Days 24, 25, and 26



Day 24: Shopping

I have my days when I love to shop and my days when I don't like shopping at all! A large part of it is my arthritis and how easy it is for me to get tired after a while. Here are my favorite places to shop at when I am in the mood!

Day 25: Shuffle

For today, we are supposed to put our Ipod, in my case my Iphone, on shuffle and list the first 10 songs. This should be interesting since I have a lot of my hubby's music and I have changed my Itunes over the last 10 or so years so here goes!

1. Sold (The Grundy County Auction)-John Michael Montgomery

2. Fox On The Run (from Dazed and Confused)- Sweet (HUBBY)

3. You Walked In- Lonestar

4. Here For A Good Time- George Strait :)

5. Playing With the Boys- Kenny Loggins (HUBBY)

6. Don't Ask Me About A Woman- Easton Corbin

7. Hearts Are Breaking Across Texas- Aaron Watson

8. A Lot To Learn About Livin'- Easton Corbin

9. Watch The Wind Blow By- Tim McGraw

10. Baby's Gotten Good At Goodbye- George Strait

I'm actually really surprised Rascal Flatts didn't come up since I have every single song and CD of theirs on my Iphone but I guess that's why they call it shuffle! :)

Day 26: Best Concert

My favorite concert is pretty much any of the five Rascal Flatts concerts that I've been to! The best one was probably the one my sister and I went to at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion, but I unfortunately didn't take any pictures. I do have a picture of my sister and I that I took when we were getting ready for them to come on aat the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. We are pretty much there every year that they come to the Houston Rodeo!

Sorry I know it's blurry since all I had was my phone, but you get the idea :)

Wish me luck tomorrow!!! I have a second interview at 2:15 for that church job that I was telling you about! I really have  good feeling about it so I hope I'm right!!!

Days 16, 17, 18, and 19

Man I really did not think I would get this far behind but I did. We had a very busy weekend! First, Quade coming home Friday night which is so wonderful having him back!!! Saturday, his brother came to stay with us as well as my old roommate and her boyfriend so we could all go to the A&M football game together. WE WON which made it even more awesome! Sunday, we spent most of the day just relaxing and watched X Men: First Class which was really pretty good. Today, I am very late in posting because.....I may have a job hopefully!!!!!!!! What's so wonderful is that it's at the church that the hubby and I have been visiting and just the idea of being able to serve God in the church while making a living just excites me. The interview went very well this morning I thought and his words were "He was very impressed" and "I set the bar very high!" since I was the first one interviewed. So please prayers are very much appreciated!! :)

Now on to Katie's 30 day challenge..

Day 16: 5 Blogs

1. According to Christa



2. Everything Happens For a Reason

 3. Katie's Journey


4. Life With The Edwards

5. Ashley's Carnival Ride

Day 17: Regrets
I don't like to use the word "regret" for anything honestly but there are lessons I have learned from making certain decisions. I do wish that I would have gotten more involved while I was going to A&M. I would always take the first step and go to the open house and talk to a few groups, but my problem was following through. I wanted whatever time I wasn't studying to be able to devote to being with Quade. The reason I don't regret it too much....duh he's my husband now! :)

I wish I would have gotten up earlier in the morning when I was living at home to have coffee with my mom and dad. When Quade was out of town and I was staying with my family, I did not take this for granted and I am so glad I didn't. Even though I don't like to think of it this way, one day when they are gone to heaven, I will cherish those moments more than anything!

Day 18: Something You Miss

There are days I miss being down the hallway from my sister. I know that she is just a phone call away, and I am grateful for that, but it's not the same as being in the same room with her. I am so very happy to be married and to wake up next to my hubby every day...I would not ever want to change that! I just know that I need to remind my sister that I do cherish all the many memories we have shared talking in each other's bedrooms or even simply enjoying the silence in the same room.

Day 19: Nicknames

I really only have one nickname that either my dad or Quade calls me. Quade loves to call me Mikey Renee which bugs me to no end! Mainly because I was teased by the nickname Mikey in elementary school. :( I try not to let it get to me because I know he isn't doing it to hurt me, but out of adoration. That's exactly what he called me when he proposed, "Mikey Renee, will you marry me?" I guess I gotta let it go sometime. My dad will just call me Mikey, but it's different coming from him since his name is Mike and he likes that I'm named after him.

Days 13, 14, and 15

First of all, thank you to those for your kind words and prayers after my last post!! I am in a much better place now and a lot of it had to do with you and my prayer group at church last night. It's amazing how God can transform our minds through prayer, His word, and the people He brings into our path when we need them most. :)

 

Day 13: Quotes and Verses

 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.   
James 1:2-4

This is my favorite verse in the Bible, because it applies so much to my life. I know trials are going to happen no matter what, but the way we react to those trials makes our rewards in heaven even greater. I have to remind myself of this every day.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6

Serenity Prayer
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will; 
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
A men.

 Day 14: I am looking forward to...

1. My hubby finally coming home tomorrow night!!

2. Prayerfully hearing that my sister passes her court reporting state board exam Saturday morning!

3. Going to the Texas Aggies vs. Idaho Vandals game Saturday night with our friends and my brother-in-law who's coming to visit.

4. Hopefully getting an interview for a couple possible jobs that have come up *fingers crossed*

Day 15: New Bloggers

1. Don't be afraid to be yourself or to talk about your real feelings! I am so glad that I've always been honest about who I am and how I'm feeling. I may not have a lot of followers, but that's OK because I know the ones that do are the ones who really care. :)

2. Have fun doing it! I have always enjoyed blogging and being able to talk about whatever I want to talk about. It'll be why you come back to read it again and again when you're older too. 

3. Link up with other blogs! I love doing these blog hops especially and also the weekly link ups such as What I'm Loving Wednesdays and Thoughtless Thursdays.  

Days 4 and 5: Family and Happy Picture

I was really hoping I would not get behind in Katie's 30 day challenge but my reasoning kind of fits into Day 5's topic!

First, I'll catch up with Day 4

Family

I've already talked some about my family, but I'll be more detailed today. I consider myself so very blessed to have such a close and God-centered family! My parents are the salt of the earth!! My dad has been a wonderful provider all my life with our family business, M&C Equipment. You can check out our family business website by clicking here. We've been in successful business for over 20 years and the company is actually named after my sister and I..."M" for Michal and "C" for Courtney so I was always kind of proud of that and still am. :)

My mom has always stayed home with my sister and I. She actually helped homeschool us through junior high and high school. My mom and I have been especially close over the years and I know I can go to her about almost anything! Most of my friends see me my mom in me more than my dad and I take that as a great compliment, because she is extremely compassionate, strong in her walk with the Lord, and very beautiful!!

My sister is my very best friend in the entire world! She is exactly one year and 11 days younger than me so we have always been exceptionally close. I already shared the link with you on Day 1 about the heart and double lung transplant she had last year on July 22nd and I am so grateful that she is doing so wonderful today and making great steps in the next chapter in her amazing life. She will for ever be my heart's confidant and role model in her strength and determination.

Now, I told you at the beginning of this post that why I got a day behind had to do with today's topic and here's why...

Meet the newest member of my little newlywed family, ROWDY!! Quade and I have just fallen head over heels for this little Shih Tzu and we just got him yesterday! Quade has promised me since before our wedding that his present to me some day would be a fuzzy, adorable puppy that I have been wanting and he full-heartily kept his promise!! He was born on 4th of July so as of yesterday he is 2 months old. We thought we should have given him a patriotic name, but we both wanted an Aggie name more. We thought long and hard before we came up with Rowdy because fans of Aggie basketball are called "Reed Rowdies" and my family is hardcore Aggie women's basketball fans (they were national champions last year...WHOOP!!) We just liked how Rowdy Reed sounded better than Reed Rowdy. :)   

Have a wonderful Labor Day!!
     

Day 2: About the Blog!

This is only the second day of Katie's 30 day challenge and I am so excited already about how day one went!!

Day 2 is all about YOUR blog!

What is the meaning behind your blog name?

I didn't put a lot of thought into my blog name when I created it. I just wanted it be about my thoughts and life moments so I thought the name fit.

How long have you been blogging for? What made you start blogging?

I've been blogging just over 2 1/2 years. I was going to Texas A&M and I had met my good friend Christa (see her blog here) who had started blogging first. It was because of her I started blogging too and even though I haven't always been consistent, I've loved having something to put my thoughts on so I can look back one day.

What are your favorite things to blog about?

I love to blog about my hubby, my family, and my struggles. I know when I am older, the posts I will look back on the most are the ones during the time my sister was in the hospital for her heart and double lung transplant and my surgeries. Even just over a year later, I am proud of the strength that God has given my sister and I through our trials and it's just growing more and more.

What is the one tip that you would give a new blogger?

Be completely honest about who you are. I don't mean put a lot of personal information on here. I mean be true about what is important to you. I used to think I had to write about the kind of stuff that would attract readers to my blog, but I'm more proud of writing what is special to me. It makes me feel good and that's what counts. :)

See everyone on Day 3!!

Day 1: Introduce Yourself

Over the next 30 days I'll be linking up with Katie's Journey for her blog hop and I hope you'll join me!!

Today is Introduce Yourself so here goes...

Howdy, I'm Michal! I'm a 24 year old Texas girl and would not want to live anywhere else. I got married this year on June 11th to the love of my life, Quade, and I absolutely love being a wife!! I can't wait to tell you more about him later on Day 10. :) I graduated last year from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor in Science and I'm 100% Aggie proud since the day I was born.

Even though I love my husband very much, the first love in my life is my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, and without Him my life would be completely meaningless. I have one younger sister, Courtney, and the best mom and dad anyone could ask for. My family has always been unbelieveably close and I feel blessed for that every single day. My sister had a heart and double lung transplant last year on July 22nd and has been doing wonderful ever since. You can read more about that here.

When I was 12 months old, I was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis (JRA). It has given me several bumps in the road in my life, but through my faith in Jesus and the support of my family and friends it is tolerable. I have had a right and left knee replacements and a right ankle replacement all in the last couple years and it's been a great help. 

  Right now my life is pretty much dedicated to trying to be the best wife that I can, looking for a job, and living every day according to God's will.

I'm excited about the rest of the 30 day challenge and hope to get to know more of you through doing it!

"Thoughtless Thursday" Dedication

Link up at Katie's blog!

This post is dedicated to my sister, Courtney, who one year ago yesterday was admitted into St. Lukes Hospital for what we thought would be a few days instead turned into a 6 1/2 months stay. Now, she is home and doing wonderful with her brand new heart and two lungs!! You can read the whole story here!

I love you, Courtney!!!

Aggie Graduation and Ready For Surgery!!

Well this is definitely overdue, but I had to do it.....I am an official graduate of Texas A&M University!!! On August 13th at 7:30 AM my parents proudly took me to the Association of Former Students where I finally got my Fightin' Texas Aggie Ring!! Graduation began at 9:00 and it was wonderful!! :) My future in laws were able to come since my fiance' wouldn't have missed it for the world. I thought it was sweet and funny that my his mom wanted to be there since she figured no one else in the family would ever graduate from there again! :D Prideful moment for me I have to say! They were able to get a lot more pictures that I have not gotten back yet, but I hope to soon. After graduation we went back over to the Association for pictures under the ring replica.

Proudly holding my diploma

Me, Mom, and Dad..wishing my sister were in this picture with us! :(

Love my new Calvin Klein dress!!

Me and Quade

Me, Quade, and Quade's parents, Ken and Mary

After we finished taking pictures I was craving Mexican food and since moving home I have greatly missed Los Cucos so that's where we went. Quade's parents had never been and they loved it!

This was after I got caught admiring my Aggie Ring and everyone laughed at me

My dad gave me a gorgeous frame for my diploma that I could not wait to put in as soon as I got home! I had to show off my ring to my sister first who was so excited for me then I did exactly that.

Tomorrow is another big day for me...the day I get my right knee replacement! I have been off a lot of my meds in preparation for the surgery so I've been in a lot of pain. Some of my meds can thin my blood and cause me to bleed to death and other meds I had to stop increase my risk of infection so all good things to stop but not pleasant. I've been very doped up on Vicodin and Norco...Norco is a higher dosage of Vicodin so I've been on a emotional roller coaster! I feel bad for what Quade has had to put up with and my family. I will be in the hospital probably til Friday and hopefully can give updates from there!

My sister, Courtney, has been happily enjoying being home again and I have been so happy to have her home again!! Last night we watched "The Back Up Plan" together and last week we spent almost 2 full days watching 2 seasons of Mad Men! I'm looking forward to having a recovery partner next to me once I'm home again this weekend. She is continuing to recover so well and every time we have gone to the hospital for a check up they have been very positive reports! Thank you for all of you who have prayed, inquired, or given any support at all!!

Have a GREAT week!!!

A LONG Awaited Answered Prayer!!

Greetings from St. Luke's Hospital!! I can proudly say as of Thursday afternoon my sister received her transplant for a heart and both lungs!! Everything began right before 5:00 PM on Wednesday afternoon when my sister called me on the phone saying they had asked her to stop eating. We were always told this was the first sign to look for when a donor was possible. The next thing that happened was her cardiologist coming into her room saying that there was a possible donor in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is 1100 miles away from us which was out of our range meaning if anyone else needed a heart or the lungs they came first. There was 1 person ahead of her that if they matched they got it. First we were told we would know about 6:00 or 6:30. This later turned into more like 8:00 PM we will know. At 8:00 PM I called and my sister still didn't know, but that there was still hope. At 9:45 PM she called and my mom answered and Courtney said "THEY'RE MINE!!!!!" I immediately started jumping up and down, called friends to tell them, and got on Facebook to write everyone in the group that was created for my sister "Praying for the Guthrie Family." After that my mom, fiance' Quade, and I hit the road! We got there very quickly since it was 11:45 at night; however, it turned into a long night. We first were told the surgery would be between 2 and 4 AM then around 4 AM then between 5 and 6 AM....on and on because of issues with blood typing the potential donor. After a couple of hours of hearing very little, finally at 8:45 we were really told they were ours and would be leaving Albuquerque soon. Finally, at 9:30 they wheeled her into surgery after a very emotional goodbye. I figured the time waiting would just crawl on, but after such a long night of already waiting I was happy this wasn't true! Every half hour the organ coordinator that had become very close to Courtney came and gave us an update. The organs arrived between 12:00 and 12:30 and they were sewing her back up at 2:00 and she didn't even need the pump to keep the organs going anymore. The surgeon came out about 3:30 and said how great everything went, how fast it was, and almost immediately her heart and oxygen levels were where they always should have been! Even though she was still out, we got to see her at 5:00 and she was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen!!!!! Full rosy cheeks, the pinkest fingernails that were no longer blue/purple, and breathing the way she always should have been!!

Now, it is Monday afternoon, 4 days after surgery and she is hopefully going to be moving to a new room by the end of the day! We've only been allowed to see her 3 times a day for 30 minutes each from 10:00- 10:30 AM, 5:00 - 5:30 PM, and 8:15-8:45 PM. If she moves to her new room on the 8th floor, we will get to see her as much as we want! The first few days she was out of it. Just yesterday we asked her how long it felt since the surgery and she thought it was just the day before when it had been 3 days! She still gets sleepy understandably after what she's been through!! She's had some hallucinations from the medicine but only candy bars so we're taking that as a good thing lol! She still cannot eat or drink anything. Yesterday they started letting her chew some ice but very little since the risks for aspirating (puncturing) her lungs are still high but getting less high everyday. We've been blessed to have her do so well so far and have faith that God will continue to bless her recovery! Thank you for those I know who have prayed diligently for Courtney and I ask that you would continue so she can come home as soon as possible! Five and a half months is a long time and will turn into 6 before this is all over!