“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” Romans 12:12

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Post for Stacy

While out to dinner last night with Wes, I ran into a great college friend of mine, Stacy. She informed me that I needed to update my blog because it has been since the 3rd that I have updated. Wow, how fast time flies! Just when I think I am catching up on blogging, another week slips by and I am having to update an entire week again. So is life, right? :)

This post is for you Stacy!

I have been wanting to update for a few days now, but really haven't had a whole lot on my mind to blog about. So hopefully this post will end up being everything my fellow readers will hope it to be and not too boring.

I am officially on Spring Break as of yesterday! Ya hoo!! Unfortunately, my Spring Break doesn't consist of any out of state trips like most are probably going to enjoy.

I did have plans to do several things but they all fell through due to either Wes not able to get the time off of work or lack of finances. Ugh. I can't wait to be working and making money so we will have enough to do the things we really would like to do. Those days are coming though! Just 140 more days of school and we will be a duel income household!

Option #1: My first plan for Spring Break was going to be skiing at Copper Mountain with Wes and my dad. LOVE skiing!! Wes being allowed a full week off was wishful thinking on our part, but we thought just maybe they would let him take it. No such luck. I guess we will just have to wait until he is forced to take a week off in August before we get to spend an entire week relaxing on a vacation.

So basically that left Wes stuck in Oklahoma and me to decide whether or not I wanted to stay home with him for the week or find other plans to get away for a few days.

Option #2: My mom, being a school teacher, gets a Spring Break every year and takes that time to visit my sister in Nashville. Okay, I can go too this year! I haven't been to Nashville since May of 2006. Wow, that sounds longer than it feels! Needless to say, I was really looking forward to getting the chance to not only get away from the daily grind, but get to spend quality time with my mom and sister.

And then the price of plane tickets stopped my idea dead in its tracks...Over $400 for a plane ticket! Ahh! As much as I wanted to go and really felt like I needed the time away, it is just too much for us right now. We are trying to save as much as we can and that money would have had to come out of savings.

Did I mention yet how ready I am to start working??

So Oklahoma it is...My last ever Spring Break and I will most likely spend it reading for my upcoming test I will have the week we go back. Not exactly my ideal plan for Spring Break, but at least I will stay on top of my studying.

Maybe that will allow me to blog more often this next week. I tell you what...here is my goal. I will do my best to blog once a day during the break. I will also try to be better with taking more pictures to share with all of you. I know I have left everyone hanging for the past two months so I am ready to make up for it!

So check for updates throughout the next week, I promise I won't let you down! :)

Update on school: It's going pretty good. Hospice rotation is officially over and I think I am happy about that. I enjoyed not having care plans to do for two and a half weeks, but didn't necessarily love the role of the hospice nurse. They are amazing people but just not the job for me.

We had a chance to sign up for our Leadership opportunity this past week. Although we can still change our minds about the area we would like to spend the summer in, I am pretty hopeful my mind doesn't change. I signed up for three different facilities, all requesting to be in OB. Hopefully that got my interest across to the instructors and OB is what I will get. I don't really have much preference on the facility I'm at, just as long as its with OB I will be happy. :) Leadership is basically like doing an internship. For us, it's a two month clinical rotation of our choice. Pretty similar to how clinicals have been throughout the year. Except this will be all day, every day following a nurse and hopefully doing new skills.

Critical Care is up next after the break. I am apprehensive and excited all at the same time. Not sure whether I will truly enjoy it as much as I did OB, but am keeping an open mind to what feelings might possibly develop. Many of the other students who just finished the rotation LOVED it. A good majority of them have requested ICU Leadership opportunities. It will most definitely be a very different experience than I what I have seen thus far but I am looking forward to a new learning opportunity.

Update on Lexi: She is a ball full of energy! We have officially hit the puppy stage. Most days Wes will ask me, "Are you sure this is what you wanted?". He most certainly does not have near the patience I do with her. So hopefully he can learn patient with a dog and when it's time to have a baby he will be ready. Ready?? What am I thinking? No one is ever truly ready for a baby, right?

As of right now, we aren't ready for that next step yet. Some of the reasons are obvious like not being settled into our jobs yet and money. But in general, I don't think we are ready to devote all of our time and energy to such a huge responsibility. At least we recognize this.

It is already hard to have time alone, just the two of us at times. Wes works non stop, 6 days a week, and school for me is always a full time job. We never seem to have enough hours in the day to really connect like we would like to. A vacation is most definitely in need! Or just a day off for Wes would probably ease up that feeling of never having enough time.

Sunday's are our only days to spend the day together so we try to make the most of it. And by making the most of it, we end up cramming so much stuff we want to do into one day we never felt we had time to just relax.

How does a couple find a balance between the two? Or even just a balance between busy work days and not enough time in the evening?

I'm sure we aren't the only newlywed's that go through the struggle of time management. It is a hard thing to manage. But at the end of the day, no matter how much time we get to spend together, the love between us is always there and will never change.

No matter what we may be doing during our day, Wes is always the first person I want to talk to when something happens. Like yesterday for example...

I had a list of things to do and places to go and even though the wind was blowing over 30 mph, I was looking forward to getting out of the house to get some stuff done that I wanted to do.

So I wrote out my list so I wouldn't forget anything, put Lexi in her crate, set the alarm, locked the door, opened up car door (remember the 30 mph winds?) and BAM!!! Nailed myself in the eye with the car door.

Now I've done this before and it always just feels like a "thud" and I just think, "well that kinda hurt" and go on my way. This time wasn't the same. I reach up to my eyebrow and look down at my hand to see blood. Great....so much for this little outing...

So I hurry back inside. At this point, I had no idea if it was just nicked a little bit or if blood was gushing out of my head. I had hoped for just a nick but got the later.

Blood wasn't just falling down my face but when I looked in the mirror it was obvious that I really sliced it pretty good, more than what it felt like. So as I'm trying to clean myself up, what is the first thing I think of?

I have to call Wes.

Now he is at work, busy I'm sure, so what in world is he going to be able to do other than ask if I'm okay? And maybe that is all I needed but talking to him was comforting. Just to hear the concern in his voice and telling me I would be alright. I knew I would be alright, but hearing it from him made me calm.

And then I realized, that even though we may not see each other as much as we would like, I cannot imagine life without him. I can't imagine not having that someone to call when something happens, good or bad. I know that he is someone who cares about me and my life, no matter what it is. He wants to comfort me and be that first person I call. Same thing goes for him. When he is having a bad day, I'm the first he calls. When he is having a good day, I'm the first person he calls.

Your spouse really does become your best friend. You end up wanting to share every detail of your life with them without even realizing it. You don't want to spend a day apart because you don't want to miss out on any part of their lives. Love and marriage is a powerful thing for the soul. It gives purpose and meaning to life that nothing but God himself can give.

Marriage is such a blessing from God. God knew what he was doing when he chose Wes and I for each other. Where one is weak, the other is strong. We are the best of friends and confide in one another. We love and support each other like no one else can. Though times can be tough, we always have each other.

So my eye...well I finally got it to stop bleeding, put some Polysporin on it and decided I would stay home instead. Although I knew the cut was pretty deep, I didn't think it needed anything else on it. It had stopped bleeding right? At dinner last night, we are talking to Stacy and she stopped and said, "Gosh! What happened to your eye?!". I'm thinking.. gosh..I didn't think it looked that bad. HaHa

Long story short, she told me it did look pretty deep and I should probably at least put butterfly stitches on it so it would close up and not leave a bad scar.

Here's proof Stacie, I did what you told me to do!







Oh well. It really doesn't hurt. Just put a "kink" in my plans yesterday. Now I am just left with a "to-do" list that hopefully will get done today.

That's really all I have for now. The DeWitte's are pretty exciting huh? :)

Here are some videos of Lexi I uploaded and a few pictures.












She is a typical girl, likes to look at herself in the mirror. :)









Thursday, March 3, 2011

Quick Update

Well, I'm getting pretty bad about new posts lately. I have a test tomorrow so I'm going to keep this one short. Maybe after the test, I will finally have time to write a good, long post.

Started (and about finished) my Community Hospice rotation recently. It's been okay. Not what I really see myself doing, but it has been a good experience. So for now, I am still looking towards OB for my future career. However, I still have Critical Care to look forward to next month, so I will keep an open mind about it and just see how it goes. Maybe my mind will change. I kind of hope it doesn't, but you just never know!

Wes has been working non-stop lately. He is usually working 60 hour work weeks (6 days a week). So that has been hard on him and actually me too. It's hard when we are both so busy with work and school and by the time the end of the day is here and we finally get to spend some time together, we are so exhausted. I'm ready for things to slow down just enough for us to get to spend real quality time together without being so worn out.

We hope to get a chance to take a mini vacation to Dallas over my birthday weekend. Hopefully the post office will allow Wes to take some days off. We also are planning to take our honeymoon (finally!) once I am finished up with school in July. We don't know where we want to go yet but do know we don't want to break the bank doing it either. :) Any ideas??

And of course we now have Lexi! She has already grown SO much since we got her just two weeks ago. I keep trying to take lots of pictures because I know she won't stay this small for long. She is so much fun and full of energy (definitely more than we have!). We are so glad she is a part of our family!

So here are a few new pictures of Lexi. Her ears are starting to stand up, well, the right one is anyway. We are wondering if she will end up with one ear up and one ear floppy but it's probably too soon to tell.


This picture really shows her ears. SO cute!


She's grown!


This one shows just how small she really is. And yes, we have accidentally stepped on her a few times. She is always under foot!


It seems in the past week the word "No!" comes out of our mouths quite often. She is very active and always chewing on something. Mostly cords...gotta love the puppy stage.


But despite the chewing that drives us crazy, this is adorable little face that we get to enjoy every single day. How can you be mad at this face? Love her!!


Back to studying...

But to sum it up: Life is pretty crazy right now, but life is definitely GOOD! :) We are blessed!!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Week(s) in Review

Okay, I'm bound and determined to get a post done before the week is over again. My posts are starting to become the previous "week in review" since I can't ever find enough time to catch up during the week itself. But, better late than never, right?

Last week...let's see if my brain can go back that far....

Monday, I got the wonderful idea to break open the Bride and Groom cookbook again. We haven't been cooking at home as often as we would like or should I say, as often as we SHOULD. But we haven't had spaghetti in a long time so I thought I would look up a recipe to make homemade sauce. And, of course, the B&G cookbook didn't let me down..it actually had TWO different spaghetti sauce recipes but I opted for the easier one. (Maybe later when life isn't so crazy!)

I didn't take pictures of the sauce (that seemed a little boring) but it was AMAZING! The B&G cookbook continues its streak of awesome and yummy recipes that will most defiantely get cooked again.

But I didn't stop there! When we first got the cookbook, I was quickly flipping through the pages and Wes stopped me on the Carrot Cake recipe. He immediately said, "Oh, we HAVE to try this one sometime!".

Wes LOVES carrot cake and always talks about the amazing carrot cake he had in New York City a few years ago. That no other carrot cake has been able to stack up to that one.

So, feeling in the mood for a little bit of a challenge, I decide to make the carrot cake.

Side Note: I have NO desire to eat carrot cake. Carrots in a dessert just doesn't sound good at all and it has coconut in it which is definately not something I enjoy. BUT, I am wanting to make this cake anyway for my wonderful husband who I know will be SO excited to see what I have made him. If that isn't a picture of TRUE love, I don't know what is. :)

Back to the cake...I don't really think I read the recipe well enough to realize the undertaking I had gotten myself into.

As I am gathering all my ingredients together and start reading the recipe for the first few steps, I come to a halt. It calls for a mixer. I know, I know..how do you make a cake without a mixer? I should have known, right? I guess I was being naive and thought hand mixing would do just fine.

Luckily, we did get a very nice mixer from the hostesses at one of our wedding showers. Time to break it in!

After digging the mixer out behind a pile of wedding gifts stored away (the ones we don't have room for), I could finally start.

I captured the carrot cake undertaking all with pictures. So here we go...

And it begins!!


This was most definately a step I did not read close enough. I had to grate 1 1/2 CUPS of carrot! No mistake there, CUPS! This took forever and made me really question, "Why am I doing this again?". Oh that's right, so make my husband happy. :)


Ridiculous! (But worth it!)


The rest of the ingredients ready to go in. Carrot puree (baby food), grated carrots and coconut.


Mixer is ready to go!


Looks like baby food for SURE now! haha


Poor into two pans and into the oven they go!


And this was the mess I had to deal with after it was all done. I love cooking but I HATE the cleaing up part. I need a maid to just clean up my dishes for me. :) I might cook more often!


Ready to ice the cake! Gotta find the right tool!


Didn't take pictures of the icing being made but it was just cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Yum!!


Icing this cake look forever!


Finished product with a slice cut out for Wes! There is a layer of icing inbetween the two cake layers but it's hard to see here.


Wes enjoying his cake. Must be good, doesn't look like there is much left on that plate!


And the verdict is...B&G wins again!! Wes said this cake was just as good as the cake in NYC. YES!!


This was a great night. Good dinner and good desert. LOVE spending these relaxing nights with my husband.

However, the bigger part of my week happened Tuesday night into Wednesday.

We did get yet another snow storm come through Wednesday. Really Oklahoma? This one wasn't near as bad as the previous but it was enough to cancel clinicals again. I was somewhat glad though because I ended up driving to Lawton unexpectedly, in the snow.

Tuesday night I got a Facebook message from my mom telling me that my/our Jack Russel Terrier, Beamer, was doing very good at all. My parents had taken him to the vet that evening and he was running a 105 fever, throwing up, and very, very lethargic (for him). Not good in a dog.

The vet gave him a few shots, sent them home with antibiotics, said to continue to check his temperature and told them to call in the morning with an update.

So..Wednesday morning. Fever was down to 100 but was unable to hold down the antibiotic at all. The vet said to bring him in for blood work. (Which I thought should have been done the day before, but I'm no vet either)

Blood work comes back. Complete kidney AND liver failure. His numbers were so high the machine couldn't even read it. All the values were "greater than..." on both organ functioning.

Like I said...not good.

My mom called and we both immediately began crying so hard. Wondering why a completely healthy, 7 year old terrier all of a sudden is at death's door?? What happened?!

Now remember when the snow started? Yup. I made the decision to get in the car and make the drive to Lawton to see Beamer. I wasn't sure what was going to happen but I had a feeling it wasn't going to be good.

Here's the story with Beamer: I bought Beamer as a puppy my sophomore year of college over the summer. Complete impulse buy. Never intended on walking out of that pet store with a dog but I did. When I brought him home my mom completely flipped out. I don't think I have EVER seen her THAT mad at me before. I really debated on whether I should just take the dog back.

Side Note: My dad was also in the hospital at the time too. Probably wasn't a good thing to add to the already stressful situation you think? Yeah...I don't think I WAS thinking.

Yes she was upset because my dad was sick in the hospital and I have no business having a dog. But there's more to it. I was going to be moving into an apartment when school started back up. An apartment that did NOT allow pets. Ha. But me being the naive 19 year old I was..I didn't think that would matter.

Right? Wrong.

Long story short, my parents refused to let me take Beamer to the apartment in August and there he stayed. So even though he technically has been with my parents way longer than he was ever with me, I still consider him my dog and love him to death. Not to mention my parents are extremely attached thus being the reason I never chose to have him come live with me after college. He is a truly unique dog and he definitely could never be replaced.

This was a huge blow to the family to have to hear this news.

The vet basically gave him a 50/50 chance. Possibly less than that with both kidney and liver being so badly affected. They wanted to get him started on IV fluids immediately, keep him overnight and redraw blood work in the morning to see where we stand.

I wasn't going to wait until the morning to see him. If he didn't make it through the night, I wanted to be there.

So off I go in the snow. The roads really weren't all that bad. Not great but good enough to get me there safely.

Once I got to Lawton, my mom and I go up to the vet to see Beamer.

I was so scared as to what I would see. I knew that all it would take was one look at him to know if he was going to be okay.

And this is what I saw...


Head was up, eyes alert, on his feet and tag wagging.

Thank you God.

My mom had said that just that morning he could barely lift his head, tail was down and couldn't even stand up.

An improvement already.

The vet came in and also gave us good news that Beamer completely saturated his towel with urine just before we got there. Any of you in the medical field know that, dog or human, urine output when there is kidney failure is a GREAT sign.

He explained the blood work to me, reinstating that it didn't look good. But the blood work in the morning would really tell us if he will be okay. If blood work goes up, we are in trouble. If it stays the same or goes down, we may have some hope.

I dreamt all night that night about getting that call about his blood work results. I even had actual numbers in my head from my dream of what they would be. Needless to say, I was so worried. I anxiously waited by the phone at 7:30 AM for the phone call.

Here were his results just ONE day later:

Kidney FX: Creatinine (Normal 0.5-1.8) 2/9: >6.0 <--VERY High
                                                              2/10: 0.6 <--NORMAL!!

                   BUN        (Normal 7-27)    2/9: 72 <---VERY High
                                                             2/10: 17 <---NORMAL!!

Liver FX: AST (Normal 10-100) 2/9: >1000 <---VERY High
                                                   2/10: 812 <--Still abnormal but WAY less

                ALT (Normal 12-23)  2/9: >2000 <--VERY High
                                                   2/10: >2000 <---Still High

Let me explain that: Beamer's kidney function was now COMPLETELY NORMAL. Not just lower but NORMAL!

Liver function still was high but the vet said it was going to just take time. The kidney functioning was most concerning long term.

Wow. I was in shock. God is SO good!!

Beamer most definitely had the Lord watching over him every step of the way.

He stayed one more night at the vet on continuous IV fluids and got to go home Friday afternoon.

So what exactly was it that wreaked havoc over Beamer's system? Most likely a really bad infection that was in his GI tract and then somehow got into his bloodstream. We are blaming him eating cat poop. Haha Sounds funny but really makes the most sense. Dogs think it's good for them because it tastes so good (gross!) and look where it got him.

Crazy though. What a whirlwind of emotions. SO glad all that is over and Beamer is doing better. He did have to go back to the vet this week because his fever came back. But blood work was still all within normals limits so they changed his antibiotic and gave him something different for his liver.

It's amazing how much our dogs really do become one of the family. It's when something like this happens that you really realize how much you would miss them not being here. That their personality and company are so valuable and irreplaceable.

That being said, now it's time for THIS weeks important update.

Valentine's Day:  Wes and I bought a new puppy!!

Wes didn't have this planned, it just so happened to work itself out ON Valentine's Day. But who could say no to their wife on Valentine's Day right? :)

She is a 6 week old Yorkie. ADORABLE! Meet Lexi!




So far she has been great. I'm not going to say she hasn't peed and pooped many times in the house but she has also gone to the bathroom outside plenty of times too, on her own. So I'm hoping this is a good start and potty training won't be too bad.

We have decided to crate train her and I am already loving it. She sleeps all night now without going to the bathroom in her crate. She stays in the crate all day, if we are gone, and no accidents. Pretty impressive!

I hope getting her used to the crate when she is this young will prove to be a good thing. She is chewing on everything though. She has three different chew toys but they don't always keep her attention as much as cords and blankets. I'm pretty sure she already understands the word "No!" but who's to really know when they are this young?

I'm SO excited to have her though! I have been talking about wanting a puppy since the wedding so I finally got Wes convinced that we do in fact need a pet to nurture. :) Better that than a baby right? I think so! No babies for us yet.

Okay this post is long enough. I hope it kept you all interested enough to read all the way to that end. I will leave you with this saying I noticed after Beamer's health scare. It is from the front of my Philosophy "Hope in a Jar" moisturizer (inspiration comes in the weirdest places!):

"Where there is hope there can be faith, where there is faith miracles can occur."


Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Oklahoma Blizzard 2011

Only in Oklahoma do you have 75 degree temperatures on a Saturday and then have a massive blizzard three days later. You think I would be used to this ever changing weather since I grew up in Oklahoma, but it really doesn't get easier.

Clinicals were cancelled yesterday and today. :( We will eventually have to make up the days sometime this semester. Pretty bummed about missing out on newborn week on the OB floor. But glad they called off school so everyone can stay safe and warm at home.

[Begin rant...]
So..5 AM yesterday morning..Wes is up and starts to put on his long johns and socks like he is actually going to work. Really?! Yeah, I was a very defiant wife and took his socks away, telling him he is not going to leave this house. I even threatened to throw the car keys in the 3 foot snow drifts so he couldn't find them. (Pretty intense huh? I'm really not always this way. Just when lives are at risk)

Then I hear the weather in the background say, "If you get out and get stuck this morning, be ready to wait until possibly tomorrow sometime before someone comes to help." Ummm... really? Is delivering mail THAT worth it. Not to me it's not.

I eventually was able to talk some sense into Wes and help him to realize the true danger of the weather outside and he called into work. Thank you God.

I just couldn't imagine him driving to work and then walking the streets in the condition it was outside. Not worth it.

However, Wes has heard from other carriers that they HAVE to make it to work, no matter what the weather, or they will get fired.

This is what we were going back and forth on at 5 AM. If he goes in, he might not even make it there and be stranded for who knows how long. But on the other hand, if he doesn't go in, he could lose his job. Now losing his job is definitely not a good option for us right now since we are living off of his income. Big decision to make.

But I didn't care. No job or money is worth the life of my husband. So I put my foot down and insisted he stay home. And as it turns out, many carriers were getting stuck right and left and were sent home early. Some were even sent home before getting once single piece of mail out.

Like I said...not worth it.

I was shocked listening to the news yesterday as they casually discussed the mail carriers that were having to endure the weather because they took a "creed"  when they took the job that the mail will be delivered, no matter what the circumstances. Creed? What creed?

Paraphrased quote from the news anchor: "And of course it's the first of the month, so it is a very important day for the post office. Those welfare and social security checks have to get out so people will have their money."

What?! No one can even make it TO the bank to get their money! Really?!

Great paying job....treated like dogs...How many more months of school? 179 days to be exact. And then maybe once I have a steady income, Wes can finally go back to music recording and doing what the loves to do.
[End rant...whew..glad I got that out]

Until then, we trust God to take care of us and provide for us in all we need.

Wes went into work this morning and made it safely with no problems. And he still has his job. God is good.

Here are a few pictures I have taken to document the Oklahoma Blizzard of 2011.

The snow drift on our from porch. We were smart after learning from last years snow storm and bought a shovel back in December. So we decided to put the new shovel to use and make a pathway just in case our mailman made it to our house (yeah right!).


Wes making some progress on the pathway and showing just how high the drift was.


This is what we did last night. Watched the third series of Lord of the Rings. Once again, Wes got me to watch a series that I thought I would never enjoy. But turns out, he was right. I really did like it! Now we have to find another movie series to watch...any ideas? Already watched all the Star Wars too. :)


Picture from the front door this morning. The sun is so deceiving..it was 8 degrees with a windchill of -10 when I took this. Brr!!


Wes took the RAV4 this morning to work so here is the Honda. Yeah..I'm not going anywhere today.


Our wonderful pathway Wes shoved. Good job honey!!


View from our living room window. Winter wonderland!


Okay, look at this picture really close..See something wrong? Yup! We have had NO hot water in the bathroom since 2 PM yesterday. Not even a single drop is coming out. We spent all day yesterday afternoon up in the attic trying to find where it is frozen but had no luck. We do have hot water in the kitchen sink though. Weird. So I most definately washed my hair in the kitchen sink this morning. Hey..gotta work with what you have! At least we didn't lose electricity. Guess we will just have to wait until the temperature comes up enough to unfreeze the pipe. May not be for a few days though but it could be worse.


Back yard. Hard to tell but there are some pretty high drifts. Probably up to my waist.


View of the front yard.


For those of you in Oklahoma or in the line of this crazy blizzard..stay warm and stay safe.