January...

As much as I love the holidays and all of the Christmas decorations, there is something refreshing about a new year and taking down the greenery and replacing it with winter white! This is part of our new mantle arrangement...we are going to be adding some more white soon (the yellow flowers were from a baby shower we had), but here's a sneak peek...

 My roommate received this wreath as a Christmas gift from her cousin (she made it out of acorns--gotta love Pinterest). Love how it looks in the window frame..

 In other new year happenings...my department at work has started wearing uniforms. The whole hospital is now color coded (nurses in blue, respiratory in green, etc.). The Child Life Department is pink and black. I will have to say that I was not too happy about the idea of a uniform...I loved wearing cute outfits to work, and considered it an art putting outfits together that looked classy yet fun for the kiddos! So, I decided that my new uniform needed a little flare! Since I am a little taller, and scrub pants always feel too short, I let the hem out and added a ruffle! Which was perfect for both extra length and a fun twist to a boring uniform! :) They turned out pretty cute!
Before:

 After:

In other news, in just a little over a week, I am going with MTW on a medial missions trip to here:

Every since I became a Child Life Specialist, I have wanted to join a medical team overseas on a short-term missions trip. God clearly opened the door for me to go to Trinidad this month...when I called MTW about the trip they told me there was one spot left, and it needed to be a person comfortable working with children!!! How perfect! Can't wait to share about all that God will do while we are there!

Happy New Year!!

I had a fun New Years weekend with family and friends. New Year's Eve a group of girls got together for a fancy dinner and night on the town! We had a wonderful time together!

 My sweet roommate and me:

 Mary Elizabeth, Maggie, and me:

 Ringing in the new year!

 New Year's Day is always a great time to reflect on God's faithfulness in the past year, and start the year with eager anticipation about all that God will do in the coming year! My New Year's Day started with a great service at my church, where the pastor reminded us that the best resolution that we can have today is to resolve to trust in Jesus more and more each and every day. After church, I went to my parents house to help my mom prepare the traditional New Year's Day dinner (two guys at church this morning had never heard of the tradition of black-eyed peas and greens!). I LOVE this meal and look forward to it ever year!! This year we had pork chops with chutney, black-eyed peas, greens, slaw, baked apples, and fried potatoes!

 Some of my very special friends came to join us in celebrating the beginning of 2012!!

We had so much fun playing together! (you'll have to excuse my apron which I forgot to take off!)

 Charlie is such a sweetheart...can't get enough of these precious little ones!!

 We went out on the front porch after lunch and worked on getting a family photo!

 And then came back inside where we just relaxed and visited and let this little cutie pie entertain us! She had us all laughing!

 It's been a great start to the New Year already and I can't wait to see what this year holds!