Friday, May 9, 2014

Five on Friday

Today's Five on Friday is EXTRA random.  Brace yourselves.

 THE GOOD LIFE BLOG

- ONE -
Aleeda

In the picture below is my mom's youngest sister, Ronnie and my Uncle Dave with their son Brian (one of four boys) and his wife Tania back in 2010.

(yes... I've been told SEVERAL times that I "favor" my Auntie Ronnie... which I'm cool with since she's super cute)  

In February of 2012, Tania and Brian had Aleeda who was born with HLHS.

Aleeda was diagnosed with hypoplastic left herat syndrome at a 21-week prenatal checkup and she had surgery right after she was born, so that the right side of her heart could take over for the left. Her heard didn't recover from the surgery, and she was later diagnosed with congestive heart failure. 

Aleeda never got to go home after that and this was her last May...

July 25th of 2013, Brian and Tania welcomed a second daughter, Britton, and then on August 7th Aleeda received the new heart she had been waiting for (exactly one year - to the day - that she was placed on the transplant list).  This is her several days after her surgery...

And this was Aleeda this week :)

When Tania posted the above pic on Facebook, I'm not going to lie... I shed some major tears.  Dave and I, our Sunday School class, girls from my accountability group, my kids, co-workers... we've all been praying for this sweet girl since her diagnosis before she was born and when I saw the picture of her smiling slyly, bumped and bruised up from playing like a typical two year old I lost it.

God is good.  All the time.

Tania and Brian are amazing parents and as I was speaking to Tania on Facebook this week she said this, "Life is leveling out. Seems what I imagine normal feels like."   Normal is awesome :) 

Tania's faith is amazing and she blogs HERE . I'm not sure how often she's going to update, but it's definitely worth reading when she does.

You can find articles about Aleeda HERE and HERE as well as HERE.


- TWO -
Drive Safe!!!

This past week has been a dramatic one for me when it comes to driving.  Last Wednesday I was running an errand and came to an accident that had just happened when there was a huge boom, explosion, fireball and more smoke.  It was crazy.  Then on Friday, I was driving home on the Sam Rayburn Tollway and was probably going close to 80 (the speed limit is 70... it's a HUGE, multi lane, VERY wide highway), when I thought a bag of trash flew out of a truck and was coming toward me in the middle lane.  About 2 seconds later I realized that it was actually a motorcyclist (without a helmet) who was being flung heals over head, across multiple lanes.  By the grade of God I didn't hit him, but seriously y'all... it was only by inches.  I could see his face, clothes, everything.  I called the police, gave them all the info and then pulled over and was sick to my stomach.  The scene has replayed in my head several times since then and I have been thanking God - because the whole scenario could have turned out sooooooooo different for me.  I'm not sure what happened to the motorcyclist.  THEN... Shay was in her accident on Monday and as she and I were talking I started researching carseat safety online.  Griffin was still in her infant carrier and so I decided it was time for an upgrade for both her and Mason. 

I decided on the Maxi Cosi Pria 70 because of it's great ratings, and the fact that it doesn't take up tons of room in the back seat.  It looks like it will... but it really doesn't when you get it in there.  It holds babies from 9 - 70 lbs, so we'll have these for a LOOOONG time.

- THREE - 
There was a little girl... who had a little curl...

The weather is warming up and the humidity was OUT OF CONTROL and I think Griffin's hair texture might be more like mine than we had originally thought...







- FOUR -
Jen Hatmaker's Wishlist for Teachers

Omigosh, y'all.  If you haven't read THIS blog post by Jen Hatmaker go do it now.  Right now.  Jen is hilarious and everything she wrote on this is so so so true...

Here in Texas, it is Teacher Appreciation Week. Because we have no idea how to appropriately thank them for their incredible labor, we say, “Here is this mug and also a gift card to Chili’s. Be blessed.” 

Teachers, I wish more parents understood that their Precious Child probably isn’t an innocent victim of your unresolved daddy issues and rage disorder. She is in detention for an actual reason, Mom. Kaitlyn-Grace needs to do her homework and close her sassy mouth. Those tears are manufactured. Kaitlyn-Grace should join theater.

I only have SIX teaching days left and then three solid days of exams and then it's SUMMER!!!  My middle schoolers are DONE and so am I. hahaha

I'm excited to hang with my kids, sleep in a bit, not grade a single paper and see my girlfriends and their kiddos throughout the week.  I'm looking forward to catching up on my "yearbooks", getting my house organized, having some more time for Slightly Askew and having the time for some creative projects.  I predict watching lots of Big Brother and Real Housewives of Jersey, complaining about the heat, and texting back and forth with Shay about how much we love Fall and Christmas :)

- FIVE - 
Haute Look

Someone please tell me how I didn't know about Haute Look until this week!!! 
It's kind of like Zulily or Groopdealz in that there are daily deals... BUT it's all NORDSTROM!  There's free shipping on orders over $100 and you can return directly to Nordstrom Rack (or by mail). 

This romper is on there for $17 (reg. $42)


This bangle set is $35 (reg. $139!!!)

This necklace is $22 (reg. $89)

This sweater is on sale for $25 (reg. $108) and I think it would be so cute with white linen pants!

Click HERE to check out all the great deals and it looks like new items are added daily!


Don't forget that next Tuesday we're showing each other our kitchens and dining rooms! I CAN'T WAIT!!!
If you missed it - Monday's link up was "What's On" and we showed each other what was on our nightstands.  I STILL haven't had a lot of time to check them all out - but that's on my to-do list for the weekend... along with some major cleaning, errands and dinner with my peeps Sunday night. 


Happy Friday, Friends!!!

Linking up with Liz from A Liz Adventures


14 comments :

  1. Oh my goodness! I loved everything about this Five on Friday! Aleeda...thank you Jesus for her healing! Such an amazing testimony of God's love and endurance in our lives. It has definitely been a week of "thank you Jesus" around here. Loved all of it! And I laughed out loud at Jen Hatmaker...so funny!

    ReplyDelete
  2. PTL that Aleeda is doing well!!
    Griffin's curls are adorable!!
    www.floralandfudge.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. WooHoo for Miss Aleeda!!! And Thank You Jesus for the normal that they are settling into!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Our nephew was delivered early in Dec 2012 with HLHS and it has been heartbreaking watching my BIL & SIL walk this path. I love to see that Aleeda is so happy and healthy now!
    And yay for it being almost summer for you! Such a fun time of year!

    ReplyDelete
  5. God is so good. I'm so happy Aleeda is doing better! I was tearing up reading that! And with Griffin's curls and the humidity there, I don't feel so bad about pretty much melting here in SC haha!
    Thanks for sharing!
    x Dani

    ReplyDelete
  6. You had me in tears and then smiling1 Random, but well worth it!
    Happy Mother's Day Andrea!

    ReplyDelete
  7. wow I cried reading Aleeda's story thanks for sharing!

    I cant wait to become a teacher not just for the summers off of course but that would be so great Im bummed about working at this desk job all summer!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Our summer's seem pretty similar ;)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love the randomness! It is amazing to see how well Aleeda is doing. I am now officially addicted to Haute Look. By the time I got to the site the bracelets were unfortunately already sold out. Thanks for such a great find!
    http://lindsayllambes.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  10. Holy moly. What a week. SO SCARY about all those driving incidents. Oh my gosh. As you told your story, I imagined if I was in your position. And it made me sick to my stomach too. So, so glad you are ok. And Shay too. What a scary week for driving! I, too, almost had a scary incident while driving but thankfully everything was ok too. Next week will be better!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I enjoyed the randomness, thanks for sharing Aleeda's story! Also, I LOVE Big Brother! Happy Summer!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Are you still happy with your choice of car seat and do your kiddos find it comfortable? I have been reading sooo much about car seats and I'm ready to just order one! I love the head support in the Pria but was curious if your kids ever complain about it being "too close" to their face. Thanks for your advice and thank you for your encouraging blog. It's such a blessing to read it. Thank you!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Are you still happy with your car seat choice and do your kiddos find it comfortable? I have been reading sooo much about car seats and I'm ready to just order one! I love the head support in the Pria but was curious if your kids ever complain about it being "too close" to their face. Thanks for your advice and thank you for your encouraging blog. It's such a blessing to read it. Thank you!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HEy! We LOVE our Prias!!! Can't say enough great things about them!

      Delete

Blog design by Get Polished | Copyright 2016