A place where I belong.

It may seem like such a simple thing, but I feel incredibly blessed to have a place where I belong.  I've moved around a lot over the last ten years or so.  I've seen a lot of places, met some amazing people, and have had adventures and memories you wouldn't believe.  But since settling in Indy again two years ago, I finally feel like I have a place where I belong.  For the first time in a long time, I have a close knit group of friends who I can call and lean on in good times and bad.  We found a home church where we can grow and connect in ways I never imagined.  I have a job that, despite it's leadership, I love and feel like I am good at.  My family lives right up the road and I see them often.  And I am married to my best friend and we have our little fur babies that are just so much fun and bring so much life to our home.  I am cherishing these times because I know that life moves in seasons and that this one is particularly sweet.

Going with the FLOW

In the midst of the work chaos of training, working extra weekends, and crazy multitasking, I have become the "key operator" of our new BD FACSCalibur!  It is a flow cytometer used to identify CD4 markers on T-Helper cells.  It will be used to monitor the immune status of immunocompromised patients (especially those with HIV).  I'm so excited to work on this project.  It has been fun to learn the technology and get it up and running in our lab.  Call me a nerd but this stuff is cool!  

Minion Surprise

We didn't do anything big for Ronnie's birthday this year.  I guess that is just part of getting older.  The other part is practical gifts.  Ronnie's birthday present was redoing the upstairs man cave (see earlier post), so we really didn't even do many presents.  I wanted to do a little something silly and special for him though.  So while my dad and sister kept Ronnie occupied at a movie, Mom helped me put together a little minion surprise party.  We came home to it after going out for dinner.  He loved it. 

Happy Birthday, Love! You are my world.  Thanks for making me smile.  xo

Minion cupcakes!

Minions

Unicorn Fluff

What is a party without bananas?

Cookie robots

El Macho's Salsa and Chips

Balloons!

My handsome man and very excited pup

Even Boomer joined in!  Cori loves him. ;)

Meds

Ronnie's newest drug info sheet.  Makes me wonder sometimes...

Baked Southwest Egg Rolls

My friend Kim came over last week for a bit of pinterest yumminess.  We had been talking about making these Southwest Egg rolls for weeks now and we finally set a date to do it.  We were both SUPER impressed.  They were easy, filling, and SO DELICIOUS.  I am not even kidding.  best.dinner.ever.  Think burrito inside egg roll.  And ignore the fact that our egg rolls are pretty much the size of burritos and we apparently have no egg roll-rolling skills.  

Visit nutritious eats for the full recipe.  The only thing we did differently was add shredded chicken and served them with salsa and guacamole.  

Oh, and egg roll wrappers are in the oriental refrigerated section... which is by the produce at my grocery.... Never would have guessed that so it took me a long while to find them.  

The filling

Crispy goodness

Man Cave Makeover

I'm married to a military man.  If that weren't enough, he is an infantry man.  This quite logically means we are prepared for anything; natural disasters, governmental collapse, riots in the streets, and yes even a zombie Apocalypse (another post for another time).  I try my hardest to contain the testosterone in the only room that can handle the intensity; the man cave.  This room was "decorated" by the man himself as I tried my very hardest to let him mark his territory as he saw fit.  Notice I said "tried."  I did try.  Really.  I eventually persuaded him to move the furniture around so it fit the room a little better... but other than that, I pretty much left it alone.  The collections of randomly placed stuff, mixed with military gear, awards, and antiques have morphed into a sort cluttered, dusty, monument to "the good life" (for everyone but the axis buck mounted on the wall I suppose...).

After watching a movie up there one evening, my husband looked around and randomly said he would like to paint the room and make it look nicer.  I admit it.  I saw the opportunity to control the man cave and I took it.

So we struck a deal:  We would paint the man cave if I had full authority to redecorate the room as I saw fit.

The fine print for husband:  All decor must stay as designed for at least two weeks before he can veto it 

AND fine print for wife:  Nothing that is already in the room can leave the room.  

So I began to plot plan.  I had a Monday off and we drove to Ohio to go to IKEA.  I already had a wall shelf and expedite shelf picked out and despite Ronnie's hesitation, he agreed to buy without questioning.  I had another day off on Wednesday so I insisted on painting the room on Tuesday night so I could spend all of Wednesday getting things put together.  (Side note: I HATE lingering projects.  If we were going to do this, we were going to do it ALL NOW.)

The result was a fresh and classy room with creative storage solutions for all the memorabilia my military man could possibly have (for now anyways).  Bonus- Hubby loves it, too!  He said that he had his doubts but he loves the way it turned out.

During the chaos

Ronnie's latest surgery

As many of you know, Ronnie had surgery just a few days after we returned from our Caribbean Cruise (May 28th).  A scar band located on the back of his knee that has been a chronic open wound for over 3 years now was excised.  In its place, a temporary synthetic skin-like covering was placed.  His leg must stay in a brace to until his next surgery when a skin graft will be placed on the spot.  We are still waiting to hear when the next surgery will happen but it is looking like it will be either at the end of June or beginning of July.  Other than the inconvenience of the brace and immobility that comes with that, Ronnie is doing quite well.  We have been incredibly blessed by our loving friends as many of them brought us meals to help get us through the first week.  What a blessing!  There are no words to describe how blessed we are by all those that have poured into our lives over the last few weeks.  

My New Piece

Ronnie got me a new little hand gun this week!  Isn't it cute?  In a scary kind of way?  Can't wait to get some practice time in at the range.  :-D

Across the World and Around the Corner

This past week has been a busy one as we, along with my parents, opened our homes to friends from across the sea.  The Henriques are a family, originally from El Salvador, that minister to the Hindu middle class in India as they teach Spanish and run various ministries.  Shelby spent most of last summer in India teaching along side this sweet family.  Over the last few years, we have been able to build a relationship with them through the distance and were excited to welcome them into our homes.  Ronnie and I were especially blessed to get to know the daughters, Dorean and Rebekah.  We loved laughing with them and swapping stories.  Isn't it crazy the way the word sometimes feels so small?

Cruising the Caribbean

We had a wonderful vacation with Ronnie's side of the family at the end of May.  We cruised to Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel.  It was amazing and the weather was perfect!  We enjoyed the down time on the ship while hanging out at the pool, watching the boys play sports, and eating until we could not possibly eat anymore!  At each destination, we took an excursion:  A park where we could hold monkeys in Roatan, cave tubing in Belize, and a day of adventure on a private beach in Cozumel!  I'm still working on my shutterfly photo book, so more to come later....