There are days

So my husband and I are nurses. He does adults and I do peds, and for the most part it's run of the mill kinda stuff. The area where are hospital is, is kind of a poor part of town, so everyone uses the ER as their primary care physician. But somedays, someday we get some neat things in and on those days I absolutely love my job. This weekend was one of those times. Patient comes in wrist jacked up to hell and back and we get to make him loopy and yank it back in place. Now I realize the words I'm using are verbally harsh, but they really give the best depiction of what we do. Now as the nurse my job is counter weight, the doctor pulls and I push so we can get those wrist bones back up in place. All doctors have different ways of achieving the same effect,but the one thing that remains the same is you gotta pull those bones, and sometimes it's really hard, this was one of those times. Are doctor was pulling for all she was worth and I was pushing for all I was worth and we thought we got it back in place it felt pretty good, but a second xray said nope not so much, we needed to get those bones closer together. So we try again and I mean our doctor is pushing and pulling and bending and she just can't get it. Here comes the I love my job part, she told me to give it a try. She explains how to hold and at what angle I need to pull and she will provide counter balance. We get into position I give that patients wrist one good yank and "pop" you hear that bone slide back into place. It's a great feeling knowing you're able to help in that way. This will actually be the second bone I've pulled back into place. The first was when one of our other doctors was extremely pregnant and hauling on an arm could cause baby to pop out. She told me to pull straight up on the hand and then she would manipulate the bones. So I pulled straight up and one resounding "pop" later bones were back in place and there was no manipulating needed from the physician. It's nice to know I was placed in the right field of work, cause there are days I wonder, but this weekend God let me know he knew where I belonged.

Catch all phase

Okay so I decided that I'm not that good at blogging and this whole slowly catching people up with what's going on in life not happening so much. So, we are going to try getting all caught up in one fell sweep. January was a fun month for the citizens of Georgia we were snowed in for three days and nobody knew what to do. I must admit I was quite proud of myself in that I felt I had a good grasp on what to do in general in a snow storm seeing that I lived in Denver CO, and they get a lot of snow. Granted I was like ten and couldn't drive, but that didn't stop people from giving me pointers on how to drive in the snow. The night that it all started I was at work and everyone was getting called in and being told they needed to pack to stay. I was determined to go home, it took me two hours one sliding episode, and a conversation with a woman who kept asking me the same question, but I made it. It was glorious that first night all soft and fluffy and fun. The dogs had a blast dashing through it and snuffling it, and eating the bits we threw at them. The next two day were a different story the top layer of snow was hard and slick, Gremlin and Cinnamon would walk on it and then crash through. Gremlin though was the best he would try to hike his leg to pee and slide down the hill that is our backyard, he finally just gave up and squatted like a girl. We also got a new pet in the form of Mr. Boo who was a cat that showed up on my mom's doorstep but wound up living at mine. My brother was apparently suffering from allergies which kicked his asthma into high gear. February the excitement of that month was losing Boo and then by the Grace of God finding him a week later sitting on a neighbors porch in a completely different neighborhood meowing pitifully. Needless to say we think he's going to be permanently grounded whether he wants to be or not. End of March beginning of April was when we went on our first cruise, it was for Casey's birthday. We had friends that were going to go with us but had to back out at the last minute because of morning sickness. The cruise was great!! Lots of stuff to do and Casey and I even managed to work out a bit while on the ship. We went of the Allure of the Seas currently the biggest cruise ship, which is cool, but that means a lot of the ports can't handle that ship. Our ports wound up not being super cool, but they did provide us with relaxation and fun and some new experiences. My favorite of which was the 30 foot long bamboo raft in Jamaica that took us down the Martha Brae river. Our guide was fantastic told us the folklore behind the Martha Brae (she was a witch) and was full of interesting tid bits about the island itself. I don't think Martha liked me laughing at the story though cause she stole my sunglasses! We also learned that you need to go out in the sun in the afternoon, both of us wound up with some heat rashes. Also, our server for dinner every night was great and his helper was from the Philippeans and so cute.

Godmother 101

So Casey and I are going to be godparents!! I'm so excited, my best friend and her husband are having a baby and they're the ones that asked us. Now I knew a little bit about what being a godparent meant and Casey and I had talked about it before hand because my friend has godparents, but just to be completely clear we went and read about it on the Internet anyways. After reading what the Internet had to say it got me thinking about being a godparent and I just got this urge to write my future godson letters. I don't get urges very often so when I do I take them seriously because it's usually God trying to get through. I have all these ideas running through my head of things I want to tell him, things that may or may not help him. I want to write the letters now so his parents can read them to him before he's born and also so he'll have something to look at as he gets older. Being a kid these days isn't easy and I think it's only going to become harder as the years go by and the people of this world continue to focus on nothing but themselves. I want to tell him stories about me and his mom and things I went through so that maybe he'll be more prepared for the world. I want to be funny and serious all at the same time. I want him to be able to look at my letters and draw strength and practical knowledge from them. I want him to be able to see the many sides of being a christian, but mostly I want for him to know he was loved, loved across thousands of miles and before he was even born. I want him to know I stayed up late contemplating cute stationery so I could write him letters, and I want him to know he is truly blessed with the parents he is getting.

Check one two Check

This is just a test to see if I can post from my iPad successfully.

Yea for me!!

Ok so first off I am finally the proud owner of an IPad!!! So exciting, I was using my husbands old laptop which was like older than dirt in computer years. It had to think really hard about booting up and then it had to think really, really, really hard about whether or not it wanted to log on to the internet. Then once there it just sat there like "whew" that was a lot of work and then it usually froze. So, needless to say I am soo excited about the fact that I have something that just zooms happily along. Only sad thing I can't seem to write the blog from it yet. I'm working on it though doing some research see what other people say. But for now, back to playing catch in the world of the Stokes. December was my favorite month by far, mainly because they whole month is all Christmasy and comfy cozy. Plus, my husband goes hog wild with the Christmas lights outside which means I get to have a blast inside. I think our house is at it's most prettiest when Christmas time comes around. This Christmas was special though, and for anyone who lives in the state of Georgia you know why. It actually snowed on Christmas Day!!!! Now for some this is not a big deal for me it was one of those dream come true moments. Casey grew in Georgia so for him snow is just this crazy white stuff that fall from the sky and shuts the city down for days at a time. I on the other hand am an Air Force brat and grew up all over the place, one of those places being Denver CO, where snow is that white stuff that allows the children to have hours of fun without the parent having to do anything other than watch and laugh and make hot chocolate. So growing up I was told that it couldn't be a white Christmas unless it snowed on Christmas Day, and I have be waiting for that day for at least twenty years. Moving to Georgia people tried to convince me that I should just be excited when there was snow on Christmas Day, but my little girl dream refused to die and so I waited hopeful that one day it would snow on Christmas day. And on Christmas 2010 that little girl dream came true, it snowed on Christmas day, little soft white fluffy flakes that got stuck in your hair and eyelashes and made you remember all those days of sleds, and snowballs, and ice tunnels. It was the best Christmas ever!!!

Adventures in Boo Bearing

So, we got a new kitten back in January which you will hear more about when I finally get around to catching everyone up on the previous months, but for now we have a new kitten. His name is Boo and he causes me unwarranted stress and frustration, and he is a big sissy. This cat is scared of everything it's so weird cause he was a stray when we found him, but I have no idea how he lasted his six months of life before we got him. Anyways he likes to try and be a big boy and go outside and since we want him to know what his smells like and where it is we let him. Well Monday he had gone in and out of the back door pretty much anytime it was open but he would come back only to go right back out again if I didn't shut the door fast enough. It's dinnertime and he's out again only neither Casey or I are really paying that much attention to the fact that he's out because I'm cooking and Casey and watching tv/playing on the laptop. Dinner is made and we are headed outside to eat, we had just taken two bites when the rain hits. We rush back inside with our food count the animals and we come up one short, Boo is not there. I begin the futile search inside the house just in case even though I know he is outside, while Casey goes down to the bottom porch where he likes to lay sometimes only to find he isn't there. Now we are stuck waiting and hoping he comes home ( you'll learn why I say this when we make it to February). All the next door neighbor kids are oustide playing in the drizzle when I hear the door bell ring, it's the second to youngest saying he saw our cat, yay brilliant!! Casey and I dash out there to try to get him, with all the neighbor kids following. We see Boo so do the kids and they want to help, not good Boo gets very skittish around massive amounts of people, then just as Casey thinks he might have him BAM!! the kid with a baseball hat and bat comes screaching around the corner and Boo dashes off around the other way. I go back up the hill and around Casey goes around the backside of our fence and all the kids swarm around trying to help us catch Boo. Which sends Boo into the forest soaking wet instead of over the fence he was just meowing at pitifully. His jumper is not the best in the world. So now we are waiting again and have decided we will just go to the gym, put the dogs outside and maybe he'll smell them and decide to make his merry way back. While at the gym a mini torrential downpour happens in which Casey and I look at each other shrug and go back to working out each hoping Boo will be home when we get home. Upon our arrival no such luck however you can now hear the little jingle jangle of his collar, which means he's close by!!! Here ensues our chase scene in which Casey and I trudge through wet and wild green undergrowth chasing the jingle jangle of a cat collar, who apparently now thinks this is some sort of game and chooses to blatantly ignore us. Like literally we see him we're calling oh so sweetly he turns looks flicks his tail as us and continues on his merry way. Well in my world that is like issuing a challenge and I'm in full blown I will get you mode, which I did two tree stumps , a hole, and jump across a creek later the wet brat is in my hands!!! Now to get back home in the dark holding a wet cat. Well Casey and I played marco polo for a while, apparently he can't see flashlight who knew?! LOL actually I don't know that I just know I had a flashlight and he still couldn't find me. Once we're back together it takes us another twenty mintues to navigate the crazy wet undergrowth and make our way around a gigantic fallen tree before finally seeing the lights of home. Needless to say I think Boo is permanently grounded or he will learn how to wear a harness and a leash. Now Casey and are just waiting to see if we wandered through mass amounts of poison ivy and if so how much like monsters are we going to look like.

Happy Easter!!! A day and a half late

Happy Easter everyone!! I know I'm late again, but what can I say it's genetic. None of my family is ever on time, so I've just learned to go with it. Plus, I kept hoping if I kept asking Casey if he'd downloaded our Easter pictures yet he would do it so I would have pictures to put up. He hasn't taken the hint yet, so as per usual pics will probably pop up later in some other post who knows. Back to the topic at hand though, Easter which this year equaled best Sunday ever!!! Since starting to work weekend option almost six years earlier I haven't had an Easter off in a while, so I kinda lose the excitment and specialness of the day, because my day is spent taking care of sick people or people who think they're sick instead of celebrating the risen Christ. Well this year I got to celebrate and man let me tell you it was a marathon of a day, but it was the best day ever!!! Casey and I started our day at 7 that morning, after going to bed at midnight, Casey waited up for me after work so we could celebrate our annual trail of jelly beans leading to the Easter basket. This has been a tradition in my family my whole life and it's now Casey's job to continue the tradition. My first year working though my mom called on my best coworkers Jodi and asked her to continue the tradition and she did. I came in to work that day a little sad because there would be no trail of jelly beans, or church or family time and low and behold we had a full blown Easter egg hunt on the unit!! Jodi has continued that every year when I show up at work and every night before Easter Casey does his trail and basket, it's a great new Easter tradition. But it was soo very nice to be able to revert back to the original tradition of going to church and actually staying the whole time!! I loved seeing all the people worshipping in both services and being so moved by what we were playing and singing that hands were raised and people stood up and cheered about Christ being raised from the dead. Sitting on the front stage of the church as an instrumentalist allows me the greatest view and my favorite thing of the day happened in second service. We were playing a song called in Christ Alone followed by End of the Beginning, both very powerful moving songs and I kept hearing this voice shout out periodically. Things like, " Yes Lord", and "Praise Jesus", were just a few. I still have to get used to this growing up Presbyterian we never seemed as free as Baptists do. Well I finally found the body that went with the voice and he was this darling old man sitting front and center in his wheelchair just listening to what was being played and sung. And as he was listening this look would come over his face as the music would rise and swell this look of utter excitement and wonderment, and his hands would be clasped in anitcipation of that moment when the music just burst forth and he couldn't contain himself any longer and he would just burst forth with praise. It was the most touching moment of the day brought tears to my eyes. From our church we headed up to Dalton and lunch with my family and Nana, then I had just enough time for a 45 minute nap after Easter pictures before I had to be at my parents church for band rehearsal for the Easter Cantata that night. Easter Cantata was at seven that evening and again it was another miraculous worship time. Every little thing that had gone wrong was fixed and it just became a time of worship and praise. We finished off our evening at Steak and Shake with the family and a couple from their bible study who are an absolute riot!! Then it was an hour long trek back home followed by unpacking feeding the dogs and crashing into bed around midnight. But at the end of the night it was still the best sunday off ever!! Ha ha pictures!!! I downloaded them to Casey's computer and then sent them to myself. I'm soo stinking cool.

NOvember

Ok lets see if I can squeeze out a quick post about what happened in November before heading to bed. Since we didn't really go anywhere for our official one year anniversary we decided to treat ourselvese to a trip to New York, although after getting vince Dooley to sign a picture wishing us a happy Anniversary we could've just stayed home LOL. I mean that is pretty awesome and one of a kind kinda experience, but to New York we went because I hadn't been since high school and Casey has always wanted to go. I found hotel and tickets at a deal through one of those websites and then tacked on a New York City pass ( best money ever spent!!) Everyone continually warned us about New York and how dangerous it was and all this hullabaloo, which by the way is soo not true. There are way to many people wandering around all the time for it to be dangerous. So we land at La Gardia and stand in the taxi line, while waiting this couple talks us into sharing a cab, big mistake. Apparently according to the now angry cab driver the couple made him go a totally different way then he would have to get us to our hotel taking up precious time that he could be using to drive other people around. Then he and Casey chatted it up about everything that is wrong with this world, while all I could think was Lord get me out of here I would rather walk. ( I get nauseous when I'm hungry and there's a lot of stopping and starting and let me tell you in New York traffic there is a lot of stopping and starting.) Our first day is spent just wandering around getting our bearings and figuring out how to get our seven day subway pass. Then we ate dinner at a restaurant that brews it's own beer and meandered all the way to Radio City. My feet were killing me I thought I had bought these great walking boots, so I could be practical and stylish yea not so much, I wound up just wearing my ugly workout shoes and dealing with it. Day two was spent picking up our pass and visiting the wax museum, we then hiked it across Central Park to head towards the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was not open. Again I hadn't quite figured out the whole shoe thing we my little keds tennis shoes yea Katie totally walked around Central Park for a while in her socks. there is even a picture of me sitting by that fountain that is in Home Alone with just my socks on. It took us two days to learn to navigate the subway, and by then we figured we could just walk most of it. We did however see a show, ride the circle line, eat a hot dog or two from a street vendor, visit the apple store and FAO Schwartz, sit in Times Square just people watching, get lost many times ( smart phone GPS doesn't work when the buildings block everything) , did Rockafellar, Empire State building, 9/11 memorial, and shopped. We also visited Macy's multiple times and Casey wants to go back again closer to Christmas to see all the stuff lit up, that was still going up when we were there. All in all it was a completely fabulous trip and no scariness involved although I could have cried everytime I passed a homeless person. They just sat there hoping, one lady had her dog with her and that pooch looked so forlorn and sad I literally did get teary eyed. They were so different from the homeless people here in Georgia they beg plead and even get angry, New York homeless not so much, a lot of the times the cops knew them and would talk to them about how they were doing.

To tired to function

I promise I will eventually make it to the current year and month, but I gotta get there. Although I must tell you about a little recent tid bit. I have learned something this weekend, I know now that it is possible to be so tired that you cannot remember where you parked your car. On a normal day I'm usually pretty good about remembering in what general direction my car is parked in, Sunday was an epic fail. Granted I had been up since 730 am to go to church then went to work, were we got our butts kicked and finally left work at midnight. Where I promptly proceeded to walk to the deck where my car is usually parked. When I get there my car is not there, so I wander around the general area where my car should be, not there. So, I of course start muttering to myself outloud while bending down and sideways looking for my car. I then start to get upset thinking security has moved my car why I think this who knows, it's midnight people. Then I think maybe I walked directly across the bridge did I do that yes yes I think I did. So, I go up one more level, no car by now I'm like great where the devil is my car, I'm standing there turning in circles when all of a sudden it dawns on me I got lucky this morning and got to park by the helipad !! I whip around and there shining in all its newly cleansedness is my big blue!!! Now mind you I had to walk past my car to get to the deck. I probably even looked at it on my way by, cause I always scout the parking lot just in case some crazy person decides to try to get me. (Wouldn't happen though everyone always says they'd bring me back.) I bustle over to my car hop in and buzz my way home, finally at one am I'm in bed on my way to never never land. Apparently per my husband I didn't move when he gave me a goodbye kiss the next morning, and peeps let me tell you that rarely happens. So to leave you I'm going to show you Sugar my cats preferred method of sleeping only because he is currently sleeping in this position, such a boy.

October

Ok guys in an effort to get back into the blogging world I must go in time to catch everyone up with what has happened over the many months I have been absent. Casey is actually the person who brought this to my attention and the fact that I'm an utter failure apparently at being a blogger. But here goes the next few post will be a recap of the months gone by that I missed posting about. First things first, Casey and I have made it past the one year mark!! Exciting yes I know, well for us at least. We actually spent our anniversary in Athens, Ga because that next day was UGA's homecoming and that's kinda a tradition now, plus Casey and had no clue what to do for a one year anniversary. So, we drove up to Athens early had lunch downtown outside at five guys and generally just wandered around did a little shopping and then met up with my friend Joe and his wife Stacy at a bar downtown to watch the homecoming parade!! New experience for me actually watching a parade I've spent most of my life in parades as part of the band. I must admit though I really enjoyed being on the watching end, not having to wear a uniform, just hanging out drinking a beer and cheering. Afterwards we went to a little tapas place and had dinner, which was then followed by meeting up with my parents at the hotel where we had the official celebration. My mom brought down the top layer of our cake and mini champagne bottles too. Most hilarious part of the night watching everyone try to open the champagne bottles. My dad wound up circling his knife around and around the top of the bottle until he could finally pry the lid off. Saturday was the annual marathon event of getting up super early freezing to the point of hypothermia for morning practice a quick picnic lunch and then off the the field to entertain 98,000 of our closest friends. I love the alumni games though even when I was in college they were my favorite games, mainly because of the little old cheerleaders if there wool outfits who cheer, " get the ball, get the ball, get the damn ball!!" Haha because when they went to school it was ok to cuss. Of course Georgia smashed Vanderbilt and in true Katie and Casey style we came home with fabulous sunglass lines.

Highlights

Ok people, so I know I am officially probably the worlds worst blogger, but it's kinda hard when I don't have fabulous things to say all the time. However, Casey has reprimanded me for my lack of blogging on some of the interesting stuff we have done, so in honor of my husband the next few blogs will be catch up blogs. They will hopefully be about our trip to New York and of course all the new stuff we found for the house. However, it is bedtime and then work and then our First Cruise EVER!!!! So exciting and hopefully I will remember to blog about that too. LOL

A Farewell to Arms

Ok, so I'm a terrible blogger and I will probably continue to be a terrible blogger, but what can I say, right now Casey and I are in a routine. So, I will try to blog when something interesting, fun or new happens. But today, today I would like everyone to take a moment and say goodbye to Casey's Aunt Jean. I only had the privelege of meeting her once in life, but from that meeting I gathered that she was one classy lady, and after her eulogy today it has only been confirmed. I have learned a few things today too. I now know I either want my body donated to science or I want to be cremated, and people today really have no respect for the life of another person. I was in my first funeral procession today, and I must say that whenever a funeral procession goes by me I stop until the last one passes. Today many people pulled away before the procession was finished or even tried to pass the procession in the other lane!!! I found this to be very rude and disrespectful and was quite excited when Casey's cousin started driving in the middle of the road so as to prevent this from happening. But then God made it all better, and it was kind of an amazing sight to see as well. Casey was talking about his MeMa and how as the were processing for her funeral there was a little old man standing outside of his car saluting the procession as it passed. Well today as we were entering Kennesaw National Battlefield there was an elderly gentleman standing outside his car at attention with his hand over his heart. It actually had me choked up just a little bit not only in amazement but also in the miracle of the fact that Casey had just been talking about that and there was this man honoring the life and death of someone he didn't even know. It makes me miss my grandparents and the fact that when CAsey and I decide to have kids they won't have that influence from that generation. So many kids these days have no respect for their parents, the elderly, or even themselves, it makes me even more deteremined to raise my children in a semi old fashioned way. I want my kids to truly understand what respect is and how to show it, to anybody whether they know them or not. There was actually a group of teenagers who was weaving in and out of the cars that had stopped for the procession. But I'm rambling on other topics, today it was an honor to be part of honoring the life of Aunt Jean.