Southern: no more balls

Southern is very active. I mean very very active. So as a last resort to calm him down I got him neutered. I am sure Bob Barker would be proud of me. But Southern getting his balls removed did NOTHING for his craziness. I have a friend who had her dog neutered two weeks before Southern and she went on and on about how much her dog changed.  But not Southern. He was running and jumping and barking right out of surgery. The take home paperwork stated no running no jumping etc. And the tech just looked at me and said disregard that hes already done everything on this page and he is just fine. The only request she gave me was to make sure he didn't mess with his stitches.
I even spent 17 bucks on this cone. It only lasted 3 days. But 3 is better than none.

Wash & Detangle

Looking good!

2005

I'm not 100% sure if you can read these but I hope my scanning abilities did not fail me .

I have been nostalgic all my life. I've held on to every note, picture, movie ticket , bag check label my entire life . For some reason ( blessing or curse ) I've realized the importance of memories or looking back on life. 

When Jmn and I bought a house I brought majority of that stuff with me . Who am I kidding? When I moved out of my parents house I brought majority of my stuff with me . But for some reason I left a box of journals and a bag of notes. A couple weeks ago when my grandparents were in Seattle I went to the house and grabbed the box. THIS BOX SHOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN LEFT UNSUPERVISED.

This was a creative writing assignment from 11th grade? Sooo 2004/2005. I'm guessing it had to do with expressing how you felt about your classmates?

Ortho Rant + October 2015+The Removal

I feel like I have wasted a lot of words on my whole braces situation and honestly I am over it.
I got my braces removed Oct 2. Jan 13 would have made 3 years. My teeth in my opinion are not straight. Do I think Dr. M could have done better yes. Do I think I had unrealistic ideas of what my mouth were going to look like yes. Are my teeth horrible ? no Were they horrible before braces ? No Did my Ortho tell me to have perfect smile I would need to have jaw surgery ? Yes Did I do it? No

SO this is just the results. I have to go back NOV 3. Until then I am on retainer duty. And I hate it because it makes me sound weird. My teeth are disguising and I can not wait until I get my teeth cleaned. Happy Birthday to me. Maybe even a whitening.

Tringle Saturday

Lets keep the JoJo spirit going. I am so glad she is at a functioning label. I just need the music to keep coming.

Say Love

Love Hurts Acoustic

When Love Hurts

Save my Soul

I am JoJo Tour dates

Baby Gray Shower + October 2015

Oct 4 we had a shower for Baby Gray!
I stressed myself out for this shower. Literally until I left Monroe. JMN & I were suppose to leave Monroe BTw 12-2 which lead to 330. I know i was asking a lot for him to get off so early but I really wanted to get on the road and have some relax time in our hotel. ( Hyatt Place) We got to Dallas about 840. And I saw the highlighted bulls-eye.I love Target and when I am out of town i make sure to stop to see what they have.

After picking up a couple of things I started getting phone calls from the others who had came in for the shower asking where I was. There were no plans for the night  and I thought JMN and I were going to get to chill in Target go check in at the hotel and then stop by the house to see everyone just before bed time.  In my car I had the mason jars, the favors , and labels.  Our favors consisted of antibacterial and a gum cigar and a bag. 5 minutes tops but everyone was insisting that it was brought over so everyone could put them together.

Then I got a call from Misti. She wanted us to come to dinner .  So we checked into our amazing hotel and went to Razoos. Super cute place but it served seafood and since I am allergic and have never been to this place I decided I wasn't going to eat. Plus I had an amazing Buccees sandwich waiting for me at the hotel.

The morning of the shower Misti went to get her hair and I met her at Party City. We don't have a Party City in my home town and I'm kind of jealous. She purchased some last minute party needs while I assumed balloon duty.   I picked up Fat and drove to the venue. Everyone made it  about the same time.  Favor bags and labels were not done. ( double eye roll) And apparently you can not put a round table cloths on a rectangular table lol. By the start of the shower I realized there was no need to even be stressed out. The shower was awesome and mommy and daddy left with truck loads of stuff.

Jasmine even drove in which made my day.
This baby is already so loved. Its always so good to see people show up to celebrate such a joyous occasion, .
Enjoy the pics!

Come on December 14! We can't wait to meet you Baby Gray!

Wyndham Garden + Fort Walton FL

This year it was my turn to arrange the anniversary trip and since JMN did not get off on the actually week of our anniversary like he was suppose to we went Sept 11-14. After going back and forth on a whether or not we should go on a cruise I was creeping on Group On one day and found a beach front hotel for the "low". I've used Wyndham Rentals before so I just knew the hotel was be just fine. 

But I did not expect it to be amazing. When we rolled up to the stripped you see all types of hotels and majority of the time when we go to the beach we rent a condo. So we don't pay attention to anything else but our condo or condos in competition.

The Wyndham had amazing amenities. Great customer service. We made a friend while we were there. There was a restaurant, two shelves of new releases ( movies) that you could rent for free, an old school arcade with Ms. Pacman, hunting game, and everything from your 90s childhood. There were 2 pools, one with a slide for the kiddies, a sitting area with TVs , and a bar. ALL ON SIGHT. On top of it the beach was right behind you. 

Other amenities they had were free bikes, free beach service ( etc)

The only problem we had with the Wyndham Garden was they did not have Wifi. yes that is a huge deal because i brought homework to do and the only place i could use Wifi was at the pool. Who goes to the pool and doesn't swim? JMN & I sat on the phone with Tech support for an hour and nothing was resolved and the staff the next day seemed to be unbothered by it. 

So if data usage is a serious problem for you then this might not be the place for you. If you are wanting to unplug and just enjoy life run here now!

Why I love Fall+ YMCA Football

Bud, Nick, and Cody are all playing football this year and it is so precious. Cody and Nick are playing with YMCA and Bud is in the weird not old enough for Jr High but too old for YMCA football so this year someone got a league together. 

Which Which+ Restaurant Review

Which Which is a restaurant that's been around for a while. We currently do not have a Which Which near my home town but a town I visit frequently has had it for a while.  This restaurant was very laid back.There was only one other person visiting when we walked in. ( good for us but not for business)

They have WiFi which is helpful in this day and age and there was no attack when you walk in the door. ( I appreciate that) The restaurant was very clean.( that gets you 3 points right there!)

So you walk up and to the left their a wall. Now this could be very confusing at first because you see the wall and you see a register. Luckily we used our noggin and went to the wall first. You get a bag and  mark  what you want on your sandwich . Then you take your bag to the register and  go over it with the cashier.  Minutes later your name is called .

I got a turkey club. ( IT WAS SOO GOOD) with honey mustard and cheddar ruffles ( anyone seen the new bag? eeck)

 

Overall it was a very  pleasant experience. 

 Check out that wall art!

It's a great day to save lives

Unless you know me you really have no idea what I do for a living . There are reasons for that. But I will say that my job good or bad day is a complete blessing beyond belief .

I have met a lot of people and seen a lot of things that I don't think I would have ever had the chance to meet, see, or do.

In the same breath I wish there were things that I wish I never saw or heard .  I know you see in the news or maybe even Facebook or you might even have a friend or family member that does not have their priorities together and their kids fall to the side.  I see it just about everyday. And majority of the time the parents don't hide  that raising  their children is the last thing on their minds .

I could give you guys a bunch of examples but it doesn't matter. Eventually those children are going to be parents  and citizens of our community  and they are missing the importance of family , respect for themselves and others, the ability to trust  themselves and others, and I could go on and on about how it affects them for the rest of their lives  and ours as well.

When I was a kid  there wasn't much that separated my life from the kids that I serve . The only things that I can think of is church, the importance of being a hard worker, and school. And honestly I'm the one that really drilled some of that stuff  into my head.  I def-ly had a dysfunctional family . And the absence of a male did skew my perception of a family unit.
Like I completely counted out a male from my future plans. I cant even tell you what age this happened. Getting married or having a male help me raise a kid was never in my plans. So I automatically thought about adopting. Actually one of my friends said that if we were alone by 25 we would adopt a kid together. Obviously I am no longer alone and if you know JMN you know he wants a kid. So a year or so ago I proposed a plan to him. If he could find it in his heart to be compassionate , loving and caring to someone else that isnt a friend of his or blood related, aka to foster or adopt a kid I would do my part in having a kid with him.

In August, JMN agreed.
 I am very excited to start the process. I am excited to be able to help someone. May be we will only have 1 child the entire time if we decide to just foster and that one kid has somewhere safe, and has some life breathed into him or her . I will feel like we have accomplished something. I just feel like I cant be sad or mad at situations that I do nothing to help with. I feel like fostering or adopting has such negative connotations . May be its just the area that I live in. But foster/ adoptive parents are needed.

There has been a change in the law recently. Families who have proper room for kids were able to get the amount of kids their home could hold. Now due to abuse, and other situations their can only be 5 children Max in a home. So if you have given birth to 3 children and they live in your home , and you have accommodations for more 4 more children you are legally allowed to only receive two children. This change in the law has put the state in a sticky situation because they do not have enough foster parents to care for children that are coming into  care. The homes that the children could have gone to no longer meet the law .  So some children are either spending the night in the Department of  Children & Family Services office with the foster care worker after being taken away from their families or taken to state facilities, some psychiatric facilities.

Can you imagine that? Being taken out of your home . And spending the night in a building with a stranger or a hospital with people have been removed from their home due to mental illness or suicidal thoughts. And most families who are coming into fostering are coming to  foster or adopt a friend or family members child. Or they want a child that is younger than the children they presently have. According to the foster care worker  we met in orientation " everyone wants babies or biracial children."  Because of this JMN & I have chosen the age 6- 12.  I might even try to push it to 14. We are both familiar with those ages of children and it doesn't rob of us of the experience of having a new born at home.

The next couple of months in the Nelson household will be different. We are needing all the prayer, thoughts, and good vibes you can send us.

And if you are wanting more information on foster parenting in Louisiana you can go to this website below.
http://www.dss.state.la.us/index.cfm?md=pagebuilder&tmp=home&pid=374