My Nana

I have a special prayer request today.  Could you please pray for my family?  We lost my Nana a year ago today.  My Daddy went down to spend the week with my Pappa, and I know they are hurting today.  I miss her so terribly much, and I wish that I could be sharing all the wonderful things I have experienced and learned over the first year of my marriage.  She loved hubby so much, and she was so excited to watch us start our lives together.  I know it's selfish to miss her so much, but that is just human nature I suppose.  I know she is singing with the angels right now.  Thank you so much for your prayers for our family, I appreciate it so very much.

Below is a repost from last year - the last time I spent with my Nana, for those of you that are interested in the story.

On Friday, I got an email from my Mom saying that Pappa called Daddy and asked him to come. Nana took a turn for the worse. I do not know how to explain the events of the past 8 months, but I'll try to start with her surgery last week.


Her 7 hour intestinal surgery that she had a little over a week ago is not healing properly, and an infection set in. After the surgery, she was breathing on a ventilator, and they kept her in a coma for 5 days while her body healed and she gained enough strength to breath on her own. She was awake and breathing, but not talking. We were hopeful. It was a very difficult decision to choose to have the surgery, but she, Pappa and Daddy decided together that the way she was living was not the life she wanted. She did not want to live in a hospital bed for the rest of her life on liquid nourishment with tubes in her tummy.

Friday morning, I got the email from my mom. Daddy went to be with Pappa, at the hospital in Victoria. The doctors informed them that their was fluid around her heart. We later found out that the fluid had moved into her lungs.

Saturday morning, Mom called and said that Daddy asked her to come from Dallas to Victoria, and said that it was not expected for her to make it through the day. He asked to her go to Houston to our house. When she arrived, we packed up and drove to Victoria.

She is in ICU in a special bed that her doctor ordered her. It moves her and gives her a light massage, the same idea as a pedicure chair at the nail place. Pappa awoke her, and she looked at Mom and I with huge brown eyes. She knew we were there - and she knew who we were. I feel very sure of this. She communicated with her big brown eyes, and her head moved with the sounds of our voices. She looked at Daddy quite a bit, as if asking for answers. She tried to talk, but she couldn't. Her mouth stayed open, and her breaths were very labored and infrequent. You could hear the fluid in her chest. Her average was about 17 breaths per minute. Her blood pressure stayed pretty steady. We left her that night to rest.

Saturday morning, she seemed to be doing better. Her blood pressure was higher, things seemed to be perking up. We discussed how sometimes God does things to remind us that he is in control and to trust him. He is in complete and total control and we trust him. Completely. By the time Mom and I arrived for the 9AM visiting hour, she was not doing as well. Her body is not absorbing the liquids that they are giving her through the IVs, and it is seeping out of her pores all over her body. She is swollen and puffy. She has not woken up and does not know that we are there.

I took wedding pictures for us all to look at and enjoy. Pappa and I relived the fun parts of Jeff and my wedding day through hundreds of snapshots - with a few tears in between for the battle that Nana went through and how hard she fought to attend our wedding, and grateful tears, because she was able to be there.

The ICU staff allows us to stay with her all day - because they know the end is coming soon. Regular visiting hours are every 3 hours from 6AM to 9PM, for 30 minutes each time. The waiting room is full of weary, worried faces of people waiting to see their loved ones. I am thankful that we get to spend the time with Nana, but at the same time scared and very sad to watch her fight.

We leave the room while they change her dressings, and her bed sheets and such. You can hear her moaning with pain from the hallway. Pappa tells us the story of how they met when he returned from the Navy. He spotted her in the church choir, and said to his sister, who is that girl? Janelle responded with oh, that's Bernice, she goes with so-and-so. He said, I don't care who she goes with, I have to meet her. He got to know her by driving her home from church one day. She was 17 and lived at the YWCA, and welcomed the rides to and from church. They had their first kiss weeks later when her dropped her off after church one evening. A few months later, they were engaged. Of course, they wanted a big wedding, but they didn't have any money. Pappa said that they saved and saved for their big celebration, and in the middle of their saving, their church had a big building drive. He remembered the two of them sitting down together and discussing that they would give $25 from their wedding fund, which was a lot of money for them then.

Pappa was determined for Nana to have the beautiful wedding that she wanted. He built a little picket fence with a gate for them to walk through, and a large archway for them to say their vows under, and painted them white. His sister, Frances, decorated the structures with vines and white flowers. The church choir was set up behind them, and Pappa did not like the way that the chairs looked in the church. So, he borrowed faux grass from the local funeral home to put under the chairs to make it look more like a garden. What a sweet, wonderful man.

When we came back into the room, Nana was awake and very upset. They hurt her. Not purposely of course, but all of the activity was painful and traumatic for her. Pappa broke down - how do you watch your wife, your best friend that you made your life with for over 50 years - suffer like that? I have never, in my life seen something so moving, so sad. I will never forget how that looked, felt, sounded. He tells her how much he loves her, and how much he will miss her. He is now the only person that she responds to. This was the most heartbreaking part of my time in ICU with Nana and my family. We all told her how much we loved her, and Pappa told her that he would see her soon, and to go and hug their daughter, Brenda for him. We told her that it was okay, that we knew how tired she was, and that we would take great care of Pappa, that she could go when she was ready. The four of us held hands a prayed for her.

Her doctor came to visit and they made the decision to take her off of her medications. They are now only giving her nutrients (food) through the IV. She only responds to Pappa, and those responses are slight. Her heart rate has dropped slightly, and her breathing has gotten easier. She is breathing more breaths per minute, almost double. When Pappa leans over and talks to her, her breathing pattern becomes erratic, like she is listening or wanting to tell him something. She knows he is there.

I drove back to Houston last night, and from reports this morning, everything is the same. No changes, good or bad. We are just waiting for God to take her.

Please pray for her comfort and for our family. Thank you.

Show Us Your Life - Grilling Recipes

Today's Show Us Your Life from Kelly's Korner is Grilling Recipes!

I don't know what we would do without our grill.  Most of my favorite dinners come from hubby - aka the Grill Master - ha ha!

Here is our favorite dinner, it is so easy and inexpensive.

Here's what we use -

2 Frozen Chicken Breasts

An assortment of fresh veggies - we usually have broccoli, zucchini & squash at our house

Half an onion, sliced

Fresh sliced mushrooms (if you have them on hand)

Baking Potato

Dales Sauce

Garlic Salt

Krazy Mixed Up Salt

Spray Butter

Foil

Wash the potatoes and poke a few holes in them with a fork.  Wrap each potato in foil and put in on the grill.  These usually take about an hour or so, depending on the size.

Place the chicken on a sheet of foil.  Pour on some dales sauce, add mushrooms and an onion.  Sprinkle garlic salt and krazy mixed up salt.  Wrap chicken in foil and put on the grill.  This usually takes about 30 minutes.

Chop veggies into bite sized pieces and place onto a sheet of foil.  Add a little Dales Sauce, spray butter & the rest of the onions.  Sprinkle garlic salt and krazy mixed up salt.  Wrap them up and put them on the grill.  These can go for as long as you like, we usually leave them on for 20 - 30 minutes, just until the chicken and potatoes are done.

We just serve ourselves from the foil pods after we take the food off of the grill.  The chicken is so tender that is just pulls apart, the veggies are amazing and flavorful, and the potatoes are so soft!  I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

I love this meal for three reasons - 1. It's so yummy 2. We don't make a mess in the kitchen 3. It is SO easy!

I realize that Dales Sauce is not something everyone knows about.  It is kind of hard to find.  I grew up in Alabama, and we started buying it years and years ago from the restaurant.  The history of it is pretty interesting, check it out if you have a few minutes.  It is the house marinade and it is AMAZING!  We put it on just about everything :)  I can buy it here in Houston at Kroger.

Happy Grilling!

Head over to Kelly's Korner and check out all the fun grilling ideas!

Friday Fives

Happy Friday Ladies!  Do you have anything fun planned for the weekend?  Hubby and I are heading to Dallas to celebrate my Mom's birthday!  I can't wait to be home with my parents - it's literally my favorite place in the world!


Just week's Friday Fives from Beth at Just Me and My Life is...

Your Wish list!!!

Fun!  I love wish lists!  It's funny, the older I get the more practical they become...haha!

Here is my wishlist, in no particular order...

Obagi Skincare.  This stuff is amazing, my Mom uses it and her skin looks younger than mine sometimes!  It is expensive, but hey, it's my FACE right?

I would really like a new pair of Miss Me jeans...I just love how they fit!

And to go with those beautiful jeans...I have been pining away for some beautiful nude heels.

A new shower head for our master bath shower.  We have the standard builder grade one now, and I just hate it.

I love this Vera Wang ring holder.  Isn't it pretty?  I put my Aggie ring and my wedding ring on the candle holder in our bathroom each night.  I would love to have a ring holder for them, because they are so special!

I would like to have a couple more of these trivits.  We got one as a wedding gift, but I need two more or so to protect our kitchen table.

I want a stainless steel trash can.  Nothing can beat the beautiful white plastic one we have now - haha!  But, I would love one like this -

I know this seems weird...but I want something to transport my deviled eggs in.  Hubby loves them, and I don't make them very often because putting them in tupperware is such a mess, they always fall over and get all yucky.  I want this!

I want a new utensil holder.  We are using one that hubby got from his parent's house, and it is not my taste or something I like.  I want one like this!

We got all of our china place settings from our lovely friends and family when we got married.  But, we did not get all of our serving pieces, or all of our stemware.  I would love to complete the sets!

Can you tell I'm feeling domestic lately??? 

Link up to Beth's Blog and share your wish lists!

I hope you all have a happy Friday and a wonderful weekend!!!

Hi Ladies!  Happy Thursday!

Thank you all so much for your prayers this past week!  If we can pray for you, please leave your prayer request in the comments below, or feel free to email me - michelleannadams@yahoo.com

Here are our prayer requests for this week -

Please pray for Laura.  Her Grandma is showing signs of kidney failure.  She has had a very rough time over the past 15 years, losing two husbands and her mother.  Please also pray for her husband Don, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year and is going through treatments.  Please pray for God to give her the strength and hope to fight through this, and that he hold her tight with love and comfort during this time.

Please pray for sweet baby Bennett.  He was born oh-so-tiny, but is making great progress!  You can read his little story here.

Kasey asked that we please pray for sweet Annika.  She is a little girl in her hometown that was just diagnosed with a rare form of acute lympocytic leukemia.  She is 5 years old and going through treatment.  Please pray for her, her family and her doctors.  I can't imagine what her family is going through.  Isn't she beautiful?  Just look at that smile!

Please pray for baby Cohen's parents. You can read their story here.  He is in God's beautiful hands now. 



Please pray for my friends, April and Brad.  They had twins this, and the babies are so tiny and need a lot of love and TLC.  You can visit their page here to read about their story.  They are improving each day - please pray that this continues.

Please pray for sweet Sarah.  She is praying and waiting for God to bless her with a true Godly man that could be a wonderful influence to her young son to share their lives with.  Her testimony is so beautiful, I felt inspired just reading it.

Please pray for the oil spill.  That it will be resolved in the best way possible, protect our oceans, beaches and animals. Please pray for the families of those that lost their lives in this disaster.

Please pray for my sweet friend Jackie.  She is pregnant with quadruplets!  She just started her long (hopefully!) hospital stay.  Please pray for her and the babies.  You can read about her journey here.

Please pray for my Daddy's (Jerry) job search and that his good spirits continue.  He did not get the job offer that he has been interviewing for for months, and I know he is disappointed.  I just know God has the perfect plan for him.

Please pray for my Grandparents, Ed & Helen.  They are having some health troubles, and my grandmother seems like she is suffering from depression. 

Please pray for little Jed Harper.  You can read about his story here.  What a beautiful family turning their sweet son's health over to God.  They are truly inspiring.

Please pray for my Pappa.  It was about this time last year that he and my Daddy made some very difficult decisions regarding her care.  She passed away almost a year ago, and I know he is struggling with all those feelings.  It would mean the world to me if you could please lift him in prayer over the next month.

I have been following Lianna's blog for a few months now, and she just seems like the sweetest girl in the whole world!  She and her husband are waiting for God to bless them with a child.  You can read about them here.  She will be having surgery soon, please pray for her doctors and that God will guide them during their decision making process.

Please pray for all the beautiful wives participating in the Completing Him Challenge.  This week we are making our husbands feel special by making them their favorite meal!  Or, um taking him out to eat...oops.

Could you please also pray for our friend's Dad?  He had surgery a couple of weeks and is having some memory problems.  Please pray for their family and his doctors, and that they can find out what is wrong.

Thank you so very much for all of your prayers!  Please let me know if we can pray for you!

Wicked

Saturday night, the other wives & girlfriends of hubby's friends went to see Wicked at The Hobby Center.  It was amazing!!  I saw it on Broadway a few years ago, and it was just as great here in Houston.  If you have the opportunity to go see it - run, don't walk - haha!

It is the story of the Wizard of Oz told from the witches' perspective.  It will change the way you think of that movie forever (in a great way!).

We had dinner at Laurenzos on Washington, and it was great!  The food was wonderful, and they had all kinds of fun drinks to try. 

And, guess what we saw drive by?  A pedal party!  Check this out -

(This pic is from their website, it's not us)

So, it is a bar with seats all around, and a bike seat and pedals at each spot!  So, you pedal down Washington and drink while you go!  How fun does that sound (when it is not 100 degrees outside of course!)!?  I can't wait to do it - us girls are oh-so-excited, but the guys are hesitant...I'm sure we will convince them how much fun it will be!

Baby Bennett needs our Prayers

Ladies, please pray for Baby Bennett.  Adrienne posted this afternoon that he is not having a good day, and asked for prayers.  Thank you so much!

Completing Him Challenge - Week 6

This week's challenge is a hard one for me.  It's to spoil your husband, by making his favorite drink, meal, and dessert.  I totally love the idea of this, but it doesn't work very well for us.  It is rare that I make dinner, unless I make soup, something in the crock pot or a casserole the night before, so that we can heat it up when I get home.  And, none of those things are his favorite.  I usually make good dinners for him on Sundays.  You see, hubby gets home hours before I do (gotta love inside sales vs. outside sales - haha!) and it's really hard to cook a full meal before 8PM sometimes, and he doesn't like to wait that long to eat, which I totally understand.  This week is no exception - I worked until after 7 tonight, and probably will the rest of the week. 

So...for my variation, I asked hubby if I could take on a date night to his favorite place - Shogun!!  He LOVES sushi rolls.  I mean LOVES.  He is so excited that we are going to have sushi this week - my treat :)  I know he feels special, and he is happy that I am taking him somewhere he wants to go, just for him.

So, this is my version of the challenge as a Not A Mom, Busy Working Wife :)

Visit Women Living Well and join the challenge!

Friday Fives

Happy Friday Ladies!  Does anyone have fun plans for the weekend?  I am going to see Wicked for a girls night with a group of wives & girlfriends of hubby's fraternity brothers.  This will be our first outing all together, just us girls, and I'm so excited!!!

This week's Friday Five from Beth and Just Me and My Life is...

Five things you do to relax, destress, contain your composure or that you just enjoy doing for yourself!

I really like this one!  Here are mine...

1. Have a nice glass of red wine.  Yumm....There is nothing more relaxing than opening up a nice bottle of red wine and curling up in the corner of the sofa, in the quiet.  My favorite wine of the moment is Silver Palm, and it's only $20 a bottle!

2. Play girlie music.  Yes, you heard it.  Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Katie Perry...the more girly the better (don't judge, please -haha!)  I used to do this all the time when I got home from a bad day a work when I lived alone, but this is a rare treat now that I'm married.  I don't think hubby knows about this little ritual, and I don't really want to show him : )  There is nothing more freeing than dancing around and singing to fun girly songs!

3. Anything at a spa.  I don't care if it is a bikini wax, I just love being at the spa and doing something nice just for me.  It just makes me happy to take care of myself.

4. The water.  Beach, Lake, Pond, River, Pool.  You name it, I LOVE it!  There is just something about being on the water that is so serene, so calming, so beautiful.  I hope I can live on some type of body of water someday.

5. Prayer.  When I am at my wits end, God is the only one that can bring me out of my funk or crisis.  Once I sit down and give it all to him to handle - and trust that he will take it off my shoulders, I am a new woman! 

Head on over to Beth's Blog and check out her Friday Fives!

http://mcclintockb.blogspot.com/2010/07/friday-fives_16.html

(Sorry, my link tool isn't working right now for some reason!)

Prayer Thursday

Hi Ladies!  Happy Thursday! 
Thank you all so much for your prayers this past week!  If we can pray for you, please leave your prayer request in the comments below, or feel free to email me - michelleannadams@yahoo.com

Here are our prayer requests for this week -

Please pray for sweet baby Bennett.  He was born oh-so-tiny, but is making great progress!  You can read his little story here.

Please pray for my boss' sister in law.  She had a hysterectomy yesterday and is recovering.

Kasey asked that we please pray for sweet Annika.  She is a little girl in her hometown that was just diagnosed with a rare form of acute lympocytic leukemia.  She is 5 years old and going through treatment.  Please pray for her, her family and her doctors.  I can't imagine what her family is going through.  Isn't she beautiful?  Just look at that smile!

Please pray for baby Cohen's parents. You can read their story here.  He is in God's beautiful hands now. 



Please pray for my friends, April and Brad.  They had twins this, and the babies are so tiny and need a lot of love and TLC.  One of the twins is scheduled to go home soon - praise!  You can visit their page here to read about their story.  They are improving each day - please pray that this continues.

Please pray for sweet Sarah.  She is praying and waiting for God to bless her with a true Godly man that could be a wonderful influence to her young son to share their lives with.  Her testimony is so beautiful, I felt inspired just reading it.

Please pray for the oil spill.  That it will be resolved in the best way possible, protect our oceans, beaches and animals. Please pray for the families of those that lost their lives in this disaster.

Please pray for my sweet friend Jackie.  She is pregnant with quadruplets!  She starts her hospital stay tomorrow.  Please pray for her and the babies.  You can read about her journey here.

Please pray for my Daddy's (Jerry) job search and that his good spirits continue.  He did not get the job offer that he has been interviewing for for months, and I know he is disappointed.  I just know God has the perfect plan for him.

Please pray for my Grandparents, Ed & Helen.  They are having some health troubles, and my grandmother seems like she is suffering from depression. 

Please pray for little Jed Harper.  You can read about his story here.  What a beautiful family turning their sweet son's health over to God.  They are truly inspiring.

Please pray for my Pappa.  It was about this time last year that he and my Daddy made some very difficult decisions regarding her care.  She passed away almost a year ago, and I know he is struggling with all those feelings.  It would mean the world to me if you could please lift him in prayer over the next month.

I have been following Lianna's blog for a few months now, and she just seems like the sweetest girl in the whole world!  She and her husband are waiting for God to bless them with a child.  You can read about them here.  She will be having surgery soon, please pray for her doctors and that God will guide them during their decision making process.

Please pray for all the beautiful wives participating in the Completing Him Challenge.  This week we are asking our husbands what actions are important to them - it is very eye opening!  Could you please say a prayer for my marriage too?  Thank you so much!

Could you please also pray for our friend's Dad?  He had surgery last week and is having some memory problems.  Please pray for their family and his doctors, and that they can find out what is wrong.

Hubby has a prayer request this week - he asks that we pray for him to have motivation.  He is having a rough month at work and is getting discouraged.  Thank you!

Thank you so very much for all of your prayers!  Please let me know if we can pray for you!

Hubby's 30th Birthday - Vegas Baby!!!!

To celebrate Hubby's big 3-0, we headed to Vegas with some dear friends!

Our trip started out bright and early, with Kenny and Heidi picking us up a 4:45AM for our flight.  After a quick breakfast taco at the airport, we were on our way! 

Our Southwest flight attendants were amazing!  They gave us free drinks on our flight and made hubby this cutie crown, which bought us a cut in line to get off the plane - ha!

Kenny and Heidi surprised Jeff with a driver to our hotel.  He was so excited and surprised!  I made him this magnet so everyone would know it was his birthday!

We stayed at the Monte Carlo, my most favorite hotel in Vegas.  It's really nice, great location, great rates, and the dealers are the best!

We checked our bags, and I taught the girls how to play craps for a little while before we checked into our rooms.  We all won!

Lindsey and Greg surprised Jeff by renting a cabana at the pool.  It was AMAZING!  It had comfy chairs, a really sweet waitress, and misters - which we really appreciated considering the fact that it was 104 degrees outside.  (Check out my cutie sign I made - haha!)

Too many drinks at the pool later, and we all headed up to get ready.

We had dinner at TAO that night - hubby's restaurant of choice in Vegas.  We had an incredible dinner with great wine and even better friends. 

Heidi, Me & Lindsey

Lindsey & Greg - on their 6 month anniversary!

Hubby's Birthday Dessert

After that we headed to the hotel lobby bar to watch my fave - their house 80's band! 

After that we went back to Tao, but Hubby didn't love the crowds, so we headed back to the hotel to gamble - which was fine with me!

The next day we spent the morning at O'Shea's playing craps.  So fun!  Then we headed to Margaritaville for some cheeseburgers in paradise...yummy!

We wondered around for the rest of the day, and then got ready for dinner at Brand Steakhouse at the Monte Carlo.

Me & Lindsey at the Bellagio

We found icing shots!!!  How fun is that???

Dinner was incredible!  See this rock?  It was really hot, and you cooked steak on it.  It was too fun!

After dinner we headed to Rain at The Palms to see Jazzy Jeff.  Remember him from the Fresh Prince?  haha!  We had SO MUCH FUN!

Hubby & Greg

Me & Hubby

The girls

Greg & Lindsey

Me & Lindsey

Jazzy Jeff!

Me & Heidi

I LOVE when Hubby as this BIG grin.  I just think he is adorable when he smiles like this :)

We were having SO much fun!

Don't ask...because I have no idea...

It was a weekend we will never forget!  Happy Birthday Darling!!!!