Baby Calvin is Here! Aunt and Uncle Times Two!

Shawn and Jill were due April 17th so we were surpised when we got the news yesterday that Jill's water had broken and they were at the hospital. After a several nervous hours when Jill was only dilated 2 cm and Calvin's heart rate was irregular, we thought Jill was going to have to have a C-Section. We were all praying like crazy that his heart rate would even out and that she would be able to have him naturally. Well, God is good, because Calvin was born, perfectly healthy and precious. When I talked to Shawn, he was bragging the whole time about how awesome Jill was during delivery and how proud he was of Calvin. They are going to be great parents. I love him very much already and am so sad that I don't get to go visit him anytime soon :(

Here's a pic of Shawn (dad) and my Aunt Susan...apparently Jill didn't want any pictures taken of her 'cause I don't have a single one :)

And just to prove that I am Aunt to the cutest 2 kids in the world, here is a picture of Zion in her Easter dress.... love this girl :)

Easter Dinner

We decided to have some friends over who didn't have any family in town for Easter dinner. After dinner we just talked and played a few games. It was a lot of fun but unfortunately we forgot only took 1 picture: the table before everyone got here. We got to know a new couple in our sunday school class and are really looking forward to becoming better acquainted with them. Everyone brought a side dish and I made the following:

• Ham - my first attempt at Ham and glaze and I must say it was delicious! Although I'm getting little tired of it. This is my 3rd day in a row eating the 10 lb ham's left-overs.


• Pineapple-Cheese Casserole - always a hit


• Fresh Strawberry Pie w/ homemade crust


• Kentucky Chocolate Chunk Pecan Pie w/ homemade crust

Erin took the left-over pies and coffee cake (made for sunday school brunch) to work the next day. Better the IT guys devour them instead of me and my thighs :)

Easter Worship

This was a great Easter. I must admit that Satan was pulling a number over on me Saturday. I was in a horrible mood, didn't want to go to church, and for some reason Satan was having a hayday with my attitude. But, Saturday night I made a decision that I wouldn't be that way, to stop complaining, and live with a grateful heart.... how can you NOT be grateful when really thinking about what Easter means. It turned out to be a wonderful Easter.

Erin, myself, Erin P and Nate all sang or played in all 3 services so we carpooled in together at 7AM!!! Early. The worship in the service was amazing and even though we did the same service all three times, worshipping never got stale, old, or boring.

Mom, I don't remember all the songs but know we sang:
You Saved the Day (choir and soloist)
Jesus Saves (choir)
He's Alive, Alive, Alive Halleluiah
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Easter Reminder

Erin had a friend/business associate of his over for dinner. This friend is from India and practices Hindu. He is such a wonderful person and we had interesting discussions about the differences in religion, culture, politics, sports, etc between America and India. I was explaining to him about how America celebrates mostly Christian holidays with Christmas being the biggest and Thanksgiving the next. But he pointed out that this didn't make sense: "Shouldn't EAster be your biggest holiday?" After I explained the differences between secular and spiritual celebrations of these holidays I realized that sometimes even Christians put Easter lower on the scale of celebrations. But, EASTER is what makes Christianity real, its OUR HOPE! It took someone of another faith to really make this hit home with me. So, this year, I really focused on remembering the sacrifice and most importantly the VICTORY that Christ had over the grave.... all for our sake. Praise the Lord.

Game Night Part Deux

I love game nights. So, every time Jessica comes into town from Chattanooga, we invite the gang over and have a girls game night and dinner. I love these nights because I ROCK at Scrabble and like to prove my vocabulary and polysyllabic prowess to anyone who will play with me :) If you've seen the post from last game night you will remember that I had a controversial win last time because of my use of the world "si" which is part of the melodic scale and is sometimes used instead of "ti". (a.k.a. Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, do). Anyway, I came this time ready to conquer.... and guess what? I DID!! (sorry Brit, Jennie, and Jess). They gave me such a hard time about my word choice last time, but look at the PROPER noun they used below...totally illegal game play. But, no hard feelings. :)

I did not win Scattergories, so it wasn't a totally successful night. But, we always have a blast together and I'm so glad that God has blessed me with such wonderful friends that have remained close since college. We even forgive one of us for being a liberal (don't worry I'm NOT the liberal one)... but mainly its okay because she's a liberal in TN and we know her vote won't really make a difference anyway :)

The Gals -- we're a strange conglomeration of girls -- but we make a good team.

We still think fingers and noses are funny.... hmmmm.

I passed!

This book and I have gotten to know each other really well over the past few weeks. Today I finished step 1 on my journey towards dental school. I passed the Biology CLEP test!!! It is a scaled score test with scores ranging from 20 to 80. It is pass/fail and you have to get a 50+ to pass. I got a 60. I didn't like cutting it so close but unfortunately I didn't use the best study materials. I only used the Biology CLEP study guide and figured that would be enough. Lets just say that I almost panicked when I went in there and the material was much more in depth. But, fortunately I was at least able to make educated guesses on the majority of the questions. I'm glad its over. This test got me 16 hours of credit. I have a lot to do before I can even apply to dental school. If ONE thing doesn't go as planned then my dental school plans and hopes and dreams will not work out. Please pray for God's timing on this one. Erin and I want to make sure that we are following God's will, not our own. Here's whats left to do.

1. Now - Pass another CLEP test. This one is MUCH harder. It is for 16 hours of Chemistry 1 and 2 credit. I only get ONE shot at this. If I don't pass then I don't get another shot and am done.


2. May - Possibly shadowing a dentist friend of ours in his office. Need to have experience in a dental office so that I can discuss that in my interview with UT.


3. June - Begin summer classes. I will be taking Organic Chemistry I and Physics I


4. July - Next summer session. Organic Chem II and Physics II


5. July - August - Take the DAT. I can take it up to 3 times.


6. August - Fall term begins. Microbiology, Comparative Anatomy, Biochemistry, and possibly Histology


7. November 30 - Application due to UT Memphis


8. December - Finish pre-req classes

Uggh! Pray for me!