on call

sometimes being on call is such a drag. you are a prisoner to the stupid pager and phone. one little beep and you're off running. so here's how it works. i am on call for the weekend. so that means anytime from 6pm on friday until 730 monday morning, anytime someone has a heart attack or other catastrophic event, I (and 2 other staff members and the doctor) drive our little butts into St. Joes to "save the day" I know it sounds like i hate my job right now and i really dont. it is a very rewarding feeling to help people and see them walk out of the hospital A-OK, but sometimes it is so frustrating to get called in. Take this morning for example... I got called in at 630am, we worked until 915ish and i was headed home, excited to make it in time for church. I stopped home real quick. literally dragged Drew out of bed and snuck in during opening prayer. I felt "safe" since we were just at work, but it didnt even matter... 2 songs into worship my little tether went off, and i was busted trying to enjoy myself. Off to St. Joe's again. So to any of you that were graced with my presence for about 7 minutes at church this morning, "Hi, how are ya, how was christmas? mine was great, what are you doing for new years? we're going to Oxford, ok, see you next week and bye" sums up a few quick conversations i am sure i would have had.
Looking forward to uninterrupted, pagerless, phoneless, leashless church next week.

Welcome Landon

I would just like to take the time to properly introduce my newest nephew, Mr. Landon Robert Holt into the world.

December 26th 8.05am

7# 7oz. 21 inches.

Perfect in everyway!

pole vaulting days

here are a few more pics. i am embarrased to share, but this was buff Jen in her pole vaulting days (why am i typing in 3rd person?)

parents

just hanging out at my parents this morning (can i first mention that they have the NOSIEST keyboard ever) i cant believe i haven't woken everyone up with this first sentence. Last night Drew and I went over grandma and grandpa Garavaglia's with my parents and met my aunt and two uncles over there (no, they both aren't her husbands). We have this family tradition of driving around and looking at Christmas lights in the much too expensive areas surrounding our realistic homes. So 8 grown adults (i by far being the smallest of the gang) piled into the 7 passenger mini van, oh was that a sight to see! and we toured what seemed like the entire southeast Michigan area. We did find some beautiful homes, esp. in Rochester, but i think the coolest part was downtown Rochester and all the store fronts literally draped with LED lights. Very cool. Enjoy the pics above.

This morning it is 8.30am, no one is up and i cant sleep, i decided to snoop around on the computer and see what old pics i could come up with. here is what i found. First this was our wedding announcement in the good Ol' macomb daily- June 2005.

This is my sister Michelle and i with my Parents at their surprise 25th anniversary party that we threw. September 2005Drew and jen from good ol' Central days. Probably 2004 Track season. Actually this was the 2004 Indoor Mac Meet at Eastern. Drew came to surprise me!Right after my first marathon (i always say first as if i have done so many) and only (so far). Detroit 2006 4:12:40 That is such a fake look. It is amazing that i am still standing!

mac

Merry Christmas All!
I just wanted to spread the news that i have been anxiously awaiting for the past 16 days! Drew finally got to open his christmas gift this AM!!!! For those of you that have helped me along the journey (from advice, to hiding, to encouraging) THANKS! Drew loves his new Mac computer and i am sure i have lost his attention for quite awile. oh well! hope everyone is getting to spend time with family and friends...again, Merry Christmas!!!

hangover...

oh man, i feel like i have a never ending hangover.
is that possible with the intake of a single drop of alcohol?
anyone who has any anti-nausea/vomiting tips should speak up now!
the whole bland food, liquids only isnt cutting it right now.
anyone else want to fast fwd. to february?

vomit...blah!

ok, i am just being honest. this sucks

who wants to vomit, even if the end outcome will be so wonderful.

i am currently in a phase where i cant keep anything down.

in no particular order, plain eggs, plain toast, gatorade and pretzels, all hate me lately.

i dont think one could eat much more bland than that.

i am not a happy camper right now.

blah- that sums me up.

1.7

1.7 seconds left 85-85....how exciting, what will happen??? i will wait to finish this post until the guys are done watching the game. detroit v. boston!

update

dad holt's surgery went really well...all is great. thanks for thinking of him. Tomorrow is Holt Christmas!!! yeah! i guess that makes tonight christmas eve, how exciting
(who said christmas had to be on the 25th?)

lazy bum...

i am a lazy bum.
i must admit i feel guilt ridden as i have spent the entire day inside so far as many of my neighbors are working so hard to clear the massive amount of snow we got last night. according to the news we have gotten 9 inches so far.
it is so beautiful outside.
we are blessed with a neighbor who we share a driveway with that owns a snowblower! thus the reason i havent left the house. i did get off the couch a few times today, once to make a lasagna, not much action other than that.
alright, my couch misses me...

i am a baby sitter

haha, this is funny to me because i dont think i have ever baby sat in my life. dont tell amy and phil that (i know she will probably be the first to read this). i figured, how hard could it be, i am a medical professional for gosh sake. so when i spoke up and told her i would come over so her and her husband could go chrismas shopping or just go on a date, i thought no big deal. and boy was i right. Jackson is perfect, or at least a perfect sleeper. i am still awaiting his 930 cry, but its 916 already and things are looking good, not a peep from the little guy. I have already finished christmas cards, had dinner, read, checked email, even talked to Eva who tried calling me at the Amy's (but i was too chicken to answer the phone)...man, and even better than being at home, there is nothing to distract me. i might have to do this again. just not sure how long it will be before i fall asleep. oh no way, i just heard a little cry, maybe i jinxed myself...
ok baby jackson, back to sleep...

learning

friday 12.14.07 so this morning was the "worst" yet, but maybe i will get the hang of things.
1. eat more
2. dont work out like you arent pregnant
so the usual late day get to the gym early routine didnt work out so much this morning. I tried a yogurt before my ellipitcal/bike routine at the gym. I made it through elliptical. i thought i would cut back a bit and bike, but that is when the wave hit me. So for future reference i am going to try and eat a lot more before working out and see if that works out...

prayer heads-up

mark your calendar please (or iphone, blackberry, or whatever you use). Dad Holt (Drews dad) is having surgery on this Friday, 11am! He is having something removed from his vocal cords, which he had once and it has since returned. It is a fairly routine surgery, but the risks are great. If something went wrong it could damage his vocal cords and in turn his voice. For those that dont know him, he is a pastor of a church in Oxford, MI and we all know how pastors love to talk! His voice is his life. Please prayer for guidance for the ENT surgeon and strength for dad. Thanks!!!

feeling blah

Thursday 12/13/2007

I made the big announcement at small group last night, it was so nice to share it with so many that care so much. Today has just been an OK day, i am feeling tired and just kind of "blah" not really sick to my stomach, but just not myself, but thats OK, the more signs the better (within reason, am i allowed to be that picky?) i have a great feeling about the future of this wonderful life and cant wait to share it with more people, as for now, i am just going to relax and wrap some Christmas gifts!!!

Hoping tomorrow is a little bit better...

pics

LiveJournal Tags: We ran into Santa at the library,lucky us!

 

LiveJournal Tags: This is the whole Holt Family at the youngest brothers wedding this August

LiveJournal Tags: and of course,Drew and I

cells

12.10.2007

we are pregnant! this morning, i took a test, even though i promised myself i would wait until wednesday, but i just couldnt, so i just gave in. I got the little + i have been hoping for and have been excited all day. I obviously told Drew right away, and in his half asleep state, he acted really excited. He later told me that when he woke up we thought it was all a dream until he went in the bathroom and saw the box and realized it was all true. I told my best friend Kristin right away in the morning when i got to work and she was really excited but couldnt really express it (she didnt want to give away the secret). I also told 2 friends at work, because they have been with me along my little journey as of late and they were also really excited. So i am going to save these blogs for now, until it is "kosher" to tell people and then they can play catch up as to what i was thinking. so for now, no more diet soda, and lots of rest and good eating. My little cell sack has a lot of work to do. Thank you God! You are sooooo good!

tithe

call me a psycho blogger, but i figured it was a good thing for this lonely (not really) housewife to be doing and since i have some time, i will play some catch up. this has nothing to do with this entry, but i just need to get it off my chest. what is with the lions? why can they never pull it together? and why am i such a sucker and think they might actually pull something off? i get my hopes up, only to have another shattering...ouch, it is starting to hurt. Another random, i am so glad the pistons went back to red, white and blue, of course it is old news, but watching the game, i was just thinking how much better is was then teal and black. glad someone wised up.
ok, venting over, onto tithing...

it is funny that the topic came up at a friends house tonight, because it is something that Drew and i have been thinking and talking about lately and realized it was finally time to give back to God what was always his in the first place. it didnt seem like such a big deal when i used to "tithe" in college, i mean when you have no income, 10% percent of zero, is zero (i know, i am so good at math) so giving 5 bucks made you feel so good. well after that, we lost touch with a church and in turn didnt have a place to tithe. In the last year or so we have found a new church and have regularly started attending. A few weeks ago we visited a church for Thanksgiving and heard a message about living in this world, but not being OF this world, a small area was touched upon the discipline of giving and the blessings that will be given back to you. That was kind of a "eye opening" moment for us and we just kind of knew it was time to stop being selfish and give back what we should have been giving a long time ago. Honestly, it is So hard to give up that money, because when you think about the amount (now that we both are blessed with good jobs) and what else we could be doing with it, but that is just it, we are so blessed to even have jobs and we need to give back to share with others, to bless others that are doing incredible things to serve God. so we are not perfect, but we are giving it what we have, and i wish i could say that i love giving the money to the church and that i dont feel hesitant and that God is just showering us with blessings (although i know He is, just to be blessed with my incredible family and friends), but for now it is the act and we will continue to do it and pray that that part of our hearts will be chiseled into softness and generosity.

listen

Day 15: listen!- Solo
Today i learned a bit about the Jewish people. This passage below was so important to them. It was referred to as the Shema, meaning to listen or hear. People in Jerusalem literally have leather wrapped around their arms and tiny boxes tied to them (to this day even)

Deuteronomy 6: 1-9
This is the commandment, the rules and regulations, that God, your God, commanded me to teach you to live out in the land you're about to cross into to possess. This is so that you'll live in deep reverence before God life long, observing all his rules and regulations that I'm commanding you, you and your children and your grandchildren, living good long lives.
Listen obediently, Israel. Do what you're told so that you'll have a good life, a life of abundance and bounty, just as God promised, in a land abounding in milk and honey.
Attention, Israel!
God, our God! God the one and only!
Love God, your God, with your whole heart, love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!

Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street, talk about them from the time you up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder: inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.

The study challenges you to consider how seriously you take the word of God. This is something i always wondered about, where do you draw the line? how do you know what is "old school" and what should we be doing still today? should we be doing a lot, but we just do what is convientant. It is something that needs some serious prayer in my life... what do you desire, God? Please show us your clarity, your wisdom.
Amen.

icy

holy sheet of ice... the Earth seems to be a solid sheet of ice.

ok, maybe it is just the city of Milan, who knows? I can't believe how icy it is, i think i could have put on my ice skates and skated home instead of driving from Amy and Phil's.

This is pretty much what it looks like outside.

Ok, so i like to exaggerate a bit.

ps. i discovered that my car does fishtail, i guess i should slow down.

tea time

when i think of myself, i dont think of fine china and fancy clothes, but on saturday that is what i became. I went to the annual CTKC Christmas Tea at my inlaws church. Last year my mom and I went, but this year we brought the whole gang, mom, grandma, two aunts and my cuz Sammy. Each table (about40) is decorated by a lady with her personal tea collection. Very fancy... The keynote speaker was from Grace Centers of Hope in Pontiac and she spoke about "Simplici-tea" during this christmas time, the theme of the tea. A women spoke about her struggles with her addiction and how she found God through GCOH and has successfully turned her life around and now is giving back at the Center. She spoke about how so many use "false gods" to numb the pain, to medicate their lives and how people need GOD in their lives to truly be cured. I absolutely agree with this, and obviously dont understand the power of substance abuse on peoples lives, but sometimes it is hard to understand why so many people have to be hurt along the way of the healing from the addiction. This women had 5 children with as many fathers along the way, all of which she didnt want (at the time). I know this is SO judgemental, but i just couldnt help thinking, "why do people who dont want children get them" how does that all work? it is frustrating to know people longing for a family and then hear stories like this. After this women found the Lord and turned her life around she has since rekindled relationships with all of her kids, except the one she lost. I guess it isnt for me to understand, but just trust in the Lord's perfectness and wonderful timing.

The Men of Grace sang afterwards. it was such a treat, it was a group of about 6 guys full of soul and God's Love. They sang Christmas carol's and even let us sing a few with them. All in all it was a nice afternoon and an invited change of pace.

what in the world

i need a break from this, i dont know why cant i get those picture to go where i want...bummer...i am watching premonition right now, the movie. why is it that everytime they show a scene with someone running that they have to have that cheezy sweat mark on there chest, i hate that.
who really sweats like that?
sorry if you do. i guess i shouldnt make fun of you.

minutes

well, i have managed to occupy every last minute of my days.

Some minutes even have multiple things crammed into them.

It is quite amazing.

I think the "i can do everything" all began Wednesday...
First, I awoke and basically rolled out of bed into the fresh snow (so perfect!) ok, let me rephrase that, i dont sleep outside e. I didn't really just roll into the snow. ok, now that no one is confused, I got up (inside the house) and got dressed and went over to the church for Advent prayer hour. It was so great to set aside that hour of silence, prayer, worship. It is so few times that we really do that. Like now for example, I could be "silent" but oh no, blogging away. After prayer I crammed in a swim, which took almost 40 minutes to get to the gym, because the weather was bad. Oh yeah, on the way, there was a horrible accident on US 23 S, as i drove by i got an awful feeling and just began to cry, very random indeed, but i just knew something was horribly wrong. I later found out that the man in the car died, It was like i knew at the time. I had this overpowering urge to pray for the family and friends of that person as i drove by. I then went about usual deeds, 8 of hours of work and then in my 45 minutes of time, I had to cram in a trip to Lowe's and buy some shelving units (proud of myself for that one) and off to small group where i was treated (thanks to Rich's birthday) with cake and ice cream for dinner, yumm...

Thursday: we had a baby shower for my best bud Kristin. It was a wonderful time and wa

s so perfect to bless her and the baby to be (i am convinced its a girl) but who knows!

praise HIM!

Great news...my grandpa's tumor is 99% gone! He still has about 10 sessions of radiation to go, but he is doing great. He only lost 1 lb. this week, which is also GREAT news and has been able to eat some solid food still. In laymans terms, he has cancer behind his nose/throat area. so 7lb weight loss to date is great so far...Keep praying!
I'd love to write more, but i am over booked this week and only allotted 4.2 minutes for blogging today.
times up!

wow

My father in law introduced me to this on you tube, it is very impressive. Paul Pots is a cellphone salesman in South Wales who is auditioning for "Britain's got talent" (like our American Idol). He tells the judges (including Simon Cowell) that he is going to sing Opera and basically is laughed at, but wait until you listen...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k08yxu57NA

Thank God for laughter...

Need a laugh?
Just click below...

Enjoy :)

www.elfyourself.com/?id=1141707305

Mexican and GVSU

Friday- My younger sister came into town, she goes to GVSU, to play volleyball on Saturday.  Friday night, Drew was home so we decided to go out for Mexican.  I couldnt think of anywhere close to go, so we thought we would go to Dundee (something we never do) because i "thought" i knew where a Mexican restaurant was, plus Michelle had never been to Cabela's, so we thought we'd check it out.  Well, indeed there is Mexican restaurant just where i pictured it.  We walked in and saw our friends Ross and Angela from church.  What are the chances?  I have probably only been to Dundee (just 10 miles from my house) 3 times in my life, and here they were.  They graciously slid over so we could join them, and we all had a wonderful meal.  Half way through, in walked two of the doctors that I work with and their family, celebrating lil' Nathaniel's birthday, Wow, i guess this place is the place to be.  (plus i looked pretty darn popular :) Afterward we checked out Cabela's (drew's dream) and michelle and i checked out all the deadness, dead animals everywhere, but the aquarium is really cool.

 

 

12.5 hours is a long time, especially if you are in a college gym watching many teams play many, countless games of volleyball.  Even if you are watching your sister, who you dearly love, play, it is a LONG day.  That is what i did yesterday, from sun up to down down, plus a few, i watched my sister set for GVSU's club volleyball team.  I am sad to announce that after all that, they lost in the finals to the host team, UM.  THey came out of the beginning rounds ranked #1, but just couldnt hang on.

upon request

our new 4.01 am Christmas tree...upon request!

fire...almost

this has been a busy week.  hence the fact that i haven't written much, i had some time today and was thinking, "where should i start today"...just then i went in the kitchen to make my tea (i had turned on the burner what seemed like 10 minutes ago, and i couldn't figure out why the kettle wasnt whistling yet...

ok-i need to stop here.  i just turned the TV on and ESPN2 has the world arm wrestling championships on.  not to offend anyone, but are you serious?  the commentators are taking this so seriously, you would think we were watching the Super Bowl.  I wonder how you get a job like that...haha, ok back to the story

... as soon as i entered the kitchen, my nose gave why to the awful truth.  I had left the range cover on and the kettle was on top of that.  essentially the burner had to burn through the whole cover before heating my water, opps!  the kitchen was soon filled with smoke as i quickly tried to remove the cover and drape the towel over the smoke detector so it wouldnt go off (you learn a trick or two when you are a frequent disaster in the kithen.)  i am proud to say that everything is OK now, except that the brand new Christmas decorated cover that I once owned, is toast, literally.