Choosing Life

The past few weeks have been a bit hectic with balancing work and two weeks of training to extend my capacities in my volunteer work at the pregnancy center. I started volunteering there almost a year ago as a receptionist. It is only 4 hours a week and since I am a nurse the office staff was thrilled that when I was there I could do the urine pregnancy tests (non-medical people hate any kind of bodily fluid). In the fall the new nurse manager asked me if I would be interested in being trained to do limited OB ultrasound. I said of course!!! How exciting to be able to show these young women in crisis their baby's beating heart.

The training was 2 parts. The first part I did in December in Virginia Beach at a 2 day conference where we learned about the legal side of the ministry and what laws are in place to protect us and that we operate under for limited OB ultrasound. The second part was 6 days over a 2 week period where I actually practiced scanning on 'models' (pregnant women who volunteer to come in and be scanned so we could learn how to do it). In those 6 days I did over 60 ultrasounds of various gestational ages as well as 1 set of triplets and 2 sets of twins :-)

I am still overwhelmed at the gravity of what is at stake when clients come into the center. I have always been pro-life but after learning what is taking place in abortion clinics and the lack of ethics and even the lack of getting basic informed consent my heart is just broken. So part of why I am volunteering is so that our clients who are in crisis and are considering abortion can have all the facts about their pregnancy including seeing their baby and its heart beating. I knew the anatomical facts of development but to see a baby at 5 weeks gestation that is only 1/3 of a centimeter in size with a beating heart is absolutely AMAZING!! It is not a 'mistake' as some people like to call it, but rather it is a miracle and a life created by God. And I pray that I will be open to wherever God is leading me in this and that He will use me to bring glory to His name!!

Psalm 139:13-16
13For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 14I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.15 My frame was not hidden from you,when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.16Your eyes saw my unformed substance;in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

my birthday

Me and Jill at dinner

Me and Kar

Party Shoes :-)

Me and Angie


My Sweet Nephews

Me and Maegan (best friends for over 19 years!!!)

Two weeks ago I hesitantly celebrated my 29th birthday :-) And when I say hesitantly I really mean I was drug kicking and screaming into being one year older. As much as I tried to tell myself it was just another birthday, it really was hard to accept that I was one year older and still do not feel that I am any closer to what I desire so much: a husband and a family of my own. Yet at the same time it was such a wonderful celebration!!

On my actual birthday, I went out to dinner with some of my closest friends and my sister Karoline. We had a fun dinner at Outback (one of my favorite restaurants!!) and then went back to Kar's apartment for cake and presents :-) Then on Friday on my way home to Greensboro, I stopped in Durham for birthday lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and a movie with some of my favorite work girls.

On Friday night my mom cooked an amazing dinner, all my 'in town' siblings came as well as my best friend Maegan and her two little boys and her parents. She was in town from Virginia Beach which was awesome!!! It was a fun and very relaxing time at home with no where to be and nothing to do except hang out. And of course getting some kisses and cuddles from my niece and nephews were just an added bonus :-)

One of the best parts of the weekend was on Saturday afternoon when my sister Erin, her husband Michael and their little boy Riley came over after the NC State game. When they came in Michael was holding Riley and I kept wondering why he had a Carolina blue t-shirt on when they had been at a State game. But when he put Riley down I was able to read the shirt and it said "I'm a big brother". It took a few minutes but I looked at Erin and she started squealing that they had finally gotten their adoption referral after a long 20 months of waiting. And to add even more surprise the new baby is a girl!!! Another niece!!! I can't wait. She is six months old and should be here in just a couple of short months from Korea!!!

Baby Shower

me and the mommy-to-be

Last weekend I went to a baby shower for a sweet girl I work with at Duke, Courtney. This is her first baby and she is having a girl so everything was pink and flowers, adorable!!! The baby shower was a lunch party at Maggiano's at Southpointe. It has been a long time since I ate there and man had I forgotten how good the food was!! It was amazing and the service was fantastic!! There was about 10 of us and we all work together so it was fun to get together outside of work. Amanda brought the twins and our friend Sarah brought her new baby Kellen so we there was lots of oohing and aahing over the sweet little ones :-)

A Visit with the Twins

After the craziness of the holidays I was finally able to get together with Amanda and get to cuddle her sweet babies Ainsley and Carson. She packed up the babies and picked me up and we headed to the mall for a wonderful lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. After lunch we strolled around the mall and hit the sales at Gymboree and Bath and Body Works. Then we headed back to my house. It was so fun to hang out and catch up and play with the babies. I was so amazed at how good they were!! They slept all through lunch and shopping without making a peep. What a fun day off :-)

Pulling a 24

Yesterday started like most days when I have to work. Alarm clock goes off at 4:50am, I hit snooze 2-3 times and then slowly drag myself out of bed to get ready. It was a good day at work not too slow, not too crazy just a nice steady work day and I got out a few minutes early. Then I headed to Blue Heaven (aka Chapel Hill) to see my boys take on the College of Charleston Cougars. It was a great game!! We scored over 100 points, had some great shots and even the scrubs got in and scored some points. It was so fun to be back there!! I realized it has been a couple of years since I have been to a game and driving through Chapel Hill always brings back memories of living there and being in nursing school. It was a 9:00 game so I didn't get home until almost midnight (at this point I had been up for 19hrs). When I got home I saw that my roommate Stephanie was still up so I went into her room to talk to her. She told me about her bad day of getting sick at work, going to urgent care, etc and as she was talking to me her pain came back and off we headed to the ER (after running 3 red lights to get there as fast as possible:-) Luckily not much was going on there so we got in pretty quickly and there was a recliner in her curtain area I could lay in. A few tests, some pain meds, an ultrasound and 5 hours later we were headed home. When we got home I remembered why I no longer work night shift and that I am too old to stay up all night!! :-)
the boys in blue warming upTyler Hansbrough shooting free throws

Happy New Year

the Christmas Tree pre-present opening at my parents' house :-)

me and my sweet neice Laila on Christmas morning

our whole family at Broadway at the Beach

Laila and her new bear 'Cassie' at build-a -bear

me and my littlest sister Meghan after a yummy dinner in Calabash NC

all the Grant girls in our matching pj pants that my mom put in our stockings...love them!!

A New Year, a New Post :-) I can't believe how fast the end of the year went!! It has been awhile since I posted anything and hopefully with a new year I'll be a little bit more on top of my blogging...hopefully!!

December is always a busy month, but the Christmas season always makes me reflect on where I am in life and my relationship with the Lord and what is truly important. There were multiple parties and events and some christmas light viewings which are always fun..heehee. But the best part of the whole season was having a whole week to be with my family. I drove home on Christmas Eve night and we had a huge dinner at my sister's in-laws house. The food was delicious and getting to see all the grandchildren playing together was so fun. Christmas morning is always crazy because there are sooo many gifts and everyone takes turns opening gifts which makes it much more special, but also can take hours to open all the gifts :-) Christmas afternoon, my parents, my brother and sisters that still live at home, myself and Karoline went to High School Musical 3. It was cute but VERY cheesy, however the best part was when we came out and my mom asked my brother John how he liked the movie and he said that he now knew that heaven really existed because he had just been in hell..hilarious!!!

On Saturday we all headed down to Myrtle Beach for our annual Grant family post-christmas vacation. Everyone was able to come even my sister Meredith flew in from Seattle to spend christmas and go to the beach. This year my sister Erin and my sister-in-law Jenna found a new place for us to stay and it was AMAZING!! It was an 8 bedroom, 7 bathroom, 3 story 'condo'. All of us were able to stay in the same place, have plenty of room to sleep and enough bathrooms that it didnt' take hours for everyone to get ready, and there were even extra beds with no one sleeping in them. We LOVED it!! And it was close to everything we love to do when we are down there. We outlet shopped ourselves to death, drove up to Calabash NC one night for seafood, trolled around Broadway at the Beach, watched ALOT of football, and played board games every chance we got. But most of all we just got to hang out and spend time together and love on one another. My cousin Allison and her boyfriend Tom stayed one night on their way back to Baltimore from Florida.

Several months ago when I was thinking about the end of one year and the beginning of another I was really dreading it. It meant another year of getting older and still not being married or even close and I was content to kind of wallow in that dread. But over the last couple of weeks I have really been thinking and praying about where I am and what the Lord has for me over this next year. And even if what I want for myself may not happen this year, what He has for me over the next year is what is best for me and I am really excited about it!! Who knows what will take place and where He will take me and that thrills me. So I have decided not to make any new year's resolutions but to resolve to know Him and love Him more and bring His name glory in all that I do!!

Outrageous October!!

Well I guess its about time to update the blog...it has been awhile!!! October was a whirlwind month but was alot of fun!! The first weekend of the month I had to work and get my weekend shifts out of the way for the rest of the month. The next weekend I threw a baby shower for my good friend Amanda who was pregnant with twins :-) It was for our work friends and we had a great time!! There was a good turnout and instead of shower games (which I HATE) we decorated cloth diapers and onesies with stencils and puffy paint. It was soo much fun and they all turned out super cute!!

The next weekend was wedding #1 for the month of October. My friends Becca and Jason got married at our church and then had a fantastic reception at the Brownstone Hotel in downtown Raleigh. It was such a beautiful wedding and all who attended kept saying how every detail was so 'them'. The reception was a blast with great food and lots of fun dancing. The funniest part was them walking back down the isle to Stephen Curtis Chapman's song "The Great Adventure".

Wedding #2 was the next weekend in Greensboro!! My cousin Kristin got married and I had the privilege of doing the scripture reading in the wedding. My nephew Riley was the ringbearer and he was absolutely adorable!! We weren't sure if he was going to make it down the isle because at the rehearsal he was acting extremely shy, but on the day he made it!! It was a very relaxing weekend and we got to spend some real quality time as a family. And of course I got to catch up on my baby lovin' with my new neice Laila at my nephew Mason's 2nd Birthday party on sunday afternoon. There was even a family game of kickball...hilarious!!

It amazes me how fast time goes by...I can hardly believe we are almost halfway through November!! Christmas is right around the corner...whew!! But with Thanksgiving coming, I am starting to think about all that I have to be thankful for. God has truly blessed me and I don't thank Him nearly often enough. With the way our economy is I am definitely thankful to have a job and a house and I can pay my bills. I pray that I will be continually thankful and not take these things for granted.

PS-Amanda's babies, Ainsley and Carson, were born the last day of October!! They are sooo precious!! I got to meet them both this week :-)