What's up?

I've really slacked on updating the blog lately. Sorry for that!

Things are going pretty fantastic for our family up here in Tennessee. I celebrated my 25th birthday on Sunday and as an amazing gift, my best friend Jackie flew in from New Mexico to spend a week with me. I also got to see my mom on my birthday which was another wonderful treat. The last birthday I spent with my mom was my 20th. I was spoiled rotten by my family and I feel so blessed to have them in my life. Everyone made me feel VERY special. Thank you for that!

Brinley is wonderful. She loves school and her friends! She even moved into Primary this past month! She is officially a Sunbeam. I was not ready for that. However, she is enjoying it so that is all that matters. She is taking ballet and seems to be enjoying that also. My Nana took her shopping for my birthday so that she could pick out something special for me. She got me a diamond heart necklace that says, "I love you" engraved on the side. It is so sweet! I will probably never take it off! Needless to say, she continues to be our sweet little girl whom we adore and love very much! 

John is busy! He is great also, but very busy. He is in his final semester of actual classes and is studying like crazy for the boards. John decided to accept the fellowship at the school. This means that we are going to be here an extra year but he is also going to gain lots from the opportunity. We are pretty excited about it.

So, because we are going to be here for the next couple of years we are looking for a new place to live. The hunt is officially on!

 She was a little unsure about leaving nursery and her expression shows this!

 Practicing being reverant

Anniversary Pictures

For our Anniversary, Nana came home from the nursing home after Papa went to bed so that she could have a slumber party with Brinley. They were both so excited. Not as excited as John and I though as this was our first date in over 6 months. We went to one of our favorite places to eat and then we walked around Target while we were waiting for our movie to start. I love target so this was a treat! We do not have one where we live now so any time I am near one I have to go. After Target, we went to the movies and saw New Years Eve. It was a really good movie and we had fun watching an actual adult movie instead of the usual kid movies we end up seeing.

Anniversary Cake

My Nana decided that Brinley needed to bake us a cake for our 5 year Anniversary. The reason that this was so amazing was that my Nana is just incredible. My grandfather was laying in the hospital after having had a stroke and she still was thinking about every one but her self. She honestly amazes me. She asked Brinley what kind of cake she wanted to make and she said 'vanilla and strawberry'. Guess what? Nana had everything on hand to create such a masterpiece. Nana and Brinley had so much fun cooking together and it was a wonderful Anniversary gift to receive from 2 of the ladies I love most. Here are a few shots of the fun that I captured.

{BFF's reunited}

My two best friends from high school Erika and Jill were both in South Carolina this year for Christmas. We had to seize the opportunity and have a reunion. It was so much fun. Erika's mom cooked dinner for us and then we spent the evening playing games, exchanging gifts and catching up. It was so amazing how we were able to fall right back into the goofy teenage girls that we used to be. It was honestly the highlight of my Christmas break. Everything that happened with Papa put a pretty bad taste in my mouth so it was lovely to end the 2 weeks on such a high note. Thanks girls for a wonderful evening!

 Our signature pose - we have the exact same pose taken 8 years earlier at a youth dance. I wish I could post it but I do not have it on this computer :( If you are friends with me on facebook then you can see it because Jill and Erika tagged me in it.

It was so fun posing for picture with these ladies again!

 Brinley, Me, Jaxon, Jill, and Erika

Now we are all married women!

Christmas 2011

Things this year were different. There is no question about that.

Since Papa had his stroke, there was a lot of talk about whether we would still do the annual Christmas exchange, the big family party and the whole shebang. However, we decided that Papa would have wanted us to continue with the 20+ year tradition and we had our big family party. Nana obviously could not host it so we had it at my Uncle Baxley and Aunt Terris house. We still had pizza, yummy deserts, and lots of family fun. I can not deny it,  we missed a huge part of what made Christmas Eve so special. Papa being gone was very much noticed. HE is a very key part of our family and I very much noticed that. In fact I struggled to hold back tears the entire night and I am still struggling to do as I type this today.

John and I decided together that it would be better that if she (Brinley) opened up Santa at her other grandparents house in Hampton, SC. When we arrived on Christmas Eve they had already done Christmas.   We chatted with John's siblings Nadja and Chris and then we prepared for Santa arrive. Thankfully Chris made cookies for Santa, and there was a bed for the three of us to sleep on. Santa came and then John and I crashed!! We were so tired. Everything dealing with Papa had exhausted us! Not to mention that John had spent that last night with Papa in the hospital room. We were tired to say the least.

Christmas morning came and Brinley was very excited. She did not get every thing that she asked for because the branch of Santa's workshop divisioned with " Amazon" had a MAJOR screw up and her number one gift did not arrive.She understands, but anticipates the arrival when we return home. Her coveted doll house should be on the door step when we arrive.I have no idea went wrong but MAJOR things happened especially with Papa being being sick. All in all, it was a fair Christmas. I wish Papa was there to enjoy it all but we can hope for that next year!

 Christmas Morning - She could not believe her eyes when she say everything that Santa had brought her.

 Going in for her first gift!

 Here she is in front of her loot

 Santa brought her roller skates - She started asking for skates back in October! It was a good thing that Santa was listening.

 Nana and Pop Pop Pierson got her a scooter for Christmas. She love it!

 Cousin Cate on Christmas Morning.

 Look at those Baby Blues - We were so excited to have Cousin Savannah with us for Christmas this year.

 My father-in-law made Clams Casino for Christmas dinner. They are Amazing! I am so happy that seafood is a Pierson tradition. It is such a nice change from the traditional turkey and ham dinners.

 Brinley in front of the Christmas tree before bed on our last day at the Pierson family house.

 Cousins Savannah and Brinley shouting for JOY that Santa had visited them that day!

 BROTHERS- enough said.

 Brothers with their daughters

 A mother with her sons with their daughters - got all that...lol?

Like Father, like sons?

5 years ago

I will never forget where I was 5 years ago on this eve. I was laying on a futon in the upstairs bedroom of my grandparents home with my best friend Jackie and her brother Clifford. Both of whom I have known since I was 5 years old. They were in town from New Mexico for a very special occasion.  We spent the the night giggling and chatting about times past and most of it with them calming my nerves.

The next morning I was going to wake up so that I could drive to the South Carolina Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints so that I could marry my very best friend John Ewing Pierson IV. What a wonderful day that was! I still think that was the single most amazing day of my life. We were married in the temple of our home state, had a reception to die for, but most of all we married each other. We spent the day making convennants to each other and to the Lord, the afternoon driving and checking in to our hotel, and the night eating, visiting with dear friends and dancing till our feet hurt. We truly had the wedding of our dreams because we were surrounded by the people that mattered the most.

 Tonight I sit here, reflecting on the last 5 years and I can hardly believe that it has been that long. It seems like yesterday that John was on one knee in the Japanese gardens of River Walk proposing to me. Now we sit, with 4 moves under our belts, a 3 year old little girl, miscarriages, a college degree, new friends, old friends, sickness, health, career changes and the adventure of medical school. It has been a whirlwind. I have LOVED every moment of it. I cannot imagine another person that I would rather be on this journey with.

I do not want to get all sappy on you guys, but honestly John is an amazing man. Actually he is incredible. I literally cannot believe that he is mine. We can just leave it at that fact that he restored my faith in men completely. I did not have the most favorable experiences with male figures (aside from Papa and Steve) growing up. Therefor my trust in men was pretty slim. However, John came in and changed all of that. He showed me that men can be supportive, loving, trusting, caring, dependable, trustworthy and so much more. He made me believe that I was worth something. He helped to show me my divine nature and individual worth. My relationship with my Heavenly Father grew because of the insight he was able to help me see. My testimony grew also. John is helping me to become the woman that I am supposed to be. He challenges me every single day to be better than I am. I love him. He is wonderful, he is my husband, and he is all mine!

The past 5 years have been crazy, beautiful, hard, wonderful, whimsical, stressful, but most of all worth every moment. I love you John, and thank you for every second of it!  I look forward to eternity with you.

 5 years ago

Today

{I wish I had better news}

I figured that this is the best way to keep everyone updated since we are not all together during this difficult time. Friday night started like a normal night when the family went to Hopeland Gardens to go see the Christmas lights. We left Papa at home since he said that he did not think that he could do the walking that was involved. When we got home he seemed very confused and was acting very tired. About an hour after Papa fell asleep the doorbell rang. It was the North Augusta Police Department. He had called them while we were gone. He thought that the whole family had gone missing and had called for help.We had no clue that something crazy was going on in his brain while we all slept. When we were all awake on Saturday morning, John noticed that half of Papa's face was drooping and his eye was closed. He was also very confused and mumbling his words when he spoke. Long story short, Nana, Uncle Baxley and John ended up taking him to the hospital on Saturday because we all knew that there was something very wrong. It turns put that Papa suffered a major stroke. He also has a 100% blockage of his middle cerebral artery. He is very confused, cannot walk, and goes in and out of reality. He knows who we are some of the time and then 5 minutes later he is convinced we are dead family members or Santa's elves (no kidding). The doctors are very unsure about what the future is going to hold but have told us that we have a long road ahead to get Papa on the path to recovery. He is not in a life threatening situation right now but he is going to have to go to a rehabilitation center to learn to do most of the basic things again. This is not how we anticipated spending Christmas break but we feel very blessed that we are able to be here during it and to offer my grandmother the support that she needs (she is amazing by the way. My Nana is the strongest woman I know.) Christmas will spent a little bit differently this year but who cares. Please keep Papa in your prayers that he will regain a full recovery. I will try to keep everyone updated via blog, Facebook, texts and phone calls. Thank you to everyone that has offered their support. We love you all and wish you a very Merry Christmas.