very next night......i think we may have each gotten about an hour and a half.

then, we get excited about how well she's doing on a schedule....eating and sleeping like she should during the day, then boom! she starts refusing to eat on time, and she gets her sleep/wake cycles off during the day.

on Sunday, an older gentleman at church asked if Caroline had been sick yet. we replied, "not yet!", to which she promptly developed a cold that night. so we've been fighting that all week. we think she's finally getting over most of it.

so that might explain why we're pretty lax at updating on here and on Facebook. :) i really don't think that saying, "we're doing great.....think we'll be sleeping through the night in no time!" will make Caroline freak out at us and purposely rebel. but it seems like that's happening more and more.

okay, enough whining. i am so proud of how Brooke is doing with Caroline. she has done amazing! she takes such good care of Caroline all day and all night. i've told her this many times, but one of the reasons i fell in love with Brooke is because i knew she'd be such a good mom. that being said, she has exceeded my expectations!

here are a few of our favorite pics so far:

VIDEO: Caroline - Napping

2010-07-19T20:24:00.000-05:00

VIDEO: Caroline - Coming Home

2010-07-19T20:23:00.000-05:00

Picture Time

2010-07-16T20:21:00.001-05:00

Caroline's first 2 weeks

2010-07-15T19:21:00.002-05:00

we can't believe that Caroline is already 2 weeks old! our new life with Caroline has been interesting so far:

1. Sleeping - so far so good. she's sleeping well at night overall. we let her get good and full from the last feeding of the day, then wrap her up in a double-swaddle, and put her in her swing. most nights, she'll go 4 hours before we have to wake her up to eat! then, after her overnight feeding, she'll usually go right back to sleep until morning. we've also found that she prefers to sleep on her stomach, but we don't let her do that overnight. we'll let her sleep on our chest during some daily naps, and she sacks out!

2. Eating - so far so good again. Brooke has done a great job with nursing Caroline. she'll eat every 3 hours during the day on the clock.

3. Diapers - also pretty good. a few times, we think she's been a little constipated. it's so funny how excited we get about poopie diapers now! ah, the life of a parent! Caroline isn't the biggest fan of getting her diaper changed. she's not really fussy from dirty diapers, but doesn't like getting changed.

4. Baths - not a fan at all! she's bad enough when we have to strip her down to change her. she's even worse when she's totally stripped down and getting a sponge bath! her cord hasn't fallen off yet, so we can't get her fully wet just yet. maybe she'll get into it more when she can splash around some.

5. Smiling - getting better every day. she hasn't smiled at anything we've said or done yet, but she will smile on her own after feedings. it just makes that dimple on her left cheek jump out! plus, she does giggle some when she's dreaming. we can't wait until we can make her laugh!

6. Outings - awesome! we took Caroline out to church on Sunday (July 11th) for both services, and she did wonderful! we fed her right before we left, and she just sleeps in her carseat (which she seems to like so far). we even got to go out and eat with our church friends after church Sunday night, and she just hung out! she also got to go to her first VBS last night at Shades Mountain!

7. Visitors - Brooke's mom (Baba) stayed with us for most of the past 2 weeks as we got acclimated at home. she was SUCH a BIG HELP!!! she would hold Caroline, sing to her, help get her to sleep, let us sleep, let Brooke get a shower, and be a HUGE encouragement to us. thank you, Baba! we also have had so many visitors from church come see us! so many have brought food and gifts! we are so blessed to have so many good friends and family!

8. Hiccups - most every day. she had them alot in the womb as well. and it has carried over to outside the womb. it seems like it would bother her, but she seems fine....just annoyed. maybe she'll outgrow those soon. :)

i'm sure i've left off something, but hope it gives you an update on our new life! we've been so blessed with such a sweet, contended little girl, and we thank God everyday for letting us raise her!

stay tuned. i promise we'll post as much as we can.

More pictures of Caroline

2010-07-03T13:57:00.002-05:00

more pictures are on our Facebook pages. she continues to be just a super-good baby! eating well, sleeping well, and even a smile every now and then (from a full belly). we couldn't be happier!

Caroline Taylor

2010-07-01T06:33:00.002-05:00

she's here! 7 lb 4 oz. 20 inches long. mom and daughter are doing great!

So much for July 10th!!!

2010-06-30T03:37:00.002-05:00

we found out at our Dr appt Tuesday that Brooke had progressed alot! she was 3-4 cm and 60% effaced. so, Dr. Barron said, "When do you want to have this baby? Wednesday or Thursday?" :) so we chose Thursday (because i was scheduled to be off that day anyways).

so, i was expecting to come home and be anxious for the next 2 days with Brooke, when she greets me with "i think i'm cramping..." well, the cramps started getting regular, but not severe. so, we called our after hours on-call number, and they told us to come up to the hospital for observation.

so, we get to the hospital, and Brooke is thinking that this was a major false alarm. i go and park the car, and when i get back to the room, Brooke is hooked up to the machines. after about 30 minutes, the nurse says, "we want to keep you overnight to watch you". little did we know, the fun was just about to begin. :)

not long after, Brooke started having stronger and stronger contractions. soon, it was on like Donkey Kong! at about 2:00 am, Brooke finally got her epidural (after she had progressed to 5.5 cm and 80% effaced). now, she's feeling so much better!

so, we're hanging out at the hospital. it's 3:45 am, and Baba and Pepaw (Brooke's parents) just got here. Kelly has been here since close to midnight. we're hunkering down for the morning!

keep watching our Facebook page for updates. thank you for your continued prayers!

R,B,&C

Nursery Pics

2010-06-27T21:44:00.004-05:00

{above and below} AWESOME paintings by our sis-in-law, Cindy-Lou

so sorry for the long delay! we got the finishing touches on Caroline's room last week when my Daddyboy helped me put up the crown molding. that girl had better LOVE her room after all we've done to it.

plus, you might be able to notice that these pictures might seem to have a different quality. we invested in a new digital camera (with which we took these pics). our old camera ate AA batteries like Brooke eats Snickers Ice Cream Bars these days. :)

as you can see on the right of the blog page, we've got less than 2 weeks till Caroline gets here! we've got another Dr. appt on Tuesday. we'll do our best to keep everyone updated, either here or on our Facebook pages. thank you for your continued prayers!!!

R&B(&C)

Church Shower for Caroline

2010-05-31T15:32:00.002-05:00

we were so blessed to have a baby shower on Sunday for Caroline from our church congregation. that girl racked up!!! she got tons of clothes, diapers, toys, and accessories. thank you so much to everyone who helped organize the shower and to everyone who gave our little girl such great gifts!

here's a video cataloging everything we received (except the car seat....that's in the kitchen for right now).

thank you so much!!! we have one more shower next week in Decatur. i don't know where we're gonna put all of the stuff Caroline is gonna get! :)

Catching up!

2010-05-23T21:24:00.005-05:00

here's the updates on our crazy life! since we last posted (April 8th), we've had a lot going on! let's see:

- birthing classes
- Brooke finished her pharmacy school project and presentation, and subsequently graduated!
- Baylee and Ella spent the night with us
- Brooke went and visited her best friend from high school in Arkansas
- Dinner with my old college roommate and his wife
- Visited with my mom and grandparents for Mother's day
- Haleigh, Baylee and Ella's recital
- multiple showers for Caroline
- i hit 2 homers in one night in church softball
- upstairs guest bathroom remodel (in progress)
- Brooke accepted a part-time as needed fill-in job with Publix as a pharmacist (after she passes her boards in mid-June)
- my peach tree i planted last year has about 50 baby peaches on it!
- Spring Gospel meeting with Cecil May

phew! i'm tired just typing all that! here are some various pics from the above craziness!

28 weeks

30 weeks

32 weeks

Schaeffer Shower

More Belly Pics!!!

2010-04-08T21:18:00.002-05:00

^^^^ at 24 weeks

^^^^ at 26 weeks

you might recognize the 26 week picture.....go back and compare how she looked in that green dress a few weeks ago!

we have gotten our carpet laid! we're really happy with it. so we've essentially got everything done for Caroline's room now.

and now, i've started remodeling the upstairs bathroom (a guy's gotta have a project, right?). today was demo day....i've almost torn everything out. hope i can get it back in working order for when Brooke's mom comes to help with Caroline.

we'll try to post some pictures of the nursery soon. we're almost done with all the finishing touches. :)

Stripes on the wall, stripes on the wall....

2010-03-18T22:44:00.004-05:00

looking really good with the stripes on the wall. :) we have painted the back wall of Caroline's room as you see above. big shout out to Teale Yeilding for the design. check her blog here.

we got the bedding in on Tuesday night. we love it!!! we've also gotten the crib and changing table and glider. so we are literally just waiting on the new carpet before we can set everything up!

here are the samples of the pattern for the bedding, and some random decorations:

it's getting really real now! :)

Belly Pics

2010-03-11T08:49:00.004-06:00

1st ones we took at 12 weeks

maybe a little bigger at 15 weeks

definitely showing now at 18 weeks

now at 20 weeks

just taken last night at 22+ weeks.

isn't she so cute?!?!? :)

Painting Bedrooms

2010-02-27T17:49:00.004-06:00

guess what we did this weekend?

-scrapped popcorn off of ceiling
-patched minor cracks on ceiling and walls
-painted 3 ceilings
-painted 2 coats on trim in 3 bedrooms
-painted 2 bedrooms (all except detail trim)
-wore ourselves slap out

that's about it. :)

^^ original wall colors

^^ Caroline's room color

^^ Upstairs guest bedroom color

^^ Remodeling maniacs!!!

Freaky Eye Wednesday

2010-02-24T21:08:00.004-06:00

*****DISCLAIMER: THE PICTURES BELOW WILL LIKELY GROSS YOU OUT BEYOND BELIEF. IF YOU ARE AT ALL QUIRKY ABOUT YOUR EYES AND ARE FREAKED OUT BY WEIRD EYE STUFF, DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND SKIP THIS POST. THANKS, MANAGEMENT*****

so, i haven't had a Freaky Eye post in a while. brooke said i had to post about my patient today, so here goes:

16yoBM at Roebuck today. i had seen him last week for a full eye exam, and he was back today for a first time contact lens fitting. well, this young man was very motivated to wear contacts (because he hates his glasses), but he was scared of letting me put contacts in his eyes...a common occurrence. i could tell he was apprehensive, so i explained how easy it would be and how i would not hurt him, etc. so everytime i would try to put the lens on his eyes, he would squeeze his eyes so tight that i couldn't hold his eyelids open. and i'm pretty good at holding people's eyelids open. :) i would stop, explain to him that when he squeezes his eyes it makes it really difficult to put the lens on successfully, and then try again. after 15 minutes of coercing him to NOT squeeze his eyes, i finally got both lenses on. his vision was great with them....they fit well....they were comfortable...everything was going great.

so i take him to our contact lens training room to start practicing how to take the lenses out and put them in properly. our office manager helped teach him how to do that and care for his lenses. in the meantime, i go check a few more patients. right as i am about to go in with another patient, i hear a blood-curdling scream coming from the contact lens room, followed by our office manager screaming "DR. WILLIAMS!!! DR. WILLIAMS!!! DR. WILLIAMS!!!" i rush into the room, thinking he had accidentally scratched his eye while trying to take his contact out. instead, i saw something like this:

it wasn't EXACTLY like this picture. it was only his left eye. i calmed him down, got him to sit back down and relax, and the eye went back into his orbit like it should be.

for all you nerds out there, here's what happened. remember i told you he would squeeze his eyes? well, as he was trying to put his contacts in, he pulled his eyelids far apart to insert the contact. as he went to put the lens on his eye, he squeezed his eyes, trying to shut his eyelids while holding them open. funny, right? that internal pressure he exerted temporarily pushed his globe forward a few millimeters. once he calmed down, he relieved that pressure, and the globe retropulsed back into it's normal position.

and here's the funny part: he actually put the contact on his eye right before it popped forward! once he touched the lens to his eye, he squeezed so hard that it popped the eye forward. but he got it on! :)

that was the first time i've had to deal with a patient doing this. fortunately, i didn't have to physically push the eye back in. i've had a few of my classmates have to deal with that already.

Peek-a-boo!

2010-02-18T19:33:00.002-06:00

brooke wanted to share this little video with everyone. it's like she's playing with us. :)

It's a.........

2010-02-11T19:33:00.004-06:00

yes, we're having a girl! everything is checking out wonderful so far! thank you for your prayers!

Tomorrow's the big day!

2010-02-10T16:41:00.002-06:00

check back here or on FB to find out if we're having a boy or a girl. until then, here's a weblink you might enjoy (if you're an Alabama fan).

Boy or girl???

2010-02-06T21:19:00.002-06:00

Brooke and i will find out Thursday Feb 11th if we're having a little Rick or a little Brooke! any guesses??? vote on our quiz to the right. :)

Not a matter of "if", but "when"

2010-01-20T09:47:00.002-06:00

it seems these last few months have been filled with tragedies. maybe that's just my adulthood finally manifesting itself. maybe since i've actually turned 30, i've realized how quickly the years are flying by. regardless, it's becoming more and more apparent to me how tragedy-filled this life really is.

i've had college friends suddenly lose their only child as a victim of a careless driver. i've had a friend lose his leg from a motorcycle accident. i've had a friend lose his wife to an endless coma from a car accident. i've had friends lose babies. i've had friends commit adultery and divorce their spouse. i've personally seen families shattered by marital unfaithfulness. i've had a friend get a brain tumor.

faithful gospel preachers have developed aggressive cancer. friends have suddenly lost parents. family members have dealt with unexpected medical issues that have challenged their resolve.

then there is all that is happening in the world around me that does not directly involve me. the devastation in Haiti has hit me more and more each day. it's so unnerving to think that chaos like that can exist.

brooke and i saw a commercial for Pur water filters yesterday, and something about that commercial struck a chord in us. there are hundreds of thousands of people who don't have clean drinking water. we shower in water they would glad have drunk. how blessed we truly are in this country!

speaking of our nation, it seems that we continue traveling down a road of political correctness, immorality, and humanism. will our great country ever be great again?

i guess alot of this blog has sprung from my frank realization that we are bringing a child into this world. odds are, i'll be dead by 2060 (or sooner), but my children will be right in the middle of this mess of a world. with all the crime, seemingly unnecessary tragedy, disappointments, and losses. and i realize that tough times and heartaches will at some time affect us all.

my life is amazingly awesome. i have a great, stable job that i enjoy. i can support our family. i have my own truck. i have my own house. i have the most amazing wife known to man. i have enjoyed great health. i came from a great, loving family. no true tragedies have struck me. i've never suddenly lost a parent or child. i've never had my job disappear. i've never been a victim of crime (except that time someone busted my window out in the church parking lot....shouldn't have left it there all weekend). but nothing really BAD has ever come my way.

but the more i see of this messed up world, the more i realize that my time is coming. one day, i'm going to get a call about someone dying way too soon. one day, i'm going to have my life turned upside down by a tragedy that i probably didn't deserve, but got dealt anyways. one day, i'll look back at my life and see how good i had it before all this came (whatever "all this" might be).

so, to sum up my rambling.... :) i think we all fear something hitting us out of left field. we probably all think that nothing like that will ever happen to us. we all think that until it does. but we can take heart that God is in control. things probably seem rosier to me than they really are b/c of my relationship with God. believe me: i am NOT tooting my own horn, but i'm always astounded at how people can survive the stresses of this world without a deep, underlying faith in God. if i didn't believe that God was working everything out for good (Romans 8:28), then i'd really be stressed. :)

let's thank God for the blessings we have, and let's not forsake Him if some of those blessings get taken away.

Xmas 2009

2010-01-04T09:05:00.003-06:00

we had an awesome holiday season! for Xmas, we visited with Brooke's parents. it was so good to see all of the family. here is a video of our nephew Gage singing White Xmas.

we spent New Year's Day with my family in Montgomery. my sister Casey and her family couldn't make it, but Kristi and her family were there.

things are still going well with the pregnancy. we are just over 13 weeks (i think), so the 1st trimester is almost over. it's sinking in more and more that we're about to be parents. being around our nieces and nephews over the holidays has made us SO much more aware of the demands of parenthood. we're thankful for the examples of our families and our Christian friends as we plan to raise our children up right.

here's hoping Bama can pull through Thursday! it would be so awesome for our seniors to go out on top after coming in at such a low point of the program. RTR.

Pregnancy update

2009-12-07T13:33:00.004-06:00

i guess it's time to start chronicling the details of our first pregnancy. so far, brooke's had a pretty easy go of it. very little morning sickness. her appetite has definitely changed....she can barely finish a few bites of any meal. instead of her 3 main meals, she's now spreading out multiple little meals during the day. last night, she made a quick little turkey/cheese/triscuit snack for the drive into church.

her cravings are still SALTY! hardly any sweets right now. weirdest food combination craved thus far? hmm....she woke up from a nap a week or two back craving pickles, cottage cheese, and olives. that's not too crazy for her, but it was just funny that she woke up from the nap and instantly had to have that combination. :)

we got our first baby present from Brooke's brother and sis-in-law, Chad and Korie. she made a little houndstooth onesie (sp?) with a red "A" embroidered on the front. and, they gave us a little toboggan and booties with the Bama "A" on there. that kid's first words just might be "Roll" and "Tide". :)

thanks for the continued prayers on our behalf. we'll have another appt with the doctor on December 22nd.

***also, please keep the Gray family in your prayers. Brian and Kristy and their almost 3 year old daughter Helen were in a terrible car accident last week. their little girl Helen did not survive. Kristy is facing numerous surgeries to fix a broken back...the doctors are unsure if she'll be able to walk again. Brian fortunately had minimal injuries. please pray for their loss and their long road ahead.***

here is a link detailing how you can help. try this one if the other one didn't work.

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!

2009-11-29T08:20:00.004-06:00

Brooke and i are happy to tell the world that we're expecting our first baby in July 2010!!!

here is a quick 3 second video of our first ultrasound. if you look closely, you might see the heartbeat. it's a tiny little flicker near the bottom. :)

we told our families over Thanksgiving holidays this year. we surprised my parents with this picture frame that has all their grandkids and a picture of our ultrasound:

then we told Brooke's parents the next day:

needless to say, we are SUPER EXCITED!!! God has truly blessed us with this pregnancy. please keep us in your prayers!!!

little baby Williams will obviously take over this blog now. :) so check back often for updates!

Carpet Burn Reunion! (Part 2)

2009-11-18T10:16:00.001-06:00

here's another one of our originals:

Carpet Burn Reunion!

2009-11-17T00:21:00.003-06:00

our college band (Carpet Burn) got to play together again this past weekend. we hadn't performed in 10 years before that! not everyone could make it, but we had enough pieces (plus a "rent-a-bass") to pull it off.

thanks to Tim Ward for setting up the sound for all the bands. thanks to Joel Dilbeck for the invite to play.

here's a video of a song we wrote back in school called "Rain Falls".

what's next?

2009-11-09T22:19:00.002-06:00

now that the Halloween party is over, we can begin demolishing the house again. :) i've gotten the old carpet up from the dining room, removed the carpet pad, pulled up all the staples and debris, and put the moisture barrier down. so it's all ready for hardwoods.

pretty soon, we'll also paint the master bedroom. we've got the paint, but just have to get it on the wall.

so we're making strides. Brooke is in Decatur for the month on another rotation, so i should get some stuff done.

thanks for checking in! i promise to keep more updates coming soon!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T08:29:00.003-06:00

we had our 6th annual Halloween party last night. we had 35 people to show up! it could have been even bigger, but alot more people couldn't come this year.

here are some of the best pics:

Blackeyed P's

Green with Envy

Flintstones

Southerns

Kanye West and Taylor Swift

Kowabunga!!!

2009-09-26T21:53:00.003-05:00

i saw this picture on BOL tonight:

i didn't get to see the 1st quarter of the Bama game today, but i want to know how this turned out.

DC pictures

2009-09-22T21:10:00.003-05:00

Whirlwind Weekend in DC!!!

2009-09-21T13:35:00.005-05:00

to catch everybody up to speed, Brooke has been in northern Virginia for the month of September for a pharmacy rotation with school. she got to fly home on Labor Day weekend, but will stay there until September 30th. so, i flew up there to spend the weekend with her.

while we were there, we had a little mini-vacation. i flew all day from B'ham to Charlotte, then onto Baltimore (much cheaper to fly in to there than Reagan Int'l in Washington). she and Lori Beth and Josh (her hosts for the month) picked me up at the airport, and we went to Camden Yards for a baseball game! it was the O's versus the Red Sox. i think over half the crowd was for Boston. but it was alot of fun to be at a new stadium, and to spend some time with Lori Beth and Josh. they are so great to let Brooke stay with them all month long!

we got a hotel in DC so we could be close to our sightseeing on Saturday. we slept in Saturday until 8:30ish, then hit the town. Brooke had mapped out our course. we stopped and got coffee at a coffee joint. we decided to walk instead of trying to catch the Metro. we got to the main touring area, which they call the National Mall. we decided to go to the farthest eastern end of the mall and work our way back, stopping to see what we wanted. it was stinkin' amazing! there aren't words to describe how amazing these monuments and buildings are. we took a bunch of photos, and i promise i'll post them here soon. we saw just about everything we wanted to see: Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, US Capital Building, Library of Congress, US Supreme Court, Air and Space Museum. we didn't make it across the river to see Arlington Nat'l Cemetary and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier....just too much to do and see in one short day. plus, we were absolutely EXHAUSTED by the end of the day. remember how i said we decided NOT to take the Metro? bad idea. i'm still sore today. :)

Sunday, we went to church with the brethren at Mt. Vernon church of Christ. they took us out for lunch after worship. they are so sweet and so nice. Brooke took me back to Baltimore that afternoon so i could fly home. it was tough to leave her again, but we've only got about 9 more days apart! :)

i'll do my best to post some pictures tonight (here and on FB). hope you enjoy!

ps....we stopped at a sports restaurant for lunch on Saturday afternoon (so i could catch a little bit of college football). and lo and behold, the Alabama game was on one of the TV's!!! in Washington DC!!! i was shocked, but thrilled to watch the entire 1st half!!! we won 53-7, and moved up to #3 in the AP and coaches polls.

"I'm not a dog person..."

2009-09-14T13:18:00.001-05:00

i know this reflects poorly on us Bama fans, but this is too good!!!

another month, another post....

2009-09-09T12:17:00.004-05:00

i won't waste your time apologizing for not blogging lately.

Brooke is in the great state of VA! she left Sept 1st at 6:45 AM AL time, and arrived at her temporary home-away-from-home at 6:45 PM AL time. if you're scoring at home, that's 12 hours of driving! fortunately, it went well. she didn't get too bored or worn out. she said it's a really pretty drive.

while in VA, she's staying with a friend of a friend. Brooke's friend from church (Kelly Key) was best friends with a girl named Lori Beth in high school. now, Lori Beth and her husband Josh live in Oakton, VA, which is like 20 miles from where Brooke's internship is in Alexandria, VA. Brooke had met Lori Beth a few times when she came to B'ham to visit Kelly. so she and her husband are graciously letting Brooke live with them for the month of September! they are sooooooo great to do that.

the first week there, Lori Beth's grandmother passed away. she and Josh were driving back to AL for the funeral, and they learned that Josh's grandmother also passed away. :( fortunately, they could combine the trips into one, but that's really tough to lose 2 grandparents so close together. please keep their family in your prayers.

so, we ended up flying Brooke home during Labor Day weekend. this wasn't originally planned, but she was going to be alone in VA (with Lori Beth and Josh gone) for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday of a long Labor Day weekend. we had a great time. we spent the weekend at her parents' house. we got to go to skate night. and, Bama won big! :)

so i'm doing the bachelor thing. the house is a mess (sorry babe!). i'm working on home improvement projects to make the time go faster. i'm actually going to fly up to see Brooke next weekend (18th-20th). we're planning to tour DC. i can't wait to see her again.

hey brooke! i updated the blog!!!

2009-08-10T12:43:00.004-05:00

my lovely wife has been beckoning me to update our blog. i have yet again become a slacker and fallen back on my posts. kinda like i tend to do on reading my Bible. here's to August resolutions!

so, alot has happened since our anniversary:

**i got to observe my Granddaddy's cataract surgery in Montgomery (thanks Dr. Swan!)
**we had our first 3-night VBS (versus our traditional all-day-Saturday VBS) that ended up being a success
**i went golfing with my in-laws in Decatur (me, Mr. Nicky, Chris, Brandon, Chad, and Cade). most importantly, i beat Chris. :)
**brooke and i took a vacation to Gulf Shores (thanks Jerry and Brenda!). Mark and JP came and stayed a few days with us at the condo....we literally laughed our faces off.
**i got a 2006 black Toyota Tundra that i have nicknamed "Rolando" (pictures will come soon)
**we had a birthday supper with my sister Kristi here in B'ham. her husband Scott surprised her with a birthday weekend getaway, and instantly raised the bar for the rest of us husbands. thanks Scott!
**i had the most unbelievable steak in my entire life. if you live in B'ham, find a way to go to Ocean and get the filet mignon. thanks Dr. Schaeffer!
**i became a part of history on Monday, August 3rd. our wonderful county (Jeffferson County, AL) has closed every branch office for car tag renewals except for the main courthouse downtown. this is a political push to strong-arm a new occupational tax. i stood in a line so long that i thought i was waiting to see Moses. after 3 hours of waiting (and moving only 20 yards in line), i decided to come another day for my new truck tag. next time you see a Jefferson County politician, shake their hand for the mess they've made. actually, just shake them.
**we are ALMOST done with the master bathroom. i know i've been saying that for weeks, but all i lack is rehanging the door and installing crown molding. it is entirely functional, though. and that's what counts.
**brooke had the month of July off from clinics. that's what enabled us to take a vacation and let her go to Maywood. now she's back on her rotation at the Poison Control center for the month of August. she'll be in Virginia for the entire month of September, so i'll be posting a signup list soon for who can bring me food. :)

so there's the scoop on our lives the past 6 weeks! i hope to get some pictures up soon. thanks for hanging with my inconsistencies.

Happy anniversary baby! i've got you on my mi-hind!

2009-06-22T10:55:00.007-05:00

7 years ago today, i married the most wonderful woman alive. here are some of our best pictures together:

Time to catch up!!!

2009-06-12T21:03:00.008-05:00

i am a terrible blogger. let's just get that out there in the open. it's not from laziness, and i can prove it with the following pictures and stories. but i am terribly sorry for slacking.

so, have you ever been cutting your grass on a beautiful sunny day, only to feel a drop of rain fall on your back? but then you realize, that there are ZERO clouds and you were standing under a tree. that's when the light bulb comes on and you realize that you just got pooped on by a bird. and this is what it looks like:

i had to take a picture b/c i knew Brooke wouldn't believe me. :) anyhoo, speaking of my amazing wife, she is stinkin' awesome. she started her 4th year of pharmacy school this month. her 4th year is entirely clinical....no tests or class. she is LOVING it so far. i'm so proud of her!

we recently finished our "Bama Room". my dad came up and helped get the chair rail back up. to celebrate the completion, Brooke got me my most coveted Alabama picture:

we're still trying to find the best place to hang it. meanwhile, brooke and i took a trip to the ATL for a Braves game. we had awesome seats in right field. if you're watching the game at home, just look right above the 390 sign in RF, just next to the Braves bullpen. we were on the 2nd row. the Braves lost 9-0 to the Rockies. Kris Medlin made his MLB debut. we were so close to Francoeur, i could have spit on him:

our annual Senior Member Appreciation Dinner (SMAD) was this past Saturday, June 6th. our theme this year was "Chinese Dinner Theater". we wrote a script and everything. it was so much fun, and the senior members seemed to really enjoy themselves. we are so blessed to have them! don't worry.....we hope to have a copy of the video on YouTube before too long. and i promise to provide a link. :) here is our couple shot:

and last, but certainly not least, we are soooooo close to being done with our master bathroom. remember how things looked before we started the remodel? how bout how things looked after everything got demolished? well, we have painted, laid floor tile and shower tile. i plan to grout Saturday afternoon. then, it's literally just a matter of moving the vanity and shower curtain and toilet in place. then we are D-O-N-E!!!!! that day, there will be much rejoicing.

here's a picture of the shower tiling. i had never done wall tiles before. we used "Rialto White" tiles from Lowe's. the floor tiles were from Mazer's. they are the large 18" tiles. we decided to add some accents to the white brick pattern. so, i cut the scrap pieces from the floor tiles into rounded 4" tiles to add some pizazz to the shower. i even cut some corner shelfs as well. it was stank-hard, but i'm very proud of how it looks.

The "Missing Link"?

2009-05-19T21:33:00.003-05:00

brooke asked why i haven't posted anything recently. honestly, not much has been going on. my dad did come and help me work on the house last thursday. that guy is a machine! he worked really hard. thank you, daddyboy!

i took my stitches out friday night. that was interesting. i'll be keeping my goatee for a while until my chin completely heals.

one of my favorite websites recently is www.drudgereport.com. it's a news website that stays pretty current on the latest breaking news. i stumbled across this story, claiming to find the "missing link".

before you go any further, click on that link and read the story. i'll wait.

okay, welcome back. it's amazing to see the so-called "scientific" community clamor over this "discovery". they go as far as naming this the 8th wonder of the world. they laud this as a find that Darwin "would have been thrilled" to see. the gentleman in the video boasts, "people once asked where the link between humans and apes was....now we have it!"

this sounds like "Lucy" all over again. you remember Lucy, right? the latest proposed missing link that rocked the creationist view? fortunately, the truth came out, showing that this fossil was crammed into an evolutionary timescale that it couldn't possibly support, based on the facts.

it's amazing how all the media stories cram the evolution/Darwin view down our throats. they'll get one shred of data that might possibly support their view, and they run with it like it's iron-clad. you've probably seen plenty of shows on The History Channel to know that.

i'm afraid the media can be blamed greatly for evolutionary views and even the uber-popular global warming campaign. one of my favorite Michael Crichton books is "State of Fear". it highlights the agenda that ultra-environmentalists push.

so before you shudder from this earth-shattering discovery of a proposed missing link, realize that God has already told us the truth of where we came from. and realize that the majority of media members are likely atheists who would like nothing more than to spite Christians everywhere.

btw, this is just my crazy idea of how to explain why things look like there is an evolutionary pattern. bear with me:

according to Genesis 2:18-20, God tried to make a suitable helper for Adam. in my mind, He tried making a bird, but that didn't "suit" him.

then, He tried a cat, but that still wasn't good enough. then, a dog, but "man's best friend" wasn't a suitable helper.

then, He tried a chimpanzee. close, but still not right. then, maybe an orangutan. then, a gorilla.

so, maybe He kept making adjustments as He went, trying to make a suitable helper for Adam, until He decided to make Eve from one of his ribs.

so maybe that's why things seem to follow an evolutionary pattern, b/c God made things in a certain order or sequence as He was searching for a suitable helper for Adam.

clear as mud, right? :)

Hooray for stitches!

2009-05-08T09:33:00.003-05:00

we had our championship game in our church basketball league last night. and wouldn't you know it, not even 30 seconds after getting in the game, i dove for a loose ball and split my chin open! fortunately, one of our team members is married to a nurse. she got me a large bandage so i could finish the game. but, we lost by 7.

so, after the game, i headed for the ER, where Brooke met me. 8 stitches later, i'm good as new!

i guess i'll be growing my goatee again until this heals! the ER doc was cool. i told him i was an O.D., and he sent me home with some of the suture scissors to take them out myself after a week.

100th post

2009-04-29T15:37:00.004-05:00

well, i made it! i didn't think i could keep up with this for long. but i've done alright (i think so, at least).

i've slipped to about one post a week. plus, my Freaky Eye Fridays have been non-existent recently. that may please some of you.

so, for post #100, i thought i'd share one of my favorite pasttimes: watching funny cats.

don't give up on the video...it gets real good near the end.

and don't give up on my blogs! i promise i'll try to do better!

Brian McCann is blinded by the light...

2009-04-20T10:03:00.004-05:00

...especially at night games. the reigning NL Silver Slugger recipient is mired in an awful slump after complaining of blurry vision in his surgically corrected left eye. you can read the full story here.

awesome video

2009-04-19T20:31:00.001-05:00

did you see the A-Day game on ESPN this Saturday? if so, you probably saw this commercial for Alabama. if you're a Bama fan, you'll like it:

RTR

Baseball season is here!!!

2009-04-05T21:58:00.002-05:00

brooke will probably make fun of me for this post, but i'm super-excited that baseball started Sunday night! i'm a big nerd and play fantasy baseball, so i'm obviously looking forward to that. but more importantly, i've always been a HUGE Braves fan.

one of my earliest memories of baseball as a kid was watching Sid Bream slide into home to help send the Braves to the World Series.

i idolized Dale Murphy as a kid. i even got my dad to call me "Dale" for a while.

the names Ken Oberkfell, Gerald Perry, and Rafael Belliard bring back nostalgia.

we used to drive up for Sunday afternoon games when we lived in Macon. we would buy the "cheap seats" in the upper deck, but we would move down behind home plate halfway through the game. this was back in the days of the blue Braves uniforms. i vividly remember one game where shortstop Andres Thomas hit a game-winning home run in extra innings. we were probably 10 rows behind home plate, and we watched it sail over the fence of Fulton County stadium.

so yeah, i'm excited. our tv will be tuned to Peachtree TV and Fox Sports South for the next 6 months. :)

Schaeffer Eye Center

2009-04-01T13:37:00.003-05:00

here are a few ads that our practice is running on TV these days. i thought you would like to see a peek into my work life.

Happy Doctor's Day!!!

2009-03-30T11:35:00.002-05:00

apparently, March 30th is national Doctor's Day. i didn't know that until i got a letter from a colleague wishing me "Happy Doctor's Day". so, if you see your doctor today, wish him/her a happy day.

i must apologize for the infrequency of postings. i freely admit that the main reason i have slacked recently is because i have been slacking on our house remodel. i've gotten so many different projects started that it has almost overwhelmed me. there are a few projects that i am almost done with, but my motivation has been absent. i think alot of it has to do with the cold weather.

anyhoo, i'm glad that Spring is on the way. i cut part of our yard for the first time Saturday. i quickly realized that i need to be in the market for a good riding lawn mower! that push-assist mower is nice, but our yard is not exactly flat. :)

Nephew, Dinners, Beards, and Trees

2009-03-19T17:05:00.004-05:00

brooke's brother Brandon and his wife Cindy have welcomed their 3rd child into the world!!! Nick Hammond Pressnell. brooke got to go visit them just after he was born.

our senior members at church (50 years old and above) hosted a special dinner for us in early March. they wanted to serve us a dinner in return for the annual Senior Member Appreciation Dinner we always do for them. it was so much fun! the theme was "Back to the Future". so we all dressed up in 50's and 60's attire. they really outdid themselves!

for the past 2-3 months, i have worn a full beard. i don't know what really made me grow it, but i kept telling people that i had to grow it to keep warm this winter. this is by far the longest i've ever worn a beard, and today, it came off. i know you're excited, mom and dad! i had a little too much fun with the transitions, as you can see below:

i'm also trying out my green thumb a little. i've never been much of a gardner or planter, but i decided to plant a peach tree in our front yard. so far, it looks like it's taking well. i can definitely see the growth since it's been planted. it may be a few years before any peaches develop, but i think it will be a nice addition to our yard.

It's been a rough week...

2009-03-06T22:51:00.003-06:00

i learned on Monday that my childhood best friend tragically passed away. after a long battle with bi-polar disorder, he took his own life Monday afternoon. today, brooke and i attended the funeral in Macon.

it's tough to comprehend what someone with severe bi-polar disorder experiences. i never saw any signs of the disease during our childhood years, but it apparently manifested itself soon thereafter. he had spent alot of his recent years "sowing his wild oats", but recently had returned to church and his first love. as recently as Sunday, he had recorded a prayer where he prayed for strength to live his life for God and for forgiveness of sins. when Monday came around, he apparently hit one of his severe lows and wasn't thinking clearly.

he was a faithful Christian who was a HUGE influence in who i have become. i'm so thankful that he is finally at peace. please keep the Sparrow family in your prayers.

Let it snow!!!

2009-03-01T14:36:00.005-06:00

we woke up to a white world this morning! i got up and got my shower at 7:00 am like normal. i didn't even start to think about how it was supposed to snow overnight. brooke had said something about it maybe snowing, but in typical Williams fashion, i said, "i'll believe it when i see it!" well, i saw it!

at first, i just wanted to stand outside and watch the snow fall. then, i had to start walking around in it. then, i couldn't help myself.....i went inside and changed, and played in the snow like a kid! brooke and i had a snowball fight, and then we made a mini-snowman. yes, those are raisinets and a baby carrot for the nose.

we didn't have much trouble getting to church this morning. the roads were a little slushy in places, but not bad at all. our numbers were down at church (only 37 for bible class and 56 for worship), but it was still great. Randy Lyon was our fill-in preacher for Mel (he's at a Gospel Meeting today). he always does a good job. after church, we had a glorious snowball fight outside. way fun.

a big highlight this weekend was that Ben and Amy Boyd came back to visit! they were members with us at Shades Mountain for 4+ years while in pharmacy school. they have since moved back to Florida. this was their first time back to visit. it was so good to see them again!

One room down! (update)

2009-02-23T19:42:00.001-06:00

we finally completed the dining room. brooke got some awesome curtains sunday. here are the pics:

This is the eye chart that some people wish I had

2009-02-23T09:43:00.003-06:00

(courtesy of Yahoo! Sports)

Revisiting an older post...

2009-02-20T12:16:00.005-06:00

remember when i posted about NBA basketball players getting poked in the eye a few months back?

now one of them is going to require surgery to fix it. the injury was so violent that it not only tore his iris, but it caused a retinal detachment.

please take care of your eyes. if it can happen to an NBA All-Star, it could certainly happen to you!

Kyle Butt debate

2009-02-13T13:59:00.003-06:00

if you missed the debate Thursday night, you missed a treat! Brother Kyle Butt did an outstanding job defending the God that we serve from the haughty attacks of atheist, Dan Barker.

you can get a list of videos from the 2 hour debate here.

and click here and here to read up on some outrageous, humanistic beliefs that Mr. Barker has.

may God bless Kyle for his efforts to stand up for the truth, and may God bless Dan Barker with enough time to repent and turn to Him.

"Lemme lemme update-update ya"....

2009-02-09T10:26:00.003-06:00

kinda like Beyonce sings in that DirecTV "upgrade ya" commercial. that just owns me for some reason.

what a great signing day for Bama! back-to-back #1 recruiting classes per Rivals.com! i know that these are just 17 and 18 year old kids, but you have to like Bama's odds of being competitive in the next few years. that's alot of good talent coming in to T'town! plus, we stole a few recruits from Louisiana and LSU to knock them out of the top spot. that was sweet. those Bama/LSU games should be awesome in the next few years.

speaking of Bama, our "Bama Room" is almost painted. just a word of advice to anyone considering painting a room crimson or any shade of red: be prepared for MULTIPLE coats. the first primer coat looked streaky and pink once it dried. so did the 2nd one. i put the 3rd coat of Sunday afternoon, and it's looking pretty good. it will still need 1 or 2 more coats before it's done. but it's looking really really good. i promise the next post will have pictures of it. :)

brooke is doing awesome in school. she's in her last semester of classwork. then, she has one year of clinical rotations left before she's DONE!!! she's already got her schedule for her rotations, and she is pumped. i'm so proud of her hard work. she's hosting Bunco for our girls from church tonight. woohoo!

our master bathroom is also coming along nicely. i've got 2 more pieces of sheetrock to put up. then, i can start building the knee wall and painting. we've already got the tile for the floor. it won't be long from here!

NSD

2009-02-03T22:14:00.002-06:00

some of you know what "NSD" stands for. i bet most have NO clue! don't feel bad if you don't. "NSD" is "National Signing Day" for high school football recruits. and Wednesday is the big day.

to me, tomorrow is like Xmas. you know, when you couldn't wait to open your presents b/c you were so excited to see what you would have to play with for the next year. that's what tomorrow is for a young college football fan. for the last few months, fans have been making "wish lists" of recruits they hope to see in their home team's colors next fall. tomorrow, we get to open the presents and see who will make up our stars of the future.

if you're a guy, you probably know what i'm talking about. if you're not a guy, i hope you'll give you husbands a pass tomorrow as they anxiously await the news on their signing class. enjoy the day, everybody.

Bathroom update

2009-01-29T22:08:00.006-06:00

you may remember our rotted subflooring from where our shower pan was leaking. well, i had to remove it and another large section of subflooring that was damaged. so, i needed to use my saw. i don't have any earplugs, so i made my own little get up, seen below. i took a headband of Brooke's and stuffed 2 socks over my ears. and of course, i had my old racquetball goggles for eye protection. i told Brooke, "i should invent a helmet that would protect your ears and your eyes..." hmm....maybe i'll work on that one day.

so in the next 2 pictures, you can see the 2 pieces of 1/2 inch plywood i put down. brooke was worried that i would fall through the open floor, but i didn't. :)

so the next step is to put the new sheetrock on the walls. i have 2 larger pieces to place in where the former shower was. i will put 3 pieces of what's called "greenboard" around the tub (seen below). it's supposed to be better for areas where water might get through to it. you can see where our new copper pipe has been run up for our new shower head. and, you can see the recessed light we just got put in.

so we're making progress!!! woohoo!!! we just started on the office in the front of the house that we will refer to as "The Bama Room". stay tuned for pictures soon!

reflections on society

2009-01-23T12:04:00.005-06:00

okay, maybe it's just me. maybe i'm overly-attuned to the changing social/political landscape. but i can't believe where this society is heading.

first off, and worst of all, President Obama has taken measures to repeal the ban of federal funding for abortions. this will lead to thousands of Americans choosing to be irresponsible because they can always just abort the baby later. it's unbelievable. it's disgusting. it's murder.

on lesser notes, we can't even win a game anymore without worrying about someone's feelings getting hurt. a girls basketball game ended in a shocking 100-0 score. kudos to the winning team. to the losers, you need to learn how to beat the trap and make a layup. that should have been the end of it. but NO! parents and administrators to the rescue! now, the winning team will probably forfeit the win and make a public apology! you think i'm kidding? check the link above.

and finally, you've heard the commercials. you've seen the special programs. by now, you know what is going to happen on February 17th, 2009: TV will make the switch to Digital. the government has offered rebates for converter boxes. the local news stations have been warning us for seemingly 2 years. but today, the announcement comes that we'll have to put that on hold until June 2009. why? because some households haven't gotten ready for the switch. i could care less if my TV input was analog or digital. but it bugs me that we seem to be bending the plans and desires of all to appease the irresponsibility and fragile egos of the few.

whatever happened to personal accountability?

whatever happened to "what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger"?

whatever happened to being responsible?

we were taught to enjoy the gift of sex in the context of marriage only. we were taught that a baby in utero is just as alive as a baby in your arms. we were taught that sometimes people are better than us, and we have to work harder instead of tearing down their accomplishments. we were taught to do certain things by certain times in certain ways or have to deal with the consequences of our actions.

in this age of "bailouts", i can't think of a way we could get bailed out of this mess we're making.

One room down!

2009-01-20T22:39:00.005-06:00

i mean, what a "before and after"!!! the only things we lack are the new flooring and new curtains. those will come soon. but the dining room is now usable again! doesn't it look so much bigger???

A little perspective....

2009-01-16T13:39:00.002-06:00

one of my favorite announcers of all time is David Feherty, the PGA tour announcer with a thick Irish accent. even above how cool is accent sounds, he's hilarious. i stumbled across this article on Yahoo! Sports today. he was speaking about how he's interacted with some of our soldiers overseas. here's a quick shot:

"But every soldier I've talked to - there, at Walter Reed [Army Medical Center], anywhere else - I've yet to meet a soldier, a sailor, or a marine who hasn't said, "I want to go back." It doesn't matter how badly they're hurt, they still want to get back with their team. That's something you don't hear on the six o'clock news.

Back here, I've tried to do what I can. In July, I did what I called "the IED of golf" up in Chevy Chase, Maryland. We took 36 amputees out on the course that day. One of them stepped up to the ball on the first tee, hit it 240 yards. Let me tell you, it was the greatest shot I've ever seen, and I've watched Tiger Woods the last 12 years.

There was a Green Beret who wanted to walk with me, was on two prosthetic legs. Had just gotten ‘em. The first day, he walks 12 holes, and I'm just stunned by this guy. No self-pity, such courage and dignity.

The next day he comes back and says he wants to walk all 18. I'm saying, "This is Congressional. Sure you want to don't want to ride in the cart?" A buddy of his leans over to me and says, "It's easier to be the Pope than to be a Green Beret." I got the message.

So this guy is walking with us, his stump is bleeding, he's falling over a couple times. But he wasn't embarrassed, he just popped back up. And As he's walking, I'm thinking, I've got these kinds of people fighting for me. That's what makes me do whatever I can. These guys are American royalty, warrior princes, and we ignore them or humiliate them by making them suffer through things like sitting with their stumps exposed while they're going through airport security. Come on!"

we should stop and be thankful for our troops who do for us what we might never dream of doing for someone else.

Happy Birthday Sophia!

2009-01-16T10:44:00.002-06:00

my niece Sophia will turn 3 years old next week! i have to work this Saturday, so we can't make the party! :( we hope you have a great 3rd birthday!!!

our house stuff is coming along. our dining room is near completion. we've primed the trim, and all we lack is the final high gloss coat, and it will be done! we primed the foyer yesterday, too. so we'll try to paint that soon. pictures will come eventually!

New Look Dining Room!!! Pictures!!!

2009-01-11T17:26:00.003-06:00

don't get too excited! we're far from over, but much further than we've been! this weekend, brooke and i finished spackling and sanding the walls in the dining room. so we primed the walls last night. this afternoon, we stopped by Lowe's and got our paint and painted the walls! the color looks alot better in person than on the pictures. we've still got to paint the trim and windows white, but we're thrilled at how good it looks so far!!!

you can see above how well the primer covered our spotted wall.

it looks great!!!

Remodeling pics

2009-01-05T20:56:00.005-06:00

after painting the ceiling. notice how smoky it is in there....that was from sanding some of the spackling off the walls. our house is thinly coated with spackling dust in about 5 rooms.

this is the "before" picture of the ceiling.

this is where the shower once stood in our bathroom. i've still got to tear down the white concrete walls and replace it with sheetrock. the shower pan has been removed, leaving the bare subflooring (which i'll need to replace).

this view is similar to the "Avios Avocado" picture. since this picture was taken, i've removed the toilet and broken up about 2/3 of the remaining floor tile.

Bible Knowledge Class

2009-01-05T11:05:00.003-06:00

i'm trying something new for our teenage class at church. i thought it would be awesome if we could all know at least one fact from every New Testament chapter. like, if I said Ephesians 5, then you would be able to think of some topic or verse from that chapter. to that end, we'll review and study this every week this quarter in our teenage class.

yesterday was our first class, and i wanted to start with a baseline so i could see where they were and so they can see where they are in their personal Bible knowledge. i compiled a 32 question quiz that i want to share with you, too. to begin with, they only tried to fill in the blanks. then, i provided the possible answers so they could match them up. it took a while, but we figured them all out.

so give it a shot, and see how your Bible knowledge stacks up! like i told the kids, this isn't designed to make you feel dumb or like you're a bad Christian, but it's aimed at challenging you to be a better student and doer of the Word.

1. A chapter that lists 7 parables, including the sower, dragnet, and pearl of great price: _______________
2. A chapter that records Jesus’ prayer before His crucifixion: ____________
3. A verse that talks about “walking in the light”: _____________
4. A chapter that lists the qualifications for elders and deacons: ____________
5. A verse that we sing “I am crucified with Christ”: _______________
6. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…” : _______________
7. A verse where we are first called “Christians”: ________________
8. “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”: ________________
9. The faith was “once for all time delivered to the saints”: ______________
10. A chapter that lists the “7 ones”: _________________
11. A chapter that records Jesus’ 1st miracle: ________________
12. A verse that reminds us that God “will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able…” : _______________
13. A verse that tells us that Jesus will return as a thief in the night: _________
14. A verse that says “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” :_____________
15. A verse that plainly says that “baptism now saves you”: _______________
16. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord”: ______________
17. A chapter where Paul talks about his “thorn in the flesh”: ______________
18. “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” : __________________
19. “Whatever you do in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”: __________________
20. A verse that tells us that Jesus is “the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.”: ___________________
21. “Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.”: ________________
22. If you don’t work, you don’t eat: ________________
23. A book that deals with a slave named Onesimus: _____________
24. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promises, but is longsuffering….wanting all men to come to repentance.”: _______________
25. A chapter that records Stephen’s sermon: ______________
26. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ___________________
27. A chapter that records the “woes” to scribes and Pharisees: ____________
28. “we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.”: ______
29. A chapter that records the conversion of Cornelius: ____________
30. A verse at the end of a book that tells the purpose of miracles: __________
31. Lost sheep/coin/son: __________________
32. “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.” : ________________

Holiday and Remodeling Update!

2008-12-29T14:39:00.002-06:00

we have been busy! for Xmas, we traveled north to "Donkey-town" to see Brooke's parents. we had a great time there. we racked up with some Lowe's gift cards! woohoo! we both had to work Friday and Saturday, so we had to come home late Thursday night.

our remodeling is coming along, too. it's hard to get alot of stuff done just in the evenings, but we're doing well. we FINALLY got all the wallpaper off in the dining room. we bought an electric sander to smooth out the rough patches, and it worked great. as i type, brooke is peeling wallpaper in the foyer near the front door. i enlisted my buddy Ryan from church to help me do some demolition in the master bathroom. we have completely removed the shower pan now. so it's just subflooring exposed now. we've still got some to remove from the old tiled walls, but it's coming along!

we'll head to "Monkey-town" for New Year's with my parents. we hope to post pictures soon of our holidays and the remodeling.

hope everyone has a great new year!

Merry Xmas 2008

2008-12-19T22:13:00.001-06:00

Adios Avocado!

2008-12-15T10:16:00.005-06:00

so this was our master bathroom. a couple of things to note here:

1. this photo was taken from an adjoining doorway to a spare bedroom. ergo, this isn't truly a "master" bathroom....more like a "jack and jill" setup. we will eventually wall off that doorway, making it a true master bathroom.

2. the large shower stall to the left is now gone. years of lime and calcium deposits almost prevented me from unscrewing it, but a little C-L-R loosened it right up. before buying the house, our home inspector told us about a leak in this shower pan. he estimated it would cost about $3,000 to repair it. sooooo.....we decided not to pursue that. we will instead install a shower head in the current tub to make that a shower/tub combo. where the shower is now will be where the toilet will soon be. which leads to note #3....

3. just below view to the right in this picture is our current toilet. it quite literally is the "stinkpot"....you know, when one person is just stuck in the middle of a big group. that's what it feels like where it is. it's kinda like they got so excited to have a full shower and a separate tub in one room that they forgot to plan for a place to put the toilet. so they said, "we'll just stick it here in the middle of the floor....". crazy.

4. please note the colors. avocado green tiles with avocado green countertops with avocado green striped wallpaper. somebody REALLY liked avocado green. i guess that was a sign of the times. anyhoo, any and every thing avocado will be removed.

5. how do you like the hanging light? i'm not judging, but if it was me, i would have picked a light that didn't hang in front of that cabinet door....you know.....so you don't bang into it every time you open that door. just a thought....

to date, in this bathroom, we have:

*striped the wallpaper
*scraped off the popcorn ceiling
*dismantled the shower
*broken off all the tile (shower and tub) - very time consuming

and that has taken the better parts of 5-6 days. we haven't taken pictures really since then, so we'll try to take a "demolished" picture soon. we'll be working quickly to get started on building it back up the way we want.

As of 3 pm today....

2008-12-10T10:41:00.003-06:00

...Brooke will be finished with this semester!!! woohoo!!! she has done awesome so far. one of her habits is to figure out what she needs to make on her final to either pass the class or get a certain letter grade. since she's done so well this semester, she only had to make like a 12 in some of her classes to pass. i think she needed a 46 today to pass. anyhoo, she's done great, and i'm so proud of her! i know she's ready to have a break from studying and working on projects for school. now, she'll have some time to work on some house projects!

check back soon for bathroom remodel updates. we're bustin' up some tile!!!

Remodeling update (with photos!)

2008-12-04T22:21:00.004-06:00

we have been tearing up our bathrooms in our house, but in a good way. we had started pulling down the wallpaper in our master bathroom. that came down MUCH easier than we thought. so today, i finally disassembled the old shower stall. that's where i'm standing on the ladder in the first picture. we have decided to remove that shower b/c there is a leak in the shower pan. it would cost an estimated $3,000 to get that repaired. we don't like the layout of the bathroom as it is right now, so we'll move stuff around. we'll put a shower head with the current tub, and move the toilet to where the shower is now. it already looks much better with those glass doors down. then, we started scraping off the popcorn ceiling in the master bathroom. that, again, is alot easier than i thought it would be. so we got that done.

then, we pulled off the wallpaper in the half bath downstairs and the full bath upstairs (the old cherry wallpaper). again, that came off REALLY easy. we were pumped. we wanted to keep working, so we started to pull the wallpaper off in the foyer at the front door.

big mistake.

that stuff is stuck on firm. as easy as the rest of the wallpaper has been, this wallpaper is that stuck on. so, we halted for the night. we'll have to score it, and soak it with wet newspaper to get it off. that will be a chore. but we got really lucky not having to do that for all our bathrooms.

so we've made progress. we can't wait to get all the popcorn off and the paint on the walls!

Happy Birthday Baby!

2008-12-01T15:26:00.004-06:00

the love of my life turned 26 today! i'm so proud to be her husband. i tell her this all the time, but it's weird to think back when i was a kid about how i tried to dream of what my wife would be like. the funny thing is: in my wildest dreams, i never thought i could be this happy. i didn't think it was possible to love someone so much. i'm so thankful for her.

i hope you're birthday was great! i love you!

Thanksgiving weekend update

2008-11-30T22:12:00.003-06:00

we had a wild weekend. we both had to work on Wednesday, so we planned to head to Montgomery to stay with my parents that night. well, plans changed. i developed waht i can only describe as "a headache from the dark side" late Wednesday afternoon. it knocked me on my back where i had to miss church that night. i can't think of the last time i've been too sick for church. it was bad. anyhoo, i woke up for about 30 minutes after brooke got home from church, just enough to try to eat some crackers, then back to bed. i was fine by the morning, thank goodness. brooke took such good care of me. i'm a pitiful patient. :)

we spent all Thanksgiving day at my mom's parents' house in Fort Deposit, AL, which is just a bit below Montgomery. we had a great time there seeing my side of the family.

we did get some bad news while we were there, though. that morning, brooke's grandfather, Marvin Pressnell or "Gandy", passed away. he was 80 years old. it was somewhat sudden, but his health and mind had been frail for years. he was a faithful Christian his entire life, which gives us more peace than we can describe.

so, we came back to work on Friday. after work, we drove up to Decatur for the weekend with brooke's parents. we had a great time there, too. we had the funeral Sunday afternoon. brooke's dad and her brother Chris conducted the funeral. it was a very moving service. he was a great man that has influenced thousands of people, either directly or indirectly.

one of the best parts of the weekend was the "Beatdown in T-Town"!!! i felt like Bama would win, but i was afraid that it would be a slobber-knocker. i'm so proud for JPW and the other 8 seniors. those kids came to Bama b/c they love Bama, and Saban has said they've been the ones who really deserve the credit in turning things around. it's great to break the streak. it's great to shutout Auburn. it's great to feel the pendulum swinging back our way. now it's gets really interesting. if we beat Florida, we can beat whoever else we face. i'm scared to death of Florida, but if we can sneak past them somehow, we'll beat Oklahoma/USC/Texas/whoever. i'll pull a "nicky pressnell" and just go ahead and call that. i might be wrong, but that's my opinion after seeing how this college football season has gone.

brooke has about 2 weeks left before she's done with this semester. then, she'll only have one more semester of classwork left! her senior year will be strictly clinicals. she has worked so hard for this, and i'm so proud of her!

My dad is famous!

2008-11-23T14:46:00.002-06:00

my dad, Tommy Williams, is the topic of the feature story of the Business section of the Montgomery Advertiser today. they did an article about his clock repair business. not only is it online, but it's on the front page of the Business section of today's (Sunday) paper. the online version has a good video of him explaining his business.

check out the story online, and visit his website. i'm so proud of you, daddyboy!

Freaky Eye Saturday

2008-11-22T21:00:00.003-06:00

i was watching the Texas Tech/Oklahoma game, but that is a laugher right now (42-7 at the half). so here's a some information on Diabetic Eye Disease.

it is estimated that almost 8% (or over 23 million Americans) have diabetes. so almost one in every 12 people that you meet will be diabetic. this condition can cause devastating vision loss if left untreated.

if a patient's blood sugar levels are out of control, their prescription will fluctuate dramatically. usually, this causes patients to seem more nearsighted than they truly are.

here's a fundus photo of an eye with diabetic eye disease:

just to orient you, the yellow circle is the optic nerve. the red lines are the blood vessels. the large red splotches are termed "blot hemorrhages" or large blood leakages within the retinal nerve fiber layers. when the blood is leaking out into the retina and not reaching it's target tissues, the body can try to grow new blood vessels (called "neovascularization") to compensate. this is a valiant effort by the body, but it actually makes things worse.

here's the main point of this post: every diabetic needs an eye exam AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR!!! if i don't see any blood leakages in the retina, once a year is plenty to monitor their eye health. if i see just a few tiny blood leakages, i will follow them every 6 months. if i see an eye like the one above, i'll probably watch them every month until this resolves. if any blood approaches the macula (our most sensitive area of vision), the vision can drop very quickly, and surgery might be necessary.

do you know someone who is a diabetic? ask them when was the last time they had their eyes examined. make sure they know how important regular eye care is for them. we only get one set of eyes.

the other day, i got a wild hair...

2008-11-20T17:39:00.003-06:00

well, we got our foundation fixed last week. so that means we can get started on remodeling. so one night this week, i went to our master bathroom to try to peel some loose wallpaper. much to my delight, the glue must have broken down over the years, and the wallpaper just peeled off completely. this was a major relief. we vividly remember how difficult it was to remove the old wallpaper at our house in Alabaster....scoring it and soaking it with DIF gel. it was a nightmare. so now, we've got bare sheetrock to work with. :)

stay tuned for updates on how we're planning to reconfigure our master bath.

So what's new?

2008-11-13T19:42:00.002-06:00

actually, not a whole lot. things are trucking along for us. brooke is still doing well in school. her study load is really high right now, but she's doing great. i'm so proud of her.

my work is good. i had a conference at the Wynfrey Hotel in B'ham this past weekend. it was good to see some old friends from optometry school.

i'm somewhat sick right now. i've got that crud that alot of folks have right now: sore, scratchy throat....dry cough....congested nose....yada yada yada. i was off today, so i've tried to get well before i have to go back to work tomorrow.

we had our Gospel Meeting this week at church. James Watkins spoke, and he did an amazing job. like i told him, of all the Gospel Meetings we've had in the 7+ years i've been at Shades Mountain, he's been my favorite. if you ever get a chance to hear him speak, take the opportunity. you'll be enriched by it.

hope i get a chance to blog soon about Bama heading into the SEC Championship game undefeated.

My favorite author......

2008-11-05T13:38:00.005-06:00

...passed away today. Michael Crichton died at age 66 from a private battle with cancer. apparently, he kept the news of his cancer away from the public. this was the first i had heard of him being ill.

there's no other author that i read from. not stephen king or john grisham or anyone. maybe i should branch out more and find other authors to read, but Crichton always had a way of blending the scientific/medical side with the suspenseful/entertaining side that really appealed to me. he graduated from medical school before devoting his life to books, and he always incorporated difficult concepts into the stories in a way that i could really grasp.

the first book of his that i read was Jurassic Park. that was the summer blockbuster in the theaters when i was a teenager. we didn't have the cash-money to go to the movies, so my parents bought me the book. about a year later, i watched the movie on VHS. compared to the book, the movie was awful. i understand that the movie was a special effects breakthrough production, but it left out critical parts from the book, and the book painted a much more vivid picture than could be reproduced on the big screen.

i went on to read most of these selections in this cover collage. "Sphere" is one of my favorites that i read periodically. "The Great Train Robbery" was a piecing-together of an actual train robbery in the 1750's (?). i liken it to an "Ocean's Eleven" type adventure. i just finished "Timeline" for the first time. "State of Fear" is probably my favorite. in this book, he challenges the well-believed concept of global warming. basically, he exposes it for what it is: a theory that is one of 100's of theories for why our climate changes over time. he drew harsh criticism from environmentalists for his objective and documented views on the illusion of man-made global warming.

i know this isn't a blog about the house or our family or our work, but the sudden loss of such a great author seemed necessary to blog about. so if you're looking for a good read, give one of his books a try.

Happy Halloween!!!

2008-11-03T11:33:00.006-06:00

we had some friends over for a halloween party Saturday night. i think we counted 33 total. so getting ready for this party forced us to get the new house somewhat in order more quickly. we had taco salad and LOTS of halloween candy. we watched some football and played our annual game of Celebrity. we had a great time, plus, we got an extra hour of sleep that night from the time change. woohoo! check out my facebook profile for more pics.

we've had some issues come up (quite literally) with the house. our first night, we slept without heat b/c i couldn't figure out how to get the pilot light to come on at the furnace. our master shower isn't working right, so we have to climb the stairs to the guest bathroom for our morning showers. and to top it all off, our sewage line was clogged, and "poo-water" spilled everywhere in our laundry room (and dripped into the unfinished basement). we've almost got that resolved. the clog is gone, but the stench remains. but, we're loving how close we are to work/school/church. it's been wonderful.

now that our halloween party is done, we can start our projects. be watching for more pictures soon.

ps.....how bout my Crimson Tide?!?!?!?! if you could jump in a time machine, travel back to 1/3/2007 (the day Saban was hired), and tell the masses that Bama would be ranked #1 in 2008 the week Saban returns to Baton Rouge to play LSU, you would be locked away in the crazy house. but here we are. we may lose to LSU, Miss State, Auburn, and Florida, but i'm enjoying this ride. i do think we're playing a little over our heads, but i believe we can make it undefeated to the SEC championship game. then, i'll be scared to death of Florida. they are good.

New House Pics

2008-10-23T10:11:00.008-05:00

finished basement that will one day become the "man cave" or some other catchy name.

one of our out-of-date bathrooms that needs new flooring, wallpaper removed, painted, new toilet, etc.

yes, that is lime green shag carpet!

here's the prettiest view of the house. we can touch up the inside, but the brick was a big plus for us!

more pics will come later as the remodel progresses....

In the infamous words of Lloyd Christmas.....

2008-10-21T10:31:00.003-05:00

"We're there!"

we have officially closed on both houses. we have moved 95% of our belongings to our new house. and we are wore slap out!

a big thanks to everyone who helped us this last weekend in the move (some both days): big red, ethan, jason, nolan, and rick's parents. things went great because of ya'll pitching in and helping. it's great to have good Xn friends.

email me if you need our new address, or check our facebook profiles.

we hope to post some pics soon. our internet hasn't gotten hooked up at the house yet (i'm posting from work between patients). so be watching for more updates as we undergo "the great remodel"!!!

Time is winding down....

2008-10-15T15:16:00.003-05:00

it seems very strange to think about our last few days in our Alabaster house. we're planning to be officially out by the end of this month, but we'll probably be mostly moved up to Hoover before then. and the little things that we've grown accustomed to at our current house will be missed. there are a few things at our house that we wish we could transplant into our new house.

like our built-in bookcase in the basement. or our crapemyrtle by the mailbox. i'll even miss our old clunky oven and stained carpets. mainly because we put alot of our lives into that house.

for the first time in my life, i laid tile in our kitchen (at an angle no less!). i fixed the squeaky steps going to the top floor. i replaced our garage door. that house is where i came home after i graduated optometry school. that house is where we found out that brooke got into pharmacy school. that house will always be the house where me and mark and david and big red played scattergories till 4:00 am the night of the Skynard concert. that house will be the house we spent night after night playing cashflow and nertz with ryan and kelly. we've had halloween parties, Christmases, hurricane parties, and Bible studies there. and in 15 days, it will all be just a memory.

our kids will never toddle up and down the steps we climbed a million times. they'll never play in the backyard i dreaded having to cut. they'll never know what our monster in the fridge sounded like. we'll just have to try to describe it.

but we get to make some new memories soon. we're unimaginably excited about this new house and all it offers. but it's bittersweet to realize the piece of ourselves we have to give up to get it.

We have a closing date!

2008-10-09T13:52:00.003-05:00

we're set to close on our current house on October 20th! woohoo! this is the same family that made the offer we accepted back in late September. they did get approved on Monday of this week. so, the wheels are turning. we are so thankful that God has blessed us in this move.

as it stands, we're going to try to close on our new house the same day. hopefully the attorney can get everything done at once to save everyone some time. we will have some time to get everything packed up and moved, but it will be a whirlwind 2 weeks!

please continue to keep us in your prayers as we tie up all the loose ends with this. things look great so far, but it's hard to predict if everything will go as planned.

ps...if you're in the B'ham area, let me know if you're available on a Sunday afternoon or a Monday to help get some big stuff moved up into Hoover. :)

Freaky Eye Friday

2008-10-03T13:57:00.003-05:00

no pics this time! just some information about vision and sports.

there has been a wave of eye injuries in sports. Phoenix Suns star Amare Stoudemire got poked in his right eye during practice yesterday. now, his iris is torn. sounds like angle recession to me.

next, former Florida Gator star Joakim Noah also got poked in his left eye. his was forceful enough to cause a blood leakage in the eye. sounds like a hyphema to me.

finally, Tampa Bay Rays slugger Carlos Pena left yesterday ALDS Game 1 with "blurred vision". i was instantly intrigued. from some research, i found out he had scratched his eye the day before, and it hadn't healed completely yet. the classic corneal abrasion.

3 finely-tuned, highly-trained athletes. all 3 in great, physical shape. but one false slip to the eye, and they are incapacitated. i think we all take our sight for granted until something goes wrong. Stoudemire and Noah may develop glaucoma or a traumatic cataract. Pena could develop recurrent corneal erosion or have resultant scarring that prevents him from competing at the highest level.

take care of your eyes. wear appropriate eye protection, even if you think you look stupid. if you injure your eye, seek help immediately. so much can be treated if it's addressed in time.

Okay, I just had to post this:

2008-09-28T21:57:00.004-05:00

WHAT A GAME!!! i haven't posted about Alabama all season long (other than that video before the season even started), mainly b/c i didn't want people to think i was one of those crazy, outlandish, typical Bama fans that only saw things through Crimson-colored glasses....even after the Clemson game. but, man, what a game! i never envisioned us dominating UGA like that. as the game was getting started, i realized, "this is the same way we beat Clemson: keep the ball on offense, and stop the run on defense." i'm so proud of our team for playing so consistently so far this season. we have faced every challenge with tenacity and confidence. and so far, it's paid off.

so, now Bama is #2 in the AP poll, but #4 in the coaches poll (which is the one that counts in the BCS rankings). like i told brooke today, all that matters is we need to keep winning ballgames. i don't like that LSU is ahead of us in the coaches poll, but if we keep winning, we'll get a chance to change that.

i sure do hope Saban can keep the players hungry and focused for the Kentucky game. i'd hate to blow a great wave of momentum on a let-down conference game.

RTR.

Good news on the house

2008-09-22T11:24:00.005-05:00

we had an offer on the house over the weekend, and we have accepted it! the only remaining hurdle is for the prospective buyer to obtain financing. but, things look to be going great! continue to keep us in your prayers as we tie up the loose ends on our current house and transition to our soon-to-be new house. we'll let you know of any other updates when we get them.

also, jennifer and jarred crow came to visit this weekend. brooke and jennifer are BFF from way way back. it was great to see them. here's a pic of the girls before they had to go back home to Arkansas.

More Funny Cats

2008-09-18T22:15:00.004-05:00

that last one about the jawbreaker OWNED us tonight!!!

www.icanhascheezburger.com

Haven't had one of these in a while....

2008-09-16T19:47:00.004-05:00

first off, whoa! it's been "4-eva" (forever) since i posted last. sorry about that.

so, i had a "first day at the new job" on Monday. it made me think back to when i got my first job back in Macon, and when i had my first day at Sam's as a REAL doctor. but things went well. i'll only be working at this new job part-time until my contract with Sam's runs out (my last day there will be October 4th).

so, i had a day full of learning. their way of doing things is similar to when i worked up in Cullman, but maybe on a grander scale. in the morning, i worked at the Hoover office, which happens to be the biggest/busiest office. i got to shadow the doctor there some, as well as see a few patients myself. the biggest difference for me will probably be record-keeping. Dr. Schaeffer's offices are completely electronic, so there are no paper files....just computer data on a program called "Exam Writer". it's really nice, but i'm still lost in it. it's tough enough learning a new exam form when you work with another office, but it's much more difficult learning a computerized exam form. i kept going to the wrong screen, or not knowing how to find the right screen, or not knowing where something should go. i think that will be the biggest acclimation for me.

in the afternoon, i worked at the Colonnade office off of Hwy 280. the doctor here helped me learn the computer programs better. i will be splitting most of my time between this Colonnade office and an office in Roebuck. i'm very excited about working there.

so, i'll stumble along for the next few weeks, trying to get my bearings in this new job. i'll work there 2-3 days a week for the next 3 weeks until i completely with sam's.

we're doing well here. still waiting on one of our house-lookers to turn into a house-buyer. keep praying!

Tallahassee, Rivalries, and Mushrooms

2008-09-04T12:52:00.006-05:00

we had a great Labor Day weekend. we took advantage of the long weekend to visit Mark and Jennifer Butts in Tallahassee, FL. this was the first time either of us had been to Tallahassee. Mark and Jennifer have been there for about 2 1/2 months now. he's working with the Timberlane church of Christ as their youth minister. here's one of their better pictures of the weekend.

on Saturday, we took a tour of the town. we went to Wakulla Springs (where the water was ICE COLD!). we drove by Doak Campbell stadium on the way back into town. Mark and I decided to do "the chop" in honor of FSU.

most evenings involved coffee and Rook. we played probably 5000 points of Rook throughout the weekend. it was great. i can't begin to tell you how much we laughed. i'm beginning to suspect there was something in the coffee. anyhoo, we got to taking funny pictures with the built-in camera on my computer. here's the best shot we got:

brooke couldn't even open her eyes for the picture b/c she was laughing so hard! it was too much fun. we had such a good time with them. that's the most we've gotten to see them in years. their son Brock is about 14 months old, so we had a good time playing with him. he's a really good little boy.

on the way back home, we stopped and visited with my sister Kristi and her family in Coosada. true to form for the weekend, we played some Rook. it was great to see them. Kristi even agreed to wear my Bama hat for the picture, as long as i wore her ugly Auburn visor. it was so worth it!

so that was our crazy weekend. on to the mushrooms. brooke pointed these out to me last night when we got home from church:

these things popped up just overnight in our yard! and they seem to follow a path leading from our house, through the natural area, and into the front lawn. weirdest thing i've ever seen! does anyone know what might have caused these to pop up in a row like that? how should i get rid of them, other than just knocking them down? any suggestions would help.

It's that time of year

2008-08-28T12:40:00.002-05:00

watch at the 2:20 mark for your Julio Jones moment of the day.

I gotta go back, back, back to school again!!!

2008-08-26T13:30:00.003-05:00

yeah, that's a catchy Grease tune, but it's definitely not brooke's favorite song.

she had her first day back on Monday. she's got a great group this year (alot of their classwork is done via small groups of 5-7 people). her schedule is alot better than she thought as well. so, although she's not excited about being back in the school mindset, it's been better than she was thinking it would be.

things continue to move slowly for our house situation. still no strong prospects for buying our house. we're anxious to get things moving fast, but we're praying that God will do what's best. that formula can't fail.

thanks for all the good comments on Alligator Mouth Hummingbird Tail. i didn't mention this before, but i actually typed up all the book for Mr. Nicky. he wrote it all out by hand, and i typed it up. and his son Brandon designed the artwork for the cover. pretty neat, huh?

again, if you want to buy a copy for yourself or get a set for a young families class, click here.

Alligator Mouth Hummingbird Tail

2008-08-21T11:09:00.004-05:00

i realized yesterday that many of you might not know that my father-in-law Nicky Pressnell is not just a preacher, not just the best FunSing leader at Maywood, not just the best father-in-law i have, but is also a published author.

"Pepaw" (as the grandkids call him) has written a small paperback book that is being published by Donnie Hilliard at the Cloverdale Center for Family Strengths. it's called "Alligator Mouth Hummingbird Tail." it's written as a parenting guide. it offers anecdotal stories coupled with strong Biblical teaching.

let me encourage you to purchase a book. it's only $5.00!!! i know this would make a great book for young adults/young families classes at your local church! here's a small excerpt to whet your appetite:

Even though our kids are all different and need different methods at times, there is a common denominator. That common denominator is consistency. When you tell a child you are going to do something, do it. You must be consistent. If you tell a child to stop or he will be punished, then if he doesn’t stop, punish him. Don’t have an alligator mouth and a hummingbird tail. Mean what you say. One of the biggest problems with parents is that they take no action and want to know why their child doesn’t mind. About all some do is say, “Don’t do that” and never follow up. If you start out at birth being consistent, then by the time they are around two, they’ll know the rules and what to expect. Every child will tempt you. Don’t give up or give in.

Well, it's now official

2008-08-15T13:32:00.004-05:00

after a lot of prayer and contemplation, i've decided to join a large group optometry practice in the Birmingham area.

it's really a long story, so bear with me as i retell it.

the week before we left for Maywood, this doctor contacted me saying he wanted to interview me about joining his practice. at first, i was taken aback. i hadn't been looking to change my job situation. i certainly hadn't been spreading the word that i was looking for something different. he told me he had gotten my name from a optical rep that visits the Cullman office i've been working at 2 days a week for the past 2 years. so, after talking with brooke, we decided it wouldn't hurt to meet him and see what he had to say. plus, it would be good experience for me to go through the interview process.

so, i met Dr. Schaeffer the saturday before we went to camp. i went in to the meeting knowing that whatever he said, i wasn't going to say "yes" that day. the meeting went really well. Dr. Schaeffer is a unique character. he's a very type-A personality. he's very reputable in the academic field and the community. ever heard of the Schaeffer Eye Center Crawfish Boil? that's his baby. anyhoo, everything he said made great sense to me. he's offered me a large pay increase over what i'm making now, full benefits, local work (less miles on my car, not to mention the cost of gas), and the ability to practice optometry to an extent that i can't do in my current situation. well, he offered the position to me that saturday, but i told him i needed to pray about it and talk things over with brooke. he understood that i'd be at camp the next week, so i told him i'd get back in touch with him when i got home.

i tried my best NOT to think about it while at camp. and i didn't, for the most part. i'd still pray alot about it, but i wouldn't fret over it. but, as i prayed about it, i came to the conclusion that this had to be a blessing from God. there were a number of reasons:

1. i wasn't looking for anything. this just fell in my lap.
2. though i'm a "doctor", i haven't been able to make even close to "doctor money" in my current situation.
3. i wouldn't have to spend one night a week away from home like i do now (no offense, big red and patti....like i told you before, that's one of the biggest "cons" in my decision: that i won't get to hang out with ya'll every week anymore).

so as the week toiled on, i was leaning more and more towards accepting the job. that first monday back to work, i got a call from the doctor i currently work for in Cullman on thursdays and fridays. she was calling to tell me that she was only going to need me for maybe one day a week starting in September. when i heard her say that, it's like a window from Heaven opened and said, "how much more proof do you need?!? take the job, dummy!" so, i called him up and we met again to discuss particulars. i called up my district manager with Sam's the next day to give him my 60 day notice. then, i called the doctor in Cullman to let her know. i signed the contract today, so i'm official. :)

so where does this take us from here? the next few weeks will still be the same.

if you need to get your eyes checked at Sam's or Cullman, you'd better act fast! my last day in Cullman is September 8th. my last day at Sam's is October 4th. after i'm finished at Cullman, i'll start part-time with Dr. Schaeffer.

thanks for reading my story. keep us in your prayers as i transition. i'll blog soon about more specifics of my new job. here's a teaser that hopefully some of you might get: do you think Julio Jones and Andre Smith might need contacts? i might get to find out one day soon.

Update

2008-08-14T09:29:00.002-05:00

sorry it's been a week since i've posted. things have been busy.

so, here's a house update! unfortunately, no good news just yet. we're still waiting for someone to fall in love with our house. we've had some traffic come through, but no bites just yet. we've dropped the price twice since we first listed (our first price was outrageous in hindsight). we're trying to be patient before we drop it again. we've added a "broker incentive", where the broker that brings the eventual buyer of our house in gets an extra $500 at closing. that's helped, but nothing just yet.

brooke starts school back August 25th. she's dreading having to get back to the grind of school, but she's ready to get it over with! keep her in your prayers as she starts back.

one of our older members from church passed away this week (John Landers). he had battled health problems for the last year especially. he was a wonderful man. a very encouraging person. but most of all, he was a faithful Christian. that means more than anything else at a time like this.

Just call me "Redbeard"

2008-08-07T13:05:00.005-05:00

so, i'm rockin' the beard. i let it go at camp last week, and i haven't convinced brooke to let me shave it yet. not sure how long this little experiment will last, but thought you'd like to see it while it's still here.

Fun Sing at Maywood

2008-08-04T20:45:00.003-05:00

every day at 9:30 am, we would have a period of Fun Sing. we sing stupid songs like "mama, don't you whoop little Buford" and "dum dum da da da da" and "singing in the rain". well, this year, i had 2 new favorite fun sing songs. one was what i call the "chicka-chicka" song, and the other was what i call "peel the orange". i took a short video of part of the "peel the orange" song. have a look: