After much anticipation, our Christmas events......

I think I'm going to do this in 2 sections....pre-Christmas, and Christmas ski trip. We've just had so much fun lately and it's all captured in photos, I can't leave anything out! I will spare you though, and try to just pick 1-2 pics per event :). Caleb will vouch, I take about 10+ pics of everything!

The week before Christmas was filled with fun parties:

-Community group Christmas party/white elephant exchange. Here's Jacob with the coveted white elephant gift from Caleb--a box of disc golf discs! This group is such a blessing to us.

Caleb's Work Party:

Here we are with Brent and Erin. This was a fun party, but not as "swank" as last year's. It was at the Old Red Courthouse. We attempted to take our Christmas card picture with Caleb as the judge and me sitting in his lap, but I don't think anyone would have known what this was :):

Bible Study Christmas Party/Ornament/White Elephant Exchange:

I must admit, I FORGOT my camera at this party! So, I stole this pic from Shannon. But, these girls are my rock in the middle of the week. We laugh, cry, share, and grow together. I learn so much from each of them! Some are becoming Mommies....little Noah Wilson was born just yesterday (the baby showr pic from October). Congratulations Jocelyn and Ricky!

Note: I guess I'm wearing a lot of grey this season, but it's not the same shirt :). One's actually a dress with tights....yes, me, attempting a trend!

Shopping with Nana:

Okay, I've got to work on the arm stretched out pic. And, I think I'm trying too hard not to blink. But, this is a tradition that I wanted to include in the blog. Since I can remember, Nana takes me out for a day of shopping. She may be 76, but she can definitely out-shop me anyday! Here we are taking a break (that I needed!) for cookies :). I love that Nana only lives 2 hours away now (moved from GA this summer). Thanks, Nana, for all the goodies and more for the memories!

Roommate reunion:

Man, I love these girls. We manage to get together about once a year for a reunion. Kate had just gotten back from spending 3-4 mos in Africa 2 days before this and still has her African hair that was AWESOME! You can't tell so much by this pic. It's awesome how the Lord brought us all together 6 years ago and how similar our life was then....and how different our lives are now. All in good ways. 3/4 of us are in the metroplex, but I don't think we'll ever pull Lindie here. Texas maybe?! 2128 for LIFE! Haha...

ROSCOE!!

We drove out to Roscoe the Friday before Christmas to have "Christmas" with the Ratliff fam. We met some friends from law school in Abilene for dinner, and it was great to catch up. No pic...sorry! So, Saturday morning, we took Caleb on a tour of some of my favorite Sweetwater/Roscoe memories. We piled 6 of us in an Oldsmobile (I was in the front middle, yes!), and were off...

1) Doris's Sweet Shop....where it's Jesus' birthday all year long! I have such great memories of this place. For YEARS growing up, my Dad would pull me in the red wagon from our house to Doris's every Saturday morning to get donuts. We wouldn't miss a Saturday we were in town. I remember one Saturday it was icy/snowy, so we attempted to make homemade donuts....but, other than that, it was Doris's. And it was wonderful. Here the 6 of us are eating the best donuts known to man: (sorry it's so dark, no flash!)

We then took him out to Lake Sweetwater, to the boat dock and to the lakehouse. No pics of these, we just drove by...too cold out! Then, off to see the windfarms:

It was sooo windy! But, Caleb and Grandaddy went to take a pic by them. I even layed down on the ground and couldn't get a pic of them and the turbines--they are huge!

Connie, Ali, Al, and Stephen joined us later in the day. We opened presents, ate a LOT, and watched football. Here are Ali and Caleb hanging out on the couch:

Then, Amanda and Kylie came over for a while after a wedding. Amanda went to the reception, but left Kylie with us....she is the cutest little girl ever! Amanda is a great Mom, and I don't get to see them enough :(.

Okay, so that was pre-Christmas. Chels, I will get to ski trip in the next day, I promise! There's just so much to include on that blog, I don't want to miss any of it b/c of tired of blogging :). How sad am I?!

Ultimate peeps....hmmm....

Okay, so one of the main reasons for this blog (other than your personal enjoyment!) is so that I can journal our daily life so that I can look back on memories that I probably would have otherwise forgotten. So, here's an email I received yesterday from a guy that I haven't met that is on my ultimate team. It was halfway between a creepy and "I'm honored" email. Not sure which. I'll show my email that he replied to as well, for context:

My email:

Hey Team!

I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm not a flake, even though I'm missing the first 2 weeks! I ran a race last weekend that ran late, and I am graduating at noon tomorrow. So, those are my excuses. I will definitely be out there the next week and am looking forward to it!

Julie Wood

His reply:
Julie,What sort of lame swill are you trying to foist over on us?.....Planning and finishing out a race on OUR IMPORTANT OPENING DAY (of practice games).... when were in desperate need of SOMEONE to make some plays during our 2nd game when we were being dinked and hucked to death by the evil heavily impossibly stacked Hot-Tub-Partyer-ers. Our women were giving it everything they had (well not exactly everything...) with Lauren laying out twice in the endzone, making the grab (but, alas....out-of-bounds) ending up a bloody-but-defiant-mess (well she really was bleeding a little from the knees).....well I guess this harague is going on a little long, so we'll switch gears.WE CAN'T BELIEVE you hung us out to dry again a 2nd weekend in a row.....No foot massage and back-rub for you.By the way guys, sorry I missed this past weekend too; I had a REAL excuse, since I was attending my daughter's college graduation ceremonies at noon.Oh, and Julie.....CONGRATULATIONS for obtaining your MASTER OF SCIENCE IN COMMUNICATION DISORDERSfrom University of Texas at Dallas (one of the best universities in Texas)this weekend.I have a few pictures of you in your cap and gown regalia; I'll see if I can remember to bring them this weekend.

So, the fact that he remembered my name and took pics, even though I don't know him.....is this creepy? or honorable? hmm.....

Julie Wood, MS, CFY-SLP

That's right, folks! In a matter of about 20 hours, I managed to GRADUATE and GET A JOB! The Lord's time really is perfect.

I got 2 job offers--one from Baylor in Grapevine doing outpatient therapy, and one at Children's in Dallas doing inpatient. After a lot of praying, journaling, emailing, and conversations, I formally accepted the job with Children's Medical Center. I will begin work on January 8th :). So, blog friends, enjoy another month of many blogs as I relax this month!

Here Stephen took us out to celebrate the new job/graduation at Texas Land and Cattle Co:

Graduation:

Video Time!

I've experimented with the video feature of our camera and would like to share my talents with you, blogworld. Haha. Okay, seriously, can you tell that I'm at home this week with not a lot to do?! So....here it is:

Here is little Hudson, about 28 hours old. How can you watch this and not praise the Lord?! I could sit for hours and just watch his little movements and noises, and continue to be in awe of the Lord that I serve.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" -Psalm 139: 13-16

What a weekend!

We had a VERY busy weekend this weekend. It was great timing for the digital camera, as I captured most of the weekend! Here's our weekend in pictures:

Saturday morning:
Being the athletes that we are...I was off to Arlington to run my first 10k with Chelsea while Caleb headed to Denton to play in an ultimate tournament. No gametime pictures were taken of Caleb (must read below to find out why!), but I took this pic when he got home. Interesting note: I came in a (very distant!) 2nd in my age group (there were only 6!) while Caleb's team came in 2nd in the tournament. I also won a pedicure/manicure for my time according to Caleb's prize list (to motivate me, Caleb made me a list of prizes based on my 10k time...yes, kinda like "Jump rope for Heart" in elementary school. It was great!).

Saturday night: Game night with community group. Shannon and Sterling didn't even realize that they had won when they did! Here's a picture of them after they realized they won. It was an intense game of Settlers as you can see in the 2nd pic. Also, Shannon's helping me get Caleb more cultured by partaking in traditional American holiday foods/drinks. Caleb tried and enjoyed his FIRST glass of eggnog. Thanks Shannon! I still can't get him to eat pumpkin bread/cake/pie :).

Sunday morning:
Caleb was off to play ultimate again and I was driving up to watch him/take "action" shots when the phone rang....Emily was in labor! So, I went to Royse City to watch Hayden and Harrison so Caleb's parents could go to the hospital. Here Hayden drew a picture of his Mommy having a baby:


Here are Hayden and Harrison playing as we waited for the call to come down to the hospital to see their new baby brother!


At 4:19 p.m., Hudson Taylor Hays arrived into this world weighing 9 lbs and 21 1/2 inches. Here's the proud new family:
And here's Aunt Julie and Uncle Caleb with their first times with Hudson (he wasn't even an hour old!). Note: Everyone else is dressed up b/c they were planning on going to church that morning. I was in my track suit planning on going to an ultimate tournament (Caleb went home and changed)


It was a tiring, but extremely memorable weekend! More pictures (with video) on the way! Get excited! And...another big announcement. Just so much to blog about!

Following Doctor's Orders!

Since my last post just a couple of days ago, my hand got bluer for longer periods of time. To make a long story short, the past 2 days have been filled with doctor visits, multiple phone calls, and tests.....which all show that I'm a healthy person and there's no major reason for my blue hand. So, here I sit with a hand that looks dead, but feels normal. Creepy, but grateful. No major problems, so my doctor's orders were to "keep living your life like normal and try not to let the blue hand get in the way of life". So, peeps, that's what I'm doing. In a weird, creepy way, I kinda like to show it off, so if you ever see me, feel free to check it out :).

So, following dr's orders, here's a glimpse in a few pictures (testing out the new camera!) of "life" in apt 185 tonight:

1) 3 quick games of ticket to ride (Julie was talented and managed to get the new all time low score and high score in back to back games (10 and 160)

2) Caleb watching the Cowboys/Packers game:

3) You can't really tell by this pic, but the right hand is the blue one.

We're black and blue

We tried to take pictures of our current ailments, but they just didn't do justice. Caleb has been sporting a black eye for about a week now. He has tried to come up with a great reason, but always ends up telling the truth--" I got beat up by his 3 year old nephew". We had a great time with Caleb's family over Thanksgiving, but Caleb got Hayden a little too wound up wrestling, and he head butted him right below his eye. It's slowly fading, but he continues to get questions daily.

As far as my "ailment"....I have this weird blue hand thing going on. My right hand randomly turns blue. It's actually blue as I'm typing this now. I went to the dr today and did some blood work, but he doesn't think it's anything to worry about. It's just freaky looking...but, I guess it's all good and I'll just have a blue hand at random times throughout the day. Too bad I can't induce it, or it could be my special talent. Still working on finding that special talent Caleb!

I pick up our digital camera tomorrow so get ready, blogworld, for photos galore of our daily life. Probably boring, but I will capture it as it is now.....I mean, hopefully these are our last few months living "the good life" in Uptown. Then we'll really be getting old with a house, and babies...woa, I'm getting WAY too ahead of myself. I just want to capture our life now. Hence, the reason for the blog. And for your personal enjoyment, whoever you are reading this.

10K this weekend with Chels! My winter league ultimate also starts, but we'll see if I play. I mean, I know I'm pure athlete, but I don't know how much endurance I'll have after a 6.2 mile run :). Caleb is playing in a tournament in Denton with his club team, so it will be a weekend 'o ultimate for us.

Hudson has still not arrived :(. I can't wait to meet that little guy! We had a false alarm last night...I went over and kept the boys while Emily went to the hospital. Her contractions stopped and they sent her home. Definitely by this time next week he will be here, as they'll induce next Tuesday. As long as he's after Nov. 30, Caleb is the winner of the pool. Speaking of winners, I must admit he's beating me 13-10 in Ticket to Ride. Dang. It's still early in the game.

School is out and I'm loving it :). Now just on to the job search....

November 20th

I have been looking forward to "November 20th" for months now. Today marks the day that I am done. Done with classes. Done with my internship. Done with the Praxis (hopefully!). Done with my master's degree. Although I thought I would run out of my internship today filled with excitement, freedom, and relief, I was actually sentimentally sad. Saying goodbye to my supervisor, we both teared up a little. Writing Julie Wood, BS, Grad Student on my last progress note. Next time, it will be Julie Wood, MS. Great feeling, but at the same time, I really enjoyed my time in graduate school and am kinda sad for it to end. Today was also my day for Hudson to arrive in the family pool---nope, doctor says he needs to "cook" a little longer. Oh well, I understand even more how critical that wombtime (that's not a word!) is, so I'm glad for his health :).

Looking forward to Thanksgiving with Caleb's fam and being a baker and a cook for the next couple of days. Will update with pictures :).

Oh, babies!

And, no, this is not my way of announcing a pregnancy! Now, that would be dorky :).

My weekend consisted of:

Saturday: helping to host a baby shower for sweet Jocelyn, due with baby boy Wilson (announcing the name Thanksgiving!) in January

Saturday pm: dinner with our friends Brent, Erin, and their almost one year old (Thanksgiving day!) precious little Katie. Here is a picture of them when she was born.

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Sunday am: working in 15-19 mos old class at church (sorry, no picture...but mentally picture crying kids staring up at Caleb as he attempts to juggle 3 huge balls)

Sunday pm: attending my sweet sister-in-law, Emily's, baby shower--our newest nephew, Hudson, will be here any day now! Here are Hayden, Harrison, and our niece Sophia playing in the bathtub a couple of months ago. These cousins will have fun all being the same age....and babysitting our kids :). Hudson will be baby brother to Hayden (right) and Harrison (middle).

More and more of our "hang outs" recently have included babies! Crazy! Don't get me wrong...I am so happy for everyone else and love to love on other's babies, but we are so not ready for babies quite yet :). I'm still doing the job search thing and will hopefully work a couple of years before I am infected with the baby bug. Caleb is nowhere near ready either :). However, after our new nightly tradition of playing "ticket to ride", Caleb said tonight "this is why I want a big family, so we can play games". WHAT?! We shall see about that. There's a lot more to a big family than game nights, right? And....I'll keep you updated, but right now, I'm up 4-2. Caleb hates it :).

Caleb's mom also started a baby pool this week. Emily is due to have Hudson on Dec. 7th. Winner who picks closest gets $50. November 20th is my date :). Caleb, being the lawyer he is, waited until everyone else picked a date and took the "price is right" approach. We'll see what works.

Okay, boring post. Praxis (licensing) exam this Saturday and then I'm done with school FOREVER! I can't wait until Sunday, when I will never have to study again!

Thankful

It normally takes until the week of Thanksgiving before I reflect back on all the blessings in my life. Then I become selfish as we get into theChristmas season and somehow those blessings aren't "enough"--I want more and make my wish lists to hand out. Even though I have a few updates left from October (which I will get to!), the Lord has been showing me this week through my internship and Bible study how blessed I am. Being at the hospital gives such perspective. This week alone my caseload includes two 19 month old babies with malignant brain tumors, one 17 yo girl in coma who a couple of weeks ago was dancing on the football field as captain of the drill team, another 16 yo girl who was head cheerleader and now is trached and can't eat or talk, one 8 mos old baby boy who has never left the hospital, and multiple kids that have such severe behavioral and sensory feeding disorders that they are getting permanent tubes. One patient died yesterday. And that's just this week. Wow, so when I'm complaining about being stressed because I have the Praxis next week and baby shower stuff to do and laundry to fold....the Lord totally overwhelms me and gives me perspective. All this to say, I am so blessed. I am thankful that I am healthy, Caleb is healthy, and our family is healthy. I know that a time is coming when someone will get sick, and I pray that I can say "blessed be the name of the Lord", He gives and takes away. I'm at a period right now where He is giving and giving and my sin stares me in the face when I think it's not enough.

On a lighter note....

Oct 26 Caleb had his "golden birthday". The big 26! Yes, of course I got him a gift again that I returned the next week. Tradition continues. We went to a haunted house---after that experience we both decided I will never go to one again. Picture this: Caleb wearing a black jacket, draped over my head, with my head in his armpit refusing to open my eyes. Miserable. I really did try to have a good attitude, those things really just freak me out though. His bday continued through the weekend.....3 hours of disc golf on Saturday, watching the UT/Nebraska game, and then back to reality on Sunday.

Oct 31: Best Halloween party EVER! We went to our our friends Heather and Read's house for their annual "Halloween in the Hood" party. The rule to come was to bring a bag of candy---they had over 2000 trick or treaters! I didn't put in an extra zero--seriously TWO THOUSAND! CRAZY! So, we took turns handing out candy and hanging out with friends on the porch with great food and drinks! Here's our picture: Caleb was a UT football player (yes, since so many have been to jail in the past few months) and I was lame...I came from work, so I was a "nurse"