When life doesn't go as planned...

I wonder if any of you can relate... Sometimes, in certain moments of life, I wonder why things just wouldn't work out a little easier. And while I definitely feel this for myself, I have also found that I feel so burdened when life seems to throw a curve ball in Tyler's direction.  I can be what some may call a "perfectionist"  and I just wish I could make everything work out.  At times I think if life would just work out logically, then Tyler and I would have everything lined up.  Together with my organizational skills and his mad reasoning skills we would have all of life added up and then put into neat little boxes. Oh that life would be that easy!

But sometimes it just isn't and like my Dad reminded me when he had his recent surgery, when things don't go as planned or our body fails, it is just a reminder that this earth is not our home, that things here are not perfect, nor are they permanent. So with that truth in mind, I want to trust the Lord in these times and be refined by the moments I don't understand, can't reason, can't organize, can't control. And even more than that, I want to overflow with a deep sense of hope and joy in these circumstances. I love the way this is explained in Jeremiah...

 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.  They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

Jeremiah 17:7-8

Well, our trip to Birmingham didn't go exactly as planned.  After being on a high from the results of the VX-770/ VX-809 trial, it was hard to hear the "doctor's orders."  We had been to Birmingham two weeks before this trip and he had told us that Tyler's lung function had dropped due to a lung infection.  We had hopes that his lungs would react to an oral antibiotic, which is normally the case in these situations.  Unfortunately, when we arrived two weeks later for our check up there was no measured improvement.  We take a pretty proactive approach to Tyler's health and so when the Doctor said he needed to get on IVs, we gave him the thumbs up.  Luckily, we are able to do them at home. It means  quite the change in our routine for sure, but Tyler is definitely more comfortable and can maintain a far more normal schedule than he could if he was put into the hospital.

In all this, we can't help but be grateful...

We are so grateful for the staff at UAB.  They are awesome, like always, and organized everything so Tyler could have a PICC line put in that same day of our appointment so we could return to Mississippi that evening. Long day!  But we made it!

Since I can remember, I knew I was not cut out to be a nurse!  I can't handle blood or pain; it's just not my thing.  But it is so true that the Lord's strength can shine through our weakness, because believe me, I couldn't do it otherwise! On top of this, Tyler has been blessed with an incredible pharmacist and for that we are more than grateful! She walked me through all the steps of administering the IVs, more than once, and called to check in on us several times the first day.  We couldn't have made it without her!

We are also overwhelmingly thankful for our jobs and feel so lucky that both of our bosses are flexible and understanding.  Whereas most business jobs only give their employees 10 days off a year, taking time off has never once been an issue for us which has allowed Tyler and I to go at this together. What a blessing!

We are also so thankful for our sweet friends and family.  The constant prayers and encouragement are overwhelming and we feel honored that you would take our burden on as your own and present it as a request before the Lord.

We are so thankful for Tyler's health.  This is the first time in 8 years he has been on IVs, which is really rare for CF patients (many find themselves on IVs annually). It's a blessing he is so healthy on a regular basis.

And all of these things are provisions from the Lord and that is the thing we are most thankful for.  We are thankful for His presence, His patience with us, the lessons He is teaching us, and for His constancy.

Thanks again for all your prayers! We head back to Birmingham in two weeks and I will keep you updated!

"The Lord is my strength and my shield. My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him" 

Psalms 28:7

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Birthday's are a big deal around here! And I for one could not be more excited to celebrate Tyler's!  Today is his 26th birthday and since he has been telling everyone he was 26 since December, I doubt he will mind me "revealing his age."

When it comes to birthdays, it seems only necessary to pull out those cute, little, embarrassing baby pictures.  But since I am putting together this post, sitting in a hotel in Birmingham, it seemed like I was not going to be able to find just the picture I was looking for.  Luckily, Tyler's dad was able to pull through and provide this little number for your viewing pleasure....

.... I should probably confess that I did not get permission to use this picture. But come on, seriously?? 

SO cute.  

Since we hadn't really planned on having a doctor's appointment in Birmingham on his birthday (I know, terrible scheduling!), we decided we should just celebrate all week. So far here is what we have been up to...

 For those of you who don't know Tyler, you should know that it is completely impossible to surprise him and for those of you who don't know me you should known that I find it absolutely impossible to keep secrets about surprises from Tyler... probably a bad combination.  Anyways, I was really pumped when I picked out his gift until at the check out line the little guy at Best Buy started overwhelming me with questions about system support and insurance, blah, blah, blah!  I hated to make a mistake with what I thought would be the perfect gift, so like any good wife, I called Tyler and asked ever so subtly if he would purchase any of the above if he was ever in a situation where he might be buying a Nintendo 3DS.  Well turns out, he would.  Surprise spoiled?  Yes, probably.  But nevertheless, he seemed pretty excited and since at this point he already knew what he was getting... I just had to give it to him early! 

Next we got the chance to celebrate with his parents!  Family birthday parties are the best and we had a great time.  We ate a great Italian meal and Tyler got some awesome gifts!  His mom also made him his favorite vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. I think he liked it...

There is still more birthday fun to be had around here, but that's all for now!  Tyler, I hope your birthday is super fun and I can't wait to share many, many more!  If your that cute when you were a baby, I can only imagine how cute you will be as an old guy! 

A little Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives Inspiration

Tyler and I rarely have much time to watch TV. We pretty much rely on DVR for the shows we love, but when we do watch miscellaneous TV, we more often times then not find ourselves turning on Food Network at about 10:30 where we end up watching Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. By this time of night our dinner has settled and the glorious description of fattening, All-American cusine is like a trap. It's like we know what we are getting ourselves into and so we only have ourselves to blame, but we can't resist. So by eleven o'clock we seem to be having an unquenchable craving for deep dish pizza or fried chicken.

Well a few night ago, Tyler and I found ourselves in this very scenario. The diner was making "grilled cheese" with pulled pork and macaroni and cheese... Hello, yummy goodness!! Unfortunately the only thing our pantry provided in a similar flavor scheme was hotdogs and Kraft mac and cheese. But that didn't stop us! The very next night, Tyler whipped up his very first "home cooked" meal. Hats off to the chef for creativity, spontaneity, and taste!

The final product

I was maybe just a little skeptical...

But Tyler was, of course, ecstatic!

Life around here has been pretty relaxed as your can see :)  But this guy finds a way to keep life interesting somehow or another! More pictures of the house to come and definitely more updates on CF stuff soon!

Decorating and Babysitting

Tyler and I have been busy at work on our new home.  So much so that we laughed at ourselves when on a Friday night we were actually choosing to do yard work! I know, who would have thought? But it has been so much fun and the house is really beginning to feel like ours!  As for the inside of the house, new paint is up on almost every wall (okay, maybe a few more to go!) and it seems like the furniture has finally found its place (for awhile there, you had to be careful where you sat around here...because I might have just moved that chair you were planning on relaxing in!)

We have made a lot of progress since I last posted pictures of the newly painted walls, but we still have a ways to go, so I will just show you a few of the spaces that are more settled.

This piece is our newest addition and is in our foyer, which opens up to our....

Living Room. Okay, so this is just the couch. But Tyler's Aunt just finished these adorable pillows and I am in love! So thats why the picture is...well, all couch!

As you can see, our living room opens up to our kitchen, and here is a picture of the kitchen eat-in area:

In the midst of settling into the house, we had the privilege of watching my sweet nephew for the weekend while my sister and brother-in-law were on a mission trip to Guatemala.  We quickly realized that our decorating sense is not quite kid friendly.  But that didn't stop us from having a blast with the little guy!

This one if my absolute favorite!  They really bonded....a big step for Tyler!

So maybe we broke few rules about the pacifier?  But he was so cute!!!

Typically I would expect this look of Tyler mid an intense video game.... not mid Sesame Street episode... but hey, maybe it was an exciting segment on the letter of the day.

We feel so blessed to have our new home and love sharing it with family and friends! In fact, come on over, Tyler just told me tonight that he is going to start cooking! So I am sure he will be glad to whip you up one of his specialities...once he figures out what those will be of course.

Two Years and Counting

Two years ago today, I remember standing in the back of a church with my arm interlocked with my Dad's.   I remember the doors flew open and all eyes turned which made me suddenly nervous until my eyes fell on you, my precious (almost) husband.  There you stood, just as handsome as ever, reassuring me with your sweet smile and your confident demeanor.  We both knew in this moment it would have been more fitting for you to be walking down the isle, let's be honest, you love to be the center of the attention. But I made it to the front of that church and I have never once looked back. 

Tyler, you are such a sweet blessing to my life. I am so thankful the Lord entrusted me with the honor of being your wife.  Your humor is irreplaceable and your confidence is inviting.  Your love for people and a good time makes life exciting.  Your willingness to listen to me and the interest you take in every aspect of my life brings me security. And your love for the Lord is precious. I can't tell you how thankful I am for you and can hardly believe two years have passed.  These past two years have been a blast and a journey.  I pray consistently that the next years will be just as wonderful! 

I love that people still stop and ask us if we are newlyweds and I hope that never stops! I love you! And because it is our Anniversary, I thought it would be fitting to would play the song you were never able to officially sing at our wedding...so sorry that that solo of yours never worked out, it really was a shame since your Aladdin rendition really is impeccable :)

All my love,

Jen

A few pics from our special day :)

Love this :)

Tyler's Grooms Cake!

I suppose it is time for an update!

As many of you can tell, my post have been few and far between!  And I hate that because there has been so much going on around here, but it is for that very reason that there has been such a lack of updating! But I guess a good overview of everything will have to do!

We Moved!
Tyler and I bought our first house and it is absolutely the house of my dreams! We are so excited and over the past few weeks we have accomplished a ton!  I quickly became best friends with a paint roller and several blank walls and Tyler was granted lawn mowing privileges again for the first time in a long time (too long of a story to tell right now, but a picture is worth a thousand words!).

Moving Day!

Home sweet home!

Yah, that happens to be a lawn mower Tyler blew up. And yes, he will be mowing our lawn... talk about serious trust! But luckily, he says he won't let it happen again!

Gotta' add that special touch!
With the help of several friends and a late night here and there our home is really coming together!  So far we have painted Tyler's office, the kitchen, the dining room, and the living room (a special thank you to Allen and Jessica!) and we are putting any other painting on hold for just a bit.  Here are a few pictures of the progress.  Along with picking out paint colors, Tyler and I had lots of decisions about furniture.  Moving from an extra small cottage, to a small apartment, to an actual house meant that we didn't have much of anything I would call substantial furniture.  Talk about decisions! Being as indecisive as I am, most of my free time has been eaten up by long lost searches for the perfect furniture pieces.  The house pictures won't have these great finds just yet, well, because they haven't arrived.  So far now... check out these great looking walls!

Dining Room Before....

And After...

 Living Room Before...

And after.... (hard to tell but its a mocha color)

I didn't have a good picture of the before, but here is the new paint in the kitchen!

More pictures to come as we add decor!

Robby turned two!
My sweet nephew Robby turned two!  And my sister and brother-in-law threw him the cutest birthday party.  He happens to be in love with Thomas the Train and so he had a full fledge Thomas the Train party.  The night before the party Amy and I had a blast making Robby a train cake and I think it turned our pretty cute and I think we will get better at our cake making skills over the years! Check out all the cute decorations my sister made. She is so creative! And she can make a bathroom shine (special thanks to Amy for helping me get the house ready for the move in!!)

The start of the cake :)

Part of the finished cake... I couldn't get a complete picture before they dug in!

Opening Presents!

Such a sweet boy!

The Thomas the Train the kids could crawl through

The ticket booth

Results from the VX-770 & VX-809 Trial are out!
For months we have been waiting to hear about the official results from Tyler's trial.  And while we haven't heard specific results on whether or not Tyler was on the drug or not (which I think everyone has already decided this as it is), we did get a glimpse into the positive results on the overall trial. Check out the official press release here:  http://www.cff.org/aboutCFFoundation/NewsEvents/6-9-Phase-2-Study-of-VX-770-and-VX-809-Results.cfm.  But to sum up that release here, basically the results were great and they plan on beginning more tests on it towards the end of this year.  We will continue to pray for more positive results, quick FDA approval, and for the possible chance for Tyler to be involved in another round.

Well that's a pretty brief summation of everything going on around here. I really hope and plan to get back to more regular updates especially since we have a lot of visitors coming to stay at our new place this summer!

This One's for you Mom!

Happy Mother's Day!  Tyler and I were recently talking about family traditions, which happen to be one of my favorite things, and were laughing about how different ours were growing up!  One tradition I love is Mother's Day breakfasts.  My sisters and I would "scheme," along with the help of my dad, to get together all the ingredients we thought would make the perfect breakfast for mom.  Typically it involved pancakes, eggs, bacon, and all the basic breakfast yummies! We thought we were so tricky and we would get up a little early that Sunday morning, head straight to the kitchen, and whip up our creations.  Despite the kitchen being right next to our parents bedroom and the fact that three girls in a small kitchen is not exactly the most quiet thing, my mom was somehow always still asleep when breakfast was ready to be served to her in bed. Man were we good!  I hate that this year we won't be there to treat her to breakfast in bed, especially since now that we are older and actually know how to cook, she might actually enjoy it!

But even though we aren't together, I hope my mom knows just how special she is to me and to my sisters. I know managing a home with three girls couldn't have been easy. Just imagine the excellent referee she had to be!  But through all the hair pulling and fights over "borrowed" clothes, my mom helped make each of us into the women we are today (which Tyler says is something my mom should be proud of considering the awesome husband I managed to rope in.) But all joking aside, my mom was an extremely devoted mom. She sat through swim meets, cheerleading games (also know as football games-- but we all know who the real stars are), piano recitals, and so much more and she was always our biggest fan.  Looking back, I can now see many of the sacrifices she made for us as we grew up and I have a deep sense of gratitude, that words can't real descibe, for all of my mom's love, provision, and support.

Today's you're day Mom!  I love you!

And she is so pretty too!!